Chapter 22
"Das Arschloch ist tot! Sowas. Von. Tot! Der steht nicht mehr auf, weil ich ihn zerreiße!"
Asuka swore loudly as she left the apartment, and a Section Two agent came to see what the commotion was. He beat a hasty retreat after almost getting punched in the face as the enraged Second Child passed him on her way to Misato's car, cursing the entire time.
"Der ganze schöne Tag im Arsch weil dieser Flachwichser von Möchtegerngott nicht weiß, wann es genug ist!"
Shinji still didn't know what was going on, except that it was clearly bad news. His queries had fallen on deaf ears as Misato switched into military mode and began ordering the kids around, and Asuka's tirade was clearly starting to scare him, especially since he didn't understand most of what she was saying. Hikari had quickly covered the cake back up before being the last one out the door.
"Wenn ich mit dem fertig bin, sieht was die mit mir gemacht haben aus wie ein gottverdammter Strandurlaub!"
All three Children were in the back of the car as it raced through the city towards NERV. Rei was in the front passenger seat, looking visibly agitated, while Shinji was in the back seat next to a German girl who was now punctuating nearly every word that came out of her mouth by bringing her fist down hard on the door's armrest.
"Ich werde den verdammten Drecksack mit bloßen Händen zerreißen!"
As the car approached the NERV entrance at a high rate of speed, Rei finally spoke up. "Bitte beruhige dich, Asuka."
"Und dann werde ich-... Häh?"
The attention of the other two teens was drawn towards Rei, who had just silenced Asuka's ten minute rant with three words. Misato could only glance sideways for a split second before returning her focus to her driving. The guards, used to how the Commander drove, already had the gate open well in advance of her arrival. The sports car shot past them, and Misato finally applied the brakes and slid perfectly into a parking spot, despite the lack of necessity of such an act.
"Okay, let's go," she ordered as she stepped out. "Rei, Asuka, you know the drill. Shinji, stay with me." Without waiting for a response, she strode quickly to the elevator, the teens trailing along in her wake.
"Could somebody please tell me what's going on?!" Shinji practically begged as the elevator door closed.
"Isn't it obvious, dummy?" Asuka gruffly replied, arms folded and staring at the door. "We're about to be attacked."
Now slightly less worried, Rei said, "The Mass Production Evangelions have been... appropriated by Adam, and he is sending them against us."
The Second Child nodded grimly. "And we're going to put them down for good." She looked sidelong at Shinji, who was now pale faced and wide-eyed. A glance downward showed that, yes, his hand was spasming again. She unfolded her arms and placed her hands on the boy's shoulders. "Relax," she said. "We've already killed two of them." Trying to put on a reassuring grin, she then added, "I'm getting my revenge for what they did to me."
One of Misato's hands joined Asuka's on his left shoulder. "You don't need to fight, Shinji. These two have been doing very well. That's why I asked you to come with me."
"But... how? The Evas were..." Shinji trailed off, before scrunching his eyes closed and twisting his head away from Asuka. She had a fairly good idea what had just come to his mind, especially after what she had just foolishly reminded him off, and she squeezed his shoulders as the boy shuddered.
"Long, confusing story extremely short, we have them all back," Misato said. The elevator door opened, and she sighed. "I promise I'll tell you everything tonight, okay?" The First and Second Children went on to the change rooms, while Shinji followed Misato in a daze towards the command centre.
"I'll be honest, I'd forgotten that you knew German," Asuka remarked as she slipped into her bright red plugsuit. "Came as a bit of a surprise to hear it come out of your mouth." Enough of a surprise to stop the redhead's rant and bring her back down to earth.
Though she was still going to eviscerate the Revenant for interrupting the party. That still hadn't changed.
Rei stood up to make the final adjustments of her own loose plugsuit before pressing the button on her wrist that sealed it around her body. "I know the written language well enough to read it," she replied. "But I do not believe I could hold a deeply intellectual conversation with you."
"Yeah, I've seen those science books you read," Asuka said, recalling the brick-thick volumes the First Child had occasionally been reading the previous year. She stabbed a thumb at her chest as she added, "If you ever need a hand with speaking German, just ask me. I'm already planning on teaching your brother anyway."
A smile grew on the First Child's face, and she nodded in agreement as the two left the changing room, heading directly for the Evangelion cages. Asuka briefly wondered whether the smile was caused by her offer, or if it was because Rei would be spending more time with Shinji. She had been rather monopolising the boy's time, after all.
When they reached the cages, the head of Unit-02's tech crew smartly saluted the Second Child and said, "Give 'em hell, Pilot Soryu!"
"You're goddamn right I will," Asuka said as she returned the salute with a feral grin, and climbed into the entry plug, while Rei ran on to her own Evangelion.
Within minutes, she once more felt like a giant.
"73%. I wonder why," came the dry remark from Misato as Unit-02 came online. "And Rei is sitting at... 70%."
"Not bad, First," Asuka said with what might have been grudging approval in her voice. "Looks like Shinji's been a good influence on both of us."
"That is to be expected," Rei replied. The smile on her face was wider now. "We are both happier. Even with what is currently in our Evas, it is clear that-"
"Uh, hey," Asuka interrupted with a glance towards the video screen displaying the command centre. "Let's... not talk about that right now, okay?"
The smile lessened as Rei picked up on what her fellow pilot meant. "Oh. Yes, of course."
There was a loud rumble of machinery as the Evangelions were moved to the launch cradle. In the time since the previous attack, more repair work had been completed on the Evangelion launch system. It would still take a very long time to bring it back to normal, but now there were more exits available in case sudden deployment to a specific area was needed.
"The target is coming from the same point again," Misato said as the behemoths were being moved. "You'll be deploying at the same co-ordinates as last time, but don't expect the fight to be just as easy."
"Affirmative. They will have learnt and attempted to adapt," replied the First Child.
"Exactly. We'll be sending up extra weaponry for you, and we even have some of the static defenses finally repaired. It's not much, but every bit counts. You two ready?" Upon receiving affirmatives from both pilots, Misato almost yelled, "Launch Evangelions!"
The second the order left her mouth, the two Evangelions were already shooting up to the surface.
The waiting always got to Asuka in the time between deployment and engagement. Behind her, Rei had already set up on the hill, and VTOL craft hovered close to the bay. There was nothing to do for the time being except wait. The seconds dragged by like hours as she waited for the enemy to make landfall. But all she could do was grit her teeth and bear it. Her Evangelion's giant red fists tightened around the pair of Progressive Axes it carried. She had briefly considered the Sonic Glaive again, but the axes were much more... suitable for this fight.
Nobody had batted an eye when she had stomped over to the armoury building at the edge of the city and pulled out two weapons. Her anger at the interruption was known possibly throughout the entire NERV base by now.
Finally, Asuka hit the comm switch. "What's the ETA on this damn thing?" she exasperatedly asked. "It's interrupting my plans and doesn't even have the decency to show up quickly!"
"Two minutes," was the reply from Makoto Hyuga.
"Ugh!" The Second Child threw her hands up and slumped back in her chair. She needed a diversion, and one was helpfully provided to her only a few seconds later.
"H-hey, Asuka? Good luck out there."
She sat back up as the voice of Shinji reached her ears. Her face wore a soft smile at his concern for an instant before it hardened into a smirk. "Luck? Just who the hell do you think I am?" On the video screen, Asuka saw Shinji drop his head as a soft chuckle escaped him. "But... thanks. What about Rei though? Not gonna wish your sister luck as well?"
