Bucky Presents
An 'Other Side' production
Old Friends, New Enemies: Chapter 10: Too hot to handle!
Shinji Ikari, Third Child and pilot to Evangelion Unit-01 had destroyed Angels, helped stop a nuclear meltdown, [and] survived in an underwater engagement using B-type equipment. With all of these kills, skills, and attributes to his name one would think that beating his friends in a water fight would be easy!
The days in Tokyo-3 had been steadily increasing in temperature over the last week, with the heat levels rising well above 47 degrees Celsius. The children had of course been forced to go to school for the sake of their future lives. This meant that they were trapped in a hot, sticky, smelly classroom for the last four hours with no air-conditioning.
Therefore when lunch came around the students were very hot and bothered and all they wanted to do was cool down. Most average students would sit in the cafeteria, where the lunch staff kept the ice-creams and cold drinks, hoping to get a seat under a fan. But Toji, Kensuke, Asuka and two very reluctant students, Shinji and Hikari, were not that average. Shinji was quickly learning that having a military nut/fanatic like Kensuke Aida and a pushy redhead as friends was actually sometimes beneficial.
When Kensuke had sent a letter to his friends over the network telling them about the game Shinji had said no straight away. He didn't feel like running around shooting people with water, not to mention they'd probably get in trouble. But when Asuka found out that he had denied she pulled him outside and convinced him to participate.
It was the same for the class rep, although it was a mixture of Asuka and Toji who talked her into it. Asuka used the excuse that Hikari could get closer to Toji if she joined in, knowing that the freckled girl had the biggest crush on the jock came in handy. The redhead also added that she didn't want to be the only girl playing, trying to use sympathy. Just like Shinji Hikari finally caved in and gave up, agreeing to join them as long as they didn't wet anyone who wasn't in on the game.
Kensuke of course had smuggled his extensive collection of water pistols, super-soakers and water bombs into the school. Once distributed among the participants and the rules had been laid out the teens split off in different directions, and thus began the Great Water-Fight of Tokyo-3.
Shinji had headed toward the cafeteria, near the crowds where his friends would not be able to shoot without hitting an innocent bystander. By order of Miss Horaki, if one of the participants were to hit someone not involved in the game they would loose. The aim was to be the last one dry. The reward for achieving the feet was an all expenses payed dinner.
The young Ikari held his Super-Soaker 500 close to his chest, to hide it form the view of a passing teacher. He had made it halfway down the hall towards the cafeteria and had not been hit, yet. He didn't plan on winning he just wanted to see how long he could hold out. He had seen only seen one other person head in this direction and that was Asuka, he hoped that she wouldn't notice him for two reasons. One was he didn't want to get shot cause he knew how good she was in the sniper simulator at NERV, and the second was that things had gotten a little…weird between them.
He had mixed feelings about the young German girl now, he first saw her as his most best and trusted friend. Then he saw her as the sister he never had, in a way, then there was her as a girl, just a girl that he liked. He couldn't tell exactly what she meant to him now; he couldn't sort out how he felt about her. He was scared like she was the morning he apologised to her. He was afraid, terrified that if something was to happen and they fought, it would screw up what they already had. And Shinji didn't want that, he couldn't live with that.
The loud clapping sound of footsteps snapped the brown haired boy back into reality and he quickly turned around. There was nobody there but he could still hear the footsteps approaching. Someone was coming, and he had a good idea of who it would be. Rather than sit and wait for his would-be attacker to show him or herself, Shinji decided on some sneaky tactics of his own.
He walked until he reached a door that was clearly labelled Store Room and pushed the door open. He stepped into the small cramped room and backed up against the wall. Once concealed inside Shinji shut the door and sat down on the cold floor. Outside he could hear the footsteps getting louder, but he could also hear something else, something closer.
He looked around trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room; there were shelves on either side of the room that were filled with cleaning equipment. As his eyes adjusted and his vision increased he could make out the thin outline of someone sitting right across from him. The figure pulled a finger up to its face "Shhh!"
