In a certain Japanese town, Third New Tokyo City, middle schooler Shinji Ikari wakes up to find things a little strange. After all, the comrades he fought alongside to save the world last year are all living peacefully in his neighborhood.
First, red-haired Asuka barges into Shinji's room in the morning, yelling 'Are you still sleeping?!' It seems she's ended up living with him. Shinji's father, Gendo Ikari, while saying 'Everything is going according to plan,' is baking sweets in the kitchen w
Nerv's Shinji-kun, Awaiting Retorts Today Too - Tears Found in the Home Economics Room at Night
The classroom after school. Outside the window, cicadas that never stop chirping all year long buzzed incessantly. A lukewarm breeze blowing in from Lake Ashi made the curtains sway gently.
Shinji, getting ready to go home, glanced over at Asuka's seat.
Last night, the quiet sobbing he'd heard through the wall still clung to the back of his ears. Maybe it was his imagination, but Asuka's twintails looked just a little less lively than usual.
"[excited]What? Staring at me like that."
Asuka suddenly turned around. Her burning red eyes glared sharply, same as always.
"[surprised]I-I wasn't staring."
"[sarcastic]Hmm. Whatever. Listen up, Shinji."
Asuka, her twintails swaying, marched right up to Shinji's desk.
"[excited]Look, that blueprint from yesterday? Scrapped. Totally scrapped! I'm gonna rethink it and make something stronger and cuter!"
Overwhelmed by her momentum, Shinji leaned back a little.
(She was crying so much yesterday...)
But he couldn't say it out loud.
"[serious]Sewing... you're not doing it anymore?"
When Shinji timidly asked, Asuka's eyebrow twitched.
"[angry]I'm not doing any sewing! That was... look, there's gotta be a more efficient way! Once the blueprint's done, I can just outsource the rest, right?!"
Her voice was loud. A little faster than usual, too.
(She's putting on a brave front.)
Shinji murmured in his heart. Her beautiful red hair, long enough to reach her back, looked translucent in the classroom light. The wounded face hidden beneath that hair overlapped for a moment with yesterday's memory.
"[gentle]I see... okay."
Shinji gave a small nod.
"[excited]Of course! Alright, we're done for today! I'll come up with a new blueprint by tomorrow, so you think of some ideas too!"
With that, Asuka left the classroom as if fleeing.
Her red ribbon softly disappeared around the corner of the hallway.
Shinji let out a small sigh.
(She really does want to keep doing it, doesn't she.)
Unable to sew at all, frustrated, her fingers covered in band-aids—and yet.
"...But there's nothing I can do about it."
Outside the window, the cicadas kept chirping, same as ever.
---
That night.
In the living room of Comfort 17, Shinji was slumped over the table. Still dressed in his school-designated jersey, his pen had stopped moving over his homework printout.
"[cold]Shinji. The madeleines are done."
His father, wearing a black apron, expressionlessly held out a plate. The scent of butter filled the room. Today's browning was especially perfect.
"[sad]...I'll eat them later."
"[cold]I see."
Gendo, as always, silently placed the madeleines on the table and returned to the kitchen.
Shinji lifted his head.
(I forgot something.)
He had a feeling he'd left his math workbook, due tomorrow, inside his classroom desk. Without it, the teacher would scold him again in tomorrow's class.
"...I'm gonna go to school for a bit."
As Shinji put on his sneakers at the front door, he glanced at the neighboring room beyond the wall. Room 501. Rei's room.
He heard nothing.
---
The school at night was eerily quiet.
He passed through the school gate and entered through the entranceway. The fluorescent lights in the hallway were already off, and only the emergency lights cast a green glow. His own footsteps echoed loudly—clack, clack.
(I'll just grab it and go home.)
Class 2-A's room was on the third floor. As he climbed the stairs, he suddenly felt something was off.
A faint light was leaking from the floor above.
(Someone's here at this hour?)
Maybe it was the janitor. But the color of the light was too warm for that.
