From the author : We finally return to the Geofront for some synchtests , and Shinji gets to know Kaworu more
don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion and Akira
Neon Genesis Evangelion belongs to Studio GAINAX and Hideaki Anno
Akira belongs to Kōdansha and Katsuhiro Ōtomo
"this" is speech
'this' is thought
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION HIGHWAY STAR : THE BALLAD OF SHINJI IKARI
Chapter 39 : "Normal" Routine
'Come on ! Come on !'-Shinji thought as he pushed the HS Finale though the mountain pass that was residing next to Tokyo 3 and somehow wasn't destroyed by any Angel. '270 ? Really ? I've probably beaten the record for this road like a zillion times !'-Shinji thought as he continued to maneuver the HS finale though the twisted roads. And he was so focused that he didn't notice a Kawasaki h2r sitting on his tail. 'What the ?'-Shinji thought as the Kawasaki managed to reach the HS finale as Shinji got a look of the rider , he wore a pair of black jeans , a white t shirt and a light black jacket with black leathered gloves and matte black helmet with the visor being shaded to not reveal the face. 'You wanna taste it ? Who cares ! Lets go at it !'-Shinji thought as he pushed through and twisted the throttle forward to outrun his rival. The boy behind the black helmet smiled as he took a look at the LED display and also twisted his throttle. The state of the art modern machine and a pushed to an extreme classic superbike fighting for superiority , 'Damn this guy is good'-Shinji thought as he pushed though , it had been a long time since he had a chance to race anyone that wasn't his future teammate , and he had fun. 'Come on , just because someone owns a state of the art motorcycle doesn't mean it can outrun experience'-Shinji thought as he pushed to the extreme with Shinji's eye intercepting the road , and the display. Meanwhile the Kawasaki acted more smoothly. Shinji for something that was supposedly fun began to feel tired , it felt like a Deja Vu , like someone knew exactly what he would do.'Fuck , who is that guy ? Either he is professional or my clone'-Shinji thought as he noticed a split of roads , he took the right split as he let out a sigh before looking at the mirrors to see the Kawasaki taking another route. Shinji noticed a Gas station and decided to take a break. He decided to fuel up the bike so that he wouldn't have to waste his precious time later. After fueling it up and parking it he took a walk to the station to pay for gas before grabbing himself something to drink. As he sat he decided to kill his boredom with his phone , and as he scrolled through memes the image of Asuka popped up
"Hey there Prinzessin"-Shinji asked as he sipped his drink
"Hey Shinji , where the hell are you ? We're waiting for dinner !"-Asuka exclaimed as on the other side of the phone she was sitting on a beanbag in Misato's apartment
"Taking a break at a gas station while drinking soda, what else could I do ? Aside from getting tired from a race with a beautiful bike"-Shinji said as he continued to sip his soda
"Well then , get your ass back home !"-Asuka said as Shinji smiled before finishing his drink
"Ok , i'll be back shortly"-Shinji said as he closed the call before he stretched his back and left the station before mounting the HS finale and made his way towards Misato's apartment. But as he rode he couldn't get the mysterious Kawasaki out of his head. 'Whoever this guy is , I need to race him , or her, again'-Shinji thought as he left the mountain roads and found himself back in the city before reaching Misato's apartment. Shinji parked the HS finale and made his way towards the door
"Welcome home Shin-Chan !"-Misato welcomed him with a beer in her hand and Rei sitting in front of her.
