Chapter 23 - Asuka's Boot Camp

Misato folded her arms as she leaned back in her chair. The holoscreen in front of the bridge crew showed the inside of Unit-01's entry plug, where the new pilot was sitting and waiting. When Aida adjusted his glasses, a thought came to her mind and she gave voice to it, keying the comm system. "Hey kid, are those glasses waterproof?"

"Huh?" Aida's eyes darted around until he saw the comm screen. "Uh, no. That's probably gonna be a problem eventually, with... whatever liquid you put in these tubes, right?. I'll have to see about getting a new pair."

Misato shook her head. "Don't worry, NERV can help you out there."

"Anything else before we begin?" Ritsuko asked. When no answer was forthcoming, she strode over to stand behind Maya's chair. "Right, let's begin the first test."

The three technicians began tapping at their keyboards and calling out the usual things that always went over Misato's head. Since nobody was shouting, however, she knew that everything was fine so far. After closing the comm link, she interlaced her fingers behind her as a headrest, and looked over at Ritsuko. "Hey Rits," she said. "Any guesses as to how the tests will go?"

Ritsuko threw a glance over her shoulder. "Let's just say I know exactly how this first test will pan out. Unit-01 is rather... temperamental."

"You know, that's kind of a worrying descriptor for a giant walking weapon."

"But it's accurate. Quite frankly I'm amazed that Asuka is able to synchronise as well as she can."

Misato frowned. "Our three regular pilots can sync with Unit-01 no problem. Why would this kid be any different?

"It-" Beeping from Maya's computer interrupted Ritsuko's response, and she sighed at the screen "Just as I expected, Unit-01's rejecting the Fourth Child. We can try again, but I think it'll just be a waste of time."

"We should do it anyway, just in case," replied Misato. "Remember how Asuka's activation test went?"

Ritsuko stared at her for a moment before shrugging. "Fine, but I'm not holding my breath."

XXX

Kensuke was not expecting rainbows as part of the piloting experience. The interior walls of the entry plug suddenly lit up with billions of colours swirling around, then returned to blank metal just as quickly. While he sat there in abject puzzlement, wondering if he should work out how to open a comm channel to ask about it, the kaleidoscope of colours returned, disappearing again and making Kensuke fumble around for a comm switch. Thankfully, it seemed Captain Katsuragi wanted to chat anyway, as the comm screen returned.

"Sorry, looks like Unit-01 isn't for you," she said with an apologetic shrug. "In a minute we're going to use the cranes to shift you to Unit-02. Quicker and easier to do that than you kids switching plugs."

Kensuke nodded. "Okay. Um... by the way... what's with the rainbows in the entry plug?"

Misato blinked at him through the comm screen. "Rainbows?" He briefly described the experience he'd just had, but the woman's confusion only seemed to grow. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What you saw then was simply your own brain attempting to make sense of the activation process," said Doctor Akagi in a clinical tone as she appeared on the comm screen next to the captain. "Those clips on your head are connecting you to the Evangelion via neural link, so you end up 'sensing' that process, in a way. When you're actually piloting, you will be able to see and feel what's happening in the same way. There's no external cameras; the Eva's eyes are your eyes."

Kensuke leaned back slightly in his seat as he digested the information. "...Hang on, wouldn't that mean that I don't need glasses at all while in here? If I'm actually seeing through the Eva's eyes, they wouldn't have the astigmatism that mine do."

Doctor Akagi opened her mouth, then closed it again. A hand came up and she tapped a finger on her cheek in thought. "...That... is most likely true. We've never actually had a pilot that wears glasses before, so it's never come up."

The entry plug lurched, and Kensuke felt the odd sensation of moving while sitting still, which told him the transfer was taking place. A minute later, he heard a metallic clunk as the entry plug locked into what he could only assume was Unit-02. On the comm screen, Doctor Akagi began addressing him again.

"Same as before, Aida," she said. "We should have better luck this time though, since Unit-02's the Production Model instead of the Test-Type."

"Heh, I'll bet Soryu didn't take too kindly to the fact that someone else might be able to pilot her Eva," Kensuke replied with a chuckle.

