A/N: I just want to say a little about myself. I have an odd sense of humour. It only ticks in at odd moments. So I love throwing stuff that I think will make people laugh, but at the same time, keep the serious moments for when it matters.
And as you know, I alternate from scene of battle to one of relaxation and fun.
By the way Incognito Girl, I'm not sure if Zack is what you'd call a SI, cuz that's not my real name, but I did stick him into this story.
Here it is! Chapter 15! 33 reviews and over 4,000 hits! You can easily say I'm a happy guy. My goal is to hit 100 reviews. And I'm 33 percent of the way there! After hitting a sync ratio of 500, Shinji was found inside the entry plug unconscious and NOT breathing. Is he dead? Or is he alive? Read a couple lines down and the answers will be revealed. Now as I always say "Now on with the story"!
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NERV Hospital (Seems like we end up here a lot eh?)
"Why does he always have to be the hero?"
Asuka was going over in her mind the events that the day had held. First there was the threat of a nuclear attack from outer space. The pilot chosen to fight the "outta this world" battle was not her love interest Shinji, but a guy she couldn't stand by the name of Zack Harper. Zack had successfully defeated the EVA, but he had run out of power before he could stop the satellite. It seemed like the end for her, Shinji, and everyone else at NERV. But then Shinji did the unthinkable, he made his EVA go berserk and hit a 500 sync ratio, which not only gave him angel wings, but the power needed to stop the satellite from firing the nuke. His last act apparently destroyed the satellite and rescued Zack.
But afterwards, they found him unconscious and not breathing! "He can't be dead," she sobbed to herself.
She had been crying for a good hour since he was brought into NERV's medical wing. Preliminary reports indicated he wasn't going to make it.
Just then Dr. Akagi came out of the ER and went to see the German who was curled up in a chair crying. "Asuka?"
Asuka shot up when she knew who it was. "Dr. Akagi! Is he going to live? Please tell me!"
Ritsuko had a smile on her face. "It wasn't easy, but with the data we have on Shinji now, the MAGI says he's going to make it."
Now Asuka had a smile on her face. "Thank you Ritsuko. When can I go see him?"
"Not yet Asuka. He hasn't been stabilized yet. It may be a few days before you can see him. A 500 sync ratio means synchronizing with the EVA five times more than what the average person can handle. Most of Shinji's vital organs shut down from exhaustion when his EVA grew the angel wings. But still though, you have to give yourself and Zack some credit. You two saved his life."
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Flashback.
Zack had an idea. "Asuka! Help me apply CPR!"
"What?"
"We don't have time! I'll pump his chest and you breathe into his mouth."
Asuka wanted to hesitate because it would look like she was kissing him so Zack could torment her. But he knew the seriousness of the situation. And so did she.
She plugged his nose and breathed into his mouth. Zack pressed his hands on Shinji's chest in hopes of restarting his heart.
"Shit! It's like every organ just shut off. One-and-two and one-and-two. Asuka and Zack kept up a rhythmic beat while trying to save the boy's life.
After about a minute of "one-and-two" Zack finally said something else. "Asuka! I got a heartbeat! Is he breathing?"
Asuka stopped breathing into his mouth. Yes! Shinji was breathing! "He's breathing Zack!" Shinji was alive, but his breathing was heavily laboured.
About 10 seconds after they revived Shinji the NERV medical crew arrived.
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Misato's Apartment
The last 24 hours had been a terrifying ordeal for Misato. The fact that Shinji was going to die almost tore her in two. She didn't love Shinji the way Asuka did, but having him around almost made her feel like a mother. She figured this was how it felt for a mother to lose a child.
Though it was standard NERV procedure that the matter be kept quiet, she did tell some of Shinji's friends what had happened. Kensuke had brought a Get Well Soon card for Shinji that was signed by his former classmates. Hikari had brought over tons of flowers. Misato figured that Shinji would never truly understand the real impact he had made on people lives by piloting those disgusting EVAs.
The kids were also greatly affected by what had happened to Shinji. Rei seemed even more withdrawn, only to ask every now and then if Shinji's condition had improved. Zack just sat and watched TV all day, not even bothering to go out and pick up girls. Ivana had spent more time meditating than ever before. And Asuka would wander aimlessly about in the apartment while clutching the Shinji plush doll while just waiting for the phone to ring.
