Chapter 2: Shikinami Strikes

A/N: Thanks for all the feedback on Chapter 1! I talk about it at the bottom of this chapter.

"She's the Second Child and the Pilot of Unit-02!"

With her introduction over, Asuka steeled herself and turned to walk over to Misato, calling upon that day on Over The Rainbow. "It's been a long time, Misato!" She said with a smile.

Looking over Misato's shoulder, she saw Wondergirl, clad in her plugsuit and thankfully NOT a pale giant.

"So that's the pilot of Unit-00, the teacher's pet herself!" She grumbled.

Spinning on her heel back to the boys, she knowingly got into a small rant. "So one of you must be the little daddy's boy who lucked his way into the Unit-01 cockpit..."

Shinji gave a nervous smile and raised his hand, but only kept it level with his face.

She stomped over to him. "What are you, stupid!? Were you too busy to help!?"

"N-no, I-"

She responded by sweeping his legs, knocking him on his ass. Jeez, Asuka, you're playing the part a little too well! He retorted mentally.

"Aren't you ashamed that you were nowhere to be found during an angel attack!?" She shouted. Now that she was once again faced away from everyone, she gave him a massive grin and stuck her tongue out a little.

Shinji, however, had to keep up his façade "N-nice to meet you, Captain Shikinami!" he said with his trademark nervousness, even adding an anxious smile for effect. The boy desperately hoped that nobody was getting suspicious of him, since this unexpected turn of events caught him extremely off guard.

"Yeah, I bet it is! And with me around, you won't be able to drag your ass, daddy's boy!" She said back. Her tone was full of venom, but he could see that she was trying very hard not to laugh, as if she were having fun calling him a flurry of names. She then mean-mugged, and turned and stomped away.

"Wow..." was all the boy could manage.

Misato, stunned at the girl's attitude, quickly went back to cheerful. "Yup, heh heh, that's Asuka!"

The rest of the day was sort of odd for Shinji. What felt like a day ago, he was on a beach and everyone was dead except for him and Asuka. Now, everything was back to normal, but something felt off, and Shinji had questions.

What was that angel? And where the hell did Asuka go?

He had a dreamless sleep that night, largely due to the fact that he was still feeling some sort of shock from everything that had happened.

The next day came, and school virtually flew by, as his mind was very occupied. He barely registered getting a call from Mr. Kaji about a field trip.

His entire walk home was a whirlwind of questions in his head he had for nobody that could answer, and reflecting on the past 24 hours, if it even was 24 hours, and Shinji honestly couldn't be sure.

All this thinking was brought to a crashing halt when he reached the door to Misato's apartment and saw a familiar sight: a stack of moving boxes. He knew it could only mean one thing, and wanted to badly jump for joy, but he had to maintain that he was just a kid who knew nothing of what was going on. Instead, he stepped into the apartment and called upon some familiar memories.

"I'm home!"

No answer, that's one thing that's the same. Let's see if the next thing matches up...

Shinji made his way over to what should be his room, but he knew what was to come, especially when the stack of boxes in front of it confirmed his suspicion.

"What-What happened to my room!?" He cried out, really slipping into that flustered young boy role.

And right on cue, Asuka stormed out of the room with her line "How rude! Don't touch my personal belongings, you little pervert!" She briefly stopped to mouth 'Misato.' and pointed in the direction of the kitchen.

Shinji responded with a nod. "So-Shikinami, what the hell are you doing here!?" Yikes, almost slipped up! he thought, and Asuka flashed him a glare.

"What are you, stupid? You've been dumped for the new model! And it's the most logical choice, considering who the superior pilot is, amateur." Shinji could tell that she was enjoying this a little too much. He just groaned in response.

"Your room is pretty lame, Third! Why are Japanese rooms so small? I have to put most of my stuff in storage! Worse than that, this room doesn't even have a lock!" The girl all but shouted.

"That's because the Japanese put the needs of other before their own." Interrupted Misato to impart her wisdom.

