Sins and Retributions
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Vacations are for Normal People
The young Ikari tightened his suede leather jacket, letting the fur lining push against his body, 'Damn, it's so cold.'
Asuka looked back at him, she was only wearing light clothes, but apparently, the girl was more used to the climate than Shinji.
The pilot of Unit 01's teeth chattered slightly, as he had never encountered anything this cold before, for Japan was usually always mild.
The girl looked to Shinji and spoke, her voice as sultry and seductive as she could muster, "What's wrong Third Child? Too cold for you? You can always warm up with me…" Shinji's face grew scarlet, and he began to stutter, but the German cut him off, pouting, "Aw, you're no fun. Any normal guy would love to keep warm with me."
Shinji looked at the ground embarrassedly, and spoke his mind, "But Asuka… I'm not any normal guy. I'm Shinji Ikari, nothing more or less."
She closed the distance between the horses, leaned over and kissed him, "And that's why I love you." She pulled back from the boy, both blushing slightly.
Though they had shared many kisses, neither could hold from blushing, but that just made everything more interesting.
She rode off ahead, and yelled to Shinji behind her, "Hey Shinji! I'll race you to the other side of the woods!" A fire lit in his eyes, and they were off.
Asuka was still ahead of Shinji by nearly twenty feet, but he was gaining. She stole a quick look back at the boy, but that was all it took for the animal under her, to abruptly stop.
The stop jerked her out of her saddle, and Asuka plunged into the icy river the animal halted before. The piercing cold had forced all the oxygen from her lungs, and the girl struggled to swim to the surface. The quick current had taken Asuka nearly ten feet from where she had entered the river, though she had been in the water for only a few seconds.
She gripped a branch and called for Shinji, "Shinji! Shinji! Help me! Get me out of here!"
As Shinji appeared on the bank, he yanked his coat off, and ran towards the water.
'This is it. I'm sorry Shinji… you have to live without me,' she thought as the branch she clung to ripped out of the bank. She faintly heard the splash of another body crashing into the water after her. Though he had never learned to swim, Shinji tore through the waves, madness shining in his eyes. The fast currents were no match for a young man fighting for everything he loved. He grabbed Asuka about the waist and held on to her as tightly as he could. Though he could reach her, getting out was a different story, and they were running out of river.
The foam ahead signaled to Shinji that there was a waterfall, and he gripped Asuka harder, trying to ensure that she'd live at least. The couple went over the twenty foot waterfall, smashing into onto the surface of the water. Shinji made sure that he broke Asuka's fall, when she had finally revived from her daze, she was aware of a presence, somebody was holding her.
She looked behind her, craning her neck to see Shinji. The life had fully returned to her eyes, and Asuka kicked with all her might, trying to push to the banks. She was propelled to the bank, but she hadn't noticed how her legs had been shining orange in a hexagonal pattern. What really mattered to her was getting herself and Shinji to the banks of the river. The boy helped to kick to the banks, and they were in perfect unison.
As they rolled onto the banks, Asuka curled up into a ball. She had passed out from using her AT Field. It was the first time she had done so without being in an Eva, and Shinji knew that it was an exhausting experience. He gathered the girl in his arms, and began to run back to the place he left the horses.
(-----)
As he ran through the woods, his stiff and freezing joints creaked, but he only pushed harder. Shinji reached the place he left the horses, but they must have returned to the ranch, for they must have been trained to.
The boy set Asuka inside of his thick suede leather coat, in an attempt to keep her warm. Though Shinji was freezing, nothing could stop this boy, not even the next Sin. He was growing a faint tint of blue on his skin, but still he ran, carrying the most important thing to him in his arms.
Shinji thought with fierce determination, 'I don't care if I die! But I'll get Asuka back home! She will not die!' His feet hardly seemed to touch the ground before he started the next step. His unalterable drive had triggered the boy's AT Field, and it sped up his running by nearly two times. The land seemed a blur to the boy, as the path he needed to take was blazed into his memory.
