Aozaki Aoko [662-663] (Patreon)

Chapter 662: A Failed Life

With his newfound sense of responsibility, Shinji was undeniably reliable—at least when it came to taking care of daily life. In that regard, probably only the household superhero Shirou Emiya could compare.

He cleaned and organized Rei Ayanami's shabby apartment until it was spotless, then even paid out of pocket to add a bunch of home appliances and furniture to improve her quality of life.

Beyond that, with Rei's permission, Shinji formally moved into her apartment.

Even Aoko hadn't noticed before that Rei's place actually had an extra room; Rei had always used it as a storage space for trash and useless items and never touched it. Shinji cleaned it out and set it up as his bedroom.

When Shinji and Rei Ayanami arrived at Misato Katsuragi's apartment with a moving company to take all his personal belongings away, Misato was completely stunned. She hadn't seen this coming at all.

Shinji calmly explained his relationship with Rei and even showed Misato that photo, leaving her at a total loss for what to do.

"You're both minors. You can't live without a guardian. Why don't you both move in with me?" Misato gritted her teeth and forced herself to sound tough. "My salary can support two kids."

"Miss Misato, I've been taking care of you all this time, haven't I?" Shinji asked, puzzled. "I cleaned the place, I cooked the meals, I even took out the trash. That's more tiring than living alone, isn't it?"

"B-but two minors living together—safety, money…" Exposed, Misato stammered, grasping for other reasons to keep Shinji.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that," Shinji smiled. "NERV security has been monitoring us anyway, right? As for money, Rei and I both get a decent income as EVA pilots. It's just that a guardian managed the funds before. You're not planning to keep even that from me, are you, Miss Misato?"

Speechless, Misato would never stoop so low as to snatch a kid's living expenses. She returned the NERV-issued "salary card" to Shinji and could only watch as the boy moved out every last thing, including his cello. She felt awful.

"Goodbye, Miss Misato. Thank you for having me." Shinji gave a polite bow and left Misato's apartment with Rei.

The home that had been lively for a few weeks fell quiet again with the departure of her housemate. Shinji's stay had turned Misato's chaotic, grimy apartment neat and tidy; the meals had become healthy and delicious. But the good days hadn't lasted long, and the top-tier roommate had left because of her own mistakes.

Misato downed a can of beer in one gulp, collapsed on the sofa with her clothes disheveled and a hollow look in her eyes, seemingly dragged back into some unwelcome memories.

Shinji's leaving reminded Misato of her ex-boyfriend, Ryoji Kaji.

She had broken up with him because he resembled her father too much—an inherently contradictory reason. Misato's feelings toward her father were extremely complicated, a tangle of love and hate, and she projected that complexity onto Kaji, leading her to believe she couldn't live a normal life. So she split with him.

Now Shinji's choice seemed to confirm it: everyone around her couldn't stand her because her mindset and personality were deeply flawed.

"Shinji-kun made the right choice," Misato laughed at herself, popped open another can, and took a long drink.

…

Among everyone, the most wrong-footed by Shinji's request to live with Rei was Gendo Ikari.

By his original plan, when he met his son for the first time, he would give him a harsh welcome, then send Rei to provoke him a bit, which would make the boy obediently pilot Unit-01.

Then the Angels would be no problem. He had absolute confidence in Unit-01 and his wife Yui; the son was just the starter key for Unit-01.

Now, however, a wrinkle had appeared. The brat had gotten a photo of his wife and came to question him about Rei…

But those were trivialities, not far off-script—easy to correct at any time.

Shinji suddenly applying to "recognize kin" with Rei, though—Gendo hadn't expected that at all. The "relationship development route" he'd arranged for Rei and Shinji was completely scrambled: a hazy "romance" turned into blood-deep "family."

Even setting aside the frustration of a plan going awry, Gendo felt a strange knot rise in his chest.

It was as if something that had belonged to him alone was now being forced to be "shared" with the son he hadn't seen in ten years.

He shouldn't be that "stingy," should he?

Gendo savored the feeling, then reaffirmed his objective. Those murky, confusing emotions were pressed down, and his face returned to its placid, bottomless-calm state.

"The Third Child's relocation request… approved."

This wouldn't affect the script. In fact, it might lead to an even better development than what he'd planned, because concrete familial bonds are always more reliable than hazy romance.

When Shinji loses that bond, Unit-01's awakening will be even faster and more decisive… right?

Thinking this, Gendo smiled in satisfaction, his mood settling back into cool, strategic command.

—Divider—

Shinji's moves caused a modest stir among the concerned parties. A dejected Misato went to drown her sorrows with Ritsuko Akagi day after day, to the point where even Ritsuko was getting fed up.

But what could she do? Old classmates are old classmates. At critical moments you have to lend a hand, lest this one really self-destruct.

In Ritsuko's view, Misato was simply too emotional—likely tied to her childhood trauma. There was no cure; it would have to heal slowly.

If only Ryoji Kaji could be with her right now… Ritsuko mused. By the way, where is that guy these days? Wasn't he at the Bethany base? Why no news lately?

"Ritsuko, do you think… I'm living a really failed life?" Misato slurred, leaning drunkenly on Ritsuko's shoulder and rambling nonsense.

"If you keep drinking like this, you really will be a total failure at life!"

Usually cool-headed and dependable, Ritsuko had a vein throbbing on her forehead. There was nothing soft or sweet about this moment—her bestie reeked of alcohol and was making her dizzy!

Her pep talk got no reply. Looking down, she saw her best friend already fast asleep on her shoulder.

The usually composed scientist sighed, hauled Misato to her feet, paid the bill, and dumped her old classmate in the back seat of her sedan.

