THis chapter is done on TXT file because FF.net is fucked up and no other type can be uploaded correctly

Well, here is another chapter, this time, the entire beach scene is done by Marcos Edson, leaving me doing some minor polishing and fixes. You rule man! You should start writing sometime for youself as well, cause my talents paled compare to yours. ^_~ (although admittedly, the blatant use of Asuka and Tsuka as fan-service begin to worry me).

On the side of shameless promotion: [www.Evamade.com/forum] Post your Eva Fic here! Hangout, talk about life, EVA, Roleplaying, have fun, go crazy and everything else. All my work from now on usually gets posted two weeks before hitting Fanfiction.net, so sign up and join us today!

Chapter ?: The last hours of freedom

NERV hosptial

Kensuke wandered in and out of reality, like being lost in NERV HQ, opening doors and elevators, climbing through ladders that spiraled into no where or stairs that went upside down into rooms that were rightside up like a bad classical drawing, sometimes he found himself in rooms he never thought existed, other times he found himself in the EVA bay, the various war machines standing in attention like soldiers for him to review, except for his Gold-and black EVA, which was half caved in from Asuka (or maybe Tsuka?)'s final punch, with one good eye remaining, staring at him as he passed by like one of those old paintings from horror movies.

A few times he awoke and saw his father, arguing with sub-commander Fuyutsuki about the well being of his son, then the two vanished into a fog of sedative with one of them saying something about…he could not remember. Another time he saw Shinji and Toji in the room, with the two Sohryu twins. The former two gave pity looks as they put a bouquet of flowers by the cabinet then mumured apologies of somekind, while the latter two stared blazing daggers at him that threatened to nail him to a wall. Then they all dissppeared.

Finally, he saw Rei-chan standing there in a nurse's uniform, when she should have been at home. Reaching forward, she slid a pair of glasses on to his nose.

"Gee, I don't think I have gotten to that fantasy yet." Kensuke thought as the visions suddenly clarified.

Rei blushed slightly at the otaku boy as he finished the thought. She then reached out with one hand and tapped Kensuke on the nose, "Baka-hentai."

"Damn it," He replied apologetically, "things like this never happen in the mangas, the hero always gets to bank home free…"

Rei raised an eyebrow as she picked up the clipboard by his bed, "Well, it is not like you lost an arm and a leg, so you should count your blessings, Kensuke-kun. Broken arm, broken legs, four ribs broken, 49 bruises…it is more quantity damage than quality."

After a long pause, the albino angel-girl added:" Well, I am going to the beach with Misato, Shinji and the girls," her eyes twinkling, "I never swam in the sea before, or wore a bikini for that matter. This could be quite…exciting."

Regardless of his injuries, there was still one part of him that still worked…well, at least he now knew it still worked, so did Rei apparently, with the wicked glows in her eyes.

"Well dear, be nice and keep that hard." Bending down, she gave him a kiss on the lips, and paused a second, to let the otaku boy glance down her ample cleavages, "and I may give you a treat later." The view left him with little imagination about what kind of treat it would be.

Then the fog converged over his head like a blanket, and he dozed off about guns, Angels, and half-angels…

----Here is Marcos and his Fan service, if you liked his lemon, then this is a treat----

Tokyo-2

Southern beach.

The day was really beatiful, the sun was shining in a cloudless sky and there was a soft breeze coming from the sea. On the road toward the beach, Misato's car flew low but for once her passengers didn't mind it, the perspect of spending a whole day in the beach not concerned with things like school, sync tests or angels was worth facing Misato's ways behind the wheel. But to her credit, today her driving, while fast, was actually civil, courtesy of the blue haired girl seated next to her, with a warm-water penguin on her lap. After promissing to "go to HQ later", Rei "suggested" Misato to drive more, well, more like normal people do... on the back seat, Asuka and Tsuka, with Shinji between them, looked eagerly to the white sand and blue water, they could not wait to put their feet on it.

"Well, kids, here we are." – Misato brought her car to a stop, next to a few others parked not far away an inn. As they left the car and started picking their bags, a woman with short black hair and with a cigarrete on her mouth came out the porch, looking at the newcomers.

"Hey, hey, if it's not Misato Katsuragi!" – Haruka greeted, taking her cigarrete out.

"Haruka!" – Misato walked towards the other woman and they high-fived. – "It's good to see you again!"

