I Don't Own NGE and all that Jazz. The Writing will get better, but due to my current workload, updates will come less frequently as I try to up my writing style, which is hard since this is the first one ive ever written. bear with me.

Chapter 7: Gendo, please, noo.

"Asuka…"

"Yeah, Shinji?"

"Get off me, I don't feel my arm"

"No."

"...Please" Shinji pleaded. The two of them had slept for 10 hours at this point, but were still in bed. Shinji chuckled a little when Asuka moved her head causing her soft hair to tickle Shinji's bare chest. He felt Asuka trace the lines on his body with the tip of her finger while he twirled her hair in his numb left hand. For the record, the two did not have sex last night, but it was a very peaceful night's sleep in each other's arms. He didn't mind sitting in bed for the rest of the day, just soaking in each other's presence, but he had homework to do. And for that matter, so did Asuka.

"Do you even want me to get up?" Asuka asked playfully, looking up at the young man. Shinji looked her in the eyes. This was the first time he saw that they were a dull blue. Not noticable unless you looked really close, but once you got there, you were dead in the water.

"Nah, not really" Shinji replied as he used his nails to touch Asuka's skin. Everything about Asuka was soft and flawless, well, to Shinji at least. Shinji did not know what to make of the last couple hours, and he didn't want to think about it. He just wanted to relish the moment where he and Asuka were alone, just free from anything.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" Shinji asked the redhead after a couple minutes. She shook her head in denial. Then, a slight grumble came from the redhead's stomach, causing Shinji to chuckle a bit. He looked down to see a blushing redhead, turning away from the young man.

"Okay, princess. I'll go make something to eat. Go shower or something" Shinji said, reluctant to move away from the clinging Asuka. Asuka watched Shinji as he walked out of the room before plopping down on the bed once more, resuming her lazy sunday. Two nights in a row, she had slept with Shinji.

"Guys are pretty warm, aren't they?" Asuka asked herself, reminiscing about waking up in the middle of the night and being lulled back to blissful sleep by the rhythmic snoring. Shinji was someone that Asuka never thought she would be attracted to. He wasn't masculine nor was he an emotional rock. He wasn't Fabio, but to her, Shinji meant something more. Asuka heard a familiar song being played, it was...the theme song for How I Met Your Mother. Was that Shinji's ringtone?

"Shinji! Your phone" Asuka called, before reaching for it. She saw the name, Misato Katsuragi. She looked at Shinji as he entered the room before tossing him the phone.

"Oh, hey Misato-San!" Shinji greeted the mysterious lady.

"Yeah, your wedding is next week? Sure, I can definitely make it" Shinji said, replying to something. Asuka was vaguely happy when she heard wedding. Just a faint smile that Shinji didn't catch.

"Wait, I can bring a plus one? Give me a sec." Shinji said before cupping the cell phone.

"Hey, princess, you wanna go to a wedding with me?" Shinji asked the redhead. Asuka was pretty surprised at the question, it wasn't something that people usually asked someone they knew for roughly 48 hours. She nodded slowly, still unsure of a response.

"Yeah, I'm bringing a plus one. Wha-yeah, she's something like a girlfriend. Hahaha, fuck you Misato. Okay, love you, bye" Shinji said, concluding the phone call before tossing it back on his bed. He looked at the girl, who looked deep in thought. He walked over to the bed and lied next to the girl, before nuzzling his face into her bright red hair.

"What's wrong, princess?" Shinji asked softly into her ear. He noticed the curl in her lips.

"Nothing. Boyfriend." Asuka responded, the last part said softly and meekly. Shinji smiled in return, before kissing the girl on the cheek causing her to blush redder than ever before. Shinji got up and walked back out of the room. Boyfriend. Girlfriend. New words for the young redhead as well as the young man. Was something suppose to change? Asuka didn't know the answer to this question, but she didn't want anything to. She lifted herself out of bed and walked into the bathroom to prepare herself.

"Hmmm, might as well make some instant udon, there's literally nothing here" Shinji said as he scanned the refrigerator. He thought back to the phone call, hopeful that it didn't make things awkward between him and Asuka. It was a big deal to go to a wedding where all of Shinji's close ones are attending, but it would have been worse to just assume that Asuka would not go. He knew Misato since he was a little kid, she was his babysitter and she taught him a lot. Misato was always a tomboy and taught Shinji how to play basketball when his parents were at work. Due to their jobs as researchers, they usually got home at 7 so Misato would take care of Shinji after school, sometimes she would even bring her boyfriend, Ryoji Kaji.