Even Shinji's father cared somewhat about his son's condition. Misato was angry with the Commander at first for not going to see his son, but she did cool down a little when Ritsuko told her that Gendo himself personally handpicked the medical staff looking after Shinji.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Asuka went to get it first, but Misato beat her to it.
"Katsuragi residence." A pause. "Oh hey Ritsuko. How is he?" Another pause. "Really?" Another pause. "Awesome! Asuka will be glad to hear that!" A pause. "Okay. You can count on that! Later."
Misato put the phone back down. She noticed the look on Asuka's face pleaded with her to tell her how Shinji is doing.
"Good news Asuka. They just stabilized him. He's going to make a full recovery."
Sometime later, Misato may have come to regret telling Asuka that Shinji was going to make it. Because about 10 times that night, Asuka bugged Misato to let her go see Shinji. But Misato said not until tomorrow. (She stopped counting after 10. There may have been many more "I WANNA SEE SHINJI NOW!")
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A secret conference room. (I've looked, but my spy network haven't found out where these guys hold their meetings) Only a few SEELE members could get to this one.
SEELE had obviously put someone up to the task of making sure their latest plan succeeded, but they were angry that it had failed again!
SEELE 05: This is outrageous! We cannot afford these attacks to keep failing!
SEELE 09: Well this is what happens when we choose to fund terrorists to get rid of NERV!
SEELE 01: Do not worry. The preparations for the next attack are almost complete.
SEELE 02: Are you sure this will work?
SEELE 01: I am sure. NERV will never expect an attack like this!
The four SEELE computers start laughing.
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Daylight had come pretty quickly for the Katsuragi residence. Today was the day they'd go visit Shinji at the NERV hospital.
They arrived at NERV at 9:30am. Misato flashed her ID card at the receptionist. The receptionist showed them where Shinji's room was. Strangely enough, he was back in room 506, the same room in which he was in last time when the kids fought the Jet Alone. After a minute of walking, they reached room 506. Asuka was the first to enter. The others were going to follow suit, but Misato motioned for the others to wait outside.
Asuka simply took a seat by Shinji's bedside. Shinji still had trouble breathing on his own, so he was hooked up to a life support system. The nurse that was just in said he should be waking up just about anytime.
To her joy, Shinji began stirring. He then slowly opened his eyes. He looked around the room. After taking a few seconds to figure out where he was, he noticed Asuka sitting in a chair next to his bed. He tried to speak to her, but for some reason he just couldn't say anything.
Asuka smiled at him. "Don't worry. The nurse prepared for an event like this." She hands him a marker and a notepad. "Now write something!"
Shinji smiles for the first time since he woke up. He has difficulty using his arms. But he manages to write HOW LONG?
"Ah. You must mean how long you've been here." Shinji nodded. "Well you've been here for almost a day now."
Shinji now wrote WHAT HAPPENED?
"You want to know what happened?" said Asuka slightly raising her voice. "You almost got yourself KILLED trying to be a hero again you jerk!" The thought of Shinji dying almost makes her want to cry.
SORRY
"You don't have to apologize. I know that if you didn't stop the satellite, NERV would have been destroyed and us not too long afterwards," she replied. Her heartwarming smile came back.
DID FOR YOU
Asuka gasped. 'He did that just for me?' "Are you serious?"
LOVE YOU. WANT YOU SAFE.
"I guess that's one of the reasons I love you. You always put everyone else ahead of yourself, even at the expense of your own life. Well, since you saved me, I have to give you a reward."
She leans over him and plants on him a very powerful kiss. When she is done, Shinji is red on the face. He picks up the marker and notepad again and writes BEHIND YOU.
Asuka turns and looks around. She sees Misato, Zack, Toji, Rei, and Ivana were watching her. They had smiles on their faces as if to show support. But Asuka turns about as red as a tomato.
"This hospital is going to have five more patients when I'm through with them!"
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The next day had come pretty quickly. Misato noticed that Asuka's spirit was much better now. Asuka made good on her promise to hunt the others down. She had success beating up Toji. Zack also fell victim to the onslaught. However, Asuka wouldn't dare try knocking out Misato or Ivana. When Asuka went hunting for Rei, she was nowhere to be found.
