Neon Senshi Evangelion

Thirteen

"Well, that's impressive," Naoko Akagi admitted as they watched footage of the battle at sea only a few hours ago.

Asuka Soryu Langley was on her way to Tokyo-3 by sea, when the convoy was attacked by a aquatic Angel. Why, no one knew, but the speculation was that it was drawn to the Evangelion in some way, possibly recognizing it as a threat. It sank several ships before Asuka could get aboard her Evangelion, but once Unit-03 was activated, Asuka made short work of the thing.

"Very," Yui agreed. In fact she was rather... startled at how good Asuka was with her EVA. She knew the girl was a prodigy, but her being THAT good was rather surprising. She honestly could not imagine either Shinji or Rei leaping from ship to ship while battling a Angel.

"Remind me to add acrobatics to the training schedule," Gendo muttered to himself thoughtfully, his glasses hiding his eyes. He also wasn't terribly pleased to have Naoko here, but the woman had been at NERV to prepare for linking their MAGI computers and hers, and excluding her from the meeting would be rude.

"What's her ETA to reach the city?" Ritsuko asked curiously, while wishing her mother wasn't there with them. Admittedly they hadn't had a screaming fight yet, but she felt certain that it was just a matter of time.

"Should be here tomorrow," Misato said briskly. She looked over at Gendo and Yui as she added, "I'd still like to go out and meet her by helicopter."

"I don't think it's necessary," Yui shook her head, "And I'm not sure how Asuka would take having you just drop in on her." She paused as she added, "Asuka is a bit of a odd duck."

Naoko was tempted to suggest all Evangelion pilots were odd ducks, but considering two of them were Yui's children she wisely kept silent. "I suppose she can be as odd as she wishes if she can pilot like that," she suggested.

"True," Misato agreed.

"All right, we need to get back to work," Ritsuko said as she excused herself, Naoko following, "I think we'll be finished the system connections by the end of the day."

Once she was gone Misato patted Yui on the shoulder as she noted, "It makes you nervous, having Naoko here?"

Yui was a bit startled that Misato picked up on her discomfort, but the girl always had been oddly perceptive. "A little," she agreed, "I know she's on medication, but I remember her attempting to choke me too."

"I planned to keep her away from you today," Gendo made a face, "but the message came in and I thought Ritsuko should know."

Changing the subject Misato said, "I'm like to meet Asuka when the fleet arrives tomorrow. Are we putting her in a apartment or do we want her sharing a suite with someone?"

"I'd like her sharing with someone, if possible," Yui admitted. "As I said, Asuka is a excellent pilot, but she's also arrogant and a loner. I'd like her to be better socialized, if we can manage it."

"I'll look into it," Misato agreed, even as she felt a little bit of dread. She had a spare room, and who knew...

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Asuka Soryu Langley was, to her general surprise, already getting tired of being the 'heroine' of the UN fleet. Oh, she certainly didn't mind the admiration in general, she knew a ace pilot like herself deserved that praise, but she couldn't get any privacy. And, honestly, she was getting fucking tired of turning down guys who thought she might want a 'victory lay' or something.

Ryoji Kaji looked up as she stormed into the suite where they were staying. "You all right?" the somewhat seedy looking man asked, his dark hair falling into his eyes.

"If another sailor propositions me, I'll kick him in the balls," Asuka growled.

Kaji hid a smile. He could understand the impulse, the girl was beautiful, if underage. Too bad she seemed pretty much uninterested. "I'll talk to the commander about it," he promised.

Asuka made a face, "At least we're off the ship in a day or so."

"You want me to clear part of the deck so you can meditate?" Kaji asked.

THAT was a odd quirk Kaji had noticed. He didn't even know where she picked up the habit, but whenever things got too much for the young lady, she would go off on her own and meditate. And surprisingly it seemed to work... she'd come back calmer, more focused. The other thing that concerned him was the meditating on open flame... though she didn't seem like a pyro or anything.

"No, it's just too noisy and crowded," Asuka shook her head grimly.

"Want me to ask if anyone wants to volunteer to spar?" Kaji suggested impishly, getting a snort of amusement from Asuka.

"They don't like how I fight," Asuka snickered.

Training the Evangelion pilots had been difficult, in part because the capabilities of the Angels were largely unknown. The Ikari's had focused on tactical weapons training, with Rei and Shinji becoming skilled with weapons and tactics. Asuka, on the other hand, had decided to focus on hand to hand and close quarters fighting. After much cajoling of NERV Berlin she had gotten progressively better instructors, and was very deadly in martial arts.

