Hey again. Please be gentle, as this is my first Eva fanfic. Been an Eva fan forever, but never wrote a fanfic till now. Thank you to the follow people who reviewed: PW, keyblade-00, Chewie, Hitmanhand, Greg of th 3rd Rainbow Crystal, Th1Rd-Ch1Ld, Ishagu, dennisud, Croatoan, DarkPower, and The Lord of pencil. Thank you for all of the positive comments! I had no idea a post-series high school story was in such high demand!
Somewhere in BetweenChapter Two
At lunch, Asuka found a nice, shady tree to eat under. She felt like being alone today, but she knew that Shinji would find her. They had grown so much closer over the last two years, even if they fought like cats and dogs usually. That wasn't a bad analogy of them, actually, Asuka realized. Asuka was like a cat—independent, nice if she liked you, but if you pet her the wrong way she had a nasty bite. Shinji, on the other hand, was like a dog. He was a loyal, faithful, and followed people he trusted around. He tried to be nice to everyone now, and smiled much more.
Asuka shook her head. "Not thinking about us. Thinking about Wakaouji-sensei's sudden vendetta against me."
As she opened her lunch, she tried to think of possible reasons that Wakaouji Hiroe, English teacher extraordinaire, would have a personal reason to try and make Asuka leave Shinji alone. It wasn't like Wakaouji-sensei had a thing for Shinji, because that would be creepy. And why would she worry about Asuka? It wasn't as if Asuka was Shinji's girlfriend. She would die before that ever happened. Even thinking about it took her appetite away partially.
So what could it be?
Asuka didn't remember ever causing any trouble in Wakaouji-sensei's class. Frowning, she reworded that thought. She never caused trouble in any of her classes. She was a good girl. Gendo had threatened to take away her apartment if she ever got in any serious trouble at school or otherwise…so she never caused any trouble. True, she may be a brat sometimes, but…
"Asuka?"
She jumped.
"Whoa. Asuka, it's just me." Shinji sat down next to her, against the trunk of the tree. "Why aren't you eating at the table today?"
"I just needed a little time to think," she confessed, pushing her microwaved food around. She sighed and stuffed a piece of food into her mouth.
"What's bothering you?" Shinji asked through a mouthful of food.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," she reminded him absently. "I think Wakaouji-sensei hates me."
After he swallowed, Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Why would Wakaouji-sensei hate you? If she hates you, then she must hate me too."
She shook her head. "She likes you, Shinji. She hates me though. You know when she leaned over on my desk? She told me I was a troublemaker, a delinquent, and if she had her way, she would kick me out of our classroom for good."
Shinji squeezed her hand, surprising her. "If you want me to, I can talk to otou-san and ask him to speak to Fuyutsuki on your behalf." Gendo's right-hand assistant had become the principal of the high school Shinji, Asuka, and Rei attended. The former NERV figurehead had made sure that his son, his surrogate daughter, and his son's best friend had been admitted to that particular high school for that particular reason.
Hurriedly, Asuka shook her head. "Who will Fuyutsuki believe, a teacher or me?"
"Most likely you, Asuka. Remember, Fuyutsuki was the second-highest man in the NERV organization. He knows you. I'm sure he wouldn't think you were lying," Shinji told her.
"They're going to believe Wakaouji-sensei. If Fuyutsuki believes me, who's to say the rest of the administration will go against him? Besides…she hasn't made any threats of bodily harm towards me." Sighing, Asuka dug around in her lukewarm food. "I just don't want to cause trouble, and if I say anything…they may kick me out of your class anyway." I don't want to leave your class, Shinji. I don't know what I would do. We've been in the same class since eighth grade…
Suddenly, Shinji began to laugh.
"Shinji?" Asuka questioned, staring at him.
After a few elusive moments of laughter, Shinji wiped his eyes on his arm. "When did I become Mr. Optimism and you Miss Pessimism?"
Asuka paused. "I don't know. That is pretty funny, though."
He reached over and ruffled her hair. "I l…" he caught what he was going to say and swallowed it with forced laughter.
