The Warmest Days of an Endless Summer

A Neon Genesis Evangelion fanfiction by Decoysharktopus

Chapter 1

Misato stared across the room at her young charge as he sat motionless listening to his ancient SDAT player, much the same as ever. For as long as he had lived with her his daily routine, left undisturbed, consisted of housework, homework, the SDAT, and nothing more.

She had not noticed this consciously, however, until a recent lull in Angel attacks and thus in work allowed her the luxury of paying close attention to his everyday life for the first time since he had come to live with her, a fact that caused her some embarrassment. She was his guardian, at least on paper, even if she also happened to be the one to send him into what could generously be called mortal peril every other day. His mental well being was important both to her personally and to her continued employment. And so she frowned.

"Shinji?" she asked.

"Huh?" Shinji jerked forward slightly as he pulled his headphones out of his ears. "What is it, Misato?"

"Shinji, is this really how you want to spend your time here?"

"Um, what do you mean, Misato?" he asked, looking up at her with a furrowed brow.

"I mean, aren't you bored? Don't you have, y'know, hobbies you'd rather be doing?"

"Well I guess I play the cello sometimes and, uh…I, I dunno."

Misato's frown deepened as she sighed. "Most fourteen year olds go to the movies, or take their parents' cars for joyrides, or take pretty girls on dates, or…" she trailed off, searching fruitlessly for another example and grinned as she noticed Shinji turning beet red at her last suggestion. "or whatever. Look, I'm not trying to tell you you have to do these things, just that you can if you want to. Except the joyride thing. Don't do that." She paused. "You have to be on call for Angel attacks, of course, but that doesn't limit you as much as you might think. Especially not with that ludicrous salary NERV pays you kids."

This brought a questioning look to Shinji's face. "Sal-"

"Ah, forget it, Misato. Baka Shinji here is hopeless." Both Misato and Shinji jumped as their eavesdropping roommate, leaning on the kitchen table, interrupted. "He's way too boring to go out and do anything fun by himself. Always needs someone to drag him along by the hand."

"I take it you're volunteering for duty, then?" Misato replied with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. "I can make it an official order if you want."

"What? No way, I'll mutiny. I have the firepower, you know! Who's gonna stop me? Him? Wondergirl? Bah! Fat chance!" And with that Asuka retreated to her room in a huff, the sound of Misato's chuckling close behind her as she rose from her seat to grab a beer from the fridge.

Shinji, however, hadn't been paying much attention to the exchange between his guardian and his fellow pilot; one word had stubbornly forced its way in his mind and refused to budge. "Salary?" he muttered to himself, scarcely believing he hadn't realized until now that he was being paid. "What sort of thing could I buy with the money I've been making? What sort of thing should I buy?" he wondered aloud before glancing at Pen Pen, who had witnessed the entire exchange and looked extremely curious. That was when the idea struck him.

A week had passed since that day, and Misato had noticed more than a few obvious changes in Shinji's demeanor. He smiled more than she had ever come to expect from him and bounced about with a boundless, almost nervous energy and excitement that made Misato uneasy until she had Ritsuko run a blood test on the pilots and ruled out the possible effects of drugs and alcohol. Her uneasiness had then shifted to bemusement and remained firmly stuck there ever since.

Misato could not be certain it was her little talk with Shinji that had caused this, but the change in his attitude had certainly made her feel that maybe, just maybe, she had gotten through to him at least a little, and she allowed herself a bit of pride at the thought. Regardless of the reasons for it, though, she was happy to see him leave the apartment without anyone else's urging for once, and on a regular basis, too.

She hadn't made him tell her what he was doing; his Section 2 detail would make sure that he stayed safe and she had long since decided that the children under her care deserved their privacy unless the truth of their actions was sufficiently funny.

That did not mean, however, that she was not curious. She poked and prodded at him at all hours of the day, sometimes subtly, sometimes with the bluntness of a sledgehammer. She had asked about school. She had asked about girls. She had asked about his friends, Suzuhara and Aida. She asked about girls. She had asked about sports. She had asked about girls; he was a fourteen year old boy, after all. No matter the question, Shinji had just responded with frustratingly evasive answers and excuses.

