In Tokyo-3, the battles against the Angels have almost become routine. But for Shinji Ikari, pilot of Eva Unit-01, a single, painful question gnaws at his heart. His father and NERV Commander, Gendo Ikari, has never praised him. He's never even had a real conversation with him.
Caught in this gloomy mood, Shinji bickers as always with his classmate and Eva Unit-02 pilot, Asuka Langley Soryu. 'How long are you gonna mope around?! Do something for yourself for once!' Asuka yells. Shinji mutters b
Evangelion IF: Tomorrow, with a Smile - The First Will, The Roar of Two
Inside the Entry Plug of Unit-01, Shinji's body trembled.
The lukewarm liquid of the LCL brushed against his cheek. The smell of blood. The smell of sweat. And, still echoing deep in his ears, her voice.
"I've always... always loved you, you idiot."
Asuka's scream repeated over and over in his head.
"Because you're here... I'm not alone...!"
(I'm... not alone.)
(Someone... needs me.)
For the first time in his life, those words weren't just sounds. They reached deep into his chest, carrying real meaning.
Hot.
The center of his chest was gradually growing hot.
Orange light filtered through the walls of the Entry Plug, dyeing his field of vision. The warm light emitted by Asuka's Unit-02. It spread as if overwriting the cold, mechanical red glow of the Dummy Plug.
[[Unit-01 Self-Destruct Sequence: Forced Halt]]
[[Control Authority Transferred from Dummy Plug to Primary Pilot]]
The mechanical announcement delivered words he couldn't believe.
Strength returned to his hands.
The control sticks clung to his palms. He could move them by his own will. It was a sensation he had never felt before.
"...Asuka."
He lifted his face, messy with tears.
"I... won't run away. Not for my father. By my own will... I'll protect Asuka!"
For the first time in his life, Shinji forced a scream from his own throat.
■■■
"Immeasurable! Unit-01's sync ratio is skyrocketing! Breaking the limit value... this is impossible! It's exceeding four hundred percent!"
NERV Headquarters, Central Command Center.
Operator Ibuki Maya, her bangs plastered to her forehead with sweat, couldn't believe her eyes.
The numbers displayed on the main monitor completely ignored the laws of physics.
Unit-01 and Unit-02. The two machines resonated with light of the same frequency. Orange waves spread across the entire Geofront like ripples, causing the monitors to flicker violently.
"This isn't... a sync ratio. Two souls are linking together."
Ritsuko muttered almost in a groan as she stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray.
Katsuragi Misato glared at the commander's seat.
Ikari Gendou, his hands still folded in front of his face, watched the faint dance of light without a single expression.
"The Angel's tentacles are still alive! Targeting Unit-02... it's on a direct collision course!"
The tentacles that should have been shaken off by Shinji's roar earlier writhed ominously, once again aiming their tips at the defenseless Unit-02.
"Shinji-kun!"
Misato's scream echoed.
They wouldn't make it.
Despair seized the command center in an instant.
But.
■■■
Before Shinji's eyes, time began to flow slowly.
The Angel's tentacles surged toward Asuka, like a distorted silver wall closing in.
He wasn't afraid.
Strangely, the fear had vanished.
Only the sound of his heartbeat rang out with abnormal clarity.
I'll protect the most precious thing in the world.
"Uaaaaaaaaah!!"
Unit-01 accelerated explosively.
The armor on its legs, unable to withstand the sudden load, split open, revealing eerily human-like, raw muscle beneath the purple plating.
GAGIIIIIIIIIIN!!!
Unit-01's right hand forcibly seized the tip of the tentacle, mere meters from Unit-02's cockpit.
The armor on its palm melted from the extreme heat, dripping away.
"Don't... touch Asukaaaa!!"
As Shinji roared, he crushed the tentacle in his grip and snapped it with brute force.
Black bodily fluids rained down onto the surface of Lake Ashi.
The flesh of that Angel, once absolutely inviolable, had been torn apart like paper.
■■■
"A.T. Field completely vanished! The Angel's defensive barrier has been breached!"
A voice of disbelief echoed through the command center.
The absolute shield that had repelled countless N² weapons until now.
Now, on the instruments, it was simply zero.
The orange wave enveloping Unit-01 and Unit-02 had fundamentally neutralized and erased the Angel's A.T. Field.
Misato slammed her fist on the command console.
"Now! Shinji-kun, Asuka, finish it off!"
Her voice trembled with tears.
■■■
The damaged Unit-02 staggered to its feet.
Its head was shattered, its left arm nearly torn off, and red LCL, like blood, poured from its cockpit like a waterfall. Even so, the red machine puffed out its chest with dignity, as if certain of victory.
"...Shinji."
Asuka's voice came through, mixed with noise.
