Chapter 2
"Shinji! Rei!" a very angry Hikari Horaki said as they arrived back in their classroom, "Where have you two been?"
Shinji opened his mouth, but Rei interjected first, "Commander Ikari wanted to make sure that we were okay, so he sent for us to be brought to headquarters."
"You know our Dad. He's kind of protective of us." Shinji said, "Sorry Class Rep. It's why we both got text messages and were excused a couple minutes before the Special Alert went public."
"Why would he want to make sure you two were at Headquarters? Aren't the Shelters good enough?"
Rei and Shinji looked at each other and he shrugged. "You'd have to ask Dad," he replied. Even the feared Class Rep paused at that.
As they walked to their seats, two voices called, "Hey Shinji!"
"Hi Kensuke. Hi Touji."
"So, since you were at Headquarters, what was the alert about? Was it a monster like the rumors are saying? And there were giant robots fighting it, too! The Commander's your dad, so do you know who the pilots are?"
"Kensuke, man..." Touji started, "You're probably the only one who's excited about such a battle."
Shinji shook his head, and said, "I can't tell you anything, even if I did know. It would be classified. You're likely to get more information from your dad."
"But my dad doesn't tell me anything."
"Class come to order." Hikari snapped, and the room went silent as the teacher walked in.
The teacher adjusted his glasses and looked at the books in front of him, "Now, before that alert came up, I believe we were on page 102 of your math textbooks. So we don't keep your parents waiting this afternoon, I'll give you some self-study assignments for the Social and history classes."
##
"I will see you later Shinji," Rei said, then packed her bags and walked off with Hikari and a couple other girls from their class.
Shinji nodded and shouldered his bag, then followed Kensuke and Touji.
Kensuke turned on the TV receiver on his camcorder and adjusted the antenna as he tried to listen to the news reports.
He was rewarded with amateur footage of two robots engaging in a brawl with what could only be described as a monster.
"I can't believe someone was stupid enough to be outside during that," Touji said as they watched the yellow robot perform a rocket assisted backflip. "At least the two robot pilots seemed to know what they were doing."
Kemnsuke's eyes bugged out and he began to gush, "Wow, what is that yellow light both robots seemed to be using? It looks like it contained the explosion! Is it some kind of shield or force-field?"
"I... really don't know what it is," Shinji replied, "Just what it's called."
"Shinji, please, you've got to learn who the pilots are! I'd pay for autographs! The Commander is your dad! Surely he'd let you know!" Kensuke rattled off in sheer excitement.
"Kensuke, man, he might be Shinji's dad, but that doesn't mean he tells Shinji anything. After all, they don't live together, and when was the last time your Dad talked about classified stuff from the Labs?"
"The thing is, I know who pilots them. I know all four pilot names." Shinji mumbled as he blushed.
"REALLY? YOU DO?"
"The names are classified, but there's one for each completed Evangelion." Shinji paused and mentally kicked himself. Was the name 'Evangelion' classified? He was in trouble if they were. He cringed.
"Really? Do they have neat nicknames like Yellow Death and..."
"I don't know. I only know what I've been allowed to know. I might even be in trouble, deep trouble, because I said the name."
Kensuke paused for a moment, and Touji narrowed his eyes. "Kensuke, now do you understand? He let the name of the robots slip and he might get in trouble. That's why you should just leave well enough alone."
"I'm sorry. It's just so cool knowing we have two giant robots protecting our city. It's like something from an Anime!" Kensuke said, visibly calming down, despite his voice not calming in the least.
"Thanks Touji," Shinji remarked.
"Not a problem man. So, wanna go to the arcade?"
"What about the study assignments?" Shinji asked.
"What about 'em? I know I look like a typical jock, but Social studies and History are easy," Touji replied, "Fifteen minutes a piece and half an hour for the essay. I'll be done by bedtime easy."
"Man, some guys get all the luck," Kensuke grumbled, "Shinji gets good grades and knows stuff about NERV, you're good at sports and studies..."
