Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.
Chapter 2: The Dreams and The Shikinamis
"Who are you?" Rei asked, surprised at the mention of her codename.
"I'm a guide," the figure said, "and I need your help."
"A guide?" Rei narrowed her eyes at the cloaked figure, her expression incredulous, "If you're a guide then how do you need my help? It should be you helping me, don't you think?"
The guide choked, "Listen wonderg-Rei, I AM a guide, let me rephrase that…I will guide you to help me-not exactly me me, but close enough."
"Why should I care? This is in my dream. You're not even real." Rei said and turned around, trying to ignore the so-called guide and find a way out of this strange place.
The guide grumbled irately, "Rei Ayanami, the First Child! Spawn of Lilith! Look at me!"
Rei blinked. No one except her father, her mother, Dr. Naoko Akagi, and Professor Fuyutsuki should know that. She was told to be the key to human evolution – she was artificially produced from Lilith below GeoFront and Yui's DNA. She had a purpose. Although her parents treated her like any other normal girl, she knew what her ultimate destiny was.
The contact experiment with Adam.
The Dead Sea Scrolls stated that only Adam and Lilith's kin could succeed in the contact experiment, and The Two was supposed to be the only natural candidate. Apparently SEELE got impatient and tried to artificially create their own The Two – Rei Ikari.
She shook it off, thinking it was just a conversation with her subconscious.
"No I'm not!" The guide raised her -Rei could clearly recognize the voice was a girl's- volume, "I know all this because I am-" the guide paused for a second, seemingly choosing her next words cautiously, "I am Lilith! I need to guide you to complete your purpose! Yeah, that's it."
Rei blinked. She turned to look at the cloaked figure, "Is that so? Then I am more than willing to listen to your guidance." Now it made sense to Rei. It was possible for Lilith – a God-like creature – to contact her in some weird way. She was also made from Lilith, after all. And it was comprehensible that Lilith wanted to guide her to help complete the contact experiment.
'Lilith' sighed in relief, "Wunderbar. Now have you met a boy with brown hair and cobalt eyes, and a girl with red hair and blue eyes?"
"Yes, I have met the boy and heard about the girl, but haven't met her in person yet," Rei answered matter-of-factly.
"Good. I need you to help them get together – I mean, you know what I mean, right? They are VERY important to me," 'Lilith' asked, her hands on her hips.
"I suppose you mean I need to help them get romantically involved," Rei interpreted.
"Exactly," 'Lilith' sounded smiling, "time is almost up. I'll see you later! Also, don't tell any part of our conversation to anyone! Or everything, including your purpose, will be totally screwed!"
Although it was a weird request, Rei still accepted it. "Yes, Lilith. I shall keep the secret."
"Wunderbar. I'll keep your words." 'Lilith' faded.
Rei opened her eyes slowly at exactly 6:45 a.m. 'What a weird dream,' she thought, 'but I'll keep my words. It's God herself asking me for help; how could I refuse?'
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Shinji was lying on his bed brooding, unable to sleep. He went over the day's incidents over and over again. He was happy that at least Rei seemed to act like a normal girl, and he was employed into some secret program, so that he wouldn't need to worry about his accommodations anymore. He still needed to buy new clothes, though. That he could arrange tomorrow. He got one-third of his monthly payment – by the way, it's a LOT – as advance, and legal identity. He was content for now.
He still missed Toji, Kensuke, and Misato, though. He hoped he could still see them in this world, maybe connect with them like what he did in the world he knew.
And about Asuka – he was curious about, attracted to, and afraid of her simultaneously. He hoped he could see her again sometime. She even said, 'this ain't over'! At that time he was terrified, but now he started to…hoping she would do what she said. 'Am I a masochist or something?' He mocked himself.
Tossing and turning for almost an hour, the tiredness finally overcame and he drifted to sleep.
"Hello, Shinji Ikari," a cloaked figure appeared in front of him.
"Hmmm? How do you know my real name?" Shinji asked, surprised.
The figure chuckled, "I'm a prophesier, I know everything."
"Like?"
"You WERE the Third Child, pilot of Evangelion Unit 01." The prophesier said nonchalantly.
"Well…if you know that, do you know what happened to the world? Why nobody recognizes me?"
"It was part of my mistake… I'm sorry."
"Wha-what? YOUR mistake?"
"I didn't know this could happen…or maybe I wouldn't have done this. I'm very, very sorry."
"You being sorry doesn't help a lot, does it?" Shinji snarled, staring at the prophesier angrily.
"I'm here to offer you my help," the prophesier said in an apologetic tone, "you are given a special mission here."
"What? As if being an EVA pilot wasn't special enough…"
"I need your help to prevent the Second Impact."
"Huh? Second…I guess it didn't happen here, apparently…but how am I gonna prevent a meteor from hitting the earth? And if you're really a prophesier, isn't YOUR job to help ME?"
"I'm…I can't physically interfere with this world…and there are very few people I can connect with like this…in fact, there are only three people in this world we can connect with."
"We?"
"Ah, yes, she's connecting with the other one right now…but that's not important. So Second Impact. It wasn't a meteor. A bunch of scientists did some kind of experiment in Antarctica with the First Angel, Adam, and the experiment caused Adam to explode, leading to Second Impact. Meteor hitting earth was just some shit Governments fed to their people."
"Hmmm…but…I don't know how I'm gonna prevent that, either."
"Don't worry. I'll guide you. First step – the girl who woke up on the beach with you."
Shinji gulped, "What about her?"
