'Round Perdition's Flames
Part VIII
"The Way To A Man's Heart. . ."
"You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older...
And now you're even older...
And now you're even older...
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older...
And now you're older still."
--They Might Be Giants
"Older"
--Saturday--
Oh, God, Asuka, please don't look at me like that! This is bad. She knows, she knows I'm not
afraid of her anymore. I've got to say something. But what? Think, Ikari, think!
"Well, well, well, Shinji Ikari," Asuka preened in her most coy voice, "it seems as though I've
taught you well, haven't I? I was wondering if they day would ever come when you would take my lessons
seriously?"
"I, er, uh, that is....lessons?"
"I'm forced to admit, I'm impressed. But don't think for a minute that gives you any advantage
over me. You're nowhere near my level, Third Child. To me, you're little more than a fly on my spider
web."
"A-Asuka?"
Asuka glared at Shinji for a moment. Shinji stared back. Asuka's brow became increasingly
furrowed. This wasn't good. He was starting to learn all of her tricks. She made a mental note to herself
to start drawing up a new playbook for her own benefits. After all, losing control over Shinji was just
completely unacceptable. And she couldn't back out of the game, now, it would give Shinji power over
her. She had to find a way to put herself back on top, to make this boring little boy fully understand his
place.
Shinji hated to be under Asuka's gaze. Because nine times out of ten, it was the same kind of
stare. The kind that let you know that you were being measured, and that you were being found lacking.
He hated disappointing her. Even if he knew it was impossible to please her. Being hated by Asuka was
something he struggled with all the time. Trying to make her see him differently. But, there were those
horrible times when he doubted himself more than usual, when he woke up wondering what was the point
of fighting. What did he have to show for his troubles but a bruised ego and a body to match it? Why
did he struggle so much? The answer was simple. Because he didn't want to be hated. The thought of
being hated by Asuka was appalling. He didn't want to be hated by anyone, but he wasn't sure he could
bear it if he was truly despised by Asuka. What did she have against him anyway? What had he ever
done to her that was so unforgivable?
He found that he had to muddle out the answers to these questions while walking, though,
because Asuka was rapidly becoming a dot on the horizon of his vision, impaired a great deal by the
setting sun.
The drawing was well done. Just one look, and Shinji knew that Misato had put a lot of effort
into it, although he was willing to hazard to guess that she had put off paperwork to do it. In any event,
though, the detail was impressive. Misato had effectively created a full-size diagram of Asuka, posed in
her school uniform, large enough that it took up three pieces of paper connected together. Points of
interest were mapped out and detailed. Of course, Shinji knew that if he was ever caught with this
picture, he was a dead man. Ironically, not because it would make him appear perverted, but likely
because of the way Asuka had been depicted, with her mouth wide open, as it frequently was in real life.
This part of the representation was indeed flawless.
"As you can see," Misato began, "I've tried to lay out everything I can for you here. "But it's
going to be up to you to study this and figure out a method of attack that might actually succeed. Up at
the top here is her hair. You might want to note that this is probably the only part of Asuka that you can
safely compliment without fear of physical retaliation. If you ever decide to buy a gift from her, you
might want to try and obtain a sample of her hair so you can try to match it. Women like things that
match them, and even Asuka is no exception on this one. I think."
"Are you like that, Misato?"
"Why, you want to buy me a present?" She batted her lashes knowingly at Shinji.
"Wh-what? No, I-I mean, not that you're not worth buying a present for, but--"
"Careful now, Shinji. Remember, Asuka is always going to look for a way to take advantage of
you like that and make you look like a dork. Don't get suckered in."
"Right..." Shinji sighed.
"Now, moving down to the eyes. As you've no doubt noticed, they're blue, a very pretty blue,
in fact. Asuka doesn't spend much time flirting with boys, but it's probably a safe bet that she knows
how to use these. While we're out tonight, she might try to fluster you with them so you'll back off.
Don't let her. Whenever possible, avoid looking her directly in the eye. Remember, Asuka isn't a typical
woman. She isn't interested in you, so she isn't going to flirt with you unless she feels it's to her
advantage. Still, you should be prepared. Do you think you can handle that?"
