From the author: Before you eat me alive for taking so long, blame it on the school year finishing crunch. Everything will be explained later
don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira
Neon Genesis Evangelion belongs to Studio GAINAX and Hideaki Anno
Akira belongs to Kōdansha and Katsuhiro Ōtomo
"this" is speech
'this' is thought
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION HIGHWAY STAR : THE BALLAD OF SHINJI IKARI
Chapter 46: what's happening?
"I'm going out" was the phrase that Asuka was getting slowly tired of, alongside "Im leaving" and "I'll be back in a few hours". She watched as Shinji opened the door, wearing a traditional hoodie rather than his HS jacket that ever since their battle with Leliel remained hung in the drawer. Weird enough, he never took his bike. As it still remained sitting under the canvas ever since the last battle. Asuka knew that, because she was spying on him. Watching him spent most of his free time simply wandering around Tokyo 3. Getting into trouble and throwing away quarters in local arcades. And she hated it, not because he wasn't taking her along on those walks. It was because she felt ignored, her boyfriend hasn't come closer to her for the last two weeks. He also seemed to begin to turn meek, aside from ignoring his teachers he stopped trying to tell off his "bullies", most of the time he would try to get them angry. But now he simply took out his gun and told them off. And so she watched Shinji leave the apartment, laying on her beanbag. Of course she tried talking with him and getting him to tell him what's going on. But of course he brushed her off. Saying that "everything was ok". Or putting a facade that for someone as smart as him should see that it wasn't convincing anyone. As Asuka sighed Rei walked out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of gray shorts and a blue t-shirt
"Brother left again?"-Rei asked as Asuka nodded
"You know what? Screw it, if he wants to talk about what happened in that shadow he will tell it himself"-Asuka said not even looking at Rei and continuing to swallow her chips. Rei sat down beside her and took out a chip out of the bag and swallowed it
"I'm also not keen on what my brother is doing right now. Ever since the battle with Leliel he tends to ignore us"-Rei said as Asuka nodded
"I love him, but acting like an old wife trying to get her husband to understand her signals does not help his case"-Asuka said as Rei turned towards the tv
"I don't know what to say but i can feel he is in pain"-Rei said as Asuka raised her eyebrow turning towards pain
"Pain?"-Asuka asked as Rei nodded
"Exactly, I don't know how to explain it. But in my opinion it should be obvious that he is sad"-Rei said as Asuka laid back on her beanbag
Shinji was walking towards where his legs would take him. Like every time he had ever since the battle with Leliel. Trying to walk off his thoughts, his mom was worse than Hitler, and his sister was a clone. Not to mention that his mother was locked inside Unit 01 acting as a de facto power source that made the whole thing move in the first place. He felt, for the first time in his life, utterly lost, wandering around like a spirit trying to make sense of the situation he found himself in. Of course at the beginning his first instinct was to do what he always did. To stand in front of everything and face it firsthand. Right now it was only something that probably only he was believing in. So he walked, and walked. Watching the city and finally having time to properly explore it, instead of passing it like a lighting bolt on his bike though the city. After passing through a store he bought himself a "meal-ready-to-eat" in the form of a soda and a candy bar to continue walking towards his destination. As he wanted to continue his walk he received a notification on his NERV-issued phone. And any remnants of his good humor vanished. His obligatory visit to his father was today. 'like there isn't anything to make my day worse'-he thought as he reached out for his other phone and called for a taxi, and after few minutes a green Toyota Prius arrived
"Where to?"-The taxi driver asked as Shinji jugged down his soda
"NERV issued hospital number 3"-Shinji said as the cab took him towards the hospital where he sent his father on his mother's anniversary. And after 25 minutes the taxi had reached its destination