"…how am I gonna say this…try to ask her out? Date her? Make her yours? Give yourself to her? Nah…those are too much to ask for now," Shinji sighed in relief as he heard those last words, "how about this…be there for her. Don't run away."
"Well…as long as she doesn't push me away…I think I can do that," Shinji replied with uncertainty.
The prophesier was obviously disappointed, "I'm serious, Don't. Leave. Her."
"Hey! It's not like I had a choice!" Shinji protested, "she hates my guts! She tried to kill me! You're asking me to do the Mission Impossible!"
"She doesn't mean what she says…for most of the time," the prophesier reassured.
"Well, if you can do this to me, why don't you go and connect to her and ask her the same thing?"
"She's…difficult to reach," the prophesier said, "I will, later, but…not like this."
"Tch, I thought you're some kind of God, I thought you know everything!"
"Trust me, Shinji," the prophesier said, "I know her better than anyone. You are the only one who can understand her in this world, except me that is."
Shinji's dream was interrupted by the sound of the alarm. Within two seconds he slammed her palm on the clock, effectively shutting it down. Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he tried to get up from bed, but failed at the initial attempt. He decided to lay there for a while – there weren't school anymore, anyway.
Then the memory of the dream last night rushed back to him.
'Crap…'
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Asuka had a very bizarre dream last night.
"Third Child, you're coming with me!"
"Evangelion Unit 02, move out!"
"Third Child, have you played hopscotch?"
"Unit 02 coming in for landing!"
In retrospect, she was sure these were pieces of her lost memories. She could recognize the surroundings as a fleet – which indicated it happened during her ride on Over the Rainbow. She was happy that at least she experienced piloting an EVA; however, she was curious about this 'Third Child'. She couldn't gather any details of him – she knew Third Child was a boy since Kaji had told her – but she was curious about why he was also in her EVA. She probably did it to show off her piloting skills.
Asuka awoke to the light pouring through her window, and the smell of half–burned food coming from the kitchen. "What the hell?" She muttered. Asuka grabbed a quick change of clothes and went out to see where the awful smell was coming from. She saw Misato in the kitchen near the microwave. "Misato… what is that?" Asuka asked.
"It's breakfast, silly!" Misato replied, showing her two plates of what looked like lumpy curry over rice.
"Bre… breakfast?" Asuka asked, grimacing, "Is that edible? Are you trying to poison me?"
"Are you insulting my cooking?" Misato asked, fake frowning, and leaned over to stare at Asuka.
"I'm just stating the facts!" Asuka retorted, "Why are we having all this lunch for breakfast exactly?"
"Cause its already 11 a.m." Misato said as she stirred her food.
"Why didn't you wake me up?!" Asuka said surprised, her mouth agape.
"You were snoring so much, I figured I should let you sleep. Now, come on and eat before it gets all cold!" Misato said, setting the two plates down and plopping into a chair. "Hey could you get me a can from the fridge before you sit down?"
"Get it yourself, you slacker!" Asuka spatted but soon changed her idea, "How about this - I'll get you one if you let me have one as well."
"NO ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Misato shouted, standing up from the table and walked to the fridge, "you brat…"
She opened it to reveal nothing but beer and snacks. Asuka saw it all and grimaced, 'It's amazing she's so thin if she eats all this junk!' She thought.
"Hey, Misato, what's in this fridge over there?" Asuka noticed another fridge beside the one with all beers in it, suddenly getting curious.
"Oh, that one doesn't have food in it, just leave him alone, he might be sleeping." Misato replied nonchalantly, grabbing a beer.
"Leave who alone…" Asuka wondered as the fridge popped open, revealing a short penguin. He had a towel in one flipper and a bowl of bath supplies in the other. He waddled off to the bathroom-
A wave of memories rushed back to her.
Asuka entered the bathroom, took off her clothes, and laid in the bathtub filled with hot water. She felt so comfortable just lying there. She wanted to get some Shampoo and wash her hair, so she just reached out her hand to the position she thought the shampoo should be, just to grab on something very hairy and soft.
"WARK!" peck.
"OUCH!" Asuka cried, immediately withdrew her arm, and found a red mark on her hand. "Stupid Penguin!" Asuka hissed in German and stood up. She had to find the shampoo after all. Just as she was about to step out of the bathtub, she heard the door of the bathroom slide open, someone's concerned voice came after-
Asuka blushed furiously as she remembered what happened next. The boy saw it all – although she didn't remember who he was.
Now Asuka was completely baffled. Apparently she WAS living here with some boy – and this very same penguin. She frowned at the ridiculous flashback, but she knew it was her memory.
"His name is Pen–Pen. He's cute right?" Misato explained as she saw Asuka's confused face, her mouth full of food.
"I guess, but stupid anyway." Asuka shook her head.
"He's a new breed of hot springs penguin, I've had him for a few years." Misato explained. "He's pretty friendly, and will eat pretty much anything at all."
As Asuka sat down, Misato cracked one open and chugged it down whole. "WHOOO YEAH! That's some good stuff! You know life doesn't get any better than this!" Misato looked over at Asuka. "Are you not hungry? You haven't eaten at all since yesterday, right? Don't worry, just cause it's instant, doesn't mean it's not good."
"I'm not eating any of these biochemical weapons! This is child abuse!" Asuka cried, still bewildered about Misato's tolerance in food.
"Are you being finicky?!" Misato shouted, leaning over the table threateningly. "You know it's impolite to refuse food just because it looks bad!"
"Arghhh! Fine, but next time I'll be the one cooking, or we'll order takeouts!"
