So I know some of you were wondering how I am able to get these chapters out so quickly (these two probably took me eight hours in all). I do most of my typing at night, and I draw a lot of my inspiration from other Evangelion pieces I've read (Re-Take, EoE, Shinji Ikari Raising Project, and of course the anime) Though every night, before I start typing, a get a big bottle of Poweraid and chill it before I start typing which usually lasts me for four hours or so. I take breaks of course, but most of these chapters were done in one sitting. Plus, I have a lot of down time right now till I go back to school so there isn't much to do but type. All right, have fun with these two and get ready for tomorrow's chapter!
First thing that morning...that morning on Christmas Eve, Shinji went downtown to try to find a camera, with a very sleepy and grumpy Asuka tagging along. Shinji had asked her if she had gotten any sleep, which she had lied about. In truth, she couldn't sleep very well last night, knowing that today, she be sleeping at Shinji's house.
They had driven all over town since every shop seemed to be closed, which Asuka pointed out to Shinji on more than one occasion. However, they did eventually find a very cheap camera that was around what Shinji hoped to pay. Asuka begrudgingly chipped in some money for the camera, since she knew that she would be using it also.
"Well...we got it," sighed Asuka as they got back in the car. They had left at around nine that morning and it was already one in the afternoon.
"Sorry that took so long," mumbled Shinji.
"Its not like I would have done anything back at the apartment besides watch T.V." said Asuka.
"You hungry?"
"Starved," groaned Asuka as her stomach suddenly let out a sound similar to a lion roaring, but she didn't even seem to care.
"Well...there's a sandwich shop nearby," said Shinji, trying his best not to laugh at what he had just heard.
"Drive then," mumbled Asuka as she placed her chin in her hands and looked out the window.
Shinji glanced towards Asuka, feeling that Christmas Eve wasn't going as well as he thought it would.
But nearly an hour later, and Asuka's stomach finally happy about the current situation, she leaned back in her seat as Shinji drove back to the apartment and let a small yawn.
"You sure you don't want to take a nap later or something?" asked Shinji.
"I told you, I'm fine," said Asuka as she sat back up. "However, before we go back home, I need to stop at the grocery store."
"How come?"
"Did you forget that I was cooking Christmas dinner?"
"...I did actually," mumbled Shinji almost inaudibly.
"Well I need to stop and pick up several things for tomorrow," said Asuka.
"Okay, we can stop," said Shinji.
"And don't worry about the money; I got it."
"Huh? No, I'll chip in for it-"
"I got it!" repeated Asuka forcefully, shutting Shinji up quickly.
When they arrived at the grocery store, Asuka absolutely forbade Shinji to walk in with her. She wanted everything she bought to be a surprise.
As she walked into the grocery store though, she suddenly felt odd that Shinji wasn't with her. Usually, he pushed the cart and named of things to buy while she piled them all into the cart. She couldn't remember the last time she had been into a grocery store by herself.
"May as well get this over with," sighed Asuka.
Grabbing a nearby shopping cart, she started walking down the isles and picking out several things.
During the five years they had been together, Asuka learned more about the Japanese culture then she ever wanted to. Of course, she learned the language and most of the Kanji during her studies for Nerv, but she didn't know that many cuisines until she met Shinji. Shinji had learned that she could cook however, when one morning Asuka made waffles, and afterwards, he had bored her with a long list of Japanese recipes. In retaliation to that however, Asuka started making Shinji cook German food, since it was the only thing that she could stomach back then.
Now though, and part of it came from watching him cook so much, she knew how to cook almost every Japanese dish that Shinji could cook, though she had to admit, his was a little better.
Buying fish, rice, a large assortment of vegetables, pork and beef, flour for schnitzel, and some other basic ingredients, Asuka decided that she had bought enough. Not worrying about how much it costed, she paid the full amount while barely bating an eyelash.
