Neon Genesis Evangelion and all characters from therein are the
property of Gainax. They are used without permission and we beg the
kind and benevolent creators of the glorious show not to sue us. ^_^
Chain Lightning Studios Presents
Together We Stand
By T. L. Webb
Tell me is something eluding you sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes?
You'll just have to claw your way through the
Disguise
In the Flesh?
Pink Floyd, The Wall
[]================[]
Book 1 Part 5
[]================[]
Hikari had been waiting at the docks for
over an hour now and the fleet was finally
arriving. She was there to meet her friends who
had flown out with Misato to meet the pilot of
Unit Two. She would have gone with them, but
her sister Nozomi had needed someone to take
her to the dentist. Wanting to meet the second
child, and see an Eva up close without a war
going on, she had opted to meet them at the
docks.
Making her way down the stairway from the
observation center, she saw a familiar person
pull up in a Nerv Jeep. She only knew a few
people who worked for the organization, and
only one who dyed their hair blond. That person
was Misato's friend and coworker Doctor Akagi.
She had met the woman two or three times, but
had only caught her name a week or two before
when she had stopped by to help Shinji with a
homework assignment.
As she neared the Jeep, she saw the
largest ship, and aircraft carrier, slowly pull
up to the dock. She knew from Kensuke that the
'over the rainbow' was an old ship, but she
hadn't expected it to be in such bad shape.
A closer look revealed that the damage
wasn't old, the scratches and torn plates
revealed fresh metal beneath. Odd that she
would notice that, perhaps it was Kensuke's
influence. As the other ships neared the wharf
she saw that many of them displayed similar
scars of battle.
Something had happened.
"Good afternoon Miss Horaki," Doctor Akagi
called cheerfully, "here to meet Shinji and the
others?"
Hikari breathed a sigh of relief. The
doctor was rather high up in the Nerv chain of
command, and if she was unworried then everyone
must have made it safely.
"Yes, " she said as she walked over to the
jeep, "I couldn't go with them earlier, and
from the looks of things I think I'm glad. What
happened?"
"An Angel attacked the fleet in route,
fortunately the Second and Third Children were
able to defeat it in Unit Two."
"Really? I bet Kensuke was happy to see
that!"
"I imagine he was. Too bad Misato already
confiscated the disk with the battle. I
remember how upset he was when we took that one
after the Fourth Angel."
"Poor Kensuke, well he should know better
by now... um, Miss Akagi?"
"Yes?"
"What's the Second Child's name? I want to
try to make her feel at home."
"That's nice of you Hikari. Her name is
Asuka Langley Soryu."
"Is that German? It doesn't sound quite
Japanese."
"Asuka has an unusual heritage.
Technically she's American, because that's
where she was born, but speaking in terms of
genetics she's mostly German with about a
quarter Japanese blood. She was raised in
Germany however so its probably best to think
of her as a native of that country."
"Wow," Hikari said as she took that in.
"I told you it was unusual," she said as
the gangplank was lowered from the ship, "But
then again unusual is a term that often comes
to mind when I think of Asuka."
"Thank you Doctor," Hikari told her with a
polite nod, "I'll keep that in mind."
"It's not a problem, now go say hi to your
friends."
[]====[]
[]====[]
She saw it coming the moment Kensuke came
down the escalator with Misato and Touji.
Having known him since first grade,
Hikari was well aquatinted with his fascination
with all things military, or perhaps fetish was
a more accurate term. She was also familiar
with his tendency to go completely off the
handle about it. Having apparently just been a
front row seat witness to an Evangelion Battle,
it was no surprise to her whatsoever when
Kensuke Aida began telling her about it at
approximately a few hundred words a minute.
Later she was able to piece together
what he had said with the aid of a more
coherent description from the others.
Apparently while Asuka had been showing Shinji
'her' Unit Two, an Angel had indeed attacked
the fleet. From his description it sounded like
some bizarre four hundred-foot long cross
between a shark and a stingray. Shinji and
Asuka had tried to fight it, but the equipment
they had wasn't set up for underwater combat.
Having bitten into the Eva, the Angel was held
fast by the Umbilical cable and unable to
escape as long as it held onto Unit Two
Misato had saved the day by putting
together another seemingly insane, but workable
plan. They had sunk two of the battle ships in
line with the Umbilical, and as they reeled the
angel back in, Unit Two had opened the
creature's mouth in time for the Battleships to
slam into it and open fire from within.
As the crews from Nerv arrived and began
unloading Unit Two from the Carrier, the Second
Child came down the escalator.
Touji immediately turned away with a look
of great annoyance as Kensuke filmed her
descent. Hikari made a note to ask about that
later, for the moment she stepped forward and
smiled at the new arrival.
First noticeable thing about the girl
was, of course, the red hair. The second was
the uniform she was wearing. It was what Shinji
had referred to as a Plugsuit, and like the one
she had seen Shinji wear it was skintight and
appeared to be some synthetic material. Unlike
the one Shinji had been wearing it was bright
red, and Hikari couldn't help but feel a little
jealous about the girl's figure, which was well
displayed in it. As she reached the bottom of
the lift, however, Hikari brushed all this from
her mind, bowed and began to greet her.
"Hello Miss Soryu, welcome to Japan. My
name is Hikari Horaki, and-"
"Oh, hello," Asuka interrupted as she
looked around distractedly, "um, nice to meet
you... could you give me one moment? Be right
back." With that the redhead hurried over to
the jeep.
'Well... she's rude enough to be an
American,' Hikari thought with more than a bit
of annoyance. She didn't have long to ponder
this line of though, however, as Kensuke and
Touji began shouting and giving wolf whistles
at a figure descending from the ship. Turning
to see what had caught their attention, she saw
Shinji coming down the lift with a deep blush.
This was mostly due to the fact he was wearing
an identical Plugsuit to Asuka's.
It was no where near as flattering, but
Hikari had to agree with her friends-- it was
one of the funniest things she had seen in a
long time. Trying not to laugh, and failing
miserably, she waved hello to Shinji, who
probably wanted to sink into the concrete about
that moment.
"Nice figure!" Touji hollered, as
Kensuke zoomed in his camera. Shinji's face
approached the color of the Plugsuit while
Hikari started to get a grip on herself.
"Knock it off you two," she said as she
reigned in her giggles, "sorry about that
Shinji."
Shinji shook his head and smiled, letting
her know it was all right as they headed over
to the jeep.
"It's ok," he said, " I do look kind of
ridiculous in this thing."
"No arguments there."
"Shut up Touji or I'll make you trade
outfits." Hikari shot back with a mischievous
grin.
"I'll be good."
"That's better, now what happened up there
and where did your clothes go?"
"Well, Asuka said that my being in the
entry plug was going to be bad enough, and that
the suit would smooth the thought noise out a
bit. So I had to leave my clothes back on the
ship... they're probably at the bottom of the
ocean about now."
"Hmmm that's right," Kensuke added,
"Doctor Akagi said something about 'thought
noise' when we were in Unit One"
"I don't know how much it helped tough.
She started the activation in German, and had
to reset when she found out I didn't know more
than three words in that language."
"So it even matters what language you
think in," Kensuke muttered as they reached the
Jeep, "interesting"
Asuka had apparently found out whatever
she was trying to learn and walked back over to
them, "Sorry about that," she said, "I was
trying to find out what happened to my Sensei."
"He jumped ship like a rat is what
happened." Touji said under his breath. Sadly
he once more underestimated just how good the
female of the species' hearing was, and
received what Hikari later found to be his
third slap of the day. Nursing a fresh bruise
to both his face and ego, he and the other two
boys climbed into the jeep, giving the girls a
moment alone.
"Now, once again, sorry about that,"
Auska said, "My name is Asuka Langley Soryu, I
think you said yours was Hikari?"
"That's right, Hikari Horaki."
"Well nice to meet you, so are you with
Nerv too? Or are you just along for the ride
like them?" she asked nodding in the direction
of Touji and Kensuke.
'She doesn't waste time does she?' Hikari
thought as she answered, "No I'm just a friend
of Shinji's like they are, I thought I'd come
out and meet you since you wouldn't know anyone
when you arrived."
"I 'preciate it," Asuka said as she
tossed a few strands of her hair back over her
shoulder, "its going to be hard enough getting
around with the culture shock and all. I gotta
say though, why you'd hang with those three of
your own free will is beyond me."
Before Hikari could ask what the problem
was, Misato hollered over at them announcing
that it was time to go. Asuka, refusing to sit
between or beside the boys, stood and held onto
the roll bar the entire way back.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Tell me your kidding!" Hikari said later
as the four were relaxing at Misato's
apartment.
"Afraid not," Kensuke said as he looked
over the two disks he had been allowed to keep,
"Touji got an up close and personal look by
accident."
"Oh great, no wonder she slapped him."
"Well she did it the first time because
of that, the second time was because he flashed
her back."
"You did _what_?" Hikari yelled at Touji,
"I thought you had better manners than that
Suzuhara!"
"Well excuse me, but _she_ was the one who
mashed my special hat into the deck! If you
want to talk about manners you should take it
up with the demon."
"That's not fair Touji, you take that
back!
Shinji had been watching all of this with
a combination of amusement and unease. He had
only recently become comfortable with joining
into the groups conversations, but when they
turned into yelling matches like this he always
got lost again.
'They really don't have to be so loud,' he
thought as he wondered what he could do try and
calm the group down.
Salvation came in the form of a warm
water penguin named PenPen.
When the small avian waddled into the
room, Hikari and Touji's yelling match didn't
so much stop as die a painful death as the two
stared bug-eyed at the new arrival.
"Um... Shinji?" Hikari started to say as
Touji finished her question with an equally
unnerved tone, "what the hell is that?"
"That's PenPen, he's my other roommate."
Shinji said with a smile. Somewhere along the
line it had completely slipped his mind to tell
them about the Penguin.
"Roommate?" the three asked
simultaneously. The roommate in question
waddled right up to Hikari and looked her up
and down before sitting beside her and picking
up the TV remote. Whatever grip on reality the
three had lost when a penguin had walked into
the room slipped dramatically as the little
bird turned on the TV.
"Shinji..." Kensuke asked as he tried to
comprehend what had just happened. "Is it
watching TV?"
"Yes," Shinji said as he tried not to
laugh at the expressions on his friend faces.
"How?" Touji asked.
"Why?" Hikari added as she stared at the
bird.
"Well," Shinji said, " he was apparently
being used in an experiment back when Misato
was living in Germany. She found out they were
going to put him to sleep once the experiment
was over and adopted him. He's pretty smart
too."
The three of them nodded as they
continued to stare at PenPen.
PenPen looked up at the humans and said,
"Wark."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Hey Hikari!" Came a cheerful voice from
across the campus as Hikari walked towards
class.
Looking toward the sound, she saw Asuka
jogging towards her waving. Stopping and
letting the German girl catch up she chuckled a
bit. Asuka was wearing a uniform and Hikari
could only imagine how annoyed her friends
would be to find that she would be in their
school.
"Morning Asuka, what can I do for you?"
she asked as the other girl caught up.
"Guten Morgan! I was hoping you could
show me around?" Asuka asked, "you kinda
offered the other day."
"That's no problem at all Asuka, and
welcome to our school. By the way, how did they
get you transferred so quickly? It took almost
a week before Shinji started."
"Humph, well I heard he wasn't even found
till a day before he arrived. _I_ on the other
hand have been training for almost ten years
now."
"Oh, well that makes sense I guess, I'll
probably have the paperwork in my laptop when I
get to class then."
"Oh that's right, monkey-boy called you
class rep or something didn't he..."
"Monkey boy?"
"The one in the sweats."
"Oh that's Touji Suzuhara, and I'm sorry
about what happened when you met. He's usually
much better behaved than that."
"Its nothing to worry about, typical male
behavior."
