On the plane to Yoko Beach, Shinji did nothing but ponder the sheer strangeness of his father's, dare he use the word, charitable, actions in sending all three of them on a week long holiday to the ocean. Although Shinji couldn't swim, he loved the sea; it was soothing and relaxing. He looked back where Asuka and Rei were; Asuka was plotting to dazzle all the single men on that beach in a way only she could. Rei on the other hand looked as if she was in for the most boring time of her life.
[I thought she liked swimming] Shinji thought as he tried to hunker down for some sleep before landing.
Outside, several planes flew in guard formation over the 'Concorde'. Starscream, the rest of the Aerialbots were the escorts and the pilots themselves were traveling inside Silverbolt. So if anyone tried anything funny they would find themselves on the wrong end of a Cybertronian plasma cannon.
"Okay guys, are we all enjoying our flight?" Silverbolt asked
"Yeah, it feels good to be out and about again" Slingshot agreed
"I don't like having a human in my cockpit" Air Raid grouched
"Keep a lid on it, dickhead" Sky Dive warned his friend
"The lot of you, shut up" Starscream snapped as they began the landing pass
Silverbolt took them in nice and smooth and landed without so much as jolting the tires. Each of the Aerialbots landed in quick succession with Starscream making one more pass before joining them on the ground: all was safe. The pilots disembarked and had their luggage collected by Section 2 agents. Kaji and Misato stepped off the plane after them and stretched: they had been sent as chaperones for the duration of this trip. Kaji was staying with Shinji and Misato with Rei and Asuka.
"Well kids, look on and enjoy this place for a week; it's yours" Misato said
"Shinji, the unisex nude beach is that way" Kaji winked at the poor boy
"KAJI! KEEP YOUR BAD INFLUENCES YOU YOURSELF!" Misato screamed at the perverted man
Shinji in the meantime was just ignoring the comment as best he could and carried his hand luggage faster towards the taxi and hopped into the front seat, thus stopping him from being next to Asuka/Rei/Misato in the back seat. It ended up with his fellows riding in his cab and Kaji and Misato in the other one. Shinji remained totally still during the trip and at one point the cab driver thought Shinji was dead. Following in the air was Dark Prime.
[While the gesture is good, I sense ill intentions behind it] he thought as he situated himself in the hotel rooms that housed all the occupants.
*********************
As Kaji and Shinji unpacked their things, Kaji tried to start a conversation up with Shinji. He had great respect for the boy and admired him for all his courage and all the shit that he put up with, from seemingly every front in his life.
"Shinji, tell me, have you ever drunk before?" Kaji asked
"No" Shinji answered
"Smoked?"
"Cigarettes or Pot?"
"Either"
"No on both"
"Watched a porno?" The lack of an answer on this one indicated that at the behest of his friends that Shinji had endured one.
[Poor boy, must be one of the few straight men that doesn't like porn] Kaji remembered how he'd skillfully hidden his contraband mags as a kid
"Kaji, are you asking me these questions for a reason?" Shinji finally formulated a question
"Yes, I have discovered that you Shinji Ikari; are not very daring. Granted I don't want you to smoke or take drugs, but I think a beer is something you should try" Kaji said and began rooting around in the fridge
"What?" Shinji was now very confused
"You see Shinji, had you been born in say 1200, you would already be in your advanced training as a samurai" Kaji paused
"Funny, I think you've skipped ahead a bit" he said and chuckled as he found a six pack of Irish Guinness
"I still don't see the point Kaji" Shinji sat on the easy chair
"You need to loosen up a bit. Now, since you are with a responsible, the term used loosely of course, adult. You should be able to try a beer" Kaji explained and handed Shinji a cold can of the Irish beer
Shinji looked at the can with great hesitancy and uncertainty: in this can sat a million possibilities; some of them good and others bad. Alcohol could relax a person and make him more confident and sociable. It was also a high cause of unwanted pregnancy in young women and deaths while driving and fighting. It was a double edged sword the liquid in this can.
