The more I think about it, Asuka was set up to fail from the start.

Transferring into a new school, midway through a semester at that, and being expected to catch up (while not even speaking the language natively to start with)? Of course there were going to be snags she was going to hit.

Taking that into account, I was her guardian, and therefore I was in charge of talking to her afterwards, be it through scolding or praise. My eyes scanned the semester's end report in my hand with an increasingly furrowed brow.

There wasn't much praise to be given for the marks I was seeing.

She sat across the kitchen table from me, arms folded, like she was judging the results herself along with me. What a stern look on her face, but even I could notice her furiously biting at her bottom lip, no matter how much she tried to hide it. These marks pissed her off beyond belief. I know most teenagers wouldn't even blink at marks like these, especially for the first semester of the year, but Asuka was different. I didn't have a full grasp on her yet, but she seemed to be an extremely prideful girl. She was probably more mad at herself than I could ever be.

"Well, I'm not quite sure what to say about this…" I wasn't lying to her. I had no clue how to breach this topic. To praise, or to scold. There was no real justification for either extreme, from what I could see. Just the natural result of terrible timing.

From behind the papers in front of me, I scanned her face. She was still staring at the report like it had kicked her dog. I pushed the sheets to the side and she looked up at me, eyes fuming. I cleared my throat.

"From what I can see, you were put at the mercy of poor timing. It wasn't kind to you, but I'm sure once you get on track with school life, you won't have any trouble making up for this." Asuka kept her eye contact with me.

"...the homeroom teacher told me I need to go to classes again all next week for supplementaries." She clenched her jaw and said something under her breath.

I sighed. I was no good at this sorta thing. "Then, I guess that's just what you have to do."

She shot up to her feet suddenly, nearly knocking over her chair. "Don't you know how embarrassing this is!? I've completed university level courses! I shouldn't be doing this poorly! Japanese is such a... a... stupid language anyway!" Her fists balled up hard and for a second I thought she was going to punch my table, but she just stood like that, awaiting my response.

"Calm down."

"Why!? So you don't have to deal with me? Why should I even be in school, anyway? Just so I can see stupid Shinji and his braindead buddies every day? I came here to pilot the Eva! That's all I should have to do! It's not fair!"

I let out an exhausted breath and scratched my chin. That could've gone better. I guess I only had one option left. I stood up as well, looking at her small frame shaking with frustration, her eyes still locked on me.

"If you don't think these marks are befitting of someone like yourself, then prove it by working even harder next time! Getting mad about your position isn't going to solve anything!" I didn't mean to raise my voice in that way, but I said what I had to say.

She looked down at the floor. Her clenched fists stayed as they were in the silence that followed. A few seconds passed, then a minute. Her hands started to relax. She turned on her heel and walked into the hall. "Of course I know that, idiot..." Then the young girl disappeared around the corner, leaving me with the awkward remnants of our first fight.

Asuka has been living with me for about 3 weeks now. In that time, I've watched her settle into her school routine, I make her breakfast every morning and supper every evening, she helps me with laundry and with buying groceries. We're content, but...

That's about it.

She doesn't commit to much small talk with me. Usually, the only times we really speak are when she has questions. I'll admit, I could be making more of an effort as well, but something is holding me back. I can't tell what it is, but every time I try to ask her about herself, I hesitate. A knot comes to my throat, and I say nothing. It's frustrating, but... it's not the end of the world. I mean, do Misato and Shinji talk about personal stuff? Is understanding each other really that important?

After today's fight, I wasn't quite sure. It didn't bother me that she was angry, it bothered me that it was my job to help her and I didn't. That difference bothered me as well, but there was still something else missing. In my day to day, keeping busy, I felt great, happy even. It was nice to have someone to come home to after work, or someone to prepare for arriving home, though there was another feeling, lurking beneath that surface. Something important, like I was forgetting it. Something that only peaked its way into my mind when I was completely alone with my thoughts.

I tossed and turned in bed that night, the humidity of the summer night air causing me a discomfort I hadn't been privy to in months. I didn't welcome it, but it sure welcomed me. Tomorrow, Asuka starts her supplementary classes, that was worry enough, but she didn't even eat her supper earlier either. Maybe… Maybe I should be more encouraging to her…

But how do I even do that?

"Leaving already?"

Asuka paused while putting on her shoes, standing in her uniform at the front door. I had just gotten up, so it was far too early for her to be leaving.

"...why do you care?"

"Asuka…"

"Because it's your job, right?"

Silence fell over the kitchen, like time had stopped. She had turned to look at me, but her face wasn't as angry as her voice was. She just looked tired. I felt like I had to look away, and with that she reached for the door.

"If you wait, I'll make you breakfast." It was all I could offer her right now.

"...I'm not hungry."

"Of course you are. Now sit."

