At some point on the way home, it had started raining. Prepared as usual, Shinji fished out the compact umbrella from his bag. As soon as he had the thing unfolded, Asuka had her arm around his waist, her gaze determinedly looking the other way, for fear of her fire-red face glowing like a beacon in the night being discovered.
"Say one embarrassing word or anything and I'll be explaining to Misato why you suddenly have hundreds of bruises." She tried to sound as defensive as possible, but Shinji simply chuckled, beginning the wet but cozy walk home.
After a few minutes, she had begun to regret her fierce words. Looking at Shinji's arm dangling, she began to wish one of them was wrapped around her shoulders. She leaned in a little closer, attempting to nudge her intentions into him, but his usual obliviousness was preventing her 'Hold me!' signals from reaching his brain.
'I'm beginning to wonder who's the bigger moron...' She thought as she intentionally knocked her hand against his.
Shinji, on the other hand, was facing a dilemma. Her words could be taken seriously, knowing how Asuka used to be in the past. But this new, forward Asuka was a somewhat new creature to him. He had no idea how to react.
A while ago, Hikari had told him something very important.
"For us girls, and especially a girl like Asuka, who's never really honest about her feelings, never listen to what they're saying. Try to listen to the real words underneath, what they're actually trying to say."
He'd read enough manga to know that going straight in with that advice was practically suicide. Because it was Asuka, touching her carelessly would result in the offending limb being torn off.
But if she was already touching him, with her arm wrapped around his waist, holding tight as though to suck all his body warmth from the point of contact, what were the rules then?
With his umbrella in his right hand, he slowly sneaked his hand around to her shoulder, trembling just above it. The ever perceptive Asuka instantly knew what was going on. Her heartbeat sky-rocketed, not quite believing the normally shy Shinji would try something so daring. With baited breath, she watched him out of the corner of her eye. If she said anything, that fragile courage would be shattered. For the first time in a long time, she had to summon every ounce of patience she could muster.
After what seemed like a monumental struggle, she felt his soft touch as he clasped her shoulder gently. A warm smile enveloped her face as she leaned her head into him.
"I'm not that scary, am I?"
Shinji grinned as he held her tighter.
"Not anymore."
Standing outside the Katsuragi residence, the time had come for them to finally let go. Reluctantly, the two separated and rode the elevator to their floor. Suddenly, they were standing outside their front door.
Taking a deep breath, Asuka gathered her thoughts. Starting today, she was living with Rei Ayanami. She was living with a potential rival in love. She had to be prepared for anything.
As she opened her eyes, the front door had begun sliding open. In a heartbeat, a slim, pale white arm had reached out and dragged Shinji inside, screaming. The door slammed shut, audibly locking.
Asuka took another deep breath, this time attempting to quell the volcano of rage broiling inside her. A quick analysis of the situation told her one thing. Her romantic interest was now locked in a house with a prospective fiancée, who according to the various noises, was probably molesting him. The volcano erupted as she rammed the door with all her might, attempting to break it down. But as strong as her rage was, she wasn't quite physically strong enough to break down the door.
"Open this fucking door Ayanami!"
Her response was more of Shinji's wailing, serving to fuel her rage even further. She punched the door, kicked it, shoulder-barged it and screamed at it. Resting her head against its metal frame, she began thinking frantically.
"Come on genius. How can we get in there?!" More sounds of struggling could be heard and Shinji's startled voice echoed from what sounded like the middle room.
"Rei?! That's my belt, put it back!"
Asuka's eyes sparkled with reignited fury, a million degrees hotter than before. Her only thought was saving Shinji as she brought her fist up again, preparing to hit the door as hard as she could.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY SHINJI!" The bracelet sparkled a furious red, as bright as her fury. Her fist connected with the door. Unnoticed in her rage, her arm had covered itself with a bright red metallic armour, which she used to smash the door off the frame of the wall. Debris and dust exploded everywhere. When the dust settled, a terrifying image of Asuka faded into view.
On the floor of the living room, a petrified looking Shinji was caught underneath Rei, who was in the middle of removing his shirt.
"Katsuragi-sensei will not be too happy with that."
"I don't give a flying fuck about the damn door right now." Asuka snarled. Rei looked back with an emotionless stare, and finally let go of Shinji, who looked close to passing out.
"So it appears the experiment was a success." Her eyes glanced towards Asuka's arm, still covered in the almost feral armour. Following her eyes, Asuka too noticed the strange development with her arm, and her anger was suddenly replaced with surprise and curiosity.
"Wait, what? What is this thing?!"
"Moreover, it's just like you to conjure something so beastly in appearance." Rei said as she held out her own arm. A similar looking bracelet to the ones Shinji and Asuka wore adorned her arm, except it was a perfect white colour. Closing her eyes, Rei went silent. After a moment, a similar armour appeared on her arm, in similar fashion to Asuka's. It looked a lot less scary than Asuka's arm, with a more elegant touch to its appearance.
