CH 9. Holding Out For A Hero
Rei sat in the pitch darkness of the entry plug, doing her best to meditate before her unit was activated and she was thrown into the chaos of battle.
There would be no backup unless Dr Akagi was successful in reviving Shinji. Even if she was, there was no telling how long that would take.
It was just her and her Unit-0 against the Angel. She'd never engaged in a solo combat sortie. Seeing the footage from Shinji's had made her thankful for that fact. She wasn't afraid. If she died, she could be replaced, but if she failed, then everything was over.
It wasn't going to happen. As long as her heart pumped blood and her lungs air, she'd resist the enemy and be victorious. There was no other alternative. She will succeed because she doesn't have a choice.
Digital displays and various switches and buttons filled the entry plug with a soft glow as the activation process began. Then her senses were assaulted with a barrage of multicolored lights as she reached full synchronization.
Her cockpit was now a transparent window to the outside world. Showing the various restraint being released and the frantic moving of both man and machine as they prepared her for launch.
She was surprised but had no reaction when a different but still familiar voice spoke to her in the Eva.
"Rei, I will be handling tactical decisions during this operation. This enemy is capable of burrowing itself underground and the Magi predict it will breach the geofront within the hour. Ranged combat will not be possible, so prepare for close combat. You will intercept the target once it arrives and prevent it from advancing. The other pilots are still unconscious, so do not count on backup coming soon or at all."
Rei didn't bother to acknowledge the orders audibly, nodding her head and tightly gripping onto her unit's controls.
She entered the dimly lit cavern with a proton glance braced underneath her unit's arms. She leapt into the LCL lake beneath her, causing a massive tidal wave to spread throughout the eerily silent chamber.
She sloshed through the murky liquid towards her designated position. Doing everything in her power to ignore the constant whispers in the back of her head she knew were coming from the Crucified figure watching over her.
"I am in position Commander, what is the target's ETA?"
One of the female techs whose name she'd never heard answered instead. "The target will breach the Geofront within approximately 2 and a half minutes."
She looked up to see an encrypted channel open up. She looked at it quizzically until he spoke.
"Rei, this Angel's ability to tunnel underneath our defenses in worrying. Do not let the enemy get to her."
Rei immediately understood the 'her' he was referring to. The creature that was equal parts her salvation and her destruction. She didn't have time to think about it now. It was time for battle.
She could hear a faint rumbling through the metallic wall of the massive cavern. Her Eva matched her movements. Entering into a combat stance, reaching behind her back to retrieve the proton glaive haphazardly strapped to her unit's back. She braced the weapon, pointing it towards the approaching noise and keeping count of the seconds until it arrived.
The creature burst through the thick metal playing, creating a massive dust cloud obscuring its form. It stuck out its bulbous head and craned it around to grasp its new surroundings. It had 5 empty sockets on either side of its head, each one leaking a strange viscous fluid down its face. Its gaping maw had layers upon layers of small, razor-sharp teeth coating the inside. Its short, rotund body hung out of the earthen hole it created. It had six spindly legs dragging the creature's oversized body slowly across the ground. The creature's skin was covered in a hardened carapace that was constantly flexing and pulsing with motion.
Rei felt a chill run down her spine when she saw the creature turn its sightless gaze to her. Its mouth opened, and the creature flung its entire body at her with surprising speed. She held firm, keeping her weapon in front of her as it went straight through the creature's midsection. It didn't seem to notice, Rei cried out as she felt its jaws close around her unit's chest armor.
With all her might, she kicked the creature away from her. She had the urge to cry out again as she succeeded in freeing herself at the cost of a sizeable chunk of her chest armor being consumed by the creature.
The force of her kick sent the Angel careening away from her and into the walls of terminal dogma. It swallowed the piece of the Eva it had managed to grab and its bloody maul looked like it was smiling at her..
It felt like someone had taken a knife and dragged it down her front. The entirety of her front burned intensely, forcing her to grit her teeth to regain control. She braced the weapon in both of her hands, charging at the Angel as it tried to reorient itself.
Swinging with all her might, she felt from satisfaction as her blow connected. She jumped to add more momentum to her swing and bisected the creature neatly. Orangish red liquid gushed out of the two halves of the Angel. To her dismay, the creature instantly began to repair itself. Sinewy fibers of flesh threaded themselves between the two pieces and quickly pulled themselves back together.
Its face, permanently disfigured to look like it's always giving the same disgusting open mouthed grin, returned its sightless gaze back to her. Suddenly spikes at least 20 meters tall burst out from the creature's head. She couldn't move in time, and Eva's limbs and torso were quickly impaled. She couldn't control the strangled cry that escaped her throat as pain overwhelmed her nervous system.
This was it. She was going to die. Every move to free herself caused the Angel to extend its spike longer, trapping her further. Gravity was working against her too slowly, forcing her mechanical titan to impale itself further and further into the traps.
Her eyes widened in horror as the Angel's body distended and grew longer, coiling around itself like a fleshy snake. The creature violently spun itself around, tossing the speared ear machine aside like a rag doll.
Rei could feel her whispers even louder, if she was able to turn around, as she was certain she'd see her looking right at her. Asking, no begging, that I join with her, use its power to save myself.
She tried to stand; it took all of her effort and concentration to stay conscious. Her movements were slow and sluggish, the shadow of the Angels' form looming over her. Almost on her feet she took one shaky step then collapsed onto her knees as one of the Eva's leg joints gave out.
"I'm sorry Commander, I failed"
"Rei, get up and fall back. We're trying to send you another weapon"
"Roger" she tried to stand up again, but it took too long. The Angel's body was triple the length it had been before. All she could do was watch and feebly struggled as the Angel's maw closed around her.
"Rei!"
All around her was darkness. Darkness and pain. She heard something calling out to her or someone. It sounded familiar, very familiar. She had a strange feeling in her chest. It was tight and honestly painful in a way beyond the physical.
Digestive juices were melting the armor plating of her Eva. She could feel the creature's throat muscles forcing her further and further down its gullet towards her certain death.
This is it. The end. She will die and another will take her place. Will the next one remember to ask Shinji what a friend is? Will they even be curious about understanding human interaction? Or will she only care about her mission and nothing else.
For some inexplicable reason. She was reminiscing about one of her few conversations with the Third Child and his strange but passionately held beliefs. She felt her eyelids slide shut and the entry plug walls vanish from her perception as she looked herself in the eyes inside an endless void.
'If someone looks like you and acts like you, they're not you. They're just pretending to be you.'
'Who are you?' The other Rei asked her.
'I am myself'
'Who are you?'
'I am Rei, Rei Ayanami."
'Who are you?'
'I am the First Child, I am the test pilot for Prototype Evangelion Unit-00.'
'Who are you?'
'I…don't know, not really.'
'Will you try to learn?'
'I don't know how.'
'First you must live.'
'I am already alive and still I do not know. When will I get the chance to learn?'
'You have not even attempted to understand and you would ask me that?'
'I'm sorry.'
'Sorry does not change the present reality. What do you want?'
'I want to sleep.'
'What do you want?'
'I want the pain to stop.'
"What do you WANT?'
'I want to die!'
'You wish to run away from pain? Hide from it and shield your heart entirely from the possibility of pain existing?'
'I do not like pain.'
'Do you believe death is the end of all pain? How can you know what happiness is if you do not have suffering to compare it to?'
'I don't.'
'If you don't know happiness, then how do you know pain? How do you know anything?'
