Ού ταυτόν είδος φαίνεται των πραγμάτων πρόσωθεν όντων εγγύθεν θ' ορωμένων (Things do not look the same when viewed from far or near) — Euripides
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Asuka growled, one hand covering the cavity in her skull where her ruined eye once was, the other reaching upwards towards the enemy that was circling around her pinned Eva, drawing lazy rings in the sky like vultures circling around their dying prey.
She felt what she had once considered to be impossible: Unit 02 activating and responding to her movements despite having run its batteries dry, the Eva seemingly answering to her rage and rising to match it. The massive beast's own arm rose towards the sky, grasping for its foes.
It was for naught, as a lance came piercing down from the sky, slicing Unit 02's arm cleanly down the middle. The injury was reflected on the girl inside, but she did not have any time to react to it before even more lances pierced through her Eva, goring it through the abdomen and legs and holding it fast to the ground. They were followed by her foes descending on the downed fighter.
As they ripped into Unit 02 with their teeth and hands, tearing off chunks of flesh and armor alike, Asuka curled into herself, grabbing onto her stomach and thrashing around her entry plug in pain as the wounds appeared on her beneath her plug suit. She endured the assault for a few moments, then it seemed to abruptly stop—her relief accompanied by a familiar sound, one she even recognized as she was dying inside her entry plug. Unit 01 was bellowing its unmistakable roar, and her killers were abandoning their defeated enemy to face the new threat.
"So is this what it takes?" Asuka slurred groggily as her vision blurred even further and her world turned dark.
Asuka awoke suddenly, breathing quickly, her eyes wide and darting to check her surroundings. She was alone in the passenger cabin of a NERV jet. The cabin itself consisted of a few rows of seats, two on each side, with an aisle down the middle leading from the crew areas up front down to the last row of seats. She gathered up the papers that were strewn across the tray table in front of her and placed them back into the folder she had taken them from on the seat beside her.
I must've dozed off while going over these boring test results, Asuka thought. Her breathing had evened out, and she was reassured that she had not had any witnesses to what was clearly a nightmare in the form of memories of her death. Stupid girl. You've spent a week keeping yourself busy, how did you not expect this to happen eventually?
She sighed and rubbed her eyes. I hate this. Unbuckling her seatbelt and standing up, she made her way towards the restroom at the front of the cabin. Once inside the cramped space, she ran the sink and splashed some water on her face. Glaring at herself in the mirror, she looked closely at her left eye. It's like it didn't even happen. Like it didn't even matter.
Asuka gripped the edge of the small counter and closed her eyes, bowing her head down over the sink. I have the fight of my life against a pack of monsters—beat, them, even! And they get back up and take me down right when I run out of power. And then the Invincible Shinji shows up, just in time to watch me die. She grimaced. He'll do anything to save his precious doll, but when I'm fighting for my life he won't even lift a finger. And what did he even do once I was dead, and he could show off to everyone?! He must have screwed something up; otherwise, why else would I be here?
"Typical," she muttered. She let go of the counter and turned to leave, returning to her seat in the cabin. I died trying to save the world. Should I take some solace in that it's supposedly still turning? Once again she remembered flashes of faces, some familiar and some less so, accompanied by an overall pervading redness. Something must have happened after I died. Whether or not my death mattered to it is a moot point.
Asuka reached back over to grab one of her folders, rifling through the papers inside of it. I'm alive now—I'm here now. I have to move forward. The way out is through, right?
As she settled into reviewing more test results, the door to the crew area opened and one of the team approached Asuka.
"Pilot Soryu, we'll be landing shortly. When you disembark, there'll be a NERV representative waiting for you to take you to the Geofront. You're to accompany them immediately."
"Right, sure," Asuka said dismissively, barely sparing the young man a glance as he turned back towards the crew area.
Ω
"Asuka, my goodness! Look at you—you've grown!"
Asuka narrowed her eyes at the purpled-haired woman in the tight black dress and red jacket who was waving frantically in her direction. Of course it would be her.
"Yeah, I suppose that happens," Asuka said apprehensively as she approached Misato.
