Sins and Retributions

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Shinji Claus

Kaji spoke without even looking at Shinji, "So… What's on your mind kiddo?"

The countless thoughts that ran through the boy's head stopped, and he picked out certain ones. "My… My stab wound… It's getting smaller."

Kaji shrugged, "Don't worry about it. These things do get smaller, just not very fast."

Shinji stole a sideways glance at the older man, and said, "No. I shouldn't have said smaller. It's half the size it used to be, and I only got stabbed two days ago."

Kaji did a double take and hid most of his alarm, "I see. Have you told anyone yet?"

As the boy shook his head, the scraggly looking man continued, "You need to. There might be something wrong. Tell Katsuragi and Ritsuko." After pausing, he added, "Make sure you tell Asuka too… She wouldn't be too happy if you didn't."

The boy nodded, "Another thing. It's about Asuka…"

Kaji's face drained of its blood, "Don't tell me you had another fight…"

The pilot of Unit 01's blue eyes darkened in embarrassment, "No, it's not that…" He turned to Kaji, and looked into the older man's eyes, "I… I don't know what to get her for Christmas…"

Kaji let out a mental sigh of relief, and thought, 'Asuka's way too hard to deal with when she's pissed, but a Christmas gift… That'll be cake.'

Shinji looked at the older man, searching for an answer, "I can't give her anything but the best…"

Ryoji Kaji smiled and chuckled a little, "You can't. But the best isn't always in the material world. Try something simple, but deep." The older man leaned close to Shinji's ear and whispered, "Most girls fall head-over-heels for a guy that can write poetry."

The young pilot put his hand to his chin, "I see. I never thought about poetry." He thought to himself, 'Maybe I should check her room for something like romance books and poetry… That'll help me know if she likes it or not.'

Kaji simply said, "That all?" The younger man nodded, "Thanks for talking with me. It helped me solve some things."

The pony-tailed man hit himself on the head lightly, "I forgot completely, I'm glad that I took your advice on Misato. It really worked, so you could call us even."

Shinji smiled, 'It's good they finally admitted it, even a blind man could see they loved each other.'

Kaji's thoughts mirrored Shinji's but his were directed towards Shinji and Asuka, 'They finally got it through their skulls. It took long enough, but they ultimately did.'

(-----)

Asuka stood impatiently in front of the school, waiting for Shinji. The boy snuck up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. The German girl quivered at this motion, but turned and kicked him in the shin. "Ow. Damn Asuka!"

The girl quickly apologized, "S-Sorry Shinji! I didn't know who it was, and it was just a reaction… Sorry."

Shinji nodded, and said, "Did you hear about gym class?"

She shook her head, leaving a trail of red-blonde hair behind her, thrashing wildly.

The young Ikari continued, "After you left, that 'goat' forced me to start running, and I ended up beating all the competition… even Toji!"

The corners of Asuka's mouth twitched, and her eyes narrowed, "That bastard! You're injured! How can he just expect you to start running?" As it dawned on her, she asked about his cut, her face covered with fury, and she was practically ripping the boy's shirt off, "How is it! You're not supposed to do any physical things! Don't you remember!"

Shinji smiled, "That's the thing… It's now half the size it was yesterday!"

The girl was taken aback, "Wh-What! You got stabbed just two days ago! There's no way!"

He nodded, and said, "I know… It's so bizarre. Anyway, we need to tell Misato and Ritsuko."

Asuka took hold of the hand Shinji offered her, and the two set out for their home.

(-----)

"Hey Misato! We're home!" Asuka shouted, knowing full well that their guardian was at work. The German girl ran into her room and started to strip off her school uniform, replacing it with a black skirt, with a simple blue blouse.

Shinji had just thrown on some jeans and a white t-shirt. He walked back into the living room, and cleaned away the mess of empty beer cans that were strewn about.

As he finished, Asuka came bounding out of her room, and said, "We probably need to go to NERV headquarters."

The boy nodded, and started out the door, girl in tow. As the two walked towards the Geo-Front, Shinji began to speak, "Hey Asuka."

She simply said, "Hm?"

The boy knew that she was listening, and continued, "What do you make of Rei and Kaworu?"

He had succeeded in whetting the girl's interest, and she stated, "They'll be a good couple. Especially since both are way too quiet for their own good, and neither can't be called shy. It'll be hilarious seeing them try to compliment one another. You could tell from the way they look at each other that they'd get together. I mean, take my party for example, they showed up, talked, and left together. They might have just met on the way, but the fact that Rei left with Kaworu speaks for itself."