When he had reached the doors to the Langley Ranch, Shinji quickly shoved the door open, and cried out, "Mrs. Langley! It's Asuka… She… She…"
Mrs. Langley ran into the hallway and said, "What happened? Mein Gott in Himmel! You're covered in water! And what are you holding?"
Shinji's tear streaked face drooped over the girl and he said, "Just hold on Asuka! Everything will be okay now."
The older Langley blanched, and screamed, "Asuka…? Asuka!"
The two immediately took Asuka to the bathroom, where she was stripped and placed into steaming hot water. The sight of Asuka's nude body didn't arouse any indecent thoughts in Shinji, for all he cared for was her safety. Mrs. Langley realized this, and that was the reason he was allowed to stay in the bathroom.
Asuka woke up slowly, "Sh-Shinji…? M-Mom?" Tears dripped from Shinji's face and onto Asuka's. She wiped them off and said, "Wh-Why are you crying? Huh?"
She looked down at herself, and she was completely naked, her eyes kindled up a fire hotter than the sun, and angrily blushed as she slapped Shinji across the face. "Pervert! What are you looking at?"
As she followed his eyes, Asuka grasped what he was staring at: her eyes. The fact that Shinji could be in front of a naked girl, and look her in the eyes instead of in the boobs, spoke a lot of his character. She stroked his face where she had slapped the Japanese boy, and said, "I'm so sorry."
But Shinji didn't hear her words, for he had fallen unconscious, his skin still tinged blue.
(-----)
Asuka quickly clothed herself, and threw Shinji, who was now naked, into the warm bathtub that she had occupied just minutes ago. Though Asuka blushed furiously at seeing Shinji, she continued to keep her mind on saving his life.
His skin was still tinted with blue, and he curled up in a ball under the hot water. After a few minutes, his skin started to lose the blue, and returned to his usual skin color, yet he still shook violently with chills ravaging him.
Asuka and Mrs. Langley quickly wrapped a towel around him, and ushered him into his room. Asuka then dressed the boy, and laid him on the bed.
Mrs. Langley said, "Stay here and watch over him. I'll get some blankets!" Asuka laid down next to Shinji and let her body heat combine with Shinji's but neither were that hot currently. Asuka drifted off to sleep, only faintly noticing the ten blankets that were draped over the couple.
(-----)
Mr. Langley opened the door to the ranch and stepped into his house. Doing his usual routine, the man kissed his wife, went to his room, changed into normal clothes, and started down the stairs for dinner.
He had remembered something while he was on the stairs, and said, "Asuka and a friend are supposed to have arrived by now…"
He turned around and climbed back up the steps, and headed to Asuka's room. On the way to her room at the end of the hall, he heard a slight snoring in the guest room, and decided to check it out.
As he peered in the doorway, he saw his daughter nestled with a boy. A boy! He growled in anger and screamed, "Get up! Get up! Get up!"
(-----)
Shinji sat on the couch with a multitude of blankets on him, in the presence of Asuka and her parents. Shinji explained what had happened, while Mrs. Langley continued to cook dinner.
Mr. Langley spoke evenly, in a voice that masked it's anger well, "Judging by this event, do you believe that I should view you as a bad influence on my daughter?"
Asuka answered before Shinji could, "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT! I COULD HAVE DIED! DO YOU EVEN CARE? BESIDES, IT WAS MY IDEA IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
The man bowed his head in shame, but Shinji answered, "You could. But I can't stand it when people I love get hurt. Asuka's the first person that I associate with the word love, and I never want her to get hurt."
The man raised an eyebrow, folded the newspaper he was reading, and stared Shinji down with the eyes of an inquisitor, "What would you do if it was you that was hurting Asuka?"
Shinji remained silent for a short time, but he finally answered, "If I ever hurt Asuka, I hope that she tells me outright. I'll do what ever she wants. As long as I don't hurt her, I know that I can be happy. I know that we can be happy."
The man continued to read his newspaper, and said, "I see." Her father stole a quick glance in the direction of Asuka, and gave a slight jerk of the head, as if saying, 'I approve.'
Asuka smiled, she never gave the events that took place earlier any thought, she had been killed before, by an Eva, in the most grotesque manner. It had eaten her alive and screaming, and something like falling down a waterfall was not going to faze her.
