Well, well, well. Would you look at that? I actually managed to get out a semi-long chapter. At least about 8,400 words not including author notes. That certainly feels good.
But, enough with my gloating. Let get to review responses, which I haven't done in like forever.
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origamishishou: Ah, even the cute stuff has an air of uneasiness, you say? Hahah, that's probably maybe a good thing for this story. That mostly makes me happy, assuming that is indeed a good thing. Also, thanks for the kind wishes about my jaw. Hahaha. Ooh, yeah. It was hard to sleep for a couple nights there after the surgery. Even with propping my head up, the throbbing was enough to keep me awake. At least it actually wasn't that bad the very first night after though. The oral surgeon actually cut one of my nerves, and that actually completely stopped most of the pain in my jaw for that first night. It also made me talk like an idiot for 17 hours after the surgery since I couldn't move my lips or tongue. But, that's a small price to pay for being pain free for almost a day after surgery.
Hellsink Bathhall: Okay, lmao. About my aunt, haha. I don't even what she was thinking. Crazy woman told me that she literally went outside to take her dogs for a walk and then the stayed out too long and it got dark so... she just feel asleep under a tree. I really don't know what the deal was with that, hahah. Oh, boy.
Also, lmao, my girlfriend broke up with me already. Lmao. She was in Canada. I'm in Texas. She broke up with me on valentines day and then left me for some guy in Florida who then ended up cheating on her before she even got to Florida. Fucking insane, I know, especially since I spent 60,000 dollars on her. Not that that entitles me to her or anything. But, if it were me, I wouldn't be so keen on leaving someone after they spent 60,000 USD on me. I'd have to believe they care about me more than their money if they spent 60K in one payment. But, oh well. She's mostly outta my life now. She's actually still been begging me for money because she knows I'm the only one who would have given her any. And, lmao, as far as I know, she's stranded in Florida right now and wants a plane ticket back to Ontario! HAHAHAHAHAH! Sorry, Maddy! I still care about you and I wanna help, but I'm not gonna let you keep using me.
Anyways, since she's outta my life now, I'll hopefully be more focused on writing now. I visibly saw my writing quality drop since she got with me. So, hopefully all this just works itself out.
Seeking Professional Help: Ah, yes... the shorter chapters. Yeah... Well, like I said in my last response to Hellsink, hopefully that will be fixed now. I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE JUST STAYED AWAY FROM WOMEN! BUT I DIDN'T AND I THOUGHT SHE'D BE DIFFERENT! I THOUGHT SHE'D BE A VALUABLE EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT! I do apologize. I will probably be focusing more on writing now! So, hopefully, we'll get some longer chapters. And we'll all get to enjoy it together without Madison!
Mike Kromer: Ah, yes, threesome stuff! Yes! YES! We will be getting there soon! Not quite yet! But, soon! I'm really excited to start writing it all up properly since I wrote the first scene for this fic several years ago now and still haven't gotten around to getting it out into the world yet. But, soon! The time is approaching quickly! And I am excited!
Useful76: Oooohohohoh, yes! I was so fucking ready to just explode writing last chapter. Oooh! I'm laughing the pervy laugh right now! I can't even explain how crazy I was getting writing that scene and its nice to know that my own emotions seemed to be conveyed through Asuka so cleanly. And, as for where we'll go next! Well, we shall see!
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I think that about wraps it up for review responses. I'll see you all next chapter, and Misato will see you at the end of this one!
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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 28
In The Shrieking Gloom
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As Misato opened her eyes, all she could see was darkness. She didn't know what time it was, but she assumed it was early in the morning, maybe three or four AM. What she did know however was that she was hungry.
As she drunkenly tumbled off of the living room couch, she heard a dull metallic clank and felt a warm bubbly liquid shoot into the air and land on various parts of her body before feeling a puddle form around her hands and heard a sizzling sound on the hard wood floor.
"Agh, shhhhhhet" the woman slurred as she deduced she must've fallen asleep with an open can of beer on her lap, "Gah'll clean it du'p lader."
She attempted to stand up, slinging her hands back and forth to throw off the beer on her palms.
Despite her drunken stupor, she was starting to put together the situation she was in. If she was still drunk now, she either hadn't slept for very long or had ingested more alcohol than she had intended. Assuming that she had fallen asleep somewhere between ten or eleven PM though and considering how starved she felt right now, she was beginning to wonder if she had perhaps taken her alcoholic tendencies too far.
'It's not like adults have their life together anyways. I can't believe I thought that when I was younger.'
She assumed she was probably too intoxicated to cook anything. Even if she were to prepare a cup of instant noodles in the microwave, in her current state, she was liable to accidentally burn herself and spill it all over the floor. And she didn't particularly want another mess to clean up tonight, assuming she would even be the one to clean it up of course. Shinji often times was the one taking on the role of maid, manservant, or whatever other strange and curious persuasion of housekeeper there was in the wide and wondrous world. And Misato didn't want to unduly lump anything else on the timid but auspiciously overburdened boy's shoulders.
At least, not anything too much.
Admittedly though, the woman's hunger was starting to gnaw at her mind to sate it's appetite. Therefore making hunger not conducive to Misato's repertoire of skills, and even less so the practices she was unskilled in, like occupying her mind while she was gradually becoming hungover in a quiet apartment while her wards were trying to sleep.
So, her anxious unrest and drunk, but still active, mind unrelentingly convinced her to at least peek into Shinji's room and decide whether to ask him to cook something or not after she'd taken stock of the situation.
She tried to quietly tip-toe to Shinji's room, but after almost falling over, she decided to simply lumber the rest of the way. Surely her heavy footsteps would create less noise than her entire body toppling to the floor in the event that she fell. Yes, 'twould be most cataclysmic indeed if she lost her footing.
After putting great effort into approaching Shinji's room as silently as possible, she exhaled a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding and then slid the door open.
