Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ True Angel ❯ Efforts of Acceptance ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

Efforts of Acceptance

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any other series. I am just floating an idea. I am making no money, nor plan to, off this venture. If you think of suing me over this, then grow up.

 

I would like to first personally thank all of those reviewing my stories. I enjoy reading your comments, and try to correct the grammatical errors I miss with my final read-through as well as my spell checkers. The suggestions you all make will help make this story better for everyone to enjoy, as well as allow my to fix some plot holes I may unintentionally leave. If you find any, let me know, and I will correct them and repost the chapters.

 

Please feel free to review, and make comments. If you find a spelling or wordage mistake, feel free to let me know. Thank you.

 

Also, please check out my other stories. I try to keep a constant level of dedication to all of them.

 

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Rei slowly brought herself into the waking world, her hands still clinging to the sheets. Judging from the lack of heat, she was guessing Shinji had been awake for some time and most likely in the kitchen cooking breakfast if the smells were any indication.

 

“Dreams. I like to dream.” She felt weird after waking up every time she dreamed. They made little sense to her; full of chaos, disorder, and jumbled images sometimes fusing.

 

It made little sense to her. She had often heard the people working at NERV discussing their dreams, and from a psychological standpoint, knew what dreams often were. But she had never had them.

 

“Not until I fell asleep near Shinji.”

 

She got up and made her way to her room to prepare for the day. She had tests at NERV to get to. “Perhaps Shinji will be in my class at school tomorrow.”

 

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Shinji had just finished the touches for breakfast when Rei entered, taking the seat she had used yesterday. He smiled at her. “Good morning, Rei. Eat as much as you want.”

 

As she sat down and began eating, Shinji worked on cleaning the dishes, knowing that his meal could wait a minute more.

 

Unfortunately, he had to contend with the Purple Blur.

 

Misato raced into the kitchen, grabbing her plate and wolfing down her food. Her outfit was hastily put on, showing that she more than likely had overslept.

 

She had no idea Shinji had set her clock an hour ahead of the rest of the house. “Sorry, but I gotta get to work like five minutes ago, thanks for the food, be good at school!”

 

Shinji stared at Misato finished her breakfast in a speed rivaled by most anime characters, before speeding out of the apartment. “Um, doesn't she know it's Sunday?”

 

Shinji just sighed, knowing she would be yelling at him when she realized she was actually early for work. He finished her dishes as he heard Rei thank him for the meal and go to finish getting ready.

 

His heart sank as he looked at the table to retrieve her dishes, and found that his own meal had been eaten as well, minus the eggs and bacon. He looked up, crying. “My precious morning pancakes, toast, cereal...”

 

It was the sound of another plate hitting the table that drew his attention.

 

“Pen-Pen, you ATE MY MEAL!”

 

Said penguin made a break for his room, only to be blocked by the winged human. “I am having breakfast.” Shinji's smile became slightly maniacal. “I think I will have raw penguin.”

”SQUAWK!”

 

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Shinji sat inside the EVA, listening as Dr. Akagi began to question him about it, mentioning he should remember where things were, that the EVA normally ran off an umbilical cable.

 

Not anymore. His EVA, Reika: Unit 01, ran off an internal power supply, known as the S2 unit. But he didn't need to become cocky. Even with the S2 unit, his battle with the Third Angel had proven it was also a liability if damaged.

 

And soon, Dr. Akagi began the simulation, a visual of the former Angel appeared in the city, with Ritsuko telling him to take aim and fire.

 

Shinji nearly laughed out loud as he say the HUD try and begin to lock onto the Angel. He trusted his instincts more than a computer, but Reika said he needed to become familiarized with her systems should he ever need the knowledge in battle.

 

He fired off the first volley from his gun, watching as they missed the angel. “Too high and to the right.” He waited as the computers adjusted, Ritsuko telling him to line up the sights in the center. Reika, why are we doing this? I mean, you and I both know how accurate we can be?

 

It is for them to feel better about our skills. Now try again, I believe I have corrected the error.

 

Shinji just sighed. Why me? He continued to fire, grumbling about the absurdity of it all. “Hey, Ritsuko, unless these bullets go through an AT field, they are basically useless, right?”

 

“Um, that's not the point, Shinji.”

 

“So I am just supposed to place the target in the center, pull the switch, and hope the Angel is kind enough to drop its AT filed so I can kill it?”

 

Ritsuko took a deep breath to calm her voice. “Just...just practice as is, okay?”

 

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Maya looked up from her console. “Sempai, do you know why Shinji agreed to pilot again?”

 

Ritsuko looked as the EVA Unit 01 ran through the program. “Probably because for some reason, he hates the Angels more than his own father.”

 

Misato just stared as the behemoth ran through its training. Simple. Because he has a demon so dark, he will even work with the one he considers the devil to kill it.

