Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, nor any of its characters nor music nor dialogues, just some merchandise. Evangelion is a property of Gainax.
Chapter 10: Fixing the past, building the future
The matter of Rei was a problematic one. Asuka didn't know how to relate to a girl who was a tool her entire life. She wasn't even technically human.
But that didn't matter. She didn't deserve being treated any worse. She was still human, despite being a clone.
So currently the redhead was looking for her fellow pilot. She knew Rei usually read books but considering the rainy weather, she couldn't have been outside. She had already checked the cafeteria and the classroom, yet the blue haired girl was nowhere to be seen.
She didn't want to cause too much commotion, doing the whole thing quietly would be much more beneficial. But the time until the bell was running out.
After a few minutes, she found the girl sitting on one of the benches in the corridor, as usual, reading a book.
Asuka calmly sat to her right and shot a quick glance at the book.
'She's reading a book about biology? In German? Wait… she's reading about the cloning vector… that makes a lot of sense. Not exactly my field but close to it.'
"Hey, Rei…"
It seemed as the bluenette just noticed her although Asuka knew that wasn't true.
"Unit-02's Pilot. What do you need?"
"I was just wandering, would you want to hang out sometimes? Like go to a shopping mall or the arcade…"
"For what purpose?"
'Ughh…'
"Well, it would allow us to know each other better. So would you like to go?"
"Was I ordered to do it?"
"No. Rei, you are your own person. You are capable of emotions and should not be controlled by other people. You should do what you want. Now, what do you want?"
The blue haired girl fell silent for a moment. Her face didn't betray any emotion but her eyes expressed conflict. She did not know what to do. But after a while, she responded hesitantly.
"…I… would like to go to the mall with you."
Kaji sat in his apartment contemplating events of the past month. He did not really have the chance to reunite with Misato yet. She was always avoiding him and every time he tried to talk to her, she just angrily barked at him and stormed off. It pained him, before he got to Japan, he had a hope of being back together with her. But those seemed lost now.
There was however another matter that sparked his curiosity.
'Asuka's fiery nature has been a little calmer for… almost a year now. What happened then?'
He remembered the morning that all started.
'When she saw me that day, she wasn't acting sweet as usual, her face betrayed something like… shock? Damn it Ryoji, you've already thought about it! And yet… I asked her about it and she said she just expected me to be in NERV already. But ever since then, she's been different. She doesn't cling to me nearly as much and she isn't so hot headed anymore.'
Not that it was a particularly bad thing, but it was suspicious to him.
'Although she's been more lively lately, ever since arriving in Japan to be honest. Seems like she likes the Third, even if she denies it and tells me I'm the only one for her. I honestly expected her to treat him only as a rival, it's good she might see him as something more.'
And yet, he still had nothing on Asuka's case. No evidence, no clues, not even a faint trail.
'Unless… I am looking in the wrong place.'
Rei never visited the mall. It wasn't necessary, all her clothes and needs were supplied directly by NERV. She did not need anything above that.
"Wondergirl? You okay?" asked Asuka, worry audible in her voice.
Rei was not okay though. It overwhelmed her, all the noise, smells, the sheer amount of AT Fields sparkling around her. But she knew she would have to get used to it, especially now that the original scenario was cancelled and she would not be able to fulfil her initial purpose, followed by the blessed oblivion from her weary existence on Earth.
"I am sorry. I have never been in a place with so many people."
"This is a mall Rei! But don't worry, we'll enter a store in a moment, there won't be that much noise there."
A little while later, they entered a large shop. Clothes for men and women were hanged on stands, hundreds of them to choose from. And yet...
"Pilot of Unit-02, why did you choose this shop?"
"I want you to choose some clothes for yourself. Look at me and the Third, we both wear uniforms for school but we change afterwards to our own styles."
"What I have is sufficient."
"No it's not! Come on, do you want to wear trousers or a dress after you finish school?"
"Pilot of Unit-02. I do not need to change my clothes, it is usual for a student to wear them even not in school. Your and Ikari's behaviour is unusual in Japan."
"Because I follow European standards and apparently the Third does too. Students usually don't even wear uniforms there, they just wear what they want. And would you stop calling me "Pilot of Unit-02"? I am more than that... Just as you are more than a pilot of Unit-00."
Rei had to consider this for a while. She was used to calling everyone by their function or rank. But was it really necessary to do that?
"Alright. I won't call you like that on one condition. You will not call Ikari "Third"."
Asuka smirked at that.
"Trust me, this will not be a problem. Now, do you prefer trousers or a dress? Or maybe a skirt?"
"As I said, the uniform is suffi-"
"Let's do it like that," Asuka cut her off "I will choose five for you. You will try all of them and choose two. I will then pick one of them and we will buy it."
He has already prepared everything, all could be packed in a few minutes and moved to Shinji's new room. It would be easier for him to move his belongings when Asuka would move in.
And yet he managed to put all of it in a way that should not interest Misato. It all looked as if he simply changed the placement of his stuff.
All perfect.
'Israfel will arrive in three days. Three days until she moves in. When I look at it like that, moving to that small room doesn't sound bad at all…'
It was almost a month since Asuka's arrival and their relationship was getting better and better. Asuka was easily calling herself his girlfriend now, although they made it in tiny steps. She was completely red when she first said that.
'But she still feels guilty for what has she done. Well, so do I. We still have so much insecurities, so much pain left. We will have to sort it out one day, we can't just keep our heads above the water fearing what is underneath.'
There was also the matter of Misato and Kaji. They needed a subtle push to get close to each other again. And he had to think of a way to bond them… Perhaps Ritsuko would be willing to help...
"Alright, I've chosen a pair of trousers, a pair of shorts, two dresses and a skirt. Try them and we'll see which ones you like the most."
Rei took the clothes Asuka offered and began to undress.
"Wondergirl, stop! Not in the middle of the shop! There are changing rooms for that."
