Neon Genesis: Evangelion

Neon Genesis: Evangelion

Genesis: 0:19: Travels and Trials

[A/N: Oh boy that was a long fic. Well, fun times ahead for the Eva pilots! And whatever dolt couldn't figure out 'where she's gonna live', here we go! That and I have no clue about the timezone thing. I don't fly to Japan often.]

[Disclaimer: I don't own.]

Shinji lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

"At least, not until you go out on a date." Asuka's words echoed in his head. He blushed slightly at the words. Then his face burned as he remembered what Misato had said only a few minutes ago.

Asuka paced back and forth in her room, holding her chin in thought. She had a smile grin on her face; considering that she was plotting something. "Let's see." she muttered, "Now, Kasumi is coming to live with us, so I probably have a good chance to hook them up. But if I screw up, I'll probably drive a wedge between them that'll shove them much farther apart."

The pilot of unit-02 smiled, her hand tightening into a fist. "All right, Asuka!" she said, "Let's go!"

Misato smiled broadly as Kasumi read over the relocation papers. The Sixth Child finished the papers quickly and looked at Misato with a questioning stare. "Misato…Asuka…is this a bad joke?" she asked slowly. The Major plucked the papers from the pilot's hands, and Asuka clapped her friend on the shoulders from behind. "Nope, you get to move in with us!" the Second Child grinned.

"But, I can't move in with you!" Kasumi protested. "And why not?" Misato smiled. The Sixth Child couldn't come up with an answer. "Good, it's settled!" Asuka laughed.

Kasumi stared out the window, barely realizing how badly Misato was driving. "Hey, Sixth Child!" Asuka snapped, holding tight to the door handle, "Don't you have anything to say about the great Major Katsuragi's driving?" "If you didn't want to be thrown around, why don't you wear a seat belt?" Kasumi questioned flatly. Asuka turned red as Misato looked at her questioningly.

Shinji paced almost nervously. Pen-Pen watched him from the couch, the penguin's head turning from side to side. Pen-Pen let out a "Wark!" and Shinji let out a scream. "Oh, it's only you, Pen-Pen." the Third Child panted, "I'm kinda nervous." "Wark?" the warm-water penguin asked. "Why?" Shinji tried to swallow the lump in his throat, "Well, another girl is coming to live with us."

"Wark?" Pen-Pen inquired. "So?" Shinji's voice came out a squeak, "That makes three girls to us two guys! But you don't count really, since you're a penguin…" Shinji suddenly realized that he was talking to Pen-Pen. "I'm going insane." he said, "I'm talking to a penguin, about being nervous about someone I like moving in!" He walked to the fridge and grabbed a can of soda.

The Eva pilot sipped the caffeine-rich drink and stared at the single box that Misato had brought the night before. The huge…rabbit-like Angel had gone straight for the building where Kasumi lived, but not that quickly. All the people living there had time enough to evacuate, and someone that lived next to Kasumi had enough daring to run into her apartment and grab a few things for her.

Shinji stared at the box. Some tiny part of him was screaming for him to look through the box. But he didn't dare give into that voice. Asuka would quite literally kill him, and there was no telling of what Kasumi would do. Something caught his eye suddenly, and he knelt down, putting his soda aside. It was the corner of a picture, he found.

"It's a picture of Kasumi." he said softly, "She can't be more than three years old." The Sixth Child was smiling at whoever was taking the picture, and someone's arm was around her shoulder. Intrigued, Shinji started to take the picture out of the box.

"Hey, baka Shinji!" Asuka's voice called, "You had better not be going through my stuff!" Immediately, Shinji let go of the photograph and sprang away, taking his soda with him. "Perversa minch!" Asuka rounded the corner before Shinji could get away, "How dare you look through Kasumi's stuff!" She started towards the Third Child with a deadly glare, but Kasumi stepped from around the corner.

"Asuka, the box isn't open." she said softly, "He didn't do anything." Asuka snarled, and whirled around and stabbed Shinji in the chest with her finger. "OK, Third Child, you get off again since Kasumi says." she growled viciously. The pilot of unit-01 rubbed his chest in pain, and then looked at Kasumi.

"So, how are you doing, Kasumi-chan?" he questioned. "A bit worn out from the battle, but none the worse for the wear." the Sixth Child replied quietly, nervously. The two pilots stood a distance apart, Asuka standing between them. The hell-haired girl looked from Kasumi to Shinji over and over, and sighed.

