NEON GENESIS: EVANGELION REFOLDED
I do not own Neon Genesis: Evangelion or any Neon Genesis: Evangelion-related media, those works are owned and in the hands of Gainax and Hideaki Anno, this is simply an unofficial fan-driven story based on the characters and story present, to be written in a new way for people to enjoy.
Sinking Further than You can Possibly Imagine.
After a troublesome afternoon of baseline testing of his psyche and physical assessments that followed the combat assessment, which were much more tamer than that, in spite of this, he had scored quite below average for a boy like himself, feeling himself inadequate that made him wallow.
"Misato-san… where are we going?" Shinji inquired as they drove into the city landscape, being illuminated by open office windows or yellow-tinted street lights that followed the sidewalks, which contained next to zero people walking by.
Soon, Misato stopped to a small compound, being guarded by less-armed and probably more low-paying security guards wearing red and white overalls and were armed with just pistols than the much more well-armed counterparts at NERV HQ.
"This is where you'll be living in Tokyo-3." Misato stated as she took Shinji's hand towards another lift, thankfully going upwards into a relatively low-lying complex, holding eight floors and balconies that connected each apartment, all in predictable rows of clones of apartments that lined up.
"I'll be living with you Misato-san?" Shinji asked again curiously as they waited inside the elevator, soothing music played in the background. "Indeed, Shinji-kun! Isn't that exciting?" She'd display another sincere smile that, thankfully, didn't crept up to her ears, but it was only just a small generous smile at him that for once slightly cheered him up, they went out separately out of the lift soon after.
It was a modest apartment in his opinion, though it was lacking in furniture, that being only the essentials were present, ie. a television, A small decked-out kitchen, and a bare-bones living room.
One small problem with the entire flat though, was the ever-present empty cans of cheap beer and miscellaneous trash strewn about the wooden flooring and chairs that hung clothing, some of which were less than ideal for people like his age to see.
It wasn't any better with the bedrooms, only one unoccupied room, having a small single bed in the adjacent corner with a slightly open window that let in a minuscule amount of quickly fading sunlight in. "Will this be my room, Misato-san?" Shinji would ask from the bedroom, calling out as he continued to inspect the small space.
"Yeah it is, sorry for state of things." Misato heckled out from the front door, having unpacked her gear that sounded with tumbles and clamoring, alongside the careless whispers of curses and swearing that made Shinji chuckle at the imagination of things occurring.
Shinji let down his bag on the single mattress, only including two pillows so space on it were optimal at worst – after setting it down, he sat down on the side facing the lit window, staring at the quickly disappearing clouds and dropping sunset.
Suddenly his stomach erupted with a low grumble that made Shinji clench his stomach in hunger, forcing him to stand up and head into the kitchen where he found Misato.
He keeled down and inspected the fridge to find... absolutely nothing within.
"Misato-san, I'm sorry to ask but is there food I could eat?" Shinji asked politely as he stood up to face Misato. "Sorry kiddo, there isn't much to eat or drink aside from.." She flashed a can of Yebisu at him. "...Yebisu and ready-to-eat noodles – I'll get real food when I do the groceries later this week, sorry." Misato began to sip on her lukewarm can and headed towards the bathroom to wash-up.
Shinji began to stir within himself, continuing and stubbornly checking each of the cabinets for any resemblance of actual food but saw absolutely nothing but dust gathering at the edges of the cabinet walls.
"Misato-san, I'll be going out, to get something to eat okay?" Shinji yelled out towards the direction of the bathroom, Misato shortly replied with: "Okay but don't get lost! It's a big city y'know." It's only been a day and she's already like a mother, Shinji thought, he went to grab the house key then leaving the apartment complex in a brisk and quick fashion.
Shinji took quite the long stroll around the city, exploring the city parks that were alive with children playing and casual conversations between adults, as well as exploring the large strip malls that were scattered around, it was nice to take a break.
His stomach began to hiss again as he neared a small convenience store, promptly entering and exploring the aisles for some things he'd want to eat once he got back. He bought what he could with an 800 yen's worth of bills for snacks that could last him for at least a day.
After checking out his food, he returned back to the sidewalk and started to travel back home to eat after a long afternoon of harsh tests and simulations, especially the initial combat one that still lingered dreadfully in his head, he could still remember that pain despite taking several syringes of medicine to calm him and remove the phantom pain by the doctor.
His legs began to become weary after walking for so long, bringing confusion to Shinji – he looked at the time when he realized he's been out for several hours and the sunny day had transformed into a starry night.
After spending a good time looking at towards the stars, he noticed the fact that he was lost.
He had absolutely no idea where he was in the city, and began to feel nervous as the streets became deserted of the initial filled to the brim with lively people, replaced by lonely streets and the shine of artificial streetlights that drowned the sky into a dark black.
Suddenly a car that reciprocated the night sky pulled up next to Shinji, rolling down a window to reveal a man with a stubble and short ponytail hanging on the back.
"Yo, you're late." The man casually smiled at him as the audible click of the locks release themselves. "Who are you..?" Shinji asked wearily as he took a precautionary step back from the vehicle.
"Kaji." Was the blunt reply that came back to Shinji. "Misato sent me to come and get you, she figured you'd get lost on the way back." A noticeable but stifled sneer as he brought up a flip phone, with Misato on the other end.
