"Damn it baka! What the hell do you think you're doing."
"You're moving way to fast! How the hell do you expect me to keep up."
Misato shrugged as once again they traded verbal abuse. She was too use to it by now and popped the top off another beer.
It was only the second day since they had started using the dance simulation and so far Misato thought that Nerv was wasting millions on this project. Well, it was her decision in the first place, so if anyone was screwed, it was her.
Asuka and Shinji hadn't shown a shred of improvement, Misato actually thought they had gotten worse since they started. From what she could tell it was simply a bad paring. Asuka usually kept the pace faster then Shinji could keep up and once or twice Misato had to tell Asuka to slow down so to let Shinji keep up. Asuka replied that he was just a bad dancer to which Shinji replied Asuka was just more flexible. After that Shinji had almost been castrated...by Asuka's foot. Misato wasn't even sure how many beers she had drunken over the past few days, but it wasn't enough if she was still remembering this stuff.
After roughly two hours of non-stop practice Misato called a halt finally. Getting off the couch she said, "Thats enough for now I suppose. Anymore and you'll just end up killing each other."
"God damn it, finally," said Asuka tearing off the headphones that had been resting on her head. Falling flat on the floor she rested there for a few minutes, letting the beads of sweating drip off her forehead. Shinji had done likewise, though far enough away so she wouldn't have a reason to pick a fight.
"Well, that was a little better than today's earlier attempt," said Misato.
Asuka and Shinji both started slightly, they were remembering the performance from earlier. Somehow Shinji had managed to trip over his own feet and gone cascading into Asuka's chest, knocking them both over. Shinji still winced slightly as he remembered the pain she had inflicted on him after that.
"Tch, pervert," mumbled Asuka.
Shinji glared in her direction and received one in return. How many times did he have to tell her that it was an accident?
"Well, no matter," said Misato vaporizing the hostile environment. "At least you've improved a little so I suppose its a start."
"I could do this so much quicker if it was just myself," replied Asuka.
Misato didn't even bother listening to her. She had to tell her almost every hour that it was impossible without Shinji.
"Okay an hour for lunch, then back to work."
"Thats it?"
"You should be glad that its not less."
Asuka threw Misato a scowl and tromped her way into the kitchen. She still hadn't gotten over the embarrassment that she had suffered at school. Though on the plus they hadn't gone back since that day.
After a long pause during which Shinji contemplated getting up he heard an angry snarl from the kitchen.
"Shinji, food. Now!"
Shinji had half a mind to tell her to fix herself something but knew he'd regret it later. Ignoring a funny look that Misato was giving him he slowly sat up, wiping some sweat off his forehead and walked into the kitchen to prepare lunch.
"Why the hell are we doing this?"
"Because the teacher asked us to."
"So, he could have gotten somebody else to do it."
"Be we do know Shinji the best."
"Yeah but why did she have to come with us," said Touji jerking a finger behind him at Hikari who was following himself and Kensuke at a distance.
Puffing up her cheeks in an irritated way, Hikari replied, "Because the teacher asked me to give Asuka her homework."
"So! Those two live together so it would have been a hell of a lot easier just to send one person."
This was apparently news to Hikari as she stammered wildly while indecent thoughts raced through her head.
"Wh-Wh-WHAT? THEY LIVE TOGETHER?"
"Course," replied Kensuke. "I thought that everybody in the school knew that by now. They always come to class at the same time, and their bentos are the exact same."
"I-I just thought that they lived really close to each other."
"Naw. They've been living together for a while now."
"Bu-By themselves."
"No, they got some guardian that looks after them I think."
"By the way Kensuke, where does this Misato live anyway?"
"I'm not really sure," said Kensuke looking down at the poorly drawn map. "The directions that the teacher gave me weren't exactly well explained."
"Probably didn't even care if they got their homework or not."
"Oh, move over already!" Yelled Hikari while swiping the map out of Kensuke's hands.
After several minutes of analyzing the teachers poor handwriting Hikari settled on a location.
"Follow me you stooges."
Kensuke let out a sigh while Touji whispered something to him. "I see why she and Asuka get along so well."
After another fifteen minutes the three found themselves standing outside an apartment door. According to Hikari this was where Misato Katsuragi lived, and apparently two others.
"Well, go ahead and knock," said Kensuke.
"Why me," replied Hikari looking over her shoulder?
"Because your the one that led us here idiot," said Touji.
Hikari threw a scowl over her shoulder before taking a deep breadth and knocking twice on the door.
After several seconds they thought they heard several footsteps and then the unlatching of the door. Whatever they had thought originally was blown out the door as Misato opened it.
"Hai?"
Hikari, Kensuke, and Touji were unable to say a word. They hadn't been expecting this and for a moment were about to pass off the apartment number as a mistake when they heard Asuka's unmistakable voice coming from somewhere inside. Misato had a beer in one hand and the T.V. remote in the other. What's more she seemed to have adopted the Asuka attitude and decided to walk around the house in her underwear. Kensuke and Touji almost dropped dead of a bloody nose and it was only the dark aura that had settled around Hikari that kept them in check.
