Thing is, I cannot see the individual, or even multiple MP-Evas as any kind of threat in a scenario where they are a) a known factor and b) facing more opposition than a just-out-of-coma Asuka with limited battery, unless they get fundamental upgrades.
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Going forward, links to content from Twitter (now X) will no longer be embedded. Pre-existing links should not be affected.
You Are (Not) at Fault
- Thread starter MisterHalt
- Start date
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Either way, I take it this is the last 'easy' fight? One of the big issues with the Angels is that their capabilities and strength was mostly unknown, and the things that could be figured out pre-deployment required Misato to figure out a counter. The things that hurt the pilots the most were surprises in the field, like the shadow/Dirac Sea. The MP Evas are going to ne-
This. The Revenants need surprises, aces up their sleeves.
Ranma-sensei
Sorcerer
- Location
- Citrix Receiver
- Pronouns
- Weatherdependent
What you guys seem to forget is that we still have the fourth Revenant lurking around the corner - you know, about ye high and stabs Shinji? He's still canon, from what Halt has said in this thread, so, obviously the next fight will be a lot harder, or Asuka wouldn't be so anxious before the fight against the Fourth.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Wait, we're that close to catching up to the 'beginning'? Wierd. Having that first chapter rendered non-canon for overhauling really screwed with my sense of time progression.
- Location
- Australia, mate
Well the overall wossname is still canon. The Fourth happens, Asuka and Rei fight it, Shinji arrives to protects Asuka but ends up half-dead. It's just the specifics that need to be changed, like dialogue and such.
Chapter 19.4
- Location
- Australia, mate
Chapter 19.4
As Asuka stepped out of her entry plug, she caught a glimpse of purple hair on the catwalks. She headed in that direction, and Misato beamed at her as she got close. It made Asuka think of a mother cat that was proud of its kitten's accomplishments. Happy, and just a little bit smug.
She was not expecting her new foster mother to ignore the LCL still dripping off the redhead and drag her into a hug.
"You did good out there, Asuka," Misato mumbled into the girl's ear. Just as suddenly, she let go of Asuka and ran past her to inflict the same torture on Rei, who had just entered the cage. Asuka didn't catch what was said, but Rei's face pinked slightly at the obvious praise.
"That was a wonderful bit of teamwork," Misato said as she and Rei walked up to Asuka. The three of them left the cages and began the slow walk towards the change rooms. "I'll admit, I was expecting to have to break up an argument over... what was it you used to call it last year? Kill-stealing?"
"Y-yeah, that was it," Asuka hesitantly replied. "Anyway, I wasn't actually sure if the knife blade would have had the force to fully penetrate that corrupted core. I'm pretty sure I saw it oozing that orange goop. If I had pulled away and tried again, it might have healed."
"Quick and clever thinking, Asuka," Misato said. "But since neither of you clearly killed it on your own, now the question is: who do we give the credit to?"
Asuka shrugged. "Split it. It's not much different from the Seventh Angel."
Misato grinned and dragged Asuka into another hug. "Last year you would have demanded full credit."
"Oh, knock it off," Asuka muttered, but made no effort to break the embrace and pretended that her face wasn't heating up.
When they reached the change rooms, Misato waited outside with Shinji while the two pilots went in. Rei and Asuka stepped out of their LCL-covered plugsuits and into the hot showers, beginning the arduous task of ridding their bodies of the orange substance.
"Hey First," Asuka said after a few minutes. "What did Misato say to you on the catwalk? It's not often I get to see some colour in your face."
There was no response for a moment, and Asuka was about to dismiss her own question when Rei quietly replied, "Misato said that I made her proud to be my foster mother. It was... slightly embarrassing for me. I am relieved that you were the only one who noticed."
"Heh, I guess that would do it."
"But at the same time, it made me... happy."
"Mmm, I get that a lot from Misato too. Somehow, she's able to tease people without them actually wanting her to stop."
The conversation trailed off as Asuka went to work on her hair. She heard Rei's shower finish first, and just as she turned her own taps off, the First Child was already walking out of the room. Since there was little point in having another shower before bed, Asuka had taken the time to really scrub out the LCL from her hair with some of the shampoo she had brought in from home.
Even though she had felt a little guilty about pilfering hair products, the fact that it was helping Shinji through his terrors was enough to make her stop worrying about the theft.
Asuka left the change room twenty minutes after Rei did, smelling strongly of strawberries. Misato knew what had taken so long, and merely rolled her eyes good-naturedly as they headed to the elevator.
**
The next day, Rei was able to read her completed essay to Class 2-A. Since almost everything that had happened to her revolved around NERV it was a rather small essay, but the teacher accepted the circumstances.
The post-battle clean-up was completed three days after the Second Revenant's death, and Misato passed on messages of thanks from the Japanese government to the girls over their ability to keep collateral damage to a minimum.
A day later, on the seventh of July, something happened in the Katsuragi apartment that Asuka would consider far more important than any Evangelion battle.
An hour after Rei had left for school, Shinji had gone into her room and retrieved his cello. While Asuka knew that he was actually rather good with the instrument, it hadn't been tuned properly and so the song it produced as he played in the lounge room was almost unrecognisable.
Shinji had followed up the performance by claiming that he wasn't actually very good, and that he only played because nobody had made him stop. Asuka had to wrack her brain to remember her own responses -while trying not to chuckle at the fact that he was right this time- and she was sure at least one had been wrong when Shinji began to talk over her.
Just before noon, Shinji got up to answer the phone without it ringing, and the conversation brought a feeling of dread to Asuka's stomach as she realised what else had happened on the day Shinji was remembering.
'No! Damnit, why did you have to remember this day, you idiot?!'
As expected, Shinji soon began to have the conversation that Asuka had tried to bury inside her head.
"Eh? What?"
'Scheisse! It's starting! What the hell should I do?'
"Uh-uh."
