Cooking

An office in Nerv headquarters. An office just like many of the other offices lined up next to it. All with the same computer, desk, coffee maker, chairs, etc. And in the chair behind the computer sat Doctor Akagi Ritsuko, with a coffee stain on her white lab coat. She cleaned her mouth with a napkin, and then her coat as much as possible. She recomposed herself, again as much as possible, and turned back to the girl standing in front of the door.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry what did you say Rei?" Ritsuko asked politely.

"I asked of a favor of you. For you to teach me how to cook, that is if your duty permits." Rei said, in the same monotoned voice she used previously.

"Well, yes I could, but... why would you want to learn? Doesn't Commander Ikari take care of all your meals?" Ritsuko asked.

"I have an objective to complete and it requires that skill to complete it" Rei said.

"Well, are you talking about Misato's assignment to you and Asuka?" Ritsuko asked.

Rei stands in silent for a moment before replying, "Yes, it is"

"Well, I can teach you when I'm off work today I guess..." Ritsuko said, "can you meet me outside headquarters at five?"

Rei nods and begins to walk out the door. Ritsuko stops her by asking "Do you have a plan Rei?"

Rei stands in the doorway not facing Ritsuko. She then replies "I don't know" and walks into the hallway, the door closing behind her.

Ritsuko slumps down her her chair and closes her eyes. After a while she reopens them and examined her coat again.

"I guess I'll get it changed" Ritsuko says to herself and walks out of the room.

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Shinji knocked on Asuka's door for the fifth time. "Soryu, dinner's ready...."

"I'm not eating" Asuka says.

"Come on, just come and eat with us" Shinji tries again.

"I'm not eating with her and I'm not hungry!" Asuka yells loudly, "I'm not having the greatest day of my life right now and I'm sure YOU know why?!"

Shinji stood there stunned by her loud voice and sharp words. He then just walked into the dining room and sat down to eat. Rei was already seated. Rei then said in a soft voice "Itadakimasu.." and slowly began eating.

"Itadakimasu.." Shinji says unenthusiastically and begins eating, not caring about Rei saying something that polite. Or even knowing how.

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"Thanks for helping me make dinner" Shinji says, "are you sure you don't want me to walk you?"

"It's not necessary" Rei says as she walks out of the apartment.

"Uh.. well see you tomorrow, I guess" Shinji says.

Rei turns around, nods, and walks to the elevator. Shinji watches until she gets in and the doors close. He then closes the door and walks into the kitchen. Rei had helped clean up and the leftovers, which was a lot since they had cooked for four people, was wrapped and put in the refrigerator. He begins to think of something to do when Asuka's door opens and she walks out dressed in her nightwear.

"Did she leave?" Asuka asks as she walks into the kitchen.

"Yeah, you could've at least came out to say good-bye" Shinji says.

Asuka does not respond and sits down at the table. Shinji sighs and opens the refrigerator and takes out the leftovers. He puts one of the plates into the microwave and sets the timer. He then sits across from Asuka.

"I'm not eating it" Asuka says stubbornly.

"I know you're hungry, and what's starving yourself going to do for you?" Shinji asks.

"I'm not eating anything she made" Asuka says emphasizing the she.

"Come on, it's pretty good" Shinji says, trying again.

Asuka glared at him as if he had insulted her. She continued to glare until the microwave beeped and Shinji walked over to it. He took the plate out and replaced it with another, then set the timer once again. Again he sat down placing the first plate in front of Asuka.

Asuka just stared unimpressively at the food.

"It's good, trust me" Shinji says.

"Shut up! I don't care if it's good, I'm not eating it" Asuka says not taking her sight off the food.

The two sit in silence until the microwave beeps again, and Shinji repeats his previous procedure. This happens two more times until the last plate was put in the microwave and had been heated. Shinji places it, along with the other plates in front of Asuka who had still not eaten any of it. Shinji stares for a while, then shrugs and walks into his room.

Asuka continues to stare at the food that was mocking her so much. Her stare transformed into a glare and then into a face filled with anger and frustration.

"I'm not hungry...." She muttered as she took a bite.

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Rei walked through her door that was never locked. She walked to her bed and stripped herself of all her clothes. She then lies down and drifts to sleep. Whenever Rei slept, she was thoughtless. She just focused on sleeping. No troubling thoughts, nor pleasing ones. No remorses, no guilt, no nothing. Just sleep. It is a wonderful gift.

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My Rants

I'm thinking of skipping the next angel. You know, the one that takes over the Eva during some tests and they're all naked so they can't leave their plugs when they get ejected. But I don't know, tell me what you guys think. Oh and sorry for the shortness of the chapter considering how long I took posting it. I started writing a somewhat rough draftish kinda thing for the prologish kind of thing for a possible sequel to it. Why the wierd wording because it was basically me playing with ideas and seeing how I could go from them. I didn't get very far considering how much time I took doing it. Also I remember sometime one of my friends told me I should always think of the beginning and the end of the story before I start writing one, and I didn't do that for this so I figured it's a good time. Anyway thanks guys for the reviews.