"Ah you must be Asuka and Shinji's friends from school."
Kensuke and Touji nodded with a hand over their noses while Hikari simply frowned.
"Well I can understand why you'd be wondering about them. Coming to school oddly dressed and then not coming to school for two days, is a little odd."
"We brought the homework they've missed," said Hikari speaking up.
"Ah good. I was meaning to have someone pick it up but just didn't have the time."
A small pause erupted as Touji and Kensuke continued to stare at Misato.
"Would you like to come in?"
Kensuke and Touji practically leapt at the opportunity.
After taking their shoes off hastily, they followed Misato into the living room were they could hear an odd assortment of noises going on.
"Hey Shinji what's-" Though Kensuke was silenced as something went flying past him and struck the opposite wall.
"DAMN IT BAKA! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO NOT LAG BEHIND!"
Touji had to cover his ears so they wouldn't explode from Asuka's outburst. Kensuke meanwhile had his hands over his head expecting to be dismembered any second. Realizing that Asuka's anger wasn't directed towards him, he turned towards his right to see what had flown past him. Shinji was sprawled in a heap against the wall with his legs sticking up in the air and his shoulders resting on the ground. He had a red foot mark on his cheek.
"Sh-Shinji?"
Shinji realized then that other people were in the house besides him, Asuka, and Misato.
"Kensuke? What are you doing here," he replied, moving around so he could see who else was in the room? Asuka apparently noticed that they weren't the only ones here either as she saw Hikari.
"Ah, the teacher wanted us to give you your homework for the past few days. Hikari tagged along to give Asuka hers as well."
"Ah thanks, I think. Homework was the furthest from my mind."
"Same," replied Asuka.
"Well, if you two fall behind on your studies then I couldn't call myself a proper guardian," said Misato speaking up.
"But homework compared to this."
Hikari, Kensuke, and Touji suddenly realized what she ment by this. They were both wearing the same dancing outfits that they had worn to school that day, though it was what they were doing with them that seemed odd. In the middle of the living room was an odd looking contraption. The floor was covered with two large black mats that had oddly placed colors around it. In the back round of each was something that looked like a scoreboard. Currently each side showed zero.
Touji was about to open his mouth to ask if this is what Shinji and Asuka had been talking about when they were up on the roof three days ago when Kensuke elbowed him in the ribs. Hikari wasn't supposed to know about the Evangelions, and they weren't even sure if they were supposed to know.
"You two look as stupid as ever," said Touji commenting on their outfits.
"How bout I punch a hole clear through that smirking face of yours ass-hole," said Asuka acidly. That shut Touji up for a while.
"So what are you two supposed to be doing with this...odd thing?" Asked Hikari.
Asuka and Shinji both started stammering their own versions of things when Misato intervened. "Why don't you two just show them what you're doing. Its certainly a lot easier than explaining this."
"No! I don't want them to see me doing something this humiliating," said Asuka.
Sighing Shinji said, "C'mon, Asuka. Lets just show them. Its not like we can embarrass ourselves any further."
Asuka turned towards him then with a glint in her eyes that could kill and Shinji almost took a step back.
"Damn it, fine! But if you screw up again I'll break that damn scoreboard over your head!"
"Hai, Hai. Lets just get this over with."
Asuka glared at him once more before taking her place own place on the mat next to his. After dawning both sets of headphones they both closed their eyes and their bodies started to move.
Hikari and the other two were both wide mouthed, gaping at the pair as they attempted to replicate each others movements based solely on the song. Misato, in the back round, had long stopped paying attention to how they were doing.
It was a bit depressing really. Shinji sped up and slowed down at random times while Asuka seemed to get faster and faster with each movement to the point where Shinji was about to pass out from trying to catch up. Very rarely did the score even get above five when Misato said that one hundred was a requirement for what they were doing. Though she didn't say what, since the other three weren't supposed to know of the Evangelions.
After a painful ten minutes Shinji finally tripped over his own feet in exhaustion and went face first down onto the floor. Asuka twitched slightly as she opened her eyes and saw a passed out Shinji on the floor and was just thinking of bashing him over the head with his own scoreboard when he stirred.
"Damn it! Why can't we do this."
"Its because you can't keep the pace."
"No. You're moving at an inhuman pace. How the hell do you expect me to keep up with that!
"Baka, you're useless."
"You certainly can't be counted as perfect either."
"Tch, I'm much better at this and piloting Eva then you'll ever be!"
"What's Eva?"
Shinji and Asuka spun towards at the sound of Hikari's voice while the others seemed to do the same, including Misato.
"Eh heh... What Hikari?" Asked Asuka who's mouth was slightly twitching at the corners.
"I said what's Eva? Does it have something to do with this...thing?"
"Ah well..."
Sighing Misato sat up and quickly thought up a decent enough lie to make the situation pass by.
"Eva is a game at the arcade that Asuka and Shinji compete against each sometimes. Shinji hasn't won once."
"Hmmm? I don't think I've ever heard of that."
"Ah...its fairly new," said Shinji catching on to the situation. Asuka appeared to be angry though at Misato's blatant lie. It made her look like a nerd.
