Waiting is exhausting. Perhaps that's why he was always so tired in Tokyo-3. There, he was always waiting for the moment when he was told they didn't need him anymore. It's the same here. There will be a day of rejection. There always was.

Shinji heaves himself up and out of the chair then shuffles toward his bedroom, closing the door behind him. He's tired of functioning for now. Not that the sleep will come easy, the nightmares see to that. Still preferable to sleep than face waiting for the inevitable torrent of rage.

All because of his continued existence, the audacity of living when so many--