"The same here." – replied the innkeeper/barkeeper. – "I heard you have an important job now."

"Yeah, kinda..." – Misato said, scratching the back of her head. – "But work is something we and the kids don't want to talk about today."

"Sure." – Haruka said smiling. – "So, who are they? I didn't know you already had three daughters and a son..."

"Ah, ah, that's funny..." – Misato looked at the children, who had picked their stuff and were now gathered near the two older women, "Children, this is Haruka, we used to go to college together."

"The two redheads are Asuka and Tsuka Langley Soryu..." – Misato started.

"Hi!" – replied the aforementioned girls.

"This is Rei Ayanami..."

"Nice to meet you, madam." – Haruka waved her hand at that.

"Drop the formalities, kid. You can call me Haruka."

"Pen-Pen..." – the penguin looked up at Haruka and warked happily, flaping its flippers. Haruka giggled, she knelt and patted him in the head. – "A warm-water penguin... Never saw one before..." – She stood up as Misato introduced the last one...

"And this is Shinji Ikari."

Shinji bowed. – "It's nice to meet you, too, mad... Haruka-dono."

The older woman raised an eyebrow slightly. The boy seemed strangely familiar... Dark brown hair, blue eyes... He remembered her of...

"Well..." – she finally said. – "you are all welcome, all the facilities are at your disposal, if you need someting, you can ask me or one of the girls."

"Thank you!" – all of them said before walking towards the dressing rooms while Haruka went back inside the inn.

* * *

Leaving Pen-Pen on the beach chairs under the umbrella they had brought, Shinji went inside the male dressing room to get changed. Because he was not planning to get into the water, he would be happy to wear the same type of shorts he and the other boys wore on PE at school but Tsuka had bought him a pair of black brief type trunks and have insisted with him to wear those. Not wanting to upset her, Shinji quickly undressed and put the trunks on, althrough he was a bit embarrassed when he noticed how the fabric fitted his body much like a plug-suit would do... – "Why did she choose these?" – he thought, feeling his cheeks a little hot. – "Anyway, they are comfortable, I must admit..." – complementing his wardrobe with a loose white shirt, the boy went outside, picked their stuff and walked near the sand to wait the girls. Minutes later, he looked around and saw Misato walking towards him, carrying her bag, wearing a blue one-piece bathing-suit with a matching skirt wrapped around her waist and a beach hat on her head.

"You look good, Shinji." – Misato said with a smile, after looking at him for a while. – "Tsuka did well getting you those trunks."

"Uh, thanks..." – Shinji replied, feeling his face heating again. He looked at her guardian and noticed she was still staring at him, with an odd grin on her face. – "Misato? Is there somethig wrong?

"Oh, nothing, nothing at all..."

* * *

Girls dressing room, a few minutes earlier...

The girls entered and didn't waste time placing their bags aside and started taking off their clothes. Humming a tone and only with her underwear on, Tsuka opened her bag and took out a bikini she had bought recently, placing it on the side. Asuka, in the process of unhooking her bra, looked at it then up at her future counterpart.

"Are you really going to wear that?" – she asked, looking a bit upset.

"Do you see any problem?" – Tsuka took off her own bra and tossed it inside her bag. – "It's not like you were the one to wear it..." – she added with a wink. The bathing suit Tsuka had chosen was a black piece with a triangle top that tied on the back and neck and T-back thong bottom. Indeed quite provocative.

Asuka growled. That's exactly what was bothering her, people looking at Tsuka would be seeing her, Asuka. She wanted to speak her mind but she couldn't with Rei and Misato around. Besides, it would be really pointless, discussing with Tsuka was like discussing with, well, herself. – "This outfit does not let too much for imagination, I'm surprised they actually sell those for teens."

"Come on, we are in 2015... and I can assure you, there are much more daring stuff out there, this is almost conservative in comparison." – Tsuka finished undressing.

"I must agree with your sister on this, Asuka." – Rei was already putting on her own bikini, a more discrete white suit, with an underwire top and tie side American bottom. – "Some of those were so small I can't believe a woman would pay for them, it would be better walk around naked."

Misato giggled. – "Well, there's logic on that, I can't deny it. But the whole idea behind those micro outfits is exactly to tease men, hiding just a minimum..." – she placed a hand on her scar, her reminder of Second Impact. – "I could not wear one of those..."

Asuka, adjusting the bottom piece of her bikini, looked at her. – "While I'm glad for that, you should not always hide your body on a one-piece suit, though..."