Asuka squeezed her eyes shut and jammed her fingers in her ears, trying to block out the memory as it pushed the mental dirt out of the hole she had dug. It didn't work. The words filled her head exactly as they were said by the boy in front of her.
"Uh... but why?"
'I've got nothing else to do,' Asuka thought sarcastically, and she grimaced. 'I should never have said something so... stupid!'
"That's your reason? You're weird."
'Tell me about it, I brought up your dead mother, like either of us needed a reminder that we were fucked up.'
"That's not it."
Asuka sighed in defeat, and her hands dropped to her sides. "Are you scared?" she muttered.
"I'm not afraid! Pucker up!" Shinji angrily rose to his feet, and Asuka darkly recalled that this had been exactly the side of him she had been trying to bring out with her actions towards him. A side that would push back against her instead of folding like wet paper.
'And look at how well that turned out.'
"Yeah."
'Oh mein Gott,' Asuka mentally moaned as she stood up, leaning on the table with her head down. 'I can't really be thinking of going this far with his memory am I?'
'Do it. He is expecting you to kiss him. You have no excuse now.'
Asuka pounded a fist into her forehead. 'No! It's still wrong! I'll hug Shinji because I know my presence helps him, but I won't kiss him again just because he's remembering me doing that!'
'But he is waiting for you. Look at him.'
Asuka glanced up and saw that Shinji had frozen in place. Unlike his usual semi-conscious state, now he resembled an android waiting for a command. She let out a long, slow, loud, and very German swear word.
"Hmph, even the way you are, you still find a way to cause problems for me, jerk," Asuka muttered. "Fine, I'll do it."
Her heart began to beat faster as Asuka moved closer to Shinji, eyes locked on his. The last time, she had simply dived into the kiss to 'get it over with'. Now she was taking her time, looking closely at every inch of Shinji's face, sad even while waiting for her kiss. Asuka noticed that his hair was starting to get unruly again, and would need to be trimmed soon.
She also wondered if she should run to the bathroom afterwards to complete the memory.
Some part of Asuka knew that she was simply stalling, and she realised with mounting horror that that part wanted to feel his lips on hers. She finally halted her forward movement when her forehead was only a few centimetres away from bumping into Shinji's face.
'If six months of care hasn't been enough to snap his brain back into place, the horrible memory of his first kiss isn't going to do any better. I just hope it doesn't send him backwards.'
The impatient piece of Asuka finally got tired of waiting and pushed her forward. Her lips met Shinji's for the first time in close to a year. His warmth flowed into Asuka through the contact, bringing with it an electric sensation that sent tingles running down her spine. Asuka closed her eyes and lost herself in the amazing feeling she was experiencing. She did not even care that she wasn't properly re-enacting the scene by holding his nose closed. It felt too good to ruin again.
But at the same time, there was still something crucial missing. The same thing, or rather the lack of said thing, that had made her run to the bathroom and pretend to brush her teeth to cover the despair she had felt. The only consolation was that this time, there was practically no choice about it.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the two teenagers stood there, locked together by a kiss. Despite the lack of physical contact, Asuka found that she wanted the moment to last forever as the traitorous piece of her that had forced the issue looked on. If it had a face, it would have looked more smug than Misato after a particularly strong teasing.
Spots started to dance across the inside of Asuka's eyelids as a very important thing occurred to her. She wanted to stay there forever; but she needed to breathe. With an extreme amount of reluctance, she opened her eyes and-
Stared directly into the shocked gaze of Shinji.
Her knees started to tremble, and her lungs were screaming for air, but Asuka's eyes refused to let her head move as they attempted to interpret what they were seeing. The last time she had seen his eyes so... alive... had been...
Their lips parted contact, but it was not due to any movement on Asuka's part. Her body began to thank the heavens for fresh oxygen, when she heard something that stole the breath from her lungs before they could recover.
"A-A-...Asuka?"
As Asuka stepped out of her entry plug, she caught a glimpse of purple hair on the catwalks. She headed in that direction, and Misato beamed at her as she got close. It made Asuka think of a mother cat that was proud of its kitten's accomplishments. Happy, and just a little bit smug.
She was not expecting her new foster mother to ignore the LCL still dripping off the redhead and drag her into a hug.
"You did good out there, Asuka," Misato mumbled into the girl's ear. Just as suddenly, she let go of Asuka and ran past her to inflict the same torture on Rei, who had just entered the cage. Asuka didn't catch what was said, but Rei's face pinked slightly at the obvious praise.
"That was a wonderful bit of teamwork," Misato said as she and Rei walked up to Asuka. The three of them left the cages and began the slow walk towards the change rooms. "I'll admit, I was expecting to have to break up an argument over... what was it you used to call it last year? Kill-stealing?"
"Y-yeah, that was it," Asuka hesitantly replied. "Anyway, I wasn't actually sure if the knife blade would have had the force to fully penetrate that corrupted core. I'm pretty sure I saw it oozing that orange goop. If I had pulled away and tried again, it might have healed."
"Quick and clever thinking, Asuka," Misato said. "But since neither of you clearly killed it on your own, now the question is: who do we give the credit to?"
Asuka shrugged. "Split it. It's not much different from the Seventh Angel."
Misato grinned and dragged Asuka into another hug. "Last year you would have demanded full credit."
"Oh, knock it off," Asuka muttered, but made no effort to break the embrace and pretended that her face wasn't heating up.
When they reached the change rooms, Misato waited outside with Shinji while the two pilots went in. Rei and Asuka stepped out of their LCL-covered plugsuits and into the hot showers, beginning the arduous task of ridding their bodies of the orange substance.
"Hey First," Asuka said after a few minutes. "What did Misato say to you on the catwalk? It's not often I get to see some colour in your face."
There was no response for a moment, and Asuka was about to dismiss her own question when Rei quietly replied, "Misato said that I made her proud to be my foster mother. It was... slightly embarrassing for me. I am relieved that you were the only one who noticed."
"Heh, I guess that would do it."
"But at the same time, it made me... happy."
