DISCLAIMER
I Jm0n3yba9s do not own Evangelion©. I also do not profit from this in any monetary form or matter. Upon being asked to remove this by Gainax or whoever holds the proprietary rights to Evangelion© I will comply.
FOR THE READER'S SAKE
This is a learning project for me, and; it is also a hobby that I very much enjoy. I accept criticism only when it's constructive because it helps me better my writing capabilities, however; if you're going to simply put "your story is shite" with no back up; no sort of reasoning; then I'll ask you to refrain from reviewing. I also hate happy endings; they go against my better judgement. I do however enjoy making my characters suffer, making them partake in what life is. So, I urge you not to read this for your sake.
PROLOGUE
Unit 01's status is critical! The angel is penetrating its armor plating!
-Unit 02 and 00 are on their way!
The pilot's sync is past the 300 threshold and rising!
-High risk of mental and physical contamination!
He can't take much more Major Katsuragi!
The Major taped her finger on the desk repeatedly, frustration getting ahold of her and a brush of sweat forming atop her brow and amid her palms.
"Damn it! Sever all links and eject the pilot! Prepare a surface team for immediate extraction!" snarled the purple hair colored woman who was successfully hiding any look of anguish on her face.
The entry plug is not responding the eject command!
"What?! What do you mean it's not responding?! Get him out of there now!" commanded the Major at her subordinates.
Whatever the Angel is doing to unit-01 is affecting our systems!
-We've got no control on this end Major!
"Get me those coms Hyuga! ASAP!" she exclaimed.
Wait…Almost… There! Communications with unit-01 are back online Major!
"Shinji can you hear me?" asked the Major hurriedly as she leaned forth and supported herself on the panels in front of her.
"I'm not dead yet" the pilot replied through the speaker while sounding shaky.
"You were told to wait for unit-00 and 02's backup!" she reproached him for his poor decision making and stole a sideways glare to the head doctor who had entered the vicinity.
"You don't understand!" Shinji responded with strain and panted.
"If she'd come out here… sh-she'd died as well" he added in rising anger and clutched his controls harder to continue wrestling with the giant nether being.
"Misato Unit-01 must not be lost!" the head doctor cut in impatiently as she neared her.
"Screw the Unit! We have to get Shinji to safety!" Misato reasoned with her friend, or whatever the blonde doctor had been to her lately.
"No, I'm not going anywhere" Shinji, who had overheard the blonde speak, replied fast and painfully as he continued to block any more tentacles from piercing his armor.
"I'm in charge here! This is my operation and I'm telling you to retreat!" Misato fired back as her ire drew her to smash her fist on the table.
"You keep her safe" he spoke softly and gasped as the the tentacles impaled inside unit-01's stomach continued their campaign of shredding.
"You're disobeying a direct ord-!" Misato began to growl furiously and worriedly before the pilot stopped her amid sentence.
"Pro.." he panted from exhaustion "promise me!" he finally yelled pleadingly as he coughed up more blood.
"Shinji I.." Misato began to reply, feeling tension coming over her cheekbones and into her eye sockets, to be left speechless as the next words processed.
"I'm.. I'm initiating manual self-destruct" he finished as he shut down his coms with HQ and prepared his final assault.
"Damn it Shinji! Get him back up double tim-" the major, after a few seconds of dissipating shock, began to shout out before the doctor stepped forth and reprimanded her.
"This has gone on long enough Misato! You were given prior notice about the value of unit-01!" the blonde reminded her by viciously pushing her aside.
"I'm his guardian! Do you think I'd send him out there with no remorse at all?! That I don't care about Shinji's life?!" Misato asked menacingly as she regained her posture.
"I don't give a shit about your personal attachments!" the blonde scientist dismissed. "It's the unit that matters to me!" Akagi finished.
"You've already said that three times! And as long as I'm head of command, Shinji's life is our top priority!" she enlightened her friend and swung her fist at her direction before her fist was caught in midair by the member of the security team present.
"And what happened to your personal vendetta?! All that shit about killing Angels?! Huh?!" Akagi questioned furiously to a stricken and silent Misato.
"You're emotionally compromised and out of line Major! I'm taking charge of this operation!" she yelled out irritatingly at the woman's insubordination before nodding to the man that held her and waving him leave with her finger.
"Prepare N2 mines for tactical strike!" Akagi ordered as the guard holding Misato reached the far end door leading out of the command center.
But Unit-1's AT field is in the neutralization zone! A blast like that could kill the pilot!
"Yes, but the angel's field is down too!" Akagi retorted and kept a fixed gaze on Misato as she did so.
-And the unit? With the AT field down its going to be a miracle if we can recover some of it!
"That's why we can't let him activate the fail-safe, it would destroy the core entirely!" Akagi exclaimed and returned her look to the forward monitors where the battle was being displayed.
Meanwhile Misato, grasping the whole of the present situation, quivered at Asuka's words sometime before, as she realized they had been of similar fashion to Shinji's. She struggled with the strength of the guard's arms as he removed her from the command center, and soon enough began to shout at the awed employees present.
"Don't let them kill them!" she gasped out and a tear escaped her eye "they'll kill them both if you don't sto-" Misato tried screaming harder, this to no avail as the guard, with her tightly grasped, stepped out the command center and the door they stepped through swooshed back to shut.
"We need those mines before unit-01 is completely lost! What the hell is taking so long!?" Akagi fumed and looked over to her bridge assistants.
We have five airborne as we speak, the rest are on their way from the fleet.
"Ok patch me through to them" Akagi ordered and momentarily received a nod from Hyuga, who felt morally sick for what they were about to do.
You're patched through mam'.
"This is Dr. Ristsuko Akagi and I'm heading this operation as of now. You have a green light to launch the N2 mines as soon as you spot the target" Akagi said too calm a manner for anyone not to notice.
"Affirmative" A pilot's voice replied through static.
The blonde doctor grimaced at the situation. She couldn't lose unit-01; he'd been clear on that. It'd taken her too long to gain his full trust to throw it all away now, pilot or no pilot; she wouldn't lose that damn thing. Lucky for her, she'd learnt a great deal about indirect manipulation through her time spent with Gendo.
"Patch me through to Unit-02's pilot!" She ordered as she attempted to find a way to gain leverage from what could very well be the end of the collective planning of ten years of work.
MEANWHILE
Shinji kept the monstrosity at bay for the next seconds as he struggled to look for the manual self-destruct present in all Evas. His left arm and abdomen still throbbing from the appendages engrossed in them as a faint path of veins emanated from both regions. He'd almost wish this thing would kill him already if it meant the pain would stop, but he couldn't let Asuka face this atrocity, this monster. Not if it meant putting her, and him, at risk.
