Ch. 7 Out Of The Frying Pan


Sleep was an impossibility for Shinji tonight. He had the usual apprehension that always went with going to bed, but this was different. Even with his SDAT blaring in his ears, his thoughts were bouncing around in his skull and keeping him awake.

'So what happened with this Angel in your time?' His father had informed him a couple days ago when the next Angel would come. Every scrap of information he got was like pulling teeth. Unless, if he asked or probed until he got information, his father might as well have not been present.

'We had detected the eighth Angel in an embryonic state inside of an active volcano a few dozen kilometers out from Tokyo-3. NERV attempted to capture the target alive before it hatched.'

'Hold on just a second, The Angel hatched? So there's baby Angel's. Wait! What if we haven't even seen a fully grown Angel yet!? And what kind of reckless lunatic would try capturing an Angel alive? Where would NERV even keep it contained so that it couldn't break out immediately?' Shinji's mind felt overloaded with information. Which had become usual whenever he forced himself to ask his father for some of his knowledge.

'Our understanding of the enemy is very limited, even in the future, based on what I have seen. Every Angel is completely different from the last. The eighth had a unique circumstance around its creation and we observed no other Angel with one like it. The UN committee overseeing NERV ordered the capture, and I had no choice but to oblige their orders.'

'It could've been another impact! How can you obey orders that could end the human race?' Something about the last part sounded off with his usually monotone parent's voice wavering. He pleaded with the man who claimed to be his father, trying to understand him and find some shred of humanity. A lot like the real physical one. He never acted like it. The man ruined any warmth he might've felt from getting the chance to speak to him. It felt to him like the bits of human connection he got were the carrot leading him onwards off a cliff.

'Perhaps, but given how little we understand of the enemy, it seemed only slightly unreasonable at the time. This was our only chance to study one up close and potentially use it to develop more effective methods of defeating them. The reward outweighed the risk'

'What happened then?' Shinji felt a powerful compulsion to continue arguing, which wasn't normal for Shinji. He tried to swallow the bitterness washing over his taste buds while he gave in to his curiosity.

'If you hadn't interrupted, I would've told you. NERV sent Unit-02 to retrieve the Angel using specially designed hazardous environment equipment. During the ascent with the Angel, it broke free and attacked Unit-02, which successfully destroyed the target but lost its support cables. Unit-01 then went in without any protective gear and rescued the Unit before it fell and the operation wasn't a success or a failure, but they completed it'

Shinji took a couple of minutes to fully process what he had just heard. It sounded like he was reading directly from an after action report, but he knew that was impossible. He then realized what sounded so unbelievable from his father's apathetic explanation of future events.

'Wait just a minute, I jumped into a volcano! Why!?'

'I don't know. Your orders were to stay in position until further notice and to stop the Angel. Only if it escaped from the volcano, why do you think you did it?'

Shinji took a long time to think of an answer. Everything he could think of didn't make any sense. Shinji was a coward, a useless coward who only thought about himself and couldn't save anyone. He thought about it some more and realized Unit-02 was Asuka's Eva.

A mental image appeared. It was a girl curled up into an impossibly small bundle of red hair. Salty droplets of tears floating upwards in the denser LCL before dissolving into the rapidly heating liquid. He saw the LCL in the plug begin to boil and evaporate as the girl let out a long and terrible scream with her whole body. It seemed to echo and bounce around in his skull. The noise haunted him. His throat dried, and he felt his nose clog up and his eyes water.

Shinji came back to his senses and the first thing he realized was that he was hyperventilating. He blinked rapidly to dry his eyes, placing a hand on his chest to steady himself as his breathing eventually calmed down. He exited his room and got a drink of water, glad that neither of his housemates were physically incapable of waking up earlier than 8 in the morning.

Sure, he didn't get along very well with Asuka, but that was his fault. She didn't say anything he hadn't said to himself a hundred times over, and he knew he deserved it most of the time. Mulling over his father's words. Shinji tried to imagine himself in a situation where he would trade his life for hers and realized it was a much easier decision than he thought. Shinji realized it was because it wasn't about him being brave. He knew he was a coward. He also knew Asuka's life was worth more than his. Anyone's life was worth more than his if he really thought about it, but Asuka had the fate of the world on her shoulders and deserved to be happy.

A happier mental image appeared, a slide show of the few genuine smiles Shinji had been able to coax out of the redhead. Shinji always thought she looked unbelievably pretty in those rare moments when she smiled like that. A tingling sensation pervaded his whole body, and Shinji didn't know how he was going to do it, but he was gonna make her smile again.

Shinji saw a common but still fascinating sight at his new home. Pen Pen wandered sleepily out from Misato's room. trudging towards the fridge and grabbing one of his guardians' beers, using his two flippers to force open the can. He then waddled over to Shinji and pulled out the chair across from him and sat down. He didn't want to offend him by laughing, then he almost lost it when he realized how absurd that was. Then an idea struck him.

"I-I t-think I l-like Asuka" The words caught in his throat when he tried to speak but he forced them out. It was a monumentally difficult task for him, even if he knew his avian friend wouldn't betray his secret, because he literally couldn't.

Pen Pen's beady black eyes seemed to be searching for something in his own. The bird's facial expression held incredible nuance. Shinji now realized the bird had probably understood him in some sense, but just couldn't communicate back.

He didn't really know what like meant. He found her attractive as any person with eyes and a brain attached would. Maybe that's all that it was, just physical infatuation from being around her all the time. But he'd caught himself looking forward to the short times they spent together. Asuka just wasn't like anyone he'd ever met. She was arrogant to the point of insanity and so stubborn it made him want to rip his hair out sometimes. She was also, by definition, a genius. Braver than he ever could be. She had such a vibrant energy and vitality it turned him green with envy.

Confusing was also another word to describe her, perplexing was a more fun way to say it. On the one hand, she called him a pervert almost daily. He had tasted more than a few times the 'viewing fee' for seeing her in any form of indecency. She had also told him that he didn't deserve a fully grown woman like her and he was just a little boy. So at least he knew the feelings weren't mutual now, so he wouldn't get his hopes up.

There was also the whole wall of Jericho situation. At the time, he had thought he was finally beginning to understand the girl and how she wanted as little to do with him as possible. That night made it clear to him he had only dipped his toes into the metaphorical shallow end of understanding Asuka. But it wasn't just that, when Misato wasn't hovering over them, during their sync training. He could've almost sworn Asuka WANTED him to look at her. It was probably just his perverted imagination, but she had noticed him peeking and said nothing several times throughout the week. The way she moved sometimes during those dances seemed designed to draw his eyes to certain areas. Not to mention when she stretched, she made the faintest, most lewd noises imaginable in his mind. Shinji hadn't been able to stop himself from blushing furiously each time he saw. The girl's teasing smirk and lack of violent response had at least told him she didn't despise the attention. At least, he hoped.

That's without mentioning that whenever they argued, and due to some combination of grievances, he yelled back at her. She'd get her face as close to his as possible and her eyes made him question if she was gonna stab him or kiss him.

He let out a little laugh at that idea. A girl like Asuka wouldn't be caught dead kissing someone like him.

"Are all girls this confusing, Pen Pen?" The bird got up from his seat and patted Shinji reassuringly on the back with his flipper. It felt strange, but he went along with it to be polite.

"Wark." He was now convinced that his earlier hypothesis was right. He didn't know a bird could grimace or express pity, but even the socially oblivious Shinji could see it.

He looked at the clock and headed back inside his room, giving a small wave to Pen Pen. Giving one last try on sleeping for the last couple of hours before they'd have to get up for school.


Shinji didn't think he'd ever become a master chef, but he thought he was at least a decent cook. It focused his mind on a singular task and the feeling of satisfaction he got when he saw someone enjoy something he had made was one of the few he allowed himself.

He was in the process of frying up some bacon and eggs on a skillet. He wasn't one to brag, but he felt he had gotten pretty good at making western style breakfast in this past week of cooking it. Asuka had never thanked him, but from the way she devoured it like it was about to vanish from her plate, he knew she liked it at least a little.

Despite his consistent pondering on the subject. He had come no close to understanding the mysterious, exotic girl from Germany who was now living with him for the foreseeable future. They had definitely gotten closer since their synchronization training. A blush came across his face as he remembered the sensation of waking up with the gorgeous redhead using his body as an oversized pillow.

The two of them still hadn't addressed the situation. As he was now calling it. If she brought it up, he'd apologize, but Shinji knew for a fact that he had set his mat a good distance away from hers. She either got up and laid with him or was an extremely restless sleeper. He guessed the reason she was so forgiving in that case was because she felt similarly about what had happened. He was glad she hadn't decided to enact any form of punishment. Something told him on any other day he'd still walk out of that with fewer teeth. Even still, he couldn't stop himself from dreaming of getting the chance to do something like that again.

A bubble of grease smacking dead center in the bridge of his nose drew him out of his thinking. "Ow!" He turned back to the task of making food, rubbing his nose, grateful that his guardian was still sleeping and his roommate was in the bathroom. Skillfully flipping the contents of the skillet onto a plate and placing it on the table. He then returned to finish up the day's lunches and put a bit of the extra rice and some miso soup on himself.

