* MIND * GAMES *
Part Fifth
Lunch ended and the afternoon "study" portion of classes began. The elderly teacher often took the afternoons to give the lecturing a rest and let the students work on their assignments for awhile. Despite the absence of his droning voice, class was still about as exciting as watching grass grow.
Asuka looked blankly at the screen in front of her. She'd been breezing through the questions rather mechanically until a few moments ago, when she'd run into a number of problems that contained Kanji characters she didn't recognize.
'Stupid chicken-scratch kanji!' Asuka grumbled mentally, 'How do those idiot Japanese expect anyone to memorize two thousand characters?'
For a moment she considered asking Shinji to help. A split-second later she completely disregarded her previous impulse out of force of habit.
Shinji sensed her frustration through the barrier that separated their conscious minds. He crossed the threshold and made contact with her. "Is there something wrong Asuka?"
"No." she responded without spending any time to consider her answer.
Shinji still felt frustration coming from her and came to the brilliant conclusion that she wasn't telling him the truth.
Trying to ignore the feeling of Shinji's presence in her head, Asuka went back to working on the questions in front of her. She wrote down the correct answer to the one she had been stuck on and moved on. As she proceeded to finish the assignment, she noticed something amiss. 'What about the Kanji?'
Troubled by this sudden epiphany, Asuka looked back over her work and found something amazing. Though the kanji was still there, the characters now made sense to her. 'But how?'
"What's wrong?" Shinji again asked, having become worried at the emotions storming inside her.
'Shinji.' Asuka concluded, though how he'd caused it still eluded her. "Nothing's wrong," she subvocalized, trying to brush aside the startling revelation. "I was just frustrated with a homework problem."
"Oh." replied Shinji, though privately he still felt she wasn't telling him the whole truth.
Class continued without much more incident until at last the bell rang to herald that the official school day had ended. Not being on clean-up duty, Asuka prepared to leave.
"Asuka?" the voice of her friend brought the red-headed German girl up short. She turned to face Hikari, who took it as a signal to continue. "Would you mind walking home with me today?"
"I have to go to Nerv today, but I'll go as far as I can." Asuka replied.
"I have to oversee some things here so..." Hikari began to explain.
"It's no problem Hikari." Asuka assured her friend. "I have time."
Hikari smiled gratefully. "Thanks Asuka, I really appreciate it."
Asuka sighed after Hikari went to catch a boy hoping to sneak out of cleaning duty. She'd have to stick around a while longer.
"Shinji? You there?" She subvocalized, figuring talking with him might pass the time if nothing else.
"Yeah. I'm here." Shinji said emerging once more from within the recesses of her brain.
"Any luck figuring out how to use my eyes yet?" she asked.
She could feel him grow a bit uncomfortable at the question, though she no longer felt so disconcerted by it as she had the night previous.
"Well, um, with your permission, Asuka, I'd like to try something I've been thinking about..."Shinji said, and she could tell that he was feeling doubtful about it.
"Go for it" Asuka replied.
Asuka felt Shinji release a sigh. "Alright, here goes." he said.
Asuka felt a slight tingle start somewhere behind her forehead. The sensation gradually traveled forward, until it reached somewhere behind her eyes. Then her eyes began to itch somewhat, but she managed to blink it away.
"Shinji?" She could still feel him there, but he had been silent since the tingling sensation had started.
"I... I think it worked, I'm getting some sort of image." Shinji said. "Try glancing to your left."
Asuka did so. "How about your right?" She complied. "Now, try a random direction."
Asuka smiled devilishly, thinking of a trick she could play on him.
"Where... Where'd it go?" Shinji asked, sounding a little panicked. "I think I lost it. Everything went dark all of a sudden."
"That's because I closed my eyes, idiot." She informed him, her smile growing.
"Oh..." he replied. Asuka could feel his embarrassment, though it only served to widen her smile. Neither said anything for a while.
"What did you do?" Asuka asked, curious. This was infinitely more interesting than simply waiting idly for Hikari to complete her duties as class representative.
