I DO NOT OWN EVANGELION. I DO NOT OWN THESE CHARACTERS. (Yet… muahahaha! Oops, got my identity mixed up with Gendo's…)

*****

Misato lurches into the apartment. She glances at the clock without actually registering any meaning (the time is 10:00 PM, Sunday). She is still a drunken wreck. After Asuka's recovery and the subsequent possibility of the resurrection of her semblance of a family, she was lifted from her depression and the world seemed to look a good deal better. So, she went on another drinking binge (Misato both mourns and celebrates with good old alcohol). Subsequently, she is smashed yet again.

Misato trudges to Shinji's room absentmindedly and peers in through blurry eyes. Asuka is curled up on the floor next to Shinji's futon, which holds the boy himself. Both look extremely tired and sickly, but they have identical contented smiles upon their ravaged faces. This curious fact does not seem in the least unusual to Misato at the time. "Ah, so they've made up", she thinks. She does not remember this picturesque scene in the morning.

Misato plods off to the bathroom and proceeds to brush her hair with the toothpaste and floss her nose. After falling into her bed like dead weight, a peaceful sleep ensues, but unfortunately for Misato, the next morning is nowhere near as pleasant.

*****

I wake up to a familiar sound – the sound of Misato groaning incoherently. The sound would be horrible and nearly unbearable to most, however, it is a welcome sound to my ears. It means that the routine, which had been absent from my life for so long, is finally making a reappearance, and despite my espoused position, it can be refreshing to have a little routine once in a while. Shinji is lying in his futon peacefully. Many of the hard lines I had scene drawn on his face have been smoothed from just one good night's rest, and it looks as if the marks of his time here will soon fade away, unlike my injury. It still amazes me to think just how fragile his mind is – that he would lose all will to live over me. I, who am always so mean to him. Perhaps I am something more to him than he is to me?

It strikes me just how thin he is. Once he wakes up he'll probably insist on cooking breakfast, the baka. But Misato isn't going to, and I can't cook. I could try to learn, but I don't feel like it. I have a much better idea…

*****

Asuka: Cook, Pen-Pen, Cook! Or I'll never unlock the bathroom for you again!

Pen-Pen: Warble, warble [sniff] (OK bitch-lady, I'll agree for now, but I'll get you when you're asleep. Don't ever mess with a penguin of this caliber.)

Asuka: Damn right! No, she can't understand penguin speech Shinji needs his breakfast! And more importantly, so do I!

In no time, Pen-Pen whips up a first class traditional Japanese breakfast under my watchful eye. True to my word, I open the bathroom for him, but his warbles hardly sound grateful, though I hardly notice. I carry the steaming platter into Shinji's room, after eating my share, of course. His eyes slowly blink open in response to the mouthwatering aroma. His eyes take on a hungry look when he sees the food. I beam with pride, for, after all, it was my wonderful personality that created that food.

Shinji: [sharp intake of breath] Did you make this Asuka?

Asuka: Sure did! (Pen-Pen grumbles in the distance)

Shinji: [noticeably disappointed] Oh…

Asuka: I, um, learned how to cook from you!

Shinji: Hmmm…

Asuka: Eat it! [Menacing glare]

Shinji: Hai, Asuka-san… [He takes a big bite, and to his evident surprise, it tastes good.]

Shinji: Wow, this is really good! I don't remember ever teaching you anything, though.

Asuka: Baka! Girls can watch something without seeming to, you know!

Shinji: Oh. Of course.

Shinji eats his meal in no time, and he looks much the better for it. I deem it is finally time for us to have our conversation, since, thanks to Misato's groans, I know that it will be private. I find it difficult, however, to say what I want to say outright, so I think that we'll start out by getting to know each other a little better.

Asuka: Shinji…

Shinji: Hai?

Asuka: …What was your mother like?

Shinji: (long silence) … I don't really know much about her. She died in an… accident when I was very young.

Asuka: … Oh. It's the same way with me. My mother… died when I was very young as well. I had a stepmother from then on.

Shinji: I've lived with my teacher from the accident until now, when my… father called me.

Asuka: Ah… your father.

Shinji: Sometimes I hate him; sometimes I'm not quite sure… but now… I know that I hate him.

Asuka: … He killed my best friend.

Shinji: (faraway-sounding) Yeah, I know…

Shinji: …You know, my mother didn't really die in an accident. She was absorbed into my Eva, never to be seen again. And it's all my father's fault…

Asuka: … My mother didn't die in an accident either. She… killed herself because she went crazy in an Eva experiment. But I really think that it was actually my father's fault. We don't seem to have much luck with fathers, do we?

Shinji: No. No we don't…

Misato appears in the doorway. I had forgotten to listen to her groans for some time now, and hadn't noticed her coming. Who knows how much she had heard? Now that I think about it, though, it really doesn't matter, because she knows it all already.

Misato: You kids need to get ready for school.

Asuka & Shinji: Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

Misato: You have to get back in the routine sometime. Might as well be now.

Asuka: But…

Misato: No buts, I can't take much arguing. My hangover hasn't worn off yet. [She takes the last bite of Pen-Pen's breakfast]. You might as well go now, the sooner the better.

Asuka: (grumble grumble grumble)

Asuka:(whispers to Shinji) You know, I thought I heard my mom talking to me when I was… asleep. She said that we should be friends!