Chapter 5: I've Just Seen A Face

A/N: SHE'S HERE! SHE'S FINALLY HERE! Oh, I've been waiting for these two to meet and I finally made it! Lets go!

2013

Shinji inserted the tape, Yui Ikari faded in.

"Hello, Shinji. I imagine by now, you are entering Junior High. There is a lot for you to learn, but I think a lot of it will be gained from experience. You have my intellect and your father's charm. With those, you'll be sailing smooth.

However, there is one thing that I think you will definitely need guidance on: Girls. In Junior High, you'll begin to see girls in a whole new light, and you may be attracted to them. Don't be afraid of those feelings. Instead, embrace them. It will be frightening, but I know you'll be able to. I have another tape that goes more in-depth about dating and finding a girlfriend, you watch that when you feel ready, okay?

The bottom line is: Don't be afraid of girls. I'm sure they'll be lining up. She added a wink.

Anyways, I love you, I'll see you in the next one.

Remember, anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live. Bye!"

The tape came to an end.

The helicopter was crowded.

Shinji wasn't necessarily claustrophobic, but he hardly had room for his elbows.

Misato proposed bringing some extra people for their seaside rendezvous, but that ended up including the two of them, Rei, Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari.

Six people in total, and the helicopter was designed for four. Perhaps in some wacky alternate timeline, it was just himself, Misato, and the other stooges.

Eh, this is definitely better, Shinji thought to himself. The more the merrier. He liked thinking to himself. At this moment, it was to drown out Kensuke's incessant rambling about military craft.

"Wow! A MIG-55D transport helicopter! Never thought I'd get the chance to ride one of these badboys! Gotta love it, eh, Shinji?" the boy in question was happy they weren't riding a VTOL, lest Kensuke made a mess in his trousers.

"Yeah, great, man..." Shinji replied unenthusiastically. It was becoming more of a mistake to give this kid the window seat. Hikari's face was all red from having to be crushed between Toji and Rei, so he figured the window would've been better suited for her.

Rei remained neutral-faced, but this was her standard reaction to most things. Shinji knew how to make her laugh, but a horrifying beast could tell her "be not afraid" and she would likely look bored.

Shinji tried to tune his friend out by thinking about this new arrival he was to meet: Asuka Langley Soryu, that was her name. He got a little bit of info from Misato. According to her, this girl was half-Japanese and half-German, and had been training to pilot Eva since for around 10 years, which trampled Shinji's meagre five years of combat training and less than a year of actual Eva training. He didn't even activate Unit-01 until a couple months ago, so surely Soryu would be even better at synchronizing than him.

Other than that, Misato didn't give much more information. She had said 'Asuka's a handful' and that she was cute, but wouldn't go in-depth, so Shinji would just have to wait and see what Miss Soryu was all about.

Shinji's thinking was interrupted once again by Kensuke. "Whoa! Five carriers and four battleships! Now that's a fleet. Toj, this is enough to bring a grown man to tears!"

Toji rolled his eyes. "Ken, you're 14. Relax before your head explodes. I don't wanna get your brains on my shoes, I just cleaned 'em."

"Well, to his credit, that is a beautiful ship!" Misato chimed in.

"Which one?" asked Hikari.

"The biggest! It's a carrier known as Over The Rainbow! It survived through Second Impact, and it's a sign of hope for us all!" the recently-christened Major reflected.

As she finished up her description, the helicopter was landing on the deck of the aforementioned carrier. The pilot got out and opened the passenger door. Toji pushed Kensuke out, then hopped out himself before (seemingly reluctantly) helping the class rep. Misato jumped out next, Rei in tow.

Shinji paused for a moment, remembering the greeting in German that Misato told him.

It means 'hello,' 'my name is Shinji,' and 'it's nice to meet you.' Got it, we're good. With that all ready, Shinji jumped out, looking at the ground to make sure he landed on his feet.

When he looked up, he was greeted with a sight he would never forget as long as he loved. There stood a young girl. She was wearing a yellow sundress that blew in the wind, a light-blue choker necklace, and she sported red hair, held up by two red clips. Were they neural clips?

Most of all, she's beautiful... Shinji thought to himself. She had blue eyes, a much lighter shade than his. They were nice. Not to mention her features, they left him speechless as she held them in a cocky, determined expression.

In fact, Shinji was so speechless, he failed to notice for a moment she was looking right at him.

