Evangelion Fan Fiction

The Difference Of A Life

By Kraven Ergeist

April 13th, 2016

The occupants of the simulator sat in silence, watching the two Eva-clad warriors sparring.

“YAAAAAH!”

Metal met metal.

“HAAAAAH!”

Piloting Unit 01 and 04, Shinji and Kaworu flickered and ricocheted off each other like sparks, flying metal beings, dancing on flat, non-descript gray plain.

“TSU-TSEI!”

One katana tensed…

“TSYAAAA!”

…And flew at the other, which knocked it away as quick as it came.

“HYAAAH”

The other flinched, and all at once, three attacks echoed instantaneously in the blink of an eye. Warriors of silver and violet, Shinji and Kaworu flared in and out of existence, their minds lost in the fray of combat.

When the beasts were finally still, they had backed off enough to catch their breath, hands still at the ready.

Their swords flew…

And all at once, they had passed each other, swords drawn.

The purple katana broke into pieces and Unit 01 fell to one knee.

“You’re not putting enough heart into it, Shinji,” Kaworu panted. “You have to want it! Disenable yourself the ability to live without it! It has to define you!”

Shinji brought his Eva to its feet, as he stared ashamed at the audience that had paused its training to simply watch the two of them fight. He could hear murmurs of awe coming from the newer recruits, pride from Rei, and even envy from Asuka.

Shinji just sighed. “How, Kaworu? I’m giving this my all. You just keep beating me.”

“Wrong!” Kaworu said, sending Shinji bolting upright. “Our Eva’s have identical capabilities! If you fail, the failure is your drive to succeed!”

Shinji hung his head. “I’m sorry…I just can’t…”

“But you have improved,” Kaworu acknowledged, nodding his head approvingly. “You’ve greatly improved. Right now, I recon you could take on any one of the pilots, save Mayumi and me. And I have no doubt, Shinji, that when it comes down to it, and the safety of your comrades depends on your abilities, that you will succeed.”

Shinji felt himself smiling. “Thank you, Kaworu.”

“Remember,” Kaworu said, ordering Unit 04 (or more precisely, it’s digital representation) to sheath its progressive katana, “The sword is not the weapon – you are. The sword is merely a tool. You are its only limit. The katana is considered by weapon smiths worldwide to be the most perfect cutting instrument known to man. The Samurai believed it to bean extension of their soul. If you put enough heart into it…it will cut through anything.”

Shinji frowned, staring down at the broken hilt in his Eva’s hands. “Computer – repair progressive katana.”

A digital wire frame extended out from the broken end, and the katana was whole once more. Sheathing the sword, Shinji turned and bowed to Unit 04.

“If we’re done with training, Kaworu…there’s something I need to ask you.”

Kaworu’s intelligent smirk displayed on Shinji’s communication panel. “Based on the fact that you’ve enabled a secure connection, I imagine it’s important.”

Shinji frowned, eying his companions, who had gone back to training.

“How did you do it? How did you get me out of the Angel?”

“I didn’t do anything, Shinji,” Kaworu shrugged. “You did.”

“But you helped.”

“I showed you the door. You’re the one who walked through it.”

“How?”

“I have an understanding of AT fields,” Kaworu explained. “With Rei and Mayumi’s help, we were able to…communicate with you. We were able to dispel whatever illusion the Angel had chosen to show you.”

“And what about the warning of the future Angels?” Shinji frowned. “How did you find out about them?”

“When I was inside the twelfth Angel, I saw what the future angels would look like.”

“And you haven’t told my father?”

“He couldn’t do anything if I did,” Kaworu lamented. “It would look too suspicious.”

“So he knows? About you, Rei and Mayumi?”

“I doubt he’s fully aware of Mayumi’s power, but he definitely knows something’s up.”

Shinji closed his eyes, taking this in.

“Kaworu, you said my friends would be in danger.”

“And they will be,” Kaworu assured him. “The next four Angels will be more powerful than anything you’ve seen. They will be swift, they will be deadly, and they will not go down easily. That’s all I saw.”

Shinji did the math. “That’s sixteen Angels. What about the seventeenth?”

Kaworu sighed. “I didn’t see anything about the seventeenth. But I can only infer that it will follow along the same pattern.”

Shinji stared hard at the progressive katana in his left hand. He had failed before. He could not afford to fail gain.

“I have to get stronger…”

Kaworu watched as Shinji tapped into Maya’s latest simulator design – mock-ups of all the previous Angels fought. They didn’t move or fight back, but as soon as their cores were struck, they fell down and disappeared. Misato had of course liked it, arguing that it made more sense than training against other Evas.

It wasn’t like their opponents would ever be Evangelion units…

xxxxx

When Kensuke showed up for testing that day, he wasn’t prepared for a party.

“Surprise!”

Aoi, Kaede and Satsuki all had party hats and balloons. Even Commander Tokita had partaken in the festivities. Commander Shiro Tokita had headed the Third Branch since Commander Ikari had left. Having previously worked in the JSSDF, and long having fancied an idea for an unmanned replacement for the Evangelion units, he was now in charge of supervising the training of its pilots.

He sighed, lamenting.

Kensuke just stared, aghast. “Uh…what’s this all about, you guys?”

The bridge bunnies unashamedly abandoned their posts to cue up for some cake. “We’re celebrating your last day at the Third Branch! After today, you’re moving to the front line!”

Kensuke just scratched his head. “Yeah, so?”