The bluenette looked at her bewildered but complied.
After a while, she appeared dressed in a plain light blue skirt… and nothing more. Fortunately, Asuka managed to stop her from showing her breasts to shop's customers by pushing her back behind the curtain as fast as she could.
"Rei, you do not try clothes like that. Just remove a part of your clothing and replace it with the one you're trying. And wait a second, I'm gonna find you a t-shirt to try with that." Asuka huffed hurrying away.
'Damn, this girl is unbelievable…'
After bringing a few t-shirts, Rei appeared again, this time covering everything properly.
"Well, you do look okay in that but… I think there might be something better though."
After a while the bluenette emerged, dressed in a pair of tight jeans which accented her every curve. Additionally, the black t-shirt Rei chose to match it was perfect.
"Well, look at that! This is great! Do you like it?"
"It is… acceptable."
"Come on Wundergirl, loosen up a bit, you are allowed to look good."
Instead of responding, Rei came back into the changing room to appear again after a while, a slim black dress with red accents.
"This one also looks quite well on you." Asuka said after a while "And the accents match your eyes."
"I do not like it. I detest red colours."
'Well, that wasn't really subtle…'
Rei then disappeared and emerged wearing a plain slim white dress with blue accents. Asuka had to admit, she looked stunning in it.
"Hot damn, this one suits you perfectly. Do you like it?"
"I find it… visually pleasing."
"Well, I guess in your words that means "this is perfect and completely awesome"… Alright, try the last one now."
After a while, the bluenette appeared once again, the jean shorts perfectly accenting what they were meant to.
'That is one hell of an ass Rei…'
"Wondergirl, you look great! Now, get back into your uniform and give me a second to think."
Five minutes later Asuka was ready to answer.
"Alright, I think the best ar-" she started
"There is no need for this as I have already decided what will I purchase. I will take the jeans, the white dress and the shorts. And this black t-shirt. And the white one too." Stated Rei with a tiny smile on her lips.
The sync ratios during the battle with the 6th Angel provided some interesting results. As it turned out, Shinji had achieved 82.3% with Asuka achieving 73.6%. This meant possible benefits from developing a two-pilot seat for the Evas.
Ritsuko suddenly flinched when she felt two hands gently encircle her, settling under her breasts.
"Have you lost some weight?" Kaji said sensually from behind her
"Have I?" she replied with an amused smile
"You must be enduring an unrequited love."
'Not any more Kaji…' she thought to herself but decided to amuse him anyways
"How did you know?"
"Because… A woman with a mole in the pathway of her tears is destined to a life full of them." He said with his charming voice.
"If you're trying to put a move on me, I'm afraid you can't. There's a very scary lady watching us." She looked at Misato, whose glare was intense even through the glass "Long time no see Kaji."
"It's been a while." He responded grinning smugly
"You're actually pretty careless, aren't you, Kaji?"
"He's as much of an idiot as ever." Misato huffed striding past them "If you're done handing over Unit-02, hurry up and leave!"
"I just received orders this morning that I'll be staying here on loan. So the three of us can hang out again, just like we used to."
"You can only hang out with Misato I'm afraid, I have quite a lot of work here" Ritsuko said with a little smirk "You can both use some time alone."
Before Misato could respond, the alarms blared throughout the base.
"The recent battle severely damaged the intercept system of Neo Tokyo-3. We've only effected 26% of the repairs at present. And our operational capability for actual combat is virtually nil." Misato announced through the phone "Therefore, we'll crush the target in a single blow at the water's edge, right before it makes landfall! Unit-00 and 02 will mount an attack in a series of waves. In other words, close in and take turns. Shinji, you are piloting Unit-00 because while Rei has a higher sync score, you are much more experienced."
"Roger." Both pilots answered almost simultaneously.
'Alright Asuka, your turn now.'
"Aww… This sucks. It's my Japanese debut. Why won't she let me take it out myself?"
"You can go ahead. I will be supporting you if anything goes badly." Shinji responded with a smile.
The plan was to show Asuka learning a lesson of teamwork. They'd then be taken in by Misato while SELEE would have an explanation of changes in Asuka's personality.
"Let me tell you something Third Child, just don't get in my way!"
Shinji sighed and released the locks, letting his Eva gracefully fall to the ground.
"Two against one isn't a fair fight. I don't like it. Not my style."
'Heh, so we're playing it exactly like back then. And I know you don't care about numbers any more Asuka.'
"We don't have the luxury of choosing our means to survive." Said Misato over the comm channel. "Here it comes! Commence attack!"
After a while, a gray form surfaced from the sea, holding it's limbs upwards, the Angel looked a bit ridiculous.
'It looks no different… why?'
"Okay, back me up, Third!"
"Alright, go on."
"And don't even think about rushing in! I can take him myself!"
Shinji placed the stock of the rifle on his shoulder and aimed through the sights. He didn't need to fire from the start as he assumed that the Angel will be easily split in half. He would then join in.
As before, Unit-02 jumped a few times to gain speed, took a leap and sliced the Angel in half. Shinji simply smirked, already knowing what will happen.
"Well, Third Child?! A fight should be elegant and without waste."
"Asuka, watch out!" he shouted when the split form transformed into two separate entities, each facing their own Evangelion.
"That's ch-" Misato began to shout over the comm but the transmission abruptly stopped when she broke the microphone in half.
'The core is glowing... blue?'
When the orange Angel attacked him, Shinji did not defend. Although his automatic instincts screamed at him to dodge, he stayed a fraction of a second longer, just enough to receive a blow straight to the chest. LCL was pushed out of his lungs and his Eva flew several hundred meters and landed on the shore. When he tried to get up however, Israfel was already there to hit him with an energy blast, which threw Unit-00 off guard, just enough for the Angel to land another attack, effectively sending the Eva straight into the ocean.