Glancing to his back Shinji quickly found the cylindrical shaped object with a pull and twist handle. He wasn't too knowledgeable on the matter but Rei had instructed him about it once. Just pull out the handle, twist it clockwise, and push it back in.
Preparing for the final moments, Shinji let go with his Evangelion's right hand of the tentacles piercing its stomach, and he slowly allowed himself to be consumed in agony as he pulled the handle, twisted it, and waited, screaming in pain, for the right moment to blast the disfigured entity back to whatever hell it came from, and him along with it.
"There's so much I never did.." He whispered whilst breathing heavily in between faint, misery driven sobs.
In the daze of the aching, a square video feed pinged in his entry plug's interface, it was Asuka; she gasped almost immediately at the sight, his sight, her eyes becoming red and unfocused. He saw his reflection and had a similar reaction. His veins bulging almost all over his body as small lumps had formed in the zones of insertion. However, his initial shock and despair was immediately hidden behind a smile to prevent the lively ginger he'd come to care for, no, love, from worrying more.
"Shinji.." She said lowly as if to prevent a high pitch scream from forcing itself out and the moisture in her eyes to pour out.
"A..Asuka…" he said breathlessly at the girl in red.
"You wouldn't break a promise would you?" She whispered squeakily as the first strands of tears escaped.
"No.. Not to you.." he replied with another smile as he tried effortlessly to secrete the trashing pain he felt.
"Then.." she stopped as the restrained tears became unbearable "please don't.." she said hurtfully as she wiped her tears and held her womb.
"I do this for… Arghh!" he gasped and turned in his seat as he suddenly felt something burrowing inside his chest and noticed more of the red fluid escaping out of his mouth.
"Shinji!" Asuka shrieked in horror as more lumps formed across his body and a steady supply of blood managed to flow through his gritting teeth.
"Oh god.." She whimpered and let her streams of tears run astray "what is it doing to you?" she finished asking as she continued watching in dread the boy's transformation.
"Hey.." he managed after his heaving slowed down "I… I never told you.." He grimaced and sat up in his chair.
"No! Don't you dare say it!" she screamed in anger and shook her head in denial "don't talk like you're not coming back to me! You.. you'll tell me.." she began to say before her calmness shattered and she burst into tears and sobs.
"I.. I was scared Asuka.." he spoke softly as the feeling of cold sweat escaping his neck distressed him.
"It's ok Shinji, I'm scared too" she managed through the tears.
"But I'm.. I'm more scared of losing you" he quickly added as he felt his eyes betray him and let the built up dampness in them join the LCL in the plug with him "and so.. Even if I have to d-die" he stuttered as he figured this was going to be the last time he'd set eyes upon the beautiful auburn haired goddess that had claimed his heart so long ago.
"Sto-Stop it Shinji! Don't go! I-I-I can't lose you too, please not you too!" she wailed now, pressing herself forward on her controls trying to reach his Evangelion which barely stood upright a few kilometers over the next hill.
"Asuka.. Don't come here.. I don't want you to see this" he replied heartedly and shunned the tearing pain across his body.
"I'm not sitting back and letting you die! You're my idiot remember?" She asked through the sobs and pressed on faster when suddenly, in the flash of a second, five U.N. jets that were kilometers north-east of her fired their pave load and swiftly turned back. The aftermath was a giant dome of fire and smoke covering the surface in which unit-01 had valiantly retained the angel.
At the view, Asuka suddenly felt her body go limp and her Evangelion promptly afterwards. Falling idle into a forest as she stared blank eyed at the distance where the flame cupola began its dissipation, she felt it inside her aching chest. He was gone.
MEANWHILE
Hyuga trembled in his seat, and so did the other bridge techs. They'd just killed a human, a kid. They'd sealed an adolescent to his demise for the survival of the human race, and no one had opposed it, no one in the room at least, because they'd all known that deep inside; they were afraid of death and wanted to live, whatever the cost.
"Arrange the recovery team to continue with the plausible extraction, our work here is done" Akagi finally ordered as the silence in the command center had grown stale and somewhat unbearable.
"Yes mam" Hyuga and his two other counterparts said instinctively and began their labors, all knowing that a piece of their humanity had died with Unit-01's pilot, and that because of it; humanity had a chance of endurance against the nightmare that was the Angels.
END: PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
It was the same every night; Shinji had been woken up because of her constant trudging and faint, if somewhat inaudible, groans the whole week. It was quite depressing watching someone like Asuka, the unbroken and exotic foreigner, call and tug for her mother during her nightmares. He usually rallied to turning the volume on his SDAT recorder up, however; this time it was different. The feeling of apathy had somewhat drained and it seemed that Asuka's nightmares had gotten worse and worse, or so he imagined since her restlessness had increased more than the first night. This had made her mood somewhat frantic, more than usual that is.
Not being able to stand it any longer, Shinji stood up and walked over to her room's door after exiting his own quarters. With very carefully placed steps into the carpeted floor, as if to prevent any sudden noise to wake the slumbering ginger, the faintness of the groans turned potent. Feeling nervous as he reached the end of the hallway, he brought his hand up and lightly knocked before calling for her.
"Asuka?" he barely inquired above a whisper.
There was no answer, nevertheless; Shinji could still hear the soft groans and the noise made by her as she slowly turned and moved around her mat. It took him around five minutes, and a lot of Asuka's soft wails, for the boy to finally build up enough courage to slide the door open and enter the room.
Upon entering the room Shinji noted that it was messy; no surprise there. He wondered how a girl like Asuka could live like this, like a slob that is, and in retrospect, in a similar fashion to Misato. Perhaps the two were more alike than they considered each other to be, Shinji considered, but immediately retracted the thought out of fear upon hearing Asuka groan once more in her sleep.
As Shinji walked over to the light skinned, Auburn haired girl's bed he began to notice just how different she looked when she was sleeping, it was strange; one might even say she looked beautiful. This of course wasn't the first time he'd seen her sleeping, but it was the first time he'd done so out of his own merit. A shy blush formed on his cheeks as he realized what he'd just thought, however; he quickly dispelled the thoughts after another groan and headed over to her mat's end.
Still staring intently, he proposed on walking over to her head rest before, in a sudden and unexpected twist of fate, he felt a stinging pain on his right foot. It appeared that he had stepped on what seemed to be the bottom of an earring and involuntarily yelped while letting off a shriek in the process.
