Misato's apartment
Misato was laying on her futon with her eyes open. She had woken up some time ago, but she didn't want to get up. Today her duty at the base was starting later. When Asuka knocked saying she was making breakfast, Misato said she would eat later. She wanted to be alone for a while. The kids' recent behavior was bothering her. Well, mostly Asuka's. As they drove home from the base the previous day, Asuka looked pleased. Misato didn't know what Shinji had done, although she wondered how long it would last.
'Time to get up.' she thought. She got up and walked towards the bathroom. On the way, she saw that the kitchen was empty and her breakfast was on the table. After Misato had washed her face and styled her hair, she left the bathroom and met Asuka in the living room. She was a little puzzled by Asuka's attire. She wondered if Asuka was going out somewhere.
Asuka was wearing the clothes she bought on Monday while shopping with Shinji. When she saw her guardian, she walked over to her. Asuka wanted to ask her something, yet Misato spoke up first.
"You look stunning. Planning on going somewhere?"
"Thanks. Shinji and I are going to the amusement park today." Asuka said in a satisfied voice and added, "Can you lend me some nail polish?"
'He asked you out?' Misato thought. She stood for a moment looking at the girl. She guessed that was the reason for her better mood. She wanted to tease her a little, but she let it go. She wondered what Shinji was up to.
Impatient with waiting for an answer, Asuka made a wry face.
"Fine, you don't want to lend some to me then, don't." Asuka said and turned on her heel.
"You probably want the red color?" Asuka stopped and turned around when she heard Misato's question. A simple nod confirmed Misato's guess. "Come with me." They headed to Misato's room. The floor was in disarray. Misato used her foot to make room on the futon for Asuka to sit on.
Asuka sat down in the seat Misato had made for her and watched as Misato searched through the drawer. When Misato found what she was looking for, she walked over to Asuka, and showed her several nail polishes in different shades of red. Asuka took them in her hand and started looking at them. After a moment she decided and chose one.
"I like this one." Asuka said and showed Misato the nail polish.
Misato took the nail polish from Asuka's hand. With a hand gesture, she suggested to Asuka that he give her his hand.
"I can paint my own nails." Protested Asuka.
"I know you can. I still want to." Asuka took a deep breath, and reluctantly offered her hand. Misato whistled as her gaze met Asuka's nails.
"If you're going to paint your nails, it would help to take care of them a little beforehand." Asuka wanted to say something, but was given no time. Misato took a nail file and began to level her nails.
"So, who invited who to the amusement park?"
"He asked if there was any place I wanted to go. I told him, and he asked if he could come along. We don't have any tests or doctor appointments today, so why not?"
'So, he did ask you out.' A smile crept onto her face at the thought, but Misato held her tongue as she continued to paint the others' nails. 'The boy's trying, I hope you appreciate that.' At the very least, the girl was going out of her way to get her nails painted for him. That had to mean something. Asuka didn't want to admit it, but she liked the way the older woman took care of her nails. It felt nice to be helped by another.
When she started cooking from Shinji's indisposition, she planned to make some German food. What Asuka didn't expect was that cooking had begun to appeal to her. She wondered why. Was it because she was doing it not just for herself? Recalling Shinji's warning yesterday, she decided to apologize.
"I want to apologize. For last night, I mean." Asuka blurted out, the words unfamiliar to her.
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Misato said without stopping to paint Asuka's nails. "Thanks anyway." While she was still slightly frustrated with the girl, Misato decided to give Asuka something extra for apologizing. She knew that apologizing was far from Asuka's strong suit. It also seemed to her that Asuka had changed her attitude realizing that it wasn't a competition with Kaori. She really seemed to care for the boy now.
Asuka tried to apologize because she was afraid of Misato's reaction. She was afraid that she might be forced to leave Misato's apartment. The apartment she shared with Shinji.
"Done. Don't touch your nails until the polish is dry. You can wave your hands to help them dry faster."