"Today, at 10:59:26 AM, Unit-00 was attacked by Target A, which split from the target submerged 2 kilometres off Suruga Bay." Announced the commenter while photos of the last failed battle were displayed on a screen. "At the same time, plus 20 seconds, Unit-02 was halted by Target B. We have a comment from the chair of Project E."
"This is pathetic."
"This is all your fault! You totally screwed up my debut battle!" shouted Asuka standing up from the chair while Shinji just leaned back in his.
"Oh, I did exactly as you wanted." He said in a voice quiet, yet unrelenting. "I held back and let you attack the Angel. When they split, I did not interfere in your struggle. And by rushing in recklessly, you've made a stupid tactical mistake."
Kaji stopped grinning when he saw Asuka unable to respond, her head hung low. The young Ikari left her pretty much no room for defense, pointing out her mistake.
'So much like his father… but is he always like that?' thought the spy 'Perhaps this is where I should start looking.'
"At 11:05 AM, NERV abandoned the operation and transferred command to the UN Secondary Force."
"You've humiliated us." Spat Fuyutsuki.
"At 11:05 AM, the UN forces made an attack with an N2 mine."
"And we'll have to re-draw the map again."
"They succeeded in burning off 24% of the target's structural substance."
"Did they kill it?" asked Asuka quietly.
"This is merely temporary relief. A second attack is a matter of time." Replied the sub-commander.
"At least it bought us time to regroup, so we got something out of it." Kaji chimed in.
"Listen you two." Fuyutsuki stood up from his chair "Do you know what your job is?"
"Defeating Angels." Said Asuka, now with more confidence.
"Exactly! And this can only be accomplished by correct teamwork. Uncoordinated actions will only grant us grotesque displays like this one. You two must cooperate. There will be no solo debuts or showing off. You are a team and you must work as one. This is the last time something like this happens." With that, the old man activated the lift, disappearing in the floor.
Kaji looked at his old charge, her head was hung low. He has never seen Asuka looking ashamed of herself. He patted her on the shoulder reassuringly.
"Don't worry Asuka, they simply don't like to be embarrassed and everyone is allowed to make a mistake from time to time."
"But it was my fault mister Kaji. Shinji did exactly as I wanted. I am at fault here." She whispered on a verge of tears.
'Ten years of studying, four years of Evangelion training and this was supposed to be her shining debut. Poor girl.'
"Come on, I'm gonna take you for some ice-cream to lift your spirits." He said to the girl regretting he couldn't take Shinji as well since it would not work well for Asuka's mood.
And yet, when they were leaving, Kaji turned around and shot one last glance at Shinji. The pilot's face was like a mask of stone and ice.
'Shinji, why are you so cold to her?'
The "date" as Kaji called it, lifted Asuka's spirits after having to endure several very strong hits from the Angel and then waiting for the rescue. She had not been cheerful ever since her return but it was close to it. Although, several times she was truly happy and that state would probably happen more from that day on.
Misato was still at NERV and since she stayed on the "date", Shinji must have already came back home. That meant they could be a little warmer to each other.
And so, she was carrying a box, followed by three people from DHL carrying more boxes. She got the keycard from Misato, who conveniently forgot to tell her she would be living with another pilot from now on.
'She still doesn't know anything about us. Good.'
Opening the door, she gestured for the DHL workers to follow her to her new room. She intended to take the one she previously evicted Shinji to, so she told him not to prepare anything for her arrival.
Since Shinji was cooking in the kitchen, she quietly passed her "new" roommate, arrived at the door of the smaller bedroom, opened it…
And stopped in her tracks.
Everything was there.
All of Shinji's belongings.
She quickly walked to her old room and looked inside.
Nothing, all was moved to the second room.
She took a big breath and…
"THIRD CHILD GET YOUR STUPID ASS OVER HERE!"
'Oh crap… she didn't like the fact I already moved my room?'
Shinji looked at the pots, turned down the heat and sighed, going towards his room.
When he saw her, she was definitely angry, but there was also something else. She looked sad.
"What did you think I meant by "no arrangements", huh? You are staying in the room with the window Third Child and don't think you can change that!"
Shinji smiled in response.
"Asuka, you are not kicking me out of it, it is my willing decision. I want you to live in a bigger room, I don't need that much space."
"And you'd have no window! And no closet either! Just a shelf!"
"This is all I need, really. You need that one." He said but his heart dropped when he saw Asuka looking at the floor, pain evident in her eyes.
"Guys, put that down there for now, give me a while." She said to the crew "Shinji, come here for a second."
When they entered the kitchen, the young Ikari laid a calming hand on the redhead's shoulder.
"Shinji, let me do it. I want to fix my past mistakes." She was looking him straight in the eyes with a begging look. "I want to and I have to. This time just stay in your room, do you have any idea how will I feel if you won't let me?"
"Oh Asuka… I'm sorry" he said hugging her tightly "I just wanted you to have a more comfortable place to live."
She returned the hug and laid her head on his shoulder.
"Thank you… now I need to return to tell the DHL crew what to do, you just take care of the dinner." And with that, she returned to the living room.
'If I had only known she wanted the smaller room… She really feels too guilty for what has she done.'
Misato opened the front door and stepped into her home. After countless hours of signing documents, apologising and talking with UN representatives, she really wanted just to lay down with a can of beer and get some rest. She knew however, that it wouldn't be possible.
Walking into the corridor however, she noticed only one box marked with the DHL logo.
'There's no way she could have moved in that fast, where is she now?'
She walked into the living room to see the door to the smaller bedroom open, shuffling coming from it. When she approached it, she saw Shinji helping Asuka in setting up everything in her new room.
'Oh, so they are already getting along well. I actually thought she would kick Shinji out to take his room but it seems like I was wrong.' thought Misato smiling to herself "And I expected her to bring much more stuff. There are like... seven boxes in there? That's not a lot considering how obsessive she used to be about her possessions.'
