One Night Stand: 1 – Shinji

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters they are the property of their respective creators. Please be aware that no profit is being made from this work of fan fiction.

It was a few days after I had come home following my absorption into my Eva. I lay upon my futon, looking up at the now familiar ceiling and wondering. Had the presence I had felt truly been that of my long dead mother? Even now fragments of memory continued to surface. I caught fleeting glimpses of a large room and something purple. I could hear people speaking, voices raised in what seemed to be panic, yet I was unable to make out there words. As the images faded, all that remained was a deep sense of loss and longing…

I was drawn from my thoughts when I heard movement coming from outside my door. Glancing over at my alarm clock it angular red numbers revealed the time to be 03:05. Who could be up at this time? A few months back I would have suspected it to be Misato, returning from one of her late night drinking binges, but recently she had seemed far more withdrawn. In fact, I hadn't seen her go out once since I came back. Ruling out that, eventuality my mind began to race with the possibilities…perhaps it was a thief, or an assassin maybe? A member of one of those sects who protested against our fights against the angels come to kill two of the pilots. No, in either case Section-2 would have intervened by now, I had learned before the hard way that we were under constant watch. With a shudder, a third scenario entered my mind. Perhaps it was the commander, my father, come to show his displeasure at my most recent behaviour.

The door slid open slightly and from beneath hooded lids I glanced at the figure standing there cautiously. At once, I could tell from their silhouette that it was not my father; the outline was too small, seemingly female. A few stray moonbeams strayed across their face at once I found myself gazing upon the familiar features of the Second Child. Had I not been trying to maintain the illusion of sleep at the time, I would have gasped and preceded to query her presence. Instead, I chose to silently study her face, seeking any hint at why she had come here. As I searched, I marvelled at the way her long red hair fell across her face, casting much of it in shadow. Some part of me felt something was out of place, yet for the life of me I could not tell what it was…then, in an instant, I knew. I moved my gaze upwards only to have my suspicions confirmed when I found her hair to be bereft of her neural interface clips. Usually she wore them everywhere, even to bed. I had found that out during the synchronisation training when we had been forced to sleep in the same room. I knew then that whatever she had come here for did not relate to Eva.

Hesitantly, she began to advance towards me, her pace slow. Once she covered at least half the distance between me and the door she stopped suddenly and for a moment I was afraid she had realised I was awake. I watched as she turned around and reached out, pulling the door closed. As the light cut of sharply the last thing I saw was what might have been a tear falling from her face…the footsteps resumed, my only clue to her progress the sounds of her bare feet upon the bedroom floor. They seemed to grow closer then stopped abruptly. I felt something brush against my chest and suddenly the coverings were being pulled up and away from me. The chill air brushed against my body and I shivered involuntarily…suddenly I felt a presence beside me, the warmth of another body pressed against my own, even as the covers fell back into place.

I do not know how long we lay there like that, moments drawing out to seem like eternities each time I felt her warm breath roll up against my neck. My mind was racing, desperately trying to find any rational explanation for her presence. Asuka, who had on so many occasions mocked me for being a fool and a pervert, was now lying beside me in my bed having come into my room in the dead of night…why? As I continued to try to solve this seemingly impossible dichotomy, she began to move beside me, shifting position so that she lay atop me, her chest pressing against my own. I could not even begin to fathom what she was doing, and deciding enough was enough, began to move my mouth to ask her that very question when I felt her lips capture my own.

This kiss, unlike the one many months before, was filled with a desperate hunger. Her lips captured mine, her teeth tugging and nipping, her tongue questing for entry, seeking some kind of reaction from me. Recovering from my initial shock, I slowly began to gently reciprocate, parting my lips slightly to allow her access. Tentatively, I probed at her mouth with my tongue. When she did not resist I moved up from the futon and settling in a half upright position, growing bolder and gathering my courage began to deepen the kiss, all the while starting to take a more aggressive role. I was surprised when she did not fight against the change of dominance and simply allowed me to take control.

