Nothing Will Ever Change That
Disclaimer- I do not own anything to do with NGE.
Chapter 52: Noticeable
Locker Room – 2 ½ Months Later – 3:00
We were all getting ready for yet another sync test. I was the only one in the boy's locker room; mainly because I slept in about one hour. The hole that Asuka made in the wall has been repaired, but I was still able to hear Asuka and Sam talk.
"I don't want to! I can't believe I have to wear this!" in the last week, it has become noticeable that Asuka was pregnant, and she didn't want to wear the skin-tight plug-suit, "Oh God! I am NOT leaving this room!" sounds like she just got a look at herself.
"Asuka, you have to. Just ignore everyone else and go out," Sam was trying to help her… trying.
"Easy for you to say! You don't have this!" that last part made me laugh a little. I walked out of the locker room and waited outside the girl's room. "I'm not going out there! Don't touch me! Ah crap!" the door then swung open – slamming me in the face – to reveal Sam pushing her outside. "Serves you right for listening!" I got up and looked at her… it was apparent. In normal clothes, there would have been no way of telling, but in this skin-tight piece, it was obvious. Her normally slender body was… well, it was still slender aside from her stomach. The only problem with her small body structure was that it made the baby unavoidable.
"Uh… hi, Asuka…" she just gave me a glare and started to rant again.
"You did this to me! This is all your fault!" it takes two to tango! She's acting like I did it by myself!
"Whoa! Back up! I did this? You were the one that pulled…. never mind," almost crossed dangerous ground right there.
"Just forget it!" with a 'hmph', she walked away. Sam and I soon followed. On the way there, Asuka had her arms wrapped around her stomach, but it was apparent. Some of the lesser NERV employees almost fainted, while others seemed to try to ignore it. We finally reached our Evas, Gahiji and Cass were already testing, so we just joined them.
"So Ms. Souryu, how do you feel?" Looks like Gendo had a funny bone now. I did get back at him though; a week later after our fight, I punched him again, this time leaving a long scar crossing his face.
"How the hell do you think I feel! Let's just get this over with!" I think I heard a chuckle coming from Gendo, but I wasn't sure.
"Um… okay… well, Shinji has a 92, Cass has an 83, Sam has an 85, Gahiji has a 78, and Asuka has a 90. Okay kids, we're done here. You can leave now," Asuka leaped out of her entry plug and ran all the way to the locker room. Turn out she's a fast runner.
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Asuka's Room – One Hour Later
I slowly walked up to Asuka's room, knowing that she was not exactly having a perfect day.
"Asuka? Can I come in?" I heard a faint 'yeah' in the backround, so I walk in to see her face down on her bed. "Asuka? Are you… okay?" I sit down next to her and put a hand on her back.
"I… hate this…" really? Because I couldn't tell earlier today! I wasn't going to say that though…
"Think of it this way, you're more than half-way there. Only four more months and you'll be back to normal," she lifted up her head and looked at me. She wasn't crying, and it didn't seem like she was going to. The face she had was of pure annoyance.
"It's not… that I don't want the baby, I do, I just hate looking like this!" I knew that this was going to be an issue.
"Well I think you look fine. Don't worry about it, just try and hold out for a little longer," she did look okay for being five months pregnant, but it didn't help.
"I know you're lying. Just forget it… you're right, I only have four more months. After that, we can hold our baby…" that caught me off guard! I knew that it was true, but the way she presented it was odd.
"Um… yeah…" I knew I was blushing.
"You're too easy! Thanks, I do feel better now. I'm going to get something to eat, you hungry?" she got up and headed for the door. I could tell that she was lying about feeling better, but I let it go.
"S-sure," I followed her.
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Cafeteria
We were ordering our food while Cass, Gahiji and Sam had already taken a table. They didn't exactly have the best foods for a pregnant woman, but Asuka wouldn't let me cook for her. Pride has always been an issue for her.
"I'll take the chicken, thanks," She was ordering the only eatable looking thing on the menu, and so did I. I didn't really want to know what the surprise was in the meat surprise. We walked over and sat down at the table they saved for us.
"So… uh… okay, I have to ask," Gahiji had a fearful look on his face, "sorry if I'm being rude, but… are you… pregnant?" Damn! I forgot to tell him!
"Well duh! Do ya think? Damn, what did you think happened, a beer-belly? Come on! Use your head!" I knew that was going to happen!
"S-sorry… I didn't mean to insult you…" how was that an insult? Asuka dropped it and began to eat. When she was done – which was about five minutes before everyone else – she spoke up.
