Advice and Trust [NGE]

[Strypgia]

Warning; contains fluffy WAFF, AxS

Prologue - [1]
Chapter 1: Snowflakes, Snowballs, and Avalanches - [1]
Chapter 2: The First Morning After - [1] [2] [3]
Chapter 3: Testing and Proving - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6+7]
Chapter 4: Before The Storm - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Chapter 5: "-we came in?" - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Chapter 6: The Storm Breaks [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]
Chapter 7: United We Stand [1] [1.5] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Chapter 8: Advent [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
Chatper 9: Everything I Do - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]
Chapter 10: Choices and Sacrifices - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]
Chapter 11: Cards On The Table - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24]
Chapter 12: Götterdämmerung - [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Epilogues -


And many thanks to Detoreik for the permission to use their wonderful artwork of Shinji and Asuka for the banner. Go check out their DeviantArt Page.

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Prologue: Where We Are Now --

A full moon shone down on Lake Ashi, making Tokyo-3 glow in the warm autumn night. In the smallest bedroom of an apartment in a mostly empty building, an old SDAT tape player sat on the desk in a beam of moonlight, gathering dust in the silence. In the living room, dinner was over and the table cleared, but the room was still lively, largely by effort of one woman.

"You're such a good kid, Shinji-kun! You bring me beer and make dinner so good." Major Katsu-- no, it was after 9PM and seven beers, so it was definitely Misato, not Major Katsuragi now, burbled happily at her young roommate. She patted her full belly and sighed. She drained the last of her eighth beer and looked at it suspiciously. "Hmm, out again. Get me another one, please?" She shook the empty can at him for a second before arcing it over her shoulder into the recycling bin without even a look.

Shinji sighed. At least he'd managed to train her that much. When he'd first moved in, he'd spent hours cleaning and collecting the cans that had been haphazardly piled and dumped all over the apartment, including some in places that just made him shake his head in confusion. In the shower, on top of the TV, all over the balcony... in the linen closet? He turned from washing the dishes and retrieved a can of Yebisu from the well-stocked refrigerator. "Here you are, Misato-san."

She grabbed his wrist and used the opportunity to pull him into a sloppy hug, her face buried briefly into his side as she sat at the table. "Such a good boy. Always taking care of us, me and Asuka. Say, where is she? I haven't seen her since I came in."

"She ate before you got here, and went to take a shower. She's still in her room." He looked towards their missing roommate's room for a moment.

Misato's eyes twinkled with mischief, seeing something in his expression. "Oh? Thinking about her in her towel, Shin-chan?"

Shinji reddened. "I wasn't!" He wriggled out of her grasp.

"You were! You totally were! Ha ha ha! Shin-chan's in looo~ve!" Misato giggled.

Muttering something at the floor and hiding his blushing face, Shinji finished up the last of the dishes in the sink. When he turned back from drying his hands, he found Misato staring at him more intently. "W-what is it?"

"You are a good boy, Shinji. And I think you do care about her. So I'm going to help!" Misato smacked her fist into her other palm. She pointed at the other side of the table. "Have a seat! I'm going to give you some helpful relationship adice... avdice... advice, on how to deal with women. And I'll tell you some secrets!" She took a deep pull on her beer as he sat down. "Okay! So!" She hiccupped. "Rule number one! 'Women are crazy'!"

Shinji blinked at her. "'Women are crazy'?" he echoed in confusion.

"Yesh! Totally crazy. Nuts. Bonkers. And I know, 'cause I ams one!" Misato nodded sagely. "Rule number two! Asuka is a woman."

"...And therefore she's crazy?"

"Bin~go! You jusht have to keep that in mind and ride it. Like, you think she's just yelling at you alln the time because she'z angry? Nope! She want to you pay attention to her! That's how she says it. Oh yeah, that's rule numnar three! Women aren't going to say everything they say, but you're supposed ta hear it all anyways. And not hear some of the things they do say, becauze they don't really mean them."

"I... what? Does... does that include what you're saying now?" Shinji's confusion only deepened.

"Of course not! Theses are the secrets I'm telling you, not me talking as a woman rights now. 'Sides, it's sweet that you look at me, but you need a girl your age, like her." Shinji blushed again. "Hee hee! I know you do!" She took another sip of beer. "I'm shurpised at you sometimes, Shiin-chan. Me and Ashuka running around in towels and short-shortz, and you still acting all shy. If Kaji spent all his time running around here in nuthin' but a towel, I'd... I'd... mmm... salty..." Misato trailed off, staring happily into space.

The silence stretched on for a while. "Um... Misato-san?"

Misato shook her head. "Er, right! Women! You gotta pay attention to all the things. You are already pretty housebroken, which girls really like once they think about it and settle down. I know I do!" She grinned at him and took another drink. "Rule numner four! Don't never be afraid." She leaned forward, planting her hands on the table, and stared at him carefully. "Tha's an importnant one, Shin-chan. Really listen to tha' one."

Shinji tried, he really tried not to stare at the perfect shot down her cleavage that Misato's position and loose tank top offered him. He lost the struggle. After a long pause, Misato started giggling and snorting at how red his face was turning and sat back. "Cat got yer tongue, Shin-chan? Hee hee! But did you hear me? Tha's a big one."

Shinji gulped and shook his head to clear it. "Bouncy, bouncy..." he mumbled. "Er! Yes! 'Don't be afraid', you said! Or something like that."

Misato nodded, somewhat wobbly. "Tha's right. Bein' 'fraid can stop you cold, and make you mess up a good chance. I was afraid, and ran away from Kaji once. Took eight yearz before I got another chance, eight years of being lonely and missing him, and ifn I'd still been 'fraid, I coulda messed it up again. So don' do tha'!" She polished off the beer. "You and Azuka are young, but I can shee the way you look at her sometimez. And..." She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper and leaned in closer. "I've sheen the wayz she looks at you sometimes, when she thinkz no one's lookin'. She even smiled once, after I told her your liddle jump into tha' volcano was agains' orders!"

Shinji stared hard at the table and tried not to turn red again. Again, he lost. He mumbled something too quiet for Misato to hear.

Misato smiled at him, patting him on the head before flopping back into her chair. Her head sank into her arms on the table. "So don' be afraid, Shin-chan. Azuka makesh a lot of noise, but she'z a good kid too. You two are a lot alike, you knowz? You don' have nobody, but try so hard to be Pilots... She pushes herself so hard to be the besht, because she doesn' wan' anyone to think she'z useless or weak..." Misato pulled her head up to give him a beady stare. "You be real good to 'er, you hear me? Women are crazy, but we need hugsh and stuff, too. Do nice things. I know!" Misato sat up straight again. "You should make 'er dinner!"

"I make us all dinner every night, Misato-san."

She waved this inconvenient fact away. "I mean make 'er a special dinner! All Yuro... Euroo... German foodz and stuff! Let 'er know it's for 'er! Tha's the kind of thing tha' gets a girl'z attenshun! I'll get Kaji to take me out for the night and give you two time alone!" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at him before slumping back down, her head pillowed in her arms again. "Mmm... make him take me someplace nice 'n private. 'N stay the night."

"I don't know if a dinner is what will get Asuka to stop calling me 'baka-Shinji' all the time."

"I tol' you, don't just lissen to wha' she sayz. Lissen to the thingz she dossen say and stuff..." Misato mumbled into her arms. "'Cuz wimmin 're crazy. Ashuka, me, Rits... erryone... She sayz 'baka-Shinji', I sez 'Shin-chan'... iz all the same. Iz how we say we care... 'cuz we get scared to say it out lou'... Kaji..."

Shinji stood up and walked around to her side of the table, helping her rise. "I know, Misato-san. I know. Let's get you to bed."

She leaned heavily on the young Pilot as they slowly wobbled her towards her bedroom. "Okay... but r'member: crazy."


Shinji rose from tucking Misato into her futon and walked to the door. He stopped and turned in the doorway to look back at his passed-out guardian. She snored peacefully, occasionally mumbling Kaji's name. He shook his head. Who was looking after whom here? "'Women are crazy', huh?" he muttered.

His face froze and his body stiffened in shock as a pair of pale, slender arms snaked around him from behind to embrace him. A warm and very definitely female body pressed itself up against his back and a soft pair of lips nibbled teasingly at the back of his neck. "Mmm, yes, we are. How else would we put up with men?"