'You're right, I don't know anything. I never have. I'm sorry.'
'You will die in ignorance.'
'No.'
'No? You told me you wish for death, for an end to pain. What do you mean, no?'
'I wish to understand. I want to try and understand, even if I fail.'
'You will experience pain, true pain. Will you be able to handle it?'
'I will try.'
'That is enough. Now I would like for you to give me the truth.'
'The truth?'
'What do you really want?'
"I don't want to die" Who said that? Those sounded like they were her words. They came out of her mouth, but she had nothing to do with that. Death was simply an inconvenience to her. There would be another who would fulfill her purpose. This physical body and its mind we're inconsequential tools to achieve human instrumentality.
"I don't want to die" A strange burning sensation began to build up in her eyes. She brought her hands up to her face and felt something strange. She looked up to see little beads of tears escaping from her eyes and floating to the top of the LCL.
Why was she crying? The tightness and pain in her chest only got worse with time. Now it was an unbearable ache that consumed every fiber of her being. Even overpowering the intense physical pain her connection to the Eva was giving her.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" She screamed and clawed and bit and kicked like a cage animal as she felt the last vestiges of her consciousness give out.
Gendo Ikari was tired. He was sitting on a couch in a living room he'd not seen with his own eyes in more than a decade. Lying had become as simple to him as breathing and nearly as reflexive. The truth has a funny habit of revealing itself, no matter how hard you try to bury it.
It felt good, honestly, to put an end to the never ending game of keep-away balanced on a knife's edge. Going forward with as light a touch as possible simply won't work anymore. For better or for worse, he'll have to get more involved if he ever wants to achieve his goal. He would do what he could to help, but he was out of his depth, plain and simple. Shinji didn't trust him, he wouldn't trust him either, so he didn't blame him for it.
It didn't matter what either of them did in the grand scheme of things. Knowing the plans set in place did little to change their finality, especially from the perspective of the lowly pawn.
"I'm not gonna kill you. I'm sorry I said that."
"I don't think that was ever a possibility, but I'll accept it."
"I'm sorry I hit you, but you shouldn't have lied."
"It's okay, That I can say I did mostly deserve."
"I should've heard you out, not just attacked you. I'm sorry ."
"Grief is a powerful emotion and one that is incredibly difficult to control. I was in a similar state sometime after I lost your mother. In a way, it was a small blessing that the memory was artificially removed. Such loss can drive a man to madness."
"But-"
"While I had little to do with Yui's entrance into Unit-01. Do not forget about my own involvement in the third impact. I think a little ass kicking was coming my way."
"You didn't cause the impact I did." He could see the burden this knowledge placed on the boy, it was one of the reasons he'd not wanted to tell him, it was clear he'd not abide by half truths any longer.
"Shinji, the scenario called for you to be driven to madness intentionally, so you'd be the catalyst. That's not your fault, it's mine."
"That's not an excuse! I was there! I could've done something. I should've been stronger."
"Could've should've would've. You had just watched everyone you were close to die. Blaming yourself for a mistake you haven't made yet won't help anything. Focus on changing the outcome, not on moping over it's inevitably"
"I guess you're right, but what's with the sudden change of attitude about keeping secrets? Why wouldn't you tell me any of this stuff sooner?"
"I came to a realization, I guess you could say. Our goals are not as incongruous as I first thought"
"Our goals? What is your goal?" Shinji looked up curiosly at the man, his expression was unreadable, looking somehow resolved and irritated at once.
"To see your mother one last time."
"Can I see her? When I next sync to the Eva will I be able to talk to her about stuff?"
"Shinji, you have to be careful with that information. Your mother is not the only presence inside Unit-01."
"What does that mean?"
The actual beast inside of Unit-01 and in all the Eva's has a will of its own. It desires strongly to awaken and fuse with a pilot to start an impact event. Your mother has been in there for over 12 years and the longer she spends in there, the harder it will be to distinguish herself from the monster inside the Eva.'
"Well then, we have to get her out of there! What if that thing wins, and she's gone forever!?"
"On this you and I think the same"
"So what do we do?"
"Before we can save anyone, you'll need to defeat the Angels first." Shinji involuntary let out a groan as he heard the phrase repeated once again. He forced his expression back to neutral as the man patiently observed him.
"Okay, but how many are left then?"
"There will be 8 Angels assuming Rei has succeeded in defeating the ninth."
"Wait, Rei is fighting the Angel!? How long have we been in here!? It's only been a couple hours at most, right!?"
"Your guess about the passage of time is as likely to be correct as mine. With both you and the second incapacitated, who else would fight?"
"Did something happen to Asuka!? Is she alright!?"
"Shinji, I am inside YOUR head. I cannot gain access to any information that is not equally accessible to you. You must learn to pay better attention to your surroundings."
He gestured towards the previously ignored TV a few meters beside the pair. On the screen, a blonde doctor was waving a broken tube of something in front of Shinji's nostrils and getting increasingly irate.
They both observed in silent rapt as the woman's tablet began blinking rapidly, forcing her to halt her task and stare in astonishment.
"Berserker…So it's not just a quirk of Unit-01's programming." The blonde doctor seemed suddenly uninterested in the sleeping form of the teenager next to her and quickly exited the room.
Gendo could feel his son's curious eyes burning a hole in the back of his head. The eternal game of twenty questions he's found himself trapped in will not be ending soon.
"I believe this Angel will not be a problem"
"What makes you say that?"
"In my time, this Angel was easily defeated; the only trouble was fighting it with a complete lack of power. If Unit-00 has gone berserker, it's unprecedented, but likely enough to defeat the target if its strength is equivalent."
"That's good. I think. But that doesn't answer what happened to Asuka."
"If you'd let me finish speaking for once I'd tell you, it would seem Katsuragi's penchant for reckless driving finally caught up with her. If you'd gone with them, you'd have ended up in the same accident that put both of them in the hospital."
"If you're trying to say that I'm lucky, you may be technically right, but I don't feel very lucky."
"Regardless, I should tell you there's only one force powerful enough to free your mother's soul from Unit-01. If we're at all similar, the commander is attempting the same thing."
"Don't say it."
"Whoever is the overseer of instrumentality would have the power of God. it's that power that sent me back through time and it's that power that will save your mother."
"That can't be the only way! Isn't there something Ritsuko could do? NERV has all the world's best and brightest scientists; can't they figure out anything to help her?" He felt desperation like an icy chill, eating away at his heart. His chest felt like it was going to explode.
"Don't you think I've tried that? If another way existed to remove a soul from the Eva's core, then it'd have been done already years ago."
"So the only way I can see my mom again is if I cause the end of the world. That's so awesome."
"I have faith that I will see her again, regardless of the cost. That is all I need to keep moving forward."
"I'm sorry. One person isn't worth the lives of everyone else on the planet. I can't be the one to do that. I'm supposed to be the one who saves the world, not its destroyer"
"You've been pretty insistent that you're not a hero. You've spoken about mine, but what's caused your change of attitude?"
"Do you see anyone else lining up to take my place? I've never been a hero and I'm still not. I got forced into piloting the Eva or else everyone around me dies. Refusing to be responsible for the death of your species doesn't make you a hero. I'm just more afraid of what happens if I don't do anything than if I do. I don't wanna let everyone down."
"Then I believe I have a gift for you."
"A gift? What could you give me?"