Shinji explained, "I was concentrating on synchronizing with you...well, your eyes anyway. Then I started to feel something happening, so I focused on your eyes a bit more. Eventually, I got an image."
"I guess all that stupid dancing that Misato had us go through was finally good for something other than beating that Angel." Asuka joked.
Shinji chuckled softly. "I guess so."
Their private conversation was cut short by the sudden appearance of Hikari. "My work here is done," the class representative announced, "Are you ready to leave?"
Asuka merely nodded. Both girls said nothing as they left the school grounds and began to walk towards their destinations. The silence gradually grew heavy enough that Asuka decided it was time to break the tension.
"So... Was there something you wanted to talk about?" she asked her best friend.
Hikari let out a hesitant sigh and waited a moment before speaking. "Touji's a good friend of Shinji's, isn't he?" she finally asked.
"Yeah, I guess so." Asuka replied. She had a vague premonition as to where this line of questioning was heading.
Hikari took a deep breath before speaking again. "Do you know if... I mean have you overheard anything... or has Shinji ever said anything to you..."
It was readily apparent that Hikari would take forever to say exactly what she meant, so Asuka decided that a little gentle prodding might be necessary. "Are you asking whether I know if Touji wears boxers or briefs?" Asuka asked in a teasing manner.
"NO!!" Hikari protested loudly.
Asuka grinned. "Then what were you trying to ask?"
Hikari chewed her lip in a moment of hesitation, then at last managed to spit it out. "Do you know if Touji's ever said anything to Shinji... about me?"
"I thought that was what this was going to be about." Asuka said smugly.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Hikari asked innocently.
"Your oh-so-obvious crush on Touji Suzahara." Asuka stated matter-of-fact-ly.
Hikari's eyes fell to watching the ground. "Is it really that obvious?" she asked after a few moments of silence.
"To everyone else except those three stooges." Asuka replied.
Hikari's cheek's colored slightly as she continued to study the ground passing beneath her feet. "What do you see in a jock like him, anyway?" the German girl asked.
"He's not a jock." Hikari replied quickly in her infatuation's defense. Asuka looked at her friend as one might look at someone when trying to decide if they are merely joking around or if they've completely lost touch with reality.
Hikari reconsidered her words and decided to amend her previous statement. "He's not just a jock. He's a great guy, Asuka, when you get to know him. The persona he normally displays is really just a facade... In truth, he's actually a very caring, sensitive, compassionate person."
Asuka resisted the strong urge to wretch audibly, and settled for merely sighing and rolling her eyes. "Whatever you say Hikari." she responded placatingly. "To answer your question, no, I haven't heard either of them talk about you."
Hikari's sigh rang with melancholy. "I see." she replied.
"Hey, that's not necessarily a bad thing." Asuka said in attempt to cheer up her friend. "Boys at this age usually only talk openly about girls in shallow and perverted terms. That might mean Touji actually respects you as a human being."
Hikari released another sigh. "Yeah, I guess so." she said, sounding a bit unconvinced, though not quite as depressed as a few moments prior. She was silent a few moments before a smile stole across her face. "So... Do you really know which it is?" she asked.
"Which is what?" Asuka asked, puzzled.
"Which it is that Touji wears," Hikari explained, her smile having turned fiendish. "You know, boxers or briefs?"
"WHAT?" Asuka half-gagged from shock.
Hikari laughed happily at seeing her friends reaction. "Turnabout's fair play, Asuka." she pointed out. "You were the one that brought it up in the first place."
"Whatever." Asuka muttered.
"I think your wrong about guys our age, though." Hikari went on, her earlier troubles all but forgotten. "They aren't all as bad as you make them out to be."
"Yeah?" Asuka snorted derisively, "Prove it."
"Maybe I will." Hikari responded defiantly as they stopped at a crosswalk. "But not today it seems. This is my turn. I'll see you tomorrow then."
Asuka smiled and nodded in farewell. She managed to take two and a half steps before the sound of Hikari's voice caused her to stop and turn around.
