A/N: All right I fixed spelling, hey did you guys no suprised is spelled surprised?
Shinji In Deutschland
Now this was a busy part of town to say the least. It was almost a small city within a city. Each block was lined with buildings with various places to shop, eat, entertain, etc. No one seemed to live in this part of town since there wasn't much when it came to residential areas. Shinji just stared in awe as Katharina dragged him around telling him everything she knew about this place.
"It's called Einkaufszentrum but everyone just calls it Einkauf. It's pretty much open 24 hours since there's always someplaces that are open" Katharina said cheerfully as she dragged Shinji into a building labeled "Books".It was three floors high. The first and second floor was a huge bookstore and the third was a coffee shop and lounge.
Katharina stopped for a moment to talk to one of the people who worked there. And then turned around and continued to drag Shinji up the stairs.
"He said they have tons of Dictionaries on the second floor, section E" Katharina says to Shinji over her shoulder.
"You know you don't have to drag me, I can walk on my own" Shinji says.
"Oh but I wouldn't want my poor little non-German speaking Japanese boyfriend to be lost all alone, now would I?" Katharina said teasingly which caused Shinji to go red.
"S..S..Since w..when am I y..y.your bo..boyfriend?" Shinji manages to stutter, not hiding his embarrassment.
Katharina just laughed as she started walking slower. So now it was more like Shinji walking alongside Katharina with his hand in hers. Shinji, was relieved that he was no longer being dragged and sighed but then realized he was getting quite a few dirty looks from other guys. He then notices how his hand.
"Uh..Katharina?" Shinji says. "Call me Kat" Katharina says as she heads to section E.
"Well, Kat, I was wondering if you're aware that practically every guy wants to kill me right about now for holding your hand, so if you wouldn't mind....."
"Oh I see, so your too good to be thought of as my boyfriend eh?" Katharina says with false anger that Shinji does not see through.
"Uh no no no, I was.. just" Shinji says slowing down unsure of what to say.
"I'm joking, I'm joking" Katharina says as she drops Shinji's hand. She is smiling again, "Here we are" Shinji looks up and sees a few bookshelves filled with translating dictionaries. While Shinji just stares, Katharina starts looking for a German-Japanese one.
"Here" Katharina says as she hands a book to Shinji.
"Huh? Oh thanks" Shinji says taking the dictionary.
"So, what else do you need?" And Shinji's day shopping continued in this manner.
--------
"My god I have never been so tired in my life!" Katharina exclaims. Shinji was walking next to her with a big bag holding everything he had bought today. Katharina had purchased some clothes, which she was holding in her own bag. The two of them had just gotten off the train and were both heading to their respective homes.
"So do you think you got everything?" Katharina asks Shinji.
"Well, I don't know. I hope so" Shinji says.
"Now that's not optimistic" Katharina says smiling, as usual.
Shinji gives her a weak smile and continues walking.
"So...." Katharina says after a while, "Your an Eva pilot right?"
Shinji looks at her in surprise as he says "How did you kno-"
"I know a lot of things" Katharina interrupts. Shinji doesn't know what to say, so he continues walking. Katharina walks next to him looking at his face in an adoring manner.
"What is it like?" Katharina asks, still smiling.
"Huh?"
"To pilot an Eva. What is it like?" Shinji remains silent for a while thinking about the question. Katharina just waits patiently.
"It's horrible" He finally replies, "It adds a new twist in my life that I didn't want." Katharina sees the grim look on Shinji's face and decides not to pursue the question. They soon reach to Katharina's house which is closer to the train station then Shinji's apartment.
"Are you sure you don't wanna have dinner here?" Katharina asks Shinji.
"I'm sure" Shinji replies.
"You know technically I just asked you out and you rejected me" Katharina says.
Shinji knew better than to take her seriously by now. "Well, I guess you're not my type"
Katharina laughs and says "Now that's impossible, I'm everyone's type"
"Don't be too conceited" Shinji says.
"Whatever, now come have dinner" Katharina says.
"Not today, maybe another time"
"I'm gonna hold you one that"
"All right, well see you in school then"
"Okay, bye" Katharina says as she waves. Shinji walks home recounting the days events. He can't help but smile as he thinks of Katharina. 'She never stops smiling' he thinks, 'It's like she doesn't know what sadness is'
-------
"I...I....please accept this!" she says as she holds out an envelope which Shinji accepts. The girl then runs from the roof down the stairs vanishing from Shinji's sight. Shinji scratches his head as he opens the envelope to find, to no surprise, a letter. He briefly skimmed it noticing sentences such as "I have always loved you" and "I hope you feel the same" blah blah. Shinji sighs.
