Sunsets were so beautiful.
The dark purples, oranges, and reds, combined to form a majestic backdrop for the sun as it sunk into the horizon. It was a sight that Hikari used to take for granted, but, now that she only had one eye which to view the occasion, it was something she loved to watch.
"Hey Hikari…" The jock quietly called out, his voice drawing her attention to him, "Thanks for coming."
"I wanted to say… um," Touji rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't used to being like this with anyone so it was hard to put what he wanted to say into words, "Like I just wanted to say that I'm glad ya back, ya know."
Hikari leaned on the railing on the side of her company. She turned towards him and smiled, "Thank you."
She held back a chuckle as he blushed. He was just like Shinji when it came to things like this.
Shinji…
Hikari wondered if he was okay. He was eating lunch when the alarm roared but what touched her was the glance he gave her before he ran out of the school to fight the Angel.
"…hate him?" The strong word Touji used snapped Hikari thoughts and she turned back towards him with a questioning look on her face.
"What?"
Touji's jaw clenched and the expression on his face wasn't a kind one. He looked forward with his eyes set on the sunset but it was obvious he wasn't talking in the view, "I hate him Hikari…"
With those few words defining entirely what he felt for the Third Child, Hikari admitted to herself that she wasn't surprised. Shinji was the pilot of one of those robots but it wasn't like he intentionally went and threw a building on top of Touji's sister or tried to give this scar to her on purpose.
The jock stood in the same position, his eyes still set on the setting sun before him, "Don't ya hate him too?"
Hikari opened her mouth but words didn't come out. She… she didn't know how to answer or even what to say.
Touji sighed, "Ya should…"
Lately
"Shinji! Cover me you idiot!" Asuka cried before one of the Angel halves lifted Unit 02 into the air. Despite how the Evangelion twisted to free itself, the halves lifted it high in the air and threw it.
Shinji swore. It was too late to save Asuka, but he was still had to get the job done.
Unit 01's shoulder compartment opened with a hiss and Shinji forced it to grab the progressive knife that slid out. He couldn't afford to lose. He had to protect everyone.
He had to protect her.
Quickly, Shinji dashed to the side as the halves of the Angel nearly cornered Unit 01. With the knife firmly in it's hand, Unit 01 dodged the attack of the half on the right and attacked the one on the left.
Before the pilot of Unit 01 knew it, the situation was exactly the same as it was with the fourth Angel. Orders came over the com-link in a blur and his mind was strangely blank as he acted on pure instinct.
The vibrating knife collided with the core and sparks flew as the knife screeched against it. By a sheer act of will, Unit 01 pressed the blade even deeper into the core as the second half of the Angel neared him.
Unit 01 was suddenly hoisted in the air and the knife fell to the ground. Assisted by the other half, Evangelion Unit 01, like Unit 02 before it, was thrown. As he sailed through the air, he knew what just happened.
He lost. He failed to protectsomeone again.
The blunt truth of reality hit harder than the impact with the ground.
The tongue lashing they received not only from Misato but also his farther was not one to be forgotten. Even as he and Asuka sat in the apartment they shared with the Operations Director, the memories of their defeat were still fresh in their mind.
Shinji sat with his back against the couch and Asuka laid on it as she flicked through the channels on the television with the remote. Besides the annoying voice of the actress as she boarded the train and left her lover behind and the occasional shifting of Asuka on the couch, the room was silent.
It wasn't a need to argue and Misato made that perfectly clear on the way home. Asuka acted on her own and took point and Shinji again ignored orders as he fought. Not only did they get defeated, but they caused Nerv to lose face.
"That's so stupid…" Asuka muttered as they both watched the man chase after the woman while the train was in motion, "Why didn't he just get on it if he wanted to be with her so bad?"
Not actually watching the movie, Shinji answered the question the best he could, "Maybe… Maybe he didn't know how he felt until she was leaving."
Asuka's brow went up as she was about to ask him to explain, but the sound of the door opening caused their small conversation to be broken up.
Misato appeared before them with a grin, "I got a plan to defeat the Angel."
Shinji didn't have any problems with that but his curiosity got the best of him, "What's that stuff for?" He asked pointing at the stuff she held in her hands.
Their guardian seemed a bit too excited as she carefully dropped the items on the floor so they could see, "It's a part of the plan."
Shinji's eyes sailed over the site of two identical mats that were white with black spots on them, a radio with two pairs of headsets, and, finally, two matching suits that drew a surprised squeak out of him, "No… d-don't tell me I h-have to wear that!"
