Chapter 8: Jump In The Fire
A/N: Glad people were happy with what I did in the last chapter! Shinji and Asuka have a ways to go before they mash mouths, but let's keep it moving, eh?
1997
Yui thought she had faith in her father's work.
However, as she matured, she began to doubt the man who had a stake in creating her. Her realizations came strong when she witnessed the display around other members of "the committee" her father was on.
He was always vague about it, but his work for this committee generated a lot of wealth for the Ikari family. It was this wealth that sent her to University, where she would meet the two men who would become of utmost importance to her.
Entering adulthood, Yui began to see more and more of these other committee members. They'd come for dinners, private meetings, all while she watched them come and go.
None of these meetings struck her like the day she met Keel Lorenz.
It was the summer she was starting at Tokyo University, and Father had brought this strange man to their house. Dinner was incredibly detailed and prepared by higher cooks, all while he did his best to entertain this much older-looking man.
It was like Yui's father was a completely different person from the man she knew; he agreed to everything Lorenz would say, laugh along with whatever was entertaining him, and even fixed himself a drink with scotch when Lorenz asked for one. He hated scotch.
After the dinner, Yui sat quietly in the lounge area next to her mother, as her father and Lorenz smoked cigars and talked endlessly. The longer the night went on, the less comfortable she became.
"So, Yoshioka," the man said in an accent that sounded notably non-Japanese, scrutinizing her across the coffee table with his eyes. "I see your daughter is getting more mature by the day."
"Ah, yes," her father replied proudly. "She is going to the University at the beginning of the school year. Bioengineering."
"Is that so?" Lorenz asked as he stood and crossed over to her. He took a puff of his cigar, all but blowing it in her face. "We believe that the future lies in science and biology. That can get you a lot of jobs, Miss Ikari," he said as he lightly grabbed her hand.
"Well, I, um, believe the same. In fact, I think science can lead to a bright future," she stammered.
Lorenz grinned. Yui got a full view of his teeth, yellowing and crooked. His eyes, grey in colour, gave off a similar unsettling feeling.
"I think we'll be in touch, Miss Ikari," the man said in a sneering tone before giving her hand a light squeeze and returning to his seat.
All the while, her father was beaming from his spot, and in that moment Yui hardly knew the man.
Years later, Yui would figure out that Lorenz was the ringmaster, and vow to make sure he'd never fulfill his aims. As she would hold her baby in her arms, she viewed little Shinji, in his innocence and purity, as the antithesis to that disgusting man.
2015
Shinji inwardly prided himself on his patience.
He was never one to brag about anything, even when people shouted their praises, but patience was one of his strongest virtues. Years of living with Misato seemed to hone it entirely. Now, living with two women was a larger task than any angel. Asuka had been a little nicer to him since their sync training, and she was helpful when she wanted to be, but given her nature as a teenage girl, she was still a mystical being to him.
He prepared the usual lunches as Asuka and Misato munched on the breakfast he prepared: scrambled eggs with toast. He had received an earful when Asuka sat down one morning to a plate of fish and rice, so he avoided doing that again. Choosing his eardrums, he went with more western options, such as eggs, which seemed to be the most agreeable. Misato didn't mind, she was happy with anything he prepared as long as there was a side of beer, and was there ever.
The usual shriek Misato let out this morning managed to make the birds perched on the powerline fly away.
"God, Misato, do you have to do that every morning?" Asuka complained after swallowing down some eggs.
"Aw, c'mon, Asuka, it's the best way to start a day. It's premium Yebisu!" Misato said back.
Asuka rolled her eyes. "Alright, poster girl. I'd like to have a liver by the time I'm 30, so I'll pass."
Shinji chuckled as he put the bentos in his bag, ensuring they were tightly secured.
"What, you got something to add?" Misato said in a mock-menacing tone.
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm used to it. What can I say?"
As he took care of a couple stray dishes, he failed to notice Asuka looking at him thoughtfully.
Asuka and Shinji got to class with some time to spare, so they did what they usually did, that being talk about nothing and everything with their friends.
"Hey, Rei," Shinji said as he patted her on the shoulder. She smiled and nodded.
Asuka watched this as she had in the past, but this time decided upon a greeting of her own.
"Morning, Wondergirl," she said with her hands on her hips. She felt like there was less of a weight while being around the girl than before, so making small talk didn't feel like a burden. Why approaching Ayanami was easier now remained a mystery, or perhaps she chose to ignore it.
"Good morning, Pilot Soryu," she said, acknowledging her briefly with a look, before cocking her head. "Why do you refer to me as 'Wonder-girl?'"
"Well, you're... you're Wondergirl! The First Child. It's a nickname, I guess," Asuka half-explained.
"You tend to use it in a mocking tone," Rei said, her tone unchanged. "Do you intend to mock me?"
Asuka raised her eyebrows. "No, no. I just like nicknaming people. Like Suzuhara, he's Jock-Stooge. Or Aida, he's Geek-Stooge. I'm not mocking, it's just another way to address people. Like how you call me 'Pilot Soryu.'"
"That is an official designation of yours."
"Ugh, you don't need to talk like you're my CO all the time, Ayanami! Just Asuka is fine, or Soryu if you'd like," Asuka said, irritated.
Rei smiled a little. "That is acceptable. After all, we are friends, and Shinji appears fond of you. I trust his judgement."
Asuka blushed a little. "Um, great!" she said before exiting the conversation and finding Hikari.
Elsewhere in 2-A, Shinji was subject to an interrogation.
"'Ay, Ken! Look at the Shin-Man's eyes, they're all bloodshot! And-oh gods, are those crows feet!? Look, I think his hair is falling out! I knew it! Red Devil's turnin' ya into a damn druid! She's drinkin' your blood!" Toji said as he tried to contain his laughter.
Kensuke was doing much of the same behind his camera. He pushed the lens closer to Shinji's face, which was somewhere between a light smile and a grimace. "Here we have the un-dead Shinji Ikari, subject to Devil-girl Soryu and her evil wizard-slash-demon-slash-vampiric powers! Ahhhh!"
They both burst into laugher. Shinji simply shook his head as he sat on the empty desk, his bag still on his shoulder.
That day, lunch came rather quick. Shinji gave Rei her vegetarian bento, before pulling out his and Asuka's. He gave it to her and went out to the schoolyard to find a nice spot to eat with his friends.
Asuka had a similar idea, deciding to grab Hikari and eat outdoors, the First Child in tow. She spotted a nice shady tree where she had seen Wondergirl eat under, so she headed in that direction.
As the girls walked, Asuka heard a voice call out from across the courtyard.
"Hey Soryu, nice ass!" The guy was loud enough that most people who were outside could hear him. Asuka was immediately furious. She shoved her bento into Hikari's hands before stomping over to the source of the voice, rolling up her sleeves.
