Hi everyone, thank you so much for your feedback and reviews! Means a lot.
And some of you mentioned that this was more Soryu than Shikinami, which is something I was pursuing for. So Shikinami may be a bit OOC in this fic (for now).
Hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.
The next day was uneventful to say the least, but Shinji preferred that over anything eventful, which usually meant an Angel attack around here. After school, he came straight back to Misato's apartment alone to finish packing for the "check-up" the next day. After packing everything, he noticed the cello in the corner of his room. He went over to touch it. This was the first time he was touching it since he got to Tokyo-3.
Asuka went out with Hikari today, so he had some rare free time before he had to cook dinner. Plus, The Third Child was in a good mood right now. The other day, he finally managed to stand up to his father, which he wanted to for so long instead of running away like he always does. And this high was still going strong.
He nodded, deciding to take full advantage of this rare opportunity. He took out the cello and started to play his go to song, Cello Suit #1 in G, Prelude.
Shinji always felt calm whenever he played. Like he was lost in his own world. Playing the cello made himself feel separated from the real world, but in a different way than listening to his SDAT player. Whenever he listened to his SDAT, he was just trying to escape from reality. But playing the cello... it was a break from reality, from all the stress and pain. When he played his cello, he felt... happy and fulfilled.
Then the music piece came to the last cord as he held it for a few seconds. Shinji smiled, "Guess I still remember all of it."
He almost jumped when he heard clapping behind him, "Wow!" Asuka gave her complement, "That was actually good Third."
As the boy turned, he saw Asuka in her regular school uniform, "Ah, she must've come back from hanging out with Hikari today… Was I playing for that long?" He quickly glanced at the time. It was getting close to dinner, "I always lose track of time whenever I play." He turned his gaze towards her, "H-Hey Asuka, welcome back!" Shinji gave a warm smile, almost making the girl blush, "And it's nothing. I'm not that good at it. I'm still learning."
"Well, everyone can always improve. But one of these days, we should play together. I play the violin."
That was a surprise, "Y-You play an instrument?"
She huffed, "Well, of course. EVA may be my life, but I did dedicate some of my time to other activities."
"Oh, that made sense." Shinji got up to put away the instrument, "W-well, how was your day with Hikari?"
"It was good I guess," she went over and laid down on the couch. Unit 01's Pilot quickly put away the cello and came out of his room and meet Unit 02's Pilot in the living room.
"Where did you two end up going?"
She scoffed, "It ended being three. We went to get some food. But guess what happened?" she sat up, looking annoyed, "I ended up third wheeling. Could you believe it? Me, of all people, third wheeling? All because Hikari has a crush!" Shinji had to admit that piece of information was surprising. "Can you guess who?"
He scratched his head, "Um... no...? I don't see her talking to anyone else but you, me, Toji, Kensuke, and maybe Rei..."
"Oh, so you're not a total dimwit. You mentioned his name."
"Who? Kensuke?"
SMACK
She hit him in the head. "OW!" Shinji cried out in pain as he put his hand on the top of his head, attempting to lessen the pain by putting pressure on it, "What was that for?"
"THAT Geek? Hell NO! It's the damn Jock!"
"Toji?"
"YES!" Asuka couldn't believe that the Geek was even an option! The Jock, as she hated to admit it, was a much better option for the class rep.
He paused, letting his hands down and thought for a moment, recalling what he noticed today from his friend. "Well, that would explain his new smell from today. I think he actually put on some deodorant."
"Oh great," she sounded even more annoyed, "it's mutual for the two of them then?"
Shinji tilted his head, not understanding why she seemed annoyed, "Shouldn't you be happy for the two of them?"
Asuka gritted her teeth, "Hikari's too good for him."
"He's not THAT bad," Shinji tried to defend his friend.
She scoffed, "Hah! What's good about him?"
He thought for a moment. "Um... he..." What did Toji have? He is very hard headed. But he is also very caring to his family... wait... could that be Toji's best side? "While he may be a bit... stubborn, he is... um.. what's the right word..." He had to be careful with his words or Asuka may become even more annoyed, "He has a... sensitive side?"
Asuka groaned at the answer she did not want to hear.
"W-What? Did I say something wrong?"
She shook her head, "No... Hikari said the exact same thing when I asked her about it. Damn, even you say the same damn thing."
"W-Well... it's true. He has a sister you know."
"So I've heard. And please do tell me, Idiot Shinji," she leaned forward as she rested her elbow on her knee and her head on her hand, looking slightly interested and bored at the same time. "What makes him sensitive?"
He was confused on the question, "So-sorry, could you... um... be more specific?"
Asuka sighed, getting even more visibly annoyed, "What does he do to show his sensitive side? Have you even seen him show his sensitive side?"