As Shinji continued his, more quiet now, yelping and cursing of the blasted jewelry; the slumbering ginger awoke to see the poor boy grabbing on his foot with both hands while balancing himself trying not to fall. Needless to say, he hadn't noticed she had been woken by the ruckus.
"What are you doing in my room pervert!?" roared the now fully stirred Asuka as she stood up and tightened her fists.
"I.. I'm sorr…." Shinji began instantly after a rapid jump scare but trailed off and let his mouth open agape as he reviewed what Asuka was wearing.
Astounded would be the word, that or just suddenly struck by a wave of hormones. Sure he'd seen Asuka in her swimming gear and plug suit before, both of which detailed her above decent figure of an hourglass perfectly, and he'd even been fortunate enough to see her wear some rather intriguing, if not vulgar, attires previously, nonetheless; seeing her in her last layer of clothing before being completely nude, her undergarments, made all sorts of blood rise to his head. He almost let out a drop of drool as he continued scoping the shape and features of her semi exposed body. He marveled at her stunning physique, it was no wonder she got asked out so much. The petite auburn haired girl before him had on a pair white panties with flowers spread through its design, and a borderline color he couldn't quite distinguish in the night light. Apart from that, she wore a small v shaped blouse that revealed the majority of her inner breasts, which stood out firm through the fabric of the cloth. His face turned red at the sight but thankfully, the room being poorly lit up, didn't make it so obvious to the other occupant.
Asuka, not oblivious to the wandering eyes and puddle of drool across from her, quickly glanced down at her attire. Taking note of how exposed she was, especially at the forefront of her womanhood, and noticing the boy's different from usual reaction as he continued staring; she suddenly felt too exposed, and shielded her attributes away from the prying eyes with her arms. Asuka then managed her gaze back up at the boy again, and around that time, Shinji just about realized he had been staring too long.
'Uh-oh' he thought to himself as he prepared himself physically, by beginning to flinch, and mentally for the incoming reprisal.
"A.. Asuka, I…I… I didn't mean to-" he was unfortunately cut off from finishing his sentence as the, ever so feisty, girl in front of him pulled back her arm and swung a punch to intercept his left eye.
"Oww! Why'd you hit me!?" he remarked as he grabbed the stricken area tightly and grimaced the pain.
"You're not the victim here Ikari! This serves you right for being such a pervert!" she hoarse at him trying to cover herself up with the blanket atop her mat.
"Now explain yourself third! What the hell where you doing in my room and staring at me for!" she demanded an answer as her eyes hooked on him in a manner that made it seem as if she was threatening his very existence.
"I.. I… em…" he babbled nervously as he knew too well the volatile nature of the striking girl in front of him.
"You what?!" she intervened impulsively.
"I-I-I thought you were having a nightmare again and I just thought that-" she cut him off again before he could even manage the rest of his alibi.
"That you could what!? Take advantage of me!?" she asked heatedly and glared at him, Shinji, who felt an erratic chill run up his spine as it seemed like this was to be his passing.
Gulping hard and taking a quick glance at the other end of the room, Shinji managed to move there with haste, all the while he made sure not to step on the same earing twice.
The pompous red head, having been looking forward to the lashing at hand, saw this and exclaimed "You're such a coward! You always run away!"
"Asuka wait!" he let out frantically "I'm being honest! I just came to check on you, you were calling for your mom again!" he quickly added and rued it instantly as the girl at hand clenched both fists tightly.
'Ohh God she's going to kill me!' he grimaced internally and covered his face behind his arms while waiting for the coming onslaught. Fortunately form him such strike never came, and he was surprised when it didn't. Curious to see what stride of luck had suddenly spared his life, he looked up and saw the belligerent foreigner stare at him deeply, in what appeared to be a state of, confusion?
'What the.. Again?' Asuka processed deep inside and also wondered of the possibility that the broken house maid was telling the truth.
'Did I really? I mean I do have nightmares about that but.. I don't remember crying about it or anything' She though as her gaze never left the boy's fearful eyes.
'Then again, he is a wimp. He'd probably say anything to not get hit' she countered her previous assessment and managed to convince herself otherwise. Sadly, the mention of her mother was enough to make her remember her traumas, why'd she become a pilot in the first place, ancient repressed memories and feelings; it wasn't long before she felt her eyes become soggy and irritated.
Meanwhile, Shinji stood idly and watched in awe. The fact that Asuka's eyes glistened under the meagre light was enough to make him realize she was on the verge, and he immediately considered himself an idiot. However, to his defense; how was he to know that her mother was a touchy subject? It's not as if they spoke about themselves and past to each other.
He broke the dreaded silence that had extended for far too long, at least for him that is, and began his routinely apology. "Asuka I'm, I'm so-" she slapped him across the face mid-sentence, much to his relief as he'd rather get some sort of response than be given the silent treatment.
"Leave idiot shinji. Just…" she sighed "leave" she retook and said very quietly.
"I'm sorry Asuka. I didn't mean to bring that up, I was just worried about you" he told her delicately while trying to grab ahold of her shoulder. This a failed attempt as an excruciating amount of pain coming from his gut compelled him to fall flat on his knees and gasp.
'Damn she punches hard' the boy thought to himself as he grabbed hold of his stomach and stared at the foreigner's petite feet.
"Liar" Asuka responded before she hurriedly exited the room and left him there, out of wind, clenching his gut, regretting he'd ever entered the room in the first place. She made way to the bathroom and Shinji, having had enough physical sufferings for the day, made sure to clear out of her room before she came back. As he made his way back into his room, call it urge, but he was incessant to stop by the bathroom to ask "Asuka are you ok?" however, there was no response. He understood her silence; she didn't want to talk to him at the moment, so he continued on his way to his room.
It was mildly warm in Tokyo-3. Shinji had opened his window earlier that night to let the fresh breeze dive in the room and cool the air around him, however; the efforts were futile against the ever present heat. He now began by removing his shirt and trying to accommodate himself on the mat, spinning and turning to find the right spot to slumber. Then he recurred to remove his shorts, deciding that he might as well sleep in boxers. At some point thought, he felt the gentle breeze on his nether regions, cool to the touch and very refreshing. Having liked the experience, he proceeded to remove his boxers and sleep commando, it's not like anyone ever entered his room anyways.
As he drifted to sleep, Shinji's mind kept replaying the events over and over. He wondered the why to the sudden change on the explosive German beauty, the why to her calling him a liar if he'd spoken with the truth, but alas; after a long while his thoughts began to float away as his eyes closed and he slumbered off into the night.
