A week went by, one long agonizing week. Asuka was getting restless, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Had the twin angels taken this long last time? Or perhaps was the universe winding up to throw her and Kaworu a curveball? When she expressed her anxiety to him, he was painfully nonchalant about the whole deal, shrugging her off. He told her that there was only so much they could do to prepare. Easy for him to say, he had lifetimes to get used to this!
She opened her locker then hissed in annoyance as a cascade of letters poured out, scattering across the floor. Each had a scribbled name, some had hearts doodled on them and a few even had cologne sprayed on them!
She narrowed her eyes. These again. Annoyed, she stamped on them, "People never change!"
"A little cruel, don't you think?"
She whirled around with a cry, only finding Kaworu there, amused. She huffed and recomposed herself, "It's not like I'm going to bother looking at them."
She noticed he had a few clutched in his hand too then snorted, "Even the boys aren't immune. Going to humor them or?"
"Of course not," he went to tuck them into his bag, "But I'll be discrete with disposing them."
"Hold on there! Lemme snoop!" she snatched them out of his hand to inspect.
He yelped and went to snatch them back but, expecting that, she leapt back, leaving him to fall onto the floor. She cackled, relishing in her small victory. As he picked himself up, she read off the names, "Mana, Seiko and….ooooh this one has no name on it!"
She discarded the two named ones onto the floor then ripped open the anonymous one. Deciding not to fight her, Kaworu set to gathering up the fallen letters from both sides. He grumbled, "Why open it? I've no reason to entertain someone…"
She started to read, 'I've only known you for a short time but it feels...it feels…" she threw out her arm, "Well, I'm sure it's heartfelt and beautiful!"
He finally stood, "You can't read it," he deadpanned.
She scowled, "Like I said; the fact I can't read Japanese is about the only reason I should be enrolled here!"
He made a motion for her to hand the letter over which she complied with. He read it out loud, "'I've only known you for a short amount of time but I feel I've known you my whole life. You're the kindest person I've ever met! But I'm too scared to tell you this in person. Maybe one day I can tell you everything, when we're closer.'"
"Any idea who it is?" Asuka asked, looking over his shoulder. The strokes were simple but neat, written deliberately to be anonymous.
Kaworu furrowed his eyebrows, "I have my suspicions," he said as he tucked the letter into his bag.
"Well, then! Who?"
"I'd...rather not say. In case I'm wrong."
She scowled, "And you think I'd go and blab! Like I can't keep a secret!"
Kaworu held his hands up, giving her what he hoped was a placating smile, "Not blab per se. I'll just be more comfortable if I keep this to myself."
Asuka rolled her eyes and shouldered her bag, "Whatever. See you in class."
She was about to turn to leave when Shinji came jogging down the hall, waving Kaworu down, "Kaworu! Do you want to walk to class?"
Tilting his head like a bird, Kaworu smiled, "Of course. Let's go."
The two boys walked down the hall, chatting comfortably, as if they had known the other way long than they really had. Asuka gasped, clapping her hands over her mouth. There was no way, he didn't have the nerve...but yet it lined up so well!
Maybe she didn't have to worry about Shinji trying to make a move on her at all this time around.
Down the hall, Kaworu made conversation with Shinji, "Me and Asuka have been getting our fair share of admirers. Letters and everything."
"People gave you letters?" Shinji asked.
"Three people," Kaworu held up three fingers as he said this, "Though I don't know if I should look into them. I wouldn't know how to navigate a romantic relationship."
"Me neither," Shinji shrugged, then smiled sadly, "I still think it would be nice. One day."
Kaworu hummed in agreement. Yeah, one day, if things ever finished and the loop was complete. He had suspicions he may have to die before he could see that day though. Hardly thoughts for a quiet school day though.
The universe must have taken offense to that last thought because his phonesbegan to ring. It was from NERV. Kaworu answered it, "Yes? What is it?"
Misato was on the other end, "I'm going to hope you and everyone else are at school because you and the others are getting called in. An Angel has been spotted approaching."
Shinji sighed, hearing enough snippets to figure out the purpose of the call. This was just his luck, huh?
Kaworu gave her the promise he'd make sure everyone was rounded up and gotten over to the Geofront via Section 2 escort. He hung up then gave Shinji an exhausted look, "You think you're ready but you never are, right?"
"Not even when you've been in the battlefield," Shinji agreed.