"Yeah, I think so. I'm not too worried about that, though."
"Good. Okay then. There's her lips, your eventual target. I wouldn't worry too much about
those for the moment, though. You're a long way from getting there! What you should be concerned about
are the insults that will flow from them like water. If you ever want to have any hope of impressing her,
you have to do more than just endure them, Shinji. You have to dodge them, parry them, turn them around
on her. Prove to her that you're not the idiot she thinks you are. To this end, I borrowed a book from
Kaji. It's a little old, but it's full of great insults. Study this book, and it should help you learn how to
reply when she scorns you."
"Do you really think this will help?"
"Absolutely. Remember, you're not trying to assault her. Merely counter-attack as necessary,
but don't instigate unless an opportunity arises that is just too good to pass up. Even so, try not to go too
far. Try to show her that you can keep up with her, but don't try to seem superior to her."
"I'll try."
"Sometimes that's all you can do, Shinji. Now, down here are her shoulders. The perfect place
to apply a massage, should the opportunity ever arise. But given your current relationship, you'll usually
be seeing these squared against you. Whenever possible, try to walk behind Asuka. You can learn a lot
about how a person is feeling and what they are thinking about by how they walk."
"These are her breasts." Misato paused for a moment to more fully enjoy the way Shinji
turned beat red. "If you want to live, never look at them, never touch them, comment about them, or even
think about them. I guess that goes without saying, though." Um, if you want more information, maybe you
should try talking to Kaji, I guess. I mean, about, well, you know, not specifically Asuka's, but-" Misato
cleared her throat. "Er, moving along...."
"Please!" Shinji exhaled, only now realizing that he had been holding his breath.
"Her arms are fairly typical of a girl her age. Fortunately for you, not very muscular. I can
vouch that her hands are very soft, though you won't be enjoying any sort of caress anytime soon. She
doesn't have a lot of upper-body strength, fortunately for you. You've received your fair share of slaps
from her, so you know that her hands can sting. But she punches like a girl, so you at least have that going
for you."
"Yeah, it's about time I got some good news."
"No matter what you might think, Asuka never gains weight. If she does, it's just an optical
illusion. I cannot stress this enough. Asuka does NOT gain weight!"
"Yes'm!"
"Good. Now, um, well, you took biology class, so I'd rather not cover this part."
"Thanks for being considerate."
"If you are ever in a position where you'd need to worry about this area, then you'll already
have been successful anywho. So moving along, we come to the legs. What Asuka lacks in upper-body
strength she makes up for in lower-body. She kicks much more effectively than she punches. However,
you'll also find that her legs should be visually appealing to those of you males who go in for that sort of
thing." Shinji immediately looked away. "Yeah, I thought so. Well, I guess that about wraps it up. It's up
to you to find a weak spot wherever you can and exploit it. If you need my help, just let me know and I'll
do what I can. But remember, this is Asuka. She's got a lot of barbed wire around her. And if you do
find a place you can attack her, you'll only get once chance. You won't be able to get in again. Moreover,
once you do get to her the first time, she'll put her whole compound into alert mode, so to speak. She'll
step up the security, making your task all the harder."
"You're starting to make this sound like one of your operations, Misato!"
"Well, it is, in a way. But this one is more important. I'll be frank with you Shinji, if anyone
deserves to pull this off, it's you. You have the ability to do it if you really want to, but it won't be
easy, and you're probably going to be in for a lot of pain on the way. Don't give into her, Shinji.
Remember, this is your game."
"Do you really believe I can do it?"
"Just take it one step at a time, like dinner tonight. By the way, I'm going to announce your
test results later tonight. Asuka might actually be impressed with you..." She cooed, watching Shinji
squirm. "Now hurry up and go get ready. I think Asuka just shut the water off in there!"
"Right!"
