So then, what is the job of the strongest?
There was nothing in the world worse than coming back home late at night, then being forced to rush through the homework I was given because I only had a few hours until midnight.
I got in and looked at the state of my living quarters. It was a mess. There were noodle cups on the small desk I bought, and the kitchen had scattered pans covering it. At the door there were two bags of trash. Still, I was too exhausted to clean up.
I went past the mattress I used as a bed which had a night-stand next to it. On it there were several clothes.
I sat on the chair in front of the desk, pushed all the noodle cups into the garbage bag and put a book on the table.
"Damn Akagi," I grabbed my hair and groaned through the homework on my desk. "She's definitely out to get me. I'll have to make coffee in the morning to stay awake."
The next time she asked me for a full physical review I'll deck her in her ratio. What a waste of everyone's time. Sure, my physical scores were a little higher than normal, did that even matter? The EVA reacted to my physical ability through a mental link, what did it matter if I was physically gifted?
"Ugh…" I groaned, tossing my pen on the table. I already had to worry about EVAs, angels and my sorcery… homework and school should just be an afterthought. "Forget it, I won't get it done by tomorrow unless I spend all night awake." I refused to do so. My following day wouldn't be utter garbage because Akagi decided to be worse than the monsters she fights.
Ring Ring ♪Carry on, my wayward son! –♪
I grabbed my flip-phone and opened it, ending its ringtone. I didn't know the phone number calling.
"Ikari Shinji –"
"You better be keeping up with your training, skinny." Tokita's voice coming from the other side made me smile.
"Tokita-sensei! I am, though it's going slower than I would like…" It had been a little while since I'd talked to him. Tokita calling meant one thing and one thing only.
"I'll be visiting soon, tell me when you have holidays or vacation so we can do an intensive." He sounded excited, but there was an issue.
"That'll be a problem, I sort of have to be at these people's beck and call. Contract stuff. There's another person who can do my job… but they're out of commission right now."
"Just get fired."
"Sorry, it's a government thing." Explaining NERV was difficult and explaining anything on Angels was classified, so I was left with a very awkward amount of information I could give.
"Well, you better not be teaching them anything, the last thing I need is the government learning the Niko Style." I could see his expression from just his tone. He probably had his nose scrunched in annoyance.
"No worries there, they think I do Judo."
"Judo? Well, I suppose there's some correlation. Well, call me when you have a date. We'll need a while to train."
"Sounds good. See you then."
"Till later"
I closed my flip phone and tossed it on the night table before letting myself fall on my back. There was a moment of calmness in my body where I let myself close my eyes.
Being an EVA pilot sucked, having Ikari Gendo as my father sucked, being in middle school sucked. Training sucked. Surely, I'd have to get up early tomorrow again, go for a run, do some calisthenics and train katas before heading back home to take a shower.
It was monotonous, boring, and in a corner inside my heart I knew I wasn't doing all I could to improve. I was going at it far slower than I could be.
"Well… still better than Shinji…" Those were my words of consolation.
Ring Ring ♪Carry on, my wayward son! –♪
I opened my eyes and looked at my flip phone. I opened it and answered the call.
"Ikari Shinji…" I had far less energy than before.
"Where were you man? We waited for you and called you!" It was Toji, he seemed angry.
"Sorry… family kind of dragged me into a huge mess. My aunt's being a total witch." I was not sure what I'd do if Akagi was my actual aunt. Most likely answer? I would ignore her entirely.
Nothing truly stopped me from punching her through three walls tomorrow… nothing but my conscience, and I could feel Jiminy cricket slowly get further from me the more exams she ran on me.
"Man… you promised. Next time you're paying for lunch too."
"If you're too broke to buy noodles just say so man, I won't think less of you for it."
"I'm not broke. It's the principle."
"Sure. See you tomorrow." I closed my flip-phone and released a loud sigh before finally falling asleep.
Knock Knock Knock
I was woken up by the front door. I dragged myself out of bed and looked at the clock I'd bought for my night stand. It was four in the morning, whoever was knocking would need a REALLY good reason.
I grabbed the garbage bag that had been filled yesterday from my noodle cups and dragged it to the front. Since I was already going there I might as well make my life easier.
