Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Nephilim ❯ Welcome to the Machine ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: AngelNoThirteenBardiel 
A mother-and-son meeting occurs within Unit-01 and Asuka is haunted by Shinji's words before his "disappearance"...
Anime/Manga: Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.05.2004 | Pages: 7 | Words: 6.9K | Visits: 959 | Status: Completed
A mother-and-son meeting occurs within Unit-01 and Asuka is haunted by Shinji's words before his "disappearance"...
Anime/Manga: Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 09.05.2004 | Pages: 7 | Words: 6.9K | Visits: 959 | Status: Completed
See Chapter 1 for disclaimer, 2 for speech/thoughts things.
NEPHILIM
Chapter 4: Welcome to the Machine
-----
Shinji found himself floating in a very familiar white space, clothed in his school uniform. ‘Great, here again...,’ he thought. ‘Well, it was the only way,’ he mused, trying to feel better about his decision.
Then a voice came to him from all sides, ‘Shinji,’ it spoke. ‘Shinji, is that you?’
Shinji’s eyes went wide as he recognized the voice, ‘W-where are you?’
Right in front of him, the familiar form of a woman in a white plugsuit appeared, ‘It is you...it’s been so long, Shinji.’
‘Mother...‘ Shinji managed to get out before putting his arms around her.
Yui Ikari smiled brightly and returned the hug, ‘I missed you too, son. I’ve been away far too long.’ She looked down at him, ‘So, you’ve known I was here? You called for me twice now.’
‘No, not the whole time,’ Shinji said, breaking the hug and looking up at her. ‘I’m sorta redoing things that went wrong before.’
Yui looked blankly at her son, ‘Redoing? What are you talking about?’
Shinji sighed, ‘It’s kind of hard to explain it all...’
‘Hold on,’ Yui said, putting her hands on his shoulders. ‘Since you’re fully here, maybe I can see for myself.’ She closed her eyes and concentrated on the contents of Shinji’s mind. She saw the images that haunted his dreams...the Angels, Kaworu, Third Impact, and a robed figure with wings. She opened her eyes with a start and backed up a bit, ‘I see...you’ve already experienced it before. And there is another who brought you back.’
‘Yeah, Nephilim,’ Shinji answered. ‘Said he was a real angel, then gave me another chance. I owe him a lot for that.’ He then changed the subject, ‘So, then you also saw what father has in mind.’
Yui’s eyes shown with a slight anger, ‘Gendo...was I really that important to you? Would he really end humanity just for that reason?’
Shinji nodded, ‘Heard him say it then myself. I can’t really say I hate him as much since it was for you...’
‘But the ends most certainly do not meet the means. Both involve too much pain,’ Yui finished. ‘You know about SEELE too, I saw. Then you know about my involvement with Project E.’
‘Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for anything. You’re like me, a pawn,’ Shinji said.
‘Yes, but even a pawn can turn a game around,’ Yui stated. ‘All you have to do is see the proper moves.’
Shinji looked down and thought about it for a few minutes before looking back up at Yui, ‘I’m still not sure how I’m going to get around some things...’
Yui put her arm around Shinji, trying to console him, ‘As long as we’re stuck here, why not take the time for a talk? I haven’t seen another person in ten years, after all.’
Shinji smiled up at his mother, ‘Sure. I feel up to a talk anyway.’ He looked around him at the white space surrounding them both. ‘But it’s a strange spot for that, huh?’
Yui turned away from Shinji and floated over a bit, ‘Well, let’s see...’ All of a sudden, the white space around them became the overlook in Tokyo-3 Misato had shown him after the Third Angel. ‘This seems to be a spot you like, by the look of your thoughts,’ Yui said. They both sat down on the grass as Yui readied a conversation topic, ‘I also saw something else in your thoughts you seem to be preoccupied with.’
‘Hmm? What was that?’ Shinji asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, an image of Asuka popped into his mind. ‘Oh, her...’ he said, blushing heavily.
‘Ooh, does my little boy have a girlfriend?’ Yui teased.
‘N-no, but...’ he trailed off, feeling embarrassed.
‘I saw what she means to you,’ Yui said. ‘But she doesn’t seem to see it the same way...’ she said, remembering some of his memories of the girl.
‘That’s just her way of dealing with things. I’ve seen that for myself. On the inside, she’s just like me,’ Shinji explained. ‘I’ve been hoping that things would change between us, though...’
The conversation drifted to a different topic as the two souls that occupied Unit-01 passed the time...
-----
Outside, five days had gone by. The damage to Tokyo-3 was minimal, but the image of the awakened Unit-01 hung on everyone’s mind like a bad dream. Misato Katsuragi stood before the robot, remembering the empty plugsuit she’d seen in the entry plug’s video feed. ‘Ritsuko said he’d been taken into the Eva,’ she thought. "But just what are you?" she asked at its silent face.
"Talking to yourself? That’s a sure sign of old age," the voice of Ritsuko Akagi sounded in the major’s ears.
Misato turned to the cage’s new occupant. "Oh, hi Ritsuko," she answered tiredly.
"Still worried about him?" the blond scientist said. "Won’t do you much good stressing over it. Which reminds me, I need to ask you something..."
"Yeah, what’s that?" Misato asked.
"Have you noticed anything strange about Asuka lately? Her synch score yesterday was unusually low," Ritsuko explained, looking over her notes.
"Hmm," Misato thought over it for a minute, "She did seem kinda out of it the last several days. Like something’s been on her mind."
"Did you ask her about it?" Ritsuko questioned.
"Nah. With her, it’s usually just best to give her wide berth and hope for the best," Misato said.
Ritsuko shook her head, "Just like I’ve told you before, you’re not a very good mother."
The major snapped her head towards her old friend, "Now just a minute..."
"Take it easy, Misato," Ritsuko said, trying to calm her down. "I didn’t mean anything by it."
Misato sighed heavily, "Sorry, it’s just that...they’re like family to me. And what with Shinji gone..." she trailed off, changing the subject quickly. "How is the recovery coming along?"
"Well," Rituko started, "the LCL inside the plug has more-or-less become something akin to primordial soup. Shinji’s soul should still be somewhere in there, just in a form we can’t see. We’re going to try and salvage it from inside the Eva."
"One less thing to worry about," Misato said, feeling relieved. "Well, I can talk to Asuka and see what‘s bothering her. Might be serious."
Ritsuko started walking back towards the command center, "Best of luck to you with that. And try to get some rest, it‘s pretty early in the morning."
As the door shut behind her, Misato turned her gaze back towards Unit-01. ‘Shinji...I hope you come back to us soon,’ she thought.
-----
An hour later, Asuka Langley Sohryu sat up in her bed,. She looking like Hell on a bad day, badly matted hair and tired eyes. Her sleep the last several days had been brief and troubling. ‘Musta had something bad for dinner,’ she thought groggily.
‘Hah,’ another voice said. ‘You know very well why you haven’t slept well. It’s because of Shinji.’
‘Pfft, that idiot? He disappears inside of his machine and everyone weeps for the lost hero,’ she scoffed at the inner voice. ‘Once again, he’s just running away from everything. And he goes and kills the angel single-handedly, the bastard.’
She could almost feel the inner voice sigh, ‘You know that’s not why either! It’s what he said to you before the battle that’s got you spooked. And you can’t handle such kind words, can you?’
It was right, Asuka had been having the same dream of the talk they had five days ago. And it bugged her to no end. She pulled her head up to her knees, ‘Shut up! He...he didn’t mean it!’
‘Bullshit! You saw his eyes, he meant ever word of it. And you can’t handle it after how you’ve treated him before that,’ the voice explained.