"Shinji-kun!" She yelped in relief. "You need to come back to the apartment, it's getting very late!" Demanding now, he heard the scramble of a chair shifting on the other end of the line.
"Better listen to the lady." Kaji butted in as Shinji carefully entered the back seat of the foreign sedan, as soon as he got in, Kaji slammed on the gas and drove at an incredible speed across the city to get back to Misato's apartment.
"Kaji-san, how did you find me?" Shinji inquired, a bit afraid of the answer itself: getting spied on is not exactly a great thing for a boy like him.
"It's pretty easy, but if I told you – I'd have to kill you." The seemingly charming rouge man shifted his voice to a grimmer tone, causing Shinji to gulp – The man heard this, causing him to revert back to the more lighthearted voice. "It just comes with the job, Shinji-kun."
"What is exactly is your job Kaji-san?" Shinji inquisitively deepen his questions, regressing into the seat to prepare for something horrible to spout out of his mouth, closing one eye as he continued to look at the forward driving seat for a response.
"An intelligence agent for NERV, that's all, knowing where-" Kaji looked up towards the rear view mirror down at Shinji. "-important people like you, are at all times – for your own safety." Shinji let go of his tense muscles and relaxed on his seat, realizing that Kaji-san is actually his own bodyguard! Which was nice for a boy like him.
Shinji thought over, drowning the initial excitement of private security with a burning question scorching his head, he muttered silently at Kaji-san, though enough for a prying ear to hear coherently. "How am I important?" Shinji whispered from the back, with Kaji furrowing his brows in confusion. "What am I going to do, that's important?" He sniffled in the backseat as they neared the parking lot of Misato's apartment complex – Kaji stumbled with his lips as they entered through the compound gate.
Kaji finally blurted out after a few silent moments as he engaged the parking brake in the lot.
"When you find out, whatever it is, I know you'll be great at it." The door's locks unlocked – Shinji bowed in gratitude and exited the car, walking towards the entrance of the complex, looking back towards the quickly leaving vehicle.
As Kaji faced Shinji with his car, he smiled and wave before leaving through the same gate, leaving a dust trail behind as the red lights of the car's rear became increasingly distant and faded before it transformed into nothing.
"'...you'll be great...'" Shinji silently muttered to himself before entering a lift.
He couldn't believe it, no matter how much he wanted to.
Shinji rang the electronic doorbell, as quickly as he rung it – Misato jeered her head in, smiling wide at him before he entered back inside with his haul of snacks in his clasped hands.
He sat down alongside Misato on the kitchen counter top, the first dinner with her, the meal was unfortunately processed noodles and several cans of Yebisu, alongside a glass cup of water for the both of them, unfortunately the snacks that Shinji bought weren't exactly meal-material.
The only utensils provided were two pairs of chopsticks that came with the packaging that was with the noodles, it was disappointing for Shinji who had expected somewhat better treatment in the house of such a high ranking official.
Misato took notice of Shinji's downtrodden look, commenting on such. "Awww, sorry Shinji-kun, this was the only thing stocked in the cabinet earlier. I promise to make something better next time." She scratched the crown of Shinji's hair, him chuckling at the prospect.
"Okay, Shinji-kun, just take a bath and get some rest, you have more tests to do tomorrow morning." Misato stood up and cleaned up the rubbish and leftovers on the counter top, Shinji muttered a thanks that went through a slightly ajar door of the bathroom – before steam began to pour out from the lower vent of the door, alongside a loud shriek echoed outwards after the fact.
The valence of the ensemble of cicadas ruminated across the room as Shinji laid in bed with his eyes glued to the barren ceiling, only consisting of a fan-light fixture that slowly twirled in cool air from the outside world.
Shinji was stuck in a seemingly everlasting state of lucidity as he struggled to fall asleep on his bare-bones futon crumbled up in etches and carvings into the leather sides, his hands floating and swaying from side to side, brushing gently on the bamboo flooring.
He constantly shifted in his makeshift mattress to ease himself further in the hopes of the escaping into his dreams that taunted him far into the center of his mind, yet always eluded him in his own twisted cat and mouse chase in his desperate plea to doze off.
In the end, he was only left with his eyes peeled open absently into the darkness of his room, with the only source of illumination coming through the small window with a dazzle of the moonlight generously providing him with the solace of the calming night as his mind throttled into just his first hours into this strange and unsettling world of responsibilities that rested on his shoulders like a stack of concrete blocks on his meager self.
He was thinking non-stop through the night of all the things that occurred from the onset of his sudden arrival into duty of becoming a so-called Evangelion Pilot, the dead and clinical testing that lacked the most basic of comforts for his upcoming mantle to be a pilot for a gargantuan titan, as well as his meeting with another person who had been swore into the same duty, though with a much more complete skill-set that made him all the lesser for his own.
By the time he finished compiling all this new overload of information the sun had began to rise up to greet him to a fresh day to new prospects for a new bizarre life, at least for Shinji in the sea of madness, his life was no longer stagnant as it used to be in that god forsaken farmhouse.
(Note: Apologies for the lack of any updates, currently focusing on other things at the moment. You can expect this piece to be completed around the 2040s.)