AN:Hello. First order of business, my apologies for no update for so long. Life and prolonged sickness got in the way since early March but I am up on my feet again, done with most of the extra stuff I had planned being done already or probably being done by the time you read this. Means I get to write again. I already have a layout of the next chapter somewhat settled, so the wait should not be so long, but I will not commit to a date until I have actually written enough to have a firm idea of when I will finish it.
When I do I post the Release date on my profile, and I have a somewhat obscure gem of anime for anyone who gets the reference: "Watch for it!"
As ever Cheerful Clatter is responsible for elevating the story's grammar a good few notches, many a stylistic suggestion that was almost invariably accepted and many a discussion that started with "I have a story idea/question", if you are a Potter head, do check her stories.
This time I am not giving any warnings, or any more Autorial ramblings. Please read, enjoy and if you have any critiques or comments please hit that comment section!
Disclaimer: "I still do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. If I would, there would be Kaji centric John le Carré styled spy spin-off!
Suite No.6,01 The Drizzle, the Summer Rain and the Storm
The One We Sat Out
-x-
Katsuragi household, 6:30 AM, December the 20th
-x-
Shinji felt someone shaking him up. He opened his eyes and looked up, still too asleep to say anything. He glimpsed at the clock and at the person waking him up, and groaned…
"Get up, Third, we are baking strudel!" huffed Asuka, already in her day clothes and looking nervous for some reason. Shinji sat up and tried to come up with a reason why Asuka wanted to bake strudel at half-past-six on Sunday.
He must have voiced it aloud because she went on: "We need to have it
ready by ten… Well, I do! I need to bake it, you only hang around and stop me if I am about to screw up, got that?" Shinji got up, shaking off the sleep and fetching his clothes while Asuka went on about the exact kind of strudel she wanted to make. Shinji was quite sure she did not need him to help, but for some reason, she really wanted that so he would not let her down.
"...and I bought real walnuts and raisins, which cost me an arm and leg… Do you Japanese eat anything a German would find normal? And do not say Baumkuchen!" She finished and realised she was staring at Shinji, who had just thrown his pyjama shirt away…
He started to form an apology, but Asuka, for once in her life, blushed and beat him to it: "Sorry, Shinji, I forgot I am not in my room…" She left fast, but not so fast as to not steal one more glance.
When Shinji got in the kitchen, he saw that Asuka had already got all the ingredients and was reading the recipe again, lost to the world in her focus. He started making tea and smiled at her. 'This looks like a nice day,' thought Shinji.
"So I am supposed to only watch and stop you if you were about to make a mistake? How am I to do that with the recipe being in German?" he asked the redhead when she finished reading and started peeling the apples. Asuka laughed: "Dummy, I know, I translated it to English!"
She slid him the piece of paper, and indeed it contained instructions in both German and English. He read it: it was a straightforward enough recipe, one he knew Asuka could manage by herself. 'It is unlike Asuka to ask for supervision in anything… so why now?'
Some of that must have made it into his expression, because the redhead turned to him and asked, "What's eating you, Dummy?" She put a hand on her waist and looked at him, but she was smiling…
"I… you just never asked me to do this before when trying to cook, so why now?" he answered, finishing his tea before looking at the recipe card and then checking the ingredients. Asuka went contemplative for a moment, and then she said, "It's a gift for Kaji; you know it's the third Sunday of a month and I really don't want to mess this up!"
Shinji looked at her quizzically. Then he realised what Asuka was talking about and grinned. "You picked a Japanese tradition!" he said with a laugh. He went to check the walnuts for any rotten ones, but Asuka made sure that she brought only good ones, so Shinji laid back and looked over the recipe once more, ready to stop Asuka if she made any mistake as she got to work…
She huffed: "Yes, this once, but I still think most Japanese traditions are… incomprehensible," she finished as she got to grating the apples. Shinji nodded and said: "It's not easy for someone born Japanese but culturally a gaijin, right?"
Asuka looked up, but for the moment she said nothing. She thought to give a smart-ass reply, but then she thought again of it. 'Huh, if there is a normal teen who understands the pressure, it's Baka. Wundergirl may get it, but she is anything but normal!'