Doctor Akagi gave a thin smile. "Yes, she did grumble quite a bit. The test will commence in a moment."

There was a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, the hairs there standing on end as the rainbows returned. This time, the rainbows lasted longer than a few seconds. A shiver raced through his body as Kensuke felt something that he would only later be able to describe as a ghost passing through him. He blinked, looking down at his limbs as they suddenly felt much heavier. As if...

As if they were covered in thick metal armour.

"Excellent!" came the exultant cheer from Captain Katsuragi. "Unit-02 has activated!"

"Sync ratio at... 28.9%," Doctor Akagi added, sounding almost impressed. "Over the activation threshold, but I wouldn't be sending you out to fight just yet."

"How good is that?" asked Kensuke. He looked up at the screen, and gasped at what he saw past it.

The grey metal Evangelion cage sat before him, as clear as if he was still outside on the catwalk. He slowly gazed around, noticing how the view lazily tracked his head's movement. On a whim, he removed his glasses; as he expected, everything remained perfectly clear.

"As you can see, you can move the Eva, but you're rather sluggish right now." said Doctor Akagi. "Your movements will have a slight delay, and it will feel like a bit of struggle to actually move around because your sync ratio is so low. As you train and grow more experienced, that ratio will rise and the Eva's movements will become smoother and lighter."

"Wow..." Kensuke breathed, still looking around the cage. "So... how do I go about moving my arms and legs then? I don't know how these controls are supposed to work."

"Neural link. You will need to think at it." A warning bell began to go off in the cage as red lights flashed. At the same time, Kensuke felt the vague sensation of something that had once been wrapped around his arms fall away. "I've just unlocked Unit-02's arms. Keep your own hands on the controls, but think about moving your arms like you normally would."

"Think about moving," Kensuke mumbled, returning his glasses to his face for the time being. "Okay, that should be easy. I can move my own body without thinking..."

It ended up taking a couple of long and boring minutes, but he finally felt his other right arm slowly rising; a red-armoured hand soon came into view in front of his other eyes.

"Cool," he breathed, slowly rotating the hand back and forth before forming a fist.

"Sorry to rain on your parade," said a somewhat apologetic-sounding Captain Katsuragi. "But we're gonna shut you down now. You can practise more in the simulator."

Kensuke gave a tiny groan, then stiffened as his view went dark. The shiver returned, this time feeling as if the ghost was leaving his body. He would have to ask the others if that was normal.

A few minutes later, he was standing on the catwalk in front of Unit-02, spitting to try and get the disgusting taste of that orange gunk out of his mouth. Even remembering Soryu's earlier advice about how to quickly get it out of his lungs had been no help. At least this time he was wearing a plugsuit, not a drenched school uniform.

The LCL also left another unwanted present in the form of leftover liquid on his glasses. The best Kensuke could do was flick them a few times to try and clear them, but it still felt like he was looking at the world through an orange rain-spattered window. Any attempt to clean them right now would only make them worse. As a result, he could only just make out the other pilots by their colourful plugsuits before they got closer. He sighed in frustration and removed his glasses so that he could actually see again. Sort of.

"Nice work, Kensuke," said Shinji, giving him one of those slightly anxious smiles that always made Kensuke think that his friend was never sure if his praise would be expected.

Soryu gave a slight huff and folded her arms. "Yeah, not bad, rookie. You managed to sync with the Production Model. To be honest I'd be surprised if you couldn't even manage that. Just don't get a swelled head. You'll never be able to pilot it as well as me." She took a step forward and poked him in the chest. "And you had better not break my Eva!"

Kensuke gave her a cool look, before turning to Ayanami. "Am I not going to get tested in your Eva as well?"

Ayanami shook her head. "It is unnecessary now, and is not advisable anyway. Unit-00 is the Prototype; it is not as refined as the Test-Type and Production Model. I am the only one cleared to pilot it, and even I have problems synchronising on rare occasions."

It was a confusing thought for Kensuke, that these giant robots seemed to have preferences in their pilots.

"Anyway, we'll be heading to the simulators soon," said Soryu, before pointing up at the observation deck window in the top corner of the cage. "Just as soon as they finish up there and move over."

