Chapter 10 is here! Now, let's count your sins- I mean, let's start the chapter, shall we?
Well, I don't know what to say now. This chapter was a pain to write(due to my virtually none-existent writing skill), but I think it turned out pretty okay. Enjoy the chapter, I guess.
Daily Music Recommendation: GIRI GIRI - Masayuki Suzuki feat. Suu.
Time for the chapter. Have a great time reading, everyone!
a/n: it's really hard to write the story from scratch instead of following the original chronology :(
Chapter 10: The future I want.
*ring ring ring ring*
*clicks.*
"Moshi moshi? Misato Katsuragi speaking."
"Captain Katsuragi."
"Yes? Oh, it's you-I mean, yes sir, Commander Ichijo?"
"Cut the formality. Look, I don't like people going around and act as if I was some big shot. I'm still a normal person, you know, just loaded with a hell of a responsibilty on my back. *sigh*, Nevermind that, can you do me a favor?"
"Umm, sure, miss Ichijo." Misato said hesitantly. The new Commander seemed to be much more talkative than the previous Commander. She seemed to be friendlier, too."What do you want me to do?"
" Could you bring the Third Child to my office? Thanks to my... unexpected inauguration, he didn't get a chance to get to know NERV properly. I want to talk with him for a bit, if that was alright with you."
"No big deal, miss Ichijo. I can handle that."
"Thank you, captain Katsuragi. I will see you later."
*clicks*
"Tell me, Shinji, how did you know about us Seraphims? And what is your power exactly?"
...Huh. It seems that this was inevitable, after all. I almost thought you would forget about my part.
To be fair, I expected this question to come sooner. How should I answer those questions so as not to cause discord between us? I don't want her to be hostile or suspicious to me, especially after we just got on good terms!
Looking at the Seraphim leaning towards me, I could see her eyes as clear as the sky, demanding truth from my mouth. Damn, what should I do!? She was looking at me with those twinkling puppy eyes, waiting for my answer. Damn it, damn this stupid teenage body and its hormones!
I mentally gritted my teeth in frustration. Shamshel was still patiently looking at me, waiting for the truth.
'I am a cosmic being from outer space who got reincarnated inside a body of three years old several years ago-' Yeah, like hell she's going to buy that. It's an unbelievable story. Alright, you know what? I am not going to tell the truth. She will be heartbroken to see the Shinji she's looking at was someone completely unfamiliar to her. I may be a identity thief, but I am not a heartless bastard.
"Baka Shinji?"
'One day I woke up after dreaming about being sent to Earth by a race of superhumans. After that I got super powers. Crazy, right?' Okay, that isn't going to work either. I need to think of something believable. What else can I think of?
"Shinji!"
...Desperate times call for desperate measures, it seems. Alright, here goes nothing..!
"Sorr- eh?" I looked down and found my phone vibrating. Someone is calling me? "One moment, please." I said, reaching out to my phone. Curious, Shamshel leaned in and looked at my cellphone, only to see a call from none other than Misato Katsuragi. Then I looked at her and motioned, signaling to be quiet, which she responded by an understanding nod.
...That was a lifesaver. Misato-san, I'm forever in your debt. Thank you, phone technology and its convenient calling function. Thank you Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, for creating telephones. I'm grateful to the one who has saved me from total annihilation.
"Moshi moshi? Shinji speaking." Accepting the call, I said to the one on the other side. "What is it, Misato-san? Eh? What do you mean 'big stuff'? 'Come and see'? You are coming to get me? Okay, got it. I will see you soon. Bye." Ending the call, I looked at the puzzled German girl. "Uuuh, duty call. It looked like something big just happened and they want me to be there. They didn't even explain what it was."
"NERV?" She asked.
"How did you know?"
"The name seemed familiar." She poked her forehead. "...you know."
"Ah right, that makes sense. It looked like we don't have much time left sooooo..." I tried to sound as sincere as possible while looking at the Seraphim. "Maybe we can continue this later? Please?"
Shamshel, for a split second, let out a displeased 'tch' before turning her head away. "...Fine." She muttered quietly under her breaths.
