Chapter Text
Another boring day in class with the teacher rambling on about second impact.
It's always the same thing. Shinji thought, staring out the window. Watching as the birds fly and the cicadas chirp, passengers move on by - carrying on about their lives. There was a certain sort of earthly serenity to it, one he could not describe.
"But... " He said in an undertone, "I'd rather this then an angel attack."
Time continues to pass by and after an extremely long lecture, the bell rang. As they were about to leave however, the teacher stopped them.
"Apologies everyone." The teacher said, "This is a bit of a late introduction, but we have new student here." and as the teacher spoke, SHE walked in right through the door. And there, in their presence stood the figure of one Asuka. Thus the whole class stood at first in shock and then confusion. Here they were seeing: an exact replica of Asuka, a facsimile.
"There are two devils?" Toji exclaimed; "No way!" Kensuke said.
Asuka would've been offended but one though lingered in her mind: What the fu-
"Asuka?" Shinji asked confused.
"Yes, Idiot Shinji." Asuka(Shikinami) replied, with an mimicry that sent her counterpart Asuka(Soryu) jumping back.
This is downright horrendous, terrifying She thought. And whilst she was still processing this, Shinji had pointed Shikinami towards the other Asuka(Soryu), their Asuka.
"We have another girl, who well... she kinda looks like you."
"Yes. I can see that." Asuka(Shikinami said)
Soryu then gave him a conceited look. "You Idiot." Asuka(Soryu) said "SHE looks like ME, not the other way around."
Ending on that note, Asuka(Soryu) moved past her table and confronted her - supposed - counterpart directly. Now Face to face, side to side, they could make out whatever discernible differences there were.
The Asuka they knew up until this point had a darker shade of auburn hair and sapphire blue eyes.
Whereas this new one's - Shikinami's - hair was lighter, and fair... almost tame. The same thing could be said about the colour of her eyes. Dull, and a little less radiant. They were however both of - somewhat - the same height.
"Well." Shikinami said, "I'm Asuka." she emphasized "Asuka Langley Shikinami." She wrote on the board, again with a mimicry that frightened her counterpart Soryu. It was as if she was watching her arrival to school but from the third person.
What in the world is this? She thought
"Shikinami huh?" Toji said "So what? You two long lost sisters' or something?"
"As far as I know I don't have a long lost twin sister." Soryu replied; "Neither do I." Shikinami said back.
Now Soryu and Shikinami were at a stalemate, staring each other down until-
"Well, it's nice to meet you Asuka." Shinji said, casually approaching Shikinami, but neither Asuka were pleased with this course of action.
Kensuke and Toji then grabbed Shinji by the shirt and:
"let's get outta here man." Toji whispered;
"What I do." Shinji asked.
"Not now man, not now..." They both said
Some Time passed...
And even though Shikinami had just transferred here, she was - much unlike her counterpart - somewhat antisocial.
She had spoken to a few other students here and there, but it seemed she'd rather enjoy the company of her portable game console.
That's weird Asuka(Soryu) thought to herself She isn't anything like me… and yet somehow she is. I mean how could there be another me? Is such a thing even possible? I am the one and only, the best...I wonder...I wonder if she believes the same thing too.
"Asuka?" A voice said out of the blue.
"Oh Hikari." She said, taking notice; "Yep that's me." Hikari replied.
However Asuka's(Soryu's) gaze was sorely focused on Shikinami. "You know you're strangely fixated with that girl." Hikari said.
"Who wouldn't be if they met someone who looked exactly like them?" She replied.
"Fair point." Hikari said taking her seat besides her.
"Y'know I can't wrap my head around it." Soryu said, "She's somewhat like me but...she's not."
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.
"I mean, she looks like me, acts like me but she isn't me." she answered.
"Hmmm..." Hikari said, humming out loud. "Think maybe we should go talk to her? Make friends?".
And Asuka(Soryu) looked to her unsure. Hikari replied to her stare with a shrug and as she contemplated on whether or not they should go. Shinji had decided to approach Shikinami. And in almost instant both Asuka took notice.
"Yeah, let's go." Soryu said; "Okay." Hikari said with a smile.
"Hey uhm...Asuka." Shinji said greeting Shikinami.
She looked up from her console and from the moment their eyes met, Shinji was somewhat struck by the frightening similarity. If it hadn't been for the image of Soryu tightly fixated in his mind, he wouldn't be able to really tell them apart.
"Oh it's you" Shikinami said.
"Yeah." he replied, somewhat nervously. Putting his bag down and unzipping it.
"What are you doing?" Shikinami asked, in a stern manner.
"Oh." Shinji said. "I noticed that you hadn't eaten anything today, and if you're anything like my Asuka then-",
"Your Asuka?" Shikinami said, interrupting him.
"Oh no." He replied "That's not what I meant, but, she usually forgets to pack her lunch and I thought maybe…" Shikinami bore a sort of stoic - yet somewhat unpleasantly annoyed - look on her face. An expression that Shinji had never seen before on his Asuka.
