Ayanami Rei of The Black Moon
I can't stop shivering.

I am alone again. The sun is setting fast, and the loneliness of the hearts glow brightest in the night, forcing hearts to find each other.

I am alone. The forest is still sleeping. Where will I go? Back...to Ikari-kun and Soryu-kun? Nowhere? I...never really had any feelings for anywhere in Tokyo-3...

A lie...

...and being with people I recognize won't save me from loneliness.

Are you sure? Or do you want to be lonely?

Soryu-kun...she hasn't changed at all with her skin. But her heart is in pieces, and Shinji...!

He is weakened by the cold. Asuka is reluctantly helping him because...she harbors feelings for him from everyone, including herself. Loneliness...a cold present during an internal summer. A fact of nature, that separates and causes unity. The thread of reality that is covered and ignored until nobody can anymore.

I cannot feel my fingers. The wind is cruel and bites and snaps at my body. My skirt is ripped from the underbrush. If I do not find shelter, I will probably die. That is fine with me,

Really? What about Ikari-kun? Don't you-

because if I die, nobody will bother. Nobody will care, because I do not have a purpose here.

I feel that you're deceiving yourself now, and that you just want to leave this world because you saw Soryu-kun with Ikari-kun...

But what of my children? The others may become aggressive. Is this my purpose? The mother of humanity protecting her children from harm, pain, and loneliness?

Feelings that are ever-present in my heart?!

Since I am worthless, my own heart's matters are irrelevant. I am a bitch that sleeps in its cage with her litter because there is nothing else to do. A dog whose litter is afraid of leaving as well as herself...

My eyes feel warm. Am I crying? Why am I crying? I...can't...stop...crying. No, I don't want to cry...my tears are flowing down my neck. Why am I crying? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Because your mouth does not speak happily with your soul...

I will travel to Ikari-kun. Maybe he will welcome me. Maybe he won't. I don't mind- I can't stop crying...If I will freeze...

I will return to the darkness from where I came

...I do not mind. If I make it there, I will escape loneliness temporarily...temporarily. Is this called "hope"? A desperate and illogical belief of salvation? The will to survive breeds hope. The will to survive....so I am not worthless?

You never were...I never clearly understood that part of you...

I still haven't stopped crying...My children....The others..

The "others" have names, you know...

...The other children. I will make sure that they will not harm any of them. They better not. This is our land, not theirs.

You have so much anger inside of you, and yet you call yourself worthless?

I am at least 25 kilometers from Tokyo-3. The trees are becoming more dense. I can't see...can't see the sky. The leaves are covering the sky.

My fingers have small red bumps around the joints. They itch so badly. I am starting to feel dizzy, I can't concentrate. The wind is taking a toll on my Lilim body. If I die...

Then I won't mind. Won't mind. Mind. The mind. The soul. My hands....I am going to die walking to Tokyo-3. The sun is gone, and the moon refuses to open her eyes. I cannot see anything in front of me, and it's beginning to rain. I can see the lake and the ruins in the distance...but...

You don't see Ikari-kun.

My tears won't stop...I can't stop crying...just let me...let me...fade....away...I'm so close to the space...I'm so cold...so...

Edited to go along with the story better. ~SSD It's funnier this way and doesn't break the fourth wall, too.

A Girl With The Last Name Anno was floating in a sea of LCL, close to land. She looked towards the land and see her beloved Sadamoto, the man of her dreams, and a floating head of a girl named Rei(!). Thinking she must be going insane, she decided to swim towards Sadamoto and the Rei head.

(OOC: FREE GIRL NAMED ANNO UP FOR GRABS!)



Meanwhile

Zeruel floated up out of the LCL sea. Unlike his brethren, he decided to keep his Angel form instead of adopting a Lilim form. However, there is one major difference about hm: He shrunk. Down to about 5'10", in fact. Now, as you will later see, this is going to have some major effects on his powers, but more on that later. Anyway, Zeruel hovered aboue the LCL sea and started searching the coast for fellow life forms

In the distance, he senses what feels like two of his brethren, and a lilim signature he's never detected before. His curisouty piqued, Zeruel silently glided to Armiaael, Leliel and Smith.