The only event that Shinji thought of was when he first met Toji. So he explained and recalled the events to her. The moment that everyone in the class found out that he was the Pilot of Unit 01, Toji punched him. Kensuke explained that it was because during his battle against the Fourth Angel, his first fight, Toji's sister got injured. Then after the Fifth Angel, which the two stooges were dumb enough to become involved, Toji apologized for punching Shinji in the face and gave the Pilot a freebie punch to his own face.
She was shell shocked after she heard this, "Is that how you two became friends?" suddenly changing the topic.
"Um... Yes?"
"You stooges are weird." "And stupid."
"Sorry."
She groaned, "Should've seen that one coming." Implying to the apology from her idiot roommate. "But now that answer does make sense... He was protective of his sister. I guess I can take that answer as his sensitive side." "Probably the closest that we'll ever get." The redhead laid back down on the couch, "When's your appointment tomorrow?"
"...Remember the cover story, just like you practiced." Shinji nervously responded, "Um... tomorrow morning. So I won't be able to go to school. But I'll make sure that the lunch box will be ready for you before I leave. Do you want anything on it?"
"Hmmm," she hummed, thinking about what she would like. "You know, today's lunch was good too. I'll have the same for tomorrow."
"Y-you sure? I can do something different if you wa-"
"Did I stutter?" her tone lowering as she glared at him, to signify that she was pissed at his complaint.
"N-No. So-sorry… I'll do the same for tomorrow." He got up and started to head to the kitchen, "I'll get dinner for today ready."
Asuka nodded as she looked up to the ceiling, her mood calming a little, "Is Misato staying late again?"
Shinji responded from the kitchen, "She said that she'll be home late tonight. So I was planning on saving a side for her when she gets back."
"Hmmm..." she hummed again at the answer. When Shinji didn't get another response back, he started to work on tonight's dinner.
Pen Pen came over and pecked the boy's leg lightly to imply that the warm water penguin wanted some food. Ikari laughed a bit and knelt down to give the penguin some sardine he found in the fridge. He patted the pet with a smile. Pen Pen closed his eyes and smiled as he let the boy pet him.
Asuka eyed him in the corner of her eye, "I hate to admit it, but you're cooking is amazing. And I really hate to admit how good you are at cello. Nay, that piece was perfect. I guess even idiotic boys like you have some charm."
Her face reddened and shook her head, "What am I thinking? Idiot Shinji having charm? No, no, NO! I will not fall for anyone, especially for that Idiot. No one...No one… all I need is myself." She stopped her train of thought as she eyed Shinji once more, this time with an apron around him as he got ready to cook, which strangely suited him and made the redhead eye him more.
She took a deep breath. There was only one way to prove this. To prove that what the Pilot was feeling was just a momentary thing. "Tonight, I'll risk it all. And if I feel something then... "
Asuka shook her head and mumbled, "That's not going to happen. He's a wimp! This is just a test… yea, just a test to make sure that my heart won't sway for that Idiot."
Misato gave a huge sigh of relief as she finished her last paperwork and placed it on the huge pile on the left. "AND DONE!" She put her arm over her eyes, "That took forever. I don't want to have to look at one more paper for the rest of the week! No, for the rest of my life! EEP!" she gave out a quick squeal as she felt something cold next to her cheeks.
A male's voice called out, "How about a drink to celebrate your freedom?"
Katsuragi quickly turned to see the man she had confused feelings for. "What are you doing here Kaji?"
The unshaven man smiled as he dropped a can of beer on her desk and opened up his own, "Just wanted to come say 'hello' to the woman I love."
"Can it!" she was seething in anger as the man before her made her give out an unsavory sound. "You don't come here for anything but business. Where were you for the last few days anyways?"
"I was tending to my watermelon farm," he admitted, "Things have been slow. So I decided to stay for a bit and take care of my personal project for a while longer." Ryoji couldn't help but notice the words on the top paper from the stack. "Oh? Shinji's going to pilot Unit 03? Is this what the paperwork was for?"
She reached out to the beer next to her. It may have been from someone she didn't like per say, but she wasn't the type to turn down a free drink, "Yea."
He leaned on the side of the desk opposite from the mountain of paper, "The rumor says that the kid volunteered for this one. Very bold of him."
"How did you find out?" Misato eyed him. She closed her eyes and shook her head after a small realization, "Who am I kidding? You always find ways to know stuff." She started to chug.
Kaji chuckled, confirming her suspicions. He repeated, "Still a pretty bold move from him if you ask me. The kid hates to pilot EVA's but yet he volunteered. Any reasons?"
She took a big gulp and let out a scream, "YEAH! This is what I live for." Misato put down her bear as she lost herself in her own enjoyment. Getting back to his question, "What? Didn't your sources tell you the actual reasons?"
He gave a small smile, "She hasn't changed one bit." The man shrugged, "They gave me the gist of it. Not the whole reason. Don't know why Asuka was a part of it though." Which was true, he did not know the true reason other than that Shinji did it so that Asuka didn't have to.
