Thank you to everyone that has been showing support! I really do enjoy writing these it just takes up a lot of time. These chapters take about 6 hours but honestly I spend about 2 hours doing actual solid writing. I know, I know, I need to get myself a dog collar and shock myself to get posting. But all the positive support is really pushing me to get this up quicker. Let me know how you guys would feel if you would start posting maybe once a week so that I could write some longer chapters because currently, chapters are written over the span of a day or two.
Red
Asuka really saw no point in attempting to be friends with the idiot Third Child. Sure she had agreed to 'start over' with him. But if she could be painfully honest, nothing really changed. The only thing that was slightly different was that Shinji would stop giving her 'the look'. She had dubbed it 'the look' the second she met him. He would stare it in a way that just set her on edge. It wasn't a kind of mean or scary glare, it just seemed like he was judging every little piece of her.
"Shinji, I'm hungry." Asuka whined.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Shinji questioned her.
"What do you think I want you to do. I want you to go out and get me some food baka." Asuka replied to him rather rudely.
"Why should I go out? Why can't you go yourself?" Shinji asked.
"Because the world's best Eva Pilot needs all the rest she can get." Asuka said proudly.
"And what have you been doing that's so physically exhausting."
"Nothing, I just need to be well rested if I'm going to be piloting anytime in the near future."
"I'm a pilot too, doesn't that mean that I need rest too."
"No, because all you need to do is stand aside and let me do all the work. I mean it doesn't take much to conclude who's the superior pilot here."
"Well lucky for you, we have the only room on the ship that actually has cookware." Shinji said to her, gesturing towards the open area with a stove top, oven, and microwave.
"Do you think that just because I'm a girl I'd be willing to cook for you baka?" Asuka asked in a harsh tone.
"No. Do you think that just because I'm a boy I can't cook?" Shinji said.
Shinji walked over to the kitchen area. He look through the many cabinets until he found the pots and pans he was searching for. He brought it out and set in out on the counter for later use.
"Either way I need to go out and ask the captain where we're supposed to get the food we use." Shinji said as he slipped on his shoes. "I'll be back before too long." With that Shinji left the room.
Shinji walked up to the bridge, but was unsure on what to do. Was he supposed to knock, just walk in, wait until someone else had a reason to go in and tail after them. He would feel wrong about storming in but he would feel bad about bothering him about something as trivial as food. As Shinji pondered his course of action, he remained unaware of the figure approaching him. It crept up upon him. Sneaking up behind him and reaching for him.
"Shinji!" A familiar voice called. Shinji jumped, startled by the loud voice. He turned to the source of his heart attack. As soon as the unshaven stubble came into the view, Shinji knew who had scared him.
"What did you need Kaji?" Shinji asked him.
"Nothing, I just saw you standing outside the captains door for a long time without doing anything." Kaji said to the young Eva Pilot.
"Well, were the only room with a kitchen, but we have no food. I was going to ask the captain where we're supposed to get the ingredients, but I'm not sure if I should bother him with such an issue." Shinji replied sheepishly.
"Oh yes, Katsuragi-san had suggested that you two have the room with cookware. She was very confident in your ability to cook for both yourself and Asuka." Kaji said with a smile.
"That sounds like something that Misato-san would do." Shinji said shyly.
"Either way, your supposed to go straight to cafeteria area and just ask one of the people there for what you need. Just show them your NERV I.D and they should get you what you need."
"This ship has a cafeteria? Why would a military vessel need something like that?" Shinji asked.
"Well, this is used a tour boat of sorts. It's used to show the power of the fleet. Many tourists come to see the ships." Kaji said.
"Wouldn't that open them up to attacks since people could just get on the ship to find its weak points?" Shinji asked, curious on the topic.
"Your already thinking like a soldier." Kaji said, putting a hand on his. "Yes, but the U.K is too arrogant to think that far ahead, and currently prioritizing flaunting the power of their Navy." Kaji said. "Well I have business with the captain so I'll be on my way. I'll see you around Shinji." Kaji walked through the door and left Shinji standing in the hallway. Shinji turned and began his search for the cafeteria.