She finished mixing up the dry ingredients for the batter and nodded: "It's not easy at all; half the people expect you to know nothing because you apparently are an uncivilised barbarian, and then the second expects you to know everything and will get on your case if you don't, and then there is Hikari, Kaji, Misato and you…"
They were silent for a while until Asuka rolled the batter and started on the apple filling. Shinji stopped her hand before she could simply toss the nuts in the mixture. She looked up with a surprised expression: "What's wrong with the walnuts, Shinji?" she asked, but put the bowl back on the counter without protest.
Shinji gave her a pan and pointed to the bag of sugar: "You want to roast them and coat them in caramel if you haven't sweetened the apple mix." He then gave her a few pointers on making the caramel.
They did not notice Rei stepping into the room. She sat at the kitchen table, content to wait for breakfast until they finished baking, poured herself a cup of tea, and smiled.
'Even if Asuka rarely lends a hand with cooking, they are still in sync!' For a moment, Rei felt almost envious of that. She could work well with Shinji, but she was yet to establish such coordination with Asuka when paired with the redheaded girl, which meant their combat efficiency would still be sub-par.
'But now we can start working on that again!' She thought about the two offers of friendship from Asuka and why she was pleased to accept the recent one. Rei frowned 'I wish I knew more about this…'
She thought to contemplate it some more, but then Shinji brought her breakfast.
-x-
Katsuragi household, Sunday, 10 AM
-x-
Kaji was dog tired: had Misato not been so very insistent that he showed up and that it mattered a LOT to Asuka, he would probably still be sleeping after the late-night-through-morning information hunt. He would just have to make his apologies later…
"You look like something Ritsuko pulled out of the freezer," said Misato by the way of greeting, giving him a once-over, taking her time to tuck a stray lock of hair behind his ear…
He chuckled. "Ritsuko never had anything half as enticing in her freezer," he said, kissing Misato as they stepped into the elevator. He got playfully swatted away. "Behave yourself, Mister - don't start what we can't finish right now!" She laughed but wrapped a hand around his waist, anyway, and Kaji laughed and winked conspiratorially.
"So even death-warmed-over me is sexy enough to tempt?" At that, Misato had to hold onto his waist to keep herself upright. "Tempt, invite, make me think of all kinds of things I would do to you, things I will do, just not now…"
When they got into the apartment, Kaji barely had the time to brace himself before Asuka inevitably ran right to him and hugged him fiercely. He smiled: Kaji found he had missed Asuka more than he would have thought over the last few weeks… even if he certainly did not miss her clumsy advances…
He thought of the times they talked, all the times Asuka taught him something new, plus the few times he got to teach her something… but now was definitely the wrong time to get all sentimental.
"Hi, Asuka, I am sorry for bailing on you so often the last few weeks," he said, hugging her back until she let go a few moments later. "It was almost as important as your job is… but I will admit that if you hadn't insisted, tomorrow would have been much better."
Asuka grinned: "It had to be today. It's a few months off, but it's the right day of the month."
Kaji gave her a questioning look: "Sorry, Asuka, you will have to explain." Asuka laughed: "Haven't heard that one since I brought explosives home from the lab!"
Shinji and Misato exchanged looks before laughing, and soon everyone laughed, even Kaji… Asuka was still smiling when the laughter trailed off, and she pointed to the strudel: "We should have done this on the third Sunday of June, but I have realised some things recently. I was chasing something impossible while not seeing something else you offered on a silver damn plate because I gave up on that years ago. For that, I am sorry." With the last few words, her smile grew wistful, but it was still there.
Kaji stood there thinking about what his one-time charge had just said. 'Third Sunday in June… why would that be important to Asuka?' He frowned. The elite investigator in him ran all the possibilities but came up with exactly nothing. There simply was no reason for Asuka to give that day personal importance. 'Unless, but no… that was silly; besides, since when was Asuka a traditional good kid?'
