Yeah. You all know what I'm going to say. "Sorry this chapter took so long to get out." Of course my uncle died right after my friend died. So, that's why this took so long.
Also, I just wanted to give a quick thanks to kratos1991 for helping me correct a little mistake of mine at the end of chapter five I think it was.
Anyways, the next chapter.
.
Text Guide
Standard Wording
"Spoken Dialogue/Speech"
'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'
(Flashbacks)
/
[Slash denotes scene transition for the moment; this may be changed in the future so as to become more visible.]
.
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.
.
*Cruel Angel's Thesis and Eva intro starts playing*
Neon Genesis Evangelion
A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love
Chapter 11
The Blood of the Earth
.
"Ooh, I can't wait!" Asuka squealed as she and Kaji walked down the street.
The man sighed. He didn't know how he let himself get talked into buying clothes for Asuka.
"And what was it you're so excited for again?" Kaji asked.
"For the school trip! We're going to Okinawa and we're going to go diving! It's going to be so much fun!"
"Well, that sounds great," Kaji said, pretending to be interested.
"Doesn't it?" Asuka said with her usual excitement.
Kaji couldn't help it. It's not that he wasn't happy for the girl. But, he just couldn't force himself to really show interest in what Asuka was talking about. Though, he supposed that he should at least try considering what Asuka had been through recently. While he didn't have the same feelings she had for him, he did care about her; and thus decided he would amuse her.
"Well, you know-" Kaji started before he was interrupted.
"THERE IT IS!" Asuka shouted as she pointed at a clothing store before rushing through the front door.
"Eheheh," Kaji laughed awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head while he watched Asuka disappear inside the store.
He kept his own lax pace as he followed the girl into the building.
Pushing the door open, a cool air conditioned draft washed onto his face.
"Asuka?" he called out.
No answer.
He fully stepped inside, letting the door swing shut behind him.
He walked past a couple isles, seeing various articles of women's clothing on the left with men's clothing on the right.
"So, what do you think about this one?" Asuka asked as she abruptly appeared from behind a rack of clothing holding a very red bikini; the top being a very thin wrapped style that would hang around her neck and tightly fit to her chest while showing a fair amount of underboob and the bottom being a g-string that would have flossed her butt had she been wearing it.
"It's a…swimsuit," Kaji said with an unsure expression.
"Yes, it is," Asuka smiled devilishly, "But, what do you think of it?"
"Are you really sure you should be wearing something like that?"
"Well, we're going diving on the field trip. So, I'm gonna say yes."
"Well, yeah. But, does it have to be so…exposing? Couldn't you go with something more modest?"
"Why? I don't see what's wrong with it. All the girls are wearing ones like this nowadays" Asuka whined as she looked at the bright red and rather skimpy swimsuit she held in her hand.
"Yes, but Asuka, you definitely shouldn't be wearing that. And you especially should not be asking me my opinion of it."
"But, you'll still get it for me, right? Because you love me?"
"I don't know, Asuka. That's really not appropriate for someone your age."
"But, Kaji! I'm going diving! I need it! What would you wear if you went on a school trip and had to go diving."
"I…don't know. I didn't go on any school trips as a kid."
"What? Why not?"
"Because of Second Impact."
"…Oh," Asuka mumbled sadly.
Kaji looked down at the suddenly depressed girl as she looked at the ground.
"I'm sorry, Kaji. I forgot. I didn't mean to-"
"Don't. Just take this money, and go buy the swimsuit," Kaji said as he reached into his wallet, "I'm not going up to the counter with that in my hands. They'd probably arrest me or put me on some list."
"You know, we're not in Europe anymore," Asuka giggled.
"And you know that you don't need to remind me."
/
-Deeper and Down-
/
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M NOT GOING TO GET TO GO ON THE FIELD TRIP?" Asuka yelled out over the kitchen table.
"It means exactly what I said. There's nothing more to it," Misato sighed.
"And what idiot decided that?" Asuka huffed.
"This idiot; the Operations director," Misato said as she gestured to herself.
Asuka growled.
"SHINJI!"
The boy jumped in surprise and almost spilled his tea.
"Y-yes?"
"SAY SOMETHING! MAKE MISTO YEILD! SHE CAN'T DO THIS TO US!"
"Actually, I sort of figured that we wouldn't be able to go."
"Hmph, so that's it then? You're already giving up."
"Yep," Shinji said before taking a sip of his tea.
"Ha, there's nothing more embarrassing, worthless, and pitiful than a housebroken male."
Shinji set the cup of tea down, about to say something. But before he could, Misato spoke first.
"Asuka, that's enough. You chose this. You signed up to defend this planet. You shouldn't have thought for a single second that you'd be able to go. We need to be ready. We have absolutely no idea when another angel might attack. And on top of that, both your and Shinji's grades have been abysmal recently. Especially yours, Asuka, what with you skipping school and all.-"
Both Shinji and Asuka looked at Misato in surprise.
"-Or did you think that I haven't seen your report cards?"
"That- That's not fair, Misato! We're here fighting Angels. We're single handedly responsible for protecting that stupid hell called school! And, you're telling me we still have to worry about our stupid grades? And the grading system itself is so archaic and inaccurate. I've been to college! I don't need this crap! This is so stupid!"
"Which only begs the question of why you're failing. But, oh well. That's not going to be a problem for much longer. While everyone else is having fun in Okinawa, you're going to be studying. Think of it as catching up. You could even start right now," Misato finished with a cheeky smile.
"CATCHING UP?! So stupid! Forget that, I'm going to bed," Asuka said as she stomped out of the kitchen.
Shinji hung his head in disappointment. While he was an obedient person, the thought of more studying didn't sound appealing to him. He simply had too many other things to think and worry about, which was the exact reason why his grades had been dropping recently.
Shinji got up from the table and went to his backpack to get his physics and calculus textbooks before bringing them back to the table and flipping them open to the places he'd bookmarked. He took another sip of tea before starting on his work.
"Oh, Shinji, I was just kidding," Misato blurted, "I don't care about your grades. I was just trying to get Asuka off your back. You probably don't even need school. After this war is finished, you'll be a celebrity. You'll literally be able to make money just by putting your name on lunch boxes and by showing up in public."
"I don't really want to show up in public, though. I don't want to be popular. I just want to live somewhere quiet. So, I'm still going to have to know this stuff anyways," Shinji sighed.
"Shinji…"
/
Shinji groaned. Misato had long since gone to bed, so it was rather quiet. And, frankly, Shinji was having a hard time staying awake and focusing on his studies.
He ran his fingers through his hair before propping his head up with his arm.
"I wish Rei were here."
He set his pencil down on the wooden table and lost himself as he stared lifelessly at the some of the plates sitting on the kitchen counter.
'What's going on with me and her?'
Shinji folded his arms over the table and rested his head on them as he pictured the girl's face in his mind.
'Rei.'
He heard the quiet but hearty tick of the clock in the living room, reminding him it must've been at least three in the morning.
'It won't hurt if I just lay here for a few seconds.'
And before he knew it, he was dozing off and beginning to lightly snore.
But soon, the soft pattering feet of Asuka paced across the kitchen.
"What's this dork doing?"
Asuka, who had seemingly left her room only a few seconds ago, examined the textbooks Shinji had placed on the table.
"He's actually studying? What a looser."
She poked the boy's cheek, and he stirred.
"Hmm?" he groaned.
"Hey, wake up!" Asuka hissed.
Shinji sat up in his chair and rubbed his eyes.
"Asuka? What're you doing up?"
"I could ask you the same thing, stupid Shinji."
"I was studying," Shinji yawned.
"Yeah? Well, I was hungry. So, I came into the kitchen to fix something up for myself as a midnight snack. But who should I find but Shinji, the invincible master chef.?"
