Chapter 31 - I Can't Do It Again
The door to Ritsuko's office slid open. She looked up to see the haggard face of her friend Misato standing there, leaning on the door frame. Without a word she waved her into the office, whereupon Misato stumbled in and crashed full length on the sofa opposite Ritsuko's desk.
This latest attack had put NERV through hell in more ways than one and even now, several days later, Ritsuko was still trying to catch up. She barely had the time to spare to go home and feed her cats; several times she'd had to delegate that task to Maya while she tried to nap on the sofa. It was a pain in the ass to fold the bed out but it was better than trying to sleep in her chair, and the bunkrooms required traipsing through far too many corridors while already half-asleep.
"Your paperwork all done then?" Ritsuko asked, barely able to mask her own tiredness.
Misato grumbled something that was muffled by the cushion, before slowly turning her head sideways so that she could speak clearly. "No, still going. Came to see if you had an update on the kids."
"Oh." Ritsuko had been expecting this question, but that didn't make things any easier. "Afraid there's still not much to say yet. Rei's still in a serious condition, and as for the other two... well..." She paused, momentarily removing her glasses so she could try and rub the sleep out of her eyes. "They're still unconscious. About all I've managed to do is come up with a hypothesis to explain their unnatural ability to synchronise so perfectly. Do you know what quantum entanglement is?"
Misato groaned into the sofa. "Are you really asking me that now?" With a final huff, she somehow managed to get herself seated upright. "Isn't that the theoretical thing where two objects are linked so that if something happens to one, it also happens to the other?"
"Close enough," Ritsuko said with a nod. "Something like that appears to be sporadically happening with Shinji and Asuka's minds. If one of them brushes hair out of their face, the other mimics the gesture instantly. There isn't even a millisecond's difference between them when they start acting like this. The best performers in the world can't manage that level of synchronicity."
"But how can something like quantum entanglement only happen some of the time?" Misato asked.
"...I'm afraid that's where my hypothesis breaks down," Ritsuko admitted with a shrug. "And short of completely rewiring Shinji and Asuka's minds, I'm not sure what we could do to stop it. The best we can do is stop them spending too much time together in an Eva again, and try to get them to do as much as possible that's different from each other. I'm considering trying to move them to separate apartments-"
"No," Misato cut in. "That would do more harm than good. Even if it was just next door again, they'd both start getting temperamental at how unfair it is that one of them had to move out. Besides..." One of her fingers began tapping on the armrest. "They're good for each other. Look at how much they've changed just in the last few months. Asuka isn't nearly half as much of a hellion as she used to be back in Germany, and Shinji's actually managed to break out of the shell he must have had around himself while he was living with his teacher. The reports that man sent had almost nothing interesting involving Shinji. No friends, no outings, not even any injuries of importance. He might as well have just been reporting on a house cat."
"...I hate to admit it, but you're right," said Ritsuko after a moment to remember the reports on both teenagers. "Meeting each other was probably the best thing that could have happened to them, especially when it comes to piloting. Asuka pushes Shinji to do better, to the point where I'd almost think he was starting to enjoy piloting, and he seems to be acting as a brake on her ego so she doesn't run roughshod over everyone else. She's still the best and knows it, but instead of lording it over the other three she's trying to pull them up to her level."
Misato slouched against the sofa and sighed heavily. "I wish they'd wake up soon. It's hell not knowing if they're alright after losing life support. Have the doctors found anything wrong with them yet?"
"No. They ran MRI scans on the pilots as soon as they could, and didn't see anything worth bringing to my attention. I'd check their reports myself, but I've been busy going over Unit-01 with a fine-toothed comb, looking for any signs of contamination." Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "If you're that uneasy about them, you could always go check on them yourself."
"Might just do that," replied Misato. She pointed to a relatively new addition to Ritsuko's office. "Need coffee though. Mind if I...?"
"Sure, go for it."
