Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Mandate Of Hell ❯ A Broken Heart A Grown Spine ( Chapter 17 )

The Mandate Of Hell

Part 17

A Broken Heart A Grown Spine

 

****** The House ******

 

Shinji was getting dressed when he looked down at his ruined nutsack and had to fight down the urge to cry at his lost manhood as he usually did when ever he saw himself in the nude, somehow he managed to get dressed without tearing up and picked up his book bag and made his way downstairs for breakfast.

When he reached the kitchen he saw Asuka and Gwen eating there breakfast that was a stack of waffles covered in syrup and melted butter while Rei was eating her fried tofu, Drake was sitting at the end of the table with his cup of coffee while Misato was standing over a waffle iron.

" Have a seat Shinji and I'll cook you up a batch of waffles after I'm done cooking Drake's waffles. " Misato said in a cheerful voice and Shinji sat down as wondered if this day was going to be like the last month or so had been which was shitty all the way around.

 

Shinji looked over to Drake who looked like he had not slept a wink last night while out of the corner of his eyes he watched as Asuka popped a forkful of waffles into her mouth and he felt a stab of longing in his heart, " So Drake how are you this morning? " Shinji asked as he tried to tear his gaze away from Asuka who swallowed her mouthful of waffles with a smile before she went back to talking with Gwen.

Drake put down his half empty cup of coffee and looked at Shinji with bleary eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke, " I'll live if that's what you are wondering. " he said with a deeply depressed tone of voice but before Shinji could say a word to Drake Misato walked over to the spot where Drake was sitting and placed down a plateful of waffles smothered in syrup and melted butter and Shinji watched as Drake picked up the fork in front of him and begain to dig into the waffles and from the look on his face Shinji knew that Drake wanted nothing more then to be left alone as Misato begain to cook up his waffles so Shinji sat at the table and did his best not to watch Asuka as she ate but he found that he could not look away and watched her as she finished off her waffles.

 

" What the hell are you looking at? " Asuka snarled as she saw Shinji looking at her and knew in her heart that he was thinking perverted thoughts about her and that made her mad.

" Nothing Asuka I was just wondering how you can eat so much-" Shinji started to say but was cut off by Asuka, " What you think I'm a pig or something! " Asuka half shouted as she gave Shinji a deadly look

" No Asuka it's not that, it's just that you have such a healthy appetite, much more so then mine and I am amazed that you can eat so much without ruining your figure. " Shinji said timidly as he felt himself wither under Asuka's baleful gaze.

Asuka looked at Shinji as her mind carefully considered his words for she did not believe what he was saying yet the innocent and slightly blushing look on Shinji's face told her that his thoughts about her where not wholly perverted but there where some lustful thoughts about her that made her even madder but the pitiful sorry look on his face turned her anger into mild annoyance as she glared at him.

" Well that because I'm such a perfect eva pilot I am in tune with my body and mind so I can control how much weight I put on, so keep your lusty eyes off my figure you perverted baka! " she said with a slight snarl in her voice and watched as Shinji caved in and looked away from her and that was when she realized that Shinji had slip back to his old self before he had been denuted and for some odd reason this upset her slightly for deep down and without her understanding she was missing the Shinji with a spine.

 

" Speaking of eva piloting you all have a sync test after school toady. " Misato said and all eyes looked at her and she could see that the children, even Rei where not impressed with that bit of news and watched as Drake just shook his head with a downcast look on his face, Asuka let out a few chose words in greman as to what she thought about that bit of news, Gwen just let out a surrendering sigh for she knew that it was useless to complain about it, Shinji just had a look like some had just told him his somewhat cared for goldfish had died and Rei, well Rei had her usual dead pan look but if one looked closely at her eyes they would have seen them tense up a fraction of a millimeter and that would have told anyone that she was at the end of her rope for there was only so much monotony that she could endure and she was at her limit.

" Don't look at me the commander ordered this sync test himself. " Misato said as she put her hands up in an effort to ward off any complaints that the children had in store for her but when Shinji heard the that the commander was behind this sync test he excused himself from the table and raced upstairs to get Kensuke's proposal to give to his father and stuffed it in his book bag, wishing he had never made the promise to deliver it to the commander then came back down stairs and saw that everyone was finished there breakfast and where heading out of the house for another day of school.

 

****** Tokyo-3 Number 1 Public Jr. High School Class 2-A ******

 

Azusa siting at her seat wishing for nothing more then to light up a smoke right then and there in the class room when she saw Shinji and some people that she thought to be his friends as well as the red headed gaijin girl that Yuta and Haruka where lusting after walk into the class room.

" Hi Shinji how are you? " Azusa called out as Shinji was about to sit down at his desk, " Oh umm hello Miss.Yuki, I guess that I'm doing ok how about you? " Shinji said with a slight stammer in his voice as he sat down at his desk and turned to face Azusa who was smiling at him with a slightly lusty and predatory smile that gave him goose bumps.

" Oh Shinji there's no need to be so formal, call me Azusa ok? " she said to Shinji who gave her a weak smile, " Ok Azusa. " he said with a tone of voice that told Azusa that Shinji would be like puddy in her hands and all that she needed to do was give the attention starved boy some positive attention and she would have him wrapped around her little finger, unseen by the both of them there little interaction was being watched by a certain red headed devil.

 

* I can't believe it, Shinji I can understand with him being the pervert that he is that he would take up with a whore but this chick is something else who would want to take up Shinji I guess she does not know what a pervert he is, ahh well let her find out for herself. * Asuka thought to herself as she watched as Shinji and Azusa continued to talk to one another and she ground her teeth together as she saw Azusa give Shinji a pouty smile that made Shinji blush slightly.

* What does that baka see in her anyways, I'm far more sexyer then her and I don't flaunt it like that whore does! * Asuka thought to herself and she watched as Azusa and Shinji continued to talk between themselves, * Next thing you know she'll be giving him a blow job at lunchtime! * Asuka thought to herself and her mind showed her a mental image of Azusa's head bobbing up and down on Shinji's prick which made her fell kind of sick to her stomach then she made a slight gagging sound as she put her arms down on her desk then rested her head on her arms as the mental image changed to show her head replacing Azusa's head as she gave Shinji a blow job then despite her best attempts to get her mind under control her brain continued to flash her a seemingly endless stream of erotic imagery that made her sick to her stomach as well as slightly aroused as she did her best to replace the mental image of Shinji as her lover with the image of Kaji and failed miserably.

 

" Class stand, bow, sit! " Hikari called out as the teacher entered the classroom and saw that Asuka had failed to do the standard class routine and made a mental note to talk to her friend the first chance she got as she sat down after the rest of the class was seated, Shinji took a moment to look behind him and saw Azusa smile at him and he felt a strange feeling in center of his chest that he had never felt before as if someone was sitting on his chest and for some reason this did not disturb him as much as he thought it would have and before he turned to face the teacher Azusa winked at him with a big smile that made Shinji feel all warm and fuzzy like.

 

Rei was trying to do her best to look past Ranmaru and out the window like she usually did but the green haired boy was smiling at her and was talking to her despite her best attempts to get him to leave her alone and she felt her anger starting to grow with each word that Ranmaru said to her.

" So Blue what do you like to do for fun? " he asked her and Rei looked at him as if he was some kind of bug that one would consider smashing flat out of casual indifference, " What I do for fun is none of your concern, now leave me alone or I will tell the teacher that you are bothering me. " Rei said with a cold tone of voice that took Ranmaru by surprise, " Hey hey Blue there's no need for that I'm just trying to get to know you that's all, after all why shouldn't we be friends? " he said to Rei who closed her eyes, took a deep breath then looked away from him and found herself looking at Drake who was resting his head on his arms as he leaned forward on his desk and she could see that he was lost in a world of troubled thoughts due to the blank look on his face save for his furrowed eyebrows and she felt the strange need to go over to Drake and see if he was alright for Rei knew that whatever had caused him to come home late last night dressed in his plug suit as well as having Misato scour the city looking for him because of his phone call to her that vaguely mentioned that he was in some kind of trouble was slowly eating him alive but Misato's words to her and the others that night to give Drake his head space came back to her and she was unsure as to what she should do.

Ranmaru noticed the way the blue haired girl was looking at the boy next to her and begain to wonder if there was a relationship between them and if there was how he could brake them up so that he could have the blue haired girl all to himself.

 

A few minutes later the recess bell rang and everyone put there books away and begain to file out of the classroom thankful for the brake, as they where walking out of the classroom Hikari made her way over to where Gwen and Asuka where standing in the hallway as they made there way out of the school.

" Hey Asuka are you ok?, I noticed that you did not stand or bow when the teacher came in. " Hikari said as she fell in step with her two friends as they walked out of the school, " I'm not feeling well, my stomach is upset. " Asuka said with flat tone of voice that told both Gwen and Hikari that there was more to the matter then an upset stomach but they also knew from Asuka's tone of voice that it would be an unwise idea to press the matter and they went to there usual hang out spot and sat down and begain to chat with one another when one of the new students came over to where they where sitting.

" May I join you? " Haruka asked as she stood before the three girls that where sitting under the shade of a sakura tree and Asuka, Gwen and Hikari looked at her for a moment and decided to give Haruka a chance and invited her to sit with them, " So who are you? " Haruka asked as she looked at Asuka with a warm smile that gave Asuka the creeps, " I'm Gwen Masters, nice to meet you. " Gwen said and bowed towards Haruka who bowed back, " I'm Hikari Hork the class representative. " Hikari said and they exchanged bows

" I'm Asuka Langley Soryu. " Asuka said and they exchanged bows and as they did Asuka saw that Haruka was trying to look down her uniform top and felt disgusted but before she could say a word Gwen was talking with Haruka.

" So where are you from? " Gwen asked Haruka, " I was born in Hiroshima and after I met my boyfriend we came up here to Tokyo-3 to live. " Haruka said to Gwen who told her that she had never been there and asked her what it was like living there, Haruka told Gwen what she wanted to know then shifted her attention to Asuka, " So where are you from? " she asked Asuka who was doing her best to keep herself from tell Haruka to get lost, " I was born in Berlin Germany after I reached the age of ten I begain my training as an eva pilot. " Asuka said to Haruka who blinked in surprise for she had heard about the evas but never did she think that she would actually be talking to one of there pilots, " Is it hard to pilot an eva? " Haruka asked and watched as Asuka smiled, " It's no big deal for an ace pilot like me after all I am the best eva pilot in the world. " Asuka said with a self satisfied voice that told Haruka that the girl before her was a full blown ego maniac not that it bother her in fact Haruka saw an opportunity to use Asuka's ego to get into her pants.

 

" If that's true then I have to wonder what else your good at. " Haruka said as she moved a little closure to Asuka who moved away from her and Haruka saw that Asuka was not going to be a push over as she thought she would be and begain to think of a way to get into Asuka's mind so she could have her as a lover along with her boyfriend as well as a customer for the gang's speed and so she engaged Asuka in some small talk in order to find out more about her.