"We, I'm not volunteering to be your punching bag," Kaji said mildly.

"Good," Asuka said. She sighed and walked over to her bunk, "I'm gonna do some reading."

"I'll leave you to it," Kaji agreed as he headed out of their quarters. He made his way down the corridor then up the stairs to the deck. The sea air was brisk, but even here it seemed kind of... lifeless. The explosion that everyone called Second Impact changed the world, and it's effects were still being felt. The bridge was on a raised section of deck, he guessed to provide a better view of aircraft taking off? For whatever reason there was a climb of stairs, and the clang of metal announced he was coming.

"Ryoji Kaji," the Captain said flatly, the older man clearly not terribly pleased to see him.

"Captain," Kaji nodded, clearly not caring. "Still unhappy your guns did nothing against the angel?" he asked.

The captain visibly gritted his teeth. The fleet had thrown everything they had against the Angel and failed, while the Evangelion killed it with a knife. Worse, the Evangelion had did it while jumping from ship to ship, doing serious damage to his fleet.

"I head that the recovery efforts went well," Kaji added.

The captain nodded a bit at that. "I'm aware that Asuka did what she had to," he conceded, "and I'm thankful she saved us. It's just a bitter pill to swallow."

"Agreed," Kaji nodded, "I fought in the wars, I can sympathize."

"Hmm," the older man nodded. "How is young Miss Langley?"

"Cranky," Kaji said, getting a laugh from the older man. Somewhat more seriously he added, "Can you get your sailors under control? If another one hits on her, I can't be responsible for the consequences."

"You'll bring them up on charges?" the second in command frowned, his dark brown hair falling into his eyes.

"No, Asuka may just kick their asses up to their ears," Kaji said dryly.

The commander looked offended but the captain laughed. "I suspect she could manage it too," he conceded. "I'll have the squad leaders strongly remind the crew of their manners."

Kaji decided that was probably the best he was going to get and nodded. "Thank you," he said. "I'd best make sure my charge is staying out of trouble, excuse me."

Kaji went to the deck, then paused as he decided to get a smoke. He walked towards the edge of the deck, but not too close, then took out a cigarette. As he moved to light it, the phone rang. With a muffled curse he pulled it from his pocket and flipped it open, "Kaji here."

"You should give those up, they'll kill you," the smooth, slightly tired voice said, somehow aware of what he was doing despite being hundreds of miles away.

"Setsuna," Kaji said, trying to figure out what to say to the woman. He STILL didn't know who the hell she was. All he knew was that several years ago, in the Impact Wars, she had literally stepped in and saved his life, guiding him and his unit out of a ambush. Ever since then she had contacted him every now and then with helpful info or advice that usually put him in a better position than he had been.

"How is young Miss Langley?" Setsuna asked calmly.

Kaji didn't even wonder how she knew he was assigned to this job. "She's fine," he answered, "bit cranky over being confined to a ship."

"I'm not surprised," Setsuna answered, sounding mildly amused. "I have a unusual question to ask you," she said after a moment.

Kaji hesitated then answered, "Shoot."

"Has Asuka shown any sort of interest or fascination with fire?" Setsuna asked calmly.

Kaji nearly dropped his phone, but kept his reaction under control. "Now," he said mildly, "why would you be asking about a thing like that?"

Setsuna chuckled warmly, but continued, "Please, Kaji. It's important."

Kaji weighed how little he knew about her with how reliable she was and decided to answer. "Yeah," he admitted, "she meditates using fire. Other than that, I don't know."

There was a moment's silence, then a sigh. "Thank you," Setsuna said, "thank you very much."

"Why is this important, exactly?" Kaji asked, even though he suspected she wouldn't tell him.

"SHE is important, Kaji, as are all the pilots," Setsuna answered evasively. "Do your best to protect her, Kaji. She may be in as much danger outside of the Evangelion as in it."

"What, what...," Kaji started when the phone clicked, showing she had hung up on him.

'I HATE when she does that,' Kaji sighed, putting the phone away.

To be continued...

Notes: One divergence I'm adding is that the Evangelion pilots are SERIOUSLY trained. Partially because the scenarios in the original series are no longer valid. With Adam blown up there is no Instrumentality to fall back on to save humanity: they have to WIN. Period.

And yes, That's Sailor Pluto. More on her later.