"Well I can't speak for the idiot duo, but
not _all_ boys are perverts.
"Pffft! Name one!" Asuka said with a roll
of her blue eyes.
"Well Shinji is very nice."
"_What_?" Asuka said loudly, "He's the
worst of those Three Stooges! He kept peeking
on me while I was changing and then he couldn't
keep his grubby little paws of me in the Eva.
No Hikari, trust me; all boys are perverts."
Hikari didn't know what to think of that-
- it just didn't sound like Shinji at all. She
would have to talk with him about that later.
For now she needed to change the subject, and
something Asuka had said gave her a perfect
idea.
"Three Stooges?" She asked, confused by
the English term.
"Oh that's right, you Japanese don't
import much American stuff anymore. It was an
old black and white show from the mid nineteen
hundreds about three morons. Mostly slapstick,
they'd hit each other on the head and have pie
fights and stuff. I'll see if I can get a tape
for you sometime, its silly but it has its
moments."
"I guess... it kind of fits though, and
since Shinji started hanging around them I
can't quite keep calling them the idiot duo."
"Trust me it fits better than you
realize," Asuka said as the two made their way
up to class.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I feel sorry for Shinji though," Touji
said as he and his friends sat by the window,
"he has to work with her... poor guy"
They had been discussing their horrific
encounter with the Second Child and how
fortunate they would be that they would never
have to see her again. Shinji hadn't said much;
he seemed to be lost in thought as usual.
Kensuke was still reviewing what little footage
he had left from their trip.
This was naturally the precise moment
that the Second Child stepped into the room.
Touji fell out of his desk.
Kensuke dropped his camera.
Shinji sighed; he had expected this.
As she wrote her name on the chalkboard
the redhead turned around and beamed at the
class of stunned students. Most of them had
never met a foreigner, much less as
devastatingly gorgeous a one as this. A few had
heard Touji and Kensuke relate their horror
story from the carrier and cringed in fear at
the alleged Demon. Some of the girls bristled
as their boyfriends looked on in awe.
"My name is Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed,
huh?"
Hikari walked to her desk with a chuckle,
things would be getting quite interesting if
nothing else. As she pointed Asuka to her desk
she sat down and booted up her computer. Sure
enough Asuka's file was there. It was quite
impressive as well-- the girl was a genius!
'Why is she here if she already graduated
college?' she wondered as she looked though the
impressive academic history. The only reason
she could think of was that Nerv might feel
that she could use a normal childhood while she
was here. It had certainly done Shinji a lot of
good.
'Wonder why she hasn't been assigned a
guardian yet?' Hikari wondered. Then again if
this was anything like Shinji a lot of stuff
might be absent from her file. It didn't even
list a place of residence, which was very
strange since she needed that to deliver
paperwork. She would have to ask her about it
at the first opportunity. For now however the
teacher was due to arrive and Asuka most likely
wouldn't be used to her laptop for at least an
hour or so.
For the moment that was fine, as she
needed to talk with Shinji. So as the teacher
began his morning roll call she punched up a
private message window.
[Hikari] Morning Shinji
[Shinji] Hi Hikari, something I can help
you with?
[Hikari] yeah, I needed to ask you
something
[Shinji] sure, what do you need to know?
[Hikari] Asuka said something about you
peaking on her when she was changing,
what was that about? I just wanted to
get your side of it.
[Shinji] oh, that *blush* I was afraid she
would take that the wrong way. When the
fight started she dragged me to a stairwell
and told me to wait there while she went
inside. After a few moments I got worried
and took a look to see if she was ok, and
she was half into her Plugsuit. She yelled
at me and I ducked back. If Asuka'd just
told me she was changing there wouldn't have
been a problem. And then she drags me into
the Eva-- you remember how little room there
is on those seats right?
[Hikari] yeah, I remember.
[Shinji] well I had to sit right up there
because she insisted I pay attention. Then
she starts complaining every time I so much
as brush against her. Not one of my better
moments.
[Hikari] I thought it sounded a little
unlike you. So while we're on the subject,
did you know she was going to be in our
class? You didn't seem as surprised as the
other two when she walked in.
[Shinji] well I was a bit surprised that
she got placed here so soon, but not that
she was actually sent here. They made me
go despite all the work they have me do so
it was a safe bet that she would be here
as well.
[Hikari] good point, well I better start
taking notes, thanks for clearing that up
[Shinji] I'm glad you asked, I'd hate
anyone think I did that on purpose.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"He does that _every_ day?" Asuka asked in
shock.
They were having lunch at the spot Shinji
had found under one of the trees in the
courtyard. Hikari had found it to be a much
more restful place than the classroom, and on
days that it wasn't raining she had taken to
eating there. As she and Asuka ate she was
explaining some of the nuances of their class.
"I'm afraid so, there'll be another one
just before the last bell," She explained, "it
usually takes him about a week an a half to
tell the whole story, then he starts over."
"Mein Gott! How can you stand it? That
would drive me insane!"
"Well for one thing I let the class use
the chatroom," Hikari explained, "Sensei is
very nearsighted and hard of hearing so he
doesn't really notice."
"Um... are all your laptops set up for
Kanji only?" Asuka asked a bit hesitantly.
"Yeah, why wouldn't they be?"
"Oh nothing... Just wondering," Asuka said
as she changed the subject, " so what do you do
for fun around here?"
"Well I haven't had much free time until
recently, but we have an entertainment district
downtown. I'm sure Shinji wouldn't mind showing
you if I can't find the time."
"I'd rather wait if it's just the same,"
Asuka said, "I know you say he says it was an
accident but that's not the point. Besides, if
I _have_ to go with a guy; I can just ask
Kaji."
"You mentioned him before, is he you're
guardian?"
"I wish he was," Asuka said with a
wistful sigh, "but he travels a whole lot. I
don't get to see him as much as I wish I
could."
"So who are you living with?"
"Ooh," Asuka said with disgust, " they
have me stuffed in this little one room cell
down at the Geofront. They say its just
temporary, but if I don't get better
accommodations I'm going to have to show them
just how obnoxious I'm capable of being."
"Then you're not living with anyone at
all?"
"No, why would I be?"
"But you're only 13!"
"I've been living alone since I was nine
Hikari, its no big deal."
"What about your family?"
Asuka's face seemed to cloud over, and she
looked away. "I'd rather not discuss them if
it's all the same to you."
'Rei... Shinji... and now Asuka... don't
any of the pilots have a normal family?' Hikari
thought as she changed subjects to something
more lighthearted.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"So what do you think of her?" Hikari
asked Shinji as they walked home that
afternoon.
"She seems... lively" Shinji replied.
"Define 'lively' Mr. I-think-I'm-going-to-
dodge-the-question" Hikari shot back with a
grin.
"Um... well she seems so loud and brash,
like she has to have everyone's attention.
She's energetic, and I can't deny she's pretty.
I think Kensuke said something about developing
some still shots he took of her today."
"Oh no... not this _again_" Hikari said
as she closed her eyes and let out an annoyed
groan.
"Not what again?" Shinji asked a bit
concerned.
"Well, we got a new girl earlier this year
and Kensuke was taking pictures and selling
them to the other boys. He and Touji made quite
a bit before I busted up their little racket."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm afraid so."
"I hope Asuka doesn't hear about it...
she might hurt them for that."
Hikari grinned as she contemplated
telling the German about it herself. Deciding
_against_ being an accomplice to murder, she
dropped the idea.
"So have you decided what we're going to
do on our date yet?" she asked
"Well I have a few ideas, but I don't know
how far ahead I can plan anything... after all
we did agree that this should be more than just
a trip to the movies."
"I might have an idea if you don't mind
waiting a while." She said with a smile.
"What?"
"Well if you can't make the school trip
like we figured, the school is having a dance
at the end of October... we could try for that.
It would give you time to clear your schedule."
"That would be fun, but aren't we still
trying to keep this a secret from the evil
twins?"
"Well I think that by then we should be
able to deal with the teasing," Hikari said, "
I mean, we can't avoid if forever and its not
like they don't suspect something already."
"Good point, I think if I tell Ritsuko she
might be able to help, she won't mind keeping
it from Misato."
"That leaves my sister, I think I can
handle her... well I hope I can anyway."
"They are a little easier to deal with
one on one" Shinji said with a grin.
"Emphasis on 'little'" Hikari said with a
giggle.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Where did you get that?" Hikari asked
Denki a couple of days later. She had caught
him looking at a picture of Asuka drinking from
a water fountain, and she had more than a hunch
who'd taken said picture.
"Um... well I um... Icanttellyouthat," he
said quickly as he looked down at his shoes.
"Denki, I know who took the picture," She
said, trying very hard to keep her patience,
"and I would like to remind you that I already
busted up this little racket twice. And I might
add that what I have planned for those two is
probably nowhere near as violent as what Asuka
will do to anyone she catches with those
pictures on their person..."
This was a perfect threat, made effective
by an incident the previous day. Kiri had tried
to ask Asuka out, and had been shut down hard.
Apparently the fact that he was two years older
than anyone else in the class did not impress
Asuka in the least. Then again it probably had
more to do with his trying to put an arm around
her that had triggered the now famous incident.
Asuka's face had darkened when the arm was
placed upon her, and seconds later Kiri had
discovered just how much hand to hand combat a
fully trained Evangelion Pilot was taught. The
morning Email had included an update on his
condition, and fortunately he had not required
a cast or any stitches.
Strangely enough this had not dissuaded
any of the other boys from clogging the poor
girl's locker with love letters. Asuka had
explained to her at lunch that day just how
annoyed she was by the behavior of the boys in
words that Hikari had not even known existed.
It was fascinating just how much dirtier some
words sounded in German than they did in
Japanese.
Right now however she needed to find
Kensuke and Touji before Asuka found out about
their little project.
"Come on Denki, you know I won't do much
more than assign extra work to the blockheads,
where are they hiding?"
"Okay, okay, they're over by the
escalators."
"Thanks, and if I were you, I'd hide that
photo."
"Oh... thanks."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Guten Morgen Shinji!"
Shinji turned to find the girl his
friends had taken to calling 'the red demon'
heading his way. He was still unsure just what
to make of Asuka; she definitely had talent for
Eva, and sadly made a habit to insure everyone
around her knew that. What mostly bothered him
though was that she seemed to have taken a
dislike for him… which made her cheerful
demeanor at the moment more than a bit
suspicious.
"Gut... guten morgun" he tried, sadly
butchering the greeting. He didn't know how
anyone could speak German; it sounded so harsh
and cold. Not to mention that it was almost
noon and he didn't know why she was saying good
morning anyway
Asuka on the other hand had mastered it at
a young age, as she had her Japanese. Walking
up next to him she rolled her eyes at his
pathetic attempt at linguistics.
"Hey, why are you so gloomy?" she demanded
as she thumped him on the nose, "after all I'm
the most popular girl at school as well as the
best pilot Nerv has, you should enjoy the fact
I even allow you near me."
'Does she _have_ to brag about it all the
time?' he wondered silently as she paused and
looked around.
"Hmm isn't the other one here too? I
didn't think to ask before."
"Other what?" He asked as he rubbed his
nose.
"What, are you stupid? The other _pilot_ of
course! Doesn't she go to this school too?"
Shinji looked around, trying to remember
where Rei usually took her lunch. Remembering
that Hikari had once found her at the base of
the escalators once he nodded in their
direction, and was just in time to see Touji
and Kensuke rapidly gathering several plastic
sleeves with something he couldn't make out
inside.
He dropped that from his mind, however, as
Asuka headed over to the escalators and the
rest of the entire class seemed to appear out
of nowhere to see what was going on. (He would
find out much later that the class had been
under the impression that Asuka had stumbled
onto Kensuke's photo racket) as she headed down
the moving steps, he joined his friends and the
three watched as the Redhead closed in on the
Albino.