Her hand hovered above the door handle for a moment before retracting. With a huff, she dropped her bag to the floor and kicked off her shoes, taking the chair behind her to sit on. The report card was next to her elbow, and she began eying it. "Do you have to send this to NERV, to report on me?"

I don't remember anything like that being required of me. "No, I don't believe so." She flicked the edge of one of the pages with her finger.

"So can I destroy it?"

I laid a frying pan on the stovetop as I pondered that. Maybe that would help her be in better spirits? I cracked an egg into the pan.

"Go for it."

I heard a small chuckle come from behind me, followed by the sound of tearing paper. I looked over my shoulder just in time to see her shredding the sheets into tiny bits. She took the handful of them up and tossed them in the trash bin, putting her hands on her hips triumphantly.

"You feel better?"

Her cheeks turned a soft pink. "Ugh, aren't you supposed to be cooking?" She walked back to her seat as I continued frying eggs.

After she had finished eating, I drove her to school (much to her annoyance) for her first day of supplementary classes. They only lasted about a week for her, but luckily, at the end, she did well enough that they boosted her scores up to a respectable level.

"Oh, the pizza here looks köstlich!" It was a busy evening in the local diner, but I managed to reserve a booth in advance to celebrate her grades being boosted. Admittedly, she still wasn't super pumped about the results, though she seems to enjoy good food, so I figured it'd cheer her up enough to come out to this place, just to get away for a couple hours.

I chuckled. "Eight slices is a lot for just the two of us." She scoffed.

"After this week? I could eat a dozen of them." she paused to give a quick check over the menu again. "So, are we getting it?"

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly this girl can bounce back. "Sure."

We couldn't eat all the pizza, no matter how köstlich it was, so the rest was boxed for us and saved for tomorrow's dinner.

The night was uneventful. I think Asuka was just happy to finally be done with those classes, so after an hour of playing her handheld game, she showered and headed on to bed.

I stayed up, just flicking through TV channels, wasting time.

That feeling began creeping up again. The channels flicked mindlessly, and my head began feeling funny. "Maybe... I should head on to bed now…" I switched off the TV and stood, stretching my back. Before I had a chance to go into the hallway, however, my cell phone began to ring out on the kitchen counter. Strange.

I didn't recognize the number, but it's not like I give my info out, so this had to be someone who knows me. I picked it up. "This is Matsuo."

"Hey, I'm on my way to the Geofront. If you had to come in, you could get here quickly, right?"

"...Misato? Uh, yeah, I could be there pretty quick. Why, did something happen?" The other end was silent for a few seconds.

"AHHH, DID YOU JUST CALL ME MISATO!? FINALLY! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT!"

Oh, right, this is really the first time we've had a chance to talk since being at the UN's fleet. "R-Right, um, so did something h-"

"Oh, shit, right. That aside, there might be trouble on the horizon. Ritsuko called for me to check on some things. You don't need to come in right away, but I need you to stay on alert. Asuka will be imperative if this turns into another combat situation." Unit-00's repairs still weren't completed, what with the upkeep on Unit-02 and Unit-01, not to mention the rebuilding of parts of the city still being underway, taking priority in the past couple weeks. It was unfortunate, but we only had so many resources and so many hands to do the work. Being a prototype model didn't help Unit-00's case either.

"...another Angel?"

"Seems like it. I need to actually get a look at the data myself, but from what I was told, it seems like it'll be landing at the beach tomorrow morning. Get whatever sleep you can, I'm hoping to be able to catch it as soon as it breaks its foolish head from the water!"

I appreciated her energy, but right now I was exhausted, so I couldn't offer much in terms of a follow-up. "Thanks for the heads up. I'm heading off now." The line clicked. It sucks that this was going to eat into Asuka's days off, especially after the supplementary classes, but that is what she came here for.

I wonder what kind of monster it'll be this time.

Morning came too soon, and with it, the ringing of my cell phone. I tossed a look at my clock. 6:23am. Damn, couldn't even wait until my alarm, eh?

Assuming the kind of conversation I was about to have, I put the phone to my ear. "Is it here?"

"It will be soon. Within the hour, probably. Could you go grab Shinji too while you're on your way? I need to stay here and monitor it." Misato was calm on the other end. Hopefully this one doesn't end up being too much of an issue to deal with.

"That's no problem. I'll be in as soon as I can." The line clicked.

I knocked at Asuka's door after getting myself dressed. Hearing a groan from the inside, I slid the door across. I suppose I could've given her more than a second; the sun had only barely begun rising, and she was only just waking up. What a recipe for an accident that made.

A frightened yelp and the sound of her alarm clock clacking off my chin preceded a sudden intimate moment with the floor of Asuka's room. For more time than I'd like to admit, I was left stunned on the carpet, struggling to catch my breath. The light flicked on, illuminating the scene in front of the young girl.

