Shinji and Asuka were seated at the kitchen table. Asuka had just finished relaying everything about her day to Shinji… including the part she had been hiding from him.
Shinji stared at her arm. "Uh…"
"Yeah," Asuka replied, rolling down her sleeve. "Thought you might say that."
"Does it hurt right now?"
"No. But I had a moment when I was trying to use my wheelchair today. Ritsuko helped me calm down."
"That was nice of her."
"Pfft."
"Is there any way I can help?"
"Well…" Asuka bit her lip. "Could you…maybe sleep in my room again tonight?"
Shinji blinked. "Uh… in the bed? Because last time was sort of an accident—"
"Nonononono, uh… just, you could bring a sleeping bag down. Only for a few nights—"
"A few?"
"Or one! Just…" She took a deep breath. "I want someone there if it happens again."
Shinji smiled. "Of course, Asuka."
Asuka breathed a sigh of relief. One incredibly uncomfortable conversation over with.
"Why not ask Misato, though?" Shinji added. "I mean… it'd be a way of keeping an eye on her."
"I'll… I'll get to her eventually." Despite her chat with Ritsuko, she still wasn't sure she wanted to tell Misato about this. Based on what Shinji had told her, it sounded like the last thing Misato needed was another thing to worry about.
Sensing Asuka didn't want to talk about this anymore, Shinji changed the topic. "Who do you think came back?"
"How should I know? There's billions of people in the world, any one of them could have returned."
"Maybe… but I don't think Rei would have appeared to us if it wasn't someone we knew."
"True." Asuka played with her thumbs. "You know, it's weird, but a part of me wishes Rei would come back."
"Really? I… didn't expect that from you."
"It's not like I miss her or anything!" she insisted. "But… she didn't deserve any of what happened to her."
"Yeah…"
They heard the sound of the door opening, and barely had a chance to react as Ritsuko ran in carrying someone, quickly disappearing into Asuka's room.
"Ritsuko, that's—" Misato protested, only to have the door slam in her face.
"Did…did she just go into my room?" Asuka asked, stunned.
"Yeah…" Misato replied. "It's only temporary, I'm sure we'll… relocate once we're sure… look, it's just for now. Uh…Shinji, could you get some hot water going?"
"Sure." Shinji got up from the table and started filling the kettle with water. "Who was it who came back?"
"Well…" Misato glanced back at the door and sighed. "It's Lieutenant Ibuki."
Shinji nearly dropped the kettle as he stared in shock.
"Lieutenant Ibuki, huh?" Asuka thought for a second. "Hang on… was Lieutenant Ibuki the one with the glasses, the one with the long hair, or the girl?"
"Asuka!"
"What? That's the only way I could tell them apart!"
Episode 12: The Protégé
Did we do the right thing?
"The First is so careless," Ritsuko muttered. "What if she got hypothermia? Or frostbite? You don't let someone leave Instrumentality in a snowstorm."
Shinji squinted. "I'm…I'm not sure that's how it works—"
"Not now, you idiot," Asuka whispered, elbowing him.
In her blind haste, Ritsuko had deposited Maya in Asuka's bed, where she'd subsequently removed any wet clothing, changed her into some warmer clothes, and wrapped her in several layers of blankets.
Asuka nudged Misato. "I'm gonna need that eventually," she whispered. "It's the only bed down here. And besides, this is my room."
Misato smiled. "I know. We'll move her upstairs once she wakes up."
"When's that gonna be?"
"Hard to tell. Could be a couple of hours."
"Alright… but she better be out of here after that! This is my safe space. Let's go play video games, Shinji."
"Sure," he said. He started to move.
"Hey, where are you going?!"
"To the living room…"
"You gonna push me or what?"
"Oh, right. Sorry." He stepped behind the wheelchair, gripped the handles, and pushed Asuka out of the room. On his way out, he paused. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked Misato.
"Eh, the blankets should warm her up fine."
"I meant…" He eyed Ritsuko.
"…I'll talk to her. You two go do your thing."
Shinji gave a nervous smile before leaving.
Misato stared at Ritsuko, still sitting next to the bed watching Lieutenant Ibuki like a doting parent.
No, parent wasn't the right term… like a lover? No, they were never a couple in real life… like a caretaker? No, that wasn't far removed from a parent.
Finally, she spoke up. "How do you feel?"