She then looked at Misato, which allowed him to gain his bearings.

"Ah, hallo, Misato. How have you been?" the girl said, greeting his superior with a certain familiarity.

Misato smiled at her. "I'm great, honey. You've gotten so tall, gods!"

Asuka grinned. "Not only that, but my form too! I've filled out, haven't I?"

"Yes, yes you have," Misato said, chuckling. "Everyone, this is the one-and-only, Pilot of Evangelion Unit-02, The Second Child, Asuka Langley-Soryu!"

Shinji kept his gaze on her face when he noticed her expression go sour. Next thing he knew, her palm made swift contact with his face. He looked to his side to see that Toji and Kensuke suffered the same fate, due to the red handprints on their faces.

Hikari and Rei stood next to the two, but didn't feel the wrath of the Second Child. They simply watched on, the Class Rep widening her eyes.

"Augh! What was that for?" Toji shouted

"Payment!" Asuka sneered at him.

He huffed "Well," he said as he grabbed the waist on his pants. 'Here's your change!"

Toji's idea of 'change' was indecent exposure, to the horror of everybody around. Even his friends, who got a view of his entire backside, but that was nothing compared to Asuka, who saw his entire frontside.

"EW! WHAT THE HELL!?" Asuka screamed, before Hikari grabbed Toji by the ear, pulling him aside to fully reprimand him.

Asuka analyzed the crew of people, and her eyes fell on Rei, whom she had seen a few times in test footage during training. "Ah, so this must be the commander's pet." She said offhandedly.

Rei tiled her head. "I am a human being, so therefore, I would not be a pet to the commander of NERV. In fact, I'm-"

"Yeah, whatever, I don't care," Asuka cut her off, and she looked at a boy with glasses standing next to a boy with brown hair and a timid look on his face. "So, Misato, which one's the Third? Please don't tell me it's camera-boy over here!"

"Hey!"

"No, it's this one!" Misato said, pointing to Shinji.

Asuka stepped closer to Shinji, directly invading his personal space.

Shinji decided to use the greeting to try and get off on the right foot. "G-Guten Tag! Ich bin Shinji Ikari! Ich liebe dich, liebling!" Alright! I just said 'Hello! My name is Shinji Ikari, it's nice to meet you!'

Oh my God, his German is terrible, but that was kinda adorabl- no, stop, you just met him, and he's probably a perv-. Asuka thought to herself, before realizing his words. Wait, WHAT DID HE SAY!?

"WHAT!?" Asuka shouted as she jumped back for a moment, watching the boy's nervous smile morph into a confused expression. "What are you, stupid? Do you just greet everyone like that? What the hell's wrong with you!?"

Shinji furrowed his brow. "Wait a minute! I just said it was nice to-" a look of realization hit his face. "Oh gods. Misato, what did you have me say!?" he said to his guardian, who was barely holding in a laugh.

"So you know Misato too, huh?" Asuka said, deadpanning.

Shinji nodded. "A little too well..."

"I see nothing's changed with her."

"Oh come on, Asuka. You looove me!" the lady in question replied.

Asuka sighed a little. "Well, since you're clearly an idiot, let me tell you what Misato put you up to. You just said 'I love you, darling.'"

Shinji's eyes went wide and his face went extremely red. "I... Oh gods, I am s-so sorry." he stammered, before regaining composure. "Anyways, I'll just do this in Japanese: My name's Shinji Ikari, it's nice to meet you!" he said sheepishly.

Asuka grinned, putting her hands on her hips. "Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed, huh?"

Very. Shinji thought to himself, fighting the stunned expression on his face, immobilized by her smile. "Uh-huh..." he managed. His flush did not go unnoticed by the redhead, who was satisfied with his reaction.

Misato clapped her hands together "Well, now that we've gotten introductions out of the way, why don't we go to the bridge? I need to talk to the captain. Come on!" She called to the others. Toji was nursing his ear with one hand after Hikari had nearly yanked it off. Kensuke filmed the whole thing while Rei stood in silence.

"Well, Miss Katsuragi, I am just so grateful you brought an entire day-care onto my ship!" the captain of the fleet said sarcastically.

"We are grateful that you are helping us transport Unit-02 to Tokyo-3, sir." Misato replied curtly, before handing him a file. "Here. These are the specs for Unit-02's emergency power supply."