 

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“Target in the center, pull the switch.” Shinji repeated that after every simulation Third Angel he killed. Man, this has got to be the worst first person shooter game I've ever come across.

 

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Morning came again, as Shinji awoke. After bathing and getting dressed, he made his rounds. He woke Rei up first, as she had requested to have that done so as to bathe before breakfast.

 

Shinji could tell she was a little distraught. His morning practice had taken him away, and that caused her dreams to fade. Maybe if I leave a feather or two; that will help her. Wonder why I help her dream?

 

Well, at least she is wearing the nightshirt now.

 

As he knocked on Misato's door, he could hear the lady on the radio talking about driving conditions. Lucky I don't drive.

 

“I just got back from night duty, Shinji. Could I just sleep?”

 

He smiled. “Sure, I'll leave you a snack in the fridge if you wake up before I get back.”

 

She raised her hand from the blankets. “Oh, is today Thursday? Make certain you take out the burnable trash.”

 

“Okay,” he said as he closed the door. I cleaned that room two days ago, and it's already dirty.

 

Man, what a slob.

 

As he dropped off the trash, he and Rei left for school.

 

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“Why are you staring at the cell phone for, Shinji-kun?”

 

He tore his thoughts from the phone Misato had given him to look at Rei. “Nothing, really. I'm just wondering who at my old school I should give the number to.”

 

Rei, for some reason, felt...envy? Anger? “Why?”

 

“I promised them I would keep in touch. I didn't have that many friends, so I became close to those I did have. I would hate to lose that.”

 

Rei nodded, wondering why she had felt...possessive, all of the sudden.

 

They arrived at class, Rei taking her seat by the window, directing her attention out it in deep thought, while Shinji took the seat behind her, opening his computer and beginning to read whatever online books the school system had the peaked his interest at the moment.

 

Hearing some noise, he saw a boy he learned was Kensuke Aida talking to the Class Representative. Wonder what he did wrong?

 

As a new guy came in, their talk switched over to the apparent lack of people in the classroom. Can't really blame them. Big and green obviously wanted something here. You can bet his friends will be coming for it as well.

 

That forced Shinji to once again contemplate the null field in NERV. It deadened his senses and perceptions beyond the basic five. His range of sensing people and powers were cut considerably in NERV, with only the most intense feelings reaching him, and even then, they had to almost be upon him to notice.

 

And then there was Rei. She told him nothing about anything. Stuff he could use to get an idea of why he felt close to her was often restricted.

 

Sighing, he returned to his electronic book, the thoughts put away for now. He vowed to understand what was messing with him in NERV, why he felt connected to Rei.

 

As the teacher came in, he also vowed to figure out why the guy who had been talking to Kensuke appeared ready to kill him.

 

As the teacher droned on about stuff Shinji had learned in the third grade, his computer beeped at him. A message appeared, asking if he was the pilot.

 

He blinked, wondering why anyone would care if he was a pilot. Looking around, he spotted two girls who were waving at him, before resuming the message client, asking him to admit it. Girls, always with the damn girls.

 

You see, Shinji was not lacking in popularity for shyness. When a few girls were walking by his home, they had seen him practicing, which led to them checking him out, as he didn't have a shirt on, and thankfully, he only let his wings out inside his home.

 

His Mother-guardian had referred to them as merely “checking the fresh meat”; he referred to it as holding back and losing to hormones.

 

He wasn't stupid by a long shot. He knew what they wanted: they wanted a hot boyfriend. The fact that he was smart was icing on the cake for most.

 

Sighing as they prompted him again for an answer, he sent the reply that yes, he was a pilot.

 

After all, what would admitting that hurt?

 

Boy, was he surprised two seconds later after he hit enter.

 

Damn, didn't know everyone was on the same client board.

 

And why the hell are there so many girls in this class?

 

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Shinji was walking away from the school. Rei had had cleaning duty, and had informed him that he should return home.

 

Actually, he wanted to, as the class was determined to get some answers out of him about Unit 01 and being a pilot.

 

Soon though, he was bent over backwards at fifty degrees from the standing position to avoid a fist to his face. “Nice aim, but your timing sucks.”

 

As his attacked made to punch him again, Shinji brought up his feet, completing a back flip and kicking his attacker in the gut. Now, while he may not be allowed to bring his sword to school, and was currently trying to find a way around that, he was far from defenseless.

 

“Face me like a man!” cried out the attacker.

 

Shinji shook his head. When the hell did I end up in a Ranma anime? “Why would I face you like a man, when you face me like a coward?”

 

“My name is Toji Suzuhara. And because of you and your EVA wrecking the city, my little sister got hurt.” He pounded his left fist into his right palm. “I figure I owe you a severe beating for that.”

 

Shinji smoothed out his shirt. “First, how was she being hurt my fault? Why wasn't she in a shelter?