Though she could have easily landed safely on the banks, her immediate reaction was to call for Shinji, and she was glad that he had come to her rescue, like her knight in shining armor.
(-----)
Shinji stood on the balcony of his room, looking out at the night sky, and didn't notice the doors to his room open.
Asuka moved behind him, and she spoke softly into his ear, "Shinji… Thank you."
The girl kissed him lightly on the lips, and the boy spoke, "I don't what to see you hurt… ever. What was that guy's deal though?"
Asuka sighed and said, "Papa's just over protective… He's actually pretty nice… sometimes. But anyway, I know that I could have easily survived the fall, but I just reacted. I just called for you without even thinking. You must think that I'm pathetic."
Shinji embraced her and said, "No. But I think that you are learning to depend on others as well as yourself. But other than that, I think that you're gorgeous, and the best person I've ever met. We do fight, but our love overcomes that." Shinji held her tighter, and said, "I'm sorry for earlier today. I shouldn't have been there when you were in the bath."
Asuka shook her head and said, "No. You weren't staring at my body. You were staring into my eyes, with concern. Besides, I was there when you were naked, so I guess you can call it even." Shinji blushed, and averted his gaze, staring up at the stars.
"Shinji… This is what we didn't get to do earlier," Asuka said pulling Shinji's face close to her own. They initiated a passionate kiss, a kiss that made all their others look meaningless. Their tongues were in a fierce duel, darting at the other, and into their partner's mouth.
(-----)
Misato sat in her bathtub, and was covered in bubbles. This was the first time she had ever taken a bubble bath, and she had decided that it was enjoyable. The purple-haired woman sunk further into the soapy water, and her ear perked up as she heard the door open slightly. Misato's hand slowly crept to the bar of soap, and she whipped it at the noise with such a ferocity that made a tiger looked like a kitten.
An odd squawking sound emitted from where the Sub-Commander of NERV had thrown the soap, "K-Kaji?"
As she opened her eyes, she was greeted by her roommate, Pen-Pen. In his flippers was a video recorder, and Kaji silently was rifling through Misato's drawers in her room, a lopsided grin on his face.
He had found what he was looking for, a black pair of undergarments, and Kaji pocketed it, 'I'll think of this as… a souvenir.'
He crept from his commanding officer's room and towards the door of the bathroom, and he whispered, "Hey… Pen-Pen, do you have the tape?"
All the angels in heaven couldn't save this man from the purple-haired woman, a raging banshee about to tear Kaji's head from his shoulders. She kicked down the door, pinning Kaji to the ground, and growled, "Take them out of your pockets! NOW!"
Kaji smiled sheepishly, like a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar, except this time, Kaji's hand was caught in something else.
He removed his 'souvenir' and set it on the ground. Misato patted Pen-Pen on the head, and took the camera, then savagely beat the pinned man over the head with it.
"All's forgiven!" she beamed, if being blonde was being an airhead, purple must be twice as bad.
Kaji sighed and said, "I'm sorry Katsuragi. But I was getting bored. You take too long in the bath."
Misato grinned deviously, and let her towel drop to the floor, and spoke in a sultry voice, "Then why don't you help me?"
Kaji immediately grinned and followed her into the bathroom. As air headed as Misato Katsuragi could be, she could also be more cunning than a wolf. One little hint at sex, and she could have Kaji on a leash.
A brutal thrashing took place behind those doors, followed by a woman screaming, "GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF THE GUTTER!"
After she had calmed down, Kaji spoke, "But don't you want to have some fun?"
Misato laughed heartily, "No! Besides, I have Shinji for that!"
Kaji smiled devilishly, "Oh really? I wonder how Ritsuko would take that."
He withdrew a tape recorder from his pocket, and he said, "Care to bargain?"
Misato scowled, "This has to be the first time you've beaten me at anything."
(-----)
Kaworu hammered in the last plank of Rei's new hardwood floor, and sweat dripped from his forehead. He wiped it away, and bowed to Rei, "I am finished."