Ritsuko sighed. "Honestly? I'm not that surprised." She looked at Misato. "I had a feeling she would be leaving soon while I was in there. Her mind felt like it was separating itself from the rest."
Misato nodded. If there was one thing she was always going to remember about Instrumentality, it was the lack of privacy. In fact, part of the reason Misato had managed to start the process of regaining her individual self was because she had tried to isolate within her own memories to tune out the rest. "Well… I guess she was gonna find a way back to her senpai eventually."
"Don't even joke about that."
"Come on! Tell me that's not what you're thinking about right now."
Ritsuko placed one hand on Maya's forehead. "Katsuragi, she's not like the rest of us. She wasn't killed abruptly and given a second chance through Third Impact. She had her mind completely broken, and then her individuality ripped apart immediately afterwards." She looked up. "Worst of all, it was my image that did it to her. I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly looking forward to when she wakes up."
Shinji and Asuka were busy with a fighting game when Misato finally emerged.
"Well?" Asuka asked as Shinji paused the game.
"Nothing new," Misato shrugged as she sat on the couch. "Ritsuko wanted to be alone with her until she wakes up."
"Is that wise?" Shinji asked. "Considering…"
"Out of the four of us, she's the best person to explain things to her." She sighed. "You know, out of all the people from NERV, I'm almost glad it was Ibuki. Aoba would have been weird… Makoto would have been… awkward."
"And I'm sure you would have killed Fuyutsuki," Asuka joked.
"Yup," was the disturbingly deep-voiced reply.
Shinji and Asuka stared at her awkwardly before immediately returning to their game.
When you're sitting next to your unconscious former protégé for an extended period, you tend to have a lot of time to get lost in your own thoughts.
A lot of thoughts were going through Ritsuko's head right now. Mainly, just how the hell was she supposed to talk to Maya?
Hi, Maya. I know you were hopelessly in love with me the entire time we worked together. No, touching me will not turn you into LCL. The JSSDF and NERV are all gone, you have nothing to worry about. Except everyone you know is gone for the foreseeable future. Also your new roommates are the kids who failed to save the world—
This was ridiculous. How the hell was she supposed to deal with all of that?
The thing most pressing on her mind was Maya's apparent feelings for her. She recalled one of her last memories from Instrumentality, how she had seen the betrayal in Maya's heart from everything that had happened in those last moments during Third Impact.
What Rei said at the time was correct: she had suspected Maya's admiration for her went beyond respect as her mentor. But it wasn't like she could have done anything about it. At that point she was in too deep with Commander Ikari's plans, and even then she was her direct superior. It was inappropriate and she would have shut it down immediately.
Is that how you're going to rationalize it?
"It's not a lie."
And what about now?
"Who has the time for childish crushes? We're in a post-apocalypse. Not even Shinji and Asuka have really done anything."
They're kids. What's your excuse?
Ritsuko stared at Maya, who was still unconscious.
You were given another chance, Ritsuko. Maybe she'll be a part of it.
"I'm not gonna think about any sort of chance." She took a deep breath. "For now, she's my patient."
Is that what you really be—?
"Shut up!"
Maya stirred in her sleep, startling Ritsuko. Somehow she'd completely forgotten she wasn't alone in the room.
She heard the door open and saw Misato peek her head in. "She's still asleep?" she asked. She seemed almost confused.
"Uh…yeah."
Misato raised an eyebrow. "Then…who were you just talking to?"
Ritsuko blinked. "I—"
Maya made another movement and her eyes started to flutter awake.
"Is she—"
"Go away!"
"Okay! Jeez!" The door closed quickly.
"A.T. Fields…"
Ritsuko turned back. Maya's eyes had a glazed over look to them. "Maya?"
"Is this the answer… is this what I was…what I was searching for…?"
"Maya." She gently shook her by the shoulders.
Maya blinked. Her eyes slowly came into focus. "Doctor…Doctor Akagi?"
"Maya?"
Then her eyes went wide with horror. And she started to scream.
The three in the other room immediately turned to stare at the door.
"So, you think she's awake?" Asuka asked.
Shinji and Misato glared at her.
"Maya! Maya, calm down!"
If Maya could understand Ritsuko's words, she wasn't showing it. In fact, there were very few coherent things coming out of her mouth besides screaming as she tried to push Ritsuko away.
"Maya, listen to me!" Ritsuko managed to get a hold of her shoulders, only for Maya's eyes to go wider and her screams more frantic.