"Is it safe?" Shinji asked
"Nothing is safe Shinji, there are only varying degrees of danger" Kaji said with a wry smile
Seeing as he had little to loose aside from a few brain cells and some dignity (both of which he seemed sure he had little of anyway), Shinji popped the can open and took a tentative sip. The beer tasted smoother than he thought it would, it was dark amber almost black in colour. It was still mighty strong but the slight buzz Shinji's stomach and head felt from it were very pleasant. The boy sighed relaxed on the chair a bit more. Kaji allowed him to drink about half the can before taking it off him
"You're still a very small kid, there's less water in your body to break the booze down. Besides, you're a bit tipsy now anyway" Kaji said and hid the can away
Shinji didn't care: he didn't need this shit like Misato seemed to: he was just a teen experimenting with a beer, and he was being supervised while doing it, so he was in relative safety. He did heed Kaji's words though 'nothing is safe; there are only varying degrees of danger' and slowly drifted into a nap on his chair. A knock at the door alerted Kaji to guests: Misato and Asuka
"Kaji, we're off the beach. Care to join us?" Asuka asked, nearly wrapping herself around Kaji instantly
"Sure, let me get changed" he said, prying the young girl off him.
"Oh, is Shinji asleep?" Misato asked Kaji upon his return
"Yeah; must have been a weird flight for him. Come on, he's well guarded here" Kaji said
[You have no idea] Dark Prime and Soundwave thought in unison.
So the others disappeared down to the beach for a relaxing swim and a sunbath. Shinji was content to sit, mildly tipsy in his chair feeling really relaxed and happy for a change. All the while, Dark Prime sat blinked and grumbling about Kaji getting the poor soul drunk. Soundwave in the meantime sent Rumble and Frenzy to scout the apartment, but to avoid Shinji until it was ascertained he was asleep. Rumble looked at Shinji with a funny expression.
"What are you looking at?" Dark Prime asked
"Seems weird, him fighting aliens" Rumble said
"Oh?" said Dark Prime
"Yeah, what's even more amazing is that according to Laserbeak, he's the best of the three" Frenzy put in
"Return to the task at hand" Soundwave ordered
"Ahhh" Rumble jumped and hopped to it.
As they were searching; a knock at the door made them scramble to hide. After a few minutes the door opened and Rei stepped in; apparently she had declined an invite to the beach and came to enquire as to Shinji's current state of affairs. She looked around the room, she felt as if she was being watched by something but she didn't know what.
"Where is he?" she wondered and looked around the apartment
[Well, well. This is interesting] Dark Prime thought as a lurid smile spread across his face.
"Shinji Ikari, are you here?" she called out
"Yeah, is that you Rei?" a voice responded from the other side of the room
"Yes it is me, Pilot Ikari. Why aren't you are the beach?" Rei asked
"I'm tired, but mainly I can't swim" Shinji said, giggling a little
Rei noticed a slight pink tinge on Shinji's face and since she was sure he wasn't embarrassed just yet, she could only assume one other reason: he was intoxicated. She blinked: Shinji was not one to engage in drinking; it wasn't in his character. So she decided to investigate further in the matter.
"Pilot Ikari, how many fingers am I holding up?" she asked, holding up her middle three fingers.
"Three: your index, middle and ring finger" Shinji answered with a grin
[Hmm, he has imbibed alcohol but not enough to sufficiently hinder his senses; I believe this is called a pleasant high] Rei thought as she sat opposite Shinji on another chair.
Dark Prime could hardly contain his laughter as she saw what was going on: he'd commented that Shinji needed to let off steam more often; this was helping immensely. One fact he found interesting: after Shinji took the beer, Dark Prime had monitored the boy's brain chemistry again and he'd relaxed upon drinking the beer. What he found most interesting was the increased amounts of bodily relaxants in Shinji's brain were released the instant he heard this girl's voice.
[Oh this is priceless; where is Reflector when you need him] he thought as he watched Shinji, drunkenly, flirt with the other girl.
**********************************
The beach was the most relaxing place any of the three Nerv personnel had been in a long time: warm soft sand and a lovely blue ocean. The people were friendly and they soon found themselves in a game of beach volleyball with some other swimmers. They laughed and had lunch on the beach: fried chicken and fresh bread with fruit salad and soft drinks and for a brief time, it seemed like Asuka had become remotely human and seemed laid back and friendly.
