It was a quiet night in Tokyo-3. Inside a humble apartment in the eastern part of the city, Rei Ayanami was lying face up on her bed, her eyes staring at the ceiling of the room. The girl had finished dinner about an hour ago, and since she had no other obligations to attend to that day, she got inside her bed with the prospect of sleeping until the next morning. However, that night sleep seemed to elude her. Rei's mind was particularly busy.
"You don't understand anything" the words of Asuka crossed her mind once again. A few hours ago, in a rather unusual behavior from the bluenette's point of view, the Second Child had asked her what she thought of Shinji. When she told her that he was her friend and the feelings that the boy aroused in her, the redhead had given her that answer, and then left without saying anything else. That had left Rei quite confused.
The First Child was socially inept. She was also aware of it. She did not have a deep understanding of relationships between people and she also did not fully understand the feelings and sensations that could be expected from relationships with other people. It wasn't strange, however. After all, until very recently the girl had not had a significant personal relationship in her entire life. The closest thing to that was the feeling of loyalty and appreciation that the bluenette felt towards Commander Ikari. Rei deeply respected the man and his work, and the commander also seemed to have cared for her on several occasions. But ever since a certain person burst into her life, the girl had realized that her relationship with Commander Ikari had little or nothing to do with a personal relationship. Significant, for sure, but certainly not personal.
Shinji Ikari. Rei found herself thinking about him very often in the last few weeks. The boy had been the first person who seemed to treat her as an equal, and showed genuine interest in the girl and her well-being. Spending a moment with Shinji had become something the bluenette looked forward to every day. His presence made her feel good. His words and his interest in her well-being made her feel warm inside.
Since Rei had no previous relationship with which to compare these sensations, when Shinji let her knew that he considered her his friend, she assumed that these sensations were common when there was friendship between two people. However, her conversation that afternoon with Asuka seemed to indicate otherwise "You don't understand anything" the redhead's words crossed her mind yet again. Did she mean that what she felt for Shinji was not friendship? What was it, then?
Rei Ayanami was socially inept, indeed, but although she did not understand the details of the different relationships between people, she did know what relationships that could exist between two people. Therefore, assuming that her feelings for Shinji were not friendship... there seemed to be only one possible alternative.
"Is this… love?"
Rei finished dressing and opened the locker room door. The girl had spent almost the entire morning in an LCL tube, performing tests with Dr. Akagi as had happened on other occasions. The bluenette did not know their purpose yet, but if it was important for the commander's work, she would participate in any tests that were necessary. Nevertheless, that morning she was not in the mood for wondering about the purpose of the tests, her mind was busy with something else.
The First Child couldn't stop thinking about her relationship with Shinji. Since the night before she had not been able to stop thinking about what she felt for him. Was she, in fact, in love with him? And, if that was the case, what should she do about it? Plenty of questions, but little answers.
Throughout the morning the blue-haired girl concluded that resolving her doubts was a job that was too much for her. She did not have the social skills on her own to conclude whether what she felt was love or what to do if that was the case. The most logical solution in that situation, she concluded, would be to talk to someone who did know about relationships between people. The problem was that the girl's options were very limited in that regard.
The only person with whom the girl was close enough to discuss such a personal topic was, precisely, Shinji. However, the mere idea of talking to the boy about how she felt about him made her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Was this another sign that she did indeed love him? Be as it may, Rei decided that she couldn't talk to Shinji about the matter until she had at least first clarified what she felt about him.
Who else could she ask? Dr. Akagi? Probably not, the scientist treated her in the most strictly professional way possible, she had never felt any closeness towards her. Commander Ikari? Even less so, he was a very busy man to bother him with something so trivial, and while she deeply respected him, she also didn't feel comfortable talking to him about something so personal. The Second Child? She was the one who had made her doubt wonder her feelings in the first place. However, the bluenette also ruled her out, since she didn't like Pilot Sohryu's attitude. Her habit of putting Shinji down was particularly unpleasant.
The first one chosen arrived at the elevator that connected the floor where the locker rooms were located with the rest of the floors. The girl pressed the elevator button, and when its door opened, she found the presence of Captain Katsuragi inside of it.
"Hello, Rei" The woman greeted as the girl entered the elevator "Are you going to the surface?"
The girl nodded, so Misato pressed the button for the upper floor and the elevator renewed its path. Both remained silent for a few moments, until Rei realized an important detail. While Captain Katsuragi didn't really have a personal relationship with her, had always treated her more closely than Dr. Akagi or Commander Ikari. Plus, Shinji lived with her. She seemed like the ideal person to speak about her doubts.
"Captain Katsuragi... could I ask you a question?" the girl said, catching the woman's attention.