The sound from Shinjis tailer was now right in front of the door it stopped for a minute then continued on down the hall. Shinji sighed in relief from not being caught, his relief turned to dread when he felt a hard slightly wet object touch his forehead. The other occupant had now drawn a water pistol on him. "Ok I give" Shinji said dropping his gun and holding his hands up.
"I'm not going to shoot you Dumkopf" Asuka said with a laugh, she lowered the pistol and smiled, not that Shinji could see her smile. "Bout time you found me" she said a little annoyed.
"W-what, you're not going to shoot me?" Shinji said sighing in relief, "Hold on why aren't you going to shoot me? You're supposed to shoot everyone."
"It would be rude to shoot your partner, Dumkopf," the redhead said in mock anger.
"But there are no partners, no teams."
"Oh yeah? I know for a fact that Hikari and Toji have teamed up."
"How do you know?"
"Saw them hunting Kensuke together."
"Ok so what do you propose?"
"They would never hold their ground against two highly trained Eva pilots, would they?"
"That's a little unfair isn't it?"
"All's fair in love and war."
"Good point"
"So?"
"Ok, we'll team up; I still don't think it's fair though."
"Ok. Get the door Shinji."
The brown haired boy decided it best to team up he didn't want to ignore Asuka or anything. He saw how hurt she had gotten when he didn't talk to her that morning after the incident. He stood up and reached for the door grabbing the handle tightly he twisted it and pulled, "Uh oh"
"What?" Asuka also pulled her self to her feet then looked at the boy as he stood there with the door still closed. "What are you doing, open the damn door," she said impatiently.
"Uh, I c-can't," Shinji replied trying once again to pull on the door it only rattled in its spot and didn't move. "It's stuck!" he said as he continued to pull on the door.
Asuka stepped up and pulled on Shinjis shoulder "here let me." Shinji stepped back allowing the redhead to gain access to the jarred door. With both hands on the door she tried pulling as hard as she could, "open…you…stupid…thing."
"Ah, Asuka maybe you shouldn't pull on the door so hard you might…" Shinjis warning was cut short as the German girls hands slipped off the door handle and she flew back. First she collided into Shinji who then fell back onto the floor followed by Asuka who landed on top of him, "slip."
"Ouch!" Asuka whined as she rubbed her hand on her back, "huh, that didn't hurt that much."
"Yeah it hurt me more," Shinji said wriggling underneath the redhead trying to get out without knocking her off.
Asuka looked down and saw the reason the fall didn't hurt that much, she had landed on Shinji who was behind her at the time. "Oops," she smiled and rolled over so that they were face-to-face. There was a long silence as Asuka just stared down at Shinji and he stared back up at her.
'Why is she looking at me like that?' Shinji thought as he stared up at his friends face, 'she looks so happy, comfortable almost at peace. Beautiful, she looks beautiful. I never realised…oh stop it Shinji! She's your friend.'
"Compromising position, eh?" Asuka finally broke the silence but still remained where she was. "Close," she whispered slowly edging her face towards his all the while her mind screamed 'stop you idiot, you'll screw it all up.' The redhead dismissed the warnings her brain was sending and continued to descend upon the trapped boy, "so very close."
"Y-Yeah," Shinji swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat. 'If she keeps staring at me like that…I won't be able to…resist.' Not knowing what to do the young Ikari shifted in his spot. "Close," his voice was barley above a whisper he looked straight up into her blue eyes; that was where his strength wavered, his resolve all but disappeared. 'Maybe, we could make it work. But one of us will be hurt, eventually. Then again no pain, no gain.'
Before he even knew it Shinji found himself slowly raising his head towards the advancing redhead. 'I'm going to regret this' he thought as they drew closer to each other. A second later and their lips met, just a slight touch at first. Asuka drew back an inch and looked into Shinjis eyes, looking for a sign to tell her to stop. Instead he lifted his head and kissed her softly again, this time lasting longer.
"HEY, try in here!"
Shinji and Asuka quickly broke apart at the sound of the voice outside. They both tried to hide their blushes. Asuka raised herself up off of the Third Child and straightened out her dress. Once she had finished she cast a glance at Shinji who was still half sitting up on the floor a forlorn look on his face. "Shinji, Shinji" she extended her right arm down to him.
