Relapse:∣▍
Chapter 24: "…nothing is lost, it's just frozen in frost…"
Shinji knew this was wrong, he knew this was selfish, he knew this was only for his own nostalgia, even if it wasn't exactly what had happened.
But it was so much fun.
The virtual Unit-01 tried to keep its balance as he jumped from ship to ship, doing its best to avoid the flurry of attacks from the Seventh Angel.
A virtual fleet surrounded the Angel Asuka has single handedly been able to kill, but she had basically paradropped down onto it, the two of them were going to have to find a way up to the core.
"Are you just going to dance around all day or actually help Third?!" Asuka shouted at him as the destroyer she had just jumped off of was blown out of the water.
Shinji couldn't help but smile. When he had pitched this scenario to Misato, he really hadn't expected her to take him up on the idea, even with the upgraded capabilities of the simulators. After all, when were they going to be fighting in the ocean?
Though, if Leliel was going to reappear at some point, he figured this would be an excellent way to train, as they would be fighting the peculiar Angel while keeping themselves off the ground, lest they be sucked inside the Angel like he had been.
But really, this was just for himself.
Selfish? Yes, but harmless really.
Launching himself to the supercarrier in the fleet, Shinji turned to see Unit-02 dodging the black missiles being shot at it.
"Asuka, I can launch you up to the core."
Landing on a battleship, her Evangelion looked over to Unit-01, the lapse in concentration allowing the Angel to fire off another salvo at the girl.
The Third Children didn't hesitate, throwing out an AT field to shield her, Asuka took the time given to launch herself towards Unit-01.
Dropping the first barrier, he threw out another above himself, waiting for her to land on it before launching the Second Child upwards.
He had seen the dark missiles coming from the side towards him and instantly he knew there wouldn't be enough time to get her far enough up there and dodge them all.
He watched the red Evangelion climb into the air, and jump off of his AT field towards the Angel's core as the first of the projectiles hit.
There was no actual nerve feed to cause him any pain, but his body flinched regardless as the first impacted his EVA's shoulder, sending him down onto the carrier's deck.
Ironically it gave him enough time to erect an AT field as the next two had flown over him. Watching as half a dozen projectiles slammed into the barrier, the entry plug turned a shade of red, he was out of power.
He cursed his carelessness, he should have been watching his time, but now everything he had blocked was coming straight for him.
He just shrugged, the mission was complete, Asuka would destroy the core and he…
Suddenly everything froze, and Misato's familiar face appeared on the screen before him. Asuka must have gotten to the core.
"Great work you two, Shinji this was an excellent idea." She commented with a smile.
"Oh please, I killed this thing by myself before!" Asuka shot back.
"That was excellent teamwork, especially from you Asuka," Misato added, giving the redhead a reason to cool off "that's going to be it for today."
She turned like she was about to cut the connection, but stopped and looked back.
"Also, Asuka, Dr. Akagi wants to see you after you get showered and changed alright?"
A low 'yes' was all Shinji heard as the connection was terminated.
As the LCL drained he got the sneaking suspicion that another redhead was sitting behind him.
"Having some fun today, are we?" he could almost picture Second Children scowling at the back of his head "Looks to me like you needed to see her on the sea, just like you and me beat Gaghiel, that desperate to convince yourself she's me?"
He ignored that comment and got ready to get out of the entry plug, the last thing he wanted to do was convince himself of that.
ʡʘʘʢ
"WHAT THE HELL, YOU CAN'T PUT UNIT-02 INTO CONTAINMENT!" the redhead roared.
This was the last thing she had expected today, especially with the simulator training. Why was it Unit-02 being stored?!
Behind the three of them, Unit-02's core was being removed, as the entire body of the Evangelion was being lowering into long term storage.
Dr. Akagi, Maya, and her stood there, in the IPEA controlled section of the underground base, each doing their best to keep themselves warm from the freezing air in the containment area.
"You know the stipulations of the Vatican Treaty, with the arrival of Unit-03 we have no choice." The doctor explained.
"Then store Unit-00, it's not even functioning!"
"We would if we could, but Europe still technically owns unit-02. We have to keep our units operational." Maya spoke up but sunk back as she earned a glare from the Second Child.
"It's in a political grey area right now, Euro hasn't even said if they want you to continue piloting." Ritsuko tried to explain to the girl.
"So, you're going to throw it away even though Unit-03 doesn't have a pilot, hell we don't know if it even works yet?!" she asked, addressing the first part of that statement.
Ritsuko sighed "We're not throwing it away, and all preliminary tests in the US were fine Asuka plus Misato is working to find a suitable pilot right now."
The girl had nothing else, the stupidity of the situation was unbearable but what else could she even say to convince the doctor in front of her?