She must think I'm one of Rei's puppets. Words were not going to get Maya to calm down. So Ritsuko did the only thing she could think of. She wrapped her arms around Maya's back, pulled her close, and held her down to the bed.
Maya desperately struggled for a few more seconds, but eventually seemed to register that she wasn't turning into LCL as her arms tentatively fell to the side. "What…Ritsuko?"
"Yes, Maya. It's really me." Ritsuko finally let go and pulled back so she could see her face.
"Where…" Maya finally seemed to notice the room for the first time. "Where am I?"
"Well…" Ritsuko tried to figure out how to explain it. "You're in Asuka's room."
"Asuka?" Then the panic returned. "Asuka! She—"
"She's fine, Maya."
Maya stared. "Fine? But… but I saw…"
Strange. "Maya, what do you remember?"
"I… I was in the control room… our A.T. fields were disappearing… and then… I saw you…"
"Maya, it wasn't me."
"But it looked so much—"
"Maya, remember? I went down to Terminal Dogma." It was almost like Maya had no memory of Instrumentality. She decided to test something. "Maya, do you know what happened to me?"
"You…" Maya held up her hand and began lightly flicking her index finger in the air, as if she were trying to manually sort through the information in her head. "You…you went down to confront Commander Ikari."
"That's right, Maya."
"You tried to stop him… but Caspar wouldn't let you."
Progress. "Then what happened?"
"He… he…" Maya's hand dropped and her gaze rested squarely on Ritsuko's chest. "You died."
"That's right, Maya."
Maya stared for a moment longer, only to suddenly grow panicked again. "Why do I know this?" she asked. "How do I know what happened?!"
"Maya." Ritsuko gently placed her hands on her protégé's shoulders. "You know why."
The pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together in Maya's head. "…we failed."
"That's right."
Maya looked around. "Then… where are we?"
Ritsuko sighed. There was a lot to explain.
"Wait, wait, wait, back up." Misato leaned forward in her chair. "You didn't like the ending, so you just…created your own?"
"Well, it's not that I hated the ending or anything, but yeah, that's more or less what happened," Asuka replied. "I mean, mine are all canon-compliant, but fanfiction is all about creating your own stories out of existing material."
"Hmm." Misato shrugged. "And how are your stories?"
"Ask Shinji. He's my beta reader."
"I'm your only reader, Asuka."
"Whatever. Tell her what you think."
"I think they're good. She really understands the characters. Although…" He trailed off.
Asuka squinted. "Although what?"
"I just think maybe… they're a little… sad?"
"'Sad'?" Misato asked, surprised.
"Well most of the stories she's shown me are just characters crying or getting hurt or comforting each other."
Misato blinked. "Okay…"
"What's your point?" Asuka asked, crossing her arms.
Shinji shrugged. "I just think, considering how dark the source material is, you would want to make happier stories."
"Pfft. True, they've been through a lot, but they need to earn their happiness. I'm not just going to let them be happy out of nowhere."
"Aren't you the little novelist," Misato smirked. "Why not try writing your own original material? Then maybe I could take a look at it."
"Eh, maybe," Asuka shrugged. "But… I don't know… I could write some original stuff, but… I like being in the world of this story. Especially when I'd rather not be in the world where I am today." She looked at Shinji. "Besides, I like it when you give me feedback. Makes me feel like I've accomplished something. I could really use all the accomplishments I can get these days, I'm starting to feel a little useless being cooped up in the house all the time."
They heard the door open and turned to see Ritsuko gently closing it behind her.
"She's awake," she explained.
"We gathered. How is she?"
"About as well as I expected. I need a drink." She walked over to the liquor cabinet and poured herself some bourbon.
"Rits…" Misato whispered. "Not in front of the kids."
Shinji and Asuka eyed her with some level of annoyance. Who was she to talk about not drinking around them?
Ritsuko gave a shrug. "Best not put the liquor cabinet in the living room, then. Your room seems like a good spot, don't you think?"
Misato glared at her.
Shinji decided to change the subject. "Did you explain everything?"
"Everything I could." Ritsuko plopped down on the couch next to Shinji, the force of which briefly launched him into the air. "But as you can imagine, it's all very confusing for her."
"How… lucid is she exactly?" Misato asked.
"Well, whatever she went through in Instrumentality, her mind doesn't seem to want to remember it. All I can get is information about events she didn't personally witness, like my death for starters. But she doesn't seem to remember any particular decisions that led to her coming to the beach."