"You two are way too nervous around each other to get a date any time soon." she raised her hands in mock defeat. Instantly, Shinji and Kasumi blushed and said in perfect unison, "W-what?" Asuka grinned a grin only the devil could match, and said, "Oh come on you two! Just go out on a date for heaven's sake!" "Asuka!" Shinji summoned up all his courage, "Stop it!"

"But, Shin-chan, everyone knows that you've got a crush on Kasumi!" Asuka said in an innocent tone, "Sometimes at night, I can hear you moaning, 'Kasumi! Kasumi!'!" She turned the Sixth Child and said behind her hand, "You know, he stuffs his boxers with toilet paper." Both pilots turned a dark shade of magenta and shouted, "ASUKA!"

Asuka turned on her heel and literally bounced away to her room, laughing with glee. Shinji and Kasumi stared after the Second Child, and then slowly turned to each other. Immediately, they whirled around, blushing even more.

Late that night, Shinji lay awake. He didn't have his SDAT player on, and every noise seemed magnified. He couldn't fall asleep, and it was driving him insane. He sighed in an irritated tone, and stood up from his bed.

Kasumi lay awake that night as well. She stared up at the dark ceiling tiredly, her hands behind her head. Misato had opted for Shinji to give up his room for the alternative. Kasumi had asked what the alternative was. "Oh, the couch." Misato had grinned.

And so Kasumi had taken the couch.

She wasn't unable to sleep because of the couch; she just couldn't sleep. The Sixth Child shut her eyes, hoping to just fall asleep. But the sound of the refrigerator being opened made her open her eyes again. She sat up, expecting to see Misato getting a late-night beer.

Shinji snapped open the soda can and slowly took a swig. He shut the fridge door and sat at the table, trying to make as little noise as possible. He stared at the glistening can, feeling the droplets of water absorb themselves into his skin.

"I never pegged you as a late-night snacker." a voice murmured softly. The Third Child glanced up from the soda can and saw Kasumi leaning up against the back of the couch, her arms half-hanging over the back of the piece of furniture. "I'm sorry!" Shinji said, "I didn't mean to wake you!" "I was awake already." Kasumi put her chin on the couch and stared at Shinji, "You don't have to apologize for my insomnia."

"So, have you had the late-night munchies for long?" Kasumi asked in a soft tone, jokingly. Shinji laughed and blushed slightly, turning back to his drink. "No, I just couldn't sleep." he explained, "I thought maybe a drink might calm me down." "If you wanted to sleep, why don't you just knock yourself out with one of Misato's beers?" Kasumi questioned, leaning her head on her arm.

"I prefer not to go anywhere with a hangover." Shinji chuckled. The two laughed quietly and then stared at each other. "You know, when Asuka isn't trying to push us on each other, we get along pretty well." the Third Child said, "So, think we'll ever go on a date?" "Maybe sometime soon." Kasumi agreed.

Somewhere, half across the world in America, something stirred. It awoke beneath deep water, and broke into the underground. The ground quaked and rumbled as the thing began towards the reconstructed 2nd Branch of NERV in Nevada.

"What happened?" Ritsuko asked in disbelief. "There were exactly twenty major earthquakes in the US last night." Maya repeated, "Each occurred within ten minutes and each epicenter was within ten miles of each other." "How did this happen?" Misato questioned. "Well, we haven't really figured out how the earthquakes occurred." Makoto replied, "But we did find one disturbing fact." "And that is?" Misato snapped impatiently.

"The earthquakes form a line that is heading towards Nevada." Shigeru finished, "It isn't exactly straight, but it's going towards the 2nd Branch." "How much trouble is that place going to cause?" Misato asked sarcastically.

Asuka hummed a happy tune, marching ahead of Kasumi and Shinji. The two pilots walked at a normal pace, watching Asuka with twin confused glances. "What're you so happy about?" Kasumi questioned. "Oh, you two are almost holding hands!" the Second Child grinned, "I'm making good progress!" She turned back around and started marching again.

Shinji and Kasumi looked at each other with a smile and slowly reached out for each other's hands, when their cell phones began to beep. In complete unison, the three pilots took out their cell phones, and answered, "Hai?"

"Good." Misato's voice said over the phone, "I was able to get all of you. Now listen close." The three pilots listened, and Asuka let out a loud cheer. Everyone that was connected to the phone-line cringed in pain as Asuka's cheer reverberated through their ears. The Second Child started to dance about, cheering with glee.

"I take it Asuka likes traveling." Kasumi said flatly. Shinji laughed weakly and nodded, a large sweatdrop rolling down the side of his head. "Look, I know this sounds kind of like a vacation, but we're going to America to destroy an Angel that's heading towards the 2nd Branch." Misato said over the phone, "So get home, and start packing!" The call ended with a click.

