Author's Note: I planned to revise this chapter too but after reading through it I found that I really like it. I know, I know, a lot of people say that I simply ripped off the manga. With this chapter that's what I did exactly and I like the outcome. These series of events, I think, are important to what happens later on. Telling them is important and if more people want to flame me for it that's fine with me.
WOW! Has it really been that long? I'm sooooo sorry guys! I've just been busier then heck these last few weeks! I seriously am truly sorry. Here is the next chapter. Enjoy! Or else...
I don't own evangelion or and of these character. But that pretzel...you better not touch that cuz that's mine fool!
"means they're talking"
'means they're thinking' (yes, I'm sorry I changed that, but is not being nice)
CHAPTER 5 WALK IN THE DARK
Ikari sat in his entry plug, the words of "nothing" circling around in his head. Strangely his craving for Rei's thoughts ended abruptly.
Lying back, he thought, "Yes. "Nothing" is good enough for me..."
Three Hours Later.
"SHINJI!"
"Eh? Oh...yes Miss Misato?"
"Good job..."
"Uh...ok..."
"...is what I want to say. But frankly I can't. Do you realize if you had been a TENTH of a SECOND MORE LATE, THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE END OF EVERYTHING?"
sigh Shinji and his eva were being lowered into their primary restraints after their encounter with the frighteningly powerful angel, Sahaqiel. The eye-resembling beast had nearly wiped them all off the map before Shinji realized he was just standing there doing nothing. Just barely catching it in its bare hands, unit 01 was only just able to hold it long enough for units 00 and 02 to aid him and eventually defeat the angel. Though the mission was successful, all of Nerv knew one thing: Misato was pissed.
"I want you, Rei, and Asuka to report to the bridge IMMEDIATELY!"
'Great...so you can chew us out in person?'
Shinji lay back lazily in his entry plug, wondering what had caused him to hesitate so badly. When looking out of the entry plug through the LCL it sometimes seemed as if the clear walls were looking back at him. They appeared to examine him eerily, often at every aspect of his body and character, judging him like the rest of the world was. Often times he just told himself he was being paranoid, but...And then there was that smell. His nostrils flared at the thought. Blood. How he hated blood.
ClICK!
"What the hell! What is this! Why is it dark all of a sudden?"
"The power is out..." Shinji replied in the utter darkness.
The three defenders of the world, the eva pilots, the people in whose hands lay the fate of the universe, were now stumbling blindly through the dark corridor. They had been walking towards the bridge as ordered when with a flicker or two the power suddenly shut off. Leaning against the walls, Shinji and Asuka wandered a bit franticly until their eyes slowly adjusted to the faint dim light. They stood there for a couple of minutes, wondering what to do next.
"If it were just a power outage, we would have routed to a back-up generator by now. Five minutes have already passed; it is strange that the power isn't operating yet...
Rei's sudden comment in the dark made Asuka jump in her skin. Her somewhat icy, acetone voice didn't help Rei's demeanor either.
"Hey! It's dark, don't scare me like that! Don't talk like that all of a sudden, it creeps me out!"
Rei looked at Asuka's dark silhouette without much enthusiasm and replied, "I...don't know what you're talking about," as if she was being completely awry.
Walking ahead of the two other pilots, Rei started down the corridor. "There is no use being here. Let's go to the command bridge."
"Hey, bitch! Who are you to tell me what to do? You don't even ever talk to me, and now you think you can give me orders!"
Clenching her fists, Asuka nearly jumped on Rei in frustration and anger, and would have if Shinji didn't pull her back.
"Hey!" said Shinji to a hard breathing Asuka, "Calm down. This isn't something worth fighting over. Especially in the situation we're in right now."
Letting go of her shoulder, he started walking to catch up to Rei. "Besides," He said back to Asuka, "She's right. There's nothing to do here. We should at least report to the Bridge."
Grumbling to herself about "Some people...", she walked slowly, trying to catch up to them. But while she was pretty much tip-toeing down the hall, Shinji and Rei were nearly at a fast trot.
"Hey! Excuse me, wonder girl, you're walking too fast! How can you people walk so fast in the dark like this? Slow down!"
"Sorry." She replied, glancing back. "You haven't been here too long, have you?"
The answer was more like a statement then a reply and caused Asuka to draw back a bit with a gigantic scowl.
"Humph!" She said in the most annoyed tone of voice ever known to man. "That's right, I haven't been here that long...bitch..."
Shinji just followed behind them with a tired look on his face.
A few minutes later, through endless bickering on Asuka's part, they neared the bridge entryway. Suddenly a bright light illuminated out of nowhere, blinding the three. There was a scream and a giant flump! as someone hit the floor. The bright light bounced up and down as footsteps ran towards them. It turned out to be Makoto, wielding one monster of a flashlight.
