ARCHIVES: Evangelion | Awakening (one-shot)
A/N: I removed this fic from FFnet (originally published 8-25-2004). It has now been back-posted here for archival purposes.
Original A/N: WARNING! This fic is slightly shounen-ai and has spoilers. If you do not know what shounen ai is, or you do not like shounen-ai, please don't read this fic. Also, I haven't seen all of Eva, even if I have seen EoE...so I am sure there are plenty of errors. Please feel free to comment, critique, correct, and make any suggestions as to how to make this fic better. I might mention that there really is no proper time frame in which to place this particular story. But again, please, no flames for it being shounen-ai because you can't say I didn't warn you! Also mind that there are tv series AND EoE (End of Eva) spoilers throughout. Thanks and please R&R!
Summary: Shinji has attraction to all the women in his life, but his soul mate has vanished. A new student arrives at school-looking exactly like his true love, except w/ violet eyes! What will he do? WARNING: one-shot shounen-ai (KxS) and tv and EoE spoilers. Plz R&R!
Note about reading this fic:
/these are thoughts/
Italics usually means a memory of something that happened or was said in the series, or emphasis.
Oh right...disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters; Gainax does.
.:.
AWAKENING
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfic
"Shinji-kuuuun...Shiiiiinjiiii-kun..." a husky voice cooed in the darkness.
Shinji felt a soft weight pressing up against his chest and stomach, but he didn't want to open his eyes, nor was he conscious of the hands gently massaging his shoulders.
"Kaaa...kaawu..." he mumbled, attempting to roll over (without success, I might add).
Suddenly, something clicked. His eyes shot wide open, greeted by Katsuragi Misato's wide-open silken dressing robe practically pressed into his face.
"GAAAUGH!" he half-grunted, half-screamed, roughly trying to shove his captain and guardian off of him and curling up into a ball under the sheets. But not before Misato started to laugh, knowing exactly what had happened to him.
"Is that the way to treat your captain?" she teased. Then, sobering up a bit, "Daijoubu, Shinji-kun," she sang, hands on her hips as she sashayed out the door. "You're just a boy, after all. Didn't I tell you you'd get the rest after you came back?"
/Yeah...but we all thought we were going to die...didn't we?"/ Shinji thought, somewhat bitterly.
Moments later, he could hear her opening a can of beer and heading for the showers. He recognized the sounds of the 2nd children, Asuka Langley Sohryu, furiously brushing her hair and heavily berating the television in the kitchen. He groaned.
It was going to be a long day.
Twenty minutes later, Shinji emerged from his room, fully dressed for school and tiredly running his hand through his hair. Misato was still in the showers, and Asuka was munching deliberately on some toast.
"Oi baka, hurry up! I'm not going to wait for your sorry lazy ass!" Asuka spat, obviously not in the best of moods. She continued to chomp deliberately on her poor piece of battered toast, glaring at the tv screen.
Shinji just stared calmly at the fiery redhead. /Must be one of those days.../ he though, again somewhat bitterly. /Why is this so normal?/ He shrugged imperceptibly and went ahead to fix himself some breakfast. He had just sat down with some toast and a glass of milk when a knock came at the door.
"I'll get it," Misato called, tromping through wearing just a towel as a shift and a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Shinji got up anyway. Really, who would come this early in the morning? It was probably Kensuke, or Ayanami, or someone like that.
As he was walking, however, he happened to look up into the foyer...and stopped, dead, staring at the two silhouettes framed in the glowing light issuing through the doorway.
"Ayanami...and...K-Kaworu-kun?" he managed to choke, as a furious blush crept up his cheeks. /But wait...it can't be...this just isn't possible.../His hand unconsciously grasped at his NERV mobile. It was silent.
No, no angels...
Rei merely gazed at him in her solemn manner, acknowledging his presence. She turned and greeted Misato with a nod. "Ohayou gozaimasu, captain."
Misato nodded back, looking at the newcomer with interest. She had seen Shinji's reaction, and was curious as to who this young man was. "And you are...?"
The dusty-colored-haired boy showed no sign of recognizing Shinji. "My name is Kaworu. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain Katsuragi," he said, bowing slightly.
/Rei, that boy over there...he sure does seem to be acting oddly, ne?/
/He is the third children, the son of Commander Ikari Gendo. There is no need to worry about him./
Misato recognized something in the eyes of the two in the doorway-a flash, a signal... "Wait a minute," she said, putting her hand on the doorframe for support. "You guys...can communicate...telepathically?"
