Special Thanks To Kuchee For Making This Story Better.
Author Note: Thank you to people who have followed and favorited.
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Chapter Two: House Guest
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Shinji walked out of the convenience store with a bag full of ingredients, paid for out of his pocket of course, and a sticker that said that smiling more makes your makes your gums look nicer, whatever that was supposed to mean.
He had spent the entire shopping endeavor thinking about his perpetual loneliness. Once again the thought of the Blinker! app came to mind. Would it really be so bad to give it a try? Of course, the answer was yes; he wouldn't have any excuse to leave the house to meet whoever he matched with. If I matched with anyone at all… And the last thing he wanted was to become an even bigger laughing stock by being caught meeting random people an app had picked out for him. Yeah, he really should just delete that stupid app.
Shinji stepped into the elevator, trying as hard as possible to avoid the stain in the corner that only got worse by the day. Misato really needed to get better manners. Or a bib, Shinji thought with a giggle. Though a shot of guilt shot through his spine. Punishing him for laughing at someone. He pressed the button to the 18th floor, humming An Ode To Joy all the way.
The elevator doors opened and Shinji stepped out; the eerie silence was strangely comforting to him. He had to admit he liked not having to deal with anyone else other than his roommates. They were enough as is.
He enjoyed the view of the sun being over-taken by the buildings. It's amber glow forming a brief blanket of comfort over the infamous "fortress city". Shinji enjoyed the sight as he walked down the hallway to the door marked 267; it reminded him of the first day he came to Tokyo-03.
"I'm back..." Shinji waited for a response but never got one as he closed the door behind him and took off his shoes.
He had assumed Asuka had simply not heard him, but there she was, still sitting at the table with her Gameboy.
He didn't wait for her to tell him to start cooking, grabbing his apron off the table and putting it on. The apron, like most 'luxurious' things he owned, was a gift from Misato, Out of pity Shinji assumed. Which explained why it had Kiss the chef embroidered on the front.
He turned up the heat on the oven and started doing what he did best - trying to please others.
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Elsewhere in the great big city of Tokyo-03, a certain purple-haired bombshell was making her presence known at a bar named The Slappy Sailor.
"Chug! Chug! Chug!" A crowd had formed, everyone in it wondering, just how much could one woman take? The question had yet to be answered in the past nine minutes as Misato seemingly absorbed beer after beer with no brakes. When would it end? Nobody knew.
"Hey, bud! Your girl's a real keeper!" A loose-faced middle-aged man with flushed cheeks said to the woman's companion, a sly smile pressed firmly on his lips.
"Why, thank you", the man felt lucky that his girl was too inebriated to process that. His smile faded however when he spotted a man who was a little too young copping a feel of his girl. He was about to step in when Misato did his job for him by giving the man a good shove, sending him tumbling over a seat and into a waitress, though Kaji wasn't even sure if she was aware she had done it.
Misato's raid against all beer kind was ended after a solid 15 minutes of drinking, which may or may not have been a world record.
She fell 'gracefully' head first on the table, sending beer cans tumbling to the floor. Shit, should've caught her, Kaji thought. He really hoped that she was okay, a broken nose was not what he wanted to apologize for. Especially if his nose was going to be broken in exchange.
"Well then pals, it was great hanging out with you but me and my girl have to go." He couldn't help but emphasize girl, it was just too much fun for him.
A series of boos and ughs sounded as the crowd dispersed, leaving Kaji to pick up Misato and give her a piggy-back ride to her car. He could call section-02 later to come pick up his, it was a company vehicle after all.
He enjoyed the feeling of her chest through his thin suit shirt. Ah the wonders of fashion. He had to give his regards to whoever decided that these things were in style~. That's what they called it right? Kaji hated feeling old.
The feeling didn't last long though, as Kaji had to fish through the pockets of Misato's jacket to find her keys, a pocket he had to reach while giving said woman a piggy-back ride.
This is why I'm not some damn gymnast, he thought as he finally found the keys after 30 solid seconds of wrist-bending work. At least it gave him more time to enjoy Misato's womanly features pressing against his back.
He set her down in the passenger seat and walked to the other side of the car, but before he got in he popped out a cigarette. For the road, he thought, with more than a little humor.
When he was done he flicked it in the bushes and drove Misato back to the apartment; he hadn't drunk much so he figured he was fine to drive.
Every time the three of them went out to drink it would end the same. Ritsuko being a lightweight, she would head home after an hour or so, leaving Misato to get herself plastered so quickly that he was sure that she was just trying to forget he was there - meaning he couldn't drink much or else there would be no one to drive her home. He really didn't understand what had driven them apart, they were so close back in their college days. It was only in the physical sense, but Kaji liked to forget that part. She has no reason to hate me, after all she was the one who dumped me.
Nowadays she and Shinji are more likely to bang... Kaji turned that thought over in his head with a certain degree of distaste before discarding it. Yeah right, not even Misato would go that far for a lay. Kaji finished his one-sided evaluation of his relationship with Misato just in time to pull into the parking lot of the apartment.
