Author's Note: I'm sorry it took me so long to update after getting back, but here's the next chapter. Just as a warning, this chapter is going to have a lot of flashbacks.
Disclaimer: Roses are Red. Violets are blue. Me no own, so you no sue.
Chapter 8: Attack of the Kamacuras/Camping Gone Awry
A bear wandered through the forests of Tokyo 3 in the night, looking for berries and other edible plants. Maybe if he was lucky he would find some meat. Be it carrion or a rabbit that he could hunt down and kill himself he didn't care. All that mattered to the bear was sustenance and how he could acquire it. There weren't many bears left following the environmental upheaval of Second Impact. But a few remained nonetheless.
The predator watched its chosen prey. Its hunger was growing and would soon reach fever pitch. It could not hold its appetite back any longer. It longed to feel flesh in its mouth, to drink of the blood of freshly killed meat. The predator struck.
The bear managed only a short bark of surprise as two sickle shaped claws sank into its right flank. The claws dragged down, cutting deep into the bear's flesh. The hefty creature collapsed, all strength having fled from his muscles. His attacker scuttled into his fading view. The moonlight gleamed off the hard exoskeleton of a giant praying mantis. Without hesitation, the monster closed its mandibles on the bear's flesh, tearing away a large chunk of meet and swallowing it almost instantly. The mantis was soon joined by others. Some were small; some were even larger than the bear itself. They all fell upon the fresh meal with unrelenting savagery, tearing at the bear before it had even finished dying.
Their meal consumed, the gigantic insects went on their way, seeking more food to satisfy their still growing appetites. The scuttling sounds of individual creatures was soon replaced by the low rumble of hundreds of feet as the group of mantises swelled to an army, an army that devoured anything in its path.
***
"Augh, slow down Asuka!" Shinji's pleas fell on deaf ears as Asuka, who had his wrist in a death grip, dragged him down the streets of Tokyo 3 towards the train station. Slung over his shoulder was a backpack carrying everything that he thought he would need for a simple camping trip. Asuka had a similar backpack, though hers was considerably larger.
They were both excited about the prospect of the camping trip. School had been hard enough already. But when one combined that with synch tests and lessons in Morse code from Ritsuko, a week could get very hectic indeed.
"It would help if you weren't so slow baka," snarled Asuka. Shinji managed a smile, knowing she couldn't see it. He was glad that she was returning to her old self. Quite frankly, the Asuka she had been not so long ago was kind of unnerving.
"That's the gratitude I get for making your breakfast and lunch for you?" he said cynically, "You can't even let me at least make breakfast for myself?"
Asuka suppressed a smile despite herself. He's getting a spine, that's good. Instead, she said, "Ha! You eat so slow the class would have left without us and come back and you still wouldn't have been done." She was rewarded with an amused chuckle. "Come on," she said, "We're almost there." The train station was rapidly coming into a view. A few students were already there, milling around the waiting area. Hikari and Touji were among them.
Both Asuka and Shinji were only slightly surprised to see Hikari and Touji sharing a bench and talking to one another. And even then, the only thing they were surprised at was that the two were doing it in front of their classmates. Shinji was not in the leas surprised to see the slight blush on Touji's cheeks. Nor was Asuka when she saw a slight blush on Hikari's.
The two children looked almost relieved to see Shinji and Asuka come rushing up. Asuka rushed up to Hikari and practically dragged her away. Shinji, having been suddenly turned loose before he had a chance to regain his balance, stumbled and nearly slammed head first into Touji.
"I take it she was in a hurry," said Touji, raising an eyebrow.
"I cook for her," groaned Shinji, "I make her breakfast, I make her lunch. But does she give me a chance to eat? No." She sighed as his stomach growled loudly. "At least I managed to make myself a lunch."
"Hey don't worry," said Touji, chuckling, "We've still got a good half an hour before we actually need to be here and there's a convenience store just a block away."
"That sounds good," replied Shinji. They left the platform and walked down the sidewalk.
"So?" said Touji, "You think this camping trip's going to be any fun?"
"I guess so," said Shinji uncertainly, "I honestly don't know."
"I think it'll be great!" exclaimed Touji, "And just think, you'll have the perfect opportunity to get in good with Sohryu."
Shinji turned red but decided against saying anything.
"Besides Touji added, we'll get to do all sorts of other fun stuff like hiking, swimming (there's a lake near where we're camping), games…"
***
And running, thought Shinji. Several hours later, he and his fellow students were stumbling down the trail they had taken to arrive at camp, running just as fast as their legs could carry them. It had been a good seventeen hours later. It was 1:00 in the morning and they were running for their lives. Even worse, it had started to rain earlier that night, hard, turning the once solid dirt trail into a treacherous ribbon of mud. Furthermore, their rush to leave had been so great most of them hadn't been able to take even their shoes. So they ran, on bear feet as hard as they could, trying to ignore it as rocks that had seemed so nicely blunt in the daylight now turned as sharp as razors and sliced into their feet. Why can't things go normally for a change? Shinji whined inwardly, And why does this whole situation seem so goddamn cliché?
