Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. Eva is owned by others that make more money than I do (People like Hideaki Anno and Gainax, for example).
However, I DO own this story. I wrote it, for people to enjoy, not to plagiarize or sell for profit. Please do not claim it as your own, or try to make money off it. If you want to repost it, just send me an E-mail if you want to translate it or post it on your site.
Comments and Creative Criticism are always welcome. Please send all E-mail to: willz@wpi.edu. No flames - we are all better than that.
Thanks: Special thanks goes to numerous people. I appreciate all the help everyone gave me, and I appreciate their letting me pester them a lot. Special thanks to Aisu, Dr. Geoduck, Defiler_Bob , Big__D, , Sethra_lavode, LedZepFan, Gendo_ohki, Taloon, Beagle-san and Kyokki, to name a few.
Dictionary:
Now, Will Z Presents:
She's Got a Way About Her
A Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction
Chapter Seven: Complications
They were chasing her; large, whitish humanoid shapes with wings that seemed to slice through the sky, circling endlessly around her. She turned, running away from them with fervor. Maybe this time she would escape, if luck was with her.
The water. She could see it from here. Before she had tried going into the mountains, only to find the whitish things perched on the mountaintops, eyeing her hungrily.
She moved swiftly. The distance was closer, so she had a chance this time of possibly evading them. Her legs hammered into the earth, but she barely heard. Each tremor from her foot shook the ground violently. She ignored it - she needed to concentrate on getting to her destination, or she was done for.
Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Her lungs felt like molten lava from the strain. She felt trees collapse under her feet, threatening to cause her body to collapse. She had to make it to the water. Had to... Had to... Had...
Suddenly a small, fragile-looking boy stepped out of the woods, blocking her way. She could easily jump over him, yet something kept her from doing so. The boy wore a sad smile on his face as she skidded to a halt.
Just in time for the white things to come swooping down on her, the face of the boy replacing their grimacing white faces.
Asuka woke up, clutching her eye in pain. One of the white Evangelions had tried to gouge her eye out, all the while grinning with Shinji's face in place of it's original, sinister smile.
Asuka gulped in air as she remembered the feel of the monsters tearing at her. She grabbed the bandage and yanked, the momentary burn of the damned thing pulling at her skin as it tore free was a blessing. Her eye had been itching ever since she had woken up in this nightmarish world. With tentative fingers, she felt where her eye had been, and gasped. She could feel a firm resistance there instead of the dreaded sensation of the eye's absence.
Very slowly, she opened the eye. Black turned to blurry turned to clear, crisp detail in mere seconds. Her eye was healed. She half-expected the bandages on her arm were now safe to take off, as well.
Dropping the bandage on her blanket, she stretched, trying to work out the soreness brought on by waiting for Shinji to return to camp.
She blinked, looking down at the blanket. Where DID that come from?
Asuka frantically looked around, brushing orange locks away from her now-healed eye with annoyance. She knew very well where the blanket had come from, but where WAS the baka, anyways? Frustrated, she got up to start looking for him.
And promptly collapsed on her bottom as she clutched at her eye with her bandaged hand.
The jabbing sensation subsided, so she tried to get up again more slowly. Her success led her to look at her newly formed camp and inspect its welfare: All the pots and pans were stacked neatly, the fire had been put out, and the number of instant military meals had increased from three to six.
"Shinji," Asuka whispered. She wanted to collapse again, especially when the building tears caused her eye to feel as if it were being seared out of her skull. She placed a hand over her now closed blue eye, regaining her balance and some control over the pain. Now, if she had a medkit, she could...
She got no further in her thoughts. Underneath her water supply was a standard-issue army medkit.
She opened it up, and sighed in disgust. Clearly this one had been mostly used up: The surgery needle, the antibiotics and the majority of the band-aids had been used or stolen from it. At least the original owners had kept the tape, gauze and scissors stocked properly.
Setting her teeth, she started to redress her wounds.
Shinji Ikari watched the redheaded girl with sadness. She had thankfully slept most of the night as he had hoped, which gave him a chance to slip in, neaten up the large mess she had made, and drop off some additional supplies for her.
She was curled up into a ball last night, shivering as her hair threatened to fall into her open mouth and wake her. He gently brushed the hair away, noticing she held one of the ready meals in her hands. Carefully, he extracted the box without making her wake up, and placed the blanket he brought for her atop her sleeping form.
He had wanted to stay, but he was afraid; the only words out of her mouth when she had seen him was "How disgusting." He didn't know how to take that - he didn't even know how to DEAL with the fact he had tried to kill her! He hadn't wanted her to suffer in his hell, and yet, here she was, probably blaming him for all her misfortunes since she came to Tokyo-3. She wouldn't be far from wrong in her estimation, either.
