Disclaimer: Evangelion: Neon Genesis is not owned by me, it's owned by GAINAX. This fanfic cannot be distributed without the clear, explicit consent of the author (me). No profit has been made from this piece... yet.
Author's Note: I have no idea what possessed me to write this. It's been a very long time since I updated, and school starts in two days for me. I guess I'm trying to tie up loose ends, finish what I started. When I began this, I was a bit depressed, but I'm not really depressed now, so sorry if it doesn't retain whatever magic it had ;P
"I wonder how the counseling session for Asuka went.. Hopefully they made a little progress..." Misato thought as she drove in her flashy red sportscar from work to the hospital. She got out, entered the building, and glanced at a scrap piece of paper where she scribbled Asuka's counseling session.
"Is that a 7 or a 9? God, how sad... I can't even recognize my own handwritting..."
"Excuse me? Could I provide any assistance?" inquired a friendly nurse.
"Ah, yes. Could you look up Asuka Langley Sohryu and where she currently is please?"
"Of course. One moment." The nurse returned to the computer and typed in a few words before responding. "She's in Room 9045. Take a right hand turn when you get out of the elevator, and continue. It should be at the end of the hallway."
"Thank you."
Misato got in the elevator, which was conveniently already at the Lobby. She got out when it reached the 9th floor, and walked up to the door.
"Perfect timing." she thought to herself, pleased something had finally gone right. The moment she opened the door, she was assailed by loud screaming.
"I TOLD YOU I DON'T HAVE ANY FUCKING PROBLEM! I'M FINE!" screamed the crimson-haired demon.
"Calm down, be reasonable, there's no need to sho-" the doctor tried to say, but was interrupted again by Asuka's wailing.
"I'M NOT DEPRESSED, I'M FINE, WHY CAN'T ANYBODY SEE THAT?!?" continued Asuka without inhaling another breath.
"Denial is always the first step. Right now we need to work on finding what's wrong wit-"
"LET ME OUT OF HERE, OUR APPOINTMENT IS OVER!" shreiked Asuka. She stormed out of the room, furious, and blew past Misato. A magazine fell down from the rack it was on due to the vibration of the door slamming into the frame. Kaworu hurried after her while Misato stayed behind to speak with the doctor.
"Nobody can help you unless you help yourself!" shouted the doctor after her.
"Not much progress, huh?" she observed slightly exasperated.
"Well, I got her to talk, which she refused to do in the beginning... I'll just have to wear her down. Same time, next week?"
"Yes. Thank you for putting up with her."
The doctor grinned sheepishly. "It's my job. I guess I actually enjoy dealing with this, once in a while..."
************
Misato stepped out of the hospital into the bright sunshine. Asuka's red hair blended nicely with Misato's car's complexion. She was leaning on the car, one leg crossed over the other, obviously displeased while Kaworu just stood with his hands in his pocket in a pleasant mood as always.
"She'd make a nice car model." Misato mused. She could hear bits and pieces of their conversation as she approached.
"I told you... problem..."
"But... Why depressed... Happy?"
Asuka hesitated a little, then she saw Misato.
"I'm not seeing that dead rock for a brain, son of a whore half-trained incompeten-"
"Your appointment is the same time next week." Misato said with a tone of finality.
"But-" protested Asuka.
"No buts," Misato cut her off, "You can't fool me! I can underst-"
"You can't understand a fucking thing! Nobody does. Nobody." she emphasized.
Misato threw up her arms in defeat.
"Fine, I'll let the doctor handle that. Lets go."
Kaworu got in the passenger seat, while Asuka sat in the back. She frequently shot glances at Misato through the mirror, then stubbornly stared out the window, eyes on the power lines. Misato tried to make polite conversation about school, politics, but Asuka always answered with short abrupt responses.
************
As Kaworu and Asuka prepared for bed, she found herself questioning what Kaworu had said. She tapped on the wall before widening the gap between the door and the frame.
"Kaworu?"
"Hmm?" responded Kaworu, idly staring at the ceiling.
"Are you happy?"
Kaworu turned his head to face Asuka. "I suppose. I enjoy life, and I have no reason to be unhappy. Why do you ask?"
"Just... wondering." muttered Asuka.
Kaworu propped up his head with his hand. "You still haven't answered my question." he said with his customary slight smile.
"What question? I don't remember." Asuka tried to evade the topic.
"Are you happy?"
"..."
Kaworu didn't try and rush her, he just maintained his position. It was almost half a minute before Asuka responded.
"I... Don't know."
"Why not? Don't you enjoy life? Is something on your mind?"
"I... Don't know," she admitted, "life just doesn't seem fun anymore. Not that it ever was..." she added bitterly.
"Don't you have anything in your life you can look forward to? Something you enjoy doing?"
At this point, Asuka's voice hardened.
"I pilot Eva. I protect everybody, and that's all I need to do. All other objectives are secondary."
"And what will you do when you can no longer pilot her?"
"...I won't. Eva is my life. The world needs me." Asuka turned and began to walk away. Just as she closed the door, Kaworu's voice called after her.
"You know, there is more to life than piloting Eva. You should try exploring that sometime... The world may need you, but you have needs too..."
Asuka spent the night brooding on what Kaworu had said, replaying the entire conversation.
************
Misato yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes. Ritsuko turned away from her desk, sipping a cup of coffee.
"Coffee?" she offered.
"Thanks..." Misato said graciously, taking the cup that Ritsuko offered.
"So, how's Asuka?"
"The farthest the counseling session got to yesterday was screaming and yelling about how she didn't have a problem."
Ritsuko chuckled a little. "At least she's speaking."
Misato pouted a little. "That's what the psychologist said."
"Shinji?"
"No word from him..."
"How about the Fifth? Kaworu? Is that the name?"
Misato shrugged. "He's ok. Getting along amazingly well with Asuka, considering her vicious temper... And, yeah, that's the name."
"You know, you should be on the lookout for him," said Ritsuko half-jokingly. "SEELE sent him, he might be their spy... In fact, he might even be trying to seduce Asuka to give up the innermost secrets of NERV. You shouldn't leave them alone together." she added with a wink.
"I pity whoever tries to touch her... He'd probably be signing his own death warrant... Although I caught them sleeping with each other a few days ago..." Misato caught the look on Ritsuko's face and quickly added "Of course, they didn't actually do anything..."
Ritsuko sat up a little. "All joking aside, watch for him. I'm serious about this, we can never be too caref-"
Suddenly, the sirens started blaring and the alarm lights went off, dazzling the room with an orange glow. Technicans choked on their coffee as they scrambled to their stations.
"Pattern Blue! It's an Angel!" yelled Maya.
"Find the pilots! Suit up the First, Second, and Third! Keep the Fifth on standby!" shouted Misato.
"Inform the Commander! And somebody shut the fucking sirens off!"
"It's about 30 kilometers southwest from here, and closing rapidly! ETA 15 minutes!" roared another technician.
"Section Two has located the First and Second, searching the for rest!"
"Ugh, what a way to start the day..." sighed Ritsuko.
"We haven't had a chance to test Asuka's performance after the... Encounter with the last angel. We may need to rely on the Fifth, who is also untested..." said Misato grimly, wide awake, and her long coffee forgotten.
Author's Note: There. Now review you lazy bastards, or I'll kill Kaworu off =D