Shinji folded the diagram of Asuka up and beat feet to his room, closing the door behind him as
fast as he could. Misato had been right, their best chance to plan was when she was showering. Safe in his
room for the moment, Shinji had a new immediate goal-find something to wear to dinner that would make
him look desirable, yet down to earth. Did he even own such an outfit? There was that blue button-down
shirt that he had been saving in his closet...Shinji made his decision then and there that it was now or
never.
"Well, that was fun!" Misato mused as she arose from the table and moved toward her own
room. Now for the more unpleasant part of the evening, deciding what to wear. It wasn't going to be
easy. She needed that perfect outfit that would remind Kaji of how they used to be, but not something to
make her look too ready. Silently, she cursed his name. The old saying was true, there was no helping the
person you fall in love with. She might not have had much control over it, but she didn't have to like it. It
was hardly fair to her, after all. Life hadn't been very fair to her. The thought occurred to her that
these brief moments of fun might indeed be all the happiness she was entitled to. And they were much too
few and far between. But she didn't pretend to deserve better. Her life consisted mostly of justifying
her own actions, usually with excuses she didn't really believe in the first place. Again, no that she had
any choice. If one wanted to survive at NERV, then one had to become fluent in dishonesty and lies.
Anyone whom she outranked was trustworthy, because that person knew even less than she did. People at
the same level as her she always approached warily, because they could no more or less than she did. And
it would never do to let on the full extent of your knowledge, or else you would become expendable.
Misato never trusted anyone who outranked her. She would follow their orders, no problem, but she made
it a habit never to believe a word they said. It was becoming increasingly apparent that there was a huge
conspiracy centered around Second Impact, much deeper than the one Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki
unearthed 10 years before. But there was little she could do. NERV only handed out information on a
need-to-know basis. And she knew too well that being the Director of Operations didn't make her privy
to as much information as she deserved to be. Her attempts to find anything out were always the same, a
polite but firm stonewalling. Eventually, she had stopped trying and taken the hint. She could kid herself
all she wanted, but her position on the "ruling council" of NERV was a joke. She wasn't allowed to make
any important decisions that weren't directly related to an Angel attack. Meanwhile, her friend Ritsuko
seemed more and more involved every time she saw her.
Misato Katsuragi resolved at that moment to find out what was being so closely guarded.
"Informal, yet elegant." Asuka had made these words her motto for the evening. She needed to
look just right for Kaji if she was going to catch his eye; desirable, but she couldn't be too brash about
it either. She didn't want Kaji to see directly through her. She would not allow his seduction to be
anything less than a complete masterpiece. She owed that much to herself.
Asuka was all about black that evening. From her foundation garments to her shoes, she went
with black. This outfit had been hidden in a box under her bed for quite some time. It had been nearly a
year and a half since she had worn it, and she was relieved to find that it still fit, though certain parts of
it felt tighter than she remembered them being. The dress looked best on her in a room with low lighting.
She was pleased when she looked in the mirror-her outfit looked provocatively seductive, while still
managing to leave everything to the imagination. She opened a dresser drawer and took out a pair of
black gloves and fondled them for a moment, before ultimately putting them back. The gloves would be
too much. "Informal, yet elegant." She allowed that rule to govern her hair as well, she combed it several
different ways before ultimately deciding to just style it the way she would if she were going to school.
Her blue eyes danced as she slipped on a pair of wide-bottomed heels. They gave her a little bit of extra
height without making walking a chore.
Satisfied that she was as ready as she possibly could be, she emerged from her bedroom to
find Shinji and Misato standing in the kitchen, awaiting her. Misato took one look as Asuka, let her gaze
drifted to Shinji for a moment, and then began giggling. "Black and blue, huh? With the way you two
fight..."
"Stuff it, Misato!" Asuka yelled. She then turned to Shinji. "And you! You idiot! Why did you
have to dress up like that and ruin the effect of my gorgeous outfit?!"
Shinji's heart sank. "I-I'm sorry, Asuka. If you want, I'll go and change."
"There's no time for that, stupid! You did this on purpose!"
"And how do you propose he did that, Asuka?" Misato interjected. "No one knew what you
were going to wear until a minute ago! Shinji couldn't have planned it on purpose! How was he supposed to
know you were going to wear all black?!"