(OOC: Perhaps it's none of my business, but the "Real World" scenes and in addition, the "Real World" characters feel like it ruins the continuity of the plot. But that's just me. o_o'')

Leliel moved slowly along the beach, the grains of red-stained sand sticking to her bare feet and damp skin.

This is so different. I do not understand. This body is strange. It is weak. But perhaps..

As she walked, she spread her arms. She visualized her body as it once was, with its ability to be everywhere and no where all at once. She sought to invert her A.T. Field once more, to regain the feeling of vastness. To regain the feeling of self-worth.

She was simply .. useless, in this weak Lilin form.

Nothing. As I suspected..

Her A.T. Field was there, of course, for she was still alive and still possessed a soul. But it was no longer the weapon it used to be.

Then, a tug came at her, spurring her onwards again. Her legs shuffled unsteadily, and her hands reached out in front of her. It felt as if she had little control over her own body, but in reality she simply did not know how to respond to these strange new sensations.

That which was driving her soon had an identity, as the word, the name appeared in her mind's eye.

Armisael?

And now, something else. Like a bolt of electricity through her consciousness, came another signature. Her eyes, as blank as when she had awakened in the sea, searched the water. She saw a dark form floating there, coming nearer and nearer. She reached out towards it as she had toward Armisael, and sought the identity of this newcomer.

It is .. Zeruel? But, how? How is he not as Lilin as the rest of us? How has he escaped this fate?

Behind him, the face of Lilith came into view with her disturbing, almost saccharine look frozen on her face. Of course, she was cut in half, but that only made the image all the more strange. Somehow, she had missed that when she found herself in the sea.

So .. it was Lilith that brought this about. Not Mother, then? Did the foolish Lilin cause this?

A strange feeling began to rise in her, eclipsing the emptiness in her chest. She knew not was this feeling was, but it made her uncomfortable. If she'd known anything about Lilin emotion, she would've recognized this feeling to be anger. Her contact with the Lilin boy was limited, however, too brief for her to have acquired any useful knowledge.

Whatever it was, she needed to act upon it. With a great act of will on her part, she managed to coordinate her legs to increase her speed. She wasn't truly "running", more of an unsteady gallop, actually, but it brought her closer to Armisael. She needed to see her. To see if she too had managed to retain her true vessel.

Could she be the only one in Lilin form? Perhaps this was punishment, after all.

"Leliel...Zeruel..."

Armisael stumbled forward, almost collapsing in front of her siblings. She noticed that though Leliel was as poorly clothed as she was, her sibling was not as adversely affected by the climate.

"Gone," she struggled to form the words with her newborn mouth "...with the--the Lilin...Sachiel...gone. With...the Lil--Lilin. And--and--Ramiel...don't know..."

She wrapped her arms around herself for some semblance of warmth.

"The--the...city...something the Lilin...b-built? It is what...in Rei Ayanami's--her heart...she said...she said--said that."

(OOC: @ Asukachan: You are correct with your thoughts, miss. More on that here: http://evageeks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=150423#150423
tonikaku, ima, Shinji wa chotto yasunde. (Anyway, Shinji is now resting for a bit.))




Surprised he wasn't asleep yet, Shinji found himself tiredly staring at Asuka. "Um, Asuka? Since I suck at expressing my feelings verbally, I wanted you to have this. And I promise this is the last time I'll bring this up. I...I'll shut up about it from now on."

With that, Shinji handed Asuka a folded letter he'd been keeping in his back pants-pocket. He had written it a few days after returning.

The letter read as follows:

January, 6th, 2016

Asuka:

I don't know if you'll ever get this or not, OR if I'll ever see you again, but.... I just wanted to say I'm sorry with how I treated you. And, how I "always hurt you". Um, (oh great, now I'm stuttering when writing things. *Nervous laugh*) if we were to go out, I'd have no problem with us taking things slow. And, um, well...If you'd really want to watch me, that's fine. Asuka, whether you're with me or not, I just want you to be happy.