From their vantage point, they could just
barely hear the Asuka's side of the
'conversation'. Later the entire school would
be repeating it in its entirety.
Standing on one of the stone pillars
beside the bench where Ayanami sat, Asuka had
blocked the light Rei was using to read. When
she finally had the girl's attention she
smiled.
"You're Rei Ayanami right?" she asked
loudly, " Pilot of the prototype? I'm Asuka
Langely Soryu; designated pilot of Evangelion
Unit Two. Lets be good friends!"
"Why?" Rei asked simply.
To her credit, this didn't throw Asuka
off track-- as it had most people. With a bold
smile and a wave of her hand she had replied.
"Because it would be... convenient!"
"If I am ordered to, I will do it."
" Freak _a_ ziod..." Asuka muttered as
Rei returned to her book. Jumping off the
pillar, Asuka wandered off; more than a little
creeped out by Rei Ayanami.
"Hey Shinji?" Touji asked, " how come they
only select weirdoes as pilots?"
Shinji had been about to tell his friend
to be quiet when Hikari had arrived. Kensuke
began sweating as soon as he saw her, and when
Touji turned he let out a very small yelp that
was apparently a expression of great fear
(although he would deny that for a long time)
To Shinji's shock and amusement, Hikari
had begin chewing the two out for their little
business. Then she proceeded to assign them
chores that Shinji hadn't known the school even
had.
Latter on as the two walked home from
school, he asked about that.
"Oh, I had a talk with my sister, she
knows all kinds of evil little punishments that
I have the authority to dole out."
"I hope I never have to find out,"
Shinji said nervously
"Oh don't worry, I'll only save those for
special occasions. Like what I did with the
other two stooges."
"Stooges?" Shinji asked, as confused, as
Hikari had been when she heard the term
"Yeah, Asuka started it and I already
heard a couple of the other kids call you Touji
and Kensuke that, apparently the 'idiot duo'
has officially become 'the three stooges''
"I doubt this is something I should be
thanking her for," Shinji muttered.
"Oh its okay, kinda cute actually."
"Well this is where we split, I'll see you
tomorrow?"
"Assuming there are no attacks," Hikari
said jokingly. She would regret saying that a
few hours later.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As the powerful fighter planes carried
Eva Units One and Two, Shinji and Asuka were
briefed on the current state of the situation
by Misato.
"Since the interception system was
heavily damaged in the previous battle, only
26% has been restored. The amount of operable
equipment in an actual battle is almost nil, so
we must destroy the target before it lands on
the waterfront. Unit One and Unit Two, close in
and take turns!"
"Roger!" both Pilots responded completely
business-like. However as Asuka switched to
private communications, she let Shinji know
that she was far less than satisfied with the
orders they had just received.
"And another thing!" She said, continuing
the rant that had been going on most of their
trip, "this is my debut fight over Japan, why
wont she let me tackle this dumb thing on my
own?"
"Its just procedure Asuka" Shinji told her
for the tenth time.
"Whatever, you had just better stay out
of my way Third Child!"
Shinji shrugged and switched off again.
He didn't need to hear her complaining the
entire time if they were about to face an
angel. It was hard enough to be back in the
Eva, dealing with that and the increasingly
obnoxious Second Child would be a task he
doubted he was up to.
As they deployed and fell to earth he
reopened communications and prepared to battle
the enemy again. He could see it in the
distance, a hunched shape that was slowly
making its way toward shore.
He could still hear Asuka complaining as
the Umbilical cables were attached.
"Two of us against this puny thing? This is
pathetic, I should be allowed to take it
myself."
"We don't have the resources to waste while
you show off Asuka," Misato replied hotly,
"just get in there and take it out."
"Here it comes," Shinji said as the shape
under the water grew closer.
As Misato gave the order, Asuka launched
her Eva into a run toward the ocean, her
progressive spear at ready.
"Cover me third child, I'm going in!"
"_What_?" Shinji shouted as Unit Two leapt
over a building
"Yeah, its ladies first!"
"Don't talk to me like that you damn
rookie!" Shinji shouted as he opened fire with
the palette rifle. Asuka jumped high into the
sky as the slugs from his weapon ricochet
around. Bringing the spear down in an arc, she
struck the Angel dead on and to everyone's
surprise, split it in half.
As she surveyed the damage, Shinji
couldn't help but be impressed, that had been
the shortest fight yet.
"A fight," She explained as her Eva turned
to face him, "should be clean and elegant,
totally without waste."
"Oh my God..." Shinji said as he looked
beyond her. The angel's body was moving.
As Misato screamed at them to move, the remains
of the Angel suddenly fell away revealing two
smaller versions of itself who rushed in and
struck the Eva's before their pilots could
register what was happening.
Being farther away, Shinji had the split
second he needed to react.
Bringing his pallet rifle to bear he opened
fire as he leapt back. The angel was faster,
however, and before he could blink it was upon
him. He realized as he tried to weave out of
the way of the Angels attack that it was
undamaged.
"Misato!" he shouted, "I can't scratch it!"
Behind him, Asuka had apparently scored a
direct hit only to discover the same. As she
pulled the progressive spear from the Angel's
core, the wound closed as if it had never been
made. The two Angels were almost eight times
faster than they had been as one, and their
attacks were with such force and precision that
neither pilot could react in time.
Shinji didn't have time to registered that,
however, as the Angel stepped on his umbilical-
-slicing it open with it's razor sharp feet. As
Shinji ducked and dodged as best as he could,
the Angel continued it's relentless attack.
Suddenly, Shinji suddenly found his Eva lofted
into the air and sailing through it.
He impacted against something, and as he
crashed to earth, his power readings hit zero.
The last thing he heard before the power shut
down was Asuka's furious cursing.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Hey class rep!" Touji called as he
stepped out of the elevator at the apartment
complex that Shinji shared with Misato, "what
are you doing here?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you,"
she told him and Kensuke a little nervously. In
truth she was more than a little nervous. That
morning she had received and update for Asuka's
file and unless there was some mistake... well
she didn't really want to think about it.
"Well I'll assume it's the same reason
we're here," Kensuke said, "have _you_ heard
from Shinji since the attack?"
"No, but that's just part of why I'm
here..." Hikari looked away, and Kensuke
wondered if something was wrong
"Ok, well how about the demon, have you
heard from her?" Touji asked
'Is it me or is Hikari blushing?' Kensuke
wondered. Of all the times to be without his
camera...
As they made their way to Shinji's place
Hikari seemed to grow even less at ease, and
Kensuke was beginning to worry. Something was
on her mind, and whatever it was, it was not a
good thing. Obviously it had something to do
with Shinji, it was clear that something was
brewing between the two. And they continued to
make it even more obvious with their constant
and passionate denials that anything was going
on.
Now, to do some detective work.
Something was going on between Shinji and
Hikari. She was here and apparently worried
about him, so hypothesis A; he had been hurt in
the fight. However had that been the case she
would have said something by now to at least
lesson the blow when they reached the door.
All right then, other clues included a very
nervous reaction when he had mentioned Asuka.
Shinji worked with Asuka, and despite her
annoying personality, she was a major babe. So
hypothesis B... Shinji and Asuka were hooking
up?
As if.
He decided he simply didn't have enough
data to work with, and brushed the speculating
from his mind as they reached the door.
Pressing the buzzer they stepped back and were
soon greeted to a sight that would produce
nightmares for months.
"They're dressing alike _again_!" Was all
Kensuke could think or say; and indeed Shinji
and Asuka were wearing almost identical
outfits. Black workout suits and a colored top,
Shinji's blue and Asuka's pink. Additionally
they were both wearing headphones, and had they
not looked miserable about it; Kensuke would
have thought it a betrayal of all the three
held sacred.
Touji apparently had not noticed the fact
that neither looked like they were enjoying
their new attire, as he immediately shouted
"Shinji! You've betrayed us!"
There was a thump beside him and as
Kensuke turned, he found Hikari had fainted.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Okay, explain this to me again?" Hikari
asked Misato a short time after she woke up.
"It's simple really. If we can't get these
two to work in total unison, then we have no
chance of defeating the Angel. A coordinated
two-point attack on each half is the only way
we can beat it. So we're training Shinji and
Asuka to work in tandem... I just wish we had
more than four days left."
"But do they have to _live_ together
too?" Hikari asked with obvious unease at the
concept. In fact, had Misato possessed the
ability to read minds she would have found a
powerful streak of jealously had taken root in
the young girl's thoughts. Misato did not
posses such abilities, but she did know Hikari
better than the girl thought she did.
"Don't worry Hikari, I'm here constantly
to chaperone. Nothing's going to happen."
"But... it's still not right for a boy and
girl to live together like this," Hikari said,
pouting a little.
"Look Hikari," Misato said in a comforting
tone, "I know you don't like this, but we don't
have a choice if we're going to defeat the
angel. It will have regenerated in three days
and we _must_ be prepared to defeat it."
She would have said more, but at that
moment the doorbell rang again. Getting up to
answer it the two women walked to the door and
were surprised to find Rei Ayanami standing
there. Rei was almost equally surprised
herself, she had come to Misato's home after
trying Hikari's. To find both of the people she
was seeking out in the same place was an odd
coincidence.
"Good afternoon Captain Katsuragi, Miss
Horaki," she said as the two women regained
their composure, "I would like to speak with
you please."
Still shocked that Rei had arrived
unannounced like this, Misato could only nod as
the girl stepped in and removed her shoes. The
three of them made their way to the living
room, where Shinji and Asuka were still
practicing their synch training. As Kensuke and
Touji watched on with much amusement, Shinji
tried to keep up with the rapidly changing
colors on the pad he stood upon. There were
several red circles in rows and as they changed
he had to follow the pattern and step or place
a hand on them accordingly. Next to him Asuka
went through the patterns over and over again,
setting the pace.
As Hikari, Rei, and Misato sat down,
Shinji slipped and fell for the third time in
the last hour. Asuka turned and angrily cursed
him out in German as he got back up and they
started over.
"So how _are_ their synchronization drills
coming?" Hikari asked as she picked up PenPen,
who had waddled over to her again wanting
attention. He had taken a liking to her almost
immediately.
"Well, see for yourself," Misato said with
a sigh as Shinji fell yet again.
"I can't believe you think I could
possibly bring myself down to this bumbling
oaf's performance levels!" Asuka shouted as she
threw her headphones across the room,
"obviously he could never bring himself up to
match _my_ talents, but still, this is
impossible!"
"Then you're giving up?" Misato asked with
a cryptic smile.
"Well, its not like you have anyone else,"
Asuka said as she tossed her hair over her
shoulder again.
Misato's smile became a grin as she turned
to Rei Ayanami who was sitting beside her.
"Rei?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you give it a shot?"
"Yes," the albino girl said as she stepped
over to the electronic training pads. Shinji
took his position, and as he began going
through the patterns, Rei matched him move for
move in perfect harmony. The rest of the room,
save Asuka watched this in something resembling
awe. As Hikari looked over at Asuka, she saw
that the girl looked like she had taken a kick
to the gut.
"Hmmm, " Misato said, "Maybe we should
alter the operation parameters for Rei..."
However, instead of the eruption that
Hikari expected, Asuka turned and ran from the
room, slamming the door on the way out.
"I didn't know demons could cry..." Touji
muttered as Hikari stood up. She ignored this
and turned to Shinji who was looking around
trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Shinji," She said as she headed out the
door, " don't just stand there, lets go!"
He nodded and they both headed after
Asuka.
"So, you wanted to talk about something
Rei?" Misato asked as she popped open a beer.
About thirty seconds later, she decided
she'd better make that a six-pack.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I know," Asuka said as the two approached
her in the convenience store, "I know I have to
pilot it, I'll do it." They paid for drinks in
silence and headed back home.