 

Rei was looking for Drake so that she could talk with him in order to tell him that despite what she had said to him in the lunchroom yesterday that she did not want to lose there fragile friendship also she knew from what Misato had said to her about Drake having some kind of a problem she felt the need to help him and the longer she felt that way towards him the more and more she was becoming use to such feelings and Rei felt confident that she would be able to deal with her feeling towards Drake as well as his feelings towards her in a constructive manor but despite her best attempts she could not find him around the school yard and as she was about to return to the classroom she ran into Ranmaru.

" Hey Blue where have you been hiding I've been looking for you all over the place. " he said to her and Rei knew that it was well past the time to deal with this boy who was becoming quite the annoyance to her.

" Listen Ranmaru I do not like you so go away and do not bother me any more. " she said to him with a cold and forceful tone of voice that did little to deter him.

" Come on Blue don't be like that, I'm sure once you get to know me you'll like me, beside I have something that you might enjoy. " Ranmaru said with a slick grin on his face as he stood before her, Rei looked at Ranmaru and for a moment she could not believe that he was stupid enough not to take the hint and leave her alone but before she could say another word to him the bell rang signaling the students that recess was over and she walked around him as she was making her way back to the classroom when Ranmaru moved to stand in front of her, " Hey Blue how about we have lunch together I want to get to know you and I'm sure that once we get to know one another we will have some good times together for I know how to make a woman feel really good. " he said with a wink and Rei knew that stronger measures where going to be needed in order to get rid of this troublesome boy but what she did not know was what steps she should take in order to get rid of him but before either of them could say a word they where swept up in the tide of students that where making there way down the hallway in order to reach there classrooms.

 

Azusa and Shinji where walking back to there classroom, Azusa and Shinji had spent the entire recess talking to each other and Azusa came to realize that Shinji was a very shy and withdrawn boy who was not very adept at social situation and from that bit of information she knew that she would be able to get him to be a customer for the gang's speed if she offered herself to him as a lover not that she had a problem with doing such a thing after all Shinji was not a bad looking boy and from what she knew of him that he would treat her with kindness and respect in steed of just using her for a quick fuck and suck and once she had him in her arms it would be an easy matter to introduce him to the joys of drugs.

" Hey Shinji do you have a girlfriend? " Azusa asked as the two of them where making there way back to there classroom and from the surprised look on his face at her questioning and the slightly lusty look in his eyes she knew that he did not have one and even if he did she was sure that her skills at sucking cock as well as being a dynamite and energetic lover she would able to steal him away from a girlfriend he might have.

" Well umm no I don't Azusa. " Shinji said as he blushed slight as he gave Azusa the once over as he felt his guts churn slightly at the lusty smile that she was giving him, " Good them you won't mind being my boyfriend right? " Azusa said as she reached out and ran a hand over Shinji's left cheek and felt him shiver at her touch.

Shinji did not know what to do as he felt Azusa's hand on his cheek for he had never being asked if he wanted a girlfriend before and he had to admit that Azusa was a good looking young woman and from the lustful look in her eyes he knew that she would do anything he wanted her to do and this made his loins stir with excitement that lasted for only a few seconds as his feelings towards Azusa clashed with his deep feelings for Asuka and he was left in a mental limbo, " Well Azusa I mean your a nice girl but this is kind of sudden."

Shinji said as the two of them came to a stop in the hallway, Azusa felt herself becoming aroused at Shinji's shyness as well a nervous look on his face and she smiled at the more at him for she knew that what she was about to do to him would blow his mind, " I understand and I'll wait for you but don't keep me waiting for to long lover boy. " she said then before he could say a word she grabbed his head in her hands and planted a deep soul kiss on him and she smiled to herself as the other students that where walking past them let out a few cat calls as she ground her pussy on Shinji's right knee and when she slipped her tongue into Shinji's mouth she wrapped her tongue around his as she ground herself on his knee with more force as she felt his entire body go stiff as she continued to swirl her tongue around in his mouth as her grinding became even more forceful.

 

Asuka, Hikari and Gwen where walking to there classroom when she came to a stop as they saw Shinji kissing one of there new students in there classroom as a few students stood around gawking at them.

Asuka's eyes went wide in shock that turned to a blood red anger as she felt a stabbing pain in her chest as Shinji and Azusa continued to kiss right in the middle of the hallway, Gwen put her hand over her mouth as she saw the sight of Shinji and Azusa playing tongue tag as Hikari let out a shocked gasp.

 

Asuka felt a tear from in her eye but she could not tell if that was from her anger or the deep sorrow that welled up in her heart.

* Dumb ass baka what the hell do I care if he and his slut girlfriend are going to get busted for making out in the hallway! * she thought to herself as she watched as Shinji looked over and saw her and for a moment she could see the look of surprise and shock in his eyes as Azusa continued to grind herself on his shock weakened knee and she felt tears starting to form in her eyes and all she could do was stand there for a few minutes as her mind and heart tore it'self apart as her feelings ran rampant then she walked over to Shinji and pushed Azusa off of him then grabbed his head in her hands and planted a deep soul kiss on his shocked lips for a few seconds then hauled off and belted him across the face and ran off to the classroom while the rest of the students in the hallway stood there watching the show with interest.

 

Gwen knew that Asuka was deeply hurt and went to go and find Asuka and talk to her in order to help her though her pain while Hikari who had gotten over her shock begain to read Shinji and Azusa the riot act.

" Have you two no shame, you sinners! " Hikari said as both Azusa and Shinji looked at her like she was a three headed space mutant, Hikari was shocked for she had never expected Shinji to act in such a shameful manor yet her words lacked solid conviction as she thought back to the sinful and lusty things that she and Touji did in her bedroom awhile ago and came to realize that she had no right to call the kettle black and with that thought in mind she switched tactics.

" Shinji go and apologize to Asuka right now! " she said to Shinji who by this time was so confused by the actions of Azusa and Asuka that he could not say or do a thing as Hikari continued to speak to him, after a few seconds Shinji managed to get his wits about him despite his confusion and spoke to Hikari as Azusa stood by his side and was giving Hikari a hard stare.

" Now why should I go and apologize to Asuka for? " he asked Hikari who blew a gasket at his words,

" Because she loves you dummy! " Hikari half shouted as Shinji gave her a slightly surprised looked when he heard her say that, " BULLSHIT!, if she loved me she would not have made my life a living hell with her put downs and her teasing as well as hitting me, sorry Hikari but I know for a fact that if you love someone you don't do that type of shit to them! " Shinji snarled with a surprising amount of venom in his voice that took Hikari by surprise as the stress and strain of his confusing life reached it's boiling point as Shinji gave into the need to vent some spleen but before he could say another world Hikari recovered from her slight shock at Shinji's tone of voice as well as his use of swear words.

" Then why did she kiss you for? " Hikari said and watched as Shinji stood there and begain to thinking about Asuka's confusing actions when Azusa saw an opportunity to try and get Shinji for herself and spoke up, " Shinji you don't need her I can give you all the love you'll ever need for I would never hit you or make fun of you, the reason I want you is that you are a kind and caring man as well as handsome, I mean who would not want a man like you. " she said to Shinji who put his hands on her shoulders, " Look Azusa I'm flattered that you think of me in such away but right now my life is to messed up to entertain the idea of having a girlfriend, if you do care about me you'll understand that I need the time to myself to sort out my messed up life but that does not mean that I don't want to talk to you, I enjoy talking with you but right I'm just to screwed up to have a meaningful relationship with someone. " Shinji said as he looked Azusa in the eyes then he turned to face Hikari.

 

" Look Hikari I have done everything I can to be a friend to Asuka I put up with her treating me like shit because I know she's hurting over something bad and well to put it in simple terms I'm at the end of my rope with her, I can't going living like this with her abusing me like she has been, sorry but right now I have to think about myself. " he said to Hikari who know that what Shinji had said was true for she had seen the way Asuka had treated him and she felt that if she had said something to Asuka and stood up for Shinji then maybe just maybe things would have turned out differently between the two of them.

But before she or Azusa could say another word to Shinji he turned and walked away from then with such a deeply sorrowful look on his face that the two girls felt there heart go out to him for different reasons.

 

When Shinji arrived in the classroom he saw Asuka give him a dirty look and ignored her as he sat down at his desk and the teacher was watching him, " Mister Ikari I take it you have a good reason for coming to class late? " the teacher said and Shinji just looked at her, " I was in the bathroom puking my guts out. " Shinji said with a blank look on his face and for some reason he did not feel bad about lying to the math teacher but before she could say anything to him both Hikari and Azusa walked into the classroom and bowed before the math teacher and beg her forgiveness for being late, the math teacher looked at Hikari and Azusa and told them to take there seats then looked over to Shinji and asked him if he wanted to see the school nurse and Shinji had to think about that one for a minute after all he now had an opportunity to skip out of his math class that he found boring as well as being away from Asuka and Azusa and he deiced that it was time to take a brake from the daily grind of his life and told the math teacher that he would like to be dismissed to see the school nurse and grabbed up his book bag and left the classroom once the math teacher dismissed him, as he was walking out of the classroom Asuka muttered a cruse under her breath for she could not believe that Shinji was whim ping out for she knew that he was lying though his teeth and was sorely tempted to call Shinji out or tell the math teacher that Shinji was fine but for some reason she just sat there and ground her teeth together in anger and the stinging pain in her soul as her confused feelings towards Shinji was slowly driving her up the wall, Hikari and Azusa knew that Shinji was copping out on the class and Hikari felt concern for Shinji for she had never seen him cut class before and Azusa knew that she would have to work extra hard in order to claim Shinji as her's.

 

When Shinji reached the nurse's office he walked in and saw the school nurse sitting at her desk reading from a book and he stood there for a few seconds before she sensed his presence and looked up from her book, " Yes can I help you? " she asked, " Yes I'm not feeling good, I was sick before the start of my math class and the teacher asked me if I wanted to come and see you and I said yes because I'm still feeling a little sick to my stomach. " he said to her and the school nurse told Shinji to take a seat on one of the sick beds in her office as she went and gathered up a few things in order to check him over, Shinji sat down on the bed in the corner of the nurse's office and watched as she came over to his bed and stuck a thermometer in his right ear and when it beeped she looked at it and saw that he had a slight departure and she took a close look and saw that he was pale and from the tired out look in his troubled eyes she had a feeling that the boy before her was not faking his sickness in order to cut class, " Lay down and sleep for a bit, I'll wake you up when it's lunchtime ok? " the nurse said to Shinji who thanked her and laid down on the bed and pull the soft blanket over his body and within ten minutes or so Shinji drifted off into a troubled sleep.

 

****** The Lunchroom ******

 

Touji and Kensuke where sitting at there table and where waiting for Drake and Shinji to join them and they where watched the girls over at there table, each of them lost in there thoughts about the girls when Shinji sat down beside them, " Hey guys what's going on? " he asked his friends and they looked away from the girls, " Oh nothing really just sitting here and having our lunch, so what's up with you and that new girl in our class? " Touji asked Shinji who blushed slightly for they had heard about the unstained in the hallway from some of the other students in there classroom, " Umm nothing really just that Azusa seems to like me a lot. " Shinji said as he dug into his lunch.