"Hey there Misato , where is Asuka ?"-Shinji asked as he took off his shoes and jacket
"Oh , she is in the bathroom. Now what's for dinner ?"-Misato asked as Shinji only sighed before making his way to prepare the dinner , and after 30 minutes Shinji delivered the delicious dinner to Misato and Rei , and just as he also sat Asuka came out of the toilet
"Hey Shinji you're finally ho-Dinner !"-Asuka quickly cut herself off before devouring her food
"Wow , she must've been really hungry"-Shinji said as Misato shrugged before taking another sip of her beer
"Well considering that you keep disappearing for hours and for some reason nobody wants to eat my food , especially my incredible curry !"-Misato exclaimed as Shinji sighed before continuing to eat his food
"Now tell me about that bike that managed to get on your nerves ?"-Misato asked as Shinji spit out his drink
"What ? How do you know ?"-Shinji asked as Misato chuckled
"Thank Asuka for that"-Misato said as Shinji turned towards Asuka
"Where am I supposed to talk ? In the bathroom ? Besides its nothing wrong that you were tired on a evening ride"-Asuka said as she took a sip of her drink as Shinji only sighed
"All I know is that the guy has to be rich , and I mean really rich. Someone bought a brand new state of the art H2R and without the disc drives. Not to mention that the guy knew every single move I pulled out of my pocket , either that's my clone or he studied every single move I ever performed. Again repeating myself but not to mention the guy knew how to perform the said moves , never ever i have seen an H2R around here and remembering some of the racers i've seen i'm sure none of them could afford one. I have a weird feeling about it"-Shinji finished his monologue before finishing his food
"Yaddi Yaddi Yada ok , now get yourself clean and sleep well. You three have a synch test tomorrow"-Misato ordered as Shinji nodded and after cleaning his dishes he made his way towards the shower
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"-The alarm clock exclaimed as Shinji used every strain of his hand to get it under control and also not to shake Asuka. 'It's even more annoying than the Kamen Rider one'-Shinji thought as he closed the alarm on his phone. And as he put his head on the pillow Asuka also woke up
"Morning"-Asuka told him before kissing him on the cheek
"Morning"-Shinji repeated as he managed to get himself out of the bed with Asuka following soon
"So , synch test"-Asuka said while grabbing clothes for today
"Yeah , how long has it been since we took one ? Since we returned from Neogoya it welt like weeks , even months"-Shinji said while touching his back with hers
"Well what can we do about it ? Now go make breakfast before we have to spend agonizing hours sitting inside giant plugs with our eyes closed"-Asuka said as Shinji nodded before finally putting on his clothes and leaving their room making his way towards the kitchen. As he worked Misato walked out of the bathroom dressed in her usual attire
"Morning kids , now get this food over quickly. Rits had been really biting my ass about it"-Misato said as Shinji nodded before giving the trio of girls their plates with him following. After a quick breakfast Shinji returned to his room and packed all the necessary stuff for the synch test. Plug Suit , the SDAT with numerous cassettes , and the hair clips for piloting before packing it in his sports bag and made his way towards the door
"You are leaving brother ?"-Rei asked as she was wiping her mouth with a napkin
"I'm taking the HS finale , we'll meet in the geofront"-Shinji said as he grabbed his jacket and helmet before making his way towards the HS Finale. 'Ok , here we go'-Shinji thought as he started the bike before making his way towards the Geofront. Shinji used that occasion to take a look at all the parameters. 'All right , temperature check , oil check , RPM's running good , great , still better than that stupid H2R'-he thought as he twisted the throttle further and quickly made his way towards the Geofront. As he passed the gate he finally found himself in the Geofront parking elevator. After 15 minutes of going down the door opened to reveal the parking lot. Shinji left the elevator as he was looking for the parking space
"Come on , there has to be a free spot around here-What the fuck ?!"-Shinji cut himself off as he noticed the same Kawasaki H2R parked on a spot. Shinji managed to park the HS finale next to it. As he got off he took a quick look. 'Holy shit , it's the very same bike. Who the hell is this guy ?'-Shinji thought as he made his way towards the Geofront elevator. Shinji took out a map out of his sports bag and made his way towards the main corridor. As he walked his phone begun to ring , as Shinji checked he noticed it was Misato
