Zenitsu

It was almost laughable how easy it had been for Inosuke to sneak away. So much focus was on Tanjiro, with some leftover for Zenitsu's First Form attack, that the boar-headed fool had been able to leave almost without attracting attention. Misato seemed to notice, though. Zenitsu had caught her eye as Inosuke left. Her expression was difficult to read. It showcased mixed feelings, as did most in the room.

Although they were following Ritsuko, several people were staring after them. When the people of Nerv looked at Tanjiro, with his sickly arm and discoloured eye, their joy was offset by a strange intrigue. The swordsman with the scar on his face did not seem fully human to them.

Zenitsu's chest tightened as he remembered sitting in the Entry Plug. Ever since that event, he'd been having nightmares of the LCL fluid. The scent of blood. The warm embrace that had made him feel dirty. A strange guilt stuck to him ever since.

Zenitsu's thoughts returned to the moment as Ritsuko turned around to look at Tanjiro.

"You must be confused about all this," she said with a disarming smile. "Allow us to bring you up to speed on the state of this Tokyo."

"I'd like that," Tanjiro said.

Calm diplomacy had never been one of Zenitsu's strengths. He acknowledged and accepted this. So, he made no effort to quell his temper as he stepped forward, gripping his friend's shoulder. "Don't make him go in an Eva."

"Eva?" Tanjiro asked.

Ritsuko's smile twitched. For a moment, she seemed pained.

Nothing could have surprised the orange-haired warrior more. For an instant, he saw a scared, desperate person who was just trying to do what she thought was right. This image was quickly covered by cold professionalism. "It seems you won't allow me to live that down."

At this moment, Gendo interrupted, "I'm afraid we're all busy. While we are grateful for your assistance in defeating the Angel, we must waste no time in preparing for the next attack."

Zenitsu looked to his friend. If there were such a thing as too honest, Tanjiro was that. It was clear that Gendo made him uncomfortable.

The man continued, "Your name is Tanjiro Kamado, correct?"

He nodded.

"I've heard that you are the one who defeated the most powerful of the demons in your world. Is that the case?"

"Hey!" Zenitsu stepped forward. "Who told you that?"

Gendo acted as if he hadn't been interrupted. "Your friend Inosuke has given you much praise. We are lucky to be working with someone so proficient. Dr. Akagi will inform you of what you need to know."

With that, the strange figure walked away. Ritsuko wasted no time responding to her cue. She was quick to gesture toward her lab. "We've drafted up some bullet points of information that, I believe, will cover the basics of the differences between your Japan and our own."

As Dr. Akagi led them away, and even Gendo turned to leave, Tanjiro relaxed. His skin seemed paler than usual, and his smile was not as pronounced as it ought to have been.

Zenitsu stuck close to his friend. "You look sick," he whispered to Tanjiro.

"All I smell is rot," Tanjiro replied.

Misato

The victory didn't feel real. At least, it didn't feel like it belonged to them. As Misato watched over the repairs of Unit-01, she recalled the attack. They broke through the AT Field seemingly without effort. Zenitsu broke the drill with a single strike. Tanjiro redirected an attack that had incapacitated an Eva.

Impossible didn't begin to describe the absurdity of the situation. They did it all before Unit-01 had fully begun reparations. The team had barely mobilized, and Shinji had barely made it to his hospital room before they defeated the Angel.

The repercussions of that brief battle would be far-reaching and devastating. She almost wished there were no record of it. Sooner or later, people would see it. Nerv's most vocal (and influential) critics would get their hands on it eventually.

How would they explain a boar-headed pack of muscle, a flash of lightning, and a teenager that looked like a demon? Knowing Gendo, he would twist it to their advantage, but she couldn't imagine what it would be.

Moreover, what did it mean? She needed to keep everyone focused on the Evangelions. It was impolite at best and naïve at worst to put all their faith in those three teenagers.

Of course, this ignored the ultimate fear: what if they turned aggressive?

She sighed, imagining a situation where her biggest concern would have been getting Shinji to pilot the Eva.

As she pondered this, Inosuke punched open a vent and, in a disturbing entanglement of limbs, emerged from the wall. Most who saw him yelped and recoiled. Misato's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Why were you crawling around in the vents?"

