Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Scar Tissue ❯ Scar Tissue ( Chapter 1 )

Scar Tissue

 

By: A-Z Mark II

 

Disclaimer: Not Mine.

-

It was no one's fault, really, that things had come to pass as they had. Everyone had done their best, but sometimes, your best just isn't good enough. All they had ever wanted to do was their part for their species. In doing so, they had sacrificed everything that had in the name of preserving mankind. Their happiness, childhoods, friends, lovers, sanity, and - ultimately - their souls had been cast into the pit of hell that was their world in the hopes that it would mean something.

Nearly three years later, the young man could - occasionally - step far enough back to look at what had happened and admit that it was just bad luck. He hadn't dropped the ball. It hadn't been his fault that all he knew and loved was gone. Well, maybe not all I know and love, he amended the thought. Taking a final look down the hill to the dark, cold sea, he shifted his grip on the bag of groceries and resumed his trip home. Looking up the shaded, narrow strip of gravel and packed sand that served as the road to home, he let his mind turn to other matters.

I wonder what Asuka or Misato would have thought of this place? he asked himself rhetorically. Neither of them was in any condition to care, though; death will do that to a person. Grimacing, Shinji recalled one of his many, many unpleasant memories from what was almost a previous life. Even now, he could feel the warmth of Misato's body against his, and taste her kiss on his lips as they had made their way through NERV toward Unit 1. The hint of coppery iron in the kiss should have told him what was happening, but he had been too stunned by the kiss to notice so small a detail. Misato's promise that they would do the rest later echoed through his memories.

Against his chest, he could feel the cross she had worn - pressed into his hand just before she pushed him into the elevator that would take him to Unit 1 one last time - warm and solid. The last time I saw her alive, and she just smiled at me, he recalled. Shaking his head sharply, he tried to dispel the memory of the final time he had seen her.

Though he succeeded in pushing Misato from his mind, he only traded her for another: in this case, a certain German red-head. He had heard on the way to Unit 1 that Asuka had recovered from her coma and was currently smacking the JSDF troops around like a bunch of little bitches, and that had lifted his spirits considerably. Of course, that had been before he found Unit 1 encased in Bakelite. And before all nine of the production model Evas had dropped on Asuka as her unit ran out of energy.

“Should have been faster.” he muttered to himself, recalling that he arrived too late to help, but just in time to see her meet her end. She had won, of course; in the seconds of power left in her Unit 2, she had destroyed all nine of the white Evas in a battle that the history books would surely call the pinnacle of close-quarter battle tactics; assuming that they ever learned it had taken place, of course. Practically no reports or records of the entire final battle of NERV existed.

“Except in our minds.” he muttered bitterly. Of all those in NERV, he was one of eleven survivors. But was I really a survivor for those first few months after the fall? he wondered introspectively. I think I was more a casualty than survivor in those days. It was true, if you judged it by his behavior and actions. He hardly spoke, and just shambled along, his gaze focused only enough to keep from running into things or to keep from tripping over assorted articles. Very few of us were in good shape, right after the fighting stopped, mused the boy. “Not even enough to make a dozen.” he muttered darkly.

NERV had been all but annihilated by the attack, the defenses used by NERV, and the Eva deployment. Not even the MAGI had survived the final showdown and Third Impact. His mind skittered down a tangent thought. Third Impact always reminded him of Rei Ayanami, and what had happened. Shinji supposed that he should be grateful for small miracles, since he only recalled seeing a giant Rei rise from NERV and confront him; after that, it got hazy and vague and he couldn't recall a single clear memory of the Impact. But he was dead certain, deep in his heart, that Rei had joined the list of those who had fallen.

Even now, he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about Rei. He had forged an awkward friendship with the second Rei, but after her `death' against the sixteenth Angel, and the truths that Akagi had spitefully revealed to him, he wasn't sure how to relate to her anymore. The third Rei was sort of like the second, but there was a sense of a missing part of her that confused his senses. That, coupled with the knowledge that part of her was made from the DNA of his mother, and the rest was Angelic in nature, had kept him from re-rooting the friendship he had worked so hard on with the second Rei. And then, she was gone; just…gone.

Ahead of the young man, he got the first glimpse of home. Feeling a little better, he maintained his pace, steadily moving closer to his goal. Seeing his home, he managed to recall less painful memories. He thought about the immediate aftermath of the final battle.

He had found himself outside the battered remains of the black pyramid that was NERV headquarters, surrounded by the wreckage of the shattered JSDF attack, the torn landscape that Asuka's last stand had created, and the debris from his own final act as a Pilot and Child. Surrounded by nothing, he had made his way into NERV, blind to the dead bodies littering the corridors and the smell of cordite, high explosives and death lingering in the passages.

Eventually, he had reached the bridge. Behind the chipped, pitted and blasted concrete lip, all three bridge operators were alive. Hyuga had taken charge of the situation, such as it was, trying to get in touch with the outside world, while Aoba was busy working on the stations, trying to get some idea of what kind of shape NERV was in. Maya was huddled underneath her station, hands clamped over her ears, her eyes wide, clearly terrified of whatever had happened during Impact.

It wasn't until Shinji had sank down beside her that either man noticed him. Hyuga gaped at him, while Aoba seemed to be almost scared of him. “Shinji?!” gasped Hyuga, kneeling down to touch Shinji's shoulder. A blank stare greeted the young Lieutenant. “Hey, Shinji? You in there?” asked Hyuga, shaking the pilot's shoulder. Not even a blink from the boy. Hyuga sighed.

“What do you think we should do about him? About them?” asked Aoba, still maintaining a distance from the pilot. Hyuga shook his head.

“Nothing to be done, Aoba. Keep trying.” he said, resuming his attempts to reach someone outside of NERV. Aoba turned his attention back to the guts of his station, trying to resurrect whatever might be left of the monitoring system. It was more than an hour later when Hyuga managed to get in touch with someone outside NERV. When the reply to his mayday message came back from a UN taskforce off shore, the two bridge operators completely forgot the two silent, huddled forms under the center workstation.

In the flurry of activity that followed, UN troops and Japanese police had swarmed the site of the last battle, searching for survivors and trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle that just didn't want to come together. Within an hour of the arrival of the UN forces and Japanese police forces, it had become apparent that there were simply too man bodies - not to mention the remains of the nine MP Evas and Unit 2's torn carcass - to be buried individually, so it was decided to make a mass grave for them all by burying the Geofront under the shattered remains of Tokyo 3.

Sometime during the next eighteen hours, Shinji and Maya had vanished. In fact, it wasn't until Hyuga and the other survivors were being debriefed that he remembered that Shinji and Maya had been among the survivors. Needless to say, there had been a lot of interest from the police and UN forces in these two - especially Shinji. Hyuga had warned them that neither of the two were themselves, being practically cationic with shock.

A frantic canvassing of the personnel who had been tasked with sweeping NERV and checking for survivors had revealed that a young woman in a NERV uniform and a young man in slacks and shirt had been seen stumbling along a corridor together. That same pair had been seen moving along the wall toward the exit, and one of the troopers who had been working to ferry equipment had said that a woman in a skirt and blouse and a young man had ridden up to Tokyo 3 in his cargo helicopter. He had assumed that they were going to the medical tent, as he thought that there was blood on the young man's arms and the woman didn't look so good herself.