Misato was taken out of her thoughts with those words. The woman directed her eyes to the girl, slightly surprised. That the First Child wanted to engage in conversation was, to say the least, unusual "Of course, Rei. Ask away" the woman replied, giving the bluenette a smile.
Rei looked at her for a few seconds, trying to come up with the right words for what she wanted to ask "Captain, what... does a person feel when they love someone?" the girl finally questioned.
Misato's eyes widened, the woman taken completely by surprise "Sorry, Rei... did you just ask me what it feels like to love someone?" the woman asked after a moment, not sure if she heard right.
Rei nodded, while feeling how her cheeks began to heat up. She wasn't sure why she was feeling flustered, but there were more important things to pay attention to at that moment.
Misato stared at the girl for a couple of seconds, dumbfounded. When she finally recovered from her surprise, she tried to come up with an answer "Well, uh... that's a complex question" the woman admitted "Um… generally speaking, when you fall in love with a person... you think a lot about that person, you want to be around them… and you feel good when you are around them, as if... a very pleasant warmth filled your chest" Misato explained as best she could.
Rei analyzed the woman's words for a moment. She had practically described perfectly how she felt about the Third Child "So it's true, I… love Shinji"
"But why are you asking me this, Rei? Don't get me wrong, it's not that it bothers me, but... it seems strange coming from you" Misato said after a few more seconds of silence.
The girl's eyes darted towards the elevator's floor, while her face felt like it was light up on fire. Misato observed her curiously. Rei was acting very strange, even for her. Or, rather, she was acting very strange precisely for her. If she were any other girl her age, being interested about love and the opposite sex (or the same one, Misato didn't judge) would be a very natural thing, but Rei hadn't shown any interest in that before... right?
Then, the image of Shinji and Rei, sitting at the table of her living room a few weeks ago, while looking into each other's eyes crossed the woman's mind. She finally connected the dots "Oh…now I get it" the woman thought, nodding to herself.
"Rei... I'm guessing this conversation is because of Shinji, right?" the woman asked. Rei didn't say anything, but her wide eyes and the blush on her cheeks were more than enough confirmation for Misato "Thought so..."
"Captain... I... how do you know that...?" the bluenette began to say with a rather nervous tone of voice for her.
Misato brought one of her hands to the girl's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile "Don't worry, Rei, there's nothing wrong about you feeling that way" the woman said softly "As for why I know, well... as far as I know he's the only boy I've ever seen you interact with. Besides, I'd say you two have gotten pretty close lately, haven't you?"
The First Child looked at the elevator floor again, nodding slightly. With the first of her doubts resolved, and considering how open the Captain seemed to talk about the subject, Rei decided to try to resolve her second doubt "Captain... what should I do about this?"
"Well... I guess you haven't told him how you feel yet, right?" the bluenette simply shook her head "I expected as much. Well, it's actually rather simple, really. When you have a moment alone with him, tell him how you feel, and if he feels the same about you, ask him to be your boyfriend. That would be the gist of it" the woman explained, her lips curved in a wide smile.
Rei, thought about the Captain's words for a second. Was it really as simple as she was saying? As the woman had mentioned, for two people to be in a romantic relationship, their love had to be a mutual thing, and she had no certainty that Shinji... "What if he… doesn't feel the same about me? the blue-haired girl asked.
Misato's look became melancholic, her gaze softening "Well, in that case there is not much that can be done, Rei. But believe me, it's much better to ask the other person and being rejected than never trying and always be thinking about what could happen if the other person felt the same about you. Besides..." the woman's smile turned mischievous, while she remembered the times she had teased Shinji about Rei in the past "...I'm not sure how he feels about you, but I know his feelings for you are not of indifference" the woman added.
"I see…" muttered Rei while blushing again. She nodded "Thanks for the insight, Captain Katsuragi"
"Don't mention it" the woman said smiling again "Tell you what, I'll try to help you with Shinji, okay?" said Misato just before an idea crossed her mind "In fact... have your cellphone at hand this afternoon"
Hours later, Shinji, Touji and Kensuke entered inside the apartment where the Third Child lived with Misato and Asuka. The three teenagers had decided to spend the afternoon there, watching a movie that Kensuke had downloaded from the internet the day before.
"I still don't know why you were so adamant about doing this at Misato's place..." Shinji said as he took off his shoes "Your house is closer to school, Kensuke"
"At my house we can't see Misato" the boy responded with a cheeky grin.
"Exactly" Touji agreed.