He had to admit she was a good kid in many, many ways, but just sometimes she also expected everyone around her to be a genius too - or at least well-rested! Kaji was sure he had been given plenty of hints to crack it if he only had his full brain power…
Asuka cocked an eyebrow: "Don't overthink it, it's just a silly Japanese tradition, after all… Father's Day or something…" She grinned at the disbelieving Kaji. He chuckled, then stopped. "Asuka, are you serious about that?" He looked her in the eyes, looking for any mischief or trick, but he could not see any. The redhead looked earnest and genuinely happy. She meant it…
He matched her smile: "You are serious about that!" This time, it was a statement and not a question. Asuka nodded. "I'm not gonna call you Dad all of a sudden, but you are the closest I have and best I could have asked for." The smile turned into a sheepish grin and Asuka made for the table to cut the strudel. Kaji stood there for a moment, still taking in the news. "Huh, I don't think I'd ever get used to 'Dad'…" he mused under his breath.
Kaji looked at Misato and mouthed: "You traitor, you knew!" Misato grinned. "I did, but I was threatened into silence and collaboration, honest!"
About half a second later, they both heard Asuka protesting: "Threatened? Shinji, am I threatening?" Both adults turned to the table and looked at Shinji with almost matching grins.
Shinji froze up for a moment and looked at Asuka in a hurry. He almost gave a negative answer on autopilot until he noticed that Asuka was grinning and winked at him. 'She is not really asking. She wants me to play along,' he thought and matched her grin, thinking about what to say to play along with the joke. Then he smiled a Gendo-like smile: he got it now…
"No, well maybe when fighting angels… Or when arguing at school… or…"
"Or all the damn time?" There followed a significant silence, until Kaji broke it by laughing. Shinji looked at Asuka with almost a dropped jaw until she mock-glared at him and asked, "What? I can do self-reflection. I just mostly don't because I am almost perfect…"
Asuka looked around the room, searching for dissent, but when she could not find any, she handed a piece of strudel to Kaji and then to the others. Before anyone could bite in she shot Shinji a smile and said, "I baked it, but Shinji watched over it - just to make sure I don't make any mistakes, of course."
-x-
Katsuragi household, Sunday, 6:00 PM.
-x-
"Asuka, why are you changing clothes? Do we have some occasion I forgot about?" asked Rei curiously as Asuka put on her summer dress. Asuka turned to her fellow pilot in surprise.
"No, Wundergirl, we don't; Shinji's just going to play music for us. Why would you think so?'' She went to brush her hair and check her appearance in the mirror. 'Gut, pretty, but not overdone, just right for tonight,' she thought and went to collect her flute from the table.
Rei had her ghost of a smile again and replied: "Because you are making a point with the dress…" Asuka could not understand at first, then she realised. She fought off a blush and said, "Not that kind of point, Rei! Just showing Shinji some appreciation for the music…"
She smiled and put on the red heels she picked for herself when they had gone shopping for clothes for Rei. It was close enough. 'I am prettying myself, not stuffing my boobs in a way too small T-shirt and I know the difference, unlike Wundergirl! Damn Akagi for "raising her" like that!' Asuka shut down some uncomfortable memories of her attempts to woo Kaji with a resolute, 'I'll deal with you tomorrow. Tonight I have fun!''
She turned around and saw Rei walking to her end of the wardrobe closet. Asuka raised an eyebrow and Rei turned to her fellow pilot, smiling. "In that case, I too wish to make that point…" Rei hesitated for a moment before saying: "But I am not really sure as to how; would you help me choose?"
Asuka hesitated momentarily. She did not expect to have to pick clothes for Rei. But, on the other hand, this was something she could help her with… She nodded and thought if she should let Shinji know about it, but decided against it.
'He won't mind waiting a few more moments and I would hate to spoil the surprise!' Asuka spared a look at the case with her flute, and dove into helping Rei choose…
Shinji smiled and brushed a speck of dust off his cello. Asuka was taking her time tonight. She declared that a musical evening was in order when Misato and Kaji left earlier that afternoon claiming that they were "going to get a room, alright!"
He must have got lost in thoughts, because the next thing he knew, Asuka was staring into his face. "Hey, Earth to Shinji, someone there?" Her words startled Shinji for a spell, but then he saw Asuka smiling. He nodded and smiled back.