If his behavior was exasperating Misato, and it was, then it was driving Asuka, who had also noticed the change in Shinji, insane outright, which gave Misato no end of admittedly slightly mean spirited pleasure. Asuka had wasted no time in trying to wrestle the truth out of him, but, though terrified as he clearly was of the redhead's ceaseless and increasingly furious questionings, Shinji still managed to stay uncharacteristically resolute in his silence. Whatever it was, Shinji had clearly made up his mind about it and wouldn't tell anyone until he was ready.

And as much as Asuka may have hated it, Misato had a hunch that Shinji's newfound conviction, whatever it was, would help boost his synch ratios the next time Ritsuko decided to test them. This, she reflected, would of course just piss off Asuka even more. She smiled. The coming week would be entertaining, if nothing else. She could feel it.

"That was a good one, I know it already," Asuka crowed as her test plug opened with a familiar hiss and the LCL leaked out. She practically leaped from her plug's command chair out onto the platform, beaming up at her superiors. "Hey, Dr. Akagi, how much did I widen my lead by this time? It won't be long before you can send these kids home," she jerked a thumb toward Shinji and Rei, who were still climbing out of their plugs, "and leave the Angel killing to a professional." The thumb jerked again, this time pointing directly at the Second Child's chest.

Ritsuko looked down at the readings on her monitor in some surprise then turned to face the Major standing over her shoulder. "Well, well, it seems you were on to something after all, Misato," she said before turning back to the pilots and activating the intercom. "Good work, Asuka. We've recorded a synch ratio increase of four points for you on this test." She paused to allow the redhead's cheer to ring through the test chamber.

"But," she continued, letting the smirk she had been suppressing spread across her face, "I'm afraid your lead over your fellow pilots has actually diminished by seven points since the last test."

Asuka's reply was as quick as it was sharp. "It what?" she cried in a voice that was at some indeterminate point between shock and rage.

"Shinji's ratio increased by eleven points today," Misato chimed in cheerily. "Isn't that great?" she asked, goading the Second Child into another outburst.

"What, but, I...how?" Asuka spluttered. "It's not like he's done any extra training the rest of us haven't! He just gets in the Eva and his score rises by eleven? That's...that's not...Ach! Scheiße!" She continued spouting German expletives for a few seconds before growling, "I'll be in the gym if anyone needs me."

Misato shook her head, laughing silently and pitying whatever poor soul would have the misfortune of being Asuka's sparring partner that afternoon. "Good job today, Shinji," she called to the Third Child, who was still standing beside his test plug and smiling sheepishly, clearly embarrassed.

"You can go ahead and head home early, you've earned it." Misato noted that this caused him to brighten considerably. "I've got paperwork to do, so I'll see you in a few hours. I think it'll take Asuka a while to cool down, too, so enjoy your time alone."

Shinji nodded and practically skipped out of the test chamber. Once again Misato felt her insistent curiosity groan inside of her like an empty stomach. She sighed. Four hours of filling out forms in triplicate would dull that ache, she already knew. "Coffee?" she asked Ritsuko, delaying the inevitable.

Misato came home several hours later, tired but happy to finally be caught up with her work for the week. "I'm home," she called, receiving no answer. "Shinji?" she asked, but was again met with silence. Shrugging, she removed her shoes and moved into the kitchen, where she saw a note left on the counter in Shinji's handwriting.

Misato/Asuka,

Went out on a walk. Will be back soon. I cooked dinner, it's in the fridge.

-Shinji

She smiled as she took the food he had cooked and put it in the microwave. Even on his time off the boy was always thinking about his responsibilities to others. As she sat down to eat she began to think she should reward him in some way for his conscientiousness, not to mention for the impressive synch scores he had put up today. By the time she finished her meal and a nice cold beer she had decided to take over the duties Shinji normally took care of around the apartment, at least for that night.

That in mind, she decided to start with doing the dishes, which seemed to her the most convenient task for someone who had just finished dinner. Her brow knit in slight confusion, however, when she noticed there were already three used bowls in the sink from that night. One for Shinji and one for Pen Pen, yes, but Asuka hadn't come home yet, leaving the third bowl a mystery. She decided after a moment's contemplation that Suzuhara or Aida must have stopped by earlier for whatever reason. Maybe Shinji was with one of them now.

Once she had finished washing the dishes as best she could Misato decided to start hers and Shinji's laundry. Asuka, she decided, would not want her barging into her room without permission, so her clothes would have to wait, though she noticed that Asuka's door was slightly ajar. That's unlike her, she thought absently as she closed it for her, knowing she would prefer it that way.

