Rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion belong to Gainax, as always
By Steve Pardue http://www.spardue.org/anime
The Day After Misato's Christmas Party ============================ Misato stood beside Maya at the console. Before the two
women a large window overlooking the eva cages allowed them to view
the proceedings below. Technicians in orange jumpsuits scrambled
across the three giant robots, connecting external sensors and
verifying that the evas were ready for the upcoming tests. On
platforms high above the floor other technicians were busy preparing
the entry plugs for insertion. Soon all of the preparations were
complete and the workers began to clear the area. Ritsuko entered the control room and approached Misato and
Maya. "So, are we ready?" Maya looked up at her mentor and nodded. "Yes Ma'am.
Section J just reported all sensors placed and the gantry cleared. We
have telemetry from all monitoring stations and the board is green." Ritsuko looked at Misato. She was a little surprised that
Misato had made it in at all this morning. She had expected her to
still be passed out from the party the previous night. "What
about the pilots?" Misato rubbed her hands across her face and grimaced.
"Shinji and Asuka are in the lockers. Rei's already on her way
up." Misato looked at Ritsuko and smirked. "Shinji and
Asuka had a little blowup this morning, you might want to watch out
during the tests." "Just wonderful. You do realize that it is your job
to make sure that the pilots are not only available to me when
required, but also in a usable condition? These tests are very
important. If Asuka loses her temper we might not get any usable data
on her." Ritsuko frowned as she spoke, trying to decide if she
should reschedule the test. It was expensive to set up and run the
full mobility synchronization suite, but they needed real-life
performance data outside of battle to be able to extrapolate
realistic figures from the laboratory trials. And the Commander had
been very insistent about sticking to the time table. Delaying the
tests would severely compromise the schedule, not to mention the
attendant apologies and reports which she would have to make. "I
guess it doesn't matter. We'll just make the most of it. What set the
two of them off this time?" Misato smirked. "I'm not completely sure, but I think
it might have been Rei kissing Shinji at the party." Maya and Ritsuko smiled. -*- Asuka scowled as she pulled her plugsuit up over her
shoulders. She had been scowling all morning. She hadn't slept well
at all last night. And it was that idiot Shinji's fault. First he had kissed Rei.
Then he had embarrassed her in front of Hikari. He really
shouldn't have made her say the things he made her say last night. Then...ooohhh... Rei... the... the... witch! Asuka hated Japanese houses. Those damn walls didn't stop
noise at all! At least 'Wonder Girl' was gone by the time she had
left her room. She couldn't have made it through breakfast otherwise.
And what did Shinji think he was doing with that goofy grin on his
face all morning? The eva pilot slammed her locker shut and pressed the
switch on her right wrist to seal her plugsuit. -*- Shinji was in the process of sealing his plugsuit as well.
When he heard the sound of Asuka's suit contracting he looked up at
the partition. He sighed. If Asuka kept up like she was, Misato or
Dr. Akagi would know something had happened.
He wasn't sure if he was comfortable with the idea of last
night becoming common knowledge. Shinji knew he would never hear the
end of it from anyone, from his father all the way down to Touji and
Kensuke.
Shinji was pretty sure that he and Rei had crossed some
line last night. Things couldn't go back to the way they were. He was also pretty sure that he could live with that. He
was certain he couldn't live without it. He leaned his head back and gazed at the ceiling. "Wow..." he murmured, as he relived the
experience again. Unfortunately for Shinji, that was how Asuka found him
fifteen minutes later. -*- Rei stood by the bank of elevators leading down from the
locker rooms to the eva cages. She focused on the decreasing line of
lights over the door of the middle shaft. Slowly the lights crepted
towards the bottom. Misato walked up the hallway and stood silently behind Rei
for a moment, considering the blue-haired girl<?PC850(146)>s
back. Misato adjusted her skirt and leaned against the wall.
<?PC850(147)>Long night, eh?<?PC850(148)> Rei ignored her, continuing to focus on the elevator. Smoothing her skirt, Misato steeled herself .