"825 yen"-the taxi driver said as Shinji sighed and reached out to his wallet for the right amount. Shinji sighed as he stood in front of the hospital door. After walking into the check-up and flashing his NERV card he made his way towards the room where his father was resting, stopping in front of the door. After taking a long deep breath in he opened the door and saw his father. Laying comatosed with his arms and legs residing in plasters and IV's connected with his body. Shinji quickly took a look around the room to see if there were any cameras installed ever since the last visit. He sat on the nearest chair and opened another can of soda
"Hey old man, i would've asked you how you feel but probably too busy hanging out with Hitler and his pals. That's funny you know, even after what I learned after being locked up with Mom I still hate you, I should probably feel sorry for you as you were just a sperm bank to create me. But you still drugged Rei for years and I'm still pissed about it. You know you would probably enjoy seeing me right now, all that wandering and depresso. I'm sure if you were still conscious you would think 'yes yes, that's for stealing all of my precious Yui's love away from me'. Even though her love is way too crazy and let's not be afraid to call it out, downright evil. Killing the entire world for your own fucking pleasure because you think that humanity is completely down for even though they seem completely fine, aside from minor things such as poverty and crime but not even 100 resets could fix it"-Shinji paused his monologue walking up to the window, before opening it and igniting a cigarette. this time surprisingly not a Marlboro but a french Gitanes, that immediately took him off his legs and let out cough
"You know, the world is nice. The countryside outside of the town shows that you don't need a meteorite or some kind of magic ritual to live a good life, Shame that some of you don't seem to understand it and instead believe in some kind of a sect"-Shinji continued as he admired the city while putting the ash. He then threw the cigarette out of the window before turning back to his father. Who still remained dead asleep, Shinji chuckled before walking up closely to him and turning towards the aperture that was keeping him alive
"You know, I've been wondering, what would happen if I unplugged all this stuff? Ha! Just joking around! Like normal Dad-Son stuff! If you knew what "being a normal dad" was instead of abandoning me at a train station, unknowingly giving me a ticket to a better life. Funny right? Everytime i come here it seems like I'm repeating the same talk everytime i come here. Well then, see you in a week. I hate you!"-Shinji exclaimed, leaving the room, closing the door behind him and letting out a deep sigh. 'And done with the worst part of the day. Now i don't even have strength to continue wonder around, guess i'm coming back to the apartment'-Shinji thought as he made his way out of the hospital
"Im home"-Shinji said, throwing his hoodie to the drawer completely omitting his jacket. Asuka, who was preparing dinner, noticed him landing on a beanbag and turning on the tv. The redhead finally thought that enough is enough
"Welcome home"-Asuka said as she bent down, expecting a long kiss on the lips. Surprising her that Shinji only gave her a kiss on the cheek
"Hey Prinzessin"-Shinji said returning to his task of watching tv, Asuka then sat on another bean bag before taking a long deep breath
"Listen, it's been two weeks since that battle. And, i want to talk.."-Asuka said as Shinji sighed before turning towards her
"About what?"-Shinji asked as Asuka facial expression turned red as all rage from the past 2 weeks was finally let out like volcano
"About this! You keep wondering around like some fucking ghost around the apartment and the city! You ignore me and Rei and act like a 40-year old housewife! What about us?! We haven't been close in three weeks and that's not all, our conversations don't exceed 15 words in a sentence! So get that stick out of your ass and talk to me!"-Asuka exclaimed, getting up from the beanbag and standing in front of Shinji, it looked like their relationship went back several months in its development. And for a brief second it seemed like she would hit him. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed that Shinji's facial expression hadn't changed and remained as nonchalant as it could. Asuka sighed before closing eyes,
SLAP!