"And what are you going to do with that?" Bringing her own weaponized arm into a fighting stance, Asuka prepared, come whatever madness may. Rei completely ignored her however, and turned towards Shinji.
"My ones prettier, don't you think?"
Shinji could only look between the two girls, dumbfounded. Was it a serious question? Was there going to be repercussions if he said he did indeed think Rei's arm-armour thing was a little less scary than Asuka's? Probably, but he was thankfully saved from asking by the sound of a heavy six-pack of Yebisu dropping to the ground. The owner of the beer was currently looking at her front door, aghast.
"Does someone want to explain what happened here?" Misato eyed the three students, as well as the peculiar weapons attached to the girl's arms.
"We were just...-" Her excuses tumbled over each other inside her mouth, but before Asuka could get a decent word out, Rei spoke up.
"I was instructed by Yui Ikari to perform an experiment involving the bracelets. And before anything else, I believe it's my duty to clean up the mess of my... Subjects." Something like a smile curled across Rei's lips as she reformed her armour back into a bracelet. Holding her arm out again, she closed her eyes. Sparks and mystical lights began to flow around the room as the debris from the earlier incident began to lift and return to the wall. It was like watching an explosion happening in reverse.
Asuka watched the spectacle relieved that her outburst hadn't caused any permanent damage, but couldn't help feel a little antagonistic towards Rei. The girl had been playing them both the second they'd returned home. How was she expected to live with a girl who was clearly going to mess with her head.
"An experiment?" Shinji suddenly remembered how to use his voice. "Are you going to show us how to actually use this things? And wait, how are you involved with my parents?"
"Actually, I can answer that one." After placing her slightly dented beers in the refrigerator, taking one out for herself, she sat down on the sofa.
"Was it about a week ago? Something like that-" One quick swig of beer and then she continued. "So about a week ago, Yui came up to me and said, 'Misato', in that voice that tells me she's going to ask for something huge. Anyway, 'Misato, would you be able to do me a huge favour, and take care of one of my distant relatives for a while?'. Of course, along with Kyoko, we're sort of all in this together, so I can't exactly refuse her."
At the mention of her mother, Asuka perked up. It wasn't often she got to hear of her ever-busy parent, but as much as she would never admit it, she was a mommy's girl and wanted to spend more time with her. As a result of this deity-creating experiment, the Ikari's and her mother had spent so much time locked in their labs that she was begin to seriously worry about her mama's health. She was never really the type to take care of herself, and seemed to be constantly bumping into things. For all she knew, her ditzy mother probably forgot how to sleep.
"Wait, we're related?" Shinji asked curiously. He had met Rei as a child, and they had played together a lot as children, but leaving talks of marriage aside, this was the first he had heard of a blood relation. He'd always assumed her parents were business partners to his parents or something.
"Even I'm not really sure of the relationship, but something like very distant cousins?" Rei sounded just as curious as he was. Misato grinned at the pair of them.
"Nothing to worry about, a marriage between the two of you would be perfectly okay. Well, apart from the childhood friend having her say." She knocked back her head and laughed, downing the rest of her beer.
"Which isn't happening by the way." Asuka growled. Her lack of a say in this marriage arrangement was infuriating, but she'd be damned if she was going to let any of it go ahead.
"Are we declaring war?" Misato teased. The Asuka she knew was stubborn and wasn't about to place herself into a situation that may potentially embarrass her. But her jaw hung itself open as she watched the spirited yet flushed redhead link arms with Shinji, who looked close to having his own personal meltdown, and force herself to present a victorious grin.
"If she's come to challenge my territory that I've had claimed for over ten years, she can forget it." She looked up to the boy she had known her entire life, his eyes as wide as peaches.
"He's mine."
In a flash, Rei was hanging off his other arm, glaring at her competition. Stuck in the middle, Shinji suddenly thought of all the things he still had to do in life. With the way things were going, he was never going to get laid before Asuka killed him. He had been thinking of trying his hand at becoming a mangaka, but his characters and ideas were tearfully waving goodbye to him as the grim reaper came to introduce himself. He should've wrote a will at some point...
"This little drama is great to watch and all, definitely beats anything on TV these days, but can we pause this and resume that conversation about 'experiments' and freaky bracelets?" The rarely seen responsible Misato made her appearance, with the best intentions.
But Rei had other ideas.
"This might be a good idea to show what I've learned."
Her bracelet glowed once more. A length of thin, sturdy rope was conjured out of thin air. It rapidly wrapped itself around Shinji, pinning his arms to his side. Another rope did the same to Asuka, although her arms were restrained behind her, preventing her from moving.
"If you can't use the weapons available, you won't be able to win this battle." Rei said, a victorious smile playing across her face.