She came face-to-face with a boy who was about her height. When she approached him, anger overtaking her expression, she all but growled at him. "Oh yeah?" she asked threateningly.
The student began to regret his actions as her glare burned right through him. "Um-" he started. Before he could formulate an answer, a heel came at him right in the ribs. Hard.
He let out a cry of pain as he keeled over. Asuka walked away with her nose in the air, letting her sleeves fall back down.
Shinji and his friends watched from a distance. "She's a demon, man..." Toji whispered with fear in his voice.
"Alright, class," the teacher said, breaking up the monotony of Second Impact lessons. "As some of you are aware, we will be taking a school trip to Okinawa next week. If possible, I'd like you to get these permission forms signed by your parent or guardian as soon as possible."
At this, the class began to whisper to each other excitedly. Shinji turned around in his seat to see Toji and Kensuke talking excitedly. He looked in another direction to see Asuka chatting up Hikari about the occasion. Given her extensive Eva training, she likely never got to do something like this. He looked at Rei, and saw that she remained passive about the whole thing. From his point-of-view, Shinji didn't mind the idea of a school trip. It'd be a nice away from the training and the angels just to relax in the sun a little.
When school came to an end shortly after, Shinji endured a little more taunting from his friends before he and Asuka departed.
The two of them walked, and Asuka was in a much better mood than usual, going on about the Okinawa trip.
"Oh, it's gonna be sooo fun! Scuba diving, swimming, getting a tan, only the best for an elite pilot like me! Right Shinji?" she said, giving him a light tap on the chest with the back of her hand.
He looked up from the ground and smiled a little. "Oh, yeah. Sounds like it'll be fun!"
Asuka's mind dragged up something he had said in the morning, which echoed a little as the day went on.
"I'm used to it. What can I say?"
Is that so? she thought to herself. Before her brain and the rest of her body could come to a consensus, she began to speak again. "Yes, that's right! In fact, I think we need to prepare adequately for such an occasion! Come on!" she said as she grabbed his wrist, picking up the speed.
Shinji didn't protest, he just made sure his feet kept up with her.
Asuka dragged Shinji onto a train, which lead to a shopping mall.
Not so much a shopping mall but the shopping mall, as it was the only one near Tokyo-3, located just outside the city. The developers were generous to put a place to buy nice shirts next what was effectively a warzone.
"Um, Asuka, what are we doing here?" he asked wearily, a small red mark on his wrist from her iron grip anytime she started moving,
"Isn't it obvious? Okinawa shopping! I don't know about you, but I'd like to swim in an actual bathing suit rather than my bra and panties, and don't you dare picture that for a second, Third!" she said while pointing a finger in his face.
He blushed at that. "Alright, alright! Lead the way, I guess."
"What, you've never been here?"
"Nope."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "Figures. All I see you wear is that freaking uniform. Come on, you can spend some of that piloting money on adding some colour to your wardrobe as well!" she said, grabbing his hapless wrist once again.
One nearly-dislocated arm later, Asuka led Shinji to a store that appeared to sell teenage apparel, with stuff for boys and girls.
She practically pushed him into the store, guiding him to the boys' section.
"Alright, lemme see your shirt size, idiot..." she said idly as her hands inverted the back of his collar. Shinji liked the feeling of her fingers of the back of his neck. due to proximity, he could also feel her hair on his neck and shoulders, due to her leaning forward to look. Another thing he noted was that he could feel the air around her. It smelled like her strawberry shampoo. It took Asuka a few seconds to read an upside-down 'M,' but he absolutely drank in the moment.
"...Okay, medium," Asuka said, fully focused on the task at hand. She crossed her arms as her eyes scanned the shelves. After going through a couple stacks to find the right shirts, she draped them over her arm, using her other to lightly push Shinji towards a fitting room.
He found himself in a changing stall, shirts shoved into his hands as he carefully removed his own dress shirt and undershirt, placing them nicely on the bench before putting on the first shirt in the pile. It was blue, plain except for a logo that read "XTC" in English on the back. Slipping it on, he stepped out to a waiting Asuka.
"Ooooh, not bad!" she said as she signalled with her hand for him to spin around for a full view. "You change into the next one, I'll grab some pants as well. I haven't seen you wear any blue jeans, so I'll be getting that. What's your size?"
"Medium?"
"Gotcha!" as she ran off, Shinji went back into the change room to put on the next shirt. It was an orange collared t-shirt. No graphic, but he liked the colour. Right when he put it on and did the button, a pair of pants hit his head.
"Put these on!" Asuka exclaimed from outside the stall. He harvested the jeans, removing his own to try them on.
Opening the stall again, he presented himself to Asuka, who gave a few claps. "Now THAT is an outfit, Ikari! See? You don't have to wear your stupid uniform every day!"
Shinji rolled his eyes as he went to try on the last shirt. It was a pink, salmon-coloured cotton t-shirt. He noted how comfortable it was when he put it on.
He stepped out once more to show Asuka, who raised her eyebrows for a moment. "Wow. That looks... good on you," she said, a little unfocused. She silently admitted that the shirt suited him very well, and definitely would not mind to see him wear it more.
Shinji was surprised by how uncharacteristically honest she was. No barbed half-compliments like normal, just 'that looks good.' "You think so?"
"Yes!" she said, the fire quickly returning. "Now, you're buying all of these, and hurry it up! I wanna get to the swimsuits before the store closes!"
He nodded, going back to change into his uniform, a small smile on his face.
One moderate charge to the NERV pilot account later, Shinji and Asuka moved quickly to the swimwear store. Due to Second Impact, Japan being put in an endless summer fared well for companies that sold clothing for the season.
They entered the store, which had that distinct swimsuit smell of nylon and lycra. Asuka immediately darted towards the part of the store that had bikinis.
Shinji chased after her, coming to a halt when he saw her reaching through a rack.
"Here!" she said, holding up a red and white bikini. "Oh, this one's perfect, don't you think, Shinji?"
He remembered the scene that played out earlier, with the student that got a heel to the ribs. His eyes widened for a moment.
"It's, um, nice! I like the... colour?" he said in an unsure tone.
She sighed. "Humph. Maybe I have to try it on to get an opinion out of you."
"Oh, no, you don't need to-" Before Shinji could finish, Asuka was already walking towards a fitting room, so he sighed and followed her.
He leaned against the wall as he waited a moment for Asuka to come out. When she was dressed, she flung the door open. "Ta-daa! What do you think, Third?"
He kept his gaze on her face. "G-good!"
She shrugged. "God, I'm not gonna kick you in the ribs! Just don't look at my ass for too long! Anyways, how's this swimsuit?" she said, turning her body a little to give him a full view.
He swallowed before looking at the rest of her body. "It... It looks nice! I think it definitely suits you."
"Suits me how? Like it makes my legs look nice? Or maybe it's this zipper for easy access that you like!" she teased, indicating the zipper on the front.