Shinji gave Asuka an appraising look. He knew he'd seen her wearing the same dress about a dozen times now, and wearing her hair loose too… She still was stunning to him. He wanted to get up and kiss her…
But he stowed that for later. They had not said anything about keeping their relationship secret from Rei, but by unspoken agreement, they kept from kissing or even holding hands in public.
Then he noticed that Rei was dressed up as well. She picked black slacks and a dress shirt, and smiled brilliantly. "I wanted to show appreciation, for the music, for the shogi, for accepting me. Did I succeed in my mission?" She sat down and poured herself a cup from the teapot while Asuka fetched herself a chair and set it next to Shinji's.
Shinji and Asuka gave an in-sync nod and Shinji said, "You look great, Rei! Asuka helped pick those?" The redhead smiled at the mention and nodded. "I sure did. It fits well, right? And since it is a proven fact that I look fabulous…" She laughed. "Let's get to the music!"
Asuka unlatched the flute box and said, "This is why I spent so much time at Hikari's place the last few weeks, Shinji." She took the flute out of the box and set it aside. Rei looked at her confusedly and asked, "So it is not a weapon, Asuka? I thought you were keeping it secret for that reason."
"Why would you think I am smuggling weapons?" asked the redhead with a dumbfounded look, but she kept her eyes on Shinji, who was at an apparent loss for words for the moment. Rei was silent for a second before saying, "I thought you kept it secret because Major Katsuragi would disapprove," earning herself a bit of amused laughter from Asuka.
When the Redhead stopped laughing, she said, "I wanted to surprise Shinji, so I had to train at Hikari's. I needed to make sure I still have it!" Shinji looked at Asuka with a whole new level of admiration when he realised what she just said.
'She took whole days of her free time to practise music so that she could play for us… and still had enough time to help, and enough time to be perfect…' Then he realised something. "You played back in Germany?" he asked, and Asuka nodded. "I just about grew up enough to get a full-sized flute before the university started eating too much of my time; that is why I needed a refresher. I did not want to play with you, only to spoil your music with mine."
"To spoil my music?" asked Shinji, somewhat getting his bearings and looking at the flute in Asuka's hands. He motioned to her, and Asuka handed the instrument over without hesitation. Then she nodded seriously. "I have exacting standards. You meet and exceed them, so I had to make sure I did as well." Shinji returned her the flute and was about to say something before Asuka cut him off: "And no talk about your music not being great; it is and I have spoken!" she said with a smile.
Shinji smiled happily. 'Does Asuka mean what I think she means?' He had imagined the two of them playing together, always with Asuka playing the piano, or violin… 'Silly me, the flute is a symphonic instrument, but also a military one, of course, Asuka would pick it… Flute and a cello. A strange duet… but strange fits us.'
Shinji thought he would need some time to adjust to the world where Asuka played classical music, days at least, but equally, he knew he had years… So he just nodded at her declaration, gave one last tuning to the strings on his cello, and smiled: "What do we play then?"
-x-
Monday 15:30
-x-
Shinji packed his computer and put on his jacket, preparing to go home with Asuka and Rei as most of their classmates had already left the class. Only Hikari, Kensuke and Touji remained, two of them on cleaning duty for the day. Shinji looked at Kensuke, who had skipped gym, claiming to be unwell. He looked even worse now, glancing around on unsteady feet.
Shinji looked at Touji, who just shook his head back. 'Well, if Touji does not know what's up with Kensuke, I won't know either,' thought Shinji with a sigh. He waved to his friends and took off to leave. Asuka stopped leaning onto the teachers' desk and joined him as they both waited for Rei. It surprised him when Kensuke got up and walked to the three of them with a guilty expression. "Guys, wait, I have to come clean about something!" called Kensuke, making Shinji even more confused.
"Come clean about what, Aida-san?" asked Hikari, dropping the cloth she used to clean the blackboard with an equal measure of suspicion and concern in her expression. They all looked at Kensuke, who for his part looked like he wanted nothing more than to become one with the wall. Asuka frowned and fired off: "Has it anything to do with the bruises on your mug?"