With another soft caress to her cheek, he had stood up, grabbed his small canteen of water, and left her there. He retreated to the hiding place he was at now, just watching her try to have some semblance of breakfast while her eye scanned for him, probably to give him the rough side of her tongue, among other things.
He knew he deserved it; he had gotten her into this, and he knew that she couldn't leave, but at least he could make her life easier.
He owed her that much.
Asuka cut the last piece of tape for her new bandage. It was smaller then the original, and not as tight. She was glad they eye was healing; it would not do to have to wear an eye patch forever, especially when her survival depended on her senses being in top condition.
Repacking the unused materials, she closed the medkit and replaced it in the small shelter she had made. She thought that maybe making a roof over the whole thing would be good, but discarded the idea; she wanted herself and Shinji to progress to a more civilized area, so they wouldn't have to start completely from scratch. Maybe they could find a nice house that overlooked the sea.
With a disgusted sigh, she clenched her fists till her knuckles turned white. Wishing wasn't going to help her now; it would be like wishing for a hamburger in an exclusive sushi restaurant.
Shaking her head, she continued to strengthen the shelter. She was really craving that hamburger, right now.
Asuka tried to find things to do, but with all the necessities provided for, she couldn't really think of anything else that needed doing. She wanted to explore, but if she did, what would happen if she missed Shinji upon his return? He wouldn't be avoiding her, so maybe he was scouting out everything and letting her stay here safe until the injuries healed.
She tried to convince herself of it, but it sounded lamer the more she tried to justify it to herself. What was she to do? Frustration simmered inside her while being so idle left her feeling antsy. GOTT IM HIMMEL! She had to do SOMETHING!
With deliberate steps, she marched off to the south, hoping that maybe she'd see either Shinji, or a shelter or... Or anything! She'd even welcome a hungry BEAR right at that point, if Japan even had any!
Shinji watched Asuka storm off towards the remains of that JSDF regiment that he had been getting her scant amount of supplies from. Maybe he should hinder her from going? He couldn't see the harm in it, since there were no bodies. He had attempted to get the personnel carrier working, but with no luck. The fuel tanks had been ruptured, so there was no hope of resurrecting it.
He tentatively followed the redhead with his eyes, until he could be certain that she would not see him, even by accident. After a few more meters, he began moving stealthily from tree to tree after her.
Asuka never made it close enough to see the wreckage of the carrier. She made it about halfway before clutching her head in her hands, and sitting down for a bit. After a short rest, she retreated back to her camp.
He followed her, watching her all but collapse upon her return. He wanted to go to her and help, but he couldn't bear to think how she would KNOW it was his fault they were stuck in this mess; he could almost feel each insult stab into his heart like a knife like they did in his nightmares.
The sun was still before its zenith, so he adventured back to the personnel carrier to get some sleep. Asuka would be fine if she didn't go anywhere. If her eye was still hurting her that much, the chances were great that it would be days before she would reach his current abode.
Kensuke sighed, pacing back and forth in the house he now shared with Rei. He worried each time she left the house alone, almost afraid of what one of the thousands of potential dangers outside would do to her at any given time.
The door to the house opened, setting off the wind chimes. Kensuke took off like a shot to meet her. He raced past the kitchen, rounded the corner, and skidded to a halt. There was Rei, smiling happily, with a small black-and-tan bundle of fur in her hands. He blinked as she brought it closer for him to see.
In her arms was a small kitten; one of its eyes was brown while the other was green. He blinked stupidly at it for a moment, before reaching his hands out to it. The kitten tapped at his hand with a paw, then began to purr loudly; so loudly it sounded like the cat was singing.
Taking the kitten in his hands, he rubbed its head. The buzzing got louder, making variations in tone and pitch. Rei laughed for the first time that he had known; it was a wonderful sound to his ears.
"I found it in one of the houses, crying," Rei said, "It surprised me; there was a bin full of cat food that it had somehow knocked over to get into. Most of the food was gone, but I think that it was complaining more because it was lonely than anything else; the windows were open, and it could escape any time it had wanted to."
Kensuke nodded as he played with it a moment. He realized the cat didn't have any claws in its front feet, but that didn't' seem to deter it as it wrapped its paws around his finger. He still couldn't even tell what sex the poor thing was!
"I assume we're going to look after it?" he asked.
"Yes," Rei said, taking the kitten back. The feline reached up, trying to swat playfully at one of Rei's bangs.
"We'll need to get some food for it," he replied, moving closer to her. He leaned over to her to give her a kiss, but she smiled coyly, pulling away. He could see the flush on her face and knew his face was probably as red.
"Not in front of the child," She teased. Kensuke's face felt even hotter than it had when he tried to kiss her.
Since that kiss in the Karaoke bar, Rei had been avoiding Kensuke's kisses as much as possible. She wanted him to kiss her forever, and longed for something more, but that frightened her. She had barely gotten accustomed to the kisses, and now...
Now she had to keep from giving in to her desires totally.