Getting everyone to NERV was no trouble. Kaworu met Asuka back where he had left her and Rei was already at the front of the school, waiting for their Section 2 support. Soon enough, a discrete van with NERV's logo emblazoned on it pulled up and they were ushered inside. Asuka pumped her fist, "Finally! Some action!"
Kaworu gave her a warning look, a furrowed eyebrow that should have been read as scolding, but she misread it. She crowed, "Disappointed you're not seeing any of the action?"
"Not particularly," he shrugged.
"I'm nervous...but I'm always nervous…you can never guess what's really going to happen." Shinji mumbled.
"You've got nothing to worry about! I'm willing to bet me n' Unit Two will be deployed with you!" Asuka said, jabbing a thumb at herself, "We should be able to prepare for any inevitability."
She missed the second look of warning Kaworu cast at her.
Shinji considered this then nodded, "That makes sense. Rei, do you know how Zero is holding up?"
"She is still being worked on, having taken heavy damage during the Fifth Angel's attack," Rei relayed, "So Soryu is correct: Units One and Two will most likely be sortied together."
Asuka was almost surprised at Rei's support but told herself that she was merely thinking about the scenario logically. Asuka herself figured things were going to play out similarly as last time and was already working out a rudimentary plan.
Once inside the Geofront, the kids split up to their respective locker rooms. Even though Kaworu was benched for the foreseeable future, he was expected to suit up just like the on duty pilots. Asuka wondered why exactly that was. Was it because they expected her to fail and wanted him ever waiting in the wings to replace her? She shook her head to clear it as she pressurized her plugsuit. She wouldn't fail. So Kaworu's assistance wouldn't be necessary.
As much as she hated it, she'd have to approach the twin Angel slowly and enlist the Third's help. If they could make a single, decisive blow then they could put it down before it ever split. It was hardly fair, being forced to work with someone else (much less Shinji), but she had to bite the bullet.
She turned to Rei, who also had finished suiting up. Like Kaworu, even though she was most likely not going to enter battle, she was expected to suit up just in case. To her surprise, Rei was looking at her. She said softly, "Ikari told me there's something I should tell him before battle so I will tell you too. Good luck."
Asuka reeled, "L-luck! Luck has nothing to do with it! I'll win on my own merit."
"Of course," Rei agreed, "Though I'm sure having luck doesn't hurt, even if I don't believe in it."
Asuka scoffed, "Whatever. Good luck to you too."
"I don't see why I would need that...but it's kind of you to say."
What a weirdo. She didn't even understand what she was saying, only parroting what she was told to. With a huff, Asuka headed out to Unit Two.
Asuka took a deep breath after a while of sitting inside her Plug. Her and Shinji had been inside their Evas for the past twenty minutes but it felt longer, between his silence and her anxiety. Even if she had an idea of what was to come there was no guaranteeing it would play out the same. Or maybe it would be and she'd still screw it all up.
The Angel was still swimming to shore to the point where they planned to intercept it. Asuka closed her eyes, letting the background chatter of Command fill the Plug before shutting off comms. An impulsive thought had hit her. She could see Kaworu's disapproving look in her mind's eye but she had to try. If only once.
She sat in silence, nothing by a soft humming filling the chamber. She let her mind wander in the space then reach out to the soul beyond.
For a few moments, there was nothing and Asuka nearly gave up. But then a warm presence filled the Plug, love washing over her. She gasped softly as she felt the sensation of arms wrapping around her. The humming turned to soft, indistinct whispers. She couldn't understand what was being said but she got the sense that everything was going to work out. That is what going to be alright. "Mama," she murmured.
"Asuka!" a cry jolted her from her trance.
It was Dr, Akagi, her image having popped up in her view. She continued, "Your sync score just spiked, is everything alright?"
She nodded, "Yep! I guess I'm really in the zone!"
"...right. I'm gonna chalk it up to a random fluctuation."
Her image disappeared, leaving her alone again. Asuka let her facade drop. The temptation to try again was overwhelming...but Prettyboy was correct. Anything more would be suspicious. Akagi seemed happy to chalk it up to a fluke, as long as it was an isolated incident.
She frowned in disappointment. So close to her mother but so far.
It wasn't too much longer before Misato appeared on screen to brief them. Beside her image popped up a map of the area, pointing out their location and the approaching Angel. Misato began, "Alright, you two! The target is approaching the peninsula. Tokyo-3's defensive measures are still recovering so we've decided to try to settle this outside the city. We want to kill this thing quickly so when it makes landfall, get in close and attack in turns. Got it?"
