All characters copyrighted by Gainax, not me.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
In this fic, Yui Ikari is NOT part of Unit 1. If you have a problem
with
this, don't read.
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Shinji and Asuka were running faster than they ever had before.
After Shigeru called them, there was an unvoiced decision to put off
all
intimate contact until later. Their jobs saw to that. While running
Shinji felt the strangest thing; his blood sang for combat, his pulse
quickened with the thought of battle. After violently telling himself
to
stop, he reflected on his new ways of thinking. 'Probably Asuka's
fault.
It's her influence on me,' he thought.
Asuka was leading the way, and Shinji tried not to think of her in
various ways, but the one thing he couldn't stop himself from longing
to do
was kiss her again. 'It's scary to think about how much my opinion of
her
has changed over the years,' he thought. 'Is this what real love feels
like?' he asked himself. 'Am I in love with her?' he also asked
himself,
but was stopped from answering when she tripped and fell. He stopped
to
help her up, but she pushed his hand away. When she got up she only
glared
daggers at him.
"See? I can take care of myself!"
"I never doubted that, Asuka. But that shouldn't stop you from
accepting a helping hand every now and then," he said when they took
off
again. Now that he was leading, she got a chance to watch him from
behind
and she blushed when she understood how she was thinking. Then she
started
to wonder if he thought of her in the same manner when she was leading
the
way. And for some reason, that idea didn't immediately fill her with
rage.
She almost _wanted_ him to be doing that. It would mean that for the
first time
since she met him that he would be acting like males were supposed to.
'He's never acted that way in his whole life. Even when that Angel and
Dirac Sea business was happening, he didn't act like men were supposed
to.
He tried to, but it didn't work,' she thought to herself. Try as she
might, but she couldn't figure out why she was thinking about him like
that.
Or why she was thinking about him at all.
Shigeru had advised them when he called on what route to take, but
the entrance there was blocked by tanks and armed guards. They found
this
out when Asuka had run out of the alleys they had been using for
cover, and
nearly ran into the back of a large guard. The only thing that had
stopped
her was Shinji, who grabbed her by the arms and bodily hauled her back
into
the shadows. When she started to protest, he clamped his hand firmly
over
her mouth. She couldn't believe how much strength was in those
frail-looking limbs.
"Be quiet!" he hissed. "Those guards have rather large guns and
probably know how to use them well. Any plans for getting in?" he
asked
and then let her go.
"How should I know, idiot?!" she retorted back in a whisper,
however her mind was not focused on getting in. It was currently
occupied
with thoughts of being Shinji's arms again, in them more often,
kissing
those perfect lips, gazing into those eyes... But, right then and
there,
Shinji decided to get her back for that insult.
"Forgive me for putting my faith in your all-powerful brain, my
lady," he whispered back, and it took Asuka a few moments to realise
that
he'd just insulted her. "Let's try one of the emergency exits like we
used
when the power cut out."
"Good idea! What higher power gave you that idea, Stooge?"
Asuka's mind was coming back on-line, but it was a slow process.
"I was trying to think, as you were being less than helpful," he
said and Asuka decided to ask a question that had been on her mind for
a
while.
"Why do you have backbone, now? What's with the attitude?" she
asked, and Shinji wanted to retort back with, "You're asking me about
attitude?" but he instead answered her calmly.
"Being angry all the time does wonders for the attitude," he said,
and Asuka knew that he was right. He had been angry since he'd gotten
back. Unlike most people, when Shinji got mad, it wasn't the
raving-red-in-the-face lunatic type of anger; it was an icy anger that
ran
into a steel edge. The world found that out when Unit 3 was destroyed
by
his hands. Asuka then took one long look at the young man beside her.
He
was looking forward so she got a profile view. 'He's becoming more and
more like his father,' she thought and then hastily added, 'Better not
tell
him that, or he'll blow up!' Of that she had no doubts. If he didn't
like
his father before he left, now he hated the man so much it was
impossible
to tell what would happen when those two got into the same room. Asuka
told herself to talk to a few other people about her ideas, but
sometime
when Shinji was not around.
"Where should we try to get in?" Shinji asked.
