Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A Spark That Becomes a Flicker, Becomes a Flame ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Title: A Spark that Becomes a Flicker, Becomes a Flame

Author: eva-unit-01

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or the characters therein. Another thing I sadly do not possess is money. So, please, don't sue me.

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Chapter One: The Harsh Truth

Shinji Ikari sat in his wheelchair in front of the large sliding glass that opened onto the balcony of the apartment he shared with his fellow pilot Asuka Langley Soryu and guardian Misato Katsuragi. It was now verging on two-thirty a.m. as he sat and watched the rain fall hard from the heavens. He turned his head as he heard someone stumbling around the apartment and saw Misato emerge from her room unaware of his presence. She exited the bathroom several minutes later, only noticing Shinji when his silhouette was illuminated by a bright flash of lightning.

"Oh, Shinji, I didn't notice you. Having trouble sleeping?" She inclined her head slightly and walked over to him as he nodded in reply.

"Yeah, a bit." She stood behind him and placed her hands comfortingly on the young boy's shoulders. He lowered his head and placed one of his hands on hers and squeezed, grateful for the contact. "Ritsuko said I have to spend five months in these casts." He paused briefly, remembering the smile on the false blonde's face. "She said she was grateful for the fact that I broke my legs. Gave her a chance to finally practice real medicine instead of working on the Evas all the damn time." Misato and Shinji shared a brief chuckle at the statement. Lightning flashed again outside while thunder shook the building to its core and Misato winced at the sound.

"Storms were never this bad before Second Impact. I guess knocking the Earth off its axis screwed up more than the seasons. Back then there used to be four of them. Now it seems like summer all the time, not that I'm complaining mind you." Misato's smile now turned into a predatory grin. "Speaking of summer, I bought a new bikini. Wanna see?" For a few minutes it seemed like Shinji had stopped breathing until his weak voice stammered out,

"N-No Misato, I'm o-okay. Thanks." As he rolled out of the room, Misato could have sworn she smelled rubber burning on the carpet and she smiled to herself as she walked back to her bedroom.

The next morning Shinji was awoken by a loud banging on his bedroom door and the last voice he ever wanted to hear.

"Dammit Shinji get off your ass and come make breakfast! We don't have all day!" Growling to himself, Shinji hauled himself out of his bed and onto his wheelchair before rolling out of his room and into the bathroom, getting cleaned up and dressed as best he could. But before he could make it into the kitchen, he was startled by Asuka's scream. He rolled in as fast as possible and saw something that would make even his father go into shock. Misato Katsuragi, three-time winner of the Tokyo-3 Worst Household Slob contest, was up early and making breakfast for the three of them. Misato turned to them and noticed the looks on their faces alternating between confusion, shock, and outright terror.

"What?" Was all Misato said as they sat down to breakfast, with Shinji drinking juice along with Asuka, while Misato and Pen-Pen downed their customary Yebisu beers with Misato cutting loose with her usual, "Yeeeeee-hawwwwwww" They sat in silence for a few minutes after that until Misato spoke up. "Asuka, Shinji's not going to school today because of his legs." Asuka looked ready to spit fire until Misato responded by telling her it was Ritsuko's orders. With that, the fiery redhead sat back down and glared daggers at Shinji, who just looked down at his plate.

"Spineless." Asuka whispered under her breath before grabbing her bag and running out of the house at top speed towards school. When nearly halfway there she caught sight of her friend, class representative Hikari Horaki in a seemingly animated argument with Shinji's friends Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. She joined them quickly, "Why the hell are you two stooges bothering Hikari?" Toji spoke up first, as always, but this time he grabbed her by the front of her shirt and physically lifted her off the ground.

"Because we know the truth about what happened to Shinji you bitch!" Hikari stepped forward quickly and tried to pry his hand off Asuka.

"You don't know that's what actually happened Toji!" Hikari pleaded frantically with the larger of the two boys.

"Bullshit! Kumakura in our class saw it! He saw the whole thing! Shinji landed at his fucking feet! How much more proof do you need!" Asuka had finally gotten her wits about her and landed a swift kick to Toji's nuts and he crumpled to the ground.

