Sigma Shinji
A/N: This is a goofy one.
Shinji flopped down on his bed. They had finally gotten home from the excursion to Mt. Asama. He felt relaxed, but the constant angel-anxiety prevented him from being truly unwound. As he stared at the narrow ceiling, sleep decided to refuse to come to him.
He sighed as his eyes peered around the dark room, before landing on his laptop. It was the NERV-issued one, but he tended not to use it much outside of schoolwork. Perhaps it would have something to help him sleep.
Opening it up, Shinji opened a web browser and navigated to Youtube. He had a Google account through NERV, but he didn't use it at all, so the front page was a smorgasbord of content. All of it seemed pretty generic, so he absentmindedly clicked around.
Twenty minutes later, he found himself on a video called "15 Signs You're a "SIGMA" Male (SUPER RARE) & Is it Better Than "ALPHA"?" Asuka's rant about him being housebroken had created a ripple effect involving him questioning if he was an alpha or beta male, so the title and thumbnail really caught his eye.
Just what was a sigma male? He had no idea, but this guy was talking fast and loud, which made him snap to attention. The first thing he said was "A sigma male is a loner." The man's rationale was that sigma males tended to be "lone-wolf" types, which made Shinji think of the time he spent walking alone, especially now with his friends in Okinawa for the rest of the week.
The second thing was that sigmas were "flexible," whatever that meant. Number three was that they are themselves, regardless of who was watching. It made Shinji think. Was he really being himself? Maybe he'd try a little more. Number four, a sigma male "leads without exerting authority." He figured he could try to lead. If his father could, so could he. As this strange man went on, Shinji made more and more mental notes until he tired himself out working with the ways of the sigma. He watched some more videos and read a few websites until he couldn't keep his eyes open.
The next day, Shinji opened his eyes with a new mindset, or rather, a grindset. Today, he was going to be a true sigma male. He threw his sheets off and walked with a new air about him. He grabbed his uniform, remembering that sigmas don't care what they looked like. The guy in the video did say rather loudly that sigmas needed to also take care of their hygiene. That encouraged him to put the clothes down, and instead stride to the bathroom and have a shower, something he usually saved for later in the day.
He was thinking about all of the cool pointers when a pounding on the bathroom door interrupted him.
"Shinji! What in the God-damn hell are you doing!?"
Oh crap. Asuka. He had completely forgotten to account for her. Well, what better time than now to exude sigma-energy?
He cleared his throat. "Showering," he said in what he attempted to make a deep voice. If they were face to face, he knows he would have been laughed at.
"Yeah, I can tell. What about food!? Are you just gonna let us go hungry!?"
His eyes darted around the room. He took a breath before he spoke, even closing his eyes. "Do it yourself. Or, you can wait for me. Your choice."
He heard some grumbling and vague threats in German, which eventually retreated. He let out a sigh of relief. Being a sigma was going to be a bit of a challenge.
The rest of the morning was quiet. He could feel Asuka silently glaring at him for getting back at her during his shower, but he smelled better than usual, and even fixed his hair a little.
He finished cooking breakfast and lunch. He wasn't being a "simp" as the guy in the video liked to put it, but was instead showing his leadership by cooking. At least, that's what he told himself.
Breakfast was eaten in silence until he looked up from his plate and saw Asuka looking at him.
"What's with your hair?" she asked.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"You look like a dork."
He needed to think sigma. "Well, I don't really care," he said. "Doesn't matter to me what you think." He had to fight to stop himself from stammering
He watch her facial expression go through a kaleidoscope of moods before she glared at him. "You better watch you damn mouth, Third!" she growled. "I'm better looking than you, and I have a better sense of fashion. Better than this goofy uniform you always wear!" She stood.
Shinji cleared his throat. "What do we say?"
"Whatever."
"Fine, have it your way. I'm not washing your dishes. I'll do mine, you'll do yours."
She levelled a glare at him. "I don't know what dumb revelation you had overnight, but it isn't gonna work on me!"
He put his utensils down and looked back back at her, doing his best to muster up a dead stare and hold it.
They kept looking for a few seconds more before Asuka punched him on the shoulder and stormed to her room for her bag.
When she came back out, he was standing at the door, ready to leave. "Are you gonna wash the plate?"
"I'll do it later, now move!" she shouted, pushing past him.
He shook his head as he followed at his own pace to school.
Neither spoke, but Asuka angrily and subtly slowed down to walk beside him.