The look on his face was the highlight of Misato's day, "Of course you do. Starting today, you and Asuka will start synch training in order to defeat the Angel."
Shinji knew that the N2 mines disabled the Angel for a period of time… but long enough for them to train to defeat it?
Misato stood with her hands on her hips as she began to talk, "From this day forward, you two will be completely in synch. I want you to wake at the same time, blink at the same time, eat at the same time, and even sleep at the same time."
Shinji paled, "W-With each other?"
Asuka slapped him upside the head, "P-Pervert! She won't make us do that!"
"Asuka's right, except you two will share a room. Before I came here I readied one of the rooms in another part of the apartment complex." The amused expression on her face gradually turned into a more serious one, "We have six days. It's up to you two."
"Don't fail again."
The teenagers nodded.
-
Two days passed by quickly and while they were getting better with each other bit by bit. On the third day…
Asuka went as fast as possible and Shinji, who tried to keep the pace, missed steps because he couldn't keep up. With every mistake, Asuka threw an insult and almost seemed to give up on it when he slipped on the ninth try.
"Goddamnit Shinji! How hard is it to keep up?" Asuka yelled as she looked down at her roommate whom just made his tenth mistake.
"You're going too fast…"
"Remember Shinji. We have to go maximum speed and power! We'll die if we went at your pace." Asuka stated as she slammed her fist into her hand.
She was right.
If they went at this without their maximum output, the end result would not be anything nice. Thankfully, the pad was numbered and the tempo of the song was at a fair pace so he didn't have a reason not to keep up.
Shinji slowly exhaled allowing himself to breathe out the pressure, "Okay Misato. I'm ready."
Over the intercom placed in the room, Misato yelled the numbers and both of them moved at the same rate to touch the numbered areas. Their guardian smiled as her charges hit the right areas at exactly the same time. The end of the song was coming and Shinji couldn't quite calm himself seeing that this was the farthest they ever made it.
All he had to do was suppress his thoughts and listen for the number which came faster than he expected.
"Six!"
They moved and the music flicked off as Misato's sigh could be heard over the intercom, "I said six."
Shinji didn't even have to but he looked down anyway to find his right hand place directly on top of the dark spot marked six, "Wait… My hand is on six."
Asuka lifted her hand off the five, "She was talking to me…"
"Good job you two," Misato voice flowed through the intercom but the disappointment that was laced into her previous statement was gone, replaced with a small sense of satisfaction, "It's definitely an improvement. We might have it tomorrow."
Asuka looked at her hand, "Yea…"
Misato leaned back in the chair and stretched. Taking her time to yawn before turning back to the monitor, she looked at the children then at her wristwatch, "That's enough for today."
"You can take a shower first if you want to Asuka." Shinji said as he walked directly to his bed.
"Thanks." His roommate quickly stated, still looking at her hand as she picked up some clothes and entered the bathroom.
'It was a long day,' Shinji thought, 'at this rate; we might be able to do it tomorrow.'
His eyes, that were closed when he started to stretch his tired body, snapped open as he remembered exactly what was happening tomorrow. Hikari called once and asked Misato if she could pay a visit and she agreed seeing that she already invited Rei to come.
Shinji sat up wondering how he should deal with Hikari. He didn't ignore her or anything for the pass week, it was just they didn't really have anything to talk about.
'Besides…' Shinji laid his head back on the pillow, 'She was with Touji…'
Even now, he didn't know how he felt about their relationship. On one hand, he was glad that she was with someone that was looking out for her but, on the other, that someone was a person that completely and without question hated him.
Could he blame him though? Not only his sister, but it was also his fault that Hikari was in such a state.
On second thought, he didn't blame Touji at all. Sometimes he pondered how it would be if they were in each other's places. Would he hate Touji? How would he act? How would he treat Hikari?
The last question came out of nowhere.
"I'm trying my best… I don't want to hurt her anymore." He thought out loud.
"Hey," The soft voice of a girl roused him from his thoughts of Hikari, "You can take a shower now."
Asuka stood on the side of her bed clad only in a towel ultimately making Shinji wonder why she didn't change while she was in the bathroom. He couldn't pull his eyes away as she slowly reached her hands up to undo the towel… Well, to be exact, he couldn't take his eyes off her figure until their line of sight met.