<?PC850(147)>I wanted to ask you about--<?PC850(147)> The
chime of the elevator interrupted her. The door slid open to reveal Asuka and Shinji. Asuka stood
at the front of the elevator, her arms crossed and a scowl plastered
across her face. Behind her Shinji stood quietly, holding a hand to
his cheek. Around his hand Rei and Misato could see a fading red
handprint. Rei stared at Shinji<?PC850(146)>s face as Asuka
walked past her. Her hand shot out and grabbed Asuka<?PC850(146)>s
elbow. Asuka turned to face her, smirking. <?PC850(147)>Yes, <?PC850(145)>Wonder
Girl<?PC850(146)>? You have something to say?<?PC850(148)> Rei stared hard at Asuka, who refused to back down. Misato coughed. <?PC850(147)>Alright,
that<?PC850(146)>s enough. Get to your evas.<?PC850(148)> Asuka jerked her arm out of Rei<?PC850(146)>s hand
and casually walked down the hall. -*- The three evas bounded across the barren landscape,
performing the maneuvers specified by Ritsuko. The blue and purple
evas seemed to be dancing to a ballet, their movements smooth and
graceful, economical and powerful -- and perfectly coordinated. The red eva tripped over a power line and fell on two
substations, cutting off power to a quarter of Tokyo-3 for the better
part of two days. -*- "Damn it!" Ritsuko slammed her clipboard down on the desk.
"These numbers won't do us any good at all. All three
pilots performed so far outside expected parameters that the test was
meaningless. We'll have to retest them all in the lab before we can
even see if these numbers mean anything, much less whether we have to
rerun the entire series." Misato shrugged noncommittally. Maya was furiously punching her keyboard, manipulating the
graphs on the screen before her. "Dr. Akagi, look at this." Maya pointed to one
of the graphs. "Rei and Shinji both improved on their best
scores by more than 15%!" She punched another key, superimposing
Rei and Shinji's graphs. "And look, for the duration of the run
they never varied from each other's synch ratio by more than 2.3%.
That's 3.6 better than Shinji and Asuka managed for their
synchronized attack." Ritsuko and Misato both leaned over Maya and examined the
graph. Ritsuko punched several keys, bringing up reference points and
data for comparison. "What could account for this?" Shooting a glance sideways, Ritsuko saw Misato staring at
the ceiling, obviously trying to avoid eye contact. "Maya, go
down to the control room and get the staff working on Asuka's data.
I'll decide what to do about the other two pilots." "Yes ma'am." Maya left the room. "All right, Misato. Out with it." "What do you mean 'out with it'?" "I mean, tell me what your trying so desperately to
hide." Misato gave Ritsuko a haughty look. "I'm sure *I*
don't know what you're talking about." "Oh, come on! I've known you too long for you to pull
this on me." "Okay, okay. But you've got to keep this quiet." "So, tell me already." "Last night..." Ritsuko started tapping her foot. "Yes, yes?" "...Rei might have stayed over." "So? What does that have to do with anything?" Misato looked at her friend with embarrassment. "You
know? *Stayed Over*?" "Oh. Oh! No! You don't mean..." Now Ritsuko
looked at her friend with disgust. "You have got to be kidding
me. They're only fourteen." "Yeah, well, are you telling me that fourteen isn't
old enough to get the itch?" "No. I'm telling you I'm having a hard time seeing
Rei doing something like that." "Granted. I have a hard time seeing Shinji staying
conscious for it myself. But the facts add up." "What 'facts'? Oh god -- tell me you didn't tape
them?" "Eh, no. But... the kiss last night..." Ritsuko nodded. "Mmm-hmmm..." "Then this morning, Shinji came out of the bath..." "Ooooh - suspicious behavior." "Shut up or you're not going to hear the rest!" "All right, go on." "Well, Shinji came out, I went in, and then..." "And then?" "I might have talked to Rei in the bath." Ritsuko stared at Misato. "What do you mean?" "I was, eh, pretty hung over." "No kidding." "Yeah, and I was kinda drinking a beer this morning,
you see?" "Quite. I'm surprised you had any alcohol left in the
apartment." "Eh, yeah. Anyway, this blurry form asked me if I was
okay and then I screamed, and -- hey! Stop laughing or I'm leaving
right now!" Ritsuko fell out of her chair, but kept laughing anyway.
"B-blurry form?" Misato stormed out the exit. "All right, that's it.
I'm out of here."
