Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion. And I don't own the Takoball awards. Please don't sue me, as I have no money and am making no money out of this.
Shinji Ikari opened the door to the apartment and went in, picking the mail up as he was taking off his shoes. He started sifting through it as he walked down the hall.
'Mmm... bill... bill... Fashion magazine... school newsletter... bill... uh? What's that?', Shinji frowned at a plain black envelope with no sender address and only the apartment number on the front. He tore it open and took out two sheets of black paper covered in red letters. He looked at the header with a puzzled face. "Takoballs? I didn't know they had Mexican restaurants in Toky.. Ouch!", he was knocked out of his reverie and brought back to reality by a very solid body bumping into him.
"Shinji, you idiot! What are you doing standing in the doorway like you've grown roots? Don't you know people want to walk.. Hey, what's that?" Before Shinji could reply, Asuka had grabbed the papers from his hand and finished unfolding it herself. "Takoballs?? What on earth are Takoballs?"
"That's what I was trying to find out," replied the boy, trying to read the paper over Asuka's shoulder.
"An Eva fiction award? You mean people write stories about us??" That came from a very surprised redhead, but she noticed Shinji didn't seem that surprised. "You mean you knew about it?" she scowled.
Shinji seemed to shrink just a bit as he answered. "Well... I knew about the fiction, but I didn't know anything about awards," he straightened up and took the paper from the stunned Asuka. "Let's see what it says here... Fics published or added to between June 2001 and June 2002... more information at http://www.darkscribes.org/takoballs/index.htm..."
"Skip the boring part, will you?" said Asuka impatiently, "What categories are there?"
"The usual stuff," said Shinji "Best Structure, Best Characterization, Best Darkfic/Sadfic, Best Poem/Sonf...Wha..?" Shinji's eyes bulged in surprise as he saw the name on the page.
"What is it?" asked Asuka. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I... I don't belive this! Rei won best poem last year!" he was utterly baffled, as was Asuka. "Look here," he showed her the page, "Best Poem/Songfic: Musings in blue, by Ayanami Rei," his eyes went on to the next category, "And Kensuke too! Look!" Shinji held the letter to the incredulous Asuka, who could see the words Best Drama/Action/Adventure:Titans over Tokyo-3: an observer's view, by Aida Kensuke.
"What?? That stooge won something? This isn't happening!" she grabbed the letter again and her face turned dark red as she read the next category. "Kaji writes... Lemons?? This is not happening!" she repeated, as if saying it often enough would make it real.
Shinji laughed. "That's actually funny! With his experience, I'm sure it's good stu.." the boy stopped when he saw the look Asuka was giving him and quickly added, "I mean, how could he write something like that? Sweet and innocent Kaji." He glanced at Asuka and saw that she wasn't convinced, but looked like she was going to let it slide, as she turned her attention to the next category. Shinji thought he had seen all expressions of surprise Asuka could make, but he was proven wrong as her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
"How could she do this to us?? I'm going to kill her!" Asuka shoved the paper in Shinji's face and he read last year's winner for Best Humor Story: My life with the Children, by Katuragi Misato.
Shinji chuckled, because at that point he was beyond astonished and was starting to see the funny side of the situation. Asuka, on the other hand, didn't find it amusing in the least. "What are you laughing about? Don't you see that everybody in Tokyo-3 knows about the Takoballs but us?"
"Yeah," the boy replied. "It's kind of funny, isn't it?"
"No, it isn't. But I know why they have kept it from me. They didn't want me competing and winning all the prizes. But I'll show them!" the girl said, her voice full of determination. "I'm going to win all the major awards this year! Just you wait, Shinji Ikari."
"But Asuka, have you ever written fanfiction?" Shinji asked.
"Like that's going to be a problem for someone as talented as myself. Do you know what my Language grades were at school?" she replied.
"And the deadline is almost up. I don't think we have time." Shinji was getting his own ideas by now. Fortunately for him, Asuka didn't hear the 'we'.
"I'm perfectly capable of writing at least three masterpieces of fanfiction in the time that's left. All I have to do is write about how wonderful *I* am. Oh, and I might include you and Wondergirl too." With that, Asuka handed the letter back to Shinji and went off to her room to get started, mumbling things about 'teaching people not to make a fool of Asuka Langley Sohryu' and so on.
Shinji looked after her and sighed. He looked again at the information in the letter to make sure he understood everything and went to his own room. He had his own idea for a fic to enter in the competition, but he wasn't about to tell Asuka that.
Once the kitchen was quiet again, the door to the refrigerator opened and Pen-Pen came out. He had overheard the whole conversation with a very pleased look on his face. He went over to the phone and dialed an unlisted number. It was time to inform Lord Deathscythe that the plan had worked.
Author's notes: Well, I don't really have an excuse for this, since I only wrote it to see if I could do it. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. I'd like to blame.. I mean, thank Lord Deathscythe for the inspiring idea.
Feedback is very welcome.
Takoball
