EVA: A World Twisted Chapter 16: Love is in the Air
Shinji was never scared of the dark. Though if given a choice he much preferred the dark he was in at the moment to the dark he was in a few short hours ago. Several hours ago Shinji had found himself stuck inside an Angel. Thanks to a hidden power his EVA-01 and the Danner had merged to form a powerful machine called Evannar. They had ripped their way out of that void. Now Shinji found himself in a much more pleasant darkness. The soft bed beneath him, the cool night air in his lungs instead of L.C.L, and most of all the beautiful blue-haired girl in his arms
Rei had refused to let go of Shinji's arm after the battle.
This led to some complications when Shinji wanted to take a shower before changing back to civilian clothes. After the debriefing Misato proclaimed that they would have a party for another successful Angel kill
Their party consisted of a large quantity of food from one of the nicer take-out places and a quantity of beer. All very thoughtfully billed to NERV under the heading "Pilot Expenses."
After a few beers, Misato declared it unsafe for Draven and Rei to walk home and insisted they spend the night as long as nothing "naughty" happened.
Several more beers later Misato was barely able to sit upright. The boys, with some difficulty, managed to half carry, half drag Misato into her room. She caused one last bit of commotion when she tried to pull Shinji in bed with her, declaring she needed a hug pillow and Shinji was a perfect fit.
After cleaning up, a task that Asuka surprisingly assisted in, it was time for bed. Rei followed Shinji into his room and laid down next to him immediately.
Asuka was a little more forcefully, pulling Draven by the collar when he made a mention of sleeping on the couch.
Shinji had never felt more content or at peace, lying on his side with his arms wrapped around Rei's waist.
The promise of nothing naughty had been kept. right now it was enough for them just to be there, for him to be holding her.
Rei shifted to face Shinji. "Shinji, do you wish to be one with me?"
"One with you?" The phrase felt strange to Shinji, but then again Rei did have odd ways of describing things
"yes," Rei said simply sliding her hand under Shinji's shirt.
"w-wait, you mean?"
Rei moved and kissed Shinji. It felt different from the last kiss they had shared, Rei was more forceful.
"Rei' Shinji said when they separated
"Do you not wish to be with me?" asked Rei
"O-of course I do" Shinji replied flustered "It's just we promised Misato and...to be honest, I'm not exactly sure of how to...you know
"I see." Rei settled back down next to Shinji. "We shall wait then."
Rei was quiet for a few moments "I believe Kensuke has some videos of this matter, perhaps we can borrow one."
Shinji said " I-I think those videos are more for entertainment than information"
"I see," said Rei. After a few minutes, she added "Perhaps we can borrow one anyway."
ASUKA'S ROOM
Asuka was on top, her head lying against his chest, Draven could smell her shampoo, a delicate flower scent.
"So," said Asuka " Do you want to?"
"Want to what?" asked Draven absent-mindedly, like Shinji he felt very at peace with the world.
"what do you think tough guy?" said Asuka seductively.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea, I mean Misato could wake up and..." Draven began
There was a nervousness in his voice she had never heard before. Asuka raised herself on her hands her blue eyes and stared into his hazel eyes.
"Why, could it be?" she asked "You're scared?" a gentle smile appeared on her face.
He didn't answer
"So you can dive into an active volcano, and stand up to a lunatic with a chainsaw with no problem, but the idea of being intimate with me scares you?" said Asuka, teasingly.
"I'm a fighter, not a lover," Draven said quietly"It's just. I want our first time to be special"
"It'll be the first time for both of us, of course, it will be special dummkopf replied Asuka
Asuka smiled warmly "We can take it slow, for now."
Asuka laid back down. After a few moments of silence, she asked "Gayu's huh?"
"goddamn it Myna" Draven whispered
MISATO'S ROOM
Like a typical morning, it was the smell of food that woke Misato. She groggily got to her feet and stretched. Despite her bad diet and large booze consumption Misato was in excellent shape. She heard a couple of joints cracking, must have been from the odd way she was sleeping. The wonderful smell drew her out of the room. Misato heard voices in the kitchen two male and two female, was everybody awake but her? Misato paused before entering the kitchen. The voices were happy, and the pilots were happy. She leaned against the wall and listened. From the way, the boys talked you'd never know how narrowly they had avoided death yesterday, how close they had come to being destroyed by there very people they defended. Misato still felt disgusted at Ritsuko's cold-hearted suggestion of just blowing up the Angel. Why was EVA-01 so important that NERV would be willing to throw away the pilot's life.?