But, something was off.
She couldn't see well in the darkness, or with how disoriented she was, but she swore she could count a few extra heads of hair in Shinji's bed.
Despite Asuka's declaration that Misato couldn't count the fingers on her own hands when intoxicated, Misato herself was convinced of the opposite and was rather confident in her drunken mathematical prowess. Though, the same couldn't be said for her sense of balance when she'd drunken too much… or even when she'd drunken only a little.
Misato stared into the room for awhile, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness that filled her blinkered and botched gaze.
As the scene before her became more comprehensible, she became more and more sure that she was indeed seeing three kids all piled on top of each other. Misato almost didn't believe her eyes. It almost looked affectionate. And it looked to her like Asuka was participating in it.
She couldn't make it out easily, but she was sure she could see Asuka's arms wrapped around Shinji, as well as touching Rei's own arms.
"Oh, shi- Well, well, well, this is an interesting political compass."
Misato quietly tried to shut the door to Shinji's room, though her arms jittering in excitement made the task slightly more difficult.
'Political compass? What am I saying? I meant to say porno! Though…. I guess political compass could work if I threw myself into the mix. That would be four… four, uh... aspects?'
/
-A Fragment of Life-
/
Asuka's eyes slowly fluttered open. Luckily, the girl had not had any nightmares last night. Though, it seemed only right that, if she hadn't had any nightmares, she would of course have to pay for it by waking up to see Rei's piercing ruby red eyes staring straight through her first thing in the morning.
"Good morning, Pilot Sohryu."
Asuka almost found herself cringing, but was able to control herself.
"Yeah. Morning, Wondergirl. But enough with the Pilot Sohryu stuff, alright? Just call me Asuka," the girl grumbled sleepily.
"Only if you cease calling me Wondergirl."
"Yeah, yeah. It's a habit I'll have to break. I'll try to call you Rei," Asuka mumbled while burying her face into Shinji's warm chest as well as Rei's arms.
Asuka shut her eyes and desperately tried to fall back to sleep. The body heat was so inviting, especially in Misato's permafrost apartment. Asuka was sure that the woman spent so much on her electricity bill just for cooling her apartment, that that was the reason Misato couldn't possibly afford a nicer apartment or a proper house.
Though, Asuka did understand to an extent, at least, she thought she did. Second Impact hadn't been very generous with providing agreeable weather. Most days, it was hot. Almost unnaturally hot. Many people around the world had taken to nicknaming the phenomenon "The Eternal Binding Summer," "The Fifteen Year Summer," "The Quarter Century Summer," or just the "The Summer" if pressed for time.
Ordinarily, "The Summer" would have been misleading before Second Impact. But, because planet Earth no longer had defined seasons, there wasn't anything left to be confused over. And, so now, all year long was just... summer.
Of course, that didn't mean there weren't freak weather patterns that occurred every now and then. Just last year in 2014, Asuka had heard a story about how Rome had gotten snow for almost forty days straight, which, before Second Impact, was completely unheard of considering it usually snowed only once every twenty years or so.
And the year before that, Egypt, a country that, in the non-Mediterranean areas, on average, saw less than an inch of rainfall per year, had received almost a hundred and sixty inches in 2013.
Many people born before Second Impact still thought fondly of the other three temperate seasons, Spring, Autumn, and Winter. Some people indeed still put up snow themed Christmas decorations in the United States and Europe. They still associated Fall with October and Winter with December.
For many of them, it was just simply ingrained in their minds. Even if it didn't snow, it was still winter to them, even with official statements from several world famous science organizations that seasons were declared to be abolished post Second Impact.
But, Asuka, being someone who had been born after second impact and who also had no parents who cared about her enough to impart the spirit of the season unto her, didn't carry the same nostalgia for the holidays and the seasons they used to take place in.
Of course, she still tried to celebrate the holidays. Growing up in Europe for most of her life, she still tried to take part in the popular pagan holidays such as Christmas and Halloween. But, even then, she knew she didn't have the same fond feelings for it that people older than her probably had. She knew that the Halloweens she'd celebrated weren't the same as the ones Misato and Kaji grew up with.
Hearing people from before her inception talk about it, the time of year, the crisp winds and the colored leaves; Asuka knew it simply wasn't the same now as it was before.
Now, most days, it was just hot all the time. There was always the odd storm or the out of ordinary chill. And, if you were lucky, it would happen on a significant holiday. But, for the most part, it was always just bland and hot with the humidity varying from day to day.
And it wasn't just an average heat. It was a stifling, almost choking heat. The kind of heat where, if you were jogging around the school track and inhaling through your mouth, you'd find your tongue dry in under a minute, even on a humid day. The kind of heat where even a mild physical exertion made you dizzy and feverish, like you were about to keel over from heat stroke. It was the kind of heat where your sweat no longer served to cool you off, and instead made it feel like it was just trapping the sweltering hotness on your skin.
It wasn't just a middling eighty degrees Fahrenheit. Even on cooler days, it was usually in the high nineties at the lowest. If you were fortunate, it would drop to the mid eighties during a storm.
Looking at it like that, Asuka could kind of see why Misato liked having her thermostat set as low as she could. Despite, Asuka's vehement mislike of the colder temperature when she was trying to sleep without shivering, she could admit that it was relaxing after walking home from school and being able to enter a room that fluctuated from anywhere between fifty to seventy degrees Fahrenheit.
Asuka snuggled closer into Shinji's chest, nuzzling her nose into him, trying to protect it from being benumbed by the cold air of Misato's apartment.
"Aren't you cold, Wonde- Rei?" Asuka sighed excessively, hoping her warm breath would comfort her frigid face.
"A bit..."
"Why don't you come a little closer and help me keep warm? I can only trap so much heat by myself."