“Hey, you three!” The Commander scowled. “You’re not allowed to leave your posts!”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Satsuki sighed. “It’s not like any angels are coming anyway.”

Commander Tokita pouted. “Yeah, but it’s the principle of the matter…”

Aoi and Kaede just pretended to ignore their commander. “So, we’re all celebrating your last day here so that once they whisk you off to the First Branch, with all the Evas and fighting, you won’t forget us!”

Kensuke felt his cheeks redden. “Oh, come on…it’s not like I’m just going to forget you guys…”

Kaede offered him a slice of cake. “Oh, that’s so nice of you, Kensuke!”

“Would you at least try not to get icing on the console…?” The Commander mumbled, unable to command the same conviction that his predecessors had.

Aoi smiled. “Aw, Kensuke’s just happy to finally get to see Mana again…”

Kensuke’s eyes widened. “Huh? Wha…why do you say that?”

She winked at him. “It’s not like we’ve got much else to do, so keeping up with the pilot’s lives is pretty much all we do for fun around here. So of course we know about you and Mana.”

Kensuke held his hands up. “It…it’s not what you think…”

“So, tell me,” Satsuki almost seemed to magically appear behind the boy, sending him for a start. “Have you kissed her yet?”

Kensuke blushed, furiously. “Well, uh…no…but…”

“Hey, girls…” a much deeper voice called out from the hallway. “Why not give the kid a break, huh? He’s got a long day ahead of him.”

All three head perked up at once. “Kaji!”

Commander Tokita just hung his head. “Finally – someone who can keep my workers in line…”

The unshaven NERV gopher sauntered over to a console that would normally be used to display readouts about pilot heart rate and oxygen intake, but for the time being was serving the purpose of holding the chocolate cake Kaede had brought in for Kensuke’s farewell party. “Ooh, this looks good. You girls made this yourselves?”

Aoi and Satsuki gave the brunette a gentle nudge, causing her to step forward.

“Not all of us – just Kaede.”

The bridge bunny stared up, red faced at the pontytailed man. “Umm…it’s not that good…but, feel free to have some…”

Kaji winked at her. “Cake? From you? How could I say no…?” He served himself a piece before giving Kensuke a warm pat on the back. “So, you ready to ditch this place and get to the real action?”

Kensuke shuffled his feet nervously. “Not really…though it would be nice to see all my friends again, I’m just nervous about fighting the Angels…”

Kaji frowned. “You’ve been keeping in touch with them, haven’t you?”

Kensuke nodded. “Mostly. Toji and I chat online all the time.”

“Everyone still accounted for?”

“Yeah…”

“So there you have it! They’re all just fine! See? Nothing to be worried about.”

The three NERV techs clustered around the two boys.

“Oh, our Kensuke’s not worried about a few overgrown clowns!” Aoi crowed.

“Yeah,” Satsuki smiled. “We’ve been helping him train around the clock! He’ll show those other pilots how to kick it old school.”

Kaede just fidgeted. “D-Do your best, Kensuke!”

Kaji patted Kensuke again, causing him to catch his breath. “Hahah! See? All these girls are rooting for you! Nothing to be afraid of now!”

The Commander groaned, helplessly. “I can’t control them…”

Kensuke looked up at each of the tech’s faces. They had all been nothing but supportive over the half year he’d trained under them. And the whole world was on the line of him and the other pilots. Besides, he’d get to pilot a kick ass Evangelion!

“Hey, Mister Kaji? When we head out, will we get to fly in one of those Eva carrier models? The kind with seventy meter wingspan and stealth capability?”

Kaji grinned. “You better believe it!”

Kensuke’s nervous face turned up into a smile. “Alright then! When do we leave?”

xxxxx

Misato and Ritsuko, having finally reached their break time, sat down for cups of coffee after yet another long fruitless attempt to try and decipher exactly what the hell had gone on during the last Angel attack.

“What I don’t get is why the Commander hasn’t suspended Unit 01 from ready status,” Misato groaned, dark circles under her eyes. “I personally wouldn’t feel safe putting any child, much less my own, in a bio-mech that could just…come alive at any moment.”

Ritsuko shook her head, puffing her cigarette as usual. “That I can understand – notice how Shinji’s still alive?”

Misato shook her head. “Ritsuko, you’re a scientist! Just because something happens a certain way once should be no indication of how it’ll happen again. You should know that!”

Ritsuko just smiled. “I may be a scientist. But I’m also a woman. That Eva was acting in self-preservation, and more importantly, in the best interests of it’s pilot. That doesn’t take much to see, Misato.”

Misato rested her head in her hands. “That’s still not explaining how it happened, or why the Commander feels so trusting of that machine.”

Ritsuko looked away. “I’d be a bit more appreciative, Misato. That machine is part of the reason we’re all still alive.”

Misato groaned, looking more tired than ever. “Sometimes I wonder who’s serving who, us or the Evas. You think Command would fire me for taking the rest of the day off?”

Ritsuko checked her cell phone. “Consider the 8th Child is supposed to be arriving today, yeah, they probably would.”

Misato groaned again. “Oh man…”

xxxxx

“That’s it. We’re officially doomed.”

The pilots were gathered together in the suite, waiting for news of Kensuke’s arrival. Mana and Mayumi were busy in the kitchen, fixing some sort of concoction one of them had seen on the cooking channel. Shinji and Rei were on one end of the couch, Toji and Hikari on the other, both very much entangled in each others arms. Asuka was sitting in the middle where the two perpendicular ends met, and Kaworu was sitting on the floor in front of her legs. No one was really paying attention to the TV screen.