Inosuke stomped toward her, ignoring the stares of the others in the room. Still wearing that stupid pig mask, he said, "You've been lying to a lot of people."

Misato let her annoyance and frustration speak for itself. The calm face of the captain was replaced with an angry scowl. "What do you want, Inosuke?"

He stomped forward and seethe, "The Angel in the red room. The one with the spear in its chest. Why is it here, and why isn't it dead?"

Instantly, she turned pale. Her hands fell limply to her sides. It couldn't be true. "What did you just say?"

"I said why is there—"

She shook her head. "The second part. What did you just say about Lilith?"

Ritsuko

Tanjiro made almost laughable work of their gym. With only one hand, he could toss the weights around, juggle them, and balance as he did so. His only explanation for this ability was that he trained. Well, Ritsuko thought, at least he smiled. Tanjiro lacked Inosuke's menace or Zenitsu's perpetually awful attitude. It was almost refreshing.

As she had learned to do, Ritsuko embraced the absurdity of the situation. She'd requested that Rei and the newly awake Shinji be present for this examination of Tanjiro. They stood by as Tanjiro showcased his strength and explained some of his abilities.

Ritsuko made notes, mental or written, over every word.

"That's incredible!" Shinji said, grinning like a child. It was one of the few times he seemed his age. "How long did you have to train?"

"I've never stopped training." Tanjiro replied with a smile. "I've also been really lucky to have good mentors. Without them, I'd probably just be a lost boy out in the woods. I'm also lucky to have wonderful friends who help me out."

He nodded to Zenitsu, who was scowling at Rei. "Damn right you're lucky to have friends like me. You'd probably be telling everything to this blond lady if I wasn't here to check what you're saying."

Tanjiro laughed softly. "I still don't see what bad can come of talking about our training. It seems pretty obvious that nobody in this Japan can use Breaths. Besides, you two have the same hair colour."

"Mine is clearly orange! Orange!" Zenitsu yelled, focusing on his friend once more. He crossed his arms huffily. "They're up to something and I don't like it."

Ritsuko remained stoic, though she wanted to chuckle. The three may have looked older, but their naivete was that of a grade schooler. To Zenitsu, it seemed, everyone was either a friend or a foe. Inosuke, to his credit seemed entirely aware of where he stood in relation to all others. Tanjiro, thus far, seemed almost conscious in his continuous effort to keep his heart open to others. Then, there was Zenitsu, who seemed able to recognize social cues, but responded inappropriately to them.

Then again, she supposed that she ought to appreciate this child's view of the world.

In only a couple days, Ritsuko would be off to see Jet Alone, the proposed alternative to Evangelions. The machines were sure to look good without offering actual results. She was being pulled away from her important work to remind those idiots that only Nerv was capable of preventing a Third Impact.

No, there was more at stake than that. Those men who praised Jet Alone were like Zenitsu. They thought that making this machine would lead them to a world before Angels, before the Second Impact. Like them, Zenitsu believed that he would be able to return to a time where the current reality won't matter. Things never work like that. There are a few things that can slip away, little memories that will be content to lie as stories of "remember that time when?"

Then, there was trauma. Trauma rewrites the brain. The Second Impact restructured the entire planet. Species went instinct. Any person who wanted to "go back" was dangerously naïve. There is only forward. Preventing the Third Impact was only half of the goal. To meet the future, they needed to create the future.

Shape the future with a vision, or be shaped blindly by the past.

Ritsuko looked to Rei. The blue-haired girl kept her eyes on Zenitsu. If the doctor focused, it seemed that there was a slight furrow of annoyance in her eyebrows. For Rei, that was a shocking display of emotion.

"Come here," Tanjiro called to Shinji. "I want to see what the famous pilot can do."

"No, no," Shinji blushed. "I'm weak."

"That's okay. Let's get stronger together."

Luckily, Zenitsu rolled his eyes before Ritsuko felt obligated to do so. The corny line was stated without a shred of self-awareness. Shinji, however, seemed genuinely taken aback. Tanjiro called out again, "Come on."