To Asuka's surprise, when Misato was done with her nails, she started looking for something in the drawer. When Misato found what she was looking for, she turned back to the redhead. After making sure the polish on her nails had dried, she put something in Asuka's hand.
When Asuka opened her hand, she saw a lipstick. She looked at Misato with questioning eyes.
"It's new, I haven't had the chance to use it. Maybe you'll find it useful. It's a lighter color, so it'll only really highlight your lips. Should be pretty inconspicuous." The woman added a teasing wink to the end of her sentence.
Asuka didn't really know what to say. She suspected Misato was provoking her, but she didn't feel like getting into an argument. She didn't want to give her another argument, so she simply accepted the gift. She stared at the lipstick in her hand for a moment as Misato held out his hand to her.
"Bring your chin up a little," Misato said, lifting Asuka's chin with her hand. Before the redhead had time to say anything, Misato sprayed her with perfume. "I like the scent, but I haven't used it in a long time. " She put down the perfume. Looking at Asuka, she nodded in approval.
"Alright. you're all set."
Asuka wondered what to answer. She just wanted to borrow the nail polish, she didn't expect Misato to help her like that. She knew that Misato was very close to Shinji and protective of him. She had made that clear a few days ago by warning her not to try to seduce him.
"I saw breakfast on the table, thanks for that. I don't go in until later, so I'm hitting the hay. Have a great day. Try not to kill the boy." The woman yawned as she finished the sentence.
"Uh, thanks, I guess." Asuka simply said.
'At least this time you have the decency to not have your boobs on display.' Misato let out a quiet chuckle. She waved her hand, trying to shoo the younger girl out of her room.
Asuka left the room and slid the door behind her. She paused for a moment. What had just happened was a short conversation. The girl was sure she had endured longer "chats" with even wondergirl before. Despite the few words spoken, it was surprisingly pleasant. Shaking her head from those thoughts, she headed to the bathroom to apply the lipstick she had just been given.
Shinji came out of his room dressed in the clothes he bought on Monday. Asuka had complimented them while shopping. He thought it would be good to wear them so that this time she wouldn't say he looked like a boring student. He wanted her to have fun and not feel uncomfortable in his presence. When she came out of the bathroom, he noticed that she had changed after breakfast. Her clothes had looked good in the changing room, but now in the natural light they looked stunning.
'Hmm. Not bad. Not bad at all.' Asuka thought when she saw Shinji. She nodded her her towards the boy.
"Ready to go?" Shinji nodded, and remembered that he had bought a pendant that he thought matched her clothes. Holding up his finger to tell the girl to wait, he ran into his room, returning a few seconds later.
"Please turn around and close your eyes." He asked her.
"If you're planning a stupid prank, I swear-" She wasn't sure what Shinji was up to.
"No! No, It's not a prank. Please, just trust me."
He had a sincere look on his face so she agreed and closed her eyes. She felt that he hung something around her neck. When he finished, he asked her to open her eyes.
After opening her eyes, she looked down and saw the pendant. It was simple, yet she liked it. Surprised by the gift, she grasped it in her hand and pressed it to her chest.
"It's nothing special, but when we were in the store I saw it, and thought it would match your tank top." He said, wondering if she liked it.
"It's beautiful, thank you." She let go of the pendant and added, "I'll get my purse and then we can go.".
"I'm glad you like it. I'm gonna go put on my shoes. I'll meet you outside."
Amusement Park
It did not take them long to reach the place. Calling this place an amusement park was a slight exaggeration. The place was not very big, it did not even have a ticket office at the entrance. It was rather a cluster of several entertainment facilities. Yes, it did include a few features you see most often in amusement parks, such as a carousel, a small roller coaster, small food stations, and a few other attractions.
Tokyo-3 was designed as a fortress city. For this reason, infrastructure that was not necessary for defense was rather avoided. Such points were created in the city, but they were few and not very impressive. They helped to give a semblance of normality and to forget about the impending danger from the angels. If one wanted a real park, one had to take the train out of Tokyo-3, yet for Shinji and Asuka this was impossible because of the constant state of standby.
