Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion (yet). I couldn't finish this story or even join the Asushin Discord in time for the contest, but now I was able to finish it and, since it is still summer in the northern hemisphere, I think I can post it on the same tag. This is intended to an adult audience who can appreciate drama and humor, even when dealing with some sensitive issues. Hope you will enjoy it and read the author notes at the end.

It took me several minutes, maybe hours to get out of the pool. I will get a sunburn, for sure.

The sun is almost setting and I still can feel the pain caused by her slap. Not the physical pain. I mean real pain.

It's painful because I deserved that slap. I've hurt her again and ruined what was supposed to be maybe the happiest day of our lives.

As I started to get out of the pool, I saw my reflection on the water. At least on the outside, I definitely was not a child anymore.

Yes, my face was still kinda soft and childish. I had thought about growing a beard, but I know that just the sight of it would have made both of us relive some bad memories from those days.

Also, I never really cared about getting a proper haircut after the third impact and just decided to having it permanently tied in a ponytail.

'It makes me looks just like Kaji...' I thought, with a bit of sadness.

Even if he is gone forever, he is still the best reference for me of a fatherly figure and the kind of man that I would like to become.

I think she noticed the resemblance, but said nothing. I can only hope that, after all those years, she has the same opinion as me about the guy. Otherwise, this would be another huge elephant in the room for us and I really don't want to think about it.

My body, though, was a different story. At least all of the hard training, diet and the flow of testosterone had made me develop a nice and strong body.

It also helped me to recover confidence that makes me believe that I could really be an invincible hero if I got to pilot Eva again, just like I was before the battle against Leliel.

As I searched for a towel, I looked at my right hand. The symbol of my greatest shame and failure. The scars are not there anymore, but I still remember it and also all the other ones in the places where my body got hit by the Eva series and their replicas of the Spear of Longinus.

I didn't mind the scars at all. To be frank, I even intended to keep them there, as a reminder of that fateful day, but I've conceded to remove them, because she insisted that we should do it to be able to move on.

She didn't tell me at that time, but I know why she asked me to do so. Just the sight of those scars was making her relive the memories of that day. And I definitely didn't want to see her feeling sick each time that she would look at me.

The only thing that gets me really frustrated with my body is my height. I've expected that all those training and hormones would make me grow to be taller, but I've my growth stopped giving me only 1.70m in height.

Damn. The genes for height would have been probably the one good thing that my crap-ass father could have given to me, but once again he let me down. Oh, well… at least she stopped growing up too, so now we have roughly the same height.

Overall, at least on the exterior appearance, I'm now a fine healthy and handsome young man, with a charming, positive and confident attitude.

I can see that I'm doing ok in that department just by looking at the reactions that of the girls from school in the past year.

Misato likes to tease me saying that some of those girls already liked me in secret since before the third impact, but I know exactly what those girls wants and how naive they are.

Only the few people that were with me during all those years know that I'm a fraud. In fact, I'm still a scared and immature child who is only good at screwing things up and hurt people. And she knows better than anyone that this is my real nature. I'm scum.

And to make things worse, even if I try hard to convince myself that I don't need anyone's approval and acceptance anymore, her opinion and feelings still matter to me. A lot.

She had faced a tougher path than mine to recover from the aftermath of the third impact. Even after several surgeries to remove the scars and fix her appearance, she still prefers to cover her body and face as much as possible to avoid the attention.

But when she is at home, she becomes a totally different girl. She is always trying to do something new with her hair, or try on different clothes. And sometimes, when she is in a good mood, she even openly teases and flirts a little bit.

I think she is trying to reassure herself that she is, in fact, a beautiful woman and don't need to fear that she will been seem as a freak by other people.

And during all those years I couldn't stop looking at her – most of the time in secret - and hoping that one day we would finally be fully healed and able to try to sort things out with each other.

I think my heart always had been hers after all, even before I realized that through that strong exterior façade there always was a scared princess that only wanted to be loved.

If I had seen her true colors earlier, I would have realized that we have so much in common and we could have helped each other from the start.

I like to think that, someday I, will become the hero that will be able to save that princess. Maybe on the day when I will finally find the courage to say the words that I should have said years ago.

But still... after all those years and hardships, we only keep hurting each other, time after time. I guess that in real life there is no room for foolish fairy tales or childhood dreams. Especially not for us.

As I began to walk towards the nice beach chalet that Misato reserved specially for us here in Okinawa – with the faintest hope that she will still be there and haven't decided to return home - I started to think about all the events that brought us here today.