Rei could think of no other words, and shyly spoke, "Th-Thank you."
The angel gone human said, "I thank you for allowing me to be of service."
Rei smiled conservatively, "I have nothing to pay you with." Rei blushed slightly after thinking what most boys would ask for, but she knew that Kaworu was different.
His inviting eyes conveyed his message before he spoke, "You do. All that I require is your friendship… if that is alright with you."
Rei nodded, and she moved closer to him, but instead of shaking his hand, she caressed his face. "Here is what I owe. This is my payment." Rei whispered to the boy. She kissed him lightly on the lips, and smiled faintly.
Kaworu had never experienced such emotions before, and all he wanted was to continue being near Rei, but he knew he must say goodbye, "Rei… I am unsure of what to say. So I shall let my eyes convey my gratitude before I take my leave."
The couple's red eyes locked, each connected with the opposite eye of the one in front of them. Kaworu had decided to initiate the kiss this time, and he moved closer to Rei, and allowed himself to kiss her hand, as he still thought it was improper to kiss a female on the lips without their permission.
The boy turned and his silver hair disappeared behind the apartment door.
Rei stood in a daze, 'That was… agreeable.' The girl let her bare toes touch the smooth floor that had just been installed, and she moaned slightly, "Different, but once again, agreeable."
(-----)
Gendo sneezed and looked around to see if anyone could see him. The Commander of NERV opened his drawer, and pulled out a photo album from a secret compartment in the back of the drawer.
He leafed through it and sighed, 'Even I couldn't keep them all in my heart.' He silently placed the album on a piece of paper.
He stood up and exited his office, locking it behind him.
(-----)
Gendo sat down in the break room, with a cup of scalding coffee. Instead of waiting for it to cool, he chugged it, letting the liquid burn his throat on the way to his stomach.
The Commander had been so absorbed in drinking his coffee, that he didn't notice his own Aid nearing him. Fuyutsuki stood behind Gendo, with something clutched in his hand.
Even though the man had startled Gendo, the Commander's steel nerves refused to allow him to jump. "What is it?" he spoke in a flat tone.
Fuyutsuki simply put what was in his hand in front of Gendo, and said, "She would want him to have this." With that said, the Commander's Aid left the break room, and headed to his own living quarters.
Gendo looked at what had been placed on the table. It was a photo, a photo of Yui, Shinji, and himself. Yui and he had both signed it in the bottom right corner, planning to give it to their son, 'To our Shinji. We love you, Yui and Gendo.' The once callous man smiled slightly, 'Thank you Yui. He would want this…'
(-----)
Shinji blinked awake, groaning slightly, as all his joints were stiff. When he got out of bed and stood, every limb and bone cracked, leaving Shinji with an odd feeling.
The boy put on some clothes, and checked on Asuka in her room, 'Still asleep, huh?'
He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. The young man sat at the table with a cup of coffee, and chugged it, letting it burn his throat on the way to his stomach.
A voice startled Shinji, almost causing him to spill his drink, "You know… You take your coffee exactly like your father."
The younger Ikari looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Mr. Langley standing there. Shinji stammered, "I-I d-do?"
The man smiled, "Yes, I knew your father back in the days that NERV was still Gehirn. That's exactly how Gendo would always drink his coffee. But your mother… She had to put all sorts of add-ins to the coffee. I knew them both pretty well."
Shinji looked at the table intently, "I don't. Mother died before I could remember. Father… Father abandoned me. He sent me away."
Mr. Langley brushed his hair out of his face, and adjusted his glasses, "He changed after Yui… After the Unit 01 incident."
Shinji nodded, and looked at the man, "I do know mother very well though, in a sense. Mother is the Eva, so she and I can speak anytime I am in the Eva, though it is sometimes hard."
At this, the German man blanched, "So… you know about the Eva's secret. Asuka…?"
Shinji averted his eyes for a second, but they locked back into place with the German's, "Yes. She knows also. In the fight with the Eva Units 05-13, Asuka achieved 100 synch ratio. A spectacular fight ensued, and Asuka was beating them, but the last one…"
Shinji had tears streaming down his face, "The last one pinned her down, and they all ate her."