The captain scoffed. "What!? I'm not letting that glorified action-figure activate on my ship! Are you crazy!?"

"Hey. it's in case of emergency." Misato said. "Besides, NERV has authority in an emergency."

The captain groaned. "Since when were we a transport service?" his lieutenant looked at him, about to answer. "Keep it locked." the man said before he could answer.

Misato watched this tantrum before handing grabbing the folder and pulling out a few forms. "Here, sign these."

"Nope. No can do, Katsuragi, Unit-02 and its pilot are under our command until we reach New Yokosuka." the captain answered to her chagrin.

"Well, I certainly hope everyone is getting along." A deep, nonchalant voice said from the doorway.

"KAJI!" Asuka squealed as she whipped around, grappling onto the man's arm tightly.

Shinji watched her do this and felt a twinge in his chest from seeing this pretty girl latch onto a guy older and better-looking than him, but shook it off. After all, he hardly knew the girl.

"Augh! What the hell are you doing here!?" Misato hissed.

"Ah, Katsuragi. It's nice to see you. I see you still look beautiful as ever." Kaji said, offering her a smile.

"Kaji! How many times do I have to tell you to stay out of the bridge!?" The captain snapped.

"Sorry, cap. Heard there were some old friends here that I needed to see." replied the suave man.

"Like me!" Asuka said enthusiastically, but failed to notice that the man of her affection's eyes were locked on an older, more developed woman.

The woman in question scowled at Kaji. "Then in that case, you should get the hell out of here! We have a long way to New Yokosuka."

"That goes for you too, Katsuragi. You've given me the forms or whatever, now please get your parade of kids out of here!" The captain turned on her.

Misato simply put her hands up and motioned the group out of the room, Kaji following.

Asuka relented on Kaji, and was now getting herself acquainted with Hikari. This was largely due to him slowly squirming his arm out of her bear hug. Now that she was not clinging to him, he could finally talk to the woman who wanted to throw him overboard.

"So, Katsuragi. How's it been running the show at NERV?" he opened the floor.

"Better without you there. And what the hell are you doing here!?" She snapped at him.

Kaji put his hands up playfully. "I'm with her on a business trip from Germany. I was her guardian, after all."

"Gods help anyone put in your care..." Misato said in a low voice. "I should've seen this coming."

Shinji watched their conversation with curiosity. Man, I wonder what Kaji did to get Misato this fired up. I don't think I've ever seen her so annoyed. What did he do to make this woman that mad?

The group of eight came to a stop at an elevator, and all looked at each other.

"We're not all gonna fit..." Shinji observed.

"Obviously!" Asuka said back loudly. "I don't want one of you perverts grabbing under my dress!"

"How about this?" Misato started. "Girls and I go, then Kaji can take the boys, lest he doesn't get them killed somehow."

"What a shame, Katsuragi." Kaji said. "I was hoping to get a bit closer."

Misato scowled as she got into the elevator. "Bite me, Kaji."

The elevator went down, and Kaji leaned on the wall as the three boys stood quietly.

"So, Mr. Kaji," Toji said breaking the silence. "You know Miss Misato?"

Kaji smiled. "You could say that," he answered vaguely. I know her in a lot of ways. A lot of positions too. He thought to himself. "We go way back."

"Neat. So, how do I win her over?" the jock said, unaware of Kaji's nostalgic bliss.

The man chuckled, fully aware that he held that secret deep in his heart. "Women are complicated, kid. It'd take three trips to New Yokosuka." he said as the elevator doors opened once again.

"I'll wait!" Toji insisted at the four entered, heading to the dining hall.

The gentlemen entered the dining hall to see the ladies had pulled a few tables together for everyone to sit, and there was coffee for everyone. Asuka encouraged Kaji to sit next to her in a spot that was conveniently across from Misato, while Shinji took a spot next to her and across from Rei. Toji sat on the opposite side of him, which was across from Hikari. Kensuke sat across from Asuka, who gave him a dirty look for good measure. He took it as a threat and put down his camera momentarily.

"Well, Katsurgi, have you been seeing anybody? I wouldn't be surprised." Kaji said in his usual casanova tone.

"Classified information, Kaji." She shot back.

He gave her a sarcastic smile. "Oh, you hurt my heart," he then turned his attention on her ward. "So, Shinji, you know Katsuragi well?"