“Why is that?” Kaworu said, tilting his head up to look at the redhead curiously.

Asuka had her yellow dress on, and there was very little to see from Kaworu’s vantage point, and Asuka had been slowly learning that Kaworu rarely if ever took any of her baited lures, and when he did, it was never in the manner that she expected. In a way, letting him sit in this position was just another test of his resilience, if not his trustworthiness.

“Because we’re about to turn the fate of the world over to the three stooges,” Asuka chuckled, prodding Kaworu’s side with her toe. “That’s why!”

Kaworu actually flinched at the contact, probably because it tickled.

“Heh-heh…they’re only going to make up a third of our actual fighting force. The rest of us are quite capable, Asuka. Or are you suggesting you can’t handle a few male coworkers?”

Asuka pursed her lip, glaring down at him. “I’d be careful what you say, Kaworu…” she mused, reaching down to grab him by the shoulders. “Because you’re in a very vulnerable position right now…”

Holding his arms in place, she began to prod his ribs with her feet. Kaworu, for his part, began to squirm.

“A-ha-ha-ha…Asuka…! A-ha-ha…”

“Quiet down, you two,” Hikari laughed. “I can’t hear the movie.”

“You’re not paying attention to the movie anyway,” Asuka leered, still holding Kaworu’s shoulders. “Seriously, get a room, you two.”

“You’re one to talk, Red,” Toji shot back. “You’re bein’ awfully clingy to ‘Lord Twinkle-toes’ over there.”

Asuka flushed. “D-Don’t misunderstand! I’m just establishing my superior-”

“Excuse me,” Shinji raised an eyebrow. “Lord Twinkle-toes?”

Hikari began to giggle.

“Did he seriously just call him that?” Shinji laughed.

“I believe he did indeed,” Rei nodded, matter-of-factly.

“I don’t really mind,” Kaworu shrugged.

“Quiet you!” Asuka jabbed him again in the ribs, causing him to flinch again.

“Ah!” he yelped, boyishly.

“You know, I think Asuka’s enjoying that a little too much,” Mana said, bringing a plate of what looked to be a cake out from the kitchen.

“I think Kaworu is too,” Mayumi giggled.

Asuka blushed bright red. “Sh-Shut up!”

“Hmmm…something smells good…” Toji sniffed the air. “Something made with chocolate…and cherries? Could that be what I think it is?”

“You guessed it,” Mayumi smiled. “Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte.”

There was a pause.

“That…wasn’t my first guess.” Toji admitted, dryly.

“Baka,” Asuka sniffed. “It’s Black Forest Cake.”

“Aww…” Mayumi whimpered. “I like the other name. It had pizzazz.”

“Doesn’t make it any less good by my standards,” Toji grinned. “Hikari, if you could…disengage yourself for a moment…”

Hikari’s arms were still wrapped possessively around Toji’s abdomen. “Only if you bring me a piece.”

“Rei?” Shinji looked at Rei as she left the (in his mind) rather agreeable position she had been sitting in (mostly for the degree of bodily contact it involved). “You’re leaving?”

“There is cake,” Rei said as though that explained everything.

“Asuka!” Kaworu struggled to get to his feet, gasping at her prodding. “I simply want to get some cake!”

“Yeah, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Asuka grinned, holding him down, and continuing to tickle him with her toes.

“You’re not going to eat your cherry?” Toji eyes Hikari’s plate conspicuously.

“All yours,” Hikari winked.

Asuka burst into laughter.

Hikari blushed. “What?”

“Nothing, never mind,” Asuka waved her off.

“What, I don’t get it,” Shinji asked, accepting a plate from Rei. “What’s so funny?”

Mana just rolled her eyes. “Asuka’s just being perverted.”

“What, she’s the one who said it!” Asuka defended.

“I happen to like cherries!” Toji grunted.

“Yeah, I’ll bet,” Asuka snickered.

Kaworu, who had eventually procured a piece of cake for himself and Asuka, held his plate up to her. “Asuka, you can have my cherry if you wish.”

Asuka blushed heavily. Toji and Hikari started giggling. So did Mana. Mayumi was just ignoring the lot of them, enjoying her cake as peacefully as possible, which wasn’t much. Shinji and Rei still just looked confused.

“No, I don’t want your cherry!” Asuka shouted, kicking Kaworu between the shoulder blades.

Kaworu winced, dropping the plate, which he had been holding up to her from his seat at the foot of the couch, his cake landing haphazardly on his head, smudging chocolate icing all over his gray hair.

“It was just a question, Asuka,” Kaworu ran a hand through his hair, trying to clean it out as best as he could. “No need to lash out.”

“I’ll lash out whenever I want to, damn it!” Asuka growled.

Kaworu sighed. “I’ll be right back, just going to clean this off.”

Kaworu wandered off, and Asuka simply sat in her spot on the couch, arms crossed. She glanced back and forth at the concerned glances coming from each of the other pilots.

“What?” Asuka asked out loud.

“That wasn’t very nice, Asuka,” Hikari frowned at her friend.

“He was openly provoking me!” Asuka defended. “He should have known making a joke like that was going to make me angry!”

“You can’t ask him to be a mind reader, Asuka,” Hikari shrugged.

“Yeah, Red,” Toji added. “You can’t expect a guy to-”

“Toji, let me handle this,” Hikari said, twisting his ear between her fingers. “What I’m trying to say is, he probably just misinterpreted your signals and came to the conclusion that what he did was the appropriate course of action. Considering how polite he’s been since now, I think he deserves a little slack.”