"Ah this is the life, it even makes up for us not being allowed to go to Okinawa last month" Asuka sighed from her spot on the sand
"I think I saw a place offering scuba trips on the small reef over near the plaza, how about it?" Misato suggested
"Sounds good" Kaji chimed in
"It's a shame Shinji and Rei are still at the hotel" Misato said
"WHAT??" Asuka shot up from her place on the sand and trained her glare on Misato
"You left those two in a hotel room unsupervised, something could happen!!" she bellowed
"Asuka; do you honestly believe anything will happen, I mean, it's them" Misato said
Kaji suddenly felt very nervous: he had left Shinji in a diminished state when he left and he knew that alcohol had strange affects on people and since Shinji wasn't an experienced drinker like himself; anything could happen. Hastily and sweating, Kaji stood up and announced he forgot something at the hotel and needed to get it
"What did you forget?" Misato asked, her mind already analyzing for a lie
"My cell phone" he said; that wasn't a lie, he had indeed forgotten his cell phone at the hotel
"Okay, don't be too long though" she said and returned to her sunbathing
"Are you really going to trust that pervert with Rei?" Asuka demanded
"Gee Asuka, I thought you had a high opinion of Kaji" Misato teased
"Not Kaji, he's a perfect gentleman. I mean Shinji" she snapped
"I didn't think you cared about Rei, or is you want to be in her place?" Misato asked
"No, I don't want that little perv touching me" she shrieked
"You want Rei then?" Misato was going to kill herself with these jokes
The resulting shockwave that Asuka's screech caused was felt and heard all across the beach, something along the lines of 'I am not gay' or the like. Misato however was in stitches in the sand as she laughed at Asuka's discomfort and embarrassment
"Oh calm down Asuka, I'm only kidding with y-" Misato stopped when she saw Asuka was running off.
[Oh hell, I think I went too far there] Misato cringed
"WAIT, ASUKA" Misato yelled but her calls fell upon deaf ears
"FUCK YOU" the girl called back
Misato then made a face; it was highly possible that she had just ruined the week for everyone by making Asuka upset. Her bad moods made her treat Shinji worse and through that she and Asuka fought more. Kaji and Rei were just unlucky enough to be caught in the middle this time.
*********************
Back at the hotel, Shinji was staring intently at Rei, more than he ever had before and it made Rei feel a little uneasy but she didn't show it. Shinji hadn't done anything she would associate with drunkenness: he just seemed a little more confident with his actions and himself. Eventually Shinji smiled and said, in a real soft voice.
"If you smiled more, you'd be the most attractive girl I know" he said and sat back in his chair
This comment took all occupants of the room by surprise. Even Rei went a bit pink from the compliment. Dark Prime was sniggering to himself quietly while Rumble and Frenzy were barely holding onto their own laughs at the comment.
[Oh I am so happy I recorded that] Dark Prime said to himself
"Pilot Ikari, what did you say?" Rei herself did not believe the statement herself
"I said you should smile more, if you did you'd be the most attractive girl I know" Shinji repeated himself
Shinji then leaned closer in to Rei's face, nearly nose to nose with her in fact. Rei blinked as Shinji smiled softly at Rei and brought a hand up to her face and lightly stroked her cheek.
"You're still attractive though" he said
"Ikari…" Rei was stammering
"Rei, I'd like to kiss you, would you let me do that?" Shinji asked
Now the eyebrows were going up. Rei felt a surge of heat and feeling the likes of which she'd never felt before in her life. It was like being sick but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling. Her head swirled uncertainty and fears of the consequences of this idea but she felt her head moving back and forth, a nod. Then she felt the new sensation of lips on hers: warm and electrifying.