"Welcome home!" she said and giggled when she saw both Pilots jerk up "Looks like you're getting along well already."
"Oh, hello Misato" said Shinji "You didn't tell me Asuka would be moving in."
"I actually arranged it today. This is all preparation for the next operation."
"What do you mean Misato? How would us living together help battling the Angel?" asked Asuka, a tiny hint of disgust audible in her voice.
'Oh, grow up Asuka, living with a boy is not wrong. And perhaps you will grow to like our Shinji here.'
"Come on, let me show you." she motioned to the table and laid a folder containing several documents regarding the newest menace "The seventh Angel has one and only one weakness! A simultaneous two-point attack on each target's core while its components are separated." however when she saw confused faces of the Pilots, she tried to clarify "In other words, an attack by two Evas with perfectly synchronized timing. For that, we'll need cooperation and perfect coordination from you two. Therefore, I'm having you two live together."
Both of them nodded, although Asuka did so hesitantly, with disgust plainly visible on her face.
"Good, I'm glad you understand. The Angel is currently restoring itself. It will begin its second assault in five days, so there's no time." She waited for any protest… yet there were none "In order for you to master perfect unison, you'll memorize the attack pattern that's been arranged to this music." She held out a cassette containing the track "In five days, as soon as possible."
Several hours later, after everything had been installed, Misato found out that the task would not be easy.
"Arrghhh! Why do you keep failing?! Can't you speed up to a normal pace?!" shouted Asuka furiously.
"Sorry… but could you please slow down a bit?" mumbled Shinji
'Hmm… it is not very like him any more to mumble like that… but he didn't know Asuka either.'
"Do you imply that it's my fault you can't keep up at all?!"
"Actually Asuka, you should try to slow down a bit. You are too fast." said Misato with a frown
"Hah, I don't think so. Come on idiot, you have to go faster!"
'We have a long way to go…' the Major thought with a sigh.
The next day was pretty similar. Him and Asuka were playing their own roles. But unfortunately, that meant they couldn't act as their real selves. It was frustrating. And worst of all, Misato installed several cameras to watch them. However, Shinji had a plan for this.
He was currently sitting in front of his laptop, making a computer script. Asuka was sitting on his right, browsing pictures of cats on the Internet.
"So what will this do? And how did you learn to script anyways?" she whispered to him
"You can find everything you need on the Internet, it's actually a very easy language." He answered silently "One day and you'll easily pick it up."
"I never really wanted to do it. My degree was from biology and it was shortened anyways so I can't say I really touched anything more. All my time was spent for studies and what little I had left, I usually played games. Anyways, what will this do?"
"The cameras are connected to the network in the apartment. She can access it any time she wants through the encrypted NERV connection. That is, unless the cameras would not accept the connection at all so it would look like the entire apartment has connection issues." Shinji explained his plan "And since the cameras also use the same system, it won't be that hard to sever the connection. Then they simply cease to record and we'd have several minutes of free time before the script resumes the cameras."
"…That is perfect. Although I still have to ask, how do you even know how to start scripting? What got you into it?"
"Two things to be honest. The first one was me preparing for this exact situation, the second one was more plain. Boredom in school."
"Oh. Well, I can't be surprised then."
"I began four months ago actually and since then I simply learned and tried different things. Anyone can learn that. I also fooled around with some other programming languages but… I sometimes use them to support the one I'm using now, but otherwise they did not interest me that much because they weren't useful for me."
"Alright then… When will it be ready?" she asked wishing for some time as herself
"Give me…" Shinji looked at his watch "Twenty minutes. I still need to test it and make it absolutely secure."
And so, they once again returned to their laptops. Fifteen minutes later, the script run through all the cameras.
"Alright, we have eleven minutes and twenty one seconds."
Asuka leaned back on her chair and smiled to him.
"So we can finally stop pretending? We've been doing it for at least twenty hours now and it's not the best feeling in the world."
"Yes. We can…" he said as Asuka stood up and made her way to him. Sitting on his lap, she softly kissed him, encircling him with her arms.
"I'm sorry. I know it's hard for you to behave like you did back then Asuka, but we have to hide ourselves from Misato as of now." He then kissed her back.
"You know, since we still have… over ten minutes, why not check if we can still move in perfect unison?" she smiled to him tapping him on the nose.
"Hmm… We can do that…"
And so, they made their way to the machine and positioned themselves. When the counter hit zero, both started.
Their timing was good, note after note was made in time until…
BZZZZT!
Both of them stopped and looked at each other.
"We fell out of sync a little bit. Our tempos are a little different now." He said with a smile.
"Well… looking at what happened, I think we are still doing great. Although, we can improve that" answered Asuka "Let's try to adjust our tempos again."
Five tries later, although barely, they managed to finish the course without mistake.
And they still had two minutes left.
"But I wonder what's happened to Shinji." said Toji staring at the floor counter.
"He's been gone three days, right?" asked Kensuke as the door opened.
Both of them walked out just to meet face to face with Hikari Horaki. Seeing her, Toji stepped forward and hugged her.
"Hey Hikari. What are you doing here?" he asked
"I want to see how Asuka is doing. What about you two?"
"To see how Ikari's doing." answered Toji, taking her hand. After a short walk, they both stopped in front of a door. "Well, it's here. See you later then. Wait, everything alright?"
"Toji... Asuka lives here and I'm sure of that." The look on her face was one of surprise "Are you sure this is his address?"
"Class rep, we were here several times already." chimed in Kensuke "Why would he change his house so soon?"
All three shrugged and pressed on the doorbell.
"Yes?" came two voices from the house
As the door opened, Toji smirked when Shinji and Asuka appeared dressed in ridiculous outfits, each wearing a pair of headphones. Meanwhile, Hikari and Kensuke stood there stunned in silence.
"Well, I suppose we owe you some explanations..." the Pilots said at the same time "Misato said that Japanese start by dressing the part, so she made us..."