Asuka rolled her head back. “Ach gott, warum mich?”

Rei offered her plate to Shinji. “Shinji, would you like my cherry?”

“I’m going, I’m going, I’m going!” Asuka yelped, getting to her feet and quickly dashed off to the dorm rooms.

The light was on the boy’s bathroom, and Asuka almost turned back. But then the image of Rei hand feeding a cherry to Shinji popped into her head, and she suddenly decided that there were worse things she could be doing than apologizing to probably one of the only decent guys on her team.

“Kaworu…” she knocked on the bathroom door.

“It’s open,” she heard his voice from inside.

Hesitantly, she opened to the door to find Kaworu topless with his head bent over the sink, hair mostly wet.

Asuka suppressed the urge to gulp. The guy was not out of shape.

“Umm…I’m…sorry I kicked you…” she said, looking away.

“No hard feelings,” Kaworu smiled, wetting his hands in the running tap before wiping his hair once again.

“You might want to use shampoo for that,” Asuka pointed out. “Water’s not going to get it all out.”

Kaworu blinked, eying his reflection in the mirror. “You obviously know more about hair care than I do.”

Asuka sighed, grabbing a bottle from the counter. “Here, let me do it…”

Kaworu sat still as Asuka squirted a teaspoon of shampoo into her hands and rubbed it into his fine, gray locks. Digging her fingers into his scalp, she sudsed his hair till it was completely white from the thick foam. A long while passed and Kaworu noticed that while his hair was probably well past clean, Asuka didn’t appear to be stopping.

He didn’t say anything about it.

“So, just so we’re clear, you do know why I was upset, right?”

Kaworu opened his eyes. “Because I said something inappropriate?”

“Do you know what, specifically, was inappropriate?”

Kaworu hesitated. “Some sort of sexual innuendo involving cherries?”

Asuka nearly burst out laughing. “You honestly don’t know?”

“I can hazard a guess.”

Asuka’s fingers stopped scrubbing, mostly due to the fact that she was laughing so hard, her weight began to lean against Kaworu’s bare back. Kaworu just stood there confused, as Asuka leaned her head against him. She smiled at how nice he smelled. It was probably just the shampoo, but…

“Asuka,” Kaworu tested the waters. “You may think that I don’t always notice you, but I do. Whenever you smile at me, whenever you speak to me, whenever you touch me…”

“That sounds really perverted, you know…” Asuka said, though she didn’t sound angry.

“Not everything is intended to be as perverted as you think it might be,” Kaworu sighed. “For instance, earlier, my only intention was to offer you a piece of fruit, because I thought that it was a kind gesture, and that you would enjoy it.”

“I figured…” Asuka sighed, still leaning her head against his back, almost like she was hiding behind him. “So…if I offered you my cherry…would you take it?”

Kaworu turned his head to look back at her. “Are we speaking metaphorically here?”

“What do you think?” Asuka said, not looking up. As it was, her hair was obscuring her face, and Kaworu couldn’t see her eyes. She was unreadable.

“If the offer were sincere…and I can tell when they’re not…” Kaworu said, turning his eyes forward, staring down at the dull white counter. “Then of course I would.”

There was a still silence that permeated the bathroom. Somehow, Asuka knew that whatever power she might have thought she had over Kaworu was actually very minimal. He could read her like a book sometimes. He never acted out of line, not with ill intent at any rate. He had gone over at length his thinking during that scandal with Rei. Though his actions had resulted in Rei and Shinji’s mutual anguish, none of that had been his desire. He had simply wanted to coexist, for them to be happy with the way things should be. Which is why, after Rei had made her desire clear to him, he had let go entirely, and allowed them to go along with what they wanted, and moved onto to another girl.

Her.

And he could tell that her question had simply been her testing the waters, that she was merely concerned with the direction their relationship (if that’s what it could even be called) was going. In truth, she was nowhere near ready to give herself to him yet. And he knew it. And she could tell that he knew it. Nothing had to be said. Not a word.

Kaworu may not have been a mind reader, but he was as close to one as it came. And that suited Asuka just fine.

“Well, good thing I’m not offering then,” she smiled, going back to washing his hair, more vigorously this time. “I might have to have been worried.”

“So do you still not want my cherry then?” Kaworu asked, smiling at her through the mirror. “The one from the cake, I mean.”

“Of course,” Asuka smiled, leaning up to whisper in his ear. “I love cherries.”

“I might just have to ask Mayumi for the recipe for that cake then,” Kaworu smiled, completely unfazed.

Asuka let out an exasperated sigh. “You know, you amaze me sometimes! How does a guy not at least flinch when a girl does that?”

Kaworu smiled, wholeheartedly. “I already told you, I do notice you, Asuka.”

“Then how come you never seem to react to me?”

“I most certainly am reacting to you, Asuka,” Kaworu smiled. “Just not in a way you can see.”

Asuka withdrew, eyes wide. “What the…ew, gross! I did not need to know that, you moron!”

Kaworu blinked, before realization dawned on him. “Umm…I wasn’t implying an anatomical reaction, Asuka…”

“Don’t want to hear it!” Asuka huffed, turning on her heels and heading towards the door. “You can just wash your own hair from now on.”

Kaworu watched, helplessly, as Asuka stormed out of the bathroom, leaving his hair still sudsed with shampoo.

