Gendo's Desk and After Impact are still being worked on at the moment, but I should be finished with the next chapter for both soon, within the next week, at least. But, for the time being, please enjoy this chapter and R&R!

Chapter #5

The next morning came to fast for Shinji. After he had gone home Misato wouldn't leave him alone until she had pried as much information as she wanted from Shinji. After Misato's brief interrogation, Shinji made dinner and they ate in silence until Misato suddenly started laughing. Shinji thought she was choking at first, but then realized she was laughing about the thought of Rei trying to hold on to a giant teddy bear. This made Shinji very bitter and he finished his dinner in silence. Shinji washed the dishes as Misato watched the TV and then went to his room. Shinji began to recall the memories of the day as he drifted off to sleep. Now he was wishing he hadn't stayed up so long thinking about Rei. Misato was very perky today, much to Shinji's displeasure.

"So Shinji, you ready to meet the Second Child?" Misato asked happily. Shinji just rolled over in his bed and pulled the blanket over himself in response.

"Oh come on Shinji, your day wasn't so hard yesterday, unless you went over to Rei's last night." Misato said while a large smirk grew over her face.

"No I didn't!" Shinji said as he threw his blanket off and turned to face Misato.

"Right, right, Shinji. Now get dressed so we won't be late." Misato said as she began leaving. Before she left entirely, however, she stuck her head in the room and added, "and I'm sure you won't want to miss out on any time that could be spent with Rei," as her grin came back and she went to the kitchen. Shinji sat on his bed for a minute, smoldering. Then he brightened at the idea of seeing Rei again. Shinji suddenly had a burst of energy that lasted all through the morning until the drive to the dock.

Shinji could not understand why Rei wanted to sit in the front seat and not back with him. 'But then,' Shinji thought, 'what would we do any way? It's not like were really close. I mean it was only one outing.' Shinji still didn't want to refer to it as a 'date', although, he was sure, if they did become more than friends (Shinji was still working on the friend part) then he would probably refer to it as their first date. The energy that had helped Shinji get up in the morning with the idea of seeing Rei again was now taking its toll on Shinji. He felt even more tired than this morning. He thought seeing Rei would be all he needed to keep going the rest of the day, but he was sadly mistaken. Shinji sighed as he looked out the window of Misato's car. He could smell the salt in the air stronger now, so he was hopeful that they would be arriving soon. His prayers were answered. As Misato pulled into the driveway to the docks, she was stopped by a guard.

"I'm sorry Miss, but I need to see some identification," he said as he began to look at Rei and Shinji, "and some for them too."

"Sure, just let me get it..." Misato's train of thought was quickly derailed and would probably never come back as she saw a sight that scared her beyond words. The ship that was supposed to be carrying the Second Child came crashing into the harbor with a gigantic hole ripped in its side. It promptly sank to the bottom. Misato stared in disbelief at where the ship used to be, along with Rei, Shinji, and the security guard. Then a sight still more terrifying appeared from beneath the waters. Dozens of dead bodies began to surface, bloated beyond recognition. Then, a huge white mass surfaced above the water, like a submarine. A massive mouth appeared from it and began devouring the bodies, several at a time, pausing only to chew. Shinji was horrified at the event, as was everyone else. Although Rei still seemed emotionless, Shinji could tell that she was terrified. The thought that one of those people could have been the Second Child came up to Shinji as he began to vomit. Misato would later comment that at least Shinji had the decency to hang his head out the window. Misato was the first to regain composure, unless you count Rei, who always seemed to have composure. She grabbed a walkie talkie from her car and tried to get the frequency of any of the other ships. She succeeded.

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

"Yes, this is Captain Collenges. We report one of the ships in the fleet to be destroyed."

"I could have told you that!" Misato cut in, "We just watched it sink!"

"What should we do? We've already tried most of our countermeasures, and none of them seem to have any effect on it"

'An Angel,' Misato thought. "Is Asuka there? Please tell me she is alright." Misato pleaded as she remembered the sinking ship.

"Yes, she is here. Luckily she was visiting this ship when the other one was destroyed."

"More like ripped to shreds if you ask me," Misato mumbled

'I wonder who Asuka is,' thought Shinji just before going into another spasm of vomiting. Shinji always puked when he smelled puke, and he had done enough of that. Rei seemed to look at Shinji concurringly as she walked over to him. It looked like she wanted to help Shinji, but had no idea how to.

"Asuka, that thing is an Angel. You need to get into your EVA as soon as possible to stall it before anymore damage is done or lives are lost. The other children will be joining you soon."