After questioning Hyuga again, a team had been sent to check on the apartment that the young man had lived in. The building had been heavily damaged by the N2 bomb that had blasted open the Geofront, but the structure was sound. Reaching the apartment, the team had found that the apartment was in disrepair, the things overturned and strewn about. It was empty of life, and they couldn't tell if anything was missing. When asked, Hyuga had said that everyone knew that Major Katsuragi was not known for her housekeeping.

Having struck out there, the police issued a missing person bulletin, but with bigger concerns, they soon forgot about it as anything more than a back-burner detail. When the final tally was taken, only eleven members of NERV had survived the war. Given the murky situation with the entire chain of events that had transpired, the Japanese government had quietly squashed the missing person bulletin on the two, deciding that it was for the best that the whole thing simply go away.

So, Hyuga had been tapped as the poster boy for NERV, being paraded around at Japanese and UN functions for the next half-year or so, accepting all sorts of accolades and useless praise from nearly everyone from the local kindergarten class to the UN Supreme Council. He was on hand when the `NERV-Angel War Memorial Cemetery' was officially opened with a hasty ribbon-cutting attended primary by a reports and UN security teams at the site of the mostly-filled-in Geofront. Below the simple rock-and-concrete wall that bore the emblem of NERV and a haiku about the sacrifice NERV made was the bulldozed remains of Tokyo 3; and below that, were the unmarked graves of more than four thousand people.

Hyuga was also the fall-guy when the UN made a big, fancy show of awarding the organization a new medal for their service, as well as promising a beefed-up benefits package for the families of the slain and the eleven survivors. If one had looked closely at the eyes of the young man during this time, they would have seen him grow older in mere months. Those who knew him would have noticed a change in his eyes over that same period from confused and sad, to the beginnings of hatred and bitterness.

Quietly, while Hyuga bore the weight of being a political pawn, the rest of the survivors took stock, and vanished silently. Aoba - who had been sharing a temporary quarters with Hyuga - had taken his guitar, left his NERV uniform and ID on the couch, and walked out the door. No one had seen him since. The other seven had faded like shadows in the sun, and by the end of the first year, only Hyuga remained.

It was likely with a great deal of silent relief that the UN received an email from him, notifying them that he had resigned. His `guest quarters' were bare, and other than a sighting at the airport as he boarded a flight for South America, he, too, fell out of sight and mind. With unseemly haste, both the Japanese government and UN moved on to other political issues, public interest following the carrot waved by the powers that be.

Shinji grimaced to himself as he neared the final stretch of road. It was surprising to discover how fast NERV and all that they had done had been forgotten, remembered only as a vague holiday that few companies observed. “Heroes that no one wants,” he muttered, shaking his head. It bothered him sometimes that no one wanted to remember the ones who had paid the price for their survival; not that he could blame them. “As heroes go, we were pretty pathetic.” he mused aloud, looking up at the small house he called home.

The house was small, consisting of a modestly-large central room, with the bedroom and bathroom off to the left, and the kitchen and utility room off to the right. It was surrounded on three sides by a shallow porch, and a short distance away from the house was a small shed that housed his modest collection of tools he used to tend to the house and small field behind the house. It was actually not that different from where he had lived with his teacher for the decade before his arrival in Tokyo 3 and NERV.

The main difference is that this is my house, and this is Hokkaido, he reminded himself. In fact, if he were any further away from Tokyo, he would be in the ocean, which pounded against the shore less than two kilometers from the edge of the grove of trees that surrounded the house on all sides. Never thought that I'd end up living up here. It's kind of pretty, though; like Asuka always described Germany, he thought, smiling.

“Shinji! You're back later than usual.” came the voice of his companion since the fall of NERV. Standing on the porch, Maya Ibuki waved at him as he made his way up to the porch and handed her the bag of provisions before pedaling the bike over to the shed and putting it inside. Walking the short distance back to the house, he stepped in and found Maya putting the supplied away.

“Yeah. I stopped off to watch the surf some.” he said quietly, moving over to her and helping her. She offered him a small smile.

“I was beginning to worry that something had happened to you.” she said softly. Shinji shook his head, gently squeezing her shoulder.

“Just…thinking about the past.” he said. Maya could understand that far too well.

“Me, too.” she said, putting the last of the supplies on its shelf. With that done, the two moved outside and sat down on the porch, watching the laundry dry on the line. For an hour, nothing was said between them. Finally, Maya spoke. “Do you regret it, Shin?” she asked him, turning to look at him.

“Regret what?” wondered Shinji, turning to meet her brown eyes.

“Do you regret being stuck with me since…that day?” asked the former tech, glancing away from him. Shinji shook his head, draping his arm over her shoulder and hugging her to his side.

“No.” he said simply - truthfully. “We needed each other, Maya. And we needed a clean break.” he added.

Maya smiled a wan smile. “I can't believe that this came from a simple misunderstanding.” she said, her smile a bit stronger.

“Well, you did say that you had to get out of there.” Shinji reminded her playfully. “I think we did ok.”

Shinji had been sitting beside Maya, under her station, for god-knew how long when he became aware of pain in his shoulder, focusing on the woman beside him, he had seen her squeezing his shoulder hard enough to cut off the circulation. Once he had focused on her, he became of her whispering over and over, `I have to get out of here. I have to get out of here.'

That seemed like a fine idea to Shinji, so he had climbed to his feet, helping Maya up as well, and together they had moved toward the exit. Neither of them had noticed Hyuga or Aoba or anyone else as they departed. Neither had responded to anyone who spoke to them. Just as they were about to clear the black pyramid, Shinji had suddenly found himself staring at a familiar red jacket on top of a shrouded form laying on the floor. Numbly, he had moved over to the form, pulling the covering back.

Beneath the shroud, Misato seemed to be simply sleeping, though her face lacked the normal warmth and color she usually had. Shinji had tried to wake her up, but she had responded to his pleas for her to open her eyes. Even when he said he had a beer for her, she hadn't reacted at all. Grabbing her shoulders, he had shaken her as hard as he could, but still, nothing.

He didn't remember how he had ended up on a transport climbing out of the Geofront, but when he stepped off the transport, Maya was holding tight to his arm. Looking around, he oriented himself and started toward the apartment. It wasn't like he had any where else to go, after all. In complete silence, the two had hiked to the apartment building, arriving well after dark. When the elevator didn't work, the two had numbly climbed the stairs to the apartment that was the closest thing he had to a home. Fortunately, the keycard ready was still operational, and the door opened to reveal a mess.

For once in his life, Shinji simply didn't have the energy or will to clean it up. Picking his way through the mess, he made his way to his room and dropped onto his bed, feeling Maya - who had yet to release his arm - drop right beside him. The stress of what they had been through overcame the two, and they slipped into an exhausted sleep.

In the morning, Shinji had awoken to find himself trapped by the arms and legs of Maya. As he struggled to put the events of the previous day together, he found it to be far too much work, and dismissed whatever might have happened the day before as unimportant. Struggling upright, his movements disturbed Maya, who opened her bloodshot eyes and looked around. Silently, Shinji wiped the sleep from his eyes and carefully got off his futon, seeing his towel hanging on the back of his chair. Suddenly aware of the condition of his clothes and the cloying smell of LCL residue on himself, he cringed and swiftly began to strip off his clothes, throwing them into the farthest corner of his room.