With that, Shinji sat down, hard, on the floor, as Asuka stormed forward with such gusto as only the great Asuka Langley Sohryu could have. She came through in time to witness both Rei and Kaworu nodding their heads in affirmative.
"Hai," Rei said.
"Ayan-! Wondergirl! What are you doing here? And who is HE?" Asuka demanded, rudely pointing at the boy in the doorway.
Shinji, meanwhile, was making his way to the foyer, slowly, and on all fours. Unfortunately, crawling gave him a very wrong line of vision as he neared Asuka's billowing pleated gray skirt, and he received a very hard kick as punishment.
"BAKA HENTAI!" Asuka screeched, kicking him again for good measure.
"Hey, you're going to hurt him!" Kaworu called, stepping into the apartment. Rei followed, and Misato closed the door behind them. Shinji blushed harder.
"BAKA BAKA BAKA!" Asuka continued. "Baka NEVER learns! NO ONE gets a free look at Asuka Langley Sohryu, NO ONE!". With that, she pulled her dress down and grinned nastily, still fuming.
Shinji, on a normal day, would have had something to spit back at Asuka. However, he was still staring at Kaworu. /No...it can't be...it just can't./ His mind was certainly playing tricks on him. /First of all, his hair is a little too dark. And his eyes...something just isn't right. It's not the same./ Echoing Asuka's earlier words, he wondered, /who IS he?/
"What's your...family name...Kaworu...kun?" Shinji finally asked, completely ignoring Asuka, even though he was breathing heavily and had both hands pressed up against his throbbing stomach. Misato smiled to herself. Perhaps his stomach would be bruised and sore, but the redness of the boy's cheeks was certainly NOT an after-effect of Asuka's brutality.
Kaworu shrugged. Rei shook her head slightly.
"Ayanami...?" Shinji whispered, looking for an answer. Could Rei possibly know about Nagisa Kaworu, and his relations to Shinji?
"WARK WARK! WARK WARK WARK WARK!" Pen-Pen squawked, running into the room (waddling, rather!), and flapping his wings.
"OH NO!" shouted Misato, who quickly forgot everything going on, flung the door open, and shoved Rei and the so-called Kaworu out. "Shinji, Asuka! Get outta here! You're going to be late!" She ran back to her room, and they could all hear her tripping over dirty clothes and empty beer cans in an attempt to get dressed. Asuka gave Shinji an extremely well-aimed parting kick as she flew out the door. Shinji followed suit, attempting not to wince as he waddled out as fast as he possibly could.
In their hurry, no one really spoke.
In class, Kaworu chose the seat to Shinji's right (to Shinji's left was a window overlooking the empty soccer fields and school grounds). As usual, Asuka sat in front of him, and next to her sat Rei. Shinji deftly slipped one wireless earphone into his left ear, and let his SDAT run. He subtly kept his head behind his open laptop, and kept surreptitiously glancing at the boy to his right.
/It's not really Kaworu. His eyes are too blue...almost violet. And his hair...it's too dark. And he doesn't even recognize me. I'm sure he doesn't./ Shinji could feel his eyes burning. /What is going on...? Help...someone...Kaworu...anyone...please help.../ He could remember... / "Kaworu said he liked me. I have never...never had such kind words. I liked him, too." But what...what is going on?/
Gorgeous02: HEY BAKA! You're zoning out! Stop dreaming about my ass!
nonexistent: who says he's dreaming about your ass?
Xforever: ahh...ass...
deepblue03: ...
Gorgeous02: BAKA BAKA MINNA! I am the great Asuka Langley Sohryu!
Xforever: you sure are...
nonexistent: what does that have anything to do with it?
Gorgeous02: just who the hell are you, Xforever?
At this point, Shinji opened a private message to Kaworu.
deepblue03: konnichiwa.
nonexistent: who is this?
deepblue03: Ikari Shinji.
nonexistent: ah...
nonexistent: Ayanami told me about you.
deepblue03: oh?
nonexistent: you killed Nagisa Kaworu, the 17th Angel, didn't you?
Shinji was too stunned to reply. He sat back abruptly, and could only stare at the screen, shaking. /Even Ayanami couldn't know Kaworu's full she...?/
"IKARI! Answer the question!" the sensei was demanding. Shinji was barely aware of his surroundings. His head was throbbing painfully. He faintly noticed the red blob ahead of him turning, as if in slow motion...
nonexistent: you wonder how I know that?
nonexistent: my real name...
nonexistent: ...is Nagisa Ikari.
