Zenitsu

As Zenitsu had tried to explain what he'd experienced, and why he needed to return, he heard Rei's voice. A single thread had reached out to him. "Cut it," she said. He answered. A dragon of lightning roared into existence, its light blotting out the sun. His sword flew, cutting through the fabric of an AT Field.

The details remained obscure, but he understood the basics.

He'd thought that slicing through the curtain might bring him back to Nerv. Instead, something more bizarre happened. She'd somehow connected every living thing and person within Nerv to this thread. When he cut the curtain between worlds, the people of Nerv all fell through the gap, landing in his home.

As the tear in reality healed itself, he heard her voice. "Thank you," she said.

The voice went quiet. Zenitsu faltered as he realized what had happened. Just as he'd killed Nephilim when he broke their AT Field, so too he killed Rei when he cut the thread. Bringing the mass of people, and these strange monsters, had been her wish, he knew, but that couldn't stop the loathing.

Murderer, he thought. After all the cowardly things he'd done and various sins he committed, he had killed the person who most deserved his apology. He diverted the hatred into duty. For the first time, he commanded his fellow warriors of the Demon Slayer Corps. Rescue the people; destroy the giants.

Even with his foot in its condition, he fought hard. No Slayer dared be near him as he eviscerated the enemies. Adrenaline and fury held back the misery as he vanquished the enemy in a one-man storm.

Somehow, he held himself together. When all the fake Evas fell, he marched toward the people of Nerv. Nezuko had gotten to them first. She knelt in front of Misato, shaking the woman's shoulders and imploring something. Misato stammered something, then lowered her head sadly.

Nezuko fell back. From there, the girl wailed in painful grief. Zenitsu approached, wondering what news caused this. He realized as he approached. His eyes looked over the crowd of Nerv people, then at the Slayers. Someone was missing.

"Tanjiro?"

Misato shook her head.

Zenitsu fell. His tears joined Nezuko's.

Misato

Though the literal battles had ended, the next few days were some of the most exhausting of Misato's life. With the news of Tanjiro's death, grief rippled outward. His sister wailed the loudest, but all the Slayer's wept openly and often. It felt invasive to watch such intense emotion. The people of Nerv had considered him incredible, but none of them had realized how intensely he'd shaped people's lives.

Some had responded with fury. Zenitsu and Inosuke had needed to step between them and unsheathed swords on multiple occasions on that first day. It became exhausting just to listen to the passionate shouts and arguments. She could see how this world produced the Slayers she'd known. Everybody here was bombastic, direct, and untiring.

They were also kind.

Even as they wept and wondered who these strange people were, they showed incredible hospitality. Even the ones who'd responded with rage and mistrust soon changed their minds. These colourful strangers opened their homes, gave them food, and asked what they had been through.

Several Nerv members had broken down while talking to these people. The people of the Demon Slayer Corps seemed to feel and understand emotions without trying. "You're hiding pain," they said. Or, "Something scared you." These people reached out with kindness, often crying with the Nerv members.

The constant intensity of emotions became tiring. Misato's experience with civil service and diplomacy seemed out of place, though it earned respect with the people who seemed to be the highest ranking. She'd needed to spend days explaining the struggle against the Angels. Zenitsu, luckily, stood by her much of the time, helping to translate much of the events in a way they could understand.

Of everything in this world, perhaps what surprised her most was Zenitsu. Everyone seemed surprised by the sudden change in the bratty loudmouth. He forced meetings between Nerv's members and the craftsmen of this world. Zenitsu yelled about designs and inventions that he wanted introduced to this world, often forcing the meetings to last until someone could draw a blueprint. The orange-haired boy seemed determined to bring this Japan forward in technology.

His voice seemed to remain at a perpetually shrill yell as he explained how Japan would look one day. All the tiny details of modernity which Misato and the Nerv members took for granted, he described as a future paradise that they could attain for future generations.

It was how he coped, she knew. He seemed more distraught that most. Even the people of Nerv recognized it. His eyes welled with tears when he slowed down, but he didn't let them fall. He found it difficult to look his fellow Slayers in the eye. Especially the girl Nezuko. He seemed ashamed whenever he was close to her.

Too much happened for Misato to focus on that, however. It took all her effort to give her story and field questions. They asked about Nerv and Evas and LCL and the Impacts. She was grateful that neither Shinji nor Asuka had to deal with the stress of explaining the situation.

The former pilots quickly became celebrities. "You can ride those metal giants!" became a common refrain.