"Hey Shin-chan , change of plans. Head to the locker room and change into your plug suit and meet up with the rest of the pilots next to the test plugs , see ya there"-Misato said as she closed the call. Shinji only sighed and did exactly as she said. As we walked inside his locker room ,since there wasn't any other male pilot around. Or they weren't stationed here, Shinji didn't mind the loneliness and fighting with two girls , well three including Mana and the T-RIDEN-T crew that Shinji didn't care about , just some cannon fodder. As he was dressed up fully in his plug suit. And as he wanted to put on his hair clips he noticed something else. The door opened , and Shinji turned to see who it was expecting Asuka , Rei or Misato. And was shocked to see Nagisa holding a bag
"Nagisa ? The hell are you doing here ?"-Shinji asked as he took out his 21A from the holster in his jacket. Nagisa only lifted up his hands and smiled
"Don't worry Ikari-kun , i have a right to be here"-Kaworu said as he took out his NERV card that Shinji quickly snatched off from him , and he was shocked
"What the hell ?! The 4th child ? Why didnt no one inform me ?"-Shinji asked as Kaworu chuckled
"Perhaps Major Katsuragi did not pass that information to you"-Kaworu said as he walked towards the bench that was mirroring Shinji's , and as he looked at him he noticed another thing. A pair of gloves , motorcycle gloves. Shinji didn't decide to ask about their use as Kaworu went to a changing room to quickly change into his plug suit , he wore a black and dark blue plug suit with a red intake in front of it with a number "4" on his back. 'Perhaps he has this number because he doesn't have an Eva'-Shinji thought as he sighed before he packed his stuff into his locker and walked towards the test plugs to see Rei and Asuka
"Oh , hey Shinji ! Is everything ok ?"-Asuka asked as Shinji looked visibly angry
"Why didn't anyone tell me that Nagisa was the 4th child ? And worst of all , why act so lovey dovey to me ? Cant he see the passive aggressiveness I'm showing ? I'M LITERALLY INCENARTING WITH ANGER JUST LOOKING AT HIM !"-Shinji exclaimed out loud, causing Rei to cover her ears. And as Asuka wanted to talk him out off ripping his hair out in frustration Kaworu walked in with his trademark smile
"Hello , what is going on to cause Ikari-kun's rage ?"-Kaworu asked as Shinji turned around before letting out a long sigh
"Let's just get in the test plugs"-Shinji said as he opened the test plug before voice of Ritsuko echoed through the speakers
"Halt it , the 4th , 2nd , and 1st will go first. 3rd will sit on the bench"-Ritsuko said as Shinji was angry with his pride getting a massive gut-punch. 'What the hell ?! What upstart is that !?'-Shinji thought as Asuka put her hand on Shinji's arm
"Dont get angry , just do as she says"-Asuka said as shot a glare at Kaworu before getting into her plug with Rei and Kaworu following her. Shinji only sighed before he walked back towards the locker room and grabbed his SDAT and a soda before sitting on the bench and listening to music while thinking about ways to kill Nagisa the most brutal way. 'God damn that Nagisa , not only he has Takuro's face and hair but also acts like im his gay lover , and im not gay !'-Shinji thought as he watched the LED lights blinking while he was sharing his attention between the lights , the floor and the lockers. And so hours passed as Shinji was close to falling asleep before Kaworu walked inside wet from LCL
"Oh , Ikari-kun. Doctor Akagi said that it was your turn in the test plug"-Kaworu said as Shinji instead of starting another conflict simply nodded and replied with a forced "thanks" before putting all his stuff back in the locker and making his way towards the test plug before noticing that the hatch was open. Shinji sighed as he took a long breath in and got into the plug before letting out his air and absorbing the LCL in his lungs before closing the hatch
"Hello Shinji-kun , just try to focus as always"-Maya said as Shinji nodded and closed his eyes. After a few hours Shinji looked like he was sleeping while trying to keep himself far from falling asleep.
"How long is it gonna take ? I really want to go home"-Shinji said as Maya looked at the timer
"Done , you can go"-Maya said as Shinji nodded
"How good was I ?"-Shinji asked
"89,7 percent. pretty good"-Maya said as Shinji sighed before thanking Maya and opening the hatch and taking his head out of LCL and making his way towards the locker room to hit the showers. Shinji quickly washed himself before putting back his clothes and the hair clips for everyday use , he felt calm , mainly because Kaworu wasn't there to annoy him. After he grabbed all his stuff he made his way towards the cafeteria where he would always meet up with Asuka , Misato and Rei. After the 10 minutes of walking he finally found himself in the cafeteria with a drink in hand.