Shinji was glad that he had gotten the girl talking again, for it seemed that she hadn't spoken much since the improvised surgery.

She continued to banter about the other pilots and their possibilities. Shinji occasionally nodded, as they entered NERV Headquarters.

(-----)

Shinji swiped his card to acquire access, and as the conveyer belt moved them forward, Asuka's skirt flew up to her elbows. "SCHEISSE! NOW I KNOW WHY MISATO NEVER LIKES TO WEAR A SKIRT HERE!" the girl shouted.

Shinji blushed and averted his eyes, but Asuka looked to him, "What are you doing!"

He tried to sputter off an answer, "W-Well… I-I-I shouldn't see a-anything like that i-if you don't say I c-can."

The girl's eyes burned with wrathful flames, but they died quickly following the boy's response. She spoke with authority, "Good. You're learning! If you're going to see that, I'll show you… when I feel like it."

Shinji's eyes lit up, realizing that he was safe from being hit, but nonetheless flinched when the redhead pushed her face closer to Shinji's. She kissed him briefly, and said, "You're becoming quite the gentleman."

After she pulled back, the girl decided to continue kissing the boy, and he didn't object. The doors opened, revealing half of the staff of NERV, including the other pilots, both commanders and Fuyutsuki, Ritsuko, Kaji, and the rest of the control room staff.

Shinji and Asuka jumped back, both a deep shade of red. Gendo pushed his glasses further up on his nose and said, "Indeed. We have just closed for a holiday."

Shinji was perplexed, and said, "Holiday? NERV doesn't have any holidays."

Misato smiled and started to speak, but Kaji cut her off, "Katsuragi here got a holiday passed, NERV is only going to be running on reserves while we have Christmas."

Gendo put in one of his famous lines, "Indeed."

Shinji smiled, 'I guess having Misato as the Sub-Commander has helped the organization.' He caught himself after Asuka elbowed him in the arm, and said, "W-Wait! Dr. Akagi! You all need to see this!"

The boy took off his shirt, and pointed to the spot under his ribs where he had been stabbed, but it seemed to have gotten even smaller since the last time Shinji had checked it.

(-----)

Ritsuko prodded Shinji's skin, then finally poked where the stab wound was. She had measured the gash the night before, and it had shrunk more than half an inch. What was left behind, where the cut should have been, was a crimson scar. When the cut fully healed, Dr. Akagi believed that the boy would have a scar nearly an inch and a half long, just below his left ribs.

She stood up, wrote something down, and said, "Though it is odd, there is nothing wrong with you. That deep of a wound couldn't possibly heal that fast, but it did. At the rate you're body is regenerating skin, you shouldn't have to wait more than a day or two."

Shinji rubbed his cold arms together and said, "So that's it? I can go?"

The blonde haired woman nodded, "Yeah, you can go. But it was a good thing you came to us about the wound."

Shinji silently stood and exited the room, and attempted to find Asuka. As he rounded a corner, the boy saw her putting a phone back on one of the desks. As her head slumped, Shinji moved to her side, "What's wrong?"

She looked up into his eyes and said, "Looks like I have to go back to Germany…"

Shinji's face darkened, and he held back his tears, "O-Oh?"

Asuka brightened her expression, "Don't worry! It's only for Christmas. I know we'll have fun there."

Shinji let out an audible sigh of relief, "Good! I thought you were… going for good… I have no idea how I'd live without you… Wait… What do you mean we?"

The girl spoke, "You're coming too. That is, unless you don't want go with me." Shinji shook his head furiously, "No. I'll go. But… I've never been out of Japan before."

The girl grabbed his hand and said, "Don't worry. My parents will love to meet you. Well… my adoptive parents." Golden-red hair trailed behind her as she walked out to the elevator, with Shinji dragging behind her.

Auf nach Deutschland!

Shinji had packed all his clothes and other various supplies, and all he was waiting on was Asuka. He knocked on her door and said, "Come on Asuka! We're gonna miss the flight!"

The girl slid her door open slightly, and hid mainly behind the door. She poked her face into the opening and growled, "Just wait a minute! I'm changing in here!"

Shinji's jaw dropped and he spoke in disbelief, "What! You said you were changing three hours ago!"

The girl glared at him and snarled, "I JUST WANT TO LOOK NICE!"

He smiled, not even fearing her impending slap, "We're only getting on a plane, you know." She huffed, but before the German girl could say something, Shinji cut her off, "Besides, even when you try to look bad, you still are quite a few notches above 'nice.' Are we going to leave sometime soon?"