"Asuka, thanks for walking with me today. I really appreciate it." Hikari said, earnest sincerity readily apparent in her eyes and her voice.
Asuka was touched by this display of emotion from her friend, and yet at the same time felt a little uncomfortable by it. "Anytime, Hikari." she replied, meaning it.
The two girls went their separate ways for the day. Meanwhile, within Asuka's head, Shinji Ikari was mulling over some recent accidentally acquired information.
'Hikari likes Touji?'
* M * I * N * D *
". . ."
* G * A * M * E * S *
The glowing from of the angel descended from amidst the clouds, narrowing in on the two EVA units. The EVAs opened fire with their rifles, but to no avail. The angel's AT field seemed to be too strong for the projectiles to penetrate. The angel's glow grew brighter angel unleashed its blinding light. The two Evangelions leapt out of the path of the light just in time, narrowly escaping danger.
The glowing angel corrected its aim, targeting on Unit-02, now hampered by its own umbilical cable. As the angel's glowing aura grew brighter once more, Unit-01 crashed into Unit-02, knocking it to the ground. The blinding light was once more unleashed, engulfing Unit-01, then shortly going on to hit the prostrate form of Unit-02.
The Light ceased as the angel hung in the air, seemingly unaware of the approaching Unit-00. The blue EVA took aim with its positron rifle, and fired at the angel. As the vibrant beam of energy was about to strike the otherworldly being, it vanished from view.
Misato paused the vid-data for what seemed to be the thousandth time. No matter how many times she watched it or from how many angles, it seemed that she'd never find the answers she was looking for. She was losing hope fast.
"What exactly are looking for on those anyway, Misato?" a familiar voice asked. Misato turned around to see Ritsuko standing in the doorway of the room.
"I don't know." Misato said with a sigh, loading a disc that contained vid-data from yet another camera angle. "I'll tell you when I find it."
"Rough night?" Ritsuko asked, leaning against a nearby desk.
"Is it that obvious?" Misato asked as she reclined back in her chair, stretching her complaining muscles as she rubbed at her eyes with the back of her right hand.
"If you know what to look for." Ritsuko replied.
Misato sighed. "I didn't get much sleep last night." she admitted.
"That's understandable." Ritsuko commented sympathetically. "How's Asuka handling it?"
"She had nightmares last night, but she seemed pretty normal this morning." Misato answered. "I just hope this event doesn't affect her ability to pilot."
"Speaking of which, I need her to come in for a synchronization test as soon as possible." Ritsuko told her.
Misato nodded. "What do you expect to find?"
Ritsuko was silent a moment before speaking. "I'm not sure really." she finally admitted. "I hope its nothing serious, but she was hit by the same attack that put Shinji in his present state. We need to see if it had some sort of effect on her as well." She smiled weakly. "Who knows? She might just have the information we need to figure out how to help Shinji."
Misato smiled tiredly at her friend's attempt to cheer her up. She returned her attention to the vidscreen that was currently replaying the battle. It was at the point which displayed Unit-02 being trapped by its own umbilical cable. "Damn cables." Misato swore as she switched the data to play in slow motion. "They really reduce the effectiveness of the EVAs. If it weren't for them..."
"The EVAs would be limited to five minutes of action before switching backup batteries." Ritsuko finished for her. "Though we might not have to worry about the umbilical cables for much longer. The U.S. branch of NERV was scheduled to commence testing of the prototype S2 engine in Unit-04 today. I don't know what's happening exactly, though, because of the chaos this last attack has caused. Its probably been postponed."
'The Super Solenoid engine...' Misato reflected, 'One of my father's greatest dreams. An unlimited energy source... derived from the Angels... can it really be trusted, or are we again tampering with things we can't fully understand?'
While she contemplated this, the vidscreen showed Angel's light engulfing both Units-01 and -02, causing them to writhe in agony.
* M * I * N * D *
"...?"
