Well... how to start this...
Let's just say we're here.
I have a lot I want to say about this chapter but...
I think it would be better that I wait to say anything else and save my commentary for the author's note at the beginning of next chapter. I feel that it would be better for everyone to experience this chapter just as it is. And, on top of that, this chapter is already a bit on the longer side, at least when it comes to word count. It's not the longest one I ever wrote. My longest was maybe 40,000 to 45,000 words in the chapter "Tochter aus Elysium." But, this chapter is still something like 24,000 words or something. And, on that note, I think I may be skipping this chapter review responses this time. I'm sorry! I will get back to you! But, this author's note is already longer than I wanted it to be. So, I think I'll just leave it here.
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Text Guide
Standard Wording
"Spoken Dialogue/Speech/Phone Texts"
'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'
(Flashbacks)
/
[Slash denotes scene transition for the moment; this may be changed in the future so as to become more visible.]
Italicized text, however it is used, is nonstandard and is often used for, but not limited to, emphasized or stressed dialogue, phone texts, and contextual references either through dialogue or narration or exposition among other things.
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Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Neon Genesis Evangelion, The 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 35
When Truth is Brought to Light
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Shinji had just gotten out of bed a few moments ago. Apparently, all the girls were already up and about, even Misato strangely enough, who usually would have still been hungover and sprawled out on the floor.
Rei was on the couch watching the news in the living room while Asuka and Misato sat at the kitchen table, Misato with her back to the stove and Asuka's towards the bathroom. Asuka was begging with someone over the phone, probably Kaji, while Misato sat reading a news paper. Oddly enough, the woman had a cup of coffee in her hand instead of a can of beer.
"Good morning, everyone. Sorry if I made you wait for breakfast," Shinji said, trying not to yawn.
Rei glanced over her shoulder, not aware that Shinji was even awake until she'd heard him speak. Asuka had a pouty look on her face and then hung up her phone, saying goodbye as sweetly as she could, even though she looked a little disappointed. Misato however remained unresponsive, scanning over the newspaper in her hands.
"Hmm, what's that?" Shinji said as he tilted his head to read the headline that said Japan Heavy Chemical Industries Founder and Jet Alone Visionary Hospitalized. Attempted Suicide a Possibility?
A news woman then began talking on the television, causing Shinji to turn around and Misato to finally lift her eyes from her news paper.
"Oh…" Misato mumbled, "Maria Ozawa again. I remember her from when she still worked at her old job. I knew that voice on the news I heard earlier sounded familiar."
Asuka rolled her eyes.
"Oh yeah. I came across a video of her at her old job recently myself too," Asuka said dismissively and with a barely visible blush.
"Asuka!" Misato said with an incredulous look on her face.
"What!? Girls can watch that stuff too, you know!" Asuka shouted defensively.
"Oh, I'm fully aware. But I didn't expect you to be watching it. So, what video was it. ...For research purposes of course."
Asuka cringed, her shoulders tightening up as she lifted them nearer to her head.
"Uh… Um… It… It was… a b- buk- bukkake one," Asuka stammered as she shook her bangs in front of her face to hide her blush.
"It was what now?" Misato asked in a teasing voice with her eyebrow raised in interest.
"It was nothing! And it's not like I was trying to watch it! It just popped up on my phone! And besides, Kaji is hardly giving me any attention! So, even if I did purposely watch it, it's not like I couldn't be excused for trying to satisfy myself! And, besides that-"
"-and, though medical professionals are doing everything they can right now, Shiro Tokita is not expected to recover or even live through the night," the news woman finished.
"Thank you Miss Ozawa. Now, for a few words from the person who is expected to take up Mister Tokita's position at Japan Heavy Chemical Industries."
The news channel then cut to a clip with another man. Shinji turned back around and looked at Asuka and Misato, trying not to feel sick.
"Um… did we just kill someone?" Shinji asked.
Asuka stuttered in her ramblings and then quietly looked at Shinji.
"Pffft, What!? No!" Asuka said dismissively.
"But, did you hear what they said on the news?"
"Yeah, I've heard what they've been saying on the news for the past thirty minutes!" Asuka said nonchalantly as she leaned back in her chair.
"They've been airing it since yesterday actually," Misato said quietly, "though, I guess somehow we missed it. I didn't even hear about it until this morning. Supposedly, it happened right after we called the Eva's back down to the Geofront."
"Gosh, I can't believe none of us turned on the news last night. All this saving the world stuff being an everyday thing for us, I forgot that to normal people, this kind of stuff is huge." Asuka mumbled.
"Aren't you all being a bit too lax about this!?" Shinji asked, not sure if he was feeling anger or not.
Rei could sense Shinji was somewhat upset and she got up from the couch and walked up behind him so she could hold his hand.
"I dunno. Maybe," Asuka shrugged, "It's not like its our fault though."
"But-" Shinji started to say, though he was immediately interrupted by Asuka again.
"Look, Shinji! It's not our problem anymore! You didn't even sortie yesterday. It was just me and Rei. So it wasn't even your problem in the first place. And it's not like any of us forced him to jump and skip and hop onto those fuel rods! You'd think he'd be smarter than to use radioactive shit after what happened to this country in world war two. Just imagine if an angel broke that hunk of junk and exposed that nasty radioactive shit to the rest of us. Like, just chill out about it, Shinji. It's not on you and it's not on Rei or me."
"Yeah, but… Misato, what about you? This isn't okay, right?" Shinji asked.
Misato sighed while rubbing the back of her neck.
"Ergh, I dunno Shinji. I already have so much on my plate, I'm just trying to ignore it," Misato said, trying not to sound cruel.
"You too, Misato!?"
"Shinji, we have school today," Asuka said abruptly, "What's done is done and there's no point mulling over it when we have other shit to do. So, just drop it, okay? It's seriously not a big deal!"
Asuka stood up from her chair grabbing her book bag and slinging it over her shoulder.
"If it still bothers you that much," Asuka continued, "just think about what would happen if the Jet Alone lost a battle and its chassis was split open. And believe me, that would happen since it doesn't have an AT field. Think about how many people would be in danger if we missed any of those fuel rods after a clean up. Hell, even during an after battle clean up, we'd be needing to wear all kinds of protective equipment. Haven't you ever heard of Marie Curie? Hell, even during Chernobyl, some of the people in the helicopters over the reactor barely lasted 3 days before they died. And so many other people got cancer from that, it's not even funny. We would still have people doing cleanup on Hiroshima and Nagasaki if they weren't flooded by second impact. Little Boy and Fat Man were dropped in 1945 and its freakin' 2015 now! And don't even get me started on the nuclear war that started between Pakistan and India after second impact. Both of those countries are just barren wastelands now for the most part. I mean, most of Pakistan was already a wasteland, but haven't you seen any pictures of the black scorch in India. Death! Nothing but death! It's been fifteen years and there's still so much soot, if you step on the ground wrong and kick up the ashes, it could suffocate you even if you were breathing with your mouth open. And that's to say nothing of the fallout. I mean, Shinji… you know there's a reason we developed N2 weapons and the Evangelions in the first place, right? If anything, we saved people."
Shinji honestly didn't know if Asuka was making any good points or not. He wasn't as educated on this stuff as she was. But, he knew he certainly didn't have any good rebuttals.
Misato took a sip of her coffee and sighed.
"Yeah, Shinji. Listen to Asuka. She's been to college, remember? She's practically a walking history book? Science book? Whatever."
"I mean, I'm not tryna say nuclear power is a bad option for energy!" Asuka shrugged, "It's actually generally pretty safe and sustainable. The XE-100 gas-cooled pebble-bed reactor can't even meltdown according to X-Energy. But, no reactor should be onboard a giant combat mech that doesn't even have an AT field to protect it from being destroyed. I mean, seriously. Imagine if we're talking about a more traditional reactor and there was a leak in the coolant line or damage to literally anything else that ended up compromising the neutron dampener and the reactor went supercritical in the middle of a battle against an angel. It would be reactor 4 all over again! And even ignoring the possibility of a meltdown, the fuel rods themselves are still radioactive."
"Okay, okay! I get it, Asuka," Shinji huffed.
"Yeah, whatever I guess," Asuka said boredly as she did a small jump to heft her book bag back to a comfortable place on her shoulder.
"Asuka is just trying to help you feel better, Shinji," Rei said as she squeezed his hand a little firmer.
Shinji hadn't even noticed Rei had taken ahold of his hand. He still felt sick at the idea of possibly helping take part in killing a man, but Rei holding his hand helped him calm down a little bit. And Asuka was right. Shinji hadn't even been sortied against the jet alone. And Asuka wasn't even supposed to have sortied either until Rei had told them about the plan Gendo had to destroy the Jet Alone. Originally, it was just supposed to be Rei. And she was his girlfriend after all. Rei wasn't a murderer. She did kill angels, but she didn't kill people. But, if Rei didn't kill people, then what did Shinji truly make of Asuka's reasoning of the danger of a nuclear reactor being used in an easily compromisable war mech.
Maybe Misato had a point in not thinking about it. The more Shinji thought about it, the more it made his heart hurt and his head spin. And there was no clear answer, and even if there was, would it really change anything?
Shinji didn't know. But, he was sure that Rei wasn't a cold hearted killing machine, even if she did have difficulty expressing herself sometimes.
Maybe everyone, even Asuka, felt a little guilty. And maybe they were all just coping in different ways.
"Well, I dunno about you two, but I'm off to school," Asuka said, walking to the front door before she paused and turned back around and asked Misato, "Hey, Misato. Could I borrow some of your lavender perfume."
"Huh? What? Why? You're just going to school," Misato asked in a confused tone.
"And that's supposed to be a reason for me to not smell nice?!" Asuka retorted.
"That stuff's expensive, Asuka. It's not for kids."
"I'm not a kid!" Asuka shouted back.
"Okay, well, its for special occasions. You out of everyone should know how rare lavender has gotten after second impact."
"Mmgh, fine!" Asuka huffed.
/
-In Monochrome Melodies-
/
Ultimately, Shinji and Rei decided to leave with Asuka, even if it meant they wouldn't have any of Shinji's home cooked breakfast. They could always get something at one of the shops on the way to school.
Asuka heard the door to Misato's apartment open behind her. She looked over her shoulder to find Shinji and Rei rushing after her.
"Oh, hey," she mumbled.
"Hey, are you sure you're not hungry!? We could still go back and I could cook something," Shinji offered as he caught up to her.
"Nah. Not really. I got too much on my mind. I wanted to have a think. That's why I left early. Figured you'd stay behind."
"I thought you might have been troubled," Rei said, "You have been spending much time with us recently. It is odd for you to leave us now."
"Yeah, that's right! Is anything wrong, Asuka?" Shinji added.
"Wrong? No, not really. Kaji said he had something to talk to me about. But, he said he didn't wanna talk about it over the phone. I wonder if it could be something… lewd. He'd be in big trouble if he got caught with me, you know," Asuka said as her heart seemed to flutter.
"Ermm, I dunno if it was anything about that kind of stuff," Shinji said unsurely, though Asuka didn't seem to hear him.
"So, what about you two? You don't do any of… heheh, those kinds of things, do you?" Asuka asked teasingly as she and the others came to the stairwell of the apartment complex and began heading down.
"Those kind of things?" Shinji asked as he and Rei glanced at each other curiously.
"Oh, you know! Like uh… heheh," Asuka chuckled as she winked, stuck her tongue out, and made a vulgar penetrating gesture with her hands.
"Oh, um!" Shinji choked as he blushed.
Rei however didn't immediately catch on to Asuka's meaning and decided to question her further.
"Like what?" Rei asked.
"Like, fucking! Have you fucked yet?" Asuka asked, sounding simultaneously frustrated and amused.
"Fucked?" Rei asked.
"No, no, no, no! We haven't done anything like that at all!" Shinji frantically answered.
"Wait, what? For real? You haven't done it yet?" Asuka asked, obviously surprised though she really shouldn't have been.
"Yes! For real! We haven't done anything like that!" Shinji asserted, worried about the path this conversation was headed down.
"But, you- I've seen- I've seen your- I mean, you did… uh..." Asuka stuttered in surprise, a blush starting to creep across her face as well.
"Asuka!" Shinji choked again.
"Shinji did what?" Rei asked.
"Oh, he-" Asuka started to say before Shinji cut her off.
"Asuka, don't tell her that!" Shinji almost shrieked.
"Oh, chill out, Shinji! We're all Eva pilots here. We shouldn't be hiding things from each other. And I'm sure Rei won't mind," Asuka said rather certainly.
"Asuka, you can't tell her!" Shinji pleaded.
"So, get this. Shinji totally came all over my feet this one time. Just jerked his little cock all over my toes. I think he might have a thing for my cute little feet."
"Agh! Asuka, don't tell her that!" Shinji said as he tried to put his hands over her mouth, though Asuka was quickly able to counter any action he took.
"He came to your feet?" Rei asked, still not entirely sure she was understanding what Asuka was saying.
"No, no. You're not getting it Wondergirl. He didn't walk to my feet or whatever you're thinking up in that strange head of yours! He came as in he ejaculated to the idea of my feet and then shot his load on my toes! You do know what ejaculation is, right?"
"Oh, yes. I am familiar with that!" Rei said cheerfully!
"That- That's not what happened at all!" Shinji mumbled shamefully.
"Yeah, he's right. I was just joking… I mean, not about getting his cum on my feet. That totally happened. But he wasn't getting himself off to me I'm pretty sure. I just walked in on him by accident because for some reason, you people don't have locks on your doors and he ended up shooting his load on me as I walked in… If I didn't know any better, I'd imagine he was thinking of you, Wondergirl. In fact, he was. He explicitly told me he was thinking about you. I guess that's why I was a little curious what kinds of wondrous things your wonderful self might have, uh... done to him, y'know, Wondergirl?"
"I see… Well, I have not done anything like that with him... yet," Rei said calmly.
"Yet?" Shinji gulped in surprise.
"Yeah, that's really… I mean, it's just, with you two being together and all, I just figured you would have… I mean… done it. ...But you really haven't, huh?" Asuka questioned.
"Not at all," Rei said before she also kissed Shinji's cheek to try to comfort him.
Asuka noticed the girl kiss him, and it brought a bit of a frown to her face.
"You two don't even make out all that much, huh? ...It's because of me, right? Because I'm a third wheel," Asuka said dejectedly.