"N-no! Not like that! I think that the stripes suit you! The red too," Shinji said, rather exasperated.
Asuka struck a pose. "Well, you certainly have taste for an idiot. That does it! I'm buying this one!"
He's used to it, eh Misato? Asuka thought. I think I got him pretty good.
"Nope."
"WHAT!?"
"You heard me."
Shinji cringed at the rather loud discussion that was going on. Rei sat across the table from him, Pen-Pen nestled comfortably in her lap.
"What do you MEAN we can't go to Okinawa!?" Asuka cried, standing with a hand on her hip.
"You, of all people, should understand why. Pilots need to be on standby in case an angel attacks!" Misato retorted.
"Urgh, damned angels! Why can't they attack on a schedule or something!? All we do it wait in this freaking city! Why don't we go on the offensive for once!? 'Angel War' my ass..." Asuka grumbled, before looking a Shinji, who was sipping some tea. "You! Don't you have anything to say?"
Shinji looked up at her. "I dunno what to say, Asuka. I wanna go too, but Misato has a point."
"You're just doing whatever she says! That's so... housebroken! What about you, First?"
"It is inconsequential to me," Rei answered, her monotone conveying everything necessary.
"Seriously!? Are you two trying to make me feel crazy?"
Shinji had an awful idea in that moment, but he would not regret it at all. His mind navigated to Asuka's incessant bragging about her piloting skills. "Think about it. Let's say, hypothetically, you went to Okinawa and an angel attacked. That would leave me and Wondergirl to fight it. You wouldn't get that kill," he said, really making sure to emphasize Asuka's nickname for his cousin to drive the point home.
Asuka genuinely growled at him, knowing he had taken advantage of her pride to make a good point. "Rrghh. Whatever. Go make dinner, you damn jerk."
"Asuka, we'd go on the offensive if we could. These angels just sorta show up," said Misato.
Shinji got up to cook, holding in a laugh. Along the way, he locked eyes with Misato, who grinned at him.
Dinner was served shortly after this ordeal, with a vegetarian option for Rei.
As the four ate, Misato noticed that Asuka was still pouting about missing the school trip.
"Hey," she said, nudging her wrist with the beer can. "Don't be such a downer. NERV has a huge pool that you could swim in. Right, Rei?"
Rei nodded. "Yes. I have swam there on many occasions."
Asuka got out of her misery a little. "Well, you should've said that sooner, woman! We're going swimming!"
"Hold it, young lady. I've seen your test scores. You need to pick up your grades! Worry about that first."
Asuka simply shrugged her off. "Whatever, Misato. It's not like I need to."
Misato shot her a look. "Um, excuse me, young lady. Yes you do! Welcome to Japan! You should be used to school life by now!"
Shinji and Rei nervously watched this conversation, with Shinji eventually clearing the table to try and ease tensions.
The next morning, Asuka, Shinji and Rei went to the school to see their friends off.
Hikari gave both female pilots a hug. "Bye Asuka, bye Ayanami! I promise I'll find the prettiest souvenirs for each of you."
"Great. Leaving me here with Wondergirl..." Asuka said under her breath.
Meanwhile, Toji and Kensuke both jostled Shinji. "Shin-Man, do me a favour and don't get eaten by Demon-Lady," Toji said with a grin.
"Yeah! Or end up with a broken rib!" Kensuke added, nudging Toji.
Shinji sighed. "Don't worry guys, I'll be fine. The worst that's gonna happen is an angel attack. Thankfully, you won't be here to sneak into the battlefield," he finished with a pointed glare at Kensuke.
Shinji Ikari never learned how to swim.
Was he embarrassed by such a thing? A little, and he'd admit if you asked. Rei picked up swimming from her upbringing in NERV, but it just never came up for him, nor was he particularly interested.
Asuka strutted over to him, clad in the bathing suit she was all too happy to tease him with when she dragged him to the mall. "And what are you doing over here, Third?" she commanded in her usual tone.
"Studying science," he responded.
She gave some mock-applause. "Well look at you, aren't you a little honours student?"
He put his hands up. "Hey now, I'm just doing it because I have to."
"'Because you have to,' eh? Just an obedient little student. Nothing to do with the fact that you're going under like a boulder if you touch water?" she prodded.
He chuckled. "Well, maybe," Shinji admitted.
"One of these days, you're going to need to show off a beach body, Ikari. Like me! And when it comes to that, swimming helps." He just waved her off, and she went to retrieve the scuba gear.
Asuka got his attention again. "Check it out! Since those assholes won't let us go to Okinawa, I'm diving here. Watch me go!" she said before she dove right in. When she surfaced, Shinji had another idea. He put on a nonchalant expression and held up nine fingers.
"Nine!?" She demanded.
"Just felt like it," he said, grinning as he returned to his studies. He heard Asuka huff, but she didn't yell at him about it.
Time flowed at the pool as Shinji's science homework got focused on physics. Asuka and Rei were swimming laps in the pool, which, to NERV's credit, was pretty nice. Olympic-sized, in fact.
He was brought out of his studies by an all-too-familiar voice these days. "Still on science?" Asuka asked as she approached, fresh out of the water.
"Yup. Physics," he replied with a sigh.
Asuka took one look at it and shook her head. "Oh, this is easy, Third. You really can't solve this?" She said as she moved his laptop in her direction and filled in the answer.
He looked at her, then the computer, then her again. "Wha-easy? How can you do that, but bomb our last test?"
She shrugged. "Couldn't read it."
"Wait, you can't read Japanese?"
"Nope. Kanji never stuck." She replied simply.
Shinji scratched his head. "I feel like you could ask them for an accommodation, Asuka."
She shrugged again. "Eh, doesn't matter much to me. I've seen this all in University."
"You what!?" Shinji asked, astounded. University-level but can't read? What sort of screwed up thing?
"You heard me. Graduated last year. Just another thing to make me better than you," she said with a grin. Shinji maintained his look of confusion.
Asuka looked at the next question. "What's this say?"
Shinji looked back at the laptop. "Oh, that's about thermal expansion."
She laughed. "Thermal expansion? That's baby stuff! Let me give you the crash course for idiots. Basically, things get bigger when they heat up, and smaller when they're cooled."
"Right."
Asuka grinned hard. "Sooooo~, if I warm up my breasts, would they get smaller or bigger?" she teased, moving her 'assets' closer to poor Shinji's face.
Shinji, for his part, kept his eyes locked with hers. "If I look down, will I end up in the hospital?" he said with a nervous tinge.
She stifled a laugh. "One way to find out, boy."
He looked down for a split second. "I... uh..." he said, unable to form a sentence due to the pure femininity invading almost all of his senses.
Asuka flicked his forehead, scowling at him. "Bigger or smaller, Ikari!? Focus!"
He maintained his eye contact. "B-bigger?" He said in the smallest voice possible. He hardly focused on being correct. The word 'big' simply popped into his mind at the first provocation.