+ G + A + M + E + S +
The faint hum of electrical equipment and the steady beat of the heart monitor were the predominant sounds in the room. Silently, the pale female form watched over the boy that lay in the med-tank., connected to various instruments of machinery, of which were standing their own vigil over the fallen EVA pilot.
Had anyone been watching, they might have noticed that Rei had not moved significantly from the moment she took up her seat at Shinji's bedside. She had not even blinked an eye or twitched a muscle since sitting down. She was determined to be at his side when he awoke.
It did not appear that he was going to do so today. He had changed about as much as she had since her arrival, and still looked no different from what he had during her visit the day previous. A quick glance towards the monitors told her there had been no biological change in his condition either.
"Ikari..." Though little more than a whisper, it was the first sound she had made in hours.
'Why do I feel this strange... attachment to him?' she wondered. 'He is my colleague and a fellow teammate... but that is not the full extent of my feelings towards him. What urges me to wait at his bedside like this? I... I am unfamiliar with such feelings.'
That wasn't entirely true, Rei realized as she watched Shinji's chest rise and fall. During the attack of the twelfth, she had grown deeply worried as to his welfare. Hearing the mocking words of the Second Child as they waited to commence the bombing operation had stirred anger within her, reminding her of the way she had felt when she had slapped Shinji for his disrespectful remarks about the Commander.
Shinji had returned from that prison of shadow, though, despite the odds against him. She had waited at his bedside while he was recovering that time as well, wanting herself to be there when he awoke, though no more sure of her reasons than she was currently.
'Will... Will he return this time as well?' Rei wondered. His prison now was even less tangible as the one he had freed himself from before, making it that much more formidable.
'He will.' she decided, putting her faith in him. He was not his father, the Commander, but he was not totally unlike his sire. He would return. 'But... What will happen when he does?'
+ M + I + N + D +
"?"
"...!"
+ G + A + M + E + S +
'Nearly there,' Asuka thought privately as she turned down one of the various hallways in the NERV Geofront medical Facilities, 'I wonder if this crazy idea of Shinji's will actually work?'
Though she had boasted that she could come up with a better plan, Asuka had found the task harder than she had expected. Despite all her education, she was still stumped as to how to go about getting Shinji back in his own body.
"We're almost there." she subvocalized to her mental passenger.
"I know." Shinji told her, "I checked using your eyes just a minute ago."
"Oh." was Asuka's reply. A small part of her wanted to get mad at him for using them without her permission, but the only problem was that he already had her permission. It was his choice not to use them for more than short intervals. "I didn't even feel anything, that time." she commented.
"I don't want to be a bother." Shinji explained. "I was trying to be as non-invasive as I could."
"Shinji, why not use my sight all the time?" Asuka asked after a moment. "Wouldn't that be easier on you."
To her surprise, she felt Shinji get uncomfortable by the suggestion. "I'm not so sure Asuka." he said. "It... It's kinda weird, to be completely honest with you."
"How so?"
"It's a bit hard to describe really." Shinji said after pausing to think about how to answer. "It's very different from what I'm used to."
"What do you mean?" Asuka asked. "I have 20/20 vision, same as you. It shouldn't be all that different..."
"Everything is different, though." Shinji answered. "Nothing looks quite like I remember it looking. I... I think it might be because people see the world in their own way, each person having their own perspective on how the world is."
"I think I'm missing the picture." Asuka said, not exactly sure what Shinji was trying to say.
"The classroom, for instance." Shinji continued. "I had a little trouble recognizing it at first. It didn't seem to be the exact room I associated with the one I've been attending class in. Certain details were missing, and the general look of the room felt different to me somehow. I knew it was our classroom, but it still felt different because..."
"Because you were looking at it through my eyes and my perspective." Asuka finished for him as she caught on. "You're right. Having to see the world through someone else's perspective does sound like it'd be a little weird. I guess it's pretty uncomfortable, huh?"
"It's not so bad, really." Shinji replied. "It was kind of easy to get used to, really. But I feel like I'm infringing on your privacy even more than I already am."