Love always,

Ikari Shinji


After giving the redhead the letter, Shinji had hid under the bedcovers, shaking from the cold as well as nervousness.

Reading the letter, she couldn't help but feel bad for how she had treated him.

And, um, well...If you'd really want to watch me, that's fine.

She giggled and felt her cheeks warm while reading that.

"So, how's Ikari doing, Soryu?"

She couldn't help but be startled.

"Do you sneak up on everyone like that?!"

She stopped and took some deep breaths to try to compose herself and quickly slid the letter under the blanket.

"Shinji should be okay. He's... just falling asleep so try to be quiet..."

Standing up and stretching, she looked at Toji.

"Did you find anything out there anywhere? Has anyone else returned yet?"

She kept watching the figure under the blanket out of the corner of her eye.

Everyone's timing sucks...

@Flat: Your post was edited since the role of Yui-sama is taken. EDIT: Apparently, Reichu's drawing out of the RP, so feel free to edit Yui-sama back in for the time being. Sorry about this. ~SSD

(OOC: I'm not playing Anno anymore. I just wanted to introduce her. She is now up for grabs for anyone who wants to play her. A little information about Micro-Zeruel's abilities: His death ray is EXTREMELY weakened, to be of little threat to the other characters. His razor arms are also similarily weakened. Also, he can split his arms so as to mimic fingers to manipulate objects (think about how his arm looked after Yui-sama shredded it. Yeah, he can do that conciously now.))


Revenge.

That was what used to drive Zeruel. Revenge for his fallen brethren was what drove him him in his attack on Nerv. He chose his form to insure MAXIMUM DAMAGE! He would've succeeded, too, if it wasn't for that dreaded Yui-sama. In his final moments, when he was being eaten alive, he swore he would get his revenge.

That urge for revenge was what made Zeruel keep his Angel form. However, being immersed into a new world drove all thoughts of revenge out of his mind for the present moment. Right now, he was confused and wanted information on what the hell happened.

Sensing two of his brethren nearby, and a Lilim aura that seemed strange. Hoping they would have answers, he sent off an AT Field signal, calling out to his other brethren (if there were anymore) to his location, and then set off towards the coast.

As he approached, he sensed Armisael. And she seemed to be dying. Wanting to help his brethren, he set off some (extremely weakened) death beams nearby, to keep her warm until help could arrive.

Eh?, Shinji thought to himself. Touji's here?

The boy let out a loud, audiable, sigh.

So much for trying to get some sleep.

Yawning and stretching under the covers, Shinji pretended to have been asleep. This was mostly to prevent Touji from seeing or finding out the letter Asuka just read, but also because of the redhead's sudden words: "Shinji should be okay. He's...just falling asleep so try to be quiet..."

Noticing Asuka had quickly thrown his letter under the covers, Shinji couldn't help but wonder what Asuka thought.

Even if she doesn't want to date me, that's fine. I...I just want her to be happy. It'd be hard, but despite being so screwed up, even I know that true love is when you have their bests interests in mind. Not...what you yourself selfishly want.

Letting out another sigh before removing the covers over his head, Shinji glumly thought: Everyone's timing sucks....

Looking at the tall, athletic boy, Shinji frowned out of confusion.
"Touji? How did you get here? Where are the others?"

Realizing the stove in the kitchen had been turned off, the 14-year-old squinted his blue eyes and examined his friend's face. "And is that brunt white rice all over your face? You could have just asked us, you know."

Toji wiped the sticky grains off his face, his face flushing a bit. "Hey, I haven't had anything else to eat either," he looked back at the pot "needs sauce...wish the Class Rep was here."

"Did you find anything out there anywhere? Has anyone else returned yet?"

He looked to one of the cracked windows "Yeah. A lot of the city actually came through okay...I dunno how...maybe we ain't in Tokyo-3 anymore."

For a moment, Toji was unusually quiet.