It wasn't that she didn't trust the brown-eyed boy before her, rather she wasn't sure what she should or shouldn't do, and each kiss brought a new temptation; a new longing that she couldn't explain.
She didn't leave him completely frustrated, though; she walked by him, giving him a quick peck on the lips before she retreated down the hall to her bedroom.
Asuka collapsed on the ground, panting in exhaustion and frustration. Her current state made it difficult for her to even make it any considerable distance before she had to turn back to the camp. Fortunately, there were still no animals present to try to attack her or her dwindling food supply, but it still made her nervous to think what would transpire once the inevitable happened.
She had dug a pit some eighty paces from where she was for a latrine. It was behind a large set of boulders, so it made her feel as if she were getting some privacy. She was scared that Shinji would show up just as she had to take care of necessary biological functions.
The pain was receding in her eye, but it still made it incredibly difficult to do too much at once, so time crawled at a snail's pace. It had felt like a month had passed since her awakening on the beach, even though the truth of it was only a mere handful of days. She found herself wishing for something to read or see or even just DO to keep time from screeching to a halt.
Weary hands checked bandages that would hopefully be removed soon - the week was almost up, and her guess for a full recovery seemed spot-on.
"Wunderbar," she muttered, "then I can find my way out of this verdammte place."
She didn't want to admit to herself that she wanted to see Shinji, too. Days of solitude and silence were making her feel hunted, especially whenever she would find the stacks of provisions either upon awaking, or when she took a small trek into the woods to find the baka.
She shook her head, sighing. He wasn't an idiot, and she knew it. She was the idiot, in all this. From day one of their meeting, all the way to the destruction of her Eva, all her misery could only be laid at one person.
Herself.
Her mind wandered as she thought of their epic first meeting. Unlike Kensuke and Touji who had stared, he had seemed surprised instead of entertained, so she had belted him the hardest, as if he were the one that had summoned the wind with evil sorcery.
To her shame, she had hit him because he HADN'T looked at her like that.
Trying to escape the muddle in her mind, she tried to think about something, anything else. It was no use, since her mind spun off once more to Shinji.
She thought about the near-kiss he had almost stolen from her. She then thought about the kiss, and how nice it had been, even with his air cut off by her lips on his and her hand over his nose. She was surprised he had lasted so long before breaking free.
Asuka sighed. Maybe it would have been better to just keep kissing him. The pleasantness would be much easier to bear than the torment being returned to her now.
He had the pick of the school; even WunderMadchen and Misato had an interest in him, and yet...
Yet, he had chosen her.
She had royally screwed up, and she didn't have any clue how far the consequences stretched, or even when she would stop paying the price for her stupidity. If Shinji were there, maybe she could start making some amends, even if she didn't quite know how. They were alone here, with nobody to help and support them. Alone, their chances were slim to none, while together...
Together, they could survive. But there was the problem: How was she going to get Shinji to rejoin her? She had tried several times to call for him in hopes he would respond, and that was unsuccessful. She tried laying a trap for him at night, feigning sleep, but he must have been incredibly sharp, or paranoid; she had not seen or heard anything on those few nights she had tried.
Maybe he could ALWAYS tell that she wasn't asleep. That thought didn't settle her nerves one bit.
Once more, she pulled her hand away from the bandage. She didn't want to think of that, either, especially when she didn't even know how they got there in the first place. Maybe Shinji bandaged her up while she was having that weird dream about Rei, but that made no sense; why would he proceed to choke her right afterwards? She still didn't even know how she knew when and if her eye would heal... GOTT IM HIMMEL! She was doing it again!
Frustrated, she picked up a rock, and tossed towards the trees. To her satisfaction, it connected with a sharp cracking sound. Seconds later, she thought she heard rustling coming from where the stone had landed. Asuka strained to see if there was something there. Maybe it was the first signs of animals returning, or maybe it was...
"Shinji!" Asuka cried out, standing up, and looking for any movement in that area. "Shinji! Come out! Please!"
The only answer she had was silence.
With a sigh, Asuka gave in to the reality that there was no possible way to get him to join her.
"Fine." She muttered, trying to hold back the tears she seemed to be cursed with lately, "See if I care. I... I can do this myself. I don't need him... I don't! I..."
Shinji watched from his new hiding spot at Asuka's frozen form. Her head was bowed down. He couldn't be sure, but he could almost wager that her face was red with anger. If that damned rock hadn't scared the daylights out of him, she wouldn't even know he had been nearby.
He had spent so much time hiding away from people, that he was surprisingly well trained in the art of stealth. He remembered how easily he had evaded the Nerv agents sent to find him, and had he enough warning, he could have avoided them at Kensuke's campsite, as well.
Slinking away slowly, he looked back. She seemed to be covering her face with her hands. Probably crying crocodile tears to lure him closer.