***
Flashback:
"Well here we are," observed Kensuke as the train rolled slowly to a stop. Out the window of the train, Shinji could see a parking lot and a trail that went into the woods from the parking lot.
"Let's go," said Touji. The three friends stood up and joined the line of children already filing off the train.
Shinji remained quiet as he listened to the incessant chatter of his two best friends. They were definitely enjoying themselves already and the trip had barely even started. They would no doubt have a fantastic time. Or so they thought. Shinji couldn't help but feel uncertain. He had a strong feeling in his stomach that something was not quite right about this. An ethereal feeling of wrongness pervaded his consciousness. Something was definitely not right about this trip.
Outside the train, Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke joined the throng of eager students crowding around the small group of adult leaders who looked noticeably overwhelmed. They probably didn't expect so many of us, thought Shinji.
The adults began to divide children into groups. To Shinji's relief, they were divided by class. That meant he would be able to stay with Touji and Kensuke. And Asuka. Shinji winced mentally. Where had that thought come from. He realized that if Asuka had known that he had had that thought; she would have slapped him into next Tuesday and back.
The groups were moving out. Touji walked up timidly to Hikari. "Would you like me to carry your pack?" he offered shyly. Shinji held back a chuckle. Here was Touji, a self proclaimed ladies man, weak in the knees because he was talking to a girl he really liked. Shinji had realized long ago, that on the subject of girls, Touji was not all that different from him. Apparently, most men, no matter how big they talked, had a really hard time gathering the confidence needed to share their feelings with a girl they liked.
All the other girls except Asuka, who rolled her eyes, giggled among themselves. Hikari smiled at Touji, her cheeks turning red slightly. "Thank you Touji. You're a real gentleman." With that, she handed her pack to him and walked along with her friends. Touji followed along behind them, now having slung two packs over his shoulder.
Kensuke tapped Shinji on the shoulder, "She's got him hooked," he whispered into Shinji's ear. This time, Shinji couldn't stop the chuckle from bursting out of his throat. Then Kensuke asked, "Are you going to ask Asuka the same thing?"
"Are you kidding?" hissed Shinji, "Hell would freeze over before she would let me do that."
"You don't know unless you try," quoted Kensuke.
"Fine, watch." Shinji rolled his eyes, walked up and tapped Asuka on the shoulder.
She whirled around instantly, her mane of red hair flying out behind her. "What?" she demanded.
For a moment Shinji's breath caught in his throat. He hadn't ever realized how beautiful her eyes were, even when she was looking annoyed. It was all he could do to keep himself from being lost in their depths. Finally, he managed a response. "W-w-would you like me to take your pack." He mentally settled back to wait for the inevitable explosion.
He was stunned to see a flash of red on Asuka's cheeks. "Fine," she said quickly, trying successfully to keep an annoyed tone in her voice though her eyes told a different story, "Here." She held out her backpack. Shinji was too stunned to act for a second. But he finally reached out and took it.
My God! Shinji exclaimed mentally, Hell really has frozen over!
A few seconds later, Shinji walked alongside Touji and Kensuke while Asuka and Hikari walked in front of them. "So," said Touji slyly, "Trying to take after the master are we?"
Shinji didn't justify him with a response.
End Flashback:
***
It all seemed so damn long ago. Now they were running for their lives from a nameless horror that dogged their every step, forced to flee with nothing but the clothes on their back and since it was their sleeping attire that didn't amount to much. And Shinji still couldn't figure out where he had seen this scenario before. It seemed all too familiar. He was sure he could remember it if he had time to think, but that wasn't a luxury to him right now.
Shinji looked to see that Asuka was now running alongside him. They were now at the back of the group. She looked awful. It was quite obvious that she had fallen more than once already as she was covered in mud. It was over her front, covered her legs and even caked in her hair. What he saw in her eyes stunned him. It was a look of wordless fear. Shinji realized that he probably had that same look in his own eyes.
He couldn't afford to be distracted for long, so he turned his attention back to running. It wouldn't do for him to stumble at that moment, not when death was almost upon them. And things were going so well too, he thought mournfully.
***
Flashback:
Setting up camp had been about the hardest thing they had had to do. After that, what Touji had said before turned out to be correct. They really did have fun. After they had arrived at the campsite, the adult leaders seemed to have literally vanished, leaving the children to their own devices. The boys had organized an impromptu game of soccer in a field not far from their camp. They divided into teams and played while the girls stood on the sidelines and cheered for their favorites.
