Chapter 17 - Israfel 2: Evangelion Boogaloo
"I really hate this."
"I know."
"Misato is insane."
"I know that too."
Asuka sighed heavily. The offensively loud outfits had been viciously balled up and hurled into a corner of the lounge room immediately after the departure of Misato and Kaji, followed by the disgruntled Second Child flopping onto the floor and glaring lasers up at the ceiling for the last half hour. To the great fortune of the two pilots, Misato hadn't insisted on starting immediately; the 'equipment hadn't arrived yet', whatever that meant.
"You think this is gonna work?" she eventually asked.
Shinji rested his head on his hand, leaning on the arm of the couch. Even after the two adults had explained the reasoning behind their plan, he was still sceptical. Not only would he be piloting his own Evangelion against 'Israfel', as NERV had taken to calling it, but he would also have to work perfectly in time with Asuka in Unit-02. While they had managed to do surprisingly well when piloting one Evangelion together, he just wasn't sure if this plan would work at getting them to synchronise while apart.
Then again, maybe insane ideas were why Misato was NERV's Tactical Operations Officer.
"I'm sure they would have thought of something more... conventional if it would have worked," he finally remarked. "That they've come up with... this... really says something about what they think the Angel is capable of."
"Too bad we only get a plan after humiliating ourselves in front of the JSSDF," Asuka grumbled. "Who then had to bail our asses out with an N2 mine."
"At least we're alive," Shinji rejoined. "Dead people don't learn from their mistakes."
"I suppose." Asuka suddenly flipped herself to her feet and headed over to the corner where the discarded outfits sat. "Well... which do you prefer? Eye-bleeding green or retina-searing pink?"
Shinji stared at the abominable pile for a moment, before a thought occurred. "Why don't we just use our regular exercise clothing?"
Asuka spun around slowly, a grin on her face. "Good thinking. Makes me wonder why Misato bought these damn things in the first place."
"That's an easy one."
"Oh?" Asuka quirked an eyebrow at him. "You think you can get into the mind of our guardian so easily?"
"I don't need to. It's Misato. All she wanted was to see the look on our faces."
"...Damn her."
XXX
TIME REMAINING: 161 HOURS
The rest of the day went by all too quickly. The instant Shinji woke up the next morning and remembered what was due to happen for the next week he let out a loud groan, wishing for nothing more than being able to burrow into his bed and hide.
Unfortunately, pulling the sheet over his head did nothing to block out Misato's obnoxiously loud morning greeting when she banged her hand on something in the kitchen, probably the table.
"Time to wake up! I don't have a bugle so just pretend I'm blowing one as loud as possible!"
Amid her shouting, Shinji debated the merits of trying to sneak out to the balcony, scaling down the side of the apartment building, picking up Kensuke and running off to live in the wild. He'd just gotten to the point where he'd have to learn how to make a rudimentary bow when his bedroom door was slammed open.
"Up you get, Shinji!"
"Uuuggghhhh."
Fifteen minutes later, freshly showered and kitted out in his exercise clothes, Shinji joined Asuka and Misato at the kitchen table. Whatever had happened yesterday was still affecting Misato's mood, and was likely responsible for the worse-than-usual hangover she clearly had. Shinji debated asking about what had caused Misato to drink herself to sleep, but the woman seemed rather grouchy.
When Misato realised that they weren't going to wear the hideous costumes she had brought, the grumpy look on her face almost made the upcoming week worthwhile.
After a quick breakfast courtesy of Asuka, who was now wearing her hair in a ponytail, the trio headed to the lounge room. Shinji halted upon seeing the machine set up where their television had once sat, but Asuka, having seen it already due to her bedroom being nearby, simply walked up to it. The entire lounge room had been cleared, everything pushed to the walls, to make room for... whatever this was.
"So we're going to be using this... thing?" Asuka wondered aloud, sounding like she was talking about a dead animal.
"Are those... dance mats?" Shinji asked.
"Of course. How else are you two going to learn how to dance in sync?" Misato replied. She stepped between them and moved to stand next to the machine. "This plan will require absolute precision. The two of you must be able to learn how to predict what the other is going to do. I know you were able to do that in the dual-sync plug tests, but since you both reacted differently in actual combat, you'll need to learn how to work with each other without being linked."