"Oh! Right! S-sorry Rei!" The boy flushed with embarrassment at forgetting the First Child. "And good luck to you too!" Rei turned a warm smile on him but was unable to respond, as Makoto suddenly cut in.
"The target has increased speed! Estimated time is now fifteen seconds!"
"Prepare to engage!" Misato ordered. "Get this done quickly, I want to try some of that cake!"
Asuka gave the screen a thumbs up, before closing the channel and focusing on the bay. Already she could see the water starting shift aside as...
'Wait, that's not just displacement. Is it parting the water?'
Somebody had obviously given the VTOLs an order, as they immediately opened fire on the disturbance in the water. The familiar orange barrier, previously just a vague hint of light, flared brilliantly as it easily deflected the munitions. The Revenant was almost jogging as it moved easily onto dry land, having used the field to push away the water for ease of movement. It was striding directly toward Unit-02 and not paying the aircraft any more attention than it would a fly buzzing around its head, even as they circled around and began to pepper its back with cannons and missiles.
Rei spoke up, her image flashing to life in the corner of Asuka's eye. "This Revenant appears to have armour."
Turning a confused look on the First Child, Asuka replied, "It's an Evangelion. They all have armour."
"Look closer."
With a frown, the redhead did as she was told. A few button presses zoomed in her view on the target -which the MAGI marked as Unit-07- and allowed her to make out some detail behind the interference of the enemy's AT-Field. Its torso and upper arms were sheathed in what appeared at first glance to be bronze plate. Before Asuka could analyse any further, Unit-07 broke into a run as it charged at her.
In response she activated her external speakers, turned them up to maximum volume and yelled, "Na komm schon! Wenn du aufs Fressbrett willst, werd ich nur zu gerne abliefern!" Unit-02 took off towards the incoming enemy, just as a brilliant beam lanced past the red Evangelion and impacted against the orange barrier of the Revenant. It only slowed Unit-07 down slightly, but proved enough of a distraction to give Asuka an edge as she rammed her own AT-Field into that of her enemy.
Over the incredibly discordant sound of two AT-Fields fighting for supremacy, she barely made out the disappointed sound that Rei made as Unit-00 cycled the Positron Rifle.
"Its AT-Field is much stronger," the bluenette muttered.
"Tell me about it," Asuka snarkily replied, before returning her concentration to bringing the enemy's shield down. The axe that was previously in her Evangelion's left hand was now magnetically holstered on its right hip as its arm stretched out, fingers splayed as the Second Child tried to will Unit-07's AT-Field to collapse. The Revenant had both its arms out to counter the force pressing against it.
"If you can turn it around slightly, I can fire at its flank while it is focusing on you," Rei suggested.
"I'll try."
Unit-02 raised one giant foot, and slowly stepped to the right. After a moment, Unit-07 duplicated the move. Another step, another copied step. From the outside, the scene appeared as if both giants were at the start of a duel, circling each other and waiting to see who would blink first.
'Just a little more,' Asuka thought to herself as the circle was nearly completed. She had originally planned to only force the Revenant to present its side to Rei, but the white behemoth was continuing to strafe around her. Now she was standing still, merely twisting her Evangelion to keep Unit-07 in front of her. Its back was now completely unprotected and facing towards the hill.
And Rei took the shot.
Later, it would be determined that Unit-07 somehow knew exactly what was going to happen. It certainly couldn't have seen the Positron Rifle fire, and even from that distance the sound would likely have not reached whatever ears it possessed. Whatever the reason, a half-second after the round erupted from the barrel of Rei's weapon, Unit-07 was ducking to the side, leaving Asuka staring in horror at the white-hot beam heading directly for her.
All she could do was curse.
The occupants of the command centre could do nothing but stare up at the giant screen in front of them as the errant beam struck Unit-02. Its AT-Field flared brilliantly, and the screen automatically dimmed the view to avoid blinding everybody. For a moment the orange barrier seemed like it would weather the assault, but then it shattered, allowing the stream of positrons to impact against the torso of the red giant, catching the outstretched arm at the same time.
Unit-02 flew backwards for several hundred meters before crashing to earth, the power cable connector leaving a wide gouge in the landscape as it slid along the ground. When it finally came to a halt, dust and smoke billowed around the fallen Evangelion, obscuring the horrified watchers' view.
"ASUKA!"
Shinji's scream seemed to knock the NERV officers out of their daze, and Ritsuko immediately began shouting orders, demanding the status of the Second Child. The three technicians forced their gazes away from the carnage and back to their screens as they began rapidly typing out commands and shouting reports.
"Left arm and frontal armour almost completely destroyed!"
"Umbilical connector damaged, Unit-02 is on battery backup!"
Meanwhile, Misato turned her attention to Shinji, who looked even more terrified than the adults. She moved closer to him and squeezed his shoulder, noticing how white his knuckles were as they clenched tighter than they had likely ever been before. Desperate to focus on anything but the possible death of one of her kids, the woman's mind instead noted how tall the boy was getting. Giving no sign that he even noticed the physical contact, Shinji yelled Asuka's name again.
And got a response.
"Ooh... Hör auf zu schreien, du Dödel; mir geht's gut," the Second Child groaned.
In the command centre, fear turned to joy and relief as most of the tension left the room. Most of what Asuka said went over their heads, but her tone of voice said enough. Both Shinji and Misato bowed their heads and thanked the gods for the miracle.
The First Child's voice cut in. "S-sorry Asuka!" she said, sounding very much unlike her usual self as she began to apologise profusely for her mistake, but Asuka cut her off after a few seconds.
"Knock it off, Wondergirl, you're almost as bad as him."
The remark brought a relieved smile to Misato's face. If Asuka was talking like that, then she was alright. A new screen activated, showing the redhead tiredly sitting up and clutching her chest while her left arm dangled at her side.
On the screen, the blips representing the NERV aircraft converged rapidly on the Revenant, firing everything they had as they attempted to cover Unit-02. The munitions that didn't explode harmlessly against its AT-Field were just as useless against the orange armour cladding Unit-07's torso, and any damage to the arms or legs was healed almost instantly.
But the pilots refused to give in. Even when the Revenant hurled a giant fistful of debris at one of them, forcing the gunship to limp away while trailing smoke, the rest remained steadfast.
"The Revenant is entering the dust cloud!" Shigeru Aoba reported. On the screen, Asuka's eyes shot wide open and she reached for the controls, her left arm lagging well behind the right but eventually making it.
"Unit-00 has abandoned its position and deployed its progressive knife. It is advancing on Unit-02 and the target," said Makoto.
Misato turned to him. "Of course. Rei can't risk a shot now. Especially not after the mistake she just made," she added in a much quieter voice, and Makoto grimly nodded.
"Careful, Rei! We can't see what's going on in there-" Ritsuko began.
A loud curse cut off the sub-commander. "Scheiße!"
Misato stormed over to the computer panel. "Asuka?!" she called out.
"Ah! Hau..." There was a metallic clanging, "ab, du Arsch!"
The cloud was clearing, thanks in part to the helicopter blades of the gunships forcing the dust and smoke away, and the bridge crew could finally see what was happening. Unit-02 was struggling to its feet and brandishing its remaining axe as the Revenant approached, unphased by the red Evangelion's wild attacks as it slowly advanced and occasionally using a forearm to knock aside some of the swings.
And Unit-07 was licking its lips.