"I'll work harder Asuka," Shinji told her
as the three made their way back to the
apartment, "I'm sorry for screwing up."
"Well its not like I can expect someone
like you to match my grace and form in a measly
three days."
Shinji frowned and took a few paces faster
to leave the two girls alone for a moment as
Hikari had asked him to on the way down.
"Maybe you two should just select a slower
pace and stick with it. I mean trying to lead
one another like that wasn't working... how
about you get Kensuke to tape Misato or you
doing the proper pattern and watch it on the TV
as you go. You could use that to set your
pace."
"Hmmm that might just work Hikari..."
Asuka said thoughtfully, "we might make faster
progress like that. I know this slug can't keep
up with me as things are."
"Leave Shinji alone, he hasn't had the
training you have."
"I'll admit you have a point, but why are
you defending him?"
"Um... well... " Hikari said as she tried
to think of something, "someone has to, he
isn't really the type to say anything back."
"There is that..."
"Never mind, " Hikari said, "Just try to
go easy on him."
"If he actually makes an effort to keep
up, I'll try."
Well, it was better than nothing Hikari
figured as they reentered the apartment. They
arrived to find Touji and Kensuke in a state of
shock and Misato on her ninth beer. Rei was
siting in the middle of this with a thoughtful
expression on her face.
"I see," Rei said, "so because he wishes
to respect a females privacy, but at the same
time seeks to view the female form, he feels
torn between the two desires."
"Um... Misato?" Asuka asked with total
confusion, "what are you talking about?"
Rei turned to her and answered for the
intoxicated Captain.
"Captain Katsuragi was assisting me in
understanding why Pilot Ikari felt disturbed
over seeing me without clothing."
Asuka's eyes narrowed and as she turned to
injure her fellow pilot, she found the spot
Shinji had occupied moments before was now
vacant. Towards the front of the house the door
slammed, Shinji smartly having decided it was
time that he be somewhere else.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"So how are you feeling?" Hikari asked
Shinji over the phone a couple of nights later.
"A little nervous, the fight is tomorrow
and I think we're ready, but I'm still jumpy."
"Just remember its natural to be
frightened. My Uncle told us that some of the
bravest men he had ever met in battle actually
broke down in tears before a fight sometimes."
"I'll try to remember that."
"You're going to do fine Shinji-- just
concentrate on the moves and the music. Asuka
doesn't seem to be worried at all."
"I think that's because Mr. Kaji came up
with the plan."
"That's the guy she has the crush on
right?"
"I think so, I've only met him the once."
"Well just trust in Misato, from what I
heard you tell me she's a tactical genius."
"I do trust her, its _me_ I don't trust.
What if I screw up?"
"Shinji, you've been training hard all
week, you're not going to screw up."
"I'll try Hikari... and thank you."
"For what?"
"For believing in me like this."
"You've saved my life three times already
Shinji, every time you fight you save us all.
Remember that there are a lot of us who believe
in you."
"I better go, Asuka's almost done with her
shower," Shinji said, "I'll try to call you as
soon as I can. Goodnight Hikari."
"Good night Shinji... and good luck."
[]====[]
[]====[]
Once they had been released from the
shelters, Hikari couldn't wait to congratulate
her friends on their victory. The Misato called
to tell her they were home she hurried over.
However, when she stopped by the Katsuragi
home she was in for a bit of a shock.
"Then you're going to be staying here
_permanently_?" Hikari asked as she blinked in
surprise.
"Not my idea, I assure you," Asuka said
from her spot in front of the TV.
Not wanting to even think about that for
the moment, Hikari changed tracks and asked how
the battle went.
"Oh we pulled it of almost flawlessly."
Asuka said proudly, "even I was impressed with
idiot boy over here... he managed to keep time
perfectly right up till the end. If he hadn't
screwed up the dismount I'd give him a 9.95"
"That's wonderful!" Hikari said, as Shinji
frowned and tried to decide if that had been a
cheep shot or not, "I'm glad all that training
worked out."
"Of course it worked, Kaji came up with
it," Asuka said, "he's taking me out shopping
in a week or two to celebrate the victory"
Shinji stood up for a moment and went to
his room. When he returned he had his SDAT and
headphones. As Hikari wondered what he was
doing (and Asuka ignored him) he ran through
the tracks till he found what he was looking
for. Placing a finger up to his lips, he handed
the headphones to Hikari.
As she put them on and he pressed a
switch, a foreign song began to play. It took
her a while to translate the lyrics. Her
English was spotty at best, and it wasn't until
the third verse that she managed to place the
song.
Once she understood the words, she turned
to Shinji with a bemused smile and saw him
grinning. As the music played, they both began
to laugh. Hearing the snickering behind her,
Asuka turned to see what was going on.
"What's so funny back there?" she
demanded.
The response was more laughter, and after
a moment she just rolled her eyes and ignored
the two as the music played on.
o/~ don't stand, o/~
o/~ don't stand so, o/~
o/~ don't stand so close to me, o/~
[]====[]
[]====[]
"She wouldn't even give my room back..."
Shinji muttered as he walked Hikari to her
house. She reached over and gave him a friendly
hug. She was nowhere near happy about the
situation herself. It had been bad enough when
they were training together... she knew she was
jealous of the fact that Asuka would be
spending so much time with him.
"At least you _do_ have a room," Hikari
said," it could have been worse. I do agree
though, this just isn't fair! How can they make
you live with her after all this?"
"They don't want us to lose whatever
teamwork we gained from the synch training...
that and Misato decided that Asuka shouldn't
live alone."
"It's still not fair..."
"It'll be okay Hikari, don't worry."
"No its _not_ okay Shinji!" she told him
hotly, causing him to pause for a moment.
"Hikari... are you jealous?" he asked
carefully.
"Is it _that_ obvious?" she replied sadly
as she examined her shoes, "I tried not to be,
I know it's a work thing... but I can't help
it."
"Hikari... I don't think anyone but
possibly Misato is happy about the arrangement
at the moment. I understand why your worried,
but something happened last night that I think
you might want to know about."
"What's that?"
"Well it was after I let you go and turned
in for the night. Misato had to stay at the
Geofront while they finished sequence
programming the Evas for the fight. Asuka was
sleeping in her room and somewhere around
midnight I heard the door open and shut. I
figured she was going to the restroom ,so I
closed my eyes and tried to get back to sleep.
A few moments later there is this thump right
next to me and there she is, on the futon."
"_What_? Hikari shouted, she couldn't
believe what she was hearing!
"Hear me out," Shinji interjected before a
rant could begin, "I freaked for a moment,
mostly because her face was even with mine and
all I could see at the moment were her lips.
I... well I... I thought about kissing her, but
as I was thinking of doing that I realized
something."
"What's that?" Hikari asked; a little hurt
and confused by what she was hearing.
"She's not the one I want to kiss." He
said with a smile, "I spent the rest of night
on the other end of the room. I don't deny that
Asuka's pretty Hikari, but she's not the one
I'm interested in; you are."
Hikari heard this, and her pulse
quickened. She stopped walking and stood there
for a moment, letting it sink in as Shinji
stood beside her looking nervous. She felt a
bit light headed... had he just said he wanted
to kiss her?
"I don't know what to say..." She
whispered.
"Neither do I," Shinji said, "this is all
so completely new to me. I keep having to
convince myself I'm, not imagining all of it. I
want you to know though, I'm not interested in
Asuka, and nothing is going to happen there."
"I feel bad about it anyway, I mean, here
I am; probably her only friend in the whole
country and I'm getting jealous. It isn't the
way a friend should act."
"I think Asuka might need friends more
than I did," Shinji said, " I don't really know
her, even after all that training. She talks
non stop, but doesn't seem to _say_ anything."
"Could you vague that up for me?" Hikari
asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's hard to put into words... she can
talk about herself for an hour, and still you
won't learn a thing about her. I don't know
anything about her parents, her friends, or
anything else from her life. But then again
that might just be because after five minutes
or so I start to tune her out"
"No, I think it makes sense... I asked
about her family once and she all but bit my
head off."
As they walked through the quiet streets,
Hikari reached out and took Shinji's hand. They
walked the rest of the way in silence, thinking
about what they had said. If he was as
committed to her as he had implied, then there
was no real reason that she should worry, but
the fact that Asuka was living under the same
roof still bothered her.
The following week she would be over a lot
to help him catch up with his studies, and it
would be interesting to see what Asuka would
make of that. She had seen friends try to keep
relationships secret before, and she had no
illusions that she and Shinji would be able to
fool Misato or Kodama forever, or even that
they had so far. It was probably about time
that they went ahead and just told everyone.
This was still on her mind as they reached
her house.
"Thanks for walking me home Shinji," she
told him with a smile.
"It was nothing," he replied, "I was glad
you stopped by."
"Well before I go in there is one more
thing I need to talk to you about."
"What's that?"
She looked around for a moment and
gestured for him to lean in so she could
whisper it in his ear. Intrigued by whatever
might be so delicate a topic she didn't want to
say it aloud, he complied.
As she told him what was on her mind, a
warm blush took hold of his face, and his ears
felt like they were on fire, but as he leaned
back he nodded in agreement. Indeed he figured
he would have to be a lunatic _not_ to agree.
They stood there for another moment, each
trying to gather the necessary courage before
finally Shinji took a step forward.
Both blushing, they leaned in and their
lips met.
It was not a passionate kiss in the
traditional sense. It was a bit clumsy, their
lips remained closed and it only lasted a few
short moments, but to them it was like an
electric charge had gone off between them. The
rest of the world seemed to fade away for a
short moment and there was nothing but the two
of them.
When they parted and opened their eyes
they could only stare at one another with an
identical loopy grin plastered on their face
for awhile. Finally Hikari realized how late it
was and broke the moment.
"I better go in..."
"Oh..." Shinji said, his mind still not
working at full capacity.
"Thank you Shinji... good night." She said
with a small sweet smile and she opened the
door and stepped inside.
"Good night Hikari," Shinji told her as
she shut the door. He stood there on the patio
for a few moments, trying to convince the
little voice in the back of his mind that he
hadn't dreamt the last few minutes. Finally,
with several warm and fuzzy feelings running
though him, he turned and headed home.
[]===================[]
To Be Continued…
[]===================[]
Authors Incoherent Babbling
A quick word of defense to all you Asuka
fans before you launch the mailbombs; this is
_not_ a Shinji / Asuka fic! With her closer
relationship to Shinji, Hikari will naturally
take much more offense to Der redhead's
treatment of her hunny. She will still be the
girl's friend, but she will see her a bit
differently than in the show. I want to warn
Asuka fans _now_ that our favorite German gal
is gonna be in for a rough trip. While it won't
necessarily be much worse than what she
experienced in the original timeline, it will
still be a rough read for an Asuka fan. (Also;
keep in mind I'm a registered member of the
Asuka Fans United-- I'm not doing any of this
out of spite)
Oh, about the age thing, well Asuka was
born on December 4 2001, and since she arrives
early in September 2015 (rough estimate based
on synch training schedule) that would put her
at 13 until December 4 2015. According to the
calendar, it was still September during the
training incidentally.
About that bit with the Police song, I was
driving around awhile back when that song came
on the radio. Now, in the literal translation
scripts, Asuka refers to Kaji as 'Sensei'. The
connection was made and I couldn't stop
laughing for at least fifteen minutes.
Next chapter we're going to finally have
another Angel fight in the story, I plan on
doing the entire Eighth Angel from Shinji POV.
Be interesting to see how that comes out. More
Rei and more of Hikari's sisters' next chapter
as well, gotta keep it moving while Hikari's in
Okinawa. Also; Kensuke's mysterious friend on
the Internet... ^_^
Well that's all I got at the moment
Hotwire
Chain Lightning Studios
http://hotwire182.freeyellow.com/chainlightning.html
property of Gainax. They are used without permission and we beg the
kind and benevolent creators of the glorious show not to sue us. ^_^
Chain Lightning Studios Presents
Together We Stand
By T. L. Webb
Tell me is something eluding you sunshine?