After tasting the liquid nuclear energy that Asuka had offered her, Ritsuko had caved a few days later and acquired a coffee machine for her office. Its output wasn't nearly as nerve-searingly powerful, but it did the job far better than a slog down to the cafeteria for a Styrofoam cup of warm brown water that might have been lucky enough to be in the same room as a coffee bean.
Misato sat back down on the couch, sipping from a steaming cup as she recharged her batteries. "Before I go down there though, do you have any info on how they coped while stuck inside the Angel?"
Ritsuko nodded. "I do, actually. Finished pulling the data from Unit-01's data recorder a few hours ago. Shinji and Asuka were quiet for quite a lot of the time, understandable since they didn't want to waste all their energy, but there were a few conversations." She glanced at her computer screen for a moment, and then smirked. "The last one it picked up may be of... some interest to you."
Misato quirked an eyebrow. "Is this one of those 'I can't just tell you' things?"
"Exactly." Ritsuko brought up the file in question and clicked the play button. She then got up to get her own cup of coffee. "Have a listen."
Minutes later, Ritsuko had already drained her cup. Misato's still half full cup was hanging loose from her fingers, making the scientist worry she'd spill it all over herself. "Gods..." she muttered, a grin slowly growing on her face. "It's about freaking time!"
With a whoop that reminded Ritsuko of the venerable Yebisu Can Slam, Misato downed the rest of her coffee and smacked the empty cup into the sofa cushion next to her before practically sprinting out of the office.
Ritsuko sighed diplomatically as she got up to close the still-open door. "Well," she said to the empty room. "I suppose she's got even more reason not to separate them now."
XXX
His eyes opened, taking in the sterile whiteness above him.
Unfami-...wait, familiar ceiling.
Wincing slightly as his gaze briefly shifted towards a light, he set both hands on the mattress and slowly pushed himself up to a sitting position. Once upright she ran a hand through her hair, grumbling at the amount of tangles she could already feel.
A curtain surrounded his bed, preventing him from seeing if anyone else was in the room. That wasn't entirely important at the moment, however, as she still needed to work out what had actually happened. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the entry plug, waiting for rescue with-
His face heated up as bits and pieces of memory came back. He'd practically been sitting in her lap. Of course, there were extenuating circumstances and she wasn't about to call him a pervert just because they'd both wanted to try and stay warm, but now they had clearly been rescued and he just knew things were going to be just a bit awkward between them for a while.
For the life of him, though, she just couldn't recall how they'd been rescued. Had someone jumped in and pulled them out? Did the Angel get bored and just spit them back out into the city? And where was Shinji anyway? Was she in the same room?
She paused in her musing. Had there been something... odd about that last thought? He went over it again in his mind, but couldn't sense anything out of place. He shook his head, sending red hair scattering about her shoulders. A quick check of the area around the bed showed nothing she was hooked up to, so she swung his legs off the bed and planted his feet on the cold floor.
A jolt shot through his head, making him hiss in pain. There was a glass of water on the bedside table, likely tepid, but it was better than nothing. She picked up the glass and drained it in only a few gulps, then sat still for a moment to see if that was enough to deal with how his head was currently feeling. Eventually she decided it wasn't enough and got to her feet. This seemed to be the NERV medical ward, so there had to be an adjacent bathroom where he could get some more water. He raised a hand to move the curtain andwait was that another hand she felt-
The curtain shifted to one side, and Shinji stared at himself. He blinked in confusion, and saw a mop of red hair framing a puzzled face. Another blink and she was looking into Shinji's' eyes, wondering just what the hell was going on. Before he could begin to ask questions, he heard the sound of a door opening. The curtain was still in the way, so she moved away from the bed into the middle of the room.
Misato was standing there, looking like she'd been trying to sneak in to check up on them. Upon noticing Shinji, her face broke into a big smile. "Shinji! Asuka! Good to see you two up and about!"