"So, who's this Misato chick?" Asuka asks as Shinji brings her bowl to the table before sitting down. Shinji smiled as he sensed a hint of jealousy on his girlfriend's part.

"Why? You jealous?" Shinji joked with his girlfriend before looking at her blushing face. Shinji took a little enjoyment from getting a rise out of his girlfriend or his close female friend, he didn't know yet.

"She's just my babysitter. She's like 10 years older than us?" Shinji answered finally. Misato was, he thought, roughly 10 or 11 years older than the two. She was in highschool when he was 6, so probably 10 or 11.

"A little bit. But, whatever. I don't mind going" Asuka said, her statement a bit mysterious. Shinji looked at Asuka, nonchalantly chewing her food. Shinji nodded with pursed lips and continued eating.

"So, when is it?" Asuka asked after a few minutes of silent chewing.

"Next monday" Shinji responded, "but its pretty far from Tokyo. You sure you wanna go? I'm not forcing you"

"Yeah, I wanna go, idiot. I wouldn't have agreed in the first place" Asuka responded, fiercely. Deep down, though she'd never admit it, Asuka wanted to be introduced as Shinji's girlfriend. It made her feel...accepted.

"You just wanna be introduced as the Great Asuka Soryu, Shinji Ikari's girlfriend" The young man joked, almost as if he was peering into Asuka's mind. When Shinji looked up at the grumbling redhead, he realized that was exactly what she was thinking. Shinji just wanted to show up with his hot girlfriend and have a good time.

"You just wanna show up all the guys there since I'm hot as hell." Asuka retorted and when she looked at Shinji's gaping mouth, she knew she hit the nail on the head. She erupted in laughter, almost spilling the udon everywhere. Shinji smiled sarcastically at the laughing redhead before continuing to eat his noodles.

"Hikari asked me if you wanna go to the library to study with Toji and their friend" Asuka asked as Shinji washed the dishes.

"Sure, why not?" Shinji responded in his usual deflective manner, "when?"

"Uhhh, 30 minutes" Asuka said, before looking at the clock. It was 12 right now, so they'd probably get to the library in 30-40 minutes. Asuka got up and walked to her room to get dressed. She smiled when she walked into her room, confident that nothing had changed between the two. Asuka had read somewhere that the words boyfriend and girlfriend are merely labels that exist for the relationship but are not meant to alter the relationship. People just expect a change when someone becomes their significant other, and Asuka was scared that a change would damage her and Shinji's relationship. Thankfully, nothing happened.

Once Shinji finished, he quickly shuffled off to his room to get dressed. He threw on a pair of khaki pants and his favorite dark blue crewneck sweater. It was so cozy he felt like he was running shirtless through a field of dead rabbit fur. Shinji made sure to pack his laptop and two textbooks, biology and calculus. He threw it in his book bag and walked out to come face to face with Asuka who was dressed in a similar get-up. A loose dark blue sweater and chinos. The two stared at each other, wide-eyed, and then the two proceeded to walk to the living room to put on their shoes. Shinji went with his comfortable white sneakers, whereas Asuka went with her comfortable white vans. Two peas in the same fucking fashion pod.

"You ready to go?" Shinji asked Asuka who walked back into her room. Shinji couldn't help but stare at her ass. It was just...tops. Firm and not too big, Shinji ain't into that big booty lyfe as his ex-roommate, Jamal called it. Asuka had, probably, the best body that Shinji had ever seen and he has seen some good stuff at the parties he went to. Sure, all the pot and alcohol really does have an inflation effect on the relative hotness of the girls at the party, but Shinji saw some really cute girls.

"Yeah, I just needed to get my wallet" Asuka said after a minute in her room. Shinji gulped as he took in the full look of his girlfriend. He was visibly shaken that she had slept next to him to nights in a row.

"Uh, yeah-let's go" Shinji said, stuttering a bit. He opened the door and exited the apartment. Asuka swiped her keycard, automatically locking the door. She looked over at smiling Shinji, whose hand was extended at her. She smiled back and took it. Earlier he had asked himself, what were they? That was the answer.

