Disclaimer: I own nothing in this fanfiction.
Chapter 6: Momentarily United Minds pt3
Beep Beep Beep CRASH
Misato Katsuragi rubbed her eyes, yawning and getting up from her bed. She was never an early person, but the recent circumstance left her no choice. Yesterday the Children made as little progress on the dance routine as Misato's progress on being sober. Well, consider it's something since she hadn't been drinking for the past few days.
Without the help of alcohol, last night's sleep came rather difficultly, leaving a tired and dizzy Misato in the morning. She washed herself and grabbed some bread for breakfast, and headed to Children's room, which was just two doors beside her temporary accommodation. 'The kids aren't up yet?' She wondered, seeing the door still closed off. Misato knocked on the door – although she didn't need to – and waited for a reply. As much as she just wanted to use her keycard, she still gave the kids some privacy.
However her patience quickly evaporated under the pressure of time. She called out, "I'm coming in!" And took out her keycard, swiping it through the slot on the electronic lock.
The door hissed open, and Misato was greeted by a ludicrous scene she never thought she would see from those two kids. Shinji – in his bed - was curled into a fetal pose, a painful expression on his pale face. Asuka, on the other hand, was lying on the floor, looking perturbed. They both had their headphones on, sounding asleep.
Misato cleared her throat, "Ahem! GET UP NOW!" She shouted, trying to wake up the children.
Nothing happened.
"You guys asked for this," Misato walked over and looked down at Asuka with an expression mixed with anger and amusement. She pondered for a moment, then reached down to the redhead and poked the side of her waist.
Asuka stirred but not wakening. Misato grumbled in annoyance, attacking more aggressively. Asuka would stir with each of her jabs but made absolutely no sound or sign of waking up. She then turned her target to Shinji.
After a round of attacks, nothing different happened as well.
Now Misato started getting worried. Normally the kids, at least Asuka, would wake up earlier than Misato. Although today it was 6 a.m., much earlier than Asuka's normal time to wake up, her attacks were more than capable of doing the job, and they weren't that late to bed last night, either.
Unless they did something last night and stayed up late.
Misato quickly shook the thought off. Judging from their clothing, at least they didn't do anything…that might become a surprise ten months later. And they wouldn't dare to, since Misato had told them about the security camera-
Right. The footage.
Misato facepalmed as she realized her stupidity. She went back to her room and extracted the footage, looking for what happened after she had gone. At first everything seemed normal – Shinji went to shower then to bed, Asuka went to shower, too – Misato raised an eyebrow as Asuka came out of the bathroom, and looked at sleeping Shinji intently.
Asuka walked to his bed, looking at his sleeping face, and leaned down… Misato's heart rate quickened-
Asuka put the headphones on his head and put on her own moments later. Misato let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
Then Asuka fell to the floor.
Misato blinked. 'Strange…Asuka put on her headphones and seconds later she simply fell to the floor.' She connected the dots and made an educated guess about what had caused the Children acted as they were. She hastily left her room and entered Shinji and Asuka's; without hesitation she pulled Asuka's headphones off.
"HELP ME! LET ME OUT!" Asuka practically jumped from the ground, her eyes shot open, unfocused. Upon setting her gaze on the taken aback Misato, Asuka shook her head violently, trying to make sure she wasn't still in the dream world. At that moment, Shinji woke up as well, "Ahhhhh!" He yelled, hastily looked around him, before finally focused his eyes on Asuka and Misato.
The Children calmed down, leaving a dumbfounded Misato standing in the room. "Wh-what happened?" She asked after a minute of silence, while the trio simply stared at each other.
Asuka composed herself first, "shit…Misato, that chip has some serious side-effects!"
Misato nodded, "I figured as much."
"So you took off my headphones?" Asuka asked; seeing Misato nodded again, she continued, "thanks, I guess. I mean, we couldn't wake up no matter what I did when…dreaming."
"This sounds…dangerous," Misato sighed, "good news is you aren't allowed to use it in the test. That means you aren't required to wear the headphones – you can always use the speakers for the music – when dancing."
"Right," Shinji said, still clearing his mind. Asuka had given him hell in the dream world, but she got bored eventually, and began trying everything she could do to wake up. Nothing worked, apparently. Shinji walked to the bathroom, "I'll go wash-"
"Ladies first!" Asuka cut him off, "and we have a lot to talk about later, Baka!" She entered the bathroom and began her morning routine. Misato gave Shinji a sympathetic look, who sighed in response.
XXXXXX
Both children were in a strange mood the whole morning. Not irritated, not anxious, and certainly not happy, either. They just both seemed to have a lot on their minds. Feeling the uncomfortable pressure of the heavy atmosphere, Misato asked during breakfast, "what's up with you two?" She said, gulping down a can of beer.
"Nothing," they both answered in unison.