"Awww, isn't that sweet." Misato said happily, "Eating with someone else sure beats sitting alone, right?"
"Whatever…" Asuka said as Misato sat back down, and she took a bite of the food in front of her. 'Holy shit… this is awful!' Asuka thought, 'It's amazing she hasn't burned something down or died from eating this…But I don't want to irate Misato anymore, so I'll eat this… bleh!' The two ate in silence until they had both finished all the so–called food in front of them. Misato had chugged four beers since breakfast started, and was now feeling quite good.
"Hmmm." Misato pinched her chin, "Well there's something else important, I guess we do have some chores to split up." Misato had a sly smile on her face. "And there's only one way to do that fairly…"
"How, exactly?" Asuka asked, not anticipating what might come next.
"Stick out your hand Asuka," Misato said. When Asuka did Misato started, "Rock… Paper… Scissors!" After several rounds of play, the chores had been split, with Asuka, thankfully being wholly in charge of cooking and cleaning, with a few sporadic chores, much to her dismay.
"Hey! This is not fair!" Asuka cried, "Why am I in charge of nearly everything while YOU are my guardian?!"
Misato ignored her outburst, "So, now that that's settled, why don't you go and buy some stuff for yourself?" Misato said as she grabbed another beer.
"Hmph!" Asuka huffed, "But then I guess I have to start cleaning in here first, seeing as it's my day for that…" 'she's as immature as the Misato I knew, can she actually handle taking care of a kid?'
"So as my first official act as your guardian, and because you're still a kid and everything, I enrolled you in the local junior high school, how's that sound?" Misato asked, showing another sly grin.
"Mein Gott!" Asuka exclaimed, "Why do I have to go to school, doesn't being a Top-Secret test subject exempt me from that?"
"Asuka your well–being is my top concern, and that includes your education." Misato explained, sounding sincere, "I would be remiss if I didn't make sure you went to school. Also, being a test subject doesn't exempt you from school, Rei goes."
"Great, a secret job with no perks." Asuka said sarcastically, 'How nice… I'll have to deal with a lot of kids…and perverts…'
"Stop whining so much, Asuka. It won't be that bad. Seeing as today is Saturday, you'll have the weekend off, and you start on Monday, the same date as your job starts!"
"Wonderful…" Asuka said sullenly as she grabbed a garbage bag and started throwing out some of the garbage. "Just wonderful…"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Shinji just had a terrible brunch. The cafeteria of GeoFront was never a pleasant place to have food. The things they offered were not much unlike plastic and rubber. Shinji couldn't really decide whether Misato's cooking was better or worse, but he was sure both of them could be classified as biochemical weapons. 'These things should be banned by Vatican Treaty,' Shinji thought helplessly.
Shinji had a lot of things to do today. He needed to buy some clothes, including underwear and nightshirts. He wanted to visit Misato's place, although he didn't know whether it existed or not. And…his SDAT…and Cello…
'That could wait,' he thought, 'seeing my salary I could get a brand new one the next month.' Although those two things were his only souvenirs for his mother, and he was VERY sentimental in losing them – he figured if GOD needed his help, he might as well accept his fate. He was used to be passive to everything around him, anyway.
He was also told that he would meet his assigned guardian today. He was looking forward to meeting this guy. He didn't really have anyone who could be considered a parent to him – his Sensei was kind to him, but that's mainly because of the insane amount of money his father was paying him. He could only hope his new guardian could be somehow different; he wanted a person who could care him for him only, not for money or other incentives.
Shinji sat in the office silently, waiting for his guardian. About 5 minutes into waiting, he heard footsteps coming closer to the office and male voices talking. 'So I guess he's male,' Shinji thought, 'I don't know how I feel about it…'
"…okay I'll take care of this kid." The voice stopped outside the door, and the handle turned. The door opened to reveal a hunky and handsome adult male with a ponytail behind his head, "Hello kiddo, are you Shinji Shikinami?"
Shinji carefully examined the man in front of him. He felt familiar, but he was sure he had never met him before. "H-hello, sir, yes, I am Shinji Ik-Shikinami," he smiled a small smile.
"Nice to meet you, Shinji-kun. I will be your assigned guardian from now on. I'm Kaji Ryoji."
The name triggered a flash of memories.
"I've gotta say, Kaji-san," Kaji turned around to see Shinji approaching; he put down the hose, little drips of water still pouring from its mouth. "I never did take you for the gardening type."
"Well, everyone needs a hobby." He shrugged, sprinkling one last batch of melons before cutting the pressure. "I appreciate you want to chat with me. I have to admit it does get a little bit lonely being out here all by myself sometimes."
Shinji blinked. 'What the hell was that?' He thought, 'Apparently I knew about him…But why did I forget about this? And what exactly happened?' He shook it off for another time to think about. "Nice to meet you too, Kaji-san!"
Kaji chuckled, "so I've heard you don't have any personal stuff…not even clothes to change. Gehirn could provide furniture…but I guess it's your job to pick up clothes for yourself, right?"
"Yes, Kaji-san. I am about to go shopping today, actually." Shinji replied with a warm grin.
"Great. I guess we could go shopping together, what do you think? We need to get to know each other, right?"
Shinji was more than happy to accept the offer, "I'd love to, Kaji-san!"
Kaji smiled, "Good, now let's not waste any time. Get in my car."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Shinji had a highly enjoyable shopping trip with Kaji. He seemed lively and funny – and always eager to start conversations. They talked about a lot of stuff, Shinji's apparent lack of family, for one – and Kaji showed a great amount of concern and sympathy. Shinji was thrilled that he could get such an interesting guardian.
