Bucky presents

An 'Other Side' production

Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter 9: The day After

"Shinji, are you up yet?!" Misato Katsuragi wandered the rooms of her small apartment in search of the young brown haired pilot. It was now 8:45 and she couldn't find the young Ikari anywhere. The first place she looked was the kitchen, seeing as though he always makes breakfast for himself, her, Pen-Pen and Asuka. He wasn't there, so she tried his room, not there either. Next she tried the bathroom, then the laundry, nothing.

The Violet haired woman was now standing in the lounge room wondering where the hell the boy had gotten to. She had tried all of his spots and he wasn't at any of them, the only other logical conclusion was that he had already left for school. But that was almost impossible seeing as though he never left without Asuka or saying goodbye. This brought another possibility into her mind.

She quickly walked down the hall and turned off at Asukas room; she knocked softly on the half open door then pushed it open fully. Misato peered in but only saw Asuka sitting on the end of her bed still in her night clothes just staring off into space. "Um, Asuka?" Misato waited for the redhead to turn around but she didn't budge "uh…have you seen Shinji this morning?"

Asuka made no effort to answer her guardians question, she had barley even heard it she only heard one word, Shinji. That name made her remember the event last night and then another less than a half hour ago. She had heard some rummaging and bumping noises coming from his room next to hers.

Then the bathroom door closed and the shower turned on. A few minutes later the door opened again and the redhead got out of bed. Asuka still dressed in her sleeping clothes walked out into the hall and almost collided with the brown haired boy. They both exchanged quiet apologies Shinji avoided looking at Asuka while she stared openly at him.

He didn't say anything, and neither did she, not for a long time. They both stood there in an awkward silence that seemed to stretch on for ever. Asuka noted he was already dressed for school in his typical black pants and white shirt. Shinji finally broke the silence "I'm…um…going to school, there's a lunch for you in the fridge." With that he turned around and stepped into his room, a moment later he walked out with his bag in hand and down the hall. Asuka didn't even hear the front door close as she walked back to her room, trying desperately to hold back a fountain of tears.

"Asuka?" Misatos voice was soft, but not soft enough to go unnoticed. She had entered the room and moved quietly to next to the bed she kneeled down so that she was in line with the younger girl. "What's the matter?" the violet haired woman was shocked a little. She had lived with the young German for a few years in Germany and in all that time she had never seen this, she was crying. Slowly but surly streams of tears streaked their way down the sides of her face.

"Asuka what's wrong?" Misato asked more concerned now than before, "Where's Shinji?" the redhead remained still for a few moments before whipping at her tears with her right arm then lapsing back into motionless. "Asuka…please, if you don't tell me what's wrong I can't help you."

"C-can you…turn back time?" the young redhead finally spoke, her voice held a twinge of sarcasm. "Because…if you can't…then you can't help me" she lowered her head and sighed loudly, "I'm not going to school today."

Misato was literally crushed to see the proud girl she had known reduced to tears, "what, what did Shinji do to you?" This was the only logical explanation she could come up with for the German girl to be crying. This girl didn't even cry at her mother funeral or her grandmothers, so it had to be something serious. The only one that could affect her like this would be someone she trusted more than anyone.

Asuka fought back more tears and spoke again, barley above a whisper "it was me, I did this, it's my fault." Unable to hold back any longer she let the tears fall freely.

"What…happened?" the NERV major may not have been that experienced at being a mother or mother figure, but she knew all to well what this was. This was your grade A+ heartbreak the kind it takes months to get over, if you get over it at all. "Asuka I only want to help you, you can trust me."

"I don't need your sympathy!"

"I'm not offering Sympathy, I'm offering to listen"

"…ok, but I don't NEED you"

"That's right you don't, now tell me"

"I…last night I…I asked Shinji to kiss me"

"You did what?!"

"I asked him to kiss me!"

"Did he?"

