Creation began on 12-22-15
Creation ended on 12-16-16
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Sword of Destruction, Sword of Life: Embrace
A/N: One of the chapters for a new year.
When the bus stopped at a gas station, Shinji went to the bathroom…and saw in his reflection why the people looking for him couldn't find him.
"Whoa," he gasped, seeing both of his swords' previous owners behind him in the mirror…but not behind him in the room; they were just in his mind.
When they stopped the bus and questioned him, they must've saw one of the previous owners, probably dressed similar to fit into the modern era, and that was how he was able to get away.
Do you have someone to protect? The white-haired, half-demon man in red asked Shinji.
"I do have someone to protect. More than just someone," he responded.
Then why are you fleeing? The white-haired demon man in armor asked.
"Because my father may try to take the swords from me. Then, I wouldn't be able to help anyone the way I have."
Your brain must be broken, the half-demon uttered. Our father entrusted our swords to you. They've become part of you, so nobody can take them, even if they tried.
"What's to stop him from trying?"
Your fear of him, the demon explained. Your fear empowers him. Your hesitation makes you falter.
Shinji lowered his gaze to the sink.
You need to go back to that place, the half-demon told him. The people you desire to protect are in danger and need your help.
-x-
"…So, you understand why we're asking you these questions, right?" Misato asked Toji the next day at school.
"Yes, ma'am," he answered her, sitting in front of her and three of Section Two's agents.
"Did Shinji ever say anything to you about any swords or antique objects he acquired recently?"
-x-
"…No, ma'am," went Kensuke to Misato in their meeting. "He never told me anything about anything. I asked him a lot about the Eva, but he shot me down on that."
"You're sure about this? You never saw him with any swords or large knives?" Misato asked him.
-x-
"…I'm sure, Ms. Katsuragi," Toji continued to lie to her. "If I had seen him with anything of that sort, I'd want to know more about it. You don't see anything like that, anymore…except in movies and cartoons or comic books."
"Any idea on where he might go if he wanted to…get away from his father?" Misato asked him.
-x-
"…No, Shinji never spoke of wanting to go anywhere beyond this place," Kensuke explained. "I know he said he had an aunt and uncle someplace, but they didn't really want him. He told me that much. He wouldn't go back to them. He knew where he wasn't wanted or loved."
Misato couldn't deny that bit of information there. Ever since Shinji was brought to Tokyo-3, he didn't get so much as a phone call from his aunt or uncle. No mail, no messages, no invites to events, no nothing. It was like he didn't have any family that wanted anything remotely moral to do with him.
"Thank you for your time," she told him.
-x-
"…You're welcome," said Toji to her. "I just hope that he's doing okay, wherever he is."
-x-
"…You think they were lying to you?" Ritsuko asked Misato as the latter woman sat down in a chair in Central Dogma.
"They might've been lying," she responded, "but if they were, the question is why?"
"If he confided in them, they likely swore to keep his confidence in them. He trusts them…or he needed someone he could trust to confide in to keep from going crazy."
"But it would seem that they don't know where he went, just that he wouldn't go back to his aunt and uncle's. They're not exactly on his list of good people to turn to."
"Any chance he might try to contact them?"
"I don't think so. If he knew he was being watched or followed, then he'd know that his calls were being monitored. If he tries to call either of them, he would know we were onto him."
-x-
This is unbearably incredible, Shinji thought as he ran across the land back to Tokyo-3, the Tessaiga and its scabbard strapped to his waist.
After deciding to forgo the bus driving away from Tokyo-3 and learning that no buses or trains were heading back to it, he elected to run, only to discover how the Tessaiga manifested and enabled him to move faster than he ever thought possible for a young person of his age to move. And more was that he jumped higher, as well.
It would seem that having these swords enables me to tap into a fraction of the powers the previous owners possessed in their time.
He jumped up as high as he could and saw the incredible scenery between where he was right now and what remained of Tokyo-3. He must've jumped at least one-hundred feet or so into the air. And it was such a sight, like he was able to soar in an illusion of jumping so high.
"I've never felt a rush like this before," he told himself, now falling back to the Earth.
-x-
"…Hey, we just got a hit on the Third Child's whereabouts!" A Section Two agent informed Misato in Central Dogma.
"Where?" She questioned.
"He's at your apartment."
-x-
He still had access to it, but he made sure to tape a note to the door that informed whoever was watching the place from the outside that he wouldn't be leaving the unit until after he spoke with Misato. That was his choice. His father could either accept that or bitch about it.
"Yarp," he heard the warm-water penguin in the living room, looking up at him.
"Hey, Pen-Pen," he greeted him.
"Yarp," the penguin responded back.
He went to his room and threw his backpack down.
-x-
"…Unfortunately, he won't leave Major Katsuragi's unit until after he speaks with her," a different Section Two agent informed Gendo.
"Detain him and bring him here, if you have to," Gendo insisted.
"None of the agents are willing to attempt going near him while he has a sword capable of destroying Angels. And if what was recently found out to be true, they don't want to get near him if he has two."
Fuyutsuki then uttered, "Are you sure he said this, specifically? He would come here after he spoke with Major Katsuragi?"
"He wrote it down and stuck it to the door, sir."