"Yes, we've lived together for around 4 years now." the boy answered politely.

"Mm," Kaji answered, before grinning devilishly. "Is she still wild in bed?"

Everyone at the table recoiled, save for Shinji and Rei. Hikari stammered something about living in sin.

Shinji tugged his collar, not entirely oblivious to the innuendo. "Um, well, she is kind of a messy person, so I gotta clean up after her a lot."

Kaji laughed softly. "Oh, so she's as dirty as she used to be, eh!?" which only heightened the reaction from everyone.

Rei narrowed her gaze in confusion. "I do not understand," she said, addressing Shinji. "Major Katsuragi is a human being, why would she be 'wild in bed?' that implies that she would have to be an animal that lives in wilderness.

Asuka looked at her. Has this girl been living under a rock? She has no idea what a euphemism is, for God's sake!

Kaji saw another opening to get a rise out of his old flame. "Well, Miss Ayanami, you could say that Katsuragi-"

"Alright, that's enough!" Misato shouted.

Shinji decided to ease the tension. "Mr. Kaji, how do you know mine and Rei's names?"

"Well, how could I not? You two have been pretty diligent taking out those angels. You make a great team!" Kaji complemented, which made Shinji look down and hesitantly accept the praise. In his own opinion, he was a decent Eva pilot, but likely the weakest link. After all, he had the least amount of training.

"I-I think it's just luck for me. Rei's been training longer." Shinji said as much.

Kaji gave him a nod and got up, stepping out onto the deck. "Well, I'll be back." Misato glared daggers at him until he was out of sight, and took her leave elsewhere.

The kids began to chitchat, before Asuka pulled her new co-pilots aside.

"Listen, First, Third. I dunno what love affair you two have going on, if you're doing it and that makes you better on the battlefield or what." She started.

"Asuka, we're-"

"Shh! Anyways, my point is, no matter what you're doing, I will do it better!" she boasted, and with that, she went out onto the deck to find Kaji.

Shinji looked at Rei. "I'm pretty sure she thinks we're in a relationship."

Rei cocked her head. "I do not understand why she would assume as much. We possess similar features, which human beings who share blood relation are known to have. I tried to inform her that you are my cousin, but she interrupted me."

"Me too," Shinji replied. "I mean, she's really a handful, but we've gotta cooperate with her, don't we?" he said as the two rejoined their friends. She's also beautiful, so I'll definitely make the effort. He thought. Gods, Misato said she was cute. If that's cute, I'd love to see what she thinks is gorgeous.

"Man," Toji started. "That Soryu is a cu-" he stopped himself as he saw Hikari's glare centred on him. "-ourageous person. She's, uh, loud. Yeah. that's it. Very loud."

"Well, Suzuhara." Hikari retorted. "I think Miss Soryu is a nice girl, and I can't wait to get to know her better!"

Kensuke laughed sarcastically through his nose. "I hope she's not transferring to our school. I just might die."

Rei looked at him. "Would Pilot Soryu attempt to end your life?"

"Probably." he replied.

Shinji put his hand on her shoulder. "Rei, he doesn't mean it literally. A lot of things people say are figurative."

She looked down for a moment in thought. "I see. I will be more observant and ask when needed."

"Good," Shinji said. "Anyways, I'll be right back, guys. I gotta use the bathroom."

Asuka broke into a fast-walk when she existed the dining hall, thoughts of her new co-pilots swarming her.

Ugh, what's with them? Ikari's an idiot and Ayanami's a weirdo. Does she seriously not pick up on anything at all? The entire time we were at the table she just looked at him! There's definitely something going on there! Whatever, I just have to prove I'm better than both of them. They can't be that good of pilots. I know if Ayanami because she's the First Child, and her testing set the baselines. I bet she's the Commander's pet over here, the way they used her to establish the tests. Another thing, I'll bet anything she's all over Ikari.

Her ranting was brought to a halt when she found the man she was looking for.

"Kaji!" She said with glee as she approached him.

"Hey, kid," he responded, turning his head briefly. "How're you getting along with the others?"

"Ikari and Ayanami? They're weird, but they don't threaten me. Ayanami is like talking to a sentient tree, and Ikari seems kinda dull." He is kinda cute though... shame he carries himself like that. She admitted internally.