Kensuke looked at Shinji for a moment with a smirk on his face, " So I heard you made the demoness cry. " he said to Shinji who gave him a confused look " Well I have no idea what is up with Asuka all I know is she had better stay out of my face for awhile because I have had enough of her bullshit. " Shinji said and both Touji and Kensuke where taken aback slightly at the anger in his voice, " Well I always knew that you had some back bone and it's about time you used it. " Touji said as he looked over at Hikari and watched as she ate her lunch and from the way she was eating her lunch he had an erotic image in his mind that heated up his blood, this was not lost on Shinji who decided to change the subject of there discursion.

" So what's going on with you and Hikari? " he asked Touji who just grinned like a love sick idiot, " No much we are going out for a walk in the park tonight and maybe catch a movie once more. " he said to Shinji who smiled at him for he was glad that the two of them where hitting it off so well when Kensuke looked at Shinji and begain to ask what he knew about Gwen, what her likes and dislikes where and Shinji could see that Kensuke had it really bad for Gwen, " Well Kensuke Gwen seems to dislike work, she thinks that everything should be handed to her on a platter but since she's been living with me and the others she has learned to do things for herself but she still com planes about it and her cooking is terrible. " Shinji said with a slight shiver of revulsion as he recalled the last meal that Gwen had cook for he never thought that there was anyone on the face of the earth that was an even worse cook then Misato when he first lived with her.

 

Kensuke had a thoughtful look on his face as he looked over at Gwen who along with Hikari where talking to a downcast looking Asuka, " I see well thanks for the info. " he said to Shinji who was eating his lunch like it was his last meal and both of his friends managed to tear there gazes away from the girls and watched as he finished off his lunch in record time and they both knew from that way Shinji had finished off his lunch that he was deeply upset about something but the look on his face told them that he was not up to talking about it so they held there peace and begain to dig into there lunches.

 

Asuka was picking at her lunch as Hikari and Gwen where doing there best to ease her suffering but so far they had failed miserably.

" Asuka if you tried being a little nicer to Shinji you would have a better chance at landing him as a boyfriend. " Hikari said and watched as Asuka's face twisted into a grimace, " Now why would I want that whimpy pervert as a boyfriend! " Asuka snarled as she gave Hikari an evil look that did nothing to conceal the pain in her soul, " Look Asuka I know for a fact that Shinji does care about you but if you keep pushing him away he will hate you for the rest of his life. " Hikari added and watched as Asuka's face faulted for a moment then was replaced with a look of hate as her mind raced with her conflicting thoughts * There's no way in hell I could love such a spineless pervert as Shinji! * she thought to herself when the voice in the back of her mind spoke * Of course you can, after all Shinji has done nothing but been kind and helpful towards you and how many time has he covered you ass while you where fighting the angels? * and Asuka sat there and begain to review everything she knew about Shinji and the way he had treated her both on and off the battle field and despite the unstained with him stealing her panties she realized that Shinji was just about everything she wanted in a man and with that line of thought in her mind Asuka came face to face with her true feelings for Shinji and it hit her like a ton of bricks as she came to realize that it was because of her consent teasing, brow beating and physical abuse that had kept Shinji as the spineless whimp that she hated and such a realization hit her like a gun shot to the head as her eyes begain to mist up with tears of self-loathing at the way she had treated the boy that she now knew with out a doubt that she loved with all her heart.

 

" God damn it! why did I have to fall in love with such a perverted whimp! " she said mournful as she ground her teeth together just loud enough for Gwen and Hikari to hear her as she put her head in her hands and begain to cry.

Hikari and Gwen looked at one another and where glad that she finally admitted to herself that she loved Shinji but her reaction to this lighting bolt was all wrong she should be happy that she found a man to love and who in time would love her for who she was, the good and the bad alike but seeing her crying like a baby and causing quite a stir in the lunchroom as all heads seemed to turn and look over at there table until Gwen gave the rest of the students a deadly glare as she shouted at them, " WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM! " and watched as most of the students looked away from then very quickly as they got a damn good look at Gwen's anger twisted face and the evil look in her eyes for she knew that Asuka did not need everyone staring at her and as the rest of the students looked away save for three pairs of eyes who where slightly shocked by Gwen's fire outburst as well as watching the sight of Asuka sobbing into Hikari's shoulder.

 

" What the fuck is wrong with the Red Menace? " Touji asked with slightly disinterested tone in his voice as he and the others watched the drama unfolding before them when Drake walked over to there table.

" Hey guys, I saw what happened with Gwen flipping out so I thought I'd come and see if you guys knew why Gwen and Asuka are flipping out for. " he said as he sat down at the table, " We don't know what's going on, Asuka just started to cry and a few minutes later Gwen snaped at everyone. " Kensuke said to Drake as he got a good look at Gwen's fiery side and found himself some what impressed with her.

Drake looked over at Shinji who was watching Asuka like a hawk with an unreadable look on his face that made him wonder what was going though Shinji's mind, " Hey Shinji I heard a rumor that you did something to Asuka juring recess and that's why she's all busted up, care to comment on that? " Drake said to Shinji who looked at him with that unreadable look his face, " Only if you tell me what's got you in the dumps. " Shinji said with a calm if somewhat standoffish tone of voice that made Drake smile for he was seeing a side of Shinji that he had rarely seen, that of Shinji with a back bone and he liked seeing this side of Shinji and told him that he would consider it.

 

Rei was finding a place to sit down where she could be alone with her thoughts when she heard Gwen snap as she looked over towards her and saw Asuka crying on Hikari's shoulder and was damn carious as to what could be wrong with the two girls so she stood there. * Why does the sight of pilot Soryu in such turmoil cause me to feel sad? * she thought to herself after all Asuka had always treated her like dirt, calling her * Wondergirl * and had said to her that see was nothing but a doll for the commander as well as her high and mighty attitude had not endeared her to Rei who just took Asuka's abuse in stride and dealt with Asuka in her own way which was to ignore Asuka's abusive words and deal with her in a civil manor but now there was a part of her that found Asuka's distress refreshing and there was a part of her that wanted to go over and try to comfort Asuka, that part of her came about from the fact that both she and Asuka had made an effort to get to know one another at the mall after she had ran into Asuka and the others after her trip to the arcade just before Misato called them and told them to stay put and that Kaji would pick them up because Drake was in trouble.

 

Rei noticed out of the corner of her eyes Ranmaru and his friends as they entered the lunchroom and she watched them as they stood there looking at Asuka who was still crying on Hikari's shoulder and watched as they talked among themselves and Rei was struck with an almost overwhelming desire to find out what Ranmaru and his friends where talking about as they made there way to an empty table, Rei found herself a spot to sit where she could watch Asuka and the other children as they talked with each other and she begain to pick at her lunch as she begain to try and sort out her feelings not only for Asuka but Drake as well.

 

Hikari was at her wits end as to what she should do with Asuka who was bawling like there was no tomorrow so she rubbed Asuka's back as she cooed in her ear and soon enough Asuka's sobs became less and less frequent and she knew that she would have to use all of her wits to help Asuka though her torment.

" Asuka it's ok I'm here so relax and let go of your hate and anger. " Hikari pleaded as Asuka gave her a teary look and she could see the depth of Asuka's confusion and fear as well as anger that was slowly being replaced with dispair and she knew that she had to act fast if there was going to be any hope in hell of seeing her two friends not wind up alone and hurt with the pain of lost love.

" Asuka listen to me you still have a chance of get Shinji if you face up to what you have done to him over last few months and ask him to forgive you and talk to him about your problems I'm sure he will forgive you and maybe you two will have a chance to make a fresh start of things and for crying out loud stop tormenting him. " Hikari said as she let go of Asuka and looked her in the eyes with a determined look on her face and she could see the fear and hurt in her eyes as well as hope.

" Really Hikari I mean I have been such a bitch to him when all he ever did was try to be a friend to me and the fact that he risked his life for me by jumping into a live volcano to save my life and Asuka managed to choke out before she felt tears starting from in her eyes and Hikari took Asuka by the shoulders and gave her a shake while Gwen just kept glaring at everyone and gave Asuka such a stern look and an even sterner tone of voice, " That was then this is now, I know that Shinji is a good man and that he cares about you but you are going to lose him to Azusa or some other girl unless you change your ways now get over there and make your peace with Shinji damn it!" with that said Hikari stood up and stood Asuka up and she could see that Asuka was thinking about her words and there was a slightly determined look in Asuka's eyes and that's when Hikari knew that Asuka would act on her words for she knew that Asuka would not lose to anyone in any way when she wanted something she got it thanks to her ego and her competitive nature and that was what would give her the strength to make the changes in her life if she wanted to have Shinji as her boyfriend and she would be there every step of the way and she looked over to Gwen and called her over to her and Asuka and when she got over there Hikari looked at Gwen and said, " Look Asuka is going though a hard time and she need us to back her up in what she's about to do so can I count on you to help her out if things go badly? " she said and Gwen looked at Asuka, " Sure no problem. " Gwen said and the three of them made there way over to the boys table as they talked between themselves and Hikari asked if Asuka wanted her to walk over to Shinji alone and see if he wanted to talk to her and Asuka shook her head and they walked the last few step over to the table where the boys where sitting at.

 

" Heads up guys we got company. " Drake said to Shinji and the rest of his friends as the three girls walked up to there table and Shinji sat there with a cold look on his face that was much like the commander's cold and lifeless face.

" Look Asuka go the hell away, I have had enough of you making my life a living hell, I have my own problems to deal with and I can no longer try to be your friend in fact I no longer want to be your friend I have put up with you abuse for long enough so fuck off! " Shinji said with a cold tone of voice that shocked everyone at the table and watched as Shinji got up from the table and storm out of the lunchroom with a cold and lifeless look on his face that betrayed no human feelings what so ever leaving Asuka in a living hell of dispair and fear and loss in such agony it was like as if Shinji had reached into her chest with his bare hands and ripped her bloody, beating heart out and ate it in front of her dying eyes, Drake Touji and Kensuke just looked at each other with looks of utter shock then looked over to Asuka who was just standing there slack jawed and unseeing, her face etched with the look of utter damnation as Asuka found herself so utterly alone and forgotten as she always feared she would end up and both Hikari and Gwen took a hold of Asuka who was wobbling on unsteady legs and sat her down at the boy's table and Hikari and Gwen looked at each other in utter confusion for they both knew that Shinji was not a heartless S.O.B. but yet they could not explain why Shinji had just ripped Asuka's heart out and handed it to her and all they could do was sit with Asuka who was looking out at the world with eyes that no longer wanted to see anything.