Despite himself, he couldn't entirely suppress a groan of happiness, closing his eyes and tilting his head to give her better access. "Nnn... Asuka... the door is still open... she could see us..." His hands still rose to cover hers and squeeze back.

"She is completely dead to the world and you know it, Third Child. Has she noticed a thing about how the two of us have been carrying on for the last two months? We could probably pull off half the Kama Sutra right here and she'd sleep right through it." Her arms loosened enough to let him turn around in her embrace and stare right into her sparkling blue eyes. "Now, are you coming to bed? It's cold and lonely without you, and you promised me I'd never sleep that way again."

Shinji didn't even try to conceal the warm smile that spread across his face. "Asuka, has there been a single night since the first time you kissed me where I have slept anywhere else but right next to you? Of course I'm coming." He closed the door to Misato's room as quietly as he could and let his fingers intertwine with hers as they walked across the living room towards her bedroom. Her hand was tiny and warm in his.

"Well, yes, there's the occasional rare night where our esteemed guardian is not knocked out cold from beer or overwork," Asuka retorted, but without any heat. "I don't like those nights. It's much better when she's tired, full of beer, or Kaji keeps her out late."

"I still manage to sneak over into your room after she falls asleep those times... if you don't sneak into mine first," he pointed out.

Asuka smiled. "I get impatient, you know that. I want my warm baka-Shinji. It's a good thing you always get up before anyone else, too. We don't want to get caught, do we?"

Shinji's smile faded a little as they reached her... no, their room. He hadn't slept more than a handful of nights in 'his' bed since the night Asuka had asked him if he wanted to kiss. A night that had spiraled out of all expectations for either of them and become the beginning of a dream more wonderful than anything else he'd ever experienced in his whole life, all because he'd put his arms around her and answered her kiss. "I still feel a little bad hiding us from everyone, Asuka. We can't even go out on a weekend on a normal date or anything, and I'd really like to do that."

She slid the door open and pulled him inside after her. "I know. But if Misato found out, she'd make us stop doing this. 'We're too young!' or some other excuse, like we're not soldiers who could die any day." She pulled her t-shirt, all she wore, over her head and threw it to the side. "And I refuse to even think about that. You know I haven't had a single nightmare I can remember since we started sleeping together? I used to have them almost every night. I could love you for that alone, if nothing else, Shinji. Not that the rest isn't nice, too." She sat on the bed and scooted over to leave him room. "Besides, no one would believe you and me together." She snorted. "Us? In love? Truly, madly, deeply? Never."

"Hikari might, if you told her. And I'm pretty sure Ayanami figured it out in the first few days, given how much she stares at us." He sat down next to her and neatly folded his shirt up after likewise removing it.

"And she hasn't said anything?"

Shinji shrugged. "It's Ayanami. She's not exactly a chatterbox or the school gossip. Who's she going to tell?"

"Mm... still, you should do something nice for her as a thank you, from both of us. If I did it, that'd be even more suspicious."

"You could try doing it yourself. People change. They might accept that." He took her hand with a smile and kissed her fingertips.

She stroked the side of his face after he released her hand. "It's hard enough pretending to everyone that I'm still constantly angry at you and we're still at each other's throats all day long. I prefer to be at your throat this way." She leaned in to nibble and suck gently at his neck. "You're so much more amusingly sensitive there."

He hissed in pleasure. "Eee... gentle! Misato's going to notice I'm using a lot of her concealer one of these days!"

Asuka's lips curled in a smirk. "Good thing she can't see your back, then. Those would be even harder to explain."

"No apology for tearing up my poor back?" He smiled anyway.

Asuka snorted. "Not one bit. I'm marking my territory. You're mine, Third Child. You promised me that the first night." Her arms wrapped around him tightly as they lay down. "'Together, forever and always'."

Shinji pulled the sheet over them, nodding. "Until the end of the world, you and me, against Angels and anything else that tries to hurt us." She pressed herself into his side, purring contentedly. He pressed his face into her hair and inhaled the strawberry-balsam scent of her shampoo. "Love you, Asuka."

"You better, Third. You're stuck with me for good," she murmured happily, squeezing him. "...and I love you too, baka-Shinji."

In the room across the hall, an old SDAT tape player sat on the desk in a beam of moonlight, gathering dust. It hadn't been touched in two months; retreat and escape from the world were no longer needed.

 

[Strypgia]

Chapter 1: Snowflakes, Snowballs, and Avalanches

Two months earlier---

"Hey, Shinji, do you want to kiss?" Asuka tapped her fingers on the table, staring at him from where her head lay in her arms.

He couldn't believe the garbled words were what he'd thought he'd heard, and pulled the SDAT earbuds out. "What?"

"To kiss. A kiss? You've never kissed, right? Then let's do it."

This had to be a trick. Asuka suddenly being nice... more than nice to him? "Why?"

"Because I'm bored."

Definitely a trick. "Because you're bored? But..."

"You don't want to kiss a girl on the anniversary of your mom's death? Afraid she may be watching you from Heaven?" A sly look at him.

"Not really."

"Or are you scared?"

His anger surged. "I'm not scared of a little kiss!"

"You brushed your teeth, right?"

He nodded.

"Then, here I go."

She walked closer to him, halting close enough he could see her pulse jumping as fast as his at her throat. He felt himself blushing as he closed his eyes in anticipation. After nothing happened for a second he cracked his eyes open to find Asuka staring at him from just inches away, her expression unreadable.

"Don't breathe, because it tickles." Slim fingertips pinched his nose shut just before her lips met his.

Shinji's brain and body locked up. 'This is happening! This is really happening!' He was afraid to move, afraid to think, afraid to do anything that might wake him up from this dream. He'd say he was afraid to breathe, but that was already covered by her pinching fingers. The beautiful, exotic foreign girl who was literally the subject of more than a few of his fantasies was kissing him. Her soft, soft lips were pressed against his, and it felt amazing. His head swam with the dizzying feel of her tongue hesitantly probing at his own, the strawberry-balsam scent of her hair, the warmth of her body so close to his...

...and, unfortunately, oxygen deprivation. He started to feel dizzy a bit more directly than from the sheer hormonal rush accounted for, but the kiss felt so good he didn't want it to ever end. His knees started to buckle. He had to do something! If he collapsed, that would break the kiss!

He desperately reached out for the closest means of support to stay upright: Asuka. His hands haphazardly gained a grip on her hips and lower back, tugging her towards him as he stabilized himself. With a gentle thump, their bodies bumped together.

Shinji was about to let their bodies bounce back apart when he felt her hand leave his nose and come to rest on his shoulder. Her other arm came up to curl around his, her hand pressing against his shoulder blade. Pressing rather firmly, come to think of it. Asuka was definitely not upset with them being up against each other like this. In fact, she was starting to make some very happy noises. Increasingly pleased sounding 'mmms' and such hummed out of her as her tongue's fencing with his suddenly became much more vigorous. Her arm against him tightened.

His own grip reflexively tightened likewise. 'Wait... is she... is she enjoying this as much as I am? More? This... this isn't just kissing because she's bored or wants to see what it's like anymore...' His initial annoyance at her goading him into the kiss was all but gone, replaced by dawning surprise. 'She's... she's liking this. She's liking kissing me. She wanted to kiss me. Me?!' Light went off behind his eyes. 'She... likes me?' She certainly wasn't stopping the kiss, at least.

Their bodies hadn't really stopped from the wobble their crashing together had started. The swaying increased slowly until they were stutter-stepping backwards across the dining room towards the living room, still holding each other tightly together. Their erratic, blind path ended with Shinji's heels encountering one of the beanbags near the TV. He toppled backwards into the beanbag, their mutual grip pulling Asuka down to end up sprawled on top of him.

The impact of the landing briefly interrupted the kiss. Shinji opened his mouth to say something in surprise at the trip, but Asuka's lips met his again before he even got the first syllable out. He did not protest, his arms wrapping more fully around her back, savoring the warm, solid feel of her against him. His hands slowly stroked up and down her back. He still felt dizzy, but this wasn't a feeling he wanted to stop. He felt like someone had blown the top of his head off and it was spinning somewhere around the ceiling.

He couldn't tell how long they lay there. Eventually, the nearly frenetic pace of their kissing slowed to more languid, relaxed ones. Finally they broke off for a longer pause, breathing hard, foreheads pressed together. Shinji struggled for what to say.

"Wow. That was….um….wow."