Shinji was sent down to the floor flying away from the beanbag as he wiped his cheek
"What was that for?!"-Shinji asked getting up from the floor, standing in front of Asuka
"Oh finally! You're finally talking with me!"-Asuka said as Shinji was getting more annoyed
"The hell do you want from me? Is it because I don't want to have sex with you? Or it's one of those couple counseling sessions you want?!"-Shinji screamed at her as Asuka backed away
"Tell me what happened to that angel?! We're supposed to be against the entire world?! Me and you like we promised each other!? Rei is sad because you seem to give her a cold shoulder! Have you forgotten that you have a sister!?"-Asuka screamed as Shinji begun to rip hair out of his head
"You want to know?! Then fine!"-Shinji exclaimed as he grabbed Asuka's hand before jolting with her towards their room, the only one that was completely cleaned from any bugs. Shinji closed the door before locking it making sure nobody would hear them
"I met my mom"-Shinji said, falling down on the bed and putting his hands on his forehead. Asuka raised her eyebrow before sitting beside him, seeing that it wasn't just some thing he came up to get her off from his tail
"What do you mean you met your mom?"-Asuka asked as Shinji turned towards her
"Like literally, apparently somehow when her body was absorbed into Unit 01 her mind somehow possessed Unit 01. Remember that time after Leliel? Yeah, that wasn't me. It was actually my mom in control. Anyways, you know how I loved my mother right? Respected her as a woman of science and a person in general? And that I followed her philosophy of life and even painted my current Opus Magnum of engineering that span over a decade? Well i take back everything i said over the span of the last 10 years"-Shinji said as Asuka patted him in the back
"Listen, I don't understand how you made contact with her. But you did say that you sometimes saw her when stepping in the plug, so tell me, what did you see?"-Asuka asked getting closer to Shinji who only sighed showing his complete lack of strength that matched with the bags under his eyes
"At first, I was stuck in a void. Like really, everywhere you looked you saw white with no end in sight. And after what seemed like several hours of nonstop walking and smoking imaginary cigarettes, I saw her. Looking the same way i saw her die when i was four, it was touching at first, i mean you of all people would understand it and-holy shit i just realised what that could mean"-Shinji paused himself before turning back towards Asuka who then also connected the dots as shock appeared on her face and counted on her fingers
"B-but that wouldn't make sense, your mother was absorbed fully into Unit 01, my Mama was spat out during the test"-Asuka tried to explain as Shinji then thought about it before coming up with an conclusion, rushing to their desk and grabbing a notebook and a pencil and drawing a graph, two stick figures representing their mothers and two seemingly representing Evas
"Your mom went through the same experiment as mine, right?"-Shinji asked as Asuka nodded, Shinji on the other hand begun to draw, connecting a one-way arrow to Unit 01 and two way arrow to Unit 02 before handing the graph and pencil to Asuka, who after a quick glance noticed what he meant
"But, that should be impossible"-Asuka said as Shinji raised his eyebrow
"And you graduated college from chemistry, physics, metallurgy, engineering and numerous other things. Do you really think that something like that would be impossible?"-Shinji asked her as Asuka then got up from the bed
"In science,science! Nature is a completely different thing! Humans can't fly or breathe under water because of nature! If you're thinking what i'm thinking what you're trying to say goes against any rules set by basic understanding of the world"-Asuka tried to explain as Shinji didn't say a word and opened a can of Soda before jugging it down and taking the notebook and pencil back from her
"And we are piloting something that breaks laws of physics and fights lovecraftian monsters that only the late Eiji Tsuburaya could make and THEY ARE DEFINITELY NOT MADE OUT OF RUBBER AND PLASTIC. Do we really put our basic understanding of the world to something like that?"-Shinji asked as Asuka was seemingly looking for counter-measures
"But, well… I-I never felt my Mama when I sat inside Unit 02 during a synch test . And she was literally locked in a psych ward! Talking to a DOLL believing to be me instead to be the top-notch world class scientist she was before the test"-Asuka countered as Shinji lifted up his finger
"But what if, what if? That top-notch world class scientist survived, or at least her mind did. And the thing that Unit 02 spat out was-"-Shinji was quickly cut off by Asuka
"Only her body with scrapes of her mind, that means Mama is alive! But, in contrast to your mom…"-Asuka, at first with excitement before her voice falling down alongside her facial expression
"There isn't a chance for her to be brought back as her physical body had already died, unlike my damn witch of a mom"-Shinji said looking down to the floor before Asuka then turned towards him