Shinji walked through the door to the room to see a very angry Asuka Langley Soryu on the other side.
"You said it wouldn't take you long!" Asuka yelled to him. "You've been gone for always two hours!"
"Well sometimes things take longer than expected." Shinji replied, bringing the bags into the kitchen area.
Asuka huffed. He really did irritate her with his calmness.
"How long until you can have the food ready?" Asuka asked him, walking over and looking over his shoulder to see what he brought.
"Maybe half an hour." Shinji replied, not looking up from his work.
"What!" Asuka yelled, startling the poor boy. "I was hungry two hours ago! I'm starving!"
"You can live another thirty minutes." Shinji said, cleaning up the water he spilled on the counter when he jumped.
Asuka sighed and walked over to her bed. 'God I hate that baka. Does he think that he's so far above me that he can starve me half to death.' Asuka thought to herself. 'I doubt his cooking will even be good. It'll probably be a bowl of uncooked rice and overcooked vegetables.' Asuka thought as she layed down on her bed.
"Hey Shinji! Why do you think we're the only room that has a kitchen?" Asuka yelled to him from across the room.
"Misato-san suggested it because she thought that having me cook for you everyday was a good idea." Shinji said. "And you don't need to yell, we're not that far apart."
"How do you know?" Asuka asked him, surprised that he even had an answer.
"Kaji told me while I was looking around." Shinji answered, forgetting Asuka's obsession.
"You saw Kaji!" Asuka shrieked as she rain up to him.
"Yeah, he's the one who told me where to get the ingredients." Shinji replied as he cut vegetables on a cutting board. Asuka took him by the shoulders and turned him to face her, forcing Shinji to drop the knife he was wielding. She leaned closer to him.
"Where did you see him!?" Asuka practically screaming in his face. Shinji blushed from the close proximity.
"I-I saw him by the bridge, but he said that he-he had business with the captain." Shinji replied shyly, looking down at the cutting board.
Asuka sighed and hunched her shoulders in defeated stance. She walked back to her bed disappointed. Although she was sad that she couldn't go out and spend time with Kaji, there was one thing that she had just learned. 'Shinji got nervous when I got up close to him like that.' Asuka thought to herself. Granted, this wasn't the first time she had made him nervous, she didn't think that something so simple would turn him into a stuttering pile of wimp. Even when she had flirted to him in nothing but a towel (Although she had clothes on underneath just in case) he had been able to recognize that she had just been toying with him. 'At least he's able to understand that I would never waste my time dating someone as spineless as him.' Asuka thought.
Asuka was brought out of her thoughts by the loud sizzle of a pan. Asuka walked back over to where Shinji was, to be pleasantly surprised by how fluently he seemed to be going through his process. She watched in amazement as he added different meats and vegetables into the dark, cast iron pan. He mixed everything thoroughly and added different spices and seasonings. Shinji set down the pan, turned the heat down, and turned to set the table. There was a small table with 4 chairs gathered around in near the corner of the room. The entire dorm was one large room, with the beds near the entrance, a bathroom to the left of the beds, a kitchen separated by a large archway, and the small dining set near the bottom corner of the room. Shinji brought bowls and plates out onto the counter top. He set two cups of tea to the table and began plating. He had prepared stir fry with a mix of different vegetables and chicken, and had made simple white rich as a side.
Asuka watched as he set the table, completely unaware of her observant gaze. As he finished setting the table, he turned to get Asuka, but saw that she was walking over to the table already.
"I'm surprised that you were even able to cook this." Asuka said.
"It's not that hard of a dish, you just throw random foods together and call it stir fry." Shinji replied shyly, not adapted to the praise he was receiving.
Asuka sat and fiddled with her chop stick for a minute before she decided to try his cooking. She took a small piece of chicken and brought it to her mouth before sniffing it to make sure he didn't do anything to it and eating it. Shinji watched as she seemed to chew painfully slowly, awaiting her opinion on the meal.