Asuka couldn’t come up with anything to counter it, because it was right. The look in his face, in his eyes...he wasn’t lying at all. But she was determined not to let it get to her. She was stronger than that. ‘He can just stay inside that thing for all I care,’ she thought.
‘Don’t lie to yourself, it’s not good,’ the voice taunted her. ‘You’ve seen his hidden strength before, like during the 8th Angel and the last battle. He’s not the wimp he looks like. And if your memory is right, he’s not a bad kisser, either.’
Asuka blushed and her eyes widened at the voice’s words, ‘Th-that was just to kill time! It meant nothing!’
‘You should be in politics. You lie like one, for chrissakes,’ the voice continued its teasing. ‘Just admit it, you miss him.’
Asuka could feel the stress all over her person, ‘Alright, I do...’
‘And you care about him, too?’ the voice asked.
‘Let’s not hope for miracles here,’ Asuka answered. ‘It’s only ‘cause he’s fun to tease.’
‘Fine, fine. But try and think over what he said. You might feel differently in time,’ the voice said before going silent.
Asuka pulled her feet to the ground and stood up, ‘Damn conscience, it’s too early in the morning for things like that.’ She reached into the closet and pulled out an outfit, then turned to head for the shower. After removing her clothing, she stepped under the hot spray of the shower head. All the while, the images of a smiling Shinji Ikari telling her that he cared a great deal about her danced in her head.
‘Idiot...after everything between us, he has to go and say that,’ she mused, water running down her face. ‘And he’d said he had a bad feeling about what was to come. He probably knew he wasn’t coming back.’ She shook her head to get rid of those thought and concentrated on the hot water, which had masked a few stray tears that had been shed...
-----
Six more days passed on the outside, while very little passed inside the Eva. Shinji had related more than a few stories to his mother, mostly the few really happy moments he had in Tokyo-3 since arriving. Yui had also told him a couple, giving the Third Child a look at what his father had been like before the accident with Unit-01. But a feeling of dread still hung heavy over Shinji.
‘What’s wrong, son?’ Yui asked.
Shinji shook his head, ‘Just worried about the future. The next angel has me kind of scared...’
‘Ah yes, Arael,’ Yui said, ‘it had been the one to break her spirit, right?’
Shinji nodded, ‘Yeah, and I can’t let it happen again. It’s one of the things that makes Asuka who she is.’
Yui looked at Shinji for a few minutes, ‘You’ve grown up to be such a good young man. I wish I had been there to help.’ She wiped a tear from her eye. ‘But I guess it’s a little late for that.’
A silence hung over them for sometime before being broken. ‘You really shouldn’t blame yourself for anything, mother,’ Shinji said. ‘You had no control over what was going to happen, just like I had none before.’
Yui quickly decided to change the subject before the atmosphere became too serious, ‘So, you have any other good times you’d like to share?’
Shinji blushed and turned away, ‘Yeah, there is this one moment I have that I hang onto when things get bad...’
‘Oh? And that would be?’ Yui asked, arching an eyebrow slightly.
Shinji fidgeted with a blade of grass for a few seconds, ‘It’s kind of...embarrassing. I’m not sure if I should share it.’
Yui laughed a little at his words, ‘Not even tell your dear mother? Come on, it’s not like I’ll laugh or anything.’
‘It’s not that,’ Shinji explained. ‘It’s just hard to say.’
‘Well then,’ Yui said, motioning at a spot on the ground next to her. ‘Come over here and let me see it for myself.’
Shinji edged over towards her and relaxed his thoughts on what he was about to share. Yui placed her hands on his shoulders again and concentrated deeply on what he was thinking. She saw him laying on a futon in a living room. There is a small breeze that comes over him, and he opens his eyes and sees Asuka asleep in front of him. He looked into her face and got closer, almost about to kiss her. But as he neared towards the redhead’s face, she muttered the word ‘mother’ and shed a single tear. Shinji pulled away slowly and covered her in his own sheets before moving across the room to a different spot and falling asleep.
Yui opened her eyes and looked into her son’s, smiling brightly. ‘That was impressively sweet and considerate of you. You really are growing up fast,’ she said, hugging him tightly.
Shinji couldn’t stop turning red at his mother’s response. ‘Well, it was around then that I started to feel differently about her. It just took me a while to realize what it all meant,’ he explained. ‘It’s something I try and remember when I feel down.’
‘Well, she’s a lucky girl to have you caring for her,’ Yui said. ‘I know I would be...’
The two continued to catch up and talk while the rest of the world went on...
-----
The next day on the outside, Asuka awoke from the same dream again. After almost two weeks of the same thing, she had begun to realize that it wasn’t just that she missed teasing the Third Child. She missed him, his presence. ‘And his cooking,’ Asuka thought, being reminded by her empty stomach.
She stood out of bed and looked at her alarm clock. ‘Fifteen after six. Guess I should get up,’ she thought. She yawned and walked out of her room into the kitchen, where Misato was sleeping at the table, face-first in paperwork. ‘Dammit, I wish I could sleep that soundly right now,’ Asuka thought bitterly. As she turned to prepare a quick breakfast, the sleeping major awoke.
"Huh...oh, hi Asuka," she said groggily. "Having an early morning?"
"Morning, Misato," Asuka stated flatly. "Just hungry, couldn’t sleep too well."
Misato remembered what Ritsuko had said a week ago about Asuka. ‘Maybe I should ask her what’s wrong,’ she thought. ‘Better brace myself...’
"Hey Asuka," Misato started.
"Hmm?" the redhead said through a mouthful of cereal. ‘Geez, I actually miss miso soup for a change...’
"Is there anything bothering you? You’ve seemed kind of out of it for nearly the last two weeks. And Ritsuko said your last couple of synch test scores were lower than normally," Misato said, hoping the Second Child was in a good mood this morning. "Not to mention you’ve been missing school."
Asuka thought around for an excuse. ‘Well, she was bound to ask before long...gotta make up something good...’
Then the inner voice of her conscience came back to her. ‘Why not just tell her the truth? She might be able to help,’ it said.
‘What!?! She’s not exactly the most helpful person,’ Asuka countered.
‘Well, it certainly beats losing sleep over trying to figure it out yourself,’ the voice said.
Asuka thought it over for a few minutes before answering. ‘Fine...but I’m going to hate myself tomorrow for this.’
Misato had spent the last couple of minutes waving her hand in front of the young girl’s face, trying to get her attention. "Asuka? Hello? Are you going to answer me? Or are you just gonna blank out for a while?" she said, trying to joke around.
Asuka snapped out of her thoughts and turned back towards her guardian. "Well...it was something that happened before the last battle. But I’ll only tell you if you promise something," she said.
"Hmm? What’s that?" Misato asked.
Asuka put on her scarily serious face, "You don’t tell another person what I’m gonna tell you. Got it?"
Misato sighed, "Yeah, sure. I promise. Now what’s on your mind?"
Asuka took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. "Well, after Shinji had come home from the hospital, he had asked me to talk with him for a bit. Said he was really worried about something that was going to happen, like a bad omen or something." Asuka turned her head away from the major to hide her reddened face, "Then he said he wanted to tell me something important. I joked and asked him if he was gonna confess. He said I was pretty close to what he was going to say." She turned back towards Misato. "I wrote him off about it all, but he held my hand and looked in my eyes and explained how much he cared and admired me. Then he...kissed my cheek and left, saying he needed a walk." Asuka hung her head, not wanting to see Misato’s reaction.
