DISCLAIMER: I Do not own anything EVA...although I wish I did.
"Don't Wanna Miss A Thing"
A side story to Evangelion: Awakening
CHAPTER 1
Scene One:
Asuka? Where are you? Asuka? ASUKA!
Shinji awoke with a start. He immediately jolted forward screaming Asuka's name. He looked around praying that everything he remembered was just a dream and that she would be at his side. Instead he found himself in the hospital once again, confirming that everything he thought happened was in fact a reality. The hardest part of this realization was that he would never see Asuka again. He would never see Jessica again either. Why had things turned out as they did? What was he going to do now?
He put his hand to his head becoming aware of the painful headache he had. At first he didn't notice but he then spotted the flowers in his room. His eyes hurt like mad and burned when he strained them. The first flowers he saw were from Misato. He tried to stand but all the muscles ached so badly he couldn't.
Why is this happening? Damnit this hurts so damn bad!
"Shinji?" A familiar voice echoed in his mind as he looked up and saw her. Maya was standing in the doorway to his room. She had brought something with her, just like the last time he was in the hospital.
She took a seat in the empty chair beside him. "How are you feeling? I hope you don't mind but I brought you some food if you are hungry."
"Tell me, is Asuka really dead?" It came as a surprise to her that Shinji almost completely ignored the attention she was giving him to ask about Asuka.
"I know it hurts Shinji, you can talk to me about it if you want to."
"Just tell me, yes or no."
"…Yes." She said softly.
"I appreciate you coming to see me, but I would like to be alone right now."
"Ok, well I will leave this Bento Box for you right here, ok?"
"Thanks."
She left him to mourn alone. I hope he will be ok all by himself. As she once again turned the corner out of the hospital, she ran into Misato.
"Hey, Maya how does he look?" She said with a frail expression.
"He is going to need some time alone. I don't know how he will turn out because he has lost a lot of people precious to him."
"That is why he is going to need someone to watch over him."
"Excuse me Ma'am?" She seemed a little surpised at what Misato had said to her. It was almost as if she was implying it was her new job.
"After Shinji gets out of the hospital, since he doesn't live with me and I am not able to get custody over him, I will need someone to watch over him. So, I am entrusting this position to you. Can you do that for me?" She eagerly awaited her answer.
"I mean, I don't know if something like that is for me. Shinji and I are just friends and-"
"That's all he needs is a friend. I'm not asking you to do more than that."
"Well, it's ok with me."
"Thanks, he needs as many friends as he can have right now."
0000
Shinji had many visitors over the next few days. Touji and Hikari came to see him and mourn his loss together. Misato was at the hospital nearly every day, sometimes twice a day. Unfortunately, she sometimes brought cooking of her own. Thank goodness Maya had come by to give him delicious Bento boxes that she had apparently made herself.
One day in particular Shinji had work done on his hands and couldn't use them for a good day or so.
"Shinji, how did your operation go?" Maya peeked her head in his room. Shinji had gone through a great deal, he was coming along nicely, but he was still very sad.
He had gone to Asuka's funeral, and Misato had to push him around in a wheelchair that day because Shinji was still unable to walk around steadily. He didn't cry even though he really did miss her, and love her, but couldn't find the tears to cry anymore.
The first week in the hospital was the worst because he cried the entire time. His muscles ached as they had been under so much stress and pressure that they nearly all were tearing and had knots. He had blood clots in his body that resulted from the last battle that caused some parts of his body to not function for a while. In this case his hands, which were severely damaged, he had to have operated on.
He looked over to his side and saw Maya and greeted her with a smile. The first smile in what seemed like ages.
He really smiled at me! Oh God, that smile…
"It went well. I can already feel my hands getting back to normal." He started to sit up, still feeling weak however.
"Well I brought your lunch, I hope you are hungry."
"Very." He looked at the Bento box and began to feel himself mentally drool; her meals were so delicious, even if he wasn't hungry.
He tried to open it, but realized he had all these bandages on. Shit.
"Here, let me help." She opened the box for him, and placed the box and chopsticks in his lap where he attempted to begin eating.
As he tried to pick up the chopsticks, the sound of them falling again and again signaled his failure and also pleaded for assistance even though he didn't necessarily ask.
Feeling compelled to help, Maya grabbed the chopsticks and picked up a piece of salmon with them.
"Say 'Ah'." He blushed a little bit but obeyed her command.
'He is really cute when he blushes' she thought to herself.
She could really see he was improving and would be out of the hospital in no time. Giving her time to get back to what little personal life she had. Oh that's right, she didn't have one. Getting lost in her thoughts she realized he had finished his meal. She looked at her watch and decided it was time to leave and get back to work.