THWAP! Shinji winced, rubbing his flaming cheek.
"BAKA!" Asuka screeched in a whisper. "Sensei is asking you something!"
Shinji jumped up, upsetting the cord to his laptop and unplugging it. The screen went blank. "G-gomen nasai," he stuttered, bowing. "I am not feeling very well today...gomen nasai..."
The class tittered.
"I should say not, coming to class with earphones in. Perhaps you should get your head checked," Sensei retorted, coldly. He came very close and yanked the earphone from Shinji's left ear. "This," he declared, holding up the earphone, "Is mine. Forever. Do I make myself very clear?"
Shinji did his best to nod. /Thank goodness my laptop unplugged.../ He slid wearily back into his seat and turned to look out the window. /What a day.../
The school day finally came to a close without any further developments. The four walked together on their way to pay a visit to NERV headquarters. But first, Asuka wanted to stop for ice cream...
"BAKA! Why don't you pay this time?" Asuka shouted at Shinji, who she had been bickering with the entire afternoon, then turned to the counter. "Yes, I'll have a triple scoop banana split with the works, thanks. Fills out my perfect body, ya know?" Asuka flung at the poor ice cream parlor clerk (who was, admittedly, quite bishie-looking himself...if it weren't for the small fact that he WAS, incidentally, ogling Asuka's erm...assets...).
"But I always pay," Shinji muttered, taking a small wallet from his pocket, not so much protesting rather than stating a fact.
"Hey, no problem. Let me handle it," Kaworu was saying, putting an arm around Asuka, who actually didn't respond with physical violence. She smiled demurely, shooting a hard glare at Shinji every once in a while.
Shinji just gaped and tried to keep a relatively unemotional face. He could tell by Ayanami's distant stare that she didn't notice anything unusual going on. /What's happening to me? I know this isn't really Kaworu...only...I can never reassure myself until he turns around and I can see his violet eyes and know it's not my Kaworu./ And Shinji blushed, remembering. /...MY Kaworu? Since when was he ever "my" Kaworu?/
/Kaworu: You are delicate like glass.
Shinji: Am I?
Kaworu: Yes, and that earns my love.
Shinji: Love?
Kaworu: In other words, I love you./
Lost in his thoughts, he realized Rei was attempting to hand him his usual-a plain cup of vanilla ice cream, while Asuka and the so-called Kaworu went off, giggling and smiling together, to a nearby table. Shinji's eyes followed their every move.
Rei was saying something, but Shinji was so taken aback that she was actually beginning a conversation with him that he very nearly gagged on a spoonful of ice cream and completely missed what she was trying to say.
Pounding himself in the chest, he spluttered, "...g-gomen nasai, Ayanami...can you...um, repeat that?"
Rei glanced at him coolly, without changing her expression. Her voice was equally flat. "Kaworu-kun. You know him?"
"I..." Shinji began, and trailed off. "I knew a Kaworu-kun. Nagasi...Nagasi Kaworu-kun, the 17th Angel."
Rei didn't say anything more. She merely licked her spoon and stared ahead. It was as though she was waiting for something more...but Shinji didn't know what else to say, nor did he recognize her silent inquiry. And so silence hung thickly in the air.
"...where is Kaworu-kun staying?" Shinji finally asked.
"At my apartment."
Shinji's eyes goggled a bit. "How come he gets to stay with you?" /Oh god, did I just say that out loud?/ Shinji freaked, covering his mouth quickly with his hand with mortification. He could feel the flush sweeping up his cheeks yet again.
Again, Rei made no signs of recognition. She did notice something was amiss, but as it had nothing to do with her she dismissed it as not of her immediate concern. "Commander Ikari told me Kaworu-kun is to stay at my apartment during this time, and I am to provide him with lodging and the bare essentials necessary for survival. I am merely following my orders."
/As always./ Shinji thought somewhat bitterly. Any mention of his father was unpleasant for him, especially these days. The current situation being discussed did not help matters. He stared into his cup, absent mindedly stirring his melting ice cream as they all walked away from the ice cream parlor grounds and towards NERV hq.
"Give me that, if you're not going to eat it!" Asuka snapped, snatching the cup away from Shinji. "Such a scrawny little weakling, won't even eat ICE CREAM!"