"You're such an idiot." Shikinami said "I'm not her y'know."
"Well...I know but-" before he could finish, Shikinami interrupted him once again.
"Please stop." She said, "You've embarrassed yourself enough already. Just Go."
At this point, Shikinami had expected that Shinji would be disheartened, but Instead of dejection, he expressed gaiety.
"What?" Shikinami said, noticing his chuckle "Did I say something funny?"
"No, it's nothing" he said, leaving the bento-box next to her. And she eventually - although reluctantly - took it, expressing afterword a hint of gratitude.
"Guess I'll head back" Shinji said with a smile. "Nice meeting you Asuka."
"Hmph, whatever." Shikinami poutingly replied, eating her food. Shinji smiled and turned back, but that smile immediately faded away when he encountered by a rather annoyed Asuka Langley Soryu.
"Oh, Hey Asuka. " Shinji said, "I-"
"Shut up." Soryu said, silencing him. Looking towards Shikinami, who seemed to be eating out of his bento-box.
"What are you gonna eat Idiot?" she asked him.
"Luckily I made some extra food." He answered. "I still have some if-".
And with the wave of her hand, she cut him off again. "I'm fine, nice seeing ya shinji." indicating that he go away, and he did so. Meeting with Kensuke and Toji.
"So Asuka." Asuka - Soryu confidentially said to her counterpart "We're quite similar you and I. And since we have a lot in common, I believe we should, no we would make excellent friends." She extended her hand towards her counterpart, but Shikinami wasn't having it.
"What exactly do we have in common, except our looks?" Shikinami said pushing her counterparts hand aside.
"Well...being that you're me." Soryu said. A statement which annoyed Shikinami, "I can tell you believe yourself to be the best."
"I do, that's why I'm better off on my own." Shikinami retorted.
"Whilst that can be true, you can't do everything on your own.", Soryu said to her counterpart.
"I believe I can," Shikinami once again retorted.
"Well you can't." Soryu insisted.
"Yes I can" Shikinami persisted.
"No, you can't." Soryu again said, getting annoyed with her counterpart and so to was Shikinami with her.
"Who the hell are you to be telling me who I can and can't be?" A frustrated Shikinami asked.
"I'm Asuka-", but before Soryu could finish, Shikinami interrupted her. "Langley Soryu. I know, you've been walking around confidently sprouting that out to everyone and everything because we all need to know how good you are. We get it princess... But what are you hiding behind those walls, what's beneath all that bravado."
Asuka(Soryu) was displeased and now beyond annoyed with Shikinami's ill behaviour.
"Yeah, I guess." Soryu said holding back her anger, looking away from her. And but after a quick sigh...
"I wonder what it's like being Alone..." She said, looking directly at her. Now with the both of them facing one another eye to eye, Soryu continued. "I mean, I wouldn't know, I consider myself to be very sociable, y'know a people-person."
"What are you-"
"I'm not some egoist loser who spends all her time playing video games all day." She said, "Running away much? if anything you're like that idiot shi- "
"How dare you." Shikinami said.
"How dare I what?" Soryu replied "What are you afraid of? huh? what are you hiding beneath that shell."
"Don't assume to know me!" Shikinami said, going in for voilence, but Soryu took grasp of her wrist in motion and took hold of her other arm too. "And Don't Assume to know me." She replied.
Now with the both of them in a struggle. - of wills and personalities - Hikari saw it fit to try and intervene, but Shikinami forced her way out of Soryu's grip. And they stood there determinedly, in yet another stare down, until Shikinami eventually turned and faced the other way "I'm leaving." she said.
And Asuka(Soryu) watched as her counterpart walked away. she now stood abjectly.
"I don't think we can ever be near each other... let alone be friends." Soryu said.
"It's a shame really." Hikari said, feeling sad for her. "You two are so alike...you could've bonded."
"I think it's because we're both so alike, that we might have troubling bonding…" Asuka(Soryu) said "After all, nobody can hurt you more then yourself."
"But she isn't you Asuka." Hikari said. but Asuka(Soryu) herself wasn't sure what to make of that statement, or her current given situation.
"Maybe...maybe not." She said, afterall with NERV there was always uncertainty.
"I'll try again tomorrow." She said to Hikari. "Let's go..."
From a distance, 'Thé three stooges' had just witnessed the current events and somehow Shinji found himself being effected the most.
"Two Devils don't make for a heaven that's for sure." Toji said ; "You sure are right there." Kensuke replied.
By the end of the day...
It was time for them to head back home. Shinji would normally walk home with Asuka, but being that there were two of her, he remained unsure. Unsure as to who he should approach and - or - talk to first.
But stronger curiosity contends with strong intent, for he really wished to know more of this Asuka Langley Shikinami girl. But couldn't really leave his own -known- Asuka to her own devices, not after today.
So the results of the internal struggle he had within himself would end with him approaching one Rei Ayanami.