Shinji exhaled a resigned sigh "I'm not even surprised anymore…"
The boys headed to the living room, where a happy Pen-Pen greeted them. After grabbing some snacks from the kitchen and getting comfortable, they started with their movie. Not long after that, however, the owner of the house entered the room.
"Hello, I'm home!" greeted a smiling Misato "How are you guys?"
Those present greeted the woman happily. After a couple of seconds, however, Kensuke stared intently at her "Misato... congratulations!" exclaimed the boy with glasses with a mixture of surprise and excitement "You've been promoted, haven't you?"
"Woah... you sure picked it up quickly, Kensuke" the woman acknowledged, somewhat embarrassed.
"You've been promoted?" asked a surprised Shinji upon hearing the news "When did that happen?"
"This morning" Misato replied.
"How the hell did you knew that?" a confused Touji asked Kensuke.
"You sure are ignorant, Touji... don't you see that she now has two marks on the lapel of her jacket instead of one, like before?" pointed out Kensuke "That means that she has been promoted from being captain to Major" he explained smugly, adjusting his glasses.
"Only a military nerd like you would notice such a thing" Touji replied not particularly impressed "Either way, congratulations, Misato"
"Yes, congratulations. I'm very happy for you, Misato" Shinji said sincerely.
"Well guys, thanks, but it's not that big of a deal. Actually my duties are going to be almost the same as they were until now, it's more of a symbolic promotion than anything else" said the woman scratching her head "Still, a promotion is a promotion, so this Friday we are going to throw a little party to celebrate"
"A party?" Shinji asked raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, I talked about it to Ritsuko and she thinks it's a good idea to come here to have dinner with us. Nothing too fancy, just eating and having a good time"
"Really? Can we come?" Kensuke and Touji asked in unison.
"Sure, the more the merrier… within reason" Misato agreed with a big smile.
"A party? Great!" a very excited Asuka exclaimed soon after arriving Misato's apartment, once she heard the news "Can I invite Hikari?"
"You can invite whoever you want, within reason of course, because my finances are not in a position to feed that many people..." the woman explained, scratching her head "Three guests from you at most" specified the now Major.
"Alright, I'm going to call her!" the redhead said, taking her cellphone out of her pocket. Misato smiled warmly as the girl headed to her room to make the call. It seemed that Asuka had established a very nice friendship with Hikari, proof of that was that she had just returned from being with her and she still seemed eager to keep talking with the girl. The woman was happy for the Second Child, she knew well that considering her personal circumstances, having good friends was vitally important to her mental health.
The woman sighed contentedly and turned her attention now to the other teenager in her custody. Shinji was in the middle of finishing dinner preparations, stirring the contents of a pot in the kitchen. Misato walked over to the fridge and directed a mischievous look to the boy as he took out a beer "So, Shinji... are you going to invite someone else to the party?" the woman asked.
"I don't plan on doing so, no" Shinji replied "Touji and Kensuke are already coming, who else could I invite?"
"Oh, I don't know..." Misato said, her mischievous grin growing larger "Rei, perhaps?"
Shinji jolted upon the mention of the First Child. He glanced towards the woman, clearly nervous "Inviting... Rei...?" the boy muttered.
"Yes, I've noticed that you two are getting along pretty well lately, aren't you?" the woman said playfully while approaching the boy and putting an arm over his shoulders. Shinji blushed a deep crimson.
"Well... I... yeah, I guess... we get along well" the boy stammered, much to Misato's delight "But... I don't think Rei likes this kind of thing"
Misato nodded, Shinji definitely had a point there. However, after the talk she had with the scarlet-eyed girl that morning, Misato had very good reasons to think that she would accept the proposal "Well, why don't you ask her anyways? Something tells me that if you're the one inviting her, she will say yes" the woman whispered before winking.
Shinji looked away. Would Rei really accept such proposal? It was true that she had agreed to spend time with him a few days ago, but this was different, they wouldn't be alone... Still, the boy would be lying if he said he wouldn't like to spend more time with the blue-haired girl "A-alright, I… I'll give it a shot" he said before turning off the stove and headed to his room.
Shinji closed the door and glanced over his cellphone, which was on the desk, charging. He took and after pressing a few keys, Rei's contact appeared on the screen. The Third Child hesitated for a few seconds, still considering if he should actually pull through with it. Finally, he swallowed the lump in his throat and then pressed the call key. A few seconds later, he heard Rei's voice from the other end of the line "Good afternoon, Shinji"
"G-good afternoon, Rei" the boy greeted, still nervous "Sorry to call this late"
"Don't worry about that" the girl stated in a monotone voice.
Shinji was silent for a couple of seconds, trying to come up with the right words for what he wanted to ask "Rei... do you have any plans for next Friday night?" he finally said.