"My sister hasn't come back. I thought she would..." his fist clenched on the wobbly table, but he shook his head and his expression relaxed "That Kaji guy and, uh, what's 'is name...Sachiel, they're comin' here too with Kensuke."

The teenager's gaze lingered on the sky outside the window "So...this was that...Third Impact thing, huh?" he gave Shinji and Asuka a sideways glance.

@Def: Please make your writing style more legible, thanks. ~SSD

(OOC: Just so there's no confusion for those who havent read the ooc thread this Sadamoto is the Black Sadamoto who knows kung fu so he's not the same Sadamoto from our world. He just happens to have the same name, a similar job and the same taste in women as our worlds Sadamoto. Also the female Annos name is Hinako Anno for anyone who wants the character and her personality should be similar to Hideaki Annos personality.)


After getting his bearings Sadamoto got up again. Normally he wouldn't attack anyone or anything that looked like the pilot of unit 00 whom he harbored some rather unhealthy fantasies for. However like most people seeing a floating disembodied head is something he just wasn't prepared for.

Sadamoto, breathing heavily assumed a kung fu stance as the disembodied head turned to face him. He really should do something about that water which was still boiling over she thought to herself. Running forward Sadamoto launched a tiger palm strike aiming for her face only to jam his fingers on her AT field.

CRACK! He had hit it so hard several fingers felt like they were dislocated.

"GAAAAAAGHHH!!!" he clutched his hand in pain falling to his knees. Why the hell was this happening? Was this his punishment for having too many dirty fantasies about Rei chan?

Ignoring the strange man screaming in agony Reis head floated into the tent and began to attempt to take the ramen off the burner by grabbing the handle of the pot with her mouth. However this proved too difficult as the pot toppled over spilling. The hot water splashed onto the floor sending up a cloud of steam.

"AAAGhhh..." Some of the hot water hit her face burning her skin. She flew backwards bumping her head on something before falling to the ground.

Later

"Hey! Are you ok?" Once Sadamoto had managed to get his throbbing hand feeling a bit better he had gone inside the tent to find the disembodied head lying on the ground seemingly unconcious. Once he could think straight it was obvious the head was no danger to him as freaky as it was. She had seemed more interested in his ramen and had pretty much ignored any attempts he had made to attack her. After finding her unconcious he laid her out on a towel and put some ice on her cheek. How could he do this to his beloved Rei? Well no it wasn't Rei but whatever it was it kind of looked like her. Even if it had taken him by surprise what he did was unforgivable.

This couldn't possibly be real though it must be a hallucination! Well even if it was he didn't really care, having a hallucination to talk to was better then no one at all.

"Hungry...need food..." the head uttered out. How a disembodied head could digest anything he didn't know. But the least he could do would be to get her something to eat. He began looking through a trunk he had salvaged from the ruins of his apartment since he had kept some snack foods in there. Inside the trunk he found some of his old scribbles from the character designs he did. There was also a photo that had been taken of himself along with Hinako Anno, she was an anime director of several series that he had done designs for. The most famous was "Sengoku Jidai Wevangelion" an existentialist period drama about a young girl forced to pilot a mecha in feudal Japan. Oddly the name of the robots in that anime were very similar to those of the real life Evangelions. Sometimes he used to wonder if whoever named those had seen their anime before. He had always secretly had a crush on Hinako but could never get up the guts to say anything about it. Kubo and Tanaka were also in the photo they were the presidents of GiantX the animation company they had worked for. He breifly wondered if it was possible any of them could have survived? No that was probably being too optimistic, he was probably the last man on earth. Well now at least he seemed to have found something of a companion. Whether she was imaginary or not it didn't matter at this point.

(OOC: Seeds of Life work in mysterious ways.)

"So...this was that...Third Impact thing, huh?" Touji gave Shinji and Asuka a sideways glance.

Shinji nodded, feeling upset. "Yeah. It was.", he quietly replied.

Before anyone else could say anything, however, Shinji's eyes suddenly widened.

"Ikari-kun."

