Author's Note: As always, thank you all once again for all your reviews and support! I'm happy that you all enjoyed the previous chapter.
This chapter is a bit longer than my previous one, but hopefully, it will still keep you entertained.
Like before, sorry for the spelling and grammatical errors that are littered throughout the chapter. Hope that you'll still enjoy this chapter despite it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.
"What are you doing here sis?" Hikari asked. She helped Asuka back on her feet while placing a secure grip on Asuka's shoulder so that she wouldn't try running out again, much to Asuka's annoyance.
Kodama gave her a warm smile, "Nice to see you too, Hikari." Her eyes went to the redhead next to her sister. "I just wanted to make sure that your friend arrived safely since Mari decided to change the plan last minute like she loves to do. I was originally supposed to have guided her here if we were to have followed the plan to the letter."
Hikari gritted her teeth and said, "So, it was her plan to get him close to Asuka."
"I didn't know why they decided to change our plans, so I managed to convince Mr. Kaji to go just to make sure that nothing bad would happen… but guess I was right to be concerned." Kodama eyed Asuka's bandages. "Did he do that?"
Asuka glared at the older sister while hiding the bandaged wrist behind her. She said, "No. I fell down a cliff."
But that action didn't go unnoticed by both of them.
Kodama, fortunately, decided not to probe further regarding her injuries. Instead, she gave another smile to the two and said, "Of course. I believe you."
Asuka was taken aback by her reaction. She expected her to immediately jump on the hate train for the Idiot like her sister. Not… this.
"Why are you defending him again, sis?" Hikari said as she shook her head. "I don't get you. He hurt and killed so many people. He hurt Asuka no matter how hard she tries to hide it! Look what he did to both Toji and Kensuke. He murdered our sister! You were there too! And yet… you're still defending him."
Asuka could feel Hikari's hand shaking on her shoulders as she spoke those words.
Kodama shook her head, "I'm not defending him. I didn't even do it this time. Why do you always think that I am?"
"Because you always side with him."
"I'm not siding with him right now. I'm just taking your friend's words at their value. If I, who haven't met her before, trusts her, why can't you?"
Hikari let go of Asuka and walked up to her sister. "Because I know she's defending him. She doesn't know what kind of monster he is. Until she finally accepts it, Asuka is going to-"
Asuka said, "I don't need you making excuses for me, Hikari. I know the Idiot, he is not a monster-"
"I'm sorry Asuka," Hikari said as she turned. "I really am sorry that you're having a hard time believing this. But you have to understand, you were gone for fourteen years. A lot has happened. You've seen my husband and how injured he was. That monster did that."
"And I still don't believe it was him," Asuka said, clenching her hand.
Kodama held out her hand to catch both their attention. "I think I should get going, it's late."
Hikari crossed her arms. "Yea, you do that sis. If you're done here, I would be glad if you left already. Go back to wherever you're hiding him."
Asuka blinked. "Hiding him? Wait, she knows where the Idiot is?"
"Hikari…" Kodama eyed her sister who turned her head away. "Please, you need to learn to move forward. If you stay angry, you'll only harm yourself and those around you."
"I don't want to take advice from someone who helps hide that monster whenever he's in the Village. He murdered our sister. Why are you on his side?"
"Like I said… It's not that simple…" Kodama looked down to the floor with her eyes closed, knowing where this would lead, having done this song and dance with Hikari before. She took a deep breath and walked out. "Okay. I'm leaving. It was nice meeting you, Asuka."
"Wait!" Asuka chased after her, ignoring the pain on her ankle.
"Asuka!" Hikari called out to her friend. "Wait!"
But she didn't listen. She ran out of the house to see that Kodama was already near a standard military jeep. "Hey, I said wait!"
Right before getting on the jeep, Kodama turned and said, "You should go back inside. It's late."
Asuka shook her head. "You know where the Idiot is, don't you?"
"Ikari was right, you are a good listener."
Hikari stood still by the entrance to her house. Contemplating what she should do to help Asuka understand. "Asuka… why won't you-"
"So you do know where the Idiot is." Asuka walked up to Kodama. "I want you to take me to him. If what I'm being told is true, I need to hear it from him."
Kodama looked down at her, unfazed by her determination unlike Hikari who grasped her chest. Hikari, knowing now that Asuka needed this, headed back into the house to grab something for her.
Kodama shook her head. "And how do I know you're not going to harm him? There are many out there who say that they 'need to hear everything from him' or 'I just want to talk to him', only for all of them to attack him the moment they see him."
"You think I'm going to attack him?!"
"Just because I know you two are close doesn't mean I'm not cautious about everything. Yes, I'm helping to hide his whereabouts, but it's for my own reasons. And I've met his 'friends' that just want to talk. They all ended up getting violent."
"Why would I attack him? He and I… we…" Asuka held her head down, unsure how to put this into words. "I still need to talk to him. I… we promised that we would after that day."
Kodama shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm going to need a better reason than that if I'm going to take you to him." "This is for your own good. If you really want to talk to him, you're going to need something more."
"But-"
"If that's all, I've got to head back. Kenken is going to need some help with how much of a handful Mari can be."
Her eyes widened when she heard that last bit. "Four Eyes…That Thief… Of course, she's with him."
Kodama went into the jeep and started her car.
Asuka grabbed onto the door. "He took me here and I haven't hurt him while we were together, that has to mean something!"
"No means no. If it's to just talk, I'm not taking you to him. I've heard that excuse a million times."
Asuka gritted her teeth, unable to think of other reasons to see Shinji. But what else can she say? What other reason can she-
"Asuka!" Hikari said as she came running out of the house with an object at hand.
"What do you want Hikari?" Asuka said, "If you're here to stop me-"
Hikari shook her head when she came up to the jeep. She said, "No, I'm not here to stop you. In fact… I agree. It'll be better for you to hear it from him instead of me."
She grabbed Asuka's hand and placed the object on top of it. Asuka's eyes widened when she saw the thing Hikari gave her.
It was Shinji's SDAT.
Asuka had completely forgotten about it after getting it with the spare uniform back at Wunder.
Hikari turned to Kodama and said, "This should be enough of a reason right? Asuka needs to return something that was originally his."
Asuka showed the SDAT to her. "This was the Idiot's. This… This was precious to him. And I had it with me for fourteen years. It's about time I return this to him."
Kodama eyed the small player while the two stayed silent. The sound of the car engine filled the air around them. Asuka opened her mouth, not being able to be patient with her any longer. But stopped when she saw something on Kodama's face.
There was a smile.
"Alright then." "Should be enough. I think."
Toji saw the car drive away through the windows next to his bed. He turned his head as Hikari came into the room.
He said, "So, she went to see Ikari?"
She nodded as she sat down on the bed next to him and held his hand. "I think she needs to hear it from him, not us."
Toji tried to hold her hand back with what little strength he could muster, "I'm happy that you came to that conclusion." He looked out the window. "...Do you think they sent Asuka to us, not only to treat her injuries but to hear about what happened from us?"
"I wouldn't put it past them, especially that monster. He always tries to run away from taking responsibility, after all."
"Kodama, don't let that monster hurt her."
Asuka stayed silent during the ride there.
She was lost in her thoughts, thinking about what she was going to say when she saw him. Does she confront him about all the accusations that Hikari made about him? Does she ask him about that eye? Or does she immediately talk about that night that they kissed like she said she wanted to?
Asuka caressed the SDAT's surface and shook her head.
That didn't matter. She just needed to talk to him. She'll deal with it when she gets there.
Or so she thought.
The jeep stopped next to a makeshift shed that was connected to one of the train cars. There was a dim light made by a lantern that was lighting through the entrance.
"We're here-" Kodama didn't get the chance to finish as Asuka jumped out of the van while placing the SDAT in her pocket and ran into the house. There was a quiet sigh. "Hope it all goes well for you."
"Idiot! I know you're in-..." Asuka trailed off when she came into the small house. She froze at what she saw in front of her.
Shinji stood there in the middle of the room, shirtless and wearing just a long black jeans. His hair and body were still wet and moist, having just gotten out of the shower. The towel was around his shoulder with a small cup held up to his mouth.
Her eyes trailed to his body, getting allured to the strangely fine tones of his body. Then to the weird black choker on his neck. Her eyes finally went back to Shinji's.
The two stood there, unmoving, both surprised at seeing the other.
Asuka was the first to react as her face turned into a deep red shade. She immediately turned around when she noticed what she was doing.
"Idiot! Cover yourself!"