"So, what classes do you have tomorrow?" Shinji asked, in the elevator still holding hands with Asuka. He gave it a teasing squeeze, to which she squeezed back playfully.

"Biology, sociology, and english" Asuka responded, "How about you?" She hated Mondays, they were fully loaded with lectures and she hated sitting through 1-2 hour lectures. Eventually, she would just daze off and think about random stuff. Moreover, the lecture hall was huge and nonconductive towards learning.

"Biology, Calculus, Psychology, and English" Shinji said. He, too, despised mondays. Luckily, it was his loaded day and he got it out of the way early in the week which freed him up to do things later. Moreover, his classes were arranged so that he would have at least a 20 minute break in between classes and an hour lunch.

"I hate mondays! Shit, I can't wait to go away this weekend" Asuka complained, thankful that her trip would be on a monday. But there was the problem was redoing missing work, but she was okay with it. She'd just tell her professor and ask for Hikari's notes.

"Well, at least you're only taking 3 classes. Shit, I'm taking 4! 4 MAJOR CLASSES" Shinji exclaimed in desperation. His road to becoming a doctor was plagued with hard work and a ton of it. It was honestly quite depressing at times, but hopefully, the ends is worth it.

"What are you majoring in?" Shinji asked his girlfriend, fully unaware of Asuka's life goals. His was to be a doctor, a neurologist or something along those lines. The brain always fascinated him.

"Probably, research or doctoring. No clue yet, how about you?" Asuka responded. She had no idea what to do, but she wanted to do something science-y and that would let her flex her science muscles.

"Hey, is that Shinji?" Gendo asked his wife, Yui, as they both entered a cafe. Gendo pointed a booth that sat a redhead and a Shinji-like figure. Yui squinted her eyes and examined the boy. She thought it was a younger Gendo at first, but realized that she was, indeed, looking at her son talking to a redhead and laughing. He looked really happy, she noted. Yui studied the two for a while, noting that the redhead was very beautiful, moreover she was a natural redhead. It was very liberating and troubling to see that her young boy had been snatched away from mommy. Yui felt a single tear in her eye, but was nevertheless happy for the young man. She felt a nudge to her right.

"Here's your cup, honey. You wanna go say hi?" Gendo asked, handing his wife the cup. He was expecting a response rather than a nod. He smiled softly, something he rarely did, and followed his wife to his son's table. He noted that the redhead was quite stunning, but not better than his wife. Yui was the most beautiful in Gendo's eyes. Although he'd never say it, he'd risk the world for her. It was then that he noticed Shinji's eyes. They had been spotted.

"Hey, baby! Mind if we sit with you?" Yui asked, surprising the couple. Shinji was caught at 8pm with a girl that his parents didn't know, 2 weeks after he moved out. Shit. That was the only thing he thought. Well, and FUCKKKKKK. His mind froze except for those two words. Luckily, Asuka was quick to shake off her surprise just in time to see how boyfriend had frozen. She had to think of something. No was obviously out of the question, these two people had to be Shinji's parents from the way he reacted and also, the woman called him baby.

"Yes." The unfamiliar girl said to Yui and Gendo. Yui sat down next to the mysterious figure while Gendo sat down next to the shocked and comatose boy.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Ikari, I'm Asuka Langely Soryu" Asuka said politely, maybe even a tad overly polite, to the two figures. Mr. Ikari seemed stern from his facial expressions and the way his hand was tented above his drink and in front of his face. Yui, on the other hand, seemed warm and open.

"At ease, Soryu-san" Gendo responded before leaning back into the booth. Gendo had previously served in the military prior to becoming a researcher for NERV. Gendo had originally been born in the United States and he trained in the Military during the 1st Gulf War, but due to his more capable skills with science, he was instead allowed to go back to University to study science. Yui looked at Gendo, obviously knowing that Gendo was only trying to psych the young girl out by using militaristic lingo.

"Don't listen to him, Asuka-chan" Yui retorted, undermining Gendo's attempts to scare the

young redhead. Asuka relaxed and she looked over at Shinji, who had obviously not relaxed. He was still stunned beyond all relief. He had a "deer in the headlights" look in his eyes and he was beginning to cold sweat.

"Shinji-" Gendo began addressing his son, before he was cut off.