"Roger!" the two pilots chorused.
Misato left them alone to ready up. Asuka inhaled deeply. Go time. If it was her choice, she'd be doing this alone and would be able to prove herself without any crutches.
But that wasn't how the universe wanted to play.
Readying up, she took the glaive from their choice of weapons. Shinji opted for a rifle, giving her an idea for what they could do. Misato chimed in once more, "Target is nearly at intercept point. Be ready."
"Right," Shinji murmured, turning to face the ocean, where a surging wave was fast approaching.
Asuka stayed silent, taking place at his left. The Angel emerged, looking just as it had. Good. That meant her ideas were viable. The Angel took a sweeping look at them but did not move, as if baiting them in. Probably wants us to be hasty, part of its strategy, Asuka thought. She said to her comrade, "You heard her, Shinji. Let's do this slowly and see what it does. You take the right, I'll take the left."
Shinji murmured an affirmative and followed her command, creeping up towards the Angel. She followed suit and explained her idea, "I've got the melee weapon and you've got our artillery. We'll circle it and I'll start the attack. When I pull back, you fire where I struck. We won't give it a break!" her tone was authoritative and stern. It reminded Shinji of Misato actually.
"Sounds good," he agreed.
Both began their approach, circling in closer. It stubbornly didn't move, taking long methodical looks from one to the other, analyzing them in turn. Finally, Asuka made her move, lunging with her glaive!
She struck true, slicing a wide gash from shoulder to midsection. There was her prize: the barest peek of a gleaming red orb that the Angel's flesh was fast reforming about. She danced away and cried, "Shinji, hit it!"
Shinji squeezed his trigger, laying a volley of bullets into the open wound. The Angel shrieked, the sound a little too human for comfort. Once he stopped, Asuka danced back in, going for another cut, to filet the Angel like a fish.
The Angel's limb stretched out, fast and unnaturally, catching the glaive's end. Despite the sharp edge cutting into its skin, it didn't let go, instead yanking her back and using her momentum against her.
Asuka and Unit 02 were sent into the surf. Panicked, she yanked the glaive back, cutting harmlessly through the rest of the Angel's hand which reformed almost immediately. Furious, she forgot her own plan and lashed out, plunging her weapon into where she remembered the core was.
Whether she remembered wrong or the Angel had moved it itself, her blade missed, sinking into flesh. She howled in fury and frustration.
The Angel whipped 02 across the face with its hand, sending her flying once more into the surf. Distantly, she could hear Shinji panicking over the comms, asking her what the plan was now. But she could not answer as the Angel didn't let up, using one hand to pin her down and the other to rip her weapon from its chest.
A sharp cry came from behind it: Shinji with his rifle! He used the butt to slam in on the back of its head. But further attack was prevented as it sprouted a pair of arms to wrangle him with. Asuka frantically reviewed what options she had before landing on something.
She flipped out her Prog Knife holster, taking it from within the shoulder pylons. In one clean slice, she cut through the arm holding her and was once more free. She snatched her glaive from where it landed and lunged in for round two.
Finding its two opponents were now both open to attack it, it pushed Shinji away with a mighty shove. A few precious seconds bought, it twisted and distorted, growing a second body from its second pair of arms. "Beta" pursued Shinji who, for his credit, hadn't fallen, and so met it in a violent clash.
This wasn't great. Now that the Angel had split into the twins, its core had split too. It seemed the bridge team had figured this out too as Misato relayed over comms, "Asuka, when the Angel split, its core split into two too. So you and Shinji have two opponents rather than one."
"Y'know, I kinda figured!" Asuka grimaced, deflecting a blow with her glaive.
"We're coming up with a plan over here but it looks like we're going to have to withdraw this time,"
"NO! I refuse!" Asuka screamed, stabbing at "Alpha" with a thrust straight through its mask.
Beyond her, Shinji was faring surprisingly alright against "Beta". He used his rifle to deflect blows then, when he bought himself an opening, fired a shot at it. But ultimately, he was stuck in a stalemate and he knew it.
But Asuka's berserker stabbing was getting her somewhere. She had punched so many holes in "Alpha" that its regeneration factor was struggling to close one up before she opened a new one. Finally, she saw her prize again and lunged for it.