Shinji brought the cup down and set it on top of the counter next to him. "How did you find your way here?"
"Never mind that now! Just cover yourself!"
"Oh Puppy~" Mari called out, coming out of the bathroom. "Where are you? Did you use up the last towel again?"
Asuka immediately turned when she heard her voice. She saw Mari coming out drenched in water, leaving a trail behind her. Her hair was down without her glasses. Asuka gave a deadly glare at Mari, her eyes eventually landing on the matching choker on her neck.
Mari, having a hard time seeing without her glasses, crashed onto Shinji's back. "Oh, there you are! I can't see anything- oh, Nyah!" She giggled as Shinji immediately covered her using the towel that was on his shoulders. "My, so forward."
"Please cover yourself, Ms. Mari. We have company," he said. He took a few steps away from her with his back turned towards Asuka.
"Who?" Her eyes squinted and looked around, having finally landed on a fuzzy red object. She squinted further to focus before her eyes widened. "Oh. Princess? You're here? Wait…"
Asuka's hands clenched tightly into a fist until her knuckles were turning white. Mari held out her hand to her while holding onto the towel with the other, knowing what this would look like to an outside person.
"This isn't what it looks like-" Mari tried to say.
"Shut up, Thief."
"Thief? You know, I would prefer 'Four Eyes' over that. I have yet to steal anything as you can see. I may have borrowed some things but-"
"Don't care. Just shut up." Asuka limped forward to Shinji, the pain almost fully resurfacing. "This is what you were doing, Idiot Shinji? Playing with Thief while abandoning me to Hikari?"
Mari sighed and took a few steps back a while securing the towel further around herself. "Geeze, fine. Whatever. Guess I should've been more careful." Her attention went to Shinji while taking a few steps back to distance herself from him. "Puppy, I told you this was inevitable. Now, what's your move?"
Shinji didn't answer her. Instead, he made his way to his coat hanging on the wall, further making Asuka's anger rise. As he grabbed the coat, she limped up to him and grabbed his other wrist.
"I'm talking to you!" she said. "You're just going to ignore me again?"
Shinji didn't turn to face her. He turned the other way.
Asuka tightened her fingers around his wrist. "What, am I no longer good enough? Is that what this is? Is that Thief more special than I am?"
He tried to weakly pull away in hopes that she'll get the message but Asuka held strong, forcing him in place.
"Oh, no. Don't think I'm just going to let you go again."
"Can you let go?" he finally said, not bothering to turn to her. "I have work to do."
"Work? Is this 'work' more than us talking?"
"..."
Asuka gritted her teeth and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to finally face her. Her anger only rose when she saw that boorish look he wore on his face. She said, "Why are you avoiding me?"
"Like I said before back at Wunder. I just don't want to talk to you-"
She pointed to the ankle and said, "Then why did you come after me when I fell? Why did you bother treating me? You could've just done nothing and brought me to Hikari."
"Wouldn't you if you saw someone who you just rescued fall from the edge of a cliff?"
"...Fine. Whatever," she said. She quickly dropped the subject now that he was talking to her, instead, taking the opportunity to finally make sure. "But then what's with Hikari's anger towards you? Just what did you do?"
That caused Shinji to flinch and look to the ground next to them, unable to meet her gaze. He quietly said, "You already heard from Mrs. Suzahara, didn't you?"
"You mean what she said was true?" Her grip never shook. "You did that to the Jock and killed her little sister?"
Shinji closed his eye and took a deep breath. After a second, he opened his eye and looked at her with a cold glare that resembled his father's.
"Yes," he said.
Asuka almost flinched at how much of a resemblance there was. But she managed to stay unwavering. "I don't believe you. You're lying. You're not the type to hurt your friend. You're too much of an innocent Idiot to do that."
Shinji tightened his jaw. "Then you're more of an idiot than I am."
She blinked, taken off guard by his retort. "What did you say?!"
He grabbed her wrist and put more pressure to force them off of his shoulder. "I'm done here-"
…But he exerted more force than intended.
Shinji froze when he saw Asuka flinch and hiss in pain as he held onto her wrist. He quickly released her and took a few steps back. "It's… the same place where I hurt her back there… I didn't mean to. Asuka, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I always end up hurting you. I really am a…"
A faint blue glow can be seen emitting behind his eye patch. He quickly put on his coat and pulled the hood over his head, covering his eyes. Shinji said, "I have to get going now. Go back to Mrs. Suzahra's place. You'll be safe there."
"Oh no," Asuka caressed her injured wrist and said, "I'm not done. We have a lot to talk about here, Idiot Shinji. Especially about that eye and the night back at Misato's apart-"
She took an unexpected sharp breath as Shinji rushed past her and went to the entrance door.
"Where are you going?!" Asuka tried to chase after him but the pain now fully resurfaced on her ankle and lost her balance. She gave out a small yelp as she fell to the floor.
Shinji froze by the entrance when he heard her fall.
Asuka ground her finger on the floor in frustration as she said, "How much longer do I have to keep chasing your ass until I get some answers from you?"
He slightly turned his head in her direction. "Ms. Mari, take care of Asuka. I'm going on ahead."
He didn't wait for a response before running out.
Mari sighed and quietly said, "You blew it again. And sure, leave a practically blind girl who's barely covering herself to help the injured Princess. How Prince-like of you, Puppy."
She put on her glasses after managing to find her way to the glasses to the counter. She carefully walked over before kneeling down to where she thought Asuka was.
"Here Princess," Mari said, "Let's get you-"
Asuka swatted Mari's hand away.
"Don't touch me," Asuka warned her.
"Getting feisty with me are we?"
"Just shut up," Asuka looked away, struggling to sit back up. She rubbed her bandaged ankle as she said, "Damn it." "I lost him again…"
A new voice said, "This is why I told you that you need to be more careful whenever you walk around without any clothes on, Mari."
Mari huffed and turned to the new voice, holding tightly to the towel on her even more. "Please. You love seeing my body, Pervy Kenken."
Heavy metal clangs could be heard as Kensuke came walking into the living room. He looked older, wearing a scout uniform. But his most different feature was his prosthetic legs that announced his presence to everyone in the room.
Asuka turned to Kensuke as she said in her head, "Geek?"
"You know that I don't-" Kensuke tried to say but…
"Yea, yea. You only have eyes for women with an older body, like… Oh speak of the devil," Mari trailed off as Kodama walked into the small house.
"Just saw Ikari run out. Did something happen-...oh." Kodama's eyes landed on Asuka who was caressing her ankle.
"Hey Red," Kensuke said as he gave a small wave to Asuka. "It's been a while hasn't it?"
Mari commented, "You say "hi" to the Princess first before her? Careful, you look like you've seen your first love. You can't do that right in front of your-"
"What happened to you, Geek?" Asuka asked as she pointed to the prosthetic legs.
She didn't care if she interrupted that Thief. It gave her a small sense of victory within her to see that frown on that smug face for once.
"Oh these?" Kensuke lifted one of his legs up and tapped on its metallic surface. "A problem a while back. Don't worry about it."
"Another vague answer. Great." Asuka turned to Kodama and went back to the topic at hand. "You didn't stop the Idiot?"
Kodama sighed, "I take that you didn't hit him? Then why would he-... Did he run out even after seeing that player?"
Asuka immediately took out the SDAT from her pocket. "Damn it," she cursed under her breath.
Mari leaned over and said, "Oh? What is it? What is it?!" Her voice was filled with excitement. "A small player? The one he was listening to at the rooftop where I first met the Puppy in Japan?"
"Hold up," Asuka said as she grabbed Mari's still wet hair and brought her face close to her. "You first met him on a rooftop?"
"So rough~! Is that why the Puppy never took Mimic's advances? Because she was too gentle with him…?" "Wait. Shit."
"Wha-"
Mari immediately hugged her and began to rub her face on Asuka's cheeks. "So soft!"
"Hey!" Asuka said as she tried to get this strange girl off of her. "Get off!"
Kodama walked over to Kensuke as this was happening. Before she could say anything, Kensuke said, "So I take it that you were the one who brought him here?"
She nodded. "Yea, I thought that the small music player that was originally his would be enough to finally get him to get out of his shell. But she blew it."
"Well, from how it all went, the timing was just off… You're lucky that it was Asuka who you brought here. We would've had to relocate if it was anyone else."
"Who do you take me for, Kenken?" Kodama flicked his head. "I only brought our guest here because it was his precious girl he loved to ramble on about whenever he had the chance."