Shinji was snapped out of the thoughts and worries that had plagued his mind and looked up to see Asuka holding out her hand. He looked at her curiously then he saw a small smile on her face, not the usual smile he saw. It looked more like the serene contented smile he saw on her face while she slept next to him on the nights one of them were scared. He nodded, mostly for his own benefit, smiled and took her hand and stood up.
The redhead helped her friend to his feet but she pulled on his arm a little too hard causing him to almost collide with her for the second time that day. Shinji however was able to stop himself just inches from hitting Asuka. Once again the two found themselves staring into the others eyes, not looking for anything, just staring for the simple reason that they could. Once again Asuka began edging towards Shinji, after not hearing anything else from the outside presence she decided to pick up where they left off.
The brown haired boy was also beginning to edge forward until the door began to rattle furiously. The two teens jumped back a bit so they were far enough away from each other, though Asuka was thoroughly disappointed. She felt it necessary to voice her opinion "damn!"
Shinji smiled sheepishly at the redheads words of frustration and looked away to hide the slight, but still present, blush. A second later the door to the store room burst open revealing Kensuke with his video camera, Toji with his water gun and Hikari with…well herself. "Thank god we found you two" Hikari sighed in relief.
Kensuke pulled his camera up and hit record. He focused it on Asuka who stuck her finger up at him and gave the 'four-eyed' geek the most dreaded glare ever. Kensuke, taking that as a warning, moved the camera over to Shinji who was still a little red from the previous occurrence.
"Kensuke it's not the time for that!" Toji yelled as he whacked his friend over the head, "Shinji there's an emergency."
Shinjis remaining blush dropped away and was replaced by a look of both confusion and worry. "NERV just called on your mobile" Hikari said hurriedly, "since you didn't have it with you I answered it. Miss Misato said to find you and tell you to get outside and meet her."
"Shit," Shinji said loudly as he pushed past his friends to get out of the small room. The previous incident was now the furthest thing from his mind. Misato calling at school and getting them to meet her could only mean one thing: an angel. "Asuka let's go," he yelled back as he began to run toward the exit.
Asuka brushed past the two stooges, she stopped however when her arm was caught by the young brunette. "I want to know everything that happened in there," Hikari whispered into the redhead's ear. Asuka gave slight nod then took off after Shinji.
Hikari turned back to Toji and Kensuke who were going over the footage just taken. "SEE, look there, he's blushing. Something happened in here," Kensuke said in his wannabe military intelligence voice.
"No way," Toji said defiantly, "no way would Shinji betray us with that Devil woman, it's already bad enough that he lives with her. Even worse is that he's friends with her. But FOOLING around, that's just not Shinji."
"Then what do you think they were doing in here by themselves?" the spectacled boy said as he adjusted his glasses.
"I…I…I don't know, but it wasn't…THAT!" Toji almost yelled still willing to defend the honour of his friend, until such time as Shinji could defend himself and set Kensuke straight.
"They were probably hiding from you two Bakas," Hikari stepped in between the two and grabbed them both by the ear, "now stop your gossiping and get back to class, before I give you clean up for a month."
"Oh no the wrath of the class rep," Toji whined
"You can say that again," Kensuke added.
"I heard that," Hikari smirked, "for that you two get clean up for a week."
"NOOOOOOO!"
"AHH CRAP!!!"
****
Asuka stood beside her co-pilots in a straight line facing the operations director, a tech named Maya Ibuki and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki. The briefing room they resided in was small and dark apart from the light from the image projector on the floor. All three pilots stood at the attention in their plug-suits and were fully prepared for deployment.
"At ease," the Sub-Commander said loudly, the pilots relaxed and the older man began to talk. "At 0900 this morning an unusual heat pattern was found emanating from the volcanic peek of Mt. Asama. You are all aware of the irregular weather over the last few days?" The pilots nodded in unison, "we have come to believe that this is the reason."
Fuyutsuki nodded to Maya who pulled out a remote and pressed a button, the projector on the floor dimmed a little as an image of a black oval shaped shadow surrounded buy orange and red appeared. "Is that what I think it is?" Asuka gasped at the image.