Hikari huffed, her face a visage of outrage.
"That's filthy, you two! How much do you know each other, a month?! And already, you... Aghhh! I can't believe it, especially you Shinji!"
The young Ikari straightened himself.
"Hikari" he started although it did not bring much effect. "Hikari, stop." he said in a voice all three visitors knew he only used when he was completely serious "We are not doing any of that. This is a NERV training. We are pilots and therefore we work with each other. Is something wrong with that?"
"I'm sorry..." mumbled Hikari after registering what her friend just said "I shouldn't have made such assumptions. Please accept my apology." with that, she bowed deeply.
"Oh, welcome everybody!" said Misato cheerily with Rei standing at her side. "Come on in, I will tell you what is this all about."
"You shoulda told us that to begin with" said Toji to Misato while Hikari next to him cuddled Pen-Pen.
"So how is this coordination coming?" she asked.
"Well, as you can see..."
BZZZZT!
"Can't you see it?!" screamed Asuka throwing her headphones across the room "There's no way I could possibly lower myself to Shinji's level!"
Hikari sighed as she saw a big "Error" written on Asuka's screen while Shinji's was clear... for a second more until he fell and his face smacked the floor.
"It's just an utterly impossible idea!" added the redhead.
"Then you give up?" asked Misato with a smirk.
"You don't have anyone else, do you?" Asuka's smug grin was apparently a bit too much for Misato.
"Rei?"
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"Why don't you try?
"Yes, Ma'am."
Asuka watched with wide eyes as Rei walked over and picked up her headphones, only glimpsing inside them and putting them on her head. She then positioned herself on the mat and the sounds started flowing. The redhead could only gasp as they moved in good coordination, both beeps at the correct times with only minor de-synchronization.
"It looks like I should alter the operation to pair Shinji and Rei." said Misato after everyone gasped in awe.
"No! I can't stand this! I've had enough!" shouted Asuka running out of the room and slamming the door.
"Asuka!" shouted Hikari "Shinji! Go after her!"
Ikari just nodded and walked out of the room.
Everyone looked at Hikari and nobody noticed Rei taking a note out of the headphones and hiding it in her blouse, slightly smiling.
Rei, do your best – Asuka
Shinji hurried towards the shop she went to the last time. He suspected she would attempt something like that again, she wanted time for herself. And so, he found her leaning against the soda machine, grinning.
"You might wonder why I did this without informing you…"
"Actually, I think I already know." he responded smiling "You wanted it all to look more realistically."
"So what do you want to drink? There's quite a lot to choose from. My treat this time."
Each of them took a can of soda and went to the towards the cashier.
"Shinji, I'll give you the money. Section-2 is probably watching the door, so they will see I'm paying."
"You know I can easily cover such a small amount…" he smirked
"It's the gesture that counts! Now let me pay for it, you will do it another time." she responded with a mock anger.
They then proceeded to the roof of the apartment and both sat on the bench, leaning on each other.
"I don't know why, I always liked to watch the sunsets." admitted Asuka after a while "They relaxed me and gave me a feeling… that everything would somehow be okay."
"I know I also used to gaze at them when I was young but after my father sent me away, I stopped. But sitting like that and watching it, I think I still have a thing for them." he said gently squeezing her hand.
"The city does add its magic to it. With most building coated with glass… well, you see this. You were right, maybe lights of a city are not the only thing to watch out for."
Silence reigned for a few minutes, neither of the Pilots thought about anything, they simply stayed like that embracing the feeling and each other, soda cans long forgotten.
"You know we have to go Asuka." said Shinji, sadness audible in his voice "Misato will soon go look for us."
A sigh of disappointment was heard from the redhead as she snuggled closer to him.
"One more minute…"
Both of them once again delved into hard training.
On the first day they pretended, but on the second, they were really regaining the synchronization they lost. Each time they tried, they became more fluid. After the thirtieth try that day, they surpassed what they were previously capable of.
Misato watched in stunned silence as they both moved on the mat, their actions matching in absolute perfection. Each step was dead on, no buzzers rang that day. And they didn't stop training. Over and over, they somehow managed to improve their previous try.
"I am… speechless, kids. I didn't think we would manage. Only five days and yet you exceeded all of my expectations. I would take you to a nice restaurant but… I have to stay in NERV tonight, since the attack resumes tomorrow, I will have a lot of job to do. So sorry."
Asuka huffed while Shinji smiled.
"Don't worry Misato, there's no problem with that."
"Yeah, of course, for you it's no problem, getting to stay with the great Asuka Langley Soryu, but what about me?! I have to stay here with you!" screamed the outraged redhead.
'God, I hope those two will really get along someday…'
Several hours later, Misato left the apartment and both Pilots were alone, Shinji coding on his laptop and Asuka reading a book.
"Hey, Asuka, why don't we watch the sunset on the roof? It's beautiful today."
"So how much time do we have? Same as always?" asked the girl smiling warmly.
"I disabled the network in the entire building for twenty hours. She has to stay at NERV anyways so she probably won't even check on us that often."
"Just let me get dressed into something better then."
Asuka retreated into her room and Shinji into his. After a while, both emerged, Asuka dressed in her yellow sundress and Shinji in a green shirt and a pair of jeans.
'She looks absolutely wonderful like that...'
They then took each other's hands and closed the door to the apartment. Then they proceeded to the roof and picked a comfortable position on a bench located there Asuka laying on it, her head on Shinji's lap.
"The last time at the same time we were arguing, none of us suspected we could ever end up like this." Shinji said stroking his girlfriend's hair.
"I am actually glad all of this happened. If not for Instrumentality and our return, it would probably take us a long time to work it out."
'She is valuing our relationship much more than the pain she had to endure...'
"I am glad too. Remember our real first meeting on the aircraft carrier?" he asked her with a smile.
"It wasn't the best, I know. I slapped all three of you even though it wasn't your fault." responded Asuka, her face becoming red from shame.