"W-WAS ZUR HÖLLE MACHST DU!? THAT BETTER NOT HAVE BROKEN MY CLOCK! WHY ARE YOU CREEPING AROUND MY ROOM!? HUH!?"

It took a while to get my breath back, but when I finally did, I explained to her as calmly as I could why I was "creeping" around her room. The prospect of an Angel fight perked her ears up and brought a smile to her face. She shoved me out of her room to get dressed and I, weakly, pushed myself to finish getting ready to head in.

We were out the door pretty quickly after that, luckily. "I have to go get Shinji, you want to take the car keys and go get in?"

"Ugh, seriously? Am I not enough? You need to get the crybaby too? He probably needs his beauty sleep…" She folded her arms, insulted by the idea of bringing along our only other available pilot.

"Misato told me to get Shinji, so I'm getting him. We don't know what to expect out there today. Now, take the keys, or follow me."

The choices juggled in her head for a moment before she spoke. "I'm not sitting in your dingy car alone."

We made our way up a flight of stairs over to Misato's apartment. Wasting no time, I started banging my fist on the door. We needed to make it to the Geofront before the emergency sirens started up again. We couldn't afford to mess up the opening like the last battle in Tokyo-3. We needed to catch this thing as soon as it arrives on the coast, not a second later.

A few minutes passed. No sign of Shinji. I checked my watch. 6:52am. Come on, Shinji.

Asuka kicked the door, putting a small dent in the outside of it. "WAKE UP, IDIOT! YOU'RE GONNA DOOM US ALL!" She stepped back. After a few moments, there was noticeable rustling coming from inside. She gave me a satisfied smirk.

The apartment door opened, and the young resident sleepily rubbed his eye. "Huh? Lieutenant Hatsuyuki, and Asuka? ...what are...?" It took a second before he realized just what was going on. "Oh! Darn, is the Angel actually here!?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Asuka was quicker. "Not yet, you dolt, but you're not doing anyone here any favors by standing around in your PJs!" He hurriedly shut the door, before reemerging a couple minutes later in his usual school outfit. Asuka turned up her nose. "Is that all you know how to wear?"

"W-Well, it doesn't really matter, does it? We're changing into our plugsuits once we get down to the Geofront…"

I cleared my throat, and the two teens looked at me. "Can you guys have this conversation in the car?"

They argued about pointless things until we arrived.

Misato cleared her throat. "As you two are probably aware, Tokyo-3 still hasn't fully recovered from the effects of the Fifth Angel's attacks. There'll be no access to covering fire or back-up during this sortie. We're low on options, so I'm ordering Unit-01 and Unit-02 to finish this battle before the Seventh Angel ever makes contact with land!"

Asuka and Shinji, from inside their Evas, answered in the affirmative.

The Commander turned to me and gave a quick thumbs up. I smiled, but… then the arguing started again.

"How come you called me here all the way from Germany to make up for your lacking power, but then force me to sortie with him, anyway!?"

"That's not a good attitude to have, our orders are to fight together!"

"Just because you're coming with me, doesn't mean I'll let you fight! It'll be over in a second, so you can just sit back and watch!"

"N-No! We have to fight as a team!"

"Ugh, shut up!"

Almost at her breaking point, Misato roared over the comm. "We aren't in a position where we can afford to mess up! Work together!"

Asuka's voice bit back "It's not MY fault my preference is to fight alone, that's how all warriors should fight! He's only going to get in my way!"

The radar's alarm began going off. That was it, the Angel. It was here.

"Start the attack, you two!" Misato called out. The two pilots answered affirmatively again, and the monitor showed the two Evangelions moving quickly towards the coast, just as the new creature's head began cresting the ocean's surface.

"If you're going to do anything, provide covering fire!"

"C-Covering fire!?"

"That's right, if you can manage that much! I'm going in!"

"Damn it, aren't we the same rank? Stop bossing me around!" Unit-01 reluctantly opened fire with it's Pallet Rifle upon the approaching foe.

"Shut it! HERE I GO!"

Unit-02, with a specially made polearm weapon in hand, made its way across the submerged rooftops, flanking the creature. With a battle cry, it hopped into the air, bringing the glaive down upon it, cutting it cleanly in two.

Silence.

Shinji was the first to speak up. "W-Wow. You actually got it!"

With a giggle and a flourish of her hair, Asuka boasted. "Etch that scene into your mind, Third Child. That's how a real warrior finishes a battle. Cleanly, and without wasting t-t-t…"

The Angel wasn't dead.

In fact, quite the opposite. Not only was it not dead, but it had formed into two separate entities. Catching the two pilots off-guard, the Angel split, reforming itself into twins, and began unleashing a barrage of mirrored attacks upon the Evas.

Misato let out a shriek "WHY CAN'T THIS EVER BE EASY!? RETREAT!"