She hadn't thought of it that way. By using her eyes, he might discover things about her that she didn't want anyone to know about... What was the saying? 'The eyes are windows to the soul' or something like that. By seeing through her eyes it was possible that he was able to catch glimpses of the darkest corners of her being, places she didn't even realize existed.
'Did he realize that, though?' Asuka wondered. 'Or was it just a semi-conscious sort of thing that he'd rationalize by claiming "it just felt wrong"? If he doesn't realize it, and eventually does, would he... would he take advantage of it?'
She didn't like the thought of someone being able to use her own "self" against her like that. For some reason, it made her skin crawl.
What bothered her more, though was the feeling that inside she knew the answer would be no, Shinji would do no such thing. That conclusion meant something very scary to Asuka, something she had avoided since she had been seven years of age. It meant that Asuka trusted Shinji, on a level of intimacy she had not previously been aware of being possible between two different beings.
As she had done countless times before with others like it, she shoved the offending train of thought down into the dark recesses of her subconscious, and forgot about it.
Moments later, they were standing in front of the room that contained Shinji's body. Asuka stood there a moment, feeling inexplicably tense.
"What's wrong, Asuka?" Shinji asked, having sensed her sudden discomfort.
"We're there." Asuka said aloud in a quiet voice.
"Er..yeah... so?" Shinji asked, feeling confused. 'I thought she would be overjoyed at the prospect of getting rid of me.' he thought to himself. 'Why is she acting so strangely all of a sudden?'
'Why do I feel so... nervous about this?' Asuka asked herself. 'If anyone should be nervous, it'd be Shinji... but its my own emotion, not something coming from him.'
'Am I nervous that it might not work?' she wondered, then quickly discarded the idea. 'But what, then? Could it be that I'm worried about what happens... about what happens if... if it does work?'
Despite the part of her that stubbornly screamed that it wasn't true, she knew it was. "Why?" she asked herself, her voice barely above a whisper.
'Stop it!' she scolded herself mentally. 'Stop acting like an idiot and get this stupid thing over with.'
"Asuka," Shinji said, worried about the feelings of conflict, distress and anger that were emanating her all at once. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." she snapped audibly. "Are you ready?"
"Y-yes..." he replied, surprised at her sudden change in addressing him.
Steeling herself, Asuka clenched her hands into fists and gritted her teeth, then made the final step towards the door. The steel panel slid open with a pneumatic hiss revealing Shinji laying motionless in the med-tank, wires and tubes running from him into various IV bags and machines...
... and Rei Ayanami sitting beside him in a chair, apparently watching the comatose Shinji as he slept.
'What's she doing here?' Asuka wondered, surprised to see the First Child. 'Has she been here all day? She wasn't at school today...'
Rei turned her head slowly to face the doorway. "Pilot Sorhyu." she acknowledged the Second Child in the quiet voice of hers, then turned back to her silent contemplation of the comatose boy.
"Great." Asuka muttered under her breath. "Just great."
"What is it?" Shinji asked.
Asuka ground her teeth in frustration. "Take a look for yourself." she subvocalized.
A second of silence followed as Shinji accessed Asuka's eyes. "Rei!" he said with a mix of surprise and pleasure.
'He's happy to see her?' Asuka thought to herself, feeling a little disturbed by this prospect. 'I know I teased him a couple times in the past about it, but I didn't... I didn't know he had... those kind of feelings towards her...'
"Pilot Sorhyu?" Rei asked, pulling Asuka from her contemplations and brought her to look the pale pilot of Unit-00 directly in the eyes. "Is there something you wanted?"
Asuka was taken aback by the question and had a little difficulty answering it. "I... I came... I came to see Shinji." She at last stated, hating how hesitant and unsure she sounded.
Rei held Asuka's eyes unwaveringly. "Why?" she asked.
"To see if he'd gotten any better, of course." Asuka said trying to force a pleasant voice and only narrowly succeeding. 'Why does wondergirl always behave so superior like that? The way she speaks... its like she's talking down to me or something.'
"His condition has not changed since his arrival here." Rei informed her.