Is this not what you expected to see?
If you wanna find out what's behind these cold eyes?
You'll just have to claw your way through the
Disguise
In the Flesh?
Pink Floyd, The Wall
[]================[]
Book 1 Part 5
[]================[]
Hikari had been waiting at the docks for
over an hour now and the fleet was finally
arriving. She was there to meet her friends who
had flown out with Misato to meet the pilot of
Unit Two. She would have gone with them, but
her sister Nozomi had needed someone to take
her to the dentist. Wanting to meet the second
child, and see an Eva up close without a war
going on, she had opted to meet them at the
docks.
Making her way down the stairway from the
observation center, she saw a familiar person
pull up in a Nerv Jeep. She only knew a few
people who worked for the organization, and
only one who dyed their hair blond. That person
was Misato's friend and coworker Doctor Akagi.
She had met the woman two or three times, but
had only caught her name a week or two before
when she had stopped by to help Shinji with a
homework assignment.
As she neared the Jeep, she saw the
largest ship, and aircraft carrier, slowly pull
up to the dock. She knew from Kensuke that the
'over the rainbow' was an old ship, but she
hadn't expected it to be in such bad shape.
A closer look revealed that the damage
wasn't old, the scratches and torn plates
revealed fresh metal beneath. Odd that she
would notice that, perhaps it was Kensuke's
influence. As the other ships neared the wharf
she saw that many of them displayed similar
scars of battle.
Something had happened.
"Good afternoon Miss Horaki," Doctor Akagi
called cheerfully, "here to meet Shinji and the
others?"
Hikari breathed a sigh of relief. The
doctor was rather high up in the Nerv chain of
command, and if she was unworried then everyone
must have made it safely.
"Yes, " she said as she walked over to the
jeep, "I couldn't go with them earlier, and
from the looks of things I think I'm glad. What
happened?"
"An Angel attacked the fleet in route,
fortunately the Second and Third Children were
able to defeat it in Unit Two."
"Really? I bet Kensuke was happy to see
that!"
"I imagine he was. Too bad Misato already
confiscated the disk with the battle. I
remember how upset he was when we took that one
after the Fourth Angel."
"Poor Kensuke, well he should know better
by now... um, Miss Akagi?"
"Yes?"
"What's the Second Child's name? I want to
try to make her feel at home."
"That's nice of you Hikari. Her name is
Asuka Langley Soryu."
"Is that German? It doesn't sound quite
Japanese."
"Asuka has an unusual heritage.
Technically she's American, because that's
where she was born, but speaking in terms of
genetics she's mostly German with about a
quarter Japanese blood. She was raised in
Germany however so its probably best to think
of her as a native of that country."
"Wow," Hikari said as she took that in.
"I told you it was unusual," she said as
the gangplank was lowered from the ship, "But
then again unusual is a term that often comes
to mind when I think of Asuka."
"Thank you Doctor," Hikari told her with a
polite nod, "I'll keep that in mind."
"It's not a problem, now go say hi to your
friends."
[]====[]
[]====[]
She saw it coming the moment Kensuke came
down the escalator with Misato and Touji.
Having known him since first grade,
Hikari was well aquatinted with his fascination
with all things military, or perhaps fetish was
a more accurate term. She was also familiar
with his tendency to go completely off the
handle about it. Having apparently just been a
front row seat witness to an Evangelion Battle,
it was no surprise to her whatsoever when
Kensuke Aida began telling her about it at
approximately a few hundred words a minute.
Later she was able to piece together
what he had said with the aid of a more
coherent description from the others.
Apparently while Asuka had been showing Shinji
'her' Unit Two, an Angel had indeed attacked
the fleet. From his description it sounded like
some bizarre four hundred-foot long cross
between a shark and a stingray. Shinji and
Asuka had tried to fight it, but the equipment
they had wasn't set up for underwater combat.
Having bitten into the Eva, the Angel was held
fast by the Umbilical cable and unable to
escape as long as it held onto Unit Two
Misato had saved the day by putting
together another seemingly insane, but workable
plan. They had sunk two of the battle ships in
line with the Umbilical, and as they reeled the
angel back in, Unit Two had opened the
creature's mouth in time for the Battleships to
slam into it and open fire from within.
As the crews from Nerv arrived and began
unloading Unit Two from the Carrier, the Second
Child came down the escalator.
Touji immediately turned away with a look
of great annoyance as Kensuke filmed her
descent. Hikari made a note to ask about that
later, for the moment she stepped forward and
smiled at the new arrival.
First noticeable thing about the girl
was, of course, the red hair. The second was
the uniform she was wearing. It was what Shinji
had referred to as a Plugsuit, and like the one
she had seen Shinji wear it was skintight and
appeared to be some synthetic material. Unlike
the one Shinji had been wearing it was bright
red, and Hikari couldn't help but feel a little
jealous about the girl's figure, which was well
displayed in it. As she reached the bottom of
the lift, however, Hikari brushed all this from
her mind, bowed and began to greet her.
"Hello Miss Soryu, welcome to Japan. My
name is Hikari Horaki, and-"
"Oh, hello," Asuka interrupted as she
looked around distractedly, "um, nice to meet
you... could you give me one moment? Be right
back." With that the redhead hurried over to
the jeep.
'Well... she's rude enough to be an
American,' Hikari thought with more than a bit
of annoyance. She didn't have long to ponder
this line of though, however, as Kensuke and
Touji began shouting and giving wolf whistles
at a figure descending from the ship. Turning
to see what had caught their attention, she saw
Shinji coming down the lift with a deep blush.
This was mostly due to the fact he was wearing
an identical Plugsuit to Asuka's.
It was no where near as flattering, but
Hikari had to agree with her friends-- it was
one of the funniest things she had seen in a
long time. Trying not to laugh, and failing
miserably, she waved hello to Shinji, who
probably wanted to sink into the concrete about
that moment.
"Nice figure!" Touji hollered, as
Kensuke zoomed in his camera. Shinji's face
approached the color of the Plugsuit while
Hikari started to get a grip on herself.
"Knock it off you two," she said as she
reigned in her giggles, "sorry about that
Shinji."
Shinji shook his head and smiled, letting
her know it was all right as they headed over
to the jeep.
"It's ok," he said, " I do look kind of
ridiculous in this thing."
"No arguments there."
"Shut up Touji or I'll make you trade
outfits." Hikari shot back with a mischievous
grin.
"I'll be good."
"That's better, now what happened up there
and where did your clothes go?"
"Well, Asuka said that my being in the
entry plug was going to be bad enough, and that
the suit would smooth the thought noise out a
bit. So I had to leave my clothes back on the
ship... they're probably at the bottom of the
ocean about now."
"Hmmm that's right," Kensuke added,
"Doctor Akagi said something about 'thought
noise' when we were in Unit One"
"I don't know how much it helped tough.
She started the activation in German, and had
to reset when she found out I didn't know more
than three words in that language."
"So it even matters what language you
think in," Kensuke muttered as they reached the
Jeep, "interesting"
Asuka had apparently found out whatever
she was trying to learn and walked back over to
them, "Sorry about that," she said, "I was
trying to find out what happened to my Sensei."
"He jumped ship like a rat is what
happened." Touji said under his breath. Sadly
he once more underestimated just how good the
female of the species' hearing was, and
received what Hikari later found to be his
third slap of the day. Nursing a fresh bruise
to both his face and ego, he and the other two
boys climbed into the jeep, giving the girls a
moment alone.
"Now, once again, sorry about that,"
Auska said, "My name is Asuka Langley Soryu, I
think you said yours was Hikari?"
"That's right, Hikari Horaki."
"Well nice to meet you, so are you with
Nerv too? Or are you just along for the ride
like them?" she asked nodding in the direction
of Touji and Kensuke.
'She doesn't waste time does she?' Hikari
thought as she answered, "No I'm just a friend
of Shinji's like they are, I thought I'd come
out and meet you since you wouldn't know anyone
when you arrived."
"I 'preciate it," Asuka said as she
tossed a few strands of her hair back over her
shoulder, "its going to be hard enough getting
around with the culture shock and all. I gotta
say though, why you'd hang with those three of
your own free will is beyond me."
Before Hikari could ask what the problem
was, Misato hollered over at them announcing
that it was time to go. Asuka, refusing to sit
between or beside the boys, stood and held onto
the roll bar the entire way back.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Tell me your kidding!" Hikari said later
as the four were relaxing at Misato's
apartment.
"Afraid not," Kensuke said as he looked
over the two disks he had been allowed to keep,
"Touji got an up close and personal look by
accident."
"Oh great, no wonder she slapped him."
"Well she did it the first time because
of that, the second time was because he flashed
her back."
"You did _what_?" Hikari yelled at Touji,
"I thought you had better manners than that
Suzuhara!"
"Well excuse me, but _she_ was the one who
mashed my special hat into the deck! If you
want to talk about manners you should take it
up with the demon."
"That's not fair Touji, you take that
back!
Shinji had been watching all of this with
a combination of amusement and unease. He had
only recently become comfortable with joining
into the groups conversations, but when they
turned into yelling matches like this he always
got lost again.
'They really don't have to be so loud,' he
thought as he wondered what he could do try and
calm the group down.
Salvation came in the form of a warm
water penguin named PenPen.
When the small avian waddled into the
room, Hikari and Touji's yelling match didn't
so much stop as die a painful death as the two
stared bug-eyed at the new arrival.
"Um... Shinji?" Hikari started to say as
Touji finished her question with an equally
unnerved tone, "what the hell is that?"
"That's PenPen, he's my other roommate."
Shinji said with a smile. Somewhere along the
line it had completely slipped his mind to tell
them about the Penguin.
"Roommate?" the three asked
simultaneously. The roommate in question
waddled right up to Hikari and looked her up
and down before sitting beside her and picking
up the TV remote. Whatever grip on reality the
three had lost when a penguin had walked into
the room slipped dramatically as the little
bird turned on the TV.
"Shinji..." Kensuke asked as he tried to
comprehend what had just happened. "Is it
watching TV?"
"Yes," Shinji said as he tried not to
laugh at the expressions on his friend faces.
"How?" Touji asked.
"Why?" Hikari added as she stared at the
bird.
"Well," Shinji said, " he was apparently
being used in an experiment back when Misato
was living in Germany. She found out they were
going to put him to sleep once the experiment
was over and adopted him. He's pretty smart
too."
The three of them nodded as they
continued to stare at PenPen.
PenPen looked up at the humans and said,
"Wark."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Hey Hikari!" Came a cheerful voice from
across the campus as Hikari walked towards
class.
Looking toward the sound, she saw Asuka
jogging towards her waving. Stopping and
letting the German girl catch up she chuckled a
bit. Asuka was wearing a uniform and Hikari
could only imagine how annoyed her friends
would be to find that she would be in their
school.
"Morning Asuka, what can I do for you?"
she asked as the other girl caught up.
"Guten Morgan! I was hoping you could
show me around?" Asuka asked, "you kinda
offered the other day."
"That's no problem at all Asuka, and
welcome to our school. By the way, how did they
get you transferred so quickly? It took almost
a week before Shinji started."
"Humph, well I heard he wasn't even found
till a day before he arrived. _I_ on the other
hand have been training for almost ten years
now."
"Oh, well that makes sense I guess, I'll
probably have the paperwork in my laptop when I
get to class then."
"Oh that's right, monkey-boy called you
class rep or something didn't he..."
"Monkey boy?"
"The one in the sweats."
"Oh that's Touji Suzuhara, and I'm sorry
about what happened when you met. He's usually
much better behaved than that."
"Its nothing to worry about, typical male
behavior."