Misato shuddered as she saw the red and disgusting tongue flick over the ridiculous-looking lips as they pulled back into a grin. Why did SEELE choose to make the Mass Production Evangelions so strange-looking? Brilliant white paint with what looked like the loudest red lipstick in the world, on an eyeless face that was almost all mouth and neck.
'What big teeth you have, granny! All the better to eat you with, my dear!'
"Misato." The sound of her name pulled the Commander out of her dark musing. She turned around just as the image of Unit-00 reached down to pick up the Progressive Axe Unit-02 had dropped, before accelerating towards the Revenant as the VTOLs ceased fire and retreated.
"What is it, Shinji?" Misato asked.
Unit-00 hurled the axe it had just collected. Though not exactly designed for such an act, the weapon still crunched into the back of the orange shell protecting the Revenant. While it didn't fully penetrate the strange armour, the attack successfully drew Unit-07's attention towards the rapidly approaching blue Evangelion. Unit-02 took the opportunity to retreat and retrieve a fresh power umbilical, before returning to the fray.
"I... I have to go out there," Shinji quietly said, his eyes locked on the screen.
Ever since the news that her boy had woken up from his strange coma, Misato had been both anticipating and dreading this moment. It was no secret that Shinji hated everything about Evangelion. And yet, time after time, he had forced aside that hatred and climbed into the machine that had killed his own mother and stolen her soul.
Before, she had been proud of Shinji for putting his life on the line, but now? Now she just wished she could pilot herself. "Is this what you really want to do?" she asked.
"No..." The Third Child shook his head. "But it's what I need to do."
"Are you sure, Shinji?" Misato asked, already knowing what the answer would be. She exhaled sadly when her foster son nodded, and turned to Ritsuko. "Prepare Unit-01 for emergency launch," she ordered.
The sub-commander and the three technicians all looked at her in shock for a moment before leaping to obey the Supreme Commander of NERV. Her expression told them that she would brook no delays.
"We'll need to get the other two teams to assist," Ritsuko advised. "Unit-01 has only had a skeleton crew for a long time."
"Do whatever you have to," Misato replied. To Shinji, she said, "Go get suited up and head to the cage. The crews should have Unit-01 ready as soon as you get there."
Shinji ran out of the command centre, and the Commander frowned. The moment she had mentioned the crews, there had been a look of fear on his face. He was already willing to get into his Evangelion once more, so what was he afraid of? The frown deepened as she looked down and saw several spots of blood on the ground. A tiny puddle of red had formed around the boy's left shoe, and a trail of slightly bloody footprints led out of the room.
His clenched fist had obviously driven the fingernails into the palm of his hand.
Resolving to look into it later when there was spare time to worry, Misato turned her attention back to the screen, which showed the blue and red Evangelions trading blows with the Revenant. She cheered up slightly when she recognised what Rei and Asuka were doing. One of the simulations they regularly ran the two pilots through involved almost this exact scenario. Apart from the damage to Unit-02, the scene looked almost exactly like they were still training.
The Revenant was being not very co-operative though. And it was cheating with that odd orange armour. "What is that stuff?" she wondered aloud as Unit-02's Progressive Axe skittered along its surface, denied a solid hit due to Unit-07 bending out of the way of the attack. "Looks like it was stolen from an ancient history museum."
"I'm not sure, but I want a sample of it," Ritsuko remarked. "It might be solidified LCL, I've seen dried up patches of the stuff that looked very similar. Though it's rather surprising that it's holding strong against their attacks, considering how brittle dry LCL is."
"Call it magic, then."
"Not if I want to still be known as a scientist, Commander."
"But Rits..." Misato developed a cheeky grin. "'Any sufficiently advanced-"
"Don't even start with that!" Ritsuko interrupted, forcing down the urge to bang her head against a wall. She only just remembered to add, "...Commander."
Rei, less accustomed to fighting with two weapons, was alternating strikes with her own knife and Asuka's second axe. The Revenant ducked and dodged as best as it could, defying the efforts of the pilots to put it down, but that meant it had little opportunity to fight back. Its claws only occasionally managed to strike Unit-00, but did nothing more than remove a few layers of armour at a time. There were several chunks missing out of its own armour, and with both Evangelions its AT-Field was easily neutralised, but they still couldn't land a decent hit.
Asuka was breathing heavily, trying to ignore the sympathetic pain she felt from Unit-02. Her Evangelion's torso armour was practically non-existent, and its left forearm was nothing but a useless charred appendage, but she couldn't leave Rei to fight the Revenant alone. Even if her own body felt like somebody had thrown boiling water on her arm and then shoved the pot into her chest, she couldn't let up.
This Revenant had interrupted her perfect day, caused a friendly fire incident, and was now practically mocking them as it wove around their weapon strikes. Oh, and it had attempted to eat her again.
Asuka Langley-Soryu was getting angry.
Well, angrier.
A mental command opened the spike launcher on Unit-02's right shoulder, but Asuka held her fire. There were only a limited number of rounds in the weapon, and she didn't want to waste them. Or cause more friendly fire.
The redhead found herself thanking Misato for the training she and the First Child had gone through this year. Without a word of communication, Rei had divined her intent and focused on keeping Unit-07's attention through faster and more aggressive weapon swings as the red Evangelion backed away slightly. It was not a pace somebody could keep up for very long, and Asuka knew she had to act soon. Even as she watched, the Revenant tore another chunk of armour off of Unit-00's torso.
"Misato," she said, calling up the connection to the command centre. "So far all these bastards have kept the damage I inflicted on them last year. Which one is Unit-07? How did I cripple this one?"
Her commander and foster mother raised an eyebrow at the question, but understanding quickly dawned. She called to Ritsuko, who had been quietly conferring with Maya Ibuki. Asuka caught something about an 'activation' before the scientist looked up at her and replied, "You cut off its right arm and broke its neck. Those should still be its weak points, even under the armour." With a glance at Misato, Ritsuko turned back to Maya.
"Right, thanks." Asuka got a dismissive wave before she cut the connection. She turned her attention back to the melee. Now that she knew the injuries this one had suffered, she saw the dodging Revenant in a different light. It was clear now that Unit-07 was favouring its right arm, shying away from attacks on that side far more than any on its left. Its head was also shifting as little as possible, the Revenant instead moving its entire body to avoid attacks to the head and neck.
Now that she had the measure of the beast, Asuka began to plan. Another mental command called up a sub-system she hadn't used since NERV Berlin. Multiple targeting reticules appeared in her vision as the spike launcher's dedicated aiming system came online.
It was a system she hadn't needed to use except in the early days of simulation sessions, just to show that she knew how to operate it. Her fighting style ensured that she could activate and launch the spikes in seconds, and be almost guaranteed a hit without needing to waste time aiming.
But this wasn't the time or place for 'almost'.
Asuka concentrated and the reticules started moving, following her line of sight as she focused intently on the right shoulder joint of Unit-07, but its movements were hindering her attempt. "Rei, slow down a little," she requested. "Make it look like you're getting tired."
"Affirmative," was the cool reply from Rei.
"And be ready to get out of the way in case I miss."
"...Affirmative."
Unit-00 began to lag in its attacks, the swings becoming slower and more desperate as the Evangelion slowly backed away. The Revenant seemed to relax as it perceived the apparent weakness of its target, and matched Unit-00's retreat step for step.
Giving Asuka the chance for a solid lock on its shoulder.