Chapter 663: The Sixth Angel

For the first time since his father sent him to live with relatives in the countryside ten years ago, Shinji felt the joy of "having family."

Though Rei Ayanami wasn't good with words, Shinji—sensitive and attentive by nature—could feel her satisfaction after tasting the meals he cooked with care. That was undoubtedly the best affirmation of his efforts.

The blue-haired, red-eyed girl's "three-no" demeanor didn't mean she was without feeling; it was because in her brief life she had never received the love she should have. A person who has never felt love naturally can't speak of offering love to others.

Shinji's meticulous care undeniably melted the ice around her heart. She even took the initiative to ask if he needed help. After he said yes, Rei—under his guidance—awkwardly tried her hand at cooking techniques she might never have approached otherwise.

Back at school, Shinji and Rei were unquestionably the center of attention. And perhaps because some civilians had directly witnessed with the naked eye the brutal, wound-for-wound fight against the Fifth Angel, the two boys who clashed with Shinji on his first day fell into a kind of guilt.

The blunt Toji Suzuhara apologized to Shinji in front of everyone and asked him to punch him once—otherwise he "couldn't live with himself."

Shinji's first thought was that the guy might not be too bright, but seeing his resolve and sincerity, Shinji gathered his strength and landed a full-force punch on Toji's face.

Thus, before the whole class, Shinji and Toji reconciled and came to understand each other's circumstances.

Of course, there was still a clown in the mix.

Kensuke Aida was that type: when Shinji was taking hits, he stepped in to "mediate" and play the nice guy; now that the two had made peace, he stayed silent with the self-deceptive excuse of not wanting to "lose face in public."

Maybe that's just an ordinary person's way of dealing with things, but it didn't stop Shinji from keeping his distance. Even a blockhead like Toji could see that.

Stuck between his old and new "best buddies," Toji was frustrated, but not smart enough to solve it, so he could only try his best to mend the rift.

In truth, none of that mattered much to Shinji. For him, the two most important things were taking care of his "sister" Rei Ayanami and piloting EVA Unit-01 to face the Angels.

—Divider—
Speaking of Angels: after the Third Angel's assault, they'd been coming one after another at a steady pace toward Tokyo-3, each time striking just as NERV headquarters barely finished patching the previous damage.

But unlike the pushover Fourth and Fifth, the Sixth Angel now advancing from the sky was undoubtedly a heavyweight—the old-cycle thunder angel, Ramiel.

Its combat method wasn't the usual biological close combat. Instead, it fought by "projecting a higher-dimensional solid into three-dimensional space," changing into multiple forms. In both AT Field strength and particle beam power, it ranked among the very top of all Angels.

Using the DeepThought model to run repeated calculations with current data, Aoko concluded that defeating this "flying fortress" by conventional means was next to impossible. For Unit-01 or Unit-00 to close in for melee was also out of the question.

Aoko's side wasn't going to expose their full strength to take down Ramiel at this timing either. So the only option was to let NERV follow the "original script": send Shinji out to take some lumps and then bring out the positron rifle, still in trials, to finish the job.

"Based on DeepThought's calculations, the Sixth Angel's battle forms in 3D space can be arranged per a Keplerian cosmic model, and its core position is not fixed." Rarely standing at the front of the command center, Aoko briefed NERV brass on the model's results. "DeepThought can briefly predict Ramiel's transformation patterns and core distribution, providing targeting corrections for the pilots. But to defeat it, we need a single, decisive strike."

"…What's the development status of the positron cannon?" After a moment, Gendo asked.

"Still in testing," Ritsuko replied. "We can force deployment, but we'd need to reroute power from the entire Japanese grid to cover the consumption."

"Then do it," Gendo said without hesitation. "Also, send Unit-01 to probe the Sixth Angel once. Make sure you prepare adequate defenses."

With the commander's orders given, NERV's departments went into full swing. Under Ritsuko, the tech division worked to ready the positron cannon, while Misato drafted a detailed battle plan.

Aoko, meanwhile, actually had it easy—AI Management just needed to keep DeepThought running steadily during the op.

However, Ramiel was a perfect chance to intervene: before the positron cannon came online, NERV headquarters had no chance at all of defeating the Sixth Angel. Aoko and Touko had planned for this; Unit-05 had already moved to within striking distance of Tokyo-3.

With that in mind, Aoko quietly activated a communication spell and sent Touko the prearranged signal. It was time for the Bethany base to move.

—Divider—
Unit-00 was still not fully repaired, so per Gendo's orders, the first probe against the Sixth Angel would be Unit-01, fitted with a makeshift shield.

The massive shield used rocket-grade heat-resistant materials, but hastily assembled, it looked shabby—like a patchwork of repairs across its surface.

The shield was mounted in front of Unit-01; when Shinji was launched to the surface, he had to hold it at all times to block any sudden attacks.

UN conventional forces maintained a steady tempo of attacks against the Angel. This wasn't a waste of taxpayer money; they had to keep drawing its attention. The drill that had formed beneath Ramiel to bore toward NERV HQ slowed by more than half while it engaged the UN.

"EVA Unit-01, launch!"

At Misato's command, Unit-01, bearing the shield, shot up to the surface of Tokyo-3, only a few kilometers from the Sixth Angel.

Ramiel reacted exactly as DeepThought predicted. With superb sensing, it located Unit-01 instantly. A particle beam lanced out, melting a string of skyscrapers in a heartbeat before slamming into the shield in Unit-01's hands.

"Release Unit-01's locks!"

To get Unit-01 into combat faster, the transport rig blew its bolts, freeing Shinji's hands so he could better brace the shield and push forward.