 

Rei watched in the distance as the drama unfolded between Asuka and Shinji and even though she did not hear a thing that was said between them she had seen there reactions to each other, all the way from when Asuka was crying on Hikari's shoulders to the very moment when Shinji got up from the table and stormed out of the lunchroom and knew that something bad had just happened between them but before she could try and comprehend what she had seen she noticed out of the corner of her eyes that Ranmaru and his friends had seen what had happened between Shinji and Asuka and they where talking about it and for some reason this made Rei feel very uneasy as she watched them for a few minutes.

 

Tatsuhiko knew that both Shinji and Asuka where now in a vulnerable state of mind and he told Azusa to stick close to Shinji because of what Azusa had told him about Shinji he knew that the boy was hurting on the inside and he would seek comfort from anyone at this point in time then he turned to talk with Yuta and Haruka, " So do you think you can land this Asuka chick as a customer as well as a sex slave? " he asked and both Yuta and Haruka thought about his question for a moment, " I don't see why not now that she's had her heart ripped out I'm sure that it will only be a matter of time before she will be our's. " Yuta said for he was confident that both he and Haruka could charm Asuka into being there's, " That's good but don't rush it after all we have all the time we'll need to bring them both under our control. " Tatsuhiko said to Azusa, Yuta and Haruka who nodded there heads in understanding and they begain to plan out who they where going to win over there victims as they sat there and ate there lunches and begain to talk about some other students that they had landed up as potential customers for there drugs.

 

Rei walked over to where Asuka, Hikari and Gwen where sitting and asked Hikari and Gwen how Asuka was doing but from the looks on there faces she knew that Asuka was in a bad off way and as much as she found herself wishing to be able to help Asuka but she had no idea on what to say to Asuka so all she did was sit there and listened as Hikari and Gwen did there best to try and comfort Asuka, Drake, Kensuke and Touji had excused themselves from the table in order to go and find Shinji and talk to him for they where still shocked at his outburst towards Asuka, even though the three of them did not really consider Asuka as a close personal friend they had felt a strange sense of deep pity for her and they knew that if Shinji still cared about her then they knew that they had to get Shinji to see that he still cared for her despite his anger and frustration for deep down they knew that both him and Asuka where meant to be together but before they could find him the bell rang and they made there way back to the classroom and when they got there they saw Shinji sitting at his desk with a pissed off look on his face and his three friends knew that he was not in the mood to talk.

 

****** Outside Of Tokyo-3 Number 1 Public Jr. High School ******

 

Misato was sitting in the mini-van/suv waiting to pick up the children to take them to Nerv for there sync tests when she felt a chill race down her spine and she knew that something was wrong and when she saw the children walking towards the mini-van/suv she could see that both Shinji and Asuka where walking differently then they usually did, Shinji looked like he was in boot camp and was marching towards the mini-van/suv while Asuka was taking slow steps towards the mini-van/suv.

Misato watched as Shinji jumped into the front passenger's seat and she saw the pissed off and troubled look in his eyes and she was about to ask him if he was alright but she found herself looking at Asuka who seated herself in the middle back seat and she could see the deeply haunted and sorrowful look in her eyes as Gwen and Rei sat down beside her as Drake took the very back seat* Now what the hell is going on? * Misato thought to herself as she pulled out of the school parking lot and from the looks on the children's faces she knew that she had her work cut out for her, Misato decided that she would speak to the children once she got them home and it turned out to be a long and thence drive to Nerv as each of the six people in the in the mini van/suv where lost in their deep thoughts.

 

****** Somewhere in Nerv ******

 

" Misato I need to see the commander. " Shinji said as they where making there way to locker/shower rooms to get changed into the plug suits and Misato asked him why on earth did he want to see the commander for because she knew that Shinji was not one to willingly go and see his estranged father, " Just something I have to do I'll be back in a few minutes. " Shinji said as he begain to walk away from her and the others.

" Can't it wait until the sync tests are over? " Misato asked with a bit of disbelief in her voice for she still could not wrap her mind around the fact that Shinji wanted to see his father and she could see the nervous look in Shinji's eyes as well as deprecation that she had never seen before and wondered what the hell was up with him, " It'll only take a few minutes I'm sure Ritsuko can wait and I also want to get this done and over with. " Shinji said with a slightly snarly tone of voice that surprised Misato then he continued to walk away from her.

 

As Shinji was walking down the hallway he begain to curse himself once more for allowing himself to get roped into Kensuke's crazy scheme for he knew full well that his father was not going to take to kindly to him wasting his time with Kensuke's childish proposal but he had given his word and he would not let his friend down.

" Oh hello Shinji what are you doing here, don't you have a sync test right about now? " Shinji heard someone say and looked up and saw the sub-commander standing before him, " Umm hello sub-commander I was just going to see the commander and drop off a proposal that a friend of mine came up with. " Shinji said to the older man who was giving him a thoughtful look, Fuyutsuki could see the troubled look on Shinji's face and he felt a small amount of pity for him for he knew that Shinji and the commander where not on speaking terms with one another and decided to help Shinji out if he could, " Shinji I have to see the commander in half an hour or so, so why don't you give me your friend's proposal and I'll deliver it to the commander myself so you can go and finish up your sync tests without delay. " he said to Shinji with a kindly smile after all Shinji and the other children had done so much already in there struggles with the angels that sparing Shinji the discomfort of being around his father was the lest he could do for him.

" Thank you for your help. " Shinji said as he opened his book bag and handed Kensuke's proposal over to Fuyutsuki who gave him a smile and wished him good luck with his sync test and with that said Shinji begain to make his way back to the locker/shower room, Fuyutsuki made his way back to central dogma, the control room of Nerv and checked in with the staff that where running the control room and after he was done with his check in he saw that he still had some time before his meeting with the commander and sat down at the seat that over looked the control room where the commander usually sat and begain to read over the proposal that Shinji had given him, half an hour later Fuyutsuki let out a sigh for he knew that Mister Adia's proposal was nothing more then a frivolous waste of time, man power and money and he was about to throw the proposal away and tell Shinji that the commander had declined Mister Adia's proposal but he didn't for he had promised Shinji that he would deliver the proposal to the commander and so he leaned back in his seat and waited to see the commander without another thought given to Mister Adia's proposal.

 

" Misato you look worn to the bone. " Maya said as she along with Ritsuko, Aboa and Hyuga, Rei, Asuka, Gwen and Drake waited for Shinji to return, " Yes I am and for personal reasons. " Misato said to Maya as she pulled her jacket a little tighter around her, " Kaji's bone? " Ritsuko said with a wickedly teasing tone of voice, " SHUT UP! " Misato shouted back at the smiling Ritsuko with a snarly tone of voice that did little to dispell the teasing look in Ritsuko's eyes as Maya, Aboa and Hyuga looked at there control panels with a knowing smile.

" Well it's about time you got here Shinji. " Ritsuko said as Shinji walked into the control room with his plug suit on and scowl on his face, " I had some business with the commander that needed to be taken care of. " he said to Ritsuko with a snarl in his voice that took the bottled blond by surprise and for moment she considered telling Shinji to lose the attitude but held her tongue as she saw him look over to Asuka who looked like someone had replaced the real Asuka with a life like manikin and saw Shinji's eyes narrow into hateful slits and that's when both Misato and Ritsuko put two and two together and realized that Shinji had reached his braking point with Asuka and finally stood up to her but what they did not know was what in the name of god did he say or do to Asuka to leave her standing like a broken doll and they both knew that what ever it was it must have been something really bad.

" Fine let's get started then. " Ritsuko said to Shinji who walked out of the control room fallowed by Asuka who was walking like she was on the last mile before being executed and both Misato and Ritsuko knew that her sync rate was going to be screwed up and they felt a small amount of pity, well Misato felt far more pity for Asuka then did Ritsuko and she was fallowed by Rei who had an uncrate look on her face as they made there way to the mock entry plugs, Drake and Gwen where waiting in the control room for the other children to finish up in there mock entry plugs before Gwen would be put though her first sync test while Drake waited to try and reactivate unit-04.

 

As the test went on Ritsuko looked over the monitor and saw that Asuka's sync rate had dropped by ten points and she spoke into the microphone at the control station that Maya was sitting at, " Asuka I need you to concentrate more, your sync ratio has dropped by ten points. " and she watched as the image of Asuka from inside her mock entry plug looked up at her, " Ya sure what ever. " she said back to Ritsuko and her voice was a mere wispier that was filled with the desolation of her soul and Ritsuko knew that thing would only get worse with her as time went on then she looked over at Shinji's synchro graph and saw that his sync ratio was down by five points and keyed the microphone to Shinji's mock entry plug.

" Shinji your sync rate is down by five points are you feeling alright? " Ritsuko asked and watched as Shinji looked up at her, " I'm fine! " he snaped off as he twisted his face into a sneer and Ritsuko knew from the way Shinji was acting that she was going to have a hard time with him, " Then why has your sync rate dropped by five points then? " she said in the microphone and watched as Shinji gave her a look that seemed to say * How the fuck should I know * and said as much to her, " How the hell soul I know you tell me after all your the damn doctor around here! " he said with a snarl as he crossed his arms over his chest and sat there glaring at her and it took all Ritsuko's considerable will power not to snap at Shinji and tell him to drop the attitude he was coping on everyone and took a deep breath and let it out before she spoke into the microphone, " Shinji try concentrating more and try to relax it will help to boost your synchro rate. " and watched as Shinji closed his eyes and mutter, " Fine whatever, this blows! " he said with a disgusted tone of voice as well snarl on his face and Ritsuko keyed the microphone to off and looked over at Misato who had a lost look on her face for she was able to deal with a pissed off Asuka and a depressed Shinji but now the tables where turned between the two of them and she had no idea on how to deal with the two of them.

" It seems that someone is in a testy mood today, I have never seen Shinji this pissed off and hostile before and poor Asuka she looks like she ready to keel over at any moment. " Ritsuko said to Misato who took a drink from her cup of coffee that she had brought with her to the sync testing room.

" I know and I have no clue on how to deal with them. " Misato said to Ritsuko who gave her stern look,

" Well Misato you had better get to the bottom of this matter and fast, if the children's sync ratio drops any further the commander is going to have both our asses in a sling. " Ritsuko said to Misato who told her that she knew that and she would do her best to help Shinji and Asuka deal with there problems.

 

Unseen by Misato, Ritsuko and the rest of the staff on the control room both Gwen and Drake had deep and thoughtful looks on there faces as they watched as the sync test continued and they started to talk to each other about there friend's problems and how they might go about and help Shinji and Asuka out of the emotional shit they where in when they heard Maya called out to Ritsuko, " Rei's synchro rate has dropped by three points. " and they stopped talking as they watched as Ritsuko walked over to the microphone and keyed it on to Rei's mock entry plug, " Rei are you all right, your sync rate has dropped by a few points. " Ritsuko said and watched as Rei looked at her, " I am having an off day but it will pass. " she said with her trade mark flat and lifeless tone of voice but there was something in her eyes that seemed to reach out and tell Ritsuko and Misato that there was something more to the drop in her sync rate then an off day and Misato let out a deep sigh for she knew that she had her work more then cut out for her as she wondered on just how the hell she was going to deal with Rei on top of having to get Shinji and Asuka back to there old selves before the commander came down on her like a ton of bricks.

