Neon Genesis Evangelion
Pilot's Table
By D.A.
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Title: Say That Again
Prompt: n/a
Word Count: 4500+
Rating: T
Summary: The arrival of Israfel and Hikari's curiosity test Asuka's ability to keep up her old mask, and an unexpected confidant steps in.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion
Notes: Tear-jerker warning.
Part 3 of the "Not What You Bargained For" story.
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"Touji! Asuka! Shinji!"
"Deja'vu?" Touji quipped, turning with the others to spot Kensuke catching up at a light jog.
"I was joking, but maybe this really will be our thing." he chuckled, "Talk in class is you two have a thing for each other, gonna make it open soon?"
"Maybe," Asuka admitted, frowning, "I'm just not sure how Misato will respond. Or Kaji either..."
Puzzled, Kensuke fell in beside Shinji and they followed the redhead and Touji the rest of the way to school. It had become their normal routine over the last three weeks, the four of them would meet up along the way to school and chat or walk in comfortable silence, relaxed in each others presence, with Touji and Asuka staying next to each other knowing they didn't have to pretend when it was just the four of them.
"Both know me from before I came here, always saying I didn't need anyone." Asuka explained, fingers brushing Touji's, "So 'dating' Touji might make them suspicious, but I don't think they'll pry unless we let something slip or they decide our relationship is 'serious'."
Everyone chuckled at the air quotes around serious, and reaching the school yard Asuka and Touji put a little more space between themselves. They changed shoes in the locker area, relatively alone as they'd arrived a little early that morning, and slowly made their way to the classroom. Just as they reached the door, listening to Hikari greeting Rei who must have arrived shortly before them, the Angel alarms sounded at the same time as Asuka and Shinji's cells. Kissing Touji, Asuka bolted back down the hall following Shinji as Rei stepped out and ran after the other two Pilots.
"Think they'll get it the first time?" Kensuke asked, following Touji with the rest of the class to the shelter.
"I think so," the taller teen answered, "Asuka isn't like she was duh first time she fought beside Shinji, and we've been workin wit him. They'll do it."
0o0o0o0
The two EVAs stood side-by-side on the beach, watching as Israfel stepped out of the deep surf and among the ruins of Tokyo. Shinji carried his rifle easily, relaxed and waiting to follow Asuka's lead, while the redhead held her spear ready and waiting.
"Remember, we don't fully know this angel's capabilities," Misato said over the comms, "So don't do anything rash."
"Don't worry, Misato," Asuka drawled, hefting her spear and crouching in preparation to run, "We've got this one in the bag."
"Just be careful, and remember Shinji is the expert so follow his lead,"
"Right," Asuka snorted, then switched to a private channel with Shinji, "Just follow my lead. Remember what we've practiced, Third, and we'll take it down."
"Right." he responded.
They didn't have to wait long. Israfel suddenly dashed towards them, clawed arms spread out as it fired a beam attack. The two EVAs dodged to either side, Shinji firing a quick burst before drawing his prog-knife as Asuka leapt forward and slashed at the Angel's core and split it in two. Instantly the Angel regenerated into Alpha and Beta, the two halves moving in-synch and fighting Asuka and Shinji individually.
The battle became a dance. Attack flowed into dodge, block flowed into strike, the giants moving fluidly and lightning fast. The exchanges happened almost faster than those in HQ could follow, and suddenly a building submerged in the water gave out underneath the Angel. In an instant, the two EVAs moved as one and slammed the two halves together, and just as they merged twin strikes were landed on the exposed cores. There was a moment of silence, the invader and defends seemingly frozen in time, before the blood-red sphere flashed and the detonation knocked out all sensors in the area.
0o0o0o0
"Well done, kids," Misato congratulated them as they entered the briefing room after showering, waving them over, "You two head home, I'll get things wrapped up here and we'll go out to eat, my treat!"
"Perfect! I know just the place," the German cheered, smirking at Misato's hesitant pause, "Oh, don't worry, it's a ramen cart not far from the apartment. I'm not gonna drain your bank account."
"The cart you and Suzuhara go to?" Misato teased, smirking when Asuka sputtered with a faint blush spreading across her cheeks, "You didn't think you could hide that from me, did you? I am your guardian after all."
"You're more like a nosy sister." Asuka teased back, "I killed another Angel, don't dampen my good mood."