It wasn't saying Misato was not good – but she could be really childish sometimes, while Kaji seemed mature enough to properly take care of kids. Shinji knew Misato cared about him, but Kaji was just a more enjoyable company.
One thing that happened today that wasn't pleasant to Shinji was Kaji told him he needed to go to school starting next Monday. He really didn't want to go to school anymore. 'How nice… more people that won't want to be my friend that will want to make fun of me…' He thought bitterly. His first day at work was also next Monday – after school. They needed to do some physicals on him at first. He simply accepted it as a necessary procedure.
Kaji moved into the same living quarters with him, much to his wish. Although Kaji mentioned something like 'We will soon find another place to live. We can't just live here. This place is too stagnant.' Shinji was more than happy to agree with it – he wanted to live above ground, not under. He wanted to enjoy the city without having to take a forty minutes train ride at first.
After sorting out their stuff after the shopping trip, Kaji asked Shinji, "Hey, Shinji-kun. I'm gonna go out for a ride. Wanna come with me?"
"Of course, Kaji-san!" Shinji said enthusiastically despite his tiredness, "where we going?"
Kaji showed a warm smile, "to meet an old friend."
Shinji raised his eyebrows as he heard the words. 'old friend? Who could it be…'
They got into Kaji's car in the parking lot; with a slam on the pedal, the car rushed forward and speeded towards the elevator. Kaji's driving reminded him of Misato's; somehow, Shinji felt they were related in some way.
"Kaji-san… what's your old friends' name?" Shinji suddenly asked, breaking the silence as they stopped in front of a red light.
Kaji chuckled, "Having interests in my personal life, huh, Shinji-kun? I guess I'll tell you anyway since you're gonna meet her as well…her name is Misato Katsuragi. We were…"
Shinji paid zero attention to Kaji's later babblings. His mind was in a turmoil of thoughts. Misato. Kaji knew her. She knew Kaji. They WERE related.
As the car approached its destination, Shinji could easily recognize the surroundings. They were indeed heading towards Misato's apartment, much to Shinji's excitement. Kaji parked his car in the parking lot with an elegant U-turn and shut off the engine. "Shinji-kun, we're here."
Shinji got off the car in excitement and nervousness. He knew it's highly probable that Misato wouldn't recognize him as well, but it didn't matter anymore. With the help of Kaji he was sure that he could still connect with Misato to some degree.
The apartment building looked no different than he remembered, the only thing that seemed off was there were more people – although still not much – living in the building. They took the elevator to the seventh floor and stopped in front of the very same door that Shinji knew, the door plate had 'Katsuragi' imprinted on it.
Kaji pressed the doorbell.
Ding Dong
"Coming!" a too-familiar voice sounded. Shinji's heart was pounding madly in his chest – wait. That wasn't Misato's voice.
The door hissed open, and a mumbling redhead emerged behind the door.
Shinji gulped, ready to run away, while the redhead's eyes widened in disbelief, but she soon composed herself, "Hello! What can I do for you?" She said as sweetly as possible, a total antagonism to the redhead Shinji knew.
Kaji smiled, "Hello, kiddo, you must be Katsuragi's charge," he greeted, "I'm Kaji Ryoji. Nice to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you, too, Kaji-san!" Asuka smiled sweetly, eliciting a chill ran down Shinji's spine, "I'm Asuka! And yes, Misato's my guardian! Do you know her?"
"She's an old friend of mine," Kaji replied, "now if you excuse me-"
"Please come in, Kaji-san!" "Who is it, Asuka?" Misato's voice finally came to Shinji.
"It's Kaji!" Asuka said loudly.
"K-Kaji?" Misato hurriedly rolled off from the couch and came to the door, "What the hell are you doing here?!" She said with a scowl on her face.
"Accompanying Shinji-kun," Kaji said with a grin, "I'm his guardian."
"I should've known…hey, so you're Shinji, right?" Misato greeted.
"Y-yes, Katsuragi-san!" Shinji tensed up, "Nice to meet you, Katsuragi-san!"
"Just Misato is fine," she waved her hand, "why don't you guys come in?"
Asuka gave Shinji a glare that could cause him to melt on the spot, and followed Kaji inside. Shinji swallowed, 'What is she doing here? I can't get a rest, can I?'
The four of them sat around a table with snacks on it. "So," Kaji started, his foot tapping Misato's. "Are you seeing anyone right now?" He asked, sounding almost innocent.
"I don't see why that's any of your business." Misato replied, putting her arms across her chest, trying to not look towards Kaji's face.
"I'm hurt." Kaji replied, leaning back and relaxing, and turning towards Asuka. "So, Asuka, since you're living with Katsuragi right now…tell me something," Kaji said with a sly smile, shifting his glance over at Misato for a moment, who continued to snort and grown. "Is she still, how do I say it… wild in bed?"
"WHAT!" Was the collective reaction from Asuka and Misato. Utter shock and bafflement across Asuka's face, her hands trying to hide her face from reality. Shinji seemed oblivious to the situation, just confused by the reactions from the females. Misato shouted the loudest, her face turned deep red which would make Asuka's hair feel ashamed. "Wha… Why…" She grumbled, before anger flooded her, and she slammed her hands on the table, causing cups on the table to jump, her face merely inches in front of Kaji. "Just what the hell are you implying by that!?"
Kaji glanced at her, an amused look on his face, "So, it seems that Katsuragi hasn't changed at all. Am I right, Asuka?" Misato exhaled hard and collapsed back into her seat, her head buried in her hands. "Wha-what-how…" Asuka couldn't believe it. Apparently Kaji had some interesting history with Misato, which meant her chance was…minimal.