Kensuke chuckled as he rubbed the area she hit. "Still, I'm surprised you even brought her at all. Normally you would turn them down."
"That's why I only brought her after that player was mentioned. It was supposed to have seemed special to him before, according to her and Hikari."
"...Thank you… for thinking about his well being."
Kodama flicked his head again. There was a small teasing smirk as she said, "Dummy. I promised that I would try, didn't I?"
He chuckled, giving her a smile that made her flinch. The small shine that emanated behind that one smile made her blush.
"Thank you," he said. "It means a lot to me."
"Y-yea… no proble-"
Kodama didn't get to finish as Mari was thrown onto Kensuke, forcing him to catch her in his arms. There was a slight twitch in Kodama's eye.
"Thanks for the save," Mari said. "She's feistier than I remembered-oh…"
Kodama grabbed her shoulders and forced her off of Kensuke. There was a smile that held malice behind that mask on Kodama's face. She said, "Isn't it time for you to get changed into real clothes than that towel, don't you think?"
Mari said, "Yes Ma'am. I've forgotten how terrifying you look when you get jealous…. Do you mind guiding me to my room Pervy Kenken? As the man of the house don't you think you should be the one to guide a defenseless girl like-"
"Ooookay!" Kodama immediately pushed Mari along into her room while the girl tried to hold in her laughter from Kodama's reaction. "Time for you to go changed."
Kensuke gave out a nervous laugh as both of them disappeared with the bedroom door closing behind them. He turned over and walked over to Asuka.
As he knelt down next to her, he asked, "Are you okay there, Red?"
"What's with that Thief anyways?" Asuka rubbed her cheeks, still feeling the lingering pressure on them.
"Mari is a bit of a handful, but she means well, I promise."
"I doubt it," she said, crossing her arms.
Asuka's attention went back to the front door of the small house. Still confused and frustrated as to why he ran away again. And she let it happen again!
"I had him. I had him and he managed to slip through again… Why don't you want to talk to me?"
Kensuke knew that look that was plastered across her face no matter how hard she tried to hide it. It was the same face that someone he knew had all those years ago.
He held her shoulder and said with a warm smile, "If you're worried about losing your chance, don't worry. There'll be other opportunities. He's coming back, you know. He just stepped out for a bit."
Asuka's head immediately shot towards him. She said, "And when were you going to mention this to me?"
He shrugged and said, "Though it's small, my house is open for you if you want to stay just until Ikari gets back."
Asuka stayed silent as she brought her knees close to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "...Do you know when he's going to come back?"
"A few hours at best. Come on," he said. He held out his hand towards her, "Let's get you somewhere else other than the floor."
Asuka struggled to get back up by herself first only to fall back down. Kensuke patiently stayed silent with his hand out to her as she tried her attempts. After grumbling under her breath, she grabbed his hand.
He silently helped her up to her feet and brought her to one of the chairs by the dining table. Kensuke made sure to take it slow and handled the move with care so as to not to bring any unneeded pain to Asuka's ankle.
After helping her get situated, Kensuke asked, "Do you want anything? Water? Tea? Are you hungry?"
"No-" Asuka couldn't finish as her stomach growled, not having eaten anything after waking up in that god-awful bland room. She looked away, only to flinch when she felt someone's head on her shoulder.
"No need to be shy, Princess," Mari said, "Being hungry isn't something to be embarrassed about- Oh!"
Asuka grabbed her face and pushed her back. "Get off me, Thief!" she said.
Mari, after stumbling back, managed to find her footing and fixed her glasses. She was wearing her white button down school uniform with her hair tied back to her usual style.
She asked with a teasing smirk, "So are you going to wait for the Puppy to get back to cook for you or-"
Kodama interrupted, "I have some leftover meals from dinner today." She made her way to the refrigerator and took out some containers containing her leftovers. "I can reheat them for you if you want."
"I'll wai-" Asuka couldn't finish once more as her stomach betrayed her.
Kodama smiled and said, "No need to be shy. I'll get them going." She turned her head to Kensuke and asked, "Kenken, do you have that portable gas stove? I'll reheat this outside since it's way past curfew for gas and electricity for the ventilation."
He walked over to her and grabbed a small case next to her. He said, "I'll help you out. You always have trouble getting this started."
"That was just ONE time Kenken!" Kodama exclaimed, blush creeping up to her face. She flicked his head harder than before, causing him to wince this time. She stomped out of the house.
He rubbed the area where she hit him. He gave out a small laugh, "Sure. Sure." He turned to the two and said, "Be sure to behave you two."
Mari smirked and teased back with, "Don't let the food burn because you two were just too busy with each other!"
Kensuke didn't respond as he followed Kodama out of the house.
Asuka said, "Great. They left me alone with you."
Mari came over and hugged her once more. She said, "Oh come on, I'm not THAT bad."
"Yeah. You are. Get off!"
"Ouch. That hurts, Princess," Mari said. She complied with Asuka's demand and skipped toward the front door. "Well, I guess I'll leave you alone. I have other commitments to get to."
Asuka's head immediately shot up. "Who?" she asked, almost regretting the first word that came out of her mouth.
Mari gave her a teasing smirk. "Oh? 'Who' and not 'where' or 'what' it is?" She said, "Don't worry. I'm not chasing after little Puppy. Even though I should, I ain't. He's a grown-up Puppy. He knows how to stay out of trouble within the Village. As long as he doesn't get caught by any of the WILLE crew or their Volunteer members, he'll be fine and I won't get in trouble for leaving him alone."
"That's not what I-..." Asuka gave out a sigh. "Then where are you going?"
"Just somewhere to check up on someone. If he's smart, he'll be sleeping by now." Mari waved to her and said, "See you later! Don't feel too lonely without the Puppy! He'll be back."
Asuka didn't respond, instead, she brought her knees close to her chest and looked the other way as Mari left the house. The house was ow filled with an uncomfortable silence, a single candle on the counter nearby lighting up the dark building.
"...Left alone… Again."
She hugged herself, feeling cold. Just like back then. The only solace was the SDAT that was in her hand.
Shinji, with his jacket zipped up all the way and hood over his head, made his way up the hill, having finished what he wanted to do for the night. It took longer than expected due to what was made available tonight, but it'll do.
As he made his way over to the house, he noticed a lingering smell that still filled the air. He looked over to see a portable gas stove out in the night next to the building. He ignored it, having thought none of it other than Kodama having her usual "late munchies".
What he didn't expect was Asuka, sleeping inside the house with her head against the dining table and a small blanket over her shoulders. He told her to go back to Hikari's, so why was she here?
Did Ms. Mari purposely leave her here?
"Of course she did," Shinji said.
He looked towards Mari's room, seeing it open. Something she never did if she was sleeping. Meaning, she was out.
Shinji sighed, "Probably checking up on Junior."
He made his way to his room. He didn't want this. He can't be close to her, what was so hard to understand about that? Why was everyone in this house trying to-
He froze when he heard Asuka let out an uncomfortable groan. He tried his best to stay still, trying to force his body to go into the room.
But his body failed him.
Shinji turned to look at Asuka, his eye instantly taking her features in. He carefully eyed her almost as if he was mesmerized by the way her hair reflected against the moonlight that was shining through the window.
He didn't realize how long he was staring until he heard Asuka let out another groan. Now that he had the time to look at her position, he knew that the way she was sleeping would be uncomfortable for her.
Shinji looked into his room and let out a deep breath. Already regretting what he was about to do.
He turned and made his way to her, careful with each step not to wake her. When he stopped next to her, his hand instinctively brushed her hair, giving him a better view of her sleeping peaceful face. He couldn't help but quietly repeat these words that he thought to himself back at Wunder when he first laid his eyes on her after a long and arduous fourteen years.
"You're just as stunning as I remembered you to be."
Another groan from her broke his thoughts.
Shinji looked around, trying to make sure no one would see what he was about to do. He went down and put his arms under her while bringing her body close to him. He managed to subtly get her arms around him.
Then, once the arms were secured in place, he picked her up… Bridal style.
"If Ms. Mari saw this, I would not hear the end of it."
He froze when he felt Asuka's arm tighten around his neck with her head nuzzling against his chest. He turned to see her face, noticing that it was just her body's instinctive reaction. She was still sound asleep.
Shinji took in her beauty once more for a few more seconds before shaking his head.
"...I can't..." he trailed off.
He quickly made his way to his room, with Asuka in his arms. As he placed her down on his bed, he noticed that Asuka wouldn't let him go. He had to gently pry her arms off of him.