The tired boy already knew what she was going to demand, but pretended like he didn't.
"So, what do you say? Wanna cook me something?" Asuka said with a sweet smile and beaming blue eyes.
"Yeah, okay. But, it'll have to be fast. What do you want?" Shinji said as he got up and placed a skillet on the burner before turning on the stove.
"What about some eggs?"
"Yeah, I could do that I guess."
The sleepy boy opened the fridge and pulled three large eggs out of the egg carton.
"Could you make that four?" Asuka innocently asked.
Shinji obeyed the girl's suggestion. He cracked two of the eggs and emptied the insides into the skillet. They sizzled as Shinji shook some ground black pepper and dropped a few pinches of salt on them.
"Could you also put some garlic powder on them?"
Shinji didn't know if she was making these demands to suit her tastes or just to make him work more.
But, perhaps, Shinji didn't really care. Or maybe he did, but didn't know it. Either way, he quieted any potential protest and grabbed a shaker of garlic powder to meet the girl's request.
He waited and watched attentively as the eggs slowly turned from clear to white. And, at just the right moment, he flipped them over carefully in a way that only he could. After another thirty seconds, the first two eggs were ready, and Shinji carefully used a spatula to lift them onto a plate for Asuka.
He set the plate down on the kitchen table in front of Asuka along with a fork.
Glancing at her face, he noticed that most of her bruises had healed. It had bothered him some. He'd wanted to ask her what exactly had happened. But, he knew he wouldn't get a suitable answer out of her.
The young man went back over to the stove and cracked the other two eggs over the skillet.
And while the eggs hissed, Asuka quickly scarfed down the two she had already been provided. And within thirty seconds, she'd brought her plate back over to the kitchen counter, standing next to Shinji, avidly awaiting the other two eggs.
"So, since almost everyone is going to be gone for the school trip tomorrow," Asuka started, "the teachers are probably just gonna let us fool around or stuff us somewhere and make us do busy work. What do you say we go to the school pool and go have some fun?"
Shinji blushed some and tried to concentrate harder on frying the egg.
"I don't know. I'll just do whatever I guess."
"Great, so you'll be coming with me tomorrow then?"
"I didn't say that!" Shinji protested out of embarrassment.
"You didn't say you wouldn't," Asuka said with a satisfied smirk.
"Well…there might be other things to do tomorrow. So, I might not have time."
"Other things? Like what? We're still going to school tomorrow and there's going to be nothing to do," Asuka said as she placed her hands on her hips.
"I was going to study," Shinji said, trying to rid the idea from the girl's head.
"Really," Asuka said as she raised a bored eyebrow, "You're going to study?"
"Yeah. Is that a problem?" Shinji asked as he placed the other two eggs on Asuka's ready and waiting plate.
"Shinji, that is the entirety of your problem," Asuka asserted as she walked to the kitchen table and took a seat, "You're too obedient. You could actually be a decent guy if you'd man up. You'd be a lot more attractive to girls for one."
Shinji's blush got a little more bright but he pretended like he didn't hear anything.
Asuka once again finished her eggs rather quickly and slid the plate across the table to Shinji who then picked it up and brought it over to the sink to clean it.
"See, Shinji. Look at you. You're cleaning my dishes. You let everyone push you around."
"But…I don't mind. I just want…I want to make life better for everyone. That's why I'm still an Eva pilot."
Asuka's eyes widened a little as she stared at the boy from behind.
"Asuka?"
"What…"
"What happened?"
"What do you mean what happened?" the girl asked, not following Shinji's line of thought.
"I mean…what happened to you? That night you and Misato were out a few days ago? Where…did you get all those bruises from?"
The hair on the back of Asuka's neck rose and her breathing became shallow.
Shinji turned around to face Asuka, sensing something was off.
"Asuk-"
She slapped him before he could finish.
"That- THAT'S NONE OF YOUR CONCERN! I ALREADY TOLD YOU! I GOT IN A FIGHT!"
A few tears spilled over Shinji's face from the slap.
"I'm…just trying to help, Asuka. I'm sorry."
"Shut up. Shut your mouth, Shinji! You can't help me. You can't even help yourself!" Asuka hissed as she clenched her fists.
"Asuka, please. I know we aren't the best of friends. But... I want to change that. We're Eva pilots. And our lives are in each others hands."
Asuka stomped the floor and folded her arms in front of her chest.
"If you really want to change that, then quit being so obedient. You can't think for yourself at all, and I'm disgusted by it. I don't want to be friends with someone like that."
"I'll try," Shinji tried to say with his voice wavering.
"Hmph, if you mean that, then you'll go to the pool with me tomorrow and you won't be studying."
Shinji wanted to point out that, if he did go to the pool with Asuka, he would still be being obedient, only to her instead of his schoolwork. But, he decided that it was perhaps best to leave that unsaid.
/
The first bell of the school day had rung and the entirety of Class 2-A was abuzz with excitement and anticipation.
"I can't wait! I'm going to get to show my body off to Akihiko and I'm going to see if I can sneak away somewhere with him!" a random girl said to one of her friends.
"I don't know about this. I've never been on an airplane before. What if we crash?" another girl questioned.
"Why exactly are we going diving again?" Toji questioned.
"It doesn't matter man. Why would you ask a question like that? We're getting out of school. That's all that matters," Kensuke chuckled.
"Is everyone here?" Hikari shouted over the class's chatter.
"Yes!" everyone responded.
Hikari still chose to take the attendance herself though.
"Well, that's good. It looks like everyone is here for once. Alright, everyone! Our teacher is waiting out in the parking lot with the busses. So, it's time to go everyone! We don't want to be late."
Everyone save for Asuka, Shinji, and Rei got out of their seats and proceeded out the door.
Hikari waited by the door, happily seeing each of the students out, until she noticed that none of the three Eva pilot's had left their seats.
"Hey, what's wrong you three? Didn't you hear me?"
"We're not going," Shinji said with a slight smile, somewhat grateful he wouldn't be exposed to any extra unneeded social interactions.
"Orders from NERV," Asuka added as she rolled her pencil around on her desk.
"Oh, well, I'm sorry. I'll make sure to bring back something for you three," Hikari said with a warm smile.
"Hey, class rep, what's the hold up? I though you're the one who said we don't want to be late" Toji called out from the hall.
"I'll be right there!" Hikari shouted back with a slight blush as she turned around and jogged to catch up with the rest of the class.
"Well," Asuka said as she got out of her seat and stretched, "I say we get out of here and go to the gym's pool before the substitute teacher shows up. Time to go, Shinji."
"Oh, r-right."
Asuka went and picked up her backpack, slinging it over her shoulders.
"What are you waiting for, Shinji? We need to go now or they're going to make us sit in the library all day and study or something stupid like that."
Asuka's words barely reached Shinji. He seemed to be rather distracted by Rei, who, as always, was staring out the window.
"Oh my god, Shinji. Why don't you just hurry up and fuck her?"
"Wha-what?" The boy said, finally tearing his gaze away from the girl.
Asuka sighed and stuffed her face into her hands.
"Hey, Ayanami!"
Rei turned away from the window and faced Asuka, silently acknowledging her.
"Get your stuff! We're going to the pool."
"I do not believe those are our orders," Rei responded blankly.
"They are now. They're the…teacher's…orders…or something. We're going to the pool so that we can…like…participate in the field trip in spirit," Asuka lied.
"I see," Rei said as she too got out of her seat and picked up her backpack.
"Okay Shinji, now it's your turn. Get up, it's time to go!" Asuka said through grit teeth, an aura of urgency in her voice.
Shinji jumped to his feet and he too finally grabbed his backpack.
/
"No, Rei. That's an ugly swimsuit. You can't wear it," Shinji heard Asuka's voice echo out of the locker room and into the room housing the indoor pool.