At first I thought nothing of it when she took my hand in hers but when I suddenly felt warm supple flesh beneath my palm I backed away hurriedly, breaking the kiss. At first, I had been surprised when she kissed me but after a moment, I had simply melted into it, willing to share the pleasurable feelings it sent coursing through my body. However, this most recent action was too much, she was moving too fast. Going from being mad at me all the time to kissing me and touching her in an intimate fashion in such a short time was madness, I needed an explanation, and I needed it now. I reached over to the lamp that sat beside my bed and flicked it on. I narrowed my eyes slightly as I adjusted to the illumination before moving to focus on Asuka. I was about to open my mouth to question here when I caught sight of her face and the words died in my throat…

"Make…to…Shinji."

I could not make out all of her words; my head was to flooded with tides of conflicting thoughts and feelings at the sight of the tears that were gently rolling down her face.

"Make love to me Shinji."

My mind fell silent as I struggled to deal with her request. But a moment before I had been disturbed by the thought of touching her breast and now she was asking me to have sex with her? How could I possibly respond to such a request?

"Please."

As I sat there, simply studying her face, my mind once more started to race. Never, since the time we had first met, had I ever seen Asuka like this. Gone was the arrogant attitude, the fiery temper, even the aloof air that she always held had evaporated into thin air. For the first time I had met her I was seeing what I believed to be the real Asuka Langley Soryu, a frightened little girl, charged with a terrifying responsibility…

Now, more than ever I was filled with a desire to understand, to know why she had come to me of all people, a boy she claimed to hate. Gathering all my courage, I opened my lips and allowed a single word to escape.

"Why?"

She pulled backwards sharply, almost as if she had been struck by a physical blow. As I witnessed the pain in her eyes, I immediately regretted my words yet I knew I could not do this without knowing why. I reached out to take her hand in mine, hopefully reassuring her that I was not going to run away. She turned to look at me then, eyes lifting to meet my gaze.

"When I fought against the 14th I thought I was going to die. My Eva was crippled and Unit-00 was missing an arm…she had no chance of beating an Angel that had so easily beaten me…without Unit-01 I knew then that it was all over, that this time I was going to die…"

She paused for a moment, eyes never breaking from my gaze as she squeezed my hand gently. Tears continued to escape from her eyes even as they burned with newfound determination.

"When it was over and I was told what happened, I got angry; not only had you saved the day once again but your synch ratio had climbed to a place I could never hope to reach, you had beaten me again and you weren't even here for me to shout it to your face…"

I felt anger fill me as I listened to her words, I tried to pull my hand away, but she tightened her grasp, refusing to let me go. She continued to look at me, silently pleading for me to listen to her, to wait and hear what she had to say. After a moment, I relented slightly, unable to remain mad in the face of those same tears that kept running down her face.

"I ran to Kaji for support."

At once, I stiffened slightly at the mention of the older man's name, I was well aware of Asuka's feelings towards him.

"At first, he offered me support, trying to comfort me with his words, telling me everything would be ok. But, when I started speaking about you, telling him how angry I was he pushed me away and for the first time since I have known him he raised his hand to me…he told me how disappointed he was in me, that I had no right to hate you. When I asked him why he told me, told me why you got back inside your Eva…"

In that moment, images of the severed head of Unit-02 crashing through the roof of the shelter swept through my mind even as echoes of the rage that I had felt that day washed over me. I had spoken to Kaji but a moment before, his words reminding me of my duty and my only way to express my fury against the Angel. This time when Unit-01 had gone berserk the anger had not come from the Eva but rather from me as in that instant the beast and I were one.

"You did it for me."

For a month I had floated inside there, with each passing instant it had become harder and harder to separate myself from the beast, our minds merging into one…finally, it had been a second presence, the one that had comforted me, that had broken me free and expelled me from the Eva. As I had lain there in that moment, wrapped in Misato's arms only two thoughts remained inside my mind. One of my mother and the other…Asuka.

I knew now I could not deny her, for I desired this as much as she did, perhaps more. No more words would be spoken as I nodded my ascent and pulled her into my embrace. She embraced me readily, accepting my lips as I pressed them against her own. I felt her hands release me as they swept downwards to the hem of the shirt she wore. In a passing though I realised the shirt in fact was one of mine, no doubt she had taken it while I was away. She quickly pulled away before pulling it over her head leaving me gasping at the sight now before me.