"Not…exactly, so…I kissed him"

"ok I can see where this is going"

Asuka leaned forward and rested her head in her hands, "I…don't know why I did it, but it felt so right. I don't think he thought so though, I mean I know he enjoyed it but…"

"You don't think he return the feelings" Misato finished; she received a quick nod from the girl in response. "So…I can tell that's not it, there's more isn't there?" once again another quick nod of the head, "then tell me."

"Like I said, it felt so…right…I…I think I love him. This morning when I got up, he was already about to leave. He was going to go without me he wouldn't even talk to me apart from telling me about my lunch, he didn't even look at me!" Asuka began to sob into her hands as she tried to speak, her voice started to crack badly, "he hates me, he must hate me now!"

"No he doesn't" Misato moved closer and put her arm around the girls shoulder, "Shinji is incapable of hate. It's against his nature to hate someone, he doesn't even hate his father and that man has done worse things to Shinji than you. So he wouldn't hate you for kissing him, he's just confused. He'll be back to normal in no time and you two will both laugh about this some day, you'll see."

"I don't want it to be normal" Asuka almost yelled, "nothing can be normal anymore. I want…I want to be with him not just as friends. I have enough friends I don't want to be alone anymore; I just want him to love me like I love him."

Misato cringed as the German redhead burst into tears once more; she pulled the young girl into a tight embrace and held her close whispering softly words of comfort. With a free hand she pulled out her cell-phone and hit the speed dial, "hello…yes…I'm not going to be in today…yes I know but something important has come up…thank you."

The violet haired woman looked down at the tangle of red hair in her arms, she was now sobbing softly, and breathing in short raged breathes. "It's ok, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere" Misato held Asuka even tighter then she hit the second button on the speed dial. The phone rung once, twice but there was no answer. She let the phone ring and ring, until a sound from the next room caught her ears. "Shit" she sighed as she recognised the sound of Shinjis cell-phone ring tone.

****

The halls of Tokyo-3 junior high school were buzzing with life, students were chattering happily away scarcely remembering there was a war going on. To them this was just another simple school day, they rejoiced in the knowledge that in one place their lives could be normal. Here they were just children learning how to live life and survive in the real world. This was Shinjis sanctum.

The brown haired pilot sat in the corner of his classroom, 2A. He had been there for almost half an hour and he hadn't moved at all for the entire time. He sat with his arms crossed on the desk and his head resting gently on his arms. Most people who had already arrived at school, which weren't many, just thought he was sleeping and decided to not disturb him. But the calm silence of his corner of the room was thrown away when a boy of the same age approached him.

"Hey Shinji" Kensuke Aida called as he walked towards his friend. He pulled a chair away from a near by desk and set it in front of Shinjis, then plonked down. What's up Shin-man?"

Shinji just lifted his head a little "hey Kensuke, nothing much." His tone of voice was void, lacking any emotion or depth; it reminded him of his father. He felt disgusted that he would sound like his father, he hated that man. Everything he did was to hurt Shinji or those around him, like Tojis sister. 'You're an idiot Shinji, trying to avoid the real subject by shifting to your father' he told himself this twice to let it sink in.

"So…Toji and I saw some of the fight on the news, what NERV released of it anyway. You really kicked some butt!" the teen adjusted his glasses "look I even got some of it on tape." He then pulled out his perpetually present video camera and hit the play button. The small LCD screen began playing the highlights of the previous battle.

Shinji watched on in silence barley even paying attention. As the fight neared its end Shinji looked a little more interested. Just seconds before the explosion he saw Unit-01 break away from the Angel and throw itself over Unit-02 blocking it from the destruction of the blast. He then remembered the short conversation he had with Asuka on those little phones.

FLASH

"You IDIOT, what are you doing on top of MY unit-02!?"

"Ahhh….Asuka?"

"Of course it's me Dumkopf, who else did you think it would be, the tooth fairy!?"

"Um…yeah right…uh…where are you?"

"Look DOWN dummy!"