"It has an average taste, what I'd expect from an average person like yourself." Asuka said as she continued to eat. Shinji sighed. He was unsure as to why he had even gotten his hopes up. The chances of her telling him that he had done something well were less than the chances of his father telling him he had done something well.
Shinji sat across from Asuka and watched as she shoveled food into her mouth. He could tell that he had kept her waiting for too long. Shinji hadn't wasn't even half finished by the time she had made her way through her plate. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. Honestly, she had really liked the food, but she could never tell Shinji that. Asuka hadn't eaten the entire day because she was too lazy to go and get food. Mostly because she didn't want to have to deal with the stares she would get if she went to eat with all the soldiers. She also didn't want to be seen eating alone, she wouldn't want people to think that the great Second Child was an outcast like Shinji. No, she wouldn't want to tarnish her reputation but eating alone. Although eating with the socially inept Shinji Ikari definitely wasn't going to bring her name to Hollywood. At least no one would see if she ate in here.
Asuka stood and pushed in her chair. She walked and brought her things into the bathroom. It seemed like the only thing to do on this ship was eat, sleep, and shower.
As Asuka left, Shinji let out a loud sigh. He felt uncomfortable eating with someone that he didn't know all that well. Especially since they weren't on the best of the terms. Although he felt that they had made improvement. She hadn't slapped him today, so that was a step in the right direction. Shinji finished his meal and brought his and Asuka's plates to the sink and began to wash the dishes. He heard the faint sound of water running and assumed that Asuka was taking another showered. 'Is she only taking those so that she has an excuse not to be around me?' Shinji thought, realizing just how many showers she had taken in the time that they were together.
Asuka stepped out of the bathroom in clothes that no one would consider decent. She wore a blue tank top that seemed just a tad bit too tight and decided that there was no point in even wearing pants anymore. Shinji blushed at her choice of apparel, but didn't comment. Asuka yawned and stretched her arms out, revealing the smooth skin of her stomach. She eyed Shinji, who's eyes seemed to be glued to her. Asuka blushed realizing what he was doing.
"Who gave you permission do stare at me like that baka!?" Asuka yelled, snapping Shinji out of his trance. Shinji quickly looked away and scratched the back of his head.
"Sorry," he mumbled. "It's just that..." Shinji left his sentence hanging. "Nevermind." Shinji said as he walked away.
'It's just that what?' Asuka thought. It appeared that Shinji wasn't so immune to her appearance as she thought. She smirked as she thought about how much fun she could actually have teasing the boy.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, I'm all freshened up."
"Why aren't you dressed?"
"It hurts my pride that your so uninterested. You know, my breasts have come in nicely. How about it? Wanna see the real thing?" A shirt landed on her head and covered her field of vision.
"I'm going to take a shower."
"Hmph, how boring."
Asuka remembered how calmly he had been able to see through her. She gave him some credit for being able to assess the situation and determine that she had just been teasing him. But then again, when she got in his space, he was hardly acting in the same manner. Overall, he was clueless. She could tell that he wasn't around females all that often. She could tell he wasn't around people in general all that often.'Why are all the other Eva Pilots such freaks? How come I'm the only normal one.' Asuka thought to herself.
She hadn't even noticed that Shinji had changed into shorts and a plain black long sleeved shirt. It looked good on him because of the way it covered up his scrawny arms. Asuka glared at him and their eyes caught each-others for a moment, before Shinji blushed and looked away. Asuka smirked as he shied away from her gaze.
Shinji lay down on his bed and pondered what he could do for the rest of the evening. It was only eight so there had to be something to do, he couldn't just go to sleep now. 'There's nothing to do on this stupid ship.' Shinji thought to himself. From his laying position he spied Asuka, who seemed to be walking around in circles, thinking about something. Her long auburn hair flowed down to the middle of her back, and her thin frame made her appear much weaker than she really was. For the first time, he noticed the red neural clips in her hair.
"Hey Asuka? Why do you wear the clips in your hair?" Shinji asked her. Asuka didn't seem to hear a word he had said. "Asuka?" Shinji called to her raising his tone slightly, causing her to look up from from her dazed state.