"And then Toji gave his response." Shinji laughed
"Well, I deserved that. I did not want to see that but I deserved that. Oh, yes, there..." she moaned as the young Ikari stroked the hair near her ears.
"Then we defeated our first Angel together. And then, we had the training."
"I know I said I hated it but it wasn't bad at all... and sorry for the "Wall of Jericho". I didn't know what I wanted then so I gave you something to work on... and felt bad about it later." the redhead admitted regretfully.
"But from what I see... a leopard can change his spots..." he joked
"Also bible?"
"Yes, Jeremiah. Quite a long one actually."
"I'm surprised you read it. You should know I won't try anything like that again." she giggled with an amused smirk.
"I didn't know if you'd be back, so I prepared how I could."
"I promise, I won't give you any riddles like that... unless I do that just as harmless fun." said Asuka lifting her head and kissing him softly on the lips.
"I've learned something from everything we were through. Holding back just leads to loss. And at Mount Asama, with the 8th Angel, I realised that I almost lost you there."
Asuka hugged him tightly, tears in her eyes. Did she already suspect what he intended?
"I will do everything not to let that happen. No matter what we face, I will be there for you and I will protect you." he whispered returning the embrace "I love you Asuka. And I will not let you go."
The girl leaned in even closer kissing him on the lips, tears of joy streaming down her face.
"I love you too Shinji. And no matter what happens, I will always be at your side."
With sun setting on the horizon, two young people finally found what was most important for them.
Each other.
"No, somebody will see us!" whispered Misato trying to free herself from Kaji's grip.
"Who's watching?"
"Somebmpphh..." she was however silenced by a pair of lips, all her struggle in vain. Her legs became wobbly, unable to hold her weight, which led her to leaning on Kaji's body.
'No, not again... I can't... no...'
Her body was then pressed towards the wall. She tried to resist, but the man was stronger and something inside her weakened her defence.
Her eye glimpsed on the floor counter and after several more seconds, the door opened, giving Misato an escape route.
"Honestly! There's nothing between us anymore." she mumbled after stumbling out of the lift "Don't do that again."
"But your lips didn't say no." replied Kaji picking up files Misato dropped "Your lips or your words... Which one should I trust?"
'That bastard! He's doing it again!'
The Major stepped forward and raised her hand to hit the files he picked up... just to be stopped by a firm grip from her left side.
"You could at least say "thank you", Misato." said Ritsuko with a stern glare "He did pick all of them up for you."
"But..." she tried to say, only to be cut off once again.
"No buts. Now be nice and say it."
'DAMN YOU RITSU! YOU TRAITOR!'
"...thanks..." she mumbled as quietly as she could, sending her friend a murderous look while taking the folders from the grinning man.
"Good. Now come on, let's go to the cafeteria."
Kaji bowed in half as the lift's door closed, which caused Misato to try and throw the files at the door... just to be stopped again.
"You're gonna make a mess and then what? Come on, let's drink some coffee."
They stayed in each other's embrace for nearly an hour, each of them overjoyed and unwilling to let go of the other. However, when the sun was long below the horizon, they returned to the apartment to ready for sleep.
After using the bathroom, washing themselves and brushing their teeth, they changed into their night clothes. They had to get to sleep quite early to be relaxed and ready for battle next day.
"Goodnight my love" said Shinji kissing Asuka on her lips. The girl returned his embrace and after a moment, they released each other.
"Shinji? Can we sleep together tonight?" she asked sheepishly.
In response the boy smiled and took her hand leading her to his room. Both laid on the futon in each other's arms.
"You know... I also wanted to say it today." said the redhead after a while. "This sync training is really taking its toll on us."
"I don't think it's just the training..." replied Shinji stroking her back "I noticed how similarly we behaved in most situations before... well, before everything went to hell."
"But now everything is fine. And we will not repeat the same mistakes."
"No, we will not. But if you decide to jump into that stupid volcano again, I'm going to pull you up, no matter how deep you are." he said in a reassuring yet serious voice.
"I think I'll have to but I promise to be careful in there. No matter what Misato says, I won't try to capture that Angel. And don't you dare kill yourself trying to rescue me if anything goes wrong." replied the redhead laying her head on Shinji's chest.
"Let's not talk about that. I promise you, nothing bad will happen to you. No matter where you are, you won't need to fear. I will be there for you." he tightened his hug.
"Baka..."
Those were their last words before both Pilots drifted off to sleep.
And for the first time since his return, Shinji dreamed.
"You're unusually sober today." said the doctor, giving her friend a cup of coffee.
"Yeah, a little. You betrayed me Ritsu." said the Major sipping on the hot drink.
"No. I merely helped you out. It seems you still love him."
Misato almost choked on the liquid, spilling a bit of it around.
"Don't say weird stuff like that! Who'd want that jerk?! It may have been a youthful indiscretion, but I can't believe I was dating a jerk like him." she said with disgust "It's the biggest blemish on my life."
"He still likes you a lot. Did I scare you?"
"Why you lousy..."
"Getting angry only shows I hit a sore spot." then Ritsuko's face took a serious expression "But with the Angels, we are under a constant danger of death. If he still loves you, then perhaps you should try again. Throughout those years both of you matured."
"...You think he loved me? He never said it to me." Misato said after a long moment of silence.
"Of course. Men only say it when they are ready but he displayed it all the time. He was always at your side, caring about you and helping you whenever he could. He just needed a bit more time before he could say it."
Once again, the Major was quiet, her eyes cast at the floor.
"It was my fault back then, wasn't it?" she whispered.
"That is a question only you can answer. But it was you, who decided to break up."
"It wasn't him who was immature... it was me." added Misato, her voice unstable.
"Don't think about it now, but after tomorrow's battle. You should give yourself some time to think about it. But promise me, that you will."