For Asuka, coming here with Shinji was a better option than with Hikari. Not only because she wanted to go with him, but because she could enjoy other activities. Hikari would probably want to use the carousel or go to the mini zoo that was in the park. Asuka, on the other hand, was interested in something else. There was a go-kart track in the park. It was the perfect moment to show Shinji her skills.
"Here, this is for you." Shinji said, handing her a cotton candy.
When Asuka saw the cotton candy she hoped that didn't mean this outing here would be a visit to the children's stands.
"Do you like cotton candy?" she asked.
"I don't know. I've never had it. I guess I'll know in a minute." He said and started tasting the cotton candy.
A sly grin appeared on her face after his answer.
"You want to try some of the new stuff?" He nodded in reply. She followed up with another question. "That works out great. They have a go-kart track here that I'd like to visit. Have you ever driven a go-kart?"
"No, I haven't. Do you want to try it?"
"Of course I want to. I'll show you who's the best here!" she announced proudly and moved toward the racetrack, with him following her.
When they reached the cash register, Asuka approached the man behind the counter to sign up. The young man signed them in and told them they had to wait a moment until the current race was over. They climbed up to a platform from where there was a perfect view of the race track. They leaned against the railing and watched the end of the race.
"How many times have you driven a go-kart?" Shinji asked out of curiosity. She had said earlier that she wanted to show him who was the best, so he assumed it wouldn't be her first time.
"A go-kart? Never. I've driven a car. I'm sure this can't be any harder." she replied.
"Really? I didn't know you had a driver's license." She sensed a note of admiration in his voice and liked it.
"I don't have a driver's license.", She giggled, "I'm too young. In Germany you have to be 18 to get a driver's license. Kaji thought it might be useful for me to learn to drive, so he taught me." She explained.
The race was over and the instructor asked the next drivers to approach. When everyone had assembled, he began to explain the basics for everyone. When there were no questions, everyone went to get their helmets and head to their prepared go-karts.
Asuka and Shinji sat in their go-karts and waited. Another instructor appeared on the track and added some final instructions from himself.
"The race will be divided into three parts. The first is to get familiar with the track and the kart. Then there will be qualifying, and finally the race. On my signal you start. If one of the instructors waves a flag at you, it means you have to let the one behind you pass. If someone gets stuck in the tires, raise your hand, and someone from the staff will pull you out onto the track. Any questions?"
When there were no questions, he stepped aside and gave the signal to start.
They set off. It was a strange feeling for Shinji, it was the first time he had driven something that wasn't the size of a building. The first lap seemed to take him forever. Looking to the side, he saw a man waving a flag at him. When the kart passed him, it turned out that it was Asuka who had just overtaken him.
'Am I going too slow or is she going too fast?" He thought and tried to speed up. After a few laps they got the signal to pull over.
"We'll let you go every few seconds so you don't disturb each other on the track. We will measure everyone's time separately and display it on a board near the finish line." Said the instructor and let the first person onto the track.
After a few laps, Shinji looked at the scoreboard. Asuka had the second fastest time, and he was about half a minute slower than her. He was enjoying it more and more with each lap. It was also evident by his time because his loss had dropped.
After qualifying, it was time for the race. The competitors were divided into two groups. On his last lap, Shinji managed to get into the first group with Asuka. They lined up on the track according to the times they had.
The race had been going on for several minutes. Asuka was second and it was annoying her. She could see the leader a few meters ahead, but she couldn't overtake him. She started to take the turns more sharply, trying to pass the opposite, but to no avail. Just before the next turn, she saw a worker waving a flag. This was the signal for the last rider to let them go. At this point there was a chance for Asuka. The last rider they were to pass, wanted to let them go and went slightly to the right side. This way he blocked Asuka's opponent and Asuka was able to overtake him.