"Ah , Shin-chan !"-Misato said waving at him as he sat with an pissed off expression
"Is everything all right ?"-Misato asked as Asuka sighed with her grabbing her nose with two of her fingers. Shinji took a long breath in and let out a long sigh
"Why didn't you tell me about Nagisa being the 4th child ? And why HE gets to sit inside my test plug before me ?"-Shinji asked as Misato grabbed the back of her head with embarrassment
"Yeah , I forgot about that. I was hoping that Nagisa himself would tell you about his job. But considering that yesterday you left the school using a FREAKING HELICOPTER you didn't have the chance to ask. And after you came back from your shocking defeat from that hyperbike i was too tired to do that"-Misato exclaimed as Shinji sighed before jugging down his drink and looking at Kaworu sitting lonely at one of the tables with his food
"I just hate that guy so much , and you still havent told me why he got the chance to take a swing at the test plug before me ? Your ACE ? And the man who saved the city, you know how many times ?"-Shinji asked as Misato sighed and also jugged down her beer can
"Yeah , it was Rits's decision to see how good he is . Don't worry , he is in reserve and when the next angel comes you'll be going out as normal, maybe it's because how many times you were landing in the hospital during the angel fights ?"-Misato joked trying to diffuse the situation. That really didn't work
"But why do we need another pilot ? We do fairly well and we dont have four Evas. Not to mention the guy acts like a freak towards Shinji , and i mean really creepy"-Asuka said as Misato turned her head
"Maybe , but remind you we have other pilots in the line: Matsukaze , Suzunami , Vincennes"-Misato counted on her fingers
"We don't talk about Vincennes"-Asuka said with visible venom
"Anyways , apparently the committee pushed another male pilot to even out the ranks. That's all we know , i dont get why you all despise him that much. He seems nice"-Misato said as Kaworu meanwhile handed the tray with his food back to the counter before grabbing a bag and leaving.
"You know what , i'll follow him"-Shinji said as he grabbed his bag and after a few seconds he followed him. And after 20 minutes of following him far behind he reached the parking lot using a different elevator , and was stunned , because he found him standing next to the Kawasaki , before he took out a black jacket and his matte black helmet and mounted it
"You can come out now Ikari-kun. I know you are following me"-Kaworu said in his trademark tone as Shinji walked up towards the HS Finale
"So it was you yesterday , who are you Nagisa ? Spit it out"-Shinji told him as Kaworu chuckled
"Only if you will manage to reach the first stoplight , i'll share some information"-Kaworu said as Shinji nodded before mounting the HS Finale and putting on his helmet and gloves and lined with the Kawasaki before racing the elevator , and as the elevator finish its ride the Kawasaki and the HS Finale lined up before Shinji put up his two fingers as a sign stopping. 'Ok , 3 , 2 , 1 , go'-Shinji thought before he put them down as the two bikes jolted through the tunnel. Shinji knew that he could just use the Priss Enhancers to get himself early lead but after a quick reminder of the layout he remembered that he would land in the ravine so he relied only on the pure speed the main engine would produce before the first turn , a right hander as Shinji smoothly took the corner while taking the look in the mirrors to see Kaworu gaining on him. 'Damn Nagisa'-Shinji thought as they entered another series of corners with Shinji and Kaworu swapping the first place. Minutes passed as the two bikes finally reached the stoplight. And the problem was that nobody won , in fact both of them stood next to each other. Shinji only punched the led display in anger as Kaworu lifted up the visor on his helmet
"It looks like we can consider it a tie ?"-Kaworu said as Shinji chuckled
"And that means you can keep your mouth shut for now"-Shinji said as Kaworu nodded
"Well then , goodbye Ikari-kun"-Kaworu said as he rode off in the other way as Shinji did the same with him heading back to the apartment to prepare dinner
A/N : Well , we're done. In the next chapter NERV will face Ireul as Shinji will have more time to be a spy for WILLE