The launcher fired two bursts in rapid succession as Asuka emptied half of its magazine. Three deadly spikes, as long as a family car, crossed the distance in a fraction of a second as they broke the speed of sound, before shattering the shell around Unit-07's right shoulder as they tore through both layers of armour. The second trio arrived moments afterwards, shredding the unprotected flesh and almost cutting the arm completely off.
As the Revenant recoiled in pain, Asuka charged up behind it, dropping her Progressive Axe to free Unit-02's remaining hand so that she could latch on to the enemy's dangling arm. She pulled it horizontally as she leaned her Evangelion backwards, placing a giant red boot against Unit-07's torso for extra leverage as she ripped its arm the rest of the way off. The force sent the crippled behemoth careening towards Unit-00.
Who separated its head from its body with a well placed swipe of the borrowed axe. The blue Evangelion almost seemed to become a ballerina as it used the energy of the swing to pirouette around and deliver one more attack, putting all its energy into a final slice at Unit-07's legs.
Deprived of most of its limbs, the Revenant could do nothing but fall over, thrashing wildly with its remaining arm as red-orange liquid spurted out of its severed body parts.
"Wondergirl, you had better finish it off," Asuka said. "The core explosion will probably be too much for my Eva."
Unit-00 nodded at her. The First Child delivered the coup-de-grace as soon as Unit-02 was out of the blast radius, putting another resurrected Mass Production Evangelion out of everybody's misery. What remained of the Third Revenant swiftly collapsed into LCL, heading back into the sea in flagrant violation of liquid physics as it flowed easily over any obstruction.
A few minutes later, just as Asuka was about to lock her Evangelion into the lift to return to the Geofront, Rei called out to her. She turned, and saw a surprising sight.
Unit-00 was bowing to her.
"Rei... what are you doing?" Asuka hesitantly inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"I wish to apologise for injuring you." Inside the cockpit, Rei herself was also bowing as best as she could in the pilot chair, her voice clipped and precise, as formal as if she were facing a superior officer. "I focused too much on eliminating the target and did not notice that you were in the path of my shot."
"What, this?" Asuka chuckled as her Evangelion gestured to the blackened armour on its torso and arm. "Barely felt a thing. My AT-Field was still fully deployed ahead of me, so that took most of it."
"Regardless, I do not feel right simply letting this incident pass."
"...What, you want me to shoot you back?"
"Whatever it would take to set this straight," Rei replied without a hint of hesitation.
"The hell you will!" Ritsuko suddenly and angrily cut in. "Evas are expensive! It's already going to take money we can't afford to waste to fix Unit-02! Now both of you get back here!" Through the comm screen, Asuka thought she saw steam shooting out of the mad woman's nostrils. But a stranger sight was the downcast look on Misato's face in the background, despite another Revenant being vanquished.
Asuka snorted into her gloved fist at the scientist's overreaction. "Wasn't going to do that anyway. But answer me this, Sub-Commander: What is Rei's sync ratio at the moment?"
"Huh?" The question threw Ritsuko off for a moment, but she quickly responded. "74%. Why?"
"Oh... nothing really." With a smirk, Asuka cut the connection. To Rei, she said, "Get up."
Unit-00 slowly straightened it's back as Unit-02 strode towards it. In her entry plug, Asuka raised a hand, the move copied perfectly by her Evangelion.
And slapped Unit-00 across the back of the head.
Rei winced in pain, rubbing the back of her head as Asuka said, "Be more careful next time, okay?" before walking Unit-02 back to the Evangelion lift.
Asuka was looking forward to taking a fast shower to wash the LCL out of her hair before heading home, but Misato's appearance at the bottom of the steps leading from the walkway to the catwalk told her right away that things weren't going to be that simple. The woman looked incredibly worried about something as she handed Asuka a towel, with which she began to quickly wipe the orange gunk off, paying more attention to her long hair. With the length of her hair, Asuka always felt like her head was far heavier than it should be for a few minutes after exiting the entry plug.
Cutting it was entirely out of the question. Asuka was proud of her hair, and an inconvenience was not enough to change her opinion.
When she no longer felt like somebody had tied weights to her hair, Asuka said, "Can we at least put off looking into the friendly fire incident until tomorrow? I really want to head back to the apartment and get our friends back for the party." As the First Child walked up to them from her own Evangelion, Asuka waved a hand at Rei as she tried to get out the first words of another apology. "Besides, Rei's already apologised, her punishment has been delivered, let's just go, okay?"
It had been a good guess as to the reason for Misato's mood, but unfortunately it was wrong.
Misato cracked a small smile, but there was no humour in it. "You'd probably find it a bit hard to have a party without the guest of honour."
She now had the full attention of both girls. Asuka cautiously asked, "Did something happen to Shinji while we were fighting?" Next to the redhead, Rei paled slightly.
After a moment of thought, Misato waved a hand back and forth in a 'kind of' gesture and said, "It's... more like something didn't happen." At the confused looks of the two pilots, she sighed. "Just come with me, and I'll show you."
Asuka was half-expecting Misato to lead them all the way to the medical bay, so stopping only a short distance away in front of Unit-01 brought confusion to her features. That, and the unusually large amount of people bustling about in the Evangelion Cage, Ritsuko included, running diagnostics. Normally, Unit-01's cage was almost completely empty. Asuka looked up towards the neck of the Evangelion, where an entry plug was positioned to be inserted. There hadn't been a need for one since Ritsuko had suggested placing a semi-comatose Shinji in the plug for her scans.
Asuka frowned as some of the answer to the problem presented itself. "Shinji tried to join us, didn't he?" she asked. A jolt of fear shot through her at the possibility that Shinji had been absorbed again. But the mood in the cage didn't reflect such a dire scenario, and neither did Misato's reaction. She settled down slightly, but mentally kicked herself for what she felt was her fault in the recent fight. If she had been on the ball...
"Unit-01 refused to activate," Rei added, correctly guessing what had happened. Her expression had turned fearful for a split second but now it was merely grim, possibly thinking along the same lines as her fellow pilot.
"Yeah," Misato replied, ice creeping into her voice as she stared up at the face of Unit-01. "No activation, no synchronisation. It was as if Unit-01 just decided to... ignore us, like a petulant child."
Not so long ago, Asuka would have made a quip about the purple Evangelion having the same attitude as its pilot. An image rose unbidden in her mind of Unit-01 putting on giant headphones and sulking in its cage. If the mood in the cage was brighter, she might have been willing to pass along such a ludicrous idea. "So where's Shinji now?" she asked out loud.
In response, Misato nodded her head in the direction of the entry plug. "He didn't come out when we ejected the plug. We know he's not hurt or anything, but-" She had to stop talking as Asuka stepped towards the gantry leading up to the entry plug. A couple of technicians looked curiously at the redhead, before moving out of her way. They knew better than to impede the Second Child's progress, especially with that look on her face. The Commander standing nearby only slightly factored into the mens' sense of self-preservation.
The dark entrance to the plug seemed to loom ahead of Asuka, and as she noticed her feet were slowing down she shook herself hard, causing her still-damp hair to fly about her face with a few strands sticking to her face. There was nothing to be concerned about. The people in the cage weren't acting like there was an emergency, more like something out of the ordinary had just occurred.
But as she thought more about the situation, Asuka hit upon an obvious realisation while ducking her head and finally setting foot inside the entry plug. 'He's going to blame himself for this.'
The scene inside the metal tube tore at her heart. Shinji was still sitting in the pilot's chair with a despondent look on his face, as his right hand occasionally tugged feebly on the controls and the left remained cradled in his lap.
