Author's Note: Yay, chapter four, here you go, and as for some of the e-mails I have received over the past few days, I would like to thank everyone who's been reading/following this story, and no, I have no idea where I am going to go with this, and as such I would it if anyone has any suggestions, or anything of that nature they would like to contribute. I have plenty of ideas, however, I'd like to hear from other people. It would also be a great help to me in this story, as most of my ideas are only half-baked.

"Yes, that's right, it's been canceled, something else came up. You can do whatever you like."

Misato Katsuragi's voice crackled through the speaker and into Shinji's ear as he hung up the payphone he was only moments earlier using to call Rei Ayanami, whom apparently didn't want to speak with him. He would at least have to call her back, and Asuka as well to let them know the synchronization test scheduled for later in the afternoon had been cancelled.

Sighing, he picked up the phone and dialed Rei's apartment again, patiently waiting as the steady ringing echoed in his ear once more.

"Yes?" The voice whispered from across the line.

"Rei? Hi, it's Shinji again, I'm just calling to let you know the synch test has been cancelled, I just called Misato to make sure it was still going on, and she let me know we could all have the day off." Shinji stated gently, his palm grasping the phone unnaturally sweaty.

"I see. Is that all?" Rei replied, her voice sounded different to Shinji somehow.

"Yes, no, I mean.. Uh, Rei?" Shinji asked hesitantly.

"Yes?"

Shinji's silence permeated the air between them for several seconds.

"Nothing."

"Very well." Rei stated, hanging up the phone and cutting the sound of her voice from Shinji's ears.

Groaning at himself he dropped the phone onto the receiver and walked away, deciding against calling Asuka, as Misato would probably call her and let her know, anyway. Shinji wasn't quite in the mood to deal with the red headed fireball.

Having reached the conclusion of heading home, he retreated over the streets of Tokyo-3, the bustling even more extensive as the morning started to fade away into the afternoon, people often jostling and bumping into him in the crowds as he tried to navigate his way between the rush of faces and bodies.

Before crossing the sidewalk into his apartments, two sets of shouting voices reached his ears, bright and familiarly annoying.

"Hey, Shinji!"

"Yo, Wussy!"

Shinji turned expectantly as Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara jogged up to him, Kensuke holding his ever present video recorder in his hands and Toji sporting a chocolate ice cream pop in his own.

"Hey, guys." Shinji replied, smiling lightly as Toji gently punched him in the arm in his own rendition of a greeting between two people.

"Nice weekend, huh?" Kensuke asked, watching Shinji absently rub his throbbing bicep where the fist of Toji connected with a solid thump.

"Yep." Shinji nodded.

"Aren't you supposed to be at a synch test this weekend?" Toji asked, ignorant of the chocolate ice cream melting and dripping over each of his fingers.

"Yeah, but it was cancelled." Shinji shrugged.

"Where's Asuka?" Kensuke asked, yawning slightly.

"I don't know, probably out doing something?"

Toji's voice nearly cut off his sentence.

"Five bucks says that something is now being destroyed?"

Shinji couldn't help but smile again, just a little.

"Anyway, what do you want to do, then?" Kensuke asked. "Me and Toji were just planning on going down to the beach and poking around a bit, maybe check out the sewers again."

"Oh, well, I was just heading back to the apartment, I wanted to grab some lunch, and then, well, I don't really know." Shinji finished lamely.

"Whatever, come down to the beach if you want some have some real fun." Toji added, smirking as he turned and walked away, but not before giving Shinji's a farewell punch in the arm, directly over the same spot where his greeting punch had met his skin.

"Sure." Shinji grimaced, waving at Kensuke and walking across the street as his light turned green, wincing slightly.

Deciding lunch sounded good after all, Shinji stepped into the apartment and immediately made for the kitchen, filling a glass of water and taking a drink before opening the fridge and fishing around for sandwich ingredients, his fingers closing around the mayonnaise jar before hearing the door open and a shout reached his ears.

"Shinji, you stupid idiot!"

Withdrawing the jar from the fridge Asuka entered the kitchen as he straightened.

Walking over to him she promptly smacked his across the side of his head, causing him to nearly drop the jar.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Shinji winced, setting the mayonnaise on the counter.

"Idiot! Why didn't you tell me the synch test was cancelled?" Asuka snapped hotly. "Misato just called me and told me, but not before telling me to not tell you because she already told you!"

"Because I figured she would tell you, so I didn't think I needed too." Shinji retorted. "How did you know I was going to be home anyway?" He asked, momentarily perplexed.

"Well, duh! You never GO anywhere! You never have any fun and you're always sitting in here doing something stupid!" She shrugged her shoulders, her voice lowering.

"I swear, I don't know how you and Wondergirl are ever going to live your lives if you never do anything! You just float by during the day with absolutely no regard for anything, or anybody." She sniffed, placing emphasis on the end of her word as she gazed at him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I will next time, okay?" Shinji murmured, a vain attempt at hoping to placate Asuka's anger.

"Whatever!" She snapped, grabbing the mayonnaise of the counter. "I'm hungry, I'm going to make myself a sandwich." She stated, pulling a butter knife from the draw. "Why don't you hang out with me today?"

Shinji had a moment to wonder if the cuff Asuka had given him had begun to impair his hearing.

"Huh?"

"Well, yeah, you know? I could show you around, God knows you probably don't know anything about anything, always cooped up in here all the time." Asuka said, grabbing several slices of meat from the fridge and laying them across two slices of white bread, before drowning them in mayonnaise.

"I guess.." Shinji replied, hesitantly, blinking at the amounts of condiments Asuka added to her sandwich.

"Of course, I'm always right." She snorted, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite, her sudden vocalization sending flecks of meat, cheese and mustard flicking at Shinji.

"Wondergirl should come along, too. She really need to know how to live. Just look at what she wears."

The added statement had Shinji wondering once again, if his hearing hadn't somehow indeed become impaired. Why was she inviting Rei? She doesn't even like Rei. Shinji thought.

"Okay, let me go ask her if she wants too.." Shinji slowly retreated out of the kitchen and headed toward the dining room, casting several glances back toward Asuka, blinking in confusion.