It took Asuka a moment to fumble for an answer. *Damn her logic!* "I-He probably came
across it in my room while he was looking for some of my panties to sniff or something! Everyone knows
he's a pervert!"
Misato groaned.
Shinji raced across the room to the table, grabbing a napkin to help stop the considerable
nosebleed he was developing.
Asuka stood in triumph.
"Let's go." Misato said at length. Shinji and Asuka began following her out the door, bickering
all the while. "It's going to be a looooooong night." The Major said to the ceiling of the elevator.
And so ends yet another installment in my story. I know it's a tad bit shorter than most of my
installment, but yas gets what yas pays for, okay? Anywho, with some extra space in file size this time
out, I thought I'd do a short FAQ. Hopefully this will answer a lot of your questions, but I'll leave you
my address so you can reach me with any more that creep up!
Q: Why do you take so long to update "Round Perdition's Flames?"
A: Because I often don't feel like writing, because I'm not in the right frame of mind. I've been having a
bad.......year, I guess. Sorry to all my fans who have to wait what must seem like eons for the equivalent
of a few more pages.
Q: How long is "Round Perdition's Flames" going to be?
A: Long. There is a lot of stuff that is going to happen in the story. Although you'll start seeing more time
pass between installments in the story after we get past Sunday. Sometimes days and weeks might go by.
You'll see.
Q: Do you have any other fanfiction projects?
A: Yes. I am co-authoring a 26 episode fanfic, "Sailor Moon W," with a good friend of mine. Episode 1
has was posted a few weeks ago under his name, I think he goes by "The RoboNerd." Check it out in the
Sailor Moon section! I also have a "Big-O" fic, that has been ongoing for some time, but it is on nowhere
near as large a scale as the previous two I mentioned. It probably has 4-7 chapters left to go. Finally, I
am SERIOUSLY considering a 7-10 chapter Harry Potter fanfic. I don't want to give away the plot, but
I will say that it involves Hermione and the famous painting "Persistence of Memory" (you know, the one
with all the melting clocks). Sound good? Other non-"Perdition" works that I've penned recently or
semi-recently are two short-fics. "Tapestry" was a shortfic from Asuka's POV while she's in a coma.
"Final Greetings" is a chance encounter between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger on the final night
of their first year at Hogwarts. Be sure to check either (or both) out and leave a review. Those are the
only rewards we fanfic authors get!
Q: You seem to write a lot of stuff. Do you have a life outside of writing?
A: Yes, very much so, which is why you see things like 8 month gaps between updates!
Q: Could you write "Perdition" faster?
A: Yes. But then it would suck. Because I can do it good or I can do it fast, but not both. "Perdition"
draws on a lot of personal stuff in my life. And it's rather difficult to write at times. I have to be in a
specific mood. And even when I am in that mood, I'm often too tired to write. I know this is not efficient
in the slightest, but I do plan on finishing the thing someday. Maybe some of you will still be alive then, I
don't know (j/k).
Okay, we have time for, maybe 30, 40 more questions. I'm not going anywhere.
Q: Will you marry me?
A: When I said you can send your marriage proposals, I wasn't entirely kidding! Lord Malachite really
needs a good woman to help get his life back on track and help him find out where he screwed it up. Send
your nicest picture and a short letter on the kind of person you are to ranger_writer@yahoo.com
Well, that about wraps it up this time. You'll find my usual disclaimer below. Thanks for reading!
The necessary Legal Lingo Junk--In writing this story, the author is in no way attempting to take credit
for Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of the characters contained therein. This is a work contributed to
Public Domain, and the author has not been paid so much as a penny for this story. Neon Genesis
Evangelion is copyrighted by Gainax, A.D.V. Films holds the rights (hostage?) to the English Language
Version.
As always, send your comments, compliments, questions, complaints, love letters, death threats, marriage
proposals, and ransom demands to:
Lord Malachite
ranger_writer@yahoo.com
Are you still here?