"Yeah," she responded just as softly. Her eyes were still closed.

His brain was still spinning from the high. He couldn't come up with anything coherent to say. His mouth kept running without consulting him, however.

"You're beautiful."

That got Asuka's eyes open. Her sparkling blue stare pinned him in place. "What?"

"You were right, I've never kissed anyone before and I'm so glad it was you for my first kiss and it was incredible and you're so beautiful and I think I really like you and oh shit I'm going to stop talking now."

Heavy silence descended. Pen-Pen toddled out of his freezer, looked in at them, cocked his head, and returned to his freezer once more after acquiring a new beer. Shinji swallowed heavily.

Suddenly, Asuka spoke up. "Say it again," she demanded quietly.

He tensed. "Um….say what again?"

"What you just said. Say it again."

"I'm glad you were my first kiss, it was incredible, you're beautiful, and I…" he gulped again. "I think I like you?"

More silence.

Asuka turned her head, burying her face in the side of his neck. "Do you mean it?"

Shinji tried not to shake. He couldn't see her eyes, and her voice was …there was something intense in her tone, but he couldn't tell what. He did get the feeling that he better be very honest about what he said next, though.

"Yes."

A much longer silence.

"I like you too."

Shinji's ears insisted that was what Asuka had whispered right in his ear, her voice almost inaudible. He froze, his arms still wrapped around her. "What?"

She turned her head back to face him again. "Do you think I'm the kind of girl who'll just kiss anybody?" she asked sharply, a bit of her usual fire seeping back into her voice.

"You just said you wanted to kiss me because you were bored!"

"I lied." Her eyes dropped away from his. "I wanted to kiss you. Because I wanted to know what it felt like."

"You did?" A distant part of Shinji's brain tried to butt in with the observation that his last few contributions to the conversation had not been that impressive. "Why?"

"I don't know! I just keep thinking about it! I'm not supposed to be attracted to boys like you! I'm supposed to want a real man like Kaji! I'm not supposed to be wondering what it would feel like to kiss you, to have your arms around me! It's not supposed to feel this good to do it! It's not supposed to feel so good to be lying here with you! I shouldn't want this to never end..." Her outburst ran down into confusion. "Why is it you?"

"I...I don't know?"

Asuka puffed her cheeks our in frustration. "Well...why do you like me, then?"

"Because you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. Because you're brilliant, have the most amazing eyes, and are so damn alive. You... you push me, get at me like no one else. I... I can never figure out how to talk to you, but I... like seeing you smile."

Asuka colored a bit. "You... you've got nice eyes too." She blinked. "Wait, if you feel like that about me, why didn't you ever respond any of the other times I tried to flirt with you? I've been trying to get you to do something for weeks!"

"Wait, other times? What other times?"

"When a girl walks up to you in a bikini and starts using her chest as a physics demo, she's trying to get your attention!"

"Oh."

"'Oh'? What about during our synchronization training? We were alone all night and I even invited you into my room, but you didn't do anything!"

Shinji frowned at that one. "You didn't invite me in, you told me to stay out! 'The impenetrable wall of Jerko' you said!"

"Jericho. I... wait, you... You don't know that story? It's in the Bible! The walls of Jericho fell, Third! I wanted you to come in!"

Shinji tried vainly to close his gaping mouth. "What?! But... we were alone! We could... I...I didn't know! My Sensei never covered the Bible!"

Asuka just narrowed her eyes at him. "What Sensei?"

"The one my father abandoned me with after my mother died in an accident with the Eva! Not that you'd understand that," he bit out. It was not a comfortable memory. He pinched his eyes closed as the painful image of his father's retreating back welled up once again.

But when he opened them again, Asuka was staring at him like she'd seen a ghost. "Me too."

Shinji blinked. That couldn't be what she just said.

Her arms squeezed him tighter as her gaze went far away. "My mother... There was an accident with Unit-02... She... died, eventually. My father... didn't mourn very long." Her mouth twisted sourly. "So yes, Third Child, I know exactly what that felt like!"

Shinji sat stunned, his mind trying to grapple with her shocking revelation. Asuka... had felt the same kind of loss as he had? She'd had her mother ripped away from her, and even younger than him? She... was like him?

"Your father abandoned you after your mother was gone," he said.

She looked at him sharply again. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. Her forehead wrinkled in thought for a moment. "You have nightmares all the time about it. The memory keeps coming after you when you try to sleep," she said eventually. It was only half a question.

Shinji nodded slowly, never breaking her eyes. A memory of Asuka weeping in her sleep, whimpering for her Mama floated across his mind. "It's hard to sleep. You feel lonely and cold at night, because no one ever held you after that," he finally replied. It was even less a question. There weren't questions. They were connections. Confessions.

Asuka barely let him finish before she replied. "You never had many friends before you came here. No on ever wanted to just talk to you for you."

She knew... This was his life. And hers? "Your father never explained or apologized for why he just left you."

"No one even tried to understand your pain. No one cared." Her eyes were magnetic, her voice hypnotic.

"You miss her every day, but don't even have any pictures, barely any memories. No one tells you about her." He almost felt like it wasn't his own voice speaking anymore.

Her arms tightened around him even more, almost a desperate grip now. "And there was never any point in talking about it to anyone, because there was no one in the world who could understand what being an Evangelion Pilot was like," she said softly.

Silence hung heavy between them. Shinji vaguely noticed they were breathing in synch, faces just inches apart.

"You're just like me."

He blinked. He wasn't sure which of them had started saying it first. Their synchronization training had left a mark.

Asuka blinked as well, but recovered faster. A smile started spreading across her face that left Shinji positively dazzled. Asuka's face was lit up, transformed by the look of happiness unlike anything he'd seen on her before. Not a smirk, not a cocky, superior grin, but a real, stunning smile. "You... you know. You're cute, you like me, you're a fantastic kisser, and you understand what it's like." Her arms squeezed him in a fierce hug. "You are mine, Third Child!"

She dipped her head to bring their lips together again. She was far more aggressive than before, but he met her just as eagerly. There was more than just the sheer hormonal rush this time. Now there was a dawning realization, a feeling of profound connection. She knew! He understood! I'm not alone!

Again, time disappeared for them. Shinji had no idea how long they kept going this time before something finally registered on his mind besides the hot, electric feel of the German redhead in his arms or the growing happiness that there was someone who could truly empathize with what he'd gone through.

Beep. Hiss.

Their eyes popped open simultaneously. That was the front door! Misato was home! Shit! They sprang to their feet and scrambled apart, hastily adjusting clothing and trying to hide red faces and mussed hair. Asuka dove for the TV's remote and turned it on. The NHK announcer began droning on about tomorrow's weather.

Baritone rumbles of a deeper male voice floated from the entrance way, mixing with Misato's slurred mumbles. Kaji had come home with her. They appeared in the doorway from the front all into the dining area where he and Asuka had begun their kiss. Misato's arm was slung around Kaji's shoulders and she was leaning heavily on him for support. Kaji's eyebrows went up as he spotted Shinji standing in the living room. "Yo, Shinji-kun. Give me a hand with her. She needs to get into bed."

"Ah, y-yes, Kaji-san." Shinji quickly moved to support Misato from her other side. Together they guided the stumbling Major towards her futon. Kaji gently removed her jacket and laid her down, brushing her hair out of her face, leaving her rapidly sinking into sleep comfortably arranged on her bedding.

Kaji looked at the NERV Operations Director fondly, a wistful smile on his face. He nodded to Shinji and Asuka. "Well, time for me to go. Goodnight, kids."

Asuka jerked in surprise, finally managing to look Kaji in the face. She'd spent the previous minute carefully keeping him from seeing how much she was still flushed. "You're not... going to stay the night? You could..."

Kaji smiled wryly and fluffed his wedding wear. "I'd get laughed at if I showed up to work tomorrow wearing this."

"But..." Asuka half-raised her hand and drifted after him as Kaji headed for the door. As Shinji moved to follow them and caught up to her, Asuka suddenly stopped and remained still as he and Kaji turned down the hall to the door.

Kaji smiled over his shoulder as he stepped out the door. "Please take care of Katsuragi. See you later, Shinji-kun. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." The door slid closed with another hiss-beep. Out of the corner of his eye, Shinji spotted Asuka standing at the end of the hallway near the dining area, a slightly sad look on her face. "What's wrong?"