Misato sat speechless after hearing the redhead’s words, ‘Wow...that was kinda bold for him. Not that I couldn’t tell, he did always seem like he had a thing for her. Didn't think he's ever admit it, though...’ She looked back over at the Second Child, who looked like she was in deep thought (not to mentioned sleep-deprived). "What did you say back?"
Asuka shook her head, "I couldn’t come up with anything right then. He took me off-guard with that. And then he goes and gets absorbed into Unit-01...I just don‘t know what to think."
Misato looked towards the ceiling, "Well, it seems to me like it made an impression on you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be losing sleep over it."
Asuka snapped her head up at the older woman‘s words, "What makes you think th-"
"I can tell by the look in your eyes," Misato explained. "It’s bothering you a lot. Care to explain what’s eating you about it?"
Asuka fumbled for her words for a second or two, "He just had this look in his face, like he was dead serious about it all and meant it completely. I’m just confused about what I should be feeling..."
"Well," the major started, "if I had to take a guess, I’d say you care about him too. At least, it looks that way to me."
‘First my conscience, then her,’ Asuka thought. ‘Maybe they’re right. If only I could talk to him.’ The Second Child then turned back towards her guardian, "I don’t know...I still need more time to think it over," she said.
"Well, when he comes back," Misato said, getting up from her chair and heading for her room, "you two can sit down and have a nice, long talk. Did that help?"
"Yes, it did," Asuka said. "Thanks Misato."
Sure, no problem. And now," she said, opening her door, "I need to get some real rest before work. You go to school, someone must be wondering where you are." She then shut the door to her room and crashed on the mattress.
Asuka went back to her room, thinking over the woman’s words. ‘She’s right. I should go back to school, Hikari’s probably worried sick about me.’
‘You see, I told you she’d be helpful,’ her conscience told her. ‘Now all we need to do is wait and see if Shinji will come back..’
‘He’ll come back,’ Asuka thought. ‘I know he will...’ She then grabbed a school uniform from her closet and began to ready for another usual day...
-----
Class 2-A was quieter than usual, Asuka noted as she walked in after being absent for twelve days. The populace of the room looked to her, almost waiting for a response before being met by a very angry stare from the volatile redhead. Most of them went back to whatever they had been doing before she entered. All but three students.
"Oh, Asuka," Hikari Horaki said, walking up to her friend. "Where have you been? I haven‘t seen you for almost two weeks!"
"Sorry about that, it’s a long story," Asuka said, hoping to delay the inevitable.
"Hey Red," Toji Suzuhara called out. "Where’s Shinji?"
"Well, if it isn’t the other two class idiots," she said, not really putting any venom behind the words. "Come on over here, I’ll explain in a minute."
The three other students followed her over to an empty corner of the room. "So, what’s this about?" Kensuke Aida asked.
"Shinji is...gone for now," Asuka said, not really sure how to explain it to them.
Three blank stares was her response. "What do you mean ‘gone’? Where did he go?" Hikari asked, worried at the sound of the words.
"I’m not really sure if I should tell you, it might be classified," she said.
"All the better reason to go and tell us," Kensuke said. He felt the angry stare of the other three and quickly reconsidered, "Okay, forget I said that."
"So...where did he go?" Toji asked, worried for his friend.
"He’s been absorbed into his Eva," Asuka whispered. "I forgot how they explained it...but his soul is stuck inside of it right now. They’re trying to find a way of retrieving him from it, but...there might not be a way."
A dark silence settled over the four teenagers. "Wow...Shinji..." Kensuke said. "He’d told me that Eva was a curse. Now I wish I’d believed him sooner."
Toji just looked down at the ground, feeling at a loss for words.
Asuka looked between them, "Look, I don’t want you to worry too much, they’ll find a way. NERV’s like that."
"Why are you being so nice today?" Toji asked, wondering what he’d missed.
Asuka sighed and took a deep breath, but the teacher entered the room at that time. All went to their seats and the day went on normally until the lunch bell sounded a few hours later. As the children went about with their meals, Hikari approached Asuka.
"Uh, Asuka. Would you come with me? I need to talk with you," the class rep said, looking a bit nervous.
"Hmm, sure," Asuka said. ‘Maybe Hikari can help me as well,’ she thought.
Several minutes later, both girls sat on the school roof, unpacking their lunches. "So what did you need to speak to me about, Hikari?" Asuka asked.
Hikari fidgeted with the hem of her uniform for a few seconds before answering, "Well, it’s about Toji..."
"Yeah, it’s not like I’m the only one to notice," Asuka said, knowing about her friend’s crush on the boy. "What about him?"
"We’ve kind of come to an...understanding while he was in the hospital," the pigtailed girl said, beginning to show a slight blush.
"What would that be? Dating? Engagement? Or maybe just living in sin," Asuka questioned, feeling the need to tease someone..
Hikari’s face went from slightly red to beet-red in about seven seconds, "N-no! Nothing like that. We’re just finally agreeing on how we both feel. I found out it’s mutual."
"Well," Asuka said, "I feel happy for you. If it’s what you want, it’s great for you."
"I also noticed you seemed to be preoccupied by something during class," Hikari ventured.
"You mean more than usual?" the redhead joked. "I swear, that man could put rocks to sleep!"
Hikari laughed a bit before resuming her questioning, "No, really. You looked like you were thinking about something."
Asuka bowed her head. ‘Geez, is it really that easy to see? I’m becoming easier to read than Shinji,’ she thought. "I’ve been worried about Shinji...and some things he said before the battle."
Hikari gave her friend a questioning look, "What was that?"
Asuka motioned for Hikari to get closer, where she related the story, exactly like she had told Misato that morning. After she was done, Hikari just looked at her with a wide-eyed expression. "Wow..."
"Yeah, tell me about it. Gave me quite a shock then. Been worrying over it since," Asuka explained. "Asked Misato about it this morning. What do you say I should do?"
Hikari thought over it for a few minutes before answering, "Well, I’d say you must feel the same. Looks like that to me."
"Same thing Misato told me," Asuka said.
"Then she was right," Hikari stated. "And I think you should give him a chance when he comes back. There might be something good to come out of it. Went like that for me and Toji..." She then looked at her watch, "Lunch is almost over. You coming?"
"Not right away. It’s nice and quiet up here, gives me a good chance to think," the redhead told her.
Hikari nodded and walked through the door to the stairwell. Asuka turned back to the view over the top of the school. ‘I just hope he does come back...’ Then she heard a slight crunch of gravel behind her. "Who’s there?" she asked. When she turned around, she met the gaze of the enigmatic First Child. "Oh, it’s just you Wondergirl," she said, not putting much effort behind the familiar insult.
"Hello Asuka," Rei Ayanami said.
Asuka turned with a start towards the blue-haired girl, "Going by first names now, eh?"
"Shinji said I should start doing so, to familiarize with others," Rei explained.
"Hmm, okay," the Second Child mused, turning back to stare at the view.
"You are worried about him, are you not?" Rei asked.
"Way to guess the obvious, Ayanami," Asuka jokingly shot. "Yes, I am. A lot really." She then thought something over. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You may," Rei stated.
"Do you...like him? Shinji, I mean," Asuka asked.
"No. I feel nothing romantically toward Shinji. However, I suspect he has them for you," the First Child said.
"Yeah, I figured the same thing from what he told me before the last battle," the redhead answered, heading over to the door back down. "Just something I thought I should ask." Asuka then turned the knob and headed back down to the classroom, where the rest of the day would slowly pass...
-----
Inside of the Eva, conversation had been all over the map for the two occupants of the giant beast. Good times and bad times, laughs and seriousness. But Shinji had been having the nagging feeling that he should be getting back soon.