"I do not see why not," Rei protested in her own unique way.
"B-because you can't! It's an ugly school issued uniform swimsuit. And it just doesn't fit the occasion."
"Why?" Rei's questioning voice echoed softly, not understanding Asuka's reasoning.
"Just because!"
"But, you are not wearing anything currently pilot Sohryu. I fail to see how that is in line with the occasion either."
"I'LL GET RIGHT ON THAT AFTER WE GET YOU SORTED OUT, YOU LITTLE ALIEN! AND I'D APPRECIATE IT IF YOU DIDN'T ANNOUNCE MY NUDITY TO THE ENTIRE WORLD!"
"Pilot Sohryu…"
"WHAT? WHAT IS IT, AYANAMI?"
"…I do not believe that this indoor swimming establishment is the entire world. In addition to that, Shinji is the only other-"
"HUSH, AYANAMI!"
"Is that an order?"
Asuka massaged her temples.
"Yes, Rei. It is an order. Now listen, didn't Misato get you some clothes awhile ago? I explicitly remember Shinji saying she did. Surely she got you a swimsuit too!
Silence followed.
"Ayanami!"
"Yes?"
"Answer the question."
"You gave me an order to cease-"
"YES! I KNOW WHAT I SAID! QUIT TAKING EVERYTHING SO LITERALLY!"
"Is that an order?"
"Yes! It's an order! Mein Gott, please forgive me for whatever I have done to deserve this. Now, please, answer the question. Did Misato get you a swimsuit?"
"I believe not. She did purchase something for me however. And it seems to resemble one."
Shinji, sitting at a lone table in the gym, blushed madly imagining the scene in the locker room. He tried to focus on the studies he had preoccupied himself with, but…it seemed that was simply not going to happen. The shuffling sound emanating from Rei's backpack resounded throughout the gym, and it was too much to ignore.
A gasp escaped Asuka's mouth.
"Ayanami, oh my god, that is not a swimsuit! Why are you even carrying that around in your backpack?"
Shinji, blushing, could only guess at what Asuka had just discovered.
"So that I may change when I am required to."
"Uh, change?"
"Yes. For changing my clothes. Is that odd? I believed everyone did it."
"Um, no. Changing your clothes isn't odd or whatever. But, when and where exactly do you change your clothes? You've got me a little concerned here because THAT should not be in your backpack."
"I change after school. I was told by Captain Katsuragi that it is not appropriate to wear my school uniform outside of school and that I should wear more fashionable attire."
"Well, that's certainly… fashionable," Asuka said with an uneasy laugh.
"As for where I change, it is usually wherever I deem appropriate."
"Do I even want to know?" Asuka asked with a hint of discomfort.
"I cannot answer that question for you, Pilot Sohryu. But, if you would like to know, I will tell you."
"You know what? Never mind. Let's just get this on you. I bet you've never put one of these on before."
Shinji could hear Asuka pulling Rei's school issued swimsuit off and dropping it on the floor.
"And Shinji, you better not be thinking about anything perverted," Asuka shouted.
The boy gasped, and accidentally started choking on some of his saliva, which immediately caused Asuka to burst out laughing.
'Man, this is so weird,' Shinji thought as he tried to get his coughing under control.
"Sohryu, that part of me is sensitive," Rei spoke.
"Ooh, ticklish are we?"
A gasp from Rei was heard for a moment, but that was all.
"Wow, well, if you're ticklish, you really don't show it very well," Asuka said in a surprised and partially disappointed tone, "But what about here?!"
Another short-lived gasp from Rei, but nothing that could be called laughter. At least, not from Rei. But, the gasp did send Asuka into another laughing fit.
After Asuka had calmed herself, she continued dressing Rei. Which was followed very shortly by a sound of fabric being pulled back and snapped against skin.
"Yeah, that looks and sounds like that fits nicely. Now we just gotta get this half on." Asuka said in a pleased voice.
Shinji tried to ignore the sound of clothing being shuffled around, but he couldn't help listening intensely.
"Okay, that looks good. You're free to go," Asuka said.
Shinji could hear footsteps drawing nearer and soon saw Rei stepped out of the locker room.
The boy immediately felt dizzy upon seeing her.
'Yeah, that's definitely something Misato would buy,' he thought as he looked the girl up and down.
She was wearing white lace lingerie, including a garter belt and stockings.
"Um, Rei, that…really doesn't look like swimwear," Shinji choked out.
"I am aware," she responded, "Though, it does not appear as if you are wearing a swimsuit either, Shinji."
"Um, yeah, about that," the boy said, scratching the back of his head.
"SHINJI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Asuka yelled as she stepped out of the locker room in her new skimpy red swimsuit.
"Nothing! I'm not doing anything."
"Then what is THAT!" Asuka said as she pointed at the textbook on the table Shinji was sitting at.
"I- I just thought I'd study while you were getting dressed."
"And what about your swimsuit? Where's that? You aren't going to swim in that disgusting button up shirt, are you?"
"Well, I… uh, I was just going to finish this page before getting changed," Shinji said, trying to postpone the inevitable.
Asuka walked up to Shinji, her hips slightly swaying back and forth.
The boy recoiled some at her approach.
"So, what exactly is giving you trouble?"
"Uh, um, th-this one," Shinji said, pointing at a question in his textbook, trying to ignore Asuka's breasts which were hanging over his school work.
"Oh, that? That's grade school stuff. Thermodynamics. Thermal expansion if we're being specific."
"Thermal expansion?"
"Yeah, thermal expansion. When stuff heats up, it expands. It's really simple."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"Well, lemme put it like this. If I cupped my boobs in my hands to warm them up, do you think they'd get bigger or smaller?"
"Gah, I-I don't know! I don't think about that kind of stuff."
"Aww, such a boring little boy," Asuka pouted before snatching his textbook.
"Hey, what are you doing! I need that!" Shinji said as he grabbed for his textbook.
"Not anymore you don't!" Asuka said as she chucked the book in the pool, "We're going swimming! You promised last night."
"Asuka! I'm going to have to pay for the replacement!"
"Not if you keep your mouth shut. No one will know any better. Now get in the damn pool, Shinji!"
"But, I-"
"Ayanami! Help me get his shirt off and get him in the pool, will you?"
Rei, closed her eyes and took a deep breath before releasing it, seemingly frustrated somewhat. But, nonetheless, she did as she was told and approached the boy.
"R-Rei, what are you doing?" Shinji asked as he got out of his chair and backed up against a wall, trying to retreat.
She didn't answer but put her hands on his shirt and began unbuttoning it.
"Hahaha, look at you! So defenseless! Oh god, I think he secretly likes it," Asuka laughed as she watched the boy try to grab onto the wall for safety as Rei unbuttoned his shirt.
Shinji could almost swear Rei was smiling as she pinned him against the wall and tugged his shirt off.
"I think I'm going to die!" Shinji groaned.
"You are fine, Shinji. I will protect you," Rei said as she grabbed him by the hand and guided him to Asuka.
The redhead held her hands out, prepared to take Shinji by the hand as Rei placed the boy's palms gently against Asuka's.
"See, this isn't so bad. Right, Shinji?" Asuka cooed as his hands rested on hers.
'I mustn't run away! I mustn't run away!'
"I guess not," Shinji said with more than a hint of infirmity.
"See? Everything is going to be okay," Asuka said as she suddenly clenched her fingers around Shinji's hand.
"Asuka, no! Stop! Please!" Shinji shouted as he tried to wriggle his way out of Asuka's iron grip.
"IT'S TOO LATE FOR THAT!"
She spun around, heaving the boy with all her strength, and threw him into the pool.
"GAHHHHHH-" was all he could get out before the water cut him off.
"I don't get what he has against water," Asuka said, shrugging as a few bubbles floated up to the surface.