"Hmm," Misato wasn't going to buy it; however, she decided it was not important for now. "Well, I'll leave you two here to practice. I need to go out the Geofront for a while, I'll come back before lunch and check your progress." She left the room in a swift movement.
The Children finished the breakfast in silence. "So, Baka Shinji," Asuka started after they washed the plastic plates specifically designed to withstand impact, "it was the real you in there, right?" She shot him an unreadable gaze.
"Um, yeah," Shinji replied, "I guess it's the chip doing the job?"
"No shit Sherlock!" Asuka snapped, "anyways, what do you remember?"
"Well, we were…dancing to synchronize to fight an Angel?" Shinji recalled the dream, "the dance was almost the same as what we're doing now…as well as the music."
"Hm," Asuka put the finger on her chin, "then do you remember…how did we do it? I mean, the steps? The dance? How did we synchronize so well? Because I do."
"I'm not sure," Shinji replied, "how about we try it out?"
The Children proceeded to the mat, trying to recall how they did it back then. It was practically in their memory at that moment.
The music flew through the room, and our favorite pair started dancing. To both of their surprise they improved a lot – well, not a surprise since they knew they were going to do well. They moved in harmony, not perfect, but definitely a huge improvement – and not the kind of improvement that could be made just overnight.
With the final beat sounded, Shinji and Asuka finished their last pose and looked at the scoreboard. It said 87 percent. Even better than Rei was able to accomplish.
Asuka smiled a proud smile, patting Shinji's shoulder, "Ha! I knew I can do this! It was you dragging me down, after all." She boasted, her mood improved a lot.
Shinji sighed internally at her cockiness, "well, at this rate we'll be able to do this the end of the day I suppose." He left the dancing mat and grabbed a bottle of water, "you want one?" He asked, handing it out while picking up another bottle.
"Sure," Asuka said, accepting the offer, and mumbled an almost inaudible 'thanks.'
Shinji shook his head, thinking he must've imagined hearing something. "What…do we do now? More practice?"
"Actually," Asuka said with an evil grin, a perfect revenge plan forming in her mind, "I've got something better! How do you feel about annoying Misato as much as possible so that we can maybe cause her to get as annoyed with us as possible!"
"Why do you want to do this?" Shinji asked, wondering exactly what Asuka's motives behind this were.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Asuka replied, flicking his forehead. "Misato made a fool out of me yesterday and I want to get back at her after my moment yesterday. Now, we just have to keep fighting with each other, like we usually do, and hopefully it'll drive Misato so mad to she'll go crazy with what's happening!"
"Shouldn't we, you know. Try and actually finish this training thing?" Shinji asked, staring at the girl. Asuka grinned, "Ah, now you see Shinji, that is the best part!" Asuka replied, waving her finger at him in glee. "While we're annoying Misato as much as we can, when she's finally gone mad and we'll surprise her with our perfect synchronization! We've already got to high 80s! We're just going to give Misato a little bit of payback!" Asuka's devilish grin grew wider, sitting on Shinji bed, stretching her perfect slim legs to relax the muscles.
"Well, sounds…fun," Shinji replied, trying as hard as he could to not think about Asuka's legs again, which he would inevitably spend most of the day trying not to think about. "Wait, there's a camera here!"
"Anta Baka?" Asuka huffed, "Misato said she'll go out of the Geofront! You really thought I wouldn't have thought about that?"
"Sorry…" Autopilot online.
"You apologize too much!" Asuka said in annoyance, "you know, if you stop apologizing so much you probably won't look like such a wimp anymore."
Shinji frowned a little but gave no verbal reply. Asuka just sighed before she set to planning.
XXXXXX
They were going to annoy Misato as much as they could. Asuka grinned as the said woman came into the room.
"Hello, Misato!" Asuka called out, as chipper as she could.
"Geez, Asuka, could you quiet down a bit." Misato groggily replied, "The world's spinning and I need a beer."
"Of course, Misato!" Asuka replied, heading quickly for the refrigerator in Misato's room and taking out a beer, handing it to the woman.
"You're too chipper…" Misato commented, but took the beer anyone, cracked it open with practiced precision and downed it in one go, an eye on Asuka the entire time. "What are you planning?"
"Nothing!" Asuka replied, sitting at the table in front of her. "What could possibly make you think that?"
"You're too chipper." Misato bluntly pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
"I'm not allowed to be chipper?" Asuka asked, crossing her arms back.
"I didn't say that… Just quiet down a bit." Misato commented, throwing the can towards the garbage bag in the corner of the room. "Where's Shinji?"
"In the bathroom, he'll be out soon," Asuka replied.
Misato grinned at the girl, teasing mode activated. "Thinking on being in there with him?" She asked with mirth in her eyes.
"Ew! Misato! What the hell are you thinking!?" Asuka replied, making a face at the table. "So, you are thinking it!"
"Stop! I don't want your stupid feelings on life to be projected onto me, I don't like Shinji that way! I want a real man!" Asuka squealed again, clasping her hands together as she usually did when talking about this kind of stuff.