"I'm sorry, we were still talking about my Mama when we were supposed to talk about your mom. Continue on"-Asuka said trying to cheer him up while not being completely cheerful herself realising that her Mama was unable to be brought back into the world of living
"So, we hugged. And I cried, cried a lot. After that she scolded me, that I killed people yaddi yaddi yadda. So apparently she can control the environment around her. So she took me to the place where I first took a person's life. At least to a generated replica of it"-Shinji explained as Asuka nodded
"You mean the alleyway?"-Asuka asked as Shinji nodded
"Yep, and the level of accuracy was incredible. Getting back on track, knowing that i was speaking not only to my mother but also the former head of Project E had made the lightbulb residing in my head light up. So i asked her about SELLE, the third impact and all those bells and whistles"-Shinji explained as Asuka nodded uniting her hands and taking back the notebook, opening another page
"Ok then, what did you learn?"-She asked as she prepared to write what her boyfriend might tell her
"So she took me back to the 90s. I know how stupid this sounds but please listen to me, she played back an old conversation between herself and the oldman Fuyutsuki. Apparently that's how they met, they talked about her future and that stuff, and did you know i was in plans for years?! Apparently old man was just a sperm donor for her. Anyways after seeing how that pervert was ogling my mom we skipped, this was Autumn of 1999? I think that was it?"-Shinji's monologue was cut off by Asuka
"What does this have to do with SELLE?"-Asuka asked as Shinji raised his eyebrow twitching
"We'll get there when we get there. Anyways, she talked about how she got together with my old man and I saw how jealous Fuyutsuki was. In terms of new info we have this, my fucking Grandfather is a SELLE member!"-Shinji exclaimed as Asuka silenced him
"Ok Ok, but you don't want to expose us right?! So please keep your temper tantrums to a minimum, got it?!"-Asuka asked as Shinji nodded
"Right, after that we continued. This time she took me to the Geofront"-Shinji continued as Asuka had another question
"The Geofront? I thought it wasn't used till GEHIRN was rebranded as NERV?"-She asked as Shinji unfolded the arms
"Dunno what propaganda they served you, so apparently get ready for this. She ALLOWED herself to be absorbed. and fasten your seatbelts, she did that to take over the control of the Third Impact HERSELF"-Shinji exclaimed as Asuka put her hand over mouth as Shinji put his hand on his face
"And the worst part, she tried to explain herself saying that she wanted to build a better world for me. And Rei, oh Rei"-Shinji said as Asuka then grabbed his shoulders
"What about Rei?!"-She then asked as Shinji looked down to the ground
"That she isn't my sister, not in the normal meaning at least"-Shinji dropped the bomb as Asuka stared him down
"Explain"-She said with some venom leaking through her teeth
"My Mom, she said what Rei's origin was and why she was so different from me. You remember Lilith? The second Angel? Apparently it resides under the Geofront. And Old Man, oh Old Man, it started when he wanted to bring back the damn witch of my mother. And that didn't work, so you know what he did? He used a piece of Lilith and a fragment of my mother's DNA to create-"
"To create Rei, Rei's an Angel"-Asuka said looking down onto the floor as then Shinji turned towards her
"See? This is why I seemed lost for the last two weeks, it feels like everything we will do will lead to Rei's death and the Third Impact, so what? Will we wait for the apocalypse? Allow some devine force to make us go back in time?"-Shinji asked himself before Asuka grabbed his shoulders
"We'll do everything we can to stop it. Rei maybe is an angel but she's more human than a lot of people i met. Of course now with that info it will be harder, but i don't want to die just yet. Besides, you have a career coming right?"-Asuka asked as they connected their foreheads
"Yeah"-Shinji said as for the first time in two weeks they shared a passionate kiss, and after a minute or so they separated
"Come on, let's go make dinner, and Rei is waiting for us"-Shinji said as they left their room. Ready at any challenge ahead of him
A/N: Right, onto the explanation for why there was such a long break between the chapters. Two things, the end of the school year crunch and another burnout. I have been writing this since July 23rd 2021 and setting such a long story for someone with attention issues and High School is hard. Especially when you suck with wall science subjects and dedicate most of your free time to studying because you want good grades and only have time to scroll Reddit for an hour or so and watch youtube for a bit. Not to mention other things like driver's license (Yeah i did another one). But no worries, this story will be finished. Maybe the chapters will be coming faster since summer is coming, and for fans of Demon Incarnate, im storyboarding the new chapter as we speak