"Eh...? Ayanami...Rei...?", he breathed.

Shinji suddenly saw a...vision?...of the girl, blue hair and red eyes, in her school uniform. She was walking in a forest where it was raining. Shivering from the cold, the blue-haired Angel looked deathly ill.

....Death...?

"NO! Ayanami!!", Shinji suddenly screamed.

Turning his head to face his friends, Shinji exclaimed, "Touji! Asuka! Please, get the others! Ayanami, no, Rei is dying! I don't know how, but, I just saw her in my head! Maybe it's because she's Lilith...? Anyway, she's in a forest where it's raining, do either of you know where that could be?! I'm not crazy in regards to this, I swear! PLEASE help her!"

Shinji stood up, getting ready to run off, but weakly fell back down again.

The boy nearly forgot he was still sick, certainly in no condition to go outside in the cold...It was already 5 in the afternoon, and would be getting dark soon...

"Shit....", he coughed.

Shinji shut his eyes tight, shivering due to his sickness as well as his sudden anxiety. "I...I can't let anybody die or get hurt...Not again..."

Weak from getting so easily excited, the boy pleaded, "Please, I'm begging you guys. One of you go searching with the others for Ayanami, and somebody else, please, stay with me. I know it's selfish but I don't want to be alone right now. Besides, it's better to stay close together if we don't know what is...out...there....Zzzzzzz...."

Completely exhausted, Shinji had simply fallen asleep due to the stress of everything, leaving Touji and Asuka to figure out just what to do.

Kaji's back...

Before her mind could dwell on it too much, Shinji's violent outburst broke the silence.

"Shinji...?"

She knelt down beside the boy and tried to lift him.

"Alright, Suzahara, you heard him... I don't know whether he and Rei have some kind've post-Third Impact link or whether he's talking out of his head again, but just to be safe find a forest and look for her!"

Pulling him out of the floor and back into bed she pulled the blanket back over him.

"If anyone knows anything about the world we live in now, it might just be..." she had to stop and think of the words carefully, "Lilith."

She sighed with half-worry for Shinji, half-anger that things were so hectic, after all this catatonia, dying, Third Impact, and being reformed, when could a girl just stop and smell the roses?

"I'll stay here and take care of Shinji. If you find her, bring her back here, this might as well be our infirmary for the time being..."

That night, out in space, a tiny meteorite fell right into a descent orbit headed straight for Hakone Bay. Everyone in the area watched as the flaming fireball crashed with a loud BANG on the coast of the LCL sea, right by Sadamoto, Anno, the Floating Rei Head, and the forest that Rei III was currently wandering through.


Zeruel saw the fireball fall down from the sky. It piqued his interest, but he ignored it for now. He would deal with it later. The health of his breathren is what mattered most.

He kept floating towards Armisael, shooting eye beams every few seconds to keep her warm.

Smith had encountered advanced forms of life. That made him feel a little better.

The pint-sized Zeruel - now physically shorter than himself - gave him cause to stop and survey his newfound company from a distance, especially once the Angel started throwing blasts here and there. After a few seconds of watching, he realized that the creature wasn't aiming at him and decided to risk a closer look. He carefully advanced, step after step, until he was beside the shivering girl.

She's another of Them, he thought. Isn't she?

Smith stood in silence for a few moments, looking down at the pitiful figure. What did one say in a situation like this?

Did it matter?

He shrugged out of his jacket and silently draped it across her shoulders: actions, his parents had always told him, spoke louder than words. This act of experimental kindness complete, the wandering man stepped back and waited for the others to make their move.

Zeruel saw the act of kindness performed by the strange Lilim. Afraid he was going to hurt Armisael, he was about to attack when he sensed that what the Lilim had done was helping Armisael recover. Zeruel found it strange that a Lilim would choose to help an angel, but he could never let an act of kindness like this go unrewarded.

Opening up a telepathy path with the strange Lilim, he said, "Thank you for helping my brethren."