"Codes to remove remote access to the Evangelion and remove some of the more miscellaneous restrictions." The man gave him a sly grin as he informed him of the numbers and symbols he'd need to enter to 'hack' into his own Eva if he needed.
"Why would I need that?"
"If the command center tries to forcibly raise your LCL pressure, or eject your entry plug, you can maintain control of the Eva. You'll also have access to the Eva's 'beast mode', which can be used in dire combat situations to unleash the monster inside the Eva." Shinji's eyes widened to saucers at the man's description, imaging a rampaging Evangelion without any armor, just the weird fleshy monster underneath. The image creeped him out.
"I guess that all sounds good, but why would they do something like that in the first place? We're working together to beat the Angels, so why would I need to go against command?"
"It's an old saying for a reason, Shinji. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best. You should want as many tools in your toolbox as possible and have faith that you won't have to use all of them."
"That makes sense, I guess. Are we just gonna be trapped here until I wake up?"
"I've been here and will continue to be here. As for you, have you even tried waking yourself up?"
"It can't be that simple."
Asuka's head HURT. She couldn't remember what she did to end up in the NERV medical bay, but the bandage around her head gave her a pretty good guess at what happened. She'd managed to pull out the wires and they'd been foolish enough to not bother putting on any restraints so she was making her way quickly towards the cages.
The Geofront seemed to be shaking below her feet, which was what initially disturbed her medicine induced slumber. Now she wasn't sure if the floor was still shaking or if it was just her own disorientation. She's no pushover though, so what if the room's spinning and walking in a straight line takes all of her concentration? There's an Angel who had the gall to attack while she was injured and she was gonna make sure it regretted this transgression.
"Asuka, you're supposed to be resting. Do I seriously have to have you tied to the bed so you won't aggravate your head wound?"
Great. Just her luck. Now she's being cornered by 3 blurry Ritsuko's as if one of those fake blonde egomaniacs wasn't enough to deal with. She tried to force her eyes to focus, but doing that only made her head feel like it was about to pop.
"If I need advice on how to color my hair with kraft cheese sauce, I'll ask. Let the resident expert handle the Eva combat." She was proud that her disorientation did nothing to weaken her insults or condescending tone. It'll take a lot more than a little bump on the head before she'll let any of these zeroes lecture her about her job.
"I'll let that slide because you're hurt, but I'm serious, Asuka. Rei handled this Angel. All we need you for now is to get better so you can actually participate next time."
"That walking, talking human action figure actually killed an Angel!? Next you'll tell me Shinji rode in on a white stallion for a heroic assist while I got my beauty sleep."
"No, he's actually a few doors down from you. We found him passed out cold in the Eva cages and we haven't been able to wake him up since."
For some no doubt stupid reason, a pit developed in her stomach at this news. She was obviously upset that her rival stole a solo kill that should've been hers, of course. What does she care if that hapless moron is hurt or not? He's a soldier, like she's a soldier and they're all in a war. People get hurt. Him being out of action should've been her moment to shine! Not that blue-haired automaton!
"Wait! How in the hell did Wondergirl kill an angel by herself? Her sync ratio is practically half mine and Shinji's, that's completely ridiculous!"
"Who cares about the how? Be glad that it happened, otherwise this conversation wouldn't be happening. Now get back to your bed or I'll have security drag you there."
She could tell from her tone that there wasn't going to be a discussion about the necessity of her going back. Knowing that still didn't make being told what to do any easier.
"Why the hell am I here anyways!?"
"You don't remember? I guess you have some short-term memory loss. Do you remember any of the drive from headquarters after your sync test?"
"Mein Gott! Now I remember. I should've known that purple haired lunatic's driving would end up almost killing me! That Angel would've been all mine if it weren't for her! Where the hell is she!?"
"She's still unconscious. During the crash, she took the worst of the damage from the wreck, mostly because she shielded your body with hers."
"Oh…"
Luckily for both her and the trio of annoying and blurry blonde doctors surrounding her. Their lovely conversation was cut short by a mutual acquaintance of the pair.
"She's 6 doors down to the right from the next left in the hall, Kaji."
"Thank you Rits. I wish I could stay and chat with the two smoking hot super geniuses of Tokyo-3, but sadly, duty calls."
Asuka quickly straightened out her hair and clothes as best she could while he talked to Ritsuko. Cursing the hideous hospital gown and her hairs penchant for turning into a bird's nest after she slept on it for any amount of time.
"That was lame, even coming from you, Ryoji. I think you're finally losing your touch"
"I thought it was nice, Kaji."
"Thank you Asuka, at least someone still gets me, I'll see you when I see you." Asuka came to a realization as she watched the man leave. Doing finger guns isn't inherently lame if you do them with enough confidence.
Her former guardian's thousand-watt smile did wonders on her terrible mood. To both her chagrin and relief, Ritsuko seemed more annoyed than flattered by the man's sudden appearance. Good, she wouldn't stand a chance competing against her anyways.
"Well, that was fun, now Asuka, are you gonna go to your room willingly or….." She let the statement hang in the air in a deliberate tactic to irritate her.
"Whatever! If the Angel's dead, then I guess my job is done. So I could use some more sleep. It'll help my headache I got from talking to YOU."
Asuka didn't dignify the blonde doctor with any more of her presence. Turning her back and heading vaguely in the direction she remembers coming from eventually making it back to her room and stepped over the IV she'd violently separated from herself earlier. Something about that arrogant and detached persona really rubbed her the wrong way. She'd read her file; she's only here because of her mommy dearests role in the foundation of NERV. Not someone like her who had to fight tooth and nail every day to earn her spot in the pecking order.
She can't stand people like that. Whose Egos are so massive they think they're better than everyone around them, even when they're just the valedictorian of the short bus. Workaholics are a drag anyway. She'd never seen the head of project E leave the Geofront for anything longer than a smoke break.
"Stupid drugs making me sleepy." Looking up from her attempts to incinerate the ceiling tiles above her with her gaze, she was suddenly very close to a pair of familiar dark blue eyes. Somehow he'd made it to her room first and was waiting for her, she ignored him as she collapsed onto the bed and grunted in relief.
"H-Hi Asuka, are you feeling alright?"
"My head feels like it's been thrown in a broken washing machine and my least favorite person to ever pilot an Eva stole my rightful first solo kill! How do you think I feel!?"
She could sense the incoming apology. The thought of it was already driving her up the wall. She must've stepped into a hell portal when she entered this hallway. After this, she'll probably run into Rei robotically bragging about her victory.
"I'm glad you're not hurt, Asuka." That perverted idiot had the gall to smile at her with genuine care in those stupid, dark blue eyes. What? Does this prick think he's sweet or cute or something? Better save his head from getting too big before it crushes the rest of his frail body.
Her body didn't get the memo. No doubt an aftereffect of the head trauma she experienced. Instead of rightfully telling him off, her face flushed, the color of her Eva and the part of her brain in charge of speaking transformed into warm applesauce.
"Of course I am! It'll take a lot more than a little fender bender to keep the Great Asuka Langley Soryu down for long."
Kaji did his best to keep his outward appearance looking like his usual calm and carefree self. Even knowing that the commander never summoned someone down to his office so suddenly like this. Meaning he'd found out something or he was in the process of finding something out. He couldn't imagine he was being called down here for a promotion. His last one had been given to him over the phone.
"Not to say that I don't enjoy any chance I get to see you, Commander Ikari, but what's the reason for the sudden summons?"
"It concerns the Third Child."