"Whatever you say, Asuka. Shinji did his fair share too."
"Third's good, I'll give him that." she turned to leave, giving Shinji a smile as she walked passed, "Come on, Shinji, if she's going to tease me about Touji we might as well make her pay for his dinner too."
"Sure, Asuka." small grin on his face, the teen followed her out of the room before the raven-haired Captain could fire off a comeback.
0o0o0o0
The four of them made their way back to the apartment block, the teens chattering about the battle and oblivious to Misato's silence from the front on the group. She'd watched them during dinner, commenting now and then to both remind them she was there and avoid drawing attention to her otherwise contemplative silence through the meal there at the cart.
She wasn't sure what to make of Asuka's different attitude since she'd last seen her in Germany, and even less about what she'd heard after Kensuke and Touji had gone home from that dinner weeks ago. But after the battle... Well, she admitted she could be oblivious and childish at times, but she was still Operations Director.
"Come on in, Touji," Misato called, leading the three inside the apartment and going for her usual can of Yebisu, waiting for the door to close before continuing, "The night is still young, no reason you can't spend a little more time with your wife."
The silence was near deafening. Turning she caught the mix of shock and panic on Shinji's face, but Asuka and Touji's only outward sign was the widening of their eyes. She sat in her usual chair, watching the teens take the subtle hint and sit as well. They sat, silent, while Misato waited patiently. It can't be simple, she thought, and obviously private. Misato wasn't sure which was more unsettling, that Asuka had managed to hide a relationship with Touji so well even her search through the Magi had revealed nothing, or the fact the young woman across from her knew about the Angels ahead of time.
"What tipped you off?" Misato watched Asuka and Touji, thinking over the girl's question for a moment before answering.
"I was going to come back out for another drink before bed," she nodded to Shinji, "and to ask him for his thoughts, since I knew he'd still be up and was Suzuhara's friend. I caught the start of the conversation and listened until you went to bed. Kept me up most of the night think about that, young lady."
"Don't young lady me, Misato." Asuka snapped, then took a breath, "It's... really complicated."
"I already figured that out," the raven-haired woman shot back, then downed a drink of her beer, "I just want to know why you thought you couldn't tell me..."
The redhead shared a look with her husband, Misato took the relationship to be literal and not some unusual sweetheart nickname, before sighing as they both pulled out necklaces with rings hanging from them. Asuka's was a simple gold band and a plain gold ring with a modest diamond on it, Touji's own gold band matching Asuka's.
"This isn't the first time." she began, and told Misato the story. Dying in the first life, living a second where she married Touji, for now leaving out mention of their children, and how they suddenly awoke in this life. Misato listened, patient though in growing shock, as the teen -no, young woman- in front of her told her impossible tale.
"That's why you knew what Angel was next, why you've been sparring with Shinji..."
"Yeah."
"Ken knows too," Touji pointed out, "He caught us on the school roof the day after Asuka got here, when we were talkin. Shinji heard us say goodnight that evening."
"And Kaji?"
"Doesn't know unless you tell him." Asuka answered, shrugging, "Since I didn't become aware until the day before we met on the deck of the carrier."
"I need another beer..." the other three laughed, starting to relax while Shinji retrieved another can for their guardian, "Can you stop Third Impact?"
"I think so." Asuka frowned, eyebrows scrunched while Touji slid his hand across the table and took one of her hands in his and brushed her knuckles in a gesture so familiar it pulled at Misato.
They really are married, she thought as she watched the silent byplay, they're too familiar with each other to not be.
"Well..." she paused, the children waiting, thinking over her next words, "I've not seen you this happy before, Asuka, and heaven knows we find happiness so rarely in life. I won't stop you, but please be careful. I doubt the Commander would be as accepting as I am. I won't tell Kaji either if you don't want me too."
"We will be." Asuka scoffed, relaxing back in her chair and turning her hand over to grip Touji's, "We may look like teens, but we're married adults. Hormones aren't as big a problem as they might be if we were without those memories."
They moved to stand, Misato taking her beer and starting for her room before pausing in the hallway.
"Asuka..."
"Yeah?"
"Thirty years old..." she hesitated, then went on, "Did... you two have kids...?"
She watched in awe and shock as Asuka's previously calm expression broke, tears forming in her eyes before she moved to the front door and out of the apartment, Touji moving to follow. The young man paused only a moment to speak before leaving as well.
