When Asuka regained consciousness, the first thing she saw was white. A blinding white overwhelming her. She had to blink several times to adjust to the light. It wasn't intense, but after spending such a long time in almost complete darkness, it was as blinding to her as looking directly at the sun.
When she managed to see where she was, her first reaction was to scream at the top of her lungs. The face of a nurse appeared a few seconds later, framed in the porthole in front of Asuka's face.
"Good. You're awake. You suffered from minor oxygen deprivation, we had to put you in a hyperbaric chamber to help you recover. It won't...
She was interrupted by a very angry redhead, and neither the oxygen mask she wore nor the metal of the diving chamber muffled her ire.
"And who the hell is the genius who thought that this would be a good idea ?" The poor nurse was transfixed, she couldn't even blink as she stayed looking at her patient and persecutor through the porthole. "Gott ! And you tied me up ?!" She tried moving her arms and legs, which were tightly restrained with straps attached to her metal "bed". "I just spent Gott knows how long in a metal tube, I almost died in there and where am I now ? In a goddamn metal tube ! Do you want me to become claustrophobic ? Open this right now and untie me !"
When she saw an opening, Ritsuko spoke. "I'm the one responsible for this. We had to..." She struggled a few seconds to vulgarize what she had in mind. "make sure you had enough oxygen in your organism." She was looking at Asuka's vital signs monitor. "I can see that you're not suffering from anything too serious, we can get you back to a regular hospital room."
"If I don't have anything serious, I want to go back home ! I hate this place." Asuka retorted dryly.
"It would be wiser to stay here on observation." Ritsuko said as she typed the opening sequence of the hyperbaric chamber on its small keyboard and then started to release Asuka from her restraints.
"I live with the goddamn Major of NERV. Not to mention another pilot." She snarled when uttering this last word. She was still a bit mad at Shinji, but she really wanted to see him right now. She just did it so nobody would suspect that. "I'm sure that if I have something, anything wrong, Baka Shinji will give me a piggy back ride right to the hospital. Probably using the opportunity to cop a feel ! That pervert !"
Ritsuko sighed "Alright. I guess you can go home. Furthermore, if anything happened to you, the Section 2 team guarding you could get you back here faster than Shinji. But be careful. I'm going to call Misato. We'll have your clothes brought here, then you can wait for her at the reception desk." With that, she took her cellphone and left the room.
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After a rather awkward and quite long bear hug, Asuka and Misato went to the latter's car. On the way home, Misato told her charge how the Angel died and what happened afterwards. She decided against telling her what the "plan" Ritsuko came up with to get rid of the Angel was though.
"I spent two days in that coffin ?! Gott that doctor hates me !" Asuka angrily said.
'You don't even know the half of it.' Misato thought before answering in her usual overly-cheerful-in-order-to-hide-something tone. "More like a day and a half. It was almost dawn when the Angel got destroyed." She shuddered when recalling the gruesome scene. "And it's almost 5. And you know it was for your own good. Oxygen deprivation can be pretty serious. Anyway, I still have a lot of paperwork so I'm just dropping you home, Shinji's already there, he'll take care of you."
"As if I needed someone to take care of me !" Asuka haughtily answered, then she saw an opportunity. "How's the idiot anyway ?"
"Even more down than usual. He wasn't injured or anything during the battle, but I thinks he was worried about you. I'm sure that seeing you will cheer him up."
Asuka didn't answer, but smiled to herself. They went the rest of the way back home in silence. Misato left just after dropping Asuka in the parking lot, but not before teasingly saying "Don't do anything I wouldn't do !" which made her redheaded ward blush.
When she entered the apartment, she was greeted by the pleasant smell of Shinji's cooking, and a few seconds later, by the sight of Shinji himself who was now just standing at the opposite end of the entryway, wearing an apron, looking at her with teary eyes. They looked at each other for a few agonizing seconds, every bit of anger she still felt towards him vanishing in that instant.
They then almost jumped at each other in unison and kissed. For the second time. And it was more passionate, more desperate because of how worried, how relieved and how happy they were to see each other. Shinji was crying tears of joy and they were both clinging to each other as for dear life, not daring to let go. After not long enough according to both of them, they broke the kiss. Asuka wiped Shinji's tears with her hands, and kept them there, cupping his cheeks. He was still holding her, his hands on her back.