-*- Rei floated, her body buoyed by the golden fluid within
the cylinder. Above Rei, the cylinder disappeared into a giant mass
of tubing and brightly flashing lights. Rei's eyes were shut. She
could feel the gentle probings in her mind. They were calling to her
again. It was time. Opening her eyes slightly, she scanned the room
one last time before she shut her eyes completely and let herself
slip into their embrace.
Rei, kissing Shinji. -I am One with Shinji.- *Yes. We are One with Shinji.* Asuka, holding Shinji against the elevator. *The Second Child.* -She desires Shinji.- Rei, holding Asuka's arm. -She will not be One with Shinji.- Eva-02, running. *She is One with Eva.* Eva-01, charging an angel. *Shinji is One with Eva.* Eva-00, standing in its gantry. *You are One with Eva.* An entry plug, suspended in a darkened room. *We are One with Eva.*
An image of the second impact. *All will be One.* Rei could hear someone talking, their voice distorted by
the thick liquid. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw Commander Ikari
watching her. Dr. Akagi stood behind him, eyes narrowed, watching him
watch her. As they spoke, she smiled at them. 'Yes,' she thought.
'All will be One.' -*- Ritsuko walked into the chamber briskly, barely keeping
her anger under control. He was with *her*. Again. "Yes Doctor?" "I think we have a situation, Commander."
Ritsuko tried to keep her emotions from showing in her voice. "Does this concern Rei and Shinji's performance
today?" "Yes. It seems likely that. . . Rei and Shinji have.
. . carried their relationship beyond... well, to the next level."
Rei, floating in the column of LCL, seemed to smile at Ritsuko as she
spoke. It was unnerving. Commander Ikari turned to look at her, and smirked. "There
is no need to be so circumspect with me. You are saying that they
have had sex." "I believe so, sir." "We never anticipated this situation. I'm worried
about Rei's continued performance of her. . . additional duties if
she is romantically involved." "That is a problem, sir." "But it would also be a problem to separate them at
this point." The Commander rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That
could cause as many problems as letting them continue. We cannot
afford to lose Rei at this juncture." He looked up at Rittsuko.
"Can we use the results from today?" "Yes sir. But we're going to have to run another
series of synchronization tests on Shinji and Rei. Their performance
today destroyed our model." Ritsuko looked at the girl, who was
still smiling at her. The Commander nodded. "I understand. We would have
had to run the tests again soon anyway. Proceed." ". . ." "There is something else?" "Well, sir, Rei and Shinji, they are only fourteen,
and given the source of Rei's DNA, isn't it a little. . ." "I didn't think you were so squeamish, Doctor."
The Commander directed a piercing gaze at her. He paused to watch her
blush. "In any case, their performance increase will more than
justify allowing the relationship to continue. Does anyone else
know?" "Major Katsuragi, probably Asuka as well." "Very well. Try to keep this quiet. No need to incur
additional risks." "Yes sir." "And Doctor?" "Yes?" "Take whatever steps you deem neccesary to avoid...
further complications. Rei must remain available for duty." "Yes sir. " As Ritsuko was exiting the chamber, he spoke again.
"Ritsuko." She paused, but did not turn to look at him. Instead she
stared straight ahead.
"I'll expect you tonight, at the usual time." "Yes sir." -*- Asuka lay on her bed. She wore a loose fitting T-shirt,
which didn't quite reach her waist, and a pair of skin tight exercise
pants which came down to mid-calf.. Her legs were crossed at the
knees and she idly kicked her legs as she waited for the sound of the
door opening.
Shinji thought he could get away with this, did he? Well,
he'd better think again. She had even kissed the jerk, and what did
he do in return? Run off with Rei, the tramp. She'd get hers too. But
tonight... tonight was Shinji's turn. She could not tolerate anybody
taking something that was hers. Finally, she heard the door open, and
then the footsteps of someone walking up the hallway. "Hello? Are you here Misato? Asuka?" Shinji's
voice could be heard from the other room. Asuka stood up and brushed her shirt to straighten it.
Looking in the mirror, she arranged her hair so that it was just so.
