Disclaimer: see part 1
The Lifespan of a Love Affair.
By Random1377
Week 6: Rattling Sabers
Misato sighed contentedly, setting her beer down and glancing at her two charges. Four o'clock on a Friday, and all's well, she thought approvingly, watching the Children as they made small talk and snacked on some leftover udon.
She should have sensed the danger in Asuka's mischievous grin.
"So what are you doing tonight?" she asked the operations director.
"Me?" Misato frowned at Shinji, who had his bowl to his lips, gathering the last of his noodles. "Don't have anything planned," she shrugged, "Why, what are you doing?"
"I'm taking Shinji on a date," the redhead informed her coolly.
"Oh is that right?" Misato replied, arching an eyebrow as she turned to face Shinji.
"Uh huh," Asuka chirped, taking great pleasure in watching the boy try to swallow the mouthful of food and cut in. "I'm taking him to dinner," she dropped him a wink, "and I'm wearing a sexy dress – just for him."
"It's not," Shinji coughed, pounding on his chest and blinking as his eyes watered, "it's not… like that…"
"What is it like then?" Misato asked innocently.
"It's a date," Asuka said boldly, overriding Shinji's feeble, coughing protest. "We made a bet… he won… so I'm taking him out." She leaned across the table, dropping the older woman a wink as she added, "He hasn't seen the dress yet, but I'll show you later if you wanna see."
"It was… her idea," Shinji gasped, finally clearing his throat, "I told her she didn't have to…"
The damage had already been done. "It's no big deal, Shinji," Misato shrugged, "it's not like I'm your… mother or anything."
Shinji flinched at the chill in the woman's voice, but since Asuka was in the room, all he could do was whisper, "Right…"
"Well," the operations director said lightly, pushing her chair back from the table, "I'm gonna watch some TV… you kids have fun on your date." She made her way to her room – locking it behind her – and clicked on her television, raising the volume to drown out the frustrated growl that was sounding in the back of her throat. "Damn it!" she swore, tearing her shirt off and hurling it across the room. "That bitch! And Shinji! What the hell is he thinking!? I know he's heard the word no before! Damn it!!"
She took a calming breath, slowly opening her dresser and taking out a nightshirt.
"Ok," she whispered, "ok, ok, ok, ok… Shinji's still mine," she told herself, "right? Right. He's… I'm his girlfriend…" She closed her eyes, trying not to feel like she was lying, "and Asuka – oh, she's just doing this to piss me off! I can see it in those shifty little eyes of hers." She frowned, balling her fist in frustration. "They better just have dinner," she muttered coldly.
Taking another breath, she threw herself onto her futon and closed her eyes. If she DOES try anything… she thought angrily, telling herself that she was well within her rights to feel this way, I'll fucking kill her.
**
Shinji and Asuka made their way through the apartment's lobby to the elevator, neither feeling inclined to break the silence that had descended after their dinner date.
Timing, Asuka thought, smiling as she pushed the button to summon the elevator it's all about timing. She cast Shinji a sideways glance, You poor boy, she grinned to herself, it's time for you to find out just how little you know.
Shinji's thoughts, by contrast, were entirely elsewhere. She wouldn't even open the door so I could say goodbye, he thought miserably, recalling his tentative knock before leaving on his date. Dinner had actually turned out to be rather pleasant, and he found that (when she was not trying to outdo him) Asuka was fairly enjoyable company… but since leaving the restaurant, she had grown quieter and quieter. Like she's got something on her mind, he thought absently as they stepped out of the elevator.
Reaching for his keys, he found Asuka's hand on his upper arm. "Hey wait a sec," she whispered.
"What is it?" Shinji asked curiously, letting his keys fall back into his pocket. "Is something wrong?"
"I had a good time tonight," Asuka told him, tilting her head to the side and smiling warmly.
"Me too," Shinji admitted, "we should hang out more, you know – maybe with like, Hikari and Touji and stuff." Abruptly, he blushed. "I'm sorry that I made you wear a dress…"
"I don't mind," the redhead hummed, "but since this was a date…" She stepped closer to him, leaning up with a seductive smile.