Though Mr. Langley had seen the footage, and had puked as he saw it, this boy saying it with what much emotion did the same thing, and his stomach threatened to expel its contents.
Shinji still had tears in his eyes, and he spoke, "When Third Impact started, The Human Instrumentality project had been completed. Everyone was one and the same, except for me. I was forced to make a cruel decision. I chose what I needed. I chose a life that could be full of pain, but also happiness. I chose a life with Asuka. We had fought all the time before Third Impact, but I guess we still loved each other. It's just that we were too wrapped up in ourselves to realize it."
Mr. Langley spoke softly, "Then I should thank you for saving my daughter, and the world."
Shinji smiled and shook his head, "Wrong. You should thank Asuka. She saved herself by meaning something to me, and she had saved the world from the day we met on the 'Over the Rainbow.' Now, I have a second chance with her, a chance to make everything go right."
Shinji had wiped away his tears, and the German man spoke evenly, but under the even tone, there was a faint trace passion, "Yui would be proud of you, Shinji."
(-----)
Asuka woke up in her warm bed, it had been a long time since she had slept in a normal German bed, and she was starting to actually like sleeping on the Japanese mats.
She sighed as she reached over to the other side of her bed, the side Shinji usually occupied in Japan. Nobody was there, 'Of course there's nobody there. My parents would flip out if he was.'
She rolled out of bed and stretched, reaching high over her head and arching her back. The girl stood in her room, scantly clad, wearing only a long yellow t-shirt and her undergarments.
Her blue eyes darted about the room, searching for her things, "I could've sworn I threw all that crap near the door."
She sighed and ripped open one of her drawers, finding all of her clothes and effects neatly tucked away.
Her eyebrow rose, 'Mom doesn't even do laundry, more or less put clothes away. It must have been that Dummkopf.' She shrugged and pulled out an outfit well suited for the day, laid it on her bed, and retreated to the bathroom.
Asuka stepped into the shower, and awaited the water. It sprayed out onto her, and the German girl screamed, "SCHEISSE, THAT'S COLD! VERDAMMEN SIE ES!" The girl hopped out of the shower, and ran back to her room.
Shinji had run up the steps, and knocked on Asuka's door, "Asuka, what's wrong?"
He started to open the door, but Asuka shut it and held it closed, "Don't come in! I'm not dressed, you pervert!"
He stepped away and said, "What's wrong?" A voice shot through the door, "That shower is too damn cold!"
Off of instinct, the pilot of Unit 01 apologized, "I'm sorry."
That last remark made an already irate Asuka even angrier, "MEIN GOTT! WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT YOU APOLOGIZING FOR SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANY POWER OVER?"
Once again, Shinji reacted with his defense mechanism, "I'm sorry."
Asuka had calmed down a little, but still was agitated, "Scheisse! There it is again!"
The boy pursed his lips, and started to the bathroom, "I'll try to see if I can't figure out the problem with the shower, okay."
Asuka leaned against her door, exposed for the world to see, that is, if the world was anywhere close to the Langley Ranch. 'Why does he always apologize like that? Oh well, I guess Misato was right. It really is a built in defense system. Although, if he didn't act like that he wouldn't be Shinji.'
Little Plumber Boy
Shinji examined the spigot for the shower, making sure that every detail was observed.
The boy had never taken classes or anything in plumbing, but living with Misato and Asuka, had taught him better than most plumbers. Unclogging the toilet after Misato comes home with a hangover and can't hold her stomach contents, and the worst, unclogging the shower and bath drain.
The drains were usually full of hair that had been shed during the showering phase, and frequently, Shinji had more than a bag full of hair, both red-blonde, and purple. He took a peek under the sink and found his problem: the water pipe that connects the hot water to the shower was cracked.
(-----)
The boy walked into the kitchen, and saw Mr. Langley exactly where he had been five minutes ago. The German man raised an eyebrow, "What was wrong with Asuka?"
Shinji shrugged, "Water was too cold for her in the shower. Do you have a blowtorch I can borrow?"