He wasn't going to fall for it; he was not going to give in and risk getting hurt again.
Not even for Asuka.
Kensuke dangled a piece of ribbon in front of the kitten. The thing would play for hours, endlessly trying to attack the piece of string, never worrying about the bigger picture he saw. The world seemed to be devoid of all human life, save himself and Rei. This meant that soon, animals that would be cautious of humans would begin venturing closer to the realm left behind by mankind; eventually taking over the ruins as their new homes.
It was a little saddening to think that all those fantasy books that had great crumbled cities in them was now his and Rei's reality.
Maybe they would save at least a small part of it, just so humanity's mark wouldn't be lost completely to the earth.
He focused his attention back to the cat; the last thing he needed was to think of himself and Rei as the only people alive here.
Another thought came to mind, but he shook that away too. He didn't understand why she would smile at him crookedly, retreating as if he had been sprayed by a skunk.
Was she mad at him? Had he done something horribly wrong? Her hair and eyes might have changed, but she was STILL the Rei he knew and loved... Wasn't she?
For an answer, the kitten pounced at his hand, startling him. He dropped the ribbon, and the kitten took off with it. He didn't have to worry about it trying to eat it - he knew the calico was going to take it to Rei. Within moments, Rei appeared, carrying the buzzing ball of fuzz, smiling from ear to ear.
She was so beautiful when she smiled. He wished that she had smiled more when they had first been seeing each other, but he was happy with what he had now; her smile seemed to warm up everything in her presence.
Without a doubt; he was totally in love with her.
She stood in the doorway, not coming any closer. The distance between them wasn't far, but it seemed like miles right then. He wanted to hold her. Kiss her...
"Rei?" he began, the smile sliding slightly from his face.
"Yes?" She answered, plunging them back into silence. Only a meter and a half away... And yet so far.
Kensuke swallowed. He had to ask, or the whole scenario would probably drive him nuts.
"Rei," he began again, swallowing, "did I do something wrong?"
She looked puzzled. He decided to elaborate a bit more.
"It... Seems that... Since we.. kissed..." He took a deep breath, and continued on. He tried not to look into her large, soft, distracting brown eyes "It's frustrating. You let me kiss you that once, and since then, you won't even come close enough for a hug!" He felt his face getting flushed. Rei just blinked in surprise at him.
Kensuke exhaled, still staring at Rei. The kitten wriggled out of her grasp, and she broke eye contact to see what the feline was getting into. It merely twined between her legs.
When she looked up, her face was flush, and she looked almost like she wanted to cry. Kensuke blinked, wary of how quickly her moods seemed to change, almost as if she was experiencing emotion for the first time.
"Oh, Kensuke," she said, smiling wanly, "it's not you. It's me."
He blinked, mimicking her earlier expression without realizing it. He waited for her to continue.
"I was so afraid of... Of what..." Her flush grew deeper, "Of what... Might... Possibly... Happen..." He felt HIS face grow hot with the implied thought.
"I would never do anything you didn't want to," he said, startling himself with how smoothly the words came out of his mouth. His face felt so hot, he was almost afraid he'd get burnt if he touched it right then.
Silently, she came over to him, and kissed him deeply. After a moment, she broke from the kiss, still holding him in an embrace.
"How's that?" She said, smiling at him. He could get lost in those eyes.
He didn't say anything; he just brought her closer, losing himself in the warmth of the embrace.
Omake:
Thrown out scene:
Kensuke So, um... Rei... blushes Can I... Kiss you... Again?
Rei Well... I... flustered, blushing
Kensuke Please? These little pecks on the cheek just won't do anymore...
Rei, panicking Um... Um... TAKE A LOOK AT MY PUSSY! holds up the cat
Kensuke ... o.O dies from blood loss through the nose
Rei ... blushes furiously NOT LIKE THAT!
Cat Mrow?
Omake #2: "Oops!"
Asuka tossed the rock in frustration. Instead of the loud crack she expected, she heard a sharp cry, then a rustle of leaves. Suddenly, she saw something white and black fall from the trees.
"Pen-pen?" Asuka asked, afraid she'd killed the unfortunate arctic bird. She hobbled over to where she saw it land.
Only to see Shinji's unconscious body laying before her, a HUGE lump on his head.
"Shinji!" Asuka cried. She blinked, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Now she could get revenge on the baka for making her worry so much. It was now time for "Bridegroom training..."
Omake #3: That's a lot of sound! (AKA: Insanity check)
Statistics for the writing of chapter 1:
Songs listened to: 1
Duration of song: 7:47
Name of song: Komm, Susser Tod
How many times listened to: Well, the fic took a month to write, with other things added into the mix. Approximately 8 hours a day had been dedicated to the writing, and yes, I listened to Komm, Susser Tod through the whole writing time. So 8 Hours * 31 Days * 60 Minutes / 7:47 is... a lot. @.@ I know I've let you down.. @.@
However, I DO own this story. I wrote it, for people to enjoy, not to plagiarize or sell for profit. Please do not claim it as your own, or try to make money off it. If you want to repost it, just send me an E-mail if you want to translate it or post it on your site.