As he glumly ate his food, his roommate exited the bathroom, dressed in her school uniform with her red A10 connectors pinning her hair in its signature style. He tried his best not to stare, but he couldn't help but steal extra glances at the girl. If she noticed, she ignored him as she wolfed down the still warm food sitting on the plate like a starving person.

After the battle, at first, things seemed too good to be true. They were joking and laughing, then she suddenly became distant the day after. Something had to have upset her and caused her sudden coldness. She'd had met any attempt to figure out what was wrong with vitriol. He had considered apologizing, of course, but when the girl was upset at him, she seemed to have no problem informing him of it. He had a strong feeling she was mad at someone else, but he couldn't begin to guess who.

Shinji collected their dishes and tossed them in the sink, grabbing his and Asuka's lunches and scooping up his backpack. He and his roommate shared a glance before heading out the door with Shinji, trying his best to keep up with the girls' much faster pace.

The two split off from each other as they entered the classroom. Shinji watched Asuka walk over and begin talking to Hikari. The pair had made fast friends since she was the only girl that wasn't verbally assaulted upon trying to associate themselves with 'the popular new girl'. After the initial excitement of her arrival, he'd heard a lot less nice names used to describe the fiery German redhead.

"Trouble in paradise Shinji?" Kensuke asking a non NERV related question was strange enough to pull his focus away from his thoughts.

"What?" Shinji's mind returned to the present reality, and he blushed as he realized he'd been staring at Asuka in her seat while he was thinking.

"The only time we've Red Devil speak to you is to call you an idiot. She doesn't even ask for the lunch you give her, she just sticks out her hand like she's shaking you down!"

"Red devil, really?" Shinji turned his gaze back to the girl now sitting in her seat, intently staring at something on her computer.

"Yeah! Her hair is red. She always has those red ear thingies, and she's demonic. So you add one plus one and you get two" Shinji could tell from the broad smile on his face that Toji was genuinely proud. He couldn't blame him as both boys got caught in the crosshairs of the redheads wrath whenever it got directed in his direction.

"That was three things Toji" Kensuke's smirking reply to his friend earned him a glare from the larger boy.

"Rise! Bow! Sit!" The start of class saved the glasses boy from further retaliation. The boys reluctantly turned their attention to the front of the class and their elderly teacher trying to get their attention.

"They will hold the Sports festival within exactly one month from today. That same night. We will also hold the Summer dance in the Auditorium at 8 o'clock."

Shinji's eyes widened at this new information. He quickly opened his computer and scrolled over to the messaging service that the students commonly used. Going to the top of his recent contacts. He selected 'Maverick', his own name being Goose. According to Toji, when he forced Shinji to create a profile, he got them from some western movie he and Kensuke saw. It confused him why Kensuke wouldn't be the one to already pick it, but he was just glad to be included.

["What's this about a sports festival?"]

His friend replied quickly. Neither of them listening to the teacher continuing his seemingly never ending tale about the second impact.

["Didn't you read that paper I gave you? The dance is at night. The whole day at school, we'll be doing a bunch of different sporting events. There's a 4 way relay I signed me and Ken up for. We both need to work on our cardio big time. There's still two spots left for our class if you're interested Shin-man"]

["Kensuke really agreed to run a relay race?

["He didn't really agree per se, but his name is on the board in pen so I'd like to see him try and get out of it now lol"]

["Isn't that kind of mean?"]

["He owes me one, besides it'll be good for him. I've got a whole training regime planned and if he really wants to join the military. This'll be a piece of cake compared to that"]

Shinji admired Toji's commitment to physical health. He found himself agreeing with his reasoning. Smirking when he imagined his bespectacled friend's reaction.

["When are you gonna tell him"]

["Lunch, play it cool till I tell him, it'll be funny."]

Shinji looked up from his computer. Their teacher had paused his lecture to get a glass of water. He saw a familiar mane of red hair at the front of the classroom, where he now noticed a small row of sign-up sheets on the blackboard. She finished whatever she was doing and strolled back with an extra swagger to her step. Before she got to her seat, she gave him a devilish smile that made him flinch and consider the truth of his friend's new nickname.

He spent the rest of time until lunch staring at the window, sneaking glances at Ayanami, doing the same in the corner of his eye. He wondered what she thought about when she ignored the teacher. She never used her computer for anything other than assignments.

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of lunch. He looked over to see Asuka quickly walking out of the classroom, ignoring everyone and heading somewhere with urgency. Shinji shrugged at this and followed his friends to their usual spot on the roof.

"What are you doing here, Red Devil? This is holy ground! Do I have to start throwing beans to exorcize you out of here!?"

"Har Har Stooge, How many shower arguments did it take you to come up with that?"

"Ha! You wish I thought about you in the shower!"

Asuka scoffed at this, "The only reason your clown brigade is being graced by my presence is I have to talk to the idiot." Shinji perked up at his mentioning, still not wishing to get involved in the pair's argument. Knowing Asuka only used idiot as a pronoun when referring to him.

"He has a name, you know"

Asuka rolled her eyes and reached to yank the boy along with her, but the larger boy blocked her. Shinji grimaced and shifted his eyes between his two friends, unsure of how to resolve the conflict.

Asuka seemed to relent, putting on an overly sweet smile that gave Shinji a deep feeling of foreboding. "Alright Idiot Shinji! I signed both of us up for the 4 person relay race. Now give me my lunch! I've already spent too much of my lunch losing brain cells talking to you three!"

"You did WHAT!?" His eyes opened in shock and he spared a look of betrayal at his two laughing friends before looking back at Asuka. She held her hand out in front of her and she was impatiently tapping her foot.

"Don't be like that! You're a soldier! You could use some more exercise! I've got a training regime planned that'll make even a louse like YOU into a runner!"

"But we have NERV duties after school. We can't miss those just for some after school thing." Shinji was grateful beyond words that his brain was working properly while he tried to get himself out of this situation.

"Of course I know that, Dummkopf! If you ever actually paid attention to the teacher. You'd know the people who signed up for the events get to practice during PE, so now we get out of those idiotic group exercises." Asuka placed her hands on her hips and posed confidently while Shinji fell into despair as the prospect hit him fully.

"So that means-"

"You'll be spending the next month at school running those twigs you call legs until you have some muscle! Honestly, Third, we're Eva pilots. You should feel obligated to show your superiority to the common masses!" Asuka took her lunch from the palm of the still stunned boy and left him with his accompaniment of still chuckling friends.

"Well, it was nice knowing you Shinji" Kensuke's words and a comforting pat on his shoulders unfroze his limbs and closed his gaping mouth. He stole a glance at Toji, who had a wide, mischievous smile, leaning over and grabbing Kensuke by the shoulder.

"I wouldn't speak like that if I were you Ken, do you know who the two other runners are?" Kensuke's eyes bulged. He gawked up at the larger boy, his sunny disposition quickly fading to one mirroring Shinji's own.

"No…"

"Yes! It'll be fun Ken! My cousin sent me some killer tunes to listen to and in a month we'll be blowing away the other classes! I'm no spring chicken myself, Ken. I need to do this extra cardio as much as you"

"You and the She-Devil are the same! You can't sign for someone without their consent! It's a crime! I should call the authorities!" Kensuke was now half hysterical, and Shinji nervously looked around the roof and was glad they were alone.

"Oh, listen to this guy. What are the police gonna do? It's a high school class competition. Besides, when did you become Mr Legality?" This confused Shinji. He looked to Toji, who leaned in further to his shorter friend, towering over him. "You owe me one. Remember? I'm calling it in."

"You're calling it in for this! You're a sick man, Toji Suzuhara!"

Toji only laughed at Kensuke's continued protest and turned to face Shinji. "If you want, you can train with us too Shin-man, my training's no picnic, but at least I won't be TRYING to kill you."

Shinji thought about this, on the one hand he agreed that his friend would probably be a more forgiving trainer. On the other hand, doing that would mean directly telling Asuka he did not want to train with her and picturing her reaction made up his mind for him.

"Sorry, I think I'll see how this goes with Asuka first. It's just one relay race. It can't be that hard."

Toji's face got serious, and he looked right into Shinji's eyes. "This is THE class competition. There hasn't been one in. I don't even know how long. Whoever wins this gets bragging rights until the next one, and no one knows when that'll be."

"But it's not gonna be THAT bad, right?"

Toji just put his hand on his shoulder and the usually easy-to-read boy had a strange look on his face. "You'll be fine Shinji, the relay is 60 seconds per person. You just have to run faster than the people who signed up from other classes. It won't be THAT bad."

They ate the rest of their lunch in silence. Kensuke picked at his food and Shinji absentmindedly ate his lunch. Toji happily gulped down his usual massive lunch and ignored the melancholy atmosphere drifting off from his two friends.

When the bell rang the Shinji and Kensuke shared twin looks of despair, both now realizing what was after every lunch period, PE.