To everyone's surprise, including his own, Shinji performed quite well on the field. Everything went great until and exasperated shout carried over the cheers and the sounds of the game.
"Honestly! You call this soccer! I could play better than you bakas blindfolded!" Asuka had decided that she wanted to get in on the action.
"Then why don't you come out here and prove it?" Touji shouted back.
"Don't worry stooge, I intend to!"
Asuka stepped into the game noticeably picking the team Touji was not on. Shinji praised whoever pulled the strings of fate that he hadn't been on Touji's team. He had a premonition that this was about to get real ugly.
Everything happened exactly as Shinji thought it would. The play was set up to feature the grudge match between Asuka and Touji. They faced each other at the center of the field for the kick off. One of the boys, acting as an impromptu referee signaled for them to begin.
BAM!!! Shinji rubbed his eyes because he thought that for a moment that Touji had grown invisible wings and had started to fly…backwards! At least, that's what he thought until Touji landed hard on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Less than a second later, a scarlet whirlwind that had to be Asuka blazed past the fallen boy. Two other boys were foolish enough to think they could get on Sohryu's way. They too soon found themselves airborne for a short period of time before landing painfully. Asuka took the shot. The ball streaked like a bullet past the reaching arms of the goalie and between the two bushes that the boys had labeled their improvised goal.
A shocked silence had fallen on the field as everybody stared wide-eyed at Asuka. While they knew that she had a mean streak in her, they were shocked at how brutal the German girl really could be. Asuka clapped her hands together. "Well that was fun," she stated, "Anybody want to do that again?" The boys were very quick in agreeing with one another that a trip down to the lake would be a lot more fun than a stupid soccer game.
End Flashback:
***
If only it could have lasted, thought Shinji as he ran on. He was starting to feel his legs giving way beneath him. Surely they had to be near the train station by now. How far had they hiked to the campsite. Hikari had said that it had been about five miles. Shinji wondered exactly how long it would take for them to cover five miles running at full tilt like they were now.
We're almost there, he thought hopefully, We just have to be. And he still couldn't figure out where he had seen all this before.
***
Flashback:
It had been a long, exciting day. In the evening they were almost too worn out to cook their dinner for the night. After dinner, different groups of kids started fires in the fire pits scattered around camps. With Kensuke's help, Shinji and Touji started one of their own.
They sat around the crackling blaze, talking about different things. Shinji felt somewhat distant from it all as he listened to Kensuke bragging about how much footage he had shot that day and Touji complaining about the red menace (you know who). Then he heard footsteps. A moment later, Asuka and Hikari joined them.
"We had trouble getting a fire started," said Hikari as she quickly took a seat next to Touji. Even Shinji could see that it was simply an excuse to join them.
Kensuke cleared his throat loudly and announced that he was going to turn in so that he would be ready for an early start the next morning. Shinji and Touji bid him good night rather gratefully.
Once Kensuke was gone, Hikari snuggled up against Touji, who blushed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She flinched as she felt metal pieces moving under artificial skin. It was the prosthetic, the limb he had lost when Unit 01 had destroyed Touji's Eva. However, she was able to relax after a moment.
Shinji was astonished a few seconds later, when he felt the weight of someone leaning against him. Looking over, he saw that Asuka was doing something similar to what Hikari had done. Shinji's cheeks turned bright red and he froze. Then, he gently wrapped and arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. Asuka didn't push him away.
They stayed like that for quite a while. Shinji noticed that across the fire, Hikari had dozed off leaning against Touji. And though he was trying to stop himself, Touji's eyes were drooping as well.
Shinji felt Asuka move. Looking down, he saw that she had turned her head so that she could look at him. "Shinji," she said, her voice barely a whisper, "I j… I just… I just wanted to say…thank you."
Shinji felt his face go very red. "For what?" He was flabbergasted. Asuka Langley Sohryu, the girl of a million insults, the red headed demon of Germany, was thanking him. He was so stunned that those two words were all he could think of to say.
She smiled, her eyes shinning with gentle amusement. "Baka," she said jokingly. Shinji had never seen her like this. He was amazed by just how beautiful she could look. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. For staying with me, even when I ignored you, called you names, teased you insulted you, hurt you, even when I told you I that I hated you. You didn't let me go. You helped me to see who I really was and why I mattered. You were there for me even when things were hardest for you, like the fourteenth Angel. I just didn't want to believe that I had lost. But now I see you didn't come back because I lost. All that mattered was that you cared for me, you cared for everyone, you didn't care that I had lost, you just couldn't stand to see me or anyone else hurt. I see that now Shinji. I can't thank you enough."