Misato sighed as she dug through her pile and took out a paper on Unit 02's Pilot, "You know her past with activating and synchronizing with other EVA's? It always affected her health. Unit 02 was the only EVA unit that she was able to activate and synchronize with without having any major effects to her."
Kaji picked up the paper, "Hmm... that is true." He knew the real reason why Asuka had such a hard time with other Evangelions. But he decided to keep it from Mistao for now, he had no idea how she would react to truth behind the Shikinami seri-
"Well, Shinji found out about the potential dangers of Asuka taking part in Unit 03's activation, and decided to take her spot... but his only wish was that we keep it a secret from her."
He smirked, "Well, would you look at that. This is all because he has feelings for our little Asuka. Love makes you do stupid things, don't they?" Ryoji put the paper down and looked at his watch, "It's thirty past eight. Do you want to go out and eat something quick before you head back?"
Misato groaned as she finished her beer. Well... what the heck? She did tell Shinji that she'll be out late to finish up on the rest of the paperwork to switch the test Pilot from Asuka to him... Luckily, she finished early. This hard working woman earned this break. "Sure. But you're paying!" She immediately got up and stormed out.
Kaji smiled, "Of course." He followed after her, "Funny how a woman instantly changes her attitude when free food is involved."
"I HEARD THAT!"
After dinner, Asuka changed into a loose yellow T-shirt and short pants, while Shinji changed into an orange polo shirt and jeans as they rested for the remainder of the night. She had her face down on the table while he was listening to his music in SDAT with Pen-Pen laying down on the animal's back next to him. "It's now or never." "Hey Shinji, I'm bored," she said.
Not hearing her the first time due to the music he was listening to, the boy took out his ear buds and asked, "Huh? What was that?"
"I'm bored," she repeated.
"Oh," he said nervously, "Um, do you want to do somethi-"
"Do you want to kiss?" Asuka asked nonchalantly, not skipping a beat.
That caught Shinji off guard, "H-Huh?"
"You know, kiss. You've never kissed a girl, have you?" The redhead received a response from her roommate with a nod to confirm her suspicions. "Then let's do it." She lifted her head up from the table.
The Third Child was speechless, "W-What is she saying?" "I-... why?"
Asuka answered, "Haven't I said it already? It's because I'm bored."
He was stunned again, "Y-You want to... kiss because you're... bored?" Her response was a nod. "...Why me?"
She smirked, "Do you not want to kiss me? Are you afraid?" "Just a bit more. Come on Third, indulge me. Help me make certain what I feel about you is a lie, a fling, a momentary moment in my life."
"Of course not," he got up, not trying to back down from a challenge. The young Ikari managed to stand up to his strict, cold-hearted father, there's no way that he's going to back down from his roommate's challenge. This is nothing compared to the challenge of facing his father.
Asuka got up as well and she asked, "You brushed your teeth, didn't you?" Shinji nodded. "Then here I come." She walked on over until they were about close enough to feel each other's breath. She paused, "Stop breathing, it tickles." The Second Child then grabbed onto his nose and went in for the kiss with her eyes closed.
When their lips met, the Second Child closed her eyes as she thought to herself, "See? I don't feel anything. There's nothing. I don't feel anything, this is just a small feeling that'll pass. He won't even hold me. But… Why do I feel so disappointed?"
Meanwhile, the Third Child just stood their frozen, unsure what to do. He couldn't breath as their lips touched. But... he didn't hate the feeling. If it wasn't for the fact that she was suffocating him, he might've enjoyed it. He noticed Pen Pen from the corner of his eyes looking at them. The animal motioned his head and arms, trying to tell the boy to do something instead of standing there like an idiot.
"Do... Do I go for it?" He thought for a quick second. "UGH! Whatever! I'm going to die from her after the activation test anyways! And this is nothing to what I felt in that room with my father and the Sub Commander." He grabbed onto her shoulders, closed his eyes, and returned the kiss, surprising his roommate as her eyes opened wide.
Pen Pen nodded in approval before going into his fridge to turn in for the night. If the warm water penguin learned anything from the years he's lived with his main caretaker, stuff like these leads to late nights that he wants no part in watching or hearing.
The hold on Shinji's nose weakened as the girl who suggested this kiss was frozen in place by his action, allowing the boy to breathe once more. But he did not let go, instead he deepened the kiss.
"Oh shit. OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT!" Asuka thought to herself. "The Idiot is actually kissing me back!" Her hands instinctively touched his chest. But she suddenly became afraid… Afraid that she might actually be enjoying this, forgetting her original objective, to prove that she did not have feelings for him. Instead, she froze in the moment and let her mind run wild. She did not expect him to kiss her back while feeling this good!
"W-W-What do I do? Do I... kiss back?" For the first time in her life, she was so confused on what she should be doing. This was not what she expected her kiss with Shinji to feel. She felt butterflies in her stomach and did not want this moment to end. It felt good, it made her happy. She wanted more.