"Never fucking touch me again!" Asuka stormed off into the school while Kensuke helped Toji off the ground.

"Do you believe them?" Asuka asked Hikari when they had gotten to their shoe lockers. Hikari blinked and looked down.

"I honestly don't know, I never would have thought that you could do something like that. But I've also known Kumakura since we were kids, and he's no liar." The pigtailed class rep looked hard at Asuka who simply looked back. "But if I find that it is true, I will never speak to you again." Asuka couldn't believe her ears and stormed away from the one friend she trusted. She entered the class room three minutes later and immediately found herself besieged by whispered accusations and hard glares. Five minutes later a short, skinny young man with black hair and thin wire framed glasses named Arihiko Kumakura entered the room and the whispers intensified. Asuka narrowed her eyes at him to intimidate him, but he just walked past her without flinching. Half a minute later, Toji and Kensuke came in and took their seats, followed by Hikari. Rei Ayanami was already in her seat but was not staring aimlessly out the window as per usual. Instead, it seemed she was trying to burn a hole into the back of Asuka's skull with her eyes. The atmosphere in the room clogged with anxiety, apprehension, and more than a small amount of malice.

"Hey, Soryu!" An unknown voice called out from across the room and Asuka turned to face it.

"What?"

"I heard Ikari got knocked down the stairs"

"Yeah, so?" Ayanami turned her attention to the conversation and waited for the perfect moment to strike as the voice from across the room continued.

"I heard he got knocked down by you." Asuka stood up and slammed her palms on her desk.

"Anyone who says that is full of shit! Fuck you! If you wanna tell me that, tell me to my face!" Arihiko Kumakura was the first to stand up, along with Toji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, and seven other members of their class. "All you people are assholes! Shinji fell and if Misato ever asks that's what he'll say! I've seen to it!" Hikari's mouth hung open in disbelief as she tried to process what Asuka had truly said.

"S-so you really pushed him down the stairs?" Asuka sighed in aggravation and gave her an annoyed glare.

"Duh. Does anything really process in there Hikari? I swear sometimes you're as stupid as that baka S-" Asuka was cut off in mid-sentence by a forceful slap from a teary-eyed Hikari.

"You...bitch." Hikari wiped her eyes and walked away from Asuka permanently. Kumakura chose this time to make his move by picking up his bag and walking out of the classroom.

"Suzuhara, Aida, you know where Ikari lives right?" They nodded confusedly. "Well show me the way then." They grabbed their bags and ran to catch up with Arihiko who was already at the end of the hallway. The class rep charged after them and got there quickly.

"Why are you guys going to Shinji's?" Suzuhara turned around and looked back at her with a small smile.

"Because if he won't tell her the truth, it's up to us." Hikari's eyes widened before she grabbed her bag and left to follow them, leaving Asuka alone with her murderous classmates.

"Anyone else got something to say? Just step right up!" Someone tapped on her shoulder and she spun around quickly only to receive a heavyweight worthy uppercut delivered none other by First Child Rei Ayanami. Asuka felt her jaw snap together and was sure she heard some of her back teeth crack as her feet left the ground and her back connect with it. She sat up slowly and turned her head to spit out no small amount of blood. Asuka coughed and stood up weakly. "Nice punch, got any more." Rei narrowed her eyes at Asuka before speaking in a cold voice that reminded Asuka too much of Shinji's father.

"I've only ever struck one other person in my life, his name was Shinji Ikari, and that was a professional matter. This is most decidedly personal." and before Asuka could move she was struck again by a sweep kick that sent her back to the floor right before Rei's foot came down swiftly and made a permanent impression on Asuka's stomach.

While that was taking place in Class 2-A, Kumakura, Suzuhara, Aida, and Horaki continued their trek to Shinji's apartment, reaching their destination fifteen minutes later. Before reaching the apartment, Toji and Kensuke turned to Arihiko and spoke to him quietly and seriously.

"Okay, listen up Arihiko. Prepare to feast your eyes on a goddess." Kumakura raised his eyebrows in incredulity but kept listening. "Shinji lives with the hottest woman on the planet!"

"Uh-huh, right. And who is this dream woman?"