"Well, I think these two need to get back to training. So I think that I'll have to ask you three to leave now," said a smiling Misato. Though in truth she was trying to reduce the effects of having the Evas spoken of.
"Okay. When do you think you'll be back to school Shinji?"
"A week or so...maybe more."
"Okay I'll bring more homework in a few days."
"Can't wait," grumbled Shinji.
After Kensuke, Hikari, and Touji left Misato stormed into the living room only to find Shinji and Asuka in another heated argument.
"HEY!"
Asuka and Shinji stopped yelling in each others faces briefly to turn and see an angry, red faced, Misato.
"Do you two have any idea how close you were to letting the world know about the Evangelions."
"Is it that big a deal?"
"Of course it is! While their aren't many in existence if regular citizens knew about them then they'd want to start sticking around during battles and taking pictures. Not to mention every child your age would want to pilot one."
Shinji snorted. After five minutes in an entry plug they'd be having second thoughts.
"Anyway break time over, back to work."
Both Shinji and Asuka continued laying there though. Neither of them wanting to be the first one to stand, though it was Asuka that broke the silence.
"Why bother doing this anymore. Its obvious that we can't do this because I'm just so much better than this baka is."
"Okay Asuka," said Misato as a smirk started to develop across her face. "I can either bring in Rei and her and Shinji can start practicing this for the battle against the angel. Or you can match your speed to Shinji's and continue with this."
Asuka opened her mouth at first to yell out an angry retort, but then ended up shutting it. Above all else she didn't want the first child and Shinji taking part in the operation. It would seriously hurt her pride if she wasn't able to complete this.
"Fine! I'll slow down!" Sitting up promptly, she grabbed Shinji's wrist and started dragging him over to the machine.
"Eh Asuka, wait."
"I'm not waiting and I'm certainly not wasting all the hard work that we've done by giving this to Rei."
"Err, what hard work?"
Asuka turned towards Shinji and threw him one of her usual glares before saying, "Just get on your damn mat."
"You don't have to be so forceful."
"I just want to get this over with."
"Hai, Hai. Same here."
After sometime later Misato glanced over at the two who had not moved from the mats since they had agreed on finishing it. With a slight grin on her face she thought, 'I suppose that we might start seeing some results,' as she glanced at the scoreboard to see that they had reached fifteen as their highest score.
'Well, they still have a ways to go,' she sighed as she saw Asuka ripping off her headphones and smacking Shinji in the face.
"Ah that feels so much better," sighed Asuka as she stepped into the living room with a wet towel draped over her head. It was many hours after they had finished their day of training and were rather proud of themselves as they had reached twenty on the high score.
After looking around quickly, she realized that Shinji was the only one in the living room.
"Oi baka, where did Misato go?"
"She mentioned something about going to a bar," said Shinji as he idly turned a page of the book he was reading.
"Tch. Why is she always gone during nights? Whether its work or drinking, she's rarely home."
"Maybe thats just something that comes with being an adult."
"Well I certainly hope I'm not like Misato when I'm her age. Anyway same rules apply as usual."
"You don't have to keep reminding me," said Shinji as he turned his head towards her. Asuka had moved from the doorway and was kneeling over her futon.
"I Don't Trust You!"
"If I haven't done anything to you the first three nights, what makes you think I'd do something tonight."
Asuka scowled at him for a moment before spinning around and turning on the T.V.
"Baka!"
Shinji simply shrugged and went back to reading. It was really the same thing every night. So far, before they decided to go to bed, Asuka would draw the line that he was not allowed to pass and remind him not to do anything perverted. To that he would usually reply with some sarcastic comment that would tick her off. Though he wasn't really in the mood for it tonight.
Closing the book he was reading Shinji sat up and said, "Not that I expect it but is their any hot water left for another shower."
Without turning around Asuka mumbled, "Find out for yourself, baka."
Needlessly to say, several minutes later, Shinji was cursing as the cold water hit his face.
After the first night of sleeping together in the same room they both became quickly accustomed to it. Its not like they were sleeping in the same bed or anything. Even so, Shinji drifted in and out of sleep occasionally. Sometimes it was due to dreams, of which he'd rather not remember, and other times it was because Asuka seemed to wake him up. Though not on purpose as it was usually through her mumbling. Shinji was an unusually light sleeper.
Tonight though, a dream he had been having within the past two days woke him up suddenly.
Shinji's eyes flew open as the dream ended and he sat up, shivering uncontrollably. Cold sweat clung to his body and dripped off his forehead and he suddenly had an urge to rip off the loose tank-top that he was wearing.
Running a weary hand down his face, wiping off some of the sweat in the process, he glanced over at the pile of blankets that was Asuka.
'Good,' he thought. 'I didn't wake her.'
Turning back to his dreams he tried to recall it, but he could only remember small details. It was like trying to keep water in your cupped hands. He could only remember the same thing from the past nights and that seemed to be some stranger ringing the door bell at Misato's apartment. Shinji had then gone to open the door and was greeted with a tall man in an overcoat who had sunken white eyes. Shinji knew that he had never seen somebody like that in his life and wondered why he would be dreaming something like that. The man spoke several words but Shinji was never able to hear them as the dreaming started dissolving at that point.