It'd never be proven, with the Evas now permanently disconnected from a power source, but these people believed them. Shinji blushed at the attention, often seeming uncomfortable, but Inosuke served as the ultimate hype man. That strange, boar-masked warrior talked about the events of the past weeks with all the terms Misato avoided. While she spoke of tactics and strategy, he described a near-mythic battle against monsters.

It didn't help that Asuka played into this. She accepted the applause, often adding and playing up details of the events. As Misato had watched Inosuke give his exaggerated memory of a battle, Kanao had commented, "I imagine this version of the story will spread further than your report."

"Probably," Misato had sighed as Inosuke and Asuka argued with Shinji about the details.

The emotions reached a strange peak at the double funeral. Two memorials stood. On one, they saw a block with Tanjiro's name written in beautiful calligraphy. On the other, Zenitsu had laboured to make one for Rei. It astonished Misato that the Corps had not only agreed to commemorate Rei, but that they suggested it.

"They both saved your world. We should honour both of them."

They'd said it as if there were no reason to consider it. On the night of the funeral, they mourned her, just as they mourned their own. They asked her, Shinji, Asuka, and all others to tell stories of their time with Tanjiro. After all the time they'd spent with him, some of them bemoaned that they hadn't been with him in the end. They'd fought by his side for so long, but they'd lost him to a battle they never could have joined. So, they listened to stories.

Shinji spoke of learning the Kamado family dance. Asuka spoke of a guy who was so nice she couldn't believe it. Various people at Nerv spoke of someone who would stop in the hall to say, "You're tired. Is there something you need?"

People came from all around to pay their respects to Tanjiro. Swordsmiths, butchers, farmers, geisha, and every possible type of person arrived. It humbled Misato to see how many people Tanjiro had affected. As she listened to them tell stories of his adventures, she began to appreciate what these people had gone through. They'd been fighting the demons with the same desperation with which Nerv had fought the Angels, and against similarly dire odds.

Thus, it surprised her when so many of these people came up to her and offered condolences. They asked to hear about Rei.

Shinji, Zenitsu, Nezuko, and Kanao spent much of the night in need of consolation.

It became too much. Misato felt out of place, as did many of the other Nerv members. They'd been hardened, taught to never show emotions so bluntly. This open display made them uncomfortable. They couldn't unlearn what had been hardwired into them. Slowly, the Nerv members left.

The next day, Misato sat in a yukata which had been made for her. She sat on a tatami floor, drinking tea, and staring at her uniform, which hung on the wall in front of her. After a while, she moved outside. Everyone who had formerly been under her command waited in the garden for her. Not a single uniform remained. They stood arrayed in simple robes and yukata.

Only a few pairs of glasses showed signs of their former home. It'd take a while to accept their new life, and the question of what might have been would forever hang over them, but she understood why Rei had chosen to bring them here. If they'd remained in Nerv HQ, the mass-produced Evas would have destroyed them. The military would have come after them. Each member of Nerv would have suffered for the sins of Gendo.

For their home, Misato could only hope. Every person on that earth saw and felt Rei. Damning evidence of the attempted Third Impact now lay in the hearts and minds of all people. Inquiries would be made. Maybe, for once, the people in power could be held accountable. Maybe the files and videos would spread to the right people. Maybe, just maybe, the people could have a chance against the likes of SEELE.

Still, it wasn't fair. Her own world still hadn't recovered from the Second Impact. Part of her felt survivor's guilt at living in this beautiful Japan. Even without the technology to which she'd become accustomed, she breathed clean air. She would see the seasons change.

Not only this, but her and her fellow members of the Nerv team would be crucial to this world. They'd offer their engineering and understanding to help move this world forward. Perhaps, she thought, they could help establish a better world.

Whatever the case, she had a purpose. Though it may take some convincing, she believed her team would feel the same way.

Shinji

The Third Child sat meditating in a dark room. He didn't feel the focus or intensity the Slayers had described, but he found it helped him remain calm, so he kept up the practice. He wanted to relax. The day had been spent training in kendo. He lacked the stamina, strength, or coordination of a Slayer, but he enjoyed the practice. The people were encouraging, too. He enjoyed being with them.

Now, he sat alone, not hiding from the world, but meditating.

Suddenly, the door swung open. Asuka sighed, "You didn't waste any time adjusting, did you?"

Shinji turned. As he looked at her, he blushed. Her red hair hung loose around her shoulders. The robe held loose around her. By this point, they'd become used to the dim starlight of the evenings. "Uh, yeah, I guess," he said.