Misato turned a serious expression upon her two wards. "You have a week. For the next seven days, the two of you are going to be training together in all things."
"Um... pardon?" asked a puzzled Shinji.
"All. Things." Misato repeated. "You will learn the dance together. You will eat and sleep together-"
"Excuse me?!" Asuka shrieked, making Misato reflexively bring a hand up to her ear. "We may be friends but I am not going that far!"
Misato's head dropped, and the hand at her ear moved to her forehead. "Not like that, Asuka. The two of you will still be in separate beds, but you're going to be sleeping next to each other here in the lounge." She gave Asuka a pointed look. "I could choose to sleep here as well, just to make sure of that, but I'm choosing to believe you will be fine without my supervision. Correct?"
Shinji glanced at Asuka, who shrugged and said, "Sure, I guess. Although if it weren't for this training I'd be fighting that order."
Misato humphed and continued. "Anyway, obviously you won't actually be bathing together either. But you will do everything else together. Just be fortunate that those exercise clothes complement each other, or I'd be forcing you into what I picked." Her eyes darted to a certain corner of the room, and she gave Asuka and Shinji a sly grin; the first sign of the 'regular' Misato that morning. "Maybe I should have them as a punishment hanging over your heads if you don't do well."
"Yeah, good luck with that," Asuka said offhandedly as she strode over to the dance machine. She picked up a set of headphones laying nearby and experimentally put them over her ears. After a moment spent adjusting them, she took them off and asked, "So how exactly does this thing work?"
"Well since you need to dance in sync, this machine is going to train you to do just that," replied Misato. "Each of you will be on one of the pads, performing these dance moves." She picked up two sheets of paper from the coffee table sitting against the wall and passed them to Asuka and Shinji. "Here. Memorise them."
Shinji looked at his sheet. There were arrows and other shapes on it, and he glanced at the mat to see the corresponding symbols.
"The moves will be perfectly in time with the music that will be playing through those headphones. That music will also be playing in your entry plugs when the time comes to fight Israfel. Oh, by the way?" Misato got their attention from where she was now standing at the doorway to the lounge room. "The machine is tuned so that you'll need to do the moves within a thousandth of a second of each other. Good luck!"
She ran off before Asuka or Shinji could retort. Asuka glowered at the fleeing woman's back.
"This is going to be fun..."
XXX
TIME REMAINING: 151 HOURS
It was hell.
Even by dinner time, Shinji wasn't a hundred percent sure he had fully memorised the moves. Asuka had, naturally, learned them perfectly in only a couple of hours. Fortunately for the two of them, after lunch Asuka found a way to turn down the alarm that shrieked every time Shinji stumbled or forgot a move, stopping the entire routine and forcing them to start over. She also discovered how to adjust the timing precision of the steps to give Shinji just a little more breathing room as he fumbled his way through them; an event for which he was extremely grateful.
But that didn't stop Shinji from flailing like a semaphore flag man on the first day.
"Sorry Asuka," he apologised over dinner. "I just don't seem to be very coordinated."
"Don't apologise," Asuka sighed. "You weren't brought up like I was. I'm not expecting you to be able to do ballet. That said..." She gave him a look. "You will do better tomorrow. Do I make myself clear?"
Nervously, Shinji nodded.
"Good. And don't get complacent about the timing," she warned as they continued to eat. "I'm going to be re-adjusting the precision the moment I see you doing better."
Shinji, mouth full of food, simply nodded again.
XXX
TIME REMAINING: 139 HOURS
Day two of the training regimen came, and Shinji was naturally puzzled when he woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling. Then his brain remembered to wake up and remind him of the rules of the training week. A couple feet away, Asuka grumbled into wakefulness. Without a word spoken between them, Asuka headed for the bathroom while Shinji prepared what he could of their morning meal.
After breakfast Misato came into their apartment, looking somewhat hungover again but evidently still perfectly capable of assessing their progress. As was to be expected she wasn't happy about Asuka's modifications and practically demanded that Shinji shape up quickly, or end up having to wear the dreaded costumes. Asuka defended him, stating that he was already well ahead of what she had originally expected of him.
Shinji didn't know whether to feel relieved at her defense, or insulted that she initially thought so little of him.
Misato left for NERV after a few hours, promising to be back after dinner and that if the machine wasn't set back to its original parameters, she would carry out her threat.
