Disclaimer on chapter 6
A/N: Reading my story, I realized doesn't want me to have '?' and '!' right next to each other. Geez, my stories sound awkward now. Can somebody help?
--
Shinji was visiting Dr. Hasegawa for the second time this week. He was booked for yet another appointment by Misato, this time for 5 straight hours, from 7:00 am to 12:00 pm.
"Misato wasn't kidding about lengthening my appointments last month..." He thought to himself.
"Welcome, Shinji, hi Rei." The doctor had grown accustomed to the commander, and the albino girl who was always with him. They had visited him once a week for the first month, then it became twice a week, though it might be to have an excuse to keep away from a certain ball of fire. Their appointments were usually twice as long as any other patient's, and Shinji always told him something interesting happening in his life. Usually revolving around a certain red haired girl and his SDAT, his stories were constantly hilarious and enjoyable.
"Hello doctor. I will wait by your office." Rei calmly stated, as she left with a bow.
The doctor had grown used to this as well, having Rei sit outside his office for hours, never leaving until her master's appointment was over. The undying loyalty, he admired. The extent of patience, he wished he had. The blind love for the commander, he felt sorry for, but that's because he thought she loved him in a romantic way.
That notion was cleared up during an event not soon after the return of humanity, as Shinji rejected Rei in fears of genetic faults in their child, and the fact he simply did not feel for Rei that way, so they settled on more of a family relationship than a romantic one. Though it always seemed romantic due to Rei's constant usage of 'Shinji-sama" after the will had been passed on.
The patient wheeled himself to the bed, and lifted himself up to lie on it.
"Well, Mr. Ikari, I suppose you are dealing with your suppressed emotions quite well?" The therapist said, proud of his progress for the past 7 weeks.
"Yes, doctor. Talking with you and Rei really got a lot off my mind. I feel calmer now, and my dreams about Shitozan stopped." The patient smiled, and the therapist beamed at his achievement.
"Good, then this may be the last session until you show symptoms again." The muscular man stated. "Now, what's on your might lately this time?"
"My project's halt will be canceled tomorrow, doctor. It will build up my stress again, but my sense of duty will return and hopefully suppress my survival instincts."
"Very good. Now, did you take my advice and buy a dummy to unleash your anger and frustration?" The therapist asked.
"Yes, doctor, though beating on the dummy never seemed to bring out the beastial side of me." The blue eyes flickered a moment at the sound of attacking something, but was too faint for anybody to see.
"Very good. Hopefully you also have arranged for a martial arts class after your leg's full recovery?"
"Yes, doctor. Luckily, my legs will be healed at an estimated time of two weeks from now on, due to the discovery of a new regenerative technology."
"Great!" The doctor exclaimed, truly glad for his patient.
"I also talked to Asuka. It seems that my recovery pleased her, and she is willing to let me have my SDAT back." The boy told the doctor in a pleased tone. He was really happy from this turn of events.
The doctor scribbled down something for the first time in 2 weeks, and this was a positive scribble.
The boy took out the SDAT he had in his pocket. It was an old model, like his original one, that costs 500 American dollars for collectors and 50 yen for regular people nowadays.
"My god! That SDAT, how much did you pay for it!" The therapist's enthusiasm was clearly heard in his voice.
"After Third Impact, I found it in some store that sold it for 50 yen. It was not functioning properly, but I owned one just like this before Third Impact and I knew how to fix it."
"Amazing! I'm a rare music player fanatic, and I would love to know where you bought it." The doctor exclaimed happily.
"It's nothing, really." The dark haired boy said. "What is most precious to me is the tape inside... It contains memories of the first fourteen years of my life."
"Why so?" The doctor asked, curious as a cat about the reasoning for this.
"The songs represent my life." He said, and that's all he said on the matter.
An awkward silence followed. Neither spoke for a while, due to both being at a loss for words. The doctor simply doodled on his clipboard unknowingly, as Shinji stared into the ceiling that he'd been growing accustomed to.
"I see." The doctor finally broke the silence, with two pointless words.
The silence fell upon them again. All that could be heard was a pen scratching a piece of paper, and the curtains of the opened window fluttering, until an alarm sounded.
"WHAT!" Shouted Shinji, as he forgot all about the doctor beside him, and the beautiful white ceiling, as he tried his best to get himself back on the wheelchair.
"Commander, don't over-exert yourself!" Dr. Hasegawa rushed to help the commander to lessen his pain.