"Wish I could say the same," she huffed, entering the room without requesting and sitting on a cushion across from him. "I was already annoyed at sleeping on the floor, but now we don't even have air conditioning or toilets."

Shinji laughed nervously. "I guess it'd be hard to adjust to this from a German upbringing, huh?"

"Yeah," she used the same words as the Asuka he'd known, but her energy had vanished. Since that bizarre moment when he'd entered Unit-01 and spoke directly to her, she'd seemed subdued. Her intense personality reignited in front of crowds, but when she was alone with people from her homeworld, especially Shinji, she became quiet.

She said, "If you could bring any one thing to this world from home, what would you choose?"

Shinji thought seriously for a moment. "Either my cello or my cassette player."

"Ah, music. Not a bad pick." Asuka nodded. Shinji barely held back his surprise. Asuka hardly ever agreed with him. He'd expected a biting comment or some unneeded sarcasm. Instead, she calmly sat across from him and talked. "What do you think I'd pick?"

She raised her eyes and looked at him. Asuka had stared him down dozens of times, but this felt like the first time she'd ever seen him. Instead of offering judgment and anger, she asked a simple question and awaited his response.

"Um…" he wondered. "Showers?"

"That'd be nice, yeah, but I think I can adapt. You get one more guess."

"Okay…?" he looked around the room. Soon, his eyes landed on the door. He recalled something she'd said earlier. "Locking doors."

Asuka seemed to soften. "Not a bad guess, ex-pilot."

"You're an ex-pilot too, you know?"

"Yeah," she leaned back, letting herself lie down on the tatami floor. Shinji looked away as her legs bared beneath the robe. She either didn't notice or didn't care. "I know," she added. "Maybe that's why I've been wanting to spend more time with you."

"Huh?" it took most of his effort not to respond more intensely. It felt like news to him. They'd been in this bizarre situation together. He couldn't think of a moment where she would have had the opportunity to duck away on her own.

His surprise seemed to annoy her. Her expression hardened, but she shut her eyes and sighed. After a deep breath, she relaxed. "We're the only two people who know what it's like to pilot an Eva. There's nobody else who will ever know that feeling." She pushed herself up and looked at him again. Shinji nearly flinched. The eyes had wetted with the beginnings of tears. "Hey, do you hate me?"

"What?" she didn't retort. Awkward silence filled the space between them. "Wait, Asuka, what do you mean?"

She looked away. Her hands clenched into fists. "I almost ended the world, Shinji. I don't fully understand what all happened, but I almost… I wanted to… Shinji, I could have… I'm a horrible person!"

Finally, the veneer broke. She buried her face between her knees and sobbed.

Shinji, utterly out of his depth, moved toward her. "Hey, wa— wait. Just… you're not a bad person."

"No?" she asked, laughing bitterly. She looked at him again. As the tears streamed down her cheeks, she gave him the saddest smile he'd ever seen. "What else can you call it? I attacked Rei. Things might've been different if I hadn't done that. Maybe she wouldn't be dead. Maybe we'd all still be home, and—"

"Asuka!" He grabbed her shoulders. Part of him had expected her to criticize and attack him. Instead, she didn't react. She simply looked at him. He thought he understood in that moment. There wasn't going to be a prompt. This situation would not allow him to blindly follow an order or parrot someone else. This person, who knew him better than most, sat in front of him, waiting for him to offer something from himself. It lay on him to decide what he would offer.

He swallowed. Asuka waited.

After several agonized seconds, he admitted the truth. "I don't think I would've stopped myself in your position."

She tilted her head.

Shinji repeated. "If things had been a little different, if I didn't have Inosuke or Tanjiro or Misato to always help… I would've attacked Rei. I would've… caused Third Impact. There's no doubt. I would've… I think it's amazing that you decided not to do it, even though you could have."

Asuka stared at the floor. "Did you know the Slayers aren't affected by the Impact? I tried to get rid of Inosuke… I tried to kill him…"

Shinji didn't speak. He followed an impulse. He let go of her shoulders, shuffled to her side, and sat with her, his shoulder gently touching hers.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I don't know what to say. I don't think there's anything I can say that will make you feel better. So, please know that you're not a bad person. You're really incredible, I think. And… I'm here with you. I don't know what to say, so I'll just… try to… be here, with you. I want to help you and be your friend."

A soft chuckle lightened her expression. "Friend, huh?" She sighed. "Yeah, let's try that." She raised her arm and threw it around him. She pulled him close. "We can try 'friends'."

