Mari was practically in heaven. The sleeping girl had no idea what she was up against, but it was comfy, warm, and soft as all hell, so she didn't really care. Mari snuggled up to it enthusiastically, practically burying herself in the warmth. The girl sighed, a sound of complete contentment.
"Mmmmmmm…"
Then, something poked her in the head.
"Mari."
"Mmm," the Brit huffed, wriggling in. No use; the mysterious thing just poked her again.
"Mari, get off me."
The brunette groaned, wiggled some more… and slowly opened her eyes. Mari glanced up, and saw Misato staring back down at her, a look of mild exasperation across her face.
"Aww… but Miso, you're so comfy," Mari whined, not budging a centimetre from atop the older woman.
"Mari," Misato replied, one eyebrow moving millimetres up. "You have until the count of three."
"One…"
The brunette groaned.
"Fine," she sighed, reluctantly pushing herself off of the captain, and rolling to the side- an act that, much to the latter's chagrin, ended up yanking the covers off the bed.
Misato gave an exaggerated sigh- clearly, other than being squashed under the Fifth Child, the whole thing hadn't been that awful.
Meanwhile, Mari stood up, letting the blankets fall to the floor. The girl spread her stance, stretching the sleep out of her limbs with another yawn.
"Well, how about we head down to the kitchen or something?" she asked. "If I'm not allowed a few more minutes of cuddles, I should at least get a proper breakfast."
Neon Genesis Evangelion:
(Not) the End
Chapter 025: You Will (Not) be Rewarded
Sunlight shimmered in from the window, brushing across the foreign girl's face. Asuka's eyes flickered open, squinting against the brightness. The redhead stifled a yawn, and propped herself up on her elbows.
The girl smacked her lips, glancing around the room. Curiously, there was no sign of Shinji around, aside from a second mattress on the floor. Then again, she didn't exactly remember him coming in either.
~Did he sleep on the couch or something?~ the girl wondered to herself momentarily.
~...no,~ she considered. ~He probably just gets up early. Why else would there be another mattress down here?~
The girl stood, rolling her neck, and made her way towards her case of clothes. Something straightforward would do for today, she decided.
.
Changing took very little time for Asuka, and only a couple minutes later, she emerged from the room, wearing some casual pants and a t-shirt. A scent caught her attention, wafting from the general direction of the kitchen. The girl sniffed the air, catching the aroma.
Food.
Asuka slunk down the hall, turning into the living room and kitchen at the end. In the latter, Shinji worked away, regularly switching between dishes. Asuka could admit it- she was surprised by the boy's focus. He had a bunch of different supplies out, arranged in small groups and spread across the room, but he seemed to be keeping everything under control.
As she watched, the boy slid something into the oven, moved the other dish to an inactive burner… and let out of a breath.
"Should take care of that for a little bit," he mumbled, before he began to turn around. "Now all that's left is the-" Shinji caught sight of the girl, and paused.
"...Morning, Third," Asuka said.
"...Asuka. You… you're up," the boy said, sounding a little startled by this revelation. "I…"
"Am I going to listen to you stumbling over your words all day? Lucky me," Asuka joked. Shinji coughed, and took a breath to compose himself.
"Well, I… you seem like you're doing better. Did you sleep well last night?" he asked cautiously.
"...Yeah," she replied. "Actually, I... slept fine." The Second Child could almost swear that Shinji sighed with relief at that- odd, but between her good mood and the great smells of breakfast, Asuka was willing to give him a pass.
Speaking of breakfast…
"Say, Third, what're you making there?" Asuka asked, nodding towards the kitchen. The boy shrugged.
"Nothing much; just some…" Shinji trailed off, waving a hand. "...stuff."
"...Stuff," Asuka repeated, slowly nodding. "Well, Third, let me tell you; your 'stuff' smells pretty darn good."
The boy smiled softly.
"It's… just what I do."
Asuka nodded.
"In that case, it looks like-"
A pair of arms slid around her neck.
"Good morning, my Princess," Mari whispered into Asuka's ear. The German girl yelped in surprise, reflexively jerked her arm back… and drove her elbow into Mari's gut. The Brit squeaked in pain, and released her grip, retreating a few steps back.
"P-princess, why?" she groaned, rubbing her stomach. Asuka turned, caught very off-guard.
"I- Four-eyes, what were you doing?"
The brunette smiled weakly, still wincing.