In the few seconds it took her to attack, the Angel yanked the core away from her, enfolding part of it into a new orb of flesh that dropped off into the water. This new flesh body rapidly regenerated into a smaller, but still intact third form. It whipped its arm out to catch her arm, successfully catching her off-balance.
Shinji cried out, "Asuka!" and ran to assist.
"Beta" punished him for ignoring it and grabbed him by the ankle then swung him behind it, somewhere into the deeper parts of the sea. Content its siblings had her under control, it stalked after him.
Asuka cried, "Three of you bastards?!" and struggled to right herself.
But the third, "Gamma", had her pinned. Alpha approached, its eyes glimmering for a laser attack. High above, a black object circled. Moments before the world went bright, Asuka realized it was an N2 Bomb and cut connection with her Eva.
"Today, at 10:58 A.M, we made contact with the Seventh Angel, dubbed "Israfel". In the battle against Evangelion Units 01 and 02, it split into three secondary entities, now dubbed "Alpha", "Beta" and "Gamma". It would have most certainly compromised both units if the UN Secondary Force hadn't dropped an N2 Bomb. Both Evangelions weathered the attack thanks to their armor and the Angel was critically damaged."
The two had been pulled from their Plugs the second their Evas had been brought in and brought in still soaking with LCL into the briefing room. But it appeared less to debrief them and more to scold them. Maya Ibuki had began reading the mission summary right away, keeping a cool, neutral tone. But the Vice Commander, Fuyutski, lingered beside her, annoyed at the precedings. To their side sat Kaji. If anyone wondered why he was there at all, they were too busy getting chewed out or doing the chewing out to worry about it.
Fuyutski grumbled, "We had to be rescued by the UN, who will no doubt use this to discredit NERV further."
"Hey, we tried our best!" Asuka cried out.
Then, to her surprise, Shinji snapped at her, "You abandoned your own plan!"
"Excuse me?!" she whirled on him, "I had to adapt!"
"Adapt? You panicked!"
"Like you'd do better!"
"I was holding one off pretty well before you made it split again!"
"Children!" Fuyutski barked, "Stop this petty bickering! It no longer matters whose fault it is."
He gestured for Maya to continue. Sheepish, she swapped the screen to a new image of a map, showing the explosion radius and the Angel's current location. "The good news is the Angel rejoined into one entity so it may regenerate. The explosion burned off approximately 28 percent of the target's structural substance."
"So it's not dead," Asuka stated.
"Correct," Fuyutski answered, "This is temporary relief. A second attack is inevitable."
Kaji finally piped up with a grin, "This counts for something. Now we've got time to regroup and come up with a plan. Isn't that something?"
The Vice Commander ignored him, beginning to pace the catwalk above. He stopped then asked the pilots, "You two know your job, correct?"
"Defeating the Angels," Asuka grumbled, remembering his outburst from last time.
"Correct! But it's also to not make a spectacle out of us while doing it!" he sharply cried, slapping the railing.
Shinji winced at the loud noise. Content his message was gotten across, Fuyutski stalked out to the elevator, which would send him to places unknown. Asuka crossed her arms, "He's touchy."
Kaji sat up, stretching his arms as he did, "Adults hate to be embarrassed and I'm sure the Vice Commander is really feeling the pressure. He is right about one thing: the UN is going to remember they had to do this."
"I'm sure all this is below Father too," Shinji said, resentment bleeding into his tone.
"Of course," Kaji chuckled, "I'm sure ol' Fuyutski is not happy because of that either. He always has to deal with this kind of stuff."
"I'm surprised it wasn't Misato bitching at us," Asuka said.
Kaji replied, "Language, young lady. But no, she's got the even more menial work: paperwork."
Asuka looked again on the screen and echoed, "Three of them...how are we going to do it?"
"Ritsuko's figured out the weakness. Misato should have a plan come to her any moment now," he smiled, as if sharing a private joke.
Misato was staring currently at the stack of paperwork that had seemingly manifested out of nowhere onto her desk. Old papers had been shoved unceremoniously into a stack to make room, some even having made it to the floor. One day she was going to need to do a deep clean of this place.
She sighed. But that day was not today.
Ritsuko stood beside, looking too at the papers with an air of pity. Misato steepled her fingers and brooded behind them, "I'll figure this out after we kill the elephant in the room. What do you have for me?"
"Careful, you're looking a little too familiar for comfort," Ritsuko warned with a playful smile.
Misato set her head on top of her hands, "Better?"