Unsure what to do, Shinji put an arm around her. She leaned further onto him. "Hey, I gotta ask you something. How did you talk into my mind when I was up there?"

Shinji replied honestly, "I don't know. It just kinda happened."

Inosuke

"Oi, move it, Thunderhead. Let's go."

"You're asking a cripple to climb a hill!" Zenitsu complained. It was equal parts annoying and heartening to see the dude being his usual self. He'd been way too serious since they got back home. Inosuke thought he was like the opposite of Tanjiro in this way. He felt guilty for everything. He was working hard not because he wanted to, but because he felt guilty.

The guy had done the best he could! This only could have happened if Rei trusted him. He didn't need to be so harsh on himself. So, as their friends turned to sleep, he led Zenitsu toward the woods, looking to spend some time alone with him. He only had a hunch of what would happen, but he bet on that hunch.

Zenitsu followed, grumbling, "What's gotten into you, anyway?"

Inosuke grunted, "I don't like seeing you beat yourself up. You look like you're in pain, and you're making Nezuko wonder if you don't care about her anymore."

Zenitsu tripped. "Wha-wha-what? How'd that— I care about her more than anyone else! I want to try to be with her. Like… be! With, her! Why would she think—"

Inosuke turned, stretched out his arm, and flicked his friend on the forehead. "You're thinking like the Shinji-kid or the people in the other Japan. How's she supposed to know you care when you don't even look at her?"

Zenitsu flubbed his words. "It's— Well… I… I'm not good enough. I hurt Rei. I killed Rei! I couldn't save Tanjiro. If I hadn't been in such a rush, maybe he would still be—"

"Maybe this. Maybe that. Bullshit!" Inosuke retorted. "We beat the enemy. We saved as many people as we could. If you regret that, work to try to be better next time around. All you're doing now is hurting yourself. You care more than anyone else. I saw you dig a grave and say a prayer for the green-haired Rei copy."

"Their name was Nephilim!" Zenitsu exploded. His jaw moved in automatic motions, fighting oncoming sobs. "I killed Nephilim, too. They didn't need to—"

"Oi, you told me already, didn't you? You didn't know that would happen."

"That doesn't make it any better."

"You remember Nephilim, right? You defend the memory. You've got that name listed among the victims, not among the enemy. If you care about that person, you should treat the place they live with some respect."

"Nephilim's dead, asshole." Zenitsu said bluntly. "What are you even saying?"

"Yeah, they're dead." Inosuke jabbed his index finger against Zenitsu's forehead. "Who was the only person in the world who knew anything about them? You. Who's the only person who knows they weren't an out-and-out monster? You. What's left of Nephilim lives in you."

"I hate you so much right now," Zenitsu said. "You don't understand anything."

"Fine, then," Inosuke turned away and began trudging further into the brush. Zenitsu reluctantly followed. "If you don't think you're good enough," Inosuke continued, "what are you telling Nezuko? What are you telling me or Misato or Tanjiro or me? Did Rei trust someone who wasn't good enough? Was Rei stupid?"

"No, what are you saying? Rei wasn't stupid. Don't insult her like that."

"But she trusted you. You killed a lot of Angels. If she trusted you, and you're not good enough, Rei was an idiot."

"I'm telling you, it's not that simple, you moron!"

"Don't call me a moron. I know who Thunderhead is. He's a prick and an overthinker, but he's not a bad person. If he messed up, he'll work hard to be a better person. You think being all sad and quiet will make me hate you? Ha! You just want me to give you an excuse to feel bad. Right now, you hate you. You think that getting other people to hate you will give you an excuse, but it doesn't. It just means you're bad at talking. I know you better. I'm not gonna let you run away into your head. I feel that you're hurting, and I refuse to give you any excuse to hurt yourself more."

As they talked, a childish giggle sounded.

"Oh," Inosuke calmed instantly. "She's here."

"What?" Zenitsu asked. They turned to the voice. A child version of Asuka stood before them, in the clothes of the other Japan. Zenitsu blinked, "Asuka?"

"Yes and no," she said. "I'm the one who brought Inosuke to Tokyo-3."

Zenitsu stared blankly.

Inosuke stepped forward. "I thought I'd see you. What the hell was that at the end? Things almost went bad! You made it sound like I was gonna do something when the pilots had it taken care of. We didn't need to be there."

Zenitsu mumbled to himself as she responded. "You were needed, though. If none of you had gone there, things would have been very different. Shinji would have hardened into a cold and bitter person. Asuka would have broken. Rei would have taken much longer to decide for herself. Even in the end, if not for you, Asuka might have done something drastic."