Shinji had finally begun to understand. Asuka was recognizing that her life didn't just revolve around piloting Eva. She had realized that there were people who didn't care what her synch scores were. She had realized that she didn't care anymore. Then he saw Asuka moving closer. He lost himself in her beautiful blue eyes. This is it, he realized, This is really happening. Their lips came closer together. They were about to touch.
KABOOM! They sprang apart like frightened animals. Across the fire, Touji and Hikari awoke in a similar fashion, jumping to their feet. Shinji realized that they had heard thunder. Then it began to rain. There was no warning, no beginning drizzle, no being pelted by a few drops. It came down all at once, a terrific deluge that soaked them all while dousing the fire in mere seconds. It was a few more seconds before the reality of the situation dawned on the four children. Then, they rushed to their tents having finally figured out what was going on.
Touji and Shinji stumbled into the tent they were sharing with Kensuke dripping wet. The tent was quite roomy fortunately. Shinji stood upright just in time to catch a towel right in the face. Next to him, Touji was also smacked by a flying towel. "Dry off before you two get water all over everything." Kensuke was in his sleeping bag, sitting upright watching them with a smile of genuine amusement on his face. An evil grin appeared on his face. "Did that storm interrupt something?" he inquired slyly.
Shinji and Touji were blushing very hard as they worked to dry themselves off. Kensuke laughed and lay down. After drying themselves off, the other two boys went to their respective sleeping bags. Only after laying down did Shinji really begin to appreciate how tired he was. His eyes dropped like shutters and he was asleep almost instantly.
End Flashback:
***
Shinji's breath was coming in ragged gasps. Next to him he could hear Asuka having similar respiratory problems. He was beginning to doubt they would ever make it. Behind him he heard what could be mistaken for the sound of rumbling thunder. Only thunder didn't sound constantly. Nor did thunder move on four stick-like legs.
Shinji bashed his toes against another rock on the trail. This time he went down. Shinji struggled, trying to get his footing on the slippery mud. He only succeeded in flopping himself onto his back. He looked up just in time to see the shadow that had fallen over him…
***
Flashback:
It had come without warning. It had to have been at least 1:00 in the morning. Shinji was sleeping peacefully, dreaming of… well, you know. He was snapped back into reality by a scream. It was high, but it definitely belonged to a boy. He wasn't sure what about the scream had woken him up, it wasn't very loud. But Shinji was almost instantly aware of the horror that was being carried by that shriek. Beside him, he saw Touji and Kensuke slowly coming to their senses.
Touji was up first. Shinji had bolted out of the tent and into the pouring rain to see what was going on. The instant he was out, he wished he hadn't. The boy who had screamed was bolting down the trail back to the parking lot as fast as his feet could carry him. Looking towards the other side of the clearing, Shinji saw why.
There they were row upon row of them. Praying mantises only swelled up to an enormous size. The smallest were maybe about two meters tall. Others were bigger, some were much bigger. There must have been hundreds of the monsters. The front rows were occupied by several two meter specimens, but Shinji could see some much larger examples not far back.
Shinji did the first thing that came to mind. Fortunately, his training as an Eva pilot hadn't been completely lost upon him. "Everybody up!" he screamed. A second later, he regretted what he had done as first one, then several bulbous heads with equally bulbous multifaceted eyes turned to regard him.
Fortunately, Shinji's cry had been heard. He heard several people moving in the tents around and behind him. Touji stumbled out of his, rubbing his head. "What's going…HOLY SHIT!" His eyes swelled up to the size of dinner plates when he saw the creatures looking at them.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" he roared at the top of his lungs. He rushed into the tent long enough to grab a still groggy Kensuke and drag him out. Kensuke was complaining while adjusting the glasses he had hastily put on his nose. His voice caught in his throat when he saw the reason for his rude awakening.
Fear did what could normally only be done by a truckload of pure caffeine. Kensuke must have set a land speed record in bolting for the trail. Touji did not follow his friend. Instead, he rushed over to Hikari and Asuka's tent. He started shaking the tent for all he was worth. "Hikari wake up!"
The door of the tent opened slowly and Hikari stuck her head out, her eyes half closed. "Touji wha…" she managed to stammer before he grabbed her wrist and yanked her out of the tent and towards the trail.
Shinji was rushing around the camp, shaking every tent he could reach and shaking their occupants into wakefulness.
Hikari had finally recovered the presence of mind enough to exclaim, "Touji what are you doing!?"
"Just keep going!" shouted Touji, pulling on her arm with all his might, "We have to get out of here."
"Why?" demanded Hikari tartly.
Touji stopped, grabbed her by her shoulders and spun her around. "That's why."
Hikari's eyes widened and she suddenly didn't struggle so much.