Flopping back down in his own pile of blankets he racked his brain again to think if he had ever seen anybody that might even mildly fit the description. Though nothing clicked.
He could only ascertain this as something to do with his visions, which he now guessed were starting to get stronger. Though he had no idea how this man was related to them.
Turning over on his side he closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again in a flash when he heard movement on the other side of the room. Seemed that Asuka was restless again.
She was tossing and turning again like the previous nights and was mumbling something indistinguishable. The first time that this had happened Shinji had almost gotten up and woken her, but thought better at then end as she would certainly abuse him afterwards. Though each time it tugged at his heart a little.
Here was practically the complete opposite of the Asuka that he knew. A girl that didn't want to show her helplessness, but was most helpless while she was sleeping. Shinji could only guess what her dreams were like as she relived her past repetitively. It was the times that she whimpered and called out for her mom that particularly pushed the boundaries of his resolve to not cross that invisible line. And it seemed that tonight was such a night as he heard her mumble a few words in which he caught, Mom and go. If Shinji had to guess she was begging her mom to not leave her.
Really he wasn't sure how much more he could take as he rolled back over trying to ignore her whimpering. What was he supposed to do? Rush over there, embrace her, and whisper into her ear that everything was going to be okay and that he was going to protect her. He'd get a swift kick to the groin for even thinking about that.
After several minutes of her mumbling as his mind argued back and forth, she finally seemed to settle down. Shinji therefore let out an audible sigh at the ceiling and closed his eyes as though relishing in the piece. Though something tugged at the back of his head and he heard a familiar voice say, "Coward."
Sitting bolt upright in his makeshift bed he spun to his right, only to see somebody that he wished he never had to look at again. What he called pseudo Asuka was staring back at him while sitting on the ground with her back against the couch which was pushed up against the wall.
Shinji mouth seemed to gape openly, unable to contemplate what was going on. Though after she seemed to sneer at him, he came to his senses. Still unsure whether it was in his mind or not he hissed into the room, "What the hell are you doing here? I thought that I was done with you."
"Ah did you miss me?"
"Tch. As if."
"I feel heartbroken. Well, I suppose thats an understatement for what's to come anyway."
It took Shinji half a second to respond to this statement and he nearly shouted it.
"What the hell do you mean!"
"Calm down, you'll find out soon enough. Anyway why aren't you comforting her. If you were in her position how would you feel?"
"I have no idea because I can hardly read her."
"Maybe you should try?"
"Why bother. Every time I do she just rebukes me."
"Didn't seem like that last time. You two were all over each other."
"Y-You know about that?"
"Course I know about that baka!"
Shinji had a sudden urge to laugh at her use of the Asuka he knew favorite phrase. It was so similar.
"So did you just start talking to me again to torment me some more."
"Mah...you could say that I guess."
"You don't sound to sure."
"I can't tell you to much. I'm merely here to see how your decisions change things."
"Full of helpful information as usual."
"Arigato."
"Whatever..."
After a small pause pseudo Asuka asked, "If she sincerely asked you to help her...would you be able to? If she asked you to throw away your humanity for her, could you do it? If she asked you to forsake everybody you knew for herself would you be able to go through with it?"
Shinji turned his head to look at the back of the Asuka that he knew. Sighing he said, "What relevance does that have. Why would she ask something like that in the first place."
"Well, you can't deny that the first option is a possibility. The other two are more to explain my point."
"No...I suppose I can't."
"And? You haven't answered my question."
"I'd like to hope I would. After what we've been through."
"Thats a rather easy way to avoid the answer."
"Well excuse me for still not understanding what you're getting at."
"Fine let me put it bluntly. If her entire world came crashing down on top of her, would you be able to stand under her and protect her from the falling pieces of everything that has happened to her?"
"..."
"Well?"
"...Yes..."
Springing up the pseudo Asuka grinned and said, "Glad to hear it. I'll hold you to that."
The last thing that Shinji could remember before he drifted off to sleep was the pseudo Asuka smiling back at him and he suddenly wished that his Asuka would be able smile that serenely one day too.
In almost no time at all the day that they were supposed to fight the angel again arrived. They had finally achieved a hundred percent the night before and Shinji was rather nervous as he tried to chew his cereal with a mouth that refused to work. Asuka seemed to be rather jittery also as she was tapping her index finger repeatedly on the table.
After roughly an hour of nervous waiting, during which Shinji suggested they squeeze in some last minute practice at which Asuka just snarled at, the time arrived. Misato left a message on Asuka's phone letting them know that all preparation had been taken care of and that they were ready for them.
"Well lets go..."
Shinji just nodded silently. She must have been really nervous to not tack on her usual trade mark.
After a hasty drive to Nerv, Shinji and Asuka quickly dawned their plug suits and were listening to a rant that Ritsuko was giving about the anatomy of the angel that they were facing. Though Shinji wasn't quite listening.
When they had first entered Nerv earlier he was surprised to see Rei waiting for them. Without speaking to them she had escorted them to the command center and had so far been standing silently in the back round next to Misato, who was chewing on a finger nail. If Shinji had to honestly say it might be very well because of Rei that they had even achieved the hundred percent.