Thankfully for all involved, Shinji finally found his feet. Mostly.
XXX
TIME REMAINING: 59 HOURS
"Hey, Class Rep. Didn't expect to see you here too."
Hikari jumped a little, gasping slightly at the surprise voice behind her. She'd been so focused on the changing number above the elevator that she hadn't been paying attention to her surroundings. She turned around to see...
"Suzuhara. Aida. Are you two here to see Ikari and Soryu?"
Toji nodded. "Yeah. Considerin' they ain't been at school for a few days, me 'n Ken wanted to know if somethin' was up with them."
"We haven't seen a hint of them ever since that last attack," Kensuke added. "I'm wondering if they got hurt."
Hikari put a hand over her mouth in shock. "Oh no. Should we have tried to visit them at the hospital?"
Kensuke scoffed. "Do you really want to try and get into the Geofront, the most heavily guarded place in Japan? Besides, they only might be hurt. They're most likely just fine and busy with something."
Hikari collected herself. "Oh... of course. You're right." She cleared her throat as the elevator doors opened, trying to pretend the last few seconds hadn't happened. "Well... shall we head up?"
The elevator wasn't very big, just barely fitting all three teenagers standing line abreast, but at least it was quick. The door opened onto the seventh floor, and the boys let Hikari exit first. They proceeded down the hallway, more of the black-suited Section Two agents glancing at them as they passed by. Kensuke saluted them to no response.
It had been rather harrowing for Hikari, trying to explain to a large bald man in the foyer of the building that she wanted to visit her friends. Right up until the very last second she had been sure that the man would simply refuse and kick her back out to the sidewalk. Now she was quickly striding past the doors along the balcony, glancing at the numbers, before stopping in front of the one labelled '706' and pressing the buzzer next to the door.
"Man, still can't believe Shin-man actually lives with Red," Toji muttered as he and Kensuke caught up to Hikari. Kensuke snickered into his hand, but before Hikari could interrogate him on the apparent joke, her ears picked up what sounded like muffled but very heavy footfalls as someone made their way to the door. Assuming it to be Asuka in a grouchy mood, Hikari prepared to act as a mediator.
The door slid open.
"Good after- Oh hey, it's you guys."
Hikari blinked, her eyes darting between the two residents of the apartment standing in front of her. They were definitely Asuka and Shinji, for some reason dressed like they were about to go jogging, but she could have sworn...
"Ah, where are our manners?" The two pilots stepped aside. "Come on in!"
Slowly turning her head to her right, Hikari saw that Toji and Kensuke were just as stunned as she was. Toji broke out of his daze first, shaking his head in disbelief before nodding a greeting at Shinji and Asuka as he slipped past them into the apartment, dragging Kensuke by the shoulder.
"Is something wrong, Horaki?"
Yes. They were definitely talking at the same time.
A few minutes later Hikari found herself in the lounge room, sitting on their sofa with a glass of juice in her hands, watching the strange synchronous dance Shinji and Asuka were performing. They weren't perfect, Shinji tending to lose his balance a little after bending to touch one of the symbols on his mat, but it was surprising to see them work so well together.
It was a little reassuring that they had stopped talking at the same time.
After what she had just witnessed at the door, even the presence of a penguin in their apartment wasn't enough to faze Hikari now. She only stared at it for a few seconds as it made itself comfortable on the armrest next to her, before returning her attention to the machine as an alarm went off.
Asuka growled and put a hand to her forehead. "Come on, Shinji. Why do you keep messing up at this bit? We've been trying all damn day!"
"I-I don't know!" Shinji stammered. "I'm positive I'm doing it right..."
"It's not even a difficult part! It's just step-pause-turn-pause-pivot-step-pause!"
"Er..." Shinji looked non-plussed. "I thought it was step-pause-turn-pause-pivot-step-step..."
"Of course it isn't! That's why you're getting it wrong!"
"Actually... it is."
As one, Shinji and Asuka turned to look at Kensuke, who was holding up one of the dance note sheets. "If I'm reading it right, it says step-pause-turn-pause-pivot-step-step."
Asuka stomped over to him, snatching the paper out of his hands. "Which obviously means you're not reading it right, you..." She trailed off as her eyes darted over the sheet. The next words out of her mouth were in German, but Hikari was positive that they weren't supposed to be uttered in polite company. "How the hell did I manage to forget this?!"