Rei looked at Asuka with a most perplexed expression, unsure if she'd heard the redhead right.
Asuka's eyes flickered back open for a second and noticed the strange face Rei was giving her.
"What!? I know I usually don't want you around me, but this is different. I'm cold! There's nothing lewd or romantic about it! So, don't go thinking I actually like you or anything! I just want your warmth."
"I did not presume there was anything lewd or romantic about it. That is why I was… taken aback. I was given to understand that such acts of affection were reserved for people in romantic relationships."
Asuka tilted her head and looked up from Shinji's chest with a blush.
"W- W- Well… it's not! So j- just! Come here!" Asuka whispered in embarrassment.
Rei scooched a bit closer to Asuka, still not completely sure what the girl was asking her to do. Rei was already rather close to the girl, close enough that the bangs of their hair had been mixing and interlocking for most of the night. And now, this girl, whom Rei was sure hated her and had demonstrated on multiple occasions that she was uncomfortable being around her, was now asking her to come even closer? How much closer? How close was close enough? Rei did not know, but soon had her answer.
"Come on, Wond- Rei! Rei! Just a come a bit closer. My cheeks and nose are really numb. Just come here, would you!"
If she was being honest, Asuka was actually slightly uncomfortable with the situation she was in. Consequently, as Asuka was prone to doing when she felt she didn't have enough control over a situation, she started trying to take charge, even if there was nothing really to take charge of. She just found that, usually, it calmed her nerves and gave her courage. And, often times, she would try to establish her leadership just to make herself more comfortable.
In this case however, it only made Asuka end up feeling more uncomfortable with the situation.
'Why am I like… asking her to come closer? I mean… it is kind of exciting I guess. I can still feel the buzz from last night. Sleeping with people like this is so exhilarating. But… I don't even like Rei. Why am I asking her to do this? She's already practically on top of me. If she gets any closer, she's liable to kiss me.' Asuka wondered to herself while trying to control her blush.
Rei, however, hearing Asuka say her cheeks were cold, had now placed her own head right next to Asuka's. Rei's cheeks were now squished against Asuka's own and therefore, shielding them from the numbing properties of the air in Misato's apartment.
This of course made Asuka blush even more.
"Hmm… perhaps you are correct, Asuka. You are quite warm. Mayhap this is an enjoyable way to sleep."
"Th-thanks!" Asuka choked out as she shoved her face into Shinji's chest, trying to hide her embarrassed expression, "You're kinda warm yourself. Warmer than I thought you'd be anyways..."
Rei then resituated her head into a more relaxing position, wedging her face in between Asuka's cheek and Shinji's torso. This practically put Rei's lips right in Asuka's face, causing Asuka to make a tiny muffled squeak.
The redhead didn't know if she was freaked out or if she was aroused. Maybe a bit of both. She hadn't had someone's lips directly on her face since before her mother had gone insane. And, the realization brought up both bad memories and exciting future prospects.
With all of the squirming going on right on top of him, Shinji had begun to wake up.
"Good morning, Shinji," Rei said, breathing soothing warm air onto Asuka's face.
"Good morning, Rei," Shinji said with a smile.
"Please don't get up, Shinji. I just got comfortable again even though I doubt I'm going to be able to go back to sleep," Asuka groaned.
"What's today? Do we need to go to school?" Shinji asked as he rubbed his eyes with his right hand before returning it to Rei's shoulder.
"It doesn't matter," Asuka mumbled sleepily, "Last night, I slept the best I have in a long time. And, I kind of don't want this to end. It doesn't matter if there's... school today. They're… not gonna… do anything… if we..." Asuka trailed off sleepily.
"Wait a minute… Wasn't Misato gonna take us out to that steakhouse today?" Shinji yawned.
"Ugggggh! Maybe I could get up for that. But, it probably wouldn't be as good as your cooking. And Misato probably can't afford it. I'm still tempted to just stay here where its warm," Asuka bleated as she nuzzled her face harder into Shinji's chest.
Shinji blushed at what he assumed was a compliment from Asuka. And, looking at Rei, he saw she was smiling back at him, as though she were silently trying to say that they were making progress with her.
"Come on, Asuka! We should wake up. You'll get warm once we start moving around some," Shinji said encouragingly.
"Ugh! My hair is red, Ayanami's is blue. It don't always be like that, but sometimes it do. You're right. Once I get more active, I'll probably start making my own body heat. Very well. I guess, I can wake up. Even if it's not your cooking, steak is still steak," Asuka grumbled as she started climbing out of bed, "What's Rei gonna eat though? Did Misato forget she was vegetarian? I mean, I know in the states and Europe, lots of steakhouse have stuff like macaroni and mashed potatoes and stuff. But, I dunno how it is on this side of the world."
"I'm sure they'll have a grilled vegetable entree and rice of some kind, either steamed or fried. They'd probably have onion or miso soup too."
Asuka sighed.
"I honestly never understood why people sell vegetables at a steakhouse. But, as long as they have beef liver, I don't care," Asuka groaned while stretching.
/
While driving to the steakhouse, Asuka noticed that Misato had the most obnoxious grin on her face for almost the entire duration of the drive. And, upon pulling into the parking lot, Asuka had begun to become suspicious, though she couldn't quite say why.
"Well, you look like you had a good night," Asuka said, verbally poking the woman.
"Oh, I did. Though, I suspect someone else had a better night, mine was still pretty good," Misato chimed, still unable to relax her smile.
"Hmm… what's that mean?" Asuka asked as she unbuckled her seat belt.
"Oh, nothing. I just think today is gonna be a good day is all."
Asuka glared at the woman, but didn't glare too hard, not wanting to bring undue attention to herself if Misato was oblivious to what she'd done last night. Nonetheless though, Asuka was slowly but surely beginning to raise her guard.
