Chapter 9: 99 Problems But An Angel Ain't One
A/N: "I won't post a chapter until 2 weeks from now," he said. Lol. Hello.
Shoutout to MisterHalt and YourBlandestNightmare for their help on this chapter, I'll elaborate at the end.
Shinji remembered something Asuka has said a couple weeks ago. When she was angry about the Okinawa trip, she mentioned that she wished the angels would attack on a schedule. Sometimes, he wished the same thing. Attacks were either a week, two weeks, even days apart, like the recent waiting time: It had been two weeks since he fight at Mt. Asama. At times, it made him feel on edge, like he was looking over his shoulder, waiting for an attack.
It didn't help that since the hug at the hot spring, Asuka was just acting like her regular self. Loud and boisterous, always finding things to complain about. Shinji handled it the best he can, firing return shots which were usually well-met. Asuka wasn't particularly mean to him, despite what Toji and Kensuke might say, but she was certainly pushy. He saw subtle difference in her behaviour towards him as opposed to others. For example, any male at Tokyo 3 First Municipal Junior High was either ignored by her, or met with violence, whether it was verbal or physical. It was all so confusing, which just piled onto his current over-thinking situation.
Mother could sense his anxiety, and did her best to quell his worries. Shinji, honey, listen. You can't be all wound up about the angels.
But Mother, it freaks me out a little.
Yui smiled from inside the core. Hey, it's unnecessary stress. When the angels attack, they attack.
He paused. It helped, but Yui could still feel his concern. She decided to lift his mood in a way she knew would help.
Besides, if you're a nervous wreck about angels, how will you ever be able to tell Asuka you have a massive crush on her and think about her 90% of the time?
His face went beet red. What!? I do not!
Sure thing, dear. Certainly that's not why every other thought during this sync test has been about her. You know, as a baby, I used to feed you strawberries, and you were the happiest little boy. Look at you now, fawning over this girl whose essence is the smell of 'em. Those psychology courses paid for themselves.
Mother!
I must say, I gotta agree with you: She's mighty pretty. If only you could've met her mom. Kyo was a pretty little thing in our college days. Still was when we got out into the real world, but if you met her, you'd see where the girl of your dreams got her looks.
The chiding caused Shinji to let out a strangled cough in the LCL.
"Shinji You alright in there?"
He cleared his throat, a few stray coughs getting out along the way. "Yep, I'm fine, Miss Ritsuko!"
Asuka came on the screen, grinning triumphantly. "Typical. You gotta focus, Third! How will you ever beat me? Oh, that's right, You can't!" she said before cackling.
"Alright, Asuka, knock it off. If it helps, you're still leading, so please let your poor co-pilot be."
She stuck her tongue out at him before closing the comm window.
Yui was content with the scene she witnessed. I didn't even sense you irritated for a second. I've seen men get doe-eyed like this before, so it takes about 5% of my cognitive thinking skills to see that you are absolutely crazy for her.
Shinji gave his head a shake. You've seen it before? With who?
Take a guess. Here's hint: You have his freakin' eyes.
He blushed. I guess I get quite a bit from Father, huh?
Absolutely! Falling head-over-heels for sure! Cooking, not as much...
Really?
Didn't you notice when you were living together? Even I saw it from your memories! The various people who would visit the house in white coats and hats? If it was him alone, he would've burnt instant ramen! Thankfully, your cooking prowess came from me.
The cello as well?
Sort of. Your Father is a surprisingly good singer, but he'd never admit it. Good baritone.
Shinji laughed a little, quiet enough to evade questions. I'll have to ask him about it sometime.
Oh, good luck with that.
Asuka felt irritated. Her reasoning just added onto the irritation itself. For starters, Shinji was slowly climbing with his sync rate, and getting really close to her. Under other circumstances, she'd have no problem blowing him off about it and saying 'screw you.' The problem was that he was always so nice to her. Any time she attempted to make the image of Shinji in her head synonymous with someone she should loathe, she just couldn't. In her eyes, he always had this smile on his face. She hated that she couldn't hate it.
She silently fumed over this as she idly sat at the table, watching Shinji prepare food for the day. She had done this a few times before, and it was a sight to behold. He wouldn't speak, never even pulling his eyes from the task at hand. It was the most focused she had seen him, with battle being a close second. All of his moves seemed so precise, from each chop of a vegetable to each stir of the pot. If she said anything to him, he'd likely deflect with something along the lines of 'I'm alright, I guess...' She wished he'd be just a tad cockier, but maybe she'd hate him if he was.
Shinji finished the lunches, turning to put the closed bentos in his bag. He looked up at Asuka and smiled at her. "Ready to go?"
As his eyes moves up, she managed to quickly dart her eyes to the first random spot on the floor. She huffed, revving up the attitude. "Took ya long enough, slowpoke. Let's get moving before I miss my grand entrance." She stuck her nose in the air, standing to put her shoes on. She heard Shinji chuckle.
For his part, Shinji had gained some knowledge about ladies thanks to Mother. He knew he'd never fully understand, but knowing a little bit was nice.