 

Half an hour later the sync test was done and Rei, Shinji and Asuka made there way back to there locker/shower rooms to get cleaned up and Gwen was lead to one of the mock entry plugs and once she was secure in it Ritsuko begain the sync test, " Begain LCL insertion. " she called out " Be gaining LCL insertion now. " Maya answered back and watched as the LCL begain to fill the mock entry plug.

" I hate this, this stuff tastes like blood. " Gwen said into the microphone in her mock entry plug as the LCL worked it way into her lungs, " I know Gwen but there's nothing we can do about that. " Ritsuko said to Gwen who's face was twisted up into a grimace, " Activate A-10 neural connectors now. " Ritsuko said as she watched Gwen's synchro graph for any abnormalties as the A-10 neural connector was activated, " A-10 neural connector is active and synchro graph is 8.09 and climbing, five minutes to absolute border line. " Maya said as she typed a few keystrokes on her computer.

Ritsuko waited a few minutes as she watched Gwen synchro graph begin to climb steadily upwards,

" Activated neural connectors B-01 though D-09. " Ritsuko said as she continued to watched Gwen's synchro graph, " Activating neural connectors B-01 though D-09 now. " Maya said as she typed a few more commands into her computer and Misato looked up to see a puzzled look form on Gwen's face, " Gwen what's the matter? " Misato said into the microphone as Ritsuko and Maya continued to take readings from Gwen's synchro graph, " I have the fuzzy itchy feeling in my brain again but it's not as bad as before. " Gwen said and Ritsuko gave her a smile, " That means you are getting use to the sync tests so don't worry about it, just sit back and relax. " Ritsuko said into the microphone and turned to face Maya, " Sync ratio is 210MM and climbing, three minutes to absolute border line. " Maya said to Ritsuko, " Mind reader. " Ritsuko wispiered to herself as Maya blushed slight for having anticipated Ritsuko's words before she had spoken to her.

 

" Crossing absolute border line now and synchro rate his holding steady at 65.76 and..well I'll be damned she's asleep. " Maya said to Ritsuko with a silly grin on her face as she watched as Gwen laid there in the mock eva entery plug with a peaceful look on her face as her chest heaved in and out in sync with her breathing, Drake just stood there and shook his head in amusement as Ritsuko spoke into the microphone,

" Gwen wake up, this is no time to be sleeping. " and they watched as Gwen let out a yawn and gave them a sheepish look, " Sorry I didn't mean to fall asleep there. " she said and Misato let out a chuckle as Gwen's face turned a few shades of red, Ritsuko on the other hand did not find this the lest bit amusing and made her thoughts clear on the matter, " Gwen how the hell are you spouse to fight an angel if your asleep at the helm, keep your mind focused on syncing with your eva for crying out loud! " she said with a harsh tone of voice that made everyone in the control room wince and they could see a slightly shocked look on Gwen's red face as Ritsuko continued to tongue lash Gwen for ten minutes.

" I'm sorry it'll never happen again. " a toughly cowed Gwen said as she gave Ritsuko a nervous look,

" See that it does not, there no room for this kind of shit! " Ritsuko snaped as she crossed her arms over her ample chest and watched as Gwen closed her eyes, take in a deep breath held it then let it go and from her furrowed eyebrows everyone could see that she was trying to focus on upping her sync ratio.

 

" Don't you think you where a bit harsh with Gwen there? " Misato said to Ritsuko who gave her a hard look.

" Look Misato it's our job to get these children trained and ready to face the angels or have you forgotten that captain Katsuragi! " Ritsuko said with a snarl in her voice that did not go over well with Misato who glared at her friend, " They are also children too you know, there's more to eva piloting then sync tests and battle drills for crying out loud! " Misato shot back but Ritsuko wasn't buying any of it, " Look Misato Gwen and Drake have no prior battle experience and it's our job to make then as ready as possible so that they don't end up getting killed or end up getting some one killed because of there inexperience! " Ritsuko shouted with frustration and Drake, Maya, Aboa and Hyuga just watched with interest as Misato and Ritsuko continued to shout at one another until both women threw up there arms in disgust and walked away from each other as Maya Aboa and Hyuga looked back down at there computers as they pretended not to have been listing to the argument between Ritsuko and Misato, Drake watched as Misato stood by doorway of the control room with her half empty mug of slightly warm coffee and Drake walked over to her with a questioning look on his face.

" Is she on the rag or something? " Drake asked Misato who gave him a look that seemed to say * Haha very funny * as she took a sip of her coffee and grimaced at the taste of it and lack of heat in it then looked at Drake, " She might as well be. " she said to Drake how gave her a knowing look, " That's what I thought. " he said to Misato who let out a sort of contempt, " Or maybe she needs to get laid. " Misato said over her coffee cup and Drake cracked a smile, " Well sex is a crime you know. " he said to Misato who gave him a questioning look as he smirked at her, " Sex is a misdemeanor, the more you miss it the meaner you get. " Drake said with a sly smile on his face and it took Misato a split second to get the joke, when she did she let out a wry chuckle, " You got that right. " Misato said to Drake who was now smiling brightly as the two of them watched Ritsuko run though the sync test and chewed out Maya and the others as she demanded readings from Gwen sync test and blowing her top when she did not get them fast enough, Both Misato and Drake shook there heads and knew that this was going to be a long sync test and that Gwen was going to be in for a hard time because of it.

 

Thirty long minutes later Gwen was done with her sync test and climbed out of the mock entry plug and cleared her lungs of the LCL and begain to make her way to the shower room not only to get cleaned up but to get away from Ritsuko's sharp tongue for she had enough of being brow beaten by the leggy faux blond, Ritsuko was about to tell Gwen to stay right where she was so she could talk to her but when she saw the worn out look in Gwen's eyes she decided that she had harped on the girl enough for one day and let her go by, " Ok Drake we're ready for the second activation test of unit-04, we fixed the error so you should have no trouble with syncing with it. " Ritsuko said as she rubbed the bridge of her nose as she wish for nothing more then a hot cup of fresh coffee and a smoke while she was soaking in her tub filled with hot water

" Let's get it on! " Drake said with cold, calculated tone of voice and an upward jerk of his head and Ritsuko let out a sigh for she knew this was going to be a long activation test as she, Misato and Drake made there way to the test chamber where unit-04 was waiting for them.

 

As they where making there way to the control room for the activation of unit-04 they where walking across a gantry in front of unit-04, Misato and Ritsuko came to a stop as they watched Drake stop and take a long hard look at unit-04.

" Ok you gruesome son of a bitch it's down to you and me and this time I'm going to kick your ass! " Drake said with a determined look on his face and a cold and hard tone in his voice, " Drake it can't hear you you know. " Misato said and both she and Ritsuko where slightly taken aback by the deadly look in his eyes as he looked over at them, " I know that but I'm going to show this bucket of bolts who's the boss, after all there's no way I'm going to lose to a robot. " Drake said as the three of them begain to walk once more.

" Drake unit-04 is not a robot it's a synthetic lifeform. " Ritsuko said and watched as Drake gave them a surprised look, " You mean that thing is alive! " he said with a tone of disbelief as he stopped and gave unit-04 a weary look, " Not quite Drake you see-" Ritsuko was starting to say when Drake cut her off, " Either it's alive or it's not there's no half way on such things! " he said and Ritsuko took a deep breath to steady her frazzled nerves, " Drake it's not really alive in a normal sense it breathes it has a heart beat but it's inert until someone syncs with it, the pilot is the brain and soul of an eva unit. " she said and watched as Drake gave her a very puzzled look as the three of them made there way into the control room where a new set of technicians was waiting for them.

" So you mean this thing is a cyborg? " Drake asked as he had a very hard time wrapping his mind around the concept of a fifty story lifefrom and Ritsuko knew that this converstion was going to lead to a long and drawn out explanation of what the true from of an eva was and most of the information was classified so in the end she told Drake that it was nothing to worry about and that most of the information about the evas was classified and that did not go over well with Drake who was damn well determined to find out what he was getting himself into but when he saw that there was be no more answers concerning the nature of his eva where going to be given to him he decided to ask something else and hoped like hell that he would get the answer he sought.

" So blondie if I'm the brains of my eva unit why the hell did it freak out the last time I was in it? " Drake asked as he gave Ritsuko a demanding look and for a moment Ritsuko considered telling Drake to never mind and get his skinny cracked ass into his eva but for some reason she felt that he had at lest the right to know why his eva had gone berserk on him.

 

" Well when the faulty nerve connector relay was activated it caused your eva to act without any input from your brain and it lashed out like a wounded animal, at lest that's how I see it. " Ritsuko said and Drake gave her a hard look, " So I take you fixed this faulty nerve connector relay? " he asked and Ritsuko gave him a

* What the fuck do you think * look and that was good enough for Drake and he made his way to the entry plug and once he was in it he sat back and took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down as he felt a dull throbbing in his ribs as he recalled the moment his eva had gone berserk and the fear that ate away at his heart like an acid, * Damn it this is not the time to be a chicken shit! * Drake thought to himself as his entry plug was injected into the back of unit-04's neck.

" Begain LCL insertion. " Ritsuko said and watched as the holographic display of Drake showed him with a slightly disgusted look on his face as the entry plug was filled with LCL, " LCL insertion complete. " a technician said from his post then came Drake's voice over the speakers of the control room.

" Even though this LCL smells and tastes like blood I think I can get use to it. " he said as he sucked in a few quick lungful of the LCL before he started to breath normally.

" Ok Drake just sit back and relax. " Ritsuko said as Misato came over there where she was standing so she could see Drake as well when Rei walked into the control room and stood off to one side of the room and was ignored by everyone there as they continued to concentrate on the activation test.

" What his synchro rate? " Ritsuko called out to one of the technicians, " His synchro rate is 12.56 five minutes to absolute border line, there is an odd energy reading you had better come and take a look at this. " the one technician said as she looked over to Ritsuko who had a slightly puzzled look on her face as she walked over to the technician's station and looked at the read out from her computer.

" Damn it it's the same ID echo as last time. " Ritsuko said to herself then looked up at Drake who had his eyes closed, " Drake are you feeling alright? " Ritsuko called out and watched as Drake opened his eyes and looked at her with a determined look on his face, " I'm fine. " he said and both Misato and Ritsuko took a moment to look at Drake and they could see the fear in his eyes.

 

" Drake try to relax I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. " Ritsuko said as she continued to watch the readouts from the technician's computer and saw that the ID echo was gone, in the corner on the control room Rei bit her lower lip as she felt the same dread she had felt the last time Drake had been in his eva and she felt her mouth go dry as she stood there watched helplessly as the activation test continued.