Part VIII
"The Way To A Man's Heart. . ."
"You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older...
And now you're even older...
And now you're even older...
You're older than you've ever been
And now you're even older...
And now you're older still."
--They Might Be Giants
"Older"
--Saturday--
Oh, God, Asuka, please don't look at me like that! This is bad. She knows, she knows I'm not
afraid of her anymore. I've got to say something. But what? Think, Ikari, think!
"Well, well, well, Shinji Ikari," Asuka preened in her most coy voice, "it seems as though I've
taught you well, haven't I? I was wondering if they day would ever come when you would take my lessons
seriously?"
"I, er, uh, that is....lessons?"
"I'm forced to admit, I'm impressed. But don't think for a minute that gives you any advantage
over me. You're nowhere near my level, Third Child. To me, you're little more than a fly on my spider
web."
"A-Asuka?"
Asuka glared at Shinji for a moment. Shinji stared back. Asuka's brow became increasingly
furrowed. This wasn't good. He was starting to learn all of her tricks. She made a mental note to herself
to start drawing up a new playbook for her own benefits. After all, losing control over Shinji was just
completely unacceptable. And she couldn't back out of the game, now, it would give Shinji power over
her. She had to find a way to put herself back on top, to make this boring little boy fully understand his
place.
Shinji hated to be under Asuka's gaze. Because nine times out of ten, it was the same kind of
stare. The kind that let you know that you were being measured, and that you were being found lacking.
He hated disappointing her. Even if he knew it was impossible to please her. Being hated by Asuka was
something he struggled with all the time. Trying to make her see him differently. But, there were those
horrible times when he doubted himself more than usual, when he woke up wondering what was the point
of fighting. What did he have to show for his troubles but a bruised ego and a body to match it? Why
did he struggle so much? The answer was simple. Because he didn't want to be hated. The thought of
being hated by Asuka was appalling. He didn't want to be hated by anyone, but he wasn't sure he could
bear it if he was truly despised by Asuka. What did she have against him anyway? What had he ever
done to her that was so unforgivable?
He found that he had to muddle out the answers to these questions while walking, though,
because Asuka was rapidly becoming a dot on the horizon of his vision, impaired a great deal by the
setting sun.
The drawing was well done. Just one look, and Shinji knew that Misato had put a lot of effort
into it, although he was willing to hazard to guess that she had put off paperwork to do it. In any event,
though, the detail was impressive. Misato had effectively created a full-size diagram of Asuka, posed in
her school uniform, large enough that it took up three pieces of paper connected together. Points of
interest were mapped out and detailed. Of course, Shinji knew that if he was ever caught with this
picture, he was a dead man. Ironically, not because it would make him appear perverted, but likely
because of the way Asuka had been depicted, with her mouth wide open, as it frequently was in real life.
This part of the representation was indeed flawless.
"As you can see," Misato began, "I've tried to lay out everything I can for you here. "But it's
going to be up to you to study this and figure out a method of attack that might actually succeed. Up at
the top here is her hair. You might want to note that this is probably the only part of Asuka that you can
safely compliment without fear of physical retaliation. If you ever decide to buy a gift from her, you
might want to try and obtain a sample of her hair so you can try to match it. Women like things that
match them, and even Asuka is no exception on this one. I think."
"Are you like that, Misato?"
"Why, you want to buy me a present?" She batted her lashes knowingly at Shinji.
"Wh-what? No, I-I mean, not that you're not worth buying a present for, but--"
"Careful now, Shinji. Remember, Asuka is always going to look for a way to take advantage of
you like that and make you look like a dork. Don't get suckered in."
"Right..." Shinji sighed.
"Now, moving down to the eyes. As you've no doubt noticed, they're blue, a very pretty blue,
in fact. Asuka doesn't spend much time flirting with boys, but it's probably a safe bet that she knows
how to use these. While we're out tonight, she might try to fluster you with them so you'll back off.
Don't let her. Whenever possible, avoid looking her directly in the eye. Remember, Asuka isn't a typical
woman. She isn't interested in you, so she isn't going to flirt with you unless she feels it's to her
advantage. Still, you should be prepared. Do you think you can handle that?"