Asuka glanced sideways, once again seeing her own face as if she was looking in a mirror. "M-Misato," he haltingly began as his head began throbbing painfully. "I-I think w-we were in t-there too long..."
An expression of shock replaced the smile on Misato's face. Rather than attempt to placate them, she instead reached for her phone and hit a button. "Rits," she said a few seconds later. "Get down here, we've got a problem with the kids. Looks like they're still synchronised."
XXX
It took a surprising amount of effort to deal with Shinji and Asuka. Even physically moving one of them caused the other to react, so in the end a couple of orderlies had to hold onto Shinji while Asuka was shifted into another room. To try and keep this level of synchronisation from returning, the second room's layout was altered such that no piece of furniture was in the same place as the first room.
A debriefing was required though, while events were still fresh in everybody's mind, which necessitated the two pilots being in the same briefing room the day after they woke up. At this point, while Shinji and Asuka were still highly synchronised, they could at least clearly tell themselves apart. Ritsuko was rather worried about the fact that they had essentially been one mind in two bodies outside of an Evangelion, and blamed it on the subpar entry plug that had also only given them eight hours of life support. That plug had instantly been scrapped once the proper plug had been located.
It was hard to tell if that shorter time limit was a blessing in disguise however, as there was no real way of telling if spending sixteen hours trapped together, even with enhanced filters and safeguards, would have resulted in the same outcome. It might have even been worse.
"The Human Instrumentality Committee have stated their desire to interview you two on your experience," said Ritsuko as she began the debriefing. "Considering your current state, however, I've managed to convince them that the stress of such an interview would only make your condition worse. They've agreed to make do with a recording of this debriefing as long as I ask the questions they were going to ask."
"The... who?" Shinji and Asuka both asked.
"Put simply, they're our boss' bosses," answered Misato. "They're in charge of oversight of NERV."
"And trust me, getting interviewed by them is hideously stressful," Ritsuko added. "Anyway, let's begin. Tell us what happened from your perspective, starting from the moment the Angel appeared underneath you."
She almost regretted it, as Shinji and Asuka began to speak together. Occasionally one would stop, generally when Shinji or Asuka were speaking of their own thoughts at a certain time, but otherwise they talked in sync. When the two teenagers mentioned responding to something that hadn't actually been said, Misato and Ritsuko glanced concernedly at each other.
"Think carefully," said Ritsuko, leaning forward slightly. "Was it your own voice, or the voice of each other that you heard, or did it sound like someone else?"
Finally, there was a small break in the synchronisation. Asuka frowned in concentration, while Shinji simply stared blankly ahead, blinking several times. They glanced at each other; Shinji tilted his head slightly to one side while Asuka's frown deepened. "We're not really sure," they both eventually said, their synchronisation returning. "It sure seemed like our own voices."
Ritsuko leaned back in her seat, a hand rubbing her chin as she pondered the response. The Committee had been concerned that the Angel had drawn Unit-01 into itself to attempt to communicate with the pilots, but the answer she had just been given was ultimately inconclusive. "Think harder," she said. "This is one of the things the Committee wants to know. Did the Angel try to talk to you?"
A pair of glances; a pair of frowns. And then, two shaking heads. "No. It was just us in there. Nothing that could be a third person."
"...Very well, then."
"What is the last thing you remember?" Misato asked. "By the time Unit-01 was rescued, you'd been unconscious from oxygen deprivation for a couple of minutes."
"Nothing much," the teenagers said. "Just... sitting around waiting."
"Short-term memory loss, it seems," Ritsuko mused. "Hopefully that's the only ill effect you suffered."
"So... you don't remember the last thing you said to each other before being rescued?"
"Uh... no. Why?"
Shinji and Asuka jumped as Misato slapped the table and cursed. She got up and walked away from the table, running a hand through her hair.
"That's easily fixed, Misato," Ritsuko called after her. "We have the data recorder after all."
Misato froze in place for a moment, before spinning around and coming back to the table. "Play it for them," she demanded. "I want them to remember this."