Kaworu still had his arm around her. Shinji inadvertently shifted his line of vision to some distant cloud drifting off along the horizon and allowed his arms to drop down to his sides, hands unclenched. Then he noticed a man with a clipboard approaching from behind Asuka and Kaworu.
"Greetings, greetings! My, what beautiful young people! You especially, with the gorgeous red hair," the man gushed, looking Asuka up and down and making notes on his clipboard. "Is this your lovely boyfriend? How wonderful. You are very lucky, young man, you know? Gorgeous, just gorgeous! Beautiful. Absolutely. Yes. Yes! I love you both!" the man continued, making all his own assumptions and not allowing a word in from anyone else. Not that Asuka was protesting.
/This man could be from a modeling agency!/ Asuka grinned. /This could be my lucky break! What a day!/ She struck a pose, scooting much closer to Kaworu.
Shinji winced and backed up, trying not to witness or think about the scene before him.
"Smile big for the camera darling, please," the man said, waving his arms around to manipulate and pose Asuka and Kaworu for a photo together. "Perfect, perfect! Beautiful. Absolutely. Yes, Yes! I love you both!" The camera went clicking away, and he kept changing their poses. "I am Matsumoto Yamada, and I'm a photographer for the Shirogami professional top-quality salon shampoo series! We've been actively looking all over Tokyo-Yes, yes! Beautiful! Absolutely! I love you both!-for the perfect models. You two are it! Smile one more time...Yes! Beautiful! Absolutely! Yes! Yes! YES! Oh la la! What are you names? Asuka? Sohryu Asuka Langley? Yes, Yes, that's beautiful! I love it! And you? Kaworu...Nagisa Kaworu? Wonderful! Absolutely! Beautiful! I love it! I love you! I love you both! Okay, please sign here...yes, contact numbers please, and the date...Thank you, thank you!" He blew kisses, he stomped, he gesticulated wildly while flinging his arms in wide circles...
Shinji stood, dumbfounded and speechless. The man was insane. He turned to Rei, who was only looking at the photographer with mild interest. She was still slowly devouring her lemon sherbet...
/How can she be so calm?/ Shinji was beginning to get exasperated with the whole situation. /Help me, Ayanami...please...help me.../
And suddenly, Kaworu...no...Ayanami...? was standing in front of him, very close, almost touching...? There was no trace of an ice cream cup, and the violet-eyed Kaworu was nowhere to be seen. Shinji felt warm, comforting hands grasping his own, gently...
"Wh-what's going on...?" Shinji whispered, taking yet another step backwards as his mind played with the image before him. Red-eyed Ayanami...then Kaworu...then violet-eyed Ayanami, then violet-eyed Kaworu...and back...
In turn, each of the apparitions, nay, persons (can ghosts speak?) spoke. "Can't you see?" "We're all one and the same." "I'm really here, Shinji-kun...it's me, Kaworu..." "Boku wa...suki da..." "We all love...you...Ikari..."
Where Asuka was during all of this, Shinji couldn't fathom. The shifting abruptly ended as soon as it began, and Shinji realized the violet-eyed Kaworu was in the very serious process of soundly snogging Asuka, while Rei was back to staring down the pale lemony glop at the bottom of the her paper ice cream cup. They somehow had managed to reach NERV hq by this time...
"You understand now, right?" came a soft voice.
Shinji hesistated. Rei's lips hadn't moved, and he was certain neither Asuka nor Kaworu were capable of saying anything at this particular moment.
"Shinji-kun..."
He closed his eyes. The beautiful sound of that voice...
Rei then whispered, "When we are one, we are he that you love, Ikari... This...this is...from me to you..."
And she came towards him, her unquenched heart shattering into a million fragments, glowing with the warmth of passion...together, as one...bound once again by the threads of love. It was as if her reincarnated body carried the unfaded blood-bound passion of a mother to her son. Ah, the powers of love...
"...Ayanami...?"
"No...Shinji-kun. I am here. I have come."
Tears of bliss trickled from the corners of Shinji's closed eyes, and he felt the release from pain and suffering at such an intensity as only before experienced at the end of everything, at the death of mankind, when nothing mattered...and all the love he had ever known was free to be his...
...such release...
...such bliss.
...such pure and unadulterated love.
.:.
Thanks for reading, minna-san! Please R&R. I might write an epilogue to explain what exactly happened right there at the end...but let it suffice to say that sometimes, clones don't always turn out the way you want them to...and yes, Yui was a part of that, and yes, so were the real Kaworu and Rei. Twisted, ne?