But that was it. Asuka was afraid that she was falling for a wimp like him instead of someone who's more manly. The first person that came to mind was Kaji. Though she never thought of the him like that, the unshaven man was the only one who fit the bill of her "ideal" man.
"No. No. No. This is all so wrong! I... I..." Then she remembered what happened the last time she felt something like this. She trusted and was happy with her Mom in the past… before she ended up killing hersel- She didn't allow that train of thought to finish as the redhead clasped her eyes and pushed the dark haired boy back, breaking the kiss.
The Third Child stumbled backwards in surprise and lost his footing, falling to his back. "Ow..." he groaned in pain. "Did I do something wrong? Is she going to yell at me? I mean... I guess I knew she's going to but-"
Asuka felt around her lips, "I... I..." she stuttered as she tried to regain her composure. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID SOMETHING LIKE THIS WITH YOU TO PASS THE TIME!" she screamed as she ran to the bathroom and started to gargle. "This had to be the worst idea I've ever had." "What am I doing?! What did I just do?!"
Her action had left Shinji speechless, "O-Oh..." was all that came out of his mouth as he heard his roommate constantly gargle and spit into the sink. "Guess... that confirms it..." He felt his lips. Despite what happened, despite this being done under a dare with no implications involved, he enjoyed it. And he couldn't help but feel saddened by her action of pushing him off. "Did... did she just reject me? Is this how she really feels about me? Something that she needs to spit out?"
He then heard the front door open and overhead Kaji's voice, "All right... here we are. Ooops, watch out."
Shinji, trying to forget about what happened, ran to the front door. He noticed that Kaji was holding a drunken Misato, "M-Mr. Kaji, and Ms. Misato."
Hearing the name 'Kaji' caused Asuka to make a dash towards the front door, "Kaji!" she squealed, "I'm so happy to see you!" she ran up to him, trying to get her mind to think about something, or someone, else other than her roommate, who she just kissed and dare say enjoyed.
The unshaven man blinked, "O-Oh..." "Something's off. She's never this attached to me." "Let's get Miss Drunk over here to bed." That earned him a light drunken punch to the face from the woman in his arms.
"S-Shaddap!" Misato slurred as she almost fell out of Kaji's arm. Shinji immediately ran up and helped the man lift her up.
"L-Let me help," the boy said as they took the drunken woman deeper into her apartment one step at a time. Asuka flinched when he came close to her to help their guardian. The older man immediately noticed this but Shinji seemed to have been oblivious to it, or was purposely ignoring her.
"Thanks Shinji, man she sure is heavy isn't she?" the dark haired man joked which earned him another punch.
"S-Shaddap! I'm NOT FAT!" Katsuragi slurred.
"Yes, yes," Kaji said as the two dragged the drunk woman to her room. They laid her down and hung her jacket. She immediately fell asleep afterwards, her loud snoring filling the room.
The older man sighed in relief as the two got out of her room and closed the door behind them, "Thanks for the help Shinji."
"N-No problem," the boy said. He noticed Asuka was waiting for them... Unit 01's Pilot quickly bowed, "I'm sorry, I have to do something." Before Ryoji could say anything, Shinji ran to his room and closed the door.
"That's weird. The kids are acting weird. Asuka being attached to me, and Shinji avoiding her gaze." He noticed the girl come up to him, "Will you be staying the night?" her voice in the same 'happy' tone as before.
"Sorry, I'll have to head out," he started to walk towards the door. As much as the situation between the two kids amused him, if he learned anything from his college days, he did not want to get involved any further than he has to.
"Eh? But why?" She ran after Kaji and wrapped her arms around him. But as she noticed the scent around him, she frowned.
"I have to go take care of something back at Nerv, sorry, maybe next time," he made an excuse.
She let him go, "It smells like lavender... like Misato. So even that old hag can land a man like him..." A hint of jealousy arose in her, but she was able to quickly forget about it as it came due to her main concern being with her roommate, not the older man who dropped off their guardian.
Ryoji, after getting out of the door, said, "Well, good night Asuka. Please take care of Katsuragi," before closing the door behind him. "Something happened between those two. Wonder if one confessed and the other rejected? Or... just an awkward moment in general with teenage hormones. Ahh young love."
Asuka stood still as the front door closed. She touched her lips, still feeling Shinji's on her, immediately forgetting about the unshaven man and the drunk woman in the other room. "Shinji..." She walked towards her roommate's room and stood there, unsure of what she should do. "Come on, what's so hard about this? This should be easy for me." "He-Hey Third," she said as she knocked on the door, "Y-You awake?"
He opened the door halfway, only allowing his head to appear. He was trying to hid from her as much as possible. "H-Hey Asuka. Did you need something?"
"Um... about what happened before..." she trailed off.