Fortunately, Asuka didn't notice—she had, however, noticed him ruffling her hair. "Dummkopf!" she cried, punching his shoulder and fixing her auburn locks. "Don't mess with my hair." She wolfed down the rest of her lunch as Shinji did the same with his and yawned, leaning back against the tree and straightening her skirt. "So what should I do about Wakaouji-sensei?"
"I'm not sure," Shinji said, staring out across the field. Touji and Kensuke waved to him from their table and made motions for Asuka and Shinji to join them, Hikari, and Rei. Shinji waved them off, shaking his head. They rolled their eyes and Touji let out a wolf-whistle.
That pissed Asuka off.
She jumped to her feet and ran over to Touji, landed a fist on his head, and ran back over to her tree. "Stupid boys. God I hate little boys."
Shinji raised an eyebrow. "Should I be offended?"
"You aren't a little boy," Asuka assured him. "You don't do stupid things like Kensuke and Touji do."
He shrugged. "I try not to."
A comfortable silence nestled between them and Asuka yawned. "I'm so tired," she complained. "You three got in too late last night and woke me up. I couldn't go back to sleep for an hour."
"Oh, for the love of…Asuka, we didn't get in that late!"
"You said yourself that your mother set your clock wrong!"
Shinji groaned and buried his face in his hands. "You are infuriating, you know that?"
Grinning, Asuka ruffled his hair. Moments later, the bell ending lunch rang. "Come on, Third Child. Inside." She offered him her hand, which he gratefully took and hauled himself to his feet. He now stood a whole head taller than Asuka, and she hoped that her best friend would stop growing soon. Suddenly, he dropped her hand, picked up his things, and took off after Kensuke, Hikari, Touji, and Rei. "Shinji!" she shouted after him, packed up the remains of her lunch, and ran after them, sliding into her seat just bare seconds before the tardy bell sounded.
-Bastard.- She sent to him over the messaging system.
-I wasn't the one ogling while the bell rang.- He retorted, throwing her a grin. They sat next to each other, Asuka on the third seat back on column nearest the window, and Shinji on her right. Rei sat in the seat closest to the door in the entire room. Touji sat in the back of the second column near the door, and Kensuke sat in front of him. Hikari sat in the first seat of the row Asuka sat in.
-Ogling? Excuse me. I wasn't ogling you. Who would want to do that?- Asuka demanded, not paying attention as the mathematics teacher came into the room.
-Oh, come on. You know you want my body. Otherwise, why would you be my best friend?- Shinji wanted to know.
-Oh yes, Shinji. I want your body. I want your body like I want to have fleas.- Asuka pretended to pay attention to the mathematics teacher.
Shinji smirked at her. –Do you want me to crack a joke about that?-
-I hate your new personality. God, it's like I can't trample all over you anymore.- Asuka flashed a smile at him to let him know she was teasing.
-What a shame.-
They paused for a moment to listen to the lecture, then resumed passing notes, or messages, to each other. Somehow, Shinji and Asuka always managed to score in the ninetieth percentile, though they hardly paid attention to their classes. Wakaouji-sensei believed that Asuka and Shinji cheated off one another, mostly Asuka doing the cheating, but the rest of their teachers decided they were simply good students who studied at home and learned quickly.
-What are you doing after school?- Shinji asked finally.
-Going home, I think. Why?- Asuka replied.
-Nothing in particular. I might be staying after school to play basketball with Touji-kun and Kensuke-kun, and I heard that Hikari's staying after to watch us. You can walk home with Ayanami, if you want, I guess.-
-That is the saddest, most pathetic ploy for "will you stay after and watch me play some odd version of basketball where there's only three players with my friends today?" I have ever heard. If Hikari-chan and I stay after, most likely the First Child will stay after.-
-Maybe we can play girls against guys.-
-If I have to play, I'm going home.-
Shinji grinned at her. –Oh, come on. Let me have a little fun imaging what it would be like to cream you and Hikari-chan and Ayanami at basketball.-
Rolling her eyes, Asuka replied with, -You had better count your blessings then. It's not everyday that Sohryu Asuka Langely stays after school to watch a trio of dummkopfs play basketball.-
-Thank you, Asuka.-
-You're welcome, Shinji.-
