Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Neon Genesis Evangelion: Altered Destinies ❯ Launch Twelve! ( Chapter 13 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Altered Destinies
Launch Twelve!

Shinji Ikari smiled wryly as she entered the classroom, her brown hair tied back in a ponytail and dressed in a boys uniform. She nodded greetings to friends before sitting down at her desk, then frowned as she felt eyes on her.

‘Mana,’ Shinji realized as she looked up to meet the other girl’s gaze.

Mana Kirishima sat near the front of the class, looking neat and orderly in her girl’s uniform. Her reddish brown hair was short and a bit messy, but her eyes were sharp and piercing as she coolly met Shinji’s gaze before turning back towards the front of the class.

‘She looks annoyed at me,’ Shinji noted as she got her books out of her bag, ‘wonder if it’s something I did or just because I work with NERV?’

“Shit, hurry,” Toji Suzuhara said as he held the door to the classroom open while he and Aida ducked inside, both looking worried.

“Cutting it a little close?” Shinji asked wryly.

“You have no idea,” Aida groaned as he collapsed into a seat, “we ran into a monster on the way to school.”

“Huh?” Shinji blinked at them.

“She was playing a video game at the arcade, the most gorgeous redhead,” Toji noted, “well, she was gorgeous until she opened her mouth. She demanded money from us for accidentally seeing her panties!”

‘I think I know who they ran into,’ Shinji thought wryly.

“Then she shoved me around,” Aida said mournfully, “and started a fight with some Yanki punks. We barely escaped with our lives!”

“I can’t believe you two,” Hikari reached out to grab Toji by the ear and yanked him backwards as thee brown haired girl continued, “how could you leave a girl in trouble?” Her twin ponytails bounced with her anger as she continued, “That’s something only the lowest sort of man would do!”

“Was she all right when you left?” Shinji asked them, feeling a flash of concern for her fellow Evangelion pilot. Not that she didn’t think Asuka could handle herself, but it couldn’t hurt to check.

WHAM!
The classroom door slammed open again as Asuka Soryu Langley strode inside. Her red hair flowed over her shoulders, and Shinji blinked in surprise when he saw she was still wearing the ‘cat ear’ headpieces for her Evangelion. Along with her student uniform she looked stunning, in a fiery sort of way.

“Wow,” Aida breathed out even as Hikari let Toji go.

“It’s you!” Asuka declared as she saw Shinji and Rei Ayanami sitting in their seats.

“Welcome to our class,” Hikari stepped into the moment of awkwardness smoothly.

“All right everyone,” the older teacher said as he entered, “take your seats, please.” He wrote something on the chalk board as he said, “We have a new arrival.”

Standing in front of where he had wrote her name Asuka smiled with a surprising amount of charm. “My name is Asuka Soryu Langley,” she bowed as she continued sweetly, “I hope we can all get along.”

‘I wonder how long that attitude is going to last?’ Shinji wondered silently.

Annoyingly, Asuka seemed determined to show her intelligence that day, hand shooting up to any request from the teacher for answers, Even more annoying was her being right all the time, resulting in a few of the less highly achieving classmates to hate her guts.

Later during lunch period Shinji watched with some amusement as Asuka tried to unsuccessfully bond with Rei. It seemed Rei was fully into her emotionless mode, though Shinji suspected she saw a few slight twitches of her lips indicating humor at the situation. Training together had helped her begin to read Rei more, but even so Shinji often didn’t understand that enigmatic young lady.

Asuka finally cursed, though Shinji didn’t understand the language, then stomped off with a annoyed twirl of her skirt. “Come on,” she forcefully grabbed Shinji by the arm and nearly dragged her away.

“No,” Shinji dug in her heels and shook Asuka’s grip off her arm. In a somewhat more normal tone of voice she said dryly, “Nice to see you again, Miss Soryu.”

Asuka looked at her flatly for a moment, then she smiled slightly. “You won’t be bullied,” she noted, “I like that.”

“Thanks.” Shinji nodded towards a slightly secluded corner, “Let’s talk.”

As Asuka sat down she frowned, “Is she always that... emotionless?”

“She’s not emotionless,” Shinji paused before admitting, “but she is very hard to read. Get to know her and you’ll find out.”

“And how long does that take?” Asuka asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It did take me some time,” Shinji decided to take the question seriously.

Asuka looked over at Rei, her expression one of profound distaste. “All right,” she said firmly, “I’ll try. Then, we’ll see.”

‘That’s a interesting reaction,’ Shinji blinked, wondering just what was going on in the other lady’s head.

Shaking off her melancholy mood Asuka gave Shinji a visual once over as she asked, “So what’s with the boy’s uniform?”

“It’s comfortable,” Shinji gave a slightly quirky smile, “it suits me, and I’m pretty certain it annoys my father.”

“You have issues with your father?” Asuka asked intently.

“Don’t we all?” Shinji offered.

A smile tugged at Asuka’s lips as she got up suddenly, brushing off her uniform skirt. “I think we may just get along,” she noted before she strode off.

Shinji looked after her with a perplexed expression, trying to figure out what that might have meant. ‘Never mind,’ she decided, settling down to eat her lunch.

“Ikari!”

‘Then again,’ Shinji thought, looking up as Toji and Aida hurried up.

“You actually talked with her?” Toji demanded, the taller boy looking at her with a honestly surprised look.

“What’s she like?” Aida demanded.

“Abrasive,” Shinji relied dryly as she began to eat, knowing that she didn’t have that much time left.

“But damn is she good looking,” Toji noted.

Shinji ate a mini-sausage as she warned him, “Just don’t let Hikari hear you say that. You’ll regret it.”

Toji paled a bit, “Good point.”

“Wimp,” Aida smirked as he casually swept the room with his camcorder. “Hey Ikari?” he started.

“Yeah?” Shinji asked as she polished off his lunch.

“What’s with Mana always staring at you?” Aida asked.

“You’re kiddin’ me?” Toji looked around covertly then confirmed that yes, Mana was giving Shinji a hostile look. “Damn, do you have to get all the hot chicks?”

“It’s not like that,” Shinji blushed.

“Damn, I wish I was a Evangelion pilot,” Aida sighed sadly, “then I’d get the chicks after me, too.”

“That,” Toji added, “and stop being a military otaku.”

“Give up my cosplay and war gaming?” Aida looked shocked, “Never!”

Toji shrugged, “I rest my case.”

Shinji closed up her lunch box with a relieved sigh, glad she had finished it. ‘And thank god Ritsuko made it,’ she noted, ‘Misato’s tend to be inedible. Wonder if all that drinking she does blew out her tastebuds?’

“Ikari?” yet another voice interrupted her thoughts.

Biting back a groan Shinji looked up to see Mana had walked up, muscling by the plainly curious Toji and Aida. “Yes?” she kept her voice mild.

Mana gave a pointed look at Toji and Aida then asked, “Can I talk to you alone?”

“Well,” Shinji started then the bell rang telling them to go back to class. “Damn.”

“Could I see you after school?” Mana asked, determination in her eyes.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Shinji agreed, curious to see what she wanted.

To be continued....