Shinji's Redemption
Chapter 2
Shinji awoke to the sound of his throbbing head. He opened his eyes to see a familiar sight, a hospital room.
"Ow, my head." Shinji groaned. His head hurt, like really hurt. It was as if his brain was trying to crush itself. "What happened?" Shinji thought. He then remembered meeting Misato, going to Nerv, getting in the Eva, but that was about it. He got out of the bed only to realize that he was in a hospital gown. "Misato's necklace!" Shinji shouted in his mind. "If she sees that, then…" Shinji was interrupted by a nurse walking into the room.
"Oh, I see your up." the nurse calmly said. "Here's your clothing and belongings that were on you when you were found in the entry plug." The nurse gently said. She then placed his stuff on the hospital bed. "Captain Katsuragi will be here shortly to pick you up." "Whenever you're ready, you can wait for her in the main waiting room," she informed Shinji. She then bowed and left the hospital room. On the bed were his clothes and a white plastic tray. In the tray was his wallet and Misato's Necklace. Shinji sighed a breath of relief. He then changed back into his normal clothes and put the necklace back into his pocket.
"I really should be more careful," Shinji said to himself. As he walked through the halls of the hospital, he saw Rei being pushed on a stretcher. Shinji just looked at her as she passed by.
Shinji waited for what seemed like hours. In reality, it was probably only forty-five minutes, but when you have a great view of nothing but white walls and grey floors to look at, time can pass very slowly. He was finally spared by Misato coming in.
"Hey." She said with a small, but warm smile. Shinji just nervously smiled and waved.
"Come on, we need to make your status as a pilot official," Misato said walking him to the elevator. The elevator opened to show a certain Gendo. For the first time in a while, Shinji held eye contact with somebody. Shinji narrowed his eyes at Gendo, in response Gendo just stood there and let the elevator doors close.
"Jackass," Shinji said while scowling. Misato looked at Shinji. "He's so different when he's around his father." Misato thought. They waited for the next elevator to come to pick them up. They were heading to the Nerv Intelligence Center.
"He's living alone?" Misato said with a worried expression.
"Correct. He will be living in an apartment in Block six." The Nerv agent stated. "Or would you like different accommodations?" the agent asked Shinji.
Shinji didn't want to complicate things by not living with Misato, so he spoke up.
"I wouldn't mind living with somebody, I just don't know who," Shinji said.
"You could live with me." Misato offered. Shinji looked at her with a bewildered face. "That was easier than I thought it would be." Shinji thought to himself. Shinji just shrugged.
"I don't see why not," Shinji spoke. He sometimes envied her bluntness.
"This is acceptable, we just need to do the paperwork." the agent confirmed.
"Right, then! tonight calls for a celebration!" Misato exclaimed. Shinji was still readjusting to her giddiness. He missed that part of her.
"I would hardly consider me moving in a celebratory occasion," Shinji said.
"Oh don't be that way!" Misato complained to Shinji. "You should liven up more," Misato advised. Shinji just looked down.
They stopped at a grocery store to pick some things up like chips, tv meals, beer, and soda, or was that just more beer? After they were done they went to the checkout in the front of the store. Shinji noticed two women walking out and couldn't help but overhear the women's conversation.
"You're moving?" One woman asked.
"Yeah, we would never think that this city would become a battlefield." the other woman spoke.
"My husband wants me and the children to evacuate, too."
Shinji couldn't help but feel that it was his fault. He couldn't remember the fight very well, he just remembers seeing the aftermath. He tried to suppress a frown but wasn't doing too good of a job. This didn't go unnoticed by Misato. After they were done they walked back out and drove off.
"If you don't mind, we're gonna make a quick detour," Misato said cutting the silence.
"Where to?" asked Shinji
"Someplace Special." was all Misato would say. They drove until they stopped at the top of a large hill. It was an outlook of the entire city. There wasn't much to look at. Sure some buildings were easily fifty stories tall, but they were all scattered around. On top of that, there was nobody around. If Shinji didn't know better he would say it was abandoned.
"It's time," Misato spoke. A couple of seconds passed and then sirens came on. Then suddenly a bunch of buildings came up from the ground up. Now the city looked more like, well a city. The tallest buildings reached almost a hundred stories. There were also just more to the city now. Buildings clumped together and formed a living breathing metropolis. For a post-impact era, it didn't look half bad.