Asuka, satisfied with her handiwork, broke out into another grin. "Ohh, you're too easy. Good! That's professor Asuka Langely Soryu's crash course on physics."
Shinji was startled and confused. He found himself somewhere between lizard-brain and prey mode. When his thoughts came back to him, he spoke up again. "You know, it happens to guys too."
"Really?"
"Yeah. All I'm saying is, don't pants a boy when he goes swimming."
"Then it's a good thing you can't swim," she said, grin remaining.
"Gods help me..." he said, which elicited a laugh.
Asuka laughed as she strutted over to the edge of the pool, putting on some scuba gear. "Hey, Shinji! Look!" she said, regaining his attention.
He looked over, to see her about to go in the water again. "Backroll entry!" She announced as she entered the water. When she surfaced, Shinji gave her some sarcastic golf claps, which she relished in.
'Push back', eh Misato? Shinji thought. I think I might be getting the hang of this. Maybe.
Some time later, Shinji was just about done his homework, when he was whisked away by a pair of arms.
A familiar scent of strawberries, as well.
"A-Asuka!?" he cried out. "What are you doing!?"
"Seeing if an idiot floats!" she said as she heaved him into the water.
He let out a scream as his fully-clothed body hit the water. He flailed his arms and gasped for air before he felt his foot touch the ground. That brought him out of his panic, as he rubbed his eyes with his fingers and looked around.
His eyes fell upon Asuka, who was standing next to him triumphantly, a massive grin on her face.
He coughed up some water. "Aw, come on, Asuka! My clothes are soaked!"
Asuka laughed. "God, finally. Maybe now you'll one of the shirts you spent money on. Now come on, let's swim to the other side. I'll let you doggy paddle. Like this!" she said before demonstrating.
Reluctantly, Shinji shook off the annoyance and decided to attempt to swim. He fanned his hands against the water and kicked his legs rhythmically as he began to move forward.
Asuka was further ahead, treading water and watching him. She clapped. "Atta boy, Third!"
She had to admit, Shinji's complete lack of ability to swim was kind of endearing. Cute, actually.
Leave me alone, brain. He's helpless and it looks adorable, alright!?
Meanwhile, NERV was busy investigating some suspicious readings. Misato was in a research lab, seeking out the source.
"Alright, lower the probe," she said with utmost focus.
"The probe is almost at limit!" said the head of the research team.
"Well, keep going!"
They kept going. A moment later someone else spoke. "The anti-pressure armour has been cracked."
"Major Katsuragi. We don't appreciate you ruining our equipment!" said the researcher.
"Don't worry about it. NERV will pay the damages! It's a good thing we're doing here!" she said, which elicited a sigh.
Hyuga caught something on his terminal. "Energy readings have been detected!"
"YES! Alright, analyze that!" Misato replied.
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of twisting metal. The researcher shook his head. "There goes our probe..."
"Don't worry!" Misato reiterated, turning back to Hyuga. "What've we got?"
"No doubt about it, it's a pattern blue!"
"In the volcano?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Misato crossed her arms, her face pensive. "Then it's obvious, that's an angel! This lab is under NERV jurisdiction for the time being, and everything from this expedition is classified, understand!?"
"Yes, ma'am," came a not-so-enthusiastic chorus of voices.
"I'm declaring an A17! Shigeru, get the commander on the line!"
The phone rang.
"Ikari," Gendo said upon picking it up.
On the other line, Major Katsuragi quickly, and a little loudly, relayed the events of the past few hours to him, ending with her request for an A17.
"An A17? Major, that's quite a risk to take," he said.
"Commander, this is a good opportunity to go on the offensive with the angels!"
He thought for a moment. NERV's power was limited. Declaring an A17 meant going through the committee.
Going through Keel.
He sighed. "Major, I'll speak to the committee. You'll receive a message when the A17 goes through."
"Thanks, Commander! We won't let you down!" Katsuragi said over the phone.
SEELE was every bit condescending about this as Gendo had expected.
Instead of the table with colours for each member, they all opted for monoliths with a number.
"You want to declare an A17!?" said SEELE-05
"Yes," Gendo responded levelly.
"No! That can not be allowed! Especially after Second Impact 15 years ago!" SEELE-06 chimed in. That statement made Gendo a little sick. These men act like Second Impact wasn't exactly what they wanted.
"With all due respect, we've been entirely on the defensive, waiting for angels to attack, then countering whatever they do. This is out opportunity to go on the offensive.
"It is too much of a risk," SEELE-01 said in a seemingly passive, but commanding voice.
SEELE-01. Keel Lorenz.
Gendo took a breath, putting his pent-up animosity aside. "If we were to retrieve a live sample of an angel, we could put it to great use for the future."
The monoliths went silent for moments that seemed to stretch out with time.
SEELE-01 spoke again, vague as ever. "Do not fail us, Ikari."
The monoliths disappeared.
Fuyutski glanced at his immediate superior. "Are you sure, Gendo?"
"Absolutely, professor. This is one step closer to our plan. Yui's plan. Our friends in high places make a fuss, but it's pure bureaucracy and theatrics. They see it as a means to an end."
Hours went by at the pool, with Shinji getting a full swimming lesson from Asuka, all while remaining in his uniform. At some point, he removed his (chlorinated) shoes and socks. He had protested about finishing his homework, which she responded to by filling in the rest, asking for translation along the way. With that off the list, he loosened up a bit about swimming, despite being mostly clothed.
At some point, Asuka thought it'd be a fun idea to teach him how to dive.
"Alright," she said, pacing around the inexperienced swimmer, who was standing at the edge of the pool. "So what you wanna do is extend your arms and told them above your head in a triangle," she said as she demonstrated just that. "Like this."
Shinji watched her, before mimicking her motions. Arms extended, triangular. "Alright... This okay?"
Asuka couldn't help but smile. He was positively helpless, but he was certainly trying. He clearly was eager to learn, at least from her, but he was uncoordinated as all hell.
"Good! Now, what you wanna do is propel yourself off the edge of the water, but make sure to rotate yourself downwards right away. You're supposed to land hands-first. Got it?" she asked.
"Um... I think so?" he said, mild confusion evident.
"Now, watch me!" Asuka said as she did a dive of her own. It was graceful, much like the movements she made while piloting. She surfaced and swam up next to Rei, who was treading water and watching the lesson unfold. "Come on! We're burning daylight, Third!"
Shinji closed his eyes and took a few breaths. In, out, in, out, in, out, alright. Let's go. Putting Asuka's demonstration at the forefront of his mind, he did his best to mimic her moves. He started to rotate his body as his legs pushed him off the edge of the pool.
He landed right in the water, on his stomach.
"Augh! " he yelped as he whipped his head up, grappling on to the side of the pool with one arm and clutching his torso with the other.