Shinji was sure that he had finished shaking every tent in the camp. His fellow students were very quick to catch onto why they had been so rudely awakened. He was sure that all of them were now on the trail back to civilization. Despite this, Shinji was worried because of the one face he hadn't seen. Asuka! Where is Asuka? He rushed to her tent and threw open the tent flaps. Asuka lay in her sleeping bag, clad in only her sleeping clothes which Shinji noticed left little to the imagination. "Asuka!" he shouted. The rumble outside had intensified. Looking out of the tent, Shinji's heart nearly stopped. The mantises were advancing.
Meanwhile, Asuka was finally waking up. "Wha," she murmured groggily, "Shinji?" Then her eyes snapped wide open. "YOU PERVERT!" she shrieked. She was about to scream a whole onslaught of insults at him but Shinji had decided that now wasn't the time to listen to her ranting. Instead he grabbed her wrist and yanked her to her feet and out of the tent, dragging her away towards the trail.
"LET GO OF ME YOU PERVERT!" she shrieked with all her might.
"Asuka look behind you," said Shinji simply as she raised a hand with which to slap him. Asuka did look. Her face turned whiter than Rei's and soon she and Shinji were bolting down the trail with every ounce of speed they could manage. Behind them the rumble followed. The monsters were giving chase.
End Flashback:
***
The beast stood over the fallen Shinji. Shinji could see no remorse, no emotion at all in those eerie multifaceted eyes. All he could see was plain, simple hunger. The mantis's mandibles opened and closed and saliva dripped from its maw. It raised its sickle shaped claws over its head, preparing to plunge them into Shinji's flesh.
A shadow appeared in front of him. Shinji gasped when he saw the flash of red hair. "Asuka no!" he shouted. The mantis didn't seem to care who it killed so long as it had one of them. I never got to tell her, he thought.
Something streaked over their heads. Shinji looked up and saw that something hit the mantis right between the eyes. The monster's head burst into a shower of black bodily fluids. The creature's lifeless body sagged to the ground. Seconds later, strong hands helped Shinji to his feet and supported him while they ran towards the now visible parking lot.
Not only had they made it, but help had arrived in the form of the JSSDF. In front of Shinji stood a line of men, pointing portable rocket launchers at the forest behind them. As he watched, one of the men fired, the rocket streaked into the forest. The blast of its impact briefly illuminated a broken insect figure. As they made it past the line of men, Shinji felt the arms holding him up drop away. Before he could collapse, someone else's arms infolded him in a strong embrace.
"Shinji!" Misato's relieved voice sounded in his ears. She held him tightly. Despite the fact that this pressed his head against her ample bosom, he was too tired to do anything except lean into the hug. Then something else caught Misato's attention. "Asuka!" she cried, nearly dropping Shinji and pulling the exhausted second child into the embrace.
A gargantuan shadow fell over the group. Shinji looked up to behold the largest praying mantis he had seen yet. This specimen had to be fifty meters tall at least. Instead of walking the giant insect flew on huge wings that flapped so fast that they blurred like the blades of a helicopter. As he watched in horror, the soldiers fired rockets at the thing to no avail. It raised its claw to deal the fatal blow…
Only to be stopped by the progressive knife that had suddenly been buried up to its hilt in the monster's head.
A massive impact shook the ground and the loud thump reverberated through Tokyo 3. The line of soldiers parted to make room for the massive object that took their place. Shinji looked into the behemoth countenance of Unit 14.
"Hey," quipped Ishiro, "Those knives are actually good for something." His voice was amplified by the Eva's external speakers so that everyone around him heard his little joke. Despite the night's events, Shinji couldn't help but chuckle at Saegusa's antics.
In Unit 14, Ishiro suddenly found that he had very little time to make jokes as not one, but five of the massive fifty meter creatures that he had not long ago dubbed Kamacuras converged on his Eva from the air. "Here we go Erika," he muttered as the handles of the Evangelion's AT blades unfolded from the Eva's wrists and flared into being.
The creatures displayed no sense of tactics whatsoever. With a simple flick of the Eva's wrist, the first Kamacuras was beheaded as it came within striking distance. At the same time, the second blade flicked out to cleave a second one in half right down the middle. Two more Kamacuras came in behind their fallen comrades. Ishiro positioned his Eva neatly between them, holding the blades out to his sides. The mindless insects were so daft and so slow to compensate, they ran themselves onto the blades, slicing them apart in almost nothing flat.
The fifth and final one came straight at Unit 14. Ishiro chuckled. It was so easy. He merely made the Eva swing its arms inward, turning the swords into a giant pair of scissors, which neatly and efficiently snipped off the kaiju's head.
"And now for the rest of them," he said. His Eva stepped forward and he was rewarding by the wet crunch of exoskeletons crumbling under the impact. "Whoops," he said innocently.