“Shinji?” came a barely-audible whisper from behind him. Turning his head, he saw Maya watching him, her eyes haunted. Her hands were clenched, trapping a handful of her skirt in each hand.

“I need a shower.” said Shinji simply, shaking his towel a little for emphasis. Maya considered this for a moment.

“Ok.” she said, standing and swiftly undressing, tearing her uniform blouse some in her haste. She opted to tear her hose off rather than take the time to remove them. Kicking off her panties, she grabbed Shinji's arm as he started to leave his room. Other than a glance at her, he didn't react. Some small part of his mind seemed to be trying to tell him something about having a naked woman holding onto his arm, but he couldn't manage the interest in what that part might be trying to say.

Silently, he entered the bathroom and started the shower. Turning to put his towel in easy reach, he saw Maya pause to relieve herself. Once more, some small part of his mind tried to remind him of something, but he - once more - ignored that small part of his mind, uninterested in what it might be trying to say.

The shower had been a fairly long one, as both of them seemed to find it hard to get clean. Eventually, though, they stepped out, Maya once more taking Shinji's hand in her own. Drying off, Shinji had noticed that Maya was standing there, dripping wet, without a towel. Leading the woman to the small niche where the washing machine was, he surveyed the small shelf where he kept the towels, finding it to be empty. Without comment, he led her into Misato's room, spotting the Major's towel haphazardly hanging from her wardrobe. Taking it, he silently offered it to Maya, who accepted it and began to dry off.

When they were both dry, Shinji returned to his room and got a fresh pair of boxers and a clean pair of slacks and shirt. To his surprise, Maya actually cringed when she spotted her tan NERV uniform skirt and torn blouse lying in the corner of his room. “Maya?” he asked her. Silently, she shook her head.

“I…I can't.” she whispered, squeezing his hand harder. Shinji hummed in response. Looking at the naked woman, he sized her up. It was of mild interest to him to discover that Maya's full B-cup breasts were actually slightly smaller than Asuka's barely-C-cup size, while the woman's hips were wider than Asuka's, though not nearly as much as Misato's. He also noticed that Maya - like Misato - kept her pubic hair neatly trimmed.

With his plan decided, Shinji took Maya's hand in his and led her to Asuka's room, hesitating only a moment at the door, that same small part of his mind trying to be heard again. Disregarding the impulse to stop, Shinji slid the door open and led Maya inside the hallowed room of Asuka. Shinji stepped over to the red-head's dresser and swiftly extracted some clean bras, glancing at Maya a time or two as he considered the bras. Deciding on two, he offered them to Maya, who took the offered items and studied them briefly before silently choosing the ivory and silver lace one. After some minor adjustments to the straps, she had it settled.

Once more, Shinji led her out of Asuka's room, this time leading her into the heart of chaos: Misato's room. Working his way through the room, he stopped in front of her wardrobe and searched for a bit before find the `clean' pile of panties and bras. Tossing the bras aside, he searched for a pair of panties that he thought might be about the right size for Maya. Finally, he found a pair that tied on the hips, and handed them to Maya, who once more silently dressed in the offered item.

Looking at the tech in her new underwear, Shinji wondered where he should look for the last piece of clothing for her. A swift rummage through Misato's closet didn't reveal anything promising, so he took her hand and moved back to Asuka's room, once more looking through her clothes. It occurred to him in a surreal way that even though he didn't know a thing about fashion, Maya would look good in anything he found in Misato's or Asuka's closet, since both of them had been drop-dead gorgeous all the time.

Shinji's hand stopped on a thin bit of yellow cloth. Slowly, he pulled it out of the closet, finding it to be Asuka's favorite sun dress. After a moment, he put it back, pulling out one of Asuka's skirts, along with the blouse he always saw her wearing with it. Handing them to Maya, he saw her wiggle into the skirt, which was a little tight on her hips, and shorter on her than on Asuka. Looking at the short-haired tech, he found that she looked really good in the outfit.

His thoughts were interrupted by the growl of his stomach, so he herded Maya to the kitchen, swiftly pulling together a substantial meal from what he found that was usable. In silence, the two consumed the food. When they were done, Shinji moved out into the living room, leaving the dishes where they were, dropping onto the couch - after he had cursory cleared it of debris. Maya settled beside him. Looking out the shattered patio doors, neither spoke or moved for a good half hour. Finally, Shinji turned to look at Maya.

“What now?” he asked her tonelessly. Maya blinked at him, not understanding his question. Shinji tried again. “What do we do now, Maya?” he wondered. Maya glanced away from him.

“I don't know.” she said softly. Shinji admitted to himself that he hadn't a clue either.

“Do you want to go home?” he asked her. Maya shivered.

“It's gone.” she whispered. “When the bomb hit, my home was vaporized.” she explained, beginning to shiver. Shinji found himself hugging the tech a few moments later. Time passed. Maya calmed down. “Shinji, I can't stay here.” she whispered. “I have to leave. Please.” she added, hugging him tighter.

“Ok.” said Shinji. It made perfect sense to him that if Maya wanted to go, then they should go. After all, she was a bridge operator, and he was just a pilot, so she probably had a better idea about what they should do than he did. Besides, without Misato and Asuka here, this isn't home; not any more, he thought tiredly. Standing, he headed back to the bedrooms, Maya holding onto his hand as she had been since they had left NERV. In his room, he swiftly packed his things, his clothes and necessities fitting easily into his small duffle bag. When he reached for his SDAT player, though, he paused, reconsidering. Zipping his bag shut, he left the SDAT on the desk.

Maya watched him pack in silence. Looking at her, Shinji decided that they would probably need at least a couple changes of clothes for her, so he led her back to Asuka's room, searching until he found the overnight bag the German girl had used when she would stay at Hikari's place. putting it on the bed, Shinji pulled Maya over to Asuka's dresser. “Take anything you think might fit or that you might need.” he said, stepping aside as Maya efficiently selected some bras, and a pair of panties that she thought might work for her, before moving to the closet and pulling a few skirts and a some tops out, holding them against her as she dropped some and handed the rest to Shinji, who folded them into the bag. From the top of Asuka's dresser, she selected some items before the pair moved to Misato's room and repeated the process.

From Misato's room, the pair took some panties, some hygiene items and assorted items. While Maya was working on the clothing, Shinji curiously explored her desk area. Finding her laptop, he put it in the bag as well. Nothing else seemed particularly useful or interesting, so when Maya finished selecting clothes, he closed the stuffed overnight bag and handed it to Maya, who slung it over her shoulder. Back in his room, he slung his own duffle over his shoulder, pausing only long enough to pick up the cello case in the corner of his room. Together, the two exited the apartment without a backward glance. The team sent to check the apartment missed them by less than an hour.

-

Looking back on that time, the two might have seen a lot of similarity between their state and the state of one Rei Ayanami. Both of them simply flowed along with the situation they found themselves in, neither questioning the situation, nor showing any reaction to it. Each decision that they faced was made based on what seemed to be the path of least resistance. Neither of them was in any shape to make deep, important decisions, so they just made small ones.

For instance, when it occurred to them upon arriving in Tokyo 2 that they would need money, since the NERV cards that they had used in Tokyo 3 were hardly useable in Tokyo 2 - and would only get harder to use as they moved along - Maya had simply found the nearest automatic teller, put in her card, and emptied her account, the ATM issuing a debit card due to the amount in her account. With the card expended, Maya had indifferently dropped her NERV card into the nearest trash can she passed, glad to be rid of her last link to NERV. Shinji had left his NERV card in the apartment, along with his cell phone; after all, why carry a cell phone when the only numbers in it were for the dead?

