Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion, Cessna, Boeing, Airbus, MacDonell Douglas (Boeing), Tupolev, or any other aviation company/manufacturer mentioned in this fic.
Chapter 3: Suspension Bridge Effect
Monday Evening
"There you go, take the keys and this fob with you. You'll have to use this fob to access most of the utility rooms in the building…"
Shinji took the time to examine his new dorm-apartment room as the landlord went on, his words flew over his head. The room was on the second floor of the apartment building that resided in the middle of a horde of apartment buildings – the community constructed for EVA Air employees. Shinji's room was definitely much more spacious than the residence halls, with an in-built kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and even living room! He'd never dreamed of it.
However, it also meant more chores to do – and this time all by his own. Before at the school, he still had Janitors to clean the room on the schedule for him. As for the food, he could cook by himself so that wouldn't be much of a problem; if anything, it would be more convenient since he didn't have to go to the shared kitchen anymore.
"Thank you," Shinji took the stuff from the landlord. After exchanging formalistic goodbyes, Shinji closed the door and threw himself onto the sofa, leaving his unsorted luggage lying haphazardly on the floor. He wasn't a slob, he's just been worn out by the whole day's mess, and as of now, he wanted nothing more than a good night's sleep.
Slowly, Shinji drifted into a shallow sleep.
Of course, something had to interrupt the moment of tranquility.
"HEY! DON'T TOUCH THAT BOX!"
A loud scream pierced through several layers of steel and concrete before reaching Shinji's eardrum; the intense vibration of the air molecules shook the thin layer of the organism, stretching it to its elastic limit.
The poor boy's eyes snapped open, "urgh…" Shinji groaned and got up from the sofa. He didn't recognize the owner of the voice since his mind was still hazy, and the rising anger due to being woken up from a sweet dream didn't help him clear his thoughts.
Still, he could very well recognize the direction of the voice – outside of the window.
Shinji stomped toward the window with a slight scowl on his face. The transparency of glass was covered by the thick curtain, however it did little to stop Shinji from almost throwing it away before the boy shouted to the outside. "Who was that?! Could you keep your v-" He trailed off – more like choked – as he saw a very surprised redhead staring back at him.
Before he could react in any way, the expression on Asuka's face turned into a frown. "Idiot! How dare you yell at me like that!"
Under the glare that Shinji doubted would burn a hole through the wall, the boy quickly decided to retract his newly found aggressiveness. After all, where there's life, there's hope. "Errr…Asuka, I mean-"
Asuka dropped her serious face immediately and chuckled, "heh, funny when you make that face. "Hearing her words, Shinji let out a silent sigh of relief. "It's definitely go-I mean, a surprise to see you here." She hastily adjusted. "What wind blows you here? Nit an ill wind, I hope."
"Well, starting from today, I'll be living here…" Shinji replied, pretending not to notice her slip of words. "This is the airline company's apartments, right? So I assume you're here for the same reason."
"No shit Sherlock," Asuka made a huff, however a part of her was a bit sad that he didn't seem to catch the reference she used. "Anyway, since now that you're living here…" She took out her phone and tapped on the screen a few times, "it makes certain things…more convenient." A mischievous grin crept up her face.
Even though they only knew each other for a day, somehow Shinji just knew that nothing good awaited him ahead when she used that voice. He gulped, "more convenient…for what?"
Asuka stepped aside to let Shinji have a clearer view of the inside of her apartment. She pointed at the stove in the kitchen area, which was - unsurprisingly - empty, "I need food, but cooking isn't my thing. Don't get me wrong! I definitely can cook-hey! Don't look at me with that suspicious face! I'm serious!" She barked at the boy, who promptly retracted his expression that left no doubt of how he felt about Asuka's statement on cooking. "Anyway, I figure since you're…decent on cooking, I'm not missing the chance."
"Err…what do I need to do, exactly?"
"What are you, stupid?" Asuka scoffed. "You agreed to be my personal living adviser…now I'm assigning you a new role – my personal cook!" Her words gave an impression that it was an exquisite honor instead of an obvious burden.
Shinji was, no doubt, displeased by the request, as everyone would be. "But… I'm not your personal servant, or something. We just met today," he stressed.
Asuka pouted, not sure whether to be happy that Shinji seemed to stand up to her, or to be angry that he's declining her polite request. "But I…I have to eat! You are a boy, aren't you? Are you seriously gonna watch me – a fragile young girl to starve to death?"
"You…you can order takeouts, or make some food on your own," still, Shinji tried. "I don't have enough ingredients to cook for both of us, anyway."
"Shinji, while I subscribe to the many-worlds theory, which posits the existence of an infinite number of Asukas in an infinite number of universes - I assure you that in none of them am I cooking," Asuka said half-jokingly. "As for the ingredients, we can still split the bill on this, if that's what you are worried about."