Kensuke glanced up at the window, seeing the room's occupants bustling back and forth, then back down again to see Ayanami leaning forward slightly and looking curiously at him. "Uh... Ayanami?" he hesitantly said.

In response, the red-eyed girl partially tilted her head to one side. "You look... different," she said after an awkward silence.

Kensuke held up his glasses. "Well I'm not wearing these, so... um..." He trailed off as Ayanami took them from his hand, examining them from every angle. Asuka took a step back and put her hands on her hips, seemingly curious as to what was going on.

"Do glasses really change the look of a person's face that much?" Ayanami wondered aloud as she brought the glasses up to look through the lenses. She squinted, perhaps trying to see clearly through a prescription made for somebody else.

"You've been around my father a lot, right?" Shinji asked. When Ayanami nodded, he continued. "Haven't you ever seen him without his glasses?"

Ayanami gave the question some thought, her hand holding the glasses dropping to her side. "Only once, and at that time I was in no condition to observe much of anything in any detail." She looked down at the glasses, staring blankly for a few seconds, before abruptly putting them on. "Do I look any different now?" she asked, turning her head to look at everybody in turn.

"Uh... um... err..." Feeling a rush of heat to his face at the sight of her wearing his glasses, Kensuke could only stammer unintelligible words.

"Ooooh!" exclaimed Soryu, raising an eyebrow and grinning at his reaction, which only made it worse.

"What?" Shinji quizzically asked. "What is it?"

The grin faded as Soryu tilted her head at him, staring for a few seconds before heaving a sigh "...Really? Well anyway, I think they make you look a bit older, Wondergirl. I would also say they make you look more intelligent, but those glasses unfortunately belong to him." She hooked a thumb at Kensuke, who scowled back at her. "I reckon you'll be better off with some narrower glasses if you decide to get some."

"But I do not have any problems with my eyes," Ayanami replied, puzzlement etched on her face.

"Like that matters," Soryu chuckled. "They make glasses that are purely for appearance's sake. A fashion accessory. If you're interested, I could take you somewhere to buy some one day. For now though, let's just get to the simulators. Give Glasses back his glasses before he gets a nosebleed."

Ayanami did as requested, with what seemed strangely like reluctance, and Kensuke stammered his thanks as his hands fumbled around at his waist for a moment. "Wait... these things don't have pockets?"

"Pockets? Of course not." Asuka exaggeratedly threw her hands up in the air. "Why could anybody in a skintight rubber suit possibly want somewhere to temporarily store things to free up their hands?" With a scoff and an eye-roll, she stalked off. Kensuke followed, but before he reached the doorway out of the cage, he just barely heard a soft, distracted voice behind him that brought redness back to his cheeks.

"...Did I do something wrong?"

XXX

When Unit-02 feinted with its left fist before punching Kensuke's simulation Evangelion in the head with its right, Shinji winced in sympathy; he had fallen for the exact same trick. When Asuka then swept Kensuke's legs out from underneath him, Shinji simply sighed. Things were going depressingly similar to his own training at her hands; especially the fact that this was now the fourth day of training.

But at least it worked, eventually. Asuka's training seemed designed to make the victim frustrated, to try anything in order to stop getting hit. The first hit Shinji ever landed on her was only successful because he eventually began focusing completely on defense, and studying his opponent to hunt for openings. That one clean punch he had thrown had been a good outlet for all the frustration bottled up inside him.

Kensuke seemed to be taking a bit longer. He was certainly managing to put up a better defense than Shinji had at first, but a counterattack seemed nowhere in sight. Any punches or kicks he threw simply whiffed past or were easily blocked. The completion of two days of basic training had resulted in Kensuke reaching a somewhat respectable ratio of 33%, and that seemed enough to not be completely overwhelmed by NERV's best pilot.

Shinji glanced sidelong at Misato, who was lounging in a chair next to him and staring at the holographic screen that was showing the fight. There was a smirk on her face, and he wondered if it had anything to do with Kensuke being a back-seat tactician during the Fourth Angel's attack. The rest of the officers in the simulator control room seemed like they were either enjoying the fight, in the case of the two males, or had better things to focus on, like Doctor Akagi and Lieutenant Ibuki. They seemed more interested in the raw data of the fight rather than the spectacle.

