In a Perfect World: 2 – Payback (Asuka)

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.

Ever since that new girl arrived, Shinji can't take his eyes off her. I keep seeing him sneaking glances at her when he thinks no one is looking, every time it feels as if I am being stabbed in the heart. Shinji and I have known each other since we were four, although our parents told us we had met before then, we had not been properly introduced. I can still remember how Shinji had been hiding behind his mother's legs at first, my initial impression of him that he was timid and weak. I wanted little to do with him then, not realizing how wrong I was until two years later, the day that I saw the truth, the day that my father died.

Shinji and I had been pulled out of class and sent to the principal's office without being told why. Usually you were only sent there if you had been disobedient but as far as I knew neither Shinji nor I had done such a thing and as such I was a little upset at being called away in front of the whole class. I was in a less than favorable temperament when we arrived and were immediately ushered inside by his secretary who swiftly departed, leaving us alone with him.

"Sit down Mr. Ikari, Miss Soryu."

We did as we were told, making use of the two large and rather comfortable chairs set in front of his large hardwood desk. Something felt wrong about this, he didn't look like he was about to scold us, rather his face seemed troubled and when he spoke my suspicions were confirmed.

"It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that there has been an accident at your parents' workplace, an explosion occurred in the labs and a number of people were killed."

My hands gripped the arms of the chair tightly, the effect of this being two fold. One, it kept me from taking out my frustration on and inanimate objects nearby and two, it stopped me from reaching out and grabbing Shinji's hand. Glancing over at him I was surprised by how calm he seemed, not at all what I would have expected from the timid little boy I had known.

"At present we have not been informed of specifics casualties but we do know that it took place in the area your parents were working. The survivors have been taken to the hospital, we have organised for the both of you to be taken there now."

I felt as if I was in some kind of trance, as the next moments passed quickly, nothing more than a blur in my memories. The first clear recollection I have was of that terrible moment when I saw my mother sitting there, crying while aunt Yui tried to comfort her even as uncle Gendo looked on, a tormented look on his face. In that instant I knew, I would never see my father again. Tears burned my eyes, but I would not let them fall, I could not bear to let them see me cry. Suddenly I felt arms move around me, pulling me towards a warmth that reminded me of my father, of how he used to hold me, how he had hugged me goodbye that morning before I left to wake Shinji. I turned around, hoping against hope to see my father's face only to be greeted by the familiar face of Shinji. My hopes crushed I felt an irrational rage boil up inside me, not wanting him near me I shoved him away, mustering all the venom I could in my voice I told him.

"Go away idiot."

"No."

He surprised me then when he had not let go, never would I have expected him to stand up to me, let alone have the courage to do what he did next. He closed the distance between us once again, pulling me into a fierce embrace. I was so shocked I did not even think to fight against him and soon I found myself pressed firmly against his chest. It was then I let myself go, no longer holding back the grief that poisoned my heart, crying out my sorrows against his chest, watching as my tears rolled down my face and soaked into the fabric of his shirt. When at last the tears no longer came I stayed there, listening to the gentle rhythm of his heart beating, enjoying the warmth of him. I realized then that so long as I could fell that warmth beside me, so long as I could listen to the gentle rhythm of his pulse, I would never be sad because I would know I was not alone.

"Shinji?"

"Yes Asuka?"

"Promise you won't leave me."

"I promise Asuka, I'll never leave you."

I flung my arms around him then, finally returning his embrace. For a moment I was happy, the pain of my father's passing all but forgotten, if only for an instant, as I was wrapped in his arms. I reached up, and kissed him softly on the cheek, showing him how much he meant to me, something I could not do with words.

"Thank you Shinji."

In that moment, standing there with our arms around each other, Shinji with a slight blush on his face I knew then, one day I would be his wife.

Since that day Shinji has held me many times, both in congratulation and comfort. Each time I felt his familiar warmth, the soft rhythm of his heart and I would feel content, no matter what happened I knew it would be alright because I would have him beside me, always. Who would have ever believed that the shy little boy I had met all those years ago would prove to be so strong…perhaps I should have listened more closely to the stories my mother had told me of when she was a girl.