He opened his painfully soaked eyes to see Asuka and Rei watching him. Asuka was laughing, while Rei simply looked in her usual expression.
"You under-rotated," Rei said.
"Yeah, thanks..." Shinji responded, wincing at the current pain. It was as if someone had hit his bare stomach with a paddle, despite having a shirt and an undershirt on.
"Jeez, Third! You really ought to practice or something!" Asuka said loudly, trying to ease on the laughter.
Shinji simply groaned as he felt his way over to a ladder, choosing to sit while he recovered.
Asuka decided on mercy from that, but continued to chide and tease as they swam around.
Later on, a call came from Misato, asking the pilots to report to Central Dogma.
Shinji, Asuka, and Rei met their beloved Major somewhere in the middle.
In a hall near the bridge, Misato turned a corner to see her trio. "Ah, there you guys ar- Shinji, why do your clothes look like that?"
Shinji's clothing looked like it had been crumpled, unfolded, re-folded, and crumpled again thanks to the water. His eyes narrowed. "Ask her," he said, indicating to Asuka next to him.
Asuka simply laughed. "Not like you didn't enjoy it..." she said in amusement.
"Well, it's a good thing you're getting changed. We detected an angel in a volcano, and we're moving out," Misato said, beginning to lead the pilots to the locker room.
"Wait, wait, wait. What!?" Asuka said.
"Yup. You said you were tired of waiting? Now's our chance! Now get changed, Ritsuko will fill ya in on the rest," Misato said, gesturing to the door.
Asuka turned to Shinji. "Now, I know you've been looking at my ass all day, but we gotta put a curtain up, alright, Third?" she prodded, lightly tapping his cheek for effect.
Shinji's face immediately went apple-red as he awkwardly denied such a sentiment. Asuka knew there was truth to his words; She was ever-observant of any eyes on her, and she caught his gaze a few times, but they were always focused on her eyes or her hair.
She wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. He was flustered at the free views she had given him, and was surprisingly easy to tease, despite being hardened by years of Misato's presence.
He simply had to be attracted to her. If not, Asuka wouldn't have been able to gain a reaction.
As she thought about this, Shinji was still reasoning with her, but started to notice the quaint smile on her face.
"Asuka?"
She gave her head a shake. "I get it, Sir Shinji the Third, duke of chivalry. Now get in there before you respect women a little too hard," she joked, pushing him into the open locker room.
NERV's pilot trio stood in the briefing room, where Miss Ritsuko was rifling through papers in her hands.
"We've detected an angel in Mt. Asama. A pattern blue was picked up deep in the volcano.
"An angel in a volcano?" Shinji asked.
"Well, sort of. It's a chrysalis of sorts. A full angel would be moving and attacking. This one is dormant and hasn't matured," she answered. "As you know by now, we declared an A17, which means we'll be going after it before it can attack. What we're planning is to have someone go in there, capture it, and bring it up alive."
"And if we can't?" Asuka asks.
"We kill it. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Now. One of you has to dive into the volcano and retrieve the angel."
"What!?" Shinji protested.
"I'll do it!" Asuka piped up right away.
"Hold on! Why don't I do it?" Shinji said, turning to her.
"And take a kill from me? I don't think so!"
"Well..." Shinji thought about what to say. He saw it as too big of a risk to lose Asuka, but could he admit as much? His brain eventually gave him something. "I don't think you should risk ruining your Eva! It's the production model, after all."
Asuka huffed. Shinji had unintentionally hit a sensitive spot for her. She valued Unit-02, and risking ruining it in lava was something she would love to avoid.
Before she could retort, Miss Ritsuko spoke up. "Actually, Asuka, it's a good thing you spoke up first. Unit-02 is the only Eva with the D-type equipment. Unit-00 has none, and Unit-01's isn't fully developed. We would retrofit it, but your Evas are too differently shaped. Therefore, Unit-02 will take the dive, which means either Asuka or Rei."
"Oh hell no! Wondergirl's not getting in my entry plug!" Asuka protested. Rei remained silent
Miss Ritsuko nodded. "Okay, Asuka's doing it."
Asuka responded by 'hmph'-ing and sticking her nose in the air, while Shinji grimaced a little.
"Hey, don't get all gloomy about me, Third. I'm a big girl," she chided.
Shinji looked at her and let out a breath. "If you say so. Just... be careful. Please."
"Tell ya what: We kill this angel, then I'll take you all to a hot spring! I found a nice one near the volcano, so we can all go and relax. Sound cool?" Misato asked, which received a resounding 'yes' from all of the pilots, especially Asuka.
Miss Ritsuko cleared her throat. "Glad you guys talked it out. Warms my cold, dead heart. Now, Asuka, come with me, and I'll get you that heat resistant plug suit."
"Oooh, a special plugsuit. Nice!" Asuka said, before shooting Shinji a look. "You better not be looking, Third!"
"You better not be looking, Third!"
Asuka's voice came from the room over and sounded distressed. Shinji, Rei, and Misato had been standing in the Eva cage, waiting for their loudest pilot before they sortied and moved out to Asama. Kaji had also decided to grace them with his appearance, only to pester his ex-girlfriend with pickup lines that worked 8 years ago.
They all looked over, and in came Asuka.
In rolled Asuka was more accurate. Almost. She made her entrance with a waddle. Her 'special plugsuit' inflated into a giant ball, giving her legs barely enough space to walk.
"Agh! Don't look! This freaking thing sucks!" Asuka complained.
Misato immediately began stifling her laugh, with zero success. She broke out into a long laugh before speaking. "Gods, Asuka!" she said, her voice echoing in the large room. "You look like a tomato!"
"Knock it off!"
"Oh, what are you gonna do? Bowl me over?" she said, grinning.
"You're so lucky right now!" Asuka cried. "You!" she said, directing her voice at Shinji. "Got anything to say about it?"
Shinji also failed to hold in his laugh. "H-heh-hey Asuka. Comfy!?" He smiled, a little embarrassed from the glare burning him.
"Argh! I swear to God, I'm gonna get in Unit-02 and kick your ass!"
"Yeah, about that..." Miss Ritsuko said, walking in behind her.
Asuka waddled to shift her view, taking in the sight of her beloved Eva. It, like her, was given some... blobby modifications. It looked like it was wearing an astronaut suit.
"No! What have you done to my Unit-02!?" Asuka screamed, with all the drama of a Shakespeare character.
"That's the D-type equipment. Unless you'd like to melt, you have to bear with it."
"Don't sweat it, kid. You might end up rolling off the catwalk," Kaji said, teasing Asuka in a tone that she would normally be squealing in delight over.
Instead, it amplified her embarrassment. "Kaji!? No! This is so embarrassing, you shouldn't be seeing me like this!" she whined.
"We can always put Rei in Unit-02, can't we?" Ritsuko prodded.