"Alright Ritsu... I promise. But at least give me time. Now let's think about tomorrow. Do we deploy Unit-00?"
"It suffered quite a bit in the past months and the last battle broke a dam of problems. We are however deploying Unit-01, and if necessary, its new weapon."
"You're talking about the longsword, right? Will Asuka also get one?"
"I don't think so. It is a specialised weapon and Asuka trained much more with Progressive Knives, never with a sword completely outside of the Eva programme. Well, outside until now." added Ritsuko "Such weapon requires some experience to be used correctly. She already has the glaive though, it would be unnecessary to teach her fighting with a longsword."
"Well, I still suppose she will be pissed Shinji gets that and she doesn't. And you made it look wonderful with all the additional details."
"The bridge bunnies spent quite lot of time designing its looks. It seemed they enjoyed themselves. But there are other matters Misato. How are Shinji and Asuka doing?"
"Well... they synchronized beyond any expectations but it seems they still don't really like each other. At least Asuka doesn't like Shinji."
"Give them some time. They might even get together one day..." teased Ritsuko.
"I don't think so. And drop the topic of love already!"
"Holy shit..." muttered Asuka staring in awe at the massive form of Unit-01.
It was something to look at. The entire Eva was painted black with golden accents, it looked like a grim warrior from El Dorado.
'To think Shinji would choose something like this... I love that paint job. No more green, no more purple, it looks really noble now.'
Additionally to gold, some elements, like the jaw or several pieces of breastplate, were painted in dark gray, adding more depth to the colour scheme.
'Now this looks serious. To be honest, who the hell picked purple as the main colour?! Oh wait, it was probably her. I do wonder however what would she say about the new look...'
"Pilots Ikari and Soryu are to get into their respective Evangelions and ready for battle." announced someone over the comm.
'Alright then, good luck my love. I will see you after we win.'
"Target has broken through the final defence line at Gora." announced Shigeru.
"Here it comes! We won't fail this time!" Misato said with a confident grin "Deploy your AT fields as soon as the music starts. Then stick to the operation. Got it, you two?"
"Acknowledged." came from both Pilots over the comm.
"The target has entered the mountains."
"Full power, maximum speed from the start, got it?" Asuka asked Shinji.
"I expect no less." was the reply.
'They are both confident. Good.'
"Target entering Ground Zero." said Shigeru.
"Detach external power cables. Launch."
Two Evangelions rocketed towards the surface, the battery clocks constantly counting down seconds till the end of power. Thrown up by the force of lifts, they had enough time to throw two progressive javelins. Both were reflected by the Angel but after they landed, a field activated between them, cutting the monster in half.
Both Units jumped towards the newly deployed weapons and opened fire at their respective targets. Backflipping several times saved them from energy blasts projected by the twin beasts. After landing on a pressure plate, a heat shield blocked the next blasts, which allowed the Evas to fire at the targets from behind cover.
In perfect synchronization, two bullets hit the cores, which caused the twins to explode, scattering Angel matter everywhere.
'Oh shit.' thought Shinji.
"Good job kids. That went better than expected. You can now return, Pattern Blue is gone." said Misato over the comm.
After a while however, the remains took form once again, reforming what was once two beings, into six smaller Angels.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" screamed Misato into the comm "Both of you, get the power cables. Shinji, we are deploying it hundred meters north!"
People were running in the command centre, on the screen the delivery of the longsword codenamed Durendal.
'Let's hope it will be as sturdy as the name giver…' thought Ritsuko watching the weapon being loaded and sent through the Evangelion lift towards the surface. It was a necessary solution as the length didn't allow for using normal lifts.
"Delivery in seven seconds!" shouted Makoto.
Asuka watched as the black and gold Unit plugged in the cable and walked towards the Eva lift, disappearing behind the power building.
'What are they deploying?' she thought.
The answer however completely stunned her. Because what emerged was Shinji's Evangelion, a longsword in its hands, blade resting on the mecha's shoulder.
"Am I seeing things?" she muttered watching the sun reflecting in the triangular block of quartz adorning the base of the blade. Crossguard, hilt and pommel were all black with golden accents, just like the Unit itself. Suddenly, the Eva ran towards her, sword now carried in its right hand.
"…hind you, Asuka!" Shinji's shouting finally snapped her out of the shock before she was pushed aside by Shinji and witnessed the progressive blade moving not two meters from where she stood, impaling one of the Angels through its core.
"Watch out." he added.
She nodded and sprinted towards a building holding a Progressive Glaive. Spotting a target on the border of her vision, she took the weapon and swung it, cutting into an orange beast, the force embedding the polearm deep in its flesh.
A second later, she was thrown forward with a force that pushed the LCL out of her lungs. Another second and she was tossed on her back by another monster. Just before another one could make a move, she aimed at it and activated the spike launchers, shattering the core.
Asuka was then forced to dodge a blow by jumping aside. It gave her the time to look at the scene. The punctured Israfel was raising back while the other two were standing beside it. She glimpsed left where she saw the black Eva hurrying up to its feet and smashing one of the small monsters in a face with the pommel of the sword.
"Shinji, behind you!" she screamed as an Angel tried to sneak up behind him. She then saw her partner changing his position with skilled footwork, shifting his weight allowed him for a faster and more powerful attack. However, the effects of it remained unknown to her as once again she was hit, this time in the head.
Asuka's vision blurred and darkened, her ears rang. Forcing herself to stay conscious, she impaled the next one and dodged another attack thrown at her to see all three Angels retreat for a moment to resume their offensive once again.
Thanks to the weapon he was wielding, Shinji fared quite a bit better than Asuka. Ten months of every day training proved not to be a waste of time. However no matter how much did the sword cut, shatter and puncture, he was constantly on verge of a mistake, having taken quite a few hits. And looking at his girlfriend, he did not envy her position. The glaive was simply too long to be used effectively with the only cutting part being on its end. The Progressive Knife however, was too short.