"Hey! You alright?" he said to Asuka, who was currently rubbing her behind. "It's you kids! You guys came here by yourselves?"
Asuka, grumbling once again, quickly got up rushing past through the doorway ahead of them. Asuka found herself on the main level of the Nerv bridge command center. Spotting Ritsuko, she rushed over.
"Dr. Akagi! What's going on?"
"We're not even sure," she said absentmindedly, as if she'd been asked the same question for the hundredth time that day.
The bridge was busy and people ran here and about franticly trying to find a solution to the power outage. Suddenly Asuka took a step back, a look of shock running across her face. Scanning the scene, her face suddenly became one full of horror.
"Where's Misato and Kaji!"
"Huh?" replied Maya from her desk, franticly going through the main circuitry boards of the complex.
"Misato and Kaji!" screamed Asuka, "Where are those two junkyard rabbits!"
"They've been misplaced at the moment," muttered Ritsuko as she passed by.
Asuka scrunched up for a second, as if something was boiling inside her. She remained quiet as her frown got larger and larger, covering every crevice of her face. Suddenly, out of nowhere, she gave out a loud shout,
"SHINJI!"
The boy nearly fell over in surprise. For a second there, he thought his head would actually burst at the sound of his name from the loud mouthed redhead.
"Shinji." She said sweetly all of a sudden. Her appearance changed from raging she-demon to sweet little girl next door.
"I'm going to go look for Misato and Kaji. Who knows what they're up to in this dark. And Shinji? You're going to help me!"
That last comment from Asuka's mouth came with fire and brimstone.
Shinji frowned, an annoyed look crossing his face. "I knew you were going to say that..."
Grabbing Shinji's ear, Asuka dragged him over to Rei. "You, wonder girl. You're coming to."
Rei turned her back on her and replied coolly, "I don't want to get involved."
"BAKA! I knew you were going to say that! C'mon Shinji, I guess someone is a little to GOOD to help with some WORK AROUND HERE!"
And with that, she stormed back down the corridor, armed with only a flashlight and the third child. Shinji stumbled while trying to catch up to his nearly torn ear, shouting about how Asuka always treated him like this. An hour and one really beat up Shinji later, the two were stumbling in the confusing maze like corridors of Nerv. The boy was in all but in a state of complete desperation.
"Hmm...where are we...?" muttered the redhead, trying to keep it to herself.
"That's why I keep saying we should go BACK!" Shinji screamed with faint hope. "What if an angel comes? Yeah, yeah! We're needed back there Asuka, c'mon! Fate of the world!"
"I would have gone back by now if I knew the way...baka..." Asuka muttered to herself once more. She was annoyed, frustrated, and angry at the skinny lank following behind her. The two went on, walking to the sounds of Shinji's faint complaints. Slowly, he finally realized the futility of it all and dragged himself silently behind her, all will gone. Asuka's loud voice suddenly broke the thick silence.
"Baka-Shinji..."
"Huh?" he replied, his head rising slightly. "What?"
"How far have u gone with Rei?" She asked, stopping in front of him.
"Nani? What the heck does that mean?" he said, suddenly alert and giving her his his full attention.
Asuka snorted to herself and retorted, "I mean, how far have u gone with her? Kissed her? Tongue? Over the blouse? Under the blouse? Under her tiny bra? Seen her tits? I don't know what you see in that empty doll, but your lack of taste is your problem. Anyhow...how far have you gotten?"
Shinji didn't nearly fall over; he landed hard on his behind from the shock of the question. Rubbing his sore bottom, he looked up and yelled, "What the heck are you talking about?"
Asuka looked down at him with some hidden satisfaction. "You and Rei! You two are going out aren't you?"
Shinji nearly fell over again. "Of course not! What gave you that idea!"
"Phht!" she barked back, "The way you two cling around each other and how you're always defending wonder-bitch, I was wondering when the wedding would be!"
Shinji stopped to think about it as he got up. It was true he had defended Rei from Asuka on more then one occasion, but only because Asuka was so rash in her actions. When he thought about it, he did try to hang around Rei a bit more then he did Asuka. But then again, there was a lot less physical pain involved when he was with Rei.
"It's...it's not like that."
"You serious? Could have fooled me."
"I said it isn't!"
Shinji mused to himself. Rei was different. Some things just didn't make sense, and his relationship with Rei sort of seemed like one of them.
'It's not like that...Rei...it's not something I understand fully myself...but it's something good...she's a part of me though...and sometimes...when we're apart.it's as if a part of my flesh is missing...
Shinji furled his brow in frustration. Another thing that he would never fully grasp.
Author's note: That last thought from Shinji is straight out of the manga. I don't know if it appears in the English version, but my dad translated this part, and this is how it comes out. HAH! dances If one of you has this scene in the English manga, (I did change it a little, but you'll definitely recognize it), can you tell me what Shinji is thinking while picturing Rei right after Asuka asks him these questions? Thanks! Well, enough of my ranting...
