Souls

Shinji stepped out of the room and looked out of the large window across from all of the rooms. The sunlight blinded him. He sighed heavily as he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked at his reflection in the glass, he saw his hair was tainted slightly orange to look an auburn color. He pulled gently, squeezing his hair between his fingers to see if it would come out that easily.

Of course it wouldn't.

He let out another deep sigh.

A giggle came from behind him. Shinji looked over his shoulder and saw a girl roughly his age with hair a much brighter shade of the same color his hair was stained. She was wearing a school uniform and leaned against a wall a few feet down from the door he had come out.

"Shower right when you get out of the LCL rookie. That stuff doesn't come out easy if you let it sit." She had her arms crossed in front of her and she had an amused look on her face.

"And you might be?" Shinji asked the strange girl. Her blue eyes lit up when he asked the question. 'Oh boy she's been waiting for a reason to introduce herself.'

"Well I'll have you know that your graced with the presence of the greatest EVA pilot to walk this planet. Pilot of Unit-02 and the only woman to-"

"I was looking for a name." Shinji cut her off. Shinji couldn't stand these types of people. The type of person who's ego was so inflated they could get off to saying their own name.

"Asuka Langely Soryu." She responded in an annoyed voice, a stern look on her face. She hated being cut off, and having a rookie interrupt her in the middle of what would one day be written in history books.

Shinji opened his mouth to speak but was immediately stopped.

"I know you're name Ikari. Save it."

"That wasn't what I was going to say." He said back to her.

She looked angry and her brow furrowed.

"Then say whatever you were going to."

"Why is it that I had to pilot last night if we have another pilot here?"

"Because my Unit-02 isn't here."

Shinji waited for her to elaborate on her last point but it never came. The silence loomed between them.

"Where is it?" Shinji asked.

"Geez so many questions Ikari you're so nosey, but if you must know it's on its way here from Germany." She responded in a tone that Shinji disliked heavily.

Well that explains the unnecessary pause.

"And you're not able to-"

"Well I see you two are getting along." Misato walked down the hallway. Next to her was a blue haired girl who was also roughly around Shinji's age. She looked strangely familiar but he couldn't remember where he had seen her.

"Ikari seems to be enjoying our conversation a little too much, it's making me uncomfortable." Asuka said acting innocent

"Love at first sight?" Misato asked teasingly looking at Shinji.

Shinji's facial expression didn't change. Everyone expected to him to say something.

He said nothing. This was Shinji's usual routine of being forcibly awkward.

"Oh don't worry Shinji I was just joking." Misato said forcing a laugh. Oh was he ruining his chances at being friends with them. "Are you feeling okay? Anything hurt?" She asked him.

"Yes and no." Shinji responded.

"Whats wrong?" Misato questioned worriedly.

"No I meant like yes to the first question and-" Shinji stopped himself. "-never mind. Yeah I'm fine."

Asuka let out a 'hmph' and turned around swiftly, flipping her hair and start strutting down the corridor.

"Get changed and you're coming home with us." Misato handed Shinji a plastic bag filled with some clothes.

"I appreciate the offer but I already have a place I'm supposed to stay." Shinji told her, secretely disgusted with the idea of living with Asuka.

"I've already talked to the Commander and it's all been sorted out. While you're here in Tokyo-3 I'll be your legal guardian." Misato told him, unaware of how much he disliked the idea.

"Oh, alright. Where is my stuff?" Shinji said, trying to suppress his current disdain for the woman. 'You ruined a perfectly good thing woman.'

"I already took it back to the apartment." The thought slipped Shinji's mind when he first received the clothes, but she had to have taken from his bag.

Which meant going through his bag. And his stuff. And his cigarettes. And his lighters. And his rolling papers.

Fuck.

As Shinji went into the hospital room and opened the plastic bag he took out his normal pair of black slacks and his white button-up shirt. He thought about where he was going and what it all meant. He changed very slowly, hoping to put it off as long as possible. He then remembered the more quiet blue haired girl. She was with Misato too. Was she living with them too?

Fuck.

He would be living with 3 people he barely knew. One of which he already disliked within the first 5 minutes of meeting, one who would surely disapprove of his... hobbies per-say, and one who he knew absolutely nothing about.