"Yes Asuka," Misato replied making her presence noticed "it's an Angel. We believe this is the chrysalis form that precedes the adult form we are familiar with. In other words…"
"It is a child," Rei said in her monotone voice, everyone stared at the blue haired girl who usually remained quiet unless spoken to.
After the initial shock of Rei speaking when no one had addressed her Misato answered "that's correct Rei, this is an Angel before it matures, an egg. The commander has arranged for an A-17 order to be instigated."
"An A-17?" Shinji asked confused
"An A-17 is an order to capture a live Angel specimen."
"We're going to catch it?!" Asuka almost yelled.
"Yes," the Sub-Commander affirmed, "actually more like you're going to capture it," he looked at Shinji and smiled.
"M-Me?" Shinji gulped once again finding his throat clogged by that annoying lump, "b-but it's inside a volcano!"
"Yeah how the hell is he supposed to go into a volcano to capture an Angel?" Asuka said defiantly, a little worried about what they had planned for Shinji.
"That is where the D-type equipment comes in," Maya said smiling smugly, "D-type equipment is especially designed for combat under extreme duress. With this equipment it is entirely possible for Unit-01 to descend into the volcano and extract the target."
"Misato" Asuka said sternly, "request permission to take Shinjis place as the pilot."
Shinji gave Asuka a curious glance and she smiled slightly at him then returned her gaze to the director of operations. "Shinji do you have a problem with this?" Misato asked looking at the young boy.
"Is, is it dangerous?" he asked looking between the redhead pilot next to him and his violet haired guardian across from him. The response form the operations director was a simple nod. Shinji took one last glance at Asuka then spoke, "yes I do have a problem. I'll do it."
Asuka turned to Shinji and looked at him worriedly while Misato continued her explanation of the mission. "Very well Shinji and Unit-01 will be the divers, Asuka and Unit-02 will supply back up while Unit-00 and Rei will remain here on standby."
Still not believing the actions of her friend Asuka needed to relax, so she did what she always did to relax, tease someone. "Oh POOR Rei doesn't get to have any fun," she said mockingly to the stoic blue haired girl. She was a bit surprised when Shinji gave her a quick nudge but when she looked back at Misato she saw the reason for it.
"If you're quite done?" Misato said sternly, frowning at Asuka she continued, "You two will leave in three minutes so get to your units."
"I am to remain here?" Rei asked quietly, feeling once again left out.
"Yes Rei."
****
"You know this suit isn't that much different from my other one," Shinji Ikari said confusedly as he stepped onto the gantry that lead to the Entry-plug of Unit-01. He had changed his into the suit given to him after they left the briefing room.
The blonde Dr Ritsuko Akagi walked up behind the young pilot and checked her clipboard. "That's because you haven't activated it yet," she said with a small smirk, "press the button on your left wrist."
"Ok," Shinji, rather hesitantly, pressed the small button on the left wrist of the plug-suit. "Nothing's happening…AHHH!" the boy was unpleasantly surprised when he suddenly started to grow fatter. The suit expanded to full size leaving Shinji confused and worried, "what the hell?!"
"This suit is designed to resist the heat temperatures of a volcano" Ritsuko smiled trying to stop from giggling, "Unfortunately it's not designed with fashion in mind."
"SHINJI WHAT THE?!!!" Asukas yell was heard from the other gantry as she saw her friend in that ridiculous suit. Her confused gasp turned instantly into a hilarious laughing fit, "you finally got some meat on ya!"
Shinji sighed and looked over to the laughing redhead, who was about to fall off the gantry because she was laughing that hard. "It's not funny Asuka!" he yelled across to her, "just remember you volunteered to take my place."
"Yeah…SO?"
"I could quit and you'd have to do it," a sly smile crept across the boy's lips. Asuka however shut up instantly and turned away blushing slightly at the thought of herself in that suit. "I thought so," Shinji said confidently.
"Unit-01 should be ready now" Ritsuko said allowing a little giggle to escape before turning serious once more. "The D-type equipment for Unit-01 is still just a proto type, unfortunately it is the only suit we have available, and it will only fit Unit-01."