"So… she didn't have a conversation with Rei?" Shinji asked.
"Doesn't sound like it. I think Rei decided to keep her distance."
"Well," Misato remarked. "I guess until we get the more complicated stuff sorted out… looks like we have ourselves a new roommate."
"Oh great, more people," Asuka muttered. "How many rooms does this house even have?"
"We'll have to sort out our rooming situations sooner or later," Misato agreed. "She could room with Ritsuko—" She stopped, noticing a rather panicked expression on Ritsuko's face. "Or me, I could give up my bed and—"
"Actually, she could use my room for now," Shinji suggested.
"Really? But where will you sleep?"
"Er…" Shinji glanced nervously at Asuka. "Asuka wanted me to sleep in her room tonight."
"Oh?" Misato blinked. Asuka had an awfully small bed.
"On the floor!" Asuka clarified.
"Ah, I see." She winked at Shinji, who immediately turned red. "As for the chore chart—"
"I don't mean to interrupt your impromptu house meeting," Ritsuko interrupted. "But she literally just got here. Can't you give her a little time to adjust?"
"Oh she'll have plenty of time to adjust." Misato looked out into the backyard. "Look at that storm out there, Ritsuko. We're all in here for the long haul, no matter how you look at it."
Rage
Asuka stared out the window. "It's really coming down out there," she remarked, a little awed. Then, annoyed, "I guess that means I won't be going outside much."
"Little too dangerous for that," Misato nodded. "Sorry, Asuka."
"Mm. Guess I picked a bad time to get hurt, huh?"
Shinji had moved from the living room to the kitchen, where he was doing some prep for dinner. "Does anyone want any coffee?" he asked when he heard the water heater go off.
No one except Ritsuko took his offer. Shinji started to pour her a mug, but partway to the top she signaled for him to stop before taking the remainder of her bourbon and pouring it into the mug.
"People do that?" he asked. "That seems…counter-intuitive."
"Think of it as getting cross-faded, but worse," Ritsuko replied as she took a sip. "Ah… good for the soul, especially in the winter months."
"If you say so."
Maya lay in the bed, curled up under her blankets.
There were a lot of things going through her mind. From what Ritsuko had told her, it had been nearly a year since Third Impact. Ritsuko herself had only come back a few weeks prior, and supposedly there was no one else for miles.
The other thing going through her mind was the fact that they had failed. For all the work NERV had gone through, all that she and her comrades had to witness, it had been for naught. Or rather, it had been service of a scheme they could have never imagined.
But then again, from what she could tell, Third Impact had been reversed. People were coming back, the deaths she witnessed on that dreaded day were reversible, and what's more her superior, her mentor, her…uh, senpai, was alive and here with her.
So why did she feel so empty inside?
Ritsuko sat at the table, anxiously tapping her long since-empty mug.
Shinji sat nearby, still nursing his cup of coffee. "Aren't you going to go back in?" he asked.
"And what? Talk to her?" Ritsuko laughed. "I can't think of anything less desirable."
"What's wrong with that?"
"Well, besides the responsibility of getting her up to date on what's been going on out here…" Ritsuko began. "I'm also gonna have to talk about everything else."
"Meaning?"
"For starters, her little crush on me."
"Oh… yeah."
"What gives, you coward?" Asuka called from the living room. "You've literally been inside her mind! How hard can it be to talk to someone about their feelings for you now that you know about them?"
Ritsuko squinted. "Ah yes, I'm sure the first thing you and Shinji did after you emerged on the beach was talk about your feelings for each other."
There was a silence.
"Gee," Asuka finally said. "That would've been great, right Shinji?"
Shinji sunk into his chair. He was never going to live that first moment down, but after living a somewhat peaceful existence with Asuka for nearly two months he was okay with that.
"Anyway," Ritsuko continued. "What Maya needs right now is space."
"Yeah, well, she's in my space," Asuka snorted. "So she's gonna need to come out eventually."
"She's right," Misato nodded. "Besides, won't she need food and other things eventually? Who's gonna be the one to bring all that to her? Because it's not gonna be me. I mean seriously, Ritsuko, how long do you think you can avoid really getting her up to speed on everything?"
Ritsuko put her hands on the table, pushed her chair back, stood up…and walked straight past the bedroom door and up the stairs. A moment later they heard the door to her room slam.
"I thought adults were supposed to know how to do things like this," Asuka remarked.