"Well, I guess we better hurry inside. I hope it's not too busy… or expensive," Misato grumbled as she unfastened her seat belt and opened the car door.
"You know, Misato, we could go somewhere else if it's too much money," Shinji offered understandingly.
Asuka shot him a quick glare. The girl obviously wanted her beef liver if there was any to be had.
"No, it's fine, Shinji. I said I'd take you three out for lunch and I will."
"Yeah! It's the least you can do after having us run a suicide mission," Asuka huffed while exiting the car.
"A suicide mission you wanted the lead role in while excluding everyone else," Misato grumbled under her breath.
"What was that?!" Asuka hissed!
"I said that you're gonna have to walk yourselves home. I've gotta have a talk with Ritsuko later. We're meeting up at a bar in a bit."
"What!? You're going to strand us!?" Asuka blurted incredulously while Shinji and Rei climbed out of Misato's Renault.
"Well, hey! There's a train station a few blocks from here! It's not like you can't get back home… Unless you'd rather accompany me. Though, you'd have to stay outside. No fourteen year olds allowed in the bar. I'm sure you understand."
"Ugh, no thanks. That sounds so boring and I'm not about to waste my day sitting outside in this heat."
/
Asuka was ecstatic to find out that the steak house did indeed sell cow liver. With a side of fried rice, grilled onions, and Korean barbecue sauce slathered over the top of the offal, Asuka almost couldn't have been happier. Almost… The only thing she was missing was boiled chicken hearts in peppered vinegar, though she assumed she'd be pushing her luck in hoping for that, even if it was a restaurant that specialized in meat.
Misato on the other hand was quite happy with her beef and yellowtail amberjack sashimi. Used to, she wasn't a huge fan of raw meat. But, it had started to grow on her in recent times and Misato had to admit there was a certain attractive quirk to raw meat now that she'd acquired a taste for it.
Shinji had ordered just an average flat iron steak. Shinji knew that Misato was going to have trouble paying for everything, and so he'd tried to be considerate and ordered one of the cheaper cuts. Though, beef itself was more expensive in Japan than it was in other places in the world, and he assumed Misato would still have to pay forward a pretty penny for his meal.
Finally, Rei had ordered grilled persimmons and a persimmon and sweet potato soup. A strange meal to find in a steakhouse to be sure, but Rei seemed to enjoy it along with her Chamomile tea, and that was all that mattered.
"Mmm, Hmm... Mhmm," Asuka moaned before swallowing the liver she'd been chewing on, "This is pretty good I guess. Shinji could probably make better. But, still, it's good."
"Well, I'm glad you enjoy it. Hopefully that mean it's money well spent," Misato said, trying to sound carefree, though she found she was glancing at her purse and wallet from time to time.
"It is very delicious. Thank you, Captain Katsuragi," Rei said graciously.
"You know, Rei, since you live with us now, you can just call me Misato," the woman said with a blush.
"Mi… sato… Understood," Rei said curiously.
"Yep! Anyways though," Misato muttered as she pulled out her smartphone and checked the time, "It looks like it's about time for me to head out. Ritsu will probably be expecting me. I'll pay and you three can feel free to leave whenever you like."
Misato got up out of her booth and started to make her way to the cashier.
"Wait! Misato! You're already leaving!? What about the rest of your sushi!?" Shinji asked.
"Ah, you can have it" Misato said dismissively.
"Hmm! Don't mind if I do!" Asuka hummed satisfactorily as her hands hovered over Misato's plate greedily.
Though, as she looked at the plate, she soon realized the food wasn't exactly what she was hoping for.
"Is… Is this all raw?"
"Well, yeah! That's what sashimi is. Didn't you hear when Misato order it?" Shinji asked, unsure why the girl seemed so offput.
"Eww! Never mind. You can have it, Shinji!" Asuka said as she slid the plate across the table.
/
"Ah, finally! She's here!" Ritsuko sighed as she saw Misato walk into the bar and look about nervously.
"Oh, boy. Did you really need to bring me along, Ritsu?" Kaji mumbled from the other side of the booth.
"Well, I needed to have someone to drive us. Besides, it'll be like the good old days."
"If you say so..."
Misato finally caught sight of Ritsuko and walked over to her booth.
"Well, well. Ritsuko, I have some news for you. And, I guess since Kaji's here, for him as well."
"Don't mind me! I'm just here to drive," the man said in a dryly humerous manner.
Misato tried to ignore Kaji's cheeky smile and sat down next to Ritsuko.
"Well, since I'm the one who called this for this little excursion, I invite you to speak first, Misato," Ritsuko said as she pushed a bottle of sake over to Misato.
Misato's face became slightly flushed. She only hoped no one would notice with the dim lighting of the drinking establishment.
"Ooh, where to even start. Uh… Okay, try not to freak out when I say this, because it's not what you think!"
"Oh, great. That means it's probably exactly what I think," Ritsuko grumbled before taking a swig of her whiskey.
"No, no, no! It's okay! Just listen! Last night, I got hungry and snuck into Shinji's room while he was sleeping."
"Oh, no. This doesn't sound good at all," Ritsuko said while trying to keep her eyes from widening in alarm.
"No! Listen! I promise it's not bad!" Misato laughed nervously.
"I always said Misato's snoring would keep Shinji up at night..." Kaji mumbled, earning him a glare from Misato.
"Actually, it was Asuka's snoring which would have been keeping him up!" Misato said matter-o-factually with a hint of rudeness.
"Well, I'll be damned..." Kaji said before downing a small cup of plum wine.
"Oh, great, Misato! Are we going to have a pregnant Eva pilot on our hands because you couldn't keep them under control!?" Ritsuko whispered harshly.
"What!? No! I said! I said- I just said it wasn't anything bad! At least… I don't think so… They were only sleeping together!"
Ritsuko almost spat out her drink.
