A flutter of a butterfly's wings can create a tsunami across the world. A single step can ensure an earthquake in parts unknown. Similar words have been heard before, but for Kōzō Fuyutsuki, he felt himself upon the tightrope of destiny. As he stood in the office of an associate. His grieving associate, he reminded himself, he glanced at the young boy who meekly sat in the chair next to a small table. The young boy was humming away, coloring into a red notebook he always had on him. A gift from Yui.

Yui.

Yui Ikari, his student who was now gone from this world. Gone within the project they were testing. His nerves were still on alert from what he witnessed. A pain in his chest he was unsure would ever truly go away. With that on the forefront of his mind, how could Gendo simply be looking out the window to where it all happened? The act irritated him to no end. Gendo should be screaming. Yelling! Comforting his child and explaining the tragedy they witnessed together. Yet instead...

"I'll be having security take Shinji away to someone I trust to keep an eye on him." Gendo said moments ago. It was one thing to want time to yourself to gather your thoughts, but to send your own child away? It was maddening! "I don't have time to raise Shinji by myself. I'm in no mood to try and take care of him and provide what I cannot."

"Shouldn't he be asked for his opinion? This isn't something as simple as spending the night with a cousin Gendo. You're-" Gendo, for the first time since coming into the room, had turned to him. His eyes turned sour and withered with something Fuyutsuki could not understand at a glance. His own blood became cold facing the man's hardened stare.

"He is irrelevant until I need him. If I ever need him." Gendo brought out a phone from his pocket and began to dial it. Something within him churned to stop Gendo. A pulse of something that, if he let Gendo start that call, will ensure terrible things will happen. Should he really step in for something he did not truly need to involve himself into?

Yui wouldn't want this.

"If I may," Fuyutsuki began with a fire of determination taking him over. Something compelled him to push onwards in such a direct way he normally would not do. "Seeing as you are sending Shinji off to a stranger, perhaps it would be wise to allow Shinji to have a few possessions from your home. Some clothes, toys, and other small things to make the transition easier for everyone involved." Gendo's thumb hovered over a button on his phone. A guillotine dangling above the fate of a young boy who had done nothing to deserve such coldness from his own father no less. Should he press with more examples of making Shinji happy with his new home? What else could he mention to change whatever ideas Gendo was planning?

"Fine." Gendo moved his thumb to the opposite side of the phone and pressed a button. Relief ran through him as he watched Gendo put the phone away and quickly pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. Within seconds he wrote what must have been an address and walked over to him. The two met in the line of sight for what felt like hours. An intense drought of uncertainty began to form within him that Fuyutsuki dared not show to Gendo. The man grabbed his left hand and placed the paper with gentleness that completely abstracted from what Gendo was presenting. "I would appreciate an update when you get to the house to collect whatever you find to be necessary. Let me know when you are on your way to Shinji's caregiver. I'll demolish the house after that." With that, Gendo walked past him and went towards the door. As the man opened the door, he turned towards his son. Shinji, who was obsessed with his crayons and whatever he was drawing, looked up at his father with eyes of love. Comfort. Joy. Feelings that would make anyone happy and proud of being the source of such reactions.

"Dad-"

"Goodbye Shinji." Gendo left without a second to spare. Fuyutsuki waited a few minutes for Gendo to leave the floor before walking towards Shinji. The young boy was clearly hurt by what had just happened. Confusion easy to see on his little face as Fuyutsuki slowly cupped the crayons on the table. He quickly took a glance at the picture Shinji was working on, and felt a small, if not sad, smile form on his face.

A red cat, a young boy, and a pair of tall people that must have been Yui and Gendo. It was then that a small thought popped up in Fuyutsuki's mind.

'They don't own a cat. Is it a stuffed animal then? An imaginary friend?' "Shinji, it's time to go home and pack up." Shinji turned to him and nodded. The boy, before this tragedy occurred, was chatty yet polite. Curious about the world around him and how everything worked. One could tell he was intelligent beyond other kids his age if you talked to him without treating him like a baby. But now, especially after his father literally walked out on him?

