Title:            Full Metal Evangelion Book 1 Chapter 1

Author:            Dead^Meat   ( deadmeat@bhlegend.com )

ICQ:            7790861            (Auth. req – state who you are when you ask)

Dates of revision:            2002-12-01 v 0.05 (Started)

                      2002-12-05 ch1 "Pre-reader request" edition

                      2002-12-10 ch1 pre-publish version

                      2002-12-13 ch1 publish version 1.0

                      2003-03-25 ch1 publish version 1.1

* Disclaimer: Characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion have been used without permission. All characters contained in this work are copyright GAINAX, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision and Manga Entertainment.

* Quick-list of various Japanese words/phrases used, and it's translation.

Baka       = idiot

Hai        = yes

Hentai     = perverted, pervert, someone perverted

* Reading:

"d" - Denotes speaking

'd' - Denotes thinking

_d_ - Denotes punctuation

|d| - Denotes sound effects

******************************************************************

Chapter one: The transfer students

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"Targets in sight. We have now confirmed their respective identities. Your orders, sir?"

"Stay within visual range, out of sight, until further notice."

"Yes, sir."

43 kilometres off the Japanese coast, under approximately 20 metres of water, Vice-commander Fuyutsuki turned towards his commander, and asked a question he already knew the answer to.

"Shall I initiate Project Screen, Commander?"

"Yes, do so."

"Immediately, sir." Vice-commander Fuyutsuki then turned back towards the large screen that dominated one side of the Command module.

"Initiate Project Screen!"

A large, strange looking submarine smoothly cut the surface of the water, while opening two large hangar hatches, revealing two oblong tubes.

Immediately, when fully opened, two robot-shaped projectiles shot out at a high velocity, aimed towards the Japanese city called Tokyo-3.

Having closed the openings, the submarine dove back under water, towards a depth of 300 metres.

******************************************************************

"Hey, Asuka! Over here!" A loud, girlish cry broke through the large noise of gathering students, drawing the attention of a red headed girl.

She immediately took off towards her friend, who stood on a bench and waved her hands. They were soon in each other's arms, as they embraced and giggled of excitement. Soon enough, Asuka pushed her friend away and stared at her narrowly.

"Wow, Hikari, you've really grown up!"

"Oh come on, Asuka! You've only been away for two months, you know. So stop teasing! Anyway, how was your vacation? And oh, Happy 17th birthday!"

"Thanks, Hikari, although I did receive that birthday-card from you. As for my vacation, well … it was … okay, I guess. Met a lot of relatives, the usual stuff. Nothing grand, or anything."

"I'm really jealous, you know, being able to visit relatives abroad.
In your case Germany, which sounds really exciting!"

"Yeah, well, I'll tell you all about it later. Come on, the opening ceremony's about to start!"

"So, what else is new? While I've been away?" Asuka whispered to her friend, as they sat in the large hall where all the students had gathered, enduring the principals' long speech.

"Umm, not much, really. Everything's the same, except…"

"Except what?"

Hikari quickly looked around, caught Himiko's attention, who shook her head, and turned back to Asuka.

"Well, there was a rumour that we'd have two new boys in our class, they were transferred here from some school abroad. But it doesn't seem like they've arrived yet."

"Boys? That's all? Heh, seems like I didn't miss much, then."

"Hey, it should be really exciting, you know! New boys to talk to, think of, gaze at…" Hikari sighed, and planted her head on her lap.

"Of course … if you say so." Asuka patted her friend's back, and sighed too, wondering about what could possibly be exciting with _male_ students from abroad, anyway.

******************************************************************

The assembly hall doors suddenly opened, halting the principal's speech. Everyone turned their eyes towards it, and in entered two boys around their age. As Asuka didn't recognise them, she quickly assumed that these two had to be her new classmates. Both looked like they were of Japanese heritage, although far more tanned than everyone else.

One of them, a broad-shouldered young man with rough-cut hair and a white smile, walked confidently ahead of the small procession.
The other, a little shorter and leaner young man, looked a little weaker in comparison, but held the same confident pace as the first one.