Shinji spun around and took the time to put on a surprised face "M-Misato!"

Asuka scoffed. "Ugh, about time. Get this kid out of here already, he's annoying."

"Sorry, Asuka, can't do that. In fact, Shinji's gonna continue to live here."

"WHAT!?" The girl screamed. "No way! Boys and girls aren't supposed to live under the same roof beyond the age of 6! Besides, between you and me, i think he's some sort of pervert! Just look at him! I bet he'll burst through my door and try to take advantage of me!"

Misato chuckled "Oh, Asuka. Shinji's not that kind of guy."

Asuka gave Shinji a long stare. If only you knew, Katsuragi, if only you knew... She then let out a heavy sigh. "Fine, but if I wake up in the middle of the night to find this one getting his little rocks off over me, they'll have me for a double homicide!"

"Great!" Misato said cheerfully, and she turned and walked back to the kitchen.

Before Shinji could follow, he was yanked back by his collar into what used to be his room.

The door was shut behind him, and he was spun around, leaving him staring into a familiar pair of blue eyes.

"A-Asuka..."

She stepped back, leaving a sizeable distance between the two, and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "I don't know how I'm saying this to you of all people, but I'm really glad to see you right now. The past day has made me feel like I'm taking crazy pills, Shinji!"

The boy took momentary notice at his regular name being used instead of a nickname or an insult "H-honestly, me too. I just... feel like I've been in a tornado for the past day, and I haven't even been able to process Third Impact before we were shoved here."

Asuka took a moment to think "Yeah... I've barely been able to comprehend it myself. Hey, at least we're the only ones here who went through that. If we stayed in that hell-world and people came back, I'd feel so... naked in front of them."

"M-me too."

She locked eyes with him. "We have a lot to talk about, Third. Thankfully, Misato is always drunk or working so we just need to make sure Section 2 doesn't listen too closely" She was met with a nod. "Good. I really need to find out who the hell Asuka Shikinami is. If that guy in the suit threw us here and replaced who we are supposed to be, then my 'counterpart,' I guess, is probably similar, but different, if that name is any indication. And it's gonna suck, but I have to work with you here. As much as I want to scream and beat the hell out of you, I realize that we're in this together, so I'll do my best to... cooperate, Third." she said that last part through gritted teeth. "But I'm still very far from forgiving you, for many things. The only reason I'm tolerating your presence is because we're stuck together. That being said..."

Knee to the crotch. Shinji dropped to his knees in pain.

"Three left." Asuka said with a cruel grin.

Hearing footsteps, she pulled the boy back to his feet and slid the door open fast. She slapped the currently-dazed Third Child with not too much force and got back into character. "THAT'S for thinking you can just traipse around with my property, Ikari!" She said that just in time, as Misato showed up at the doorway, beer in hand looking concerned.

Misato put on a placating tone "Asuka, remember you have to cooperate with Shinji."

Asuka turned her head to her guardian "Oh, I'll cooperate. Don't worry, Katsuragi. Your precious little Shin will be just fine!" She sneered, letting go of the boy's arm. He had regained his bearings and hid the pain well.

Misato smiled nervously, and turned back to go to the kitchen.

Shinji let out a sigh of relief. "I can't wait until you run out of those."

Asuka laughed as she brushed past him and began rummaging through her bag. "Yeah, well, I said I chose when and where so it's on my terms, idiot. And Asuka Langely-Soryu-" she whispered that last part "-likes to savour things. Whether it's food, kicking ass in Unit-02, or kicking a boy in the same meat-stick he whipped out while-" she cut herself off with a gasp.

"Asuka? What's wrong?" Shinji asked, confused at the sudden halt.

The redhead was rummaging through her bag when something pulled her out of her rant.

A doll.

She wanted to scream, but for the sake of not alerting the NERV official in the other room, she decided to whisper-yell "Wh-why the hell do I have a damned doll!? What kind of sick fuck is this Shikinami, anyways!? Third, get rid of it!" She said as she tossed the doll at Shinji's feet.

