The group of them left the clothing store about half an hour
later, thankfully without any more interesting little incidents
happening. One thing Misato noticed was the look that would appear on
Asuka's face whenever Rei would step out of the changing room in each
outfit, a pleasure at simply seeing the other girl.
Now as the head of NERV and her commander, it was making
Misato nervous watching the two of them interact. But as Asuka's
friend and sort- of guardian, she rather hoped it might continue. She
hadn't seen Asuka opening up to someone like that before, and she
thought it just might do the girl a great deal of good.
"So what do you think of the clothes?" Ritsuko asked Rei
softly.
Rei smiled happily at the blonde scientist, "I like them."
Even with her more healthy pink coloring the white blouse and blue
skirt suited the dark blue haired girl very well, something that
Asuka, at least, seemed to be noticing.
Asuka herself looked pretty good dressed in a pair of dark
slacks and long sleeved shirt, almost like a privateer with that
eye-patch. The redhead still seemed a bit self-conscious of the scars
on her arms that she bore because of the battle for NERV headquarters,
but Misato wasn't going to push her. She was just glad that Asuka had
agreed to be a pilot again.
"Though I think you clothes look nice, too," Rei looked over
at Asuka to say.
Asuka blushed, looking away even as she muttered, "Thank you."
"What's wrong?" Rei asked Asuka worriedly.
Misato had to fight the urge to laugh, 'That's so cute.' She
noticed where their walking had taken them, and remembered something
she had to do. "Would you mind if I take off for a few minutes?" she
asked Ritsuko quietly.
Ritsuko looked around them, "What's going on?"
"The hospital Shinji is staying in is nearby here," Misato
said to her quietly, "I wanted to stop in and see him."
"Shinji," Rei echoed, an odd look on her face. Softly, "I know
that name."
Asuka felt a pang, having not really thought about her fellow
pilot in days. But there was something more important to do as she
asked Rei, "You do?"
"Hm," Rei nodded, frowning in concentration, "but I don't know
from where."
Misato tried not to frown herself. It looked like Gendo had
programmed Rei to recognize them all, then. She looked at Ritsuko, "Do
you think we should...?"
Ritsuko shrugged, "I'm not sure, honestly."
"So why don't we all go up and visit him, then?" Maya quietly
suggested. "That way if something unusual does happen, we'll all be
there to help," the dark haired younger woman added.
"Sounds like a plan," Asuka offered.
Misato puffed out a breath, then nodded. "We'll lock up the
bags of clothes in the jeep, then head over to see Shinji," she
ordered.
They quickly did just that, and soon the five of them were
quietly riding an hospital elevator to an upper floor, each lost in
their own thoughts.
Ritsuko looked over at Maya again, and noticed her smiling up
at her happily. She looked away quickly as quickly as she could, but
felt an odd feeling lingering in her stomach. If she was honest with
herself, she'd actually call it excitement on being out in the city
with Maya, spending time with her away from their work.
'Even with all these chaperones,' an amused Ritsuko looked
over at the other three standing in the elevator with her.
'I wonder what's going on with Sempai?' Maya thought. She had
noticed that something had been going on with Ritsuko all day, but
what exactly it was she didn't know. What ever it was, it seemed to
have begun when Misato and Ritsuko had been talking this morning.
Maya looked over at Misato with a fierce frown and thought,
'What did you say to Sempai to disturb her so much?'
Misato felt the glare and looked over to see Maya's fierce
gaze. 'Now what did I do?' Misato wondered. She turned back to look at
Asuka and Rei talking softly. Silently, she prayed she wasn't making a
mistake, allowing them to be friends like this. Part of her, the
military side, still thought it might have been a bad idea to have let
Rei out of that containment chamber, but as a human being, it was the
right choice to make.
'Which doesn't mean it's not going to bite me on the ass in
the end,' Misato thought wryly.
Asuka noted Misato's thoughtful frown, but decided not to
disturb her thoughts. She looked down at Rei and smiled slightly, the
young woman was studying the elevator with a kind of innocent
fascination. It was really odd, how Rei had been given certain kinds
of knowledge related to NERV and the EVAs, but still being so utterly
clueless about other things.
The elevator bumped to a stop, and Asuka reached over to
steady Rei slightly. "Are you all right?" she asked her quietly.