Walking out the the car, Shinji must have seen that she had a lot of bags in the cart, because he quickly exited the car and tried helping her. However, Asuka quickly scolded him with a swift, 'sit,' after which he was forced to listen to her, and wasn't able to see what she had bought.
"Right," said Asuka the moment she sat down in the passenger seat. "The food goes in my apartment until tomorrow, then I'll bring it over to yours and cook dinner."
"...Okay," said Shinji, feeling very helpless in a situation like this.
Without another word, Shinji drove them home.
The excitement that filled the air in Shinji's apartment that afternoon was so stifling, that after a while of pretending to watch T.V. Asuka had to turn it off.
"I just can't focus right now," sighed Asuka as she lay down on the couch.
"Read a book then," mumbled Shinji who was laying down next to the Christmas tree and doing what he had just suggested.
"What part of focus didn't you understand?" asked Asuka.
"Good point," said Shinji as he tossed his book to the side, unable to focus as well. Sitting up, he came over to the couch and sat down next to Asuka who moved over to make room for him.
"...So tomorrow then," said Shinji.
"Yep!" grinned Asuka.
"And you still won't tell me what you got me?"
"Nope," grinned Asuka again, this time slightly mischievously.
Shinji groaned audibly, wishing he knew what his present was. But at the same time, the unexpectedness of it was what he was really looking forward to. Asuka seemed to have put a good deal of thought into his present...and then there was of course Christmas dinner afterwards. Hmm...maybe they should pop a little wine for the occasion. If Shinji wasn't mistaken, he had a bottle in a back cupboard for cooking purposes.
"Hey Asuka, if you're cooking dinner tomorrow, what should I cook today?"
"Whatever you want Shinji," replied Asuka. "I'm really only thinking about tomorrow, so whatever you cook today is fine by me."
"Hmmm...in that case, I think I have enough to make another stir fry."
Asuka perked up slightly at that.
"That would be good..."
"I thought you said you didn't care?"
"Now I do; if its your stir fry's, then I always care."
"Okay, then I'll make it later."
"All right...in that case I'm gonna bring over a few things."
"Huh? For what?"
"...For tonight," mumbled Asuka suddenly becoming quiet.
"Oh...yeah," said Shinji, remembering what she was referring to. Asuka spending the night at his place on Christmas Eve; he wasn't sure what to make of that. And after...well after the whole kiss thing, though they seemed to have gotten over that.
Shinji frowned as he watched Asuka get up and leave the living room, wondering what she could be bringing.
Though many minutes later, his question was answered when Asuka walked back into the living room and dumped a large backpack and a sleeping bag next to it.
'What? Are you planning to spend the weekend here also?' wondered Shinji.
"Lets see," mumbled Asuka as she started ticking off the things she had brought. "Change of clothes, toothbrush, hairbrush, sleeping bag...damn it, I forgot to bring a pillow."
"Just borrow one of mine," said Shinji, not thinking how this statement would affect Asuka.
And of course, her face turned slightly pink at his words.
"Ah...well if its all right with you..."
"It is," said Shinji with a sigh.
"Ah...thank you," said Asuka as she sat down and started unpacking her things.
'You're starting to sound like me,' thought Shinji.
"I barely even managed to fit everything in here," said Asuka as she tipped everything upside down and let its contents spill onto the carpet. "I haven't used this thing since I last stayed at Hikari's." As she looked up though, she saw that Shinji's eyes were twitching in annoyance.
"Don't worry, I'll clean all this up in a bit," sighed Asuka.
Shinji was silent and continued staring at the pilot of clothes and other items. He was still a bit obsessed when it came to cleaning, and Asuka had hoped that living these past five years in an apartment by himself might have cured that, but to no avail.
Though Shinji on the other hand, spotted something amidst the pile clothes and quickly turned his head away. Something like that...best not seen by his eyes. Though Asuka had seen what he had been looking at too and with a beat red face, the same color as the item, she snatched it up and quickly stuffed it back into her backpack.