True to his words, Kensuke had returned two days after the initial visit while dragging Touji along with him. Though instead of Hikari tagging along it was Rei, of which Kensuke and Touji didn't seem to keen on walking with. Shinji could only guess at the lack of conversation. Though one good thing did seem to come out of her visit. At her sudden appearance Asuka seemed to put on a spur of motivation and had seemed much keener on working together with Shinji then the usual yelling and abusing. Shinji attested this to the fact that Asuka always enjoyed showing her superiority, and didn't miss a change to prove she was better than Rei. While Rei wasn't the most social person he had ever meet Shinji had gotten used to her personality to borderline enjoying her company, even if it was silent.
"Got that Asuka?"
"Yeah, yeah," said Asuka replying to Ritsuko's long winded explanation.
"Shinji, got it?"
Shinji seemed to be dragged out of his revere and looked at her before mumbling, "Huh...oh, yeah." He couldn't remember a thing she had just said.
"If you understand then get in your Eva's and prepare for deployment," said a slightly disgruntled Misato.
"What's her problem," asked Asuka?
Shrugging, Shinji followed her as the two prepared to enter their respected units.
Even though they had trained rigorously they still had to adapt that training to be used while piloting Eva. They had therefore been repeatedly told that Eva was just like an extension of their own body. With this mind set they should be able to defeat the angel while it split separately. There was of course that slight roadblock that they always seemed to experience: There constant bickering with each other. Though Misato hoped that they could overcome if for at least a minute.
After extensive trial and error they had finally come up with a way to defeat the angel. While seeming to be stronger while separated, Ritsuko had determined that the overall structure of the angels body was weaker than while one. This was due to the fact that the split originated after constant cells reproduction. Cells have a set limit that they are able to reproduce for and it seemed that an angel was no exception. It was still considered a living organism.
Therefore a plan was put into play to force the angel to become one again so its core could be destroyed all at once. By attacking the separated angels simultaneously within a gap of one minute it was hoped that it would become whole again.
"I'm turning the music on you two and putting a silence on all radio's. I don't want any interference while we enact this," said Misato over the intercom.
Shinji let out a sigh as he tried to loosen himself up a little. This was not a time to have tense nerves. He guessed that Asuka was doing something similar next to him.
Once again he heard the familiar sound of the classical music that they had become accustomed to this last week. Even after listening to it almost every waking second of the past days he still enjoyed it.
"Ba...Shinji? You ready?"
Shinji almost laugh as she caught herself before calling him an idiot. "Yeah, lets go."
Simultaneously the two Eva's stood up from their kneeling position next to the two elevator shafts and did a front flip over the two buildings in front of them. It was really quite comical to see two giant robots doing acrobatics.
"Asuka do you-"
"Yeah I see the bastards!"
Far off on their monitor screen they could distinguish two small dots far off in the ocean, just starting to emerge out of the water. They had specific instruction to not engage the angel while it was still in the water. It would hinder their movements if they tried fighting in the water.
After a hectic minute the separate angel finally brought its feet onto dry land.
Without waiting for a sign from the other, both Eva's bolted towards the beach at break neck speed. It was really a marvel at how well they were working together now. Before if they had tried something so simplistic they would have ended up bashing against each others elbows. Now they ran in a direct line next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, neither getting ahead of the other.
As they neared the beach they both turned, and in a wide arc circled around so that they were position to the far left and right of their respected angels. Kicking off against the sand, they both tore towards the angel they had chosen. Sensing danger the two angels jumped high into the air, creating a large dust storm in the air.
The two Eva's didn't halt their pace until they had arrived directly under the angel. Just before colliding into each other, the two jumped high into the air, higher then the two angels. Turning around in mid air the two Eva's brought both of their right legs back, and dropped them with a sickening crack on top of the angels heads.
Flying back towards the ground the separate angels repositioned themselves and landed with a thud on the soft sand.
"Shinji!"
Without having to think Shinji directed Unit 01's hand towards Unit 02. The two hands grasped each other and they both rocketed towards the ground.
Using the momentum that they had gained as the soared towards the ground, the two Eva's dug their feet into the sand. With hands still clasped, they placed them on the sand, palms directed downward and kicked outwards. The kicking was however met by a stronger AT-field from the combined efforts of the angels and their kick was forcefully blocked.
Breaking off the AT-field the two angels lashed out with their clawed hands trying to slash into the armor of the two Eva's. Flipping backwards the two Eva's were easily able to dodge the oncoming attack.
"Damn it! How the hell are we supposed to defeat them if they use their AT-field like that!"
"Calm down Asuka."
She surprisingly relented and asked, "You got any ideas?"
"Maybe...I mean, its worth a try I suppose."
"Fine! Direct me!"
Shinji was rather taken aback at her willingness to listen to him but quickly told her what he wanted her to do. She didn't particularly like the idea, but she had to admit that it could work.
"Fine I got it," said Asuka as she quickly position herself in front of her angel.