When everybody shot her a quizzical look, she shook her head and said, "Geek stooge needs to learn how to conceal bruises. I did that when I started taking Karate lessons and got tired of folks staring at me…"
Kensuke nodded and said, "You can say that, but it's probably best I start from the beginning… Can you please promise to let me finish before anyone does anything?" He waited until everybody nodded, including Asuka with some hesitancy after Hikari shot her a look.
With that, Kensuke sat at the nearest desk and started speaking: "See, I had a business: I would take and sell photos of girls…" He shot another nervous glance at Asuka, so Hikari stood by her friend and gave Kensuke a nod, saying, "No one will hit you" - to which Asuka quickly rolled her eyes.
Kensuke drew a breath and soldiered on: "I said I had because I quit it three weeks ago. Someone offered me a lot of money, but I turned them down. See, I previously took photos only when I saw the girl in public, and so could any other guy I sold the photos to, and I've only been selling to other high-schoolers. But these guys wanted something that was against my rules…"
"WHAT?!" Asuka almost barked the question. As soon as she did, Kensuke jerked in and shot her a nervous look. Asuka stopped in her tracks: 'Huh, he says he stopped and probably got beaten for it - a good deal, too… guess I can hear him out,' she thought.
She had to admit that there was some kind of principle behind it and given that Kensuke had apparently already been beaten, she found she was surprisingly not seething to hit him, even if she was sure her photos got sold too… 'And probably the best of all!'
Kensuke calmed down a fraction and went on: "So the Thursday before the last, I am going home and three guys stop me to make me an offer: they were Yakuza wannabes, you know that kind. They say that if I sell them your photos, they'll give me twenty grand… I thought that was too good to be true and they explain that they meant pics of you in the changing room, so I say-"
Whatever Kansuke was about to say next, he did not, because suddenly Asuka was about two inches from his face and in the same air of eerie calm she used earlier on Touji she said in a low voice: "There better be no photos of me in my underwear, Aida! If there are, you will wish you had a Yakuza problem!" She ignored everyone else around her, letting the message sink in as she stared at Kensuke like a cobra would at a mouse.
Eventually, Asuka heard Hikari and realised that the class rep had put her hand on her shoulder. Hikari said in her firmest class rep tone, "Asuka, he got the message… and if something like that exists, you are not laying a finger on Aida until I am done with him."
Eventually, Kensuke calmed down enough to tell the rest of the story. "They told me that I don't get to decide that and that I have until next Friday to get them the photos, then they kicked me on my way out. So I know they mean business! Anyway, I went home and thought about it, realised I am pretty fucked up, both morally and about to be beaten. I thought about coming clean with you guys then, but did not have the guts for it… I thought Soryu would kill me…"
Asuka muttered, "She still might…" - but did not make any move to put that threat into practice for the moment.
Kensuke was silent for a while and then went on: "I decided to quit the business and destroyed all the stash I kept at home that night - developed pics, negatives, films, everything! Then I did the same with the stash at school the next day… I can't get back and destroy what I already sold, but there ain't nothing more to be sold. But then I made a big mistake."
He then told them that he picked a different route home each day after that, and that he had tried to forget about the encounter. "…But then they got me on Wednesday, in the park. They ask if I got the stuff and they motivate me when I say I don't. Guess they have a sense of humour. They tell me they don't want me to have to lie about falling from stairs and then throw me off two flights of stairs…" Kensuke touched his ribs.
"…Somehow I got nothing broken! Anyway, they said I have until Tuesday to get the photos or they will break my hands next time. And they showed me a pic of them with their fathers, and they ARE Yakuza, so going to the cops is worse than useless… Guys, I wanted to come clean about this because this is way over my head. I cannot fight this. I'm gonna have to tell my dad and leave the city; I will move with my grandmother to Nagoya, that should be far enough… I'll keep calling in sick in the meantime. Touji, Shin-man, I am gonna miss you." With that, he fell silent with the air of finality.
Of all people, it was Asuka who cut the silence. "Aida, would you be able to get the photos they wanted?" she asked. When Kensuke gave her a dumbfounded stare, she clarified: "Imagine you are enough of a Hentai asshole to do it for the money or to save your skin, could you?"