Shinji slowly walked out of the room and saw the blue haired girl walking towards what appeared to be an exit and simply followed her. He followed down a series of turns until she eventually stopped and entered a patients room. He wasn't supposed to follow her.

Fucking fuck.

Okay so he was only living with 2 people he didn't know. That was at least slightly less shitty. Slightly. He back-tracked down the turns he had made and when he returned to his room he saw an exit in the opposite direction very close to his room. 'I'm retarded.' Shinji thought to himself. He walked out and saw the car they were both standing by, and noticed it was not the same car that was border-line totaled during yesterday's endeavors.

Shinji walked over and jumped into the backseat miserably.

"Geez Shin-chan you sure took you're time, we were starting to get worried about you." Misato said cheerfully to him in the backseat. Shinji heard his new nickname and internally cringed. Could this get any worse.

"Don't blame the poor boy, I doubt he could hold out until we got home after seeing me for the first time." Asuka said in a high-and-might voice.

Yes it definitely could.

"Shinji I'm really sorry to just abruptly tell you that you're living with us but I have to go right back to work after I drop you kids off so it'll just be you and Asuka until later tonight is that okay?"

"Don't try anything funny Third."

Third? What's with these nicknames.

When they arrived at the apartment complex, Misato swiftly kicked them out of the car and sped off in the direction they came.

"Follow me Ikari."

As the two of them stepped into the elevator, they both gravitated towards opposite sides of the small box.

"So... You excited to be living with two woman? Especially one as beautiful and charming as myself.." Asuka broke the ice with more narcissistic remarks.

Shinji sighed heavily and looked towards the elevator doors.

"I really hope the next Angel kills me." Shinji said. As the double doors opened neither of them moved. "Lead the way Soryu-sama."

Asuka was not liking this boy but at the same time found him oddly interesting. He wasn't head over heels for her the moment he saw her and even with some small incentives to flirt back he was showing some signs of retaliation.

As they opened the door to the apartment Shinji immediately smelled it. Alcohol. As he walked in he noticed several empty beer cans lying across the floor. Not to mention the complete state of ruin the apartment was in. 'Oh joy' Shinji thought to himself.

As he stepped into the small apartment he saw that neither Misato or Asuka bothered to clean the place and just left he mess to pile up infinitely.

"Do you know where my shit is?" Shinji asked her.

"You'll know which room is yours." Asuka replied blandly as she threw her shoes messily by the door, taking note of how neatly Shinji took his off.

As Shinji walked down the small corridor he saw a room with a small sign that read 'Shinji's lovely suite'. 'She's just trying to make me miserable at this point.' He mused. He walked into the small room and saw his duffel bag sitting on the bed. He unzipped it and looked through the bag. He had never been so happy that he kept his more, ahem, secretive things in the more accessible side pockets, seeing as Misato didn't feel the need to check those. Shinji breathed a heavy sigh of relief and walked into the small conjoined kitchen/living room.

Shinji looked in the fridge to see nothing but an endless supply of booze. 'Maybe Misato and I will get along better than I thought.' He thought to himself. He glanced back over his shoulder to Asuka who was mumbling something in what he assumed was German. 'Maybe...'

"What are you staring at perv! You get your money's worth?"

'Not a chance.'

Shinji began looking inside all the different doors to the rooms attempting to find the bathroom so he could get the disgusting residue out of his hair. As he approached a certain door just before he could open it he heard Asuka's angry voice.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to find the bathroom."

"You could have just asked me you know, I kinda live here smart one."

"Yeah yeah, just tell me where it is."

Asuka pointed to a door to her left. As Shinji entered the room he was pleased to see a neat stack of folded towels near the shower. Something he didn't expect in his dumpster of an apartment. Though it wasn't the worse place he had stayed it still didn't exactly live up to what he considered suitable.

He closed the door and let the water run.

'The hell is up with that kid.' Asuka thought to herself and she flipped on the TV and flopped down on the couch. 'The perv nearly went into my room.' She never imagined two of the three pilots would be so boring. She hoped they would be as magnificent her, or at least close. Instead she got Rei Ayanami, a blue haired doll that would do anything you asked her, and Shinji Ikari. Sadly she had been sleeping at the time of the first Angel and wasn't able to come to yell at Shinji along with Misato during his first deployment.