This had been the fourth girl who had "always loved him" in the past week. Word had gotten out that Shinji was an Eva pilot and ever since he had become quite popular among guys and girls. But especially girls. He walked down the stairs. It was lunch and he saw groups of students sitting or standing together enjoying their lunch. He walked into the noisy cafeteria and spotted Katharina. He went to sit with her.
"So, what was that about?"
"Love letter'" Shinji replies simply as he begins to eat his lunch.
"I see" Katharina says and then sees Shinji eating, "How about a 'thank you Mistress Kat for graciously getting my lunch'?"
"Thank you" Shinji says smiling.
"You forgot the... eh whatever" Katharina says shrugging, "So what are you donna do?"
"About what?" Shinji asks continuing to eat.
"About the letter, are you going to date her? She was pretty cute."
"She already thinks that we are going out"
"Really? How do you know?"
"It said in the letter. 'I hope you can let your feelings for Kat go'."
"Wow what a bitch, she's trying to steal my man!" Kat says playfully.
"Kat..."
"Hey, you already told three girls, and it's obvious that they told a bunch of people"
"You said I can use it as an excuse to reject them without remorse"
"Well, this is a school. Rumors spread like wildfire"
"And?"
"And pretty soon the whole school will know the truth about us"
"Which is?"
"That we're in looooove" Katharina extends the o in love teasingly.
"We're not in love or loooooove as you put it" Shinji says, "It's just-"
"That we're in looooove" Katharina repeats. Shinji sighs in resignation and finishes his food. The past few weeks had been great. He had almost mastered his German thanks to Katharina. Her lessons during lunch and after school were paying off. He had also become quite close to Katharina over. They made a habit of eating together at lunch and going places after school. Movies, shopping, library, museum, arcades, billiards, even swimming at a local pool. Somehow she turned any event into a German lesson. Telling Shinji what the actors were saying in movies, what the names of different clothing companies meant, she picked out easy German books for him to read, etc. Shinji would have kept thinking but he saw Katharina smiling slyly.
"What?" Shinji asks.
"I think she wants you to go over" Katharina says as she looks past Shinji at another table.
Shinji looks over his shoulder and sees the girl who gave him the letter on the roof and two of her friends. The girl was looking hopefully at Shinji and her friends were glaring menacingly at Katharina.
"I think her friends would rather have you come over" Shinji says to Katharina.
Katharina laughs as Shinji stands and walks over to them. He engages in conversation for a bit and then says something that makes the girl start crying. She storms out of the cafeteria obviously hurt. Her friends glare at Shinji, then at Katharina, and then they chase their heart broken friend. Shinji then returns to his seat.
"She was faking it" were the first words out of Katharina's mouth upon Shinji's return.
"Was she? She seemed to be tearing quite a lot."
"She can force tears, girls have that skill" Shinji just nods.
"So what did you tell her?" Katharina asks. "The same thing I told the other girls. That my heart belongs to you and only you."
Katharina laughs. "I didn't know you knew how to say that in German. Well then, since you so deeply love me, I'm sure you were planning on taking me out to dinner tonight. Right Shinji-kun?"
Shinji would have objected but this happened to often for him to not know how the argument would turn out. He would say something along the lines of "We're not going out" She would give an example of something they have done in the past which makes it seem like they are a couple. Shinji would find an excuse. The procedure would repeat until the bell rang. They would both get up and walk to class. Upon entering the classroom she would say something like "So tonight a 6" or any other time that was good for her. And Shinji would be stuck since he can no longer argue because class would have started.
So instead of all that effort, this time Shinji simply said "Fine, when and where?" They had no school the next day anyway, so he didn't have much to do anyway.
"Meet me at the entrance to Einkauf at 7" Katharina says smiling.
"Aren't you surprised that I didn't argue?" Shinji asks.
"Nope, I knew I would wear you down someday" Katharina says. Shinji sighs and the two walk to class together.
-----
Rei had just gotten home. She opened her door, which was never locked, walked along the floor, that was never cleaned, and into her room. She had been out to eat with Gendo. It went as usual, occasionally talking occasionally silent. It was all usual except one thing. Rei, who had until this point talked to Gendo about most things without lying, had chose to lie.
"Is the situation with the Third Children bothering you?"
"No, it does not concern me"
Rei was now lying on her bed.
'It does concern me' She thought, 'Or does it? I'm not sure. I wouldn't lie to him. I have no reason to.'
She looked up at the glasses of Ikari Gendo. But now, the picture she imagined in her head was not of Gendo, but of Shinji when he had put them on the first time he had come to her house.
'What is this? I don't understand.' Rei whispers to herself as she forces herself to go to sleep.