"No!" Asuka shouted. She then groaned in acceptance. "Ugh. The things I do. Dammit. We better get this angel with no problems, because I'm not dying while looking like an idiot!"
One airlift later, and all three Evangelions were moved to the site of the angel capture: A volcano full of lava.
Shinji felt nervous. He spent an entire day with Asuka and genuinely had fun learning how to swim from her. Now, she was plunging into a deep volcano to fight an angel. It was a massive pile of risks that he would've preferred to take on.
Shinji?
Oh, hi, Mother.
Shinji, what's wrong, my son? Your mind is on overdrive at the moment.
Yeah, I just... He sighed.
Ah, I get it, it's about Asuka. Mother's tone had become knowing.
Yeah, I just... I don't wanna see her get hurt. She's going straight into a volcano, for gods' sake!
Well, if your thoughts and memories are any indication, I think she'll be fine. She's a strong girl, and I've yet to even meet her. When I do, I'll be sure to give her my blessing.
Shinji felt his cheeks heat up in the already-warm LCL. Mother!
Hmm, you even spent the day with her, prancing around in a swimsuit? Looks like I'll have to have a talk with this young lady for corrupting my boy.
No, it wasn't like that! We were just hanging out! She taught me how to swim, too!
He didn't need to see it, but he could feel his Mother's grin. She most certainly did, huh? Hands on your arms and legs, holding your back and your stomach as you maintained a good float. I bet you'd re-live it, wouldn't you?
Oh, come on! It was a lot of fun, alright?
Mother laughed. Oh, Shinji. You're all too fun to bug. I can see why Asuka likes you.
What!?
She gasped. I've said too much! Anyways, we should focus! I think they're getting started.
"Shinji, Rei, we're getting started."
Shinji shook his head. He wondered if Mother was this playfully antagonistic while she was dating Father.
I heard that, and yes, I was.
Asuka hated that she looked like a gala apple and that her Unit-02 looked like a weird antique toy. It took a lot of the glory out of the aggressive titan that it usually was. This wasn't even a typical, fast-paced combat scenario; the lava was thick and the cable could only be lowered fast, so that meant holding onto the bar and doing a ton of waiting as she got to the bottom.
"Watch and learn, Idiot-Shinji, this is how a real pilot gets things done!" she boasted over the comm, in the same confidence she had when first battling Israfel.
"Sure thing, Asuka. Please, just be careful," he replied, genuine concern leaking out of his voice.
"As if! You'll be more of the damsel here, waiting to be saved from the angel, Third!"
"Would that make you the brave knight after his heart, Asuka?" Misato chimed in.
"Zip!"
"Alright, Unit-02 is being lowered."
"Watch this, Shinji! Giant stroke entry!"
As her view went from the surface of the volcano to pure orange, she could hear golf claps amid the splashing of the magma.
She smiled as the cable continued to lower. It was a good day. She got to swim for most of it, Idiot-Shinji was tolerable to be around, and he even bought into the swimming, despite being in his uniform. He let her teach him, and was rather terrible, but making him less terrible proved to be fun. He was a bit of a clueless boy, certainly an awkward teenager, certainly a little bit of a pervert, but not boring. Now, she was gonna get an angel kill, and celebrate by relaxing in a hot spring.
This is nice. This is how an Eva pilot should feel, she thought to herself.
The plug felt like it had gotten warmer, but she was half-certain that was due to the magma.
"700, 750, 800, 850..." said Miss Ibuki over the comm.
"God, this is boring. Why can't the angel just come out and fight like a... like an angel, I guess?" she lamented.
"Famous last words, Asuka. Please stop trying to speak so soon like that!" Misato replied.
"Depth 1300. This is the point where the target should be."
"See anything?"
"Nope! It's magma as far as I can see," Asuka said, squinting, then widening her eyes to try and get the clearest view.
"The magma flow is stronger than calculated."
"The target's motion is different from our initial observation." That was the doctor and Mr. Hyuga. Asuka didn't care all too much for every single person's name, but Shinji seemed to care, so they had been subtly etched into her mind.
Misato again. "Recalculate and keep going!"
"What!?" Shinji sounded shocked. Asuka felt that he should relax a little. After all, I'm just fine! I feel like I'm in an oven but I'm fine, stupid Shinji! Worry about yourself.
She said as much. "Worry about yourself! I'm fine, down here. Misato, let 'er go!"
"Depth 1350, 1450, depth 1480. This is the limit safe depth..."
"See anything?"
"Nope, still nothing. Keep it moving!"
Asuka could hear chatter over the comms.
"...Alright, keep going."
Asuka was brought out of focus by a snap noise.
"What was that?"
"Unit-02's prog knife has come detached. It's lost."
The Eva kept moving downwards.
She heard another shout over the comm. "Major, this is too unsafe to continue!"
"It's fine. Keep going! No point in throwing in the towel now."
Asuka felt the same. "Yeah! I'm a natural warrior here! I'm fine, now keep going!"
"Depth 1700, 1750, 1780. This is the recalculated depth."
"See anything?"
"I... Yes, I do! I see it! Eugh, it looks like a fetus!"
"Wonderful, Asuka! Capture it and we'l get to the hot spring as soon as you can peel that suit off!"
"God, please! I feel like it's melting onto me!"
"30 seconds to target contact!"
"Alright, this is the only chance we have, so make sure to have the cage ready. Activate it at the right time," said Dr. Akagi.
"Roger that. I've got this!"
She saw the small fetus-angel getting closer. She made sure her grip was secure on the cage.
"Target in range!"
"Go!"
And she went. She engaged the device, wrapping the embryonic angel in an electromagnetic box. "I got it!"
"Lets go, Asuka! Good work! We'll start bringing you up!"
Shinji's voice cut in. "Good job, Asuka. Are you alright?"
"Of course it was, and of course I am! I'm the best, after all!"
Shinji was happy to hear his co-pilot in good spirits. After worrying all too much about her taking the plunge, she pulled it off with all the flair she usually had. As time went on, Shinji found himself more and more impressed with Asuka. Not to mention he also found her really pretty.
Shinji, I know how pretty she it, but you'll have all the time to stare at her when we're done.
...Damn it, Mother could still hear his thoughts.
Before he could defend himself from the Misato-esque teasing, Miss Ritsuko came on the radio.
"Oh no..."
He heard Misato quickly go serious. "What? What!?"
"The angel! It's gonna hatch!"
"What!?" That was Asuka.
"The cage won't be able to hold it."
"Asuka! Disengage and be ready to fight. We're killing this angel!"
"Well, waiting around was getting boring anyways. Come on, asshole! Come up and get me!" he heard her say as she supposedly heaved the cage away from her. "Oh, dammit! I don't have my prog knife!"
Shinji felt useless. Asuka was fighting the angel at a considerable disadvantage, and he could do nothing about it.
"Shinji! Drop Asuka your knife!"