"Lavender perfume," Asuka said. "Misato's. It was all over Kaji. They really are together again. I should have known. The whole trip here from Germany Kaji-san was talking about her and distracted, even when I tried to..." Asuka went red. "N-nevermind! I... it's late. We should... get into bed too." For some reason she turned redder.

Shinji tried not to let his shoulders slump. Whatever spell had been cast before, it seemed that now it was broken. The moment was gone. "Right," he muttered, dejected. He walked back to his room and changed into a pair of loose shorts and a light shirt for sleeping in. Before he got to his bed, he stopped in the middle of his room and closed his eyes. He allowed himself to spend a full minute reveling in the memories of how it felt to hold Asuka close and kiss her. He sighed both in enjoyment of the memory and sadness over the fact that that's all it was now. He reached for the covers to get into his bed.

"What are you doing?"

He froze and turned around. Asuka was standing in the door of his room, her arms folded, staring at him.

"I'm... getting into bed? Like you said?" he said, confused. "I..." He froze again. Her ever-present A-10 interface headset was missing. Her hair was down, and she'd apparently brushed it for bed. It haloed her head like a brilliant, smooth waterfall of fire. He had the sudden, intense desire to run his hands through it. It changed her whole look. He'd never seen her like this. It was utterly stunning. She looked even better.

"You're what? And what are you staring at now, Third?"

"Your...your hair... you're beautiful. I-I mean, I've only ever seen you without your A-10 headset after a shower. You look so different with it brushed out like that. It's amazing..."

Asuka's hands flew to her head. "I... leave it out to sleep. And I said we should get into bed, Third. Come on. Mine's bigger."

Shinji blanched. "What?! Us?! I-I-I... Asuka?" He did not resist, though, when she simply took him by the hand and led him across the narrow hallway into her room.

"Baka. We were interrupted. We were still talking. And I liked what we were doing." She stopped at the side of the bed, her back still to him, but still held on to his hand. "Not just the kissing, but the... the rest too. Being held, I mean. I felt warm when we were doing that, and I didn't feel alone. 'It's hard to sleep. You feel lonely and cold at night, because no one ever held you after that', you said." She finally turned around to face him again. "You know that feeling. I do too, and I don't like it. Have you ever felt so warm or good as you did when we were just doing that?"

Her expression was as open as he'd ever seen her. Her eyes searched his face, not hostilely, just... looking to find that feeling of connection again. His heart started pounding even harder than it had when she'd said 'we should get into bed'.

He gulped. "No. I haven't. Not for longer than I can remember," he said.

"Don't you want to keep feeling like that?"

He swallowed again. "Yes?" he answered tentatively.

Asuka just nodded. "I do too. And Misato is dead asleep, no one else is here and you're going to be the first one up anyhow. So if...we want to spend the night together to keep the cold and loneliness away, we can. No one will know but us. And I..." Asuka pinched her eyes shut and forced the words out. "I don't want to be alone... Shinji."

'This has to be a dream. This has to be a dream.' "Asuka, I... I don't want to be alone either, but... I'm scared," he admitted. His hand shook in hers. 'This has to be a dream... or a trick.'

"You're just like me," Asuka reminded him quietly, looking him right in the eyes. "You think I'm not too? But we're Eva Pilots." She managed an unsteady smile. "We can handle anything, right?"

She let go of his hand and sat down on the bed. She scooted over to give him room, then looked up at him, silently asking the question.

Shinji tried to make his body move, but he felt frozen solid. 'This has to be a dream!' He'd had dreams like this. Misato's words from the night before echoed in his head. 'Nothing will change unless you take that first step forward...' He made his right hand stop nervously clenching and releasing over and over. "Asuka... promise me this isn't a trick? This isn't some kind of game? You really mean all this?"

In response, Asuka just stared at him for a moment before pulling her loose yellow t-shirt over her head and throwing it behind him, well out of reach. "There. If we're caught, no pretending. Does that show you I'm serious enough? I mean all of this, Third Chil-... Shinji. I promise. Now get in here, baka! I'm cold!" She flopped down and pulled the blankets over her, her sapphire blue eyes still locked on his.

He just gaped at the alabaster vision he'd just seen, and slowly peeled his own shirt off to drop at his feet. He lifted the side of the sheets and slid into bed next to her, leaving a careful few centimeters between any actual points of touching her. He nearly levitated a meter up off the mattress when he felt her arms wrap around him and yank him into full flush contact.

"Mmmm...warm," Asuka whispered. "You feel warm. It's nice."

He felt warm, alright. He felt so warm he was faintly surprised that steam wasn't shooting out his ears. He felt positively dizzy. A small pinch on his side from Asuka brought him back down enough to realize she was talking to him. "When someone holds you, you're supposed to hold them too, baka." Her command was somewhat undercut by the blush lighting up her cheeks and inability to meet his eyes. Hesitantly, like he was about to hold a tiger with a toothache, Shinji worked his arms around her too. Her skin felt smoother than the finest silk under his fingertips. He could have sworn he felt electricity running under his hands. 'She's so warm,' he thought in wonder.

Asuka had stiffened herself when his arms first went around her, but abruptly melted into his embrace. After a long moment of just enjoying the feeling, she spoke up softly. "Isn't this better than cold and lonely?"

Shinji couldn't help but agree. His heart was still pounding a mile a minute, but at the same time he felt so comfortable and alive he didn't want to move. He nodded. "I like this."

"Me too." Asuka burrowed her face into his neck and lay quietly for a minute. "Shinji... promise me this isn't a dream? I don't... I don't want to wake up alone and hating everything again," she asked. "I don't want this to stop."

"You're just like me," he echoed back at her. "Asuka, I'm scared this is a dream, but I've never felt this good. I'll stay as long as you'll let me."

"Tonight. What about tomorrow? And the next day? I mean it, Shinji. I don't want this to stop. I don't want to wake up cold and lonely ever again."

Shinji tried to keep his heart from hammering its way out of his chest. Asuka, the fiery dynamo of confidence and energy, was asking him for... what? To stay with her? To be with her? Like she thought he might even refuse? If this was a dream, Shinji was going to stay in it as long as he could. "As long as you'll have me. I promise."

To his surprise, Asuka started to laugh. "Did... did I say something wrong?"

Asuka shook her head. "This is crazy. One kiss, and we're like this? One kiss and all of a sudden you're mister smooth? You sound so serious, like you're ready to... to..."

"Jump into a volcano for you?" Shinji suggested with a tiny smile.

Asuka snorted. "You started playing the cello and have spent years getting professionally good because no one told you to stop? Are you going to hold me the same way because I don't tell you to stop?" Her tone tried to be flippant, but even as bad as he was at reading most social cues Shinji could hear the serious, almost hopeful note underneath. She meant that question. And he honestly didn't know how to answer her.

Well, he knew how he wanted to answer her, but 'I want to help you somehow, and be with you forever' seemed a bit much to offer so quickly. Even if the German redhead had been on his mind all the time since they'd met, he was still hesitant to do anything that might make her pull away again. But he still didn't want to ever let go. He'd never felt this good in her life.

"I..." He swallowed. "I've never had anyone, Asuka. If you... like me, and want me to hold you and be there tomorrow, then... I'm not going to give that up until you make me. I like this. I like you. If... if you want me to hold you, I will, as long as you hold me too."

Asuka's jaw set more firmly at this. "Oh, I'm going to, Third Child. You're mine! I like this, and I'm not going to let anyone take that, or you, away from me. Not Angels, not NERV, not Misato, not Wondergirl, nobody. We live together, we train together, we fight together, and now..." She blushed again, but didn't lose his eyes. "We stay together. That sound good to you?"

He could only nod.

"You promise?" she pressed. "I think you might be a baka, but the kind of baka who keeps his promises. And I already count on you to fight the Angels with me. So do you promise?"

"I do. I-I mean, I promise. Together, you and me." The words thrilled him.

Asuka's eyes flickered with something he couldn't identify, and she looked like she wanted to say some things, but all she said was "Good." She pulled him closer for another kiss. Or he pulled her. Neither of them could tell.

Time went by. He couldn't tell how much. He didn't care. All that mattered was how it felt to hold someone that wanted him.

Um. How it felt. It felt good. Really good. Heading rapidly for too good, in fact. He reluctantly pulled back. He needed a second to get his brain to work enough to form words. "Um...Asuka?"

Her reply was just as dazed. "Umm?"