The boy was a whisper among the living. He quietly followed Fuyutsuki to his car and sat in the car seat Yui made sure to always have on hand case he had to pick up Shinji for one reason or another. Yet another small reminder of how much of a loving mother Yui was. The trip was silent save for the radio that played in the background. Its attempt to fill the void of awkwardness worked, yet made the gap even larger to make things better.

Was there even a point to making things better? Yui Ikari was gone, Gendo abandoned his child to a stranger, and Shinji was left to pick up the pieces.

'Speaking of pieces...' "We're here." Destination in front of them, the house in front of them became a tomb within a blink of an eye. The realization that the foundations laid here were now ruined beyond all hope brought a pang of despair Fuyutsuki did not expect to feel. It was one thing to remind yourself of what was to come. To have that expectation of how awkward and tense the idea of handling a sad situation could be, but to actually stand at the edge of the act? The slam of a car door jolted him to realize that Shinji was out of the car and was walking to the door of his house for the last time. A small miracle that Shinji did not have a spare key to the house Fuyutsuki left his car and locked it before pulling out the spare key he always had on him. A few motions later and both he and Shinji were in the house.

He couldn't help himself but to take a deep breath of the atmosphere. Of the love and closeness that would be gone from these walls soon. He hoped that the memories he would cherish from visiting Yui, Shinji, and Gendo here would steel his resolve for what was to come.

"Shinji." Fuyutsuki crouched down to look the young boy in his eyes. He was scared. That was okay. He was prepared for that. "You'll be going to live with someone your father trusts for a few years while he handles big projects. Can you think of some important things you want to take with. Whatever you want." The scared look shifted to uncertainty. Was it something he said?

"Anything I want?" Fuyutsuki nodded with a small smile.

"Anything at all. Family pictures, your favorite toys, plates with spoons and forks. Oh, and don't forget about any bedtime stories!" Lord knows he did not want to explain to Shinji that his father, in his madness, was planning on tearing the house down. Why, he couldn't fathom, but-

Like lightning Shinji was running through the house straight for his parent's room. He had to wonder what the young boy would be grabbing from there that was more important than his own belongings? Was it pictures of his parents? A special toy that either Yui or Gendo kept in the room just for him? Walking through the house, glancing at the small personal touches of Yui, Fuyutsuki could not stop the smile that slowly formed with each step. He recognized several pictures on the walls. Snapshots of happier times graced him. They stood upon the wall with sneers within their frames.

"Forgive me, Yui." He muttered as he proceeded to walk into Yui and Gendo's room. Much as he wanted to take in the little details, he was confused. Where had Shinji gone? Fuyutsuki turned towards the closet to his left. It was open after all. Perhaps he-

THUD

"Ow." Came Shinji's voice from under the queen size bed. He heard ruffling from the carpet as a pair of little legs slowly revealed themselves from under the bed. Within moments little Shinji came out from under the bed with a wooden chest. What in the world was that? Despite the many years he spent with Yui and Gendo, he never saw this chest at all. "Here it is!"

"Well what is this?" Fuyutsuki couldn't help but to crouch down to Shinji's level and gaze upon the little wooden chest. The outside the chest had carvings of what could have been ofuda, but there were many symbols that he didn't recognize. The center of the chest had an indent where something could have been inserted. A coin perhaps?

"It's momma's medallium!"

"Medallium? I haven't heard of a medallium before." He replied, saying the word slowly a second time. Shinji turned to him with wide surprise for a moment. Oh the wonders of a child. The surprise quickly changed to confidence as the boy opened the chest. Inside the chest was a large, ornate red book with gold etchings of those strange symbols. As Shinji picked the book up, Fuyutsuki swore that it thickened in the boy's grasp.

"I'm not surprised." Shinji said with a smile. "Mom said not many people know about the Yo-kai anymore. So she has been teaching me all about them from her medallium. It's been hers since she was a kid, like me!"

"Oh really? That's cool." When Fuyutsuki went to touch the medallium, a jolt ran through his arm upon the barest contact with the book. What was that!