"You?" Rei asked.
"Yeah... because, I'm always around you. Hell, I even sleep with both of you. Like, how the hell did that happen? All I do is get in the way of your relationship. You can't fuck 'cause I'm always in bed with both of you. You can't kiss. I won't even let you have Shinji to yourself when you're just holding his hand because I'm always trying to hold his hand too. I guess I'm just a clingy bitch. I try to get all up in Kaji's stuff and now I'm all up in yours too."
"No, Asuka. It's okay. And you're not a bitch." Shinji said reassuringly.
"We want you to be with us," Rei affirmed.
Asuka sighed.
"Well, listen. I'm gonna be with Kaji after school today since he wanted to talk to me about… whatever it was. So… I mean… if Misato's not home tonight… Like, if she's out late at work doing paperwork because of the Jet Alone stuff… I mean… why don't you two… like… y'know… hit it off?"
"Hmm?" Rei murmured
"Hit it off?" Shinji asked.
"Yeah, like… do it. You know? Like, since no one will be around to interrupt you," Asuka stated.
"I think you thinking about Kaji is making you act weird, Asuka." Shinji said unsurely.
"No! That's not it! I mean… Maybe thinking about Kaji and him leaving so much to the imagination when he talks to me made me a little horny. But, that's seriously not it. I mean, I really… really do want you to enjoy yourselves. I mean, I know I always used to make jokes about you being a pervert, Shinji. But, I know you're not like that. And, I know you'll be… so very careful with Rei. And… both of you deserve it."
"Erm… I dunno about this Asuka."
"Well, I do. You do realize we could die, right Shinji? We could die literally any day of the week. An angel could appear right now and kill us. Do you really want to die without having experienced something so special?"
"Not really… but I'm still sorta worried about this, Asuka." Shinji said bashfully.
"Well, you two do love each other, right? So, you want to take it all the way, right? ...Do it. Do it tonight. It's literally the perfect time. You can do it right in your own room instead of some trashy place like a back alley or the bathrooms at school. And I won't be there and Misato probably won't either. And it'll be so beautiful. Trust me!"
"I thought I remembered you saying you were a virgin. How do you know all this stuff?" Shinji asked.
Asuka blushed.
"I am a virgin, you idiot! Just… listen, I know it'll be beautiful because… because I am a virgin. That's what makes it so precious and special. And you know what makes it even more special? The fact you're both Eva pilots! You understand each other in a way no one else does. So… you should really… really consider doing it tonight, alright? It would make me really happy for both of you."
"It would make you happy?" Shinji asked, obviously taken aback by Asuka's words.
"That does not sound... bad," Rei mumbled mostly to herself as she pondered the idea.
"Yeah, Shinji. It would make me happy. Because you're both my friends. And I- I, uh… I want you to be happy. So, it would r- really mean a lot to me if you did it," Asuka stuttered, almost sounding as flustered as Shinji.
"Asuka, I'm sorry, but you're really not making any sense at all," Shinji said.
"She's not?" Rei questioned, "She sounded like she was making sense to me."
"No, Rei. Shinji's right. I'm not making any sense… or at least not entirely. But, you know what? Love isn't supposed to make sense!"
"Does that mean you love us?" Rei said, asking yet another question.
Asuka blushed even harder and was actively trying to hide her face now.
"Ergh, uh, um, lu- luv- mmm, uh, er, I mean… as- as friends, yeah," Asuka said, barely able to form a coherent sentence as she rubbed her arm in embarrassment.
"That is very sweet," Rei said with a smile.
'As friends?' Asuka thought to herself, 'What a poor joke that is! Is it really just as friends? What kind of friend sleeps in the same bed as a couple. I've literally been cock blocking Shinji for I don't even know how long now. I've basically completely prevented Rei from getting dicked down. Oh, what have I been doing all this time I've been sleeping with them?'
"So… uh… do you kinda get me?" Asuka asked as all three of them exited the stairwell before walking into the apartment's parking lot and towards the street.
"I think I do kind of… get you," Rei said as she put a finger to her chin.
"Ergh, Rei!?" Shinji asked in embarrassment.
"Is something the matter, Shinji?" Rei questioned.
Shinji blushed. It was hard at this point to tell who's face was more red. Shinji's or Asuka's.
"I mean… what if… what if you… you know… got pregnant?" Shinji pointed out.
This made Rei look to the ground in thought, watching as her shoe laces swished back and forth.
"Aww, can you imagine Shinji with a daughter. That would be so cute!" Asuka said, "Except that I hate kids. They yell. They drool on everything. They destroy everything you own. They throw tantrums. And they're too stupid to explain anything to even when you use easily understandable language. ...But still, it would be cute if it was you and Rei."
"Hmmmm…. I…" Rei said quietly as she started to raise her head up, "I... do not think that will be a problem… I think."
"Huh!?" Shinji and Asuka both asked in unison.
A small smile spread over Rei's face.
"Huh… Uhhh… Oh… OOOOHHHH!" Asuka said as an idea seemed to dawn her, "Oh… so you… like… you already got that tested then, huh? Aren't you a little young to test something like that?"
"Hmm?" Rei asked, not sure what Asuka was talking about.
"I mean… you're trying to say… that you're infertile, right?"
Rei glanced out of the lower corner of her eye for a split second before looking down and then back at Asuka.
"Maybe… I think… I am not sure… It depends," Rei said, just the slightest of blushes reddening her cheeks.
"You sure do have a way with words, Wondergirl. You sound really uncertain of that deduction. ...That's kinda sad if you really can't have your own kids. ...But, look at the bright side. At least you can get drilled as much as you want and I won't have to convince Misato to go get the pill."
"Dri- Drilled!?" Shinji said as he choked on his spit.
"Pffft, hahahah!" Asuka laughed at Shinji's reaction, "Shinji, you really need to calm down. Seriously. Quit being so nervous about it. How's Rei supposed to get in the mood when you're acting like a mouse hiding from a cat."
"I'm not acting like that!" Shinji weakly asserted.
"Oh really?" Asuka asked snidely as a smirk sharply curled the right corner of her lips up.
"Yeah, really!" Shinji replied, this time a little more confidently.
"Okay! Everyone, stop walking!" Asuka demanded.
"Hmm?" Rei questioned, though she immediately did as she was told.
Shinji also stopped, though he was a little more hesitant to.
There they all were, the three of them all idling in the middle of the parking lot, waiting for Asuka do whatever it was she was gonna do.
"Prove it, Shinji!" Asuka suddenly blurted out.
"Prove it!? How am I supposed to prove it?"
"By not acting like a scared little bird fluttering off from the bird feeder when a leaf falls."
"B- But, we have to get to school!"
"Fuck school! Isn't your girlfriend more important!?"
"W- Well, yeah! But, what am I supposed to do to prove it. What am I even proving?"
"Touch her!" Asuka stated in a final sounding tone, as though this test she was issuing was the be all end all to tell whether Shinji could function around a woman.
"I already touch her. We hold hands all the time! We literally sleep together at night!"
"No, Shinji! I mean like… really touch her!"
"Where do you want me to touch!?" Shinji asked in embarrassment.
"Mmm, I dunno. Any part that looks nice I guess."
Shinji immediately reached for Rei's hand and took hold of it.
"Nooooooo, hahahah! You're not getting out that easy," Asuka said as she chuckled the whole time.
"What do you want me to do Asuka? We're in the middle of the parking lot! Everyone can see us."
"I don't mind," Rei blurted out, "But, if Shinji is not okay with it, we should not do it."
"Okay, well, how about we go hide behind Misato's car?" Asuka said as she pointed to the Renault, which was parked next to a small white truck, "That way no one from the street can see us. And, practically no one lives in these apartments! I mean, look at how few cars there are. There's hardly ever more than like four cars. So, it doesn't matter if anyone from the apartments can see us because they're practically vacant."
"Ergh, I dunno about this, Asuka."
"Well, I have to know you're going to fuck her brains out tonight. And, if you can play with her while we're mostly alone, you can definitely give her attention when you're totally alone. Plus, this will help break the ice so you're not all nervous later! So, we're going to Misato's car and you're not leaving until you can show me that you'll have this under control tonight."
Asuka then grabbed Rei by the hand and marched over to Misato's car, consequently also dragging Shinji with her as he was holding Rei's other hand.
"See, isn't it great!? No one can even see us here! So, just quit chickening out and show me you can appreciate a girl. And don't try to worm your way out of this by bringing up school. This only needs to take like two seconds if you'll just do it. And, I already said Rei is more important than school."
"Asuka, you're not acting like yourself at all!" Shinji whined, looking for some way out of the situation.
"Yeah, I guess I'm not. I guess my horny hormones are just acting up today since Kaji was talking to me earlier. Ahhh, his voice. His scruffily facial hair. His dexterous hands! His hair, ugh, the way it's tied into that slightly messy pony tail. Could you imagine if he let it down while his hair was wet? Mmmmmff," Asuka said, praising the man as she hugged herself and shuddered, "Ooooh, my ovaries are tingling just thinking about it! ...but just because I'm acting up today doesn't mean you're gonna get outta this, Shinji. So, you may as well just go ahead and give Rei a squeeze already."
"We should just go to school. We're gonna be late and I don't want Rei to get in trouble." Shinji groaned.
"Nope! Not happening!" Asuka said.
"Ugh," Shinji groaned before looking at Rei, "Come on, Rei. Let's just go."
"Okay," Rei said politely as she began to walk off with Shinji.
"Stop right there, Rei! You're not going anywhere!" Asuka commanded.
"Is that an order?" Rei asked as she glanced back over her shoulder.
"Yes! It most certainly is!"
"Okay," Rei once again mumbled as she stopped in her tracks.
Shinji spun around and looked at Rei in disbelief.
"What!? You're gonna side with her!?" Shinji whined.
"She gave me an order," Rei stated bluntly as she made some kind of strange gesture that… wasn't exactly a shrug, but still indicated she didn't know what to do.
To most people, it would look rather bland and seem like Rei simply didn't care how this situation turned out one way or the other. But, Shinji wasn't most people and he was a little more in tune with Rei's abnormal ways of communicating.
Shinji could tell that her citing Asuka's order wasn't her being indecisive but obedient so much as it was… an excuse Shinji finally realized after looking at her body language and realizing she was standing in a way that seemed to portray her as being hesitant to leave and not as her simply just doing as she was told.
"Wait… Rei?" Shinji asked, sounding a little awestruck.
Rei noticed that Shinji thankfully seemed to be picking up on her emotions.
"I… I… love you, Shinji. And… I would… like to do special things with you," Rei stated, almost seeming shy.
Asuka put her hand over her mouth as giddiness took over.
"Ooooooooooooh, did you hear that, Shinji!? She wants iiiiiiit! Oh my gosh! I'm kinda surprised my heart is beating so hard."
"Hey! Tha- That's just because you were going around putting ideas in her head about special this and special that," Shinji retorted.
"And what? You think it's not special?" Asuka said as she put her hands on her hips, snidely asking for clarification.
"I didn't say that!"
"Then why don't you just give a girl what she wants already!?" Asuka pouted impatiently.
Shinji looked at the ground bashfully, avoiding eye contact with Rei.
"What!? You can't even look her in the eyes!?" Asuka chided.
Shinji still didn't look up.
"Shinji, eyes up here!" Asuka demanded.
The boy finally looked up.
"Good! Now that I have your attention-" Asuka said as she walked up behind Rei and wrapped her arms around the blue haired girl while resting her chin on Rei's right shoulder, "Look at her! Just look at her, Shinji!"
Asuka gently shook Rei back and forth as she hugged the girl from behind.
"Look at how gorgeous she is! Look at how adorable she is!"
Asuka took her right hand and squeezed Rei's cheeks together, forcing her to inadvertently pucker up her lips.
"Look at these soft kissable lips! And these adorable squishy cheeks; they're like putty they're so squeezable. Don't you just want to give them a little pinch!?"
"Uh..." was all Shinji could get out.
Next, Asuka took one of Rei's arms and lifted it up so she could show Shinji everything she was about to compliment the girl on.
"Look at her skin, Shinji! Doesn't she look so soft? Her arms are so shapely. Imagine her throwing them around your neck while you fuck her! And her tiny little fingers! Just imagine her grabbing your hair as her poor tiny body is wracked with pleasure and she's desperately trying to hold onto reality."
Rei slightly raised her eyebrows at Asuka's description. She could only assume the redhead was being figurative and that having sex didn't actually remove the participants from reality as she had read nothing in her physiology books that indicated such a thing could happen. But, if that was the case, then what was sex actually like Rei wondered.
Though, before Rei could think any more on the subject, Rei had found that Asuka was unbuttoning the top few buttons of her school uniform for her before the redhead then suddenly wrapped her fingers around Rei's throat and slowly slid them down her neck.
"And now, look here," Asuka said as she brushed her fingers across Rei's collarbone before slowly stroking her fingers down the girl's ribs until her hand was below Rei's left breast.
Asuka then pushed Rei's boob up so that it pressed against the loose fabric of the uniform. Then, just as quickly, she moved her hand over to Rei's right titty and wrapped her fingers around it while her left hand, which had previously been hugging the girl, shot forward under Rei's arm and grabbed her left breast again. She lifted them both up and squeezed them together so that's Rei's cleavage could be seen through the unbuttoned portion of her shirt.
Shinji made a small gasp. Asuka looked over Rei's shoulder and down at Shinji's crotch, seeing there was a bulge in his pants. This brought a sly smile to Asuka's face.
"Yeah, I don't even have to say anything about these beautiful fat titties, am I right? But I'm going to anyways," Asuka chuckled evilly, "They're so round. They're so perfectly round. You've seen her when she's in her plugsuit, yeah? You've seen how round they are! I'm literally touching them right now. Don't you get so frustrated just looking at them? You want to touch them too, right? They're really really soft. Oh my god, they are so soft, Shinji. How could you not want to feel them and just squeeze them? Can't you just imagine having these cute, fat, little boobies pressing into you while she's fucking you?"
"Asuka, you're acting really really lesbian right now, and I thought you said you weren't lesbian," Shinji said shyly.
"I'm not acting like a lesbian! I'm just trying to make you horny. Don't guys like it when girls are feeling each other? When they touch each other? When they play with each other?" Asuka said before she let out a teasing moan.
