The Truth Within

The sky was dark, and rain poured down.

Everything outside was a blur, filled with the endless patter of rain.

Misato's apartment building.

"Sorry, Shinji. We're taking shelter at your place. Where's Miss Misato?" Kensuke asked, wiping water off his glasses.

"Still asleep, probably? She's been working late a lot lately," Shinji replied, setting two towels on the table.

"She really works hard... Don't wake Miss Misato. Quiet, quiet. Shh~" Kensuke and Toji dried their wet hair with the towels, holding fingers to their lips to signal for silence.

"Ah-what are you guys doing here?!" Asuka came home to find two extra people in the apartment.

She demanded an explanation from Shinji, sounding displeased.

"Sheltering from the rain..." Shinji replied meekly.

Toji and Kensuke froze. Everything they had just said had been for nothing.

"Hmph! Don't you dare peek at me! I'm going to change. If you peek, you're dead! Idiot Zhetian! Keep an eye on them..." Asuka went into the bathroom and pulled the curtain shut, calling for Huang Zhetian to watch the others as she undressed.

"Uh... Hiss! Fine..." Under the three boys' envious, jealous, resentful gazes, Huang Zhetian took a chair over to the bathroom and sat down.

"Don't flatter yourself! Who wants to watch you change?!" Toji said through gritted teeth, clutching his towel.

"So full of herself... And Zhetian-kun has fallen too! He's submitted to that woman! What a disgrace to us men!" Kensuke looked disgruntled, his voice dripping with jealousy...

"I miss Mana..." Shinji looked utterly hopeless.

"Shinji, you could go date Rei Ayanami," Huang Zhetian teased, leaning against the wall with his legs crossed and drinking orange juice.

"Tch..."

Whoosh-

The door slid open.

All four turned toward the doorway.

It was Misato.

Misato was dressed differently today. She usually wore casual clothes at home, but this was the first time they had seen her there in her formal work uniform.

Her expression was solemn too.

"S-s-s-s..." Toji stammered, unable to get a single sentence out.

"Sorry for intruding," Kensuke said, recovering first and greeting Misato.

"Welcome. Asuka, you're back too. We have a mental resonance experiment tonight, so don't be late." In an instant, Misato became a warm older sister, smiling as she greeted everyone.

Then she came inside and told the three pilots about that night's experiment.

"Yes," Shinji replied expressionlessly. Honestly, he really didn't want to pilot Eva.

Ever since he had started piloting Eva, his normal life had slipped further and further away.

He couldn't have a girlfriend, and wherever he went, someone followed and watched him.

Even when he spoke to his classmates, they looked at him differently.

Except for Kensuke and Toji.

"You heard that too, Asuka?" Misato hadn't noticed Shinji's expression or attitude and turned toward Asuka in the bathroom.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard..." Asuka replied lazily from inside.

"Hm?" Kensuke adjusted his glasses and noticed the insignia on Misato's collar.

"Ah! Congratulations on your promotion!" Kensuke immediately bent forward in a bow.

Toji looked completely bewildered, but he bowed along with Kensuke and said, "Congratulations."

"Thank you... I'll be going, then." Misato answered with a practiced smile, opened the door, and left.

"Take care~" Those two idiots. Still, Kensuke really did know how to handle people. If Second Impact hadn't happened, he probably would have made something of himself.

"What's going on? What happened to Miss Misato?" Their behavior had left Shinji bewildered, and he asked in confusion.

"Oh, Miss Misato's rank insignia has two stripes now. She was promoted from captain to major..." Kensuke explained, pointing at his own collar.

"Oh~ I didn't even know," Asuka said, coming out of the bathroom while drying her hair. She had changed out of her qipao and back into a dress, looking simple yet lovely.

"When did that happen?"

"You really didn't know? That's embarrassing," Toji said, exasperated with them.

"Can't you show a little more concern for other people? She's so young, and she has to look after three middle schoolers. That's hard work!" Kensuke made a show of lamenting as he took a jab at the three of them.

"Looks like we're the only two with any humanity left," Toji said with an air of heartache.

"Hey, hey, haven't you two said enough? Strictly speaking, we're the ones looking after Miss Misato. Shinji and I cook the meals, and Asuka and I take turns doing the housework and cleaning. Who looks after whom is debatable. But looking after the three of us really is hard work for her. It's just more of a psychological and mental strain... Tsk!" Huang Zhetian finished his orange juice, crushed the can, and tossed it into the bin as he spoke casually.

"Uh... No way?

"Really? Shinji?"

The two asked in disbelief.

"Yeah..." Shinji nodded.

"All right, you two. Help me buy some ingredients. We'll celebrate Miss Misato's promotion when we get back tonight. None of us has time right now, so do us a favor. Consider it a little punishment..." Huang Zhetian stood and stretched, handing the two idiots some money as he yawned.

The three of them had to go to NERV's underground base for experimental testing that afternoon, so he couldn't get away.

"Sure. We really love the Chinese food Zhetian-kun makes." Remembering the last meal they had eaten here, Kensuke and Toji couldn't stop swallowing.

They would never forget those flavors.

It was completely different from their own country's Japanese cuisine. Aside from fishy seafood flavors and wasabi sauces, they had never encountered anything like the unforgettable flavors of Chinese food.

"Hmph! Look at you two. Like you've never seen the world..." Asuka gave a wicked smile, her expression smugly boastful.

"Exactly. You two look like country bumpkins... Hahaha." Shinji joined Asuka in mocking them.

A chance to get back at them was rare. Letting it pass would have been a waste.