"Only sleeping together!? You mean you don't know if they had gotten promiscuous beforehand!?"
"Hey! Hold on! I'm not even finished yet! Rei was there too!" Misato added.
"And that's supposed to make that any better how?" Ritsuko said in a harsh whsiper.
"Well, I mean, Shinji's just so… So… Uh… Not… um… He's not like that! And Rei's just- And Asuka's all- And everything's just all-"
"Misato! They're all just a bunch of- They're horny teenagers, Misato! And it's your responsibility to keep them, and yourself, under control! We really don't need any pregnant Eva pilots! On top of the emotional and physical responsibilities that would entail on the Pilots' parts, having another semi-conscious entity inside of the entry plug could introduce thought noise and pollute the neural interfacing between the pilot and their Evangelion, reducing their efficiency. I'll say it again! We don't want any pregnant Eva Pilots! Especially since two of our three pilots are young women!"
"Quit jumping to conclusions, Ritsuko! If anything like that did happen, I'd… I'd do… Something to fix it! Besides! Asuka's sneaky and I don't think she'd want to be prego! She probably has some sneaky way of getting condoms behind my back!" Misato whispered while holding her hand up, trying to gesture for Ritsuko to calm down.
"She always was kinda sneaky..." Kaji mumbled into his cup.
Both of the woman then eyed Kaji suspiciously.
"Huh? What? Did I say something strange?" the man asked.
Misato and Ritsuko glanced at each other before once again looking back at Kaji. The man finally realized they seemed suspicious of him and decided to defend himself and his purity.
"No… No. No! I didn't teach her those skills. ...Though it's possible she could have picked up on them from me anyways," Kaji said defensively.
"But wait a minute," Misato said with a devilishly accusing smile, "When I took Asuka to your house a few weeks ago, you told me you didn't want me bringing her there anymore and that you needed to be away from her. And what better way to keep her away from you than by getting her to fall for Shinji!?"
"Those weren't exactly my words. But, besides that, how would I even orchestrate such a thing?" Kaji said with a shrug.
"I really don't know. But, I do know you have your ways! The last time we came to this bar, you had a mic on you somewhere and you sent me the recording of what I said to you the next morning!" Misato spat.
"Hey, now! That was for your own good! You weren't guarding your secrets very well! And if there's one way to get someone to change their ways, it's by embarrassing them! I was trying to do you a favor!" Kaji said.
"Ohohohoh! I don't believe that for a second! I think you were just trying to use my altered mindset against me. And you sent me that recording to try to mind control me into falling in love with you again!" Misato said as she pointed at the man rudely.
"Okay, well, this conversation just went off on a whole other tangent. Do I even want to know what happened after we got out of the bar that night?" Ritsuko sighed.
"No! You don't!" Misato quietly yelped!
"Then, how about we get back on topic? Misato, you need to send all of the Eva pilots to my office as soon as possible. I'm going to need to run tests on them because of this!" Ritsuko said with an annoyed smile.
"But, Ritsuko! I can't do that! They'd find out I saw them! And I have no idea how they'd take it! Except for Asuka! I know she'd take it very badly! And besides! They all had their clothes on! Except maybe for Shinji… Er… it was dark! I didn't see very well! But, I'm… pretty sure the girls had clothes on from what I could see of their shoulders! I'm like a hundred percent sure they didn't have sex!"
"Hmm, Voyeuristic, are we?" Kaji said in a teasing manner.
"A hundred!?" Ritsuko asked, not even sure what she was hearing!
"Okay! Okay! Maybe it's more like seventy percent! Maybe they put they put their clothes back on because they knew I'd be there! But, I'm still mostly sure they didn't do anything! The walls aren't that thick! I'm sure I would have heard them," Misato said sounding slightly less sure than before.
"Hmph, yeah. Maybe if you weren't passed out drunk!" Ritsuko shot back.
Misato grumbled, knowing that Ritsuko probably wasn't going to take her seriously.
"Come on, Ritsuko! Please don't make me take them in! If they found out I'd seen them, it surely wouldn't help their piloting performance, right!?" Misato begged.
Ritsuko pulled a cigarette out of her purse before lighting it. The woman was obviously using it to take a moment to think.
"No, I suppose it wouldn't have a positive impact on them if they found out you'd seen them... But, if you see anything out of the ordinary, if their periods stop, if they start getting bumps in their bellies, you had better bring them to me immediately. Immediately! Do you hear me, Misato?"
"Yeah, yeah," Misato mumbled dismissively.
"Good! Now, onto the real reason I called this meeting-"
Both Kaji's and Misato's ears perked up hearing Ritsuko continue.
"-the Phantom Sensations and the dangerously high sync rates we had. I am disappointed to say that I haven't made very much more progress on this. At least not when it comes to figuring out the cause. However, Maya has been busy writing an update for the Evangelions' operating system that should make them compatible with some new sync limiter prototypes I had constructed that should prevent the Evas from even activating and booting up without a pilot in the entry plug. Hopefully, if all goes to plan, the Evangelions should not sync up and activate again without a pilot inside of them. Though, not knowing the cause, or even if the Evas synced with the kids that night that their eyes started glowing, I can't really say how well this will work."
"What's that even mean, Ritsuko?" Misato asked with a tinge of worry.
"What that means is that, even if the Eva's didn't sync up with their pilots, they shouldn't even be able to turn on without their Pilots inside of them Though, I'll also need to update each of the pilots' A-10 neutral connectors before they're compatible with the new sync limiters. I've already updated pilot Ikari's and Ayanami's. But, I know Sohryu is fond of wearing hers, even when she doesn't need to. …I must admit, Commander Ikari wasn't happy knowing that we wouldn't be able to pre-prep the Evas before the pilots are inside them. But, for now, I have no safer alternative."
"Well, at least that's one problem possibly solved… But, will that stop the kids from passing out unconscious with glowing eyes?"