 Shinji taking Asukas advice leaned cautiously over the edge of his Eva and looked down toward the ground. Before the ground however, he saw something big and red with a white plug hanging out and a small red figure standing next to it. "Oh…there you are…hi" Shinji waved nervously to Asuka then pulled back away from the edge.

"Idiot" Asuka scolded in mock anger, "I'll ask again why you are on top of my Eva?"

"Sorry…I…well that is I…uh…never mind"

"NEVER mind, never MIND!!! What do you mean by that you….oh when we get home I'm gonna kill you Shinji Soryu!!"

END FLASH

"Hey Shinji" he could hear Kensukes voice beckoning him back to reality, "yo, earth to Shinji, come in."

"S-sorry" Shinji said awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head, "I kinda zoned out for a bit."

"That's ok, so how was it?"

"What?"

"The fight man, the fight"

"Oh, it was…easy I guess"

"EASY, god you are to simplistic. Anyway what's up with this?" Shinji turned his head to look once more at the cameras small LCD screen. On the screen Kensuke had frozen the image of Unit-01 protecting Unit-02 from the explosion.

"Nothing" the brown haired pilot answered, he looked away blushing slightly although he saw no problem in protecting someone he cared for. That was why his Eva was on top of hers, he shielded her from the blast yet he felt awkward telling her what he did. He usually craved praise, it was his way of proving his existence what he wouldn't have given for his father to tell him he did a good job, and call him by his first name.

"Oh right nothing" Kensuke grinned and winked at his friend. Shinji just groaned and dropped his head back to the desk, his mind mentally exhausted from continuously replaying the events of the previous day. He was looking for something, though he had no idea exactly what, perhaps it was a reason. A reason for his best friends sudden actions, something he could connect to make him understand her motives.

FLASH

Chibi Asukas face lightened up for a second then hardened a little "Shinji you can also tell her to stay away from you because you are mine. Tell that damn little girl that you're my boyfriend and if she comes near you again I'll squash her like a bug."

"A-Asuka?" Shinji just stared at his friend dumbfounded for a whole minute before she lightened up and smiled.

"Shinji" she said a little more soothingly, "you are my boyfriend ok? And I don't share." Asuka closed in a little and quickly gave Shinji a peck on the cheek, "when we are older I'll give you a grown up kiss. Promise you'll give me my first, and I'll give you yours."

As soon as Asuka backed away Shinji fell on the ground from complete shock, "uh huh…ok…promise" he managed to stutter before attempting to stand.

The young redheaded German smiled sweetly then grabbed Shinji by the hand and dragged him back towards the sand pit. "Remember Shinji, you promised and I'll hold you to that!"

END FLASH

"That's it" Shinji almost jumped out of his seat, "that's why she did it; she was just fulfilling a promise made years ago. Shit I gotta go home."

Kensuke slowly picked himself up off the floor after being thrown their from Shinjis sudden outburst. "Uh? What, what you talking bout?" he asked while straightening out his glasses.

"Asuka, she well…she kissed me last night" Shinji said almost rushing, he could trust Kensuke not to spread it around, he just couldn't trust Toji not to spread it around. "And I just remembered when we were kids we promised each other that we'd give the other our first kiss."

"Hmmmm….interesting, Shinji Ikari saviour of mankind kissing the Devil"

"Shut up, will you cover for me?"

"Hmmm…I might, for a price"

"Name it"

"I want a sample of LCL"

"What no way"

"Then I can't help you"

"Oh…urgh…ok you win"

"Good now off you go"

"Thanks"

Shinji jumped to his feet and raced out the door almost colliding with the class rep Hikari Horaki, "Sorry." He called out as he ran down the hall and out of the school, a moment later and he was off school grounds and headed home.

****

"Thank you…Misato" Asuka pulled herself to her feet and staggered to the door of her room, "I'm going to have a shower." She smiled weakly then walked shakily out of the room and halfway down the hall. She had just reached the bathroom door knob when she heard the front door open.