Shinji and Touji both rolled their eyes. Shinji interjects, "Why not help Kensuke out and tutor him? Get him the good grades we get and maybe some good study habits too."
"And get his head out of that anime he's already making in his head about monsters and robots." Touji deadpans.
"And maybe some common sense while we're at it?" Shinji adds.
"Hey, that's pushing it a bit far." Kensuke complains.
Shinji and Touji both laugh, and Shinji says, "How about a study session at my apartment in an hour?"
"And see Misato? Of course I'll be there!" Touji starts like a lovestruck puppy.
"Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if she has to pull an all-nighter. Paperwork and all that."
##
Shinji walked into the apartment and heard distinctly female voices coming from the living room. He walked in and called, "Hey, I'm home!"
"Hey Shinji!" a girl called. She smiled at him and he raised his hand in greeting. He didn't know her name off-hand, although she seemed friendly enough. Hikari bit out a "Hi," and Rei acknowledged him with a nod.
"Umm, Touji and Kensuke are going to be coming over soon for a study session. We've been worried about Kensuke's grades so we're going to help him rather than hit the arcade."
"Oh, do you want us to join you," Hikari asked.
"Up to you. I was going to make dinner real quick, unless Rei's already taken care of it."
"I have not. However, Major Katsuragi and Commander Ikari had food delivered. It is in the kitchen," Rei answered.
"Is it enough for everyone?"
"Yes, it is adequate."
Shinji sighed and walked into the kitchen.
"Pizza and soba noodles?" he called, poking his head back out and giving his sister a consternating look, "I'll make something. Touji could eat all of that in there easily, if you haven't paid attention to lunchtime in the last year."
"Excuse me girls. I'm going to ask Shinji something real quick," Hikari said as she stood up and walked into the kitchen after Shinji, who had already put a pot of water on. She watched for a moment as he selected some vegetables from the refrigerator, then set them on the counter.
Then she watched him measure rice and water into a cooker, and said, "Shinji."
"Class rep."
"Do you want help?"
"You're a guest here. It wouldn't be right," he said as he started the rice cooker. He turned to the cutting board and began to chop the vegetables.
"I don't bite, you know. I was just worried about this afternoon."
Shinji looked over at her, an easy expression on his face, "You were upset because we weren't in the shelter with everyone else. Father wanted us in Headquarters, and I dare anyone to defy his orders."
Hikari smiled and half-sighed, as he continued, "It's almost a sure thing that every time one of those Special Emergencies come up that Rei and I will be called to Headquarters."
"Why would that be?"
"Whatever the reason, it's classified above my pay grade," Shinji joked.
Hikari caught it and smiled before she asked, "So, what was the Special Emergency about?"
"Kensuke picked up a news broadcast with some amateur video on it. Two giant robots fought and killed an A—a giant monster thing."
"You almost said something else. You know more than you're saying."
"And it's classified. I can't say. I'm already going to be in trouble if Section Two lets Dad know I slipped up already."
"Section Two?"
"NERV Internal Security. They have bodyguards around all ranking officers, and the pilots, and of course, Rei and I because we're the Commander's children."
"Oh. Are they watching now?"
"Yes. They're probably recording this whole conversation."
She blanched, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."
"Hey, Hikari!" the other girl called, "Stop flirting with him!"
"Sorry Shinji. I gotta go."
"No worries."
##
Later that night, Shinji scratched his chest where he suffered a sympathetic injury during the battle. It looked and felt rather like a sunburn, and Doctor Akagi had been nice enough to put some burn cream on it.
He was waiting for Rei to finish with her bath and was flipping through channels on the TV. The big thing, even this many hours later, was the amateur footage of both EVAs battling the Angel. He finally found and settled on a subtitled Pre-Impact American movie, and just mindlessly watched it.
"Leeloo Dallas multi-pass," the orange-haired woman on the TV said, holding up an ID card, as Rei walked out, a towel around her.
"I am done Shinji. Be careful with your burn while you bathe."
"Hey Rei?"
"Yes?"
"Were you scared? You know, during the battle?"
"No." she said softly, looking at the floor, "I was scared after it. Of what could have gone wrong."