"Ooh, are we a little grumpy from the long flight?" Misato teased, smiling smugly, and covering one side of her mouth with a hand to conspiratorially whisper to Asuka as she wrapped her other arm around the girl's shoulders. "That's ok, I made sure you weren't scheduled to begin any tests or training today, so you can take the rest of the day to unwind. Heh, maybe I'll join you myself," she added the last part a little louder, quirking her eyebrows at Asuka.
"But my training plan!" Asuka yelled, shrugging the older woman's arm from her shoulder, and turning to face her head on with her fists planted on her hips. "It starts today!"
"Yeah, uh, about that," Misato said, putting a hand on Asuka's back and gently pushing her towards the building's exit. "You realize Shinji goes to school, right? Even if we moved the times around to accommodate that, you still had four hours a day of training—combined with his other responsibilities, he wouldn't have any time to himself. The kid needs a break sometimes, so I revised your 'Pilot Seminar' schedule a little bit."
"That's not what it's called," Asuka said bitterly as the pair of them made their way towards the parking facilities. "And cleaning up after you hardly counts as one of his responsibilities," she added drolly.
"Well, whatever it's called, you've got a revised version waiting for you in your new home, which is already set up for you in the Geofront. And I'll have you know we divided up the apartment chores fair and square," she included, miffed. "It isn't my fault he's unlucky."
Misato pointed out her car and gestured to it, indicating to Asuka to get in. "Your stuff is making its way to the Geofront as we speak, too, so by the time we get there and I give you a little tour of the facilities, you should be all set." Misato entered her car, Asuka sullenly getting into the passenger seat beside her.
I just got here and already things are going to shit. The ride to the Geofront was filled with Misato's attempts at small talk and Asuka rebuffing said attempts, but nothing the younger woman did seemed to completely dispel her superior officer's cheer.
Ω
"—which brings us here, to your quarters." Misato gestured extravagantly to the door in front of her with a nameplate reading Soryu, A.
"Great," Asuka sighed, "that only took all day."
"Hey, cut me some slack! I'm pretty new around here myself, you know," Misato explained. Her tour for Asuka had turned into a wandering through the Geofront as the captain seemingly guessed at random which directions to take to show Asuka the basic facilities. In the end, the pair had managed to locate all of the essential areas a pilot would need to know how to find—along with plenty of back stairways and mostly unused maintenance corridors that appeared to haphazardly tunnel throughout the Geofront. And plenty more complaints and correct directions that Asuka kept to herself.
Misato swiped a card on a reader beside the door, which whooshed open in response. Stepping in, she turned to face Asuka and handed her the card. "Welcome home, Asuka! Here's your new ID card, just turn in your old one when you get the chance. What do you think of the place?" She stepped to the side as Asuka entered behind her and took the card, sweeping her arm out to encompass the living area.
Well, it's the same as it was last time, Asuka thought. Her new home consisted of the entryway the pair of women were now standing in, which led into a modest living room. Said living room was filled with boxes stacked indiscriminately throughout the room, blocking access to the doors leading to the rest of the apartment.
"It's fine," Asuka said, walking into the stacks of boxes and peering at their labels. I never actually unpacked most of these. Maybe I didn't need to bring all of this again.
Misato leaned against the doorframe, grinning as she watched Asuka inspect her things. "I know you like your space, so I made sure to get you one of the nicer little apartments down here. Plus, it's close to the gym. At least I think it is, anyway," she said sheepishly. "Since that's probably where you'll be spending most of your duty days anyway, Drill Sergeant Soryu."
Asuka's face blanched. "Don't call me that," she snapped. Professor Soryu sounds way better, anyway. She began unstacking boxes to get at lower ones, not looking for anything in particular other than a hint for Misato to take about leaving.
"Hey, you set up Asuka's Boot Camp; the title comes with the territory," Misato said cheerily, ignoring Asuka's irritated tone.
"That's not what it's called!" Asuka replied shrilly, turning to face Misato and placing her hands on her hips. "I suppose I'm the only person taking this seriously?"