"I see. You know I almost forgot to thank you for that warning back on the Over The Rainbow. Not that I don't appreciate your helping me out, but you could've just called."
"Explain yourself. You know better than anyone that your survival depends on your continued usefulness, so I'd recommend giving me something useful."
"Of course Commander. I was just saying it was very fortunate that you had him warn me and tell me to get out of dodge when you did. Had you not, the first human and the key would be at the bottom of the Pacific ocean right now."
Kaji gained a very valuable piece of information. His first assumption about Shinji was wrong. He wasn't working with his father. This opened a lot more questions that began to burn in the back of his head. How did he know about human instrumentality? How did he also know when the next Angel was gonna come? If not NERV, then who is he working for?
Gendo clearly suspected something as well and fingered the source of the information leak as him. His attempts to get close to the Third Child to gain his trust and get information from him have backfired spectacularly. He could only hope now that the commander wouldn't just kill him to prevent any loose threads from hanging while he tried to plug the leak.
"I see. We've just had something come up, so unfortunately we'll have to continue this meeting later. Know that as long as you serve my purposes, you'll have my protection, otherwise….." He didn't need to say anything else. The point was very clearly communicated to the bedraggled spy thanking his lucky stars that he'll get to see sunlight again.
He quickly exited the office and speed walked as fast as he could to the surface. Taking an executive elevator that's never used to speed himself up to the surface as fast as humanly possible.
He practically sprinted to his car in the parking lot and leapt into the driver's seat. Pulling out his phone and entering a number he'd been forced to memorize into the keypad.
"You're not supposed to call this number."
"I know, but if it makes you feel any better, this is a secure line. I just got out of the meeting with the commander by the skin of my teeth. You need to send more people and we need to expedite our plans before circumstances outside of our control take away all our chances. I'm a great solo act, but I perform better with a band."
"Have you considered getting your own allies instead of making more enemies?"
"I guess I can start putting irresistible charm to work. I've heard I have quite a way with the ladies."
"So I've heard. I'll talk to the chairman. I'm sure the word of our most valuable field agent has got to be worth something."
"I hope you're right. I've got one question before I burn this phone."
"Shoot."
"Are any of the current pilots assets?"
"Are you talking about M&M's?"
"No, not her. Has anyone contacted the Third Child?"
"The commander's son? Hell no, Ryoji, why would we recruit the flesh and blood of the guy we're trying to take down?"
"You're right. Forget I said anything, over and out and all that stuff." Kaji snapped the flip phone shut before opening it and neatly breaking the device into two halves. Tossing the destroyed device out his driver's window and speeding off.
"You're more interesting than I thought, Shinji, and that's really saying something."
Toji was having a good day. The midday sun had given him a pretty macho looking tan, in his opinion. The normally taxing and unfun exercise like endurance training was made much easier by dragging along his sedentary bespectacled friend. His constant complaining notwithstanding.
"Cmon Ken-man, keep those feet moving! Do you really wanna get shown up by the red devil and her unwilling thrall?"
"I….hate….you."
"Be that as it may, you should know by now that complaining won't help anything. One more lap, then we'll take 5."
Toji was distracted from his jovial teasing of his friend by the blaring midday soon being suddenly blacked out as a shadow fell over the pair. Both boys looked up and saw what caused the sudden respite from the searing heat.
A massive white armored evangelion glowed like a second sun above them, causing Toji to cover his eyes and listen to his suddenly reinvigorated friend describe the titan. It had black armor around its arms and red accents to make it look even more awesome, according to Kensuke.
Its head was pulled backwards. Its arm span was spread out fully as long, thick cables connected it to the several massive VTOLs slowly transporting it towards NERV HQ.
"You think they're sending over another pilot for it? Like they did with Asuka and Shinji?"
"I don't know Ken, I don't know."
"Maybe one of us will get to pilot it! I bet if I ask Misato she'd consider me as a candidate. I'm in awesome shape now and I know more about military tactics and the implementation of Eva's than anyone not in NERV."
"We've both been inside an Eva Ken. Are you really that eager to be the one in the driver's seat after what that one battle did to Shinji?"
"Shinji's fine. They patched him up, and he's hardly brought up that fight since, if it was really that bad, he'd say something about it."
"Do you really believe that?"
"Well, I mean-"
"He looks haunted, dude! Haven't you seen that creepy thousand-yard stare he'll get into when he's sitting by himself!? Plus, when he got out of the hospital after that last fight. He looked like he slipped and fell into an industrial strength vat of spray tan! It was hilarious but I imagine the story behind it isn't so funny. Does all that sound like fun to you?"
"You're right, you're right, my bad. I guess I just put my blinkers on because I wanna be an Eva pilot so bad. But wouldn't it be easier for all the pilots if they had more help?"
"That's a good point actually, I guess we'll just have to wait and see if another new student shows up, assuming it is another kid."
"Only children born after the second impact can pilot an Eva, so they'd have to be."
"Really? That's so weird."
"What did you really think? They only used child soldiers because they're the best fighters?"
"I just never really put any thought into it, to be perfectly honest with you."
"So...does this mean that we can stop for the day?"
"Hell no! Get running! We have a race to win and honor to prove Ken-man! Bootcamp stops the day we win or until one of us passes out."
"I thought we were friends, Toji."
"Pshhh, you'll get over it. Once the ladies appreciate your new runner's physique, you'll be thanking me."
"You think that'll really happen?"
"Maybe, I don't know much about girls, but I've heard muscles are a big plus."
"Speaking of which, have you gotten a date to the dance yet?"
"No, and I don't plan to! School dances are stupid. I was glad when schools stopped doing them every year."
You couldn't get a girl to go with you either, huh?"
"Shut up! I could get a date to that dumb dance if I wanted to. I just don't want to, so I won't."
"Sureeeeeee, Did Hikari turn you down then?"
"What!? No! C'mere Ken, why don't you say that again a little closer!?"
Toji cursed his own natural god given talent for athletic training as he chased his bespectacled friend across the school's track. He made a mental note that fear served as a much easier motivator to get him moving than anything else he'd tried.
Misato awoke to the sound of a heart monitor and unfamiliar clothes chafing against her skin. She opened her eyes and had to squint to adjust to the light. Once she did, annoyance overpowered the numbness from the cocktail of painkillers. Riding the line between dreaming and consciousness.
"Welcome to the land of the living, sleeping beauty."
"If you tried to wake me up with a kiss, I'm going to shoot you when I get out of here."
To her annoyance, her threat of violence did little to dismay her ex-boyfriend hovering over her with that same stupid smile he always has.
"Cmon Katsuragi, you know me. Kissing you when you're awake is much more fun anyways."
"Whatever, Did anything happen while I was out?"
"There was an Angel attack the other day but from what I've heard it's already been taken care of, So I wouldn't worry about it now."
"Ugh, of course. Well, at least we're alive. How are the kids?" Misato's headache bloomed into a full grown migraine as her brain began to picture the piles of paperwork awaiting her return to duty.
"Asuka's still under observation. Rits suspects she'll try and tough out any complications from her injury instead of reporting them, so she wants to make sure. Shinji woke up a few hours ago and seems fine, says he doesn't even remember what happened. He even asked to train in the simulator as soon as he got out."
"You know he hates piloting the Eva."
"What makes you say that?"
"You can just tell by looking at him. He's very expressive if you learn how to read him. He looks terrified every time he steps into that entry plug, even if it's just for a routine test."
"But he still does it, doesn't he? He must have a good reason to put himself through that if it's so difficult for him."