Today was the first time that we looked at a beach since that day.

After third impact, two traumatized children that survived apocalypse have managed to make an unspoken agreement to keep themselves alive, without knowing for sure if other people would return.

Thankfully, we had to endure only a few weeks living by ourselves in one of the shelters designed to endure the Angels' attacks before people started to come back.

But still it wasn't easy to endure that period. During those weeks, we helped and supported each other, but also have hurt each other. Badly. Both in physical and psychological ways.

As the days passed, she started to become more depressive and retreated into her shell, while I've become harsher, as I tried hard to push us into doing what was needed to survive.

So, it was a pleasant surprise for us to see that, since Misato and the rest of the NERV crew have returned and found us, they finally acted like adults and started to see and treat us as two children that really needed help.

Again, it wasn't a walk in the park, though. Everything always seems to be extra hard for us.

It took them months of research and several appointments with doctors and psychologists until they were able to figure out the root of our problems and other few months until Misato and Ritsuko agreed on the diagnosis and were able to find the proper path and place for us to be treated.

After that, we had to endure almost two years of Ritsuko's protocol that consisted in several sessions of therapy, experimental treatments, medicines and surgeries to heal our bodies and minds not only from the PTSD of the battles and the aftermath of the Third Impact, but of our traumas and deepest issues that preceded Eva.

I can only wonder how things would have been different if they had cared enough to fix those issues before the Angels' war began.

Also, during that time, Misato had to make a great effort and spent a massive part of Nerv's resources in media and propaganda until it was safe for us to be able to go out and face the real world.

After that, we finally returned to our regular lives, being allowed to resume living at Misato's apartment and resumed school as two functional people who could at least try to live the lives that we really wanted to live, without being seem by society like freaks that were just released from an odd TV show.

We have been together through most of the procedures and pretty much, until this day, we are only able to trust and talk to each other, but that doesn't mean that our relationship got really much better than what it was before.

We did have some good moments, though.

All those hormones and the effects of the puberty had made some transformations in our bodies and minds. The results, especially the ones regarding her body, were… nice.

And when you make two unrelated teenagers live at the same roof, some things are just prone to happen.

We didn't go too far, just kissed and cuddled through the night sometimes.

Yes, we also have slept together on several occasions, but not like in a sexual way. Even at the times that we managed to reach second base, either me or she would opt to backdown since we would rather not risk being alone for the night because of those urges.

We still have some issues regarding our bodies and touching each other after all that happened between us. So, we settled with just the best that we were able to do without the risk of hurting ourselves even more.

But still… we aren't a couple. I can't even say that we are friends. In truth, we are just two codependent teenagers that need to lean on the only other person on Earth that is able to understand and relate to our personal dramas.

That's why jealousy, sad memories, verbal offenses and crying are often the outcome of our conversations.

The psychologists told us that a constant source of our frustrations with each other can be explained by the fact that we both had unreal expectations towards each other and the desire to live up to unrealistic and unachievable archetypes and stereotypes: the perfect and bad-ass great hero and the kind princess who wants to be saved.

They were right. We will never be able to reach those standards and expectations after all. Even so, I think that both of us still want to pursue those stereotypes with the hope that, in doing so, we would be able to fix everything. We are just pathetic and broken children after all.

But once we both completed 18 years old and finished high school, things started to change.

At the past New Years' Day, Misato told us that she is planning to move out and leave the apartment to us at the end of the year, but made it clear that she will only do that if we really want to keep living together with each other.

It was like a wake-up call for us. We are not children anymore and we will have to find our way into adulthood. Either together or apart.

After that day and several other conversations, Misato decided to give each of us a present – I was happy to finally have my own car - and also a present for both of us: a whole summer of vacation in a nice resort at Okinawa, and instructed us to enjoy the time to think about the future.

It was a very nice present and a compensation for our lost childhood, but also a big test for us to see if we will be able to work things out with each other and keep living together, without her supervision.

We arrived at the resort at about noon and made our check in. Our reserve was for a whole beach chalet, with a nice kitchen full of groceries and supplies for at least a week, a small living room with a couch and TV, a bedroom with nice king-sized bed and a bathroom… with a jacuzzi and a small letter that said "courtesy of Misato Katsuragi, xoxo".

I just laughed about Misato's prank, but my roommate clearly didn't think it was a funny one and asked me to get rid of the letter. Perhaps she was in a bad mood already and, if I didn't know her better, I might have thought that she was having her period or something like that.

