34"Where's Misato?" Asuka asked Shinji, towelling her hair dry.
"Working." He replied, flicking a page through his magazine. "It's gonna be an all-nighter, she said so on the phone."
Asuka smiled. "So, we're gonna be alone all night!" she winked at him.
Shinji sat up in surprise as Asuka gathered up her blanket and futon, dumped them in Misato's bedroom next door, and sliding the door shut behind her with her foot.
The boy blinked.
Asuka pushed the door open with a stern look on her face. "This is the indestructible wall of Jericho." Asuka stated with a hand on the sliding door as Shinji tried not to look down her nightshirt. "If you cross this wall, you'll be executed!" She leered, adding "Children shouldn't stay up late.", before slamming the door shut.
Shinji rolled over in his futon in the living room.
Who does she think she is?
This was his house.
Well, Misato's house, but he lived here well before Asuka did.
Wall of Jericho… huh.
Though, from her point of view, and really, she was being sensible.
Boys and girls really shouldn't sleep in the same room.
They were just kids after all.
Doesn't mean that she had to be so… so mean about it.
…
Shinji twisted his eyebrow.
"Children shouldn't stay up late." She said.
What was that about? It's not like she's any older than he was.
Even if she is, it wouldn't be by more than a few months.
Although, she clearly thinks that she's better than him.
Always saying she's the most experienced pilot… always blaming him…
What's with her?
…
What's with her?
She's always going on about Kaji, but Shinji could tell he wasn't interested.
The guy was like, almost thirty.
He didn't want a kid like Asuka.
That'd be like… like Shinji and Misato.
The boy blushed slightly at the thought, then shook his head.
…
…
…
Shinji and Asuka?
Shinji grabbed his head this time.
Not a chance.
Not with her.
She's such a jerk.
Well… what's a girl jerk?
No… no that's not right either.
Shinji rolled over and stared at the familiar ceiling.
It was like… one minute she'd be all nice and friendly, then he says something and she's mean again.
Like he just ruined everything.
Like it was his fault.
Shinji sat upright. Was it his fault?
Was Asuka trying to be nice?
Was Asuka trying to make an effort, but Shinji just does something to mess up whatever plan she comes up with and she just lashes out?
If that was the case…
Then why was she being mean when they were alone..?
…
"She's showing a side of herself that she doesn't show anyone else." Aida told him about Misato. "That means she trusts you Shinji."
If Asuka trusts him, why's she being so mean to him all the time?
Is she just a mean person?
A mean person who wants to be nice..?
…
Then…
Shinji lied back down in his futon, trying to get back to sleep.
They had to fight the Seventh Angel tomorrow.
…
…
…
…
…
Why was she in Misato's room?
Why not just go back to her room? The room she stole from Shinji when she moved in?
It was certainly further away.
Although, that could mess up the synchronisation they'd managed to achieve so far.
Asuka took pride in her work as an Eva pilot.
She loved it.
She lived for it.
She's been training for it all her life.
Shinji couldn't imagine what that could be like.
She can't imagine what it's like either, to just get dragged away from his normal life and be forced to pilot the Eva.
She couldn't even understand that he didn't want to pilot in the first place.
She doesn't understand how he can pilot it in the first place.
He got dragged off the street and could do what she's been training for years to do.
In the battle against the previous angel, she wasn't happy when Shinji took control of the Eva to fight it off.
Of her Eva.
He took control of it.
When she couldn't.
She's very competitive.
…
So that's it?
She hates Shinji because he's talented at what she's dedicated her whole life to, and doesn't even have the decency to be happy about it?
But…
No, she's got to know him over the past week.
She knows that it's not easy for him.
She knows that he tries hard.
She tries hard too.
They both work hard for the Eva.
It's hard piloting the Eva.
But she likes it.
Shinji doesn't.
But, he does like it when people say he did well.
So… he does like piloting Eva?
Not in the same way she does. She likes actually fighting.
But she still wants people to say she's good.
She likes it when people says she's good.
She really likes it when Kaji says she's good.
…
What if…
What if Shinji's father said he was good?
How would he feel then?
…
Though, that'll never happen.
Not Shinji's father…
…
So…
So couldn't he enjoy actually piloting it? Like Asuka does?
Asuka…
…
…
…
She's on the other side of that door.
That Wall of Jericho.
That impenetrable Wall of Jericho.
What was the Wall of Jericho anyway?
Some biblical thing?
…
…
…
Dammit…
Shinji got to his feet and walked over to the bookshelf, grabbing a Gideon's Bible Misato had probably took from a hotel somewhere.
Let's see… index…J… J… J… Jericho… Jericho… Jericho, wall of…
Destroyed by the Israelites?
How?
Joshua, chapter five…
Shinji furiously flicked through the pages of the bible, straining his eyes in the dim moonlight.
There.
1) Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
2) And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
3) And ye shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days.
4) And seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow with the trumpets.
5) And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.
…
20) So the people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
21) And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
22) But Joshua had said unto the two men that had spied out the country, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her.
…
25) And Joshua saved Rahab the harlot alive, and her father's household, and all that she had; and she dwelleth in Israel even unto this day; because she hid the messengers, which Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
26) And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
…
Shinji put the book back on the shelf.