The two of them didn't stay in Tokyo 2 for long, since it was far too close to Tokyo 3 for their comfort. By the time that the police looked for them because of the hit on Maya's card in the computer system, the two were long gone, and with an anonymous debit card as their primary source of sustenance, it was all but impossible to track them. By the time that Shinji and Maya found a hotel for the night, they were in Akita. It wasn't conscious choice on their part - the train for Akita had been the one leaving soonest when they reached the rail station. Ten minutes later, and they would have been on a train for Kyoto.

Arriving at the station, the two had silently made their way through the small town, stopping at the first hotel they saw and getting a room. There was no discussion about sleeping arrangements; neither wanted to be out of touch of the other. The counter girl barely looked at them, seeing only another young couple on a honeymoon, and handed them the key to a single-futon room. Shinji and Maya didn't respond to the older man's distracted suggestion that they enjoy themselves.

Reaching the room, the two had dropped their bags on the floor by the door, Shinji leaning the cello case against the wall as Maya crossed to the futon and turned it back. With the bed prepared, Maya had silently stripped off her clothes, leaving herself in just her panties while Shinji did likewise. After meeting Shinji's gaze, Maya slipped into the bathroom, leaving the door open so she could see Shinji - almost afraid that if she lost sight of him, he would vanish. When Maya finished, she slipped into bed with Shinji, who was in his boxers. Neither of them thought a thing of hugging each other close as they tried to sleep.

The next morning, the two rose and showered together, not having gotten a lot of sleep because of constantly awakening from a nightmare. Still, they were both old hands at managing both the nightmares and the lack of sufficient sleep. Once they were done with their shower, they dressed and left the hotel room, looking for a few minutes before finding a small coffee shop/breakfast bar. In silence, they ate breakfast, steadfastly refusing to look at the TV that was showing some sketchy coverage of what was happening in Tokyo 3. Whatever happened there no longer had anything to do with them.

Leaving the small shop, the two made their way aimlessly through the town for the next half hour or so. Finding a small bench next to a modest park, they sat side by side, in silence, their hands clasped. In the perpetual summer of post-Second Impact Earth, the breeze off the distant sea felt good, but neither of them were able to relax any. As noon neared, Shinji looked at Maya. Meeting his haunted gaze, she shook her head. “Not far enough.” she whispered. He nodded. Together, they rose and returned to the hotel, grabbing their bags and dropping the key on the desk without a single word spoken.

-

Sapporo had proven to be a turning point for the two. They had arrived there a week after they left Akita. For the first time since they had left Tokyo 3, the two had managed to sleep the night through without waking from a terror-filled nightmare. After three days in a hotel, the two had decided that it would be better - and cheaper - to find a small apartment. It was another two days before they found a place they felt was suitable. The small apartment was over a combination diner/convenience store, and was partially furnished.

With one bedroom and one living room/dining room/kitchen, and a small bathroom with a simple tub, it was hardly fancy or spacious, but neither of them minded. As the days passed, the two gradually began to talk to each other more and more, the emotional wounds they bore gradually healing together. Shinji and Maya both learned a lot about each other.

It had surprised Shinji to learn that Maya had always wanted to learn to play an instrument, but had never had the time or confidence to take lessons, with her heavy course load in school and some bad experiences early on with woodwind instruments. That Maya had graduated as Valedictorian of her class wasn't a real surprise to him, as he had always thought that she was smart. She told him about her enrollment in the ROTC program of Tokyo 2 university just so she could work with the newest and most advanced computer systems. It hadn't prepared her for the MAGI and Akagi, though.

Naturally, he had heard rumors of her infatuation with Akagi, but he had always been kind of indifferent to the rumors, since he was eyeballs-deep in his own issues and problems, and couldn't really spare the time and attention to get involved with another's issues. A month after they had arrived in Sapporo, lying together in bed, watching the stars through the small window of the bedroom, he got to hear first-hand what had been going on with the two. It wasn't so much Ritsuko Akagi she had been so taken with - it was her talent and capabilities.

Working with one of the premier minds of the race was intoxicating. Maya had eagerly dedicated herself to being Akagi's apprentice, learning medicine and bio-tech fields as fast as she could, all to try and be a worthy assistant to the genius. Because of her drive to prove herself, she had become a master of the MAGI systems and coding. And Akagi's growing reliance on her was seen by the young technician as proof that she was doing the job right.

As for the rumors, she had heard them. Even as far back as high school, people had wondered about her because of her lack of social life. As the short-haired tech slowly poured out her heart and soul to Shinji, she explained about her failures in dating, and even - to an extent - in any social situation, which lead her to focusing more and more on her work and studies. It wasn't, Shinji learned, that she was a lesbian, but rather that in her work relationship with Akagi, she felt that she belonged.

Her obsession with work had had an unexpected benefit to them now: with the number of sixteen- to eighteen hour days she had pulled, she had no time to spend any more of her pay than it took to maintain her small apartment in Tokyo 3. Since she had been commissioned as an officer and gone immediately to Akagi's department upon graduation from university, she had had four years to save, and now, all that unspent money was fueling their search for closure and peace in the world after NERV.

For his part, Shinji told her about his youth. About how he had seen his mother taken by Unit 1, about his being banished by his father - who even now, he couldn't address by name - and sent to live with a distant relative of his father, to his abrupt summoning to Tokyo 3. Three months after they arrived in Sapporo, he chuckled as he told Maya what living with Misato - and later Asuka - had been like.

Once a week, the two took their clothes to the small laundry mat, washed and folded them, then taken them back to their refuge, talking quietly the whole time. Shinji took up playing his cello again, and by the fifth month, he was teaching Maya how to play the cello, sitting behind her, his arms around her as he taught her all that he knew. And while he might not have been a master of the cello, he was, she discovered, far more than competent.

If the authorities had ever managed to track them to Sapporo, they would have found finding them nearly impossible. No one could claim to know who the quiet young couple was, as they nearly went out of their way to avoid other people. They didn't cause trouble, they didn't socialize more than was necessary, and there was nothing really memorable about the two. Shinji and Maya found that they liked it that way just fine. Slowly, the two healed, gradually regaining some of what they had lost.

-

“Seven months.” murmured Maya one evening as the two finished putting their cleaned plates away. Shinji blinked.

“Seven months? Already?” he wondered. Time had gotten a bit foggy for a while right after Third Impact, and he was still wondering at how fast it seemed to be going lately. Maya nodded.

“Yes, seven months.” she said, smiling at him gently. Habitually, she took his hand in her own as they moved into the bedroom. It had become a habit of theirs to watch the stars for a while before bed.

Together, the two undressed and got into bed, the sheets and cover rolled up at the foot of the bed, the two of them just watching the stars out of the window as they lay on top of the futon. As they had become accustomed to doing, they didn't sleep in pajamas, just in boxers and panties. As the two of them had grown closer, and they had regained their sense of stability, the two had found themselves noticing each other more and more. Though neither of them had actively thought about it, it was their libidos recovering from long suppression under the emotional stress they had been under.

Over the last month or so, Shinji had found himself more and more easily excited by being near Maya - which was literally all the time. Unknown to him, Maya had been in much the same boat, the constant contact and proximity to Shinji had been the cause of more than one pair of soaked panties. The day before, when she had realized that it had been seven months since they arrived in Sapporo, she had decided on taking action.