She also told me that she would take a while to unpack her things and be ready for go outside, and I seized the opportunity to go for a quick walk to scout the resort, telling her that I would be waiting at the pool area.

The resort was huge, but with few attractions besides the pool area, and was practically empty of guests. Maybe this was also Misato's work, but probably it's just the fact that it's a regular happy Thursday of June in the outside world.

There were also no restaurants or shops nearby, so I guess we would have to ask for room service or go into the city from time to time to get supplies. He, it's oddly nostalgic to be on a beach and still have to think about searching for food.

The nicest place that I could found was the observation deck that served as a connection between the resort and the beautiful deserted beach. A nice place for taking pictures and to watch the sunset. If only…

After almost one hour of walking, I finally decided to stop the tour and settled on the pool area and removed my clothes, with the exception of my swimming trunks.

It still took several minutes until she decided to appear and join me. She was wearing a large white beach robe and her face was straight, almost stoic. If was not for her gorgeous long hair I could almost have mistaken her for…. Ayanami.

I haven't thought too much about the girl that saved me and sacrificed herself at the Angel War through these years.

To be fair, sometimes I tried to talk about my feelings towards the blue haired girl during therapy, but I couldn't really advance in that topic.

The image of her giant head floating in the red sea still brings me too many bad memories.

But it really doesn't matter anymore and it's pointless to think about it, especially now that I was getting worried about my roommate strange behavior.

She was still ignoring me and looking towards the beach.

'Oh shit… I guess the memories of that time are hitting her heavier than I expected. Time to act and do something.'

"Well, well…. Look at you. I didn't think that after all this time you would become such a prude."

"W-what?" – she said, looking at me. Nice. I can do this. I'm not the same as before. I'm a hero now. I will not her get lost into our awful memories of the past.

"Well, you know…I think this would be a great opportunity for you to show me the gift that you received from Misato."

I was afraid that she would get angry and call me a pervert, but she just blushed. It's funny. When I first met her, I would never bet that she would want to become such a feminine young lady. But that is the woman that she is trying hard to be now.

That's why I got surprised by her next move.

In one swift move, she removed the robe and allowed me to have full view of her body.

Ok. I was already expecting to see her new assets. While I got a car for myself, she got a full pair of new airbags.

I didn't mind the fact that she had tiny breasts, but I can understand that living with Misato it's a hard blow for a girl's psyche and confidence. And the results were nice, as she was now boasting a nice pair of C-cup breasts.

But what got me completely off guard was what she was wearing. That old red and white bikini, which now fitted her adult body in an almost indecent way.

"So… what do you think?" – she asked in an utterly innocent voice.

'She did that on purpose? Why she did that? Is that her way of flirting with me? Well… I can't back down now. I have to push back.'

"Well… I guess you remember that thing about thermal expansion…. So, if I can get my hands on those, they will probably get bigger." – There, I did it. The ball is in her court now.

"Perverted".

She blushed again and turned her back on me. But I've noticed a sad tone on her voice as she continued.

"So… you think they should be bigger?"

'Oh crap. Now she is thinking that I didn't like the results and is getting depressive again. Well, change of plans. I have to think and act quickly.'

"Of course not!" I said with a confident smile – "In fact, maybe we can use thermal expansion to make them smaller."

"What do you mea…aaaaah" – I didn't let her finish as I grabbed her from behind and jumped into the pool, making us both fall into the water with a huge splash sound.

As I returned from the dive, I could see her struggling to catch her breath. Well, maybe now she would get this out of her… SLAP.

She slapped me in the face. Hard. I looked at her and see a familiar rage building up in her eyes. And then I thought that I've had screwed up again.

"You… you… jerk! My hair… why did you do that? Don't you ever think about other people feelings?"

The same old pattern began to form. Now the rage had started to build up inside me. And that was when I really screwed things up.

"Well… excuse me, princess, for not being able to live up to your high standards."

She stopped yelling at me and tears started to form up in her eyes.

Then she turned her face down and, despite my pitiful attempts of excuses, just exited the pool, gathered her things and went back to the room without looking back.

I've stood by the chalet's door for some minutes before gather the courage to open it. As expected, there were no sights of her presence inside. But thankfully, her baggage and other stuff were still there. Therefore, I could still have a chance to try to find her and make amends.

I really should have gone in and taken a shower before going outside with just my swimming trunks on, since the long exposure to the sun and to the pool water for sure will make my skin hurts tomorrow.

But I decided to go outside and look for her, since the sun was almost setting over the sea.