As she entered Shinji's room to collect his laundry she saw a brush sitting on his desk. That's strange, she thought. Maybe it's one of Asuka's? She couldn't fathom, however, how one of Asuka's brushes might have ended up in Shinji's room; certainly Shinji was both too timid and too respectful to just take one even if he had some use for it. Further, she doubted Asuka would have let him use one even if he had worked up the courage to ask. She pursed her lips for a moment before giving up on the mystery for now and moving the brush to the bathroom where Asuka could find it.

Returning to Shinji's room, she retrieved the hamper that held his laundry and brought it with her to the washing machine. As she began feeding his clothes to the machine she couldn't help noticing that many of them had several dark hairs clinging to them. Her first instinct was to worry that his hair had been falling out due to Eva related stress. It wasn't fair for a boy to go bald before his sixteenth birthday.

But why now? her mind countered. If it was stress that caused it then you would have noticed this a long time ago. He's been happier these past two weeks any other time since he began piloting Unit 01. And then Misato froze. Happy...A brush in his room...someone else eating here...hairs on his clothes...spending time out of the apartment...

Misato felt perhaps the slowest, slyest grin of her life creep onto her face as she put the pieces together and giggled madly. She could tease Shinji about this for the rest of his life, and she had a feeling Asuka wouldn't be pleased either.

She didn't have to wait too long for Asuka to return home. "Feeling better?" she asked as Asuka entered the apartment without a word.

"About what?" the redhead asked, earning her a look from Misato telling her she wasn't fooling anyone. Asuka scowled. "Please," she said haughtily. "As if a little fluke like that could get under my skin. Next week his scores will fall back to normal and mine will continue to rise like always."

"Mmm," Misato allowed congenially, before moving on to the next button to be pressed. "Say, Shinji's been in pretty good spirits lately." She winked. "You don't suppose he has a girlfriend or something, do you?"

Asuka stiffened, then forced out a laugh. "Him? A girlfriend? Ha! Good one, Misato. That dweeb could never find someone dumb enough to go out with him!" She laughed again for what seemed to both of them to be a few more seconds than was necessary. "Anyway, why should I care?" she added, feeling her voice catching in her throat for the briefest of moments.

Misato shrugged, and, feeling a little guilty, was about to reach for some encouraging words that wouldn't get her head bitten off when they both heard the sound of footsteps approaching the front door. Asuka's eyes widened and she darted into her room before Shinji could enter, leaving only Misato to see as the door opened to reveal Shinji standing there next to...a puppy?

Misato blinked for a moment as Shinji stood there, grinning brightly. The moment was soon pierced by an ear splitting shriek from Asuka's room. "Wer. Zum TEUFEL. SCHEIẞE AUF MEINEM BETT?!" There was a pause, then, "SHIIIIIIIIINJIIIIIIIIIII!"

While Misato knew enough German to understand Asuka's distress, Shinji had no idea what had just happened, but even so he could tell just from her tone that his life expectancy could now be measured in mere minutes, if not seconds. He gulped as his eyes pleaded with Misato to save him, but her empty gaze went right through him as she puzzled through this new information. A more positive attitude...hair on his clothes...a brush in his room...an extra serving of dinner...going out on a walk…a soiled bed...and this canine beside Shinji.

Suddenly Misato began to howl with laughter, unsure if she would ever stop, though she supposed she should get a hold of herself before Asuka made it out of her room and crippled one third of NERV's effective piloting force.

Author's notes: Just a silly bit of fluff that struck me a few days ago and wouldn't leave til I'd started. I'm not sure how long I can generate chapters based on this premise, but at least I've got some ideas and an end in mind, so there's that. Be sure to let me know if you enjoyed it, or, hell, even if you didn't. Especially if you didn't. I crave feedback, I'm insecure like that.

Be advised, I don't speak German and make all too frequent use of google translate, so feel free to feel smug if this is erroneous, but Asuka's line at the end is supposed to be "Who the Devil/Hell shit on my bed?"

Hopefully by the end you understand the terrible bit of wordplay that I used to give this fic its title. I couldn't very well call it the Dog Days of an Endless Summer or the cat (well, dog) would be out of the bag. And anyone who knows why Shinji's score went up exactly 11 points gets a free internet point. Til next time.