Sharing a nervous look, Shinji and Asuka said, "Remember what? What happened?"
"Right now I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you," Misato replied with a shake of her head. "You need to hear it from your own mouths, so to speak."
Ritsuko pulled up the relevant audio file on her tablet, pressed play, and placed it on the table between them. As the recording progressed, she watched the faces of Shinji and Asuka. At first, they smiled when Rei was mentioned, but that soon faded as Shinji spoke of having no regrets. And then... some unmistakable sounds that sent blood rushing to both their faces.
They were no longer in sync. Shinji was shell-shocked, staring at the tablet with wide eyes, while Asuka had a hand over her mouth in shock as she glanced sideways at him. Before anybody could speak, she got up and practically ran from the room. Shinji didn't seem to notice, even when the door slammed open as she made her escape.
Misato got up and chased after her, leaving Ritsuko to groan in annoyance. The debriefing wasn't over yet, even if the most critical bit of information was already acquired. She picked the tablet up and stopped the recording, taking the time to jot down some notes. The room was silent for several minutes until Shinji finally spoke.
"I... shouldn't have said anything," he mumbled. "Should've just kept my stupid mouth shut and waited..."
Ritsuko looked up from the tablet and sighed. "I'm not a therapist, Shinji. I don't know what to say."
"...Sorry." Shinji turned his head away to stare at the wall.
"Not... what I meant," Ritsuko hurriedly said. "You thought you were about to die and decided to confess your feelings. Nothing wrong with that."
"But... I've ruined our friendship. Asuka obviously doesn't feel the same way if she ran out of the room like that." Shinji sighed and hung his head. "She probably hates me now."
Ritsuko put the tablet down and rubbed her forehead. "Shinji... I'm not at liberty to divulge details about Asuka, but I can say this: it's just... complicated for her."
Shinji glanced up at her and gave an unamused huff. "Nothing complicated here. She's not interested in me, not that I can blame her."
Standing up and adjusting her lab coat, Ritsuko decided she had no desire to sit around listening to self-deprecation. There was nothing more to be gained from this debriefing, and the Committee would likely be calling again soon. "Just... head back to your room for now. Give Asuka some time to come to grips with what happened before... writing yourself off."
"...Yes, Doctor."
It was all she could think of to say to try and keep him from slipping into depression, and Ritsuko couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy as the distraught young man slouched out of the room. After all, she knew rather well how it felt to desire somebody and not have those feelings returned.
XXX
Asuka's path was rather obvious; all Misato had to do was follow the trail of affronted personnel, including one person who was now picking papers up off the floor. The other people helpfully pointed out which way Asuka had run, until Misato came to a bathroom door that had yet to swing fully closed. She pushed it open and went inside, noting the dent in the wall where the handle had impacted it, then picked a stall entirely at random and sat down on the toilet seat, and proceeded to wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
Ten minutes passed before a quiet voice from the next stall over said, "You're just going to sit there until I talk aren't you?"
"Yep," Misato immediately replied with a grin.
Asuka gave a disgruntled groan. "Fine," she acidly said. "Let's just get this over with. You know why I can't accept Shinji's confession."
Misato closed her eyes. "So you're going to shatter the heart of your best friend because of something that happened a long time ago, something entirely out of your control."
"He's strong, he'll get over it," was the blunt reply.
"Are you so sure of that?" she shot back. "I can guarantee you that right now Shinji is still sitting in that briefing room, beating himself up over ruining your friendship and thinking that you hate him."
"...He'll get over it," Asuka repeated. "He'll find someone else."
Misato rolled her eyes. "That boy worships you, Asuka. He doesn't even spend much time with those two friends of his in your class, because he'd rather be with you. And I know for a fact that he's not simply hoping to hit it and quit it."