"Two, Katsuragi. Six an' eight."
And as the sliding door shut with a soft click, Misato stood open-mouthed while Shinji sat in his chair and watched the door.
0o0o0o0
She ran.
She didn't know why it hurt just to have Misato ask, why she didn't expect the woman to ask what was, in hind-sight, such an obvious question.
She ran until her breath was painful and her side hurt, then dropped to her knees and sobbed. She couldn't catch her breath, and the sobs stole what she did get. Sobbing, gasping for air as her vision tunneled, she stayed on her knees. Sometime later she felt Touji draw near, then wrap his arms around her and gently rock her back and forth, softly shushing her until she'd calmed.
"I should've expect it." she whispered through her still falling tears, struggling with her sorrow and faint anger at both her lack of control and the woman back in the apartment for asking, "It's such an obvious question, of course she'd ask."
"I don't think she put thought into what it might mean tuh us." Touji answered, pulling back a little to see her face and rub the tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, "Gonna be ok, hun?"
"Yeah," she answered, planting a grateful kiss on his lips, then standing, "I miss them so much, Touji."
"Same here," he took her hand and began walking back through what she now saw was the park, a small playground nearby, "We'll deal wit dese Angels, then we'll make it official. We'll get through dis."
0o0o0o0
When the two of them stepped back into the apartment they found Misato at the table, knuckles white around the cup in her hands as she watched them walk in and sit opposite her.
"Mizune."
They waited, feeling that whatever the other woman had to say was hard for her to get out.
"Kaji and I dated in college," the raven-haired woman spoke, voice soft though strained as she focused on the cup, "Movies, dinner, talking about a future. We were young, and felt like we'd been made for each other. We got serious, I don't remember how it started, but we found ourselves sharing a bed on the weekends. Spent an entire week out of class, nothing but eat, sleep, shower and sex.
"We were so stupid," she continued, her eyes beginning to glisten and the couples hearts constricted as if they felt her rising emotions, "Should've known there'd be consequences."
She drank whatever was in her cup, downing it and almost slamming it back onto the table top, seeming to steel herself.
"I got pregnant." she laughed, a broken and fragile sound that shocked the two, "We panicked a little, but it was near the end of term, only a couple of finals and we'd be free. Kaji started putting out feelers for jobs, and I already had a slot lined up with NERV as tactical officer once I'd gone through military academy.
"But a couple d-days after finals I... I miscarried." tears flowing freely, Misato looked up at the two and the pain in her eyes mirrored the pain they felt for the loss of their children, "I ran, as far as I could from Kaji. I didn't think how he might f-feel, I told him what happened and ran. We were at each others throats for months afterwards, and-"
She broke, tears pouring from her eyes as she collapsed on the table and sobbed. Asuka was out of her seat and at the woman's side in an instant, holding her as her own tears started again. Touji was slower, but he still wrapped both women in a hug as Asuka gently hushed Misato while the older woman cried. They'd never known, all the years they'd been friends with Misato in the last timeline and she'd never even hinted at anything like this. It brought to new light how often she'd spent around the kids, how she'd taken in little Rei and Shinji after the Angels had been beaten, and how she'd brought first Shinji and then Asuka into her home so eagerly even if Asuka had been such a bitch in the first timeline.
"How old would she be?" Asuka asked softly, one hand rubbing slow circles on Misato's back as she calmed.
"Close to your age." Misato whispered, her breath catching but no more sobs, "She was d-due in December, around Christmas. Kaji joked she'd be our Christmas p-present to each other."
"Mana was born in the summer, she loved having a pool at her party." Asuka told her, Misato sitting up but not moving out of the embrace, "Kyo was a spring baby, but he loved the pool as much as his sister."
Misato hiccupped a laugh, rubbing her eyes as the couple slowly shifted to seats on either side of her. She looked at them, smiling shakily.
"I barely know you, not like she knew you." she said, and they knew she meant the Misato from the last life, "But I'm so proud of you anyways."
"They called you auntie," Touji smiled, sorrow and happiness, "You were our best friend, always there with Asuka when I couldn't be. Hikari had her life with her husband, and she was glad you could be there when she couldn't."
"Hikari's in your class, have you told her?"
"Not yet..." Asuka admitted, "Eventually, but not yet."
"Thanks for telling us, Misato," Touji reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder, "We're sorry you had to relive that."