"Nope," Misato chirped, her grin spreading. "You should have seen Shin-chan's face when I told him to report to you tomorrow after school—I wish I'd had a camera! You made quite the impression on him with whatever you said to him last week. And when I told him to be ready to get in the pool with you, he turned the most adorable shade of red."
Asuka fought down a blush of her own, letting her arms fall to her sides and turning quickly back to sort through her boxes again. That is not what this is about! What is wrong with everyone?! "I want to take the rest of the day to get sorted out and go over your revisions to my schedule," she said in clipped tones.
"Ok, ok, I get it," Misato said, pushing off from the doorframe and taking one last look at the pilot. "Welcome home, Asuka," she said, quietly, before stepping through the door.
It shut behind her before Asuka had a chance to offer a response, but one was not forthcoming anyway. Instead, she began organizing her boxes of belongings into stacks of unpack now, maybe unpack later, and don't bother unpacking you'll never need this. Once completed, and her living room cleared of obstructions, she peered into her bedroom to confirm the presence of the closet, wardrobe, desk, chair, and bed she remembered should be in there, and noticed a binder sitting on the desk she rightfully recalled as being present.
That must be Misato's revised calendar, Asuka thought as she walked over to the desk and sat in the chair in front of it. She opened the binder and glanced at its contents.
"Oh, come on!" She yelled, slamming a fist down onto the desk and her face twisting into a scowl. An hour a day? What am I supposed to accomplish with just an hour's worth of training that Idiot a day! And she made Sunday a rest day!
She flipped through more pages of the training plan, her scowl deepening as she read more. It detailed a less-intense version of her plan, which was already a much less-intense version of the plan she would have wanted to follow, but it still broadly measured up with her division of time between physical training and what she preferred to think of as combat training: the fun activities like sparring and confidence courses which could be done in person or even inside Evas—simulated or otherwise.
At least she didn't cut all the time I had planned for actually training inside the Evas, Asuka consoled herself as she closed the binder with a sigh. She had the information she needed for tomorrow: she'd be meeting Shinji at NERV's pool at 1700, which, combined with the armfuls of papers she'd skimmed through during her tour that informed her of her reporting schedule for the next few weeks, meant that tomorrow she a day full of being poked and prodded by doctors followed by an evening of teaching the Third Child to swim.
This is just one more obstacle for the Great Asuka Langley Soryu, she thought. She got up from her desk and returned to her living room with its stacks of boxes. I just have an opportunity to show everyone how good I am—so good that I can get their precious Shin-chan up to snuff with less than half the time I originally wanted!
She began working on her unpack now boxes, organizing the clothes and other items into various spaces in her new home. Once again the Third Child gets coddled, and I have to deal with the mess.
Ω
Asuka sat on a hard bed in an examination room, wearing a paper gown and impatiently drumming her fingers against the bed's surface. Her day had started with a brief introduction to one of Doctor Akagi's assistants, having met the doctor herself on her superfluous tour the previous day. Said assistant, a mousy woman who Asuka recognized but had never learned her name—a feat she was repeating as she already didn't recall it again, had politely asked the pilot to get changed and wait in the exam room for someone to come by and begin some routine procedures.
That, predictably, had been over an hour ago. At this rate the next Angel will show up before this doctor does. When is it supposed to show its face, anyway? Uhg! I should I have paid attention to the ones from before I got to Japan! Her impatient scowl deepened at her lack of preparedness, but it was then that the exam room door suddenly opened, and a tired-looking Doctor Akagi walked in.
She was carrying a clipboard and an unlit cigarette in one hand, a coffee cup in the other, and did not look up from her clipboard as she took a seat in the chair next to Asuka. The pilot, meanwhile, raised a skeptical eyebrow at the doctor. It went unnoticed.
"I was expecting that assistant of yours, or something," Asuka said as Akagi set down her coffee cup to rummage through a drawer in a small table next to her, pulling out equipment hermetically sealed in bags.