Asuka moved up into the boy's peripheral vision and waited for a few seconds. When there was no response beyond a slight flicker of his eyes, she raised a hand and tapped hard on the metal wall of the entry plug, loudly adding, "Hey, Third!"
The echoing combination of both a loud, familiar voice and the tapping were enough to bring Shinji out of his daze with a start. He locked eyes with Asuka, who gave him a smirk, before relinquishing his grip on the controls and sinking back into his chair. "Oh, hello," he mumbled with a sigh.
"I'm not going to bother asking how you're doing," Asuka replied. "It's pretty obvious just by looking at you."
Another sigh came from Shinji's mouth. "I failed you again, Asuka."
"Wait, again? What do you mean?" The redhead folded her arms. "I don't recall you failing... me... before..." She trailed off. Shinji flinched away from her as her blue eyes shot wide open. "You're... you're talking about just before Third Impact... aren't you?" she asked, an accusatory tone beginning to leak into her voice.
He didn't answer, but he didn't need to. It was written all over Shinji's face, even as he tried to turn away from Asuka. She grabbed him by a shoulder, and used her other hand to turn his face back to look at her. "Shinji..." She paused for a moment to phrase the question in a way that hopefully wouldn't cause him to close up. "What happened to you that day?"
Most of the story was already known to her. Shinji had been mentally crushed, almost hoping for somebody to kill him during the invasion. But Misato had managed to get him into the elevator that took him to Unit-01... and then an unexplained gap between that and Unit-01 flying into the sky on wings of light while she bled out after being torn apart.
Since the nightmares that detailed Asuka's death had diminished, thanks largely in part to an unknowing Shinji, she had been plagued much less by what caused them. Now, though, she felt like she wouldn't be able to sleep until the truth was revealed.
It was time for that gap to be filled.
Perhaps understanding that neither of them would be going anywhere until Asuka got her answer, Shinji began to haltingly speak of what had happened on the eve of Third Impact. The redhead listened with half an ear and a frown. Something still seemed to be missing, as he had started a short time before the JSSDF and Misato found him underneath the stairs, already in a despairing state.
'Rei said there were four things that sent him over the edge. I know three... Was whatever he skipped past the final thing?'
Asuka's ears perked up as Shinji's story reached the point where he and Misato reached the elevator. She made a face when he mentioned the kiss and promise that the then-Major had given him, but it softened as he mused that both he and Misato knew the promise was hollow. They had both known she was about to die. The woman was simply out of ideas for how to motivate the emotionally destroyed young man.
As tears began flowing freely down Shinji's face, the Second Child's face turned unreadable as the story went on, through his realisation that Misato had just died because of him, and onto the terrible sight of Unit-01 covered from head to toe in Bakelite. Her iron grip on his body relaxed somewhat, as the apparent reason for his absence became clear.
But then Unit-01 easily broke free.
"Bakelite was no match for it. I could have made it break out at any time," Shinji slowly said. "But instead all I did was sit there. I gave up right at the end, when I could have reached you in time." He looked up at Asuka and sniffled. "You died, all because I was feeling like shit. How pathetic is that?"
Her hands pulled away, letting Shinji slump against his chair. As he began to mumble apologies, Asuka folded her arms and slowly stepped around the boy as she tried to think.
How was she supposed to react to this information? Should she condemn him for his inaction, punish him for giving up and letting her die in a most brutal fashion? Or should she let it go, and acknowledge that a suicidally depressed boy who had simply let an enemy soldier almost execute him was in no fit state to do anything, let alone pilot a giant robot against nine enemy Evangelions.
"So... That's what happened..." came a familiar female voice from just outside the entry plug, causing Asuka to jump and almost yelp in shock.
"Damnit, Misato!" she angrily hissed, poking her head out of the hatch. "This was a private conversation!"
"As both your foster mother and superior officer, I believe I have at least some authority to listen in." Misato's voice dropped, barely carrying to Asuka's ears. "And now I know why Shinji couldn't help you."
The redhead snorted. "Couldn't, or wouldn't?" she sarcastically asked, stepping out and leaning against the railing of the gantry next to the older woman.
"It's what you're asking yourself right now, isn't it?"
Asuka growled as Misato hit the nail on the head, and continued hammering; "Look, if a shrink were here, they'd be telling us that somebody in his mental state would barely be allowed out of sight, possibly locked in a room with no sharp objects."
Misato tapped the side of her head as she continued. "With a clear mind, something probably nobody had that day, there would have been no problems, and we could have beaten SEELE back." She grinned mirthlessly. "But despite how many times he got back up, my boy kept getting knocked down until he couldn't get up any more. Ask yourself this, Asuka, and be honest: Would you have done the same in Shinji's situation?"
There was a long period of silence before Asuka dully replied, "...I don't know."
"Of course you don't. I don't either," Misato admitted with a shrug. "We're not the exact same person. We all act differently. You already know how suspiciously similar the lives of you and Shinji were. He did things that you didn't, and vice versa. Just imagine what things would be like if your lives were swapped around."
Asuka thought for a moment, and then had to stifle a snort of amusement as she imagined Shinji doing some of the things she had done, such as The Great Shinji Ikari, the college-educated hotshot pilot of Unit-02, meeting The Invincible Asuka Langley-Soryu on the deck of Over the Rainbow and giving the same speech she had done. It didn't help that her mind's eye stubbornly refused to see him in anything but the same hat and yellow sundress she had worn as well.
"Oh Gott," she finally snickered. At the woman's raised eyebrow, she mentioned what she had just thought of.
Misato grinned hugely at the mental image, happy that the mood had been lifted. "So how do you feel about him now?" she asked. As Asuka began to turn red-faced, she pretended not to notice and added, "What do you think he deserves? Your anger, or your help?"
It didn't take the Second Child long to answer this time. "My help."
"Good." Misato jerked a thumb at the entry plug hatch. "Now get in there and help him out. We have cake to eat." With her piece said, she walked back down to the catwalk and out of the cage. Rei looked up at Asuka for a moment before following Misato.
Asuka watched them leave, and stepped back into the entry plug. To her surprise, Shinji was sitting upright, looking much more alert than when she had walked away from him. He turned in his seat to face her, and... was that a smile on his slightly red face? She cautiously approached, unsure of what to make of this attitude shift.
Oh wait, they were in a mostly hollow metal tube. Shinji had likely heard almost everything she and Misato had said about him. Perhaps they should have moved further away... but then he wouldn't be sitting here smiling at her after remembering such a hopeless moment of his life.
"Well, you certainly seem to have cheered up," Asuka remarked.
Shinji scratched the back of his head nervously. "It... um... it was kind of hard not to smile, when I thought about you wearing the same school uniform all the time like I did."
"Oh?" Asuka raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips. "You'd like to see me in that ridiculous getup more often, would you? Got a thing for schoolgirls?"
"Eh... no!" Shinji stammered, his face going through several shades of red and pink. "I-I meant it was funny to imagine you in the boy's outfit!"
"Hah. Like you'd ever get me to wear that thing. You boys have to spend all day looking like you got called away from the cubicle farm. At least us girls get to look like sailors. Still," Asuka threw her hands up in the air as best as she could in the enclosed space, "Whoever designed Japanese girl uniforms has the be the most perverted person in the entire world!" She would have continued ranting, but Asuka remembered what was still to come that day. "Well, whatever. Let's get out of here, Third."