"Exactly what someone who's falling for him would say!" Misato replied, still grinning as Asuka continued to glare at her in annoyance.
"Like you should talk!" Asuka replied. "You wish you could jump Kaji at any point! I see the way he looks at you!"
Misato stared at Asuka hard, her smile turning quickly to a frown. "I don't like that jerk!" Misato grumbled, slumping back in her seat and staring at the ceiling. "When Shinji gets out of the shower you two need to get to work." Misato said, slipping into business mode like a click of the fingers.
"Yes, of course Misato." Asuka replied, grinning to herself. 'Phase one is a go!' Asuka thought to herself as Shinji entered the room.
"Straight to work, Shinji, it's about lunchtime. I want to check your progress before that," Misato said, giving the boy a wink. Shinji smiled at his guardian's behavior and exited the kitchen with Asuka, beelining for the machines sitting in the living room.
"Okay," Shinji said, turning to Asuka. "What's your plan?"
"I'm glad you asked, Shinji!" Asuka replied, hands on her hips. "Step One is quite simple. We just work the dance as normal, and just mess up as we did before. But we'll be working on it properly as well. Mess up though, I kind of want to have a go at you. It's fun." Asuka said, laughing to herself.
"Of course." Shinji replied, moving towards his mat, preparing for the mission ahead. "As long as you let me have a go at you at some point."
"You'll get a chance." Was all Asuka said as they both settled into their positions. They started their routine, as they normally did, matching each other much better than they were yesterday after their evening the day before. Then Asuka purposely started to speed up, and Shinji purposely started to lose his balance.
"Baka Shinji!" Asuka called out, giving Shinji a good kick to the side. "You made me mess up again!"
"Again!?" Shinji replied, getting up as well, matching Asuka's smirk with his own. "You were the one that was speeding up! Did you not remember anything about what Misato said yesterday!"
"Are you blaming me, Baka? How dare you! Obviously, I'm the one staying in time, and you're the one that's falling behind!" Asuka replied, trying as hard as she could to not break into laughter.
"Me!" Shinji replied, also trying his hardest not to burst into laughter. "I'm the one falling behind?"
"Yes!" Asuka groaned. "You also have no balance at all, I don't understand how you are ever going to finish this task that we have set before us!"
"Both of you shut up!" Came Misato's annoyed tone as she quickly entered the room, a glare on her face. "You have three days to complete this task, so get to work and stop arguing! We don't have time for this!" Misato sighed, exiting the room quickly, rubbing her head in annoyance.
Asuka grinned and subtly high-fived Shinji. She watched as Misato left the room. "Yes! Stage One completed! Now it's time for Stage 2!"
"When do we start Stage 2?" Shinji asked, wondering what Asuka's next plan was.
"Well, we just have to wait until lunch, as we're going to get into a war while we're cooking the dishes."
"Why are we specifically doing that?" Shinji asked, raising an eyebrow at her in wonder at exactly what Asuka's plan was.
"Because I wanted three steps and I could only think of that." Asuka replied, shrugging. "Don't think too much about it, we have to annoy Misato! Now, let's just get back to this and annoy Misato even more by actually doing it mostly correctly." She said, and the duo went back to practicing on the mats – albeit deliberately failing.
Misato wandered into the room an hour later, where Shinji and Asuka continued to practice their routine in silence, not noticing that Misato had entered the room and was watching them intently. Asuka messed up, she growled slightly but said nothing, and the duo quickly restarted their routine afterwards. Misato watched in confusion, she was fully expecting Asuka to freak out and go off at Shinji as she usually did, but they just silently continued their routine as if nothing had happened.
'Those two are so confusing,' She thought to herself as Shinji messed up again. They were getting better, she couldn't deny that, but it was starting to get very annoying when they would get so close but then mess up.
"Alright!" She called out, getting the two children's attention. "Let's take a break, you guys go make lunch if you want." Asuka and Shinji nodded and left towards the kitchen, "Err, Misato-san, could you come with us?" Shinji asked nervously as Asuka instructed him.
"What for?" Misato raised an eyebrow, she didn't know the boy well, but from the looks of it the kid had a good heart.
"Well, I was thinking, since you cook for yourself, we…hmmm…one more helping hand would be grateful!" Shinji improvised; Asuka barely suppressed a laugh.
Misato pondered for a moment. "Can't hurt, I guess." However, there was something else in her mind that made her agree.
Asuka grinned over at Shinji, "Round 2 is a go!" She whispered excitedly, leading the boy and the bid sister into the kitchen to carry out the second phase.
As the trio entered the kitchen, Misato suddenly spoke, "Now, what are you two doing?" She asked, suspicion in her eyes.
"What do you mean, Misato?" Asuka feigned ignorance. "We're not doing anything. How can you think that we're doing anything weird?"