"Come on, Glasses!" Asuka taunted. She was definitely having fun. "By this time Shinji had already nearly taken my head off! Having trouble keeping up?"

"If you're expecting me to get mad and go wildly offensive, you're out of luck," Kensuke retorted as his Evangelion, coloured yellow in the simulation, used both arms to block a roundhouse kick.

"Yeah, but this is starting to get tedious!"

Kensuke smirked. "Oh? Do I win by default if you fall asleep from boredom?"

Doctor Akagi looked up at the screen and sighed. "Well I personally would appreciate it if you two didn't take forever. Running simulations costs money, and you two have been burning through quite a lot of it these last few days."

Something seemed to flash in Kensuke's eyes. "Are you asking us to hurry up?"

"If you wouldn't mind, that'd be nice," Doctor Akagi grumpily replied. "I have other things I could be doing."

"Fine, I'll make this quick," Asuka cheekily remarked. "We can always pick it up again tomorrow!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Unit-02 feinted again with its left before throwing a straight right punch. What happened next left the entire control room speechless.

Unit-02's fist flew past the yellow Evangelion's face, just barely missing its jaw as it leaned out of the way. As the arm reached full extension, Kensuke grabbed it with both hands and turned his Evangelion's back to Asuka. He pulled with a mighty effort, yanking Unit-02 off the ground and over him to slam down on the ground in front of him. Still holding the arm, he forced Unit-02 over onto its stomach and twisted the arm as he placed a foot on the stricken Evangelion's back.

"...Huh, nice move, Glasses," Asuka grunted as Unit-02 struggled. "Unfortunately, you're still a rookie!"

Kensuke looked about as surprised as she did at what he had just accomplished, but her words caused his eyes to widen. "Huh?"

Unit-02's legs came up, kicking Kensuke's Evangelion in the rear end. While Asuka clearly couldn't put much force into the attack from her current position, it was enough to distract him at a critical moment. His grip on her arm loosened just a little, and Asuka took full advantage. Unit-02's hand twisted around and grabbed onto the back of its opponent's neck, and without a second's thought Asuka drove her victim face first into the ground next to her. Unit-02 then hopped to its feet and raised its elbow high above its head before the Evangelion dropped down, the elbow impacting directly in the middle of the Evangelion's back. Kensuke gave a shout of pain and alarm as his Evangelion splayed out on the ground.

"Ow..." Kensuke muttered, twisting in his seat as he tried to rub the sore spot on his back.

"Okay, I'm going to call it there," Doctor Akagi announced. "Despite some... interesting moves on Pilot Aida's part, Pilot Soryu's the victor."

"Was there ever any doubt?" Asuka exulted, sparing a moment to massage her shoulder. When Shinji expressed his concern, she rolled her eyes. "Glasses didn't lock it in properly. I'm fine."

"Well the new guy managed to land a hit of sorts on Asuka," Misato remarked, getting up from her chair and stretching. "That means the next few days are going to be anti-Angel training and group tactics. Which," she added with a pointed look at Kensuke, "I will be handling, buster."

"Er... yes ma'am," Kensuke nervously replied, quickly pulling his eyes up to where they belonged.

Misato flashed him a sunny smile. "Good! Now let's get you two out of your Evas."

Shinji headed off to the next room, grabbing a couple of towels along the way as well as Kensuke's glasses. The two occupied simulator entry plugs were just starting to open, and he passed a towel to Kensuke and Asuka as they stepped out. Asuka nodded her thanks as she wiped her face clear before draping the towel over her head

"That wasn't too bad, Glasses," she said as she patted the towel to soak some of the LCL out of her hair. "Who taught you that one?"

"Toji did," Kensuke replied, getting to work on his own hair. "He asked how training was going, I mentioned how you were kicking my ass, and he showed me a few tricks."