MEANWHILE
Asuka lay slumped against the tiled wall of the bathroom. Her emotions had gotten the best of her and that shouldn't have happened. She'd convinced herself that she was over this, that she'd finally gotten through the twisted and warped past she'd been dealt; she was wrong. Even now she was as helpless as ever, a little girl lost and confused in the darkness and cruelness of the world, with no one to understand her, no one to console her, driven forward by the past anguish she had turned a blind eye to. Perhaps that might've been the reason for the words to keep replaying in her mind. She was sure the shrimp had stated that he cared for her, that he worried for her, but, why? Didn't she cause him enough unpleasantness for him to hate her, and yet, he was of the few constants of her life right now.
Asuka shrugged and grabbed hold of her temple. Overthinking this was going to be her end, but there was something that frightened her; a possibility.
'What if he was lying? It would be more logical to assume that, right?' she asked herself as she rubbed her temple harder, a slight migraine forming there.
'I mean…. Of all people, why would he care about the one person that treats him like crap? He'd say anything..' She pondered and concluded before letting her hand fall down to her lap and feeling her eyes water again.
"I hate this feeling" Asuka whispered as she got up, dried her unsheathed tears with a towel, and exited the bathroom.
She couldn't help but feel anger at the boy's intervention. After all, if he hadn't mediated she wouldn't be feeling so.. lonely?
'Damn him, damn him for screwing with me' she though distastefully and began workings on her resulting vendetta as she stood in the hallway, idly looking at his room for a few seconds, before she finally decided to go back to her bed. She made her way through her piled floor and subsequently chaotic room, and right before the foot of her mat; she accidentally stepped on what looked like the bottom of an earring. Asuka yelped in agony and started jumping on one foot trying to rub the other one with both hands, almost losing balance in the process and falling.
'So this is why that idiot was making all that fuzz. Still, he had no right to be in my room in the first place. That idiot!' she thought as she finally felt the stinging pain die down and she lay on her mat.
As Asuka dozed off her mind was on one thing, and one thing only; the little twerp that had infiltrated her room, Ikari Shinji.
THE NEXT MORNING
Shinji's eyes peered open at the sound of things being tossed around somewhere in the apartment. He considered this to be another poor attempt from his guardian and Captain, Misato, as she fixed herself something to eat before heading off to work. Taking one long yawn and then turning to stare at the clock, he noted it was still pretty early in the morning and truth be told, he was pretty beat. He figured he'd manage another light snooze before having to wake up and feed Asuka and himself; so he laid his head back on the mat, thinking about the previous night and in a matter of seconds, fell under again.
It was all a haze to him. There were blurs of settings, and splotches of people talking, maybe crying. The thing that stood out from the whole experience was seeing Rei and Asuka cradled in the locker rooms. Rei presented a shaken look and silently stared off at the ground, meanwhile; Asuka barely managed to hold herself together as another locker received its duly judgement in the form of her fist. She embraced her womb tenderly, and agonized by tears in secrecy as to not let the other dweller see her this way.
Asuka finally fell on her knees and let her head fall forward onto one of the lockers' doors. She sniffled and whispered defeated "Why? You Idiot.. How could you leave me behind?" all this as more and more droplets tears of fell onto the floor.
Soon though, the door to the locker room slid open and the pilots were joined by a third entity. As cold and menacing as ever, Ritsuko neared Asuka and placed a hand on her shoulder. This a useless attempt at sympathy as her hand was soon pushed away. Ritsuko sighed, this was what she'd planned after all. Still, she wasn't as heartless as the commander, she felt for this girl.
"I won't apologize Asuka" Ritsuko began and sat on the stool besides her. "Shinji will go down in history as a hero, his sacrifi-" Ritsuko stopped as Asuka's backhand met her cheek and almost made her tumble over.
The woman in her late 20's suddenly stared in stark horror as Asuka pulled out a small knife. Akagi frightened, knowing her for a few months she was certain Asuka wouldn't… would she?
"You-Yo-You need to calm down Asuka" Ritsuko retook and watched as her words made the suddenly dark and obscure ginger to grin, a grin so maleficent a chill ran up her spine.
"So you are afraid" Asuka replied and then dropped the knife. "Remember that feeling, that's what he felt when you murdered him" Asuka said wincingly and lowered her head to prevent the blonde from seeing her tears run down her cheek.
Ritsuko simply stared at Asuka, confused and relieved. She stood up from her bench and began to say something, however; around this time Shinji started hearing "Wake up! Get up moron!" and just like that his surreal dream had vanished as his consciousness found its way back into the real world. As he opened his eyes, Shinji was greeted by the lovely, if not kind, words of his housemate and coworker Asuka.
"Ughh! You idiot!" Asuka spat out angrily as she shook him violently and then proceeded to flick him across the forehead.
She stood towering over him, watching as the pain woke him up confused and in disarray. The poor soul managed to say "Hey! What's the big id-" before receiving a defining kick to the stomach.
"Oww!" he cried out loud as the force of the kick was enough to fully wake him and render him in pain.
'I suppose this is what I get for trying to be nice…' thought the boy mutely.
"Oh, waoh. Thanks for the wake up Asuka…" Shinji hissed sarcastically as he got up from his mat to confront the red head, whose cheeks turned visibly red as she glanced down at the boy's 'liberating' appearance.
Asuka's mouth lay slightly opened as her eyes quickly darted from the boy's eyes to his rather personal area. Her fists tightened as well. This of course did not go unseen by Shinji, who plainly took his time amidst the silence and stretched his arms behind his neck. That is until he felt a rather pleasant draft graze his manhood.
'Deep down, I always knew Asuka would kill me' he mourned internally as he glanced down to confirm his lack of clothing, and then upwards to meet the eyes of the raging girl in front of him.
Not knowing what to say, Shinji gave her a weak smile before realizing almost too late; she'd lunged her arm back. Almost as if on cue to the realization, he suddenly felt the momentum of the fist drive him back and make him crash atop the mat, where he instinctively held the contacted area, his jaw, and groaned.
At first, overpassing the pain, was a sense of disbelief she'd actually hit him for something that could've been considered her fault but after that; a sense of embarrassment washed over Shinji. What would he tell the guys? That a girl gave him a bruising? Definitely not. The endless jokes and harassment would be unbearable, but he'd cross that bridge once he got there.
"You actually hit me!" he scuffled in pain atop the mat as he reached for the nearby blanket to cover himself.
"What the hell's the matter with you?!" She hollered whilst trying to keep her eyes on par with his as seeing his naked form had caused some sort thrill that'd been absent within her for a while.