"Money isn't a big deal here, it's just that…" Shinji pondered. In fact, the amount of financial support he got from his father was more than enough for him to do whatever he wanted within reason. "That…emm…"
Seeing the boy apparently couldn't come up with anything convincing, Asuka let out an internal sigh. Maybe all he needed was a little push. "Well, you still owe me for what happened today at the train station, so I guess this is your chance to pay me back."
"Train-oh," a small blush showed up on his face as he recalled the incident – more so because he recalled the sensation of touching –
Shinji shook the thoughts off, "well, if you put it that way…I gu-" He quickly swallowed the latter half of the words as he saw the piercing glare from the redhead who was obviously very displeased with non-committal responses, "sure… I'll cook for both of us."
Satisfied, Asuka showed him a smiley face. "Good choice." The redhead yawned, puffing out her chest as she stretched her arms.
This time, her assets stood out too much to the extent that even for someone as dense and pure as Shinji, it was impossible to ignore. He didn't know whether she did it on purpose, but the result was obvious and immediate – he stood there and stared as his bloodstream rushed downwards, making his brain temporarily a ghost town.
Thankfully Asuka either didn't notice or chose not to care about it. "It's getting late… I'll see you in the morning…" Rubbing her eyes, she slid the curtain to a near-close, only leaving her face visible to Shinji. "I already canceled my takeout order, so don't forget about my breakfast! Trust me, you don't want to see me hungry and angry…while having a morning mood." That said, the redhead retreated behind the curtain.
Shinji tried not to let dread show; if she hadn't been actually 'angry' the whole, he didn't even dare to imagine what it would look like when she was really 'angry'. Maybe it was another reason for him not to mess up Asuka's undeniable 'requests'.
Letting out a sign, Shinji drew back to his apartment before starting his evening routines. Cleaning up and readying his bed, Shinji hummed Ode to Joy as he worked his way around the apartment.
After a while, a glance and the clock told him it was only 10 pm, and the fact that his sleepiness was blown away by now made him decide that it was a good time to practice his cello.
The boy walked over to one of the delivery boxes, opened it, and took out a brownish instrument container. He cautiously wiped it clean before taking out his cello with uttermost care, chose a spot to sit on, and then slid the bow across the strings.
The river of music flowed out naturally, filling the entire apartment with pleasant tunes and melodies. At the time, he felt like he was a waterdrop floating across the vast space and feeling the most angelic whispers voyaging around the cosmos.
Of course, nothing was perfect for everyone.
"IDIOT-SHINJI!"
The clueless boy almost jumped from his seat, his cello slipping down as the lion roar reached him. With a pounding heart, he quickly regained his semblance of composure and rushed to the window, not having a single clue of what triggered the torrent of fire. "A-Auska, what's wrong?"
"Stop! Playing! The Music!" The redhead barked, her eyes gaining a shade of red that apparently came from the lack of sleep. "I need to rest!"
"I'm sorry! I thought the walls were thick enough!" With an embarrassed red face, Shinji tried to explain, hoping his damage control wasn't too late.
"Hmph! You can do whatever you want, but at least be gentle! Don't disturb my sleep, or I'll make you sleep forever, got it!" Without letting him reply, Asuka shot Shinji one last glare and threw the curtain close.
The boy let out another sigh. Somehow he doubted that she would actually do it, especially under the current situation. He couldn't blame her, though. No one wanted to be disturbed while sleeping, and his carelessness got him what he deserved.
Sighing again, Shinji put his cello back to the instrument box and went to bed.
XXXXXX
The Next Morning, Tanachi Train Station
"Um…Asuka?" Shinji's rather nervous voice reached the redhead, who was currently contemplating on the recent events related to the very boy. "How was your sleep last night?"
Instead of answering, Asuka made a huge yawn and rubbed her eyes, then gave the boy a somewhat bitter look from her blue eyes – eyes with dark circles under them.
Shinji's face immediately gained a shade of embarrassed pink, "Well I'm sor-"
Asuka waved her hand, "sorry won't be enough. Don't worry, here's how you can redeem yourself," seeing the slightly panicked look on his face, she added. "You do have some skills in cooking. Today's breakfast was…acceptable, so on top of cooking for m- for both of us, I mean, how about making stuff as I want?"
'" How about?"' Shinji thought in both surprise and amusement. 'Not "must"?'
Still, such a request from Asuka was on the 'polite' side, and it seemed somewhat reasonable – even if when she wanted him to make something ridiculous, he could reject her then. "Sure…" Shinji raised an eyebrow as he thought of her earlier words. "Wait…how was today's breakfast, anyway?"
"I said it was acceptable," the Asuka replied, adding some impatience in her voice. "What, do I have to say 'very good?' Splendiferous, even?"
"No! It's just that…"
"The train is coming!" Asuka cut him off and headed off.
"That I forgot to add salt…" Shinji let out with a sigh. Defeated, the boy started walking as well, following Asuka into the train to EVA Air.