Now that the time was upon her, she wasn't sure that she could do it, though. Come on, Maya, she chided herself silently, keenly aware of the warmth against her side, you know him better now than you have ever known anyone! What is it that you are afraid of? she asked herself. Is it that you worry about being a virgin? Maya licked her lips. Other than some finger-play, she was a virgin. So, she knew, was he. Since both of us are virgins, there should be nothing to be worried about, right? she told herself. I mean, if he is still a virgin after living with Misato and Asuka, I have no real reason to feel that I am at a disadvantage, right?

Her thoughts were thrown into turmoil when Shinji turned on his side, looking at her. “Maya…” he began, before breaking off the sentence. Slowly, he reached out and put his hand on her bare stomach. Sucking in a breath, Maya felt electric-like tendrils of excitement radiate out from where his hand rested just above her bellybutton. Turning her head to look at him, she saw him lick his lips nervously.

Understanding hit her like a two by four to the head. He's thinking the same thing as me! realized Maya. And just like me, he isn't sure how to proceed! Relief washed through the older woman. Reaching down, she covered his hand with her own as she met his gaze. Silently, she nodded once, rubbing his hand. Shinji nearly sagged with relief, exhaling a nervous breath. Carefully, he leaned into her, closing the distance to her lips. Closing her eyes, Maya parted her lips slightly and waited.

The contact between their lips was nearly a physical blow to the two, both of them flinching back for a moment, before clumsily resuming the kiss, both of them craving more of that feeling. Passion swiftly built, Shinji gradually moving on top of Maya, who had absolutely no qualms about encouraging him to do so. The feeling of their nearly-naked bodies rubbing against each other further served to fan the flames of their desires.

Instinct proved a valuable aid to the two young lovers, Shinji swiftly finding that if he braced his elbows on either side of Maya's chest, he could use his hands to stroke her hair, face and sides without losing his balance, while Maya found that with Shinji laying between her thighs, she was comfortable with him on top of her, but far more importantly, she could feel his hard length pressing against her panty-clad mons and swelling clit. Neither of them were sure when they started grinding against each other, but neither of them had any intention of stopping.

Finally breaking off the awkward kissing, Shinji pushed himself back from Maya, panting hard. Beneath him, Maya was still grinding her hips against his own, panting just as heavily as he was, her arms still wrapped loosely around his chest. Shinji could feel his dick throbbing with need; the need to claim Maya. Bracing himself on one elbow, Shinji gently brushed the backs of his fingers over Maya's face, looking into her lust-clouded eyes.

Maya didn't need for Shinji to speak to understand with absolute clarity what he wanted; what they both wanted. Moving her hands down his sides, she pushed his boxers over his hips and down his legs, being forced to sacrifice her pussy's contact with his hard length to untangle the material from his hard shaft, which felt like heaven in her hands, though she was impatient to have him in her. For the briefest instant, she cursed her lack of foresight in not removing her panties before they got this far.

But it was only an instant in the eternity she was in with her Shinji, and of no real importance. Holding his throbbing length in one hand, she hooked the fingers of her other hand into the leg band of her panties and pulled it aside, giving her soon-to-be lover full access to her most intimate depths. Feeling how wet the thin material was, Maya leered to herself, touching her bare sex with one fingertips to her entrance, finding it to be soaked, her lips puffy with her arousal, her sex open in anticipation.

Holding her panties aside with one hand, Maya guided Shinji's tip to her opening, rubbing the wide, drooling tip against her slit for a few moments before settling him at her entrance, tucking her legs up a little higher and spreading them a little bit wider. Smiling at Shinji, she gave him a single, deliberate nod. Shinji didn't need any further invitation. Pushing forward, he groaned in pleasure as he felt his tip stretch Maya open to allow him into her.

Below Shinji, Maya's eyes widened in surprised pleasure. Nothing she had experienced had prepared her for the feeling of his dick pushing into her virgin sheath, the feeling of her hyper-sensitive flesh yielding to his invasion sent lightening bolts of pure bliss shooting up her spine. And to her surprise, the deeper he penetrated her, the better it felt. It seemed only an instant before his pubic bone met her pubic bone, his entire length buried in her pulsating passage. The two shared an exhaled sigh of pure rapture.

Even as he reached her deepest depths, Shinji was fighting to hold back his release. Though he had never been the hentai pervert that Asuka constantly accused him of being, he had found it necessary from time to time to relieve some of the stress that had been incurred by living with Misato and the Second Child - neither of whom seemed to have any problem with wearing next to nothing when lounging around the apartment. What little practice he had had told him that he wouldn't last long in the hot, slick grip of Maya Ibuki's pussy. From the long, detailed lectures he had had to endure when Misato was drinking, he had learned that it was important to make sure the woman got her orgasm, and he had also gotten the distinct impression that women who didn't get their orgasms didn't let the man sleep with her again - though that could have just been Misato's personal policy.

Fighting his animal instincts that demanded that he pound into Maya with all his strength, he wondered if he could possibly last long enough to get Maya off. Though he had no personal experience, he was working from Misato's overly-detailed technical explanations and advice on sex, and he wasn't finding himself in familiar territory. Gritting his teeth, he bent what little focus he could muster to lasting as long as possible.

Had Maya been capable of thought, she would have assured him that as excited as she was, he would only need to last a stroke or two to get her an orgasm. But, Maya was not really capable of thinking, let alone telling Shinji how close she was to her own release. The young woman was too far gone in her orgasm to even recall her name, let alone assure her younger lover that he had done as the Major had instructed him. Floating in a typhoon-whipped ocean of pure pleasure, one tiny, tiny part of her mind fleetingly rejoiced that she had never had a hymen, since all the stories she had heard from her contemporaries from middle school on up had talked about how much it had hurt the first time. Her first time, however, was nothing but pleasure.

“Maya-chan!” groaned Shinji, his control spent. Holding himself deep inside her, he emptied his load into her, flooding her entirely. Panting harshly, Shinji gradually collapses onto Maya's sweat-slick, furnace-hot body, the former technician instinctively wrapping her arms around him, tucking her legs over his, embracing him with her entire body. Both of the newly-made lovers drifted off to sleep without another word. Tomorrow would be soon enough to deal with this new facet of their relationship.

-

“Shinji, how long have you had this?” asked Maya, sitting cross-legged on the futon, naked save for a pair of thin silk panties. Shinji leaned back to look through the always-open door to the bathroom, seeing his lover working on Misato's old laptop. Finished drying off, he stepped out of the bathroom and settled behind Maya, dispensing with his boxers for the moment.

“I've had it since we left Tokyo 3.” said the young man quietly, wrapping his arms around her, just under her breasts, while Maya leaned back against his chest. For the last three months, the two had been exploring this new part of their relationship, and both found it very much to their liking. “I don't know why I thought to take it with us, it just…seemed like I should.” he added softly, touching his lips to her bare shoulder. To that day, neither of them liked or felt comfortable discussing that topic or time. “Is something wrong, Maya-chan?” he asked her, more curious that worried.

Maya shook her head. “No, Shin.” she said quietly. “I just realized what this is this morning. How funny is that?” she giggled softly. Shinji chuckled quietly, Maya feeling a tingle run through her as she felt the vibrations of his chuckles transmitted through his chest and into her spinal column.