'Oh gods she feels good.' "Er... we... I... thermal expansion." He squeaked the words out in a tiny whisper, glad the dim moonlight of her room hid just how mortified he looked. "We... I'm almost..."

"Er... yeah. I can tell... you're... um... hard to miss." Her breathing was almost a pant. "I... we... can't. I mean... not... I'm..." Her whisper dropped even more. "We don't have any... um... protection."

Shinji nearly passed out. 'Did... did she really say... if we did...?"

"I mean... I... Misato has some in her room, maybe, I think..." she continued, half to herself. "Asuka!" He managed, barely, to keep it to an explosive whisper rather than a near-shout. "We... you're serious?!"

"Don't you dare try to tell me you're not interested or not thinking about it too, baka. You're not fooling anyone." She looked down between them. "But... no. Not... tonight. Not like this."

"You... you've thought about it?" he asked.

She gave him a stare that was simultaneously warm and sarcastic. "Tell me you haven't," she dared him.

Silence.

"That's what I thought." She kissed him again. "Perv. I knew it."

"Hey, you just admitted you did too!"

"I didn't say it was a bad thing. And boy, we are not telling Misato about any of tonight."

"Any?"

"You think the first thing she'd say wouldn't be something like 'Oh noes! You two have to be kept apart, lest naughty deeds ensue!'? She snorted again. "They treat us like kids, but we're soldiers. If we could die any day, any battle... I'm not going to let anyone tell me I'm not allowed to live first. If anyone finds out, they'd make us stop, and probably... probably make us live apart." She sounded very unhappy with the thought. "I bet they'd make me go room with Wondergirl or something. Blech. So we have to pretend we're... like before."

"Even to my friends? Or yours?"

"You think those Stooges could keep a secret like this? We'll just have to... act like we always do, in public."

"I suppose so..."

Asuka kissed him again, softer than before. "It won't be that bad, my baka-Shinji. When we're all alone..." Her lips curled into a wicked grin and she wiggled against him.

"Oh gods..."

"When we're alone... you're all mine."

XXXXXXXXXX

Morning had just begin to grey they pre-dawn skies when Shinji woke. He blinked blearily as he brushed strands of long red hair out of his face and wondered why his bed felt strange and he had some sort of weight on his chest. His eyes bugged wide as memory rushed in. 'Oh gods... that wasn't a dream?' He looked down without moving his head to confirm that, yes, the Second Child was wrapped firmly around him and using his chest for a pillow, smiling faintly in her sleep. 'Nope, that was really real. Oh gods...'

He carefully slid himself out from under her and got out of bed. She made unhappy noises as her warm 'body-pillow' was taken away, but quieted as he arranged the covers over her and she settled in to the warm spot he'd left.

He stood by the bed for a moment, burning the sight into his memory. Last night had really happened. All of it. Even the... He blushed. Even those parts. 'No protection doesn't mean there's nothing we can do, Third,' she'd said, and proved it. And even more than that, when they'd finally stopped to drift to sleep, she'd quietly whispered again 'I like you too.' That meant more to him than anything else they'd done.

"As long as you'll have me, I promise," he said softly. "Together, forever and always."

He turned and left to start preparing everyone's breakfasts and some hangover medicine for Misato. He missed a crystal blue eye cracking open wide with shock as she watched him leave.

 

[Strypgia]

This is still Rei II. This is the canon kiss scene of Episode 15 as our point of divergence. So the next Angel they'll face is Leliel in a day or two. Armisael, the one that Rei II dies to defeat, is still a few months down the road. Rei II will notice how the Second and Third are acting differently before many others (it pays to just sit quietly and watch people), but her reaction... as yet unknown.

Gendo is not the all-seeing chessmaster who planned for everything. (Several of his victories relied on an unwilling Shinji and a lot of luck.) Misato taking him in was not something planned for, so I don't think their apartment was fully wired up for 24/7 surveillance. So as long as they're at home and Misato's not watching, Shinji and Asuka are in their own secluded world. And Section 2 took days to find Shinji when he ran off in Episode 4, nearly a week to find Asuka in Episode 24, and had Fuyutsuki kidnapped right from under their noses, so I don't hold them as being the omniscient MiBs fanon sometimes makes them. So Asuka and Shinji being able to carry on for a while without word getting to Gendo seems plausible, especially as Gendo seems to go out of his way to avoid his son in any way he can.

Others closer to the Pilots, like Misato and Ritsuko, will slowly figure things out, but not for a while, particularly if the Pilots are good about keeping up the act.

Chapter 2: The First Morning After, in progress.

 

[Strypgia]

The two months gap is kinda problematic now that I think about it. If I remember the timeline, two months after the kiss would put them straight in the middle or just after the end of the show.

Click to shrink...

I thought the show ended in like January? Right after the new year or summat?

Click to shrink...

The timeline (like so many other dang details in Eva) is rather fuzzy and self-contradicting. The only relatively firm date we can work out is the shot of the calendar we see during their synchronization training week, which puts it in September 2015. The date on the class chalkboard puts Asuka's first day of school in Tokyo-3 as Sept 21st, 2015. Date displays on Central Dogma computers during Third Impact show Jan 1st, 2016, but that means everything between Israfel and the End of Eva would have to happen in just October-December 2015, including the month Shinji spent stuck in Unit-01's Core after Zeruel. All that seems to be a ridiculously tight schedule for so much to happen, especially considering how much time is supposed to happen between other events within that timeframe. So I'm leaving the "End of Eva occurs on New Years Day, 2016" idea out, and running with a more open timeline assuming EoE would be somewhere around a year after Shinji's arrival in early summer 2015.

 

[Strypgia]

Ahhh authorial fiat feels good doesnt it? S'why I run a quest well not so much run as sporadically upate. Stupid job.

Click to shrink...

Sure does! More seriously, everything happening between October and December (with a month where nothing happens) means they'd be running into Angels 7-17 about one every week, which is a bit more frenetic than their attitudes indicate. Or maybe they're just really blasé about it.

Mostly, its to give them time to develop. The 'two months' in the prologue was a throw-in from when the idea was a one-shot. Now it's something I have to justify and fit in. But for a real relationship that will last more than the short-term, they need more time than 90 days would give them, particularly given the real nasty things that are coming.

 

[Strypgia]

Chapter 2, part 1 of 3
The First Morning After
+++++++++++++++++

Asuka felt warm. Comfy. Someone was holding her. She could hear a steady heartbeat right under her ear. This was nice. She didn't want to wake up. This was the first time she could remember in too long that she hadn't been dragged out of restless sleep by the alarm. She was being roused anyway, however, by the sudden increase in the pleasant heartbeat, and then the removal of the warmth she'd been cuddling. She mumbled sleepy complaints, but the warmth left anyway. She felt someone gently covering her with the blankets, and reluctantly burrowed into the warm spot on the mattress.

"As long as you'll have me, I promise," a soft voice said. "Together, forever and always."

'Oh, that sounds nice. I hate being lonely. Are they talking to me?' she mused drowsily. Wait, she knew that voice. She'd never heard it so soft or close before last night, though... Her eye not pressed into the sheets snapped open. 'Oh. Oh holy shit. That was real. We...' She could see the familiar back of the Third Child walking out of her room. Away from her bed. Where they'd spent the night... together. Eep.

The soft THAP of the door to her room sliding shut was like a starting pistol. Asuka bolted upright, her heart pounding. The sudden prickle of colder air on her skin and a quick glance down confirmed her memory of tossing her shirt across the room to prove to the Third she was serious. She had no idea where her shorts had ended up. She'd had other things on her mind at the time. She blushed as bright red as her Evangelion as memories of exactly what they'd done after that point flooded her waking mind. It was a good thing Misato had been totally knocked out and they had no neighbors!

She rapidly tossed on a change of clothes for the day, grabbed her A-10 headset, and cracked her door open. No one in sight. The faint sounds of her fellow Pilot beginning breakfast was the only thing she heard. No sign of Misato. Right. Go.

She slipped out of her door and quietly made her way towards the kitchen. Unfortunately, the layout of the apartment meant she had to go through the dining area right off the kitchen in order to make the bathroom. But as long as Shinji had his back turned, she could make it there without him seeing her. She wouldn't have to look him in the eye yet. Which right now, sounded like a really good idea.

A few more steps and she could see him. He was facing the counter, making something for their breakfast. A quick, quiet dash and she was in the bathroom, the folding door snapped shut behind her. Safe.