"I guess, we didn't really give him a choice. 'Pilot the Eva or the rest of humanity gets it' isn't exactly a fair choice."
"We both know that this world, especially when it comes to NERV, is not governed by anything resembling fairness. The best we can do is treat those around us as fair as we can, which I know you always do."
"When the hell did you get so insightful?"
"I guess you could say we've both done some growing since college."
"We'll just see about that. Now be straight with me, Kaji. Does Asuka hate me now?"
Kaji only chuckled at this and stroked her hair. She was too weak to stop him and she was too torn between enjoying it and hating it to tell him to stop.
"Why would she hate you, Katsuragi?"
"She hates hospitals and is one because of me and she missed a chance to get in her Eva and kill an Angel. Which is literally her favorite thing in the entire world"
"You are right that she's a little upset, but she'll get over it. I know you'll make it up to her somehow."
"But how do I even do that?"
"I have complete and total faith in you that you'll think of something. Focus on getting better, then start worrying about it when you get out."
Misato could feel the painkillers coursing through her veins with new strength and felt her lucidity slowly slipping away from her.
"Kaji?"
"Yes Katsuragi?"
"Let's get tacos after this BUT don't think it means anything. You still suck."
"I'd really like that Katsuragi and of course I'd never be so bold."
"Good god Ryoji, we've known each other for almost a decade. Call me Misato, you scruffy looking weirdo." She tried her best to sound stern and condescending, but the intermittent yawns and tiredness in her voice betrayed her.
"Alright, Alright Misato, sleep well."
Misato tried to flip the man off as he left, but instead bumped the pain button attached to her wrist by accident. She felt a fresh wave of warmth soak into her limbs as a new batch of drugs came in and brought her back into a restorative slumber.
"We've received disturbing reports that the latest Angel had the ability to tunnel underground and used this to bypass most of NERV's defenses. Nearly causing a repeat of 15 years ago "
"I apologize, but I received no such reports. Unit-00, due to a programming error malfunctioned during a routine synchronization test, causing some damage to the lower levels of NERV. The situation was handled easily and wasn't worth bringing up to this committee, in my opinion."
The blue monolith of Seele-02 took the bait and responded before his companions. "You have the gall to lie directly to our faces!? Is NERV's official position that the attack by the Ninth Angel never took place!?"
"The alleged attack you're describing simply did not happen. If you don't want to take my word on it, feel free to check the records of the Magi. You'll see they corroborate the official reports given by NERV."
The previously silent, red monolith directly across from him lit up. Emitting the hollow metallic tones of the first Seele. "We don't doubt you've covered your tracks, sending over Unit-04 and the fourth child is a show of faith on our behalf. It would be in your interest if this show of faith is reciprocated by your continued fulfillment of your duty to this committee."
"Of course Chairman, another weapon to help against the enemy is always welcome and NERV will put it to good use in ensuring the success of Seele's plan."
"See that you do. That will be all Ikari. It's been a pleasure, as always."
The commander of NERV was quickly submerged in darkness as the surrounding lights flicked off. Leaving him and his second command alone in the dark confines of his office.
"Was that really necessary? Seele might start acting irrationally if they think we've gone rogue. Things could get messy if they're completely unwilling to trust us in the future."
"We need their money and influence, not their trust. It's too late for them to make any overt moves against us. They'll impotently plan some method of getting us back under control. In the process provide the opening we need to move against them directly. Then we'll be able to finish the old fools. Regardless, they're only a minor obstacle. We already have everything we need to achieve our goals."
"I didn't think you were a betting man Ikari, this whole thing seems like a gamble."
"Those unwilling to lose anything have already lost everything. Risk is an inherent complication of success."
"But how much have we already lost?"
"We both know the answer to that one, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. There is only one path forward left for us."
"I suppose you're right, it doesn't make it any easier to accept."
"No, that it does not." Gendo's brow furrowed as he worked to plan his next move. Seele was a problem, one he needed to overcome to complete his scenario. The sooner they are out of his way entirely the better.
Rei awoke to the sight of a familiar ceiling. As her eyes came into focus, she took in the rest of her surroundings. She was in a sparse hospital room with only a bed and a few machines monitoring her vitals. The rest of the room was bare with the same tiled pattern stretching from floor to ceiling and covering all the walls.
She was alive. The sterile underground air tasted refreshing, and she flexed her muscles to check that everything was still in its rightful place. She'd never been appreciative of simply existing, but she was now taking joy in the minute pleasure and signals that rushed through her body as she became fully conscious.
Her attention switched to the door to her small room as she heard footsteps approaching.
"Oh, good Rei, you're awake. Do you feel well enough for a debriefing?"
"I believe so."
"Good, we'll just do it here. I've got my notes on me. Do you remember anything after the Angel swallowed Unit-00?"
"I remember losing consciousness shortly after entering its mouth and nothing after that. I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing?"
"Because I do not remember anything useful."
"Well, stop it. It's annoying. I'll be the one to decide if it's useless or not. You're absolutely certain that you don't remember anything?"
Rei only shook her head in the affirmative, not wanting to do anything to further upset the easily provoked doctor. One question popped into her head and despite her fear of further conflict, she had to ask it.
"Is the commander available?"
"No, he left for Antarctica with the subcommander. He won't be back for a while."
"I understand."
"Well, you know better than anyone how you heal compared to a normal person. There's hardly a scratch on you so you can leave whenever. I've got too much work to do anymore babysitting of you pilots. Honestly, with the situation you were in, it's a miracle you're even alive."
The blonde doctor got a notification on her tablet and seemed suddenly disinterested in her surroundings. Leaving the room without another word. Despite their delivery, Rei found the woman's words to be spreading a pleasant warmth in her abdomen.
"I'm alive." Speaking the words brought a small smile to her face as the truth in them finally sunk in.
The word that best described her current attitude as she left the medical bay was 'giddy'. Rei had never been giddy before, so it was a guess, but an educated guess, nonetheless. She made a decision to display her newfound enjoyment of life physically. She'd seen children engage in this activity while smiling to show off that they're happy, so why couldn't she? There were no duties or orders for her at the moment, so her time was hers to spend.
Asuka was standing outside one of the empty maintenance exits to the Geofront. Enjoying her temporary respite from the people at NERV with her new favorite adult way of relaxing. It was how adults dealt with high levels of stress. Considering that she was an adult, and that she had one of the most high-stress jobs on the planet, it only seemed logical to take up the habit during college. The only problem for her now was the damn things tasted absolutely terrible, but it was a small price to pay for maturity.
If anything she liked the pain, the feeling of sickness that usually pervaded her after smoking one was cured by a quick shower. She also liked playing with fire, ever since she was a little girl and she found one of her dads lighter. She'd had to convince Shinji the small burns on her hands were from attempts at cooking, which seemed to have guaranteed she'll never be asked to do that chore. If she ever did feel like really cooking then she could blow that idiots mind with her surprise culinary skill.
"These things have gotta be laced with acid or something! I did NOT just see the emotionally stunted, robotic first child, skipping like a schoolgirl out of headquarters." Asuka studied the lit cigarette in her hand like it was a piece of alien technology as her brain refused to process the strange sight she just witnessed.
"I can't say anything about where you get your stuff from, but I also just saw Rei skipping through the halls. When I asked her why she was doing it, she just said she was expressing happiness through a physical modem. I asked what she's so happy about and all she said was 'the simple joy of existence.'"
