Chapter 08: Asuka´s Revenge


About a week later Rei found a living frog in her bed.

Asuka sat on her bed, a broad grin on her face in expectation of Rei´s scream. But her
grin vanished when Rei took the frog carefully and asked her where she had found it.

"Don´t you feel disgust? It is so green and slimy..."

"No, why should I, Soryu?"

"Ah, now I see why you and Shinji..."

"Second Children, I ask you to leave Shinij out of this, and I am only asking once."

"Oh, Wondergirl, you don´t happen to be in love, do you? In love with Shinji-without-a-
spine?"

Without further words Rei left to bring the frog back to the nearby park.

"Hm, just wait, I will get my revenge", Asuka whispered.


***


Im the middle of the night Asuka croached up to Rei´s bed with a bucket of warm water.
The other girl was laying in the exactly right position, Asuka only had to carefully take
an arm without waking her up and move the hand into the water.

"Let´s see if they still think you to be perfect when you start peeing into your bed,
Wondergirl" Asuka grinned.

Rei laid on the side, back to the wall, a hand under the pillow.

Asuka reached for Rei´s wrist. And blinked. She couldn´t move the arm. She checked on Rei,
saw that she was still sleeping, started a second try. Again she couldn´t move Rei´s arm.

Suddenly Rei whispered a word, a name: "Shinji..."

Asuka jumped back, nearly turning over the bucket.


***


She looked into mirror while combing her hair.
Who are you?
"Rei Ayanami, I am Rei Ayanami."
What are you doing?
"I live."
Why are you living?
"To pilot EVA-02"
Why are you living?
"To fight the angels."
Is this all?
"No..."
Why are you living?
"I want to live... for him..."


***


Shinji was playing his cello, in the last time he truly had neglected his training.
He didn´t play because of feeling joy or liking the music, but because of having been
told to do it, because of his foster-parents having bought the cello and never telling
him to stop.

On the other hand, whoever did listen to his music knew that he had great talent.
And it had one advantage for him - when he played he completly lived for the music and
forgot his surroundings. So he didn´t noticed Rei coming home from an afternoon full of
syncronisationtraining and listening before entering the other room.

A short time later the sounds of a viola came from the other room in the same melody Shinji
was playing.


***


That next night Shinji was awakened by a hand touching his shoulder.
"Hm?"

Rei stood by his bed.
"May I disturb you?"

"What is?"
He rubbed his eyes, looked to the clock. Short past midnight.

"Asuka´s snorring again."

"Pinch her nose."

"No. May I stay?"

"Rei, Misato has said..."

"She needn´t know. I just want... I just wish to be near you..."

In the feint moonlight he saw the begging expression on her face.
"Rei, what is?"

"It´s... loneliness..."

He swallowed, moved asinde.
"And Misato?"

"I am back within my own bed before she will get up, promised."

"Uhm..."

"I don´t want you to get into trouble."

"Then please hold me."
She went under the blanket and snuggled up to him.

"Iiiek! Your feet are cold."

She giggled.
"Sorry."

Shinji moved his fingers through her hair.
"Rei, when you are next to me I have no nightmare", he whispered.

"When I am with you I can dream... Shinji, please, never run away again."

"I... I won´t run away again, never again."


***


The next day the three of them, Shinji, Rei and Asuka, were within the NERV-owned swimming-pool.

Shinji sat at one of the table doing his homework. Since he and Rei did the homework
together it all seemed way easier, as if she would inspire him.

Rei was in the pool, swimming her leagues, doing a very relaxed impression.

"Shinji?"

"Hm?"
He looked up.

Asuka stood in front of him, slightly bowing. She wore a write-red stripped two parted
swimsuit. Her breastsize was quite impressing.
"What are you doing?"

"Uhm..."
He looked aside, being suddenly very nervous.
"Physics."
To be exact this was the last he had to do, it still the subject he had most problems
with.

"Yes? Well, I´m quite skilled with this stuff... Hm, I still have some problems with the
kanji... ah, thermodynamical expansion..."

"Eh, yes."

"And that´s the problem? Okjay, an example..."

Rei stopped swimming in the middle of the pool, and watched Asuka placing her hands on
her breasts and Shinji´s eyes nearly jumping out of their sockets. She decided to do
something.
"Shinji, could you please come over here?"

"Uh, yes, at once."
He broke the eyecontact to Asuka´s... well... bodily advantages... and walked over to the
pool´s edge with Rei swimming fast to the same destination.

"Why don´t you join me in the water?" she asked smiling.

He grinned with embarressment.
"I can´t swim."

"Oh."

"Yes. I´m sorry."

"No, you don´t have to, I didn´t know. What kind of trouble do you have with the questions?"

From Asuka came a derogatory ´Hrumpf´, then she jumped into the water, suddenly Shinji
found his clothes soaked with water.

Rei frowned into Asuka´s direction.
"Sorry."

He crouched a the pool´s edge, reached out hestitantly and stroked her wet hair.
"It doesn´t matter, Rei."


