Neon Genesis Evangelion is property of Hideaki Anno/Khara. This is a non-profit fanwork.
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Eight Notes
"Good morning, Ikari."
She sat next to him and asked what they were playing. He told her the name of the piece.
"Cello is nice, isn't it? You only need to play arpeggio."
He didn't nod, even though he agreed. He just waited for her to tune her violin with a Bach piece. Then he pulled the bow across the strings of his instrument. The eight notes echoed melodiously in the auditorium.
D. A. B. F-sharp. G. D. G. A.
D. A. B. F-sharp. G. D. G. A.
As Asuka joined, and her violin sang many new notes, Shinji remained in those eight. It was his job, the cello's job. A loop to be repeated until the end of the piece. He would remain in the background, providing a basis from where the other instruments could jump and soar, captivating the audience while he stayed in the shadows, doing a good job.
Asuka was right. It was nice. Something simple and quiet that he could do, and still receive an applause at the end. Sort of like washing the dishes or doing the laundry. He was fine with it.
The violin stopped. Shinji saw that Asuka was now holding a cello, just like him.
"Only arpeggio," she said, getting her bow close to the strings. "Must be great. Mind if I try?"
"No."
"We can be a cello duo."
"Sure."
They began again, now at the same time. D. A. B. F-sharp. G. D. G. A. That was all they had to do, and all they did, over and over. Shinji didn't even bother to count the seconds or the minutes, he just went with it. However, his ears protested, something was wrong. His heart ached, something was missing.
His soul was still waiting for the other melodies to begin and fly high, but they never arrived, and never would. Only the basis, the eight notes. Forever.
Shinji stopped and sighed.
"It is nice," Asuka repeated. "Calm. Easy to do, no risks. I like it."
Shinji put his instrument down, with care, the bow resting across the strings. He should have known. Asuka never called him Ikari.
"You are not her."
He didn't bother to look as she dissolved into sand and dust. His own chair shared the same fate when he stood up. Shinji began to look around, in the vast, dark and seemingly empty auditorium.
"Asuka?"
He walked around, without aim, calling her name and receiving only his own echo. The curtains leading to the scenario were always so far away, no matter how much he moved towards them. Sleeping spotlights looked down at him.
"Asuka?"
As if finally answering to his call, a new melody began to float around him. Two violins, playing their respective parts of the Canon in D, perfectly synchronized, yet still missing something.
He saw himself sitting on a chair under a column of light, Asuka next to him, violins on both their shoulders. Their eyes were closed, their movements flawless and elegant.
"No. Not her. Not me."
Shinji saw a new himself and a new Asuka, playing violas. And two more, playing second violins. And sharing a harpsichord. And violins again, and other instruments whose names he had never bothered to learn. Never cello, though.
Lost in a labyrinth of reflections, Shinji could not discern which was the real one, if the real one was even there to begin with. The melodies, although incomplete, weren't discordant. There was no lack of coordination between each of his copies and their Asukas, not even a little.
He wondered if she would be happier that way, with a Shinji that didn't settle for eight lousy notes in the background.
But, as he was about to turn around and walk into the darkness of the auditorium; his ears twitched. One of the many melodies in the air was different than the rest. A violin, he noticed, keeping with the tempo and playing the notes to perfection, just like the rest… and yet it sounded angry.
Shinji followed that music. He could feel a hand grasping the bow with more strength than necessary, and the tension of the shoulder under the violin. He passed all the other mirages, who dissolved into dust as he denied them his attention.
The Asuka at the end of the trail of notes had her head low, her eyes hidden by a curtain of red hair, playing her instrument with no apparent issue. She stopped, but didn't look up.
Shinji thought of apologizing, but the words didn't even reach his mouth.
Next to Asuka, the other Shinji and his violin became sand, leaving the chair empty. He stared at it, wondering if it was an invitation, and if he deserved to take it. Scared of what would happen if he did, scared of what would happen if he didn't.
So many things he wanted to say, to cry, to scream, at her and with her; yet he couldn't break the silence of that auditorium.
The chair was still empty.
Shinji sat down, not without his doubts. A cello appeared on his arms. Asuka put her violin on her shoulder again, bow across the strings; but she didn't play.
Her waiting brought back memories of a kiss, of a wall in the night.
D. Shinji's hand moved almost on his own.
A. An unsure note.
B. The bow trembled a little.
F-sharp. Shinji took a deep breath.
G. Not running away.
D. Faster
G. But not too fast.
A. This time, he would…
Asuka accompanied him, weaving the complementary melody. Now it was much easier to sense the anger in her notes. She played with ferocity, almost as if she wanted to drown and silence Shinji's music with her own. He endured each attack, keeping to the loop of eight notes, but this time there was no safety, no calm. She wouldn't let him stay in the shadows, and he took the challenge.
When her violin roared, his cello stood firm. His melody carried his shield, but also his apology, and better than any word could. He took her anger, accepting his part in it.
But Asuka's fury was soon spent, leaving only the pain. Her music became like a wail, the expression of a soul who had been hurt long ago, and only now was allowed to let it all out. He saw tears rolling down her cheeks, and she biting her lip to not whimper or cry. Shinji and his cello took that, too. He played his eight notes like an embrace in the night, like a hand stretching down into the abyss to pull her up.
Like a boy brave enough to break a quarantine zone in a roof.
And when there were no more tears in her eyes, when the sadness of her violin faded like a mournful whisper, when Shinji's tired hand missed a chord and his tempo was about to break; Asuka's melody grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back up. Her notes were now a caress encouraging him to continue, an honest applause in a green dress. Shinji could see her eyes, no longer hiding her hair.
They invited him to complete the piece.
Thus, violin and cello sang of loss, of pain, of hope, of healing. The strings begged for forgiveness, and the bows granted it. Shinji's eight notes rose high, carried by Asuka's melody to the place they had been denying themselves for a long time.
Beyond the walls of the auditorium, a goddess killed herself, a black moon exploded, and the red seas receded.
End.
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AUTHOR'S NOTES: This was my entry for a fanfic contest held in the Asushin Discord server on the summer of 2023, where it got second place.
I would like to give thanks to everyone who read and voted back then, but the biggest thanks go to chenglou for organizing the whole event. She also made the wonderful cover art. You can check her work on pixiv ( ww w pixiv net / en / users /82855586 )
Congratulations to my fellow writers zxanthe and Charles Ikari Darwin, and also to skyf0x whose story scored higher than mine and would've gotten second place, had he not retired from the competition due to personal reasons. Go check their stories once they're uploaded: warme, Time & Place and So Stay Close.
And thank you for reasing. I hope you liked it :)