Without thinking, she took him by the left hand. She reflexively let go when Shinji let out an involuntary hiss of pain. He tried to deny that anything was wrong, but it was easy to tell that he was lying. Much gentler this time, Asuka took him by the upper arm and pulled him out of the entry plug.
When they were out of the Evangelion cages, Asuka sat him down on a bench near Misato and Rei, slapping the button on his plugsuit to deactivate it. She ordered him to keep his right hand on the suit so that it didn't fall off of him, and present his left hand for inspection. Both Asuka and Misato uttered a curse when Shinji revealed a hand that was almost completely stained red up to the wrist. As the redhead began to question him on how he injured himself, Misato cut her off.
"That doesn't matter right now. Let's just take him to medical and get that hand checked before it gets infected."
After the blood was washed away, the damage to Shinji's hand was less than it appeared, but still rather surprising to the two female pilots. There were four slightly curved cuts in the palm of his hand, perfectly spaced for his fingernails to have been the cause. The doctor ordered Shinji to both cut his nails, and consider buying a stress ball. Asuka promised to get several, so she could leave them all over the house for him.
Once his hand was bandaged in waterproof wraps, Shinji was finally allowed time to shower and get changed back into his normal clothes. The moment he stepped out of the change room, Asuka took him by the right hand this time and dragged him all the way through NERV to Misato's car. Along the way, she phoned Hikari and told her to get the others ready.
It was finally time to resume the party.
And this time, nothing was going to stand in the way.
The gate guards were almost caught unawares by Misato's exit, not expecting the woman to zoom out of NERV as fast as she had arrived, if not faster. The rapidly approaching roar of the engine was the only warning the man at the gate controls got. If he had been a second slower, he would have had to face the wrath of an angry woman for delaying her return home to her foster son's birthday party.
And for letting the tires on her precious car get shredded. But mostly for the delay.
Even after several costly defensive driving courses, the Section Two drivers simply couldn't keep up with the blue sports car and its maniacal driver. The head of NERV's security division had eventually thrown up his hands in exasperation and assigned two gunships to guard the Supreme Commander of NERV during her car trips, stating, "Damn the fuel cost, we'd have to pay more to repair the cars anyway."
If anybody was actually going to pursue the Commander, and be capable and crazy enough to match her manoeuvres, the Section Two head was going to seriously consider hiring them.
Inside the car, Rei appeared to be eagerly looking forward to the party as she sat in the front passenger seat. Asuka was almost bouncing in the back seat, a stark contrast to her attitude during the previous ride. Shinji was slouched low to avoid looking outside, but seemed surprisingly relaxed.
Misato checked the rear view mirror and grinned to herself as the aircraft were forced to slow down and ascend to continue over the city. She didn't know why, but the woman found it enjoyable to push Section Two to work harder in their efforts to escort her to and from work. Whoever became the next head of NERV would probably have the greatest drivers in the world protecting them.
When the car reached the apartment building, Asuka had her door open almost before the vehicle had come to a complete stop. As the group made their way to the Katsuragi residence, a certain Section Two agent ducked behind a vending machine as the Second Child walked past in the lobby.
"Right. No more interruptions. We're having this damn party now!"
As soon as Asuka's declaration was finished, she took out a knife and began to cut the Black Forest Cake. The first slice went to the guest of honour, and since Misato had been talking about the cake all day, the second went to her.
Shinji spent half a minute admiring his slice, until Asuka looked at him in the middle of cutting a piece for Sakura and asked, "What's the matter, you think the cake is bad?" Apprehension crept into her voice.
"Huh?" Shinji jerked up. "Oh, no! Quite the opposite! You did a wonderful job, Asuka. I almost don't want to eat it because it just looks that great."
The redhead turned more red at the compliment, before coughing and saying, "W-well, it wasn't all just me. Hikari and I worked on the cake together."
"Ah. Well then, you both did a wonderful job."
As Hikari gave her thanks and Asuka stuttered over her own, Shinji used his spoon to dig into the slice, bringing a piece up to his mouth. The moment his lips closed around the morsel, his eyes shot wide open. "No, this is amazing!" he exclaimed after hastily chewing and swallowing.
Rei was next to try the cake. She had almost the same reaction as Shinji, but took her time to enjoy the mouthful before saying, "I do not believe I have ever tasted something as wonderful as this."
The compliments did nothing for the Second Child's ability to speak, especially when Misato and the guests weighed in with their own positive feedback. Instead, she stuffed a large piece of cake into her mouth and mumbled something that she hoped would be interpreted as, "You're welcome."
She was the first person to finish her slice. It really was a great cake. Before it had been cut up, the decoration had been exquisite, thanks to Hikari's idea of practising for quite a while on the test cake. The trial run had ended with a cake that had looked like someone had thrown a whipped cream grenade at it and then tossed a handful of maraschino cherries and chocolate flakes on top, but that hadn't stopped Toji, Kensuke, and Hikari's family from enjoying it.
Asuka's only regrets had been that both the short notice and her age had prevented her from procuring the Kirschwasser needed,as well as the sad fact that she couldn't get her hands on any black cherries, either. German law would state that it was not a true Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte without both ingredients, but at least that didn't matter here.
Next time, Asuka was going to do it a hundred percent right.
The cake was consumed with great relish, until only a couple of pieces were left. The dishes were cleared away, and colourfully wrapped presents took their place on the table. It took Misato a moment to realise why Rei was starting to look upset as the bluenette looked around the table, until she realised that Rei was the only one at the table without a gift for Shinji. But just as Misato was about to make a suggestion, the First Child's jaw set as she looked back at her.
"Misato, I need your assistance," she said. "I must go and acquire a present for Shinji."
Misato, Asuka, and even Shinji insisted that she didn't need to worry about it, but Rei remained resolute. After several minutes of debate, Misato gave up and fetched her keys.
"With the way you drive, at least you'll be back quickly," Asuka remarked to their retreating backs. She turned back to the table. "Now then, who gets to go first?"
"Do you have an idea of what you want to get for him, Rei?" Misato asked as the Renault left the apartment block's parking lot. "Or even where to go?"
"Please take me to a department store."
Misato shrugged, and gunned the engine. There were a couple suitable places, so she headed for the closest one. The NERV plates on her beloved car let her pass by two police vehicles unimpeded, the driver of one simply waving to the woman as she sped past.
Once out of the car, Rei immediately headed for the nearest store map and scanned it intently. As soon as Misato caught up, the girl was off already before she could even guess where Rei was going. She had never seen the First Child so... intent about something while outside of an entry plug. All she could do was follow along as Rei made a beeline for the...
Home appliance department?
"Uh, Rei?" asked Misato uncertainly.
"Yes?" Rei replied, not looking away from the leaflet she had just picked up.
Misato glanced over the girl's shoulder as politely as she could. "What are you looking for?"
"Cooking is one of Shinji's few passions. You have seen how much he enjoys it." Rei's finger trailed along the sheet as she spoke. "I will give him a gift that will aid with that passion." She paused for a moment as a thought occurred. "I... would require your permission for this gift though."
Rei set off once more, passing by several appliances. Soon, they were walking amongst stoves, and the bluenette stopped in front of one that to Misato's eye looked much the same as the ones surrounding it, only with different colours or slightly altered knobs and dials.
"A... stove? Your birthday present to Shinji will be a stove?" Misato asked incredulously, then sighed. "This is what you wanted my permission for. Replacing an appliance in my apartment."
To be perfectly fair, the apartment block, along with every other building in the suburb, had been built some time before the fortress city that Tokyo-3 had eventually become. And Misato's attempts at cookery had likely not done her current appliances any favours. There was still one major concern on the woman's mind though, and she voiced it.