“No funny, really, Maya-chan.” he disagreed gently. “It's not like we like to think about that period, after all.” he obliquely reminded her. Maya nodded. “Are you…sure you want to?” he worried. For a moment, Maya considered that.

“Yes. I think I am ready.” she whispered, leaning back against him a bit more. “You'll be with me, right?” she begged. Shinji tightened his grip on her slim torso.

“Of course.” he assured her. Like I would ever leave my Maya-chan, he silently scoffed to himself. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he kissed her neck before settling in. Sucking in a quick breath, Maya opened the computer and touched the power button. Six seconds later, the laptop was booted up, various warnings filling the screen as the computer reported numerous failed links to the infrastructure of Tokyo 3. Shinji blinked. “I'm surprised it still has power in the battery.” he mused aloud. For almost a year, it had sat, forgotten, in their apartment.

To his surprise, Maya giggled. “Not all that surprising, really.” she disagreed with him. “This model - used by all of NERV, you will recall - has a battery that is non-rechargeable and has a service life of fifteen years of use.” Sensing Shinji's widened eyes, Maya giggled. “It's not that surprising, is it?” she gently mocked him. “NERV couldn't afford for a computer to go down due to power limits, and with the MAGI being the lynch-pin of the data network, we had to have mobile, secure, dependable links, so the R&D teams came up with this solution.” she said, her fingers dancing on the keyboard, closing the warning windows swiftly.

Soon, the desktop of Major Misato Katsuragi, Operations Director of NERV, and the single most influential woman in Shinji's life, was revealed to the survivors. Maya, back in very familiar territory, swiftly explored the data on the three hundred fifty tera-byte hard drive. Surprisingly, the crystal-wafer based hard drive was nearly half full of data and files. Her fingers blurring over the keyboard, Maya ran through the directory structure, finding that there were hundreds of hidden files and password-locked subdirectories.

That discovery gave her pause. “Hey, Shin?” she asked quietly, removing her hands from the keyboard. Feeling him hum, she went on. “There's a lot of password-protected and hidden directories in here. Some of this is probably compartmentalized data, but others look like stuff she shouldn't have had access to, let alone copies of. Do you think we should look at it?” she wondered. Neither of them felt comfortable slipping back down the slippery slope to the tar pit that was NERV and the late Commander's secrets.

“I don't know, Maya-chan.” mused Shinji. “I…don't want to go back to that place I was in when we were in NERV, but maybe…” he sighed. Maya seemed to know what he was thinking, even if he couldn't properly articulate it.

“Maybe something in her files will let you put her to rest, right?” she whispered, rubbing his arms where they hugged her. Slowly, Shinji nodded against her shoulder. Misato, Asuka and Rei were topics still far too painful for the two to discuss openly. Nodding to herself, Maya dug deeper into the past, looking for files that might help her Shinji - and by extension, herself. Moments later, she brought up a file that looked promising. “How about this one?” she asked her lover.

“Hmm? `Observation Notes - Ikari Shinji'? I guess it sounds promising.” he allowed, unsure if he really wanted to know what Misato was seeing and thinking about him during that time. Maya selected the file and immediately, a password window opened. “Password? Guess we'll never know.” murmured Shinji. Maya tittered, her eyes showing some of the spark they used to show.

“Don't be so sure, Shin.” she purred happily. “You should remember that I was a master-rated programmer.” she boasted, opening a small utility program and swiftly typing code at a rate that frankly stunned Shinji. “Now, Misato, let's see who comes out ahead.” she breathed, executing the code. The password box flicked, then vanished, the files opening. The two had thought that they were ready to face their pasts. They were wrong.

-

“Ugh!” grunted Maya, gripping the edge of the window sill tightly. “God, YES!” she screamed, a thin trail of drool trailing from her lips as her head lolled forward again. Behind her, Shinji gripped her hips, hammering into her with long, hard strokes, driving to the deepest reaches of her slick channel with each stroke. Bringing his length back until the tip just barely remained inside her, he jerked his hips forward, driving deeply into her, his wide, spongy tip spearing into her cervix at the bottom of each stroke.

“Almost there, Maya-chan!” he grunted, nearing his release. With three orgasms under her belt already, Maya was eager to feel him flood her with his release. Summoning up her last reserves of energy, she pushed herself upright slightly, turning her head to leer at him.

“Me, too,” she panted lustily. “Come on, Shin! Cum in me!” she demanded. Shifting his grip on her from her hips to her breasts, he proficiently stimulated her nipples as his balls tightened.

“Ah!” the two cried out together as he did as she demanded, filling her with his cum. Holding her up, Shinji balanced them, finding himself once more glad that Maya was as small and light as she was. Shorter than Misato by a fair amount, she was barely taller than Asuka had been, and with her compact chest and slim build, she was a much better match for Shinji's build than he had thought.

In the last few months, Shinji had grown, finding himself taller than Maya, though hardly by much. He remained thin and wiry, rather than bulking up any. He had started shaving a few months before, shortly after Maya noticed that he was beginning to show signs of a beard. The two of them had nearly run to the nearest store to buy the necessary equipment to insure that Shinji never grew a beard. Even now, the very thought of his `father' angered Shinji.

Carefully working his lover back from the window sill, he awkwardly - but safely - lowered them to the futon, still joined. As they recovered, he showered her neck, shoulders, back and face with soft, light kisses. In fact, he showered any part of her he could reach with kisses, much to her enjoyment. As she finally regained full control, Maya clenched her inner muscles, feeling his semi-soft member squish in her flooded passage. A soft breath on her shoulder teased a smile from her lips. “Like that, Shin?” she purred smugly.

“I like you, Maya-chan.” he corrected. Humming softly, she pushed her hips forward, clenching her vaginal muscles tight as she did so, his slick member sliding from her passage, along with a small drop of mixed cum. Rolling to her hands and knees before him, she leaned into him and kissed him leisurely and deeply. When she broke the kiss, she gave him a loving smile.

“I'm glad to hear that, Shin,” she said huskily, “because now I have something I have been thinking about doing for you for a long time.” Maintaining eye contact with him, she lowered her head toward his dick, pausing to stroke the cum-covered tip with her forefinger before opening her mouth and engulfing it. Above her, Shinji's eyes went wide.

He and Maya had been expanding their relationship since that first night, but at the rate they were going, they still had many, many things that they hadn't tried. Since both of them had spent a lot of time around Misato, they had a veritable encyclopedia of sexual positions and techniques in their minds, but neither had been comfortable with rushing to try some of them. For the last several weeks, Maya had been toying with the idea of giving Shinji a blow-job, but she kept holding back because she was worried that she would mess it up, maybe even hurting him. Earlier that week, however, she had found a book in a small used book shop that had filled in a lot of the blanks that were left from Misato's expert-level directions.

With the missing pieces in place, Maya had waited for an opportunity to try out this new activity. Today, after yet another impulsive coupling, she had felt the time was right. Gently sucking on his tip, she had been careful to keep her lips rolled forward over her teeth, protecting his sensitive skin, and had used her tongue to massage his spongy tip, which was already swelling once more. Swallowing a mouthful of drool and the mixed cum that liberally coated his shaft, Maya found that she liked the taste. I never thought that I would like it, but this tastes…like us! marveled the young woman, moving her head down farther on his shaft; a feat made easier by the slick covering of cum on his swelling tool and her own desire to make Shinji feel as good as he made her feel.