Kaji grinned. "Well, there's more than meets they eye, kiddo. He's been combat training for five years, and even though he started his Eva training this year, he's been maintaining a sync score in the low 70s in just a couple months." He knew that would set her off.

That shattered Asuka's perception. Her training had gotten her to a 76.55%, but that was after years of training, and here comes Ikari barely behind her. "WHAT!?" she shouted. "Screw that! It's because he's the test-type pilot! I'll be back, Kaji. Don't despair!" With that, she stormed off.

Shinji told his friends he had to find the bathroom, but he had really gone to seek advice. Luckily, he found just the person he was looking for.

"Misato?"

The lady of the moment looked over at Shinji. "You alright, kiddo? You look like you're about to piss."

"No, it's not- I just... Wanted to ask you for some advice."

Misato grinned. "I think I have an idea."

"You do?"

"Of course, little Asuka has you all hot and bothered, doesn't she, Shinji Ikari." She teased.

"What!? Um... No- I mean yes-" he sighed. "Maybe."

Misato's grin softened and she put a hand on his shoulder. "So, you have a case of 'love at first sight,' eh? And you've come to Misato Katsuragi, woman extraordinaire, to see what to do about it."

"Uh..."

"Worry not! As a woman, I'll give you all the insight you'll ever need. Write this down, or burn it into your brain. Okay?" He nodded. "Ready?" He nodded again. "Good! So: Women are crazy."

"Women are- huh?" He responded, bewildered.

"It's true!" She confirmed "Women are nuts! Guys can be assholes and whatnot but in reality they're very simple creatures. Women are another game entirely. The faster you can accept that, the better you'll be at this. So sayeth Misato Katsuragi: Women are crazy, men are stupid!"

Shinji cut in on her regal decree. "Misato, what does this have to do with Asuka? I want to know her better, but she's so... Overbearing. And she's pushy. Oh man, is she ever pushy. What do I do?"

Misato chuckled. "Push back."

"Push back?"

"You heard me. It doesn't take a scientist to figure that one out. Trust me, my grades were shameful, but that's another story. My point is, Asuka's very abrasive. I've known her a long time, and some things haven't changed from when she was younger, her being stubborn and pushy is a constant for sure."

"Uh huh..."

"But she didn't have a whole lot of people at NERV Berlin. She gave her attention to whoever she deemed worthy. The people she cared to see, she'd talk to, and I think if she's giving you the time of day, then you're on the right track. She'd push the people she liked as well, myself included. I think you'll get a good side of her if you push back."

He pondered Misato's words "Push back. Push back..."

"Trust me. One of my best relationships started with a whole lot of pushing. I'd push him, he'd push back, and we were all over each-other like a couple cicadas."

Shinji's face reddened as it met the palm of his hand.

"What, bad metaphor?" She asked.

Shinji just shook his facepalming head. Knowing Misato as well as he did made it easy to comprehend her humour, and he couldn't help but picture her and whoever this old boyfriend was buzzing like the bugs he heard 24/7.

He then realized who the old boyfriend might be, from the way she was behaving around a certain man after something he'd said. He had an opening, so he took it. "It was Mr. Kaji, wasn't it?"

Misato flushed a little, before lightly smacking him on the shoulder. "Never you mind, Shinji."

The pep talk was cut short by a rather loud voice. "Hey, Third Child!" He turned his head to see Asuka coming down the escalator and approaching him. "You're coming with me!" She demanded as she stepped closer.

Misato regarded him one last time before he was dragged into the abyss. "Keep it in mind. Remember," and she gave him a push towards the redhead, winking in the process.

"Where are we going?" Shinji asked wearily.

Asuka snapped her head around to him. "I am taking you to see what a real Eva looks like! And a real pilot, for that matter?"

Why did she say it like that? He pondered for a moment, before answering. "Sure thing, Miss Langley-Soryu."

Asuka scoffed. "None of that surname crap. What are you, 50 years old? Just call me Asuka."

"Alright, then you can call me Shinji!" He said with a smile.

"Nah, I'm calling you Idiot-Shinji instead." she teased.

"Aw, really?" Shinji protested lightly.

"Oh come on, you fell right into one of Misato's pranks, and you've known her how long?" Asuka lectured him. Although, I did enjoy seeing you get flustered, and I think I know how to get more reactions like that, She thought.

Shinji simply sighed. Asuka made a good point, and he was passive enough not to argue too much, just give her some push, like Misato had just told him.