A tense silence followed, consuming an eternity of nearly three minutes. Finally Asuka decided that Rei would never take a subtle hint, and there probably wasn't any polite way to go about what she needed to do next. "Can I have a few moments alone with him?" Asuka asked, though it did not sound very much like a question.
"What for?" Rei asked, her voice picking up a very subtle hint of curiosity.
"I..." Asuka was at a loss for a plausible reason. "I... I have some things I need to tell him about."
Rei's head tilted slightly to one side. "He is in a deep coma. It is unlikely that he'd your words." she said.
"Its not so really important that he hears them, but rather that I say them to him." Asuka explained, making it up as she went along.
Rei head tilted questioningly again. "And you cannot say them while I'm in the room?"
"Well... its... er... private." Asuka fumbled, hoping that Rei bought it.
Rei studied Asuka a moment before responding. "I see. I'll leave then." Rei stood up and walked from the room without another word. The door hissed shut behind her.
Asuka sighed in relief. Dealing with Rei was normally a vexing experience at best, but this went above and beyond what she thought she was capable of. It was not a situation she hoped to repeat in the near future.
"Let's get to work, shall we?" She asked her cranial cargo.
"Uh... er... okay." came Shinji's reply.
She approached the opened med-tank where Shinji's body lay in near death-like sleep. "Remember, this more of an experiment than anything else." Shinji reminded her.
"I know." she responded. "So the first thing was to establish physical contact?"
"Seeing that I didn't jump into my body as soon as we entered the room, yes." Shinji answered.
Asuka gingerly picked up his limp hand and clasped it in hers, careful not to disturb the IV tubes. She shivered slightly at the contact, as his limb felt heavy and devoid of life. "You still there?" She asked, though she already knew the answer.
"Yeah." Shinji replied. "Time for Plan B. I'm going to try and remove myself from your brain."
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Asuka asked, a little worried, and not just for her personal safety.
Shinji gave a wry laugh. "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, Asuka, but are there really any other options that don't involve me being trapped in your head for eternity?"
"I guess not." Asuka sighed. "Fire when ready."
From inside her head, Shinji focused everything he had into opening a "door" like he had when he'd first made contact with Asuka's active mind. Since he could move from the void of her brain to the her active mind through a "door", he might be able to remove himself completely from Asuka's head.
He focused every ounce of will into breaching the barrier that trapped his consciousness within Asuka's body. At first, it was as if he were trying to move a mountain, a disheartening exercise in futility. He was almost ready to give up, when he began to notice the barrier give ever so slightly.
Encouraged, he redoubled his efforts, hoping against hope that this might actually work. Slowly, he was making progress. For a moment, the barrier seemed nearly ready to give way completely, but then something happened to stop any further progress. It was as if he'd hit an impenetrable wall all of a sudden.
Hoping he might push beyond this, too, if only he tried harder, Shinji continued to try and force an opening. Unfortunately, his efforts were met with something quite the opposite of the desired effect. The harder he pushed, the more the barrier strengthened itself and forced him to lose the ground he'd fought so hard to gain. It was useless, he decided after his efforts continued to fail and seemingly turn against him. He let go of his concentration, and the barrier snapped back to its original position.
"It's just no use..." Shinji lamented.
"It didn't work?" Asuka asked, recovering from the pains of a major headache she had suffered during Shinji's attempt to free himself.
"No." Shinji replied. He noticed Asuka was feeling tired and aching from something, causing him to immediately worry. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine." She answered. "I just got a slight headache when you tried to get free, that's all."
"I... I'm sorry, Asuka..." Shinji apologized. He felt horrible for having caused her pain, though unsure how to express in words how upset, sad, guilty, and bad it made him feel.
Words were not necessary, though, as Asuka felt those emotions resonating from him. "Look, I'm alright, okay?" She told him. "Forget about it. It was no big deal."
Shinji of course could not just let it go. "I didn't know it would affect you, Asuka... I..."