Though even she had to admit his initial sync-ratio was incredible. She trained for years just to get her EVA to appear conscious, and this kid could just jump in the entry-plug and get a 40% like it was nothing. Even so that was just about the only interesting thing about the kid.

Well...

Maybe not the only thing...

She did find his attitude at least somewhat intriguing. He seemed too calm for some reason, even in this situation he couldn't like at all. She could tell they weren't going to get along just from they're first conversation. Yet he didn't do anything that explicitly told her he didn't like her. He was aggressively passive-aggressive. 'At least he's decent looking.'

Shinji stepped out of the bathroom drying his still damp hair. She was slightly taken aback at how dark his hair truly was. Though it was still noticeably brown, it was practically black. She had hoped they shared both hair and eye color, but only one of the two would have to suffice.

Shinji caught her gawking at him as he stepped out of the bathroom.

"Get your money's worth?" Shinji said to her as he turned back and went back to his room.

"What did you say to me twerp!" She yelled to him but the only response she got was the sound of his door closing.

She stood up to get something to drink and looked into the bathroom as she walked by. She was surprised at the state of the bathroom. Everything looked exactly as it had before he used it, better even. The towel on the ground in front of the tub was neatly folded into a perfect rectangle and there was no water on the ground, a nice contrast to Misato who got water everywhere when she took her baths. In fact, a bath sounded good right now. She started running the water and went back to the kitchen to start boiling water for some tea.

Shinji stepped out of his room as he heard the whistle of the tea kettle. He saw Asuka standing by the counter with the tea kettle pouring herself a cup of hot water. He began walking up to her.

"You don't care if I have some do you?" Shinji asked her, though his voice apparently startled her as she shook and spilled the hot water on her left hand.

"Son of a bitch!" She quietly yelled as he put the kettle down and started running the sink with water.

Just as she was about to put her hand underneath Shinji grabbed her wrist and kept her from sticking her hand in the cold water. He felt the water with his finger and saw it was just as cold as he suspected. He turned the handle down slightly and turn the other handle slightly until the water was cooler and closer to room temperature.

"Don't ice a burn." He said to Asuka as he released her hand.

"Don't sneak up on people you fucking idiot." She said to him as she ran the water over her burned appendage.

"Pay more attention to your surroundings." Shinji over his shoulder as he searched the cabinets for anything to cover the burn. "Aren't you supposed to be a trained combatant?" It felt like everything he said was to piss her off. Was he testing her? Oh no, that was her duty in relationships.

Once he finally found a roll of bandages he pulled them out of the upper cabinets and set them down on the counter. He grabbed some paper towels and began wiping up the spilled water. He picked up the teacup and wiped the bottom of it before setting it back down gently and searching for a place to throw out the paper towels.

He looked at her hand under the running water. It didn't look serious, seeing as there were no blisters. Shinji grabbed a few more sheets of paper towel.

"Give me your hand." Shinji said to her.

"I'm not a child, I've gotten a burn before." Asuka replied with harshly.

"Suit yourself." Shinji said as he handed her the sheets of folded paper towel.

He finished pouring Asuka's cup and poured himself a cup(after several moments of searching for the cups and glasses) and began brewing the tea. He looked over to Asuka who was struggling to bandage herself with one hand. Shinji allowed himself a small smile.

"What's so funny Third?" Asuka said angrily

"How much sugar do you want?" Shinji asked, avoiding her question. He pulled the lid off the small glass container that held the sugar cubes.

"Four." Asuka said.

He dropped four cubes into the brown liquid as he removed the tea-bags from each cup. He put one into his own cup and looked through the drawers for the utensils. He heard the opening and closing of a drawer and saw Asuka holding out a tea-spoon to him. He stirred the tea before grabbing his cup and walking back to his room.

Asuka let out her trademark 'hmph' before taking a large gulp of the tea and walking towards the bathroom. She closed the door and began undressing. She realized that in her attempts to prove herself self-sufficient to Ikari she forgot that she would be undressing so soon. She then came to another realization when she was just in her underwear. She needed a change of clothes. Of course she could just wear her school uniform but seeing as she didn't wear that around the house there was only one possible course of action.