XXXXXX
One Hour Later, EVA Air Classroom
To say that Asuka was mildly annoyed would be a bit of an understatement. Aside from that she didn't get a good enough sleep last night due to a certain boy who was currently sitting two columns away from her and would likely suffer more of her wrath, the boring course materials only added on top of her anxiety.
In her short life, Asuka had always seen herself as an honest person. It didn't mean that she had to be honest with others, of course. As long as she was honest with herself and it would be okay. Yet she still had a real hard time admitting how good today's breakfast was – even though something tasted off.
'I'll…temporarily forgive him for disrupting my sleep,' after an intense internal battle with herself, Asuka finally receded, completely ignoring the fact that she just missed a crucial part of the course material.
"…so that's what we have planned for today. Any questions?" Misato inquired as she threw the chalk away. Receiving no responses from any of the children and not knowing whether they really understood or not, the flight instructor cleared her throat and started, "Ahem. So, Shinji," the called boy turned his head and looked up at Misato, "what's the most important rule inside a simulator?"
"Emm…always treat the simulated scenarios as the reality?" Shinji replied with a thoughtful expression, while Asuka, wide-eyed, wondered what the heck he was talking about.
"Correct. Always be deadly serious in a simulator, so that you can also get serious in real life when facing scenarios you'll experience in there," Misato nodded with a satisfied smile. "Now, Asuka," the called girl tensed up, dreading that some kind of inevitable humiliation awaited her. "Could you please tell me what's the first thing to do after getting into the cockpit?"
"First thing to do…" Asuka searched in her sea of memory, trying her best to find any word even remotely related to it, though it wasn't easier than to find a grain of sand out of a beach. She soon gave up, "well, you need to turn on the A/C first, I guess."
She was prepared for embarrassment; she didn't want it, of course, but she had no one but herself to blame.
"That's right!"
Asuka blinked. There's no way.
"Turning on the A/C is the fastest way to cool down the interior. It's important to do especially during summer." Misato explained. "It's not in the manuals, yes, but it's what we do."
"No shot…" Asuka whispered.
"What was that?" Misato raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing," the redhead hastily waved her hand.
Misato shrugged, "anyway, I see you guys are ready for this. Now let's head straight to the simulators, shall we?"
XXXXXX
Twenty Minutes Later
"Now introducing…your best friend, Mk. 92 flight simulator!" With obvious pride, Misato gestured at the egg-shaped white simulation chamber. "From now on, you should treat this thing as your lover, got it?"
Shinji and Asuka turned their heads at each other, exchanged looks, and returned to look at the lavender-haired flight instructor.
"But, Misato-san…"
"How do I treat a lover in the first place?"
Misato suddenly found herself at a complete loss of words. The possibility that neither of the children had that kind of experience totally slipped through her mind. "That's not the point! Just keep in mind that this is very valuable stuff."
Both children nodded hesitantly.
"Alright. Now take a look at the inside," Misato climbed up and ladder and punched a button on the wall of the white egg; the door of the simulator opened in response.
"This one is fitted for the turbo planes, which would be the main focus for this term. See the other bigger ones on that side? Those are for jets - If you perform well and get good grades in this one. Understood?" Upon receiving verbal confirmations from her students, the flight instructor continued, "good. As of today, we'll start from some simple stuff."
"Since you've already learned the basics of flight control, I want you to try land this thing on the runway. You'll start mid-air during a stabilized final approach. 10 miles from the runway, 3000 feet above the ground. This is just to help you get a feel for the joysticks. Don't get too stressed out, you can try multiple times!"
"I'll go first!" Asuka said with clear passion, stepping up to the ladder and climbing up to the chamber door.
"Shinji, you can stay at the back row and spectate."
"Okay." The boy replied, climbing up the ladder and following closely behind the redhead.
"Be prepared to witness my grand victory! I'll finish this in one go!" Asuka boasted as she sat down on the left seat.
"There's a keyboard on your right side. Press enter when you're ready."
Asuka looked down at the space between the two seats – a black mechanical keyboard sat there with an almost invisible layer of dust covered on it. She tried to ignore it, grabbed the joystick with her left hand, and pressed enter.
"…Du-Mission Failed. Press esc to exit."
"What the hell?!" The redhead exclaimed incredulously. "I didn't even do anything! There must be a glitch!"
"I'm afraid not," Misato smirked. "Asuka, I think you forgot something. Shinji, can you point out what it is?"
"Okay," Shinji stood up from the back row and peeked his head over. "Well…she didn't put on her seatbelt."
"Good job!"
Asuka's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious."
"I emphasized this point several times; always put on your seatbelt, seatbelt, seatbelt!" Misato huffed. "Or have you not been listening to my lectures?"
"Of course I did!" Asuka tried not to let her panic show. How embarrassing that her first try ended in a completely anticlimactic way. She had envisioned several ways how this could end badly; she even prepared to eat the dust! However, the actual situation was out of her wildest imaginations. "I just kinda forgot about it!"