Shinji pulled back, blinking in surprise.
"Don't play hard to get," Asuka grinned, "it's a date… you kiss at the end of a date," She lowered her voice to a sultry whisper. "Or are you scared?"
Scared of you? Shinji thought skeptically, Never! Well… ok, maybe a little – but after kissing Misato, I'm sure not scared of kissing YOU. "I'm not scared," he said quietly, remembering suddenly how Misato turned her head when he tried to kiss her first or left the room any time he tried to do more than kiss her – even touch her hair.
"I'm not scared."
Asuka's smile wavered at the calm certainty in the boy's voice. "Then… then here I come," she said softly.
Shinji nodded. Why should I stop her? he thought angrily, even then trying to justify what was about to happen, Misato never said I couldn't see other girls, and… and she's probably seeing someone else too – she's hardly ever home. He bowed his head. And she wouldn't even open the door to say goodbye…
He cleared his mind as Asuka suddenly leaned forward, putting her hands on his shoulders and pulling him closer to her. "Ok," she said hesitantly, "here we go."
When she held still, Shinji's lips quirked up into a small smile. "You said that already," he pointed out softly. "Are you scared, Asuka?"
"N-no!" the redhead snapped, "I just… I didn't want to blow your mind, Third Child – I wanted you to be ready!"
Shinji almost laughed, feeling oddly relieved at seeing the girl so awkward. She's just a child herself, he thought, shaking his head. "That's very considerate of you, Asuk-"
Abruptly, Asuka pushed him against the wall, clamping her lips over his and thrusting her tongue into his mouth. There! she thought triumphantly, That shut you up. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her breasts against him like all the women in the movies she had seen. Nothing smart to say? she thought, trying to lick the roof of his mouth, Guess you don't think you're so good now, do… do you…?
Her illusions of being the one in control where shattered as Shinji's hands closed around her waist, sliding slowly up her body until they were cradling her head and lightly massaging the back of her scalp. She shivered involuntarily as the boy carefully tilted her head to the side, letting their mouths engage more fully, and gently suckled her tongue. Gasping, she broke the kiss, instinctively crossing her arms and covering her chest with her palms.
"Is something wrong?" Shinji asked, absently rubbing his mouth with the back of his hand.
"You... your breath was tickling me," the redhead sniffed, shivering again as the fabric of her bra rubbed the two burning spots on her chest with every breath she took. "Try not to exhale all over me next time…"
"Next time?" Shinji echoed. "So… are we like, dating, or-"
"No!" Asuka cut in, blushing angrily. "This was just one time – I don't want to go out with you, you're… you're a bad kisser!"
In spite of her hopes that this would upset the boy, Shinji simply nodded. "Ok." After a moment, he touched his mouth with the tips of two fingers. "I think you bruised my lips…" he whispered, obviously amused.
The redhead turned away. I can't… I don't believe this! she thought bitterly, How can he be that calm?!? That was… really hot… but he doesn't even care! God, I'm… I must be…
"A loser…"
"What's that?" Shinji asked, leaning closer to the girl, "I didn't quite hear you, you were whispering."
"I said let's go in," Asuka said flatly, stepping away from him. "Date's over, Third Child – I've lived up to my end of the bet." She stared at him for a moment, waiting until he met her eyes before whispering, "Don't think just because I kissed you that I like you or anything… I just wanted to see what it was like."
Shinji nodded, slowly pulling away from the wall. "I understand," he said slowly, the novelty of kissing the Second Child quickly replaced with guilt and embarrassment for trying to rationalize this mild form of infidelity.
"Good."
Together, the two Children headed into the apartment, each, for different reasons… regretting the conclusion of their date.
**
Two days later, Misato stood on the catwalk in a little used section of E division, leaning against the rail and waiting for her boyfriend to come out of the dressing room below. Just capture the angel, she thought tiredly, sure… no big deal – it's just under a few thousand tons of lava, no problem, Commander! You just leave it to us! She closed her eyes as Shinji appeared, clad in the specially designed J-type plugsuit.
"Fuck."