...Wait a minute, was she pouting?
"Alright, it's late already. I will see you later, baka Shinji. Still have some stuffs left to deliver." She sighed before taking her leave. Pulling a rather cute hat out of the nowhere, the girl wearing the hat on her head before grabbing the knob of the front door and exiting the house. "Bye."
"Have a good night, Shamshel... er, what should I call you instead?" I called out to her one last time, temporarily stopping her track. "What is your human name? It's weird to call someone by a name of an Angel, you know."
"Name, huh?" She turned back and looked at me, hands locked behind her back while leaning forward playfully. "...Just call me Shikinami when we're in public. Goodbye, Shinji."
Shikinami(敷波)? Like 'wave'? Or is it a reference to a certain warship? Huh, that's actually a pretty good name. "Goodbye, Shikinami-san. I will see you later." I waved back to her.
She nodded and waved goodbye. "Later." Closing the door behind her, the beautiful redhead disappeared from my sight.
I waited until the sound of her footstep died down, making sure that she had left my house. Eventually, the eternal silence reigned once more, and I raised a hand to do my anxious victory pose.
"...Phew." Damn, that was close. I put a hand on my chest and siged in relief. I almost spilled the bean, and that's not a good thing. "Remind me to take a cold shower before meeting Shikinami-san again. That was way too dangerous."
Had the call been a little later, things would have been chaotic as hell. My house wouldn't be able to survive a Seraphim's wrath... Oh well, good thing that nothing dangerous has happened... yet. Shrugging nonchalantly,I looked at the food on the table, which was slowly getting cold during our conversation. We talked that long? Digging in the food, my head started running thoughts about NERV.
"What made them so busy that they forgot about me three weeks ago?" I said my thoughts out loud. "How irresponsible. Come to think of it, Father wasn't even present during the battle with the Fourth Angel. Where the hell did he go? And the geezer too."
It's strange to see that the Commander of all people to be missing at such a important moment. Was he busy with something? Hmm, I rubbed my chins. This NERV organization is more suspicious than I thought. Maybe they are hiding something from me? I don't know what they're doing, but this kind of neglect is unacceptable, especially when I, who should have been trained and all, was left alone with no training to fight the Angels. If I were a normal kid, I wouldn't have survived this whole Angel-battling stuff.
Though maybe it was because the first Angel fight was so easy that they let their guard down against the Angels? Oh, so that's partly my fault then. I shouldn't have ended the fight so quickly.
Wait a minute, that's no reason for them to take the threat of the Angels lightly! And the staff there also seem pretty serious, too, so it must be another reason.
"The danger of Evangelions and NERV..." I continued my thoughts, biting the dumpling sitting on my hand. "Adam only told me about the Evangelions, but not the story behind it. Why was it built, why were the humans able to contain Adam after Second Impact... So many questions, so little answers. I knew so little about everything."
Finishing the dumplings, I got up and started changing my clothes. Whatever NERV needs me for, it must be important. And in order to get more information, I have to do my best. I will do my utmost to preserve this life. Whatever world-destroying grand schemes are advancing behind my back, I will crush them all.
For this is my world. For I'm Shinji Ikari...
"...For I'm the one who brings love and peace to this world!" I accidentally yelled the last phrase out loud, the sound of my shout echoed in the empty hall. "Oh shoot. I yelled that out loud."
The awkward sound of cicadas replaced the usual silence of the house, in response to my embarrassing monologue. I wonder where the sound was coming from.
Closing the door behind him, the Seraphim sighed. Holding the delivered food in her hand, the red-haired girl stomped her feet on the ground and flew into the sky. Three pairs of bright red wings spread out on her back, allowing her to glide through the sky of Tokyo-3.
"Who am I, really? The Seraphim, Lord Longinus' subordinate, or this Second Child?"
She remembered getting and experiencing those new-found memories of her as if she was the true owner of them, but is she truly the Second Child? Or is she just a faker, using them as a mean to complete her mission?
She felt like she was betraying Shinji's trust.
"Just who the hell am I?" She muttered. "Am I really worthy of his trust?"
'Fret not, my Seraphim.'