"You guys are so strange. Your relationship should be strange and weird yet you get along swimmingly. You can try and make it look otherwise but I can tell that you both get along very well with each other." Misato said, looking between Shinji and Asuka. "And we've gotten to the point now where when one of you are doing something, generally, both of you would be. So, I ask again, what are you doing?"
"Asuka's right, Misato." Shinji replied, glancing at the redhead beside him. "We aren't doing anything strange, we're just working hard, like you told us to." Shinji said, hiding his smile as best as he could.
"Well, okay…" Misato said, not really believing them but moving on. "So, after lunch you guys will have more training. You're getting somewhere but you still aren't completely finished with the routine yet, you still have a bit to go. If you're getting somewhere and you don't argue with each other while practicing, then I'll let you do what you want for an hour before dinner. Understood?"
"Yes, Misato." Shinji and Asuka replied, simultaneously, something that was happening far more often since they'd started their training. Misato saw this as a good sign, it showed her that two kids were getting somewhere with their training. It would only be a matter of time before they would complete their training and get to a point where they would be able to sync their thoughts well enough to pass the test.
Shinji went to deal with the meat as usual, while Asuka headed for the vegetable section. Misato simply sat on a chair – not that she was lazy – and kicking her legs as she watched the Children work together with satisfaction.
Just as she thought everything would be okay, things started to go south.
"Ouch! Shikinami!" Asuka cried out, wanting to slap the boy beside her. "Don't let the hot oil splash on me!"
"Kind of hard not to do that, Asuka, when you're standing so close to the stove!" Shinji shot back, equaling her intensity with his own. "In case you haven't noticed, I can't move the stove, and it's you who chose this spot!"
"Are you blaming me again, Shikinami?!" Asuka barked, a frown on her face.
"I'll have you know that you're the one doing the things wrong here!" Shinji shouted.
"Wanna bet!?" Asuka challenged.
"This came from you I'll have you know!" Shinji stood his ground.
"Are you saying this was my fault!?" Asuka threatened.
"Yes, I am! Yes, I am, Shikinami!" Shinji pushed.
Asuka moved into Shinji's space once again, intending to faking a slap when Misato walked in and pulled them away from each other. "Please, both of you, for the love of all that is holy, stop arguing!" Misato said, glancing between both of them, as they tried to grab at each other again. "This is petty and annoying! Stop this now or I'll make you eat cafeteria food!" She threatened.
The Children shot each other one last glare before returning to their work.
Misato sighed in response to their fighting. 'How am I going to get them to stop fighting for five minutes?' She asked herself, as she exited the kitchen and headed to her room. She needed a beer…again.
"Round 2 is a success!" Asuka cried out in excitement, giving the boy a high-five. Shinji responded in kind, laughing with her.
"So, what's Round 3 then?" Shinji asked, tilting his head to the side, wondering what Asuka's next idea in her plan was.
"Round 3 is simple. After lunch we'll have to perfect our dance routine first, then when Misato checks on us, we'll mess up intentionally, then when she started to get mad, we'll perform a perfect round. Just mess with her head!"
"I assume… we'll be training hard in the afternoon? Without Misato knowing?" Shinji asked, flipping the meatballs.
"Right in one, Shinji!" Asuka replied, winking at him.
Two hours of secret training later
Asuka stood on the machine and getting ready to go. "Are you ready, Shinji?"
"Yeah!" Shinji replied, getting into position as well and letting the music flow through their ears. They started their movements quickly, staying in time and in unison until about halfway through, where the problems started to come into place.
"Shinji!" Asuka cried out, taking in his movements in annoyance. "You're behind again! You need to jump higher there as well!"
"Asuka, calm down!" Shinji replied, causing Asuka to stop the song and turn to the boy.
"Listen, Shinji…" She said, glancing at him. "You're klutzy and too slow! We need to settle this rhythm together!" Asuka huffed, "I'm going to use the bathroom! You'd better not try to peek!" Shinji just shrugged in response.
"Asuka! How many times do I have to tell you and Shinji to stop arguing!?" Misato asked, walking into the room. "I could hear you through two layers of walls!"
"One more I think." Shinji cheekily replied, giving Misato a smile.
"Okay, well tell Asuka that that's enough. I don't want any more arguing." Misato said, wondering where the girl was. "Where is Asuka?"
"She's in the bathroom." Shinji said, heading that way as well. "I'll tell her when she comes out." He said, walking out of the living room.
"Good, because I want to talk to you two after you're both done, okay?" Misato said, letting Shinji know that she was very concerned about their arguments.
"Alright!" Shinji called out, standing outside of the bathroom. "Misato wanted to talk to both of us after you came out of the bathroom, I don't think she's very happy with how we've been acting today…"
Asuka sighed, exiting the bathroom, running a hand through her hair. "I thought so…" Asuka replied. "I guess we don't have much of a break anymore, don't we?"