***


Two days later synchrontraining was scheduled again.

After getting the results Ritsuko said that Rei nearly reached Shinji with Asuka leading
by hair. Asuka made a face as if she had bitten into a citrusfruit while hearing that her
lead had shrinked again.

The three had left their entryplug and were under way to the changing rooms when suddenly
lights went out.

"A power failure?" Shinji suspected and felt for the next wall to get rid of the feeling
of being stranded in the middle of nothing.

"In this case the emergency generators would have already started." Rei´s whispering
voice came out of the darkness.

Asuka twitched, Rei was right behind her.
"Do you have to whisper like a ghost and startle my?"

Rei ignored her words as she was giving her best to ignore Asuka completly.
"Maybe there was an accident. We should go to the commandroom."

"Who made you our leader?"

"It won´t get better by arguing." Shinji said. "And she´s right, by the way."
He followed her steps.

"Yes, that was clear, that you would turn to her side. - Hey, don´t leave me alone here!"
She hurried to catch up.
"Wondergirl, not so fast!"

Rei´s steps slowed down and for a short second Asuka thought to have seen a pair of glowing
red eyes within the darkness.

"Sorry, I know the building like the back of my hand, so..."

"This does not interest me."

"Rei, where are you?" Shinji asked.

"I´m here. Take my hand."

"Oh... yes... thank you."

"Take my hand, take my hand" Asuka imitated. "Wondergirl and Loverboy, pff!"
She trottet further through the darkness.

At the next corner they ran into Makoto Hyuga who had been ordered to look for them by
Doctor Akagi and now lead them to the commandroom. There they heard that Misato and Kaji
were missing.

"I go and search for them!" Asuka explained. "Wondergirl, come, you know the area."

Rei didn´t show but she had quite enough of Asuka´s behavior.
"Why should I? They will the way on their own."

"Well, if you don´t want, fine. - Shinji, lets go!"
She took Hyuga´s lamp and dragged the boy way, ignoring Akagi´s protests.

Ritsuko turned to Rei who stood like paralysed.
"You let her do this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought Shinji is your friend."

"Yes."

"So, why did you let him go with her?"

"I... I want to ask for permission to join the search party."

"Go."
Ritsuko smiled silently. The more Rei discovered her emotions the less she would be a
rival for Gendo Ikari´s favor...


***


Shinji and Asuka found themselves in a dead-end before the doors of an elevator that refused
to door.

"Damned" Asuka said.

"It was quite stupid to simply march away", Shinji mumbled.

"Shut your mouth, if I were interested in your opinion I would have asked."

"I am just asking myself where your bad character does originate."

"And where did you suddenly find a spine?"

"I... uhm..."

"Oh, yes. I see."
She sighed.
"Maybe we should have taken a plan with us."

Shinji joined into the sigh.
"What now? Back again?"

"Don´t know. We are some kind of heroes..."

"If an angel attacks right now..."

"Don´t say it, yes?"

"Yes."

"Say... Shinji, did Rei and you..."

"What?" he asked startled.

"Did you already kiss?"

"Uhhmmm... we..."

"Of course you have, as close as you are."

"No..." he whispered.

"What? No?"
She was clearly surprised. Then she grinned.
"Do you want to... practice? With me?"

"What? What´s the good with this now?"

"Ha, I knew it, you are coward, right? Even if Rei jumped overr her shadow you, wouldn´t
still have the courage to do it."

"That´s not right!"

"What, you are not afraid?"

"No."
He swallows and pursed his lips.

Asuka hesitate for a moment before pursing her lips, too, and moving towards him.

At this moment the lights returned.

The elevator´s doors opened and Misato and Kaji who had been trapped within the liftcabin
had quite an interesting view. The same worked for Rei who had just entered the corridor
and now stopped as if she had run against a wall. The view made something in her chest
break...

Shinji opened the eyes wide, stumbled back.
"Ah..."

Asuka turned red.
"Kaji, it is not like it looks..."

Shinji saw Rei, saw a tear running down her cheek before she turned around and ran away.
Asuka errötete.


***


Why? Why? Why? I am crying... this bitch... anger... I am angry... disapppointment...
I am disappointed... why did he have to touch my heart? Why did I allow him to do so?
Why am I alive?"


***


When Shinji, Asuka and Misato returned to the apartment they shared they saw that most
of Rei´s stuff was gone, on the table was a short note which told them that Rei had returned
to her old apartment.

"Who would have thought that Wondergirl had such a sensitive heart?" Asuka said what she was
thinking.

"Shut up!" Shinji screamed. "Shut up!" He ran out of the apartment.
In front of the house he ran into Kaji who wanted to bring Misato the jacket she had
left behind in the elevator.

"Shinji, what´s up?"

He confessed Kaji the whole story.

"So. Oh, dear, I guess I understand."

"What shall I do now, Kaji-san?"