"Well I can't speak for the idiot duo, but
not _all_ boys are perverts.
"Pffft! Name one!" Asuka said with a roll
of her blue eyes.
"Well Shinji is very nice."
"_What_?" Asuka said loudly, "He's the
worst of those Three Stooges! He kept peeking
on me while I was changing and then he couldn't
keep his grubby little paws of me in the Eva.
No Hikari, trust me; all boys are perverts."
Hikari didn't know what to think of that-
- it just didn't sound like Shinji at all. She
would have to talk with him about that later.
For now she needed to change the subject, and
something Asuka had said gave her a perfect
idea.
"Three Stooges?" She asked, confused by
the English term.
"Oh that's right, you Japanese don't
import much American stuff anymore. It was an
old black and white show from the mid nineteen
hundreds about three morons. Mostly slapstick,
they'd hit each other on the head and have pie
fights and stuff. I'll see if I can get a tape
for you sometime, its silly but it has its
moments."
"I guess... it kind of fits though, and
since Shinji started hanging around them I
can't quite keep calling them the idiot duo."
"Trust me it fits better than you
realize," Asuka said as the two made their way
up to class.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I feel sorry for Shinji though," Touji
said as he and his friends sat by the window,
"he has to work with her... poor guy"
They had been discussing their horrific
encounter with the Second Child and how
fortunate they would be that they would never
have to see her again. Shinji hadn't said much;
he seemed to be lost in thought as usual.
Kensuke was still reviewing what little footage
he had left from their trip.
This was naturally the precise moment
that the Second Child stepped into the room.
Touji fell out of his desk.
Kensuke dropped his camera.
Shinji sighed; he had expected this.
As she wrote her name on the chalkboard
the redhead turned around and beamed at the
class of stunned students. Most of them had
never met a foreigner, much less as
devastatingly gorgeous a one as this. A few had
heard Touji and Kensuke relate their horror
story from the carrier and cringed in fear at
the alleged Demon. Some of the girls bristled
as their boyfriends looked on in awe.
"My name is Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed,
huh?"
Hikari walked to her desk with a chuckle,
things would be getting quite interesting if
nothing else. As she pointed Asuka to her desk
she sat down and booted up her computer. Sure
enough Asuka's file was there. It was quite
impressive as well-- the girl was a genius!
'Why is she here if she already graduated
college?' she wondered as she looked though the
impressive academic history. The only reason
she could think of was that Nerv might feel
that she could use a normal childhood while she
was here. It had certainly done Shinji a lot of
good.
'Wonder why she hasn't been assigned a
guardian yet?' Hikari wondered. Then again if
this was anything like Shinji a lot of stuff
might be absent from her file. It didn't even
list a place of residence, which was very
strange since she needed that to deliver
paperwork. She would have to ask her about it
at the first opportunity. For now however the
teacher was due to arrive and Asuka most likely
wouldn't be used to her laptop for at least an
hour or so.
For the moment that was fine, as she
needed to talk with Shinji. So as the teacher
began his morning roll call she punched up a
private message window.
[Hikari] Morning Shinji
[Shinji] Hi Hikari, something I can help
you with?
[Hikari] yeah, I needed to ask you
something
[Shinji] sure, what do you need to know?
[Hikari] Asuka said something about you
peaking on her when she was changing,
what was that about? I just wanted to
get your side of it.
[Shinji] oh, that *blush* I was afraid she
would take that the wrong way. When the
fight started she dragged me to a stairwell
and told me to wait there while she went
inside. After a few moments I got worried
and took a look to see if she was ok, and
she was half into her Plugsuit. She yelled
at me and I ducked back. If Asuka'd just
told me she was changing there wouldn't have
been a problem. And then she drags me into
the Eva-- you remember how little room there
is on those seats right?
[Hikari] yeah, I remember.
[Shinji] well I had to sit right up there
because she insisted I pay attention. Then
she starts complaining every time I so much
as brush against her. Not one of my better
moments.
[Hikari] I thought it sounded a little
unlike you. So while we're on the subject,
did you know she was going to be in our
class? You didn't seem as surprised as the
other two when she walked in.
[Shinji] well I was a bit surprised that
she got placed here so soon, but not that
she was actually sent here. They made me
go despite all the work they have me do so
it was a safe bet that she would be here
as well.
[Hikari] good point, well I better start
taking notes, thanks for clearing that up
[Shinji] I'm glad you asked, I'd hate
anyone think I did that on purpose.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"He does that _every_ day?" Asuka asked in
shock.
They were having lunch at the spot Shinji
had found under one of the trees in the
courtyard. Hikari had found it to be a much
more restful place than the classroom, and on
days that it wasn't raining she had taken to
eating there. As she and Asuka ate she was
explaining some of the nuances of their class.
"I'm afraid so, there'll be another one
just before the last bell," She explained, "it
usually takes him about a week an a half to
tell the whole story, then he starts over."
"Mein Gott! How can you stand it? That
would drive me insane!"
"Well for one thing I let the class use
the chatroom," Hikari explained, "Sensei is
very nearsighted and hard of hearing so he
doesn't really notice."
"Um... are all your laptops set up for
Kanji only?" Asuka asked a bit hesitantly.
"Yeah, why wouldn't they be?"
"Oh nothing... Just wondering," Asuka said
as she changed the subject, " so what do you do
for fun around here?"
"Well I haven't had much free time until
recently, but we have an entertainment district
downtown. I'm sure Shinji wouldn't mind showing
you if I can't find the time."
"I'd rather wait if it's just the same,"
Asuka said, "I know you say he says it was an
accident but that's not the point. Besides, if
I _have_ to go with a guy; I can just ask
Kaji."
"You mentioned him before, is he you're
guardian?"
"I wish he was," Asuka said with a
wistful sigh, "but he travels a whole lot. I
don't get to see him as much as I wish I
could."
"So who are you living with?"
"Ooh," Asuka said with disgust, " they
have me stuffed in this little one room cell
down at the Geofront. They say its just
temporary, but if I don't get better
accommodations I'm going to have to show them
just how obnoxious I'm capable of being."
"Then you're not living with anyone at
all?"
"No, why would I be?"
"But you're only 13!"
"I've been living alone since I was nine
Hikari, its no big deal."
"What about your family?"
Asuka's face seemed to cloud over, and she
looked away. "I'd rather not discuss them if
it's all the same to you."
'Rei... Shinji... and now Asuka... don't
any of the pilots have a normal family?' Hikari
thought as she changed subjects to something
more lighthearted.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"So what do you think of her?" Hikari
asked Shinji as they walked home that
afternoon.
"She seems... lively" Shinji replied.
"Define 'lively' Mr. I-think-I'm-going-to-
dodge-the-question" Hikari shot back with a
grin.
"Um... well she seems so loud and brash,
like she has to have everyone's attention.
She's energetic, and I can't deny she's pretty.
I think Kensuke said something about developing
some still shots he took of her today."
"Oh no... not this _again_" Hikari said
as she closed her eyes and let out an annoyed
groan.
"Not what again?" Shinji asked a bit
concerned.
"Well, we got a new girl earlier this year
and Kensuke was taking pictures and selling
them to the other boys. He and Touji made quite
a bit before I busted up their little racket."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm afraid so."
"I hope Asuka doesn't hear about it...
she might hurt them for that."
Hikari grinned as she contemplated
telling the German about it herself. Deciding
_against_ being an accomplice to murder, she
dropped the idea.
"So have you decided what we're going to
do on our date yet?" she asked
"Well I have a few ideas, but I don't know
how far ahead I can plan anything... after all
we did agree that this should be more than just
a trip to the movies."
"I might have an idea if you don't mind
waiting a while." She said with a smile.
"What?"
"Well if you can't make the school trip
like we figured, the school is having a dance
at the end of October... we could try for that.
It would give you time to clear your schedule."
"That would be fun, but aren't we still
trying to keep this a secret from the evil
twins?"
"Well I think that by then we should be
able to deal with the teasing," Hikari said, "
I mean, we can't avoid if forever and its not
like they don't suspect something already."
"Good point, I think if I tell Ritsuko she
might be able to help, she won't mind keeping
it from Misato."
"That leaves my sister, I think I can
handle her... well I hope I can anyway."
"They are a little easier to deal with
one on one" Shinji said with a grin.
"Emphasis on 'little'" Hikari said with a
giggle.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Where did you get that?" Hikari asked
Denki a couple of days later. She had caught
him looking at a picture of Asuka drinking from
a water fountain, and she had more than a hunch
who'd taken said picture.
"Um... well I um... Icanttellyouthat," he
said quickly as he looked down at his shoes.
"Denki, I know who took the picture," She
said, trying very hard to keep her patience,
"and I would like to remind you that I already
busted up this little racket twice. And I might
add that what I have planned for those two is
probably nowhere near as violent as what Asuka
will do to anyone she catches with those
pictures on their person..."
This was a perfect threat, made effective
by an incident the previous day. Kiri had tried
to ask Asuka out, and had been shut down hard.
Apparently the fact that he was two years older
than anyone else in the class did not impress
Asuka in the least. Then again it probably had
more to do with his trying to put an arm around
her that had triggered the now famous incident.
Asuka's face had darkened when the arm was
placed upon her, and seconds later Kiri had
discovered just how much hand to hand combat a
fully trained Evangelion Pilot was taught. The
morning Email had included an update on his
condition, and fortunately he had not required
a cast or any stitches.
Strangely enough this had not dissuaded
any of the other boys from clogging the poor
girl's locker with love letters. Asuka had
explained to her at lunch that day just how
annoyed she was by the behavior of the boys in
words that Hikari had not even known existed.
It was fascinating just how much dirtier some
words sounded in German than they did in
Japanese.
Right now however she needed to find
Kensuke and Touji before Asuka found out about
their little project.
"Come on Denki, you know I won't do much
more than assign extra work to the blockheads,
where are they hiding?"
"Okay, okay, they're over by the
escalators."
"Thanks, and if I were you, I'd hide that
photo."
"Oh... thanks."
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Guten Morgen Shinji!"
Shinji turned to find the girl his
friends had taken to calling 'the red demon'
heading his way. He was still unsure just what
to make of Asuka; she definitely had talent for
Eva, and sadly made a habit to insure everyone
around her knew that. What mostly bothered him
though was that she seemed to have taken a
dislike for him… which made her cheerful
demeanor at the moment more than a bit
suspicious.
"Gut... guten morgun" he tried, sadly
butchering the greeting. He didn't know how
anyone could speak German; it sounded so harsh
and cold. Not to mention that it was almost
noon and he didn't know why she was saying good
morning anyway
Asuka on the other hand had mastered it at
a young age, as she had her Japanese. Walking
up next to him she rolled her eyes at his
pathetic attempt at linguistics.
"Hey, why are you so gloomy?" she demanded
as she thumped him on the nose, "after all I'm
the most popular girl at school as well as the
best pilot Nerv has, you should enjoy the fact
I even allow you near me."
'Does she _have_ to brag about it all the
time?' he wondered silently as she paused and
looked around.
"Hmm isn't the other one here too? I
didn't think to ask before."
"Other what?" He asked as he rubbed his
nose.
"What, are you stupid? The other _pilot_ of
course! Doesn't she go to this school too?"
Shinji looked around, trying to remember
where Rei usually took her lunch. Remembering
that Hikari had once found her at the base of
the escalators once he nodded in their
direction, and was just in time to see Touji
and Kensuke rapidly gathering several plastic
sleeves with something he couldn't make out
inside.
He dropped that from his mind, however, as
Asuka headed over to the escalators and the
rest of the entire class seemed to appear out
of nowhere to see what was going on. (He would
find out much later that the class had been
under the impression that Asuka had stumbled
onto Kensuke's photo racket) as she headed down
the moving steps, he joined his friends and the
three watched as the Redhead closed in on the
Albino.