With an uncomfortable silence filling the room, Shinji and Asuka were both unable to look at each other, too embarrassed to say a word.
"Yeah...so I'll just go and take a shower," said Asuka, her voice very loud and wavering.
"Okay," said Shinji, his tone of voice equally strange.
Though the minute Asuka left his apartment, Shinji immediately face palmed and thought-
'How the hell are we gonna make it through the night?'
Only time would tell.
Shinji's stir fry was just as excellent as it always was, and Asuka was incredibly happy that she could have it on Christmas Eve. Though admittedly, after having something so delicious, she was feeling a bit nervous about dinner tomorrow. She had always been a good cook, she knew this, but cooking for Shinji was...well she wanted him to enjoy it and though she didn't want to admit it, praise her for it also.
'Maybe a should practice a bit tomorrow before I actually make it,' thought Asuka as she stared at the tea cup clasped in her hand.
"Something wrong?" asked Shinji as he turned around with a plate in his hand. He was already doing the dishes.
"Nah, just thinking about tomorrow is all," smiled Asuka.
"Yeah I know. Can't wait for dinner tomorrow, I know it'll be fine."
Asuka didn't want Shinji to know how much that statement meant to her. She suddenly felt much better.
Grinning slightly, she said, "If you need me, I'll be in the living room."
"Not watching T.V. are you?"
"No, bored of it. I actually thought about looking through your pictures from yesterday."
"Oh...they're in my room. Hang on, give me a minute and I'll get them."
"Don't bother, I'm already up," said Asuka. Shinji spun around at that, soap and water flying everywhere. If he had been holding onto a plate, it would have certainly dropped.
"Asuka?" he nearly shouted at her.
"What?" she asked feeling startled as she turned to face him.
"You...you're going into my room?"
"...Yeah? I'm just getting that box. Where did you put it?"
Shinji gaped open mouthed at her for a while before he swallowed loudly and said, "Its on top of my dresser. But thats not the point, you going into my room is-"
But he was talking to thin air, as Asuka had already entered it.
Completely stunned by these actions of hers, he quickly wiped his hands on a nearby dishtowel, and rushed into his bedroom. He didn't have anything strange that he didn't want her to see, he just couldn't understand why she wanted to go into his room all the sudden.
She had already turned on the lights and seemed to have just removed the box from where he had placed it, because she was already looking through its contents.
"Asuka, c'mon lets go out to the living roo-"
"Hey Shinji, remember this one," said Asuka as she held up a photo to him.
He did remember it, but that wasn't the point. Asuka was in his room and-
"I had forgotten about this," laughed Asuka as she looked at a picture of the three Eva Pilots right after facing there first angel battle together. "We had to crawl through ventilation ducts and everything just to get our Eva's."
"Yes Asuka, but-"
"Ah right, I paid back the debt I owed you that time because of the volcano incident. I don't think I ever told you thanks for that one did I?"
"Asuka!"
"What?"
"You're in my room," said Shinji very bluntly.
Asuka looked around then, looking at Shinji's bed, the table beside his bed, his closet, the dirty clothes floors on the ground.
"It looks like a room," said Asuka. "Whats your point?"
"Weren't you the one that said we weren't allowed in each others room?"
"...Yeah," mumbled Asuka.
"So are we going to allow that now also?"
"Fine I'll get out," sighed Asuka as she passed by Shinji, taking the box as she went. Shinji continued standing there, wondering what the hell was going through her mind.
As Asuka sat down on the couch in the living room however, she blushed slightly and thought, 'Well, its about what I expected...his room that is. But I'm surprised he got all offended that I was in there.' Asuka puzzled over this for a while, before she shrugged and started looking through the photos again. She laughed several times when she saw Shinji as a kid, and once or twice thought she heard a groan come from the kitchen where he was cleaning up.