Asuka quickly hid the tobacco behind her back as the blonde doctor approached her from behind, her own cigarette freshly lit in her hand. Putting on her best not guilty face. "I'd be willing to bet money she's an alien lifeform trying to replicate a teenage girl. No human can be THAT weird."
"Asuka, you're supposed to put out the cigarette first if you're gonna hide it behind your back." To her surprise, the normally cold woman was smirking and laughing at her comical failure at subterfuge.
"You're not gonna tell me to stop?"
"Would you listen if I did?"
"Hell no!" She stomped her feet defiantly to emphasize her point.
"Then why waste both our time?"
"Hmph. Good point." Still eyeing the woman uneasily she took out the stick of death and took another long drag, coughing as the smoke left her lungs.
"You're a child soldier. You fight huge alien monsters to the death on a regular basis. If smoking is what kills you, you've already lucked out plenty."
"Exactly! I'm an adult! I'm allowed to make my own decisions, good or bad!"
"As long as it doesn't affect your ability to pilot the Eva do whatever the hell you want, just don't tell Misato I was this laissez-faire about your health."
"Like I'd tell that reckless alcoholic a damn thing!"
"You really should go easy on her. She means well and was much more concerned about you than herself. Everyone makes mistakes."
"Not everyone's mistakes puts one of humanity's protectors out of action when there's an Angel tunneling right into the Geofront trying to destroy the world!"
"I don't disagree, but it's already happened. What's the use of being upset when it won't change anything?"
"So you're saying I should just turn the other cheek!? I'm not Jesus Christ! Forgiveness is earned, not given, and she'll have to do a lot of earning to get back into my good graces!"
"Fine, Fine, forget I said anything, you're the one that's gotta keep living with her. I don't care. You could live in a box in between tests and battles for all it affects me. I'm just speaking my mind."
"Well, keep your opinions to yourself! You don't know me, so don't pretend to." Asuka jammed the nearly burnt butt of her cigarette into her shoe. Hastily scraping off the ashes before storming off towards her hopefully now empty apartment.
"Whatever, I've got work to do anyways" The blonde doctor put her hands up in mock surrender before marching back down towards the Geofront in the opposite direction.
Asuka watched the woman's back as she left. Once she was gone she let out a loud sigh and slumped herself against a nearby tree. She wondered how comfrotable it would be to nap outside here. There was only one way to find out.
"Pilot Ikari, may I speak with you for a moment?" Rei walked up to the Third Child as he exited the simulators for the day. Quickly pacing up to the tired form of the boy as he dragged himself out of the bowels of NERV central.
"Of course, Ayanami, what is it?" Despite his fatigue the boy still gave her a smile that filled her with warmth.
"I am unfamiliar with the term and looking for clarification. Are you familiar with the concept of a 'friend'?"
"With the concept yes, uhhh a friend is' ' Rei patiently waited for the boy to finish collecting his thoughts, not wanting to seem overeager. "A friend is someone whose company you enjoy, I guess."
"I see" Rei pondered these words for a moment, like a lot of social concepts. It sounded simple, but usually had unspoken dimensions she could never understand from the outside. "Do you enjoy my company, Pilot Ikari?"
To her bemusement and confusion, these words caused the boy to flush crimson and stutter out his next words with barely any coherency.
"Of course I do, we're Eva pilots. No one else can really understand what we go through. We have to look out for each other, cause no one else will."
"Wouldn't your father look out for the Eva pilots? The success of his mission depends on our continued survival" She could tell the younger Ikari disliked this suggestion. His posture tightened and the softness and warmth in his eyes vanished into a curiously familiar looking glare.
"I guess, but that's not because he cares about us as people or likes us. We're just tools, useful tools, but still something to be used and discarded. You don't do that to friends."
"Are you and Pilot Soryu friends?" She felt a strange sense of relief as this question disarmed his previous anger and returned him to his more usual state of shy embarrassment.
"I hope so, I don't know. Both sides have to agree that they're friends for it to actually be true."
"I see, I believe I understand. Would you like to be my friend Pilot Ikari?"
"I'd like that Ayanami, but if we're friends now, then you really have to start calling me Shinji. Pilot Ikari sounds too impersonal."
"I will try to remember that, Shinji."
The smile he gave her caused a rush of dopamine to her central nervous system. She made sure to reciprocate. This was another moment that death would have taken from her. One she was going to ensure she appreciated properly for all it's worth.
"Don't take this the wrong way, I'm not saying this to be rude but….." Rei cocked her head at the boy's continued shyness, her curiosity peaked by his difficulty in saying the words. "You seem different."
"Different? Different how?"
"Is it true you were skipping in the Geofront?" She was curious at to why he sounded both concerned and disbelieving.
"Yes, was there something wrong with it? I had read that people who are in high spirits will perform nonessential physical activities to express it."
"No, no, there's nothing wrong with it at all. It's just kinda weird….n-not weird bad, weird good actually! Sorry for being rude. I was just curious."
"It's not rude at all. It's understandable for you to be curious. To answer your question, my newfound jovial nature was brought about by life."
"Life? What does that mean?"
"Contrast brings all things into focus. When I was combating the enemy and nearly died, it forced me to acknowledge the fact that I was alive."
"You nearly died!?"
"Yes, but I am here speaking to you now. I have come to find that is, without doubt, an incredibly good thing."
"I'm glad you're okay, Ayanami. I'm sorry I wasn't there."
"Don't be. I hold no ill will towards anyone. The mission was successful. That is all that matters."
"I still should've helped or done something, but I guess you're right and no one got hurt either."
"I have found that such simple truths are something we should be thankful for." Her words seem to have lifted the boy's mood somewhat, at the very least stopping his self depreciation.
"That's….actually a really good way to look at things, Rei. I'm proud of you, honestly."
Rei felt her cheeks flush slightly at these words, although she wasn't sure why. Her best guess was the genuine conviction his tone carried, but her reactions were all still new and confusing. She felt a strong compulsion to imitate the boy as he let out a loud yawn but resisted the urge.
"I've got to get back home. Asuka will kill me if I'm not home in time to make dinner and I wanna bring Misato something for when she wakes up."
"I understand. It was good speaking with you. Thank you for indulging my curiosity."
"Of course, anytime you have a question, I'd be happy to at least try and answer it. I don't think I was very helpful, though."
"You were more than helpful, Shinji. I'll see you around."
"See you at school Ayanami!"
Two men with equally cold and detached expressions stood atop the bow of a large icebreaker ship owned by NERV. Their outward persona's matching the barren and desolate surroundings they slowly sailed onward through.
"Nothing can exist in the world of death that we used to call Antarctica. This is the punishment for our sins. Worse than mankind deserved, this is the real dead sea."
"Yet Mankind is here and us along with it, even in the face of death humanity stands."
"We're only here because of science. No life can exist outside this ship for long here. This place is truly hell."
"And yet here we are, alive and breathing. Science, that makes man powerful."
"That kind of arrogance is exactly what got us to this point, barely recovered from the tragedy of 15 years ago."
"It is that kind of arrogance that will allow mankind to take its rightful place among the gods."
"Mankind or you?"
"The difference is inconsequential."
"I can think of a few people who might disagree with that sentiment."
"Are you one of those people, Sub-commander? Is there something you're trying to tell me?"
"Of course not. I've stuck around with you this long. If I was going to back out, I'd have done it a long time ago."