"I do not either," Rei said before she dived into the pool in a graceful manner, barely making a splash.
Shinji surfaced, dramatically gasping for air.
"See, I told you it wasn't that bad!" Asuka said before sticking her tongue out at the boy.
Shinji angrily splashed water at the girl, who was still contentedly standing on the edge of the pool.
"Ooh! Hey, don't do that! It's cold!" she yelped as she jumped away from the pool.
"I could have drowned!" he shouted.
"Ooh, I'm Shinji! And I could have drowned! Myeh myeh myeh," Asuka said in a mocking little voice while putting her hands on her hips and shaking them back and forth.
The frustrated boy once again flung water at the girl.
"Oh, no! Shinji! Don't do that! I'll drown!" Asuka continued to mock as she turned to the side and pretended to cringe away from the water as it splashed on her hips and butt.
"That's not funny, Asuka!"
At that moment, Rei rose out of the water to see the other two children fighting.
"Ooh, you better get ready third child. I'll show you drowning," Asuka said as she took her A-10 Neural connectors out of her hair and tossed them in the chair next to Shinji's school bag.
"What? What does that mean?" Shinji asked, unsure of if he'd incited Asuka's wrath.
"Pilot Sohryu, if you intend to harm Shinji, I will have to restrain you," Rei said in a deadpan tone.
"Oh, please, Ayanami. Take a joke," Asuka said as she stuck her fingers in her hair and brushed through it a couple times before walking away from the pool to get a running start.
"Asuka, I don't know what you're doing. But whatever it is, you better not do it!" Shinji weakly demanded.
"Try to stop me!" Asuka shouted as she dashed towards the pool.
"Asuka! No! Stop it!" Shinji said as he tried to run away despite the fact he was neck deep in water.
Asuka laughed as she jumped into the air, and dived straight towards Shinji, her arms outstretched as if she were trying to tackle and embrace him.
There was a soft thud and Shinji had the breath knocked out of him as Asuka torpedoed into him and shoved him back under the water.
Rei looked on at the rippling and bubbling epicenter, not entirely sure what she had just witnessed.
"People… are very strange," she said as she looked on in thought at the pair of children in the water.
Shinji emerged from the depths dragging Asuka up with him, her arms clinging around his neck. The boy panted and panted while the girl was mostly laughing.
"See, that's a lot closer to actually drowning, right?" Asuka laughed as she continued to hold herself close to Shinji.
"That- Hu, eh. Hu, eh," he gasped while trying to avoid coughing, "wasn't… cool, Asuka."
"Oh my god, you're such a light weight," Asuka said as she laid her head on his chest, "But you are kinda warm."
Shinji coughed up a little water and blushed at the seemingly more friendly Asuka. Suddenly though, he felt another pair of arms around him.
"Agh, Rei! What are you doing?" Shinji asked as she dragged both him and consequently Asuka as well to the edge of the swimming pool where she braced him against it so that he could rest.
"Are you okay, Shinji?"
"Y-yeah. I'm okay. Asuka was just… having fun."
Rei glanced almost accusingly at the red headed girl for a moment before looking back to Shinji and nodded. She too then made herself comfortable and rested her head on Shinji's shoulder, her cheek brushing against Asuka's arm some.
"See, Shinji? Isn't this so much more relaxing than doing school work?" Asuka questioned happily, "Just the cool water and silence. It's so nice."
"I… don't know if it's that much more relaxing…"
"Oh, yeah. I forgot. You're a perverted boy. Your thermal expansion is probably acting up."
"My- my what?" Shinji said, sinking into the water a little to hide his face.
"Oh, nothing, silly boy," Asuka sang as she adjusted herself to get a little closer to him.
"I do not believe Pilot Sohryu used thermal expansion in a literal context," Rei chimed in, "I assume she meant-"
"Okay, that's enough, Ayanami! Geez, you're just as much of a pervert as he is."
"Am I?" Rei asked unsurely.
"Well, considering how much time you spend with Misato…" Shinji started without finishing.
"Yeah. And you don't even live with her," Asuka added.
Suddenly, the metal door of the gym flung open.
"OH GOD, IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" Shinji shouted in a mortified voice.
"EEEEEYAH! GET OUT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING SPYING ON US?" Asuka shrieked.
A man dressed in a black suit was staring at the three children with an awkward and embarrassed look on his face.
"I, uh, er," he stuttered, "I'm from NERV. And, uh, we need you three like…er, uh, right now."
Rei lifted her head from Shinji's shoulder and suddenly had a look of realization on her face. She looked at him with a determined expression.
"Shinji, there is an angel."
/
Misato blushed insanely while trying to keep herself from laughing. Standing in front of her were the three Eva pilots, all soaking wet and mostly undressed.
"My, my, I wonder what this could have turned into had I not chosen to interrupt when I did," Misato said in a deceivingly wondrous voice while trying very hard to hide her smile.
"NOTHING! IT WOULDN'T HAVE TURNED INTO ANYTHING! WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING WRONG!" Asuka screamed, obviously embarrassed, "THE ONLY ONE DOING ANYTHING DESPICABLE WAS THAT PERVERT!" she finished as she pointed accusingly at the Section-2 Agent who had chauffeured the three kids to NERV HQ.
The man awkwardly shuffled out of the room.
"Is that true, Rei? Are you all totally innocent?" Misato teased.
"Yes Ma'am, Captain Katsuragi. We were not performing any questionable activities. We were simply enjoying ourselves."
"Enjoying yourselves, huh? I see," Misato said as she examined the lingerie she'd bought Rei.
"Misato, I'm really cold. Can we please get our orders?" Shinji begged as he hugged himself.
"Y-yeah, I'm f-freezing!" Asuka shivered.
"Well, it's your lucky day, because one of you three are going to be diving headfirst into a volcano!"
"WHAT?" Shinji and Asuka both shouted.
They all stood quietly for a minute. None of them, save for Rei, really knew how to proceed.
"I… I dunno if I really want to do that, Misato," Asuka whimpered, "I still have a lot of life left in me; at least another seventy years."
Misato remained silent as she looked at all the kids, which caused Asuka to bite her lip in thought and possibly shame.
Shinji's fear slowly changed to some rough form of bravery.
'I… I told myself I was going to start pulling my own weight. I promised I wouldn't let them down. Rei and Asuka, they've always been the ones saving me. Sure, I've been lucky a couple times, but they're always the ones to step up when they're needed.'
Shinji looked at the ground and grit his teeth.
'I'm an Eva pilot. I'm here to protect people. I need to do my job. I need to do this. I can't keep letting Asuka and Rei… I can't keep letting them take on my responsibilities. It's not fair. I mustn't run away!'
"I'll do it," Shinji said darkly.
Misato raised her eyebrow.
"What?" Asuka gasped, "You're crazy! Shinji, that's insane! Are you trying to kill yourself?!"
"No. I'm just… trying to do what I have to do."
"No, Shinji," Rei solemnly said, "I promised to protect you. I will do it."
"Rei, you don't have to. I'm doing this… because I want to. I'm doing this because it's not fair for both of you to keep having to carry my responsibilities."
"Shinji, I do not wish for you to proceed with this plan. I do not like it," Rei said, somehow still managing to hide most of her emotion as she stared straight ahead towards Misato.
Shinji smiled at her.
"It's okay, Rei. I'll be fine!"
"I do not believe that is the point, Shinji. I made a promise and I must keep that promise."
"No, Rei-"
"Would both of you shut up!" Asuka snapped, "I'll do it! I'm not going to let stupid Shinji and this… this Wondergirl show me up!"
/
-Not Your Everyday Swimming Lesson-
/
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BEAUTIFUL EVA?"
Doctor Akagi lower her glasses and glanced at the girl.