As Shinji came out of the kitchen however, he saw Asuka sprawled on the floor with a bunch of his photos around her. She was smirking at one in particular and held it up for Shinji to see, who immediately turned maroon.
The picture was of Shinji who seemed to be walking towards whoever had the camera. He was wearing nothing but a diaper and had a very toothy grin, since he had only had one tooth at that point.
"Asuka..." grumbled Shinji.
"Hey, you got to see an embarrassing picture of me, so now its my turn," laughed Asuka as she rolled over to start digging through the pictures again.
"But there was one that I wanted to show you really quick...well, two of them actually."
"Hmmm...oh, that," sighed Shinji as Asuka passed him the pictures.
"Our birthdays when we were living at Misato's."
"Didn't she get drunk on both our birthday's and pass out."
"Well, yeah she did, but I remember mine in particular," smiled Asuka.
And then Shinji knew why she remembered it, because he had helped a lot that day; he had made the cake, since Misato was too cheap to go out and get one.
"Chocolate cake with red icing and a strawberry on top," said Asuka as she looked at a picture of herself who had just turned fifteen and was trying not to look too embarrassed as she blew out the candles.
"I didn't know that these pictures had been taken," said Shinji.
"Nor did I," said Asuka. "Oh, and this one is yours," she said as she passed him his birthday picture.
Shinji's picture was similar to hers, except the cake was obviously store bought and Touji and Kensuke were on either side of him and giving a peace sign.
"Those idiots," said Asuka, "and you look like you don't know what to do."
"I didn't," said Shinji admittedly. "Before that, I couldn't remember when I had last had a birthday party. Oh...and I still remember the present you got me."
"You do?" said Asuka, feeling somewhat surprised.
"Yeah, it was a German cookbook."
At Shinji's words, Asuka lost it and started rolling around on the floor laughing, tears streaming down her face.
"Ahahaha, I had forgotten about that," laughed Asuka as she picked herself off the floor and suddenly turned to face Shinji.
"You know Shinji...though we've both been angry at each other many times, we always seemed to make up in the end. I guess...well what I'm trying to say is, that I'm glad I was able to meet you, even if it was in a very harsh situation, I'm glad that we could know each other."
This may have very well been the most sincere thing Asuka had ever said to him, and Shinji didn't have a clue as to how he was supposed to respond to it.
"Ah...yeah," mumbled Shinji as he scratched the back of his head. "Thanks..."
Asuka however wasn't going to accept this, and pouted while saying, "Wrong! You're supposed to say that you're glad to meet me also, and you should also mention how wonderful I am."
"That may be pushing it a bit," mumbled Shinji. But Asuka tutted loudly and so Shinji complied.
"Asuka...I'm glad that I could meet you as well...and...ummm...you're a great person and-"
"That sounds forced," said Asuka cutting him off. "But thats okay, since I didn't expect any better really."
"Hey!" grumbled Shinji.
"Just kidding," smirked Asuka as she grabbed the photos and put them back in the box. "Here, you can take them back to your room if you want."
"...No, we can leave them out here for a bit."
"Okay, though I don't think I'll want to look through them a-a-ACHOOO-"
Asuka suddenly sneezed loudly, startling Shinji.
"You cold at all?" asked Shinji as Asuka starting rubbing her shoulders.
"...A bit," mumbled Asuka, feeling embarrassed.
"Hold on one second, I'll get a blanket," said Shinji as he stood up and walked to his room.
"No, wait Shinji! I got myself a sleeping bag so-"
But he was already walking back out with a large cotton blanket that was large enough to cover both of them.
"Here, cover yourself up with this and sit on the couch; I'll make some hot chocolate. I had forgotten, but the weather report said to expect snow tonight."
"So we'll have a white Christmas," said Asuka as she sat down on the couch and wrapped the blanket around her slim figure.
"Seems to be that way," came Shinji's voice from inside the kitchen.