Shinji, on the other hand, was not trying to win the race. He was trying not to come in last place. Yes, he qualified in the faster group, but he qualified last. He was last for most of the race, but eventually managed to pass one rider. When he passed the finish line for the last time, he saw the results and that Asuka was first. He was happy, knowing the competitive girl would be proud of her win.
"Ha! I said I would show who is the best!" she announced happily after the win.
"Congratulations, you really are the best." Shinji congratulated her.
"Of course I am. Was there ever any doubt?" She said with feigned indignation.
"Not for a moment." Was his response. The time they had lived together had taught him at least a few situations when not to challenge her statements.
Without thinking, Asuka dragged him to the next attraction in the park. It was a roller coaster. It was not particularly impressive, but it had a few sharp drops. They used it twice.
"How are your impressions?"she asked him.
"Well... our EVAs take the shaft faster, but I don't feel as overloaded as I do here at the park." Was his answer.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. But it was nice." she answered, but a moment later she heard his phone ring. "Anyone from NERV?"
"No, it's just my stopwatch. I set it to remind me of the time.".
It made her wonder why he cared about time? In going to the park with her, was he also going somewhere for Kaori? This irritated her. She clenched her fist and wanted to say something, but she didn't have time. His next statement stopped her.
"We have a train in 15 minutes, so we don't really have time to do anything before it leaves." He said, paying no attention to Asuka's annoyance.
"A train?" she queried. Her first thought was that he had also made arrangements with Kaori, but the suggestion that they wait for their train puzzled her.
"Where are we going?"
"Please don't ask, it's a surprise" he answered, and she just nodded. At first she was upset that he wanted to go somewhere with Kaori, but now she was furious. Where does he want to go with her? Why wouldn't he tell her? There was nothing left for her to do but follow him.
Tokyo
When they exited the train, Shinji looked at the map on his phone. He knew their destination was not far away, though he wanted to make sure which way they were supposed to go. They passed one street, then another. Shinji looked at the phone again.
"It should be right around the corner," he said, satisfied that they would be at their destination soon. As they turned the corner, a plain building appeared to their eyes. It had no signage except a number and a small plaque at the entrance leading to the reception area.
Asuka looked at Shinji, who started checking something on his phone as if something wasn't right. She turned her gaze to the sign at the entrance to read what the building was. She blushed as she read the sign, the neon "Love Hotel" sign easily visible.
"Is this where you wanted to take me?"
The boy was staring at the phone and not paying attention to what she was saying to him. He probably didn't know what building they were standing in front of.
"Ah, they marked something wrong on the map. It's behind this building" he started walking towards the alley next to the building. She followed him. When they came out of the alley they saw a large sign, the purpose of their journey.
"Little Bavaria?" Asuka asked in disbelief.
"One of the few German restaurants in Tokyo-3." he replied satisfied. It was Kaji who gave him the idea. Shinji was glad to find a German restaurant.
There were several people outside the entrance waiting to get in. As they approached the entrance a waitress appeared.
"Sorry, but we have a full house today. The wait is going to be a while."
"I made a reservation," Shinji replied. He wasn't sure if the restaurant required a reservation or not so he called the day before. It was a good decision.
"Great, can I have your name please?"
"Ikari," he replied and the waitress went through the list.
"Yes, that's right, a table for two. Follow me, please."
As they sat down at the table, Asuka began to look around. Yes, Asuka could tell right away that the decor resembled the German. She grabbed the menu and opened it. The items were described in Japanese, English and German. She wondered if the staff spoke German.
The waitress left them to think about their order.
Shinji stared at Asuka for a moment. The smile did not disappear from Asuka's face. Coming to the restaurant was definitely a good idea. After a moment, Shinji also opened his menu and started looking through it.
"I see mostly meat and beer on the menu." Shinji chuckled while studying the menu.
"Did you know that if we were in Germany right now you could legally drink beer?" Asuka said with superiority.
"Really? I didn't know. Did you drink beer when you were in Germany?" Shinji asked surprised.