"Unless you want to be crushed, you're going to need that Type-D equipment. I assure you right now, so don't bother fighting me on it."
"BUT MY POOR BABY! SHE DOESN'T DESERVE AN UGLY SUIT LIKE THAT! WHY COULDN'T IT AT LEAST BE RED?"
"Asuka," Ritsuko sighed, "you're not going to have an Eva if you take her into the middle of that volcano without that."
"I'm sorry, Mien Liebling. They made me do it!" Asuka apologized to her Eva.
"Asuka, I need you to do something for me?"
"Yeah? What is it?" Asuka sniffled sadly with a pout.
"Take this helmet and put it on"
Asuka took the red helmet from Doctor Akagi and examined it. It almost looked like it had cat ears where the neural connectors would go.
"Well, at least it's matching," Asuka moaned as she slipped her head inside the helmet.
"Now, the button on the right wristlet of your plug suit. I need you to press it."
"This one?"
Doctor Akagi nodded and Maya, who was standing behind her, handed her a clipboard with a slight blush as their hands touched.
Asuka pressed the button and the unthinkable happened.
Her plugsuit immediately began inflating to provide insulation.
"NOOOOOOO! WHAT KIND OF SICK JOKE IS THIS DOCTOR AKAGI? HAVEN'T YOU HUMILIATED ME ENOUGH? THIS IS THE KIND OF THING YOU HAVE SHINJI FOR! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!" Asuka cried.
Maya desperately hid her face behind a spare clipboard, trying to conceal her uncontrollable smile.
Ritsuko payed no attention to Asuka as she wrote down a few things on one of her other clipboards.
"Oh, woe is me, woe is me! I had so hoped to see you outperforming everyone today, my dearest Asuka!" Kaji overdramatically introduced himself as though he were an actor reciting a badly delivered line in a play.
Asuka looked up to one of the catwalks to see the man of her dreams gazing down at her.
"Kaji?" Asuka gasped, "NOOOOOOOO! YOU CAN'T SEE ME LIKE THIS! It's so embarrassing."
"Oh, you don't need to be shy, Asuka. This is hardly the most humiliating thing I've seen happen to you."
"Yes, I know!" Asuka whined "Please don't bring up my high school graduation."
"Or the picnic," Kaji added in as a suggestion.
"Or the embarrassing picture of me from the Christmas party!" Asuka once again cried.
"Kaji, quit egging her on!" Ritsuko scolded, "And Asuka, quit being dramatic."
"Okay, Asuka. It's time to put on a brave face for me!" Kaji said, coaxing her into submission.
"Fine, but I'm not going to like it. And you're going to have to take me out to a romantic dinner."
Ritsuko took her glasses off and glared up at Kaji suspiciously, along with Maya who looked more than a little confused.
Kaji looked at the two women and shrugged.
"I... suppose that could be in the cards," The man said, scratching the back of his head while trying to sound as innocent as possible.
Ritsuko made a disgusted sounding hiss and put her glasses back on while Maya mouthed a silent "wow."
"Okay!" Asuka happily said with a bright smile before scurrying off to climb into her Eva.
After Asuka had disappeared into her Eva, Kaji immediately tried to clear his name.
"Wait! Now, Ritsu, it's not what you think!"
/
A massive crane had been anchored above the mouth of the volcano and Asuka's Eva was ludicrously hanging over the pit of molten rock.
"So, you just need me to catch it in the EM cage?"
"That's the plan," Misato's voice crackled over the radio.
"I don't like this," Shinji said from inside his Eva, obviously worried about the wellbeing of his fellow pilot.
"No one likes it, Shinji. But, it's a job that has to be done," Misato said, failing at trying to comfort the boy.
A few jets flew overhead. Asuka could make out the shapes enough to identify them as an F-22 and a pair of Eurofighter Typhoons.
"Hey, what's the U.N. air force doing here? Are they here to support us?" Asuka asked in wonder, trying to contain her admiration she had for the aircraft.
"No," Ritsuko corrected, "They're here to clean up the mess if we fail. They're equipped with N2 depth charges."
Asuka and Shinji both shivered and Rei frowned.
"That's going a little far. Don't they have faith in us?" Asuka growled.
"Yeah! What kind of jerk would order something like that?" Shinji spat.
"Commander Ikari," Ritsuko stated simply.
"Focus everyone," Misato ordered, "Asuka, it's time to go in."
"Well, if you say so…"
The crane lurched and Unit-02 was slowly lowered into the volcano.
"Ugh, I can already feel the heat. I wish I was still at the pool."
"Asuka, focus. This cannot go wrong," Misato snapped.
"Yeah, yeah."
The Eva neared the surface of the thick bubbling magma. And in an effort to lighten the mood, Asuka spread her Eva's legs.
"Haha, hey Shinji, look! A perfect scissor dive!"
Though Shinji found it somewhat amusing, he had a hard time smiling.
And before long, Asuka's Eva was completely submerged beneath the glowing rock.
"Ack, this hurts to look at," Asuka said as she squinted to look out of the Eva's D-type coolant suit, "Activating CT monitor."
The cockpit of her Eva dimmed from a bright yellow to a dark red.
"Ah, much better. Though, I still can't really see anything very well."
"So, no angel?" Misato questioned.
"You said it's in some kind of embryonic state, right? Nope, not seeing anything like that yet."
"I wouldn't really expect you to see it yet," Ritsuko affirmed, "we need to go deeper."
The Eva slowly continued being lowered into the thick molten sludge.
"God, it's really starting to get hot," Asuka whined.
"Just a little further, Asuka. You should be able to see it soon," Ritsuko said, trying to give her a little motivation.
"Actually, I think I just saw it pop up on the monitor."
Ritsuko glanced at her own feed the was being streamed from Asuka's Eva.
"Yep, that looks like it. Now be really careful Asuka. Your combat options are extremely limited down there."
"Got it," Asuka said, trying to keep her composure.
The Eva was finally within capture distance of the angel. Asuka prompted the Eva's arms forward and activated the EM cage, encapsulating the angel embryo.
"Oh, haha! I got it! That was kinda easy!" Asuka said, happily relieved.
Ritsuko picked up a radio mouthpiece and spoke into it.
"She's got it. Pull her up."
Shinji sighed in relief upon seeing the crane lurch once more as it started to reel the girl up from the deep. And Rei, in her own Eva, loosened her grip on her control paddles.
"That was great, Asuka!" Misato congratulated the girl.
"Yeah, I know. I just can't wait to get out of this thing and take a cold shower."
Ritsuko chuckled and smiled at Misato.
"Sounds like all the tension just let loose all at once."
"Yeah, well, we did just send a fourteen year old into a volcano. So, it's understandable she'd be a little on edge."
"Oh, shit! Uh, Misato?" Asuka's voice crackled over the radio.
Misato reached for her own radio, her hand moving like a lightning flash.
"Yes? What's wrong?"
"Uh, I think I made it angry or something. It's like it's waking up or something. What do I do?"
Misato wasn't sure exactly what to say. She looked at the monitor on the table she'd had set up outside the lip of the volcano's mouth.
"Ritsuko, what's happening?"
"It's going through some kind of extremely rapid metamorphosis," Ritsuko said in a flustered voice as she too looked at the screen.
"Misato!? I don't think this cage is going to hold it!" Asuka shouted over the radio.
"Hold on, Asuka! I'm trying to think of something!"
"MISATO, I CAN'T! IT JUST BROKE OUT!" Asuka screamed.
"Damn it," Misato hissed.
"Misato, we need to pull her up right now! She can barely fight down there! And if the support and coolant lines break, we're going to have no way to retrieve her! That's the best I've got. Get her out now!" Ritsuko shouted while caught between panicking and trying to put on a brave face.