"I was frightened through the whole thing."
"We were both there, and we would not let each other get hurt, Shinji. Have faith in me, like I have faith in you."
"I do have faith in you. I just don't have that much in myself."
"You are stronger than you know. To assault the Angel without fear just to protect me."
"Yeah. I guess. You're my sister. I just don't want to see you hurt."
She smiled gently, and replied, "Take a bath. Rest. We can talk later."
Nodding to himself, he stood, then went to the bathroom. Rei disappeared into her bedroom.
He took a long time soaking, the water merely warm, to keep the burn from blistering.
##
The battle kept replaying through his head as it had all night. Rei had already gone to bed when he'd left the bath, but had cleaned up the kitchen and put the remaining food away, packing most of it into bentos for the both of them and Misato.
So, he went to bed. He closed his eyes, trying to get the images of the battle out of his head, all of the what-ifs he knew he shouldn't, but kept dwelling on.
The familiar presence of the EVA with him, the emotions beneath the surface. Feelings buried deep and only half remembered through a haze. His focus on protecting his sister from the Angel. The fact that his defeat would also mean her death and the destruction of humanity.
He'd tried to remember where he'd felt those feelings first, but it always evaded him.
Shinji was nearly asleep when he felt a weight settle onto his futon behind him. He already knew she didn't dream very often, and that nightmares were more rare. Nightmares were the only time she slept in his bed with him.
"Rei?" he asked.
"I think we need to keep the nightmares away, from each other," she replied simply, "I cannot sleep, and you being awake means the same, does it not?"
"Yeah."
"Shinji. May I hold you?"
"Yes, Rei. You may."
He allowed her to hug him from behind, and they slowly drifted off to sleep together.
##
Misato Katsuragi got home late, and dragged herself into the apartment. It was clean, and she rummaged through the fridge, finding some leftovers and three bentos already packed. She had off the next day, so she grabbed one of them and a beer.
Quietly, she ate, and downed the beer, then grabbed another to nurse while she took a long hot bath.
Some time later, after the heat had loosened up her taut muscles, she looked in on Shinji and Rei, and unsurprisingly, found them asleep together in his room. She was holding him from behind, both of her arms around his chest.
Despite how cute it actually looked, she knew it was harmless, a comforting thing that he allowed when Rei had her rare nightmares, but some part of her knew some day soon, she'd have to have 'The Talk' with both of them. They were teenagers, and of a dating age. They couldn't keep doing that any longer, even innocently.
Especially since, as far as she knew, that they weren't even related by blood.
##
Gendo Ikari pulled himself out of bed in the quarters he'd assigned himself in the Headquarters building. He mentally went over the day's plans. First, coffee. Second, check up on yesterday's paperwork and reports from Section Two on the pilots. Third, lunch. Fourth, more paperwork. Fifth, dinner with his children at their apartment, and sixth, bed. After of course, drinking Katsuragi under the table.
Yes, that was the fun part of those nights. Trying to out-drink the resident drunkard and having Section Two get him back to his quarters without him passing out or singing inappropriate songs.
He straightened the half-buttoned Hawaiian shirt and bright colored shorts that doubled as his pajamas. He debated shaving, but thought better of it as he pulled on well worn and ancient (dating from before Second Impact) sneakers.
Usually he could appropriate coffee from the lounge for his own use without being seen at all except by Section Two. There were a few times that he was caught by some random technician or another.
The plan for getting coffee this morning, and most others, meant literally breaking the mind of anyone who did see him. Thus the loud, bright, completely un-Gendo-Ikari-like attire. After all, no one, outside of Section Two Group One, that is, would ever believe they saw 'Darth Gendo' in such clothes, meaning he could get the coffee and get out before anyone could recover.
He laid out his uniform on the bed to await his return.
##
That night, between sips of a beer, Gendo was finishing lecturing Shinji on his slip-up, even though he really didn't care much about the slip-up. He had to make sure that Shinji understood the dangers of being publicly known as an EVA pilot.
