Evangelion is property of Studio Khara and GAINAX.

Street Fighter and Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist are property of CAPCOM.

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: SENSHI NO MICHI

For the third time, Shinji woke to the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling.

I'm beginning to see a pattern here.

As he returned to consciousness, he slowly became aware of a slight itch – almost like a sting or burn – across most of his body. Furrowing his brow at the strange sensation, the boy slowly moved forward in his bed, and then sat up, the bedsheets falling and exposing his chest.

Staring straight ahead, Shinji tried to remember the series of events that had led to him being here.

I…I was in the EVA. We were fighting the Angel, or whatever that was – we were winning. And then…

He glanced to his left, and through a window, he could spy the unblemished green and blue of the Geofront landscape.

Well, whatever happened, it looks like we won.

Wait, where's Asuka? Where is –

The sudden surge of blind fear that had shot through Shinji disappeared when he looked to his right.

Asuka was seated beside him, asleep in a chair. Slouched back, her LCL-matted ponytail fell over her left shoulder. Shinji was vaguely aware of the smell of blood, and he wrinkled his nose.

Looks like she didn't shower before she came here. Guess she was worried…

Suppressing a small smile at the thought, the boy laid back and stretched out slowly, with a small yawn. The strange inch was lessened, now, and he rose once again.

Shinji reached out to wake his companion, but paused – from the new angle, he could see that the left arm of her plugsuit had been removed – and her left shoulder was wrapped in bandages. The memory of Asuka's EVA struggling against the grip of the Angel flashed through his mind, and he winced.

Was she actually hurt? Or did she just feel the pain of the EVA?

Withdrawing back to the bed once again, Shinji rested against the headboard, gazing down at his lap. The images of the battle played behind his eyes, as he struggled to find some kind of grasp on reality.

Life was strange enough when you could throw ki from your hands, and perform uppercuts that sent you flying into the air, but robots and aliens were a bit much. After several minutes of nothing, the boy sighed, and looked back over at his sleeping friend.

She probably needs her rest. I need to get on my feet – I'm a cramped mess.

Shinji swung his legs over the side of the bed – thankfully he was wearing hospital-issue pants – and looked around for any kind of shirt he could don until everything was taken care of. Finding a turquoise-coloured shirt of the same style as the pants, he pulled it on, and then moved towards the door.

Noticing a pair of slippers, he slid into them, and after one last glance at Asuka, pressed the button to open the door. It slid open with barely any noise, and he headed out, intent on clearing his head.

He had assumed that in the aftermath of a giant monster attacking a city, the hospital would be full to bursting – but as he strode down the silent corridors, and glanced into too many open rooms, he saw almost no one.

Slippers slapping against the linoleum floor, Shinji turned a corner, and stopped, as he heard the squeak of wheels across the floor, stepping to the side to allow hospital staff to wheel a hospital bed past him. He looked down at its occupant, and his eyes widened.

Her skin was deathly pale, to the point that Shinji could almost see the vague colours of veins and arteries near her neck. Her hair was a washed-out, faded blue, choppily cut into a bob, and the one eye that wasn't hidden behind a patch was red, like a burning coal peering up at him behind a blank mask.

He blankly returned the stare, caught off guard by both her unnatural appearance and the sheer amount of bandages on her person, to say nothing of the cast on her arm. Before Shinji realised it, the hospital bed had disappeared around the corner, out of his view, and he let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"So, the Angels have returned."

Gendo's eyes flitted to, and then promptly ignored the representative from the United Kingdom, whose hawk-like features, highlighted by the red light surrounding him, twisted in some kind of pseudo-superiority.

"It seems rather sudden." The man continued, oblivious to the fact that the Commander still stared ahead, instead focusing on the figure directly across from him – Keel Lorenz, the Chairman of the Human Instrumentality Committee.

He was a withered shell of a man, filled out with cybernetics and rich food. His eyes were hidden behind a cybernetic visor, to compensate for the blindness that came with his impressive age.

To his left, the yellow-lit representative from France spoke, with a voice like nails on a chalkboard.

"All is as it was fifteen years ago – sudden disaster, without warning."

The United Kingdom representative, his features still held in a smirk, spoke again.