Shinji stepped forward. Tanjiro continued to smile. There didn't seem to be drop of malice in this child. His smile, his voice, everything about him was comically gentle, except for some disconcerting physical features. Tanjiro seemed like the half-informed 'pacifist' who did nothing to advance his cause. Instead, he was supposedly this mighty warrior.

Shinji struggled to lift a weight. "See," he blushed angrily. "I'm weak."

"No, you're not. You've piloted the Eva, didn't you? You survived three different Angel attacks. You're strong. Here."

Suddenly, everyone in the room tensed. Tanjiro unsheathed his sword, spun it, and gave the hilt to Shinji. "Let's try training with this. I want to see your form."

"Are you stupid!" Zenitsu squealed.

"I feel bad for him," Tanjiro replied. "I keep hearing that there aren't any swordsmen in this Japan. I haven't seen any katanas or blacksmiths shops or anything like that since I got here. It seems so mean to carry swords when these people can't have them."

"They have guns!" Zenitsu leaped to his feet, pulling at his hair.

Tanjiro tilted his head. "What's a gun?"

With that, Rei turned around. "I'm leaving. There's no reason for me to be here."

Part of Ritsuko wished she could join her. Instead, she watched as Tanjiro taught Shinji how to grip the sword. The pilot seemed nervous to hold the weapon which had, indirectly, killed an Angel. His hands shook, but Tanjiro's gentle guidance helped steady him. As Zenitsu continued to complain, Shinji raised and swung the sword. His form was awful, and the strike likely wouldn't have done any real damage to an opponent, but Tanjiro smiled all the same. "Was that the first time you've swung a sword?"

"Yeah," Shinji nodded, eyes focused on the blade.

"Congratulations. I'm not a very good teacher, but I'll help you learn some basic stances and strikes if you'd like."

"I'd like that a lot."

Ritsuko sighed. It felt more and more as if she were viewing a sappy inspirational video for children.

Inosuke

Misato had demanded he follow her to an empty room. Once they were alone, she turned on him. "What do you mean Lilith is alive?"

"Who's Lilith?" the angry growl in his voice surprised him.

Misato gritted her teeth. Inosuke thought he could trust her. At least, out of everyone in Nerv, he trusted her the most. That didn't mean much, though. He trusted Shinji more than her, but Shinji didn't seem to know anything. The more he learned about this place, the less he liked it.

The Angels were a threat, fine! He would fight them. He'd help rebuild. There was no question of that. So why was there all of this unnecessary stuff behind the fighting? What was going on?

Misato sighed. "Before I answer you, I need you to promise me something."

"Just answer the question." As Inosuke spoke, he hated his own tone. It didn't sound like him.

Inosuke was a proud warrior. Inosuke was the self-taught swordsman. He was a fighter who didn't waste time hesitating or overthinking. He dove straight into action. Inosuke, the boar-headed, bare-chested man was supposed to be exactly that. His role was to be loud and strong. When others complained, he cheered. When others hesitated, he charged.

Now, there was an icy venom in his tone he didn't recognize.

Rubbing her temples, Misato said, "I want you to work with me."

"I already do. We fight the Angels. This is stupid. All of this is stupid. I should be outside right now, fixing up the city. Why'd I even come back to this stupid building?"

"I don't know much about where you're from, but things aren't so simple here. We aren't just—"

"Who's Lilith?" Inosuke blurted. "And why does the room it's in smell like that LCL stuff?"

After rubbing her eyes and swearing under her breath, Misato replied. "You know how this place is called Tokyo-3, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the first Angel you saw was actually the Third Angel. Lilith is the second." She tried to explain the Second Impact in the simplest terms possible.

Inosuke got the basics: there'd been two Angels before. Nobody had been prepared. They nearly destroyed the world. Nerv came about after that in case more monsters came. They built their place around Lilith. New monsters needed a new weapon. Evas are that weapon.

"Now," Misato said, speaking slowly, carefully forming each syllable. "There are a lot of people who disagree about how we should fight the Angels."

"What's there to disagree about? If there's an enemy, fight it!"

Misato rubbed her eyes. "You really are a child. Look, Inosuke. I need you to promise me something. Don't tell anyone about Lilith."

"Why should I listen to you?" He screamed.