"It's okay, Asuka," Shinji said in a conciliatory tone. "We've been at this for four days now, and our friends are here. Surely Misato wouldn't begrudge us a little break."
Asuka rubbed the bridge of her nose, inhaling deeply before letting it out in a groaning sigh. "Fine..." she muttered. "I've only been screwing up for the last damn hour..."
Since their friends -and the penguin- had the sofa, Asuka chose to simply flop down on the floor, Shinji sitting down next to her the same way. Hikari was about to offer her spot, and insist that Toji or Kensuke get up as well, but Asuka seemed to read her thoughts, looking directly at Hikari and shaking her head before laying back and resting it on her hands. Desperate to fill the awkward silence, Hikari clung onto an obvious conversation topic. "So... what exactly is this training for?" she asked, before taking a big sip from her glass.
Shinji suddenly looked pensive. "...I don't know if we're allowed to tell you."
"Ugh. Do you really believe NERV would care about something like this getting out?" Asuka interjected. "It's hardly a secret weapon."
"Depending on what you're fighting, it could be," said Kensuke, suddenly looking thoughtful.
"Eh." Asuka dismissively waved a hand. "May as well tell you anyway."
The story of the disastrous first attack on Israfel came out. Fortunately for Hikari's sanity, Asuka and Shinji didn't speak at the same time. However, they would instead pick up where the other left off, sometimes alternating who was speaking every sentence. It may not have been simultaneous, but it still somewhat unnerved Hikari.
"Defeating an Angel through the power of synchronised dance?" Kensuke chortled. "Tell me you're going to stop the next one through disco!"
Toji piped up, barely trying not to openly grin. "Nah, man, they're gonna kill it with the power of love!"
The two boys began to cackle, throwing out even more absurd ideas until Hikari glared them into submission. She then drank the rest of the juice and made to put the empty glass on the table, but a clawed flipper popped up in front of her face. She stared dumbly at it for a moment, before looking to her left at the penguin. It seemed to be asking her to pass it the glass. Hesitantly, she passed it to the penguin, who took it and hopped off the armrest, waddling into the kitchen.
"Um..." She glanced at Shinji and Asuka. "Is... that penguin a housemate?"
"Pen-pen lives next door with Misato and Rei," Shinji replied. "Honestly, I'm not even sure how he got in here without knocking, but I've given up trying to work him out. He reads the newspaper."
"Ain't penguins arctic creatures?" Toji wondered, clearly choosing not to question how an animal could read. "How is it able to live in this sweaty armpit of a country?"
"Antarctic, but good try," Asuka corrected. "Anyway, Pen-pen's a genetic engineering experiment. He was gonna get euthanized afterwards but Misato took him in."
The bird in question returned, holding a can of soda in one hand and a fresh glass of juice in the other. He passed the juice to Hikari, who gave him her surprised thanks, then hopped back up to the armrest before popping the soda can open.
Toji turned a disbelieving look on Shinji and Asuka as he pointed at Pen-pen. No words were needed, and none were forthcoming from the pilots.
Eventually, it came to be time for the guests to head home. Pen-pen was close on Hikari's heels as she headed for the front door. When she turned to wave goodbye to her friends, the penguin seemed to be waving rather enthusiastically. Walking to the elevator, Hikari wondered if she had just picked up a new, avian friend.
XXX
TIME REMAINING: 15 HOURS
It was the afternoon of the last day of training. Misato was sitting on the couch, while Shinji and Asuka were preparing to show her how far they had come. Already, she could see that they were very well synchronised even as they were warming up. To the naked eye, the two teenagers appeared to be doing their stretches at exactly the same time. When they were ready, they bowed as one to Misato, then put their headphones on simultaneously. As they waited to start, Shinji and Asuka even began bouncing on the balls of their feet together.
And then the music started.
Sixty-three seconds later, Misato stood up from the couch and applauded, cheering as if she had just watched a concert. She even briefly considered asking for an encore, but then she remembered that that would be happening tomorrow on a grander scale and decided to wait.
"Excellent work, you two!" she said. "That Angel won't know what hit it!"
"Of course it won't!" Asuka and Shinji said together. "We didn't spend a week on this just to lose again!"
Misato blinked, then sighed good-naturedly. "You're doing that on purpose now, aren't you?"
The two teenagers glanced at each other, then back at her with a grin. "Maybe."