Comments and Creative Criticism are always welcome. Please send all E-mail to: willz@wpi.edu. No flames - we are all better than that.
Thanks: Special thanks goes to numerous people. I appreciate all the help everyone gave me, and I appreciate their letting me pester them a lot. Special thanks to Aisu, Dr. Geoduck, Defiler_Bob , Big__D, , Sethra_lavode, LedZepFan, Gendo_ohki, Taloon, Beagle-san and Kyokki, to name a few.
Dictionary:
Now, Will Z Presents:
She's Got a Way About Her
A Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction
Chapter Seven: Complications
They were chasing her; large, whitish humanoid shapes with wings that seemed to slice through the sky, circling endlessly around her. She turned, running away from them with fervor. Maybe this time she would escape, if luck was with her.
The water. She could see it from here. Before she had tried going into the mountains, only to find the whitish things perched on the mountaintops, eyeing her hungrily.
She moved swiftly. The distance was closer, so she had a chance this time of possibly evading them. Her legs hammered into the earth, but she barely heard. Each tremor from her foot shook the ground violently. She ignored it - she needed to concentrate on getting to her destination, or she was done for.
Her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Her lungs felt like molten lava from the strain. She felt trees collapse under her feet, threatening to cause her body to collapse. She had to make it to the water. Had to... Had to... Had...
Suddenly a small, fragile-looking boy stepped out of the woods, blocking her way. She could easily jump over him, yet something kept her from doing so. The boy wore a sad smile on his face as she skidded to a halt.
Just in time for the white things to come swooping down on her, the face of the boy replacing their grimacing white faces.
Asuka woke up, clutching her eye in pain. One of the white Evangelions had tried to gouge her eye out, all the while grinning with Shinji's face in place of it's original, sinister smile.
Asuka gulped in air as she remembered the feel of the monsters tearing at her. She grabbed the bandage and yanked, the momentary burn of the damned thing pulling at her skin as it tore free was a blessing. Her eye had been itching ever since she had woken up in this nightmarish world. With tentative fingers, she felt where her eye had been, and gasped. She could feel a firm resistance there instead of the dreaded sensation of the eye's absence.
Very slowly, she opened the eye. Black turned to blurry turned to clear, crisp detail in mere seconds. Her eye was healed. She half-expected the bandages on her arm were now safe to take off, as well.
Dropping the bandage on her blanket, she stretched, trying to work out the soreness brought on by waiting for Shinji to return to camp.
She blinked, looking down at the blanket. Where DID that come from?
Asuka frantically looked around, brushing orange locks away from her now-healed eye with annoyance. She knew very well where the blanket had come from, but where WAS the baka, anyways? Frustrated, she got up to start looking for him.
And promptly collapsed on her bottom as she clutched at her eye with her bandaged hand.
The jabbing sensation subsided, so she tried to get up again more slowly. Her success led her to look at her newly formed camp and inspect its welfare: All the pots and pans were stacked neatly, the fire had been put out, and the number of instant military meals had increased from three to six.
"Shinji," Asuka whispered. She wanted to collapse again, especially when the building tears caused her eye to feel as if it were being seared out of her skull. She placed a hand over her now closed blue eye, regaining her balance and some control over the pain. Now, if she had a medkit, she could...
She got no further in her thoughts. Underneath her water supply was a standard-issue army medkit.
She opened it up, and sighed in disgust. Clearly this one had been mostly used up: The surgery needle, the antibiotics and the majority of the band-aids had been used or stolen from it. At least the original owners had kept the tape, gauze and scissors stocked properly.
Setting her teeth, she started to redress her wounds.
Shinji Ikari watched the redheaded girl with sadness. She had thankfully slept most of the night as he had hoped, which gave him a chance to slip in, neaten up the large mess she had made, and drop off some additional supplies for her.
She was curled up into a ball last night, shivering as her hair threatened to fall into her open mouth and wake her. He gently brushed the hair away, noticing she held one of the ready meals in her hands. Carefully, he extracted the box without making her wake up, and placed the blanket he brought for her atop her sleeping form.
He had wanted to stay, but he was afraid; the only words out of her mouth when she had seen him was "How disgusting." He didn't know how to take that - he didn't even know how to DEAL with the fact he had tried to kill her! He hadn't wanted her to suffer in his hell, and yet, here she was, probably blaming him for all her misfortunes since she came to Tokyo-3. She wouldn't be far from wrong in her estimation, either.
With another soft caress to her cheek, he had stood up, grabbed his small canteen of water, and left her there. He retreated to the hiding place he was at now, just watching her try to have some semblance of breakfast while her eye scanned for him, probably to give him the rough side of her tongue, among other things.