Knock Knock Knock
"Yeah, Yeah! I'm going!" It was too early for all that knocking. The doors were made of flimsy cheap wood and as such they made a lot of noise when knocked on because they rattled.
I opened the door. I was met with a tall woman with blue eyes.
"Katsuragi-san… please tell me this is important…" I dropped the trash bag in my hands.
"There's an angel attack. I'm here to bring you to HQ." Katsuragi took two steps back. I sighed and looked back inside my house. There was no way I was going to take out the trash now.
"Isn't it too soon?" The second angel attack happened during school… I looked at my hands and sighed. I'd probably be attracted to it.
"The last angel was the first sighting in fifteen years… This time only three weeks have passed. We think the time between them might get shorter and shorter."
"Wonderful." I walked out and closed the door behind me. "Let's get going."
We walked through the maze-like corridors of NERV, my dorm was nearby so the trip wasn't long. We waited for the pink elevator to come down.
"Shinji-kun, I think it would be better if you lived with me. That way we can share chores." Katsuragi turned her head. No matter what she said, my answer would be the same. I shook my head.
"I have a very specific routine, and it makes a lot of noise." The elevator doors opened and we walked inside. Katsuragi slid her ID on the small slit and the doors closed.
"Still, I don't like letting you live by yourself." I didn't get Katsuragi whatsoever. Sometimes she seemed very manipulative, and others very caring. I couldn't tell which was which. Was this her worrying about me, or was it a facade to keep an eye on me.
"I'm enjoying the independence… as limited as it is." Most of my reasons for not wanting to live with her came down to future reasons… Other than said reasons, there was living with women. Asuka and Katsuragi would live there and I did not feel comfortable living in a place where strangers could walk into me changing my clothes or taking a shower. Our small talk was cut off.
The doors opened and we were in the hangar. Unit-01's head stared at me. Standing here again, my heart became heavy. Recalling the previous Angel attack, and how painful it was. The memories rushed back into my mind.
I put my hands together and rubbed them. Why now? This didn't happen in training. Ayanami stood in front of me. From one day to the next she'd healed. I knew why of course. Ayanami Rei was artificial, her healing was faster than ours. It could be accelerated. I wondered why.She looked ready to pilot. Still, she was the key to the ending of Evangelion. Depending on what she decides to do, this world is toast or saved. Still, looking at her healed like that was odd, just yesterday she had a cast on.
In the anime she only was fully healed by the third angel's attack. They sped up her recovery for some reason. The only one I could think of would be that Gendo is not comfortable with me piloting Unit-01.
Next to her was Gendo who looked straight at me.
"We ought to use EVA-00" Fuyutsuki argued, behind my "father". He looked worried.
Gendo turned around and faced Fuyutsuki, "It's –"
"There's no need." I cut him off and walked to my murder robot. It was as imposing as ever. Its white eyes and horned helmet were huge. Its sheer size was intimidating.
"Unit-00 can help." Fuyutsuki insisted, but I answered him by confidently putting a thumb on my chest.
"All you need is me."
Katsuragi put her hand on my shoulder, "I appreciate the confidence Shinji-kun, but –"
"No… don't worry about me." I gave them my best grin, pushing past my nervousness. I could hear my heart in my ears, beating, drumming, "I'm the strongest."
"Get to it." Gendo didn't wait, he turned around and left for the command room, soon after him was Fuyutsuki. I was left in the room with Ayanami and Katsuragi.
"You don't have to keep me from going inside the EVA. I'm healthy now." Ayanami stared at me. I weighed whether I cared about her… but it was hard to say. I knew I had to keep her safe because otherwise the plot would kill me… simultaneously I found her annoying to be around.
"If possible, I'd rather no one else pilot this death-trap." I answered her with some honesty. I didn't feel like anyone else would do it as well as I did. With my Ratio Technique there was no one better to pilot the EVA than me. Ayanami didn't reply, she moved to the command room with Gendo.
When Ayanami left, Katsuragi bumped me with her elbow to get my attention. She had a smug expression on her face, she was using all her facial muscles to stop herself from giggling, but the high-pitch sounds coming from her mouth couldn't be locked away.
