Some Do Not Like It Hot
Chapter 3: "This is going to take some getting used to..."
"I'm coming in, Shin-chan!"
From lying on her back, Shinji shot upright at the sound of Misato's voice. At last, someone who might be able to offer comfort! The door opened, and Misato stepped in. She looked slightly ruffled; her hair was in a mess and her cheeks were flushed, but she was smiling.
"Misato-san!" cried the dark-haired girl, sobbing with happiness. "I'm... I'm so glad you're here!"
Misato grinned, walking over to Shinji's bedside. Shinji embraced the purple-haired woman in a tight grip as soon as she was within arm's range, holding onto Misato like a baby koala to a tree. Misato was somewhat shocked by Shinji becoming so clingy, but nonetheless reciprocated the squeeze. Shinji gently cried onto her guardian's shoulder, her tears a mixture of confusion, distress and relief.
"Oh, Shinji, it's okay...it's okay..." cooed Misato, gently patting the girl on the back. "However, you might want to consider putting some clothes on before you go around hugging people like that." Misato smirked a little.
Shinji looked down and realized her hospital gown had slipped off, and that she was pressing her bare breasts against Misato. Her face turned bright red as she drew the bed covers up over her chest in shame. "S-s-sorry..." she whimpered, blushing tremendously. "I wasn't thinking!"
"Hey, it's fine, don't worry about it!" said Misato, laughing a little. "Just... think a little more next time. Anyway, how are you feeling?"
Shinji lay back into her covers, stretching a little. "I... I mean, I feel funny. I'm aching all over, my chest and back are sore, I feel really tired, and..." She trailed off.
Misato gave her a puzzled look. "...And what?"
Shinji blushed even more, and averted her gaze from her surrogate mother. "...Well, when I first woke up and found that... this... had happened, I checked between my legs, and I touched something, and it felt, um, funny."
She was interrupted by a snort of laughter from Misato. "Hahaha! Oh, Shinji... That sounds quite normal. I'll... I'll explain later!" she chuckled, just about maintaining her composure.
The door swung open again, and Ritsuko marched in. Asuka was in tow, holding onto the doctor's shoulder for support.
"Ah, Shinji. It's good to see you awake. I've got someone here to see you," said Ritsuko, a wry grin on her face. She carefully let go of Asuka. The redhead tottered a little at first, but just about managed to stay upright.
Asuka took one look at Shinji and went a bright red, scowling and giving the girl a vicious glare. "H-h-h-how come HE...I mean, why does SHE gets to be a girl!? I'm stuck with this hideous boy's physique and stupid pervert over there gets blessed with a girl's body!" Asuka spluttered, pointing at Shinji and shaking his fist. "It's NOT FAIR! She'll not be able to properly appreciate the joys of being female! She'll just go around flashing her panties, bursting into tears, getting felt up behind the arcade and generally making women look bad! Just her having a pair of breasts is setting back feminism 30 years!"
"Asuka, stop." Misato attempted to curb the boy's wave of insults before Shinji broke down crying again. "She's only just got over the initial shock, she doesn't need you making this any worse for her."
Ritsuko whispered to Misato, "Are you sure about this? This looks like another stress attack coming on."
"Nah," Misato whispered back, lowering her voice away from Asuka. "She's always like this."
Asuka continued with his tirade. "The fact is, Shinji, you should think yourself very lucky that you've had the good fortune to experience the wonder that is being a girl! But you had better behave yourself; the moment I catch you letting some boy hit on you, I'll- why are you staring at me?"
Shinji was mesmerized by Asuka's newly developed muscular torso. It was a funny feeling, being attracted to a boy- especially when that boy was Asuka- but she couldn't help it. His well-defined chest was pushing through the tight hospital gown, looking like nothing so much as a Greek statue. It was truly quite beautiful, even exquisite-
"SHINJI!" snapped Asuka, waving his hands in front of her face. "Are you even listening to me?"
"You have a nice chest!" Shinji blurted, her common sense department clearly shutting down in favor of the girlish lust section of her brain.
Ritsuko and Misato stared at the girl, before bursting into laughter. Asuka stood stock still, face blushing, completely shocked by Shinji's statement of her admiration for his torso.