"Trying to give my Princess a good-morning hug, of course. Seems I tried it the wrong way, though."
The Second Child's lips twitched involuntarily. Mari's pained grin grew, and the girl glanced towards Shinji.
"You know, that smells really good, Shinji. What's-"
"Apparently, it's stuff," Asuka replied flatly.
.
The silence was broken by Shinji stifling a snort, followed soon after by Mari's chuckling. Asuka's deadpan broke down, and the girl let herself grin a little.
"Although," Mari said, a cheeky smile emblazoned on her face. "I do have to ask; where's our resident Blue Wonder? I didn't see her around in Misato's room, so unless you've gotten a little ménage à trois going on here…"
Shinji cut off with a squeak. Asuka's face contorted in a look of horror. Mari straight up cackled at their faces.
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Jeez, can't a girl make a joke?" the Fifth Child laughed. Before the others could reply, the doorbell chimed. A few seconds later, the front door slid open.
"Ikari, I have returned from the store," came a soft, whispery voice.
.
"Well, that explains that," Mari muttered, as Rei slid the door shut behind her.
The blue haired girl walked up, carrying a pair of grocery bags, and set them down on the countertop. She glanced at the others, and blinked.
"Sohryu. Illustrious. Good morning."
And with that, she turned back, moving into the other room. Shinji nodded to her, and the two brought their attention to the kitchen.
"Well, they look happy," Mari commented, leaning on the table next to Asuka. The fiery haired girl nodded.
"Kinda makes you wonder just what was going on before we got up, hmm?"
.
- Earlier that morning. Katsuragi residence.
.
Shinji sat down at the table. Across from him was Rei, waiting quietly and attentively. A soft, cool breeze drifted in through the window, brushing against their hair.
"So," he sighed. "You're grateful to me for trusting you, right?"
"That is correct."
"Even though you're… 'connected' to my father."
"That is also correct."
The boy's brow furrowed.
"... what's with that, anyways? 'Connected'?"
Almost as expected, Rei didn't squirm, fidget, or otherwise avoid the question.
"The Commander is my legal guardian… among other things."
Shinji frowned.
"Him?" he asked. "But don't you have a…"
'I am Rei Ayanami. I am Lilith.'
As a memory flickered to life in his head, the boy's words died off.
"...Oh."
"Yes," Rei replied, inferring his realisation. "He is the closest person I have to family. And yet, despite your own misgivings with him, you still associate-"
"I- Rei, that has nothing to do with it!" Shinji interrupted with a half-whisper. The girl stopped talking, and waited.
"...Ayanami, I only recently learned about this thing with you and my father a few weeks ago. I'll… I'll admit, I'm still a little concerned about a couple things- but, well, it doesn't seem like he's been a bad influence, really," the boy said. "I mean… you're completely different from him. I guess… I guess that it'd be just kind of stupid for me to start treating you differently because of something like that."
Rei nodded gratefully, neither of the two bringing up the obvious 'something' that was a far bigger deal than the topic at hand.
.
The boy coughed, and smacked his lips.
"Say, Ayanami… would you mind helping me with the meals today?" he asked.
"...I would very much enjoy that," Rei replied.
.
.
Something down the hall behind Asuka grunted. Drawn away from the other two Children, the pair of foreigners turned around- just as Misato came into view.
Asuka grimaced.
"...You again."
Misato sighed, and looked over.
"Yep, me again. That's what happens when you're living in my apartment, Asuka," she replied flatly. Asuka huffed, and twisted away, a glower darkening her face. Mari promptly swung an arm around the girl, twisting her back.
"Oh, Princess," the girl sighed. "It's a brand new day; don't ruin it by fouling things up here."
"But she-"
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Misato interrupted. "'Misato's an awful tactician, what the hell is she thinking?' And all that jazz." Asuka sniffed, unamused by the older woman's high-pitched imitation of her. Misato folded her arms.
"Look… can we just have breakfast first? After that, you can chastise me and criticise my abilities all you like."
.
"...Fine," the Second Child sighed, muttering the rest under her breath. "I haven't really had breakfast either."
- Half an hour later. Katsuragi residence.
.
They sat in the living room, on opposite sides of the table.
"Alright," Misato said. "So, you're dissatisfied with my plan, Asuka."
"Dissatisfied's putting it mildly," the girl sighed. Misato rubbed her forehead, and took a breath.
"Ignoring that... I want to hear from you just what you think the plan needs to work."