Ooh, something smells good, he thought as he made his way down the hallway. Misato was on his back again and mumbling incoherently. It was eerily quiet for an apartment complex as big as this, Kaji never could figure out why Misato didn't move out. It was creepy as hell here.
"Hey, could someone open the door?" he yelled, knocking on the metal door with the tip of his boot. His hands were too busy feeling something much softer than a door. A flurry of steps made their way to the door in a matter of nano-seconds.
"Kaji!" The door opened in a flash and Kaji was met with the mildly annoying smile of one Asuka, red-head extraordinaire.
"Hey kiddo, got a package for ya." He saw her smile deflate like a dying star and a small scowl take its place.
"Kaji, how could you!" With that wench!? He couldn't!
Kaji sighed mentally as he walked into the house. He gave Shinji a nod in greeting and set Misato down on the couch.
"Do you want to stay for dinner Mr. Kaji?" Shinji asked as he pulled out the food from the oven.
"Sure, why not." Kaji replied. "What is it-"
Before Kaji could even finish his question, Asuka made sure she was the one who told him.
"It's spätzle." Asuka gave her most confident smirk as she named off the ingredients one by one.
She tries too hard, Kaji thought, but he knew he couldn't really blame her; past everything, she was still just a child.
"It's ready. Kaji, what would you like to drink?" Shinji found it hard to talk to Kaji, he only invited him to stay for dinner as a courtesy. Kaji just seemed so...confident? He wasn't sure what to call it, but it intimidated him, scared him.
"You can keep this from Ms. Katsuragi, right?" he said as he opened the fridge and grabbed himself some beers, unaware of Misato's distaste of being called the Ms.
"Of course we can", Asuka assured as she gave Shinji an elbow to the stomach. Now's my chance, she thought giddily.
She casually walked up behind Kaji and took a beer from the fridge, but she didn't get far, as Kaji grabbed her wrist. "A bit young to be drinking these, don't you think?" Kaji said without thinking. Oh god am I getting old.
"Whaaa!? I'm not a baby, Kaji!" Asuka said. She wasn't a little girl! She was a woman!
"Sorry. Besides, Misato wouldn't like it if let you."
Asuka was about to say who cares what she thinks but she thought better of it. Well, it was more that she thought Kaji wouldn't like it.
Shinji set down three plates of delicious food; the other two wasted no time sitting down. But before he joined them he went to the closet and grabbed a pillow and blanket. He walked over to the blacked out Misato and draped the blanket over her, laid her down on the couch, and put the pillow under her head. His reward was chortles and snores.
He went back to the table. He was about to dig in when Asuka started to berate him with her critique, "Why is it so salty? It's too hot. It's-"
She was going to continue but Kaji saved him."Strange, it tastes fine to me..." Kaji took another bite to emphasize his enjoyment of Shinji's cooking. Asuka simply blushed and gave Shinji a glare as if it were his fault.
The remainder of dinner consisted of Asuka talking to Kaji about how much of a grown-up she was. Kaji didn't pay too much attention as he finished up the meal; he had to admit, the kid had a talent for it.
"Well, I need to get going", he said the second he was done with the food. "Compliments to the chef."
"Do you reallllly have to go?" Asuka begged her beloved Kaji to stay for a couple more minutes.
"I'm afraid so",he huffed, satisfied with the free meal.
"Be a good girl, okay, Asuka?" he said with a smile.
"I'm not a little girl! I'm just as much a woman as Misato or anyone else!" She slapped her palms on the table in a huff.
"Okaayyy then," Kaji said, amused at how wound up Asuka could get about this sort of thing.
"It's true! I can show you how much of a woman I really am." Asuka gave her best seductive smile, the type you would get from a TV show. It sort of looked like a drunken smirk.
"Once again, you're a little too young to be talking like that, but I'm sure Shinji enjoys it," he winked at Shinji as Asuka made a blegh face.
"Gross! Not Shinji! He's such a baby and-" Asuka continued her rant as said 'baby' was picking up their dishes and bringing them to the sink. He allowed himself the freedom of leaving them until the morning. He didn't pay Asuka's insults much mind, he was used to it after all.
Jesus, wonder how often he has to deal with this? Kaji decided not to contemplate that question inside the apartment, so he said his goodbyes and left, hoping that the cab services were running.
Asuka simply headed to her room, too preoccupied with thinking about how to get Kaji to notice her to berate Shinji.
Shinji looked at the clock and noticed that it was only 7:40. Since he didn't have any school tomorrow and the sync test was at four, he decided he should watch a little TV. He had forgotten about his phone entirely during dinner, the thought of it escaping him while he wondered if Asuka was right about the meal being too salty.
He plopped himself down on the couch with the remote and looked for something good to watch, being extra careful to not wake Misato, though he doubted that she would be waking up before she was forced up the next morning.
Shinji found a documentary about clams and yawned. Guess there's nothing else on...
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Chapter Two: House Guest End
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The next chapter will be coming out over the weekend. I also think I'm going to change the summary as it seems a little long...we'll see.
Peace.