Shinji headed to the gym, stopping at the locker room to swap out his clothes. His mind raced as his brain created endless worst-case scenarios, where Asuka tormented him for his weakness and various failings. He knew Asuka wasn't a sadist. He just got the sense she enjoyed the suffering of people she disliked or felt they deserved it. Shinji had a strong feeling about which camp he was in.

As he exited the door, a sight he had rarely seen before up close struck him. His gaze couldn't help but drift downwards as he took in the full sight of Asuka in her gym uniform. He was so bewitched by the feminine beauty in front of him; he missed the increasingly menacing glare forming on her face.

"Ow" Shinji rubbed both his earlobes as his eyes returned to the vibrant blue of his beautiful roommate's eyes.

"Gawk on your own time, idiot! Let's get going. I already talked to our PE teacher, and he told us we could go out to the track to start training."

Shinji gave a pained smile. "I can't wait," Asuka just smirked at him and turned around, leading him outside. He made sure to use what few curses he knew at the school for having open sign up for a relay race.

The thought that pushed out the school door after her was thinking about his classmates hating him because he couldn't be asked to exercise. He hated the responsibility, but people were counting on him whether he wanted it or not.

Asuka actually seemed excited. She was bouncing up and down on her heels and stretching, seemingly oblivious to the approaching boy who couldn't help his eyes from wandering. He awkwardly imitated some of her stretches. Being close to Asuka again, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering. He gave a small smile to himself, thinking maybe this was a good idea after all.

Shinji was in hell. His legs felt like someone had beaten and electrocuted them. He could feel every pore in his body stinging as sweat leaked out. He had lost the ability to speak a few minutes ago, his lungs only being used now to take in massive gulps of air as he focused on staying conscious. The black tarmac of the school track felt like hot rocks smashing against his feet.

"Alright, let's stop and drink some water. I don't know how you Japanese stand this all year summer. It's inhumane to put someone through this.

As soon as Shinji heard the stop, his feet thudded against the ground and he braced his whole body against his knees as he tried to force air back into his lungs.

"Toji…Was….. Right." The words came out of his mouth as a wheeze. He pointed an accusatory finger at the glistening redhead sipping water in front of him.

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Running for an hour is not a training regime!" It surprised him his voice was able to even sound that deep and looked at Asuka to gauge his likelihood of survival. She capped her water bottle and strode angrily towards him.

"And what did you think it was gonna be!? You think your stooge friends are out there eating ice cream right now!?" She gestured her hand aggressively off towards the school.

"I'm sorry Asuka, I can't do this" Shinji felt a surging pain shoot up through his chest and he grabbed it dramatically. "I think I'm dying."

"You're not dying idiot, your body is just remembering that it's alive! It'll get a bit easier when your body adjusts, which takes time, I'll admit. But with a world class trainer like me, we'll get over it in no time. Honestly, the more I think about this, you should be thanking me here"

"Oh, I'm so very-" Shinji's mouth snapped shut, and he sprinted, ignoring the burning in his legs and just barely made it to a trash can on the edge of the track. He really hated the fact that PE was right after lunch. He felt his knees begin to wobble and felt a gentle but firm smacking on his back.

"Okay, Okay, I'll say it. Maybe we went a bit overboard for our first day. Let's get you to the nurse's office, eh?" Asuka's voice sounded frustrated but something was strange, raspier and uneven. She almost sounded worried about something, but Shinji just shrugged. He couldn't imagine it was about him anyways.

He only nodded and followed after the girl as they returned to the school. The entire trip back, he nursed on his water bottle and downed the entire thing in no time. He had to hide his shock when his 'world class trainer' offered him the rest of her bottle. The annoyed look on her face told him he didn't do a very good job.

"Just take it! Schiesse! We'll go easier the next few days, but you could've just told me if you needed to tap out"

Shinji just gave her a look, taking the offered water bottle and finishing the rest of its contents in a couple of large gulps. Nervously handing the bottle back to the still furious redhead.

"Do you seriously believe I'll beat you if you stop running!? Mein Gott Idiot, this isn't a death march, you know!"

"Could've fooled me" Asuka, to his surprise, just rolled her eyes and smacked him playfully on the head. She then grabbed his wrist and dragged him the rest of the way through the empty halls.

They stopped outside the door to the nurse's office. "Just go in there and lay down. I'll tell the teacher where you are and I'll see you when you get back to class."

"I will, thank you Asuka" He entered the nurse's office and sat on one of the beds, waiting for the nurse to return from wherever she was. He thought about what he was thanking her for after the ordeal she put him through, but something in her eyes told Shinji she was genuinely worried about him. She just didn't like showing it, which was another piece to, in his mind, the unsolvable puzzle of Asuka Langley Soryu. He groaned in frustration, leaning his back against the wall and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above him.


The walk home from school was uneventful. After he gave a quick goodbye to his friends, he looked at Asuka, saying goodbye to Hikari. They locked eyes for a moment after, their silent connection still useful for simple non verbal communication. Asuka then shrugged her shoulders and beckoned him with her hand, vanishing out the classroom door.

The sun was blaring down on both of them and he could've sworn Asuka was sneaking glances at him from the corner of his eye. He took out a handkerchief from his bag and wiped his face, suddenly self conscious of what she was looking at on his face.

When they were a couple of blocks away from Misato's apartment, a red convertible rolled up onto the street beside them and honked. A familiar face stuck out from the window and waved at them. "You kid need a ride?"

"Kaji!" Shinji felt a pang of something when Asuka's face lit up and ran towards the pony-tailed man's car, leaving him in the dust. He looked over and met the man's intense gaze. All the guilt and shame he got from hiding things from the man bubbled back up to the surface.

He tried to force the ill feeling back down and gave a weak smile while nodding his head. Following Asuka and entering the backseat since Asuka had already taken the front passenger seat.

"Where have you been!? I've been calling you for two weeks and you don't answer!? We were supposed to go shopping last week!"

"I know and I'm sorry Asuka, I just got back yesterday and I'm still really jet lagged, so can you please not yell?"

"Fine" Shinji got a strange enjoyment out of seeing Asuka glaring instead of her usual doting on the older man. "But you'd better tell me what was so important. It had better be good if you had to skip out on me like that." Shinji could tell from the backseat how the girl was straining heavily to keep her voice even.

"Duty calls. You know how it is. Asuka, I can't disobey orders. If I had been able to, I would've called you, but in my line of work you have to expect the unexpected."

The words seemed to calm the redhead somewhat. She looked out the window and turned back to look bewildered at Kaji. Shinji also stole a glance and realized the source of her confusion. They had been driving for a couple minutes and they were heading in the opposite direction.

"Where are we going?"

"Well, I figured since you kids had that class trip to Okinawa in a few days. I'd take two of our elite Eva pilots shopping at the mall, all on me, of course"

"Do we have to bring HIM along?" Shinji tried his best to squirm under the seat and cease existing when Asuka gestured at him with a look of disgust.

"Why don't you wanna bring him?" Kaji quickly countered, a teasing grin growing on his face. "Are you planning on surprising him with something... scandalous? On my own dime, no less? Have you no shame, Asuka?"

"Kaji! You know it's not like that!" Shinji observed Asuka hide her face from the both of them while Kaji chuckled and Shinji observed the floorboards. She took a deep breath and regained her poise. and refocused her eyes, glaring back at him from the front seat.

"You'll be carrying my bags and keeping your pervy mouth shut, Third Child!"

Neither of them had actually asked Shinji if he wanted to go. Nor had he said anything in the car ride at all to cause the girl to tell him to keep quiet. But he just nodded his head to guarantee his safety. Already resigning himself to his fate as he sighed and gazed listlessly out the window as the car swerved at high speed into an open parking spot.

They entered the mall, with Shinji doing his best to look at anything else as the second child was wrapped around Kaji's arm and leading him throughout the various stores.

He had to resort to counting the strings in his shoelaces with a blush slowly forming when they entered a swimsuit outlet. Kaji looked back, and they shared equal looks of dismay. Walking along until they reached the aisle with each side filled to the brim with various brightly colored suits.

"Hey, wait a second. Isn't this the swimsuit section?"

Asuka had already vanished into the endless rows and reappeared a few moments later holding a red and white striped swimsuit. Shinji had to push his jaw back closed when he saw how little fabric was on the actual suit. A mental image of her in the suit which his mind was quick to provide. This made his barely noticeable blush into a fully red face, resorting to hiding behind Kaji to avoid embarrassing himself further.

"Aren't you a little young to be wearing something like that?" He then turned around and, with surprising grace. Took a step backwards, spinning Shinji around to his front and offering him like a sacrificial lamb to the annoyed girl.

"Oh C'mon Kaji, this is what all the girls are wearing." Shinji couldn't help but stare. Her voice sounded so completely different from her usual tone. He had to keep checking it was really her speaking.

She stopped, looking dreamily at Kaji. Her gaze hardened and turned back to him, the brightly colored strips of fabric still dangling from her fingers.

To Shinji, the silence that had broken out between the trio had lasted thousands of years. He realized Asuka was only going to keep glaring at him. He gave a fearful smile and tried giving a compliment, just wanting anything to break the unbearably tense silence.