Back when she and aunt Yui were around my age, aunt Yui had had the most enormous crush on her oldest friend. They had known each other since they were small, and as they had grown older she had begun to develop feelings for him. He of course was completely oblivious to this, always complaining about how she came to wake him up in the mornings to which she had replied that if she didn't then he would never get to school on time. Mama always told aunt Yui to confess her feelings before some other girl spirited him away yet she had always replied that she wanted him to make the first move.

It continued that way right up until the point they had reached their final year of college, the night of their graduation prom. He had come to their table and spirited aunt Yui away leaving mama lost for words. She always suspected that he had liked aunt Yui, she had always seen the way he looked at her when they spoke, the unmistakable sparkle in his eyes. One or twice she had considered berating him for breaking her best friend's heart but she knew that aunt Yui would not be best pleased at her interference so she remained silent. As she watched him lead her onto the dance floor she had felt a glimmer of hope that perhaps he had finally found the courage to tell her how he felt.

He had taken her to the middle of the dance floor and spent the rest of the night with her in his arms. Then, as the last song of the evening came to a close he had sunk to one knee and asked her to marry him. My mother still laughs when she tries to describe the expression on aunt Yui's face; even now I'm not quite sure what it must have looked like. When at last she recovered slightly, although not enough to speak, she had knelt down and kissed him full on the lips, her version of a yes. No more than a week later they were married and it was at their wedding reception my mother had met my father; it had been love at first sight. Soon after, Shinji was born, and them me only three months later, and the rest, as they say, is history…

In a lot of ways Shinji takes after his father; he is just as lazy, hence why I have to wake him in the mornings. He also has that weird habit of folding his hands in front of his face. According to aunt Yui, he thinks it makes him look clever. But the rest of us, excluding Shinji, think it makes him look silly. That of course brings me to the other thing he got from his father, his glare. Uncle Gendo doesn't shout at people when he gets mad, he just glares at them. Most of the time, it shuts them up instantly. It's really impressive, except when you're on the receiving end. Now Shinji's started doing it, and it's really creeping me out. It did come in handy though when a couple of kids were picking on me about my mixed heritage, not liking the fact I'm half German half Japanese. Shinji had come over, his palm clenching and unclenching, signaling that he was angry and glared at them, saying nothing. The two turned to regard him for a moment before turning back and apologizing before departing rather quickly. Just before his expression softened as he turned to me, I caught a glimpse of his eyes as they had been and would have sworn I was looking into the eyes of some kind of monster.

The experience left me somewhat unsettled; not only had I been unable to stick up for myself, but Shinji had to save me. AND in that instant I had seen a side of him I did not like. I didn't speak to him for the rest of the day, not until late in the evening when I realized how selfish I was being and went round to apologize. He smiled at me, pulling me into a warm embrace and once again I felt my troubles drift away, the incident all but forgotten.

Of late I've started dreaming of him, the first time I woke up panting and coated in a thin layer of sweat. It had been my first sex dream, the first of many…a naked Shinji making move to me between crimson silk sheets in a great four poster bed. I still had shivers running up and down my spine for a long time afterwards and when I had gone to wake him that morning I had trouble looking him in the eyes…not that looking down was much of an improvement as a certain body part came into view, standing to attention once again.

I didn't actually smack him that particular time, so shocked by being so close to the objective of my dreams and by the stirring of desire it had caused in me, I ran. I couldn't even look at him for the rest of the day without feeling my cheeks burn…luckily for me he said nothing about it and allowed the incident to be forgotten. For the first time I was actually glad of his quiet nature, although he never acts that way in my dreams. There he is always dominant, the darker part of him showing through, taking control of our lovemaking and forcing me to submit to him…the opposite of his behavior in the real world. Whenever someone asks him to do something he almost always accepts, even if he refuses all it takes is a few seconds of puppy dog eyes and he caves. Like a few days ago, that stooge Suzahara 'asked' him to join the basketball team as they were a man short and he agreed despite the fact he never really liked sports!