"Me?! What about you!? Why are you in my room!?" he intrigued accusingly at the offended woman in question who continued staring at him with a vicious demeanor.
Asuka blushed again, her situation having quickly been morphed to being on the defensive, something that rarely happened in these encounters with Shinji, and; she stood struck in embarrassment for not remembering why she'd come into his room in the first place.
"I.. Do-Don't get the wrong idea third!" she began protectively "I-I just wanted breakfast!" she clarified loudly. This time not being able to meet his eyes as he might've noticed her pinkish cheeks.
"And I guess knocking is too hard.." he murmured angrily.
"Oh. Really?! I didn't see you knocking when you came into my room to watch me sleep! You little creep!" she exclaimed at him and drew her tightened fist up, act that made the boy flinch considerably.
"Bu-Bu-But I did knock!" he defended and slightly stepped back from her "it-it's not like I wanted to wake up to hear you call for your mother!" he added, knowing he'd probably said his last words on this god forsaken earth as he'd painfully learned the day before; Asuka's mother was a rather sensitive subject.
'Oh god… Please don't let this hurt too much' he silently thought as he closed his eyes and waited for his appointed judgement.
The speed at which the hand smacked him was quite incredible, had it not been cause of excruciating pain, he probably would've praised her back handing abilities. However this was not the case, for his cheek immediately burned and stung in manners he'd yet to find a way to describe.
Silence engulfed them both. Asuka kept her gaze driven downwards not allowing him to look at her face, meanwhile; Shinji held his rather sore cheek and continued to observe the girl. More silence.
Shinji couldn't endure this much longer, it would surely drive him insane. For all he knew she still mad, possibly sad. And the silence? What was he to do now? He sighed. It made him wonder if now would be a good time to apologize, of course there was always the possibility that she'd lash at him again for apologizing.
"So.. Breakfast huh?" he managed shakily after a hard swallow.
"I… I guess I'll go and make you something to eat" he said dejectedly after not receiving any sort of answer from the fear imbuing girl in front of him, and began his walk towards the kitchen after picking up some clothes to change into.
"You do that" she replied blankly as he brushed past her.
Shinji turned to look at her for a split second as she replied him; the look of confusion on her was saddening.
'And she's the best one of us…' Shinji though grimly as he entered the bathroom and covered his indecency. Briefly after he headed to the kitchen to begin the foreigner's morning dish, still wondering about what drove Asuka to become so violent whenever he mentioned her mother, but this was pointless in his opinion. The only way he'd ever know was if Asuka herself told him, assuming nobody else knew, and that was pretty far from reality.
After a while Asuka came to the table and sat by, waiting silently for the, rather frail looking, boy to serve the dishes as was the norm. He, in the midst of his preparation of exquisite cuisine, hadn't noticed the red headed girl that laid eyes upon him. The truth was that Asuka had always loved Shinji's food. This despite of often telling him it was average if not mediocre. It always amazed her how Shinji lost himself when he was cooking; he was an entirely different person. It might even be fitting to say that it was almost entertaining to watch him cook. Her cheeks turned rose for a moment. Had she really just thought that?
Shinji was in the process of culminating his gourmet when a series of taps caused him to turn fearfully to the table behind him. There she was sitting beside the table with her fingers locked on to each other as she stared him down.
"Hey" he greeted nervously and smiled awkwardly to the feisty German who didn't give any indication she was going to respond.
"Well breakfast is almost done. Say, how much sugar do you want?" he asked as he brought about her cup of coffee.
Asuka remained silent for a few seconds, the only communication between her and the point-dexter in front being their eyes locking. She really wanted to talk about last night, call it closure if anything; there things she needed to clarify.
"Why?" Asuka asked finally daring to break the silence.
"Why(?)" Shinji repeated. "Why what?" He now inquired as he continued setting everything on the dining table as fast as possible, a preemptive measure in case of a surprise attack from the girl.
"Why did you really come into my room last night? Be honest" she said as she stared deep into his eyes.
"Oh" Shinji sighed. "I… I told you why" He responded and gave her a weak grin; she continued staring him down however.
'Guess she wants me to say it again.." he frowned mentally.
"I was worried about you" Shinji began and temporarily stopped serving breakfast. "You've been rather restless lately, even if you yourself can't recall" he continued tensely, not wanting to say the wrong thing and end up being chewed out. "So yesterday I knocked on your door, but you didn't answer. I waited outside some time, scared to even think about entering your room but.." he trailed off and chose his next words carefully. "I don't know, I just thought that maybe I could help you. So I went inside and stepped on something pointy and well.. You woke up and this" he finished as he pointed at his bruised cheeks and eyes, laughing a little to demonstrate that no resentment was harbored.
Asuka gave him a sincere smile, a pleasant sight if he might add, before chuckling a little too. "You're such an idiot" she said smiling cheekily.
"If you say so" he replied happily that this was all behind them now. "But wait… Did you really have to hit me this morning? I mean, that was your fault! Wasn't it?" he asked woefully as he caressed his semi swollen jaw.
"What are you stupid!? Who sleeps naked in a shared house!?" she asked incredulously at the idiocy of the inquiries. "I bet you wanted that to happen" she stated, to his shock. "My my Shinji, when did we get so bold?" said the mischievously looking red head in front of him giving him a smirk.
Shinji suddenly felt the temperature turn up a notch and his face flush. "I-I..Are you serious? Haven't you ever heard of knocking!?" he asked trying to overcome his sudden embarrassment.
"Fine, fine. Geez. It's not like I wanted to see you naked" she retorted and immediately felt heat rise to her cheeks. Asuka cursed herself internally on saying something so rash and proceeded to change the subject. "Just-just don't come into my room again idiot" she hissed at him.
The rest of breakfast was a continuation of their standard arguing, with some more peculiar moments in which both teens would suddenly feel their faces heat up entirely. Once they were done eating they prepped themselves up and left the apartment, unfortunately for them both; they were both running late due to the prolongement of breakfast.
Asuka grabbed onto Shinji's hand and rallied through the city in a blur. Shinji barely keeping up with the athletic nature of the girl and feeling himself fall prey to his lack of cardio.
"Asuka… Wa… Wait!... Plea.. Please! I… I can't" he managed as he fell on his knees and began taking deep breaths.
"Come on Shinji! We are almost there!" she yelled at the exhausted boy who was just now catching his breath.
"Just.. Go.. I'll catch up… Later" he said through inhalations, finally being able to stabilize his breathing.
"Yeah, and then have to hear Misato's rant for leaving you behind? I'll pass thank you… Now quit being such a baby and let's GO!" she replied at high decibels as she took Shinji by the arm and began to run. Shinji frowned but nodded and followed suit nonetheless.