Glancing at the time limit they had left Shinji was startled that they had a little over a minute before the five minutes since the umbilical cord had been detached.
Again, without any means of signaling, the two Eva's dashed forward again toward their respected angels, which Shinji had noticed had been hovering close to each other. If he had guessed correctly they would solely rely on defense until they found an opening to attack. After the first attack they had ushered in, the angels had stuck close to each other so to protect each other.
It seemed Shinji's theory was correct. As the two Eva's neared their targets the angels generated an AT-field larger than the last one. However, simultaneously, the two Eva's generated their own AT-field to counteract the angels AT-field.
During the fight against Ramiel, Shinji had learned something about AT-fields. A large key to the power of an AT-field was emotions. He had remembered that he wanted to defeat the angel no matter what and had generated that large AT-field and ripped apart the flesh of the angel. He had hoped that the same could be applied to this. It seemed like he was right.
He had told Asuka about his hunch, though not specifically saying why he thought that. She agreed that they could give it a shot. So Shinji had told Asuka to think of nothing other than defeating the angel.
He wasn't sure if the same mentality could be applied to an angel. Certainly an angel was a living organism, in the sense that it had flesh and organs. But did it have emotions? Could an angel relish in victory or stew in defeat? Did an angel even have a sense of existence?
Throwing away his hesitancy he projected all his thoughts into defeating what was directly in front of him. Next to him he could feel that Asuka was doing the same thing, and that their wishes and desires were starting to overlap. It was then that Shinji felt the separate AT-fields become one. He supposed that something had actually come out of going to school dressed in that horrendous outfit.
Slowly the angel was pushed backwards as the AT-field grew and the angels feet started sliding across the sand. Shinji finally saw a large crack happening in the angels AT-field and next second it shattered.
Without even hesitating, Asuka and Shinji followed up the shattering of the AT-field with a quick spin kick to the chest. The separate angels stumbled backwards and was about to produce another AT-field. Though Shinji didn't give them a chance.
Dropping down low he swung his Eva's legs out knocking the angel off his feet. Meanwhile, as Shinji had ducked down, Asuka had jumped over him and with a sickening crunch, drove her Eva's balled up fist into the side of the angels head.
While still on the ground Shinji grabbed onto Asuka's Eva's arm and spun her like a ballerina backwards as the fallen angel next to the one she had decked tried to get retribution. With its failed attack Shinji quickly grabbed its outstretched arm and bent it backwards. Over the sound of the bone snapping a loud roar could be heard escaping the angels lopsided mouth. The shock wave sent Unit 01 skidding backwards across the sand, though Shinji felt himself stop suddenly as Unit 02 grabbed his Eva's shoulders and held him steady.
"Thanks, Asuka."
"No problem."
Shinji ended up smiling even though he knew that Asuka hadn't seen. Next second though his smile turned to a frown as he saw what the angel was doing. Apparently it had finally given up the split and was starting to become one gain."
"Asuka..."
"Tch. Finally."
Shinji watched as the sides that had fused together seemed to slide off as tendons and nerves were dislocated from the main part of the body. It was like watching one side of a wall that had wet paint and one that was dry. The wet side was dripping while the dry side stayed firm.
Large pieces of flesh started to fall off and instantly turned black and started to break apart and decompose on the sands of the beach. Putrid black blood leaked out of the half organs that were left to rot in the sun. The beaches sands turned black as blood flowed out of the new open wounds in the side of the angel. The smell of rot entered Shinji's nose and he start gagging slightly.
"Uh, smells terrible," said a raspy Asuka who had her nostrils pierced together by her thumb and index finger.
'Thats an understatement,' thought Shinji.
Then something that truly sent Shinji and Asuka into fits of nauseous upheaval happened. Large strands of nerves and tendons shot out from both of the angels sides and wrapped around each other. With feeling rekindled in the body the separate bodies were able to stand up and it seemed that the connected flesh was starting to reel in the separate pieces.
"Thats disgusting," muttered Asuka.
Shinji agreed with her nonchalantly.
As the two bodies became one again the flesh bubbled over the recently closed wound and turned smooth as though it had never separated.
Without any change in demeanor the angel quickly regained its pace and charged at Unit 01. Without thinking, Shinji created a quick AT-field that was easily smashed as the angels fist tore through it.
"Shit!"
Doing a flip backwards Shinji landed next to Asuka in Unit 02.
"We got it to join, but now what?"
"I thought you had a plan after the last one!"
Shinji didn't want to remind Asuka that this wasn't a time to fight and remained silent.
"Well if your not going to do anything, I'll go first."
Before Shinji could argue that it was better to work together, Unit 02 kicked off against the sand and put on a burst of speed towards the angel. Quickly ducking the blow that was intended for its face, the angel delivered a brutal uppercut to Unit 02's jaw.
Shinji winced slightly as he heard Asuka groan in pain, but really, it was her fault for being so rash.
"If you're done fooling around, I've got another idea."
"Well aren't you being useful for once."
Shinji ignored her spiteful retort and said, "Its quite simple since we out number him now."
"...Fine...I'm listening."
After a hasty reply on what he intended her to do she simply sighed and said, "Fine I'll be the bait."