Then a feminine voice that seemed very agitated came over the radio, "I don't even know what this thing is! How am I supposed to fight it? My EVA doesn't even have the proper gear to fight in water! And how am I supposed to fight with people who I don't even know?"

"You'll just have to make due. When they get there, they will help you. One will be in a blue EVA and the other will be in a purple EVA. You can do introductions after the fight."

"Hey, I thought you said there was one boy pilot and one girl pilot. So the guy pilots the blue one right? But the report said the boy pilots the purple one. Are you sure they aren't two girls?"

Shinji overheard this and began to fume. The insult was enough to stop his spasms and the vomiting, and now he was sulking with Rei trying to figure out what had taken place.

"You can make wise cracks later, Asuka. Just get in your EVA and stall it long enough for the others to make it there."

"I don't need the others, commander. I can handle it myself!"

"Sure you can, and I own half the known world," Misato said sarcastically, "The point is that you will hold it off until the others get there. You can try to defeat it yourself, but just remember that your EVA can't fight underwater. So just stop it from destroying any other ships, will ya?"

"Ja, commander"

The comm. Link went silent and Shinji wondered why the girl was being so formal, and yet informal. Usually kids said 'ya' to each other instead of using 'yes', not normally used when referring to someone of higher rank and age. Then Shinji wondered if this 'Asuka' was the pilot.

Rei and Shinji quickly made their way from NERV headquarters to the docks in their EVAs. Shinji wondered what the next EVA would look like when his quandary was quickly answered. As the behemoths reached the dock, a third EVA was already locked in battle. Looking fundamentally like the other two EVAs, Unit-02 was bright red and it seemed like it was holding its own against the Angel. Shinji wondered why they had been summoned when that question was answered. Unit-02s progressive knife was stuck in the dock. The Angel was furiously attacking the red EVA and the EVA was giving ground, too much ground.

"If you're not going to do anything, then get out of here," a voice said over the comm. System, "But if you're going to help, then get to it!"

Shinji knew from the first crack the girl said that he wouldn't like her, and she wasn't fixing the problem. Shinji and Rei ran over to the struggling EVA and pulled their progressive knifes out. Rei immediately ran her knife through the Angel, while Shinji was busy trying not to destroy buildings. The Angel let out a shriek of pain and let go of the red EVA it had had in a death hold. Now Shinji ran up and drove his knife through the Angel, pinning it to the ground. This allowed for the new EVA to grab its progressive knife and join in the frenzy. While the three EVAs pilled on the Angel, they didn't notice the gigantic white hand behind them coming from the Angel. Just before Rei shoved her knife through the Angel's core, the hand, or what could be called a hand, it seemed more like a flipper, hit all three EVAs off of itself. Unit-00s progressive knife flew up, nearly hit Shinji, and plunged to the bottom of the bay. Shinji flew back into a row of warehouses, and the new EVA crashed into the highway right next to the docks. The Angel decided to take its fury out on Unit-00. It used its huge body and weight to knock Unit-00 down and began to crush it. Rei let out a slight scream, and that was all it took for Shinji to recover fully. He ran through building after building holding his knife high in the air before jumping on the Angel's back and driving his knife through what he thought to be the Angel's head. The Angel let go of Rei and turned its attention to Unit-01. It raised its flipper high in the air to strike Shinji down and into the water when Unit-00 grabbed it from behind. Shinji wondered what Rei was doing; she didn't have any other weapon. Shinji looked on his vid screen link to Unit-00 and saw what he was sure was the most determination in Rei that he had ever seen. As Shinji desperately tried to pull his knife free, Rei suddenly shifted the Angel and Unit-01 along with it.

"Get down, Shinji." Rei managed to say. Shinji soon discovered why she said that. Right where his head used to be, a progressive knife was now spinning towards the Angel. It drove right into the Angel's core and the Angel, with all of its life now gone, slumped on top of Shinji. Unit-02 stepped closer to where the creature it helped kill was, holding its side. Rei aided Shinji in getting the dead Angel off of him and they began to march off towards NERV headquarters.

"Good job! That was very impressive piloting!" Misato complimented on the return trip.

"So, Second Child," Shinji asked, "What's your name?"

"Meine name ist Asuka Soryu Langley," Asuka said smugly

"Um... excuse me?"

"Oh... that's right, you don't speak German. Well, my name is Asuka Soryu Langley. What's your name pilot?"

"I'm Shinji Ikari, and the one in the blue EVA is Rei Ayanami."

