Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.
Chapter 13
Back into the Fray
Rei could still feel his body pressed tightly against hers. Their embrace had concluded some time ago but for some reason the feeling still lingered. Once again Shinji Ikari had introduced a new feeling to the beautiful albino girl, a feeling Rei did not know she had been missing until now.
"Thank you." Shinji's exhausted voice brought her back from her daze. He was wrapped around one of her large bath towels sitting on her messy bed. She did not have anything else to offer him, but the boy seemed thankful all the same.
Rei nodded and sat besides the boy on her bed. He winced at the proximity between their bodies even though he had been the one to engage in intimate physical contact with her not too long ago. The albino girl simply observed him.
'He is not himself.' she concluded after carefully examining the attractive young man.
Shinji and Rei had began to bond lately, but in no way was the boy anywhere near bold enough to ask, let alone force, physical contact on her, or anyone else for that matter. Both youths were not particularly used to physical contact, Rei had spent most of her life without any kind of contact -not that she ever saw a purpose or need for it- and Shinji was, more than anything else, terrified of it.
'Yet he held me ever so tightly…' while Rei had thoroughly adored the extended closeness to the boy, she had to admit that something was amiss, the kind and meek person she had come to think so fondly of was not acting as he normally did.
Anyone else would have asked the boy what had happened, they would have tried to pry information off of him. Rei, however, was not just anyone, so she waited patiently in silence, she knew not what else to do.
"Aren't you going to ask me what happened?" Shinji finally managed, still sounding exhausted.
"Do you wish to share it with me?" Rei replied, maintaining her stoic expression.
"Not really." the boy answered wrapping himself more tightly in the bath towel she had provided him with.
"Then there is no need for you to tell me, Shinji-kun." the boy looked up to her and she saw his soggy eyes examining her, for what purpose she did not know but it was a gentle look, no malice was held for her in the depths of his dark blue eyes.
Silence once more engulfed the dingy apartment as Shinji nodded thankfully and withdrew into himself. She did not know what else to say herself so she simply allowed the quiet to overtake them both as she continued to examine Shinji. Whatever had happened, it had done enough emotional damage to leave the boy in a state of disarray and confusion and Rei felt a strong dislike for whatever had caused it but at the same time she was thankful for it as he would not be there besides her otherwise.
After what seemed like a few minutes, at most, her old alarm clock rang startling Shinji, and Rei realized she had been ogling the boy for well over one hour. She got up and retrieved her glass of water and her pills, all the while Shinji carefully examined her.
"I… Are you sick, Rei-chan?" the boy asked from where he was sitting as she downed the glass and the pills seeming to forget his own troubles even if for a single moment.
"According to Doctor Akagi, I will be anemic for the remainder of my life." she deadpanned "She gave me these to take regularly, it is not serious."
"I see, I'm sorry." he apologized, what for she did not know but Rei nodded all the same acknowledging the boy's care for her.
Shinji looked down seemingly lost in his thoughts again and Rei made her way back to bed and sat herself next to him. After a few minutes he looked back up to her and seemed to want to talk but gave up and lowered his head again. Rei did not fully understand what she was expected to do but she knew Shinji well enough to know he would share his thoughts with her if it was necessary.
"Did you know?" Shinji started gaining a quizzical look from the albino girl "They say we have to pilot again. Did you know?"
She did not. The commander was no longer the commander, and the scenario devised by him was no longer in progress, as such all of the top secret information she was used to have access to was no longer within her reach. It did make sense though, Rei had assumed someone would have ended her existence if they knew what she was, but if she was needed to pilot that was a solid reason as to why she was allowed to be with such minimal restrictions.
The thought of the end. That was something she was comfortable with a few months back, yet now it brought nothing but a crippling fear to her. Was it because she now knew of the small pleasures of life? No. Even now her routine did not change substantially, life was as dull now as it was in the beginning. Except… Rei turned and locked eyes with Shinji. Every little interaction, even spending time in silence in his presence was something she thoroughly enjoyed, thinking that might ever come to an end left the albino gripped by an irrational fear.