"I think you, I mean, it looks nice." He spoke to his shoes with his eyes squeezed shut, waiting for Asuka to strike. He should've known opening his mouth would only give him another chance to put his own foot in it.

The two with him had night and day reactions. Kaji chuckled and gave him a light punch on the shoulder. Asuka's face signaled danger and Shinji, out of habit, stepped out of the path of the flying kick he already knew was coming.

"I said keep your mouth shut, pervert!"

This action, however, left a certain special inspector completely helpless to the incoming attack. Shinji guessed she had been aiming to plant her foot right in his stomach, but given the height difference, she struck Kaji a little lower.

The man sank like a stone, letting out a high-pitched squeak as he sank to his knees, clutching his groin with his eyes closed.

Asuka's face immediately dropped and her hands moved to cover it, her eyes widened. She looked to have forgotten all about her previous anger and moved to comfort Kaji, who was too weak to resist.

"Kaji! Are you alright!? I didn't mean to hit you I swear, I was just trying to-" Asuka turned to look at him, her eyes narrowed. "You!" Before he could even react, she grabbed his collar and violently pulled him within breathing distance of the enraged girl.

"This is all your fault!" He looked to Kaji for help but the man was still unable to stand and was only looking at the pair with a pained expression.

He looked back at the redhead currently holding him a few centimeters off the ground by his shirt. An errant thought popped into his head, and he couldn't stop himself from noticing how she looked even prettier when she was mad. The voice in his head that had a death-wish suggested he tell her that to calm her down. To Shinji, that was like throwing water on a grease fire, so he hoped apologizing would work. It never did.

"I'm sorry"

His eyes widened as Asuka leaned over and whispered into his ear. He felt a hot breath tickling his neck and turning his face crimson. "If all you're gonna open your mouth for is to apologize. I don't want to hear it." The emphasis in the don't part making it pretty clear what would happen otherwise.

Asuka dropped him like a sack and moved over to help Kaji, who had managed to stand most of the way up on shaky legs while the two weren't looking. Kaji waved away her attempts to help him as he stood up and stretched before limping out of the store.

"Are you mad?" Shinji broke out into a smile and had to stop himself from laughing at the haughty and proud second child sounding like a regular teenage girl.

"No, I'm not mad, Asuka." He gave the girl a pat on the head and a reassuring smile. "In the old country we have a word for women like you, Rompipalle" He gestured with his hand and pinched his fingers, all the while with a wide smile as he broke into a strange language.

Asuka swooned at Kaji, visibly relieved that the man wasn't holding any animosity towards her. "Is that Italian? What does that mean, Kaji?"

He tousled her hair and led the group to the food court. "It means beautiful young girl, now let's get some clothes for Shinji, there's a shop run by an old friend of mine and he's a tailor, he sells suits"

"Wha-For me? You really don't have to, Mr. Kaji, especially an expensive suit"

"You have no clothes, Third! How can YOU turn down a chance to learn how a real man dresses!?"

Kaji silenced the yelling girl with a hand. "Of Course I don't have to, I want to. Shinji, it'll be fun, and the ladies appreciate it when you dress to impress." He ended with a wink.

Shinji blushed and struggled to think of a reason he couldn't go, but decided to trust the man's seemingly altruistic intention, nodding his head at the man.

They walked to the corner of the mall, approaching a dingy outlet with a neon sign saying 'SALVATORE'S SUITS.'

Shinji looked nervously at Kaji, and Asuka voiced the opinion he was too shy to give himself.

"Just who is this friend of yours, anyway?"

"Don't worry, you're gonna like this guy. He's all right. He's a goodfella." Kaji entered the door and enthusiastically beckoned the two inside.

The shop was dimly lit with suits of all different colors and sizes hung up on the wall all the way to the ceiling. He was sure it was an impressive collection, but the arrangement made the already small place feel incredibly claustrophobic. It also reeked of cigarettes. He idly wondered if the display was for decoration or meant to hide the damage smoke has done to the walls. Maybe both.

Kaji approached a fat, balding elderly looking man with lightly bronze tinged skin, wearing a brightly colored button-up shirt. He was standing behind a register idly counting money with a cigarette loosely hanging from his lips. When he saw the group approach, he lit up like a Christmas tree. His cigarette fell from his mouth and he moved with surprising speed for his size to grab the man in a hug. Asuka and Shinji both gasped as the two men kissed each other on each of their cheeks before finally breaking apart.

"Voi Bastardo Ryoji, pensavo fossi morti!"

Shinji had no idea what he said beyond the swear. He thought it was strange the way the two men threw insults with glee. "So does everyone else back home. How's retirement treating you, you ugly old coot?"

The man's Japanese was pretty fluent, and he switched to the language with ease. "This has always been my real passion" He gestured to the store around him. "I do what I want, make what I want and I'm still raking in the scharole"

"Sal, I was wondering if you could help me out with something"

The man chuckled and nodded his head, already agreeing to whatever, and Shinji felt a pang of jealousy at the two's obvious unspoken bond. "Only you would come back from the dead. Track me down from out of hiding, just to ask me for a favor Ryoji, who are these kids with you?"

"I am not a child, you creepy old greaseball!"

The man took the insult in stride, grinning even wider at the outraged redhead. "Ah, I like this one Ryoji, a real Rompipalle. It's a shame she's not Italian."

Asuka seemed to have been temporarily calmed by thinking the man had just complimented her. Shinji had a growing suspicion the word meant something other than what they were told.

"This is my friend Shinji, and he's in desperate need of some good-looking clothes that can fit him. Think you can help him out Sal"

"How desperate are we talking here?" The man now locked eyes with Shinji and he felt like a massive spotlight had just been pointed at him.

After an uncomfortably long silence, Asuka answered for him, giving him an annoyed look while she did. "You see those clothes he's wearing right now? That's it, he has 7 sets of that." She gestured at him and his plain school uniform with disgust. Shinji frowned and looked at the floor.

He looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get you taken care of. Don't worry, kid, just tell me one thing. What're your two favorite colors?"

Shinji's brain stuttered to a halt under the sudden attention and felt like the simple question was an impossible riddle. After a few moments. He said the only color that kept coming to his mind. "Red" He exhaled in relief, then his breath refroze when he saw the man still staring.

"And?"

"Oh sorry, Black?" He was actually pretty confident in the second choice, but his nervousness still made him sound like he was asking a question.

The man didn't seem to notice his hesitation. His hand was on his chin and he seemed deep in thought. He snapped and looked up at him. "I'll get your measurements and I think I have something you're really gonna like"

All he could smell for the next few minutes was cigarettes. Mixed with a faint whiff of alcohol as the man wrapped measuring tape around his body. Taking notes and humming some foreign sounding tune.

Shinji looked down at the man, taking special notice of the man's bright pinstripe tie. A realization struck him. He had zero idea on how to tie one. He had to choose between embarrassing himself now or later. Might as well get it over with. He'd need to learn, eventually. "I c-can't tie a tie."

The man was still measuring his neck when he spoke, never breaking his concentration. "Who cares? It's 2015. It's the future. Wear a clip on. If someone comes up to you for not wearing a real tie. You unclip yours, wrap it around your hand and BAM!" Shinji flinched each time he heard the sound of the man's fist repeatedly smacking his palm. He pulled back the measuring tape and gave him a toothy grin and a thumbs up. "You understand what I'm saying to you?"

"I think so?" Shinji nervously smiled. Completely lost in trying to understand the man's meaning. Only thinking of what to say to appease the overly friendly and eccentric stranger.

"Good, I'll be right back" The man then disappeared into a door in the back that looked like it led into a medium-sized walk-in closet. After a few moments. He walked out carrying a couple of black dress shirts and a hot rod red overcoat and another black overcoat. A couple of pairs of black dress pants folded underneath the bundle.

"Ha Ha, I thought I was gonna have to actually do some work today. I got some stuff pretty much in your size already. It's a little big, but you're a little young, so it'll work out. You'll grow."

"You're a cloth making wizard Sal, what have I always told you? How much is this all gonna cost me?"

"Eh, take your money and shove it up your ass" The man's rough language contrasted with his gentle folding and placing of the clothes into a paper bag.

"Don't be like that Sal, let me give you a little something for your troubles. What happened to the greedy bastard I used to drink with?"

"Your money's as good here as your fucking card-playing Ryoji. Get the hell outta here. Call me if you wanna get a drink, and to answer your question, he got old, ya young prick." The man's facial expression was completely at odds with his foul and abusive language. Kaji led the two of them out, still grinning at the man, with Shinji picking up his stuff and the several bags of Asuka's clothing.

While Shinji tried not to show how much carrying the bags over an extended period was straining his body. Asuka kept giving Kaji a look different from the normal one he'd seen. He wondered what the story was between Kaji and the strange man they'd just met.

"Kaji, How did you meet someone like that?" The revulsion at the end of her words leaving no room to imagine she was implying positive qualities about the curious foreigner.