She opened the bathroom door and looked around before deeming it safe to venture out. She walked quietly to her room, grabbing a pair of shorts and a large tea-shirt. She once again looked outside her bedroom door to make sure she was safe to make the trek back to the bathroom. She slowly walked back and closed the door once again. That could have been worse. Much worse. Asuka finished undressing before getting into the tub and preparing herself for the few minutes of relaxtion she would get today.

Asuka came out of the bathroom in her rather skimpy attire with her wet hair tied up in a bun. She leaned against the door frame of the bathroom with a small hand towel hanging over her shoulders.

"Oh Shinji-kun!" She called out in a seductive voice. She heard no response. As she stepped out into the living room/kitchen area she immediately noticed the lack of mess. Everything had been picked up from the floors, the dishes had been done, the counters and table had been wiped.

She stepped into the hallways where the bedrooms and called out to him again. Still no response. 'And I'm the inattentive one' Asuka thought to herself. She knocked on the door to his bedroom and called out one last time, louder than before. Third time's a charm right?

Guess not.

Asuka had enough of this and stormed into his room.

"Do you not he-" Asuka stopped herself realizing the room was empty. She saw that the only things in the room were some books on top of his dresser, an SDAT player on the small table next to his bed. She walked over to the stack of books and picked up the one on top. 'Crime and Punishment' was the title of the book. She wouldn't have guessed that Shinji was a big reader or that he would be into this type of genre. Maybe he wasn't a complete idiot? She opened the drawers and saw nothing but white button-up shirts and black slacks.

No he still was.

Shinji walked on the sidewalk with 3 small bags of groceries back towards the direction of the apartment complex. He was shocked at the lack of food he found as he cleaned the small apartment. He was also shocked as to how many bras two girls could hide in a space that small. He found them all over the place, under the sink, under the couch, behind the TV, in the pantry, hell he even found one in the freezer. Not to mention a penguin. That was interesting. Though the penguin didn't seem too happy to be seeing another person. Kindred spirits perhaps?

As he stepped into the small elevator he wondered how much time had passed since he had left. He didn't own watch and didn't see any clock in the grocery store he was in. He walked into the small apartment, pretty sure it was the right one. He was happy to see his memory had served him right and set down the groceries on the counter top. He opened the fridge and made room in the stockpile of beer for some of things he had bought.

"And you were where exactly?" Asuka questioned the boy kneeling in front of the fridge, taking out cans of beer.

"Store."

"Getting...?"

"Food."

"There's plenty of food in this house."

"If you plan to keep up that appearance your so proud, of you may want to eat something other than cupped noodles and greasy take out every now and then."

"Well unless you plan to cook it yourself then your out of luck. Misato can't co-"

"That's fine. I don't like other people cooking my food anyways."

"Hmph. It's all the same to me, but I doubt you'll make anything I find particularly good." Asuka gave her final comment as she walked back to her room, not bothering to help the boy. She lay down on her bed and wondered if him moving in was really the worst thing that had happened. Maybe Misato had planned this, knowing everything about the boy. That wouldn't be unlike Misato. Or maybe she was just being nice. She thought back to when Misato had took her in as well.

Asuka stood leaning up against a wall, backpack over her shoulders, suitcase leaned up against the wall next to her.

"There's no way this girl is living on her own!" Misato yelled over the phone. "Talk to the commander about it she's coming home with me." Misato slammed the phone back into the receiver. "Now then, shall we get going?"

"I can't believe they didn't have my arrangements to live with Kaji sorted out when I got here. They should pay closer attention to the needs of the world's greatest pilot." Asuka said proudly, flipping her hair back over her shoulder.

"Yes they should."

Of course she didn't exactly mind living with Misato either. She had known Misato since she was a child and she felt like a mother to her. Though she was aware of Misato's drinking habits, and hoped she wouldn't be learning anything new and disturbing about her way of life.

She had arrived in the country just a few hours prior but the sun was already beginning to set. Her Unit-02 was being transported overseas and would be arriving in about a month.

"Let's get going shall we?" Misato said to the young pilot. Asuka only nodded in response, following the Director of Operations.

Misato helped move the mountain of moving boxes that contained a variety of Asuka's possessions. They loaded all the small boxes into the trunk and backseat of Misato's car. As Misato put the last box in the backseat she cracked her knuckles and closed the door.