"Damn it, why NOW of all times?" Shinji said through gritted teeth, as he wheeled himself out to find Rei.
"Shinji-sama. We must hurry to the command deck." Rei said in her monotone voice without even looking his way as he reached the door frame, as if sensing him. She got up and ran to Shinji, as she pushed him at top speed down the corridor and made a sharp 90 degree turn to the elevator.
"Well, that session was a failure." Hasegawa thought to himself, as he reached for a pistol. "I hope I won't have to use this..."
--
"REI! No! We must get to Sachiel first!" Shinji shouted to the albino girl.
"Shinji-sama, he will be fine. I shall contact security to bring him to the bridge."
"That works too, I guess." The elevator stopped, and the door opened. Rei began running towards the center of all commands as fast as she could, as explosions sounded on the lower levels, informing her of an invasion. "Why now...?"
--
Fuyutsuki sat in the commander's office, and called the committee.
"Why do you summon us?"
"What is the meaning of this?" Fuyutsuki shouted in anger, as he hammered the table. "Why didn't we know? You knew this assault was coming, didn't you?"
"SEELE has launched another attack?"
"That's impossible! Their Jet Alone project was not to be completed until Ikari's recovery!"
"Jet Alone?" Fuyutsuki asked, confused and surprised. "How did they get their hands on the funds to continue the abandoned project?"
"They pulled a few strings at JSSDF, and directed the JSSDF funding to themselves."
Fuyutsuki hanged his head in defeat, knowing that if SEELE had such control over JSSDF, they wouldn't stand a chance without the Evas if they decided to fight head-on. All he could do is pray that the other countries are willing to lend their support against the evil that threatens to overthrow the UN.
"I see you are worried, professor. Don't. Ikari will pull through."
With that, the voices could no longer be heard.
"Why are they placing such trust in a mentally unstable boy?" The professor thought to himself, as he rose his desk up to the command bridge.
--
Misato gave instructions to the 23 squads of varying sizes at her disposal, as the skilled tactician's strategy began to take shape. Squad 1-12 crawled through the air ducts, ready to snipe at every room, as the heavily armored squad 14-16 spread out and formed an iron wall of protection at each choke point that the invaders would use. Squad 13 were to escort Sachiel to the command bridge to avoid capture, until he was needed as a last resort. Squad 17-20 had the job of escaping out of Geo front through secret emergency routes, and attack the enemy forces from behind, as the final three squads were to distract the enemy forces while the snipers are picking them off unnoticed.
On paper, it seemed like a good idea, and it was, as the horribly organized invaders were slowly annihilated with few casualties. The victory seemed at hand, but Misato failed to count in the fact that SEELE knew everything about NERV-Including the air ducts, and the fact this might be a trap from the horrible planning of the enemy soldiers. A second wave all fell from the skies, it seemed, but it was actually tunnels blasted by soldiers from above the ground while Misato was busy with the distraction.
"NO! THAT'S CHEATING!" Misato screamed, as she snapped the headset she used to communicate in her hand.
Squads 17-20 were slaughtered from behind by the superior numbers, as the swarm released gas weaponry into the air ducts, killing the snipers as well. The air duct was forced shut to prevent the gas from spreading inside of the HQ.
"WHAT? Gas weaponry? That's barbaric!" Shouted the fuming Major, her pride taking a huge hit. She did not like how her position right now, and hated it even more as she felt the presence of Fuyutsuki rising into command.
"Major, status." The sub-commander demanded.
"Enemy Reinforcements from above Tokyo-3. Squad 1-12, 17-20 annihilated, squad 22, 14, 23 taken heavy casualties, gas weapon detected, air duct shut, squad 13 reinforcing 21-23." Informed the major, as she tried to suppress her rage. The bridge techs simply watched helplessly as the agents and soldiers stationed in the HQ were fighting a losing battle. They themselves are useless in a battle where Evas were not deployed.
Just then, the door opened, revealing a sweating and panting Rei pushing Shinji in a wheelchair.
"Major, status." The commander demanded, as Misato groaned and repeated what she said.
"Damn it, how is Asuka?" Shinji shouted, afraid that she might be caught up in the fighting above-ground.
"Second child's status is unknown!" Shigeru shouted, after trying to locate her through a tracker.
"Damnit! Asuka!" The worried commander shouted to himself. "Send Sachiel to deal with the soldiers inside of Geo front as quickly as possible! Pull the agents out of harm's way until an attempt at capturing Sachiel is deployed!"
Misato repeated the orders through her broken headset, and Sachiel left for the elevator.