The reflection in the mirror argued otherwise. The girl in the mirror looked like she was about to freak out. 'Okay, Soryu... WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED LAST NIGHT?!' She... it had worked. She'd finally gotten that dense, oblivious, blind baka to finally notice the fact she'd been trying to get him to react to her hints that she... kind of thought he was cute. A bit. And it had worked. She'd kissed him. He'd put his arms around her. They'd kissed some more. It had been really nice. They'd talked. Connected. They'd gone to bed together. They'd...

She clamped a hand over her mouth to halt a sudden mad giggle. They'd... done just about everything two teenagers could do without risking a surprise nine months later. And every bit had been as spectacular and dizzying as that first kiss. 'Who'd have thought the Third Child would be so good at this?' she wondered giddily. And most of all, he'd promised to be there again tonight. And the next night. And the next.

'Alright, Soryu, quit dodging the issue. Yeah, losing purity points was fun and you can't wait to do it again, but that's not why you're hiding in the bathroom, afraid to look him in the eye right now, is it? He... said things last night. Made promises. He just did it again. That stupid, clumsy, dense baka... likes you. And you like him. He understands what it feels like. He's just like you. You're not alone. And he wants to stay with you.' "Which is Gott damn terrifying..." she whispered out loud.

She could admit it now, in a slightly more self-conscious part of her mind. He was kind of cute. He was polite and self-effacing to the point it could drive her nuts, but he was also kind, gentle, and could be stupidly brave to almost ridiculous lengths when protecting others. 'He dove into a volcano without a second's thought to save me. No one's ever done anything even close to that for me.' He was an elite Eva Pilot, like her, a 'prime catch' as some of the other girls at school had quietly mentioned. He sometimes showed a spark of energy and anger when she'd pushed at him that secretly thrilled her, the way he would react to her, pushing to match her, making her push just as hard to stay ahead of him. He made her feel alive. He was... a good guy. He'd renewed his promise this morning, when he must have thought she was asleep. He wasn't just saying things for her to hear. He meant it. And now he wanted to be with her.

Everything she could want. Pity she had no freaking idea what to do next. 'Okay, Soryu, you wanted to catch this tiger. Now you've got him. So now what? I didn't exactly have a plan for part two! Now I'm hiding in the bathroom because I'm afraid the minute we look at each other we're both going to go redder than my hair, Misato's going to figure it out, and make me go move in with Wondergirl. Then Shinji will realize he can do better than the nasty, useless pretend-Pilot I am and find someone else because every good thing in my life goes away and nobody wants me and...

"No!" she insisted at her reflection. "No no no! He promised! He likes me! He held me! I'm not letting this go!" All her hidden worries at not matching up to the Third Child still boiled up at her. She'd needed Shinji with her to beat Galghiel and Israfel. She'd beaten Sandalphon by herself... but Shinji had to save her life. Shinji had killed Matarael; she'd just been a meatshield. She'd gotten the killing blow on Sahaquiel... but only after Shinji had caught it himself. Not to mention the three Angels he'd killed before she even got here. Hell, Doctor Akagi had killed Iruel! The lab-coated old lady had as many solo Angel kills with a keyboard as she did in her Eva!

She fought back. She was an elite Eva Pilot! She had no fear in battle! She was not going to let herself be afraid here! She'd been afraid last night, afraid Shinji would miss her hints again, but this time he'd answered! And it had been great! He'd promised they'd keep going! She stared into the mirror until the worried look faded away. The smile that replaced it was a bit fragile, but felt good.

"He likes me. He thinks I'm beautiful. I'm here now, and I'm going to make him fight hard to keep up with me against the Angels. He's just like me. Anything 'Invincible Shinji-sama' can do, I can do too! And he's going to hold me no matter what! I can't lose!" She worked her A-10 headset in under her hair and started tying up the tails of her hair in the back to the receiver nodes before attacking it with brushes and combs to make it shine.

Finally satisfied with the results, she admired herself in the mirror. She preened. "He thinks I'm beautiful? I'm going to knock his socks off today!" She looked great. She turned to the bathroom door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

A zombie lurched at her. "Bathrooooom..." it moaned, arms blindly fumbling in front, reaching at her....

Asuka blanched. "AAAAAAA!"

Misato squinted her eyes shut even harder and slammed her hands over her ears. "AAAgh! Not so loud! And turn off that light! Oh gods, my head!"

Asuka staggered out of the way of the hungover Major and tried to bring her pulse back down. She'd nearly had a heart attack! Misato wobbled past her, still moaning. The bathroom door snapped shut behind her. Wait, that meant she was now in the dining area... Her eyes shot left.

There he was. He was walking out of the kitchen area with her breakfast on a tray. He looked up as she appeared, a smile breaking out on his face...

Which meant he was totally surprised when he walked right into the table and smashed his toe against the leg. He managed to plop the tray down on the table without spilling anything, but then started hopping around sputtering in pain and holding his mashed foot.

'Well, that was a nice anticlimactic way to start the day...' Asuka shook her head. If painful for Shinji, his accident had at least broken the ice. The smile he'd started to aim her way had also been reassuring. He had a nice smile, and it had appeared so automatically as soon as he'd seen her. Just like her own.

'Soryu, you'd better learn to get that under control if you liked last night. Misato figures out you and he are sweet on each other for real, and she'll start watching you like a hawk to keep anything like that from going on!' she warned herself. She grit her teeth. Right. Control. They had to be cool when others were around.

"Shinji?"

Shinji looked up from rubbing his foot. He nervously smiled. "H-hi, Asuka. I mean, good morning. Um..." He trailed off, uncertain.

"We've only got as long as it takes Misato to shower and get back out here to talk, so we're going to have to be quick. Sit down."

Shinji sat down across from her, his hands restlessly flitting about in front of him. "Um... yes?"

"I... I heard you this morning."

Shinji blushed. "Er... I..."

"I... it's good, okay? I like it, that you would say that when you didn't think I could hear it. I know you meant it, just like... last night." She flushed some herself. "Yeah, all that stuff too but I mean... everything that we said. I meant it. And I'm glad you did too." He was starting to smile at her that way again. She started to match him, but stopped herself. "And I like it when you smile at me like that... but we've got to stop."

Shinji's face fell. "No..." he said, his voice hollow.

She reached across to grab his hand. "Not like that, baka! You are still holding me tonight, Third Child! You promised! What I mean is... we can't just... be all sunshine and smiles at each other like that. Not while Misato's around."

Shinji's desperate return grip on her hand eased. Color flooded back into his face. "Oh... right." He sighed in relief. "I... get it. I guess."

"I liked last night, Shinji. I woke up feeling good. I never wake up like that. I don't want it to stop, any of it. But if Misato catches us, that's the first thing she'll do, If she even finds out we're... that we really like each other, she'll be watching for it, So we can't let her catch us, or even suspect. And that means we've got to act like before, right?" Asuka argued.

"I suppose. At school too?" He regarded their hands with a slightly sad look. "I wish we didn't have to. I can hardly look at you without smiling now, Asuka." He looked up at her shyly. True to his word, he started to smile. "We're... we're alone when we walk to school, though, right? We can... maybe hold hands? For some of it?"

'Damn it, Shinji. Stop being so cute at me.' She cleared her throat. "Ahem! Maybe. If we're in a spot where no one can see us. We'll have to be careful. I don't want to end up having to live with Wondergirl, got it? Anyone sees us, and we'll have to deny it." She squeezed his hands one more time before pulling hers back. The warmth from his fingers was too seductive, and she knew if she let herself she'd just keep holding his until Misato came out and found them like that. "We're going to be like always at school, though. So... when I yell at you for being a baka... just... know that I don't really mean it, okay?"

"I... I know." Shinji nodded. "It's... it's okay. I get to see the real you at home. As long as I know... you're just like me."

A chill ran down her spine. 'The real me?' She suppressed it. 'Stop it. I am not useless. I am elite. He's going to have to keep up with me.' She kept her face calm. She let her hand snake back out to grab his again. His long, deft fingers easily intertwined with hers. She could almost feel the reassurance flowing through their clasp. "Just like me. Now let's eat and get moving before Miss Hangover has too much time to eyeball us."