He knew he deserved it; he had gotten her into this, and he knew that she couldn't leave, but at least he could make her life easier.
He owed her that much.
Asuka cut the last piece of tape for her new bandage. It was smaller then the original, and not as tight. She was glad they eye was healing; it would not do to have to wear an eye patch forever, especially when her survival depended on her senses being in top condition.
Repacking the unused materials, she closed the medkit and replaced it in the small shelter she had made. She thought that maybe making a roof over the whole thing would be good, but discarded the idea; she wanted herself and Shinji to progress to a more civilized area, so they wouldn't have to start completely from scratch. Maybe they could find a nice house that overlooked the sea.
With a disgusted sigh, she clenched her fists till her knuckles turned white. Wishing wasn't going to help her now; it would be like wishing for a hamburger in an exclusive sushi restaurant.
Shaking her head, she continued to strengthen the shelter. She was really craving that hamburger, right now.
Asuka tried to find things to do, but with all the necessities provided for, she couldn't really think of anything else that needed doing. She wanted to explore, but if she did, what would happen if she missed Shinji upon his return? He wouldn't be avoiding her, so maybe he was scouting out everything and letting her stay here safe until the injuries healed.
She tried to convince herself of it, but it sounded lamer the more she tried to justify it to herself. What was she to do? Frustration simmered inside her while being so idle left her feeling antsy. GOTT IM HIMMEL! She had to do SOMETHING!
With deliberate steps, she marched off to the south, hoping that maybe she'd see either Shinji, or a shelter or... Or anything! She'd even welcome a hungry BEAR right at that point, if Japan even had any!
Shinji watched Asuka storm off towards the remains of that JSDF regiment that he had been getting her scant amount of supplies from. Maybe he should hinder her from going? He couldn't see the harm in it, since there were no bodies. He had attempted to get the personnel carrier working, but with no luck. The fuel tanks had been ruptured, so there was no hope of resurrecting it.
He tentatively followed the redhead with his eyes, until he could be certain that she would not see him, even by accident. After a few more meters, he began moving stealthily from tree to tree after her.
Asuka never made it close enough to see the wreckage of the carrier. She made it about halfway before clutching her head in her hands, and sitting down for a bit. After a short rest, she retreated back to her camp.
He followed her, watching her all but collapse upon her return. He wanted to go to her and help, but he couldn't bear to think how she would KNOW it was his fault they were stuck in this mess; he could almost feel each insult stab into his heart like a knife like they did in his nightmares.
The sun was still before its zenith, so he adventured back to the personnel carrier to get some sleep. Asuka would be fine if she didn't go anywhere. If her eye was still hurting her that much, the chances were great that it would be days before she would reach his current abode.
Kensuke sighed, pacing back and forth in the house he now shared with Rei. He worried each time she left the house alone, almost afraid of what one of the thousands of potential dangers outside would do to her at any given time.
The door to the house opened, setting off the wind chimes. Kensuke took off like a shot to meet her. He raced past the kitchen, rounded the corner, and skidded to a halt. There was Rei, smiling happily, with a small black-and-tan bundle of fur in her hands. He blinked as she brought it closer for him to see.
In her arms was a small kitten; one of its eyes was brown while the other was green. He blinked stupidly at it for a moment, before reaching his hands out to it. The kitten tapped at his hand with a paw, then began to purr loudly; so loudly it sounded like the cat was singing.
Taking the kitten in his hands, he rubbed its head. The buzzing got louder, making variations in tone and pitch. Rei laughed for the first time that he had known; it was a wonderful sound to his ears.
"I found it in one of the houses, crying," Rei said, "It surprised me; there was a bin full of cat food that it had somehow knocked over to get into. Most of the food was gone, but I think that it was complaining more because it was lonely than anything else; the windows were open, and it could escape any time it had wanted to."
Kensuke nodded as he played with it a moment. He realized the cat didn't have any claws in its front feet, but that didn't' seem to deter it as it wrapped its paws around his finger. He still couldn't even tell what sex the poor thing was!
"I assume we're going to look after it?" he asked.
"Yes," Rei said, taking the kitten back. The feline reached up, trying to swat playfully at one of Rei's bangs.
"We'll need to get some food for it," he replied, moving closer to her. He leaned over to her to give her a kiss, but she smiled coyly, pulling away. He could see the flush on her face and knew his face was probably as red.
"Not in front of the child," She teased. Kensuke's face felt even hotter than it had when he tried to kiss her.
Since that kiss in the Karaoke bar, Rei had been avoiding Kensuke's kisses as much as possible. She wanted him to kiss her forever, and longed for something more, but that frightened her. She had barely gotten accustomed to the kisses, and now...
Now she had to keep from giving in to her desires totally.