“Sometimes, you just simply confuse me, Asuka,” he let out a great sigh. “I suppose that’s why you interest me so. You’re…different…so different from everybody else. And that’s worthy of my empathy…”

Kaworu leaned forward and turned on the tap, rinsing his hair out beneath the metal faucet. Ensuring his hair was completely rinsed, he grabbed a towel from the wall, drying his hair out.

“In other words…”

xxxxx

April 14th, 2016

“FIRE!”

It had been a disaster. It had suppose to just be an activation test. Kensuke had been so excited, getting to sit inside an Eva for the first time in his life. Then the desert camo tinged Unit 08 had ripped it's way out of its restraints. Alarms had gone off all throughout the First Branch of NERV as blue patterns emerged all throughout Unit 08’s readings. In an act of desperation, they had sent it into the catapult and lifted it to the surface.

Now, acting of its own will, it was trying to get back in.

“What are you waiting for, Shinji!?” Misato’s voice blared over the intercom. “Open fire!”

All Unit’s had been launched to intercept the berserker Evangelion. Hikari, Rei and Shinji had been placed at sniper positions all throughout Munich. Asuka, Kaworu, Toji, Mana and Mayumi had all taken the Eva head on.

It had been bloody.

“Shinji! I’m giving you a direct order! FIRE!”

Shinji stared at the result of the battlefield before him. Unit 02 lay headless on the ground. Unit 08 had most of its upper body twisted, it’s spine snapped at the waist, lying lifeless on its side. Unit 03 was missing most of its torso. Unit 05 was lying legless on its front. Unit 09 was unaccounted for – probably down. He couldn’t tell what had happened to Unit 00 and 06, his sniping partners – he’d lost radio contact with them after Unit 07’s first attack.

“Shinji, do you read me!?” Misato screamed. “Shoot it!”

Shinji gulped hard. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. Brother fighting brother, comrade slaying comrade. He knew it wasn’t Kensuke’s intent, but still…

Asuka…Toji…Hikari…Kaworu…Mana…Mayumi…

xxxxx

April 13th, 2016

Toji and Kensuke clasped hands as they encountered each other on the airstrip. It turned into a manly embrace, the two of them laughing up a storm. Behind them, the Eva was slowly being loaded off the carrier, it’s tan and brown hull glimmering in the evening sun.

After Toji let him go, Shinji gave him a similar handshake, but didn’t pull in for a hug. After they exchanged a brief few words of pleasantries, they were interrupted by a dark red head leaping into Kensuke’s arms, nearly knocking him to the ground. Kensuke just laughed and smiled as Mana wrapped her arms around him tightly.

Once mana released him, Hikari threw her arms around him despite himself, tussling with his hair. Asuka and the others didn’t make contact, but were smiling despite themselves. Even Rei, her hand clasped around Shinji’s now free one was in good spirits.

Everyone was happy to see the final member of their team.

xxxxx

April 14th, 2016

“It’s…” Shinji stammered. “That’s…he’s one of us, Major Katsuragi! I…you can’t ask me to kill him!”

“I’m not asking you, Shinji, I’m ordering you,” Misato said coldly. “It’s either him or us. Ask yourself what he would want.”

Shinji slammed his fist against his control yoke. “Why is this even happening!? What in the world is going on!? Why is Unit 08 acting on it’s own!?”

There was a pause, as precious seconds were lost with Unit 08 clawing and tearing at the trapdoor that sealed off NERV and all those lay below from the ravenous beast.

“Shinji,” a voice said over the comm link. Not Misato’s – it was a man’s voice. It had been so long since Shinji could even remember hearing his father’s voice before.

“F-father?” he gasped. “What’s going on here?”

“I’m sorry, Shinji,” Gendo Ikari said over the transmitter. “Unit 08 has been classified as an Angel. You must destroy it, or humanity will die. I understand the circumstances – I don’t want to sacrifice another pilot any more than you do. But for the good of mankind, for the sake of our survival, Shinji, you must do it.”

Shinji just gaped in disbelief. “No…no way…that can’t be! How could one of our own Eva’s be an Angel!? There’s got to be some mistake! That’s Kensuke! That’s Unit 08! That’s our comrade! It can’t be an Angel!”

No one had been terribly willing to fight one of their own. Mana had all but broken down into hysterics. Asuka and Kaworu managed to put up a good fight, but the Eva’s arms had somehow gained the ability to stretch and extend, and had taken them both off guard.

He still didn’t know what had happened with Rei and Hikari. He could understand Hikari being unable to fire, but Rei…she, of all the pilots, had the ability to put emotion aside and do the task the job required. Shinji missed that – need that – right about now.

“You know what’s at stake, Shinji,” his father’s voice said, irritably calmly. “Either take the shot, or let him kill us all. It’s your choice.”

Shinji grimaced. His choice. That meant Rei and Hikari must have been neutralized as well. It was up to him. In one hand, he held his friend’s life, in the other, he held the fate of the world. Who would it be? Was there no middle ground?

Would he be made into a murderer?

xxxxx

April 13th, 2016

“38 percent,” Toji commented as Kensuke suited up in his yellow plug suit. “Not a bad sync rate. Think you can hit that in your Eva?”

Kensuke was practically giddy with excitement. “I just can’t wait to sit down in a real Eva after all this time! This is going to be so awesome!”

Major Katsuragi, who had been escorting the “three stooges” to the Eva cages, waved her hand dismissively. “Now remember, Kensuke, we’re just going to try to start the Eva up. You’re not going to move it. You’re just going to get a feel for how it’s like on the inside.”

Kensuke shook his head. “That doesn’t matter! I’ll be sitting in a real Eva! I can’t wait! How long till the activation test again.”