Misato radioed the crane operator while Ritsuko went about relaying instructions to Asuka.
"Asuka, drop the EM cage! It's dead weight now"
"Alright!" The girl said as she let the piece of equipment go and watched it sink into the magma.
"Where is it, Asuka? Do you see it?"
"No, it retreated as soon as it broke out. I don't see it anywhere."
Ritsuko breathed out before trying to offer reassuring words to Asuka.
"Okay. Just stay calm, Asuka! I'm trying to think."
"It's easy for you to say stay calm. You're not the one stuck in a fucking volcano with a fucking monster."
"Asuka, just be ready. Please."
Asuka fumbled while trying to grab her prog knife with the bulky finger clams of the D-Type equipment, but she managed and held it in a ready position at her side.
"Asuka, it's coming," Ritsuko said sounding almost petrified.
"I… I see it."
In the red gloom, the creature slowly showed itself. It had at least quadrupled in size since it had broken free.
"Impossible! How could it have grown so large so quickly?" Misato shivered as she looked at the feed.
"I don't know. This is… insane," Ritsuko said as she shook with terror.
Asuka looked straight ahead as the massive anomalocaris like creature cautiously swam closer and closer to her Eva. It was almost like it was analyzing her. And, it made Asuka's spine shiver.
"God… goddamn it! Just… JUST FUCKING ATTACK!" Asuka screamed out of anxiety, "COME OVER HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!"
And as though the creature could hear and understand her, it suddenly burst forward charging the Eva.
Asuka screamed seeing it rush towards her at such a high speed. Nonetheless, her muscle memory forced her to jab the knife forward, hoping she would impale the monster when it made contact with her.
But such was not the case. The knife bent. It was already losing it's structural integrity due to the heat, and the hard shell of the creature was like a blacksmiths hammer on a piece of hot metal.
"Fuck! Fuck! MISATO, GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Asuka begged as she hopelessly beat at the creature's carapace.
"I'M COMING ASUKA!" Shinji screamed.
"What? Shinji! You will not!" Misato ordered.
At the lip of the volcano, Unit-01 had just detached it's umbilical cable.
"Shinji…" Rei mumbled in a sad and worried tone.
The large purple Eva stood at the edge of the world. It strained itself, almost like it was writhing in pain. The great beast threw its horned head back and roared as it's AT field burned to life around it.
"MISATO! IT'S GOING AFTER THE SUPPORT LINE!" Asuka cried, "IT'S GONNA FUCKING KILL ME!"
Too much was happening at once. A crushing wave of air from the raging Eva surged past Misato and Ritsuko, almost knocking the two women to the ground.
"HOLD ON ASUKA!" Shinji screamed over the radio.
"I'll try," Asuka said in a weak voice as her hope quickly drained out of her.
The boy took a deep breath.
"AT FIELD MAX POTENCY!"
Everything was silent for a moment before the AT field of Unit-01 exploded into a pulsing purple and orange aura around the Eva. A sudden weight could be felt by everyone stationed outside the volcano as hexagonal planes of light rapidly appeared and disappeared around the Eva.
Dread.
That was the only word that could be used to describe what everyone witnessing the shining metal beast in front of them felt.
The plates of armor groaned and shuddered as the muscles underneath yearned for freedom.
Shinji looked out over the sea of fire in front of him before he furiously dove into it.
"Stupid kid! What the hell was that?" Misato growled, sounding angrier than she actually was.
"That, Misato? That was the power of an Eva." Ritsuko said in awe, "Where's his statistics? I need to see his synch rate!"
"Why? That's hardly important right now!" Misato shouted as her tension welled up inside her.
"Yes it is, Misato! If he goes too high, he could be in danger and we could lose two pilots."
Misato huffed and pointed at one of the screens indicating Shinji's synch ratio.
"Okay. Eighty-eight percent? Jesus! Yeah, that should be okay. But, if he goes much higher, we're going to have to cut him. This shouldn't even be possible. The limiters should cap him at eighty percent."
"Why woul-"
"MISATO! FUCK! THE LINE! IT SNAPPED! I'M DONE! I'M FUCKING DONE!" Asuka screamed, interrupting Misato's inquiry.
"Asuka… Damn it, I'm sorry," Misato said quietly, the realization still not hitting her yet.
"NO! THIS ISN'T OVER!"
Asuka felt her Eva jerk and loose it's momentum.
"Sh… Shinji?! What? HOW? You don't have any D-Type equipment. WHY WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU IDIOT!?"
"Because… I'm an Eva pilot," Shinji growled.
"Hmph, showoff!" Asuka smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"Reel them up now! This is taking too long," Misato barked over the radio to the lift operator.
"SHINJI! IT'S COMING AT US AGAIN!" Asuka screamed as she saw the enormous creature charging her from below.
Shinji swung Asuka to the side as fast as he could, the angel only missing her by a couple meters. But, instead of turning around to try another attack, the angel kept swimming upwards towards the surface.
"MISATO, WATCH OUT!" Shinji yelled.
But, before she had time to process what Shinji had said, the titanic angel burst from the volcano and sailed into the air. Everyone gasped as the hellish creature eclipsed the sun before falling and landing at the edge of the volcano.
The earth shook, knocking most of the people around the volcano to their knees.
"REI, KILL THAT FUCKING THING!" Misato screamed over the radio.
"Understood."
The ground began thundering again as Unit-00 sprinted towards the angel.
The monster recovered from it's fall and erected itself on the land it was now on. But as soon as it had reacclimatized, Rei's Eva kneed the creature, sending it flying away from the mouth of the volcano. It flew for a few hundred meters before rolling down the side of the mountain. But Rei wouldn't allow it a moment of respite. She diligently stayed right on it as the angel tried to right itself.
At that moment, Shinji and Asuka had finally surfaced and the crane was now hoisting them back above the land.
"Misato, where's Rei?" Shinji asked, seeing that she was nowhere to be found.
"She went down the south side of the mountain. She's fighting it by herself right now. Get down there and I'll send Asuka as soon as I can!"
"Got it!" Shinji said as he dragged Unit-02 a safe distance away from the edge of the volcano
"Are you going to be okay," Shinji asked Asuka as his Eva knelt before hers.
"Yes! I'm going to be fine! What are you doing here, you idiot? Go help your girlfriend!"
"She's not my-"
"God damn it, Shinji! GO!" Asuka demanded.
"Right," he nodded before turning and sprinting down the mountain.
/
Rei's voice groaned over the radio. It came as a surprise to Shinji, who was use to her being rather quiet. But, she actually sounded kind of angry.
"REI! HOLD ON! I'M ALMOST THERE!"
Rei looked out of the corner of her eye to see Shinji sliding down the side of the volcano, trying not to trip on his way down. But in her moment of distraction, the creature lunged at her Eva, knocking it over and attaching itself to the upper body of Unit-00
"NO YOU DON'T!" Shinji screamed as he body slammed the angel, making it lose its grip on Rei's Eva and once again launching the hideous thing into the air before it skid into the dirt, throwing an enormous plume of dust into the air.
"Rei! Rei, are you okay?"
"I am," Rei said as her Eva stumbled to its feet.
"Good. That's good," Shinji sighed in relief.
"Shinji," Rei said quietly.
"Yeah? What's wrong?"
"…You scared me," she said after a pause.
"I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. But, I was scared for Asuka too."
"I understand. It is okay," Rei smiled.
"Come on, Rei. Let's…let's kill this thing."
The two Evas focused their attention back on the cloud of dirt, waiting for it to clear.
But, when the dust settled, both of the pilots were frozen in either surprise or fear.
"What…Is that? …is that even the same thing we were just fighting?" Shinji said as he felt an unnatural chill in his spine.
/
"Misato!" Ritsuko shouted.