Heh. I agree.
Original A/N: WARNING! This fic is slightly shounen-ai and has spoilers. If you do not know what shounen ai is, or you do not like shounen-ai, please don't read this fic. Also, I haven't seen all of Eva, even if I have seen EoE...so I am sure there are plenty of errors. Please feel free to comment, critique, correct, and make any suggestions as to how to make this fic better. I might mention that there really is no proper time frame in which to place this particular story. But again, please, no flames for it being shounen-ai because you can't say I didn't warn you! Also mind that there are tv series AND EoE (End of Eva) spoilers throughout. Thanks and please R&R!
Summary: Shinji has attraction to all the women in his life, but his soul mate has vanished. A new student arrives at school-looking exactly like his true love, except w/ violet eyes! What will he do? WARNING: one-shot shounen-ai (KxS) and tv and EoE spoilers. Plz R&R!
Note about reading this fic:
/these are thoughts/
Italics usually means a memory of something that happened or was said in the series, or emphasis.
Oh right...disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters; Gainax does.
.:.
AWAKENING
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Fanfic
"Shinji-kuuuun...Shiiiiinjiiii-kun..." a husky voice cooed in the darkness.
Shinji felt a soft weight pressing up against his chest and stomach, but he didn't want to open his eyes, nor was he conscious of the hands gently massaging his shoulders.
"Kaaa...kaawu..." he mumbled, attempting to roll over (without success, I might add).
Suddenly, something clicked. His eyes shot wide open, greeted by Katsuragi Misato's wide-open silken dressing robe practically pressed into his face.
"GAAAUGH!" he half-grunted, half-screamed, roughly trying to shove his captain and guardian off of him and curling up into a ball under the sheets. But not before Misato started to laugh, knowing exactly what had happened to him.
"Is that the way to treat your captain?" she teased. Then, sobering up a bit, "Daijoubu, Shinji-kun," she sang, hands on her hips as she sashayed out the door. "You're just a boy, after all. Didn't I tell you you'd get the rest after you came back?"
/Yeah...but we all thought we were going to die...didn't we?"/ Shinji thought, somewhat bitterly.
Moments later, he could hear her opening a can of beer and heading for the showers. He recognized the sounds of the 2nd children, Asuka Langley Sohryu, furiously brushing her hair and heavily berating the television in the kitchen. He groaned.
It was going to be a long day.
Twenty minutes later, Shinji emerged from his room, fully dressed for school and tiredly running his hand through his hair. Misato was still in the showers, and Asuka was munching deliberately on some toast.
"Oi baka, hurry up! I'm not going to wait for your sorry lazy ass!" Asuka spat, obviously not in the best of moods. She continued to chomp deliberately on her poor piece of battered toast, glaring at the tv screen.
Shinji just stared calmly at the fiery redhead. /Must be one of those days.../ he though, again somewhat bitterly. /Why is this so normal?/ He shrugged imperceptibly and went ahead to fix himself some breakfast. He had just sat down with some toast and a glass of milk when a knock came at the door.
"I'll get it," Misato called, tromping through wearing just a towel as a shift and a toothbrush hanging out of her mouth. Shinji got up anyway. Really, who would come this early in the morning? It was probably Kensuke, or Ayanami, or someone like that.
As he was walking, however, he happened to look up into the foyer...and stopped, dead, staring at the two silhouettes framed in the glowing light issuing through the doorway.
"Ayanami...and...K-Kaworu-kun?" he managed to choke, as a furious blush crept up his cheeks. /But wait...it can't be...this just isn't possible.../His hand unconsciously grasped at his NERV mobile. It was silent.
No, no angels...
Rei merely gazed at him in her solemn manner, acknowledging his presence. She turned and greeted Misato with a nod. "Ohayou gozaimasu, captain."
Misato nodded back, looking at the newcomer with interest. She had seen Shinji's reaction, and was curious as to who this young man was. "And you are...?"
The dusty-colored-haired boy showed no sign of recognizing Shinji. "My name is Kaworu. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain Katsuragi," he said, bowing slightly.
/Rei, that boy over there...he sure does seem to be acting oddly, ne?/
/He is the third children, the son of Commander Ikari Gendo. There is no need to worry about him./
Misato recognized something in the eyes of the two in the doorway-a flash, a signal... "Wait a minute," she said, putting her hand on the doorframe for support. "You guys...can communicate...telepathically?"