"This is not the Shinji you are looking for" Shinji said, hoping to deter his father from recognizing the young boy. Yui chuckled at her son while Gendo looked at Shinji as if his son was a downtrodden redneck. Shinji felt a kick to his shin from across the table, and grimaced at the pain.

"Wassup, guys…" Shinji greeted, trying to play it cooly, obviously failing since he was stuttering. To say the least, he did not expect nor want his parents to be here right now. It put a damper on his dinner plans with Asuka. He looked over at his girlfriend, who uncharacteristically was looking extremely shy and meek. Then he looked over to his brooding father who had this dark aura about him, like he was plotting your death, and then he looked over to his mother, who was beaming light at Shinji.

"Nothing, son. Who is this?" Gendo asked his son.

"Uh, dad...she told you, she's Asuka Langley Soryu" Shinji responded, meekly, hoping to deter his father. He looked over at his girlfriend who was obviously out of her element and he felt the surge to protect her and not look like a bitch.

"Fine, dad...She's my girlfriend" Shinji said, a little bit too loudly. Asuka began blushing heavily when she heard Shinji proclaim their relationship to his father. She was actually very happy, even happier when she and her mother left her father. Hell, this moment was even better than when she got into Tokyo University.

"Okay, then, son." Gendo stated before sipping at his pitch black coffee. Gendo had no idea what to say to his son. Normally, he would have grilled Shinji on the matter at hand, but this time, Gendo had no clue what to do. His son had confidently responded after a couple of really idiotic responses. Gendo gave Yui that look that meant 'I want you to grill Shinji like a goddamn steak'. Yui nodded slightly in response before turning to Asuka.

"So tell me about yourself, Asuka-chan" Yui asked the woman to her left. Asuka saw the twinkle in her eye, a devious one. She was obviously testing the young woman and trying to see something to pick apart. Asuka realized that's where Shinji gets his "teasing" from.

"Well, I'm studying medicine at Tokyo University." Asuka started, looking to see a change in mood from Yui. Nothing, so she could continue.

"I'm half-german, half-japanese. I have a mother and a stepdad in Japan, I have a step-sister who is a year younger than me." Asuka continued, once again looking for a shift from Yui. Asuka chuckled a little as Shinji touched her foot with his, which she responded in kind. Shinji and her felt like little kids again, fooling around the adults.

"Well, we should get going, honey" Gendo concluded once he had enough intruding on their date. He nudged his head motioning for Yui to leave with him. Yui sighed and got up. She had not had her fill of fun yet, but whatever, she didn't want to be a buzzkill anymore.

"Bye, kids!" Yui said, almost sassy-like before she left to which Shinji sighed in relief. He turned to Asuka, who had looked like she saw a ghost. She understood where Shinji got his mannerisms from. His seriousness and brooding from his father, which she often saw when he was studying. Group studying entails group work, but Shinji kept to himself. Only answering questions, never asking, which Asuka found very weird and somewhat endearing. In Shinji, Asuka noticed his mother's speech patterns laced with teasing and subtle hints.

"Sorry about that, my parents can be quite…" Shinji said, looking for the right word to describe his parents.

"Crazy. Scary?" Asuka joked, offering Shinji adjectives. Shinji laughed back sarcastically before smiling at the young girl who had dealt with the brunt of the parental attack. He felt a light chop on the top of his head, before playfully nursing it.

"You called me your girlfriend so loud! What was that?" Asuka asked, blushing at the moment she just recalled. Shinji flashed his smug smirk at her, causing her to chop him lightly again.

"What's wrong, princess? Should I have called you…"Shinji said, mocking her, "Honey Bunny" Shinji chuckled a bit before looking back at his new girlfriend who was red at his teasing. She was completely at his mercy and he knew it.

"You wanna get outta here?" Shinji asked the redhead before chugging the last of his latte. Asuka nodded in response before turning to make sure her bag was in order. After studying with Toji and Hikari, she was honestly exhausted. Asuka imagined that Shinji was even more tired than her since he had to go out of his way to explain it to the buffoon and his lady buffoon who had no idea what cellular respiration was. Asuka smiled a bit before turning to get out of her booth. However she was met with a set of warm lips, formed into a smile.

"How about that, girl-fri-end" Shinji said before giving her a slight kiss on her lips.