" Synchro rate is 23.90 three minutes to absolute border line. " the technician called out as the minutes ticked by, both Misato and Ritsuko felt there stomachs dod a flip flop as the test continued as they tried to wrestle with there growing fears that unit-04 would go berserk at any given moment when they saw Drake's face screw up in a grimace, " Hey I'm feeling kind of funny here, it like there's an ice cube right in the middle of my brain, I am not liking this shit! " Drake said and Ritsuko told the technician to stand by to eject the entry plug, " Drake do you want to continue with this test? " Ritsuko asked as they watched as Drake's face returned to normal, " Yes I'm fine, the feeling is gone. " Drake said with a re leaved tone of voice and he begain to relax in the entry plug, " Ok we'll continue with the test. " Ritsuko said then Misato piped up,

" So far so good, your doing just fine. " she said and watched as a slight smile creeped on Drake's face and Rei watched as Drake leaned back into his seat in the entry plug with a smile but still she could not shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

 

" Synchro rate is 45.75 absolute border line in two minutes. " the technician called out as Ritsuko frowned slightly because juring the last activation test Drake had a sharp spike in his synchro rate before his eva went berserk but something told her to keep the test going, " Activate A-10 neural connector now. " she said to the technician who typed a commands on her keyboard, " A-10 nerual connector activated, crossing absolute border line now! " the technician called out with a nervous voice.

Drake was planing on freaking them all out by screaming that his brain was on fire and clutching at his head then yelling just kidding just to enjoy a cruel laugh at there expense but he saw Rei standing in one corner of the control room with a worried look on her face and he just could not do it for he did not want to upset Rei so he just sat there and waited for the test to be over, " Drake are you ok? " Misato called out for she had seen the strange grin on Drake's face as well as the slightly insane look in his eyes and she felt her heart leap in her chest, " I'm fine, so how is everything on your end? " he asked and Ritsuko took a look at the technician's computer screen, " So far so good Drake just hang in there and it will be over in a little while. " Ritsuko said as she and Misato continued to watch Drake like a hawk as the test went on.

" Activate neural connectors B-01 though E-17. " Ritsuko said to the technician as she felt her heart race slight for now would be the turning point in this test for once the neural connectors where activated Drake's eva would go berserk or he would sync fully with his eva.

 

" Neural connectors B-01 though E-17 actvated, synchro rate is 65.98 and holding steady. " the technician called out and they all breathed a sigh of relief, Drake felt his heart go out to Rei and was thankful when he saw the look of relief appear on her face and when he saw her relax he knew that things where going to be fine, " Ok Drake things are looking good here so just sit tight for a little while longer and we'll get you out of there as soon as we can. " Ritsuko said into the microphone and smiled slightly as Drake flashed them a thumbs up sign.

 

****** Gendo's Office ******

 

Fuyutsuki and the commander where talking about the day to day running of Nerv and the reading of the usual hate mail that came in from the various religious fanatics that see the angels as divine beings on a holy mission from god and targeted Nerv because they where in the business of killing angels and thus denying the rest of the world god's holy message.

But most of the death threats and hate messages where so vague and misdirected towards them that they where considered harmless for the most part but still Gendo had Section 2 dispatch field agents around the world to fallow up on the death threats and for the most part the vast majority of the death threats where from harmless sources, however there where a few threats that needed to be dealt with and they where silenced though the Section 2 agents who dealt with the trouble makers though covert means such as accidents, muggings and car jackings turned deadly and there where a few cases where Section 2 hit teams where called in to deal with a particularly troublesome bunch of Islamic militants or other small organizations of religious fanatics, however there was one death threat that Gendo was reading over that troubled him deeply.

 

This is a call to arms for the righteous to rise up and slay the minions of satatn they are called by many names and take on many forms but they have called themselves Nerv and they have killed many of God's messengers.

The time has come to slay the beasts of Satan and there foul offspring known as the children and once they have been killed in righteous fury and by the will of God then can we receive the true word of God from his holy messengers.

To the minions of satan/Nerv, Repent for the hour of judgement is upon you for you shall be cut down like wheat by the blades of God's children as they ride forth to wage war upon you who have turned your back upon our lord God and have taken up with the minons of satan and his whores as well as there servents, you shall be cleansed with fire and central dogma the temple you have built to the evil one shall be pulled down in fury until there is not one stone atop another.

 

The day of judgement has come.

 

Gendo put down the letter and rubbed the bridge of his nose as he considered the implications of this death threat for never before had the children be targeted in a death threat and the mention of central dogma would also indicate that who ever wrote this death threat had at lest some kind of understanding as to the way Nerv is laid out and maybe just maybe have some idea as to how Nerv operates.

 

" Fuyutsuki tell Section 2 that this death threat has priority, I want the source of this death threat found and eliminated. " Gendo said as he folded his hands over his lower face once more before he looked over at the sub-commander, " I'll tell them right away, is there any other business that we need to disgusts? " Kozo asked Gendo as he looked at the commander and saw him looking at the black binder that he was holding and he could tell that the commander was intrested in the black binder and he placed it on the desk in front of the commander.

" The third child was bringing this to you but I told him I would deliver it to you so that he would not be late for his sync test, it's a proposal from one Kensuke Adia, I read it over and found Mister Adia's proposal to be a waste of our time. " Kozo said as he watched the commander open the black binder and begain to read from it.

" Kensuke Adia, was he not one of the children who entered unit-01's entry plug juring the fourth angel attack? " Gendo asked as he continued to read Kensuke's proposal.

" That is correct sir. " Kozo said and he noticed a thoughtful look on the commander's face and was slightly surprised that Gendo was giving Kensuke's proposal any serious thought, " You can't be spuriously considering Mister Adia's proposal. " he said and watched as Gendo looked up at him, " I think that Mister Adia's proposal may prove beneficial to us. " Gendo said for he had ordered the public relations department of Nerv to put positive spin on the evas and as a result of there hard work eva mania had taken hold of Tokyo-3 and the net result had been the creation of merchandise for sale to the public such as the plushy eva toys as well as action figures that had generated a substantial revenue that was needed to sup lament the funds that he had gained for the rest of the world for the day to day running of Nerv and the evas, he also saw that the video game that Kensuke wanted to design was based on the evas and there combat with the angels might prove useful in finding other children to act as pilots if they did well in the game and the side benefit of producing such a video game would be the money that could be made though the marketing of such a video game world wide.

 

Kozo knew from the tone of the commander's voice that he was not going to be dissuaded by any protests on his part even though he thought that Kensuke's proposal was nothing more then a waste of Nerv's time, money and man power and let out a sigh, " I hope you know what you are doing. " he said to the commander who smiled, " I'm sure that Mister Adia's proposal will prove to be useful to us as a source of extra income if the public relations department does it's job right. " Gendo said to his friend and mentor and added, " Have the third child come to my office. " he said before he went back to reading the rest of Kensuke's proposal.

" Yes sir. " Kozo said and then left the commander's office to deal with the death threat as well as have Shinji stop by the commander's office before he left Nerv.

 

****** Nerv Motor Pool ******

 

Misato was standing by the mini-van/suv as the children came into the motor pool and when she saw then she was about to say something when the P.A. crackled to life.

" Shinji Ikari report to the commander's office. " and watched as Shinji shook his head and made his way back into Nerv as the other children got into the mini-van/suv and she wondered what did the commander want with Shinji and deep down she knew that it was nothing good.

* Now what does the old man want? * Shinji thought to himself as he made his way back to his father's office and passed a few technicians who where talking about there work and Shinji considered leaving Nerv and to hell with his father but he knew that was not an option and there only served to make him all the more annoyed for after all the tests where done Ritsuko had chewed his ears off over the drop in his synchro rate as well as his piss poor attitude and all he could do was stand there and take the tongue lashing from Ritsuko and that had put him into a foul mood, by the time he reached his father's office he was in such a pissed off mood that he considered telling the old man off but he some how found the will to restrain him self and took a deep breath, held it then let it out and opened the door to the commander's office.

" Shinji Ikari reporting as ordered. " Shinji said with a hint of disgust as he walked into his father's office and saw that his father was sitting at his desk and that the sub-commander was not present like he usually was and for a moment father and son stared at one another.

" I have read over Mister Adia's proposal and I think it would be useful to me to implament his proposal, you will bring him here at 10:00am tomorrow is that understood? " Gendo said as he held up a temporary visitor's pass for his son to see.

* What the hell? * Shinji thought to himself for he was surprised that his father was actually giving serious thought to Kensuke's proposal for he had been certain that his father would have chewed his ass off for wasting his time with Kensuke's childish proposal and watched as his father put the pass down on his desk and it took Shinji a few seconds to will his legs to take the steps towards his father's desk to get the pass.

 

As Shinji was walking toward his desk Gendo and Shinji looked at each other and the air in the office seemed to drop by a few degrees as there ill will towards one another, well the ill will on Shinji's part towards his father came to forefront of his heart, Gendo on the other hand looked at his son with a cold disinterest and Shinji felt the urge to wipe the look off of the commander's face but knew that if he did then his life wouldn't be worth spit as he cross the floor and reached out to take the visitor's pass as they continued to stare at one another.

* Fuck this shit, it's time I took charge of my life and start to live it on my terms, not anyone elses * Shinji thought to himself as he took the visitor's pass in his right hand as they continued to look eyes with one another, " Dismissed. " Gendo said and looked back down as Kensuke's proposal and begain to think of ways he could subvert Kensuke's project to serve his own ends having already dismissed Shinji from his mind then after a few minutes he looked up and saw Shinji standing there before him and noticed that his son had not made an effort to leave his office and was giving him an unreadable look and gave Shinji a

* What are you still doing here? * look as he kept his own face unreadable.

 

* Fuck you to father! * Shinji thought as he saw that cold and indifferent look on the commander's face and for a moment he considered leaping across the desk and strangling the life from his father and it took him a split second to force himself to remain in place in that split second both father and son came to a moment that must occur between all fathers and sons where a son takes a stand and defy his father.

" Third Chil-" Gendo started to speak but was cut off as Shinji slammed his hands down on the edge of his desk and leaned over it to put his face right up to his father's face and for a moment neither of them spoke then Shinji spoke in a clam and clear tone of voice that was as warm as the icy coldness of space if not colder.

" Why did you abandon me for?, what gave you the right to abandon me when I needed you the most, don't give me that shit about being lost in your own sadness over the loss of my mother, your wife who would must likely kick your sorry ass for what you had done to me, in fact I doubt she would even recognize you as the man she once loved because of the monster that you have become-" Shinji watched his father's eyes and saw that he was about to cut him off and Shinji flashed him a deadly look that did nothing to phase him but yet that look was enough to make Gendo stop and just look his son in his eyes even though he did not know why he was unable to command Shinji to leave his office and stop being an annoying pest to him.