"I guess you're right but I don't feel comfortable showing this..." – the purple haired woman finished putting her bathing-suit on and wraped a skirt around her waist. She looked at Tsuka who was adjusting her top. – "You'll cause a great impression on Shinji, I'm sure about that." – she said winking at the younger girl.

"And the whole male population of the beach..." – Asuka pulled the zipper of her biliki top closed. It was the same she used on her trip to Okinawa with the white and red strips.

"You should get one of these as well..." – Tsuka teased.

"No way! And I bet the baka will faint away as soon as he sees you from behind." – came Asuka with. – "Don't you agree, Rei?"

"Well, " – the albino girl replied. – "...during the trip I noticed Shinji seemed a bit uneasy between the two of you, and from my experience with Kensuke I believe that being around females wearing few clothes is not easy for the boys."

"Now, now, girls, give him some credit." – Misato said. – "If memory doesn't fail me, he has seen you redheads naked during that test some time ago..."

"Ugh! Don't remember me of that!" – Asuka reddned. – "That pervert, getting all horny in front ot us!"

"Oh, he did?" – Misato asked, grinning. That trip was really being worth it, there would be so much to share with Ritsuko later...

"Getting sexually excited at the sight of two naked girls is quite natural for a boy in his age..." – Rei spoke in a didactic way – "He probably could not control it even if he wanted."

"It's this lack of control that worries me!" – Asuka looked at her "sister" – "What if he had attacked us in there?!"

"Well..." – the way Tsuka said that told Asuka that asking such question might not have been a good idea... – "...we two could have enjoied it, actually..."

"WHAT!!!!!" – Asuka was outraged. Misato laughed and even Rei could not avoid giggling at that. – "That's not funny!" – the current pilot of Unit-00 was really fuming now.

"Oh, Asuka, try to relax."- Misato spoke,wiping a tear – "Hormones aside, I can't picture our little Shinji doing a move like that, it's just against his nature..."

"So true... Minus the little part, of course..." – supplied Tsuka with a dreamy expression.

"Gee, sister, don't feed the woman..." – Asuka warned but Misato was already on Tsuka's side. – "Now, I really want to know everything!" – said the officer, grinning mischievously.

"You see, when we left that elevator..." – Tsuka began, as casually as Rei when telling one of the commander's bedroom stories to the class. Rei looked at Asuka who was shaking her head, arms clossed...

"It seems things have been quite interesting at NERV during my absence..." – she said.

"You could say that..." – was all Asuka could reply to her.

* * *

"Hey, Misato, are you sure you're ok?"

Shinji's words snapped Misato out of her flashback. She blinked a few times before looking at the worried boy in front of her. – "Oh, sorry for that, Shinji, it's just something funny the girls told me..."

"Uhm, ok..." – Shinji, Misato and Pen-Pen made their way to the beach and found a spot to settle. Shinji unfolded their umbrella and stuck in on the sand while Misato took care of the chairs and towels. When they were done, they seated to wait for the other girls.

"Hey, Shinji, take that shirt off." – Misato spoke with a smile

"Uh? Why?" – the kid seemed a bit uneasy with the older woman's suggestion.

"Well, we are on the beach. And some sun on your skin wouldn't be bad." – seeing he was still undecided, Misato used a trump card. – "Besides, Tsuka wants it..."

Defeated, Shinji did as he was asked and took his shirt off. Misato whistled playfully. – "Yeah, there you go, Shinji!"

"Ah, Misato, stop it..." – Shinji was blushing again.

"But it's so fun! And you look so cute when you blush!" – Misato continued teasing.

"Hey, Shinji!" – Shinji turned around and saw the girls walking towards them, Tsuka on the lead, carrying their bags. He gulped when he realized Tsuka's attire was quite more revealing than the ones of her companions. – "Ah, man... " – he thought. The girls arrived and he stood up, Tsuka was in front of him, scanning his body up and down. – "You look good, Shinji." – the remark made his face burn. – "Was Misato flirting with you already?"

"Come on, do you think I would do such a thing?" – Misato faked a pout.

"Honestly?"- Asuka placed her bag on one of the chairs. – "It wouldn't be a surprise." – Rei completed, doing the same.

"HEY! Have you all joined against me?!" – the older woman asked, a bit distressed now.