 

“Two, if I hadn't stopped the big and ugly, not one damn person would be alive right now. So don't blame me because I had to do what I had to, to save your ungrateful ass.

 

“Third, if the only problem is that she's hurt, then where is she? I know some healing techniques that could regrow an arm in several uses.”

 

“You think this is funny?” screamed Toji as he started trying to once again punch Shinji.

 

Shinji, however, was content to let the upset brother tire himself out first, and began to dance around his punches. “I was being honest. Anyone with enough training can do it, you just need someone with enough ki and training that can pull it off.” He waited until Toji overextended himself, before wrapping his right hand around Toji's throat and lifting him off the ground.

 

Toji felt his anger change to fear as Shinji easily lifted him off the ground with a single hand, appearing to not even be straining under the larger kid's weight.

 

“Now, we can both calm down, and go heal your sister today, or I can head home and eat. This is totally up to you.”

 

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Shinji stifled a yawn while walking home, a grocery bag in hand. Toji's sister; Naru, had really been messed up when she was caught by the debris. And while she wasn't as bad off as Rei had been, she was still slowly dying.

 

Was being the keyword, as Shinji healed her, without releasing his wings, which meant he had far less energy available.

 

As such, he was tired, and wanted to get home, grab a meal, and leave his wings out till it was bedtime.

 

Unfortunately, his cell phone had other ideas.

 

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Shinji stared at the satellite image of the Fourth Angel, once again wondering what had happened to the first two. “It's a party balloon.”

 

It is still powerful!

 

Shinji leaned his head back. The end of the world is going to be caused by a fucking purple people eater.

 

As the Unit 01 was launched, Shinji came face to face with the giant dildo shaped tentacle monster, emptying his clip into it. “Hey, Misato, I did the gun thing. And the tapeworm is still alive. Next brilliant idea?”

 

Quickly, Shinji jumped to the side as purple energy whips flew out of the smoke, slicing both his rifle and the catapult bay into pieces.

 

“Shinji, we're launching a spare rifle!” shouted Misato over the comm.

 

“And that will help...how?”

 

Shinji and Reika dodged the energy attacks. Reika, try narrowing our AT field. If we can grab those whips, we can enjoy a new punching clown.

 

Unfortunately, the energy whips acted in one way differently than Shinji had accounted for: they had no wind resistance.

 

As the AT field barely kept the whips from bisecting him, they sent him into the air. Reika, this day sucks.

 

I know, Shinji. I know.

 

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As Shinji watched as Misato bitched out Kensuke and Toji, he looked as Unit 01 was loaded onto a transport truck. Unit 01 had been pierced in two places as Shinji made a near kamikaze run to breach the Angel's core with his progressive knife.

 

Reika, will you be okay?

 

Reika was silent though. The first attack from the Angel to connect had damaged the S2 power source and compromised main power. The backup had been enough to get the two classmates aboard, and finish the job.

 

Until Reika had achieved a functioning power link, she would be sleeping, trying to repair her S2 engine.

 

He placed his hand against his EVA, willing whatever power he could afford to spend into it, making certain no one saw as he let his wings out. If Toji and Kensuke hadn't been around, he would have done this inside the entry plug.

 

Thank...you...Shinji.

 

He smiled as his wings fell back inside him.

 

Man, he was really beginning to hate this place.

 

But, at least a possible new group of friends were safe.

 

In the end, maybe today hadn't been a total waste.

 

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Omake by Innortal:

 

As the Third Angel neared the city, Gendo cursed his luck. Rei was unavailable, Unit 00 was in cryo-stasis, Unit 01 refused to activate, and Shinji was stuck in Kyoto-2 because security had thought his baking supply of oregano was actually marijuana.

 

“Release Fluffy.”

 

The generals turned to him, as the bridge bunnies took in deep breathes.

 

“Ikari, what or who is Fluffy?”

 

Gendo steeped his fingers. “It is a cloned animal based on samples we recovered from the Cave of Caerbannog. After every test, we had to use the Type-VII N2 Mine: the Holy N2 Mines of Antioch, to kill it. It can only be used once, and then becomes too unstable to recapture. But you are welcome to try.”

 

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The Third Angel looked at the little white rabbit that had exited the small cage. Thinking it was nothing, it made a move to squash it and carry on with its task.

 

That was when the cute monster launched towards the Angel's throat.

 

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The entire bridge complement watched as the Angel screamed before its head fell off, causing it to collapse to the ground. Soon, the glowing core turned dark, and the Angel was silent.

Fluffy soon appeared, and began to much on the Angel, as if it was a carrot.

 

“My God...”

 

“Such a terrible weapon...”

 

Gendo smiled. It looked like his budget would soon be improving...assuming they could get a Holy N2 mine out there to kill that damn rabbit so they could leave the building.