The innuendo caused a loud splutter of surprise that brought a smile back to Misato's face. "I'm serious. It's not just puppy love or teenage hormones. Shinji is head over heels for you. And I've seen the way you sometimes look at him when he's not paying attention. Don't try and tell me you don't feel at least some romantic affection for him."
Silence returned to the bathroom for a long, tense moment. "I... I can't do it again," Asuka finally mumbled.
"Do what?" Misato pressed.
"Can't... let myself get hurt again."
"How can you be so sure that'll happen? Shinji isn't the type to dump you and run off with someone else."
"Maybe not, but... that's not all that could happen." Asuka's voice was starting to waver. "Look at what happened to... to Mama."
"Lots of things could happen to any of us," Misato reasoned. "Is that any reason to not enjoy every moment you have? To not grab the opportunity for happiness and hold onto it with both hands? Do you think I got to where I am now by shying away from everything?"
"We're Eva pilots though," said Asuka. "What happens if one of us gets killed by an Angel?"
"These are dangerous times for everybody. If I had the chance, I'd rather be with that special person and cherish the time I have with them, rather than shove them away and be miserable for the rest of my life just because they might disappear one day."
Misato sighed and rubbed her eyes while silence reigned yet again. She could just imagine Asuka sitting on her seat, hugging her knees to her chest and struggling to come up with more excuses. "Look, you two are amazing when you work together. Seeing you and Shinji synchronised, it's like you're already a couple, reading each other's mind and such. If you took this next step and let yourself be loved again, not only would you be happier, I'm sure you'd be absolutely unbeatable no matter what obstacle you faced."
"I... I..."
Misato sighed and got up, opening the stall and stepping out. "I know you're afraid of starting a relationship, but please... at least don't destroy your friendship just because of that fear."
"...What do you want from me?"
"I'd like foryou to go back to that briefing room and tell Shinji exactly how you feel. I'll settle for you putting his mind at ease and confirming you're still friends."
Misato spent a minute checking her hair in the mirror before Asuka came out of her stall, right hand clutching her left elbow. She looked so... small, shrunken in on herself.
"You're... not gonna tell him about this, are you?" she nervously whispered.
Misato emphatically shook her head. "No, your feelings are just between us girls. It's not my place to tell him."
The walk back to the briefing room felt as tense as an imminent Angel battle, but Asuka did not falter for a second. She strode back into the room, marched up to Shinji -who stood up in surprise at her sudden entrance- and put her arms around him for a few seconds. Misato didn't hear what was said, but she saw Shinji nod in something akin to relief. He didn't look ecstatic, but neither was he still morose.
And for now, Misato could accept that.
XXX
"-ndition?"
"She's sta- ... -ore days be- ... ing her go h-"
Rei's head felt like her brain was desperately attempting to escape from her skull. Her entire body felt leaden; she couldn't even so much as twitch a finger. The familiar sensation of liquid on her skin told her exactly where she was, even if she couldn't summon the energy to open her eyes. All she could do was float limply in her tube in the depths of Central Dogma.
The voices nearby continued, muffled by LCL, the glass tube, and Rei's own tired mind. The only reason she knew who was talking was because only three people had access to this place, and the third one never needed to be here.
"-ny idea- ... -pened?"
"As bes- ... -drew upon Li- ... -it-01 out of the-"
"Fooli- ... -dered- ... -unless there wa- ... -he scenario."
"If- ... -erge with Unit- ... -oken into Term-"
Rei cast her mind back, searching for clarification. The Angel. Unit-01, trapped. Bwynvienne. Rescue attempt. Ah, she had... done something forbidden in order to save the lives of Shinji and Asuka. As was to be expected, her body had suffered from being a conduit and now she was down here to recover in secrecy.
Commander Ikari was likely displeased with her. But was it enough to activate the next one? Or would she be permitted to continue with this current mind and body?
"-e infor-"
"Yes, Comm-"
Muffled footsteps denoted the exit of one person, while the sound of heels on metal flooring came closer.