Asuka looked up, utterly perplexed by what she'd just heard.
"...Wait, you're letting me change your plan?"
"I'm letting you give advice on how I should change it," Misato replied.
"...Huh."
Asuka took a breath, mentally preparing herself.
"Alright then. The first thing that any plan should do is aim to narrow the gap between our numbers. America has their two Evas, and there's that Jet Alone thing lying around here, right?"
Misato nodded.
"That's true; Units three-dash and four-dash are both finished, and have their pilots. The only problem is that getting them over here in time is going to be a legal nightmare... Still, a good start. What else?"
"Well… okay, that training thing was actually a pretty good idea. But-"
"You want to be in charge of it. I know, Asuka," Misato interrupted. "And… well, I guess it won't hurt that much. Even if I don't get the rest of this changed, I'm sure I can manage that."
The girl stared, silent for a few seconds.
"You're not just saying that to shut me up, are you?"
"Nah," Misato replied, pausing to take a sip of beer. "I'm not that bad of a person as to lie to your face for a few seconds of quiet."
"...Anything else?"
.
"I…" Asuka sighed. "No, I suppose not."
"Then are we good?" the older woman asked.
The Second Child glanced around, looking at the faces of the other people. Mari, giving Asuka her best set of puppy dog eyes; Shinji, looking somewhat concerned about this; Rei, watching her with curiosity.
~...Come on, Asuka,~ the girl thought to herself. ~There's no reason to keep holding a grudge like this. Misato's willing to let things go; you should as well.~
"... Yeah," Asuka said, turning back to Misato. "I guess we're good."
Misato took a deep breath. It was just a standard meeting; she'd done this many times before. There was nothing to be stressed about.
Thus composed, the woman reached forwards, and pressed the buzzer.
.
"You may come in," the distorted voice of Commander Ikari crackled, as the door to his office opened.
Misato stepped inside.
As always, the room was… less than welcoming. Even for Misato, its size and emptiness made her feel small.
"Is there something you wish to tell me, Captain Katsuragi?"
The voice drew her back to the room's sole other occupant, who sat calmly at a desk by the end of the room. The woman nodded, and crossed over, stopping a few metres from the desk.
"Sir, I've recently revised my plan. There were a few… issues I hadn't accounted for, initially. I wanted to get permission to use the new version, Commander."
The man leaned back.
"Then please, explain this new plan of yours."
And so she did, in as much detail as she could, hoping that it sounded feasible enough to him. Gendo stayed quiet for the most part, giving the occasional nod of acknowledgement, or adjusting his posture a bit, but otherwise not saying anything.
Finally, she finished.
.
And then, Gendo spoke.
"Captain."
"Yes?" Misato asked cautiously.
The man's glasses glinted, almost seeming to glow from behind.
"For now, consider your plan approved."
.
Training started almost immediately after that; with just under a week until both the Evas and the Angels were ready, there was no time to lose. And so, in an attempt to get everyone on the right track, Misato had taken them down to Nerv's physical training facilities, and let Asuka do her thing.
It was… involved, at least. The entire point of it was to be a warm-up to the rest of the week, which Shinji… supposed it accomplished.
Honestly, the boy was just exhausted from it. Even with the breaks and slower pacing, by the time it was done, Shinji just wanted to collapse on his bed and not get up. Even Angel fights tended to take under ten minutes to conclude- not several hours.
And, of course, there'd be more work tomorrow- all part of the plan. He supposed he was lucky that it was only this day that all the strenuous stuff was taking place on in such an amount; the rest of the week, such things were apparently scheduled to take a backseat to a focus on building up their ability to fight as a team. But in the meanwhile...
"Oi, Third! What's up?"
The boy turned, taking the water bottle away from his mouth as Mari sat down next to him. The girl exhaled, and brushed her hair back from her face.
"...Not much, I don't think," he replied. "Just tired."
"Yeah, figured," Mari said.
"Mhm."
.
.
"Say, Shinji…"
"Yeah, Makinami?"
The girl leaned back, folding her hands behind her head.
"You're a good kid, you know?"
Shinji blinked- Mari's statement had come a little bit out of nowhere.
"...Okay?"
The girl smirked.
"Little bit out of the blue, I know. Doesn't make it false, though."
The boy nodded slowly.
"Uh huh…"
Mari shrugged.
