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 - Collapse — Interim Report, Unit-02 in Pieces
"[sad]……ngh."
A faint voice leaked into the hallway.
Shinji stopped in front of Asuka's room.
Early morning in Comfort 17. An hour when no one else was awake yet. Only the fluorescent lights in the corridor hummed quietly, trembling in the stillness.
Beyond the door.
The sound of fabric being pulled. The tiny sound of a needle piercing cloth. And—occasionally, a frustrated exhale escaping through her nose.
(She's still… at it.)
Shinji remembered the sound of the sewing machine from the night before. No, not a sewing machine. The sound of hand-stitching. One stitch at a time, sewing with desperate effort.
After that fight.
Ever since that night Rei left and Asuka shut herself in her room—the whole time.
"[sad]Ugh… why can't I just sew a straight line…?"
He heard her voice.
She wasn't crying. But it was a voice trembling with frustration, far more painful than tears.
Shinji reached for the door.
But—
*"You're on her side anyway, aren't you, Shinji!"*
Asuka's shout from yesterday echoed in his head.
*"You're not on my side! You're not on anyone's side!"*
His hand stopped.
(Even if I say something… I'll just hurt her again.)
He leaned against the door. The cold feel of the wood.
On the other side, the sound of fabric being pulled again.
"[whispers]…I'm absolutely not going to lose."
A small voice, filled with resolve.
That voice, for some reason, squeezed Shinji's chest tight.
(Asuka's trying so hard.)
(And I—can't do anything.)
Shinji left as quietly as he could.
He put on his sneakers. Opened the front door.
Outside, it was already bright.
The cicadas were singing their eternal summer again today.
The sky was endlessly blue, but inside Shinji's heart, it felt like a dim, overcast sky.
—The gymnasium was filled with a buzz of noise.
The interim presentation.
The entire student body was gathered in the gymnasium of Tokyo-3 Municipal Junior High School. A simple stage had been set up in the center of the floor, spanning two basketball courts. The ceiling ventilation fans hummed low, a constant *whirr*.
Shinji stood frozen in the wings of the stage.
Asuka was right in front of him.
"[serious]…So you came too."
Her red hair tied up in twintails. Those eyes, usually overflowing with confidence—had dark, heavy circles under them.
Her skin seemed somehow lifeless, and her fingers, covered in bandages, trembled slightly.
"[gentle]Of course I did. We're a team."
Shinji said it. But—
(A team… are we?)
Someone whispered that in his heart.
Rei was nowhere to be seen in the venue.
Asuka clutched the large paper bag she was holding tightly. Inside was the costume she had stayed up all night fixing.
A red and orange mascot, modeled after Unit-02.
"[serious]Just watch. I'm going to prove to everyone that I'm the best."
Asuka's voice as she said that—
Was a bluff.
It lacked her usual force.
"[gentle]…Yeah."
That was all Shinji said.
The student emcee took the microphone.
"[excited]Alright then—next up is! Soryu Asuka Langley's team, presenting the 'Unit-02 Mascot'!"
Applause.
Curious stares.
Asuka lifted her chin.
"[excited]Let's go!"
She stepped onto the stage.
She pulled the costume out of the paper bag.
A red and orange body modeled after Unit-02. Four arms and eyes mimicking its distinctive goggles. Slightly crooked seams that showed how hard she had worked sewing it.
Asuka pulled it on over her head.
The audience gasped.
"[excited]Well!? My Unit-02 Mascot! Cute, right!?"
Her voice was muffled inside the costume.
She spread her arms wide, trying to strike a pose—
—*Riiip.*
A small sound echoed through the gymnasium.
The seam on the right shoulder had burst.
"Huh…?"
Asuka's voice leaked out, small.
Shinji gasped.
(No way—)
Asuka panicked and tried to lower her arms.
—*Rip. Rip rip.*
This time, the seams at the base of the left arm started tearing one after another.
"W-wait… no…!"
Her voice was shaking.
Every time she twisted her body, new seams came undone.
—*Rrrrip.*
A loud sound.
And then.
The neck joint, unable to take any more, split open.
The head—the large head with Unit-02's goggles—wobbled, tilted, and then—
*Thud.*
It tumbled to the floor.
The gymnasium fell completely silent.
Mouths hung open, agape.
Someone laughed, a small laugh.
"[laughing]*Pfft…*"
That was the trigger.
"[laughing]What is that!?"
"[laughing]That's so bad!"
"[laughing]The stitching is so sloppy! Isn't that insane!?"
Laughter spread like a wave.