The man was confused as to why the boy needed a piece of dangerous machinery, but he complied anyway and said, "Yeah… It's out in the barn."
Shinji thanked the man and headed to the barn, in search for the blowtorch and a piece of PVC pipe. Though he couldn't find PVC pipe, Shinji found something very close. Inside of a bail of hay, a pliable sheet of plastic was hidden, but he had found it, and the boy was determined to fix the water pipe for his girlfriend.
Shinji moved to a large workbench and picked up the blowtorch that was resting on a hook.
He hauled the sheet and torch into the house, and spoke to Asuka's father, "Um, I was wondering if I could use this."
The man's brow furrowed, "What for…?"
Shinji smiled sheepishly, "I'm gonna fix the water pipe. That's why I needed plastic like PVC pipe, and a source of heat."
It finally dawned on him, "Mein Gott! You're quite good at improvisation. Most normal people would have no clue how to fix a pipe at fifteen."
Shinji laughed at this comment, "Well, the women I live with are kinda high maintenance…"
Mr. Langley spoke suspiciously, "Women… more than Asuka?" He nodded his head vigorously, "Yep, Misato Katsuragi. She's the-"
"Sub-Commander of NERV! You still live with her? I heard she is a little on the sloppy side," Asuka's father finished Shinji's sentence for him.
The young Ikari curtly nodded, "Yeah. I do most… hey wait! I do all of the cleaning, but Asuka and I share the cooking duties."
Shinji lowered his voice, "Between us. Misato's cooking is famous. She can make instant food into nuclear weaponry. The splitting of an atom is preferable to her cooking."
The man laughed at this and waved his hand, bringing the newspaper back up to his face, "Yes, go ahead and use that plastic, I don't have a better use for it."
(-----)
Shinji was halfway in the cabinets under the sink, and halfway in the middle of the bathroom floor. His eyes were watering from the smoke generated through the flame and plastic. After a few minutes of working, the young man finally finished the repairs to the pipeline.
He tested the shower once, and felt the hot water slip through his fingers like the tears of a heavenly angel.
The pilot of Unit 01's eyes had puffed up and were red from the irritating smoke that danced out of the union of flame and plastic.
He knocked on the portal to Asuka's room, and it opened, the girl cheerily greeting Shinji. She saw his eyes, and assumed that he had been crying, as Shinji did that quite often, and completely dismissed the odor that filled the second floor.
Shinji pointed to the bathroom, and started to talk, but before one word could be said, Asuka pulled him into her room.
She laid him down on the bed, and put his head into her lap, running her fingers through his hair. She spoke softly into his ear, "What's wrong, Shinji?"
He shook his head and said, "Nothing."
The girl placed two fingers over his lips, and said, "You don't have to hide the truth from me anymore, you can tell me anything."
Asuka's scent had begun to creep into Shinji's nostrils, and it was a fragrant scent. He let her smell calm him, and his eyes were losing their redness, for he wasn't exposed to the smoke anymore. "No. There's nothing wrong. I just fixed the hot water pipe, so you can take a shower. But even without one… y-you…"
She looked into his eyes expectantly, "…Well?"
He averted his gaze, embarrassed, and took a deep breath, letting the delicate scent of his girlfriend calm him down, "You smell… good."
She let her head move closer to his and spoke just above a whisper, "I'm unwashed, so half of that is credit to my perfume. Just think of how I'll smell when I am washed."
Shinji faintly smiled, letting himself get lost in the euphoria of his nose's senses, he normally wouldn't be able to smell much of a difference, but burning plastic does strange things to you.
His eyes closed, and he snored ever so slightly, making him akin to a kitten on its master's lap.
Asuka set the boy's head down on her bed, and strode into the bathroom, to take her morning shower, though it was now noon.
(-----)
Toji sat in a room, the lights dimmed, like the sun drowning in the oceans at the end of the day. The boy hadn't been with his sister in three days, and this didn't sit well with him. Instead of waking up early to see his sister, Toji figured he'd just sleep in the hospital, and keep his sister company when she woke up.
