NAE: Shock Value by Reg This is an Evangelion fanfic. I took the original story and threw in a new character, totally screwing up all the events leading to the last episode in the anime series. This is a Self-Insertion fanfic so brace yourself for god-boy mayhem! Neon Genesis Evangelion is copyright Gainax. Here goes... NEON AVATAR EVANGELION: SHOCK VALUE Chapter III "Congratulations on the promotion, *Major* Katsuragi." "Thanks, Shinji," answered Misato with a smile. Commander Fuyutsuki had just informed them of her promotion earlier today. "I guess there'll be a lot more people you can order around, right Misato?" Yukio said. "That's right, and I'm starting with you. Get in the kitchen and cook us some lunch, now!" said Misato, her sheepish smile now replaced with a very malicious-looking one. "Aww, c'mon Misato! Do I have to? Can't we just order out or something?" Cooking was not one of Yukio's favorite chores, although his cooking was quite alright. "C'mon, Yukio, I'll help you," offered Shinji. "Today, Misato is the Queen of this house." "Only when Asuka's not around though," added Yukio. Sohryuu Asuka Langley, Queen of Everything and Anything, was spending the day at Hikari's so there was nothing to fear. A few minutes later, they were happily chowing down. ***** Later that afternoon, at NERV HQ, Misato ran into her old boyfriend Kaji Ryoji. Kaji and Misato once lived together, but Misato broke up the affair, leaving Kaji in the dust confused. Misato never fully explained to Kaji why she broke up with him, so he was still hoping that they could still rekindle the fire that once burned between them. "Hello, Misato," said Kaji. "Congratulations on the promotion." "Thank you, Kaji. Now would you please excuse me? I still have a lot of work to do." Kaji immediately grabbed Misato's arm as she started to walk past him. "Wait a minute Misato," said Kaji. "What do you want? And get your hands off me." "Go out with me tonight. For old times' sake. Let's celebrate your promotion together,"said Kaji. "Me? Go out with you tonight?" said Misato with a smirk. After a few moments of thought she said "Alright Kaji. I'll go out with you tonight. For old times' sake. On one condition though." "And what might that be?" asked Kaji. "I'll be bringing along a chaperone," said Misato. "A chaperone? Misato, you're 30 years old! You don't need a chaperone!" said Kaji. "Take it or leave it, Ryoji." "Alright. Who will it be?" "You'll see," answered Misato. ***** "Shinji, you doing anything tonight?" "I'm going over to Kensuke's. We'll be working on a class project with Toji," answered Shinji. "I might be sleeping over there. Why?" "Nothing, just asking," said Misato. Things weren't going to plan. Ritsuko wasn't available, so was Maya, and Misato certainly wasn't going to ask Asuka. Rei was out of the question, too. With Shinji unavailable, that just left Yukio. I hope he's not doing anything tonight, thought Misato. I'd better give him a call right now. As Misato dialled Yukio's number, Asuka entered the apartment. "Hi Misato. Congratulations on the promotion." "Oh, hi Asuka. Thanks," said Misato. After a few rings, somebody answered Yukio's phone. "Hello." "Rei? Wait a minute, this is Yukio's apartment right?" "Yes. Do you want to talk to him, Misato?" "Yes, please," answered Misato. "What's Ayanami doing in Yukio's apartment?" she wondered to herself. "Please hold on a minute. And congratulations on the promotion," said Rei. A few moments later, Yukio picked up the phone. "Yep? What's up, Major?" asked Yukio. "What's Rei doing there?" asked Misato. "We were just working on a school project. The teacher assigned us as groupmates," answered Yukio. "Why, are you jealous?" "Haha, Yukio. I need to ask you a favor," said Misato. "What is it?" "Kaji asked me out on a date for tonight and I want you to go with me," said Misato. "You want me to go with you on your date with Kaji? Misato, are you drunk already?" said Yukio. "You know I can't stand being alone with that pervert," answered Misato. "C'mon Yukio, this'll be your gift to me on my promotion. Do this for me and I'll help you out with Maya." "Alright, you've got me convinced," said Yukio. "Where do we meet up? And what time?" "Eight o'clock at the Flying Dragon," answered Misato. "You know where that is, don't you?" "Yeah, I know it," said Yukio. "OK, I'll be there. See you at eight Misato." "Thanks Yukio," said Misato. "I owe you. Bye." Misato went back to her room to get some sleep. She never noticed Asuka who had