From their vantage point, they could just
barely hear the Asuka's side of the
'conversation'. Later the entire school would
be repeating it in its entirety.
Standing on one of the stone pillars
beside the bench where Ayanami sat, Asuka had
blocked the light Rei was using to read. When
she finally had the girl's attention she
smiled.
"You're Rei Ayanami right?" she asked
loudly, " Pilot of the prototype? I'm Asuka
Langely Soryu; designated pilot of Evangelion
Unit Two. Lets be good friends!"
"Why?" Rei asked simply.
To her credit, this didn't throw Asuka
off track-- as it had most people. With a bold
smile and a wave of her hand she had replied.
"Because it would be... convenient!"
"If I am ordered to, I will do it."
" Freak _a_ ziod..." Asuka muttered as
Rei returned to her book. Jumping off the
pillar, Asuka wandered off; more than a little
creeped out by Rei Ayanami.
"Hey Shinji?" Touji asked, " how come they
only select weirdoes as pilots?"
Shinji had been about to tell his friend
to be quiet when Hikari had arrived. Kensuke
began sweating as soon as he saw her, and when
Touji turned he let out a very small yelp that
was apparently a expression of great fear
(although he would deny that for a long time)
To Shinji's shock and amusement, Hikari
had begin chewing the two out for their little
business. Then she proceeded to assign them
chores that Shinji hadn't known the school even
had.
Latter on as the two walked home from
school, he asked about that.
"Oh, I had a talk with my sister, she
knows all kinds of evil little punishments that
I have the authority to dole out."
"I hope I never have to find out,"
Shinji said nervously
"Oh don't worry, I'll only save those for
special occasions. Like what I did with the
other two stooges."
"Stooges?" Shinji asked, as confused, as
Hikari had been when she heard the term
"Yeah, Asuka started it and I already
heard a couple of the other kids call you Touji
and Kensuke that, apparently the 'idiot duo'
has officially become 'the three stooges''
"I doubt this is something I should be
thanking her for," Shinji muttered.
"Oh its okay, kinda cute actually."
"Well this is where we split, I'll see you
tomorrow?"
"Assuming there are no attacks," Hikari
said jokingly. She would regret saying that a
few hours later.
[]====[]
[]====[]
As the powerful fighter planes carried
Eva Units One and Two, Shinji and Asuka were
briefed on the current state of the situation
by Misato.
"Since the interception system was
heavily damaged in the previous battle, only
26% has been restored. The amount of operable
equipment in an actual battle is almost nil, so
we must destroy the target before it lands on
the waterfront. Unit One and Unit Two, close in
and take turns!"
"Roger!" both Pilots responded completely
business-like. However as Asuka switched to
private communications, she let Shinji know
that she was far less than satisfied with the
orders they had just received.
"And another thing!" She said, continuing
the rant that had been going on most of their
trip, "this is my debut fight over Japan, why
wont she let me tackle this dumb thing on my
own?"
"Its just procedure Asuka" Shinji told her
for the tenth time.
"Whatever, you had just better stay out
of my way Third Child!"
Shinji shrugged and switched off again.
He didn't need to hear her complaining the
entire time if they were about to face an
angel. It was hard enough to be back in the
Eva, dealing with that and the increasingly
obnoxious Second Child would be a task he
doubted he was up to.
As they deployed and fell to earth he
reopened communications and prepared to battle
the enemy again. He could see it in the
distance, a hunched shape that was slowly
making its way toward shore.
He could still hear Asuka complaining as
the Umbilical cables were attached.
"Two of us against this puny thing? This is
pathetic, I should be allowed to take it
myself."
"We don't have the resources to waste while
you show off Asuka," Misato replied hotly,
"just get in there and take it out."
"Here it comes," Shinji said as the shape
under the water grew closer.
As Misato gave the order, Asuka launched
her Eva into a run toward the ocean, her
progressive spear at ready.
"Cover me third child, I'm going in!"
"_What_?" Shinji shouted as Unit Two leapt
over a building
"Yeah, its ladies first!"
"Don't talk to me like that you damn
rookie!" Shinji shouted as he opened fire with
the palette rifle. Asuka jumped high into the
sky as the slugs from his weapon ricochet
around. Bringing the spear down in an arc, she
struck the Angel dead on and to everyone's
surprise, split it in half.
As she surveyed the damage, Shinji
couldn't help but be impressed, that had been
the shortest fight yet.
"A fight," She explained as her Eva turned
to face him, "should be clean and elegant,
totally without waste."
"Oh my God..." Shinji said as he looked
beyond her. The angel's body was moving.
As Misato screamed at them to move, the remains
of the Angel suddenly fell away revealing two
smaller versions of itself who rushed in and
struck the Eva's before their pilots could
register what was happening.
Being farther away, Shinji had the split
second he needed to react.
Bringing his pallet rifle to bear he opened
fire as he leapt back. The angel was faster,
however, and before he could blink it was upon
him. He realized as he tried to weave out of
the way of the Angels attack that it was
undamaged.
"Misato!" he shouted, "I can't scratch it!"
Behind him, Asuka had apparently scored a
direct hit only to discover the same. As she
pulled the progressive spear from the Angel's
core, the wound closed as if it had never been
made. The two Angels were almost eight times
faster than they had been as one, and their
attacks were with such force and precision that
neither pilot could react in time.
Shinji didn't have time to registered that,
however, as the Angel stepped on his umbilical-
-slicing it open with it's razor sharp feet. As
Shinji ducked and dodged as best as he could,
the Angel continued it's relentless attack.
Suddenly, Shinji suddenly found his Eva lofted
into the air and sailing through it.
He impacted against something, and as he
crashed to earth, his power readings hit zero.
The last thing he heard before the power shut
down was Asuka's furious cursing.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Hey class rep!" Touji called as he
stepped out of the elevator at the apartment
complex that Shinji shared with Misato, "what
are you doing here?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you,"
she told him and Kensuke a little nervously. In
truth she was more than a little nervous. That
morning she had received and update for Asuka's
file and unless there was some mistake... well
she didn't really want to think about it.
"Well I'll assume it's the same reason
we're here," Kensuke said, "have _you_ heard
from Shinji since the attack?"
"No, but that's just part of why I'm
here..." Hikari looked away, and Kensuke
wondered if something was wrong
"Ok, well how about the demon, have you
heard from her?" Touji asked
'Is it me or is Hikari blushing?' Kensuke
wondered. Of all the times to be without his
camera...
As they made their way to Shinji's place
Hikari seemed to grow even less at ease, and
Kensuke was beginning to worry. Something was
on her mind, and whatever it was, it was not a
good thing. Obviously it had something to do
with Shinji, it was clear that something was
brewing between the two. And they continued to
make it even more obvious with their constant
and passionate denials that anything was going
on.
Now, to do some detective work.
Something was going on between Shinji and
Hikari. She was here and apparently worried
about him, so hypothesis A; he had been hurt in
the fight. However had that been the case she
would have said something by now to at least
lesson the blow when they reached the door.
All right then, other clues included a very
nervous reaction when he had mentioned Asuka.
Shinji worked with Asuka, and despite her
annoying personality, she was a major babe. So
hypothesis B... Shinji and Asuka were hooking
up?
As if.
He decided he simply didn't have enough
data to work with, and brushed the speculating
from his mind as they reached the door.
Pressing the buzzer they stepped back and were
soon greeted to a sight that would produce
nightmares for months.
"They're dressing alike _again_!" Was all
Kensuke could think or say; and indeed Shinji
and Asuka were wearing almost identical
outfits. Black workout suits and a colored top,
Shinji's blue and Asuka's pink. Additionally
they were both wearing headphones, and had they
not looked miserable about it; Kensuke would
have thought it a betrayal of all the three
held sacred.
Touji apparently had not noticed the fact
that neither looked like they were enjoying
their new attire, as he immediately shouted
"Shinji! You've betrayed us!"
There was a thump beside him and as
Kensuke turned, he found Hikari had fainted.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"Okay, explain this to me again?" Hikari
asked Misato a short time after she woke up.
"It's simple really. If we can't get these
two to work in total unison, then we have no
chance of defeating the Angel. A coordinated
two-point attack on each half is the only way
we can beat it. So we're training Shinji and
Asuka to work in tandem... I just wish we had
more than four days left."
"But do they have to _live_ together
too?" Hikari asked with obvious unease at the
concept. In fact, had Misato possessed the
ability to read minds she would have found a
powerful streak of jealously had taken root in
the young girl's thoughts. Misato did not
posses such abilities, but she did know Hikari
better than the girl thought she did.
"Don't worry Hikari, I'm here constantly
to chaperone. Nothing's going to happen."
"But... it's still not right for a boy and
girl to live together like this," Hikari said,
pouting a little.
"Look Hikari," Misato said in a comforting
tone, "I know you don't like this, but we don't
have a choice if we're going to defeat the
angel. It will have regenerated in three days
and we _must_ be prepared to defeat it."
She would have said more, but at that
moment the doorbell rang again. Getting up to
answer it the two women walked to the door and
were surprised to find Rei Ayanami standing
there. Rei was almost equally surprised
herself, she had come to Misato's home after
trying Hikari's. To find both of the people she
was seeking out in the same place was an odd
coincidence.
"Good afternoon Captain Katsuragi, Miss
Horaki," she said as the two women regained
their composure, "I would like to speak with
you please."
Still shocked that Rei had arrived
unannounced like this, Misato could only nod as
the girl stepped in and removed her shoes. The
three of them made their way to the living
room, where Shinji and Asuka were still
practicing their synch training. As Kensuke and
Touji watched on with much amusement, Shinji
tried to keep up with the rapidly changing
colors on the pad he stood upon. There were
several red circles in rows and as they changed
he had to follow the pattern and step or place
a hand on them accordingly. Next to him Asuka
went through the patterns over and over again,
setting the pace.
As Hikari, Rei, and Misato sat down,
Shinji slipped and fell for the third time in
the last hour. Asuka turned and angrily cursed
him out in German as he got back up and they
started over.
"So how _are_ their synchronization drills
coming?" Hikari asked as she picked up PenPen,
who had waddled over to her again wanting
attention. He had taken a liking to her almost
immediately.
"Well, see for yourself," Misato said with
a sigh as Shinji fell yet again.
"I can't believe you think I could
possibly bring myself down to this bumbling
oaf's performance levels!" Asuka shouted as she
threw her headphones across the room,
"obviously he could never bring himself up to
match _my_ talents, but still, this is
impossible!"
"Then you're giving up?" Misato asked with
a cryptic smile.
"Well, its not like you have anyone else,"
Asuka said as she tossed her hair over her
shoulder again.
Misato's smile became a grin as she turned
to Rei Ayanami who was sitting beside her.
"Rei?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you give it a shot?"
"Yes," the albino girl said as she stepped
over to the electronic training pads. Shinji
took his position, and as he began going
through the patterns, Rei matched him move for
move in perfect harmony. The rest of the room,
save Asuka watched this in something resembling
awe. As Hikari looked over at Asuka, she saw
that the girl looked like she had taken a kick
to the gut.
"Hmmm, " Misato said, "Maybe we should
alter the operation parameters for Rei..."
However, instead of the eruption that
Hikari expected, Asuka turned and ran from the
room, slamming the door on the way out.
"I didn't know demons could cry..." Touji
muttered as Hikari stood up. She ignored this
and turned to Shinji who was looking around
trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Shinji," She said as she headed out the
door, " don't just stand there, lets go!"
He nodded and they both headed after
Asuka.
"So, you wanted to talk about something
Rei?" Misato asked as she popped open a beer.
About thirty seconds later, she decided
she'd better make that a six-pack.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"I know," Asuka said as the two approached
her in the convenience store, "I know I have to
pilot it, I'll do it." They paid for drinks in
silence and headed back home.