"But Unit-02 is mine! You don't have anyone else to pilot it!" She blurted out. Sure, that was a good point, any other would-be pilot had failed so far, or at least that's what the reports had told her.
"It's a combat weapon Asuka, we have a backup plan for everything and that includes the pilot." Ritsuko mumbled, walking away from the girl with Maya close behind.
How could they even say that, after the years of training she had invested into it?
After how much of her life she had given to the EVA.
Turning around the redhead just watched as her beloved Evangelion was lowered deeper into the pit it'd be stored in.
An emptiness seemed to form in her chest at the sight, everything she had worked for so swiftly taken away for no apparent reason.
Her teeth grinded at the annoyance, no, anger that was bubbling up inside her for what they were doing to her.
"This is wrong..." she mumbled to herself "the cockpit of an EVA is the only place…."
She stopped, it wasn't the only place… no there was another, one that she had only just found.
The question was if it was enough for her now that her Unit-02 was taken from her?
ʡʘʘʢ
The Second Child just stood in front of the elevator awaiting its arrival. The time it was taking to get to her was only compounding her annoyance for the day.
The light ding of its arrival brought her back from her thoughts and the sight of a certain bluenette only caused her emotions to flair.
Narrowing her eyes, she just went around the First Child, resting up against the side of the elevator while the pale girl just stared blankly at the doors in front of her.
For the longest of moments, nothing was said between the two and Asuka was quite content with that, she didn't need to hear anything from the commander's pet.
Until Rei decided to speak up
"The EVAs only mirror what's in our hearts." The girl said in her trademarked soft monotone voice.
"What did you say?" she snapped at the girl, who hadn't even bothered to turn to her.
"You should not rely on EVAs, there's plenty of happiness for you in the world outside."
Oh, that was rich coming from her!
"What would you know anything about it?! Don't lecture me about happiness!"
The bluenette said nothing, just staring at the doors in front of her, which caused the redhead's anger to flare even more.
"I actually worked to be pilot, I was selected purely because of my skill, I didn't get it through connections like you did!" she snapped.
"I cannot help it, I am tied to it, the only human connections I have are through the EVA."
"SHUT UP! You're only the commanders favorite because you're a suck up, an obedient little doll that does everything he says!" Asuka snapped at the girl.
"I am not a doll."
"You're a doll!" she roared, pulling back her arm "Know a little more about yourself!"
She brought her palm down, wanting to slab the back of that stupid doll's head, but instead her blue eyes were met with the red of her target's.
Asuka's eyes wandering to the hand on her forearm which had stopped her strike and she took note of how it was now covered in nearly a dozen band-aids. She just let her gaze fall to her own left hand which had a mere two.
"You've got some nerve for a doll." She mumbled as the elevator dinged, announcing they had arrived to her floor.
As the doors opened, Asuka passed the First Child nearly checking her with her shoulder. The girl stopped between the elevator doors, not bothering to turn back to the girl for her question.
"I've got a question for you. What do you really think of the Idiot?" she asked.
"Idiot?" How typically clueless.
"I'm obviously talking about, Stupid Shinji." She spat as she turned her head to the side to get some sort of view of the girl. "What do I think? Let's hear it."
"I'm... not sure." She said softly.
"You Japanese are so reserved; just say how you feel dammit!" she barked, now turning fully, her face contorted in anger.
The pale girl paused for a moment, looking down and not making eye contact with the redhead.
"I don't know, although, being with him makes me feel… warm inside and I want him to… to feel the same way. I want him to get along with his father, and to feel warm inside, that's all." She mumbled out.
Asuka's eyes narrowed, but she just turned, her back again to the bluenette.
"Is that so?" she whispered before storming away from the elevator.
She strode down the hallway, with no one around she didn't care how angry she looked.
"She's just as much of an idiot as Shinji!" she mumbled to herself as she marched.
"That means you're in love with him!"
Asuka stopped mid step, her anger evaporated, replaced with another feeling.
Was that fear?
Her EVA was gone, that thing that she had devoted her life to was taken from her, stolen from her, but she didn't feel empty like she expected to. No, she had something else, she had someone else.
She had Shinji.
Is that what this was?
Despite everything, the idiot had promised to be there, despite the fact she had to sleep next to him constantly since her nightmares had come back, despite the fact that he had helped her or that he never goaded over her when he beat her.
She had done nothing for him…
She had just been using him… she had just taken from him, his cooking and cleaning, taken… his help with her kanji, taken… his warmth and company to fend off the night, taken.
Her mind wandered back to how many bandages Rei's hand had as she brought up her own to see the lonely two she had acquired.
He had done so much for her, and for what?