"So, I guess Asuka is also chosen by Gehirn?" Kaji changed the topic as he saw fit.
"This is a nightmare…" Misato was still mumbling.
Asuka regained her composure, "Yeah, I'm chosen by Gehirn, Kaji-san! I'm one in a billion!" She boasted.
"Well, that's good to know," Kaji said, "this way you and Shinji could get to know each other well."
"What?" Asuka cried, "why should I get to know such a wimpy boy like him?!"
"He's also chosen by Gehirn, Asuka," Kaji blinked at the sudden change in Asuka's attitude, "You ought to know each other, at least it'll be convenient."
"He's…what?!" 'I should've known it,' Asuka thought, 'The odds of us both waking up on a beach like that…and we both got chosen by Gehirn…' "Fine…whatever. Baka, how did you get chosen, anyway?"
"I-I don't know?" Shinji replied, scratching his head, "I guess it's just luck…"
"Well Luck is a great talent to have, Shinji." Kaji smiled, before standing abruptly. "Well, it's been nice, but I must take my leave. I will see you all later." He exited the room, gesturing Shinji to follow him.
"Okay, see you!" Asuka replied, giving the man a small wave. Misato's head still in her hands, staring directly at the table. "This has to be a really bad joke, no it's a nightmare…"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Next Monday
"Bye, Kaji-san!" Shinji got off the car, waving his goodbye to his guardian, who happily reciprocated the gesture. Shinji wasn't surprised to see the school looked exactly the same as the Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School – in fact, the name wasn't different, either.
He strode into the main gate, lowering his head – he didn't want to draw attention, and he thought moving as quickly and low-profile as possible would help. Fortunately, no one seemed to pay attention to him. He could identify many of the faces, which gave him hope of seeing Kensuke and Toji again. 'We didn't exactly start on the best terms,' Shinji sighed internally, 'I hope this time things would be different.'
All transfer students needed to report to the dean's office on the first day of school. Shinji found the office effortlessly based on his memories. Standing in front of the wooden grey-ish door, he hesitated as he wondered how his life would change after he opened it.
Shinji knocked on the door thrice, waiting for permission to enter. "Come in!" A familiar voice sounded behind the door. He grabbed the handle, with a slight turn, the door opened, revealing an old man with silver hair and a stern look-
"Oh, hi, you must be one of the new transfer students today," the old man said with a small smile, "I'm the principal of the school, Kozo Fuyutsuki."
Shinji swallowed. He did NOT expect this. "Hello, Fuyutsuki-Sensei, I-I am the transfer student." He said nervously.
"Greetings. Now, please sit down," Fuyutsuki gestured towards an empty seat, "we'll wait for the other transfer student, and we can discuss certain things together."
Somehow Shinji had a bad feeling about this, "O-okay, Fuyutsuki-Sensei, may I ask who that is?"
"It's a girl," Shinji gulped hearing it, "she'll be here soon. It'd be better if I let you guys introduce yourselves to each other, right?"
"I suppose…"
"…Gottverdammt! Diese Schule ist so groß! Ich kann den Weg nicht finden!" Just one minute later, the voice of an angry German sounded in the hallway, eliciting a chill ran down Shinji's spine. 'I knew that voice…' Shinji sweatdropped, 'oh crap…'
Without knocking, the door was thrown open, a too-familiar redhead emerged behind it. At first her eyes widened a hair and her mouth open, but she soon regained her angry façade, "What the hell are you doing here again? I just can't get rid of you can I?!"
"Hey, it's not like I had a choice!" Shinji shot back.
Although she didn't want to admit it, Shinji was probably right. "Whatever. Just get this over with!" Asuka spatted, sitting down on an empty chair.
Fuyutsuki raised an eyebrow seeing these two arguing, but he soon decided its nothing significant. "Seeing you two have known each other already, I'll save the introduction between you guys." Kozo said with a smile, "now, I'm the headmaster of Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School – as you probably already know. Here's the class schedule," Kozo took out two pieces of paper from his desk, handing them to Shinji and Asuka, "You guys can start taking classes right away. Still, I want you guys to introduce yourselves to the class first. You're both in Class-2A that is."
Asuka shot an angry glare to Shinji, clearly dissatisfied with the arrangement, not unnoticed by Fuyutsuki.
"Cough, I hope you guys can be more…friendly," Fuyutsuki chuckled nervously, "is there anything else you want to ask?"
"No, sir." They answered in perfect sync, much a surprise to each other, eliciting a chill ran down Fuyutsuki's spine. "Good, then. Dismissed."
Asuka hurriedly got up from the seat and left the office, with Shinji following behind closely. 'I still agreed to the prophesier that I should…approach her, but I really don't know how is it even possible…but I guess God knows more than me…'
They walked in silence to the stairs as Asuka started doing down. "Hmm, where are you going, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
"Well, to class, dummkopf! Where else?!" Asuka huffed, although she didn't know where the classroom was.
"Err…the classroom is upstairs," Shinji said meekly, finger pointing upwards.
"Huh, how can you be so sure? You're new to here, aren't you?" Asuka narrowed her eyes, "Class 2-A should be on the second floor, don't you think?"
"Actually…" Shinji tried to come up with a plausible excuse, "I-I asked Kaji-san about the school, and he told me that."
Asuka tensed up hearing the name of her crush, and she immediately accepted the explanation. "Whatever, lead the way, then."
