Right...so I'm sorry bout not posting anything yesterday. I had a long night with an old friend who I hadn't seen in a while and didn't feel like writing much. But that all changes because today...I got another double post! And with these two chapters done, there is only one more chapter till I finish the Christmas portion of this. As I said before (at least I think), there is going to be an After Story set on New Years Eve, which will come out Saturday.
Two more days until Christmas, and Shinji and Asuka could hardly hold there excitement, let alone try and hide this from the other. Every time Asuka even so much looked at her present, she felt like her heart was going to explode out of her chest. She was just that excited about what it was. Shinji however asked Asuka what his present was at every opportunity he got, hoping to make her slip and maybe reveal at least what it looked like. Though Asuka wasn't budging, and she was even rather enjoying Shinji's increasingly desperate attempts at finding out what it was. She had placed the case with the ring in it in her own bedroom underneath the mattress...so Shinji had no chance of finding it in other words.
As for the trickling of days, well they were both pretty bored. Shinji had suggested they might go out just to get out of the apartment, but Asuka had knocked that down almost instantly. Though she was bored, she was also lazy, and didn't want to move away from the tree where her present was. While she watched T.V. her eyes kept on traveling back and forth from the screen to her present under the tree. Shinji was meanwhile sitting on the floor at the foot of the couch, every so often glancing up to her and smiling, knowing that her was mind was thinking what he could have gotten her.
However, both of them were interrupted when a knock came from Shinji's door.
They both turned to look at the door, and then at each other.
"Were you expecting anyone today?" asked Asuka with a puzzled face.
"No, I wasn't," replied Shinji equally surprised by this.
Standing up, Shinji walked towards his door and looked out the peephole, trying to determine who it was. He surprised though to see that a delivery man was standing outside his front door with two small packages. Furthermore, Shinji recognized the Nerv emblem on this mans jacket.
Opening the door, Shinji was intending to ask what a person that worked at Nerv was doing here, when the man asked instead-
"Are you Shinji Ikari?"
Shinji narrowed his eyes slightly; he had been very adamant that he didn't want anything to do with Nerv anymore. So why was somebody that worked there outside his apartment? However, he decided to be kind for the time being, until at least he knew what the man wanted.
"Yes...I am. What do you want?"
"No...its just that I was supposed to give this to you..." mumbled the man, as he held out one of the packages to Shinji.
"Who is it?" asked Asuka as she suddenly poked her head into the hallway. She too spotted the Nerv emblem right away however, and her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Some guy from Nerv," replied Shinji. The man who had delivered the box seemed surprised to see Asuka however, and then he pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and asked-
"Err...are you Asuka Langley Sory-"
"What do you want?" said Asuka quite bluntly.
"...Oh...this package," he said as he held out the other. "I'm supposed to give this one to you." He looked back and forth between Shinji and Asuka however, his face starting to turn paper white.
"Anyways...if you could just take these and-"
"What is this exactly?" asked Shinji.
"I-I don't know. I was only told to find both your addresses and get them to you."
Shinji frowned heavily, and turned to Asuka, asking her silently what they should do. Asuka in return bit her lip, not knowing either. It was just a package, so it wasn't like they were asking them to come in and run tests or anything.
"Take it," said Asuka as she turned around and walked back into the living room. The delivery man sweat dropped slightly.
Shinji shrugged as Asuka left and turned back to the man, wordlessly taking the packages and closing the door in his face. Just remembering about Nerv was starting to make him sick.
Walking back into the living room, he saw that Asuka was already sitting up and motioned for him to sit next to her.
"What do you reckon they are?" asked Asuka when Shinji sat down beside her.
"No clue," said Shinji as he handed her the package.
They both stared at their own packages for a while. They were both simple brown cardboard boxes that were completely unremarkable except for the Nerv emblem pasted on the side of the box. On top of each box, was the name of the person and the address it was supposed to be sent to. Only thing was, it didn't say from whom, or why it had even been sent.
"Should we just open them?" wondered Asuka.
"...I suppose," said Shinji. "Only way we're gonna know what they are."