When his dark navy eyes met her soft blue eyes Shinji knew he was a dead man, but the reaction of Asuka was a bit off. She smirked, "Eh? You were looking weren't you?"
Briefly thinking over what would happen if he said yes, a quick "No!" was his reply.
She walked towards Shinji who turned away already preparing for the worst. Asuka's grin became larger as she neared the cowering boy, "Look Shinji!"
"No! D… Don't Asuka!" He cried.
The towel fell to the floor and time passed before he lowered his hands from his eyes hoping to see her in bed. Shinji's wish wasn't granted as his eyes fell on her wet, fiery red hair that was still matted to her pretty face.
Daring to look down, he found that she actually was dressed in a long, but large, tee shirt.
"I see why Misato messes with you so much," Asuka turned and walked back towards her bed, "She wasn't kidding when she said you were dense."
"S-She said that?"
Asuka nodded, "She said you were with a girl named Hikari too."
The redhead wasn't exactly trying to pry into his life or anything; it was just that it got too boring without some form of conversation. Besides, she was at least the tiniest bit curious to their relationship.
She paid close attention to his face when she brought up Hikari. The confused expression on his face gradually turned more downcast as his eyes took a distant look to them.
'Ah damn, didn't want him to get all depressed and shit on me.' Asuka honestly thought and was about to attempt to change the subject until he spoke.
"She's just a… friend."
"I mean the way Misato was saying you went to her house every other day, it sounded like you were more than that." Asuka said as she lay on the bed.
Shinji blushed at the thought and quickly started to explain the situation to her. He heard that it was good to tell things to other people sometimes but he didn't know that it would make him feel this at ease. He actually felt good sharing what happened with his roommate.
"Oh…" Asuka stared at him before turning her gaze back to the ceiling, "I didn't know it was like that."
Shinji looked at the ceiling to their room also, "Yea…"
The room they shared fell into a comfortable silence until a question popped into Asuka's mind, "Hey… You don't pilot just for her do you?"
"Kinda…" He admitted as he got up to take his shower, "At first, I piloted because…" Shinji trailed off as he attempted to find the right words to say.
"I piloted because I could… and I felt like people expected me to, but, when… it happened to her, I decided I wanted to pilot so I can protect as many people as I can."
"I…" He started before he got up to take his shower, "I'll die if something like that happened again."
With that said, they both muttered good night to each other at the same time.
-
Nervous…
That's how Asuka felt training in front of Hikari and Rei. It's not that their presence put extra pressure or anything on her. As a matter of fact, it didn't even bother her (that much) that Wondergirl actually synched with Shinji in one try, it was just how intense their watchful stares were. Still, the strange thing about it was the fact they weren't even looking at her.
Both of the girls were openly staring at Shinji. Under their eyes, Shinji didn't even seem to notice them as he flawlessly touched the numbers in order and still managed to keep in synch.
What put Asuka off weren't the girls, but Shinji himself. For once, it was actually Shinji himself. It was the first time she ever seen her roommate so determined. The cold fire that burned in his eyes clearly said that failure was not an option but, for the second time today, that was not the case when her hand landed on one instead of three.
Unlike her, Shinji didn't say anything when he noticed that she was at fault. His shoulders just slumped and he would raise his head to Misato who would say something along the lines of 'One more time' or 'Let's do it over'.
"Let's take a break," Misato drunk the rest of the beer and placed the empty can on the floor beside her, "We'll get it next time."
Shinji and Asuka nodded at their guardian at the same time both half thankful that she didn't make them do it again.
"Are you hungry Shinji?" The boy in question looked up at Hikari who was still clothed in her school uniform. Overlooking how she looked in the uniform, he noticed the bag in her hand, "I brought you lunch since I heard you were training."
Being one to notice when attention was being placed on him, Shinji didn't have to look over his shoulder to know that everyone was closely waiting for him to reply.
He cleared his throat, "T-Thank you but… I can't eat in front of everyone else like that."
Hikari blinked, "Oh, that's right."
Shinji stood up and walked towards the kitchen to prepare something for everyone and Hikari followed him since she didn't exactly have anything to talk about with Rei, Asuka, and Misato seeing that she hardly knew either of them.
'Well, I know Ayanami to an extent,' She instantly thought correcting herself, 'but Asuka only spoke to me once and this is my second time actually seeing Ms. Katsuragi.'
Unconsciously, she thought back to the first time she met her as Shinji fumbled around looking for the bag of salad Misato brought. It was in the hospital, right after Shinji defeated the Angel.