She was not born to the world the same way everyone else was, her life had been conditioned to a small, effective, routine and her premature death had always been a given. Fear of death was not something she ever experienced… Not until after he had come into her life. Shinji Ikari.
"No." she replied "But it might explain why I am still allowed to be."
Shinji's eyes widened as he grasped the meaning of her words. He looked away in what Rei could only identify as… shame? It did not make sense to her but it seemed her words had caused him discomfort.
"I'm sorry. I never considered…" Shinji struggled with his words and the albino girl simply waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts "When you say something like that… My problems seem so minuscule…"
Rei did not fully understand but she felt her chest tighten around her heart. Shinji was a sensitive person and it wasn't uncommon for him to care for others, but the fact that her words had made him so concerned for her well being made the heat rise to her cheeks. This was also something she did not wish to lose.
"They-" she was brought back from her daze and saw the boy's deep stormy eyes, with a fire burning behind them, looking straight into her own red orbs "They won't harm you. I promise. I'll keep you safe."
Her heart skipped a beat. She knew it was an empty promise, if the decision was made there wouldn't be anything the young boy would be able to do to stop it.
Yet… For some unknown reason, Rei felt like he would never break his promise.
xxx
Shinji felt dirty. Had he become so self centered that he had not even considered it? Rei was unlike any other person in the world. She was unique and to some, someone who should not be. It made him sick to his very core. His problems seemed so insignificant when compared to hers that he felt ashamed… His grip on the towel tightened and the boy wished he could make himself disappear.
"They-" Shinji started with an unusual degree of confidence in his voice as he locked his eyes with hers "They won't harm you. I promise. I'll keep you safe."
He knew his words carried little weight behind them if one was to think logically, but he was not interested in logic, he had felt an unyielding need to comfort the girl and he meant every single word he said.
The albino girl seemed surprised, almost shocked, when she fully digested his words. Her reaction brought back some of Shinji's doubts and he quickly returned to his meek old self. The last time he remembered acting the way he did was back then… The last battle he partook in while in his Evangelion.
"Thank you." the gentle voice of the quiet girl reached his ears and he felt a small smile emerge from his own features as he nodded, unable to reply.
Rei remained next to him and as much as he wanted to he could not ignore their proximity. Once she had opened the door, he had lost control of himself and lunged at her grabbing a hold of the girl. One could argue if he ever even was in control considering his state of mind, but since then Shinji had regained his calm and was feeling more and more aware of the closeness between him and the blue haired girl.
Why had he come to her? Why did he hold her so close to him? Why did he feel the need to comfort her? Those were all questions Shinji would reply with 'I don't know', but the truth was he did know. He had come to her because Rei had been the closest person to him for a very long time, before he had found about her origins she had been the closest person to him. He had held her close because he wished to feel something, anything, and Rei jump started his heart like no one else could. Finally he had felt the need to comfort her because he cared for her. More than he could admit.
His mind raced once more. The Evangelions, Misato's deceit and Rei's origins. On which was his mind supposed to focus? The real question was which was more egregious to him. He had gone over at least two of the topics on in his head as he made his way over to Rei's home.
Finally he settled on the girl who had been so incredibly kind to him in her own way. She had never done anything to hurt him, Shinji had envied her and even hated her for a moment when he had discovered of the truth behind her, but those feelings slowly evaporated. He no longer envied the girl for her relationship with his father, Shinji had decided that such a thing was more of a curse than something worth being jealous of. What the good Doctor Ritsuko Akagi had shown him, however, had deeply scarred him. He could still remember the sight of many bodies falling apart in front of him. The hate he had felt at that sight, however, had now become a distant memory, Rei was not guilty of anything.
Shinji kept his eye trained on the door as his mind continued to roam through his thoughts. Rei was a victim. A victim of his father, a victim of the war and above all else a victim of humanity itself. She was all that but most of all she was his friend, she had shown him kindness and affection despite his flawed self, and she continued to do so to this very moment.
There was still a great many deal of things Shinji did not understand about the albino girl, but one thing he had come to terms with. How she had come to be was irrelevant, to him she was an irreplaceable part of his world, a part he was not willing to lose. It was because of how much she meant to him that he had resorted to her in his most desperate moment.