Students pulled out their smartphones.
*Click. Click.*
"[laughing]I'm posting this on social media!"
"[laughing]This is definitely going viral!"
Shinji couldn't move.
(Stop it… please stop…!)
He wanted to scream. But his voice wouldn't come out.
On the stage.
The costume had collapsed like a mere pile of rags.
The arms were torn off, the torso was crumpled, the head still lying on the floor.
Asuka, revealed from within—
All color had drained from her face.
"…………"
Her mouth opened, trying to say something. But no words came out.
Her eyes slowly widened.
The laughter.
The shutter sounds.
The curious stares.
All of it was piercing Asuka right now.
"Ah…"
A sound escaped her.
And then—
Asuka broke into a run.
"Asuka!"
Shinji shouted.
But Asuka didn't look back.
She jumped off the stage, heading for the gymnasium exit.
Only the wreckage of the collapsed costume was left behind.
"[scared]Wait…!"
Shinji chased after her.
The hallway. The entrance. The school gate.
Asuka kept running.
Her red twintails swayed wildly, coming undone.
"Wait! Asuka!"
Even shouting, he couldn't reach her.
Asuka vanished into the city.
Shinji stopped, out of breath.
(Where did she go…?)
Towards Lake Ashi? The shopping district? Or maybe—
"The rooftop…"
His old spot.
But—no, that wasn't it. There was no way the Asuka of right now would go there.
Shinji started running again.
The shopping district.
He dashed down Muse Street.
"[surprised]Oh, Shinji-kun, what's the matter?"
The owner of Suzuhara Meat Shop called out to him, but this was no time for that.
(Asuka's not here… nowhere…)
The Lake Ashi promenade.
He ran along the lakeshore. The waves just lapped quietly, *chap chap*. No sign of anyone.
"Asuka…!"
He yelled.
But there was no reply.
Only the sound of the cicadas echoed on forever.
Before he knew it, it was evening.
Exhausted, Shinji returned to Comfort 17.
His shirt clung to him with sweat. His breathing was still ragged. His throat was parched.
He climbed the stairs.
The fifth floor.
The moment he stepped into the hallway—
There were shoes in front of Asuka's room.
Sneakers, kicked off carelessly.
"Asuka…!"
Shinji rushed over. He pounded on the door.
"Asuka! You're in there, right!? Open up!"
No answer.
He strained his ears.
He could hear a faint—a really tiny, voice.
"*Hic… uu…*"
It was sobbing.
Crying desperately stifled, as if she didn't want anyone to hear.
"Asuka…"
Shinji slumped against the door.
He reached for the knob. But—it was locked.
It wouldn't open.
"[sad]I… couldn't do anything."
His voice was shaking.
"[crying]I couldn't stop Asuka… from getting hurt…"
He could hear the sobbing again from the other side of the door.
A distance he could reach if he just stretched out his hand.
But—they were decisively cut off from each other.
Shinji sat down on the spot.
He hugged his knees.
All he could do was listen to the crying beyond the door.
How long had he been like that?
Shinji finally stood up and went back to his own room.
Inside, it was dark.
Without turning on the light, he collapsed onto his bed.
On his desk—there was something.
His mother's memento, the sewing kit.
And—a small, star-shaped piece of felt.
The one Asuka had finally managed to make successfully during their first practice session together, the three of them.
"[sad]Back then… we were laughing together."
But—
"In the end, whenever I say anything, it just makes everything worse."
Shinji shook his head.
"I can't help anyone."
A dark room.
From the next room, Asuka's crying could still be heard.
From the opposite room, 501—Rei's room—there was no sound at all.
Since that day, he hadn't even heard the sewing machine.
"Just by being here… I'm a nuisance."
Shinji hugged his knees.
His self-loathing grew deeper and deeper.
The team was completely broken.
Asuka was hurt, Rei was gone, and he—could do nothing.
On the table, his smartphone vibrated.
*Bzzz, bzzz.*
He looked at the screen.
*'Misato'*
Multiple missed calls were coming in.
But—
Shinji couldn't bring himself to reach for it.
(Right now… I don't want to talk to anyone.)
The phone's light flashed repeatedly in the dark room.
*Bzzz, bzzz.*
The sobbing from next door.
The silence of Rei's room.
The vibrating phone.
All of it squeezed Shinji's heart tight.
"[whispers]What am I… supposed to do…?"
His voice reached no one.
Shinji stayed sitting on the floor until morning.
Only the cicadas' cries rang out, filling the night of an eternal, never-ending summer.
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