With that, Shinji sat down, hard, on the floor, as Asuka stormed forward with such gusto as only the great Asuka Langley Sohryu could have. She came through in time to witness both Rei and Kaworu nodding their heads in affirmative.
"Hai," Rei said.
"Ayan-! Wondergirl! What are you doing here? And who is HE?" Asuka demanded, rudely pointing at the boy in the doorway.
Shinji, meanwhile, was making his way to the foyer, slowly, and on all fours. Unfortunately, crawling gave him a very wrong line of vision as he neared Asuka's billowing pleated gray skirt, and he received a very hard kick as punishment.
"BAKA HENTAI!" Asuka screeched, kicking him again for good measure.
"Hey, you're going to hurt him!" Kaworu called, stepping into the apartment. Rei followed, and Misato closed the door behind them. Shinji blushed harder.
"BAKA BAKA BAKA!" Asuka continued. "Baka NEVER learns! NO ONE gets a free look at Asuka Langley Sohryu, NO ONE!". With that, she pulled her dress down and grinned nastily, still fuming.
Shinji, on a normal day, would have had something to spit back at Asuka. However, he was still staring at Kaworu. /No...it can't be...it just can't./ His mind was certainly playing tricks on him. /First of all, his hair is a little too dark. And his eyes...something just isn't right. It's not the same./ Echoing Asuka's earlier words, he wondered, /who IS he?/
"What's your...family name...Kaworu...kun?" Shinji finally asked, completely ignoring Asuka, even though he was breathing heavily and had both hands pressed up against his throbbing stomach. Misato smiled to herself. Perhaps his stomach would be bruised and sore, but the redness of the boy's cheeks was certainly NOT an after-effect of Asuka's brutality.
Kaworu shrugged. Rei shook her head slightly.
"Ayanami...?" Shinji whispered, looking for an answer. Could Rei possibly know about Nagisa Kaworu, and his relations to Shinji?
"WARK WARK! WARK WARK WARK WARK!" Pen-Pen squawked, running into the room (waddling, rather!), and flapping his wings.
"OH NO!" shouted Misato, who quickly forgot everything going on, flung the door open, and shoved Rei and the so-called Kaworu out. "Shinji, Asuka! Get outta here! You're going to be late!" She ran back to her room, and they could all hear her tripping over dirty clothes and empty beer cans in an attempt to get dressed. Asuka gave Shinji an extremely well-aimed parting kick as she flew out the door. Shinji followed suit, attempting not to wince as he waddled out as fast as he possibly could.
In their hurry, no one really spoke.
In class, Kaworu chose the seat to Shinji's right (to Shinji's left was a window overlooking the empty soccer fields and school grounds). As usual, Asuka sat in front of him, and next to her sat Rei. Shinji deftly slipped one wireless earphone into his left ear, and let his SDAT run. He subtly kept his head behind his open laptop, and kept surreptitiously glancing at the boy to his right.
/It's not really Kaworu. His eyes are too blue...almost violet. And his hair...it's too dark. And he doesn't even recognize me. I'm sure he doesn't./ Shinji could feel his eyes burning. /What is going on...? Help...someone...Kaworu...anyone...please help.../ He could remember... / "Kaworu said he liked me. I have never...never had such kind words. I liked him, too." But what...what is going on?/
Gorgeous02: HEY BAKA! You're zoning out! Stop dreaming about my ass!
nonexistent: who says he's dreaming about your ass?
Xforever: ahh...ass...
deepblue03: ...
Gorgeous02: BAKA BAKA MINNA! I am the great Asuka Langley Sohryu!
Xforever: you sure are...
nonexistent: what does that have anything to do with it?
Gorgeous02: just who the hell are you, Xforever?
At this point, Shinji opened a private message to Kaworu.
deepblue03: konnichiwa.
nonexistent: who is this?
deepblue03: Ikari Shinji.
nonexistent: ah...
nonexistent: Ayanami told me about you.
deepblue03: oh?
nonexistent: you killed Nagisa Kaworu, the 17th Angel, didn't you?
Shinji was too stunned to reply. He sat back abruptly, and could only stare at the screen, shaking. /Even Ayanami couldn't know Kaworu's full she...?/
"IKARI! Answer the question!" the sensei was demanding. Shinji was barely aware of his surroundings. His head was throbbing painfully. He faintly noticed the red blob ahead of him turning, as if in slow motion...
nonexistent: you wonder how I know that?
nonexistent: my real name...
nonexistent: ...is Nagisa Ikari.