"I'm sorry..." He said between sobs "I was so scared I lost you. They wouldn't let me see you when you were extracted from your entry-plug. Nobody told me anything... And I couldn't visit you at the hospital... I thought you were..."
"Baka ! I'm fine ! I'm the Great Asuka Langley Soryu ! Don't forget that !" Her gaze dropped, as well as her head right after. "... But I failed... I couldn't save you. You had to save me instead."
"I didn't do anything. When I saw you in... I don't know what it was... A hallucination maybe ?.. When I understood that you were trapped too, I snapped. Then something happened with the Eva and I fainted."
"But I should have been the one to save you ! I'm a soldier ! I've been training for this my whole life ! That's all I am !" Her voice was desperate.
"Stop that !" He surprised her with how harsh his voice was. He was angry. "You are far more than a soldier ! You are the Asuka in Misato's mind, the Asuka in Ayanami's mind, the Asuka in my mind..." He paused, then continued. "I can't say what you are in the others' minds but..." He almost stopped, before adding in a whisper. "You are the most important person in mine..." She was speechless. "Y-you have a college degree, you... You are b-beautiful, and brilliant." He was drawing confidence by looking in her eyes. "And so stubborn that you can do anything that you set your mind to... That's what you are in my mind. And I know I'm right because I believe in you... And I-I ca-care about you."
She kissed him again, with all her passion, she hoped that it would be enough to make him understand what she wasn't ready to say yet. After some time, she looked at him with a smile. "Go finish our dinner ! I'm hungry and I need to take a shower.
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Dinner was almost ready, so Asuka sat down at the kitchen table to wait for her food. She was startled by something brushing her ankle but calmed down when she saw Pen Pen hugging her leg. Even though he was often scared by his newest roommate's outbursts, he had also grown quite fond of her since she moved in, he as a consequence expressed his relief with a "Wark !" before getting a beer and returning to his fridge. They ate in comfortable silence, stealing glances at each other, holding hands at times. As usual, Asuka finished her dinner quickly, but she waited for him to have finished as well before standing up.
"I'm going to take a shower, we'll go to bed after !"
He nodded with red cheeks.
A thought occurred to her then, one that she had while inside the Angel. "Thanks for the food Shinji, it was very good !" She added cheerily, before disappearing inside the bathroom.
Shinji blushed even more as he stood up and did the dishes while waiting for her. He allowed himself a sigh of relief. All the tension of the last days finally leaving him. 'She's okay ! I'm glad !" He waited serenely for her, lounging on the couch, a slight smile never leaving his face.
In "their" bed, they held each other tightly. They knew that Misato wouldn't come back tonight so they enjoyed being together, comforting themselves with each other's warmth. Shinji finally broke the silence.
"I'm so... I shouldn't have told you those things before the battle." He almost apologized, but decided that he would wait this time. He wanted to do it only if it had been really justified.
"Yeah. I was pretty mad at you..." she answered calmly. She was relaxed, her eyes were closed, her ear close to his heart, listening to its soothing rhythmic thumps. She snuggled a bit closer. "Why did you say all this anyway ?"
"I..." He stammered and swallowed hard. He had hoped she wouldn't have pressed the matter. " I wanted to protect you. I was..."
"Excuse me ?" She bolted upright, her calm having already disappeared. "You what ? Who the hell do you think you are ? Who the hell do you think I am ? Do you think I'm just a helpless little girl ? After all you said to me before the battle, you have the guts to humiliate me like that ?" Shinji was paralyzed. He couldn't look her in the eyes. She hadn't been this angry in a long time, relatively speaking. "I'm Asuka Langley Soryu ! The Second Child ! I don't need your protection or your help ! I don't need anyone ! Get out !" She was screaming now "Get out of my room !"
Shinji knew better than to try and reason with her when she was this angry, so he stood up and left, mortified. "I'm sorry." He whispered as he closed the door and went to his room.
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This end to a pleasant evening marked the beginning of a really bad sleepless night for both Children of the Katsuragi residence. Shinji was crushed. Not only had he managed to ruin their reunion, he also managed to hurt Asuka in the process. He was hurt too, of course, but it was completely secondary in his mind. 'I'm so stupid ! I should have never doubted her. I only wanted to protect you, I just wanted you to be safe.'. But the damage was done. He had betrayed her. He picked up his SDAT from his desk and curled into a ball on his bed, listening to his music, tears falling from his eyes and soaking his pillow.