A second later Shinji stepped round the corner and sighed in relief, Asuka stood there still holding the door knob waiting for her brain to continue functions. The brown haired boy stepped forward and came up so he was merely inches away from her. "Asuka, I'm sorry."

"Why…why are you sorry?" the redhead asked her voice almost cracking again. "I kissed you, I screwed up not you, so why are you apologising?"

Shinji sighed and looked away for a second he knew it would be hard he had a feeling there was more to what had happened than just what he guessed. "I'm sorry for the way I acted, I was…confused" he looked back at her and their eyes locked, "I mean, it's not everyday your best friend kisses you like that."

Asuka noted the small amount of humour in his voice, trying to lighten the mood she smiled slightly then sighed. "Shinji I'm sorry…for doing that to you, I have no idea what I was thinking and I…"

"I think I know why" he returned her smile and continued, "You were just fulfilling an old promise. When we were seven we promised that our first kiss would be together and that we would wait for each other. At least that's what I think."

"Can we…I mean…can we just go back to the way it was…before I kissed you? I don't want to loose you completely" Asuka looked away her blue eyes threatening to shed more tears.

She opened her eyes again at the soft feel of Shinjis hand brushing a tear from her cheek. "Asuka, I told you once that you'd always be my best friend no matter what happened. Hell you could shoot me in the leg and I'd still be your friend, a sore friend but still your friend."

Both teens shared a quick chuckle and then Asuka let go of the door and wrapped her arms around Shinjis shoulders. Bringing them into a tight embrace, she rested her head on his shoulder and he did the same on hers. "I'm sorry, Shinji but I have to say this, please don't say anything just listen. I…I…love you to me you're more than a friend. When I kissed you I felt the best I had since my mother died, I felt complete, because for just those few precious minutes I knew someone loved me."

"I'm…sorry Asuka, I…you can't love me" Shinji said his voice now on the verge of cracking, his eyes threatening to pour year's worth of unshed tears. "No one…loves me. Not even my own father."

"I do" the redhead whispered, she moved her hand up to his head and stroked it through his hair. "But, I respect you if you don't love me. We can at least still be friends?"

The brown haired boy was scarcely aware of the tears that now streamed down his cheeks and dripped onto the redheads shoulder. He sniffled a few times, it wasn't everyday that someone you've known for ages ups and tells you she loves you. It wasn't every day you found yourself in this position, "Asuka, do me…one favour."

"Sure, anything"

"Never change and be patient with me"

"Of course…I'll wait until the end of the world for you"

****

AN: (Sniff, Sniff) AWWWWWW, dude that was sweet. How the hell did I come up with that? Oh well who cares. I didn't feel like making you wait another two weeks for the next chapter so here it is Chapter Nine. This took me until 2:04am to do this so you better enjoy it. So there you have it KISS crisis over…for now ^_^. Now I know I promised some competition but I actually thought it over and I have bigger plans for my ACC later.

As for the Misato/Asuka interaction I figured that seeing as though Misato knew Asuka from when she signed up with NERV in Germany, the young pilot wouldn't have any problems opening up a little bit to the Major. I hope I was able to do the whole upset thing on Asukas count, I hope it was believable.

As for Shinji and Asuka, well big plans. In the next chap the battle with the 8th Angel, nothing that different in this one, apart from the fact that Shinji is the one to go in ^_^ HEHE I'm too good. You think that's weird just wait till I get to the 12th then things really start to get interesting ^_^*

On another note I have sent the first chap of this to EFO on the advice of several friends of mine. So wish me luck in getting past the gruelling trials that EFO put all us Authors through for a chance at greatness. I hope that one day you'll be able to read this from EFO.

Well I suppose I'll be going now, remember this, the mysterious 'Other Side' is open to all who embrace life. Live, love and be loved and there will always be a place for you in its vast expanse.

Seya on da other side……………….I hope ^_^