"Mmm, I get that a lot from Misato too. Somehow, she's able to tease people without them actually wanting her to stop."
The conversation trailed off as Asuka went to work on her hair. She heard Rei's shower finish first, and just as she turned her own taps off, the First Child was already walking out of the room. Since there was little point in having another shower before bed, Asuka had taken the time to really scrub out the LCL from her hair with some of the shampoo she had brought in from home.
Even though she had felt a little guilty about pilfering hair products, the fact that it was helping Shinji through his terrors was enough to make her stop worrying about the theft.
Asuka left the change room twenty minutes after Rei did, smelling strongly of strawberries. Misato knew what had taken so long, and merely rolled her eyes good-naturedly as they headed to the elevator.
**
The next day, Rei was able to read her completed essay to Class 2-A. Since almost everything that had happened to her revolved around NERV it was a rather small essay, but the teacher accepted the circumstances.
The post-battle clean-up was completed three days after the Second Revenant's death, and Misato passed on messages of thanks from the Japanese government to the girls over their ability to keep collateral damage to a minimum.
A day later, on the seventh of July, something happened in the Katsuragi apartment that Asuka would consider far more important than any Evangelion battle.
An hour after Rei had left for school, Shinji had gone into her room and retrieved his cello. While Asuka knew that he was actually rather good with the instrument, it hadn't been tuned properly and so the song it produced as he played in the lounge room was almost unrecognisable.
Shinji had followed up the performance by claiming that he wasn't actually very good, and that he only played because nobody had made him stop. Asuka had to wrack her brain to remember her own responses -while trying not to chuckle at the fact that he was right this time- and she was sure at least one had been wrong when Shinji began to talk over her.
Just before noon, Shinji got up to answer the phone without it ringing, and the conversation brought a feeling of dread to Asuka's stomach as she realised what else had happened on the day Shinji was remembering.
'No! Damnit, why did you have to remember this day, you idiot?!'
As expected, Shinji soon began to have the conversation that Asuka had tried to bury inside her head.
"Eh? What?"
'Scheisse! It's starting! What the hell should I do?'
"Uh-uh."
Asuka squeezed her eyes shut and jammed her fingers in her ears, trying to block out the memory as it pushed the mental dirt out of the hole she had dug. It didn't work. The words filled her head exactly as they were said by the boy in front of her.
"Uh... but why?"
'I've got nothing else to do,' Asuka thought sarcastically, and she grimaced. 'I should never have said something so... stupid!'
"That's your reason? You're weird."
'Tell me about it, I brought up your dead mother, like either of us needed a reminder that we were fucked up.'
"That's not it."
Asuka sighed in defeat, and her hands dropped to her sides. "Are you scared?" she muttered.
"I'm not afraid! Pucker up!" Shinji angrily rose to his feet, and Asuka darkly recalled that this had been exactly the side of him she had been trying to bring out with her actions towards him. A side that would push back against her instead of folding like wet paper.
'And look at how well that turned out.'
"Yeah."
'Oh mein Gott,' Asuka mentally moaned as she stood up, leaning on the table with her head down. 'I can't really be thinking of going this far with his memory am I?'
'Do it. He is expecting you to kiss him. You have no excuse now.'
Asuka pounded a fist into her forehead. 'No! It's still wrong! I'll hug Shinji because I know my presence helps him, but I won't kiss him again just because he's remembering me doing that!'
'But he is waiting for you. Look at him.'
Asuka glanced up and saw that Shinji had frozen in place. Unlike his usual semi-conscious state, now he resembled an android waiting for a command. She let out a long, slow, loud, and very German swear word.
"Hmph, even the way you are, you still find a way to cause problems for me, jerk," Asuka muttered. "Fine, I'll do it."
Her heart began to beat faster as Asuka moved closer to Shinji, eyes locked on his. The last time, she had simply dived into the kiss to 'get it over with'. Now she was taking her time, looking closely at every inch of Shinji's face, sad even while waiting for her kiss. Asuka noticed that his hair was starting to get unruly again, and would need to be trimmed soon.
She also wondered if she should run to the bathroom afterwards to complete the memory.
Some part of Asuka knew that she was simply stalling, and she realised with mounting horror that that part wanted to feel his lips on hers. She finally halted her forward movement when her forehead was only a few centimetres away from bumping into Shinji's face.
'If six months of care hasn't been enough to snap his brain back into place, the horrible memory of his first kiss isn't going to do any better. I just hope it doesn't send him backwards.'
The impatient piece of Asuka finally got tired of waiting and pushed her forward. Her lips met Shinji's for the first time in close to a year. His warmth flowed into Asuka through the contact, bringing with it an electric sensation that sent tingles running down her spine. Asuka closed her eyes and lost herself in the amazing feeling she was experiencing. She did not even care that she wasn't properly re-enacting the scene by holding his nose closed. It felt too good to ruin again.
But at the same time, there was still something crucial missing. The same thing, or rather the lack of said thing, that had made her run to the bathroom and pretend to brush her teeth to cover the despair she had felt. The only consolation was that this time, there was practically no choice about it.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the two teenagers stood there, locked together by a kiss. Despite the lack of physical contact, Asuka found that she wanted the moment to last forever as the traitorous piece of her that had forced the issue looked on. If it had a face, it would have looked more smug than Misato after a particularly strong teasing.
Spots started to dance across the inside of Asuka's eyelids as a very important thing occurred to her. She wanted to stay there forever; but she needed to breathe. With an extreme amount of reluctance, she opened her eyes and-
Stared directly into the shocked gaze of Shinji.
Her knees started to tremble, and her lungs were screaming for air, but Asuka's eyes refused to let her head move as they attempted to interpret what they were seeing. The last time she had seen his eyes so... alive... had been...
Their lips parted contact, but it was not due to any movement on Asuka's part. Her body began to thank the heavens for fresh oxygen, when she heard something that stole the breath from her lungs before they could recover.
"A-A-...Asuka?"
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Nice chapter.
Is this where you are diverging from the original version of chapter one?