Misato got another call from the hospital. More good news. Shinji was to be released from the hospital, for he had made a very quick recovery. However, he still couldn't talk for at least a week, and he couldn't move very well on his own either.
"And that's how it's gonna be Asuka. You are going to spend the week looking after Shinji," Misato had said later.
"WHAT? WHY ME?" Asuka wasn't big on the fact that she'd have to spend an entire week looking after the Third Child.
As always though, Misato's hand was always much better than the German's. "Well, if you really don't want to do it, that's okay. I'll just have either Rei or Ivana look after Shinji."
Just as Misato planned, Asuka got jealous of the thought of some other girl other than herself looking after Shinji. "You know what Misato. I think that by default I'll be looking after Shinji. Those two are obviously unqualified! Ivana is too brash and Rei doesn't know a thing about care taking!"
"Then it's settled! You'd better hope Shinji isn't very demanding!"
The necessary arrangements were made. Shinji would spend the week on the pullout-couch where Zack slept. Asuka would sleep on another couch nearby just in case Shinji needed something. Zack would move back into Shinji's room temporarily. So this would also throw off Zack's plan to hack the parental controls on the TV. He said something about being so close to finally cracking the code.
So at about 8:00pm, Zack had finally brought Shinji home. Since Shinji couldn't walk very well yet, so Zack had to use a NERV issued wheelchair to get the Third Child home. To Zack's surprise, Asuka took charge of the situation. She wheeled Shinji into the TV room, and helped him take his seat on the couch.
Asuka decided to brief Shinji on what was going on. "Well Misato has decided that you should sleep in the TV room because it is much closer to the bathroom. And I'm going to sleep on this couch over here." 'Yeah right,' she told herself. And I'll be serving you breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I'll also be helping you take your baths too. Don't you get any ideas now pervert! And that's about it. You can change the channels and I'm sure you can eat without me spoon-feeding you! And if you need anything, here's a bell to call me."
Shinji got out his notepad and wrote another message.
THANK YOU
"Hey! No problem. Just don't call me for stupid reasons. I'm gonna go make your dinner now." She kissed him once and went off to the kitchen.
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Elsewhere, in the room that is also Misato's office, Zack and Ivana were setting something up. Rei decided to inquire into what Zack and Ivana were putting together.
"What are you doing?"
"We're setting up a ping-pong table!" said Zack. "I'm gonna show Ivana who's the boss!"
"When this is over, you will be annihilated," said Ivana in response to Zack's statement.
Misato had entered the room now. She was curious too. "Ah. A ping-pong set. Maybe we should have a tournament."
Zack was surprised. "You can play Misato?"
"Of course! What do you think NERV personnel do on their breaks? We have a recreational room in the base. And there's a ping-pong set. I was one of the best," said Misato with a smirk on her face."
Zack stood up to her. "Well, if you even want to have a remote chance, you'd better play sober. Otherwise you'll be too dazed to even know it's your serve."
Misato had a weird look on her face. "Is that a challenge?"
"If that's what they call it in Japan," said Zack.
Ivana had an idea. "Rei, do you wish to play?"
"Why?"
Ivana decided Rei would need an explanation. "It's fun. And you don't have to be all alone. If you want to play, then just say so."
Rei smiled. "Very well. I shall take part in your activity."
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After Shinji had eaten dinner, he and Asuka decided to watch a movie while the others were doing something else. It was only 9:30pm. The others were playing a ping-pong game. Even Pen-Pen went to watch the game. Asuka was enjoying the time she was spending with Shinji. She found it hard to believe that she couldn't stand time some time ago. She still really couldn't understand how he managed to heal the hole that was in her heart.
Asuka tried to focus on the movie, but she couldn't keep her attention on it. Her attention was mostly set on the boy she had cuddled up to. It was a shame he wouldn't be able to really talk for about a week. And he wouldn't be able to constantly scrawl out notes either. Asuka could only hope he could read her actions when the moments came. She rested her head against his chest, while he ran his hand through her red hair.