"This could be something from Misato and Ritsuko."
"Why wouldn't Misato have told you about this since you two were out yesterday?"
"Because thats just the kind of person she is. But forget about that; lets just open both of them at the same time."
"All right," said Shinji as both him and Asuka ripped off the top part of the box, revealing what was underneath.
However, when both of them saw what was in there boxes, they quickly became silent.
Photographs, and a lot of them, were piled one on top of the other until they reached the brim of the boxes. Asuka and Shinji stared down at them for a long time until Shinji grabbed one at random and looked at it.
It was him and Asuka when they had been fourteen. It looked like it was during one of the school outings that they rarely managed to make. In the background, Shinji could also see fourteen year old versions of Touji and Kensuke. But in the foreground, were him and Asuka, and though they were in front of the camera, they were both looking in opposite directions. It looked like they might have just had a fight, because neither of them was making eye contact with the other. Shinji even vaguely remembered the trip. The school had gone to look at pre-Second Impact marine wildlife.
"...Shinji?" came Asuka's confused voice beside him. Shinji turned towards her, completely forgetting that he was even sitting next to the same girl from five years ago. As Shinji looked at the picture in Asuka's hand, he instantly recognize it. It was when they had first met during the transportation of Unit 02 by the United States. Shinji remembered fighting there very first angel together that day.
"Shinji...these pictures..."
"Yeah," mumbled Shinji as he riffled through more of them, remembering the times when they were younger. Several of them even had Rei in them, but the majority of them had Shinji and Asuka. One in particular caught his eye, and he was almost certain he knew who had taken it. It was a picture of both him and Asuka sleeping at there desks, apparently too tired from synchronization tests.
As Shinji turned and showed this picture to Asuka. She immediately mumbled, "I am so going to kill him," clearly referring to Kensuke.
Placing the picture back in the box, Shinji started going through the rest of them. But as he started digging deeper, he noticed that these pictures didn't have Asuka in them, or hardly anyone he recognized at all. But he stopped at one picture at once, recognizing this person instantly.
It was himself, or at least a four year old version of himself. But the person beside him immediately caught his eye. She was bending down next to him and smiling into the frame next to his face. She was certainly his-
"Mom," mumbled Shinji as he stared back at his mother, Yui Ikari. Then...the person who had taken this picture was likely...
Turning the picture around, he saw writing that was eerily similar to his own.
Shinji and Yui, 2005
Shinji stared back at the picture of his mother, wishing that he could have known her, but he had only been a kid and could hardly remember her. And the year 2005...that was close to when she had died and became apart of Unit 01.
Looking at the other pictures, Shinji saw that the year went all the way back to 2001 when he had been born. The only thing he noticed though, was that each and everyone of the pictures had only Yui in. His father didn't seem to be in any of them.
'Which is perfectly fine by me,' thought Shinji.
However, as he reached the very bottom, he found a very small photo of himself as a baby, not even his teeth had grown in yet. But the man in the picture that was holding him, was certainly a much younger version of his father, Gendo Ikari. Shinji was greatly surprised by this picture, as Gendo in 2001 resembled Shinji as he was today. He didn't have a beard, wasn't wearing glasses, and even had on normal clothes. He was smiling as he looked at the camera, holding a sleeping Shinji in his arms.
Shinji turned this picture over, only to see that a single word had been written on it, which was his name of course. But the writing still seemed to be his fathers.
'I wonder,' thought Shinji suddenly, 'if by chance he sent them...'
Puzzling over this, Shinji turned towards Asuka, only to see that she was staring at a picture that she had clasped in her lap, but pearly white tears were streaking down her face and falling onto the picture. While Shinji had been preoccupied with his own childhood, Asuka seemed to have discovered hers.
"Asuka..." whispered Shinji as he leaned closer to her and looked at the picture she was holding. It was a picture of herself at the age of five or six. She was hugging a very beautiful woman that had hair almost exactly like her own. Shinji assumed this to be her mother.
"...Is this your mother?" asked Shinji quietly.
Asuka nodded silently, tears streaming down her face.
"She's very beautiful," mumbled Shinji.