Asuka then let go of Rei's right breast. She used her now free hand to reach under Rei's chin and placed her palm on Rei's left cheek before pulling Rei's head closer to hers so their faces were pressed into each other.
Shinji thought he might go mad seeing the duality of Rei's confused red eyes and Asuka's seductive blue ones right next to each other in the morning sun. Their cheeks being smooshed together was perhaps a bit awkward, but Shinji couldn't say he didn't find it highly arousing to see the girls' faces so close together.
A devilish smile formed on Asuka's lips as she watched Shinji's reaction and she began to gently stroke the left side of Rei's face, which Rei also seemed to enjoy as her eyelids fluttered a little.
"Yeah, boys like it when little girls play with each other. Don't even lie, Shinji. I know we're driving you insane. I know you love this. I can see your cock bulging in your pants. I know you can't look away now," Asuka said before she let out another teasing whimper.
Shinji shivered as he felt chills run down his spine and his face burning from how flushed he was.
Asuka then took her left hand and started trailing her fingers across Rei's chest and down to her hips.
"Lookie here! She certainly has some wide hips for a girl her age, doesn't she, Shinji?"
Shinji gulped.
"If only this baggy school uniform wasn't covering everything up," Asuka said in a fake pouty voice.
The redhead then lightly brushed her fingers past the skirt of Rei's school uniform and started gently raking her nails over Rei's thighs, causing her to shiver from the sensation.
"Oho! I think she's got the chills! Mmm," Asuka moaned as she bit her lips, "Look at these silky thighs. If I lifted her skirt just a little higher… Ooh! Just the thought of it is getting even me excited."
"Okay! Okay, Asuka! You made you're point!" Shinji whimpered.
"Have I?" Asuka asked as her eyes narrowed and a smile once again stretched across her lips.
"Yes! Yes, you have!"
"Then… come… touch… her," Asuka said slowly and breathily, as though even she were lusting over the idea of touching Rei.
Shinji gulped but slowly stepped forward. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to just go touching Rei anywhere. But, Rei didn't seem to have a problem with it, and Asuka was filling his head with so many pictures, he was finding it hard to resist at this point.
"That's right, come on, Shinji. You know you want to. I know you want to. You're just embarrassed. But there's nothing quite like doing something for the first time to break that wall of anxiety. All you have to do… is touch her."
Shinji nervously took a few more steps towards Rei and Asuka before taking a deep shakey breath. This wouldn't be the first time he'd touched Rei in a lewd manner. The very first time he went to her apartment, he did accidentally fall on her and grab her breast. But, did that even count? He hadn't intentionally reached out for her. He was just trying to break his fall. But, this was different. He wasn't going to just trip and fall onto her. Gravity wasn't going to do the work for him this time. He himself would need to find the resolve to reach out his hand.
Shinji hesitantly lifted his right hand, but only a little. Asuka smiled and she reached out with her left hand still under Rei's arm. With Shinji's palm facing down and hers facing up, she slowly lifted his hand and guided it towards Rei's breast.
"That's right, Shinji. Just let me help," Asuka said as she repositioned her hand and gently grabbed Shinji by the wrist before continuing to move his hand to Rei.
Asuka could hear the breath catch in Shinji's throat as he finally touched Rei's left breast. He got so red that Asuka thought he might pass out, but she didn't let up.
"Squeeze her, Shinji. You know she wants it," Asuka said seductively.
Shinji gasped and he carefully kneaded her boob. Asuka was right. It was soft. And he knew it would be softer if she wasn't wearing anything.
"Very good," Asuka praised with a sparkle in her eyes.
Asuka let go of Shinji's wrist and then sensually wrapped her finger's around Rei's throat, tilting her head up while she continued to use her other hand to stoke the girl's face and hair. Rei moaned quietly and her eyelids fluttered even more as she felt Asuka's nails parting strands of her hair before tickling her cheek.
Asuka let out a quiet and seductive laugh.
"Look at how vulnerable she is! Look at how easy it would be to fuck her right here! I bet she wouldn't even say no," Asuka once again said in an overly seductive tone.
Asuka then tilted her head into Rei's neck and began breathing and moaning into it repeatedly.
"Geh!" Shinji groaned at Asuka and Rei's lewd display.
Asuka smirked and looked at Shinji out of the corner of her eye.
"Did we perhaps… make your heart race?" Asuka teasingly asked before she snickered.
Shinji didn't say anything but gasped yet again.
"Come on, Shinji. She still has a whole titty that isn't being grabbed," Asuka taunted.
Shinji was still hesitant about reaching for the girl so brazenly, but he found it easier to reach his hand towards Rei this time and didn't need Asuka to guide his hand for him. He gently placed it on the girl's other breast and timidly squeezed them together, causing Rei to moan.
"Ooh, heheh, her heartbeat is quickening. I can feel it in her jugular. I think she likes it," Asuka giggled as she lightly constricted her fingers around Rei's neck a little tighter.
Seeing that Shinji was seemingly getting a little more comfortable fondling Rei, Asuka finally let go of the girl before then shoving her into Shinji's chest.
"See, Shinji? It's not that hard," Asuka said as the other two recovered from Asuka's unexpected push.
Rei and Shinji both turned to face Asuka, Shinji still holding Rei in his arms.
After Rei turned around, exposing the bulge in Shinji's pants, Asuka chose to rethink her words.
"Well, maybe its a little hard," Asuka chuckled, "but, it's not bad. You think you'll be able to do that again tonight without me there to strong arm you into it?"
"Um… Y- yeah. Maybe..." Shinji stuttered as Rei cuddled into his chest.
"No, no, no, no, no! Not maybe! Certainly!" Asuka said, correcting the boy, "I can see you right now! I can see how much you like this. And now that I've planted the idea in your dirty little minds, you're both going to be horny for the rest of the day. And by the time we get home from school, you're not gonna be able to contain it. So, I expect you both to have a little fun tonight."
"This will be good," Rei said, seeming almost out of character!
Shinji pulled the girl away from his chest and looked at her. Upon getting a better look at her face, she almost seemed like she was dizzy or disoriented.
"Rei? Are you okay? You seem a little..." Shinji started before he trailed off.
"Asuka's fingers felt very very nice in my hair," Rei stated, almost seeming oddly drunken in the way she spoke.
"Asuka? I think something's wrong with Rei!" Shinji said, obviously seeking advice or an explanation from the girl.
"She's just high right now, that's all," Asuka said nonchalantly.
"What!? How!? What did you give her!? She can't go to school like this!" Shinji said, worried that the girl would be found out of being in an altered state of mind.
"Oh, relax, Shinji! It's a natural high. She's high off love! You heard her say she liked it when I was petting her, yeah? And you see how she got all cuddly with you right after I let her go? That's oxytocin."
"I thought that was a painkiller and totally not natural at all," Shinji said, getting more worried by the second.
"Stupid Shinji, you're thinking of oxycodone! I said oxytocin! You know, like, the cuddle chemical! The love drug! ...though some people also call MDMA the love drug. But, whatever! Oxytocin is totally natural. And she's like… this," Asuka said as she vaguely gestured at Rei, "because it's flooding her bloodstream like crazy right now 'cause she just had not one, but two people feeling her up! You'd probably feel like her too right now if you weren't so worried about everything. I mean, seriously. Being this worried is not okay. Look at how happy she looks right now! You could be that happy if you'd just lighten up and dick her down every now and then!"
"Yes, I am very happy. Very very happy," Rei once again said.
Shinji once again held Rei still and looked at her face. Her eyelids looked very droopy, a blush was slowly spreading across her cheeks, and she had an intoxicated smile adorned over her face.
Shinji had to say, he thought she looked pretty cute. He hated to admit it, but he might be warming up to what Asuka was saying.
"It totally gets better than that, y'know?" Asuka blurted.
Shinji glanced back at Asuka to see her also smugly starring at her handiwork that was Rei's deeply pleasured expression.
"Wow…. How are you so good at this?" was all Shinji managed to say as he looked back at Rei again.
Asuka shrugged, though no one was looking at her.
"Dunno. I guess I just know what a girl wants. So, uh… you know what that means, right?"
"Uh… no… what does it mean?" Shinji asked.
Asuka put a proud hand on her chest and declared, "It means I'm right and you need to fuck her cute little brains out tonight! Fuck her until her legs start trembling and she can't stand. Fuck her until she can't even see straight! Fuck her until she's drooling like a starving hyena! Fuck her until she turns stupid and becomes enlightened at the same time!"
"Oh geez, Asuka. Do you really have to put those images in my head before school?" Shinji complained.
"Of course I do! Making you horny before school is the best time to make you horny. Then you have to sit around all day thinking about how much you want her. It just stews inside your mind all day torturing you. And when you get home, you won't be able to hold back and you'll go straight to ravaging her!" Asuka stated matter-o-factually.
"You're really sadistic, you know that!?" Shinji pouted.
"Mweheheh!" Asuka laughed.
"Come on. We're going to be late." Shinji said as he grabbed hold of Rei's hand and tried to lead her to school.
"Hey, not so fast!" Asuka said.
"Whaaaaaat?" Shinji groaned as he stopped again.
"You are going to fuck her right?" Asuka said as she put her hands on her hips.
"Erg… I mean…" Shinji said as he avoided making eye contact with Asuka.
"Well, at least you didn't say no," Asuka said, "But, just in case... Rei, if he doesn't fuck you when you get home, you have to take the lead and force him too!"
"Is… is that an order?" Rei asked, still sounding a little intoxicated.
"Yeah, it is!"
"ASUKA!" Shinji shouted in embarrassment.
"Okay, okay! I guess that's enough," Asuka said jokingly, "But seriously, Shinji. You better fuck the holy hell out of her. If you don't, I'm going to make you. ...I would say and you won't like that. But, I know that you would. So, just fuck her! Just fucking do it! Trust me, okay!"
"Okay! Okay! I'll do it!"
"Good, because, like, trust me, it will be so beautiful. I personally think it would be great for both of you. Rei will learn some new things. She'll feel really good about herself and the fact she has someone who'll always be there for her. And uh… you'll also feel pretty good. And, it'll probably be good for your mental health. Ooh, just think about it. Oh my goodness, you'll be so cute together. You'll be closer than ever and it'll be so adorable!" Asuka said as she seemingly started to enter some kind of giddiness trance.
Despite Asuka putting him on the spot for the past few minutes, what Asuka was saying was starting to really take hold in Shinji's mind. He'd always pictured the act of sex as being some kind of forbidden art. Not to say he thought it was a bad. But, he at least though it was a crude or carnal form of expression. But, the way Asuka described it, she still included the primal urges, but also added in little flourishes. Like the finishing touches on a painted picture, they were something personal that made the picture more than just a mathematical recreation of an object, but a true work of passion. The way Asuka said it would be special or precious or even adorable really started to make the idea of sex seem like more of an acceptable idea to Shinji and something that should be done as a natural progression in the deepening of his bond with Rei.
Granted, Asuka also had a tendency to grandly embellish things but Shinji had a feeling she was right about this.
/
Shinji sat staring at the clock in the classroom. He had been counting down the minutes until school ended, but it was so mind numbing that he eventually found himself day dreaming. And, just as Asuka had confirmed this morning, his mind was indeed drifting back to lewd scenarios involving Rei, and occasionally even Asuka.
This had also left Shinji with a mostly uncontrollable erection that he desperately tried to keep hidden under his desk. Every time Toji or Kensuke asked for his attention while they were screwing around, he got paranoid that they would see.
Rei also seemed to be off somehow. It wasn't unusual for her to stare out the window for long periods of time, but today, she definitely seemed to be taken by surprise any time someone called her name. Usually, even when she was staring out the window, she was generally still paying attention to class. But, that didn't seem to be the case today…
"Oh my gosh, that side of the room is so cool," a girl on the other side of the classroom whispered to one of her friends, "They have all three of the Evangelion pilots and Toji! He's so good at track! Have you seen his times?"
"Yeah, he's definitely one of the fastest. But, you know Asuka?"
"Of course I do! Everyone does! What about her!?"
"I really want to talk to her. She seems so cool and exotic. But… she also seems a bit unhinged like that one time she was cussing the teacher out and was about to start talking about some weird classified stuff before Ayanami stopped her."
"Oh, hey speaking of Ayanami, what kind of hair dye do you think she uses? I kinda like it, but I'm too shy to ask her myself. Do you think she'd even want to talk to a normal person like me?"
At the mention of Rei, Shinji's ears perked up and he started listening in on the girls' whispers.
"I dunno. But… it's kinda strange, don't you think? She really doesn't seem like the kind of girl who'd dye her hair. And for some reason, the school hasn't told her to dye it back to black. Do you think she has some kind of special dye privileges for being an Eva pilot?"
"What if it's some kind of special hair dye that makes her better at fighting!?"
"What!? That's just absurd!"
Shinji's brows furrowed. Now that he thought about it, he'd never seen Rei dye her hair. Hell, he'd never even seen any blue dye in Misato's apartment, though he had seen Misato's darker purple hair dye in the bathroom. Anyhow, Rei must have dyed her hair pretty often, otherwise her true hair color would be showing in her roots as her hair grew out. But if that was true, where were all the bottles of hair dye?
Suddenly, Shinji noticed Asuka looking at him with a sly smile as she was making yet another lewd gesture with her hands, which she took great care to hide from Toji and Kensuke, who were sitting behind her. This caused Shinji to blush and Asuka to wink at him.
After a few more seconds, the final bell rang and all the student began flooding out of the classroom.
"Home! Time to go home! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Before Misato gets home! I have a date and so do you! And I better not find out you didn't take the initiative," Asuka hurriedly said to Shinji as she tossed her bag over her shoulder and tried shoving her way out of the classroom as quick as she could so she could meet with Kaji.
Shinji, on the other hand, was not in such a hurry, but got up anyways as Rei seemed to be fully on board with the plan considering she was usually one of the last students to get out of her seat after the final bell but today was one of the first. No one else would ever be able to tell besides him and maybe Asuka, but Shinji knew Rei was excited.
Shinji sighed.
'This won't be so bad. It won't be bad at all. Nothing with Rei is ever bad. I just have to… get myself under control.'
/
-A Secret Too Long-
/
"So," Kaji asked, "How's the food?"
"Mmm! It's delicious!" Asuka said with her mouth full of a variety of stir fried meats, vegetables, and noodles.
"Yeah, well, I figured I should treat you since you've been doing a such a good job piloting the Eva."
