"Talking" 'Thinking' (My notes)
Dear God, It's an Angel!
Chapter 3: Asuka's Return
"Dinner's served!" Misato said, looking proudly down at her rice and instant curry mix. Shinji looked at the curry and remembered the first time he had it. 'I really should have cooked tonight…' Aki, unaware of the taste of the food in front of her, put a spoonful of the concoction into her mouth. You would be able to tell she disliked it, if she had continued eating the curry, but she – luckily – had eaten the rice which hadn't been covered by the curry. Misato, who had gone to get a drink – of beer no doubt – just came back and sat down. Shinji started on his meal, avoiding the curry. Misato watched them do that.
"Is something wrong with the curry?" She said, glaring at them.
"Uh…" Shinji and Aki looked at each other.
"...It's fine," Shinji adds hurriedly after seeing a hurt expression appearing on Misato's face. He shoves a spoonful of curry into his mouth and chews pretending to enjoy it. "It's very good Misato!"
"Great! Let me get you guys some soda!" Misato turns and Shinji makes a face, and reluctantly swallows the curry. He turns to Aki who's laughing at him. Shinji scowls lightly before carefully slips the curry into PenPen's bowl.
"That was great Misato!"
"Really?" Misato grins. "Have some more then..." Misato brings out the pot of curry. Shinji stood up and gathered his plate.
"It's okay Misato, I'm full anyway." Shinji quickly left the room. Aki stood up a few minutes later.
"Thank you, Miss Katsuragi, for the meal." Aki said gathering her dishes.
"Call me Misato and your welcome." Misato sat back and finally started on her meal.
---
Aki was sitting at what used to be Asuka's desk with her small black laptop in front of her. On the screen were a lot of numbers, consisting of zeros and ones. Her eyes were scanning it, looking for errors. Misato slowly opened her door. Seeing her on the computer drew Misato's interest.
"What are you doing?" Misato asked. Aki turned to Misato.
"Checking Asuka's configuration system," Aki said turning back to the screen. "If the pilot changes so must the configuration system. At least, that's what I believe."
"So, you think if you change her configuration system, her sync ratio will be higher?" Misato asked. Aki nodded.
"I also believe it will work better with less detail." Aki said.
"But…she's in the hospital." Misato said looking at Aki.
"I think her mental problem may have something to do with the Eva. Her sync ratio was zero, right? That would damage someone badly. So, this is sort of a last resort; a way to hopefully bring her sync ratio back to what it was." Aki explained as she started typing a code in, creating a new configuration system for Asuka.
"I hope you succeed." Misato said, leaving the room.
"So do I…" Aki whispered to herself.
--
"Excuse me, ma'am, but why is Asuka having a sync test?" Maya asked. Aki was looking at the screen where Asuka was sitting. Asuka was sitting in the pilot seat in her trance like state.
"I suppose we are trying to see if her sync ratio is higher then what it was. Run her by the new configuration program." Aki said, hoping silently it would work. Maya looked up at Aki.
"I don't see why you changed the configuration program for Asuka." Maya said looking at Aki.
"Dr. Akagi was a brilliant scientist, but she forgot one thing." Aki said staring at Maya.
"And what would that be?" Maya said, anger burning in her eyes.
"Humans change. She never adjusted the configuration programs. Now, will you please run the new configuration program on Asuka, Miss Ibuki." Aki said kindly. Maya, still not agreeing to what Aki said, ran the new configuration program on the Eva. At first impression there was no change. Maya was about to tell Aki that the sync test was in vain when Asuka's sync ratio shot up suddenly. Maya just watched in amazement as Asuka's sync ratio slowly began to rise. Aki, who was looking at the screen smiled slightly.
"Okay, let's try to activate unit 02." Aki said. Every one watched as the Evangelion activated with out a glitch. Aki released a breath she didn't know she was holding. She turned to Misato who was just standing back.
"Do you want to tell her?" Aki asked. Misato raised an eyebrow.
"Tell her what?" Misato asked.
"Her sync ratio…it is higher then it has ever been." Aki said, moving aside so Misato could look at the sync ratio. A smile appeared on Misato's face. She nodded at Aki.
"Asuka…" Misato waited for a reply, but didn't receive one. "Your sync ratio-" That, it seems, had gotten Asuka out of her trance. Asuka bowed her head down, as if in shame.
"I know…its nothing." Asuka said quietly, staring at her feet so no one could see the tears gathering. Misato looked at Asuka sadly before forcing on a smile.
"Asuka, You sync ratio is higher then it has ever been!" Misato said cheerfully. Asuka's head rose quickly, tears vanishing almost instantly. She looked at the data and for the first time in a while a smile was on Asuka's face.
---
Shinji was sitting in his room, waiting for Misato and Aki to come back from work. A quick glance at the clock told him they weren't going to be home for at least 2 hours. He lay back and stared at the ceiling. The music from his head phone was soft, so when he heard the door open and shut, he heard it. Taking his head phones off, he went to see who it was.
"Hey Shinji!" Asuka said, sitting down with a soda in her hand. To say Shinji was surprised would be an understatement.
"Asuka?" Shinji said, unsure whether to believe this or not.
"What's the matter with you?" Asuka said with her hands on her hips feigning a hurt look. "Aren't you happy to see me?" Asuka didn't even bother to wait for a reply. "You better not have gone into my room while I was gone!" Yup, Asuka was back. Her and her stubborn, conceited, and 'everybody loves me' attitude. Shinji smiled as Asuka made her way to her room. For once, he was happy to see that attitude. Of course, that didn't last too long…
"What the hell happened to my room?" Asuka screamed only seconds later. Shinji gulped as he knew what was coming next.