"No...I'll do it!"
It took less than a second for Asuka to reply, "Eh?"
"It'd be better if I do it."
"Hmmm? Well aren't you acting gallantly all the sudden."
"...I'd just prefer it if I did."
"Fine just move! We don't have much time!" Screamed Asuka as she watched time ticking away for their remaining energy.
Shinji had started moving before she finished her sentence.
Appearing in front of the angel, he swung out but was quickly met with a strong AT-field. Shinji had no time to worry about breaking it and quickly spun around the side of the angel and attempted to elbow it in the side, but was met with another strong AT-field. This time spinning around towards it back, he reached in the shoulder holster on Unit 01 and swiftly wiped out the progressive knife. Stabbing in a backwards motion it was met with thin air as the angel had done a back flip and was not hovering above Unit 01.
Shinji quickly rolled out of the way as an AT-field attempted to enclose him and slowly crush him to death. Standing back up he was greeted by the angel as it dove down towards the ground with its legs outstretched, intending to kick Unit 01 in the chest. Shinji quickly ducked underneath as the kick barely missed the side of Unit 01's head. Simultaneously he swung in an arc above his head with the progressive knife, slicing into the angels thigh as it passed over him.
Doing several cart wheels backwards he noticed that he was at the edge of the beach were it connected with the ocean.
Breathing in a weary sort of way he wiped some sweat off his brow and he charged in again. As he neared the angel he swung the progressive knife wildly towards where he suspected the core was. Normally the angel would have generated an AT-field this time to prevent another wound, though Asuka hadn't permitted that.
While Shinji had been occupying the angel, Asuka had been patiently waiting for an opening to attack in a swift fashion. Shinji had wanted her to do this part largely because she had more experience with actual combat then he did. She had been in more combat situations and training and was able to read a situation like this better then him.
So before the angel was able to generate an AT-field, Asuka appeared from above and drove her own progressive knife directly into the skull of the angel, preventing any nerves from communicating for a brief moment. It was in that moment that Shinji dug his progressive knife into the stomach of the angel. Grabbing the handle with both hands, Unit 01 dug the knife in further and with a quick thrust, slashed upwards, cutting the abdominal cavity in two in the process.
Blood and organs cascaded out and onto the ground as the angel started writhing around, shaking Asuka off as it started unleashing its fury.
Before it was able to start regenerate though Shinji noticed something that had fallen out of the abdominal cavity and without a second though pierced it with his progressive knife.
What was left of the angel exploded suddenly in a viscous red haze that splattered blood in a one kilometer radius. Shinji looked at what was left of the carcass of the angel was throughly glad that he didn't have to take any part in the cleanup.
Breathing out a sigh of relief he glanced over at Asuka and said, "Nice job."
"What would you expect from the best."
'Maybe a little quicker next time,' thought Shinji.
Suddenly Misato's face appeared on the monitor at his side with a beaming smile on her face.
"Great job you two, really great. I suppose that the training paid off."
"Please don't ever mention that training again for as long as I live," shuddered Asuka.
Shinji just laugh. In the end it hadn't been all that bad.
"Oh, I know. As to celebrate I'll take you two out to eat. And to be fair I'll ask Rei to come along."
Asuka's mood suddenly turned sour. "Food does sound good, but why does the first child have to tag along?"
"Why couldn't she," mumbled Shinji?
Asuka's face suddenly appeared on the monitor directly in front of him and she looked like she was about to exploded.
"PERVERTED BAKA! YOU JUST WANT TO HEAR HER PRAISE YOU!"
"Ah...is Asuka a little jealous," smirked Misato.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAT!"
"Calm down Asuka. I ment it as a joke."
"Tch!"
"Well, anyway...get back here and let the hazard team start cleanup. It could take a while..."
"Hai," said both Shinji and Asuka simultaneously.
In the end Misato had taken them all out for ramen. Asuka had been outraged that her effort was equal to about one bowl of ramen. Not to mention that Rei had joined them which only improved her mood. And now Shinji had to deal with that mood as they returned home.
Asuka swung the door open hard and it banged off the wall. There had already been several large dents accumulated since she moved in and this only added to them.
"Do you have to do that every time you get in a bad mood?"
Asuka slowly turned her head towards Shinji who was frowning at the door and said in a quiet voice, "What was that?"
"...Never mind. It doesn't really matter."
"Good."
Trudging over to the living room she quickly seated herself on the sofa and flipped the T.V. Shinji was about to do likewise though when she hollered at him.
"Hey, get me a bag of chips and a soda."
"Why should I?"
"Because I said so. Now move it!"
Shinji grumbled and in the end gave in to her wishes. It seemed that nothing had changed.
After rummaging around in the fridge and cupboard for the items she requested he walked back in the living room and deposited the chips on her chest put the cold drink next to her face. She seemed to jump slightly at the cold that was touching her face and glared at him for his annoying action. Swiping the bag of chips off her chest she popped them open and starting eating them by the handful.
Shinji sighed and thought, 'Back to the usual Asuka.'
Turning around he was about to got crash in his room when he heard her mumble through a mouthful of chips.