"Yeah, I think so. I'm not too worried about that, though."
"Good. Okay then. There's her lips, your eventual target. I wouldn't worry too much about
those for the moment, though. You're a long way from getting there! What you should be concerned about
are the insults that will flow from them like water. If you ever want to have any hope of impressing her,
you have to do more than just endure them, Shinji. You have to dodge them, parry them, turn them around
on her. Prove to her that you're not the idiot she thinks you are. To this end, I borrowed a book from
Kaji. It's a little old, but it's full of great insults. Study this book, and it should help you learn how to
reply when she scorns you."
"Do you really think this will help?"
"Absolutely. Remember, you're not trying to assault her. Merely counter-attack as necessary,
but don't instigate unless an opportunity arises that is just too good to pass up. Even so, try not to go too
far. Try to show her that you can keep up with her, but don't try to seem superior to her."
"I'll try."
"Sometimes that's all you can do, Shinji. Now, down here are her shoulders. The perfect place
to apply a massage, should the opportunity ever arise. But given your current relationship, you'll usually
be seeing these squared against you. Whenever possible, try to walk behind Asuka. You can learn a lot
about how a person is feeling and what they are thinking about by how they walk."
"These are her breasts." Misato paused for a moment to more fully enjoy the way Shinji
turned beat red. "If you want to live, never look at them, never touch them, comment about them, or even
think about them. I guess that goes without saying, though." Um, if you want more information, maybe you
should try talking to Kaji, I guess. I mean, about, well, you know, not specifically Asuka's, but-" Misato
cleared her throat. "Er, moving along...."
"Please!" Shinji exhaled, only now realizing that he had been holding his breath.
"Her arms are fairly typical of a girl her age. Fortunately for you, not very muscular. I can
vouch that her hands are very soft, though you won't be enjoying any sort of caress anytime soon. She
doesn't have a lot of upper-body strength, fortunately for you. You've received your fair share of slaps
from her, so you know that her hands can sting. But she punches like a girl, so you at least have that going
for you."
"Yeah, it's about time I got some good news."
"No matter what you might think, Asuka never gains weight. If she does, it's just an optical
illusion. I cannot stress this enough. Asuka does NOT gain weight!"
"Yes'm!"
"Good. Now, um, well, you took biology class, so I'd rather not cover this part."
"Thanks for being considerate."
"If you are ever in a position where you'd need to worry about this area, then you'll already
have been successful anywho. So moving along, we come to the legs. What Asuka lacks in upper-body
strength she makes up for in lower-body. She kicks much more effectively than she punches. However,
you'll also find that her legs should be visually appealing to those of you males who go in for that sort of
thing." Shinji immediately looked away. "Yeah, I thought so. Well, I guess that about wraps it up. It's up
to you to find a weak spot wherever you can and exploit it. If you need my help, just let me know and I'll
do what I can. But remember, this is Asuka. She's got a lot of barbed wire around her. And if you do
find a place you can attack her, you'll only get once chance. You won't be able to get in again. Moreover,
once you do get to her the first time, she'll put her whole compound into alert mode, so to speak. She'll
step up the security, making your task all the harder."
"You're starting to make this sound like one of your operations, Misato!"
"Well, it is, in a way. But this one is more important. I'll be frank with you Shinji, if anyone
deserves to pull this off, it's you. You have the ability to do it if you really want to, but it won't be
easy, and you're probably going to be in for a lot of pain on the way. Don't give into her, Shinji.
Remember, this is your game."
"Do you really believe I can do it?"
"Just take it one step at a time, like dinner tonight. By the way, I'm going to announce your
test results later tonight. Asuka might actually be impressed with you..." She cooed, watching Shinji
squirm. "Now hurry up and go get ready. I think Asuka just shut the water off in there!"
"Right!"