"That's really it. I just felt like saying it, that's all." The girl sighed. "Who knows, maybe I'm just losing my filter out of sheer exhaustion or something. Wouldn't surprise me; I'm plenty damn wiped, I'll tell you."
The boy nodded.
"I… I think I can get that. A little."
"...You don't talk much, do you, Shinji?" Mari sighed. "Not anymore, I mean. ...I think the most you've said recently was when you got pissed off at your father, and screamed out your heart at him."
The boy's brow furrowed.
"Yeah. Guess I don't." Shinji could almost feel what the next question would be- so why not get it over with? "I… it's been like that since the Sixth Angel. Ramiel."
Mari nodded. She didn't need him to describe it- she'd been there when the octahedron had opened fire, had nearly killed the boy.
.
"That should have been me getting boiled out there."
Well, that got Shinji's attention.
"I- what?" the boy asked, turning towards the Fifth Child. Mari shrugged, staring off at the ceiling.
"I'm serious; it was a complete and utter fluke that you ended up being deployed. I had a higher synch ratio than you, more training than you, and my Eva was fully repaired," the brunette answered. "It should have been me out there."
The boy stared.
"Makinami… I… no, there's no reason why you should have to-"
"Shinji, look. Just that same day, you went and saved me and Rei from getting vapourized. If I could've taken that shot instead of you... well, I guess I'd feel more even."
"But… but we're already even." The girl's eyebrow rose, her head tilting in curiosity. Shinji pressed on. "The first time we met. You stopped the Angel from getting at me and Misato. You're the whole reason I got to Nerv in the first place, Makinami."
"That's just common kindness, Shinji. You put yourself in the way, even when you were up against the same thing that- I'll say it again- almost killed you. That takes some serious guts."
The boy frowned.
"But-" he started, only to be interrupted by the girl heaving out a sigh.
"Alright, guess you're gonna be stubborn on this," the girl said, resigned. "How about we just say we're both awesome, okay?"
.
"...Okay." the Third Child replied. Mari shoved her glasses up, and smirked.
"Great. Now come on, I'm sure we can manage a little more work before turning in for today."
.
.
It was on the fourth day of the week that the two American pilots arrived, with their Evangelions in tow. A little late- but nothing unsalvageable for Nerv.
The four Children waited by the helipad, as the chrome silver and flat black shapes of the American Evas were lowered to the ground in the distance. The chop-chop-chop of the descending helicopter rose in volume, before the dull green vehicle touched down, and turned off its rotors. On its side, a door opened, a ramp extending down as well. Two Children exited.
The boy looked relaxed, a stockily built individual with a buzzcut of blond hair and a set of sunglasses over his eyes. He walked down the ramp, suitcase trundling behind him, and paused, glancing back over his shoulder.
A girl followed out, hands shoved in the pockets of her black jacket, a baseball cap tilting jauntily across her head. Pale blue eyes glinted mischievously until the brim, searching the area.
"Don't get any ideas, Four-Eyes," Asuka hissed to Mari.
"And give up the wonders of German engineering? Princess, you know me better than that," the Brit whispered back, picking up on her partner's teasing tone. Over on the ramp, the two perked up, and turned towards the sound.
Putting on a little haste, the pair made their way down the ramp, and hurried over towards the group.
"Um, excuse me," the boy began in English. "But… well…"
"Do you lot speak English, is what my brother's trying to say," the girl interrupted- also speaking English. Asuka raised an eyebrow.
"Ja, ich spreche Englisch."
.
The two blinked.
~...Oh god, they're even more hopeless than I'd thought.~ Asuka rolled her eyes, and switched over to another language.
"Yes," the Second Child responded. "Yes, I speak English."
"And she's not the only one," Mari offered, speaking in a very chipper tone. "Hullo there, you two."
The siblings blinked.
"...Okay then," the boy muttered, before clearing his throat. "Well, that's… certainly fortunate for us," he said, extending an open hand with a hopeful grin. "I'm Marco. Marco Vincennes. I'm the pilot of Unit-04 Custom, the silver one over there. This is my sister Maria- she pilots Unit-03 Custom."
Asuka took the offered hand, and gave it a shake.
"Asuka Langley Sohryu, Second Child."
Marco smiled.
"Well, it's good to meet you, Asuka," the boy said, and looked over at the other three. "And you as well…"
"Mari," the Brit finished for him, pointing a thumb over her shoulder at the remaining two. "And they're Rei and Shinji. They don't speak English."
Marco's grin dimmed a little.