Misato laughed. "When you get older, Asuka, you'll realize that the line between child and adult is a lot more arbitrary than you were taught."
Of all the people to say that, Asuka thought to herself.
Misato sighed. "She'll come around eventually. You remember how much Instrumentality complicates things."
Asuka harrumphed. "That's one way of putting it."
Shinji glanced over at the water heater. "You think she'd want some coffee?"
"Maybe. Wouldn't hurt to ask."
Maya was still curled up under the sheets when she heard the door open.
She turned to look. "Senpai?"
"Uh, no, Lieutenant Ibuki," came the reply. "It's me."
Shinji. "Oh…hello."
"Ms. Ritsuko's upstairs, I was wondering if you'd like some coffee?"
Maya stared at the scrawny boy standing in the light of the doorway. He didn't look a day older than he had the last time she saw him.
"I'd love some," she replied.
The day he cowered while the rest of NERV burned.
"How do you take your coffee?" he asked.
The day he refused to save everyone.
"Cream and two sugars."
The day that everyone died.
"I'll be right back."
Murderer.
Shinji spooned some of the coffee granules into the mug and poured some hot water in before grabbing the sugar cubes and powdered milk. "Do you think she'll mind that it's just milk and not cream?" he asked.
"I doubt she'd complain," Asuka replied. She looked at Misato. "You know… I guess it could be nice having her as another roommate. She was always the nicest one to us."
Misato smirked. "You didn't even remember which one she was until an hour ago."
"I'm allowed to warm up, okay?" She thought. "It's getting harder to remember too much from Instrumentality, but… I remember feeling her reaction to seeing my last battle. I mean, I imagine it—well, it wasn't pretty for anyone to watch, but there was something different about it for her."
"I know what you mean," Misato nodded. "Ibuki was always the meekest of the bridge crew. I'm honestly surprised she stuck around at NERV that long."
Shinji stopped stirring the coffee to think for a moment. Instrumentality seemed like ages ago to him. By its very nature, it was everything and everyone at once, so when you gained your individual self, most of your memories were a jumble. You could pick out stuff from that jumble, but as time moved on there was just too much information to keep track of forever.
Shinji was trying to piece one thing that he was recalling, something very specific to Lieutenant Ibuki. But he couldn't remember what it was.
Finally he shook his head and walked over to the door to her bedroom. "Lieutenant Ibuki?" he knocked.
No answer. That was odd.
He opened the door and stepped in. "I have your coffee," he announced.
Then he noticed something strange. The bed was empty.
"Lieutenant Ibuki?" he called again. He stepped in a little further. "Are you in here?"
And then—
Asuka was the first to register the crash. "What the—?"
"Hmm?" Misato asked, looking up from the TV.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
Another crash. They both turned and looked at the open door to the bedroom.
Shinji desperately grasped at the hands clasped tightly around his throat. It was hard to really see much in the dark room beyond what the door illuminated, but one thing was absolutely clear: Maya was trying to kill him.
If he were of a clearer mindset, the reason would be obvious to him. Maya had been at NERV the day the JSSDF attacked. In the process, she had witnessed destruction, death, and horrors beyond her wildest imagination. And all of it was the fault of a scared little boy who was too wrapped up in his sorrows to do anything about it. This was her form of revenge.
Except that wasn't what was going through Shinji's mind at the time. Mainly he was thinking about his survival instinct, as he tried to push Maya off of him, or at least try to get her to remove her hands from his throat.
The other thing he was thinking about was the cup of coffee he had brought in for her. When she had leapt on him the coffee had spilled in his hands, burning him, and he could now see the empty mug lying uselessly on the floor.
But I made that for you, he was thinking, stupidly.
A light turned on. "What the f—" he heard a voice start to say before Maya was wrenched off of him and thrown across the room by a horrified Misato Katsuragi. "Shinji, are you okay?" she asked, immediately going to him.
He rubbed his throat. "I'm—" he winced. It was hard to talk. He looked up to try to say something, and managed to let out a croaked, "Look out!"
Misato only had time to turn and look before Maya was on her, punching and screaming as she tried to claw past her and at Shinji once more.
"Shinji, get out of here!" Misato managed to call. "And get Ritsu—!" Her last sentence was interrupted by a fist making contact with her jaw.
Shinji, still a little woozy from Maya's murder attempt, managed to stumble out of the room while Misato tried to keep Maya at bay.
"What the hell's going on in there?" Asuka asked as she started to move in the direction of the bedroom.