"So♪ Rei-chan eh?" She sounded so smug. I could feel hours of teasing incoming if I didn't do anything about it.
"...You know we're related right?" I turned to look at Katsuragi, she didn't know. When Ayanami was first introduced, she was introduced as the child of someone related to Gendo… so even the story he made up had us be related. "That's a sick mind you've got."
"W-Wha? I didn't mean… I didn't know!"
"Sure."
"We don't have time for this dilly-dallying"
Akagi's unfriendly voice came through the speakers. It hurt, I could feel something rising up, an uncomfortable feeling… I couldn't let them see that. If anything like uneasiness showed my whole outer-persona would crumble.
"That's my cue." I ran to the changing rooms before my facade broke, letting Misato see my true expression.
When I got there, the rising feeling in my guts welled up. Once my plugsuit was on, they only intensified. It was as uncomfortable as ever. As I changed into it, I was reminded of the seriousness of the situation. My heart beat inside my body.
I breathed heavily, my mind blanked for a second and it was hard to breathe. I could feel death looming in. If I wasn't good enough I'd die. If I made a mistake, I'd die… My chest tightened and my stomach sank. Standing up was suddenly difficult, so I had to get on my knees to breathe.
"Steel yourself… C'mon" I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a few seconds.
"Shinji-kun hurry up" Akagi's unfriendly voice rang in my head.
"Just a few seconds more" I told myself, getting back up. "You're not you anymore." I took another deep breath and released it. I looked at the mirror in the changing room. "Steel yourself, you'll win. Shinji won and he was weak. You're better."
I hit my chest and took one final breath. "You're stronger, the strongest." My pale face began showing color again. I couldn't let them know how nervous I was. Thankfully, the vital readings came online after the EVA, and that happened after I was launched off the ground… that meant I could mask my nervousness with my fear of riding roller coasters. I smiled in front of the mirror, and got out.
"What took you so long? We don't have time for your make-up routine!" Katsuragi sounded annoyed, I couldn't tell her I had a panic attack in the changing room.
"This thing is annoying to put on… Can't you make a baggy version? It feels like someone is strangling me." I rolled my shoulder, I could feel the plugsuit pull my shoulder as it stretched, making moving uncomfortable.
"As you use it, it'll become looser, like a shoe." Katsuragi pushed me into the cockpit. "You'll have to learn to like it, because it's made of a special polymer which can't be changed."
The door of the cockpit closed behind me and I sat on the comfortable seat of the EVA. I had completely forgotten about it, but LCL flowed into it. If the roller coaster didn't make me nervous, the drowning-simulation would. This specific part had an incredibly negative effect on my livelihood. Thanks to training for this, I felt uncomfortable swimming without floaters. All of this training to let in the LCL made me far too comfortable with letting liquid into my lungs, and I discovered such when I was taking a bath and almost choked myself… damn training.
I heard several checks done.
"Synchronization rate at 78.1%"
The plugsuit really aided the synchronization rate. Without it, in the tests, I would reach a limit around the high 60%, so just putting on this constricting, airtight, uncomfortable onesie gave me another added 10% without any effort.
After a few more voices in my ear about deployment, safety measures and weapon installation, I heard Katsuragi's voice.
"Prepare for launch!" The weight put on my shoulders made me sink in my seat. I tensed every muscle in my body as a guttural screech came out of my lungs. "...Why?" She sounded confused… that's when I thought she should at least try to put herself in my shoes… it felt like someone had turned up gravity with a button.
"Sorry…" I panted, clearing my throat. I was trained in a lot of things… G-force training was not one of them. I felt worn out and the fight hadn't even begun. "Can't I just get in the EVA outside… or add seatbelts? I feel like I'll have an early death at this rate."
"Girls don't like men who complain a lot Shinji-kun." Katsuragi's voice was unwelcome… especially when it came to this subject.
The EVA was active, the black screens turned on and I could see the city, hidden and protected just as before. Once again, I could feel the wind on my skin as if I were the EVA. The ground below my feet, the smell of the air around me… all of it was vivid. Maybe it was because I hadn't properly used an EVA in three weeks, but it felt like it was more vivid than the first time.