He heard something fall to the floor from Asuka's hand as he did.
It was his SDAT player.
She somehow held onto the player that entire time. He bit his lips when he saw this.
"Your SDAT player brought her great comfort during her trial times," Rei's voice echoed in his head.
"Asuka… Rei…"
Shinji picked the SDAT up and placed his hand over it, feeling the familiar weight in his hands and the text he was attached to all those years ago. A single tear rolled down his cheek.
"No."
He quickly wiped it off and shook his head.
That was then. This is now.
He placed it next to Asuka's head. Then, after placing the blanket over her, he walked out of the room. He saw that Kensuke was leaning against the wall, waiting for him. He had somehow snuck there without Shinji noticing despite having the heavy weight of his prosthetic leg.
The two nodded to each other, knowing that the other was thinking and requesting. Shinji headed out of the house, trying to stay quiet to not wake the sleeping guest.
He didn't, however, notice that someone else was taking pictures and videos of this whole encounter from the window that gave the whole view of the event.
"Nice~ I knew you could do it," Mari practically sang in English.
Asuka woke up with a start the next morning when she heard someone knock on the front door of the house. She sat up, looking around the unfamiliar plain room with a window closed by black curtains blocking the sunlight from invading the room. But it held an atmosphere that she knew, but couldn't place her finger on. It was bland, nothing but a bed and a small desk and chair in the corner.
But how did she get here? She was waiting for the Idiot Shinji to get back after having the leftover dinner. Kodama had returned to her place while Kensuke retired to his room.
Asuka quickly looked next to her and noticed the SDAT next to the pillow.
"Oh?" she heard Kensuke say through the door. "Junior? What are you doing here?"
She quickly placed the SDAT in her pocket. She then quietly limped her way to the door and placed her ear on the door.
"Good morning Mr. Kensuke," a new voice said, "Dad told me to show someone around the town. She should be here from what sister Mari told me."
Asuka's eyes widened at the news. "Sister Mari? The Thief? She had a brother?"
Kensuke asked, "Did she tell you who it was?" He just had to make sure that Junior was searching for the person he was thinking of.
"Um, I think her name was… Azuka?"
Her eyes twitched in frustration, remembering how that old man butchered her name yesterday too. She slammed the door open and corrected the newcomer.
"It's Asuka! How do you people mess it up so much?!" she exclaimed.
Asuka saw a boy who seemed to be around her age. He had dark violet hair and was wearing a familiar white button down and black pants. What surprised her was how much of a resemblance he had to someone she knew. But who?
"Good morning Asuka," Kensuke said with a smile. "I see that you've slept well." He pointed to her hair.
She felt her hair, noticing that she had a messy bedhead, having just woken up. She immediately tried to fix her hair with one hand while pointing at the kid with the other.
"My name is Asuka," she said. "Get it right."
He stood still, unable to move nor say anything. He kept staring at her.
"What?" Asuka said, having fixed her hair now. "Do I have something on my face?"
"Oh um," he said, trying to catch himself. He shook his head. "No… just… I'm not used to seeing red hair around here."
"And? Something wrong with my hair?" Asuka glared at him.
"Well, it's… pretty."
Asuka was almost taken aback. She looked away and said, "Dummy, don't say that out of nowhere."
"Ah, sorry," he said. He looked at where she was standing. "That's his room."
She noticed how he continued to stare at her. She said, "You know, it's impolite to keep on staring."
"Oh sorry…" Junior said. He immediately looked away. "Just wondering why you came out of brother Shin's room. The only other person was Sister Mari… and I guess Ms. Kirishima that one time."
"Shin? Thief? And who's Kirishima?"
Kensuke chuckled and said, "I brought her into the room later. She seemed uncomfortable. And since he was out, mind as well lend it to our guest."
"Where is he?" he asked. "He's usually in his room by now, right?"
Kensuke shrugged and said, "If I had to guess, probably out at the usual spot."
"Ah… right. Makes sense…" He noticed that Asuka was staring at him, giving a glare that asked who he was. He scratched the back of his head. "Oh, guess I should introduce myself. My name is Ryoji Kaji Jr. But people just call me Junior. Nice to meet you."
That made Asuka connect the dots. Her face was now filled with shock. "You're Misato and Ryoji's kid!"
That made Junior stop for a second to take in all the information that came out of her mouth. He then rushed forward and held her hand, catching her off guard.
"You know mom?" He asked, "How do you know her? When was the last time you saw her? Is she well? Do you know when she's coming back?"
"Hold up," Asuka said. She managed to pry her hands off of him. "Don't just ask all at once."
"Oh… sorry," he said. He took a few steps back, giving her room. His face blushed at how close they were but Asuka remained unaffected by it all.
"To think that Katsuragi managed to finally tie the knot with Kaji," she said. She blinked in realization at why he would ask all those questions. "Wait, does she not come by?"
"No," Junior said as he shook his head. "She's usually busy with work… she rarely comes by, if ever."
"Really?" Asuka remembered how Misato tried to stay with her during the time after Unit 03… It was different than with her own child.
Kensuke said, "Junior, your father sent you here for something with Asuka, right?"
"Oh right! Dad told me to show you around town after I put the ointment on your ankle," he said. Junior took out a small bottle from his back pocket. "Um…Actually, do you want me to do it or…"
Asuka snatched the bottom from his hand. "I can do it myself," she said.
"Oh um, great! Once you're done, Dad wanted me to show you around town," he said. Junior awkwardly looked around. "I… Uh… I'll wait outside. Take your time."
She watched him leave the house before commenting, "To think her son would turn out like that…" Her attention then went to Kensuke and said, "Also, you lied. The Idiot didn't return last night."
He shrugged and said, "That or he stopped by and saw you sleeping."
Asuka huffed and sat down on a chair nearby. She started to put the ointment around "And since I wasn't there to stop him, he ran away again," she said.
"I just don't want to talk to you."
Shinji's voice repeated in her head, causing her teeth to grind against each other in anger.
"At least tell me why…"
Kensuke, before dropping the two off at the town's entrance using his military jeep, told her not to say Shinji's name out loud. Something about his name being cursed around her, but refusing to elaborate further, despite Asuka's insistence.
He didn't join them in the town. According to him, he had work to do for today. Asuka had to wait for Junior and Kensuke to finish talking, but she did manage to catch, "-Take the day off today. Your dad agreed to it too," from Kensuke.
Junior nodded and once Kensuke drove off, he came over and motioned to Asuka to let's get going.
Seeing nothing else to do, she complied.
Asuka didn't get to see much of the town last night, since she was immediately taken to Hikari's place to get treated. And honestly, she didn't know what to have expected. The place looked… peaceful. It looked a bit run down with the metal scraps that were used to put places together or build upon one of the train carts, but everything looked peaceful, in a way.
Kids were running around, playing with each other while the parents seemed to be doing laundry, hanging the washed blankets outside. Some adults, wearing various types of hats and blue farmer's uniforms, could be seen working on the rice fields nearby. Asuka noticed that some of the older kids were also helping out with the farm work.
Other young kids and adults could be seen working on setting up new houses nearby, attaching them to train carts.
What surprised her a bit was the fact that all the townspeople were greeting Misato's kid in such a friendly manner as they were walking by.
Some kids, who looked to be around five to six years old, ran up to Junior, yelling, "Big brother Junior is here! He's here! What are you doing here?"
They were practically on him, one even managed to jump onto his chest, causing Junior to catch him and hold him close.
He said, "I'm just showing her around."
"Come on, play with us!"
"Sorry, next time," he gave them a small sad smile as he put the little one down next to his friends.
"Aww, okay!"
The kids then all ran off to resume their playtime. But one did turn around and gave a small bow to Asuka before running off to join her friends.
Asuka said, "Popular with the kids, aren't you?"
He smiled at the kids playing, almost reminiscing. He said, "A few years back, we ran into a situation where all the grownups were busy, so I had to babysit them."
"Even though you're just a kid yourself?"
"You aren't that much older than me. How old are you again? You seem to know mom and dad quite well, but you don't look that much older than me."
Asuka crossed her arms and said, "You know it's impolite to ask a girl for her age?"
A new voice said, "Oh, Junior! It's a surprise to see you here!"
The two turned to see a group of adults coming toward them now. Some were shaking his hands and patting his back. Asuka stepped away to give them room but managed to still overhear some things that were being said to Junior.
"Good to see you here! Thank you for everything you do for the Village with KREDIT! Without you, everyone else in KREDIT, and your dad, I don't know where I would be!"