"I'm still hungry… I'm going to get some more food, be right back." I forgot about the fact that she was eating for two now. She came back and damn near inhaled her chicken sandwich. "There we go!" she was actually being funny. By the time she had eaten two lunches, all of us were just finishing. She leaned over to me and whispered in my ear when I was done, "Meet me in my room when you leave, I need to talk with you," I nod slightly and get up to take all of our trays to the garbage. When I turned back around, Asuka was already gone. I go back over to sit with Cass, Sam, and Gahiji.
"Hey, Cass, I saw this thing on the news today. It said something about Germany and the UK having some troubles. They said that war might be in the near future." What channel was Sam watching!
"Yeah, I don't worry about it too much. For one, I doubt that war would happen in the first place, and even if it did, I'd be fine. I'm not a part of the army anymore, I was drafted here to work at NERV, so it doesn't really concern me." He seemed confident. He was right though, there was no way Germany would take him from fighting for the sake of humanity!
"Yeah, you're right. As long as you don't leave, I'm fine," Sam took hold of his arm, making his face turn beat red.
"Uh… thanks…" seemed like it was about time for me to leave.
"See ya, I gotta talk to Akagi," they all nodded and I was off to 'Akagi's office'. When I got to Asuka's room, instead of knocking, - like an idiot – I just walk in.
"Hey! Get out!" looked like she was just getting out of the shower. I run back out and close the door. I waited a few minutes until she finally speaks up, "You can come in now! Next time, try knocking!" I slowly walk inside to see her dressed this time.
"You said you needed to talk with me?" she nods.
"Yeah, I've been thinking, what should we name the baby?" come to think of it, I had no idea.
"Well, I hadn't really thought about it. Do you have any ideas?" she sits down on her bed and invites me over.
"Yeah, I do. I was thinking that – if it's a boy – you name it, and if it's a girl, I name it. Sound good?" seemed a little childish to me.
"Don't you think we should both have a say in it despite the sex?" It just didn't feel right to not have a say. This should be a thing we work together on, not to split up.
"I guess… yeah, I guess you're right. If you don't have any names, I'll give you my ideas. If it turns out to be a girl, I was thinking either Dietlinde or Henrietta if it's a girl, or Hiroshi or Benito if it's a boy." Should have seen that coming. German names for a girl and Japanese names fro the boy. I had to admit, I was fond of Dietlinde. It just sounded strong.
"Not bad, I kind of like Dietlinde for the girl. I'm not too sure on either of the boy's names though. How about something simple like Nao? I kind of like that." She smiled a little.
"Yeah, me too. So, it's Dietlinde for a girl and Nao for a boy?" I liked those names.
"Sounds good to me. I'm kind of excited about this, how about you?" she smiled again. Of course she was excited; we are going to be parents soon!
"Excited about the baby, yes. But actually HAVING the baby scars me shitless. Everyone that has ever had a child said no pain would ever match it, and I'm afraid of it," Asuka admitting to be scared? That hasn't happened in a long time.
"Don't worry about it; you're the strongest person I know. Plus, I'll be there for you…" she cut me off.
"Like hell you will be! There is no way you're going to be in the delivery room with me! You think I want you to be watching me like that? I can barely stand having the doctors there, let alone you!" she probably just didn't want me to see her in such a weak state.
"Well… if you don't want me to, I won't. Are you sure though?" she nods, "Okay, if you say so."
"I do say so! Now drop it, you're freaking me out!" she was right, it was supposed to be extremely painful. Hell, I'd be scared too!
"Sorry, I'm going back to my room, you need anything?" She shakes her head so I just leave. Back in my room, I saw Gahiji playing some video game on TV.
"Hey, took you long enough. You wanna play? Here, grab a controller." I haven't relaxed in awhile, might as well. I thought that it was kind of ironic that the game was about giant robots fighting each other. I happened to notice that all of the characters looked exactly like the Evas, down to the bio on them.
"Hey… where did you get this game? What's it called?" I just thought that it was kind of odd to have my Eva in here.
"Some store about a mile from here, and it's called Neon Genesis Evangelion. I'm not too sure what it means, but I saw the word Evangelion so I picked it up. Apparently people made a video game about us." Sounded pretty cool to me.
A/N- … shut-up…
"Guess I'll pick my Eva…" Damn! It even had me as the pilot! I should be getting some money off of this! We just play the game – I won every time! – until we went go to bed… well, until HE goes to bed. I was up all night thinking about the baby, what would it look like? Would it be a boy or a girl? I didn't really care, as long as I got to hold it in my arms.
A/N- Awww! Shinji's finally sounding like a parent! The next chapter will be sad… very sad. See what I mean in the next chapter; Private Down, until then, keep on keepin' on!