"He's an old, old friend of mine. He knew me when I was a teenager. We used to work together when I was younger but he retired from the life sometime after I left home"

"Where did you used to work?" Shinji silently thanked Asuka for probing more into Kaji's mysterious origins. He was just as if not more curious, just too afraid to ask.

"Waste Management" The words came from the man robotically and he hurried his pace as they arrived at the ice cream shop, waving his hand to let them order first. Asuka went right ahead, but Shinji felt something was off about the look in the man's eyes.

Kaji's face had looked haunted for a moment and incredibly guilty about something. He knew the look quite well. The crack in the man's facade faded, and he gave that same implacable grin back at Shinji when he noticed his staring. He blushed and stammered out his order to the bored-looking man behind the counter, the shame of being caught making his cheeks hot.

Shinji got his usual vanilla scoop and Asuka got chocolate, with Kaji being the odd man out and opting to get a cup of something called gelato. He sat down next to but within a safe distance of Asuka with Kaji across from them both. Shinji felt another tinge of embarrassment at being the only one with a cone, but he was too busy eating to think about it for long.

"So, where is your class going on the trip?"

Shinji ignored the question and focused on his ice cream. He had forgotten about the trip up until a few days ago and was so distracted by everything it slipped through the cracks.

"Okinawa! It's gonna be awesome! We're even gonna go scuba diving!"

"Man, it's been years since the last time I've been diving"

"Hey, where did you go on your class trip, Kaji?"

"I didn't have one" Shinji looked up from his frozen treat to see Kaji's almost constant smile now seemed pained and more than a little forced.

Asuka, however, seemed oblivious. "Why is that?"

"Just a little thing called the second impact"


"What!? Did you just say what I think you just said!?"

"If you think I said you're not going on that class trip, then yes."

"Well, why not!?"

"It's a part of your job!"

"You mean I'm on permanent standby!?"

"You got it."

"What IDIOT decided that!?"

"This one! The operations planning manager." Asuka's fist clenched as she resisted the urge to remove the smirk growing on her guardian's face using direct force.

"Shinji, stop hiding behind that cup of tea and talk some sense into this woman! Be a man for once!"

Asuka's irritation boiled over as the boy frantically looked between the two women. Obviously looking for some sort of escape from his current predicament. To her surprise, he seemed to side with her at the last minute.

She watched as the normally timid boy straightened out his posture and folded his hands over the top of each other on the table. Leaning forward and loudly clearing his throat before speaking "Can we please go Misato?"

"No."

"Wow, you tried so hard. I can't believe a plan with that much forethought into it COULD fail." She layered in as much sarcasm as possible into her voice as she mocked the boy's genuinely terrible effort.

"It's the thought that counts?" She could tell from the boy's posture and shaky tone he was expecting her to hit him. Every time she saw him like that, it made her even more angry and more than a few times, she did it just to meet his bug brained expectations of her.

"Thoughts don't get the money back that I wasted on buying clothes for a trip I'm not going on!"

"I'm sorry"

Asuka could only see red, strangely her actions felt calm and almost serene internally, they just translated into violence when she acted them out. "Sorry for what?"

The deafening silence coming from across from her finally pushed her over the edge."You're not sorry for shit! You just want me to stop being upset so YOU can feel better!" She hoisted the boy up by his collar, holding him at arm's length, dangling above her. "How's that working out for you so far!?"

"N-Not great" She'd planned to continue scolding the boy. For the crime of being a useless doormat. She wasn't sure what voice of Misato's was more annoying. The slurry drunk who can't string together a word and the sober commanding officer conspiring against her both drove her up the wall.

"I know how you kid must feel, but there's really no other way. There's always the possibility that the enemy will attack while you're away. Besides, look at the positives." Her arms were beginning to strain under the weight of the previously gaunt looking boy. She fought to stop them from shaking. She'd not let weakness slip in front of her rival.

Asuka dropped her previous target out of shock, staring with incredulity at the purple-haired woman. "What positives!?"

"You can use this extra time to catch up on your studies while your friends are off vacationing, and if you want, there's a pool in the geofront you kids can use whenever you want."

"Why do we have to get stuck doing stupid studying all week!? We're humanity's protectors! We deserve a vacation like everybody else!"

"Be that as it may, you two still need to both be doing better in your classes like everybody else as well. Or did you think I didn't see your latest report card? I'm very disappointed in the both of you"

She heard the idiot swallow and wince with her in perfect sync with her. They locked eyes, each grimacing in remembrance of their latest test scores in mutual suffering. But she couldn't just let some two bit hussy who dared to flirt with her dream man insult her intelligence. She was Asuka Langley Soryu, the smartest goddamn woman who ever lived, and she had a reputation to maintain.

"This is a witch hunt! The ancient numeric grading scale you use for your tests is stupid, and I know all the content. I just can't always read the stupid Kanjis. I don't see how it's my fault the Japanese language is just slightly more modern, inefficient Egyptian hieroglyphics."

"Why don't you ask Shinji for help? He has an A in Japanese, he just needs help with math, which you happen to have an A in. Do you see where I'm going with this?"

Asuka huffed in indignation and crossed her arms. "Like I, of all people, would ever need help from that idiot. You're talking to a college graduate, remember?"

"How could I forget? Sure you don't NEED to, but the both of you do need to study this week. I'm not letting you turn this break into a staycation, so study apart or together."

"This sucks!"


Shinji sat by the pool working on the homework he saved for last because of his intense hatred for doing the work. It was physics, which was a science class but involved basically nonstop math. His brain felt nearly fried from the entire week of studying he had done, without anything else to do, and Asuka only talking to him occasionally during meals. It seemed like the only thing he could do to pass the time.

It had been incredibly tempting at several points when he was struggling to ask his father for help. He wasn't doing it just for the sake of avoiding him. A part of his conscience felt like it was cheating in a way. When he lived with his teacher, he never got help with his homework, he felt that it was his burden to bear and his own stupidity shouldn't be anyone else's problem.

At this point, he had been struggling so much on one of the primers he had been growing more and more tempted to chuck his laptop into the pool.

"Hmm, what have you got there Shinji?" His eyes nearly bulged out of his head as Asuka leaned over to inspect his work while only wearing the red striped bikini she had gotten before the trip.

"B-Basic physics primer"

"Oh my you're such an obedient student"

"Well, I'll have to study it anyways." He felt like he should be annoyed at the redhead's harassment of him, but his mind was on other things at the moment.

"Well, I figure if I can't go diving in Okinawa, I'll do it here."

Shinji's brain was still in a fog. All his mind had managed to pull from the entire sentence was that her lips moved and she said something about doing it here.

"Do what exactly?"

"Diving, of course, so just what are you working on?" What little blood flow had made it to his brain was redirected without warning as the girl leaned over. Her face was studying the problem that had him stumped. She was too engrossed to notice his wandering eyes and Shinji thought he was one slightly overzealous lean away from seeing the face of god.

"Hmm, let's see, you're really struggling with an easy problem like this? There, all done. It's easy when you know how." She leaned back and put her hands over her hips in a triumphant posture.

"You're really smart Asuka, thank you" Shinji hoped if he fed the beast that was the girl's ego, she'd prevent herself from embarrassing him any further.

"You just figured that out now? Whatever, what's the next question?"

"Uhh, something about thermal expansion"

"Psh, that's kid's stuff. How can you not solve an easy problem like that? Objects expand when they're exposed to heat and contract when they lose temperature. Or to put it in terms someone like you will understand. If I put my hands on my breasts to heat them up, would they get bigger or smaller?"

Shinji sensed a trap being set and turned his gaze to the cavernous ceiling of the geofront above him. "I-I don't know."

"You won't know if you don't pay attention!"

"But if I look you'll hit me"

"Maybe, maybe not, life's all about risk"

"I think the end of life has a lot to do with risk too"

Now he knew Asuka was just doing this to tease him. "Aren't some things in life worth dying for?"

"Asuka please, my neck is starting to hurt"

"Then stop staring at the ceiling like it's about to fall down on top of you and answer my question!"

"Uhhh heat makes things bigger" He decided to do the opposite and watched his feet. He could feel the girl's irritation building up and waited for the inevitable snap. He wished he could think of something suave or cool that somebody like Mr Kaji would say. All he could do instead was stammer, stutter and mumble out his words like the doormat she called him out for being.

"I think there are collapsing neutron stars less dense than you Third, Gott" He looked up to see the retreating bikini-clad form of his roommate. He felt a sudden rush of blood and covered his nose. He needed a moment to recover from the sight of Asuka bending over to get something out of her bag. Shinji shrugged and snapped his laptop shut, shoving his loose papers into his binder.

He thought it would be kinda fun to change into some shorts, maybe a swimming shirt, because he was insecure about how he looked shirtless. Then another thought appeared about how much he'd be ridiculed for not being able to swim. Asuka would have ammunition for the rest of his life if he showed up here like a little kid with bright orange pool floaties kicking in the water.

He watched Rei exit the pool at the opposite end, away from him. Her fair looked a midnight blue with water dripping down from it, the contrast framed her red eyes so sharply he could make them out even from all this distance. He had barely talked to the girl outside of occasional forced small talk. He just didn't know how to connect with regular people. Let alone someone like Rei, who knew just as little if somehow even less than he did about talking with other people.