"Much better. I'd rather not think of the Commander when he's not around. The Vice Commander was livid but he didn't fire you."
"You think Commander Ikari would have fired me?" Misato asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You really never know with the man," Ritsuko shrugged.
"So you have something for me?" Misato eyed the thumb drive between her fingers.
"That I do," she handed it over.
Her friend grinned, "You're a lifesaver! Great to have one of you on my side!"
The doctor wagged her finger, "I appreciate the sentiment but don't thank me for this one."
Curious, Misato gave the drive an inspection. On the other side was the note 'To my honey' with a heart drawn beside. She grimaced, "Kaji…"
Ritusko chuckled, "At least look at it before you throw it away," she turned to leave, "If you need me, you know where to find me."
Misato waited for her to leave then looked back at the note, her expression softened. She sighed, "Dammit, Kaji. Well, you better hope for your sake whatever this is works."
Shinji ended up walking home alone. Asuka had stormed out pretty quickly to clean up and he hadn't been in much of a hurry to follow her out. She was furious at him, blaming him for the operation going south. But he didn't know what exactly he should have done differently! He hadn't expected to do as well as he did. Kaworu had stopped him outside the locker room to praise him which brightened his mood considerably. When he was done changing, he thought about leaving with him but the other boy had been nowhere to be found. In fact, all three of the others had left before him.
"Hey, I'm home!" he called as he entered Misato's apartment.
He hadn't expected anyone to respond, much less Kaworu. "We're in here!" he called from down the hall.
To his dismay, the hallway was filled with boxes labeled 'Asuka Langley Soryu'. Not as many as he would have thought, considering what he knew of the girl, but still way too many.
He sighed. He should have expected this. "Shinji!" Kaworu smiled as he peeked out from his room.
"Is she moving into my room?" Shinji asked, even though he knew the answer already.
Asuka stepped from the room herself, "It's the only place that all my stuff will fit! Even with me putting a lot in storage. Don't worry, your precious things are safe."
She pointed to a lone cluster of boxes that held his clothes and other belongings. He sighed. Kaworu defended, "She already did all that before I got here."
He pushed the stack into the other, smaller room. Most of his larger items had already been moved in here, like his cello case which was leaning on his desk. He set the boxes on top of the desk then set his bag and SDAT beside it. He would have his own work to do later.
"Don't worry, Shinji! I'll help you too!" Kaworu called and suddenly, he didn't feel as bad anymore.
He returned to the hallway to find Asuka unpacking a box of books. She was complaining, "Japanese rooms are so small! I think I still brought too much."
"We simply don't hold onto as much stuff," Misato said, having entered the hallway so silently it was as if she had simply appeared.
Asuka nearly fell from her perch with a cry, "What's with people coming out of nowhere today?!"
Kaworu, behind her folding a sundress, chuckled. "Anyway," Misato smiled, "Good to see things are coming along."
"Is Asuka being here because the new plan?" Shinji asked.
"Quite astute," Misato clapped her hands, "Partly at least. The plan was always to move Asuka and Kaworu out of the Geofront but it hasn't been a priority. The new plan gives us an excuse to partially do that."
She turned, "Let's all go out to the kitchen and discuss further. Oh and meet our guest."
"Our guest?" Asuka and Shinji asked in unison.
A soft voice came from the living room, "Captain Katsuragi, where should I put my belongings?"
"The First!" Asuka cried, crossing her arms.
"Yes, the First. Now, lemme go explain already," Misato waved the drive at them, using it to gesture them into the kitchen.
The kitchen table was not built to accommodate five people but they made it work, mostly by Misato bringing in the chairs from the balcony. Shinji brought out drinks in an attempt to make everything more comfortable but the tenseness in the air wouldn't dissipate. Misato, a beer in hand, seemed completely fine however. She took a long drink from the beer he brought her then slammed it onto the table to punctuate her point, "Our target has one and only weakness!"
She slid a paper to the center of the table. On one side was a photograph of the half-melted and damaged Angel. On the other was a simple graphic of its three split parts, a highlighted section representing the core. She explained, "We'll need to execute a simultaneous three-point attack on each core once they separate again. In other words, we need three Evas moving and attacking in perfect sync. Hence why Rei is here."
"But she's not moving in like me right?" Asuka asked.
"No, it wasn't allowed."
Asuka allowed herself a moment of relief before Shinji interrupted it, jumping to his feet and crying, "But Rei's place is terrible! Who said she can't!"