[Well, he did it] Dark Prime was shocked
********************
Asuka kept running from the beach until she was at the air base where they landed earlier that day. She was still dressed in her red and white two-piece from the beach and it was a bit nippy in the hanger she came across when she finally slowed to a walk and calmed down. Upon further inspection on the hanger she realised that the planes she was near were the ones she'd seen escorting them to this very area. She went and sat down by the red F-15 and just let it all go
"No one cares about me, they only use me" she sobbed
[That's not true] Starscream thought
"Hey Buck, check this out. It's a sad little girl" a drunk, American voice belted out
"Well Billy, what do we do about that" said another man, taking a slug of Whisky
"Think she likes to dance" Billy said
"Well, if she does we do one my girlfriend taught me. The 'Horizontal Hustle', hehe" Buck made a lunge for Asuka
Normally Asuka would be fast enough to avoid such a clumsy attack, but her running; crying and emotional state had slowed her reflexes to a point where she was caught. Asuka tried to escape but they were big men and very muscular and they managed to pin her down. Asuka was sure that something bad was going to happen.
"UNHAND HER, FLESHBAGS" a loud voice rang across the hanger
"What the hell was that?" Buck asked
"STARSCREAM TRANSFORM!" the voice cried
Then they heard what sounded like servos and gears moving and they turned around; and all three were privy to an incredible scene. The F-15 that Asuka had been leaning on had changed to into a large man shaped robot, although elements of his plane form were still there, the wings and thrusters and air intakes were still visible. Asuka just blinked and for a minute she thought it was a new kind of Eva. Her theory was dashed when it scowled and spoke again
"You filth bags" Starscream hissed and held his arm cannons at the two rapists
Before they could even speak, Asuka ran and hid behind a crate. Starscream smiled and unleashed his weapons tremendous power, the two men were annihilated. Asuka's heart was pounding and she was so frightened that what ever the hell that thing was would kill her.
"You do not need to fear me human, my name is Starscream. I was sent here to protect you" he said
"What?" Asuka asked in terror
"I was sent here by my superiors to defend you from harm. My duty is to guard your life with my own. I won't hurt you" Starscream said
"How do I know that you aren't lying?" Asuka said
"If my mission was to kill you, I would have waited till those two were finished with you and killed you then, but I intervened and saved you" he rationalised
Asuka realised that he was right and nervously stuck her head around the crate she was behind and saw Starscream: he wasn't making any sudden moves and he was smiling. His eyes were a red colour but they had a softer hue than expected. With the nervousness akin to a young child meeting another adult for the first time, Asuka walked over to Starscream. He smiled and offered his hand to her
"Hello, I'm Starscream" the giant robot said softly
"I'm Asuka" she said
************************
Back in the hotel, Shinji had just broken his lip to lip contact with Rei and the buzz had slightly faded and Shinji became more aware of what was going on and he blinked and shook his head and saw Rei. Her eyes were still closed and her features seemed more relaxed, also her cheeks were pink. Shinji's eyes widened with realisation
"Am I interrupting something?" Kaji was in the doorway, leaning smarmily in the doorway
[Oh no, busted big time] Dark Prime thought as he saw Kaji
"I ah, wasn't ah. It's not what it…" Shinji reversed back into stutter mode again
[Oh boy, give him more booze] Rumble pleaded
"Excuse me Mr. Kaji, Shinji. I, I have to go now" Rei got up and left, she stared at Shinji for a second, longing in her eyes.
Rei stepped past a now stunned Kaji with a blush on her face and went back to her room. Kaji shifted his stare between the confused Rei and the semi distraught Shinji. Now Kaji knew that nothing short of being forced at gunpoint and maybe not even then, would cause Shinji to mistreat a woman so he assumed what happened was totally consensual and that was how it seemed because neither had their hands raised.
"Oh hell, what do I do?" Shinji wondered
"Shinji, I think you just made Rei feel, well, something" Kaji quickly calming the boy down
"Man I feel so stupid" Shinji moaned
"Okay kid, I am gonna go and see Rei now, just to hear what she has to say. You just be cool" Kaji said
Kaji made a quick exit and knocked on Rei's door. She opened it a few seconds later and let him in. Kaji got straight to the point and asked Rei exactly what happened. Rei explained that Shinji had first asked permission before kissing her and that she was in no danger at all. Kaji relaxed a bit and said he would leave. Before he did leave though, Rei made an unusual request
"Please, tell Shinji that I am not angry with him" she wanted to add something more but couldn't find the constitution to say the last part she wanted
"Sure; no problem. It'll probably relax him more" he replied and left.