"This is a city build to counter and defeat the angels. This is Tokyo-3. And it's the city that you protected." Misato said. Shinji couldn't help but smile.
"I think your boxes and stuff are already here. I recently moved here myself so it might be a little messy." Misato admitted. Shinji stood where he was.
"Thank you for letting me stay here," Shinji said.
"Shinji this is your home now. After all, it's the least I could do." Misato said. Shinji took a step into the apartment.
"I'm home," Shinji said with a smile. Misato just smiled back.
"I know it's a little cluttered, but don't let it bother you," Misato assured.
"I would hate to see what you would consider messy." Shinji sighed. He heard a loud "Humph!" from her bedroom.
"Shinji, could you put the groceries in the fridge, please?" Misato asked. Shinji walked over to the fridge. Ice, some snacks, and a whole section dedicated to beer. Shinji just sighed and closed the fridge. Misato then walked out of her room with a smile. After they had dinner, they played rock, paper, scissors to see who would clean up the kitchen. Shinji won every round. "Coming from the future has it's perks, huh? Shinji thought to himself. Misato cleaned the kitchen while Shinji prepared for his bath. While in the bath, Shinji thought about his fight with the third angel. He slowly started to remember more and more about what happened. He thought it was strange that he was able to subdue the angel in such away. He had no control over what he was doing, it was all instinct.
"Maybe it has something to do with the synch rate," Shinji concluded. After his bath, he walked into his room and started to unpack some things he needed for bed. He took out Misato's necklace and laid down on the bed. He looked at it for a while. He wondered what Asuka was currently doing. He was taken out of his train of thought by Misato knocking on the door.
"Shinji, can I come in for a moment?" Misato kindly asked. Shinji quickly put the necklace under his pillow and answered "Yes." Misato leaned against the doorway.
"I forgot to tell you something."
"What's that?" Shinji responded.
"You should be proud of what you did today, keep it up," Misato said while leaving. Shinji just stared at the ceiling. He felt bad when people thanked him. It wasn't that he doesn't appreciate the gesture; He just felt that it was expected of him to do nice things, so when people thanked him, it feels like he shouldn't deserve it. After a while, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
The night was not kind to Shinji. He found himself waking up in the middle of the night constantly, and even when he was asleep, he would have nightmares about the third impact. Shinji awoke to the sound of his alarm. He got up and picked out some clothes to wear. Only to realize that the only thing he wore outside, was his school uniforms.
"I need to buy some new clothes," Shinji told himself. He got a towel and headed off to the shower. After he was done He put on his clothes and walked into the kitchen and pulled out some eggs and bacon. If there was one thing that Shinji was proud of, it was his cooking. He would often do it just to get people to like him. After he was done with the bacon and eggs, he then decided to make some pancakes and toast. While this was happening Misato started to wake up. Misato was anything but a morning person, she often slept in, only be late for work. But this morning she was awoken by the sound of pots and pans being rattled. She then smelled a mouthwatering aroma. She got up out of her bed and walked into the kitchen only to find Shinji setting the table.
"Oh, good morning, Misato," Shinji said while smiling. Misato was speechless. The table looked like something out of a tv show or movie. There were eggs, bacon, toast, pancakes, and all sorts of fruits.
"You made all of this?" Misato asked.
"Yeah, I got a bit carried away," Shinji said while smiling nervously. Misato looked around the kitchen. There was little to no mess. The only messy things where the pots and pans, some of which she didn't even know she had. No one had ever done something like this for her. Misato composed herself and smiled.
"Thank you, Shinji," Misato said.
"Don't mention it," Shinji said with an embarrassed smile.
"All right Shinji, we're just going to do some basic synch tests and operations training," Ritsuko said. Shinji sat in the plug of Unit 01.
"Synching with Unit 01 is now complete. Synch rate is at 60.6% and stabilizing." Maya reported. Misato looked perplexed.
"It went down?" Misato asked Ritsuko.
"When he first entered the Eva he was probably just adrenaline running through his body. That could explain why his synch rate was so high, although dropping by almost ten percent is troubling." Ritsuko admitted.
"Shinji, is everything alright?" Ritsuko asked.
"Yes, everything's normal," Shinji reported. A bit perplexed to see his synch score go down by that much.
"Good then." Ritsuko turned to Misato. "While it's not 70.1%, 60.6% is still a great synch rate. He should be able to operate the Eva just fine." Ritsuko told Misato. The day went on with tests on how well Shinji can pilot the Eva. He went through a simulation where he was fighting the third angel again, but with different weapons like rifles and spears. None of which yielded any spectacular results.