It wasn't that she didn't trust the brown-eyed boy before her, rather she wasn't sure what she should or shouldn't do, and each kiss brought a new temptation; a new longing that she couldn't explain.
She didn't leave him completely frustrated, though; she walked by him, giving him a quick peck on the lips before she retreated down the hall to her bedroom.
Asuka collapsed on the ground, panting in exhaustion and frustration. Her current state made it difficult for her to even make it any considerable distance before she had to turn back to the camp. Fortunately, there were still no animals present to try to attack her or her dwindling food supply, but it still made her nervous to think what would transpire once the inevitable happened.
She had dug a pit some eighty paces from where she was for a latrine. It was behind a large set of boulders, so it made her feel as if she were getting some privacy. She was scared that Shinji would show up just as she had to take care of necessary biological functions.
The pain was receding in her eye, but it still made it incredibly difficult to do too much at once, so time crawled at a snail's pace. It had felt like a month had passed since her awakening on the beach, even though the truth of it was only a mere handful of days. She found herself wishing for something to read or see or even just DO to keep time from screeching to a halt.
Weary hands checked bandages that would hopefully be removed soon - the week was almost up, and her guess for a full recovery seemed spot-on.
"Wunderbar," she muttered, "then I can find my way out of this verdammte place."
She didn't want to admit to herself that she wanted to see Shinji, too. Days of solitude and silence were making her feel hunted, especially whenever she would find the stacks of provisions either upon awaking, or when she took a small trek into the woods to find the baka.
She shook her head, sighing. He wasn't an idiot, and she knew it. She was the idiot, in all this. From day one of their meeting, all the way to the destruction of her Eva, all her misery could only be laid at one person.
Herself.
Her mind wandered as she thought of their epic first meeting. Unlike Kensuke and Touji who had stared, he had seemed surprised instead of entertained, so she had belted him the hardest, as if he were the one that had summoned the wind with evil sorcery.
To her shame, she had hit him because he HADN'T looked at her like that.
Trying to escape the muddle in her mind, she tried to think about something, anything else. It was no use, since her mind spun off once more to Shinji.
She thought about the near-kiss he had almost stolen from her. She then thought about the kiss, and how nice it had been, even with his air cut off by her lips on his and her hand over his nose. She was surprised he had lasted so long before breaking free.
Asuka sighed. Maybe it would have been better to just keep kissing him. The pleasantness would be much easier to bear than the torment being returned to her now.
He had the pick of the school; even WunderMadchen and Misato had an interest in him, and yet...
Yet, he had chosen her.
She had royally screwed up, and she didn't have any clue how far the consequences stretched, or even when she would stop paying the price for her stupidity. If Shinji were there, maybe she could start making some amends, even if she didn't quite know how. They were alone here, with nobody to help and support them. Alone, their chances were slim to none, while together...
Together, they could survive. But there was the problem: How was she going to get Shinji to rejoin her? She had tried several times to call for him in hopes he would respond, and that was unsuccessful. She tried laying a trap for him at night, feigning sleep, but he must have been incredibly sharp, or paranoid; she had not seen or heard anything on those few nights she had tried.
Maybe he could ALWAYS tell that she wasn't asleep. That thought didn't settle her nerves one bit.
Once more, she pulled her hand away from the bandage. She didn't want to think of that, either, especially when she didn't even know how they got there in the first place. Maybe Shinji bandaged her up while she was having that weird dream about Rei, but that made no sense; why would he proceed to choke her right afterwards? She still didn't even know how she knew when and if her eye would heal... GOTT IM HIMMEL! She was doing it again!
Frustrated, she picked up a rock, and tossed towards the trees. To her satisfaction, it connected with a sharp cracking sound. Seconds later, she thought she heard rustling coming from where the stone had landed. Asuka strained to see if there was something there. Maybe it was the first signs of animals returning, or maybe it was...
"Shinji!" Asuka cried out, standing up, and looking for any movement in that area. "Shinji! Come out! Please!"
The only answer she had was silence.
With a sigh, Asuka gave in to the reality that there was no possible way to get him to join her.
"Fine." She muttered, trying to hold back the tears she seemed to be cursed with lately, "See if I care. I... I can do this myself. I don't need him... I don't! I..."
Shinji watched from his new hiding spot at Asuka's frozen form. Her head was bowed down. He couldn't be sure, but he could almost wager that her face was red with anger. If that damned rock hadn't scared the daylights out of him, she wouldn't even know he had been nearby.
He had spent so much time hiding away from people, that he was surprisingly well trained in the art of stealth. He remembered how easily he had evaded the Nerv agents sent to find him, and had he enough warning, he could have avoided them at Kensuke's campsite, as well.
Slinking away slowly, he looked back. She seemed to be covering her face with her hands. Probably crying crocodile tears to lure him closer.
He wasn't going to fall for it; he was not going to give in and risk getting hurt again.