With a snort, Misato headed for the kitchen. "Since you did so well, I'll shout you some takeaway for dinner. What do you want?"
"Uh..."
"Pizza Diavolo!"
Halting in the doorway, Misato glanced over her shoulder at them. "Heh, guess you're still not that in tune with each other after all."
"...Well we're still two different people," said Asuka, after taking a second to mock scowl at Shinji. "Besides, Shinji can't taste anything I haven't prepared for him so of course he doesn't have a take-out preference."
"I guess not. Well how about I order in Shinji's place, and we have your suggestion tomorrow, Asuka?"
"Sure," the teenagers agreed together.
Misato smiled at the two of them, before turning to leave. "Yep, tomorrow you're going to kick that Angel's ass."
XXX
SEPTEMBER 11, 2015. TIME REMAINING: -0.5 HOURS
"You really kicked that Angel's ass."
Shinji groaned, somewhat muffled by the fact that he was slumped over in his chair face down on the table in the briefing room. The tone of Misato's voice was clearly that of a happy and impressed superior who had expected much from her charges and got what she wanted. Not that he could blame her; the plan had gone off without a hitch.
"Yes. I must say that was a rather impressive performance out there."
But that didn't stop Shinji feeling so exhausted he could barely lift his head to look at Misato or Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, or even watch the recorded footage of two Evangelions performing an incredible feat of synchronised fighting, slaying their opponents in a little over a minute.
"Adrenaline's worn off, huh?" Misato remarked, sitting down opposite the tired boy. "And I suppose you did do a hell of a lot in a short time this week."
"Oh, he'll be wide awake at dinner time," Asuka piped up. "Considering what we'll be eating then."
Shinji blinked slowly, turning his head to glance at her. "What was it you wanted? Pizza diablo?"
"Close. It's 'Diavolo'," Asuka corrected. She paused, casting a thoughtful look at Misato. "Are there actually any pizza places here in Tokyo-3? I probably should have found that out before making my request."
"I already looked into that," Misato replied. "Lucky for you, there's a couple pizza places that decided to take the risk of setting up in a combat zone. And one of them does do Diavolo."
Shinji looked up just in time to see her give what could only be a sadistic grin. "Um... whatever you're thinking, Misato, it's probably not going to happen," he said, before pointing at his mouth. "Taste problems, remember?"
Misato's face fell as Shinji's comment took the wind out of her sails. "Oh..."
"Cheer up, Misato," said Asuka. "One day I'll make something similar for him, so he'll know what he's missing out on."
"As much as I don't mind you discussing celebratory dinner plans," Fuyutsuki cut in, "we still have a debriefing to finish."
XXX
Once again, Misato was kept back as Shinji and Asuka left the briefing room. Kaji was waiting for them outside, and Asuka immediately launched into an enthusiastic retelling of their week of training. Shinji tuned her out as he leaned against the wall, again wondering what the Sub-Commander had to say to Misato.
When she joined them in the hallway a few minutes later, Shinji saw a smile on her face that quickly evaporated upon seeing Kaji, and a smug grin grew on his face when she stomped past. Nonplussed, Shinji followed after Misato, but Asuka hung back with Kaji, still talking about the battle.
"Misato?" he began when they reached the elevator. "Is... everything okay between you and Kaji?"
Misato humphed as she stabbed the call button. "Is everything okay between me and the jerk who disappears for ages then suddenly shows up with the plan that pulls my ass out of the fire?" she mockingly asked. "I guess. I just didn't want to give him the satisfaction."
"Too late, I'm afraid!"
Shinji watched as Misato slumped forward, resting her head against the wall with a groan. Turning around, he saw that Kaji and Asuka had caught up to them. And Kaji was somehow looking even more smug.
The trip up to the surface was made mostly in silence, punctuated by Kaji's attempts to start a conversation with Misato, who would give wordless grunts in reply. At one point Shinji raised an eyebrow at Asuka, who could only shrug her shoulders at how the two adults were acting around each other. Shinji decided then and there that adulthood was apparently not all it was cracked up to be.
Only when Kaji departed at the surface did Misato's mood improve. The moment the scruffy man was out of sight she turned a sunny smile on her two wards.
"Right! It's a bit early for dinner, but do you want to go get it now anyway?" she asked.