Of course the injury she sustained hurt but, once the nurses administered the medicine, she would have forgot she had a scar if she could have open her eye. She could remember everything clearly after that even if the side-effects of the pain medication left her a bit drowsy.
Despite the small talk of her company, Touji and Kensuke, she wasn't paying attention to any of it. She appreciated the fact that they were there, but she really just wanted to rest. Not that she would actually voice it.
Merely by chance, she caught a glimpse of something outside the door. She saw a tall woman with purple hair quietly open the door and then usher in someone she recognized. Muttering a few words to her charge and then closing the door behind her, Misato left leaving Shinji with his classmates.
She could recall Kensuke saying something about needing a drink as an excuse to leave because of the obvious rise of tension in the room as Shinji and Touji noticed each other.
Shinji, his eyes full of guilt, looked directly at her and Touji, seething with hatred, turned towards the pilot. Turning his line of sight to the floor, he apologized best he could before Touji suddenly stood up and yelled at him. Blaming him for everything from his sister being hurt to the present state of Tokyo-3, the jock grabbed Shinji and the situation was about to get out of hand… until she physically forced herself to sit up and told him to let go.
Stunned, he released his grip on the pilot's collar and Shinji, acting almost as if nothing happened, just walked away. As Kensuke just happened to enter the room after the confrontation, she laid back down wondering exactly about what would of happened if she didn't stop them or what would have happened if Touji and Kensuke weren't there.
"What would you like to eat?" Shinji asked politely bringing her back to the present.
She leaned forward with a smile, "I was thinking you would eat with me."
Already seeing the blush starting to form on his face, she spoke before he would start rambling, "I was joking Shinji. I already ate."
"I… I wouldn't mind eating with you." He declared as he hurried to ready the instant ramen Misato loved so much.
Had he not had his back turned, he would have seen the surprise on her face. She turned to the side to hide her blush and was about to speak until a loud 'Hurry up Idiot!' caused him to cringe and prepare the food even faster.
Finishing his task, Shinji lifted all of the plates and began to walk towards the room until Hikari's laughter made him come to a halt, "What's so funny?"
She bit her tongue before the statement; 'You're really just like him' came out. Hikari reached out to get the plate balanced on his forearm, "Just say when you need help okay?"
He nodded as they headed back to the living room to find Misato still explaining to Rei why it was okay for her not to formally address her outside Nerv and Asuka watching television.
After Shinji handed everyone their respected plates and, Hikari noted, thoughtfully opened the bento she brought him. Besides Rei thanking Shinji for the salad (She later learned that she didn't favor any kind of meat) and the occasional question pertaining to her and Shinji, the evening was uneventful.
Taking a look at her wristwatch, she decided that it was about time for her to head home. Misato turned towards her after she stood, "Leaving without giving him a kiss goodnight?"
"M-Misato!" Shinji called out as he came back into the room dressed in his uniform.
The raven-haired woman poked Shinji before she raised her beer to her mouth, "Some people know how to take a joke."
He followed Hikari to the front door and offered to walk her to the train station, but, like Rei, she refused. She smiled as Shinji handed her the bento she gave him, "Don't trouble yourself with me, you still have to train with Asuka don't you?"
"Yea, but-"
"Don't worry about it Shinji," She said cutting him off, "I had fun today."
"I'm sorry for Misato, you know, that's just how she is."
"Ha, I didn't mind."
They stared at each other until she turned around, "I'll see-"
"Hikari…" It was his turn to interrupt her as he stepped out of the apartment behind her, "I… I won't fail anymore." He remarked before his resolve gave out.
She looked over her shoulder in confusion but her expression got softer as realization finally reached her. Hikari nodded as a smile crept onto the features her face.
"I know."
Fin
Author's note:
Hmm, an update! With more chapters following every two or three days? From this guy? Impossible!
For real, this chapter came off as a bit rushed to me so I may edit it when I have more time. Getting on to the characterization, I think it would have been better if I fleshed out Rei in this story a bit more but I'll save it for another chapter. Also, as we all can easily tell, Hikari is and will be out of character. To answer a question before I get it, being scarred for life doesn't make you want to tease members of the opposite sex. ;;
I figured that she'll be friendlier with Shinji seeing that he is one of her closest friends now. Hmm, with that said… to the next chapter I go. o.o
Chibi Fenrir