Shinji decided he didn't have time to respond. "DR. AKAGI!" he called out. "HELP!"
"'Help'?" Asuka asked. "Why—" She cut herself off in surprise as Maya leapt out of the room and slammed straight into Shinji, knocking him into the counter.
Shinji, a little more prepared, was more successful at knocking Maya's hands away from getting to his throat. What he was a little less prepared for was Maya grabbing one of the mugs on the table and trying to slam it straight into his head, just barely managing to get out of the way. The mug made contact with the hardwood counter, shattering it.
Misato finally emerged from the bedroom, bruised and bloodied. Wordlessly, she grabbed at Maya, trying again to physically remove her from Shinji, only for Maya to turn her attacks to her instead, grabbing another mug from the table and slamming it directly into Misato's forehead. Dazed, Misato fell against the wall and sunk to the floor.
Asuka stared at the spectacle in horror. What the hell was going on? And why wasn't she doing anything to help?
In a moment of sheer panic and adrenaline, Asuka locked the brakes on her wheelchair, grabbed at the armrests, and launched herself out of the chair, miraculously landing right on Maya's back.
Surprised by the sudden attack, Maya stumbled before landing face first on the floor.
"Stay down!" Asuka grunted.
But Maya didn't stay down. She looked up to see Shinji standing nearby, staring at her in shock. "I'll…" she breathed heavily. "I'll…" the rest of the sentence came out as a strained whisper.
"What?" Shinji asked reflexively.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" The scream rocked Shinji to his core. "I'LL KILL YOU!" She began to crawl forward.
"No you don't!" Seeing few other options, Asuka resorted to punching Maya's head and tearing at her hair. But Maya simply jolted herself, sending Asuka to the side as she tried to stand.
But before she could, Misato grabbed her by the legs and pulled hard, sending her slamming into the ground once more.
Asuka, gaining her second wind, pushed herself forward and once again managed to get a grip on Maya's upper torso. "Stay put you crazy bitch!" she growled.
"Hold her down, Asuka!" Misato called as she wrapped her arms around Maya's legs when they tried to kick her away. "Shinji, help!"
Shinji stared at the struggling Maya Ibuki, who was once again looking up at him with pure hatred.
He was not unfamiliar with hate. He'd seen it in Toji when they first met. He'd seen it in Asuka during Instrumentality.
But he had never seen hate quite like this.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Maya repeated. It was more like a chant than it was a threat at this point "I'LL KILL YOU!"
"What the hell is going on here?!" Ritsuko exclaimed, startling Shinji. He hadn't even realized she had arrived.
Misato looked up in disbelief. "What does it look like?!"
Ritsuko hesitated before making a run for the stairs. "I'll be right back!" she called. "Hold her down!"
"No shit!" Asuka shouted. "SHINJI! Stop gaping and lend a hand, you idiot!"
Shinji finally shook off his thoughts and joined Asuka in trying to hold Maya down.
Maya continued to scream, her threats at Shinji now basically incoherent as she struggled to break free.
Ritsuko reappeared shortly afterwards, fumbling with a bottle of something and a syringe. "I told you to give her space!" she grumbled as she inserted the syringe into the bottle. "What did I tell you—"
"RITS!" Misato shouted. "Whatever you're doing, would you hurry it up please?!"
"Dammit!" Ritsuko checked the syringe for any air bubbles before kneeling down on the ground. "Sorry, Maya." And she stabbed the needle straight into her neck.
Maya continued to thrash for a few more seconds, before her struggling grew weaker, and finally she went limp.
After a few tense seconds to make sure she had stopped, the three holding her let go and collapsed on the floor in exhaustion.
"What exactly happened here?" Ritsuko asked.
Shinji looked up at her. "I… I went in to give her some coffee—"
"You talked to her?!" Ritsuko stared at him in shock. "Why the hell would you do that?!"
"I…wanted to be helpful." Shinji stared at Maya, the image of pure hatred now etched in his mind. "I didn't know…"
Asuka took a deep breath. "Just what did you give her, anyway?" she panted.
Ritsuko held up the bottle of liquid. "Industrial strength horse tranquilizer," she explained. "Should keep her under for a few hours."
There was a silence.
"What?" she asked, noticing everyone's stares.
"You just…happened to have that on you?" Misato asked.
"It doesn't hurt to be prepared!"
"Prepared for what?! Tranquilizing horses?!"