"...Well, that's a pretty big problem," Maria spoke up, planting a hand on her hip. "Neither me nor my brother speaks Japanese."
.
The rest of the week went… decently well. There were more than a few obstacles- the most glaring of which was the American pilots' inability to speak Japanese. Most of the time, either Asuka or Mari had to translate for them, as very few people in Tokyo-3 spoke more than a few fragments of English. Still, other than the language barrier, training continued smoothly.
It was simulations where the new arrivals really shown; clearly, they'd taken their training in computerized environments with a decent fraction of the seriousness the Second Child had possessed. Unit-03' and 04's unique equipment leant themselves well to a certain style of fighting, and Asuka and Misato had managed to corral them into proper organisation.
Rei, Shinji, and Mari also showed good progress. The three had experience working together before- during Shinji's first deployment, and during Operation Yashima- so this was marginally closer to just practice, rather than learning how to do so.
The sixth day, the seventh combatant arrived to participate- though not in their full body. As it turned out, MAGI Gabriel did speak English- albeit in an odd manner that sounded an awful lot like he was simply running his speech through Google Translate each time.
The Jet Alone 2 was still being repaired, according to the AI, but it'd have the arm reattached by the next day- just in time for the fight. In the meanwhile, Gabriel would catch up on the plan, and what the Children had figured out so far. It wouldn't take long, due to his… unique composition.
.
The last simulated fight of the day was an all-out brawl- all six Children and the Jet Alone 2 against sixteen pale grey Dummy Evangelions, each modified to heal themselves and coordinate almost perfectly. It was… difficult, to say the least. In the end, though, they still won.
Barely.
Doctor Akagi had assured them afterwards that the simulation was intended to be harder than what they'd actually be facing- especially since the Angel wasn't equipped with weapons like the Evas were. The sentiment brought them little relief. No matter what, this was still going to be a tough operation.
And, unlike the simulations, they wouldn't have a do-over.
.
Have the plugs finished their recording? That data will be important.
Of course, chairman. Every last byte was gathered.
Excellent. Some variation from fighting with their father will do the Nemesis Series good... when the time comes at last.
.
.
~This is it. All or nothing,~ Asuka thought. The six Children all sat in their Evangelions, waiting breathlessly for the launch. The Angel was being funnelled straight to them, the JSSDF leading it around and away from other cities to minimize collateral. All they had to worry about was fighting the damn thing.
"Six minutes until launch," Lieutenant Hyuga announced.
Asuka took a slow breath, and sunk into her chair. She just had to keep cool for a bit longer. Everything would be fine- they'd practiced this before, they'd learned from last time, she wasn't going to make a stupid mistake that lead to her failing… or worse.
Her console beeped, drawing the girl's attention. A simple neural command was all it took to address it.
A holographic window popped up, suspended in the LCL.
"Hey there, Princess," Mari waved, her visor split down the middle to show her face.
"Four-Eyes," Asuka said. "What is it?" The brunette smiled, and rubbed the back of her head.
"Well… I've been thinking a little. You've been here… what, almost a month?"
Asuka thought. Between the Angels, school, and everything else…
"Yeah, I guess," she replied.
"Well then," Mari said. "After this is done, after we've defeated the Angel… how about we go do something? Check out some of the restaurants, see if there's anything good at the cinema…" Mari shrugged. "Honestly, I've got no idea what you'd prefer."
Asuka blinked.
.
"...Hang on, you're asking me out? Right now, before we go into a potentially lethal fight?"
Mari chuckled in embarrassment.
"What can I say? I thought it'd be nice to make our first real battle together just a little more special."
Unbidden, a smile grew across the Second Child's face.
"You four-eyed idiot," Asuka teased. "You've got some god-awful timing, you know that?"
"Yeah," Mari admitted. "But what about my answer, your Highness?"
"I'll give it to you after we're done," she replied. The bespectacled girl on the other end shrugged.
"Eh, that'll do. Best of luck, my Princess."
"You too, Four-Eyes," Asuka said, before the hologram flickered off. The Second Child sighed, letting the warmth behind her ribs stir gently for a bit.
.
The console beeped once more.
"Alright, everyone!" Misato called over the radio. "Action stations!"
Asuka composed herself, and leaned forwards slightly, wrapping her fingers once more around the control grips. She was ready. Unit-02b's eyes lit up, the green cameras glowing steadily from within.
.
"Evas, launch!"
And away she flew.