Kaji again made the quick trip between rooms and sat down beside Shinji and gave him the kind of hug a father gives a son or brother and calmly explained that Rei wasn't angry with him. Shinji was still a little upset and confused; if Rei wasn't angry and if she had indeed enjoyed the experience, why did she leave?
"Shinji. You and I are going to have one of those long man to man talks tonight, starting with a reminder of what I told you about the characters we use for woman" Kaji said to the tense youth
"Huh?" Shinji was still to scrambled to remember what Kaji was talking about
"I told you once that the characters for woman mean 'person on distant shore', remember?" he asked while he made coffee for them both
"Oh yeah, I remember" Shinji said
"Well, in Rei's case, I think those words apply to the highest degree" Kaji elaborated on his point a little bit
"Kaji if it's all the same to you, I think I'll go and talk to Rei myself and then, if she doesn't kill me, take a nap" Shinji said firmly
"Okay, I'll see ya later" Kaji said and wished the boy luck in his mission
[Good luck kid, but something tells me you won't be needing it] Dark Prime said
"Dark Prime, its Silverbolt here. Starscream has made contact with his charge" the Aerialbot command said in his message
"Excellent, how are they getting on?" he queried
"Well enough; he's telling her about Cybertron now" Silverbolt replied
"Okay, keep me informed, Dark Prime out" he said and cut the transmission
[One down, 2 to go] Dark Prime said to himself
*********************
Asuka sat in the now re-transformed Starscream's heated cockpit and listened to the general information on the set up that was going on here. So far she gathered that there were at least 7 Transformers in Tokyo 3 that she knew of and many more that she did not know of. When Starscream finished explaining himself, Asuka asked a question.
"Why did you guys decide to help us, me and my comrades I mean?" she asked
"That is something that I actually do not know. The decision to help earth here was because of someone else you shall meet in due course" he answered
"Who?" Asuka asked
"Dark Prime, a deadly and highly skilled warrior. The best one we have. He is guarding Shinji Ikari" Starscream said
"WHAT??" Asuka screeched
"Hey, watch the audio sensors, they're sensitive" Starscream winced
"How come that idiot gets the best one to guard him?" Asuka seethed
"Well, that's the thing; Dark Prime is a bit of hard case, got a good sense of humour but has about as much love in him as an Angel. We thought sticking him with Shinji would mutually beneficial" Starscream explained
Asuka relented and just hunkered down in the seat a bit more; she was still tired and drained from the less than ideal day she'd been having and wasn't really interested in going back to the others just yet. Starscream noticed this and turned up the heating in the cockpit: if she was going to stay there for the evening, she may as well be comfortable. He gently reclined the pilot seat so it was like a bed and opened a hatch for a blanket and pillow to come out
"Thanks Starscream" Asuka said and went to sleep
"No problem Asuka" the Transformer replied
Asuka then fell into one of the first peaceful sleeps she'd had since she was 5 years old. No nightmares could reach her while she was in the protective embrace of Starscream; for he would let no harm come to her: that was his mission now as it had been for nearly 150 Million years: Defend Evangelion Pilot Asuka Langley Soryu, with your own life if the need arises.
*******************
Misato was going mad: she had combed the whole area for Asuka and had no luck in finding her at all. If anything happened to her, not only would she never forgive herself but she was sure that commander Ikari would have her severed head on a silver platter for this debacle. She was about ready to call in a lockdown of the area and have Section 2 comb the city totally when one of said agents came jogging up to her
"Major, the Second Child has been located. She is in the airplane hanger at the base we landed at" he said and saluted
"Thank you agent" Misato returned the salute and dismissed the young man and began jogging to that area when she bumped into Kaji
"Where are you going in such a hurry?" he asked, grinning
"Asuka ran off when I took a joke to far" Misato said and went around Kaji and resumed jogging towards the airfield
Kaji watched this all unfold before him and after careful analysis and consideration he came to the conclusion that there was only one appropriate course of action to be taken given the situation: find the nearest bar and get totally hammered: this was going to be the craziest week of his entire life: and he hadn't done anything yet.
"Woe is me" he said and went to nice looking tavern on the beach front.