It all had started so well, he had talked to her and told her things he never thought he would have had the courage to say. They kissed. Again. Again he felt her soft lips on his, her usual scent, albeit faint because of her time in the hospital and the entry-plug. Her warmth against him. The electricity he felt throughout his body as their lips met once again. It had been a perfect moment, that's why it felt even worse when it came crashing down because of him.
Of course, if the rational part of his brain had been louder, maybe he would have realized that he had indeed kept her safe. That he had saved her life. That if he hadn't insisted to take point, she would have been the one to attack the Angel, she would have been alone stuck inside and she probably would have been dead right now, one way or the other.
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Anger is an efficient way to stay awake even when tired. Asuka knew that all too well. Hence, she had not been surprised that she couldn't sleep. She was very angry at Shinji, for humiliating her, for belittling her. She had stopped screaming as soon as he had closed her door. She just sat on her bed, breathing heavily, her eyes fixed on nothing in particular, yet not moving. Her mind was boiling with rage.
When she had calmed down, she had tried, and managed, to get some sleep. She knew that her rest hadn't been long though when she woke up sweating heavily because of a nightmare. 'I haven't had any since...' This fact was enough to re-ignite the fire of her fury. 'I don't need him ! I don't need anyone ! I can live for myself !' She had almost managed to convince herself when Misato's recollection of the Angel's death came back to her mind.
"Unit-01 literally tore the Angel apart. There was so much blood."
'He saved my life. Or the Eva. Whatever. I couldn't do anything to break free. My Eva didn't do anything either... I shouldn't have reacted like that. I shouldn't have snapped like I did. It almost killed me in my Eva and now it made Shinji leave. And what he told me... I'm the most important person in his mind ? He cares about me...' Her train of thoughts trailed off as she stood up and changed her shirt. These last thoughts were tipping the scales back in Shinji's favor. She had some thinking to do. She didn't want to go back to sleep anyway. Not if it meant having to suffer through another nightmare.
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Shinji left early in the morning, he didn't want to face Asuka. Since he had barely slept, he woke up earlier than usual to prepare their bentos and left the apartment to wander the streets of Tokyo-3 with his SDAT. He didn't see anything, he didn't hear anything. He was alone, his back bent under the weight of his sorrow. He arrived in class 2-A minutes before the bell rang. He saw that she was there too but didn't even glance at her.. He didn't see her watch him as he sat down. He didn't see how tired she was too.
When the lunch bell rang, he took their bentos from his bag and put Asuka's in a corner of his table, and went as far away from it as possible while still sitting on his chair. She came and grabbed it, then stood next to him. When he didn't move, she spoke. "You're coming with me, Third Child." Her voice was commanding, but not harsh.
Kensuke made a whipping noise with his mouth, getting some chuckles from nearby classmates. Toji stood up from his seat and pointed a finger at Asuka. "What's your problem Demon ? Can't you give Shin-Man a break once in a while ?" He knew that Shinji's behavior today was because of her, and he finally couldn't stay silent anymore.
Before Asuka could verbally abuse his friend, Shinji spoke up. "Thank you Toji, but that's alright. I'm not scared." His voice was filled with tiredness, but he didn't flinch. He knew that whatever Asuka was going to through at him, he had deserved it, so he stood up and silently followed her.
"You're too used to it ! You have to fight back Shin-Man !" Toji retorted.
"Maybe he's not scared because he has iron balls." Kensuke muttered to himself.
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They walked together in silence for some time before reaching a quiet place under a tree with no one around to bother them. They sat down and opened their lunch boxes.
"Where were you this morning ? I wanted to talk to you." Asuka broke the silence when it became too uncomfortable. He wasn't going to break the ice and she knew it.
"Around... I..."
"You ran away, again." She cut him.
"I didn't want to face you. I... I betrayed you. I'm..." He was cut once again by Asuka.
"Don't even think about it." She said in a threatening tone. She took a few deep breaths before to calm herself continuing. "I can take care of myself." She paused. "But I had a lot of time to think last night. And I came to the conclusion that I enjoy not being dead in my entry-plug inside an Angel. And I owe it to you..." Shinji was looking at her now. He was staring in her deep blue eyes. He opened his mouth but was cut before a sound could escape it. "Let me finish... I like knowing that I can rely on you to have my back. I know that I can trust you, Shinji." She then awkwardly and quickly added "In battle. And I hope you know that you can trust me as well."