Is this where you are diverging from the original version of chapter one?
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Misato being a mother figure, yet still a tease. Always fun.
*dies from WAFF*
Aw, we don't get to see what it is?
Hopefully they'll keep that in mind when the others prove less cooperative.
Wait, are you going where I think you're going?
Ouch.
Hoo boy, this is going to end in tears. Last few times Shinji got aggressive, he committed genocide, strangled Asuka, and then... you get the idea.
I was initially thrown off because I read that second paragraph as present tense, but I got it on the second read-through.
Sleeping Beauty awoken by love's true kiss? Eh, I'll go for it, I'm a sap for Disney.
And that old 1st chapter is now officially Non-canon and supplemented. What are you going to do with the first Post then?
- Location
- Australia, mate
Rei's essay would have basically been a shortened retelling of the last few chapters from her PoV.
I'll be leaving it up for posterity. After all, it was the very first bit of fiction I managed to rip out of my head. As I said before, the Fourth Revenant fight will still go basically the same way, but the details behind it have changed (obviously).
GeshronTyler
Kleiner Giftzwerg
Wow, so Asuka seems to have broken through Shinji's fugue. Let's hope it lasts, and he doesn't relapse.
Chapter 20.1
- Location
- Australia, mate
Chapter 20.1
"A-A-...Asuka?"
"Shinji..." Asuka's heart swelled with joy as she realised what she had somehow managed to accomplish. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage as if it were trying to escape.
The two teenagers stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but then Shinji blinked slowly, before his eyes hardened. "No!" he screamed, directly in Asuka's face, who took an involuntary step backwards. "You're trying to trick me again!" He began breathing heavily, as his hands came up to clutch at his face.
The joy Asuka had been feeling only seconds before evaporated as quickly as it came. "W-what?!" she exclaimed. "Shinji, you're not dreaming anymore! This is real!"
Shinji began to slowly back away. "It can't be! You're still using her face! Why would Asuka ever want to kiss me?!" he demanded, roughly wiping an arm across his mouth.
Asuka's face heated up at the reminder of what she had just done. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, attempting to explain her actions, but found herself tongue-tied. She could not even explain it to herself, let alone the boy in front of her.
Said boy was now glancing left and right, seeking to escape. His back was to the lounge, and Asuka was blocking the way to the front door. The only clear way for Shinji to exit the apartment would be the balcony.
So he decided to go through Asuka.
Despite her shock, Asuka was able to twist her body just enough so that she didn't receive the full force of Shinji's attempted shoulder charge. The hit was still enough to knock her off balance, however, and she fell to the side.
For a moment it appeared Shinji had a clear shot at the front door and escape, and in his current state Asuka dreaded what would happen to him. But then one of his feet grazed the top of her sprawled-out leg, and Shinji stumbled for a few feet before the lack of friction between his socks and the floor caused him to fall head-first into the wall of the hallway.
Asuka forgot about her own aches as she got up and ran over to the prostrate boy, his stillness ringing alarm bells inside her mind as she knelt down next to him, placing herself between Shinji and the door just in case he made another attempt to flee. There was now a rather large dent in the wall, and all Asuka could do was pray that there hadn't been a support in the path of Shinji's head. She rolled him over, and for a split second she feared that the vacant look in his eyes had meant a return to his semi-comatose state, until Shinji groggily raised a hand to his forehead.
"That... that actually hurt..." he whispered.
"Of course it did," Asuka murmured as she pushed his hand away to inspect his forehead. "You smacked your head into a wall."
At the sound of the girl's voice, Shinji shot up, almost colliding with Asuka's head. With a glance to his right proving that he had not imagined the voice, he back-pedalled as best as he could away from Asuka while still sitting down until his shoulder blades touched the door to the small store room. The movement of his body made him appear as if he were trying to crawl up the door and escape into the ceiling like a spider. He gave up after a few seconds, and pressed himself against the door as he began to hyperventilate.
Asuka stood up and moved closer to him, and Shinji squeezed his eyes shut as he began to mumble, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over again.
"Shinji, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," Asuka said, keeping her voice low to try and calm down the boy, who responded by repeating his apologies faster.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'mso-"
Shinji froze, and his eyes shot open, as Asuka pressed a soft, warm hand to his cheek. "It's alright," she said, keeping a hand to his cheek as Shinji slowly slid down the door in shock.
'I have no idea why this works so well. Good thing I don't care,' Asuka thought as she dropped to her knees at the same speed as Shinji. The boy's rapid breathing slowed to a much more normal pace as Asuka ran her thumb over his cheek.
"Asuka... It really is you..." Shinji said in a breathy whisper. His eyes widened. "But that means... oh gods! Asuka, I'm so s-"
The hand on his cheek moved, a finger landing on his mouth accompanied by a warning look from Asuka. "No. No apologising. There's nothing to be sorry for," she said.
"But I just tried to... and I thought you..."
The look intensified, and Shinji closed his mouth with a gulp. Asuka sighed. Dozens of questions were now running through her mind, all clamouring to be the first out of her mouth.
Shinji was back. And all because of her. Asuka had to fight down the smile that threatened to bloom on her face. There were more important things to deal with first. There would be time to celebrate later.
"Look, just answer me this: what has changed? Why do you now know that I'm real?"
Shinji frowned for a moment, his eyes drifting to the floor. "When I hit the wall, it... hurt," he slowly said.
"Of course it did, you hit a damn wall, dummy," Asuka replied as she moved her hand up to his forehead, pushing the unruly hair out of the way to examine his forehead and scalp.
"No, I mean it hurt." Shinji sounded more surprised than injured and appeared to not even notice the insult. His forehead only had a small abrasion on it, to Asuka's relief.
"Yes, it hurt. Why is that so important?"
Shinji turned his gaze to Asuka's face, which reddened slightly as cobalt met sapphire. "My nightmares... I remember having so many of them, and they always felt so real. But I haven't felt pain in so long I had almost forgotten the sensation." He put a hand to his head and groaned. "Ugh, I feel like I've been asleep for years."