After they were done with the tests, Misato and Shinji decided to go out, since it was the evening and school was already let out. They went to the mall since Shinji desperately needed new clothes. Shinji picked out some hoodies and joggers. After they were done with clothes shopping, they went to get something to eat. They settled on ramen. Shinji got miso ramen and Misato got Shoyu ramen. They talked about things like what their favorite food and restaurant were. Misato asked Shinji a question.
"Hey Shinji, if you could go back and change anything in your life, what would you change?" Misato proposed. Shinji couldn't help but smile, "Only if she knew." Shinji thought.
"I wouldn't change much...just the things I needed to," Shinji responded. Misato was surprised by his answer. Whenever she asked that to other people she would get anything from dating to career choices, but she never got anything like that. "Why you have something you especially regret?" Shinji asked.
"Not really, I just like asking that question to see what people say. Asking questions is a good way to get to know people." Misato responded.
"That sounds like something you would do." Shinji teased her. Misato just crossed her arms and huffed. They continued eating until they were finished.
"It's getting late, we should head home," Misato said. They didn't get home until eight' o'clock. Misato was pretty tired so she went to bed early, leaving Shinji all by himself. He decided to get his SDAT and listen to some music to pass some time. At some point, he started to think about his first day of school. His classes, Kensuke and Toji…"Oh, shit" Shinji thought. He forgot all about Toji's sister. He mentally hit himself for forgetting such a thing. He pondered about what he was going to do. He couldn't just apologize to Toji. He concluded that It was best to sleep on something like this. He turned off his SDAT and went to bed. The night didn't spare him from his nightmares.
"You're just as selfish as you were before!" Asuka shouted at him. All he could do was close his eyes and put his hands over his ears. "The only reason you came back was to make yourself feel better about yourself! You don't care about other people! Your just a coward!" The voice of Asuka rang in Shinji's head. "You just left me to suffer by myself!" Asuka shouted. "You're the reason why Misato is dead, you're the reason why everyone is dead, and you're why I'm dead!" Asuka exclaimed. Shinji's mind was filled with images of Unit 02's remains. Shinji woke up in a cold sweat. He got up and ran to the bathroom. He violently emptied his stomach's contents into the toilet. After that, he got up to go back to sleep only for him to stay awake for most of the remaining night.
Shinji awoke the sound of his alarm clock. He got up to turn it off. He got ready to go to school. He didn't have much time to cook, so he just made some miso soup and salmon for breakfast. Misato woke up shortly after. As they ate Misato noticed Shinji's frown.
"Whats's wrong," Misato said. Knowing something was bothering him.
"Nothing," Shinji said.
"This is about your fight with the angel, isn't it?" Misato said. Shinji looked surprised. He wanted to tell her, but he didn't want to burden her with his problems.
"While I was in the hospital, I found out a little girl was hurt in the battle," Shinji admitted. He bent the truth a little, but it was still hard for him to say what he said.
"Shinji, you tried your best and that's all that matters. There wasn't anything you could have done to stop it." Misato said.
"Okay." Shinji murmured. While that did make him feel better, he still felt guilty about the whole situation. Shinji finished eating and left for school.
Shinji walked into his classroom. He looked around to see Rei looking out the window. He wanted to go over there and attempt to start a conversation with her, but he knew it would be futile. He sat at his desk and glanced behind him. He saw Kensuke and Hikari talking. He almost went over there to start a conversation, but Toji walked in right before he did. Shinji decided to listen to his SDAT until class started. During the class, a message popped up on Shinji's laptop. It read "Are you the pilot of that robot? Y/N." Shinji tried to ignore it, but they messaged him again. Shinji decided to answer yes. All of a sudden his classmates were asking him question after question. Shinji just looked over to see Toji glaring at him. After the lunch bell rang Shinji went outside to eat, only for Toji to drag him behind the school.
Toji was shaking, it took all of his power to not kill the boy in front of him. Kensuke just looked at Toji. He never saw his friend this angry before.
"You bastard," Toji spoke. His voice was cold. "You have one job, and that is to protect this city and everybody in it," Toji spoke. Shinji could barely breathe.
"My sister's dead because of you." Toji spat. Shinji's eyes went wide. If he wasn't already on the ground, he would have fallen over.