"Hey Shinji, Lookie Lookie, Backroll entry!"

Shinji smiled and gave the girl a thumbs up. Her enthusiasm and genuine enjoyment of physical exercise brightened his dreary mood. He turned around and let his face drop. Once again, he left an interaction with Asuka, feeling like he had chosen the wrong thing to say. He thought about asking his friends for advice on talking to girls when they came back, but neither of them seemed that knowledgeable. Not to mention, if they heard what girl was living rent free in his head, they'd think he's a headcase or suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.

The only other living man he knew that might be willing to talk to was Kaji, but he hadn't seen him since they went shopping more than a week ago. There was always his father, but he really didn't seem to like Asuka, and talking to him for an extended period of time gave him the worst kind of headache. He really wasn't sure if it was because he was literally a voice in his head or if it was just the nature of talking to the aloof and mysterious man.

Misato would just tease him endlessly as soon as he asked, but maybe if he made it vague enough, she wouldn't know who he was talking about. It did make sense in his mind to ask a woman the more that he thought about it. While the two were very different, they did have that tie binding them.

Then, brilliance finally struck him. He thought of someone who both knew Asuka and how to talk to her and had knowledge of the mysterious nature of the opposite sex.

She had always been polite to him and had become fast friends with Asuka since she started at school. Hikari had always hung around Toji when she could find an excuse, causing the two to interact sparsely. She had said it was her duty to look after her fellow classmates and said that if he needed help with anything, come to her. While it wasn't exactly school related, he was sure she could help. He'd just have to talk to her without Asuka knowing. If she found out why he was asking for advice, she'd kill him.


Shinji had his head resting on his desk. A massive textbook obscuring his head from the teacher's sight as he droned on some lecture he's already heard a dozen times. After their return to school, Asuka restarted their routine with a vengeance. She was true to her word, and they went easier and while it was difficult. He didn't pass out, vomit, or exclaim the end of his life was near, so he considered it a positive improvement.

The end result was the same. The dull burning in his legs had subsided after he had taken his end of the day class nap. Toji, true to his word, thumped him in the shoulder to wake him up a couple minutes before the bell so he didn't get in trouble for sleeping in class.

He groggily threw his things into his bag and glanced across the classroom. The first thought to return to his sleepy brain was the last thing he thought about before passing out. Shinji saw Hikari by herself. He panned his eyes around the room and instantly noticed the absence of a red-haired girl. He didn't think he'd get another opportunity like this, so he quickly got up and walked over to Hikari's desk.

"H-Hi Hikari"

"Hey Ikari, what's up?" Shinji froze as he realized he had again acted before thinking of what to actually say. Hikari didn't seem to mind his long pause as she gave him a small smile and nod to continue.

"Do you think we could talk somewhere private? I have something I need to get your advice on"

"Of course, I'm happy to help. There shouldn't be anyone on the roof now that school's out. Wanna go there?"

Shinji agreed and followed a careful distance behind the girl. Preparing himself mentally for the embarrassment he was about to put himself through. Even if he played it smart and Hikari didn't find out Asuka was the person he was asking about, it'd still be embarrassing to ask a girl about girls.

Before they entered the door leading up to the roof. Shinji quickly looked behind him to see if anybody was behind them, the sensation of eyes watching him tingling the back of his neck. He looked back to see a quick flash of red down the hall appear, then disappear into one of the now empty classrooms. He cursed himself for being so hasty. Asuka must've been in the bathroom and came back out to see the two of them walking up to the roof. Now he was gonna have to trust Hikari's ability to keep a secret and his own. Of the former, he wasn't sure and the other he did know was terrible, especially when Asuka was the one interrogating him.

"So what did you wanna ask me about?"

"Oh, Uhhh right" Shinji had been so caught up in his train of thought he lost himself and forgot everything he had prepared as soon as he looked into the girl's brown eyes.

"So there's this person I'm talking to" Shinji struggled to find the right words. If he was too specific, she'd know who he was talking about. If he wasn't specific enough, she wouldn't be able to help him.

Hikari seemed to pick up on his difficulty and tried to coax the words out of him gently. "So is this person a boy or a girl"

"They're a girl"

"Why don't you tell me a little bit about her?" Her almost motherly tone when asking chipped away at his usual layers of self consciousness. He could tell from looking into her eyes, and he genuinely believed he could trust this girl. So he let the dam loose just a little bit.

"She's really smart and pretty and strong, and they're not the best with most people. She says she doesn't like me, which I understand because I don't either, and she's made it abundantly clear to me why. But she also teases and fights with me constantly. Every time we speak and I apologize or try to make up for whatever upset her, she gets even more mad. I just wanna get along, but it seems impossible. Oh, and uhh they don't go to this school"

"Of Course, why would they? Can I ask you one thing, though, Shinji?"

Shinji exhaled in relief. He felt much better knowing that his nearly unhinged ranting over his pent up frustration and confusion didn't blow his cover. "What?"

"Do you like this girl? Like you know" He felt his face start heating up as the blush on the girl's face told him exactly what she meant.

"Yeah, I think I do." It felt like a weight was being lifted off his chest by saying out loud to another person. The simple words that were getting easier to say. He didn't like admitting it at first and still didn't. He was thankful Hikari fell for his ruse. Over time, even Shinji had to admit you don't think about someone as much as he did without feeling something for them. Even if he wasn't sure yet what that something was.

"Since I don't know her personally, I can't get into specifics, but…" Hikari gave him a knowing smile that made him deeply uncomfortable. "This whole liking people mess is absurd and doesn't make any sense. Just be patient with her and be persistent. Show her you're there for her, even if she acts like she doesn't care. Something tells me this girl probably likes you too; she just hasn't fully figured out her own feelings yet."

Shinji chuckled at this. Hikari's face dropped into a frown. "I seriously doubt someone like her would ever like someone like me." He ended with a gesture at his unimpressive build to hammer the point home.

"You're a good guy Shinji, you're sweet, dependable, honest and a little cute too. You just can't let people walk all over you. Make sure you set limits and boundaries with people if you want them to treat you well.

The sudden stream of pleasant words from the girl caught Shinji wholly unprepared. Sure, it all sounded good, but the idea of getting into more conflicts, however, worried him deeply. "But how do I even do that?"

Hikari let out a small giggle and patted him on the shoulder. "It's not something you can do overnight. If someone does or says something to you and you don't like it, tell them. You don't have to be rude, but you should be firm"

He was about to repeat his earlier question, Hikari stopped him. Her face went white as a sheet and she gasped, covering her mouth with one hand and using the other to point shakily at something behind him.

Shinji turned around to see what had caused her to react. Looking out past the railings, down from the hill the school was on and overlooking the hills stretching out all around the city. He squinted his eyes and realized what he was seeing wasn't an illusion or hallucination.

Glowing like a second sun, his eyes had to adjust for a moment to see the Angel properly. It was floating a few kilometers out past Lake Ashi silently. He didn't hear the normal alarms that always sounded when the Angels appeared. It was a sound he dreaded. He felt his breathing get heavier and heavier. He kept his fists clenched closely together to try to focus.

Not that seeing the Angel wasn't scary enough. It was two rotating golden circles of metal, slowly rotating in opposite directions. With the outer layers of its surface being covered in a row of unblinking eyes with red irises devoid of life. Yellow flame danced around the creature, and in the center of the two rings was another closed eye. Barely contained energy thrummed underneath the sickly white skin of its eyelid.

He grabbed Hikari by the wrist and sprinted off the roof. She seemed to be going into shock and barely reacted to his touch. When he got into the stairwell, he had to stop as he nearly ran into Asuka. She was looking at her phone and tapping her foot impatiently near the bottom of the stairs. Her demeanor quickly changed to one of confusion upon seeing arrival.

"There's an Angel!"

"What!? What do you mean there's an-" She was cut off by the blaring of the alarms that had previously been silent. Either they finally detected the Angel or someone triggered them manually.

Shinji turned and gently shook the girl he was dragging behind him until her eyes refocused and she looked at him. "Get to a shelter as soon as you can. We're gonna head to NERV." Her eyes were watery, and she looked ready to say something, but gave it up and just nodded before heading for the door.

"Stay safe Hikari, Don't worry about a thing, the cavalry's here. This Angel won't know what hit it," Asuka added as the girl left. And the two of them broke into a frantic mad dash outside of the school. Making him for once thankful that he had been doing so much running recently, he barely felt the strain.


Asuka exited the locker room and felt alive. She would've skipped the whole way to the entry plug if she didn't wanna give the technicians the wrong idea about her. The tightness of her entry plug suit felt like a second skin more comfortable than her own. Here she was in her element and she was in control. She had only one thing to think about, and that was showing the world her greatness.

No troublesome or confusing feelings to think about, just the thrill of battle coursing through her blood. No wandering thoughts about a stupid and spineless wimp, not even worth the consideration she unconsciously gave him. It was her time to shine in the sun and put to bed any errant thoughts about the Third Child actually being the top pilot.