Misato was examining the progress of the removal of the D-Type equipment from Unit-02 when Ritsuko demanded her attention.
"Yeah? What?"
"Shinji's synch ratio just dropped to about fifty percent and it's still falling. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it."
"Well, we'll just have to get Asuka down there as fast as we can."
"Is that even an option? Do we even know what we're fighting?"
"…We have no other choice. We can't run. We fight or we die."
/
The AT aura around Unit-01 began to flicker and fade as Shinji looked through the clearing cloud of dust.
"Do not be afraid, Shinji. I will protect you," Rei proclaimed in a determined voice.
In front of the two Evas was a creature that towered over them. What previously looked like an armored eel now looked as though it were a lumbering, almost bug-like creature, only it had two bulky legs, two bladed arms, and stood upright. Segments of chitinous material ran over the entire monster. And to make matters worse, an orange AT field flickered to life around each piece of armor.
"Rei, what is that? What just happened to it? How did it change so fast?"
"I do not know. And it does not matter. All that matters is that we execute our orders. And our orders are to execute the angel."
"Shinji!" Asuka's voice crackled over the radio, "Stop pussing out! I'd think you'd be more afraid of what you can't see. You just jumped into a fucking volcano for fuck's sake. Fucking murder that thing! I'll be there in a minute!"
Shinji gripped the control paddles, letting Asuka's words sink into him.
"I only have two minutes left on my battery. Let's finish this, Rei."
He heard a small affirmative sound from Rei's com and saw her Eva nod to his.
The angel took a step forward, shaking the ground. And at the same time, the two Evas charged the angel.
Both of the Evas deployed their prog knives and spread their AT fields, but the Angel's AT field was too strong and even with both of the Evas fields combined, they couldn't bring down it's barrier.
Rei grunted as she tried to stab her knife into the angel's leg in an attempt to cripple it. Sparks flew everywhere as the vibrating knife collided with the field, but the blade eventually gave out and shattered.
Shinji wasn't faring much better. His knife had made no noticeable damage to any part of the angel or it's AT field.
"Damn it! Asuka, we can't neutralize this thing's AT field! We can't do anything to it."
"Hold on! I'm almost there!" Asuka shouted as she too finally skid down the mountain.
"I don't understand! It's not attacking us! Why?" Shinji asked as he started to panic.
"It does not need to attack if we cannot stop it. That does not matter however. We cannot let it reach NERV headquarters," Rei stated.
"Hey, that's a good idea, Wondergirl!" Asuka said, as an idea started to form in her head.
"Idea?" Rei asked, "I proposed no idea."
"Yeah, look; we don't need to attack it either, we just need to tip that thing over. It'll buy us a little time at least. ...Unless it changes again."
"But how are we going to do that?"
"Get behind it! Get ready to push its legs out from under it! When I get to the foot of the volcano, I'll jump on it and knock it over.
"Right!" Shinji said as he and Rei circled behind the gargantuan armored angel.
"Get ready! I'm almost at the bottom!"
"We're ready!"
Asuka's Eva finally arrived at the bottom of the incline and she sprinted for the lumbering angel. Her Eva then jumped into the air, preparing to kick the monstrosity right in the center of its chest.
"NOW! DO IT NOW!"
Shinji and Rei made their Evas sprint forwards, ramming the angel in its heels.
"Grrrrrrah!" Shinji and Rei both groaned as their Evas strained to push over the massive creature.
Finally, it tipped beyond the point of no return and it fell backwards as Shinji and Rei scrambled to get out from under it.
"Don't give it any time to recover. Neutralize it's AT field! Hurry!" Asuka ordered.
All three Evas simultaneously spread their AT fields while clambering on top of the behemoth.
"Yeah, okay! It's working!" Asuka shouted as the angel's AT field started to flicker and dim.
Suddenly, a pained grunt sounded out over the coms and the Angel's AT field began to flicker back to life. The angel had flung Unit-01 off of it with the dull side of one of its bladed arms and the Eva spun through the air before crashing into the ground.
"Shinji!" Rei gasped.
"What just happened? Is he down?" Asuka asked, starting to panic.
"N-no. I'm okay. But my battery is-"
Shinji's Eva went limp and collapsed just as soon as it had stood up and recovered from the attack.
Before Asuka could sort out what had just happened she felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder. The angel had stabbed her with its arm. And before she knew it, she felt the world around her start spinning as the angel threw her to the ground.
"Gah! Fuck!" Asuka spat as she clutched her shoulder and ribs.
The angel went after Unit-00 next. Running one of its blades through the stomach of the Eva, it lifted it up into the air before also flinging it to the side.
"Eeeeyuh," Rei squealed as she hit the ground.
The angel attempted to lift its heavy armored body up from the ground.
"Ugh, no! We can't let it get back up!" Asuka growled as she forced her Eva to its feet.
"DAMN YOU!" Asuka screamed as she charged the monster's arm, trying to keep it from pushing itself up.
The angel fell back to the ground with a thud as the shoulder of Asuka's Eva made contact with it's arm.
"AYANAMI!? ARE YOU THERE?"
"I am."
"HURRY! GET OVER HERE! WE NEED TO FINISH THIS!"
Unit-00 struggled to stand up as blood poured out of its torso. But Rei pushed the Eva as hard as she could.
"Pilot Sohryu, we need to retreat to the mountaintop! Our batteries will not support the Evas for much longer."
"No! NO! WE CAN'T. There's no power supply station up there anymore. It's destroyed. It got magma on it when the angel escaped the volcano. I saw it myself. So, our batteries would die if we ran. We…WE NEED TO KILL THIS THING."
Rei frowned, but knew that there was no other way. And so, she and Asuka approached the angel once more.
"There's no way we're getting rid of this thing's entire AT field by ourselves," Asuka started, "but if you can use your AT field to shield me, I'll see if I can concentrate mine over its chest and at least neutralize that much. With any luck, its core will be there. Then all that's left is the small matter of destroying it."
"Understood," Rei said.
With that, the two Eva's climbed on top of the angel once more. It swiped its bladed arms at them, but Rei was able to deflect them with her AT field as she and Asuka made their way to the center of the Angel's chest.
After reaching the location, Asuka knelt Unit-02 down over the angel's chest and began digging her Eva's fingers into it while simultaneously focusing her AT field over a small portion of the angel's own field, hoping to puncture it.
"Pilot Sohryu, you must hurry!" Rei said as she struggled to maintain her AT field against the repeated swipes.
"I'm doing my best!"
Asuka's AT field slowly began eating away at the small area of the angel's field she focused it on.
"God damn it, so close. Hurry. Hurry!"
Even during the day, the flashes of light that shone when the angel attacked Rei's AT field almost seemed like a sunrise they were so bright.
"Pilot…Sohryu," Rei groaned, "I cannot… maintain this."
"I'M ALMOST THERE! COME ON!" Asuka screamed as she began tearing at a hole in the angel's AT field with her Eva's bare fingers.
Asuka heard Rei gasp over the com, and she knew what had happened.
She looked up and saw Unit-00 go limp before toppling off of the angel.
"Damn it! DAMN IT! YOU ALMOST KILLED ME. BUT YOU DIDN'T! SO DIE, DAMN YOU!"
As Asuka screamed, she raised her Eva's fist high above her head as it started to glow a bright fiery red.
"THIS IS THE END!"
/
"Misato, look! Asuka's synch ratio just spiked. It's up to seventy-three percent," Ritsuko said as she pointed at a monitor.
"Damn it," Misato said, "I hope she's pulling off something amazing because the other two are dead in the water."
/
Red energy enveloped the fist of Unit-02, and it grew more intense by the moment. A crushing weight flattened the space around the Eva and the angel. A few of the surround trees were reduced to splinters as a screaming shockwave burst forth from the fist of Unit-02 before it slammed its fist into the chest of the angel.