"Once you kids get finished with the introductions and finally get here, you can put your EVAs away and report for debriefing." Misato said.

"Commander?" Asuka asked.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Is Kaji there?!" Asuka asked growing more and more excited.

"Yes..." Misato huffed angrily, "He's here."

"Yay! Then I'll need to get there extra fast!" Asuka said as Unit-02 began to speed up to nearly a run.

The pilots got out of the entry plugs and were finally able to see each other. Shinji didn't have the sense to turn on his vid link to Unit-02, and Rei just didn't care. Asuka was so absorbed with either the battle or with the idea of seeing Kaji that she didn't bother either. Asuka got out and immediately went over to Shinji.

"Well, Third Child," Asuka began, "You don't look like much, but I guess NERV was pretty desperate for pilots." Asuka began to snicker, "But that's okay, you can just go home now and leave the real pilots to do the job."

"Shinji is a real pilot," Misato interrupted, "his sync ratio is almost as high as yours and he's only been doing this for a few weeks. Besides, if Shinji just stayed home, then you'd probably kill either yourself or him."

"Really, Shinji? Well, good job," Asuka said with what seemed to be an actual complimenting tone. "And what's that supposed to mean, Misato?" Asuka asked as her voice began to lose its softened tone.

"Well... you're going to be staying with Shinji and myself."

At the same time Shinji and Asuka's eyes bugged out as they turned to stare at each other.

"What do you mean?! There's no way I'm going to stay in the same house as him!"

"Well, get used to him. For the rest of this, you will be living there. All the preparations have been made. And it's just an apartment," Misato added under her breath.

Asuka's mouth dropped, "Three people are going to live in the same apartment?!"

"Actually, Asuka," Shinji decided to take his turn at surprising Asuka, "There's Pen-Pen."

Asuka turned to stare at Shinji now, "Who in their right mind would name their child 'Pen-Pen'?"

"He's not a child, he's Misato's pet penguin."

Asuka looked at Shinji questioningly then shook her head. Then all thoughts of the new living arrangements were erased from Asuka's mind as Kaji walked through the door.

"Kaji!" Asuka yelled at a high enough pitch that made everyone hold their ears, everyone except for Rei and Kaji. Asuka ran over to Kaji and quickly began to hang off of him as he tried to make his way to the growing congregation around the EVA cages.

"Hey there, Misato," Kaji said sliding out of the grasp of the entranced 14 year old and trying to get close to Misato.

"Why are you still here?" Misato asked angrily, "I thought you had died on that ship."

"Ha, ha, I just happened to be with Asuka at the time, but NERV wants me to return to the Second Branch relatively soon."

"NO Kaji!" Asuka said obviously distressed at the newest development.

"Sorry Misato, I know that you were really looking forward to spending the rest of this... this war, for lack of a better word, with me," This made Misato snap an evil glare Kaji's way, "But NERV just seems to think I'm just a delivery boy."

Asuka was now a meter away from Kaji and seemed on the verge of tears. She couldn't believe this, something had to be wrong. But the tone of Kaji's voice had changed from joking to serious. Asuka knew that she was only 14 and Kaji was about twice her age, but since the first time they met in Germany, she was sure that they were destined to spend all of their lives together.

Shinji wasn't really paying attention to the conversation. He didn't know this 'Kaji' and felt that this wasn't his place. But he just couldn't draw himself away. Ever since the crack Asuka made over the radio, Shinji never really liked her. But, it did sound like a compliment when they first met face to face. 'And,' Shinji thought, 'she does seem kind of cute when she isn't being rude or mean. I mean when she came out of the entry plug...' Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as he tried to keep his face from turning a deep crimson. Rei just looked at Shinji quizzically and tilted her head a little. 'I still don't think she's as nice as Rei, and Rei does look better in a plug suit...' Shinji again fought against the urge to blush, and lost. Shinji tried to look away from Asuka, but in doing so found himself nearly knocking Rei over with the speed and suddenness of his action. Shinji was again placed in an awkward position, but it seemed only Rei and himself noticed. Shinji took a step back and turned a deep blood red color as he discovered just how mature Rei was for a 14 year old. Shinji was sure Rei would do something to him, or that someone else would notice, but Rei just took a quick glance at him and looked back at the conversation at hand. Shinji wondered if his blush was getting so large that he could see it, or if Rei had actually blushed. Once more Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as an Asuka that seemed on the brink of tears ran in between Rei and Shinji and headed towards the changing rooms. Shinji now snapped to attention and took off after Asuka to try and figure out what happened. Rei just looked at the only two adults in the general area, looked at the door to the changing rooms trying to figure out why Shinji was in such a hurry to change, and left.

