Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A Pilot's Fate ❯ Chapter 1

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

A Pilot's Fate
Ch. 1
Hitokiri Saizen Tamoru [ronin setora]

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a/n: This is my first attempt at an EVA fic so you gotta review. It's also my first try in this genre of fiction
so that's more reason to review. Help me out, k? Also, this takes place after the End of Evangelion but
for the sake of this fic, everyone needed is alive.


"Kaji! Come over here! Please!!"
The red-headed German pilot called out to the taller, much older, man. He turned to Asuka, his expression, at
first unreadable. He blinked a few times, then hesitated. Kaji thought to himself,
'She'll hate me. I shouldn't tell her... but I've got to.'
The ex-NERV officer pulled his hand from his pocket and the dusk light caught something. Asuka's eyes welled
with tears and Kaji ran his other hand through his hair, sighing a long, drawn-out sigh. Asuka chokes on
her words,
"Mi... Misato?"
Kaji fingered the engagement ring and smiled nervously. Asuka turned on her heel to hide her eyes from one of
the few men that could read them without error. Hatred licked at her tears like fire to oil, poisoning them sour.
"Good that dogs have their bitches."
Asuka then ran away quickly, hoping to escape this new roadblock in the ressurected emotion's path. Kaji yelled
in desperation to draw her back, to regain any kind of love from her,
"ASUKA!!"
Darkness enveloped Kaji, leaving him alone in a lonely silence but for the sound of his own slow breaths. In
a moment the moon shone brightly and he remembered vividly the last events. He recalled Asuka's yellow
sundress, even the bonnet. He stared ahead into the shadows, straining his eyes to see that very
bonnet sitting hopelessly in the road, left far behind.
"Asuka... I'm so sorry."

The benefits of being a former EVA pilot were obvious even in dark if anyone BUT a pilot had been running in
tears toward the small manor. It had been about a year since the disaster that was Kaworu. There had finally
been peace on what remained of Earth, time to make amends for mistakes past and time to make friend of
new people.
But these were not the thoughts of the Second Child as she fled the streets for the solitude of her room. That
was the only place on the plot of land that could be called hers alone and the only place no one dared go
without permission. She moved quickly through the main room and up the stairs, beyond the curious glances
of Shinji and Rei. The two glanced at one another and the young, blue-haired girl nodded. Shinji stood and
dashed after Asuka, hoping to catch her before she reached her room. Rei looked down to her hands, the
fingers now clutching her skirt, a hint of a new emotion, of which she had been having many lately, pulling at her.
"Ikari..."