"It's fine." and they knew she was lying, but that was ok. She was healing now, they felt, and one day it really would be fine. Just not today, "Best get to bed, school tomorrow, and synch-tests after lunch. Come back over, Touji, and bring Kensuke this time. I know Shinji-kun enjoys being around his friends."
"Sure thing, Misato."
0o0o0o0
-rrriiiiiiiing- -rrriiiiiiiing- -click-
"Kaji?"
"Misato? Hey, how are-"
"I'm sorry."
click
Ryoji Kaji stared at his cellphone, his heart aching at the tone in her voice. Somehow, he knew she wasn't apologizing for calling. Tomorrow, he'd corner her. Bring a flower, too, he hadn't given her any since-
He winced, nearly throwing his phone, before he stared at it again in a new light. He watched the date and time on the front, and his heart hurt all over again.
Ritsuko had sent him a joking email a week ago, congratulating him on graduating college. It was a running joke -she sent a similar email every year- and one he always laughed at.
He didn't feel like laughing anymore.
0o0o0o0
"What's wrong Asuka?" the redhead looked up from her laptop shortly after the bell for lunch rang at school to find Hikari standing in front of her desk, worry and curiosity on her face. She was always pretty open too, Asuka thought, or maybe I'm just able to read her better this time.
"Nothing, just... thinking."
"About Touji?" the worry stayed, in the back but not gone, as the brunette switched to teasing to try and get something from her friend.
"Maybe." Asuka allowed, finding it easy to blush, looking back to her laptop's screen.
"I knew it." Hikari quietly cheered, grinning, "He keeps giving you looks, did he ask you out or something?"
"Something like that." Asuka smirked mischievously, enjoying teasing her friend with vague answers.
"Oh, you're such a tease, Asuka!" the other girl groused, grin still in place.
"What about you and Shinji?" she teased back, eyes sparkling as she leaned forward, "Made him a lunch have you?"
"What?!" Hikari squeaked, hiding the obvious double lunch behind her back, "No, I- I mean maybe..."
"I won't tease you that horribly." the redhead grinned, getting up and hugging her friend, "I know Shinji's been working up courage to talk to you, Touji told me the other night."
"Really?" the spark of fear and hope in her eyes touched something in Asuka, and she had to fight to keep tears from reaching her eyes as she realized it was because she'd wanted Mana to come to her about a crush, but now she wouldn't.
"Touji isn't that dense," Asuka smiled, nudging her friend in the direction of the Stooges, "Give him the lunch, maybe he'll say something if you show him you're interested."
Visibly steeling herself, Hikari took her lunch out and set it on her desk, then taking Shinji's from the bag she walked over to the teen.
Asuka went back to her screen, reviewing names of children found and looking for their parents. She knew that if Touji found out she was doing this he'd try to stop her, assuming he wasn't doing the same. She knew it was a lost cause, she'd have felt them if they were there. She'd thought about it, realized she'd felt Touji but hadn't recognized it in her panic over suddenly being here and not there, and if the children had come back too she would have known they were here. But just like when she'd made that first dinner, let herself fall into a routine she knew would hurt, she couldn't stop herself from looking.
Hearing Hikari's squeal of delight from behind her, Asuka turned and saw Shinji, red as a tomatoe but with a grin stretched across his face, accepting the lunch from her friend and receiving a pat on the back from Touji. She grinned and thought, this feels right. Closing her laptop, she took her and Touji's lunches out of her own bag.
We're almost back together, she smiled demurely at Touji at the thought and knowing they'd tell Hikari soon, handed him his lunch and gestured for all of them to follow her.
0o0o0o0
"I hate this Angel, I hate this suit."
"Asuka, quiet down." Misato interrupted, exasperated, "I already promised a relaxing evening at the hot springs nearby. I'm even letting you invite your boyfrien-"
"He's not my boyfriend!" the redhead yelled over the radio, "I just respect him, there's a difference!"
"That's not what Shinji-kun said." the captain teased, unable to stop herself even knowing how serious this mission is from listening to Asuka's descriptions of the last two times, "Looks serious to him, and you know he isn't one to exaggerate."
"Traitorous Third Child." Asuka bit out, but she smiled. This was a good excuse for some alone time with Touji, and let her start to be with him more openly. It was so stressful hiding a relationship she'd never had to hide before in all her memories of being with him. The only thing that bothered her was that Gendo would probably review the mission logs and hear or read this conversation. Hopefully, she thought, he'll dismiss it as irrelevant to his plans.
