PART I

ACT III

SCENE IV

(Misato's apartment. ENTER SHINJI and ASUKA, the former with a far-off look in his eye.)

ASUKA: Shinji, you've been pretty quiet all day. You want to tell me what's wrong? (SHINJI looks at her for a brief moment before taking a seat at the table, his eyes focused on the table itself.) Fine, we'll talk when you are ready. (ASUKA EXITS, going into her room to change out of her uniform. She then emerges in a different set of clothes with a mirror in one hand and some lipstick in the other. Sitting down at the table, ASUKA sets up the mirror, then selects a lipstick and applies it. Pleased with how she looks, ASUKA smiles at her reflection before looking over at SHINJI. Seeing that same far-off look in his eye, a concerned expression forms upon her countenance.) Shinji?

SHINJI: (Looks ASUKA in the eye.) When is this going to end?

ASUKA: (Half-confused.) W-What?

SHINJI: This war with the Angels. Are they just going to keep coming? If they finally stop, are they just going to be replaced by something else? Vampires! Demons! Are we ever going to get to have normal lives? Toji told me he sometimes thinks about the future, like having a normal job, having a wife and kids and with him and Kensuke asking how long until the Vampires or the Demons show up, I'm worried that none of us will ever get the chance to have any of that. I'm worried that all we'll only ever be…

ASUKA: Evangelion pilots? (SHINJI nods.) I never thought about that, never thought about if I want to be an Eva pilot for the rest of my life… When I was told I was going to be one, I was so ecstatic, but now that I actually am one… I'm not really sure I want to be one for the rest of my life, I'm not even sure what I'd be if the day comes that we aren't needed anymore.

SHINJI: With your college education, you could probably become anything.

ASUKA: What was Toji thinking of becoming?

SHINJI: A doctor.

ASUKA: What about you?

SHINJI: I'm sorry, but I've never really given much thought about it until Toji said he had thought of becoming a doctor.

ASUKA: (Giving SHINJI a warm smile.) I think you'd make an excellent professional cellist.

SHINJI: I'm not that good.

ASUKA: That's not how it sounds to me.

SHINJI: (He stares into her eyes, feeling rather touched.) Do you really mean that?

ASUKA: What are you, stupid? I wouldn't have said it if I didn't… You know we never did end up having our kiss?

SHINJI: Huh?

ASUKA: You know… That time during the black-out, we were about to kiss when the elevator suddenly opened with Mr. Kaji and Misato inside.

SHINJI: O-Oh! (A nervous smile spreads across his face.)

ASUKA: Would you like to give it another try?

SHINJI: You sure you wouldn't like to wait for the dance to do something like that, Asuka?

ASUKA: I'm ready for a kiss now, Shinji. Aren't you?

(SHINJI nods. Both and ASUKA close their eyes and are about to kiss when MISATO and KAJI enter.)

KAJI: I'm just saying, with Conn's knowledge of the Carolingians being mostly limited to Charlemagne and a few battles and sieges from the Viking Age, maybe we should consider hitting the history books. (He and MISATO both notice SHINJI and ASUKA, both slumping at their kiss having being interrupted. ASUKA then raises her head and looks at the two adults, KAJI smiling with his arms crossed while MISATO looks amused.)

ASUKA: Why are two talking about the Carolingians?

MISATO: (Nervously.) Oh, uh, you know, NERV's yearly trivia match… game… thing… is coming up and one of the topics being covered is the Carolingian dynasty.

KAJI: (Calmly.) Yeah, and Misato and I are competing. (SHINJI and ASUKA both stare, neither buying what they've been told.) So, what are you two doing?

SHINJI: Asuka and I are going to the school dance together, Mr. Kaji.

KAJI: (With a big smile on his face.) Congratulations! I was hoping you two would get together!

MISATO: With how busy I've been with work I've been meaning to ask about that! That's wonderful! I'll be sure to chaperone, of course! Don't want you kids getting up to anything that you shouldn't.

KAJI: So, how was school today?

ASUKA: It was alright. We met the Fifth Child today.

MISATO: (Surprised.) Kaworu Nagisa?

SHINJI: Yeah, but why do you sound so surprised?

ASUKA: Is he here ahead of schedule or something?

KAJI: (Concerned.) Sounds like he is.

MISATO: So, how about ordering in for dinner this time? I thought we'd try this new pizza place that tries all sorts of interesting toppings like octopus, artichoke and corn. (Realizes what the last one was.) Okay, maybe a bit too interesting.

SHINJI: (Baffled.) Who puts corn on pizza?

END OF PART I ACT III

NOTES

With this scene, I considered having it happen with Shinji, Asuka and Rei all on their way home for school. I had difficulty thinking of what to happen, so I just decided on having it be at Misato's apartment. Prior to that, the idea was for the scene to involve Kaworu and Taketoki instead, but for some reason I wasn't feeling up to that either.

The bit with Asuka trying on lipstick is derived from the PS2 version of "Girlfriend of Steel". Likewise, the mention of Shinji and Asuka having had an "almost kiss" comes from the manga adaptation.