What's so alien about being a dumbass? We've got millions of them already.
Broken Wings [NGE]
- Thread starter Teen Spirit
- Start date
What's so alien about being a dumbass? We've got millions of them already.
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Is Asuka truly weirded out, or is she just envious she doesn't have cultists too?
I am still getting a great laugh out of the fact Asuka literally can't get along with herself. Of everyone in the 'future', she's having the most trouble accepting that in 20 years she could be the older Asuka she's met. How dare she grow up and mature! And ewww, have a kid with baka Shinji?!
Of course, that will get a lot less amusing for Shinji and Asuka when they learn the reason was Misato having a breakdown in the wake of Kaji's murder.
Looks like Mari definitely got her honesty from her mother... Good of Mana to say that up front, too.
Sachiel kicked this entire thing off by being a panicky idiot. No one would have known a thing if he hadn't freaked out and attacked. The Angels, for all they like to think they're totally alien to humanity, are still acting just like humans would. Like stressed out teenagers with mental conditions, in fact. Surprise!
- Location
- supernatural
Sachiel and Ramiel are not work together as he said a few chapters ago, Sachiel wanted to avoid something like Ramiel did as he knew the humans would not respond very well.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sachiel is only really opposed to killing the original pilots,unless I'm not remembering correctly, it's been a long day. And he's only really opposed to that because he fears how Misato and Ria will react.
- Location
- Cajun City
If it was not for misato none of the pilots would not have learn to work together. Every time shinji and asuka work together they mess things up. They were eaten alive by one the weakest angels in the series, then they got their butts handle to them by two more angels. If it was not for misato they would not have beaten or survive most of those battles. When shinji did try to go it along by telling her combat is man, he was swallow up by the angle. And you call him a badass? Later asuka would also go it along too and we saw how that turn out. It clear whitout misato these brats are lost.
Yet nobody gives her the credit she deserves, instead you people give her a hard time just because she punish shinji for blowing up half the world? What the hell did y'all want her to do? Let him get away whit mass murder? The only reason why she didn't tell him what he did is because she don't know what the hell you gonna get from....someone like him. One minute he sleeping with kensuke in a tent bonding over their dead mommy's, the next thing he trying to kiss a girl in her sleep. One minute her taking nude baths with sugar boy, the next minute he strangling girls on beaches. The kid is a damn psycho you can't tell those kind of people they destroy the world and not expect them to do something crazy? He deserve whatever happened him in the third rebuild movie and whatever happens to him in the final.
Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'm sure Matarael would disagree.
Not sure which Angels you mean by 'two more angels', but if it's Zeruel and Armisael, they were both bullshit to the highest degree.
I will give you Israfel, though even that one had bullshit to it with the split core.
Leliel was also bullshit to the highest degree.
It's true that you shouldn't let people get away with mass murder, but it's unreasonable to expect Shinji to know that the machine he's piloting is capable of that kind of bullshit if nobody tells him fricking anything about it.
He had just been betrayed by someone he loved intensely and forced to kill him. A boy he was convinced was his sole chance at anything resembling no-strings-attached friendship after all the shit he'd been through. There's also the fact he'd just been presented with the sight of the Mass-Produced Evangelions picking at the corpses of Unit-02 and Asuka. Can you blame him for all that shit driving him the slightest bit mad?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Sorry for the lack of updates recently, had some personal stuff. Hopefully the next part of the chapter will be up this week.
- Location
- supernatural
Will you have something for the Rebuild Wings fic this or next week?
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
- Location
- somewhere hot
Chapter 8 Part 4
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Little bit later than I intended but here we go.
/
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ria asked for what seemed like the twentieth time that hour.
She was pacing around the hotel, glancing at every corner like an Angel might burst forth from it at any moment.
She had been like this since the moment they arrived, paranoid, ever watchful, and incredibly clingy.
Asuka wasn't even sure if she slept anymore, last night she had found her staring out the window, glaring at the city below.
She needed to get out of the hotel room, for everyone's mental wellbeing.
"We're fine," Asuka insisted.
"Are you sure?" she said, her voice fringed with concern. "I mean, the meeting was cancelled, I could just cancel my date. She'll understand."
"We are fine," Asuka repeated, gently forcing her daughter to the door. "We have security and I think the Angels know what you'll do if anyone gives us trouble."
Ria paused at the door "Just promise to call me if you have any trouble."
"We will. Now go out there, enjoy yourself, try to have fun."
Asuka paused for a moment.
"Not too much fun," she added. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Asuka paused again, considering the things she would have and did do at Ria's age.
"Actually don't do anything I would do. Err...Just don't do anything that leads to Mari's parents chasing you with a baseball bat, or come back with more girls than you started with. Again."
"That was one time," Ria protested. "And they were both consenting."
"I don't care. You're sixteen and I'm not that open minded," Asuka countered.
Ria departed. A few seconds after she was gone, Asuka collapsed into a faux-leather couch with a sigh.
"Is it wrong that I'm glad she's out of the house?" Asuka asked, slightly ashamed of herself.
"Well, she has been rather clingy since we got here." Shinji replied.
"No, I mean it's just nice not to have to worry about… you know."
It was shameful she even felt this way and yet…
If Ria had been any other Angel, bar one very particular one, Asuka would be much more at ease. If Zeruel ended up being anyone else, Mari, Kodama, whatever, she never would have trusted them.
Her being Zeruel…
"I know what you mean," Shinji agreed, looking ashamed of himself.
"It's not that I distrust her. She's proven herself. It's just...I just..." Asuka groaned as she struggled to find the words
"I shouldn't fucking feel this way about my daughter," she chastised herself. "I shouldn't feel scared of my own kid. Why am I such a damn coward?"
Shinji sat down next to her. "Speaking from experience; don't beat yourself up over this, it's not worth it. Considering the situation you've been a good mother. Better than anything we ever had. No offense to Misato."
Asuka smirked, freeing herself of some of the guilt "Faint praise there, Ikari. Faint praise indeed."
"No, but really," Shinji insisted, "You've really been a really good mother these past few days. We could have messed this up royally but you made sure we didn't."
Asuka wasn't entirely sure she deserved Shinji's praise but hearing it was a comfort.
"On that note, you know I have to say, Shinji, you've really stepped up to the plate recently," Asuka said.
He stared at her blankly for a moment, awkward silence filling the room.
"How?" he asked bluntly.
Oh Shinji, Asuka thought dryly, Even at the best of times you can't see yourself as anything but a screw up.
"You were there for Ria during the first attack, you terrified the heck out of Okito, you protected our other selves from that other Angel, you were honest about your dreams. You… you've been there for me, for Ria. As bad as things were when you left, I don't know what I would do if you weren't here now."
She moved closer, slightly, subtly.
Shinji looked at her with shock, pain, but beneath those two, she saw relief.
"I... I should have come back sooner," he admitted, much to Asuka's surprise.
Considering everything that happened to him, how much these past few weeks must have been utter Hell for him, for Shinji to say that was incredible.