Asuka nodded. "Sure. We didn't eat before getting in our Evas anyway, what with how LCL reacts with a full stomach."
Shinji shuddered. He had only needed to do that once before deciding never to eat just before having to pilot. He was glad that, at least so far, every Evangelion deployment had either been between meals, or at predetermined times that they could work around to prevent food... returning at unwanted times.
He was most certainly not interested in learning what food prepared by Asuka tasted like on the... return trip.
XXX
For once, Misato's driving habits were a good thing. The pizza place was far enough away that if a normal person were driving, their food would have been cold by the time they got home. The NERV licence plates on Misato's car apparently meant she could ignore practically every road rule in the book, judging by the way she drove straight through red lights. Miraculously, the streets were still relatively quiet and no accidents happened.
That Shinji knew of at least.
At the apartment building, Misato unlocked her door and went in, followed by Asuka. Shinji, carrying the two pizza boxes, brought up the rear. As he turned the corner of the small hallway to the kitchen he almost dropped the boxes as he bumped into Asuka, who had been forced to stop by a stationary Misato.
"What's the holdup?" he asked, eager to set the pizzas down.
Asuka glanced back at him. "Wondergirl's back," she said in a low voice.
"Rei?" Shinji's face lit up. "Is she okay?!"
"She-"
Before Asuka could finish her sentence, Misato suddenly stomped over to the fridge, where she grabbed several cans of beer before marching into the lounge. The slam of a sliding door signified that she had evidently retreated to her room.
Now that Misato wasn't blocking his view, Shinji could see that Rei was standing by the sink, cloaked in a blanket. To his eyes, Rei looked as if she hadn't eaten in a long time, going by her sunken cheeks and a pale, skinny arm holding a glass of water.
One thing that hadn't changed was her demeanour. Rei looked at them with the same neutral expression as always, completely unfazed by Misato's sudden exit.
"Good afternoon," she murmured after a few seconds of silence.
"Er, hi Rei," Shinji awkwardly replied as he set the pizza boxes down on the table. "How... um... how are you doing?"
Rei glanced at the boxes for a moment, perhaps attempting to discern their contents, before saying, "Better. I am cleared for light duties now, but it will take a little longer before I am fully recovered."
"What the hell actually happened?" asked Asuka. "Must have been something nasty to knock you out for a week."
Rei froze, her eyes darting to the entrance to the lounge room. "I am not allowed to speak of the incident," she stiffly answered.
Asuka slapped a hand to her face in frustration. "Of course you're not," she grumbled.
"Can you at least tell us if it's something that could happen again?" Shinji pressed.
"The chances of it happening again should be low. This was simply the consequence of an error in judgement."
"Judgement?" Shinji frowned in puzzlement, but Rei did not seem willing to speak further so he had no choice but to let the matter slide. "Well, anyway... we've got pizza for dinner tonight and-" A realisation occurred. "Oh wait, you're a vegetarian..."
"Yeah, a vegetarian, not a vegan," Asuka remarked as she pushed one of the pizza boxes to one side and opened the second. "Suppose we should confirm anyway though: how do you feel about dairy products, Rei? Would you be fine with this one?"
Rei looked down at the 'margherita' pizza, as Asuka had named it. It was much less complicated than the Diavolo one that Asuka had been practically hopping in her car seat to enjoy, being simply tomato sauce, some kind of herb, and shredded mozzarella cheese. The Diavolo, on the other hand, had hot salami and other spicy things on it. Even without the meat, Shinji didn't believe Rei would enjoy that one.
"There is no meat, so I can eat it," Rei finally said, to Shinji's quiet relief.
Asuka grinned as she retrieved plates from the cupboard. "Alright, let's dig in!"
XXX
After dinner, Shinji remembered while cleaning up the dishes that Misato had disappeared without having any of the pizza. When he placed a few of the remaining slices on a plate to take them to her, Rei surprised him by offering to deliver them to her. There was no real reason to say no, so he let her do it. He and Asuka then bid Rei goodbye and left for their apartment.
As soon as they were gone, Rei slowly made the trek from the kitchen to Misato's bedroom door. She stood there for a short time, fidgeting with the plate in her hands, before finally knocking on the door.
"G'way, Rei," came the slurred response from Misato.
Rei decided not to ask how Misato knew immediately that she was the one knocking. "I have brought you some of the pizza, since you left without eating."
