Disclaimer: Creation of Gainax used without permission, yada yada yada. Some minor characters, which have names you might recognize from other series.
Shinji wished he had taken an extra cup of coffee this cursed morning. He didn't have much sleep the night before and woke up in a jolt. Nightmare hit him like a bat out of hell. The details left him like water through a sift. Only droplets of memory stuck to his head.
He remembered being confined in an enclosed space. He wasn't entirely clear if he was naked or not, however it was freezing cold. It felt as if he had his penis shoved into a funnel made of ice. If that was not bad enough, he could feel some sort of... parasitic ice spider crawling along his bloodstream.
"Sniicchhh screechhhh krekk"
"Yarrrghhhh, get it away from me!"
The whole class stared in silent at the hysterical young man who was trying to shake off imaginary creatures from his forearm. Shinji continued his extended screaming as he brushed his arm frantically. His imagination was blurred with reality when the teacher wrote on the blackboard with chalks, which incidentally triggered Shinji's fear for demon spiders crawling under his skin.
"Garrrrghhhh!"
Smack!
"Bleaghhh..."
An indignant Asuka stood over the defeated form of the Third Child as the whole class changed their expression from shock to fear. The red haired beauty glanced at the motionless boy sprawled over his desk before flipping her hair in a victorious pose. A few guys clapped their hands in applause as the need for random violence of the day was fulfilled.
"Miss Sohryu, will you please explain..." the old coot gritted as hard as his false teeth could. The class could see that he was one fuse short of screaming "What the fuck are you doing, biatch?"
"Sir, you have to excuse us. We pilots are currently undergoing intense tactical training aimed specifically to develop our physical and mental capability," Asuka paused and allowed her lie to sink in.
"I'm afraid I can only revel that much. Nerv secrets," Asuka didn't specifically said if Shinji going on an acid trip was part of the training but it seemed if her point was understood.
The old teacher coughed in mild disbelieves. He was pretty sure that tactical training did not involve disabling your companion from hysterical fit by knocking them out with a rolled textbook. However, he did live in a pretty zany world with giant mecha, killer angels and high grade social misfits sitting in his class.
"You may return to your seat, Miss Sohryu."
Hikari looked on with new found respect for her proud Aryan friend. There were so many occasion when she secretly wished she had so much power to make things right. She had many opportunity to abuse the power vested into her but proper upbringing formed a mental barrier which forbid her to do so. But things would change from now on.
"They voted me into power. I never forced them to do it," Hikari smiled softly as she rubbed her hands together under the table.
The warm and friendly class representative didn't notice the evil glare in her eyes which would have stunned the immovable Rei Ayanami in her steps.
"Those idiots - they raised their hand and gave me executive power. They did it all without thinking if they even knew what they wanted in first place. Not that they had any choice in the first place. It was cute innocent Hikari Horaki versus a nerdy looking retard," Hikari whispered, then she glanced over her shoulder and looked at her incompetent assistant, Makoto Mizuhara.
It was all coincidence that there was no other good looking and potential power monger running for class representative. There were a few other good-looking females in the class who were popular as well, but they were your typical groupies type - they shirk responsibilities at first chance. Hikari was the only one who stood up for the challenge. She answered the call for duty, which rightfully belonged to her.
The Mizuhara boy was a joke and Hikari didn't make that up. The mild and useless boy was vouched by his friends as a class prank and nothing more than that. He wasn't destined for great things unlike the cute, freckled girl. But the teacher had to go along with it as Mizuhara had more than ten students supporting him.
Hikari had to summon all her self-control when the teacher announced the final vote count. While she was sure it was a clinch, she never thought the poor boy would only had one mercy vote - which belonged to her, as she couldn't vote for herself. The ten students who pulled the prank bailed out on him. It was Hikari first taste of absolute power and she craved for it ever since.
Hikari licked her lips and straightened her ponytail. She looked around and saw Asuka leaning on her chair with a complacent smile, probably satisfied with her act of violence. Rei continued to do what she did in class every day - looking outside the window. Shinji was dead on his desk. A small stream of drool slipped out of his mouth onto the laptop he was lying on.
"So cute..." Hikari sighed as she imitated Shinji and lay on her desk, with her face toward the mecha pilot.
"I wonder if he will appreciate women with authority... better than that idiot Touji," the class representative shot a venomous look at the sports jock who was busy talking with his idiot pal, Kensuke.
"He works in Nerv, one of the most powerful organization in the world. I'm sure he has a lot of women commanding him around and asking him to do silly things like licking their toes..."