Asuka's hands returned to her side, and she shook her head. "Six months. It's July. You've been..." Asuka waved her hands vaguely, "gone, I guess."
"Huh? Gone?" For the first time, Shinji seemed to realise exactly where he was as he looked into the kitchen. "Wait, this is Misato's apartment. How did I get here?"
"Well at least I can answer that question easily enough," Asuka remarked. "Misato and I found you near the hole in the middle of the city, unconscious with a head wound and a broken hand. We decided to bring you back here."
"Misato's... alive?" Shinji whispered, not yet ready to believe what he had heard. At a nod from Asuka, he shuddered as tears threatened to escape from his eyes. Finally, he got himself under control and asked, "What did you mean when you said I was 'gone'?"
Asuka rubbed the back of her head. "It's... kind of hard to explain. You were unconscious for a few days, and sick from an infection as well. Eventually, you woke up, but... it was like you were a robot. We had to literally order you around, or you would just stand there with this empty look on your face."
Shinji frowned. "If I woke up then, why don't I remember anything?"
"... Sleepwalking? It's about the closest thing I can think of to describe your state. Anyway, eventually Akagi and the bridge crew found us, and we all went to NERV to get you checked out. Unfortunately, even with their advanced medical equipment, we couldn't find a way to wake you up properly."
"Doctor Akagi? She came back too?"
"Yeah, almost everybody's come back from Third Impact, in fact."
It was perhaps one of the worst things to mention, as Shinji curled in on himself and mumbled through his knees, "After I killed them all..."
"Stop. It wasn't your fault." Asuka laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but Shinji roughly shook it off.
"It was me. I just couldn't stand it anymore," he mumbled, curling up tighter. "I made the decision."
Asuka's voice was now tinged with irritation as she said, "Shinji, stop. SEELE were the ones orchestrating everything. They forced the gun into your hands."
"But I still pulled the trigger!" Shinji shouted, directly into Asuka's face once more. The anger disappeared, and he tilted over until he was laying on the floor, facing away from the girl. "I did it," he whispered. "Nothing can change that..."
Any attempt Asuka made to get the despondent boy vertical again failed, as he would simply collapse back to the ground. She changed tactics, scooting around to a point where she could look at his face. She didn't like what she saw.
The light was starting to go out of Shinji's eyes.
"Look, people are returning, but only a few at NERV know what happened," Asuka explained desperately. "And none of them are blaming you for it, Shinji."
"...Nobody?" Shinji shifted his head slightly to look at Asuka, who latched onto the glimmer of hope.
"Nobody," Asuka repeated. "SEELE and your 'father' are first in line for the blame. Governments all over the world have condemned them. If they ever return, they'd probably get executed for crimes against humanity. The people who know the truth consider you just another one of their victims."
Shinji lethargically sat back upright, leaning against the wall with his head drooping. A short, hollow laugh left his mouth. "Hah. Victim. How I wish I could believe the same thing."
"Come on, you were being manipulated." When Shinji's only response was to scoff, Asuka's temper flared. "Hey! You're not the only one that was tricked into what they did!"
"Perhaps," Shinji grudgingly conceded. "But tell me something. Do you ever have nightmares?"
"What's that got to..." Asuka began, before sighing and saying, somewhat reluctantly, "Yeah, occasionally I did. But I haven't had one in a long time." 'Thanks to you,' she mentally added.
Shinji looked up, and Asuka found herself lost in the sudden intensity in his eyes, before he said, "Have those nightmares ever felt so real, so vivid, that it's like you're living through the event again?"
Asuka backed off slightly, looking away as she thought back to her own dreams. "...No. They've always felt at least a little surreal," she slowly answered.
A small grin crossed Shinji's face, but there was no humour in it. "That's what mine feel like. Every last one of them." The grin vanished without a trace and he placed a hand against his chest. "The feeling of my body being melted by the Fifth Angel while I scream myself hoarse. Being forced to watch as your mind was assaulted by the Fifteenth, unable to move, powerless to help."
Shinji brought his hand up to his face and stared into the palm. "The sensation of Kaworu's crushed body in my hand after I murdered the only person that I thought liked me unconditionally. I feel all of them as if I were living through those moments again. And those are just the 'good' nightmares," he said, turning his gaze back to Asuka, who had looked away at the mention of her mind rape.
Asuka squeezed her eyes shut as Shinji continued, speaking of things she wouldn't wish on anybody, such as Unit-01, most likely under control of a Dummy Plug, lashing out and murdering everybody that Shinji knew. What later stood out most in her mind was when the boy spoke of a recurring nightmare where he was forced to watch as Unit-02 was desecrated by the Mass Production Evangelions while she screamed his name.
After a few minutes of silence that Asuka spent wishing she could forget what she had just heard, she grabbed Shinji by the upper arm and lifted him to his feet, Thankfully, he remained vertical without assistance as Asuka led him to the lounge room.
"But then sometimes I see... you," Shinji murmured as he sat down.
Asuka froze halfway towards the couch. "M-me?"
Shinji focused his gaze on the switched-off television as he replied, "Well, not you you. It's some... thing that looks like you and taunts me with my bad memories, especially where you were involved."
'"Stop using her face!"' The words echoed in Asuka's head, and she quietly repeated them out loud, to Shinji's shock. "Shinji, what's the last thing you clearly remember before today?" she quickly asked.
Shinji frowned at the sudden topic change, and twisted his face in concentration. Finally, he said, "I remember... a nightmare, I think. I was piloting Unit-01, in one of the testing chambers."
'Oh no...'
"Unit-02 was there, as well as the thing with your face," Shinji continued, not noticing the look of panic on the face of the girl next to him. "It was bad enough when it just looked like you, but when I saw your Evangelion too... it was like it was provoking me. Daring me to attack. I just got so angry..."
Shinji finally took a moment to glance at Asuka to see her reaction. He was not expecting to see her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "What is it?" he nervously asked.