"Jus' leave it by the door 'n go," Misato replied. "'fore I end up hurtin' you 'gain."
Making what was possibly the fastest decision of her life outside of an Evangelion, Rei pushed the door open and stepped into the bedroom. The first thing she noticed was what looked like a pile of beer cans in the vague shape of a tower, reaching halfway to the ceiling.
The second thing she noticed was Misato, slumped against the wall perpendicular to the tower and dangling another can from her finger tips. She didn't look up at Rei's entrance, instead choosing to continue staring at nothing.
"Damnit Rei, do I have to go Captain on you?" she growled.
"You are drunk," Rei stolidly replied. "I would likely not follow any order you gave me in such a condition."
Misato gave a single, sharp laugh. "Where was that smartness when I made you stop taking the medication that keeps you alive?"
"...I do not have an answer for that." Even as Rei had made that fateful decision, she had believed that something would go wrong. Was it faith in her commanding officer that let Rei make the choice? Faith that was evidently misplaced, considering that she had then spent a week in Terminal Dogma where Doctor Akagi had had to work hard to keep Rei's body from destroying itself.
Something that the scientist had been rather angry about, especially since this was the second time Rei had nearly died from not taking her medication. Doctor Akagi had even briefly considered, out loud, letting this body die so she could activate a new one. Only the fact that it had been a while since Rei's last memory backup had kept her from that fate.
"You prob'ly shouldn't even be living here anymore," Misato darkly remarked. "Why stay with someone that nearly friggin' killed you? Wouldn't be that hard t' get you another apartment here."
"You did convince me," Rei retorted. "But ultimately I was the one who chose to acquiesce to your request."
"What, you gonna say we're both at fault here?"
"It is the truth. I knew what could happen if I didn't take my medication. But at the same time I wanted to believe that you were right." Rei stepped closer, putting the plate down next to Misato before moving back to the doorway. "I do not have any anger towards you for what happened, only disappointment in myself for ignoring my own mind warning me against abandoning my regimen."
Misato looked up slightly, staring at Rei through the hair over her eyes. "...Was it... painful... what you had to go through for the last week?"
"I was either unconscious for most of it, or not in a state to feel much of anything," Rei replied, remembering the drugs Doctor Akagi had given her that had left her feeling like she was floating outside of her own body.
Both of them.
"Well... that's something at least," Misato murmured. She lifted the can in her hand to her mouth, drinking from it for several seconds. When it was empty, she rattled it slightly before throwing it at the tower of cans. The newly empty can missed, bouncing off the wall and onto the floor where it rolled towards Rei's feet.
Rei looked down at it for a few seconds, before returning her gaze to Misato. "You should stop wallowing in alcohol and guilt. There is nothing you can do to change the past, so there is no point in dwelling upon it. There are more important and valuable things to do with your free time."
Misato chuckled. "Sorry Rei, but it'll take more than a nice speech from you to break half a lifetime of habit. Sad part is that this isn't even the worst thing I've done that I've tried to drink to forget."
"If you have been trying all this time without success, perhaps it is time to try something else?" Rei suggested.
"Nah, I'll stick with what I know best."
"...Very well. I shall not bother you further on this subject tonight."
Getting only a grunt from Misato in response, Rei left the bedroom. After a moment's thought, she went into the kitchen to get a glass of water for Misato. After a second moment's thought, she instead took a bottle of water from the fridge and left it just inside Misato's bedroom before sliding the door shut. While she had never had alcohol, Rei still understood the effects of dehydrating substances. Her medication, that she was now determined to take every day until the end, required drinking more than the usual amount of water throughout the day.
And speaking of which...
Rei headed to her bedroom, where she gathered up the discarded pill bottles and returned them to where they belonged on her bedside table. As she was about to get into bed, she heard the faint sound of music from next door. Looking in that direction, she could see the doubled aura of Asuka through the wall, her arms and legs moving rapidly. It took a moment for Rei to realise that the Second Child was dancing. And though she couldn't see him, she was sure that Shinji was right next to her, mimicking the dance moves perfectly.
As Rei got under her bed covers, she contemplated how perfectly in tune the two were, and how the enforced state of synchronicity that would come in Instrumentality was but a pale shadow of what she had seen performed this day.
For the first time in her existence, Rei Ayanami questioned her purpose.