"...While Tokyo-Three is a company town, and all of your classmates parents work for NERV directly, the fact is NERV has some major enemies, and that your identities as pilots are to remain secret for now. This is for your own safety, Shinji."
"I know dad."
"The name Evangelion is not classified. Many Military Organizations around the world know of the project. Your classmates may eventually figure out that you and Rei are the pilots, but until that time comes, try to keep it a secret. Am I clear?"
"Yes father."
"Now, let's just enjoy this time together, shall we? After all, I need to see if I can still drink Major Katsuragi under the table, and make ridiculous drunken commentary on whatever movie you and Rei select for us to watch."
Even Shinji had to admit, at times like this, his father was flat out weird. He also wondered if such weirdness was genetic. If so, he was screwed.
Misato just shrugged as she finished her third beer. 'The Talk' could wait one more night, she mused.
##
Three weeks later.
While life had, for the most part, returned to normal, there were many who felt life had been shattered. Thousands had left Tokyo-3, leaving vacancies in apartment complexes and jobs.
Then there was Misato, who had sat both he and Rei down and gave them a talking to about sleeping together, sex, babies, and all that. Some of it he knew from school. Some of it—he was sure he'd need therapy afterwards.
He didn't tell either of the females what he suspected about Rei, about her literally being his sister, due to a distinct resemblance to pictures he'd found on the internet of his mother and the fact he found out through some judicious hacking that she'd had eggs harvested after his birth. How she was his age, he didn't know, but the fact his father was in command of one of the largest and most powerful research organizations in the world, he had a few guesses.
He was glad to have put the whole thing behind him, and get back to a relatively normal life. He still had synch tests, combat simulations, teamwork exercises run with the other two Children via remote MAGI links to their simulations, and direct simulated combat with the other EVA pilots, including Rei.
Yes, it had been a normal three weeks since the Angel attack, he mused, as he stood with a few classmates during recess, doing his best not to gawk openly at the girls, unlike some of the other guys. Without warning, his phone went off and he pulled it out and looked at it, then frowned. Rei also had her phone out, then looked up at him from across the track.
They both apologized, separated from their respective groups of friends and ran for the school entrance, where a dark sedan was waiting to take them to an Emergency Access building. Hikari, remembering what Shinji, and to a lesser extent Rei, had said, spurred the other class representatives into motion. By the time the special alert came across the school loudspeakers, most of the classes were ready to head to the shelters.
##
"AT Field detected, Pattern Blue! MAGI Designation, Shamshel!" Aoba called as the information appeared on the view-screen.
"All personnel, level One Battle-stations." Fuyutsuki ordered.
The main viewscreen showed the massive angel streaking past defenses and ignoring them.
Shinji and Rei arrived, got suited up and into their EVAs. Once again, Shinji was put on frontal assault and distract while Rei was to come up from behind and finish the job. It was a team dynamic that worked well in simulation, and in one other actual battle.
Shinji once again had pre-battle jitters, and Misato's advice was still ringing in his ears as the plug locked in place and was flooded with LCL.
"Just breath deeply, disconnect yourself from your feelings, and focus. Find your center, that place where you know peace, despite any firestorm that might be surrounding you."
"Find my peace," Shinji said as he meditated on the words.
By the time the EVAs had reached the launch pad, Shinji was calmed down and focusing on the battle ahead.
##
"...So, what is it you wanna talk about?" Touji asked Kensuke after they'd excused themselves to the bathroom and took up urinals next to each other.
"The battle up there! I've got to see it, at least once in my life!"
"Kensuke, man, I don't know."
"Nobody know when it'll happen again, or even if it'll happen again!"
"Are you serious?"
"Please, I just need help getting the gate unlocked."
"But you could get killed up there."
"Who's to say the shelter won't collapse? You heard some of the rumbling from the explosions."
"All the more reason why you should stay here."
"If I die, I want to see it firsthand at least. You can't tell me that if the risks were the same either way, you'd not want to see it too."
"Okay. You win. I just hope we won't end up regretting it."
##
Shinji switched the pallet rifle controls to three-round burst as he made it topside and unfolded his AT field.