Shinji closed his eyes. When he looked at her he did not see anyone but Rei Ayanami, she was her own person. He had gone over this same point many a times and while he had not been sure before, now he was.
"Rei-chan." he called out to her still maintaining his eyes closed "Are you going to do it? Pilot, I mean."
"Unit 00 was heavily damaged when you rescued me. While it was not destroyed I am unsure if it has been repaired." Shinji continued to listen for the answer "If it is repaired and I am necessary, I will."
"Why?" he asked finally opening his eyes "When I last asked you why you piloted you gave me an answer, has that answer changed?"
Would she really do it because she had nothing else. Would she continue to follow her orders blindly even if they did not come from his father? No, Shinji was sure she had changed, if she was going to do it again, at the very least she needed to have a reason for it.
"It has and it has not." she replied seeming somewhat unsure of what she meant herself "I will still do it because it is, in a way, my link to humanity, but… This time I have something that I do not wish to lose."
Something she did not wish to lose. He pondered her words but could not be sure of what it was Rei did not wish to lose. It did tell him that the girl in front of him had grown more and more as a person and that realization brought a smile to his face. How she managed it he did not know but the worries of his life and his depressing mindset seemed to somewhat lift itself the more and more he spoke with the albino girl.
"I… I don't know what to do." he had decided to be frank and open up to her, maybe it was a mistake to open up and trust someone again, but for whatever reason he felt like the girl sitting beside him was worthy of his utmost trust "I felt wanted. When Misato said she was going to adopt me… I thought I had found a family. Someone who cared about me like I was her own blood. I was stupid. In the end I was kept around because she needed me to pilot again. Why would anyone care to keep me around if I didn't have a use… I am after all an Eva pilot."
Rei listened quietly as he poured out his soul her face betraying no emotion before lending her own opinion.
"I cannot speak for the Major, but I believe she was genuine when she attempted to adopt you." Shinji looked at the blue haired girl with tears beginning to make their way down his reddened cheeks "I am not very dextrous with words, Shinji-kun, but… Even if you do not pilot I would not like seeing you gone."
His eyes widened and his heart jumped in place when he heard those words leave the pale girl's lips. She had told him she did want him around, even if he decided not to pilot. Those words were something akin to a mythical beast for Shinji Ikari, he never expected to hear them said to him.
"Th-Thank you, Rei… Thank you so much." he thanked her from the bottom of his heart eliciting a small blush from the blue haired girl "If you don't mind me asking, what is it you do not wish to lose?"
Rei's facial expression shifted a bit as she seemed to try and put her thoughts into words but eventually she returned to her usual stoic expression.
"Once I am a bit better at talking, I will tell you." she replied seeming content with her own words, a small smile gracing her docile features.
His cheeks burned and Shinji was sure he was currently doing his best impression of a tomato. There was no denying it, Rei Ayanami was something else and he was seeing a side of her no one else had ever seen. That thought made him smile like a toddler, he wished she would only ever show this side of her to him.
It was then that realization struck him. He had always found the unique girl attractive, but it was then that he understood that, despite any circumstance, he had already fallen for the beautiful girl sitting next to him.
"I… I'm not sure I..." he stuttered looking for the right words "What I mean to say is, I'm still hurt with Misato-san… I still hate piloting the Evangelions… But, thank you."
It was obvious from her expression that Rei Ayanami had no idea what Shinji had meant, but her cheeks turned a slight tone of pick all the same at the words of gratitude from the Third Child.
"You're welcome…" Rei managed still seeming unsure of what she did to deserve the boy's gratitude.
"It's late, may I cook something for us?" Shinji got up from the bed and asked.
Rei looked up at him and nodded, her usually stoic expression returning to her face. She told him she only possessed vegetarian ingredients but Shinji was quick to reassure her that he could work with anything she had in store.
'It's the least I can do.' the boy thought as he made his way to the kitchen.