Asuka buried her face into the cotton blanket and smiled slightly; she couldn't wait till tomorrow.
Shinji and Asuka were both restless much of that night, neither of them seeming to go to bed, though several mugs of hot chocolate didn't seem to be doing them any help. But the clock was soon reaching midnight, and they still weren't able to go to sleep. They both sat next to each other, wrapped in the large blanket that kept them warm together.
"Hey Shinji," mumbled Asuka suddenly. She had been silent for several minutes now, and Shinji had started thinking that she might have gone to sleep.
"Whats up?" he asked.
"...I've been thinking...about what you said about the...the proposition still being open. And...I just wanted to know, if I moved in with you...would anything change?"
"Why would things change?" asked Shinji.
"I don't know why it would," mumbled Asuka, "thats why I'm asking you. But...I don't want things to change is the problem; I like everything the way it is right now. Being able to go in and out of your apartment whenever I want, eating meals over here, spending Christmas here. But whereas my own apartment just feels lonelier and lonelier every time I'm there. ...I don't like it. But I like it here."
"Then you know the solution to that," mumbled Shinji quietly.
"Hmmm?"
"...Move in with me...we'll get a two bedroom apartment. We'd need more living space if we share an apartment."
"...Yeah. we would," mumbled Asuka against the fabric of the blanket.
"So...then is that what you want?" asked Shinji as he continued looking ahead of him.
Asuka was silent for a few seconds until she turned towards him and rested her head against his arm.
"Yeah...I think I'd like that a lot," said Asuka as she gently closed her eyes.
"Okay, well we'll have to change it after Christmas of course, since the downstairs office is closed on holidays. Maybe we can get it all sorted out before New Years even."
Shinji couldn't help but smile though at the thought that him and Asuka would be living together.
After a long time of silence between them however, Shinji finally starting to nod off when he heard very soft words coming from Asuka's mouth. She was still leaning up against his arm and he could feel her warmth between the fabric of the blanket.
"Shinji...what would happen if we kissed?"
All of the sleepiness left Shinji at once as he heard her words. Had he even heard right? Asuka saying such things was-
But he decided to wait to know if she was even asleep.
"Hey...Shinji?" Asuka asked said again after a few moments silence.
Shinji knew that she was awake then, or at least seemed to be. But her question was...was something that he couldn't answer, because he didn't know himself.
"I...I don't know," mumbled Shinji quietly. The entire apartment was dark except for the Christmas tree which lit up a good portion of the living room. As Shinji looked down at his arm though, he could see Asuka's face looking up at him with an expression he had never seen on her face. It was one of longing. Her face was very beautiful as it was bathed in the glow from the Christmas lights and the starlight which glistened off her creamy skin. Shinji could see her ocean blue eyes very clearly in the dim light, as they seemed to be the brightest thing in the room right now; almost like a jewel.
In other words, if him and Asuka were to kiss right now-
'No,' Shinji thought. 'Not now...'
"...I see," Asuka mumbled as she let out a low sigh and repositioned herself more comfortably against him.
Shinji sweat dropped slightly, having no way out of this situation.
'What do I do?' he wondered.
But did he want to do anything?
Shinji battled with himself in his mind for a while, playing out different scenarios. He liked Asuka, that much he was certain of, and somewhere within himself, he knew that Asuka liked him also, but that it would take her longer to willingly accept this fact.
'So then if you both like each other, isn't that okay?' said a voice in his mind. 'You've been together for so long, that at some point or another, you both started loving each other, which is why nothing will change even if you accept that fact.'
Shinji understood, he finally understood.
And with that, he turned his head towards the girl resting against his shoulder and wrapped his arms around her slim back, holding her gently against him. He thought he felt Asuka tense up slightly, but next second, her shoulders relaxed and she let out a low sigh. She didn't bother saying anything though, and Shinji was never sure whether she was ever awake or asleep as they slowly drifted off together.