"Well you could," a sarcastic voice behind her chuckled, "but personally – the Pillsbury Doughboy down there isn't looking so sexy right now."
Misato's lips pulled away from her teeth. "What would you know about sexy?" she grumbled, opening her eyes as Kaji arrived quietly at her side. "As I recall, your idea of 'sexy' is crotch-less panties and a little baby oil."
"Ahh," Kaji sighed, "memories."
"Asshole."
"Ahh," Kaji sighed again, "Mem-"
"If you know what's good for you," Misato cut in sharply, "you'll just keep your fucking mouth shut."
Kaji grinned. "Something you could never quite manage," he replied.
Misato rolled her eyes, choosing to let the conversation go for the time being. Immature fucker, she thought angrily, waving as Shinji looked up at her and smiled uncertainly. Thinks just because we used to fuck… She shook her head, and you; she thought darkly, 'it was just a date' was it? Then why has Asuka been so damn quiet the past couple days? I thought for sure she would jump at the opportunity to get into the volcano and grab the angel – but she just stood there and stared at Shinji the whole time.
"Is Unit 01 ready?" she yelled abruptly, trying to focus on her duty.
"Yeah," Ritsuko waved, "D-equipment is in place." She grinned, "Kinda had to refit the helmet, but it's good to go now."
Misato nodded. "Excellent… we'll begin just as soon as Shinji stops waddling."
This drew a chuckle from everyone, including Shinji, and Misato smiled. He would have told me, she thought confidently, if anything happened with Asuka, Shinji wouldn't be able to keep it from me – he'd be too guilty. Maybe… oh this fits! Maybe she wanted to do something, but he turned her down! Yeah… that could be-
"Playing favorites are we?" Kaji asked lightly, cutting into her contemplation of Shinji's date.
"You know," Misato retorted thoughtfully, "I don't recall giving you authorization to be here, agent Kaji."
Kaji snorted, glancing down at the swollen form of the Third Child. "I don't recall your authority extending that far, captain."
Misato glowered but found that she had no suitable reply. "Shinji," she called finally, "are you ready to go? Time's wasting, I wanna get this show on the road."
"Yes ma'am," the boy replied, sounding a bit flustered, "but… but with Unit 01 in that big suit, how am I supposed to move around?"
"You won't need to," Misato informed him, "you're not going into combat, Shinji, this is just a little snatch and grab – it's a milkrun."
"Which is why you were chosen, sweetheart," Kaji muttered at her side.
"Shut up."
Kaji shook his head, obviously amused by the venom in the woman's voice. "Yes, ma'am," he mocked, allowing his voice to pitch a bit higher in an obvious imitation of Shinji's.
"What am I doing here again?" Asuka grumbled, stepping onto the catwalk from the side door and approaching the two adults.
"You'll be backing Shinji up," Misato said quietly, watching Shinji take a few more bloated steps, his arms waving at his sides as he tried to adjust to his new center of balance.
"Riiight," Asuka yawned, "so if anything goes wrong, I can just dive right into the volcano with no protective gear of my own and fry while trying to save poor, helpless Shinji." She smiled sweetly. "Does that about sum it up, Miss Katsuragi?"
"What is this?" Misato growled, "Give Misato Shit Day??"
Kaji and Asuka exchanged a look. "Well," the redhead grinned, "if it wasn't before, it is now."
"God," Misato sighed, smiling in spite of herself, "what did I do to deserve this…?"
Her smile vanished in an instant as Kaji leaned forward and put his hands on the railing, looking down at Shinji as he whispered, "Him."
Since Asuka was standing less than ten feet away, all Misato could do was grip the railing in her hands and bite her tongue.
Continued…
Author's Notes: With a growing spiderweb of doubt and mistrust gradually entangling both Misato and Shinji, can they avoid discovery while maintaining and nurturing the fragile romance between them? And when a horrible day at the office drives Misato to push things ever so slightly forward, how will Shinji react?
Find out in the next chapter: Losing Control.
Pre-read on this chapter was by LeperMessiah and Mike.
Feedback is always welcome at random1377@yahoo.com