Walking so close to each other, they looked like good friends.

While idly examining them - just out of curiosity, of course - Asuka suddenly realised that one of them was staring back at her! It was that meek-looking kid, and he was smiling at her!

She quickly turned her head away, ignoring them for the rest of the ceremony.

The Principal frowned at the latecomers, but then resumed his speech as if uninterrupted, when he saw that they had taken their place.

Soon enough, the opening ceremony ended, and the students poured out of the assembly hall.

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"Hikari! What the devil are you doing?!"

"Come on, Asuka, we need to find our new classmates, and show them around!"

"Oh, they can take a hike, for all I care! If we don't hurry, all the sandwiches are going to be sold out! Besides, we'll see them soon, anyway."

"But …! … Oh alright, if you say so."

They silently walked towards the cafeteria, each in their own thoughts.

"I should never have left for Germany." Asuka muttered after a while, as they noticed the long queue in front of the store.

"Why not?"

"You've become boy-crazy while I've been away, that's why!"

Hikari giggled and ran ahead, getting them a place in the queue.

******************************************************************

"Well, what do you say?"

"I say, let's go for it, bro. There's nothing to lose!"

"Yes there is," the first one sighed, but then stood up from the bench. "but I guess it doesn't matter, in your case."

"Hey, chill, bro! We're not in Pakistan anymore." Touji declared as he stood up as well, patting his friends' back.

"No, but … don't let your guard down."

"Hai hai, let's get to class now, shall we? Heck, we might even learn something useful over there, hehehe!"

******************************************************************

"Stand, bow, sit." Hikari ordered, while the sensei prepared himself for another semester of dealing with class 3-1.

"Okay, I know how excited you all are…" this was accompanied by a general murmur in class, "so I guess we'll start with that. Let's welcome our new classmates, Shinji Ikari and Touji Suzuhara."

Everyone fell silent and stared as the door opened, and the two young men everyone remembered from the opening ceremony stepped in. They walked swiftly to stand beside the sensei, then turned towards the class.

"Alright, guys, please give us a short introduction of yourselves, okay? And by the way, as you will notice sooner or later, we're all in first-name basis here. It's much more pleasant. So please, don't be shy to use them.

Anyway, who's beginning?"

A tall, broad shouldered young man with a confident smile stepped forward at once, and heartily gave an introduction of himself.

"MY NAME IS TOUJI SUZUHARA!" he shouted, and everyone cringed, backing away. "I'm 17, and I'm single! My hobbies are sports, any kind, working out, and teasing my pal here! Please take care of us!" With that, Touji swiftly bowed and stepped back, assuming an overly relaxed stance.

The other guy, a little shorter, with roughly combed hair and dressed in a loose shirt shook his head in amazement, and with a nervous smile he then stepped forward.

"My name is Shinji Ikari, 17 year old as well. My hobbies are listening to classical music, and playing my cello. Please take care of us." Shinji bowed as well, before stepping back.

"I'm sure we will. So, class, got any questions?" The sensei asked, looking around. "Yes, Shizuka?"

A girl stood up from her chair, and asked her question.

"Hai. So, where did you guys come from?"

"Tibet." Touji happily replied.

A long, drawn out silence followed, but was interrupted as Shinji discreetly coughed, and corrected the statement.

"Eh, quite a good joke, Touji … no, actually, we just recently transferred from New Hong Kong."

"Ryoma, go ahead."

This time, a boy stood up.

"Why did you come here?"

"Homesickness, I guess."

"Himiko?"

Another girl at the far end of the classroom stood up.

"Did you have a girlfriend in Hong Kong?" Immediately, the girls in class started to giggle, which increased as Shinji blushed and bowed his head.

"Umm, no, I didn't." Shinji accidentally caught Asuka's eyes, and quickly averted his gaze.

"Okay, one more question. You do us the honour, Kensuke."

A boy with glasses immediately stood up, and asked his question while reflexively adjusting his glasses.

"Right! Well, I was just wondering, is it true that the new Type-4 Banshee wardroid was built in New Hong Kong? With the new Sampson M2 stabilisers, or with Dietrichs EX3?"