"I stayed away because I was afraid it would just be like the old days, but it wasn't, it hasn't been at all. We've actually gotten along great. You were there for me when I needed you."
He gingerly took her hand, holding it for a moment. The two looked at each other, feelings long buried flaring to the surface.
"Thank you," he said.
"Yeah, no problem," Asuka nodded, her mind swirling with a hundred different thoughts.
Is he? He couldn't be.
"There's something I need to tell you," he said as he stood up, heading towards the kitchen.
"Okay." Asuka replied, puzzled "Why are you leaving then?"
He pulled out a bottle of wine the hotel had provided, two crystal glasses, and returned. "Because I'm not going to be able to do this sober."
/
"So... question," Mari said. "Apologies if this is too personal, but when did your parents know you liked girls?"
Ria looked up from the dress she had been looking at. "Mom said she figured it out when I was about ten. Why? Please tell me your mother knows. I don't want to go through that again."
Mari had taken Ria clothes shopping, her treat. Mari had hoped it would take her mind off things, though admittedly being reminded that she had no clothes did little to help Ria. Still, Mari had meant well.
"No, no. She knows," Mari replied. "She's a conservative Christian so she was a bit...uncertain at first but she came around. I'm just worried about my grandparents... haven't actually told them yet."
"Ahh," Ria said, understanding. "Sadly not much help there either, only interaction I've had with my grandparents recently was nearly getting crushed by my grandmother."
Mari stared at her, a baffled expression on her face.
"What?" Ria asked.
"You mean one of the Evas right?"
"Yeah."
Mari laughed slighty. "Oh good, it's just from the stories you told me Misato I pictured her drunkenly collapsing on you or something."
Ria smirked. "No no, those were stories my mom told me."
Ria went back to looking at shirts.
"You want to run away?" Mari suddenly blurted out.
"What?" It was now Ria's turn to look utterly bewildered.
"I mean let's go somewhere. Book a flight to Boston and start a new life there. Maybe open a food truck while we work on our novel. I make pretty good tacos, maybe we'll do some sort of Mexican-Japanese fusion thing."
Ria stood there in the back of the clothing store, staring at her girlfriend like a second head had erupted from her chin.
"I feel like I'm missing something here. Do you want to go out for Tacos?"
"No." Mari sighed. "Well, actually yes, but that's besides the point. It's just...my mom is well... I don't really know what she's doing but it involves the Mech program she was part of. She's part of that. Which means she's part the war effort and then there was that bullshit Okito pulled and…"
Mari trailed off.
Ria pulled her close, wrapping her arms around her.
"I know," Ria whispered. "Believe me, I know."
"I just want to get away from all of this." Mari's voice shook.
Ria sighed. "I want to too, but I can't just abandon my parents. And after Seoul..."
"Oh hell," Mari sighed. "I guess nowhere is safe now."
Mari let go.
"Yeah, kind of turned things to shit hasn't it?" an accented voice called out.
Ria turned. A woman was looking some floral patterned tops a short distance away.
She looked over.
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."
She was dark skinned, with deep brown eyes and black hair that looked like she had just woken up about five minutes ago and tied it into a loose ponytail. She was dressed in some sort of leather jacket and jeans. Her accent was not one either of them had heard before.
"How long have you been standing there?" Ria questioned, her eyes shooting daggers at the woman.
"This is a public store," the woman countered.
"Yeah, that's fair," Mari agreed. "I uh, need to go powder my nose. I'll catch up with you in a minute, Ria."
Mari dashed off. Ria looked around the store, making sure no one was close by.
"Who the heck says 'powder your nose'?" the woman asked jokingly.
"I could kill you now, you do know that?" Ria whispered, her voice barely more than a growl.
"Wow, overly hostile much? Sheesh, Sachiel really fucked with your head didn't he?"
Ria bared her teeth. "What do you want?"
The woman put her hands up in a non-threatening gesture. "Relax, relax. I'm not part of Ramiel's madness."
"Sachiel said the same."
The two Angels stared at each other, one with indifference, the other rage.
"He lied," she said with a shrug. "People lie too, doesn't mean you shouldn't treat them all as liars. Besides I was a fish. What exactly can I do here in Kyoto? Flop around on the streets?"
Ria's left hand shook at her side, nails digging into her palm. "The one Angel I trusted more than anyone betrayed me. Another ambushed my father in a parking lot. And Ramiel just burned half of Seoul for no reason I can tell. So I'm not exactly inclined to extend you the benefit of the doubt. What do you want, Gaghiel?"
"Wow, you must have some serious self-hatred issues." The Angel reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She offered it to Ria, who took it hesitantly.
"What is it?" Ria asked, her eyes never leaving the woman. Rage boiling just beneath the surface.
Gaghiel rolled her eyes. "A letter, from one of us, I assume. Don't ask me names; I don't know. Just found this in the mail along with a considerable offer of money should I give it you. Like, so much money."
"Another Angel paid you to give me a letter?" Ria questioned.
"It's not for you. It's for your father. I guess they figured it was smarter to try and reach you."
She opened it, then closed it again a moment later, stuffing it into her pants' pocket.
"They're insane," Ria declared.
"Not my business." Gaghiel shrugged as she walked away.
"You know I'll tell them what you look like," Ria snarled.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," she replied, giving a dismissive wave.
/
They were two glasses in before Shinji spoke up again.
"I know you and Misato both probably know the gist of what actually happened during Third Impact." His voice was even, though Asuka could see the guilt on his face.
He went on. "I thought I was content pretending only I knew the truth of what happened, but then Ria revealed how much she knew and I can't just lie anymore. You need to know the full truth."
"Wait, how does Ria know?" Asuka questioned. She hadn't exactly gone into details about Third Impact with Ria. She knew more than most did, but not that much.
Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose "Apparently the Angels all had a good view of Third Impact despite being, you know, dead."
Oh good, her greatest triumph turned greatest defeat had an audience, that was just wonderful.
Also that meant Ria remembered being a giant genocidal kaiju, dying as said kaiju, and also being a ghost. The brief terrifying memories Asuka had of instrumentality kept her awake sometimes, actually remembering dying and being dead? Asuka couldn't help but wonder how different Ria's mind must have been to be able to handle that and remain sane.
Shinji sighed, trying to collect his strength.
"Take all the time you need," Asuka reassured him.
Shinji took a long drink from his glass, dots of dark red marking his mouth.
"During Third impact... I saw what the Mass Produced Evas had done to you. I saw them carrying the broken, shattered remains of Unit-02. I saw them eating it. Something inside me snapped, I had failed you, again. It broke me, you were all I had left at that point. Misato was dying, all my friends were gone, Kaworu had betrayed me, Father had used me. You were all I had left, and in that moment I thought I had left you to die."
He let out a deep sigh, his face buried in his head as he leaned on the counter. Years of built up rage and sorrow came spilling out.
"So when Rei, when Lilith came to me. I had given up on everything, there was nothing left for me. I had fallen so far into despair that when she gave her authority to me I just...I just wanted everyone to go away."