"I trust you, Asuka. I'm sorry, really sorry I mean. I didn't want to hurt you like that... I-it's just that... That it's the first time in my life I have something to lose. I-I didn't want to lose you. I just let my selfishness get the better of me." He looked down in shame.
She wasn't expecting him to be this truthful, and was a little taken aback. She also didn't like to see him hurt like this, even if she wouldn't admit it to him. She could admit it to herself, but herself only. She decided to lighten the mood. "You know ? I never could have hoped for a better sidekick !" She said with a playful tone.
It had exactly the effect she expected. "Sidekick ? Really ?" Shinji asked with sarcasm in his voice.
"You heard what I said." She smirked before continuing. "I also had time to think about our week of sync training. Do you remember it ?"
Not liking where the conversation was going because of his attempt at kissing her in her sleep, Shinji turned his head away from her again. "Of course I do."
"I really liked it back then." He looked at her in surprise. "You didn't hesitate as much. You stood your ground against me, you fought back !" She trailed off for a second. "I don't remember which day it was, and you probably don't remember as well... It must have been towards the end because you were really starting to get on my nerves. We were brushing our teeth and right when we finished we snarled at each other..."
"Yeah ! I remember ! I just wanted this to be over. If it had continued much longer, I think I would have strangled you." He said jokingly. He had relaxed in the last minutes, and was just happy thinking back to this week, eating lunch with her. He felt very good at this moment.
"... I almost kissed you right there and then." She blurted out. "Now I'm glad I didn't, since all you were thinking about was killing me." She said in mock indignation.
"Wa-wait ! R-really ?" He asked with wide eyes.
"I told you I really liked it." She was blushing a little. Shinji, seeing her like this, couldn't help but reach out his hand to grab hers. She quickly -and violently- slapped it with her chopsticks.
"What's the hell do you think you're doing, idiot ? You think that I would let you touch me ?" She shouted, before adding in a voice barely above a whisper. "Akagi more or less told me when I was at the hospital that we were under constant surveillance by Section 2. We can't do that in public, even if there's nobody around us."
"Erm... On that note..." Shinji didn't want to sound hesitant, he just couldn't help himself.
"I'm pretty sure I won't like what you're about to say." Her face was serious.
He gathered his courage and spoke "I want to tell Misato."
"Yeah, that's what I thought. And I don't. As soon as she knows, she'll make a fuss and tell us to stop. She might go as far as asking me to move out !"
"She's been nice to me when nobody else was. She took me in when even my father didn't want me around ! She's like a big sister to me. I can't hide this from her." He explained calmly.
"That's funny Ikari," She squinted her eyes while looking at him. "You usually stutter when you say things like that."
"I-it's really important to me." He stuttered.
"Okay I guess. But you let me do it." A plan was forming in her head as she spoke, and she didn't want any interference. "You'll be there, of course, you'll be able to persuade her more than I."
"Thank you, that means a lot to me." He repeated. "It's almost time for class, we should go back... I erm... I really liked eating with you today." He said as he picked up their bentos before getting up.
"I had a good time too. You're not so bad, Third Child." She said with a smile.
"M-maybe we could eat together again... with Hikari and... T-Toji and Kensuke, so we wouldn't attract too much attention..."
"Ugh ! Being seen with the Stooges would ruin my reputation here ! I have an excuse with you since you're a pilot too. You've already asked a lot of me, Third Child !" She said with a scowl. Then her features softened when she thought about eating with said Third Child on a regular basis. " But I'll think about it."
They walked back to their classroom quietly. Shinji looked down and his shoulders were slumped. He got back in character quickly so nobody would ask him questions. Or more precisely so he would have an excuse not to answer them when they would ask questions. Asuka strutted with her usual haughty demeanor for the same reasons. Both of them were gleeful inside, happy to have settled things down and looking forward to spending the night in each other's arms.
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A/N : And there it is ! This one hasn't been as tough to write as the previous one but it still got me stuck on several parts ! It's a major one since it introduces some things that will be important in the future !
And God trying to keep them in character is a pain ! I'm not saying I did a good job, but I tried ! And it was a pain.
I also want to say that I'm glad for all the feedback I got since I started. Everyone is very nice and considerate and I really appreciate it. It's always nice to have good reviews. Thanks !
And thanks for reading !