"I'll work harder Asuka," Shinji told her
as the three made their way back to the
apartment, "I'm sorry for screwing up."
"Well its not like I can expect someone
like you to match my grace and form in a measly
three days."
Shinji frowned and took a few paces faster
to leave the two girls alone for a moment as
Hikari had asked him to on the way down.
"Maybe you two should just select a slower
pace and stick with it. I mean trying to lead
one another like that wasn't working... how
about you get Kensuke to tape Misato or you
doing the proper pattern and watch it on the TV
as you go. You could use that to set your
pace."
"Hmmm that might just work Hikari..."
Asuka said thoughtfully, "we might make faster
progress like that. I know this slug can't keep
up with me as things are."
"Leave Shinji alone, he hasn't had the
training you have."
"I'll admit you have a point, but why are
you defending him?"
"Um... well... " Hikari said as she tried
to think of something, "someone has to, he
isn't really the type to say anything back."
"There is that..."
"Never mind, " Hikari said, "Just try to
go easy on him."
"If he actually makes an effort to keep
up, I'll try."
Well, it was better than nothing Hikari
figured as they reentered the apartment. They
arrived to find Touji and Kensuke in a state of
shock and Misato on her ninth beer. Rei was
siting in the middle of this with a thoughtful
expression on her face.
"I see," Rei said, "so because he wishes
to respect a females privacy, but at the same
time seeks to view the female form, he feels
torn between the two desires."
"Um... Misato?" Asuka asked with total
confusion, "what are you talking about?"
Rei turned to her and answered for the
intoxicated Captain.
"Captain Katsuragi was assisting me in
understanding why Pilot Ikari felt disturbed
over seeing me without clothing."
Asuka's eyes narrowed and as she turned to
injure her fellow pilot, she found the spot
Shinji had occupied moments before was now
vacant. Towards the front of the house the door
slammed, Shinji smartly having decided it was
time that he be somewhere else.
[]====[]
[]====[]
"So how are you feeling?" Hikari asked
Shinji over the phone a couple of nights later.
"A little nervous, the fight is tomorrow
and I think we're ready, but I'm still jumpy."
"Just remember its natural to be
frightened. My Uncle told us that some of the
bravest men he had ever met in battle actually
broke down in tears before a fight sometimes."
"I'll try to remember that."
"You're going to do fine Shinji-- just
concentrate on the moves and the music. Asuka
doesn't seem to be worried at all."
"I think that's because Mr. Kaji came up
with the plan."
"That's the guy she has the crush on
right?"
"I think so, I've only met him the once."
"Well just trust in Misato, from what I
heard you tell me she's a tactical genius."
"I do trust her, its _me_ I don't trust.
What if I screw up?"
"Shinji, you've been training hard all
week, you're not going to screw up."
"I'll try Hikari... and thank you."
"For what?"
"For believing in me like this."
"You've saved my life three times already
Shinji, every time you fight you save us all.
Remember that there are a lot of us who believe
in you."
"I better go, Asuka's almost done with her
shower," Shinji said, "I'll try to call you as
soon as I can. Goodnight Hikari."
"Good night Shinji... and good luck."
[]====[]
[]====[]
Once they had been released from the
shelters, Hikari couldn't wait to congratulate
her friends on their victory. The Misato called
to tell her they were home she hurried over.
However, when she stopped by the Katsuragi
home she was in for a bit of a shock.
"Then you're going to be staying here
_permanently_?" Hikari asked as she blinked in
surprise.
"Not my idea, I assure you," Asuka said
from her spot in front of the TV.
Not wanting to even think about that for
the moment, Hikari changed tracks and asked how
the battle went.
"Oh we pulled it of almost flawlessly."
Asuka said proudly, "even I was impressed with
idiot boy over here... he managed to keep time
perfectly right up till the end. If he hadn't
screwed up the dismount I'd give him a 9.95"
"That's wonderful!" Hikari said, as Shinji
frowned and tried to decide if that had been a
cheep shot or not, "I'm glad all that training
worked out."
"Of course it worked, Kaji came up with
it," Asuka said, "he's taking me out shopping
in a week or two to celebrate the victory"
Shinji stood up for a moment and went to
his room. When he returned he had his SDAT and
headphones. As Hikari wondered what he was
doing (and Asuka ignored him) he ran through
the tracks till he found what he was looking
for. Placing a finger up to his lips, he handed
the headphones to Hikari.
As she put them on and he pressed a
switch, a foreign song began to play. It took
her a while to translate the lyrics. Her
English was spotty at best, and it wasn't until
the third verse that she managed to place the
song.
Once she understood the words, she turned
to Shinji with a bemused smile and saw him
grinning. As the music played, they both began
to laugh. Hearing the snickering behind her,
Asuka turned to see what was going on.
"What's so funny back there?" she
demanded.
The response was more laughter, and after
a moment she just rolled her eyes and ignored
the two as the music played on.
o/~ don't stand, o/~
o/~ don't stand so, o/~
o/~ don't stand so close to me, o/~
[]====[]
[]====[]
"She wouldn't even give my room back..."
Shinji muttered as he walked Hikari to her
house. She reached over and gave him a friendly
hug. She was nowhere near happy about the
situation herself. It had been bad enough when
they were training together... she knew she was
jealous of the fact that Asuka would be
spending so much time with him.
"At least you _do_ have a room," Hikari
said," it could have been worse. I do agree
though, this just isn't fair! How can they make
you live with her after all this?"
"They don't want us to lose whatever
teamwork we gained from the synch training...
that and Misato decided that Asuka shouldn't
live alone."
"It's still not fair..."
"It'll be okay Hikari, don't worry."
"No its _not_ okay Shinji!" she told him
hotly, causing him to pause for a moment.
"Hikari... are you jealous?" he asked
carefully.
"Is it _that_ obvious?" she replied sadly
as she examined her shoes, "I tried not to be,
I know it's a work thing... but I can't help
it."
"Hikari... I don't think anyone but
possibly Misato is happy about the arrangement
at the moment. I understand why your worried,
but something happened last night that I think
you might want to know about."
"What's that?"
"Well it was after I let you go and turned
in for the night. Misato had to stay at the
Geofront while they finished sequence
programming the Evas for the fight. Asuka was
sleeping in her room and somewhere around
midnight I heard the door open and shut. I
figured she was going to the restroom ,so I
closed my eyes and tried to get back to sleep.
A few moments later there is this thump right
next to me and there she is, on the futon."
"_What_? Hikari shouted, she couldn't
believe what she was hearing!
"Hear me out," Shinji interjected before a
rant could begin, "I freaked for a moment,
mostly because her face was even with mine and
all I could see at the moment were her lips.
I... well I... I thought about kissing her, but
as I was thinking of doing that I realized
something."
"What's that?" Hikari asked; a little hurt
and confused by what she was hearing.
"She's not the one I want to kiss." He
said with a smile, "I spent the rest of night
on the other end of the room. I don't deny that
Asuka's pretty Hikari, but she's not the one
I'm interested in; you are."
Hikari heard this, and her pulse
quickened. She stopped walking and stood there
for a moment, letting it sink in as Shinji
stood beside her looking nervous. She felt a
bit light headed... had he just said he wanted
to kiss her?
"I don't know what to say..." She
whispered.
"Neither do I," Shinji said, "this is all
so completely new to me. I keep having to
convince myself I'm, not imagining all of it. I
want you to know though, I'm not interested in
Asuka, and nothing is going to happen there."
"I feel bad about it anyway, I mean, here
I am; probably her only friend in the whole
country and I'm getting jealous. It isn't the
way a friend should act."
"I think Asuka might need friends more
than I did," Shinji said, " I don't really know
her, even after all that training. She talks
non stop, but doesn't seem to _say_ anything."
"Could you vague that up for me?" Hikari
asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's hard to put into words... she can
talk about herself for an hour, and still you
won't learn a thing about her. I don't know
anything about her parents, her friends, or
anything else from her life. But then again
that might just be because after five minutes
or so I start to tune her out"
"No, I think it makes sense... I asked
about her family once and she all but bit my
head off."
As they walked through the quiet streets,
Hikari reached out and took Shinji's hand. They
walked the rest of the way in silence, thinking
about what they had said. If he was as
committed to her as he had implied, then there
was no real reason that she should worry, but
the fact that Asuka was living under the same
roof still bothered her.
The following week she would be over a lot
to help him catch up with his studies, and it
would be interesting to see what Asuka would
make of that. She had seen friends try to keep
relationships secret before, and she had no
illusions that she and Shinji would be able to
fool Misato or Kodama forever, or even that
they had so far. It was probably about time
that they went ahead and just told everyone.
This was still on her mind as they reached
her house.
"Thanks for walking me home Shinji," she
told him with a smile.
"It was nothing," he replied, "I was glad
you stopped by."
"Well before I go in there is one more
thing I need to talk to you about."
"What's that?"
She looked around for a moment and
gestured for him to lean in so she could
whisper it in his ear. Intrigued by whatever
might be so delicate a topic she didn't want to
say it aloud, he complied.
As she told him what was on her mind, a
warm blush took hold of his face, and his ears
felt like they were on fire, but as he leaned
back he nodded in agreement. Indeed he figured
he would have to be a lunatic _not_ to agree.
They stood there for another moment, each
trying to gather the necessary courage before
finally Shinji took a step forward.
Both blushing, they leaned in and their
lips met.
It was not a passionate kiss in the
traditional sense. It was a bit clumsy, their
lips remained closed and it only lasted a few
short moments, but to them it was like an
electric charge had gone off between them. The
rest of the world seemed to fade away for a
short moment and there was nothing but the two
of them.
When they parted and opened their eyes
they could only stare at one another with an
identical loopy grin plastered on their face
for awhile. Finally Hikari realized how late it
was and broke the moment.
"I better go in..."
"Oh..." Shinji said, his mind still not
working at full capacity.
"Thank you Shinji... good night." She said
with a small sweet smile and she opened the
door and stepped inside.
"Good night Hikari," Shinji told her as
she shut the door. He stood there on the patio
for a few moments, trying to convince the
little voice in the back of his mind that he
hadn't dreamt the last few minutes. Finally,
with several warm and fuzzy feelings running
though him, he turned and headed home.
[]===================[]
To Be Continued…
[]===================[]
Authors Incoherent Babbling
A quick word of defense to all you Asuka
fans before you launch the mailbombs; this is
_not_ a Shinji / Asuka fic! With her closer
relationship to Shinji, Hikari will naturally
take much more offense to Der redhead's
treatment of her hunny. She will still be the
girl's friend, but she will see her a bit
differently than in the show. I want to warn
Asuka fans _now_ that our favorite German gal
is gonna be in for a rough trip. While it won't
necessarily be much worse than what she
experienced in the original timeline, it will
still be a rough read for an Asuka fan. (Also;
keep in mind I'm a registered member of the
Asuka Fans United-- I'm not doing any of this
out of spite)
Oh, about the age thing, well Asuka was
born on December 4 2001, and since she arrives
early in September 2015 (rough estimate based
on synch training schedule) that would put her
at 13 until December 4 2015. According to the
calendar, it was still September during the
training incidentally.
About that bit with the Police song, I was
driving around awhile back when that song came
on the radio. Now, in the literal translation
scripts, Asuka refers to Kaji as 'Sensei'. The
connection was made and I couldn't stop
laughing for at least fifteen minutes.
Next chapter we're going to finally have
another Angel fight in the story, I plan on
doing the entire Eighth Angel from Shinji POV.
Be interesting to see how that comes out. More
Rei and more of Hikari's sisters' next chapter
as well, gotta keep it moving while Hikari's in
Okinawa. Also; Kensuke's mysterious friend on
the Internet... ^_^
Well that's all I got at the moment
Hotwire
Chain Lightning Studios
http://hotwire182.freeyellow.com/chainlightning.html