Second Movement.
Asuka's eyes fluttered open with the first inklings of dawn, soft sunlight diffusing through her window to land at her bedside. She made a noise part sigh, part groan, and turned over beneath the sheets, wondering if she would be able to sleep again.
After only a few minutes of forcing her eyes shut she surrendered to wakefulness and stole from her bedroom, slipping into the kitchen to search for food to sustain her until the morning meal. She found several small, frozen rice balls in the refrigerator, hidden amongst Misato's ample supply of beer and the various other necessities to a Japanese meal.
She sat at the table and chewed slowly on the rice balls, content in having the early morn to call her own. When she had taken sufficient repast she moved silently to the living room. Looking out the window she could see Tokyo-3 beginning to awake as well, kiosks opening to supply hurried workers, and a few cars disappearing down the roadways to some unknown destination.
She sat without knowing how much time was past, until a sound behind her startled her into looking over her shoulder. Shinji had come out of his bedroom, rubbing his eyes.
"Asuka?" he said.
She nodded without responding, but shuffled farther away from the window so she could no longer see directly out of it. She looked at the clock at long last and saw they had only an hour or so before they needed to be at school.
"Morning," a sleepy voice behind her said, and Asuka knew without looking that it was Misato, probably looking disheveled from rolling around too much in her sleep.
Asuka forced herself to stand and turned, greeting Misato. She went into the bathroom and started a shower running. In the kitchen Shinji had begun to prepare breakfast, but the sounds vanished as Asuka stepped into the running water.
She was immediately surrounded by the sound of water beating against the sides of the shower, blocking out any other noise. For a moment she let herself become completely lost in the roar, but knew she could not stand there for too long lest she be late to school.
Annoyed with the constraints of her schedule, Asuka shut the water off, climbed out of the shower, and put on her school uniform. She arrived in the kitchen still trying to dry her hair, which was puffy and dry in some spots and stuck in wet clumps in others.
"Can't dry this…stupid hair…" Asuka muttered, running the towel up and down the length of her red locks.
"I'm sorry," Shinji said.
"That's what you always say," Asuka told him angrily. "You're always sorry about everything! It's not always your fault, y'know!"
"Oh…er, I…I'm sorry," Shinji said.
"There!" Asuka said. "You're doing it again!"
"Oh, c'mon," Misato said, grinning. "That's just the way he is. Don't let it bother you."
"I think you're being too lax about these spineless tendencies of his," Asuka said, pulling a chair out and sitting down. She wolfed down breakfast and packed her lunch as quickly as she could, heading out the door before Shinji had a chance to follow.
Asuka was glad to have the route to herself for once, but kept her pace hurried so she would not be late. The day was still clear as the previous one had been, but Asuka did not notice the birdcalls as she had the day before. Sooner than it had yesterday, the schoolbuilding appeared on the horizon and grew nearer, until she was at its front steps.
She tossed the door open and went inside, still no sign of Shinji behind her. Without dawdling in the halls Asuka arrived at room 2-A, to find she had nearly fifteen minutes until the day began. Only a few other students were present in the room, none of them people she knew.
Five minutes later Shinji appeared in the room. He did not seem put out that Asuka had left without him; in fact, he showed no new emotion toward her or anyone. Asuka felt vaguely guilty about having left him behind, but no so much that she was galled to apologizing.
The room slowly filled with familiar faces. Soon behind Shinji were Toji and Kensuke, and not long after them, Hikari.
"Hey, Hikari," Asuka said as the girl sat down next to her.
"Hi Asuka," Hikari replied, smiling. Her face clouded a little. "Ikari-kun seems a bit down today," she said. "Do you know what's wrong?"
Asuka was taken aback, though she did her best not to show it. "I didn't notice anything," she said, trying to keep her voice neutral. "And anyway," she added, indicating where Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke were all sitting, "he's got those two stooges to entertain him."
Hikari made a sound between acknowledgment and disappointment and began digging school supplies out of her book-bag. Asuka stole a last glance at Shinji, who did not seem to notice the two girls talking, before the teacher entered the room and called the class to order.
Hikari directed the morning greeting and the teacher began relating where he had been at the time of the Second Impact.