Things weren't fixed, but he had gained a great deal of clarity from the blue haired girl and thanks to it a slight bit of strength to move on forward. His mind was still attempting to drift into the depressing thoughts surrounding Misato but for the most part he was no longer overwhelmed by them. Instead he found his thoughts hovering over other stressful thoughts as he finally processed that he had held the beautiful albino in his arms and she hadn't mentioned it since.
xxx
"Do you think he's coming?" Misato asked the fiery German girl sitting at the breakfast table.
The morning after the great confrontation had been relatively slow. Misato had gotten up and dressed only to find that her male ward had not returned home, she had panicked and considered calling some of Damoncles' personnel to located and retrieve Shinji, but she ended up deciding that if he did not wish to come back he was well within his own rights. Meanwhile Asuka seemed to have gone out yesterday and returned with her drive, as she seemed more focused than ever on her desire to pilot the Evangelions.
Misato gave Asuka a buttered toast and sat down in front of the girl noticing she had a fresh set of bandages around her right hand. She wanted to ask her when or how it happened but she already knew what had caused it, if she asked the girl she would only up being upset.
"Don't know." Asuka answered frankly as she took a bite off the bread, not seeming too bothered by the absence of her fellow pilot.
Misato would not blame the boy if he decided not to return, it was in fact, partly her fault that things had gone the way they did. She did wish she could speak with him once more, despite not having any children of her own Misato knew she loved the boy like her own son.
"Excited to be back aren't we? Something happen last night?" Misato asked attempting to lift the mood a bit and strike up a conversation with her second second ward.
"Just got my eyes opened, that's all." the redhead replied seeming more serious than usual "How much longer are we going to wait? If he's not coming waiting won't change that."
Misato sighed and nodded. It would seem that the quiet gentle boy had made his choice. All she could do was hope he would be happy away from them and the Evas. Hopefully Rei and Asuka would suffice.
Just as she made up her mind a buzz came from the doorbell.
No one dared move a muscle. Misato held her breath and Asuka seemed to be frozen with her toast still in hand. A second buzz broke the stillness and Misato almost tripped over herself to get to the door. She opened it as fast as she could without ripping the thing off its place.
"H-hi." Shinji greeted awkwardly before being yanked into a hug by his lavender haired guardian "M-Misato-san!"
The older woman ignored his protests and simply kept the boy locked in a tight bear hug. Even if things were not fully mended the fact that he had returned uplifted the mood in the house, even Asuka seemed slightly less angry, not that she would ever admit it.
"Great, he's back. Can we go now?" Asuka asked as she finished her toast and pretended not to care about the scene unfolding between the Third Child and his guardian.
After a few more moment of suffocating tightness Misato finally let go of her ward allowing him some air. She had hugged the boy not as his guardian and most definitely not as his commanding officer but as a mother who was worried about him. If she were the same Misato from a few moths back she would have scolded the boy for running away from his duties, but at the moment all she could feel was relief to have him back.
"Uhm…" Shinji seemed somewhat lost after the sudden display of affection by the lavender haired woman.
"I'm sorry." she intervened before the boy had time to add anything "I admit it was my bad, I should have told you as soon as I was informed. I know you might not trust me and I might still not be too used to this whole mother thing but… Before anything else I want you to know how sorry I am and how happy I am to see you back."
Shinji seemed completely dumbfounded and Misato hoped she had not come off too strong. She was still not entirely sure how to behave as a motherly figure but even if she was just seen as a big sister at least she wanted to make sure both her wards felt like she wanted them around for more reasons than to pilot giant war machines.
"I-I'm sorry I stormed off yesterday." the young boy apologized after finally getting over the shock of nearly being smothered to death by a hug "I'm not saying all is forgiven… But I didn't give you a chance to… In any case, I thought about it and decided I would do it. One more time."
"Even if you decided not to do it I would have welcomed you back all the same, Shinji-kun." Misato smiled warmly as as she noticed the boy lighten up a bit.
"I'm home." he declared looking more comfortable.
"Welcome home." Misato greeted with a smile.
xxx
The trip back to the fortress Damoncles had been long but the mood had been slightly elevated as Misato was in a really good mood to have him back and even Asuka seemed somewhat upbeat, probably because they would be back inside the Evas soon enough.