Why did his voice sound so desperate? Why did he feel scared? His angry words poured out of him seemingly without his control. "Why doesn't anything here make sense? You have an enemy. You fight it. What else is there? I don't get it!"

Misato calmly stared down at him. "I want you to keep exploring Nerv and finding its secrets."

Instantly, his confusion was replaced with suspicion. "Why?"

"Because I know there are a lot of secrets in this place, and I can't poke too deeply without risking my job. I want you to keep exploring. Report what you find to me."

Inosuke grunted, growled, and bit his lips in frustration. He wanted to scream at the stupidity of it all. She was asking him to spy on her allies.

"You still haven't answered why the Lilith thing is alive."

"All I know is that it's important to how we understand the Angels and the Evas."

Inosuke gripped the fur of his mask. "I'm done with this. I'm gonna go check on Shinji."

Tanjiro

Even amidst all the strange events, a certain regularity came about. In only a few days, most of the city's reparations were underway. Research was being done on the Angel. Tests continued on Unit-01. The scientists continued to question the three. They wanted a blood sample from Tanjiro, but Zenitsu refused to let any needles approach him.

Inosuke, suddenly, seemed more stubborn than usual. He practically barked at everyone. He spent most of his time running around. Nerv became his private obstacle course. Those minding their own business might see him hopping platform to platform, or scaling walls of metal by gripping paper-thin ledges in the walls. Usually, he ran off into the woods with a comms unit in his mask, telling the people of Nerv only to message him if another Angel arrived.

Shinji tried to spend some of his free time with Tanjiro, who agreed to help him practice with a sword. This practice was limited to evenings, since Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke spent most of the day helping with the rebuilding, as they promised.

On one afternoon, as the three helped rebuild, they found themselves alone at the top of a tall building. Tanjiro was continuously in awe of the construction and of the technology. Even the material amazed him. It all seemed unreal.

Inosuke heaved a sigh as he gazed out toward the lake. "It's like I haven't had any fresh air until I got this high up. I feel too cramped in Nerv."

Zenitsu shook his head. "I get that. I hate being here. It sucks."

Tanjiro patted his friend gently on the shoulder. "Come on, now. It's not so bad. We have the opportunity to see—"

"See new things. Discover new places. Help new people," Zenitsu droned.

"Exactly," Tanjiro smiled, undeterred.

Inosuke shook his head. "There's something sick inside Nerv."

"Yep," Zenitsu nodded. "I still don't get what that thing you found in the red room is. Why does Misato want you to—"

"Too many questions!" Inosuke snapped. "Questions always. Where are some damn answers! There aren't any. I don't care. I say we make a new rule now. No more than one question at a time. If we get stuck asking things, we'll be too lazy to do things. I hate this. I just want to fight monsters."

Zenitsu sighed, then turned to Tanjiro. "What about the kid? What do you think of Shinji?"

Tanjiro chuckled, but the sound was forced. Both of his friends noticed, becoming silent as they looked to him.

"Shinji is…" he tried to find something to say.

The boy was conflicted. That was the only word for it. Some days, it was as if there was a Shinji-shaped hole in the area he stood. His feelings were often so buried or small that they seemed non-existent. Yet, at other times, there was an overwhelming aura of terror and anger emanating from him. It seemed like he was experiencing every negative emotion at once. How he could go from nothing to everything was frightening in itself.

"I think the training is good for him," Tanjiro decided to say.

Inosuke sat down. "He's a good kid."

"He's a coward and a mess," Zenitsu said.

Inosuke shrugged. "There's a good heart somewhere in that storm."

"Storm!" Tanjiro snapped his fingers. "That's what it is. It's like there's a storm going on in his head. He's always empty or there's a terrible storm. There's never a calm moment."

Zenitsu stood. "And he's the one Nerv chose to save the world."

Both Inosuke and Tanjiro opened their mouths to reply. Neither spoke.

Ritsuko

By far, the most frustrating part of working for Nerv was representing it. The much-dreaded day of the Jet Alone demonstration arrived. It wasn't surprising that other companies wanted to make anti-Angel weapons, but the blatantly selfish and profiteering way they went about it bordered on parody. The idea of an unpiloted weapon made some sense: it prevented mental damage and reduced the chances of the weapon (or pilot) going berserk. Yet, the absence of a pilot meant the absence of an AT Field. Even ignoring the safety concerns of the proposed mech's nuclear power source, it would be useless against an Angel if it couldn't generate an AT Field.