"Ready to go?" Misato asked.

"Yup." Asuka said as she threw herself into the passengers seat. The sun had already set but it wasn't completely dark yet. Asuka's internal clock was a little shaken. She had left Germany when it was pitch black and once she got off the horrendous twelve hour flight she was right back in the dark. Just like her job at NERV.

"I need to stop by the store to get some things is that okay?" Misato asked as she turned the ignition to the car.

"Yeah no problem." Asuka said kindly. Normally her relationship with Misato was a bit more childish and playful but the woman was about to basically adopt her. Even she would feel rude saying something impolite in the moment, even if satirically or sarcastically.

As Misato sat back in the car with a small bag of groceries Asuka was looking out the window. She had waited in the car as Misato went to get her things. Coming to Tokyo-3 was still a bit of a culture shock for her and she was still just taking it in.

"We just have one more stop to make alright?" Misato said with a hint of excitement and a huge smile across her face.

As they approached the top of the Misato stopped the car and opened the door. She walked up to the edge of the steep cliff. Asuka followed in suit and stood next her and looked out on to the city.

"It's a nice view." Asuka said to the woman while she looked out onto Tokyo-3.

"Just wait a moment." Misato said.

As if on command, Asuka watched in amazement as buildings seem to grow out of the ground at the queue of the sirens she could hear blaring through-out the city. Skyscrapers appeared out of no-where and large buildings with reflective surfaces arose and turned to face them.

"This is the special fortress-city for intercepting Angels." Misato said as Asuka looked out, gazing upon

Tokyo-3's true state. "Tokyo 3. This is your new home. And it's the city you'll soon be protecting."

Asuka awoke to a loud sizzle and instantly recognized it as the sear of a pan. 'Shit I fell asleep' Asuka thought to herself as she sat up in her bed, rubbing the crust out of her eyes. The sun had already dipped below the red horizon and night was ensuing. Asuka carefully walked to the door, being careful not to trip on anything in the dark room. She slid the door open and looked in the direction of the kitchen.

"Ohayou."(Good morning) Shinji called out to Asuka behind his back as he stirred what was in the pan. "Sleep well?" Shinji asked as he turned off the stone and emptied the pan's contents into three separate plates. Asuka couldn't help but laugh when she saw the apron-clad Shinji standing there with a wooden spoon in his hand.

"I really like the new look Shinji. It really brings out the housewife in you." Asuka said as she sat down at the table and put her head down. Shinji couldn't help but chuckle a little at that one. He expected something along those lines when he put it on, but white shirts and cooking tend not to mix well.

At that moment the front door to the apartment flung open and Misato waltzed in.

"Tadai-" (I'm ho-) Misato stopped when she took a whiff of the scent that lingered in the air. "Asuka are you cooking something?" Misato yelled from behind the corner. Shinji heard her violently fling her shoes off and hurriedly run down the hallway. 'Probably worried she'd burn the house down.' Shinji thought to himself as he took off his apron and threw it under the sink.

Misato peeked around the corner and noticed the cleanliness of the apartment and was slightly taken aback.

"Geez Asuka you went really out of your way to impress Shinji didn't you?" Misato said teasingly.

"As if. Oh no, our new pal Shinji here took the liberty of becoming designated housewife. He'll be handling the cooking and cleaning around here." Asuka said, head still buried in her arms. A frown came across Misato's face. She had gotten her hopes up.

"Oh come on Asuka you really should try to-"

"Don't listen to her. She helped out more than she says she did." Shinji cut off Misato as he got the plates out and set on the table. A smile reappeared across Misato's face. Asuka's head popped up from hearing this.

"Aw I just knew you two would get along." Misato said. "Wait just a minute, I'll go get changed." Misato said as she ran off into her room.

Asuka was surprised that Shinji saved her from getting lectured like he did. He reacted so quick and spoke so calmly she almost believed it herself.

"Thanks." Asuka said as she put her head down. His motives still confused her. Though he gave her some sass and they really didn't see eye-to-eye, she knew his heart was in the right place.

"Only said that because it would be weird if she knew a fourteen year-old boy she just met was cleaning her room." Shinji said.

Maybe.