Rei smiled up at her, "I'm fine."
Asuka turned away as they went down the hallway together, and
Rei found herself looking up at her thoughtfully. The red-orange hair
seemed almost like fire dancing around the girl's head, matching the
fiery personality that she knew Asuka had. But that fire seemed to
warm Rei, in a way that she wasn't entirely sure she understood. All
she really knew was that she liked being around Asuka, whenever she
possibly could.
A dark haired man was standing at a door just up the hallway,
and he turned to look at them as they approached. "General Kisaragi,"
he nodded to Misato.
"General?" a startled Ritsuko asked Misato softly.
"The promotion came through," Misato answered irritably, "I
just haven't received the appropriate rank insignia just yet." She
looked over at the doctor, "How is he?"
"There's been no change," the doctor shook his head, "he's
resting quite comfortably, and we're feeding him intravenously."
"And there's no response to outside stimulus?" Ritsuko asked
curiously.
"None," he shook his head. He noticed the time, "Excuse me, I
need to go on my rounds."
Misato watched him go, then with a soft sigh said, "We'd
better go in." She pushed the door open, leading into a quite normal
looking hospital room.
The window curtains blew gently, sunlight streaming in to
light up the figure who was laying there on the bed. Shinji Ikari's
dark hair was messy, and he almost looked like he was only fast
asleep. However, most young boys sleeping wouldn't have tubes and
wires attached to them, monitoring each and every flutter of heartbeat
or alteration in brain waves. But the very oddest thing about him was
the look on his face.
During Shinji's time piloting the EVA, lines of strain had
begun to show on his face, aging him prematurely. Each battle strained
him in different ways, each had cost him, one way or the other. But
the boy laying there seemed to be entirely at peace. From the look on
his face, you might even say that he was... happy.
Misato walked over to the side of his bed, gently taking
Shinji's hand in her own. "Hello, Shin-chan," she said softly, "I'm
here to see you again."
Asuka stood there frozen, gazing at Shinji and trying to
separate memory from fantasy. 'He couldn't have tried to strangle me,'
she thought of the hazy memories she retained after everything went to
hell, 'I didn't really say that I hated him, did I?'
"Shinji," Maya started, only to trail off. She hadn't really
known him very well, and looking down at the boy laying there in a
coma she felt a sudden stab of regret. She should have at least have
tried to get to know him.
Ritsuko moved over to the other side, looking down at Shinji
pensively. This was as much her responsibility as anyone else's, she
had helped build and maintain the EVAs, and had been quite willing to
let Gendo manipulate his son into a pilot's seat.
"It's been awhile, Shinji," Ritsuko said softly, sitting down
beside him.
They were all startled by a soft voice speaking quite clearly,
"He's not there." The looked in surprise at Rei, who was gazing down
at Shinji quite oddly.
"What do you mean?" Asuka looked over at Rei curiously as she
tried to understand, "Do you mean he's in a coma?"
"No," Rei shook her head firmly. "I mean," she gazed down at
Shinji's body with an odd intensity, "a piece of him, his... spirit is
gone. It's not there anymore."
Ritsuko looked over at Rei intently, "Do you know where it
is?"
Rei hesitated, shaking her head wildly, holding the sides of
her head as if it pained her. Without thinking about it Asuka stepped
up, grasping her by the shoulders to help steady her and receiving a
grateful smile in return.
"Your hurting her," Asuka growled out, for a moment showing a
flash of the old temper that had been so feared around NERV.
"It's all right," Rei said to her softly. She looked up,
meeting Misato, Ritsuko, and Maya's gazes, "I don't know exactly where
he is. What I do know is that he's out... there." She then pointed
straight up towards the roof.
The four of them looked at Rei oddly for a moment, then a
light seemed to dawn for Misato. She took a half step backward,
thumping into then sitting down hard into a plastic hospital chair.
"No way," she said weakly.
"What? What!" Ritsuko looked like she was ready to shake
Misato.
"After all the craziness died down we got a satellite photo of
Unit 01," Misato murmured softly almost to herself, "moving through
outer space under it's own power. I guess I just never considered the
idea that it's pilot might be along for the ride."
Back to Third Genesis Index - Back to Neon Genesis Evangelion Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction