Evangelion Rewrite: Chapter 15 Sins of the past

The main room was a lot quieter, now that Asuka and Rei had left. But the atmosphere grew tense as soon as Shinji entered. Toji, Kensuke and Hikari sat around a table with Misato. Their eyes pinned on Shinji. "Shinji, I think you have something to tell us." Misato told him directly. Still annoyed with Shinji.

"About my disappearance?" Shinji asked, dully.

"That." Misato said before adding "and all about what you told your friends earlier. I want to hear about why this isn't the first time that you've run off and lived on the streets like an animal" Shinji looked down at the ground. He wasn't sure why he told them, but he guessed it was probably because he was becoming more at ease with Kensuke and Toji, which meant that he didn't want them to worry. 'That bloody backfired didn't it? You idiot.'

Shinji was lost in thought until a loud bang sounded out. Looking up Shinji mumbled. "That was..." Misato and Kensuke were quicker in recognizing the sound and they both stood up suddenly. Surprising Toji and Hikari. "Everyone, go hide in my room!" Misato shouted. Toji finally understood what was happening and Shinji snapped out of his shocked mentality. "It's this way." Shinji said and he pointed down a hallway, making sure that his friends got ahead of him. But a loud crash invaded the apartment and two men stormed the apartment, leaving no time for the four teens to make their escape. Misato had armed herself with a chair and swung down on one of the assailants, but his partner pushed him out of the way and the chair missed. Knocking Misato off balance. The first thug pointed a gun at the back of Misato's head, whilst she had her back turned to them, and said "Don't move, we're only here for the boy." The second thug scanned the room and saw Shinji standing in front of Toji, Kensuke and Hikari. They had been unable to escape due to the speed of the efficient raid. "Well, well, well. Little Shinji, looks like you've tried to forget about us. Making some new friends and finding yourself a surrogate mother." The thug pointing his gun at Misato cocked it after his partner had said this. 'The man whose talking must have used his gun to fire the first bullet then. Meaning both guns are armed.' Shinji's mind entered a computer like state as he stored every bit of information, since the first gunshot, and tried to form a plan to get rid of the two men. Looking at the red bands on their arms, he decided to try and stall them by speaking. "You're his lot." Shinji said, unable to hide the worry in his voice.

"Surprised that we found you? You shouldn't be, we found you walking about on the streets without a care in the world like a right little prick." It seemed like only one of them was doing the talking. Meaning that Shinji was unable to communicate with both of them. Regardless of who they were, they were good and they were holding Misato hostage. 'Damn it, this mess is all of my fault. If only I hadn't been such an idiot earlier, Misato wouldn't be in danger right now.' Shinji bit the inside of his cheek to try and calm himself. 'No, none of that matters now. I need to stay calm and find a way to get Misato out of danger.

"Stop messing about and kill the kid already." The man who was pointing a gun at Misato said this to his partner. He gripped Misato with his open hand when he noticed her moving closer towards him. The thug in front of Shinji replied to his partner, "Kill him now? And do this brat a favour? No, I want to spend a little bit more time talking to him first." The other thug remained silent as he held Misato and so the gunman standing opposite to Shinji pointed his gun at Shinji said, "Tell them, tell them about you and us."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Shinji answered.

"Don't get cocky you little prick. Otherwise I will shot your playhouse mother in the kneecap." He then fired a gunshot at Misato and a small bullet hole appeared next to her right foot. "Okay, okay." Shinji spat out. He then took in a breath to calm himself before he answered the thug properly. "I was in your gang, your boss had found me half dead on the street and took me in and fed me really good food. Then he told me that I'd better bring him money if I ever wanted to eat like that again. So I left and started to pickpocket for spare cash to bring the boss and that was fine. I ate good food and even got a low quality motel to sleep in. But, after a while, the boss wanted more money. So, I started to steal from shops and burglarize homes and apartments. Until he wanted more money, only this time, he taught me how to steal cars. So I became a car thief." Misato looked away from Shinji after he had finished. 'So that's how he stole my car for his date with Maya.' She thought to herself. She couldn't bare to hear anymore, but the thug pointing a gun at Shinji's head spoke up again. "So what did you do next, the action that is our reason for being here." Shinji breathed in deep, before continuing. "Eventually, the boss asked for more money. But what he asked me to do to get his money was unthinkable, so in the end I went against your boss. I sold him out to the police and a few days later, a heavy police raid swept the complex where your gang resided. In the confusion, I stole some money and ran."