"Maybe we should try one that has no guns pointed at it?" Asuka
replied in a 'Valley Girl' voice, and saw him wince. 'Better remember
that, it could be useful,' she thought. Of all the insults and
torments
that Asuka used, the only one that he had difficulty in ignoring was
the
'Valley Girl' stuff. That was something he just couldn't block out of
his
mind. They started to back away, and then they checked on another
entrance. That one had guns on it, too. Same with the next. Ditto
every
other one that they checked. They decided to settle on an entrance
that
only had one guard. His helmet was off and his face showed obvious
boredom, and unhappiness.
"Looks like this is the best shot we'll get, Asuka. How should we
get in?" And when Shinji got no answer, he glanced at Asuka, only to
see
her with her eyes closed. He knew from experience that when she closed
her
eyes, she was doing her hardest thinking. In a flash, those blue orbs
snapped open.
"I have an idea," she said, and then proceeded to lay out her plan...
Meanwhile, inside the extensive complex that the two pilots wished
to gain entry to, Misato, Shigeru, Maya, and Makoto were all trying to
find
ways to help the pilots. Sighing heavily after several unproductive
minutes, Misato thought she had everything straight.
"Let me get this straight, we can't send a van to them, we can't
send an escort, we can't call them, and if they do get here, we can't
open
the doors to let them in?" When Makoto nodded his head, she continued,
"So
what can we do for them?" Ritsuko overheard her question, and joined
her
friend.
"Nothing. We can only get them set up when they get in. That
they'll have to do on their own," she answered. "They have nine Eva's;
we
have four. Do the math and you see that we need those two to get here
ASAP." Rei was in the base when it was attacked, and Toji got in just
before the entrances and exits were cut off. Ritsuko's comment
reminded
Misato to ask the question that had been on her mind as there was
nothing
she could do.
"Commander Ikari, why are the UN forces attacking us? And how did
they get _nine_ Eva's on their side?" Only after choosing his words
very
carefully did the Commander answer.
"You don't think, Major, that in our entire existence, we've made
no enemies, do you?"
"No, sir. I know that the UN Military was pretty unhappy that NERV
had been chosen to lead the war against the Angels, but _how_ did they
get
_nine_?" Commander Ikari was saved from answering by his phone
ringing.
He picked it up, silently thanking co-incidence.
"Yes? Good," he said, and then covered the mouthpiece with his
hand, "ETA on enemy reinforcements?"
"Thirty-two minutes, sir," Shigeru answered, and the Commander
removed his hand from the phone.
"Set charges for thirty-five minutes," he said, and then hung up.
"Thirty-two; that doesn't give us much time," Fuyutsuki whispered
in his ear. Commander Ikari started to answer when a flash of movement
caught his left eye. He swivelled his head to focus on it, and then he
smiled at what he saw.
"Perhaps; perhaps not. Look," he said, and ordered the image put
on the main screen. It was from one of the external security cameras.
It
showed a single security guard looking bored.
Corporal Hohta was sick of guard duty. He'd been left on his own
with orders to keep the entrance sealed. That had been more than an
hour
ago, and he was completely out of things to do to pass the time. He
didn't
understand why this door had to be guarded, with the power cut off
there
was no way to open it except manually, and that would only open a door
to a
place that was far away from anything that might help NERV. 'But
that's
why they get paid so much, to think of everything, I guess," he
thought
ruefully.
Suddenly he was attacked from behind. His combat-honed instincts
kicked in for a moment, but he relaxed when a voice called out to him.
"Help! Help me! Please help me!" the person who'd latched onto
him said. The voice made itself out to be female. Hohta looked down to
see the pair of arms wrapped around his torso tighten, as if he were
some
kind of life-line.
Hohta was too shocked to answer.
"P-please yo-you've got to help me! There were people with guns,
a-an-and sho-shooting, please, you've got to help me! Save me!" the
girl
said, terror colouring her voice. Hohta turned around, but she
wouldn't
let him go. He looked down to see flame-red hair framing a lovely
face.
'A body like that should be illegal,' Hohta thought, trying not to
stare,
and failing miserably. The girl gave no indication that she noticed
his
eyes on her body.
It took him a few minutes to pry her arms off him, though he took
his time when touching her. He knew he shouldn't be thinking what he
was,
but he couldn't stop the thoughts. When her arms were off him, she
reached
for his helmet, but he put out an arm to stop her.