Steadily working her way down his length, she hit an unexpected snag about half-way down, in that his dick - restored to full glory by her obviously eager attention - was threatening to cut off her air supply and was tickling her gag reflex. After a near-miss with her gag reflex, Maya decided that she better take it slow, and eased back some to concentrate on the head of his length, using a hand to stroke his shaft from her lips to his sack. She could feel his hands on her head, stroking her hair and cheeks as he made small sounds of pleasure and enjoyment. These sounds were music to her ears, and served to feed the warm post-coital glow in her belly.

It seemed only moments after she began when Shinji's hands gripped her head more firmly and he gasped out her name, followed by his dick twitching in her mouth before unleashing his cum down her throat. Caught off guard, Maya managed to swallow the three large jets, but coughed as the last, feeble spurt coated her tongue. Jerking her mouth off his dick - though her hand maintained her grip on his shaft - she tried to suppress the cough, but didn't quite succeed, his cum covering her lips and chin as it dripped off her face. “S…sorry, Shin. I meant…cough!...to swallow it all.” she apologized, getting control of her coughing.

Shinji didn't reply verbally, lunging over to pull her into a full-length, tight hug. Smiling, Maya wiped her face with the back of one of her hands before pressing her face against his throat. Gradually, she became aware that her jaw was aching a little. Glancing at the simple digital clock beside the bed, she realized that it had been a half hour since she started her little experiment. Relaxing into his embrace, she closed her eyes for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of his arms around her and his warmth against her naked body.

The stars were out when the two awoke hours later.

-

“You know, Shin,” said Maya as the two were sitting together on a secluded bench on the outskirts of Sapporo, “I think we need our own place.” she said. Shinji hummed.

“I like the sound of that, Maya-chan.” he agreed. “Things here are a bit too…crowded.” he made a vague gesture toward the town before and slightly below them. Maya nodded, understanding his meaning. The owner of the small shop over which they lived had managed to catch them one evening as they came back from the laundry mat, and politely informed them that she was selling the building within the next few months, and moving to Yokohama to be near her remaining family. So, they had little choice in the matter, as neither wanted to be crowded any closer to others.

“I saw a flyer for some land for sale last time we did laundry.” said Maya softly, pulling a carefully-folded piece of paper from her skirt pocket and offering it to Shinji. Unfolding it, he looked it over.

“Where exactly is this Shiretoko Peninsula at, exactly?” he wondered. Maya pointed north east.

“That way,” said Maya quietly. “The peninsula is mostly a park, but this property is a few kilometers away from the park, to the southeast.” she said. Shinji nodded.

“You researched it, didn't you?” he smiled at her. Maya felt a little color touch her cheeks, though it had nothing to do with embarrassment.

“Some.” she admitted. “I've always kind of wanted to see more of Japan, and since we came here, I think I've seen enough of it; at least, for a long while.” she added quietly. Shinji reached over and patted her hand.

“That's good enough for me, Maya-chan.” he said. His eyes drifted down to the bottom of the flyer. “Do we have that kind of money, Maya-chan?” he asked her. Slowly, Maya nodded.

“We do, Shinji, but it will use up most of what we have left, and we would need some income to be comfortable.” she admitted. Shinji waited patiently for her to continue, realizing that she had given this a lot of detailed thought. On her lap, Misato's old laptop rested. “I think I could get a consulting job with one of the software companies, Shinji. I could work from home, and since we don't need a lot of money, I wouldn't have to work much.” she enticed. “I still like computers, Shin.” she whispered to him. Shinji turned to face her, gently touching her cheek.

“And I love you, Maya-chan.” he replied. “How soon can we get this going?” he asked her. Her face lit up, reminding him of some of the times at NERV when he had seen her smiling happily at some accomplishment or other.

The pair had moved back into town and Maya showed Shinji some of the organizational skills that had made her doctor Akagi's protégé. By nightfall, the property was theirs. One of the things that had come up when purchasing their property had been the name on the deed. Quietly, Maya had suggested that it be Shinji and Maya Ikubi, which was a blending of their last names. Shinji kind of liked that idea, and so, overnight, they emerged as new people.

That night, as they returned to the apartment, Shinji decided to surprise Maya with a little something that Misato had told him about many times. As soon as the pair were back in the tiny apartment, he locked the door and wrapped Maya up in his arms, guiding her into the bedroom, carefully setting aside the laptop before beginning to peel her clothes off. Other than an instant of surprise at his unexpected move, Maya didn't react beyond relaxing into his touch.

Maya had taken to wearing mid-thigh length skirts and thin, light tops - at first due to that being the bulk of what she had taken from Asuka and Misato's closets. Now, with the cooler condition of Hokkaido, it was simply comfortable for her to wear that kind of clothes. Shinji greatly appreciated the change from her NERV uniform, and loved the way that her new clothing showed off her lithe body and great legs. Starting with her blouse, he unbuttoned it and peeled it off her, revealing a thin, light lace bra, hardly more than a simple band of gauzy material and a pair of shallow cups. Practiced fingers rid her of the unwanted interference, leaving her shapely breasts bare.

Swallowing his sudden mouthful of drool, he continued on task, rather than allowing himself to be distracted mid-run by her warm, hard, light-brown nipples. Reaching her slim waist, he unbuttoned her pleated skirt and drew the zipper down, letting the mid-thigh garment drop to the floor. Seeing her small, tight panties, Shinji felt his dick snap to attention. Running his hands down her hips, he caught the waistband of the minimal panties and slid them off her, leaving her in nothing but her bare skin.

With the first goal reached, Shinji moved on to the next goal, and turned Maya to face him, kissing her before easing her down to their futon. As she lay back, Maya's smile was purely anticipatory and gleefully wanton. After all, she knew what it meant when Shinji stripped her naked and guided her to the bed - and she heartily approved of his actions. Seemingly following her prediction, Shinji knelt and assaulted her sensitive nipples with a ferocious intensity that had her panting and her pussy flooded within minutes. God, I love it when he does this! the woman thought, running her hands through his hair as he alternated breasts.

But then, to her surprise, he moved down the lower slope of her modest bust and toward her bellybutton, where he paused to tickle her with his tongue. Even as he forced giggles from her, he was gently spreading her legs and repositioning himself. Maya happily spread her legs wide, waiting for his entrance into her. But when he carefully lifted her hips and moved his folded legs under her lower back, she frowned. What is he doing? she asked herself, opening her eyes and looking at him.

Shinji saw her watching him and winked at her as he got situated, her open sex now just below his chin. “Misato talked about this so often and so fondly that I thought it was time to see if she was right or just drunk.” he said, grinning at her. The pieces fell into place for Maya, and her face turned scarlet with a blush.

“Shin, you don't have to…” she began. Shinji cut her off.

“I want to, Maya-chan.” he assured her, lowering his face toward her slick pussy. Looking at the familiar glistening folds of her sex, he carefully ran the tip of his tongue along her folds, tasting her directly for the first time. Licking his lips, he smiled. Maya-chan tastes damned good! he realized happily, diving back in for more. The gasps, moans, panting and trembling from Maya told him that he was doing it right.