Suddenly, he felt a little more useful. He quickly engaged his own prog knife, and sent it down into the volcano as hard as he could.
"Unit-01's knife will reach Unit-02 in 20 seconds!"
"The angel is advancing fast!"
He could hear Asuka struggling.
Asuka was having little fun trying to dodge the angel while keeping an eye out for the idiot's prog knife.
This angel kept swimming around her, occasionally swinging with its legs, and all she could to was try to avoid it until she had a damned weapon.
"Come on..." she said. "There it is!" the prog knife slipped into view, and she reached for it. It hit her hand, and she grasped it, engaging to make the blame come out.
"Alright, come at me, ya slippery bastard!" she cried out. The angel unintentionally listened to her, and went in for another attack. Asuka aimed for the angel's core, right by the eye. She confidently took a swing with the prog knife, only to hit solid angel-flesh.
"Wha...? Damn it! It's no use!"
"The target, it must've adapted to it's environment! That's why it doesn't work!" reasoned Dr. Akagi.
"Asuka!" Idiot-Shinji was worrying for, like, the 6th time this mission.
"Idiot! I'll be fine! I just..." Asuka trailed off. His voice made her remember a conversation they had earlier. "Thermal expansion! That's it! Frau Doktor, reroute the coolant to pipe 3!"
"Reroute the...? Oh, I see. On it!"
Asuka yanked the coolant pipe free with her other arm, aiming it at the angel in pursuit. "Eat this, jackass!"
The angel got a full blast of coolant right in its face, which both stunned it for a moment and gave Asuka an opportunity to strike.
"This is for trying to ruin my solo kill!" she screamed as she took another swing. This time, she heard an audible crack. The angel let out one last cry, flailing it's limbs before sinking deep into the volcano.
"Well done, Asuka! You got it!"
"Damn right, Misato! Now, get me out of this damned thing!"
"Roger!"
Unit-02 began to ascend again. Asuka could see the surface of the lava, but she heard a sudden snap.
Shinji was anxiously waiting for Asuka to come up, when he saw the crane buckle, and the cables stopped moving.
Asuka is falling! he lamented quietly.
Before he could even reason what to do, he dove into the volcano, grabbing the ledge with one hand and Unit-02's with the other.
Mother tried to rationalize what was happening. Shinji, are you insane! The magma's gonna kill you!
Shinji let out a strained cough. I can't let her die!
Mother had no response, but he could feel her bewilderment.
"Shinji, you idiot..." he faintly heard Asuka say over the comm.
Unit-01 pulled itself upwards, yanking Unit-02 onto land before collapsing.
As his vision went blurry, Shinji bid his mother farewell, with a promise that he'd be okay. After that, he shut Unit-01 off and ejected.
Asuka got out of her Eva as soon as she could. Her plugsuit deflated, and looked much like a regular one, but that was inconsequential to her at the moment. Her main concern was one moron who dove into a volcano unguarded. Why did he have to be so damn heroic? Was she really worth the trouble of burning one's body?
She stormed over to the heap of Unit-01, where she saw the plug sticking out. There stood Shinji, leaning on the entry plug for dear life.
She came right up to him. "What the hell were you thinking!? Were you trying to get yourself killed?"
"I just..." he said before gasping and coughing. "I finally nailed the dive."
Asuka gave him a light smack on the shoulder as he regained his footing. She shook her head before going to find somewhere to change. Along the way, she brushed shoulders with Misato, who she could hear loudly asking Shinji if he was alright.
After some brief medical checkups from doctors on-site, Misato loaded the pilots into her car and drove quickly to the hot spring. Shinji and Asuka both fell asleep in the car, enjoying power-naps as Misato Indianapolis 500-ed her way there.
When they arrived, they began retrieving their things from the car when a courier approached them.
"Katsuragi?"
Shinji decided to talk to the man. "Yeah, we're with her."
"Alright, sign here," he said while holding a clipboard.
"What is it?"
"No idea, son. A man with a ponytail gave it to me and told me to send it this way."
At this point, the girls had gathered around him, curious as to what the courier was here for.
Asuka's ears perked up "A man with a ponytail!? Kaji!" she squealed.
Everyone stared at her for a moment as the courier checked to make sure his eardrum was intact. "...Right Anyways, sign here."
Shinji signed, and the courier gave him the box before promptly driving away.
Shinji opened the box, and out sprung Pen-Pen, 'wark'ing happily.
Misato scooped him into her arms. "Aww, hey buddy. Ready to go for a swim?"
Shinji sat at the edge of the warm water, as Pen-Pen happily swam in circles, both on his back and on his belly.
He sighed. The lava had left him with mild burns on his body. Had he been in there for mere seconds longer, he likely would have been hospitalized.
It's okay, he thought to himself. Asuka is alright, and that's what matters.
On the other side of the curtain, the girls were relaxing after another rigorous day of duty. Rei idly cleaned herself while Asuka and Misato were having a nice water-side conversation.
Asuka wanted to clear something in her own mind. "Misato," she asked. "Why'd you tell that idiot to jump into a freaking volcano like that!? Are you insane."
Misato laughed. "I'm not insane, Asuka. He is. I didn't tell him anything. In fact, he didn't even say a word! He just went right in!"
"You're telling me he willingly jumped into a volcano with no equipment?"
"Yup! All to save a cute girl!"
Asuka blushed, then played it off by grumbling an empty threat at Misato.
"You should really thank him. It's not every day I see that kid go that length to keep a crush of his safe," Misato continued.
"Oh? You're telling me he hasn't done this for other girls?" Asuka asked curiously.
"To be honest, he really didn't give girls attention until you came along." Misato replied, which made Asuka blush furiously/
"He appears to give you attention I have seldom seen him give others, despite the brevity of your friendship," Rei cut in.
Misato grinned. She could see it rather plainly that there could be something there between her charges, and they were simply young and unaware of how to handle such things.
Regardless, Asuka remained relatively quiet for the rest of the time in the bathing area.
The pilots decided to stay the night at the hot spring, since it also had a hotel. Home would be a three-hour drive, so the girls took one room, and Shinji got another to himself with Pen-Pen.
He had brushed his teeth and was getting ready to settle into bed, when a knock came on the door.
He made his way over, sliding the door open. "Hello?" he asked.
It was Asuka, but not her usual self. She had changed into some loungewear and taken her neural clips out. Instead of her usual smirk, she seemed a little nervous, which struck him. Shinji had never seen Asuka look nervous.
"Asuka...?"
"Yes, obviously. Hello," she said, attempting to muster up some sarcasm.
"What's going on?"
"I wanna ask you something: where do you get off on almost killing yourself!?" she said sternly.
"Oh, that... I just... I saw you about to sink into the volcano, so I stopped it from happening," he replied, looking at the ground.
"Chin up, Third. Look at me. I wanna know something. Why did you do it?"