After the battle, Rei ran right into Shinji's arms. It was obvious Rei had made up her mind as to which boy she wanted. Maybe it was for the best. Misato's own growing interest in Shinji was slowly turning into something more. After she saw Rei and Shinji together, she seriously considered having a private conversation with Rei about sharing Shinji. The more Misato thought rationally about it, the more it troubled her. She did love Shinji, she loved all the pilots, but the way she loved them had become cloudy. For now, Misato would need to rein in her feelings until she could figure out for herself exactly what they were. That didn't mean the boys would get off free and clear, she was still going to tease them without mercy. Taking a deep breath she turned the corner
"Smells great guys!" Misato said smiling "I'm starving.!"
The four teens started at Misato, Shinji, and Draven turned red. Rei placed her hands over Shinji's eyes as Asuka turned Draven's head so quickly it was a wonder she didn't break his neck The redhead shot a nasty look at her guardian.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Asuka
A light breeze from the overhead vent sent a chill down Misato's front. In her morning grogginess and hunger Misato had failed to notice that at some point during the night, she had taken off her shirt and bra, and was now standing in front of the pilot bare-chested.
It was only the four of them headed to school. The mood was light, Rei clasped Shinj's hand firmly.
Halfway to school, their path was blocked by two very familiar ladies.
"Good morning Shin Ji," said Erica
"Hi Draven" Myna said
Asuka scowled at the two blondes, she turned to Rei "Well Ayanami, shall we?"
"Yes," said Rei letting go of Shinji's hand. Asuka and Rei stepped forward in between the boys and the blondes.
"Hm?" said Myna "What's all this then?"
"Listen," Asuka said " Take your oversized bust and beat it! Draven is mine!"
"Oh? This true Draven?" asked Myna, looking passed the red-haired girl,
"Yeah," said Draven "Sorry Myna"
"About damn time," Myna said "I've been waiting for you two to say something for weeks now."
Erica looked from her sister to Rei, then to Shinji "So am I to assume that this means you claim Shinji?"
"That is correct," Rei said.
"Erica took a few steps closer to Shinji "Are you sure Shinji?" she asked
"Erica,.." Shinji began "Yes"
Erica walked closer to Shinji, "If you're sure, we could have so much fun together"
"I love Rei," Shinji said quietly but firmly.
"I see" She leaned in close she kissed his cheek.
"What are you doing?" demanded Rei as she, pushed Erica back.
"Just saying goodbye," Erica said, "Congratulations you two"
Myna walked over to her sister "It's OK Sis, Remember what Mum said? There will be more pilots soon enough. One of them will definitely be perfect for you. "
The pilots watched as the blonde girls walked away without another word.
"Wonder what they meant about more pilots?" asked Shinji,
"I stopped asking where Myna gets her info from a long time ago," said Draven "Their mother is smart as she is beautiful and can charm information out of just about anyone."
NERV
Misato's Office
"So how are our heroes this morning?" asked Ritsuko
"The boys are fine, spending the night with a cute girl will lift any guy's mood," said Misato.
"Misato," said Ritsuko warning "What happened last night?"
"Oh calm down," said Misato "I got up halfway through the night, to check on them. Nothing naughty happened. So what did you learn about yesterday?"
Ritsuko sighed and pushed her glasses back up on her face. She picked up a file from the desk
"The boys claimed no memory of how they got out, or what caused that Angel to spin"
Ritsuko handed the file to Misato
"The only thing that stands out is EVA-01's Drive System was activated."
"What?" exclaimed Misato looking over the data. She wasn't as tech-savvy as her blonde friend but she was familiar with the EVAs basic systems.
"I thought the EVAs couldn't use the Drive System."
"We attempted to use them" replied Ritsuko "EVA-00 and EVA-01 have them installed. The Prototype's Drive System burned out during tests of the AT field. EVA-01 was never used but also never removed. It's kind of hard to remove something like that from an EVA."
"So Shinji was able to turn his on?" Asked Misato "Was it due to the stress of his situation?"
"That is a fair assumption," said Ritsuko, looking over the file again "The EVAs are more than just robots, it is possible something inside the EVA's systems responded to whatever extreme emotion Shinji was feeling and activated it."
"I didn't think an EVA could do that," remarked Misato
"Remember Berserker?" asked Ritsuko 'Same idea here."
"Is that why Unit 01 is so special?" asked Misato her voice getting the hard edge she used when integrating "Is that why you'd be willing do to anything to get it back.?"
Ritsuko didn't answer, she picked up the file "I need to go finalize the report before I hand it to the Commander. "
At the door Ritsuko paused "It's been ages, let's go out drinking tonight."
Then she was gone.