Asuka beamed, 'I knew Shinji thought I looked good, but saying that… Scheisse, I really never noticed just how good I look.' She nodded curtly, and said, "We can leave in fifteen minutes. Okay."

The young Ikari nodded, 'I sure hope her parents like me…'

The girl's thoughts were quite similar to that of her boyfriend's, 'I hope my parents like him… If they don't, well… screw them!'

Shinji and Asuka parted, and the boy sat on the couch with his duffel bag and his SDAT player in his lap.

Minutes had passed, and Shinji could hear a screaming from Asuka's room over his music, "SCHEISSE! VERDAMMEN SIE ES (Damn it)"

The boy got to his feet, and pulled open the door to Asuka's room. As he entered, he saw the redhead entangled in her clothing. A multitude of outfits littered the ground, and Asuka had been like the spider weaving its web. But this time, the spider got caught in its own net, and screamed for help.

Shinji extricated the girl after a minute of climbing to her position. He stopped when the girl had only one set of garments on, but she was still stuck, and she prompted him to remove those.

He looked away, and fumbled to remove the ensnaring clothing. As she emerged in only her undergarments, Asuka could see the boy facing the opposite direction. He stole a quick look back at Asuka, wondering if she was okay.

This action was all the girl needed to be set off. The fiery German flew through the air and dropkicked Shinji, knocking him out of her room. "Dammit Shinji! You're not supposed to look until I'm clothed!"

He sat in a daze outside the girl's door, 'She's so difficult at times. At least she kicked me in the back, otherwise, she'd have hit my stab wound.'

Shinji plucked his shirt from his body, and looked down into his shirt. What he saw amazed him, and he couldn't help but cry out in surprise. Around his wound, small orange hexagons contracted from his whole chest and ended in the spot of the wound. He had never noticed the hexagonal patterns that were semi-visible on the scar. He completely removed his shirt and started to open Asuka's door.

As he entered, she screamed, "What the hell are you doing! Put that shirt back on! I'm not going to do what you're thinking! There's no time, pervert!"

The young Ikari simply said, "Look." He jabbed his finger under his ribs, and pointed out the AT Field that was healing his injury. Though she couldn't see the AT Field well in her dark room, she could easily feel its energy pulsing from Shinji's body.

His face reddened as he recapped what Asuka had said and spoke, "No time, huh?"

Asuka shrieked, "SCHEISSE! FORGET ABOUT THAT!"

Shinji looked at his watch quickly and cried, "Shit! We gotta go!" With that said, Asuka threw on her favorite yellow sundress, and grabbed her monstrous bag. She threw it to the boy, and they ran out the door, and Shinji carried the entirety of the luggage.

(-----)

The couple sat in their seats for the plane to Germany, it would be a long flight, and Shinji was ready for it. 'No sleep for a day and a half? Check. SDAT Player? Check. Gorgeous girl? Check. Nope, didn't forget anything.'

Shinji put his arm around the girl, and she let her head rest on his shoulder. In an extremely short period, the two had fallen asleep, for they lacked adequate sleep hours from the night before.

People looked at the couple with quizzical looks, and some with disapproving glares. But other, more romantic, people stared on longingly, wishing for the love that the pilots shared.

Asuka shifted slightly, and took a deep breath, heaving a large sigh. The girl gripped his shirt and pressed harder onto his shoulder. The young woman's methodic breathing quickly lulled the boy to sleep, letting his head droop onto hers.

(-----)

Kaworu woke up early that day, and he and Rei had seen Asuka and Shinji off at the airport, with Misato and Kaji.

After seeing the couple off, Kaworu had quickly returned home to eat breakfast. He stood in his room, and quickly put on a black shirt, with a pair of worn jeans. The former angel exited his apartment room, and rang the doorbell of one of the neighboring apartments.

After waiting five minutes, the boy knocked on the door. Rei Ayanami opened the door, and smiled shyly, "Hello, Kaworu."

He smiled at his name being said, and spoke, "Hello, Ms. Aya… Rei. I have come here to put in the hardwood floor we discussed."

She bowed slightly in gratitude, and also to hide her embarrassment, "Thank you. By any chance, do you know how to fix a doorbell?"

He was caught between a smile of humor and a frown of embarrassment, "If you remember that day at school, I couldn't even turn on that contraption, so I doubt that I could help much as of now. If I read a manual, I could. So I might be able to help in a week or so." Rei nodded, and allowed the boy into her abode.