She seemed surprised to hear her boss's voice barging in her head. "Lord Longinus?" She said, landing on an abandoned tower of Tokyo-3. Putting her stuffs aside, Shamshel asked again. "Are you here?"
'Indeed. It is I, your mysterious master, creator of all Seraphim! Fufufu, it's nice to see you again, my dear.' The voice said happily. She is in a good mood today, Shamshel thought.
"It's my pleasure to hear your voice again, milord." The red-haired girl said. "What is your order this time?"
'Nothing, I just want to check on you. Did the mission go as well as expected? Did you befriend the boy as I said?'
"Yes, it's all going according to your plan." Shamshel nodded happily. "I befriended Shinji. We just met while I was out delivering food for a local restaurant."
'Woah, you already succeeded at blending in human's society!?' The voice sounded even more enthusiastic than before. 'You are more intelligent than I thought, Shamshel-chan! Great job!'
The redhead felt somewhat offended by her boss' encouraging words. Holding back her newly-found urges to make a snarky comment(This habit appeared since she got those fake memories), Shamshel accepted the compliment. "Thank you, Lord Longinus."
'Don't mention it. Are the fake memories still intact?' The voice asked. 'The one I gave you after you transformed into a Seraphim so you could act like a human and transform into your human form? I guess you have no problem behaving like a human?'
"They are still in good conditions, milord. And yes, I have no problem living as a human." The girl said before starting her report. "I accidentally revealed that I was the Angel and I had the memories of the Second Child to Shinji. Is this salvageable, milord?"
'Oh, it's alright.' The voice casually brushed off her subordinate's concerns like it was nothing. 'I was planning on telling you to do that anyways. Did he believe you?'
"...I'm not sure I'm following what you are thinking, milord." Confused by her boss' nonchalant words, Shamshel asked. "Yes, he did believe me. But what is the point in telling him I'm some random Evangelion pilot in the future? Shinji must be confused after hearing this information."
'Oh you silly, silly Seraphim.' The voice giggled. 'So that you could get closer to him and protect him, that's why.'
"That is not how things work, Lord Longinus."
'It is. By manipulating him into thinking that you are his ally from the future, he will loosen his guard. Got it, former Fourth Angel?'
"You are making no sense at all. How would he loosen his guard just because I have some memories of the Second Child? And what will I do once the real Second Child arrives? What will he think about this?"
'Just believe me, Shamshel. He's insecure. Get closer to him, become his close friend, hang out with him... and he will stick to you like a bug attracted to light. Come to speak of it, how was he? Was he timid and boring?' The woman's voice asked curiously.
"...He was out-going and friendly, ma'am. I don't think he was being timid as you said."
'...EH?!'
The voice was absolutely flabbergasted. 'Inposshiburu(impossible)!? Is this the same world I lived in?! Shinji is actually acting like a proper teenager now?! Is this caused by the butterfly effect?!'
'And he was the source of the unknown black light too, milord.' Shamshel continued reporting. 'He was able to battle me with his black A.T Field and didn't suffer from any serious injuries. I suspect that he got this power a long time ago, due to his mastery at using creative methods involving his power.'
'Okay, this is getting out of hand.' Sighing at the absurdity of the situation, the voice said. 'Something is clearly going wrong here. My son in this timeline is actually a superhuman? You're sure you didn't see a black ring on his hand? Was he wearing a black suit and a mask? Are we in Supermen Of Eva or something?'
'I don't understand what you are trying to tell me, milord.'
'You don't know Green L*ntern? Shame. Anyways.' The voice shifted into its serious mode. 'Keep an eye on him. Report if something went wrong.'
The red-haired teenage saluted. 'Yes, milord.'
'Good, good. Continue blending in human's society while carrying out your mission, Shamshel. Make some friends, earn some money, enjoy human's pleasure... Do it before time ran out. We don't live forever, you know? Enjoy a human's life, Shamshel. You don't have much time left.'
"...Understood."
'Good girl. You know, I kinda enjoyed our talk, Shamshel. You can talk to me whenever you want; just say the magic word and I will be there.'