Shinji folded the diagram of Asuka up and beat feet to his room, closing the door behind him as
fast as he could. Misato had been right, their best chance to plan was when she was showering. Safe in his
room for the moment, Shinji had a new immediate goal-find something to wear to dinner that would make
him look desirable, yet down to earth. Did he even own such an outfit? There was that blue button-down
shirt that he had been saving in his closet...Shinji made his decision then and there that it was now or
never.
"Well, that was fun!" Misato mused as she arose from the table and moved toward her own
room. Now for the more unpleasant part of the evening, deciding what to wear. It wasn't going to be
easy. She needed that perfect outfit that would remind Kaji of how they used to be, but not something to
make her look too ready. Silently, she cursed his name. The old saying was true, there was no helping the
person you fall in love with. She might not have had much control over it, but she didn't have to like it. It
was hardly fair to her, after all. Life hadn't been very fair to her. The thought occurred to her that
these brief moments of fun might indeed be all the happiness she was entitled to. And they were much too
few and far between. But she didn't pretend to deserve better. Her life consisted mostly of justifying
her own actions, usually with excuses she didn't really believe in the first place. Again, no that she had
any choice. If one wanted to survive at NERV, then one had to become fluent in dishonesty and lies.
Anyone whom she outranked was trustworthy, because that person knew even less than she did. People at
the same level as her she always approached warily, because they could no more or less than she did. And
it would never do to let on the full extent of your knowledge, or else you would become expendable.
Misato never trusted anyone who outranked her. She would follow their orders, no problem, but she made
it a habit never to believe a word they said. It was becoming increasingly apparent that there was a huge
conspiracy centered around Second Impact, much deeper than the one Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki
unearthed 10 years before. But there was little she could do. NERV only handed out information on a
need-to-know basis. And she knew too well that being the Director of Operations didn't make her privy
to as much information as she deserved to be. Her attempts to find anything out were always the same, a
polite but firm stonewalling. Eventually, she had stopped trying and taken the hint. She could kid herself
all she wanted, but her position on the "ruling council" of NERV was a joke. She wasn't allowed to make
any important decisions that weren't directly related to an Angel attack. Meanwhile, her friend Ritsuko
seemed more and more involved every time she saw her.
Misato Katsuragi resolved at that moment to find out what was being so closely guarded.
"Informal, yet elegant." Asuka had made these words her motto for the evening. She needed to
look just right for Kaji if she was going to catch his eye; desirable, but she couldn't be too brash about
it either. She didn't want Kaji to see directly through her. She would not allow his seduction to be
anything less than a complete masterpiece. She owed that much to herself.
Asuka was all about black that evening. From her foundation garments to her shoes, she went
with black. This outfit had been hidden in a box under her bed for quite some time. It had been nearly a
year and a half since she had worn it, and she was relieved to find that it still fit, though certain parts of
it felt tighter than she remembered them being. The dress looked best on her in a room with low lighting.
She was pleased when she looked in the mirror-her outfit looked provocatively seductive, while still
managing to leave everything to the imagination. She opened a dresser drawer and took out a pair of
black gloves and fondled them for a moment, before ultimately putting them back. The gloves would be
too much. "Informal, yet elegant." She allowed that rule to govern her hair as well, she combed it several
different ways before ultimately deciding to just style it the way she would if she were going to school.
Her blue eyes danced as she slipped on a pair of wide-bottomed heels. They gave her a little bit of extra
height without making walking a chore.
Satisfied that she was as ready as she possibly could be, she emerged from her bedroom to
find Shinji and Misato standing in the kitchen, awaiting her. Misato took one look as Asuka, let her gaze
drifted to Shinji for a moment, and then began giggling. "Black and blue, huh? With the way you two
fight..."
"Stuff it, Misato!" Asuka yelled. She then turned to Shinji. "And you! You idiot! Why did you
have to dress up like that and ruin the effect of my gorgeous outfit?!"
Shinji's heart sank. "I-I'm sorry, Asuka. If you want, I'll go and change."
"There's no time for that, stupid! You did this on purpose!"
"And how do you propose he did that, Asuka?" Misato interjected. "No one knew what you
were going to wear until a minute ago! Shinji couldn't have planned it on purpose! How was he supposed to
know you were going to wear all black?!"