THWAP! Shinji winced, rubbing his flaming cheek.
"BAKA!" Asuka screeched in a whisper. "Sensei is asking you something!"
Shinji jumped up, upsetting the cord to his laptop and unplugging it. The screen went blank. "G-gomen nasai," he stuttered, bowing. "I am not feeling very well today...gomen nasai..."
The class tittered.
"I should say not, coming to class with earphones in. Perhaps you should get your head checked," Sensei retorted, coldly. He came very close and yanked the earphone from Shinji's left ear. "This," he declared, holding up the earphone, "Is mine. Forever. Do I make myself very clear?"
Shinji did his best to nod. /Thank goodness my laptop unplugged.../ He slid wearily back into his seat and turned to look out the window. /What a day.../
The school day finally came to a close without any further developments. The four walked together on their way to pay a visit to NERV headquarters. But first, Asuka wanted to stop for ice cream...
"BAKA! Why don't you pay this time?" Asuka shouted at Shinji, who she had been bickering with the entire afternoon, then turned to the counter. "Yes, I'll have a triple scoop banana split with the works, thanks. Fills out my perfect body, ya know?" Asuka flung at the poor ice cream parlor clerk (who was, admittedly, quite bishie-looking himself...if it weren't for the small fact that he WAS, incidentally, ogling Asuka's erm...assets...).
"But I always pay," Shinji muttered, taking a small wallet from his pocket, not so much protesting rather than stating a fact.
"Hey, no problem. Let me handle it," Kaworu was saying, putting an arm around Asuka, who actually didn't respond with physical violence. She smiled demurely, shooting a hard glare at Shinji every once in a while.
Shinji just gaped and tried to keep a relatively unemotional face. He could tell by Ayanami's distant stare that she didn't notice anything unusual going on. /What's happening to me? I know this isn't really Kaworu...only...I can never reassure myself until he turns around and I can see his violet eyes and know it's not my Kaworu./ And Shinji blushed, remembering. /...MY Kaworu? Since when was he ever "my" Kaworu?/
/Kaworu: You are delicate like glass.
Shinji: Am I?
Kaworu: Yes, and that earns my love.
Shinji: Love?
Kaworu: In other words, I love you./
Lost in his thoughts, he realized Rei was attempting to hand him his usual-a plain cup of vanilla ice cream, while Asuka and the so-called Kaworu went off, giggling and smiling together, to a nearby table. Shinji's eyes followed their every move.
Rei was saying something, but Shinji was so taken aback that she was actually beginning a conversation with him that he very nearly gagged on a spoonful of ice cream and completely missed what she was trying to say.
Pounding himself in the chest, he spluttered, "...g-gomen nasai, Ayanami...can you...um, repeat that?"
Rei glanced at him coolly, without changing her expression. Her voice was equally flat. "Kaworu-kun. You know him?"
"I..." Shinji began, and trailed off. "I knew a Kaworu-kun. Nagasi...Nagasi Kaworu-kun, the 17th Angel."
Rei didn't say anything more. She merely licked her spoon and stared ahead. It was as though she was waiting for something more...but Shinji didn't know what else to say, nor did he recognize her silent inquiry. And so silence hung thickly in the air.
"...where is Kaworu-kun staying?" Shinji finally asked.
"At my apartment."
Shinji's eyes goggled a bit. "How come he gets to stay with you?" /Oh god, did I just say that out loud?/ Shinji freaked, covering his mouth quickly with his hand with mortification. He could feel the flush sweeping up his cheeks yet again.
Again, Rei made no signs of recognition. She did notice something was amiss, but as it had nothing to do with her she dismissed it as not of her immediate concern. "Commander Ikari told me Kaworu-kun is to stay at my apartment during this time, and I am to provide him with lodging and the bare essentials necessary for survival. I am merely following my orders."
/As always./ Shinji thought somewhat bitterly. Any mention of his father was unpleasant for him, especially these days. The current situation being discussed did not help matters. He stared into his cup, absent mindedly stirring his melting ice cream as they all walked away from the ice cream parlor grounds and towards NERV hq.
"Give me that, if you're not going to eat it!" Asuka snapped, snatching the cup away from Shinji. "Such a scrawny little weakling, won't even eat ICE CREAM!"