"I see." The Seraphim nodded her head. "Thanks for checking on me, milord."
'You're welcome. Then, I will return to my place. Is there anything you need to ask me before I head back?'
The moon was shining brightly as the red-haired girl looked at it. Sitting down on the fence, Shamshel was thinking again. "...Who am I now, Lord Longinus?"
'Who are you, huh? Isn't that what you are supposed to ask yourself?' The voice stopped a bit before continuing. 'Is being yourself not enough for you?'
"It's confusing. Sometimes I felt like I was the Second Child, sometimes I felt like I was being someone else. I don't know if I was being myself or not."
'Hmm, that's a great question.' The woman's voice said suggestively. 'Why not go figure that out yourself, Shamshel? I'm sure you will learn something new from this.'
"...I understand. Thank you, milord."
'Alright, I will take my leave now. Take care.'
"Farewell." The voice disappeared from her mind, leaving her alone again. Still sitting, Shamshel sighed at her boss' unhelpful advice. She was literally having a existential crisis, and her boss told her to figure that out by herself. "She is a wise person, I'm sure she knew what she was saying." She reassured her anxiety.
Well, at least she had a hint of what she should do now, so it wasn't entirely useless asking her lord. Stretching her body one last time before continuing her task, Shamshel spread her wings, preparing to dive into the night of Tokyo-3.
...
She felt like she was forgetting something. Looking behind her, the girl saw the food she was supposed to deliver thirty minutes ago spilled on the ground. "...Oh, shoot. The owner won't be happy about this."
Looks like the days of her being a delivery girl wasn't over yet. Defeated, the Seraphim jumped down to the building and headed back to the local restaurant, where she will probably be scolded heavily by the bald chef. Needless to say, Seraphim was not feeling fine.
Shinji Ikari was not having the best time of his life.
He himself admired those crazy racers who could pull impressive car stunts for a long time, until he met one himself, namely Misato Katsuragi. At first, the purple-haired captain didn't seem to be much of a crazy woman, but his assumptions quickly changed as soon as he stepped into her car.
It was fun and all until his face was slammed against the car window for the second time, despite the fact that this time he was wearing his seat belt.
"Ow... Misato-san, please stop driving..." He weakly muttered, almost passed out from the impact. "I'm quite worried about the people on the road. They'll have a heart attack immediately when they see you driving like this..."
Whoosh! The car drifted again to avoid a imcoming truck, slamming the poor boy to the window for the third time in a row. He is literally seeing butterflies right now.
Yes, this is Shinji Ikari, once a cosmic being, who has just become a mentally-scarred teenager thanks to Misato's reckless driving skills. His voice came out weak as he gasped. "Do you have a paper and a pen? I want to write down my will before dying..."
Needless to say, he was on the verge of breaking down. The woman driving the car responded to his request with a disappointed glance. "Kids these days." She clicked her tongue in disappointment. So pessimistic all the time.
After ten minutes of vehicular suffering, the duo finally made it to their destination. Getting off the car, Shinji finally recovered as he wobbly walked towards the headquarter of NERV.
"So." Said the boy who was entering the entrance, looking at the purple-haired captain. "What is this 'big stuff' you talked about? Everything seemed normal. It's not like there's a surprise party or something, right?"
"Of course not?" Confused, Misato said. "It's something has to do with the new Commander."
"New Commander?" Shinji raised an eyebrow. What happened to Gendo Ikari, Shinji's supposed father? Come to think of it, he didn't see Gendo in the Fourth Angel battle either. "My father... he got kicked out or something? What did he do?"
"Er, not exactly. Well, you should go see for yourself." Stopping him on his track, the captain turned to face him while pointing at a big room with her hand. "You and I will meet the next Commander of NERV. Relax, she won't bite you."
"We are going to meet her right now?! Wait wait, this is too sudden! And I'm not wearing NERV uniform...Wait, am I supposed to wear those? Nevermind." He said nervously. "Are you sure? You should have warmed me beforehand."