"Well, let's get moving!" Shinji said. But when he turned towards Asuka, the hell-haired pilot was gone. Shinji and Kasumi sweatdropped, and then started towards the apartment.

When the pilots arrived, Asuka threw a bag down the hall that landed on top of a large pile. "Asuka, these aren't…all yours, are they?" Shinji called down the hallway. "No, I'm packing for Misato too!" Asuka replied. Kasumi and Shinji looked back at the pile, which was swiftly reaching the ceiling. "All this is for them?" Shinji murmured. Kasumi found interest in counting how many bags were in the pile and blinked.

"I count about nine bags so far, not including anything else Asuka might throw in, and whatever we bring." she concluded. Shinji sweatdropped even more.

"So, you guys ready to do a little sightseeing?" Misato smirked. "What?" Shinji questioned, "I thought we were just going to destroy the Angel and come right back!" Misato smiled and said, "Well, it turns out that it'll take a day and a half for the Evas to be flown there safely. So basically, when the Evas get there, and the Angel attacks, we'll fight!"

Shinji glanced back over his shoulder towards Asuka's room with a smirk. The Second Child had passed out from cheering so much and using up so much of her air. "So, we leave first thing tomorrow morning?" Kasumi asked. "Yep!" Misato clapped her hands, "We have to leave early, so let's get to sleep!" She stood and shooed the two awake pilots towards their respective places for the night.

As the night fell and dragged on, Kasumi found herself unable to sleep once more. She stared at the dark ceiling, going over the events of the—she glanced at the VCR clock and sighed. All right, the events of the previous day, considering it was 1:00AM.

Reaching out to take Shinji's hand…she smiled at her newfound daring. It was a shame that Misato had called at that second, she could have actually held his hand.

Kasumi suddenly began to contemplate the Evangelion. She had seen the data from the recent sync tests…her score was perfect. She was the first of the pilots to reach absolute synchronization with her Eva. It was more like…

It felt more like the Eva was trying to sync with her. Kasumi shook her head at her own ideas. What a strange way to think. "For God's sake, go to sleep!" she hissed at herself.

That morning, Misato and Asuka were the first to wake. "C'mon!" the two women had roughly shaken the two other pilots awake, "We've gotta get moving!" After a few minutes, and much pushing from Asuka and Misato, the four NERV soldiers were on their way. Even though it was only four in the morning.

"Ritsuko?" Misato asked, "You're coming too?" "Well of course!" the usually cold doctor said cheerfully, "You didn't think that I would pass up on a chance for a vacation, did you?" She smiled warmly, and Asuka looked around. "Ah, there's Wondergirl!" she said, "Late, strangely enough." Rei walked up to the group, looked at Misato and Ritsuko shortly, and then walked on ahead.

"Well, Wondergirl's got the right idea!" Asuka clapped her hands, "Let's get going!" At that, she started down the hall, and then paused suddenly. She turned around and sweatdropped. Kasumi had pretty much nodded off on her feet, while Shinji was wide-awake. A pockmark slowly bulged out on Asuka's forehead, and she stomped back around Kasumi.

"For God's sake, let's get you in a seat before you fall over!" she snarled, shoving Kasumi roughly down the hall. Misato laughed and sweatdropped, and Shinji shook his head slowly. "She…did seem a little more sleepy than usual." the Major said in Ritsuko's direction. But the Chief Technician was already following Asuka and Kasumi. "I guess we get to dump the luggage." the Major shrugged.

Kasumi was well on her way to falling asleep for most of the trip, when someone asked, "So, didn't sleep much?" "No, I didn't fall asleep till—" Kasumi started to say, but then broke off into a strangled sound. Her eyes opened and she twisted in her seat to face…Ritsuko.

"What, you were expecting Rei?" the doctor questioned. Kasumi turned a rather dark shade of blue and became very still. Ritsuko chuckled and shook her head, sliding on a pair of wireless headphones.

Shinji slowly walked onto the NERV jet, his back slightly sore from the rather large amount of bags he and Misato (more him) had to carry. He glanced around and walked up the isle, hoping to find Kasumi. He soon did, but then turned blue. He turned around stiffly and sharply, and literally marched away from Ritsuko, who didn't notice him at all.

"Aw, what's wrong?" Misato poked the straight-backed pilot playfully in the side, "Can't sit next to the girl of your dreams?" She had a half-empty can of Yebisu in her hand, and quite literally yanked Shinji down in the seat next to her. "It's not like that at all!" Shinji said indignantly. Misato giggled in a strange way and said, "Oh c'mon! I just want to know why you're so angry!" "Fine!" the Third Child snapped, "I can't sit next to Kasumi! There, I said it!" Misato laughed long and loud, bending double and holding her stomach.

