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Chapter 9: "…I don't know where to go from here..."
All in all, Toji and Kensuke reacted about as well as they had the first time the two of them met the fiery German. Now, Toji hadn't been slapped in the face, and there had been no indecent exchanges between the two, but the boy had just about the same opinion of her.
In fact, the jock had clapped the Third Children on the back at the way he 'took that chick down a peg'. Shinji had simply frowned in response.
"You only just met her, maybe give her a chance, like you did with me."
Toji had just shrugged at the suggestion, but it had been enough to dissuade the three of them from talking about the new pilot.
Heading their separate ways, Shinji found his mind wandering back to the events of the day.
"Oh look, you've already replaced me, how sad." She mocked, as she walked beside him. The red sunset only amplified the bloody bandages and tears in her red plugsuit.
Soryu still looked beautiful to him though.
She always played on that fear of his, so this was nothing new. At first, keeping himself from breaking down in front of every version of her and begging for forgiveness every time he met her had been hard enough. Keeping her from her downward spiral had been a distant dream then.
Not that he survived long in those first lives to begin with.
Then he had tried to keep her at arm's length, a bit too much like Misato lived if he had to be honest. Pleasant enough, but it was like a skipping across water, never going beyond a surface level.
"Then you screwed it all up didn't you, honestly there's no limit with you!"
She was right just like always.
Now he had a new variable to deal with.
Shikinami…
Maybe here Asuka didn't need help. Maybe she was perfectly well adjusted, happy even, she just happened to have that same cocky attitude. He'd seen stranger things after all.
He'd probably be able to tell pretty soon.
"Baka Shinji, always having to try and 'save' someone."
"Will you be quiet?" he mumbled. No one was around, it wasn't as if the Section 2 personnel he was sure currently following him would think that he was mumbling to an invisible companion.
"Hmph, I'm not the one who's been obsessed with 'saving' every redhead they meet."
"I made a promise, didn't I?"
"Not to me. What exactly did you to me again?" she asked, knowing the question would stab at him like nothing else.
He had resigned himself to that guilt a long time ago, of all the regrets he carried, the things in his first life weighed on him the most.
She smirked, her head held high and his drooped as they walked together. She always won this game; it was too easy.
Shinji's mind floated back to the Angel he had seen today. It was completely new and that disturbed him. Probably one of the biggest reasons he could actually stay alive was knowing the Angels before they appeared.
Quickly and efficiently taking them down was something he had almost perfected to an art over his time and if new ones were to start emerging, well that was a mighty big wrench in his plans.
Plans?
No, he hadn't schemed and plotted since his whole predicament was still novel to him. The only thing he needed to do was stay alive and keep instrumentality from occurring, that was the endgame, stopping a Third Impact.
As much as he would try… Kaji, Toji, even Misato… if he was put in that position…
His hand grabbed the familiar pendent under his shirt out of habit.
Well, he expected they'd all willingly trade their lives for preventing the Third Impact.
Not that he wouldn't hate himself more for their deaths.
Next would be Israfel, it'd probably be a few days or weeks till it appeared. The thought of taking the loss to the Angel so that Asuka and him would undergo sync training again crossed his mind.
Selfish? Yes, but would he be able to hide how much he could predict her movements? That was dependent on how different she was here. With so much experience being in sync with Soryu over countless lives and her (diplomatically put) aggressive personality, he'd been more inclined to sync with her than her to him.
"Roter Drache" he whispered to himself.
When had he given her that name, hadn't Toji called her Red Devil, or Demon? He couldn't remember, the two stooges probably had given her a name at some point.
It was fitting, she was as viscous as a dragon while also being something beautiful beyond reasoning. Hording her feelings to herself and incinerating anyone who dared come near, yet wanting everyone's eyes on her.
At least that was how Soryu had been.
By the time he had arrived at Misato's apartment the sun had sunk even lower into the horizon. Giving the glorious sunset one last look he made his way up the apartment block and to his home's door.
"Already calling it home, now are we?"
Opening the door, his eyes widened at the sight of dozens of white boxes. Spotting the yellow Deutche Post labels on a few of them it only meant one thing. Why would she be here already?
Finally getting into the kitchen he found a certain redhead sipping down a rather large bottle of yellowish German drink. She was wearing what almost looked like a nightgown, it hung loosely with its; red trim and rather large bow on the front.
And of course, those A10 clips still stayed in her hair, he was glad to see that some things never changed.
"What're you doing here?" He asked, genuine surprise in is voice voice.
She just glared at him while finishing her drink "God you're an idiot, you've obviously been replaced."