One night after Mt. Asama
It was quiet in the apartment. Certain his roommates were asleep, Shinji set up the VCR and TV, turning the volume down to the lowest setting. Draping himself and the setup in the blanket to muffle extra noise, he inserted the tape labelled 'WOMEN,' and pushed 'play.'
He had seen the tape a long time ago, but didn't feel compelled to watch until recently.
Yui faded in.
"Hello there, my boy. If you're watching this, then you've discovered that women are frightening and mysterious creatures." She laughed. "Fear not! I, The Great Yui Ikari, am a woman, and therefore have a lot of wisdom for you. One thing you absolutely need to know is that you shouldn't take women at face value. Sometimes they can say things that sound rather harsh or mean to see what you'll say. It's all a game, honey. What you need to know is how to play it.
In other words, if a girl is teasing and prodding at you, you should prod back! If you play her way, she'll respect it.
Above all, be yourself! I know there'll be tons of girls lining up for a shot at Shinji Ikari. Trust me, I should know, I made you. You've got your father's eyes and hopefully my cooking skills, so you're bound to be a little heartbreaker. Just don't break hearts because you can." That made Shinji laugh.
"If you need more advice, you'll know where to find me. I'll help you out, and also pester the daylights out of you. Wouldn't be a mother if I didn't!"
Mother smiled. "Remember, anywhere can be paradise. I love you, Shinji. Bye."
The tape ended.
Regardless, Asuka was still a complicated individual. What seemed to work was offering her a smile and being responsive to her teasing. He had also decided to shop around some specialty stores in search for ingredients that would be more to her taste. Today, he had cut up a steak for her, putting the rest in his own bento. It wasn't the best thing, but hopefully she'd at least appreciate it.
Another day at school meant more of the same for Shinji. He didn't mind it, because it meant no angel attacks, but at the same time, more droning lessons about Second Impact.
He resigned himself to try Rei's method of staring out the window. She had some of the highest marks in the class, so if she thought it was a good idea, it was worth a try. There were some nice things outside, like the trees in the schoolyard or the birds that sat on them. The way they interacted with each other was interesting. It was simple. If only humans were like that, he mused.
His thinking was interrupted by a ping on his laptop.
A_Sory: You bad student, you. Staring out the window instead of focusing!
Shinji smiled.
S_Ikar: And you're focused?
A_Sory: Don't need to be. :P
S_Ikar: Good for you. I've heard this exact lecture at least fifty times. At this point, the teacher always hesitates. Watch.
Sure enough, the teacher was deep into his usual spiel. "...And by 2003, there was a massive uptick in..." Shinji looked at Asuka. "...Adoption." She looked at him, trying her hardest not to burst out laughing before looking back at her screen.
A_Sory: OH MY GOD HE DOES!
S_Ikar: See? Not exactly gaining much. At this point I'll take a sync test.
A_Sory: Me too, at least it's quiet.
Well, not exactly, he thought to himself. Damn, I still have to find a way to approach her about the subject. I'm half-sure her mother's in there, but I wanna know for sure.
For now, he went along with what she was saying.
S_Ikar: Yeah.
Finally, the bell rang, and it was time for lunch.
He gave Rei her food, before approaching Asuka's desk. "Here you go."
"Fish again?" she asked dramatically.
"Actually, I tried something different. Let me know what you think."
She took a peek at it. "Is that... steak?" Shinji nodded. "Finally, meat. Wow, Third. You actually do listen."
He rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Well, I'm not a complete idiot. Hope you enjoy it."
Asuka met his gaze and grinned. "Yes, yes, Chef Ikari, I'll tell you if it's edible, now go commence in your stoogery."
He walked off to find Toji and Kensuke, while Asuka waited for Hikari.
"What have you got today?" her friend asked.
Asuka looked at her. "Idiot boy made me steak."
"Steak!? Wow, Asuka, he must've really had to look!" Hikari said, genuinely surprised.
She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"
"You have to go pretty far to find that. Like, specialty stores for genuine steak. Take a bite!"
Asuka took a piece of the steak and chewed it thoughtfully. Truth be told, it was prepared really well. It was nice and tender, and well-seasoned to boot.
"Well?" Hikari brought her out of a daze. She realized it was so good, she had her eyes closed.
She shook herself to awareness. "It's not bad, actually..." she said, taking another bite and attempting to savour it. Her mind was torn between eating more and eating slower.
Hikari could see from her expression that she was under-stating how good it really was. Knowing how good Shinji's cooking was, she could only imagine. She also noticed that while chewing, Asuka's eyes seemed to trail off in a particular direction. She smiled.
At the end of the day, the teacher mentioned the upcoming parent-teacher interviews. Given his current living scenario, Shinji was unsure if such a responsibility fell upon Misato or Father. He decided upon calling Father for clarification.
He dialled the number on his cell phone and waited.
"...Hello?"
"Hey, Father? We have parent-teacher interviews coming up at school. Would you come to that? Or would Miss Misato?"
There was a pause. "Sorry, Shinji, I'd love to make sure you're doing well in school, but NERV keeps me tied up way too much. Sometimes, it feels like the UN hates me," he said with a chuckle.