Asuka gave a small hiccup then at Shinji's words and turned towards him.
"I'm sorry," she said, her voice slightly cracked. "I just didn't...expect to see something like this."
"Don't be," said Shinji sincerely. "Its a good memory."
"You found the same thing in yours?"
"Yeah...I did," said Shinji with a slight sigh.
"Who would give this to us though?"
Shinji didn't say anything. He had a feeling he knew who it was, but gathering all these pictures must have taken some time.
Wiping her eyes on her sleeve, Asuka turned back to the box and said, "But there are a lot of pictures of the two of us together in these."
"Yeah...there are," mumbled Shinji.
"Oh...yeah, I found this picture and wanted to show it to you, but you were preoccupied," said Asuka as she grabbed a picture she had set aside and handed it to Shinji.
"Look at these two people," said Asuka as she pointed to the picture.
Shinji did, and let out a small gasp. Standing beside each other, with equally white lab coats on, were Shinji and Asuka's mother.
"They knew each other I guess," smiled Asuka.
"They worked at Nerv together, so it isn't too surprising. But actually seeing it is still weird," said Shinji.
"Why is it weird?"
"Well...we could have met when we were really young and not remember it," said Shinji.
Asuka stared back at him, her mouth hanging open slightly. Was such a thing possible?
"Its a possibility I suppose," said Asuka, "but I don't see any pictures of us when we might have been five or six."
"There doesn't necessarily have to be," replied Shinji.
"Is that you as a baby?" Asuka suddenly blurted out as she saw the picture Shinji had been looking at earlier.
"Huh? Oh...yeah," said Shinji feeling sorta embarrassed.
"Haha...you don't have any teeth," laughed Asuka as she reached across Shinji's lap and retrieved the picture. "And your father looks weird...he looks like-"
Asuka then looked up at Shinji, and the back down at the picture and-
"Pfft...haha he looks just like you. So does that mean you're gonna look like him when you're older?"
Shinji sincerely hoped that that was not going to be true.
"But you know...you are kinda of a cute baby...nothing compared to me though," grinned Asuka.
"Oh? Then lets see," smirked Shinji as he in turn reached across Asuka's lap and found one of her baby pictures. Unfortunately for him though, he had to agree that she was cuter as a baby. Though the picture he had grabbed was kind of-
"Don't look at that one you idiot," yelled a crimson red Asuka as she swiped the picture out of Shinji's grasp. The picture in question, had been of Asuka getting her first bath by her mother. Her head was already starting to show signs of red hair like her mothers.
Shinji laughed however as he thought about the picture he had gotten a brief glimpse of.
"Arghh," grumbled Asuka feeling extremely embarrassed. "Why did you have to see that?"
"You were a baby so-"
"That doesn't make a difference," griped Asuka.
They stared at each other for a while, Shinji still trying to suppress a grin while Asuka was pouting lightly.
"All these pictures though," said Shinji. "It made me remember a lot of things."
"Some of which I'd rather forget," groaned Asuka. "But I understand what you're saying. Everything at Nerv is...well its still painful to talk about, even between us. I'm sure there are things you don't want to tell me, and I know there are things I don't want to tell you. But...seeing these pictures, it made me realize, there were a lot of fun times also."
"Yeah, like the time you punted Kensuke's camera off the school roof."
"Or what about the time you groped Rei. Certainly you haven't forgotten about that?"
"Ah...no I haven't," said Shinji. It was his turn to feel embarrassed. He hated when Asuka brought that up, and hated Misato even more for telling her about it.
"All in all though, it wasn't so bad I suppose," sighed Asuka as she shifted through the pictures, smiling at several of them.
"No...it wasn't," agreed Shinji.
"...Although," mumbled Asuka as she found a certain picture and held it up for Shinji to see.
"Oh...that was bad," said Shinji as he glared back at the picture. It was a picture of the time himself and Asuka had to synchronize with each other, and had spent that week dancing using that stupid machine.
"Yeah...that sucked," said Asuka.
"Umm...Asuka," said Shinji as he noticed the photo under it and pointed at it.