------
Shinji was not having a bad time. They were in a nice restaurant, somewhat fancy but not overboard. There was a dance floor, nice lighting, candles, music, etc. Katharina was gorgeous. Normally she didn't seem anything past a "cute" girl. Her hair was let down, but it was easily noticeable that she did not care much about it. It usually seemed somewhat messy, but today she had gotten enough will to actually do something to it. It was put up in someway the Shinji could not understand, but she looked beautiful. She wore a yellow dress with a long skirt. Shinji had only been able to stop staring at her moments ago. They had ordered already and Katharina had asked Shinji to dance.
"I...don't dance"
"Oh come on! You don't expect me to go over there by myself do you?' Katharina says as she tugged on Shinji's hand.
"I told you, I don't dance" Shinji said looking away from Katharina.
"...Don't or can't?" Katharina says with and evil smile.
"I can.......not....." Shinji says looking embarrassed.
"Well, now is an excellent time to learn! You have a dance floor, you have music, and you have the greatest dancer in Germany to teach you." Katharina says, again tugging at Shinji.
"I know you're conceited but the greatest dancer in Germany? Isn't that going a bit far?"
"Well maybe not the greatest, but if it was a teen division, I bet I will win!"
"You actually dance?" Shinji says, looking shocked.
"Of course! All my conceited comments have some truth to it" Katharina says.
"Wow... Are you really good?"
"Well, I'm okay. I'm good for my age, but if you compare me to really good people I'm nothing."
"How long have you been dancing?"
"I don't know" Katharina replies.
"What?" Shinji has a confused look on his face.
"Honestly I don't remember. I just started sometime." Katharina says.
"Oh...Do you ever win contests and stuff?" Shinji asks.
"Well, I don't really enter anymore, but when I used to I won quite often" Katharina says.
"I would warn you not to brag but I guess you have a right to in this case. Wow..."
"Are you amazed?"
"Yes"
"Then you should let me teach you!" Katharina says joyfully and smiles.
Shinji just sighs and stands up. Katharina puts her arm around him and the two of them walk toward the dance floor.
--------
Shinji was actually getting this. After what seemed like hours of humility and embarrassment, Shinji looked somewhat like he was moving to the music. He would have quit a long time ago if it weren't for the other dancer's laughter being suppressed by how beautiful his "date" was. Many of the guys would gaze at her for a while and then get a slap in the face by their partners.
"See, it's easy!" Katharina says.
"Well, I still don't see why this would be fun" Shinji says, but he is smiling.
Katharina laughs and gives Shinji a hug. She then sees a waiter setting their food on the table. She motions Shinji toward the table and they both walk back towards it.
--------
Katharina was standing in front of her house, Shinji had walked her.
"Well, that was a nice way to spend the evening. Thank you Shinji-kun" Katharina says, she then bows, "You were an excellent dance partner"
"Hey, I'm supposed to bow. You're supposed to do that little fancy lift your skirt up and float thing"
"Float thing?"
"Well, I don't know what it's called but you know what I'm talking about, in all the movies..."
"Float thing?" Katharina says again as she bursts out in giggles.
Shinji just waits until she is finished and she recomposes herself.
"Well, I mostly lead in the dances, since somebody didn't know how to dance, so I get to be the man today" Katharina says smiling.
"Great add insult to injury"
"Actually it's injury to insult"
"Whatever. Well, I had a good time too" Shinji says, "Bye"
"Wait!" Katharina says. Shinji turns around and is met by a kiss.
At first he is surprised, then nervous, but then realizing it's Katharina, he relaxes. He closes his eyes and decides to enjoy himself.
Afterwards Katharina is smiling. Shinji looks a little embarrassed but is also smiling.
"See you tomorrow" Katharina says.
"But we have no school tomorrow..." Shinji says.
"A bit slow I think" Katharina says. Shinji mentally kicks himself.
"I'll....I'll call you in the morning." Shinji says.
"Alrighty, so I'll be waiting"
"Uh...Bye.."
"Goodnight" Katharina says and Shinji walks down the road toward his house. He had never been happier.
------
Darkness covers everything. Nothing can be seen, but two figures. One standing, one sitting.
"I hate you!"
"Understandable, I'm sorry"
"No! You're not sorry. You're never sorry!"
"I am, truly. I'm so sor-"
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!! You're not sorry! Shut up!! I hate you! You never do anything for me! You never anything but mock me! I'm nothing to you, and I hate it!"
"But I can help you....." A different voice. It was coming from behind Shinji. Katharina wrapped her arms around Shinji's neck.
Asuka disappears as the darkness envelopes her. Shinji turns his head and is staring into Katharina's eyes.
"You can help me?" Shinji asks.
"I'll do more than mock you" She says seductively as she smiles, "I'll do anything for you, your everything to me, and you'll love it"
"I will...."