"Did you say something?" Asuka asked him, a change for her usual tone, slightly embarrassed she had been caught daydreaming.
"I asked why you wear the clips in your hair." Shinji said her.
"To let everyone know who the worlds best pilot is of course." Asuka said proudly, holding her head up and putting her arms on her hips.
Shinji didn't know why he had expected a different answer. Her reasoning for close to everything involved being a pilot. Asuka looked upon him for a moment before realization that horrified her began to set in. She blushed before her anger flared.
"Have you been staring at me this entire time!?" Asuka yelled at him.
"What? N-no, I just noticed how long your hair was a-and I-"
"And you what?" Asuka cut him off.
"I just n-noticed they were in your hair." Shinji replied shyly.
"Hmph. Yeah right. You were probably admiring my gorgeous body for the last five minutes." Asuka said covering herself. Shinji blushed and averted his eyes over to the wall. 'Why does she have to be so annoying?' Shinji thought to himself, unaware he had let the last word slip.
"I'm what?" Asuka said as she leaned over him, peering into his fear filled eyes. Shinji swallowed hard and braced himself for the sharp pain he was sure was going to arise in his cheek. He looked into her deep blue eyes and almost forgot that he was about to be assaulted.
"Go on. Say it." Asuka said in a calm yet irritated voice. Her tone had scared Shinji more than her words.
Shinji's prayers were answered when the door flew open.
"Hey guys what are you-. Should I come back another time?" Kaji said as stormed in and witnessed their embarrassing position. Shinji was pushed back into the far corner of his bed while Asuka leaning over him. Asuka whipped her head around in surprise. Her mouth lightly agape. Her lips quickly tugged into a wide smile.
"Kaji!" She shrieked as jumped into the man open armed. "You wouldn't believe how mean Shinji was being! He called me annoying when I told him to stop staring at me!" Asuka whined like a small child.
Kaji sighed. He honestly felt bad for the boy. He was stuck in a room with a ticking time bomb, but the catch is you never know much time is left before it blows. He looked over at the poor child. He had a relieved expression plastered on his face as he sighed loudly. It looks like he had just saved Shinji from certain death.
"Kaji, why don't you and I go for a walk around the ship." Asuka said in a sweet voice.
"Maybe we shou-" Kaji wasn't able to finish as Asuka dragged him by the arm out of the door.
Shinji sighed loudly. He threw his head back in the bed.
"An unfamiliar ceiling." He said to himself.
"So Asuka, what happened back there?" Kaji asked the girl glued to his arm.
"That doesn't matter right now." Asuka began. "Why don't we don't about what you've been up to lately.
"Nothing more important than the relationship between Shinji and yourself." Kaji said, changing the topic back to something relevant.
"There's no relationship. We're just roommates and future co-workers." Asuka said, changing her tone.
"Asuka, I want you to realize that you two aren't just co-workers. If your in a tough situation with no way out, you don't want Shinji to think you of as a co-worker. You want Shinji to think of you as a friend. A friend will try as hard as they can to help you, a co-worker will do what they can without bringing harm upon themselves." Kaji said.
"As if I would ever put myself in a spot like that." Asuka said flaunting her prowess as a pilot.
"Then do it for him. What if he gets stuck somewhere." Kaji said, still trying to convince Asuka.
"Well if these rumors are true then the Third Child is a living legend and doesn't need support from anyone." Asuka said bitterly.
"Then do it for me." Kaji said smiling at her.
Asuka sighed. He really wasn't going to be swayed on this.
"Fine. But enough about this, I wanna see what's around the ship." Asuka relented.
"Okay okay, but we shouldn't take too long. I'm sure Shinji already misses you." Kaji said teasingly. Asuka only replied with a blush and hiding her face from the man.
Asuka walked through the door of her room to see Shinji spinning in a chair by the desk while peering down on his phone. Asuka wondered what he was doing but remember the situation before she had left. She had been out for some time, she wondered what he had been doing during the time she had been out with Kaji. It was just around nine, so she would most likely go to sleep in a few hours just to get the day over with.