***
Several hours later, the sounds of explosions and gunfire died away and the sun was beginning to rise over the hills in the east. The rain had finally let up. Apparently, the soldiers had finished off the remaining Kamacuras. Ishiro and Unit 14 had been called in on three occasions to handle nests of exceptionally large ones. These larger Kamacuras were easy kills for the battle hardened Evangelion.
Shinji and Asuka sat sullenly on the bumper of Misato's car, blankets wrapped around their wet, shivering forms. Misato was taking care of a few things before she took them home for the night. Frankly, she was quite envious of the two children. The Kamacuras themselves paled in comparison to the mountain of paperwork Misato was going to have to deal with when she headed back into the office. She sighed. This was going to be one of those nights.
Ishiro stayed behind while Unit 14 disappeared down one of the many elevators into the Geofront. He joined Shinji and Asuka.
"How are you two doing?" he asked.
"Tired," groaned Shinji. Beside him, Asuka nodded.
"I'm sorry guys," said Ishiro gently, "This is my fault. I should have made sure NERV did a more thorough job cleaning up the forest."
"How do you know that this is your fault," demanded Asuka sternly.
"I just got back the report on the samples I sent into the lab. Dr. Akagi did a full analysis and confirmed my suspicions. The Kamacuras had traces of G-cells." He sighed. "It's almost impossible to be completely thorough on an almost microscopic level. Just one missed cell could set in motion an entire catastrophe just like the one we had today."
"It's okay," reassured Shinji, "We'll be fine after we clean up and rest a little."
"Thanks," said Ishiro, obviously relieved, "I'll make it up to you."
"You owe me a shopping trip 6th Child," said Asuka, smiling evilly.
"He said he would make it up to us," Shinji reminded her, "Not submit to cruel and unusual punishment."
His remark was met with a gasp from everyone who had been listening. Misato, who had been coming up behind Ishiro froze in her tracks. To say that she was gaping was an understatement. Shinji was sure that he could see her jaw stretching all the way down to the pavement of the parking lot. Silence reigned.
"Did I just hear…baka Shinji …make a joke!" stammered Asuka from next to him.
Shinji looked around. He was not used to being to center of attention and his remark seemed to have put him on center stage. He couldn't help but blush slightly.
Finally, the absurdity of the situation got to Ishiro Saegusa. He broke down laughing at the complete and utter state of shock everyone else was in. Shinji joined Ishiro in laughing, then Asuka and Misato. After regaining their composure, all four of them piled into Misato's car. Ishiro sat up front next to Misato while Shinji and Asuka piled in back. The little blue car accelerated, kicking up dust and debris, and tore out of the parking lot, leaving a mass of still gaping soldiers behind it.
Ishiro held on for dear life, wondering if even a seat belt could save his life at this stage. Despite their vast amount of experience with Misato's driving, both Shinji and Asuka had to hold on for all they were worth.
"Are you drunk!?" Ishiro exclaimed as another burst of acceleration pinned him to his seat.
"Actually yes!" Misato yelled back at him. Ishiro went white as a sheet.
"You should see her when she's sober," remarked Asuka glumly from the back.
Misato scowled. Seconds later the car lurched one way, then another, nearly tipping it over. Asuka shut up rather quickly after that.
Not long afterwards, they arrived at the personnel entrance to headquarters. "This is where I get off," said Ishiro, actually sounding quite relieved. He stepped out of the car and ran his security card over the scanner. The door slid open and he disappeared inside.
Misato turned to look back at her charges. "Well, time to get you guys home." Am I seeing things, she wondered, Or does Shinji seem a little green?
Several sharp, gut wrenching turns later, they arrived at their apartment with the screech of rubber scraping against pavement. The three of them rode the elevator up. Misato opened the door for the two children. As soon as the door opened, Shinji rushed into their apartment, not bothering to remove his shoes at the door and bolted straight to the bathroom. Apparently, an evening of giant man-eating praying mantises coupled with a five mile sprint in addition to Misato's driving had taken their toll on the boy as he emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet.
"Oh dear," said Misato innocently, "I do hope he's alright. After all, I was just about to cook…"
It was now Asuka's turn to bolt. Her constitution was stronger than Shinji's, but an evening of giant man-eating praying mantises coupled with a five mile sprint in addition to Misato's driving coupled with the threat of Misato's cooking proved to be too much for even her. Misato heard her shout; "Move over baka!" and a loud thump followed by the sounds of Asuka emptying the contents of her own stomach. Misato's scowl returned as the meaning of the children's actions. Those little…
After they had finished their unpleasant business in the bathroom, the two children joined Misato in the living room. By now, Misato had calmed down. "Why don't you two get something to eat, get cleaned up and go to bed," Misato suggested, "I have to go in today and tackle the paperwork from last night." She grinned wryly, "I should be done in about a year or two."