The Angel slowed, and lowered most of its body vertically toward the ground, but kept its head level and its eyes focused on the point Unit-01 was emerging from the building.
He flowed from the building and fired a burst at the Angel, sidestepping to make himself both more of a target and harder to hit, in case this one also fired AT field blasts from its eyes.
##
Kensuke began filming as the purple Evangelion stepped from inside of a building, brought up its rifle and fired.
The thundering sound from a three-shot burst echoing up into the mountains was incredible, and if he had to guess, the pilot was firing high explosive anti-tank rounds from an Evangelion-sized assault rifle.
He saw the rounds hit and do nothing as the monster retaliated by using its tentacle arms and sliced the building in half. The Evangelion rolled backwards and came to its feet again, firing another three-round burst. Then it started backing away as it fired another.
The head dropped, showing some sort of mask on the top of it, and the eyes flashed, striking the purple Evangelion with some sort of energy attack, driving the robot to the ground despite it blocking the blast with it's yellow force-field.
Then they saw the yellow Evangelion leap high into the air, a bladed staff or spear in it's hands, and it brought the weapon down upon the monster, cutting its body into two. With an inhuman shriek, the monster turned, caught the yellow Evangelion with it's tentacles and threw it into the air.
##
It lashed out toward him with its tentacles, neatly slicing the launch tower into pieces and he threw the EVA back, rolling to his feet a few blocks away. He let off another three-round burst, and then another as he began stepping away to lead the Angel off and keep its focus on him as Rei broke into a full run, progressive spear at the ready.
As it lowered it's head and the eyes in the mask flashed, striking his AT field with a powerful and staggering blast, Rei leaped into the air, and slammed into it from behind, splitting its body into two, but missing it's Core.
Shamshel screamed, for lack of a better description, and spun, lashing out, catching Unit 00, and flinging it high into the sky, ripping the cable from the umbilical, which then jettisoned from the EVA as she switched to internal power.
Shinji screamed "Rei!" as the Angel fired another blast and got Unit 01 back to it's feet, just in time to be bowled over by the Angel. With a thought, he released the umbilical and the EVA switched to internal batteries as he got back to his feet again and ran toward where Unit 00 had landed.
##
Unit 00 slammed into the hillside, and as Rei shook her head to clear it, she saw movement in her peripheral vision.
Identity tags appeared on her cockpit displays as she saw Touji and Kensuke cowering between two of the fingers on her EVA's left hand. She felt, rather than saw the Angel's next attack and reacted –raising her hands as she formed a flat AT Field Barrier, which barely deflected the Angel's blast.
"What? Shinji's classmates?" Misato asked in the Control Center, "What are they doing there?"
##
If asked their feelings at that moment, after they were finished screaming, both Touji and Kensuke probably would have admitted they had never been more scared, the massive four-foot-thick fingers of the Evangelion missing them by inches.
If they were also able to put together two coherent thoughts at the time, they both would have admitted they were very glad they had both just gone to the bathroom or, they would have literally wet themselves in fear—or worse, as the behemoth red monster fired a blast at them. The robot's hands flew up and a shimmering yellow force-field protected them, although they felt some of the heat and shock-wave of the blast pass through it and flatten them.
They looked up at the monster as it floated, no, flew towards them. The purple Evangelion reacted, attempting to intercept, but was rewarded by getting knocked flat on it's back. Halfway up the mountain the monster's body was whole again, and it no longer left a trail of blood.
It now loomed high overhead, and a massive purple blur plowed into it in mid-air, then pushed off, landing in a crouch over the yellow Evangelion as it sent the red monster crashing into the ground further up the mountain.
Then they heard a voice they both knew well, although it was heavily distorted. However, that fact would not immediately be conscious to them until a short while later.
"Leave my sister alone!" they heard as the purple Evangelion drew a blade from its shoulder pylon. The massive edge of the knife hung over them by only twenty feet as it dug in its feet and launched again at the red monster, retro-rockets firing and and the jet-wash pushing them both to the ground.