The third child looked out to his once purple Eva and saw it was now dressed in a giant, fat diving suit. He could just make out the units eyes and mouth through the transparent plate that allowed the Eva to see. "Damn, you look worse than me," he whispered looking over to his Eva, "well too late to back out now."
****
Asuka looked on with watchful eyes as Unit-01 was being latched onto the end of a giant crane which was to lower him into the red cavern below. They sat on the top of the volcanic peek of Mt Asama waiting for an order to go. She was somewhat relieved at Shinjis attitude towards her and the mission. Usually he would have tried to get out of a mission like this, or at least complained a lot about it. But this time he hadn't so much as sighed.
'He had a chance to let me do it so why didn't he?' Asuka thought idly while waiting in her entry plug. She and Unit-02 sat on the lip of the volcano waiting to provide backup if something went wrong. Not that she thought she could do anything, anyway. She would be out here and he would be down there. The thought sent a cold shiver down the redhead's spine. She didn't want to let anything happen to her best friend, the boy she loved.
After their first kiss, she admitted the fact that she indeed loved someone; she thought she never could love anyone again after her mother. If she did she thought she would always live in fear of the moment that they left, by choice or not. Something told her that Shinji wouldn't leave by choice, nor would he allow himself to be taken by force, not while he still drew breathe. He too feared the pain of loneliness, Asuka knew this and every time she looked into his deep blue eyes she was reminded of that fact.
"You come back safe, Shinji," Asuka whispered, she turned to the image of Unit-01 as it descended into the volcano, "and if you don't protect him, I'll kill you myself." If the techs at the time hadn't been watching Unit-01 they would have seen the four eyes of Unit-02 glow bright white then return to normal.
After feeling a rush of energy from her Eva Asuka shuddered, the power she felt was incredibly strong. She only felt it for a split second then it was gone, but she realised the feeling was familiar in two ways. The first was her first fight against an Angel, when Shinji stood beside her and they battled it out with the sixth under the Pacific Ocean. The second, she couldn't place her finger on it; it was more like a presence the feeling of someone close by watching her, guarding her.
Asukas thoughts were interrupted by multiple voices engaged in a conversation over the comm channel. "Unit-01 has reached target depth" the voice was clearly that of the tech bunny Maya Ibuki.
"I don't see anything" Shinjis voice said a little confused, "there's nothing here."
"The currents must be faster than we anticipated," Ritsuko Akagi joined in the conversation. "Shinji we're sending you the new current data" she added, "go to that location."
"Roger."
A few minutes of silence passed, Asuka couldn't hear anything but the quickening pace of her heartbeat. The redhead was getting impatient from not hearing anything from the boy; she cracked and hit the comm button, "Shinji?"
A blurry image of the brown haired pilot appeared in the centre of her HUD, "yeah."
"Are you…never mind," she sighed knowing he was there still all that mattered to her, "have you found it?" She figured 'may as well ask to make it look like I was interested in his progress instead of his safety.'
"No."
"Eva has reached maximum allowed depth," Maya reported.
"There's nothing here," Shinji said annoyed "I'll keep looking."
"Shinji are you sure?" Misato asked a little worriedly.
"Yeah I'm sure."
"Ok, proceed with the operation."
"But Major, That armour can't take much more pressure, have you forgotten there's a human being in there?"
The redheaded German was getting sick of this fast, "yeah Misato." She then shifted to a more gentle tone, "Shinji come back up and we'll just bomb the mountain."
"NO!" Shinji yelled back, a little too aggressively as it threw 99% of the crew off guard. "I can keep going," he continued a little more quietly.
"Shinji Ikari!" Asuka growled, "Get your ass back up here right now or I'm gonna kill you myself, the Angel will have to take a number!"
"If it was you would you quit?"
"Well…ah no. But that's NOT the point; it's not ME it's YOU"
"Yeah…it's ME"
"OHHH you make me so mad sometimes…"
"Hold [on], I think I found it."
Asuka sat back and examined the small video image being relayed to the Mobile Command centre. There was a black shadow in amongst the fiery liquid deep in the volcanos interior. Shinji was close to it. He could reach it without anymore threat to his life.
"Initiating capture sequence… contact in 3…2…1…contact…capture successful."
"YES that's my Shinji," two overexcited voices yelled simultaneously.
