Alright everyone. I'm really sorry this took so long to get out. There's three reasons this chapter took forever.
First of all, it was simply a long chapter. It was a serious monster to write. It had 44,623 words and took up 102 pages. I've put a lot more 'subchapters' in this one because of how long it is. So, if you guys/gals need to take a break, it should be easy to find a stopping point.
Second of all, my best friend's boyfriend got shot in the face (he's still alive) and I didn't take that very well. Not for the reasons you'd expect, but nonetheless, I didn't take it well.
And third, for anyone who hasn't been reading my updates, my computer crashed and I lost pretty much everything I'd written. So, I had to go and get some file recovery software to pull this chapter out of...wherever the hell it went. Big thank you to EaseUS for their recovery program. I owe them my chapter and probably what remains of my sanity as well.
Okay, also, Just thought I'd let everyone know that...this story is going to be really fucked up in the later chapters. Like, some seriously weird shit is going to happen. For some reason, I had a ton of fucked up ideas pop up in my head while writing this chapter, and I just feel like those ideas are definitely going to constitute this fic as an M rated piece of literature...probably beyond that actually if I'm being honest.
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Now, onto review responses since I didn't do any on chapter five.
Power Taco: First of all, I'll warn you, you're probably not going to like Asuka at first in this fic. She is going to get sweeter later on, but she's going to be very abrasive before then. Also, I'm sorry for the rapid scene transition. I took your review to heart and tried to address that in chapter six, and If I can get time, I'll try to fix it in the earlier chapters as well.
As for your concern about Misato being added to the romance, I...intend to do it...but I won't sacrifice the quality. In other words, I won't do it unless I know I can make it work well. I'm honestly having some trouble finding out how I want to make her fit in, which is why I've refrained from officially adding her to the pairing label as of yet. But, if it happens, I will promise you it won't be shoe-horned in. I will try my best to make sure that her inclusion is of quality standing.
Also, I totally don't mind the long review. I love reading everyone's thoughts. So, please, keep it coming. I'm happy you look forward to the rest of my fic. This chapter is gonna be pretty Asuka intensive, but I hope you enjoy it.
Satanic Park of Madness: Yeah, like I said to Power Taco, Misato is gonna be tricky to add in and Asuka is going to be the biggest wall to that. It will be quite an exercise for me to get it to work, but I'm up for the challenge. I'm very happy you're enjoying Rei. That puts me at ease. She's really tough for me to write. She doesn't show up too much in this chapter. And, she's not going to show up a whole lot in the next either. But, the one after that is going to have a very central focus on her.
the renegade soldier: As I told Power Taco and Satanic Park of Madness, I will do what I can as long as it holds up to a certain quality. I do have a couple...abstract chapters planned out, but I don't want to give anything away right now. So, I'm sorry I can't exactly confirm anything quite yet just because I'm not sure I'll be able to write it correctly and what I do have planned out is sorta secret right now.
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NOTE: I'm still learning German, so my German dialogue may not be perfect. If any German speakers want to help me fix up any mistakes I may have made, feel free to PM me.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting over a month for. I present to you, chapter six!
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Text Guide
Standard Wording
"Spoken Dialogue/Speech"
'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'
(Flashbacks)
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[Slash denotes scene transition for the moment; this may be changed in the future so as to become more visible.]
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Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Neon Genesis Evangelion, End Of Evangelion, or the Rebuilds of Evangelion. I do not own Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Sohryu, or any of the other characters/ideas from the Evangelion intellectual property collective. All licenses remain with the proper license holders. If asked to, I will formally remove this story from the hosting website.
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*Cruel Angel's Thesis and Eva intro starts playing*
Neon Genesis Evangelion
A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love
Chapter 06
Tochter aus Elysium
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"Goodnight, Rei."
The innocent looking blue haired girl smiled gently back at Shinji as she lay down on the mattress. He returned a smile to the girl as she rested on her side, propped on her elbow.
"To you as well."
The boy slid the door shut and Rei continued to stare at where he had been moments before, her eyes wide in thought. She had told Shinji she was tired, and she was, but she had no intent of going to sleep just yet. She simply wanted a quiet place to think. So many conflicting emotions were surging through her little head, and she didn't have a mind to talk right now.
"I thanked him. I expressed gratitude. I've never done that before. …Not even for him."
She moved her arm out from under her where she had been leaning on it and she let herself fall onto the mattress. She simply stared at the ceiling, much like Shinji usually did.
'He aided me…they both aided me. I…do not understand.'
She absently rubbed her hands across the mattress beneath her. It was much more comfortable than her own. And there wasn't any blood on the sheets like there were on hers. It smelled more pleasant too. In fact, the entire futon was quite enjoyable. It was barely enough to distract her from her thoughts. As she started feeling the soft covers, she felt a sort of innocent joy rising in her chest, similar to how she sometimes felt when she was in her shower with the water slipping over her body. As she rubbed her hands back and forth over the mattress, she felt a strange numbing and simultaneously tingling sensation just under the surface of her fingertips.
She pulled her hand out from under the covers, and examined it, studying it; trying to understand how she could feel numb while also feeling the arising soft prickle in her fingers. It was quite thrilling to her, as where many things that Rei had never experienced before. She was always fascinated by when she encountered something she didn't know, though she had trouble portraying it. This process of thought brought her back to her original quandary however. Numbing and Feeling. Dominant and Submissive. Pilot Ikari and Commander Ikari.
The girl looked out the window of Shinji's room, her red eyes gazing at the moon one last time, "Shinji…Ikari… Commander Ikari… I do not understand."
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-To Feel Unto Fury-
/
"Misato…you're drunk."
"Watchu talkin' 'bout?"
Shinji had been on the couch with Misato for almost forty minutes now. He'd put Rei to bed and was now waiting for Misato to be done for the night so that he could finally go to bed on the couch her drunk self was currently occupying. He usually wasn't terribly bothered by Misato's drunkenness, but tonight was a bit of an exception considering he was still tired from fighting the angel and that his ability to sleep was negatively influenced by the drunken purple haired woman's presence.
"What do you mean what am I talking about? How many beers have you had tonight? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, dunno, probly sev'n urh so, may'b more. B't relax, I'm totly not drunk- guh- I'm only a lil' b'zzed," the intoxicated woman slurred as she leaned forward and almost toppled off the couch.
"Only a little buzzed, huh? Well, in that case, I'm sure you can make it to your room so that I can sleep."
She frowned at that and put on a thoughtful face before answering with, "A lil'."
"A little? Misato, do you even know what you're saying anymore?"
"Ov cores I does! Watsh, I'll make it tuh muh room wit'out no h'lp."
"Not exactly what I asked, but I appreciate your answer nonetheless."
Misato tried getting up but only fell flat on the floor and remained silent. Shinji sighed and stood so that he could help the woman up.
"Come on, Misato. Let's get you to bed."
He grabbed the woman under her arms and tried hauling her up. But, Shinji was a relatively frail boy for his age and he couldn't do much if the older woman couldn't put in some effort.
"M-Misato," the boy stammered as he gave up trying to lift her, "Come on. Did you pass out?"
"I-I'mb tryin' okay," she said as she only just managed to get to her knees.
Shinji looked at the pitiful drunk woman expectantly as her tongue lolled out of her mouth and her eyes were left unfocused as she looked at the ceiling in a daze. She braced herself on the couch and tried to get up again, nearly falling over in the process, but Shinji caught her by the arms once again and pulled her back forward. However, the woman was not bound to stay upright for long and she started falling forward into Shinji.
Her breasts pushed into Shinji's face as they both fell onto the couch, Misato lying on top of Shinji.
"M-Misato," The boy shouted into her cleavage with a blush on his face, "y-you need to go to bed!"
"Can't I jus stay here?" he said as she wrapped her arms around him.
"N-no, Misato! I need to sleep."
She frowned a little and began to get off him. Shinji had severe blush on his cheeks as Misato stumbled off the couch and swayed where she attempted to stand.
"Yur goin' tuh help me, right?"
Shinji didn't say a word, but he stood up once again to support the woman as she made her way back to the room.
'Only seven beer's, huh?' the boy thought with a slight look of discontent on his face, 'I'll believe that when my father tells me he appreciates me.'
Misato struggled to get to her room, even with Shinji holding her up. She'd definitely gone overboard with the alcohol tonight. She hadn't let on to it, but she had felt deeply guilty all evening, her sexual actions against Shinji still bothering her greatly combined with the fact that shortly after she'd raped him, she'd put him through an unimaginable degree of pain waging battle against the fifth angel. She wanted to cry so badly, and she didn't know how she managed to hold all her emotions back with the guilt tearing her apart from the inside out.
Shinji pulled open the door to Misato's room.
She mumbled a very quiet, "Thank you."
He glanced at her with a small smile on her face before he urged to her to continue walking with his own footsteps as she leaned over him. He tugged the woman along with him and brought her over to her bed. Shinji pulled back the covers and she slumped onto the bed lazily before curling up into a fetal position. Misato laid very still as Shinji pulled the covers back over her to tuck her in.
"Goodnight, Misato," the boy said as he walked out of her room and shut the door.
Only after she was sure he'd left her vicinity did she dare to speak.
"Shinji. Oh, Shinji."
/
"Kaji, you're finally back!" an ecstatic Asuka shouted as the man she was referring to entered the cozy little home they shared.
"That I am, Asuka," he said in a much more calm voice in response to the redhead's obvious observation, "Sorry for being so late. They kept me a little longer than expected; a bunch of transfer paperwork that had to be sorted through and all before going to Japan. Anyways, you're all packed now, right?"
"Yes, Sir, Kaji, Sir," Asuka said as she playfully posed a mock salute to her guardian.
"You seem like you're in a good mood. Has Japan really gotten you so excited?" The unshaven man said as he stepped into his room to begin packing his own belongings.
"Why, of course it has! Why wouldn't it? They've already had so many angels, and over here in Germany, we haven't had a single one yet. It's so boring here…with the exception of you of course!" Asuka finished and crept up behind Kaji as he was picking out clothes from his closet before tossing them into a suitcase.
'He's so hot! God, I just want to wrap my arms around him.'
She continued staring at his back as he tossed a few more shirts into his suitcase without folding them.
"Hey, Kaji?"
"Hmm?"
"Why aren't you folding your clothes? They aren't gonna fit if you just drop them in there like that."
"Not enough time. I'm already home late, and I'd like to get a few hours of sleep before we have to wake up tomorrow."
"Well, why don't you let me fold them?"
"It's not your responsibility I'm afraid," he sighed.
"I don't mind."
Kaji remained silent as he threw a few pairs of pants into the case, not paying the redhead any more attention for the moment.
"Mmmm," Asuka moaned, a little dismayed, "Well, if you need me, I'll be in the living room."
'Damn it,' she scowled at the floor in frustration as she walked over to and sat down in her favorite reclining chair, 'I wish he'd pay more attention to me. I wasn't even flirting that time. Why does he always push me away? Why is it so easy for him to resist me?'
She leaned back in the chair, fully reclined, and shut her eyes in an attempt to relax. It was hard for her though. All she wanted was for Kaji to pay attention to and acknowledge her, but at every turn, he always shut her down with his lack of interest, by changing the subject, slipping away while she was distracted, or sometimes just straight up convenience through happenstance. He was a sly fellow alright, and everything always seemed to go his way, even when he clearly had no control over the situation.
She couldn't give up though. Perhaps it was his charismatic smile, or his toned body, or maybe it was even just the hair on his chin that Asuka thought was so manly, but something about him kept her running after him; repeatedly encouraging her to once again attempt to win the man's heart.
'No one can withstand my femininity forever, though,' Asuka thought as a smirk crept onto her face, 'I'm young, I'm hot, and I'm strong. Who could possibly resist me? Besides, Kaji is probably just testing me; He has to make sure I'm dedicated to him. He'll see that I am eventually. I've already won.'
Asuka was distracted from her musings though.
"Asuka, I'm going to bed now…"
She quietly stared back at the man, giving him an absent nod from across the room, still somewhat lost inside herself.
"You should probably try to get some sleep also. Tomorrow is a big day for you. Goodnight, Asuka."
The door to Kaji's room slowly creaked shut and Asuka was left alone once again.
"Well, now what am I supposed to do for the rest of the night? I don't want to sleep. I'm too hyped! How could anyone sleep at a time like this?" she pouted.
She stretched and then leapt up from her seat.
"Hmm, I know!" she glanced into the kitchen towards the refrigerator and made her way to it with a bounce in her step.
"Where's the beer?" she asked no one in particular as she yanked open the door of the fridge and started shuffling around a few jars.
"Ah, there you are," she said as she pulled out a cool amber bottle.
"I think four should do for tonight. I'm only fourteen after all."
She pulled out another bottle and carried them back to her chair. She turned on the television and twisted off the burning cold cap from the top of the first bottle. On the television was a movie Asuka had seen many times before; Rammbock: Berlin Undead. It wasn't particularly a favorite of hers, but it was one of the more entertaining movies that had been repeatedly aired on the limited channels she received.
She quickly finished her first beer and began downing the second. Not quite chugging, but definitely not sipping either, her intent more to get drunk than to enjoy tasting the bubbling fluid. After having ingested the contents of the second bottle, she jovially hopped back to the fridge to grab another two bottles before getting comfy on her cushioned reclining chair again.
She continued to sit and watch the movie while drinking her third bottle's worth, not really paying much attention to what was on the screen however. Her mind was in other places.
'I wonder when Kaji will start noticing me again. He's seemed a little off ever since NERV started talking about sending us to Japan. Maybe he's just busy. Yeah, that's probably it. He did get home after dark tonight. Poor Kaji, he should relax some. Maybe he'd let me show him a good time. It's not like I'm a kid anymore. I have my monthly cycle. I could totally have sex him…if he'd ever just show a little more interest.'
She sighed as she opened the fourth bottle.
'Maybe I could at least go fold his clothes for him. It might make his life a little easier and he might notice me and be surprised when we get to Japan to find everything all neat n' tidy. Yeah, that's a great idea!'
She got up, starting to feel the effects of the alcohol a little more. She felt her heart fluttering in her chest. Her hands where trembling with excitement. She was about to experience so many new things, and this would just be the beginning; she knew it. If she could get Kaji to notice her in Japan, away from all the girls he usually hung out with-
'Hilde. Ugh, what does he see in her? She's such a blatant Schwachkopf und her tits are way too saggy for someone her age.'
-she might be able to jumpstart her romance with him
She carefully opened the door to Kaji's room, and snuck in, leaving the door ajar so that a small amount of light would shine in; just enough for her to see what she was doing. She sat down in front of her guardian's suit case and set her half empty bottle of beer next to her. She tugged at the zipper as quietly as she could, trying to make sure she didn't wake the older man. And one by one, took out the shirts and pants and began tryingly folding them with her now slightly drunken hands periodically bringing the bottle back up to her lips.
It was a peaceful quiet that inhabited Kaji's room and the alcohol had helped quell Asuka's usually sharp edge as she listened to the man behind her breathe. It was quite relaxing for her. Her life wasn't often this tranquil, and for a moment, she thought she might be content living the life of an ordinary housewife. But, her Eva was her pride and joy. It was all she knew in life and she'd worked too hard to give it up. So, she presumed that she'd just have to enjoy this calm while it lasted.
She'd just finished folding the last shirt, a black button up with white buttons, and she held her breath as she placed it back into the suitcase and strained as she tried to muffle the sound of the zipper. She got up and swayed in place as she gained her bearings and turned around to face the subject of her infatuation. She stumbled over towards his sleeping form.
"Gute Nacht, Kaji, my love."
She dropped to her knees next to his bed, and slowly, she leaned closer to him so that she could give him a quick peck on his lips. However, fate had something else in mind for the fiery-hearted redhead.
"Thanks for folding the clothes, Asuka," Kaji suddenly spoke.
The redhead's eyes shot wide open as she stared at the man who hadn't bothered to open his own. She started to think maybe she was hearing things when she didn't see his mouth moving to speak anymore, but he soon enough, she was proven to not be hallucinating.
"But, if that's my beer I'm smelling on your breath, you're going to be in serious trouble," he said, still not opening his eyes, "So, you'd better get to your room and go to bed before I decide to not let this slide."
Asuka jumped to her feet, almost falling over now that the alcohol had started to grip her, and scurried to her room, her face red from the beer and embarrassed shock, giggling all the while.
/
As usual, Misato had gotten home late from NERV. Entering her apartment, she saw Shinji listening to his SDAT on the couch, no doubt playing some classical piece through his ear buds. The purple haired Captain carried her groceries, which consisted mostly of beer, to the fridge and then grabbed a couple cold cans of Yebisu and headed to the couch.
It had been about a week since Shinji had brought Rei over for dinner. She wasn't talking to him very much more than usual, but he still felt like he was making progress in their friendship. He had the courage to talk to her occasionally in school. This made a couple of his female classmates jealous considering that they had wanted to date the heroic Eva pilot, but none of them had voiced their concerns to him as of yet. For the most part, no one really talked to him at school, even the few girls who wanted to court him. They'd probably expected him to make the first move, and Shinji would not do that under most circumstances.
Still, knowing he could talk to Rei made the school day a little easier for him. And today, he'd asked Rei if she'd want to come over to his place again at some point, to which she answered with her usual, "If that is what you prefer."
Upon noticing the woman sit down next to him, Shinji greeted her.
"Oh, hey, Misato. You're home early," the boy said in a teasing tone.
"Oh, haha, very funny. For your information, I'm still late...just not as late as usual, that's all," she opened a can of beer, took a sip, and then leaned back into the couch, "No need to rub it in though," Misato sighed.
"I cooked some food earlier. It's in the fridge if you want it."
Misato swallowed another mouthful of beer, "Mmm, that's nice of you, but I'm pretty tired. I'll probably just end up passing out and you'll have to romantically carry me to my bed," she said, taking her turn to tease him.
Shinji eyed the woman with a look that said, "You better not."
Misato reached for the television remote and powered on the TV. Flipping through a few channels, she didn't really find anything she liked.
'I really do need to get a DVD player,' the woman thought depressingly to herself before giving up on finding anything good and setting the remote down on the table in front of the living room couch.
"Hey, Misato," the boy said as she drunk her Yebisu peacefully, "can Rei come over tomorrow?"
"Oh, well, you see, tomorrow, you're meeting our new pilot!"
"New…Pilot?"
/
Far, far away from Misato's apartment, Asuka and Kaji were laying under the stars aboard the Over The Rainbow. They'd gone outside to look at the stars every night they'd been onboard the ship, which had amounted to about a week now. The nights had been peaceful for the most part, but a couple times, Asuka had acted up or made a move on Kaji, which would usually end up ruining the rest of the night for the girl after he inevitably turned her down.
For now though, the night was young and remained tranquil. But none could say how long that would last.
"Hmm, I guess we'll be in Japan by this time tomorrow," Asuka said as she watched a shooting star fall, "Misato said she'd pick me up by lunchtime," She looked over towards the older man, hoping for some kind of response. Getting none, she tried to continue the conversation, "Oh, Misato was my guardian before you, Kaji. I don't like her much though. It's the way she lives."
Kaji remained very silent. He knew what Asuka was talking about when she mentioned Misato's lifestyle, but that was something Kaji could look past. He still loved that woman, even eight years later after she inadvertently tore his heart out of his chest and crushed it on the cold street in front of him.
"So, I guess this will be goodbye for a while. So boring. Mmmmmm," Asuka whined, once again attempting to get the recently distant man to talk to her.
"I'm sure you'll make lots of new boyfriends once you get to Japan, Asuka," Kaji sighed, "And let's not forget that the third child is a boy too."
Asuka yawns a cute little yawn, happy she finally got something out of the man. He hadn't spoken to her at all that night.
"I'm not interested in children," Asuka said snidely.
She rolled over a couple times and climbed onto Kaji's chest, burying her face into his warm body, "You're the only one I love, Kaji."
"Well that's quite an honor…" Kaji sighed again, his mind as far away as the stars he was looking at.
"I mean it, Kaji! If it's with you, all that adult stuff is totally okay; cuddling, kissing, and what's after that even!"
Kaji didn't make eye contact with her, still watching the heavens when he spoke, "Asuka…you're still a child. That stuff can wait until you've grown up a little."
"Huh?! But why!?"
Asuka's sight began to blur as tears threatened to fall from her delicate eyes. She curled her fingers into the collar of her button up blouse and tore it open, ripping the buttons off the garment.
"Look at me!" Asuka pleaded.
She straddled the unshaven man, throwing her blouse off and then reached up once again to unclasp her bra, letting it fall onto Kaji's chest.
"Can't you see that I'm already grown enough? I AM A GROWN UP! JUST LOOK AT ME, KAJI. PLEASE, LOOK AT ME! WHY WON'T YOU PAY ATTENTION TO ME?"
"Asuka! That's enough! Get off of me!"
The girl quickly got off of him and stood up. Struggling not to cry, she slipped her pants off followed by her panties right after.
"Asuka, stop right now!"
"Please," the broken-hearted girl whimpered.
"Asuka, you know I can't," he said, standing up himself, not keen on relaxing anymore.
"Please," she quietly cried again, unable to look up from the ship's tarmac.
"Asuka…"
"Why am I not good enough?" She asked as she cupped her breasts, her voice wavering.
"Asuka, you're perfect."
"THEN, PLEASE. IF THAT'S TRUE, PLEASE TAKE ME! TAKE MY VIRGINITY! I WANT IT TO BE YOU! SO, PLEASE, JUST DO IT! PLEASE HAVE SEX WITH ME!"
Kaji, completely astounded at her outburst, didn't know what to say and remained silent.
The saddened girl dropped to her knees in front of Kaji and frantically grabbed at his belt buckle, trying to loosen it.
"Please. Please, Kaji. Please, fuck me!" She cried hysterically.
The man firmly grabbed at her hands, restraining the desperate girl.
"Asuka,-"
She stopped struggling and looked up to meet Kaji's eyes.
"-We can't."
She let her head hang and looked to the ground, her tears trying to well up more than ever now. Kaji let go of her hands seeing she'd given up. The redhead slumped over and fell onto the deck of the ship, completely limp and unresponsive.
"Please get up, Asuka."
The girl remained silent and unmoving.
"I can't date you if you're like this, Asuka. Please, get up so we can get your clothes back on."
She stirred, her eyes seemingly lost in another world as she slowly got up and started putting her clothing back on. She clothed herself slowly and in a zombie-like manner, as though she were on the verge of becoming numb. After having put her clothes back on, she turned and faced her guardian, staring at him blankly. The unshaven man, seeing her buttonless blouse still exposing her breasts and midriff, removed his shirt and slipped it over her.
"There," he said as he put his hand on her shoulder trying to comfort her.
Asuka simply nodded in response.
Worried for his ward, he gently brought her into an embrace; the silence of the night over the cold dark ocean shrouding them in relative peace.
/
-Over The Rainbow-
/
The following day, Misato had excused Shinji, Rei, Toji, and Kensuke from school so that they could accompany her in meeting Japan's new pilot. She had originally only intended to bring Shinji with her, but when she walked into the classroom to inform the teacher and saw the pleading face of Kensuke, with Toji following suite realizing he'd have a chance to get out of class, Misato decided to be merciful to the two boys and brought them along considering they were pretty much Shinji's only friends.
"It'll be like a field trip, only it's official government business," Misato had said to the teacher as an excuse.
She'd glanced at Rei to see if she wanted to come, but the girl payed no mind, staring out the window next to her desk indefinitely. She knew Shinji wanted her to come along however, and so she ordered the blue haired girl to tag along, figuring that if all she was going to do was stare out the window, she might as well not even be in school.
Currently, Misato and the kids had just boarded their helicopter, and were just about to leave Tokyo-3 to rendezvous with the Over The Rainbow.
"Wow! A MiG 55-D!" Kensuke shouted in utter amazement, "I never thought I'd get to fly in one of these hot mommas! Man, it's great to have an Eva pilot as a buddy, huh Shinji?" Kensuke said excitedly, smiling at Shinji from the other side of the helicopter.
Shinji looked over at Kensuke, giving him a look that said, "Are you crazy?"
At that moment, Misato glanced back from the co-pilot seat, and happily started conversing with the children.
"Haha, isn't that right? I thought you kids must've been tired of being all cramped up at school. And this little date is probably gonna to be more informative than being in the classroom anyways."
Upon hearing Misato say date, Toji immediately shot to attention.
"What? A-a date? Are you saying this is actually a date we're having, Miss Misato?"
"Sure is, honey."
"W-wow! And to think, I bought this cap just for today; just for you!" the jock said, repositioning his cap, making sure it was snugly fit to his head, "I'll never take it off. Not ever!"
Shinji was almost visibly disgusted with Toji's attempts to flirt with Misato, 'If only they knew how much of a slob she is. I bet Toji wouldn't be so fond of washing dishes every other night.'
Rei was sitting next to the door of the helicopter, staring out at the ocean below her. Shinji was luckily sitting next to her. He figured he wouldn't have been able to talk to her any other way with the aircraft's engines roaring and the wind blowing all over the place. Even right next to her, it would probably be tough to speak with the nearly silent girl.
He watched the gusts from the helicopter's blades violently sweep her hair all over her face. She still looked stunning despite how messy her hair was. She had a natural or maybe even ethereal beauty to her; like it was impossible for her to look unsatisfactory in any capacity. She seemed as though she were simply beyond reality, even as her hair was blustered and whipped around in the flurry of wind twirling around her stoic doll-like face.
Shinji leaned close to the girl so that he could talk to her.
"What're you looking at, Rei?"
She turned to make eye contact with him, their faces only an inch apart.
"The ocean, Ikari. Was that not obvious?"
"Heheh, well, I guess I meant, why are you always looking off in the distance like that?"
She did her best to stare at the boy, but the furious wind caused her eyes to constantly flutter open and closed.
"Doing so admits me a peaceful state of mind to ponder," she said quietly enough to cause the boy to lean even closer to her.
"OOOOH! SHINJI AND REI ARE KISSING!" Misato shouted, obviously trying to tease them with how close in proximity they were. Toji and Kensuke had a different view however. While Misato could see that they weren't kissing, Shinji's classmates could swear that they were indeed lip-locked.
"Whoa, Ikari," Toji started, "I didn't know you had the hots for Ayanami. I guess it makes sense though since you're both Eva Pilots."
"W-what? N-no! It's not like that! She's just quiet," Shinji said, blushing and trying to glare at Misato, though he didn't come off as very threatening through his defensive demeanor.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Kensuke said sarcastically, teasing the boy further.
"Man, how long you been gettin' it on with Miss Engaging and Congenial?" Toji said, gesturing to Rei.
Rei looked on at the bickering boys in confusion; Shinji blushing and the other two accusing him of keeping secrets from them. Rei had something she wanted to ask however. Though, she knew she'd have to raise her voice to be heard, which she really didn't like doing.
"Excuse me, Suzuhara."
The boys all fell silent at the usually quiet girl's inquiry, Shinji still madly embarrassed.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"I would like to know-" the girl struggled to say over the noise of the helicopter. "-what has the hots means."
"Uuuhhhhh…" the three boys said in unison before Misato decided to answer the question for them, albeit inappropriately.
"It means he wants to fuck you, sweetie."
Shinji froze, mortified by the woman's words.
Rei made her mouth into an o shape, as though she finally understood some puzzle she'd been trying to solve for ages.
"So," she started, looking at Misato quizzically, "if it is like you described to me the other night, Shinji would like to insert his phallus into my vagina and proceed to have multiple orgasms inside of me up to and until his ejaculate seeps from my vulva?"
Shinji just about fainted from embarrassment and the entire helicopter went quiet at Rei's vivid description…or as quiet as it could be with the wind rushing everywhere. Rei simply stared at Misato, awaiting confirmation. Misato didn't know what to say in a situation like this. She wasn't above being flirtatious or even vulgar in public, but having Rei say something like that sort of scared her. What if Rei ever learned of what she had done to Shinji before the fifth angel's attack? Would she speak about it so openly?
Rei began to speak again.
"Captain Katsuragi-"
Misato quickly reached back and put her hand over Rei's mouth
"Eh-heheh, that's enough of that, okay, Rei?" Misato smiled innocently at the boys, "Don't mind her. She doesn't know what she's talking about."
"I…I don't?" the blue haired girl asked clearly and loudly through Misato's cusped hand, not understanding that the woman's gesture dearly begged her to shut up.
The helicopter pilot could barely be heard chuckling.
"O-of course you don't. You're only a little girl after all," still trying to convince every male in the helicopter that she absolutely hadn't corrupted innocent little Rei.
"Then I would like you to explain it to me, Captain Katsuragi. I was not aware I didn't understand. I thought you conveyed your words very clearly. It seems I was mistaken though and did not properly receive your meaning of the word fuck. Would you mind explaining it to me again so that I might better understand?"
A thick and awkward tension fell upon the company of kids and the babe.
"Man, you Eva pilots really are a bunch of weirdos," Toji said, as he sighed and started talking to Kensuke about video games.
For the next hour or so, Kensuke and Toji traded jokes, Shinji and Rei admired the ocean, and Misato waited expectantly in the co-pilot seat of the helicopter. She was excited that she was going to get to work with Asuka. She'd heard many good things about the girl, and her own past experience with the German supported everyone else's claims of the girl's capabilities. Asuka was simply a stunning specimen and astounding Eva pilot if the simulation tests had anything to say about it. And her Evangelion was state of the art at this point in time. Needless to say, Misato's mind attained some much needed peace knowing that Asuka would be on active duty in Japan.
"OH MY GOD!" Kensuke screamed in joy, pointing his camera out of the helicopter, "ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE AIRCRAFT CARRIERS AND FOUR BATTLESHIPS! WHAT A FLEET! And that one in the center; she's gorgeous! That's the pride of the U.N. combined fleet; The Supercarrier Over the Rainbow!"
"It's huge!" Toji wondered in awe.
"Massive…" Shinji said as he leaned over Toji, trying to get a better look.
"It is like Captain Katsuragi's breasts," Rei stated, making a logical but still naïve analogy.
"Oh, why thank you for the compliment, sweetheart," Misato said with a blush as she used her hand to fan away the heat rising in her cheeks.
The three boys looked back at Rei who stared back at them and blinked.
"What has she been teaching you?" Shinji asked in a slightly accusatory tone.
"Many things, Ikari," the girl said with a small smile and a barely visible gleam in her eyes.
"I wonder if she'd teach me!" Kensuke thought aloud.
"Now, now, only one at a time. Rei is my student for now," Misato meowed as the helicopter touched down
Kensuke was the first to jump out of the helicopter once it landed, "Oh my god! This is so cool! Totally awesome! I'm so happy, I wanna cry! Look at all the antennas and radar dishes and guns and launch pads! Aw man, cool look at that.-"
Toji stepped out of the helicopter next, but the intense wind from the still slowing propeller blades flung his hat from his head, and soon he was running in Kensuke's direction, who his hat had haplessly decided to follow.
"Aw, hey, my hat! Someone get my cap! Stop! Stop, damn you!" the boy said as he chased after the headwear the helicopter blades had blown off his head, "Stop! That's my special hat! Stop it, someone! Come on!"
A foot in red sandals presented itself to the jock in his tunnel vision; the hat brushing against and coming to rest on the foot before him.
"Oh, hey, thanks!"
The red shoe was lifted into the air and then forcefully pressed onto the cap, grinding it between the heel of the sandal and the tarmac of the ship.
"Huh? Hey!" Toji growled.
The jock looked up at the hat-stomping perpetrator angrily, but she payed him no mind whatsoever.
"Oh, Hallo, Misato," the girl said in an excessively friendly tone, reaching her arm under her long red hair and flinging the stray locks on her shoulder back behind her head, "Long time, no see. How have you been?"
"Oh, you know; here and there, saving the world every now and then. The usual. Goodness, you've grown some now, haven't you?"
"Uh-huh," the girl said as Toji tried to wrestle his cap out from under the girl's heel, "And I'm not just taller. My figure has filled out as well," Asuka said as she struck a pose to show off her body.
"Well, Shinji, Rei, let me introduce you. This is the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-02 and the Second Child; Asuka Langley Sohryu."
Shinji bowed and Rei stared at the girl as the wind picked up and lifted her yellow dress so that everyone around her could see her white panties.
"Whoa…" Toji mumbled in awe at the cotton undergarments in front of him.
"EEE," the girl shrieked, "WAS-"
Slap!
"-MACHST DU,-"
Slap!
"-PERVERTIERT IDIOT!"
Slap!
Ah yes, Asuka was just as feisty as Misato had remembered. She'd just watched her slap Toji consecutively three times for an accident that was out of his control. And, it seemed she'd put quite a bit of intent into her hits judging by the clear reddening hand prints on Toji's face.
"HEY! WHAT'D YA DO THAT FOR?" Toji shouted back at the girl angrily.
Asuka defiantly placed her hands on her hips, "That's the viewing fee! Quite a bargain, Nicht?"
"It's overpriced," Toji smirked, "But that's alright. HERE'S YOUR CHANGE!" He chided as he slipped his pants off, showing his blue striped boxers off proudly to the world.
"HUUUH?" Asuka cringed in disgust, "SIE VERDAMMTEN IDIOTEN!"
Slap!
"Alle Jungs sind unvernünftig und beknackt! Ugh!"
"Why are all the hot ones always so bitchy?" Toji mumbled to himself as he rubbed his stinging face.
"What was that?" Asuka shot him another glare.
"N-nothing!" Toji said more dismissively than submissively, 'Crazy bitch.'
Kensuke had been filming the whole ordeal; Toji dropping his pants and everything. And as the jock was pulling his gym pants back up and retrieving his cap, Asuka finally noticed the boy and his camera. Kensuke knew he was about to be in a world of pain.
"Y-YOU! YOU WERE FILIMING THAT?" Asuka asked in a shrill tone, obviously mortified.
"W-what? N-n-no! I mean, yes. But, don't worry, I won't show anyone. Erh, uh, I mean, I'll edit it out later!"
"GIMME THAT!" Asuka demanded as she charged the boy.
She grabbed the boy's recording device and tried wrestling it out of his hands.
"M-MY CAMERA!" He cried in terror!
She released one of her hands from the device and slapped poor afraid Kensuke, making him dizzy and causing him to lose his footing as well as his grasp on the camera.
Asuka fumbled with the device in her hands, "How do you get the damn recording thing out of the other recording thing?"
After making no progress, she decided to turn the camera on and delete the video instead of full on crushing the cartridge. Finding the recording of her scandalous wardrobe malfunction, she deleted it curtly.
"Here's your stupid camera back," she dropped the camera on the boy's stomach, "Oh, and…you're not exempt from the viewing fee either," she said before she leaned down and smacked him again, leaving him dazed on the tarmac.
Asuka walked up to Shinji with a disarmingly sweet smile.
"Oh, Nein. And you must be the famous third child, am I right?"
"Y-yes."
"How's your day?" She asked him politely.
Shinji gulped.
"Umm… uh… g-good?"
"Yeah? Well, it's about to get a whole lot worse."
Shinji looked at the ground, accepting his inevitable viewing fee and punishment.
Asuka still smiled at him, "Yeah, you know what I'm about to do," She put her hand under his chin, and lifted his gaze back up to meet her cerulean eyes. They stared at each other, everything but the waves around the ship seemingly silent before the resounding strike of her hand against his face split the air like a thundercrack.
The redhead giggled at the boy who was barely holding back tears from the savage swat, "Heehee, consider that getting off easy."
She removed her hand from his chin and then turned to look at Rei, who almost everyone had forgotten was there with her maintained silence.
"Hmm, what's up with you…and your hair?" the redhead asked her in a slightly brassy manner, "Why's it blue. You dye it or something?"
"I do not believe I am allowed to divulge that information to you, Unit-02 Pilot Sohryu."
A troubled and confused look contorted Asuka's face causing her to raise an eyebrow and cringe.
"Uh…well…do you wanna be friends or something?"
Rei didn't exactly like the way the girl acted. Asuka's personality and her…unrestrained assaulting of the blue haired girl's classmates disturbed Rei's peace and the hostility subconsciously put her on guard. But perhaps a friendship with Asuka could offer something for Rei. She decided she would let this foreign girl perhaps explain her reasoning for wanting a friendship.
"Why?"
"Well, because it would be…" Asuka paused to think about the word she wanted to use, obviously straining to withhold her once again rising temper, "…convenient."
"If I am ordered to, I will," Rei concluded.
"Wow," Asuka said, unsure if to be amused, angry, or weirded out by the otherworldly girl, "Freakazoid…"
/
Arriving on the bridge of the ship, Misato could tell that the Admiral was not very pleased with her presence as she handed him her NERV ID.
"Hmm, NERV. And from your antics on the deck, I was quite sure you were the leader of this Boy Scout troupe."
"H-hey, I'm a girl!" Asuka chirped over Misato's shoulder.
The old Admiral shot the fiery girl a glare, Asuka glaring right back. Asuka was about sick of this guy's attitude. She'd been putting up with him for the last week and she was just about ready to knock his teeth out, Admiral of the fleet or no. She was an Eva pilot. She didn't have to take shit from anyone.
Before the tension got too thick, Misato spoke up.
"Thank you for all of your gracious hospitality, Admiral."
"Oh, no. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to babysit so many more Children."
"I may be the Second Child, but I'm an adult I'll have you know!" Asuka chimed once again.
Misato forced a respectful smile on her face, but she was somewhat insulted. Sure, Asuka, Shinji, and Rei weren't exactly fully matured mentally or physically, but they had a greater responsibility than most adults. Not every kid could undergo the stress of piloting an Eva when even most adults would probably struggle to do such a thing. However, Misato kept her composure for now.
"And thank you for your assistance in the maritime transport of Evangelion Unit-02. Here are the specifications of the emergency power supply and activation permission form should we need to engage the Eva before we reach port in Japan," the woman said as she handed over a few blueprints and a dossier asking for permission to activate the Eva.
The Admiral took the papers, but didn't bother to read them.
"Hmph, you've got to be kidding me. I'd never approve any request to activate that thing so long as it's on board my ship."
"Just think of it as being prepared for an emergency. Evangelions are quite valuable, Sir."
"That goes double since it's my Eva we're talking about!" Asuka interrupted again.
"So valuable that the entire Pacific Fleet has to be pulled along for guard duty?" the Admiral scoffed, "Exactly when did the U.N. recommission us into a bloody cargo service?" the Admiral growled, "Guarding a stupid children's plaything. How demeaning a thing to ask of the Pacific Fleet."
"Hey, That's my Eva you're talking about you little-"
Misato hastily put her hand over Asuka's mouth to prevent her from pronouncing any expletives, marking the second time today she'd had to cover a girl's mouth. Asuka didn't take kindly to Misato's action and began licking her hand in an attempt to gross her out and cause her to release her grip, but Misato had encountered many grosser things in her lifetime and wasn't fazed by Asuka's cannonade of crafty tongue ticklings.
"Please, Sir, The Eva is a very important piece of weaponry. It is the only thing capable of defeating the enemy we could face at any time. So, I'd ask that you please sign the paper and grant permission for emergency activation should it be required."
"Not yet.-"
Misato could certainly understand Asuka's predicament now. The man was stubborn and conceited; like Asuka herself. It was only natural that these two would come to a head.
"-Evangelion Unit-02 and its pilot have been entrusted to us by the Third Branch in Germany. You're not going to waltz in and do as you please, Captain Katsuragi."
"Then, when will you grant us permission?" Misato asked more determined now, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"Once we've unloaded in New Yokosuka," The Admiral said with a smirk on his face, "The ocean is my domain and under my jurisdiction. You will follow my orders here."
"I understand," Misato sighed, "However, I should remind you that, in an emergency, NERV's military authority overrides your own."
"Well," a previously unannounced voice greeted, "you're as confident as always."
Asuka gasped, "KAJI!" and turned to face the exit of the bridge.
All the blood left Misato's face in a split second as she became paralyzed with what could only be called surprised disappointment.
"Mister Kaji," the Admiral started, "I must insist that you stop inviting yourself onto the bridge! Take this reunion elsewhere!"
The purple haired Captain slowly turned her head to where Asuka had bounded over to and a cringing and depressed frown began forming on her features.
"Oh, sorry about that. Alright kids," Kaji said as he winked in Shinji, Rei, and especially Misato's direction, "Looks like the admiral wants us off the bridge. So, how about we go have ourselves a little picnic in the cafeteria?"
'Who is he?' Shinji wondered as Misato woefully nodded and egged him forward.
As the Children filed out of the bridge, Asuka and Kaji in the lead and Misato trailing behind everyone else, the Admiral blurted out to himself, "Bah, I can't believe the fate of the world is on the shoulders of children! How absurd!"
How absurd indeed.
/
"What are you doing here?" Misato accusingly asked her ex-boyfriend.
Misato and her little band of children, along with Kaji, were all crammed into the cramped personnel elevator leading down from the bridge; Asuka standing defiantly next to Kaji, attempting to assert that he was hers and she was his, Toji and Kensuke pressed against the elevator doors trying to avoid physical contact with Asuka for very good reason, and Shinji and Rei both squeezed into Misato's breasts. Shinji felt quite awkward, a worried look on his face as Rei stood in front of him, her butt nudging into his groin while she calmly looked straight ahead with Misato's boob melding into her cheek, completely unfazed by the contact her body made with Shinji and Misato.
"I'm on a business trip of sorts," Kaji smiled at Misato bashfully.
"Talk about being careless," Misato mumbled with audible distaste, "I should have anticipated something like this."
"HEY, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE TOUCHING!" Asuka shouted at Toji, making a fist, ready to punch him.
"HEY, I'M SORRY, ALRIGHT? IT'S TIGHT IN HERE!"
Shinji shifted even closer into Misato's cleavage trying to edge away from Asuka. He certainly didn't want to be hit again, and definitely not by her.
"Oh, yeah?" Asuka accused, "Then why weren't you touching me earlier if it's such a tight squeeze?"
"Damn it, it's not like I'm trying to touch you!"
"You liar," Asuka growled, "I'm nigh irresistible. I know how boys are; sneaky creepy perverts who'd rape a girl even at the most inopportune moment."
"What?! You're insane, you crazy bitch. Who'd want to bang you?"
Kensuke, Shinji, and even Misato were backing away from the quarreling kids while Kaji eyed them suspiciously and Rei simply stared at the elevator doors, patiently waiting for them to open.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY, YOU DUMB JOCK?" Asuka raged.
Now, even Kaji was casually trying to edge his way out of Asuka's proximity.
"I said you're ugly and you're a bitch!" Toji said as he crossed his arms defiantly.
Asuka saw her opening and she plunged her fist forward, trying as hard as she could to crush the boy's balls with her knuckles.
"MMMmmm-gggrrrhhhhhuh," Toji groaned as he slowly fell to his knees and then to the ground.
"Hmph," Asuka huffed as she clapped her hands together as though she were dusting them off, "That'll teach you to molest girls."
"We should be afraid; very, very afraid," Kensuke whimpered as he hid behind Misato.
"T-those are quite the skills you got there, Asuka," Misato said with a forced and worried smile on her face, trying to appease the girl. She remembered from her past experience with her that escalating things with Asuka was usually a very bad thing to do and that if you wanted to avoid confrontation with her, it was best to just complement her or tell her she was right, "H-have you been training to be a ninja as a side job or something?"
"More like a nut cracker if you ask me," Toji said in agony from the floor of the elevator, "or a pain in the ass…or a total bitch."
"Hey!" Asuka shouted, "You better shut the fuck up!" she said as she kicked the boy in his ribs, "I'm an Eva pilot. I don't have to take that from you! You'd better be grateful that I'm here to save your dumb ass when the next angel shows up!"
Rei finally decided to redirect her staring towards Asuka. She didn't glare or beam; she didn't frown or smile at the blue eyed girl. She only watched, her ruby eyes clashing with Asuka's cobalt.
"What?!" Asuka demanded an answer from the stoic girl, "D'you wanna fight!?"
Rei remained ever silent.
At that moment, Kaji decided to intervene to hopefully avoid any further unnecessary punishment.
"Uh, heheh, hey Asuka, how about we just forget about this and just focus on getting lunch, alright?"
Asuka huffed, crossing her arms over her perky breasts and closing her eyes while tilting her head up, "Fine, hmph."
The elevator door opened and she marched out, making sure to stomp on Toji's fingers as he tried to get up. Misato released a tense breath she'd been holding and prompted Shinji and Rei to exit along with her, followed by Kensuke.
"Wait…wait for me," Toji groaned as he crawled out of the elevator.
Kaji leaned over and helped Toji up.
"Heh, sorry about that, kid. As far as I can tell, she's permanently menstruating. It's better to not get on her bad side."
Asuka lead the band of kids to the mess hall. It was only a short walk from the elevator and upon arriving; she marched over to the cafeteria line and got some very watered down chili before stomping over to a seemingly random table and taking her seat. Toji and Kensuke got the same meal as Asuka but where very careful to not choose the same side of the table. Shinji and Rei made their way to the table after getting a few cups of miso soup, Shinji sitting next to Toji and Rei next to Shinji. Finally, Kaji and Misato arrived at the table, obviously taking care to remain on opposite sides with Kaji taking his seat next to Asuka and Misato sitting directly across from him, next to Rei. Kaji had a bowl of the subpar chili while Misato was surprisingly eating something healthy for once, a wilted salad with a dash of fire oil.
They ate in relative silence, Asuka's assertive presence making it hard for anyone to initiate a conversation, fearing they'd accidentally anger the girl. Eventually though, Kaji's wile and building curiosity drove him to at least try to speak with Misato on more friendly terms.
"So, you have a boyfriend right now?"
The Captain averted her gaze away from the table.
"Wouldn't you like to know?"
"I'm hurt," Kaji said mockingly.
The unshaven man prodded the watery substance in his bowl before swallowing a spoonful and looking at Shinji to continue his conversation with him.
"So, I understand that you're living with Katsuragi."
"Um, yes, that's right," Shinji politely answered.
"Tell me something. Is she still so…wild in bed?" Kaji asked with the slightest smirk on his face.
"WHAT?" the entire table shouted in unison with the exception of Rei, who mostly looked confused at all of the sudden noise.
"No, yes, I mean I-I wouldn't know!" Shinji said quietly as he blushed.
"WHA-WHAT EXACTLY ARE YOU IMPLYING BY THAT?" Misato yelled at her ex-boyfriend as she leaned over the table angrily, fuming into his smug face.
"Hmm…no, she hasn't changed at all, has she, Shinji?"
"I-I'm not sure what you mean, Sir," Shinji squeaked, "Um…how did you know what my name was?" Shinji asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Oh, everyone knows your name. You're pretty famous in our business. You piloted an Eva without any training on your first sortie. That's pretty noteworthy by anyone's standards."
"O-oh, that? I was just lucky. It kinda…it sorta piloted itself. I actually blacked out."
"Well, it seems luck is a part of your destiny; luck is your talent."
Misato was hysterically clutching her head in her hands as she looked down at the table, unable to eat her salad, "It's a bad dream. I-it's a nightmare!"
Toji had just finished the last of his chili and looking around, he noticed Asuka was nowhere to be seen. Her bowl of chili was still at the table though. So, surely she hadn't gone for seconds.
"Hey, where'd Miss Bitchy go? Does anyone mind if I have her food?"
"Hmm," Kaji looked around the cafeteria and didn't see her, "Ah…oh well, I should probably go find her before she brutalizes one of the crew members. I guess I'll see you guys later. Oh, here kid, you can have mine too," Kaji slid his and Asuka's bowls over to Toji who immediately started engulfing it.
Rei innocently looked over to Misato somewhat expectantly.
"Captain Katsuragi?"
"Y-yes, Rei?" Misato asked, still trying to overcome her shock, embarrassment, and disappointment.
"What does…wild in bed mean?"
/
("Tell me something. Is she still so… wild in bed?")
After hearing that, Asuka had snuck away from the table in the ensuing chaos. She was in total shock that the man she loved had fucked her past guardian. This whole time, all these past years, she'd thought Kaji didn't know Misato very well, and now she finds out that they have history. It was too much for her keep contained.
'Kaji had sex with Misato? Kaji fucked Misato?'
Asuka didn't know what she was feeling right now. Betrayal? Jealously? Disgust? Whatever it was, she hated it.
'My guardian…fucked my other guardian. Is that why he's been so quiet? Is that bitch, Misato, the reason he hasn't been paying attention to me?'
Asuka wanted to cry. Granted, she'd promised herself to never cry again after her mother died, and as of yet, she never had, but there were times she came close to it.
She aimlessly wandered about the halls of the ship. She had no idea where she was or where she was going; she didn't care.
'How could things get any worse? How could this happen?'
She stopped and glared at the wall of the hallway.
"VERDAMMNT!"
She smashed her fist into the metal wall as hard as she could; and then again, and again. She didn't stop, she couldn't.
A couple of the crew heard the dull metallic thudding sounds and had come to investigate only to find the vulcan redhead erupting, pummeling the wall repeatedly until her knuckles were bleeding like magma spewing forth from the side of a burning volcano.
She noticed the few men and women watching her and growled at them like a mad feral animal. They promptly dispersed and left the girl to her own devices.
Her hand twitched from the pain and was tickled from the dripping blood. She held her hand up and looked at the blood dripping through her fingers. It was strangely calming to her. It was like her anger was bleeding out of her along with the crimson liquid. She absently stared at her hand, her mouth slightly agape, and flicked her wrist, slinging the blood across the wall and floor before letting her arm drop back to her side and continuing to wander across the ship.
Asuka continued along, not paying attention to the slightly concerned looks of the crew as she trailed blood droplets on the floor behind her.
Eventually, she made it to a comfortable place to stop to think. On the deck of the ship, she saw a ladder leading downwards to a small platform below. It seemed secluded enough and it provided a nice view of the ocean. She climbed down, being careful not to lose her grip with her slippery and bloody palm grasping the metal bars of the ladder.
Seagulls where flying overhead. She knew they couldn't be too far from land by now.
Asuka leaned against the railing surrounding the platform, letting her bleeding knuckles hang over the frothy sea foam behind the ship. She watched her crimson blood drip into the polluted vermillion ocean below.
'Blood smells like LCL. I smell like LCL when I get out of my entry plug. The ocean smells like LCL. I love the smell of LCL. If only everything smelled like LCL,' the girl smiled a little at the thought, "Except for cheesecake. It would suck if cheesecake smelled like LCL," she chuckled a little at her comment.
"So this is where you went," a familiar voice said.
Asuka looked up and saw Kaji standing at the top of the ladder.
"How did you find me?" Asuka mumbled.
"It's not hard to find someone like you, Asuka. Especially when you're leaving a river of blood in your wake."
Asuka put a depressed smirk on her face and huffed. Kaji climbed down the ladder, careful not to touch the bloody handprints on his way down.
"You know, you should probably get that looked at," Kaji said, nodding to Asuka's still bleeding hand.
"I don't want to…" she said numbly
Kaji frowned a little, sure that she was upset, but not quite knowing why. He decided to try to take a chance talking to her. Maybe, that would cheer her up some.
"So, what do you think about Shinji Ikari?"
"Oh, the great third child?" she asked sarcastically, "He's booooring"
"Still yet, he hit a forty percent sync ratio his first sortie without any prior combat training."
"MEIN GOTT!" Asuka shrieked, "Was hast du gesagt?"
/
"Now open your mouth wide for me, Rei. And make sure to stick your tongue out too, we've get to fit this in there," Misato said to the cute little blue haired pilot.
Rei did as she was told and opened her mouth as wide as she could.
"That's a good girl, Rei. You have a nice tight little mouth."
Misato speared quite a large helping of salad with her fork and stuck it into the girl's mouth.
Misato had been having too much fun for her own good when it came to feeding Rei. Misato thought she was just the cutest thing ever and she was freaking out over Rei's endearing personality. She just about squealed in joy from the cuteness of watching the little blue haired girl chomp down on the leafy food she was feeding her.
'I wonder if this is what it's like to be a mother. This makes me so happy. I really wish I'd had my own kids now. But, this will do I guess. I wonder if I could get Rei to move in with me,' Misato thought as she watched Rei chew her bite of salad meticulously.
Misato lunged forward and hugged the girl. Rei looked slightly confused by the action, but kept chewing.
"Ooh, Rei, you are literally the cutest thing ever!"
Rei swallowed her food and replied with, "You have told me."
"How do you not have a boyfriend?"
"I do not know."
"Yeah, well, I think you and Shinji should date."
Shinji choked on his miso soup and Rei gave Misato a curious look.
"What is… date, Captain Katsuragi?"
"Dating is what happens when you love someone a whole lot. You do lots of special things with them. You cuddle with them, you kiss them, you...do other things with them."
"Captain Katsuragi."
"Yes, Rei?"
"What is love?"
Misato looked stumped for a second.
"Love is when… uh… you see, love is when… love is when you care for someone enough to do anything for them. You'd risk your life for them. It's when you can't live without them. But, it's more than that too. But, it's like…really hard to explain. You'll know when you feel it. I promise."
"I see," Rei blinked, "Thank you, Captain Katsuragi."
"Anyways," Misato said, "If you kids are all done chowing down, we can head out now."
Toji stretched, "Yeah, I think I'm good to go."
Kensuke hopped up out of his seat, still filming everyone, just like he'd done the entire meal.
Shinji tried to act normal as he stood up, but with Misato having suggested that he and Rei date, it was quite a task.
Rei and Misato both got up and with that, the Captain lead the kids out of the mess hall.
'Love?' Rei pondered as the group moved onwards, 'Love is caring for someone sufficiently enough that you are motivated to do anything for them. Does that mean I love Commander Ikari? The Commander created me. He raised me. My life belongs to him. Do I love him?'
The girl looked to the floor in confusion.
'Yes. I must love him. It is the only logical explanation. I am willing to do anything to fulfill his desires, I have risked my life for him, and I don't believe I can live without the Commander. He is the one who gave Doctor Akagi the order to provide me with the Medication that eased my pain and helped my recovery after my activation test. Therefore, I must love him and he must love me.'
("-But, it's more than that too.")
'More than that?'
Rei was distracted from her analysis though when a loud female voice called out.
"Hey, Third Child!-"
Misato and the kids all turned to face the disturbance. Looking ahead of them, everyone saw Asuka standing in the middle of the hallway with her hands on her hips.
"-You're coming with me!"
"W-why?" Shinji asked, somewhat afraid of being alone with the aggressive girl?
"Because I said so, you idiot."
Asuka marched up to him, grabbed him by the arm, and yanked him along with her as she ran off.
Shinji looked back at his friends with a pleading look before he disappeared behind the corner of a wall.
/
Asuka had requisitioned a motorboat so that she could get to the ship where Unit-02 was being held. Shinji had reluctantly ended up abiding by her orders and went along with her, though he immediately regretted as he got onboard the speedboat. Asuka's sailing was fun-loving and erratic. She'd spun around in doughnuts until Shinji felt his currently digesting lunch rise back up to his mouth and he'd puked into the ocean.
That didn't stop the girl from having her fun though. After that, she'd seemingly purposely made hard turns in whichever direction she felt like going until she'd decided to quit fooling around and show Shinji her Eva.
Shinji was very grateful once he'd gotten on the much larger ship that Asuka thankfully had no control over.
After arriving onboard the ship, Asuka walked over to a gigantic tent of fabric sitting on the deck of the ship and lifted part the massive tarp off of her Eva, allowing Shinji just a peak of what was underneath.
"That's, uh…a cool color. I didn't know Unit-02 was red," Shinji mumbled, not sure what else to say.
"Hmph. That's not the only thing cool about it," Asuka boasted, "Unit-00 and Unit-01 are just beta-testing prototypes. They're antiquated machinery! But, my Unit-02 is the real thing; the world's very first true Evangelion, perfect in every way!" Asuka said as she raised her arms in the air for emphasis, "Unit-00 was the prototype for the Evas and Unit-01 was the test type. The fact that it synced with an untrained pilot like you is proof of tha-"
An explosion interrupted Asuka's barrage of bragging and shook through the hull of the ship. The two children struggled to keep from falling over. Shinji had a frightened look on his face, but Asuka was more excited than ever.
"Oh my god, Shinji, it's an angel isn't it? Please say it is!"
"I-I don't know!"
Asuka immediately ran across the deck of the ship, dragging Shinji with her, trying to find the source of the explosion.
"Look!" Asuka pointed towards a burning ship as she arrived at the edge of the deck.
Another explosion and another ship was in flames. The children saw a bulge in the water heading away from the explosion where something absolutely massive was just under the surface.
"It can't be- It is an angel," Shinji said as he started shaking with adrenaline.
Asuka had a satisfied look on her face, "Angel? You mean like…a real one?"
"Yeah! This is really bad! We've gotta find Misato!"
Asuka hid her head from the boy as a mischievous look crept onto her face.
"Hmmhmm, Wunderbar," she grabbed ahold of the boy once again and began running, "I already know what Misato is going to say, come on!"
"Where are you taking me now?" the boy groaned, starting to run out of breath.
"You're going to be my bodyguard while I change into my plugsuit."
"W-what?!"
"Hey, it's not like I'm going to let you look, you pervert!"
The girl sprinted across the deck and back into the innards of the ship where she went to her locker and snatched a bag that had two of her flamboyant red plugsuits.
"Come on," she demanded, "help me find a place to change. And pick up your damn feet, would you!?"
She dashed down the hallway looking for some kind of empty room.
"Shnell, shnell!" She demanded of the boy
"I don't know what you're saying! Where are you taking me?"
"Shut up!" She growled at the boy as she finally found an empty looking room, "Hmm, this looks fine. Just stay up here and watch my back for a second!"
Shinji became very rigid and didn't say anything as a blush appeared on his face.
"What?" She glared at the boy before realizing what she'd said, "Oh, for fuck's sake, I didn't mean to actually watch me, you fucking pervert! Just- just stay out here, and if you peek, you're dead!"
"I don't believe this," he mumbled as she went into the room to change, "Why do I even need to be here?"
The boy did as he was told however and patiently waited outside the door before sighing.
Asuka pulled her dress over her head, trying not to mess up her hair too badly. She tossed her dress next to her bag and then undid her bra, tossing it on top of her dress.
'I swear, if that pervert looks, I'm going to smash his face with a shovel.'
She warily glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was looking. After being relatively sure he wasn't going to take a glance at her, she finally slipped her panties off and they dropped to her ankles.
At that moment however, Shinji, not thinking about what he was doing, leaned into the room to ask her, "How much longer is this gonna-"
"AHHHH! DON'T PEEP, YOU PERVERT!'
"S-sorry!" Shinji said as he quickly pulled his head back behind the door.
He really needed to stop walking in on nude girls. He just saw...pretty much everything Asuka had to offer.
"WHY DO ALL BOYS HAVE TO BE A BUNCH OF PERVERTED JERKS!?" Asuka cried as she pulled on her plugsuit, "PERVERSA IDIOT! WHEN I GET BACK OUT THERE, I'M GOING TO BEAT THE SCHEIßE OUT OF YOU!"
Shinji sighed again.
The girl put her arms under her hair and tossed it in the air to make sure none of it was in her plugsuit when she pressurized it. She still had a blush on her cheeks as the suit tightened around her body. She could only imagine what seeing her in something so form-fitting would do to the boy waiting only around the corner.
"Alright, Asuka. Let's go," she whispered to herself.
The German spitfire stomped out of the room and the first thing she did was punch the boy in his gut. He groaned and slumped to the ground. His back was against the wall and she kicked him in the lower ribs, knocking the breath out of him. She picked him up by the collar of the shirt. Surprisingly, someone as seemingly frail as her had the strength to almost lift him off the ground. Then again, Shinji wasn't the heftiest boy around either.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO PEEK!" She screamed in his face before she slapped him as hard as she could and let go of him, letting him drop to his knees in front of her, "You're lucky that right now isn't the time for this! Otherwise, I'd beat you senseless!'
She reached into her bag and pulled out another of her red plugsuits.
"Get changed," she said as she threw the crimson fabric at the hurting boy, "You're getting in my Eva with me, but not dressed like that."
The boy struggled to get up, but couldn't quite manage just yet. Not eager for another beating though, he crawled into the room Asuka had previously been in. He took his clothes off and slipped into the plug suit much faster than Asuka had done.
Clearly, this suit was made for a girl. Upon pressurizing it, he found it was extremely tight around his waist and the breast area around his chest was much looser, some parts of it not even making contact with his skin. On top of all that, the area in between his legs was noticeably tighter than all the rest. His entire groin area was bulging from the suit so much that you could almost make out the shapes.
He stepped out of the room with a blush bright enough to match the German girl's plugsuit.
The girl giggled, "You look good," she said mockingly, which only caused Shinji to blush even more.
"Are we really going to get in your Eva? We don't even have Misato's permission to launch," he asked, hoping she wasn't serious.
"I'll get her permission after the fact."
She grabbed his arm once again and darted back to her Eva with Shinji being dragged helplessly behind her, barely able to keep his footing.
/
Upon running halfway back across the ship to her Eva, Asuka shouted back to Shinji, who had fallen behind, "Ha, get ready for an amazing display of piloting skill, Third Child!"
She pushed a button on her Eva and ejected her entry plug. Then, she grabbed the boy once again and pulled him into the entry plug with her before retracting it back into her Eva.
The boy groaned, but didn't protest any further beyond that.
Asuka glared at him, "Just sit down and don't piss me off."
She started going through the startup procedures. It was weird for Shinji not having command walk him through the startup. But, it was even stranger with the girl speaking in German to initiate the Eva's startup sequence..
"LCL Einlassfüllung."
The blood flavored liquid filled the entry plug.
"Anfang der Bewegung. Bestätigt. Anfang des Nervenanschlusses. Bestätigt. Anfang nächster der Herzmonitor. Bestätigt. Synchro-Start, nun!"
The Eva hummed to life and the interior of the entry plug began glittering as the neural connection was initiated. However, instead of the usual outside world that usually displayed after synchronization, the word Fehler repeated across the walls of the entry plug, obviously indicating some kind of error.
"It's-it's a program error!" Shinji announced much to the annoyance of Asuka who clearly already knew.
"It's thought noise," she said insultingly, "I told you not to disturb me!"
"What do you mean? I didn't even do anything."
"UGH! You're thinking in Japanese, aren't you? If you must think, do it in German!"
"Uh, well, I'll try. Let me see; strudel, bratwurst, schnitzel-"
"ERRRHH! DUMMKOPF! Nevermind!" the girl growled, "Let's start over. Ugh. Eva Unit-02, switch language to Japanese. Resynchronize"
The entry plug shimmered again as it resynchronized with its pilot and then brought up the outside of the Evangelion on the entry plug display.
"Evangelion-02, launch!" Asuka shouted into the LCL, bubbles still rising out of her lungs.
A voice sounded on the com system.
"Abort! Cease the launch sequence!-"
It sounded like the Admiral. Asuka was about to tell him to fuck off, but Misato's voice cut in.
"DON'T LISTEN TO THAT MORON, ASUKA! GO FOR IT!"
"Heh," Asuka smirked, "I was hoping you'd say that!"
The tarp onboard the ship Unit-02 was on rose as the Eva stood up. The angel was heading right for the ship, about to ram it like a tsunami, but at the last second, the tarp shrouded Eva jumped into the air before the ship it had been on was split in half.
The Eva landed on a nearby aircraft carrier with an extremely loud metallic clang that sounded for miles around.
"Misato, get the umbilical cable on the ship primed. I only have fifty-seven seconds left on this charge!"
"I'm on it!" The Captain shouted over the radio.
"Hey, uh, Asuka. Your Eva is still equipped with B-Type equipment. If we fall into the ocean, we're done," Shinji said, once again pointing out the obvious.
"Then we won't do that. Now, let's play a game of hopscotch."
"Hopscotch?"
She looked at the boy, "You said it yourself. We can't get in the water."
She urged her Eva to jump high into the sky. After what happened on the little speedboat earlier, Shinji wasn't sure he could take much more of this. His fear of regurgitating into the girl's entry plug is the only thing that kept him from emptying his stomach. He'd probably be in for the beating of a lifetime if she ended up breathing in the half digested contents of his last meal.
The Eva bounded again, landing on a battleship, barely managing to keep its balance before it flew to the next ship.
"Doesn't this thing have shock absorbers or something!?" Shinji cried, trying not to throw up.
"Oh, don't be a baby. Where we're going, we don't need shock absorbers! …Everyone on the deck might want them though."
Unit-02 leapt into the air again, "EVANGELION UNIT-02, COMING IN FOR LANDING!" Asuka screamed with joy over the radio as her Eva plummeted to the deck of the Over the Rainbow.
Upon landing, the entire ship tipped to the side, causing many of the aircraft on it to fall into the ocean before Asuka rebalanced the Eva and positioned it on a more central area of the deck.
The Eva threw the massive cloak-like tarp off and tossed it into the ocean before reaching down and plugging in its umbilical cable.
"Successfully switched to external power."
Shinji glanced at the girl, worried, "We don't have a Pallet Rifle onboard, do we? We don't have any guns."
"Hmph, who needs guns when my Eva has an axe?"
"Y-your Eva has an axe?" the boy asked in amazement.
"Did I stutter?" she spat.
The boy looked a little downcast at her response, "N-no…I'm sorry."
"That's what I thought. Now, we just need to get to it. Hopefully it wasn't on one of the ships that already got sunk. It's a really expensive piece of equipment, you know. And it's not just any old axe. First of all, it's obviously a giant axe, fit for my queen Eva. Second of all, it's an AT-MRDR, also known as the Absolute Terror Marauder. It draws its power off my Eva's AT field and focuses the energy in the blade to amplify its splitting power. And most importantly; third of all, it has an etching of its unique name on it and its custom painted red to my exact specifications!"
"Really? It's red? That's the most important part?" the boy asked, unamused.
"OF COURSE THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART, YOU IDIOT! That's what makes it so special! They can always just manufacture any old AT-MRDR. Mine is custom! And I have plans to tune up its power output also! SO YES, THE FACT IT'S CUSTOM IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART!"
Shinji put up his hands defensively, trying to calm the girl and avoid being hit, "Okay, okay. Let's just find it then."
The girl scanned the horizon from her entry plug, squinting to see through the bright sunny reflection on the water's surface. She finally saw the weapon wrapped in a similar tarp to what her Eva recently was shrouded in.
"Entry plug, begin playback, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture: Finale!" Asuka shouted with the largest possible grin on her face.
Oh, the little red devil was going to enjoy this.
'Entry Plugs can play music? Sohryu listens to Tchaikovsky?' Shinji wondered, completely lost right now, 'Who is this girl?'
The boy looked at the redhead as the music picked up and Asuka started laughing manically.
"CANNONS ARE MY FAVORITE INSTRUMENT!" she happily screamed as she urged her control yokes forward, prompting the Eva to jump again.
"I don't think artillery is considered a musical instrument, Asukaaaaaaahhhhh," Shinji cried as he held onto the plug's seat for dear life and sanity.
"YOU IDIOT! HEAVY ARTILLRY IS MUSIC!"
The red Eva landed on a battleship, almost sinking it before jumping again to the aircraft carrier that had her Eva's axe.
Landing on the ship, the Red beast bent over and tore apart the wrapping before brandishing the carmine colored axe in the sunlight. On the handle was a cursive golden etching that read, "Asuka." And on the axe head was a similar golden etch that represented the formidable weapon's name.
"Behold," Asuka bellowed over her Eva's loudspeaker, "the Fleischmeister!"
Misato's voice arrived over the com system, "Asuka, you've got incoming."
Suddenly, Unit-02 was pulled down to the tarmac of the carrier, falling flat on its ass.
"Ow, my Arsch!" Asuka yelped as she turned in her seat and started rubbing her currently aching butt through her tight plugsuit, "So this is what they meant when they said it would hurt."
"Ugh, what happened?" Shinji asked trying to get back up after being tossed around and hitting his arm on the wall of the entry plug.
Before either pilot could think of an explanation, the Eva lurched again, causing Shinji to hit his head on the plug wall.
The Eva was being dragged to the end of the aircraft carrier rather quickly. In a second or two, the red monstrosity would be sinking to the depths of the ocean.
"Oh, scheiße!" Asuka shouted, realizing that, in a few moments, her Eva would be completely defenseless and incapable of offense once they fell into the water.
The battery timer popped up on the display and the Eva came to a stop, its head and one of its arms hanging over the edge of the ship as its other arm still clung to the red axe. Asuka was in shock, trying to figure out what had just happened.
"Shit," Asuka said as she looked at the information displays on the screen of the entry plug, "Shit!" she said again, "It was the umbilical cable. That damn thing bit my umbilical cable and tried to pull us into the ocean. Luckily, it broke. Unlucky for us though, now we only got two minutes and forty seconds of power left because the damn internal battery didn't get a chance to fully charge. Damn it all!"
Shinji didn't really know what was going on. He looked at the girl in a daze as she examined the current status of the godlike eva.
Asuka radioed in to Misato, "Hey, Misato, do you got a spare umbilical over there? The angel snapped mine and we don't got a lot of time."
The Eva, stood up, bracing itself on the axe.
"No. Sorry Asuka, we don't have one. You're just gonna have to make do and finish it quickly," Misato said, panic barely evident in her voice, "It's coming back around. Get ready."
"I see it…" Asuka said as she glared at the rapidly approaching wave coming from the opposite side of the ship, the angel no doubt just below the surface of the water.
The sun glinted off the blade of the axe as she made the Eva crouch in a ready position and held the axe next to its heel.
The music still blared through the LCL and into Asuka's ears. She breathed deep.
"Come on," she said under her breath, "Show me that ugly mug of yours and prepare to get royally butchered."
The angel was closing in fast. Asuka channeled her Eva's AT field into the blade of the axe and it began glowing a fiery coquelicot red-orange along the edge. She charged down the length of the aircraft carrier, running the blade of the axe along the tarmac throwing sparks up everywhere, and preparing to meet the angel head on in combat; completely fearless.
"GrrrraaaAAHHH!" Asuka screamed furiously.
The long eel-like angel shot out of the water, intending to beach itself on the carrier. But that is exactly what Asuka was hoping for. She twisted the axe one hundred eighty degrees as it trailed behind her and swung it over her Eva's head. The axe shattered the AT field with almost no resistance whatsoever and made contact with the angel's head while it was still airborne.
"Hmph, too easy."
The axe caused the angel to face plant on the deck of the ship before the blade continued forward and split the creature's skull. The axe ran deep, deep enough to emerge from the lower half of the angel's head and become lodged in the ship's hull, but the angelic being still fought on, unwilling to give up and die even as it was pinned hopelessly in place.
"I'VE NEUTRALIZED ITS AT FIELD AND IMOBILIZED IT! ALL WEAPONS, FIRE AT WILL!" Asuka screamed into her com.
Every cannon on every remaining battleship turned to point at the helpless angel, half of it still hanging off the ship; and, in time with the music, the cannons fired, ripping cavity after cavity into the massive beast. If the oceans had remained blue after second impact, they wouldn't have been today after how much of the angel's blood was spilled into the water.
The creature screamed and writhed, making known the kind of agony it was in before its wailing turned to nothing more than gurgles as blood seeped out of its mouth and the its body became motionless without the help of cannon fire to jostle it every few seconds..
Asuka shook the axe some and freed it from the ship and eventually the angel too. She let the AT field in the weapon die down and the axe quit glowing as the angel slowly slid back into the water, lifeless, as the music in Asuka's entry plug came to its conclusion.
The redhead turned around, smiled at the boy, stuck her tongue out at him, and teasingly asked him, "So, how does your forty percent sync ratio and no prior training first sortie match up to my first active combat experience, hmm?"
/
"Dude, this Eva is soooooo cool!" Kensuke said as he filmed the red giant as it was transported from the ship to the dock.
The Over the Rainbow and the remainder of its fleet had arrived in New Yokosuka about fifteen minutes ago. Once again, Asuka had requisitioned a speedboat and she once again drove it like a maniac from the ship where she'd killed the angel to the Over the Rainbow. Shinji was starting to think that this girl was more of a threat to his wellbeing than the angels where; she'd caused him to barf four times on the way back to the Over the Rainbow.
Asuka had decided against changing back into her yellow sundress after what had happened the first time she'd tried changing. And, as punishment, she'd decided Shinji wouldn't get to change either until they'd made land. She'd snatched his clothing with the exception of his underwear, forcing him to carry it with him for all to see while he was still in one of Asuka's spare plugsuits. Most embarrassing indeed.
Asuka had just arrived in the vicinity of Misato's troupe of kids. She smiled with pride as Kensuke filmed her Evangelion. Toji pretended not to see her as she passed by them, not interested in getting in another altercation with the girl but he did turn around to look at her after she'd walked by.
'Damn, she may not have a great personality, but she's got an award winning ass for sure.'
He started to rotate back to face the Eva, but mid turn, he saw someone else approaching, and it left him speechless in a really bad way.
"GAW-GAH, WHA!" he said as he raised a finger to point at a very shy Shinji currently adorning Asuka's severely curvaceous plugsuit.
Toji's stuttering grabbed the attention of Kensuke, who focused the camera on his utterly surprised face, then to his pointing finger, and then to the boy it was directed towards.
"Hey, nice figure," Kensuke jeered, "Who says wearing red makes people look fat?!"
"D-did she de-man you?" Toji inquired, still very freaked out at this spectacle.
Shinji blushed, trying to hide his body, and kept quiet.
"He'Hey, lookin' good, Asuka," Misato said as she slapped the girl's ass with a very audible clap as she walked by, causing her to blush some, "Dat ass looks more fine than a deep fried apple pie with vanilla ice cream on top!"
"Eep!" the girl squeaked, startled and embarrassed as Misato's hand made contact with her smack-dab in the middle of her right ass cheek and gave her a squeeze, "N-NOW WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!"
Shinji happened to catch a glance of Asuka's butt as it jiggled from the spanking, and he saw Misato wink at him, almost as if she'd know he was going to see it. Shinji smiled meekly back at Misato and walked on, acting as though he didn't see anything as Asuka got up in Misato's face as best the small girl could and started shouting expletives at the Captain and explaining how her "sexually self-stimulating" actions where uncalled for.
A couple yards behind Misato was Rei. She was running her fingers through her hair, trying to keep it out of her eyes as the breezy sea wind gently assaulted her face.
"R-Rei!" Shinji said excitedly, though his excitement was somewhat kept in check by his embarrassment.
"Ikari…"
"AHH! DID YOU JUST SLAP MY TITTIES?" Misato yelped jokingly as Asuka attacked her, albeit with much less fervor than she did with everyone else she'd beaten today.
Asuka stomped passed Shinji and Rei muttering something about an insufferable woman. Shinji didn't dare laugh as she passed, knowing that he'd probably get pummeled if he so much as inhaled too loudly.
After seeing Asuka disappear behind a door leading inside the ship, Ikari continued his conversation with Rei.
"So, Rei, would you still like to come over again later? We still need to get you some more clothes like we said we would."
"Yes, Shinji, that would be quite pleasant. I will await your and Captain Katsuragi's behest."
Shinji smiled at the girl and she smiled back at him subtly, the oceanic wind carrying the smell of blood between them.
Shinji nodded and turned to begin looking for Asuka, remembering that he still had his boxers in his hand for the moment and that he really wanted to have the rest of his clothing back in his possession.
As he walked off though, Rei called out to him, her voice almost being drowned out by the ocean's gales.
"Ikari."
Shinji paused and turned to face the girl.
"Hmm? Yes, Rei?"
She remained silent for a second, making sure, as always, to pick her words decisively.
"Would you…" the girl paused, still trying to think of better words as she continued to stare at Ikari.
"Would I what, Rei?"
"Would you like…to go on a date with me? Captain Katsuragi said…it would be healthy…for both of us. I am not sure I understand how it would be healthy but she suggested that…we have dinner together…in a high class restaurant."
"O-oh," Shinji blushed madly, "W-well, um, I'm not sure that she or I really h-have t-th-the money…not with our paychecks I m-mean. B-but, I-I'm…kinda…sorta…a good cook," Shinji shrugged, smiling bashfully as his cheeks became redder than the plugsuit her was currently wearing, "S-so maybe…um, uh, we could…have dinner at, uh, m-my place; I m-mean Misato's place."
"I believe we have already done that, Ikari."
Shinji looked at the deck of the ship, averting his gaze from the girl, "Maybe…we could…go someplace. But…I'm really sorry, Rei. Even Misato and I combined; we really don't have the money to go to someplace very fancy."
"Would it help…if I covered some of the cost? I do not spend my currency often. I am sure that if we all congregated our allowances, we could succeed in paying for a meal."
"Oh, no, Rei! That's not how dates work! T-the guy always pays for the meal! Y-you never ask a girl to pay!"
"Shinji…I would like to go. If I can help to pay for a meal, it would make me very…happy. I desire to experience such things as fine dining. You have shown me but a fraction of the tastes this world has to offer."
Shinji realized that the girl probably had never been to a fancy restaurant before. Maybe, she had a point. Maybe this was an opportunity for the both of them.
"O-…Okay…we can go. But, if we're going, we definitely need to get you some more clothes, that's for certain."
"That…is fine by me, Ikari," the girl softly smiled at him.
/
"Oh, man!" for the hundredth time that morning, Kensuke was recounting the events of yesterday, "That was so cool when Unit-02 just buried that massive axe into that angel's skull! That was the most epic thing I've ever seen! And that new pilot, what was her name? Asuka? She was soooo cute!"
Shinji, Kensuke, and Toji were sitting at their school desks, talking about the events that had occurred yesterday. Kensuke probably hadn't slept a wink last night with how much he was obsessing over the battle.
"She may have looked cute, but she was a real bitch," Toji spat.
"Well, I guess we won't be seeing her anymore. I'm real jealous though. Shinji's gonna get to see her every time he goes into NERV."
Shinji blushed a little.
"You're jealous?" Toji asked a little surprised, "I feel sorry for him. She's got one mean punch. And from what it sounds like, when she decked him in the gut yesterday, it was worse than when I punched him. If she's gonna be beating dudes that often, she should be beating them off instead of beating them up."
The door to the classroom opened, drawing the attention of the kids, assuming it was the teacher entering. What did come through that door though was a thousand times worse than any man.
"Oh, god…look," Toji whispered under his breath.
"I guess I spoke too soon," Kensuke teased as he nudged the jock with his elbow.
At the front of the classroom was a red headed demon, humming as it wrote its name on the chalkboard before turning around and giggling.
Toji stared at the demon in disgust and disbelief.
"I'm Asuka. Langley. Sohryu. Charmed, huh?"
/
-Mock Sweetness-
/
After a very eventful day at school, Shinji had decided he wanted to relax some by walking Rei home. It was Asuka's first day and she was already the talk of the school. There had been no shortage of screaming, punching, kicking, and insulting from the redhead and admiration was all she got in return for the most part.
She'd made quite an impact on all the kids, some of them quite literally. She'd beaten up two students who tried to hit on her, literally knocking the teeth out of one and giving the other a concussion. Surprisingly, she wasn't penalized for her actions. During her break period, she'd checked her locker only find it overflowing with love letters, which she promptly threw on the floor and stepped upon dismissively. Then, at lunch, she'd participated in an apple juice drinking contest, out-drinking everyone who challenged her. When she kept consecutively winning however, she'd decided to call it a bitter victory, saying that the sorbitol in the juice would enact revenge on her; whatever that was supposed to mean. Even the way she talked captivated people. Whoever said German was an ugly language quickly changed their mind upon hearing her speak it. She even broke out into song a couple times during class in between lessons, causing a couple of the more emotional girls to burst into tears.
Yes, Asuka captured the hearts and minds of all. Shinji had no idea what to expect from the girl. She seemed somewhat sweet while at school. She was like any other fun-loving girl. But, Shinji knew she definitely had a more harsh side that she didn't show until the two other male students had attempted to ask her out. And even then, people had placed the blame on them when Asuka had claimed they'd tried to molest her.
After everything that had occurred today and the day before, Shinji just wanted to be away from the girl. It wasn't that he didn't like her; she was just so lively, it almost felt like she was sucking his own liveliness away just to feed her; or maybe she just put it in perspective how empty his life was in comparison. Either way, she was exhausting to look at, to hear about, and even just being in the general vicinity of her tired him. And, it hadn't helped that she'd chosen a seat right next to him, Toji, and Kensuke in their classroom, which was very quickly followed by arguing between the demon and the jock for the remainder of the day.
Shinji was just tired of the German girl and he wanted to be with Rei. He'd ended up walking her home, stopping on the way to get her some more snacks and a milkshake, which the poor girl had never had before in her life. It was quite amusing watching Rei suck on the straw trying to get the thick liquid out. She'd ended up asking Shinji for help after she couldn't figure out why the creamy substance wouldn't flow through the straw. After Shinji had told her that, depending on the thickness, she might really have to suck to get the icy drink to flow, she'd tried to drink it again to no avail. Once again, she'd enlisted Shinji's help, causing him to blush as he sucked on the same straw where Rei's moist warm lips had been.
He'd finally loosened the drink enough for Rei to suck on her own and it quickly became a favorite of hers based on her somewhat awkward proclamation of her desire to "suck it and drink it very often from now on."
Ah yes, it was quite a day for Shinji, and he was glad to be home.
"Hey, I'm back," he said as he walked into Misato's apartment.
No one answered, but that was no surprise. He figured Misato might be working late tonight anyways. He continued on his way to his room so that he could rid himself of the multiple book bags that had been constricting his shoulders on the hour long walk to and from school with the journey to Rei's place being a side trip along the way. But, upon arriving in the small hallway that lead to his room, he saw a few stacks of boxes.
'Maybe Misato ordered…something off the internet, I guess.'
He didn't have a second thought and moved to open the door of his room.
"W-WHAT HAPPENED TO MY ROOM!"
Inside of his room, or what used to be his room apparently, where stacks upon stacks of boxes, most of them labeled in some more westernly alphabet.
"WHO'S CRAP IS THIS?"
"That is not crap!-"
Shinji turned to find the source of the voice and what he saw disturbed him deeply. In the hallway leading from his room was the devil herself, Asuka Langley Sohryu. She was dressed in a barely see-through white nightgown that exposed a fair amount of cleavage. It was lined with black lace and had a red bow that was anchored just under her cleavage.
Looking through her nightgown, Shinji could see she was wearing black lace g-string panties with red lace roses embroidered on the front. She held a half empty bottle of orange juice in her hand, the liquid almost the same color as LCL.
"-Those are my belongings," the girl said, correcting him.
"What about my stuff? Wait, what in the heck are you even doing here?"
Asuka emptied the bottle of orange juice into her mouth and let out a sigh after downing the last bit.
"God, you're an idiot. It's rather obvious you've been replaced," she said with a bored look on her face.
She walked up to Shinji and he took a few steps back, afraid of being pummeled. She leaned against the door frame and peered into his room…or rather, her room now.
She nonchalantly played with her hair, "Yeah, I guess Misato wanted a more skilled pilot as her roommate."
"You're joking." Shinji said in a whiney voice.
"That's what I said when I saw how small these Japanese room are! I couldn't even fit half my stuff in here. And is privacy like some completely foreign idea to the Japanese?" She asked as she grabbed Shinji's-…her door handle and started sliding the door back and forth, "Seriously, how do you people live in rooms without locks when anyone could walk in on you?"
Misato had just arrived home, and of course, the first thing she heard was the bickering of her two wards. They must've been really caught up in whatever they were talking about because neither of the children heard her enter or walk up right behind them.
"We don't see the need for them," Misato said causing the kids to jump in surprise, "We believe in consideration."
"Misato," Shinji said with an almost begging look in his eyes, obviously hoping that this entire event was just a misunderstanding.
"God, you're irritating," Asuka glared at shinji, "Now, get your junk out of the apartment so I can unpack."
"No, no. No one's kicking Shinji out," Misato beamed at Asuka.
"WHAT? You mean I have to live with him? But, people our age and gender shouldn't be living together under the same roof!" Asuka shouted as her eyes bulged out of her head in astonishment.
"Look, if the two of you are going to work together, then you need to learn how to live together. You two are fellow pilots now. You're going to live here together and learn to like it."
Shinji looked at Asuka out of the corner of his eye, a less than amused look and his face and Asuka glared at him as though he were delivering some illness upon her.
"Hmph," she pouted as she turned away from him rapidly in disgust, causing her breasts to jiggle some.
"That's an order by the way," Misato said with a more than content smile on her face.
/
'Love?'
Rei Ayanami held a single pill in her hand. She needed to take this pill. If she didn't, she would cease to be. Her AT field would dissipate and she would deteriorate.
'He loves me. That is why I am permitted access to this medication. He loves me and that is why I am allowed to be alive.'
She sat in her dark and untidy room, the only source of illumination coming from the moon shining through her window.
She looked down at the medication. It was a small antibiotic to keep the internal injuries she suffered from her activation test from becoming infected or inflamed. She held the pill between her fingers, a strange reluctance keeping her from swallowing it.
'He loves me. What does that mean?'
She put the medicine in her mouth and swallowed it. She did not like the short-lived taste, especially after Shinji had shown her more marvelous flavors than she had ever known existed before but she would never be caught complaining, not even by herself.
'I do not understand.'
/
After Misato had calmed down all the aggression from Asuka directed towards Shinji, he was finally able to get around to cooking the night's dinner. He'd ended up making red miso soup, gyoza, and teriyaki beef over a bed of rice with a topping of toasted sesame seeds. Asuka had watched him prepare the food rather intently and sometimes pestered him while he was cooking, but overall, she wasn't as malicious as she could have been; teasing more so rather than insulting.
"Okay, all together now," Misato said as they sat down at the little kitchen table, the beef still sizzling.
"Thank you for the food," Shinji and Misato said together, happy to finally sit down and have a meal after how stressful the past two days had been.
"Thanks…I guess," Asuka groaned, down-heartened at the idea of having to live with Shinji. Her face brightened though as she tasted the gyoza dumplings. They weren't anything like she'd gotten at any of the Asian restaurants back in Germany. The gyoza wrapping was crispy. The inside was stuffed with pork, onions, and something else. Asuka couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was spicy and tasted like some kind of pepper but she couldn't identify what type it was. What she could identify though was that she had fallen in love…with the dumplings. Maybe living with Shinji wouldn't be so bad.
'Hahahaha,' Asuka internally laughed to herself maniacally as she chewed on her dumpling, 'someone to test my other set of skills against. He may make good dumplings, but I'd bet my pretzel wrapped frankfurters are better. The great Third Child may prove to be a suitable rival yet, if only in the kitchen.'
Asuka wasn't aware of it, but she had a growing smile on her face, though Misato and Shinji didn't see it with how engrossed they were in their own food.
Asuka finished her dumplings and moved on to the bowl of miso soup, something she'd never had before. It was strange to her. It was a rusty reddish color and actually looked strikingly similar to LCL…if LCL had tofu, leek, and seaweed mixed in it. The taste and smell was nothing like the bloody liquid though. The soup was salty and had hints of vegetable flavor all through it. Needless to say, Asuka engulfed the soup rather quickly.
"Well, I'm gonna go take a bath," Misato said, standing up from the table and heading to the washroom, "Whoever wants the rest of my dumplings can have them."
Asuka immediately lunged across the table and pulled the plate of gyoza over to her.
Shinji looked at the aggressive girl strangely as she cradled the food defensively next to her chest and she glared back at him challengingly.
"What!?" she snapped, "I'm hungry!"
Shinji abruptly faced back to his own plate, not wanting to get hit again, though he smiled a bit after hiding his face. It made him somewhat proud. Sure, Misato appreciated his cooking, but she'd never craved it enough to actually yearn for it the first second it was available. Misato had never grabbed for Shinji's cooking in such a manner as Asuka just had. Even if Asuka really was just hungry and didn't like the food, he was pleased that he could feed the hungry girl.
She scarfed down the dumplings rather quickly. She definitely seemed to have an appetite tonight. She usually would have felt full after eating this much, but not tonight. Maybe piloting the Eva for the first time took more out of her than she realized. She'd eaten quite a bit last night also when she and Kaji were in the hotel waiting for their residential registration to process.
After eating the last of the dumplings, Asuka moved on to the teriyaki beef. Her eyes rolled back into her head after taking her first bite of it. It was unbelievably scrumptious. It was sweet and savory and it had the same spicy taste that the dumplings had. And Asuka loved spicy things, so naturally, she loved this, though she tried her best to not let it show.
Misato emerged from the bathroom in nothing but a dark purple towel as Asuka had finished licking the last smears of teriyaki sauce from the lip of the bowl. Misato passed Shinji as he was washing the dishes and walked over to the fridge. She bent over, reaching for a beer, and flashed just a tiny bit of her butt out from under her towel.
Asuka caught sight of her and stared for a moment. But, she quickly changed her line of thought as a blush appeared on her face.
'What am I doing looking at her like that? I don't like girls!'
"Jesus Christ, Misato! W-WOULDN'T YOU AT LEAST PUT ON SOME FUCKING PANTIES?!" Asuka shouted trying to hide her embarrassment with anger.
Shinji froze, afraid that he'd turn around and see something he shouldn't.
Misato stood back up and shut the fridge, a cold beer in her hands, and walked over to the kitchen table to take a seat.
"Oh, I'm sorry little Miss G-string. You've certainly been flaunting you ass more than I have tonight. And what's with that see through nightie? I got a good view of your nipples from here," Misato sat down with a smug look on her face and Asuka held her hands over her breasts, "That's a cute little bow tie. I wonder what kind of present could be wrapped underneath. I'm sure all that cleavage gives some kind of hint," Misato took a swig of her beer, "Since when do little fourteen year old girls wear lingerie anyways?"
Asuka glared at Misato with a snarl forming on her lips and a blush on her face while Shinji remained very, very still by the sink.
"I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I'M AN ADULT!" Asuka shouted assertively while sounding very offended, "And ONLY the BEST clothing is allowed to touch my body! Considering both of those facts, it is perfectly fine for me to wear this! Besides that, my lingerie is more tasteful, by MULTIPLE ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE I MIGHT ADD, than you flashing your butt cheeks out from under a ratty old towel!"
"Yeah?" Misato asked, still quite pleased with herself, even though she knew she probably shouldn't tease the girl, knowing it could end very badly, "Who's the lingerie for then?"
"For MYSELF of course! I told you! I don't let crappy clothing touch my body. Most bed clothes are cotton or wool or some kind of god knows what scratchy as fuck material and I won't stand for it! These are much more comfortable to sleep it. It's so smoothe and silky!" she hummed with a smile as she hugged her nightgown.
"Hmmhmm," Misato still smirked at the girl, "You mean like your thighs?"
Asuka placed her hands over her legs as if she were protecting them from Misato's verbal assault, "W-WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW ABOUT MY THIGHS?!"
Misato set her beer down and climbed on top of the table, crawling towards Asuka seductively letting her towel come slightly undone so that Asuka could see more of her breasts.
"Oh, I know lots of things, you spicy little cinnamon bun. -"
Misato leaned into Asuka's ear as she retreated further back into her chair. She cooed into her ear, "-But, I'd know even more if we went on a little date," Misato pulled away from the girl's ear and winked at her.
Asuka had a very weirded out expression on her face as she looked back into Misato's eyes.
"You realize I'm a girl, right?" Asuka asked as her voice waivered some.
"Gender's got nothing to do with love," Misato said before she closed her eyes and puckered up her lips. She moved closer to Asuka very slowly, intentionally taking her time, knowing the girl had nowhere left to run.
Asuka watched Misato's terrifying lips coming closer and closer. She couldn't hold in her terror anymore.
"EEEEEEEEEYYAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Misato smiled and stopped her approach mere millimeter's from the fourteen year old's lips. They could feel each other's breath sweeping across their lips.
"Just fucking with you," Misato said before she pulled her towel more tightly around her breasts and crawled back across the table to sit down.
"Hmph, I bet you'd enjoy that, you perverted lesbian pedophile," Asuka said, trying to get back at the woman.
"What? Pedophile? But, I thought you said you were all grown up."
"OH, SH-SHUT UP!" Asuka said as she abruptly stood up, "I'm going to take a shower. If either of you peak,-" she glared at Misato and then at the still frozen Shinji, "-you're dead!"
She then turned around, her hair swishing in a wide arc, and marched off to the bath, Misato staring at her swaying ass the whole time.
"Is uh…is it safe to look now, Misato?"
"It sure is, kiddo," Misato said as she continued to smile at Asuka's curvy booty through her see-though nightgown before it disappeared around the corner.
Misato tilted her head back and chugged her beer in one go "YEAHAHAH! THERE'S NOTHING BETTER THAN AN ICE COLD BEER AFTER A NICE HOT BATH! Say, Shinji, would you be a darling and bring me another?"
Shinji nodded even though Misato wasn't looking at him and he went to the fridge, grabbing her two instead of just one.
Upon seeing him set the two cans down in front of her, Misato gave him a very endearing smile, "Aww, you're so sweet."
Shinji simply smiled back at her and headed back to the sink to finish scrubbing the dishes.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHYYYYYEEEE!"
Asuka burst out from behind the corner of the bathroom, screaming, with absolutely nothing adorning her body.
'Mmmmm, so…delicious,' Misato thought as she gazed at the pristine female body in front of her.
"THERE'S SOME THING; A CREATURE IN THERE! WE HAVE AN INFESTATION!"
Misato chuckled some, swearing she'd seen this happen before as she saw the penguin walked out of the bathroom.
"It's just a penguin," Shinji said, turning around to face the source of the noise, "His name is PenPen-GAWWH!"
Once again, Shinji caught a glance of a girl's nude body unintentionally. He cringed out of fear and his face became flushed and heated with all the blood rising into his cheeks.
"Hmm?" Asuka wondered, noticing Shinji's shock stricken face, "What? What's wrong…"
The brash girl was confused and followed Shinji's gaze. Looking down, she saw her perky breasts and her toned stomach through her cleavage. She felt a strange emotion, embarrassment perhaps, and Asuka being Asuka, handled her emotions the only way she knew how. She quickly concealed her vagina with her left hand and her nipples with her right arm. The redheaded girl bounded across the room in one swift and fluid moment before raising her leg to snapkick the staring young Ikari right in the face, knocking him out cold.
"YOU DEGENERATE PERVERT! HOW DARE YOU SPY ON ME!" Asuka pointlessly shouted at the unconscious boy as he drooled onto the floor..
"You got knocked the fuck out," Misato giggled to herself, looking at Shinji and then redirecting her gaze to Asuka's nude body, 'So, she comes out of the bathroom completely naked and she's perfectly fine pulling off some sexy ninja move in the nude, but I'm the one who's indecent for an honest mistake…well, maybe not completely honest... But, damn, Asuka is gonna give my little Shinji a heart attack if she don't give him a concussion first.'
/
Things were finally starting to calm down for the night in the Katsuragi household. Asuka had mostly been able to control herself and she chilled out on the couch watching random television shows. Shinji was sitting on the floor leaning on the couch as he listened to his S-DAT with PenPen sleeping on the floor next to him. And Misato was sitting next to Asuka, massaging the redhead's feet while getting drunker by the minute.
Misato was quite content with this. It felt right somehow. It was like…something she didn't know that she wanted. For so long after she left Kaji, she'd been alone. She didn't really mind it. She was fine being alone. But, she didn't realize it until she'd actually adopted Shinji and now Asuka that she actually was happier than she'd been in a long time. She felt like she had a family now. And it made her so joyful to just be able to spend time with the kids.
"Hey, Misato."
"Yes, Asuka?"
"It's nice of you to rub my feet and all," Asuka stretched and yawned, "but you know what would make me really happy?" Asuka asked with a really sweet smile on her face.
"Pray tell, what would make you happy, Asuka?"
"If you'd let me have some of your beer…or anything else you have around."
Misato looked at the girl for a minute, wondering if she'd heard her right.
Asuka was posing as cutely as she possibly could. She made her eyes big and she batted her eyelashes as fast as a butterfly could beat its wings. She sat as demurely as she could, her hands at her side, using her upper arms to squeeze her breasts together to exaggerate her cleavage. She had a half pout and half smile on her lips. It was hard for Misato to say no to such an adorable display of pseudo-sweetness. But Misato saw through Asuka's faux demeanor. That's all it was; mock sweetness.
"I'm sorry, Asuka. I don't think that's a good idea."
"What?" Asuka asked astounded, as though she actually expected to be allowed to drink, all the cuteness she'd portrayed leaving her body in an instant "Why the hell not?"
"Well, because, you're only fourteen; you're underage."
"So what? I'm an Eva pilot! It's not like they're going to put me in jail or some shit. And, at least I'm mature enough to ask for permission instead of just stealing it from you. That in and of itself should be enough reason to actually let me have some."
Misato frowned. With the lifestyle she'd lead, who was she to deny the girl what she wanted? But, at the same time, she was supposed to be taking care of her and watching out for her; she was supposed to be her mother now. But, Asuka did make a teensy tiny point. At least she'd been mature and respectful enough to ask. That was more mature than Misato had been when she'd started drinking.
"I'll tell you what," Misato said as she got up, Asuka's feet slipping off her lap, "I'm really tired right now, so I'm going to bed, but…I'll think about it."
Asuka looked to the floor with a peeved look on her face. That wasn't exactly the answer she was looking for.
Misato took a couple steps to her room but stopped and turned around to face the pouting girl.
"Asuka?"
The red haired girl didn't say anything as she poutingly stared at the television
"I'm really glad you're here," Misato said quietly with a genuine smile.
Asuka looked up to meet Misato. The angry look on her face softened a little and she nodded, but she still didn't say anything. Misato turned back around and slowly headed to her room before sliding the door open and then quietly shutting it again after she'd entered.
Asuka took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.
"Hey, Third Child."
Shinji didn't respond and even though his ears were plugged with music, Asuka still expected him to respond when she addressed him.
"Third Child!" she said a little more audibly.
Still no response. The kid must've really had his music turned up loud.
Asuka got up and crawled across the couch before bending over the armrest where Shinji was sitting at the end of the couch on the floor. The boy leaned against the side of the couch, his eyes shut while swaying his head back and forth to the music that Asuka could barely hear. It sounded like Verdi to her. She was somewhat surprised that the boy listened to something she was familiar with.
She resituated herself and laid her stomach over the armrest as she brought her head down low enough to look the boy in the eyes, albeit upside down. Her long red hair slipped over her head and fell into the boy's lap, tickling his hands. His eyes shot open and he paused in fear as he saw Asuka's bright azure irises shining in the dim room, only an inch away from his own.
She reached down with her right arm and poked the boy in the stomach causing him to squirm.
"Hey, Third Child," she said again after yanking his earbuds out.
Shinji gulped and remained silent.
"What did you put in those dumplings earlier?"
"Um, p-pork," Shinji gulped again.
"No. The stuff that made them spicy. What was it?"
"Um…"
"Don't worry. I'm not mad. I like spicy food."
"Well…you see, It's uh…a secret," Shinji shrugged.
Asuka had a blank expression on her face.
"Why did I think you'd be interesting to talk to?"
Shinji frowned a little but he could see how his answer might have been disappointing to the girl.
Asuka got off the arm rest, dragging her fiery hair across Shinji's face as she repositioned herself back onto the cushions of the couch, almost making him sneeze as it brushed against his nose.
Her hair was very fine and soft and smelled of cinnamon and orange zest. The scent alone almost put him in a daze. It reminded him of holidays he'd celebrated as a child; bringing back memories he'd forgotten he'd had.
A cool chilly morning, snow falling gently on the cold moist grass beneath his feet as the sun rose over the mountains in the distance. He heard his mother call out to him, but when he turned to look at her, he couldn't see her face. She had a face most certainly, but he just couldn't picture it for the life of him. But her voice; her voice was as crisp as the cold air.
'Mom…' Shinji thought to himself for a moment as he sat in his daze.
"You know, you're a pretty good cook…for an idiot," Asuka said as he put her hand under her hair and flipped it back over her shoulder.
"Oh, uh…yeah…"
Asuka got up off the couch and started walking to Shinji's room…which was now hers.
"Hey, Third Child," she stopped and turned around with a smirk on her face, "We should have a cook off. See who's really the best chef."
Shinji stared at the girl and nodded, before she turned around and started heading back to her room, Shinji watching her until the moment she slid the door to her room shut.
Shinji made himself forgot about Asuka for the moment and thought back his mother. It probably wasn't right for him to think about the redhead anyways. It was best if he took his mind off her.
'Mom… Maybe father could tell me something about her.'
Shinji pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his father's number. He thought for a minute, trying to decide if he actually had the courage to speak to his father before committing to pressing the call button. In the end, Shinji knew that his father was probably the only one who could tell him about his mother, and so, he anxiously pressed the call button and the phone rang.
And rang…
And rang…
Endlessly
"So, you're not gonna answer, huh, dad?"
/
Asuka was having a hard time falling to sleep. She was anxious. Kaji wasn't here with her, she was in a new country that she really hadn't seen much of, and she was sleeping in the house of people she didn't feel very close to. She really didn't know Misato anymore. Even though she'd been her guardian at one point, it was years ago. And if there was one thing Asuka knew better than anyone else, it was that people never stayed the same way that they were. Asuka was effectively a stranger in a strange land.
It was for this reason that Asuka couldn't sleep. Even after having graduated from university, there were still so many things Asuka didn't know. And not knowing something always bugged Asuka. While she wasn't afraid of it, she took no comfort in the unknown.
"You know you're better than they are. They aren't special like I am. Nothing's changed. It's just like before. You're still better off on your own…Asuka."
She rolled over on her bed and stared out the window. Far away, she saw a NERV helicopter flying in front of the crescent moon, a blinking red light on its chassis signaling its position for everyone below it to see.
Asuka got out of bed and walked over to the window so that she could look out over the city. She probably wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, so why not?
She saw a couple spot lights shinning miles into the air and she watched the beams sway back and forth. Then, she looked over to Lake Ashi and saw a relatively large boat floating just off the shore. She could see a lot of flashing lights on the boat and she thought she could make out people dancing.
'They're probably having a party on that thing and I'm stuck in this cold dingy little room with no alcohol. They probably have a goldmine worth of Feuerwaßer on that thing.'
Asuka had a pouty face painted on her facial features as she walked back over to her bed and let herself fall on the mattress, groaning in exasperation.
Asuka shivered. If there was indeed one thing that hadn't changed about Misato, it was that she always turned the air conditioning down to temperatures that Asuka always deemed uncomfortable. The thin fabric of her lingerie didn't do much to protect her from the chill and her nipples stood erect, pushing up little knots just under the surface of the fabric.
Asuka put her palms over her nipples and rubbed them gently trying to generate some frictional heat to alleviate herself of the little knobs. Her hands where somewhat chilled too though and it didn't do so much to nullify the buttons pushing through her top.
"Damn it, Misato," Asuka whispered to herself, "How am I supposed to sleep in this ten degrees Celsius air?"
Asuka finally deigned to throw the covers over her cold body, and continued to rub her nipples in an attempt to warm them while she waited in the sheets to capture and retain her body heat.
After a few minutes, Asuka's body had finally started to warm some, but her nipples still poked through her nightgown. Though, it wasn't as uncomfortable now. In fact, she might even claim that it was somewhat enjoyable. The simple motion of circling her fingers over the peaks of her breasts was relaxing and subconsciously comforted the previously anxious girl.
She continued caressing herself and small bouts of pleasure manifested in her body when she touched a few sensitive areas, causing her blood to get hotter every time a shot of satisfaction gallivanted through her veins.
"Fuck," Asuka spat quietly, "this is making me horny. This isn't exactly what I wanted to happen."
The redhead thought back to earlier in the night when she was in the shower. She'd noticed a certain item that might be of use in her current…predicament.
'I'm sure Misato wouldn't mind if I borrowed her vibrator.'
Asuka threw the covers off the bed and hastily jumped to her feet. After walking to the door, she opened it very quietly and peeked down the hallway to make sure no one was awake. The lights all seemed to be out in the living room and so she carefully snuck down the hallway.
After making it into the living room, Asuka could barely make out Shinji sleeping on the couch in the darkness. She continued onwards, through the kitchen, and into the washroom. She struggled for a second to find the light switch, but managed to locate it without too much trouble.
Immediately, she saw the little purple device and snatched it off of the shower shelf.
'I guess I'm lucky she keeps it in such an easy to find place.'
She turned off the bathroom light and walked out of the room with a small bounce in her step. She excitedly danced back to her room, though she was careful to not make too much noise.
Arriving back in her room she dropped down onto the futon and pulled her panties down to her knees before laying down and twisting onto her stomach. She rested her head on her pillow and raised her hips to allow her hand some room as she propped her lower half in the air with her knees. She held the bright purple toy in her right hand and snaked her arm under her stomach and in between her thighs. Her fingers brushed past her pubic hair, which was currently shaved into the shape of a heart, and her hand was poised to begin its work.
"Okay, let's do it, Asuka."
She turned the device on to its lowest speed and carefully touched her clitoris with it. This was the first time she'd ever used a vibrator to masturbate, and the sensations were overwhelming to her. She immediately spasmed from the pleasure and had to remove the toy from her sensitive flesh.
"H-holy fuck," she whimpered.
She touched the vibrator to her nub again, trying to stimulate it for longer this time.
"Mmmmmm-uuuuuhhhh!"
She only managed to keep contact for a few seconds before she yanked the toy away again, the pleasure shooting through her body starting to drive her mad.
"Fuck. This is too much. …but Asuka Langley Sohryu never starts something she can't finish!" she said in between gasping breaths.
She forcefully shoved the vibrator onto her clit again as though she were trying to dominate it. Juices were starting to seep out of her vagina and drip onto her hand as the quaking from the toy rumbled through the flesh of her lower lips.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeh, Eeeeee, EEEEEEEEEEEEYUH!" she moaned as she bit her lip in an effort to keep herself quiet.
Asuka pulled the vibrator away once again, unable to contain her now audibly emitted pleasure.
"Fuck, I need something to muffle my voice. Someone is going to hear me if I keep going like this," she said as she took heavy lust-filled breaths.
Asuka panted heavily as she tried to gather her self-control. Pleasure was still echoing though her entire body and she felt like her face was on fire from the flushed blood in her cheeks. She could feel her juices dripping off her cunt as the sticky liquid tickled the lips of her vagina.
After regaining some of her composure, she turned over onto her back, and grabbed the panties that were still hung around her knees. She winced at the thought of what she was about to do. She pulled her panties over her heels and brought them to her face, letting them hang only a couple inches above her mouth.
'What the hell am I doing?'
She wadded the lace into a ball and opened her mouth, shoving them onto her tongue and then biting down on the fabric. They didn't fill her mouth as much as she would have liked, but it would have to do.
She rolled back over onto her stomach, taking the same pose as before, only this time, she cupped her breast with her left hand and in an effort to further silence herself, she bit down on the pillow her head was previously resting on.
Asuka was just about to begin pleasuring herself again, the vibrator only a few centimeters away from her clit. But, a single thought crossed Asuka's mind. It was one of her most common thoughts that she embodied every day of her life ever since she was a child. It was a rule of hers that she constantly enforced upon herself in an effort to better herself and become the best person she could be.
'Asuka Langley Sohryu never half-asses anything because half an ass is useless.'
With that, she turned the vibrator to its highest speed and almost rammed it into her clit.
"Guh!" she breathed out through her panty-stuffed mouth.
The sudden and immense pleasure made Asuka feel like she had a hurricane in her guts. Her eyes widened and rolled back into her head. She bit down on her panties and the pillow simultaneously, trying to keep herself from screaming.
She wanted to take the vibrator off her clit. The pleasure was killing her. But she couldn't. She wouldn't dare remove it. She was going to prove to herself that she could take everything this little pleasure inducing device had until the moment she came.
She couldn't breathe, and when she did, it was only enough to make a barely audible strangled squeaking sound as the air around her struggled to get into her lungs from the heated redhead's constant urge to scream.
Asuka could barely hold onto the vibrator. Her juices were leaking all over her hand and the toy which made it a challenge to maintain her grasp on it. It almost slipped out of her hand and eventually, she had to cup it against her clit with her palm instead of maneuvering it with her fingertips.
Her juices were seeping through her fingers and trailing down her forearm until they eventually dripped off her elbow and fell onto the mattress below her. Asuka used her other hand to squeeze her nipples and massage her breasts, receiving even more pleasure from the slight pain and kneading.
Asuka's legs began trembling, occasionally spasming or kicking, and she felt a tingling feeling in her knees that caused her to feel weak. She wouldn't yield however. She would not let up for even one moment.
"Mmmmmmmmmmh-guuuuuuuh!"
Her lips were parted but her teeth bit down on her panties and pillow as hard as she could. Every second the unassailable pleasure continued, the gritting of her teeth seemed to become more and more vice-like as her saliva leaked out of her mouth almost as much as her vaginal lubricants seeped out of the folds of her vulva.
Her spit soaked the pillow and streamed down her neck as her pussy juices flooded onto her mattress. She couldn't breathe. Her eyes were still rolled back from the sheer sexual ecstasy. Her hips where spasming uncontrollably. Asuka knew she was close. This was going to be a first for her. She'd never cum before, but she knew in her heart that she was going to tonight.
She spread her pussy lips with her right hand, still holding the vibrator in place, and shot her left hand under her torso in a similar manner to her right hand. She conjoined her middle finger and her ring finger before digging her digits into herself.
She lifted her hips a little more at the sudden invasion of her fingers and her insides lit on fire hotter than her personality. She could feel it. She knew she was cumming. Her pleasure increased exponentially as her vagina clenched down on her fingers so hard that it hurt. She released the pillow from her biting teeth and swung her head in the air as she uttered a breathless scream. Then, she gasped, almost inhaling her panties, and swung her head back down into her pillow to muffle the magically violent shriek that followed.
Her legs kicked uncontrollably and relentlessly. Her entire body trembled as it was wracked with supernatural pleasure. Her vaginal sap squirted on and showered her thighs. And after she'd exhausted all the breath in her lungs on her pleasure stricken screeching yowl, she turned over onto her back and labored for every trying breath she took.
She couldn't hear anything but a distant ringing, the edges of her vision felt like they were darkening and closing in on her, her heartbeat thundered through her veins almost painfully, her world was spinning at a million revolutions per second, and she felt like she was falling even though she laid securely in her bed. The girl was sensually overloaded and she felt like she was going to black out any moment now.
She barely remembered to turn the vibrator off and she tried getting up to return the toy to its rightful place but her knees and elbows were too weak to support her. She simply couldn't pick herself up. She looked at her heaving breasts through her nightgown and her glistening thighs past it. She slowly pulled her fingers out of her vagina and stuck them into her mouth under her panties, making sure her tongue got full exposure to her sex nectar and a good taste of herself before letting her arm fall limply at her side.
"Oh...Mein Gott! Mein Gott im Himmel! I just came! I just came so hard. I just fucking came everywhere…for the first time ever," she whimpered breathlessly.
Those where the last words she spoke that night before passing out, not caring in the slightest that her panties were still stuffed in her mouth with a smile on her face.
/
-Never Forget Why They Twinkle-
/
"I love you, Mommy."
"I love you too, my beautiful sweet Asuka."
A young Asuka was sitting curled in a ball on her mother's warm lap under the dark blanket of the night sky. Kyoko herself was sitting in a wooden chair in a field next to their house. It was oddly a little chilly tonight, and Asuka nuzzled her head and arms into her mother's stomach to avoid the wind chill as a gust blew by.
It was nights like tonight when Kyoko could almost forget that second impact had ever happened. The cataclysm had thrown the world into a perpetual summer, but occasionally, an oddly cold night would come along, providing everyone with a temporary relief from the ungodly heat.
It felt like it could have been autumn with the current atmosphere around the Sohryu residence. Kyoko figured she could have dressed with some more insulated clothing, the chill starting to infiltrate up her legs in the current thin and breathable summer dress she was wearing. But alas, Kyoko had no winter clothing. Most people didn't nowadays. In fact, some people didn't even own clothing.
It had only been five and a half years since the day the world almost ended and four years since the Valentine Treaty had been signed to end the wars that started only days after as tensions rose. Much of the planet was still in chaos. Even with the Valentine Treaty having been signed, even though the countries of the world no longer warred, outside of the few pockets of remaining civilized societies, people still fought tooth and nail for anything they could get their hands on. Warring gangs had taken up arms against each other in the lawless parts of the globe while other people were loners, not relying on anyone for survival. Over time, after the remaining governments left in the world had managed to restore some measure of order, people had begun to return back to a civilized life. Chaotic rebellions had ensued and anarchists opposed to government had declined to reintegrate into it. But, for the most part, the world was returning to its previous state of civilized antiquity.
Still, the world remained an ugly place for many people. And, as Kyoko looked down at her beautiful daughter, her orange hair being carried gently by the breeze, she was glad that she could raise her away from the sadness that the rest of the world knew too well. She was glad she could raise her here in a little cottage in the German countryside outside of Berlin. She was happy she could live in a place where her precious daughter could see the sunflowers bloom and the trees grow. She was so grateful that she lived in this seemingly magical little field surrounded on all sides by deep forests. She was so fortunate that she could live in a place where she could help her expand and grow her daughter's mind. But, most of all, she was thankful for being granted permission to work for NERV. She held a high ranking position in the technology division of NERV-3 and was highly respected and paid quite handsomely. Because of that, she and her husband had been able to buy this beautiful little cottage in a time when many people could barely afford basic necessities.
She knew; she knew that money didn't buy happiness. But words couldn't well explain the joy she felt at being able to raise her daughter in this haven when much of the world itself had been turned into a hell-scape. It was almost as though second impact had left this one place untouched just so that she could happily raise her baby Asuka here in safety and tranquility.
She remembered when she'd first gotten pregnant. She couldn't explain to her parents how happy she was that she'd finally get to be a mother. But, then second impact happened. The world was thrown into turmoil. She was afraid she'd have to raise her daughter in this terrible, cruel, and violent world. For some time she did, though Asuka was only an infant then and probably remembered nothing of it; and for that she was grateful.
But, by a miraculous stroke of chance, a NERV representative had approached her and her husband one day when they were working on a makeshift farm in trade for shelter. How far the man had traveled to find her and her husband, hundreds of miles from any center of civilization; how hard it must've been for him to find the both of them.
The representative told her that the people he was working for were in need of extremely bright minds; the type of mind that Kyoko possessed. With her university records, the man was convinced she was the one for the job. She was promised safety, security, and a higher purpose in life than simply living from day to day trying to survive. And how could she turn down the offer when she had a family to take care of?
It was because of NERV that she was able to raise her amazing daughter in such a serene place as this; a place where the flowers bloomed freely by day and moths fluttered under the moon by night.
Kyoko embraced her daughter as tightly as she could without hurting the girl and a few tears slipped out of her eyes and onto Asuka's nose.
"I love you so much, my beautiful baby girl; my beautiful Asuka."
"Mommy? What's wrong? Why are you crying, mommy?" Asuka looked up at her mother, her worried blue eyes looking almost silver in the moonlight.
"Because I'm happy," Kyoko said as she stroked Asuka's long red hair and petted her some before she kissed her forehead tenderly.
"Why are you happy, mommy?"
"Because of you, my darling Asuka. You are the light of my life. You make my life worth living and you make me so happy; more happy then I can ever tell you."
"So, I make you cry?" Asuka's eyes started welling up with tears and she forcefully wiped them away with her wrists, "I'm sorry, mommy. Please don't cry. I didn't mean to make you cry."
"Oh, my dear Asuka," Kyoko said, leaning down and kissing Asuka's tears off of her cheeks, "You don't need to apologize. One day, you'll learn that not all tears come from sadness," Kyoko finished with a sniffle as she stroked her daughter's cheek.
Asuka held her hands up into the air, reaching for her mother's face.
"Come here, mommy."
Kyoko leaned down, and little Asuka grasped her mother's cheeks, pulling her down further. Mirroring her mother's earlier actions, Asuka kissed Kyoko on her forehead before releasing her childlike grip.
"I hope you feel better now, mommy."
"I do, Asuka, my sweetheart."
Comforted by her mother's affirmation, Asuka settled a little lower into her mother's lap, reclining some to look at the starry night sky.
At that moment, a pair of shooting stars blazed across the gallery of the Milky Way.
"Mommy, look! Shooting Stars!"
Kyoko glanced up just in time to see the white hot pair of streaks shoot across the heavens.
"I guess we can each make a wish, then!" she said as she smiled back down at her daughter.
Asuka shut her eyes tightly, obviously concentrating very hard on making her wish. This only served to make Kyoko smile even more. Asuka's eyes shot wide open and she had a gaping smile on her face as she swung her arms around joyfully as though she had exploded from happiness.
"Mommy, mommy! Can I tell you what I wished for?"
"Well, you're not supposed to because then your wish won't come true."
Asuka frowned, "But I really want to!"
Kyoko, not being the superstitious type, decided there was no real harm in hearing what her daughter had to say.
"Mmm, okay. Tell me your wish, Asuka."
Another huge smiled popped up on Asuka's face as unexplainably intense and innocent joy filled the child.
"I wished for you to always be my mother so that I don't have to grow up! I don't want to grow up. I want you to always be here with me! I don't ever want you to leave because I love you too much. I just want you to love me forever and ever."
Kyoko grinned at her daughter as she almost began crying from joy again. Such a beautiful and simple request from a beautiful and innocent child.
"Don't worry, my Asuka. I'll do everything I can to make your wish come true," she stroked the little girl's hair some more and kissed her again, and Asuka's eyes enlarged with happiness.
"Hey, Mommy?"
"Yes, Asuka, my dear?"
Asuka pointed up at the sky, "Why do those stars twinkle?" she moved her hand to point at another place in the sky, "And those ones too. Why do they do it?"
"Well, remember how I told you that light travels in waves?"
"Yeah."
Kyoko was so unbelievably proud of her daughter. She was still naïve because she was still only a child, but she learned so quickly. The five and a half year old wasn't even in school yet and she knew things that some high school graduates didn't know. She truly believed in her heart that, someday, Asuka would grow up to be very successful and smart. Of that, she had no doubt.
"Well, you see, Asuka, when you get far enough away from a star, it doesn't shine as many rays of light into your eyes because the rays get too spread out. That means that only some of the waves of light will make it to your eyes. And, because there is no overlap from other lightwaves when they get so spread out, when the crest and troughs of the wave travel over or under your eyes, you actually aren't seeing the light from the star anymore because it's not going into your pupil. That's what makes it look like it's twinkling. There are other reasons too. Sometimes the atmosphere distorts the light or sometimes another celestial object may move in front of the star and block some of its light as well."
Asuka looked up at her mother with admiration apparent on her face. She was so happy she had a scientist mother who could explain the world to her.
"Hey, mommy?"
"Yes, Asuka?"
"Earlier, you said tomorrow is going to be an important day for you. Why's that? What makes tomorrow so special for you?"
"Well, you see, Asuka, tomorrow, I'm going to be running a contact experiment on the Evangelion."
Asuka's face lit up with excitement. She'd always admired the beautiful red eva from the observation deck whenever her mother decided to bring her to work with her, which had been quite often recently.
"So, you're finally going to turn it on tomorrow?!" Asuka yelped excitedly, as she sat a little straighter in her mother's lap.
"Yes, I am," Kyoko smiled at her.
Asuka cuddled into her mother's warm stomach and breasts as the wind picked up again and caused the little girl to shiver, though the chill was still pleasant on her skin over all.
"I love you so much, mommy."
"I love you too, my precious baby Asuka."
/
The pale morning sunshine gently streamed through the window in Shinji's room where Asuka still dozed. Her arms and legs were sprawled across the futon awkwardly and she snored lightly with the waistband of her panties hanging from her mouth and a little bit of drool trickling out of the side of her lips.
"Mmmmmmama," she mumbled in her sleep.
The girl restlessly turned over onto her side.
"Ma…..ma."
She took a deep breath in through her nose and then out again the same way.
Her eyes fluttered open.
"No," she curled her fingers, making a fist, "I don't want to think about that."
She twisted in bed and rotated onto her back before stretching, "Mmmmmhmmmmm," her teeth biting on her panties.
"Hmmm?"
The girl looked unsure of herself.
"What's this? Blaaaaaaa," she said as she opened her mouth curiously and pulled her spit soaked panties off her outstretched tongue.
Immediately, she recognized the fine red embroidered roses on the front of the g-string hanging in front of her face and remembered the events of last night. Her eyes widened and she put her free hand over her mouth in astonishment, not sure if she was shocked by what she'd decided to do or amazed at what she'd accomplished.
"Oh my god, I hope Misato isn't awake yet. She'd totally notice her vibrator was missing," she clasped her hand together and realized it wasn't in her palm, "Oh, shit, her vibrator, where is it?"
Asuka's eyes widened when she realized she hadn't put the toy back where it belonged, but her eyes just about popped out of her skull when she realized she wouldn't be able to put it back at all if she didn't know where it was.
She sat straight up in bed, not feeling it in her hand and not seeing it anywhere on the floor. She did feel it however. Under her right thigh, the little device started buzzing. She must've turned it on when she sat up.
She threw the sheets off her and jumped out of bed. She struggled to pull her panties up her legs, the wet fabric grabbing at her thighs and twisting as she yanked them up. She then turned the vibrator off and snuck over to her door.
She carefully slid it open and peeked out down the hallway. She listened very intently for the sound of chop sticks coming together, footsteps, running faucets, the television, even breathing; anything that would signify another person was conscious and in the vicinity.
Hearing nothing, she quietly snuck into the living room. She saw Shinji still sleeping on the couch and there was no sign that Misato had woken up yet. Still, remaining light on her feet, Asuka scurried though the kitchen and into the bathroom. She placed the vibrator back on the shelf.
She was about to walk out, but she saw her hair looked to be a bit of a mess. Sometimes she didn't like having such long hair. It's was a pain to manage, but she always managed to convinced herself that it was well worth it. She knew how drop dead gorgeous she was and her hair definitely attributed majorly to her beauty, and so she'd always decided that taking care of it would pay off in the end.
She grabbed a comb, but decided she could do with a shower as well and so she dropped it back on the restroom counter and turned on the water to let it heat up.
She happily hopped back to her room and opened her suitcase. She rummaged through it before finding an expensive pair of tight black gym shorts and a tight low-cut red tank-top with a fireball decal on the left breast.
Luckily it was the weekend and she wasn't going to school today. She'd only worn it for a few hours as of yet, but Asuka absolutely hated her school uniform. She hated the material, she hated that it didn't fit to her body in an ideal way, she hated that it didn't stand out; but mostly, she hated that it had blue on it. She hated everything that was blue with the exceptions of the sky, water that hadn't been contaminated after second impact, and her blue eyes. And it was for these reasons that the uniform simply did not meet her expectations.
She glared at the damnable thing as it sat in her closet. She wanted to burn it, just utterly destroy it. It wasn't just her being a rebellious kid. No, Asuka deeply hated everything the uniform stood for. When she looked at it, she felt like she was being held back by the entire world simply because no one was as good as her and everyone expected her to stoop to their level so that they could remain relevant.
She couldn't believe that she'd let Kaji talk her into going to school here. So what if it was against the law? She'd already graduated from university and she was an eva pilot. She shouldn't need to go to school. There were grander and more bold things for her to pursue, and she was stuck learning kanji in highschool? It disgusted her. She figured she could have just hired someone to tutor her. But, Kaji had pointed out that, because of Asuka's refusal to settle for more averagely priced clothing among other things, they couldn't afford a tutor with what NERV payed them.
Still, Asuka would have stood by her argument that she was an Eva pilot and college graduate and shouldn't need further tutoring, but it was Kaji who was asking her, and so, she bent to his will. He was the one person in the entire world who seemed to have any power over her.
Asuka stood up and decided to end her staring contest with her sailor uniform, knowing it would get her nowhere. She looked at her dresser and considered if she wanted to grab a bra or panties from the ones she'd had time to unpack, but decided against it.
'My boobs are perky enough,' she smiled to herself pridefully before prancing her way back to the bathroom.
Stepping into the steamy washroom, she realized just how cold the rest of the apartment was. She would never understand how Misato could live in such a frigid environment. Maybe that Penguin had rubbed off on her or something.
Asuka stripped her panties and nightgown off. She stepped into the hot shower and started scrubbing the dried juices from last night off her thighs with a soapy rag. Sadly, Misato didn't have any bodywash that she liked. She'd have to go get some today. Luckily, Asuka had brought her orange-cinnamon shampoo from Germany though. She didn't know what she'd do without it. She'd have to make sure she found something like it here in Japan.
After she stepped out of the shower, she smelled something being cooked in the kitchen. She had to admit, it smelled pretty good. But, she'd have to stave off her hunger for a few more minutes. She still needed to dry her hair and body.
She grabbed a brush, turned on the blow-dryer, and she carefully began brushing her hair. She meticulously groomed herself inch by inch, eventually deciding to discard the brush and use her slender fingers in its place.
After her hair was dried, Asuka began considering if she wanted to use a towel to dry her body. It seemed as though there were only two that she could choose from, and neither option appealed to her. One towel was a dark purple and quite obviously belonged to Misato considering she walked into the kitchen wrapped in it last night. The other towel was a plain white and probably belonged to the Third Child. She was less than pleased with the two towels, disgusted even. And so, she decided to bypass drying herself with them and deigned to squeeze into her gym shorts and tank-top instead.
"Haaaaaallllloooo-," Asuka sung into the chilly kitchen air as she walked out of the bathroom.
Shinji had seemingly just gotten up to start cooking breakfast; fried pork cutlets and pickled vegetables by the looks of it.
"-Guten Morgen, Shinjiiiiii," Asuka continued singing.
Shinji immediately cringed and looked over his shoulder, "Uh…G-guten Morgen."
"Heeeeeeeeeyyy, why so gloomy? I'm the most popular girl in Japan right now," she raised her finger up and flicked the boy between his eyebrows, "You should appreciate your good fortune."
Shinji flinched but didn't say anything in protest, not eager to upset the girl first thing in the morning.
"Hey, where's the other one. She's here too isn't she? I didn't see her last night. Does she not live here?" Asuka continued.
"O-other one?" Shinji asked, not on the same line of thought as the redhead.
"What are you? Stupid? I'm talking about the First Child of course!"
"Oh, Ayanami? S-she lives in the western rim of Tokyo-3."
"Oh, really now?"
"Yeah…" Shinji replied, not paying the girl any more mind than he had to.
At that moment, PenPen had walked into the kitchen, obviously smelling Shinji's cooking and looking for food..
Asuka shivered looking at the weird bird. She'd never seen anything like it in her entire life.
"So, you're a penguin, huh?" Asuka asked as she crouched down next to the penguin and poked its break.
PenPen replied with a, "Waarrrrk!"
"I thought you all went extinct after second impact."
"Wark!"
"Misato said…" Shinji started and Asuka looked up at him, "…she said she rescued him. He was some experiment and the people experimenting on him were going to euthanize him after…after they were done."
"Well," Asuka stood back up and brushed her hands off, "I guess it's a good thing Misato rescued him then. I guess these little guys aren't all too common after second impact."
"Misato says that the world was really different before second impact. She said that the oceans weren't red when she was a kid. She says that there where these things called seasons, and that they'd change the temperature of the planet or something. She also said that there was a lot more life. There weren't as many food shortages and there weren't as many conflicts as there are today," Shinji sighed, "If only that asteroid hadn't ruined everything. I wish I'd known what it was like to live before second impact."
Asuka already knew most of what Shinji had said had been somewhat naïve, but there was one thing that stood out as particularly stupid to her ears.
"Wait. Wait," Asuka snickered, "You actually think…that a meteorite caused second impact?"
"Well, that's what all the textbooks say…"
"Oh my god, you really don't know anything, do you? Hah, and you call yourself the Third Child," she said as she pointed a finger at him.
Shinji blushed, embarrassed, but not quite sure what the girl was going on about. He didn't exactly like the way she was insulting him either, but he figured he'd rather not have her beat him again.
"Okay, Third Child, you want me to tell you what actually happened?"
Shinji didn't say anything, but nodded in compliance with the girl's suggestion.
"So, like, about fifteen years ago, they found the first angel, Adam, in Antarctica; same place the fictional meteorite supposedly struck. I don't know exactly what happened because I was only like half a year old and I never knew anyone who knew exactly what happened. But, while they were probing around and experimenting on it, something happened and it exploded or it released some massive energy burst. That's what caused Second Impact. The explosion melted the ice cap and caused worldwide flooding. It also altered our seasons, which is why we don't have spring, autumn, or winter anymore. That's also why NERV was made. Us Eva pilots are here to prevent a third impact from ever happening. And, I'll be damned if Third Impact happens on my watch," Asuka finished with a smirk.
Shinji was flabbergasted, but still tried to maintain attention on the pork he was frying. Asuka could see the somewhat disturbed expression he bore and smiled to herself. Knowing she'd successfully shown off her knowledge, her heart swelled with pride.
"That you will be. We'll all be damned if you let Third Impact happen," Misato said as she leaned on the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.
"Well, well, well," Asuka started, "look who finally decided to wake her lazy ass up."
Misato yawned and then smirked.
"Look who's still wearing provocative clothing after calling me indecent," Misato said as she ogled Asuka's cleavage that was displayed quite glowingly with her low-cut tank-top.
"YOU DISGUSTING PERVERTED OLD WOMAN! At least I'm not explicit! You flashed your butt like right in my face!"
Misato walked out of the doorway and to the kitchen table, "Right in your face? I was on the other side of the kitchen! And the towel didn't let that much show" Misato said as she sat down at the table.
"SO WHAT? It still made me want to throw up my dinner!"
"Dinner? What dinner? You didn't eat me out as far as I remember."
"EEW! SICK! I'm a girl! I should slap you just for insinuating that I'd even think of such a disgusting perverted thing."
Misato shrugged, "I guess that would just be one of the occupational hazards a slut would have to endure," Misato smirked.
"HEY! Who are you calling a slut?!"
"Myself actually, but if the shoe fits…."
Asuka growled and clenched her fists. She really wanted to slap Misato right now, but Shinji was currently bringing the food to the table and she'd rather not accidently knock her breakfast out of the boy's hands with a surprise catfight. She was unexplainably starved and the food was currently more attractive than the prospect of fighting.
So, Asuka, Misato, and Shinji all sat down for breakfast; the peace between them balancing on a tightrope on a windy day.
/
-Diesen Kuß der Ganzen Welt-
/
Asuka was sick of it. She was so sick of it that she couldn't take it anymore. She was so sick of it, in fact, that she felt the need to tell everyone around her that she was indeed sick of it. And so she did.
"I'M SICK OF IT!" she finally burst out as she stood up, slamming her palms down on the table before Shinji and Misato could sit down for dinner, "I CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS! I'M SO SICK OF IT, I'M GOING TO DIE!"
Shinji and Misato blinked in confusion at the peeved Asuka.
"OH, DON'T GIVE ME THAT LOOK!" she hollered, "Both of you know exactly what I'm talking about!"
She glared at Misato.
"I'm sick of you for eating it!"
Then at Shinji.
"And you! I'm sick of you for cooking it!"
Then, she placed her hand on her chest, gesturing to herself.
"Hell, I'm even sick of myself for being forced to make it a part of my diet."
She grit her teeth in frustration.
"But most of all, I'M SICK OF ALL THIS RICE!"
She pointed accusingly at the bowls huddled in Shinji's hands that he'd been carrying to the table before Asuka had her outburst.
"I've only been here a week; A WEEK I TELL YOU, and I'm already sick of it. I've been forced to eat it for breakfast, lunch and now dinner all in the same day! DON'T YOU JAPANESE EAT ANYTHING ELSE AT ALL? Don't you eat dog in this part of the world? I want a dog instead. Even live bugs would be better than this."
"We have a lot of Cicadas around here if you'd like to go out and grab a few for dinner," Misato snickered, trying to restrain herself from laughing as she sat down at the kitchen table.
"EWW, NO, THAT'S GROSS! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU? I just meant that they'd be better than this rice. I didn't mean I actually wanted to eat them!"
She turned to Shinji again and snarled as he edged towards the table. He paused when Asuka growled at him though, trying to judge whether he was about to get slapped again.
"THIRD CHILD!"
He jumped at the intense annoyance seeping from her lips.
"MAKE ME CUPCAKES!"
"C-c-cupcakes?" Shinji asked in a pitifully small voice.
"Jawohl! Cupcakes! Kleiner Kuchen! You're a cook. Now, make them!"
"B-b-but, I don't know how!"
"SO LEARN!"
"Wait, wait, wait," Misato started, sounding a little confused, "Cupcakes? Where have I heard that before? Those are the little uh…uuuuhh...Oh, what do you call 'em? They're those tiny little cake things that are wrapped in those disposable paper bowls and have that cheap gaudy buttercream frosting that nobody likes, right?"
"CHEAP? GAUDY? NOBODY LIKES? Look here, Bitch," Asuka shouted in astonishment as she leaned across the table and pointed at Misato rudely, "I'll have you know that I, THE GREAT ASUKA LANGLEY SOHRYU, happen to love; LOVE, CUPCAKES! ESSPECIALLY THE FROSTING! SO DON'T YOU DARE TALK SHIT ABOUT CUPCAKES WHEN ALL YOU EAT IS FUCKING CHEAP NOODLES, MISATO!"
"What can I say?" Misato shrugged innocently, "Noodles are good."
Asuka huffed and turned towards Shinji again.
"What are you still standing around for? Make me my cupcakes, DAMN IT! Apple with maple frosting! Jump to it!"
"But, I really don't how. And even if I did, I don't even know if we have the ingredients."
Asuka huffed again. "Hmph, Fine, I see how it is. See if I care," she said as she walked out of the kitchen, obviously heading for her room to go to bed for the night, "Now I get to go to bed on an empty stomach. I hope you're happy!" She spat as she marched around the corner.
Shinji looked to the floor as he listened to her thundering footsteps, disappointed in himself for making the girl angry.
"Hey, Shinji, come here. Let's eat," Misato said softly to the boy.
Shinji walked forward and set the bowls of rice on the table before going back to the kitchen counter and silently grabbing the Chicken with orange sauce he'd made specifically to appease the redhead girl with what he assumed would have been her favorite color. He'd even put in some extra of his spicy secret ingredient that she seemed to love so much.
He set the chicken on the table and sat down.
"Itadakimasu," they both said much more quietly than they usually did.
Misato poured her bowl of rice over the serving of chicken she'd been given and mixed it around before taking a bite.
"This is really good, Shinji," she consoled the boy.
"I made it specially for her. I thought that I could get on her good side. There's this pepper I use that she seems to like. I don't usually put it in my orange chicken, but I did this time…" Shinji trailed off in a depressed manner.
Misato frowned a little. She could see why tonight's outburst had bothered him more than Asuka's usual antics.
"Hey, Shinji, listen. Asuka doesn't hate you. She's just…hard to deal with. I used to work with her back when I was still in Germany-"
Shinji looked up somewhat surprised, "You were in Germany?"
"Oh, yeah. I was just for a little bit. I worked for NERV-3 back in those days and I was Asuka's handler while I was there. But, anyways…listen, Asuka is just being Asuka. She had some really bad things happen to her when she was a kid. I probably shouldn't tell you about…about what happened. She probably wouldn't like it if I told you…but…Just try not to be so upset over her, okay? She can be harsh, but she doesn't mean anything by it. She can actually be sweet after you've pulled down her walls…I might need to work on that myself some. She's keeping me out too considering it's been years since I last saw her and things have changed since then, no doubt…I never completely got through her defenses but, she can be sweet. You'll just have to trust me on that. So, quit looking so down, okay?" Misato finished with a smile.
"Yeah…Okay," he said as he tried to force a smile on his face.
Misato and Shinji conversed softly over the remainder of their meal, Misato slowly bringing the boy out of his sadness, even getting him to laugh a few times. And after dinner, the two of them crashed on the couch, Shinji carrying an armful of Misato's Yebisu with him. There, they did what they did every night. Misato got drunk and Shinji sat calmly next to her watching the same shows and movies he'd been watching since he'd gotten to Tokyo-3 almost two months ago. And at around Midnight, Misato would finish her beers and Shinji would help her to bed before turning off the light in the kitchen and going to sleep himself.
He'd walk right next to Asuka's room and go to sleep in what had simply been a storage room before Asuka had kicked him out of his own. It wasn't as big as his old room, but Shinji didn't mind. In fact, he might have liked it a little more than his old room. The only thing it was missing was a window so that he could look at the city on the nights he couldn't sleep. But, even that was okay by his standards. Shinji didn't mind the dark.
And as he slid the door to his room shut and laid down; almost instantly falling asleep, a little flame peeked her head into the hallway that separated her room from Shinji's. Unseen and unheard by all, she danced out of her room and fumbled through the darkness back to the kitchen she had marched out of a few hours before.
"Damn them, it certainly took them long enough to go to sleep," she whispered to herself.
She turned on the kitchen light and there on the table was a cold bowl of orange chicken over a bed of rice with a note next to it that read,
'Sorry it's not to your liking. If you're still hungry, I left his here for you. If you don't eat it, I'll just throw it out in the morning. But, I wanted to make sure you had a chance to eat. Please, accept my humblest apologies. I will do better.'
Asuka's pride clashed with her hunger and cravings, and for the next hour, she agonized over whether she really wanted to eat that damned bowl of rice and orange chicken.
/
Misato had woken up to Shinji cooking breakfast in the kitchen and Asuka watching some old black and white show on the television in the living room. For once, it seemed Asuka was calm, and Misato was very happy she didn't have to wake up to her screaming. She really did enjoy having Asuka around, but listening to her shouting, arguing, and spitting expletives first thing in the morning wasn't how Misato wanted to deal with her hangovers. And so, she was grateful that, for whatever reason, she was subdued.
"Good morning, you two," Misato yawned lazily.
"Good morning."
"Guten Morgen, Misato."
Misato smiled. She always loved hearing Asuka speak in German. When she wasn't shouting, she had quite a voice and Misato thought it sounded so beautiful to hear her talk in German.
"Hey, you two have sync tests this morning, but I pulled you for school for the entire day. So, you don't need to worry about going in."
"Aww, thanks, Misato. All those perverted boys were starting to get on my nerves. Did I tell you how many marriage proposals I got on my first day?"
"No. How many?"
"Like, enough to fill my entire locker!"
Misato and Asuka continued talking about girly things as Shinji finished cooking breakfast; roast pork in onion and cream soup.
After Asuka blew up over the rice, Shinji had decided he'd try to cut back on it. Earlier in the morning, before Asuka had awoken, he went out of his way to try to find a recipe that didn't involve rice in any way. And, after searching through half of one of his cookbooks, he'd found one that he'd hoped would be to her liking.
He took the pot off the burner and called to the girls in the living room.
"Breakfast is ready."
They ate breakfast rather calmly and after everyone had their fill, Misato had gone to take her morning shower, followed by Asuka immediately thereafter. After they'd both finished their daily morning duties, they'd all piled into Misato's Renault and headed to NERV. Shinji would usually have been the one to sit shotgun, but Asuka had demanded that the seat was intended for her and ended up kicking Shinji to the back of the car luckily more figuratively than literally due to his quick compliance and eagerness to rectify his mistake.
After the seating arrangements had been finalized, Misato headed out, Asuka and her laughing at girly jokes all the way.
/
Ritsuko had been running a battery of tests on a few samples NERV had been able to recover off the corpse of the sixth angel. It wasn't entirely intact, but Asuka had managed to kill it without causing it to detonate its core. Ritsuko was waiting for the scan on her computer to complete when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist from behind the chair she was sitting in.
"Lost a little weight, have you Ritsu?"
She chuckled some as she recognized the voice, "You're flattering, but I'm afraid I've gained more than I care to admit."
"Well, maybe you're just wearing too many clothes."
"I'd show you but this room is being monitored."
"Was monitored," Ryoji Kaji said smoothly into Akagi's ear as he raised one of his hands to caress her cheek, "I replaced the main feed with loop."
"Thoroughly prepared as always."
"Hey, when I play, I play to win," Kaji said as he pulled the false blonde's lips a little closer to his.
"But you've lost," Ritsuko said as she glanced toward the window of her lab, "You should have covered the windows too."
Kaji followed the Doctor's eyes and, with a confused and surprised look on his face, beheld a most unsettling sight.
Pressed against the window was a fuming Misato, her hot breath clouding the glass directly in front of her face, but not enough to obscure what was going on inside.
Kaji immediately jumped off Ritsuko and took a more casual stance, pretending nothing had happened.
"Well, It's certainly been awhile Ryo," Ritsuko said as she followed suit.
"Indeed it has," Kaji said just before Misato stormed through the door.
"What the hell is this idiot doing here? I thought he was assigned to Euro! He's already handed over Unit-02. What's he still doing here," Misato stormed past the man, avoiding eye contact with him.
"I got transferred along with Asuka," the man said as he raised his arms bashfully, "So, I guess that means we can hang out some, just like old times."
Misato spun around and glared at the man, "WHO THE HELL WANTS TO RELIVE THE PAST? Besides, I'm down here to see Ritsuko, not you!" she said before facing the false blonde in question, "H.R. just gave us the approval on Asuka. Bye!"
Misato stomped out of the room causing her butt to jiggle some, which didn't go unnoticed by the keen eyes of Kaji.
"Oh my," Ritsuko said as the door to her lab slid shut, "That was pure jealously. I'd say...you still got a chance."
"Think so? Guess we'll see. Anyways, what's this stuff you're working on here?" he inquired as he leaned over Ritsuko once again to look at her computer screen.
"Oh, just some tests I was running on a tissue sample of the sixth angel. I figured I'd compare them to the fourth angel's patterns the next time I got the chance. The Third Child really did a miraculous job at taking down the fourth angel. I was sort of worried over his combat capabilities at first, but he's certainly come through for us a couple times now."
"Really now? I'd heard he was pretty impressive, but other than his first sortie, I hadn't really heard specifics. Care to indulge me on some of his feats?"
Ritsuko sighed as she attempted to recall the events that had lead up to this moment.
"Well, after his first engagement with the third angel, which I'm sure you've heard plenty about by now, he was able to execute the fourth angel. Now, he was quite brash with how he accomplished it, and Misato chewed him out over not following her orders after the battery inside his Eva started to lose its charge, but, overall, he did quite a good job considering he had two other people in the plug with him."
"Two? Isn't that unsafe or something? Wouldn't that interrupt the neural link?"
"Oh, it did some, but he managed. And I got an almost completely intact core because of him."
"Now how did he manage to do that considering it was only his second deployment?"
"He punctured the core with a prog knife but for some reason it didn't collapse. I guess he was just delicate or lucky enough to not send the core into critical."
Kaji smirked, "I did tell him luck was part of his destiny."
"The angel liquefied after its core died and stopped feeding its AT field. But, the core itself was only split in a couple areas and I've been running tests on it ever since. Then, a couple weeks ago, the fifth angel showed up and we deployed him against it. I'm sure you heard something about this one since this was our biggest operation as of yet."
"I've heard whispers."
"Yeah, well, we sent him and Unit-01 up to engage it and it didn't go very well for us. As soon as the catapult arrived at the surface, the angel charged up some kind of beam attack and it pretty much went straight though the Eva's AT field. So, we had to pull Unit-01 back down, which was a little tricky considering that a few of our recovery systems had failed under the temperature of the beam. Now, at that point, we weren't even sure if we'd be able to Utilize Unit-01 again for the duration of the offense. So, we decided we'd get have to use the First Child and Unit-00 if we were going to destroy the angel. Of course, right around that time, Misato came up with some crazy plan, just like she always does."
Kaji laughed, "Haha, she's just like I remember."
"Oh yes she is, and she's still telling those god awful sex jokes too. I'd slap her if they didn't make me laugh so damn hard."
"Has she told anyone the one about eating ass like she was on death row and it were her last meal? I taught her that one."
"Oh god, Kaji, if you do get back with her, please, PLEASE don't encourage her. They're funny jokes, but they're so indecent and she cracks them at the most...I'd like to say inopportune, but she's actually extremely opportunistic with her decisions on when to use them."
"Hahaha, I'll see if I can't get her to cut down on them if we do get back together, but I can't promise anything. Remember, I may have taught her a few, but she has an extremely sharp mind and she's very witty. Her comical passion took off of her own accord."
"Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah, Misato hatched some crazy plan to basically use all of the electricity in Japan to power that Positron Cannon that the SSDF R&D department was working on. She had Unit-01 in the gunner position and Unit-00 on defense. It really was a spectacle for the ages. You should have seen it."
"So…she really orchestrated all that?" Kaji asked, seemingly getting lost in his thoughts.
"She really did."
Kaji paused for a moment and took a breath.
"Ritsu…has she been okay?"
"Oh, Ryo, I couldn't say. There's something up with her. She's done some things she probably shouldn't have done…but I think she's holding herself together."
Suddenly, an alarm went off and a voice projected out over the intercom system as Kaji and Ritsuko's conversation was cut short.
"Attention all personnel. A condition one base-wide alert has been issued. All combat and technical support personnel, report to battle stations immediately. Repeating."
/
Shinji, Asuka, and Rei were all in their test plugs when the alarm sounded signaling the arrival of the seventh angel. Misato immediately had the children pulled out of the sync test and had Shinji and Asuka board their Evas with Rei on standby. The red and purple beasts where launched up the catapult almost as soon as the two pilots had synchronized.
"Alright you two," Misato said over the com directed to Asuka and Shinji's plugs, "I need you two to close in and take turns. Our intercept capability is still low after the fifth angel's assault. So, we preferably want to stop this thing before it gets into the city. You're going be deployed to the Lake Ashi shoreline outside Tokyo-3 to stop the angel. Got it?"
"Got it," Shinji affirmed obediently.
"This sucks!" Asuka whined, "It's my first deployment over Japanese soil and she won't let me handle it solo. I've already proven I can take an angel on my own. Why do I have to bring you?"
A window popped up in Asuka's Eva with a feed to Unit-01's plug.
"It's only SOP," Shinji said, trying to make Asuka feel better, "That's all it is. Just procedure."
Asuka growled at the chat window, "Grrrr. Well, let me tell you something first, Third Child! Just don't get in my way!" she said as she bared her teeth.
Shinji cringed away from the chat window in his plug and closed it before he upset the girl any more. He swore he saw fangs growing in her mouth with how much venom was in her voice.
Asuka growled again, "His selection as a pilot must've been a joke, right?"
The pair of Evas came to an abrupt stop as they emerged from the subterranean Geofront.
"Two against one isn't what I call a fair fight. Not a fair fight at all. I actually thought I was gonna get to show off my skills as I pilot once I got here," Asuka said as her Eva gripped it's Axe a little tighter, waiting for the angel to show itself.
"We don't get a choice, survivability takes priority," Misato said.
"It doesn't change the fact that I could handle this by myself!" Asuka exclaimed.
Asuka didn't get the chance to continue her ranting. Ahead of the two Evas, the angel had surfaced and was approaching the shore quickly.
It was an ugly thing, just like all the angels where; a lumbering bipedal creature with big burly arms and an abstract spherical looking head sitting between its shoulders that had three pits where its eyes should have been.
"I'll handle this!" Asuka shouted gleefully as she charged the angel, "Cover my back, Third Child."
"Cover you?"
"Yeah! Ladies first!"
"Damn it, don't talk to me like that, you dumb rookie."
"Dumb rookie? Who do you think you're talking to you little brat? I've been piloting Eva since I was a kid. You only stared a few months ago. Who's the real rookie here?"
Shinji frowned. Maybe she had a point. So, he shut his mouth and took aim with his Pallet Rifle while Asuka continued her rush forward in an attempt to blitz the angel. Unit-01 pulled the trigger and the rifle sprayed a stream of bullets at the angel, seemingly effectively dividing its attention as Asuka approached it from its right side and swung her axe high over her head. She brought it down on the angel, splitting it cleanly in half. Each side of the angel limply slumped over, completely lifeless as the halves fell into the water, sending waves crashing to the shore.
"Well, I'll be damned. How does she move like that?" Shinji said in shock at what he'd witnessed.
"Well, what did you think of that? A fight should be clean and elegant without wasted effort. I think I embody that perfectly," Asuka bragged as her Eva swung the axe over its shoulder and walked away from the angel.
"That was beautiful, Asuka!" Misato praised her over the com.
"Oh, it was nothing," she chirped back.
A video window popped up in Shinji's plug and displayed on it was Asuka as she teasingly stuck her tongue out at him. But something else had caught Shinji's eye. Behind Unit-02, the angel stirred.
"ASUKA, IT'S STILL MOVING!"
"WAS?" the girl asked in surprised German.
Her Eva turned on its heel and saw the two halves of the angel regenerating into separate creatures. She stared on, somewhat disgusted at the spectacle as bones grew out of each half of the angel followed by muscles and finally, skin.
"No way! WHAT THE HELL!?" Asuka screamed again.
The twin angels ominously stared at the two Eva's, completely unmoving.
"What…what are they doing?" Shinji asked, becoming more distressed by the minute.
"It's….it's like they're thinking or something. Maybe they're waiting for us to make the first move," Asuka suggested anxiously.
"Then, maybe we should retreat?"
"What? No. You heard Misato. We don't want these things getting into the city."
Before the two children could discuss their next course of action any more however, the twin angels charged at the two Evas.
"Fuck," Asuka hissed.
She raised her axe, preparing to counter attack the angel. Once it got close enough to her, she lifted the butt of her axe and the angel's head collided with it. The angel recoiled in pain as Unit-02 swung the axe over its head and cleaved into the angel's shoulder to no avail. The angel slinked out from under the axe blade and its shoulder immediately began regenerating.
Unit-01 sidestepped the angel it was engaging and tripped it as it passed before unloading half a magazine into the angel's back. The angel seemed unaffected by the hail of 209mm rounds that pierced its back. It climbed onto its feet with minimal effort, and then swung its arm behind it as it turned, backhanding Unit-01 and sending it flying.
Shinji had the urge to feel his mouth and check to make sure all his teeth were still there. Even after all the previous times he'd piloted the Eva, it was still sickening to feel his bones moving when they weren't.
"DAMN IT!" Asuka yelled in frustration, "It's some kind of reflexive healing system!"
"Focus on the cores!" Misato shouted through the com.
"You think I don't know that!?" Asuka asked as she swung her axe into the angel's chest from its right side.
The angel grabbed the shoulder of the axe handle and tried pulling Unit-02 closer towards it, but Asuka forced her Eva to raise its foot and pushed the angel away as the axe slid out of its chest.
"This really isn't good!" Shinji exclaimed as he fired at the angel that was once again rushing him as his Eva laid on the ground still trying to recover from the last hit it took.
As the angel drew near, Unit-01 lifted it leg, its foot squarely making contact with the center of the angel's chest before he redirected the angel's momentum over his Eva, causing it to fly over him and crash into a building on the other side of the Eva.
"Misato, this is no use!" Asuka shouted as she barely managed to fend off the angel.
She was unsure whether she should drop her axe or not. It was too slow and the angel was too close for her to effectively use it. The angel had attempted to disarm her of it multiple times now and it was starting to become a hindrance. But, if the deep wounds the axe inflicted on the angel didn't faze it, how well would her progressive knife or any other weapon at her disposal fare?
Shinji wasn't having much better luck. He'd expended all the 209mm ammo he'd brought up to the surface and the nearest armament depot was a mile and a half away. Even if a resupply was shot up through the catapult chute, he may not even be able to get his hands on it with how fast the angels were capable of recovering. The one he'd redirected into the building was already getting back up as though nothing had happened.
Without any ammo, Shinji only had one weapon left excluding his Eva's fists. He drew his progressive knife from the pylon compartment and held it at the ready as the angel stood up and turned to face him in the rubble of the collapsed building.
"UUUAAAAAAHHH, FUUUUCCK! FUCK!"
Shinji's concentration was broken as the earsplitting scream shot through his plug's sound system. He looked at Asuka's Eva and saw that the angel she was fighting had finally managed to disarm her of her axe and was currently digging its claws into the flesh of her Eva's lower abdomen while simultaneously crushing its ribcage and diaphragm
"ASUKA!"
Suddenly, Shinji felt like the breath had been knocked out of him as the angel he was fighting body-slammed his Eva, causing it to topple down onto the sandy beach.
"GggrrrraaaAAAHHHHH," Shinji screamed desperately and ferally as he plunged the prog knife as deep as he could into the angel's body while he used his free hand to push the angel off him to give himself some space to maneuver.
He furiously stabbed at the angel with the knife, frantically trying to hit its core. Blood sprayed out of the wounds before they almost instantly closed. It spewed onto and seeped over the purple armor of the Eva before pooling beneath it on the beach and trickling into the water of Lake Ashi.
"FUUUUCK, AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Asuka shrilly screamed again, and it sent chills down Shinji's spine. Shinji redoubled his assault on the angel on top of him, but it did no good. He tried to roll the Eva and the angel over to place himself at a better advantage, but the angel had his Eva firmly pinned to the ground. Shinji's thrashing was just enough to keep the angel from taking the offense on his Eva.
"MISATO, DO SOMETHING!" Shinji screamed as he started to fear for his life.
/
In the Geofront, Captain Katsuragi was frantically considering her options. Rei had suggested that she be sent up, but Misato wasn't convinced that would have much effect with how invulnerable the twin angel had proven to be. She'd thought that perhaps she could have had artillery called in, but that would only cause minimal damage to the angels, even if their AT fields had been neutralized. And that also ran the risk of hitting the two Evas as well. Really, there was only one viable option she could really consider right now, but it wouldn't be pretty and also ran the risk of destroying part of the city.
"Makoto," the Captain snapped, "are there any civilian emergency shelters within a five mile radius of the targets?"
Hyuga glanced at a map on his monitor and responded with, "No, Ma'am. What do you plan to do?"
"We're going to detonate an N2 cruise missile right on top of those bastards. That's the only chance we got right now. They're basically immune to our offense. We have no other choice. If that doesn't work…hopefully it'll at least buy us some time."
Misato cringed as she heard Asuka scream again. Hearing those kids, her kids, in pain was what she hated most about her job.
/
Back on the battlefield, Asuka struggled to get the angel to release its crushing grip on her Eva. She beat at its arms but the angel wouldn't release its hold on her. To make matters worse, its claws where slowly puncturing into her Eva. She struck its arms as violently as she could. Her strength was quickly fading though, as much as she hated to admit it. Any minute now, she'd probably be unconscious.
'Am I…dying? I've…never felt anything like this before.'
A metallic screeching sound echoed through her Eva and adrenaline surged through her body before a new intense pain manifested just below her ribs. It felt like two swords had been run through her torso and her lower ribcage had been broken into a dozen pieces.
"GGUUUAAHHHHHHHHHHH-FU-FUUUUUCK!"
She almost threw up as she felt something moving inside of her stomach and womb. It felt like it was grabbing her and tearing at her insides. The girl clutched at her diaphragm and uterus but could feel no physical object penetrating her. With the pain and adrenaline she was feeling, she'd sworn that a few pieces of metal had come loose and impaled her when the harsh and grating sound had vibrated through her plug earlier. But she finally realized that the angel must have pierced her Eva with its fingers and her current sensations were the result of the neural link she shared with the red biomech. She never imagined that syncing with an Eva could possibly induce this much pain.
Shinji had finally faltered against the angel's offense. The angel was repeatedly bashing its arms against Unit-01 as the purple Eva desperately tried to defend against the thundering strength that the angel was unleashing upon it. But, Shinji's forearms ached and were tired. Eventually, he just let the Eva's arms drop to its side as he accepted the thrashing the angel was intent upon punishing him with.
He was in so much pain but he didn't care. He didn't care that his chest felt like it was collapsing. He didn't care that he felt hot blood flowing into his lungs. He didn't care about anything anymore. He knew that it wasn't really happening to him, but he still groaned and grit his teeth. He tried to ignore the pain in his chest cavity and turned his head to face the red eva. It had been stabbed by the angel's godlike claws a moment earlier, but it had released its grip and the red Eva slowly fell backwards as the long fingers of the monstrous angel slithered out of the puncture wounds in the Eva's torso.
Asuka's vision started to darken as her strength was sapped from her and unconsciousness began to cradle her mind. The redhead looked to the side and saw the other angel crushing and beating on Unit-01. She could hear the sickening crunching sounds as its ribs shattered, even with all its armor plating protecting it. She quit grasping at her torso and her Eva limply fell backwards and collapsed on the beach. The last thing Asuka saw was an explosion of light before darkness embraced all.
On the command bridge, Misato was struggling to keep her composure. The screen in front of the command bridge was filled with static with the communications and the livestream having been knocked out by the detonation of the N2 warhead. She hated the static. She'd have to wait to know if she'd made the right call or not and every second she idled ate away at her very soul. But, even more than that, she hated herself for making the call in the first place. She hated knowing she'd given the order to blow up one of the most powerful weapons in existence right above two people who might as well have been her own children. She didn't find it likely, but she could have just killed those kids and she wouldn't know their fate until the connection was restored.
Misato spoke in a hoarse and wavering voice, the only indication that she was pained by her decision.
"Lieutenant Ibuki, as soon as we confirm it's clear, launch Unit-00 and have her recover Unit-01 and Unit-02."
/
"Momma, what are you making?"
"I can't tell you yet. It's a surprise, sweetheart."
It was a sweltering sunny day at the Sohryu residence. And, Kyoko's current attempt at cooking wasn't making the house any cooler. Even though the air conditioning was turned down as low as it could be set, the heat from the oven was negating most of what the air conditioning unit did to cool the house.
"But, momma, I really want to know!"
"You'll find out in a little bit, sweetheart," Kyoko said before leaning down and kissing Asuka on her head, "In the meantime, why don't you go get changed into your swimsuit and we can go play in the sprinkler while your surprise is cooking."
Asuka's eyes lit up and she dashed off to her bedroom to go change. Kyoko smiled as she watched the little girl run down the hallway and close the door to her room, before she herself went to her own room to change.
Kyoko pulled her pale yellow summer dress over her head and gently laid it on her bed. She then searched through her closet and found a black bikini to replace her bra and panties with. She tried it on examined herself.
Her figure had certainly come back after the time she'd spent starving in the months that followed second impact. And Germany had come through second impact on the less devastating side of the scale. She could scarcely imagine how bad some countries still had it right now.
After second impact happened, she never thought she'd get to live another day in happiness. But here she was, about to go out and play in the sunshine with her daughter as though nothing had ever set the world astray.
She stepped out of her room to meet an eager little Asuka waiting for her in a pink one-piece swimsuit with a repeating patterned strawberry print. The little girl ran up to her mother and grabbed her by her hand, not wanting to waste another second. They stepped out the door of their house and Asuka ran up to the sprinkler as she waited for the water to start spinning out of it.
Her mother rotated the valve and water started shooting out of the sprinkler like a miniature hurricane. Asuka happily screamed and jumped with joy as the jets of water sprayed across her stomach.
Kyoko bounded into the spiral of shooting water with her daughter and began jumping over the streams as they approached her.
The two screamed and laughed together as the water splashed off their bodies and their faces became flushed and red with their exertion paired with the hot sun beating down on their faces. Kyoko dashed towards Asuka and lifted her high into the air, spinning her round and round as the little girl screamed in delight.
Kyoko carefully set the dizzy little girl back on the ground and attacked her with multiple kisses that were placed on her cheeks as Asuka giggled.
The time seemed to pass by slowly for the two girls as they frolicked in the water. Eventually, the time came for Kyoko to return to the kitchen, and though it felt like they'd been outside for an eternity, it was never long enough for Asuka.
"Okay, Asuka, I've got to go get your surprise out of the oven. It's almost done. I just need to do a few more little things and it'll be ready. Just stay out here until I call you back in, okay?"
"Okay, mommy," Asuka said a little disheartened.
"It won't be long. I promise."
Kyoko kissed the girl on her crown of wet hair and then turned around to go back inside the cottage.
Asuka sat down as the sprinkler continued to spray jets of water across her back. She then laid down under the flying streams of water and looked up at the sky, making it seem as though the water was flowing through the open expanse above her as it passed.
She felt safe under the arcing streams. It was like it marked some kind of invisible cradle.
She rolled onto her side as she closed her eyes and grasped a handful of the soft wet grass in her hand. It was so relaxing for her to lie down under the sun. It was comforting and warm. It was home. It was like love.
She could have rested there forever if left undisturbed, but her mother had opened the front door of her house and was calling for her.
"Asuka, come inside. You're surprise is ready."
The little girl bolted upright and sped across the lawn as fast as she could into her mother's arms. She breathed her in her mother's aroma. She smelled sweet like candy or fruit.
"You smell good, momma."
"Well, wait until you smell what I made for you."
Kyoko took her daughter by the hand and led her into the kitchen.
Sitting on the table was a gilded ornamentally decorated ceramic plate with a dozen apple cupcakes with maple frosting sitting on top of them, just waiting to be eaten.
/
"Momma," a sleeping red headed pilot whispered.
Asuka slowly awoke. Blinking open her eyes, she saw almost nothing but white, save for the window next to her bed, which showed the nighttime landscape of Tokyo-3. She turned around and saw her other two fellow pilots on the other side of the room. Shinji was laughing softly in a hospital bed across from Asuka's and Rei was talking to him.
Asuka tried to sit up in bed, but she crashed back down and groaned, drawing the attention of Rei and Shinji. Ayanami approached the German girl and stared at her from the side of her bed.
"What do you want, freakazoid?"Asuka mumbled breathily.
"Pilot Sohryu, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki has requested that you and Pilot Ikari meet him in the conference room as soon as you are able. You may cleanse yourself of LCL in the Pilot showers beforehand if you wish."
Rei prepared to depart the room, but before she did, she bowed in the direction of the young Ikari and told him, "Goodbye, Shinji."
/
-Death by Music-
/
"Today at 10:58, 15 seconds AM, Unit-02 engaged target Alpha and Unit-01 engaged target Beta on the Lake Ashi shoreline," Maya said as she directed a slideshow presentation, "I believe Doctor Akagi summed it up best," she said as she pressed a button on the projector remote and an audio clip played.
"This is pathetic!" the pre-recorded voice of Ritsuko whined.
Asuka immediately jumped up in the middle of the presentation.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU TOTALLY SCREWED UP MY DEBUT JAPANESE BATTLE!"
"What are you talking about?" Shinji asked, for once not content with the hand he was being dealt. As far as he could tell, they'd both tried their best and failed, "You're the one who charged in there acting like an idiot!"
"IDIOT?! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME THAT, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A COMBAT PILOT! YOU'RE JUST A JERK!"
"ME?" Shinji asked, finally rising from his seat, "You were in such a rush to show off, you disregarded procedure! You charged right in when we could have waited!"
"WHAT WAS THAT? YOU ACTED LIKE A SCARED PUPPY! YOU WERE TOO AFRAID TO DO ANYTHING BEFORE IT WAS TOO LATE!"
Finally, Fuyutsuki, sitting in the row of seats directly behind the two kids, stood and rose above both of the bickering children as they went completely silent.
"Would you two stop? We've been completely humiliated. And, after that detonation, we'll have to redraw the map again."
Maya continued her presentation after Fuyutsuki took his seat again followed by the two pilots.
"The detonation succeeded in burning away twenty-eight percent of the targets' structural substance.-"
"Well, it kinda looks dead," Asuka mumbled under her breath.
"-Its current state is temporary. It's only a matter of time before it resumes its attack."
"Well," the previously unheard voice of Kaji began speaking from a dark corner of the room, "at least we have time to regroup and we can't ask for more than that."
Fuyutsuki stood again and addressed the pilots.
"Alright you two, just what do you think your job is?"
They stared at him anxiously; somewhat feeling like it might have been a trick question.
"Piloting Eva?" Asuka questioned more than confirmed.
"Wrong!" Fuyutsuki scolded, "Your job is to defeat the angels! NERV does not exist to make grotesque public spectacles like this! Therefore, they two of you will learn to work together. The details have been left with your guardian."
Shinji glared at Asuka and Asuka growled at him.
"This meeting is over," Fuyutsuki said in a very quiet but very serious tone as he strode out the door and the lights flickered back on.
Asuka immediately got out of her seat and approached Kaji, leaving Shinji behind with Misato without a second thought.
"Why does everyone get so angry here, Kaji?" the girl asked
"Adults have a thing about credibility and public image," he nonchalantly responded to the redhead.
"Hey, Misato," Shinji asked as the occupants of the room filed out, "Can we go home I don't want to be here any longer."
"You're not going home tonight, Shinji," Misato said sounding a little depressed.
The boy suddenly became worried.
"What?! Why not!?"
"Oh, don't worry. It's nothing bad. You're going to be spending the next week in a little guest room that NERV set up while you and Asuka were out cold. You're going to be learning to live together."
/
"Alright you two, this is the way it's going to go down," Misato lectured in the doorway leading out of the guest suite, "You have this piece of music. You are going to use this to defeat the next angel," Misato smiled as she handed a tape and choreography booklet to Asuka and a boombox to Shinji.
Asuka looked at the tape with an unsure frown.
"Um, Misato, I mean, I know I played a little music in my entry plug when we were on the Over the Rainbow, and maybe I got a liiiiittle carried away with that. But, are you really suggesting we use this to kill those things? Are you crazy or just stupid? "
"I did get the idea from you, so I guess I'm crazy, but in a good way."
"Oh, that's comforting," Asuka huffed sarcastically.
"Anyways, you two are going to perform a joint attack on the angel and I think that this music will help you harmonize so that you can both be in sync. It will ensure that your attacks are timed and coordinated. You will have to destroy both cores at the same time or the angel will not die. So, it's very important that you two are synced together and you two have to be synced six days from now. I'll be a couple floors up finishing up some paperwork if you need anything. I expect good things. If you need anything, call me," she said as she blew a kiss at the kids and then turned to walk out of the door.
"BUT MISATO-" both of the kids yelled in unison.
Misato chuckled. Her genius plan to sync the kids was already working
"-HE'LL RAPE ME!"
"-SHE'LL KILL ME!"
And, then Misato frowned as her plan started to falter. She sighed and turned back around to try to convince the kids.
"What are you two being so over dramatic about?"
"OVER DRAMATIC?" the two pilots screamed!
Misato smiled again. Maybe her plan would work
"SHE ACTUALLY TRIED TO KILL ME!"
"HE ACTUALLY TRIED TO RAPE ME!"
Misato sighed again.
Both the kids looked at each other and growled before turning back to Misato and screaming, "WE AREN'T OVER EXAGERATING!"
Misato must've looked like someone with manic depression with how often she was changing her expression from pleased to disappointed.
"Listen you two. You're going to sleep together, eat together, live together, and dance together. I don't get what the big deal is."
"EEW! YOU WANT US TO SLEEP TOGETHER!?" Asuka screamed in disgust.
Misato put her hand on her face and sighed once more. She could really use a cold beer and a hot coffee right about now.
"You two are blowing this way out of proportion. Yeah, Shinji, maybe, Asuka kinda sorta beat the living daylights out of you. And, yeah, Asuka, Shinji did accidentally sneak a peek at you…two…three times now. And, I understand that you two are uncomfortable around each other, but that's why you're doing this; so that you don't have to be so uncomfortable with each other. You're both pilots now, and more than that…you're family. You're both like my children."
Misato looked at the boy.
"Shinji, I know I haven't known you for very long, but you've kinda…played a part in my life. You've played an important part in a lot of people's lives. And, you're important to me. You're important to lots of other people also. And, over the past month, you've become a friend to me; one of the very best I've ever had. I know I might be getting a little mushy, but almost every friend in my life has either walked out on me or I've walked out on them. So, you're…special to me…Shinji."
A very slight blush appeared on Shinji's face and then Misato looked Asuka in her eyes, silently pleading with her to cooperate.
"And, Asuka, I know that it's been years since we've really gotten a chance to spend time together. But, we used to be such good friends. You remember that time we went to Heide Park together and you ate that ten scoop ice cream cone all by yourself? I bet you could eat a twenty scoop one now that you're older. And what about the first time you made your pretzel wrapped frankfurters? You were still an even better cook than me back then, and you were only half the age you are now. And besides all that, I know you, Asuka. I know you! I know we haven't talked in years but you've always been a friend in my eyes. That'll never change. There've been days when I was dreaming, just dying to meet you again."
Asuka looked at the ground, finally deciding to comply with the older woman's requests.
"So, can you two please do this for me?" Misato begged
"I guess," they both mumbled.
Misato smiled and walked back into the room so that she could hug the two kids. She then walked back towards the exit, but Asuka was going to stop her one last time.
"But Misato, what if Ikari gets horny and attacks me in the middle of the night?"
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. He wouldn't have the guts to do that."
"And If I did, she'd kill me…" Shinji mumbled.
And with that, Misato hastily slid the door shut before Asuka could ask anything more of her.
"Well," Asuka said as she stretched, "I'm gonna go take a shower."
"I thought you already took one before the conference."
"That was just to get the LCL out of my hair, you idiot. Now I'm going to take an actual shower."
Asuka skipped merrily over to her suitcase to grab some clothes and then to the bathroom but halted just outside the door. She turned and looked over her shoulder.
"And let me remind you, Third Child. No peeking!"
"I know, I know. It's hardly worth risking my life over," Shinji said rather more dismissively than he thought he was capable of.
"Hey, what's THAT supposed to mean?!" Asuka shot back, "I'll have you know that many a man would kill or die for the chance to see my body!"
"Would you just take your shower already?" The boy said, starting to get annoyed. It was strange. He didn't know he could get annoyed. Not like this anyways.
Asuka ragingly stomped into the bathroom and started the water as Shinji laid down on one of the two beds in the room.
Immediately, his thoughts drifted to Rei. He really wished that the angel hadn't attacked right now; not so soon right after the last one. He could be doing something with her right now. And instead he was stuck with this fiery-haired madwoman who was liable to beat him into oblivion.
He cringed a little as he remembered the angel beating his Eva's chest cavity earlier today. The crunching. The crunching sounds wouldn't stop replaying themselves in his mind. It hadn't stopped for hours since he'd woken up. He tried not to think about it though. Instead, he concentrated on Rei.
She'd said she wanted to go on a date with him. He really hadn't had a lot of time to think about it, but the idea made his heart flutter. Even if he didn't exactly have romantic feelings for the girl, he was still mysteriously drawn to her, and he was happy when he was able to spend time with her, which admittedly wasn't as often as he'd have liked recently.
Maybe after this angel was destroyed though, he'd finally have a little free time and he'd be able to do some stuff with her. He still needed think of a high class restaurant to take her to for the date. Most of the fancier places in Tokyo-3 were steakhouses, but she didn't eat meat. So, that pretty much cut about ninety-seven percent of the higher class restaurants out of the equation. And honestly, he had no idea what else was actually out there besides steakhouses. Where could he possibly take her? What would a girl like her enjoy?
She seemed to be okay with sweet food. Maybe he could take her to some expensive cake shop? That seemed like a safe bet. He didn't know if she liked cake. But she'd most likely never even tried it before based off the information he'd gathered from her, though she didn't seem averse to trying new things.
But was there even a cake shop in Tokyo-3? He'd only ever seen one in his entire life. There was no guarantee that Tokyo-3 even had a cake shop. Where would he take her if there wasn't one?
The boy rolled over onto his side. He wished there was a window for him to look out of right now. But, being underground sort of made the wish void. So, he stared are the bland cream colored wall, trying to consider his choices.
"AAAAAGGGGGHHH! FUCKING…FUCK!"
"Asuka?!"
Shinji got out of the bed and slowly stepped closer to the bathroom.
"rrrrrrrrraaaaAAAAHHHH! GOD DAMN IT!"
"Asuka?! Are you okay?! Asuka?!"
The girl sounded like she was either extremely angry or in a lot of pain, and Shinji wasn't sure which was more likely.
"Of course I'm fine, you idioAAAAHHH-idiot!"
Shinji could hear her panting for breath.
"Asuka, please, don't lie to me. If you need help, tell me!"
"I'm not lying, you idiot! And I DON'T need YOUR help. I don't need ANY help from ANYONE. So, don't you dare think you can walk in here and place your dirty hands all over me, you pervert!"
Shinji frowned, but realized that he probably should just be quiet. He did sound like he was trying to take advantage of the situation after all. Still, he was worried. He had some idea of what she might be going through right now.
In the shower, Asuka was kneeling over the drain. Agony was shooting through her entire body as she clenched her teeth. Most of the pain was focused on the right side of her lower abdomen, the same place her Eva had been run through by the angel's claws after it had gotten its ribs broken in multiple places.
"I didn't know syncing with an Eva would hurt so much," Asuka whispered to herself as water trailed down her lips.
It seemed like the pain was receding though. She knew that it would hurt to sync with an Eva from the start. She'd been told ever since she was a kid that it would hurt. But, she never expected it to be so raw, and more than that, she didn't expect it to hurt even after she got out of the plug.
'Don't you just sit there and take it, Asuka! Get up!'
She slowly pushed herself up. Her legs felt weak and she was dizzy, but she stood anyways and finished washing the soap from her body.
Shinji was patiently waiting on the bed. He wanted to help the girl if she needed any, but he didn't want to get hit either. He also got the feeling that the girl wouldn't accept any help from him and so he forced himself to keep his distance.
He closed his eyes for a minute, trying to calm himself. If she was hurt, it probably wasn't anything that would be immediately life threatening. If it was anything, it was just phantom sensations. Right? That was the most logical explanation Shinji could think of. He should tell her after she got out of the shower, just so she wouldn't be worried.
The door to the bathroom slid open.
"Hallo, Shinji.-"
Shinji opened his eyes and sat up in his bed.
"-Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm all freshened up now."
Steam poured out of the shower and surrounded a feminine figure like some mystical veil. Out of the cloud came Asuka, who was wrapped in only a striped red and white towel. She didn't have her usual A-10 connectors in her hair, and so it was let down over her shoulders completely unrestrained. Needless to say, she was quite stunning.
"GWWWAAAAAHHH!" Shinji choked as his body went rigid and he held his hand in front of him defensively.
Asuka giggled.
"WHY- WHY AREN'T YOU DRESSED?" Shinji shouted with an intense blush overtaking his face as he admired her curvaceous body all too easily through the tightly wrapped towel.
"Teehee," she laughed again, "What do you think of my body?" she said as she swung her hips to the side to really show off her figure.
"What?! Really?! After you told me not to peek and all?!"
"Hmph, it hurts my pride that you're so uninterested in me," the girl said with mock disappointment on her face.
She walked up the boy and leaned forward, granting him a view of her cleavage.
"You know," she meowed seductively, "My breasts have come in quite nicely for a girl my age. They're reeeeeeally soft and suuuuper perky. So, how about it?" She said as she batted her eyelashes as fast as she could while invading the boy's personal space, "You wanna see the real thing? I bet you've never seen real boobs before."
Shinji almost passed out as he felt her hot breath tickle the side of his cheek.
Asuka slowly started loosening the towel.
"S-stop it! D-don't take it off!" the boy stuttered.
She tore the towel away and Shinji yelped, afraid that he'd have a fist in his face any second. But, as he gazed upon her body, there was something relievingly amiss.
She was thankfully wearing a red tube top and a black miniskirt.
"Just kidding," she smiled.
Immediately, she crumpled to the floor and started laughing.
"HAHAHA, YOU SHOULD SEE YOUR FACE. YOU'RE BLUSHING RIGHT UP TO YOUR EARS. AHAHAHA, YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO GET TO SEE ME NUDE! OH MY GOD, I CAN'T BREATHE!"
Though Shinji was still red in the face, his previous annoyance was starting to return. He really wished he was with Rei instead right now.
"Let me tell you something," Shinji said with the slightest of smirks on his face.
"And what's that, Third Child?"
"It would be just like Misato to have a camera set up in here."
"W-what? N-no way! A camera? Where?" she said as she shot up off the floor and started scanning the walls for any such device.
"Anyways," Shinji yawned, "I'm going to bed. I'm tired and Misato is probably gonna have some crazy training regimen ready for us," he finished as he crashed onto the pillows and pulled the covers over his head while he waited for Asuka to turn off the light.
/
Shinji screamed under the sheets. He was sweating and his heart was pounding. He'd just woken up from a nightmare, but that wasn't why he was screaming as though he'd just witnessed the world ending. No. He was screaming because pain was coursing through the very blood that kept him alive.
All the pain he'd ever felt while inside the Eva came back to him. The feeling of getting his skull punctured by the third angel, being penetrated by the tendrils of the fourth angel, the terrible hellish burning inflicted by the fifth angel, and having his entire chest cavity caved in by the twin seventh angel. Every little iota of agony came back to him as blood and fire filled his thoughts.
"AAAHHHHHHHH, AHHHHHHHH, DAMN IT!"
He didn't know where to place his hands. Every part of his body hurt in one way or another and he was constantly trying to ease the all of it. He grabbed at every part of his body; his stomach, his eye, his chest, before moving his hand to another place and repeating his actions.
Asuka angrily stirred in her sheets. She was somewhat unsettled to see the boy writhing in the bed across from her, but she made sure to not show any concern. She flipped on the light switch next to her bed and a dull yellow bulb flickered on above her.
"Hey, would you shut the fuck up?" she snapped at him.
They boy struggled to pay her any mind as he continued groaning and occasionally screaming. He tried to make eye contact with her as he grit his teeth, but it didn't last long. He wasn't even sure she'd noticed him trying to communicate with her. Or maybe she just didn't care. He couldn't tell.
Asuka tossed the sheets off her, got out of bed, walked over next to the screaming boy's, and glared at him as she clenched her fists.
"I told you to shut up!" she said again as she glared at him, "What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you having an orgasm from your wet dream or something?"
Shinji held his hand over his eye as he let out a strangled, "H-h-help m-me."
Asuka growled at the boy and raised her hand, preparing to slap him.
"What the fuck are you doing? You're freaking me out!"
The boy simply couldn't respond. Everything hurt too much.
Asuka's arm tensed and she swung it forward, striking the boy across the face, causing spit to sling out of his mouth as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. The boy yelped and curled defensively into a ball at her sharp stinging touch.
"Jesus Christ! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you possessed? Did your brain just get fried or something?"
"Grrrrruururur," was all the boy could muster in response as he shielded his face from the girl.
"GOD DAMN IT, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP! If you're going to make weird noises, get the fuck out!"
The boy didn't move.
Asuka grit her teeth and raised her hand again. Her hand didn't have a clear path to his face, but the back of his head was still exposed. She smashed her palm onto the back of his skull and he suddenly became silent.
"Hmph," Asuka huffed as she walked over to her bed.
Shinji didn't know if he should be angry with Asuka or not. She had slapped him, but when she'd hit him in the back of the head, he became very dizzy and almost all of the pain stopped. All that he felt now was where she'd hit him.
He slowly turned his head to look at the girl, grateful he was still in bed because of how disoriented he was. He watched her pull the white sheets up over her body and flip the light switch next to her bed. Darkness cascaded through the room once again and everything was quiet, save for Asuka's frustrated breathing.
"I'm sorry…for scaring you…Asuka."
She growled again, obviously becoming more impatient with the boy.
"You didn't scare me. You were just acting like some kind of rabid animal. Had to go and slap some sense into you. Looks like it worked," she said insultingly.
A short moment of silence passed between the two.
"Asuka?"
"What?!" She asked as she turned over to face him with a glare, though he couldn't see it in the dark.
"Earlier…when you were in the shower…where you in…pain?"
"Yeah, I had some menstrual cramps or something. I guess my period is coming a couple days earlier than usual. That's none of your business though," she hissed.
"I don't think it was a cramp, Asuka…"
Asuka didn't say anything and Shinji assumed it was safe to keep speaking.
"Doctor Akagi told me…that…the Evas…the neural uplinks…sometime, it causes pain after you've synced with the Eva; after you've gotten out. She called it phantom sensations."
Once again, Asuka didn't say anything. Shinji assumed she was listening. He hoped she was. He was only trying to help her.
"Asuka?"
The girl only sighed in response as she listened to the boy's trembling voice.
"I am so sorry, Asuka," Shinji sobbed as hot tears slid horizontally down his line of sight and seeped into the pillow.
"It's not your fault. But you know what is your fault?"
The boy didn't say anything, and Asuka answered the question for him.
"You're keeping me up right now. That's your fault. So, shut up and go to bed," she said in an aggressive whisper.
Shinji wept as quietly as he could. He didn't know if it was the loneliness or the traumatic pain he'd felt or Asuka's harshness, but he couldn't stop crying.
"Asuka?" he moaned.
"What?! What is it?!" she breathed out, her annoyance really starting to show through.
"The chicken I left out for you the other night, did you eat it? I found the bowl empty when I woke up," he sniffled, "I-I made it specially f-for you."
Just the slightest pang of guilt brushed again Asuka's heart.
"I…I…I threw it away! Tossed it over the balcony. I told you, I was tired of the rice."
She knew she was lying. It made her so sick to admit it, but she'd eaten every piece of the tender juicy chicken, and she'd swallowed every grain of rice in the bowl, despite her protestation against it. And she'd licked up every smear of the orange sauce that her tongue could reach. But more than that, the part that made her really sick, she'd savored and enjoyed every second of the meal. And she'd absolutely craved whatever spicy pepper Shinji had put into the dish. And she'd so dearly wanted more of it after she'd finished the one serving that was left for her that night.
She listened to the boy cry a little harder and she sighed to herself as she put her pillow over her head to muffle his sobs.
'He's so weak,' Asuka thought to herself.
She tightly shut her blue eyes, trying to force sleep to come.
/
"COME ON, YOU IDIOT! DANCE LIKE YOU WANT TO WIN!" Asuka screamed at the boy!
Shinji had once again tripped over his own feet and he fell to the floor. Asuka reeled her foot back and then kicked him in the ribs as hard as she could.
Shinji groaned, but didn't say anything.
"What are you doing? Get up! Get up! Schnell! Holen Sie Sich auf den Füßen!"
"I don't know...what you're saying," Shinji groaned through panting breaths as he placed his cheek on the cool hard wooden floor. Even though the leotards they both wore were thin, Asuka and Shinji where both hot and sweaty from dancing. And to the tired boy, the cold floor seemed like an agreeable option to cool himself off.
"You might not know what I'm saying, but I'm sure you understand what I'm trying to tell you! After today, we only have four more full days until we need to fight the angel! AND IT'S ALREADY NIGHT TIME TODAY, SO WE DON'T EVEN HAVE A FULL FIVE DAY'S ANYMORE!"
Shinji didn't want to get up, but he did. For as much as he hated all this dancing, he hated being bitched at by Asuka even more.
Once again, Shinji and Asuka stood side by side. The music was still playing and Asuka easily jumped in as she started dancing, her hips swaying, her arms twirling, and her legs fluttering. And once again, Shinji had already failed before he could start dancing. He took a step with the wrong foot and the ever attentive Asuka noticed his mistake instantly.
"GOD DAMN IT!" she shouted as she shoved the her hands into the boy's chest and pushed him over, "I'M DONE FOR THE NIGHT! Why? WHY are you SO FAR behind me?"
Asuka stormed over to her bed and slammed her head into the mattress before screaming in frustration.
She lifted her head off the sheets and rubbed her temples, "The only reason I'm not pulling my hair out right now is because my hair is too beautiful to pull out. Why did I have to be paired up with a loser like you?"
She sat down on the bed and put her face in her hands.
Shinji watched her the whole time. He felt really bad for not doing a better job. But, he couldn't just magically get better at dancing overnight. Still, he figured he should try to make it up to her.
"Asuka… do you want me to cook something for you?"
She turned around and looked at him with a mix of disgust and surprise before answering.
"No!" She snapped at him harshly.
Shinji looked at the floor. All he really wanted to do was help, and she wouldn't let him.
"…unless it's pizza," the redhead said calmer than before, "I could really use some pizza after a day like today."
Shinji shot to attention with her change in heart. But, his own sunk a little. He knew he was a good cook, but he didn't really know how to cook all that western food that she was probably used to eating.
"I…uh…I'm not sure I know how to make it."
Asuka frowned at him.
"Then how about you just buy me some. There's a Pizza Hut around here. I've seen the advertisements on the street."
"A-are you sure? The delivery people probably aren't allowed into NERV HQ. I could just cook something instead. It would probably be easier."
Asuka had a bored glare an her face and her nose was crinkled slightly.
"Hey, Shinji, come here. I have a secret to tell you."
The obedient boy did as he was told and plodded up next to the girl with heavy feet.
"Come on, closer. It's a secret," Asuka demanded again.
He leaned down so that she could whisper into his ear.
"Guess what!" Asuka breathed into his ear as she cupped her hands around it.
"What?" Shinji asked.
"I WANT PIZZA! NOT YOUR COOKING!"
The Third Child jumped and fell onto the floor as he rubbed his ear.
Asuka seemed pretty proud of herself as she sat contentedly on her bed.
"Look. It's simple," she began, "You just take your phone, and you call Misato and tell her that her dear friend Asuka wants pepperoni, sausage, onions, and olives with cheese-stuffed crust. It's a piece of cake, really. Or, a slice of pizza actually."
Shinji pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. His ear was still ringing from Asuka's shrill shriek. He had once again been taught to know better than to disobey her orders.
He dialed Misato's number while Asuka relaxed with her arm behind her head on the soft white sheets of the bed. The phone rung for a couple seconds and then Misato picked up.
"Um, hey, Misato, um… can you bring us some pizza?"
Asuka heard a confused female voice mumbling on the other side of the phone, but she payed no mind.
"Well, because the second child wants some."
Once again, the voice buzzed out of the phone, barely audible enough for Asuka to hear.
"Yeah, she's uh…she's still sick of the rice…"
Asuka hummed and started waving her finger through the air as she imagined an orchestra before her.
"Yeah, she said, uh, pepperoni…sausage…onions, olives, and cheese-stuffed crust."
Asuka hummed some more, her voice going up and down in waves alternating between more intense humming and then quieting to something a bit softer.
"No. You don't need to get anything for me. I'll just make something myself," Shinji said before hanging up the phone.
Shinji went to his bed and sat down. He was exhausted. He didn't know how the redhead didn't falter in her dancing.
"Misato said she'll try to have it here in ten minutes or so."
Asuka didn't seem to hear him as she kept humming something that Shinji swore he knew from somewhere.
"Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmmhmmm hm hmm hmm hm hmmmmm hmhm."
Shinji stared at the girl in wonder as he thought about why what she was humming seemed so familiar.
"O' Freunde, nicht diese Töne!" Asuka sung in an angelic voice.
And then everything connected in Shinji's mind. It wasn't like any other rendition he'd heard, but he definitely recognized the humming and lyrics. He sat very still in awe of what he was witnessing. He didn't dare disturb the girl now. Not after he realized that the music she was humming happened to be one of his favorite pieces.
"Sondern laßt uns angenehmere anstimmen und freudenvollere."
She sung it so smoothly and beautifully. It sounded magical coming out of her German speaking lips considering the lyrics were in her native tongue.
"Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!"
Her voice actually wasn't so bad when she wasn't screaming at him. It was actually very pleasant listening to her sing.
"Deine Zauber binden wieder Was die Mode streng geteilt; Alle Menschen werden Brüder, Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt. Deine Zauber binden wieder Was die Mode streng geteilt; Alle Menschen werden Brüder, Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt!"
The entire sound had been improvised considering she didn't actually have an entire stage full of people to perform for her, but what she was able to sing by herself was so magnificent. It was unlike anything Shinji had ever heard.
"Wem der große Wurf gelungen, Eines Freundes Freund zu sein; Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, Mische seinen Jubel ein! Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele. Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund! Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!"
She gently rolled her head from side to side as she sang, her pillow ruffling back and forth some with her.
"Freude trinken alle Wesen An den Brüsten der Natur; Alle Guten, alle Bösen, Folgen ihrer Rosenspur Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod; Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben und der Cherub steht vor Gott!"
Shinji was quite amazed with the girl's voice. He'd heard her sing in school, but he'd never thought she'd be able to sing like this.
"Und der Cherub steht vor Gott! Steht vor Gott! Vor Gott! Vor Gooooooooott!"
The girl's voice had hit an all-time high, but it was a very pretty high. It wasn't as harsh or grating as when she usually projected her voice. And when she'd finished the verse, she had a twinkle in her eyes as she smiled at the ceiling.
Shinji was afraid to speak to the girl. She seemed so much more grand and intimidating after having sung. But, after hearing her, he really wanted to talk to her. He might be able to make peace with the girl and maybe she'd stop hitting him.
"That…that was really beautiful, Asuka."
She rotated her head and smiled at him.
"I know!"
"I, um… I know…um…it's…Beethoven's Ninth Symphonie, Ode an die Freude, the Fourth Movement," Shinji said uneasily.
Asuka sat up in her bed and clapped.
"Ooh! Very good, Third Child. Maybe you aren't an idiot after all. At least you seem to know your music. I heard you listening to Verdi the other night."
Shinji blushed some and diverted his gaze. He hadn't always liked praise. It had always torn him. He never felt deserving of it when he did get it, but at the same time, he still wanted to do good and hear praise.
"Hey, how about we sing?" Asuka suggested to the boy.
"W-what?" Shinji asked, his blush spreading a bit more, "S-sing?"
"Yeah, you know. Like…singing…to help us get in sync. Maybe if you can't dance, we can try singing instead."
"Oh, um…okay…"
"Okay, then. Start with me."
Asuka looked at the boy and he nodded.
"O' Freude, nicht diese Töne!" they both started singing with Asuka taking the lead by only a few milliseconds.
Asuka sang loud and proud, and a slightly embarrassed Shinji followed her lead. He was somewhat off key compared to Asuka considering that she wasn't singing it the traditional way, and he definitely didn't sing as loud as her. But, he kept up at least.
"Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!"
The door handle to the room rattled and in came Misato with hot pizza.
"Why, that sounds lovely, you two. I'd say this is going pretty well."
Asuka immediately stopped singing, and swung her head around to face Misato.
"My pizza!" Asuka yelped excitedly as she hopped from her bed and went to go grab her box of the cheesy delight.
Misato handed over the cardboard box and Asuka merrily skipped back over to her bed before pulling out a slice.
"Ah, finally," she grinned, "I get to eat some western food. I feel like it's been a decade since I got to have a piece of pizza even though it was only a couple weeks ago really."
"Well, I've got to get back to my paper work," Misato sighed out sadly, "But, I'm going to come back over here for a little bit tomorrow so I can observe and see how things are going. By the looks of it, you two are going to be magnificent."
Asuka froze.
'Observe? She wants to observe us? But... the idiot can't dance.'
"Um... yeah," Asuka said with a fake but still reassuring smile, "we'll totally be ready to take on that angel. I'm so confident; you probably wouldn't even need to observe," Asuka said, trying to manipulate Misato into staying away. She knew that the Third Child would not be able to perform tomorrow and she'd rather spare herself the embarrassment.
"Ah, well, I already called in saying I'd take some time off tomorrow. And, it would be a good excuse to get drunk. Anyways, I still have the rest of the night to power through. So, I'll see you two tomorrow then."
Misato waved at the kids and then trotted out the door, closing it behind her.
"Ugh, we are so screwed! And it's all your fault, Shinji!"
The boy hid behind the sheets of his bed. Things just wouldn't go his way. He tried to get on the girl's good side multiple times, but the path of life kept throwing broken shards of glass under his bare feet. Of course they would be forced to perform tomorrow, and of course it would be in front of Misato. This would probably undo any and all positive bonding he'd just created with the girl. He swore he could already feel the girl's future slaps burning his cheeks.
"How could this possibly get any worse?" they both said in unison.
/
"SCHEIßE! Well, so much for synchronization! I could never sync down to the level that this animated turnip lives at! If you ask me, the whole idea is impossible!"
Just like Misato had said she would, she'd arrived at midday to examine the two children dance. And, much to her disappointment, it wasn't going as well as she thought it would.
And to make everything worse, Misato had brought Rei with her. It put unneeded embarrassment on Asuka's conscience and she didn't like it. She already had one pair of eyes watching her miserably fail because of Shinji and she didn't need a second pair to exacerbate her shame.
"Then you're giving up?" Misato said with a smug look on her face.
"Well, you don't have anyone else. Freakazoid over there couldn't possibly hold a flame to me. She hasn't even had any practice," Asuka smiled confidently.
"Rei?" Misato said, her smug smile still persisting.
"Yes, Ma'am." the girl said.
"Why don't you try?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
Rei approached Shinji and stood next to him on the opposite side of Asuka. Despite Shinji's unwillingness to lead, he knew that Rei wasn't going to do it, and so he began dancing.
The blue haired girl watched the boy with the entirety of her near limitless attention span and as he moved, so did she. Perfectly, she mimicked the boy, all the way down to the involuntary twitching of his muscles.
Asuka looked on in what could only easily be described as horror as the blue haired girl effortlessly performed what she struggled to achieve.
"Well, maybe I should alter the operation to pair Shinji and Rei together instead," Misato said, sounding more serious than mocking now.
"What? Huhh? No… No! NO! I CAN'T STAND THIS! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!"
Asuka sprinted out of the suite and left the door ajar as she dashed down the hallway
"Uuuuugh, Shinji, would you go get her?" Misato asked as she sighed.
Shinji wasn't crazy about chasing after the girl. He'd just as soon leave her be. He didn't want to get hit again.
"D-do I have to?" he whined.
Misato gave Shinji an expectant look and the boy accepted defeat, just like he always did.
As he stepped out the door, he saw the girl run around a corner and disappear. Shinji wasn't much of an athlete. The only time he really ever ran was when he was in gym class at school. But, he wasn't about to catch up with the girl by walking.
He broke into a full sprint and charged down the hallway. If he lost the girl, it would probably be hell to try to find her again. But, as he rounded the corner himself, he came to what was mostly a dead end. There were a couple rooms on either side of the corridor, but nothing he would have trouble searching through.
"Asuka?"
He decided he'd check the first room on the right. Though, he hesitated in pulling the door handle, afraid that a beating would await him. He'd have to open it sometime however. He might as well get it over with if it wasn't avoidable.
He opened the door and saw a mostly empty and dark room. The lights were off and a couple cardboard boxes were scattered among the floor.
"Asuka?" the boy called out again.
No reply.
He exited the room and then approached the next door on the right side of the hallway. He didn't hesitate as long this time. He pushed the door open, and in the middle of the room, Asuka was crouched in the darkness.
"Don't say anything," she mumbled.
Shinji did as he was told and said nothing as he waited for her to make her next move which would, more than likely, involve him being hit.
"I know… I have to pilot the Eva. I have no choice. I'll do it," the girl stood up and clenched her fists, "No matter what, I'll put that freakazoid and that slut to shame. Now, come on. I have an idea."
She turned around and grabbed the boy by the wrist and started dragging him along with her back up to the surface of the world; back out to Tokyo-3.
/
"Do…do we really have to wear this? How is this going to improve our dancing?"
Shinji looked over himself and the sleek black suit he was currently wearing. It felt very out of place to him. He liked neat clothing. But this? This was too formal for him. He felt like he stood out way too much even though Asuka was the only person in their room and she would have noticed him regardless.
"Look! Misato said it was all about our synchronization! Maybe, just maybe, this will help us…I don't know! Subconsciously synchronize better?! Who even cares? You better damn well wear it! I spent my entire paycheck on this beautiful clothing!"
Asuka gestured to herself. She wore a lustrous, silken, bright red, strapless dress. The bodice of the dress showed a teasing amount of cleavage at the front and exposed the girl's shapely shoulder blades from behind. The dress remained tight on the girl all the way down to her thighs where a spiraled ruffling spun around the skirt of the dress all the way down to her ankles.
Asuka wore very bright red lipstick and had decorated the frame of her eyes with deep red eyeshadow. In her fiery hair was a single red rose on the left of her head just above her ear. But, despite the all the fine clothing she donned, she still kept her A-10 neural connectors equipped in her exquisite red locks. And against all the red she surrounded herself in, her jeweled blue eyes stood clashingly against all of it.
Shinji sighed in defeat and went over to the stereo system to turn on their music. He pressed the play button and then walked back to Asuka, afraid to make any first move. This whole ordeal was awkward and embarrassing and on top of that, there was the nagging thought of the twin angel. These dance sessions might have actually been fun if they weren't doing it solely in preparation for a showdown.
"I know we can synch like this. I know it! We just have to get into it. So, are you ready to dance, Third Child?"
Shinji swallowed and then nodded nervously.
"Then take my hand and lead the way like a man."
Asuka held her fingers in the air in a feminine way for Shinji to take hold of. He placed his hand under hers and reluctantly led her along as he held her delicate feeling fingers.
"And put your hand on my hip, would you?! Like a proper dance! You're supposed to be supporting me; not the other way around."
Shinji rushed his hand to her side, trying to fix his mistake before he she decided to hit him.
"Careful where you stick your fingers, Third Child. If your hands were a little further back," she smirked at him, "your face would be on fire right now."
Shinji's cheeks were already on fire from the pure self-conscious blush covering his face, but he knew that's not what the girl meant.
"B- but, you said-"
The girl shot him a scowl and he hushed himself before reorienting his hands to a more forward position on her hips.
"H- Hey! Not there! That's too far forward, you pervert!"
Shinji yanked his hand off her hips as though it he'd been burned by her.
"Errrrrgh, you are asking for trouble, Third Child," she growled at him as her grip tightened and her nails started digging into his shoulder, "Put your hand back on my hips now!"
Shinji was so flustered. But he had no idea how to appease the girl other than to comply with her demands. And so, he once more placed his hand on her hips.
"It was fine the first time, you idiot," she mumbled, "You were pushing my limits but you didn't break them."
Asuka grabbed his hand somewhat nonthreateningly and moved it up a little higher.
"There, now it's not basically on my leg. Now, take your other hand and place it a little higher. On my waist should be fine."
Shinji did as he was told, resting his other hand a few inches below her ribs. Asuka then replaced her hands on the boy's shoulders and they both started swaying gently to the music; one step to the left, rotating, and then one step to the right before rotating again and then repeating.
"See? This is how it should be done," she said approvingly, which caused Shinji to sigh in relief.
Asuka closed her eyes and let the music and the boy guide her.
Shinji stared at her. He could see her eyes moving under her eyelid. Some of her hair brushed over her cheeks, tickling her and causing her closed eyes to shut a little tighter as she tried to ignore the sensation.
She really was quite beautiful. She had a temper and Shinji was afraid of her, but he couldn't deny the fact that the girl who danced in front of him was stunning.
"This is how it should have been from the start. Just like this. Then Misato wouldn't have thought I was a failure..." she said before her eyes fluttered open.
She looked at the boy. His shaky blue eyes darted back and forth in nervousness and a worried expression persistently remained on his face. He looked disappointed as well. She could just see it written on his face.
The music was about to pick up in tempo. Asuka knew that well enough after having listened to it for just over half a week now.
"Let's kick it up a notch," she said as a smirk grew on her face.
Suddenly, she pulled away from the boy and moved her hands from his shoulders to his arms. She yanked him across their makeshift dancefloor while keeping her grasp on his hands. She then stepped back towards him and lifted his arm over her head as she spun around under his wrist.
She let her momentum carry her as Shinji continued to clumsily step in the other direction, almost tripping over himself before losing his footing and beginning to fall. Asuka had intended this to happen however as she also let herself fall in the opposite direction. She kept her hand firmly wrapped around his and they both caught themselves as Asuka tugged at him again and pulled both him and herself back to their feet.
"Better keep up," she taunted him.
Shinji gasped in surprise as she spun in a half circle, wrapping Shinji's arm around her back, and then let herself fall.
She was placing an awful lot of trust in the clumsy Ikari.
She felt her body come to a stop for a split second as the boy caught her, but she then felt gravity lurch at her again.
Shinji realized he might've just made the last mistake he'd ever make. He tripped. He tripped and now both him and Asuka where plummeting towards the wooden floor. He knew the girl was probably going to kill him for this. She was counting on him, but he just couldn't keep up with her spontaneity.
Desperate to at least minimize the damage the girl's body was about to endure, he wrapped his arms around her head so that she at least wouldn't shatter her skull on the polished wooden floor. The last thing NERV needed right now was a pilot with a concussion only days before they launched their offensive against the angel.
Asuka let out an "oof" as her butt hit the floor.
Shinji had landed directly on his left elbow and his head. His forearm ached and the bones in his arm were tingling while his head seemed to be pulsing in pain. But, at least Asuka seemed to be okay. She was still acting like her normal self at least.
"Uuuurrrggh! YOU IDIOT! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CATCH ME LIKE THOSE SEXY FAMOUS DANCERS DO!"
Shinji may not have caught her like those sexy famous dancers, but at least he caught her in some form of the word.
She threw the boys arms off of her and stood up.
"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO INCOMPETENT? WHY ARE YOU EVEN PAIRED WITH ME? YOU'RE PATHETIC!"
She stomped off to the bathroom to go change out of her clothes and into something more suitable for bed.
Shinji lifted himself off the floor and rubbed his head. He couldn't see straight Misato came to mind for a moment and he wondered if this is what it was like to be a hungover woman in her late twenties. A hurting head, an inability to stand, and difficulty thinking straight, it all lined up too much with Misato.
Asuka suddenly burst from the bathroom in a loose tan t-shirt and red and white stripped cotton panties.
"Time for bed, children," Asuka said in a mocking and disgusted manner as she stomped to her futon.
She tore the sheets away from the pillows and slammed her head into them in frustration.
"Why do Japanese have to sleep on the floor? This is so stupid," Asuka whined into the pillows.
Shinji finally felt well enough to stand and stumbled into the bathroom so that he could change into his own nightwear which consisted of a white t-shirt and blue boxers.
After stepping back out into the living room of the suite, he could hear Asuka softly snoring into her pillows. The girl must've been absolutely exhausted from dancing for so long. But even so, she didn't make any mistakes. Shinji was honestly amazed.
Shinji climbed into his futon, disappointment etched all over his face. And though he was tired, he wasn't going to get much sleep that night.
/
Shinji had been lying motionless in his bed for almost two hours. He couldn't sleep, not with Asuka and the angel on his mind. He knew he should sleep. If he didn't, he'd only upset the girl even more tomorrow when he failed to meet her expectations yet again. But, his mind was too addled with doubt in himself for him to really consider sleep a viable course of action right now.
He was tempted to get out of bed and practice by himself, but he'd already experienced what it was like to wake the girl from her slumber. And besides the fact that he'd probably be hit for waking her up, she needed to get some sleep herself. Otherwise, neither would be able to perform tomorrow.
As fate would have it, sheets rustled and he heard bare feet press off the floor, indicating that Shinji's partner was no longer asleep. And as though the boy weren't already still enough, he stopped breathing and waited for the girl to make her move.
He could hear her footsteps pattering across the room like soft rain falling on a roof. And then, the door to the restroom slid shut. Shinji took a breath. So, at least she wasn't about to beat him.
He waited in silence. He didn't want to indicate that he was awake. He didn't want to do anything that might provoke the girl.
He heard the toilet flush and then the faucet poured out water for a few seconds before it also was returned to muteness. The door to the bathroom slid open and then the tapping feet of Asuka wondered back across the room.
But, something was wrong. He felt an extra weight fall onto his mattress. He opened his eyes, afraid of what he'd see.
His heart almost jumped out of his chest.
Not even four inches from his face was Asuka's own visage. Her pearly golden skin, her thick eyelashes, the ridge of her nose and the texture of her lips; he could see it all so clearly, even in the darkness.
He'd never seen the girl in such detail before. He'd never been able to admire her beauty in such a manner.
He looked her over, and casting his eyes down, he saw more than just cleavage. Her arm was wrapped around her chest and was pushing her breasts out the loose collar of her shirt. He could see the entire top half of the girl's full and perky breasts. They struggled to squeeze out of her shirt, only barely being contained by the neck of the garment.
This was simply too much. Asuka's breasts held a spectacular shape with their mass and Shinji could feel his boxers seemingly becoming smaller with each beat of his heart.
The redhead leaned her face closer to the boy. He could feel her hot breath on him. Her lips looked so tantalizing. It was driving him crazy. He had chills running up and down his spine.
She shifted again and moved closer to him. Their foreheads where pressed flush together now. Their noses where rubbing against each other. Her lips where less than a centimeter from his and Asuka's intoxicating breath made Shinji high off adrenaline.
He felt wrong doing it, but it was so hard to resist. His urges took hold of his mentality and Shinji prepared to kiss the girl.
"Mmmm…mmm…"
The girl moaned and tears started leaking out of her closed eyes. Shinji wanted to stop. It felt so wrong doing what he was about to do. But, he just couldn't.
"Mmmma…Mmmama…M-mama…"
The girl started trembling and sniffling in her sleep while even more tears washed out over her cheeks. Finally, with a look of sadness on his face, Shinji's resolve to kiss the girl was shattered.
He crawled off the futon, careful not to wake her, and then went to lay in the one she had previously been sleeping in.
"You're still just a child yourself, Asuka."
/
It was the last night before NERV launched its offense against the twin angel. Tomorrow, Shinji and Asuka would board their Evas and they would attempt to destroy the angel. But for now, they would relax.
They had been dancing all day urgently trying to perfect their synchronization. Shinji seemed to be doing a lot better than he had been. At least he hadn't dropped the girl for a second time. He still made mistakes, and though Asuka chewed him out over it, they had become a lot more acceptable and less detrimental.
After their dance session, Asuka had decided to go back up to Tokyo-03 and stop by a coffee shop to reward herself for putting up with the boy for the past six days. Shinji had come along with her as per Misato's orders for them to continue syncing. The girl didn't exactly want to spend any more time with the boy, but she didn't get much of a choice.
It was nighttime outside and the stars where twinkling overhead as Asuka stepped off the Geofront train and onto the terminal. Her tired legs carried her to the other side of the station with Shinji close behind.
She didn't want to wait, and luckily, she didn't need to idle for very long before one of the many Tokyo-3 loop line cars arrived at the platform. She boarded it, not wanting to delay her coffee break any longer.
The train wasn't very crowded and the car she was on was completely empty save for herself and Shinji. She appreciated that stroke of fortune. She hated being on trains. It made it too easy for perverts to brush up against her.
The commute passed by mostly in silence. Shinji and Asuka didn't need or want to talk at this point in time. They, for the most part, already knew what the other was thinking, and beyond that, they were simply tired and wanted to take some time to relax before they went back to their suite in the Geofront for their last dance session before they had to face the angel.
The train came to a stop, and Asuka wearily stood up. Her legs were shaking from fatigue. She dearly needed sustenance. Luckily, the coffee shop was only a few blocks from the train stop.
The walk down the dark street was tiring for the two pilots, but an immense feeling of relief washed over the both of them when they smelled the brewing coffee in the air, and even more so when the little shop came into view. The only thing left was for them to order their coffee and take a seat at their chosen table.
Asuka ordered a vanilla latte for herself. And, Shinji, not being much of a coffee connoisseur himself, asked Asuka to choose something for him, to which she also decided to pick a vanilla latte.
The kids sat down at a table in the corner of the shop, relived that they could finally get something to drink other than water.
The coffee wasn't scalding hot. It was actually quite a comfortable drinking temperature, which further relived Asuka. She really wanted to get something in her stomach, even if it wasn't solid.
Shinji quietly gazed out the window into the darkness of the night and occasionally sipped at his cup.
Both of the kids were quite distant right now. So many things were on their minds. And so, like on the train, they remained quiet and thoughtful.
After finishing their coffee, the kids left the little shop quietly, in the same fashion they'd arrived and made their way back to the train station.
At this time of night, the trains slowly went out of service one by one. And, so, the kids were stuck on a bench, waiting for one of the few trains still running to arrive.
Asuka twiddled her thumbs in her lap and kicked her legs back and forth absently while Shinji chose to gaze up at the stars while they waited.
"I wonder why they do that…" Shinji mumbled thoughtfully.
"Hmm? Why who does what?"
"The stars. I wonder why they twinkle."
"Hmm? The stars? What are you?! Stupid?! They twinkle because…because…"
Shinji glanced at the girl. She sounded abrasive at first but she quickly became more subdued. It was odd considering what Shinji had come to expect from her.
"Asuka? Is something wrong?"
"No…it's nothing…"
/
"Shinji! Asuka!" Misato called out, "It's time for battle! The targets are active! What're you-"
Misato opened the door to the suite and found the two pilots out cold on the floor. Misato was in a panic. They only had a couple minutes to get the Evas launched and the pilots where asleep.
"WHY ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING? DIDN'T YOU HEAR THE ALARM? THE TARGETS ARE ON THE MOVE! YOU TWO NEED TO GET UP NOW!"
Misato tried picking up the two pilots but couldn't very easily. And, so she dragged them across the floor towards the changing rooms instead, trying to save as much time as she possibly could between now and launching the Evas.
"C'MON, GUYS! WAKE UP! YOU'VE GOTTA GET CHANGED INTO YOUR PLUGSUITS!"
"Tired…" Shinji groaned
"Sleepy…" Asuka moaned
"PLEASE! YOU'VE GOT TO WAKE UP!"
/
-One Moment, One Heart-
/
Shinji and Asuka had finally woken up in accordance with Misato's rude awakening. Despite the urgency, they had lazily changed into their plugsuits and were currently waiting to be launched.
"Alright, both of you spread your AT fields once the music starts. Then simply follow the choreography from the onscreen depiction. Ready?" Misato said over the com unit.
"Yes, Ma'am!" both pilot's said simultaneously.
"'Just remember, Shinji. Full power, maximum performance," Asuka said with a sparkle in her eyes finally absolving the sleepiness she was feeling.
"Got it. Sixty-two seconds. That's all we need," the boy confirmed.
"Launch the Evas!" Misato ordered.
The two Evangelions rocketed towards the surface as the recoil from the catapults shook the launch bay.
"When you guys reach the surface, remember to detach your umbilical cables before getting to the surface and ensure that the Evas are in maximum gain mode," Misato reminded the kids, "You aren't going to have your pylons secured, so you're going to be launched directly into the air. You're only gonna have a little over a minute on your internal battery, so make it count."
"Yeah, yeah," Asuka said nonchalantly.
The pair of Evas shot out of the elevator catapult and became one with the sky as they soared over the buildings. Almost directly below them, the angel trampled across the city streets.
"Let's dance!" Asuka shouted with her signature smirk on her face.
The Evas ejected their progressive knives from their pylons and threw them at the angel which prompted it to separate.
Landing back on the ground, they each grabbed a pallet rifle from the armament compartment of the catapult and proceeded to run in opposite directions, each Eva picking a target and firing at it to draw its attention.
The Evas each danced through the air and on the ground, avoiding the angels' counter attacks with perfect timing. The entire battle was like a piece of art; the fearful symmetry between the pilots and Evas bringing forth awe and horror as they danced the ballet of Death for all to witness.
The Evas discarded their pallet rifles, the giant guns crashing to the streets, and seemingly as one being, the two massive beasts leapt into the air for their final attack. Together, they twirled through the air, side by uniform side; their very actions indistinguishable from one another as the two Evas smashed their heels into the cores of the twin angel, shattering both to pieces.
In that moment, Shinji and Asuka where conjoined but separate, as one in the same while also one of a kind.
The cores of the angels collapsed and detonated as a huge flash of light outshined the sun before kicking up a dust cloud a mile high.
As the smoke cleared, a tangled metallic mess of red and purple lay in the crater of the explosion.
"YOU JERK!" Asuka screamed viciously over the radio, "WHAT IS YOUR EVA DOING ON MY UNIT-02? YOU COMPLETELY FUCKED UP OUR LANDING! And we were doing so good!" Asuka whined.
"W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO FELL ON ME!" Shinji shot back!
Back at the command bridge, everyone was sighing in exasperation at the once again bickering children.
"You both kinda fell on each other," Misato said in an effort to quell the children's' tempers. Her voice was unheard though as Asuka was already shouting again.
"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO LOST OUR TIMING FIRST, DUMMKOPF! YOU'RE ALWAYS SO SLOW! WHAT WERE YOU DOING STAYING UP SO LATE LAST NIGHT?"
"I WAS IMAGE TRAINING FOR TODAY'S BATTLE, JUST LIKE YOU WERE!"
"OH, IMAGE TRAINING. I JUST BET! I KNOW YOU TRIED TO KISS ME WHILE I WAS SLEEPING!"
"YOU CHEAT! YOU WERE AWAKE?"
"OH MY GOD," Asuka shrieked in horror and disgust, "I WAS JUST KIDDING! DID YOU REALLY KISS ME? EWW!"
"N-N-NO! NO, I DIDN'T. I SWEAR! I STOPPED!"
"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"
"YOU WHERE CALLING FOR YOUR MOTHER IN YOUR SLEEP AND SLEEP WALKING AND-"
Fuyutsuki sighed and rested his face in his hand as he listened to the radio chatter between the two children.
"Those darn kids are embarrassing us again. I can already see this being plastered all over the evening news..."
/
-To Indulge, Treat, and Amuse-
/
Asuka had woken up late in the day as the Tokyo-3 sunshine burned through the window in her room. She was exhausted from doing nothing but dancing for the past week and from the final showdown with the twin angels. And seemingly, a full night's sleep hadn't seemed to alleviate her fatigue very much.
Looking at the clock in her room, she assumed that even Misato must've been awake by now. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have considered waking up so late acceptable, but today, she just didn't care.
She yawned and pulled off her white see-through nightie and then slipped out of her panties. She tossed both into a random corner of the room before searching through her drawers trying to find a fresh set of clothes.
After examining and tossing aside a couple dresses and t-shirts, she decided on a tight black miniskirt and a red cropped racerback that only really covered her breasts. She adorned her clothing and then took a few prideful steps out of her room.
Looking down the hallway, she saw Misato sitting on the couch, apparently about to go through a day drinking session as she watched the television.
"Hey, Misato, don't you have paper work to do or something?"
Misato shifted in her seat so that she could turn to face Asuka.
"Well, yeah, but I never do it the first day after an angel attack. I always put it off. I just tell everyone I'm watching after you kids to make sure you're alright so I have an excuse to get drunk," she smiled bashfully.
"Hmph, figures," Asuka hissed under her breath, "Anyways, where's the idiot?"
Misato turned back around to face the TV.
"Oh, he went out to go do something with the first child. Probably something naughty."
"N-naughty?! What'd you mean naughty?! He's getting laid?!" the redhead asked astounded.
Misato smirked a little, knowing Asuka couldn't see her face, "Is that jealousy I'm hearing?"
"N-NO! I'm just surprised. He seems like such a loser."
"Well, for your information, I was only teasing. He's so innocent; he probably doesn't have it in him squash a fly, even if it landed on his above average cooking. So, no, he's probably not doing anything with Ayanami," Misato sighed, "Anyways, he left you something in the kitchen."
"Left me something?" Asuka mumbled, wandering what it could possibly be.
'Probably something perverted,' Asuka thought with a bored face as she made her way to the dining room.
Rounding the corner though, her eyes widened with surprise.
Sitting elegantly on the table was a plate with a dozen cupcakes. Next to the ceramic plate was a note.
She slowly stepped closer to the table, afraid she might have been dreaming. It had been years since she'd had cupcakes that looked this good. And, these cupcakes seemed eerily familiar.
She finally got close enough to make out the writing on the note. She picked it up with shaking hands and read it.
'Thank you for piloting with me and having my back yesterday. I'm sorry I only just now had the time to make these. They're apple with maple frosting, just like you wanted. I hope they're to your liking.'
Tears were welling up in Asuka's eyes as she delicately picked up one of the cupcakes and examined it.
'You promised you wouldn't ever cry again, Asuka! Don't you dare cry!'
Her almost leaking eyes stopped pooling as she gained control of her emotions, pulled away the paper cup, and took a bite of the delightful little cake; the sweetness taking her so many places she didn't want to go.
.
*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*
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"Hello again, everyone. It certainly has been awhile, hasn't it? I've been really busy coming up with crazy plans to defeat the angels. But, I'm here now though, and I've come with the crazy preview for the next chapter!
After having dealt with the twin angel, Israfel, Asuka and Shinji decide it's time to see who's really the master of the kitchen. Shinji is an astounding cook when it comes to Asian food, but Asuka is still sick of rice! Can Shinji stand up to Asuka's more western recipes? Cheese will grated, meat will be sliced, and bread will be baked in the ultimate clash of delicious edible passion; it's the cooking competition show you don't wanna miss. Next time on Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; Of Cookery and Cuisine.
And, I will most certainly be there for lots of taste testing, fun and games, and of course, fanservice. Whipped cream!"
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And that is that.
Now, I did a little bit more research on the timeline of Evangelion. Turns out, It actually doesn't take place over an entire year. Funnily enough, Asuka actually arrives in Japan some time in September. And hey, would you look at that? We're in September right now! So, get this. I was thinking about writing a cute little Halloween chapter, right? But, I didn't know if I could fit in into this fic or if I'd have to write it out as a separate story. Well, considering that it's September right now, and Asuka arrives in Japan around that time, I actually figured that I could fit a Halloween chapter in this fic quite easily. So, what I'm probably going to do is write out the Halloween chapter, just so I know it's finished. Then, I'll write chapter seven and upload it (Possibly eight as well if I can finish it in that time). And, whenever the thirty-first comes along, I'll just insert the little Halloween chapter in there and it should fit neatly in. I know you guys are going to love it. I have a really cute scene with Rei already planned out. It makes me "d'aww" just thinking about it.
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Update: Thank you for pointing out that the scene transitions where missing, Satanic Park of Madness. I should have looked over this chapter before publishing it. I put the scene transitions in, but for some reason, they disappeared. I don't know why, but for some reason, Fanfiction deletes some of my stuff sometimes. So, I just went back and fixed that. They should be there now. I will be more vigilant in the future.
Update: Okay guys, just finished the Halloween chapter. It's a good ten thousand words. Not the longest thing I've ever written, but hopefully it'll suffice. I may still add some more to it if any ideas pop into my head. But, I'm primarily going to be working on chapter seven from here on. Hopefully I can get it out before the thirty-first of next month. I think I can. I don't think it's going to be too terribly long.
Update: Sorry for being so quiet everyone. I'm expecting chapter seven will be out in a week, maybe less than that if I can really focus on it. I've decided to change a couple things with this story, so I've been wrapped up in that too trying to iron it out. Hopefully it won't take too long to get the next chapter out. I wish I was better at focusing. I really wish I was.
Update: Yesterday (10/4/2016) was Evangelion's 21st birthday! YAY! Happy birthday NGE!
Update: Sorry for not updating very often! Ugh. Chapter 7 is almost done! I don't want to set a release date because...I almost always can't reach it from my experience. Ugh! Sorry everyone! It should be out...soon!
Final Update: Chapter 7 is done. Publishing it now!