 

[Strypgia]

Aside note: kinda surprised that they haven't told Hikari, though. They don't have to go into the details, just tell her that they actually like and understand each other. It'd be useful to have someone in-the-know in case they need an alibi or someone to cover for them.
---
Would Misato really make them stop, though? So long as they're practicing safe sex, are both happier and healthier for it, and don't do anything inappropriate when not in private, what objections would she raise? Especially since she's trying to get them together anyway. And they know she can be trusted to keep the secret.

Click to shrink...

It's mostly a factor of Asuka's (not unjustified) paranoia. Practically every good thing in her life has been taken away from her at some point, usually by things she has no control over. All she's got is being a Pilot, and now Shinji. So she's assuming a worst case scenario. Maybe Misato might not mind, but she's unwilling to even risk it. Same with telling anyone. She knows too well that even if Hikari is trustworthy, the more people who know a secret, the more likely it is to slip out. For all her brave front, Asuka is deeply worried and afraid of losing anything more.

There's also the military regulations and facets of Misato being their guardian she's worried about. Both sides of that frown on relationships. And as Stargrave said, this is finally something they have that's just theirs. They both have had so much taken from them, the instinct to protect something that makes them happy is very strong.

 

[Strypgia]

Chapter 2, part 2 of 3
The First Morning After
++++++++++++++++++

Getting out of the house before Misato finished up her hangover-slowed shower routine proved impossible, so over a quiet breakfast she and Shinji had their first trial by fire of whether or not they could fool Misato about their budding relationship. A groggy and light-sensitive Misato proved to be fairly easy to hoodwink, thought, and they escaped quickly after Shinji finished preparing their lunches without her even noticing the two Pilots never looked each other in the face.

Asuka fought down the urge to tow Shinji in through the front gates of the school by her hand, making her claim on him as loudly and publicly as she could. It was a bad idea, she told herself. Too many students would tell their parents, their teachers, or someone else who would eventually talk to their guardian, and then the game would be up. So no matter how much the idea of bragging about the fact she now had a boyfriend (who was, by the way, a fantastic kisser and good in bed) appealed to her, or the boost she could expect to her already considerable social status as the exotic foreign Eva Pilot from being paired up with the boy everyone knew had saved Tokyo-3 more than once, she'd have to stay quiet. Really.

So she restricted herself to merely holding his hand on a couple of the narrower side streets during their walk to school. She told herself it was because he'd asked for it. It totally wasn't because his hand felt warm and made her feel the same, or because the handclasp made her skin tingle at the point of contact. Totally not. It must have been his feet that slowed their walk as they approached the point where more public streets would require them to let go again.

School itself was relatively easy. She just acted tired and a bit surly, responding to Hikari's questions and chatter during the day with grunts and as little talk as possible. She spent most of the day trying not to obviously stare at Shinji and break into grins. That wasn't too easy, with memories of last night constantly popping up in her head. Which inevitably led her to thinking of the coming night...

'There are vending machines and pharmacies on the way home...' a quiet, subversive little voice whispered in her head. 'You could get some protection pretty easily that way. Then there'd be nothing to stop you from a little "special full-synchronization training" hurr hurr hurr...' She dug her pencil into her leg to stop the blush that wanted to explode across her face at that thought. She spent the next hour arguing with her body why they shouldn't do that. She was having a real hard time finding arguments. Last night had been too much fun. And more, she felt a deep nee-- desire to truly, fully connect with Shinji, to create the deepest bond with him she could. To be sure, at the deepest possible level of her mind, that he really looked at her.

'He's just like you,' the voice insisted. 'He's thinking about it too.' That's just because he's a teenage boy. He'd be like that with anyone. 'Except no. Have you ever seen him look at anyone else the way he looks at you? Has he ever held anyone like he held you? Kissed anyone like you?' No, he... wait. Asuka's eyes drifted past Shinji to the row of seats by the window, to the other Eva Pilot in their class.

Wondergirl. The bluenette was apparently ignoring the teacher again, staring out the window at the puffy clouds drifting across the sky. She'd more than once seen Shinji staring at the First Child during class. Or sometimes Ayanami was staring at Shinji. And they'd been fighting side-by-side for months before she arrived in Japan. There wasn't anything going on between them, was there? Shinji had never said a thing, and neither had Ayanami, but it's not like either were big talkers. 'He does look at her sometimes... and she does look almost as good as I do. Mostly. Somewhat. And I'm sure she'd do whatever she was told anyway. Stupid doll.'

Gott, now she was getting worried. She might even have a reason. When she'd first arrived, she'd been somewhat surprised to learn that the other girls in their year considered the quiet, unobtrusive Third Child to still be a hot catch for any girl who might nab him as a boyfriend. They thought him polite, a good cook who made his own bentos, kind of cute, and most of all, the famed Evangelion Pilot who'd defended Tokyo-3 from the attacks of three separate Angels. At the time she'd merely sniffed, accepting the last part with a muttered 'of course Eva Pilots are elite' and dismissing the rest as foolish rumors by girls who didn't know how dull he was in person.

But then they'd been forced to live together to train for their synchronized battle with Israfel. She'd found herself watching him, enjoying the way he cooked anything she wanted on demand and constantly cleaned up after her and Misato... how he took care of her. How he rose to the challenges of Eva Piloting, despite obviously not enjoying it the way she did. How he always gave her what she wanted, whenever she asked (or more often, simply demanded, loudly). Until she started wanting more from him than she could bring herself to actually ask for out loud. Then the rumors had started to make sense.

And now he was hers. So the other girls had declared him tasty, so what? A few had even made tentative approaches on him, asking him if he'd like to have lunch and such. He'd always turned them down, out of shyness or obliviousness to the real meaning of their requests. But the end result was Shinji had turned down every other girl who'd approached him... but her. And none of them knew why.

Asuka felt a small smile growing that she couldn't stop this time. None of them knew why, because none of them knew him the way she did. 'He's just like me. No one can know him like I do. Not even Wondergirl. He's mine!' That was a small surprise to her too, that she was looking forward to talking to Shinji tonight almost as much as her hormones were looking forward to the rest. Someone who could understand! 'He's just like me!' And he'd been scared, last night. She had been too, honestly. Neither of them were the kind of people to open up easily. But there was just something about him that dew her... She... wanted him. As a boyfriend, a confidant, a... a... everything. Even that ultimate step of intimacy, but... yeah, it was still a bit scary. So maybe not all the way just yet, but for damn sure they were going to talk and hold each other tonight. Asuka hadn't slept so well or peacefully in years. No nightmares, no restlessness, nothing but comfort and warmth.

And most of all, she hadn't felt alone. 'Gott, this is like a drug,' she thought. 'First hit's free...' But who cared, when it felt like this?

The lunch bell startled her out of her pleasant daydream. Time to mask up. She stood up and stalked over to Shinji's desk, a glower slipping over her face. "Baka-Shinji! Where's my lunch!" she growled at him, slamming her hands down on his desk.

He jumped at the impact, his mouth opening to say something. She narrowed her eyes at him, just a hair, and flicked her look at their classmates. Shinji got the hint and just said, "H-here, Asuka. Just the way you like it."

She accepted the proffered box with a haughty look, taking it without another word and walking towards Hikari's desk at the front of the room.

Her friend was waiting for her with a slightly disapproving look. "You know, Asuka, you could be nicer to Ikari-kun. He makes your lunch for you every day, and you hardly even say thank you," she chided her as they walked outside to eat.

'I almost wish I could tell you about last night right now, Hikari, just to see the look on your face.' Aloud, she held herself to, "He understands what I meant. I thank him after dinner at home." 'And oh boy, am I going to thank him tonight!' "Anyway, I think your sister owes me an apology. That guy she set me up on that blind date with yesterday was incredibly boring, and he tried to cop a feel on me after barely an hour at the amusement park!"

Hikari winced. "I'm sorry, Asuka! Kodama said he was a nice guy! And she was very insistent and persuasive."

"She probably owed him a favor, or money," Asuka grumbled. "After that, I just left him waiting in line and went home. And I'd gotten all dressed up for it, too. Hmph!"

"I'm really sorry. No more blind dates, I promise!"

Asuka waved her concern away. "It's fine, he's gone and forgotten. Tomorrow I won't even remember his name. So much for him being a 'dashing older student' like you said. He was just a selfish jerk out for a cheap feel, not anything like a real good man, like Kaji-san or S--" Asuka suddenly coughed violently and covered her mouth. 'Crap! You idiot! That was close!'