"That's sweet. Are you sure there aren't any other reasons?" Asuka said flirtatiously after swallowing her food.
"Heh, well, there might be one other reason I called you here," Kaji said in return, though he seemingly didn't reciprocate Asuka's suggestive tone.
Asuka grabbed the straw that was in her glass of water and began swirling the ice cubes in it around before sighing.
"I was stupid to think you'd actually bring me on a date for something romantic. This is just a pretext for something else, isn't it?" Asuka said dejectedly.
Kaji put down his eating utensils and looked at Asuka sternly.
"Asuka, we've been over this before… But, yes… I arranged this so I could ask you something. I can never be too careful."
Asuka was trying to ignore the feeling of her heart breaking after she'd been in such high spirits earlier in the day. But it was hard not to cry. Even so, she didn't want to make a scene and tried to control herself.
"See," Kaji started again, "While I was digging around in this Jet Alone business, I came across something I wanted to ask you about; something that only an Eva pilot could answer."
Asuka looked up from her glass of water. Despite her disappointment in this meeting not being romantic, what Kaji had to say did at least sound interesting.
"Huh? Something only an Eva pilot can answer? Like what?"
Relieved that he'd finally gotten the girl's full attention, he continued.
"I wanted to know if you'd ever heard of something called the Triple Seven protocol."
"Huh? The what now? I've never heard of that in my life!"
Kaji scratched his stubble in thought.
"Hmm… how very interesting. I shall enjoy working out what it means, especially since you're the longest active serving pilot out of everyone in the entire world. Indeed, you were raised from a child to serve as one. I'd figured that out of anyone, they'd have told you."
"Well… that's fine and all. But, what even is it?" Asuka asked before she took another small bite of her food.
"I don't know all the details. But, supposedly, initiating a triple seven protocol in an Evangelion allows it to discard it's synchronization limiters and achieve a one hundred percent sync ratio… or even above that."
"Hmm… Sounds dangerous… but useful," Asuka mumbled as she pushed some of her food around her plate.
"I thought so too."
"Well, you aren't going to just leave me hanging, are you? How do you activate it?"
"I'm not an Eva pilot, but from what I understand, you can either speak it as a verbal command inside the entry plug, or you can just think it considering the Evangelion is linked to you neurally.
"Hmm… I'll try to remember that. ...I'd probably remember it better if you did something that made today worth remembering though."
"Don't push your luck, Asuka. I still have another meeting I have to get to tonight."
Asuka sighed. She didn't really feel like eating anymore.
/
After Asuka's date with Kaji, which had turned out to mostly just be him touching base more than anything else, Asuka had found herself with some extra free time that she hadn't planned for.
Even though Kaji had never told her he was going to spend any significant amount of time with her, Asuka, in her mind, had fancifully conjured up a scenario that was a touch more romantic and had lasted a lot longer than what she'd gotten. She'd worked herself up over it all day, even though she knew it wouldn't happen, and now she'd found herself disappointed.
She kicked a rock down the sidewalk as she headed to the train station so she could go home.
"Ugh, if I go home this early, I'll probably walk in on them… Stupid Shinji, he better actually be fucking her right now. I don't wanna just be shitting around in town for nothing," Asuka mumbled as she walked up to the rock and kicked it again.
Asuka looked up at the sky. The sun would be setting in a few hours, but she could stay out for a bit longer before it got dark.
"Maybe I could go to the park and watch the sunset or something. ...I hate the idea of watching the sun set alone though. And it's kind of cloudy too. So, it won't even be that great."
Asuka sighed and readjusted her book bag.
"Oh well. I should probably make sure they have enough time to do their thing. I guess I'll go to the park," Asuka said before she yawned.
/
Asuka had seemingly been right about Misato not being home after the business with Jet Alone. Though, even if the woman did have a ton of paperwork to fill out, Shinji somehow doubted that she was actually doing it. She was probably off procrastinating or drinking in an effort to avoid doing her work.
"Rei, are… are you sure you're okay with this?" Shinji asked as he slowly walked to his room.
He felt Rei reach up and grab his hand from behind his. He looked back and saw her smiling at him.
"I am sure," Rei said.
They then both continued to Shinji's room. Shinji could feel something that burned rising in his chest and time seemed to distort. Even though he was only a few steps from the his room, walking the rest of the way and opening the door felt like it had taken a whole fifteen seconds. He wondered if Rei felt that same. She at the very least seemed calmer, but looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he felt like he saw something eating away at her as well.
Upon finally entering the room, he turned around and stared at Rei. Seeing her more clearly now, something definitely seemed wrong. The girl was fiddling with her fingers as she stood before him. This was highly unusual behavior for her. The girl usually had a resolve matching that of steel.
"Rei?"
"Um… Shinji… This morning..."
Shinji stayed quiet for a moment though, when she continued having difficulty speaking, Shinji tried to coax her into speaking.
"What's wrong, Rei? What happened this morning?"
"Asuka..."
"Asuka? What about Asuka? …I mean, I guess she was acting a bit weird this morning."
"No," Rei said as she shook her head vigorously.
Shinji was starting to get a bit worried about the girl.
"Is everything okay, Rei? Do you want to sit down?" Shinji asked as he tried to offer the girl a place to sit on his futon so she could hopefully clear her thoughts.
"No," Rei said again.
"Well… What's wrong, Rei? You can tell me."
Rei looked at the floor, seemingly being extremely hesitant to tell what was on her mind.
"Asuka… She said… She said..."
Shinji was very confused over why Rei seemed to be having such difficulty explaining her thoughts, but continued to stay silent so she could speak.
"She said… that… we shouldn't hide things from each other. And… And… I… have been hiding things from you."
Rei's arms where shaking as she used one of her hands to violently squeeze the fingers of the other. It was not normal at all for her to be this nervous over something.
But, surely whatever Rei was supposedly hiding couldn't have been so bad that it was causing this kind of reaction in her. Could it? During every briefing before every fight with an angel, Rei would stand perfectly still. Sometimes, it was hard to even tell if she was breathing. What could possibly have made her this distressed?
"Shinji… I'm… I'm not normal."
"I… I know Rei. I don't think any of us are normal," Shinji said, trying to reassure her, though he wasn't sure he was doing a great job of it.
"No!" Rei said again, "I mean that… I am not… like you. I… was not born like you. I… I was made."
"I… Rei, I'm not sure I understand, but, surely it's not something to get upset over."
"When… Asuka asked… if I was infertile… I… I'm not… like you. I can't..."
Rei's breathing had become very uneasy now, and it was starting to unnerve Shinji. He'd never seen her like this before.
"Rei, I'm sure it- it doesn't matter."
"IT DOES," Rei yelped.
Shinji just stared at the girl.
Rei took a breath and tried to continue.
"I'm… not… I'm… not… me… I am… an angel."
Shinji's eyes widened, not sure he'd heard the girl correctly.
"What..."
"I am… an angel… and… and… I… am… your… your mother."
Rei dropped to her knees and clasped her hands over her mouth, seemingly wishing she could take back what she'd said.
"You… what…. But mom is… dead. What do you mean, Rei?" Shinji asked quietly as he felt some strange feeling boiling up inside him.
Rei simply shook her head as she continued to hysterically gasp into her hands.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, REI!? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?" Shinji yelled at her this time.
Rei stood back up and stepped backwards out of Shinji's room, still holding a hand over her mouth.
"WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT MY MOM?! IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE!? THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"
Rei shook her head again before making a squeaking sound into her hand.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Shinji! I was scared! I'm sorry. I thought you wouldn't love me anymore. My books, they always said it wasn't… right for… it's dangerous to… to… to…" Rei cried into her hand again as tears started to drip from her eyes and onto her fingers.
Shinji walked up to her and grabbed her by the collar of her School uniform angrily.
"I want you to be very clear with me. What are you trying to say?" Shinji said in a low growl.
"Commander Ikari… he… he… cloned me… from your… your mother. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do anything wrong," Rei cried as she shut her eyes, causing even more tears to flood out of her.
Shinji let go of her clothes and looked at the floor.
"And an angel? My mother and an angel?"
Rei didn't say anything, but nodded.
"Which one?"
Rei refused to answer as possibilities rushed through Shinji's mind. But, eventually, his mind settled on only one possibility. Rei had been around before Shinji had come to Tokyo-3. So, she couldn't have possibly been cloned from any of the angels that had arrived after then. But, Shinji remembered Misato had shown him another angel deep inside of NERV HQ in a place called Central Dogma, right before Operation Yashima, and that she had called it Adam.
"Adam? Was it Adam?" Shinji asked as he glared back up at Rei.
The girl shook her head no.
"Lilith," she gasped, trying to catch her breath.
"Li… Wha… What is this!?"
"Lilith! She's… she's… in Central Dogma. Below NERV."
"No… No, that's Adam. Misato told me."
"It's Lilith. Adam isn't here. Adam is in Cocytus, at Bethany Base," Rei whispered while she tried to stop herself from crying.
"Are you saying Misato is wrong?" Shinji asked rudely.
"She was lied to. Just like I'm lied to... Just like I lied to you," Rei barely managed to say as even more tears fell down her hand which was still over her mouth.
Shinji tried to calm down, but he was finding it difficult. He turned around and went back into his room, trying to clear his mind and make sense of what Rei had told him. He sat down on his futon and put his head in his hands.
Rei finally took her hand off her mouth and timidly reached out for Shinji as she walked back into the room
"Shinji… please, don't leave me," Rei pleaded.
"Just… leave me alone, Rei. I need time to think."
"Shinji!"
"I SAID GO!" Shinji yelled at the girl.
Rei sharply inhaled before turning around and running away. She ran and she ran and she ran, straight out of Misato's apartment to a place only god knew where.
Shinji listened to the girl's footsteps get quieter until the front door of Misato's apartment opened and then slammed shut. After he could no longer hear Rei's footsteps, he looked to a cupboard next to his futon and saw a thin black cord attached to a pair of ear buds. He pulled the cord until finally, his mother's SDAT fell off. He caught it in his hand and stared it.
With Rei and Asuka both having been staying in his room at night recently, he hadn't had as much time to listen to it. Maybe tonight would be different.
/
Asuka had finally gotten home. The sun still hadn't set just yet, but it would in a few hours. She figured she'd given Rei and Shinji enough time to have a least a couple sessions by now and, thankfully, she'd been right about Misato not being home. Her car wasn't in the parking lot.
Asuka carefully opened the door to Misato's house. She highly doubted Shinji had the gall to fuck right in the kitchen or living room, but, Asuka wanted to make absolutely sure she wasn't gonna walk in on anyone.
She didn't hear any sort of lewd sounds, and so she finally stepped into the apartment and walked down the short foyer until she saw the living room, and sure enough, no one was there. Shinji was in the kitchen though. But, he wasn't cooking dinner, which Asuka found odd. He was just sitting at the kitchen table. As she could see a black cord hanging from his ear, she assumed he was listening to music.
She walked over to the boy and yanked the cord out, pulling his earbud out of his ear and staring at him.
"So, did you do it!?" Asuka asked as she put her hands on her hips.
"Tch, do you really have to ask?" Shinji mumbled as he looked away from the girl.
"Hey, don't answer my question with another question! Did you do it or not!?"
Shinji sighed.
"Yeah, I did. Now, can I please go back to listening to my music?" Shinji said, obviously trying to avoid the subject.
"Yeah… I guess..." Asuka said as she dropped the earbud onto the table.
Asuka started to go to the couch so she could finally discard her bookbag. Something seemed off though. She glanced back at Shinji. He'd already stuffed the earbud back in.
Asuka looked back at the couch with a suspicious expression.
'He didn't seem very excited,' Asuka pointed out to herself.
"Where the hell is Rei?" Asuka mumbled as she looked around the room again, trying to make sure she hadn't somehow missed the quiet girl.
'Hmm… maybe she's just tired and went to bed early,' Asuka thought to herself as she finally threw her book bag onto the couch so she could relax.
/
It had been a few hours and the sun had only just begun to start disappearing behind the horizon. Asuka was thankful, as the glare the sun put on the TV, even from just a few small openings in the curtain, was giving her a migraine and she'd already taken some pain relievers for it and didn't feel like taking any more.
Suddenly, Asuka heard the front door open.
"Ooh, she's home," Asuka whispered to herself nervously as she expected Misato to walk down the foyer and into the kitchen any second.
Though, for a moment, Asuka was taken aback. The footsteps didn't sound like the usual clack of Misato's heels but instead sounded heavier. Still sharp, but not as sharp as Misato's shoes.
After a few more moments, Asuka saw the reason for this. Kaji was carrying the drunken and passed out woman bridal style in his arms.
Asuka's heart skipped a beat.
"Uh… no need to worry, everyone. She just drunk too much," Kaji said as he awkwardly announced he'd entered the residence.
"Huh?" Asuka questioned, sounding a little hurt.
"Uh, her room is over here, right!?" Kaji asked as he gestured as best he could to the room adjacent to the living room.
No one answered him, as Shinji was still listening to his music that he'd been listening to for hours and Asuka seemed too shocked to be able to formulate a sentence.
"Er, right… I'll just drop her off… in here," the man said as he struggled to get the door open.
Asuka sat in silence as Kaji and Misato disappeared into the room.
'I thought he said he had a meeting. This… this doesn't seem like a meeting,' Asuka thought to herself as she stared blankly at the doorway.
After a few more seconds passed, the man then exited the room.
Asuka got up from the couch and hurriedly rushed to catch up with Kaji. As soon as she got close enough, she latched onto the sleeve of his slate grey button up shirt.
"H-hey, Kaji! Don't you think you could stay for awhile!? I-I mean, since you're here and all!" Asuka pleaded.
Kaji looked back at the girl. He had a regretful look in his eyes and Asuka already knew he was going to say no.
He brought up his hand and placed it on top of Asuka's head, gently rubbing her hair.
"I'm sorry, pumpkin patch, but I really probably can't stay tonight."
The man then took his hand off Asuka's head, turned around, and said a goodnight that Asuka didn't even hear before he walked out the door.
There was something in the air. Something faint. She smelled it on Kaji's sleeve when he'd brought his hand up to her head.
"Lavender… Lavender perfume… But… Misato said… it was only for special occasions."