The gunman smiled at Shinji. "That reminds me." He said. "Where did you hide our money? Not that it matters, I'm still going to kill you for tipping of the pigs who put my brother in prison." Shinji saw Toji's tanned hands out of his peripheral vision. One was holding Hikari and the other was resting on top of a shoulder. 'Must be Kensuke's.' Shinji thought to himself. "I originally hid the money in a bank, north of here. But I've since moved it. You won't be able to find anything." Shinji stared the gunman down as he said this, hoping to make him lose his temper; in the meantime he bit his mouth cheek until he could start sucking blood out of the wound. "You little shit! You think I care about the boss's money? I'll kill you for hurting my little brother!" The gunman yelled this at Shinji, slightly waving his gun about. The other gunman was also beginning to lose his nerve. "Shit man. Just hurry up and kill the fucker already!" Both gunman turned to face each other and started arguing. Until the first gunman realized that he had forgotten about Shinji. He swung his gun around, hoping to point it straight at Shinji's forehead. But Shinji was quicker and he spat a mouthful of blood at the gunman's face. The thug grunted and fired a bullet that lodged itself between Kensuke's feet. In the confusion, Misato stamped on her captor's foot and Shinji brought his knee into his assailant's ball sack. The thug yelped and keeled over, but he was still waving his gun around. So Shinji grabbed hold of the man, by his collar, and head butted as hard as he could. A sharp pain immediately seemed to rattle inside of Shinji's skull as things quickly blurred and it wasn't long before Shinji fell to the floor, completely unconscious.

When Shinji woke up, he was first greeted by the worst headache he had ever felt. Thankfully, when he fully opened his eyes, he was greeted by the more pleasant sight of Misato cleaning an open gash on his head. "Misato..." Shinji mumbled. Misato ignored him. "Misato... I'm sorry." Shinji earnestly apologized and Misato stopped cleaning his forehead. Then Shinji felt four hands behind him, lift him onto his feet. Shinji tried to turn around, but he nearly fell over until Kensuke steadied him. "Hey, be careful, you've only just woke up." Shinji's vision cleared slightly as he began to find his balance. Facing him was Toji and Kensuke and looking around, Shinji spotted Hikari sitting at a table with a coffee in her hand. "Everybody... I'm sorry for letting this happen." Shinji bowed as he apologized. He truly felt that he had let everyone down by acting so carelessly. "You idiot." Toji barked. "We're friends, you're meant to trust us enough to tell us these things. You only end up getting others hurt if you always try and go at it alone." Shinji nodded slightly and then wiped the blood that fell across his face. "If you want to make it up to us." Hikari said. "Make sure this never happens again, never go off on your own like you did before and don't miss anymore school days." Hikari smiled a little as she said this last part. Shinji considered himself partly forgiven, but not off the hook. Trust was something that he had to earn and today he had lost some of his friend's trust in him.

The noise of boots stomping in an orderly fashion, could be heard in the hallway and it turned out that Misato had left to greet two Nerv security enforcers at the door. "I've notified Nerv a few hours ago and the security have been and gone in the time that you were unconscious. Ritsuko was also hear to check on you and she concluded that nothing was broken." Misato concluded this and Shinji realized that he had kept his friends back for a lot longer than they had planned. "These two men stayed behind to see Toji, Kensuke and Hikari back home safely." Misato said this to Shinji and the two men stepped forward. Then she spoke directly to the school children. "So if you three could please follow the personal, they will lead you to their car." The three of them silently stepped forward, but stopped when a slight rapping could be heard on the broken down apartment door. Misato sighed and went down to check who it was. She came back moments later with Maya Ibuki. "Shinji!" She exclaimed when she spotted Shinji rubbing the temples of his forehead slightly. But he immediately looked up, with a stunned look on his face, as soon as he heard Maya's voice. "Shinji, are you alright? You're not hurt are you?" Maya fired these questions at Shinji with a worried expression on her face. A few seconds later, Shinji recovered from his shock of seeing Maya and answered. "I'm fine. But you weren't at your house when I looked a few days ago. Where were you?" Maya bit her lip slightly, she wondered if Shinji had gotten himself into trouble in reaction to Maya not turning up for the appointed date. "After the seventh angel attacked, I became very busy with work and was unable to contact you. I'm sorry Shinji." Maya's apology crushed Shinji with guilt and he shook his head in response. "No, no. I understand that you might be busy sometimes, but we can try again later." Shinji smiled for reassurance, but that effect was made much more morbid when blood started to run down Shinji's face. "Shinji!" Maya exclaimed again, moving towards him slightly. Shinji shook his hands, again trying to reassure her that he was fine, and exclaimed. "Don't Worry! I'm-" The sudden exclamation had reopened the gash in Shinji's mouth and he was interrupted by half a mouthful of blood falling onto the floor. Maya only moved quicker, towards Shinji, in response. When they were almost standing toe-to-toe, Maya held Shinji's chin with a gentle hand and fetched herself a handkerchief to wipe Shinji's face. Shinji's eyes glazed over and widened to resemble puppy dog eyes as he watched Maya. His cheeks reddened and his whole face seemed to glow as Maya tended to him. In the opposite side of the room, the school children made a silent escape with the Nerv security enforcers. Toji and Kensuke almost broke out into laughter, but Hikari stared them down as they left.