For the third time this morning, the whole class fell silent.

"Okaay, that was all the q-" Sensei began, but was interrupted.

"Yeah, with the Sampson M2, but modified to get increased range, as the terrain around there's quite flat, you know. Gee, I'm surprised someone here knows about those!" Touji exclaimed, grinning cheerfully. Everyone alternately stared at him and Kensuke, who was smiling happily.

The Sensei coughed, and Shinji soon dragged Touji to his seat, under close surveillance of Kensuke.

As Shinji passed by Asuka, he smiled at her, blushing as she glared back. He took the empty seat next to her, while Touji took the seat in the back row.

******************************************************************

"Wow, I never imagined there'd be other military otakus like me!" Kensuke beamed at the two young men, while he blocked the rearmost exit of the classroom.

Shinji glanced at the other exit, where two certain girls were exiting, whispered "Deal with this." to Touji, and headed off after them.

Glancing at both directions of the corridor after the girls, he ignored an approaching classmate and rushed off.

******************************************************************

"So, what do you think?" Hikari asked her friend, as they sat under the tree, finishing their lunch.

"About what?" Asuka asked, and pointedly sighed.

"The new guys, of course!"

"They're, err, _guys_. What else is there to say? Same old geeky, hentai, parasites as the rest of em, who can't even find a good excuse for their pitiful existence."

"Aww, Asuka! Come on! It's me, Hikari! At least tell me which one you think is the cutest!"

Asuka rolled her eyes, and kept her mouth shut. Hikari sighed, packed up her empty bento-box and answered her own question.

"Well, I think they're both cute. Although the tall one is a little cooler!" Hikari blushed, as she envisioned him smiling at her, then shook her head to clear it from distracting fantasies.

"That Kensuke nr.2? Oh great, another military otaku in class, just what we've always needed."

"Oh come on! He's so much more handsome than Kensuke!" Hikari insured, then sadly stared at her water bottle. "Oh well, it's not like I'd have any chance anyway … with girls like you or Himiko in class."

"Ha! Take him! I don't care! Anyway, it's time we headed back." Asuka quickly stood up, brushed the grass off her skirt and waited impatiently for her friend to finish.

"Ms. Sohryu?"

Startled, Asuka quickly turned around, taking a defensive stance. Finally noticing that it's just that new kid, '… Shinji something …', she let herself relax a little.

"Baka! You shouldn't surprise people like that!" Asuka fumed, as her anger finally kicked in.

"I'm sorry," he apologised, scratching the back of his head. "I'll try not to do that again."

"You better not!" Asuka warned, finally setting with only an annoyed frown on her face. "So what did you want?"

"Oh, well, I just thought that we hadn't been properly introduced, that's all."

"So what was that thing we did in class then, huh? And you already know my name, right? What else is there to say?" A faint, sweet smelling fragrance got caught up in her nose, which seemed to have come from Shinji.

'Where do I know this smell from?' Asuka thought, wrinkling her nose.

"Umm…" Shinji hesitated, clearly embarrassed. "I'm not used to this, you see … so please, if I'm doing something inappropriate, feel free to correct me."

"… Sure …" Asuka hesitated, still confused by the memory of the fragrance she caught of Shinji.

"Thank you. I'll try not to bother you too much." Shinji nodded to her, exchanged a greeting with Hikari, and left the girls to themselves.

"I think he likes you." Hikari wryly grinned to Asuka.

"Whaaat? … well, of course he does! I'm still the most beautiful girl in school, right? No chance that I'd like _him_, though! Ha! He can dream on!" Asuka said matter-of-factly, and dragged Hikari back to class.

******************************************************************

"Hikari!" A male voice called.

"Yes, Touji-kun?" Hikari replied, pausing from packing her bag.

"You mentioned something about cleaning duty before?"

"Oh yes, umm … let me get the list." Hikari walked away, and while she sorted the papers, Touji quickly attached something to her bag.

"So, any specific days you can…?"