To Asuka's shock, Shinji didn't break down. He looked miserable but in a way he looked somewhat relieved.
"In a single moment I screwed up the entire world, so many people died, so many nations... So many are still stuck in instrumentality. I've always felt I was escaping punishment, allowing you and Misato to lie to the world so that I could be free. All while pretending I didn't…"
"Punish the people who made the MP Evas," Asuka interrupted. "Punish Gendo, punish SEELE, heck punish Lilith for putting you in that position. But you, you didn't have control there."
"But I did!" he protested.
"No, no you didn't," Asuka said firmly. "Not really. A lot of people would have done the same in your position. I probably would have done the same in your shoes. And things considered, it could have been so much worse."
If Gendo had won, if SEELE or the Angels had won, humanity would either be dead or in far worse shape. What Shinji had done was the least horrible bad option, and truth be told none of the good options were possible, not with SEELE controlling so much.
She had known Shinji was behind Third Impact, that had been clear since the first days after it. The broken look in his eyes made it clear. Once she might have blamed him, but now she just saw his role in it as a sad broken kid asked the wrong question at the worst possible moment.
Though hearing that it was her, her defeat and near death that had brought him so low, was hard. Guilt filled her.
She grabbed him, holding him as close as she could.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"Does it feel better? Now that you said it?" she asked.
He nodded. "I don't know If I'll ever be okay with it but I think I'm getting better. My guilt is not helping anything."
She let him go.
"So anything else you want to get off your chest?" she asked.
"No," Shinji replied, "but thank you for listening."
Asuka stared at her half empty wine glass. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you to stay earlier. I should have, even nearly told you a few times."
"You did?" Shinji said in surprise.
"Yeah. Last Christmas I…" she trailed off.
They found themselves staring at each other. In that moment she saw the boy she fell in love with. The soft, sweet boy who was stronger than everyone thought, himself included.
"God, I missed you," Asuka groaned. "When you left I thought I could move past you, find someone else. But there was never anyone else, just you, always you."
Her heart hammered in her chest.
A small hint of a smile appearing on his face. "Same. I needed to leave but I should have come back. Why didn't I come back?"
"You're here now," she whispered. Asuka leaned in close, their faces just inches apart.
Last time together they had nearly broken each other, but they were both stronger now. And being apart felt so...empty.
"I... don't want to take advantage of you," Shinji whispered. "I don't want us to make some drunken mistake."
She couldn't deny the perhaps awkward timing of this moment but she would not pass it up.
"The only mistake was waiting so long," Asuka assured him. "I'm not a kid anymore and I'm not that drunk."
Shinji grabbed Asuka, pulling her tightly. Her chair falling to the floor.
For the first time in fourteen years, they kissed, neither pulling away.
They kissed passionately until it became too hard to breathe.
Asuka felt happier than she had felt in years, she could see the fear, the pain, and all that doubt melting from his face.
"That...That was good," Shinji said breathlessly.
"Yeah," Asuka agreed.
She grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the kitchen, towards her bedroom.
"What are you doing?" Shinji asked.
Asuka smiled mischievously. "I've waited over a decade for you, I'm not letting it end at just that."
/
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ria asked for what seemed like the twentieth time that hour.
She was pacing around the hotel, glancing at every corner like an Angel might burst forth from it at any moment.
She had been like this since the moment they arrived, paranoid, ever watchful, and incredibly clingy.
Asuka wasn't even sure if she slept anymore, last night she had found her staring out the window, glaring at the city below.
She needed to get out of the hotel room, for everyone's mental wellbeing.
"We're fine," Asuka insisted.
"Are you sure?" she said, her voice fringed with concern. "I mean, the meeting was cancelled, I could just cancel my date. She'll understand."
"We are fine," Asuka repeated, gently forcing her daughter to the door. "We have security and I think the Angels know what you'll do if anyone gives us trouble."
Ria paused at the door "Just promise to call me if you have any trouble."
"We will. Now go out there, enjoy yourself, try to have fun."
Asuka paused for a moment.
"Not too much fun," she added. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
Asuka paused again, considering the things she would have and did do at Ria's age.
"Actually don't do anything I would do. Err...Just don't do anything that leads to Mari's parents chasing you with a baseball bat, or come back with more girls than you started with. Again."
"That was one time," Ria protested. "And they were both consenting."
"I don't care. You're sixteen and I'm not that open minded," Asuka countered.
Ria departed. A few seconds after she was gone, Asuka collapsed into a faux-leather couch with a sigh.
"Is it wrong that I'm glad she's out of the house?" Asuka asked, slightly ashamed of herself.
"Well, she has been rather clingy since we got here." Shinji replied.
"No, I mean it's just nice not to have to worry about… you know."
It was shameful she even felt this way and yet…
If Ria had been any other Angel, bar one very particular one, Asuka would be much more at ease. If Zeruel ended up being anyone else, Mari, Kodama, whatever, she never would have trusted them.
Her being Zeruel…
"I know what you mean," Shinji agreed, looking ashamed of himself.
"It's not that I distrust her. She's proven herself. It's just...I just..." Asuka groaned as she struggled to find the words
"I shouldn't fucking feel this way about my daughter," she chastised herself. "I shouldn't feel scared of my own kid. Why am I such a damn coward?"
Shinji sat down next to her. "Speaking from experience; don't beat yourself up over this, it's not worth it. Considering the situation you've been a good mother. Better than anything we ever had. No offense to Misato."
Asuka smirked, freeing herself of some of the guilt "Faint praise there, Ikari. Faint praise indeed."
"No, but really," Shinji insisted, "You've really been a really good mother these past few days. We could have messed this up royally but you made sure we didn't."
Asuka wasn't entirely sure she deserved Shinji's praise but hearing it was a comfort.
"On that note, you know I have to say, Shinji, you've really stepped up to the plate recently," Asuka said.
He stared at her blankly for a moment, awkward silence filling the room.
"How?" he asked bluntly.
Oh Shinji, Asuka thought dryly, Even at the best of times you can't see yourself as anything but a screw up.
"You were there for Ria during the first attack, you terrified the heck out of Okito, you protected our other selves from that other Angel, you were honest about your dreams. You… you've been there for me, for Ria. As bad as things were when you left, I don't know what I would do if you weren't here now."
She moved closer, slightly, subtly.
Shinji looked at her with shock, pain, but beneath those two, she saw relief.
"I... I should have come back sooner," he admitted, much to Asuka's surprise.
Considering everything that happened to him, how much these past few weeks must have been utter Hell for him, for Shinji to say that was incredible.
"I stayed away because I was afraid it would just be like the old days, but it wasn't, it hasn't been at all. We've actually gotten along great. You were there for me when I needed you."
He gingerly took her hand, holding it for a moment. The two looked at each other, feelings long buried flaring to the surface.
"Thank you," he said.
"Yeah, no problem," Asuka nodded, her mind swirling with a hundred different thoughts.
Is he? He couldn't be.
"There's something I need to tell you," he said as he stood up, heading towards the kitchen.