Misato sighed, staring at her watch. “Another 45 minutes, Kensuke.”

“Aw man!” Kensuke whined. “Can I just sit in it!?”

Shinji sighed as Toji tried to calm down Kensuke’s theatrics, claiming them to be unmanly and the like. Shinji knew that was just Kensuke’s way of dealing with the nervousness. Toji’s way had been with cold feet, Hikari’s way had been to consistently apologize. Despite that, Mana, Mayumi, and especially Asuka had taken their first real piloting experiences in stride, almost like they were born for it. And as for Kaworu and Rei…

“Shinji, what’s it like?” Kensuke asked, desperately. “You’ve been a pilot longer than Toji – no offence,” he offered an apologetic look to his fellow stooge. “How’s it different from the simulator?”

Shinji shrugged. “The simulator does a good job of mimicking the overall affect, but when you get inside an actual Eva…I don’t know, it’s like you’re not the only one in there. It’s like your sharing a mind with something else entirely. But it’s not in a bad way – you sort of get a feeling that the Eva wants to protect you. Once you’re inside the Eva, you feel safe…”

xxxxx

April 14th, 2016

Shinji dropped his sniper rifle.

No. There had to be another way. There had to be a way to get Kensuke out of the Eva without killing him. They had tried ejecting the entry plug, but a web like growth had seem to trap the rear hatch into place. If he could just force open that latch…

He bolted down the side of the mountain, emerging from his vantage point, making a controlled fall down the hillside towards Unit 08.

The desert camo Eva turned its head up and away from the escape hatch it had been clawing at to meet the oncoming Unit 01 head on. Shinji knew he was outmatched – in close quarters combat, he was outclass by almost all his peers, save maybe for Hikari – and they had all lost in bouts of physical strength. But he tried anyway.

The enemy Eva had him on the ground in no time flat. He felt the Eva’s hand enclose around his own, and all of the sudden, his throat began to constrict as if on its own.

Alarms went off throughout the entry plug. He vaguely heard shouts of the intercom, ordering him to eject. But he ignored them. His eyes had fallen on something, one of the weapons that Unit 05 had dropped.

A progressive katana.

xxxxx

“Contact reestablished with Units 00 and 06!” Maya shouted, her voice nearly lost amongst the din of commands being issues inside Central Dogma.

“Finally, something we can use!” Misato growled, slamming down the intercom button. “Unit 00! Unit 06! Come in! Do you read me!?”

Hikari’s voice trembled over the intercom. “I’m here…”

“I am here,” Rei’s voice, while broken by the crackling comm unit, was otherwise unobstructed by fear or any emotion.

“Status report!”

“It seems that both out weapons, our comm systems, and our targeting monitors have temporarily shorted out,” Rei reported evenly. “Our intercoms and targeting systems have come back online, but our weapons are still offline. Beyond that, our Eva’s appear to be in working condition. Awaiting orders.”

“Your orders?” Misato gritted her teeth. “Unit 08 has been reclassified as the 13th Angel, and Shinji has abandoned his post and engaged the enemy head on! Your orders are to destroy the Angel without causing any residual damage to Unit 01!”

“Understood,” Rei acknowledged.

Hikari remained silent.

“6th Child, do you copy!?”

Hikari voiced sounded weak. “I…I am unable to comply…Major…”

“And why is that?”

“Because…with all due respect, Major,” Hikari said, her voice gaining firmness. “That’s my friend in there! I cannot in good conscious fire upon Unit 08.”

Misato massaged the bridge of her nose. “Hikari…”

“I shall take the shot, Major,” Rei said. “Send me another positron rifle. I will make it a clean shot and avoid Unit 01 altogether. And…” Misato could tell Rei was saying this for Hikari’s sake. “I will make it a disabling, non-lethal shot.”

Hikari’s voice sounded relieved. “Ayanami…”

Misato held her breath. She could tell this was as good as it was going to get. “Do it.”

xxxxx

Rei had to wait only another ten seconds before the extra positron rifle emerged from a trapdoor beneath her footing. She fixed a bead on Unit 08, and guided the cross hairs until the bead rested on Unit 08’s lower haunch.

Then suddenly, she was staring at a black screen with the words “System Failure” in red font flashing across her targeting reticule.

“Again?” Rei hissed in frustration. She reset the targeting system, and once again fixed a bead on Unit 08, before once again, the system shorted out.

“What is happening?” Rei blurted out, confused.

Then she saw Kaworu’s face appear in a communication box across her monitor.

“Rei…let him do it.”

Rei nearly gasped. “Kaworu? What are you talking about?”

The boy’s face shook. “This is a battle that only Shinji can win. For his sake, for Kensuke’s sake, for all our sakes, you must allow him to finish it.”

“And how do you know this!?” Rei demanded. “How can you ask me to just sit and watch while the one I love is being throttled before my eyes!?”

Rei’s emotions were spilling out, her normally cool battle calm losing its focus. The same thing had happened months ago when she had missed the synchronized shot against the 7th Angel. Her emotions had gotten in her way. And now, she had the site of her boyfriend having the life slowly squeezed out of him to contend with, which meant there was that much more at stake. If she missed her shot now…

She looked up at Kaworu. Last time, he had been the source of her emotionally instability. This time, he was preventing it from getting out of control.

She gritted her teeth, activating her comm link. “Major Katsuragi, my targeting systems are continuing to pose a problem. Permission to engage?”