"Damn, look at the price on this one," Misato remarked as she read the price tag. "This might be the most expensive stove in the store. Maybe the entire city..."
"The price does not matter. I can afford it," Rei replied. A smile was forming on her face as she examined the stove.
"Are you sure? That's a lot of digits."
The First Child held up her NERV ID card. "For years I have been a test pilot. To avoid suspicion, Gendo Ikari decided that I was to be paid as such. I did not require much to live as I did. Even now, I have not had much reason to touch that money." She thought to herself, and gave a rough estimate of how much money she had.
Misato had to grab onto the stove as the shock nearly knocked her off her feet, her eyes almost popping out of her face. "Oh... kay," she finally managed to say as she stood back up. "Well... I can see you've got your heart set on this. Let's buy it and get back home."
As she looked over the stove, Misato struggled for a moment to think if there would be any problems fitting the thing into her kitchen, until she remembered that there was room to move the fridge if necessary.
Rei's smile grew larger as she thanked her, and Misato couldn't help but return it.
As they made their way to the counter to buy the stove, Misato almost bowled Rei over as the bluenette stopped suddenly in front of a cookware display. The look in Rei's eyes gave the woman pause.
"Really, Rei?" she sighed out in resignation.
Rei and Misato surprised everybody at the party on their return. Not due to how long they were gone, rather that they both apparently came back empty-handed. At the roomful of raised eyebrows and inquisitive looks, Misato explained that Rei's gift was too large to fit into the back of her car, and that it was getting delivered tomorrow morning. The contents of the table then caught the woman's eye. The presents were exactly where they were when Misato and Rei had left, unopened.
"Hey, weren't you going to open the other presents while we were gone?" she asked.
"Yeah, but then the Stooges got arguing over who should go first," Asuka explained with a sigh. "It descended into us using your Super Famicom to fight it out. And..." she glared at one of the two boys, "Kensuke somehow won."
The spectacled boy grinned smugly. Next to him, Toji crossed his arms sulkily. "I woulda won if you hadn't stolen my fireball guy, Red," he said.
"Not my fault you were too slow," Asuka retorted.
"And besides, Toji," Kensuke butted in. "I keep telling you that you can't win just by throwing fireballs."
"Kicked your ass before."
"Once. Because my controller broke."
"Okay that's enough, both of you!" Hikari ordered. The two boys immediately shut up as the girl used her authoritative voice to stop yet another argument. She continued, in a much nicer tone, "At least now Misato and Rei get to see Shinji open the gifts too."
With that said, everybody gathered around the dining table once more, and the unwrapping finally began.
Shinji pulled at the tape holding Kensuke's small and square present closed. What came out was a box showing a fancy-looking digital watch. Half of the front of the box was taken up by what looked like twenty different features.
"My present's actually kind of a companion gift to Toji's," Kensuke explained. "I'll wait until you've opened his before I tell you what that watch can do."
Giving the technology junkie a warm smile, Shinji then looked towards Asuka, who had come a very close second in the impromptu tournament. She cautiously handed him an oblong parcel before snatching her hand back. He was confused to see what almost looked like worry in the redhead's eyes as he began to unwrap it.
The box looked almost as good as what it contained, if the impressed murmurs all around the room as Shinji carefully set it down on the table were anything to go by. But that was nothing compared to the look on his face as he opened the box and saw what was inside.
Asuka would remember that look for a very long time.
Shinji gingerly brought the bow out into view of the others at the table, holding it as if it were a fragile glass ornament.
"Damn, that looks neat," said Toji. He leaned sideways and whispered to Kensuke, "So... what is it?" Kensuke buried his face in his hand in disbelief.
Asuka sighed exasperatedly. "It's for Shinji's cello, you dunce. That's what you use to play one."
"Ooohh." Toji frowned. "Wait, which one is the cello? Kidding!" he hastily added as Asuka looked ready to erupt.
Shinji hadn't been paying attention to the banter around him, still focused on the masterwork bow in front of him. A discreet note inside the box stated the materials used in the making of the bow. His eyebrows went up at what wood had been used. "Asuka..." he breathed.
"If you attempt to bring up anything about the price, there'll be trouble," Asuka warned. "Price doesn't matter. I only have one stipulation for you."
"A-a stipulation?"
"Yes." The Second Child folded her arms. "I want you to start playing your cello again."
"Oh! Um... of course!" Shinji stammered. "But... do you really want to hear my awful attempts?"
'He has no confidence in his ability,' Asuka thought to herself, remembering the interrogation the music shop owner had given her. She had said as much to the man, who had dropped the smile from his face for a few seconds, before stating that he hoped the new bow would aid in boosting his confidence.
"I don't really care how bad it sounds," she said out loud, knowing full well how good Shinji really was. "I just don't want to see my gift go to waste."
"I won't. T-thank you Asuka." Shinji's smile widened.
Forget the look before. This was the image Asuka would remember forever. A truly grateful Third Child smiling at her while holding her birthday present to him. To her slight disappointment, he tucked the bow away in its box and put it carefully aside. Part of her had been expecting Shinji to have a go on the cello right away.
"Y-you're welcome," Asuka replied as red crept into her cheeks. She coughed to try and cover up her verbal stumble. "Well... who was next? Oh yes."
"Yeah! My turn!" Sakura exclaimed. But then the girl's face fell. "Um... Rei?" She turned to the First Child. "Do you still have my present?"
"Excuse me?" Rei began, before remembering what Sakura had given her not that long ago. "Oh, of course! I left it in my room. Would you like to come with me to fetch it?"
As they left, Asuka glanced at Toji, who shrugged and said, "She's my sister. What kind of brother would I be if I didn't go easy on her?"
The redhead smirked, but silently conceded the point as Rei and Sakura returned. The young girl was fidgeting with the wrapping paper as she entered the kitchen, but eventually she strode up to Shinji and held the present out to him.
Asuka winced slightly as Shinji unfolded the vivid purple and green sports shirt emblazoned with a white '01' on the back, knowing how little Shinji enjoyed reminders of his status as Third Child. To his credit, he managed to keep any negative reaction off his face and instead smiled down at the hopeful face of Sakura.
"It's lovely, thank you," Shinji said, to which Asuka raised an eyebrow. It truly sounded like he meant it.
After stepping into the bedroom to change into the shirt, Shinji came out a few moments later, twisting his body around to ensure it was a good fit. "How does it look?" he inquired.
"A damn sight better than the school uniform you always wore," Asuka replied. Admittedly, the Third Child had gratefully acknowledged the work she had put into giving him an expanded clothing selection, and the hated -by her at least- school uniform almost never showed its face these days. Still, something about the shirt he now wore seemed to suit him, despite the choice of colours.
As Shinji returned to the table in preparation for the next gift, Asuka's gaze swept over Toji, who cringed and rubbed the back of his head as the redhead grinned like a shark. "I still can't believe you, Stooge. I understand that you lost to your sister, but to Pen-Pen?!"
"He had to be cheating!" Toji cried out. "There's no damn way I was beaten by a freakin' tuxedo-wearin' dodo!"
"WARK!"
The sound of an incandescent avian froze the jock in his seat.
"Ohoho!" Misato crowed. Her face took on the sharklike expression that Asuka's had suddenly lost. "You messed up, kid. That was not a nice word you used in front of Pen-Pen!"