Yui noticed that he had been looking a bit sad. ‘What’s wrong, Shinji?’ she asked him.
Shinji felt a bit uneasy about his words, but he needed to ask, ‘Well, I’m really enjoying our time here...but I need to get back to the others. I miss them, and there is a lot left to do before this is over.’
Yui looked at him with a sad expression. ‘I knew it would happen before long. But don’t worry about it, I’ll always be with you in heart,’ she told Shinji.
Shinji felt himself tear up again and took the opportunity to hug her tightly one last time. ‘I’m going to miss you again, but I need to go. And I’m going to try and be strong for you,’ he explained.
‘I know you will,’ Yui said. ‘Now close your eyes..’ she then closed her own and concentrated on bringing his soul back to its body.
Shinji felt himself go floating again, towards the light above himself. ‘Goodbye, mother,’ he said before disappearing.
Yui let a few tears loose at seeing him leave. ‘Goodbye, Shinji,’ she answered. ‘I hope we’ll meet again one day...’
-----
Back inside NERV headquarters, two-and-a-half had passed. The bridge crew had been assembled for a synch test before they would try the first in a series of tries in retrieving Shinji’s soul from Unit-01.
Misato watched on as Asuka’s synch score had improved a decent bit from the last test. "I hope that advice will help," she thought out loud.
"So, you asked her about it?" Ritsuko questioned, remembering the previous test’s results.
"Uh huh, all straightened out," the major answered. "At least, I hope so..."
"What was the problem?" the scientist asked.
"Personal stuff," Misato said, not wanting to break her promise.
"Anything I should know?" Ritusko said, feeling left out of the loop.
"Nope. Took a promise not to anyway," Misato said, grinning slightly.
As Ritsuko was about to announce the end of the test, an alarm blared from the cage housing Unit-01. "What’s going on?" she asked.
"There’s an energy reading coming from Unit-01’s core," Maya Ibuki stated. "Something’s happening to the LCL."
"Put it on-screen," Misato ordered. A video feed popped up showing the inside of the cage, where the still-exposed core of Unit-01 had begun to glow a deep red. "Is this one of today’s experiments?"
"No, those where after the synch test," Ritsuko explained. "This is...something else."
The core then began to pulse with the sound of a heartbeat before a bright flash blinded the occupants of the command center. When the flash subsided, a naked Shinji Ikari was on his knees in front of the machine, coughing up LCL and trying to breathe before collapsing.
"Shinji..." Misato managed to get out before running to the walkway in the cage to retrieve him.
"Maya, call the medics," Ritsuko said, still shocked at the scene before her. Maya nodded and put in a call to the NERV medical ward.
The video feed was seen by both other pilots. Rei watched the feed with an impassive face, although she was relieved that Shinji was alright. Asuka was glad to see the Third Child again, for much different reasons.
High above the command center, the imposing figure of Gendo Ikari watched the scene unfold in front of him. ‘Yui...is this your will?’ he thought.
-----
Shinji opened his eyes again to see the same ceiling of the NERV infirmary. "Not this ceiling again," he said tiredly.
"Now, I know I told you to stop worrying us like that," Misato said from the doorway.
"Yeah, sorry again Misato," Shinji said with a slight smile. As he tried to sit up, he felt like he‘d feel from a great height. "Ugh, I feel rough. How long was I gone?"
"About fifteen days," Misato answered. "Do you know where you’ve been?"
"Yeah, I can hazard a guess or two," he said, not wanting to tell her. "They’re letting me out?"
"No, not yet," Misato said with a sigh. "They want to check you out again to make sure you’re okay. You gave us all quite a scare."
"Sorry," he said, feeling like he was back to his old ways.
"It’s okay," Misato answered back. "Anyway, I’ve gotta be getting back to work. I’ll come back in a bit to see how you’re doing. Bye!" She then stepped back outside the room.
Shinji fell back down on the bed and took a deep breath. "At least I made it back..." he said. About fifteen minutes of silence passed as he tried to sleep, but that was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. As Shinji looked over towards the door, his gaze was met with a certain redhead.
Asuka looked at the resting boy she had come to talk with, wearing a pensive expression and biting her lower lip slightly. ‘Okay, you can do this, Asuka,’ she thought, not really feeling completely sure of the words as she took a hesitant step into the room...
-----To be continued...-----
A/N: Yep, first cliffhanger ending I’ve done. This marks the halfway point, but there’s still a lot left to go with this story. And I still haven’t gotten deep enough into the other main theme of the fic (y’know which part, don’t play dumb!). Thankfully, I have a pretty good idea where the next chapter goes, so it shouldn’t take very long to complete.
-----Now for more from the author and his muse! (a.k.a - Omake Time!)-----
This time, we find the author laying on his floor, whipped from his latest all-nighter.
Author: (very tired) Well, got it done before my personal deadline...I’ll take that as a good omen.
The familiar guitar riff from "Iron Man" comes sounding from the next room.
Author: (looking at the camera) Yeah, Mitsumi again. I’ve been schooling her on the classics of rock. Can even play the cool mid-song solo from "(Don’t Fear) The Reaper" by now. (sighs) I’m so proud...
Mitsumi floats into the room after her small practice session. This time, dressed in jeans and a slightly faded "Ride the Lightning" t-shirt.
Mitsumi: Gotten done before the deadline, huh?
Author: For a change, yeah. Hell, even I’m surprised...
Mitsumi: That can’t be a good sign...
Author: (standing up and stretching) Don’t knock it, this might just last the rest of the way out.
Mitsumi: Um, I need to ask you for something...
Author: Yes?
Mitsumi: I decided to run the band without a group. I kinda need some instruments.
Author: NiN-style, huh? Sure, I’ll see what I’ve got stored away...
Mitsumi: (surprised) You’re going to use "it"?
Author: Sure, why not? Hasn’t gotten any use in several months.
The author then reaches behind him and opens a rift in space-time to a large room full of varying objects.
Author: (looking at the camera) For those wondering, this is my little piece of subspace I bought from a traveling merchant. Holds plenty of stuff and the door to it can be opened from anywhere.
The author walks into the rift and comes out several minutes later, wheeling out a rack containing a bass guitar, keyboard, drum machine, and microphone.
Author: I think this should cover it.
Mitsumi: (eyes wide) Wow...yes it will. (thinks for a minute) Not that hard to use, are they?
Author: Not really. (drops a stack of manuals on the rack) The only thing is the drum machine programming.
Mitsumi: (reading the manual intently) Uh huh...
Author: Just keep practicing the guitar, you’re getting pretty good at it.
Mitsumi: How about singing for me? You’re pretty good yourself...
Author: Ah, not really. I’m not talented enough. Besides, you know anytime I try to sing with a lot of volume, it comes out tone-deaf.
Mitsumi: Alright, how about back-up? I could use a little help.
Author: (giving in) Okay, might be fun.
Mitsumi: (finding another subject) What about work on "Drained and Blue" and "Go Back to Sleep, Precious"? When are you getting to them?
Author: Hmm...sometime between upcoming chapters of "Nephilim".
Mitsumi: How about "Know Who I Am"?
Author: You know that’s planned for Valentine’s Day...
Mitsumi: And "Id"?
Author: Under second rewrite. Went from mini-series to long one-shot. Won’t be seeing it released anytime soon, from what I can tell.
Mitsumi: Okay...I guess it’s back to the strings. (leaves room)
Author: (to himself) She’s getting pretty good. (turns toward the camera) Might give you all a taste of her work up ahead.