Asuka growled in frustration, cutting him short. "Look, I said I was alright." she said. "Neither of us knew what was going to happen, but we had to try. I'm not blaming you for anything so you might as well stop blaming yourself, because its making me sick."
"I'm sor..." he stopped in the middle of the word, realizing what he was about to say would likely anger her further. "I... I guess you're right."
Asuka smiled slightly. "Of course I'm right." She replied. Sitting down in the chair Rei had used, Asuka let out a sigh. "So... what do we do now?" she asked after an uncomfortable moment of silence passed between them.
"I... I'm not sure." Shinji answered, feeling at a loss. "I can't think of what we possibly can do next without outside help."
"Oh well..." Asuka sighed, "I guess we're going to be stuck like this for awhile longer."
Shinji expected to feel anger, frustration, annoyance or anything but what he did feel coming from Asuka.
"You're not angry about this?" he asked, not believing it for a moment.
"I... I guess I'm not all that upset by this arrangement..." she replied, carefully. "At least not as upset as I should be, anyway."
Shinji marveled at this. 'How can this be possible?' he asked himself. 'I thought she'd be furious if this failed to work... but she isn't. She... She's actually being nice about this. But... but why? What's making her act like this?'
Recognizing it as a mystery he'd likely never puzzle out, he filed the question away for later pondering. 'Maybe...' he thought to himself, 'Maybe later I'll... I'll ask her why she's behaving so strangely...'
Asuka was pondering her own questions as well. 'Should I be upset that this didn't work?' she wondered. 'I don't feel all that upset... but maybe that's because I didn't ever fully expect it to work in the first place. Even so, shouldn't I be at least be annoyed somewhat? After all, I am being a bit inconvenienced by all this.'
So engrossed in thought, Asuka failed to hear the door slide open to admit Misato to the room. As the Major walked in she noticed Asuka was seated at Shinji's side, holding his hand in hers. At first, she was shocked by the sight, but then she smiled sadly. 'Maybe when he wakes up... things will be different between those two...' she thought to herself.
"I thought I'd find you here..." Misato said, announcing her presence in the room. The sudden sound startled Asuka, causing her to drop Shinji's hand in an unconscious effort to make it appear as if she had never been holding it. 'Then again...' Misato considered wryly, "...maybe not.'
"Misato? I... I didn't hear you come in..." Asuka replied.
"You're needed for a impromptu sync test Asuka." Misato told her charge. "Rei's already changing, and the test plugs are nearly finished being prepped."
Asuka nodded, but for some reason she felt reluctant to leave the room.
"It probably won't take all that long, and you can come back for awhile when the test is finished." Misato said, noticing the girl's hesitation.
Asuka shook herself from the hazy state she was in. "That won't be necessary, Misato." Asuka told her guardian dismissively. "I'll head over to the locker rooms now." With that, the red-haired girl stood and walked briskly from the room.
Misato watched her leave and shook her head as the room's door hissed shut behind her. "She's still the same old Asuka." she sighed, then shrugged her shoulders. After taking a brief look at Shinji, she left the room and the boy behind to return to her duties as an officer of NERV.
+ M + I + N + D +
"..."
"?"
"..."
* G * A * M * E * S *
Rei must have already left, as the locker rooms appeared to be completely empty by the time Asuka arrived. 'So much the better.' Asuka thought.
"You'd better not peek while I'm changing." Asuka told Shinji aloud, not even bothering to subvocalize.
"Er... sure thing Asuka..." Shinji replied, feeling the mental equivalent of a blush coming on. He prayed to any deity that might exist that she wouldn't be able to see the mental image the suggestion had flashed through his mind's eye.
Asuka smiled at the feeling of embarrassment emanating from Shinji as she began to undress. 'Shinji always takes everything so seriously.'she noted with amusement. 'It makes him sooo easy to tease... its not really much of a challenge. Why do I enjoy it so much, then?'
She pondered this for awhile, until her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of her cranial passenger. "Um... Asuka?"
"Yeah?" Asuka responded verbally as she was finishing pulling on her plug-suit. "What is it, Shinji?"