They went upstairs and found Class-2A effortlessly and waited outside of the door. Nebukawa Sensei entered the classroom, and Shinji heard a familiar "Rise! Bow! Sit!".
"Class, before we start today I want you to welcome two transfer students," everyone in the class, including Rei Ikari, started paying attention to the normally-they-just-ignore teacher, "come in and introduce yourselves." He said to the door.
Asuka and Shinji took a deep breath and walked into the classroom. He could see Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari all in the class, much to his relief. Asuka almost caught the breaths of every boy in the classroom, causing Shinji to be ignored except Rei Ikari. He simply lowered his head and followed the redhead, who in contrast had her head held high. Asuka smirked and scanned around the classroom, instantly disgusted by the looks the boys gave her. 'So many perverts to deal with…' she thought, 'but I like the attention…' she put her left hand on her hip and said, "Hello everyone, I'm Asuka La-Shikinami, charmed huh?"
Rei's eyes widened in shock. Shinji tripped on the floor and choked, coughing uncontrollably. "Cough cough cough…wha-what?"
Asuka was confused by his sudden loss of composure, "What's wrong, Baka?"
"This can't be right…" he muttered, "no no no no no…"
"Stop whining, everyone here is waiting!" Asuka smacked on his forehead, "Just say your name and get this over with!"
"Al-alright, but promise you won't hit me," Shinji lowered his volume, eliciting a frown from Asuka, who simply waved her hand, "Whatever…"
Shinji took several deep breathes and regained his composure, "H-Hello everyone, my name is Shinji, Shinji-" he swallowed hard, giving one last pleading look to the redhead, "Shinji Shikinami."
The classroom exploded into chatters while Asuka froze in shock, mouth agape.
"They are both Shikinamis? What the hell?"
"Are they related? They don't look like cousins…"
"Are you stupid? That girl is definitely foreign! The boy looks Japanese! They CAN't be family!"
"Well there's only one explanation…"
"ARE THEY FUCKING MARRIED?"
"Lucky bastard…I was going to ask the girl out on a date…"
"What did the scrawny little boy do, to got married to a girl so pretty and hot?"
"I bet he ended the world just for her…"
"Shut up guys! They don't have wedding rings on their fingers! They can't be…that!"
"Yeah, maybe they just happen to have the same surname…the shock on the girl's face tells us everything…"
Asuka was so embarrassed and dumbfounded. Without a word she grabbed Shinji's wrist and dragged him out of the classroom. She found a cleaning closet and yanked Shinji into it with her. "WHAT. THE. FUCK?" She hissed, pinning Shinji on the wall, "NOW EVERYONE IN THE CLASS THINKS WE'RE MARRIED! Not that I would ever marry someone as wimpy and weak as you!"
"I-I-I was going t-to ask y-you!" Shinji stuttered, his heart sank hearing the insults, "m-my name i-is on my I-ID!" Shinji took out his ID and showed it to Asuka.
After a careful examination, Asuka gave it back to Shinji, "Hmph. I just want you to know my real name isn't Shikinami. I came up with that name to hide my real identity," Asuka said surprisingly calmly, "my real name is Asuka Langley Soryu."
'Asuka…Langley Soryu…' Shinji felt another piece of memory rushed back to him.
"Fine, whatever. But I still gotta do this myself. I am Asuka Langley Soryu, the pilot of Unit 02, the second child. Charmed, huh?" She finished with a smirk.
Shinji closed his eyes. He didn't know what it meant. She's the Second Child, Pilot of Evangelion Unit 02. And he was the pilot of Unit 01. And they just happened to wake up on the beach. This can't be a coincidence. "I-I made up my name as well," Shinji said slowly, "my real name is Shinji Ikari."
Asuka blinked. "I-Ikari? The same Ikari as Gendo Ikari?"
"Y-yeah, what's the problem?"
"Hun, so you are the Commander's son…" she knew NERV's Commander was Gendo Ikari when she was training to be a pilot. "so, you must know what NERV was, right?"
"yeah, we fight the Angels," Shinji replied.
"What do you mean by 'we'?" Asuka asked, narrowing her eyes – 'Don't tell me he is…'
"I was the Third Child, pilot of Evangelion Unit 01," Shinji blurted out, "and you were the Second Child, pilot of Unit 02…"
Asuka's eyes widened in shock, "Interesting…how do you know who I am, anyway?" 'Damn. He really WAS the Third Child. I should have known. This can't be a coincidence. Two EVA pilots woke up on a beach in a new world. How curious.'
"You probably won't believe me, but we've met before…I just remembered hearing your full name…" Shinji said cautiously, trying to evade Asuka's glare, "we've met on Over the Rainbow, remember?"
'So I guess he WAS the one fighting with me in the entry plug…the dream was real, after all.' Asuka thought, 'Maybe I treated him wrong this whole time…' Her expression softened, "Hmmm…I guess you are right. I remember it as well. So," she showed a small smile to Shinji, stretching out one hand, "We… didn't really start in the best terms, did we?" Shinji chuckled nervously as he heard those words, "seeing we were EVA pilots and we fought together…I suppose we should at least get a fresh start, don't you think?"
Shinji raised an eyebrow at her friendliness and generosity, soon he remembered the request from the prophesier. "Of course," he shook his hands with Asuka, smiling warmly.
For some unknown reason Asuka blushed seeing the smile – she quickly turned around with a humph and left the closet. "Hurry up Baka, we're already late for class! They already think we're…in a relationship, don't let those perverts get more strange ideas!"
