He sits underneath a metal stairway in a long, empty hallway, curled up with his arms folded securely over his knees, focus fuzzy, and completely still in the quiet stretch of time afforded to him here.
Quiet, that is, until a gunshot blast shatters that silence, ricocheting off one of the steps just overhead. The sudden commotion causes him to jolt, burying his face down into his arms so that nothing can be seen, but the sounds of footsteps surrounding him are unmistakable. A male voice speaks up, "We've located the Third Child. Commencing termination," followed by a metallic 'click' as something is pressed against the crown of his head. The voice speaks again, "Sorry, kid. Nothing personal."
Another blast can be heard, "Gk-!" exclaims the voice in front of him, followed up by a couple more single shots and responded to with heavier fire, as someone else runs in to the scene. There's a scuffle, one body falls, another is knocked back. This time, it's a woman's voice that speaks up, "Nothing personal here, either."
Another shot, another body down.
"Let's get you to Unit-01. Come on."
He's pulled up to his feet, and taken out of the hall. The woman leads him away, first to a parking lot, where she conducts a bit of business with a radio, and he does not pay attention. She finishes up, asking him what he wants to do. He does not answer her, instead pleading almost silently for someone to help him. She berates him, the words "Giving up halfway is worse than never trying at all!" manage to pierce through his apathy and settle into his thoughts. She attempts to pull him to his feet once again, insisting he can die later after he's done something.
He's taken to her car, where she begins to give him a lot of information in a more even tone, and he absorbs a few bits and pieces of it. Information about the Second Impact, it's intentional nature, and how they're planning to initiate the Third Impact using the Evas. Information about Adam, the Angels, about Lilith, and about Mankind. Cloudy words about the 18th Angel, how humans are the same. About how he has to 'destroy the Eva series' to continue living.
Still, he has nothing to say.
He's taken from the car to another hallway, her hand holding his wrist tightly up until another series of gunshots ring out, at which point she lets go to shove him ahead, shielding him from the fire aimed at the two of them, even as she gives a short cry of pain, her body quickly stumbling forward while she continues herding him along. They clear a set of heavy metal doors just barely, as an explosion shakes the frame of the building behind them.
She assures him, perhaps unconvincingly, that it isn't as bad as it looks, the wound at her ribs that she's unable to stem the flow of blood from. He's finally taking a good look at her as she first carefully hoists herself back up to her feet, then moves to hit a panel on the wall, opening up access to a caged elevator door. "The power is still on," she says, relieved. "There's still time." She quickly moves to stand in front of him, bracing herself with her hands at either side of his head, holding tightly on to the cage door for support. The blood on her one hand is visible for a moment, before he ducks his head down.
"Shinji-kun, listen to me. From now on, you're on your own, you'll have to make your own decisions."
After a moment, he finally speaks up, his voice small and weak. "I... I can't, I'm no good. I can't pilot the Eva if all I do is hurt and kill people... I thought I had no choice but to pilot it, but I was just lying to myself. I'm not worthy of piloting the Eva, because I don't understand anything. I'm incapable of doing anything good for anyone else!" Another pause, "I did something terrible to Asuka, I killed Kaworu-kun. I'm a horrible person. I'm dishonest, and a coward, all I ever do is hurt people, so I'd rather do nothing at all."
"I'm not going to feel sorry for you," she answers firmly. "If you don't like feeling pain, then you can just sit here and die. Crying isn't going to solve anything, either!"
And, still, he has no answer for her. Her tone softens a little, then, in understanding. "You hate yourself, don't you? That's why you hurt others. Deep down, you know that you suffer more... when you cause someone else pain, than if you just let yourself get hurt. But that's your decision, so that makes it a valid choice. That was what you wanted, so that makes it worthwhile. Stop lying to yourself, and realize that you do have options, then accept the choices you've made."
"But you're not me," he argues back, voice tightening before he raises it to a yell, "You don't understand!"
Her hands are suddenly bunched up in fists along with his shirt, shoving him back by his shoulders against the cage door once more. "So what if I'm not you?! That doesn't mean it's okay for you to give up!"
His focus momentarily sets on the necklace at her neck, before her hands move up to grab at his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes.
"If you do, I'll never forgive you for as long as I live. I'm not perfect either, I've made tons of stupid mistakes and later I regretted them, and I've done it over and over again. A cycle of hollow joy and vicious self hatred. But even so, every time, I learned something new about myself." Her voice drops down again, a sympathetic and pleading tone emerging. "So please, Shinji-kun, you've got to pilot the Eva and settle this once and for all. Find out why you came here. Why you exist at all. And when you've found your answers, come back to me."
Gently now, she takes his hand in her own, in order to drop that necklace right into his palm, curling it securely around the pendant.
"Promise me," she implores, and he can only give a tiny, affirmative sound in response. Satisfied with that, she begins to lean down toward him, "See you soon," before letting her lips meet his in a kiss, which she carefully holds for a few moments.
"That," she says, with as much care and softness as she can muster once the kiss is broken, "was a grown-up kiss. We'll do the rest when you get back."
The cage door behind him slides open with a rattle, and he's pushed backwards into the elevator behind it. He stumbles, unable to find his balance before both the cage and steel doors slide shut again, cutting him off from any chance of reaching her before the elevator begins its rapid descent.
