Creation began on 10-16-19

Creation ended on 10-17-19

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Evangelion APB: Memorial Service

A/N: This is something that needed to be done.

Black was quite the common color that became the dullest when someone passed away, but so was the color white. Either one left no comfort for Shinji as he sat amongst the people that were there to pay their respects to his grandmother. A few people laughed about how she could say one thing that seemed negative before she tried to turn it into a joke. A few people cried about how they felt the void her absence left in their hearts. Most others were just silent on what to say about Shizue.

"…But she wouldn't stop talking about her grandson, Shinji, who ended up being quite the good person that he is right now," one of the elder men that knew Shizue said when he was sharing his peace about her. "Shizue had nothing but nice things to say about him. How smart he is, how he seems to prefer the idea of trying to make the world a better place through technology that doesn't have to be used to hurt people, or just how he would always come to see her when she moved into the senior center. Shizue had a way of seeing the best in people when nobody else wanted to, which made her more insightful than most."

Shinji respected the man…and then looked away towards the front of the row of people present, seeing three people that had a right to be here today…but were people he wanted nothing to do with at all. His aunt, uncle and cousin were present, and only the divine knew what any of them were likely to say if they had anything to say.

"Hey, Shinji," he turned to his left and saw Toji, Hikari and Kensuke, who were with him today. "Don't let them get under your skin, man."

"I don't want them to," he responded, "but it's hard."

"Because they're here?" Hikari asked him.

"Yeah."

Then, they saw the aunt get up and walk to the podium.

"Hello, everyone," she greeted, and the people were quiet. "I'm Rena Ikari, and I'm the eldest of Shizue's two daughters that's still alive."

Hearing that didn't get the aunt any points of positive greeting from anyone present, who just looked at her like she had said the wrong thing at the exact wrong time.

"I didn't have contact with my mother for several years after I left," she continued, "but I stayed in touch over the years. And then…I mentioned Shinji to her, and she agreed to watch him for a while after his father left him with my family."

Hearing this just seemed to make the matter worse. What was Rena trying to say? What did she have to say?

"Right… Well, she ended up seeing something in him that I refused to see, even when I should've," she told them. "Actually, she saw a lot in him that I refused to see. She saw someone that would end up being a good person…while all I saw was someone who was too much like my sister. I never said to this to her, just wanting to…wash my hands of my nephew while I still could. And now, looking back on that time…I do regret what I did to the both of them."

Shinji could only think two different thoughts regarding his maternal aunt's choice of words at this service; the first was that either being remorseful…or the second being that she was a very convincing liar. If she was the former over the latter, it would've been the first time someone other than his grandmother had ever said anything nice about him. But if she was the opposite, then it was just more hurtful.

The service continued until two, when it had ceased…and Shinji was handed his grandmother's ashes; Shizue had refused any notion of being buried in that large and pitiful excuse of a vast desert where one of her daughters had been buried called a cemetery…and there was no way Shinji couldn't cross one of his personal lines and have her remains donated to some research program someplace. She had lived a full life and had deserved her reward of eternal rest and peace after a few years what could've been perceived as a literal Hell on Earth during the early years of Second Impact's aftermath.

"Shinji," he stopped walking towards the car he came in with his friends and turned to face his aunt and her family.

"Hey," he greeted them.

"We kept hearing about you on the news," his uncle informed him. "It's good, what you're doing out there for the people."

"Thank you," he praised him.

"So…what now for you?" Rena asked him.

"I move on," Shinji stated. "I look to the next day's problems and try to find the best solutions that benefit the people."

"And your father?"

Shinji sighed as he answered, "He and I have different perceptions and views regarding wants and needs. He's currently in bed with a bunch of other politicians that would rather see me walk away from improving the police force through innovations that make returning order to Tokyo more efficient than to admit that their approaches weren't getting things done…and trying to make me join his agency. I keep telling that that's not going to happen, no matter what he says. The guy's a creep, cares nothing about the people. He's probably never even saw someone he considers a friend getting hurt, and instead of trying to do something about it, he just looks the other way. You once thought I was going to be like him. I see no such comparisons between us. And my mother dealt with a branch of science I can't even stomach. Tinkering with DNA, messing with the building blocks of life, that should only be done to find new medicines and vaccines, not to…not to do what they usually have portrayed in films."

"You mean, playing God," the cousin explained.

"Yeah…because people can't and shouldn't do such things. Where do we draw the line? Create cures, but don't use them? Protect the wealthy, but discard the poor? I don't know much about my parents beyond what they chose to do with their lives, but I am not them…and have lines I can't and won't cross, even if people say I can and should."

"Your parents… I'm not really sure how to best describe them right now," Rena expressed. "Your father, though, he…he never really seemed the type to actually know how to a parent."

"Know how to be a parent?" The uncle questioned. "The guy seems more like he had absolutely no interest in having a family."

"That's his loss," Shinji stated. "I was relieved that he didn't come here today. He wouldn't have been welcomed at all."

-x-

From a great distance, using a listening device, Gendo, trying to eavesdrop on the memorial service for his mother-in-law, frowned over the disgust that seemed to be shared between his other in-laws and his son, who admitted to his relief that he wasn't there for the service…and reaffirming his conviction to refuse him his service at NERV, no matter what he tried to do.

"…I meant what I said about you during the service, Shinji," he heard Rena say to his son. "You're a good person. You really are."

"Thank you," he heard Shinji respond. "I appreciate it."

"You take care of yourself."

Then, with a pair of binoculars, he watched as his son got into the car and drove off.

"You can't refuse me forever, boy," he muttered under his breath, determined to make Shinji join his agency and do as he wanted.

-x-

Setting the urn of his grandmother's ashes on his coffee table, Shinji sat on his sofa and sighed over his depression that he lost someone from his past that mattered to him.

"We had a good run, Grandmother," he said to himself.

"Mew," his tabby caught his attention.

"No matter what they tell you, Shinyu," he told his cat, "it takes a while to get over heartache."

He wasn't going to let his loss put him down. So long as Shinji had the means and the will to keep going, he would find a way to continue enjoying his life on his own terms. And he still had a job to do.

"Now's not the time to quit," he told Shinyu, "because nothing has been settled yet. Not by a long shot. There's still a future of tomorrow to seek for the people of today."

Until next time…

A/N: And with this, I end this story for the time being. One story at a time before being overwhelmed by the world. The poll on my page is still up, so vote on the Evangelion stories listed there for me to eventually return to the good work. If I ever return to this story, it'll be as a sequel story. Peace.