"At least now, our previous investments will not go to waste."

Across from the red-lit man, the blue-lit representative from Russia cut him off, his eyes narrow and his tone clipped.

"If it doesn't pay off, it's a waste regardless."

The Frenchman beside him nodded in agreement, before speaking.

"Correct. Now that the existence of the Angels is no longer a secret, we must handle all information delicately to avoid any…undue attention. NERV must do so immediately."

Gendo breathed, before replying – these meetings, as frequent as they were, were beginning to grate on his nerves.

"Everything has already been handled – you may rest assured of that."

The previously silent man from America – lit up in green –finally spoke up, watching the commander with a guarded expression.

"We must acknowledge your efficiency in that regard – but speaking in that regard, surely EVA and NERV can be put to a better use, Mr. Ikari?"

The French crone to his left spoke again, his expression leering and his voice condemning.

"We are, of course, referring to the repair costs for both Unit One and Unit Two, which when added to the cost of repairs for Unit Zero, are enough to bankrupt nothing less than a small country."

Jumping on the opportunity, the British representative piped up.

"We also understand that you gave those particular toys to untrained pilots."

"If it had not been for your dubious decision ten years ago, that would not have been the case." The blue-lit Russian mused. "Allowing the two children to spend their years with some guru in the forest will have massive repercussions in manpower, time, and money."

Beneath his glasses, Gendo rolled his eyes, and then replied. "A necessary cost. One can see from the footage that their performance in EVA far exceeded anything we had predicted."

"Irrelevant." The UK representative cut the Commander off, and Gendo fought the urge to bristle in his chair. "You have a far more pressing responsibility – the cultivation of the Human Instrumentality Project."

"Mm. In such troublesome times, this project is our last, best hope." The Frenchman to the Commander's left chattered.

"In any case…" Keel began, his voice, though subdued, seeming to echo throughout the chamber, "The Angel is no excuse for delaying progress on the Project. However, this council will admit that your decision, as questionable as it was, has borne fruit – we will endeavour to adjust the budget. See that we do not have to do so again."

"Now, the rest of this meeting only concerns the rest of us." The UK representative sneered.

"Your presence here is appreciated, Mr. Ikari." The French representative said, half-heartedly as the he and the other representatives, save for Keel, vanished into the darkness.

Gendo and Keel stared at each other for a small eternity, before the older man finally spoke.

"Ikari…you must realise your decisions may have consequences – severe ones."

Without another word, Keel too vanished from view, leaving the Commander alone.

Do not think me an idiot. Every decision I have made…I am fully aware of where it may lead.

There was pain, yet there wasn't. It was a peculiar, disconcerting sensation, and with every few steps, Asuka found herself rolling or touching her shoulder, only to feel nothing out of the ordinary. Then, a moment later, there would be a sting, a phantom scream of muscle tearing.

Shaking her head in a vain attempt to distract her from the odd sensation, Asuka walked on. She walked on through sterilised, bone-white corridors, the soles of her plugsuit slapping against the linoleum.

What the hell did that thing do to me?

And why the hell am I still wearing this thing?

Given that Asuka had rushed over to Shinji's hospital room as soon as she'd been treated, she hadn't had the luxury of a shower – and she was beginning to regret that now. The dried LCL was caked in her hair, dulling its natural lustre and causing the strands to stick together, and hadn't fully evaporated on the plugsuit – every step Asuka took, the suit seemed to protest by sticking to itself, making moving irritating.

With an exasperated sigh, she fumbled with the controls of a door, her 'bad' arm making things difficult.

That Akagi woman told me it'd wear off in a day or so – it better.

The door finally slid open, and Asuka stepped out into another room. It was expansive, and illuminated by the light shining in from massive windows at the front. Rows and rows of benches filled the room, and the girl spied a familiar head of brown hair.

Shinji didn't appear to have seen her, and a small grin crept across her face as she prowled between the benches.

Approaching the quiet teen, she surged forward and grabbed his shoulders, only to find herself being tossed over the boy, who had reacted to a sudden attack the only way he knew how. Twisting in the air, Asuka managed to land cleanly, standing on the seat of the bench in front of Shinji's.

Shinji's face brightened as he recognised his friend, then darkened slightly.