"Make sure to imprint that in your mind," came Misato's teaching. "Now, let's have another try, shall we?"
Asuka pouted and put on the seatbelt. Learning from her previous mistake, she knew that such a thing could not be done rushed. This time, she took her time to examine the panels, switches, and other setups – even though most of them she still hadn't understood yet.
After making sure nothing would go wrong instantly – or at least she thought so – Asuka took a deep breath, grabbed the joystick, and punched the enter key.
The entire chamber immediately started swinging around in accordance with the graphics. 'How hard this could be?' Asuka tried to reassure herself. 'Stabilize, no sudden movements, eyes on the runway-'
Truthfully, it was relatively easy to control the small aircraft; Asuka knew how to move the joystick around to keep the plane in the direction where she wanted to go.
"One-thousand." The radio altimeter announced.
"Asuka, you need to put down the fla-" Shinji was cut off by Misato's finger before his lips.
The redhead was too focused to hear anything and process the words; for the type of aircraft she was flying, Asuka didn't need to put down the gear since it wasn't retractable in the first place. As the ground grew closer, the redhead applied more and more force onto gripping the joystick in an attempt to keep the aircraft stable.
"Five-hundred."
"Four-hundred."
As the plane approached the ground, Shinji frowned and tried to say something; he was again cut off by Misato's cough.
"Fifty. Fourty. Thirty. Twenty. Ten."
Asuka stepped on the brakes as the plane touched down. The spoilers didn't lift up since it wasn't armed in the first place, and Asuka was too oblivious to open it manually. The screeching sound of tire rubbing the surface echoed through the small chamber as the airspeed indicator continued to drop.
"Parking brake…set," Asuka let out a sigh of relief. Her lips curled up, her grin grew wide as the realization sunk in. She had just landed a plane, on her second try! It could count as the first try if she didn't mess up the seatbelt! The redhead couldn't help but smirk proudly as her ego flew above the ionosphere.
Shinji and Misato were completely silent this whole time. "I was expecting applause, but I suppose stunned silence is equally appropriate," Asuka remarked.
"Em…Asuka?" Shinji started cautiously.
"Shoot."
"How did you manage to do this?"
"Skill. Pure skill," Asuka boasted. "What do you expect from me? I am abso-posi-lutely perfect, you know?"
"But, I mean…" Shinji gulped. "How did you miss the runway by 500 meters and land on the highway?"
"Wait, what?!" Asuka snapped her head around to see the screen. "Highway?!"
"Yeah, you don't get to see road lights on the runways," Misato interjected. "Impressive work, this highway is much thinner than the runway. And the fact that you landed without flaps and spoilers remains another mystery."
Asuka went speechless.
"Anyway, Shinji. Why don't you get there and give it a shot?"
"Okay." The boy walked over to where a very pouty redhead sat and looked at the girl with a sheepish expression, "Asuka…may I…?"
Asuka made a huff and left the pilot seat extremely reluctantly. Shinji then got onto the seat without a word, fastened the seatbelt, checked the panels, and readied the equipment just like how Misato had instructed during the lectures.
"I am…errr…ready for landing." Shinji quoted as he pressed the enter key on the keyboard. The sounds of the engine roaring, wind blowing, and machine beeping filled out the simulation chamber as the plane approached the runway straight in front of it.
Asuka crossed her arms together, watching Shinji doing his maneuvers on the joystick and the panels. What was sad was that she couldn't really understand why or how he did some of the actions.
She only had herself to blame, though. It was simply because she didn't pay attention during the lectures.
With an acute screeching sound, the simulated propeller landed – though rather heavily – on the runway. "Good job," Misato complimented after Shinji shut down the engine. "See Asuka, that's how you land a plane…on the runway."
"But…"
"No buts!" Misato waved her hand, cutting her off. "Asuka, I've already noticed your…lack of attention in class. You were doing a great job yesterday, why the slack off today?"
The redhead wanted to protest, that she didn't slack off, or anything. However, she soon realized that they would look powerless since her performance couldn't lie. Nonetheless, her pride wasn't going to let her submit so easily.
"It was…because of that idiot!" Asuka pointed an accusing finger at the clueless boy, whose only fault at the moment was his very existence. "He made me stay up late last night!"
"Huh?" Misato raised an eyebrow. "Could you please be more specific?"
Seeing probably the slightest change in attitude from the flight instructor, Asuka grabbed onto the hope as if last life-saving straw. "He…he just didn't let me sleep! Too good of a boy, isn't he?!"
Misato's eyes narrowed. "So, let me get this straight…" She looked at Shinji, who still had that innocent expression on his face, then turned to look at Asuka, who tried her best to not let panic show. Suddenly her eyes went wide as something clicked in her head. "You couldn't sleep, because Shinji was too good?!"
"Damn right!" Asuka replied without thinking.