-x-
Even though he hadn't been gone for more than a day, Shinji found the apartment a week's worth of filthy, and was cleaning it. It seemed impossible for Asuka or Misato to keep the place clean for even two days with their habits; he had never known anyone beyond his cousin that would make a huge mess of things and barely cleaned up after themselves. It was bothersome as it was irritable.
Suddenly, the sound of the front door opening was heard and he put the broom, which he was sweeping the floor with, against the wall in the kitchen.
"Shinji?" He heard Misato's voice.
"In the kitchen," he responded, taking out a can of sardines for Pen-Pen, who was looking down at his empty bowl.
Misato stepped into the room and saw him serving the penguin. It hadn't even been three days, but he seemed different (and all she could assume was that it had something to do with being chased over some swords he has acquired from someone or someplace).
"You're back," she expressed, somewhat relieved.
"Yeah," he responded again, leaning back against the countertop behind him. "We both know what that man wants from me, but I will tell you that he can't have what I was given, no matter how much he feels that he's entitled to. Nobody can."
"You used a sword to take down an Angel. That's unheard of."
"Two swords of ancient origins. Two Angels of different possibilities. I mitigated the potential harm they opposed the people without any desire for a reward or praise. And just so that you know, the sword I used against the last Angel was the same sword used to make the people in the city livelier. Haven't you noticed how much relief they have felt in the last few days or how their suffering seemed to stop overnight?"
"Just…how?"
Shinji sighed and removed his wrist coverings. His left hand glowed and the Tenseiga materialized in its grip in front of the purple-haired woman, startling her.
"This is the Tenseiga, the Sword of Life," he told her. "Forged from the fang of a great beast to have the power of life, able to heal and revive the injured and dead so long as its owner has kindness of heart. With this, I was able to save Toji's life from the destruction of Unit-03 and heal the people in the city just days ago."
Misato then suspected that it was also the reason her fiancé was still around to show his face.
Then, Shinji held out his right hand and made the Tessaiga manifest in his grip as the Tenseiga disappeared from sight.
"This is the Tessaiga, the Sword of Destruction," he revealed, "forged from another fang belonging to the same, great beast to serve as a guardian of mortals, able to bring ruination to one's enemies with just one swing or so in order to protect those that one longs to keep safe from harm. Life and Destruction, Heaven and Earth, renewal…and existence, Misato."
This wasn't the same boy that Misato met that day the Third Angel attacked, anymore. He was vastly different from the emotionally-damaged child that his father wouldn't treat with kindness at all, almost devoid of all hopes of reconciliation with his past and just someone that was trying to reshape his present and future with no ties to the ones that hurt him. And someone driven to reject the Eva at all costs and any given opportunity to make a difference between the end of the world and the right to survive without the threat of annihilation. This was a young man…that embraced the power of alternatives that were being offered to him without the consequences of any repercussions.
He has power different from the Angels, she thought. Different from the Evas, which are just copies of the First Angel from the Antarctic. He could restore life to the countless lives lost to Second Impact if he could, defeat the rest of the Angels if he could. He'd…probably be viewed as a god among people.
As the Tessaiga disappeared, Shinji asked her, "So…what happens now? I won't relinquish my swords to NERV…and they can't be taken from me. I won't pilot the Eva again…and I can't be ordered to go against my conscience of morality. What do you do? What do you do?"
-x-
"…Understood," went Fuyutsuki on the phone as he hung up in front of Gendo. "Major Katsuragi is returning to base with the Third Child."
"Good," Gendo responded.
"Except she informed me that he informed her of what the sword he possessed was capable of…and insists that it is not worth our time trying to obtain."
"Irrelevant."
"Kindness of heart, Ikari."
"What?"
"That's what your son told her. Only a kind heart could use the sword, someone that cares for people unconditionally, without favoring or expecting some kind of reward in return. Unless NERV has people of that sort here, your son is the only one that can wield such a weapon."
"Then we'll take it from him."
"Do you even believe that you can?"
Gendo was clearly the type of man that embraced control over everything and everyone. If you refused him, he would find a way to make you bend to his will. But his son was breaking from his control…and needed to be put in check, one way or another if he was to ensure his scenario.
-x-
"Maybe the people should vacate the city as a precaution," suggested Shinji to Misato as the drive through the city was dull.
"You fear for them?" She asked him.
"It's not a commonly-used question, but what would you do with a second chance at life? What would you do if you lived a life where you made mistakes, died, and then find yourself alive once again? Would you take the opportunity to try and correct your mistakes…or do you run for your life and the lives of your loved ones to get away from the danger of where you are?"
Misato found herself unsure of how to answer the question, but was certain that if she had died and was then brought back to life, she probably would have ran for her restored life. But she deduced that Kaji would likely want to get away from Tokyo-3 as soon as they got married.
"People that obtain a renewal to life will want to enjoy and embrace it to its end," Shinji sighed. "Do you embrace life?"
"Do you?" She asked him back.
"Not before…but I do now. I'd rather embrace life than just exist."
To be continued…
A/N: My apologies to anyone that reads this story. Other ideas get in the way that expand, delaying the progress of other stories, and that's why it took so long. I'm hoping that the next chapter will have Gendo fall more from his rotten throne and Shinji gets further recognition, even though it's not what he desires, and maybe Asuka comes to accept him as someone who wants to be seen as a person and not competition.