"I'd say so…"
Asuka grinned slightly, stepping into the room where Misato was waiting for her.
"There you are, Asuka." Misato said, a can of beer in her hands. "So, have you and Shinji stopped fighting?"
"Yes, Misato." Asuka replied, her grin in full force. "We have stopped fighting. Don't worry, we'll work hard towards completing our training for your test."
"I should hope so." Misato said, sipping her beer. "Because, you two have been fighting non-stop all day. What is happening here? Neither of you is showing me that we can pass the test in two days."
Asuka suddenly started laughing, as Shinji entered the room after using the bathroom. Misato was completely confused. "What?" She asked Shinji, who just smiled at her. "Want to start Asuka?" Shinji asked, turning to the girl, who was trying (and failing) to get her laughter under control.
"Yeah, let's do this," Asuka calmed down, walking to her dance mat; Shinji stood on his seconds later. The music sounded, and the pair started dancing in sync. It was flawless. They moved as one. Misato had never seen anything like this in her life – even the professional dancers she saw on TV wouldn't stand a chance against these two in terms of precision and synchronization.
With the final beat ended, the Children stopped, the scoreboard showed a perfect 100 percent.
Misato watched in awe, mouth agape, "wow," was the only thing she could articulate after 10 seconds of silence.
"So, basically, I decided I wanted to get back at you after using Rei yesterday, and telling me that I could easily be replaced by her in this mission. I told Shinji the plan and we tried to annoy you as much as possible today just for payback!"
"Seriously, Asuka!" Misato replied, her annoyance with her two charges coming through. "Your entire point behind today's arguments, and themes-ups was just to make a point!"
"Essentially." Asuka replied, her grin still on his face.
"Gods, you kids will be the death of me one day…" Misato muttered, sipping her beer again. "Look, I'm not annoyed with you two." She started, causing both teens to glance up at her. "I just need you two to understand the seriousness of this situation. I'm happy with the final result, despite your arguing…" Misato finished her beer, tossing it towards the recycling in the corner. "Now, Shinji, I believe we need some dinner soon?" Misato asked, big sister Misato coming out once again. She'd scolded her charges, and now she was going to be her usual relaxed self.
"Asuka, go with Shinji, you're still training, remember." Misato told the girl with a smile on her face. Asuka sighed as she left the room, grabbing two bottles of water, following Shinji to the Geofront's kitchen. "Hey." Asuka said, sitting down beside the boy, handing him a bottle of water. "Misato's still on training mode, so we can't get away from each other yet."
"That's alright," Shinji replied. "At least I'm doing this thing with you."
Asuka blushed a bit as she took in Shinji's words. "You wouldn't want to do this with Rei?" She asked, taking a sip of the water, leaning back against the wall, thinking about her conversation with Rei days before.
"It's not that I don't like her," Shinji replied. "It's just that… you're probably the most normal and relaxed about this. I don't know her as well as I know you, I guess I'm more comfortable doing this with you."
"Yeah," Asuka replied, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. Shinji had no idea how much better his words had made Asuka feel. "I'm glad that I'm doing this with you as well. I don't want to do this with anyone else – boys or girls. I don't know, I just feel the most comfortable with you."
It was now Shinji's turn to blush. Just several days earlier, the girl beside him was telling him to fuck off, and now he was the person she felt the most comfortable with. He was really making progress. They sat in silence until night fell completely and the darkness of the night overcame them. After half an hour, they stopped, getting up together and heading into the food storage room, and started cooking dinner together.
XXXXXX
The night came and Shinji was in a semi-conscious state. Just as he was about to slip into the dreamland, he was woken up by the sound of a rustling blanket. He wasn't exactly irritated, but definitely not happy. He was facing the other way, and decided to shut his eyes close tightly, trying to sleep.
He could hear Asuka getting up from her bed, and entered the bathroom. He sighed in relief as he thought this wouldn't take long and he could go back to sleep. After flushing the commode, the door opened and the light turned off. Shinji quickly closed his eyes, waiting for her to go back to her bed. He could hear her footsteps getting closer and closer as she made her way across the room. Then as the noise of her footsteps reached a peak, they came to a stop. Suddenly he could feel movement in front of him as Asuka's body fell next to his.
He wanted to gasp, but he didn't want to wake her up. Her eyes were sealed shut, and she seemed completely unaware that she was in his bed. Shinji thought about nudging her awake, but he wasn't quite sure how she'd react to that. Then she started to move, inching her face closer to his, practically touching his nose with her own. He could feel her breath on him, and he was certain that she could feel his just because of how hard he was breathing. However she remained at ease.
Shinji found that he had lost control over his own movement, and his hormones had started moving his body on its own. He found Asuka really cute like this – in this vulnerable state, contrary to her usual harsh and cocky personality.
Little did he know, it was Asuka's ultimate test for him. He didn't know he was the first person she felt comfortable enough to give the test to, either. Well, except Kaji that was.