"According to the Vice Commander, it was the Commander who forbade it," Misato said, her own judgement towards the man seeping in, besides her better judgment.
Shinji leaned back and fumed, "Sounds just like him."
"It is alright, Ikari. I haven't been harmed," Rei assured him—though in her usual robotic tone, it wasn't very assuring.
"Yet…," he grumbled.
Misato continued, "Now, back to the plan. For this attack we'll need perfect coordination and cooperation from all three of you. So you shall live together for the duration."
Asuka slapped her hands to the table, "I can't do that! Not with both of them! I can deal with Shinji…"
"What's your problem with Rei!" Shinji challenged.
"She's so...so...she's just so weird!" Asuka cried, unable to elaborate.
Rei regarded all this with a detached expression, as if the insult didn't touch her at all.
Misato cut off any further argument, "Asuka, you're being childish. The Angel regenerates in six days so we're already on a timer."
"But...but...I can't," her complaint petered off as she realized she was fighting a losing battle.
"Then we're all going to have to step up and make it happen. On this drive is the instructions for an attack pattern you three will perform to music. You three will learn it in the next six days. This is our best plan," Misato's tone held as much authority as her position, making it clear she would not entertain any argument.
Asuka leaned back and crossed her arms, looking the image of a petulant child. Misato, her lecture finished, stood, "Now, I've got to go get some..."equipment" to get you guys set up. Do me a favor and don't kill each other while I'm gone."
With that, she left. Asuka jumped to her feet, grabbed Kaworu and nearly dragged him outside the door. Shinji watched with a frown and commented, "Wonder where she's taking him."
"She is displeased...in both the plan and me," Rei stated. Even if her tone was neutral, he could tell she was bothered.
"I think she's just like that," Shinji pulled his chair over to sit beside her, "She doesn't like me very much either."
"Yes, but she said she could tolerate you," she pointed out.
"I'm sure it's just the fact it's both of us she has to live with,"
She could tell he was just trying to spare her feelings. Lots of people were unnerved by her so she was hardly surprised. It didn't make it stop stinging. But her feelings didn't matter.
She, however, was a little unnerved by Asuka and Kaworu. Kaworu a little more, probably for the same reasons people didn't like her. And she didn't know anything about him either.
Her identity and purpose was never kept a secret from her. So she never felt unnerved by her hybrid nature or the fact that one day she'd be called to end the world.
But a sense of wrongness had dogged her for the past few months and it only intensified when the two new pilots arrived. She never dreamed before but now she did. The ones she remembered were simple memories but the ones she didn't remember must have been so complex they made her sleep restless.
It bothered her; the sense that there was something she didn't know.
Outside, Asuka led Kaworu to a secluded corner. She snapped at him, "Where did I mess up?!"
He was frustratingly calm, hands in his pockets. He shrugged, "You did pretty well, all things considered."
"But it wasn't good enough," she turned and slapped the wall, "It's never going to be good enough!"
"Asuka," he frowned, "Just knowing what's going to happen isn't enough. It certainly helps but not everything is going to work out fine because of it. What's the saying? 'You gotta roll with the punches.'"
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I was being truthful: you did really well. I've never seen that particular Angel split into three. So she was feeling pretty pressured."
She sighed and didn't answer right away. Then she admitted, "...thanks. I get it. I still wish we didn't have to do this ridiculous maneuver."
"Think about it this way: we'll all get to be good friends by the end of this!"
She groaned. It was going to be a long six days.
Author's Note:
Another chapter where the events didn't change though I did a lot of rewriting with the intent to make things flow more naturally (ie. the fight and ending sequence). I also wanted to make Asuka a tad more abrasive. Something I regretted in the original was I felt she got toned down a little a little too early. Even though she knows logically this Shinji and Rei aren't the same ones from her original loop, it's taking her a bit to realllly emotionally stop lashing out at them. This is going to form a mini-arc over the next few chapters!
Also I shouldn't have to say this but asking when things are going to change comes off as pretty rude. This is a difficult question for me to answer because I consider these changes to be all through the fic, even though major plot changes don't actually kick in until just before we get caught up. If you're here for only major plot changes, wait until we hit chapters 14 or 15 but know you're going to miss changed dialogue which alludes to a major twist later on and new inserted scenes, the first of which is in chapter 6 (in case it's the more minor changes you're after).