Shinji hushed his footsteps and finished climbing the stairs.
At the end of the hallway. The home economics room.
Only there, an orange light was on.
Through the small window in the door, he quietly peered inside.
His breath stopped.
Asuka was there.
Alone, facing the sewing table. Her red hair was tied back in a single ponytail today. Her shoulders were slumped, her gaze fixed on her hands.
On the desk, the felt scraps she'd torn to shreds yesterday and practice cloth stitched into a tangled mess formed a small mountain.
On Asuka's fingers, band-aid after band-aid had been applied.
He could see fresh blood, slowly seeping into the white cloth.
(Until this late... all alone?)
Asuka was crying.
She made no sound. But her shoulders were trembling. A single tear fell onto the felt on the sewing table, forming a small stain.
"[crying]...Ow."
Asuka let out a small groan and put her pricked finger in her mouth. Then, she roughly wiped away her tears.
She picked up a new needle and faced the cloth again.
(I want to run away.)
Those words surfaced in Shinji's mind.
(I want to run away from here right now.)
But—his feet wouldn't move.
A sharp pain twisted deep in his chest. The quiet sobbing he'd heard from the next room yesterday revived in the back of his ears.
(I can't leave her alone.)
Shinji took a deep, deep breath.
He steeled his resolve.
Rattle, rattle, rattle.
He slid the door open.
Asuka spun around as if she'd been launched.
"[scared]——Shinji?!"
Her eyes, swollen bright red from crying, opened wide. Her whole face was crumpled with tear stains.
Asuka frantically wiped her face with her arm. But the tear stains wouldn't disappear.
"[angry]W-why are you here?! You saw, didn't you?! You saw what just happened, right?!"
"[scared]N-no, I forgot something——"
"[crying]Don't make excuses! No one was supposed to see me in a place like this——"
A trembling voice. Her fingers, covered in band-aids, clenched tightly.
(A face with its pride deeply wounded.)
Shinji took a step forward.
"[serious]Asuka. I... used to do a little sewing a long time ago."
Asuka's movements stopped.
"[gentle]If you want... want me to teach you?"
"[angry]Who—who would ever borrow help from you?! I can do it by myself! Something like this, I'll get it in no time——"
Her voice was shaking. Tears were about to overflow again.
Shinji reached into his bag.
(I'm glad I brought it.)
He took out a small wooden box he'd found deep in his closet yesterday. Old shears and carefully wound thread. His mother Yui's memento sewing kit.
"[gentle]This... it's a memento from my mother."
Asuka stared intently at the box.
"Actually, I couldn't do it at all at first either. It was my first time even holding a needle, and I failed over and over. Every time, my mother would take my hand and teach me..."
Shinji opened the box.
From inside, he took out a small felt doll the size of his palm. A purple mascot modeled after Unit-01. The stitches were a little crooked, but it had a gentle face.
Asuka's eyes were glued to the doll.
"[sad]This is the first thing I ever made, while my mother taught me. That's why the stitches are so crooked."
Asuka said nothing.
But the strength in her clenched fingers loosened just a little.
"[gentle]So... if you want. Want to do it together?"
A long silence fell.
Only the sound of cicadas could be heard from far away.
Asuka, still looking down, opened her mouth slightly.
"[whispers]...You're so annoying."
Her voice was hoarse.
"[whispers]Just a little bit."
Asuka lifted her face and roughly sat back down in her chair.
---
"[gentle]First, let's start with how to hold the shears."
Shinji sat down next to Asuka.
He picked up the shears and slowly taught her how to place her fingers.
"Your thumb goes here, your middle finger here. Your index finger just rests alongside. This way, it's easier to cut straight."
Asuka silently watched Shinji's hands intently.
"[sarcastic]H-hmph. I already knew that."
But when Asuka readjusted her grip on the shears, her hold was a complete mess. Apparently, until just now, she'd been pinching them with only her thumb and index finger.
(She really didn't know anything at all.)
Shinji gave a wry smile in his heart.