"Okay." Asuka replied, puzzled "Why are you leaving then?"
He pulled out a bottle of wine the hotel had provided, two crystal glasses, and returned. "Because I'm not going to be able to do this sober."
/
"So... question," Mari said. "Apologies if this is too personal, but when did your parents know you liked girls?"
Ria looked up from the dress she had been looking at. "Mom said she figured it out when I was about ten. Why? Please tell me your mother knows. I don't want to go through that again."
Mari had taken Ria clothes shopping, her treat. Mari had hoped it would take her mind off things, though admittedly being reminded that she had no clothes did little to help Ria. Still, Mari had meant well.
"No, no. She knows," Mari replied. "She's a conservative Christian so she was a bit...uncertain at first but she came around. I'm just worried about my grandparents... haven't actually told them yet."
"Ahh," Ria said, understanding. "Sadly not much help there either, only interaction I've had with my grandparents recently was nearly getting crushed by my grandmother."
Mari stared at her, a baffled expression on her face.
"What?" Ria asked.
"You mean one of the Evas right?"
"Yeah."
Mari laughed slighty. "Oh good, it's just from the stories you told me Misato I pictured her drunkenly collapsing on you or something."
Ria smirked. "No no, those were stories my mom told me."
Ria went back to looking at shirts.
"You want to run away?" Mari suddenly blurted out.
"What?" It was now Ria's turn to look utterly bewildered.
"I mean let's go somewhere. Book a flight to Boston and start a new life there. Maybe open a food truck while we work on our novel. I make pretty good tacos, maybe we'll do some sort of Mexican-Japanese fusion thing."
Ria stood there in the back of the clothing store, staring at her girlfriend like a second head had erupted from her chin.
"I feel like I'm missing something here. Do you want to go out for Tacos?"
"No." Mari sighed. "Well, actually yes, but that's besides the point. It's just...my mom is well... I don't really know what she's doing but it involves the Mech program she was part of. She's part of that. Which means she's part the war effort and then there was that bullshit Okito pulled and…"
Mari trailed off.
Ria pulled her close, wrapping her arms around her.
"I know," Ria whispered. "Believe me, I know."
"I just want to get away from all of this." Mari's voice shook.
Ria sighed. "I want to too, but I can't just abandon my parents. And after Seoul..."
"Oh hell," Mari sighed. "I guess nowhere is safe now."
Mari let go.
"Yeah, kind of turned things to shit hasn't it?" an accented voice called out.
Ria turned. A woman was looking some floral patterned tops a short distance away.
She looked over.
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."
She was dark skinned, with deep brown eyes and black hair that looked like she had just woken up about five minutes ago and tied it into a loose ponytail. She was dressed in some sort of leather jacket and jeans. Her accent was not one either of them had heard before.
"How long have you been standing there?" Ria questioned, her eyes shooting daggers at the woman.
"This is a public store," the woman countered.
"Yeah, that's fair," Mari agreed. "I uh, need to go powder my nose. I'll catch up with you in a minute, Ria."
Mari dashed off. Ria looked around the store, making sure no one was close by.
"Who the heck says 'powder your nose'?" the woman asked jokingly.
"I could kill you now, you do know that?" Ria whispered, her voice barely more than a growl.
"Wow, overly hostile much? Sheesh, Sachiel really fucked with your head didn't he?"
Ria bared her teeth. "What do you want?"
The woman put her hands up in a non-threatening gesture. "Relax, relax. I'm not part of Ramiel's madness."
"Sachiel said the same."
The two Angels stared at each other, one with indifference, the other rage.
"He lied," she said with a shrug. "People lie too, doesn't mean you shouldn't treat them all as liars. Besides I was a fish. What exactly can I do here in Kyoto? Flop around on the streets?"
Ria's left hand shook at her side, nails digging into her palm. "The one Angel I trusted more than anyone betrayed me. Another ambushed my father in a parking lot. And Ramiel just burned half of Seoul for no reason I can tell. So I'm not exactly inclined to extend you the benefit of the doubt. What do you want, Gaghiel?"
"Wow, you must have some serious self-hatred issues." The Angel reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She offered it to Ria, who took it hesitantly.
"What is it?" Ria asked, her eyes never leaving the woman. Rage boiling just beneath the surface.
Gaghiel rolled her eyes. "A letter, from one of us, I assume. Don't ask me names; I don't know. Just found this in the mail along with a considerable offer of money should I give it you. Like, so much money."
"Another Angel paid you to give me a letter?" Ria questioned.
"It's not for you. It's for your father. I guess they figured it was smarter to try and reach you."
She opened it, then closed it again a moment later, stuffing it into her pants' pocket.
"They're insane," Ria declared.
"Not my business." Gaghiel shrugged as she walked away.
"You know I'll tell them what you look like," Ria snarled.
"Yeah yeah, whatever," she replied, giving a dismissive wave.
/
They were two glasses in before Shinji spoke up again.
"I know you and Misato both probably know the gist of what actually happened during Third Impact." His voice was even, though Asuka could see the guilt on his face.
He went on. "I thought I was content pretending only I knew the truth of what happened, but then Ria revealed how much she knew and I can't just lie anymore. You need to know the full truth."
"Wait, how does Ria know?" Asuka questioned. She hadn't exactly gone into details about Third Impact with Ria. She knew more than most did, but not that much.
Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose "Apparently the Angels all had a good view of Third Impact despite being, you know, dead."
Oh good, her greatest triumph turned greatest defeat had an audience, that was just wonderful.
Also that meant Ria remembered being a giant genocidal kaiju, dying as said kaiju, and also being a ghost. The brief terrifying memories Asuka had of instrumentality kept her awake sometimes, actually remembering dying and being dead? Asuka couldn't help but wonder how different Ria's mind must have been to be able to handle that and remain sane.
Shinji sighed, trying to collect his strength.
"Take all the time you need," Asuka reassured him.
Shinji took a long drink from his glass, dots of dark red marking his mouth.
"During Third impact... I saw what the Mass Produced Evas had done to you. I saw them carrying the broken, shattered remains of Unit-02. I saw them eating it. Something inside me snapped, I had failed you, again. It broke me, you were all I had left at that point. Misato was dying, all my friends were gone, Kaworu had betrayed me, Father had used me. You were all I had left, and in that moment I thought I had left you to die."
He let out a deep sigh, his face buried in his head as he leaned on the counter. Years of built up rage and sorrow came spilling out.
"So when Rei, when Lilith came to me. I had given up on everything, there was nothing left for me. I had fallen so far into despair that when she gave her authority to me I just...I just wanted everyone to go away."
To Asuka's shock, Shinji didn't break down. He looked miserable but in a way he looked somewhat relieved.
"In a single moment I screwed up the entire world, so many people died, so many nations... So many are still stuck in instrumentality. I've always felt I was escaping punishment, allowing you and Misato to lie to the world so that I could be free. All while pretending I didn't…"
"Punish the people who made the MP Evas," Asuka interrupted. "Punish Gendo, punish SEELE, heck punish Lilith for putting you in that position. But you, you didn't have control there."