Not even for Asuka.
Kensuke dangled a piece of ribbon in front of the kitten. The thing would play for hours, endlessly trying to attack the piece of string, never worrying about the bigger picture he saw. The world seemed to be devoid of all human life, save himself and Rei. This meant that soon, animals that would be cautious of humans would begin venturing closer to the realm left behind by mankind; eventually taking over the ruins as their new homes.
It was a little saddening to think that all those fantasy books that had great crumbled cities in them was now his and Rei's reality.
Maybe they would save at least a small part of it, just so humanity's mark wouldn't be lost completely to the earth.
He focused his attention back to the cat; the last thing he needed was to think of himself and Rei as the only people alive here.
Another thought came to mind, but he shook that away too. He didn't understand why she would smile at him crookedly, retreating as if he had been sprayed by a skunk.
Was she mad at him? Had he done something horribly wrong? Her hair and eyes might have changed, but she was STILL the Rei he knew and loved... Wasn't she?
For an answer, the kitten pounced at his hand, startling him. He dropped the ribbon, and the kitten took off with it. He didn't have to worry about it trying to eat it - he knew the calico was going to take it to Rei. Within moments, Rei appeared, carrying the buzzing ball of fuzz, smiling from ear to ear.
She was so beautiful when she smiled. He wished that she had smiled more when they had first been seeing each other, but he was happy with what he had now; her smile seemed to warm up everything in her presence.
Without a doubt; he was totally in love with her.
She stood in the doorway, not coming any closer. The distance between them wasn't far, but it seemed like miles right then. He wanted to hold her. Kiss her...
"Rei?" he began, the smile sliding slightly from his face.
"Yes?" She answered, plunging them back into silence. Only a meter and a half away... And yet so far.
Kensuke swallowed. He had to ask, or the whole scenario would probably drive him nuts.
"Rei," he began again, swallowing, "did I do something wrong?"
She looked puzzled. He decided to elaborate a bit more.
"It... Seems that... Since we.. kissed..." He took a deep breath, and continued on. He tried not to look into her large, soft, distracting brown eyes "It's frustrating. You let me kiss you that once, and since then, you won't even come close enough for a hug!" He felt his face getting flushed. Rei just blinked in surprise at him.
Kensuke exhaled, still staring at Rei. The kitten wriggled out of her grasp, and she broke eye contact to see what the feline was getting into. It merely twined between her legs.
When she looked up, her face was flush, and she looked almost like she wanted to cry. Kensuke blinked, wary of how quickly her moods seemed to change, almost as if she was experiencing emotion for the first time.
"Oh, Kensuke," she said, smiling wanly, "it's not you. It's me."
He blinked, mimicking her earlier expression without realizing it. He waited for her to continue.
"I was so afraid of... Of what..." Her flush grew deeper, "Of what... Might... Possibly... Happen..." He felt HIS face grow hot with the implied thought.
"I would never do anything you didn't want to," he said, startling himself with how smoothly the words came out of his mouth. His face felt so hot, he was almost afraid he'd get burnt if he touched it right then.
Silently, she came over to him, and kissed him deeply. After a moment, she broke from the kiss, still holding him in an embrace.
"How's that?" She said, smiling at him. He could get lost in those eyes.
He didn't say anything; he just brought her closer, losing himself in the warmth of the embrace.
Omake:
Thrown out scene:
Kensuke So, um... Rei... blushes Can I... Kiss you... Again?
Rei Well... I... flustered, blushing
Kensuke Please? These little pecks on the cheek just won't do anymore...
Rei, panicking Um... Um... TAKE A LOOK AT MY PUSSY! holds up the cat
Kensuke ... o.O dies from blood loss through the nose
Rei ... blushes furiously NOT LIKE THAT!
Cat Mrow?
Omake #2: "Oops!"
Asuka tossed the rock in frustration. Instead of the loud crack she expected, she heard a sharp cry, then a rustle of leaves. Suddenly, she saw something white and black fall from the trees.
"Pen-pen?" Asuka asked, afraid she'd killed the unfortunate arctic bird. She hobbled over to where she saw it land.
Only to see Shinji's unconscious body laying before her, a HUGE lump on his head.
"Shinji!" Asuka cried. She blinked, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Now she could get revenge on the baka for making her worry so much. It was now time for "Bridegroom training..."
Omake #3: That's a lot of sound! (AKA: Insanity check)
Statistics for the writing of chapter 1:
Songs listened to: 1
Duration of song: 7:47
Name of song: Komm, Susser Tod
How many times listened to: Well, the fic took a month to write, with other things added into the mix. Approximately 8 hours a day had been dedicated to the writing, and yes, I listened to Komm, Susser Tod through the whole writing time. So 8 Hours * 31 Days * 60 Minutes / 7:47 is... a lot. @.@ I know I've let you down.. @.@