It seemed that she had worn nothing underneath because she now sat naked on my bed. I allowed my eyes to trace the curves of her perfect body feeling both my resolving and arousal growing. Asuka seemed to take note of my reaction as she deftly rolled onto her back, pulling her with me so I was now straddling her waist. Her hands moved to the hem of my t-shirt and she rapidly pulled it over my head. At once I felt goose bumps forming across my now exposed flesh as the chilling night air brushed against it. Wasting no time, her hands moved to my underwear, fingers sliding beneath the elastic before pulling them down my legs. Now I lay naked astride her, body gleaming in the lamp light.

She reached out with a free hand and switched off the light, for a moment, I was night blinded, unable to see, only feel the touch of her warm flesh. Then, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness I could see her once more, now able to make out the shape of her face. I shifted above her, moving into place as our hands became interlaced, palms together and fingers intertwined. She squeezed my hands gently signalling she was ready and I moved myself down.

"Ah!"

She let out a soft cry as I entered her, claiming her maidenhood in a single stroke. She gritted her teeth against the pain even as I recalled what I had been told about a girl's first time. Fearing I had hurt her to badly I ceased all motion, waiting for a sign she was ok. In the darkness, I could only just make out the expression on her face, after a few moments, it softened and she squeezed my hands once again. Acknowledging her signal, I resumed my descent, this time at a slower pace.

We quickly established a rhythm, her hips rising to meet my own I thrust downward and falling away as I moved up. My breathing became shallow as I panted for air, body crying out for oxygen. Asuka was close now, I was almost certain from her moans. Quickening my pace slightly I sought to bring us to our crescendo, I felt my body spasm as I unleashed my load…beneath me Asuka moved in time with me, her orgasms moving in time with my own.

"Shinji!"

I felt rather than heard her cry, the sound reverberating within my blood, my bones. She broke her hands free and pulled me down fiercely, into a hungry embrace. Her moans flowed into my mouth as we continued to ride the aftershock that still coursed through our bodies.

We lay there; positions now shifted so we lay side by side, Asuka spooned against me. As I inhaled the myriad of scents from our lovemaking, the strange blend of her and my sweat, the faint hints of her shampoo, for the first time in my life I felt truly content. She was mine now, and I was hers…

When I woke the next morning, I was alone, Asuka no longer lying beside me. Had it not been for the soreness in my groin and the still lingering scent of her presence I might have believed it all to be a dream. I pulled myself from the futon, pulling on a fresh set of clothes and departing my room carrying the bed sheets, intent on removing all traces of our lovemaking. I heard the shower running and immediately assume it to be Asuka. Depositing the sheets in the washer I went to the kitchen, deciding to make her a special breakfast.

When she emerged ten minutes later, I was still preparing, various meats frying in a pan on the stove. I turned to greet her but was taken aback at the look on her face. I tried to reach out to her but she knocked my hand away whispering.

"Don't touch me, Third."

Madness overcame me. So, everything that she had said last night was a lie? Simply a way of making me sleep with her for her own pleasure. No more than a toy to be used and thrown away? Without thinking, I lashed out, striking her hard across the face. She lost her balance and fell, hands flying up to clutch at her face. I watched her as she knelt on the floor, clutching at her face tears now falling in a torrent down her face even as she avoided my gaze.

Horrified by what I had done I tried to reach out to her, to apologise for my mistake. She turned away again and I barely heard her as she said.

"Go away."

I fled. Running from the apartment I hurtled down the stairs and out onto the streets of Tokyo-3.

I was running, no destination in mind, simply seeking escape from my actions and her betrayal. I had actually been fool enough to believe that she could actually care about someone like me…then the Angel alarms sounded as if tolling my destiny. As I began, running towards Nerv it finally dawned upon me, that I would never be anything more to her than a one-night stand

AN: The idea for this story came to me as I was sitting on a limousine bus heading back to Narita Airport as I was leaving Japan. A one-shot in two parts the first from Shinji's POV the second from Asuka's. Expect the second half one week following this being posted.

Chapter preread by The Other Guy