Toji's head swivelled mechanically around to the end of the table where Pen-Pen sat. The penguin was quivering in rage and the unopened can in one clawed flipper was starting to deform slightly in his grip.
And then he threw the can directly at the hapless teen's face.
Asuka had to physically restrain a screaming Pen-Pen while Hikari sighed and pulled Toji away to the lounge room, after stopping at the freezer to put some ice on his forehead. Kensuke had to stuff a fist in his mouth to stop from laughing out loud.
Pen-Pen thankfully calmed down as soon as the speciest boy was out of his sight. He huffed and gently shook off Asuka's grip before jumping down to the floor, heading over to his personal fridge. He opened it and stared inside for a moment, before coming back to the table and nudging the redhead in the leg while pointing to the open freezer door.
With a look of confusion on her face, Asuka walked over to the penguin's 'room' and looked inside. "Mein Gott!" she exclaimed upon seeing what the present was, and looked back at Pen-Pen. "You're giving him this?! It's huge!"
"Wark," said Pen-Pen.
Misato helpfully translated. "He says he's been saving it for a special occasion, and that this seemed as good a one as any."
"...You got all that from just one 'wark'?"
The woman shrugged. "Pen-Pen's lived with me for a long time. I learned his language."
A disbelieving look crossed Asuka's face, but she chose not to question the logic. Instead, she reached inside and carefully pulled out the gift. "If it wasn't for the fact that I've seen you read the paper and play video games," she muttered. "I'd be wondering just how the hell you got your hands on this."
Rei cocked her head to one side as the large frozen fish came into view. It was almost the length of her arm. "That is Pacific Bluefin Tuna. Are those not critically endangered?"
"Wark," Pen-Pen smugly replied, which Misato translated as, "I have my ways."
Shinji goggled at the fish. "Wow, that's... quite big. I could do quite a lot with this."
"Wark?"
It was easy for Shinji to decipher what the avian said. He looked at Pen-Pen and said, "Of course you'll get to have some. You're part of this family too. But... for now I think you should keep it in your freezer. I don't think there's room in ours."
"Wark!" Pen-Pen clapped his flippers together. He was looking forward to seeing what the chef of the house could do.
At last it was Toji's turn, and he cautiously sat back down at the table as far away from Pen-Pen as possible. His present turned out to be a set of exercise clothes and several home workout videos. The reveal of the present allowed Kensuke to finally begin to enthusiastically explain Shinji's new watch.
It surprised nobody when the spectacled boy went into excessive detail on the multiple exercise features, such as a pedometer, heart rate monitor, and other things that began to make Shinji's head spin. Asuka eventually had to stop Kensuke as he got a little too excited.
Since Rei had already explained that her gift was coming the next day, the final gift was going to come from Misato, until she sadly said, "I'm sorry, Shinji. I had a specific gift in mind for you, but I've had no luck finding it yet."
"There's no need to worry," Shinji replied. "You've already given me a wonderful gift."
"Bwuh?" Misato tilted her head in confusion. "When?"
The boy smiled gently. "When you offered to become my mother."
A very undignified sound emanated from Hikari's mouth as Shinji got up and hugged a suddenly teary-eyed Misato.
When the presents and paper were cleared away, Asuka declared that it was time for a few games. First, it was an eating competition, with the catch being that the food -a doughnut- was dangling above their heads and they couldn't use their hands. Misato and Toji both lost, as in their haste to win, their doughnuts slipped out of the string and landed on the ground.
Next, she brought everybody into the lounge room, where a game of Twenty Questions was started. The game was unfortunately rather biased against Rei, as she knew far less about popular culture than everybody else, but she still had fun.
A few other party games were played, until it was time for dinner. Asuka almost forced Shinji to sit down again, as the boy was intending to cook something, while Misato ordered take-out for the first time in a long time.
After dinner, everybody was too full for more party games, so the Super Famicom was turned on again. This time, however, the teenagers decided to play non-competitive games. Misato and Sakura chose to simply relax on the couch with an arm around each other and watch ninja androids beat up evil gang members.
"Hey Misato, you should get some nunchaku for the Evas," Kensuke suggested. "That'd be pretty badass."
The woman snorted. "Sorry, kid. We're supposed to kill the Revenants, not bonk them on the head."
"Aw. Shame the Evas aren't true robots, I wanna see one do that helicopter thing with the blade arms."
Eventually, it became time for the guests to head home.
"Hope you had a good, uh... late birthday, Shin-man," Toji said at the door, a sleepy Sakura riding on his back. "Shame about the attack wasting all that time though."
Shinji's smile turned brittle for a moment upon remembering the battle, but he still said, "You guys were here. That's all I need for a good day."
Toji grinned and waved goodbye as he left.
When the door closed behind the jock, Misato sighed and turned to Shinji. "I suppose we should finally tell you what's been happening with the Revenants..."
What followed was a grim hour-long conversation as Asuka, Rei and Misato filled the boy in on the Revenants, as well as the reason why they were returning.
"So... this is all just some sort of test?" Shinji asked.
"Pretty much," Misato replied. "But with no Lilith anymore, I'm unsure of what would happen if we... if humanity lost." At his uncertain expression, she added, "Hey, don't look so down. We've beaten three of them already. Oh, and since I know you're going to talk about us 'needing' you, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Asuka and Rei. Nobody is going toforce you into this, or bribe, blackmail, guilt trip you, whatever. If you pilot again, it will be because it was solely your choice."
"My choice..." Shinji murmured.
Misato put a hand on his shoulder. "You go have some time to think about it. If you decide to pilot again, I promise we'll do everything possible to get Unit-01 working again. Today wasn't exactly good for you anyway. Maybe another attempt when there's no pressure will improve matters."
"Hey." Asuka grabbed the boy's other shoulder. "Put off thinking about it for now. Just enjoy the last hours of your birthday party." She glanced at Misato. "We're gonna play one more game, okay?"
"Sure." The woman waved them off. "I'll clean up before I turn in. You've worked enough today, Asuka. Just don't stay up too late."
"Cool, thanks."
"I cannot join you," Rei said. "Tomorrow is Monday, and I do not wish to be tired at school." She bade the others goodnight and went to bed.
Asuka and Shinji went into the lounge room, and as Misato tidied up, she focused on their voices as they played.
"So what's the story in this game, anyway?"
"Bad guys kidnapped the skinny guy's girlfriend. He's off to rescue her, and the big guy's his cop friend. Which one do you wanna be?"
"Um, I'll take the thin one."
"Sweet, I get to be big and red!"
Misato grinned. The game sounded familiar to her. She did have quite a few games from when she was a much younger girl, and she hadn't had the heart to get rid of the game console.
"Whoah, that's neat. How do I do that?"
"Like this."
She was glad she didn't. Now somebody else was getting some well-deserved use out of it.
"Why were we beating people up on a bus?! ... And now we're at a stadium, fighting... a genie?"
"It's a video game, dummy... Hey! Don't steal my stolen sword!"
If the Revenant attack could be ignored, the day had brought a sense of normalcy to her, making it seem like they were just a regular family. It honestly didn't matter to Misato that the three teenagers in her home weren't actually related her. She loved them as much as if she had given birth to them. Blood wasn't the only thing that made a family, after all.
Misato went straight to bed after cleaning up, pausing briefly to wish her kids goodnight, and fell asleep with-
"Hell yeah, Angry Mode! Eat a super powerbomb, Arschloch!"
And fell asleep with a smile on her face.
A/N: I wonder how many people will know the games the kids played...