It wasn't until several long seconds later and after she noticed Misato's taken aback expression, Asuka realized what she had insinuated through that statement. With an explosion of red color on her face, Asuka exclaimed, "wait that's not what I-"
"I know what you meant, clearly," Misato took a small step back with a mixture of strange expressions. "Listen, Asuka, I know you as a girl might have needs, but…" She glanced over at Shinji, who was very confused by the scene before him, "you guys only knew each other for one day! Isn't this…too fast? Or is this some kind of German culture?"
"It's not what you think!" Asuka's face turned redder. "We didn't do anything, no matter what you're imagining!"
"Really? What do you say, Shinji?" The flight instructor showed a clear ambivalence. The redhead let out a sigh of relief, since she knew the boy was innocent enough to not let the situation escalate further.
"Eh?" The quiet boy looked up at the females, scratching his head. "Nothing big happened, I guess? We were doing our own stuff, and…ah, I do remember Asuka telling me to 'at least be gentle'?"
"Yeah, that's what I-WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"Em, I said what you said?" Shinji's voice, if anything, was much more confused than irritated.
"No! Misato, don't listen to him! Shinji doesn't know what he's talking about because the part of his brain that should know is empty!"
Misato shook her head.
It was at this moment, Asuka knew…
"Haha, relax! I was joking!" Misato suddenly laughed out loud. "I knew you were good kids! After all, the janitors wouldn't lie to me, right? I would know it if there's actually anything happened to you guys. You know, safety reasons." Before Asuka could let out an exhale of relief and decide whether she should be angry about it, Misato continued, "however, you should really start paying attention to the class, Asuka. I know you're a college graduate and all that, but this is new stuff, even to you. And it takes a lot of effort to become good at being a pilot. Trust me on that."
Asuka held her head low. "I know."
"I can't hear you!" Misato raised her volume.
"I will do my best!" Asuka looked up and exclaimed.
"Now that's the spirit!" Smiling, the flight instructor turned away from her and walked over to the pilot seats. "Okay. Now go have lunch. We'll move on to the next subject after you come back…"
XXXXXX
After Lunch
"…Any questions?"
Shinji and Asuka looked at each other with almost mirrored expressions; even though none of them raised any questions, in fact they were so confused they didn't know where to start.
"This is impossible," Asuka muttered.
"You're telling me…" Shinji followed with a sigh.
"Hey, don't look so down!" Misato protested. "It's just that you two should pilot the same plane, just…not in the general sense. This should be easy enough!" Without letting the kids complain, she continued, "well, which role do you guys want?"
"I'm going to take the joystick!" Asuka jumped.
"But I-" Shinji trailed off after Asuka's piercing look struck him. "I mean, sure. I'll take the throttles, then."
Misato slammed her fist on the palm, "great! If there are no further questions, let's get right into it!" With enthusiasm high as cruising altitude, the flight instructor instructed the students to get into their respective seats assigned by no other than the redhead dictator. "Now, this might sound ridiculous at first, because it is ridiculous. No one under normal circumstances would split up the control of joystick and the throttle."
"DUH," came the redheaded scoff.
"Well, I came up with this idea since from the simulations, you guys showed different…I guess I could call it 'talent', in different parts of flying the plane. Therefore, I want to see how it goes when you work together. Just remember, this will be different from when you receive actual pilot and copilot training."
After Asuka had settled down in her seat and doubled checked that she indeed put on the seatbelt, she turned to look beside her and started, "I'm ready. Shinji?"
"I'm ready as well."
Asuka nodded and pressed the start button. With a loud hum, the simulation chamber started working – everything seemed fine at first, the images kept running, the simulated engine sound went off, and the chamber also started to shake.
'Wait,' Asuka frowned. 'The simulation chamber didn't vibrate before. Then why-' Her train of thought screeched to a halt as the vibration intensified, and something immediately clicked in her head.
"EARTHQUAKE!"
With a panicked squeak, the redhead tried to jump up from her seat, but found herself unable to due to the seatbelt. Even though she had thought of herself as an intelligent and calm person under most circumstances, a surprise earthquake – as she knew from now on – was not one of these situations. The more she tried to untie the seatbelt, the more the seatbelt wouldn't come off.
With another violent quake, Asuka lost her composure and grabbed something near her, trying to get a futile sense of security. She couldn't escape, and that was it.
Fortunately, the intensity of the earthquake soon died down, and everything went normal in mere seconds.
"Phew…" Asuka let out a long exhale.
"Erm…Asuka? Could you please…let go? My arm kinda hurts."
The redhead turned in the direction of the voice; it was only then Asuka noticed that the thing she had an iron grip on was nothing other than Shinji's slender arm.
"Ah!" Asuka retracted her hand as if shocked by electricity, her face gaining the slightest shade of pink. Ever since meeting this boy, she felt her boundaries were impeached layer by layer, albeit slowly. So diverting the topic became her top priority as of now. "Wait, why are you so…calm? It was an earthquake!"
"Earthquakes happen regularly here. It wasn't even a big one," came Shinji's reply, pretending not affected by what Asuka did during the earthquake.