She cracked her knuckles once she sat in her seat, gripping onto the butterfly controls and closing her eyes to take in the calm stillness before the battle. She sneered at the LCL dispense in the back as it flooded the chamber within seconds. Even if Dr wannabe blonde was right and the stuff was a wonder drug waiting to be made. It still smelled, tasted and honestly kinda felt like human blood, which was disgusting. She took nearly hour long showers after each time being submerged to get rid of the smell and to forget the sensation of the stuff on her skin.

The stern voice of her commanding officer halted her griping. "Alright guys, here's the plan. We don't know how this Angel appeared out of nowhere and it's undetectable by our Anti Angel alarm system. Unit-01 and 02 will engage the enemy in close combat. Unit-0 has been having synchronization issues, so Rei will be sitting on standby in the Geofront in case something goes wrong."

"Aww, poor little Rei doesn't get to have any fun. Try not to break anything while you're out here warming the bench." Asuka reveled in the chance to put down the commander's pet. She had everything handed to her in her entire life and she still had the gall to walk around pouting like a frowny faced doll.

"I believe I will not be at any risk of bodily harm as long as the mission goes according to the plan"

"I believe that too Rei. Asuka cut the chatter, you'll be taking point. Your weapon choice is up to your discretion. I want you to engage the enemy and if you're overwhelmed, fall back and Unit-01 will assist. I wanna see what this thing can do before we go in, guns blazing. Is everybody ready?."

"Roger" Asuka couldn't keep her excitement out of her voice when she spoke in sync with the two other pilots. She wouldn't even have to go against orders to strike against the enemy. Her two co-workers might as well have been spectators to her upcoming performance.

She felt the lunch Shinji had prepared for her today nearly came up. She relished the normal metallic tangy taste of blood as she noted the food didn't taste nearly as good coming up.

As she walked her unit out into the sunny streets of the city, she finally got a good look at the Angel. Even with the Eva filtering down the amount of light she saw, it was still almost blinding to look at. Its gross, enormous eye in its center was still closed and Asuka knew exactly what she was gonna use to poke it out.

She picked up the trusty proton glaive, twirling it around her unit a few times to get used to its weight and length again. She was gonna undo her previous humiliation against the last Angel and baptize her new reign at the top in this thing's blood.

Asuka bared her teeth and let a ferocious sounding battle-cry escape from her lip as she charged at the Angel with her Glaive braced in front of her. For a split second, she saw the Angel's eye snapped open as she got close. Then she raised up her hands to block her eyes as her entire vision was only white. She molded her arms into a defensive posture, trying to absorb as much of the energy as possible. She could feel her weapon liquifying in her hands, molten metal spilling overtop her Eva's glowing red armor.

It hurt, it hurt bad bad bad bad bad. Her hands fell slack at her side, the nerve connection leaving her own limbs feeling numb and hot. The Angel's ceaseless attack didn't care. Now the intense heat was boring right for her entry plug. The water

The energy that was burning her hands broke through her guard like it was nothing. Hitting her chest with waves of heat and energy. She gritted her teeth against the intense pain. It took every ounce of willpower she had to stay conscious and stay standing. Every one of her nerves felt like it was being incinerated by its connection to the Evangelion.

She felt her sharp canines rip through the flesh of her cheek as she bit down to prevent herself from screaming. If this is how she was going to die, she was going to die with her honor intact. The Angel, if it was capable of feeling it. Was not going to get the satisfaction of seeing the Great Asuka Langley Soryu broken and defeated in her last moments.

Over the sound of the rapidly boiling LCL, she finally turned her attention back to the comms unit she had previously been ignoring.

"Shinji, stand down! We can't afford to lose you too! Charging in without a plan won't stop that thing from attacking."

The pain disoriented Asuka too much to understand properly what was going on, but didn't like what she heard. Although it was incredibly painful to do so, she strained her arm, raised her hand and flipped off the camera. Whose feed she knew was being directly translated inside of the command center.

She wanted to cry tears of joy for the first time in her life when the unbearable torture finally stopped. The slight wind blowing against her Eva felt like the silkiest icy touch she had ever felt and it soothed the throbbing pain coming from all over.

The legs of her unit gave out and her two arms felt like the Angel's attack had burnt them down into stumps. She had check them constantly to make sure they were still present. She was amazed to find that her Unit's hands were intact. It destroyed her glaive beyond any hope of saving. Besides that, she had gotten out of danger before it melted through the last layers of the armor, leaving her with only light and mostly superficial damage.

'It sure as hell didn't feel like light damage'

Then she heard the most horrible sound she had ever heard, a sound that she truly believed would haunt her as long as she drew breath. Squinting her eyes, they finally adjusted to the light. She saw Unit-01 standing in front of the Angel attack, arms spread out at its side. She guessed Shinji's higher sync rate made the attack even more excruciating.

"Shinji?" Her voice sounded small and not her own. She hated it. She hated this idiot for showing off again, and she hated herself for failing again.

The sound of him screaming paralyzed her already tired limbs. It was such a horrible sound. Shinji was so quiet and reserved she'd never seen him raise his voice or express any emotion other than guilt, embarrassment or sorrow. Now she was just watching and listening as the boy's throat strained and cracked under the pressure of his constant agonized howl.

'Why is he doing this?' If their roles were reversed, she'd use the opportunity of the enemy being distracted and finish the damn thing. But she had a sinking feeling that if he had done that, the Angel would be dead, and she'd roast in her entry plug during.

She could hear the voice of Misato at this point, practically pleading with her to move or do something to help Shinji, but she sounded far away and distant. Shinji's increasingly shrill cry was ringing in her ears louder and louder; it felt like he was screaming at her to do something. She couldn't. It didn't even feel like she was there. She felt like she was somewhere above both of them, watching this person she had known only a couple of weeks die for her like it was a Greek tragedy. As the seconds ticked by, this cowardly boy who was bravely risking life and limb was dying. Her inaction was killing him just as much as the Angel, but her limbs refused to cooperate.

"That's it. Detonate the emergency lock bolts. Get them out of there now! And get me the JSSDF on line 1 now!"

She closed her eyes and silently thanked Misato. She hadn't been tracking how much time passed, but she knew Shinji had been suffering the Angels' attack longer than she did, a lot longer in fact. Considering how her skin was still sensitive all over and felt painful to the touch from only her relatively brief exposure. She dreaded to imagine what could've happened to Shinji.

It still didn't make any sense. Was the cowardly and wimpy Third Child finally trying to earn his moniker of The Invincible Shinji by playing hero? No, if he did that. He would've just killed the Angel and left her to rot.

'He saved me'

Her instincts wanted to banish the thought. She wasn't some princess sitting idle in a castle waiting for prince charming to rescue her. She was the girl who killed the dragon herself and prince charming too, if he got in her way.

But the facts were the facts. She'd probably be barbecued if it wasn't for his actions and he even went against orders to do it. They were logical orders. Even if she hated being used like a pawn on a chessboard. It made tactical sense to not just throw away your other functioning Evangelion in a suicide charge to save one that might already be lost. Shinji didn't seem to care about that cause he just charged in. The idiot probably didn't even think about it at all. He's lucky he's not dead.

Her downward spiral took a little detour. One minor fact began to nag at the back of her mind. She was a person who greatly valued personal honor as an attribute. Sure, it was a kind of abstract. Something that was hard to describe in exact words, but the idea exists in every culture on the planet. She now owed Shinji her life, which was a stupidly hard thing to pay someone back for. She could either save his life, which would be befitting of a warrior of her stature, but she also knew as a warrior that counting on something like that to happen again anytime soon, especially in the chaos of a battlefield, was just rolling dice.

She could, of course, do something nice for him. It would suck, of course. Maybe she should play into his stupid hero fantasy and give him a kiss on the cheek for saving the princess. She wanted to scream when that thought caused her cheeks to flush and her stomach to flutter.

Before any of that happened, though, she'd have to get payback on this stupid Angel. For making her look bad and for making the already stupid and complicated situation with the Third child even more stupid and complicated.


Rei Ayanami sat quietly at the bedside of a sleeping Second Child inside the NERV medical bay. Patiently reading her book as she waited for the girl to wake up so she could complete her orders given by Captain Katsuragi.

"Why the hell are you watching me sleep!? You're so creepy, I swear." She placed her bookmark and gently set her book down on the bedside table, clearing her throat before turning her gaze to the person yelling at her.

"I am here to brief you on your orders for the upcoming operation, Yashima."

"Has Shinji woken up yet?" Rei was very confused by the genuine worry she heard in the Second Child's voice. Based on the interactions she had seen. She'd gathered that she had hated. Or at least heavily disliked, the Third Child. Considering both their actions, this sounded strange.

Then again, she wasn't one to judge. Listening to the sounds of the battle had been distressing for Rei. It had such a strong effect on her she had almost asked to be sent out so she could try and help or create a distraction. The idea sounded like madness now, but the sounds of Shinji screaming in agony were hard to erase from her mind. It stirred something within her. She didn't know what, but she felt different in a way that was impossible to put into words.