It's like he forgets he's told us this same story every two days all year, Asuka thought, looking at the teacher and making a disgusted face. She looked around the room, her eyes resting on Ayanami, silent and inscrutable as always.
Afraid he will not care about you?
Rei's voice rang in her skull, taunting her. Asuka clenched her teeth and tried to drive the sound from her mind.
It is.
Care about you?
The lunch bell ripped Asuka from her thoughts, pulling her brutally back to the here and now.
"C'mon, Asuka, let's go eat," Hikari was saying and pulling on her shoulder.
"O—okay," Asuka said, "just a second." She reached into her book-bag and withdrew the lunch she'd stowed there. She stood and followed Hikari out of the room and onto the schoolyard, already quite populous by the time they arrived.
Asuka looked around: all the usual pairings and groups were present. Shinji sat with his two friends, and Rei was seated at a far table, under the shade of a large tree. Asuka and Hikari sat on a stone veranda not far from the schoolbuilding itself. Asuka was all the more content not to be surrounded by people, and certainly not to be sitting any the nearer to Ayanami.
Shinji had become absorbed in the chatter of his companions, and Asuka watched him from afar, Shinji blissfully ignorant of her gaze.
"Hey, Asuka," Hikari said, looking slightly concerned for her friend, "you seem kind of distracted, are you all right?"
"Huh?" Asuka said. "Oh! Oh, I'm fine! Just fine!"
"You were staring," Hikari said. "That table over there, I think," she said, pointing at Shinji's table and starting to smile. "Have you got a thing for him?"
"What!?" Asuka said, trying her best to look stunned and repulsed at the same time. "I do not have a 'thing' for Shinji!"
Hikari giggled. "Well then, if you say so."
Asuka, face burning, hurried to eat lunch.
****
"I don't see why they need us to come to headquarters on a day when there's nothing even scheduled," Asuka said irritably.
"You know," Shinji said, walking beside her. "They have to take roll call of the pilots and everything."
Asuka was vaguely annoyed that Shinji had responded to what was obviously a rhetorical statement, but let the matter pass, simply glad that Ayanami was once again several minutes behind them. Shinji seemed disappointed that Rei had been unable to accompany them, but when he had suggested they wait for her Asuka had made it very clear that they had to leave now.
The sun was still up and no sign of clouds was in the sky; dark evening would be some time in coming. As ever the two walked in silence, Asuka supporting her book-bag and Shinji carrying his texts in the crook of his arm. At length they arrived at NERV headquarters, and each scanned their ID cards.
To Shinji, the hallways at NERV always seemed terribly vast and empty. He only rarely saw other people in them, and they were invariably so polished and sterile that he was constantly under the impression that he was soiling them merely by being present.
Asuka seemed to have no such qualms, walking confidently down the corridors, appearing unafraid of the lack of human presence. She had stopped their little party to look at a map when they heard footsteps approaching up the hall. The two of them looked around, expecting to see a mechanic or staff technician, but were greeted instead by Ayanami Rei, who appeared to walk while forever staring at the ground.
"Oh. It's you," Asuka muttered.
"A—Ayanami," Shinji said, smiling hesitantly. "It's—good to see you."
Rei only nodded and then continued walking down the hall.
"C'mon," Asuka said gruffly, "let's follow Wondergirl, now that she's here anyway."
They turned and trailed after Rei, Shinji walking slightly fast in hopes of catching up with her, Asuka purposely hanging back.
Even at Shinji's approaching footsteps Rei did not turn around, nor slow down so he could walk beside her. Only her measured, echoing steps indicated she was alive and not merely an oversized doll, though Asuka found it all too easy to pretend that Rei was not in fact alive, animated only by the will of others because she had no will of her own.
They arrived at the main command center to find the place in turmoil.
"Glad to see you're all here," Misato said, not a trace of sarcasm in her tone. They nodded at her.
"We're getting strange readings on the outskirts of Tokyo-3," she explained. Techs and scientists shouted to each other in the background; people ran back and forth across the room with readouts and information.
A giant viewscreen flickered to life above them all: it depicted, floating in the cloudless sky over Tokyo-3, a giant, black-and-white-striped sphere. Several people stared at it in amazement; Asuka was stunned by the sheer size of it.
Makoto's fingers flew across his keyboard. "Target identity confirmed!" he called. "Object is the twelfth angel!"