The ground trembled from the impact of the Evangelion hitting the monster, and neither boy thought. Their primitive flight responses took over, and both boys ran.
##
Shamshel approached and was almost on top of her as she saw Shinji charging again. He leaped, assisted by the retro-rockets and his AT field, and slammed into Shamshel before it could strike at her.
He pushed off in a back-flip, sending Shamshel hurtling into the ground farther up the mountain as he landed in a crouch over Unit 00. He drew his Progressive Knife and screamed, "Leave my sister alone!" not realizing he'd switched to the external loudspeakers.
He leaped again, once again boosted by the retro-rockets and unfolded his AT field to neutralize the Angel's. He tackled Shamshel by the head and pinned it beneath his EVA on the mountain ridge, and seeing the core, slammed his Progressive Knife into it as hard as he could.
Touji and Kensuke both got to their feet and ran toward the exit they'd used to get to the surface. Misato, however was already ahead of them, and had dispatched several Section Two agents to retrieve them so they could get a stern talking to.
Rei got Unit 00 to a stand as the two boys wisely ran away from her and the battle on the ridge above. She started to run toward Shinji, intent on assisting him.
He almost retched as he felt the writhing whip-like tentacles stab into his EVA, but grit his teeth and screamed as he reared back and punched the handle of the knife, driving it deeper into the Core, splitting it into two. Shamshel twitched and lay still, it's tentacles falling limp and sliding out of Unit 01.
He almost fell over, feeling weak. Unit 00 helped pull him up, and slowly, with three minutes of battery life remaining, made their way back down the hill into the City so they could be retrieved.
##
"Well, other than some creative landscaping on the mountain, that went as well as we could have hoped," Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki remarked to Captain Katsuragi.
She smiled, then replied, "I already have Section Two bringing those two boys here for a debrief and a few threats."
"Professionally, I know why it needs to be done. Personally, I think nearly being crushed by an EVA would get the point across," the old man replied.
"Never hurts to make sure they'll behave in the future. Just channel your inner Gendo and you'll have them scared until the end of time."
"Hmm. I take it you're going to check up on the pilots?"
"Yes. I am their legal guardian after all, and that makes me rather an adoptive mother."
Fuyutsuki smiled, "Right. You take care of the pilots, I'll go scare two little boys. Tell Rei and Shinji they both did well."
Misato grinned and went to the cages to check up on her wards.
Fuyutsuki left orders for Doctor Akagi to begin cleanup on the Angel, then orders to Section Two to bring the two boys to his office. By the time he arrived and sat down behind his desk, he had adopted the stern old professor, and waited for the two boys to arrive.
##
"Excellent use of the retro-rockets you two. They weren't meant to be used that way, but it makes sense if you need to boost your jumps to do more damage." Doctor Akagi said as she and Misato walked into the cages where both pilots accepted their towels with grateful bows.
"Thanks."
"So, you are now two for two on Angel kills. One assist and one final blow for each of you."
"Negative. Shinji would have dispatched this Angel without my help."
Shinji turned and hugged Rei, "Rei, I think you underestimate yourself. Without you being put in danger, I don't think it would have gone quite so easily. I only acted as aggressively as I did because you came so close to dying. Besides, you injured it first."
Misato smiled and said, "See, Rei, even Shinji knows that he wouldn't have been able to do this alone. And no matter what you may feel, you were not some 'damsel in distress'. Besides, it's the reverse of the last angel. He injured it, it knocked him down, but you killed it. You are a proven combat pilot. Don't doubt yourself."
"I do not doubt my abilities. I doubt that my part in the battle was truly necessary."
Shinji rolled his eyes as he released Rei from the hug and said, "I don't think we're going to win a battle with this angel, Misato."
Realizing the remark to be a joke, Rei swatted at Shinji as he danced back a step.
"And you are a devil like our father," Rei replied. Shinji grinned.
Misato stifled a laugh as Dr. Akagi raised her hand and applied her forehead with a groan.