"Well, the legal age is 16, but if you're 14, you can drink beer and wine in public if your parents or guardian allows it. To answer your question, no, I didn't drink. I don't turn 14 until December." Asuka explained the situation to Shinji.
He was a little surprised. He didn't know he was six months older than Asuka. He thought she was older. She definitely looked more mature than him or the other girls at school.
"I didn't know I was older than you. Did you know that you should listen to elders?" He swallowed seeing her expression "Or maybe not." He became nervous when the expression on her face didn't change. After a moment, she changed her expression and giggled. He released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. When he saw this he felt a great relief.
"Did anything on the menu catch your eye? On the menu is the dish you made for breakfast."
"Yes, I more or less know what I want to order." A brief glance at him was enough for her to notice that he didn't know what to order. "Would you like some advice?"
"Sure. Something simple."
"How about I order for both of us? You surprised me by bringing me here, now I'll surprise you, okay?" Asuka looked at him, and when he nodded, she checked the last few pages of the menu.
A short while later, a waitress appeared at their table.
"Can I take your order?" the waitress asked politely.
"Yes, I will order for both of us. Sprechen Sie deutsch?"
"Ja, ich spreche Deutsch."
"Alright. I would like schnitzel with baked potatoes and green salad." The girl continued to speak in German to the waitress.
"Alright. And what about your boyfriend?"
Surprised by the question, Asuka looked at Shinji. She could see that he didn't understand what the waitress said. She fought to keep a blush from appearing on her face.
"He's not my boyfriend."
"Oh. My apologies." The smile on the waitress's face made it clear she didn't believe her.
As they talked, Shinji looked at them as if they were aliens. Not knowing the language, he didn't know what they were talking about. He only guessed that the last statement was about him, or more likely about his order.
"Roasted beef stew with potato dumplings for him." Asuka looked at the drinks page and asked, "You won't sell us beer, will you?"
"We don't serve alcohol to minors."
'Worth a shot.' Asuka thought. After a quick check of the card, she said "So, two non-alcoholic wheat beers and some pretzels. That's all for now."
"Thank you. The drinks and pretzels will be out before your meals." The waitress finished writing down the order and left.
"I didn't understand what you were talking about. Although at the end I think it was about beer or other alcohol?" said Shinji.
"I wanted to have a chat, I don't have much opportunity to speak German. Oh, and I ordered non-alcoholic beer and pretzels before the main course." She couldn't help but smile. The boy had made her day inviting her here.
At that moment, a waitress approached them and placed the beer and pretzels they had ordered on the table. When they thanked her, she left.
There were four pretzels, although they were quite large. Asuka was the first to try the pretzel. Being in Germany, she had eaten them quite often. After a while, she tried the beer, the unique taste stranger to her.
"Do you miss Germany?" Asked Shinji. When he saw how quickly Asuka grabbed a pretzel, he wondered how much she missed home.
He was the first person to ask about it after Asuka arrived in Japan. A seemingly simple question, but she wasn't sure what to answer. She hadn't thought about it much.
"Not really." She said after finishing her pretzel. She saw him take a sip of his beer.
"Hm. Odd. Not sure what I expected." The pretzel seemed tasty to him, but the beer had a strange aftertaste to it. A little fruity, but not really. After a moment, he asked "Don't you miss your family and friends?" As he looked at her, he noticed that her expression had changed slightly. He wondered why.
"I rarely talked to my parents. I spent much of my time at the base training and studying. So much so that after a while Kaji became my guardian because it was more convenient" she sighed after saying. It wasn't a lie, but she also didn't reveal the reason why she didn't talk to her father. She wasn't ready for that.
The poor relationship he had with his father he considered rather rare. Therefore, the only thing that came to his mind was that she wanted to be a pilot so much that she had no time for her parents.
"And as far as friends, well, training didn't usually allow time for that luxury." There was little emotion in her tone.
From the tone of her expression, he didn't think she minded. But it surprised him. She is very popular at school. She was approached by many people who wanted to meet her. She also gave the impression that she liked this popularity. Seeing the look on his face, she decided to explain.