"I don't know, Misato. It only happened the one time. And, we were completely unprepared for it. Assuming the Evas did sync with the children, and assuming the Evas were also the initiators of the sync, its possible that limiting the sync rate of the Eva's could stop the kids from experiencing… whatever it was that happened to them. But, if it's the other way around, and the pilots were the ones enabling the long range syncing… then we may still be at a loss. Hopefully we won't be for long though. I'm having the new limiters installed right now."
"Right… Of course… God, it's like an immovable object versus an unstoppable force," Misato said depressingly before gulping down a mouthful of sake.
"Well, that may yet be our saving grace, Misato. Because, as a scientist, I can tell you, an immovable object and an unstoppable force are actually the same thing. The only difference… is how you look at them… Assuming of course that such objects were even plausible in our universe. Everyone knows that it's impossible to have an object with infinite inertia because, under most regular circumstances in our universe, that would infer infinite mass. And, infinite mass would lead to the conclusion that such an object would actually be an all consuming black hole and so forth. And, even ignoring that, dividing infinity by infinity is undefined in math, so..."
Kaji slowly began clapping as Ritsuko trailed off in her explanation.
"Congratulations, Ritsu! You almost sounded poetic for a second there," Kaji said as he continued to clap teasingly.
/
-Under the Dark'ning Gloom-
/
"Gott! I can't believe she just left us like that! Making us take a crowded train in this stinking heat!" Asuka shouted as she threw open the door to Misato's apartment.
"Well, I'm sure it'll be okay, Asuka. Maybe we can turn the AC up for a change while she's gone," Shinji suggested, trying to lighten the girl's mood.
"I don't even want to anymore! First its too cold! Then its too hot! Then I come home and its okay for a bit. But then the cold seeps all into your skin and then its too cold again! And I have to sleep shivering all night while Misato gets too keep warm with her stupid alcohol! So, stupid! Everything is stupid! Why can't there be any moderation!?" Asuka whined.
"Well, I don't know what to say, Asuka," Shinji said as he held Rei's hand and shut the door to the apartment behind her.
"There's nothing to say!" Asuka whined once more as she threw her hands in the air, "I'm just gonna take a nice midday bath. I feel so gunky and unclean from being forced into an icky sweaty train."
"Well, if you want..." Shinji said.
"Shinji, could you cut up some fruit for me? Some strawberries would be nice to have after my bath," Asuka asked sweetly.
"Uh, sure! But, aren't you full? We did just come back from lunch."
"Yeah, after being forced to walk back home! I'm going to be tired and I need to replenish my energy! So, could you please make some diced strawberries for me!?" Asuka said, once again trying to be overly sweet as she made her request.
"I can do it," Rei offered.
"Mmm..." Asuka groaned while considering the girl's proposal, "Yeah, I guess you could. And, it would be hard for you to mess it up since you'd just be cutting fruit..."
"Hey, we could do it together!" Shinji offered also, "It would be quicker that way."
"Yeah, okay. Whatever. I really don't care who does it. But, just make sure it's ready by the time I get out." Asuka said dismissively.
Asuka then headed off to the bathroom while Rei smiled at Shinji and lead him into the kitchen.
The boy approached the counter and pulled out a cutting board and a pair of knives while Rei searched the fridge for strawberries.
Shinji heard Asuka start the bath just as Rei brought the package of strawberries to the counter top. The girl opened the carton of fruit and Shinji handed her one of the knives he'd grabbed.
"Okay, be careful, Rei. It's not the sharpest knife ever. But, it's not dull either."
"I will be okay, Shinji. I have been through more dangerous situations."
"Yeah..." Shinji said with a sweet smile, "Yeah, of course you have."
"I do still wish for practice though. That is why I offered to help."
"Practice for what exactly?"
"I cannot say. It is a surprise."
"Y'know, that's not the first time you've said that. What're you planning, Rei?"
"It is a surprise, Shinji!" Rei said with slightly more emotion than she usually did, causing Shinji to laugh.
"Yeah, hahah! I guess I should have thought about that."
/
"You know, Misato, you really probably should be at home. Why'd you want to come to my place?"
"I dunno! I just felt like it, y'know?" Misato slurred as she sat on the foot of Kaji's bed, the man standing in front of her as he removed his tie.
"Yeah, I think I have a sneaking suspicion you just wanted to drink my alcohol so you wouldn't have to pay for any more at the bar."
Misato tore off her red jacket and threw it across the room.
"Well, so what!? You still love me! You said so the last time you brought me home! Surely you don't mind me having some! You never know, you may just get laid tonight if you let me have enough!"
"You… are a very different person when you're drunk, Misato. I wish you treated me like this when you were sober. Still, though, I'm afraid I'll have to refuse."
"What'd'you mean!?" Misato asked as she stood up from Kaji's bed!
"Misato, I'm not going to be intimate with you while you're drunk. My job is too important to me for you to wake up tomorrow and have you regret your actions."
Misato scowled at the man, and vilely at that.
"See!? You're just like him!"
"Misato, you know that's not true. If were were still together, I'd be more open to the idea. But, we aren't and that's all there is to it."
Misato wanted to disprove Kaji's words. She began to speak, but her phone suddenly buzzed. She drunkenly scurried over to where she'd thrown her Jacket and reached into the pocket where she kept her phone.
It was probably foolish of her to have been so careless and disregard her jacket in such a way when her phone was inside it. But, as she knelt on the floor reading the text she'd just received, she honestly could care less about fixing her past mistakes.
"What's going on?" Kaji asked as he tossed his over-shirt into his laundry basket a few feet away.
"I… I don't believe it!"
/
"Hey, Shinji, you think I could sleep with you again tonight?" Asuka asked as she sat on the couch next to him and Rei while watching the television.