The children laughed with her and went off to fix themselves an early breakfast. After a breakfast of toast and jam, Asuka went into the shower. Almost half an hour later, she left the bathroom and disappeared into her room. Then it was Shinji's turn. Shinji, unlike Asuka, stayed in the shower for barely ten minutes before he was done. After he returned to his room, Shinji got into his sleeping attire and crawled under the covers of his bed. Moments later, Asuka entered the room and crawled into her own bed. The two children were asleep instantly, the strain of the night's events having taken their toll on them.
Misato sighed as she turned off the living room lights and headed for the front door. She might as well get started on that paperwork. The city authorities and committees and subcommittees and etc would want a complete and thorough explanation of where the Kamacuras had come from and why NERV had somehow failed to notice a swarm of giant man-eating praying mantises lurking in what was literally their own backyard. Not to mention that the press was going to have a field day with this information. Misato could already see the headlines…INCOMPETENCE AT NERV NEARLY COSTS THE LIVES OF THIRTY CHILDREN…or something along those lines. Misato knew that she was probably going to be at headquarters until late at night. Fortunately, none of the children had been killed or even seriously injured. If one or more had, there would be hell to pay, both in paperwork and on her conscience. At least Shinji and Asuka are alright, she thought, I can't bear to think what I would do had either of my children been hurt.
Misato suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, her train of thought halted by the realization of the meaning of the words "my children." Misato was finally realizing what it meant to be a mother. She sighed, shrugged and decided to give it more thought after she had taken care of the paperwork. She stepped out the door, which hissed shut behind her.
In the kitchen, the door of the second fridge hissed open and Pen Pen stuck his head out, looking around for the source of the recent racket. Finding nothing, the penguin squawked irritably and pulled his head back into the comfortably chilly confines of his room and closed the door.
***
It was early in the afternoon when Shinji's eyes finally opened. Light was seeping in under the closed blinds of his window. Looking to his left, Shinji saw the face of the peacefully sleeping Asuka who lay on the other bed.
She's so beautiful when she sleeps, Shinji thought, not for the first time. He could tell by her relaxed posture and the blissful look on her face that she had either not had any nightmares, or was simply untroubled by the ones that she did have.
Shinji sat up slowly and was rewarded for his efforts by the almost deafening sound of his empty stomach demanding sustenance. Shinji carefully got out of bed and worked his way around Asuka's, trying not to wake her from her slumber. Taking his clothes, Shinji went into the bathroom to change and take another quick shower. He came out feeling fresh, but still a little drowsy, and ready to face the remainder of the day.
After depositing his clothes back in his room, Shinji went into the kitchen. There, he faced the debate of cooking lunch, which would have been more appropriate given the time of day, or fixing something like breakfast, which felt more natural as he had only just woken up. In the end, Shinji decided on the latter, breakfast being much easier to prepare than lunch, despite the fact that he had already had breakfast once much earlier in the day. He subconsciously knew that Asuka probably would not object to the idea either.
As he prepared some toast and cereal, Asuka entered the room. Quietly, she seated herself at the table and watched him work. Her expression was unreadable. After he had finished preparing the first serving of toast and cereal, Shinji set it before her. He also poured a glass of orange juice from the fridge and set it next to the food.
For a moment, Asuka simply stared blankly at the food in front of her. Her mind was sluggishly trying to process her thoughts. Why is he always so nice to me? she wondered in all honesty. She insulted him, abused him, and even used him, and he still treated her with dignity and respect and even affection. She decided to set her musings aside and began to eat her "breakfast."
Shinji finished his own serving of toast and cereal and set it across from Asuka. After getting himself some juice, Shinji settled into the chair across from Asuka. For a moment, he hesitated to begin eating, carefully watching Asuka. She was eating as fast as she possibly could. Even when the girl was stuffing herself, Shinji was amazed by how beautiful she still looked. Blushing at the thought, he looked away quickly and began to eat his own breakfast.
After their eating, Asuka and Shinji went into the living room. Shinji sat down on the couch and flinched reflexively as Asuka settled down next to him. Asuka picked up the remote and turned on the television. She surfed channels for a little while and found a movie that she liked. She set the remote down and the two children began to watch the movie. Shinji smiled and stifled a chuckle as he realized just what kind of movie this was. It finally brought to him an answer as to why the events of the previous night had seemed so familiar. It had been just like a scene from those cheap horror movies. It was so obvious. Shinji had to choke back his laughter so as not to disturb Asuka.