Maybe that's why I went straight to the observation deck and, fortunately, there she was. A sight that was even more beautiful than the sunset.

As I walked closer to the deck, I once again was flabbergasted.

She was barefooted, but had blue ribbon on her neck and was wearing the same old yellow sundress that was first used on the day that we have met on the Over The Rainbow.

She was even wearing the old red A10 hair-clips. I blushed while looking at her, and couldn't help but to think if she also was wearing the same white panties from that time.

If that outfit looked great on the 14 years old Asuka Langley Sohryu, the way that the dress fitted in her 18 years old body – especially with her new pair of assets - and seeing her on the observation deck, with the sun setting over the sea in the background… it was like seeing a goddess.

Once I got my rational mind working again, I started to think about her reasons for choosing those outfits. First the bikini and now this? For sure she did that on purpose, but why?

She noticed my presence, but still choose to keep looking at the sunset.

That was fair. I have screwed things up. I had to make the first move.

"Hi." – That was really an excellent great first move, idiot me.

"Hi". – she answered without looking at my direction.

"You know… I've always liked that dress. I think it fits you better now."

She looked at me with a sad look in her eyes and a fake smile on her face.

"Thanks…. I guess."

We exchanged some awkward glances for a while and she decided to continue the conversation.

"I think that since I've saw that dress for the first time I…. dreamed of wearing it someday on a date with a handsome guy."

"I see... Well, I bet that at the time you didn't think that you would end up wearing it on a beach resort and with me as your companion, right?"

She looked away from my eyes as she answered.

"Well… I guess I didn't really think that you could become a handsome guy at that time."

I felt the jealousy rising again as I realized the meaning behind her words. She always thought about wearing that dress on date, but I was not the guy that she imagined being with in her fantasy. So, it means that…

I let out a loud sigh and took my hair band out, undoing my ponytail and grabbing my head in anger, starting to make my hair get all messy, like one of a madman.

That certainly got her attention, as she looked at me again with a confused look. It was my chance to strike.

"I understand. Heh… I will never be able to compete with him after all, right? He died before third impact, but he is still in your heart and mind and always will be."

She looked at me with a surprised and angry look as she moved closer to me. That's it. I was right from the beginning. This vacation was nothing but a waste of our time.

"I can't believe in it. How can you be so selfish? I'm the one who should be angry and jealous of you! All those bitches in school and even the older women are always practically undressing you with their eyes and…"

Good. I finally got under her skin. Now it was the time for the final move. After that, there would be nothing else to discuss and we would be able to end up this foolish dream of a happy vacation, return home and try to face reality again. So, I yelled back at her.

"Bullshit! You know it's completely different!"

My yell got her by surprise and she stopped talking. Now I just have to continue pushing it.

"I'm talking about emotional attachment. You still… love him, don't you? Just say it. That's… that's fine to me. I just want you to admit that even after all those years you can't see me that way and then we both can be free to…"

She stopped my speech by grabbing my neck with her hands. To be fair, this was not an unexpected outcome of this conversation, since she was feeling… uh… nostalgic today.

What was a really unexpected outcome was to notice that the feeling of oxygen deprivation didn't come, as her hands gently moved from my neck to my cheeks.

She was looking straight at my eyes with a serious face and her hands had a firm grasp that was strong enough to not let me look away.

And suddenly it was like we were 14 years old again. All those years of enduring all the pain and the treatments, trying hard to build my mind and body to be a brave and confident man… 'For myself or… for her?'… all that effort was gone in a matter of seconds.

Once again, I've failed to be the hero who would deal with the hard stuff when things got serious. Now she would have to do the hard stuff all by herself. Again. I'm such a coward.

"Hey…. Just… listen to me until I finish, ok? Then you can do whatever you want. Can you promise that you will listen?" – she asked me with a trembling voice.

Despite her strong grip, I was able to nod in concordance. I won't hurt her again. I won't make her cry again. At least, I hope so.

"Ok…I… I won't deny that I… had a crush on him at that time. You know better than anyone that, despite of what the rest of the world thought about me, I was really just a fragile and scared little girl who only wanted to be saved by a prince."

'Yeah… right. And I couldn't have been your prince or even your knight in shining armor at that time… and probably will never be able to be.' - I thought in silence.

"When I met him, well." – she continued – "He was handsome, easy going and was also the first person who was able to see my real self through my façade… that's why I developed that crush…"

Now she was just being cruel. The rage was growing inside me again. And suddenly I felt like I was inside of my entry plug again, as an Angel was destroying me. Well, I kind of deserved that. Another failure. Another defeat. I'm a man and I will endure that pain. I promised her, after all.

