Something I whipped up in an hour, akin to Dartz-IRL's SDAT oneshot.

A Three Muskateers Work

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Shinji rose early. He always had and always would, despite his recent onset of puberty. No sir, no sleeping till noon for him. Some people might enjoy that, but Shinji couldn't stand wasting all the time that a new morning brought him. To him, the morning was the best part of the day.

He could accomplish so much before anyone else was even awake. Cook, clean and get all of his responsibilities done before anyone else even had a chance. The morning was a time of work for Shinji. He told everyone it was so he could relax the rest of the day.

But the truth was that he liked the morning because he worked during it. Being busy was enjoyable to him, as long as it wasn't to the point of causing him anxiety. Washing plates and clothes put him in a happy place where he felt like he accomplished something. Like he was really worth something, despite the fact that he was rarely praised for it.

But this wasn't the only reason he enjoyed the mornings. The lack of certain aspects of his daily life from the morning made him enjoy it.

It was before he had to go to NERV and see Eva. Before he had to get inside of the monster and train in it. Before he had to put up with Ritsuko and his father's gaze.

It was before he had to put up with Misato, Asuka, Touji and Kensuke teasing him about a million and a half things. Before everyone else would question his actions and make him feel worthless. It was before everyone would make him feel weak and before he would question his own actions.

The morning was a time Shinji put aside for himself. He could feel good about his life during it. He could accomplish something. It was all his.

So when he exited his room at 5:30 AM, he was surprised and somewhat disappointed to find Asuka slumped over on the kitchen table, books and notes strewn everywhere. Disappointed, and a little frightened.

It was his time of the day. He was supposed to be in his happy place right now, not having to worry about why Asuka was asleep on the table.

"I told Misato letting her go back to college was a mistake," he whispered to himself. She'd clearly been up all night studying for a test the next day.

Shit. There was no way he'd be able to cook breakfast without waking her up. Additionally, he wouldn't be able to wash clothes or feed Pen Pen because Asuka was asleep on the table.

His whole world collapsed at what he thought was surely the ruining of his day. He gave a soft groan and sat down at the table.

'She isn't even awake and she's thrown my whole day into chaos' he thought with a soft smile.

He really tried not to look at her to closely. For the first few minutes he glanced idly around the room, wondering how early he could wake her up and how loudly she would shriek when she found that she'd been sleeping in the same room as him.

But eventually his eyes ran out of lines to follow or floor tiles to count. At first it was just a small glance, but his eyes soon returned to her again. She stirred slightly and Shinji managed to immediately avert his eyes and give a soft cough as an excuse, in case she would awaken.

But she just moved slightly, her hair blocking her face and quite a bit of her body from view.

Shinji blinked when he noticed that she was still wearing her neural clips. In fact, he realized that he'd only seen her without them when showering and going to bed. She wore them every day. The same pair, as far as he knew. 'She must've forgotten to take them out last night,' he realized.

He wondered why she wore them all the time.

Was it to show off? She certainly didn't need to wear the neural clips for that. Every kid in the school knew she was an Eva pilot and knew who she was. The guys for slightly less jealous reasons than the girls, though no more pure. And she always said that she didn't need other people's attention, that she was strong enough to live on her own.

Was it to connect her with Eva? People at NERV knew she was a pilot as well. She had to be, otherwise she'd never have been permitted to enter the base. Everyone knew that. And it wasn't like Asuka went anywhere besides school or NERV very often, so it couldn't be for outsiders. She most likely wouldn't care to impress them anyway.

Was it just as an accessory? To keep her hair back and match her hair? No, Asuka would never wear the same thing everyday if they didn't have another purpose. She'd have another reason besides this one, at the very least.

Leaning over, something besides Asuka and her hair caught Shinji's eye. It was one of the books. It had a picture of a red haired female in a lab coat, standing next to a sign that said Gehirn in large block letters, followed by some smaller words that Shinji decided were in German. He couldn't even guess the meaning.

The text title said the reading was about advanced biology and transferring mental signals over distances using small transmitters.

That was as far as Shinji got before he realized that the page was slightly damp. He blinked in surprise. 'Why would the page be damp in certain spots?'

…

Nah, couldn't be. Asuka must've spilled some water or something on it.

Shinji went back to the picture, examining the woman. He decided she looked vaguely like Asuka. He read the caption below the woman's picture.

Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu: Credited with the major break through in brainwave transmission technology, Dr. Soryu created the first small scale mental wave transmission systems for the UN project Gehirn.

Shinji blinked in surprise. Asuka's mother? She'd invented the neural clips?

No wonder she always wore them. Shinji realized that she wore them for a different reason then he'd ever expected. It was from homesickness. It was from missing something that was far away and that she might not be going back to for a long time.

Shinji felt a slight pang in his heart as he realized that Asuka really had been crying on the page. She'd been thinking of her mother, wondering when she'd ever get to see her again. Shinji found he could relate, despite the fact that his own mother was dead.

The absence in his life, much longer than he supposed Asuka's must've been, still hurt him after the bulk of his life. He'd managed to become comfortably numb to it eventually, but Asuka had moved from Germany only a few months ago.

'She must be homesick,' he realized.

Then Asuka's breathing changed slightly. Her mouth opened and she licked her lips, though her eyes stayed closed. One of her arms moved on the table, showing that she really was awake.

Shinji sounded a full retreat. Panicking slightly, he tried to exit the room as quickly as he could, staying quiet and not drawing attention to himself. Needless to say about the last part, he was rather good at it.

Asuka stretched her arms and yawned, then looked back at the book. Through half awake eyes, she felt a sudden urge to slam it closed and put it away. She didn't want to start again this early. Shinji or Misato might be awake.

She got up and went to her room to sleep for the final hour and a half before she'd have to get up.

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Shinji heard Asuka open the door to her room and then close it.

He sat on the floor on his room and pondered whether or not he should get up and cook breakfast and take care of his chores. But, after a little thinking, he decided that he really wasn't in the mood to wash clothes anymore.

He smiled. "She doesn't even know it and she's messing with my life."

Then he got up to go start breakfast, knowing that his pleasant quiet morning was already partway over. Soon Misato and Asuka would wake up, this time for the whole day, and he'd have to deal with his tiny little insecurities.

But he didn't see the morning as wasted. He was glad to have learnt something about Asuka. Even if it had messed up his morning.

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A bit different than anything I'd tried before, but I enjoyed it. What's everyone think?