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Zack and Ivana were playing a warm-up game. They were both really good. Ivana was the best in her platoon in Russia. Zack was the champion back in Canada in the province of British Columbia. Both would have considered the Olympics if the Angels had never shown their faces. And since Rei was in the tourney too, it would be a 4-person tournament with Pen-Pen as the referee.
The schedule was:
Misato vs. Ivana
Zack vs. Rei
Ivana vs. Zack
Rei vs. Misato
Ivana vs. Rei
Zack vs. Misato
Then it would go whoever finished last would go up against whomever finished first. And second vs. third.
After Zack and Ivana were finished, Misato took to the table to take on Ivana. She claimed she didn't need a warm-up to teach Ivana a thing or two. They would play to 21 and had to win by two points to claim the match.
36 points later, Ivana had won the match 21-16.
"I see. So this is how you play," said Rei. She took her position one side of the table. Zack took his place on the other side.
"This is gonna be quick," boasted Zack.
10 points later, the score was tied at 5. Zack was shocked. "How do you learn so fast? And how come you're playing like Ivana?"
"I watched her play. I believe it is your serve," said Rei.
"Great. One Ivana is enough."
To everyone's surprise, Rei had defeated Zack by a score of 21-18. And on her first try too!
"Damn!" said Zack. "Stupid fast-learners!"
But now it was Ivana vs. Zack. And Zack was NOT going to let Ivana win. Zack for some reason was seeing this as a rematch of the 1972 Summit Series.
"Zack. This is table tennis, not hockey," Ivana reminded him.
"It doesn't matter what sport it is, it's the principle! My country's honour is on the line!"
"Whatever. Let's play."
It was a fierce match. But Zack would eventually prevail, winning by a score of 25-23. This may have been bad for the others, because it bolstered Zack's ego.
The next game was Misato vs. Rei. Misato was sure she could beat Rei. But to everyone's shock, Rei had now copied Zack's style and would alternate between his and Ivana's style. This threw off Misato and Rei won 21-12.
A/N: Misato (0-2). Zack (1-1). Ivana (1-1). Rei (2-0)
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Shinji tried to watch the movie as best as he could. It was 11:00pm now. The others were still doing their table-tennis tournament. However, Asuka was having more difficulty watching the movie than he was.
Eventually, Shinji cracked. He turned off the TV and with whatever strength he had; he turned his attention toward the redhead. Asuka quickly read his signal.
"Just relax," she said. She then proceeded to kiss him. He tried to respond, but he was just too weak to try. So he let Asuka have her way. She deepened the kiss by sitting on his lap, and wrapping her arms around his neck.
After a minute, she broke the kiss. She gave a look of mock disappointment. "Aww. It's not as fun when they don't fight back. But that's okay. I can understand."
What happened next totally caught Asuka by surprise. Shinji had summoned up his remaining strength. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back to him.
Asuka was totally thrown off by Shinji pulling her to him and kissing her the way he did. She returned his kiss with everything she had.
After about 3 minutes, Asuka noticed Shinji was putting no effort into his kissing. It took her a couple seconds, but she then realized he had fallen asleep. She smiled at the totally innocent look on his face. She wrapped her arms around him and fell asleep not too long afterwards.
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The tournament was still going on strong. Ivana had defeated Rei 22-20 and Misato had beaten Zack 21-19. The four decided to call it a night. As they went off to their rooms, they passed by a sleeping Shinji and Asuka.
"Aww, how cute," said Misato.
"To think, he has a steady girlfriend before me," said Zack.
Ivana turned to look at Zack. "Well maybe if you looked at the way you look at females, you'd see why".
Rei took this chance to interject. "If Pilot Sohryu knew we were looking at her like this, there is a high probability she will get angry."
"Yeah. So off to bed you three," said Misato shoving them away from the TV room. She then went to look back at Shinji and Asuka. "Take care of her Shinji. And yourself. You're her knight in shining armour, or rather her pilot in an EVA." She then left the room.
"Man. I need a beer!"
A/N: And there you have it! Sorry, I'm not good at writing fluff scenes. And Asuka has to spend the week looking after Shinji. What if there's another attack? How will they handle combat without Shinji? Will I get paid this week? Find out! Until the 16th, be cool!