The opening notes to "Cherub Rock" begin to fill the air, as we pan out away from the room...
-----End of Omake-----
Pre-read was done by FinalMax once again.
And as usual, all comments are welcome; good criticism is appreciated, flames will be overlooked (or stored and used for power.)
-AngelNo13Bardiel
NEPHILIM
Chapter 4: Welcome to the Machine
-----
Shinji found himself floating in a very familiar white space, clothed in his school uniform. ‘Great, here again...,’ he thought. ‘Well, it was the only way,’ he mused, trying to feel better about his decision.
Then a voice came to him from all sides, ‘Shinji,’ it spoke. ‘Shinji, is that you?’
Shinji’s eyes went wide as he recognized the voice, ‘W-where are you?’
Right in front of him, the familiar form of a woman in a white plugsuit appeared, ‘It is you...it’s been so long, Shinji.’
‘Mother...‘ Shinji managed to get out before putting his arms around her.
Yui Ikari smiled brightly and returned the hug, ‘I missed you too, son. I’ve been away far too long.’ She looked down at him, ‘So, you’ve known I was here? You called for me twice now.’
‘No, not the whole time,’ Shinji said, breaking the hug and looking up at her. ‘I’m sorta redoing things that went wrong before.’
Yui looked blankly at her son, ‘Redoing? What are you talking about?’
Shinji sighed, ‘It’s kind of hard to explain it all...’
‘Hold on,’ Yui said, putting her hands on his shoulders. ‘Since you’re fully here, maybe I can see for myself.’ She closed her eyes and concentrated on the contents of Shinji’s mind. She saw the images that haunted his dreams...the Angels, Kaworu, Third Impact, and a robed figure with wings. She opened her eyes with a start and backed up a bit, ‘I see...you’ve already experienced it before. And there is another who brought you back.’
‘Yeah, Nephilim,’ Shinji answered. ‘Said he was a real angel, then gave me another chance. I owe him a lot for that.’ He then changed the subject, ‘So, then you also saw what father has in mind.’
Yui’s eyes shown with a slight anger, ‘Gendo...was I really that important to you? Would he really end humanity just for that reason?’
Shinji nodded, ‘Heard him say it then myself. I can’t really say I hate him as much since it was for you...’
‘But the ends most certainly do not meet the means. Both involve too much pain,’ Yui finished. ‘You know about SEELE too, I saw. Then you know about my involvement with Project E.’
‘Don’t worry, I don’t blame you for anything. You’re like me, a pawn,’ Shinji said.
‘Yes, but even a pawn can turn a game around,’ Yui stated. ‘All you have to do is see the proper moves.’
Shinji looked down and thought about it for a few minutes before looking back up at Yui, ‘I’m still not sure how I’m going to get around some things...’
Yui put her arm around Shinji, trying to console him, ‘As long as we’re stuck here, why not take the time for a talk? I haven’t seen another person in ten years, after all.’
Shinji smiled up at his mother, ‘Sure. I feel up to a talk anyway.’ He looked around him at the white space surrounding them both. ‘But it’s a strange spot for that, huh?’
Yui turned away from Shinji and floated over a bit, ‘Well, let’s see...’ All of a sudden, the white space around them became the overlook in Tokyo-3 Misato had shown him after the Third Angel. ‘This seems to be a spot you like, by the look of your thoughts,’ Yui said. They both sat down on the grass as Yui readied a conversation topic, ‘I also saw something else in your thoughts you seem to be preoccupied with.’
‘Hmm? What was that?’ Shinji asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, an image of Asuka popped into his mind. ‘Oh, her...’ he said, blushing heavily.
‘Ooh, does my little boy have a girlfriend?’ Yui teased.
‘N-no, but...’ he trailed off, feeling embarrassed.
‘I saw what she means to you,’ Yui said. ‘But she doesn’t seem to see it the same way...’ she said, remembering some of his memories of the girl.
‘That’s just her way of dealing with things. I’ve seen that for myself. On the inside, she’s just like me,’ Shinji explained. ‘I’ve been hoping that things would change between us, though...’
The conversation drifted to a different topic as the two souls that occupied Unit-01 passed the time...
-----
Outside, five days had gone by. The damage to Tokyo-3 was minimal, but the image of the awakened Unit-01 hung on everyone’s mind like a bad dream. Misato Katsuragi stood before the robot, remembering the empty plugsuit she’d seen in the entry plug’s video feed. ‘Ritsuko said he’d been taken into the Eva,’ she thought. "But just what are you?" she asked at its silent face.
"Talking to yourself? That’s a sure sign of old age," the voice of Ritsuko Akagi sounded in the major’s ears.
Misato turned to the cage’s new occupant. "Oh, hi Ritsuko," she answered tiredly.
"Still worried about him?" the blond scientist said. "Won’t do you much good stressing over it. Which reminds me, I need to ask you something..."
"Yeah, what’s that?" Misato asked.
"Have you noticed anything strange about Asuka lately? Her synch score yesterday was unusually low," Ritsuko explained, looking over her notes.
"Hmm," Misato thought over it for a minute, "She did seem kinda out of it the last several days. Like something’s been on her mind."
"Did you ask her about it?" Ritsuko questioned.
"Nah. With her, it’s usually just best to give her wide berth and hope for the best," Misato said.
Ritsuko shook her head, "Just like I’ve told you before, you’re not a very good mother."
The major snapped her head towards her old friend, "Now just a minute..."
"Take it easy, Misato," Ritsuko said, trying to calm her down. "I didn’t mean anything by it."
Misato sighed heavily, "Sorry, it’s just that...they’re like family to me. And what with Shinji gone..." she trailed off, changing the subject quickly. "How is the recovery coming along?"
"Well," Rituko started, "the LCL inside the plug has more-or-less become something akin to primordial soup. Shinji’s soul should still be somewhere in there, just in a form we can’t see. We’re going to try and salvage it from inside the Eva."
"One less thing to worry about," Misato said, feeling relieved. "Well, I can talk to Asuka and see what‘s bothering her. Might be serious."
Ritsuko started walking back towards the command center, "Best of luck to you with that. And try to get some rest, it‘s pretty early in the morning."
As the door shut behind her, Misato turned her gaze back towards Unit-01. ‘Shinji...I hope you come back to us soon,’ she thought.
-----
An hour later, Asuka Langley Sohryu sat up in her bed,. She looking like Hell on a bad day, badly matted hair and tired eyes. Her sleep the last several days had been brief and troubling. ‘Musta had something bad for dinner,’ she thought groggily.
‘Hah,’ another voice said. ‘You know very well why you haven’t slept well. It’s because of Shinji.’
‘Pfft, that idiot? He disappears inside of his machine and everyone weeps for the lost hero,’ she scoffed at the inner voice. ‘Once again, he’s just running away from everything. And he goes and kills the angel single-handedly, the bastard.’
She could almost feel the inner voice sigh, ‘You know that’s not why either! It’s what he said to you before the battle that’s got you spooked. And you can’t handle such kind words, can you?’
It was right, Asuka had been having the same dream of the talk they had five days ago. And it bugged her to no end. She pulled her head up to her knees, ‘Shut up! He...he didn’t mean it!’
‘Bullshit! You saw his eyes, he meant ever word of it. And you can’t handle it after how you’ve treated him before that,’ the voice explained.
Asuka couldn’t come up with anything to counter it, because it was right. The look in his face, in his eyes...he wasn’t lying at all. But she was determined not to let it get to her. She was stronger than that. ‘He can just stay inside that thing for all I care,’ she thought.