Ignoring her, Tsuka took a step back, beaming at her boyfriend. – "So, Shinji, what you think?" – she asked, spinning around so Shinji could finally see exactly what type of cut her bikini had. The boy's eyes went wide open and his jaw dropped, he was speechless but to his credit he didn't faint as Asuka expected. Gulping again, he glanced at the younger redhead who seemed to be wating his reply as well, Rei was just smiling at him.

"It's... well... provocative,Tsuka..."- he managed to say, blushing even more. – "It looks... very good on you, yeah, that's it."

Asuka's only reaction was to raise an eyebrow slightly while Tsuka's smile spreaded. – "I'm so happy you liked it!" – she got closer and kissed him quickly on the lips. Giggling, Tsuka turned around and started running towards the water. – "Come on, guys, let's go swimming!" – Asuka looked at the boy for a brief moment with a musing expression before joining her sister while Rei looked at Misato.

"Join us, major?" – she asked. Misato shook her head.

"Maybe later, have fun." – Rei nodded and followed the redheads.

Shinji watched the girls run and fall on the water, laughing, finally releasing their stress. – "A thong... she is wearing a thong..." – dangerous images assaulted his mind and, oddly enough, some of them included not one but two redheads... Feeling that blood threatened to erupt from his nose, he quickly looked the other way, just to find Misato and Pen-Pen staring at him, or most precisely, to his middle regions...

"Well, Shinji, looks like you are... turned on..." – Misato giggled.

"Wha..." – Shinji looked down and yelped. He fell on his knees with his legs locked together and his hands trying to cover the visible bulge in his trunks... Misato was laughing. – "Misato, please! This is embarrassing!" – he protested. It was a good thing Asuka didn't see it or there would be hell to pay...

"Don't feel bad, Shinji, it's a natural reaction..." – Misato assured him.

"I-I know... but you know how Asuka reacts to these things..." – images of an irate redhead about to "turn him off" as she put it flashed in his mind making him cringe.

"Well, just relax and it will go away... or down..." – the purple-haired woman would not lose such a chance for teasing... "Or you could join them on the water, at least they would not see it..."

"Uh, you know... I can't swim..." – Shinji was ashamed to admit that to his guardian.

"Really?" – Misato was surprised. The boy nodded sheepishly and took a seat on one of the chairs. Covering his... embarrassing situation... with a towel, he picked his SDAT and pluged the phones to his ears. Pressing the 'play' button, he closed his eyes, letting the soft classical music calm him... and his buddy... down...

* * *

"Ahhhhh, this is so good..." – Tsuka just laid there, floating on the calm water, sometimes making some slow movements with her hands, Asuka not far away. The girls have swam and played a lot and now were merely enjoying doing nothing while Rei had joined the others on the sand, gaving the Soryu twins some privacy.

"Yeah, it is..." – Asuka agreed. – "Too bad we can't do it more often..."

"I wonder why Shinji has not joined us yet, though..." – Tsuka frowned a bit. – "... there he is, listening to music, when he could be here having fun with us..."

"And exactly what kind of fun you wanted to have with him?" – the younger redhead asked.

"Not the kind you just thought, you pervert." – the older one replied playfully.

"Oh, right, I'm the pervert, says the German girl with the skimpy bathing suit..." – Asuka fired back. Moving her legs down, the girl stood in the water that reached her by the navel – "By the way, why black?"

"Uh?" – Tsuka looked at her, standing as well.

"The color of your bikini." – Asuka explained. – Black is nice but why not red, to match your hair? That's what I'd have got."

"Well, I had my reasons..." – Tsuka said enigmatically. – "So you admit you'd have bought one of these, too? – she asked with a mischievous smile.

"Hey, I'm talking about the color!" - protested Asuka. – "I have a red bathing suit... but you know it already."

"Yes, yes, I know..."- Tsuka looked towards the direction where Shinji and the others were. – "Ok, that's it. I won't allow Shinji to spend a day on the beach and not entering the water, I'm bringing him here." – she started moving towards the beach.

"Eh, knowing the baka, you'll need to drag him..." – Asuka said and then resumed her calm float...

* * *

"So, you don't know how to swim?" – Rei had asked why he had not entered the water so far and got that reply.

"Well, yes... never had a chance to learn..." – Shinji confirmed shyly. Rei had laid her back on a towel and was reading some magazine she had brought. On her chair, with her eyes closed and both hands on the back of her head, Misato enjoyed the breeze while Pen-Pen was having an animated chat with... was that a turtle?