The boy picked the doll up and inspected it. The doll was basically a had puppet. It wore a red coat with black buttons, sporting blonde hair, blue eyes, and a red cap on it's head. Near the bottom of the doll-puppet was Asuka's name, seemingly in her own handwriting. "I dunno, Asuka. If we're supposed to maintain that we aren't from a devastated Tokyo-3, you should probably hold onto this. If Shikinami liked dolls, who knows what else is different." Shinji then dropped the doll back on the floor.

Asuka looked up at him and pondered his words. "Hm, that's a good point. I guess if I shove that thing into the bottom of my bag, nobody will suspect a thing. I was pretty able to keep people out of my room before, so that'll be easy. As for checking what's different, I think I have an idea."

"What's that?"

"My file. I remember snatching my file from Misato's room during a day when she worked late, just to see what was written down. If this Misato is anything like the one we knew, it'll be super easy." She said, picking up the discarded doll and putting it as far out of her sight as possible. "Anyways, you should get started on dinner before she catches on. When we're alone, we'll devise a plan and I'm gonna interrogate the hell out of you. I'll give you a head start: Why did you strangle me on the beach? Think of that while you cook something." she ended her ramble with a smirk.

"R-right." Shinji responded, and he took himself to the kitchen and started to put together a dinner that was pretty good for someone who was a puddle of LCL a couple days ago.

He put together a simple dinner of chicken and rice for himself and his roommates. Shinji wanted nothing more than to vomit until his stomach exited his body, as the shock was beginning to wear off. Thankfully, cooking always helped him organize his brain. As he was putting the meal together, it kept him from thinking about what his brain would conjure up when he went to sleep. He also thought about Asuka. Despite everything, he couldn't help but worry about her and how her brain would handle literally dying. Not that he could help, she made it clear that she would claw his eyes out, and it really did hurt to think about, even if it was mostly his fault.

Another thing that he thought about considerably: Who was that man in the suit? American, but spoke Japanese like he was born and raised here. All of the angels are dead, so he couldn't have been an angel. From another dimension? Did Third Impact make Shinji insane and this is all a massive delusion he's having while starving to death on a bloody beach? He couldn't be sure. To make sure of it, he deliberately pressed his finger onto the hot pan. When the pain came blazing and heavy, he both regretted his decision and felt relief. This is real. There's another chance. Maybe even a chance to make things right with Asuka! He thought hopefully.

Dinner was served, and the three ate in peace. He could occasionally feel glares from Asuka, but she was normally aggressive, so Misato didn't get suspicious. When they finished, Misato thanked him for cooking and disappeared to the bathroom for a shower. He took the dishes to the sink and started washing.

Moments after he heard the water turn on in the bathroom, he felt someone yank on the back of his collar once again, dragging him to the table. He sat down, and he saw Asuka stomp over to the faucet and turn it off.

"Alright, Third, we have a little time. You're going to answer my question, and if I like it you may or may not get some mercy. Every 'sorry' is a slap in the face, and Soryu women have good arms." She said as she threw herself into a chair.

Shit! "Uh-I-" He took a deep breath. "Okay, so when I came back from... that, I was alone for a while. I made a small graveyard because I thought nobody was coming back, and I thought 'okay, I fucked everything up, Lilith said get out and I'm alone forever' and I sorta just accepted that, even if it was driving me crazy. I wandered around for a while, but really found nothing, and every wrecked building was another reminder. I started seeing things at one point. A vision of Unit-01 coming down on me, Misato dying in the Geofront. The worst was when I'd see you." That raised an angry eyebrow "Hold on! Hold on! The visions of you just... taunted me. Never spoke, just gave me this look that said 'pathetic.' and it drove me crazier. I ran aimlessly from the visions over and over, and ended up back on the beach. I laid there, then I saw Ayanami again, then she disappeared. Then I see you, a-and you wouldn't move. I thought 'this is just my brain fucking with me, or Lilith is just taunting me,' so I put my hands around your neck. I thought you weren't real, Asuka. That's why I did it. I'm s-" He stopped himself. "-I'm in your debt for that, but a lot more."