"What? Oh, right. Hey, which days are you cleaning?" Touji daringly asked her, smiling as the girl blushed.

"Oh, umm, well … Tuesdays and Thursdays…?"

"Put me up on those days then, please?"

"Certainly! I look forward to be working with you." Hikari bowed over the schedule and started to scribble, trying to hide her intensifying blush.

Touji leaned forward, and whispered into her ear.

"Me … too."

Hikari looked up in surprise, saw Touji wink at her and then leave the classroom.

******************************************************************

"That was very forward of you." Shinji told his friend, as he exited the classroom, and they started to walk away from class.

"Well, it's what I'm supposed to do, right? Get close to her."

"I'd have chosen another way, but I guess it's your call."

"Yeah. It's my call. You handle your thing, and I'll handle mine. Besides, as cute as she is, I might even enjoy this!" Touji laughed.

"Don't get too close, we might leave soon. I don't even know why they're targeted, considering their rather ordinary backgrounds, but I shouldn't complain."

"Yeah, bro. Easy and enjoyable missions as these are like a needle in a haystack, let's enjoy it while it lasts!"

"Hai hai … here they come. I'll take the back, you know where we'll split?"

"Of course, keep in touch."

With that said, the two teenagers nodded to each other, and assumed their position.

******************************************************************

"He Did?! Damn, what a playboy!" Asuka exclaimed to her friend.

"Hey, that wasn't a very nice thing to say." Hikari defended, not sure how to take it. "I'm sure that he just wanted to be nice."

"Oh, come on! He's laying it all out! How much bolder can a boy get?"

"I'm sure there are ways…" Hikari murmured, blushing.

Asuka sighed pointedly, wanting to slap her friend out of this silliness.

"Anyway, are you going to…" Asuka suddenly stopped, wrinkled her nose in concentration, and stared at the window of the shop they were passing.
Or more precisely, the reflection on the window.

"What is it, Asuka?" Hikari wondered, confused by her friends' actions.

"I uh … no, it's nothing. Never mind."

Although Asuka dismissed it, Hikari knew there was something, considering her friends' frown.

"Tell me! Wha-"

"Let's go, quickly!" Asuka urgently whispered, and quickly dragged her friend into an alleyway.

"He-hey, Asuka, what are you doing?!" Hikari demanded, as they ran through the dark alley.

"I'm sure there was a stalker following us!" Asuka gasped.

"Well, uh, are you sure? Why would anyone do that?"

Asuka abruptly stopped, and turned facing her friend, who was breathing heavily.

"That's obvious! They're trying to get a piece of my beautiful body! But will I let them? Ha, no way! And by the way, you need some exercise! Let's go!"

"Waaah!"

******************************************************************

"Damn it, we shouldn't have underestimated them. Knew I should have brought the remote tracker along!" Touji complained, blaming himself.

"Yes, well, nothing to do about it now. Let's find them before anything more unexpected happens."

"Yeah, you take Hachibana Street, I'll take Ochi."

"Roger and out."

******************************************************************

"I think we lost them!" Asuka panted to Hikari, as they sat inside a café, cooling off with a cup of hot chocolate.

"Whatever … you … say …!" Too tired to say anything else, she leaned her head on the table, panting.

"Mmm …" Catching her breath, Asuka stared out of the window, wondering about whom it could be, and why. 'Well, I ain't going to just sit back and relax, I'll get the son of a bitch one day.'

Suddenly, that new boy, Shinji, came into view. He was looking around, as if searching for something or someone, then suddenly noticed her staring. He blushed, scratching the back of his head, then apparently decided to talk to them as he entered the café.

"Umm, hello again. May I take a seat?"

"Wa-"

"Why yes, of course, Shinji-kun!" Hikari moved her bag, allowing Shinji to sit on the chair.

"What are you doing here?" Asuka demanded, narrowing her eyes.

"I, umm, was looking for my friend, did you see him?"

"You mean Touji-kun? No, sorry, we haven't. Not that we had time to notice anything anyway, as hard as we were running!"

"Run?" Shinji asked, sounding surprised, not really convincing Asuka though.