"Wait." Asuka began. "What grade are you in?" Asuka asked him.

"Ninth, same as you." Shinji said. Asuka looked puzzled. "Early birthday." Shinji explained.

Asuka laughed a little bit.

"You really are a child. I'm almost two years older than you." Asuka said.

It was mid-September and Shinji had just turned fourteen in late August, where is Asuka would be turning sixteen in early December.

Misato stepped out into the living in room in similar fashion as Asuka. She wore extremely short jean-shorts and tank top that did not fit her whatsoever. She sat down at the table next to the Asuka in a lazy manner.

"Shinji grab me a beer will you." Shinji brought back a beer along with the last plate and sat down along with them.

Oh he could just tell this was going to be awkward. As Mistao cracked open the beer with a hiss, Asuka took her first bite of Shinji's cooking. It was actually good. Though he would never heard that.

"It's not terrible, I'm actually somewhat impressed Third." Asuka said as she stuffed her face. "I'm surprised you can cook dishes aside from the basics, like pasta, rice, that kinda stuff."

"It's stir-fry," Shinji began. "You just throw shit into a pan. I'm sure even you could figure it out."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Asuka said raising her voice a little. Misato watched the two of them go at it.

"Well maybe you couldn't."

"It was a rhetorical question baka, I know what you meant, I'm not stupid."

"No it's not."

"Yes it was."

"A rhetorical question is a question without expecting an answer."

"Or a question with an answer so obvious that no answer is needed."

"If the question is so obvious then why would you ask it."

"Because I want you to say it directly baka."

"I'm calling you stupid is what I'm saying."

"Listen her-"

"Now-now kids," Misato stopped Asuka before she started a fight. Though she wasn't expecting Shinji to actually be able hold his ground in an argument with Asuka. "Let's not get too riled up now." Misato finished along with her beer. "Thank you for making dinner for us Shin-chan."

Oh god not that nickname again.

Shinji just gave an 'mhm' through his chop sticks. Asuka stared at the boy, still fuming. She ignored her anger and continued eating her meal. She couldn't remember the last time she had any home-cooked food. Shinji was right about his comments about her diet, though she'd never tell him that either.

The rest of dinner played out with Misato slamming another 3 beers, flirting awkwardly with Shinji, Asuka being disgusted, Shinji and Asuka getting into another little banter before they all went to their rooms and called it a night.

Night's passed slow for Shinji. He never could sleep and when he did it was usually from morning till afternoon. He almost never slept when everyone else did and he had come to terms with that. At first he tried sleeping pills along with a plethora of other drugs to try to get him asleep but nothing to work. Now most of his nights were spent either reading or listening to his SDAT. Tonight fell under the latter. He lay on his back, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling, though one he knew he would have to get used to.

His life had changed in an instant, literally overnight. Though he wanted to tell himself he was happy here, hoping to confuse himself with some placebo, he really wasn't. He hated other people, he hated being social, he hated being forced to talk to people. And on top of all that, he just naturally hated Asuka. She was under the impression that she was some infallible genius that no one could touch. She put on a front of being more intelligent than everyone else, but he saw right through it. To him she was just a stupid pampered girl who died from overdose on pride in a past life and was reborn with fully developed ego.

He never imagined himself in a situation like this. But his whole life changed in the events of last night.

Last night...

A splitting pain struck Shinji and the memories of last night all returned to him in a flash. The events of the battle with the Angel were branded into his head suddenly and with no warning. Before he knew it, Shinji was out the front door of the apartment with a lighter and a cigarette.

He sat barefoot on the curb outside the apartment complex.

Click. Click. Click.

Stupid thing never worked.

The reassuring flame finally appeared before him.

He took a drag from the cigarette and looked up at the stars. It was the only ceiling he was always familiar with. He exhaled deeply and tried not to think. The blood curling scream of Unit-01 was still seared into his mind. He felt what it's like to be drenched in blood from head to toe. It was chilly outside and the feint breeze only made it cooler. Shinji liked it like this. Alone and cold. He should just run away. It would be so easy. But that was a thought for later. No thinking right now.

The more he thought, the more it hurt.

So yeah this chapter is late and I apologize for that. I had another chapter written out but I read it over and fucking hated it so I scraped it. Promise to be more on time with future uploads.