A red and white hexagonal light exploded outwards from the impact point as the AT field focused around her Eva's fist pierced the angel's AT field and shattered its armored shell underneath.
The angel was dazed and barely alive from the pure force it had just absorbed and was too disoriented to attack as Asuka tore off some of the chitinous shell and tossed it aside to expose the angel's core.
"I got you," Asuka panted, "I FUCKING GOT YOU! YOU'RE NOT KILLING ME!"
Asuka once again raised her Eva's fist and pounded at the red orb again and again, slowly and painfully killing the angel. The angel wailed until the moment Asuka definitively shattered its core.
The core detonated right under Unit-02 as Asuka's battery died. Though, the girl was too exhausted to mind the shockwave as she passed out in the entry plug.
/
-A Moment to Breathe-
/
"Oh, Ritsuko!" Maya wept as she ran into Doctor Akagi's arms and kissed her as she arrived in the Geofront.
"Ooh, Ritsuko! I didn't know you and Maya were dating!" Misato giggled.
Ritsuko broke the kiss and glared at Misato, giving her a look that told her not to tell anyone.
"Commander Ikari doesn't either, so you better not say anything," Ritsuko growled slightly.
"Alright, alright! I'm not judging or anything. I actually think it's cute," Misato said as she held her arms up defensively.
"Ritsuko, I was so worried about you! Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay!"
"Yes, I'm fine. Though, I did almost get some lava splattered on me, I turned out okay," Ritsuko said as she gently stroked Maya's hair.
"Oh my god, Misato, can we just get this debriefing over with? I really want to go home," Asuka said with some annoyance.
"We're not going home after this," Misato said.
"What? Why not?"
"Because we're going to the hot springs."
Asuka's face lit up for a second, but then she frowned.
"You mean the actual hot springs, right? Not the volcano?"
Misato snorted in laughter.
"Psh! Of course I mean the actual hot springs!"
"YAY! MORE SWIMMING!" Asuka happily shrieked.
/
The sun was setting, and Misato and the Eva pilots had arrived at the spring only a few minutes ago. It was almost like there had been no angel. The citywide alert had only lasted for a couple minutes before being returned to a relative state of safety. And, because of that, most people hadn't even had a chance to gather their belongings to evacuate. That being the case, the hot spring, and many other establishments around Tokyo-3, had remained open and operable.
Shinji was thankful that he was the only one on the men's side of the hot springs. He was rather insecure with himself and would preferably not interact with anyone in his current state of nudity. Even just listening to Misato, Asuka, and Rei talk on the other side of the wooden partition was embarrassing for him.
'It's nice of Misato to treat us. But…this is a little awkward,' Shinji thought as he sunk into the hot water, trying to empty his mind.
Though, as always, he was bound to be interrupted by something.
"Hey, Shinji," Misato sang, "We're all out of soap over here! Do you think you could toss us some from over there?"
"Ugh, uh, yeah! One moment."
Shinji waded through the water and grabbed a bottle of some fancy soap before walking back to the partition.
"Here it comes," Shinji said as he tossed the bottle over to the girls' side.
"Ow, you jerk! He hit me! And it was right on my pussy!" Asuka whined.
"Oh, here, would you like me to look at it? Maybe I can make it better." Misato cooed.
"Misato! No!" Asuka giggled, "Don't touch me there! It tickles! Haha, stop it!"
Shinji blushed listening to the exchange and tried to hide himself in the water as though that would help anything.
"And Shinji! Before you think of anything perverted, Misato was tickling me; not touching me!" Asuka shouted.
'Ugh, thermal expansion,' the boy embarrassingly thought as he blew a few bubbles in the water he had sunk into.
"Alright! Now it's time to get Rei nice and lathered up!" Misato said excitedly.
/
Misato squeezed some soap into her hand and began rubbing it on Rei's back as she patiently sat in the spring.
A warm breeze blew by and gently chilled the three girls, helping them to relax.
Though, there was one thing that had been somewhat distracting to Asuka ever since she saw Misato undress; a rather large scar between Misato's breasts. For the longest time, she never even knew that Misato had incurred such an injury, and not knowing how she got it was making Asuka think about it to an uncomfortable degree.
Asuka took a deep breath.
"Misato?"
"Yes, sweety?"
"How…did you get that?"
Misato looked surprised for a second.
"You mean this?" Misato said as she pointed to her scar?
"Yeah…" Asuka said as she looked down to her reflection in the water, trying not to make eye contact with Misato.
"…I got it during Second Impact."
"Oh…"
"Hey, Asuka?" Misato said gently as she rubbed some soap on Rei's shoulders.
"Hmm?"
"Today was one of only a few times I've been that close to an angel. And, I guess, until now, I never really appreciated the work you three do. And…I just wanted to say thanks."
/
After dropping Rei off at her apartment and getting home, Misato was the first one to go to bed. No doubt she would have an immense amount of paperwork to sort through tomorrow, so it was probably for the best that she rested instead of drinking.
This left Asuka and Shinji in the living room watching television, though neither were really paying any attention to what was playing. The two children just stared, their tired and empty eyes lazily closing and opening more and more often as the minutes passed by.
Asuka yawned and a cute little sound escaped her mouth.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed," she said as she got up off the couch and tried to keep from falling over as she yawned a second time.
"Wait, Asuka," Shinji said as she stepped around the armrest of the couch.
"Hmm? What?"
"Um…am I… your friend?"
Asuka looked at the floor and thought for a second.
"…I don't like you most of the time, Shinji. …But, you saved my life today. And you manned up too, even if it was only for a little bit."
Asuka paused for a second and looked at Shinji as he sat expectantly on the couch.
"I'll have to think on it to figure out if you're really my friend. But for now…you're alright, Shinji."
Asuka then continued to her room.
"You're my friend…Asuka." Shinji said as he turned around to face her.
He couldn't tell for sure, but he thought he saw a smile work its way around the side of her face as she opened the door to her room and disappeared inside.
.
*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*
.
"Why, hello everyone! It's you know who here to do you know what!
In the next chapter, Kaji takes Asuka out to dinner just like he promised, and has to listen to her lament over the fact she didn't get to go diving in Okinawa. So, he comes up with his own field trip for her and the other kids and PenPen to enjoy. He decides to take them to the Tokyo-3 Marine Restoration Facility, where they get to learn what the earth was like before Second Impact. Oh, it all sounds so great and- No, Kaji. No one said your name! Get out!-"
*Kaji interrupts*
"Ah, hey there everyone. Hopefully Misato didn't say anything too vile or misleading about me. I'm actually a really great guy. For instance, I love nature. I even considered starting my own kid's television show once. But then Second Impact happened and I decided to take a more actionable stance. Don't tell Commander Ikari, but I actually secretly divert some of NERV's funds to restoration efforts around the globe. And let me tell you-"
*Shuffling*
"Oh, Misato, I didn't know you were still willing to touch me there."
*Sounds of physical and explicit verbal conflict*
"Get out! You're going to get someone fired!"
*Misato shoves Kaji out of the recording booth*
"I'm so terribly sorry about that everyone! SOMEONE doesn't know how to stick to their script! Anyways, it's all going to be in the next chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate Power and love; Daybreak Over the Waves. See yah next time!
NO, KAJI! YOU DON'T GET ANY FANSERVICE!"
.
Well, I suppose that's that. I can't really say for sure when the next chapter is going to be out. I didn't rewatch Evangelion between this chapter and last chapter, so I'm probably going to do it between this one and the next one. Anyhow, I'm gonna try to keep the chapters rolling out as best I can. I know they've been really slow recently. I hate myself for it! I'll try my best though.
Update/ Final Update: Man, I've really been falling behind on updates. But, yeah. Next chapter is out!