The four-hour flight was nearly over before anything else happened. Kasumi's eyes were nearly shut, and she still hadn't been able to fall asleep. Suddenly, Ritsuko tapped her on the shoulder. "Well, you certainly look like hell." the doctor remarked, "What, rough night?" "Yes…" Kasumi replied tiredly. "With Shinji?" Ritsuko grinned evilly. "Ye—" Kasumi started to answer, but then froze and turned blue, "WHAT?!"

"You know, you should try to make your crushes a little more secret." Ritsuko grinned, "Misato will say anything if you give her enough Yebisu." Kasumi groaned angrily and blushed. "But seriously, I think you shouldn't be so nervous about having Shinji around." Ritsuko said, "I mean, you're going to have to learn to live with him." "Having a serious case of insomnia doesn't really help my thinking about this." Kasumi rubbed her sore eyes, "I know, but I'm just nervous none the less."

There was a bump as the NERV jet finally touched down. "Thank you for using NERV. Please, take all your luggage and exit in a calm, orderly fashion." the voice over the intercom quipped cheerfully. As the voice began to repeat itself, Ritsuko stood up and stretched. "Well, my advice is to go with whatever your feelings say." she said, "I know that that's what most people used to do when they fell in love." The doctor started off without another word, and Kasumi sighed. "God, I'm getting relationship tips from Ritsuko Akagi." she muttered half-heartedly, standing up and heading off.

"So, where are we staying, Misato?" Asuka asked. "Commander Ikari actually decided that we get to stay at somewhere nice." Ritsuko said with a hint of sarcasm, "So basically, we get to stay at one of the few good hotels here in America." "But remember, it's just about ten PM here, so let's get to bed and sleep off that jet lag!" Misato said cheerfully, but with a yawn.

Asuka looked sideways at Kasumi with a grin. "Well, that won't be a problem for sleepyhead over here." she poked the tired pilot in the stomach. Kasumi didn't respond.

"OK, you pilots will be sharing these three joined rooms." Misato yawned, "Ritsuko and I will be across the hall, so if you need anything, just knock. Goodnight." The Major shuffled off into the room, the door locking automatically behind her. "Just so you know, you'll have to decide who sleeps where." Ritsuko said with a small smile, "Too bad the girls outweigh the boy." She unlocked the door to her and Misato's room and walked inside.

Kasumi was once again nodding off on her feet, and didn't realize what Ritsuko had said. "All right, Rei and I'll take this room." Asuka said, "And you and Kasumi can stay in here." Shinji tapped Kasumi on the shoulder, who barely looked up. "Hey, do you want to fall asleep on your feet?" he asked, "Or are you just trying to make me carry you?" Kasumi snapped her head up and stared at Shinji, trying not to blush.

It was only a few more hours when the NERV staff was deep in sleep. Kasumi was the only one that was still awake. She sat in a chair by a window, looking down at the bright lights of the city. She hugged her legs close to her chest and stared at the city twenty stories below, the lights reflecting from her purple eyes. It was surprisingly quiet, even for nighttime. Kasumi tore her eyes away from the window and looked back into the darkened room.

She listened carefully, but only the sound of peacefully, even breathing was heard. Kasumi looked over towards Shinji without expression. He was sound asleep, rolled on his side away from the light. Kasumi smiled at the Third Child, and then turned towards the window once more. It was so quiet; she could swear that she heard her own heart pounding within her chest.

"But why do I feel so scared?" the pilot wondered silently, "I've never felt my heart pounding so hard except inside unit-14 in an Angel attack." She shivered and shrank back into the chair, unable to stop shaking.

As the night turned into day, the NERV staff awoke almost simultaneously, just around 9:30AM. Shinji sat up and stretched, looking around the sun-filled room. He finally looked towards the window, and stopped looking around. "K-Kasumi?" he asked. The Sixth Child was awake, certainly, but she looked half-dead. Lines circled beneath her eyes, and she literally lay limply in the chair. Her clothes were different from the previous day; she had changed, but the cloth was rumpled enough to make someone believe she had been wearing them for at least a month.

At Shinji's words, Kasumi turned her head slowly to face him. "Kasumi, didn't you sleep at all last night?" Shinji asked, "You look like you were just beaten by an Angel!" "No, I'm just fine." Kasumi replied, "I just didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night." She started to stand from the chair, but then stumbled and collapsed to her knees. "Kasumi!" Shinji said, leaping out of his bed and to Kasumi's side.