Back at the hotel; Shinji was in the room Asuka and Rei were sharing, trying to explain to Rei that he felt really bad about kissing her, even though she confirmed that she gave her permission to do so. Shinji then went on to explain that he had indeed had alcohol beforehand. Shinji's head dropped and he looked at the floor feel ashamed. A cool hand touched his chin and made him look up: Rei's
"You are not at fault here, Shinji, I believe it is normal for teenage boys to kiss teenage girls" she said
"When that happens, Rei, there is usually a relationship involved" he said, still shedding tears
"We have a relationship do we not, we are friends" Rei pointed out
"I mean they love each other" Shinji added
"Friends love friends do they not" she reasoned and used her other arms to pull Shinji into a hug: he needed one badly
[Why must a good soul suffer?] she wondered
Rei noticed after a few minutes that Shinji's breathing had become rather regular and even. She checked him and saw that he had fallen asleep: the combination of alcohol, jet lag and emotional distress had made him highly fatigued and he succumbed to sleep. Rei considered what the most appropriate course of action was and decided since they were both double beds, she and Shinji could share hers with little problem as they were both very lithe and slim people.
"Good night Shinji" she said and laid him down on the left side of the bed while she got undressed and went to sleep on the right side of the bed
"Oh this is too good to be true" Dark Prime chuckled and sat on the other bed in a cross legged fashion
*****************
Misato reached the hanger as it was getting a little darker and went searching for Asuka. After finding nothing on the ground she began searching the planes and eventually found Asuka asleep inside the red F-15. Misato debated for a long time whether or not to wake her up and take her back to the hotel or just leave her there where she seemed safe and comfortable. After careful thought, Misato decided to wake her up; she'd deal with the consequences later on and knocked on the canopy glass.
"Asuka, wake up" she said
[Heh, that's what you think woman] Starscream thought: he'd soundproofed the cockpit
"Okay fine, I'll drag you out" Misato growled and forced open the canopy.
[Damn you woman] Starscream seethed he was under instructions not to give himself away, so locking the canopy down was a no, no.
"Asuka, come on honey wake up" Misato said softly
"Huh, oh, its you" Asuka said and looked neutrally at her guardian
"I'm sorry about before; I was just kidding around. Forgive me?" she asked
"Yeah" Asuka broke into a smile: her talk with Starscream had calmed her down and made her feel better
"Thanks, what made you feel better?" Misato asked as they walked back to the hotel
"I spoke to a friend" she said, looking back at Starscream
********************
Kaji, feeling refreshed after his cleansing ales at the local tavern went back upstairs to sit Shinji down and have a manly chat with him; most of his alcohol was in fact bravery shots to actually talk with Shinji since Kaji had never done anything like this in his entire life. Gulping and vowing to take his mission and any embarrassment like a man, he went in
"Now Shinji…" he stopped when he remembered that Shinji had gone next door to speak to Rei
"Oh, well I guess I'll talk to him when he gets back" Kaji reasoned and sat down on the couch
He hadn't sat down long when he heard Misato and Asuka coming up the hall. He stuck his head out to say hello. He was glad to see Asuka was okay and that things had been patched up between the two women. He asked Misato to send Shinji around when he was done.
"Done with what?" she asked suspiciously
"He went to talk with Rei about something, send him round when ya see him if you could please" Kaji requested again and went back to his couch
His peace and quiet lasted all an extra 20 seconds before Asuka's very distinct voice screamed the word pervert loudly and in 3 different languages; very impressive use of swearing Kaji thought as he ran next door, already dreading the reason for Asuka's scream and then he heard a loud thump and winced.
[Please god, if you have any mercy in you at all, please let that be Asuka] Kaji prayed as he walked in
Sadly his prayers were not answered and he saw (thankfully fully dressed) Shinji laid out cold on the floor and Misato hurrying Rei out of the room in a bathrobe and Asuka wanting to make Shinji into the worlds first living piñata. Kaji quickly stepped in and saved the boy from a fate worse than death and put him back on the bed. All this was happening while Dark Prime looked on shaking his head.
[Why can't she just leave him alone] he wondered
"Kaji, get me a scotch. I think we'll both need them before this evening is done" Misato commanded
"Amen to that" Kaji said
***************************