"Sorry, ma'am, but you can't have that," he said in his best
'I'll-protect-you-ma'am' voice.
"Please? I'm really sc...ared, and I need your helmet! I don't
want my face to burn off, or be shot, or cut by falling rocks, or..."
the
girl's voice cracked as her eyes started to tear up. "Besides, what
does a
big, strong, man like _you_ need something as trivial as a helmet. I
_need_ a big, strong man like yourself to protect me! I can't do it!"
The flattery went straight to the Corporals head. He relented and
gave up his helmet for her to put on. He took the chance to see her as
she
put the helmet on, and he agreed with his earlier thoughts; she had a
killer body. He tried again to stop himself from thinking thoughts
unbecoming of a soldier, but again, he failed miserably, so he turned
around; but the girl called out to him, and he turned back. Then, with
head-protection secured, the girl looked him square in the eye and
gave him
the biggest, warmest smile that anyone had ever seen. Then she smiled
a
different smile, it was the smile of the cat who ate
the canary, and he thought it was because she felt safe; but then he
felt a
tap on his shoulder...
Shinji had been having fun watching Asuka practically throw herself
all over the guard, but then he started having reservations about
Asuka's
plan; he was pretty sure that he couldn't bring himself to do his
part. He
had admitted to himself that Asuka's plan had the highest chance of
success, but he just couldn't do the role she'd assigned him to. When
she
finally got the helmet on, it was time for him to take over, but he
could
only look at the man's back. Then his head started to throb, and when
the
guard turned around, his face slowly faded from view, only to be
replaced
by his father's. While looking at his father's visage on this man,
Shinji's thoughts fled back to three years ago, back to when the man
he
called 'father' killed his very soul.
He felt his blood begin to boil, the feeling driving away some of
the sirens call for combat. At that point, any reservations he had
about
what he had to do went out the window. When the guard turned around
again,
because Asuka had called him, Shinji walked up, right behind him, and
tapped him on the shoulder. When the man turned around, Shinji slammed
the
garbage-can lid into his nose. He was holding it by the top strip, so
the
lid hit the guards nose with the flat part.
The man's world turned white with blistering pain. Blood flowed
freely from his now-broken nose. He reeled back, but kept his balance.
Then he realized that he was under attack, so he reached for his gun;
a big
mistake. Shinji used the time that he was given to cross the distance
between him and the guard and drove his foot into the man's groin.
Hard.
Opening his mouth, but no sound coming out, he dropped to his knees in
agony.
Shinji, still seeing his father's face on the man, took the man's
head by his hair, and buried his knee into the hated visage. The man
flopped to the ground and Shinji started to turn to the exit, but he
heard
the man moan, still awake. Looking down at the lid as if he forgot it,
he
looked back at the maimed guard. But his father's face was still on
it.
"When I say, 'Stay down!'," he said while approaching the prone
form, "I mean it!" he finished the sentence while lifting the lid high
above his head, then he brought it down on top of the man's head. He
did
that with so much force that the lid folded across the middle. The man
was
not going to be going anywhere for a long time. When Shinji saw this,
he
tossed the dented weapon back into the ally that he got it from and
started
to walk to the entrance.
Asuka, not wanting to be undone by this...this..._male_ picked the
helmet off her head and tossed it next to the man on the ground. In
order
to get to the door that Shinji was standing by, she had to walk by the
injured man. She kicked him in the head as she walked by him. Then she
reached Shinji and saw the quizzical look on his face, she answered
the
question that she knew was coming.
"You don't think I didn't see that perverts eyes looking at me, did
you?" she replied, but then went on before he could answer. "I had to
teach him a lesson about how to tread a lady like me!" she said as
Shinji
pried open the door. Then she walked by him and into the blackness.
Shinji could only shake his head and mumble to himself. It was the
same
retort that he wanted to use on Asuka when they fought their first
Angel
together over Japanese soil. It was when she said she should go first.
"You're the _most_ unlady like girl I've ever met, Asuka," he said.
end part 12
Cory Holmes
gholmes@rodeo.sd27.bc.ca
Thanks to: Mark Eymer, Jusenkyo Guide, Addison Godel, and Short Yes.
(
geocities.com/tokyo/shrine/3281) (
geocities.com/tokyo/shrine) (
geocities.com/tokyo)