Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion. All characters and other affiliated material is the property of Gainax.

Thoughts are displayed with [and].

Kega / Verletzen                                                                                                             Hurt        

Shinji Ikari took a step off of the curb and found himself on the black pavement of his street. It was 7:45 AM and he was tired. Today would be the day he returned to school. Shinji took another step across the street, looking up at the sky as he did so. It was a sunny day. [It is a good day to die]



Asuka Langley Soryu slowly stepped off of the apartment stair case and found herself on the sidewalk. Noise. [What?] Noise. Asuka looked out to the street. Shinji was standing in the middle of the road, staring up at the sky. There was a car coming around the corner. It was moving quickly; the driver was fixing her hair. [Shinji move!] There wasn't time. [Decision. Make one.]

Asuka broke into a sprint and soon found that she had leapt forward. Her hands met cloth, and soon her weight met that of the third child's. She could feel her ears scream suddenly inside of her skull. The car horn was blaring. [pain] Asuka felt her left leg strike the front of the oncoming car, and then she felt herself hit the pavement. [Shinji? are you alright?] She was on top of him. [my eyes] They were working. Shinji was fine; he had not been injured. [he is fine. I am thankful. I am injured. Tears. Pain. This pain is my own].



Shinji Ikari stared into the eyes of the girl above him. He could not understand what he saw there. The sheer amount of conflicting emotions displayed there confounded him. Her expression was filled with pain. Her face was red.  Her lip was quivering. She was breathing hard, as if she was using all of her will to hold something inside. Shinji watched her eyes close as the tears came. They dripped upon his face, and ran down his cheeks onto his neck and shirt.

"Asuka!" Shinji could feel his own tears begin to fall.

"Shinji…my leg," she said. [it hurts] she thought. Her mind was filled with pain.

Shinji Ikari slowly rolled the red headed girl off of him, resting her head on the black ground. He could see out of the corner of his eye the car that had hit her. The woman was talking frantically into a cellular phone. Then he saw her leg. It was bleeding slightly; the red liquid seeping past the bandages placed on her healing cut wounds. [Those cuts. Where did they come from?] Shinji pushed the thought from his mind and tried to focus on what was going on in front of him. [Her leg]. It didn't look bad. The car must have only nicked her. [The woman in the car. She is approaching]. Shinji looked up from the body of the second child to the frantic woman coming towards him.

"Oh my god I am so, so, sorry!" She said.

[Why?] Shinji thought after hearing her statement.

"It was my fault. Don't worry," Shinji said.

"I called an ambulance on my cell…"

Shinji nodded, as the woman continued.

"…How bad is it?"

"I don't think it's bad. But I really don't know."

Shinji watched as the woman glanced at Asuka's hurt foot. The woman was noticeably discomforted at seeing her victim upon the ground. Her mouth began to move, as if she was making an effort to say something, but instead she turned and walked a few feet away to a nearby bench. She leaned over and placed her face in her open hands.



Shinji Ikari entered the kitchen of his apartment. He quickly opened the fridge and began to shift its contents. The ambulance had arrived quickly, and Asuka was not even taken to the hospital. The paramedics had quickly put her leg in a splint, provided Asuka with a pair of crutches, and advised that she go easy on her ankle for a week or two. Shinji sighed after finding nothing appetizing, and walked cautiously, quietly, out into the living room.

"There's no sense sneaking around like that. I'm not asleep."

"Oh," Shinji said as he turned to look at the red head laying on the couch.

"Shinji?"

"Yes."

"Could you come sit here for a moment."

Asuka motioned with her hand to the portion of the couch not occupied by her person. Shinji's eyes followed the movement, while his mind comprehended it. [why? Why do you wish for me to be near? You hate me. I hate myself. I am hated]. Shinji cautiously sat on the couch. Silence followed. [silence. This is awkward. I feel as if I should say something. I don't know what to say. I never know what to say. I hate this about myself.]

"Shinji?"

[respond]

"Yes?" he said.

"What were you doing in the street? You were just standing there."

[I don't know.] Shinji thought. [It was just…a good day to die]

"I don't know," Shinji said.

[Is that true?] Shinji thought. [Was I looking for death? No…]

"Asuka, why did you save me?"



Asuka Langley Soryu caught the gaze of the third child in her own, his question echoing in her mind. "Asuka, why did you save me?"

[Shinji…did you really think that I wouldn't have tried to save you?]

"Why wouldn't I try and save you?" She said.

"I don't know. Why would you?" Shinji said.

Asuka still held his gaze, though, now, she was beginning to become frightened by what she saw there. In truth the question posed to her was fundamentally a very simple one. [why would I save Shinji Ikari from dying?]. Asuka again found herself confronted by her feelings; again she felt the rumble of her pride.

"I…don't know.

Asuka watched the pain register upon his features as if he had suffered a hideous blow. Or had his features changed at all? [Was he hoping that I would say something else. Is he just used to rejection? Does he even care if he lives or dies?].

Asuka watched as Shinji slowly turned from her and began to walk away. The second child felt a horrible wave of sadness hit her. [you do love me, don't you? Am I sending you away? I'm sorry]. Silence pervaded the entire apartment as her thoughts raced. [Stop apologizing. You're Asuka Langley Soryu. Do something].

"Shinji…don't go."