"I had mostly one-on-one classes. Later, in college, I had several courses." She smirked at the memory, "Plus, the students were afraid of me."
"Afraid? Why?" He asked, puzzled because her explanation only added to the questions. Two of his friends, Toji and Kensuke, were not fond of her, but he guessed that was not what she had in mind. She wasn't fond of them either, but they had themselves to blame.
"Well, actually for two reasons. The first is that who would want to get involved with a little girl almost 10 years younger? You could be labeled a pervert or a pedophile. And the second reason is that people thought I was a gangster's daughter." she laughed when she said the last part. "You see, as a NERV asset I had a bodyguard. NERV forbade me to say I was a pilot. A few times I heard students refer to me as a gangster's daughter. I even liked it. But I don't blame them. Had a bodyguard. Big guy named Matthias, he always carried a gun."
It didn't surprise him much. He knew that Section 2 was constantly watching them. They were hiding, but he could feel their presence. Shinji had managed to escape them for a few days so they were not that vigilant. In his case, they had been watching him for several months. In her case, they had probably been watching her for years.
"Where did you live before you became a pilot?" Asuka asked. She had never been interested before in what Shinji did or where he lived. All she knew was that he didn't live with his father. She found this out in a rather unfortunate way.
"In a small village near one of the coasts. Nothing special." Shinji answered. He looked at the table as if to avoid her gaze. He might have expected her to ask him that after his question.
"My teacher raised me until I was 14, and then I was called here."
'You lived with a teacher and not with your family?' She thought. She understood more and more about his bad relationship with his father, but she didn't want to ask about it. The memory of how he had reacted last time was enough for her. She decided to ask just as he had asked her. "Do you miss it?"
"Yeah, kinda." He sighed, before elaborating.
"Might have been boring. But it was a pretty calm life. Still adjusting to how fast paced the city life is. It was nice back there. Not much demanded of me. A lot less painful than being here."
He fell silent. He fiddled with his pretzel for a moment before finishing his statement. "Sorry. That was sort of rude. We're having a nice time and I'm ruining the mood. I'm being stupid."
"It's not stupid." She smiled at him. When he looked at her, her gaze seemed caring? She asked him before he had time to say anything. "Do you miss your friends?"
"Not... really? I kept to myself most of the time, so I didn't really get to know my classmates beyond their names. Most of the town was filled with older people who had been retired for years. Only really had one or two people I talked with. I miss Kimiko the most. She was nice."
"Who is Kimiko? Your ex-girlfriend?" Asuka asked as the name began to roll around in her head. She wondered if he had a girlfriend before coming to Tokyo-3.
"No, no." he laughed when he heard the question. "She was our neighbor, she lived in the house next door. My teacher didn't really know how to cook. When his wife died, Kimiko sometimes cooked dinner for us. She was already retired, so she had some free time. She was the one who taught me how to cook." He smiled when he remembered. In a way, he thought of her as the grandmother he had never met.
"Oh, okay."
When the waitress put their food on the table, Asuka asked "Do you need help with your food?"
"No, I don't think so." He said, testing the meat with a fork. "The meat's really tender. Don't even need a knife to cut it." After tasting a piece, he expressed his satisfaction. The food she ordered for him was really good.
She watched with satisfaction as Shinji eagerly ate his dinner. They didn't speak much while eating, savoring their meal.
"That was good!" Asuka said with satisfaction. That sentence wasn't too much of an exaggeration because she liked it a lot. She also liked what Shinji was preparing despite her frequent complaints.
"Yes, it was very good. I'm glad you liked it too." Shinji said with satisfaction.
"Very good? It was excellent. Better than most home cooked food I've had." She bit her tongue when she said it. she saw Shinji's face, he was smiling but it was a fake smile.
"I'm sorry."
Asuka could see that he was sad that his food didn't taste as good to her.
"Shinji, that food was prepared by experienced chefs who have been cooking longer than you've been alive. Don't worry about it."