Shinji stood outside Asuka's door, his arm raised to knock. He inhaled deeply then beat three times on the door.
"Asuka? Can I come in?"
Without waiting for an answer, he barely pushed open the door to be greeted by not "Get out, Baka-hentai!"
but by loud sobs and a just audible, "Ikari?"
A great dispair weighed on just that one word and Shinji was struck by it like the coming of another Angel. He
pushed open the door more and stared at the girl as she lifted her head from her palms, her swollen eyes red as
her hair. The sudress was stained by dry tears and lightly soiled from minor falls. Shinji took in everything:
the teary eyes, dirtied dress, sweaty bangs, and sad Asuka, before venturing toward the bed. He sat next to
her and very slowly, and equally nervously, put his arm about her shoulder, always expecting a punch or slap
that never came. Shinji built his courage; pulled her near him and stroked her soft, red hair. He leaned his
head close to Asuka's and spoke quietly,
"Stop crying. Please. Just tell me what's wrong."
During all this Asuka became overwhelmed- Shinji's daring, then she, the great Asuka Langhley Soryu,
comforted by him. The compassion of the "Spineless baka-hentai" sent her into more tears, unconciously
digging her face into his firmer chest. This new revelation startled her only held back by the fear if she pulled away she
would do something wrong. The moment was too perfect to ruin.
As Asuka cried into his shirt, Shinji rubbed her back slowly, hoping to calm her enough into talking. It was
surprise enough that she let him into the room in what was normally a "moment of weakness", but that she
did not reject his companionship, even putting him to use in an emotional fit, was too much for the young
Ikari to understand. All he knew was, this trust and bond between them, even if only temporary, was
enjoyable. He liked knowing he could do something meaningful for this goddess in his arms. But with that,
all he could feel was the wanting to stop tears from destroying that perfect face. To see a smile, nomatter
how notorious, occupy the frown's place.
"What is this?" The thought circled in his head, causing many other questions. But for no reason would he
end this moment. The closeness of them was heaven enough, he couldn't have been happier if he had single
handedly saved the universe.
Asuka rested her hand on his shoulder and pushed her face away from his chest. She looked at his comforting
eyes and smiled lightly, the tears running into the corners of her mouth. She stared into those eyes, a feeling
in them she faintly remembered. At a whisper so low only Shinji would have heard if others were in the
room, Asuka said,
"A-arigatou... baka-hentai."
Shinji smiled as Asuka stopped crying and slowly regained her attitude. Right then he realizes he had grown to
love that selfishness, that cockiness that only she had. He wiped the few tears still staining her face with his
thumb, then spoke softly,
"Are you okay, Asu-chan?"
At this endearment she suddenly made a full recovery,
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Ikari? Who do you think you are?!"
Shinji was surprised at this quick change of emotion and caught the hand flying at his face.
"BAKA-HENTAI!! Let me GO! Get OUT!!!"
Shinji Ikari, former pilot of the insane Evangelion, supposedly one of the bravest cowards on Earth, sighed
and walked slowly to the door, casting no more than a glance at his past love. After he left, Asuka went
again to tears.
"Ikari... Ikari."

"It's better she knows anyway."
The still fairly-young lady pulled her violet bangs from in front of her eyes. The dim light of the candlelit room
made those brown eyes sparkle which, in their own beauty, would have mesmerized the man on the opposite
end of the table. If not that, the look in those eyes would normally have had him hypnotized, the emotions
that were plainly obvious digging into him creating sparks of delight. But beyond even that, had he still not
been captured, his being a man, the sheer amount of skin showing on this woman before him, especially in
the upper area, would have left him dizzy for days. Even for all these things, the black-haired Ryoji Kaji could
do no more than stare at his food, poking at it, while his fiance tried to comfort him. Nomatter how hard he
tried he could not see how the night before would ever be good for the hot-headed little German girl that
had loved him so selfishly. He could not imagine her ever very happy that he had done what everyone
figured he would do anyway. And he could not stomach the pure hate she now had for him.
He had been hated before, many times, it had just been another aspect of his job, one that he accepted and
lived with without a second thought. But now that Earth finally had peace, there was no reason for people to
hate any man. When there was reason, none was directed at him, he lived like a normal person, not
a bother to anyone; so for such contempt to be pointed at him from someone so close to his heart, it was unbearable.
The former lady NERV employee watched all those feelings flicker in her soon-to-be husband's downcast
eyes. Though she had his hand between both of hers and was trying to help, none of her words seemed to
catch his attention. Finally she let him go and leaned back, crossed her legs and placed her palms in her lap.
She took in a deep breath and held it in for a few moments. This silence had effect and the ex-spy looked up
curiously, wondering why she had stopped speaking. Misato let the breath out as slowly as she had taken it
in and shut her eyes.
"She is going to just have to accept it. Maybe now she'll realize there's someone else out there for her. And
he's already close." She smiled as Kaji slowly reached understanding.
"You mean Ikari?"
When Misato just kept smiling, Kaji walked over to her and lifted her into his arms. He kissed her lips lightly
while carrying her to another room.
"I'm marrying the perfect woman."
He set her on the bed and lay beside her, their faces inches apart.
"Of course."