Shinji's eyes narrowed a bit, "Why is she so nervous now? She was so confident in pushing me off." He quickly shook his head, "D-Don't worry about it. Guess I should've stayed still... Sorry."
Asuka blinked. Did... did he apologize for making a move during the kiss? Her voice was still weak and nervous, missing her usual confidence tone,"Sh-Shinji... That's not what I wanted to-"
"It's fine. I... I understand, I was out of line. Sorry for making you feel awkward," he apologized again.
Shikinami stood dumbfounded at his response. What can she say? What is she supposed to say? She didn't know. SHE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO! She wanted to say something but nothing came out. Her mind was a jumbling mess after that kiss.
"Um... if there's nothing else, I'm going to turn in early today. I have to wake up early tomorrow. I'll leave the lunch box ready for you before I leave."
The redhead nodded, "Uh... Oh.. yea... sure. You better have my lunch ready for tomorrow."
He gave a small smile, "Sure... I won't forget." Shinji started to close the door, "Good night Asuka."
As the door closed, the Second Child managed to mumble, "Good... night Shinji." She walked to her room. As she closed the door behind her, she jumped onto her bed and covered her face with her pillow while clutching a doll with her right hand.
Asuka screamed as she thrashed around, "Why? WHY DID I DO THAT? WHAT DID I DO?" She hated how this made her feel. Asuka felt extremely happy that Shinji kissed her back. But she didn't want to start having feelings for an idiot like Shinji. And she wasn't ready to let anyone else in her heart yet but, if she had to, she most certainly did not want it to be HIM!
She wanted a man who was muscular, smarter, and more attractive than him, like… like… like Kaji, the first person who came to mind. NOT HIM! NOT SHINJI. "WHY!" she screamed under the pillow, muffling the noise so much that anyone outside her room couldn't hear her.
Asuka immediately regretted trying to satisfy her curiosity. She also couldn't risk trusting anyone like that again, especially a weakling like Shinji. A man would make sure that she wasn't left alone and ensure that she can trust him. A real man would not leave her... like her mom did. A weakling like Shinji would leave her in a heartbeat and would betray her trust by running away all the time.
"UGH!" the redhead continued to scream under her pillow. But... Asuka did feel something from that moment when he kissed back, causing more frustrations within her. "WHY?!" Why couldn't she just let them keep the relationship that both she and the Idiot had going? Why did she have to initiate this awkwardness between the two? Why did she let her curiosity get the better of her?
In the other room, Shinji sat down, put his knees together and wrapped his arms around it. "...I hate this." He started to cry. The action of Asuka pushing him off hit him harder than he thought it would. It felt worse now that the event had time to settle in his mind.
He knew what the feeling he felt for her was. He may be dumb but he knew the what feeling in his chest and the enjoyment he felt during the kiss meant.
He liked her.
And her action was the same as rejecting him... And the fact that whole thing was her trying to do something to get rid of her boredom. In other words...
She did not like him back. And that brought pain to his chest.
He held himself tighter in an attempt to comfort himself, "Why..."
Until the next morning, Shinji was not able to sleep. After yesterday's event, he was not able to get an ounce of sleep. Instead, he got out of bed early and quickly made a quick breakfast and lunch for Asuka. Due to how early he woke up, he even had time to make her lunch for tomorrow since he wasn't going to be back until tomorrow afternoon, or evening. Unfortunately, it would be up to her and Misato to handle dinner... "Hopefully they'll do take out... Ms. Misato's cooking is... not the best."
He quickly put notes on the lunch boxes to say "Today's" and "Tomorrow's" and put those two on the refrigerator.
He walked over to Asuka's door and was about to knock on it but decided against it. The boy's hands stopped when his hand was inches from the door. He was going to leave soon to be picked up by Section 2 to go to the Unit 03's activation test site, and Shinji originally wanted to at least say his good-bye to Asuka before he left.
But... after what happened yesterday, it just felt awkward to talk to her right now. Instead, he mumbled, "Good-bye Asuka."
Asuka, sitting on the other side of the door and playing with her doll, managed to hear his 'good-bye' and heard the front door open and close, leaving her alone with the sleeping Misato in the apartment. Just like her roommate, she too was not able to get much sleep after yesterday's event. "Shit... I messed up, didn't I?"
She got up, placing her doll in her bed. And slapped both her cheeks to get herself to wake up, "It's okay! I'll talk to Shinji after he gets back. We'll... try to make something work. We just can't be awkward about this. We... we just need to talk... yea... after that... everything will get back to normal… the way it was..."
At least, that's what the girl wanted to tell herself. But something inside her that nothing was going to be the same. And she dreaded this feeling.
Rei blinked as she got an unexpected call from her fellow pilot. He usually never calls her cell. He usually visits her or waits until they get to-...
Ah.
Today was the day, wasn't it? She answered, "Hello?"