"I do not" was the brief reply of the First Child.
"Well, um, in that case... would you like to come over and have dinner with us?" Shinji proposed "Misato has been promoted to Major, and she's planning a little celebration… Misato told me I can invite a few more people and I thought maybe you…"
"...I accept" was the blue-haired girl's, once again, brief reply.
"Oh…" muttered Shinji, dumbfounded "You do?"
"Yes" Rei confirmed.
"That's…. that's great" Shinji muttered, feeling very happy. It had been easier than he expected "I still don't know at what time dinner will be, but as soon as I'm sure I'll make sure to let you know"
"Understood" Rei interjected.
"Well, then, um… I'll see you tomorrow at school. And..." Shinji added, feeling still a little awkward "And... thank you for accepting, Rei… I'm very glad you did"
"...You're welcome. I'm also glad that… you've invited me" Rei whispered in a very soft voice, which caused Shinji to blush again "Goodnight"
"G-goodnight"
Shinji pressed the end call key and stared at his cellphone for a few seconds. His lips curved into a wide smile.
In a humble apartment on the east part of the city, a certain blue-haired girl was also smiling.
The next day, Shinji was in the living room of the apartment where he lived with Misato and Asuka listening to music on his SDAT. The day had been completely unremarkable up until that point, which in Shinji's opinion, was a good thing. He attended school as usual in the morning, and since that afternoon no test were scheduled at NERV, he could spend that time doing whatever he wanted. That would have been pretty good news under other circumstances, but unfortunately that day his friends were not available.
Kensuke was going to spend the entire afternoon working on a project on his computer that the Third Child didn't understand very well. Touji, respectively, had gone to the hospital in order to visit his little sister Sakura, who was still there due to the injuries she had suffered months ago during the attack of the third angel. To Shinji's relief, however, the girl was recovering adequately from her injuries, and she would probably be able to finally leave the hospital in a few weeks.
Shinji sighed, his memory going back to his battle against the third angel. It still seemed incredible to him that his father had wanted him to board Unit 01 without any prior training and expected that he could defeat the angel under those circumstances "It is almost a miracle that things turned out well... if you can even call "turning out well" to what happened. Well, at least the angel was defeated, I suppose" thought the Third Child. At least, he managed to prevent the angel from reaching Lilith and starting a Third Impact. The boy felt a chill run down his spine as he remembered the gigantic body of the second angel, kept in the deepest floor of the Geo-Front. Misato had shown it to him before the battle against the fifth angel, in order to explain what he was really piloting the Eva for, and since then Shinji continued to have doubts about the creature. If it posed such a great danger to humanity, why keep it? The Third Child had no answer to this question. Misato had asked him to keep what he had seen that day a secret, and he obviously had done so, but still had a bad feeling about the creature.
Nevertheless, the second angel was still in a way the reason Shinji still was an Evangelion pilot, even if indirectly.
Shinji still hated getting into Eva 01 every time it was needed of him, but now he also felt that he had reasons to do so. Since he had arrived at Tokyo-3, he had done something he never thought he would ever be able to. He had established bonds with other people. And those bonds were precisely what drove him to get on the damn robot whenever was necessary.
Shinji now piloted unit-01 in order to protect the people he cared about.
Misato had been the first person he established a relationship with. The woman had welcomed him into her house and, despite being technically her superior at NERV (and having reprimanded him on more than one occasion for work reasons), she treated the Third Child as if he were family. It is true that the woman also had a rather immature side and that some of her habits left much to be desired in Shinji's opinion, but at that point he knew that she genuinely cared about him. Misato had become something similar to a big sister to him.
Touji and Kensuke had been the first people of his age with whom he had established a relationship of true friendship. Things hadn't started out very well between them (especially with Touji) and they could also be a little immature, but Shinji felt that they treated him as an equal and that he could trust them.
Asuka was a... slightly more complicated relationship. Shinji didn't really like the redhead's attitude and, at times, it was very difficult to work and/or live with her. But as time went by, he had gotten used to the girl's temper and her inflated ego, and he appreciated the moments he shared with her in which she let her gentler side come out, no matter how scarce they were. Shinji knew now that Asuka, deep down, was not that bad.
And finally, there was Rei. Things between them had also started on the wrong foot, since the serious and reserved exterior of the bluenette initially represented a wall between them that seemed insurmountable for the boy. To make matters worse, the scarlet-eyed girl seemed to have Shinji's father and his work on a pedestal, a fact that even then confused him, considering what the man was like. But over time, and especially after the attack of the fifth angel, the relationship between the two pilots had become much closer. Shinji gradually discovered that the First Child was not the person without emotions or feelings that most people thought and that behind that stoic and apathetic exterior was a kind and sweet girl, who simply seemed to have no experience in handling relationships with other people.