"But I think he never really cared for me. Not in that way. I was just a tool that allowed him to go further on his suicide mission. And even if he cared and want to be together with me I… I think I wouldn't accept it.…."

'What? Stop! Don't say it. You're lying just to make me feel better and still keep my hopes that one day we…' – I've started this line of thought, only to be stopped by her next magical words.

"Because… since I met you… even though I took so long to see you as a man and to sort out my feelings towards you…. I think that, deep inside, I… I always knew that you would be the one that I would lo… want to be with."

I froze, in shock. I didn't even realize that she wasn't holding my face anymore, but hugging herself and blushing.

"And after all those years that we've spent together. After all those treatments and therapy…. If you weren't there, by my side, during all those hard moments, I…. I certainly wouldn't have been able to endure all that and rebuild myself into the woman I really want to be. You…. saved me."

'No. Please. Stop saying those things. I'm a failure. Don't give me false hopes or create many expectations about me. I will only fail you again.' – I thought as I realized that my heart was beating faster and my brain was finally starting to try to fight back against all those downer and self-sabotaging thoughts.

"I know that you also have grown up to be the man you always wanted to be. I'm happy for you. But I'm also scared that once we finally become who we really want to be we would become…. incompatibles".

All the pieces of the puzzle were starting to fit in my mind as I realized that, just like me, she was afraid. Afraid of the future and of the possibility that, even if we have managed to grown up and let go of our past traumas, we won't, ever, be able to make things work between us.

"So, when Misato booked us this vacation, even if I still don't really like the idea of being near a beach again… I was really happy, because we would have a chance to make a fresh start."

Her eyes were starting to tear up again, and I think mine were too. Damn that synchronization training.

"That's why I did all those weird things today… I just wanted to be pretty for… meeting you again. That's why I've took so long to make my hair look good and searched for that dress and that bikini. I guess that if I could make you remember of those happier times maybe we would be able to…"

Her words were breaking me. I was trying hard to keep the tears at bay. How can I have been so stupid? She was trying to open up to me. She was finally confident enough with her body to dare to use those outfits because they were …. symbols of a time that we could flirt and tease each other and, maybe, if our current selves could return to that point, we could make things work. And I acted like an idiot useless and insensible stooge.

"I… I think I've said too much and missed the point… but the bottom line is that… I would like to be near you as long as you don't mind it. I promise that I won't try to change you or ask you to be a different person but…. can you at least be… kind… to me?"

That's it. She is also trying hard to become the strong woman that she is meant to be and I'm also on my way into becoming the man that I want to be.

But she knows that we aren't there yet. And we can't change the past or be the persons we want each other to be. We must find our own way. To be able to do that while also being there for each other… we will have to make an effort. Constantly and forever. Even if it hurts.

"I'm sorry." – I said and, maybe for the first time in my life, really meaning it from the bottom of my heart, as I closed the distance between us, gently wiping the tears away from her pretty face.

She looked at my eyes, in a way that made my heart skip a beat. I gathered all of my courage and gently embraced her, moving our faces closer until our noses touched.

Only to feel her hand pinching my nose.

"Your breath tickles." – she said, softly.

Well, that was a good sign. She was still trying. It was another chance, maybe the last. And I would do it right this time. Time to make past and present come together.

I slid my hands from her back to just below her tights and, in a swift and sudden movement, carried her, removing her feet from the ground as I leaned forward giving her a passionate French kiss.

For several moments, she didn't react and I got nervous. My confidence started to drop as I thought that I've probably overdid it and pushed her too far again. Another failure.

But then she started to kiss me back, as she moved her hand from my nose to the back of my neck and gripped my waist with both of her legs. The feeling of her new breasts rubbing on my chest was extremely pleasant.

I don't know how much time has passed since that moment, but once we finally stopped this intense making out session, the sun had already set.

"Wow."

"Wow."

Now everything is clear to me. Maybe I will never be the invincible hero that I want to be. But that's fine. Now I know that the man I want to be is also the man that she needs me to be. Even if I'm not a hero, I will keep fighting every day to be worth of her. No matter what I have to do.

"So, I think it means that I'm forgiven, right?" – I said to her, giving her a confident smile.

But as I looked at her pretty face again, I saw that she was looking at me with an odd and emotionless face. And then she said, in a serious voice and full of venom.

"No."