"I'm not sharing rooms!" Asuka declared after Shinji had explained about Aki's arrival. "I'm not sharing rooms with some…." Whatever Aki was, Shinji never found out for Asuka just picked up Aki's suitcase and started dragging it towards Shinji's room. Shinji just ran after her.
"What are you doing?" He asked. Asuka just rolled her eyes.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She dropped the suitcase on the floor of Shinji's room. Before Shinji could respond Asuka carried Aki's laptop into the room and put it on his desk. "You can share with a girl can't you?" Asuka smirked as a bright blush appeared upon Shinji's face. Before Shinji could object, the front door could be heard. They both rushed down the hall to see Misato and Aki arriving home. Shinji, however, was surprised.
"It's six already?" Shinji asked more to himself. "I….err….haven't started making dinner yet," He admitted hesitantly. But for some reason Misato didn't care.
"Oh, that's okay." Shinji sighed in relief. "We still have lots of curry…" Misato walked into the kitchen as all three teens made faces in disgust. "In fact," Misato called out to them. "We have so much that you guys can pig out all you want – It'll be a celebration of Asuka's return!" Misato declared excitedly. The four of them sat down to dinner. Of course, only three of the four were staring down grimly at their meal.
"Do you think it'll taste better the second night?" Aki whispered when Misato went to get another beer. Asuka snorted.
"Does Misato's cooking ever taste good?" Silence answered this question. Somehow they managed to dump their curry into Penpen's food bowl without Misato noticing. When Penpen came out of the fridge he was going to have a nasty surprise – a food bowl overflowing with curry.
"So Asuka, you don't mind sharing rooms…" And so the conversation arose of who was to sleep where. Asuka, of course was stubborn and she always got what she wanted.
"Aki and Shinji can shares rooms. Shinji said he doesn't mind!" Asuka grinned deviously as Misato and Aki stared at a now blushing profoundly Shinji.
"I…err….never said…" Shinji stuttered. Misato started clearing the table as she thought about this.
"As long as Aki doesn't mind..." She said dropping the dishes into the sink.
"I don't mean to be any trouble," Aki only started to say before Asuka interrupted.
"Fine, then it's settled. Your stuff is already in Shinji's room!" She said before leaving the kitchen and going off to her own room.
--
'At least this ceiling is kind of familiar now...' Shinji thought as he stared at the ceiling above him. He couldn't sleep and he had his headphones on in the hope that the music might lull him to sleep. He closed his eyes, resting slightly. It was just as Shinji was balancing between being asleep and awake, a thump caused him to snap out of dream land. He blinked slowly making out the shapes of the furniture - little as it was - in the room. He looked around and just as he was about to forget about it he noticed that the door was ajar.
"Huh?" He muttered half-heartedly. Shinji looked over to where Aki was sleeping, wondering if she had heard something too, just to see her empty bed. He scratched his head, letting a yawn escape. Then he heard a crash coming from the kitchen. Shinji chuckled to himself as he climbed out of bed. Shinji walked to the kitchen wondering what was going on. The light was on and in took his eyes a few seconds to adjust with the light. Then he saw who it was. PenPen sat on the floor by the fridge, surrounded by beer cans.
"What are you doing PenPen?" Shinji asked hoping that the penguin had not developed a liking to alcohol like Misato. What he didn't expect was an answer.
"We're getting some food," Came the reply. Shinji jumped, wondering if the penguin just talked to him or if he was only imagining things. "I'm over here," Aki's head popped out of the pantry. Shinji looked at Aki, as once again she started looking for food. Shinji walked over to the fridge and drew out the compartment which Misato put all the snacks.
"Do you want one?" Shinji asked, picking up one. Aki smiled.
"Yes, please." She laughed at her self. "I need to remember to look in the fridge next time." Shinji looked at her.
"So why are you looking for some food at midnight?" Shinji asked politly.
"Well… no one apart from Misato eats her curry, so I thought I would get something small to eat. PenPen came out of that fridge and startled me and I, uh…tripped over Misato's cans…" Aki said, a blush appearing on her cheeks.
"I'll help you pick the cans up," Shinji offered. He opened the fridge and started piling the beer cans back where they belonged.
"Thanks," Aki smiled as she also piled the cans back into the fridge. The two were just putting back the last can away when a sudden voice startled them.
"What are you two doing?" Askua demanded. She stood there in her robe with her hands on her hips. "Nothing..." Shinji stammered. Asuka raised her eyebrows questioningly. Then the two teens realized what position they were in. When Aki was started by Asuka's voice she had fallen into Shinji's lap.
"I came out to have a snack and PenPen surprised me so...I accedntly tripped over some of Misato's cans of beer. Shinji heard the crash and came out to see what happened. He offered to help me put the cans away and then you came in and surprised me, that's all!" Aki rambled on.
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Longest chapter yet! Please read and Review!
Preview for next chapter: STEELE has called a meeting with Gendo Ikari, to see what he has to say about the new angels. His answer does not tell if he predict this or not. The next angel attacks, using its odd power to seemingly destroy Tokyo 3. Aki, in unit 0 is sent up, and then, the unthinkable happens. They lose contact with her…
Reply to Reviewers!
Me: I understood your meaning of rush, but don't worry about Shinji and Aki getting together, cause now Asuka's back in the picture! And I'm not even to sure whether they will be a couple, so no need to worry.
eyeofthetempest: I'll try, but can't make any promises, because I kind of write the best chapters with inspiration(and spare time).