"I'm sorry," Shinji said. That only made Toji madder. Toji picked Shinji up by his collar and threw him into the wall. He snarled at Shinji and then punched him again, leaving him on the ground.
"Fuck you," Toji said while leaving, Kensuke soon followed. His words were like icicles piercing Shinji's heart.
Shinji just stayed there until Rei came up to him.
"Emergency call up," Rei said, running off.
Shinji sat in the entry plug of Unit 01 Waiting for orders.
"Shinji are you ready for launch?" Misato asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Shinji reported. His voice was hollow.
"Remeber Shinji, use your rifle to neutralize the angle's AT field, ok?" Misato asked.
"Got it," Shinji said.
"Alright then. Launch!" Misato commanded. The Eva rocketed up the transportation shaft. The shutter opened to the surface. The Eva turned right and laid down some fire. It didn't affect the angel. Instead, the angel whipped its tentacles at the Eva. Shinji was barely able to back up in time but his rifle was not so lucky.
"Were putting out a second rifle for you," Misato informed Shinji. Shinji ignored the rifle, instead, he charged at the angel, only for it to pull one of the Eva's legs. It proceeded to throw the Eva into a mountain.
Shinji looked at his left hand. There stood Kensuke and Toji, Both of which looked horrified at the sight of the Eva.
"Why are Shinji's classmates here?" Misato shouted in frustration. The angel was approaching fast, but he couldn't do anything with them there."Shinji let them in the entry plug. Misato said.
"Unauthorized citizens are prohibited from entering the Evas! You don't have the authority to make that order!" Ritsuko shouted.
"My job is to make sure the angels are taken care of. I will do whatever I have to." Misato declared."Shinji, after you retrieve them, retreat! We need to start over!" Misato ordered.
"We don't have time for that!" Shinji shouted.
"Shinji, that's an order!" Misato shouted. Shinji just ignored her.
"Unit 01 will only remain active for another minute!" Maya reported. Shinji pulled out the Eva's progressive knife and charged at the angel. The angel was ready though. It pierced the Eva's abdomen with its tentacles, leaving it immobile. Shinji felt every cell in his stomach cry out in pain. It felt like his intestines were being ripped apart. The arms of the Eva could still move. It pierced the angel's core, but not deep enough to destroy it.
"Active time, fifteen seconds!" Maya shouted.
"Shinji…" a voice rang through Shinji's head. He didn't know who or what it was, but it gave him the energy to push the knife completely into the core. The core turned blue, and then the angel lost all the life it had. The Eva followed suit, all they could do was sit in the entry plug.
The rescue team came out to get the three of them from the Eva. Kensuke and Toji were sent to the Nerv Intelligence Center, where they were forced to sign a contract to make sure they won't go spreading around classified intel. Shinji was sent to the medical ward to make sure he didn't have any injuries or mental contamination. After they were done, the doctors told him to wait here for Misato to pick him up. In the meantime, Shinji thought about the voice that spoke to him. After a while, Misato walked into the room, interrupting Shinj's train of thought. They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Shinji, why did you not retreat when I ordered you to?" Misato asked.
"I couldn't just run away." was all Shinji said.
"Shinji, you jeopardized the entire operation by doing what you did," Misato said.
"But it all worked out, didn't it?" Shinji said.
"That's not the point!" Misato raised her voice, causing Shinji to flitch. "You disobeyed direct orders, you know if I wanted I could have you punished for this. If the commander was here-" Misato was interrupted by Shinji.
"Fuck what the commander thinks, he doesn't care about anybody!" Shinji blurted. Shinji's eyes went from fear to anger almost instantaneously, it was as if he was a different person. Misato was taken aback by Shinji's words. Misato felt bad about bringing up his father.
"All I'm saying Shinji is that we can't take risks like that. You play a very important role in all of this Shinji, but you can't just ignore orders like that, ok?" Misato calmly said. Shinji stayed silent. " Come on, let's go home," Misato said. Shinji changed out of his plug suit and into some more comfortable clothing. They got into the car and drove off, Shinji didn't realize how tired he was. He fell asleep on the way back to the apartment. Misato tried waking him up, but it was pointless. She ended up having to drag him to the apartment herself. She got a few strange looks from people as she dragged him into the elevator. She dragged Shinji to his bedroom.
"Since when did I become your means of transportation, huh?" Misato said in between breaths. Misato sighed and got up to turn off his light. "Goodnight kiddo," Misato whispered. As she closed his door.