Rei had been carried by helicopter and had consequently arrived before them being already in the presence of the new Commander Fuyutsuki and Doctor Akagi. Shinji and Asuka made their way next to the First Child and Shinji threw a nod her way being rewarded with a slight nod from the albino girl.
"Welcome, I am glad to see you all here." Fuyutsuki greeted the pilots before nodding to the lavender haired guardian "I would also like to extend my apologies for forcing you with this burden once again."
"It's not a burden at all, I am ready to save mankind." Asuka proclaimed loudly while Rei and Shinji remained silent awaiting the Commander's next words.
"Good to see one of you in such high spirits, though I would rather not have to send you at all." the old professor confessed "Sending children off to fight mankind's battle was never enjoyable for any of us."
The older man allowed a few seconds to let his words sink in and began walking motioning the pilots to follow him into a rather spacious elevator. Shinji noticed Misato grumbling something about other elevators being much more claustrophobic but he ignored it and rode down the rest of the way in silence, his mind wandering back to the previous night.
-Flashback-
Time passed and both youths enjoyed a well cooked meal in the presence of each other. A comfortable silence replaced any small talk that might have took place during the meal and Shinji felt thankful for Rei's quiet company. Words could at times be a barrier to him but with Rei he found that words were a luxury not a necessity, it was probably one of the reasons why the boy felt so deeply connected with the albino beauty.
After the meal Shinji decided to clean the dishes, he had produced the mess himself after all. He spent a good few minutes distracted from his problems and the world as he cleaned Rei's tableware while the girl sat on her bed staring intently at his back.
"It is late." the girl stated from behind him and Shinji nodded in agreement, it was already dark "You may stay the night if you wish."
Shinji stopped washing the fork he had been concentrated on. Rei had just offered to have him stay the night. It was nothing too special, after all he already lived with two women, spending the night at the Ayanami residence was far from a bad prospect but Shinji still froze somewhat.
"Are you sure?" he asked resuming his washing of the tableware "I don't want to be a bother."
"It is not a bother." she deadpanned.
"O-Okay, I'll accept your offer then." he said turning towards the girl "Thank you."
Rei nodded and started digging around in her closet for sheets and pillows he assumed. He focused hard on the utensils in his hands. For some reason spending a night at Rei's seemed so much more stressful than a regular night at his home with Misato and Asuka. He sighed quietly and tried to keep his heart rate in check, of course it would feel more stressful, she was not Misato or Asuka… She was Rei.
He finished washing and not too long after both him and the blue haired girl decided to call it a night.
In the dark of night Shinji could hear Rei's breathing from the floor in front of her bed. He had been so stressed about the thought of spending the night but now he could just think about the day that was to come. Would he head over to the Katsuragi residence and demand an explanation from his guardian? Or would he just stay with Rei until she was taken? Would Misato even care to take him back? He did not know. If he would not pilot odds were she wouldn't but he had already decided.
He opened his eyes and the same flash of confidence that had appeared behind them earlier that day returned. Shinji would pilot again. Not because he cared about what happened to him should the Angels win, not because he cared what happened to the world, but simply because he had promised her.
Shinji wrapped the sheets tightly around him and closed his eyes again. He was scared. He was not one of the action heroes that often appeared in some movies, but he felt that for her he would do his best.
-End Flashback-
"Move idiot." he was brought back to reality by the redhead standing behind him and he obeyed moving outside of the elevator.
"We're now several hundred meters underwater." the old commander declared as he positioned himself in front of a massive gate "Behind this gate are the facilities in charge of repairing and upgrading the Evangelions… But before we enter allow me to be clear and explain why you are here and the current state of the world."
Asuka seemed to deflate a bit after the commander mentioned that they would not be seeing the Evas just yet but Shinji for one was glad things were finally going to be explained in detail. He was sick and tired of being led by the nose and not told a damn thing, this was no longer NERV they deserved to know exactly what it was that was happening.
