"Absolutely not." Wonder of wonders, Shinji's tone was actually very firm on the matter. That's awfully unusual for the typically flaky and easily pushed around teen.

"Besides, if it's giving me this much trouble at all, there has to be something bigger wrong." It made enough sense to him, at least, he'd never had a problem with transforming after getting the hang of it. Maybe Hamel just didn't understand, since he didn't have the same role, he thought.