"HEY, he's my Shinji!!" Asuka fumed at the NERV operations director, "I knew him first."
"Oh yeah?" Misato yelled back, "I'm his legal guardian." With that comment the violet haired woman stuck her tongue out at the image of the Second Child then she pulled her eyelid down for emphasis.
"ARRGGHHH!" Asuka growled.
"They're acting like children," Ritsuko sighed loudly.
"Yeah and this is a good day," Shinji added with a chuckle.
"Hey Shinji I'm going to get you for that!" Asuka shouted at the boy.
"Me too," Misato glared at his wavering image, until something caught her eye, "SHINJI lookout!"
"What the?!! Misato!!...help…it…free…containment…failed," the image broke down into a screen full of static. Shinji's voice could barley be heard above the crackling sound.
"SHINJI" Asuka shouted as she saw the screen go blank, "Misato what's going on?"
"I don't know"
"DO something!!"
"Like WHAT??"
"SOMETHING!!!!!!"
Misato whirled around in the command centre her eyes hard and stern, "boost the comm signal get me a link with Unit-01," she then turned to Ritsuko, "begin an analysis on the Angel, I want answers and tactics NOW!"
****
Shinji pulled hard on his butterfly controls, using the Evangelion's small claw-for-a-hand to pull his Prog-knife from its secure slot. "I can't see in this bloody shit!" he said frustrated at the lousy visibility. A few moments after beginning his return to the surface the Angel started going mental and the cage began to break. The being mutated right before the boy's eyes, as it broke free from its electric imprisonment.
The Third Child had expected the Angel to attack him instead of running away, because his experience told him that Angels don't run. It was hunting him, using the low visibility of its natural habitat to confuse its intended prey. Shinji willed his Eva to turn on the cable to rotate for a better look around. He thought he saw a glimpse of something black off to the right, it looked serpent-like.
The Eva rocked violently [as a black fin hit it, and] the Serpent Angel swam past with great speed. Shinji, regaining his senses, turned to see the tail of the beast disappear, "It's fast." He was once again rocked back and forth on the cable as something struck him from behind. Strangely his situation reminded him of a worm on a hook, waiting to be taken by the fish. "And like all worms on a hook," he pulled the Prog-knife up as a black shadow appeared in front of him, "they bite back."
In a split second the Angel and Eva were face-to-face. Shinji pushed his free hand up into the Angels mouth to stop it from closing over his Eva. His Prog-knife found its way toward the core on the roof of its mouth. Sparks flew as the blade dug deep into the core, or so he thought. He was pushing as hard as he could but the knife was unable to drive any further into the enemy. "Sh...in…ji" the comm rang with a familiar voice.
"Misato!" he yelled while trying to keep his hold on the beast in front of him, "its core is too hard. I can't penetrate it."
"Shinji...accelerated…genetic…structure…the heat…need to…down…"
"What the?" Shinji asked dumbfounded. he tried frantically to place together all the words to form a coherent sentence. What he got, from adding a few words of his own, was "the Angel has accelerated its genetic structure because of the heat, you need to…something…down." He sighed to himself, "something…down."
At that moment the Angel whipped its tail around and cut through some of the cables that supplied the Eva its coolant. The white liquid sprayed back and forth as the cable lost its pressure. "Of course!" Shinji yelled.
FLASH
Three Days Earlier
"So whatcha doin' Shinji?" Asuka asked curiously, for one reason mainly. She had managed to drag Shinji to the pool with her and now he was sitting at a table looking at a damn computer.
"Basic Physics Prima," he replied not looking up form the laptop he had brought along.
Asuka leaned over the small table so she could better see what he was studying, subsequently revealing her well endowed chest, which was only covered by a skimpy swim suit. "You do know that's kids stuff right?"
"Yeah well I'll have to study it anyway…AHHH!" Shinji had finally looked up to come face to…chest with Asuka, "Uh…ah…"
"What's the matter with you? If you want I'll explain it to you," the redhead smiled slightly to herself as she knew her position was giving her the desired effect. Although she very well knew that getting him to notice her in that way was only half the battle. "Let's see," she started, "Thermal expansion huh? Well certain things expand when they get hot and contract when they get cold. For example." Asuka looked around to find an example then a sly smile grew on her lips, she stepped back and smiled devilishly. "If I were to warm up my breasts do you think they'd get bigger or smaller?"