Kaworu still had his arm around her. Shinji inadvertently shifted his line of vision to some distant cloud drifting off along the horizon and allowed his arms to drop down to his sides, hands unclenched. Then he noticed a man with a clipboard approaching from behind Asuka and Kaworu.
"Greetings, greetings! My, what beautiful young people! You especially, with the gorgeous red hair," the man gushed, looking Asuka up and down and making notes on his clipboard. "Is this your lovely boyfriend? How wonderful. You are very lucky, young man, you know? Gorgeous, just gorgeous! Beautiful. Absolutely. Yes. Yes! I love you both!" the man continued, making all his own assumptions and not allowing a word in from anyone else. Not that Asuka was protesting.
/This man could be from a modeling agency!/ Asuka grinned. /This could be my lucky break! What a day!/ She struck a pose, scooting much closer to Kaworu.
Shinji winced and backed up, trying not to witness or think about the scene before him.
"Smile big for the camera darling, please," the man said, waving his arms around to manipulate and pose Asuka and Kaworu for a photo together. "Perfect, perfect! Beautiful. Absolutely. Yes, Yes! I love you both!" The camera went clicking away, and he kept changing their poses. "I am Matsumoto Yamada, and I'm a photographer for the Shirogami professional top-quality salon shampoo series! We've been actively looking all over Tokyo-Yes, yes! Beautiful! Absolutely! I love you both!-for the perfect models. You two are it! Smile one more time...Yes! Beautiful! Absolutely! Yes! Yes! YES! Oh la la! What are you names? Asuka? Sohryu Asuka Langley? Yes, Yes, that's beautiful! I love it! And you? Kaworu...Nagisa Kaworu? Wonderful! Absolutely! Beautiful! I love it! I love you! I love you both! Okay, please sign here...yes, contact numbers please, and the date...Thank you, thank you!" He blew kisses, he stomped, he gesticulated wildly while flinging his arms in wide circles...
Shinji stood, dumbfounded and speechless. The man was insane. He turned to Rei, who was only looking at the photographer with mild interest. She was still slowly devouring her lemon sherbet...
/How can she be so calm?/ Shinji was beginning to get exasperated with the whole situation. /Help me, Ayanami...please...help me.../
And suddenly, Kaworu...no...Ayanami...? was standing in front of him, very close, almost touching...? There was no trace of an ice cream cup, and the violet-eyed Kaworu was nowhere to be seen. Shinji felt warm, comforting hands grasping his own, gently...
"Wh-what's going on...?" Shinji whispered, taking yet another step backwards as his mind played with the image before him. Red-eyed Ayanami...then Kaworu...then violet-eyed Ayanami, then violet-eyed Kaworu...and back...
In turn, each of the apparitions, nay, persons (can ghosts speak?) spoke. "Can't you see?" "We're all one and the same." "I'm really here, Shinji-kun...it's me, Kaworu..." "Boku wa...suki da..." "We all love...you...Ikari..."
Where Asuka was during all of this, Shinji couldn't fathom. The shifting abruptly ended as soon as it began, and Shinji realized the violet-eyed Kaworu was in the very serious process of soundly snogging Asuka, while Rei was back to staring down the pale lemony glop at the bottom of the her paper ice cream cup. They somehow had managed to reach NERV hq by this time...
"You understand now, right?" came a soft voice.
Shinji hesistated. Rei's lips hadn't moved, and he was certain neither Asuka nor Kaworu were capable of saying anything at this particular moment.
"Shinji-kun..."
He closed his eyes. The beautiful sound of that voice...
Rei then whispered, "When we are one, we are he that you love, Ikari... This...this is...from me to you..."
And she came towards him, her unquenched heart shattering into a million fragments, glowing with the warmth of passion...together, as one...bound once again by the threads of love. It was as if her reincarnated body carried the unfaded blood-bound passion of a mother to her son. Ah, the powers of love...
"...Ayanami...?"
"No...Shinji-kun. I am here. I have come."
Tears of bliss trickled from the corners of Shinji's closed eyes, and he felt the release from pain and suffering at such an intensity as only before experienced at the end of everything, at the death of mankind, when nothing mattered...and all the love he had ever known was free to be his...
...such release...
...such bliss.
...such pure and unadulterated love.
.:.
Thanks for reading, minna-san! Please R&R. I might write an epilogue to explain what exactly happened right there at the end...but let it suffice to say that sometimes, clones don't always turn out the way you want them to...and yes, Yui was a part of that, and yes, so were the real Kaworu and Rei. Twisted, ne?
Heh. I agree.