The daydreaming class rep blushed hard and tried to hide under her desk before anyone could figure out what was happening to her.
"Got to maintain focus. Take a deep breath. Think happy little thoughts. Hmm... evil and happy little thoughts," Hikari composed herself again.
The class went on without disruption. At least no major disruption such as Angel attacks or students going berserk in the class for no reason. The peace went on until lunchtime.
"Doohh, what the fuck happened?" Shinji asked despite the ringing pain in his ear. He felt as if a bunch of imps has made a home in his head.
"No one hit you upside the head with a Math textbook if that's what you want to ask," a snarky voice answered the mecha pilot.
Shinji forcefully cleared his head and looked straight into a camera lens aimed at his face. It took a few moments before he understood what Kensuke said.
"Who did it?"
"Who else?" Kensuke shrugged with an all-knowing face. He flipped the LCD panel back into the vidcam and off the machine.
Then Touji decided to add a measure of pain to the suffering pilot and slapped him on the back.
"Hey, you could have done a better impression of heavy metal if you're playing air guitar too," said Touji as he strummed an imaginary electric guitar with mad skills.
"Was it that loud?" Shinji leaned on the table again even though the pain started to subside.
"Fuck yeah," both Kensuke and Touji echoed.
The idiot trio purchased their lunch and went up to the rooftop again. Shinji was lucky that Asuka didn't decide to punish him again for not making her bento. He couldn't help it. Shinji felt like shit after waking up and just stayed in bed until it was too late to prepare anything. Then again, the red cyclone would kick his ass for any unrelated reason.
The three picked a spot and laid their food on the ground. Shinji and Kensuke sat on the concrete floor while Touji stood looking at the ground below, checking out the girls. Of course, chicks hunting might be much easier if they were hanging around down there with everyone else but the gang enjoyed the solitary up here. However, they never mentioned it to each other, mainly because they were not emotional metrosexual men nor do they wish to be, they knew this was the tree house that was missing from their childhood.
As with most young boys, imaginary games and toys were the shit. A broomstick fueled with a little imagination can be transformed into a light saber. An empty refrigerator box packs more fun than a high-speed broadband downloading pornography non-stop.
This very rooftop, it was a tree house to Shinji, Touji and Kensuke. It was where their brotherhood was made and formed. It was their ultra secret base with the cool, big screen TV and cute maid androids serving them on every whims and fancy. It was also a sacred place where no woman, no matter how beautiful could intrude and force them to pickup the dirty clothes and take a bath.
Today, the brotherhood would be tested.
Kensuke carefully pinched the top of the bread's wrapping and pulled it apart. Plastic wrapping tore open from the top effortlessly. Shinji knew this was one of Kensuke peculiar behavior. The crazy spectacled boy enjoyed opening plastic wrappings with meticulous care.
The exit to the rooftop blasted open with a swift blam. Shinji nearly choked on his curry bread as he saw the figure emerging from the door.
"Wai, Shinji-sama. I was looking for you all over the school!" Shinobu cried as she shoved a bento into Shinji.
Shinji recovered from his shock and his expression slowly soured. He thought he had ridden himself of the cheerful girl for good. Touji and Kensuke looked on with disapproval. The harmony has been shattered.
'Did she even remember I told her to scram?' Shinji looked in disbelief.
"Please don't be mad because I ran away that day," the cute junior schoolgirl apologized as she bowed.
"It's alright. It wasn't entirely your fault, you know?"
The memory of the past event bugged Shinji. Shinobu was annoying but she definitely did not deserve the treatment he gave her.
"I have consulted my family and they all agreed that I was being unreasonable. Please forgive me, Shinji-sama."
Shinji was petrified when the girl got on her knees and bowed to him as if she really meant the 'sama' part. On the other hand, maybe he was piss scared because she told her family that the great Shinji Ikari, egoistic savior of humanity, mistreated her in such a way and they were not out for his head. In fact, they asked Shinobu to beg for forgiveness. Then again, Shinji had no idea what sort of people the innocent girl meant by family or the sort of character she surrounded herself with.
'Ahh shit, now am I supposed to be miserable, self destructive angsty or is it angry asshole angsty?' Shinji questioned as he looked at the girl who flattened herself on the ground for him.
Reaching out with his hands, Shinji grabbed Shinobu by her shoulders.
"No, I'm sorry. Stand up, please."
"Shinji-sama, you're so kind," Shinobu looked up into Shinji's blue eyes and wiped her eyes on her sleeves.
