Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Tribute ❯ Test of a Different Kind ( Chapter 2 )

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Asuka chose that exact moment to arrive home in a small rage because a rude motorist had flipped her the bird and another had wolf whistled at her

"The filthy swine, oh his car is so dead next time an Angel comes" she growled and sat down

Asuka did not see her dinner on the table, nor did she smell it under construction or see Shinji at all. She could hear the music of course and found it not to her liking

"What is that idiot doing to his cello, I thought he could play it?" she asked obnoxiously

Misato saw a chance to take a swing at Asuka's pride and took it

"Are you sure that's a cello?" she asked Asuka smugly

"Yeah, it's a cello being played badly by Shinji and if it isn't, I'm not as smart as I say I am" Asuka said haughtily

Misato grinned and put the paper down and crowed at Asuka

"Then you aren't as smart as you think you are Asuka: that is a guitar being played, by Shinji" Misato took a drink of her beer

Asuka was confused: Shinji was an animal of habit and routine: change from him required a lot of effort, and it was usually her that did the twisting. So it was no small surprise that she did not appreciate the new thing Shinji had taken up. Grumbling obscenities in her native tongue, Asuka stormed over to Shinji's bedroom door and flung it open

"WILL YOU, stop, that…" he voice got quieter and eventually went away when she saw Rei swaying from side to side

Whether the action was intentional or not was a moot point, the fact remained that she was doing it and like Shinji if not more so, Rei was a creature of habit and routine and to her, even if it was ever so slightly swaying to the beat of a song was nothing short of incredible.

"Excuse me, but stop playing that infernal thing!" Asuka said, making Shinji look up in surprise, in fact he made a noise that sounded like a mouse that had been stepped on

"Asuka, hi" he gulped a little as the red head trained a piercing glare on the hapless musician

"Pilot Soryu, you are disturbing Ikari's guitar practice. Either remain silent or leave" Rei turned to Asuka with a stare of her own, equally as piercing

Shinji watched them and swore that he saw little bolts of lightning start flashing between their eyes and that combat and possible bloodshed was inevitable between the two girls if the situation wasn't resolved quickly

"Asuka, Rei. Ritsuko just called; she needs you two for some kind of special test. Something to do with oestrogen's effect on sync ratios" Misato called

Her well timed call was a godsend as the two female pilots decided not to kill each other in a brutal fashion. Shinji blinked as he recovered from an over active imagining of what Rei and Asuka would to each other if they fought.

[I never wish to find out] he decided

Misato came through and saw Shinji looking slightly paler than normal and grinned at him

"Why don't you come too, it'll be a few hours and I'm sure there's a spare room we can hook that amp into" she said

Shinji nodded and packed up his guitar and the small amp that went in the bottom of the case. He then trudged out to the car with it and put it carefully in the boot of the small coupe. Asuka parked in front seat and basically banished Shinji and Rei to the back seats.

Not that either pair seemed to mind that particular arrangement, in fact, Shinji even smiled as he opened the back door and got in beside Rei: a large box took up the third back passenger car seat so Shinji and Rei were a little squished together. Misato giggled; if Shinji got any redder he'd stop traffic with his face.

The drive to HQ was mainly silent except for Shinji muttering the odd apology to Rei if when Misato took a rather sharp turn; he ended up pressing against her too much. Misato kept a close eye on Rei's reactions to anything that went on: almost nothing, except when Shinji apologised to her, that always brought a look a slight bewilderment to her face.