Misato coughed into her hand and Maya jumped a little, but Shinji didn't react. Clearly in his own world of pink sunrays and Mozart Orchestras. Maya looked down at the floor before speaking to Shinji. "I better get back home now Shinji, I have work to do. But I-I'm not going to be busy for much longer." This snapped Shinji back in reality. His mind immediately catching up to the conversation. "Will I be able to see you after Rei and Asuka fight the seventh angel again?" Maya bit her lip after Shinji asked this. She seemed lost in thought for a while until she slowly nodded and turned to face him. "I-I think so, Rei and Asuka should be able to take care of the angel this time. So I guess I'll see you later." With these words, Shinji returned to the world of Mozart and pink sunrays as he smiled with glazed eyes. "Goodbye Shinji." Maya said and made her way out of the apartment, stepping over the yellow tape that the two security personal had most likely left behind. Misato watched Maya leave and turned to Shinji, who was still in another plane of existence. Misato smiled and shook her head as she left to clean up, leaving him standing there. 'Shinji's in a lot of trouble and when he snaps out of it, he'll also have a lot of explaining to do. But a couple of minutes without consequences won't hurt him.' Misato opened the fridge door and took out a can of beer. She then opened the can and took an almighty swig. A few similar sized gulps later, Misato stirred the leftover beer a little. Then she poured it all down Shinji's neck.

Omake:

Shinji leaned back in his chair until Toji and Kensuke jumped him from behind and he nearly leapt out of his chair. Hikari came into the fray and scolded the three on the spot and within moments, the four of them were in conversation. "What happened to Rei, lover boy, she not good enough for you? Or are you thinking of two timing?" Kensuke grinned as he said this and he was soon lost in the world of Ayanami's thighs with Toji, much to Hikari's dismay. "Actually, Rei seems to be shooting for someone else." Toji's ears then peaked in interest.

"You can't leave us with just that. Tell us who, Shinji." Shinji bit his lip before answering Toji. "It's vomit worthy, but regardless of that, Rei actually seems a little too interested in my father." Toji, Kensuke and Hikari's faces dropped, they hadn't met Gendo, but they knew about him and they knew it was accurate to say that he was pushing for his fifties. The four remained in silence until Kensuke spoke up.

"Hey, doesn't Asuka like that Kaji person that Shinji got into a fight with?" Kensuke asked. Shinji raised his eyebrow slightly. "So?" He asked.

"And you like Maya, right?" Shinji realized what train of thought that Kensuke was on.

"Hey now, you're not going there are you?" Shinji asked.

"And since you just said that Rei likes your father." Kensuke was now going down a dark, unstoppable train of thought. Regardless, Shinji helplessly tried to stop Kensuke. "No, no, no, no! Kensuke, do not go there! There's no coming back if you-"

"All evangelion pilots are interested in older partners." Kensuke stated this and the entire classroom froze over. Followed by Tokyo-3. Followed by every angel in existence.

Congratulations! Kensuke Aida has frozen the angels and in doing so, prevented the third impact.

However, the world is too frozen for humanity to enjoy this victory.

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