"Who? You mean Lt. Ibuki? She's not qualified for any of this—she just helps me screen some of my more extraneous responsibilities." Asuka blanched at being referred to as an extraneous responsibility but stopped short of voicing her displeasure. She was acutely aware of the doctor's dislike for her–or at least her assumed dislike for her, based on what she had overheard from Kaji's conversation–and did not want to jeopardize her chances of working with Unit 02.
"Frankly I'm not qualified either," the doctor continued, finally setting down her clipboard. She looked at the cigarette in her hand as if noticing it for the first time before placing it between her lips and lighting it. "I'd say I don't know why the commander has me doing this, but that'd be a lie." As she spoke, she continued to take frequent drags from her cigarette, at least being courteous enough to blow the smoke away from her patient.
"You do some medical work for one pilot, suddenly you're the go-to pilot medical expert, never mind that I'm not a medical doctor. Give me your arm," she said, holding her cigarette between her lips and wrapping a strap around Asuka's arm to take her blood pressure. I think this woman needs a nap, not caffeine and nicotine, Asuka thought. Smoking during a medical exam! So unprofessional. It really is all adults that are like this, not just Misato and Kaji. Next she's going to start making lewd jokes.
Noting down the pilot's blood pressure on her clipboard, Akagi moved on to the rest of her exam, continuing to puff away at her cigarette. Taking temperature, testing reflexes, peering into ears, nose, and throat, everything was poked, gauged, or otherwise tested, with the results recorded. Akagi's cigarette did not last the whole exam, but Asuka's irritation did; even being used to long screenings, the doctor's endeavors were irksome to the pilot.
She thinks I'm not good enough to work with her, but she admits she's unqualified for this! What a hypocrite.
"Hold out your right arm," Doctor Akagi said, washing her hands at the small sink in the exam room and putting on gloves. As Asuka held out her arm, the doctor pulled out a few empty vials and a needle from the table next to the bed. Her setup complete, she roughly grabbed Asuka's arm and searched for a vein, disinfecting a spot in the crook of the girl's elbow before slipping the needle in.
"While I've got you here," she said, as she inserted the first vial into the needle, and it began to fill up with blood. "I've got some ground rules for the terms of your assistance in Section One."
Asuka looked at the doctor questioningly. "I assumed my request was denied," she said flatly. "I hadn't heard anything about, even after I got here."
"Number one," the doctor continued, ignoring Asuka's statement while she changed out the full vial for an empty one. "This is a professional organization. You will carry yourself in a professional manner." She narrowed her eyes at Asuka. "I'm well aware of your reputation from some of my colleagues in Berlin. I will not tolerate that behavior here."
Asuka clenched her jaw. My reputation?! And how exactly is it my fault if I'm surrounded by incompetent idiots that only respond to threats of force to do their jobs right?! "Professional. Of course," she said calmly after discreetly letting out a long breath.
Akagi smirked, once again changing out a full vial for an empty one. "Good. Number two: while you still fall under Captain Katsuragi's authority in Section Three, and I've been informed your activities there supersede your potential work in Section One, I expect you to clear your schedule through me before going to the captain with any of your training plan moving forward."
Asuka fought back her initial instinct to scream at the good doctor. Work for you?! You're lucky I'm gracing your labs with my presence! Who the hell do you think you are?! "I'll make sure to keep you informed of my schedule, Doctor," she said stiffly.
The doctor slipped the needle out of Asuka's arm and relinquished control of it to the pilot before quickly slapping a band-aid over the tiny wound. "Good. That's it, actually. For the exam, and for my ground rules. You can get dressed, but don't leave," she said. The doctor left the filled vials on their stand atop the table and disposed of the used needle. "Someone will stop by later with some evaluation forms for you to fill out."
Picking her coffee cup and clipboard back up, Akagi walked briskly towards the exit. "You've got more tests tomorrow, as you're aware. I'll see you then." The door shut behind her.
Asuka breathed in and out deeply, slowly, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. This is going to be more of a challenge than I thought. She got up from the bed and reached for her clothes, preparing to wait around for another few hours for the next person to come by with the subsequent annoyance of the day.