(OOC: I know Leliel's all strangely vengeful, but I always felt bad for her because of what happened. XD)

Moving ever closer, she saw Zeruel's eyes glint in the distance, and saw the explosions go up around Armisael.

She crossed her arms over herself unconsciously, bracing for the wind that whipped toward her from the blast. Leliel could tell that Zeruel was much smaller, and his power weakened, but his blasts were still enough to throw up a powerful gust. It was warm though, somehow, which was unexpected, and she lurched forward between each shot until she was near the pile of debris Armisael was hidden behind.

Suddenly, she noticed the Lilin that was standing nearby. His silence had made him invisible to her, as she'd only been focused on locating her sister. Leliel stood frozen, eyes fixed on the stranger, watching as he draped his jacket over the ribbon-clad form.

Lilin. Lilin. Lilin are. . . the. . enemy? Enemy?

They had never been an enemy while she was alive. Not to her, anyway. Not until they had tried to destroy her. Tried to shoot her, bomb her, cut her. She hadn't even attacked them, not until they attacked first. And even then, she didn't truly go on the offensive..

The anger was growing inside her, but it was so strange. She had nothing to fight with. No power. But as it grew more powerful, she felt her unsteady Lilin feet leave the earth, dripping water and grains of sand as she "floated" only a few inches above the beach. Of course, she wasn't truly floating, as she was suspending herself with the power of her own A.T. Field, but she doubted the Lilin would be able to know the difference.

Get away!

Leliel moved closer to the Lilin and Armisael, much more quickly now that she wasn't trying to walk. She looked between Armisael, and then to the stranger, and again tried to order him to leave.

Of course, she wasn't actually speaking and so her demands were lost in her own mind.

Armisael had spoken, in the way that Lilin speak. Perhaps..

She opened her mouth and tried to speak, trying to get her body to say the words she held in her mind.
"G-g-go! A-away!" Her voice cracked, and the words came out a lot like a growl. Not surprisingly, as it was a voice she had never used before.

Zeruel, behind her, had stopped blasting, but she didn't know why. As he spoke to the Lilin, she didn't realize that even he could be grateful. She didn't know that he was only trying to help. Leliel had no concept of Lilin gestures, only what little she'd found when she'd probed the boy. Her only memory, the only one granted her as she'd been reborn in this pitiful form .. was pain.

As Sachi and Kaji started walking towards the apartment with Kensuke, Kaji decided to break the silence.

"So you're the infamous 3rd Angel, Sachiel? Or more technically, the first seed of adam to show up. And you were the first to show up after 3I yet again."


Sachiel remained quiet. He was just thinking about that act of heroism he had done for the lilim boy.

Had I really done that for the boy. I went up against my own brother, for a lilim...Is this part of being Lilim too?


Then Kaji said;

"What you did back there was pretty noble of you. I respect that."

Sachi blushed.


They reached the apartment, and as soon as they got to the door, Toji was leaving to go get Rei III.
After finding out why Toji was leaving in such a rush, Sachi said;

"I'll stay here. The girl, or um "The Red Devil", I don't think she'll be able to protect...was it "Ikari"? I don't think she'll be able to protect him all on her own in case another threat comes along. You can go."

Sachi walked into the building and stood outside the room Shinji and Asuka were in.

I'll let them have their privacy. They seem to want it.

"G-g-go! A-away!"

So that was how it was. They didn't want his company.

Smith felt a tingle, a shadow of emotion, as if someone was trying to convey a message without words, but its meaning was lost to him. There was no mistaking the hostility in the voice of she who had spoken, however, and he had no desire to investigate the effectiveness of .45 ACP against an AT Field. There was strength in numbers, he reasoned, and the Angels seemed to be looking after their own. They could survive without him.

"Okay," he said quietly, and walked back the way he had come.

Sensing that Leliel got the wrong opinion about the strange Lilim, Zeruel opened up a telepathy channel with Leliel.

"Stop. He helped Armisael. He is our...friend. Yes, that's the right word, friend. He means us no harm."