From Shinji point of view, she was pretending. She cashed in on his kindness and used it against him. She twisted his own words like a sleazy politician talking doublespeak and turned the media against him.
'Evil ass bitch.' The mecha pilot was going to regret this.
Somehow, Shinobu managed to summon even more tears to extract massive amount of pity from him like a mercilessly cute puppy dog. Shinji gritted his teeth as the devious plan slowly reveal itself to him with the painful subtlety of Misato's suicidal battle plan. The adorable junior schoolgirl planned to put a wedge in his brotherhood with Kensuke and Touji.
"Kensuke-sempai, Touji-sempai, can you please leave us alone?" Shinobu pleaded with a perfect, cracking voice.
She probably practiced this scene many times at her own convenience. Touji was a real badass, a man among man. However, even his awesome male aura couldn't resist the pleading voice of a cute girl. Kensuke wanted to roll his eyes at the corny scene unfolding in front of his eyes, but he resisted for the sake of civility. How evil.
The sandy haired boy and the sports jock looked at their brother for a moment. It was the kind of look men of worldly power gave their compatriot to see if they had a common goal. It was the kind of look that says, 'Are you with me, or against me?'
If there was a Frenchman in Shinji, he made an appearance in an untimely moment. The mecha pilot who slayed approximately five Angels at this moment shied away from the question. Shinji pulled back like a battle tank with three reverse gears. Shinji fled like a cheese eating monkey.
"Let's go do something 'nerdy' like read a book," a pissed voice came from Kensuke.
"Fucking-A."
Before the duo left the scene, they gave a nasty look at the pussified Shinji.
'Traitor.'
Even the best homemade sushi fed straight into your mouth by a pretty schoolgirl tasted lame when you have just stabbed your best friends in the back. And that was what exactly Shinji felt like. It was made worse when the girl feeding you made it a point to shove the piece of sushi so deep that you could taste her fingers in your mouth.
"Say 'yumm', Shinji-sama," Shinobu giggled as she picked another piece of sushi with a caviar topping.
"I had enough, thank you," the emperor of the rooftop stopped Shinobu from feeding him further.
Shinji felt miserable. This was a place sacred to the gang. Everything should be shared between them, no secrets too much for the gang. But he brought a woman here and fucked up the status quo. It was despicable that Shinji didn't protest when Shinobu asked Kensuke and Touji to leave.
Shinobu carefully replaced the cover on the bento and slipped next to Shinji before the boy could move away to make space. The dark haired girl pulled his arm into a deathlock and rested her head on Shinji's shoulder.
"Shinji-sama, don't you wish we could stay like this forever," Shinobu cooed.
"Well, there are classes and stuff..."
"We can skip classes, Shinji-sama."
"... the Angels might get us if I don't do something about them."
"You're so cool, Shinji-sama."
The school bell rang.
"It is time to move," Shinji tried to get up but he might risk losing his hand if he forced it.
Shinobu put all her weight on Shinji. The mecha pilot could feel her warm, beating heart through her thin shirt when she pressed her chest against him. Triggers in his head kicked into alarm mode as Shinji tried to look for a quick exit. Girls have many weapons to use against a guy and Shinji knew that well.
Having cornered her prey like a big cat, Shinobu made her move.
"Shinji-sama, would you like to come over to my home this weekend? It's a big comfortable inn with a hot spring."
We can have a lot of fun there."
Shinji shifted uncomfortably and looked away.
"I don't think it is acceptable for me to impose on your family," the mecha pilot tried to excuse himself.
"No, it's alright. We always have guests over and we hold party everyday there. It's really cool."
The blue-eyed boy looked from left to right, seeking excuses to get away from this situation.
"We're really late for class. Maybe, if I don't have any duty at Nerv this weekend..."
Shinobu took this as a big yes and proceeded to hug Shinji around the waist with all her strength.
"Yay, it's Saturday night then. You will be there on time, right, Shinji-sama?"
Shinji only sighed in defeat as the junior schoolgirl danced around him in jubilation. It was a thing of miracle that he was able to destroy powerful beings called Angel and still be able to be outwitted by a cute girl. Natural selection must be slacking in its job recently.
People crave for power. We all do. Humans create terms like equality to appease the have-nots, the weak, and the deprived. Someone will always be stronger, faster, smarter, luckier or just plain better looking.
The history teacher, Mr Kutaragi, shot Shinji with a stern glare as the wayward student strolled into class ten minutes late. Shinji has challenged his authority. The pilot boy undermined his ability to keep his class under control.