He sat on it for a moment before nodding. "I would have to get creative, but yeah, your changing rooms have roof windows too, right? I would have to get to the roof and set up a photo trap. But why would you ask?"
"Because I needed to know if you could but would not, or just could not do it, and trust me, the difference IS important," said Asuka. She went silent and then asked one more question: "You said three guys; how old?"
Kensuke racked his brain. "Senior high by the uniforms; sorry, can't tell you anything better. It was bloody dark out there," he said after a while.
Asuka nodded and found Hikari. "Hey, you trust him?" She waited for her friend to nod before turning back to Kensuke: "Aida, make ONE miss-step and you go straight to my shit list, and I am taking every camera you own for as long as I please, and maybe there will be some unbroken ones for you to get back later. Got that?"
Kensuke looked at her and then at Shinji before saying, "But if I am leaving town, I'll be out of your hair for good, right?"
Asuka shook her head. "No, you are not leaving town. Aida, you may be neck-deep in shit, but you're also big-time in luck. Now get out for a bit: Hikari, you, too. We're gonna talk about things you probably don't want to hear."
When the door closed behind the two students, Asuka gazed across the room like a commander reviewing troops. She ended up looking at Shinji for a while before sitting down on the teacher's desk again.
"So there are four of us, three who can fight and one who is fit but not trained… plus the Geek Stooge, but he's useless as beaten-up as he is…" She waited till Touji and Rei nodded their assent. Then she smiled: "I figure we can take three high school assholes!"
Touji nodded with a grin, Rei matched Asuka's expression, and Shinji's jaw dropped. "But Asuka, their fathers are Yakuza; we can't…" he objected.
"And WE are NERV, we are both stronger AND with the more important mafia, so any way they try to play it, we win!" said Asuka, now wearing a positive slasher film grin…
-x-
Tuesday, 16:41
-x-
The end of school came way too fast for Shinji. He was walking with Kensuke on his usual way home. They tried to keep small talk going, but neither boy could really pretend to engage in it so they both fell silent.
Shinji looked up at the sky and smiled briefly. The heavy rain clouds made it look as if it was going to pour any minute now. He said to himself, "Well, at least the weather is appropriate. Bet Asuka would have fun with that…" His thoughts turned to the fierce German who was currently trailing them three minutes behind, along with Rei.
He recalled Asuka laying down the battle plan on the school rooftop during the lunch break. It was simple as plans went: Touji was running ahead of them, scouting for the trio that Kensuke described, then Kensuke and Shinji were running in three minutes' interval after him, and at the end of the group, Asuka and Rei walked in tandem.
If Touji failed to spot the punks and Shinji and Kensuke got jumped, Shinji would dial Asuka and that would be the signal for everyone to converge on them.
As the plan went, Shinji and Kensuke would at worst have to hold out against two on three and only for three minutes maximum. It did not help that Shinji had a keen idea of what could happen to them in three minutes.
Shinji looked at his friend. Kensuke did not look scared, but then again Shinji checked his reflection in a shop window and neither did he. Shinji thought about what changed: he certainly had apt reasons to be scared, and he definitely did not get braver in the past month or two… And he was afraid… So what was different?
'I have people to be brave for now. Kenny right here and right now, plus Asuka… Rei… Misato…' He smiled. 'I was blind to it, but Misato must be scared when we fight. I was blind to it because Rei was not, and Asuka hides it too well, so I thought I was the only one and that made me a coward…'
'But it is everyone hiding and overcoming their fears for each other… We are stronger together than if we just added up our strength…'
He shook his head to refocus on the street they were on; they were just entering one of Tokyo-3's industrial areas. If the punks were to jump them today, this was the place where they were most likely to strike.