In fact," Shinji, who hadn't noticed what happened, continued talking. "My mom said that she met my dad as a kid and went on adventures together! But, unlike her, he can no longer see the medallium or the Yo-kai." With a few words Fuyutsuki found himself silent in both shock and confusion. As far as Yui told him ages ago, she had started dating Gendo around their hike years ago. Never out of their conversations had she mentioned that they were, in fact, childhood friends. Then there was the Yo-kai. Were they wanting to be Cryptozoologists as kids? Such an unusual goal for Yui as a child, let alone someone as Gendo.

A glimmer caught his attention out of the corner of the chest. A small, white watch with a capsule cap on top of a spiral of a few colors. Had she made that herself, or perhaps one of Yui's parents? The craftsmanship of such an item could only be done by a professional. Not a child. Yet another layer to a Yui Ikari he did not know. A part of him wanted to pick up the watch and inspect the watch for closer details. To see if he could decipher anything from the watch. Yet he did not dare to touch the watch. Least he feel that jolt again, or something worse. A curse perhaps?

'It must be my nerves.' He told himself. The stress of what had happened today was starting to take its toll on him. Speaking of toll, he had to let Gendo know that they arrived at the house. As Fuyutsuki pulled out his phone to call Gendo, he glanced at Shinji. The young boy was looking solemnly at the medallium within his hands. Perhaps he too was feeling the toll of today's events in his own way. "You know... It sounds like your mom was quite the cryptozoologist as a child." Shinji turned to him with confusion clear on his face.

"Crytozost?" Honestly, for a four year old child, that wasn't too bad of an attempt of saying such a complex word. It brought a chuckle out of him at least. "What's that?"

"A cryptozoologist is a person who studies mythical, unknown creatures of legend. Your mother must have been curious about Yo-kai and sought them out. With your father as kids." He quickly added. Stars formed in Shinji's eyes as he stared at the medallium in his hands. "I wouldn't be surprised if whatever she discovered as a child helped to inspire her to become a bioengineer." A career that ended up taking her from her own child. The horror of what he realized seemed to only bother him, as Shinji nodded. Though nodding to him or the medallium Fuyutsuki wouldn't know. "Now please go to your room and start grabbing your favorite toys and books okay? I'll be in to grab clothes and other things after I make a quick call." Shinji became a blur, running to his room with a big smile on his face. A smile that stretched a bit too wide, he noticed. As Fuyutsuki went to dial Gendo's number, a sparkle of yellow twinkled from the corner of his eye towards the direction Shinji ran towards.

"Haaapppiiiiieerrrreeee." A voice whispered through him, startling the man as he tried to make sense of what he saw. Let alone what he just heard.

"Must be the stress." He found himself repeating that line a few times to himself as he called Gendo. But for whatever reason, he could not shake the smile off his face, or the urge to make Shinji as happy as possible before they departed to their final destination. Things certainly would not be the same after today.

-Author Note-

Long time no see readers! 2024 is here, and I'm saying enough is enough of me slacking on my writing! I'm going to do my best to write, share, and expand on stories I've already started. Now, before I say anything about this story, I'd like to thank Traitor of All Traitors for being one of the main inspirations to write this crossover. They've written quite the number of stories, a bounty of Evangelion crossovers, and are one of my all time favorite authors to read! You never quite expect what stories Traitor makes.

With that said, my second inspiration is from the Yokai Watch Puni Puni app game, which does a TON of crossover events with different properties such as Attack on Titan, Hololive, and, you guessed it, Neon Genesis Evangelion to name a few. It's one of my unusual ideas that I have been thinking about for a year now and finally took time to write it out. My final source of inspiration are, of course, my family! My wife is big into the franchise, and both of my kids (6 and 3) are into it to different degrees. I'll be basing a bit of Shinji's dialogue as a young boy on them, mostly since they're my little conversation generators for such a mindset. I hope everyone that reads this is at least intrigued, and will be excited for the next chapter. Speaking of next chapter, the next story I plan to update is When Two Angels of a Different Breed Meet. So be on the lookout for it and another new story in the coming weeks.

Until next time, stay golden!