Asuka grabbed it turned it over. Almost instantly, both her and Asuka's face turned a bright red.
It had been of the same time they were doing the synchronization, and somebody, Misato in all likelihood, had taken a picture of them when they had had to share a room. Neither of them could remember this at all...but from the look of the picture, they had fallen asleep almost directly next to each other. Shinji could remember one time in which this happened...but two times?
"Misato," grimaced Asuka as she glared back at the photo.
'It could have been worse though,' thought Shinji.
"I'm burning this one," said Asuka in declaration as she threw it back into her box.
Shinji laughed lightly at that, fairly certain that Asuka would do no such thing.
"Hey...Shinji?" asked Asuka suddenly.
"Huh?"
"All these pictures...well its nice to look at them and all, but what exactly are we gonna do with them?"
"Frame them and hang them on the wall of course," replied Shinji.
Asuka was silent clearly, thinking about something else.
"Shinji..," she started, "I don't know...and I've been thinking...about a lot of things."
"Like what?" he said, feeling puzzled.
"Shinji...how much longer are things going to be like this?"
"...Like what?"
"Us! Living like this," retorted Asuka.
"Asuka what are you-"
"I don't know...and thats the problem...I don't know. Shinji...I spend so much time here that...that I...oh forget it!"
Standing up abruptly, Asuka grabbed the pictures that she had received and threw them in the box.
"Asuka!" shouted Shinji as he too stood up. "What is wrong?"
"Absolutely nothing," said Asuka, her emotions completely confused over the situation. Why couldn't she just say it? The pictures...the pictures had made her remember a lot. But that wasn't just it...it also made her realize that she wanted-
"Asuka!"
"What Shinji?"
Asuka spun around to face him, placing her hands on her hips, the box tucked under an arm.
Shinji blinked, but took a deep breath and said, "Asuka...I don't know what it is you want...or what even I want right now. I don't think either of us know right now. But don't go...thats the worse thing that could happen right now is if one of us leaves-"
"I'm just going to my apartment-"
"What if I don't want you to," said a breathless Shinji.
This time it was Asuka's turn to be surprise. She stared back at Shinji, not sure if what she had just heard was true.
"Asuka...what I said when we first moved into these apartments...it still applies."
"...Shinji..."
"Think about it again," said Shinji. "That was several years ago I asked that of you...and you said no. Now we're both nineteen and already have done more than most adults in there entire lives."
Misato's words about not being a kid anymore resounded in Asuka's mind. What she wanted was-
"...I'll...I'll think about it," mumbled Asuka. "But no promises!"
Shinji stared at her for a few seconds before he sighed and said, "Okay...let me know though."
"I will...and Shinji?"
"Hmmm?"
"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve...so...I thought that I'd maybe stay tomorrow night...if thats okay with you."
Asuka was fidgeting with her hands as she said this, and looking down at her feet, clearly embarrassed about asking Shinji whether she could spend the night at his house. But she practically lived there as it was so-
"Sure, thats fine."
-Shinji didn't have any problems with it. And he knew that Asuka would be over very early in the morning on Christmas Day if she didn't stay here, so it was fine.
"Okay," mumbled Asuka. "Well...I'm just going to drop this off at my apartment then."
"Oh...okay," said Shinji.
"Be back it in a bit then," said Asuka as she turned towards the door and left.
Shinji stared at the door, wondering when things had suddenly turned to this. As for himself and the pictures...it made him think about a lot of things also, particularly about where himself and Asuka would be in another ten years. If possible, he would like to continue making memories with her.
'Damn it!' he suddenly thought. 'I should pick up a camera.'
But would any place even be open tomorrow?
'Maybe Misato has one we can borrow...but she'd probably want to use it herself on Christmas Day. Asuka might have one herself, though I don't remember ever seeing one...'
Shinji was angry with himself for not thinking of this sooner; the pictures is what made him think about it in the first place though. Without them, he probably wouldn't have even thought of this.
'I'll just try to find one if I can tomorrow,' thought Shinji as he turned towards the sound of Asuka banging on his door to be let in.