Kaworu had retrieved all the necessary pieces of equipment needed to install a wooden floor. He had seen and done this many times in his many years of life. The boy took a large knife out of his pocket and quickly rammed it between one of the hard tiles in the floor. Kaworu leaned on the knife, prying up one of the tiles, and jerked the flooring from the ground and laid it in the hall, near the door, and started the next one.

(-----)

He had been working for an hour already, and Rei sat there, on her bed, watching the boy, analyzing his every move. The pilot of Unit 03 set the very first plank of Rei's new hardwood floor, and nailed it into place. He continued to work, but when he wiped the sweat from his brow, he was immediately greeted with a glass of water. "Kaworu. It is close to lunch time. I think that we should go out to dine."

Red met red, as their eyes collided, "I would enjoy that, Ms. Aya… Rei." Rei grabbed his hand and they walked out of her apartment building.

(-----)

Shinji was being dragged by the hand, as Asuka took him to her parents' ranch. Shinji was lost in thought, 'Oh man… How am I going to understand anything they say?'

Asuka sensed his worry, and said, "Don't worry. They'll love you."

As she opened the front door, she gracefully stepped through, while Shinji struggled to get all the way through the doors, since he was hindered with everything that both he and Asuka had packed. The redhead took some of her luggage and tossed it in the hall.

An older looking woman, with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped into the room, "Asuka? Hallo Asuka!"

Asuka embraced her step-mother, and said, "Hallo Mutti! Dies ist Shinji Ikari! (Hello Mom. This is Shinji Ikari.)"

Her mother stepped back slightly, "Shinji Ikari? Sie der Sohn von Mittel Gendo Ikari? (You mean Gendo Ikari's son?)"

"Das ein und nur. (The one and only.)" the younger girl replied. Mrs.

Langley had concern in her eyes, "Ist er mag etwas seinen Vater? (Is he anything like his father?)"

Shinji was lost in the conversation, but he knew that Asuka's mom was asking about the relation of Shinji and his father, Gendo.

Asuka shrugged, "Nicht wirklich. Aber er ist reizend! (Not really. But he is cute!)"

The older one nodded, "Sie machten gut fur sich Asuka! Ist er nett? (You did good for yourself Asuka! Is he nice?)"

Asuka smiled shyly, but why was a mystery to Shinji, and Asuka's step-mother had never seen her falter, "Er ist mehr als nett. Er liebt mich, und er ist so mitleidsvoll. Wir kampfen manchmal, aber nichts studiert. (He's more than nice. He loves me, and he is so compassionate. We do fight sometimes, but nothing major.)"

Mrs. Langley stepped back, she had never heard Asuka speak like that before. When she finally got her voice back, she asked, "Wie ist Steuern? (How's piloting?)"

Asuka sighed and started to speak, "Sorte bohren von. Wir haben die funfte Sunde noch nicht gekampft. Worn wird es ist Gesicht nicht zeigen. Es ist klug so oder sonst Asuka Langley Sohryu zu machen, wird seinen Esel trenten! (Sort of boring. We haven't fought the Fifth Sin yet. Wrath won't show its face. It's smart to do so, or else Asuka Langley Sohryu will kick it's ass!)"

The older woman frowned upon Asuka, "Asuka! Was habe ich Sie ungerfahr Verfluchen ercahlt? (Asuka! What have I told you about cursing?)"

The pilot of Unit 02 looked down, and apologized, "Erbarmlich, habe ich vergessen. (Sorry, I forgot.)"

Her step-mother's demeanor changed immediately, "Asuka… Sie haben geandert. Sie sind nicht als kopfiger Bulle. (Asuka… You've changed. You aren't as bull headed)"

Again, Asuka spoke shyly, as if afraid to admit it to anyone but Shinji, "Ich kenne… Shinji hat das ungerfahr gebracht. Er hat eine Sorte der Wirkung auf mir. Es ist, wie ich unschlagbar ebenso lang bin, al ser ist nah mich. (I know… Shinji brought that about. He has some sort of effect on me. It's like I'm invincible, as long as he's near me.)"

Mrs. Langley smiled happily, "Sie haben wirklich geandert… Ich werde ihm danken mussen. (You really have changed. I'll have to thank him.)"

A cough from Shinji brought the pair out of their bantering, he simply said, "Um. Should I know what you were talking about?"

Asuka shook her head, and spoke in Japanese, "No. My family can speak Japanese, so they can talk in it for a week or two."

Shinji sighed with relief, 'Good, I might actually be able to understand things.' He silently picked up all of the couple's things and followed Asuka up the stairs, to the second floor of the rural farm house.

(-----)

Shinji stepped out of the steaming shower into his large room. Everything was so much bigger than it was in Japan, the beds were enormous compared to what Shinji was used to sleeping on.