"Ba...Shinji?"
"Huh?"
Turning around, Shinji just saw her take a large gulp and downed half the soda. Setting it down she wiped her hands on the sofa getting rid of the crumbs from the chips.
"You...I mean...not that it means much but...thanks, for your help."
Shinji scratched the back of his head confusedly wondering what had happened with this sudden mood change.
"Erm, well, thanks."
Asuka sat up then and frowned at Shinji before saying. "By the way...why were you looking so keenly at the stupid first child while at the ramen shop?"
"Huh? Was I?"
Asuka's eyes seemed to flash crimson like a demons. "Your perverted eyes were all over her."
"I really have no idea what your talking about."
"Go ahead and feign stupidity. Pervert!"
Shinji was at a loss of how the conversation had gone from somewhat friendly, to this.
"Well, if thats what you think, I guess it doesn't really matter. I know I wasn't doing that."
"Doesn't real-Were you born stupid?"
Shinji was about to retort back at her that she was completely overreacting and that he had never even thought of looking at Rei when the door bell rung.
Asuka and Shinji both turned their heads towards the sound.
"Did you lock the door after you walked in," asked Asuka?
"No...I don't think so."
"Can't understand why Misato would ring the door bell then."
Shinji and Asuka looked at each other, hoping that the other would get up and find out. Then-
"Fine I'll check."
"Good."
Shrugging as though he didn't care either way Shinji slowly got up, walked out of the living room, and into the hallway. After stopping in front of the door he suddenly wished they had one of those peep holes so he could find out who it was without opening it. Though he supposed he didn't have much choice. Maybe Misato had gotten too drunk and couldn't remember how to open doors.
Swinging it open he mumbled without looking first.
"Yes?"
What answered him was not something that he had been expecting. The voice was that of somebody in their late thirties or early forties. Certainly somebody Shinji didn't know. What's more the voice was that of a man.
"Is this the home of Misato Katsuragi?"
"Uh-huh." Shinji didn't know what to do in situations like this. Was this some guy that Misato had dated once?
"I see," he replied in a strong male voice. 'Almost sounds like somebody that works in real estate,' Shinji thought.
"Then is there somebody named Asuka Langely Soryu living here?"
Shinji had to do a double take. How the heck did this guy know Asuka?
Replying in an offhanded way he said, "Erm, well, yeah."
"Could you tell her that I'd like to talk to her."
Shinji hesitated slightly and glanced at the guy. Now that he had gotten a good look at him he noticed that he had a well mannered face and seemed to be dressed in a pair of slacks and a Hawaiian button up tee-shirt. He seemed to be good natured enough and so Shinji mumbled, "Yeah, hang on, I'll call her."
Looking over his shoulder he hollered just like she had done earlier.
"Oi, Asuka!"
"What, damn it!"
"Somebody at the door wants to talk to you."
"Huh? To me?"
"Yeah."
"Heh, most be another idiot wanting to invite me to their college. I can't count the idiots I've yelled at since I got here."
"I don't think its exactly like that," said Shinji as he heard Asuka sliding off the couch.
"Whatever. I'll find out for myself."
Shinji would never forget the look on Asuka's grimacing face as she poked it out of the living room to get a glimpse of who the person was. Shinji did not believe that it was a face that Asuka was even capable of making. Now though her expression would forever be etched in his mind as her grimacing face slowly turned from one of surprise, to absolute loathing, then, to scared and afraid. It was this last expression that Shinji had never expected to see on her face. It was unheard of for Asuka to become afraid.
Slowly, Shinji saw her open and close her mouth pitifully and saw that she seemed to shrink from where she stood. Her hands slowly formed at her chest and slowly wrapped themselves around her body as though she was trying to protect herself from the stranger. Her legs became wobbly and Shinji firmly believed that she would have collapsed if he hadn't quickly rushed over to support her.
Holding a steady hand on her shoulder he took a good look at her face and saw that tears had formed at the corners of her eyes and were threatening to spill forth. Shinji opened his mouth slightly but quickly closed it. Slowly, his gaze shifted towards the stranger who had not budged since he had rang the door bell.
"I'm back, Asuka..."
Shinji looked quickly back at Asuka who's tears had finally spilled forth, reflecting sealed memories and the fear that she had lived with to this day.
As Shinji heard the single word she uttered, he felt a strong hatred that he had never felt in his life. Stronger than his hatred for his own father. A hatred that could only be directed at one person.
"Fa-Father?"
Got this done a lot sooner than I expected. As usual I end up changing stuff here and there to change the story to something more...original I guess is the correct word. With regards to the anatomy of the angel...its something that I was always curious about. Also I was curious about how they generated an AT-field. So with regards to that I decided to throw in the fact that they function just like a human, in that they have a brain and send signals throughout the body. Which explains why when Asuka stabbed directly into the brain of the angel it was briefly...unconscious I suppose is what you could call it.
On another note how did you like the cliffhanger? Was it expected? I had planned on including Asuka's father to show up later and in a different scenario...but I decided to do something different for that specific scenario. Anyways this is long winded and what not so I'm gonna stop now.