"I guess if you want," Shinji mumbled sleepily.
Asuka looked down at the boy's lap, seeing he was holding Rei's hand, though it was obvious his grip was faltering as he slowly began to loose his awareness to the urge to sleep. For some unexplainable reason, Asuka almost wanted to snatched one of Shinji's hands and hold it herself. But, she tried to control her impulses, and kept her own hands firmly planted on her thighs.
"Well, if it's okay with you, we should get to bed before Misato gets home. I don't want her to see. I didn't really expect her to be out this late in the first place. But, I guess it's good she is," Asuka said.
"Yeah, I guess we should go to bed before she gets home. Hopefully she'll be able to put herself to sleep without me," Shinji said as he stood up from the couch and stretched followed shortly by Rei and then Asuka standing up.
"Well, I guess it's time to go get comfy! Come on, Shinji!" Asuka said as she grabbed onto one of his hands and started dragging him to his room.
"You may go ahead without me," Rei said, "I need something to drink."
"Suit yourself, Wond- Er, Rei!, "Asuka said, still trying to get used to correcting herself, "But, don't take too long! I don't want Misato getting suspicious!"
"Your request has been noted," Rei stated as she watched Asuka walked down the little hallway leading to Shinji's room.
Rei purposefully entered the kitchen and turned on the light. She opened the cupboard and pulled out a small glass, not giving much thought to it's shape or weight or anything else notable about it.
Another moment later, she was at the sink and had turned on the faucet. She watched the glass slowly fill up as fine little bubbles were shoved to the bottom of the glass before rising back up around the sides.
'I like water. It is... beautiful,' Rei thought to herself as she turned off the faucet before turning around to lean on the counter top.
She slowly raised the glass to her lips, which were admittedly a little bit dry. But, before she could take a sip, she felt a burning pain in her arm. It was almost unnoticeable at first, but it quickly became hotter. She reflexively dropped the glass of water and it shattered on the kitchen floor.
Shinji, almost to his room, hearing the sharp but delicate sound of the glass. He stopped and turned around, as did Asuka.
"Rei? Is everything okay?" he called out.
Rei eventually found her entire body was burning and her vision was starting to become purple and distorted.
Rei tried not to call out, but she eventually found herself groaning as she tried to control her pain.
"Hey! Rei!" she heard Shinji shout again.
But, suddenly, she heard another voice. Deep inside of her mind was from whence it came. She could hear it so clearly, it almost frightened Rei despite her usual resolute constitution.
"This path you walk… I see it as though it were through my own eyes. So much sadness. So much despair. So much pain. Too much pain for anyone bear. And yet you fight on, Rei Ayanami. You are brave… or perhaps lost. Only time will tell."
Rei clutched her hands to her head, barely able to understand the words as the burning pain consumed her entire body. She couldn't concentrate on the voice right now. There was only one thing in her mind.
"Shinji!" Rei shouted, trying not to sound too scared.
The boy rushed out of the hallway and Rei saw him glance at her before a look of terror and disbelief overtook his face.
"Rei! No! Not again!" The boy said as he raced to her side!
"It hurts, Shinji!" Rei squealed before she lost her balance and fell over, Shinji barely managing to catch her in his arms.
"Hey! What the hell is going on in here-" Asuka complained as she leaned her head out from the hallway and glanced into the kitchen.
Asuka saw that, once more, Rei's eyes were glowing purple and the girl was quivering in Shinji's arms.
"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, NO! Not again!" Asuka said as she began losing her composure in her frantic worry.
Asuka immediately ran into her room where her phone was charging. As she pulled the charging cable from her phone, she suddenly heard Rei begin screaming. The sound sent a chill down her spine.
She immediately began texting Misato as she headed back to the kitchen, asking her were she was and telling her that Rei's eyes were glowing again.
A lump formed in Asuka's throat. Dread. She knew that any second now, she was bound to undergo the same experience. It had happened once before and now it was happening again.
Out of nowhere, Asuka felt a sharp stabbing pain in her hips, and then another one in her stomach.
The girl stopped in her tracks, almost lurching over and collapsing as she reached the living room.
"Oh, no. Not again! Please, not again," she whimpered as she barely managed to send Misato the text before she once again felt the stabbing pain and keeled over.
Asuka fell to her knees and began crawling to the kitchen, trying her best to ignore the growing pain in her womb and diaphragm.
She noticed her vision was slowly becoming purple tinted and warped before she heard a gentle voice in her head.
"You are afraid. So afraid. I can feel it in your soul. You hide it from others, but you can't hide it from me, Asuka Sohryu. I see you for what you are; a coward playing the part of a fool clad in armor of righteousness."
"Shinji! SHINJI!" Asuka whimpered and then screamed as she finally crawled in the kitchen
Shinji kneeling on the floor, turned around, only to see Asuka dragging herself into the kitchen, her eyes glowing a hot but calm purple.
"Asuka!? No, Asuka!" Shinji shouted in a despairing voice.
Shinji saw the girl finally lose her strength, her arms collapsing out from under her as her head plummeted into the kitchen floor.
Shinji, with Rei in his arms, tried his best to get to Asuka while dragging the blue haired girl with him as she screamed.
"Asuka!? ASUKA!? Please be okay! Please!"
"Th-there's... A VOICE!" Asuka screamed as she rolled over on the tile floor and cradled her head in her arms.
"Wh- what do you mean? What voice!?" Shinji asked, trying not to cry out of fear.
"It's- It's there! INSIDE!" Asuka screamed back.
Before long, Asuka's capability to talk devolved into nothing more than screaming.
Shinji tried to ease his arm under the girl and pick her up so that he could cradle both of them near him and, if nothing else, at least try to comfort them.
"Please come back, Rei! It's going to be okay, Asuka! Everything is going to be okay," Shinji said, trying to put his own mind at ease more than anyone else's.