"But I did!" he protested.
"No, no you didn't," Asuka said firmly. "Not really. A lot of people would have done the same in your position. I probably would have done the same in your shoes. And things considered, it could have been so much worse."
If Gendo had won, if SEELE or the Angels had won, humanity would either be dead or in far worse shape. What Shinji had done was the least horrible bad option, and truth be told none of the good options were possible, not with SEELE controlling so much.
She had known Shinji was behind Third Impact, that had been clear since the first days after it. The broken look in his eyes made it clear. Once she might have blamed him, but now she just saw his role in it as a sad broken kid asked the wrong question at the worst possible moment.
Though hearing that it was her, her defeat and near death that had brought him so low, was hard. Guilt filled her.
She grabbed him, holding him as close as she could.
"Thank you," he whispered.
"Does it feel better? Now that you said it?" she asked.
He nodded. "I don't know If I'll ever be okay with it but I think I'm getting better. My guilt is not helping anything."
She let him go.
"So anything else you want to get off your chest?" she asked.
"No," Shinji replied, "but thank you for listening."
Asuka stared at her half empty wine glass. "I'm sorry I didn't ask you to stay earlier. I should have, even nearly told you a few times."
"You did?" Shinji said in surprise.
"Yeah. Last Christmas I…" she trailed off.
They found themselves staring at each other. In that moment she saw the boy she fell in love with. The soft, sweet boy who was stronger than everyone thought, himself included.
"God, I missed you," Asuka groaned. "When you left I thought I could move past you, find someone else. But there was never anyone else, just you, always you."
Her heart hammered in her chest.
A small hint of a smile appearing on his face. "Same. I needed to leave but I should have come back. Why didn't I come back?"
"You're here now," she whispered. Asuka leaned in close, their faces just inches apart.
Last time together they had nearly broken each other, but they were both stronger now. And being apart felt so...empty.
"I... don't want to take advantage of you," Shinji whispered. "I don't want us to make some drunken mistake."
She couldn't deny the perhaps awkward timing of this moment but she would not pass it up.
"The only mistake was waiting so long," Asuka assured him. "I'm not a kid anymore and I'm not that drunk."
Shinji grabbed Asuka, pulling her tightly. Her chair falling to the floor.
For the first time in fourteen years, they kissed, neither pulling away.
They kissed passionately until it became too hard to breathe.
Asuka felt happier than she had felt in years, she could see the fear, the pain, and all that doubt melting from his face.
"That...That was good," Shinji said breathlessly.
"Yeah," Asuka agreed.
She grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the kitchen, towards her bedroom.
"What are you doing?" Shinji asked.
Asuka smiled mischievously. "I've waited over a decade for you, I'm not letting it end at just that."
- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Not exactly without justification on any of those, though. She's really, really in need of parental hugs right now, and very, very afraid of anything happening to them.
O_O Wow, um.... that's... that's impressive, Ria.
Twenty years, and that hasn't changed a bit... still so little sense of self-worth. Then again, much of the old guilt and such is still around, unresolved.
Uh.... Mari? Did... did you just suggest eloping with Ria? You... really feel that deeply about her? Wow. Kind of wild for a so far relatively short-lived high school relationship...
Gaghiel is oddly unconcerned with the fact she just gave away her best defense, her anonymity for basically just a little cash, since Ria saying this means she didn't know what she looked like before.
Dead-ish? Well, since GNK showed us he got absorbed by Lilith despite having been killed shortly before, it's not out of the question the other Angels would be pulled in too, and thereby have a 'ringside seat' to Instrumentality.
Gave you my heart? Though for real, here.
Yeah, she's been thinking about this for a while. Present-Asuka has had a good twenty years to get herself together, and knows what she's missing and what she wants.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Admittedly that was more "I'm sick and tired of all this Angel BS and want to go somewhere that has no angels".
And to be fair, Mari's sixteen and therefore kind of hormonal and stupid, plus Ria's her first real relationship and they've both been pretty honest with their feelings to each other so... Mari really likes Ria
trob030490
Professor Kokonoe
- Pronouns
- she/her
My little babies all grown up and emotionally mature!
It's so beautiful!
It's so beautiful!
samdamandias
Apprentice Plane Wizard
Tako tacos?
There
Was
A
SPIDER
Chapter 8 Part 5
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Shinji woke up. His body was incredibly sore, rather stiff, he was covered in sweat, Asuka's feet were only inches away from his face. The sheets were likely a total loss.
It had been a great night.
Shinji smiled broadly. He never thought he would be here, with her. He never thought he deserved to be.
He told her the truth and she accepted that. And he was okay with it being accepted.
He was okay with it… He didn't quite know what to make of that. The guilt wasn't gone, it would never be gone. Yet here, now he felt like he had found some small measure of peace. Even if it was just for a moment.
The sun was not even threatening to come up yet. It must have been incredibly early.
Asuka stirred next to him.
"Hey," she said, half awake.
"Hi," he replied.
She sat up, shifting her self until her feet were at the end of the bed. she leaned against the headboard, just enjoying the moment.
"So uh, where do we go from here?" he asked.
She sighed contently, a sound he had not heard in quite a while.
"Well we're going to have to do that a lot more often," Asuka smirked.
He definitely agreed with that.
"Besides that…" her voice grew uncertain and sleepy, "What do you think we should do? I mean I'm willing to pick up where we left off, if you want."
"I don't see why not. I mean we both know how we feel each about each other. And it's not like dancing around those feelings ever did us any good. So I'm willing to give us a second try."
Shinji smiled as he sat up, pulling his legs over the side of the bed.
"Where are you going?" she jokingly complained.
"Do you really want Ria asking why we're both coming out of your room in the morning?" he replied.
"Good point. Oh, man, what are we going to tell her, and everyone?"
Oh, that was going to be a number of awkward conversations.
"I think Asuka might actually kill me," she added.
"That girl really does not like you," Shinji agreed.
Then again things between him and his other self were incredibly awkward at the best of times.
"Do you think she's envious of me or something?" Asuka asked.
"I really don't know."
Asuka shrugged. "Well she's starting to treat younger Shinji far better than I was at that age, so there's hope for her."
She paused contemplatively.
"It still feels really weird talking about those two," she said.
He had no arguments there.
A knock came at the door. It was rapid, urgent.
"Oh, Hell," Asuka muttered under her breath, "I'll deal with her."
Shinji sat on the bed as Asuka hurried put on a shirt and went to the door.
She cracked it open a tiny fraction.
"Where's dad?" came Ria's panicked voice
"He..uh, went out for a quick walk," Asuka explained hurriedly. "He'll be back. What are you doing up? It's like three in the morning."
"Mari wanted to see a movie, I texted you hours ago." Ria's voice became even more rapid. "Why is dad out at three in morning? Doesn't matter, could you call him? It's urgent."
Oh that couldn't be good.
"What is it?" Asuka said, her tone growing concerned.
"I was given a letter while I was out, from Gaghiel."