##
Cowed, Touji and Kensuke both had to endure the stern sub-commander of NERV personally scolding them and telling them that they should be grateful that the Commander himself was out of town. Then they received a lecture from the Class Rep, then the School Principal, and finally a dressing down from their fathers after they had gotten to their respective homes.
Both boys ended up being grounded for nearly a week, and Shinji didn't see either outside of classes at school the whole time.
##
The next morning, Shinji, Rei, Misato, and Doctor Akagi were looking at a Remote link MAGI terminal that was displaying the analysis of the core samples after they had been removed from the angel's corpse.
"So, what does 601 mean?" Shinji asked.
"It's the systems code for cannot be analyzed. The mobile scanners aren't good enough for the job." Doctor Akagi replied, "We'll have to get the core samples to the lab so we can analyze them."
Shinji glanced over and saw his father and Fuyutsuki walk past. He stepped out after them and looked on as his father stopped in front of the fragmented section of core.
"So, this is the core sample?"
"Yes."
"Very well. Send half of it to Branch 2, and keep the other half in our labs. We need to keep SEELE happy, so we'll give them this token of our loyalty."
"Very well, Ikari." Fuyutsuki replied.
"Father?" Shinji asked as he walked up.
"Ahh, Shinji. You did a good job piloting. I am proud." Gendo said as he turned to face his son. A warm smile was on the man's face, "The results of this will advance our knowledge of both Angel and Evangelion significantly."
Shinji nodded, and the older man tousled his son's hair before walking off in the direction he'd come from. Gendo stopped in front of Rei and and hugged her, "You did very well, Rei. Don't doubt that you are needed, no matter what you think."
With that, he released Rei, and continued back out of the temporary shelter that had been erected over the Angels' remains.
##
Finally, a week and a half later, Shinji did manage to corner both Touji and Kensuke at school.
"Guys, what's up? You're acting like you've been avoiding me," he said softly as he blocked the entrance to the bathroom they had walked into.
"You heard we got in trouble right? We... just, don't wanna talk about it."
"Then don't talk about it. You're my friends. I trust you learned your lesson, and you can move on. I haven't hung out with you guys since then, and it gets boring not having you guys around."
"Thanks Shinji. I just—I have to ask, during the battle, I heard a voice, screaming for the monster to get away from his sister." Touji says, "Kensuke agrees with me. We think it's your voice. So, I gotta ask, are you the pilot of the purple one? Is Rei the pilot of the yellow one?"
Shinji half grinned and leaned against the doorjamb, "Since I know you can keep secrets already, I'll tell you. Yes. Rei and I are the pilots. We've been in training for the last five years. We both graduated college a year ago. School is more for socialization than it is actual learning for us."
Both guys stood there, shell-shocked and silent as Shinji continued, "My father told me that to save humanity, I would first have to appreciate it. Thanks to you two, I do. And I'll fight all the harder for it."
"I never knew," Kensuke said softly.
"That's the thing. No one is supposed to know. Now, it's not just my secret. It's our secret, and I can trust you to keep it, right?"
Neither boy disagreed. After all, they had earned the trust and friendship of the pilot of a 200 foot tall robot well before they even knew he was the pilot of it. Neither one wanted to betray that trust.
"So, Shinji, how much for your Autograph?" Kensuke asked. Shinji just threw his head back and laughed before he finally said, "For you Kensuke, the first one's free. Not sure what Rei will charge though."
"So, you guys wanna go to the Arcade today?' Touji asked.
"Sure. You in Kensuke?"
"Yeah, I am!"
##
Okay. Some people may take issue with the fact I use Touji instead of Toji. Both are legitimate Romanized spellings of the name. Pretty much it boils down to personal taste anyway.
As I said in the first, the Angels are going to take a level in badass, and Shamshel is no exception, although 2 on 1 with the EVAs makes it seem easier than it was for Shinji alone in either Prime or Rebuild. Indeed, if either EVA engaged alone it would not have gone well.
Final note: Just letting it be known that I only work on this when I'm dealing with writer's block on a real writing project, and I'm really not bothering with much in the way of C&C. Feel free to point anything out, but don't expect me to fix very much.