‘Don’t lie to yourself, it’s not good,’ the voice taunted her. ‘You’ve seen his hidden strength before, like during the 8th Angel and the last battle. He’s not the wimp he looks like. And if your memory is right, he’s not a bad kisser, either.’
Asuka blushed and her eyes widened at the voice’s words, ‘Th-that was just to kill time! It meant nothing!’
‘You should be in politics. You lie like one, for chrissakes,’ the voice continued its teasing. ‘Just admit it, you miss him.’
Asuka could feel the stress all over her person, ‘Alright, I do...’
‘And you care about him, too?’ the voice asked.
‘Let’s not hope for miracles here,’ Asuka answered. ‘It’s only ‘cause he’s fun to tease.’
‘Fine, fine. But try and think over what he said. You might feel differently in time,’ the voice said before going silent.
Asuka pulled her feet to the ground and stood up, ‘Damn conscience, it’s too early in the morning for things like that.’ She reached into the closet and pulled out an outfit, then turned to head for the shower. After removing her clothing, she stepped under the hot spray of the shower head. All the while, the images of a smiling Shinji Ikari telling her that he cared a great deal about her danced in her head.
‘Idiot...after everything between us, he has to go and say that,’ she mused, water running down her face. ‘And he’d said he had a bad feeling about what was to come. He probably knew he wasn’t coming back.’ She shook her head to get rid of those thought and concentrated on the hot water, which had masked a few stray tears that had been shed...
-----
Six more days passed on the outside, while very little passed inside the Eva. Shinji had related more than a few stories to his mother, mostly the few really happy moments he had in Tokyo-3 since arriving. Yui had also told him a couple, giving the Third Child a look at what his father had been like before the accident with Unit-01. But a feeling of dread still hung heavy over Shinji.
‘What’s wrong, son?’ Yui asked.
Shinji shook his head, ‘Just worried about the future. The next angel has me kind of scared...’
‘Ah yes, Arael,’ Yui said, ‘it had been the one to break her spirit, right?’
Shinji nodded, ‘Yeah, and I can’t let it happen again. It’s one of the things that makes Asuka who she is.’
Yui looked at Shinji for a few minutes, ‘You’ve grown up to be such a good young man. I wish I had been there to help.’ She wiped a tear from her eye. ‘But I guess it’s a little late for that.’
A silence hung over them for sometime before being broken. ‘You really shouldn’t blame yourself for anything, mother,’ Shinji said. ‘You had no control over what was going to happen, just like I had none before.’
Yui quickly decided to change the subject before the atmosphere became too serious, ‘So, you have any other good times you’d like to share?’
Shinji blushed and turned away, ‘Yeah, there is this one moment I have that I hang onto when things get bad...’
‘Oh? And that would be?’ Yui asked, arching an eyebrow slightly.
Shinji fidgeted with a blade of grass for a few seconds, ‘It’s kind of...embarrassing. I’m not sure if I should share it.’
Yui laughed a little at his words, ‘Not even tell your dear mother? Come on, it’s not like I’ll laugh or anything.’
‘It’s not that,’ Shinji explained. ‘It’s just hard to say.’
‘Well then,’ Yui said, motioning at a spot on the ground next to her. ‘Come over here and let me see it for myself.’
Shinji edged over towards her and relaxed his thoughts on what he was about to share. Yui placed her hands on his shoulders again and concentrated deeply on what he was thinking. She saw him laying on a futon in a living room. There is a small breeze that comes over him, and he opens his eyes and sees Asuka asleep in front of him. He looked into her face and got closer, almost about to kiss her. But as he neared towards the redhead’s face, she muttered the word ‘mother’ and shed a single tear. Shinji pulled away slowly and covered her in his own sheets before moving across the room to a different spot and falling asleep.
Yui opened her eyes and looked into her son’s, smiling brightly. ‘That was impressively sweet and considerate of you. You really are growing up fast,’ she said, hugging him tightly.
Shinji couldn’t stop turning red at his mother’s response. ‘Well, it was around then that I started to feel differently about her. It just took me a while to realize what it all meant,’ he explained. ‘It’s something I try and remember when I feel down.’
‘Well, she’s a lucky girl to have you caring for her,’ Yui said. ‘I know I would be...’
The two continued to catch up and talk while the rest of the world went on...
-----
The next day on the outside, Asuka awoke from the same dream again. After almost two weeks of the same thing, she had begun to realize that it wasn’t just that she missed teasing the Third Child. She missed him, his presence. ‘And his cooking,’ Asuka thought, being reminded by her empty stomach.
She stood out of bed and looked at her alarm clock. ‘Fifteen after six. Guess I should get up,’ she thought. She yawned and walked out of her room into the kitchen, where Misato was sleeping at the table, face-first in paperwork. ‘Dammit, I wish I could sleep that soundly right now,’ Asuka thought bitterly. As she turned to prepare a quick breakfast, the sleeping major awoke.
"Huh...oh, hi Asuka," she said groggily. "Having an early morning?"
"Morning, Misato," Asuka stated flatly. "Just hungry, couldn’t sleep too well."
Misato remembered what Ritsuko had said a week ago about Asuka. ‘Maybe I should ask her what’s wrong,’ she thought. ‘Better brace myself...’
"Hey Asuka," Misato started.
"Hmm?" the redhead said through a mouthful of cereal. ‘Geez, I actually miss miso soup for a change...’
"Is there anything bothering you? You’ve seemed kind of out of it for nearly the last two weeks. And Ritsuko said your last couple of synch test scores were lower than normally," Misato said, hoping the Second Child was in a good mood this morning. "Not to mention you’ve been missing school."
Asuka thought around for an excuse. ‘Well, she was bound to ask before long...gotta make up something good...’
Then the inner voice of her conscience came back to her. ‘Why not just tell her the truth? She might be able to help,’ it said.
‘What!?! She’s not exactly the most helpful person,’ Asuka countered.
‘Well, it certainly beats losing sleep over trying to figure it out yourself,’ the voice said.
Asuka thought it over for a few minutes before answering. ‘Fine...but I’m going to hate myself tomorrow for this.’
Misato had spent the last couple of minutes waving her hand in front of the young girl’s face, trying to get her attention. "Asuka? Hello? Are you going to answer me? Or are you just gonna blank out for a while?" she said, trying to joke around.
Asuka snapped out of her thoughts and turned back towards her guardian. "Well...it was something that happened before the last battle. But I’ll only tell you if you promise something," she said.
"Hmm? What’s that?" Misato asked.
Asuka put on her scarily serious face, "You don’t tell another person what I’m gonna tell you. Got it?"
Misato sighed, "Yeah, sure. I promise. Now what’s on your mind?"
Asuka took a deep breath to collect her thoughts. "Well, after Shinji had come home from the hospital, he had asked me to talk with him for a bit. Said he was really worried about something that was going to happen, like a bad omen or something." Asuka turned her head away from the major to hide her reddened face, "Then he said he wanted to tell me something important. I joked and asked him if he was gonna confess. He said I was pretty close to what he was going to say." She turned back towards Misato. "I wrote him off about it all, but he held my hand and looked in my eyes and explained how much he cared and admired me. Then he...kissed my cheek and left, saying he needed a walk." Asuka hung her head, not wanting to see Misato’s reaction.
Misato sat speechless after hearing the redhead’s words, ‘Wow...that was kinda bold for him. Not that I couldn’t tell, he did always seem like he had a thing for her. Didn't think he's ever admit it, though...’ She looked back over at the Second Child, who looked like she was in deep thought (not to mentioned sleep-deprived). "What did you say back?"