Asuka got to the changing room and couldn't help herself any more. She began to cry. She had always thought that Kaji was the love of her life, that they would be together forever, and now he was leaving. He didn't even seem to put up a fight. Just giving up so easily, it sickened her. Asuka always thought that you should never surrender. That, even if the odds are against you, if you were fighting for a good cause, even if all hope seemed lost, that you should never, NEVER surrender. And it seemed like that's just what Kaji had done. She didn't even notice Shinji.

Shinji came in with his hand over his eyes, just in case. The sounds of soft sobbing told him that he probably was one of the last people Asuka needed to see. He felt somewhat awkward. He had just met Asuka, and yet he felt compelled to reach out to her. Unfortunately for Shinji, that was something that he had little to no practice doing. Shinji turned to leave when he found himself staring deep into a pair of red eyes.

"Shinji," Rei began as she looked at Asuka, "Commander Ikari has told me that in times like these it is wise to try and aid the person in trouble. Please try to help her." Shinji was astonished at the sudden concern of Rei, "But... I don't know how."

Rei put her hand on Shinji's shoulder and her eyes seemed to soften, just like before at the mall, "You can." Rei took her hand off his shoulder and began to take off her plug suit, much to Shinji's surprise. He quickly turned to Asuka, half because of Rei, and half because Asuka's sobbing seemed to be increasing in sound and intensity.

"Um... Asuka?" Shinji asked warily.

Asuka responded with more crying. Shinji walked over to Asuka and sat down, not really knowing what he was doing or what he was going to do.

"Um... Wh... What... What's the problem, Asuka?"

This only caused more tears.

"Is... is there... um... som... something I can do?"

Asuka looked up at Shinji and quickly looked away, too ashamed to let him see her acting so weak.

"Just... GO AWAY!" Asuka yelled at Shinji in between cries. Then, quieter, "please, just leave me alone."

Shinji was about to abide by her demands, which would have been easy seeing as how Shinji wanted to leave anyway, when he saw Rei. She was dressed in her school clothes and looked at Shinji with a seemingly emotionless gaze. Then Shinji remembered what Rei said.

"Rei..." Shinji said quietly, "I don't know how to help and she wants me to leave."

"You have to Shinji; you are the only one who can." Rei answered and took her leave from the room. Shinji turned back to Asuka and tried to figure out what to do. Shinji then remembered what his teacher did whenever he cried. Shinji reached out, hand and arm trembling, and forced himself to put his hand on Asuka's shoulder. He tried to make soothing sounds and moved his hand back and forth, but it didn't seem to pacify Asuka. For several more minutes Shinji repeated the motion until Asuka finally stopped and turned to Shinji. Her face was still puffy from crying, but Shinji could see how thankful she was. Her eyes alone gave it away.

"Shinji... Thank you. I know we don't know each other very well, but thank you anyway," Asuka said in a hushed voice. Then she found resolve. Her eyes swiftly changed back to the same blue he had seen before and she was no longer thanking Shinji.

"Dummkopf! Get out of here! What do you think you're doing in the girls' changing area? I don't need your help! Get out of here you, you pervert!"

Shinji quickly scampered out of the reach of an angry Asuka and ran out into the hall that connected the two changing rooms. He sighed as all the tension from the fight and from Asuka let off and then went to his own changing area to prepare himself for what he knew to be inevitable. Asuka moving in with him.

Shinji thought he would be prepared. Shinji thought it would be easy. Shinji thought his room would be left alone. On all thoughts was he completely wrong. Shinji had managed to get back to Misato's apartment before Asuka did and tried to ready himself for what he knew was soon to come. Little did he know just how unprepared he was.

Asuka got home almost an hour after Shinji and had only a few bags in her hands. Shinji let out a large sigh of relief at the sight, but he would quickly take back his thoughts.

"Come on Shinji! You may not be very smart, but that doesn't mean you can't carry boxes!"

"Why so I have to help?"

"Because, I just so tired from my trip," Asuka said smugly, "and a girl as beautiful as myself should not be bothered with such menial tasks."

'Beautiful, sure...' Thought Shinji. "So that means I have to? I had to fight too."

"I already told you my reasons, besides, who else could help me?" Asuka said trying to appeal to Shinji's sympathetic side. If she knew Shinji better, she would have realized that that was unnecessary. Shinji was already making his was to Misato's car to bring in the boxes. Asuka smiled in delight and went to her room to unpack.

End Chapter #5