--
Asuka saw the JSSDF soldiers parachuting down to the Geo front, and some running towards the school. She knew immediately what was going to happen, as her survival instincts told her to take out her pistol and run like hell away from the school as the students all ran for shelter when her cellphone rang.
"Another attempt at killing the Children?" Asuka thought to herself. "Damn it!"
She answered her phone on the fifth ring, as she ran through the school park.
"Asuka."
"Asuka! Sachiel or Section 2 will be send to track you down in 10 minutes, hold out until then! There's a military warehouse 4km northeast of the school, and one 2km south! use those to get to the Geo front!" The voice of Shinji, evidently with worry and frustration said.
That was all that was said, too, since the commander hanged up right after the announcement.
"Baka-Shinji! How am I supposed to run from a damned ARMY for 10 minutes!" The girl shouted to herself in her mind, as she raced towards the one to the south, since the north was swarmed with soldiers.
Looking behind her, she could see the soldiers stopping to examine each and every student of her school.
"Damn it, I can't feel guilty now... Well, at least they bought me some time." She thought, as she ran towards one of the military warehouses that supposedly had an access rail to the Geo front. However, upon her arrival, she could see it was guarded by two soldiers, each using a bigger gun than she.
"Damn it!" She said aloud, by accident, from her frustration. However, that got her the attention of the guard.
"Who's there!" A tall, muscular soldier warned, as he walked to her general direction.
"Baka-Shinji, thanks for dragging me into a trap!"
--
Back down in the HQ, the flames of battle was almost gone. The soldiers were nearly annihilated by the efforts of Sachiel, as he devoured their flesh to create energy for himself. The lack of an S2 core came with prices, and that was the breakfast the bridge techs ate.
"They're going to have to get over seeing disgusting things if they want to keep their jobs." Fuyutsuki joked, turning to Shinji.
Shinji barfed all over his desk.
"Sorry professor." He apologized, seeing the pale green that crept into the sub-commander's face. "Sachiel! Go to Geo front linear rail route 24, Section 2, Geo front linear rail route 43. Retrieve Asuka at all costs!" Shinji shouted, as he wiped his desk with a towel.
--
Asuka tightened her grip on the pistol as the man got closer and closer to her hiding spot behind the large oak.
"Answer or I'll shoot!" The deep, grunt voice of the man shouted.
Making no noise, Asuka threw a rock at a tree, and watched as it ricocheted off into a different direction, giving the soldier a false lead. He opened fire into a patch of grass, as Asuka jumped out from behind her cover and shot two shots into the man's head. She jumped behind another tree as the other man, hearing the exchange of gunshots, rushed to his buddy's location.
"Damn it, Oda, dying on me so soon?" He said, as he scanned his surroundings. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary except for a bit of copper red hair, he could deduct one conclusion. The second child is hiding behind the tree with red hair coming out of the side.
"Ha, the great Eva pilot hiding behind a tree?" The man taunted, as he fired a warning shot. "C'mon out, girly, I won't hurt you..." He smiled to himself, feeling a wave of power washing into him for picking on a weak little girl that was a black belt in many forms of martial arts, genius with an IQ of over 200, and teenager with extra angst on top.
Asuka cursed under her breath as more warning shots came her way, and the man called for reinforcements.
"Damn it, I just gotta hold out for 4 more minutes..." She thought to herself, and began thinking of a plan for a distraction.
"Be here in 2 minutes." The man said bitterly to his radio, as he fired a few more warning shots. "Come out and surrender, and maybe we'll spare you for your body, girl." The man said in a thoroughly disgusting, thug-like tone.
"Pervert! ... That's it!" Desperate, Asuka removed her panties from behind the tree, thankful that she was wearing her school uniform, and tossed it at where she thought the man was judging by the angle the bullets hit the ground. This had the desired effect of landing right on the man's face, causing a mass nosebleed. She heard the man curse and swoon at the same time, as she stepped out from behind the tree and unloaded the rest of the clip into the perverted thug of a soldier.
"My life at the cost of a pair of boring white panties. What a steal!" She grinned to herself, as she ran into the warehouse before the reinforcements her latest victim had called arrives, but after picking up her newly earned JSSDF issue rifles and ammunition.
--
Sachiel was not one to bend to human will. However, he had grown attached to the man who gave him life and raised him with respect. For him and his father Adam, he would do anything. Those extremely close to the two had the same benefits as well, and they included his mother, Lilith, his half-mother, Rei, and the man who had given him life's red haired wife, Asuka. Or at least that's what he thought the red haired girl was.