'She looks so peaceful…' Shinji looked at her face, and her lips. 'She just looks so beautiful…' Shinji moved slowly towards Asuka's slightly puckered lips with his own. But before he could kiss her, Asuka's body tensed up as her heart sank, disappointed with his behavior, and a few tears threatened to escape her eyelids.
Shinji stopped dead in the tracks; looking at Asuka's face again, he sighed and moved away. 'I know I want to kiss her, like the girl in my dreams, but I know she'd never forgive me if I did…and she wouldn't understand either…' "Sorry, Asuka…" Shinji whispered.
"Baka, Shinji…" Asuka muttered in response.
Shinji stared at Asuka. 'Is she awake?' Shinji thought, but Asuka's slow breathing however proved otherwise to him. Shinji cautiously got up from the bed, trying his best not to wake her up, and slumped down on Asuka's bed.
He didn't see the failed-to-suppress smile that graced his roommate's lips.
XXXXXX
"Hello, Shinji Ikari," the cloaked prophesier appeared in the void, "are we...safe from disturbances today?"
"I guess, we aren't using the chip anymore," Shinji replied, "well...we'll start with my questions like usual, right?"
The prophesier chuckled, "yes. You're learning, both here and in reality."
Shinji blushed - it was praise from a God, he thought he should at least feel a little proud for himself, "t-thanks. I wanna ask though...Asuka was really pissed with me just days before, but now she's suddenly nice. I mean, I don't mind it, but may I at least get some...insights? I-err-"
"You're afraid of it's some kind of game she's playing with you, right?" The prophesier interrupted, seeing Shinji nodded, he continued, "well, normally this would seem odd. However, in your case it's different. Did she mention anything about...comfortable around you?"
"Yeah, she said she's most comfortable with me," Shinji replied.
"Great. That means..." the prophesier pondered for a second, "even if the mind forgets, the heart remembers," he said, "that's her heart making the decision."
Shinji felt a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders, "I guess I understand now...thanks."
XXXXXX
The next morning was a little awkward, as both Shinji and Asuka didn't bring up how they exchanged beds during the night. To Shinji's surprise Asuka seemed to be in a good mood – few people have good spirits just after getting up.
The day passed quickly as the Children practiced their dance several more times, all of them finished with 100 percent sync scores. After a small conversation, Dr. Naoko Akagi decided to do the test in advance. Since the Children were already synced with each other completely, there's no point in delaying the test anymore.
"Get ready you guys, I hope the training yields results," Naoko said into the channel, "start phase one connection."
Maya started typing on the keyboard, "first-level connection established," she reported, "should we continue?"
"Continue the test."
"Hai. Begin second phase."
In the entry plugs both Asuka and Shinji focused on their thoughts based on their choreographed movements – though not really dancing it out. "Wow," Naoko exclaimed, "great! Their brain waves are at the same phase and showing perfect constructive interference!" 'And it's matching Lilith's perfectly!' She thought to herself.
Just at that moment, both Shinji and Asuka's visions went white.
Shinji slowly opened his eyes, finding him standing in an unfamiliar hallway. The smell of disinfectants and alcohol telling him he was likely in a hospital. "What is this place?" Shinji wandered around – then he found a familiar but not so familiar redhead, standing in front of a large window.
"Asuka?" Shinji walked closer. "She's…so young," Shinji murmured after looking closely at the girl. The little Asuka paid no attention to his arrival, Shinji shrugged – then what's happening inside the room caught his attention.
A woman who also had red hair was lying on the bed, holding a doll in her hand. Shinji could hear her saying, "Asuka dear…die with me…"
"What the hell is that?!" Shinji was intimidated by the scene. Looking down at the little Asuka, he could see tears threatening to come out from the corner of her blue eyes. 'Is this… Asuka's memory?' He thought. Suddenly feeling empathetic to the girl, he said, "Hello?" he patted little Asuka's shoulder.
Little Asuka sniffed, "wh-who are you?" She looked at Shinji.
"Emm, I'm Shinji, Shinji Ikari," he replied, "are you alright?" His socially-awkward brain couldn't really come up with something else at the moment.
However, little Asuka seemed to calm down instantly, "Shinji!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the confused boy, "I-I don't want to be alone! Do-don't leave me!"
Shinji raised an eyebrow, didn't know what exactly to do at the moment. He followed his instinct and stroked through little Asuka's hair. "Errr, don't worry? I mean, I'm not leaving, at least for now…" Little Asuka's hair was soft and silky, Shinji quickly started liking the sensation. He kept stroking her hair, trying his best to comfort the girl.
"Shinji?" Little Asuka called out, pointing to a glowing door several meters beside them, "what is that?"
Shinji looked over, "hmm, maybe it wants us to open it?" Little Asuka nodded, "alright then," little Asuka grabbed Shinji's wrist and dragged him to the door. 'Even little Asuka is like this,' Shinji thought, sweatdropping.