"Thanks." he smiled slightly. "Ready to go home?" he asked.
"Of course. It's not too late, why don't we go over something at home? We can watch some movies online."
"Sounds good to me."
Truth be told, he didn't watch TV at all. Yes, he watched a few movies, but that was all. "Want to buy some snacks on the way home?"
"When would I ever say no to that?"
Misato's apartment
"We're home." Shinji said upon entering the apartment. There was no response so he assumed Misato wasn't back from work yet. He went to the kitchen with the groceries. "I'll prepare the snacks. Choose what you want to watch.".
Asuka did so without waiting for his feedback. She turned on the TV and started browsing through the available titles. As she looked through the list, she wondered what she really wanted to watch. Which movie would they both like? She decided on some sort of animation. They are usually funny and a lot of people like them. She finally found one. It wasn't new, but it had high ratings.
As Shinji approached with snacks, he looked at the screen.
"Ratatouille?" he asked, slightly puzzled. They seriously translated the title into something he didn't understand?
"It's an animated movie and it's a few years old. I was thinking of watching something light." Asuka watched as he sat down next to her and put the snacks between them. She pressed play and they started watching.
They watched like that for a good while. It made Asuka happy when she heard Shinji laugh a few times. So she chose a movie that they both enjoyed.
"This rat controls the main character sort of like how we control the EVAs."
His remark seemed apt to her, indeed the little rat looked like he was piloting. She looked at him and got an idea. After placing a pillow in front of her, she turned to Shinji.
"Sit in front of me."
"I'm not going to obstruct your view?" he quipped a little. He looked like she wanted something. Asuka had a pillow in front of her, which she patted, suggesting Shinji lean on it. He did so. He sat down in front of her and leaned against the pillow. It was not very comfortable, but after a while Asuka corrected his position. He was now almost lying down in front of her, leaning against her. Now his position was comfortable. There was one more element to this comfort. Asuka began to stroke his head. It was pleasurable for him. "Umm, Asuka?"
"Do you want me to stop?" She asked without stopping stroking his head.
"NO!" He said eagerly then turned his attention to how he sounded. "Uh, I mean, if you want to keep doing that, I don't mind."
She smiled and didn't stop stroking his head. They watched the movie like that for a while.
"I suppose I can't steer you like that rat huh?" She tugged his hair slightly, knowing the answer.
"Pretty sure it doesn't work that way." He laughed. Asuka sighed.
"Pity, would make a lot of things easier."
He wasn't sure what she meant, but he didn't care at the moment. Her closeness, her touch felt good. The way she stroked his hair made him relax in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. As time passed, it seemed to him that they were sitting closer and closer together. He tried to watch the movie, but he seemed to be able to hear his heartbeat. As the movie slowly came to an end, he looked at the food critic. This figure seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't tell why.
"This culinary critic reminds me of someone, but I'm not sure who." he replied.
"Yeah, same here." She understood perfectly what he meant, to her this figure also seemed familiar.
When the movie was over, he wondered what to do. Part of him wanted to stay in that position, but the other part advised to get up before something happened that he would regret.
"I need to use the bathroom." He said and quickly got up. Before Asuka had time to say anything he was already in the bathroom.
As she looked at the floor, she spotted his phone.
'That wouldn't be right' she thought, but her desire was stronger. After making sure Shinji didn't see her, she grabbed his phone. 'Damn, it's locked'. She hoped she could see through his messages. She wanted to see if and what he and Kaori wrote about.
Asuka wasn't sure why she was doing it and she hated the uncertainty. How could she get answers to the questions that plagued her? This morning with Misato was nice. Maybe she could ask her? She shook her head, dismissing the thought. If she asked Misato, she'd only be teasing her. The only sensible option that came to her mind was to ask her former guardian.
'Do you have time tomorrow? I'd like to talk about something in private.' She sent a message to Kaji. Moments later, she got an answer. 'Sure, kiddo. I'll be in my office tomorrow afternoon.'