Slowly, gradually, Asuka began to lean against Shinji. At first, Shinji flinched slightly and blushed, but he gradually grew accustomed to her weight resting against his side and began to lean back. As movie ran on, the two adolescents rested against one another, each taking solace in the other's proximity.
***
Ishiro looked mournfully at the clock in his lab. He was exhausted. He had been working all day yesterday and was preparing for another all-nighter at the lab when he had been called to pilot the Eva against the Kamacuras. After that had been taken care of, Ishiro found that he had a lot more to do now that these new kaiju had appeared. Of course, they would have to be analyzed and catalogued and their cells examined. This of course, was added to his workload of deciphering the secrets of Godzilla's genetic structure. And Ishiro was still no closer to understanding the regenerative powers of the King of the Monsters. Furthermore, because he was convinced that these praying mantises had been mutated due to exposure to G-Cells (as he had anticipated earlier), he would have to study the changes instigated by the G-Cells on their cell structure.
Fortunately, unlike most such cases, Ishiro would be able to put off this particular chore. A blessing had come down from the mountains with the military. They had brought with them a fantastic gift; a live Kamacuras for him to study. Though it was only two meters, the size of some of its brethren convinced Ishiro that it would soon become much larger. Thus, he was able to procure permission from Commander Ikari and Dr. Akagi to order technicians to begin work on modifying one of the spare holding cages to contain the Kamacuras.
So Ishiro forged ahead with fortitude that would have impressed even Dr. Akagi. However, she was busy in other matters, leaving Ishiro to do his work alone. He sighed sadly; such was his lot in life. But as the hours wore on, Ishiro's strength began to waver and his eyes began to droop. Finally, having finished prodding through another slide on his microscope, Ishiro slowly made out a note to book the organization's electron microscope at the next available opportunity. Having finished the note, the pencil slowly slipped out from between Ishiro's fingers. His eyes closed and he sagged forward, resting his head on the desk where he had been working and began to doze.
***
Shinji slowly turned his head to look at Asuka. She was leaning against him, her eyes staring into space. It was clear that she was paying the movie they had been watching no mind. It was the third movie they had sat through that evening.
"Asuka?" he asked softly, "Are you okay?"
Asuka looked back at him and smiled gently and nodded. Shinji's heart raced. She just looked so beautiful when she smiled like that. It wasn't the usual plotting or haughty look she usually wore. Shinji found himself once again drawn into her deep blue eyes. Ever so slowly, he began to move his head towards hers and was surprised to find that she was doing likewise.
This time, there was no booming of thunder or sudden pelting of rain to halt them as their lips met. The kiss they shared was gentle and brief. When they parted, both children were turning a brilliant shade of scarlet. After they parted, Asuka rested her head against Shinji's chest. Shinji responded by taking her in his arms and holding her close. For a moment, they rested like that, Asuka listening to Shinji's heart beating, and Shinji breathing in the scent of her freshly shampooed hair.
For a while neither of them spoke. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Asuka looked up into the face of the boy she suddenly found that she had grown to love and smiled mischievously. "I'm hungry baka."
***
It rested at the bottom of the sea. Of course it was now nothing more than a slowly decaying corpse, rotting away from the inside out as the soft parts went first. It had been that way for more than ten years now. There was very little left of it.
Suddenly, the ground around the body flared with brilliant gold light. A loud hissing of released energy surged through the water as power flowed where there had been none, restoring the fire of life to where it had been snuffed out. Gradually, the golden glow of the surrounding water infused with the body and the body began to glow as well. The flare of light quickly intensified to the point of becoming blinding…
***
Ishiro Saegusa snapped into wakefulness. That had been quite an unusual dream he had had. Looking around, Saegusa assured himself that he was still in the familiar confines of his lab and not on the bottom of the sea. With a sigh of relief, he looked at the clock and noticed that he had been dozing for about an hour.
Instead of continuing his work, Ishiro pondered his strange dream. The last time he had had a dream similar to that, Godzilla had come ashore at Tokyo 3. His mother once told him that her clairvoyant visions came to her in dreams. However, the dream was rapidly becoming hazy to him and he had trouble remembering the details. He wondered just what the object was that had become infused with the golden light.
Ishiro sighed, shrugged, and returned to his work without any further hesitation. There was still much to do.
***
At the bottom of the sea, the dead became living. The massive black object that had lain still for so many years had drawn on the power of its creator to live again in order to fulfill a new purpose. No longer did it exist to punish, but to rescue. With this new purpose, the dark guardian lived once more.
Author's notes: Thank you all for being so patient with me. I don't think I'll ever use the repeated flashback ever again. My pre-reader (sort of) didn't like it. But then, despite the fact she likes to read this story she seems of have a low opinion of fanfiction in general. Oh well. Just as a warning, the next chapter is going to be pretty long.