With the whole scene captured in her eyes, Misato made an invisible smirk. "Asuka, why don't you go to the bathroom and wash your face to freshen up?"
It was a reasonable offer; the redhead gave a vocal confirmation before heading off to the restroom.
Now with one of the protagonists gone from the scene, Misato could finally commence her shipping plan. "Shinji," she called out to the boy who was still sitting on the chair and utterly oblivious to everything. "Congratulations!"
"What?" Shinji said. "The simulation didn't even start, what is-"
Misato cut him off with a wave of hand, "tell me, what happened yesterday? Between the two of you, I mean?"
"Eh?" Shinji showed a visibly confused expression. "Me and Asuka? Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose?"
"No need to play fool with me! She's not here!" Misato said with a teasing tone.
"I'm sorry, Misato-san, but I really don't know what you want me to say…"
"Aw, come on! Isn't it obvious? What did you do yesterday to capture her heart so fast?"
"Capture her…heart?" Even though Shinji had infinitely close to zero experience on the subject of matter, this expression was obvious enough for him to understand. In an instant, his face turned red, "wha-I didn't!"
"Are you seriously that dense?" Misato facepalmed. "Say, what happened during the earthquake?"
"She…um…gripped my arm?"
"Exactly! That means she feels safe around you, which means she likes you!" Misato smirked. "Trust me, I'm a woman, I know how we think."
"I'd rather believe the earth is flat," said Shinji. Part of him wanted to believe that is true, however the experience-driven – or, rational - part of his brain forcefully threw the idea away. "Misato-san…have you ever thought that she grabbed my arm simply because I was very close?"
"She could've grabbed the handrail, or the side of the chair," Misato retorted.
"But…she yells at me. Constantly. And she puts me down…these aren't things you do to people you like, right?"
"We women are hard to understand," Misato shook her head, wondering why could she not get through Shinji's thick skull – he got the wrong idea all the way. "Shinji, look, if you can understand why pizza is made in a circle, packed in a square, and eaten in a triangle, then you will understand girls."
"Well I-"
"I'm back!"
XXXXXX
A Moment Before
Asuka strode toward the restroom with a hurricane of thoughts. Her face reddened for the third time since the earthquake as the image and sensation of her holding Shinji's arm replayed in her head.
Why did she do it? In fact, she didn't even know of the reason herself. Perhaps it was only an instinct – which only made everything more terrifying. Did this mean that she sought a sense of security from him instinctively?
Ludicrous. They had only met each other for one day! And even Kaji sometimes failed to provide it.
It had to be an accident. Asuka convinced herself.
As much as she didn't want to admit it, the feeling of holding another person's arm, the physical contact – these feelings were nice. Before she only had this kind of close contact with her family, but this time he was a boy at her age – somehow it felt different than all before, and she found herself not really opposed to doing it ag-
She shook her head violently, wiping away the thoughts. She was already 16, even though she lacked experience, she still knew clearly the notion of doing such intimate action. At least she should wait for them to get toget-
This new train of thought was discarded again hurriedly. Was she already thinking that she and Shinji would get closer? That's so absurd!
"Asuka, you're strong," she murmured to herself as she looked into the mirror. She knew she should be strong – earthquakes should be nothing to her, however the memory associated with a certain incident that took place when she was young wouldn't allow it. It was a sunny day, and she was with her family driving on the highway…
Asuka shook her head, clearing her thoughts. Washing her face wasn't necessary – she herself alone was enough to handle her own emotions and actions. Not to mention there was a more pressing task ahead of her. "Now, let's go back and do this!"
"I'm back!"
XXXXXX
The earthquake, even though it struck suddenly and unexpectedly, the damage it did was negligible. The simulation facilities went back working perfectly in no time. Shinji and Asuka sat on their respective seats, working with their respective parts of the plane as the flight simulation played out.
"More throttle! We're losing airspeed!"
"Left rudder! The wind is picking up a little!"
"Put down the flaps!"
"Asuka! Pull up! We're too low!"
"Oh scheisse!"
The redhead desperately tried to pull up the joystick as hard as she could, but it was already too late as the plane smashed into one innocent tree. Misato shook her head slightly – the problem was obvious. The goal of this small exercise was to make sure both pilots knew when to do what so they could cooperate without so much verbal communication – such interruptions could cause serious delays in controlling the plane, thus leading to devastating results.
"Do you guys know what you did wrong?" Misato asked, after witnessing their fourth failure of the afternoon.
Shinji glanced to his side; he could see Asuka's lips parting and facial expression hardening. 'Oh crap,' he thought with an internal sigh. 'She's gonna blame it on me again… "it's all your fault!"'
"It's my fault," said the redhead in an apologetic tone that carried the slightest hint of defeat. Completely oblivious to the surprised expression on Shinji's face, she continued, "I should've kept an eye on the glideslope as we descended."