Shinji laughed. As a young boy, there would be nights where he'd be babysat, and Father wouldn't come home until very late. Often, he'd come in the door and say 'sorry about that, the UN loves their long meetings.' It became something of an inside joke between them.
"No problem, I'll talk to Miss Misato."
"Yes, I'll make sure she knows. I'll make it up to you. How about we-" Before Shinji could hear the end of that sentence, Father cut off completely.
He looked at his phone. "Huh, that's weird."
"What's weird?" Asuka asked as she came up behind him, Rei in tow.
"Oh, um, I was on the phone with my father, and the line went dead," he said, scratching his head.
Asuka shook her head. "Maybe he's just busy."
"I dunno, Asuka. He was in the middle of a sentence."
"Perhaps you can ask him about it at NERV," Rei said.
"Yes, now let's go! I wanna get these tests over with!" Asuka said as she started off. Rei and Shinji exchanged a look, then headed after her.
"Yes, I'll make sure she knows. I'll make it up to you. How about we arrange a day for dinner? It's been a while," Gendo said into the phone. He received no answer. "Hello? Shinji?" Still, no word from his boy.
Gendo put the phone down and looked at his Sub-Commander. "That was odd, I don't think my son would hang up on-"
As he was speaking, everything went black. There was a silence between the two men before Gendo spoke again. "Ah."
"At least I don't have to go to that city council meeting now," he heard Fuyutski say.
Gendo sighed. "How much do you figure this is the work of our friends upstairs?"
"Very high. I imagine this is their warning for the A17."
The esteemed pilot trio of NERV walked along the sidewalk, heading in the direction of the Geofront.
The city was rather quiet, but none of them seemed to notice. Asuka lead the conversation, with Shinji responding when he needed to. Rei remained quiet and just listened, observing the exchanges going on.
"You really need to wear those other shirts when we're not at school," Asuka said to Shinji.
"Yeah. I, um, sorta forget. I guess I'm too used to the uniform."
She flicked him on the nose. "I guess it's up to me to break the habit."
He tried to defend. "Alright, alright."
Asuka turned to Rei and looked her up and down. "Speaking of which, Wondergirl, I don't think I've seen you in anything but that damned uniform. Do you, like, sleep in it too?"
Rei remained looking forward. "Of course not. I sleep without any clothing."
"Ah, so, like, underwear, right?" Asuka reasoned.
"Why would I wear underwear?"
That made Asuka stop in her tracks. "What!? Ayanami, what the hell!? That does it, when we're done at NERV, I'm taking you to buy clothes."
Shinji smiled at the ground. "Guess that means I'm the bag-carrier."
Asuka turned to him and gave a twisted grin. "Well, now that you've been so kind to offer, of course!" Shinji simply sighed and shook his head.
"I know a good place to start. How about you change up the uniform itself?" she said, returning her attention to Rei.
"How so?"
"Well, I've seen a few girls wear the uniform that has the skirt and the vest," Asuka said, visualizing it on Rei. "It has a white dress shirt underneath, and a red tie. Actually, it'd go nice with your eyes."
Rei looked down, trying to imagine it herself. She smiled. "That is appealing to me."
"Good!" Asuka said with a smile. "As for the sleeping naked thing, we can..." She trailed off when it suddenly got really dark overtop of them. "What the hell? I don't recall it being cloudy."
"Yeah, that's weird. What could be..." Shinji began to say as he turned around to see what was going on.
He gasped. A massive creature that resembled a giant spider was standing over them. What made it worse is that this thing had an abundance of eyes. Some were looking in different directions, and others were looking at them.
Asuka turned around as well. "Well? What is it-" she was saying, shocked to silence.
Rei said nothing, but she also felt similar fear.
"Shinji" Asuka whispered. "That's a freaking angel!"
"Yeah, I know!" he whispered back with the same tenseness in his voice.
"What do we do?"
"Run."
"What!?"
"You heard me!"
"What do you mean run!?"
"I mean get moving!" Shinji snapped, going from a whisper to a mild panicked yell. He clapped Asuka on the shoulder as he began to take off.
"Excuse me!?" Asuka shot back, stepping backwards before breaking into a run, Rei following.
"I said move your ass, Second Child!" Shinji shouted as he continued to pump his legs. He looked behind, and the angel was following them at a considerable speed. The sight of the thing spun his brain around. In full fight-or-flight mode, he behaved unlike himself completely. Mother and Father would just have to understand that he wanted to get away from this thing.
"What, so you can look at it!?" she tried to shout back, but she was too full of adrenaline and fear to really make it sting. The very real mortal danger was a little more important than teasing Shinji, so she decided to think about it later
The three were now running side-by-side, focusing on trying to get to NERV, hopefully shaking this angel in the process.
They ran, turning corners when they needed to. Suddenly, the angel shot out a goo from some sort of orifice. The goo narrowly missed Rei and landed right next to where she was running. The three looked back to see it had melted the pavement. This angel could shoot acid.
"Holy crap! Run faster!" Asuka shouted as they rounded another corner. They could see the entrance to NERV. Unfortunately, Rei had taken the corner a little too sharp, tumbling onto the ground. Shinji and Asuka stopped in their tracks. The angel stomped closer to Rei, the tremors its legs made knocking them onto the ground as well.