"[gentle]Alright, let's try cutting this felt straight first. I'll draw a line here with the chalk pencil."
Shinji took out the chalk pencil.
"[surprised]Chalk pencil... so it wasn't food."
"[surprised]Huh? Wait, that thing yesterday... you were serious?"
"[angry]N-no, I wasn't! It was a joke! A j-o-k-e!"
Asuka's face turned bright red.
(She really didn't know...)
Shinji almost laughed in spite of himself. But he held it in.
"[gentle]This is a chalk pencil. It's like chalk for marking fabric."
He drew a straight line on the felt.
"Try cutting slowly along this line."
Asuka carefully positioned the shears.
But her hands were trembling slightly.
"[sad]Here... like this?"
Snip.
She veered far off the line, cutting a crooked curve.
"[crying]Aagh, seriously! Why can't I cut it straight?!"
"[gentle]It's okay. Everyone's like that at first. It curves when you use too much strength, so relax your shoulders."
Shinji took out another piece of felt and drew a line again.
"Let's try one more time."
Asuka bit her lip and gripped the shears again.
This time, slower and more carefully than before.
Snip, snip, snip.
It was a little jagged, but she cut it much straighter than the first time.
"[surprised]...It cut."
"That's amazing, Asuka!"
Shinji couldn't help but raise his voice.
"[excited]Heh, of course! When I get serious, something like this is a piece of cake!"
Asuka puffed out her chest. But her eyes were still a little red.
Shinji took out the next piece of felt.
"Alright, next let's try cutting a star shape. First, draw the star shape with a line——"
Asuka gripped the chalk pencil and carefully drew a star.
"[sad]...It kind of turned out like a pentagram."
"[laughing]Yeah, it's a little too pointy. But this is fine. Let's try cutting it."
Asuka readjusted her grip on the shears.
Just as he'd taught her earlier, she put her thumb and middle finger through the holes and rested her index finger alongside.
Snip.
Slowly, carefully, she traced along the line.
The moment the shears finished cutting the last corner——
A star-shaped piece of felt dropped softly onto the desk.
A little warped, but definitely a star shape.
"[surprised]...I did it."
Asuka stared at the star in her hand with a look of disbelief.
Her band-aid-covered fingers trembled slightly.
"[excited]That's amazing, Asuka! It's properly a star!"
When Shinji spoke, Asuka slowly lifted her face.
Their eyes met.
"[surprised]...I did it."
The corners of Asuka's mouth softened into a smile.
"[excited]I did it, Shinji! I cut a star!"
"[laughing]Yeah! You did it!"
Before he knew it, Shinji was smiling too.
Under the orange light of the home economics room, the two of them looked at each other and laughed.
This might have been the first time he'd ever laughed together with Asuka like this.
---
As they started cleaning up, Shinji looked at Asuka's fingers.
Band-aids. Five. Six. So many he couldn't count them all.
Some had fresh blood seeping through.
"[sad]Asuka, your fingers... are you okay? If you'd told me sooner..."
Asuka's movements stopped completely.
"[serious]...Shinji."
Her voice was different from before.
"[serious]You, of all people... I didn't want to show my weakness to you."
Shinji caught his breath.
Asuka, still looking down, stared at her band-aid-covered fingers.
"[sad]Because you've been through way harder battles than me, and you just act normal without complaining."
"Asuka..."
"[crying]In front of someone like you, I couldn't forgive myself for whining over something as stupid as sewing!"
Her voice was starting to tremble again.
"I've always thought I had to be the best. Sewing should be something I can do without even trying—and yet, I can't. I'm so ashamed of myself like that..."
Shinji's chest ached sharply.
"[sad]That's not true."
Shinji forced his voice out.
"I'm weak too. I'm always running away. I can never move unless someone tells me to. I can't decide things for myself."
Asuka lifted her face.
Her red eyes, swollen from crying, looked straight at Shinji.
"[sad]So I think it's amazing. Practicing all alone like this.
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