"Yes, tell him, Asuka!"

"Hrmp! Why not? Well, seems like there's another admirer trying to get his filthy hands on me. Like there wasn't enough of _those_ already." glaring at Shinji, she continued. "I really _hate_ those kinds of people."

"Really?" Shinji's eyes gleaned uncertainly. "A stalker, huh? How did you manage to spot him?"

"Ha! Easy! You shouldn't even have to ask." Asuka then grinned evilly at him, enjoying the sight of the boy squirming in his chair.

"Right … umm, oh! Touji!" Shinji suddenly stood up, apparently thankful for the distraction.

"Hey guys!" Touji greeted as he entered the café and plopped down on a chair. "What's going on?" This question he directed at Shinji, who sat back down.

Facing Touji, he frowned slightly, then said "Nothing, really. I was looking for you …", sure that Touji would catch on.

"Right, well, here I am! Something in mind?"

"Oh, no, I was just wondering if everything went according to plan."

"Plan? What plan?" Asuka asked suspiciously.

"Yes, do tell us about it, Touji-kun." Hikari requested.

"Hrm, I'm not sure I should, it's a, uh, guy thing, you know." Touji winked at Hikari, making her blush.

"Hrmp! So they're going to drink beer and watch porno movies, like all the rest of them. How come I'm not surprised?"

"No! I, err, we … we're not!" Shinji protested. "We were just planning to take a sightseeing tour around the city, or something. Get to know the city, see the sights, et cetera, some time next week or so."

"Would you like me to come along? I can point out the good places to hang out at, good restaurants, cafés, movie theatres, places like that!" Hikari cheerfully offered.

"Huh?" Shinji asked.

"Hey, wa-" Asuka protested.

"Yeah, that sounds great!" Touji gladly accepted. "But three is an odd number, so, could you …?" Touji nodded at Asuka's frozen face. Hikari immediately caught on.

"Asuka will of course come along as well!"

"Hikari! I'll neve-"

"You were _saying_, Asuka? Dear?" Hikari wondered, looking menacing as she stared down at Asuka, after having surprised everyone by standing up so fast.

'Sometimes Hikari can be _really_ frightening.' Asuka thought, as she nervously smiled back at her friend.

"Eh, never mind …" Asuka relented.

"Besides, it'll be a great opportunity for me to make up for today. I need to get home now, Asuka, see you tomorrow! We'll have your 'Welcome home' party sometime soon, promise!" Touji stood up and joined Hikari, as she was about to pay the waitress.

"No need, I'll pay." Touji flashed a smile at Hikari, then whipped up a credit card for the waitress. "Mind if I join you on your way home? I live in the same district."

"Please do." Hikari giggled.

And then they were off, leaving a fuming Asuka, and a nervous Shinji, behind.

"Why, that … that …! I should _never_ have left her alone for two whole months!"

"Excuse me, Asuka? May I pay for you, as well?" Shinji tried.

"Wha-?" Asuka, taken completely by surprise, shot back and vented out her frustration at the closest target available.

"No! I sure as hell won't allow you to do that, you creep! I'd rather be dead than caught getting paid for by a hentai! You thought I wouldn't notice? Ha! I'd remember that smell of yours from miles away! And seeing you sneak up from behind sure made it all plain to me what kind of guy you really are!"

"You, you …!" Shinji, shocked at suddenly getting caught in the path of a barrage of missiles, finally gave up and bowed his head in defeat.

"I'm sorry." Shinji meekly apologised.

"You better be!" Asuka growled, snatched up her bag and stormed away from the café.

Not wanting to be left behind, Shinji sighed weakly, ignored the stares from the other café customers, and gathered up his few belongings.

"Excuse me, mister?" A waitress came up to him.

"Yes?"

"Umm, your … friend … hasn't paid for her chocolate.

"…"

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'That … that baka!' Asuka thought furiously, as she glared at where the meek boy was trying to hide behind a salaryman.

'I've warned him already, but still he continues to follow me! I'm getting tired of this game already, damn it!' Having walked around town for the last hour, trying to shake him off, they now sat in the same train.