Asuka nodded. "Huh, I should have guessed. Well, if it works, and keeps you alive, then it's perfectly fine. The Angels aren't going to fight fair; our job is to put them down as hard and fast as possible, not get into drawn out fights." She stopped and thought for a moment as Kensuke folded his wet towel up, trading it to Shinji for his glasses. "You might not be able to grapple an Angel very well though. Most of the ones we've seen already aren't even slightly humanoid. It'll be better and safer to shoot or stab them instead."

"Wait, didn't you suplex that giant fish thing?" Kensuke blurted out. "On the Over the Rainbow, it jumped at you and-"

"That... wasn't really a suplex," Asuka interrupted, raising a hand and waggling it side to side in a 'so-so' gesture. "Its own momentum pushed us off the ship, I just grabbed onto it so I could take it with me. Didn't want it smashing up the command ship."

"Ugh. I wish my video camera tape hadn't been confiscated," Kensuke muttered, folding his arms and huffing. "I had some awesome shots of that fight and NERV took them all."

"Oh dear, your voyeurism bites you in the ass again; so sad." Asuka pretended to wipe a tear from her eye.

Shinji chuckled at Kensuke's despondency. "And there's still that girl who wants her own photo taken, isn't there?"

"Ah yes!" Asuka perked up, her face suddenly sporting a malicious grin. "You'll have to tell us all about how you were forced to take skimpy photos of a girl when that happens!"

Kensuke put his hands on his face and groaned into them. "Can I please just go home now?" he pleaded.

XXX

A surprise was waiting for Asuka and Shinji in their lounge room when they arrived home. The tooth that had been broken off of Gaghiel during its final moments now sat in the opposite corner to the television. Its base had been ground down to let it sit flat, and a little metal plaque had been attached, showing the name and number of the Angel, its time and date of death, and crediting Shinji and Asuka with the kill. It just barely fit in between the ground and the ceiling, leaving them both to wonder just how NERV had managed to deliver it.

After taking some time to admire the trophy, Shinji and Asuka went next door to talk to Misato about it. She didn't know how it had gotten safely into their apartment either, but said that she had pushed to have the tooth preserved for them as a memento of their first battle together.

"So what do you think about Kensuke being a pilot?" Shinji asked as they went into Misato's lounge room. "I mean, really think?"

With her head resting on an upraised hand, Asuka glanced up at the ceiling and hummed in consideration. Pen-pen, having decided to join them, plopped down in front of her and she idly scratched the back of his head with her free hand. "Eehhh... he's got potential at least. He'll probably pick up on the tactics and strategy stuff a lot quicker than you did. But enough about that for now." She sat up and turned to face him. "You didn't notice how he acted around Wondergirl when she tried his glasses on?"

Now that he had had time to think on it, Shinji finally understood Asuka's reaction. "Oh yes. He got rather... ah... nervous."

"Wondergirl seemed completely oblivious though."

"After you and Kensuke walked off, she sounded confused about how he reacted."

Asuka closed her eyes and waved a hand in dismissal. "Eh, I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually. Anyway, what do you feel like for dinner? Better speak up now before Misato decides to 'make' something."

"Anything you make will be fine with me, Asuka."

"Yeah, thanks. That really narrows it down for me." Asuka got up and headed to the kitchen, but paused in the doorway. "...Shinji," she quietly said, partially turning her head. "Are you concerned at all about what this soul contract has done to you?"

"Concerned?" Shinji echoed, then scratched his head. "Well, it's not like we can do anything about it yet. No point getting agitated over something you can't change."

"But you don't have a soul now. What's going to happen if..." Asuka paused and ran a hand through her hair. "Well, we've got the most goddamn dangerous job in the world. What'll happen if either of us die? Are you functionally immortal without a soul? Am I immortal since I have two? There's just so much weirdness surrounding this damn contract! And I don't even know if we can contact the freaky fire lady to find out!"

The frustration in her voice caused Shinji to stand up and take a step towards her. "What are you so worried about?" he asked. "You're the great Asuka Langley-Soryu. No Angel is going to take you down."

"The great..." She blinked and shook her head before looking back at him. "Yeah. You're goddamn right I am. And you... you're the invincible Shinji Ikari!" she announced, pointing challengingly at him and then clenching her fist. "With our dual-sync, we'll tear down anything that stands in our way!"