"Since when do you take an all-nighter?" Asuka asked. "Now that just kind of blows away our plans for the day." Ritsuko sweatdropped, "I think Misato had an idea of everyone going sightseeing, even if this place is mostly desert." "Hey, there's one great place that I came to about two years ago!" Misato said, "It's this great park that's one of the few remaining green places on the planet!"

"Well, as a doctor, I think that you should stay here for a while and get some rest." Ritsuko said, "Even if you have to miss out." "And what if I try to follow you?" Kasumi questioned. "Well, that means that one of us will have keep watch over you like a hawk!" Asuka laughed, "And the perfect candidate is Shinji!" "All right." Shinji waved his hand, "You don't have to make me, you know!"

"All right, see ya!" Misato and Asuka chirped as they shut the door. It locked. Kasumi blinked once, then twice. "God, I hate it when Asuka does that." she thought angrily, "And it's worse when Misato joins in."

"So why have you been staying up so late lately?" Shinji questioned. "I don't know why I can't sleep." Kasumi murmured, "It's been going on for two nights. I…don't know why I can't sleep." She lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, glaring at her own lie.

"Hey, why don't you just go to sleep?" Shinji offered, "I'm going to leave for just a second, so I'll be back quick as a flash." He stood up and headed out the door, taking the last key.

Kasumi slowly sat up after Shinji had left, and stood up from the bed. She stumbled to the single bag she had brought along, and took something from it.

Shinji stood up and snapped open the can of soda. He took a sip and started back towards the room. He unlocked it and stepped inside. "What?" he looked around and spotted Kasumi kneeling by her bag, "Kasumi?" He put his soda down on a nearby table and darted to Kasumi, kneeling down beside her.

"Are you all right?" he asked, "What happened?" Shinji paused and saw that Kasumi was hugging something to her chest, smiling. "I…" she started, "Did I ever tell you something?" "You don't tell me all that much." Shinji said softly, "So I guess not."

"I know that my report says that…I'm an orphan." Kasumi replied, "It says that my parents were killed in the line of duty for NERV, and it says that I'm an only child. I've lived under NERV protection for my entire life." "Yeah, that's how Rei's report goes." Shinji said, "And?"

"Well, you know that someone's soul is inside an Eva, right?" Kasumi continued, "Well…I don't know much about that, but I just learned who's soul is inside unit-14." She slowly pulled the photograph away from her chest so the both of them could see it. Shinji's eyes widened as he saw the other person in the picture. It couldn't possibly be…

"It's him, my brother." Kasumi whispered softly. Shinji's eyes shrank to the size of dots and he pulled away from Kasumi. "Shinji?" Kasumi asked, "What's wrong?"

"Him?!" Shinji suddenly shouted, "He's your brother?! He's the soul of your Evangelion?!" He rose to his feet swiftly and stepped away from his fellow pilot, and Kasumi stared at him in wide-eyed shock. "How could it be?" Shinji growled, "How could your brother be him?" "What?" Kasumi asked, "Shinji, did you know him?"

"Of course I knew him!" Shinji roared, "I KILLED HIM!" Kasumi rose to her feet slowly, her eyes wide. "…what…?" she whispered. "Nagisa Kaoru!" Shinji continued to shout, "He was the Fifth Child! The second pilot of unit-02!" "…tell me." Kasumi whispered desperately, tears rising in her eyes, "…if he was…a pilot…the Fifth Child…why did you kill him?" With that, Shinji screamed in anger and slammed his fist into the side of Kasumi's face, throwing the Sixth Child to the ground.

He swiftly dropped to one knee and held Kasumi's collar tightly in his hand, lifting her to face him. "That bastard wasn't just the Fifth Child. He was the Seventeenth Angel." Shinji whispered in a growl, "I killed him because he was going to cause Third Impact." Kasumi's eyes widened, and she froze.

"If he is really your brother, then we're enemies." Shinji continued to hiss, "Because if you're really related to him, then you're an Angel. I can't believe that I nearly cared about you." Kasumi drew in a sharp breath, and then looked away.

A single, solitary tear slipped down her cheek, and then she suddenly struggled to break free from Shinji. Kasumi broke free and got to her feet, running towards the door and wrenching it open. She ran from the room, letting the door hang open. Shinji calmly stood from the floor, shut the door, and took up his soda again.

Kasumi stumbled down the stairs of the hotel, tripping and falling down two flights of stairs. Tears ran down her face as she struggled desperately to stand up. "Hey, you OK, kid?" a man asked kindly. Kasumi scrambled to her feet and shoved past the man, ignoring the painful bruise forming on her lower shin.

"…no."