Salty Revenge
Asuka was livid.
Today, Shinji has not only forgotten to make their lunches, but when she confronted him, screaming and yelling, he bit back. Made a fool out of her in front of everybody. Who the hell did he think he was? Had it not been for the fact that they were in school, she would've clobbered him on the spot.
Now, it was different, they were both home. When they arrived, she stormed to her room while he dealt with some stray dishes. When she emerged, she found him, still standing at the sink like an idiot. She put her hands behind her back and sauntered with faux-innocence over to him.
She ran a hand through her hair, narrowing her eyes on him like he was prey, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Oh, Shinji~," she said.
Asuka watched his face flush. Even from behind, he was a little horn-dog. Gross. Nevertheless, he turned around. "Oh, hey, Asuk-"
She quickly interrupted him by putting her hands around his throat and squeezing. "You asshole!" she growled. "Just where do you get off, huh?" she shouted as she shook him a little.
"Ack! A-Asuka, please!" he ground out.
"Shut up!" she roared. "You think you can just pulled that on me?"
"Pull what!?"
"Don't act like you don't know!" Brain on autopilot, specifically 'kill' mode, she reared back a fist and struck him right in the centre of his face. She let go, dropping him to the ground.
On hands and knees, Shinji coughed. Asuka could see blood dripping onto the floor. Her triumphant snarl started to fade.
"Asuka, why!?" he said between coughs.
She began to tremble. She had slapped him before, but this was next-level. It was like she was possessed, the way she lashed out. It didn't feel very good. In fact, it made her feel sick.
"Oh, oh God..." she whispered. She felt a cold sting in her chest. It worsened when he looked up at her. He was crying. God, why couldn't he not cry? It was just making her feel like an even bigger scumbag.
"Asuka?" he whimpered.
Without another thought, she pulled him up by the arm, guiding him to the bathroom.
She pulled the first aid kid out, using plenty of gauze and cotton to clean the blood and bandage his nose.
"I'm sorry," she whispered out at some point. Tense silence hung as she avoided his eyes. When she swallowed the lump in her throat, she finally looked up, seeing that puppy-like expression. Great. Now I feel worse. There has to be a way to-
"I'll give you one hit of payback," Asuka said before her brain could think any further.
His eyes widened. "Really?"
"Um, yes! Whatever you want to do, I'll do it! A punch? A kick? A slap? I'll take it, so we're even."
Shinji looked away for a minute, before looking back at her. "Uh, okay."
After they were cleaned up, Shinji told Asuka to sit at the kitchen table. She obliged, and watched as he exited, grabbed some cash from his room, then move to the doorway to put his shoes on.
"What the hell is this?" she asked.
He looked up from tying his shoe. "Just wait. I need to go grab something."
Without another word, he exited the apartment. Asuka sighed and leaned on her arms.
Shinji returned with a grocery bag. He plopped it down on the table, before taking his shoes off and putting the change away.
"What the...?" Asuka began to say.
He pulled the contents out of the bag: A box of 60 saltine crackers. She was about to ask questions again, but he spoke. "You're going to eat all of these right now."
"Um, okay?"
"No water."
Her eyes widened. "Wha-no water!? Are you insane!?"
Shinji's glare hardened. "Not at all. My nose might be broken, so this is getting off easy." He pulled out a chair and sat across from her. "Now, eat."
Asuka opened the box and removed the contents. The crackers were organized into sleeves of 15 each. She opened the first one, took a cracker and ate it. It went down pretty easy.
She ate another.
And another.
And another.
It was really no problem. Saltines were alright, just a little plain. If it kept up like this, she'd have no problem at all. Shinji was letting her off easy.
Shinji was not letting her off easy.
The first sleeve went down pretty fast, and about halfway through the second, she was starting to see the problem. Shinji must have seen her slow down, because the disappointed sigh he emitted made her fume. What the hell was wrong with his kid!? It made her swallow her pride, as well as the current cracker, and take another.
She must've eaten it too fast, because she started to cough. Shinji raised his eyebrows, before standing, walking over to the fridge, and retrieving a pitcher of water and placing it down in front of her. Good, he was being merciful. She reached out to-
"Nope, no water," he said suddenly. Asuka felt her face heat up. What a jerk!
The third sleeve was a trial of its own. Her tongue felt like it was made of sand, and her throat felt like it was going to turn to stone. She tried to muster up some saliva, which barely got her through it.
Now, she was halfway through the fourth and final sleeve. Her eyes were watering, her stomach was turning, and there was sweat on her brow. She wanted to scream, but her vocal cords were covered in cracker crumbs and salt.
She munched on another cracker. five to go. It made Asuka reflect on the events preceding. Should she have punched Shinji? No, not at all. A slap would've done the job. All he did was stand up for himself, did she not lambast him for being a pushover? So, why did him pushing back get to her like this?
Four left. If she hadn't punched him, maybe he would've apologized and acted like none of this happened. Why couldn't she interact with Shinji normally?
Three more. The water on the table was forming droplets around the outside of the pitcher. She watched a stray drop of water flow down onto the table. Why couldn't that be flowing to her throat to wash down the crackers? Shinji was a big ball of docility, but when he got into the mindset, he was a little frightening, and a little like the commander.
Two left. She could see the light at the end of the tunnel. This was the farthest she'd ever gone in terms of apologizing. Next time, be nicer, she thought to herself. She clearly took advantage of his good will too much. He was watching her, completely expressionless. She pinched her eyes shut as she swallowed the cracker.
Last one, the ticket to freedom. She grabbed it, shoved it into her mouth, and chewed like she had never chewed before. Her jaw hurt. Her teeth hurt. Everything hurt so much, but after this, she could drink water. Finally. Sweet release. She swallowed the cracker. It went down so rough.
Asuka coughed like a lung was going to come out. "Th-there," she said. "Your damn payback." Before Shinji could respond, she grabbed the whole pitcher and dumped the water into her mouth. It felt like she had gone two lifetimes with no water. The amount of hydration she was receiving was unmatched. It felt beautiful. It felt profound. It felt like she was reborn.
Her collar was wet. There was water on her chin. She grabbed the end of her shirt and dabbed her face with it. She locked eyes with Shinji.
He smiled. "Um... Thanks, Asuka," he said. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, before getting up and walking to his room.
Asuka face heated up. She stood from the table and wobbled over to a beanbag chair, throwing herself down onto it and staring up at the ceiling.
Her hand was still warm.
A/N: I actually really like saltine crackers a lot. They are tasty.