Asuka opened her eyes, found herself standing in the middle of a platform. She looked around and quickly identified the surroundings as a railway station. The platform was empty and only a small human silhouette standing in the middle of it. "What is this place?" Asuka walked to the kid, "This is Shinji? Why is he so…small," she wondered?
Little Shinji cried, "(sob) papa! Don't leave me alone!"
Asuka felt irritated by the childishness of Shinji and smacked his back, "you're a man aren't you? What are you crying about?"
Little Shinji turned his head to Asuka, "Waa! A scary big sister is hitting me!"
Asuka blinked, "You brat! Who are you calling scary big sister?!" She barked, "listen up, I am the celebrated EVA pilot, the great Soryu Asuka Langley!"
Little Shinji stopped crying, and stared at Asuka with a faint blush and admiring look. "What are you looking at?" Asuka asked, her temper fading as she felt something stir in her heart caused by the look.
"After a closer look, you're so beautiful, are you an angel?" Little Shinji said.
Asuka raised an eyebrow, "what did you say?"
"I read beautiful angels are all like you, golden hair with blue eyes!" Little Shinji said.
Asuka blushed, "idiot, I'm not an Angel," she sweatdropped, "but I'll take that you think I'm pretty, huh?"
"Yeah!" Little Shinji nodded with a warm smile.
Asuka half-laughed, "well, brat Shinji is kinda…cute, really," she smirked, lifting little Shinji into the air, who smiled happily, stretching his arms to make a flying impression.
"Say, Asuka," little Shinji suddenly said, "what is that thing over there?"
"Huh?" Asuka looked over and found a glowing door, "what is that? Well, might as well check it out." She lifted little Shinji again and carried him to the door, opened it, and stepped inside.
"What is going on there?" Misato asked worriedly, "the kids are not responsive!"
"From the readings, their minds are fusing together," Naoko said, looking at the readings on her terminal, "their brain waves are identical to another; thus their minds couldn't distinguish which is which."
"What's going to happen to them?!" Misato said, dropping cold sweat.
"Don't worry, they might be wandering in each other's mind world right now, nothing harmful may happen," Naoko reassured, "technically they are not seeing each other's memories – but trapped inside the illusions created by their subconscious, in English, a dream." She explained, "it might take a while for them to figure out each other and come back to reality."
Misato sighed in relief, 'I hope they're alright…'
Shinji and Asuka stood in the middle of a grassland, beside them was a huge cypress tree. Little Shinji and Asuka glared at each other, daring the other one to steal the teenage Shinji and Asuka from them.
"This is incredible," Asuka said, looking at the younger pair, "what's up with this odd world?" She mused, then decided to change the subject, "Shinji, you look cute when you're young! And he is a better sweet-talker than you!"
Shinji chuckled nervously, "well, you're as bossy as your younger self…"
"What was that?!" Asuka glared at Shinji, pinching his ear, "say that again and you'll be a dead man!"
"So-sorry!" Shinji hastily replied, "won't do that again!"
"Hmph," Asuka huffed, giving his ear small mercy, "I mean, when I met little Shinji, you were…hmm, not in a good shape." She paused, afraid of the answer she might get for her next question, "when you met the little me…what did you see?" She gulped nervously.
Shinji scratched his head, "well, you were…" he met Asuka's gaze – uncertain and nervous, although he knew what he saw was probably not things that Asuka wanted anyone to know, he also didn't want to lie. He would feel guilty if he didn't tell Asuka. "Erm, in the hospital, you were…you almost cried for your mom? I mean-"
Asuka visibly paled hearing those words, her mood darkened in an instant as old memories resurfaced. She turned around, her back facing Shinji, "can you forget what you saw?"
"Asuka?" Shinji said cautiously.
"Leave me alone," Asuka said in a dangerously low voice, "or I'll hurt you."
"Sorry, Asuka, I-"
"Leave. Me. Alone," Asuka hissed out every word.
Shinji had two conflicting ideas in his mind. First and foremost, he wanted to run. It was understandable since any person under the same situation would probably just walk away – she made it clear what she wanted. Not to mention Asuka was known to be violent, which means she would probably hurt people for real. However, another voice in his head was telling him to stay. The battleground was at a stalemate, with the runaway side slowly taking over, fueled by the murderous aura Asuka was emitting.
Then he remembered what the prophesier told him – 'Don't leave her' – as well as what little Asuka said to him. The battle was over in an instant.
Mustering all the courage he had – braver than the first time he stepped into an EVA, he said, "No."
Asuka took a sharp breath. She had been alone for most part of her life – and she was perfectly fine with that. She thought it's okay for her to be alone. She didn't need anyone.
The truth was, she didn't want to be alone. However, she knew if she let anyone close to her, they will hurt her by running away once they see the real her – the scared little girl, pleading for help, crying for momma.