Asuka shook her head, "I couldn’t come up with anything right then. He took me off-guard with that. And then he goes and gets absorbed into Unit-01...I just don‘t know what to think."
Misato looked towards the ceiling, "Well, it seems to me like it made an impression on you. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be losing sleep over it."
Asuka snapped her head up at the older woman‘s words, "What makes you think th-"
"I can tell by the look in your eyes," Misato explained. "It’s bothering you a lot. Care to explain what’s eating you about it?"
Asuka fumbled for her words for a second or two, "He just had this look in his face, like he was dead serious about it all and meant it completely. I’m just confused about what I should be feeling..."
"Well," the major started, "if I had to take a guess, I’d say you care about him too. At least, it looks that way to me."
‘First my conscience, then her,’ Asuka thought. ‘Maybe they’re right. If only I could talk to him.’ The Second Child then turned back towards her guardian, "I don’t know...I still need more time to think it over," she said.
"Well, when he comes back," Misato said, getting up from her chair and heading for her room, "you two can sit down and have a nice, long talk. Did that help?"
"Yes, it did," Asuka said. "Thanks Misato."
Sure, no problem. And now," she said, opening her door, "I need to get some real rest before work. You go to school, someone must be wondering where you are." She then shut the door to her room and crashed on the mattress.
Asuka went back to her room, thinking over the woman’s words. ‘She’s right. I should go back to school, Hikari’s probably worried sick about me.’
‘You see, I told you she’d be helpful,’ her conscience told her. ‘Now all we need to do is wait and see if Shinji will come back..’
‘He’ll come back,’ Asuka thought. ‘I know he will...’ She then grabbed a school uniform from her closet and began to ready for another usual day...
-----
Class 2-A was quieter than usual, Asuka noted as she walked in after being absent for twelve days. The populace of the room looked to her, almost waiting for a response before being met by a very angry stare from the volatile redhead. Most of them went back to whatever they had been doing before she entered. All but three students.
"Oh, Asuka," Hikari Horaki said, walking up to her friend. "Where have you been? I haven‘t seen you for almost two weeks!"
"Sorry about that, it’s a long story," Asuka said, hoping to delay the inevitable.
"Hey Red," Toji Suzuhara called out. "Where’s Shinji?"
"Well, if it isn’t the other two class idiots," she said, not really putting any venom behind the words. "Come on over here, I’ll explain in a minute."
The three other students followed her over to an empty corner of the room. "So, what’s this about?" Kensuke Aida asked.
"Shinji is...gone for now," Asuka said, not really sure how to explain it to them.
Three blank stares was her response. "What do you mean ‘gone’? Where did he go?" Hikari asked, worried at the sound of the words.
"I’m not really sure if I should tell you, it might be classified," she said.
"All the better reason to go and tell us," Kensuke said. He felt the angry stare of the other three and quickly reconsidered, "Okay, forget I said that."
"So...where did he go?" Toji asked, worried for his friend.
"He’s been absorbed into his Eva," Asuka whispered. "I forgot how they explained it...but his soul is stuck inside of it right now. They’re trying to find a way of retrieving him from it, but...there might not be a way."
A dark silence settled over the four teenagers. "Wow...Shinji..." Kensuke said. "He’d told me that Eva was a curse. Now I wish I’d believed him sooner."
Toji just looked down at the ground, feeling at a loss for words.
Asuka looked between them, "Look, I don’t want you to worry too much, they’ll find a way. NERV’s like that."
"Why are you being so nice today?" Toji asked, wondering what he’d missed.
Asuka sighed and took a deep breath, but the teacher entered the room at that time. All went to their seats and the day went on normally until the lunch bell sounded a few hours later. As the children went about with their meals, Hikari approached Asuka.
"Uh, Asuka. Would you come with me? I need to talk with you," the class rep said, looking a bit nervous.
"Hmm, sure," Asuka said. ‘Maybe Hikari can help me as well,’ she thought.
Several minutes later, both girls sat on the school roof, unpacking their lunches. "So what did you need to speak to me about, Hikari?" Asuka asked.
Hikari fidgeted with the hem of her uniform for a few seconds before answering, "Well, it’s about Toji..."
"Yeah, it’s not like I’m the only one to notice," Asuka said, knowing about her friend’s crush on the boy. "What about him?"
"We’ve kind of come to an...understanding while he was in the hospital," the pigtailed girl said, beginning to show a slight blush.
"What would that be? Dating? Engagement? Or maybe just living in sin," Asuka questioned, feeling the need to tease someone..
Hikari’s face went from slightly red to beet-red in about seven seconds, "N-no! Nothing like that. We’re just finally agreeing on how we both feel. I found out it’s mutual."
"Well," Asuka said, "I feel happy for you. If it’s what you want, it’s great for you."
"I also noticed you seemed to be preoccupied by something during class," Hikari ventured.
"You mean more than usual?" the redhead joked. "I swear, that man could put rocks to sleep!"
Hikari laughed a bit before resuming her questioning, "No, really. You looked like you were thinking about something."
Asuka bowed her head. ‘Geez, is it really that easy to see? I’m becoming easier to read than Shinji,’ she thought. "I’ve been worried about Shinji...and some things he said before the battle."
Hikari gave her friend a questioning look, "What was that?"
Asuka motioned for Hikari to get closer, where she related the story, exactly like she had told Misato that morning. After she was done, Hikari just looked at her with a wide-eyed expression. "Wow..."
"Yeah, tell me about it. Gave me quite a shock then. Been worrying over it since," Asuka explained. "Asked Misato about it this morning. What do you say I should do?"
Hikari thought over it for a few minutes before answering, "Well, I’d say you must feel the same. Looks like that to me."
"Same thing Misato told me," Asuka said.
"Then she was right," Hikari stated. "And I think you should give him a chance when he comes back. There might be something good to come out of it. Went like that for me and Toji..." She then looked at her watch, "Lunch is almost over. You coming?"
"Not right away. It’s nice and quiet up here, gives me a good chance to think," the redhead told her.
Hikari nodded and walked through the door to the stairwell. Asuka turned back to the view over the top of the school. ‘I just hope he does come back...’ Then she heard a slight crunch of gravel behind her. "Who’s there?" she asked. When she turned around, she met the gaze of the enigmatic First Child. "Oh, it’s just you Wondergirl," she said, not putting much effort behind the familiar insult.
"Hello Asuka," Rei Ayanami said.
Asuka turned with a start towards the blue-haired girl, "Going by first names now, eh?"
"Shinji said I should start doing so, to familiarize with others," Rei explained.
"Hmm, okay," the Second Child mused, turning back to stare at the view.
"You are worried about him, are you not?" Rei asked.
"Way to guess the obvious, Ayanami," Asuka jokingly shot. "Yes, I am. A lot really." She then thought something over. "Can I ask you a question?"
"You may," Rei stated.
"Do you...like him? Shinji, I mean," Asuka asked.
"No. I feel nothing romantically toward Shinji. However, I suspect he has them for you," the First Child said.
"Yeah, I figured the same thing from what he told me before the last battle," the redhead answered, heading over to the door back down. "Just something I thought I should ask." Asuka then turned the knob and headed back down to the classroom, where the rest of the day would slowly pass...
-----
Inside of the Eva, conversation had been all over the map for the two occupants of the giant beast. Good times and bad times, laughs and seriousness. But Shinji had been having the nagging feeling that he should be getting back soon.
Yui noticed that he had been looking a bit sad. ‘What’s wrong, Shinji?’ she asked him.
Shinji felt a bit uneasy about his words, but he needed to ask, ‘Well, I’m really enjoying our time here...but I need to get back to the others. I miss them, and there is a lot left to do before this is over.’