He stuck his hand in the pocket and let a finger hover over the speed dial button for Asuka. The two friends went on, doing their best to pretend carelessness. Shinji could not shake the feeling that someone was watching them right now and almost turned around when Kensuke asked, "Why is Sohryu-San doing this? I mean, she was furious at me yesterday. It would be much easier for her to let me disappear in Nagoya…"
Shinji thought about that, mostly about how much he would tell his friend, but it turned out that the answer would have to wait because, at that moment, three guys stepped outside the bus station and cut off their way. They fit the description Kensuke had given of his bullies…
Shinji hit the speed dial key. 'Three minutes!' he thought as the bullies stood in a loose half-circle with their leader, scowling at Kensuke. Then he lit a cigarette, wasting a good twenty seconds, Shinji realised.
The bully scowled at Kensuke. "Hope you have the stuff, for your own good, nerd," he said and puffed the smoke into Kensuke's face. His goons laughed sycophantically when Kensuke caught the smoke.
They stopped laughing when Kensuke shook his head and said, "Told you once, I am not doing that! Told you again I am not doing that, telling you again I am not doing that, nothing you can do about it, too…" He made a step back, but stood his ground otherwise. Shinji realised that he had taken a step forward and let go of the phone, grasping the paralyser Asuka had given him earlier…
The lead goon laughed at that: "Too bad for you, and too bad for your boyfriend there!" Both of his goons reached into their pockets, and Shinji's heart sank a notch: 'This is getting out of hand too quickly; we still need at least two more minutes…'
Shinji spotted a figure coming out of the side street. He hoped it was Touji, even if the direction was wrong, but those hopes disappeared when he saw the newcomer had the same uniform as the trio. The leader turned to the newcomer and yelled, "Onizuka, move it! Mister Paparazzi brought a bodyguard!"
The new arrival was the most impressive of them all. Wearing a jeans jacket over his uniform he was a good foot taller than Shiji and at least fifty pounds heavier. Shinji decided the best approach would be to taser him once the fighting started.
'It's like a high-stakes game of Shogi,' he thought as the punks closed on them. He had to hold on for at least another hundred seconds. Shinji could now almost picture Unit-01s battery countdown counting the time.
The newcomer looked at him derisively and said, "You better get going while running is still an option! Or else you get beaten for the pervert here," in the same tone one would tell someone to look out before crossing a road. Shinji suppressed a flare of anger: 'Sure, being told to leave Kensuke to get beaten pisses me off, but any second we don't fight is a second for Asuka and Touji to get here…' Shinji spared a second to think that he ought to thank the Vice-Commander for the Shogi lessons. The four bullies started closing on Shinji even more.
Then he saw Touji, but he was still on the other end of the street…
Shinji thought about what to do next and realised something brazen was needed. Shinji tried his best approximation of Asuka's slasher grin, and said, "No, I don't think I will." It worked. The one they called Onizuka stopped and gave Shinji another glare for a moment.
Then he made another step and swung a fist at Shinji.
-x-
Flashback: Monday 23:30, Katsuragi household
-x-
"You are looking forward to tomorrow?" asked Shinji, unable to keep the surprise from his tone. He regretted that almost immediately as Asuka went rigid for a moment. Shinji did not know what to say to make her feel better, so he just hugged her tighter. It seemed to work as Asuka relaxed and rested against Shinji.
"Broken goods, Shinji, broken goods," said Asuka "NERV raised me for war, and I learned to enjoy it, I learned that well… And not only the angels, but any good fight will also do.' Asuka looked at Shinji, prepared to see dismissal, disappointment, disgust. 'He should feel disgusted. Who wants a girlfriend who admits to wanting to beat up people to let loose some steam? Definitely no properly raised Japanese…'
Shinji smiled. He said, "It is not that. I am surprised you are this eager to help Kensuke; I thought you would be vexed at that!" That gave Asuka a pause. She replied almost hastily, "A good scrape is a good scrape, no matter who for…"
Then she fell silent for a while, only to eventually say, "You really are OK with me wanting to break people's bones?" Asuka looked at Shinji and apparently would not let him off the hook without an answer.
Shinji thought about it for a while. Was he OK with it? 'No, I am not OK with it, I am OK with the weather, I am OK with a train running late.' He would never use "OK" to describe anything related to Asuka. And he thought about what words she used. "Wanting to break people's bones." The exact wording hurt him. 'Does Asuka think she is a bully?'