"You shouldn't have done that, Asuka – I could have hurt you." He murmured, glancing at the floor. The girl snorted in response.

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious – with your shoulder and everything, I…" The boy drifted off, scratching at his chest through his shirt – he must have changed his clothes - and the redhead standing in front of him sighed, hopping over the back of the bench and sitting down beside him.

"It's not even an injury, baka. It just kind of…feels weird. Wanna poke it?" Asuka raised a questioning eyebrow, smiling.

Shinji brightened up the tiniest amount, finally looking up again. "I'll pass. And…sorry for leaving you in that room earlier. I just needed to get up." The girl beside him shook her head. "No worries. I get it. Remember when you broke my arm after botching a grapple?"

The boy blanched as the memory of a screaming girl and an arm bent at an odd angle flashed through his mind.

"Yeah, you remember. After being holed up in the house for two days straight, I had to get out, get some air. Only natural. You don't need to apologise for everything, Shinji." Asuka remarked, tilting her head slightly.

Moments passed, and Shinji remained silent. Finally, the redhead dropped all pretenses.

"Shinji, what's wrong?" She asked, with a sigh. As soon as she had, the answer came rushing out, like water through a broken dam.

"You got hurt because of me." The boy hissed, resting his face in his palms.

"No, Shinji, I –"

"If I hadn't…I…you could have been killed, Asuka." Shinji insisted, his hands leaving his face to reveal cloudy eyes. "It's my fau – ow!"

The boy cringed as Asuka tugged sharply on his ear, her expression carrying the slightest hint of affection.

"I got hurt because I charged in and disobeyed orders. If I'd listened to Misato, it wouldn't have happened. Now lighten up!" She drew the boy closer, as if to fiercely hug him, but instead forced his head under her arm, and began to give him a fierce noogie.

"Wooga wooga –" The girl teased.

Asuka flew through the air again, and landed just as cleanly as she had before, smirking at Shinji from behind another row of benches.

"Not so shy about tossing me around now, are you?" She asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Across from her, Shinji let out a breath.

"Come on, baka. I need to get showered, get changed, and then we'll find that drunkard –"

"Ahem."

Said drunkard stood at the doorway to the room, an unamused expression on her face.

"You doing alright, you two?"

Asuka nodded stiffly, whilst Shinji made a small noise of affirmation.

"Good." Misato walked over to the pair, and leant on the side of one of the benches, before speaking.

"Look…I know things…could have gone better."

Asuka rolled her eyes.

"I realise everything kind of went crazy, but…you two did good out there. Even if one of you disobeyed orders." The Captain conceded, not failing to notice the redhead's slight bristle at the last comment, or how Shinji's expression lit up at her praise.

"And personally, I think we all deserve a rest. I've made sure that you don't have any duties for the rest of the weekend. That way, you'll be ready for school when that comes along."

"What?" The redhead across from Misato asked, her expression wide-eyed. "We don't need to go to school. We already got an education –"

"In mathematics, physics, and biology." The captain cut the girl off. "What about history, Japanese, and Japanese literature?"

"We…ugh, fine." Asuka threw down her arms in defeat, her ponytail flopping back over her shoulder. Instead of protesting, Shinji seemed interested.

"I've never been to a proper high school before.." He murmured, looking up at Misato.

"Well," The Captain smiled. "Nothing but new experiences for you two, huh?"

"You can say that again." Asuka muttered, crossing her arms.

"Come on." Misato indicated, beckoning the two children to follow her. "You can get changed here, then have a shower back at the apartment. I have a feeling you want to get out of this place as soon as possible."

"You're not half-wrong there, Misato." The redhead murmured, walking over with Shinji beside her.

And I'm back! I really have no excuse for taking so long with this chapter, so I hope you accept my deepest apologies. I'll be looking to bring that new chapter to you tomorrow, and for any of you who have been wondering where the hell the street fighting is in a Street Fighter crossover, will have their first taste of hand-to-hand in the next chapter. Any guesses on who's stepping into the ring?

Also, I'd like to take the time to ask you to leave a review - I really want to make a good story here, and to do that I need your honest critique - positive and negative. I want to improve, and give you all a story you can come back to and enjoy. Thanks for reading!