Slightly Revised 12/02/08.
A/N: I've got this odd goal of making a story for each girl to be paired with Shinji. The thing is that I'd hate them to be simple romance stories, so I've decided to spice most of them up with, I hope, unique ideas.
I've already started to release my Asuka, Mayumi, and Harem pairing stories. Rei, Hikari, Ritsuko, Mari (Touji's sister) and Kaworu (Female) stories are already in production as well as a few special pairings.
I'm still stuck on how to pair Shinji with Misato or Maya. I'll figure it out sooner or later.
This story is a Shinji x Mana pairing that is quite unique, at least I think. In fact I'm killing two birds with one stone in this story, but I'll get into that later.
After this chapter the angel battles will be drastically changed for obvious reasons.
I hope you like it.
Decisions and Deceptions
You know, when we first thought of the idea of posing as humans we just assumed that we would learn of their strengths and weaknesses and that would be it. We never thought that we would learn of their emotions and desires too or that they could affect us as well. But then again, how could we have known? Things like that are not something our kind is naturally used to. In fact we have no real concept of them.
That's why we initially decided to stay longer. To see what we were missing in our lives. The thought of an existence that was fulfilling through good times and bad was intriguing. The problem was that the longer we stayed the more attached we got, and the more attached we got the harder it was to admit that we would have to one day destroy all that we have come to admire. For once we started questioning if what we were doing was really the right thing. After months of questioning our own existence and our newly acquired feelings we decided that we should help the ones we've grown attached to.
Our brethren do not yet know of our plans. Nor do we wish them to. If they were to learn of our deceit…well, we do not wish to think of the consequences at this time.
Right now all that we want to think about is the school dance. Speaking of which, I really should get dressed soon since my date will be here in a couple hours.
I wonder what Armisael is going to wear tonight? I hope she doesn't try to out do me again. Who would have thought that Armisael and I would be competing like this? Who would have? Whatever, this is the path we've chosen and we regret nothing.
(An exert, from the diary of Arael, the 15th messenger)
Chapter One
The Dance and The Ball
A blue sports car quickly pulled up to the residence of one Mana Kirishima. Inside of said car uncomfortably sat the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, Shinji Ikari, as he prepared himself to pick up his date for the schools summer dance. He liked Mana a lot but could never get the nerve to ask her out, even with Asuka's help. It was only because Mana had asked him to the dance that he was even here.
"Just relax Shinji" Misato put a reassuring arm around him "She asked you out so she obviously likes you, don't worry so much" Shinji slightly calmed down but the fact that Mana may like him as well was making him really nervous. He was still getting used to the thought of being loved.
Shinji got out of the blue car with a little nudge from Misato. He straightened out his tuxedo and began walking towards the house that Mana said she lived in. The place was pretty big and considering it's location it must have cost a fortune. As he got to the front door he heard it unlock. He continued moving forward as it slowly opened to reveal a rather large man.
"You must be Shinji" The man said, "I'm Mana's father. It's nice to meet you" Mr. Kirishima stuck out his hand. Shinji was expecting to do a polite bow but considering Mr. Kirishima was a businessman he figured shaking his hand wouldn't be too bad.
Mr. Kirishima led Shinji into the house and sat him down on the couch in the living room "Mana will be down in just a moment" Mr. Kirishima told Shinji.
"Y…yes sir" Shinji stuttered. It was about this time he noticed just how big Mr. Kirishima was. He stood a good six feet tall and was built like a professional wrestler. Mr. Kirishima suddenly pulled Shinji close to himself and spoke to him so only they could hear what he had to say.
"Now you see Shinji. Mana is my little girl. She is my pride and joy, my whole world. So if you have any ideas of hugging or kissing I want you to remember this one little thing; I don't have a problem going back to prison" Shinji visibly stiffened by the big man's words while Mr. Kirishima cracked a goofy smile and thought 'My god it really does scare them'.
"Daddy what are you telling my date" Mana asked sternly as she walked into the living room.
"Just having a nice conversation that's all. Glad to see you're awake, you took quite a long cat nap" It was then that both males noticed the stunning white dress she had on.
"Wow" Shinji said out loud as he stared at his stunning auburn haired date. Mana started blushing a deep shade of red. She then grabbed Shinji's hand, making him stand up.
"You ready to go" Shinji just nodded to her "Bye daddy. Oh, I might spend the night at Mayumi's tonight okay".
"Why are you only now telling me this and how do I know your not going to just stay with him all night" Mr. Kirishima pointed an accusing finger at Shinji.
"Well you don't know if I'm lying or not but I'd like to think you trust your own daughter" Mr. Kirishima looked at her then to Shinji and then back to Mana.
"Just be careful tonight okay" The big man let out a sigh and shook his head.