"Perhaps you're right." Gendo quickly lost interest in his old friend's facial expression and turned to look at the desolate wasteland stretching out around them. "Despite its appearance, this is a place of purity, completely purged of original sin."
"I'd rather live in a world with people in it, no matter how impure."
"Commander, we've got a telegram coming directly from NERV HQ"
Shinji stood in the hallway, outside the door to Asuka's room. The recent addition of the sign stating 'Enter and Die' in western characters seemed to be staring him down as his hand hovered close to knocking. He waited a few minutes, building up the courage to knock, but chickened out and instead just called out his question, confident she'd easily hear him.
"Asuka, do you want anything in particular for dinner? I'm about to start cooking."
"Yeah, I want a leave me the hell alone sandwich with a side of piss off Third!" The thin walls and door did practically nothing to muffle the loud scream from his roommate's room.
Shinji winced at the vitriol in the girl's words. He could feel the courage he'd built up physically leaving his body. He felt a growing urge to curl up in his room and pretend he didn't exist. "Does that mean you're not hungry?"
"No! I'm not! And to answer your question, it means you're a braindead idiot!"
Shinji felt his lips curl into a snarl as he bit his lip and rode out the waves of bile and anger washing over him. It was probably his fault she was upset, not that she'd actually tell him that, but he got a light touch of it from context clues. Not wanting to make his situation any worse by reacting emotionally, instead he headed to the kitchen.
Since he was only making food for himself, with Misato still in the hospital and Asuka being, well, Asuka. He opted for a simple curry, using some leftover broth from the other day to expedite the process. He allowed the simple task to carry his mind with it. Grabbing a fish and tossing it in a skillet with oil to preempt a Hangry penguin disturbing his treasured cooking time.
After about a half hour of preparing, he left a steaming bowl of noodles outside his roommate's room.
"I made some curry if you change your mind. It won't stay hot for long, but it shouldn't taste too terrible if you microwave it some." He braced himself in anticipation for another verbal outburst, but only received silence in response to his culinary peace offering.
'Why is she so mad?'
'Why would I know that? If you want to know so badly, just ask her'
'I actually quite enjoy having all my bones in their correct place and unbroken, thank you very much'
'Then I guess you'll be wondering for a while then.'
Despite his fear, he could see the reason in his father's words. Even if he does get yelled at, at least if he tried, he wouldn't be stuck wondering what he did to upset her all night.
His fist rapped against the door once, tentatively. It was enough to stir the red-haired dragon from its lair.
"What!?" Suddenly he was staring into a pair of piercing blue eyes and his brain ceased to function at any high capacity.
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh…..Are you feeling alright?"
His awkwardness seemed to only irritate her further. His brain was telling him to flee from the growing sense of danger coming from the girl, but his legs were rooted to the ground. Her eyes seemed to be simultaneously scouring the depths of his soul and sizing up and evaluating the quickest way to end his life.
"Can I ask you a question, Shinji?"
Part of him felt he should be happy that she was using his first name, but the tone of voice she used set off even more warning alarms in his head.
"S-Sure, Asuka, w-what is it?"
"Do you think you're better than me?" Strangely, the words didn't come as an accusation, more a statement of fact.
"What!? No, of course not! You're way better than me at pretty much everything I can think of."
"Don't patronize me, Third Child! You think a few hours in a simulation makes you god's gift to Eva piloting!? I've been training for this my entire life! My whole childhood was spent in those simulations! I am the ELITE. I could wipe the floor with you and the commander's doll blindfolded!"
Panic began to set in as he realized his next words could very well likely determine how much time he gets to spend alive on this earth. "I'm being honest! I do the simulations because I'm terrible at Eva. It took me an entire week to stop tripping over my own feet. Even longer than that to stop flinching every time I pulled a trigger. You're much stronger than I am."
"Then why did you come here and bother me!? Huh!? To check on the poor damsel in distress!? Rescue her from the bad times like some kind of dollar store white knight!? I don't need shit from you now or ever, so take your 'sympathy' and shove it!"
"Why are you being like this!? I thought we were friends, Asuka!"
"I don't give a damn what you think! You're nothing, you're just in my way! I'm gonna beat your stupid sync score by double digits in the next test! If that perpetual slacker Akagi would let us spar against each other, I'd show you how a true warrior fights!"
"I could take you in my Eva! I'm not afraid of you!" Shinji didn't know where those words came from. They were both terrible lies, easily disproved. His entire body shook like a leaf in the wind as he slowly backed away from the girl, stepping towards him with murderous intent.
"Oh, my gosh!" Asuka covered her mouth in mock astonishment. "Shinji, you spoke to someone in a way that wasn't apologetic or self-deprecating. You better apologize, quick."
The girl's verbal barbs felt like little needles being shoved into his chest. He didn't know what to say, so he just opted to stare at the floor below him. Pray for his legs to listen to his desperate pleas to flee.
"Cmon Shin-chan." Asuka dragged out the last syllable in the honorific only given to him by a drunken Misato. "Apologize. Say 'I'm sorry for existing in the same space as you Asuka, what a terrible mistake I've made. I'll be sure to do my best to correct this error in the future."
Shinji took deep lungfuls of air through his nose to keep himself calm and collected. Fixing the redhead with a glare instead of giving in to her obvious provocation.
"Did that make you angry, Shin-channnn? You gonna punch another tree by the school? Maybe actually say something? Instead of cowering from any form of conflict outside a giant robot, is today the day Shinji? The day you actually grow a spine!?"
His lack of response caused the girl to continue her approach towards him. With each uneasy step backwards down the hall, he knew he was running out of distance to keep between them.
Sometimes, when one's life is in imminent and immediate danger. Time can appear to distort and slow down, giving you additional time to react and process events hopefully so that you'll survive to tell about them. Luckily for Shinji he had this chance now, his mind reflected back to some poorly delivered advice given to him before he had even met the raging redhead.
The only way out now was forward, literally and metaphorically speaking. Especially as he reached the end of the wall and found himself backed into a corner by his seething roommate.
"I don't even wanna pilot the stupid Eva! I don't have a choice! It's not my fault I'm good at this stupid crap! I just am!"
"Of course! Why would anything ever be YOUR fault Third!? So you wanna tell me you're not even trying to show me up!? Is that supposed to make me feel better or something!?"
"I don't know what you want from me!"
"I want you to. FUCK! OFF! And get your head out of whatever fantasyland where I'd want anything from a pathetic little whelp like you!"
"I won't let you talk to me like that!" As is usually the case when Shinji lets his emotions into the driver's seat, he went a little overboard. He lunged his face towards his roommates with their noses almost touching. Hot breath streaking across both of their faces as he felt consumed by the vastness of the blue eyes in front of him.
"Oh really? What are you gonna DO about it then!?"
Shinji's back was against the wall, his knees slightly bowed as he cowered at the heavily breathing redhead inches from his face. After a few moments, he realized she was waiting for him to say something. She really was gorgeous when she was mad. It was an incredibly stupid thought to be having at the moment. It was true though, even if looking at her when she was this mad was like looking directly into the sun, with equally painful consequences for staring too long.
An uneasy silence settled over the pair. Neither moved an inch. An indescribable tension was building and he could tell whatever it was, it was mutual. His own brain was stuck in the rapids without a paddle. Hopelessly trying to figure out if he wanted to hug the girl, slap her or kiss her, or maybe do all three at the same time.