It was then Shinji noticed Tsuka coming out of the water and walking towards him, with a determined look on her face, making him tense immediately. He watched in silence as she stopped in front of him, hands on her hips. – "Ok, Shinji, it's time. Shall we go?

"Go? Go where?" – Shinji looked around nervously, Misato and Rei were now paying attention on the couple.

"Silly-baka, into the water, of course!" – not giving him a chance to protest, she grabbed him by the wrist and started dragging him towards the water.

"But, Tsuka! I don't know how to swim!" – the boy loooked back at Misato and Rei for support, but both had a "you're on your own, now" look. – "This won't end well... I can feel it..." – he thought.

* * *

Back on the water, Asuka saw her "sister" grab the Third Child and pull him towards the water under protest. – "Ah, so predictable..." – she got on to her feet and waited.

"Now, Shinji, just relax and everyting will be fine.' – Tsuka instructed as they entered the water and moved near Asuka. Shinji gulped as the water got deeper. Soon, they were in front of Asuka who was actually grinning at the boy's obvious uneasiness. – "What's it, don't tell me the invincible Shinji is afraid? – she teased.

"He can't swim, that's all."- explained Tsuka.

"You are not serious. THE INVINCIBLE THIRD CHILD IS AFRAID OF WATER?" – Asuka looked at Shinji who silently nodded. – "I simply can't accept that, come over here, you survived Angels before, a little water can't stop you."

Shinji looked at Tsuka, who gave him a reassuring nod. – "Ok..." – he moved towards the younger redhead but after two steps one of his feet found a small depression and he lost his balance. Gasping, he extended one arm trying to find some support. Caught by surprise, Asuka tried to step back but she was too slow on the water. She watched as Shinji's hand passed close to her face and grabbed the pull of her top zipper, opening it. There was a snap and Shinji finally collapsed into the water... taking the slider of her top zipper with him...

Asuka, shocked, looked down to her now exposed breasts. In front of her, Shinji, after some struggle, was again on his feet. He found himself unable to move, his right hand still holding the broken piece of the redhead's bikini top zipper, his wide open eyes focused on the two round beauties. He remained like that for several moments then he slowly raised his head, just to find Asuka glaring at him, her expression changed from shock to rage, a vein poping on her forehead. Shinji gulped. Asuka was griting her teeth, her hands balled in fists, all her (very nice) body shaking. He gulped again. She was about to blow up and he was very inside the blast radius...

"Uh, Asuka..."

"YOU..."

"I... it was... I mean..."

"BAKA..."

"Please..."

"HENTAI!!!!!"

Shinji yelped and took a step back but Asuka kept the distance moving forward, the unfortunate boy could swear the ground had shaken as if she was in her Eva. Sweatig profusely, Shinji tried once more to engage an apology...

"Asuka, I didn't have the intention! It was an accident!"

"Accident!" – came the furious reply – "I'll give you an accident, Third Child!"

Shinji gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, preparing for the unavoidable, when he heard the sound of giggles. Both him and Asuka turned to see Tsuka, hands on her hips, obviously very amused with the whole situation.

"Now, now, Shinji, what a nice mess you got yourself into..." – Tsuka teased, trying her best not to burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" – snarled Asuka. She was so angry she even forgot to try covering her chest, which was very bad for Shinji, while he was very afraid he also could not ignore the sight of a beautiful half-naked girl in front of him, right now he was fighting desperately to prevent a nasty nosebleed... and trying to keep that certain part of his anatomy down...

"Come on, sis, it's not that bad." – Tsuka poked her "sister" on the shoulder – "It actully gives us a good chance..."

"Chance? Chance for what?" – asked Asuka, puzzled now.

"Yeah, chance for what?" – repeated Shinji, not sure if he really wanted to know.

Tsuka smiled mischievously. She moved towards Shinji. – "A chance for you to answer a question I asked you before..." – As she got very close to the boy, Tsuka suddenly brought her hands to the back of her neck, untied the straps of her bikini top and brought it down, shoving her now naked chest on Shinji's face, an action that made Asuka's jaw drop. – "Do you think my breasts are bigger than Asuka's?"

[Seraph of Strife: Marcos, you are making me turn purple here…]

That was more than the brave pilot of Unit-01 could take. Some muffled sounds left his mouth, a splash of blood from his nose then his eyes rolled back and he fell dead cold on his back. Not struggling now, his limp body floated serenely on the navel level water...