The whole thing seemed like a farce. Maybe that's why Nerv only spared two people for representation. In the crowded room full of men in suits, two women sat in the centre, alone at a table, the bullseye of an obvious target.

Ritsuko and Misato were prepared to take the easy lobs, immature jabs, and dodgy reactions. The proposed non-Eva countermeasure was clearly inferior to Nerv's efforts, as all would soon see. Yet, for every point that could be argued, Dr. Akagi prepared to hear some variant on "well, look at Nerv. They're so much worse!"

Misato didn't pretend to be interested. This whole opening ceremony was an obvious attempt to pander to investors and diplomats. To Captain Katsuragi, this was almost a demotion. She was one of the most important people in the entire organization, yet, on this day, she would be insulted for being a woman. Ritsuko didn't relish it either. On the way into the room, she'd heard enough insults at her blond hair that she began to believe that most of the room was either too dull or too lazy to form original thoughts.

Still, she was prepared. This foolish meeting, and the doomed presentation of the unpiloted Jet Alone, would see Nerv shining as humanity's only hope against the Angels. She could patiently weather the storm until then. So, she patiently waited for her cue, all the while enduring insults and accusations that would have been considered slander in North America.

It was almost impressive, Ritsuko thought, to be accused of childish naivete and intense malice in the same conversation. Nerv was the awful, rule-breaking, unsupervised bully. They were also the overly simple children who believed in the human heart.

The time finally came for Ritsuko to voice her concerns. Dr. Akagi held a microphone, reminding the speaker that Jet Alone had the potential to be more destructive than the past three Angel incidents combined. Wearing a cocky grin, the representative told the room that nothing spoken by a representative of Nerv could be trusted.

The verbal tennis continued for several sentences, during which, the others in the room dutifully laughed at all jabs directed at the women. Finally, the expected topic arose. The speaker said, "While we have your attention, Dr. Akagi, I would like you to explain the contents of a video which has recently come to our attention."

A screen descended behind the podium. Misato stiffened as the room dimmed. All eyes became enraptured as the video began. The "leak" had dutifully reached the committee. The room watched as three colourful teenagers defeated an Angel within seconds. Gasps and cries of disbelief filled the room.

"Would you care to explain?" the man at the podium asked.

"Of course," she nodded and approached the stage. "Could you please restart the video?"

The speaker froze. His smile became a mask. While Ritsuko wasn't vindictive by nature, she found some small pleasure in his confusion. It was a professional enjoyment, she supposed. A chess master might feel the same when an opponent mistakenly calls checkmate, only to discover they had missed the very move which would cost them the game.

She ascended to the stage as the video began again. In front of some of the most influential witnesses in the world, the greatest critics of her organization, Ritsuko did her calm performance:

"After the unexpected results of Unit-01's first encounter with the Angel, it was deemed necessary to allocate all possible resources into methods which could provide use as a supplementary method of engagement against the Angels. The original goal was to allow the average ground-level personnel member to provide assistance in weakening an Angel's AT Field, or at least create a divergence in the hopes of minimizing collateral and property damage. If you look closely in this video, you will notice that our three brave members are using our AT Batons. As the name suggests, these provide a means of attacking an Angel's AT Field and, beyond our hopes, manipulating the energy used by Angels in their attacks. This breakthrough occurred when our researchers turned the focus from breaking through an AT Field to using the energy of the Angel to make a weapon which could directly influence energy therefrom. The final piece of this research puzzle arose in the idea of making a Prog Knife style weapon on a smaller size. The only way to do this, of course, was to create a weapon which operated on the same principle as the Evangelion Units. Through the analysis of the necessary wave functions and frequency matches necessary for pilots to effectively move the Evangelion – a process which our gracious hosts, the creators of Jet Alone, so casually dismiss as unnecessary in defeating an opponent they have never directly encountered – we ascertained that these batons matched with Wielders the same way Evas matched with Pilots. Upon this discovery, a new initiative began to find those who could most effectively use these batons in our efforts to provide effective countermeasures against future Angel attacks."