Ω
Asuka stood at the edge of NERV's Olympic sized swimming pool, glaring angrily at the doorway to the men's locker room. The clock on the wall behind her read 1702.
Everyone has been wasting my time all day. Of course the Idiot would too. She crossed her arms and sighed theatrically when she noticed the door open and a very nervous looking Third Child in swimming trunks and a t-shirt hesitantly stepped towards her.
Raising one eyebrow, she waved towards herself in a hurry up gesture; the boy mostly complied, elongating his stride to a mostly normal length, and coming to a stop in front of her. His head was down, and his eyes were cast to the side rather than focused on the girl in front of him.
Oh, come on, Shinji! Grow a pair! I didn't even wear a bikini this time! Pervert. Asuka had considered that the Third Child might be too bashful to effectively teach and had attempted to head off that concern by opting for a more conservative one-piece swimsuit she had been issued in Berlin. Asuka again sighed loudly and ostentatiously, rolling her eyes.
"I'm Asuka, Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed, huh?" She said, smiling when the boy in front of her finally looked up to meet her eyes. He hesitantly returned her smile.
"I'm Shinji Ikari," he said, eyes flicking to the pool behind her and back to her face. "Um, sorry, but what do I call you? Misato-san told me—"
"Whatever Misato told you was wrong!" Asuka quicky interrupted that particular train of thought before the Third Child began calling her something ridiculous. And already he's at it with the apologies! "Just call me Asuka. Or Second Child, or Pilot Soryu, if you don't go in for the whole brevity thing," she informed him.
"Ok, Asuka," he said, his smile becoming a bit more confident before his eyes settled once again on the pool and his face turned a bit perplexed. "I, uh, I know Misato-san said that we were going to be in the pool today, but—but I don't know how to swim. Sorry." He said the last few words quickly and quietly, as if the lower volume would make the information less offensive to their intended recipient.
Asuka smirked. "Luckily for you, Third Child, the Great Asuka Langley Soryu foresaw this predicament and planned for just such an occasion!" She grabbed the boy in front of her by his wrist and dragged him up to the edge of the pool and waved her hand dramatically over the shallow end of the pool before them. "I shall teach you to swim myself!"
Shinji's eyes had widened in surprise when the girl had grabbed his wrist, and they widened even further at her grandiose proclamations. "Humans aren't meant to float," he whispered just barely loud enough for Asuka to hear.
She shook her head in response. "Nonsense," she replied. "Now take that shirt off, we're getting into the water." she said, gesturing to the boy's torso. He cautiously removed the shirt, folding it neatly and looking around for a safe place to stow it. Asuka, however, grabbed it out of his hands and tossed it back towards the door to the men's locker rooms.
"Hey!" He said, a genuine flash of irritation breaking his timid mask. Asuka smirked in response. Good. "What was that for?"
Rather than respond, Asuka's smirk deepened as she placed a hand on the Third Child's shoulder, who did not have time to react before she pushed him into the pool. Asuka giggled as he thrashed in the water for a bit. "Just stand up, Idiot, the water is only up to your waist," she said before slipping smoothly into the water herself.
"What the hell, Asuka!" Shinji yelled after he got his footing and cleared the water from his nose and mouth. "I just told you I can't swim!"
"And I just told you I'm teaching you to swim," Asuka sweetly replied. "Lesson one: to swim, you have to be in the water." There's that spine. Just keep this up, Shinji.
The boy's angry glare remained. "You could have warned me," he said indignantly.
Asuka shrugged. "Maybe. Now, let's get started," she said. "Come on over to the edge here, so you can hold onto it. I'm going to teach you how to tread water and we need to move into deeper water."
Shinji worked his way next to her, warily not taking his eyes off of her as he grabbed onto the edge and scooted along down it to get to the deeper water, Asuka swimming beside him.
"Swimming is great exercise," Asuka explained imperiously. "It's low impact, so you have a decreased chance to injure yourself, but still high intensity—if you do it right." She had moved further from the edge to give Shinji a better view of the way her arms and legs were moving. "Even just treading water like I am right now can be a good cardiovascular exercise. Try to emulate the way I'm moving," she instructed.