Asuka came down the stairs towards the breakfast table, her hair a total catastrophe, eyes half-shut,
nightshirt falling off one shoulder, and her mouth open beyond gaping in a yawn so loud it didn't seem
possible. This sound carried over into the dining room, and before he could remember she no longer lived
with them, Shinji said,
"Ohayo, Misato."
The moment he turned and saw the red hair, he was ducking under the chair to avoid a very dangerous hand.
When Asuka settled, he laughed nervously, his arms still shielding his head as if debris were very suddenly
going to rain down on him. He crawled from under the chair and put it to proper use.
After Asuka had finally calmed totally, and Rei had served out breakfast, Shinji noticed all three empty
spaces, dismissed one for it had always been empty, then turned his head to Rei.
"Where's Touji?"
"Upstairs," Rei said in her quiet, monotone voice.
Asuka looked around and spoke the pointless question,
"Hikari?"
In that same dry tone, Rei answered,
"With Touji."
A broad grin came to Shinji while Asuka recoiled in disgust. The two, Shinji and Rei, ate on
in silence while Asuka swallowed one bite and ran away from the table holding her stomach.
"Are they really up there together?"
Rei said nothing though a light smile played at her lips. Shinji smirked,
"You little devil."
Shinji smiled broadly, then he and Rei continued eating, listening to Asuka wretch.

Well after breakfast, Touji stumbled out of his room, a greatly disoriented but very happy Hikari latched
onto his arm. They made it down the stairs and were greeted by the First and Third Children who were in the
main room on the couch, childishly watching Saturday morning cartoons. When they finally reached the dining
room, Asuka was found trying to eat again. When she saw the couple, her hand flew to her mouth and she
fled the room.

"Would you like me to join you?"
If it were anyone else, the soft voice would have went unheard. But the trained ears of the brown-haired boy
picked up the sound and fully understood. He turned his head and stared into the shining red eyes of one of
the most beautiful girls he had ever seen. Shinji knew he couldn't force himself to deny her anything but
didn't quite understand why. He nodded his head slowly.
Asuka sat on the other end of the couch and watched the "Wonder Child" and "baka-hentai" get along so
well even in that one sentence conversation, envy like an inferno in her eyes. She wasn't willing to admit,
even to herself, why jealousy was becoming her closest friend. Nonetheless, she was envious that Ikari and
Ayanami could be perfectly happy with each other while she and Ikari had a relationship based on his fear of
pain. Though in her heart she knew the answer, one question lived at the back of her mind, every once-
in-awhile pawing foward- Why couldn't Ikari enjoy her company the same way as Ayanami's?
And every time the question came to mind, all the answer she needed was in that night she had pushed him
away. That night that he did all he could to make her feel better without even knowing why she felt so bad.
That night he had shown more love for her than anyone ever had. Through all that she had pushed him away
and it seemed he had forgotten he loved her altogether. As Shinji and Rei walked out the door, Asuka
whispered to herself,
"Why am I such a bitch? How could I be so stupid?"
She went again to tears just as Touji and Hikari came in with ice-cream cones, smiling at one another other. When
she witnessed her best friend so happy with one of Ikari's friends, she ran out the room, again dashing for the
solitude of her room.
Hikari looked to Touji with worried eyes and rushed after her friend, almost tossing the cone back at Touji.
He stared at the two cones in his hands and his eyes grew wide with delight.
Meanwhile, Hikari had just caught the hastily closing door. She stepped in and shut it behind her, locking it quickly.
"Tell me everything."
"I... I don't know... I think I love Shinji."
Hikari gasped as Asuka went through the events of the last few days.

Misato kissed Kaji hurriedly and ran out the door, already late for her new job. As she sprinted down the
sidewalk she passed many stores. At one window, that of a cafe', she came to a complete stop and gasped at
the sight. Her eyes grew wide and she stared in total shock at the people before her.
"Oh my God..."

~To Be Continued~
a/n: I think you know what she sees. ::smiles:: This is how drama is created. Ja!
10.31.02 (20:54 hrs)-- Converted entire chapter to the past tense.

"baka-hentai" = "stupid pervert"
"-chan" = ...term attached to the end of a special or fancied girl's name
"Ohayo" = "good morning"