Rei moved into a sitting position, staring fearfully as the angel threatening to take her life at the moment. She watched as it brought a leg up and drove it towards her. She instinctively put her arms up, bracing herself for the killing blow, but it never came. Instead, she heard a distinctive clang. She looked up, and noticed an orange hexagon had formed in front of her, blocking the attack.
Her eyes widened. Did I...?
"Rei!" Shinji's voice shook her to awareness. She looked over, and saw her co-pilots in a heap on the ground. Neither saw the angel attack, or how she defended herself. Instinctively, she grabbed a nearby garbage lid and held it in front of her.
Shinji quickly untangled himself from Asuka, and looked over to see Rei, on her knees with a garbage lid in her hands. The angel seemed to have reeled back, and was now staring at her. Miraculously, it walked away from them.
He stood and stared at her. "...Rei, how did you-"
"It missed me."
"Well, get over here before it decides it wants teenager for lunch!" Asuka said from her position on the ground. Shinji put his hand out to help her up, and she reluctantly accepted. He noticed that her skin was distinctively smooth.
The three made haste to the entrance, where Asuka swiped her ID card. "Nothing," she said with pursed lips.
"Let me try," Rei said before swiping with her own. Again, no good. "We will need to find another way in."
"Well, as the best pilot, I nominate myself as team leader. Who's with me?" Asuka said with hands on her hips. Shinji and Rei stared at her. "What!? Family bias?"
"Asuka, the first time an angel attacked with you here, you ran in the wrong direction to NERV. How exactly are you going to find a way in?" Shinji asked.
"Well, I... Rrrrgh! Fine! Wondergirl, go for it!" she snarled. At least he isn't falling over himself for her. Cousins, Soryu, cousins. Wait, why do I care? Dammit!
The cousins in question were not privy to her inner turmoil at the moment and started to walk in the direction of an emergency tunnel.
Entering the dimly-lit tunnel, Rei took the lead.
"How do you know your way around this?" Shinji asked.
"I lived in the Geofront up until a few months ago. I have seen every single map related to it," Rei answered, not even looking back.
Asuka looked at her. "Wait, you lived in the Geofront?"
"Yes. Dr. Akagi has custody of me, but when the angels attacked, I was moved nextdoor to Shinji and Major Katsuragi."
"Huh. Raised in NERV. I spent a lot of time in the Berlin facility. Aren't the adults boring?"
"I never had interest in the company of the facility staff. The commander gave me a lot of books, which I used to pass the time."
Asuka grinned. "Ah, I figured you for a bookworm. I used to read more in my University days. What do you read?"
"Anything. Biology, history, psychology, philosophy. I also received a bundle of bioengineering textbooks, which were heavily annotated. It provided interesting perspectives," Rei answered, recalling each book she read.
"Ah, so you're probably as bored as me in those classes. Thank God you don't have to take an IQ test to be a pilot, because then we'd lose Shinji," Asuka said, looking sidelong at him for a reaction.
"Hey!"
Asuka snickered. "Anyways, you're into philosophy?"
"Philosophers have provided interesting perspectives over time, such as why we exist," Rei said.
"Some of them. Others say weird crap and call it philosophy."
"Perhaps. Personally, I am fond of 'I think, therefore I am.' It is simple, but logical."
Before the conversation could continue, the three came upon a door with a crank handle.
"What do we do?" Shinji asked.
"Well, first things, first, you're gonna do the man's job and open it!" Asuka said, clapping him on the back.
He sighed and put both hands on the handle. Pulling with all his might, he managed to get it open just a little.
Asuka scoffed. "Aw, c'mon! You're a man, aren't you?"
He put his hands on his wait and looked at her, hunched over. "What? It's not like this thing has ribs for you to kick."
"Oh, please, Third Child. If you really need a girl's help, just say so!" She rolled up her sleeves and decided to join him. Simultaneously, they grunted as they pulled on the handle. Slowly, it came open.
Rei smiled. "It is interesting how well you two work together. Even now, I can see the results of the synchronization training."
They both whipped their heads around. "Huh!?" Remembering that time in Misato's kitchen, they both looked at each other and blushed.
Gendo and Fuyutski stood in the control room with Dr. Akagi, mulling over what they knew and what they didn't.
"The commander and I are theorizing that this had to be a manmade incident. The Geofront was designed to be self-sufficient. Therefore, the only way this could happen was sabotage," said Fuyutski.
Ritsuko nodded. "That's the only feasible theory in my eyes. But why?"
"Either it was a form of revenge, like I hypothesized, or someone wanted to study the layout. I could see our friends upstairs doing this just to prod at our layout," Gendo said.
"Well, it sure does ruin a day, doesn't it?" Fuyutski mused.
"Sure does. I can feel the air getting stale in here," Ristuko said. "I'll buffer the MAGI with dummy programs."
"Good call. Fuyutski, let's see what we can do for now," Gendo said as he took his jacket off, throwing it onto a chair.
Ritsuko smiled. In times like this, she saw the resolve of a younger Gehirn commander shine. Gendo had come a long way from the broken man who was wracked with guilt.