Asuka, for her part, was marginally impressed by Shinji's honesty. In the glory days, before she began to spiral, she found it impossible to hate the boy, which may have been a major pull towards him, no matter how much she told herself Shinji was worth hating. He never hid anything, just spoke truthfully, even when it frustrated her. It came as a relief that he seemingly still had it in him after having his mind turned into fine paste and back.

That didn't excuse the things he did to her and failed to do. He never saved me. He just ran off with Wondergirl! He used me when it was convenient!

She took a deep breath. Focus, Soryu. As much as it sucks, you have to try and cooperate a little.

"Well Third, I can't just forgive you and we go on our merry way. There's a lot more to unpack between us. However, I do appreciate that you didn't give me some bullshit answer. Not bad. I'll have much more to slap you over anyways. Like the hospital. I don't know if I ever can forgive that." She admitted.

Shinji sighed "I-I'm glad you appreciate it. If you never forgive me, I... I understand, Asuka." He then heard the shower turn off. "And I should get back to dishes before Misato catches on."

"Right."

They both got into unassuming positions again: Him at the sink, her at the table staring off. Misato exited the bathroom in her towel and retreated to her room for some clothes, and Asuka took the opportunity to get clean herself. Shinji finished up the dishes and began to put stuff away. He heard her take a long drink of her beer and screech in excitement, which made him want to cry a little. He never thought such a small, sometimes annoying thing could make him feel so emotional. Maybe watching her die had something to do with it.

He then heard a different scream from the bathroom. He turned around until the familiarity hit him, and as if right on cue, the door was thrown open, and Asuka, sans clothing stood there. However, this time she wasn't startled, she was angry.

"STUPID PENGUIN, GET OUT!" She yelled as she dropkicked poor Pen-Pen across the kitchen. Shinji realized what was so familiar and he whipped back around to avoid being a victim of the Soryu leg hammers.

The rest of the night was tame for 'living-with-Asuka' standards. After intermittent bickering, which beyond the surface was two fractured individuals venting deep pain, the three NERV staff called it a night and two Third Impact survivors lay in their beds, wondering what the hell would be thrown at them next.

Asuka stared at the ceiling, thinking of what Shinji had revealed to her in the kitchen.

'I thought you weren't real' That made a little sense to her, and she was a bit angry about it. Why should anything that comes out of the Third Child's mouth have an effect on her?

"I don't need him" She monologued quietly. "I don't need anyone, and I never will. I'm only cooperating with that idiot because I'm on a death mission, and he is too. He went through it, and he's the only one here that understands."

The only one that understands... A much smaller voice echoed inside of her. That part had a bit more meaning, and she violently cut it from her stream of consciousness. She forcefully kept herself focused on a particular thought. I just work with him here, then I can never see him again. Tolerate him, then get out. Easy.

...Easy.

"I'll always be alone" She reminded herself.

Across the hall, Shinji was coincidentally thinking about his roommate as well.

I hope I can patch things between us. It might be a waste of my time, but she's the only one that understands. I'm sorry, Asuka.

Each pilot slipped into dreams, and their minds held no mercy.

The next day, NERV scheduled a sync test, much to the dismay of the two apocalypse survivors. If they could agree on one thing, it was that sync tests were so draining, and even more boring.

They went through the motions of trudging to the Geofront and getting into their plugsuits.

Asuka noticed that her own plugsuit didn't quite fit the same as it did in her own timeline. Hm, she pondered. Another tack on the list of things different.

On his end, Shinji didn't notice anything different about the fit of his own plugsuit, other than the blue being the slightest bit brighter. Maybe it's just my brain playing a trick on me, he thought to himself.