When they finally made it to school, Shinji a heaving mess while Asuka proudly stood unaffected, the first hour bell had already rang. Misato was going to kill them, and possibly even worse; Hikari was going to scold them both.
"This is all your fault idiot!" Asuka yelled whilst still grasping onto his hand as she ran towards the staircase.
"I-I told you to leave me! I can't run as fast as you!" the boy protested as they reached their homeroom's floor and ran towards it.
They hurriedly entered their classroom and greeted the professor who in turn, greeted them with a snide remark. "Good for you to graze us with your presence and " he said sarcastically as he pointed towards their seats and returned to writing something on the chalkboard.
Meanwhile in the back of the class room, a boy smirked and stood up to welcome his classmates. "Hey look!" the tall, black haired boy began as he pointed towards the new entries to the classroom. "The married couple's finally here! I do wonder though… What were you two doing that Shinji's so flustered?!" asked Touji innocently.
Asuka and Shinji exchanged a quick glance before turning to reddish colors across their faces. "I-We-What!? With him(her)?! Never!" they both spat out in unison trying to clear out the false propaganda being launched against them.
"We were just running!" explained Shinji still pink at the remark.
"Huh. Fancy word for se-" began Touji mischievously until Shinji butted in.
"Shu-Shut up Touji!" yelled Shinji visibly irritated with the teasing.
"Listen you worthless waste of resources…" Asuka growled angrily. "Unless you want Hikari to go out with a toothless idiot, I suggest you shut it!" Asuka yelled, an evil grin forming on her face as she did so.
"Asuka!" Hikari yelled as she flushed violently.
Touji stared wide eyed at the class representative and reddened. "I-I don't know what you're talking about demon!" He finally yelled defensively.
By this time however, the professor, who had momentarily paused his lecture to see what the whole argument was about, had about enough. True, he was young once, in a different epoch were life seemed much simpler than it was today, and; he knew very well the smell of romance in the air.
'Ahhh' the professor thought humoredly. 'How to forget the first puppy love' he continued his reminisce. 'Oh Rosalia, I miss you so…' he thought solemnly and immediately snapped back to the matter at hand. "Everyone be quiet and pay attention!" he yelled as loud as he could muster before returning to go over his lecture on the second impact.
All students immediately tensed up and sat by in silence as the professor went about his ramblings, some noticing his rather moody tone now but none daring to speak out of fear of a prominent lash back.
Class continued on as slow as was ever expected from this professor, the whole time though; Shinji continued to marvel at how stunning Asuka looked today. The sun made her silky smooth skin tinkle, and her bright, natural, auburn colored hair was magnificent, swaying lightly as she looked around for things to distract herself with. Then there were her eyes, he couldn't see them right now, but regardless; he knew plenty well of how they sized up and looked. Maybe it was the color, he liked her lighter that his, yet still dark, blue eyes. He reddened up for who knows what consecutive time that day, just thinking about her like this, it was different for him. He would've continued this trend of thoughts had it not been for the freckled boy sitting to his right.
"What's wrong Shin-man? Lost in a daydream about Asuka?" Kensuke asked aloud and chuckled at the growing blush forming on Shinji.
"It's nothing like that!" He said defensively as he looked around and noticed everyone's attention was on him, even Asuka's, who Shinji dared to meet head on with a stare only to grow intimidated, blush, and then turn to head another direction.
Kensuke, finding his behavior to be quite peculiar, said "Relax Shin-man, I'm just kidding" and chuckled again before patting him on the back. Shinji only guessed what the rest of the day would be like.
True to his usual self, Kensuke had noted something particularly different about the boy sitting to his left, or rather various things. It could be seen Shinji had his left eye a little swollen, the color of his skin turning a shade darker as it neared what Kensuke guessed to be the impact area. This of course rather than be taken seriously, was immediately used to as cannon fodder to get a few laughs between him and Touji as Shinji tensed at the mention of the bruise.
It took its time but class had finally gone by and as far as Shinji was concerned, it had been close to an eternity in this prison. As the bell for lunch break rang, Touji and Kensuke joined their third party member to inquire of his favored ingest zone for the day. Something to which Shinji answered "I might eat alone today guys. I… I just have some things on my mind".
"Woahh Shinji. What's wrong man? Is your wife beating you again?" Touji asked and exchanged a laugh with Kensuke.
"Shut up Touji!" Shinji exclaimed.
"Well then tell us what's up" replied Kensuke to the annoyed looking boy.
Shinji soon realized they wouldn't take no for an answer, peacefully that is, and decided to head over to the primary building's roof with his friends following closely behind. He alibied to them the fact that he just felt a little bit under the weather and he probably just needed some rest; they didn't buy it though.
Touji and Kensuke looked at each other in confusion as they reached the roof but dropped the subject, figuring he would tell them about whatever was bothering when he was ready. They spent lunch sticking to the norm they abided by, that is; talking about the opposite sex, grades and of course, Misato.
When the bell indicating the end of break finally rang, the young trio of friends recollected their belongings from the roof and headed to the locker rooms to change for the physical ed. class.
Shinji changed into the school's usual track shorts and jersey, as did every other male student in class 2-A, and as he headed out to the track field; he glanced up at the pool. It seemed that the girls were to be training freestyle today. From his point of view he really couldn't see much, just the girls that lay against the fence or the ones on the boards that were prepping up to dive, like Asuka. She was bent over and reaching for the diving board's edge as she waited patiently for the signal to launch herself. In a swift instant, as the coach's whistle blew, she dove in and he lost sight of her. It wouldn't have surprised Shinji if she'd been the first one to finish; Asuka was a sight to behold in sports, such grace, such elegance, such willpower. She really made athletic abilities seem to be something of the average, which as Shinji often demonstrated; they were not. Now that he thought about it, Asuka had always excelled in everything he'd seen her participate in.
'Except being nice' the boy thought and chuckled to himself.
Shinji's thoughts immediately went blank as he caught sight of Asuka again; she got out completely drenched and stood with her back against the fence. To her ignorance, she did not know that along with Shinji, every other male student kept a keen eye on her from a distance.
Shinji was amazed. How could it be that every time he looked at her she was more beautiful? To look at her like this was a first for him; to think about her like this was strange.
Asuka turned to look around and saw a multitude of male students stare at her, but that didn't matter to her, after all; she'd already gotten used to this kind of attention. The observation that caused her intrigue was that of her house-mate, Shinji Ikari, who kept a fixed gaze on her. For reasons she could not fathom, for some time now; she was thoroughly enjoying him beholding her. She blushed a tad but thankfully, nobody noticed. A few seconds of a deep eye connection passed before he, along with the other drooling boys, were reprimanded and made to run laps.