"We've been walking for a while."
"Thanks for your insight, genius."
Rei continued to lead the group as Shinji and Asuka talked occasionally, the latter making her usual jabs.
"Rei, you're sure this is the right way? We should probably get there quick before that angel gets too close."
"Yes, I believe..." she began to say. "I hear someone."
Sure enough, the sound of a vehicle faded into earshot.
"An angel is coming! I repeat, an angel is coming!" said a familiar voice over a megaphone.
The could see light coming out of a nearby window in the tunnel.
"That's Mr. Hyuga!" Asuka said as she and Shinji crouched down. They called his name in hopes that he'd hear and give them a lift, but no luck.
Rei inspected the room they were in. "Hm, we need to take a shortcut. The angel must be getting closer."
"Yeah, that's what I was saying," Shinji said as he stood.
Asuka stood as well. "What shortcut do you have in mind, Wondergirl?"
Rei simply pointed at the narrow entry by their feet.
Asuka followed her finger. "Oh, no way!"
"We must."
"Are you kidding me!? It's so... disgusting in there!" she protested
Rei did not falter. "We have no other choice."
Asuka groaned before stepping into the vent. "Get in here, Wonder-cousins. The sooner I get out of this damn vent, the better mood I'll be in. Shinji, look up my skirt and the angel will be the second thing you worry about today!"
The pilots of the most advanced mechas on Earth were currently crawling through a dusty air vent.
Shinji was deep in thought as his hands and knees carried him. After Asuka warned against looking in the wrong places, he kept his gaze to the side. "That angel seemed really keen on trying to get us, huh?"
"Well, duh! It's an angel, I don't think it discriminates! We were probably the first humans it saw, so it decided we'd be easy meat!" Asuka retorted.
He paused before speaking. "But... Why? I don't understand what the angels would possibly want with us. Why do they keep attacking here and, say, not elsewhere?"
"Perhaps they are looking for something," Rei said from behind.
"That's stupid. I don't think angels need a reason, they're big monsters that exist to try and kill us! That's why they picked us to kill them!" Asuka scoffed.
"Okay, but why Tokyo-3?" Shinji wondered. "Why not, say, Germany? I know you would've loved to take out an angel in Berlin, right?"
"Well, I'm here now, and that's where the angels are, so it's all the same to me!" Asuka said. Shinji could hear her sticking her nose in the air, her hair whipping against the vent wall. How she didn't hit her head would remain a mystery to him.
Rei interrupted the group, feeling a sizeable vent gate. "We can get out here and continue walking."
"Well, God-damn! You should've said so sooner!" Asuka said, nudging Shinji behind her. As they exited, she made a show out of getting out the vent "Ahhhhh! That's much better than crawling like a damned baby!"
As the pilots dusted themselves off, they realized that there was a fork in the road, with a door on each side.
Asuka stepped forward. "Alright, Wondergirl. Which way?"
Rei looked at the doors. "Hm. If I recall correctly, we need to-"
She was interrupted by a loud BANG on the right door, leaving a dent. Asuka squealed in astonishment, jumping back and bumping into Shinji, who instinctively put his hands on her shoulders. "...Left. Let's go left," she said before realizing her current position. Shooting Shinji a look, she jerked away from him and hastily stepped forward, leaving him and Rei to catch up to her. Thankfully, this door was partially open, so a little elbow grease (and a lot of fear) got it open without help.
"It's just wonderful that the damn thing can smell us or something!" Asuka said with a huff, storming down the opened corridor. "I cannot wait to get into my damn Eva so I can kick its ass!"
As the three highest authority of NERV worked on maintaining the MAGI and the security of the facility, a message from outside came rushing in.
"There's an angel coming! An angel!" Makoto Hyuga said as he barged into the room.
Gendo, Fuyutski and Ritsuko all straightened up, standing to face him.
"Lieutenant Hyuga," Gendo spoke. "You have visual confirmation of an angel?"
"Yes, sir! I saw it as it entered city lines," the exasperated bridge bunny replied, putting his hands on his knees and panting.
Gendo unbuttoned the top of his shirt. "Fuyutski, take over my duties for now. Lieutenant, come with me. We need to manually prepare the Evas," he said, tone ever-serious, as he left the room, Hyuga in tow.
Fuyutski and Ritsuko watched him go. "I think the heat is getting to him, Doctor," the Sub-Commander said with a chuckle.
The pilots' quest to reach Central Dogma continued on. After their near-miss with the angel, they pressed on, following Rei's direction as they got closer. They came upon another closed door with a crank handle.
"Hey, Macho-man, get moving!" Asuka said as she clapped Shinji on the back.
He shrugged, looking back at her. "Only if you help me."
"No."
He grinned. "What, are you trying to look at my ass again?"
That got a reaction out of her. "A-am not!" she stuttered. "Out of my way!" she said as she brushed past Shinji to try and open the door. He quickly joined her, and they tried to get the door open like before. Unfortunately, the strength of two 14 year-olds would not be enough.
Asuka started panting. "Alright, what now."
"I-" Shinji stopped to gasp for air. "I dunno. Rei?"