(OOC: Heh, if Leliel thinks Shinji was in pain then, just look at him now. And if Shinji were awake, he'd glomp Sachi for being so nice to him! So, is Smith gonna bump into Rei-chan? Guess I'll find out soon enough. @Fade: "when could a girl just stop and smell the roses?": Shinji's "herself" would be interested in this, too! ...Wait, what? And don't mind me bending some of the rules with this post, as this is yet another (DARK, this time, be warned!!) "Mindfuck".)






Increasingly loud train crossing bells and a train car bathed in orange LCL.

"Here again, huh?", the brown-haired boy loudly sighed.

At least this time around, Ayanami--Rei 3---was sitting in the sit across from him.

"Ayanami..."

She quietly stared at him, her expression neutral as always.

"R...Rei.", Shinji gulped out. "I...I promise we'll save you, so just hang in there, okay? Hang on! Please!"

Staring at the floor, Shinji began shaking his head. "You...you can't die, Ayanami."

Standing, Shinji repeated, this time his voice strong, "You can't die, Ayanami! You...you're like my sister! You're my little sister! You know that now, don't you?! Because of Instrumentality?"

Sitting back down, Shinji quietly continued. "During that time I was absorbed in Eva....I somehow heard a flashback to before I was even born. Mother....had asked Father....what my name would be. And he replied..."

Shinji's blue eyes met Rei's red ones. "Shinji if it was a boy. Rei...if it was a girl. So, you can't die! Please! Ayanami, no, Rei! If it weren't for you, helping me realize that life can be good, I would have died! I would have accepted Instrumentality! So, please, Rei! Stay strong! Don't die!"

With a sad smile, Rei opened her mouth and said three simple words: "I'm sorry....Shinji." The only time she had called him by his first name.

At that, she had disappeared--vanished into nothing--leaving Shinji all...alone? No. Somebody else is here.

Quickly turning his head, Shinji noticed Misato, her arms crossed, a worried expression on her face. She was standing in a corner of the traincar. "Shin-chan. You...need to fend for yourself from now on. You need to make your own decisions, because NOBODY will be there to help you."

Before Shinji could say anything, Misato had disappeared just as quickly as she arrived.

"Mi...Misato-san! WAIT!" The boy stood up, out-stretching his hand, but.....

Eyes twitching, Shinji didn't know just how much more of this he could take.

"Stupid. I hate you!"

Blinking, Shinji quickly turned at the snarling voice.

He was standing face-to-face with Asuka.

"A...Asu--"

"Save it!", she sharply cut him off. "You can't do anything right, you pathetic loser. You didn't learn a damn thing from Pre-Instrumentality! How the hell could you have learned anything when you do NOTHING but act all attached to me? And do you even THINK I'd want attention from a scumbag like you?!"

"But, that's not true! I'm really worried about Ayanami and I--"

Getting in his face, Asuka--wearing her bandages, plugsuit and all--violently smacked him while emphasizing her next choice of words: "You. should. just. die."

Weakly falling to the floor at that, his face bleeding, Shinji's eyes watered.
He couldn't hit her back. Not only because it just wasn't right, but especially with what happened to them in Pre-Instrumentality....

When he had snapped and "killed" her...

"A....Asuka...", he weakly moaned out.

Punching his face, Asuka angrily replied back, the venom in her voice clear, "Go to hell."

With that, Asuka disappeared as well, leaving Shinji all alone.


All alone....



"No....", the tears gathered in the boy's eyes as Shinji began twitching in his sleep. "Oh, God, no....", he added in a breathy voice.

"I...I don't want to be alone...Not anymore...Please....Please!! Ayanami, Misato-san, Asuka.... For God's sake, PLEASE forgive me! Do...DON'T HATE ME!"

With that, Shinji whimpered and cried out in his sleep as his body began twitching rapidly, silently crying, speaking fast, "I don't wanna be alone. I don't wanna die. I don't want...people...to hate...me! I...I DON'T WANT TO HATE MYSELF!"

He had only calmed down once a now-familiar, soft, bandaged, hand had caressed his cheek for the second time.