"I'm too young for BDSM, can't we just talk about this Rei?!" Shinji wailed in the middle. Asuka was struggling against the rope digging into her arms, infuriated from the brazenness shown by the red-eyed man-thief. She was still surprised at how real the ropes felt, for something that was essentially created from nothing.
"I thought the whole reason you were here was to show us how to use these damn bracelets?!" Her mind raced as she tried to remember how the technology worked.
Breaking down the door, she had wanted something strong, something that could compensate for her lack of strength. It didn't even matter what shape, but it morphed into a powerful arm. Her subconscious might've filled in the blanks, but she essentially imagined something strong. Just like in the room in the lab, Shinji had to imagine the cat into existence. With that in mind...
"Heh..." An evil grin played on her face.
"I don't like that face your making Asuka... " Shinji knew her various expressions well enough by now to know that her counterattack was imminent and would somehow be painful for him.
"It appears you weren't necessary after all, Ayanami." Straining her muscles, stretching the rope, and eventually the rope restraining Asuka came free. Part of the rope tying her hands had been charred black as she had burned through them by imagining flame surrounding her hands. The power even ensured she hadn't felt the burn of the flame either.
"You just need an open mind."
"Oh I see!" It looked like Shinji had come to the same conclusion. Closing his eyes, he imagined a flame burning the ropes at the contact point of his body. Within seconds, and accompanied by a whooshing flame sound, the ropes fell to his feet, severed and charred.
"Ow!" He'd apparently forgotten that fire burns though, neglecting to protect himself as Asuka had done.
"Instead of explaining everything, it's easier to show you. And it will be easier to remember in the future too." Rei made no move to suggest any further antagonistic moves would follow.
"Teaching like a normal person isn't bad once in a while though."
"I agree with him. You better not become a schoolteacher someday, you might end up killing someone." Asuka sighed. But now she knew how the bracelet worked, she wanted to try something out. Holding out her hand, she closed her eyes and began to exercise her imagination.
Within a few moments, a bottle of Ramane appeared.
"Oh sweet, things like this can be summoned too!" She popped off the top and began to drink. It tasted the same as any other she had drunk in the past.
"Does that count as stealing?" Shinji looked sheepishly at her as she finished the whole bottle off.
"Does this mean I never have to buy beer anymore?!" Misato jumped up excitedly. She sat down despondently when Rei began to shake her head.
"There's still a lot we don't know yet, but because beer is something we haven't tried yet, we wouldn't be able to summon something we don't know the taste of. There's no record of it in our subconscious memory."
"Asuka, I'm willing to turn a blind eye as a teacher and a legal guardian this once, you can have one of my Yebisu, so please-..." Misato stopped short when she noticed Asuka was already holding a can of Yebisu. There was no trace of guilt in her face, not in the slightest. If anything, a sly smile was shining through.
"Asuka, we're minors..." Shinji sighed again. He felt like he'd be doing it a lot more in the future to come.
"Try telling that to my mom. She takes a very German approach to these things." Asuka chuckled as she threw the beer to Misato.
"It's even got the right temperature! It's ice cold!" Instantly popping the tab, Misato's grin looked ready to jump off her face. "Don't mind if I do!"
"You're not going to even try to correct all the wrong in this situation?" Shinji mumbled as he watched Misato down the beer in one go.
"Why? If I do that, I might stop getting free beer! And nothing in life tastes better than free beer!"
Shaking his head, Shinji thought to his own bracelet. If it worked by exercising his imagination, he wanted to try it with something that didn't exist in the real world. Holding out his hand, he mimicked Asuka's earlier actions and closed his eyes. He focuses hard, and within seconds, felt a heavy object in his hand.
"Someone's been playing too much Final Fantasy lately."
An oddly shaped watery-blue sword was in his hands. It looked identical to the one he had been using in the game he had been playing with Asuka a few days before they had gone to the lab.
"You were playing it with me!"
"That's true." In Asuka's hands was a long staff with a blue handle, with a golden head that incorporated an interesting design. "Woah... If I did any cosplay, this would save so much money on the outfits!"
"You have the power of imagination at your disposal and you're using it for... Cosplay?" Rei sounded out her disbelief.
"Oh come on! Haven't you ever wanted to be like your favourite character from a story or something? This is awesome!" Asuka glanced at Shinji. "Let's go the whole way!"
Asuka's whole body was quickly enveloped in red light. After a few moments, she was wearing a kimono-esque outfit, a blue flowing dress with a backless white design covering her top-half. Just like...
"Yuna! You look just like her!" Shinji could only stare at the immaculately detailed recreation of his arguably favourite character from the game series. Something that he suspected she had done on purpose.
"It appears I'm going to have to start playing more games with you Shinji." Rei smiled at him. Asuka smirked whilst pointing the staff at her.
"That's right, I know all of Shinji's favourite characters, his likes, dislikes and what buttons to press with him. You're not stealing him away, no matter what you do!"
Rei returned the smirk, folding her arms and taking a defiant posture.
"We shall see."