[Ah, the awkwardness of young love] she thought and smiled

Once they arrived, Misato found a room with some power points and relatively thick walls so he wouldn't disturb anyone. Shinji set the guitar up, just like Adrian showed him and began playing again; although this time he tried a softer ballad song: Forever

"I gotta tell you what I'm feelin' inside, I could lie to myself, but it's true"

A few soft bars of guitar strumming

"There's no denying when I look in your eyes, girl I'm out of my head over you

More guitar and Shinji continued to sing, even if it was only to keep rhythm with the music and played it through to its conclusion. Shinji let a contented sigh escape him as he put the instrument down and went to choose another piece of music. Feeling oddly adventurous, Shinji looked for something really heavy to play

"Come on, heavy, real heavy" he muttered and then he found it

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, AC DC. These words were written above the music that he intended to play. Shinji did his little warm up, during which he accidentally hit a small switch on the wall behind him. The room Shinji was in was a public announcement room for press meetings and conferences, and the switch Shinji had just pushed, would broadcast all the sound in that room to the whole of the base

"Okay, here we go" he muttered

The bars to this song on guitar were heavy than an Eva, so when Shinji played them, practically the whole of Nerv shook with vibration from the tune penned by Angus Young and his fellows of AC DC. Ritsuko nearly fell over

"What the hell was that?" she screeched indignantly

"Sounds like AC DC to me, ma'am" Aoba said, being a muso he was well versed in many types of music

"Well where ever it's coming from, get rid of it" Ritsuko growled

Misato broke into a run for the room where she'd let Shinji practice while Ritsuko watched her in total disbelief while the loud rock music pelted through the walls of Nerv, although many techs, Aoba included started bobbing their heads and tapping their feet to the tune.

Shinji meanwhile was to caught up in his playing to notice the small scene of chaos he was causing outside of the almost soundproof room so he was totally oblivious until Misato burst through the door, screeching like a Pterodactyl with PMS and a migraine, about what he was doing

"SHIT" Shinji cried and stopped playing as she yelled at him

"Thank you, now unplug that thing and come with me to the control deck, Ritsuko will probably want you for something anyway" Misato said

Shinji packed up the guitar and amp, set them aside carefully and followed his guardian, looking a little like a kicked puppy as he trailed along. Misato felt a little guilty about her initial reaction to the music

[By the sounds of it, he didn't know it was on like that either] she thought

"You're getting better at playing Shinji, you sounded much better than when you first got home" Misato said, hoping to salvage the situation

Shinji brightened a little at the praise: and in truth, his skill was pretty good for someone with maybe a few hours of practice behind him. But he still had ways to go yet before he was to be considered a good guitarist

"Thanks" he said softly

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Meanwhile in large hotel rented out for the musicians, the scene was awash with booze and women: well, it was for the guys from Guns N Roses and KISS. John and his mates in Queen had never gone in for the drugs and alcohol part of the rock n roll tag, and the lads from Iron Maiden thought themselves to British to do it. Ozzy would have been there but Sharon wouldn't let him

Jack on the other hand was at that party so fast that his feet didn't touch the ground, and soon he was tucking into the beer and the joints so graciously provided by a local drug dealer that Jack had met on the way over

"This is so cool" he said and took a deep drag on the joint

"Fucking ay" Gene said while a bikini clad woman fed him a grape

The scene itself was almost of Caligula proportions and was soon going to get bigger: Axl and Slash came bounding in with the biggest crate of booze this side of Germany and a trail of women who simply wanted to party. This was of course cool with all present

By the early morning it had degenerated to a orgy of excess in women, wine and song and somewhere down the line, Axl and Jack had found some silicone gel and began gluing furniture to the roof and walls with the exception of beds and two seaters and above, but sure enough, Axl was in a lazy boy chair, glued to the wall about three feet up tucking into a joint and a beer

"This is what I remember" he said and slugged his ale down

On the floor space, Jack had amused himself by convincing a few of the more inebriated girl to play spin the bottle with each other and have him as referee. This made him man of the hour according to Tommy as they all enjoyed the drunken exploits of the women, most of whom had now lost their clothes

"A toast to Jack, for giving us a hell of a show" Slash said above the din

"Cheers" the rest of the group sounded off and sunk a drink

"Yahoo, yeah, oh shit" Axl cried as the chair he was sitting on fell of the wall, sliding down it and hurling him off it with a thud amongst some cushions and a small table

"Wipe out" Paul drawled and took a shot of tequila