School was long and boring, and it didn't help that Asuka was staring at him a lot of the time, either. Alas, he was being a sigma, and he thought it was working. It mainly boiled down to ignoring Asuka and forcing himself to sit straighter.
At lunch, he wordlessly gave Asuka her food and headed for the roof.
Kensuke and Toji exchanged a look before hesitating, then following him out of the classroom.
Asuka watched all of this, and decided to propose "eating and walking" to Hikari.
Shinji leaned against the wall ate his lunch, basking in the sunlight of mid-day. He was also basking in the feeling of being a lone wolf. A sigma lone wolf was sexy and appealing, so of course he'd go for it. He bit into his food, keeping his back straight and his head up.
"-n-Man? Shin-Man, where're ya at?" said Toji's voice as footsteps made themselves known on the roof.
He turned, and calmly addressed his friends, trying to sound as alpha and as sigma as possible. "Afternoon."
Kensuke was hovering his finger over the record button on his camera. "Uhh, Shinji? What's going on with you?"
"Nothing at all. Eat with me, or don't," he said with a cold cadence.
The boys exchanged looks. "Oh-kaaay," said Toji. They slowly sat down and ate in relative silence.
From the shadows, Asuka watched their conversation, and her confusion continued. Just what had gotten into Shinji?
The two pilots finished the day of school, and Shinji decided to head straight home. It annoyed Asuka, but she went with him for some reason.
As they walked, she observed him aside, watching as he kept correcting his posture and walking like he had read how to be confident out of a book.
She hatched a plan, innocently following him home. When they got in, she watched him. Watched as he entered the kitchen and said "Your dishes?"
Her analysis broke for a moment. She hastily shouted something back at him, before realizing midway the opportunity she had. If she played along, perhaps she could catch him off-guard and make him drop the act.
"Ugh! Okay, fine! Whatever! When did you grow a set!?" she whined. She walked up to the sink and reluctantly got started, glancing over her shoulder as Shinji exited the room.
She gave the dishes a quick wash and rinse before drying her hands and following him.
With Asuka likely out of his way, Shinji decided to plug in his laptop and access the internet. He needed more of that sigma male knowledge, and the peculiar man on the internet seemed to know what he was talking about.
He typed "sigma male" into the search bar and found some more videos. He found one about avoiding being a "simp," which was still a relatively new term. In this video, it was the same man, as animated as ever. He spoke loudly again, filming himself at various distances from the camera and using his hands a lot.
The video made him think: Was he a "simp?" For Misato? For Asuka? Even Ayanami? Did he need to tone down the way he acted? What would make him not be a "simp," but more of an alpha or a sigma to them?
The sound of his door opening made him slam his laptop shut very fast.
"So, what'cha up to, Shinji?" Asuka asked with a bit of a sarcastic, overly-sweet tinge.
His back still turned, Shinji let his eyes widen. "Uh, nothing at all!" he said in the most unconvincing way.
"Yeah, right," Asuka said. "Tell me. Were you watching dirty videos or something?"
"No!"
"Then open your computer."
"No."
Asuka stepped closer, fully invading the space of his room. "I'll do it myself, how about that?"
Shinji wrapped his arms around the computer and shielded it with his body. Asuka responded by poking at pressure points on his body and jabbing him in the stomach. The latter made him drop the computer, which she snatched.
"Ah-ha! Now let's see what's-"
She hit 'play,' and her expression quickly dropped. Shinji was seriously watching one of those cheesy dating coaches. God help her, she was going to have a field day with this. She burst out laughing.
"My God! This is what you've resorted to!? This is pathetic! I can't believe..." she trailed off.
The reason she trailed off was because of Shinji himself. He levelled her with a stare that he half-used earlier, but this time it felt so much more intense. He wasn't glaring, simply looking at her, the eye contact refusing to break on his end. In fact, it reminded her for a moment of speaking to the cold commander.
Asuka tried to bring herself to speak, but could not. The stare had too much power behind it. Swallowing her pride, she slipped out of the room without a word, leaving Shinji's laptop on the floor.
As she went out into the hallway, she rubbed her forehead. How did Stupid-Shinji manage to verbally lock her up like that? More importantly, why was her face so flush because of it?
Shinji stared at the doorway, where he could imagine the outline of Asuka for a fleeting moment. A sardonic smile spread across his lips. Truly, Shinji had achieved the sigma grindset.
A/N: I actually watched those dumb "Sigma male" videos before making this. God, how I wish I could forget.