Asuka licked her lips, trying to bring moisture back to her suddenly dry throat. "Shinji... that wasn't a nightmare." She couldn't keep the eye contact going, and looked away. "Doctor Akagi came up with the idea of putting you in Unit-01 so she could use the neural interface for a better brain scan. You... woke up when they tried to end the test."
"Stop it... leave me alone..."
"Don't you remember my voice"
"You're not Asuka!"
A visible shudder shook Shinji's body, and he drew his legs up to his chest. "I... I attacked... you," he mumbled, before crying out, "I thought that thing was just trying to trick me!" Just as the tears were about to form in his eyes, and an apology begin to escape his lips, a hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed. He looked up...
Into Asuka's calm smile.
"It's alright," she softly replied. "You weren't in your right mind. That's why I did my best to disable your Eva without hurting you."
With a sniffle, Shinji let his legs drop off the couch and back down to the floor. "I know you hate when I do this but... I'm sorry, Asuka," he apologised.
Asuka sighed good-naturedly, but said, "Fine, I'll let you apologise for that. There was no harm done anyway."
To her surprise, the corners of Shinji's mouth turned up slightly as Asuka accepted his apology, and she decided against the small rant she had been planning about the meagre hand-to-hand skills that he had displayed during that incident. She had no desire to say anything that would ruin the first smile the boy gave her.
'Damn, I want... need to ask Shinji so many things, but he's been through enough recently,' Asuka silently mused. 'He needs some time to himself, to collect his thoughts. Besides, when Misato hears about this...'
A glance at the clock on the wall revealed to Asuka that a much more immediate meeting was about to take place. She prayed that Shinji would be able to handle the surprise.
Rei would be home from school soon.
"A-A-...Asuka?"
"Shinji..." Asuka's heart swelled with joy as she realised what she had somehow managed to accomplish. Her heart was hammering against her ribcage as if it were trying to escape.
The two teenagers stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, but then Shinji blinked slowly, before his eyes hardened. "No!" he screamed, directly in Asuka's face, who took an involuntary step backwards. "You're trying to trick me again!" He began breathing heavily, as his hands came up to clutch at his face.
The joy Asuka had been feeling only seconds before evaporated as quickly as it came. "W-what?!" she exclaimed. "Shinji, you're not dreaming anymore! This is real!"
Shinji began to slowly back away. "It can't be! You're still using her face! Why would Asuka ever want to kiss me?!" he demanded, roughly wiping an arm across his mouth.
Asuka's face heated up at the reminder of what she had just done. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, attempting to explain her actions, but found herself tongue-tied. She could not even explain it to herself, let alone the boy in front of her.
Said boy was now glancing left and right, seeking to escape. His back was to the lounge, and Asuka was blocking the way to the front door. The only clear way for Shinji to exit the apartment would be the balcony.
So he decided to go through Asuka.
Despite her shock, Asuka was able to twist her body just enough so that she didn't receive the full force of Shinji's attempted shoulder charge. The hit was still enough to knock her off balance, however, and she fell to the side.
For a moment it appeared Shinji had a clear shot at the front door and escape, and in his current state Asuka dreaded what would happen to him. But then one of his feet grazed the top of her sprawled-out leg, and Shinji stumbled for a few feet before the lack of friction between his socks and the floor caused him to fall head-first into the wall of the hallway.
Asuka forgot about her own aches as she got up and ran over to the prostrate boy, his stillness ringing alarm bells inside her mind as she knelt down next to him, placing herself between Shinji and the door just in case he made another attempt to flee. There was now a rather large dent in the wall, and all Asuka could do was pray that there hadn't been a support in the path of Shinji's head. She rolled him over, and for a split second she feared that the vacant look in his eyes had meant a return to his semi-comatose state, until Shinji groggily raised a hand to his forehead.
"That... that actually hurt..." he whispered.
"Of course it did," Asuka murmured as she pushed his hand away to inspect his forehead. "You smacked your head into a wall."
At the sound of the girl's voice, Shinji shot up, almost colliding with Asuka's head. With a glance to his right proving that he had not imagined the voice, he back-pedalled as best as he could away from Asuka while still sitting down until his shoulder blades touched the door to the small store room. The movement of his body made him appear as if he were trying to crawl up the door and escape into the ceiling like a spider. He gave up after a few seconds, and pressed himself against the door as he began to hyperventilate.
Asuka stood up and moved closer to him, and Shinji squeezed his eyes shut as he began to mumble, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," over and over again.
"Shinji, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you," Asuka said, keeping her voice low to try and calm down the boy, who responded by repeating his apologies faster.
"I'msorryI'msorryI'mso-"
Shinji froze, and his eyes shot open, as Asuka pressed a soft, warm hand to his cheek. "It's alright," she said, keeping a hand to his cheek as Shinji slowly slid down the door in shock.
'I have no idea why this works so well. Good thing I don't care,' Asuka thought as she dropped to her knees at the same speed as Shinji. The boy's rapid breathing slowed to a much more normal pace as Asuka ran her thumb over his cheek.
"Asuka... It really is you..." Shinji said in a breathy whisper. His eyes widened. "But that means... oh gods! Asuka, I'm so s-"
The hand on his cheek moved, a finger landing on his mouth accompanied by a warning look from Asuka. "No. No apologising. There's nothing to be sorry for," she said.
"But I just tried to... and I thought you..."
The look intensified, and Shinji closed his mouth with a gulp. Asuka sighed. Dozens of questions were now running through her mind, all clamouring to be the first out of her mouth.
Shinji was back. And all because of her. Asuka had to fight down the smile that threatened to bloom on her face. There were more important things to deal with first. There would be time to celebrate later.
"Look, just answer me this: what has changed? Why do you now know that I'm real?"
Shinji frowned for a moment, his eyes drifting to the floor. "When I hit the wall, it... hurt," he slowly said.