The boy figured she was probably being serious, she actually believed that in her superiority driven mind, but he didn't care. If she wanted to use him as a verbal punching bag, he could take it, he would take it, for her.
"Really?" He said with just a hint of happiness. "Alright then."
He could play this game.
"WHA?!" The German couldn't believe what she was hearing in that voice, was that… relief? She watched dumbfounded as he looked around the room.
"Where'd you put my stuff?"
She just raised an eyebrow and pointed to a small pile in the living room.
Walking over to it, Shinji hid the smile on his face. He knew exactly what this called for.
Asuka watched the boy closely as he dug through his pile, finally reaching that rather large case she had trouble with getting out of his room.
It was in fact a cello, one that the boy spent a moment too long looking.
His hands seemed to run across the strings like a master chief would run his hands over his cutlery, and he subtlety plucked at one while tightening another.
Taking it to the couch he sat down and just… started.
She couldn't look away, she couldn't move, she couldn't even… breath.
It started, it rose, the music, it wasn't slow, it started fast, but still took its time to rise up. But there was something... missing. He played, the strings making their noises with every subtle command, every slight movement was calculated, each and every note was deliberate and precise, like he was doing this from instinct rather than memory. There was something off though, it had a duality, almost as if there was another instrument supposed to be alongside it, while beautiful on its own she would have killed to hear its' duet in that moment.
The music mellowed, dropped, a repetitive note, no two notes, dancing the same movement together, around each other.
Then it rose again, in that rhythm, only for it to drop and build once more.
This kid was good. Even she had to begrudgingly admit she wouldn't have been to execute the piece with half the skill he was.
It built and built, it rose to the highest height it could, only for the notes to explode in a victorious crescendo, the feeling she got when listening, it almost felt like winning a battle.
But just as fast as it came it was over, it was a sudden end, that she hated, but had to accept and besides, she looked over at the clock.
Only 62 seconds and he can do that?
She could only image what he could create in an hour.
"Getting her settled in Shinji?" Misato said from behind her, startling both of them.
"I didn't know you could play and so well." The Commander said as she went to the fridge and cracked open the first beer of the night, causing Asuka to raise her eyebrow again.
The Third Child just set down his bow and looked over the instrument "It's just… been awhile since I played," He said, flicking off a speck of dirt "I'm probably rusty."
This boy was clearly just trying to make himself sound better, there's no way that could have been 'rusty' Asuka was sure of that.
"So, I hear you're kicking me out." He said with a small grin on his face, while turning to the redhead.
The girl just narrowed her eyes back at him, a small growl escaping her.
Misato just watched the two, of all the things she had imagined happening once they met, Shinji getting under Asuka's skin and holding his own with her was the last thing she expected.
Taking off her jacket and sitting down she felt her body slowly start to unwind as she took her first sip of beer for the night.
"No, no one's getting kicked out."
Asuka just turned back to the older woman, a look of annoyance clearly visible on her face.
"Look, if the two of you are going to work together, then you need to learn how to communicate."
Noting the smile Shinji held as he packed his cello back in its' case, a trickle of doubt began to form in the director's mind.
"You two are fellow pilots now, so you're going to live here together and learn to act like it."
Asuka just grumbled something under her breath as the Third Child clicked his instrument's case closed.
"By the way, that's an order." Misato said in a cheerful voice while she raised her beer for another chug.
ʡʘʘʢ
Dishes.
How long had it been since he just washed dishes for the three of them?
He enjoyed it, even after everything, cleaning and maintaining the apartment was almost therapeutic, a dash of normalcy. Taking chaos and turning it into order was something that relaxed him, and he was good at it too.
At least in the small scale.
"Anything else I should be surprised by Shinji?" Misato asked "Cooking, Language, Music, what else could a woman want?"
She had already had a few beers and now just hitting that flirty stage of intoxication, it was her nature or just a copping mechanism, whichever it was he just responded with a bit a German.
Not that she heard it, he was pretty sure Asuka's screaming drowned out everything.
"There's a creature in here!" She yelled as Shinji heard Pen Pen's feet walking out into the dining room.
He stifled a laugh, "It's just a pengui…." he stopped, there was Asuka, indecent, standing in the doorway.
He looked away as fast as possible, his face burning and despite his quiet retreat, he still heard the wet footsteps of the redhead approach. He just couldn't catch a break, could he?
The foot he blocked, but it just meant he had to look at her.
He was in the hospital again, standing over her.
"Go on baka, take a look, you know you want to." She whispered into his ear.
His eyes bore into her blue ones, his gaze not once leaving them.
She on the other hand couldn't believe he blocked her leg, which was now held in the air.
They both just stood there, tensed, and ready for anything, each daring the other to make the first move.
