FicWad

Forgotten: Sorrows of a pilot

'I pray that it's worth it; what I'll have to deal with from Misato to stop her from teasing him.' Asuka thought as she watched Shinji out of the corner of her eye. His shoulders were still slightly slumped, and he was staring at his computer screen.

She booted up her instant message program.

""Shinji, wanna hit the mall after school?ASL""

Asuka saw Shinji jerk slightly."" I don't have any moneySI "" He replied

""Don't Worry about money, I'll pay for everything. Ya up for it?ASL""

""I don't want to be a bother.SI""

""You're not a bother Shinji. Besides, you and I both deserve to have some fun.ASL"" Asuka blushed slightly, remembering her reaction to Shinji's fantasy with Hikari.

""Okay. I'll go with youSI""

""Great. Meet me by the flagpole after classes.ASL""

""Okay.SI""

Asuka shut down here chat window and looked over to Shinji again. 'Maybe he'll like some new clothes, or a new SDAT tope. What kind of music does he like? I know he plays the cello, so maybe he likes classical music.'

Asuka sighed and propped hand under her chin. She turned her gaze to Hikari and felt a small smile tug at her lips. 'Maybe I can get her to come with me and Shinji. I know he likes her, but I'll have to find out how she feels about him.'

After a brief internal debate she opened her IM program again and sent a message to Hikari.

""I have to talk to you. Please meet me on the roof for lunch. ALS""

""Is anything wrong?HH""

""No. Nothings wrong. I just need to talk to you about something.ASL""

""Okay. On the roof for lunch.HH""

""Thanks Hikari.ASL""

Asuka shut down her IM program again and leaned back slightly. 'If she likes him the way he likes her, I'll do everything I can to get them together, no matter how much it hurts.'

She let her attention wander from the teachers prattling of Second Impact and the disaster that followed

SCENECHANGESCENECHANGESCENECHANGE

Asuka was lying on her stomach watching Goji, the small kitten she had found as a stray a few days ago and had smuggled into the orphanage. The small orange and white tiger striped kitten was purring softly as it played with a small rubber bouncy ball.

She giggled as the tiny animal rolled onto its back and kicked at the ball with its hind legs. She reached down and scratched the kitten's head with her forefinger. Goji grabbed the finger with his front paws and nibbled and licked at Asuka's fingertip.

Asuka giggled again, picked up Goji and kissed him on the head.

"I love you Goji." She said happily and hugged the cat.

The bedroom door burst open and Mr. Benson stormed in with Hoshi following him.

"What the fuck is that flea-bitten vermin doing in here?" The short bald man bellowed, pointing a trembling finger at Goji.

The kitten flattened its ears and hissed at Mr. Benson.

"Goji doesn't have fleas!" Asuka cried in defense of her new pet and friend. "He's a clean kitty!"

Mr. Benson snatched Goji away from Asuka, wrenched the cats head completely around and flung the corpse across the room. Blood spattered the wall and floor where the body struck. "Now he's a dead 'kitty'!" Benson snarled then slapped Asuka across the face. "Clean that mess up now!"

Mr. Benson spun on his heel and stormed out.

"That's what you get for touching my toys." Hoshi sneered at Asuka, then turned and left the room as well.

SCENECHANGESCENECHANGESCENECHANGE

The ringing of the lunch bell school Asuka from her vision, she shudder at the disgusting cruelty that Shinji had to suffer through during his younger life. She rapidly blinked away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes.

Asuka shook of the depressing thoughts and steeled herself to face Shinji when she collected her lunch.

SCENECHANGESCENECHANGESCENECHANGE

Hikari was waiting on the roof just like she said she would. Asuka took a steadying breath before she walked over to Hikari.

"What did you need to talk about?"

Asuka picked at her lunch for a moment before speaking. "How do you feel about Shinji?"

"Well," Hikari said softly. "I think he's nice, and kinda cute."

"Would you go out with him if you had the chance?"

Hikari blushed slightly. "M-maybe. Why are you asking me?"

"He's lonely," Asuka replied after a long pause. "Very lonely. I can see it in his eyes, the way his shoulders slump when he sees a happy couple together. He's too good a person to be so lonely all the time. He needs someone to spend time with him."

"There's Touji and Kensuke." Hikari pointed out.

Asuka scoffed. "Those two just treat Shinji as a means to and end. Touji just hangs out with him because he thinks he can eventually get a chance to stick his dick in Misato, and Kensuke just wants to get chosen as a pilot. They're not what Shinji needs. HE needs someone to treat him like the most important thing in the world, the way he deserves to be treated."

Hikari studied her friend for a minute . "What about you? You seem to care about Shinji a lot, you could be the person he needs."