"You'll love me"
"I will" Shinji says with a serious look in his eyes.
Rrrrrrriiiiiiinnnnnng
'I swear to god, one day I'm going to kill that alarm'
----
"I told you he wasn't coming back!" Asuka shouted, "What a waste of time this was! I can't believe you wasted my day off on waiting for that baka!"
They were at the airport. Misato had been left in charge of safely returning Shinji from the airport to their home. She had dragged Asuka along since she had a day off school today. Misato just looks toward the gate one last time and seeing as no one else was coming out she turned around and started walking away.
"Didn't I tell you?" Asuka continued walking alongside Misato "He's not gonna come back. He probably loves his new life. Nothing to worry about, no angels, no evas-"
"No you to torture him" Misato says to Asuka.
Asuka stares at Misato in disbelief for a second before replying "So now it's my fault that he didn't come back? Please, he wouldn't have came anyway"
"It probably contributed" Misato said annoyed at Asuka's attitude toward Shinji not returning. They argued the rest of the way home. As soon as they entered the apartment Asuka went to her room and Misato got a beer from the fridge.
--------
"He did not return" Gendo said to Fuyutsuki.
"...." Fuyutsuki had nothing to say. He had not expected this.
"Tell professor Akagi to search for a replacement"
Fuyutsuki sighs and picks up the phone to call Akagi to Gendo's office.
-----
"Why the hell did you save me, Wondergirl!" Asuka yelled at Rei who continued to change out of her plug suit.
"What? This again?"
"I'm asking you a question!" Asuka yelled again when it seemed Rei was not responding.
"I was doing a favor" Rei said, emotionless as usual. This comment enraged Asuka beyond belief.
"You! YOU, were doing ME a favor!?" Asuka yelled "You must be kidding me! I don't want any favors from a doll like you!"
"She was doing Shinji a favor"
"I-" Rei started but Asuka wasn't done.
Asuka interrupts Rei with as she laughed maniacally. "How degrading! I guess I owe you a favor now, eh wondergirl!"
"I was fulfilling my favor to Ikari-kun" Rei said quietly after noting that Asuka was finished. This took Asuka by surprise.
"...What?" She asked, her voice back to normal.
Rei had finished changing and was ready to leave. "I said I was fulfilling my favor to Ikari-kun" Rei then turned to leave but Asuka stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.
"And what favor would this happen to be?" Asuka asked her voice and anger rising.
Rei looked into Asuka's eyes while pondering whether or not it was necessary to share this information with Asuka. She decided no one had told her not to so she did. "Ikari-kun asked me to look out for you" Rei said and then added "Good-bye" and left the lockeroom.
Asuka stood there in silence for a minute and then began to change. She could not help but smile from time to time but as soon as the smile appeared she would mentally kick herself. She heads for the door and then stops right in front of it. She then closes here eyes, and gathers her thoughts. As she walks out she mutters "I'm going to kill him..."
"No I'm not"
"Your going to kill me"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are"
"NO! I'M! NOT!"
"Then why did you say that?"
"I..."
"Why did you say it?"
"I wasn't thinking..."
"About a possibility"
"No...."
"I'm not coming back"
"...."
"At least now I don't die"
"I'm not going to kill you!"
"..."
"I said I'm not going to kill you!"
"..."
"I'M NOT GOING TO KILL YOU! SO PLEASE COME BACK!!!!"
Asuka's eyes shot open, she was sweating furiously and breathing hard. It took her a moment to recollect herself and then she let out a sigh as she looked at her clock. "6:00 am" it read.
'I'm early' She thought as she got a clean pair of clothes and walked to the shower. She would leave the house early for she didn't feel like talking to Misato this morning.
------
Asuka and Misato were eating dinner. They were eating in silence when Asuka decides to break it.
"So who's the new pilot going to be?" Asuka asks breaking the silence.
Misato replies "I'm not sure. Ritsuko seemed to favor some German girl"
"German? Really? What's her name?" Asuka asked, elated at the idea of having another German pilot.
"Katharina" Misato says, "But it's not for sure yet. She told me she was a good candidate a while ago, but she wasn't going to tell Katharina about it until it was confirmed that Shinji-kun wasn't coming back"
"Well, the baka isn't coming back, so Ritsuko-san should be telling her now shouldn't she?"
"Maybe, or maybe she will choose ano-" Misato was interrupted by a sound from the door.
"Tadaima"
-----------
My Rants
Yeah that's it. All right, it doesn't really matter since I doubt many people read my story anyway but after this chapter, I will upload chapter a lot slower. (Like it will take me longer per chapter) See up to this chapter, I already had most of the story written out, so I would just add some stuff and call it a chapter. Now I have to start writing again so... Well you get the point.