Needless to say, Shinji was stunned. Surely what Asuka said was partially true, but he screwed up some parts of his job as well – and this girl who was constantly blaming him didn't even mention the slightest bit of it.
In fact, Asuka wasn't even sure why she said it herself. Maybe it was the effect of the earthquake, and her self-evaluation afterward.
Or it could just be that she was hungry and didn't want to waste time on childish arguments…
"Think over the process, and we'll try it again," Misato said. "This time, try to talk as little as possible. Just do what you think you should do."
Both children went back to focus on the simulator. This time, they indeed tried to talk as little as they could; the flight went rather uneventfully at first, Misato couldn't help but let a small smile show. As long as they wouldn't interfere with each other's thought process with unnecessary and conflicting instructions, everything would work out just fine.
As the plane approached the airfield, since the flaps were put down too early, the airspeed was slower than optimal. Shinji saw the problem and tried to pull the throttle handle to increase engine power, however the handle was stuck in place all of a sudden and wouldn't bulge an inch.
"Requiring a pause, Misato-san," he spoke up.
"Sure, what's the problem?" The flight instructor asked after pausing the simulation.
"This handle is stuck," Shinji pointed at the throttle mixer.
"Hmm, let me have a look," Misato moved over and tried pulling the handle herself. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she made a frown, "must be the material fatigue. These are old stuff," she remarked.
"It's working ten minutes before," Shinji sighed.
"What," Asuka said in response, a little annoyed. "I thought we'd be using the newest ones, this program being new and all that. Not to mention the money we paid!"
"Asuka, it's not like this kind of equipment can be made every other day," Misato stressed.
"Why don't they just make more, then?" Asuka probed.
"Try to ask a homeless person why doesn't he just find a new home," Misato countered.
"Well I-" Asuka was ready to counter back, however she soon found herself temporarily short of argument. It was probably because what Misato had said was right. "…I see your point."
"How about we try to solve the problem instead of bantering?" Finally, Misato acted as a real teacher. After receiving confirmations from both children, she continued, "well, that thing isn't entirely broken, that I'm sure of. See, the power output wiggles around a little bit as I'm pulling the mixer," she demonstrated as she spoke. "Perhaps you just have to use more force."
"Let me have a try," Asuka said before grabbing the handle, and pulled. The handle still wouldn't move. Frowning, Asuka applied more force. "Damn, why isn't this moving?" She gritted her teeth. "Shinji, gimme a hand!"
"Huh?" The called boy showed a bewildered expression. "What do you want me to do, exactly?"
"What are you, stupid? Help me to pull," Asuka said, eyeing the remaining part of the handle.
"Okay," Shinji grabbed the handle as well. At first, he tried not to make their skin contact since he didn't want to make this new redheaded girl whom Misato thought took a liking in him uncomfortable, however soon he found it impossible since there was little length remaining. Shinji gulped as their hands touched, letting out a silent sigh of relief only after seeing no reactions of revulsion from her.
"Shinji, pull!"
The boy shook himself out of the train of thought and applied force. The handle moved along with the sound of metal and plastic screeching, though the distance still wasn't quite enough to operate the aircraft safely.
"Urgh!" Annoyed, Asuka decided to use both of her arms.
Within a millisecond, the movement was made; it wasn't until the pain of the hand being grabbed in an iron grip registered in his mind, Shinji finally noticed Asuka's hand wrapped around his.
For a short moment, he was completely lost in his thoughts. Why would she do it, holding his hand, if it could be counted as 'holding hands'? Misato's words seemed to click in his head. Her hand was warm, her skin was silky; he had never held the hand of a girl at his age like this before. The sensations were overwhelming, even intoxicating.
Of course, it would've been much better without the crushing pain…
With both of her cheeks slightly flushed for some reason, Asuka pulled with all her might. "Finally!" She squealed as a cracking sound was heard, and the handle was pulled out…completely.
"Err…" Raising the broken handle in the air, Asuka found no words to say.
Misato's palm met her face. "Well, that's one way to solve it, I guess," she sighed, standing up from the coach seat. "It's getting late, anyway. I suppose we can call it a day. You guys have school tomorrow, so come back in two days. This way, we can have some time to fix the equipment as well."
"Gotcha!" "Alright."
Misato nodded. "You're free to go."
XXXXXX
One Hour Later
Shinji followed closely behind Asuka as they walked on the street in between the train station and their apartment buildings. To Shinji's confusion, Asuka seemed to be always looking for something the entire way, unlike how she usually behaved – chatting about nonsensical stuff - when they traveled between home and school.
It wasn't until when they were one block away from the apartment complex the mystery was finally solved.
"Argh," Asuka made a low growl.
"What's wrong, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
"Food. I can't find a restaurant around here," she replied, even though the truth was she simply couldn't understand the kanji on the banners. "I don't want to eat cafeteria food today."
Shinji, being motivated to go back home together with the redhead, did not go to the cafeteria for dinner as well. "Well, we just came across a Mcdonald's, right? And I can cook something for y-us," he hastily corrected.