" -Know this, I only pilot my eva because the rest of the human race is depending on me to save there asses and you don't count as one of them, you are nothing to me but the commander of Nerv and not my father, the funny thing is I don't feel any sense of loss at having no father I'm going to live my life as I see fit and not because of your wish that I be an eva pilot, so stay out of my face and I'll stay out of yours, understood? " he added as all the years of fear, loneliness and self doubt and self blame suddenly crashed down on him in an unstoppable tidal wave and Shinji found the strength to turn all of these hostile emotions in to the will to confront his the commander of Nerv as well as the will to disown his own father, the man that had once struck fear and misery in his life then he turned from the commander and walked out of the office with out so much as a glance back nor a thought to be spared for the man behind the desk.

 

Gendo watched as Shinji walked out of his office without so much a shred of feeling towards his former son save to acknowledge the fact that he could no longer use Shinji need to be acknowledged by his father as a leaver to control him as well as having to face the facts that he could no longer use any of his thinly veiled threats and intimidation to control him and that the fact that the threat to replace him was no longer of any use to him so that was why he never mentioned it to Shinji juring there little confrontation and went back to reading Kensuke's proposal without another thought towards Shinji or his display of will, self confidence of taking his life and his destiny into his own hands.

 

****** A Hallway In Nerv ******

 

Shinji was walking down the hallway back towards the motor pool with a huge grin on his face as he felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders by confronting the commander, Shinji knew for a fact that his outburst had done little to cause the commander any kind of discomfort on an emotional level but deep down Shinji felt as if he had taken control of his life for one brief instances and that very act had blown away the miasmic clouds of fear , sorrow, self doubt and self blame that came with his fathers abandonment all those years ago in fact life was looking damn good to him.

 

When he got to the motor pool he saw that Drake was sitting in the front passenger's seat and decided that he wanted that seat so he walked up to the passenger's side door and opened it and looked at Drake, " You mind? " he asked and Drake looked at him and saw that Shinji was standing a little bit taller and there was a look of relief in his eyes that he had never seen before for Shinji always had such a sad and somewhat frightful look in his eyes.

" Hmm sure? " Drake said as he had no real problem in giving Shinji his seat and hoped out of the front passenger's seat and made his way into the very back seat of the mini-van/suv, once they where seated Misato looked over at Shinji and saw the smile on his face and wondered just what in the hell had him in such a good mood when he had been in such a piss ass mood juring the sync tests as well as the time before he went to see the commander but put her questions on the back burner for the time being and started up the mini-van/suv and drove out of the motor pool and once they had left Nerv she would look over to Shinji and see the relaxed look on his face as he gazed out of the windshield as they made there way though Tokyo-3 and back to there house, then she would look in the rear view mirror and saw the look of utter dejection on Asuka's face and saw that Gwen was talking to her but she did not seem to respond to her friend's words, Rei was sitting in the middle back seat and was looking out the side window lost in her thoughts and Drake was sitting in the very back seat of the mini-van/suv with an unreadable look on his face.

* Now what the fuck is going on with these kids? * Misato thought to herself as she continued to drive and from the looks on the children's faces she was not sure if she wanted to really know what was going on with them but the longer she studied them the more she found herself wondering what was going on with them.

 

When they got home both Gwen and Asuka made there way up to Gwen's room at Gwen's instance, Rei made her way up to the game's room while Drake went into the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee while Shinji went into the living room to watch some tv.

Misato decided that she would talk to Shinji first for she was sure that he would talk to her after all they had talked about things that had troubled Shinji in the past and they had an understanding between them,

" Shinji can I speak to you for a moment? " Misato said as she walked into the living room and watched as Shinji turned off the tv, " Sure Misato what's on your mind? " Shinji asked his sexy guardian even though he had a fair idea as to what she wanted to talk to him about, " Shinji what's with the attitude you have been giving everyone today? " she asked and watched as Shinji gave her a half hearted smile, " Nothing really, it's just that I have been having a bad day that's all. " he said to Misato who gave him a wary look.

" If that's the case then you should not be giving anyone else any grief that's just not fair and you know it." Misato said as she sat down beside Shinji on the couch, Shinji looked over at Misato and shook his head,

" I know that but I was just in such a pissed off mood that I was not thinking clearly, I'm sorry. " he said to Misato who gave him a motherly smile, " I understand what you are saying Shinji but the next time your in a pissed off mood stop and think about others before you speak ok? " she said to him and for a moment they sat there and not saying a word then Misato decided it was time to get to the bottom of what was pissing Shinji off as well as to try and find out what had put Asuka in such a disparing mood.

 

" Is the reason that you are pissed off is because of a fight that you and Asuka had? " she asked him and watched as his eyes narrowed slight and that told that she had hit the nail on the head.

For a moment Shinji considered telling Misato to drop the matter but knew that Misato was just looking out for him and to ensure his mental well being, " We did not have a fight, I told her to stay the hell away from me because I have had enough of her treating me like shit. " Shinji said to Misato who was giving him a slightly questioning look for she wanted to hear the details of that encounter between them for she was proud that Shinji had faintly taken a stand with Asuka but she was also worried that he might be taking his stand with Asuka a little to far, " I'm glad that you have stood up for yourself but don't you think your carrying this a little to far, after all Asuka seems to be really upset and- " Misato was cut off by Shinji who had a hard look to his face that was not there a second ago, " Misato I really don't give a shit what her problem is, she had made my life a living hell since the first day I met her, the only reason why I put up with her was because I thought she was going though a bad time and I was just trying to be nice to her but I now realize that she is a self centered, spoiled little bitch and what ever her problem is, is her problem not mine as far as I'm concerned she is getting what she deserves for being such a bitch! " Shinji said with a hard and slightly hateful tone of voice that surprised Misato for she knew that Shinji was not one to hold a grudge.

 

" Come Shinji you don't mean that do you? " Misato asked as Shinji continued to glare at her and she could see that he was becoming upset the longer this conversation went on, " You don't really mean that do you?" Misato asked as she felt bad for Shinji for she hated seeing him so upset, " Damn right, I mean it, Misato I don't want to talk about this any more so can we drop it? " he asked her and Misato could see the hard yet begging look in Shinji's eyes and decided that it would not be a good idea to push this matter and either and she reached out and mussed Shinji's hair, " Sure but don't let the past eat you up inside ok? " she said and watched as Shinji nodded his head gravely then she got up and went into the kitchen to get herself a beer as she tried to figure out what to do next.

 

****** Gwen's Room ******

 

Gwen was sitting on her bed as she watched Asuka who was sitting in the chair in front of her desk unsure as what to do or say to the grieving Asuka.

" Asuka it's not the end of the world there are plenty of other boys to have as a boyfriend you know." she said to Asuka who was looking at her with renewed tears in her eyes, " That's not the point Gwen I had a chance at happiness and I threw it away by acting like such a bitch, I mean Shinji was always so nice to me and I treated him like shit, I'm such a stupid bitch! " Asuka said with a choking sob as she put her head in her hands and begain to cry, Gwen knew that stronger measures where needed to get Asuka out of the dispair she was in and got off the bed and knelt down into from of Asuka and grabbed her arms with her hands and gave Asuka a strong shake, " ASUKA YOU LISTEN TO ME, YOU ARE NOT A STUPID BITCH!" Gwen said with a forceful tone of voice as she looked right into Asuka's tear filled eyes and once she saw that she had Asuka's attention she spoke in a calmer tone of voice, " Asuka you made a mistake that's all, besides Shinji is not just the only man you can have in your life besides I'm sure that given time both you and him can mend your ways. " she added.

 

Asuka wanted to believe what Gwen was saying but all the years of self doubt and the pain of her mother's suicide had forced her to push down her sorrow and had driven her to be the best she could be in everything she did as well as give her a forceful personalty that kept everyone at arm's length and as the years past she had grown use to keeping everyone at arm's length to insure that she would never be hurt again but she still had the need to be loved and to love some one back but her fears of being hurt and abandoned had smothered those needs that had grown stronger and stronger with each passing year, when she met Shinji she had treated him much like she had treated everyone else with contempt and a smug attitude in order to keep him from getting close to her but as time passed she had grown to hate his weak and some what subservient mind set but deep down she started to fall in love with him because of the caring and compassion he was showing her as time passed between them but yet she did not want to face her feelings for him and drove him further away from her with her bitchy attitude as he fears about becoming closer to another person begain to twist her mind and heart.

 

Then came the mission where she was lowered into a volcano to capture an angel but unfortunately things did not go as expected and after a brief but instance battle with the angel she had killed the angel but found herself facing death as the coolant lines that where holding her in the volcano where giving away after having been damaged by the angel's attack and she found herself face to face with the feelings of death that her mother had placed her in as she tried to get her to join her in death but Asuka found that she wanted to live yet there was no way out for her and the moment the last of the damaged coolant lines gave way she found herself falling deeper into the heart of the volcano and as she consigned herself to death there was a sudden jerking motion and Asuka found herself floating in the middle of the volcano and when she looked up she found herself looking at unit-01 as it hung there by one hand at the end of the severed coolant lines with it's other hand around the wrist of her eva then can Shinji's voice over the com line and it sounded so calm and reassuring and Asuka felt the fear she was feeling at that moment flee from her mind and heart only to be replaced with the half forgotten feelings of safety and security that she had once felt when she was but a little girl then the moment past as both she and Shinji where hauled up on the ends of the coolant lines.

 

After they where debriefing and Shinji had his ass chewed out for risking not only his life but risking the loss of his eva and after they had finished with the debriefing she had been in a slight daze as they made there way to the hot springs to relax after such a hairy mission as she begain to slowly consider her feelings for Shinji but her built in defenace mechanism against her secret fears of being hurt and abandon kicked in as the days past since that mission and she begain to belittle him and cause him physical harm as well as making his life a living hell so she would not have to confront her fears as well as the nagging feelings of tenderness towards him and the longer this went on the more the bad blood begain to build between them until it came to a head at school and now she found herself in an unending maze of confusion, hurt, self loathing and the hellish feeling of being all alone in the cold cruel world as she had been forced to deal with her true feelings towards Shinji who had so cruelly dismissed her like last week's garbage.

 

Gwen had no idea of what to do she called Hikari and asked her to come over as she looked at Asuka who was so withdrawn into her worst nightmare that she thought Asuka looking like she had been carved from a block of marble, after a few rings someone picked up the phone.

" Hikari?, it's me Gwen, I need your help Asuka is really messed up and I have tried everything to get to talk to me but all she does is just sit around like a dead thing. " she said into her cell phone and Hikari told her to sit tight and that she would be over in an hour or so once she got the address of the house from her, " Ok Hikari but do hurry I think Asuka is going to do something rash. " Gwen said into the phone then hung it up and kelt back down in front of Asuka and hugged her close and the moment she did Asuka begain to cry such heart rending sobs that Gwen felt herself become saddened as well.

 

****** The Kitchen ******

 

Misato saw Drake sitting at the dinning table as he nursed a cup of what she guest to be coffee as she got herself a beer from the fridge and after popping the can open and taking a swig she looked over at Drake and sat down beside him.