"This better not become a habit, Rei." The voice, female and unhappy, was just outside her tube, letting her hear more clearly. "It's a good thing you were wearing a plugsuit, because otherwise there would have been no way to disguise the fact that your body was starting to melt."
Yes, a very good thing; Rei didn't want her friends to see her like that. They already knew she was... not exactly like them. Yet despite all the time they'd spent together, neither of them had even considered trying to pry further into her background, choosing instead to treat her as just another person. Falling apart in front of Shinji and Asuka would have likely traumatised them, even if she would be back with them a few days later in a new body. Questions would be asked, and as much as she might have liked to give answers, orders such as these could not be disobeyed. More lives than her own would be at stake.
"The Commander's pretty unhappy, by the way. If you don't want to get replaced I'd watch myself if I were you."
As she expected. It was almost guaranteed she would be standing in front of the Commander's desk the moment she could walk unassisted.
"Oh, Shinji and Asuka are... well I suppose they're fine. Some synchronisation issues but a sudden shock knocked them out of it. Although now they're going to get teenage angst all over the place. At least you don't have to worry about that for a few days, maybe it'll have blown over by the time you can go home."
The corners of Rei's mouth turned up fractionally.
"...I can see you smiling in there," Doctor Akagi remarked. "I just wonder if your friendship with the other pilots will affect your motivation when it's time for the endgame."
'No,' Rei thought, the faint smile vanishing as quickly as it had appeared. 'Not even friendship will stay my hand when it comes time for me to play my part.'
XXX
Shinji was almost, almost, thankful for the fact that he and Asuka had separate hospital rooms after the embarrassment he had inflicted on himself. On the one hand, it was helping to ensure their involuntary synchronisation didn't return, and he wouldn't have to face the person he'd also embarrassed.
On the other hand... he was already starting to miss Asuka.
He couldn't actually be sure she was avoiding him, but it certainly seemed like it. It had been a couple of days since the briefing room incident and Shinji had not seen so much as a glimpse of her hair during his wanderings around the medical wing and cafeteria.
But now, on the way to the cafeteria to get something to eat and most definitely not search for Asuka, he ran into somebody else.
"Yo, Shin-man!"
A hand slapped down on Shinji's back, almost sending him sprawling across the corridor floor. He quickly recovered and straightened up to looking into the grinning face of Toji Suzuhara.
"Oh, hello Toji," he greeted. "What are you doing here?"
Toji pointed somewhere over Shinji's shoulder. "Visitin' my little sis, of course! Dontcha remember Ken got 'er transferred here?"
A flash of guilt shot through Shinji before he could stifle it. If his friend noticed anything, he didn't draw attention to it. "Oh right," he lamely replied. "Um... how is she doing?"
"Hell of a lot better now that she's here," said Toji. "Hisae's been doin' rehab for a few weeks now. It's slow goin', of course, what with the bones in her leg bein' half turned to powder, but she ain't letting that stop her." He thumped a hand on his chest over his heart. "Us Suzuharas are tough, and we ain't afraid o' hard work!"
Shinji quirked an eyebrow. "So why are you always slacking off in class?"
"Oi!" Toji glared at him, but there was no true anger in it. "You try focusin' on your work when that old fossil is tryin' ta put us all to sleep!"
Shinji chuckled in agreement. "A while ago I wondered if he's secretly an Angel, considering how he's able to put entire classrooms of teenagers to sleep."
Toji snorted into his hand, then shook his head in amusement. "Yeah, wouldn't surprise me."
"Mister Suzuhara?"
The two teenagers turned to see a nurse approaching them, one that looked vaguely familiar to Shinji. It was possible he'd spent too much time in NERV's medical wing.
"Oh hey," said Toji. "Nurse... Himiko right?"
The nurse nodded. "That's right. Are you here to see Hisae? She's doing her physical therapy at the moment if you'd like to watch and give moral support."