She stood running her finger along the neck of the T-shirt, staring
at her reflection intently. Slowly she pulled and worked at the neck
until it slipped halfway across one shoulder. She leaned forward,
examining her image carefully, checking to make sure that she showed
enough to catch Shinji's eye but not enough to give the jerk the
wrong idea about her. Finally she smiled. The corners of her mouth slowly pulled
back to reveal her gleaming teeth. The effect, however was ruined by
the tick in her right eye and the fact that the smile kept slipping
into a smirk. After a minute or so of practice she gave up, steeled
herself, and left her room. Asuka could hear noises coming from the kitchen. It
sounded like someone putting away groceries. She walked to the
kitchen door, making sure her saunter showed her body to maximum
effect. At the door, she leaned casually against the frame, watching
Shinji nosing around in the refrigerator. He was kneeling in front of
it, moving things around inside. Asuka leaned forward, quickly
looking down to double check her exposure before she cleared her
throat.
When he heard Asuka clear her throat, Shinji turned away
from the refrigerator to see who it was. He was surprised to find
Asuka's face not six inches from his head. Her chin was about level
with his forehead, but her eyes were watching Shinji's face intently.
Because of this, Asuka saw all of his reactions.
His first reaction was to look away from her gaze.
Unfortunately, in their current position this meant Shinji was now
looking straight down her shirt. From her position, Asuka could see
his gaze moving away from her eyes, down her face, across her throat
and then. . . bingo! She couldn't quite suppress a chuckle. She
reached out with one hand and lifted his chin with one finger, so
that he was looking into her eyes again. "Shinji. . . I'm bored." Asuka used her other
hand to grab a fistful of Shinji's shirt and lift him to his feet. He
could barely support himself, and was forced to lean against the wall
to keep from falling to the floor. Asuka pulled Shinji towards her,
leaning in toward him. 'Let's see Rei compete with this,' she
thought, and smirked. Just as her lips were about to reach Shinji's, the
doorbell rang. Shinji squirmed out of her grasp and ran for the door.
Asuka followed him and leaned against the entrance to the hall, smirk
still plastered across her face. Shinji opened the door to reveal Rei. Asuka noted she
still wore her school uniform. As Shinji got his jacket and walked
out the door, Ayanami stared at Asuka, her face expressionless. Asuka
met her gaze, her smirk growing into a broad smile, stretching across
the width of her face. 'Have your fun while you can, First Child',
she thought. Asuka turned and returned to her room, plotting her next
attempt at conquest. -*- [1] Misato was relaxing in her room. It had been a very boring
night. Without Shinji around to tease, and with Asuka locked in her
room, there had just been no one to play with, except Pen-pen, who
refused to come out of his refrigerator. She heard the sound of the apartment door opening,
followed by the sound of people in the kitchen. Misato crawled across
the floor to the door. There she carefully slid it open enough to see
the kitchen. The sound of Shinji's voice could be heard, although it
was too low to make out what he was saying. Another voice, Rei's,
responded.
The light in the kitchen went out, and Misato smiled as
she saw that the first person to come into view was Rei. She
carefully slid the door shut and lay in wait for her entertainment. She heard the sound of Rei going into the bathroom,
followed by the sound of someone walking down the hall. Misato smiled
and perched on the bed, beer in hand. When the footsteps drew even
with her door, she pounced. "Shinji?" There was a moments hesitation before he answered. "Yes?" He sounded nervous.
"Come in here a minute." Shinji's slippered feet padded up to her door, which slid
open a few inches before he paused, hesitant to enter. "It's all right. I'm decent." Misato sighed, and
swigged her beer. 'Will he ever let me live that one teensy little
mix-up down?' she asked herself. Shinji walked in, after peeking nervously around the door. "Shinji. . ." Misato grimaced while she gathered
her thoughts, and leaned back against the wall. She took a deep
breath. "Shinji, that wasn't Rei I just saw, was it?" "Er. . . ah. . . um. . ." That, coupled with the
blush that blossomed on his face, was all she needed for an answer. "Shinji. . ." Misato sighed. "Shinji. . .
just be careful." She waited for the stumbling denials that she
was sure would come, but didn't. "Shinji. . . you can go now." Shinji turned to face the door.
"Treat her right, O.K.?" She grinned at him.
He left quickly, his blush beginning to look permanent.
'Now,' She thought, 'the 64,000,000 yen question: who
started it off?' She shook her head. Some things were too weird to
think about.
On one beer, anyway. ====================== [1] This portion was provided to me by CMHARRIS@glam.ac.uk, I have
modified his original copy to fit into the story. ======================