Still holding her bikini straps, smiling kindly, Tsuka looked at the unconscious form of her boyfried. – "My, my, Shinji, will you nerver change?"

"Gee, how did... how will "I" change that much?'" – was what Asuka was thinking, now covering her chest.

On the sand, below their umbrella, Misato watched the scene and was laughing while Rei just smiled. Pen-Pen, laid on a beach chair, wearing sunglasses, with one flipper in the back of its head, the other holding a cocktail, was happily ignoring all of that. Not far away, Haruka also watched the events, with the eternal cigarrete on the corner of her mouth. – "Remembers a lot my nephew and his girlfriend..." – she thought, whit a smirk on her face.

* * *

Letting Tsuka taking care of the passed out Shinji (something Tsuka was not unhappy with at all...) Asuka walked out of the water. As she neared the others, Rei put the magazine she was reading aside and picked up Asuka's bag, handing it to her.

"I believe you want to change your bathing suit..." – Rei said, with a smile

"Uh, yeah, thanks..." – Asuka replied, still a bit uneasy with Rei's cheerful behavior.

Picking her bag, the redhead walked towards the dressing room, not before giving Misato one of her trademark death glares, the purple haired woman had stopped laughing but still had an awful grin on her face. The dressing room was not far away and Asuka didn't find many people on the way there, but the few representatives of the male community who looked at her as she walked by covering her chest with an arm, all received a glare that could freeze fire.

Inside the dresing room, Asuka placed her bag on the side and took a deep breathe. – "Damn... everyting was fine so far..." – she thought. Shaking her head, the redhead opened her bag to get a new suit when she found somethng strange in there. Puzzled, she took out a small gift wrapped package she hadn't noticed before, a small note attached to it. Opening it, she found her own calligraphy, meaning only Tsuka could have put it there. She read: - 'Just in case...'. Placing the note aside, she opened the package and, with great surprise, found a bikini identical to the one Tsuka was wearing, except the color, this one was red, their color but Tsuka had let it to her. For several moments she didn't move, then as for impulse, she took off what was left of her old bikini and put the new one on, she blushed a little when she saw on her hown body how little it hid. But it fitted very well on her and despite her previous remark, she considered wearing it for the rest of the day. But she finally let out a sad sigh and took it off, changing to a one-piece red bathing suit. – "Thanks, sis, but I'm not you... not yet, at least...".

Asuka then went out the dressing room and walked back to where the others were, in time to see Rei helping Tsuka with a still limp Shinji, dragging him out of the water and laying him on a towel near Misato.

"Has the baka drowned?" – Asuka asked, with a hint of concern.

"He surely swallowed some water when he passed out..." – Rei answered. – "He may need resuscitation procedures."

"I can handle that!" – cried out Tsuka before kneeling on Shinji's side, place her mouth on his and start sending air into Shinji's lungs... or so it seemed to most unaware people...

Asuka's eyes rolled. – "I should have seen that one coming..." – she thought.– "I'm going to get something to drink..." - she said looking at the other females – "what about you, people?"

"Please, get me a beer... or two..." - replied Misato.

"Sure, sure... Rei?"

"I don't need anything right now, Asuka, thank you." – was the albino's response. Turning around, Rei began to trace her left hand index finger in a circle in front of Misato's face, "You will not drink and drive today…"

"And you, sister, wanna something? Besides an icepack for your lips, that is..."

Tsuka raised her grinning face – "Thanks, sis, I have all I need, too." – and went back to her attempts to bring Shinji back to life... ^_^

Slaping her own forehead, Asuka turned around and walked towards the beachouse...

[End Fan-service….thank God, was I ever that….ecchi in my writing? Please answer that question in the review section]

As Asuka approached the bar, she noticed a figure dressed in a trenchcoat heading to one of the rooms. Long hair, ponytail, with a shaggy beard…"Kaji??" she thought. Completely forgetting about the drinks, the EVA-pilot shadowed after the secret agent.

"What is he doing here?" Asuka thought, "Maybe a secret tryst with some woman?" The thought of her man mangling with some underage harlot set the girl's mind a blaze with evil possibilities. As Kaji settled himself on to one of the tables in the corner of the beachhouse, Asuka moved to an adjacent table, artfully covering herself with a nearby tropical plant. A few minutes later, the innkeeper came back, dressed in a black bikini covered artfully by an apron.