The duo hastily returned to class; Nebukawa-Sensei gave them a disapproval look and said, "Shikinami-san and Shikinami-kun," his words triggered a round of laughter in the class, "please choose your seat. I'll spare today's misdemeanor since you're new here."
"Hai." Shinji and Asuka said in unison. Looking around the classroom, there were only three empty seats with two of them side by side and one in the far corner. Asuka huffed and picked her seat, eyeing Shinji to sit next to her.
Shinji was tempting to sit as far away as possible, but after today's revelations, he didn't mind being close to Asuka anymore, so he complied and sat down beside Asuka.
The class resumed and Nebukawa-Sensei started, "In the year of 2008 there was a financial crisis…" Shinji sighed in relief. At least sensei wouldn't talk about Second Impact anymore.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
The rest of the school day was uneventful. Shinji didn't have a chance to talk to Toji and Kensuke since they were occupied with each other. The fraternization could wait, though. He and Asuka had a more important job – their first day at work.
The duo waited at the school gate for their respective guardians. Kaji showed up first in his car, "Kaji-san!" Asuka said sweetly, completely different from her usual self, making Shinji sweatdropped, 'What the hell was that? Is she having a crush on my guardian or something?' "Hello, Kaji-san!" Shinji greeted, "we're going to Gehirn, right?"
"Hello, kiddos," Kaji said, "you two get in the car. Katsuragi asked me to pick you both up, since we all have the same destination."
Asuka was more than happy to do so, and she hastily opened the front door and sat on the passenger's seat, next to Kaji. Shinji grumbled in annoyance, and sat on the back of the car.
Kaji pressed the acceleration pedal and the car shot forward; with his impeccable driving skills, Kaji managed to evade most of the traffic in swift motions, breaking at least 5 separate traffic laws. At the same time, Asuka and Shinji could only hold on to the handle and pray for their life.
Thankfully the ride was soon over. Kaji drove the car into one of the elevators, waiting for it to carry them to the ground level.
"You're not doing much today," Kaji suddenly spoke, trying to break the silence, "just a physical check for you both, including measuring sizes of your bodies, so they could make suitable plug suits."
"Plug suits… I'm sure my body will look good in them, don't you think, Kaji-san?" Asuka tried to flirt with him, to see how he would react.
Kaji grimaced, 'Why is she saying that? Is she trying to get my attention? But she's too young…and I'm already in love with someone else…' "No doubt, Asuka. I'm sure you can make a lot of boyfriends your age." He emphasized the last words.
Asuka pouted, 'Not so much different from the Kaji I knew…always treat me like kids, not adults…and since this Kaji doesn't even know me before, I guess I really have zero chance with him…' "Sure. Whatever." The sweetness in her tone was completely gone, much to Kaji and Shinji's relief.
The trio arrived at the Medical Wing and waited outside the examination room. Shinji went in first.
"Hello, you must be Shinji, right?" A blonde doctor asked, who Shinji recognized as Ritsuko Akagi.
"Yes, doctor," Shinji replied.
"Good, I'm Ritsuko Akagi," the blonde said, "let's get straight to business. Lay down on the bed," she commanded.
Shinji was used to her formality and coldness, so he simply complied. Ritsuko started doing her procedures, checking the heartbeat, listening to the breathes, taking blood samples, checking visions, and so on. At last, she put Shinji under some weird scanner, "Don't worry, this is to scan your brain waveform. It should be done in five minutes. We'll do more extensive tests once you get into your test plugs." Shinji simply nodded since he had already done something similar after his first sortie against Sachiel – not that this Ritsuko Akagi would ever know, anyway.
"Okay you are good for now." Ritsuko said, "put the clothes on and leave, don't forget to call the other one to come in."
"Hai." Shinji replied, not having any tone in his words. He quickly put on his newly bought garments and stepped outside, "Asuka, it's your turn."
"Yeah I know that," Asuka said, "let's get this over with."
The procedures were relatively the same for Asuka. However there was one thing Dr. Akagi wanted to make sure of. "Asuka, take off your underwear and spread your legs," Ritsuko said coldly.
"Huh? Are you interested in girls or something?" Asuka mocked.
Ritsuko's frowned, "I'm a doctor, show me some respect, little girl."
"What do you want to know exactly? That if I fucked around?" Asuka scoffed, "I'm not some irresponsible and indecent adult! I'm a prim and proper young lady!"
"Just do it! We can't afford pregnant test subjects, that's all. And you're making this hard for both of us!"
"Fine, fine, whatever." Asuka complied and took off her undergarments, spreading her legs.
"Hmmm…interesting," a sly grin appeared a Ritsuko's face after she examined Asuka's nether regions, "why I don't see your…proof of innocence, then?"
"What." It's all Asuka could say.
"I'm saying you're not a virgin, Asuka-chan," Ritsuko said mockingly, "such a prim and proper young lady you are!"
"I'M NOT WHAT?"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Asuka was fuming. She lost her virginity without knowing when, where, and whom. But somehow she just knew it was Shinji's fault.
She stomped down the hallway and found Shinji waiting for her at the exit of Medical Wing. He smiled at her seeing her approaching, but immediately gulped and flinched as he saw the raging expression on Asuka's face and the murderous look she gave him.
"Asuka what's wrong-" his sentence was cut off by a powerful uppercut from Asuka, who wasted no time and shoved him to the ground. She then pinned him on the ground, giving Shinji a death-glare while hyperventilating. Shinji was terrified – he didn't know why but he knew he'd better not do or say anything, or the next moment he would become a pile of bloody pulp.