"Asuka, stop that, stop tearing yourself down!" Shinji was surprised at his vehemence. "You do not want to break people's bones. If you did, you would let loose today. You did not. Hell, you enjoy taking on ANGELS, and that's amazing…" He finished with a smile.
Asuka's mind stopped in its tracks. "You really think that me screaming for blood is amazing?" She thought back to that day when she had first unloaded all her baggage on Shinji. Shinji did not say much then, he just listened to her, and when she finished talking, he was still there, 'I figured he accepted me despite the rage, not because of it,' thought Asuka as she waited for Shinji to answer.
Shinji nodded and spent a moment in silence, putting his words together. Then he said, "Way back aboard Over The Rainbow, I mostly thought about being scared out of my mind, and how to make sure we survive. Mostly. But I thought about how incredible you are in being so unafraid, and going in with a smile too… And since then? You scare me a lot, you go for things I'd never go for on my own, but I can do them following you... But you're always the most striking in a fight."
Asuka looked at Shinji. "Sometimes I want to yell at you to stop treating me like this, you know?" When Shinji gave her a puzzled look, she went on, "I mean, after all that I did to you, you still treat me like there is nothing wrong with me. I don't deserve that."
She stopped when she saw the anger in Shinji's expression. He fixed her with a glare. "Stop tearing yourself down, Asuka!" Even more so than before, it came out not as a plea or request, but as an order and it hit Asuka with all the force of a slap in the face… yet it did not hurt.
"You said we all have to do better by each other, remember?" Shinji said just as vehemently, and Asuka nodded. Shinji calmed down a bit, and then he continued: "That includes you doing better by yourself. Asuka, you are not perfect, but you are great. You are happy when fighting, that is unusual, but it does not make you a bad person, Asuka! Can you promise me to try and work on something? You are a good person with flaws. Try to see yourself as one?"
Shinji held Asuka close, waiting for her to speak. Asuka relaxed a bit and put on a crooked smile 'See myself as a good person, truly, and not as a mask for others? Can you ask for something easier, Baka? The moon and stars? World peace through superior firepower?'
She spent a few more minutes lost in her thoughts. 'Well… Baka is asking that I try it, not that I MUST make it work… An honest stab at it… Can I do that?' Asuka nodded. "Alright, I'll try my best, it's just… My best may not be enough."
-x-
Tuesday 17:03 industrial district
-x-
Avoid-step-aside-lean-away-stumble-backwards…
Shinji quickly gave ground to the two yakuza wannabes looking for any opportunity to strike back and even the chances a little. A few yards away, Touji was fighting the other two, having a slightly better time of it.
Kensuke squatted on the edge of the walkway, nursing a nasty kick in his ribs and a bruise on his face. He was well and truly useless… 'Just as Asuka thought!' thought Shinji, lunging past his two assailants whenever they made a mistake and cleared just enough space for him to do so. If anything, he was faster than them.
If Shinji's count was good, Asuka should have been here twenty-five seconds ago. He swung the taser at one of the guys who was attacking Touji, only to have it kicked from his hand. This was going from bad to worse fast…
Meanwhile, the other attacker fighting Touji got distracted, and Touji landed a nice square bone-cracking hit on their nose!
Shinji and Touji stood next to each other with their backs to the fence. Touji snarled: "Who's next? Who wants to take on someone their own size? Plenty more where that one came from!" He jerked his head towards Broken Nose or whatever the fuck his name was, who got up on unsteady feet.
The big one looked at him and grinned. "I admit, you got a fight in you: here I thought this was going to be boring… tell you what, I'll make your friend here go to sleep and then we'll have a fair fight!" He raised his fist to hit Shinji.
Shinji could not help but keep staring at the fist frozen in place. 'So this is it, say goodbye to my face,' flashed through his mind as the fist raised to the highest point of its journey and started coming down…
He closed his eyes and prepared for the pain, but it never came.
"Hey! Want a fair fight?! I'll give you one you won't forget!"
Shinji opened his eyes again. There she stood, five feet two inches in her running shoes, still catching her breath from the run… and every bit a goddess of war…
Asuka gave her best, and it turned out her best was enough.