"Be sure to give my thanks to your pops for me. He's been quite the help getting the food and wood to our family and neighbors."
"You're dad is so kind, here take this, as a little thank you. It's not much but-"
"Junior! Taking the day off? Who's that? Never seen her here before."
"Your dad prepared the extra farmland so well last night! I don't know how he does it all overnight! He does wonders to the land, I think we're going to have another great harvest!"
Junior gave the gift back and tried to walk away from the crowd. He said, "I can't take this. Not when there is still work to be done. And I'll be sure to give my dad your kind words."
He motioned his head to Asuka and said, "Her name is Asuka. She's a friend of my dad. He wanted me to show her around the town."
"She's new here?" one of the elders asked, "Where is she from? The other Villages?"
"I'm not too sure. I was just told that she's going to need help adjusting to the Village-3. So he thought that it would be good to show her around today and try to get her situated here soon."
As Junior continued to talk, one of the Village elders came to Asuka and shook her hand. "Welcome, little lady," the elder greeted her.
She awkwardly shook back and said, "Thanks."
Asuka didn't know what else to say. She was just thankful that the elder gave her a welcome smile and walked away. Soon the Village people dispersed, finally giving them the room Junior wanted.
He walked over to her and said, "Sorry. They tend to do this sometimes whenever I'm around. Dad does a lot for the Village."
"I'm surprised that Kaji does all this for the Village, and KREDIT? Is that some sort of an organization that you work for?"
Junior smiled and said, "Yea, he does a lot. I'm surprised he's not tired every time he works through the night. But I guess that's what happens when you get used to it. Hopefully, he doesn't push himself too much."
He motioned to her to follow him before continuing, "And yeah, I work for KREDIT. To be honest, at this point, dad's running the whole operation with KREDIT at this point with Kensuke taking over every now and then. We make sure that the water around here is good and nothing happens to the generators and pillars."
"The what now?"
Junior stopped and turned. "You don't know?"
"And I'm supposed to know what, exactly? Why was this Village formed? Why do you guys have people working around the farm and the houses? What type of organization WILLE and KREDIT are?"
"Oh… Sorry, but where have you been, exactly?"
"Asleep for fourteen years apparently," she said. Asuka sighed, "Forget I said anything. Just finish showing me around so that I can go-"
She froze.
Where can she go? Back to the Geek's place? Maybe. Back to Hikari's, assuming she'll take her back?
"There's no place for me here…"
Junior noticed her becoming uneasy, so he grabbed her unbandaged wrist and said, "Let's keep on going then. We can talk about everything when you want."
Asuka pulled away and said, "I can walk by myself."
He nodded and continued forward with Asuka following closely behind him, somewhat listening to what he was saying about the Village and the buildings.
Soon they found themselves in a location containing train cars as they went over the fence. Some of the cars were empty, while others had people coming in and out, they were used as storage units of sorts. But they stopped in front of one.
Junior said, "This is the library, if you want to read something…"
But his sounds were soon drowned out. Asuka gave a nod and followed him to the next location.
"I'm alone. Misato's not here."
They found themselves in a location with scraps of metal connected to a train wagon with a cloth hanging on the entrance with a picture of a logo resembling steam.
"This is the bathhouse if you-"
"...I don't even know what happened with First."
Next, they stopped at a warehouse held up by similar metal scraps as the buildings around them.
"This is our food storage, they're kept in a controlled environment. The only place where power is allowed to be on twenty-four seven. It's usually full but there are times when we have to be scarce if the harvesting doesn't turn out well. But that hasn't happened in years…"
Junior kept rambling on from each location to the next. But Asuka, like the times before, merely returned with nods. She kept following him, lost in her thoughts.
"...And the Idiot. He's being difficult. He keeps running away from me…"
The two got into a line. The sun was starting to set as they moved up the line. Junior said something explaining why they were in the line, but she caught none of it.
"Where do I go? Where CAN I go? There's nothing for me here. Why did they even bring me here?"
Asuka blinked when Junior presented food in front of her, finally breaking her out of her thoughts.
She asked, "What's this?"
He was taken aback by that question. "Were you listening to what I said?" he asked. "This is the monthly meal that my dad runs for a week. It's happening earlier than usual but-"
"Junior," a familiar voice said, "That's not how you speak to a lady. I've taught you better."
The two turned to see Ryoji serving food behind a long table with a large pot next to him. Next to him were helpers who were serving other people who were there with their own large pots next to them.
Junior said, "Sorry, dad."
"As long as you learn from this," he said before turning to Asuka. "Hopefully he's been treating you better as he showed you around town?"
"Of course dad."
"Oh… yeah…" Asuka said.
She grabbed the plate of food from Junior's hand. She stared at the food, lost in the familiar aroma it was giving off. It smelled much better than whatever Hikari's sister and the Geek managed to cook up.
Kaji asked, "Something wrong with the food? Is today's menu not to your liking?"
Asuka shook her head and said, "No… It's nothing. Thanks for the food…" She turned and walked away for the next group of people who were waiting patiently for theirs.
Kaji said, "What are you doing Junior? You shouldn't let the lady walk around by herself."
Junior nodded and quickly got his portion and ran to catch up to her.
The father smiled at the two. "Hope you enjoy little lady, Junior- ah-" his attention went to the next guest that came up to him. "Welcome, sorry about that."
He grabbed a plate and filled it up with the contents of today's food. "Thank you as always, Sir Kaji," the guest said. The guest's eyes went over to the redhead, "Never seen her here before."
"She's new," he said, "Junior is showing her around, hopefully, he does a good enough job to get her situated."
"Not doing a good enough job if he's not introducing her to any of us," the guest commented.
Kaji laughed, "One step at a time. Slow and steady, as they say."
He continued to serve the next Village member, his attention on the Second Child slowly fading away as he became focused on his current task. He had his part to do here.
Asuka managed to find a nearby bench while keeping a close eye on the food before her with Junior coming up right behind him. But she didn't pay him much mind.
As he joined her, he said, "Aren't you going to eat? The foods that dad serves during these weeks are always good. They're the Village's favorite."
"Uh-huh," Asuka said. She grabbed the wooden chopsticks that lay on top of the plate and carefully picked up her food.
Junior immediately followed suit and started to eat his own food, not being as slow and careful as Asuka was. As she took her first bite, her eyes widened as the texture of her food inside her mouth.
"This is so good," Junior said, swallowing a large portion all at once.
Asuka quickly devoured the food before her, surprising him with just how fast she ate the whole meal. She placed the plate down when she was finished. She got up, almost startling him again.
"Asuka? Is everything okay? Did you not like your food?" Junior asked.
She said, "Shin is actually the Idiot isn't he?"
"Uhh, who's the 'Idiot'-?"
"You know where he is?" she said. Asuka turned to look at him with frustration yet filled with determination and certainty about what she wanted to do.
"Who? Brother Shin? Uh, yeah. I think I do."
"Take me to him."
"Now?"
"Now."
Shinji, his jacket still zipped up with the hood over his head, pulled the fishing rod up, having caught another fish. He reeled it in before placing it in the bucket filled with his other catches. He was fishing on the edge of a broken building next to a lake that was reflecting the colors of the sunset.
Mari leaned on Shinji's back and groaned. She said, "Puppy, I'm booooorrreeedddd."
"You know, Ms. Mari," Shinji said as he went for another round, "You don't have to stay with me all the time."
"Then who's going to make sure you're not going to do anything dumb?"
"Then why weren't you with me to watch over me last night when I went out?"
"Touché, Puppy," she said. Mari finally got off and stretched. "I was checking up on Little Junior. Also told his dad where to find our Princess and to bring that magic curing ointment, the strong stuff. And mind as well give him an update on where the Princess was since he did come all the way to pick her up."
Shinji didn't respond, keeping his attention on fishing for more catches.
"Also, shouldn't it be you taking her on the date showing her around the Village instead of little Junior?"
He let out a deep sigh filled with defeat. "You know why," he said.
"Still using that childish excuse?" She let out a sigh. "Fine. It's dumb but fine. Just don't regret this… I'm going to go back to Kenken's shed, assuming the two aren't busy behind closed doors." Mari walked away and gave a small wave to him. "Don't be out too long, Puppy."
She didn't bother waiting for a response. She was just so bored to the point she just wanted to get out of there. As Mari made her way up the hill a good distance away from the destroyed building next to the lake, she caught something in the corner of her eye. When she turned her head, she fixed her glasses to help focus on the two figures,
Mari smirked, her eyes now filled with excitement and sparkles.
