i have a very silly thought to offer you
it is an angst one
imagine if akihiko died instead of shinjiro in the story
like akihiko would've appeared just in time to take both hits for shinji and ken
(also i have only seen the movies so far so it likely went a bit differently in the game, but hey.)
OOH I WONDER HOW THE STORY WOULDVE GONE
like tbh I like to imagine that shinji would've been a father figure for ken if he had survived, but if akihiko died instead would they have gotten along afterwards?
and like ken and akihikos second awakenings happened because of shinjis death, so if akihiko died then how would their second awakenings go? god I'm having THOUGHTS this is a good question tbh I wonder if anyone has written about this before