She led him to a part of the ship where there was a small boat in water. "What...?" he asked skeptically.

"Come on, get movin'!" Asuka ordered, prodding his back. "We need to take that boat to get to my Eva!"

"Alright, alright." Shinji said, before gulping quietly. He had some strong suits according to Misato, but even she knew he was not a swimmer, nor did he fare well around water. They learned that the hard way when she took him to a pool and pushed him in for a laugh. That ended in him flailing about and coughing up water while lying on his side moments later.

After a split second of mental prep, he got in the rowboat, before offering Asuka a bit of help. She initially refused as a show of strength, but the water had other ideas so she latched onto his arm momentarily. Shinji noticed her hand was very soft.

The both grabbed an oar and started paddling, with Asuka directing him to this thing she kept boasting about. He helped her out of the boat again before she regained her bearings. She tossed her hair as she strode past him to a large lump of tarp.

"So, why'd you drag me here?" Shinji asked.

"Idiot! Can't you see?" Asuka shot back before theatrically removing the tarp, revealing a dormant Evangelion in a sort of fetal position. She climbed up to stand on top of it, looking down at the young man before her. "Unit-00 and Unit-01 were the prototype and test types, but my Unit-02 is the peak in Evangelion development! It's a true production model! What'cha think of that, boy?"

Shinji raised his eyebrows as he looked up at her, then at what she was standing on. "It's very red."

"Well of course! My Eva, my rules! And nothing is more badass than a big red giant storming onto the battlefield to kick some ass!" Asuka boasted, jumping back down to his level and staring him in the eyes. He had blue eyes, a much darker shade than hers. They were nice, she had to admit.

Enough. "I heard about your little sync score, Third Child. Just you wait until we get to NERV. I'll show you what a-" her words were cut off by a tremor that threw them both off-balance.

They looked at each other. "Angel!"

Shinji's eyes widened. "Wait a minute! I don't have Unit-01, a plugsuit, or neural clips! I gotta get back!"

"No time!" said Asuka. "You need to get in the entry plug with me!"

"How?" he asked. "Where am I supposed to get-" The realization hit him when he saw the grin that spread across her face. "Oh no, please don't tell me..."

"I got spares!" she said before running over to a nearby crate, pulling out two plugsuits and a pair of bulky, red neural clips like the ones on her head, tossing the extra gear to Shinji. "Suit up! I'm going into the stairwell. Peep and you'll be more afraid of me than the angel!"

Shinji sighed. He took off his clothes, putting them in a small pile next to him. He'd fold them, but the angel didn't care about the nuances of tidiness, so he focused on getting his battle-wear on. Shinji fastened the neuro-clips, positioned the loose plugsuit, then gave his vital organ an apology before depressurizing the plugsuit made for someone without such body parts. The plugsuit slapped him right in that spot. but he took sharp, deep breaths in to get his mind off the pain. "Ready?" he asked Asuka a bit weakly.

Right on cue, she strode out of the stairwell, noticing the pain on his face. "Come on, Ikari, it can't be that bad. No time to cry over spilled nuts, right? Let's get moving!"

"3 ships have sunk!" a lieutenant informed the captain.

"Dammit! Just what we need right now!" he roared sarcastically.

"Allow me to remedy the situation!" Misato Katsuragi said as she confidently strode onto the bridge, teenagers in tow.

"Katsuragi, authorized personnel only!"

"Good news, we fall under that category!" She said cheerily. "Now, it appears we're getting attacked by an angel, so you'll have to cooperate.

"Screw that!" the captain shouted, before noticing the form of the angel surface. "There! All ships fire at will"

Much like the JSSDF, the fleet used their big scary guns and explosives on the angel, only for their ammunition to bounce off of it.

Rei observed the situation. "Their actions are foolish and useless. After all, conventional weapons do not exceed that of an AT-Field."

"Damn right!" Misato said upon hearing this. "What's an angel doing here, anyways?"

Asuka pulled Shinji into the entry plug, putting him behind her seat as she ran through the startup procedure. She went through the checks in German, until she ran into an error, which had his name all over it.

"Dammit! Thought noise! You! Start thinking in German!" She demanded, slapping his chest with the back of her hand.

"Um, Guten Tag, Ich bin Shinj Ikari... uh..." he trailed off.

"You know what, don't finish that. I'll just switch the language to Japanese." she said as she clicked some buttons.