Suddenly, Shinji heard a sharp howling screech from inside his mind and felt a piercing feeling in his eyes and skull. It felt like he'd been shot or hit in his head. He was dazed for a few seconds and his right eye saw nothing but black for a moment before his vision slowly began returning to him.
He knew that this was coming. He didn't want it to. But, the moment he saw Rei's eyes glowing, he knew. He just knew.
"Grrr, ughh!" Shinji groaned as he keeled over on the floor, embracing the girls.
He wanted to raise his hand and put it over his eye as the pain slowly spread through the rest of the right side of his face. But, with Rei in one arm and Asuka in the other, he refused to release them, hoping not to drop them onto the floor.
Before long, Shinji's own sight slowly started to be overcome with a purple haze. The pain in his head became even more intense, but even so, he resisted letting go of the girls.
Another few seconds came and went, or at least, it seemed like seconds to Shinji. He couldn't really tell as he slowly began losing his sense of time when a voice began invading his consciousness.
"The First fell. Then the Second. And now you, Third Child. The one who will stand alone against the most dire of peril, even as his friends try to stand by his side. Only you. Only you, Third Child. You will be the one given the final decision to make; the one given the task to end all tasks, the responsibility to end all responsibilities. You may accept this fate or defy it, but you cannot deny it. Soon, Third Child. Very soon, I will open the flood gates. Soon, Shinji Ikari... I will show you true happiness."
/
-Roiling Starlight-
/
"Soon, Third Child. Very soon, I will open the flood gates. Soon, Shinji Ikari... I will show you true happiness."
A young man, no older than fifteen, stood in a small crater on the surface of the moon, staring out into the dark sky above the fine silver soil upon which he stood.
Or, at least, one might assume he was staring into the darkness. In truth though, his bright eyes, glowing a sinister red, were cast elsewhere.
"How is everything?" A deep and foreboding voice seemingly spoke out from the emptiness of space.
"They're sleeping now. I told them exactly what you wanted them to hear, along with a few choice words of my own," the boy said as he turned around, his eyes still glowing red.
A black granite monolith suddenly appeared in front of the boy. On it was a glowing red zero and one along with some other intricate and ornamental patterns that shone brightly in the dark crater.
"What choice words?" the stone asked.
"Nothing that would disrupt anything, I assure you. I just wanted to say some things on my behalf as well. Surely I am granted at least that much liberty?" the boy said with a sweet and convincing smile.
"Very well," The stone said, seemingly content with the boy's answer.
The boy then blinked as he smiled, and his glowing red eyes were replaced with his usual dark red ones.
"You can trust me. If I wanted to hide anything from you, I wouldn't have admitted to following my own initiatives in the first place."
"I… realize that. I trust in your words, Tabris."
"Please, call me Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa."
"Of the sea shore?"
"But of course! Are we not on the edge of a sea of starlight right now in this very instant? And what of this white dust beneath my feet? It too is an ocean in it's own way. Everything is an ocean. Even the human heart! It churns and calms and can drown things that hurt you, just like an ocean of water would."
"I see you put some thought into your moniker," the monolith said as it began floating in a seemingly random direction out of the small crater that the boy had been standing in, presumably for privacy.
"Much thought you could say!" Kaworu exclaimed as he excitedly and obediently followed behind the monolith as it left the dark crater.
After finally hiking up the crater, Moon Base Tabgha came into view, as well as Kaworu's assigned Eva, Evangelion Mark.06.
"Construction is proceeding apace. Soon, it will be ready to be deployed," the stone said monotonously.
"I see," Kaworu said as he gazed at the monstrosity before him.
The boy raised his hand, and in response, the Eva raised it's own hand.
"Impressive. And you aren't even in the entry plug," the monolith said.
"Why, thank you, Chairman Keel. I've been practicing. I'm good enough now that I may set my sync rate at whatever I wish. Even with the sync limiters in place, I can still attain a one hundred percent synchronization rate or even higher if I wish," Kaworu said with another innocent smile.
"Though, I am sure you are aware of the dangers of reaching and maintaining a hundred percent sync."
"Of course," The boy said, his smile fading into an expression slightly riddled with guilty pleasure, "But they become so much more powerful the higher they reach, as would anything striving for the heavens. Certainly, there are risks to it. But naught of worth was ever achieved without sacrifice. How could one ignore such pure feeling and power. Of course, it puts me or anyone else inside of one in considerable danger. But, it also gives so much strength to the AT Field that it should be more than sufficient to protect itself and anyone commandeering it."
"Even so, I must advise you against maintaining such high synchronizations. The experience is exhilarating, I am sure. But, it also becomes too abstract to control safely once you reach a hundred percent or higher. The Evangelion and the pilot essentially become one entwined being at that point."
"Very well. I shall respect your wishes. So, if there is nothing else..." Kaworu said with another sweet smile.
"Farewell… Kaworu. We will speak later," the Monolith said as it suddenly vanished.
"Humans," Kaworu sighed, "Always trying to control the uncontrollable and attain the unattainable. ...There is a certain charm to it, I suppose."
.
*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*
.
"Well, that's certainly a lot to cover. So much lewdness! And intrigue! But, I'm not here to talk about this chapter!
In the next chapter, the kids find themselves wandering through nightmares and dreamscapes after the mysterious voice from beyond calls them. Upon waking they begin to wonder just how safe the Evangelions and the neural link really are. Kaji brings me to my apartment to check on the kids! Ritsuko brings yet more revelations to the table! And, I bring emotional support as best I can. It'll all be in the next chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; Exordium in Amethyst!
There may or may not be fanservice. That'll be for you to find out though! See you next time!"
.
Update: Ah, hello everyone. Probably no one is going to read this, but in case anyone does, sorry for being gone for so long. Life has been busy but I am working on the next chapter now.
