AN: Here we go, part two. Hope you all like it.
Disclaimer. I don't own Eva. don' t sue me.
Shinji was lying in his room, staring at the blank white roof while listening to his S-DAT, which now had some Salieri playing. It was more for a calming effect more than anything else. He had always found Salieri to be far mellower than his nemesis Mozart. But the music wasn't helping him, as thoughts of Asuka kept appearing in his mind, reminding him of his present emotional state: Lonesome, and depressed. At least it was quiet in his room. But it wouldn't be for long.
"Knock knock," said Asuka as she opened the door loudly, slamming it to the end of the frame. Shinji sighed as the person who was prominent in his mind at that moment disturbed his moment of quiet. He slightly rolled over in his bed and sighed. He did not feel like talking to anyone at all, and especially not her. Why would she even want to listen to him tell her about how he felt? Surely, she couldn't give a crap.
"Hey! I'm talking to you, you ungrateful baka! Turn around and face me!"
Seeing as his present situation could not be fixed, Shinji rolled over to face her, and turned off his S-DAT.
"What is it Asuka?" Asked Shinji. 'She probably wants dinner. If it's that, I'll get up and make it. I wish she could cook herself some rice, or even buy some cereal instead of always relying on me to make her dinner and breakfast.
"What's that scowl on your face for? Got a crush on someone?" She said, as she got closer to him, in a teasing mood. Inevitably, Shinji turned bright red and stuttered:
"N-n-n of course not! Why do you say that?!"
"Then why do you have such a godforsaken look on your face, for Christ's sake? It's almost as if you were dead! Get up, go out and do something, just stop looking like that!" yelled Asuka.
"G-g-gomen…"
"There you go again saying you're sorry when you're not! Oh my fucking god! Say sorry one more goddamn time, Third, and I'll be sure to hit you so hard, you'll feel it for weeks on end! God, you're so pathetic when you huddle up and say "gomen' like that. It makes me want to puke!"
At that moment, something inside Shinji snapped. He didn't notice it, but he had just been broken brutally inside by a powerful kick from the Second Child. All he could do was roll back over again on the other side of his self, away from Asuka, and say "gomen" under his breath.
"Urgh! I need a damn break from all of this, especially from you, Third! Now go and make me some dinner, yelling at you got me starving!"
Shinji didn't say a word. He just got up, and put on his apron, and stated cooking. But if someone was looking closely, they would have been able to tell that something was off about him. It wasn't the Shinji that loved cooking. This was merely a shell of that person. But Asuka didn't care. All she wanted was her dinner, and that look off of the Third's face, and she had succeeded on both accounts. She sat down, and waited for dinner to be ready.
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The morning after, Asuka woke up after a disturbing nightmare. In this dream, she was an observer. Perhaps, never even existed, or too unimportant to be noticed. In the dream, she saw Shinji at the movies with Hikari, enjoying himself, laughing with her best friend. She tried to get Hikari's attention, but she wouldn't answer. She was too happy with Shinji to notice her, and Shinji was getting lost in the moment with Hikari as she leaned in for a kiss…
She woke up abruptly, springing right up, with a really dry throat. She was blinded by the sun for a bit, and while she looked around, she noticed the time. She was late. She got out of bed intent on murdering the Third Child, but she noticed he was gone. He had probably left for school already. He had left her a simple breakfast on the table and lunch, but it was cold. She left after taking a bath and without eating her breakfast.
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She got to school barely on time. She noticed Shinji in his seat, staring out of the window, as per usual. She was about to make a run for him, but just then, Hikari made her usual "Rise, Bow, Sit!" call, and class had begun.
The day went by as usual. Sensei lectured the class on Second Impact. Kensuke was on the school network, going through the senpais network drives and their "interesting" contents. Hikari was uncharacteristically sighing melancholically while staring out of the window. Everyone in the class knew something had happened to Touji, and they all knew she had a crush the size of a small planet on him. Rei was simply staring out of the window, as she always did. But she was the only person that noticed something was off with Ikari that day. He did not attempt to greet her when he sat down today, and he was taking notes instead of messaging the other students. But he was doing it as if it were a duty he was programmed for, Instead of the usual bore he affronts his work with. He did not complain, he merely typed what he needed to type, nothing more, nothing less.