“Denied,” Misato said, as Rei knew she would. “Your new orders are to retrieve Unit 01. You hear me, Hikari? Both of you are to get Unit 01 to an escape elevator, ASAP!”

Rei nodded before Hikari even had a chance to respond. “Understood.”

She switched off her comm link.

“Thank you, Rei,” Kaworu said from his private transmission. “Trust me, this is the best for us all.”

Rei stared scornfully at him. “For your sake, I hope it is.”

xxxxx

Unit 00 and 06 got to the scene just in time to watch the tables suddenly turn.

Shinji had gotten a hold of Kaworu’s progressive katana, and had lashed out, severing both Unit 08’s arms.

Rei and Hikari could only stare in shock as Shinji kicked the armless tan Eva onto its back, quickly getting to his feet, and slashed again, this time removing both its legs, leaving only bloody stumps on what was otherwise a torso with a snarling head.

Unit 01 stood above it, remaining deathly still. Inside, Shinji was oddly calm, even having just rent Unit 08’s arms and legs from its body – and thereby traumatizing what he hoped was an unconscious Kensuke inside the entry plug. Oddly, he didn’t care. Arms and legs were better than taking the whole thing down. This way at least, Kensuke would survive, if at the cost of being bedridden for a week or more.

His enemy immobile, Unit 01 was unhampered in turning the flailing torso onto its front and ripping the rear hatch from it’s back. Despite being armless and legless, the Angel within the Eva’s body still thrashed like a fish out of water, and Shinji was forced to straddle the flailing bio mech.

It was with cold surgical precision that Shinji pried the gooey but otherwise unharmed entry plug from the Eva’s back. Now free, its emergency booster’s activated, and the entry plug flew out of Unit 01’s hands, half a kilometer into the air, before releasing a parachute, letting the plug sink safely to the ground, well removed from the battlefield.

With Kensuke out of harms way, Shinji twirled the progressive katana in his Eva’s hands, before plunging it to the hilt into the back of Unit 08’s neck, pinning it to the ground below.

With a final growl, the beast finally stopped moving.

xxxxx

Kensuke woke up about 6 hours later in a hospital bed. He looked around and saw what he hoped were his glasses laying on the table to his left, and reached out to pluck them from the table and place them around his face.

He relaxed his arm, surprised at the amount of effort it had taken. He’d never been operated on, and had never taken any form of anesthetic aside from a local shot when his dentist had had to fill in a cavity when he was seven. This must be what waking up from chemical induced slumber felt like. He had to say, he didn’t much care for it. He felt groggy and just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep. But he couldn’t, cause his back was so sore, and his neck-

Suddenly, he realized his neck was in a brace. He tried to sit up, but couldn’t muster the strength. Panic almost overtook him. What had happened!? The last thing he remembered was getting into his Eva and-

“Kensuke…”

He turned his eyes as best as he could in the direction of the voice – finding Mana standing beside his bed, her eyes red.

“M…” he tried to talk without being able to move his jaw. “Mana?”

Mana closed her eyes tightly before balling her hands into fists and slamming them down hard on the bed.

“You idiot! What’d you go and do that for!? You scared me half to death! When I told you that soldiers die, you weren’t supposed to prove me right, you big dummy! What were you thinking!? I completely screwed up on my maiden campaign thanks to you! Don’t get comfortable, cause the minute you’re well enough to stand up…”

Kensuke tensed up, but couldn’t move anywhere, and was forced to take the punishment, thanking whatever gods were listening that she was striking the mattress and not his body.

Mana finally calmed down, and was left panting with her fists firmly planted where they had last struck.

“I’m sorry, Mana,” Kensuke sighed. “I don’t know what happened. It just…went off the deep end, and then…I just remember blanking out.”

Mana stood up and stepped over to where his face was. “They're gonna want to hear that at Command. I was asked to tell you that your neck is fine; they just put you under and put you in a brace to prevent you from snapping it when you finally came to. As it is, you’ve suffered some major whiplash.”

Kensuke blinked. “That’s a relief. The part I understood, at least.”

Mana shook her head, tears threatening to resurface again. “You big dummy…”

Kensuke looked innocent. “Hey, I tried, didn’t I? I gave it my all, and then it blew up in my face. What was I suppose to do?”

Mana sighed, looking down at him. “Nothing. You got lucky this time – you could have been killed. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.”

She leaned down and kissed him on the lips before he could so much as blink.

“For both our sakes,” Mana winked, dashing out of the room before her senses could catch up to her.

Kensuke, for his part, just gawked at the ceiling for a while.

“Huh-guh-whaa?”

xxxxx

Fury. That was the emotion Kaworu felt emanating from the monoliths of SEELE. Pure and utter fury.

“Explain yourself, Tabris!” SEELE 08 growled to the point where his mike began to crackle. “You sabotaged your own pilots. Why?”

Kaworu shrugged. “We won, didn’t we?”

“By the skin of your teeth!” SEELE 05 retorted.

“I simply determined what the best course of action was and I took it,” Kaworu said. “Sometimes, an Angel’s logic can be more…convoluted than a humans. Surely, you all know this.”

“Answer me this,” SEELE 01 said, who had been silent for the longest of all of them. “Your growth is far from complete. How did you attain enough power to short circuit two Evangelion’s computer systems as well as two of their weapons, in addition to hacking into their communication server? That should be beyond your power.”

Kaworu smiled. “Should be. But wasn’t. Isn’t it fun when things don’t go according to plan?”

There was a long silence.