"What?" Asuka said, dumbfounded.
"What?!" Shinji said, a bit louder than he had intended.
An awkward, pregnant pause filled the air. Slowly the door opened.
Shinji sat on Asuka's bed, half dressed. Most of their clothes still scattered on the floor, along with the bed sheets.
This was sadly not the part where Shinji woke up from the nightmare that was unfolding.
"Ehh..." Ria said, clearly not understanding the implications... for a moment. "Oh...OH!"
Her eyes went wide. Her face looking like she might start clawing at the walls to get away from here.
"Letter," Asuka said, bringing them both back to attention.
"Right, right." Ria said, shuddered slightly as she rummaged through her pockets.
"They gave it to me earlier," she explained. "But I didn't go straight home because I wanted to make sure no one was following me...and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it."
Ria about tossed the paper at her father.
"What do you mean by that?" Asuka questioned.
"Considering recent events, I nearly threw it away a couple of times. I thought it might be safer," Ria admitted.
Shinji opened the letter.
First thing he noticed was the phrase "Ria=Zeruel."
It was scattered across the letter, inserted in between sentences and running along the border. The handwriting was precise, neat and calm.
'As you might have noticed, I don't want this going to anyone at NERV save for Sub-Commander Soryu,' the letter began.
How many Angels knew who Ria was? All of them? Was she a traitor to them?
He pressed on, Asuka standing to his side to get a better look at it.
'Apologies for the odd delivery method. Sending it directly seemed too risky. Thankfully Gaghiel is a mercenary at heart. Do send my apologies to Ria, I had intended to contact her years ago but my own fear prevented that, much to my shame. Allow me to reintroduce myself to you Ikari. I am Leliel, the 12th Angel. The Shadow of God.'
An image appeared in Shinji's head. A black void that consumed everything, even him. A false sphere with a bizarre black and white pattern across it. A boy with a striped shirt on an late afternoon train.
Leliel. His memories of that weren't the worst, but they were among the strangest. Okito had said Leliel was on his side, though Okito wasn't exactly the most trustworthy figure.
'Do you remember our conversation? "There is the Shinji Ikari that exists in Your mind. The Shinji Ikari that exists in Misato Katsuragi's mind, the Shinji Ikari that exists in Asuka Soryu's mind"? Well, you get my point. I accepted my death at your hands, so don't worry about that. I, like your daughter, have sided with humanity in this conflict. I have been on your side from the beginning. Before even the unexpected appearance of your other selves."
"Before then?" Shinji questioned.
'What you've seen from Ramiel, Sachiel, Shamshel and Iruel so far might seem like the actions of wild madmen, and to an extent it is, but there is far more going on then it seems. I claim no knowledge how or why the Pilots have been taken here. But I do know why Sachiel acted the way he did. It was not out fear for the safety of the Children of Adam. It was in fear that this was retribution for Ramiel and his plan. That someone, somewhere had discovered it and was using the Pilots as a means of putting an end to it. To my frustration my knowledge of said plan is threadbare; I was approached by Ramiel five years ago and rejected his mad dream out of hand. I do know this; it's been in the works for years, almost a decade even. I know little of the mechanics, all I do know is that Ramiel promised that we would have realm where we were free, a realm where we could become more than we are, more than we ever were, Gods among the Lilim.'
That sounded bad, really bad. Troublingly, it fit rather well. They would have never have guessed the Angels were still alive. His attack had put them all at risk.
Yet if he had something going on, if he had a plan beyond simple survival, it was rather understandable to think that two Evangelions appearing, the only two things that could provenly kill most of them, was a sign that someone was on to them.
But how? Adam was gone and they hadn't exactly made any effort to reclaim what remained of their original selves.
This was incredibly worrying.
'My efforts to stop Ramiel have sadly born little fruit. So this is why I write to you now. Together we can accomplish great things. I understand trust is a little short coming so I leave the ball in your court. Leave something red in your window when you wish to talk, and I'll call you within the day.'
"Well that's unexpected," Shinji muttered.
"It's a trap, it has to be," Ria insisted.
"Not a very good trap if it is," Asuka replied. "What do you make of this talk of Ramiel's plan?"
"It does fit Okito's behavior. Heretical bastard was using me from the start," she growled.
"I'm sorry," Asuka tried to assure her.
"It's fine," she insisted. "I don't really know what they could mean by that though. 'More than we were'? I mean it has to be more than just some simple conquest. But I don't...I don't get what they could possibly want. Anything I could think of simply isn't possible anymore. I want to say Leliel is just making this up but it's the only thing that really explains why they're attacking."
Ria looked deeply troubled. Shinji could only imagine what she was going through. Okito didn't betray her recently, he betrayed years ago, and lied to her face all that time.
"So what did Gaghiel look like?" Asuka asked.
"Black, dark hair in a pony tail. Casual attire. Maybe a South African accent, hard to tell," Ria rattled off.
Well at least in Kyoto that would be rather distinct. Japan's Xenophobia had waxed and waned over the years, but it certainly had never fully gone away.
Couldn't report her to Misato sadly, not without raising far far too many questions Shinji couldn't answer.
"So what do we do?" he asked.
"If we give an edited version of the letter to Misato, Leliel will probably catch on and cut any contact with us, at worse she might even try to blackmail us with your...status, Ria," Asuka said. "If we go along with it, at worst we're risking a phone conversation."
"You're not seriously considering this, right?" Ria said.
"All she wants is a phone conversation. I don't think there could be a lot of harm in that," Shinji replied "I'm not saying I will but it's something to consider."
"If there are other Angels out there who want to stand against whatever Okito and the others have planned, we should at least try to get in touch with them. We need allies and having proof that not all Angels are evil would help a lot with Misato," Asuka argued.
The Angels had hurt them yes, even nearly wiped out mankind. But as he said to Ria, death paid for their crimes. If they didn't want to go for round two, Shinji was content to live and let live.
Ria wasn't having it. "What if they're another snake like Okito?"
"What if they're like you?" Asuka replied.
That gave Ria pause. She looked at her mother for a second, a pained expression on her face.
"Then what's their stake in this?" she asked bluntly.
"Huh?" Shiji said
Ria focused on her hands. "Let's be honest here; I'm here because these idiots have put the people I care about, the people I love, in danger. If I had been someone else, someone not connected to this, I wouldn't have gotten involved. So what's Leliel's stake in this?"
A fair point. Leliel had to be putting themselves at considerable risk. Considering how little she knew of what Ramiel had planned. Why go through all this trouble? If Misato captured them they wouldn't show Leliel any mercy.
"We don't have to do this today," Shinji pointed out. "Let's sit on this a while, give us time to think it over."
"I'll try to see if there's any evidence of this plan," Asuka added. "Okito isn't exactly the the sharpest knife, might have left some sort of proof lying around."
Ria sighed in defeat. "Fine, do try to keep an eye out for Gaghiel. I don't trust that fish."
She stood back up, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
"Yeah... I'm going to go now," she said awkwardly. "Part of me has been screaming since I walked in and I can only keep that bottled for so long."