"Or who?" Hikari asked.

"Ssssssschelbert-san. Guy I knew in Berlin. Nice guy, very... er... tall. You don't know him," Asuka improvised. "But yeah, no more blind dates. Why don't you take the next one?"

Her friend blushed and mumbled something into her lunch. Asuka rolled her eyes. Her friend's poorly hidden giant crush on Shinji's athletic friend was cute, annoying, and right now a perfect distraction. Asuka mentally growled at herself for nearly blowing things that easily. Gah. When was this school day going to end?

"Do you think Suzuhara likes anyone in our class?" Hikari asked.

Asuka groaned.

 

[Strypgia]

Chapter 2, part 3 of 3
The First Morning After
++++++++++++++++++++

The final bell of the day came as a relief. As they were leaving Hikari invited Asuka out shopping as an apology for the blind date gone wrong, but Asuka begged off, citing vague NERV-related things she needed to do ahead of a synch test tomorrow. She'd signaled Shinji with her eyes to go on ahead of her, not wanting to be seen leaving in his company, but she caught up with him before he'd even made the first corner on their path home. She'd seized his hand as soon as they were out of sight of any fellow students, though she did ensure they kept to less visible streets.

Once in the door of Misato's apartment they'd nearly attacked each other, schoolbags immediately flung away. After only thirty minutes Shinji somehow managed to pull back and suggest they stop, over Asuka's protests. He reluctantly pointed out that if they still had homework and such undone when Misato got home a little later, she'd probably ask why. Misato knew Shinji was a dutiful student, and Asuka a college-graduate genius in Germany, so there was no reason they wouldn't already be done when she got home... unless something else had occupied them.

With only a modest amount of further pouting, Asuka decided that they should study together, at least. Misato would accept an explanation of that being an aftereffect of their synchronization training if they were found doing that. They could write it off as Shinji helping her study up on kanji, if nothing else. Plus, Shinji needed all her genius help on his math and science that he could get. She did enjoy the look he got when she sweetly asked if she should put on that bikini again to teach him more physics. She grinned wider when he managed to stutter a 'yes?'.

Working together to cover their weaker subjects actually made things go faster. They'd just finished up their studying about 5PM when the phone rang. Shinji answered it. "Hello? Katsuragi residence."

"And this is Katsuragi. Hi, Shin-chan. I'm making up for the time I took off for that wedding yesterday, so I'll be running really late. Don't bother leaving any dinner for me. I'll catch a meal here in the cafeteria or something. Maybe make Kaji buy me take-out. Anyhow, I probably won't get home until after midnight, so try not to fight with Asuka too much. Get to bed on time to get a good night's sleep. You all have that Synch Test tomorrow afternoon."

He glanced at Asuka, whose face had perked up at hearing Misato's voice. She made questioning gestures at him, and crept closer. She leaned in close, trying to put her ear next to the phone to listen in.

"Um, right, Misato-san. We'll be alright. We just finished up our homework, so we'll get to bed early, both of us," he said calmly. Asuka reeled away, clapping her hands over her mouth and fighting to contain her laughter.

"Good boy, Shin-chan. I'll see you in the morning." She hung up.

Asuka burst out laughing. "Hahahahaha! Oh, yeah, we're both getting to bed soon! Third, I didn't think you had it in you to try sneaking jokes past Misato like that! Hahahaha!"

Shinji shrugged and scratched the back of his head, but still grinned back at her. "Well, it's about what I would have said anyway, before, and it's still true, so I'm not lying or anything..."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the kitchen. "Heh. Technically correct, the best kind of correct. Now hurry up and make dinner. The faster you get done and we eat, the faster we can... ah... do everything else."

He started to open cupboards and pulled out the wok. "We..." He blushed. "We don't have... I mean... I really liked those parts, Asuka, but... I like talking to you too. I've... never had anyone who can understand like you. I want to be... I... I like being able to talk like we did last night."

"Not just trying to roll me into bed as fast as you can? Are you sure you're a teenage boy? Aren't you supposed to be all about that? It sure sounds that way, listening to your Stooge buddies," Asuka needled him, covering her nervousness at the topic.

Shinji looked at the floor. "I... do like that part too, Asuka. But... I... you're not just a beautiful girl to me, okay? You're... special. There's pretty girls in our class and stuff, but they're... They can't understand. I don't want to talk to them. They're not you. So I don't want to just kiss you. I... I want all of you."

He raised his head to look at her when he finished. Those dark blue, so damn blue eyes were increasingly making Asuka's insides melt when he did that, almost as much as his words this time. She tried to get her mouth to form actual words. "W-well, what about Ayanami? She's pretty, and she knows Eva. I've seen you looking at her, too."

Shinji blinked. "Ayanami? She... doesn't talk much. And I like her, but... she's not... so alive, like you. I don't... I worry that she doesn't seem to have any friends and takes too many risks in her Eva, but she doesn't keep me awake at night like you." He blushed again. "I mean... Not like last night! I mean before that! Oh wait, that sounds worse... I wasn't... gah..."

Asuka tried not to show how much better that made her feel. "Ohh? Thinking of me at night Shin-chan?" she asked, sweet as could be. "Baka hentai Shin-chan, up all night..."

He was thoroughly red now. "I... hey!" His eyes narrowed. "You're just like me! Were you... doing the same?"

Shinji pushing back? This was new and interesting. And true, as it happened, not that she was going to admit it so easily. "Me? I'm a proper and well-mannered young lady! I would never..."

"You totally were, weren't you?" Shinji interrupted, his blush easing as his smile grew.

Well, mostly about Kaji, at least at the beginning, but Shinji had started cropping up in there more and more. Thoughts of just sneaking across the hall one night, slipping into his room in the dark... A tingle ran through her at the thought that fantasy was now entirely possible, no, probable on a night very soon. She coughed into her hand. "...maybe." Gott, this was fun. He was pushing back at her. He was looking at her.

Shinji set the oven to cook and got out more dinner ingredients, grinning. "Asuka...this is kind of scary... but fun."

"I know."

"Not just the kissing. All of it."

"I know."

He looked at her closely again, the way he had yesterday just before he started listing their shared traumas. "You... you're scared at opening up... but that's even more exciting and terrifying than the... the parts in bed. But you don't want to stop. You've never felt like this before."

She made herself meet his look and shot back. "You... can't wait to get your hands on me again. You were thinking about it all day. It's a little scary, yeah, but... you want more. Of all of it."

He leaned in closer. "You... last night just happened. Knowing we're going to sleep next to each other already, at the start of... tonight is... different. You're..." Shinji placed visibly shaking hands on her waist, pulling her close. She tried not to shake likewise. "Scared. This still feels like some kind of wild dream. To you." He added at the last minute, keeping up the pretense.

She just gave a tiny nod. "We're Eva Pilots. We can do anything." She let their foreheads press together, looking right into his eyes from up close. This time their kiss was more tentative, but carried a different feeling then their earlier, intense make-out. "Finish making dinner, Shinji. I want to get to bed soon."

He pulled back and nodded. "Right. We told Misato we would," he said with a smile. "Synch Test tomorrow and stuff." He turned back to the wok.

"I am so going to kick your ass in that, Third Child."

Surprisingly, he pushed back at her one more time. "Bet you won't."

She let a delighted shiver run through her. "Oh, it is so on, Third."
++++++++++++++++++

Chapter 3 begun. Leliel is coming. Things get more serious...
And of course, there will be fan service! /Misato voice

 

[Strypgia]

She would like to, but the presence of the bus driver (and others) kind of make that a bad idea.
---
WE HAVE TO PRETEND TO BE MISERABLE ALL THE TIME, BECAUSE IF WE DON'T, THEY'LL GET SUSPICIOUS AND MAKE US MISERABLE ALL THE TIME!

Click to shrink...

Ironically, it's proving to be Asuka who's having the hardest time upholding the prohibition. Retreating into passivity, not doing anything, is pretty easy for the Third Child. For a much more active (and deep down insecure) person like Asuka, not grabbing a hold of that source of happiness/reassurance whenever she can is a real struggle.

Shinji, Asuka, and Rei should really just form a Pilot's Union. For the lulz.

Click to shrink...

I'd say 'Do you want to give Misato a drinking problem?', but boy, has that ship already sailed...

2500 words into Ch 3 now. May post tonight if I can transcribe it into my laptop. Shinji's sense of humor is starting to infect Asuka too...