The boy toweled himself off, and quickly dressed. As he was buttoning his shirt up, Asuka entered the room, and said, "Hey Shinji! I think my mom likes you."

Shinji smiled, as he had already talked with her step-mother, but it was Asuka's father that he was worried about. He spoke quietly, and was quite nervous, "What… What is your father like?"

Asuka rolled her eyes, "He doesn't really care about anything, but I hope you can carry on a conversation about the Bible."

Once again, Shinji sighed, 'Good, I should have no troubles then.' The young man looked at Asuka and said, "So… When are you going to show me around, let me meet your friends?"

Asuka smiled sadly, "I can show you around any time you want, but my friends. Well, you know how I was before Third Impact… I didn't really have any true friends, except you Shinji. Besides, college life made it kinda hard to hang out with people my own age."

He remained impassive, "I know how you feel. I was like that too. The only people I've ever really opened up to are you, Misato, and the others. I guess you can tell that I'm not well versed in the art of socialization."

Asuka hugged him, "I've never really thanked you…"

He returned her embrace, "For what…?"

The girl looked into his eyes, "For being there. After the 15th Angel… I tried to push you away, I even pushed you away after SEELE attacked-"

Shinji cut her off, and tears streamed from his eyes, "No… I failed you then. You were screaming for help… but I was a coward. I hid. I didn't do anything for you… I should have saved you, but I was too apathetic…"

Shinji buried his face in the girl's shoulder and sobbed quietly, Asuka purred into his ear, "No. You did save me. Not at that moment, but you did. You saved me when you aborted Third Impact. You saved me when you brought me in. You saved me when you loved me. So in actuality, I was saved long before Third Impact even started."

He stopped crying and looked into the girl's eyes, and his head slowly moved closer to Asuka's. Her head gravitated towards Shinji's and just as they were about to kiss, the door flung open.

A quite surprised person stumbled in, Asuka's step-mother. Shinji and Asuka still held onto each other, though their heads had moved back. Mrs. Langley spoke, "Well… I hope I didn't interrupt anything important."

The girl in Shinji's arms spoke, "Mom? What the hell are you in doing here?" Asuka thought, 'Scheisse, I hoped I could have avoided this. I should have locked the doors.'

The step-mother of Asuka frowned and spoke, "It is my house, you know. So, how long are you going to be here for Germany? Are you staying for the new school term?"

The redhead spoke, "Nope, I'm just here for Christmas. But after that, Shinji and I are going to go back to Tokyo III." Asuka glared at her mother, and her mother wanted nothing more than to stop fighting with her daughter. Mrs. Langley spoke cheerfully, breaking the tension, "It's going to be time to eat dinner soon! Be down around six thirty. Okay?"

(-----)

The pair walked down the stairs and out into the fields. Asuka pointed out all the best spots of the land, and Shinji was in awe that there was such a difference than in Japan. The girl looked at Shinji's starry eyes, and said, "Come here, I need you to see something in the barn."

The foreign boy followed her, and looked around in amazement. Once Asuka had entered the barn with Shinji at her heels, the girl threw a saddle on to one of the horses. Shinji looked at the girl with a confused look on his face, and she shouted, "Well, Dummkopf? What're you waiting for?"

Ikari looked at her and sputtered, "B-But I can't ride a horse! I don't know how."

The girl rolled her eyes and said, "Just get on the damn horse. Scheisse, you're such a baby!"

He mimicked Asuka's motions with the saddle, and Asuka still stared at the boy, "It's on backwards."

Shinji's face turned beet red, and he scrambled to turn the saddle around. The redhead climbed onto the horse's back with grace and ease, but it was harder than she made it seem. After falling off of the saddle a good many times, the boy finally managed to stay on.

Asuka eyed him critically, "Are you finally ready to go?"

He nodded timidly, and lightly kicked the flanks of his horse. His horse followed Asuka's subserviently, quite like Shinji and Asuka themselves. The girl quickly taught Shinji the basics of horseback riding, and they began ambling through the fields, towards the woods.

(------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------)

This chapter is very short, but the later chapters should make up for it. The chapter names while in Germany are in German. You've reached the halfway marker. Thanks for sticking with the story. The outtake is pretty pitiful, but then again, its 2:33 am on a school night. I hate getting up early for school.

Outtake

"SIEG HAIL!" Shinji shouted at the top of his voice.

Both Asuka and her stepmother glared at him.

Asuka shouted, "Dummkopf!"

He shrugged and said, "What? I just wanted to fit in!"