Yui looked at him with a sad expression. ‘I knew it would happen before long. But don’t worry about it, I’ll always be with you in heart,’ she told Shinji.
Shinji felt himself tear up again and took the opportunity to hug her tightly one last time. ‘I’m going to miss you again, but I need to go. And I’m going to try and be strong for you,’ he explained.
‘I know you will,’ Yui said. ‘Now close your eyes..’ she then closed her own and concentrated on bringing his soul back to its body.
Shinji felt himself go floating again, towards the light above himself. ‘Goodbye, mother,’ he said before disappearing.
Yui let a few tears loose at seeing him leave. ‘Goodbye, Shinji,’ she answered. ‘I hope we’ll meet again one day...’
-----
Back inside NERV headquarters, two-and-a-half had passed. The bridge crew had been assembled for a synch test before they would try the first in a series of tries in retrieving Shinji’s soul from Unit-01.
Misato watched on as Asuka’s synch score had improved a decent bit from the last test. "I hope that advice will help," she thought out loud.
"So, you asked her about it?" Ritsuko questioned, remembering the previous test’s results.
"Uh huh, all straightened out," the major answered. "At least, I hope so..."
"What was the problem?" the scientist asked.
"Personal stuff," Misato said, not wanting to break her promise.
"Anything I should know?" Ritusko said, feeling left out of the loop.
"Nope. Took a promise not to anyway," Misato said, grinning slightly.
As Ritsuko was about to announce the end of the test, an alarm blared from the cage housing Unit-01. "What’s going on?" she asked.
"There’s an energy reading coming from Unit-01’s core," Maya Ibuki stated. "Something’s happening to the LCL."
"Put it on-screen," Misato ordered. A video feed popped up showing the inside of the cage, where the still-exposed core of Unit-01 had begun to glow a deep red. "Is this one of today’s experiments?"
"No, those where after the synch test," Ritsuko explained. "This is...something else."
The core then began to pulse with the sound of a heartbeat before a bright flash blinded the occupants of the command center. When the flash subsided, a naked Shinji Ikari was on his knees in front of the machine, coughing up LCL and trying to breathe before collapsing.
"Shinji..." Misato managed to get out before running to the walkway in the cage to retrieve him.
"Maya, call the medics," Ritsuko said, still shocked at the scene before her. Maya nodded and put in a call to the NERV medical ward.
The video feed was seen by both other pilots. Rei watched the feed with an impassive face, although she was relieved that Shinji was alright. Asuka was glad to see the Third Child again, for much different reasons.
High above the command center, the imposing figure of Gendo Ikari watched the scene unfold in front of him. ‘Yui...is this your will?’ he thought.
-----
Shinji opened his eyes again to see the same ceiling of the NERV infirmary. "Not this ceiling again," he said tiredly.
"Now, I know I told you to stop worrying us like that," Misato said from the doorway.
"Yeah, sorry again Misato," Shinji said with a slight smile. As he tried to sit up, he felt like he‘d feel from a great height. "Ugh, I feel rough. How long was I gone?"
"About fifteen days," Misato answered. "Do you know where you’ve been?"
"Yeah, I can hazard a guess or two," he said, not wanting to tell her. "They’re letting me out?"
"No, not yet," Misato said with a sigh. "They want to check you out again to make sure you’re okay. You gave us all quite a scare."
"Sorry," he said, feeling like he was back to his old ways.
"It’s okay," Misato answered back. "Anyway, I’ve gotta be getting back to work. I’ll come back in a bit to see how you’re doing. Bye!" She then stepped back outside the room.
Shinji fell back down on the bed and took a deep breath. "At least I made it back..." he said. About fifteen minutes of silence passed as he tried to sleep, but that was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. As Shinji looked over towards the door, his gaze was met with a certain redhead.
Asuka looked at the resting boy she had come to talk with, wearing a pensive expression and biting her lower lip slightly. ‘Okay, you can do this, Asuka,’ she thought, not really feeling completely sure of the words as she took a hesitant step into the room...
-----To be continued...-----
A/N: Yep, first cliffhanger ending I’ve done. This marks the halfway point, but there’s still a lot left to go with this story. And I still haven’t gotten deep enough into the other main theme of the fic (y’know which part, don’t play dumb!). Thankfully, I have a pretty good idea where the next chapter goes, so it shouldn’t take very long to complete.
-----Now for more from the author and his muse! (a.k.a - Omake Time!)-----
This time, we find the author laying on his floor, whipped from his latest all-nighter.
Author: (very tired) Well, got it done before my personal deadline...I’ll take that as a good omen.
The familiar guitar riff from "Iron Man" comes sounding from the next room.
Author: (looking at the camera) Yeah, Mitsumi again. I’ve been schooling her on the classics of rock. Can even play the cool mid-song solo from "(Don’t Fear) The Reaper" by now. (sighs) I’m so proud...
Mitsumi floats into the room after her small practice session. This time, dressed in jeans and a slightly faded "Ride the Lightning" t-shirt.
Mitsumi: Gotten done before the deadline, huh?
Author: For a change, yeah. Hell, even I’m surprised...
Mitsumi: That can’t be a good sign...
Author: (standing up and stretching) Don’t knock it, this might just last the rest of the way out.
Mitsumi: Um, I need to ask you for something...
Author: Yes?
Mitsumi: I decided to run the band without a group. I kinda need some instruments.
Author: NiN-style, huh? Sure, I’ll see what I’ve got stored away...
Mitsumi: (surprised) You’re going to use "it"?
Author: Sure, why not? Hasn’t gotten any use in several months.
The author then reaches behind him and opens a rift in space-time to a large room full of varying objects.
Author: (looking at the camera) For those wondering, this is my little piece of subspace I bought from a traveling merchant. Holds plenty of stuff and the door to it can be opened from anywhere.
The author walks into the rift and comes out several minutes later, wheeling out a rack containing a bass guitar, keyboard, drum machine, and microphone.
Author: I think this should cover it.
Mitsumi: (eyes wide) Wow...yes it will. (thinks for a minute) Not that hard to use, are they?
Author: Not really. (drops a stack of manuals on the rack) The only thing is the drum machine programming.
Mitsumi: (reading the manual intently) Uh huh...
Author: Just keep practicing the guitar, you’re getting pretty good at it.
Mitsumi: How about singing for me? You’re pretty good yourself...
Author: Ah, not really. I’m not talented enough. Besides, you know anytime I try to sing with a lot of volume, it comes out tone-deaf.
Mitsumi: Alright, how about back-up? I could use a little help.
Author: (giving in) Okay, might be fun.
Mitsumi: (finding another subject) What about work on "Drained and Blue" and "Go Back to Sleep, Precious"? When are you getting to them?
Author: Hmm...sometime between upcoming chapters of "Nephilim".
Mitsumi: How about "Know Who I Am"?
Author: You know that’s planned for Valentine’s Day...
Mitsumi: And "Id"?
Author: Under second rewrite. Went from mini-series to long one-shot. Won’t be seeing it released anytime soon, from what I can tell.
Mitsumi: Okay...I guess it’s back to the strings. (leaves room)
Author: (to himself) She’s getting pretty good. (turns toward the camera) Might give you all a taste of her work up ahead.
The opening notes to "Cherub Rock" begin to fill the air, as we pan out away from the room...
-----End of Omake-----
Pre-read was done by FinalMax once again.
And as usual, all comments are welcome; good criticism is appreciated, flames will be overlooked (or stored and used for power.)
-AngelNo13Bardiel