At school, Asuka was surprised to see that the Jock was not in school either, which was strange. That boy was usually in school despite his appearance and grades. During lunch break, out of curiosity, she went over to Hikari to confirm where the Stooge was, "Hey Hikari."
"Hey Asuka!" the brunette greeted her.
"Where's the Jock?"
She immediately blushed, afraid that the redhead was going to try to make her take the first action regarding her crush on Toji. "W-Who, Su-Suzahara? I'm... I'm not sure."
"No need to get nervous. Your secret is safe with me." "And Shinji." but Asuka left that last part out. Shinji was not the type to spread rumors after all. "If you don't know... then that Geek should. Ugh..." She did not like talking with the that glasses wearing stooge due to his... geeky nature, but her curiosity was getting the better of her once again... for better or for worse... "Where's the Idiot when you need him?"
She then walked over to the other member of the trio as Hikari followed behind her. The Second Child called out, "Hey Geek!"
"AH!" Kensuke started to freak out as Asuka made her way to his deak, "The Red Devil's to finally kill me! I'm sorry! PLEASE!"
That earned him a smack to the head, "Shut it. If I was going to kill you, it wouldn't be here."
"O-Oh."
"Where's the Jock?"
Hikari quickly corrected her friend and classmate, "Sorry about that. Do you know where Toji is?"
Kensuke fixed his glasses, immediately calming down once the class rep came over, "Well, he's going to be out for the next couple of days. His sister made a full recovery and he left to pick her up from the hospital."
The class rep smiled, "That's great!"
Asuka huffed, "Yea," less enthusiastic than her friend, "good for him. The Third might actually be happy to hear that if he was here."
"Say," the Geek asked, both curiously and teasingly, "Where is Shinji? Did you finally kill your boyfriend?"
Her face immediately turned to a deep shade of red, recalling last night's events. "N-No, Of course not! He has an appointment with Dr. Akagi for the next couple of days."
Hikari put her hand to her chin as she thought about it, "Huh, so two out of the three of you are out today..."
Asuka commented as she sighed, "Things are going to get busy for the next couple of days. Unit 03 is going to be activated with a new automated piloting system. And the Idiot's going to be out for the next couple of days for an appointment with the fake blonde."
Kensuke immediately got up, all excited, "A NEW UNIT? AND IT'S GOING TO BE FULLY AUTOMATED? OW!" he got hit in the head again by the redhead as everyone quieted down and stared at them from his outburst. After receiving an angry glare from Asuka, they started to return to their own business, not wanting to get the redhead's anger turned towards them.
The Second Child scowled, "Yea, why don't you just announce it to the entire world?" she was getting really annoyed with this guy's obsession with military weapons.
Hikari's sweat dropped at the two's interactions. She didn't stop the EVA Pilot from hitting the poor boy as the class rep couldn't help but agree, much to her dismay, that Kensuke was sometimes over the edge.
He rubbed his head, "Hmmm, though now that I think about it... That is suspiciously coincidental, don't you think?"
The two girls turned to him, "What is?" the two asked at the same time, curious as to where the glasses wearing boy was going with this.
"What if both Shinji and Toji are not actually on their own appointments but are part of the activation of Unit 03?!"
There was a short pause.
A bit later, Asuka laughed, "That's hilarious! There's no way Idiot Shinji of all people would be a part of the new Unit's activation. He's far too timid for such stuff. Besides, he hates to pilot EVA's. Why would he want to be involved with anything more with EVA's?"
Hikari put her hand to her chin, "And I don't think that Suzahara would be a part of that either. I remember he did mention that his sister was going to be out of the hospital soon. Just didn't specify when."
Kensuke looked away in embarrassment, "Well, sorry for trying to get a conspiracy theory going."
That was a good laugh, Asuka had to admit. It was just pure coincidence that Unit 03's activation just happened to overlap with Dr. Akagi's appointment with Shinji. She didn't nothing about it, after all, why would he lie to her about this?
The two girls went back and sat next to each other, bringing out their lunch. As the Second Child opened up a lunch box, she saw a note underneath the lid.
Hey Asuka,
Sorry about yesterday. If you want, we can act like nothing happened. Or we can talk when I get back. Whatever you want.
Make sure you eat a lot while I'm away.
There's a second lunch for tomorrow too in the refrigerator, if you haven't seen it already.
Shinji.
Reading the note brought a smile to her face. He wanted to talk like she did. And he was even okay with forgetting about the whole thing if she wanted to. He was putting it all on her to decide, which she preferred. And Shinji even thought of putting a note for her. She looked at her lunch, it was just as she asked for. Asuka smiled as she dug into her lunch, happier than she was yesterday evening and this morning.
"Hmm… maybe I should continue practicing my cooking and make a nice meal for the Idiot for when he gets back… You know… to pay back all the lunches he made for me… and an apology for yesterday for pushing him away."