"Kaji-san", she murmured a greeting.

"Haruka-dono", the secret agent bowed, "I got your message, so how is he?"

Lighting a fresh coffin nail with the butt of her last cig, "Tired, pissed off, depressed, and drunk."

"Drunk?", Kaji asked, stoned dead.

"Drunk.", Haruku replied, puffing the new cig.

The secret agent froze at the thought of Gerald[Shinji] getting wasted. Racking his brain for memories, Kaji could not recall anytime in the last ten years anyone has seen Gerald being anything resembling the blissful college-trademarked state. "This is really bad.", he thought. Blandly pushing aside Haruka, the secret agent opened the side door and entered inside. Pausing a second, the innkeeper sighed, then blew out her cig and went in, closing the door behind her.

Asuka, perplexed, tip-toed behind and began to listen through the door as the voices faintly floated out the other end .

Kaji: "Gerald, wake-up man, yo…"

Some silence followed. Then Asuka heard something like the sound of slapping.

"Wake up!", Kaji ordered more firmly from the other end. In response, a gunshot rang out. Nearly scared the wits out the German girl as she jumped away from the door, with the honed reflexes from nearly a year worth of experience living as a tenant with Misato. Looking around, Asuka saw none of the other patrons noticed anything; "How could they?", the girl mused. "This is Japan, not Germany." Most of the locals have their experience with weaponry only in films on TV, or anime shows with no real basis whatsoever. Letting go her breath and pausing to calm her pumping heart, Asuka turned around and listened again.

"……lost almost everything." Someone answered on the other end, with a perfect Japanese tone, for someone with a gaijin name.

"We still got Jing, the other girl, and Kaze is…well Kaze. We also got a large stash of weapons hidden in the Angel-raid Shelter, not to mention three self-defense regiments that are even now infiltrating the city as migrant workers." Kaji replied, his voice slightly muffled by the door.

"But all those lives lost…", Gerald wailed, "I failed them all…After all I did, it amounted to nothing!"

Using a tone Asuka never heard before, Kaji replied, his voice splintering ice: "WE are still alive. The Third Impact has not occurred so far. NERV has been set back repeatedly by your efforts. The others sacificed their lives to ensure you could live, so you can make sure the rest of humanity stay alive too, SIR."

A long pause followed: "….you must feel irritated that I am your superior, after you pulled my sorry corpse out that morgue, and now I am calling it quits."

"No, because you helped me find out the truth…so now my brother can rest in peace, now we have to help each other to make sure the party responsible for this mess gets their due, and to make sure the Third Impact remains theoretical, e?", Kaji paused a few seconds, then added: "Haruka-dono, something to help my little friend to clear his head?"

"I will see what I can find, coffee?"

"That should do it, meanwhile…"

Asuka then heard the sound of glass bottle clinking and a chair of some kind being dragged across the floor. Discretly, she moved away from the door, just as the middle-aged lady opened the door again. Asuka head begin to spin as she tried to replay the whole conversation in her mind. "What does all this mean? Defense force troops infiltrating the city? Kaji? The destruction of the NERV bases? Kaji-san is part of a greater conspiracy than working for HQ?" The young redhead was becoming throughly confused while being direly curious about the identity of Kaji's friend. But alas, Haruka closed the door too quickly to prevent Asuka from getting a good look of the occupants. Sighing, she moved to a nearby counter, and ordered something long and stiff to calm her nerves.

Just then an trembling hand landed around Asuka's shoulder. Screaming bloody hell with thoughts of her eardropping being discovered, the German girl turned around with an accelerated speed and sent her fist slamming into the offender's face. With a crunch and a moan, the pilot of Unit-01 collapsed on the ground with his nose bleeding.

"Asuka…I am sorrrrrrry…", then Shinji promptly passed out. Around them, a small crowd began to gather, with of all people, Wondergirl in lead. The blue-haired goddess looked down on the unconcious boy, then Asuka, then Shinji again, until her Azure gaze moved back up and locked on with Asuka's red... " Shinji is not an anime character you know."

"Ummmm." Asuka actually had the good grace of blushing.

T.B.C

Well, it has been a long time since I updated. My writing is running into rocks. An extremely unpleasant event occurred in my life recently, and sent my willingness to write and taste of EVA into hell. I still plan to continue about once a month, with the final ending be done by Christmas time.



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