He wasn't sure which one of them moved their face forward first. It felt like there were heavy magnets pulling and weighing down his face to collide with her. His heart began to beat like it was trying to leap its way right out of his ribcage. He saw the girl's features soften and her eyes close as he imitated her actions as best he could. He felt the softest feather touch of something soft, warm, and a little damp against his lips. It only lasted for the briefest moment, less than a second. It was enough to send electricity coursing through his entire body.
It was followed by a loud THUNK! He felt the girl's forehead slam into his own with impressive force. His head shot backwards, bouncing off the wall behind him and filling his vision with stars.
He felt his knees begin to give out and didn't bother fighting it, sliding his body slowly to the ground as he clutched his throbbing head.
"Okay, what just happened?" The empty apartment held no answers to his question. His roommate having already retreated back to her room.
"Do you know who the pilot is gonna be for Evangelion Unit-04? Now that they shipped it over, they've gotta know by now"
"Wait, there's an Eva-04!? When did that happen!?"
"Did they really not tell you anything? Me and Toji saw it being flown in while we were out preparing for the race."
"I seriously didn't even know it existed until this conversation. My guess would be they'll send a pilot from wherever the Eva came from."
"I bet it's gonna be a babe with HUGE knockers"
"Toji, you've said that every time you hear about an Eva pilot coming to the school! You've been wrong 3 times already. What's changed!?"
"I only need to be right once, Ken."
"It's a really good thing you're so talented at basketball."
"I know right!?"
"I'm sorry. I really don't know anything. They let Misato out of the hospital, but she's been so caught up with work, I've hardly seen her at all."
"It's okay Shinji. I was just curious if you had the inside scoop. If you want, I could try and dig up some more info, so you're not always out of the loop."
"How do you even get this info if I don't even know it?"
"Yeah, I've always wondered that too, Ken-man. Are you like a hacker or something?"
"You could say that, most of this stuff is what I can pull off my dad's work computer. I try to fill in the gaps with stuff I get from an online community. I'm a part of that keeps tabs on NERV. It's full of people like me, who believe in the old Latin saying 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' Or it's more common modern interpretation 'Who watches the watchers?'"
"What're they called?"
"Something lame. I can't remember what it's called exactly. It's named after some old western cartoon character."
"Ken, that sounds weird dude and like super illegal. Why do you know Latin?"
"Because Latin is cool!"
"You're nearly failing Japanese but you can speak Latin semi fluently? You're the weirdest Japanese man I've ever met."
"Takes one to know one. At least I didn't have to buy the answers to my physics tests."
"You know I struggle with equations with variables in them! How dare you bring that up! I paid you much more than you deserved for that chicken scratch!"
Shinji was distracted from his friends bickering by a strange object in the sky above him. It looked like something was falling from an incredible height directly onto the roof. His curiosity peaked as he saw a stark white parachute bloom out from behind the object as it hastily glided down towards him.
Not wanting to disturb his friend's increasingly heated argument, he simply watched the strange object descend to earth. He squinted his eyes to make out some more details and caught some motion. His brain then connected the obvious pieces of information in front of him and realized it was a person he was seeing.
And she was heading right for him.
"Look out below!"
Shinji quickly got up and tried to avoid the incoming collision he could've easily avoided had he not put off his reaction for so long. Moving to the opposite side of the roof was not the good idea, he originally thought. Instead of giving the stranger a wide berth to land, he put himself back directly in the path of her descent without any time to get out of the way.
The last thing he saw before he was knocked flat on his back was the flash of a white dress shirt with a matching plaid skirt.
"Hiya Puppy, Long time no see! Glad to see your cute face is still the same as I remember."
"Hey get off my friend! We have a front door, you know!"
The mysterious girl reluctantly obliged his friend's request and lifted herself off him. "Oh, but where's the fun in that? Don't you like a little bit of drama to spice things up!?"
The girl gave a toothy grin to his two friends, who seemed completely enamored with this beautiful stranger they just met.
"Who are you?"
"Ooh, I love doing this, alright give me a sec." The girl took a deep breath and closed her eyes, pressing her open hands into each other in a strange imitation of a meditative stance.
"I am the one and only Fourth Child! Meet the Majestically Marvelous Mari Makinami, breaker of hearts and Eva Pilot extraordinaire!" She ended her proclamation with a curt bow and a round of applause carried by her alone.
"Wow, NERV sure knows how to pick em." '
"You got that right, Ken."
Mari playfully stuck her tongue out at the two boys before turning back to him. "So who are you? I have a pretty good guess, but it's rude to assume."
"Oh…Uh right, my name's Shinji?" He didn't think it was possible to sound unsure about such a simple statement, but he found a way. "Shinji Ikari."
"The pilot for Eva Unit-01!? I've heard a lot about you Shinji. I look forward to working with you."
"Y-Yeah, me too, and I don't know what you've heard, but I hope it's nothing bad."
"Oh, don't worry about that. Most people are just jealous because they wish they were Eva pilots. They didn't mention how much you hunked up lately. Have you been working out?"
"Thanks, I have to train a lot for Eva and I've been running a lot lately. What does 'hunked up' mean?"
"It just means your efforts have been paying off. Don't worry about it, sweet-cheeks."
"You said 'long time no see' when you….landed on me. Do we know each other?"
"What? No, of course not. I apologize, my Japanese is still pretty rusty. It's a regional dialect. In Germany, it's tradition there to treat new people you meet like old friends."
"Really? Asuka's from Berlin. I don't think she's a big believer in tradition then."
"Oh yeah, right, well, it's not a Berlin expression. I'm from Hamburg."
A loud ringing interrupted their conversation. The brunette held up her hand and quickly strolled away from him towards a corner of the roof as she placed the phone up to her ear. He only knew they were speaking German because of the occasional familiar sounding curse words he heard coming through the other side.
("What do you mean where am I? I'm at Tokyo-3, I just landed at the high school I think, I'm on the roof right now.")
("Well then, why give me a parachute if I'm not supposed to use it!")
("He was boring! Someone needs to take that guy aside and explain to him the concept of a summary!")
("Well, I'm here aren't I? Filling out the paperwork is your job anyways. I'm just supposed to look pretty and kick ass.")
("Toodles, be there for my extract, please and thank you.")
"Apparently, there are some slightly perturbed friends of mine waiting for me at the airport. I've got to go." The girl bundled up her shoot and shoved it haphazardly into a waste bin on the roof, overstuffing it to comical proportions. "Until next time Puppy."
Shinji stared at the door the girl exited through for a couple of minutes, his brain still trying to process the bizarre chain of events.
"Why did she keep calling me puppy?"
"She was hitting on you dude! That's so unfair!"
"What? No, she was just being friendly."
"I don't know Shinji, she didn't seem all too eager to get out of that compromising position she got into when she landed on you."
"You don't get to speak Ken. You were a doubter."
"What do you mean I was a doubter!?"
"What can I say? Fourth time's the charm."
"You're an absurd person."
"And you're my best friend. What does that say about you?"
AN: Hope you liked this chapter, be sure to review if you're stuck around this long, even the word 'bad' or 'good' is feedback that i'll accept, also follow and favorite and that shit.
What's got Asuka so mad? Things were going so well for our favorite pair, but this was inevitable. Asuka needs to be the best and she hasn't killed an Angel on her own since she got here and has been in the middle of the scoreboard for that same amount of time. Shinji also willingly put himself in the path of a person terrible at directing her anger at what actually causes it. Not the most survival minded idea he's had but how was he supposed to know that?
All good lies contain a little bit of the truth