"His guardian, Misato Katsuragi" Kensuke replied, "She works for NERV as Director of Operations. And a more beautiful woman I have never seen in my life!" Arihiko sighed and looked at Hikari for help and sensing his distress she came to his rescue.

"Come on guys, we're here for Shinji, not to ogle Misato!" She grabbed Kensuke's and Toji's collars and dragged them to the elevator while Kumakura just sighed in exasperation. Upon reaching the apartment, it was decided that Hikari would ring the doorbell. "Because I'm Class Rep, that's why!" She declared in response to Ken and Toji's whining. Kumakura hadn't even volunteered.

Misato answered the door in her typical tank-top, short-shorts getup and was surprised to see the three of them there instead of in school, and even more surprised to see an unknown boy as part of the group.

"Um, hey, what brings you guys here? Aren't you supposed to be in class?" They all looked at each other nervously before asking to come inside. "Sure, no problem. But who's the new guy?" Kumakura bowed politely before entering.

"Kumakura Arihiko, at your service." She blinked twice at his introduction before closing the door behind him. He took off his shoes and sat down by the table next to Kensuke.

"So, you guys wanna tell me what you're here for?" Misato asked, as Hikari spoke up next.

"Well," she started nervously, "It's about Shinji, or more like what happened to Shinji."

"Whaddaya mean? He fell down the stairs, right?" Katsuragi responded quizzically. Kensuke spoke up next,

"Actually he didn't fall...he was pushed." An unearthly silence fell over the room as Misato put down her beer and walked out of the room briefly and came back with her cell phone and her sidearm. Kumakura looked at her gun and then back at her and was met with a paralyzing pair of eyes.

"Do you happen to know who pushed him?" She asked, loading a clip into her gun. Kumakura took a deep breath and closed his eyes before speaking.

"I do. It was Asuka." Major Katsuragi looked hard at him before responding curtly.

"Bullshit. No way." Arihiko raised his eyebrow fractionally, looking over at her with a steady expression, and an equally steady answer.

"Ask Shinji."

"I intend to." Misato stated directly, narrowing her eyes at this new interloper who had somehow squeezed himself into her home. Kumakura shook his head vehemently,

"No, right now. This instant." Kumakura quietly requested. Misato gave him another hard stare before walking out of the room again and could be heard speaking softly to Shinji. She came back several minutes later with Shinji in his wheelchair. The others in the room gasped at seeing both his legs in heavy plaster casts. Shinji looked grateful to see his friends but confused at the same time. Yet upon seeing Kumakura, he panicked and tried to roll back into his room but was held back by Misato and Toji. Once Shinji was relatively calm, Misato turned her gun on Kumakura who was stunned by this turn of events. "What the hell are you doing!" he shouted, recoiling from the barrel of the gun that was now aimed directly at his forehead.

"Shinji was scared to death of you! You pushed him!"

"No way!" came Kumakura's terrified voice.

"Then tell me the truth!" Misato demanded. Calming his nerves, he began to do exactly that and told Misato everything he saw and heard and stopped as he recalled Shinji's pain-stricken face looking up at him from the foot of the stairs. Misato's hands were shaking with rage as he finished his story. "Either you're a terrific liar or Asuka is going to die." Hikari lowered her head and tears began to stream from her unseen eyes.

"S-she all but admitted it in class. M-my best friend nearly killed Shinji." She broke down and began to sob openly in Toji's arms. Ken and Arihiko remained silent as Misato looked at Shinji questioningly. When he lowered his eyes and began crying pitifully, she had her answers. As she sat there and saw the boy she loved as a brother crying at the damage done by the girl she once loved as a sister, she realized that the fragile ties they had built were fast unraveling and could not ever be re-sown as they were.

Author's Note: Whoa, long first chapter! I haven't written this much in years! I hope you liked it. I'm not an Asuka hater, really! I just wanted to take her to a darker level. I'll try to crank out the chapters and I'd love a pre-reader if anyone can spare the time. Please, Read & Review or else I'll never get any better! But please, for the sake of kindness, don't flame.

Thanks for reading!

Sincerely, eva-unit-01