Shinji and Asuka

Chapter 12: Asuka's Counterattack

Author's Notes: Not much to say here I guess. A reviewer once asked me before if I was inspired by the manga 'Re-take' and I answered no and that I hadn't even read it when I started writing this story. In any case, as always, enjoy the chapter.

A note to say this is the rewritten chapter 12 (First rewrite - though it's practically the same as the first version).

Important Note: If you're reading this, you're reading the up to date version of the story. If you didn't see this note last chapter, you were unlucky enough to have started reading this just before I updated all the chapters. It is recommended you re-read the previous chapters as some details of the story would have changed as well as the formatting, which will cause some confusion in further reading.

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Chapter 12: Asuka's Counterattack

She was walking along the streets of Tokyo-3 early in the morning; early enough that school hadn't started, but late enough that people were driving their cars to work. The redhead looked up at the old rundown building, wondering how anyone could live here, but then this was Rei after all. The redhead sighed frustrated; if he wasn't here, she wouldn't know where else to look. She began to walk up the stairs, calling out his name. There was no response as she continued to climb the stairs to her destination. She decided to call his name out a bit louder...

"SHINJI!" Asuka shouted as she woke up.

The young teen looked around in confusion, slowly realising she was back in her room. The morning light was shining through her blinds and she was sitting up in her bed, her hand clutching her head. 'Just a dream? Or something else? It felt familiar...' However, the redhead's thoughts were interrupted as her door opened and in came the boy whose name had just been called.

"What do you want Asuka?" he asked, a little puzzled.

'Shit, did I scream that out loud?' she thought.

Asuka looked at him blankly as he stood there patiently waiting. She had to say something quick before she looked like an idiot, calling him to her room for no reason was just stupid and she knew Shinji would start thinking something perverted.

"Make me breakfast in bed" was the first thing that came to mind.

He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Well?" she asked, irritated.

"Fine Asuka" he said as he walked out.

The girl fell back onto her bed and sighed in relief. She turned on her side to look around the room while she waited. The redhead noticed the large pile of dirty clothes near her bed. It seemed like she had been letting her laundry accumulate a bit. Not wanting to run out of clothes, she decided to take her dirty clothes to the laundry herself. Upon picking up her pile of clothes, something fell to the floor. Asuka sighed and dropped the bundle of garments to pick up the object; it was a piece of paper. She looked at it closely to examine it.

This certificate of good community service is presented to:

Sohryu Asuka Langley

Signed: Tamako Yuji, Principle of Tokyo-3 high school

'Community service? What a load of crock, I've never done something for another person at school, well not really anyway' she thought.

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Asuka and Shinji were standing up in the middle of class.

"I'd like to give a special thanks to you Miss Sohryu, it's not everyday people act courageously for others, especially when there is a personal cost to themselves" the principal praised.