"Hey uhm Rei." He said, greeting the estranged first child. Who always seemed to be fringing away at the borders of her perceived reality, as if she were not here with them.
"Pilot Ikari." She responded, ever so softly.
"You wouldn't happen to know anything about the New Asuka would you?" Shinji asked, and Rei simply shook her head in response.
"This Shikinami character is a mystery even to me." She replied "I know not of her origin... and she seems to be somewhat different then you or the pilot Soryu."
"Different how?" Shinji asked; "I do not know." Rei replied. "Or rather...I cannot say...not truly."
"I see." Shinji said. ; "I'm am sorry I could not aid you more." Rei said.
"Hey Shinji." Asuka(Soryu) voice echoed out of the blue. "Let's go home already. I've been waiting for hours." She said.
"Oh..." He said searching for her "I'm coming."
"It's been a pleasure talking to you today, Rei." Shinji said as he left the room. Rei sat there and watched as Shinji walked out of the room. And not soonafter, the other Asuka(Shikinami) headed in somewhat the similar direction.
Later...
With the afternoon sun at the horizon, and the city illuminated in a strange orange hue. Asuka(Soryu) and Shinji made their way home, walking down the same road they usually would on any other given day.
"So..." Asuka said breaking the silence. "What do you think off that Asuka Shikinami girl?"
"I...I don't know." He said, "She's like you but..."
"But what?" She asked ; "I don't really know, nor can I really say." He answered. "I haven't really gotten to know her."
And Asuka scoffed. "Why does it sound like you want to get to know her?"
"Don't you?" He said, and Asuka gave him a stare similiar to that of Shikinami. "Sorry." he said, looking the other way.
"Tsch." Asuka spat, "She's nothing more than freak."
"But-"
"Nothing more than a monstrosity, probably created by NERV in order to replace me." Asuka continued. "I always knew that I was expandable but this..."
Asuka's words resounded with anger and disgust, leaving Shinji to be, a little concerned.
"You really think they'd do that?" He asked.
"You idiot." She replied, rather rudely. "Of course they would. We're expendable, HECK I'm expandable.", She emphasised. And Shinji didn't know what he could or should say to that, all he could do was feel sorrow for and towards her.
"I...I... I'm sorry." He said.
"You're always sorry." she replied. "That's all you ever are...sorry."
"The commander is your father. Rei is his favourite, Misato only cares about you and Kaji doesn't even look at me." she continued in frustration "Even he caters more to you then me... compared to you guys I'm...I'm-".
"I don't...I don't think... you are." Shinji interrupted, although nervously. And Asuka stopped right in her tracks, causing Shinji to do the same.
"Don't think I'm what?" She said, and even though she wasn't really looking at him, she could feel his tremble, his slight shivers. A gulp to hide the fear, fear of what? of her.
"Explain, third." She said sternly, causing him to flinch.
"You're strong." He said, "Not like me...you're...you're one of the best I've ever know. And-and you have a will that pushes you forward."
He couldn't get a read of her face, so he continued onwards.
"I don't…I don't know about any of that NERV business... but to replace you they'd have to be crazy." He let out a slight chuckle to calm his nerves. "At least that's what I believe anyway."
"Shikinami..." and this got her attention the most. "Shikinami is...well I can't say but...she's not the Asuka I know, so... you're not expendable, at least maybe, not to me, or Misato or Kaji, you're my…well...a friend and a great... pilot."
And then there was silence. A long awkward silence, Shinji remained quiet and still waiting for her reply and she did reply, although it was with a sigh.
"You really are an idiot." She said, turning back to face him, and Shinji immediatly avoided direct confrontation with her gaze.
"Th-th..." Asuka paused, breathing in. "Thanks...Shinji."
"Oh." He said, brightening up. And as he was about to face her she looked away, facing ahead. "No-no problem." he said with a slight smile.
Asuka continued moving onwards and Shinji followed her.
"You know this is the longest we've ever held a decent conversation." He said kinda laughing.
"Don't ruin it." She said, as they walked back home... in silence.
Upon arrival...
And entry of Misato's apartment. They got down to the afternoon basics - shower, cook, clean, watch tv, homework etc.
It was only much, much later that Misato arrived home, entering the home and announcing: "I'm homeee."
"What's for Dinner?" She asked.
"Nothing much." He answered, "Just rice and miso soup. with some pork and... chicken."
"That is quite a lot." She answered.
"Sorry." He said, with which Misato replied by patting him on the back, confusing Shinji.
"Hey Misato, I've been meaning to ask..." Asuka said coming in from the other room.
"What is it?" Misato said.
"There's this girl at school and...she kinda looks like me." Asuka said "in fact she looks a lot like me, scarily like me. She said her name was-".
"Asuka Langley Shikinami." Misato said interrupting her "I know."
"WHAT!?" Shinji and Asuka both exclaimed.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Asuka asked, "Or at least me? The person whom she's impersonating."
"She's not impersonating you." Misato replied, with a groan and a sigh.
"What are you talking about?", Asuka asked once more
"Well you see about that…"