Finally deciding to confront him, she walked up to where Shinji sat, leaned down over him, and glared at her source of annoyance.

"Are you following me?!" she hissed.

"No." Shinji hastily replied, backing away, averting his eyes to the blurry scenery outside the train.

"Then what have you been doing this last hour!"

"I'm just walking around here, enjoying the scenery. It's none of your concern."

"It's not, is it?" Asuka wondered, as she held onto a pole to brace herself as the train stopped at the next station.

"Then you don't mind me doing this, right?" Asuka grinned down at her foe, pushed him to the floor and ran out of the train.

"Asuka!" Shinji shouted, getting up to follow her, the door closing just an inch in front of his face. On the other side, Asuka was grinning evilly, waving.

"Have a nice day, baka!" Asuka smiled, as the train began to move and Shinji ran through the train compartment to catch up to her.

Looking at the train speed away, Asuka finally let herself relax.

'At last, I'm free. Now to get myself home …'

Casting a last glance at the departing train, she suddenly saw a shape throw itself out of it. Speechless, she watched the shape roll too bloody fast on the hard station floor, finally colliding with a bench, which turned upside-down because of the impact.

"Shinji!" She cried, and rushed off to him.

Seeing him lie motionless on the ground, she felt a chill going through her core. Falling down on her knees, she gently felt for his pulse through his wrist, then backed away as he stirred, groaning.

"BAKA! Baka baka baka! Why the Hell did you do that for?!" Asuka screamed at him, after helping him up on a bench. "What did you throw yourself out of a moving train for? Was it just to follow me?!"

"I, uh-" Shinji groaned, kneading his ribs with his right hand.
"I just … felt like it. It's purely coincidental."

"You …" Asuka then sighed, and sat down on the bench next to him, feeling completely drained after a whole day full of stress and bakas.

"You can lay off with that crap now, okay? Just follow me or whatever.
I'm feeling so tired, and I just want to go to sleep."

Shinji closed his eyes and leaned back, breathing slowly and carefully, as he considered his reply.

"Me, too."

******************************************************************

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* Author's notes:

Well, uh, first of all, sorry for the long waiting. There's really no reasonable excuses, so I'll just sit here and take all the blame.

Please, no sharp knives or other similar pointy thingies.

As you may have noticed, this is a romantic/adventure crossover of NGE and Full Metal Panic!, another very good, although much cheerier mecha-anime-series than NGE. It starts abit similar, but after awhile, it'll become more and more independent.

I hope that you enjoyed the first chapter, and I hope that you will continue sticking with me.

Anyway, for readers of v.1 who has goe through, the revision of the first chapter has not changed it that much, just afew minor details which should put it more to ease with the following chapters.

For those of you who may have sent me e-mails earlier, please forgive me! The webmail was disfunctioning during second half of december, so I had to create a new one and … oh well.

Thanks goes to Weltall Elite, who humbly resumed his pre-reading of this humble fanfic. If you're interested in pre-reading this piece of fanfic, mail me!

Thanks for reading this, and every rant/compliment should be sent to deadmeat@bhlegend.com

Cya in chapter 2, just one click away!

/DeadMeat

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Preview of chapter 2:

'Haha! I'm free! Sure, for only an hour or so, but at last, no one to follow me around!' Asuka thought happily, as she walked around the alleys, ducking in and out of them, making sure that no one followed her.

Finally certain, she let herself relax, and began to stroll along the narrow streets of the old parts of the city, brooding and feeling slightly guilty.

'Bah, why should _I_ feel guilty? He's the one that made me do it! … Well, that's what I think, anyway …' Asuka sighed tiredly, and suddenly bumped into someone.

"Ah, damn you Shin-" Finally noticing that it wasn't Shinji she had bumped into, she took a quick look around, seeing street gang members surrounding her.

"Well well well, look what we've got here!" One of them said, apparently the leader. "What a cute little thing!"

"Hands off! Don't touch me!" Asuka warned, holding up her fist.

"My my, she's got quite the temper, too! What _are_ we going to do about her, boys? … Grab her!"