Hikari, having just finished her rally, headed over to her vibrant friend's side and sat. She glanced over where Asuka continued gazing and giggled, it was obvious she was looking at Shinji.
"Say Asuka…" Hikari began. "You wouldn't happen to be thinking about Shinji? Would you?" Hikari finished and chuckled at her friend's bemusement.
"What?!" Asuka immediately snapped her head towards Hikari with fire in her pupils, something that made Hikari feel chills across her body. "Why would I be thinking about that idiot?!" Asuka replied defensively, although to most, it would have seemed aggressively as she was now towering over a trembling Hikari.
"I-I'm just saying!" Hikari replied nervously as she tried to calm her friend down.
"Yeah right, as if I would ever think about a dweeb like that" as she said this though, a thought crossed her mind. It was how she'd felt when he'd looked at her. She blushed a little again.
"Asuka you can talk to me about anything. Ok?" Hikari said as she nudged an elbow to her friend's calf.
"Yeah yeah…" Asuka waved it off and sat back down. "So… You and Touji?" She asked as a familiar evil grin formed on her face.
"Wha-I don't kno- Nothing is going on!" Hikari spat out and reddened.
"I guess it's just my imagination that you look at him constantly. I mean of al-" Asuka found her rant to be cut off by a rose cheeked Hikari.
"You're one to talk! You're always looking at Shinji too!" Hikari yelled and then covered her mouth quickly as she realized what she'd just said out loud.
Asuka quickly turned to look around to see if anybody had heard the rather exposing declarations from her friend. No one dared to meet her eye; good. Turning back with a scowl towards Hikari, Asuka replied "Ughh! I obviously don't! And while you're at it, how about you start minding your business Hikari!".
"Sorry… I didn't mean to say that aloud" Hikari apologized looked at her foreign friend.
Asuka sighed and responded "It's ok. Sorry for bugging you with the retar-" before being stopped again by Hikari.
"Hey!" Hikari beckoned as she gave her a look.
As time went by, both friends enjoyed a pleasant talk before having to back in the pool to do the next rally. Asuka, being known for her superior athletic skills, was already speeding through the different sets for each rally. Having a lot on her mind, mostly a nuisance from last night, she was motivated to push herself further than before, something she'd always try to do. After she finished first, exhausted but utterly satisfied with the gap between her and the rest of the girls; she headed over to the locker rooms as her instructor gave her leave.
When Asuka got to the locker rooms, she was greeted by solitude, which was perfect for how strange she'd been feeling the whole day. She sat down near a row of lockers and laid her head back as she began to question what was happening to her. It saddened her that she was starting to feel things for Shinji, things she couldn't explain. She recalled the various times she'd hit him or insulted him, and she wasn't immensely proud of herself. He was always so nice to her; he even had the modesty to check up on her when she had nightmares. Perhaps that's what made it all the more confusing.
'Idiot Shinji…' Asuka thought frustratingly as she rubbed her temple.
Asuka had known for a while that he was quite fond, if not just plainly attracted to her, but she'd shrugged it off as though it was more of a superficial thing than anything else. For a while that was the only reason she teased him. Then something strange happened to her; she started enjoying it. However, Asuka knew that whatever scenarios Shinji was probably imagining would probably end up with them on the backlash end of the ordeal, and that; she was not willing to go through.
Asuka dispelled any shadowed feelings she felt she owed him and thought it the best path to go. It was in a way the more logical approach to future regret and possible resentment between them both, but then again; it could also be her cutting of the head of something that was meant to be beautiful.
"No!" she yelled and whimpered at her confusion. "It's better like this" She whispered to herself and began to wallow silently as to not let anyone hear her.
MEANWHILE
As most of the boys ran their final laps, faces of strain and torment could already be seen across them. The instructor had penalized them with five more extra laps on the four hundred meter track due to their easily distracted nature.
Shinji and Kensuke were trying to keep up with Touji as they neared the red finish line, both teenagers feeling like they were about to faint from exhaustion. To their relief they soon crossed the thin line that declared them free from any more arduous physical activity for the day, and with a nod and a congratulatory applaud from the coach to Shinji on not being last; they headed off to the bleachers to rest.
Kensuke sat down besides Shinji and laughed happily at his friend's worn out face. "Geez Shinji, you really ought to be more fit…" exchanged Kensuke while patting him on the back.
"I…I'll keep that in mind" replied a heaving Shinji.
"Well it looks like the girls are still out there swimming" Touji implied with a grin as he looked over to the fenced pool.
"Count me out" Shinji began. "It's been a long day and I'm pretty tired" he finished and sighed.
"Oh yeah? Asuka keep you up all night?" teased Touji with a grin.
"You don't know the half of it" Shinji said calmly as he didn't fully grasp the bait he'd just given them.
Kensuke and Touji looked at each other for a second, mouths both wide open at the sheer coolness and boldness of the Shinji in front of them.
"Shinji... You-You sly dog!" Touji blasted eagerly as he gave his friend a few pats. "Who'da' thought you'd manage?!" his friend happily mocked.
"You gotta' tell us everything man!" Kensuke pleaded as he grabbed ahold of Shinji's shirt.
"I bet she's a real devil isn't she?" Touji asked mischievously and simulated a whip in his hand.
"What?!" hollered Shinji as he now turned bright red. "Guys it-it was nothing like that!" Shinji exclaimed and rubbed the back of his head. "She's just too restless sometimes, that's all" he turned to his friends as replied honestly. "Anyways I'm off guys" he finished and got up to walk off towards the locker rooms.
Kensuke and Touji were suddenly caught in a deep sense of confusion. What the hell had just happened?
All the while, Shinji made his way to the locker rooms and upon reaching them; his perceptive hearing managed to pick up on soft groans and wails echoing through the halls. It was coming from the girl's locker room to be precise. He was hesitant on what to do, wondering if he should go get one of the girls to check this out but instead; he felt rather compelled to, and decided to wait.
He must've waited a few minutes before poking his head through the entrance and asking "Hey… are you ok?" As soon as the words had left his mouth it suddenly got really quiet; he worried.
"I'm coming in ok?" Shinji stated as he began to enter the locker rooms, and then he heard it.
"No don't come in! I'm fine!" the girl stated loudly, but he recognized that high pitched tone anywhere. It was Asuka.
