Disclaimer : Not now, not ever, and Hideaki Anno is not my friend, nor is Gainax my father's company, so there.
A/N : I am back! Haha! Well, now that's out of my system, for those who are new to my work, hello! And for those old friends out there, this is probably the reason why I didn't touch 'In Between Bliss and Angst' for a while, so sorry 'bout that. About this story, I've planned to make it a one-shot at first, but then I've decided against it, and split it into around three to four chapters, and I will update it daily, so don't worry! So, nothing more to say, enjoy!
Shinji was tired; beyond tired that he simply didn't care about changing into his sleepwear when he plopped down onto the futon in the living room with his SDAT player in hand.
His day was, in short, hectic but boring. He and Asuka had been training relentlessly for days with the damned dancing machine to prepare for their battle against the seventh angel, Israfel.
Even though by now they had achieved almost perfect scores during their synchronized dances for most of the times, he had still managed to make mistakes from time to time due to his lack of stamina, earning him a quick but hard hit to the head by a very ticked off Asuka.
Shinji turned to his left while absent-mindedly massaging the spot where Asuka had hit him during the times he had messed up. Frankly, he had lost count as to how many times she had hit him on the head throughout the entire training session. It wouldn't be such a surprise if were to say that he was suddenly diagnosed with a concussion.
He sighed, inserted the ear-buds into his ears and turned on his SDAT player. Thinking too much before sleeping was never a good idea, and sleeping was what Shinji really needed before the coming angel battle.
He gave the quite spacious room one last look, and was reminded of the fact that Misato was still at NERV, most probably staying up all night trying to improvise on a plan to make sure that everything goes right, and won't be back for the rest of the night.
As such, Asuka had taken the chance to slip away and sleep in Misato's room tonight, leaving Shinji alone in the living room. Not that he minded, though.
He lied in his make-shift for some time, listening to his SDAT player, sleep starting to claim the boy until the sound of footsteps coming from the hallway jolted him awake.
He pried open one eye to take a peek at the source of the sound, only to find a certain German redhead walking past him and into the kitchen.
"A-Asuka?" Shinji whispered as he watched in mild confusion.
'It feels like something's not right,' he thought. 'Why is she going into the kitchen at this time of the night?'
"Asuka?" Shinji tried calling out to the girl, and waited for a response from the kitchen, to which none came.
Disappointed, he waited patiently for the girl to step out of there. After a while, she did, albeit being a little wobbly, like how a drunkard walks, which was weird considering this was Asuka he was talking about.
With the faint lighting in the room, Shinji could barely make out her eyelids that were still securely shut even though she was still on her feet. 'Sleepwalking?' He raised an eyebrow.
She moved around, each unbalanced steps threatening to bring her down onto the hard and cold floor, until reaching the edge of Shinji's futon and plopped down beside him, snuggling into Shinji's back in the process.
His body went rigid, his face turning scarlet from the level of contact he received, and the hows and whys nudging him in the back of his mind. He knew that Asuka was sleepwalking and was unintentionally doing whatever she was doing, but Shinji couldn't help but feel bewildered at her actions.
She's so...different when she's actually asleep and not yelling or bitching at things,' Shinji mused. 'Perhaps, she could sleepwalk to my bed more often?'
His lips curved up slightly at the thought. In seconds, he snapped back to reality and frowned. 'This is not good,' he thought. 'If Asuka wakes up in the morning and see this, I won't even be able to live long enough to see the angel, much less fight it!'
The boy began his valiant attempt of trying to squirm out of the hands of the German girl, fearing the consequences if Asuka had suddenly woken up to see them in the same bed, but her grip was strong enough to hold him in place, as expected from someone who excels in hand-to-hand combat. In the end, he was pretty much unsuccessful bar the fact he had unknowingly turned to face the beautiful German girl.
That was when he noticed it up close, her facial features that he, on normal occasions, would try to ignore. Her soft and luscious pink lips that shone dimly in the dark, the beautiful crimson red hair draping over her like a second blanket, the smooth and perfectly shaped face which complimented the other facial features she possessed, along with her beautifully proportioned body that was the envy of every girl of her age.
Shinji's gaze couldn't help but linger a lot longer at her well-shaped curves. Sure, he had known that Asuka was a beautiful woman, but he had never paid any close attention to her. Now that he did though, he had found her to be extremely attractive to the eyes, irresistible even.
His eyes then focused on her lips. 'So soft...like a...marshmellow,' he began closing in on her. Being the coward that was Shinji Ikari, he had not expected himself to feel the urge to kiss Asuka while she was asleep, though his raging hormones certainly thought otherwise.
Shinji stopped half an inch in front of Asuka's face, his mind was a raging storm full of conflicting thoughts and emotions. He didn't know what was right or wrong anymore. Should he back away in case she wakes up to find what he was about to do, or man up and kiss her then suffer whatever consequences she had in store for him when she finds out what he did?
Either way, it will still be a death sentence for him. 'Might as well go for it,' he thought. Finally convincing himself to go with it, Shinji allowed his hormones to dominate his senses as he inched closer to kiss her.
However, he never did do it in time.
A straight line of crystalline liquid streaked down from the girl's face before Shinji's lips managed to reach hers. He heard slight whimpering as he slowly moved his face away from hers, his mind still trying to register the fact that the great Asuka Langley Soryu was crying in her sleep.
"Mama...Don't leave me..." Asuka murmured.
Any desire to kiss her was gone now, replaced by an endless pit of guilt. What had he been thinking, trying to do such a thing to her? Even worse, the girl he tried to lay his hands on was Asuka, the girl he had secretly admired for her confidence and tenacity, something he didn't have no matter how hard he had tried.
Throughout the incident, Asuka's grip on him had managed to loosen, leaving him an opportunity to escape from her intimate bear-hug, which he gladly took it and slipped away to the corner of the living room.
The night was going to be long and agonizing for the young pilot.