The redhead's smile widened at the thought. The call she received later from her guardian made her smile widen even more.
Misato was ordered at the last minute to also go to Unit 03's test site due to some unforeseen issues with Unit 03's preparations. She gave Asuka a quick phone call about it, but she seemed excited as the Second Child said, "Wunderbar, this gives me a chance to practice without you breathing down my neck." Whatever that meant.
On the road, the purple haired woman gave out a groan as she was still suffering from the hangover from last night. "Damn you Kaji, making a girl drink until she was hammered." Luckily she was being driven by a Section 2 agent to the site. She didn't know what she would've done if she had to drive. And luckily, Shinji was even thoughtful enough to make Misato a soup for her hangover. The kid was just too good to have a crappy job as an EVA pilot.
Katsuragi opened her thermal flask to reveal its contents, and it smelled amazing. "Thank you Shinji!"
Kaji sighed as continued to water his mini watermelon farm. He was also suffering from the hangover and he has yet to receive any assignments, which was concerning. This was the longest he's ever gone without any orders given. But hey, he wasn't the one to complain. He did tell NERV's Commander that he would be doing his own thing for a while.
"HEY KAJI!" he heard a voice call out to him from behind. Ryouji turned to meet a twin tailed brunette with red glasses in a foreign school uniform.
"Oh, hey Maria, how have you been?" he turned off the water hose.
She ran to him, "I told you to call me Mari from now on. Mari Illustrious Makinami." She stopped by next to him, "Oh man, you have no idea what it took to get over here. So, where is the Puppy? Where's Ms. Yui's kid?"
"He's at Unit 03's activation site. He volunteered."
She pouted, "Oh poo, I was hoping to meet with him again."
He chuckled, "Well, what can you do?" Kaji resumed to water his watermelons.
"Is this what you've been doing in your free time?" Mari wondered as she loomed over him as she watched him work on his farm. "Because it seems boring."
He responded with a smile, "Well, as you get older, the little things like these are what brings joys in life."
She teased, "And not the constant late nights?"
He laughed, "That's part of the joys, but other than that, this is what brings me joy."
"Hmmm," the brunette jumped and faced the way she came, "Well, I'm bored. I'm going to go this way now. See you later!" Mari skipped towards where she came, trying to get things ready for their next step. "Well, I'll be able to see Puppy once more and really talk to him... Hopefully Ms. Yui's kid is nothing like her poor taste of a husband."
Kaji sighed, "If you're here means that things are about to heat up. Guess it's time to start moving things along." He looked up, "How close are we getting to both SEELE's and Gendo's scenario?"
Rei sighed as she started to type the text message to let everyone know that the date has been changed. Truth be told, she was not pleased to have moved the dates, but it was of no significant consequence since it was only a delay, not a permanent cancellation.
She overheard Kensuke in school being dangerously close to telling Asuka on Shinji's true whereabouts on a lucky guess! She was about to interfere but when she heard Asuka's laugh and give her response, Rei turned her attention back to her phone. Fortunately, the Second Child seemed to have had complete trust in Shinji and did not believe in Aida's 'theory'.
The First Child had to admit though... It was lonely in the classroom without Shinji. She continued to write the text message once again to let everyone else know that the dinner had been moved. But then she remembered her call with him earlier… she clenched her phone tighter and brought it close to her chest.
On the following day, the day of the activation, Shinji was on the way to the entry plug using a lift to start the activation for Unit 03. He changed to the new plugsuit for Unit 03 which was similar to his own usual plugsuit except it was a darker blue color scheme with the "03" insignia on the middle front and back area. He heard Misato call to him from the radio that was sitting on the bench of the lift, "How are things over there?"
He replied, "It's good. The plugsuit is a bit weird, but it's similar enough to Unit 01's that I'm not too uncomfortable with it."
She sighed in relief, "That good..." Misato then asked over the phone, "Hey, Shinji, why did you really want to do this? It doesn't have to be you, you know. I know that Asuka may have some issues with the activation but-"
"Asuka could've gotten hurt. I couldn't see that happen to her."
She paused as she took in the information from the Third Child, "Do... Do you like her?"
He blushed as he recounted the events from the other night, "I'm... not sure… I just… I just didn't want her to get hurt."
Shinji could almost feel Misato smile from the other line, "That's nice. But hey, you need to be careful of the girls you choose Shinji!" She teased, "Unless you're into the types of girls that'll kick your ass."
"W-what?" He was caught off guard.
He heard laughing come out of the phone, "I'm kidding! Just trying to get you to relax more..."
While Shinji did appreciate that, he had to ask another serious question to make sure, "Did... did Rei call you about the dinner?"
"She messaged everyone," the older woman clarified. "And Asuka seemed to still believe that you are in an appointment with Dr. Akagi, which is not untrue, but-"
"It's fine... I'm just sorry that I had to change things for everyone at the last minute. I just hope Asuka's not going to be too mad when she finds out."