No way.
But…
Why would she use a wall that was famous only for being completely and utterly destroyed as her metaphor?
What if I already knew about it, and shouted at her just for a joke?
Wouldn't that upset her?
Wouldn't she be embarrassed that he figured out such a huge… a huge flaw in her warning?
Why not use the Berlin wall for her metaphor?
Sure, that one came down too, but it separated a whole city for a good thirty years before coming down, and a city much closer to her in relevance.
Was she scared that I'd know about that, but not the Jericho wall?
It's a huge gamble if she did, and Asuka didn't gamble. She believed in her own strength and blamed others when she failed.
So… why…?
Shinji scratched his head, returning to the futon to try and get back to sleep, but these thoughts wouldn't leave him.
She brought it up, so she knew the story.
So why use a wall famous for falling down in the most pathetic way possible for her warning?
"If you cross this wall, you'll be executed!"
But the Israelites didn't cross the wall. They shouted, and it fell on its own.
The door was open for them.
Wait, what door?
No, no the wall was removed from their path.
Asuka's behind that door.
She wants to sleep alone.
She kicked me out of my room just so she could have some privacy.
…
Who does that?
Who kicks someone out of their room?
Did she think I wouldn't argue? That I wouldn't try to keep what was mine?
Was that what she wanted?
To get a reaction?
Everything she's done so far, all the introductions she's made, it's all been a big show to say "Look at me! Aren't I great?"
Not that she'd ever say that.
She's far too proud to just openly ask for attention.
She wants people to see how great she is and come to her.
She is great.
Shinji blushed at the image of her cleavage when she warned him about the door.
…
Why wasn't she standing up?
She was standing up when she closed the door, and it opened with her like that a second later.
Far too quick for her to be making her futon and decide to warn him as an afterthought.
"Look at me! Aren't I great?"
Did she do that… so Shinji would see how great she was?
Did she want him to tell her how great she was?
Not that it gets Kaji anywhere with Misato…
Kaji…
He sees her as a child.
"Children shouldn't stay up late."
She doesn't want to be a child.
What about me?
What do I want?
Am I a child?
Well, yeah. I am. I'm only fourteen…
And that's what they call me, the Third Child.
Is that all I am..?
…
What does she want me to be?
"Children shouldn't stay up late."
Does… does she..?
No. No way.
Impossible.
I'm not ready for that stuff.
And she calls me a pervert.
Maybe I am, thinking about this stuff.
Am I just reading too into this?
I'm just… I'm just trying to understand her…
Isn't that what this synchronisation training's about?
Getting closer to each other? Understanding each other and thinking with each other?
So… if she's sending me signals, then of course I've got to think about them.
Is she sending me signals?
I don't know… she'd never tell me if I asked her.
…
Shinji sighed. Why can't people be straightforward?
Not that he's any different.
…
Still…
What if she is?
A thought appeared in his head.
There was one way he could find out.
The worst she'd do is laugh at him. Maybe hit him a little.
Either way, he'd know and could get some sleep.
But…
Shinji flinched as Penpen slapped him around the back of the head on his way to the kitchen.
Shinji glared at the bird as he rubbed the scratches on the back of his head. "That hurt." He hissed.
The penguin half-turned back at Shinji, then winked at him before burying his head in the fridge.
Is he..?
…
"So, we're gonna be alone all night!"
"This is the indestructible wall of Jericho."
"If you cross this wall, you'll be executed!"
"Children shouldn't stay up late."
…
Shinji got to his feet and scooped his blanket and futon into his arms, then walked over to the door of Misato's room.
The door between him and Asuka.
He gulped.
The Wall of Jericho.
He knocked. "A-Asuka?" he asked nervously.
"What?" she replied.
"C-can I stay in there tonight..?" he asked, scared as he sounded. "I- please..?"
A moment passed.
Shinji lowered his head in a sigh.
The door slid open.
Asuka leered at him from her futon. "Fine." She told him. "Just this once, idiot."
He smiled. "Thanks." He told her, coming in and setting up a futon next to hers.
"What do you think you're doing?" she shouted, kicking him in the chest. "Pervert!"
Shinji stared at her, rubbing his backside.
"There's fine." She muttered, shoving his futon over to where he was as she shoved her head into her pillow. "Idiot…"
He blinked, then smiled.
So that's it.
"Night Asuka." He told her, getting in his futon.
…
…
…
"Wha?" he asked in shock.
"Shut up you idiot." Asuka muttered, pulling him closer.
-}+{-
And from that, Shinji began to respect other people's feelings, Asuka wasn't twisted from feelings of uselessness and jealousy, and Evangelion had a happier ending.
And THAT'S how you do a nail fic. No major change like Yui not getting sucked into the Eva, or Gendo being nice, or Shinji being a badass.
Just make him think about other people more. It's amazing what happens when you do that.
Just wanted to get this idea off my chest before getting back to other stuff. Expect a new Arrangements Shall Be Made, Time Paradox, and Pokémon: Lelouch of the Rebellion soon, plus other stuff.
And yes, I am aware that I shifted between first person and third person a few times. I did that on purpose because I liked the effect.