Inosuke looked down at her. "You're the reason Shinji could talk to her, aren't you?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "They shared a connection through the Evas. Since Shinji had bonded with his, it had simply become more direct."

Zenitsu stomped in front of her. "Wait a minute! You brought us to that Japan? Why? What? Why didn't you do anything? I'm so confused. Just— what?"

The girl looked up at him with a glance betraying experience beyond that of a child. "I can't interfere with the story. I can only add elements and see what happens. The story of the people at Nerv has changed many times. It's been told countless ways, and it will be told countless more. In many versions, things don't make sense. A lot of people are left desolate and alone. Thanks to you, many people survived and had a chance. I didn't know if anyone would be happy at the end of this story, but I'm glad that you helped so many people save themselves."

"Story?" Zenitsu repeated. "What do you mean story? You didn't control anything? That's ridiculous. You sent us there."

She looked the man in the boar mask. "I sent Inosuke. A man who's never doubted himself entered a world where everyone doubted themselves. I hoped that his influence could help the story reach a satisfying end. I didn't know what would happen. You and Tanjiro joined. You searched for your friend, and you found him. That's all there is to it."

"Heh, you're messing with us. If it was just about looking for Inosuke, all of the Demon Slayer Corps would have joined. You're some god, right? We don't matter. We're tiny playthings you wanted to throw into the more interesting story? Don't screw with me."

"No, of course not. Your story matters, too. All the people you've saved and inspired. You are important. You would be important no matter what had happened here."

Inosuke smacked his friend on the back. "What'd I tell you? We did our best, didn't we? That's all you need."

"That's not good enough!" Zenitsu yelled. "Did you not learn anything? The people in that other Japan had things wrong with their heads. They dealt with things we couldn't imagine. Trying hard wasn't enough. We broke the rules of how their reality worked. You can't say that trying hard was all it took!"

The child Asuka nodded. "I'm glad you were there, too, Zenitsu."

"What do you mean?" He looked down at her with doubt.

"Just what I said. I think you were important. I don't think the story could have allowed so many people to be happy if not for you."

Zenitsu turned away. "Don't give me that crap. People—"

Inosuke stepped in front of his friend. In the clearing, he took off his mask and looked at Zenitsu with a serious expression. Zenitsu took a step back, shocked and confused. Inosuke kept a serious face, but inside, he thought: Yes! It worked! A dramatic mask-off gets people's attention! Ha!

With a serious voice, he said, "What happened over there isn't your fault. Right now, ignoring your friends, that is on you. If you got issues, you talk to us. If you end up being a spineless shit," he lightly jabbed Zenitsu's arm, "I'll let you know. You don't need to tell yourself."

Zenitsu glared at him. "That was almost touching."

Inosuke returned the mask to its rightful place. "Talk to Nezuko. She's lost her brother. Ignoring her right now will only hurt both of you."

Zenitsu sighed. He turned to where the child Asuka had been, but she'd vanished. "Where did she go?"

"No clue," Inosuke said as he began walking back. "I'm not even totally sure who she is."

"What?" Zenitsu asked. "That was probably some god appearing in a form that wouldn't freak us out. She babbled stuff about stories and changing things and different versions. There's a lot of weird stuff that just happened. That doesn't bother you?"

"Nope."

The friends argued all the way back. Zenitsu got so into it that he didn't notice where Inosuke led him. Soon, they stood outside Nezuko's door. In the middle of Zenitsu's sentence, Inosuke knocked and sprinted off.

Before Zenitsu could yell after him, Nezuko said, "Hello?" from within.

Inosuke offered a thumbs up as he ducked around a corner and watched. Zenitsu didn't follow. Instead, the gold-haired warrior stood by the door. Soon, it opened. Nezuko appeared. Even from the distance, Inosuke could feel her need for compassion. He felt grief and worry and concern. There was no way Inosuke could help her with that. The task fell to Zenitsu.

He watched the two talk. Soon, he felt certain that they'd work it out. He didn't fully understand it, but they were in some kind of pain. He learned it from Shinji. There were some wounds that could only heal slowly, with kind words and encouragement and being a friend. At least, that's as much of it as he understood.

So, he turned and walked off toward the forest. Inosuke didn't understand what he'd gone through, nor did he understand what his friends and allies now experienced. He knew that they'd won, but that they all had scars which would take time to heal.

He hoped that he was helping the healing process.

End of ABAA

Thank you for reading.