"I apologize if this ends up being a long and drawn out explanation but I feel like you need to know this." Fuyutsuki said before clearing his throat "First, you probably are unaware, but the Angel held in Terminal Dogma back at NERV headquarters was transported over here using a warship like the Evas and is being held in the deepest level of Damoncles."
Shinji felt glad to hear it, if such a dangerous thing was left there odds were sooner or later someone would end up using it. He looked over to Rei and was relieved to see she had no adverse reaction whatsoever to the news.
"As for the rest of the world, all they know is NERV is gone but the threat of the Angels remains. Now while NERV was around we managed to keep things bottled and hidden but now things are bound to be slightly different, odds are all pilot identities will become public knowledge sooner or later." Asuka seemed rather excited about the idea but Shinji didn't really like it, he had enough troubles when it was just his class swarming him he could do without media coverage "But that's besides the point. Here's what you truly need to know… After the JSSDF mess at the Geofront an investigation was launched and most of the men behind it were held responsible for it. During the investigation, however, we uncovered a data storage device. It was pretty banged up but it held valuable information."
The commander directed the pilot's attention to the bottle blond and she began explaining her findings.
"The disk held information extracted from the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls contained in them the information regarding the return of the Angels and it was because of them that we knew to prepare for the first attack." she declared as she turned a few notes on her clipboard "According to the data present in the hard drive, information had been withheld from us. One final trial was still to come and as such the United Nations scrapped the plan to disassemble the Evangelions and gave us the mission to end the last threat as we did we all previous ones."
"Thank you doctor Akagi." Fuyutsuki thanked as he took the floor again "Why this information was withheld from us… I could lie to you and say we do not know but the fact of the matter is, we do know."
All eyes were on the old man and Shinji noted Misato specifically seemed to be boiling. He did not understand why but it seemed like his guardian knew something he did not or at the very least she suspected something.
"Third Impact was the final objective of the organization behind NERV." Fuyutsuki continued "We just did not know that the whole process would be achieved in two steps. Step one was to be concluded during the JSSDF assault and the second one involved this final Angel. This is, honestly, all we know so far. It isn't much, but it is what we know. An Angel is coming and like every other time before we need you pilots to take the burden upon yourselves one more time."
The old man nodded the doctor's way and she remotely opened the large gate inside there was an almost exact replica of the Eva cages from NERV headquarters. Standing submerged to their chests in LCL were the behemoths designated as Evangelions. Shinji noted every single one of the units had changes done to them.
Unit 01 had significantly more green highlights, but other than that the design seemed mostly unchanged. The same could not be said of Unit 02, white highlights had been added, the head seemed new to some extent and the entirety of its right arm had been replaced by a fully mechanical prosthetic, but the unit still looked and felt like Unit 02 despite all the changes. Finally Unit 00 had received a paint job and had its own highlights added. Shinji did not understand the need for the small aesthetic changes but the design of the Evangelions was something he payed little mind to.
"All Units were upgraded with new hardware and software." the blond said as the pilots examined their war machines "Unit 00 and 01 were easy to upgrade and repair, the main issue was rebuilding Unit 02 as it was almost completely destroyed during its battle against the Mass Produced Evangelions."
Shinji noted Asuka biting her lip and looking frustrated and offended to some extent but he decided to ignore it. He knew how she was and if he said anything it would only cause problems.
"Why is my Evangelion mangled?" Asuka demanded to know.
"The neural network the Eva uses works based on a two way signal. Basically you send the Evangelion an order with your brain and it executes it, then the Eva proceeds to send you a signal so you know it did what it was supposed to." Ritsuko explained seeming increasingly bored "You cannot receive the signal as your arm's nerves were heavily damaged. If you tried to operate Unit 02 with both biological arms the right arm would be stuck on a permanent loop until the entry plug left the Eva."
Asuka, much to Shinji's surprise, did not answer anything instead she just lowered her head and mumbled something Shinji couldn't make out. It seemed to him that Asuka's reunion with her Evangelion was not going as well as she had hoped. He felt for her somewhat, it was important for her and to be told that her arm was a burden so bluntly…
"In any case I do not have the time to go over every improvement, you'll just have to get used to the new things during training. In the meantime please make your way to the changing rooms." the Doctor ordered as she started walking away "We need new synch tests to know how things are."