"No"

"Oh whatever, not like I care anyway, so what's the plan to stop that ugly son of a bitch?"

Rei then explained the steps to the plan. Including her role as the primary sniper responsible for destroying the target and her role as defense. Preventing her from suffering any return fire from the Angel if she were to miss.

"I never miss Wondergirl, so you can write that in your little notebook too" Rei's eyes wandered downwards as the girl sat up on the bed. The thin bed sheet protecting her innocence fell away, revealing her bare upper body and her scrutinizing eyes. She wanted to question why the skin around her chest was so tan, but realized it probably was from the Angel's recent attack and kept her mouth shut.

"Here's a fresh one. I recommend covering yourself before reporting to the command center"

"Eek! Pervert! GET OUT!"

Rei nodded her head and obliged the girl's request. Relieved to have completed her orders and to no longer be forced to interact with the obstinate pilot more than she had to.

She had almost finished another chapter of her book. She was on the last page before she had to look up. The loud and angry slapping of boots against the hard metal floor signaled the arrival of her comrade-in-arms. The girl seemed to be doing her best to pretend that Rei was not present in the room or did not exist. She didn't mind; she was only looking expectantly for her next orders from Dr. Akagi.

"Now that is one big gun! Please tell me I get to shoot the Angel with that thing!"

"You are correct, but I should warn you, it's untested in the field. So all of our plans for operating it at this capacity are only theoretical. You'll have to be careful when operating the weapon."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, I already know the regular positron rifles burn through electricity like it's going out of style. How in the hell are you managing to power one this big?"

"NERV has gotten special authorization from the Japanese government. For the next 24 hours, we will transfer all power for the entire country into use for this operation."

"Seriously!? The entire country!? Well, about time, those lazy freeloaders finally started pitching in to help around here." Rei didn't understand what was amusing about this statement. But both of her superior officers in front of her broke out into laughter at hearing the arrogant words.

"You'll only have one shot before you have to reload and it'll take 60 seconds if you do. So you have hit the core with a direct strike and destroy the target in the first shot. There is no margin for error here."

"Guess it's a good thing then that you have the best marksman to ever pilot a giant robot here to come in and save your sorry asses. If it was just Shinji and Wondergirl here, you guys would really be screwed. Those two couldn't shoot straighter than a circle if their lives depended on it." Rei did not appreciate her shooting ability being criticized, but chose not to comment. She did, however, note with some curiosity that the mentioning of the Third child visibly darkened the demeanor of the 3 other women.

Captain Katsuragi was the first person to break the awkward silence that had fallen over the group. Since Dr Akagi had wandered off to go check on something without bothering to say any form of goodbye.

"Asuka, you'll be the gunner and Rei, you'll be protecting her in Unit-0. Rei, Ritz, had a special shield made from the metal used in spacecraft's reentry vehicles, assuming her math was correct. It should last about 35 seconds before vaporizing. Do either of you have any questions before we begin?"

"No, Ma'am."

"Here's one. Can we just get this over with?"

Misato rolled her eyes at the red-haired girl and tousled the girl's hair. Using her longer arms and superior height to keep the girl at arm's length. All the while, she giggled relentlessly at the girl's outraged counterattack. It was an amusing sight.

"Alright, that's enough of that. Report to your Eva's and await further orders. It's time to shine ladies"

Rei wasn't sure how it started, but on her trip from the command center to the Eva cages, she had ended up in a silent race with the second child. Both had tried to overtake the other in the hall by walking as fast as they could without breaking into a run. This had the effect of keeping them in pace with each other the entire way down. Rei didn't care about winning, but for a reason she couldn't explain she felt it was quite important that she not be the last person into her Eva.

On the home stretch of her impromptu footrace, she felt the buildup of acid in her leg muscles that signaled she needed to rest for a moment. She then realized that her soreness had already caused her to lose her lead and if she didn't hurry, she was going to lose.

She chose to break one of the silent rules of the strange game and broke into a run during the last dozen meters or so to her entry plug.

"Hey! That's cheating!"

Rei couldn't resist breaking out into a grin as she slid into the comforting and never changing interior of her entry plug. She hadn't ever experienced emotions like this before and wasn't sure if she was acting correctly. She was at a complete loss as to where they were coming from, but if they were already here, she might as well enjoy what she's got.

She felt her breath catch in her throat and a coldness overtake her during the activation process. Exhaling in relief when the connection went through without a problem.

"Just so you know, Wondergirl, cheating automatically disqualified you, so I win and you lose. I'd start getting used to that arrangement if I were you"

While the two units were being transported to the site. Rei mulled over the girls' words, trying to understand the source of this girl's animosity towards her. She had never interacted outside of NERV and at school occasionally with the Second Child. She couldn't imagine what she had done to earn the girl's constant ire. Rei guessed that maybe there was no deeper meaning. The girl could just simply dislike her. That was it. It was a discomforting thought that generated a strange feeling in her chest, but it was the only explanation she could think of.

She looked up and could see the light of the stars above her, shaking her head to clear her mind for the battle about to start. She exited from the launch catapult and quickly marched over to her position and examined her ramshackle shield. They'd made it out of a reflective gray metal with a giant metal handle crudely welded onto the back of it. She hefted it up in front of her and could see it was wide enough to obscure both her and Unit-02.

She set the shield down and looked behind her, seeing the bright red of the other Eva almost glowing in the pitch black night. The massive positron rifle coiled around the Unit and the various machinery behind it sloped down the mountain we perched on.

Rei watched as the barrel of the weapon titled, and its sights, took in the Angel. She held in her breath and hoped the Second Child wasn't kidding about her shooting before. When she saw energy began arcing across the weapon, she turned her sight back to the Angel. It was still hovering silently overtop of NERV HQ. From this distance, you could see the thin concentrated beam of energy diligently melting through the armored layers protecting the underground geofront.

A beam of brilliant bright blue energy arced out from behind her and soared directly towards the Angel's central eye. Its glowing red iris stared blankly ahead, unaware of the entire island's worth of energy currently being flung its way.

Just as the shot was about to hit its mark, the Angel fired back with its own energy weapon. The immensely powerful beams collided with the force of the impact. Throwing the positron beam off to the side and causing it to explode into a hill opposite them. The Angel particle beam just plowed straight through and Rei raised her shield to block it.

" Scheiße! Warum willst du verdammt nochmal nicht sterben!?" The metal wall Rei was holding up was actually beginning to be pushed backwards by the force of the beam, and metal slowly became warm to the touch.

Over time, the metal of the shield slowly glowed under the intense barrage. Touching any part of it became increasingly painful. Rei gritted her teeth and pressed her unit's body against the collapsing shield. She could see the metal glowing white and felt melting in her hands as the heat finally overwhelmed it. Once the metal warped beyond being of use, she discarded it. Now the Angel's attack was now being directed right at her.

She didn't remember screaming, and it didn't sound like she was doing it, and she didn't want to be doing it most of all. Her comms were silent and the only other sound she could hear was the constant popping of bubbles from the rapidly boiling and evaporating LCL. Breathing in the almost molten liquid was like breathing literal fire and Rei felt herself slowly slip out of consciousness. She gained immense sympathy for her other pilots. Now realizing how truly terrible it was to have your body artificially simulate being burned alive through the Eva's synchronization system.

She looked up to see another dazzling beam of blue energy zip out of the oversized rifle. Again, with laser precision, pierce dead-center into its big disgusting eye. For an entire kilometer behind the Angel, a wall of fire sprung up as the Angel seared through the city block behind the creature. It let out a terrible high-pitched death knell that was so intense it hurt her ears. It rapidly collapsed in on itself and exploded into a massive tidal wave of blood, drowning the surrounding landscape.

It was the last thing before her eyelids forced themselves shut against her wishes. She slipped into the darkness with a small smile. Knowing she had completed her mission, and they'd won.


AN:
Thanks for sticking around this long peeps and sheeps, I wanna dedicate this chapter to all 6 of my italian readers, you're doing great guys keep it up

Well that's another chapter for the record books baby, hope you're enjoying this so far or else OOPS, things are finally starting to get a little spicy and it only picks up from here.

I was planning on making this a shorter chapter so I didn't set unrealistic expectations for how long each chapter was gonna be. You can see how well that worked out.

Do you think this story is shit or could be less shit? Tell me why or how in a review, its free and can take as much time as you want it to, It makes the story better too which is pretty neat

I know some authors don't like to pressure their viewers into reviewing or following or favoriting and just want people to do that stuff because they want to not because they were told to.

Well fuck that shit, do it cause I told you to or do it cause you want to. I don't care, the end result is the same for me, number go up = increase dopamine)

Do you think some parts or aspects of the story are good or you'd like to see more? Say that shit in a review too, these aren't the stone tablets from god, I'm open to changing my story a little to make it better for you the reader

See ya on the next one

Teaser for chapter 8 of LFLS "Man Of Tomorrow" Featuring:

Is the bond between father and son truly unbreakable? Will the truth set you free or hurt you more than you could possibly imagine? Just what the hell is divine providence anyways?

Find the answers in the next thrilling chapter of Like Father Like Son