Shinji looked up, and saw her eyes had a somewhat cloudy glint to them. Nothing like the confident gleam they usually had. It was like talking to the Asuka that clung to him the night before their synchronized battle. "Why wouldn't I? I wasn't gonna let you die, especially like that," he said, his heart skipping a beat.
"So I'm worth saving?"
"Absolutely!" Shinji didn't even mean to be so enthusiastic. His words seemed to escape him beyond his control.
Asuka scowled, but held the gaze for a moment. She then closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "Well..." she said, looking past him. "Thank you."
Shinji smiled. "Anytime."
Asuka pulled him into a hug, gently wrapping both arms around his torso. Much like that moment at the mall, this was brief, but he relished in it, hugging her back. It was over as soon as it began, and when they separated, Asuka grinned at him. "Well, Third, it looks like I owe you."
"Oh, no, Asuka, you don't-"
"Don't speak, you idiot. Just listen. Next time your ass needs saving, I'll be sure to help you out. That's my promise: you will not go out with an un-saved ass, you hear me?" Shinji nodded. "Good! Well, goodnight, Third Child."
"Night, Asuka..." Shinji said, in a mild daze.
She smiled at him one more time before skittering down the hall. Shinji closed the door, sat against the wall, and remained stunned for a while. Pen-Pen came up and nudged him, which prompted him to get up and move to the room's futon
As he drifted off to sleep, he could still feel Asuka's arms around him.
Gendo sat at his desk. The room was dark, and he awaited the monoliths.
The dreaded monoliths.
He had to go through SEELE earlier to get approval for that damned A17, and now he had to talk to them again and give them a debrief.
He hated having to talk to these men. More specifically, he hated having to talk to Keel Lorenz. Yui never had a single nice thing to say about the man, despite him being a co-worker of her father. He recalled her exact words being 'greedy rat bastard.'
He recalled what she had to say about Lorenz, as well as the rest of this secret society of rich men, in the box she left for him, right from the first letter he read.
"I know SEELE, Gendo. I know them too well. Especially Keel. I want nothing more than to see him suffer and burn for the hell-pit he and his cronies turned this world into. He made you a pawn Gendo. You, and all the other people involved in that expedition. Even the Gehrin people, and those involved in Project E. All tools to him. He couldn't use me as a tool, and I probably avoided being killed by ending up in Unit-01. He disgusts me, Gendo. He disgusts me to no end. This is why I need you and Shinji more than ever to hep me with the plan. I don't want the likes of that man, my father, or any of the other old bastards that think they know everything ruling the world. We will stop them from initiating it. We will stop Third Impact. You, myself, and Shinji.
I love you, honey. Take care."
The tape came to an end.
Gendo pictured Yui's face as his hands slowly tensed.
The damned monoliths appeared before him, and he could already sense their arrogance leaking off of them.
"So, Ikari. It seems you put an Evangelion into quite the risk," SEELE-05 gloated.
"We neutralized the angel," he responded.
"Yes, but it seems your little A17 ended with a defensive play, hmm?" SEELE-03 chimed in.
"That is irrelevant. The angel was observed to adapt to it's environment immediately. Had it been outside of Mt. Asama, it likely would have been much more dangerous," Gendo reasoned.
Keel, behind his monolith, cleared his throat. "You operate freely, Ikari, but I advise against assuming the funding is infinite. Do not be so reckless with such a precious budget, especially when the fate of humanity depends on it.
Bullshit. "We will continue to fight the angels and defeat them by any means necessary. NERV is aptly prepared for any threat, and as long as they are attacking, you will not see reason to back away from our efforts."
There was a tense beat before someone spoke again. It was Keel. "Remember, Ikari. You listen to us. The Dead Sea Scrolls were a template for our ultimate goal, which is mutual, no? Therefore, you should not be so frivolous."
Gendo steeled at the vague threats. "You will not find reason to doubt me."
After he spoke, the monoliths disappeared once more. Gendo sat at his desk, staring at nothing as he clenched his fists, exerting the resentment towards Keel and all the rest that he held in his heart.
Bastards made my Yui end up in a damned Eva core, he thought to himself.
He sighed, removing his glasses to rub his eyes.
Fuyutski put a hand on his shoulder in silent agreement.
In moments like these, they shared many sentiments about putting an end to this spiderweb of wealth and power, without saying a word.
SEELE thought the game was theirs, but Gendo was dealing the cards.
A/N: Hell yeah! That certainly was a hot chapter, no? I didn't anticipate it being this long, but in order to get what I wanted to get out, it snowballed into the longest chapter I've freaking written! It was one of those things where I was going through it all, and kept going "Oh I should add something here!" and "Oh I should add this scene!" But in the end, I'm happy with it. The Shinji/Asuka scenes were nails I wanted to hit, and I think I hit 'em well. Not trying to move things too fast, so I think what I did kept the pace moving nicely.
I'm gonna be away for a week, so the next chapter will probably be in 2 weeks.
The chapter title is a Metallica song, but the bulk of this chapter was written listening to Daft Punk. Funny how that works, eh?
Fun fact: I threw two references to Death Grips in this chapter, so props if you spot 'em.
Reviews! Hoo boy, I have quite a few this time.
YourBlandestNightmare: I'll definitely do more scenes that include Sakura. I also wanna have the Horaki sisters make an appearance at some point.
Asushin fan: Get the freaking chapter done, man!
skyf0x: I'm having a little too much fun with the Gendo stuff tbh. I showed you a few snippets of this chapter on Discord, so I really hope you enjoy the whole thing.
Greg242: Oh she was 110% looking at Shinji's butt.
GoobusUbusMoobus: There's more video tapes and more Good Guy Gendo, so be sure to get readin'!
TalonEmpire: The sync rate thing was influenced by reading your fic to be honest. It put the thought in my head. The rebuild reference was intentional, and I think it's what would've happened more or less if Shinji had entered the room in canon. It was partially influenced by the fic Little Angel.
spartanman2: I'm tellin' ya, the ladies like his butt.
deathbringer374: Here's an even longer chapter with more Asushin moments. Not to brag, but it's up your alley, haha.
ShotgunCaesar: Don't you worry. I have a trajectory in mind for Shinji and Asuka in this story.
Iraki01. Lovemichi: Thanks folks!
Steeve Freeling: I'm glad you think so! I'm trying my best to be faithful to the story, but it ain't always easy.
calborghete: I'm glad to have one of the most efficient Asushin writers aboard. Glad you're enjoying it! I had a little trouble with Rei initially, but I think I have her right now.
Guest: Thank you!
tacitblue1973: Actually, Evangelions are 6 inches tall.
HydrationStation: I'm happy my story has warmed you up to Yui. She's rather ambiguous in the series, so I think that there's a lot of potential to write a story with her more involved. Glad you like it!
Next time: Asuka leads the pack through vents and into battle in Chapter 9: 99 Problems But An Angel Ain't One!