She looked around, before spotting another vent. "Here, this should get us to the cages."
"Ugh, again?" Asuka said, sighing.
"Yes."
She got into the second vent of the day. "Fine, whatever, I'll shower the dust off. Third, get in here. No perversion before we fight an angel, so avert your eyes! Hear me?"
Shinji rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, I hear you."
Rei climbed in after him, and away they went.
"Asuka," Shinji said after some time of crawling silently. "Are you sure-"
"That you're a damned pervert? Yes! Stop! Looking!" she shouted as she punctuated her words with kicks in his direction.
"Augh! I'm not looking!" he said as he avoided a shoe to the face. "You're the one who looks at my butt! Stop trying to kick me! You're going to-"
As if it was finishing his sentence, the vent began to wobble, before jerking downward. Shinji fell out onto a cold floor, falling into a sitting position. He looked up and saw Asuka about to fall right on top of him. He stood and put his arms out, conveniently catching her. If he saw Misato, he'd be sure to thank her for sharpening his wits.
Rei landed behind him, and Asuka looked around, realizing her predicament. She blushed, and quickly jumped out of her impromptu bridal carry. The three dusted themselves off and looked around, when they saw two people looking at them
Dr. Akagi and her assistant, Lt. Ibuki saw the whole scene, and the former had a small smirk on her face.
"Miss Ritsuko!" Shinji said. "We saw an angel!"
"Yes, someone else saw it too."
Asuka brushed past him. "So? We're not just gonna stand around in the dark, right!?"
She shook her head in amusement. "Of course not, hon. We're preparing the Evas manually."
Shinji cocked his head. "But who's-"
Before he could say, she gestured to the doorway behind her. It was the Eva cage, and a team of men and women were using ropes to heave an entry plug. On that team was Father. Jacket removed and sleeves rolled up, he was pulling with all of his might.
Instinctively, Shinji walked over to him, waiting until he was done heaving before he spoke. "Father..."
The man pushed his glasses up and smiled triumphantly. "Hello, Shinji."
"You're helping prep Unit-01?"
"Of course. It is of utmost importance, and there's currently an angel at our doorstep. Get ready to sortie."
Shinji nodded. "Yes! Of course! Oh, um, one more thing..."
Gendo nodded knowingly. "Ah, yes, the phone call. I was going to arrange a day for dinner, but the blackout and this angel are going to keep me tied up."
Shinji thought of an idea. "No worries. How about I cook something and bring some leftovers?"
Father smiled. "That would be nice. Thank you, Shinji. I'll see you later."
"Right!" Shinji said as he ran to get into his plugsuit.
After the quickest change of his life, Shinji got into the rope-suspended entry plug. Closing the door, he felt it slowly ease into its spot in Unit-01.
The activation was slow, but he still focused in the same way.
Mother... Mother, can you hear me?
Yes, of course I can, Shinji. Everything alright?
When is it? We have another angel to fight.
Well, that's no problem! We'll just launch and take care of it like we always do!
About that... There was a blackout, so I don't know what we're gonna do.
A blackout? Yui paused. ...Oh, I see it now. But how will we get to the surface to fight?
I don't know... Probably-
"Shinji?" Miss Ritsuko interjected.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"We have to launch manually. Follow Unit-02. You'll have your pallet rifles and some spare battery packs we were working on."
"Alright!" Well, there you go.
Works for me. Follow Asuka. Wouldn't want to let her get hurt before you can propose, Yui said.
Oh, come on!
Unit-00, 01, and 02 were directed to access shaft B7.
"Alright, Addams Family, follow my lead!" Asuka said, her determined grin appearing on the comm.
The door opened slowly. Unit-02 climbed out, grabbing the walls of the shaft to remain in place.
"Come on! We'll climb up-Agh!" she shouted. "Pull me back!"
Shinji and Rei both grabbed each of her arms, hoisting her back into the corridor.
"What happened?" asked Shinji.
Asuka's grin quickly morphed into an expression of contempt. "Bastard started dripping acid on me! Dammit, now I wanna put its core through a wall even more!"
Rei turned her comm window on. "How about we-"
"Lemme speak. Alright, new plan. We should split up. Wondergirl, what other access shafts are nearby?" Asuka interrupted.
"In this part of the city, access shafts G7 and D7 are the closest. Their common number corresponds to this area."
Asuka grinned again. "Perfect! Shinji, take G7. Wondergirl, D7! I'll stay at this one. Here's what I have in mind: If we all try climbing one shaft, it'll probably just follow us. If we split up, it'll have it's attention split! Keep the comm on. When we're all in position, we'll start climbing. I'll give the signal, and we'll each fire one shot at a time to distract. Once we reach the top, this thing is angel-meat! Got all that?"
"Roger."
"Roger."
"Good! Get into position, and on my mark, we'll climb!" Asuka ordered. She slipped into the 'team captain' role rather naturally in Shinji's opinion. He followed the signs in the corridors and quickly made his way to D7.
He opened the comm again. "Unit-01 in position."
Rei followed soon after. "Unit-00 in position."
"Good! Alright, on my word, get climbing! Then, we'll shoot in this order: Wondergirl, Idiot, Ace."