"Asuka!" Shinji yelled blushing furiously and looking away.
FLASH
"THERMAL EXPANSION!!!!" he yelled excitedly, now knowing what to do he pulled his Prog –Knife out and then stabbed it into the Angels jaw allowing his other hand to let go. With his now free hand Shinji lifted it up and grabbed the broken coolant pipes. With a mighty thrust he pushed the pipes into the Angel mouth so that they sprayed onto the core. Once a sufficient amount of his leaking coolant had been splashed over the core Shinji willed his Eva to attack with the Prog-Knife again.
Sparks flew once more as the knife stabbed into the bright red bulb that was the core of the Angel. "Shinji…can you…hear me?" the comm buzzed back to life as the core began to crack. An instant later and the Angel stopped resisting; it was at that moment the red jewel in its mouth shattered. The Angel went limp but not before its tail whipped around for a final assault, to Shinjis surprise the attack went high and didn't hit the Eva.
He was relieved that it was over and the communications had somewhat been restored, until he looked up. Unit-01s head shifted to gain a better view of the cable that held it dangling, "oh…no."
"Shinji, Shinji what's going on?" Misatos voice came over the comm as clear as if she was standing in front of his Eva. "What happened down there? Shinji, Shinji answer me please."
"The…the angel is dead but…" Shinji gulped audibly trying to rid his throat of that ever present lump, "but, my cable's been cut…I'm not coming back up."
"WHAT?!" Misato yelled in shock if Shinji could have her face the pure agony of it would've ripped him apart. "No, there has to be something, we'll think of something. Just hang in there Shinji!"
"Misato, I…don't have much time," he sighed looking up at the last strand of the metallic fibre, "I just, I just want you to know…that I love you…like a mother. Thank you…for being there." Tears began to roll down the boys face as he tried to say his goodbyes knowing the end was close, the final strand of fibre snapped and the Eva began to sink deeper into the earth. The white diving suit began to crumple under the immense pressure, "tell Asuka that I'll always be with her, and it would've been nice to kiss her again."
Shinji closed his eyes releasing the tears freely as he thought of the faces he would miss Misato, Asuka, Kensuke, Toji, even the class rep. The Eva jerked forward then halted in its position. After the initial shaking Shinji looked around, "did I hit something?" He looked around, but his answer only came when he looked up to see four glowing white eyes and an outstretched hand.
A small fuzzy box opened on Shinjis screen, "you can tell me yourself Ikari, cause you're not going anywhere without ME."
****
Shinji Ikari discarded the white and blue plug-suit and changed back into his comfortable school uniform. He looked idly at the suit that he had thrown into the small trash receptacle. His thoughts wandered to what had just transpired. The fact that he almost died had only just started to sink in. He looked closely at the things he had until now taken for granted, his relationship with Misato, her love as a mother figure, his friendships with Toji and Kensuke, even the class rep Hikari. Then he thought of his wavering relationship with his best friend, she had risked it all to save him, but did he really mean that much to her? If so maybe he could indeed begin something with her; love her like she loved him, or at least try.
After defeating the Angel Asuka had heard the conversation between Misato and Shinji. She had decided then and there that she wouldn't let him die; she wouldn't stand by and watch him fall to his death. And even though she could've died herself she took that chance to save him, content with the excuse that if she died at least it would've been with him. Shinji sighed not knowing that when the time came that he could repay the debt, or if he could say the same about dying with her, only time would tell.
Shinji sighed once again then grabbed the small bag he kept in his locker, he resolved to go and see Asuka once she had gotten out of her 'Chewing' session with Misato. Not to his surprise when Misato ordered Asuka to stop the redhead told the violet haired woman to go shove it, only in much more colourful terms. Once they had been pulled out Asuka was dragged off to the mobile command centre and Shinji to the mobile Infirmary for an immediate check up.