Shinji could see the old coot rolling his eyes under the rectangular nerd glass. It was the same look many Nerv employees had when he walked around the base accompanied by either Misato or Ritsuko. They were all smiles but Shinji could detect the apprehension underneath the fake expression they held.
People hate you because they are weak and couldn't do shit about their situation.
The mecha pilot made his way to his desk without much fanfare. Touji and Kensuke gave him a sideway look but nothing more than that. They knew what he was up to at lunchtime and it didn't bode well with them. Shinji could see a wry smile coming from Asuka. It was a rare thing and she could possibly give her approval for playing truant.
A cold shiver ran down Shinji's spine as he was about the sit down. The cold glare from Mr Kutaragi followed him as he rest his posterior on the chair. The stare was intense and downright unnatural. Shinji could feel a pair of invisible hand running down his chest and went straight for his balls. The old bearded man could be a pedophile murderer and posing as a teacher in daylight. A predator in sheepskins.
"Ikari, will you please read from page 248, chapter 3?" A hollowed voice lacking in soul ordered Shinji.
Shinji got the message. The psychotic teacher wanted to show him that he was in control. This was his classroom and all the students were his slaves, even the pilots. Kutaragi was the king in this 20 by 40 expanse, and has total control over its subjects. As long as you're trapped within the four walls, his words, shall be heard.
Shinji put on his mildly panicking face, an expression he practiced often when Asuka drilled him into doing something for her. Faking a convincing frown, the mecha pilot rummaged through his bag and shook his head. He didn't plan not to bring the history textbook as he was very much a mess this morning.
"Then, Mizuhara, will you please read it for Ikari then?" Kutaragi mocked.
The clean and pleasant assistance representative stood without protest. He was the model Japanese student. Unquestioning, unassuming and always carry out orders to the letter. Shinji cringed in disgust as words polluted the classroom with the effect of a Nazi propaganda machine. Every single word was pronounced clearly and without mistake. Every others sentence was followed with a precise pause. It allowed the untrained brain to absorb the lies as facts.
"It took me this long to realize the reason why Ayanami and Asuka paid no heed in class. They did it not because they were too cool for class, but they knew the truth all along," Shinji mumbled to himself as Mizuhara droned on like a human loud speaker spewing hate and destruction toward people of other race and creed.
The unexperienced pilot knew the teacher was still locked on him, so he couldn't look around without causing suspicion. He fished a scratchpad from his bag and pretended to take notes on it as his classmate continued his hate speech.
Trying to get help from Ayanami was doomed to failure as the blue haired girl was fixated on the view outside; therefore Asuka was his only other option. Shinji scratched his ears and took a quick peek at the red haired girl. His roommate had a bored, yet focused look in her sparkling blue eyes. There was no further question; Asuka knew what was going on.
"Pssstt, Asuka."
Shinji crumbled the piece of paper in frustration and made another attempt to contact his only ally.
"Hey, Asuka."
Mr Kutaragi noticed the intrusion and took his opportunity to launch a pre-emptive strike and cut down enemy communications.
"Ikari, do you have any questions?"
The assistant class rep with the neat-gelled hair stopped reading as the whole class turned their attention toward to mecha pilot. Even Asuka shot an annoyed at Shinji.
'Shit, calm the fuck down, man.'
"No sir!" Shinji nearly barked military style. That was pretty smart for someone trying to lay low.
"Thank you Mizuhara. Will you please read chapter 4, Yokoshima?" the history teacher beckoned a spiky haired student at the back of the class.
The class returned to its original state. If docile, homicidal calm has a smell, it would smell like a semi-truck loaded with corpse of Ebola victims driven across a hot and humid jungle. The paranoid mecha pilot was paralyzed with fear.
"The walls are closing in... too much pressure to take, arrghhh," Shinji moaned in agony.
A/N: Personally, this is the baddest chapter up to this point. There are many writers out there who have wrote badass mainstream Eva characters fiction, but Hikari, that I have never seen before. She is really sweet in Paper Angel..
I have some crazy plans for her, however, I write slow as dick, so I may not be giving her so much screen time. But if you love power lusting Hikari, just drop a review and say "Hikari for President!"
Remember, people, if you enjoy this fic and didn't review, a puppy dies! You don't want to kill no cute little doggies now, do you? Just make yourself heard, and spread the word around.
Next chapter: The path to angst shall lead to a shady inn called Love Hina. Tune in next week to see a very hot and dangerous Motoko Aoshima. If you think Motoko is one sweet badass in the original series, you ain't seen nothing yet, holmes!