Now his second father is in fear of losing the red haired girl, his third mother. Ironic that the Second Child was the Third, but the Third Child was the Second. His shallow understanding of the human tongue had deemed this as humorous wordplay.
Rushing to the linear rail marked #24, Sachiel blasted the door with his erupting flames and ran up.
--
"SHIT! THE DOOR'S JAMMED!" Asuka cried in frustration, as she yanked the door like a madwoman. The sound of men running could be heard from outside the warehouse. Sounds of guns being loaded and cocked could be heard. "OPEN! OPEN! OPEN! OPEN! OPEN! OPEN! OPEN! OPEN!" She shouted to herself, like the incident with the Sixth Angel.
Then a shot was fired and missed her by half an inch. Instinctively, she rolled behind a box of emergency rations to avoid being turned into a beehive.
"SHIT!" The soldier yelled, as more and more blocked off the doorway. A gunfight ensued, though it consisted mostly of Asuka running from shelter to shelter in the surprisingly well-stocked food storage.
--
Sachiel could hear gunshots on the ground. The only known NERV personnel up there would be Asuka, and that would mean she is in danger unless the stupid humans are willing to kill the defenseless. He would need to hurry, as his jog became a sprint. He would have an energy replenishment soon enough, so he won't need to reserve his strength.
The reinforced door was jammed, however. Sachiel flashed his eyes once more, as flames erupted, pushing the door slightly.
Sachiel growled. This would take some time.
--
"What was that!" One soldier said, as he heard something resembling a volcanic explosion played by an organ bashing against metal.
"Who knows?"
Asuka grinned. Her little baby was here to save her, but she was running out of emergency rations to hide behind. "One more minute..."
--
Shinji watched as the tracker on Sachiel showed him releasing extreme amounts of energy.
"Asuka, he's almost there." He thought. "Please be safe."
--
A bullet ripped into Asuka's side, and her act of weakness in flinching caused two more bullets to be embedded in either of her arms. Her screams were synchorized with the humming of the final bash with the twin energy rods of Sachiel.
"Sa...chiel..." Asuka said weakly, smiling, as Sachiel's still-extending rod flew out of his hand completely, stabbed its way through the soldier shooting at Asuka, and retracted back in. A low growl came from the bird-like face, as a horizontal pillar of flame shot out of its eye, into the mass of soldiers. In the blinding light, the soldiers covered themselves from the intense heat, though their armor protected them from the fatality of it.
Sachiel made his way to his squirming third mother with inhuman speed, though the cause of it are him not being human. He shielded Asuka from further harm as the soldiers recovered from his attack, his AT Field ricocheting the bullets. "Second Father, I shall repay my debt." He thought in his alien mind, as he stabbed each and every soldier with the kinetic force of his energy rod, bringing them back in for feasting upon.
Asuka felt something come from her stomach up to her throat. What she hadn't suspect, however, was that the something was blood, not her miso soup. Her vision blurred, and the last last thing on her mind before she passed out repeated itself twice, it seemed. "Is this... The end... Of the great Sohryu... Asuka... Langley?"
--
"Mhmmm..."
"Asuka?"
"Who is it?" The girl asked, groggily.
"Asuka?"
"Am I... In a dream world... Again?" She said in annoyance, or as much as she could muster in her weakened state.
"ASUKA!"
A hug. A painful, but warm hug. Her heart felt comforted, as the restraints of it cracked.
"Where... Am I?" She fluttered her eyelids open, seeing a bundle of messed up chestnut hair in her face.
"Asuka, you were shot and it caused some major wound. I was so worried! You were out of it for a week!" The muffled voice came from her two... Womanly parts. Looking down, she saw the clothes the brown haired boy wore. One thing registered in her mind.
"PERVERT!" She shouted, and smacked Shinji hard on the back of his head.
"Ow! What was that for!" The hurt visitor rubbed the back of his head.
"Baka-Shinji, it's for sticking your head where it doesn't belong!" Asuka pointed to her cleavage, and Shinji's face looked surprisingly tasty, from its resemblance to a tomato. "Damn it, I'm getting hungry..." She thought aloud to herself, but got an unexpected reply from the boy beside her.
"Here, I made something for you." Shinji handed the injured girl a large, relatively thin, rectangular box.
"What is it?" Asuka wondered, surprised at the large size of her meal.