That discovery was… quite important for Shinji, considering how he felt at that point for the girl. There was no point in deluding himself anymore: He loved Rei.
Although he had been curious about Rei from the beginning because of her exotic appearance and mysterious demeanor, not to mention her physical attractiveness and her beauty, discovering what the girl was really on the inside like had been what had caused him to ultimately fall in love with the blue-haired girl. Just remembering the pleasant moments he had shared with her and the small but beautiful smiles the girl had given him over the past weeks was enough to brighten his day. And yet…
Shinji sighed.
And yet, despite the fact that Rei had told him on several occasions that she liked being around him, although the bluenette seemed to act much closer with him than with others, although they had spent a very pleasant and intimate moment on the girl's apartment just a few days ago... Shinji didn't have the courage to try to take their relationship beyond the point of friendship. He feared that Rei would reject him and he feared that the beautiful relationship they now shared would be ruined "Anyways, Rei deserves someone better than me" the boy thought, trying to convince himself that leaving things as they were was his best option.
Suddenly, his cellphone started ringing taking out the Third Child of his musings "Hello?" answered the boy.
"Shinji, it's me, Misato. I'm almost in front of our apartment, come down right away" the woman said hurriedly "We have to go to NERV, an angel is on its way"
"Understood" Shinji said before hanging up and quickly heading towards the front door. The time had come again to get on Evangelion-01 to protect those he cared about.
"As soon as the target was close enough the satellite started the scanner" indicated a serious Shigeru Aoba in the command center. The screens there displayed the image of an amorphous being, similar to a head and two outstretched hands floating in the Earth's atmosphere. After a couple of seconds, the image was distorted, giving way to only static. The satellite had been destroyed shortly after.
"An AT field?" Misato asked.
"That's correct. It's projecting it offensively instead of defensively" Ritsuko confirmed "It's also using parts of his mass as projectiles. The first of those has fallen on the Pacific Ocean, still far from us, but with the consecutive ones it seems to be adjusting the trajectory, and they are getting closer to here" the doctor added.
"What about the missiles?" Misato asked.
"The anti-aircraft missiles have not been effective in damaging the target, but it has disappeared after the attempt" Ritsuko responded "The MAGI estimate that it will reappear in approximately two hours above us"
"I see... in that case, let's report to the ministries to immediately evacuate all citizens within a fifty kilometer radius" the Major ordered "And have Matsuhiro make a backup copy of the MAGI"
"Are we going to evacuate too?" asked a surprised Makoto Hyuga.
"No, but it's not necessary to risk everyone" Misato responded seriously.
Ritsuko raised an eyebrow "What's your plan, Misato?"
"What?!" exclaimed an incredulous Asuka "Do you want us to catch the angel with our hands?"
"Indeed. We will position the Evas in an estimated impact perimeter and you will catch the angel with your AT fields before it hits the ground" Misato explained "Once you got it, one of you will neutralize the angel's AT field while another destroys the core with the progressive knife and the third keeps the angel in the air"
"And... what do we do if the angel deviates outside the estimated perimeter? Or if the Evas can't withstand the impact of the angel?" Shinji asked raising an eyebrow.
"In that case... it's over" Misato acknowledged heavily. Shinji and Asuka's faces showed surprise, while Rei kept her stoic expression. The Major quickly noticed the worried faces of the pilots and decided to be honest with the situation "I'm not going to lie to you, guys, it's a risky plan, but it's the best we have available. If we had any better way to solve this we would go for it, but this angel is not giving us other options"
The pilots were silent for a few moments. Afterwards, they all nodded.
"Thanks, guys" Misato said "Okay, go to the locker rooms and get ready"
Minutes later, the three Evangelion units were in their respective positions, waiting for the angel's reappearance. Shinji, sitting in the Entry-Plug of Unit 01, stared at the sky with concern. Any fight against an angel was dangerous, he knew that better than most, but the task at hand that day seemed like a very risky plan at best. He sighed. It's not like they had another choice, anyways. Between dying fighting the angel and dying because the angel achieved his goal, the former was better... or that's what the Third Child tried to convince himself of.
"We have visual contact with the target again!" exclaimed a nervous Makoto "The approximate altitude is 25,000 meters and descending!"
"Alright, Evas, get moving!" Misato exclaimed "The MAGI estimate the impact point in area B-2, run until you make visual contact with the target, the rest is in your hands!" the woman ordered.
The cables providing external power to the Evangelions were released, after which the three units began running as fast as possible towards the target.
To be continued...