"Well Shinji, I have to leave but I will see you later ok?"
"Ok." He replied, his mouth still half full from the last part of food she fed him.
Scene Two:
It had been almost a month since that fateful day with the battle outside of Tokyo-2, and Shinji was just about ready to leave the hospital and move back into his apartment.
While he had loved Asuka, it was a short lived romance as she was stolen from him by someone not even a day after they had consummated their love for one another. Not saying that it was hard or easy to get over her, it's just that he needed to find some time to enjoy a little bit of life.
He decided that he wasn't going to sit around and feel sorry for himself as that Shinji had died a long time ago. He had had much time to mourn her death and needed a change of pace.
Stepping out of the hospital was the first step towards an overall recovery. Once he stepped outside he noticed a very familiar sports car parked in front of him.
"Misato?"
"Hey there, you want a ride?"
"Well I'm not sure if I'm ready to ride on a rollercoaster just yet." He said sarcastically.
"Get in." She smiled back at Shinji.
The car ride for the most part was silent, with the exception of the cat Misato almost hit. But after a few minutes, she decided to break the silence.
"So I take it you feel a lot better? I hear that Maya has been coming to see you often?" Knowing full well what the answer was, she just tried to engage in some conversation.
"Yes, actually. She's been bringing me some good lunches and I really enjoy her company."
"Well that's good to hear! Anywho, I was getting together with some friends tonight if you would like to join us for dinner?"
"I would like that." He smiled faintly, remembering what he had said to himself before leaving the hospital earlier.
"Great, its kind of upscale so make sure you wear something nice."
"Sure thing." By this time Shinji had arrived at his place and Misato was already parking the car. "Well, thanks for the ride Misato and I will see you later tonight."
"Kay, I'll call you when I'm coming to pick you up, dinners at 8 so don't forget." She said with a wink and sped off.
0000
"Geez, I hate working so darn late at night." Said Maya with another yawn escaping her mouth.
She was 30, still single, and in desperate need of some change in her life. Taking care and watching over Shinji was enjoyable while it lasted. But she had come to think of him more often then she usually did and in different ways too.
She sat at her desk at home for once, and let another yawn escape her mouth as she scratched her back and stared more into the computer screen.
"I think I'll try and get some fresh air." She made her way from her table and stretched like a cat after a nap. Now moving to the small outer balcony she basked in the fair view of Tokyo-3 she had from her apartment. The night air was warm and brought an enjoyable sensation to her as it whisked past her skin and blew in her now shoulder length black hair.
"I wonder how he'll hold up." She thought carelessly.
0000
Dinner with Misato was fun, but by the end of the evening he was carrying her up to her apartment.
With a soft plop he rested then tucked her into bed.
"Whew…you should really stop drinking so much at your age…"
Misato had mumbled something but her face was buried in the pillow and Shinji just ignored it.
Then it dawned on him. Shit…how am I going to get home? Misato was the one who drove.
Having thought this he started to go through all the numbers on his cell phone. Touji! The phone began to ring. It kept ringing. A vein became visible on Shinji's head.
Damnit, why isn't he picking up? A brief glance at his watch gave him an indictation as to why. It was well past midnight and he couldn't think of anyone else to call.
Almost instinctively he pulled out his wallet to search for some yen to catch a cab as it seemed to be his last option. Crap! No cash?! He had been in the hospital for some time and it dawned on him that it wasn't odd to not have any cash ready.
Something fell out of his wallet however. A small folded piece of paper that he did not quite recognize. He picked it up off the ground and began to unfold it.
Maya! He had remembered he placed the number from long long ago in his wallet. (Why is it guys put crap in their wallet and never find it?)
It wasn't a rarity for her to be working late, she was a night owl. Well, I'll give it a try. God I hope she answers…
Ringing. More ringing. Voicemail. Shit.
0000
Maya walked back to the table where more work awaited her. After sitting back down she looked for almost any excuse to avoid getting back to work. Even though no one ever really called her personal cell, she decided to scrimmage through it. Almost as if it were an purely instinctive act based on procrastination and boredom.
1 MISSED CALL. What?! From who? I don't recognize this number…maybe it's Doctor Akagi calling from someone else's phone?
Almost going along with her tangent to avoid work, she dialed the missed number.
"Hello? Miss Ibuki?" She couldn't make out the voice on the other side. It was a deep man's voice. However the first thing she thought was 'stalker'. Even though the thought scared her, she became more intrigued.
"This is she. May I ask who's calling?"
"Its Shinji. Shinji Ikari. I didn't catch you while you were asleep did I?"
He almost made it seem like she didn't remember him by the way he introduced himself over the phone.