"No, I can't" Asuka said sadly. "I'm not good enough for him. Besides, I'm not the one he likes."

"What?"

"Shinji likes you, Hikari. But he's to shy, or to afraid of rejection, to say anything."

"How do you know?" Hikari asked.

"The way he looks at you. It's not the perverted leer Touji gives Misato, or the obsessed stare of a stalker and it's not that stupid look I used to get anytime Kaji was within a mile of me. It's that quick, bashful glance and blush that you see in all of those crappy American teen romantic comedies."

"Oh. But, I don't know how to ask him out." 'You just described the way you look at him sometimes. Do you know that Asuka?'

"Meet me outside by the flagpole after classes, Shinji and I'll be going to the mall. You can come along and hang out with Shinji. Maybe you'll be able to ask him out afterward."

"Okay." Hikari said. 'You're wrong Asuka. You are good enough for Shinji.'

Hikari smiled softly as she watched Asuka walk away. 'Thank you for giving me a chance to be with Shinji, I'll do my best to make him happy.'

SCENECHANGESCENECHANGESCENECHANGE

"Hi, Shinji." Hikari said as she and Asuka walked up to the boy.

Shinji looked up and jerked in surprise. "H-hello Miss Horaki, did you need something?" HE asked nervously.

"Hikari's going with us to the mall." Asuka said. "I invited her."

"Oh," Shinji said and lowered his eyes. "I can head back to the apartment if you want."

"Please don't." Hikari said and grabbed his hand. "I'd really like to spend time with you."

Shinji blushed brightly. "I-I'll go with you two."

"Great!" Hikari squeezed Shinji's hand before letting go and smiling brightly. Shinji returned the smile shyly.

'I think I made the right choice. They look like they could be happy together.' Asuka thought.

Asuka hung back as the three teens made their way to the mall, watching Shinji and Hikari walking side by side while talking.

"Really?" Hikari asked with genuine interest. "You like classical music too? Who's your favorite composer?"

"Beethoven." Shinji replied. "And Mozart too."

"My favorite's Bach." Hikari said. "I'd love to be able to play some of it."

Asuka tuned out the rest of the conversation and let her eyes drop slightly and focus on Shinji's butt. 'Looks great.' She thought and licked her lips.

Hikari laughed, presumably at something Shinji had said, jerking Asuka out of her trance. The class rep lightly touched Shinji's shoulder and felt her heart clench. Suddenly she didn't think she could bear seeing the two of them together, knowing that she had given up her chance to be with Shinji.

"I just remembered." Asuka said, caching the attention of her two friends." I can't go to the mall today. I have to talk to Doctor Akagi about something."

"We can go another day." Shinji said.

"No, you to go ahead." Asuka pulled a wad of money from her purse and pressed it into Shinji's hand. "My treat, as promised."

"Before Shinji or Hikari could object, Asuka turned on her heel and walked towards the nearest Geo-Front entrance. Once she was out of sight, Asuka changed directions and returned to the apartment. When she got to the apartment she found a note from Misato saying that she would be pulling an all nighter and would not be back until early the next morning.

"Good. I won't have to deal with Misato just yet." Asuka muttered as she walked into her room and flung herself down onto the bed. She sighed and folded her hands behind her head. 'I hope they're having a good time.'

SCENECHANGESCENECHANGESCENECHANGE

'I need to tell him.' Asuka thought as she stared up at her darkened ceiling. 'He needs to know that someone knows what happened to him.' Asuka rolled over and looked at her alarm clock. 'Damn. Only an hour and a half of sleep.'

She groaned and sat up. She had seen another vision of Shinji's past, a montage of vicious beatings, cutting insults and various cruelties at the hands of both the orphanage workers and some of the other orphans and she knew, from experience, that she would not be getting back to sleep anytime soon.

Asuka climbed out of bed and went into the living room to wait for Shinji to return. She flopped down onto the couch and turned on the T.V. Asuka casually flipped through the channels for several minutes before settling on an old, post second impact American sitcom translated into Japanese. 'I'm still amazed they made comedy shows so soon after what happened.'

Asuka let her mind wander as she watched the shows main characters, four brothers, use a giant slingshot, mounted to the roof of their house, to launch various gross and disgusting things into the neighborhood.

'Looks like fun.'

The hiss of the apartment door sliding open drew Asuka's attention to the entrance hall. She swallowed, gathered her courage and stood up. She turned off the T.V. and dropped the remote onto the coffee table.

Shinji had just taken off his shoes and had dropped a couple of plastic shopping bags next to his shoes and was walking into the living room.

"Shinji, we need to talk."