He slumped in his seat and let his hand drift to his leg, nobody else knew about the prosthetic, or they pretended not to. Even somebody as slapdash as Toji Suzuhara was self conscious about his prosthetic. Nobody that didn't already know about it couldn't tell, for the most cutting edge technology was used to fix it, as he had been injured while working for NERV.
Toji slowly tugged his pant leg, pulling it up to the knee, allowing him to inspect the mechanical leg. A substance very similar to the biological makeup and thickness of skin was covering it. The former Fourth Child pushed a hidden button near his ankle, allowing him to peel off the casing, and removed the whole leg from the knee. His stump of a leg, ending at the knee, was exposed to the air.
It felt good on him to let his leg air out every now and then, and he set the prosthetic against the leg of his chair. He could walk perfectly fine with his fake leg, because it was created utilizing the exact same technology used in the entry plug. In an Eva, if its arm was ripped off, the pilot would feel that in the plug, same with Toji's leg, except the button near the ankle allowed him to remove it safely.
If it was ripped off, Suzuhara would feel it as if it was his normal leg, but the button severed the nerve connection to his knee. As the boy let his head rest against the back of a chair, and the door slid open with an audible hiss.
Hikari stood in the doorway, a packed dinner in her hands. She dropped it, and Toji scrambled to reattach his leg, fumbling for an explanation.
She gasped, and spoke hysterically, "Toji! What was that! Your leg…? Is that a… a prosthetic"
The pilot of the late Unit 03 focused on a point on the ground, "Hikari… I… I just wasn't ready to tell you yet. I lost it in the… incident with Unit 03. Since then… Since then Shinji and I could never see eye to eye, I think he blames himself for it, but it really wasn't his fault. In some ways, I feel kinda relieved that you know, but I didn't know how you'd take it. Shinji… There has to be some way to let Shinji forgive himself."
Toji had never strung that many words or sentences together, and he tended to have his thoughts jump around, not thinking clearly.
The class representative gathered the fallen meal into her arms, and offered it to Toji, "You need to tell him that it wasn't his fault. As for the leg, I'm not sure what to think, but I know that it doesn't change anything. I heard from some of the nurses that you were going to stay here for your sister. That's sweet, but also boring if she's asleep, so I thought I'd keep you company at least."
A sad smile crept upon Toji's face, and he sparked up a conversation.
(-----)
Kaworu's glasses slid down his nose slightly, as he concentrated on the thin book in his hands. Before becoming human, the young man had never needed glasses, but his eyesight deteriorated to the point that merited the use of glasses, only for reading though.
He set his glasses down and rubbed his eyes furiously, "As if adjusting to glasses wasn't enough work, now I have to learn about those wretched machines. I despise doorbells."
Kaworu stood up and placed a set of small screw drivers into his pockets. He still wore older style clothes, such as a tunic and riding pants, but there was no room for a horse in the city.
The former angel slid open his door, moved to Rei's, and set to work at her doorbell.
(-----)
Misato sat on her floor with gifts, wrapping them for Christmas. The two special gifts that would guarantee complete servitude from her roommates were covered in an imposing vermilion paper.
Though Christmas was still a whole day off, Misato hadn't let that stop her from breaking out the eggnog.
Misato tried to keep as busy as possible, to avert her mind from being alone this Christmas. Last year, she had Shinji and Asuka with her, but before that, she stayed home, alone.
A single tear slid from her eyes, and onto the package she was wrapping, being alone was not a good experience… A thought reverberated through Misato's head, 'I know! Why don't I just throw a NERV party?'
(------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------)
Just be patient with me. There will be another fight in 3 chapters at the latest. Please don't kill me.
Outtake
Shinji's head was deep under the sink, and his legs were sticking out. He was on his stomach, with his legs curled up above him.
Asuka spoke, "What are you doing now, dumb ass?"
Shinji, rather annoyed, said, "What's it look like? I'm being a plumber for the day!"
The girl snorted, "Well, you got the whole bit down, don't you?"
The boy's eyebrows rose, "What do you mean, Asuka?"
"Hehehe, plumber's crack…"
"ASUKA!"