They navigated around NERV, which they both felt seemed different visually, but the layout was much the same. They found the test plugs and got suited up.

Then the boredom sank in.

The three Eva pilots, two of which had just seen God die, sat in their test plugs, doing what they usually did. The LCL was unusually red, like the sea after Third Impact, whereas they both remembered it being orange in the entry plugs.

This time, Shinji and Asuka, with their post-instrumentality knowledge, tried their best to focus on the cores of their Evangelions.

Shinji visualized Yui Ikari in his head, heard her voice when she said 'Anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live.' He hoped to hear her voice once again, like when she spoke to him before he triggered Third Impact. This, however, felt different. Instead of words, he felt emotions. Feelings of love and comfort, but at the same time a type of unfamiliarity. The same type you would have if you met someone's twin after knowing them long enough. He visualized memories of when he was a baby, reaching out and touching the face of his mother, and felt a bewildered sort of acceptance.

On Asuka's end, she attempted to recapture the feeling when she finally understood the AT-Field, when Mama revealed herself in the final moments. Unit-02's core had a type of familiarity, but something felt considerably off about it. It was similar to Mama, but not quite. It was like a clone of Mama, and it seemed to know Asuka, but not fully recognize her. Eventually, the LCL around her settled into a strange, wary acceptance, unknowingly similar to her co-pilot.

Ritsuko noticed the sudden jump in sync rate for both pilots. "Hm. It seems that Ikari and Shikinami are doing pretty well." She said sideways to Misato.

Misato grinned in response. "That's my influence!"

With the test long since over, Ritsuko was going over the pilots' files, making sure they were up to date, especially after taking on a new arrival.

Ikari and Ayanami checked out, but something stuck out to Ritsuko when she reached Asuka Langley-Shikinami.

She noticed that Shikinami's photo looked pretty normal, but seemed oddly-coloured, as if the lighting was different. The girl's hair looked lighter than it was, and was described as 'light-reddish' instead of simply 'red.'

"Hm." She wondered aloud. "This picture looks weird and the info here is a bit off. I wonder why the MAGI didn't pick up on this. Must've been some translation issues from NERV-Berlin..." This satisfied her scientific mind as she corrected the information and updated the pilot's photo to match her recent one from her newest NERV-ID.

After the two roommates changed, they quickly talked about their experience as they went to find Misato, making sure to look nonchalant and speak low enough that they wouldn't be heard.

"Did your test plug feel weird?" Asuka queried, keeping her eyes forward.

"It did," Shinji replied, keeping his eyes downcast "And on top of that, it felt... awkward, like the core didn't recognize me."

"Mine too." The girl said. "It eventually warmed up, but I felt like I was fighting it quite a bit."

"Shame we can't ask..." Shinji mused with a bit of dejection.

Asuka 'hmm'ed in response as the two came upon Misato, who commended them for a good sync test.

The rest of the night was quiet, with a good meal cooked by Shinji.

After a few days of restless sleeping, Shinji lumbered out of bed again and quickly went through his morning routine. Alternate universe Shinji seemed to be exactly the same, so muscle memory kicked in.

On his way out, he saw Asuka, who admittedly looked rough. "How'd you sleep?" He asked, making sure she could hear it was out of concern.

"Like hell, now move." She answered deadpan. He reached out to touch her shoulder, unsure why, but she hastily slapped his hand away. "Don't push it."

He sighed as he prepared breakfast. It was a weekend, so school wasn't for another day, which meant no preparing 2 bentos. That gave Shinji more time to put together a few omelettes for the house.

Misato got up as he was finishing, and the three ate together. It was quiet, until Shinji remembered something from his very confusing first few days in another world.

"O-oh! Miss Misato, I got a call from Mr. Kaji a couple days ago, he said he was gonna take me on some sort of 'social studies field trip.' I, um, met him when we picked up Unit-02. Not sure how he knew who I was." He added hastily.

Misato cocked her head "Kaji wants to take you on a 'social studies field trip?'"