“We’ll be watching you,” SEELE 02 said. “You no longer have this council’s trust.”

Kaworu nodded. “I’ll try not to cry.”

More fury emanated from the council.

“Dismissed!”

The lights shut off, and Kaworu was alone.

Save for one.

“I’m proud of you, Mayumi,” he said in a sardonic tone. “The council was effectively fooled. And your actions yesterday-”

“My actions,” Mayumi’s small voice quipped. “My actions nearly caused the deaths of every single one of my comrades, including yourself.”

Kaworu stifled a laugh. “I was in no danger, and the rest of the entry plugs escaped intact. There was no harm done.”

Mayumi shook her head. “But there was risk. You take far too many chances Kaworu. Or should I say, Tabris.”

Kaworu spread his arms wide. “It doesn’t change the facts, Mayumi. You and I are both crucial ingredients in what is about to take place. When the time comes, you will be forced to act, I’m afraid.”

Mayumi frowned. But she knew he was right.

“What’s your game, Kaworu?” she demanded. “Whose side are you on? What are you trying to get out of all of this?”

Kaworu simply smiled.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

xxxxx

That night, a platoon – nay, a flotilla of pilots entered Commander Gendo Ikari’s office. As Asuka, Hiakari, Toji and Rei stormed the desk where the two occupants were in alternating states of sitting and standing, Fuyutsuki looked alarmed, while Gendo remained as calm and collected as he ever was.

“Commander,” Asuka planted her hand on his desk. “We really must protest!”

“Yeah, what gives!?” Toji added. “Locking Shinji up for saving Kensuke’s life! He should be given a medal or something’!”

“Sir,” Hikari said, trying to be reasonable. “We’ve all agreed – Shinji’s actions were in the best interests of the pilots, the protection of NERV, and eliminating the Angels. In all accounts, sir, Shinji has gone above and beyond-”

“Pilots,” Gendo said, cutting them off. “That’s quite enough. Your actions in coming here are useless. My decision is final.”

Asuka planted her foot down. “Sir, with all due respect, he’s your son for God’s sake!”

Gendo nodded. “I am aware of this, Third Child. And as his father, it’s my responsibility to discipline him.”

All the pilots seemed to inhale as they prepared to launch into yet another tirade.

“One week, grounded to his quarters should do,” Gendo said before anyone could say a word.

The pilots were effectively winded.

“That’s all?” Toji blinked. “Grounded for a week?”

Gendo nodded. “Should an Angel attack, he is to report to NERV as usual, but for the offense of disobeying a direct order, and in light of his accomplishments in the most recent battle, this seemed to be the most appropriate form of discipline. Is there a problem?”

All the pilots exchanged glances.

“That’s…very reasonable of you, sir…” Hikari said, her face flushed.

Toji nodded, hands in his pockets.

Asuka just nodded once in approval before turning to go. “Well in that case, we best be going.”

Toji and Hikari quickly stumbled after her.

Only Rei remained.

“Is there something you need, Rei?” Gendo asked, once the other pilots were gone.

Rei was silent for a moment, and then…

“It’s nothing, sir…”

She turned to go.

xxxxx

“That was really reckless, Shinji,” Rei said condescendingly. It might have sounded more condescending had she not been holding him possessively whilst lying on his bed while she said it.

“Sorry,” Shinji winced. His body was still sore from the fight. He had nearly been strangled to death, and now he was in a similar danger from Rei’s vice like grip on him. “My friend was in trouble, and I just sort of…snapped, I guess.”

Rei pouted. “You certainly put the rest of us through a lot. It was all I could do contain myself, seeing Unit 08 strangling you like that.”

Shinji winced again. “I’m…I’m sorry, Rei. I didn’t mean to do that. I just…wasn’t thinking, I guess.”

“Clearly,” Rei lightly flicked his forehead. “Baka.”

Shinji gave her his best puppy-dog face, and Rei shook her head.

“Such looks cannot faze me Shinji.”

Shinji nuzzled her shoulder.

“No,” Rei commanded. “Stop it.”

Shinji began to lick her face.

“Shinji!” Rei gasped, as he suddenly tackled her, licking her ear. “Shinji, would you…ahhhh! Stop that!”

Shinji relented but did not get off of her, instead resting all his weight on her as they both lay down on the bed.

“Mmmm…” Rei groaned in annoyance. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Have I mentioned I love you?” Shinji said, spirits oddly lifted.

Rei smiled. “Not today you haven’t.”

Shinji tapped her nose. “Do you only speak in contractions around me? Cause you completely drop them whenever we’re in combat.”

Rei smiled, matter of factly. “I feel comfortable around you.”

Shinji kissed her. “Well, that’s good.”

Rei shook her head, ironically. “Grounded to your quarters for a week, and all you care about is whether I’m comfortable enough around you to use contractions?”

Shinji laughed, before suddenly grabbing Rei by the arms and pinning them to the bed.

Rei flushed. “Sh-Shinji!”

Shinji licked her ear, whispering. “We could do it right here, you know? I’m not going anywhere for a while. No one would have to know.”

Rei’s heart pounded in hear chest. “I…I think I’d rather wait.”

Shinji kissed her ear again, but let go of her arms. “I can wait.”

As soon as Shinji relaxed, Rei seized her opportunity to return the favor and nip Shinji’s ear, receiving a surprised yelp for her trouble.

She looked up at him, almost sulking. “This does not mean I have any qualms with making out.”

Shinji’s look of surprise turned into a smile. Maybe being grounded wasn’t going to be so bad after all.