" What's on your mind Misato? " Drake asked as he saw the troubled look in her eyes, " Do you have any idea as to what happened between Shinji and Asuka today because there both bent out of shape and I have no idea on what to do. " Misato said to Drake who had a thoughtful look on his face for a few minutes before he took another slug of his coffee, " Well Misato I would have to say that what ever has those to so twisted up is a matter of the heart. " Drake said and his words could Misato interest, " Why do you say that for? " she asked Drake who took another sip of his coffee as she took a healthy swig from her beer then Drake recounted the scene in the lunchroom at school and once he was done telling her she gave him a questioning look, " Do you have any idea as to why Asuka was crying before she got the blow off of Shinji?" she asked and Drake gave her a look that told her that he had no idea as to why Asuka had been crying in the lunchroom at school and for a moment neither of then said a word as they found themselves lost in there thoughts for a time then Drake begain to speak to her.

" Misato the best thing we can do is keep Shinji and Asuka apart for while and let them sort out there feelings. " Drake said in such a worldly voice that Misato did a double take as she looked at him for his voice not only sounded older and more maitre but his eyes where the same dead white with black veins as before when they had gone for and early breakfast a few weeks ago then she blinked and saw that Drake's eyes where back to there normal cobalt blue but he still had the air of worldliness about him and she found herself taking a deep drink of her beer to calm her suddenly fearful nerves at the strange sight of Drake's eyes that she thought she had seen but could not confirm it.

" Misato I think the one we should be keeping an eye on his Asuka for it seems she's been knock right off her pins by Shinji's words and for some reason I get the feeling that she might do something really stupid. " Drake said as he finished off his coffee and saw the alarmed look on Misato's face because of his words.

" Come Drake you don't really think Asuka would try suicide do you? " Misato asked in a deep concerned tone of voice that gave Drake a chill due to fact that he was sure that Asuka was fairly close to the point of trying to end her life to escape that pain she was in.

 

" Misato I honestly don't know what is going though Asuka's mind but something tells me that we should keep a close eye on her as well as the fact that it might be a good idea for you to talk to her, woman to woman like if you take my drift because I'm damn sure that she will not open up to me on the count that I'm a man, not that it bothers me, I also think that Shinji just needs some time to blow off some steam if you like I can try and talk to him in a day or so after all he's a good kid and I'd hate to see him all bent out of shape. "

Drake said with such a tone of voice that Misato could have sworn that he was at lest ten to twenty years older then he really was.

" Drake you the same age as he is so what makes you so sure of what you are saying? " Misato asked as she took another hit off her beer and gave Drake a fish eyed look since he was acting so differently from the way he usually acted around her or anyone else for that matter.

 

Drake got up from his seat and put his cup into the kitchen sink then sat back down at the dinner table and gave Misato a thin smile, " Misato I see Shinji as a young kid, sort of like a kid brother as strange as that may seem after all he has not been though the hell that I have been though but I know for a fact that he has been though some rough spots in his life and so far he seems that have dealt with them fairly well, I guess the reason I see him like that is because with all that I have been though has made me older then my real years if you can understand what I'm saying, some days I feel as old as Methuselah. " Drake said with a wry smile and for some strange reason Misato could understand what Drake was saying even though she was surprised to see this side of him and the more she looked at him the more she saw what an old soul he was even if he did not act like it most of the time.

 

For a moment they sat there lost in there thoughts.

 

****** The Living room ******

 

Shinji was leaning back on the couch as he sat there watching tv when he felt something digging into his hip of his pants and realzied that he had the temperoy visitor's pass for Kensuke in his pocket, with a cruse he got up and switched off the TV and made his way into the kitchen to use the phone to call Kensuke.

When he walked into the kitchen he saw Misato and Drake sitting there and dimly wondered what they where doing as he picked up the phone from the wall and dialed Kensuke's number and wait for a few rings before some picked up the phone.

" Hey Kensuke it's me Shinji, I need to talk to you. " he said into the phone as he felt both Drake and Misato looking at him.

" Shinji do you have any idea as to what time it is? " Kensuke said as he looked at his bedroom clock and saw that it was 10:45pm and he had been nodding off to sleep when Shinji had called him.

" Look Kensuke it's about your proposal, the commander has accepted it and wants to see you in the morning so I thought I'd spend the night over at your place and talk to you some more about what to expect at Nerv." Shinji said into the phone and smiled slightly as he heard Kensuke let out a slightly stranlged gasp.

" SURE COME ON OVER! " Kensuke said gleefully into the phone as he came to full awareness at the sound of Shinji's words.

" Ok just let me get some things and I'll be right over. " Shinji said into the phone.

" Ok I'll see you in awhile. " Kensuke said into the phone then hung up his phone and let out a cheer as he felt excitement rush though out his body.

 

" Shinji what was all that about? " Misato asked as Shinji hung up the phone, " I have to take Kensuke into Nerv tomorrow morning, business between him and the commander. " Shinji said as he turned and begain to walk out of the kitchen, " Now hold on a minute there what are you talking about? " Misato said with a stern tone of voice as she got up from the table for she damn well wanted to know what was going on and why both he and Kensuke where going to see the commander.

Shinji stopped and turned to face Misato and saw that Drake had also gotten up from his seat and was making his way over towards them with an intrested look on his face, " Look Misato Kensuke came up with some hair brained scheme that needed Nerv funding and personal and equipment to get off the ground, Kensuke gave me a proposal to take to the commander to see if he could get what he needed to get his wild ass idea off the ground and after it was delivered to the commander, the commander read it over and told me to bring Kensuke into Nerv so he could talk with Kensuke about his idea. " Shinji said and saw that both Misato and Drake where damn carious as to what Kensuke's idea was and for some reason he did not feel like teeing them for so odd reason.

" Well what was Kensuke's idea? " Misato asked with a questioning tone of voice and had a * Don't keep me in suspense * look in her eyes, " That's between the commander and Kensuke. " Shinji said and laughed to himself as he saw the look of disbelief on Misato's face at his words, " Don't give me that crap and tell me what's going on between the commander and Kensuke damn it! " Misato said with a commanding tone of voice that made Shinji laugh slightly, " Sorry Misato but it's classified. " Shinji lied like a sidewalk just to be an asshole for some odd reason, not to be mean to Misato and Drake but just to yank there chain for a bit and then turned and begain to make his way to the staircase so he could go up to his room and get some things for an overnight stay at Kensuke's place.

 

" But-but I-" Misato started to sputter but stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Drake shaking his head, " Let him be if it was something we where meant to know he would tell us, besides you can sweat the info out of some lackey at Nerv. " Drake said with an enigmatic smile on his face, Misato just looked at him for a moment then walked off grumbling to herself how no one ever tells her what the hell is going on at Nerv and made her way back into the kitchen to get another beer.

A few minutes later Shinji came back down from his room with a bag over his shoulder and saw Drake leaning against the frame of the front door of the house.

" So are you going to tell me what's going on with Kensuke and the commander? " Drake asked in a no chalet tone of voice and then added, " I'll find out sooner or later you know so why don't you save me the trouble and fess up as to what's going on? " Drake said with a sly smile and Shinji gave him a questioning look and thought about Drake's words for a moment and decided to fill him in as to what was going on with Kensuke and his proposal and quickly outlined Kensuke's proposal to him and when he was done telling Drake he saw Drake throw his head back and laugh like an idiot, drawing Misato to the front door and she gave them both a hard look.

" What the hell is so funny? " she asked and when Shinji and Drake looked at her they both busted out laughing then Drake looked over to Shinji while he was holding his aching sides because he was laughing so hard, " Don't worry Shinji I'll keep Kensuke's secret safe with me. " he said and it took Misato a second to catch on to the fact that Shinji had told Drake about Kensuke's idea and she was left out of the loop.

" ARRRG!, Are you both trying to drive me nuts! " Misato howled at the two boys who started laughing once more as they saw the frustrated look on Misato's face.

 

" Well are you there yet? " Shinji asked with a cruel smile and watched along with Drake as Misato gave them a look that told them she was about ready to strangle them both and for a moment the three of them stood there looking at one another.

When Misato saw that no answer was forthcoming she threw up her hands and shook her head for she knew there was no way in hell she was going to get a straight answer from either of them.

" Fine be like that, but if you get into trouble you call me ok Shinji? " Misato said with a slightly gruff tone of voice and Shinji just smiled at her, " Sure Misato, see ya! " he said then walked out of the house and up to the nearest bus stop to catch the next bus that would take him to Kensuke's house.

Drake looked at Misato who had her beer in one hand and very ticked off look in her eyes and Drake realized that it would be a good idea to be some else and quickly made his way up to his bedroom.

 

Shinji was listening to his SDAT player as he waited for the bus and ten minutes later the bus pulled up to his stop and he got on the bus as Hikari got off the bus from the back exit and for a moment both Hikari and Shinji felt that there was something out of place then shook off the feeling as the bus pulled away from the stop and Hikari begain to walk towards the house.

 

****** The House ******

 

Misato was sitting in the living room watching tv as she tried to get over both Shinji and Drake's dumb ass antics when the doorbell rang.

* Who the hell could that be? * Misato thought to herself as she got up from the couch and walked over to the front door and opened it and saw Hikari standing there.

" Hello Hikari what are you doing here? " Misato asked as she invited Hikari into the house.

" I got a call from Gwen and she said that Asuka was in a bad off way and well I came over to help her, if you don't mind would I be able to stay over for the night? " Hikari asked as Misato shut the front door behind her.

" Sure Hikari that will be fine with me but I need to know what is worng with Asuka I have never seen her this messed up before and I'm worried about her. " Misato said as they made there way into the kitchen and when they got there Misato offered Hikari a drink and Hikari said that she would like a cup of tea and then sat down at the dinning table while Misato went about making the tea.

" Well Misato the reason Asuka is so mess up right now is that she fianly admitted to herself that she loves Shinji but felt that she had lost him because of they way she had been treating him and when she went to apologize to him and admit to him how she felt about him but Shinji cut her off and told her that he never wanted to have anything to do with her and stormed off." Hikari said and when Misato heard what Hikari had said to her then it click into place as to why Asuka was in the sorry shape she was in for she had read Asuka's profile and knew about her another's suicide and of Asuka's abandonment isseis.

 

" I see that explanes a lot, Asuka is lucky to have such a good friend as you and thank you for telling me what's going on, I have been racking my brains in trying to figure out what was wrong with Asuka. " Misato said as she served the tea.

" I'll be up most of the night so if you need anything let me know. " Misato said as she sat down if a fresh beer as Hikari drank her tea and they begain to talk to each other about Asuka and a little bit about Shinji and Hikari asked Misato if she knew why Shinji had told Asuka off and when Misato said she had no idea why Shinji did that to Asuka they two women sat at the table and finished off there drinks.

When they where done Hikari asked where Gwen's room was and when Misato told her Hikari put her empty cup into the kitchen sink and made her way up to Gwen's room while Misato went back to her room to think about what she would do to help Asuka out of the depression she was in and both of them knew that it was going to be a long night ahead of them.

 

The End of Part Seventeen