Asuka could feel her heart slowly twisting up inside her. It was tight and painful. She wanted to cry. But, she didn't. She didn't want to make trouble in front of Shinji or Rei when this was supposed to be a special night for them. She simply went back to the couch and laid her head down on the headrest, not even able to tell what was on the television.
'They're dating again… They're dating again, I know it. Why? What does he see in her!? Aren't I good enough?' Asuka thought silently to herself as she bit her lip to quiet her slowly quickening breathing.
Asuka clenched her hand into a fist. She looked up from where she was laying and into the kitchen. She was hoping Shinji hadn't noticed her. She knew he sometimes had a pretty good eye for telling when someone wasn't feeling well. But, thankfully, he hadn't noticed her. He was still just sitting there listening to his music, like he'd ignored or just hadn't noticed everything that had happened.
'Was I really just being stupid the whole time? Of course he was never going to date me, at least not now. But, I thought if I could make him want me, maybe once I was old enough, we could...'
A few tears finally started to well up in Asuka's eyes and everything got blurry before she blinked the tears away.
"I can't take this. I can't take being alone like this," Asuka whispered to herself as she sniffled.
She abruptly got up and went to her room so she could get her nightie and take a shower. She hoped having a bunch of hot water spraying over her might help hide any evidence of her tears during what she intended to do after, or, if nothing else, help calm her down.
/
After getting dressed, Asuka slowly stepped into the kitchen, half hoping Shinji wouldn't see her and half hoping he would.
He continued to remain listening to his music, his eyes cast down at the table. He seemed totally unaware of anything that was happening around him.
Deciding to try to just pretend he wasn't there, Asuka mustered up her courage and walked across the kitchen. She began opening up a few of the cupboards above the stove and oven. As she reached her hand into them and shifted around some of the objects inside, she could hear some glass clanking together, which hurt her ears even though it wasn't particularly loud.
After a few more seconds, she finally got her fingers around the neck of a bottle and leaned it forward so she could read the label. Though, more tears had formed in her eyes and it was blurry. She pulled the bottle down and wiped her eyes on her arm. She could see it was a deep reddish purple bottle and saw it was some kind of wine after reading the label. She put it back in the cabinet and began feeling around again.
This time, her fingers found a lower, rounder bottle with a much shorter neck. She pulled it out and saw it was an amber color. After blinking the tears out of her eyes once more, she read the label and saw it was an apple brandy.
It was probably very expensive, but Asuka didn't care. She hugged the bottle close to her chest and looked up while taking a deep breath. She then turned around so she was facing Shinji while hiding the bottle behind her back. She then took another deep breath before doing something she hoped she wouldn't regret. She quickly reached down in front of Shinji's face, grabbing both of the cords to his earbuds in one fluid motion, and pulled them out before Shinji knew what was happening.
"Hey, Shinji!"
/
-Come Shadow, Come Follow Me-
/
'Mother… My mother,' Shinji thought quietly to himself.
Shinji's knees were starting to ache from sitting at the kitchen table for so long. He couldn't even hear the music blaring in his ears anymore. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Asuka, seemingly having just gotten out of the shower.
'And… an angel…'
He barely noticed the girl as she walked across the kitchen and over to the stove.
'What does that mean? What does she mean she's an angel? Why didn't she tell me? I thought she trusted me. Does she mean I have to kill her? Or is she going to kill me? Is she like the other angels?'
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Asuka reaching for something. She was probably looking for cookware considering he hadn't even started on making dinner yet.
'And what does she mean she's my mother? How is that even possible? She said she was cloned! She said father was cloning mom. How does that even make any sense!? Is she insane?'
Shinji thought he might have heard the sound of a glass bottle hitting another glass bottle, but he ignored it as he continued to look down at the boring sandy brown finish of the wooden kitchen table.
'What if she's not insane though? What if… what if father really is doing this stuff? What would that make Rei? Why would he make Rei? Why make her from mother?'
Shinji wanted to scream that it didn't make any sense but before he could, he saw a hand shoot right under his nose. Before he could even ask what was happening, he'd found his earbuds yanked out again.
"Hey, Shinji!" the boy heard Asuka say.
"Hey, what's the big idea!?" Shinji shouted, almost sounding angry.
Asuka sighed and looked out the right corners of her eyes bashfully.
"Um, well..." Asuka said shyly.
Shinji was somewhat unsure of what to make of Asuka's sudden shift from aggressive demanding god queen to nervous and timid schoolgirl. But, he was hoping he wasn't going to go through anymore drama tonight.
"What is it, Asuka?" Shinji said, trying to soften his voice, even if he was having a hard time remaining calm.
Asuka blushed.
"Uh… um… I was… uh… wondering if you wanted to share this with me?" Asuka said as she pulled the bottle of brandy out from behind her back.
Asuka could feel her heart thundering like a freight train. Some indescribable feeling was welling up inside of her. It burned, but also tickled and made her feel like a leaf in the wind. The girl wanted to reach up and grab her chest to calm herself down, but she tried to control herself.
'Oh, god! Oh no, My heart!' Asuka lamented to herself as she tightened her grip on the bottle.
Shinji raised his eyebrow a bit, but didn't say anything.
"I- I- I mean, I get if you… don't wanna. But, I was just hoping… uh…" Asuka stuttered
Shinji really wasn't sure he wanted any part in whatever Asuka was suggesting, but something seemed to be troubling the girl. He was okay with hearing her out, but he really didn't want to drink if he could help it.
"Um, I dunno Asuka. That's illegal."
"Heheh, that doesn't have to matter. I'll just get us some glasses," Asuka said as she rubbed the back of her head and put the Brandy on the table before turning around and opening another cabinet.
Shinji wanted to protest but, he knew it would probably be worthless. He'd already seen how persistent she'd been that he have sex with Rei earlier in the day, and she wasn't even going to be there for that. Now she was asking him to do something with her. It would be difficult for Shinji to weasel his way out of this.
Just as quickly as Asuka turned around, she'd already laid two glasses gently on the table, right in front of Shinji.
Shinji found this a little odd, because he figured Asuka would be on the other side of the table and that she would only place one cup in front of him. But, sure enough, Asuka walked around to Shinji's side of the table and sat right next to him. She even moved the chair a bit closer to him.
Shinji watched her silently as she popped the brass topped cork out of the bottle and poured both herself and him each a glass.
"It smells pretty good," Asuka said.
"Yeah… I guess it does," Shinji hesitantly said as he also caught a whiff of the liquor.
Asuka then pushed Shinji's glass a little closer to him, trying to persuade him to drink it.
Shinji looked at the glass and then back at Asuka.
"Um..." was all he managed to say.
Asuka giggled at this before lifting her own glass and drinking some of it.
Shinji was so close to Asuka, he was practically shoulder to shoulder with her. He distinctly heard her swallow two times before she set the glass back down.
Asuka, noticing Shinji was staring at her, glanced at him with curious eyes.
Shinji in turn, could tell she was gauging him but he couldn't tell how or why.
He saw her glance down slightly, maybe at his lips or chin, before she then looked back up into his eyes. They stayed locked like that, both of them looking directly back into each other's eyes. Shinji even took notice of his own reflection in Asuka's pupils, they stared for so long.
He heard the girl breathe out a small quivering breath before she finally broke the gaze and brushed her hair over her ear before she once again locked her eyes on him. Asuka's breath finally reached his nose and he could smell the brandy again. Shinji, seemingly entranced now, then watched the girl quickly flick her tongue out of the corner of her lips. She blinked and looked away again before immediately looking back at him.
Asuka breathed out lightly again before she once again looked away from Shinji.
"Shinji… I…" Asuka said just above a whisper in a wavering voice.
Asuka didn't finish her sentence before she looked back at him and she slowly began leaning towards him as she let out a worried little moan.
Shinji straightened his back in surprise. The girl's longing eyes were rapidly fluttering, though overall they were growing more and more closed. Shinji almost felt the urge to lean towards her as well but he tried to refuse. Asuka's lips were parted ever so slightly and he could feel her erratic and shallow breath on his face now. He heard her let out a short moan again before she completely closed her eyes.
He knew he shouldn't, but somehow he found it impossible to resist. He finally closed his eyes and leaned towards Asuka. And before another moment passed, he felt Asuka's lips pressing into his.
She let out yet another moan. Her saliva slightly burned his lips from the alcohol the brandy had imparted to her and her long eyelashes tickled his eyelids. He could feel her gently sucking on his lower lip while her own bottom lip trembled.
It lasted only maybe seven seconds, but by the time they broke the kiss, it felt like it had been an entire minute.
Asuka repeatedly breathed in small gasps and she put her hand over her heart, like she was worried it may have been stolen and she was trying to make sure it was still there.
Shinji on the other hand had almost completely stopped breathing as he stared at Asuka.
Asuka made eye contact with Shinji again, but she immediately looked away out the right corner of her eyes for a moment before again looking back at Shinji and then looking away again.
Asuka made a sound that was somewhere between a small laugh and a gasp before saying, "Th- That… was… the first time I ever kissed someone."
Asuka looked back at Shinji to see him rubbing the back of his head as he looked at the table. The boy slowly raised his head back up and looked at Asuka.
"Asuka… uh… we-" Shinji started to say before he was cut off by Asuka.
"Shhh! Shhhhh!" Asuka said, shushing Shinji as she put her finger over her lips.
This wasn't Asuka's usual demanding shush though. This was different. This sounded like Asuka was pleading for him to not say anything, but not forcing him to be quiet. She looked worried, like this was just a dream and if Shinji said anything, it would end.
Asuka reached out her hands and put them on top of Shinji's. She could feel him trembling under her palms.
"Just… just let me have this… Please! I need this," Asuka whispered.
Asuka then locked eyes with Shinji again. She gasped before leaning in to kiss him again, this time slightly more aggressively, but still gently overall.
Shinji could once again feel her shallow and wavering breath tickling him as it brushed over his cheeks. As well as that, he felt her palms disappear from his hands before he then felt her grab his face needily, pulling him closer to her like she was worried he'd be swept out to sea and lost forever. Shinji in return put one hand on her shoulder and another behind her head, weaving his fingers into the endless strands of her fiery hair.
They separated again and this time Asuka put both of her hands over her heart.
"Oh my god, is this real?" she asked as she tried to control her breathing.
"I… I think so," Shinji said with a blush streaking across his face.
After Asuka had slowed her breathing a bit, she looked back down at Shinji's drink.
"I guess that's why they call it liquid courage. I dunno if I could have actually kissed you without help," Asuka said before giggling a bit.
Shinji wasn't sure he'd heard her right, but it sounded to him like Asuka was saying she was scared to kiss him. Shinji couldn't believe she'd say that though after she'd spent half the morning telling him he was the one that needed to grow a spine.
Asuka then pushed the glass even closer to Shinji. The boy looked back at her and she gave him a highly satisfied smile. Shinji then looked back at the glass.
He still wasn't entirely sure about this, but it felt to him like Asuka's kiss had given him some of her fortitude and he finally decided to reach for the drink. Though, he almost second guessed himself when he brought it to his face and just the fumes ended up making him dizzy. But, he was so close now, he tried to just power through it and drink it.
Asuka let out a pleasured laugh as she saw him finally drink the brandy. She then raised her own glass and drank some too. They then both set their glasses down at roughly the same time.
"It burns," Shinji said, trying not to choke.
"Its supposed to," Asuka said in such a seductive voice that it sent a chill down Shinji's spine.
He glanced at the girl and saw her sticking her finger in her glass, slowly swirling the golden liquid around. He then looked into the girl's eyes. With the excitement Shinji was feeling after drinking the Brandy and being kissed by Asuka, he could swear that her eyes were sparkling.
Asuka rested one of her arms on the back of her chair, using it to prop up her head as she continued to gaze at Shinji and sensually barrage him with her girlish charms while her other hand held her glass of brandy so that she herself could fuel her ambitious work at debauching Shinji.
Shinji watched the girl raise the glass to her lips again. It seemed like it came so effortlessly to her. He wondered if she actually liked the stuff or if she was just trying to hold herself above him so that she could continue to push him in the direction she wanted without him pointing out any hypocrisy she might exhibit in not liking the drink. Though, if Shinji was being honest, the truth was probably somewhere in the middle of those two guesses.
After the girl had taken another sip, her eyes fluttered open and she gazed back at him. Shinji sort of felt like she was expecting him to take another drink, so he did. This time he didn't almost gag on it, though he was a bit more prepared for the sensation this time.
He still didn't like the taste all the much. In fact, he could barely stomach it. But, the experience as a whole wasn't that bad. Just sitting here next to Asuka, slowly numbing his mind and forgetting his worries. He started to understand why Misato would like this stuff enough to become addicted to it. Even now, his anger from earlier, the whole reason he'd been brooding for hours, had been almost entirely forgotten.
And now, all that was in front of him was this girl. This girl who, for the longest time, had been a pain to him. This girl who had harassed and even abused him. This girl who somehow had become his friend. This girl who he had sacrificed so much for, even going so far as to risk his life for her. This girl who now looked beautiful beyond beauty as she smiled at him gently and warmly, even if the smile was a bit mischievous too.
She laughed as she caught Shinji staring at her. Her laugh, he'd never realized how beautiful it was before now. He'd always thought of it as shrill and grating. But this laugh? When Asuka laughed like this, when she was at ease and off guard, it was actually wonderful. It was like a sparrow trilling in the early morning right before the sun rose.
Shinji shook his head and groaned as he realized he'd been staring at Asuka for probably longer than was socially appropriate.
"You don't have to look away you know?" Asuka said as she flipped her hair over her shoulder with her hand.
She then leaned forward and pushed her breasts together with her upper arms so Shinji could see down her nightie and look at her cleavage. She also rested a few of her fingers on her lips and winked for good measure.
Shinji blushed, looking exactly where Asuka had wanted him to.
"Asu…ka," was all Shinji could say.
Already, Shinji could feel his mind starting to fail him and the alcohol beginning to take hold.
Asuka giggled again. She straightened herself back out but not before purposely pushing one of the straps of her nightie off her shoulder.
"Why don't we go over to the couch," Asuka suggested.
Though, before Shinji could answer her, she'd already picked up the bottle of brandy and began heading over. Shinji couldn't help but watch her hips sway as she passed him and, after another moment, he got up himself and headed over to the sofa.
Asuka seemed to purposely and excessively lean over as she set the brandy down on the glass table in front of the sofa. This ended with Shinji almost having a heart attack and dropping his glass as he saw her black lace panties under her already slightly see-through nightie.