Asuka laughed contemptuously at the embarrassed Shinji and cackled as she began to walk forward, "Hah! Of course you haven't, what am I thinking? You're still a little boy, like you've ever kissed a girl! HAH!"
Shinji stood grumbled to himself and was startled when Asuka suddenly swirled around, a mischievous look on her face.
"How would you like to kiss me?"
Shinji jumped back at the unexpected, somehow frightening words. His speech came out like a boy who was claustrophobic and about to be shoved into a box.
"WHAT?"
"Oh, I was just kidding. I can see you're freaked out anyways...little pansy...I guess that's all you are. Guys like you will never have a girlfriend. You're the ones always scared to do something new...hmmph!"
The third child fumed to himself at the rudeness of Asuka. His head swelled with anger and his thin line called his pride seemed to have been crossed.
"I...I'm not afraid!"
Asuka turned around once more, the devilish look once again washing over her. Walking towards him with a wide grin on her face.
"Of...of all the things I'm afraid of.a kiss is the least of them!" Shinji shouted at her.
"HAH!" She replied, "Is that so? Well, I'll just have to see for myself. Ready, Baka?"
Shinji half cringed as he realized Asuka was about to kiss him. He had been ready to stand up for himself for once, but not to actually act upon it. Truth be told, the prospect of a kiss terrified him. With so many things that could go wrong, he hated himself for not backing down. A kiss was another one of those things he could fail at, something else to displease someone with. But there was no turning back now, even with the faint feel of vomit in his stomach that was quickly overwhelming his system. He nodded faintly.
"Close you're eyes..."
Shinji faintly nodded once more, closing his eyes tight.
"Here I come..."
"I-I'm waiting..."
Asuka inched closer and closer to Shinji's puckered lips. Beads of sweat started to form on his forehead as he waited in anticipation and dread. Every second seemed like a decade, and he wondered what she was doing. All that kept running through his head was how stupid he must look at the moment. Shinji silently cursed his limbs as his arms wouldn't start quivering. Suddenly, the dead silence was broken as Asuka's piercing laugh erupted in the hallway.
"HAHAHA! You little pervert! You actually thought I was going to kiss someone like you? Hah! You wish. You'd of liked that wouldn't you?
Shinji closed his mouth and clenched his fist. Emotions of rage and fury erupted inside his head followed by swirls of doubt and remorse. Of all the things he needed right now, this was the least of them. He clenched his fists tighter and tighter at the sound of Asuka's laughing. He couldn't understand why she wanted to hurt him so much. He shook his head to himself, trying to keep himself from strangling the life out of her.
Asuka's laughter was cut short as she realized how pissed Shinji really was. She smirked to herself at how weak the eva pilot was compared to her own cool self. It was just a joke after all. But when she truly saw the sad little boy, something pinged inside her. It was compassion. All of a sudden, she felt sorry for the poor shmuck. Asuka had almost never in her life intentionally tried to hurt anybody's feelings; she had honestly beleived that she was better than them. So, when she saw for the first time how cruel she was really being, she mistook those feelings for pure pity instead of sorrow. Scratching her head, she wondered why she was frowning to herself.
"Ah, stop being such a pansy, baka. I was just kidding."
Asuka walked over and lifted Shinji's bent over head.
Smiling, she looked into his soft eyes and whispered, "Here, is this what you wanted?" And quickly rushed forward to kiss him.
For the most part, Shinji didn't know what was going on and just stood there like an idiot. It wasn't until he heard the resounding DING! that he realized he was kissing a girl.
There was a strange sound, sort of like a rustling movement, and Asuka realized the lights were back on. Looking through the corner of her eye, she nearly screamed as she saw a befuddled Kaji, who was lying under a confused Misato in the elevator shaft that was stuck moments before.
Nearly ripping her mouth from Shinji, she screeched, "Kaji! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Then, with a quick glance, looked back at Shinji, who was just as confused as she was. Staring once more at Kaji, she realized what she had been doing moments before.
"SHINJI! YOU PERVERT-BAKA!" SMACK! The force of Asuka's slap sent Shinji sprawling to the floor as Asuka ran down the corridor, tears streaming from her eyes.
"Umm...Misato? What...just happened?"
"I...dunno Kaji..."
Ok, there we go. I think this chapter is a little longer then my previous ones. Again, I apologize for not updating sooner. If you guys review, review, REVIEW, then my next update will be much quicker. I have a lot of things going on right now, so I'm sorry if it takes a few days. By the way, in the manga (yeah, I'm always rambling about that stupid thing) Shinji never actually kissed Asuka. Just wanted to let you know! Well, hope u enjoyed, and see in the next chapter!
REVIEW OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES