Okay, so I originally took some time off from work to try to type this chapter up because I wanted to get some more words out because of my absence. But then one of my friends died (on April fools, lol. I literally thought it was a joke at first.) and I ended up using the time I took off to go to her funeral and spend some time with her family instead. So yeah, originally, this chapter was supposed to be out a lot sooner. And then life- er, death happened and kinda distracted me. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it.
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Okay, it's been awhile since I've done any review responses just because everything has been going to shit and usually by the time I'm done with a chapter, I just want to curl up in my bed, turn my phone off, get drunk, and ignore shit. But, I'm trying to get outta that habit. Anyways, on to the actual review responses.
The-Mrning-Star: Was last chapter really pleasant to read? If it was, that makes me feel good. I was worried I was gonna get some hate for last chapter. I hope everyone realizes I'm just trying to steer the characters together without being too abrupt with it.
Satanic Park Of Madness: I suppose I might not have needed to type all of last chapter up in three days or whatever, but...I WANTED TO! *cries* NO, I NEEDED TO! *cries harder* Something inside me was forcing my hands; a storm of torment and self-disappointment that is there to prove that humans can do crazy stuff when they want to!
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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 10
Action at The Speed of Light
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A lone girl with red hair lay quietly in her bed.
It was either too late at night or too early in the morning; she didn't really know. Either way, she wasn't pleased she was awake. All she wanted right now was to sleep, but the pain in her body and the thoughts in her mind wouldn't let her.
'Don't cry, Asuka. You're strong. You don't cry. It's beneath you. You got out, just like you always do. There's no reason to cry. You're safe. You're fine, Asuka.'
The girl stared out her window, but there was nothing to see other than an occasional flash of lightning.
She turned over in her bed, trying to avoid brushing against or putting pressure on any of the numerous bruises on her body, but it was a nearly impossible task. She'd been beaten all over and there was almost no avoiding accidentally touching one of the contusions.
None of it hurt as bad as her head though. Her entire skull was throbbing. Doctor Akagi had told her that she had a concussion but that the swelling in her brain hadn't been too bad and that she should be okay to go home if she wanted to as long as she avoided any activities that would potentially do more damage to her.
Of course, Asuka assured Doctor Akagi that she would take it easy, but she didn't mean it. Asuka would do whatever she wanted. She wouldn't let a head injury stop her…except when it came to sleep.
She grit her teeth in frustration, which only worsened her head pain. She simply couldn't coax herself to shut her eyes; not when it felt like they were painfully being squeezed out of her skull.
"Damn it!" she hissed to herself.
She threw her covers off herself before standing up and glaring at her pillow. She then grabbed it and threw it too. It hit a wall across the room and she walked up to it before stepping on it and grinding it beneath her heel.
She massaged her temples with her fingers, the anger making her head hurt worse.
"I guess I'm just not going to get any sleep tonight," she huffed.
Asuka turned around and stumbled over to the door of her room. She slid it open and peeked around the corner to get a glimpse into the living room. Misato was still sitting on the couch next to Shinji, who was thankfully asleep.
Asuka deduced that it was just safe enough to step out of her room without the risk of having to explain what happened to Shinji.
She lightly stepped over to the couch, trying her best not to wake the sleeping boy.
Seeing Asuka step around the armrest of the couch from the corner of her eye, Misato redirected her attention away from the television to face Asuka.
"Asuka? Is everything alright?"
"I can't sleep…" Asuka mumbled.
"Oh…I…I suppose you have a lot to think about right now. I…I bet it was scary. You know, it's okay to be-" Misato whispered to avoid waking Shinji before she was interrupted.
"Stop. Don't say that. It's not okay to be scared. And more than that, I wasn't scared," Asuka lied, "Being scared of a weak bitch like him? Please, Misato. I fight monsters for a living. I'm certainly not scared of a bastard like him," she hissed quietly but assertively.
Misato sighed. She knew Asuka would never admit to being afraid. And even though Asuka actually didn't seem that shaken up by what happened, Misato still had a hard time believing that Asuka hadn't been afraid.
"Anyways," Asuka continued "That's not why I can't sleep. I'm not a little kid and I don't let irrational fear interrupt me from sleeping. But…I do hurt a lot. And it's hard to fall asleep when my head feels like it's going to rupture. And… And… Geez, Misato, can't you put that stupid Shinji to bed? I can't have a conversation with him around right now, even if he is asleep," Asuka harshly whispered as she pointed accusingly at the sleeping boy.
Misato looked over at Shinji, who was still sleeping soundly on the other side of the couch.
"He's not hurting anyone, Asuka."
"I don't care. If he wakes up and sees me like… like…!" Asuka rapidly waved her hand in front of her face, gesturing to her bruises, "Like this! He's going to ask questions. And I don't want to answer those questions right now. So, can you just…just?!"
"What do you want me to do? If I move him, he's probably going to wake up."
"Just pick him up carefully so he doesn't wake up and then move him to his room before he knows what's going on."
Misato set her beer down on the coffee table in front of the couch and stood up. She then carefully tried to slide her arms under Shinji, who luckily did not open his eyes as she lifted him off the couch.
Though, as she stepped around the couch and carried him to his room, the boy began to mumble some.
"M-Misat..o?"
"Yes, Shinji?"
"You're…back…"
Misato giggled.
"Hmmhmm, yes I am."
"Where's Asuka?" The half-asleep boy questioned.
"Oh, she's busy," Misato said as she looked over her shoulder to see the stitches on the back of Asuka's head.
Asuka huffed and mumbled to herself, "Stupid Shinji. Can't even get to bed without help. What a baby!"
She then turned her attention to the television. A man had just taken a bite of a sandwich when an alarm went off and a gunshot sounded.
"Oh shit…" The man on the T.V. said as he set the sandwich down and stepped outside the café he was in before pulling a revolver out of his sports coat.
The television then focused on a busy street as people ran away from the alarm. The man briskly walked forward to investigate as he cocked his revolver. He saw a man with a shotgun back out of an alley.
The man, still chewing on a bite from his sandwich, took aim at the shotgun toting man and hollered "Halt!" with a still full mouth.
Obviously not intent on halting anything, the shotgun wielding guy fired at the man with the revolver. Luckily, the pellets from the shotgun missed and the man with the revolver immediately fired back.
At this point, Misato returned to the couch and picked her beer up from the coffee table as a stylized firefight broke out on the television screen.
"I dunno why I watch this crap." Misato mumbled before she started chugging her beer.
"It's not crap, Misato. That's Dirty Harry! And it's been forever since I've seen it, so shhhh!" Asuka said, not once taking her eyes off the screen.
The man, who Misato assumed was this Dirty Harry that Asuka spoke of, confidently strode down the street as a broken fire hydrant spewed water into the air. Eventually, he came upon the man who had previously been holding the shotgun. Even as he bled out, he still attempted to reach for the fallen firearm.
"Uh uh," Harry said, drawing the man's attention away from the pump action.
With tired eyes, the man looked up to face Harry, who had risen his revolver to point at the man's face.
Asuka got up from the couch, stood next to the T.V., and curled her digits to make a finger gun, much to Misato's surprised amusement.
"What are you doing?" Misato asked with a giggly smile.
"Just watch," Asuka said as she tried to mimic Harry's pose with a puffed out chest and a dead-eyed look on her bruised and swollen face.
"I know what yer thinkin'," Harry continued as Asuka also recited the lines with him, "Did he fire six shots or only five? ….Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a forty-four magnum; the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you gotta ask yourself one question. Do I feel lucky?-"
Asuka looked right at Misato with fake intimidation radiating from her girly voice, which mostly just made Misato giggle a little more.
"-Well do ya, punk?"
Harry and Asuka both let their victims revel in the question; the man on the screen still reaching for his gun and Misato still trying to contain her giggling. Though eventually, the man gave up on reaching for the gun while Misato quieted herself to see what Asuka would do next.
After the man had given up, Harry kneeled over and took the shotgun, which was just barely out of the man's reach. He then turned around and walked away, to which Asuka tried to emulate by limping her pained body slowly to the kitchen.
"Hey,-" the bleeding man said to Harry as he walked away.
Harry turned around to face the man as Asuka turned around to face Misato once more.
"I gots ta know," he said.
Harry had a somewhat curious look on his face, wondering if the man really did want to know if there was just one bullet left in the cylinder of his revolver.
Harry returned to the man and once again pointed his gun at the man's head. He cocked the revolver and the man suddenly had a look of horror on his face. Harry pulled the trigger and the gun made a click instead of a bang. There were no rounds left and the man was allowed to live if only to sigh in relief before being jailed.
Harry smiled at his little practical joke and walked off as the man whispered, "Son of a bitch" under his breath.
Asuka sat back down on the couch, lovingly gazing at the screen.
"So, you think I could get one?" Asuka asked.
"One what? A gun?" Misato questioned, somewhat caught off guard.
"Yeah, a gun. A revolver, just like Harry's" Asuka confirmed sweetly as she twiddled her thumbs innocently.
"I don't know, Asuka. That doesn't sound like a good idea. Firearms are illegal here for the most part, you know."
Asuka flirtatiously placed one hand on Misato's lap and another under Misato's chin, which she gently stroked as she tried to convince Misato.
"Maybe for normal little girls they're illegal. But, not for you, Misato. And not for me. We aren't normal little girls, are we?" Asuka purred.
"N-no, we aren't," Misato's voice waivered in response.
'Why is she acting like this all of the sudden?' Misato wondered, 'Wasn't she just saying no more flirting earlier? Wasn't she threatening to report me to NERV because I made moves on her and Shinji? And now she's sitting here…doing….this? She…she can't be flirting with me. No, she's not. She's just using me to get what she wants. I can't fall for it. She knows I'm a lonely unmarried woman and she knows I wouldn't turn her down if she offered. Of course I wouldn't turn her down. She's…she's…so gorgeous.'
Misato stared into Asuka's deep blue eyes. They were so surreal and rather motivating, even if they were bruised and bloodshot. After all of the physical damage she'd been through a few hours ago, she was still so-
"Beautiful," Misato whispered.
Asuka's calm demeanor immediately vanished and a blush colored the parts of her face that weren't already stained by her bruises. She yanked her hands away from Misato and held them in front of her uncomfortably.
"Wha-what!?" Asuka stuttered, "D-don't say that! Don't make fun of me! I-I should hit you! Grrrh!"
'Calm yourself, Asuka. Don't hit her, even if you want to. Even if you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to, don't hit her. You'll blow it and you won't get that gun you want. Just be sweet. Misato is totally bisexual. You can absolutely convince her to do whatever you want her to do. So, just play along with it, Asuka. Fuuuuuuuckkkkk… Why am I doing this?' Asuka internally sighed to herself.
"No! Asuka, I…I mean. You really are…beautiful." Misato said as she blushed while setting her beer back down on the coffee table.
'Oh, great. Now she's ACTUALLY going to hit on me. How the fuck did I get myself into this? Oh god, this is so awkward,' Asuka despairingly thought to herself, 'Okay...okay. Just keep calm. Play along with it. Hopefully she won't take this too far.'
But, before Asuka knew it, Misato's hand was stroking her bruised face ever so slightly.
"Asuka…I'm…so sorry that this happened," Misato whimpered, obviously talking about Asuka's injuries.
"Y-yeah, so am I," Asuka said as she tried to keep herself from cringing.
"I really mean it, though. I wasn't making fun of you. You're still really pretty," Misato said again as she stroked Asuka's cheek while still trying to avoid any of her bruises.
"W-well, m-maybe if you want me to stay pretty, you'll buy me a gun? So…maybe just think on that…and yeah," Asuka squeaked a little as she winced at Misato's touch. She'd accidentally brushed against one of the bruises on the side of her head.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Did…did I hurt you?" Misato said as she pulled her hands away from Asuka's face some.
"N-no!" Asuka lied through a pained huff, "It's just cold and I shivered. Anyways, about that gun…"
Misato gently returned her hands to Asuka's cheeks even more carefully this time.
"Yeah? What about it?"
"I want one! I already told you!" Asuka whimpered.
"Okay, Asuka, listen," Misato said as she brushed some of Asuka's hair out of her face, "I really don't think that's a great idea."
"And I don't think it's a great idea to leave me, humanity's greatest hope for survival, completely defenseless," Asuka pouted, trying to keep her anger in check, "And besides that, you already agreed to do anything I say. If you don't, I will tell the Commander about what you did."
Misato sighed. Asuka once again had her beat, but Misato still didn't like it.
"I don't know, Asuka. That still sounds like a bad idea."
"You…you said you were sorry about this! Didn't you?" Asuka said as she pointed at her face, "So, prove it! Get me a gun so that THIS doesn't happen again."
Misato remained silent, tears threatening to spill over her face.
"If you do; if you get me one, I'll…I'll let you off the hook. I won't ever tell the Commander about what you did," Asuka added in as an afterthought as she subconsciously wrapped her fingers around Misato's wrists in an almost pleading way.
They sat together in silence for a couple seconds. Both staring into the others' eyes.
"Fine…I'll get you one."
Misato immediately regretted saying it, but it was done. She finally let her hands slide off Asuka's cheeks in defeat.
"Hey, why are you acting so sad?" Asuka asked more out of curiosity than care, though she did have a hint of concern in her voice.
"I'm not sure," Misato mumbled, unsure if she should cry or smile.
"Well, stop it,-" Asuka said as she lifted Misato's hands up and put them back on her face.
Misato gasped a little. She wasn't used to Asuka doing anything even remotely like this. It was strange, and new, and…warm.
"-You…you did save my…my…um…li-. Saved my… lif-… You know what I mean!" Asuka stuttered out in frustration.
Misato giggled as a few tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Teeheehee, yeah, I know what you're trying to say. You don't need to say anything, Princess Honeybunch."
"Don't call me that," Asuka said in a low and threatening voice.
Misato squealed out in laughter but quickly put her hands over her mouth to avoid possibly waking Shinji.
Misato tried her best to silence her laughter and as she opened her eyes, she saw that even Asuka was smiling just a little, which honestly frightened Misato a bit. But, she tried not to let it bother her.
Instead, Misato was once again entranced by Asuka's blue eyes. In the dim light of the living room, they almost seemed to glow as they reflected the light that streamed in from the kitchen.
"Anyways," Asuka started saying, "try not to look so sad. You were…y'know…good…today… But don't expect me to say sorry or thank you!"
"Oh, Asuka, I wouldn't dream of it," Misato said as she fell forward and hugged the girl, pinning her to the couch.
"Whoa, Misato! This is getting weird!"
"It was already weird," Misato's muffled voice laughed into Asuka's stomach.
"And it hurts! My poor ribs! My stomach! They've already taken enough punishment!"
Misato pulled her face out of Asuka's abdomen and whispered, "Sorry. I forgot that you're my little warrior."
"Seriously, though," Asuka said, "That was weird."
"Psh, well yeah. But, it's actually not weird for mothers and daughters to do weird things together."
"But…you're not my mother. And…I'm not your daughter," Asuka said with a confused grin.
Misato and Asuka stared at each other for a few moments, contentedly trying to understand each other without words.
Misato leaned a little closer to Asuka and moved her hands to Asuka's face for probably the tenth time that night, placing a finger under her chin before speaking.
"Asuka...the doctors said that you might have had some memory loss… How much…do you remember? Do you remember what you said to me?"
"No. I don't even remember you being there…but I know you shot him. I heard that much from some of the nurses."
"So, you…really don't remember what you said to me?"
"No. I already said. Why don't you tell me if it's that big of a deal?'
"Well, it's kind of embarrassing."
Asuka started to blush, afraid of what she might have said.
"Misato, if it was embarrassing, you have to tell me what I said!"
"Well," Misato started to say as thunder rumbled in the distance.
She wondered if she really wanted to tell Asuka what she'd said. She knew that Asuka was extremely vain and could take it the wrong way if she told her that the red-haired girl had in fact called Misato her mother and that Misato had played along with it in order to comfort her. And, having seen firsthand how Asuka dealt with her embarrassment, Misato wasn't entirely sure she wanted to ruin this moment between them.
'Just another example of when I should have kept my mouth shut but didn't,' Misato thought to herself.
"Oh my god, Misato, was it really that bad? It was, wasn't it? I really said something truly stupid, didn't I?" Asuka panicked as she assumed Misato's silence meant she'd accidentally spilled all of her darkest secrets.
"Oh, n-no. It wasn't embarrassing for you! It was more embarrassing for me, honestly. You were just saying that you were sorry for running off and…taking those drinks…with you," Misato lied.
"Oh…oh, that's all?" Asuka sighed in relief, "I thought I'd have to kill you for a second there. Can't have anyone knowing my secrets," Asuka said as she forced a few laughs.
Misato leaned a little closer to Asuka and put her other hand on her cheek.
"Hey, Asuka, you…you know you can tell me anything, right?"
Asuka blushed and attempted to retreat from Misato, but couldn't go much of anywhere with her back against the armrest of the couch.
"Uh-huh," Asuka confirmed, though it seemed she was a little unsure of her answer.
"And, you know I'm not going to hurt you ever again, right?" Misato said as she leaned even closer to Asuka.
"Y-yeah," Asuka stuttered as her blush spread even further across her face as Misato came closer.
'Oh, god, Misato. This is so fucking weird. What are you doing?' Asuka's mind screamed, 'I'm trying to be sweet, but you're seriously taking this the wrong way!'
"And, you know I…care about you, right Asuka? You're…important to me," Misato said in a low and needy voice as her eyes fluttered shut.
"I…know," Asuka managed to choke out.
Asuka could feel Misato's moist warm breath pouring over her own hot flushed cheeks. She could smell the intoxicating aroma of the alcohol in Misato's saliva along with hints of Misato's lavender perfume mixing with the fragrance of Asuka's own cinnamon-orange shampoo. The scent was infuriating to Asuka. It was intimidating, but at the same time, it was so raw and inviting. It made her heart begin aching from the rush of adrenaline pumping through her.
It was so unnatural to Asuka but she subconsciously placed her own pale hands on Misato; one on her cheek and one behind her head. She then closed her eyes and slowly leaned forward as her lips took on the shape of a rough ellipse.
'Oh, Mein Gott. Was mache Ich? What am I doing? Why am I doing this?' Asuka thought to herself in a daze as she could feel the warmth of Misato's complexion radiating onto her.
Everything about this was wrong to Asuka. She didn't want to do what she was about to do, but it was like being that close to someone simply made her lose control of herself. It sort of just happened. It was like she couldn't stop herself from attempting to kiss the woman in front of her.
'Woman… Oh my god! I'M ABOUT TO KISS A WOMAN!' Asuka's mind screamed as it went into a flurry realizing what she was about to do.
"Misato…-" Asuka whispered, which caused the older woman to pause her advance, though she was still close enough for their eyelashes to touch as they blinked.
"-What are we doing?" Asuka's shaking voice whimpered as though she were ashamed of herself.
Misato felt a chill run down her spine as Asuka's breath pushed into her mouth.
"I…" Misato tried to say, though she was mostly left speechless.
Misato climbed off Asuka, whose breathing was very shallow and nervous.
"Asuka…I…I'm sorry."
The small red-head caught her breath and said a few words of her own.
"No…It's my fault. I…shouldn't have tried to convince you to get me a gun. None of this would have happened if it weren't for me trying to flirt with you."
Misato was taken by surprise once again. This wasn't like Asuka at all. She'd never admit to or take the blame for a mistake under normal circumstances, much less affirm that she had indeed been flirting.
'Though, this isn't really a normal night,' Misato reminded herself.
"Asuka...are you feeling alright?"
Asuka frowned a little, but it wasn't a terribly vile one.
"No, of course I'm not. The stupid head injury is doing this to me. It's making me not act like myself," Asuka said as she rubbed the stitches on the back of her head.
"Oh…I see," Misato said with a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"I'm…going to try to go to bed. I'll…see you tomorrow Misato," Asuka said as she turned away from the couch and limped a few steps back to her room. However, she turned around again and smiled at Misato before saying one last thing.
"Hey, we're still good," Asuka said as a half natural and half forced smile grew on her lips.
Misato smiled at Asuka's word and watched her limp back to her room.
"That's good to know, Asuka," Misato whispered under her breath after the girl had shut the door to her room.
'I guess she just wasn't ready for anything like that yet. But…it seems that I've at least repaired some of the damage to our bond after all those years of being apart. And that's good.'
Misato looked at her beer before picking it up off the coffee table for the second time that night.
"Oh, Kaji. I don't know how you managed to turn down her advances," Misato wondered to herself aloud, "I couldn't have said no if I wanted to. But, that's not really surprising, is it? After all, all I know is sex…"
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"Oh god, I almost kissed her," Asuka whispered as she shut the door to her room.
"That was so fucked up! I almost kissed her? The hell is wrong with me?"
Asuka took a deep breath to try to calm herself but her heart was still beating hard and fast like an earthquake inside her chest.
Her heart wasn't the only thing quaking though. Her legs where shivering and so were her fingers. She couldn't sit still. The excitement? The fear? The uneasiness? Whatever it was, it was tearing her apart. Her face was so flushed, she swore it was glowing with how much heat it was giving off.
"I'm not into girls! I'm not into girls! I'm not into girls!" Asuka quietly chanted to herself like it was some kind of ward against evil, "It's just Misato's lesbianism. It's infecting me. Oh god, I think I need to see a doctor. They have medicine for this, don't they? Can't they run electricity through you until you turn straight or something? Because I'm absolutely not into girls!"
She took another deep breath and sat down on her bed.
"I'm not into girls! I'm into Kaji! Not girls! Especially not Misato!"
Needless to say, Asuka was freaking out.
"But, if that's true; if I really don't like girls, why did I try to…to…to kiss her?"
Thunder once again rolled across Tokyo-3 as if to try to answer the girl's question.
A lump formed in Asuka's throat.
"Don't cry Asuka. You can't cry. No matter how fucked up things get. It doesn't matter if someone tried to rape you. It doesn't matter if Misato tried to seduce you. It doesn't matter if your mother died. It doesn't matter if Angels rain down from the sky. You cannot cry. It's beneath you," Asuka desperately whispered to herself as she frantically tried to convince herself it was safe to fall asleep and that she wouldn't wake up as someone else come tomorrow.
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-A New Day, A New Chance-
/
Shinji awoke at almost exactly six in the morning. Despite the fact he didn't have an alarm clock, he'd gotten so used to Asuka shoving him awake to make breakfast before school that he had adjusted to waking up early, even on the weekend.
"Sunday…today's Sunday," Shinji grumbled.
Shinji slid out from under his covers and shivered.
"Of course Misato had to turn the air conditioning down to sixty."
He exited his room. It was quiet, unlike last night when it had been raining and thundering. He quietly padded across the floor in his socks. As usual, he was the first one awake on the weekend. Asuka seemed to be in bed and Misato thankfully hadn't drunkenly passed out on the couch.
He made his way to the kitchen and immediately turned on the stove. He'd be cooking in a few minutes, but right now, he just wanted to warm his hands up. He could barely feel his fingers.
While he held his fingers over the glowing heating element, Shinji began listing off the things he needed to do today.
'First things first. Breakfast. Toji and Kensuke are coming over for breakfast today before we go to the laser tag arcade. But, that's going to cause problems with Asuka for sure. So, I guess I better cook something for her too. Otherwise, she'll probably try to kill me.'
Shinji sighed at the thought.
'After breakfast, Toji, Kensuke, and I will go with Misato to pick up Rei. After we get her, we're going down town to the arcade and we'll probably spend about half the day there before dropping everyone back at their respective residences and coming back here. Doesn't sound too bad,' Shinji said with a slight smile.
'It might even be fun.'
Content with the outline in his head, Shinji started looking through a couple cabinets for a skillet that he could use to fry a couple eggs for Asuka and a few more for himself and the others.
'I wonder if Rei is going to have breakfast,' Shinji questioned as he inspected an iron skillet before setting it down on the burner
Shinji opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a carton of eggs and a can of tuna salad for Pen Pen.
'Maybe I should bring her some left over miso soup just to be safe.' Shinji said as he also reached for a cup of leftover soup he'd made the other day.
Shinji set the cooking supplies down on the counter. He coated the skillet with some oil, cracked three eggs onto it, and let them spill into the sizzling pan before opening a the can of Tuna salad.
Shinji knew that PenPen wasn't much of a morning person- er, penguin. But the bird had started to warm up to him after Shinji had started bringing him food in the mornings.
He made his way over to the other refrigerator and awkwardly knocked on the door.
"Wark!" the bird sleepily responded.
Shinji assumed that was a yes and pulled the door open to give the bird his food.
PenPen starred at Shinji and Shinji stared right back at him.
The boy slowly offered the bird the can of food.
PenPen looked at the tuna and back to Shinji as he still held his hand out, waiting for the bird to take it from him.
"Well, this is awkward…" Shinji said with a few forced laughs.
"Wark."
"Y-yeah, that's what I thought too."
"Wark?" PenPen questioned as he tilted his head in confusion.
"W-well, anyways. I-I…I'll just leave this here with you," Shinji said as fast as he could while setting the can of tuna on the dollhouse sized table inside the fridge.
Once again, PenPen and Shinji had another awkward stare down battle. But, PenPen, with his beady eyes, had won before it had even started.
"I'm sorry! I'll just go!" Shinji said as he swiftly shut the door.
"What am I doing? Talking to Penguins? People would think I was insane if I even talked about seeing a penguin considering they're supposed to be extinct after second impact. But, everyone would think I really went off the deep end if I said I was talking to one!"
"You know, Shinji, not all penguins are extinct. …At least, I don't think they are. Though, they're certainly less common than they were," a surprising female voice said as she stepped out of her room.
"Misato?!" Shinji gasped, "I-I-I was just feeding PenPen! And he was being weird!"
"But not as weird as you," Misato teased, "You were talking a bird like you said."
Shinji, rigid with embarrassment, shuffled back to the stove.
"So," Shinji began in an attempt to make normal conversation, "Why are you up this early, Misato?"
"Oh...I couldn't sleep last night. The thunder kept me up," Misato lied, "Anyways, what're you making us for breakfast?"
"I was just frying some eggs. …Um, Misato, do you know if Asuka likes natto? I was just going to make her some fried eggs, but if she likes it, I didn't want to make her feel left out since I was going to make some natto and rice to go along with everyone else's."
"Natto? Nah, she probably wouldn't like that. Probably too weird for her tastes. Hell, I even know people here who don't like that stuff."
"You think I shouldn't make it then?"
"Mmm, you're the cook, Shinji. You tell me"
Shinji watched the eggs sizzle on the skillet. The rising heat swept over his eyes, almost prompting him to close them. But he didn't, even as the eggs started to violently splatter hot oil. And, at seemingly just the right moment, Shinji grabbed a spatula and slid it under one of the eggs and lifted it onto a paper plate before doing the same with the other three. He then grabbed three more eggs, cracked them, and returned to the fridge to look for some refrigerated natto and rice.
While the next set of eggs were frying, he grabbed a bowl and put some of the rice and natto into it before lightly microwaving it just enough to get it warm. He then carefully lifted the three sunny side eggs into the bowl and then punctured the yolk before mixing it around gently.
He brought the bowl over to Misato, who seemed to be daydreaming or at least very deep in thought. The distracted woman didn't really notice as Shinji set the bowl down in front of her.
"Misato?"
The woman snapped out of it and looked at Shinji who then directed her attention to the bowl of food he'd just set in front of her.
As Shinji turned around to tend to the other three eggs on the stove, Misato spoke up.
"Shinji?"
"Hmm?" the boy responded.
"Do you think you could make Asuka an omelet instead of just fried eggs? I think…I think she'd like that."
Shinji nodded with a smile before returning to the stove, taking the eggs off the skillet and making his own bowl of the rice and soybeans to go under his eggs.
"I imagine she'd still like it to be warm. Do you know when she might wake up so I know when to start cooking it?" Shinji asked as he sat down at the kitchen table.
"I don't really know. It was late and she was…really tired last night when we got home."
"Oh yeah. Why did you get home so late last night? I was waiting to find out what you wanted for dinner but I guess I fell asleep before you got home," Shinji said before spooning some of the mixture into his mouth.
"Oh, it was nothing. Just a little accident," Misato said in a deflated tone.
'Accident?' Shinji wondered to himself.
He looked down at the spoon in his hand. It was still a strange thing to him. Misato had owned a couple pairs of spoons before she'd taken in Asuka, but Shinji was more used to traditional saibashi chop sticks. But after Asuka had crashed into his life and showed him, in her words, the "superior" fork and spoon, he had become more open to the usage of such utensils. And, they had proven to be an easier way of eating certain things, though they still weren't Shinji's favorite.
And that was just one example of how Asuka had changed Shinji's life. Despite her hostile personality and her rather overblown temper, he enjoyed having her around and would certainly worry if she had been hurt.
'I wonder what kind of accident,' Shinji thought with a frown as he finished eating the contents in his bowl.
However, Shinji wouldn't have time to wonder, for a knock on the door of the Katsuragi residence just reverberated down the hallway and through the kitchen.
"I wonder who the hell that could be at this hour in the morning," Misato said with a yawn.
"It's probably Toji and Kensuke. I'm supposed to hang out with them at the arcade today. They were supposed to come over for breakfast. Geez, Misato. I did tell you yesterday right? You said you'd pick up Rei with us too. Don't you remember?"
"No, not really," Misato sighed, "A lot of things happened yesterday. I was really flustered. Guess I forgot."
Shinji rushed over to the door after setting his bowl in the sink so he could wash it later. Whoever was on the other side had knocked one more time before Shinji had gotten close enough to grab the door handle.
"I'm coming!" Shinji shouted just before opening the door.
/
A muffled "I'm coming!" was heard through the door of the Katsuragi residence.
"That's what she said," Kensuke chuckled under his breath right as the door flew open.
Toji smirked as he looked at the boy who'd just presented himself a moment before.
"Did someone say they're cumming?" Toji sarcastically joked.
"Ha! GAYYYYYY!" Kensuke followed up.
Shinji immediately felt like shrinking away until he was nothing more than a speck of dust that everyone would ignore.
'Why does everyone have to be such perverts?' Shinji's mind cried.
"Haha, we're just fuckin' with yah, Shin-man," Toji said as he roughly patted the boy on the shoulder.
Shinji managed a few forced laughs.
"We won't be fucking with you for too much longer though," Kensuke laughed.
"Yeah, that's right. We brought someone else to do the fucking," Toji said with a smirk.
"Someone…else?" Shinji gulped in fear.
The young men stepped aside and behind them was a small pale girl with blue hair.
"R-Rei? What're you doing here? Misato was supposed to pick you up later," Shinji asked with apparent embarrassment and surprise.
"Mister Suzuhara and Mister Aida arrived at my residence this morning requesting that I accompany them so that we might simplify Captain Katsuragi's tasks while simultaneously expediting and elongating the amount of recreational time we were allotted today. However, it seems that I was left unaware of the finer details of this venture until a few moments ago. Apparently, my current orders are to do the fucking. That is why I am here if I am not mistaken," Rei said with a straight face that shouldn't have been possible with the explanation she just gave.
"No! No, no, no! That won't be necessary!" Shinji said in a panic.
Toji put his hand behind Rei and pushed her forward, sending her tumbling into Shinji's arms.
Shinji looked down to his chest only to see Rei clinging onto his shirt. She looked up at him with her big, red, blinking eyes. He could feel her breath creeping across his throat and it sent shivers down his spine.
"Ooh, so romantic!" Kensuke teased as he took a picture of the tender moment with his camera.
"That's one for the scrap book," Misato said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
"Misato!" Shinji gasped.
"Misatoooo," Kensuke and Toji swooned.
"It-it's not what it looks like! Sh-she tripped! Er, I mean!" Shinji stuttered as Rei remained leaning against him.
"Oh, really?" Misato teased, "Because it looks exactly like young love if you ask me."
"I-it's not! I swear!"
"Why are you afraid, Shinji?" Rei asked as she continued to cling tightly to his shirt.
"I'm not afraid!" Shinji weakly protested, "I'm just trying to avoid any misunderstandings!"
"Misunderstandings?" Rei questioned again.
"Yeah, a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding or multiple misunderstandings?" Rei questioned, innocently exacerbating Shinji's embarrassment while trying to look for confirmation.
"It! It! I don't know!"
"We went on a date yesterday. I thought we were allowed to be close. Am I misunderstanding?" Rei asked as she further invaded Shinji's personal space by inadvertently bringing her face a little closer to his.
"No! Or, I mean! It…It's complicated!" Shinji said as his heart constantly raced faster and faster; her body pressed against his making Shinji more embarrassed by the second.
"You went on a date yesterday?" Kensuke asked in awe.
"We went on a date yesterday," Rei confirmed.
"You went on a date yesterday? Good for you, man," Toji said as he slapped Shinji on the back with a healthy dose of manly strength.
"They went on a date yesterday," Misato cooed in a dreamlike trance, probably imagining something perverted.
"Yes! We went on a date yesterday! Now can we please go inside so I can get breakfast started?!" Shinji weakly shouted.
"Oh, yeah! Food! I'm down!" Toji said in excitement.
"Right this way everyone!" Misato sang as she walked back inside to the kitchen, followed shortly by Kensuke.
Toji cupped his hands around his mouth and whispered to Rei, "This is the part where you ask him to carry you," before he too slipped past the pair and headed into the apartment.
"You know, I'm right here…" Shinji said, to which Toji responded with only an amused grin as he passed.
With that, Rei looked up to Shinji, her dark red eyes suddenly sparkling a scarlet color with the morning sun appearing from behind a cloud.
"Would you like to carry me, Shinji?"
Shinji blushed and took a small step back, which only worsened his situation by causing Rei to lean on him even more as she lost some of her balance.
"I…um…would I l-like to? Um."
Rei giggled just a tiny bit.
"It is okay if you do not wish to," she said as she rested her head on his chest.
What Shinji was about to ask was about to take a lot of nerve for someone like him, but Rei had a calming and encouraging presence when it was just him and her. He just barely worked up enough courage to say something that he would probably end up regretting.
"Do…you…want me to carry you?"
Rei looked up at him again with a slight smile.
"It would be pleasant. I enjoy being around you."
"I guess that's a yes," Shinji said with an unconfident voice, hoping both his physical and emotional strength would hold up.
He awkwardly bent down and swept one of his arms under Rei's knees and he held the other one under her shoulder blades as he rotated her and picked her up. She was quite a bit lighter than he'd expected.
Rei smiled as Shinji lifted her up and gingerly carried her into the apartment. Though, he did struggle to shut the door behind them, Rei was more than willing to grab the handle and pull it closed herself.
Shinji slowly walked down the hall leading to the kitchen. He could hear everyone chattering and assumed they weren't paying much attention to the fact the he and Rei were alone together. But, Shinji's will was still beginning to falter.
He finally made it to the entrance of the kitchen and stopped. Still concealed by the wall of the foyer, Shinji paused without anyone noticing him, save for Rei who had a somewhat concerned look on her face.
"Is something wrong, Shinji?" Rei asked quietly enough that no one in the kitchen would hear.
Shinji remained quiet for a couple seconds before answering.
"I…I don't know if I can do this," Shinji whispered back to her.
"Do what?"
"I don't know if I can…carry you into the kitchen. With everyone there, it might be embarrassing."
Rei smiled at him gently.
"That is okay, Shinji. You may set me down."
Regretfully, Shinji took Rei up on her offer and set her down as quietly as he could, his nerves finally getting the better of him.
Rei, noticing that the boy next to her was feeling discouraged after setting her down, made an effort to mend his feelings.
She put her cool hand on his cheek. It was hot to the touch, no doubt from his embarrassment.
"Shinji, do you recall what I told you yesterday?" Rei asked in her signature gentle voice.
"About…what?" the boy asked, unsure of what she was referring to.
"About me protecting you."
Shinji remained silent but nodded.
"I will protect you no matter what. It is why I am here. You do not need to worry," Rei said with a determined and caring look as she slowly brushed her hand across his flushed cheek before letting it fall back to her side.
/
Shinji had probably spent a good ten minutes making everyone their breakfast. And he'd then spent another twenty making everyone seconds and even thirds and fourths in Toji's case, which Shinji was currently preparing. In fact, out of the two dozen eggs that had been in the fridge earlier this morning, there were only six left
'Just enough to make Asuka a full sized omelet. And thankfully, it looks like Toji might be close to having his fill,' Shinji thought as he looked at the happy table.
Toji and Kensuke were telling jokes and trying their best to flirt with Misato. Misato herself played along with the flirting some but definitely seemed more interested in her beer and coffee. And Rei? Well, Rei was just being Rei. Though PenPen had crawled onto her lap looking for some kind of food, it hadn't changed her demeanor much and she still sat quietly as the penguin waddled around in her lap begging for scraps.
The eggs in the pan crackled, drawing Shinji's attention back to them. They looked to be done and he scooped them out of the pan onto the warm natto and rice. He then pierced the yolks and mixed them around in the bowl some before bringing it to the kitchen table where Toji was surely waiting patiently for the bowl of food.
Only, when Shinji turned around, it didn't look like he was waiting. In fact, he looked like he was staring into the distance with a somewhat disgusted look on his face.
At this point, Kensuke had just finished telling a joke and was waiting for a response from his friend. But, when no laughter erupted from Toji, Kensuke turned to face Toji and saw the same thing Shinji did.
With a questioning look, Kensuke followed Toji's gaze and apparently ended up with a similar reaction as he too became unable to divert his gaze.
Finally, it was Shinji's turn to look at whatever had caught their attention. So he did, and what he saw just about made him jump out of his skin.
In the living room, Asuka was peeking her head out from behind the wall of the hallway leading to her room. Only, her face was somewhat more terrifying than usual.
"What…what happened to you?" Toji asked, not sure what exactly he was feeling at that moment as he looked at the bruised face of Asuka Langley Sohryu.
"Nothing! What're you looking at, perv?" Asuka spat.
"Hey! I was actually concerned for a sec, you bitch. But forget it!"
"Excuse me! What did you call me, you stupid jock?" Asuka said as she marched into the kitchen and glared at Toji.
The exchange between the two caught Misato's attention. She grimaced wandering how this could possibly play out.
"I said forget it," Toji said as he crossed his arms.
"Nuh uh, you aren't getting off that easy you brat," Asuka growled at Toji.
"Who're you calling a brat? Go look in a mirror and maybe you'll see something other than those ugly welts on your face; like your own bratty attitude."
"That's it! You little!"
Asuka grabbed the young man by the collar and hefted him partially out of his seat before she drew her fist back, about to punch him.
Toji also curled his fingers into a fist below the table.
"Go ahead. Do it. See what it gets you," Toji said as he growled at the girl.
Asuka grit her teeth and her fist started shaking as she tried to restrain herself.
They glared at each other for what seemed like a thousand years. They obviously wouldn't be getting along very easily. The entire kitchen had gone dead silent, waiting to see who would do what. And as time continued to pass, the tensions rose even higher.
Until Misato butted in with an attempt at awkwardly deescalating the situation.
"Oh, would you look at that," the lady chirped, "Rei's wearing the new clothes I bought her. Isn't she cute?"
Both Asuka and Toji turned their heads towards Misato and began glaring at her instead.
"Th-there's no need for those looks, you two. Okay, okay, wait. Just go back to your thing. Don't mind me," Misato said as she dismissively waved her hand back and forth in fear.
Toji and Asuka went back to vilely snarling at each other.
'Is that…the accident Misato was talking about?' Shinji wondered as he looked on at Asuka's extremely bruised face.
"Asuka…" Shinji whispered.
The girl glanced at him for a split second but didn't seem to know for sure if she'd heard her name.
"What? You scared?" Toji mocked.
"Absolutely not! Just trying to restrain myself because I don't want to pay for any damages I might put on that pretty-boy face of yours."
Shinji put the bowl of food he was still holding on the table and then placed his hands sofly on Asuka's wrist, trying to persuade her to let go.
"Come on you two. Don't do this," he said shyly.
Asuka's nostrils flared in anger when she felt Shinji's touch. Shinji flinched, expecting her to hit him in the face before breaking into a full on brawl with Toji.
Luckily, she didn't. She growled, droplets of spit shooting out from between her teeth but she did finally let go of Toji's collar.
"Where's my breakfast?" she huffed.
"I-I was just about to make you an omelet," Shinji said as he tried to smile.
"I don't want it! I want fried chicken. And a lot of it! I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday."
'That's…odd,' Shinji thought to himself, 'I thought she went out to get dinner with Misato last night. Something isn't right here. Why were they home so late last night? Where did she get those bruises? Why hasn't she eaten? Just what happened last night?'
"O-of course, Asuka. I'll see if we have any batter," the shy boy said in an attempt to appease the flaming girl.
"Hey, now hold up just a minute," Toji started again, "What makes you think you can just order him around like that?"
"Why, because he's my servitor, of course," Asuka said in a feathery, light, matter-o-fact tone.
"A servi-what? Now wait just a damn minute, you-" Toji started before Shinji put a hand on his shoulder.
"Toji, it's okay."
"LIKE HELL IT IS! Shinji, man, you can't just do whatever this bossy bitch says!"
Asuka laughed.
"Sure he can! It's his job!"
"YOU BITCH! JUST REMEMBER YOU ASKED FOR IT!" Toji shouted as he stood up out of his chair.
He rolled up the sleeve of his jog suit jacket as he stomped up to Asuka.
He pulled his balled fist back, getting ready to slam it into the already bruised girl's face. But, before he could-
"Mister Suzuhara?" The quiet voice of Rei blurted out…as much as she could blurt out anything.
Toji paused and turned around to face the blue haired beauty, his fist still absently raised in the air.
"Are you…um…" Rei paused as she tried to find the right word, "Um…are you…Gay?
"W-what?" Toji asked, not sure he'd heard her right.
"Are you gay? …For Shinji? I believe that is how you're supposed to say it, is that correct Captain Katsuragi," Rei finished as she turned to face Misato for confirmation.
Misato's head was stuffed into her folded arms that were resting on the table. She was shaking uncontrollably and she seemed to be having trouble breathing.
Everyone had fallen dead silent, except for Misato who could just barely be heard laughing through her arms.
"Captain Katsuragi? Is something the matter? Would you like to see a doctor?" Rei asked curiously.
"No! No! I'm fine, heeheehee!" Misato choked out between suffocated laughs, "She- heehee! She called Suzu- heehee. Suzuhara gay!"
Kensuke started chuckling lightly before he too went into full blown laughter.
"Ayanami think's Toji is gay! Hahaha, uh, that's pretty good."
"I do not understand. Why is that amusing?" Rei said as she was left in the dark.
"Teeeheehee," Asuka snorted as she tried to contain her laughter, "you know, she might be right! Hahahaha!"
Shinji mostly just looked on at the spectacle. Shinji's face has become a little red, but it literally paled in comparison to Toji's.
"I'M NOT GAY!"
"You aren't?" Rei said, barely able to be heard through all the laughter.
"NO! OF COURSE I'M NOT! WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE PLAYING LAZER TAG TODAY! DON'T YOU REMEMBER? IF SHINJI'S IS STUCK HERE COOKING FOR THIS BITCH, THEN WE'RE GONNA GET A LATE START. AND THAT DEFEATS THE POINT OF BRINGING YOU HERE THIS EARLY, AYANAMI! ME STANDING UP FOR SHINJI HAS ABSOLUTLEY NOTHING TO DO WITH BEING GAY!"
"Are you saying I am to participate in the exercise known as laser tag as well? I apologize. I was given to understand I was here to do the fucking," Rei said genuinely.
Misato could have dropped dead from laughter at that point after hearing Rei recite such a graceful and well-mannered response.
"Did someone say laser tag?" Asuka questioned in a wondrous voice, "I love laser tag! Why didn't anyone tell me?"
"Because you're not invited!" Toji shouted.
"Say's who?"
"I JUST SAID IT!"
"Besides you I mean," Asuka said as she blew off Toji's answer.
Asuka chuckled as she walked past Toji and approached Shinji with a disarming smile.
"So, what do you say, Third Child? Can I tag along. You see what I did there, right? Cause it's laser tag."
She put her finger under Shinji's chin and gently stroked him as she leaned towards his ear.
"Hello! What's going on here?" Misato said as she observed Asuka getting rather close to the boy.
"If you say no," Asuka whispered into Shinji's ear, "I'm going to strangle you when you get back. I hope you realize that."
She then backed up from Shinji and playfully stuck her tongue out at him.
"It's been settled then! I'm coming along too!" Asuka announced to everyone in the kitchen.
"But…he hasn't said anything," Toji said, pointing out the obvious.
"Don't worry. I already know what he's going to say. Isn't that right my little servant," Asuka said with a devilish smile.
Shinji sighed in defeat.
/
-Just a Friendly Game-
/
"What is that?" Asuka questioned in awe as she gazed out the window of Misato's Renault.
"That," Toji started to say, "is two floors of straight up tactical, action-packed, glow-in-the-dark fun."
"Cool!" Asuka shouted.
"It's not actually glow in the dark," Kensuke mentioned, "It's actually just lit under a partial ultraviolet spectrum. But it's still pretty cool."
Asuka looked back at Kensuke from the front seat with a bored expression as though she already knew the science behind it.
"So, are you ready, Shinji?" Toji asked, trying to psyche the boy up.
"Y-yeah! With Rei, I might stand a chance against you," Shinji awkwardly joked.
Rei silently looked at the troupe of boys, all squished into the back of Misato's car along with herself.
"Alright! Let's go!"
"Wait a minute! I still need to park the car!" Misato said as she slowly guided the car into a free parking spot.
"No way! I'm not waiting another minute! It's so cramped back here!" Toji exclaimed as he tried to stand up.
"If you crawl over me, I'm going to beat you," Asuka growled as she looked over her shoulder with a glare.
Toji defeatedly sat back down in his seat.
"Man! Shinji, why'd you have to bring her along?"
"She didn't give me much choi-"
Asuka glared at Shinji which caused him to flinch.
"I mean, she was just really convincing," Shinji corrected himself.
Asuka huffed just as Misato pulled her key's out of the ignition and both of the women stepped out of the car, followed by Toji, Kensuke, Shinji, and finally Rei.
"This place…" Rei mumbled to herself as she looked at the giant neon sign above the building, "It is…colorful."
"Hell yeah, it is! You should see it at night," Kensuke said excitedly.
The group approached the entrance of the building. Anticipation welling up in all of the kids' chests. Toji and Kensuke were excited to see how well they faired against the pilots. Even though both Rei and Asuka had been through firearms training and Shinji had some experience just from being in the Eva, the two boys were relatively sure of their own abilities; sure enough that they were going to have a two versus three match.
Asuka, of course, was confident in herself, and had no doubt she would win. She'd even offered to have a four on one match just to prove how good she really was.
"Hey, you dweeb, remember our bet. If I win, you're giving me your school lunch for the rest of the week," Asuka said as she sneered at Toji.
"Yeah, yeah. You should worry about how well you see in the dark," Toji shot back nonchalantly as they all walked through the door.
Inside, a bored man stood behind a dimly lit counter. But, upon hearing the door open, he looked up and his expression brightened seeing who walked in.
"Oh shit! Look who it is! It's the myths! The legends! Our lords and saviors! Toji and Kensuke!"
"How's it hangin', Mister Shimizu?" Toji said in a brotherly manner before fist bumping the man.
"It was kinda boring before you two stepped in. And those kids over there? They're the ones you were talking about, right?"
"Yep, that's them!" Kensuke affirmed as he shifted his glasses, "They're the Eva pilots!"
"That's hype, bro! Holy shit!"
The man stepped around the counter and approached Rei with an outstretched hand.
She awkwardly looked back and forth between his hand and his face.
"You're supposed to shake his hand, Freakazoid," Asuka harshly whispered.
"Oh, excuse me," Rei apologized as she finally grasped the man's hand, "I am not accustomed to such receptive gestures. I am Rei Ayanami."
"It's all cool, sis. My name is Katashi Shimizu! It's nice to meet ya," the man said.
He then shifted a step over and shook Shinji's hand.
"And, you're the one that cooks really well, right?"
"Oh, uh, yes, Sir!" Shinji replied in a somewhat flustered way.
"Haha, nice. Toji's told me all about your cooking. It sounds pretty dope!"
"Oh, thanks. I try!" Shinji replied modestly.
The man then stepped in front of Asuka and once again offered his hand.
"And, you must be that German girl!"
"German, Japanese, and American actually, but yes. My German shines through the most," Asuka said as she firmly grasped the man's hand and shook it.
"That's pretty cool. But, I'm curious, how'd you get those bruises? They look pretty serious."
"You should see the other guy," Asuka smirked, "He picked a fight with the wrong chick."
"Oh, shit! That's BFA! Right on!"
"Why thank you," Asuka said as she released her grip on the man and curtsied.
Mister Shimizu finally stepped before Misato and held out his hand for the final time. Which Misato promptly grabbed.
"And, let me guess. You're their Commanding Officer?"
"Uh, yes. Commanding Officer and Guardian. But, you can call me Mommy," Misato giggled with a slight blush as she held her free hand in front of her lips in an embarrassed manner.
The three children awkwardly looked at Misato as she released her grip on Mister Shimizu's hand.
Asuka leaned over to Shinji as though she were about to tell him a secret.
"Did she just call herself our mother?" Asuka whispered.
Misato Walked over to the counter and started pulling some money out of her wallet.
"I think she did," he said back in a hushed voice.
"You kids go and have fun now," Misato called out as she handed some cash over to Mister Shimizu.
"I think she's taking this too far," Asuka whispered to Shinji again.
"Alright, ladies, gentlemen, and…Sohryu," Toji said with some disgust as she glared at him, "It's time to introduce you to the crew."
"Crew?" Rei questioned.
"What crew?" Shinji also asked.
"Oh, you know. Just the regular patrons and noobs who try to compete against me and Kensuke. They're all gonna be watching from the sidelines today. I've been hyping this up for a few days now. Everyone wants to see what the Eva pilots are made of."
"You mean you told them we were gonna be here?" Shinji said, trying to hide his anxiety.
"Yeah, I actually told them you guys would be making an appearance before I actually confirmed anything with you," Toji laughed as he scratched the back of his head guiltily.
"Well, that's just great as far as I'm concerned," Asuka butt in, "I could use some publicity! I'm ready to start signing off autographs!"
As the group followed Toji and Kensuke around a corner and down a short hallway, they came across a pair of big, heavy, black doors.
"Alright, so this is how it's gonna work. Kensuke and I are going to go in there and we're going to hype everyone up."
"When we say that we present the Eva pilots, that's when you guys come in and make your big entrance!" Kensuke shouted ecstatically as he threw his arms in the air!
"You guys got that? Everyone is super hyped to see you guys do your thing. They're going to shit bricks when they see you."
Shinji and Rei both nodded obediently and Asuka smirked.
"Alright, let's do this shit!" Toji exclaimed!
Toji and Kensuke gave each other a high five before running through the doors and getting everyone's attention.
"Alright, noobs! Time! Time!" the three kids could hear Toji yelling through the door.
"Oh, shit, it's Toji and Kensuke! Everyone! ATTENTION!" Another random voice called out.
"What's going on in there?" Misato questioned as she strolled up to the three idle kids.
"The dorks are preparing our reception!" Asuka said with a confident smile.
"Oh, this oughta be good." Misato mumbled.
"Today, we've brought you a very special treat!" Toji continued.
"It's the moment you've all be waiting for!" Kensuke exclaimed.
"The people about to walk through these doors are going to be tempered in our sacred halls by myself and Kensuke Aida; THE LORDS OF THIS ARENA!"
"He's certainly boasting!" Asuka huffed as she listened to Toji's muffled shouting through the doors, "I bet he's gonna turn into a cry baby when I toast him."
"It will be a rigorous trial by fire!" Kensuke picked up after Toji, "We may not remain undefeated. These people have skills beyond reckoning. They are the protectors of our city; nay, the protectors of this very star. It is very possible we may fail in our endeavors!"
"But we will not go down without a fight!" Toji continued as manly tears streamed down his face, "We will defend our names until our last breaths."
"Okay, now they're just being way overly dramatic," Misato sighed.
"Well, they did say they were trying to hype them up," Shinji said as he fiddled with his thumbs nervously.
"The crowd is going to eat them alive if you three don't give them something real good," Misato chuckled in a somewhat worried tone.
"Don't worry. I got that covered!" Asuka said as she cracked her knuckles in anticipation.
"I too shall try my best to provide the audience with a memorable experience," Rei said in a confident but still very soft voice.
The group fell silent and continued listening to the speech that was being given on the other side of the door. They heard Toji speak, seemingly about to finish the speech.
"At this time, we request that all present move outside the player boundaries of the arena."
Silence fell on the other side of the doors. Presumably, everyone was moving to the sidelines. And before long, Toji spoke again.
"As lords of the laser tag guild, it is with great honor-"
"And dismay!" Kensuke interjected as he too overdramatically cried.
"-that we present to you the pilots of the Evangelions! Shinji Ikari! Rei Ayanami! And- And- And..." Toji stuttered, loathe to mention Asuka.
"-AND ASUKA LANGELY SOHRYU!" Kensuke finished.
The crowd cheered and Asuka rushed through the doors, blowing kisses to everyone as she stepped into the dark crucible.
"Shinji…" Rei muttered.
Shinji looked at the girl next to him with a worried and unconfident expression.
"It is time to go, Shinji," Rei said as she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him along with her.
Shinji looked over his shoulder to see Misato waving at him with an amused look before Mister Shimizu grabbed her attention and directed her to an alternate entrance so that she could watch the upcoming match.
The crowd erupted into more cheers when Shinji and Rei walked out onto the arena, some of the cheering even being on the suggestive side when the audience saw Rei holding onto Shinji's hand.
"Would you two lovebirds quit taking so much time?" Asuka shouted to the pair over all the cheering. She was obviously eager to begin.
Once Shinji and Rei were standing beside Asuka, Toji began reciting the rules while Kensuke wandered off to a gear closet on the side of the room.
"Alright, everyone! This is a three on two deathmatch. Therefore, there are two teams. Yellow, which consists of Kensuke and I. And purple which will be composed of the three Eva pilots!"
The entire crowd cheered again.
Kensuke returned with some guns and multiple suits that he struggled to carry.
"These vests will detect if you get hit," Kensuke explained to the three kids, "If you get hit, you go wait on the sidelines outside the play boundary.
Asuka smirked, "You don't need to tell me how to play laser tag, genius. Tell it to those two dopes."
"This match will take place on both floors of the establishment. Because of this, we had the TVs hooked up to the cameras for your convenience," Toji said to the audience, who all glanced at the televisions on the walls of the sidelines before looking back to the arena.
After Asuka, Shinji, and Rei had put on their hit detection uniforms followed shortly by Kensuke and finally Toji, he spoke again.
"Since it looks as though we are all prepared, we can begin. Purple, you move over to that side of the arena. When Guildmaster Shimizu sounds the signal, you may begin."
Toji, still crying comically dramatic man tears gave a thumbs up to Mister Shimizu who also promptly returned the thumbs up.
"Man, we're about to lose our titles and I know it," Toji whimpered quietly as he walked solemnly over to the yellow side of the arena with Kensuke.
"The impending doom! It's too much!" Kensuke cried in agreement.
"I'm gonna make mincemeat outta that jock! I can't wait," Asuka said mostly to herself as she walked over to the purple side of the court along with Shinji and Rei.
After both teams had arrived at their respective sides of the field, Mister Shimizu waited for a couple seconds to let the tension build before he pressed a button on the wall and a buzzer went off throughout the arena and electronic dance music started playing through the speakers around the arena.
Upon hearing the sound, Asuka and Rei immediately rushed forward, with Shinji following shortly behind them. Rei took cover behind a dark towering block with yellow edges that vibrantly glowed under the blacklights. She peeked around the corner as Asuka moved forward to another block slightly in front of her. Shinji immediately stacked up behind her, trying to follow her lead.
"Hey, back up, pervert. Watch your spacing. Don't you know anything about fighting of any kind?" Asuka hissed to him just loud enough to be heard above the music.
"N-no. Not really," Shinji said pathetically.
"I can't believe they let you be an Eva pilot," Asuka sighed, "Just back the fuck up. I'm taking point. Don't get seen. Don't expose yourself. Don't take any chances. I don't want us to be seen as a bunch of stupid fools. We're better than that. We're Eva pilots. Now get back there."
"R-right," Shinji stuttered obediently.
He took a couple steps back, attempting to retreat back. However, as he was shifting between the two blocks, he saw Toji edge out from behind a piece of cover and take aim. Shinji just barely managed to get behind the block before Toji pulled the trigger.
"You idiot! What did I just say? You almost got hit!" Asuka hissed to him.
"I thought you said for me to move back here."
Asuka sighed in exasperation.
"It's like you can't even think for yourself. Idiot. But…at least we know were one of them is. Don't we, Shinji? You did at least see him, right?"
"Y-yeah! Toji, he's behind the low orange rectangular...thing?"
"Thing? Thing?! Really?! That's the best way you can describe it?"
Shinji remained silent in embarrassment.
Asuka peeked one of her eyes just barely around the corner, trying to identify what Shinji was talking about.
She quickly identified what she believed Shinji had tried to point out.
"The rectangular prism?"
"Yeah, that thing! I think..."
Asuka sighed again before grabbing Rei's attention.
"Ayanami?"
"Yes?"
"Left! Go left!"
Without another word, Rei swiftly and silently began moving. Carefully, she made precise steps, almost as though she accurately and mathematically measured every motion she made in order to reduce her vulnerability as much as possible. She slipped between and across each piece of cover like a ghost.
The girl stopped behind a large blue block and made eye contact with Asuka to let her know she was ready for further instructions.
"Shinji, go right, but stay a safe distance away. I don't think they saw Rei. I need a distraction for her. I'm going to have her take at least one of them out. Do you got that?"
"Yeah. Move right. Be distracting. Don't get hit."
"I'm going to cover you. When, I shoot, you move."
"Right," Shinji acknowledged, still hiding behind his cover.
"This is a lot more methodical than I thought it was going to be," Asuka sighed right before peeking out from behind her cover and shooting at the orange rectangular prism.
/
"Toji! Big red's poppin' shots! Stay down!"
Toji remained crouched behind the bright orange rectangular box.
"Damn it, why'd I hole myself up behind this thing? Just made myself a huge target," he shouted in frustration
"Don't worry, man. I got your back," Kensuke shouted from a couple meters behind him.
"I really hope so! I'm afraid to even peek my head out with that furious red bitch over there!"
"HEY! I HEARD THAT! AND, SHINJI, STOP LAUGHING!" Asuka yelled out from the other side of the arena as she angrily fired at Toji's piece of cover.
"Toji, I'm moving! I'm gonna try to get an angle on her!"
As soon as Kensuke said that, Asuka stopped firing.
"Nice job on calling out your moves, genius!" Asuka shouted back.
'Damn it, she's right!' Toji mentally cursed himself, 'Usually, it's so chaotic in here that it doesn't matter too much if we call out our moves. Usually no one's listening. But now, it's just them and us.'
"KENSUKE! USE THE YOU KNOW WHAT!" Toji shouted.
"10/4!" Kensuke called back.
"Foxtrot Alpha Lima Lima India November Golf Bravo Alpha Charlie Kilo!" Toji shouted, starting to get unnerved by Asuka.
"What is this? The air traffic control nerd club? I know what you're saying, Sierra Whiskey Echo Echo Tango Hotel Echo Alpha Romeo Tango! I work for the military. Don't try that on me, you dweebs!"
"Well, shit. There goes that plan," Kensuke muttered.
Asuka, still in cover, glanced to Rei. The blue haired girl nodded back to her.
'Ha, looks like Freakazoid knows phonetics too. This is gonna be over so fast, it's not even funny. Looks like Shinji's not gonna get a chance to try that distraction. The moment that jock exposes himself, he's done. Then we just gotta take out four-eyes,' Asuka smirked.
Rei took aim at Toji's position while still trying to remain hidden in the dark, waiting for him to retreat.
The entire arena was silent. The crowd on the sidelines watched in awe, witnessing the three pilots dissecting everything Toji and Kensuke tried. And, Misato, also watching from the sideline, smiled proudly as she watched her kids exceeding at using their training to their advantage.
Suddenly, the silence was broken. Kensuke had begun hitting his hand against the wall of the block he was behind.
'I…I recognize that,' Asuka thought as she very quickly realized what Kensuke was doing.
"What, do you think I'm stupid? I know Morse code too, dork! Don't even try that!" Asuka shouted once more.
"Oh, shit! Toji! Do it now! I got you covered!" Kensuke shouted.
Toji scrambled to his feet as quickly as he could, but it was futile. As soon as he was within Rei's sights, she mercilessly pulled the trigger on her laser rifle from the shadows and the deed was done.
The entire crowd gasped before every one of them screamed in awe and disbelief.
Toji immediately fell to his knees, not believing what just happened.
"Ahh, Toji! Shit!" Kensuke shouted.
"Ken…suke! Go on…without… me!"
"No! Toji! Don't say that! I'm not leaving you behind, man!"
"Listen! If you don't fall back and get the tactical advantage, our time as the lords of this arena ends here! But, you! You can still carry the torch I cannot! So, go! GO NOW!"
"Damn it, Toji! I'll carry you if I have to! How bad are you hurt!"
"Don't worry. It's just my ego! It hurts pretty bad. I still got some time left before I move on, but it's definitely fatal. So, just go. Save yourself from the humiliation I'm suffering through right now."
Kensuke glanced to the glowing stairs before looking back at Toji, who was currently taking a very overly dramatic last breath.
"I'm sorry!" Kensuke cried as he bolted for the stairs.
/
"Shinji! Get him!" Asuka demanded as Kensuke made a mad dash for the stairs leading up to the second floor of the arena.
Shinji popped out from behind a glowing wall and fired at Kensuke. Unfortunately, he missed every shot and Kensuke successfully retreated upstairs.
"You idiot! How'd you miss him?!" Asuka scolded the boy.
"I wasn't trying to!" Shinji said, trying to defend himself.
"Oh, well that just makes it all better, doesn't it?! I bet you don't try at a lot of things! Now, four eyes is up stairs! He could pick us off as we walk up there! You're lucky it looks like there's two sets of stairs."
"I'm sorry," Shinji once again apologized.
"Ayanami! Get over here!" Asuka called to the girl.
Rei immediately regrouped next to Asuka.
"Our orders, Pilot Sohryu?" Rei asked in a serious and respectful way.
"Ayanami, I need you to take this… this… this dork," Asuka said as she shot a glare towards Shinji, "and take him with you up that set of stairs. Meanwhile, I'll be going up that set over there. Hopefully, he hasn't had time to plan out any actions against us. Now go."
Asuka and Rei turned around, prepared to carry out their plan, but they both noticed Shinji seemed to be stuck in thought.
"Shinji?"
"Idiot!"
Rei grabbed Shinji's hand to drag him along while Asuka shoved his back.
"Stupid Shinji, get a move on!" Asuka demanded.
"Come with me, Shinji," Rei requested.
'Why am I always messing up?' the boy wondered with a blank face.
He watched the two girls in front of him scolding and encouraging him. Their voices seemed so distant.
'I'm unreliable. What if this was a fight with an angel?'
Rei put her soft cool palm on Shinji's cheek while Asuka pulled her hand back and slapped him with her burning palm flesh.
"Are you okay, Shinji?" Rei asked as she gently stoked his face.
"Have you lost your wits, you idiot?" Asuka berated him as she pinched his cheek.
"What? Yeah, I'm fine," the boy assured the two girls, seemingly not even realizing he'd been slapped.
"Come with me."
"Go with her!"
"Um, right!" the boy finally said.
Asuka turned back around and made for her set of stairs calling out, "Don't let me down!"
"Do not worry, Shinji. I will protect you." Rei said as she turned and ran to the foot of her assigned stairwell.
Shinji followed behind her, and when he'd arrived at her position, halted. Rei looked through the cover scattered across the arena and made eye contact with Asuka. The redhead nodded to Rei and proceeded up the stairs. Rei did the same and Shinji followed right behind her.
'I can't let them down. It's just a game, but I can't let them down. Asuka is right. This is a reflection of us; of our capabilities. I can't make an embarrassment of myself or them.'
Ahead of Shinji, he saw Rei had reached the top of the stairs. She peeked her head out, but as soon as she did, a few laser shots sounded out and she pulled her head back behind the wall she was behind.
"Did you see where it came from?" Shinji asked.
Rei nodded as she took a calming breath.
"Mister Aida is to the right of us. He is positioned behind a large green triangular pyramid."
"Right," Shinji said, "so how are we going to get to him?"
"I am unsure. He is optimally positioned and has sightlines on both entrances to this floor."
Suddenly, more shots sounded.
"Asuka?" Shinji called out.
"I'm fine! He almost got me, but not quite!" Asuka frustratingly shouted from the other side of the room as she checked her hit detection vest.
Asuka and Rei both made eye contact once again. Asuka held up a fist and nodded.
"Shinji, we are moving. Be ready. If we all proceed at the same time, he may have trouble hitting all of us. Are you prepared?"
"I am!"
Rei looked back to Asuka and gave her a thumbs up. Asuka uncurled her fist and brought her hand down, telling Rei to move.
Rei rolled out from behind the wall and took cover behind a red cube. She could barely fit behind it but she was a small girl and managed, just bare avoiding a few shots.
At the same time, Asuka dashed out before diving to the floor and sliding behind a low wall, also only narrowing dodging Kensuke's shots.
'That's…that's not right! Those were two separate volleys,' Asuka realized in surprise.
"Shinji? Ayanami? Did either of you fire."
"No!" Shinji said from the stairwell.
"Negative," Rei gently called.
'That can only mean one thing,' Asuka figured with a scowl.
"He took Toji's gun!" Asuka shouted to the other two.
"What? How?" Shinji asked, starting to get worried.
"When he ran for the stairs! When else do you think he could have done it, you idiot?!"
Asuka tried to peak over her cover, but before she could even get her eyes above the top edge of the cover, a cartoony laser blaster sound once again came from one of Kensuke's guns and she pulled her head back down.
"Fuck," Asuka spat.
Asuka went over her options, but she didn't have many.
"Ayanami! Center! Shinji, take her place!"
Shinji hesitated for a split second, but forced himself to move as Rei left her cover and transitioned to a more central position.
Asuka didn't peek over her cover, but she heard Kensuke begin firing. If everything happened the way she wanted it to, Kensuke wouldn't have hit either Shinji or Rei.
"Did either of you get hit?"
"Nope!" Shinji responded.
"I did not," Rei answered undramatically.
Asuka smirked. Maybe, she could get through this with a perfect victory.
"I've gotta hand it to you, Kensuke," Asuka said as she tried to peek over her cover once more before being shot at again, "This is one hell of a last stand. But, you know you're gonna lose, right?"
"It's not over till it's over, Big Red," Kensuke nervously laughed.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Asuka snarled aggressively, though she tried to keep herself from jumping out of cover to strangle the boy.
At this point, Rei tried to take a shot at Kensuke, but he fired at her first, forcing her back into cover and preventing her from getting a shot on him.
Shinji looked at Rei as she jerked her body back behind her cover.
"Rei, I don't think Asuka can get a shot on him. She's in a bad place," Shinji whispered to the blue-haired girl.
"I am unsure if I am able to place an effective shot as well," she responded quietly.
Shinji thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that he was the only one suited to shifting the odds.
"Rei, I'm going to move forward on the right. I need to you distract him. Hopefully, he'll fire at both of us and then Asuka can finish it."
"Understood," Rei said.
Shinji prepared to bolt for the next piece of cover and Rei was ready to make her move as soon as Shinji made his. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shinji sprint and she then leaned out from her cover and fired.
Kensuke ducked behind his cover even more than he already had while also blind firing over it, desperately trying to hit one of the kids.
Asuka popped her head up for just a moment after Shinji had disappeared from Kensuke's view, but Kensuke noticed the redhead and immediately pointed his gun back at her which promptly caused her to return to safety.
"Damn it!" Asuka cursed again.
So far, Asuka had been pretty lucky with giving out orders. If she could just get Kensuke to fire at two targets, she or someone on her team could possibly get a shot off. But, she was working almost blind. She couldn't see Shinji or Rei and even if she could, she wasn't being terribly specific with her instructions. It was a miracle no one had been hit yet.
'Guess it's time to take another chance,' Asuka said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"SHINJI! MOVE FORWARD! AYANAMI FIRE!"
In a perfect display of synergy, Rei and Asuka appeared from behind their cover and laid suppressive fire at Kensuke's position as Shinji sprinted past a few blocks of cover until he finally got an angle on the overwhelmed Kensuke. Shinji raised his laser rifle, pointed it at Kensuke, and tagged him.
Kensuke looked down at his vest.
"NO! I'VE BEEN DEFEATED!" Kensuke cried as manly tears of defeat fell out of the corners of his eyes.
"AHAHAHAHA!, SHINJI, YOU DID IT!" Asuka squealed as she rushed towards him with open arms.
"Wait, Asuka, you don't need t-"
Shinji tried to speak, but he had the breath knocked out of him as Asuka jumped into his chest and toppled him to the ground as she hugged him.
"Asuka, I can't breathe!"
"WHO CARES? WE WON!"
"Pilot Sohryu?" Rei questioned as she approached the two kids.
"Hmm, what?" Asuka asked in confusion.
Rei only stared awkwardly at the red-haired girl.
"What? What is it?" Asuka asked again after receiving no answer from Rei.
"You are acting…strange," Rei finally answered.
"Strange?" Asuka said in disbelief.
She looked down at Shinji, who was also looking at her curiously.
She then looked at Kensuke whose jaw had actually dropped at what he was looking at.
"Wait, no, don't you perverts dare. I know what you're thinking," Asuka said assertively, "There's absolutely nothing strange about celebrating victory."
Asuka climbed off of Shinji, and stood up before huffing.
Shinji sighed in relief and also stood up.
"Would you look at that. Sohryu is getting all touchy feely with Shinji," Toji said as he walked up the stairs and onto the second floor of the arena.
"Well, I guess it's a little late for a checkmate, but we totally wrecked your prestige. You're no longer the top dog here!" Asuka shot back.
The emotion on Toji's face shifted to that of a deflated balloon.
"Oh, and, don't forget that you owe me lunch for the rest of the week," Asuka said as she walked past him and started down the stairs.
"All right, you can stop rubbing it in!" Toji grumbled.
"Oh, also, Shinji, Ayanami-" Asuka said as her voice echoed down the stairwell.
The two kids looked at the back of Asuka's flowing hair after she addressed them.
"-This isn't over. Since I didn't too take any of them out, how about we come back? Just the three of us. The both of you versus me."
"Um, sure," Shinji said in confusion.
"I will if I am ordered to," Rei said confidently and quietly.
"You know," Toji started, "You could try right now if you want. There's still plenty of time left today."
"Nah," Asuka said as she continued down the stairs, "I'm still pretty sore from yesterday. And, it's almost lunch time. I'm starting to get hungry. But, we'll definitely be back; maybe later in the week. Maybe a month from now at worst."
"Hehe, crazy girl," Toji mumbled to himself.
"Man, I can't believe she got us. If she weren't here, we definitely would have won," Kensuke sighed as he wallowed in defeat.
"But, hey, you guys were pretty awesome," Shinji laughed as he tried to lighten the mood, "you were outnumbered and you still gave us a run for our money. You should be proud."
Toji chuckled a little and walked up to Shinji before holding out his hand. Shinji, still somewhat unused to the gesture, paused for a moment before taking Toji's hand and shaking it.
"It was an honor to fight you, man," Toji said with a serious smile, "Now, I say we all go downstairs and see if Misato will take us someplace for lunch. I know Sohryu isn't the only one who's hungry after all this excitement."
/
After leaving the laser tag arcade, Misato had given into Asuka and Toji's pleas for food and decided to take them to a classical Japanese restaurant with an outdoor garden dining area.
For the most part everyone just ordered a variety of dumplings. And after picking a spot to sit down in the garden, they all peacefully ate and conversed as the warm sunlight shone through the leaves.
"Oh, yeah, and there was this time in Hamburg. Kaji was nice enough to let me have some beer even though I was still four years under the legal drinking age there," Asuka bragged.
"Wait, so, you really got to have alcohol? When you were like…twelve or something?" Toji asked in surprise.
"Yep! I bet you're jealous."
"Eh, not really…I thought that alcohol was supposed to be unhealthy. I don't really intend to drink it. I don't want it to impact my athletic abilities."
"Toji!" Asuka huffed, "Don't you know beer has like...no alcohol in it whatsoever!"
"Well, I wouldn't say no alcohol whatsoever…" Misato said as she tried to suggest the correction to Asuka.
"Yeah, and doesn't beer like…make you fat or something?" Toji said with a little uncertainty.
"Are you trying to say I'm fat?!" Asuka gasped in shock.
"I didn't think I was fat," Misato cried as she poked her belly, "I guess I'll just need to diet even more. It's so hard with Shinji's cooking around though."
"Wait, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Toji said as he put his hands up defensively.
"What is going on?" Shinji asked Rei.
Rei looked back at him with a face that, at a basic level, conveyed that she had no idea.
"You jerk! You insulted both me and Misato!"
"Wait, no! Sohryu! You're absolutely not fat! And, Miss Misato, you're fat in all the right places!"
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, YOU PERVERT!?" Asuka said as brought her hand back and then slapped Toji across the face.
"Ooh, that looks like that burned," Kensuke cringed.
"Miss Sohryu!" a quiet and somewhat unfamiliar voice gasped, "Why on earth did you hit Mister Suzuhara?"
"Hmm?" Asuka wondered as she turned her head around to face the voice.
As the source of the voice came into view, she saw a girl with freckles. She looked oddly familiar.
The girl gasped again upon seeing Asuka's face.
"Oh my goodness! Miss Sohryu! What happened to… to your-"
"To my face? It's nothing. I got in a fight. But, I'm fine!" Asuka blew the question off as she tried remember the girl's name.
"Class Rep!" Kensuke said as he saluted her.
"Uh, Hikari, right?" Asuka mumbled.
"That's right," Hikari nodded.
"Well, you see, I hit Toji here because he was being very rude to me. He called me fat...and a ton of other rude and derogatory names."
"H-hey! I did not!"
Hikari lightly walked up to Toji who was laying on the ground in a daze.
"Mister Suzuhara…Is that true? Did you really call her fat?"
Toji barely nodded.
Hikari sighed.
"I guess I don't always have to be the class representative. Not on the weekend anyways. But, you shouldn't be rude to people, Mister Suzuhara. I expect you to have cleaned up your act by tomorrow."
"Y-yes Ma'am," Toji sniffled as he sat back up.
"Anyways, good day to all of you," Hikari said with a smile, "What are all of you up to today?"
"We were playing laser tag earlier," Kensuke announced
"And losing horribly," Toji added in.
"Yeah, and losing horribly," Kensuke repeated for emphasis.
"And then I got hungry, so we just stopped by here for some food," Asuka said with a delighted smile.
"And, what about you, Miss Horaki?" Shinji asked with a gentle smile of his own.
"Oh, me? I was just here with my little sister. We probably shouldn't be out wasting money on food when I could prepare some at home, but it was just such a nice day and I wanted to do something with her."
"Oh, well, if you want, you can eat with us!" Misato giggled.
"Are you sure? I mean, it sounds delightful, but I don't want to be a burden!"
"Of course! It's no problem at all!"
"Oh, well then…"
Hikari turned around. Her sister was looking at a butterfly that had landed on one of the white flowers in the garden. Such a tender and beautiful moment that she was loathe to interrupt.
"Nozomi," Hikari called, "Come here! We're eating with my friends from school! I want you to meet them."
Hikari then sat down next to Toji with a slight blush on her face.
Toji, still embarrassed from earlier, was also somewhat flushed.
"Make sure to behave yourself around my sister, Toji. I don't want her picking up any bad habits from you."
"Understood, Class Rep. I will be as gentlemanly as possible," Toji sighed.
"I was just kidding," Hikari laughed, "I'm not the Class Rep right now. Today, I'm just…Hikari. So, call me that instead; not Class Rep."
/
-It's Just a Precaution-
/
Four Days Later: NERV HQ Shooting Range
"Now, Asuka, before I give you this, there are a few things you absolutely must remember."
Asuka looked tiredly at the ground, not paying much attention to Misato.
"Asuka, you cannot ever point this at anyone unless you intend to kill them. Under no circumstances should you even think about putting your finger on the trigger unless you are prepared to kill someone or you are practicing with targets. Also, you must always be aware of what is behind your target; be it a person or just a practice target. If you aren't careful, you could do something that you'll regret for the rest of your life. Do you understand?"
"Yes," Asuka mumbled boredly.
"Asuka, are you even listening to me?"
"Yes, Misato. I know. I've had firearms training, I've heard all of this before!"
Misato sighed.
"You're right. I'm sorry. It's just that you're so young. Sometimes, I forget all of your accomplishments."
"Yeah. I know. Now, can you please, please, please, show it to me?!"
Misato sighed again. She walked over to a small metal case and unlocked it. Inside was a sleek, black, snub-nosed revolver.
She gingerly pulled it out of its case and held it in front of her for a moment. She then turned around and presented the gun to Asuka.
"Oh, wow! It's so pretty!"
"I thought you'd like this one. It's a Chiappa Rhino 200DS."
Asuka carefully lifted the gun out of Misato's outstretched hand before popping out the cylinder and then pushed it back in.
"It's really nice, Misato. Thanks."
Misato put a hand on Asuka's shoulder.
"Well, go try it out I guess. It doesn't have a safety but the trigger pull is about ten pounds. So, all you have to do is pull it."
Asuka nodded and walked over to gallery where a number of targets were set up. She chose one in particular. One that wasn't too close and wasn't too far. She then raised her gun, aimed, took a breath, and pulled the trigger.
.
*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*
.
"Hey, everyone! It's Misato again! And like at the end of every chapter, I'm here to give you the run down of what's to come. Hmm, maybe I should just become an oracle instead of an announcer. Anyways...
In the next chapter, NERV finds a dormant angel in the middle of a volcano! We send Asuka into the molten rock to capture it so that we can study it, but everything goes wrong. Shinji and Rei have to take the reigns and stop the angel from destroying Tokyo-3. Things get really hot and intense as the pressure starts to build! No, not like that, you silly pervert. We're talking about thermodynamics here. Next time, on Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power and Love; The Blood of the Earth.
Though, you never know. There might just be some fanservice."
.
And you guys thought there wasn't gonna be anymore Misato x Asuka touchy feely. Though, admittedly, this touchy feely stuff was more romantic-ish/experimental than straight up lewd hawtness or teasing. But still, even if it wasn't sexy time for Misato and Asuka just yet, it will surely lead to bigger things; as I'm sure you all know. We just need to let the tension build some. And then it'll all explode…in lewdness…and hawtness. And the lewd and hawt will be so lewd and hawt that it cremes the floor and drips from the walls…with lewdness…and hawtness. What the hell did I just type?
Also, just thought I'd give everyone a heads up on a couple things.
First of all, the next angel fight is probably going to be the first one that's significantly different from both the Anime and the Rebuilds. So, don't be too surprised if things are a little different. Gonna be stretching my creative freedom some hopefully. Gosh, I hope I'm good at writing fight scenes. This chapter was supposed to be a practice.
I will also be rewatching Evangelion again either between this chapter and the next or after next chapter is published. Just trying to keep everything fresh in my head at all times. So, it may or may not take a little longer to get the next chapter out.
And also, I just wanted to say again that I'm sorry this chapter took so long to get out. With my friends dying and all that, I had to do some traveling. And, then there was also a bunch of stuff that I wanted to set up this chapter, but I didn't know exactly how I wanted to go about it, so I spent some time thinking about how I wanted to execute my ideas. And, it all just took longer than I wanted it too. The first part of this chapter came out super fast. I mean, something like 8,400 words in a couple days. But, the later part was where I had a lot of trouble deciding how I wanted to do everything.
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Update: I've been really busy for the past few days, but I hope to start writing chapter 11 sooner rather than later.
Update: Sorry about the next chapter taking so long. My Uncle died. What can I say? Life doesn't wanna give me a break.
Final Update: the next chapter will be up in a few minutes.