Shinji laughed. "Alright." He climbed into the shaft, using his arms and legs to hold himself in place. "I'm ready to climb."
"Me too," said Rei.
"Start climbing!" Asuka said. Shinji started moving upwards as her next order came through. "Okay, fire! Wondergirl, Idiot, Ace. Come on! Wondergirl, Idiot, Ace."
She continued to repeat herself as Shinji fired a shot upwards on each turn of his.
Within a few minutes, Rei spoke up. "Unit-00 has reached the surface."
Asuka smirked. "Distract! Alright, Shinji, race ya to the top. Go!"
"Wha-" Shinji realized what she said, and started speeding his climbing up. He reached the surface in what he thought was a short amount of time, but saw Unit-02 standing over him, hands on hips.
"Took ya long enough!" Asuka said, switching to 'Voice-Only,' Shinji and Rei doing the same. "Alright, now that we're here, we'll do this: You two fire shots at it to weaken the AT-Field, and I'll get in there and cut through it with my prog knife."
"Roger."
"Okay."
"On my mark... Go!" Asuka said as she weaved around the angel. It saw her, and started spitting acid. She avoided it, erring on the side of caution by not projecting her own AT-Field. No external power meant she had to be careful.
Asuka baited the angel into shooting more acid. She realized that while it shot, it's AT-Field was weaker. She said as much, and let Shinji and Rei fire rounds while the angel tried to attack. They avoided creating an obstructive cloud of smoke as they carefully coordinated their shots. Asuka noticed the AT-Field begin to crack, and went in for the kill. She moved close enough for the angel to attack again, swiftly dodging a hurl of acid as she zeroed in, slicing through the AT-Field like a piece of loose-leaf paper. She got underneath and stabbed its bottom eye, the source of its acid. Thankfully, the angel was in the middle of readying another attack, so the worst she got was a damaged prog knife. She cut through perfectly, and The Ninth Angel, Codename: Matarael, went limp and stopped moving.
"Now that's how it's done, boys and girls!" Asuka whooped triumphantly as she got away from the now-dead angel.
Shinji opened a comm window and smiled. "Well done!"
"Good job," Rei concurred as she opened her own window.
Asuka smiled. She truly felt in her element: Beating unbelievable circumstances and besting another messenger of God.
Shinji, Asuka and Rei sat on the hill that overlooked Tokyo-3. They were still in their plugsuits. The outage in the city meant that they couldn't get back in until the power was back.
As they quietly enjoyed the night's ambience, Shinji looked over at his teammates. "Y'know, that was a really good attack you coordinated, Asuka."
She grinned. "Of course! I've got 99 problems, but an angel ain't one!"
"What?" he said in response.
Asuka looked at Shinji, who was looking back at her with a confused expression.
She leaned over and flicked him on the nose. "Uncultured, you."
Shinji rubbed his nose, and Rei even laughed a little at the scene.
"What, you got it, but not him?"
"I simply assumed it to be a pop culture reference, as you seem to make those often," Rei said with a smile.
Asuka looked back up at the sky, content.
There was more silence. All that could be heard was the mild breeze, the buzzing bugs, and the faint sound of breathing from the pilots.
Shinji spoke up again. "Don't the stars look nice? With all the electricity that runs through this city, you can barely see them."
"Eh, I don't mind the artificial light. When it's all dark like this, it makes the city feel so... dead. Like a ghost town," said Asuka.
Rei hummed. "Humans fear darkness, that's why they chase it away with fire."
Asuka eyed her. "Well, well, more of that book knowledge from before, eh Wondergirl?"
She smiled. "There are many interpretations for human behaviour. In reality, we're all simply featherless bipeds."
"Well, in that case, I'll bring the raw chicken from our freezer to class tomorrow," Asuka snarked.
"Ah, Diogenes," Rei replied. The girls shared a laugh.
"Honestly, though," Shinji said, trying to make his point. "Don't the stars look pretty?"
Asuka decided to indulge him. "I guess they do..." she said, following his skyward gaze.
He pointed upwards. "Look! I think that's the uh... Big Dipper! Yeah, that's the one."
Rei pointed elsewhere. "I also see Ursa Major."
"Ooh! There's another! I think it's called... Uh... Orion's Belt! That's it!"
Asuka was amused. "Didn't know you were such an astronomer, Idiot-Shinji."
Shinji blushed. "Well, not really. I just had this book when I was a kid. One of those random things I remember."
She looked at him.. She saw the child-like wonder still on his face and couldn't help but smile. Shinji has a nice gleam to his eyes. Very warm, in her opinion.
A day later, the pilots were called in for the testing that would have taken place on the day of the angel attack.
As they walked to the change room, Asuka noticed a wrapped bento in Shinji's hand.
"What's that for? Hungry or something?" she asked.
Shinji looked down at his hand. "Oh, this. My father was gonna arrange a day to come for dinner, but the angel attack backed him up. I said I'd bring him leftovers. This is some extra stuff from last night. It's a miracle the stuff in our fridge didn't go bad and I was able to cook something."
Asuka rolled her eyes. "Well, isn't that nice?" she quipped.