REM: Kaito (CW: Gun violence, blood, non-consensual kissing, implied death (also it's really long ))
Quiet, that is, until a gunshot blast shatters that silence, ricocheting off one of the steps just overhead. The sudden commotion causes him to jolt, burying his face down into his arms so that nothing can be seen, but the sounds of footsteps surrounding him are unmistakable. A male voice speaks up, "We've located the Third Child. Commencing termination," followed by a metallic 'click' as something is pressed against the crown of his head. The voice speaks again, "Sorry, kid. Nothing personal."
Another blast can be heard, "Gk-!" exclaims the voice in front of him, followed up by a couple more single shots and responded to with heavier fire, as someone else runs in to the scene. There's a scuffle, one body falls, another is knocked back. This time, it's a woman's voice that speaks up, "Nothing personal here, either."
Another shot, another body down.
"Let's get you to Unit-01. Come on."
He's pulled up to his feet, and taken out of the hall. The woman leads him away, first to a parking lot, where she conducts a bit of business with a radio, and he does not pay attention. She finishes up, asking him what he wants to do. He does not answer her, instead pleading almost silently for someone to help him. She berates him, the words "Giving up halfway is worse than never trying at all!" manage to pierce through his apathy and settle into his thoughts. She attempts to pull him to his feet once again, insisting he can die later after he's done something.
He's taken to her car, where she begins to give him a lot of information in a more even tone, and he absorbs a few bits and pieces of it. Information about the Second Impact, it's intentional nature, and how they're planning to initiate the Third Impact using the Evas. Information about Adam, the Angels, about Lilith, and about Mankind. Cloudy words about the 18th Angel, how humans are the same. About how he has to 'destroy the Eva series' to continue living.
Still, he has nothing to say.
He's taken from the car to another hallway, her hand holding his wrist tightly up until another series of gunshots ring out, at which point she lets go to shove him ahead, shielding him from the fire aimed at the two of them, even as she gives a short cry of pain, her body quickly stumbling forward while she continues herding him along. They clear a set of heavy metal doors just barely, as an explosion shakes the frame of the building behind them.
She assures him, perhaps unconvincingly, that it isn't as bad as it looks, the wound at her ribs that she's unable to stem the flow of blood from. He's finally taking a good look at her as she first carefully hoists herself back up to her feet, then moves to hit a panel on the wall, opening up access to a caged elevator door. "The power is still on," she says, relieved. "There's still time." She quickly moves to stand in front of him, bracing herself with her hands at either side of his head, holding tightly on to the cage door for support. The blood on her one hand is visible for a moment, before he ducks his head down.
"Shinji-kun, listen to me. From now on, you're on your own, you'll have to make your own decisions."
After a moment, he finally speaks up, his voice small and weak. "I... I can't, I'm no good. I can't pilot the Eva if all I do is hurt and kill people... I thought I had no choice but to pilot it, but I was just lying to myself. I'm not worthy of piloting the Eva, because I don't understand anything. I'm incapable of doing anything good for anyone else!" Another pause, "I did something terrible to Asuka, I killed Kaworu-kun. I'm a horrible person. I'm dishonest, and a coward, all I ever do is hurt people, so I'd rather do nothing at all."
"I'm not going to feel sorry for you," she answers firmly. "If you don't like feeling pain, then you can just sit here and die. Crying isn't going to solve anything, either!"
And, still, he has no answer for her. Her tone softens a little, then, in understanding. "You hate yourself, don't you? That's why you hurt others. Deep down, you know that you suffer more... when you cause someone else pain, than if you just let yourself get hurt. But that's your decision, so that makes it a valid choice. That was what you wanted, so that makes it worthwhile. Stop lying to yourself, and realize that you do have options, then accept the choices you've made."
"But you're not me," he argues back, voice tightening before he raises it to a yell, "You don't understand!"
Her hands are suddenly bunched up in fists along with his shirt, shoving him back by his shoulders against the cage door once more. "So what if I'm not you?! That doesn't mean it's okay for you to give up!"
His focus momentarily sets on the necklace at her neck, before her hands move up to grab at his face, forcing him to look her in the eyes.
"If you do, I'll never forgive you for as long as I live. I'm not perfect either, I've made tons of stupid mistakes and later I regretted them, and I've done it over and over again. A cycle of hollow joy and vicious self hatred. But even so, every time, I learned something new about myself." Her voice drops down again, a sympathetic and pleading tone emerging. "So please, Shinji-kun, you've got to pilot the Eva and settle this once and for all. Find out why you came here. Why you exist at all. And when you've found your answers, come back to me."
Gently now, she takes his hand in her own, in order to drop that necklace right into his palm, curling it securely around the pendant.
"Promise me," she implores, and he can only give a tiny, affirmative sound in response. Satisfied with that, she begins to lean down toward him, "See you soon," before letting her lips meet his in a kiss, which she carefully holds for a few moments.
"That," she says, with as much care and softness as she can muster once the kiss is broken, "was a grown-up kiss. We'll do the rest when you get back."
The cage door behind him slides open with a rattle, and he's pushed backwards into the elevator behind it. He stumbles, unable to find his balance before both the cage and steel doors slide shut again, cutting him off from any chance of reaching her before the elevator begins its rapid descent.