Asuka giggled as she stood back up, turned around, and saw Shinji paralyzed and barely breathing as he stared at her.
"Come on, Shinji! What's wrong? You look like you've seen something you weren't supposed to see," Asuka said as seductively as she could.
The boy silently and astutely finished walking to the couch. Asuka took his glass out of his hand and set it on the table along with her own. After that, she then forcefully pushed Shinji backwards, causing him to fall into the soft cushions of the couch and leaving him in a drunken daze.
"Asuka… what're you-" he began to ask, though he was cut off as Asuka was already on top of him pushing her lips into his.
Shinji didn't even try to fight back. He couldn't. Asuka had wrapped her arms around his neck and was pressing her boobs into his chest. After another few moments, he could feel Asuka shoving her tongue into his mouth. This surprised Shinji as his other two kisses with the girl had been strictly on the lips.
Shinji felt like he'd been completely consumed by the girl. Everything he felt was Asuka. He'd loosely placed his hand on her hips, but she was so ravenous and suffocating and he was so stupefied, Shinji was having a hard time imagining where her hips even were anymore as his hands slowly started to slip down her body to her thighs.
Asuka finally broke the kiss again. Strands of spit still hung from her lips and trailed down to Shinji's. She looked down at the confused and breathless boy as her spit dripped down his chin. Seeing him like this filled her with a certain amount of pride and lust.
"Oh fuck, I want you," Asuka moaned as she once again fell upon the boy and kissed him.
At this point, Shinji couldn't tell up from down. The entire universe might have been Asuka for all he knew. His brain at this point wasn't able to discern anything. The weight of Asuka as she sat on his hips, the smell of her vanilla, orange, and cinnamon scented hair, the slight flavor of fermented apple in her saliva, her fingers frantically grabbing at his hair, the softness of her lips and the hotness of her breath, all of it blended together into one sensation that was divine and beyond description.
At this point, Shinji was erect and had been for awhile. Asuka could feel it through her panties and in an effort to torture the boy, she began to grind her hips on him as she kissed him which caused him to groan.
Asuka pulled out of the kiss once more and looked at the boy as she breathed heavily and lustfully.
Shinji's hair was disheveled and his eyes couldn't seem to focus on anything. She could see even more of her and his spit mixing and it dribbling down Shinji's chin as a result of her sloppily and drunkenly making out with him. Of course, she could feel a few trails of spit running down her chin and throat too. But, she didn't care.
She flung her arms around the boys head and hugged him into her small perky tits. She gently stroked his hair, running her nails across his head. The boy groaned, and she laughed as he shivered.
Asuka then craned her head down and whispered in the boy's ear, "You already fucked Ayanami. Now its my turn to fuck you."
Asuka then leaned away from the boy and slipped her finger's inside the collar of his button up shirt. She smiled wickedly at Shinji as he held his breath in anticipation. Then, with a single swift yank, she tore the shirt open and a large portion of the buttons went flying all over the living room.
"Oh, shit, Asuka!" Shinji gasped.
This caused the girl to laugh evilly at Shinji's reaction. She looked down at him lustfully, her breathing excited and her heart beating out of her chest.
Asuka then reached under the skirting of her nightie and began to lift it over her head. Shinji tried not to stare as her black panties with a small red rose sewn into their crotch were exposed to him. The fabric of her top slowly peeling away then revealed her navel and stomach. The girl was lean. At least as lean as Rei. She was so small, if Shinji didn't feed her himself, he'd almost swear the petite girl could sustain herself off a meager diet of springtime rainwater and fallen autumn leaves. Her plugsuit easily added half an inch to her waist on each side despite how skintight it was.
That, of course, wasn't to say she was underweight. She was just simply a very small girl but she was certainly toned. And Shinji knew she had muscle hidden away somewhere underneath that skin of hers as she would and could overpower him with, and currently was, though he attributed that more to the dual intoxication of alcohol and Asuka's assertive but feminine wiles rather than her strength.
Shinji's breath caught in his throat as Asuka finally, after the longest moment in his life, began to lift her nightie up over her chest, the underside of her small boobs peeking out from under the fabric. Asuka heard him stop breathing and paused for a moment, almost as if to hold him in suspense before she fully revealed herself. Then, she suddenly pulled her nightie up, her perky breasts jiggling just a bit as she continued to pull the top over her head and throw it off her and onto the armrest on the far side of the couch.
"Asuka..." Shinji breathlessly said for probably the dozenth time that night as his eyes darted back and forth, rapidly scanning every part of her body.
Her hips weren't wide in comparison to other girls' hips, but for someone as slender as her, they were definitely the most capacious and voluminous part of her body. The core of her body, her stomach and lower chest, definitely thinned down in comparison to her hips. It was almost absurd how small the girl was in total. Shinji had already considered himself rather thin and was even slightly embarrassed when Asuka tore his shirt open, but Asuka was compact beyond belief and this relieved Shinji a little.
He looked further up the girl's body. Her boobs were, once again, not particularly large in comparison to other girls', but fit Asuka's own body rather well. There was a springiness to them that larger breasts wouldn't have had.
Overall, the girl didn't have the same hourglass shape that certain people desired in an older woman. Her body was more pear shaped and distinctly bottom heavy, which Shinji could only take further note of as the girl sat on his lap. Shinji didn't mind this at all though. In fact, Asuka's body was probably more along the lines of what his current taste in women aligned with. Even if she didn't meet with a more stereotypical standard of beauty, no one could deny that Asuka was more than gorgeous in her own way.
"This isn't a museum, you know? You can, in fact, touch the art!" Asuka said as she broke the boy out of his awestruck stupor.
Shinji inhaled in surprise and then put his hands on Asuka's stomach before gently sliding his left hand down to the side of her hips and his right hand up to her breast, her nipple poking out from between his fingers.
"Finally, finally, you give the girl what she wants," Asuka cooed as she placed her hands on Shinji's chest and raked her nails down him.
She left red scratches on his chest, almost like she was marking him as hers the same way a panther leaves scratches in a tree to claim its domain as its own. Shinji squirmed and writhed under the girl's hands both due to the sensations she gave him and his own realization that she was clawing nearer and nearer to his pants and didn't she seem to be letting up.
"Asuka, we… we can't… not here," Shinji barely managed to gasp out.
"Shhh," Asuka shushed him with a smile, "Ayanami's in bed, right? I don't wanna go in your room and wake her up. And Misato? Misato's passed out like a fucking rock. She's not gonna wake up. She's not gonna hear us. No one will hear us. So just… let… me… do this. Let me have this. Let me have you just for a little bit. I'm tired of being alone. I'm sick of it," Asuka finished, her voice almost turning spiteful.
Asuka slowly slid off the boy and the couch, her knees hitting the floor as her hands finally reached Shinji's pants. Shinji was almost driven mad at the hungering breaths the girl let out as she undid the fly of his pants. Shinji groaned as the girl then swiftly and decisively pulled his pants and boxers down in one motion.
And there it was. The right corner of Asuka's lips curled up slightly as she saw Shinji's dick finally unrestrained.
"It's kinda bigger than I remember," Asuka said as her voice hungrily wavered in pitch.
Shinji groaned as Asuka slowly but tightly wrapped her fingers around the base of his cock. The girl slowly leaned her head in closer, and he could feel Asuka's hot breath tickling him.
The girl then used her other hand to gently squeeze the head of his cock before running the nail of her index finger along the underside of his dick, causing Shinji to once again begin writhing. This only gave Asuka more pleasure though. Attempting to make herself wanted and needed was her primary goal in this course of action, but she wouldn't just say no to power-tripping off of Shinji if the appropriate opportunity presented itself.
"Oh, fuuuuuck, Asuka!" Shinji growled as the girl lightly ran her sharp nail against Shinji's cock
Shinji's body returned to a relaxed state as Asuka finally finished running her nail down his cock. Asuka giggled as she leaned in further. Her face was right next to Shinji's dick now. Still not letting go of the base of his shaft, she gently slapped her cheek with Shinji's cock two times before permanently pressing it against her cheek while looking at him with the most seductive expression she could muster.
"If you want me to put it in, all you have to do is say please," Asuka teased.
"Please! Please, Asuka!" Shinji groaned as he looked into her seemingly sparkling eyes.
Asuka giggled before giving the head of Shinji's cock a quick kiss which earned her a small gasp from the excited boy.
"Well, since you asked so nicely..."
And before Shinji knew it, he could feel Asuka's wet and warm mouth sucking on the tip of his cock.
The boy moaned and his body tensed up yet again as the girl sucked on him as hard as she could. There was then a loud pop as the redhead pulled his cock out of her mouth. Shinji almost screamed at the sensation, but tried his best not to.
Asuka then kissed his dick, but the kiss slowly evolved into her sucking him again as she opened her jaw and brought her head down on him further.
Shinji shakily raised his hand, trying his best to not disappoint the girl by being completely idle, and lifted the girl's hair over her ear so he could see her eyes more clearly. He looked directly into her eyes, and she too looked back at him, her eyes locked to his as she bobbed her head up and down. It was a sight every man had dreamed of at one point or another; to see a girl look him dead in the eye as she sucked him off.
Shinji could feel Asuka starting to make use of her tongue a bit more now. She began swirling it around under his head and she somehow started sucking even harder now. Shinji groaned and spasmed.
Asuka stopped sucking and licked her tongue up his shaft.
"Don't get too excited now! We're just getting started!" Asuka purred.
This of course had the opposite effect and further excited Shinji.
Then Asuka, quite without warning, wrapped her lips back around Shinji's cock, but instead of sucking shoved her head down on the boy's cock as hard as she could.
Shinji's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he felt the tip of his cock penetrate the back of Asuka's tight throat, even if she'd only stayed down on him for a moment before she pulled her head back up and choked a little.
Asuka's hot drool leaked out of her lips and down her chin as well as Shinji's cock. She continued to suck on him, but couldn't help but to recall the feeling of him being so deep down her throat. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling, but that's what made it so exhilarating to her; not being able to breathe as she forced Shinji's cock down her puny little throat.
For a second, Asuka wondered if she had an asphyxiation fetish. And now that she thought about it, she might have had a bit of a drool fetish too as she hadn't stopped to wipe away the spit tickling her chin a single time. At this point, the alcohol along with her gag reflex had made her drool drip from her chin and down her neck all the way to her cleavage and in between her little titties. And Asuka was starting to think it was sort of hot that she could be so ravenous for something that she'd be willing to choke herself and drool all over her body to attain it.
Shinji's cock was completely slick with Asuka's spit, and this made it easy for Asuka to once again shove her head down as far as it could go. Shinji tried to grab onto the cushions of the couch but failed and ended up curling his fingers into fists as his dick once again squeezed down Asuka's absurdly tight throat without warning.
The girl's eyes rolled back in her head and her hair fell in front of her face as she tried to hold herself down on Shinji's cock. His dick expanded the walls of her throat so much, she could feel her heartbeat in her neck. She made a weak attempt to breath in, but this only sucked Shinji's dick in even further.
"Fuck! Asuka!" Shinji said as Asuka quietly gagged on his cock.
Shinji suddenly thrust into her even deeper by accidental reflex, causing her eyes to roll back even further as well. Asuka could feel her face turning red now from not being able to breath. She was liable to start spasming or convulsing any second now from a lack of oxygen and she started making small, high-pitched, nasally, gagging sounds in her throat as her lungs started begging for air.
The girl finally let her head up and inhaled deeply as strands of spit hung connecting from her lips to Shinji's cock. Shinji watched the girl's breasts rising and falling as she breathed. He then looked at her eyes, which seemed to portray that she was beginning to satisfy her urges as she exhibited a sultry and contented expression. Though, the girl was definitely not finished yet.
Once again, with very little warning, she rapidly slid Shinji's cock down her throat as far as she could, practically slamming her face into the boys hips. And, once again, her eyes rolled back into her head. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, another effect of her gag reflex activating on top of the copious amount of drool she was salivating all over her own body as well as Shinji's.
Shinji could feel Asuka's throat constricting and convulsing around him, and it felt amazing. Once again, he felt the urge to scream in pleasure as the walls of her esophagus rubbed over his sensitive flesh, but he tried his best to keep himself quiet.
Once again Asuka came up for air. Her mascara and eye liner were beginning to leave streaks down her cheeks now as her tears and spit flooded down her face, over her tits, and even started to trail all the way down to her panties. She looked almost completely ruined, but there was one thing still missing.
"You're gonna cum, yeah?" Asuka asked breathily and needily as she slowly stroked and firmly squeezed Shinji's cock.
"Gegh, Asuka, I..." Shinji groaned
"Yeah, I know. You can't fucking take it. You're gonna cum all over me!"
Asuka then again shoved her head down on the boy's dick, his head violently penetrating her throat. He felt the girl's tight coiling throat compress down on his cock as she gagged. Shinji didn't understand how the girl could maintain and discipline herself so well when he wasn't even forcing her to do these things.
He felt Asuka's throat tighten around him one more time before he started experiencing a euphoric feeling rising up inside him.
"Asuka!" the boy breathed out.
The girl seemed to not hear him and shoved her head down even further, which Shinji hadn't thought was even possible.
"Asuka! F- Fuck!"
Asuka then gagged, tightening her throat around the boy even further.
"Fuck, Asuka! I- I'm gonna-" Shinji moaned
The girl finally pulled the boy's cock out of her throat and grabbed hold of it in her hand, pointing it at her face as she stroked it.
"Yes! Fucking cum on me!" Asuka moaned.
The girl stuck her tongue out and a thick white strand shot out of Shinji's penis, landing right in the middle of Asuka's face, draping itself across her forehead and the bridge of her nose. Another one then spewed out landing on her left eyebrow before streaming down her eyelid and catching on her eyelashes. One splattered across her cheek before dripping off her face and falling onto her breast. Yet another one went over her head and into her hair. And finally, one made contact below her right eyes before sliding down her cheek and lips before catching itself and hanging from her chin.
"Oh fuck! Wow!" Asuka exclaimed, somewhat surprised by just how forcefully and how much cum had been deposited on her face.
Shinji tried to calm his breathing, but looking at the gorgeous girl with streaks of black mascara and white cum running down her face made it difficult.
"Wow… Shinji… I don't know why it… Why it took me so long to… see you," the girl stuttered as she held her hands beneath her face trying to catch any of the variety of stray fluids dripping down her.