"Oh! Shinji! No don't worry I'm just working right now. How are you?" She said almost too cheerfully.
"I'm sorry I know it is late, but I needed a ride and I can understand if you can't bec-"
"Oh no its fine! Really I can come get you. Where are you though?"
"I'm at Misato's apartment right now…do you know where it is?"
"Of course. I'll leave in a few minutes and be there shortly, does that sound ok?"
"Yes, are you sure its not a problem though?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll call you when I get close."
"Thanks, you're a lifesaver!"
"I'll see you soon."
BEEP. The feeling she had was indescribable. It was that of happiness and the feeling you get when you found a reason to get out of work. Why am I so excited?
Grabbing her keys, and opening her door she didn't take into account what she was wearing. She was decent, but did she really want Shinji to see her in it? It was one of those things where you just didn't care and had just about shut the door and locked it. I'll be sitting in a car and it won't really matter anyway.
She went down the elevator and into her car with her flip flops, pajama pants, and v-neck shirt. Ordinary to some, but to others not exactly 'public attire'.
0000
Shinji had decided to wait outside. It was a beautiful night out and he thought it would be more convenient to just wait outside anyway. It wasn't long before he started to lose train of his thoughts when he suddenly gazed upon a bright set of headlights in the distance.
Is it her?
Maya pulled up to the roundabout and opened the passenger door to invite Shinji in. He gratefully took his seat in the fresh scented car. She apparently took good care of this car as there was no trash in it, and it didn't smell like beer or smoke. Not that she smoked or drank…that he knew of.
Turns out she never really uses this car and takes the metro line to NERV.
"So why are you at Misato's?"
"She invited me to dinner, and well, she got too drunk to drive. I drove her here, but I couldn't take her car to drive myself home. I didn't have cash for a cab and well, yea." He nearly blurted out as if trying to justify why he needed a ride. Almost subconsciously a small nervous smirk appeared on his face as well as a sweat drop.
"Okayyy. Well, where is your place?" She said trying to clear the air.
"It's just a couple of miles down the road." He indicated with a finger to the road adjacent to the direction the car was facing.
The car ride was for the most part…awkward.
That was until, Shinji took a look over to his side to notice what his friend was wearing. He is after all, a guy, and all guys look. He couldn't help but look at her from head to toe and notice her tight physique and slender body. Well, it definitely shows a lot more then the NERV uniforms I always see her in.
Before he could react she turned her head to look at him. He shot his head away instinctively.
"Do I turn in here?" She marked with a finger.
"Y-Yes." He tried to cover up his nervousness. Why do I feel so nervous! Geez…
She knew that he had looked at her. That way. Truth be told she subconsciously wanted him to.
The car had stopped in front of his apartment complex. It was only a couple of seconds but it was one of those long feeling awkward moments where you don't know whether to just shoot out of the car and say goodbye, hug her and say goodnight, or give a kiss on the cheek, etc.
Whatever the case, Shinji decided to go in for a hug. Nothing serious. To his surprise, as if it were a cue from both parties, they went in for a hug at the same time. While he had not expected this, he realized that his right wrist had accidentally brushed up against her chest when going in for the hug.
Maya and Shinji blushed furiously but it went unnoticed as they both locked in a loose embrace.
"Goodnight Miss Ibuki." He said softly, somewhat hastily making his way to leave the car.
Feeling compelled to say something Maya lowered her window and called his name, easily getting his attention before he went into the building.
"Shinji, next time you call me 'Miss Ibuki' I'll have to put you back in the hospital." She said with a minor level of nervousness.
"Sure thing Mi-Maya." Catching himself then smiling.
"Goodnight, Shinji."
0000
The ride home seemed to take ten times longer for Maya. For some reason, in the back of her mind she had been expecting something different to happen. As she rubbed the breast that Shinji had accidentally rubbed up against, it took her to a particular scenario that would have been much more…wait…wait a second here. Was she? …She couldn't be.
She put a finger to her lips. What if…no. That would never happen. He'd never see me that way. Besides, we are just good friends.
Irradicating all those thoughts from her mind she focused back on the road. That was, until she felt something vibrating between her legs.
Eek! The motions had startled her and actually began to excite her when she realized that her cell phone was there.
1 NEW MESSAGE.
A giant smile ran across her face. She wasn't accustomed to text messaging, and did didn't think that Shinji was either. Apparently he was.
'Thnx for the ride maya. Youre great!'
The ride seemed a little smoother now. As she pulled up to her parking spot in the garage, and got out she began playing with her cell phone. She had a rather large smile on her face as she made her way up to her apartment.
Shinji was becoming a better friend to her than she was to him. She was starting to enjoy having a social life now.
END CHAPTER 1