Of course that's not to say I disagree with this particular development, all the training that stooge has been putting him through has had a definite impact on his physique…his muscles are starting to become more defined, although he will never be an Adonis, he is certainly taking on a more solid shape. These of course had not been lost on the other girls in class and I have noticed more than a few eyeing him up openly during sports class. So far that's as far as it has gone, the constant rumors about us being in some kind of relationship has kept them away although since the arrival of the new girl people are starting to have their doubts. Till now it suited me just fine to deny it, all it did was encourage them to think it really was true, why would I deny it so loudly otherwise. Now my denials have all but stopped, not that many people ask me anymore.

I refuse to lose him to some girl he only met a week ago, I won't give up without a fight. I am worried a little bit about Shinji though, I'm not sure if he likes me in that way. Not once have I caught him staring at my breasts, not even when we are at the beach and I was wearing a bikini…although he had walked in on me when I was getting changed earlier that day and I had kinda gotten mad at him. I promised that I would get even later on, and after that he kept on avoiding me. It was getting so frustrating by the end of the weekend I very nearly snuck into his room and jumped him, I only didn't in the end because his screaming would have woken his parents sleeping in the next room.

I've promised myself that next time that happens I will have my revenge, something involving handcuffs and him being naked. Right now I'm having one such dream, Shinji has me pinned on the bed and lavishing his attention on my naked body. Something feels a little wrong here, my body feels cold, as if a draft is rushing over my body. My subconscious is telling me that my covers must have fallen off and still asleep I reached out blindly and when I felt fabric I gripped it and pulled. Something warm and heavy fell on top of me and as my mind registered this fact it nudged me into wakefulness and as my eyes opened I found myself staring into the familiar cerulean orbs of Shinji. Of course in my half awake sleep I simply assumed that this was still a part of my dream, mostly because we still seemed to be in the positions from before, although he was now more fully clothed…that I decided to fix and immediately began unbuttoning his shirt.

The look in his eyes confused me, even more when he suddenly stood up and ran from the room. It slowly began to dawn upon me that perhaps this was no longer a dream, that it might in fact be reality…

"SHINJI!"

I took off after him, paying no mind to my state of undress. Unanswered questions swirled through my mind as I pondered how it was he had ended up there, lying on top of me…I guess that the fabric I had caught of must have been his shirt rather than the bed sheets but that still did not explain what he had been doing there, looking at my half naked body. I wanted some answers out of him and this time I was going to get them, one way or another…

I caught up to him out in the corridor, tackling him from behind. He spun as he fell making me fall on top of him and as I sat up I could plainly see his eyes had move downwards and were staring intently at my bare breasts…

YES!

In my head I silently celebrated, the lust in his eyes assuaged my fears; there could be no doubt that he was attracted to me physically. In light of this fact it now dawned on me that I was currently half naked in the middle of the corridor.

"Quick! Give me your shirt!"

"Bu…"

"NOW!"

Talking could wait until we were back at my apartment…specifically in my bedroom. He pulled it over his head having unfastened the top three buttons and pulled it over his head. For the briefest of moments, his bare chest was pressed against my own for an instant before he pulled away and I donned his shirt. My modesty restored, I was about to lead him back to the apartment when I felt something press up against my inner thigh, something that could no longer simply be explained by the fact it was morning. I hardly noticed the shadow that fell across us until it spoke, breaking the silence.

"Shinji? Asuka?"

Knowing that voice I was hit by a sinking feeling, believing all my plans were about to come undone even as Shinji spoke.

"Dad?"

AN: I've read some of the GFOS manga now and to tell the truth anyone who wants to see the Eva's play a part in it stop now. The key thing I intent not to follow is that I wish the Eva's to play no part in this story however, that said I have been influenced by it and those of you that have read it may well see scenes adapted from or inspired by it. Rei will most likely enter the story in the few next chapters with Kaworu a little later.

Thank you all for your reviews not to mention the help in finding the manga.

Till next time,

Hououza

Chapter preread by That Other Guy