Dr. Akagi spoke like this for nearly half an hour, going through each frame with confident, meaningless drivel. She even managed to adlib a section about how the dragon so clearly visible in the video was "an aesthetically pleasing coincidence of the Baton's AT Disruptor manipulating the energy of the Angel's attack".

Every word of it was nonsense, but the crowd lapped it up. By the time she was through, every person in the room would be bored of the video.

Misato

After the meeting ended, Misato and Ritsuko were alone for the first time in several days. This was an insult in itself. After the opening ceremony, they were the only women in the dressing room. Still, Misato was grateful to have the chance to speak to her friend without witnesses. Misato stared at her friend. "How long have you been preparing that little speech?"

"What speech?" Ritsuko asked, lavishing uncharacteristically in the success of her performance.

"You just explained away one of the most significant videos ever recorded."

Ritsuko shrugged. "I ensured that our new friends won't be pestered by other organizations. Personally, I'm more surprised that the video was leaked so soon. Then again, nothing has been predictable since our boar-headed friend arrived. Even the Marduk Report has failed to consider some of the major events of the past weeks."

Misato raised an eyebrow. She wanted to trust her friend. Though her respect for Ritsuko increased with the performance, doubt came with it. The only time anyone at Nerv brought up the Marduk Report was when they were trying to hide something – or she was overhearing a conversation that wasn't meant to be heard.

She made a mental note to send Inosuke sneaking around Gendo's office. Immediately, she mentally erased the note. It would be a death sentence for him. It was impossible.

So, Misato returned her focus to Ritsuko. "Are you claiming to have improvised that full speech?"

Ritsuko shrugged. "Of course not. We needed to tell the world eventually. Today, I simply had to do a press conference ahead of schedule. We should be grateful. After they played that video, everyone who watched it gained a new interest in Nerv."

"You know that's bullshit. As soon as you started talking about their swords as pieces of technology, they may as well have pulled out their wallets. You practically started an auction for these so-called AT Batons."

"Tanjiro is preventing that," Ritsuko answered. "With the image of his eye and arm, we have an unfortunate example of the possible negative effects of using this still in-development technology. Besides, a person can only become a Wielder if their wave formations properly form a Synchonization with—"

Misato grimaced as Ritsuko played off her script. There were a million ways this lie could fall apart. Why did the three seem so young? What mental effects were there if one of them was charging in shirtless and wearing a pig mask? Actually, neither of those mattered. "Ritz, you just said that there are harmful side effects. It won't be long before someone comes after that. You just admitted to endangering personnel."

To this, Ritsuko walked to the mirror and checked her makeup. An aching pang spread through Misato's chest. She knew her friend well enough to know that Ritsuko only avoided eye contact when she was hiding something. She'd find a perfectly reasonable way to hide it, but it was a dodging tactic nonetheless.

Another question to add to the list: what was Ritsuko hiding from her?

Looking at her reflection, Ritsuko said, "Funny you mention endangering personnel. We're about to go see the test of Jet Alone."

Misato waited. The rest of the sentence never came. "And?"

Without a change in tone, Ritsuko said, "It's a nuclear reactor in a vessel that's meant to be beaten, shot, and exposed to unknown levels of radiation. Further, the observation deck for this test is in the direct path of the potentially deadly experiment. If anyone claims that we're dangerously neglectful," she turned, looked Misato in the eyes, and offered a joyless smile, "I will find the most diplomatic means of calling them a hypocrite."

It seemed valid. It all sounded reasonable. That was why Ritsuko had been sent as one of Nerv's primary representative. She was as persuasive as she was articulate. Misato wanted to trust her friend. "Well," she decided. "Maybe I'm just pissed at how they insulted us at the start."

"I understand that." Ritsuko nodded. "We should save our energy for the test of Jet Alone. Anything could happen."

Zenitsu

Tanjiro was trying to teach Shinji how to dance. The kid didn't have much skill with a sword, but he turned out to be coordinated. That special dance, which had passed down from generation to generation, and which had ultimately allowed Tanjiro to defeat Muzan, was now being clumsily misperformed.