"Yeah, he said to invite my friends too."

Misato grunted. "Urgh, that scumbag. Nothing good comes from being around him. With the way he is, you'll end up getting youself killed or something." She didn't notice both pilots pale for a second at her words. "You don't know him, Asuka. He was a charming little prick and that's that." She humphed.

Asuka spoke up to snap out of her memories of Kaji disappearing. "A field trip? That sounds fun! Been forever since I've been able to relax from all the shit going on. And oooooh, this Kaji sounds hot! Dangerous-sounding, and he gets you all hot and bothered? Just my type." She said with a devious grin.

Misato palmed her face and sighed "You can bring your friends I guess, but just watch yourselves."

A/N: Wow! Thanks for the follows and feedback on the first chapter! Glad to see (with the exception of one negative review, oh well can't please em all) that the reviewers are interested in the story! I wanted to take time on this, studying Rebuild 2.22 and storyboarding ideas to make sure it comes out alright. I also did, and I'm continuing to do a bunch of brainstorming over Shinji and Asuka's post-EoE relationship. The kick in the crotch thing is what I think Asuka would do short-term, but it's gonna take more than that for her to overcome the events of NGE, especially when she was immediately hoist into a new world. I have specific scenes planned that will be important for these lovebirds and I plan to put a lot of effort into their dialogue. I'm rambling, uhhhh if I published this at the time I planned then Yui's Words is out now (on Chapter 2!), it's also Asushin (although it'll be a few more chapters before the Red Devil shows up) so check it out! I think that one will be quite alright!

My schedule as of right now: Yui's Words will get one or two updates a week, this one will get an update every 2 weeks.

Review responses!

TalonEmpire: It'll have dark scenes, but I don't think it'll wholly be a darkfic, because I don't think it'd be as good. Nothing against darkfics, I just don't think I'd do a good job with one. We'll see.

Romulo Nidoking BR: I have something in mind for the Soryu/Shiknami thing. I also have Bardiel and Zeruel fleshed out. I did that early because, like with Rei Grips, Bardiel was an early roadblock because it's a tough battle to write.

ghip (guest): Yeah, Ch1 was mainly used to set the stage, so I didn't wanna dwell too much. If I revise or remaster this in the distant future (oh lord), I'd probably expand upon it.

Guest (1): Spot on what you said about G-Man's presence not being a crossover, and that's one reason I'm enjoying writing him in, and I get what you mean about him feeling not out of place in the story but out of place in the universe. You'll see more of him, as well as references to the Half-Life games, which will be in passing.

guest (2): Sorry, lad. Like I said, can't please 'em all. As Francis Albert Sinatra once said, 'that's life!'

jopsteronicus: I hope I can do more fun character interactions, while also balancing more serious and heartfelt moments.

Just a bored Highschooler: Thanks!

calborghete: I have plans for Mari, both her brief appearance in 2.22 and her role in 3.33 (which I've written a scene for!) A matter of time, my friend.

skyf0x: Perhaps the beach was a bit rushed. The strange man in question is the G-Man from Half-Life, and his way of doing things is that when he "hires" someone, he doesn't really give them the option to say no. In Half-Life 1, when you meet him at the end, he offers you a job and if you don't follow him, he dumps you in a room full of aliens and the game ends. In Half-Life opposing force, he "hires" Adrian Shephard, and doesn't even give him a false no, just leaves him in stasis. The progress from here on out will be slow and steady, which is why I'm updating this every 2 weeks while my other fics are more frequent. I plan on having them talk about pre-3I and what they saw in instrumentality as time goes on, like how they talked a bit in this chapter.

tomdj1701: Glad you like the idea! Stick around and you'll hopefully enjoy it.

Thanks! See you in 2 weeks!

Next time: Shinji and Asuka finally get to take the field trip they missed oh so long ago, and they spend time with everyone's favourite Triple agent in Chapter 3: Seaside Rendezvous!