She disappeared out the door.
"Well that was....horrifically uncomfortable," Asuka said.
Shinji nodded in agreement.
"So what now?" he asked.
"Well for starters, we should probably get Ria her own hotel suite," Asuka replied.
"I mean about the message."
"Oh," Asuka shrugged. "I don't know. See if there's any proof to Leliel's claims. Wait until we feel comfortable to try and contact them. If we don't like what we hear from Leliel, we could always tell Misato then."
"And you're comfortable deceiving her like that?" he questioned.
"What choice do we have? We show her the letter we risk the one lead we have and put Ria at risk, if we edit the letter we're lying to her and running the risk of it blowing up in our face. We don't have any other options right now."
He wasn't thrilled with it, but he saw her point.
"Hopefully Leliel is being honest. We need to have another Angel besides Ria that's on our side if Misato is ever going to even tolerate her once she discovers the truth."
"What if Ria is the only one though?" Shinji questioned.
"Then we'll have to make absolutely sure Misato never discovers the truth."
It had been a great night.
Shinji smiled broadly. He never thought he would be here, with her. He never thought he deserved to be.
He told her the truth and she accepted that. And he was okay with it being accepted.
He was okay with it… He didn't quite know what to make of that. The guilt wasn't gone, it would never be gone. Yet here, now he felt like he had found some small measure of peace. Even if it was just for a moment.
The sun was not even threatening to come up yet. It must have been incredibly early.
Asuka stirred next to him.
"Hey," she said, half awake.
"Hi," he replied.
She sat up, shifting her self until her feet were at the end of the bed. she leaned against the headboard, just enjoying the moment.
"So uh, where do we go from here?" he asked.
She sighed contently, a sound he had not heard in quite a while.
"Well we're going to have to do that a lot more often," Asuka smirked.
He definitely agreed with that.
"Besides that…" her voice grew uncertain and sleepy, "What do you think we should do? I mean I'm willing to pick up where we left off, if you want."
"I don't see why not. I mean we both know how we feel each about each other. And it's not like dancing around those feelings ever did us any good. So I'm willing to give us a second try."
Shinji smiled as he sat up, pulling his legs over the side of the bed.
"Where are you going?" she jokingly complained.
"Do you really want Ria asking why we're both coming out of your room in the morning?" he replied.
"Good point. Oh, man, what are we going to tell her, and everyone?"
Oh, that was going to be a number of awkward conversations.
"I think Asuka might actually kill me," she added.
"That girl really does not like you," Shinji agreed.
Then again things between him and his other self were incredibly awkward at the best of times.
"Do you think she's envious of me or something?" Asuka asked.
"I really don't know."
Asuka shrugged. "Well she's starting to treat younger Shinji far better than I was at that age, so there's hope for her."
She paused contemplatively.
"It still feels really weird talking about those two," she said.
He had no arguments there.
A knock came at the door. It was rapid, urgent.
"Oh, Hell," Asuka muttered under her breath, "I'll deal with her."
Shinji sat on the bed as Asuka hurried put on a shirt and went to the door.
She cracked it open a tiny fraction.
"Where's dad?" came Ria's panicked voice
"He..uh, went out for a quick walk," Asuka explained hurriedly. "He'll be back. What are you doing up? It's like three in the morning."
"Mari wanted to see a movie, I texted you hours ago." Ria's voice became even more rapid. "Why is dad out at three in morning? Doesn't matter, could you call him? It's urgent."
Oh that couldn't be good.
"What is it?" Asuka said, her tone growing concerned.
"I was given a letter while I was out, from Gaghiel."
"What?" Asuka said, dumbfounded.
"What?!" Shinji said, a bit louder than he had intended.
An awkward, pregnant pause filled the air. Slowly the door opened.
Shinji sat on Asuka's bed, half dressed. Most of their clothes still scattered on the floor, along with the bed sheets.
This was sadly not the part where Shinji woke up from the nightmare that was unfolding.
"Ehh..." Ria said, clearly not understanding the implications... for a moment. "Oh...OH!"
Her eyes went wide. Her face looking like she might start clawing at the walls to get away from here.
"Letter," Asuka said, bringing them both back to attention.
"Right, right." Ria said, shuddered slightly as she rummaged through her pockets.
"They gave it to me earlier," she explained. "But I didn't go straight home because I wanted to make sure no one was following me...and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it."
Ria about tossed the paper at her father.
"What do you mean by that?" Asuka questioned.
"Considering recent events, I nearly threw it away a couple of times. I thought it might be safer," Ria admitted.
Shinji opened the letter.
First thing he noticed was the phrase "Ria=Zeruel."
It was scattered across the letter, inserted in between sentences and running along the border. The handwriting was precise, neat and calm.
'As you might have noticed, I don't want this going to anyone at NERV save for Sub-Commander Soryu,' the letter began.
How many Angels knew who Ria was? All of them? Was she a traitor to them?
He pressed on, Asuka standing to his side to get a better look at it.
'Apologies for the odd delivery method. Sending it directly seemed too risky. Thankfully Gaghiel is a mercenary at heart. Do send my apologies to Ria, I had intended to contact her years ago but my own fear prevented that, much to my shame. Allow me to reintroduce myself to you Ikari. I am Leliel, the 12th Angel. The Shadow of God.'
An image appeared in Shinji's head. A black void that consumed everything, even him. A false sphere with a bizarre black and white pattern across it. A boy with a striped shirt on an late afternoon train.
Leliel. His memories of that weren't the worst, but they were among the strangest. Okito had said Leliel was on his side, though Okito wasn't exactly the most trustworthy figure.
'Do you remember our conversation? "There is the Shinji Ikari that exists in Your mind. The Shinji Ikari that exists in Misato Katsuragi's mind, the Shinji Ikari that exists in Asuka Soryu's mind"? Well, you get my point. I accepted my death at your hands, so don't worry about that. I, like your daughter, have sided with humanity in this conflict. I have been on your side from the beginning. Before even the unexpected appearance of your other selves."
"Before then?" Shinji questioned.
'What you've seen from Ramiel, Sachiel, Shamshel and Iruel so far might seem like the actions of wild madmen, and to an extent it is, but there is far more going on then it seems. I claim no knowledge how or why the Pilots have been taken here. But I do know why Sachiel acted the way he did. It was not out fear for the safety of the Children of Adam. It was in fear that this was retribution for Ramiel and his plan. That someone, somewhere had discovered it and was using the Pilots as a means of putting an end to it. To my frustration my knowledge of said plan is threadbare; I was approached by Ramiel five years ago and rejected his mad dream out of hand. I do know this; it's been in the works for years, almost a decade even. I know little of the mechanics, all I do know is that Ramiel promised that we would have realm where we were free, a realm where we could become more than we are, more than we ever were, Gods among the Lilim.'
That sounded bad, really bad. Troublingly, it fit rather well. They would have never have guessed the Angels were still alive. His attack had put them all at risk.