My heart stopped in that moment and I looked at her eyes, dumbfounded.

She stared at me with an icy look for several moments. I think I was on the verge of having a mental breakdown. Then she chuckled. Once. Twice. And then she busted up laughing.

I knew that she laughing at my confusion, but it was a wholesome and pure laugh. It was the first time that I've seen her laughing like that. And just seeing her like that made me feel happier that I've ever had been.

Then she flicked my chest as she started to speak again.

"Well, I'm still mad at you for what you did earlier. And as much as I enjoy eating a home-cooked meal with you, I think that the least that you can do to make it up to me is to take me to a nice restaurant for dinner tonight."

'A restaurant? But…. There's nothing like that into this resort. We would have to go out and search for one in the city… and… oh, ok… I guess she deserves a good night.'

"Ok… anything for my princess after all." - I said, still keeping a confident voice. – "What would you like to have?"

"Hm..." - She thought for a little while and said with an excited voice – "I want German food! I'm in the mood for meat today. Bratwurst would be nice!"

'No way! She hasn't eaten meat in a long time because of her diet and now she wants me to find a German restaurant here in Okinawa? Why would she put me into such an impossible quest after all that happened today?'

She hugged me again, and I held her on reflex, still kinda clueless about what she really wanted me to do.

Then she softly kissed my right earlobe, and started to talk again in a very sweet and seductive way.

"You are kinda slower than usual today, aren't you? Forget dinner. What I really want now is for us to go back to our room, test that jacuzzi… and then I… I think I will want to finally see the GREAT– she stopped and grabbed my crotch with her right hand - "little Asuka Langley Sohryu in action."

She finished talking, giving me a wet kiss in my ear and turned back, heading towards the room in a slow and sensual walk, allowing me to enjoy a nice view of her backside.

After several seconds, my brain allowed me to make conscious thoughts again. Well… maybe I've screwed up today, but I got a feeling that tonight is going to be a good night.

As I looked at her perfect form again, I could only smile and say the words that always has defined my feelings towards the woman that captured my heart, body and soul.

"Baka….. Baka-Shinko."

Author notes:

So, did you see the plot twist coming?

I got inspired by Adam Kadmon's works and, mostly, by the great one-shot fan fiction from Jimmy Wolk called "Long Time no See".

I gave some hints through the story (especially with the "Feliz Jueves" reference), but I hope most readers didn't catch the twist at the first reading and that the re-reading will make the story even better.

This is a M rated work, mostly because of the target audience, since I'm aware that gender bending and trans sexuality issues can be a sensitive theme in most countries.

Personally, I don't really think – despite some fanarts and comments on twitter – that either Shinji or Asuka are closeted trans-gendered children and I didn't intend to go deeper into that. This story was just a writing exercise on their characters that I'm using as a warm up for a longer series.

I had the idea of writing this story after reading some interesting discussions in the Asushin Reedit, arguing that stereotypes and gender roles are a huge factor in their dynamics on NGE and that it can even explain why some fans hate either Shinji or/and Asuka as characters.

IMHO, I think that the double standard is evident.

While some people criticize Shinji for being a "wimpy" and not living up to the archetype of male protagonist, female Shinji would be perceived as a kind and brave shy girl protagonist, who is also able to do the house chores as a "proper wife would do". While she is genuinely afraid of fighting and competing with "the boys" and only wants to find love, she has to deal with her confusing feelings towards those boys and she won't run away, because she will keep fighting to protect her loved ones. Such a great heroine from a shoujo manga, isn't it?

As for Asuka, instead of being called a "bitch" and an "egoistic" girl by some people, male Asuka would be idolized by most of the same people as she would be the stereotype of "hot blooded pilot" and the "bad boy rival antihero" - like Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. Those fans would see no problem at all with her not helping with the house chores, being rude to other people and being overly competitive about everything. Also, his dramas of being surpassed by that "plain simple girl who he has oddly started to like", being saved by "his blue haired rival" and making a dramatic last stand would also mirror the dramas of the "shounen proud warriors".

But the whole point of this story was to show that those two characters are really so similar to each other – like both sides of the same coin - that it's possible to write a romance story about them and their feelings towards each other without revealing who is who.

Also, as a side note, regarding their names, it seems like "Asuka" is a gender-neutral name, while "Shinko" is the "most usual" name for "Rule 63 Shinji". So, I choose to stick with those names.

Now I will move to my next work about Asuka and Shinji, that will be a homage for those 25 years of Asushin related fan works.

Thanks for reading and be safe.