Shinji immediately ran inside, not caring much if he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place, and caught sight of the unbroken Asuka, seemingly a strained mess lying in a corner.
"Asuka!" He rushed to her side and kneeled trying to grab ahold of her. "Asuka what's wrong? Tell me! Do you need me to carry you to the infirmary?" He speedily asked her his face displayed many layers of dreadful concern.
"I'm fine Idiot!" Asuka snapped and pushed his arms away. "Just drop the nice guy act and leave me alone! I don't want to see you!" she hoarse at him loudly and looked elsewhere to avoid his eyes.
"Asuka I-" Shinji had begun to reply to the lashing as he was cut off.
"Didn't you hear me?! Stop pretending you care about me!" she spat out bluntly. "I don't like you Shinji!" she shouted at him, knowing fully those words had probably hurt him, but; she had to cut him off before anything could ever happen, it was better this way.
Shinji's face had gone from showing distress and concern to gloomy; he quickly retook his standing posture and with a knot in his throat whispered "ok". Then, just as fast he left the slithering viper to her thoughts alone as he exited the locker rooms in spastic silence. Not even lifting his gaze from the ground the whole time. He of course, wondered why simple words had managed to woe him so, they were just words after all.
Shinji took a cold shower, changed his clothes and walked out the men's locker room to find a serious looking Asuka in front of him. They gazed at each momentarily, hers was the one to falter first as she quickly looked elsewhere.
"Are you going home?" she asked him, not daring to meet his eyes.
"Yes" he replied with ire and disgust and began to walk home, Asuka following closely behind.
They both walked home in silence, Shinji staring off at the ground the whole time and Asuka at anything but him. She couldn't stand seeing him like this, especially since she felt guilt swallow her up completely. When they got to the apartment each one went their separate ways and avoided any sort of eye contact. Shinji stood in the hallway and watched as she rushed to her room and barricaded herself there. He then proceeded to sit on the couch and fiddle with his thoughts. It seemed the only thing that had been on his mind today had been the venomous red head. It was strange. She gladly inflicted pain on him, yet when she wanted to; she'd show this side of her, a kind hearted side; one that he doubted many had ever seen. He'd only seen it once, it had been a while back on the balcony as they stared into the sunset, but; it the day had been long and tiring and he just wanted to rest now. Slowly falling back into the soft cushions, he closed his eyes and escaped the world.
SOMETIME LATER
The boy woke up from his pleasant rest to someone tapping him on this shoulder. He quickly shoved the hand away annoyingly and opened his eyes in frustration. It was Asuka, and she looked beautiful. She was all dressed up wearing a black dress that detailed her body perfectly. She'd also put on some make up, though to be honest she didn't need it, and had an aroma that was intoxicatingly pleasant to say the least.
Shinji smiled eagerly, feeling as if this was some sort of apology for how he'd been treated earlier that afternoon. "What's this all about?" he asked with a grin as he sat up on the chair and looked at her.
She couldn't look him in the eyes still, there were still somethings she needed to get over. Instead she shifter her gaze away from him and said "I'm going on a date with one of Hikari's friends". "Don't make me dinner ok?" she finished.
Shinji suddenly felt his pride had taken a hard hit, perhaps she intended for that. He too looked the other way and simply nodded and replied "fine".
Not gazing up at her, he quickly resumed his resting position and eventually heard the door shut behind him. He tried falling asleep again but it was fruitless, there was this burning sensation inside of him. He wanted to tear a hole on the wall, he was feeling.. Jealousy? No that couldn't be it, Asuka had been going on dates for a while now and he'd never been bothered by it. He sat up hesitantly and sighed. What was happening to him? Had he really begun to like her? It was pointless anyways; she didn't even see him as a friend, let alone anything more than that. It's not as if he cared or anything.. Did he?
Shinji rubbed the back of his neck. He wasn't just going to stay here and give her the benefit of his thoughts. He needed to calm down before he lost control of his urges and ended up destroying something in the apartment. Trashing her room seemed like a good idea at that very moment but instead; he opted to do something he hadn't done in a while.
He went to his room and uncased his cello. He marveled at it. It was the only thing he had left from his mother and while he wasn't an expert in playing; he certainly tried to do his mother's instrument justice and play to the best of his abilities. Contrary to what he had originally thought, the best thing his teacher had ever made him do was learn to play it. It was just so soothing playing melodies when they described the way you felt. Shinji quickly set up a chair near the balcony and sat down with his cello between his legs. In a matter of seconds a tune delightful to the ears began to flow from the cello as Shinji quickly moved his fingers over the stricken string and prepared for the next one. It was magical. He must've played for an hour before starting to feel his empty stomach start to growl and so; he stopped his fourth melody that night and placed everything in its respective place before heading to the kitchen. He swiftly prepared a delicious meal for Misato and himself. Knowing fully that Asuka enjoyed meat, he opted to cook just that. This was an attempt to show her what it was to want something and not being able to have it, call it revenge if you will. Before he could forget it; he also gave pen-pen his food and then silently sat down on the empty table to eat alone.
'I guess this isn't so bad..' he mused as he ate another piece of the roasted meat. 'I've always been alone… no reason to change now' He told himself mentally.
Despite saying that, he didn't believe a word of it. He hated being alone. It was the equivalent of not existing, not being recognized. He hated the fact that Asuka was with some guy he didn't know God knows where, doing God knows what. But most of all; he hated how she'd mocked him so senselessly about it. Did she have no compassion?
As Shinji finished eating and washed the dishes with some murmurs and complaints about her behavior, he realized he didn't want to sit here waiting for her to come back with a smirk plastered on her face, so; he hurriedly headed to his closet and changed into a more casual appearance, rather than the gritty looking school uniforms they were made to wear. All this before finally heading out the front door and leaving the echo of a door slamming hard against its frame behind him.
END: CHAPTER 1
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Well I haven't posted any new chapters lately, it's been like 3 months and I apologize. I know many author's here in fanfic somehow manage to study and post but I myself can't. I'm either completely submerged in studies or I'm 100% into writing or whatever else I do.
I had been meaning to clean up the mess I'd written since post-posting this chapter I soon realized many of its flaws. I'm proud to say that I have finally found my writing style, for those who've read all these chapters I'm sure you've seen the progress.
Anyways, nothing much has changed except as to how exactly Shinji dies and some of the encounters have more detail and are, if I do say so myself, an improvement to how they were written before.
For any new readers, please leave your constructive criticism in the review box down below, I appreciate it. Some praise would be welcome too. I kid, I kid. Good day to all of you, I hope the next update won't take as long.
Date of update - April 28, 2015