"See… See me?" Shinji questioned, still trying to calm himself.
"Yeah… This whole time… you were right here in front of me and I didn't even see it. And now… now you have Rei," the girl said, her voice seemingly starting to break.
Shinji sat up from his previously laid back position, trying to show Asuka he was giving her his attention.
"Asuka?" the boy asked caringly.
"I'm… I'm such a slut!" Asuka cried, "I'm… so sorry. I shouldn't have done this. Not when you have Rei! Not when you've already fucked her! I'm sorry! All I'm doing is getting between you again."
"No, no! Asuka, it's okay!" Shinji said, trying to comfort the girl by putting a hand on her shoulder.
"No, its not! I'm sick! I'm disgusting! I'm a slut! All I do is ruin everyone's happiness!" she said before she put her face in her hands and began sobbing.
"Asuka, that's not true at all!" Shinji said as he awkwardly hugged the girl from above.
Shinji felt the girl grab both sides of his unbuttoned shirt, pulling him further down.
"I'm sorry, Shinji. I just wanted someone of my own. No one loves me! No one cares for me like you do! I'm sorry for trying to take you from Rei, especially on the same day you had sex with her."
Shinji sighed before trying to pull Asuka away from him. The girl clung to him for a moment but eventually relented and leaned back so she could look him in the eye.
"Asuka… Rei and I didn't do anything," Shinji said, looking slightly downcast.
"Huh?"
Asuka frowned and her jaw dropped a little bit.
"Is that supposed to make what I did any better? What do you mean? You said you did! Where is Rei? I haven't seen her all night."
"She… left," Shinji hesitantly said.
"Huh!? What!? What're you talking about?"
"She… I don't know! She started talking about all these weird things. And, I didn't know what to make of it."
"What? What do you mean? What did she say!? Where is she!?" Asuka asked frantically as she attempted to stand up.
"I don't know! You wouldn't believe me if I told you what she told me."
"What did she say, Shinji!?" Asuka asked more firmly this time as she found her footing.
Shinji looked at the floor, hesitant to tell Asuka what he'd heard from the girl.
"Tell me, Shinji! What was she talking about? What are you talking about?"
"She… she said she was an angel."
Asuka's eyes widened.
"Wha- But… that makes no sense!"
"She also said… that… she was my mother," Shinji said, struggling to get the words out.
"Your mother? What!? That's not possible! She's not old enough to be your mother! Was she high on something? Did she accidentally like… like, was she acting okay?"
"No, no!" Shinji shook his head, "She said she was like cloned from my mom and an angel… This angel called Lilith... or Adam. I'm not sure what it's name is. Whichever one is in central dogma below NERV."
"Wait! What!? There's an angel below NERV!?" Asuka asked as she shook her head in disbelief.
"Yeah, you didn't know? Misato showed it to me. And Rei knew about it. I guess… I never thought if you'd ever seen it before."
"What the fuck…"
Both Asuka and Shinji remained silent for a good few moments.
"What in the hell happened while I was gone?! What happened between you two? Why the fuck- Where is she, Shinji?" Asuka asked in frustration.
Shinji shook his head back and forth, not saying a thing.
"Where is she!? What did you do to her!?" Asuka asked again.
"I just told her to leave me alone! I needed time to think!" Shinji shouted defensively.
"Why the fuck would you do that, you idiot!?"
"I don't know, Asuka! She was talking about weird things! I thought she was messing with me or something!"
"She's your girlfriend! And even if she wasn't she wouldn't do that!"
"Goddamn it, Asuka! I just didn't understand what she was talking about and I was upset she didn't tell me sooner!" Shinji said, now starting to get angry with the girl.
"Maybe she shouldn't have told you at all if this was how you were gonna act! I mean, Jesus fucking Christ, don't know know how trust works, Shinji!? You think a normal person is gonna walk up to someone they don't even know and tell them they were cloned!? I mean, she's not a normal person but she still needed to build her trust with you before she said something like that!? Don't you have any idea how hard that process is and how much it hurts when someone betrays your trust!? Do you have any idea how much courage she needed to tell you that!? And this is how you reward her honesty!? By telling her to leave you alone?" Asuka spat as her voice started to break again.
Shinji found it hard to respond to Asuka. Maybe because he knew she was right. All the boy could to was breathe and sit on the couch.
He then suddenly heard the sound of a clap and felt a sting across his cheek as his head was wrenched sideways. Asuka had just slapped the boy, and it was probably one of the most vitriolic ones she'd ever inflicted on him.
"You're a fool, Shinji Ikari! How could you treat her like that? After all she's done for you! For us! For the entire world! The very least she deserved was for you to listen to her. But instead you told her to get lost!"
Shinji thought about all the times Rei had backed him up or saved his life. In particular, memories of Operation Yashima flashed through his mind as Rei stood in front him, defending him from the angel Ramiel and taking the brunt of its searing attacks.
Though, before long Rei's words from earlier in the night had seeped back into his mind.
"Asuka… I.. I can't date someone who's my mother. There's just… so much wrong with that. What's wrong with me being upset about her hiding that from me!?"
"QUIT TRYING TO SHIFT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THIS ON HER. SO FUCKING WHAT IF SHE WAS CLONED FROM YOUR MOM!? THAT DOESN'T GIVE YOU AN EXCUSE TO ACT THE WAY YOU DID! THERE WAS NO GOOD GODDAMN REASON TO TREAT HER LIKE THAT."
Shinji once again refused to say anything and instead remained silent and listened.
"She's her own person. You know that, right?" Asuka continued, after she'd calmed herself "Even if she was cloned from your mom and this supposed angel… I don't know how that's even possible, but if it's true, you'd have more in common with a monkey than you would with her. You'd be more genetically related to me than her. She's not your mom… There's no reason to be angry at her."
Shinji balled his hand into a fist so hard it caused his hand to ache. Asuka was really starting to make him feel exactly like the fool she'd said he was.
"Where is she, Shinji?" Asuka said, trying to stay calm.
"I don't know. Maybe her old apartment," Shinji said as he shook his head.
"Damn it, she's not supposed to be there. The buildings there aren't safe anymore after that giant eye angel piece of shit attacked," Asuka cursed.
Asuka sighed before speaking again.
"Listen… I'm… I'm gonna get dressed and go look for her. Are you coming or do I need to force you to come with me?"
Shinji looked up at Asuka with a confused expression.
"What!?" Asuka asked, "You thought I was gonna just let you off the hook? No! You can break up with her after but I'm going to make you apologize to her first!"
/
-Death's Amber Embrace-
/
"Don't forget to lock the door, Shinji!" Asuka ordered to the boy as she and him stepped out of Misato's apartment.
Asuka wasn't looking as she was trying to get an idea of how dark it was, but she heard the keys jingle and the deadbolt slide into place. The sun had already set, but there was still light climbing over the horizon and she could still see. Though, it would probably be at least a fifteen minute train ride to Rei's apartment.
"You better be at your apartment, Ayanami" Asuka whispered to herself as she looked out at the city skyline.
Asuka could feel the alcohol from earlier numbing her senses and as she studied the horizon, she had the faintest sense that the world was spinning.
She looked down and put her hand on the pocket of her grey coat she'd changed into. She hadn't told Shinji yet that Misato had gotten a gun for her shortly after almost being raped, and at this point in time, she wasn't even sure she wanted to tell him. But, after what had happened the last time she'd left the house at night after drinking, she wanted to be safe. So, while she was changing, she'd been sure to grab it without Shinji knowing.
Confirming the small cold metal revolver was in her coat pocket, she looked back out at the city.
"Asuka… we should… probably go," Shinji suggested hesitantly, breaking the girl out of her thoughtful gaze.
Shinji was right. Asuka was the one who initially had been in a rush to get out and find the missing girl. She hadn't even taken the time to wipe the black streaks of mascara off her cheeks or even put on a shirt or bra. She'd just thrown on some grey thigh high socks, a pair of black, knee-high, lace-up platform boots, a black and red plaid skirt, and a dark grey, woolen, bouclé coat as the night had brought with it an unexpected chill.
And as for Shinji, Asuka had barely even allowed him the time to put on a fresh white shirt before she'd begun pushing him out the door. Though, Asuka could rightly blame that on the boy himself just staring into space and loafing around on the sofa until the last minute.
"Right," Asuka said as she glanced out at the city one last time before breaking into a sprint and barreling down the apartment stairwell a few feet away.
/
"He… doesn't love me anymore," Rei said to herself as she sat in her bed.
It was a strange feeling being back here in her apartment. The place had never really been a home to her. But, it felt even less like one now. After spending so much of the past few weeks at Misato's apartment, she felt like a stranger here.
'Why am I here?' Rei thought to herself as a few tears fell from her eyes and onto the skirt of her school uniform.
'I don't want to be here.'
Rei's breath caught in her throat as she glanced over to the table next to her bed. There were a variety of small items that laid there. A glass beaker, a few hardcover books, some various papers, and several orange prescription bottles that used to contain medicine that Ritsuko had either obtained and given to or expressly created to help Rei deal with her severe internal injuries after her activation test earlier in the year. Though, tonight, there was something else there that had traditionally not been there in the past.
A steel knife gleaming in the moonlight, polished enough that Rei could see her reflection in it.
Rei stood up from her bed and walked over to the table. She picked up the knife, the metal darkening as it was pulled out of the moonlight and into the shadows of Rei's room.
"He doesn't love me anymore… I am sure. I don't want to be here if he doesn't love me."
/
"Fuck, Shinji! Which of these apartments was hers?" Asuka spat as she tried to climb over the rubble and other debris in the apartment parking lot that had been stained red with angel blood.
"Errr… it was number 402."
"Yeah… yeah, that sounds right. Her room was on the fourth floor," Asuka said, trying her best to remember the layout of the building based off the few times she'd been here before the entire place had been dyed into a permanent red color.
Asuka heard a piece of rubble shift behind her before hearing Shinji apparently having the breath knocked out of him. She surmised the boy must've fallen and the alcohol she'd forced him to drink earlier certainly hadn't helped his reaction time. Asuka then felt the chunk of concrete she was standing on shift as well, though she was light enough on her feet to shift her weight to a more stable area.
"Shit, I can't see anything," Asuka complained, "even if no one's supposed to be living here, they could at least get the electricity running in this part of the city again instead of just leaving it to fall into decay like this."
Asuka pulled out her phone and checked the battery. It was only at about twenty-seven percent and she knew that turning on the flashlight would eat up her remaining energy very quickly. She cursed that Ayanami wouldn't pick up her phone when she'd called her, but she didn't blame the girl for not being in a state of mind where she wanted to talk to people.
She eventually decided she would turn the flashlight on, hoping she wouldn't regret it later. She turned the phone around and aimed it at Shinji who was still laying on the broken rocks. The boy squinted his eyes as the light shined in his face and Asuka noticed a piece of rubble had cut through his pants and that his knee was bleeding.
"You okay?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah," Shinji said, though he sounded unsure of himself.
"Then get up already! Hurry! I don't have much battery left!"
Shinji did as Asuka ordered. Even if his knee was burning now and the trickle of hot blood was tickling his calf and ankle, he knew better than to disobey Asuka. And beyond that, he did want to find Rei.
"Where the hell are the stairs? It's still too dark! My phone can't light up everything!" Shinji heard Asuka curse as he got back on his feet.
"The… the inside corner of the building. I think it's left from here," Shinji answered.
Asuka didn't say anything but began walking in the general direction while trying not to trip on all the loose debris with Shinji trying his best to keep up.
As she got closer to the building, Asuka shined the light at the walls of it. The entire bottom two floors were covered in dried angel blood and many of the doors on the first floor had been ripped off their hinges from when it must've flooded through after the angel had died.
"Jesus fucking Christ... I feel like I just walked into a room where someone was murdered," Asuka said as she swept the beam of light back and forth over the completely red wall.
"Asuka, come on! Let's go. I don't like this," Shinji whined as he tugged at the sleeve of Asuka's charcoal coat.
"Y-yeah..." Asuka mumbled, trying to refocus herself.
After a few more moments, they'd found the shaky metal stairs, all of which were also completely red until they'd climbed up to the third floor where, apparently, the blood had not reached.
"We're almost there… I hope she's here," Asuka said pleadingly.
"What're we gonna do if she's not?"
"I don't know, Shinji. Why are you asking me? She won't pick up her phone. I guess we can't do anything if she isn't here. Unless she's at NERV or something."
After walking up the final flight of stairs to get to the fourth floor, Shinji and Asuka paused to gain their bearings. To the left was another flight of stairs that led up to the fifth and top floor of the apartment while to the right was a room with a number plate on it that read 401.
"This way," Shinji said as he walked further down the right to the next door which read 402.
"And you said it was supposed to be unlocked?" Asuka asked.
"Yeah. She always kept it unlocked in the past."
Asuka shook her head in disappointment… or perhaps disbelief.
"Stupid girl," Asuka sighed in exasperation.
Asuka then slowly turned the door handle and found it was indeed unlocked.
"I'll go first. I have the light. But it should really be you going in after her," Asuka mumbled.
Shinji turned his head away from the girl, obviously embarrassed.
Asuka then began opening the door. She didn't see anyone in the hallway right in front of the door, but she couldn't see around the left corner.
"Ayanami?" Asuka called out.
She heard a small gasp from inside. And, though the person inside the house didn't answer back, Asuka knew it was Rei.
Asuka then briskly walked down the hall.
"Hey, Rei! Come out! It's just me!"
Shinji timidly watched the girl walk down the hallway, though she abruptly stopped as she came to the end of the hall and was finally able to see the other side of the small room without the wall blocking her view.
Asuka then gasped and took a step back.
"Oh my god, what are you doing!?" Shinji heard Asuka say in a frantic and almost terrified voice.
Shinji finally found it in him to follow Asuka down the hallway.
"Put that down, right now! Right fucking now!" Asuka said, her voice wavering as it's usually demanding tone shifted into one of pleading.
Shinji finally came up behind Asuka and rounded the corner only to see Rei holding a large kitchen knife pointed right at her gut. Though, as Rei caught sight of Shinji, she dropped the knife.
"Shin… ji?" Rei asked as a tear slipped down her cheek.
Rei's knees started quivering. Asuka saw this and she rushed over to the girl, dropping her phone in the process and making sure she kicked the knife away after she got close enough to do so. Rei's knees finally gave out and Asuka reached out to catch the girl.