With a smile blossoming on his face, Shinji nodded resolutely. "Yeah!"

"Wow, you two sound like a real power couple now!" The smile faltered as Misato suddenly butted into the conversation. "Should I see if Rits would consent to letting those titles being painted on your Eva?"

"P-power couple?!" Asuka embarrassedly stammered. "Have you been getting stuck into your booze already?!"

"Nope, but thanks for the suggestion!" Misato chirped as she headed to the fridge, returning moments later with a can of Yebisu. "Now, did I also hear something about dinner?"

With a bemused sigh, Shinji headed to the kitchen to assist Asuka. There was likely going to be yet another dent in the table soon, courtesy of a Yebisu-brand can slam.

XXX

Just as predicted, Kensuke practically flew through squad tactics training. However, to Asuka's amusement, he took a while to learn how to aim an Evangelion-sized weapon accurately, which made the anti-Angel combat training take longer than it had for Shinji. Kensuke's excuse that a real gun didn't feel as he had expected was simply turned aside by a chortling redhead.

But eventually, the newest Evangelion pilot 'graduated' from Misato and Asuka's boot-camp. His preferred method of celebration? Going home and falling asleep for a week, according to Kensuke himself shortly before he bid the others farewell.

"All we can do now is wait for an Angel attack to see how he holds up in real combat," Asuka remarked as she and Shinji returned home. "Training can only do so much."

Shinji nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's a lot more... life-threatening than a simulation. No matter how hard you were on him. Us," he added as a correction.

"I'm harsh because you rookies needed a kick in the ass," Asuka replied. "Just sitting and plinking at targets with a Pallet Rifle isn't going to do a damn thing to teach you how to kill an Angel that's right in your face trying to bite your entire body off. It's like the difference between learning a martial art and learning how to survive in a street fight."

Shinji blinked. "You... uh... haven't actually been in a street fight have you?" he worriedly inquired.

Asuka waved a hand at him. "Of course not, that was just an example. Why, were you worried about what I might have been up to in the past?" she asked, clasping her hands behind her back and leaning towards Shinji with a grin on her face.

"No no," Shinji replied with a quick shake of his head. "...Well I'm thinking about it now," he conceded after a moment.

"Well you'll be happy to know that I remained unmolested during my formative years," Asuka airily state, putting a hand to her chest. She then looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds, then waggled that hand side to side. "There were a few people I wanted to punch in the face though, but that's normal. Right?"

Having never had that desire, Shinji couldn't comment, and the conversation turned towards more mundane things as dinner time approached.

XXX

Shinji awoke with a start, taking several sharp breaths as his eyes darted around the room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the dim light of the moon peeking through the curtain, but Shinji knew that the event in his dream had felt... important. But the remnants skittered away to the corners of his mind, denying him any solid idea what he had just dreamed about. All he had left was the sweat beading on his forehead, and he absently grabbed at his sheet to dab it away. Swallowing and realising how dry his throat was, he slowly got out of bed and headed for the kitchen.

Somebody else was already there.

"Bad dream too, huh?" Asuka muzzily asked, her eyes still half-shut as she drank from her glass.

"...I think so," Shinji replied in much the same tone as he got a glass out of the cupboard and filled it almost to the brim at the tap. A fragment of his dream finally deigned to make itself known. "I was... going somewhere. I had to get there. I don't think I was being chased or anything though."

Asuka quirked an eyebrow. "Not exactly much to go on, but then again my recollection's not much better." She drained her glass and set it down in the sink. "Something's happening in front of me and I'm just frozen in place."

Shinji hummed into his drink, staring at nothing in particular. "I wonder if our sync training has anything to do with this. Both of us getting woken up by a dream and coming out here, I mean."

Giving a lazy shrug, Asuka replied, "Who the hell knows? Besides, it's too-goddamn-early-o'clock. I just wanna get back to sleep right now."

Right on cue she let out a huge yawn, and Shinji found himself mirroring it perfectly. The two of them blinked at each other for a few seconds before Asuka shook her head, put her hands up, and headed back to her room without a word.

"...Goodnight?" Shinji said to the now empty room before going back to his own bed.