Now though, there was one person – Shinji, who just saw her darkest moments, who saw the real her – he didn't run away, instead he chose to help the little Asuka, and refused to leave when she told him to. Did that mean-
No. Maybe he was willing to help her. Maybe he won't run away like everybody else did. But he couldn't understand. She didn't want sympathy. He couldn't understand what it felt like to lose your mother – and then abandoned by your father-
'But he COULD understand,' a voice in her mind said, 'did you already forget what he said? He hated his father because he abandoned him. He lost his mother as well. He was also an EVA pilot. You've probably been through hell and came back together. Not to mention he was probably the only one in this world who could understand you since you both woke up on the beach, having lost nine months of memory. He's just like you. It wouldn't be sympathy – it's empathy.'
Asuka spun around and leaped at Shinji, catching him off guard and pinned him on the ground. She looked into Shinji's eyes, who looked away under the pressure of her soul-piercing glare. "Look at me," she said in an unreadable voice.
Shinji took a deep breath and returned his gaze – cobalt eyes met blue eyes. Shinji was never good at reading people's emotions; however, he could still see a lot behind the cerulean. Confusion, anger, hate, hesitation, and just slightly – appreciation.
"Why?" Asuka asked after a long silence. The younger pair just stood there transfixed as the whole ordeal displayed in front of them.
"Be-because," Shinji swallowed, trying to think something to say that wouldn't sound so lame, "I-I want to help you," seeing Asuka blink, he quickly added, "I also want you to help me! I-I lost my mother at a young age as well, Asuka," he sighed, "I can't remember what happened, she's just…gone. And my father abandoned me immediately," Asuka's glare softened hearing the revelations, "I…I-sorry, I-"
"Don't say anything," Asuka interrupted him, releasing Shinji and standing up, "thanks." She murmured after turning around, not unnoticed by Shinji, who simply smiled a small smile.
XXXXXX
"Alright, we've got enough information," Naoko closed her laptop, "terminate the test."
"Hai," Maya replied, typing on the keyboard.
In the entry plugs Shinji and Asuka simultaneously woke up – Shinji felt liberated; he didn't know how much he did would improve their relationship, but he knew it was one step in the right direction. Asuka woke up in a relaxed mood, a genuine smile graced her lips once she remembered what happened in the dreamland. She would thank the idiot in her own way.
The Children left the plug and headed towards the changing room, Asuka following Shinji closely behind. Just as Shinji was about to enter the changing room, he was called out by the redhead, "hey idiot, come here for a moment."
Shinji stopped in his tracks, "Asuka?"
One second later he could be a perfect example of a deer caught in the headlights as he felt another warm body pressed against his, a pair of hands resting on his back, pulling him close. He could also feel Asuka's female assets firmly pressed against his chest, but strangely he didn't have any perverted thoughts in his mind. He simply enjoyed the warmth and contact, and he wanted it to last forever-
"If somebody's holding you, you're supposed to hold them back, Baka," Asuka murmured. Shinji blushed a faint blush and slowly raised his arms to Asuka's waist, carefully placing them above her hips, not daring to touch anything. Asuka let out a contented sigh, "Thanks, idiot," she muttered, "for being there for me when I needed it the most."
Shinji blushed a little more as Asuka's ticklish breath blew past his ears, "y-you're welcome?"
Asuka released the hug and walked away, giving Shinji a last friendly smile before disappearing into the female changing room.
Still mild-shocked on what just happened, Shinji changed and went back to his living quarters in silence, his own smile never left his face.
XXXXXX
The atmosphere of Gendo's office sank as twelve black monoliths emerged from darkness, while the said man kept his cold expression.
"Well, The Two certainly met our expectations," SEELE 01 spoke first as usual, "at this rate we can initiate the contact experiment the next month."
"Dr. Akagi also reported something worthy of noting," SEELE 03 said, "The Two were talking about 'piloting an EVA.' Do any of you gentlemen have any idea of what is an EVA?"
SEELE 01 to 12 replied one after another, and none of them could think of anything useful.
"Well, maybe we need to eavesdrop on them more," Gendo Ikari finally said.
"Have we got any new information?" SEELE 01 asked.
"No," Gendo replied, "The Two stopped using the chip we were using to eavesdrop."
"Find another way, then," SEELE 05 said, annoyed, "insert something during the next physical examination or something like that. I believe Gehirn has such capabilities."
"Indeed," Gendo said, "however, we're afraid The Two may possess supernatural powers that can sense any form of monitoring. That may be the real reason why they stopped using it."
"Play your cards safe, Ikari," SEELE 01 spoke, "we need to know about The Two as much as possible – but we can't undermine their trust in us for now."
XXXXXX
AN: As you can see, there's a lot parallel scenes to NGE – because some of the scenes are just too good not to write about. There will be more parallel mentions, but with different settings and different process.