"Nah, she doesn't like complicated stuffs, like me! But just in case, behave yourself. We don't want her first impression of you to be terrible, after all." She smugly claimed and raised her head while placing both of her hands on her hip, causing the nose to extend by several inches(metaphorically.). She quickly dropped her quirky pose as she placed both of her hands on the boy's shoulders and pushed him forward. "C'mon, let's go already."
"Alright alright! Geez, you don't have to push me like that-"
The door opened, and what happened next was quite unexpected to the captain. Still placing her hands on Shinji's shoulders, she accidentally pushed the poor boy's face into the masked brunette Commander's bosom.
The air suddenly froze between them. No one moved or even said a word, except Shinji who was still trying to acknowledge what was going on by calmly analyzing his surroundings.
...
"Let's pretend this never happened. Please get the Third Child off me now, Captain Katsuragi."
"Aye, Commander."
With a swift chop, the poor boy's brain was temporarily shutted down.
Yep, it's really odd that the atmosphere seemed to be more tense than usual. And I felt like I passed out or something. Finding myself sitting in front of the foreign masked woman, I was very, very nervous. Next to me was a Misato, who was awkwardly trying to act if she was spacing out. Both of the women seemed to be serious about this meeting, while I'm out here trying to not cause any trouble.
...Yeah, I didn't remember sitting on this chair. What exactly happened to me several minutes ago? Looking back at Misato, I saw the purple-haired woman, my supposed boss looking at the window(which is very out of place since we were underground) while whistling suspiciously. Yeah, I think I should stop at there before something worse happens. I began to look at the new Commander, whose face was obscured by her mask, rendering inspecting her face useless.
For some reason, this Commander was wearing a silver-colored mask, hiding her real face beneath the disguise. I wonder if she got a nasty scar on her face. Perhaps an unfortunate accident?
I quickly shook my head to snap out of it. I was unconsciously staring at the Commander, which is not a good thing to do. It's rude to stare at someone, after all.
Oh, she is about to begin her talk. Readying myself, I straightened my back to properly face the Commander. Misato has finally quited looking at the window and sat professionally. Huh, that's new. I never saw she this serious before. Maybe this is a new side of her I've discovered?
"I am happy that you two managed to come here on time. I guess this is the first time we meet, Third Child. It's a pleasure to meet you." The masked woman said warmly, offering me a handshake. I responded by shaking her offered hand with both of my hands and a nod. Pleased by my honest action, she nodded as well before turning to Misato. "He's a good subordinate. You two are getting along?"
"Yes, Commander Ichijo. However, he doesn't take orders very well. He needs to be trained more." The purple-haired captain said with a straight face. Sneaking a glance at my superior, I can see her eyebrows twitching. I wonder what made her slightly irritated like that.
...Oh.
"I'm sure you can figure that out later, Captain Katsuragi. Right now, we should give this young man a small tour around here. He was barely here like two times, right? It would be beneficial to make the boy be comfortable at his workplace." She expressed her thoughts. "I will come as well."
"I understand." Standing up from the chair, Misato Katsuragi poked me on my shoulder. "Stand up, Shinji."
"Y-yes." Clumsily trying to not mess up, I stood up straighter than a cutting board. "U-um, where should we start?"
The new Commander chuckled. "Let's begin at..."
Pressing a button and inserting some yen into the vending machine, I waited for my drink to be dropped to the vending machine's compartment. Opening a unnamed can of melon soda, I took a sip from it. Mhm, tasty as always.
Oh wait, I'm not supposed to relax at times like this. Misato also took a Yebisu beer can out of a nearby vending machine(why they sell beer at this place here is beyond me.) and drank it as if it was Coca Cola. I'm still wondering why she is allowed to consume beer here. Because this place, you know, is definitely not a bar.
Why, of all places, why it has to be...
"Um, why the canteen first?" I asked. This wasn't what I was expecting. I was thinking about EVAs' engineering factories or the underground lake, not this awesome-looking canteen which was filled with NERV's employees here. Wait, why did I compliment this place?
The canteen was decorated nicely, with strips of white and silver all over the place, giving out a futuristic vibe. The NERV's symbol, which was usually a red autumn leave sliced in half now painted in silver as well, and the terrible slogan has changed into "Live to eat, and eat to live.". What a inspiring quote, I'd say.