"Damn it! They got to show off!" Toji glared fiercely at Asuka, fuming.

"Ugh! This is infuriating! Why are they so obnoxious?" Kensuke stared wide-eyed at Asuka and Shinji as they mocked him.

Huang Zhetian lives with you. Of course you get to eat his cooking every day.

We hardly ever come over. Getting to have it even once is already incredibly lucky.

With Huang Zhetian's money and the written list of ingredients in hand, the two idiots left in a huff.

Six that evening.

The experimental testing area at NERV's underground base.

Four Dummy Entry Plugs sat in a contamination pool while staff outside the observation station monitored them.

"Units Zero and Two are nearing their limits as they approach the contaminated region..." Ibuki reported the readings to Akagi.

"Units One and Four still seem quite comfortable. Try lowering the plugs another 0.3." Akagi compared the figures on the screen and, after a brief moment's thought, decided to lower them further.

Hum-hum-hum.

"They're already very close to the contaminated region," Ibuki said, looking at the readings in disbelief.

"To get readings like these under such conditions... Remarkable," Akagi said with a sigh of admiration.

"Shinji's mental resonance value and synchronization rate have both caught up with Asuka's."

"I suppose this is what they call talent." Akagi looked up at the entry plugs for Units One and Two with satisfaction.

"He's practically a child born for Eva," a nearby staff member couldn't help praising.

"Even if it isn't what he wants, that boy certainly won't be happy about it," Misato said quietly, gazing calmly at the four Dummy Entry Plugs in the contaminated region.

Pshh-hiss-clunk!

The hatches of all four Dummy Entry Plugs opened at once.

Shinji and the other three were revealed inside.

"Thanks for your hard work, all four of you. Zhetian, Shinji, you did well," Akagi's voice came through the overhead speaker.

It was praise, yet Shinji felt no joy at all.

"Shinji, Zhetian. You did very well," Misato praised them too.

The observation room.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked Akagi, wondering which test results she meant.

"Your mental resonance value rose eight points from last time. That's impressive. As for Zhetian, he's still maintaining the level he had when testing first began at the NERV Branch. That's quite impressive too." Akagi shared their readings with all four of them.

"But Shinji's is still fifty points below mine," Asuka said dismissively from the side.

"He went up eight points in just ten days. That's already remarkable," Akagi told Asuka frankly, explaining the results from the past few days.

"What's so remarkable about that?! Good for you two, getting praised! I'm going home first, idiots!!" Wearing an utterly fake smile, Asuka congratulated the three behind her, then insulted them before turning and leaving alone.

"Want to go back together, Asuka?" Huang Zhetian called after her.

"Get lost! I'm going back alone!"

"Oh..."

Along the mountain road, the little red warning lights on the guardrail kept reflecting in the car windows.

"Um... Congratulations on your promotion." After sitting there for ages on the ride home, Shinji finally thought of something to say and hurried to congratulate Misato.

"Thank you, but honestly, I'm not happy about it." Misato remained expressionless, holding the wheel with one hand while resting the other beside the window.

All day, she had looked weighed down by worries.

In the back seat, Huang Zhetian propped his chin on his hand and watched the two in front.

He couldn't help thinking, You're the same kind of person, yet neither of you will face the truth. You keep running from it. You know what the truth is, but you still deceive yourselves.

"I understand. I wasn't very happy when I got praised earlier either. And I think I made Asuka angry." Shinji even smiled a little as he said the last part.

"Why was she angry, Zhetian-kun? What did I do wrong?" Shinji immediately sounded downcast as he asked Huang Zhetian in the back seat.

"Miss Misato, you talk to him first. I'll add something when you're finished." Huang Zhetian raised his hand and checked his watch.

"Are you bothered by what happened earlier? Asuka snapped at Zhetian-kun too. But does he look bothered now? He's perfectly fine." Misato kept her eyes on the road as she asked.

"Yes, but Asuka and he get along really well, so of course he's fine. It's different with me..." Shinji protested.

"That's how you are. You're always worrying about other people's feelings," Misato said helplessly.

"Shinji, you need to understand something. You shouldn't let other people's feelings bring you down. Work out what's right and wrong instead of letting appearances affect your judgment and feelings. Your lack of confidence and your inferiority complex keep you running away, refusing to face reality. If this continues, you'll become less and less confident. You need to work on finding yourself again... It's difficult, and it won't happen overnight." Huang Zhetian rolled down the window, letting the breeze blow over him as he offered advice.

"But I can't do it." Shinji lowered his head helplessly.

"See? There you go again. Come on, have some confidence! Your test results are almost as good as Asuka's! Don't act so servile or put yourself down when you talk to people. In China, we have an old saying for that: belittling yourself without cause," Huang Zhetian said breezily.

"Then... Can I really do it?"

"Believe in yourself! You've defeated Angels, and you're still doubting yourself? Cheer up. Come hang out with me later. I'll play you a tune to boost your confidence! How about it?"

"Yeah! Thank you, Zhetian-kun!"

"Ah... It's nothing, nothing. As for tonight's dishes..."

"I'll do them, I'll do them."

"Mm~ You learn quickly~"

Misato glanced sideways at their cheerful conversation, the corners of her mouth lifting without her realizing it.

Heh, when will I be able to do what Huang Zhetian said?

Stop running away and face things bravely instead.

The night sky was filled with stars.

Rows of streetlights illuminated the road.

The little blue car drove onward.

Its lights pushed back the darkness as it pressed ahead.

Like driving away the fear in people's hearts.

Letting the light guide them toward a place filled with hope.