"Of course it did, you hit a damn wall, dummy," Asuka replied as she moved her hand up to his forehead, pushing the unruly hair out of the way to examine his forehead and scalp.
"No, I mean it hurt." Shinji sounded more surprised than injured and appeared to not even notice the insult. His forehead only had a small abrasion on it, to Asuka's relief.
"Yes, it hurt. Why is that so important?"
Shinji turned his gaze to Asuka's face, which reddened slightly as cobalt met sapphire. "My nightmares... I remember having so many of them, and they always felt so real. But I haven't felt pain in so long I had almost forgotten the sensation." He put a hand to his head and groaned. "Ugh, I feel like I've been asleep for years."
Asuka's hands returned to her side, and she shook her head. "Six months. It's July. You've been..." Asuka waved her hands vaguely, "gone, I guess."
"Huh? Gone?" For the first time, Shinji seemed to realise exactly where he was as he looked into the kitchen. "Wait, this is Misato's apartment. How did I get here?"
"Well at least I can answer that question easily enough," Asuka remarked. "Misato and I found you near the hole in the middle of the city, unconscious with a head wound and a broken hand. We decided to bring you back here."
"Misato's... alive?" Shinji whispered, not yet ready to believe what he had heard. At a nod from Asuka, he shuddered as tears threatened to escape from his eyes. Finally, he got himself under control and asked, "What did you mean when you said I was 'gone'?"
Asuka rubbed the back of her head. "It's... kind of hard to explain. You were unconscious for a few days, and sick from an infection as well. Eventually, you woke up, but... it was like you were a robot. We had to literally order you around, or you would just stand there with this empty look on your face."
Shinji frowned. "If I woke up then, why don't I remember anything?"
"... Sleepwalking? It's about the closest thing I can think of to describe your state. Anyway, eventually Akagi and the bridge crew found us, and we all went to NERV to get you checked out. Unfortunately, even with their advanced medical equipment, we couldn't find a way to wake you up properly."
"Doctor Akagi? She came back too?"
"Yeah, almost everybody's come back from Third Impact, in fact."
It was perhaps one of the worst things to mention, as Shinji curled in on himself and mumbled through his knees, "After I killed them all..."
"Stop. It wasn't your fault." Asuka laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but Shinji roughly shook it off.
"It was me. I just couldn't stand it anymore," he mumbled, curling up tighter. "I made the decision."
Asuka's voice was now tinged with irritation as she said, "Shinji, stop. SEELE were the ones orchestrating everything. They forced the gun into your hands."
"But I still pulled the trigger!" Shinji shouted, directly into Asuka's face once more. The anger disappeared, and he tilted over until he was laying on the floor, facing away from the girl. "I did it," he whispered. "Nothing can change that..."
Any attempt Asuka made to get the despondent boy vertical again failed, as he would simply collapse back to the ground. She changed tactics, scooting around to a point where she could look at his face. She didn't like what she saw.
The light was starting to go out of Shinji's eyes.
"Look, people are returning, but only a few at NERV know what happened," Asuka explained desperately. "And none of them are blaming you for it, Shinji."
"...Nobody?" Shinji shifted his head slightly to look at Asuka, who latched onto the glimmer of hope.
"Nobody," Asuka repeated. "SEELE and your 'father' are first in line for the blame. Governments all over the world have condemned them. If they ever return, they'd probably get executed for crimes against humanity. The people who know the truth consider you just another one of their victims."
Shinji lethargically sat back upright, leaning against the wall with his head drooping. A short, hollow laugh left his mouth. "Hah. Victim. How I wish I could believe the same thing."
"Come on, you were being manipulated." When Shinji's only response was to scoff, Asuka's temper flared. "Hey! You're not the only one that was tricked into what they did!"
"Perhaps," Shinji grudgingly conceded. "But tell me something. Do you ever have nightmares?"
"What's that got to..." Asuka began, before sighing and saying, somewhat reluctantly, "Yeah, occasionally I did. But I haven't had one in a long time." 'Thanks to you,' she mentally added.
Shinji looked up, and Asuka found herself lost in the sudden intensity in his eyes, before he said, "Have those nightmares ever felt so real, so vivid, that it's like you're living through the event again?"
Asuka backed off slightly, looking away as she thought back to her own dreams. "...No. They've always felt at least a little surreal," she slowly answered.
A small grin crossed Shinji's face, but there was no humour in it. "That's what mine feel like. Every last one of them." The grin vanished without a trace and he placed a hand against his chest. "The feeling of my body being melted by the Fifth Angel while I scream myself hoarse. Being forced to watch as your mind was assaulted by the Fifteenth, unable to move, powerless to help."
Shinji brought his hand up to his face and stared into the palm. "The sensation of Kaworu's crushed body in my hand after I murdered the only person that I thought liked me unconditionally. I feel all of them as if I were living through those moments again. And those are just the 'good' nightmares," he said, turning his gaze back to Asuka, who had looked away at the mention of her mind rape.
Asuka squeezed her eyes shut as Shinji continued, speaking of things she wouldn't wish on anybody, such as Unit-01, most likely under control of a Dummy Plug, lashing out and murdering everybody that Shinji knew. What later stood out most in her mind was when the boy spoke of a recurring nightmare where he was forced to watch as Unit-02 was desecrated by the Mass Production Evangelions while she screamed his name.
After a few minutes of silence that Asuka spent wishing she could forget what she had just heard, she grabbed Shinji by the upper arm and lifted him to his feet, Thankfully, he remained vertical without assistance as Asuka led him to the lounge room.
"But then sometimes I see... you," Shinji murmured as he sat down.
Asuka froze halfway towards the couch. "M-me?"
Shinji focused his gaze on the switched-off television as he replied, "Well, not you you. It's some... thing that looks like you and taunts me with my bad memories, especially where you were involved."
'"Stop using her face!"' The words echoed in Asuka's head, and she quietly repeated them out loud, to Shinji's shock. "Shinji, what's the last thing you clearly remember before today?" she quickly asked.