Misato told them to go ahead and change before following the blond doctor, seemed like both women would be having a private conversation before the tests.
Shinji made his way to his changing room which was in the opposite direction of the female changing room. He found his old plugsuit waiting for him, that piece of equipment had a great many deal of bad memories associated to it, Shinji sighed and began changing. It seemed like that hadn't been upgraded at least. It took him very little time to change and he was on his way to his plug when he found both Asuka and Rei in what he could only assume was a 'new and improved plugsuit'.
"Don't look you pervert!" Asuka growled promising fiery death to him should he disobey her order "Who had the idea to change the damn suits into this?!"
Rei had been quiet and seemed largely unaffected by the new design but Shinji could tell she wasn't entirely comfortable with wearing it. Shinji did not dislike the new suits but he wasn't the one wearing them. It seemed like the mid section was thinned in a way to show more flesh, for what purpose Shinji did not know.
Rei caught him staring and Shinji simply blushed red like a tomato before hurrying on over to his plug as fast as his legs could carry him. Whoever had designed the new female plugsuit had a field day, it certainly was pleasant on the eyes though.
'If Asuka ever heard me think that she would break my neck...' he thought making a mental note never to compliment the new design.
He reached the testing room and saw the three test Entry Plugs. The room seemed eerily similar to the one back at NERV, it seemed like Damoncles either had a lot of the same architecture as NERV or they had made their best to emulate it before they had been summoned there.
Shinji removed any unwanted thought from his mind and made his way into the Entry Plug. The familiar, almost claustrophobic, tube began filling with LCL and Shinji closed his eyes.
'Back at it again.' he thought dryly as he reopened his eyes. He noticed the video feed from Plug 00 and 02 and noticed both his fellow pilots were ready to start the test.
"Okay, I'm sure you don't require any guidance, you should know what to do." the voice from Doctor Ritsuko Akagi reached his ears through the audio feed "Good luck."
"I don't need luck." Asuka declared from her plug as she closed her eyes and concentrated.
Shinji took a moment to look over to Rei and saw the albino girl with her eyes already closed and her face fully serene as she attempted to concentrate for the synchronization test. He smiled at the feed from Plug 00 and closed his eyes beginning to focus on the test.
xxx
"Not now, Misato. I have to monitor this test." the doctor complained as Misato had attempted to drag her away for the third time in less than half an hour "Please wait and I will be sure to discuss whatever it is you want after the test."
"Fine." the lavender haired woman spat not looking happy in the slightest.
"Doctor, I think you should see this." Maya called the doctor and she made her way behind the bridge bunny examining closely the data and causing the younger girl to blush.
"Rei's holding steady at 52.98%..." The older woman said as she wrote some notes down on her clipboard "Asuka's at 70.01%? Not bad, even though it's oscillating I thought her arm would have caused some issues in the test… Well, well, I guess he's our ace for a reason."
Misato knew she was referring to Shinji and made her way closer to see the data on the screen. She saw the figures and smiled, even if it was something he hated, Misato was still proud he was doing so well. So proud she almost forgot she had to chew the blond scientist out.
"Shinji Ikari holding completely stable at 97.26%" Ritsuko finally said aloud as she took a larger set of notes from his data.
Author's Notes: New chapter, new stuff.
Hopefully the plot will thicken in the near future. For now we have some character development on Shinji and Rei's side, hopefully it doesn't feel too rushed. Pacing can be hard to manage.
(So, out of curiosity, how many of you thought things were going to get spicy at Rei's apartment?)
I put some thought into the whole second stage of Instrumentality and how it should work with Shinji stopping the first stage, so I hope you will all enjoy the ride when we get there. Until then, have a nice read. Also the Evas are now looking up to date and equal to the Rebuild Versions, except for Unit 02, it's meant to look like Eva 02 from Rebuild 2.22 so don't go mixing it up with Unit 02 from Rebuild 3.0.
Do leave some feedback as a review, anything that can help me is always appreciated.