"Yeah, I'm just on my way there now." Toji hooked a thumb at Shinji. "Alright if my friend tags along? Hisae's been asking to see him for a while."
"Of course," replied Himiko, before looking at Shinji. "It's good to see you up and about again, Mister Ikari," she said, giving him a bright smile.
"Um, thanks," he said, to which Himiko gave a little bow before heading off down the corridor. Glancing at Toji, he asked, "Is that true? That your sister's asking about me?"
"'Course it's true!" Toji replied with a massive grin. "She wants ta see the hero pilot that saved the city, not to mention her life!"
"But I was-" Shinji abruptly cut himself off. If Asuka were here, she would have most likely just elbowed him to shut up and then gone on about the circumstances, ending in some variant of 'it wasn't your fault'.
"C'mon," said Toji, patting Shinji's shoulder non-too-gently. "Let's get goin'."
Shinji nodded, and followed the older boy through the medical wing until they arrived at the door to the physical therapy room. Out of nowhere, Toji put out a hand to stop him.
"Since yer girlfriend ain't here," he said with a stern expression on his face, "I'm gonna say it for 'er. No puttin' yerself down about what happened. Yer the reason me 'n her are alive today." Shinji barely had time to deal with his face flushing at that word before Toji continued, his face softening up. "Oh, and... ya mind waitin' out here fer just a sec? I kinda wanna surprise Hisae."
Nodding at the request, Shinji waited next to the door as his friend went in. The first thing he heard was a girl's voice cry out, "Tooojjjiiiiiiii!"
"'Ey sis, how's yer therapy goin'?"
"Good, Big Bro! They say I only need a couple more months at most before I'm good as new!"
That response brought a smile to Shinji's face. Ignoring whether or not her injury was his fault, Hisae didn't deserve to be shut up in a hospital for months because of the Angels. Thinking back, he wondered if she would have been fully healed already if NERV had taken her in immediately after the attack instead of leaving her to be dealt with by an under-funded public hospital.
A knock on the wall behind his head shook Shinji out of his musing, and he took that as the signal to join them. Stepping into the room, he noted that it looked a lot like a gym; something which he supposed made sense. There was no time to check the area out, however. A young girl was limping across the room towards him at a surprising rate of speed, a very worried looking nurse trailing in her wake.
Bracing himself as if he were facing a charging Angel, Shinji managed to stay upright as Hisae Suzuhara greeted him by cannoning into his stomach and hugging him. Shinji instinctively put his arms around her, cognisant of her still-healing leg. It wouldn't do for her to fall over now.
"Hiiiiiii Mistah Ikari!" Hisae practically shouted, hitting him with a megawatt smile so infectious Shinji had no chance of stopping his own face returning it. "Thanks fer savin' me an' Big Bro from that nasty Angel!"
There was that flash of guilt again, but the sheer joy emanating from this exuberant young girl vaporised it. "Uh... y-you're welcome," he stammered. "Things... um... could have gone better but I'm just happy you two made it out mostly intact."
Toji, standing behind Hisae, gave him an approving nod.
"Miss Suzuhara," said the nurse as she stepped up beside the girl. "The therapy session isn't over yet. You can talk with your brother and friend while you go through the routines."
"Oh fine." Hisae pouted, her cheeks puffing up adorably, as she turned and followed the nurse back to a set of parallel bars.
Still somewhat stunned, it took Toji walking up and delivering another back slap to knock Shinji out of his stupor. "She gets everyone like that the first time," said Toji. "Man, when she grows up I'm gonna have to keep a big metal bat in the house. An' no offense, Shin-man, but if Hisae were around our age I'd be pointin' that bat at you too."
"You sure?" Shinji bemusedly asked. "Going by what I've heard from Kensuke, she'd be the one holding the bat."
Toji threw his head back and laughed. "Damn right she would!"
Shinji sat down on a chair next to his friend and, with a lightened heart, watched an innocent victim of the Angel War continue on her road to recovery.