Asuka was going to ask what he was doing but it was clear when she saw his thumbs glide aross the keyboard of the touch screen phone. 'I wonder if he has friends at his school?' Asuka wondered. 'Of course he does, he's an Eva pilot.' Asuka thought to herself, slightly jealous. She ha never really had friends, she was always very busy with training and such.
Asuka quickly went to change into her sleepwear, which consisted of some baggy sweats and loose fitting tee-shirt. She saw that he was now laying on his bed, phone hovering above his head, repeating the actions of when she had walked in. Asuka quickly mimicked his actions, pretending she was conversing with someone. She turned her body away from his and made sure she was being believable in her deception.
"Hey Asuka?" Shinji asked her. Asuka gave no response. "Asuka?" he asked again/
"Huh?" she looked up, feigning innocence.
"Dont you think, you know, since we're going to be working together, we should get to know a little more about each other?" Shinji asked, attempting to break the thick silence looming over them. \
"Why does it matter to you?" Asuka answered his question with another question. "Knowing what I like to do isnt going to help us work together."
"True," Shinji began, "But anything is better than sitting here and doing nothing all night."
"Maybe, not tonight though." Asuka said, hoping to put it off until he drops it. "I want to go to sleep, so maybe tomorrow." she finished. Shinji replied only with a nod. He knew that she was only going to ignore him, so he wasn't going to push the subject any further. Shinji walked over and flicked out the lights to the small room. He threw the covers over himself and attempting to fall asleep.
Asuka awoke to the sound of plates and forks being set down on the wooden table. Asuka sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She slowly walked over to see what was being served. She saw a large stack of pancakes, a bottle of syrup, and fruit of all different kinds of fruits. She sat on the table while he tended to the frying pan and set her head down on the table. Shinji hadn't noticed her come in and was slightly startled when he was the blob of red hair sprawled out on the table as he turned to set the plate of pancakes onto the table.
"Umm, could you, maybe um, move your hair?" Shinji asked shyly, not sure how to word the setence properly. He didn't want to set the plate on top of her auburn locks. Asuka sat up and let her hair run down her shoulders.
Wordlessly, Asuka took a large stack of pancakes and poured a large amount of syrup over them. As Asuka cut into them, she noticed pieces of chocolate lodged in the batter. 'Chocolate chips.' She thought to herself. As Asuka chewed them slowly, she realized that they were made just the way she liked them.
"Did I make them right?" Shinji asked her.
"Huh?" Asuka asked with her mouth full.
"This is your recipe isn't it?" Shinji began, "Did I make them right?"
"Yea they turned out- Wait how did you know this is how I make them?" Asuka asked a bit taken back.
"I asked Kaji what you liked, and he said that you made these a lot because they're your favorite." Shinji said as he cut his pancakes into fourths. Asuka blushed at the thought of Shinji asking Kaji what she liked.
"Red." Asuka said.
"What?" Shinji asked, confused by her random outburst.
"Red. That's my favorite color." Asuka said, looking down, using her hair to cover her face. Shinji smiled as he saw her blushed cheeks poke out from her bangs.
Okay sorry this one took forever to put out. This is one of the only times I've had an exucse okay! So hear me out for a second. My wi-fi went out while I was writing this and it didn't come back on until the start of this week, but I couldn't get this chapter up because I've had finals all week, but I have tomorrow off so I figured now was a good time. Again I apologize, but I think now that exams are over I can start posting a bit more often.
Response to comments:
TheWDguy679 : Okay lol, im gonna pretend I know what you mean by that.
Anonimo: I never planned to, I just couldn't find the time to get this up, sorry for the wait.
Unknown: I want to focus on this story a bit more, I'll most likely get this story one more chapter before I finish up Bed Bugs. The ending is already planned out, and there should only be one or two more chapters left on Bed Bugs. I also plan to have an alternate ending since everyone knows what happened in rebuild, but I'm going to keep the main story as happy as I can.
Thank you all for reading.