"Hm, well... You must know, it is such a thing with women. We human don´t even understand
ourselves most of the time, how can we really believe to be able to understand others?!
And sometimes I think of women as a completly different spezies."

"Does this mean you can´t tell me?"

"Ah... I have had some experience of my own. Look, whatever you and Asuka have done, it
seemed for Rei as if you were cheating on her, as if she can´t trust you anymore, do you
understand?"

"Yes."
Shinji lowered his gaze to the ground.

"And that means that you have to tell her that you are sorry first, before you can even
think about telling her your version of the story."

"But, I..."

"Shinji, it doesn´t matter if Asuka and you did kiss, if you were short before kissing or
whatever, if you or she did started it, the impression is all that matters."

"Yes, but what can I do to make her listening to me?"

"Bring her flowers, buy her choclate... and if this all doesn´t work you can still fall
on your knees in front of her. But only if you mean it truely honestly - you would be too
open for some painful kicks otherwise."

"Yes, thanks, Kaji-san."


***


"Flowers... choclate... I don´t even know what kind of flowers she liked... or if she eats
choclate..."

Shinji stood before the run-down building where Rei lived. In the area were some
construction sides, the noise was all too present. The entry door wasn´t closed, he entered,
ran upwards the stairs, stopped in front of her door, touched the bell-button.

Nothing, the bell was still defect.

He knocked, several times.

The door was opened a bit.

"Oh, you... what do you want now?" Rei asked monotonously. Her eyes showed that she had been
crying.

"Rei... I... please, may I enter?"

She stepped back from the door, he followed.

"So, just say what you have to say."

"Rei, I´m sorry."

"You are sorry? Why? Because of playing with me and my feeling? Or because of me catching
the two of you?"
Still she was speaking with no emotion within her voice.

"No..."
He went down on his knees.
"I´m sorry that I´m so weak..."

She looked at him, blinked.

"Please, Rei, forgive me. For Asuka it was just a yoke, but I, I should have known
better..."

"Get up."
Her voice was soft when she reached out for him, pulled him back on his feet and embraced
him.
"Just promise me that it never again come to something like this."

"Yes, you have my word of honor." he whispered, his face dug into her short soft hair.

"Good."
She held him, closed her eyes and let her face rest upon his shoulder.

Time went by...

"Rei?"

"Yes?"

"May I... can I..."

"What?"

"... kiss you?"

She went stiff for a moment, looking into his face.
"Why?"

"I want to experience my first kiss with you."

"Oh..."

Again an eternity seemed to go by, before Rei closed her eyes and brought her lips towards
his...

The beaker on the board by the window was nearly full...


***


"How vulnerable he seems to be, sleeping in my arms... I like him, I can forgive him...
I love him... I need him... he makes me complete..."


***


With sorrows in her heart Misato looked into Shinji´s room the next morning. The bed was
untouched.
"I´ve failt as his guardian..."

At this moment the apartment´s door was opened.

Misato turned around.

On the doorstep Shinji and Rei stood, each one carrying a bag with her stuff.

Misato took a deep breath.
"You are back."

Rei came to her, bowed.
"I am sorry for giving you grief."

"It´s okay, Rei. Welcome back."


***


Several days later, after a rather long training session Shinji and Rei were sitting in
a darkened room somewhere within the headquarters on a couch, that is Rei was sitting on
Shinji´s lap with him embracing her.

In his bureau Ryoji Kaji broadly grinning watched the two teenager exchange deep kisses,
then he turned to the channel of another of the many survillance cameras he had secretly
installed within the headquarter and made the regularly survillance camera show a non-
motion picture of an empty room.


***


With the coming of the night the buildings of the town started moving out of the ground
and Tokio-3 came to life with many lights banishing the darkness.

The whitehaired one watched all this from a look-out point on a hill, the white raven on
his shoulder. But he was able to see still more. Trained sensed felt the lines of chi-
energy coming from all over the land, crossing within the city, felt the mighty knot in
the deepth where the dragonpaths crossed.
"Can you see it, too, Tymael? This place drinks of the quinessence like an abyss. There
must be something below the city that needs all this power."

The raven croaked.

"I don´t know what it might be. If the Sons of Aether had their laboratories there we would
know it. I can only hope that it is no construct of the Technocracy, or LaRochelle would be
reborn."

He trembled under the weight of the memory of the final battle, the battle the Order and the
western branches of the Tradions had thrown all available force into to prevent the
Technocracy from gaining controll over all magic within the western hemisphere. They had
lost the battle and with it the war. He had been the sole survivor, send away by the
sacrifice of a beloved. But the enemy couldn´t celebrate the victory with the Second Impact
destroying their plans by smashing LaRochelle as well as most of the other worldly
constructs of the Technocracy, as well as the fortresses of the Traditions and by seperating
earth from the spirit realms with the ever-valient Tempest...

Suddenly diArgio started to laugh. Somehow he knew that he wouldn´t return to Vardian,
the startingpoint of his journey, alive...