Admittedly, the pilot was picking up the steps quicker than he'd been picking up on sword forms.

Zenitsu shook his head. That didn't matter. He refocused on the books in his lap, tapping his pen against the crowded pages of a notebook. Was it for his own book, or was he just researching at this point? It was hard to tell. If he dedicated enough time, he could probably learn how to make some of the things in this new world.

If he could return home with knowledge of how this Japan's technology worked, he would be a hero. Zenitsu might be able to become the figure which led Japan to the future. Nezuko would definitely fall for him them. Any woman would fall for— no. He was interested in Nezuko.

Zenitsu gritted his teeth and moved pen across paper. He was no longer the boy on the road who begged random, strange women to marry him. He was a proud member of the Demon Slayer Corps…

But the Corps was no longer in operation. He'd helped defeat Muzan, but nobody cared. Most of his country didn't even acknowledge the existence of demons. His own fellow slayers had spent so many decades and generations honing their swordsmanship that they'd ignored the world as it marched forward.

Dammit. What if Japan was already on the way toward this technology, and he simply didn't know about it? Zenitsu had spent his time living with the Demon Slayers Corps since Muzan was defeated. He loved being with them, but what had he missed?

Suddenly, Zenitsu slapped his own cheeks. It was happening again. With eyes closed, he took a deep breath.

It was happening again. Whatever he had, he wanted more. Whenever he took hold of something new, that which he'd yet to attain became the most desirable. It wasn't healthy, and he knew it. He should focus on the small things. Little goals.

Goal one: return home.

Goal two: enjoy the blossoming romance he'd started with Nezuko.

That was all.

Yet, trying to grasp those goals was like trying to close a fist around water. It spilled out between his fingers. There seemed to be more. Those two things scattered into a million sub-goals until they no longer resembled the original.

Maybe he was doing what he always did and getting lost in his mind. After a month, he and Nezuko weren't even officially together. After everything, it had seemed wisest, and most tactful, to let scars heal and tears fall. It was the time to rebuild.

His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden alarm. Instantly, Zenitsu shrieked, easily outdoing the alarm in volume. A tinny voice said, "Shinji Ikari report to Unit-01 bay immediately. Usage of the Evangelion requested by Captain Katsuragi." It rattled off a quick code.

"Angel?" Tanjiro asked.

"No way! We'd feel it."

Shinji began running to the door. "I need to go. It doesn't sound like it's an attack or anything, so… uh… You two stay here for now."

With that, Shinji left. The alarm quieted.

Zenitsu and Tanjiro were left alone in the gym. After a few moments in silence, Tanjiro sighed. "Can't be helped, I guess. It'll be difficult for him to improve his abilities with so little training, but he's busy, so we'll work with what we've got."

Instead of replying, Zenitsu tapped his pen against the page. This might be an opportunity. Misato, Ritsuko, and Shinji were away. According to chatter he'd overheard earlier, Gendo should also be in a meeting.

Quickly, he was on his feet. "Tanjiro, what do you think of Rei?"

The name brought a reaction like a wince. "Well…" the eternal optimist scratched at his cheek, still holding that silly smile he kept outside of battle. "Where'd this come from all the sudden?"

Even Tanjiro, who pitied demons, found something strange about that red-eyed girl. "Follow me. I think she knows more than she's letting on."

"Wait," Tanjiro said as Zenitsu marched toward the door. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to interrogate her. Something is wrong with Nerv, and I think Rei is tied to the centre of that wrongness."

"Do you even know where she is?"

Zenitsu ran out the door. Tanjiro chased his friend. "Do you even know where she is?"

The lightning warrior replied, "If Shinji was called to pilot, they've got to have a back-up pilot ready."

With their speed, they made it to the main room before Shinji was even in the entry plug. Tanjiro whispered confused pleas to his friend, but to no avail. Zenitsu waited, tapping his foot and watching the screens, as Shinji climbed into the entry plug and Unit-01 was loaded onto a large plane.

From what little he could gather, there was some accident with someone else's weapon against the Angels. It didn't sound all that serious.

After several minutes, Rei Ayanami, dutifully garbed in a plug suit should she be needed, entered the room.