"Is everything about dating with you Katsuragi-san? Are you projecting an insecurity of yours?"
"Proje-Hey!"
"We are in the middle of battle! Could both of you act like it?" Akagi's yell rang in my ears.
"I'm not deaf you know, there's no need for screaming… besides, no Angel in sight." I looked around, but I couldn't see or feel anything anywhere nearby. Sachiel had an imposing amount of cursed energy, so much it made me sick. My entire body ran cold near it. Right now I felt nothing, nada, not even goosebumps.
"It could be hiding." Akagi's argument was sound… except it still made no sense. Angels were stupid, comically stupid. They hadn't eaten the fruit of knowledge, and ate the fruit of life. In exchange for IQ they gained massive bodies and a core which allowed them to use said bodies. "Stay alert."
I was alert already, I closed my eyes and tried feeling out anything odd… there was nothing. Could it be that the feeling I got before was unique to Sachiel? If so, why? My theory was that the angels produced an insurmountable amount of cursed energy and that was the reason for my visceral reaction last time. Could it be that Sachiel was special? Each Angel was individualistic and had different traits, that could be the case.
"No."
"What do you mean, no?" Akagi's voice made me realize. I hadn't noticed I said it out loud.
I was certain it was my cursed energy. Why else was Sachiel so hell-bent on following me? Its main mission was getting to NERV to touch Lilith. Its attraction to me could only be because of two things: my reincarnation or my cursed energy. According to the tests made, my A.T. field output is below average in comparison to my synch-rate… so the only answer possible…
"There is no angel." I was angry. All of that time steeling my heart, speaking to myself and motivating myself has gone to waste. There was nothing here.
"What makes you say that?" Akagi sounded as emotionless as ever. I released a sigh in annoyance, letting all the breath inside my lungs travel through the LCL.
"Instinct."
"..."
"..."
"You're kidding right?" Katsuragi broke the silence, and I thought of a way to explain this without giving away what was basically magic to them.
"When I first saw Sa– the first Angel, I felt tingles, goosebumps, that without even looking at it… Right now I feel nothing…"
"You're saying… you have an in-built angel detector?" Katsuragi sounded astounded, "Akagi-san, is that even possible?"
"Well… the A.T. field is something mysterious, we know emotions do affect it, there's nothing to say it can't affect emotions. We detect it via a specialized radar made using the Magi calculations. If Ikari's body is attuned to the space-time distortion created by the A.T. field it is possible it could create a physiological reaction."
"So I'm right… there is no Angel." If there was an Angel, she would have denied and explained why it is impossible for such a thing to happen. She could be mistaken of course, but if there was an Angel, why wouldn't she say my radar could be mistaken? Why bother explaining it at all?
"... Yes. This was a test to see if you were capable of following orders and responding in a timely manner."
"Wow… you woke me up at four am… in the middle of a school-week… rushed me like everyone's life was in danger… for a test." I released another sigh, leaning forward in my seat while putting both hands to my face. "What a waste of time."
"You could have told me!" Katsuragi's complaints started with that, and turned into a dozen. From rushing to get me, to being scared for my safety she listed a long list of reasons why this was messed up.
"You're no good at keeping secrets. Commander Ikari knew, and that was all that matters. A simulation stops being effective if everyone knows it's fake."
"– ?!" My body ran cold. The hairs on my entire body began to stand on their end. My heart began beating faster and faster. "It's coming!"
"Shinji-kun, not funny –"
"Angel Reading!" I heard the command room, it was a few seconds later than me, but it also got the reading.
"You're kidding me!"
I turned around. It was large. The first thing I noticed was its snake-like body with two bright, glowing pink tendrils sticking out of pores in its head. They were made of pure energy, or so it looked like they crackled in electricity. It was slimmer than Sachiel, and not as imposing, and although it was bigger overall because it slithered like a snake and so most of its body stayed grounded, it looked shorter than Sachiel. Its core looked to be more exposed than Sachiel, who had some ribs covering over it… still, Shamshel's lightning tendrils slithered, prepared to attack anything that came close.
There was an angel attack…