Asuka pretended not to notice the slip; hiding her smile, she continued, "well, I want to try some special Japanese cuisine. I'm new to this country and culture, after all. You can't make everything that's out there, right?" She smirked. "Even if you can, I suppose it'll be too much of a trouble for you."
Shinji nodded in understanding. "Fair enough."
"This doesn't mean you're escaping your cooking duties in the future," she quickly added.
"Alright, alright…" Shinji chuckled.
Asuka made a huff. "So, any recommendations?"
"I'm not particularly familiar with this place…"
"I feel like I've heard this before," Asuka eyed him.
"Em…" Shinji scratched his head in embarrassment. Surely the same trick wouldn't work twice on the same person, much less the smart beauty that was Asuka. "Anyway, how about ramen? Fifty meters that way is a ramen stand, and there's a barbeque stand right in front of us. I suppose you don't want to eat Pizza Hut, though," he added with a smile.
Asuka chuckled, "of course. I'm not here just to eat more western food." She rubbed her chin as she mused about which restaurant she would grace with her presence. "I'd like to try some barbeque. I think w-you can make ramen at home," she had to hide the slip with a cough.
Shinji raised his eyebrows slightly, pretty sure he had just heard something that was not there. "Sure, this way."
The elderly shopkeeper of the ramen stand watched the two approaching with a kind smile. "Hello, what can I get for you two cuties?"
"Cu…ties?" Asuka tilted her head, struggling with the Japanese language.
"You two look cute together," the elderly woman's smile grew wider. Before any of the children's faces could even get red – which would definitely happen in record time - she continued, "you guys are lucky. The special barbeque set is on sale today. Half the price for seconds."
"Great! What are the meat?" Asuka licked her lips.
"You can see it on our menu," the shopkeeper handed the teens a piece of paper.
"Thanks," Shinji responded with a small smile. "Hm, pork, lamb…just classic ones," he showed the menu to Asuka.
"Fine with me, I don't fancy eating seafood, or spicy ones, anyway. Besides, this savesmoney," she shrugged.
"Alright. Two sets of special barbeque, please," Shinji said.
"Go ahead and take a seat," the woman said before turning around and starting to pick the ingredients.
As the sizzling sound and delicious smell of meat being grilled filled the place, Shinji and Asuka sat on the seats in silence, finding no words to talk to each other and musing on today's happenstances. Shinji supported his head on his hand, looking at the beautiful redhead from the corner of his eyes as he thought, 'today is…well, just new. Full of unexpected stuff. The handholding. And…why is she stealing glances at me?' He couldn't help but look into her way more at the thought.
Coincidentally, Asuka was thinking about the same thing. 'Why is he looking at me, but with no words to say? Gah, this is so confusing!'
"Em…"/" Well-"
Neither of the teens knew who spoke up first – it might as well be simultaneous. They both chuckled. "Ya know, Shinji," Asuka started again, "with this level of synchronization, today's flight training would've been a piece of cake."
"Agreed," Shinji replied. "Asuka, you're coming to school tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," Asuka moved her eyes to the flames under the meat. "School is great for making friends, even though I don't have anything to learn there," she shrugged. "Besides, I've never actually had any real high school experience, so this can actually be refreshing."
Shinji nodded understandingly. "Just a little heads up…education system here can be…stressing. The workload, I mean, not the knowledge."
"It couldn't be worse than my Maters experience…" Asuka made a sarcastic laugh.
"How's it like in college, anyway?" Shinji asked curiously.
"Well, things I did were much different than others," Asuka huffed, pride again gleaming out of her eyes. "When everyone else was busy getting STDs, I worked hard to get Ph.D.," she said proudly.
"Your food is ready," the shopkeeper interrupted their conversation with a statement both teens desired to hear, handing them plates with grilled meat on them.
"Smells good!" Asuka clasped her hands together in anticipation. "I'm digging in!"
The elder woman watched the two teens enjoying their food together, gracing a warm smile on her face as her thoughts wandered back to her early life.
"Young love…" She said in a whisper, still smiling as she turned back to the cooking area.
"Hmm?" Asuka raised her head. Not a native Japanese speaker, the redhead didn't catch the phrase clearly. "Shinji, what did she say?"
"Nothing!" The boy tried his best to not let his cheeks flush – though the attempt was futile. "Let's just keep eating!"
"Your face is all red," Asuka asked suspiciously. "Are you feeling alright?"
"It's just the heat! I'm okay, really!"
"Whatever," Asuka shook the thoughts off and went back to eat.
XXXXXX
AN: Sorry for the delay, but college is practically taking all my attention as of now. Physics is a challenging course.
I made certain things up, such as the type of the flight simulator.
Special Thanks to fonte20nit, SheriffJohnStone, skyf0x, Blitzstrahl, calborghete, Antique Nova, BingAndCringe, HeyThereMrBlue, and Chad Commander's reviews!