"You should really put some clothes on." Shinji just deadpanned as Misato crashed back on her chair laughing drunkenly at the whole situation.
ʡʘʘʢ
Asuka watched as the boy retreated to his room. With her new guardian downing another beer, she was sure that this would be her shot at finding out about those rumors that had reached Berlin.
"Now Asuka…" Misato said in a rather sloppy tone. "If you see Shinji walking around at night, just come get me, 'kay?".
Asuka looked at the 20 something year old in confusion, "What's that supposed to mean, I'm not going to have to worry about sleeping in the same apartment with a perv am I?"
Taking another chug of her beer Misato shuttered as she slammed the can down on the table "No no, he's got *burp* he's been sleepwalking, just leave him be and don't try to wake him, promise me alright?"
The gears turned in the Germans head, what was this about?
"Only if you answer my question." She said with a devilish smile.
Misato shrugged, waving her can "Ask away…" taking another gulp.
"What really happened with the Sixth Angel?"
The woman froze, instantly Asuka knew there was some truth behind the rumors. Something had happened that NERV covered up, wiped clean from the report.
Setting the can down slowly, Misato's face fell, she shut her eyes and she cocked her head like she was hearing something.
"Maybe it's only fair I tell you…" she mumbled, before standing up. Tossing the can, she went straight for the fridge and cracked open another one as well as handing one down to Pen Pen who had followed her.
Shotgunning that one, she picked out a second and just stood there leaning against the fridge.
Waiting for her to continue, Asuka's eyes drifted to the small dent in the side of the fridge, but that was a question for another time.
"I failed him…" she mumbled, looking towards the Third Child's bedroom "I convinced him to come back… and I…."
Glancing down at the redhead, the director pushed herself off the fridge and stumbled her way to the table once more.
"So… it's true, something did happen?"
Misato said nothing, she just rested her head on the table and stared at the Second Child, no through her at something else.
"I guess you got to read the report bout the Sixth Angel then hmm?"
Asuka just leaned in and nodded. The report had said the Third Child was in critical condition after being attacked by the Angel the instant he was deployed. From there it had only said he'd been stabilized and patched up enough to get back out and fight.
Everyone who had any friends or contacts in the Japanese base said otherwise. She'd heard everything from the pilot's arms had been severed and reattached, to NERV needing to give him a synthetic heart after his exploded.
"Everyone in Berlin told me something different, but everyone thinks something happened to the pilot of Unit-01."
Closing her eyes, it seemed like Misato was trembling to the redhead. What could have happened for her to be like this?
"Six hours…" she mumbled, much to Asuka's interest.
"He was dead for six hours…" her eyes rose up to meet the girl's and she couldn't describe how much pain was held in them.
"Dead?"
Misato nodded "No pulse, no brainwaves…. Nothing."
She picked herself off the table and shrugged. "Then he was back…" she said taking another long swig of her beer.
"You mean?"
Misato nodded "They found him in the Geofront," she said with a small smile "alive... with no memory past the Fourth Angel."
"That's ridiculous."
Shrugging Misato pushed herself to her feet "Yeah, yeah it is… but I don't know what I'd do to myself if…" she stopped.
There was nothing for the girl to say, no words that could come to her that could address the sight of the older woman.
"Don't be spreading this around, Ritsuko's already having a stroke trying to figure out why."
"Don't you have a theory?"
Misato just shook her head, reaching over and placing her hand on the girl's shoulder, the older woman just smiled sadly.
"No, he's alive and..."
.
.
.
"Miracles don't need value." she mumbled as he eyes drooped.
A quiet moment was shared between the two, Asuka's mind spun, trying to comprehend how something like that was possible. She had so many more questions, but the violet-haired director spoke first.
"I'm off to bed, goodnight Asuka." Misato said, stumbling off to her room.
She sat at the table for a few more minutes, just digesting what she had heard. Why was it the more she learned about the Third Child the less she understood about him?
Alright, I'll get chapter 10 out on Monday or Tuesday. One or two chapters a week seems like a good pace.
Shoutouts!
Dragon5847- Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I don't like to put too much in the summary just because I think it takes a bit away from people finding it out through the story. I'll probably be doing 2 chapters a week now, just so I'm not going too fast.
UltraSpink of Da USA- Thanks! I don't see many Rebuild stories either, the whole 'dead Shinji' idea actually came from how different that scenes with Ramiel are between the two series. Honestly it sounds like Shinji is being tortured when it happens in Rebuild and Misato just kinda fumbles and hesitates to bring him back down unlike in NGE. At least in my opinion, plus that voice actor did a fantastic job with those screams, just saying.
Until Next Time