"I will and thanks daddy" Mr. Kirishima gave his daughter a kiss and the two teens walked outside. They heard a whistle coming from the blue Renault Alpine parked in front.
"Looking good Mana" Misato just had to go and make Mana blush even more.
As the two kids got in the car Shinji decided to speak up.
"Misato this is the first time Mana has driven with you so could you please take it easy".
"And what exactly are you implying about my driving, Mr. Ikari" Misato was a little ticked that he would accuse her of bad driving.
"I wasn't implying anything Misato I was just saying be careful" Shinji had to end this before Misato really got mad.
"If it wasn't for your cute date I'd have to kick your ass for that comment" Misato smiled, turned on her car, and then the three drove off towards the dance.
As they pulled up to the school Misato quickly shooed them out of the car "Me and Ritsuko will be having some drinks tonight so don't wait up Shinji".
"I will never fear a roller coaster after driving with her" Mana shuttered as Misato sped off into the night. The couple walked together towards the school gymnasium where the dance was taking place.
Inside the music was blaring and the lights were dim. Shinji was looking for Touji and Kensuke while Mana was looking for Mayumi, Hikari, and Asuka. Shinji found his friends in the corner of the gym while Mana found hers by the drinks.
They all met up and then got with their dates. Shinji took a look around to check everybody out. The three stooges had the usual tuxedos while the girls each had beautiful dresses on. Hikari, who was with Touji, had an elegant yet conservative yellow dress on. Mayumi, who was with Kensuke, had her glasses off and wore an average black and white dress. Finally Asuka, whose date has yet to arrive, surprisingly had a very sexy and very revealing blue dress on.
The couples started dancing while Asuka watched, sitting at a table. After a while of dancing, Shinji noticed that Asuka's date was still nowhere in sight. Mana kept catching Shinji glance at Asuka and got an idea.
"Hey Shinji, I'm going to go get a drink real quick. Why don't you ask Asuka to dance with you" before Shinji could answer her she walked away. She knew what Shinji would say but Asuka was her friend and she, along with Shinji, knew that Asuka had been stood up.
Shinji walked over to a bored looking red head. She looked up at him and for a second he could have swore he saw a tear slid down her cheek.
"What do you want Third Child" Asuka yelled out irately as she slid her hand over her face before tossing her hair back to cover the move.
"Well…I just wanted to see if…you…you know…wanted to dance with me" this was hard for him, even if it was Asuka.
"What about your girlfriend. Won't she get jealous or something" Asuka turned away.
"I don't think she'll mind one little dance…" Shinji started.
"I don't want your sympathy…just leave me alone" Asuka stood up and stormed out of the gym. Shinji was about to go after her when a hand grabbed his arm.
"Mana I need to go talk to her" Mana just gave him a peck on the cheek making him blush.
"I'll go talk to her. Besides I think your friends need a break from the dance" She pointed to Kensuke and Touji looking bored and tired sitting at a table. The auburn haired girl walked towards the exit quickly followed closely by Hikari and Mayumi.
"So how are you guys holding up" Shinji asked as he sat down next to them.
"My feet feel like their going to fall off" Touji groaned.
"We've only danced for fifteen minutes Touji" Kensuke quirked an eyebrow at the jock "You can run for twice that long".
"That is totally different" Touji argued while Shinji's phone rang.
"Hello…yes I'll be there right away" Shinji put his phone in his pocket and turned to his friends "Get to a shelter…" the warning sirens began to go off "…there's another angel".
Shinji started running towards the front of the school. As he made it to the front he saw Asuka jumping into a black Section 2 van. He dashed forward and jumped in behind her.
"Took you long enough" she snapped while he mentally groaned.
"Sorry".
"We're sending you all the data we have on the angel. That is literally all we know at this point," Ritsuko told the pilots as they reached the surface in their Evangelions. As the three pilots began arming themselves from nearby buildings, Misato spoke up.
"So how'd the dance go" Asuka let out a growl and immediately shut off her video link. Misato looked towards Shinji, expecting an answer.
"She got stood up," he answered with a sigh.
"Ouch" the three techs all said in unison.
"I hope she doesn't do anything rash to vent her anger" Misato told Ritsuko.
"I'll monitor her for abnormalities" the doctor said and Misato nodded her head.
"What about you Shinji. How did it go" Shinji gabbed a pistol from a building then stopped. He blushed slightly causing Misato to smirk.
"It went well…while it lasted" he turned towards the angel and began to get in position.
Up on a hill just outside of the city two figures stood under a tree and were surrounded by shadows. The figure on the right spoke first.
"Leliel has finally arrived" it stated in a teenage girls voice.
"Yes" the other spoke up, also with a girls' voice.
"I really wish I could help them right now" the one on the right stated while the other thought over it for a bit.