At that moment, she heard a familiar voice.
"I'm home!" Misato announced cheerfully as she pulled off her shoes.
Saying nothing, Asuka got up and carried the bowls of chips to the kitchen to wash them down.
When Misato walked into the kitchen she saw the redhead who was doing the dishes. She wanted to say hello, but paused for a moment.
'Is she humming?' Misato could not believe what she was hearing.
"Is that humming I hear? You didn't kill the poor boy, no?" She asked, walking over to the refrigerator.
"Ugh. Not funny. He's in the bathroom."
"Alright. How was your day?" Misato asked, pulling her favorite beer out of the fridge. Without waiting for an answer, she opened it and sat down at the table.
"It was good." She turned, looking at Misato. "We ate out and didn't buy food for you. We only have snacks if you want them."
"Don't worry about food for me. I ate with Rit's before I got here."
"Alright"
Misato quietly observed the girl in silence as she cleaned, immediately recognizing the expression on the girl. She hid her smile behind the can of beer, remembering how she had been the same years ago, when she had first met Kaji.
'Oh Shinji. I don't think you've realized what you've done to this girl."
Shinji stood in front of the mirror, staring at his now wet face. A face that he had just washed with cold water, in the hope that it would calm him down, to no avail. His heart was beating like crazy.
'You're just a stupid little boy.' He repeated her insults to himself in his head. It wasn't working. Her stroking his head. Something seemingly innocent and simple, but it still managed to give him the creeps. As he watched the movie with her, he could feel the warmth of her body, her breath. He sat on the rim of the tub, trying to calm his breathing.
'Good thing I ran away. If I had touched her, it would have ended badly again. It would have ruined her day.' He tried to explain to himself what he had done. Before the last fight, everything was far more simple. He looked down at his hands. 'Soon she won't have to help me and everything will be back to normal. 'Yeah. Just like before.'
When he finally calmed down, he left the bathroom. As soon as he left, Misato got up from her chair.
"Hey Shinji, I'd love to talk, but I'm in a bit of a hurry right now." Misato walked past the boy, heading straight towards the bathroom. Shinji turned to Asuka.
"I… guess I'll go to my room. I hope you enjoyed your day too."
"It was good. Thanks." She walked over to Shinji.
"We don't have anything planned tomorrow either, maybe you'd like to go somewhere else together?"
'If she wants to go somewhere tomorrow, she must have really enjoyed today.' He contemplated where he would like to go the next time. Today's plan seemed to work, so he decided to ask her instead.
"Sure. Why don't you choose?"
"No, today we went where I wanted. You choose this time."
"I...don't really know where I would want to go." Asuka rolled her eyes at the boy's indecisiveness.
"What about where you go with your idiot friends after school sometimes?" A hint of annoyance had crept into her voice.
"We usually go to the arcade. It's mostly just retro games, I don't think you'd like it." He shot down the suggestion, knowing the girl would say no, despite his secret hope she would say yes. The answer he got surprised him slightly.
"Why do you think I wouldn't like the arcade? Because I'm a girl?" He looked up at her, surprise evident on his face. Just before he could say anything, she continued.
"We'll go to the arcade tomorrow." Her tone didn't leave room for argument.
Shinji stood puzzled for a moment, not even noticing his roommate begin to head to her room.
"Hey, Shinji?" He turned around, spotting Asuka standing in her doorway.
"Yeah?"
"Gute Nacht." The door was shut, the apartment once again silent.
The boy was once again left alone, confused as to what had just transpired.
Notes:
In this chapter, I wanted Asuka and Shinji to spend some time alone so they could get to know each other a little more. Let me know what you think.
I would like to thank Mister_Modicum. Not only did he review this chapter, but most importantly, he corrected my grammar and reworded few parts. I like the end result, it looks more natural. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your reviews mistalenny, calborghete, HaterofNone, Lupeskillz, Chucky117, skyf0x and SheriffJohnStone!