"Asuka, the axe!" he shouted, dodging another blow and countering it with a shoulder bash into his attacker, knocking the monster to the ground. He then gripped the sword by the blade and used it as a warhammer, shattering the core with the crossguard.
'That's you down for the moment, should take it some time to get back up' he thought just before he was hit in the back with an energy blast which sent him sprawling to the ground.
The scene unfolding on the main screen was terrifying. Misato was prepared for a quick and clean victory.
This however, was something else. It already lasted for more than five minutes and didn't look like it was about to end. Both Units were managing in their own method. Asuka's reflexes and skill in general combat made her use multiple weapons. After Shinji suggested it, she wielded the axe most of the time, sometimes using her Progressive Knife or the glaive. The young Ikari however, relied on his ability to chain attacks with all parts of the sword onto multiple opponents. Both techniques however were in vain as the Angels kept regenerating far too quickly and returned to the fray.
"Ritsuko, can't we deploy Unit-00?!" shouted the Major over the sounds of the massacre.
"It's main functions aren't working after the last attack, there's no backup! They can't even retreat!" replied the Doctor constantly analysing the data on Maya's screen "What was once Target A focused on Unit-01, Target B is occupying Unit-02!"
"Shinji, Asuka, we are working on a solution!" said Misato to the comm "Until then you have to hold your ground!"
"That's... easier said... than done... you know!" panted Asuka in response.
She was beginning to slowly get into it, even though her stamina was draining. Dodging became a little bit easier as she predicted when the next attack would come.
'Israfel, that name is written in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Angel of Song. But the music won't work!' her mind screamed as a beam of energy barely missed her head 'What else does a song have! Damn it, think!'
She saw one of the Angel's core flash and the beast jumped at her ready to knock her to the ground again. While the attacks couldn't penetrate the Eva's armour, they inflicted bashing damage through it. And she definitely felt it, her whole body was aching but adrenaline managed to push back the pain enough for her to fight properly.
The axe was a good idea, the length was perfect in such close combat despite not having the sword's blade going through its whole length. Asuka used the momentum of her attacker's leap and embedded the weapon deep in her foe, demolishing the glowing sphere. Throwing the limp Angel at one of its siblings, she noticed something.
'Their cores! They only glow when they attack!' she then observed as the last Israfel prepared for an energy blast, the red orb glistening with vibrant light. She dodged the blast and stood back allowing the Angels to recover 'Let's look if I'm right…'
After a about two seconds, the beasts split up, trying to surround her. She noticed the first one attacking from behind her. The core glowed brilliantly and the monster shifted its weight throwing a kick at her Evangelion. She swiftly dodged it and observed the next one attack from a completely different angle, flying right over her head.
'Wait a second… when will the last one attack?' she thought and a second later barely managed to roll away from a beam of energy.
'The other part of the song! Rhythm!' her mind screamed 'Their attacks differ by exactly one second!'
"Third! They attack exactly a second after each other! Try to destroy the core when it glows, all three one after another!"
"That might just work!" came Misato's voice through the comm.
"Alright… will try that…" Shinji managed to say as he readied himself for the task.
The first Angel closed the distance, its core glowing furiously. It was then cut straight through as the long vibrating blade slashed its way through the monster. Shinji then tried to lunge at the next one but it was already too late. He attempted to change his trajectory but the weight of the umbilical cable slowed him down just enough for his face to get hit by the weight of the Angel.
His vision blurred from the force and he fell to the ground.
"Both of you, detach your cables, try to finish this quickly!"he heard Misato scream through the comm channel.
He rolled away from the blast of energy and quickly detached his cable. He was exhausted. The battle was raging on for about ten minutes already, the struggle was straining him both physically and mentally.
One of the Israfels once again rocketed in his direction.
'One last try…'
The tip of the blade split the monster's core in several pieces. Shinji wasted no time to slash to his right, slicing the attacker through its body. He then gripped the sword near the end of the blade, pommel facing towards the ground. This caught the next Angel which allowed Unit-01 to gain leverage and throw it over the Eva's head. The young Ikari then thrust the blade into the glowing sphere.
A few seconds later, all three Angels rose from the ground again.
"It's not working!" he shouted before heat engulfed him as an energy blast hit him straight on. The attack was so powerful that his view blackened almost entirely, there was no LCL in his lungs to breathe.
"Shinji! What's his status?!"
"Vital signs still present, he might be unconscious!" replied the Ritsuko, sweat evident on her forehead "Prepare for recovery of the Unit, we are aborting the operation!"
"Major, should we call in the JSSDF?!"
"Yes. Contact the squadron. Asuka, retreat!"
"Wait, belay that order!" shouted the Doctor "Unit-01 is still moving!"
With the remains of his strength, he thrust the sword into the ground and used it to raise from the ground.
'I am… not going down… while Asuka's still on the field…'
"Asuka… I think we have… to… do this at once. Each… pair… at the same time." he uttered while supporting the sword with his other hand on the blade to stop the force of an Angel once again attacking him.
With a glimpse of an eye he caught her groggily stumbling back to her feet.
"Okay."
He didn't need to look at her to attack at the same time. Even under such giant stress, both Evangelions made one more desperate attempt to finish the battle.
Shinji thrust the sword into the attacking monster shattering its core and wasted no time to spin around. The next beast was caught by the long edge, its glowing red sphere split in half. He then blindly attacked behind himself with the pommel hoping it wouldn't miss. It hit, the force destroying the Angel's Fruit of Life and launching the airborne Israfel away.
After another two seconds, the beasts were still limp. He turned his head and saw Unit-02 half-crouching, progressive knife in its hand still embedded in one of the Angels laying on the Eva. His vision then faded away.
A/N: Eternal glory and gratitude to tacitblue1973, my proofreader and grammatical help, he is making this much more readable :)
This is the longest chapter so far and one of the most important in the entire story.
Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Cheers, Vedemin