Misato settled back in her chair. Ritsuko wasn't going to tell her anything and wasn't the type to let things slip while drunk. Misato would need to do some digging and she would need the help of people she could trust. For a moment Misato wondered exactly who the bigger danger was, the Angels or the NERV itself.
TOKYO-3 High school
The knowledge of who was now with whom, spread like wildfire through the school. Hushed whispers followed them as did angry stares from various students
Many of the female students reacted gloomily that the quiet shy girl and their hated enemy had claimed the two most sought-after guys. The male students reached with a mix of anger that Asuka was no longer available and enthusiasm that Erica and Myna were now fair game.
"Do you think we did the right thing?" Draven asked Shinji quietly.
Shinji turned off the facet. It was time for lunch and before sitting down to eat Shinji had felt the call of nature. Seeing an opportunity to have a few private words Draven followed him.
"You mean not saying anything about Evannar?" said Shinji.
They had agreed not to mention their newfound combining ability to NERV just yet. Partially because they weren't sure if it could be done again, but more so because Shinji simply did not trust his father. The warning of Merklyn still troubled Shinji. He had come to suspect the "greatest enemy" the wizard had warned about was NERV's Supreme Commander. During the debriefing, the boys had claimed they blacked, out at some point while trapped. Only to re-awaken when they found themselves falling from the sky.
If the new form came up during the investigation of their machines afterward they would claim no knowledge of it.
"I hate not being honest with Misato," said Shinji "But who knows what the Commander would do with the information."
"He's going to find out eventually," said Draven "There's going to come a battle we need Evannar."
As they left the bathroom, they were careful to keep their voices low. In the noisy hallway, they were impossible to overhear.
"I don't doubt it," said Shinji "But until then let's not say anything. Maybe we can come up with a better name than Evannar
" Neo Danner?" suggested Draven "Great EVA?"
The boys stepped out into the noon sun. Sitting in their favorite spot were Rei, Asuka, Kensuke, Toji, and Hikari. Not surprisingly Hikari was seated right next to Toji, trying to get him to eat her home-cooked meal rather than the school lunch he had bought.
"Dandelion?" said Shinji
"Sounds like a weed" replied Draven
They let the subject drop and turned their attention to the lunches and the beautiful young ladies they were going to share them with.
NERV
Gendo stared up at the glass tube. The girl inside was almost as tall as Rei. Her figure was slim and had it not been for the lack of certain parts one might have trouble telling if the being was male or female.
"So the Third Child activated the Drive System," said Gendo
"That's correct" responded Ritsuko, "We believe it was due to the emotional stress he experienced inside the Angel"
"Last time he panicked while piloting Unit-01, it went into Berserker mode. Why was this time different?" asked Gendo
"We...don't know," said Ritsuko hesitantly
There's more to this than those boys are letting on though Gendo it would appear his son has his own agenda. The man smiled internally, was that pride he was feeling?
You take after me more than either of us would like to admit boy. thought Gendo. Let him have his secrets , in the end, Gendo's scenario was all that mattered, there was nothing the boy or any of the pilots could do to stop it.
TOKYO-3 HIGH SCHOOL
When the dismissal bell rang hundreds of students ran for the doors and a weekend of freedom.
"Hey" shouted Kensuke as he caught up to his friends. "You guys want to check out the new arcade? It's got some amazing new games."
Toji looked sheepishly at Kensuke "Actually I promised Hikari I'd go to the movies with her and then to...the park."
Hikari blushed, as she grasped Toji's arm.
Draven snicked.
"Well," Kensuke said turning to the pilots "What about you guys?"
"We have tests tomorrow," said Shinji "After that Draven and I promised we'd make a special dinner for the girls and Misato..then..well"
Shinji's voice trailed off but Kensuke got the idea.
The sun was low in the sky when Kensuke arrived home. There was a note from his father on the table
It read: Work-related trip, see you Tuesday
"On my own for another weekend," Kensuke said to himself with a sigh.
His friends would be busy, seemed like everyone was getting a girlfriend except him. He did have that new model kit he'd been saving. Another gun model, usually the thought of the model would fill him with excitement, these days it just seemed like the same old thing. Kensuke threw the note in the trash and headed for his room Maybe he'd watch a few of his special videos before making something for dinner. He opened the door to his room before closing it again quickly.
Kensuke shook his head. "I must be seeing things, that couldn't have been," he said to himself
He opened the door again, and the same sight greeted him. There sitting on his bed was Myna, dressed in a camouflage uniform. Well,...uniform was a generous term. There was more material in Kensuke's shirt than in all of what Myna was wearing. One of his military helmets was on her head and a gun model was suggestively placed between her perfect legs.
"So Kensuke," she said sweetly "Ready to play soldier? We have all weekend to kill"