As soon as she entered, Zenitsu walked toward her. "Rei," he said.

She turned an unfeeling gaze on him. "Yes?"

That emotionless doll's face enraged him. It was wrong. Nobody should look like that. Especially someone so young!

Doll! His instincts screamed the word. There was no feeling. Even the tiny amount of emotion she did display was an imitation. There was something horribly wrong with Rei. Still, he couldn't tell if she was wrong herself, or if she'd been broken by someone else.

"I need to talk to you. In private."

Tanjiro followed, still asking what was going on.

"I want to be on standby in case—"

"It won't take long," he pressed.

With the tiniest expression of frustration, she followed him out into the hall. Nerv HQ had dozens of small meeting rooms, so he led her to the nearest one. Her compliance made him angry.

No, that was wrong. Her silence, her willingness, her lack of will, frightened him. No person he knew could function like that. Could it be called living? Was she alive? It didn't make sense. Nothing made sense.

Zenitsu needed something concrete. He would learn, if nothing else, if this girl was human.

Once they were alone in the dark room, Rei asked, "What is it you—"

Metal slid from its sheath. Flecks of lightning danced around Zenitsu as he slashed through the air.

"Zenitsu!" Tanjiro screamed.

As desired, the blade halted a hand's width from her face.

Rei flinched. She seemed to react in slow motion. Her body pulled back, her hand instinctively moving toward her heart. The red eyes widened, seeming to tremble. A barely audible gasp snuck out of her as the lightning died.

Suddenly, Tanjiro grabbed Zenitsu by the arm and threw him against the wall. "What's wrong with you?"

As that happened, tears formed in Rei's eyes. "Huh?" she murmured. Her hands lifted to her face. Experimentally, she touched her eyes. The wet texture of her tears shocked her. "I'm crying?" she asked.

Zenitsu listened. Her heartbeat quickened. Even her pulse had a delayed reaction to his slash.

"Answer me!" Tanjiro headbutted Zenitsu. It was like being punched by a rock.

"Ouch!" he yelled, covering his head with one hand and sheathing his sword with the other. "I was never going to hurt her."

"That doesn't make it okay! Apologize and explain right now."

"I'm trying to—" he looked to Rei.

The tears were flowing freely. She stared at nothing. Her hands were frozen in front of her as tears flowed from unblinking eyes. It was the most human expression he knew: terror.

"Eh?" she repeated. "Eh? What? What is this?" Even her voice was stammering. "I'm crying?"

Zenitsu opened his mouth, but no words came. Tanjiro glared at him. The distrust in his friend's good eye hurt far worse than the unseeing menace of the demon eye. There was more than anger in the look. There was disappointment.

"Wait," Zenitsu said. "I needed to check something. Rei's not normal. She doesn't seem fully human. Something's wrong with her. I didn't think she'd react at all. I didn't think she was human."

Tanjiro lifted his good hand. "Just shut up! I don't know what's gotten into you, but don't insult this poor girl when she's standing right here!"

He walked up to the weeping Rei. "Let's go. I'll make him apologize later."

No. This was all wrong. Rei Ayanami was going to barely flinch. The girl didn't have feelings. She wasn't a fully formed person; he'd been so sure. She was supposed to stay like a statue as he struck toward her. He'd prove that she wasn't a real person. He was going to find proof of… something. What had he wanted?

He'd only wanted answers. She knew something. That girl was supposed to reveal the truth about Nerv, or about the chorus that had her voice.

She wasn't real. The people in this Japan weren't like the people in his Japan. Rei wasn't some innocent person. Zenitsu had been so sure she wasn't even fully a person. She wasn't…

His stomach seemed to turn to stone. Bile and vomit rose in his throat as the realization hit. He'd just attacked and terrified an innocent child. An ally. What was he doing? Why had he thought this was a good idea?

Dammit! None of this was supposed to happen. He was supposed to be at home. They'd defeated the demons. They'd finished their adventures. There was no reason for any of this. They didn't deserve this. All the stuff about Angels and Nerv and… it wasn't his problem. Why did Tanjiro and Inosuke want to help so much? It wasn't their problem.

He slumped against the wall. "I want to go home."