Yet if he had something going on, if he had a plan beyond simple survival, it was rather understandable to think that two Evangelions appearing, the only two things that could provenly kill most of them, was a sign that someone was on to them.
But how? Adam was gone and they hadn't exactly made any effort to reclaim what remained of their original selves.
This was incredibly worrying.
'My efforts to stop Ramiel have sadly born little fruit. So this is why I write to you now. Together we can accomplish great things. I understand trust is a little short coming so I leave the ball in your court. Leave something red in your window when you wish to talk, and I'll call you within the day.'
"Well that's unexpected," Shinji muttered.
"It's a trap, it has to be," Ria insisted.
"Not a very good trap if it is," Asuka replied. "What do you make of this talk of Ramiel's plan?"
"It does fit Okito's behavior. Heretical bastard was using me from the start," she growled.
"I'm sorry," Asuka tried to assure her.
"It's fine," she insisted. "I don't really know what they could mean by that though. 'More than we were'? I mean it has to be more than just some simple conquest. But I don't...I don't get what they could possibly want. Anything I could think of simply isn't possible anymore. I want to say Leliel is just making this up but it's the only thing that really explains why they're attacking."
Ria looked deeply troubled. Shinji could only imagine what she was going through. Okito didn't betray her recently, he betrayed years ago, and lied to her face all that time.
"So what did Gaghiel look like?" Asuka asked.
"Black, dark hair in a pony tail. Casual attire. Maybe a South African accent, hard to tell," Ria rattled off.
Well at least in Kyoto that would be rather distinct. Japan's Xenophobia had waxed and waned over the years, but it certainly had never fully gone away.
Couldn't report her to Misato sadly, not without raising far far too many questions Shinji couldn't answer.
"So what do we do?" he asked.
"If we give an edited version of the letter to Misato, Leliel will probably catch on and cut any contact with us, at worse she might even try to blackmail us with your...status, Ria," Asuka said. "If we go along with it, at worst we're risking a phone conversation."
"You're not seriously considering this, right?" Ria said.
"All she wants is a phone conversation. I don't think there could be a lot of harm in that," Shinji replied "I'm not saying I will but it's something to consider."
"If there are other Angels out there who want to stand against whatever Okito and the others have planned, we should at least try to get in touch with them. We need allies and having proof that not all Angels are evil would help a lot with Misato," Asuka argued.
The Angels had hurt them yes, even nearly wiped out mankind. But as he said to Ria, death paid for their crimes. If they didn't want to go for round two, Shinji was content to live and let live.
Ria wasn't having it. "What if they're another snake like Okito?"
"What if they're like you?" Asuka replied.
That gave Ria pause. She looked at her mother for a second, a pained expression on her face.
"Then what's their stake in this?" she asked bluntly.
"Huh?" Shiji said
Ria focused on her hands. "Let's be honest here; I'm here because these idiots have put the people I care about, the people I love, in danger. If I had been someone else, someone not connected to this, I wouldn't have gotten involved. So what's Leliel's stake in this?"
A fair point. Leliel had to be putting themselves at considerable risk. Considering how little she knew of what Ramiel had planned. Why go through all this trouble? If Misato captured them they wouldn't show Leliel any mercy.
"We don't have to do this today," Shinji pointed out. "Let's sit on this a while, give us time to think it over."
"I'll try to see if there's any evidence of this plan," Asuka added. "Okito isn't exactly the the sharpest knife, might have left some sort of proof lying around."
Ria sighed in defeat. "Fine, do try to keep an eye out for Gaghiel. I don't trust that fish."
She stood back up, looking decidedly uncomfortable.
"Yeah... I'm going to go now," she said awkwardly. "Part of me has been screaming since I walked in and I can only keep that bottled for so long."
She disappeared out the door.
"Well that was....horrifically uncomfortable," Asuka said.
Shinji nodded in agreement.
"So what now?" he asked.
"Well for starters, we should probably get Ria her own hotel suite," Asuka replied.
"I mean about the message."
"Oh," Asuka shrugged. "I don't know. See if there's any proof to Leliel's claims. Wait until we feel comfortable to try and contact them. If we don't like what we hear from Leliel, we could always tell Misato then."
"And you're comfortable deceiving her like that?" he questioned.
"What choice do we have? We show her the letter we risk the one lead we have and put Ria at risk, if we edit the letter we're lying to her and running the risk of it blowing up in our face. We don't have any other options right now."
He wasn't thrilled with it, but he saw her point.
"Hopefully Leliel is being honest. We need to have another Angel besides Ria that's on our side if Misato is ever going to even tolerate her once she discovers the truth."
"What if Ria is the only one though?" Shinji questioned.
"Then we'll have to make absolutely sure Misato never discovers the truth."
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Heavy Fuel
Ask me for anything but time.
- Location
- 1123.6563.5321
Good update!
The fic continues to deliver. Got to love what your doing with the plot and it's going to be very interesting to see what happens with Ria and Misato in the end.
I have only one complaint......
I want part two of Rebuild Wings. You cliffhangered us on what would be (amusing to us) horrifying to Shinji and a sheer wtf to everyone else, especially to the rebuild crew.
Shinji and Asuka had kids?! And they are good parents! Gasp
Shinji isn't Gendo and isn't destroying the world? Say it ain't so.
I have only one complaint......
I want part two of Rebuild Wings
. You cliffhangered us on what would be (amusing to us) horrifying to Shinji and a sheer wtf to everyone else, especially to the rebuild crew.Shinji and Asuka had kids?! And they are good parents! Gasp
Shinji isn't Gendo and isn't destroying the world? Say it ain't so.
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Timerider
That guy who really should get out more.
- Location
- The End of the World.
A bit of evidence that Leilel is trustworthy.
In the series proper, what stopped her from slipping strait into Terminal Dogma and triggering third impact?
Instead she studied the eva and tried to communicate with Shinji. (kidnapping was the only option sadly but she did let him out.)
I really like where this is going.
Also, the younger pilots' reaction to their older selves getting back together will be hilarious.
Y-Asuka: "Having a kid with the pervert was bad enough, but now you're actually going back and sleeping with him AGAIN?
O-Asuka: "No need to be jealous. You've got your own model to play with, and trust me, his musical fingers are pure magic."
Y-Shinji: "... ... ..."
O-Shinji: "Yeah, pretty much."
In the series proper, what stopped her from slipping strait into Terminal Dogma and triggering third impact?
Instead she studied the eva and tried to communicate with Shinji. (kidnapping was the only option sadly but she did let him out.)
I really like where this is going.
Also, the younger pilots' reaction to their older selves getting back together will be hilarious.
Y-Asuka: "Having a kid with the pervert was bad enough, but now you're actually going back and sleeping with him AGAIN?
O-Asuka: "No need to be jealous. You've got your own model to play with, and trust me, his musical fingers are pure magic."
Y-Shinji: "... ... ..."
O-Shinji: "Yeah, pretty much."
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Rebuild wings, the more I think about it, is a vastly different beast from Broken so it's probably going to be a while before I get back to it.I want part two of Rebuild Wings