Shinji frowned at the sudden topic change, and twisted his face in concentration. Finally, he said, "I remember... a nightmare, I think. I was piloting Unit-01, in one of the testing chambers."
'Oh no...'
"Unit-02 was there, as well as the thing with your face," Shinji continued, not noticing the look of panic on the face of the girl next to him. "It was bad enough when it just looked like you, but when I saw your Evangelion too... it was like it was provoking me. Daring me to attack. I just got so angry..."
Shinji finally took a moment to glance at Asuka to see her reaction. He was not expecting to see her eyes as wide as dinner plates. "What is it?" he nervously asked.
Asuka licked her lips, trying to bring moisture back to her suddenly dry throat. "Shinji... that wasn't a nightmare." She couldn't keep the eye contact going, and looked away. "Doctor Akagi came up with the idea of putting you in Unit-01 so she could use the neural interface for a better brain scan. You... woke up when they tried to end the test."
"Stop it... leave me alone..."
"Don't you remember my voice"
"You're not Asuka!"
A visible shudder shook Shinji's body, and he drew his legs up to his chest. "I... I attacked... you," he mumbled, before crying out, "I thought that thing was just trying to trick me!" Just as the tears were about to form in his eyes, and an apology begin to escape his lips, a hand fell on his shoulder and squeezed. He looked up...
Into Asuka's calm smile.
"It's alright," she softly replied. "You weren't in your right mind. That's why I did my best to disable your Eva without hurting you."
With a sniffle, Shinji let his legs drop off the couch and back down to the floor. "I know you hate when I do this but... I'm sorry, Asuka," he apologised.
Asuka sighed good-naturedly, but said, "Fine, I'll let you apologise for that. There was no harm done anyway."
To her surprise, the corners of Shinji's mouth turned up slightly as Asuka accepted his apology, and she decided against the small rant she had been planning about the meagre hand-to-hand skills that he had displayed during that incident. She had no desire to say anything that would ruin the first smile the boy gave her.
'Damn, I want... need to ask Shinji so many things, but he's been through enough recently,' Asuka silently mused. 'He needs some time to himself, to collect his thoughts. Besides, when Misato hears about this...'
A glance at the clock on the wall revealed to Asuka that a much more immediate meeting was about to take place. She prayed that Shinji would be able to handle the surprise.
Rei would be home from school soon.
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Ranma-sensei
Sorcerer
- Location
- Citrix Receiver
- Pronouns
- Weatherdependent
Ack, how did those slip through?
Double 'slightly
The comma after 'slowly' is redundant.
I'd rather go with either 'The hand on his chest' or 'his hand'.
It seems a little funny to see Asuka mentioned by name when she's the one listening to the story. Also, I think the impact is heightened if you go with 'she', instead.
Uh, you're missing a word, there at the end. Sadly, though I know what you mean, the English idiom you were trying to use escapes me.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Lilith damm it, we were so close!
Yes Shinji, this is not a dream, you actually have a girlfriend.
OK, good move by Asuka on the last part, but I think the better think might have been to say "I forgive you". Or that could have sent him spiraling back even harder because Shinji doesn't feel like he deserves it. NVM, ignore me.
Ok, so forgiveness wouldn't mean a thing to Shinji, still need to unravel his BIg Ball of Mental Issues for him to process that.
Well, we try to keep patients like you from hurting themselves and others, so... our bad?
I'm wondering if sitting him down with a bunch of International Humanitarian law texts and reading through them would help convince him that responsibility stopped at 'forced the gun into his hand'.
Unfortunately, second hand via veteran autobiographies.
The way everything comes back to hurting Asuka, I feel like I'm talking to Freud here!
Way to change the subject Asuka. You took it from him being guilty over hurting you, to being guilty over hurting you in an Eva.
Much hugging will be had, and Shinji gains a mother figure. Also, genocide's no longer the worst thing on Shinji's conscience.
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- Location
- National Capital Region, USA
Just stay with her and keep talking, Shinji. You're doing worlds' better than you have been for months. And Asuka'd happily take you crying and babbling over how everything is your fault rather than catatonia.
Now we just need to wait for Shinji to make lives of everyone around him (himself included) miserable so they can start realizing that having him back isn't a good thing, at same time letting them observe his deteriorating mental state while he fail to solve even smallest of his problems.
Then we'll have Eva fights where he will be danger to everything but enemy until he's knocked out and stop getting in the way. After all I'm almost sure that we're going with interpretation that all things that could be constructed as Shinji's success in this field are 100% Yui's doing.
Then we'll have Eva fights where he will be danger to everything but enemy until he's knocked out and stop getting in the way. After all I'm almost sure that we're going with interpretation that all things that could be constructed as Shinji's success in this field are 100% Yui's doing.
This can easily happen if you miss update in alerts, easiest way to check is to look at Watched Threads.
- Location
- Spain
Yeah, that has happened to me on some other occasions so you are right on that one, but I don't remember having skipped an alert lately. Then again, maybe I did and don't remember. My memory is on the crappy side, I'm afraid.
That's the point, you can forget or in case there is many you simply don't notice. Happen often enough for me to look up from time to time.Yeah, that has happened to me on some other occasions so you are right on that one, but I don't remember having skipped an alert lately. Then again, maybe I did and don't remember. My memory is on the crappy side, I'm afraid.
- Location
- Australia, mate
Yes, this piece got rather awkward. I had to change quite a bit before actually posting it.
Sounds like the same problem I had with your thread.
- Location
- Spain
It does, yes. Hopefully it won't happen again.
- Location
- Australia, mate
I've run into a bit of a snag on the next snippet, and that snag is called MGS V: The Phantom Pain. This has had me paying no attention at all to the time, I'm that engrossed in it. Apologies if you were expecting another chapter hot on the heels of this one, but at this rate I'll probably get almost none of it done this weekend.
- Location
- Spain
I so want to play that, but I won't be getting a chance until Christmas at the earliest, it looks like.
...Why does my gaming PC have to be so big...