"...PERVERT!" screamed Asuka, finally coming out of his shock and slapping Shinji in the face. "Don't you DARE lust after me like that! Pervert! Lech! Deviant! Slut-"
It was then that he realized that Shinji was lying on her back, clutching the left side of her face and whimpering in pain, with tears rolling down her cheeks. Shinji never normally cried like this when Asuka slapped him. Normally he just took it and stayed quiet, but now, something was a lot different.
"Shinji-chan! Are you alright?" Misato exclaimed, rushing to the girl's side and cradling her in her arms. Shinji continued to sob, gingerly touching her face where she had been slapped.
Ritsuko joined her colleague, touching Shinji's cheek to check for swelling. "Oh dear. Do you need an ice pack?" she asked, patting the crying girl on the forehead in an attempt to calm her.
Misato rounded on Asuka, not looking angry so much as very worried.
"Asuka, you have to stop doing that! You're a lot stronger than you were, and Shinji is much more delicate!" she said, pointing to the wailing Shinji. "You could really injure her if you aren't careful!" There wasn't any rage in her voice, just the soft sort of pleading that a mother would use with a small child.
Asuka took a step back, nearly falling over. "It- it's not my fault! I didn't realize Shinji had turned into such a… well, such a girl!"
Ritsuko approached major Katsuragi, leaving Shinji's bedside. "Are you absolutely sure you think it's a good idea to take him home with you?" Ritsuko dropped her voice to something a little closer to a whisper. "If he does something like that again, just a little bit harder, he could really hurt Shinji."
Misato sighed. "It's alright. Asuka didn't realize how hard he hit her. I don't think he was actually trying to hurt her, so he just needs to remember not to do it in the future. They'll be fine." She turned back to Asuka. "Now, apologize to Shinji, Asuka-kun."
Asuka tried to avert his gaze from Shinji, but eventually he relented. He faced the no-longer-sobbing girl with his head held low. "...Sorry. I shouldn't have done that," he mumbled.
"It's alright. Um, don't worry about it," responded Shinji. Her voice was subdued and hurt, but somehow understanding at the same time. "It was just an outburst. I'm sorry I made you angry…"
Misato smiled and clapped her hand on Asuka's shoulder. "Good, I'm glad we've got that sorted out! Now, Shin-chan, do you think you can stand up?"
Shinji sat up as straight as she could. "I... I think so, I'll give it a try."
She slid to the edge of the bed and slowly eased herself out, her trembling feet making contact with the floor. She gradually stood up, shaking as she came clear of the bed. She took a few steps, swaying unsteadily as she adjusted to her new bone structure and centre of gravity. Then she misjudged a step, and tipped forwards. Her arms shot out to catch herself.
Fortunately, Ritsuko caught her before she hit the floor, preventing a major injury. "Well, I guess that's a no," the doctor sighed. "I'd say you're going to need some crutches until you can fully adjust to your body. Fortunately, I have a pair available for you," she said, dryly. "You'll have to rely on them for the first couple of days, but try not to lean too heavily on them, or you'll find standing without them even harder when it's time to stop using them."
The dark-haired girl straightened up a bit, holding on to Ritsuko for support. "OK, thank you Akagi-san..."
The scientist chuckled a little. "It's okay. You can still call me Ritsuko, you know." She winked at the girl and helped her stand up, letting her hold onto her shoulder. "Now, Misato, I think these two should be ready to go. Are you alright with that?"
The major grinned and nodded. "You bet!"
Shinji and Asuka had gone home with Misato, and Ritsuko had returned alone to her office. She lit a cigarette and took a deep drag from it, blowing a miniature smoke ring.
She's not taking this anywhere near seriously enough. Shinji could be really hurt if Asuka lashes out, Dr. Akagi thought to herself. I hope Ikari-chan does OK. She was unstable enough when she was a boy, but now...
She took another drag, puffing a slightly larger ring.
Still, she thought, at least we don't have to worry about hormone injections. Their bodies seemed to have been completely transformed by the experience. Exactly how we're going to get them back to normal, though, I don't know.
She sighed, crushed the spent cigarette against her ashtray, and took a sip from her coffee.
If I didn't know better I'd say that this whole scenario was part of some really bad fanfiction or something.
***TO BE CONTINUED***
A/N: As usual, beta-read by the wonderful Nuclear Lunchbox. The formatting might vary from chapter to chapter because I suck at formatting.
Next chapter coming soon!