"Well, I do make food for people I care about..." Shinji said, shrugging his shoulders.
Asuka realized what that meant and quickly whipped her head away to hide her blush. Shinji was none the wiser.
The door to the commander's office opened.
Shinji walked inside and saw his father at his desk. From the layout, he felt unbelievably far away, and the atmosphere of this room made the walk feel longer than it actually was.
When he got to the desk, father looked at him through his tented hands. "Good afternoon, Shinji."
"Hello, Father. Here's the food. It's some leftovers from last night. Sorry it's a little cold. If you have a microwave, maybe heat it up? I went with one of Mother's recipes, so I hope you like it!" Shinji replied.
He smiled slightly, separating his hands to receive the bento. "Thank you. I appreciate this."
Shinji smiled. "Well, Miss Ritsuko wants to do some tests, so I better get going. See you around."
Gendo gave another firm, small smile. "Yes, I'll see you. Say hello for me."
"Will do," Shinji said before exiting.
Gendo watched him leave before unwrapping the bento. Taking a bite of the food, he closed his eyes. Shinji truly had inherited Yui's culinary prowess, and he felt nothing but pride.
Hours later, Gendo was sorting through paperwork when he got a buzz from his receptionist.
He pressed the button to talk to her. "Yes?"
"Commander, the First Child is here to speak to you."
Rei? What for? "Send her in."
A moment later, the large doors opened, and the First Child entered the office, coming to a stop at the middle of the room.
"Rei, you wanted to speak with me?" he asked.
She nodded. "Yes, Commander. I believe I projected an AT-Field."
His eyes widened for a moment before he collected himself. "No need to call me Commander at this time, Rei, but proceed."
"On the day of the last angel attack, I was pursued by it along with my co-pilots. At one point, it cornered me and attempted to attack. I instinctively put my arms up in an attempt to protect myself. Instead of hitting me, the angel struck an AT-Field. I do not understand how I was capable of such an ability, but it frightened me."
He could see fear concealed in her eyes. "Rei, come closer."
She approached his desk. He saw very clear concern on her face. "Uncle, I am afraid. Why am I able to do this? Is it wrong?"
He reached out and lightly grabbed her hand. "Listen to me. There is nothing wrong with it. There is not cause for concern. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you why this happened quite yet, but it does not make you any less family. All I ask is that you tell nobody and try your best to conceal this. I believe in you, Rei."
She smiled, eyes shimmering. "Thank you."
Gendo stood and put a hand on her shoulder. "I care about you. Shinji too. If and when he does find out, I promise he will still see you as family."
Rei sniffled. She took a deep breath. "I believe the same. Thank you again, Uncle."
He smiled. "Anytime, Rei."
She smiled once again before turning and leaving. The door closed behind her.
Gendo sighed. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Rei was starting to become aware of what she was. He picked up the phone and dialled a number. It rang a few times before the person on the other end picked up.
"Akagi."
Ritsuko held the phone to her ear and placed the pencil down. When he called, it was usually something important. She let the commander speak.
"...I see. How soon would you like to?" she asked.
Gendo spoke again. Ritsuko looked at the papers in front of her. "...Hm. How about tomorrow night? ...Alright, sounds good. I'll see you then."
She put the phone down. Their meetings had become less frequent over the years. Whether that was a good sign or not, she was unsure. Ritsuko put these thoughts aside as she pulled out a notepad and wrote a few things down.
A/N: So yeah, I said I wasn't gonna post this chapter for another week, but silly me, I got ahead of myself! Special thanks to MisterHalt and YourBlandestNightmare for their help on this! Halt gave me the idea of having the angel chase after them, and also helped out with the Rei AT-Field scene. YourBlandestNightmare did beta reading for this chapter, and caught my fucky ass typos.
A few cool things in this chapter: The access shafts are a reference to the first 3 Giant Steps chords: Bmaj7, D7, and Gmaj7. Just a funny thing I felt like doing.
Also, Rei mentions the textbooks she reads in this chapter. Read the beginning of the last chapter for that connection.
I wanted to diverge from canon with the battle, and that was the end product.
Reviews!
YourBlandestNightmare: Always gotta have Yui tease her son about his love life. She's a mother!
skyf0x: Could've done that battle better, yeah. Maybe when I revise.
NoseGum: I agree. in other news, catch up!
spartanman2: I got losta tension in the future of this story.
calborghete: I hope this one was up to snuff my friend.
HydrationStation: You bastard with that damn pun!
TalonEmpire: I got a couple more references here, so I hope you liked. I wish I could've diverged more form canon, but this part of the show makes it a bit difficult with its "Monster-Of-The-Week" thing it was doing for this cluster of episodes.
NoseGum: I got more Good Guy Gendo, so eat up my child.
tomdj1701: How 'bout a little more!?
TheOneAndOnlyErik (FKA Aushin fan): Now that you've updated your story I'll get off your back lol.
somedude234: That fucker.
NoseGum: Shinji would never! Also, of course GGG can trust his lovely wife! She is very smart.
Next time: A messenger (literally) from above drops into Tokyo-3 in Chapter 10: Aerodynamic!