The Commander answered with a shrug, her left hand holding an orange paper box filled with takoyaki. "Staying nourished and hydrated is essential to this job. We can't have people wasting their health just because they have to work here overtime everyday. This whole Angel War stuff is tough, you know."
I have so many questions regarding her mask right now. There's no way she just ate the takoyaki with her mask on. And why do people sell takoyaki here? I was thinking of instant noodles and such, not those kinds of food.
...Am I getting sidetracked? What was the reason I came here again?
"What? Did you expect something else?" She tilted her head, not expecting my strange look.
'Yes. Yes, I did expect something else.' "No, not at all, Commander Ichijo." I said, changing the subject. "This place is really nice. I can come here everyday and buy food?"
"Well, yes, because you're technically an employee here." She gave me a thumb up. "When it comes to NERV, everything is necessary. Everyone of you are risking your life to protect the world, after all. We should sit down somewhere... Let's go there." She pointed at a unoccupied table at the corner of the canteen. "And we will begin our talk."
We walked towards the table and sat down with our food. Commander Ichijo opened her can of beer as well, which I almost raised an eyebrow at her before realizing it's not a toleratable behavior. Seriously, is everyone here an alcoholic or something?
"Let's get to the point. The first thing I wanted to talk about is..." The masked woman said. "...Second Impact. No, not what the media has told you about. I will tell you about the real truth that was covered by the world's governments. The actual cause of the devastating incident that nearly destroyed the world."
Rei Ayanami woke up with a drop of sweat on her forehead. She glanced at the penguin-shaped clock showing the time, 4 AM in the morning to be exact. She blinked her eyes a few times before turning her gaze away from the clock.
Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, the blunette silently collected her thoughts.
Recently, she had the same bad dream over and over again. She couldn't remember it clearly, as the dream always ended with Rei finding herself lost in some kind of abyss and woke up from the dream. Feeling a slight headache, the blue-haired albino decided to leave her bed early.
Exiting her room to get some water, Rei opened the door with the phrase "Rei's Lovely Suite~" written on it to enter the kitchen. Small sounds of her footsteps echoed throughout the hall, breaking the usual early morning silence. Noticing the absence of a certain purple-haired captain, Rei found himself alone in Captain Katsuragi's house. She held the water glass in her hands and drank it.
Why was she inside our favorite alcoholic Misato Katsuragi's apartment? The answer is quite simple, actually: She just moved in here.
Several days ago, due to a certain someone's request and Misato's insistence, her accommodation has been changed, moving her belongings and Rei Ayanami herself to the purple-haired captain's apartment. The purple-haired woman was enthusiastic about having her around as her new charge, and even go as far as offering Rei her homemade food. Thanks to Rei's dislike towards meat, an unfortunate accident has been avoided.
Rei found her lip twitching into a small smile. She touched her curled lips with her finger, amazed at what she had experienced in the past two days.
"What is this sensation?"
Rei figured out she should ask the Commander about this phenomenon that kept happening every time she thinks about those memories.
"...Come to think of it, where's Commander Ikari?" She wondered aloud. "He hasn't checked on me in a long time."
He must be busy with something, she thought. There is a very high chance that he is working on his Scenerio again. Soon, after the last Angel is defeated, the Scenerio will be initated, and she will fulfill her purpose.
Rei found a knot forming inside her stomach as she continued her thought. Will she continue working for the Commander towards their goal and give up this life?
The blunette shivered. Has she grown attached to people? She asked herself, doubting her own ideals.
It's time for Commander Ichijo to take the stage! As our silly protagonist was drinking his melon soda, the mysterious masked woman told him about the truth behind Second Impact. Somewhere else, a certain blunette is having a bad dream. Seriously, what is going on in this world? Find out in the next chapter!
I was going to write this chapter a little bit longer but my brain couldn't stop being exhausted so yeah, here we are.
As always, thank you for reading. I hope you have a great time! You can consider to leave a review to support me and my poor writing skills, thanks.
Have a great day, everyone! I will see you guys in the next chapter!