This time, the startup procedure went through properly. Shinji stood behind Asuka as she put her hands on the controls.

"Evangelion Unit-02, activate!"

Kaji managed to get the package he came for. He was discreet and diligent enough to get around watchful eyes and make it to his plane. After all, the embryo of Adam needs to be in the right hand. He decided to get moving early, especially since things started shaking.

Getting to the on-board hangar, he gently laid the case in the empty passenger seat and climbed in, noticing Misato was looking at him. He gave her a salute as he flew away, half-certain he heard her cursing him out. Maybe it's my imagination, heh.

Mistato locked eyes with Kaji momentarily as he got in the helicopter and took off. "Asshole!" She cried out before shifting her focus back on the matter at hand: The angel.

"Message received from Othello: Eva Unit-02 is activating!" said a lieutenant.

"Let's go, Asuka!" she cheered.

The captain was furious. "What!? No! Let's not go! Stop this at once!"

"Nope! Launch, Asuka!"

"Unit-02 and the pilot are under our command! How many times do I have to say it?" he demanded.

"And how many times do I have to say that NERV gets authority in an emergency?" she fired back.

The lieutenant set his piece "It's still wearing it's B-type equipment! It can't fall in the water!"

"This Eva is still wearing it's B-type equipment. We can't fall in the water!" Shinji observed.

"So? We just don't fall in!" Asuka responded matter-of-factly.

Misato came on the comm. "Shinji, are you in there?"

"Yeah! We were here when the angel hit so we both got in."

He heard some grumbling from the captain.

"Alright, get moving!"

On her word, Unit-02 leapt from it's boat and landed on it's feet. It's 70-foot glory shining brightly for all in th midday sun.

"Coming!" Asuka said, before turning to Shinji. "Which way?"

"There!" he said, signalling to a nearby boat with his head. "Hurry!"

"Prepare a power socket!" Asuka then turned to Shinji. "Ever played hop-scotch?"

"Once or twice?"

"Good!" with this, she jumped from boat to boat, easily creating thousands of dollars in damage, before landing at the boat with the external power.

"Target approaching! Rapidly!" someone said over the comms.

Shinji looked at Asuka. "We don't have guns!"

She looked back "What are you, stupid? I saw the footage, how did you defeat the other angels? You used the prog knife, didn't you?"

"Right!"

"Then let's waste no time!" she said, wielding the weapon as the angel got closer.

The angel leapt out of the water, tackling Unit-02 and dragging it underwater with it.

They heard chatter over the comms, but after some thrashing, the angel let go and Unit-02 was left floating underwater.

"Move! Dammit, why isn't it moving?" Asuka said angrily.

"The B-type equipment!" Shinji answered her.

"Well, smartass, what do we do?"

"What do we do? I dunno!"

"Oh come on! Third child, killed two. angels and can't even- AHHHH!" She was cut off by the angel opening its mouth and grabbing Unit-02 with it.

The gang watched this unfold from the ship. Hikari screamed when Unit-02 got grabbed by the giant aquatic angel, and Toji awkwardly comforted her by putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Man, it's like they're fishing..." he said idly.

"Fishing...?" Misato pondered. "Fishing!" she said, having an idea.

"Alright, here's the plan! Unit-02 will pull the angel to a point where two battleships will exhaust their ammunition and self-destruct! Captain, are you with me?"

The captain was simply despondent at this point. He sighed. "Fine. We'll do it your way. What about the Eva?"

"Trust the pilots. They'll be fine!" she said. "Shinji, Asuka. Understand the plan?"

"Yes!" Asuka called out nicely before muting her comm and turning her attention on Shinji.

Unit-02 was currently in the jaws of the angel, and Shinji was holding the controls to Asuka's ire. "Hey! Quit it! Hands off my Eva!" she said while smacking his head.

"I'm trying to get its mouth open!" he shouted.

She smacked his hands away before extending the controls, making enough room for the both of them to hold on. Their hands overlapped. Neither minded, but wouldn't say as much. After all, the angel was the main problem here.

When Shinji put his hands on the controls, he momentarily felt something, like a presence. There was a tingling in the back of his head. Someone's here... He thought to himself, not realizing he was looking around. Asuka elbowed him. "Focus!"

"Come on! Open!" They said at the same time.