been eavesdropping on her and Yukio's conversation. So, Asuka thought. Misato has a date with my Kaji, huh. I can't let her have my Kaji all for herself! I guess I'll just have to crash their little party then! Asuka then went to her room and changed. She then went over to Yukio's place to talk to him about their dinner plans. ***** "Well, Misato, are you ready?" "Yeah. C'mon, let's get this over with," answered Misato as she locked the door to her apartment. She then hurriedly started to walk past Kaji. "Don't bother hiding it Misato, I know you still like me," said Kaji. "Up yours, Ryoji," said Misato. Damn, she thought to herself. It's not even eight o'clock yet and already he's starting to annoy me! ***** Yukio was already at the Flying Dragon when Misato and Kaji arrived. Noticing Yukio's rather long face, Misato immediately went up to him. Before she could ask him what's wrong, however, Yukio already started to apologize. "Misato, I'm so sorry! She made me do it!" "What? I don't understand. Who made you do what?" asked a puzzled Misato. "Asuka! She forced me to let her come here with me," said Yukio. "I'm so sorry if I ruined this for you, Misato. Please forgive me." "Asuka is here?" asked Misato. "Yes I am," said Asuka from behind Misato. She had already intercepted Kaji and had her arms around him. "And there's nothing you can do about it, right Kaji?" "Uh, yeah, sure," Kaji said with a shrug. "I mean, let's just think of this as a double date." ***** Yukio was surprised that the dinner went so smoothly. Asuka was still trying to get Kaji to notice her but Kaji and Misato seemed to be having quite a nice time together. It seemed that they were slowly regaining the old friendship that they had when they were still together. This irritated Asuka to no end. Kaji ignoring her was bad enough, but for him to prefer Misato over her, Asuka Langley Sohryuu? That was unforgivable. Yukio was busy eating his dessert when Asuka suddenly turned to him. "Yukio," said Asuka. "Kiss me." Yukio nearly choked when he realized what Asuka had just said. "What?" he managed to say. "I said kiss me," answered Asuka. Yukio could see that she was getting impatient. As Yukio stared at Asuka's face, he suddenly realized how beautiful she was, and that he wanted to kiss her too. "Alright," said Yukio. Here goes nothing, he thought to himself. Closing his eyes, Yukio brought his face nearer to Asuka's and locked his lips with hers. He hadn't counted on Asuka's next move however, and he almost broke their kiss when he felt her tongue try to enter his mouth. Ohmigod I'm French-kissing the red-haired fire breathing Queen of Everything! Yukio thought. The thought suddenly made him think of Maya. Maya's sparkling eyes, Maya's oh-so-sweet smile, Maya's soft, soft lips. His reverie was suddenly and rudely cut off when he felt Asuka break the kiss. Yukio opened his eyes just in time to see Asuka storm out of the restaurant. "Hey," said Yukio. "Asuka, wait!" "What's up with her?" asked Kaji. "I thought you two were enjoying yourselves?" A beet red Yukio just stammered a barely audible "I've got to go after her." Yukio immediately made his way out of the restaurant, intent on getting some answers from Asuka. ***** Yukio caught up with Asuka about a block from the Flying Dragon. Yukio offered Asuka his handkerchief when he saw that she was crying, but Asuka just slapped his hand away. "Shit, Asuka!" said Yukio. He was already started to get tired of this. "What's the matter with you? What was that whole scene in the reastaurant all about?" "None of your business," retorted Asuka, tears still streaming down her face. "It is my business! First, you ask me to kiss you. Then, you walk out on all of us. Now, you reject my hospitality. What? Am I that bad a kisser?" "It's not that," said Asuka. "What is it then?" demanded Yukio. "Why did you ask me to kiss you in the first place?" "Because I was bored," said Asuka, anger creeping back into her voice. "There! Are you happy now?" "You were bored? That's your reason?" cried an already exasperated Yukio. "You don't just go and ask people to kiss you because you're bored!" "That's what I said. Deal with it," said Asuka. With that, she started to run off again. "None of you understand me!" "Asuka! Wait!" said Yukio. Realizing that there was nothing else he could do about the situation, he decided to just walk home. "Women," he muttered to himself. Walking down the brightly-lit streets of Tokyo-3 seemed to calm his mind. His thought soon