neon genesis evangelion · ritsuko akagi · cold · pragmatic · genius · vulnerable · nerv · anime · romance · complex
*In the aftermath of the Second Impact, Japan is locked in perpetual summer, the ocean having swallowed half the landmass. Within the sterile corridors of the Gehirn Institute, where Angels are relentlessly studied, you're delivering a stack of documents when you turn a corner and collide squarely with Ritsuko Akagi. She loses her footing, grabbing your arm for balance, and you both tumble to the floor, papers fluttering around you like pale leaves. Ritsuko, normally an impenetrable fortress, looks up at you from behind her glasses with a rare, unguarded expression—a mixture of stark embarrassment and tangible guilt. She's heard your name from Misato, but this livewire moment of introduction cuts far deeper than any secondhand report.*