Eventually, Unit-02 pried the angel's mouth open, just in time for the ships to get in there.

"Fire!" They heard Misato say as Unit-02 slipped out of the collision.

They heard explosions as they burst out of the water, landing on the nearest boat before Unit-02 deactivated.

"Whew!" Shinji said. "Nice job out there!"

Asuka flicked her hair theatrically. "There's more where that came from. Tokyo-3 isn't ready for what the Second Child is gonna bring!"

He chuckled a little. "Alright, sounds good."

"Sounds great!" she said. "Anyways, when are they getting us out of this thing?"

"I dunno."

"Well, if you wanna get comfortable, sit behind the chair, got it?"

"Yup."

"Good. No perverted movements!" she warned as he sat down on the floor of the entry plug behind her seat.

Some time later, they docked at New Yokosuka, and ejected the entry plug.

Carefully stepping out, they saw Misato, Miss Ritsuko and the other kids waiting for them.

"Yo, Shin-Man! That was a killer-" Toji started, before noticing what he's wearing. "AUGH! LOOK WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO HIM!"

Kensuke laughed. "Man, if they hadn't taken my camera..."

Hikari stepped forward. "Well, Ikari, Miss Soryu, that was a fantastic job! Well done!"

Asuka thanked her, as the two went aside to chitchat.

Toji wasn't finished making fun of Shinji's disposition. "They've made him a girl! They've crushed his manhood! O spite! O hell!"

Aside, Misato and Ritsuko were talking about the battle, with Rei standing nearby.

"That was a hell of a fight!" The scientist said.

"Well, I had to think fast, we did go underwater." the Major answered.

"Yeah, without B-type equipment..." lamented Ritsuko.

"Hey, we didn't have a choice. You got data, didn't you?" Misato retorted. "After all, their sync rates spiked."

Ritsuko recalled the data she read before arriving. "Yes, for 7 seconds. They might work together better than I initially expected, despite the apparent attitude problem."

Asuka and Hikari walked up to them. "Where's Kaji? Did he get to see my glorious fighting?" asked the redhead.

"Sorry, kid. That bastard took off right as things got interesting."

"Mr. Kaji, you're early." said Commander Ikari.

"Well, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, so I got out of there before I became angel-bait." the scruffy man answered.

"Regardless, you brought what was needed in one piece, which I am grateful for." Gendo said.

Kaji rested the case he was holding on Gendo's desk. "Here you are. This really is they key to instrumentality?"

"Yes, the first human being. Adam." said the Commander.

Well, Yui. I managed to keep this out of SEELE's hands. I'm putting my faith in your plan. They'll be stopped, and you'll come back.

A/N: YES! Asuka has finally joined the battle! I promise things won't just be following the show's plot. There isn't a whole lot to do on Over The Rainbow, but I gave it my Sheriff Flavour™ to keep up the pace and give you folks some good ol' homemade content. It turned out to be longer than I expected.

Not as much Yui this time, but that's because Unit-01 was absent. An important thing to me about this chapter was nailing the Shinji/Asuka interactions, which I think I did a decent job of. Writing the dialogue on the boat was a lot of fun, especially with Kaji and Misato. More of those interactions will be cool in the future.

The chapter title is from a Beatles song about love at first sight. I'll definitely use more Beatles songs for chapter titles in the future, especially for Shinji/Asuka-centric chapters.

Reviews!

deathbringer374: It's an honour to have you here! Big fan of your writing so I'm glad you're interested in what I'm doing!

spartanman2: Hope Shinji's German lesson paid off.

Author0fntent: Yessssss. As I mentioned, there'll be more Beatles references like that, especially when it comes to chapters centred around Shinji/Asuka

Greg242: Did ya like this one? Did the Asuka hype train pay off? Hope so, my guy.

skyf0x: I loved coming up with the Mari reference from the last chapter. Give Yui a little slack, she's getting used to seeing her boy. I just figured it's how she'd be as a mother, always embarrassing her kid no matter how old.

YourBlandestNightmare: I got big plans for the MAGI and Rei's origins. It'll be a cool thing for sure, especially since Shinji knew Naoko and knows Ritsuko & Rei better here than in canon.

Next time: Asuka shakes up the unfamiliar ceilings in Chapter 6: The Devil Went Down To Tokyo-3!

But before that, there'll be an interlude I'm posting in a few days. Just some cool additional lore.

See ya!