"Don't be sorry, stuff like that happens in life, Shinji. There are things in life that we can't control no matter how much we want to... You should be happy, not many people get the chance to make the choices like you did."
The Third Child smiled, feeling better after hearing those words come from the Colonel, "Thanks Ms. Misato."
"But talking about Asuka seemed to have made you feel... uneasy. Did something happen?"
He blushed, remembering the feeling of his roommate's lips on his own, "W-well… you can say that. It's something stupid…"
His guardian decided not to probe him further. After all, it was their relationship, not hers. So instead, she gave her advise, "Just make sure you talk it through, okay? If you leave it or act like nothing happened, it's only going to catch up with you in the end and cause more pain, trust me."
"I'll... keep that in mind. Thanks Ms. Misato."
She gave her best happy tone, trying to get him into a better mood before the testing started, "But enough of that! We're going to start in twenty minutes, are you ready?"
Shinji stopped at the cage next to Unit 03's Entry Plug, "Yes, I'm ready."
"And hey, I'll treat you to something nice once the test is over."
Shinji took a deep breath as the entry plug entered Unit 03 and the activation started and the colors around him started to change.
START ENTRY
IONIZING LCL. PRESSURE IS AT NORMAL LEVELS
FIRST EXCITATION STATE IS BEING MAINTAINED.
NO PROBLEMS WITH PLUG SENSOR
DIAGNOSTIC VALUES ARE WITHIN ERROR RANGES.
ROGER. MOVE TO PHASE 2.
Now he was able to see the surrounding walls around the EVA. Which was a good sign that everything was okay. "It smells… it feels different…" He didn't think much of how different Unit 03 felt as he was too deep in thought, trying to figure out what he was going to do after today.
BEGIN SECONDARY CONNECTION.
Shinji smiled as he recalled his guardian's advise.
"Just make sure you talk it through, okay? If you leave it or act like nothing happened, it's only going to catch up with you in the end and cause more pain, trust me."
He knew what he had to do next after the activation test was done, "I'll… I'll have to talk to Asuka when I get back. I can't leave it as it is with her. I… I at least want to make things go back to once they were," his eyes filled with determination.
But that didn't last long as he started to hear metal crushing sounds as he entry plug started to be filled with walls of red void. His determination disappeared and fear took it's spot. "H-Huh? What's happening? Ms. Misato?" Shinji called out but no answer came. He started to frantically look around but all he saw was the red void around him.
Then there were small crosses coming towards him. Before he could react, he was lunged forward closer to the depths of the Entry Plug. As he got closer, a blue cross appeared and a child's laughter could be heard.
"MS. MISATO!" the Third Child cried out in vain as the blue light overtook him.
PLUG DEPTH IS OVER 100.
THE RISK OF MENTAL CONTAMINATION HAS EXCEEDED CRITICAL LEVELS.
Both Misato and Ritsuko started to worry. Misato asked, "Why all of a sudden? Is Shinji… Is the Pilot okay?" the room turned red from the emergency lights.
One of the operators stated, "Plug depths have exceeded safety levels!"
Ritsuko's eyes widened as she realized what this would lead to. No Pilots were ever meant to enter that deep inside the Entry Plug during activation! "If this continues, the Third Child will no longer be human!"
Misato immediately ordered, "Abort the test. Cut all circuits!" "Please Shinji, be okay!"
The energy plug powering the behemoth was ejected from the EVA Unit 03 but it was no use. The operators updated, "No good, nothing working! Wait... A high-energy reaction from within the body! And we're getting a weird pattern from the Unit!"
Why wasn't it shutting down?! And the way it was basically trying to eat the Pilot inside the Entry Plug... Lastly, this reading… this pattern. Could… could this be-? Ritsuko couldn't believe it, "It can't be…"
Parts of the armor from the black EVA blew off, revealing blue muscle and veins. Misato knew what this meant. The absolute worst possible scenario. It was, "An Angel?" The Colonel cried out in her head for her ward, "SHINJI!"
EVA Unit 03, the Ninth Angel, roared as it caused an explosion on the Matsushiro test site, destroying much of the facility.
Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
There were some scenes that I've included from the Original that were not from the Rebuilds (for better or for worse), but I was just personally disappointed that we didn't get those scenes in the Rebuild. So, in a way to incorporate them, I wanted the single choice that Shinji made create a ripple effect that lead to the scenes Original Evangelion to bleed into the fic while changing it a bit based on what this Shinji went through from the previous chapter.
And some of you may disagree with the choices that was made for this chapter... But that's ok! We are all free to agree or disagree with how the story would progress.
And sorry not sorry about the cliffhanger. (Semi) Spoiler, this is the final chapter set up before the fateful battle.
Let me know what you think! Did you guys like it? Hate it? I'm excited to hear your thoughts on this as a way to help develop the story moving forward.