At lunch he was also different. As Kensuke ran towards him to try and sit down with him, Shinji simply got up from where he was sitting and walked to the roof. When Kensuke caught up with him, he asked him:
"Hey dude, what's going on with you right now?"
But he got no answer. The only reaction in the pilot's eyes was that of a slight spark of anger that dissipated in less than a millisecond, before they reverted to the blank stare he had at that moment. Receiving no answer, He got up and left, deciding that today was just an off day for Shinji, and he was best left alone.
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As school ended, everyone got up to leave. Asuka was planning on spending some time with Hikari after school because she had asked her during lunch. So, intent on reprimanding the Third Child for his morning crimes, and informing him of her planned absence for the afternoon, she made way to his table.
"Hey, Third."
He didn't react. He continued to pack his bag.
"Hey, Third, I'm talking to you! You have no right to ignore me after what you did to me this morning! Why did you do that, huh?"
He had no reply. He just finished packing his bag, got up and started to leave.
"Fine! Don't listen to me, but you will get your punishment, understood? Just tell Misato I'll be at Hikari's place for a while, possibly quite late, so cook for two only."
No sign of acknowledgment. He just got out the door, and left.
"Say something for Christ's sake! You can't just ignore me like this!"
He did just ingore her like that. He had left by the time she had said that.
She fumed. "C'mon Asuka. He's probably only having a really bad day" said Hikari. "Let's get going, shall we?"
They did. They left the classroom, after Hikari left the boys on cleanup duty very clear what would happen to them if she returned tomorrow and found the tables messed up or something. The have to had understood, because they both suddenly adopted very painful grimaces and wondered if they'd be able to spread their lineage after such a treatment.
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At Hikari's house, after dinner, Asuka broke out Hikari's SEGA Saturn as she always did, and, as always, defeated Hikari in every single game they played. It wasn't that much of an ego boost, actually, but it still felt good to beat someone.
Hikari then said: "Asuka, can we take a break? I really need to talk about something to you."
"Awww, it's probably just cause I'm kicking your ass flat!"
"No Asuka, seriously. I need to tell you something."
"Bleh, fine. Let's pause and turn the TV off, this score is too good to lose."
Asuka turned off the TV and hit start on the controller. She then turned around to speak to her friend.
"So, what's up Hikari? Something eating you up inside?"
Not the right thing to say. Hikari instantly bit back a wretch, and took a deep breath.
"Well, what is it then?" asked Asuka. It took Hikari a few minutes to calm down and start talking without weeping.
"I know what happened to Touji. I went and saw him at the hospital. He lost a leg and an arm. I feel so sorry for him. His dreams of playing sports are over for him, and he must feel so alone! Whenever I think of him, I just want to tear up and cry, you know?
Yeah, she did kn- No she didn't. She did not know about missing people desperately. She did not know about feeling lonely. She was Asuka Langley Sohryu. But that didn't mean she couldn't sympathize.
"Yeah, I know. I still don't get what you see in that jock. But hey, everyone has got to have somebody, right?"
'Yeah, even m- No, I don't need to have anybody! I can handle it just quite well on my own, thank you very much!'
"Asuka, do you have anyone you really need in your life? Someone you can depend on?"
'I used to. His name was Ryoji. But he got taken from me by her. Gott she's intolerable!'
"No I don't. But I can still understand what you are saying. I might even help you go and see the dumb jock next Saturday, if I can get the head doctor to let you in."
'Well, I might have someone. I can really depend on him. He's actual- Shut up. You, Asuka, don't need anyone. Especially not him. Not that gutless piece of turd that can only feel sorry and cook. And cook only boring stuff at that. You can do just well without that sorry excuse for a human being. All he is there for is to save you time and effort with measly lower tasks.'
"Thank you so much Asuka! I'll owe you one!"
"Don't mention it. Just don't come whining to me when you get sick of him and have two kids."
Hikari blushed. And something began to tug away at Asuka's heart. Like a constant feeling of needing something. But she just dismissed it at her hormones going nuts. But for a moment there, she could have actually felt she was alone, and needed someone.
AN: Damn. This is long. At least for me. Next chapter coming up soon. Please review!