It took Asuka a moment to fumble for an answer. *Damn her logic!* "I-He probably came
across it in my room while he was looking for some of my panties to sniff or something! Everyone knows
he's a pervert!"
Misato groaned.
Shinji raced across the room to the table, grabbing a napkin to help stop the considerable
nosebleed he was developing.
Asuka stood in triumph.
"Let's go." Misato said at length. Shinji and Asuka began following her out the door, bickering
all the while. "It's going to be a looooooong night." The Major said to the ceiling of the elevator.
And so ends yet another installment in my story. I know it's a tad bit shorter than most of my
installment, but yas gets what yas pays for, okay? Anywho, with some extra space in file size this time
out, I thought I'd do a short FAQ. Hopefully this will answer a lot of your questions, but I'll leave you
my address so you can reach me with any more that creep up!
Q: Why do you take so long to update "Round Perdition's Flames?"
A: Because I often don't feel like writing, because I'm not in the right frame of mind. I've been having a
bad.......year, I guess. Sorry to all my fans who have to wait what must seem like eons for the equivalent
of a few more pages.
Q: How long is "Round Perdition's Flames" going to be?
A: Long. There is a lot of stuff that is going to happen in the story. Although you'll start seeing more time
pass between installments in the story after we get past Sunday. Sometimes days and weeks might go by.
You'll see.
Q: Do you have any other fanfiction projects?
A: Yes. I am co-authoring a 26 episode fanfic, "Sailor Moon W," with a good friend of mine. Episode 1
has was posted a few weeks ago under his name, I think he goes by "The RoboNerd." Check it out in the
Sailor Moon section! I also have a "Big-O" fic, that has been ongoing for some time, but it is on nowhere
near as large a scale as the previous two I mentioned. It probably has 4-7 chapters left to go. Finally, I
am SERIOUSLY considering a 7-10 chapter Harry Potter fanfic. I don't want to give away the plot, but
I will say that it involves Hermione and the famous painting "Persistence of Memory" (you know, the one
with all the melting clocks). Sound good? Other non-"Perdition" works that I've penned recently or
semi-recently are two short-fics. "Tapestry" was a shortfic from Asuka's POV while she's in a coma.
"Final Greetings" is a chance encounter between Harry Potter and Hermione Granger on the final night
of their first year at Hogwarts. Be sure to check either (or both) out and leave a review. Those are the
only rewards we fanfic authors get!
Q: You seem to write a lot of stuff. Do you have a life outside of writing?
A: Yes, very much so, which is why you see things like 8 month gaps between updates!
Q: Could you write "Perdition" faster?
A: Yes. But then it would suck. Because I can do it good or I can do it fast, but not both. "Perdition"
draws on a lot of personal stuff in my life. And it's rather difficult to write at times. I have to be in a
specific mood. And even when I am in that mood, I'm often too tired to write. I know this is not efficient
in the slightest, but I do plan on finishing the thing someday. Maybe some of you will still be alive then, I
don't know (j/k).
Okay, we have time for, maybe 30, 40 more questions. I'm not going anywhere.
Q: Will you marry me?
A: When I said you can send your marriage proposals, I wasn't entirely kidding! Lord Malachite really
needs a good woman to help get his life back on track and help him find out where he screwed it up. Send
your nicest picture and a short letter on the kind of person you are to ranger_writer@yahoo.com
Well, that about wraps it up this time. You'll find my usual disclaimer below. Thanks for reading!
The necessary Legal Lingo Junk--In writing this story, the author is in no way attempting to take credit
for Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of the characters contained therein. This is a work contributed to
Public Domain, and the author has not been paid so much as a penny for this story. Neon Genesis
Evangelion is copyrighted by Gainax, A.D.V. Films holds the rights (hostage?) to the English Language
Version.
As always, send your comments, compliments, questions, complaints, love letters, death threats, marriage
proposals, and ransom demands to:
Lord Malachite
ranger_writer@yahoo.com
Are you still here?