"Oh, you precious stupid girl!" Asuka cried as Rei collapsed into her arms and they both fell to the floor.
"Rei!" Shinji exclaimed as he ran over to the girls and dropped to the floor, ignoring the cut on his knee.
"Why would you do this, you stupid girl?" Asuka cried as her anxious tears fell onto Rei's shoulder.
"I was… afraid… Shinji wouldn't... love me anymore," Rei whimpered into Asuka's chest while grabbing onto the redhead's coat.
"Rei, I- I- I'm sorry!" Shinji stuttered as he tried to hold back his tears.
Asuka put one of her hands on the side of Rei's cheek and pulled her closer to her chest before kissing her on top of her head, causing both of them to cry even harder.
"Don't ever do this again!" Asuka scolded into Rei's hair.
Shinji watched the two girls hold each other and though he felt he should probably have been a part of it, he was scared to touch or even be near Rei after what he'd done. He felt disgusted with himself and was afraid Rei would feel the same towards him.
"What are you doing, you jackass!?" Asuka shouted at Shinji with a breaking voice, "Can't you see she needs love right now!? Get over here!"
Asuka's rude but necessary verbal disapproval of him snapped Shinji out of his inaction and allowed him to crawl over to the girls and put his arms around Rei, even if he still felt exceedingly guilt. Shinji firmly grabbed the girl's shoulder with one hand and her waist with the other.
"Rei, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..." the boy tried to say, though he quickly found his words catching in his throat and was unable to complete his apology.
He instead just chose to hug Rei as he silently cried into her shoulder.
"I… I'm sorry," Rei said as she tried her best to stop crying, though she was totally unsuccessful and only cried into the fabric of Asuka's coat even more.
Asuka gently and repeatedly stroked Rei's cheek, her hands shaking while she hysterically whispered, "Oh, no. No, no, no. Not again. Please, not again! Please!" into Rei's soft blue hair.
Shinji had just remembered that Asuka's mother had killed herself and that seeing Rei try to do the same must have also inflicted awful pain on her that few people understood. And hearing Asuka pleading for a now thankfully non-existent scenario to not happen served to make himself feel even worse about everything that had happened tonight.
"Asuka… I'm so sorry… to you too," Shinji sniffled as he finally lifted his head from Rei's shoulder and also reached one of his arms around Asuka.
Asuka then buried her head into Rei's neck and cried even harder.
"Oh, no! Oh, no! Please be okay! Please don't go! I can't do it again! I can't do it without you!" Asuka wailed into the side of Rei's neck.
Rei tearfully looked down at Asuka, completely astounded at how sorrowful she had become.
Shinji pulled on Asuka's waist and brought her closer to him and to Rei.
"I'm sorry, Asuka," Rei sniffled, "Who are you speaking of?"
"You, you stupid girl! I should slap you! Why would you try to do that awful thing!? How could you!?" Asuka cried as she hugged Rei even harder.
Asuka was crying more than Shinji or Rei had ever seen her cry before. She was crying more than either of them thought was even possible for her or perhaps even for anyone else.
"You… said," Rei tried to say before an unintended sob interrupted her and she had to start over, "You said… again."
Asuka slumped over and began crying even louder. Now Asuka was crying into Rei's chest and not the other way around.
"Mom… She... She- She killed herself!" Asuka screamed into Rei's shirt.
"Oh… I… I see," Rei sniffled as fresh tears started pouring out of her eyes.
"It's okay, Asuka! It's okay! Rei's okay!" Shinji said as he gently shook Asuka.
This didn't seem to slow the flood of Asuka's tears at all though.
"Poor baby girl. Our poor baby girl," Asuka whimpered as she weakly tried to raise her trembling hand to brush Rei's cheek.
Rei returned the gesture by cradling Asuka's head in one of her arms while she reached the other one around Shinji. This surprised Shinji a bit and once again made him feel even guiltier about how he'd acted towards her.
"Never do this again! Ever!" Asuka screamed into Rei's chest, "What am I supposed to do without you? Both of you! How am I supposed to fight the angels without both of you!? I can't do it! I'd be lost without you!"
"Asuka..." Shinji said dejectedly as he gently squeezed the girl's shoulder.
"I- I'm sorry," Rei whimpered as she hugged Asuka tighter.
"I know… I know I always act like I can do it by myself," Asuka sniffled as she tried to raise her head from Rei's chest, "But, the truth is… the only reason I can always act like I can do it myself is because… I knew that if I ever messed up, if I overestimated myself, both of you would be there to save me. And that's why… I can't lose you. Either of you!"
Asuka then buried her face between both Rei and Shinji's chests and started crying again as she flung her arms around both of them.
"We aren't going anywhere, Asuka," Shinji said as he rubbed the girl's back, still trying not to cry.
"I am… sorry, Asuka. I..." Rei said as she held the girl around her waist.
"Both of you are so stupid!" Asuka shouted.
Asuka raised her head and glared at Shinji.
"I can understand being shocked and even upset by what Rei told you. But none of this is her fault and her circumstances don't change anything between you, you ass," Asuka said, trying her best to sound angry at the boy even if she was still crying.
Asuka then turned towards Rei.
"And you, you stupid girl! I know it's scary when someone you love doesn't want to talk to you. But, just because someone needs time to themselves doesn't mean they hate you! So you shouldn't just- just go trying to kill yourself!" Asuka said to the blue haired girl as her voice started wavering again.
Asuka then quivered at herself mentioning suicide and collapsed back into Rei and Shinji's arms just to begin crying again.
"This is just some stupid misunderstanding! This is such a stupid reason for you to give up on each other!" Asuka whimpered, "So please. Don't do it. Don't do this to yourselves and don't do this to me. Please… We need each other."
Shinji and Rei looked at each other, both of them trying to find words for the other.
"I'm sorry, I-" they both said at the same time.
"Um… you can go first," Rei whispered.
"No, no! It's okay. You can go first," Shinji sniffled.
"I… am sorry for not telling you sooner. I was scared. My…. My books," Rei said as she glanced at a few textbooks on biology on her table that Ritsuko had let her borrow, "They said... that… reproduction inside a family could result in severe genetic defects and that it should be avoided. And, when I researched it more, it said that such things were... shunned by society. And… I was afraid that… you wouldn't love me because of that."
"Rei..." Shinji said regretfully.
Asuka sat up and looked at the girl so she could put a hand on her cheek.
"You're not wrong, you stupid girl," Asuka sniffled as she used her thumb to brush a tear off Rei's cheek, "But if you really are part angel like Shinji said you said, I don't think you have quite as much to worry about. All humans have mostly similar DNA anyways. And if you really have angel DNA in you, it might make you different enough that you wouldn't have anything to worry about."
Rei's eyes widened as she glanced at Asuka and then back at Shinji.
Shinji nervously sighed before then trying his best to maintain eye contact with Rei despite how embarrassed he was.
"Rei, I'm sorry," he started, "I just… I didn't really know what I was thinking. And I… I've never been close with my father. And, he never told me much about mom. And… I really don't know. I guess… I was upset that… I didn't know you were… cloned from my mom. And, I just… I didn't understand how something like that could be true. And the fact my father never talked to me about mother just made it worse. I just… couldn't figure out how to put it together in my head and… I guess I just… mistakenly associated you not telling me with my father also not talking to me about her… But, that wasn't right. You did tell me and I'm really sorry that I freaked out. I should have been more accepting."
"It's okay, Shinji," Rei said as she tried to smile, though it was difficult as her bottom lip was trembling.
"You two are so hopeless," Asuka said, finally beginning to get her crying under control, "But I'm happy it looks like you can work this out."
Asuka tried to stand up. Her legs were shaky, but she managed.
"Oh no! My eye liner and mascara's probably all over my face," Asuka whined.
"I'm sorry, Asuka," Rei said as she looked down at the floor of her apartment.
"It's okay, Rei… We should probably get back to the station before they shut the trains down for the night," Asuka said in a quivering voice.
"Yeah, I agree. It would be a lot explain to Misato if we didn't get back before tomorrow morning," Shinji said, though he remained on the floor with Rei for the moment.
"And… it's okay if I come back with you?" Rei questioned unsurely.
"You stupid girl!" Asuka sighed, "You're family! Of course you're coming back with us! Why do you think we came all the way out here to find you!?"
"Thank… you… for letting me… belong," Rei whispered as she began crying lightly again.
/
Rei, Shinji, and Asuka had barely managed to get home before the last train, but they had ultimately made it. And, luckily, it seemed Misato was still passed out. Asuka had almost broken down on the street several times on the way back to Misato's apartment while Rei and Shinji had mostly tried to control their feelings. Even so, on the train back home, they'd taken special care to stay in the back of the train car to try to prevent anyone from taking too much notice of them. Though, with two girls that had brightly colored hair leaning up against him and resting their heads on his shoulders, Shinji wasn't so sure he was as inconspicuous as they'd all hoped. Though, to an extent, it also felt good to him. It was one thing having them both sleep with him at night or even just hold both of their hands in public, but an entirely other thing to have them both actively clinging to him in the train.
Shinji felt weak, especially in his legs. And he could only imagine the girls felt the same. He couldn't wait to go to bed, though, he still needed to shower, as did the girls.
"So, who wants to shower first? I can wait if anyone wants to go first," Shinji asked after walking into the kitchen with the two girls under his arms.
"I can wait as well," Rei proclaimed.
Rei and Shinji then both glanced at Asuka, who seemed to be rather more quiet than usual. They noticed the girl was blushing and her gaze was cast downwards.
"I mean..." Asuka said shyly, "We could all go together… to save time, you know? Since it's already kinda late and everything."
Shinji glanced at Rei, though, Rei's expression didn't seem to be quite as surprised as his was.
"That does not sound like a bad idea," Rei stated happily.
Asuka giggled before smiling.
"I'll go start the water then!" Asuka said cheerfully.
"Huh!?" Shinji questioned unsurely as his redhead companion spun out of his arms and disappeared into the bathroom.
As Asuka turned on the water, Shinji looked back at Rei. She smiled at him and he smiled back before he realized he heard something familiar.
"Hmm?" Shinji questioned as he looked past Rei and saw what was making the noise.
His SDAT was still on the table where he'd left it after Asuka had convinced him to drink with her, and apparently he'd forgotten to turn it off and it had been playing music this whole time.
The boy walked over to the table and turned it off.
"Hmm? Is this..." Rei asked as she looked over Shinji's shoulder.
"It's my mom's… I know I could get a smartphone and use it to play music instead… but this is the only thing I really have left of her," Shinji admitted with a sigh, hoping not to harm any potential sensitivities Rei still might have had from earlier in the night.
"Oh, I see," Rei mumbled.
Shinji spun around so he was facing Rei again.
"Maybe you should have it!" Shinji said as he held the little music player in front of Rei.
"M- Me? But… Why me?"
"Well… I mean… it is yours in a way. I guess it always has been. Maybe… it could help you find a part of yourself," Shinji said as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"A part of myself… I see… thank you," Rei said as she put her hand on the music player and then leaned forward to kiss Shinji.
"Well, that's pretty touching," Asuka snickered as she stood in the doorway of the bathroom, "The water's hot now, by the way."
"Gah, Asuka! You were watching!?" Shinji asked in surprise and both he and Rei turned to the side to face the girl.
"Not the whole thing. But, I saw enough," Asuka shrugged, "So, I assume things are all good between you now?"
"Of course!" Shinji said, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"Yes," Rei confirmed with a smile.
Rei then turned around to face Shinji again and gave him a quick kiss.
"Thank you, Shinji," Rei whispered.
"Hurry and put your gift up somewhere safe, Rei! I'm not gonna let you stay unfucked all night!" Asuka said.
"Asuka!" Shinji shouted at the girl in embarrassment.
"What!? You didn't really think I suggested we all shower together to save time, did you? Geez, you're hopeless, Shinji."
Rei giggled as she listened to her best friends, no, her family, jokingly bickering together and teasing each other. It felt like things might have finally been coming together.
With contentment in her heart, Rei scampered past the living room as Shinji and Asuka were arguing and down the hallway that led to Shinji's room. She slid open the door and fumbled around in the dark a bit before finding a suitcase of her few belongings she'd brought with her when she'd initially moved into Misato's apartment. She undid the zipper and gently placed the music player inside the suitcase next to a glasses case that held a pair of cracked orange glasses and the music box that previously belonged to Yui Ikari that Gendo had given to her awhile back. She smiled at the items for a moment and then zipped her suitcase shut before happily making her way back to the kitchen where new futures and unexplored possibilities were waiting to be made into a reality of her own choosing before her very eyes.
/
But where would this reality lead?
"It would appear... all the pieces are finally in play."
The red eyes of a silver haired boy shot open. He sat calmly and with his legs crossed, seemingly having just been broken out of a session of meditation.
"Now, they will try to quicken their potential… and unleash their power."
The boy uncrossed his legs and stood up, brushing the fine white lunar dust from his pants as he did.
"Who will win this game? I sense these currents have grown wild beyond their reckoning and that the reigns of history will soon yield to another... Gambling was never my vice, but they cast the die. I will watch and wait with tremendous enthusiasm before I cast my lot."
.
Crimson and sapphire in their eyes.
Some will fall and some shall fly.
Who will live and who must die?
This journey's end none shall descry.
.
*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*
.
"Oh my gosh! There was so much fanservice this chapter that I might not even be necessary! Could you believe it? Me, Misato! The one always going on about fanservice! There was also some little cute moments in there too though... and maybe some sad ones... When Rei started crying, my heart almost burst! But what's Evangelion if not just a touch of highly concentrated traumatic events and depression inducing themes?
Anyhow, next chapter should definitely not end up being so heavy on your or my heart! The next chapter picks up right after the end of this one. And you know what that means! A sexy sexy shower scene right off the bat! Beyond that, Rei, Asuka, and Shinji continue to go over the implications of Rei's very existence. Then, everyone decides to skip school the next day... Could it be for more sex? Will Asuka finally admit she's in lesbian love with Rei? Will an angel attack ruin everything? Could Kaji's watermelons win an award at the county fair? Do we even have a county fair? The answers to those questions and more will all be in the next chapter of Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; As Beating Hearts Unite.
And seriously! I wasn't joking about the shower sex scene at the beginning of next chapter! There will be plenty of fanservice, rest assured!"