With his clothes changed and his small bag packed the brown haired boy stepped out of the small van and onto solid ground once more. They were still on the lip of Mt Asama where the operation had taken place. He started his trek to where Misato would be scolding Asuka, exchanging thanks to people who congratulated him on a job well done. He came to a stop as he saw his Eva sitting up straight. Cranes were slowly removing the white suit from around the unit to determine the actual damage. It looked as though the diving suit had taken the brunt of the assaults and pressure caused by the Angel and temperature.
The boy smiled as he neared the large truck that acted as Mobile HQ, he could very well hear Misato's loud screaming even form this distance. He smiled broadly at the thought of Asuka just sitting there and taking it all, not that she would. That's why he began to chuckle to himself. He could just see the look on his friends face at that moment and it wasn't pretty.
At that moment the most annoyed and pissed off redhead the world Shinji had ever seen kicked the door to the MHQ open and stormed down the ramp. "Damn stupid, who the hell does she think she is?" she grumbled loudly, so angry that she failed to notice the boy standing a few [meters] away.
"Your COMMANDING officer!!!" Misato answered from inside the truck, "And don't YOU forget it!!"
"OH I WON'T!!" Asuka yelled back sarcastically. She began mumbling under her breathe, "Stupid bitch, I'd like to see her jump into an active volcano to save someone."
At that moment the redhead looked around the base area noticing two things, first the changing vans door was open. She followed a set of footprints left in the ground and soon came to the second thing.
Her face instantly lightened up and she ran as fast as she could to the boy, throwing her arms around him in an embrace even Misato would be jealous of. "Shinji, I'm so glad you're ok" Asuka buried her face in his chest and sniffled "I thought I would never see you again."
Shinji smiled as he hugged the girl back. Revealing his feelings to one person couldn't hurt could it? He had already told Misato that he loved her, so maybe he could tell Asuka or try at least. "Thanks to you, you can see me anytime," he whispered softly into her ear. Asuka pulled out of the embrace just a fraction so she could see Shinjis face, he smiled warmly at her ",you just saved my life. How can I ever repay you?"
Asuka smiled back at the Third Child, "well you could take me to dinner and maybe a movie. Or just somewhere fun."
"You mean take you out on a date?"
"Well…n-no, just as friends going out."
"Alright, a date it is," he smiled at her slightly surprised look, she was even more surprised when he pulled her lips to his initiating a long drawn out kiss. She smiled in her own mind as he kissed her with increasing passion, happy at what she had managed to do though the extent she had not yet realised. She was all too happy to return the kiss.
As they parted from lack of air Asuka sighed contentedly, she then smiled slyly and whispered, "what happened to Mr Patient?"
The answer the redhead received she did not expect.
Shinji just smiled and brushed a lock of Asukas red hair out of her face, "didn't you here?" he paused and smiled broadly, "he melted in a volcano." With that he kissed her again, happy with the knowledge that for the first time in his life, there was something worth living for.
****
A/N: AHHH YES, the end of the Old Friends……………………chapter ten anyway! HAHAHA got yas didn't I? Heh I can't stop yet, not since I just got me a few new ideas ^_^ Well there you go that was the 8th Angel and my little tweaks to that encounter. That was fun to write cause I'm a romantic at heart, yep I may only be sixteen but I know what love is and I like it…a lot ^_^
Also I (Bucky) require some help from you (whoever you are) in some of this Fic. If ya haven't noticed by now this fic revolves around Shinji and Asuka and their little relationship, so what I wanna do is branch out a bit, starting with Rei. Considering she actually gets into some fights soon it would be a good idea to get to know the Rei in my fic. BUT I am hopeless at writing Rei in cause she is so boring and well…boring. So I need Rei scenarios, especially ones that may interfere with Shinji and Asukas relationship therefore giving me the perfect reason for Asuka to hate and resent the 'ice-queen.' So any ideas are welcome send them to bucky1@swirvemail.com with the subject of Fic Ideas and I'll take a look at em. I'd really appreciate the help ^_^
And before I forget I'd like to give a big thank you to my newest, well only actually, Pre-reader Autophage for the major corrections to my pathetic grammar and spelling and for his little pointers. Thanx man and I'm glad ta have ya on board ^_^
Seya on da other side peoples……………………
