Got in the Robot, now what?! 2 - Or 'Where is the fucking instructions for this big ass robot?!' (NGE, Shinji!SI)

It's been a week since that first skirmish, and I have to say that my job as Eva-01's Pilot has turned out to be quite intense.

Just as I had expected.

I wouldn't say that a lesser burden of work would have been disappointing, but I had known from the get-go that I had Gendo's attention on me. Was he curious? Was I his specimen for an experiment of his to understand what kind of kid he left to rot away from proper familial love?

I wasn't paying attention to it as it gave me a good chance to train with Eva-01 and learn how to move properly with it. I had a feeling some of the NERV scientists had gotten some research boners whenever it came to my training. I had given them a glimpse of metaphysical experimentation they just hadn't thought about, and I could tell some were already studying the process to present it as their ideas.

I didn't care since it wasn't something that mattered to me in the long run. To make it clear, I did have short-term objectives but I was more involved with my long-term goals in a way that required me to be methodical with my steps to keep it 'innocent'.

One of the things I focused on was how to move the Eva. Mobility was not something the unit was gifted, not when it still didn't have a S2 Engine. The lack of a wireless source of energy meant that I was limited in my action and that I had to be careful with my next skirmish with an Angel.

I think it will be Shamshel and, considering its propensity to overwhelm with electric tendrils, I decided to focus on the one item that mattered the most- the Progressive Knife. Akin to Raiden's HF Blade, the knife's blade was stuck in a vibration that allowed it to easily cut through mostly everything. That extended to Angels' cores.

With that in mind, I bought a book on knife combat and an early introduction to CQC. If I learned how to do things myself, then I can have Eva mimic it. I would reserve this kind of exercise for my room. I was hiding this from Misato as I knew she would try to get preachy about it.

And I really worried about what kind of harsh choice words I may end up using in regard to the trail of used beer cans I had to clean early in the morning before making her breakfast. Misato wasn't utterly worthless, but she was clearly a slouch that could be pleased with so little after spending years lessening her self-worth.

She really tried to sound 'mature and strong', but it was all a facade of a sad and insecure woman that had lost so much and didn't know how to attain permanent happiness. The fact Kaji got to her was proof of that. She is just not there with her mind to make a conscious decision about saving endless human lives.

Which is why I had accepted that I couldn't afford being emotional at all. At the moment, I saw no one to establish a meaningful connection. And I know what some may think- I have had an encounter with Rei. And it was through a rather unusual event at the beginning of the first week of school.

Rei had joined a day after I did, but I paid her no attention. She didn't make any effort to approach me, which was good news as it meant Gendo was not too invested in me- not to the point of using Rei as an emotional pull. Could it be he was aware I was going to reject any wishes he offered? Maybe.

Yet, as much as I tried to avoid a proper meeting, I have to say one thing.

I curse you Mogudan for creating the chance of Rei being stacked as she is in this timeline.

After all, I may have already pushed aside the option of ever coming close to her – hell, I wasn't looking at her at all and noticed these curves only as I was walking out of the library and stumbled on her getting in a difficult spot with two older students – but I felt this was just fate being a bitch to me.

I entered the unused classroom silently, the two bastards noticed my presence right as I stood calmly before them.

"Oh, it's the wimp that the other teachers say is important. Well, what are you doing here? Do you want to see how real men do it?"

The other guy chuckled and… I really had to put an effort to not cringe at their cheap hentai-tier dialogue.

"Are you perhaps implying that cornering a girl younger than the both of you, exploiting your size and numerical advantage coupled with your threatening appearance, and the lack of witnesses to accomplish a forceful act of sexual violence is how 'real men' do it?"

"...What?"

Oh God, they are Dumb and Dumber!

"Oh, I am so sorry. Maybe I was sounding too difficult with my words, so let me retry: you two are trying to do it with a girl that doesn't even know your names, calling it a 'real men' kind of thing, is that correct?"

"Yes and-"

"Did your fathers do this to your mothers?"

My question confused the duo.

"After all, you said that it was a 'real man' thing to rape a girl and yet implicitly treat it as a crime since you are doing it away from any potential onlookers- well, beyond me as I was passing by the library."

"You are a nerd-"

"And you are a patented shithead that is trying to rape someone because you can't score a date for shit. This extends to the both of you."

Rei stopped being their target. This time the violence was about to get physical in my regard.

"You talk a lot of shit for a little punk."

"And you speak as retardedly as someone that is possibly the result of a bad upbringing coupled with parents that spoiled you too much."

As I had already confirmed within the previous few minutes, these two are not good with talking. The closest of the stooges just rushed at me, fist cocked and ready to punch me. It was pathetically easy to sidestep him, stab him on his elbow with my trusty switchblade I had bought at a fairly cheap price, and then kick the side of the head as he tried to turn around to return his attention to me.

The kick itself was not too strong, but the momentum and the trajectory saw the bastard hit his head on the edge of a nearby desk. Bang, his skull was partly open. I heard his buddy call his name, but stopped as I waved the knife.

"Now, rather than waste time, here's what you will do. You will take your buddy, bring him to the infirmary or he will die. You will stop with the whole 'real man' shit, you will say that this was the accident from you two idiots trying to climb around, stumbling on some of the metal around and getting hurt. If you tell the truth or try to come back at me or anyone else, I will not just stab you two, I will gut your families too- and yes, I can legally do this, so fuck off."

I may have been too harsh there, I think. After all, I saw the unharmed guy had a bit of a pee-stained pants issue. I guess I can be quite threatening…

I didn't linger long as I paused just a moment to clean up the blood of the knife. Last thing I needed was to be caught with that bloody thing. Luckily for me, I had some red colored cleaning cloth for the occasion. I think I heard Rei say something like 'Thank you', or something similar.

I just didn't address or acknowledge it as I didn't want to ever be bothered by her unless strictly necessary. I was of that mindset, I just didn't realize that she would start taking the chance to move to sit beside me in classes, check on what I was doing in the library while 'trying to appear inconspicuous' and then literally spending time we had by the courtyard to stare at me with a stupid smile on her face which was really becoming frustrating for me to deal in the long run.

Okay God, what the fuck are we doing here? I thought Shinji was the Simp of the relationship, not Rei. Stop having her crush on me or whatever this shit is for fuck's sake.

If only I knew that this was just the… beginning of more dilemmas I didn't need to deal with between angels and trying to prevent the end of the world.

AN

Next time… Shamshel! And then Misato decides to 'tease' Shinji about having a 'girl crushing on him'. Sadly for Misato, Shinji is up for some mild-roasting that early in the morning.