It was fortunate that he had learned her body before attempting this, as he now knew where and how to bring her pleasure. Using his fingers to both open her up to his oral assault and to help stimulate her, he swiftly managed to wring and orgasm from her, and even as the first one rolled through her, he sent a second one through her body fast behind the first. As her orgasms increased her flow of honey, Shinji found that the more he tasted of her, the more he wanted of her. Before long, he was searching out every last drop of her juice, even as her body shook with pleasure.

Eventually, the throbbing of his dick forced him to abandon his search oral search for her honey. Lowering her hips back down, he wiped his lips with the back of his hand before moving up her panting body to delicately kiss her. Maya was having none of the delicate kiss, though, her tongue invading his mouth eagerly as her arms wrapped around his neck. Busy with her lips and arms, he got positioned by feel and pushed his hard length into her tight entrance, sighing into her kiss as her hot, soaked passage swallowed his hard length hungrily.

With plenty of foreplay, the two swiftly fell to hard fucking, Shinji hammering into her hard and fast, Maya raising her hips to meet his thrusts eagerly. Her aroused sex copiously lubricating their union, the two built toward simultanous release. As their pace hit feverish pitch, the two teetering on the edge of release, Shinji drew back a little too far, his tip parting from her nether kiss, even as Maya began to thrust her hips up to meet his expected forward thrust. The results were unexpected for both of them.

With Maya's juice flowing from her stuffed pussy, down over her rear door and onto the sheets under the two, there was plenty of lubrication, and as Shinji missed the timing because he realized that his tip had escaped her propriatary embrace, his tip met her puckered rear door squarely, and with barely the slightest of delay, pushed forward into her ass. Caught off guard, Maya had not clenched her rear entry, and with the lubricating fluid and the slick coating of mixed pre-cum and her own juice covering his tip, his entire tip bulled through her ring of muscle before she could react.

A surprised shriek tore from her lips as her body instinctively clamped down on the over-sized invader, the sudden feeling of him taking her anal cherry triggering her own orgasm and eliminating any pain she might have felt. As for Shinji, when he felt the sudden pressure on his tip, and realized where his dick had just penetrated Maya, it triggered his own release, and he flooded her with his cum. Both of them were frozen for several seconds before either of them moved.

When she felt Shinji shift in preparation to move away from her, Maya grabbed his shoulders. “Don't!” she gasped, feeling a hot throbbing from her ass. With the number and intensity of the orgasms she had had, she was feeling very relaxed, and just as her body had instinctively clenched down when his cock had claimed her rear entry, it now began to slowly relax. Shinji's hard-on persisted, in part because of the tight grip her anus had on his sensitive tip, and partially because of the knowledge of where his dick was.

As her ass muscles relaxed, Maya shifted, keeping his hard length in line with her rear door. Slowly, his hard shaft began to sink deeper into her. Breathing fast, her cheeks flushed, Maya silenced an attempt by Shinji to speak by passionately kissing him. Her clit was rubbing against his belly, and her violated ass was burning, but it felt pretty good to her right then, and the deeper he sank into her, the better it felt to her, the sensations arching through her setting off small, quick flash-like orgasms.

Shinji was fully engrossed in the kissing and the feeling of his length slipping deeper and deeper into her forbidden orifice. It wasn't until his hips met her butt that he realized that he had fully penetrated her. Maya held still for a few moments, then broke the kiss. “Gentle.” she whispered hoarsely in his ear. Shinji understood with that single word. Carefully - ever so gently - he eased back and then pressed forward, slow and shallow strokes, marveling at the supremely tight grip of her ass on his dick. Beneath him, Maya began to twitch, and after only a half dozen strokes, she cried out as the biggest orgasm she had ever had rolled through her from toes to the top of her head, leaving her dazed and incoherent.

Seeing his Maya-chan cum so hard triggered his own release, and he filled her with a second batch of his cum before resting for a while to catch his breath. Feeling his dick soften in her passage, he eased it out, taking a while as her ring of muscles kept clenching as he worked his tool out of her. When his tip finally popped free, he saw a small gob of semen follow after it. Better clean us both up before we ruin the sheets, he thought, tiredly standing and moving to the bathroom.

As Maya slowly came back to her senses, she gradually became aware of several things. First, her ass was throbbing and was incredibly sensitive. It hurt, but it wasn't a bad hurt, exactly. The second thing she became aware of was that Shinji was ever-so-gently cleaning her up. Just knowing that he was kneeling between her legs once more was enough to cause a shiver of pleasure to run up her spine. I think I might be more of a nympho than Misato ever was! she thought lasciviously. “Mm.” hummed the woman languidly. “That feels good, Shinji.” she purred.

“Maya-chan?” he blinked, being engrossed in his careful tending to the woman. Maya managed a lazy smile for him. “Um, sorry about…in your…back door.” he managed, feeling his cheeks heat up. Maya shrugged, causing her small breasts to dance briefly.

“I'm not.” she dismissed it. “I mean, it wasn't like we planned to, but it felt pretty good, once it happened.” she admitted candidly. “Did you like it?” she asked, realizing that he might not have liked it. Shinji glanced away from her.

“Um, I…did.” he admitted guiltily. “But I didn't mean to hurt you, Maya-chan.” he added swiftly. Maya carefully sat up and pulled him to her for a kiss.

“You didn't, Shinji.” she said softly. I might be sore for a few days, but I could definitely see doing this again, she left unsaid. “We'll just try it slower next time.” she added aloud, casually. Shinji blinked.

“Next time?” he echoed her. Maya gave him a crooked smile.

“Oh, we will definitely do this again, Shin.” she purred.

-

Eating dinner in their house, two years later, Shinji and Maya considered their situation. Maya did programming and debugging for a software company in America, money was put in their account, and they lived a happy life. Shinji had taken up playing his cello again, tended to the small garden behind their house, and worked on his pet project and therapy: his and Maya's account of what had really happened in NERV. They never expected to publish it, but maybe, when they were ready, they would e-publish it and let the world judge for itself what NERV was really about.

They lived simply, with limited interaction with other people - something that to that day they both found difficult. Twice a month or so, they took the day-long trip into the nearest town to get supplies and tend to small matters. None of the town people had a clue who they had been, knowing them only as `the Ikubis'. They didn't make any attempt to form relationships with anyone in town, and the town respected their wish to be left alone.

Maya only worked an average of twenty hours a week, and so, she and Shinji had plenty of time together, often spent walking, talking and planning. A large chunk of their time was also spent making love, having sex and sometimes just plain out fucking like weasels. It frequently occurred to Shinji to wonder if he was deserving of being so happy, seeing as the others hadn't even come close to being as happy as he and Maya were. As his accounting of his and Maya's time in NERV grew, he found himself seeking to explain to people who the real Asuka Langley Sohryu, Misato Katsuragi and Rei Ayanami were, only to find that was no longer sure himself if he had truly known the real people those names were attached to.

“I don't know if it is possible to truly know someone's true self, Shin.” said Maya one evening as they discussed the issue. “Even to ourselves, we wear disguises.” Shinji made a soft sound in his throat, pulling Maya over to him, her head in his lap.

“I think I can honestly say that I know you, Maya-chan.” he argued. Maya sort-of nodded her head.

“You know the `me' that is now, Shinji.” she countered. “I wasn't who I am now back then.” she pointed out. Shinji shook his head ruefully.

“Sometimes, Maya-chan, you sound like Ayanami.” Maya looked at him intently.

“Is that a bad thing?” she asked quietly. Shinji shook his head.

“No, Maya-chan. It isn't.”

 

END