Slowly releasing one hand from the edge of the pool, Shinji began to kick his legs and circulate his arm the way the other pilot was. He was staying afloat, but mostly due to his grip on the edge.
"You've got to let go," Asuka told him, rolling her eyes.
"But I can't swim! I still don't have the hang of this," Shinji was concentrating on moving his legs and arm correctly and did not spare Asuka a look—he subsequently jerked in surprised when she appeared next to him, having swam over from her previous position.
"I'm right here, Idiot," she told him. "You really think the Great Asuka Langley Soryu is going to let one of her students drown?"
"Erm—sorry," he said, his efforts at treading water abandoned and his gaze averted to the side.
Asuka sighed and rolled her eyes for what felt like the ten thousandth time today. And here comes the kicked puppy. "The answer to that question is no. If you had any doubts about that," she added icily.
"Right," he said, still not meeting her eyes. A faint blush was also making its way onto his cheeks.
Argh, this pervert! Asuka thought. He should be focused on not drowning, not on—that! She bit back the scornful remark she wanted to give and pressed on.
"Come on, Third," she said commandingly. "Let's go. We've got limited time to work with, and you're wasting it."
"Right. Um, sorry," he said, beginning to try to tread water again and slowly letting go of the edge of the pool. He maintained his head above water for a few moments but soon began sinking, causing him to panic and reach back out for the edge while Asuka wrapped an arm around his upper torso to steady him.
At the close contact both of the teens were blushing. No! Focus, Asuka! What is wrong with you? She quickly made sure Shinji was securely holding on to the edge and separated herself from him, clearing her throat and fighting against her blush.
"Right, see?" She said, attempting to skip over the awkwardness. "No danger of drowning here. Now give it another go and try to get the rhythm of the movement right before you let go all of the way; then you can just incorporate your other arm into the flow of things."
"Right. Ok." He replied, seemingly relieved and also choosing to ignore the mortifying ordeal. The pair of them continued at this for several more attempts before he became familiar enough with the movement to be able to comfortably tread water on his own, though only within arm's reach of the edge of the pool. Asuka had only needed to impose herself between the boy and the depths of the pool twice more, both times filled with the same unacknowledged embarrassment.
This is going to be the longest hour of training I've ever had, Asuka lamented to herself as she directed Shinji back to the shallow end of the pool to work on more swimming basics.
Ω
After her time spent in the pool, showering, changing, acquiring dinner, and making her way back to her apartment in the Geofront, Asuka was finally taking a moment to relax from her first official duty day. This wasn't exactly what I expected, but things largely seem to be going according to plan, she thought as she flopped onto her bed. I actually got further with the Idiot than I thought I would. She smiled to herself at that thought.
Following most of an hour spent going over the fundamentals of not drowning, Asuka had managed to get Shinji to paddle around a bit in the shallow end of the pool—his confidence not yet extending to deeper waters, and Asuka accepting that there's only so much one can expect in such a short time. Still, he did pretty well. All things considered that time in the pool was the least annoying part of the day.
Asuka glanced at the training plan binder on the desk across from her bed. Next time I'm staying for my own workout after Shinji's is over. I'm going to lose my edge if I let his schedule dictate my workouts. Resolving to pencil in her own plans into the calendar sometime later, she sat up and stretched.
Still, she thought, all this talk of schedules, and I don't know the most important one. She reached for a magazine she had left scattered on the floor. Cognizant of the constant surveillance she was under, she was still unsure if Section Two had gone so far as to put cameras in her quarters but wanted to err on the side of caution. It seemed better, in her opinion, to be seen aimlessly flipping through a magazine than to be seen brooding or furiously taking notes only to subsequently tear them up.
With her cover in place, she began wracking her brain for any hint of a date for the arrival of the next Angel. Oh, I really should have been paying attention, she bemoaned. More simulator time didn't mean shit! She huffed and turned a page with contempt. But how was I supposed to know that? This isn't my fault. Argh, this isn't helping! When does the next one show up?!