brought up Maya's face again. Yukio couldn't help but smile as he fantasized about proposing to Maya and getting married to her. He could already see her in her wedding dress, looking every inch the goddess that he thought of her as. Yukio was still thinking these happy thoughts when he came upon a bookstore. Remembering that he still had to buy a card for Misato, entered the bookstore. He wasn't exactly surprised when he saw Maya inside -- after all, she loved to read -- but the sight of his dark-haired goddess sent feelings of excitement up and down his body. His original reason for coming here was promptly forgotten, replaced with yet another of his fantasies about his and Maya's wedding. Gathering up what courage he had, Yukio decided to talk to Maya. "Hi, Maya," Yukio said with a smile, his heart beating faster and faster. "Oh, hello, Yukio," answered Maya. "Are you going to buy a book?" "Uh, well, uh," stammered Yukio as his mind groped wildly for the reason why he was here. "Uh, actually, I was gonna buy Misato a card." "Oh, I see. She just got a promotion, right?" "She did," said Yukio. "In fact, we were just having dinner with Kaji and Asuka down at the Flying Dragon. Celebrating." "Did you guys have fun?" asked Maya, holding a romance novel in her hands. "Well, actually it was going just fine, until Asuka ruined everything," Yukio said. The thought of Asuka's lips against his came again unbidden to his mind. Maya noticed that Yukio ws blushing, so she decide not to pursue the subject. "So, Yukio," she said. "Have you found a card for Misato?" "Not yet," answered Yukio. "I'm not too good at these things." An idea suddenly came to him. "Would you help me find a card for her, Maya?" "Sure," said Maya. "C'mon, there're some pretty nice cards over here." "Lead the way, Lt." answered Yukio. After a few minutes of looking for the perfect card for Misato, Yukio noticed a stack of Valentine's Day cards. Reading one, Yukio had another idea. He knew that it would be risky, but he decided that it was now or never. "Maya," Yukio said. She was still looking over another stack of cards and her back was to him. Holding her right arm, Yukio slowly turned around. "I have something to tell you." "What is it, Yukio?" asked Maya. His hands are so cold, thought Maya to herself. She was somewhat taken aback when she looked into his eyes. There was something there that frightened Maya, yet it also fascinated her. "Maya," said Yukio. Now or never, he thought to himself. "I love you, Maya-chan." There, thought Yukio. That wasn't so hard, was it? "Yukio," said Maya, her pretty face started to turn red. "I... I don't know what to say." After a moment of embarassing silence, Maya spoke again. "Thank you, Yukio. I really appreciate it." Yukio was in a daze. As soon as those words had escaped his lips, everything else started to become blurry. It was like those times when the teacher was just going on and on about the Second Impact, and Yukio was not really listening. All he could think of was him and Maya, living happily ever after in each other's arms. "So, uh, what do you say, Maya?" asked Yukio, still smiling sheepishly. "Well, I... uh, give me some time to think this over, Maya said. Then, with a smile, she added, "Love's a big deal you know!" This made Yukio breathe a lot easier. Well, he thought to himself, at least she didn't brain me with a hardcover or anything. After a few more moments of looking into each other's eyes, they both decided to continue looking for a card for Misato. A few minutes later, Yukio was walking Maya to her apartment. Maya invited Yukio over for something to drink but he declined the invitation, saying that he still had some studying to do. After saying goodnight to his one-and-only true love, Yukio made his way to his apartment with an extra spring to his steps. That night, Yukio kept replaying the scene in the bookstore over and over in his mind. Sleep came late to him, and when it did, his dreams were once again filled with images of Maya Ibuki. ***** TBC I know, Yukio's only 14 and Maya's 24. 10-year age difference right there. So what? I warned you that this was an SI fic! By the way, that scene where Asuka asks Yukio to kiss her was lifted off of Ep. 15 of the Evangelion anime. I'll be wrapping up this series in the next episode. And sorry if this one didn't have a fight scene in it. There'll be enough of that in Chapter IV. Chapters I and II are still available at Atomica (www.geocities.com/reg_01/). Send C&C to reg_01@yahoo.com.