"Me too" she agreed as she looked at the three Evangelions getting into position. Looking back at her partner, she added, "He will survive".
"I hope your right," the other said as she clasped her hands together "I just wish she could have waited to attack. I wanted to tell him how I feel about him during the dance".
"You will get your chance Arael" she put her hand on her sisters shoulder "besides, Leliel has always been a terrible fighter and in the past she had to hide in the shadows to get the upper hand. He'll win for sure".
In the distance Unit 01 shot three bullets at the zebra colored sphere floating in the sky. The sphere had disappeared and a shadow had emerged from below the purple behemoth. Shinji immediately started to fire wildly as he was sucked into the shadow. A few moments later, he was gone.
The two figures on the hill stood motionless for a little while after Unit 01 had disappeared into the shadow.
"You know what Armisael" Arael finally spoke up "I really hate you sometimes" Arael pouted as she stomped away frustrated.
"Relax, he will get out…I promise" Armisael scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly "I guess we should have helped after all" she let out a breath and smiled "He will get out…if only to hear your confession" Armisael took one last look at the shadow that was her sister, Leliel, and turned around to catch up with Arael.
"Are you two set up yet?" Misato asked over the radio as she overlooked the city.
"Affirmative" Rei answered back as she gripped her controls tightly in anticipation.
"Come on already" yelled Asuka "before we lose the idiot for sure".
"Commence attack in t-minus twenty seconds" Maya reported.
'Please be alive' Asuka, Misato, and Rei all thought at the same time as Maya counted down.
"The angel is reacting to something," Maya shouted.
"But we didn't do anything yet" Ritsuko yelled as she seen the zebra colored sphere turn pitch black.
Back on the hillside the two figures were once again under a tree and watching the scene unfold.
"See" Armisael pointed, "I told you he'd be back".
"That still doesn't mean I forgive you for not letting me intervene earlier" Arael had her arms crossed and didn't even look at Armisael.
"Look we can't expose ourselves yet okay" Armisael looked back into the city to see a hand come out of black sphere floating in the air "Good bye, Leliel" a tear went down both girls' cheeks as Unit 01 broke free of their sister.
Shinji woke up in a hospital bed and let out a sigh as he realized where he was.
"I wouldn't like the ceiling here either if I was you" that voice startled him.
"Ma-Mana" Shinji sat up in his bed immediately.
"Settle down" Mana giggled.
"S-so how long have I been out?" He asked.
"Oh…about three weeks" Mana grinned.
"WHAT" Shinji jumped out of bed while Mana laughed.
"Calm down, I was kidding" Shinji sat back on the bed with a look of embarrassment on his face "it's only been a few hours since your battle" Shinji settled down a little "So…what happened out there?" She asked him "I fell asleep since we were stuck in the shelters for so long" she explained. He sat back down on the bed and thought about it for a moment.
"I really…don't know" He closed his eyes as he spoke "I was sucked into the angel" he knew it was classified but he felt that he had to tell someone "there was nothing but whiteness all around me and I had this feeling that I was being watched somehow" he shook his head "the last thing I remember was hearing a voice that said 'We know'" Mana looked at him strangely.
"You were hearing voices?" He simply nodded his head "did you recognize who said it"?
"No" he closed his eyes again "it was definitely a female voice but it seemed…different. I can't explain it, it's one of those things you have to experience" they were both silent for a moment.
"So how do you feel?" She asked just to break the silence. Shinji just gave a small smile.
"I feel fine, just tired".
"Well then Mr. Ikari, I believe that you should get some rest" Mana got up off the bed, leaned over, and kissed Shinji on the cheek. With a small blush she left the room. As she got out the door Mana found Asuka waiting for her.
"If you hurt him, you'll regret it," Asuka said as she leaned against the wall. They may be friends but Shinji meant a lot to Asuka, though she would deny it.
"What are you jealous or something" Mana was curious.
"Hardly" Asuka almost spat out "he's more like a brother".
"Protecting your sibling then" Mana walked up next to her.
"Something like that" the two girls both stood still for a moment until Mana broke the silence.
"You can relax…I won't hurt him" Mana said softly as she left.
Asuka stayed at the door as she watched Mana walk around the corner. She's known Mana since she first arrived with Unit 02 from Germany but there was just something about her that didn't seem right. Like some kind of sixth sense was telling her to be careful around the girl.
"Why do I get the feeling that isn't true?" Asuka said aloud as she entered Shinji's room.
A/N: Obviously Rei and Asuka are OOC but that's just the way this story plays out. I'm definitely changing up the usual storyline and it'll show very soon.
I really wish I could update faster but writing is simply a hobby of mine. I'd rather read other peoples stories then write my own. So if you want me to update faster than you people just have to stop making such great stories.
Review if you want to but input is much appreciated.
Read ya Later.