Shinji pulled another catch before placing it with the others. As he did, however, he didn't hear someone had walked up to him to kick him forward from his back, knocking the bucket down with him.
"You've got some nerve, Idiot, "she said. "Fishing while abandoning me at the Geek's place and a town that I don't know anything about."
He paused on his knees for a brief second to process what just happened before sighing. "Asuka," he asked, "how did you find me here?"
Shinji got up but kept his back to Asuka as he did. He turned his head to Junior, having his question answered. He said, "I thought you would be showing her around the Village. Why did you bring her here?"
Junior tilted his head in confusion and said, "Because… She… Wanted to see you?"
Shinji sighed in frustration. He did not want to talk to Asuka right now.
"Well?" she asked, "Are you going to finally talk to me now? Because I'm getting sick and tired of this cat and mouse chase. I just want to talk, is that too much?"
"What is there to talk about?"
"Are you seriously asking that? There's a lot to talk about."
He finally looked her way but with a cold stare. He said, "And what if I told you I don't want to talk to you?"
"Well tough luck. Because I do. We haven't finished our conversation from yesterday"
"This is pointless. You already heard from Mrs. Suzahara, haven't you?"
"But I want to hear it from you. Not her."
There was a sigh from Shinji. He said, "And I told you yesterday too, saying the same thing she told you."
"But there has to be more than just that," Asuka said. "You aren't the type of person who'll just kill people."
"It's been fourteen years. No one stays the same."
"But apparently you're cooking does."
Shinji froze with his one visible eye widening.
Junior took a step closer to the two after hearing the revelation. Why she wanted to see Shin after finishing the food made sense now. But... "Hold on a second. What do you mean by that? Do you mean he was the one who was actually..."
Asuka stayed silent while glaring at her fellow Pilot.
Shinji said, "So? Where are you going with this?"
"You're still an Idiot that I knew from back then. No matter how much has passed, you're still the same you."
He quickly turned away from her.
"You're going to ignore me again?" Asuka asked, her hands tightening in anger.
"What do you want to talk about exactly?" Shinji responded. He knelt down and started to pick up his catch to put them back in the bucket.
She crossed her arms in frustration that he still had his back to her, but at least he was willing to talk. She asked, "Did you really do everything that Hikari said?"
Shinji stopped for a second before turning his head slightly. "Junior, can you please leave the two of us alone?"
Junior shook his head. "No," he said, "I want to hear more about you making those meals. I have so many questions right now."
"Please…"
"Brother Shin…" Junior never heard him sound this desperate before. He looked at Asuka who was giving him a glare, demanding the same thing instead of asking for it. He sighed. "Okay. I'll be waiting in the back."
Asuka waited until he went behind the wall to make sure he wasn't listening before asking, "So?"
"Like I said yesterday," he said, "Yes."
"Look me in the eye and tell me that."
Shinji continued to gather the scattered fish, still refusing to look at her. He said, "You've seen Suzahara, right? I did that to him."
"And the stuff about Hikari's little sister, is that true?"
"Yes."
"Did you do it on purpose?"
Shinji didn't answer her as he placed his last remaining catch into the bucket. He took a deep breath and looked up to the now night sky. He finally said, "...I chose to do it."
Asuka could feel the coldness behind that voice, almost causing her to shiver. She shook her head and said, "That brings up more questions. Why did you choose to do it?"
"It was the only way."
"There's always another way." "You're beginning to sound like your father."
Shinji placed his hands in his pockets to hide his fists. "You weren't there. You wouldn't understand."
"Try me."
"This is pointless. You don't believe me even when I tell you the truth," Shinji said. He knelt down and grabbed the handle before tossing all his catch back into the water, all of them managing to swim away.
"Because you're not the type of person who will do all that."
Shinji said, "If that's it, I'm leaving. I already told you what you need to know. Anything more is going to be a waste of time."
He turned to leave, but just as he was about to go past Asuka, she grabbed his wrist.
"No. I'm not done," she said, "There's more I need to know. And there's something else I need to give you."
"What else is there?" he asked, still refusing to look at her.
Asuka took out the SDAT from her pocket. "Here, Idiot. I'm returning this to you."
Shinji looked at the small player he had not seen for over a decade other than last night. But the night is something he'll never tell her. He slowly reached out to it, only to stop halfway. He put his hand down and looked away once more.
"No. I don't need it," he said.
Asuka was surprised by this, needless to say. "And why? This was originally yours. So take it back."
"I haven't needed it for fourteen years. I don't need it now. You can throw it out if you don't need it."
She said, "But you and this were inseparable. What happened?"
"I'm not the same person. It's been fourteen years, Asuka. The faster you accept that the better off you'll be." He tightened his grip on the bucket handle. "And faster you can finally move and live happily here."
"But… you…" Asuka gritted her teeth in frustration while dropping her hand holding the SDAT.
When he noticed that Asuka hadn't released him yet, he said once more, "Let go."
"What happened to First?" Asuka asked, trying to change tactics. She noticed that by the mention of her, the Idiot flinched, something she wanted to see. "You're still in there, I know it." "I first heard that she's still with WILLE but I heard from both the Jock and Hikari yesterday that she kicked the bucket. Which is it?"
"It's complicated with her," he said.
"Then where is she?"
Shinji finally looked at her before asking, "Will you leave me alone if I answer this?"
"What happened exactly? Why are you running away from this question like a coward?" She said, "No, of course not-"
"Then I'm leaving. Let go."
He tried to pull away but Asuka kept her tight grip on him. She said, "The two Suzahara's said that both the Jock and First tried to stop you."
Shinji looked forward, not responding to her question.
"I'm through playing this game of twenty questions, Idiot Shinji. Stop being a damn cowardly brat and tell me now!"
"Fine," he declared, "I killed Rei."
That answer and revelation caused her to freeze. "You what-?"
"I killed her too," he said. He finally looked at her, "Happy? Now let go."
Asuka was too stunned to keep her tight hold as Shinji managed to break free. He didn't say anything more as he walked forward. She tried to reach forward but her legs refused to move to ask more. That truth that was revealed caused her body to freeze, unable to take the steps forward to get him.
"This… is this really the truth? Did you kill her, really? Did you really do all this that they say you did?" Asuka tried to deny it but his answer always came back.
"This is pointless. You don't believe me even if I told you the truth."
"Are you the monster they say you are?" She looked to the floor, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.
"Asuka?" Junior asked. Asuka blinked and found that Junior was in front of her, looking at her with worried eyes. "Are you okay? I tried calling you out after Shin left but you didn't respond for a while."
"Of course I am," she said.
He knew she wasn't. The moment she saw Brother Shin, she started to act differently than when he was showing her around town. And now she was colder to him.
Brother Shin was different as well. Especially after the two met.
"Well," he said. No point in pushing this any more than needed. He could always ask later. "It's getting late. Do you want to head back to the Village?"
"Leave me alone. I can handle myself. I don't need you babysitting me every step of the way."
Junior shook his head. "Do you know your way back?"
"I won't say it again," Asuka said. Instead of waiting for his response, she walked forward.
Junior watched her get further away from him. He sighed before following her a distance away.
Mari clicked her tongue as she stopped recording the whole thing through the small hole in the wall that showed her the entire view of the event that happened.
"Damn it," she said as she replayed what she recorded, "You messed up again, Puppy. I swear, why can't you just be honest with yourself? Oh… Wait…"
Mari replayed a certain event on her phone. She paused and zoomed in. There was a smile.
"Well, would you look at that?"
Shinji placed the bucket down in the sink inside Kensuke's house. He poured out the lingering contents inside, rethinking everything that just happened back there.
"Asuka…" he dropped the bucket into the sink and began to fill it with water to start cleaning. He gritted his teeth as he remembered her words to him.
"You're still an Idiot that I knew from back then. No matter how much has passed, you're still the same you."
"No…" he said. He placed his hand over the eye patch while the other clenched into a fist against the counter. "I'm not…"
Asuka wandered her way into the Village without a destination in mind. Her hands tightened into a fist the entire way.
"He just leaves me alone again. Refuses to elaborate on anything I ask and just walks off…" she said. She stopped and looked up at the stars in the night sky.
They really were beautiful, and she would've admitted it too if it wasn't for all the raging emotions within her.
"You're the same Idiot from back then… you have to be… Why are you so different?"
"Asuka?" a familiar voice called out to her.