Nonetheless Asuka still started beating him into the torso senselessly. "WHY! WHY? WHY?!"
"A-A-Asu-suka wha-what-ha-happen-pened?" Shinji stammered out incoherent words as his lungs were having trouble breathing, "p-p-le-lease-t-talk-to-me!" He made minimal resistance, however.
Asuka stopped beating him after several hard punches, grasping his shirt tightly. With a loud and frustrated groan, she stood up and turned around. "Don't come near me ever again," she said in a dangerously low voice, "Just…don't."
Without another word Asuka left the Medical Wing, leaving a dumbfounded and hurting Shinji on the ground.
"What…what did I do?"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
At the moment, Earth Orbit
"Asuka, we have a problem."
"Hmm?"
"Your counterpart tried to kill mine again."
"Wha-what? What's the reason this time?"
"I-" the God Shinji blushed, "I-so, Dr. Akagi gave your counterpart a physical today."
"So?" the God Asuka still hadn't realized the severity of the problem.
"Your body…so, remember the time when we were trapped in the same entry plug for nine hours during the attack of eleventh Angel? That's when I took your virginity in this world, right?" Shinji asked.
"Yes, and?"
"Your body… didn't regenerate a hymen when our counterparts…revived in the new world."
"Oh. Fuck." The God Asuka gulped as realization dawned on her, "I mean - Fuck."
"Neither of them knows it was me, who…" the God Shinji blushed harder, "I'm sorry. I put your counterpart in distress, and mine in danger…"
"It's not your fault, Shinji," the God Asuka said, "Knowing me, although I treasure my innocence, they'll get over it…eventually. Let's just hope she doesn't remember…soon."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Shinji was sulking in his living quarters, but also very confused. He had asked Dr. Akagi about Asuka's outburst while she was dealing with the bruises and scratches he received from Asuka; Dr. Akagi told him about Asuka's…condition. 'Why is this all happening to me? Why did she think it was me who…she must've lost her virginity during those nine months. She just doesn't remember it! I hope she remembers soon, so she won't bother me about it anymore…And I don't see how it is any of my business! I wonder whether the prophesier knows anything about it…' Shinji brooded in the bed.
He tossed and turned in his bed, trying to clear his thoughts. However each toss and turn would hurt him due to his injuries inflicted by the angry redhead. He groaned in pain, grabbed another dose of painkillers, and swallowed them with water.
Shinji sighed. He figured he could at least use the time to do something more meaningful. Turning around to face Kaji across the room, he asked, "Kaji-san? Are you awake?"
"Yes, Shinji-kun," Kaji answered immediately, "I can see you're struggling to sleep, so as a guardian I kept myself awake so I could aid you in case you need it. Damn, that girl really did a number on you!"
"Thanks, Kaji-san," Shinji smiled, "you're the best."
Kaji chuckled, "No problem, kiddo. What do you want?"
"I-how to, emmm, how to approach girls?" Shinji asked with a blush, unnoticed by Kaji due to the darkness of the room.
"Well, the kanji we use for the word 'she' literally means 'the woman far away.' To us men, women will always appear to be on the opposite shore. It means we may never truly understand them." Kaji replied with a sorrowful tone, "why ask, Shinji-kun? Got someone on your mind?"
"yeah, Kaji-san," Shinji said, scratching the back of his head, "I thought you might be good at dealing with women, you're handsome, confident and all that…"
Kaji chuckled, "I haven't been able to get together with the woman I want…"
"Is she Misato-san?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah…" Kaji blurted out, "who's the girl of your dreams, Shinji-kun?"
"You probably won't believe me…" Shinji sighed, "it's Asuka…"
Kaji blinked in surprise, "Asuka? The girl who beat you relentlessly today? The girl who literally does nothing but yell at you?" Kaji was very confused, "To be honest, I DID deal with a lot of girls, but none of them was as…temperamental as Asuka. I don't know about you, but I don't really like her."
'I don't, either, at least not yet…' Shinji thought sadly, 'but it's God itself who asked me to do it…how could I tell you that? Now I actually doubt whether I should…keep approaching her. I mean, if all she does is to push me away, why am I putting up with her?' "Kaji-san, I know… she's…hard to deal with, but I just have this feeling that… she's the one for me, you know? Like the God is trying to pair us."
Kaji sighed, "I'm happy that you found someone, Shinji, but I doubt she feels the same way about you."
"I-I don't know," Shinji said sullenly, "I just had the feeling." His mind wandered back to the dream he had days ago…
"…how am I gonna say this…try to ask her out? Date her? Make her yours? Give yourself to her? Nah…those are too much to ask for now, how about this…be there for her. Don't run away."
"I'm serious, Don't. Leave. Her."
"She doesn't mean what she says…for most of the time."
"Trust me, Shinji, I know her better than anyone. You are the only one who can understand her in this world, except me that is."
Shinji sighed again, "I can only hope…she was nice to me…but I just have to mess it up…"
"She was nice to you? Huh," Kaji said in surprise, "if your mind is set, I won't stop you, Shinji-kun. I will help you…if I can."
"Thanks, Kaji-san." Shinji rolled back, "Goodnight, Kaji-san." 'I need help now, whoever you are…prophesier or something…'
"Goodnight, Shinji-kun."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
AN: Man, who would saw that coming? Asuka and Shinji's relationship took a deep dive just after the first sign of meditation…Now it seemed like only the God Shinji and Asuka could help them… :/ Now they figured each other out…as EVA pilots. Let's just hope the bond would bring them together.
Leave a review!