To be verbally abused whenever he tried to get close? Being called an idiot at every turn? Being basically ignored whenever they were outside Misato's apartment?
Why did he stay?
Why should he stay… when he could just as easily give his warmth to someone who would do for him everything he had done for her?
She couldn't even take his nightmares away; she couldn't even cook for him… she didn't even really know what she felt towards the boy…
But Rei… Rei at least could tell someone how she felt about him, the doll could tell her of all people that she was in love with him, even if she didn't quite realize it. The girl would probably do anything for the boy, just like the good pet she was.
Was she in love with him?
Was Asuka Langely Shikinami in love with that idiot?
Love.
What did that even mean?
What was it supposed to mean?
The girl had always been alone, through her time in the orphanage, to her time competing to pilot the EVAs. Even in Unit-02 she had felt alone.
And she hadn't wanted anyone else to be with her either, she didn't want friends that would distract from her life as a pilot, who would cause her to lose focus of that one thing she had dedicated her life to… the one thing that gave her life meaning, at least that was what she had told herself.
Until now.
Until someone had weathered that barrier she had constructed around her heart. Who had broken through it with such ease that it almost insulted her. Who, from the first time they met, had only worked to be closer to her and then promised to never leave her. Who somehow always knew what to say and even when she spat anything good he said back in his face… he still accepted her.
Now Rei was going to give him something, she was going to give him something out of love, the girl was going to do something for him when she herself was seemingly incapable of doing anything for the boy.
But he had promised her…
As if promises couldn't be broken…
That realization hit her like an angel… the sudden thought that he was the first person who she didn't want to leave her alone.
She was afraid that Rei would take him from her. That she would lure him away from her so the redhead would be stuck with nightmares and cold nights once again.
That scared, no… that terrified her. More than any Angel could.
Unit-02 had been stripped from her, now all she had was Shinji and she wouldn't let him be taken from her.
No, she would give him something to make him stay.
The girl finally took another step forwards and for the first time in a very long while, it was into the unknown.
The thing about Shikinami vs Soryu is that being and orphan means that Shiki doesn't have that same understanding of love that Soryu would have. Soryu had her mother to even if her work took away from her time with her daughter, but Shikinami's never know unconditional love, she cant even really comprehend it. So Rei doing something for Shinji probably would freak her out, not to mention her Unit-02 is taken away right before she realizes Rei 'loves' Shinji.
This is one of those moments where the sub and dub kinda give different wording/meaning, in the dub Asuka muses that Rei 'likes' Shinji, while in the sub, she muses that Rei is 'in love with him'. So I went with the clearer option.
Oh, now this is getting very interesting and I know everyone is excited/terrified about Unit-03.
The clock is ticking…
SHOUTOUTS!
deathbringer374 – I do find it funny when people pair Asuka with other people, isn't the whole point that Shinji and Asuka are the only ones who can understand each other? Anything else would probably just be hollow.
UltraSpink of Da USA – Yeah, I'm basically thinking I'll just spoil it when I finish this first part, might as well, but we're not done yet!
Su Exodus – I think Mari can be used as basically a blank slate to do whatever you want with her, its not my fault Anno didn't give us any explanations, its almost like she's a canon character that can be used like an OC at this point (as long as she's a hyperactive extrovert/ adrenaline junkie/ whatever the heck she is.
Berix – Thanks! Yeah, since he was always supposed to disregard the pilot's life for Bardiel he should think that he'd be in trouble for trying to save them. Yes! Keep up the nitpicks! To fix a problem first you need to know there is one, so definitely point anything else out, thanks! Hopefully it's more cohesive in this chapter.
Greg242 – Um, nope, she's working for the IPEA, like we see in the movie so she's not piloting Unit-03, this just really explains her plugsuit and the fact they release Unit-02 for her in the movie.
EvaPilotFair – I mean who else could he ask honestly? And I think he has a closer relationship with Kensuke vs Togi, because of Kensuke sharing that he's like Shinji in NGE when he runs away and bumps into Kensuke. Hence the flashbacks to that.
dyinglittelstar – Now is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
A Guy x2 – Wow, we got clones here, as for Shinji, well, if everyone brought their puzzle pieces together… but we're not quite there yet.
skyf0x – Yes, allow that tension to build!
soryu-asuka-langley – I'm gonna be honesty, I've been very cautious, and that was not from spoilers, but I guess if there's something there, I'll be pleasantly surprised when I do read spoilers during the first break. As for the dance…
calborghete – Shinji is always going to try to protect his friends, one more than others, but I think that's realistically be the person he'd become after the events of EOE and going into the events of the story.
Alright, there's probably not going to be a chapter this weekend, but that's not 100%.
Until Next Time.