"Open it up!" Shinji was beaming with joy as he said those words, as if this was the best thing that happened to him in his whole life.
Unable to turn down Shinji's radiant smile, Asuka complied with his orders. What greeted her inside was something that would be so expensive before the second impact not even the leader of UN could afford. But this is post-second impact, so the contents were dirt cheap.
It was an assortment of sushi and sashimi of various different rich sea creatures which bordered the box, with a giant lobster already peeled, cooked, and placed on rice covered in delicious looking crab broth being the centerpiece.
"Aww... Shinji, you shouldn't have..."
"Yes I should!" Shinji cut in.
"I wasn't done talking." Asuka smiled, and she continued as her smile all but disappeared. "You shouldn't have GIVEN ME FAKE, CHEAP EXCUSE FOR FOOD!" Asuka fumed.
"B-but As-Asuk-"
"Quiet! What year do you think this is? This is 2017! Adam flooded us 17 years ago! We're practically living off of fish! Eating fish meat, wearing fish skin, protected by fish scales, and drinking fish stew, and you expect me to eat MORE fish that probably cost you 1 yen a piece as soon as I woke up from a coma of who knows how long?" Asuka shouted to Shinji's face, leaning closer with each sentence, not paying attention to the pain in her side..
Shinji, having prepared for three straight days for this gift, fought back his tears and wheeled himself out without another word.
"Shinji-sama, it is her time of the month. Please do not feel discouraged." Rei said to her master, as she moved to push him out of the hospital, leaving Asuka to herself.
Asuka picked up a tuna, and examined it before placing it in her mouth. Upon seeing the finer details of the food she held in her hand, she saw a cute heart in place of the normal boring rectangular strip. She smiled as she savored the flavor of the sweet little thing that made her so happy. "Mmm, this is pretty good. I'll apologize later. If this doesn't add to my weight."
--
"So, how did she like it?" Misato said to her charge, leaning forward, smiling in mischief.
"She... Threw me out." Shinji replied, his voice hollow, as he looked at his recovering leg, which was due to be healed some time next week.
Rei spoke before Misato had a chance to be taken aback by her charge's response. "It was her time of month, or did you forget, Major?"
Misato's surprise instantly vaporized, and she smiled knowingly. "I see. You didn't bring the box back, did you?"
"Well... No..." Shinji said guiltily, as Rei pushed him to the dining table, where Misato sat surrounded by beer cans.
"Then she must be enjoying it. Asuka is too proud for her own good sometimes, you know." Misato laughed, as she opened yet another can to add to her impregnable aluminum fortress, causing the contents to explode into her face. "Damnit, I shouldn't have shaken that!"
--
Asuka picked up the last of the cute little heart-shaped tuna sushi Shinji made for her, and sneezed right into it, causing it to fly off to the floor. "God damn it, he can kiss my apology good bye!"
--
Shinji smiled a little at the humorous payback of beer, but his mood was not improved at all. It doesn't change the facts that the little hearts that took everything out of him to finish cutting in time was rejected.
"Don't worry Shinji, she is enjoying it, I know she is." Misato informed the sad, heart-broken commander with a smile. But in her mind, it was another story. "Damn little boy, doesn't make anything special for ME."
Rei enjoyed her cucumber and wasabi rolls that night. The major did not.
To be continued... Maybe?
A/N: This chapter was fueled by my craving for homemade sashimi, and lack of wasabi paste dealers in the area. Please excuse my stomach for doing all the thinking.
Why did Asuka get shot 3 times and went in a coma for a week, and Shinji woke up immediately after being shot 11 times as much? Well, being shot in different places have different effects, and I'm just pulling the plot out of the infinity hole of the plot bag.
Here's an omake!
--
Shinji opened his closet, took out the fish scale armor he made for a video game convention, his fish skin coat, and his fish scale mask. That was all he had, besides his copies upon copies of school uniform.
He made his way to the kitchen, and opened the freezer. What greeted him was salmon, tuna, trout, shrimp, sea urchin, muscles, clams, and a big lobster. Only one small piece of beef stuffed at a corner in the back. He closed it, and pulled out the fridge. All he could see was beer, seaweed, and fish juice.
Moving to the stove, he looked in the giant soup pot. Fish stew, fish soup. Checking his cookbook, he could find 'Fried Fish', 'BBQ Fish', 'Chili Fish', and various other types of fish recipes, but not one on the little bit of beef he has, besides beef ramen.
"Asuka is right, we're living off of fish." He thought sadly to himself, as he began crying.