"Unit-Two has reached target depth," Maya reported from her station in the command trailer, and Hyuga spoke next, "Sensors are extremely distorted, we cannot confirm the presence of the Angel."
"Up to you, Asuka," Misato warned, "We're essentially blind up here."
"Wonderful." Asuka groused, stretching out here unit's AT-Field to try to feel the Angel's own field before it could reach her.
"AT-Field spike detected, location unknown." Hyuga reported, fingers dancing across his keyboard as he tried to clean up the distortion blocking them from being helpful.
No sooner did she hear him than she felt the Angel's field brush her own, like a shark bumping a possible meal. It circled, brushing her field several more times before it darted in, aiming straight for her coolant lines.
"Oh no you don't!" Asuka challenged, spinning around with a twist of her AT-Field to slam the electro-magnetic cage into the Angel gaping maw, "Target is probably adapted to the heat, lets see what it thinks of cold."
"Put all coolant to line three!" Misato ordered, trusting Asuka's memories, "Careful Asuka!"
"EASY!" she roared, pulling her prog-knife and slashing the line with one Type-D claw and grabbing the line with the other. Jabbing it at the Angel, her eyes widened in shock as it dodged, taking the spray of coolant along its side as it roared in pain and anger.
It circled out and around, darting back in. This time Asuka didn't shift in time, and the Angel bit through the remaining two lines. Suspended by the load-bearing cable, Asuka knew if she didn't kill it soon she was dead. Digging deep, she yelled a challenge as the Angel swam straight at her and clamped it's jaws around the middle of her EVA's suit, biting into the heat-resistant but fragile shell. Slamming her knife down, she spared only a moment for the feeling of ice in her veins before she felt the prog-knife graze and then bite into the Angels core resting on the top of its body. The two struggled, grinding and twisting in an attempt to kill the other before they succumbed to their respective attacks. There was a sharp CRACK that reverberated through the EVA loud enough to be picked up by the communications, and suddenly the Angel was drifting away as it disolved.
"HA!" Asuka gasped, feeling the heat growing around her EVA as heat and magma leaked into the damaged Type-D suit, heating her in the entryplug as well, "Pull me up, Misato, I'm gonna boil soon."
"Retrieving Unit-Two-" the faint tug upwards stopped and began to reverse, "Crane has partly broken from its anchors!"
"NO!" two voice exclaimed over the radio, and Asuka felt her unit jerk to a stop and begin to ascend again.
"Shinji, don't let that crane go!"
"What do you think I'm doing, Misato!"
Asuka slumped back into her seat, lopsided grin on her face.
"Typical Third, always showing off."
0o0o0o0
Touji and Asuka broke apart, pulling in lung fulls of air as they watched each other, her back against a wall of the onsen with his hands planted on either side of her head.
"I do not like being on the sidelines, Red."
"No fun for me either, Stooge."
"That was too close, I wish I had an EVA."
"I wish we didn't have to deal with this..."
Asuka reached up, placing her hands on his cheeks and pulled him back for another kiss, oblivious to Shinji and Misato several feet away as they alternated between glancing at the couple and making sure they remained undisturbed for a little while longer.
"They official at the school?" Misato whispered, watching Shinji for a moment.
"Yeah."
"And you and Hikari?" she teased, instantly getting the teen blushing and stuttering, and she grinned, "I'll take that as a yes."
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A/N: Uh... wow... I'm the writer and I wasn't expecting that twist...
I'd seen a similar situation mentioned in another NGE fic awhile back, and I didn't recall it until I was halfway through that scene. -wince- Sorry if it brings up unpleasant memories for any of my readers. I hope I'm never in Kaji's position.
I hope the Sandolphon battle wasn't crap, but it kinda felt like it... -sigh- oh well. The battles will begin to be more difficult, though some aren't really going to change much. You've probably already guessed that the Bardiel and Zeruel battle will be trials, but I think I can pull them off satisfactorily enough -wink-
Check out "Capsuleer", my sidestep into the world of EVE Online. If I continue it, it'll be AU simply because while I play, I'm not fully into the mythos and world of the game.
Don't worry, the next chapter of IN:R will be up before I put up the next one of NWYBF. -wink-