It was an honest voice, the first he'd ever heard from her.
"Do it. With your own hands."
"Yeah."
Shinji nodded firmly.
There was no more hesitation.
Unit-02, using its remaining right arm, pinned the Angel's massive body from behind in a full nelson. The Angel's surface rippled as it desperately tried to escape, but Asuka would not let go.
"You... monster!!"
With Asuka's fighting spirit, Unit-02's restraint tightened.
Unit-01 raised its right hand to the sky.
A blade of high-frequency vibration materialized in its palm. A Progressive Knife. But its blade didn't shine with the usual white glow; it was enveloped in an orange light, as if a soul were burning.
Shinji poured unprecedented strength into his hands gripping the control sticks.
"This... is the enddddd!!"
Unit-01 kicked off the earth.
The ground exploded.
One step.
A single step's lunge brought him right in front of the Angel.
A long, trailing orange afterglow drew an arc across the battlefield.
The knife of light plunged deep into the crimson core at the Angel's center.
Crack.
In that instant, the world was painted white.
■■■
Silence.
There was no explosion.
The Angel's massive body, as if it had been an illusion, decomposed into countless particles of light and dissolved into the blue sky.
The shining particles fell quietly, like snow, onto the ruined city.
The battle was over.
In Unit-01's cockpit, Shinji gasped for breath. His entire body felt as heavy as lead.
Even so, he immediately opened the hatch.
I'll walk on my own two feet.
To where she is.
■■■
The fallen Unit-02's Entry Plug.
He pounded on the door, which could only be opened manually from the outside, with his plug suit-clad fists, over and over. His skin split, and blood seeped out.
"Asuka! Asuka!"
The sound of grinding, warping metal.
Mustering the last of his strength, he pried the hatch open.
Lukewarm LCL spilled out from inside, and with it, she collapsed into him.
"..."
Her body, which he caught, was surprisingly light, and surprisingly drenched in blood.
A tattered plug suit. Her twintails had come undone, her blonde hair stained red with blood. The light in her blue eyes was faint, her breathing so shallow it seemed it might stop at any moment.
But.
She was, without a doubt, alive.
"Idiot... you're late..."
Asuka opened her eyes slightly.
The mouth that tried to make a sarcastic remark trembled and twisted.
"Asuka... Asuka..."
Shinji could do nothing but repeat her name. Hot tears overflowed uncontrollably, tracing the bloodstains down Asuka's cheek.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... thank you..."
It was no good; he couldn't form words.
His mind was blank, and yet, his heart was filled with emotions that felt ready to burst.
The terror of almost losing her.
The joy that she had feelings for him.
The first real sense that he was allowed to be here.
Everything mixed together, turning into tears and sobs that spilled out.
Asuka raised a trembling hand.
She hesitated to wipe his tears, her fingertips soiled with blood.
Shinji grasped that hesitant hand tightly.
"...Warm."
Sobbing, Asuka showed a broken smile.
Not a brave front, but the genuine face of a fourteen-year-old girl.
She buried her face in Shinji's chest and, without any reservation, began to cry out loud.
In the middle of the rubble-strewn city, as the particles of light continued to fall.
For the first time, they embraced a certain warmth.
■■■
NERV Central Command Center.
Everyone watched the scene without a word.
Misato, not even trying to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks, simply savored the miracle that the two of them had been saved.
Amidst it all, just one person.
In the commander's seat, Ikari Gendou alone stared at the monitor, expressionless.
His hands folded in front of his face, his cold gaze remained fixed on the screen still showing the aftermath of the battle.
But.
Misato saw it.
His folded fingertips, just for a fleeting moment, clenched tightly enough to turn white.
It was an invisible, faint crack that ran through his mask of composure.
■■■
NERV Annex Hospital.
A quiet private room filled with the smell of disinfectant.
Asuka slowly awoke.
A dull pain throughout her body. Her head and arms wrapped in bandages.
As her blurred vision cleared, she saw someone sleeping in the next bed.
"...Shinji?"
There he was, asleep, slumped over from his chair onto Asuka's bed.
His hands were wrapped in layers of bandages. Surely, the hands he had injured while rescuing her.
An exhausted sleeping face.
But that sleeping face seemed much more peaceful than before.
Asuka quietly leaned forward.
"...Hmph. You can do it if you try, can't you."
In a small voice, she mustered her best insult.
But her cheeks were faintly blushing.
She gently placed her own hand on top of Shinji's tightly clenched fist.
They were both too injured to intertwine their fingers.
Just a small gesture of laying her hand on his.
But from that palm, the same strange warmth she had felt on the battlefield was transmitted.
(So this... is what it means to be alive.)
Asuka let out a small sigh and closed her eyes.
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