"Er... I just thought of something..." Shinji said. "Because I'm in your head... my brain-waves are probably going to affect sync scores..."
Asuka paused thoughtfully to consider this revelation. "You might be right, but what about it?"
"Do you think that the MAGI might detect my presence?" Shinji asked.
There was another pause as Asuka thought about what he had just said. Finally, she answered. "I'm honestly not sure, Shinji. I know the MAGI record data from the sync tests, but I don't have any idea as to whether or not they'd be able to detect our duality."
"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Shinji responded hopefully. "If they do, though, then we won't have to worry about proving anything to Misato or Ritsuko in order to get their help. I'm beginning to think we're going to need it after all."
Asuka depressed the button at her wrist to vacuum seal the plugsuit. "Me too."
As Asuka made her way to the door, she failed to notice the presence of a certain blue haired girl who was behind a different row of lockers. Rei had not, as was previously assumed, already in her the entryplug awaiting the commencement of the sync tests. She had responded to the Major's page, yes, but she had waited, out of sight, until both Asuka and Misato had left Shinji's room. She had then reentered the room and made one last check-up on the Third Child, before setting out in the direction of the Women's locker-room. As such, she had arrived just as Asuka had began her little discussion.
'Why was Pilot Sorhyu addressing Ikari like that?'
* M * I * N * D *
" ! "
- G - A - M - E - S -
"I ready Misato, let's get this thing over with." Asuka's voice came over the com system.
"We're still waiting for Rei, Asuka." Misato said into the microphone. "Please, just hold on a little longer."
"What?!?" Asuka exclaimed. "I thought that you said..."
"I know, I know..." Misato replied. "But it seems she hasn't arrived yet. No one can seem to find..."
As if on cue, Rei appeared on the catwalk leading to the entrances of the test plugs and climbed into Unit-00's entryplug.
"...Never mind." Misato said. "We'll be starting in a moment, Asuka."
"Good." the red-headed pilot replied, still sounding perturbed.
"Filling test plug 00 with LCL" Maya announced. "Charging LCL."
"Confirm MAGI data recording." Ritsuko said, her voice sounding clinical and disinterested.
Maya's fingers flew over the terminal in front of her as data flowed onto the projec-screen. "Balthasar confirmed; Melchoir confirmed; Caspar confirmed. The MAGI are recording data at 99.9% efficiency. Ready to begin synchronization simulation."
Ritsuko nodded. "Begin simulation."
Maya displayed the sync scores on the large vid-screen that hung above the obsvervation windows.
"Strange..." Ritsuko commented. "Asuka's score's fluctuating awfully strangely..."
"What?" Misato asked worriedly. "She'll still be able to pilot, won't she?"
"Actually, its about five to twenty-five points higher than normal..." Ritsuko said.
"Huh?" was Misato's response. She had been paying more attention to the screens displaying the pilots faces, rather than the sync scores. She looked up at the large vid-screen, and saw that Asuka's synchronization indicator was fluctuating rapidly, though it was definitely higher than her normal scores.
"Asuka, please try to focus more." Ritsuko said into the microphone on the control panel.
"Okay..." Asuka replied. Gradually, her score had decreased in its fluctuation, though was still doing it far more than it should have been doing.
"Asuka, can focus yourself just a little bit more?" Ritsuko asked after it seemed that the score refused to lessen its wild jumping any further.
"I'm about as focused as I'm going to get." Asuka answered, her voice's civility sounding a bit strained.
Ritsuko simply watched the scores for a few moments more, then shook her head.
"What is it?" Misato asked, her worry growing.
"I'm not sure." Ritsuko said. "It might be that this is an after-affect of her contact with the angel, or it might be that this has been caused by something else completely unrelated. I can't be sure until I get a closer look at the data." The blond scientist then spoke into the mike. "Asuka, Rei, the test is over. You may leave now."
Informative notes:
There are about 2000 kanji characters currently used in the Japanese language, of which a Japanese student is expected to have learned by their graduation from high school.