She turned to see Hikari walking up to her. Asuka looked away and said, "Leave me alone, Hikari."
"Why are you here in the middle of the night? Is your ankle feeling better? Why isn't Kodama with you?" She leaned closer and saw her friend's eyes that were filled with confusion and anger. "You heard everything from that monster?" she asked.
"It's all true…"
"I would never lie to you, Asuka. I'm happy that you finally believe what we told you… He didn't hurt you, did he?"
She shook her head.
"Asuka, do you have a place to stay?"
She shook her head again.
"Then would you like to stay at my place?"
Asuka shook her head one more time. "I just want to be alone."
"I get that, especially with what you finally managed to understand," Hikari said. "But staying out here and wandering all alone isn't going to help you either. It's late, stay with us for a bit. We'll be happy if you could stay with us."
"Hikari-"
"We have a guest room, so you'll have your privacy." Hikari then grabbed her hand. "Asuka, I can't let my friend be left alone at night. Especially if I haven't seen her for fourteen years. There's so much to catch up on!"
Asuka tried to respond but Hikari was too fast for her as she started to drag her away.
"Don't worry about Tsubame, as long as you're quiet, she won't wake up. Besides, this will be a good way for you to see her tomorrow!" Hikari turned to a building behind them. "I'll take it from here, Junior. Thanks for watching over her till now."
Junior watched from behind a wall as Hikari dragged her away to her place. He smiled and said, "If I had known that you two knew each other, I would've brought Asuka to you first, Mrs. Suzahara."
"I'll explain later what she meant earlier about the food your dad serves. Just please… keep an eye on her," what Brother Shin told him just before he left back there repeated in his head.
"But how did she know it was you by just the taste of the food? Do you two have a history together?"
Asuka was, once again, forced into the showers by Hikari to wash up before being shown to the guest room. It was small, there wasn't much. It looked like a traditional Japanese room. Almost reminiscent of Misato's apartment to be precise.
Hikari went to the closet and brought out a futon and laid it down on the floor, getting it ready for her friend. She then turned in for the night, being late as it is.
Asuka laid down on the futon and looked up to the ceiling.
"-I'll come find you after!"
That was her promise during the fight with the Angel.
"First… You just went up and died before I could find you…" Asuka slammed onto the futon. "You're gone and the Idiot is-..."
She took out the SDAT from her pocket. Remembering the Idiot by the mere sight of it, she tried to throw it aside. But she couldn't. Despite what she found out about him, she couldn't bring herself to throw it.
"I hate this."
Asuka didn't sleep well from that night onwards. She locked herself inside this room despite Hikari's insistence, not that she tried much to get her out of the room.
Hikari knew that Asuka needed her space right now.
ONE WEEK LATER
Misato looked over the reports in her office that Ritsuko had just given her. It's been a long week but everything was ready.
"Call the Pilots and everyone staying in the Village," Misato ordered. She placed the reports down on her desk. "We're heading out within the next few hours, with or without them."
Ritsuko said, "Roger… But what about Shikinami?"
Misato opened the door without looking at her. She said, "The plan has not changed."
She sighed as she picked up the reports from the Commander's desk as the door closed behind Misato. "You could've also used this time to see Junior too, you know. You don't have to be on the ship all the time."
Mari stretched as she got out of Kensuke's house with a backpack over the plugsuit she was wearing. She let out a squeal as she stretched. Shinji, having his own backpack over his jacket, came out soon after.
"Say bye to little Junior for us, Kenken," she said.
Kensuke's arm came out of the door, "Take care-gah, Kodama!" His arm immediately retracted back inside. "That's not how you work the generator!"
"Then you fix it!" Kodama's voice called out from within the house.
"But you said you wanted to learn how to, you can only learn by getting your hands dirty."
The two heard Kodama's scream after something popped. A spraying noise was heard. "Gross!" she said, "It's everywhere! Why is it so slimy?"
Mari giggled, "You would think that she would have a better handle with those machines by now. Makes you wonder if she's doing it on purpose to be close to him, like a little girl trying to get the attention of her crush." She nudged Shinji using her elbow, "What do you think, Puppy?"
He shrugged.
"Did you take care of everything within the full week that they gave you? It's usually shorter but because of repairs, we were here for a couple of days longer."
Shinji gave a nod.
"You haven't talked to Princess after that night-"
"You were watching?" Shinji asked, glaring at her for revealing her invasion of his privacy.
Mari patted behind his bag and said, "How could I not? But it was not fun watching you botch it all up for, what, the second time? Well, actually third if you count back in Wunder. Maybe more if you count the ones that I wasn't there for...if there were any."
Her smirk widened before continuing, "Oh but we both know the truth. Were you seeing her secretly without my knowledge? Why… That's so naughty of you, Puppy."
Shinji shook his head. "You know what I was doing… They have not changed."
"But that didn't stop you from visiting her secretly after, right?" That earned a glare from him, but she didn't care. "Why can't you be more honest with yourself?"
"Sister Mari, brother Shin!" Junior called out to them.
Mari placed her hand on her hips, watching him run to them. "Aw, did Little Junior come to say his farewells to us? Guess Kenken doesn't have to tell you anything then."
"You two were really going to leave without saying anything again?" Junior asked, catching his breath.
"Lighten up, Little Junior," she said. She walked up to him and pinched his cheek. "We thought you were busy with work today. Isn't today your shift?"
"Knock it off, sister Mari." He managed to get her hands off. He rubbed the area as it was starting to turn red. "I'm not a kid anymore."
"In my eyes, both you and the Puppy are kids."
He let out a heavy sigh, knowing there was no use trying to convince this girl otherwise. So, instead, he said, "Uncle Kensuke and dad made sure I had the day off today when he heard the news."
"Wow," Mari said sarcastically, "Must be nice having bosses who let you take time off whenever you need to."
"Sister Mari…"
She laughed, "I'm joking, Little Junior." She ruffled his head as she said, "You should know this by now. No need to go crying to daddy about it."
"I wasn't going to!"
Mari gave another laugh and stopped messing up his hair even further. Junior began fixing his hair.
"Brother Shin, are you okay with leaving Asuka the way she is? She hasn't talked to anyone in days. Auntie Suzahara said that she locked herself in-"
Shinji sighed, "I know."
"You… do?" Junior blinked, surprised by what he said. "Then why aren't you doing anything?"
"I'm not-…" He quietly said while looking to the ground, "I can't be the one to help her."
"And why not? Brother Shin, what's so different about her that you can't be there for her like you were with me?"
"Things are… different. They're complicated."
"But you have to do something! You have to know a way to help her, right? Please, before you leave, do something."
Shinji sighed and took off his bag.
Asuka, having switched to a red jacket and short jeans, held the blanket over her while looking at the SDAT. She was unable to figure out why she couldn't just throw it away. It should be easy, with the way that Shinji was treating her, making all her emotions feel like it was nothing… that it didn't matter.
It angered her to no end. But she just couldn't do it.
There was a knock on the door. Hikari called out, "Asuka, can you please open up?"
"I don't want to talk. I'm sleepy."
"But there's someone here to speak with you."
"I don't care," Asuka pulled the blanket closer to her. "Tell them to leave."
"Asuka?" a familiar voice said. "Can you open up?"
"Great. It's you." Asuka said, "Leave me alone, Dummy Kaji."
"And I will. But I just wanted to give something to you before I go. Can you please open up?"
Asuka said, "No. Just leave."
"Please, just take this and I'll leave, I promise."
She sighed, "Fine."
Asuka got up and stomped her way towards the door to the room. When she opened, she was met with a very surprised Hikari with a sleeping Tsubame on her back and an exhausted looking Junior.
"Huh," Hikari thought to herself, "If that was all it took to open the door, I would've done this on day one."
"Well?" Asuka crossed her arms. She couldn't help but think back to Misato's apartment when First wanted to give her something. She shook her head and asked, "What do you need to give me? Make it quick."
"Oh right." Junior started to fumble around his pockets until he took out two things he was looking for. "Here."
She froze when she saw the two objects in front of her. It was a familiar doll and a similar looking WonderSwan handheld game she had before.
Asuka looked at him, "Where did you get these two?"
He blinked, unsure how to answer her. "I uh… I thought you would like them? Since you're in the room a lot."
She grabbed them and inspected them carefully. Examining all the marks and wears.
"Where did you get them?" she asked again.
"I just found them-"
"Where is he?"
"Uh…Who?"
Seeing that he was not going to tell her the truth and going to act dumb, Asuka let out a frustrated groan and ran past them.
"Asuka!" Hikari called out after her.
"These are mine," she thought to herself. She quickly threw on a pair of shoes and ran out. She clutched the two items closer to her. "There's no way that Dummy Kaji would get both of them coincidentally. That means-"
Asuka stopped in the middle of the street as a slight gust of wind picked up with a weird sound filling the air. She covered her eyes and looked up at the skies to see that strange ship, that Jock's sister called Wunder, taking off.
Her eyes widened at what this meant. "That Idiot… he just left me here…" "He abandoned me… like everyone else."
Both of Asuka's arms went limp but her hands still held tightly to the two items.
Junior managed to catch up to her. "A-Asuka," he tried to catch his breath. "What's wrong?" he asked.
She immediately turned and yelled, "You knew they were going to leave today!"
"I-I only found out just today too! They are usually last minute about this. I swear," he said.
Asuka placed the two items into her pocket and grabbed his collar, "Get them to come back now!"
"I-I can't do that. You know that I can't."
She gritted her teeth and pushed him away. "Useless."
"I'm sorry I can't help you, Asuka," Junior apologized with as much sincerity as he could muster, "I really am."
"Just leave me alone. I don't want to see you."
Junior tried to reach out but Asuka walked past him and back into Hikari's house. The older friend tried to stop Asuka by asking, "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"
"No, they're not," she responded and walked past her, back into the guest room. The door slammed shut behind her.
The sleeping Tsubame awoke from the sound and let out a cry. Hikari immediately tried to calm the baby down, "It's okay, Tsubame. It's all okay…"
Junior looked to the floor, unsure what to do. He hated feeling this… useless to help anyone.
Hikari took notice of this when she took a quick glance at him. "I wouldn't take what she said too seriously," she said. "She's angry. It's a matter of how you try to help her from here onward."
"I know…" he sighed. "But can't she be a bit more self-aware on how she makes everyone feel whenever she yells like that?"
"It's just who she is. There was one person who could take all her assaults and still stay by her side, but sadly he's no longer here."
"I see…" Junior took a deep breath, clenching his hands into a fist. "Would it be okay if I stopped by tomorrow as well?"
She smiled at that and Tsubame started to calm down, having fallen back asleep.
"Of course," Hikari said. "She needs someone, whether she likes to admit it or not. But not today. It's best if we leave her alone today."
"Right…" Junior looked up to the sky in the direction the Wunder took off to. "Shin… I'll do my best."
Shinji dawned on his dark blue jacket with his cap before coming into Misato's quarters with something in hand. As he gave her the file, Misato asked, "How is he?"
"Junior is well," he replied.
"I see. Is Shikinami situated in the Village?"
"She just needs time to adjust."
Misato nodded and took out the forms inside the file. She froze at what she saw but hid it just well enough for Shinji not to catch on. However, he did find this silence oddly strange.
"Is there anything else, Commander?"
"No… that is all. You're dismissed. Have the Captain escort you back to your quarters, Three Dash."
He nodded at the order and turned to walk out.
Misato placed the content that affected her so much onto the table. They were pictures of her son. Some held Junior working with other people on a strange pillar while the others had him laughing with the other townspeople around the Village. One thing that brought her both comfort and distaste with herself was the fact that he was smiling in all of them.
"He wants to see you, you know," Shinji said, stopping by the door.
Misato crossed her arms and said, "I thought I told you that you were dismissed. Why are you still here?"
"Yes, Commander. Apologies," he said, finally leaving the room as ordered.
As the door closed, Misato picked up a picture of Junior laughing with the little kids in the town and caressed the surface over her son's face.
"Ms. Mari, can you please get off?" Shinji asked.
Mari was again behind him with her arms around him as the two walked back to his quarters.
"Well?" she asked, "How did it go? Did my pictures manage to get a reaction out of her? I've tried to catch ones that had him smiling all cute-like. And there were plenty, especially since we stayed there for longer than usual."
"I don't see why it had to be me to give the pictures to her."
"The same reason why you weren't the one to give that doll and game you clung onto so much to the Princess."
"It's not the same. You have a history with Mr. Kaji while I-..." he couldn't finish as he looked down to the floor.
"Then why ask? You already know the answer. The hardass Commander wants to see as little of me as possible, despite my rank." Mari got off of him and skipped ahead. "But something's different about you... Are you, perhaps, regretting leaving her behind like that?"
Shinji didn't answer her as he sped up and went past her.
"Oh, did I hit a nerve?"
He didn't respond until they made it back to his quarters. As the door opened, Kaworu greeted them from behind inside the room, "Welcome back Shinji. Captain."
The two had to pause to take in what they saw before them. Kaworu had bandages on his cheek and around his arms, covering the bruises around them.
Mari whistled, "What happened to you, Snowball? You look like you just got a beating from an ex. Or did you touch someone the wrong way by throwing yourself at them like back then?"
"That wasn't what happened back then," Kaworu said as he shook his head. "You realize that, don't you?"
"Oh please, you were happy that I managed to catch you when I did. So? What happened? As your superior, it's my job to know what happens if someone hurts you."
Kaworu rubbed his cheek. "I merely got into a heated discussion with an old acquaintance. No need to be alarmed." His eyes trailed his friend as he continued, "Second Lieutenant Sakura has handled all the treatment. There are no broken bones nor any permanent damage. I will still be able to Pilot my Unit."
Shinji made it back to his bed. He laid down with his back facing them with his arms around himself.
"You're still dodging my question here, Snowball," Mari said as she also eyed Shinji. "Stop trying to throw curve balls and answer my question, who hurt you? Was it anyone in Wunder? Should we be worried about them?"
He shook his head, "No, you don't have to be worried about her. She had what you call "beef' with me."
Mari blinked at that. "Her? You don't talk to anyone else unless you have to. So who?" "You really need to learn to stop pissing people off then."
"I merely learned from how my superior officer acts to those around her," the smug smirk on Kaworu's face widened.
"You're getting bigger balls, I like that."
"So, Shinji," Kaworu brought his full attention to his friend. "How did the trip go with the Village? Did you see Asu-...Shikinami there?"
Shinji replied, "It's fine. It went well, Kaworu."
Mari brought a chair and sat down with the back facing the two. She rested her arm on the back.
"He's just being grumpy again," she said.
"What happened?" Nagisa asked.
"What do you think?" Mari replied, "He's sad that he had to leave the Princess behind at the Village-3 after seeing her multiple times."
"Oh?" he asked, "So the two of you conversed? How did that go? Poorly I presume from the way you're acting right now, Shinji."
Shinji tightened his arms around himself. He quietly said, "It's for the best… she'll be safe there."
Kaworu said, "As long as this is what you wish, Shinji, I will support your decision…" He got up and walked over to Mari with a small limp. He whispered to her ear, "Did he have any positive reactions when the two conversed?"
Mari put her hand over her mouth to hide her mischievous smirk, "Why, Snowball, if anyone were to see us, one would get the wrong idea about us."
"That was not my intent."
"So you say~," she mused. She gave a small laugh before letting out a long sigh. Mari whispered back, low enough that the Puppy couldn't hear, "If you're asking if he was beaming with excitement when he talked with her in the Village, nope, not yet. But there's always next time we have to stop by here for supply and repair."
"Shinji," Kaworu looked at his friend with worried eyes. He winced at the pain in his cheek. "Kyoko, you have what people would call a "mean right hook". To think the pain you inflict on me would transfer to my physical body as well."
"How's Unit 00?" Shinji asked.
Kaworu answered despite the pain he felt in his cheek whenever he spoke these words, "Unit 00 is now operating at full power according to Dr. Akagi. As long as Ayanami does not try to do anything drastic like the previous mission, there should be no other issues."
Shinji nodded, "Okay…"
Author's Note: Thank you all for making it this far. This was definitely a slower pace. There was little to no Slice of Life in this one, but it is something that will be more (hopefully) heavily focused on in the next chapter.
And some of you are picking up on some things, which I am happy to hear!
Thank you all for your amazing reviews: AsteroidOdin, gary2000, Alfredo12StarLegionaire, KaiserDreamCancel, AirGuitar035, Metalora, YourBlandestNightmare, Calborghete, LetsPilot, Detmer, Greg242, ThyDevoutBeliever, tomdj1701, engel17white, Miguel Alamino, Guest Reviewers, and to those who gave their separate reviews through discord.
It really means a lot that you take the time from your busy schedule to write your reviews. I can only hope that I can meet your expectations as the story progresses.
Take care.