Disclaimer: see part 1.
Chances Taken
Part 2
"If I Told You…"
By Random1377
"I'm… fired??"
Asuka's eyes were wide with disbelief, but her brow was dangerously low… and her hands had balled into small fists at her sides.
"Not fired," Misato said as calmly as she could, "we just need a backup in case-"
"In case I screw up again, right?" the redhead cut her off angrily, "Well I have news for you, Major, I'm not going to quit! So you can get that thought out of your head!"
"Asuka," the Operations Director said levelly, "it's not like we can just choose the Children – the Marduk report-"
"I KNOW HOW IT WORKS!!" the Second Child screamed, "Why is he going to be in MY Unit??"
Misato's temper finally snapped, and everything the psychiatrists had told her about Asuka's condition fled in a nanosecond. "Where would you put him?" she snapped, "Unit 01, that won't take anyone but Shinji? Or Unit 00 – which is carved to goddamned pieces??"
The two women stood glaring at each other, their nostrils flaring as they shot daggers at one another with their eyes.
"Ummm…"
"WHAT??" they both shouted, rounding on the source of the interruption.
The gray-haired boy smiled placidly. "I was merely going to ask if I might be excused," he said quietly, "I'm rather tired."
Misato flushed. "Sorry about that," she mumbled, pulling out the set of papers she had been given, "It looks like you'll be in the K-4 section of the barracks, I'll show you-"
"That will not be necessary," a voice behind her said quietly.
The purple-haired woman turned to the door, prepared to give whoever had interrupted her the rough side of her tongue… but the reprimand died on her lips as she found, "Commander Ikari…"
"I have new orders for you," Gendou said flatly, ignoring Misato entirely and focusing on the new Child. Smiling faintly, he stepped to the side, revealing a very ill looking Maya Ibuki.
"Ummm… Hi…" the brown-haired woman said uncomfortably.
"What's going on, Commander?" Misato asked, confused, "As Director of Operations-"
"Major," Gendou cut her off smoothly, "calm yourself." He turned to the Fifth Child. "Kaworu Nagisa," he said calmly, "you will be staying with Lieutenant Ibuki from today forward."
An unholy silence stole over the room, the varied reactions amusing the Commander greatly.
Misato's jaw dropped open and she fumbled for something to say… Maya's sick grin remained glue in place, as though she was afraid letting it slip might get her killed… and Asuka… Asuka just stared.
It was Kaworu who broke the silence. "Nice to meet you," he said politely, offering Maya a small bow.
The brown-haired woman swallowed. "N-nice to meet you too…" she stammered.
Misato opened her mouth to ask just what was going on (she had not heard a word about this until now) but before she could speak, Asuka flung herself into the breach. "You inconsiderate bitch!"
"Asuka!" Misato barely had time to gasp the girl's name before the offensive continued.
"HE can stay with you, but Shinji can't?" the redhead raged, ignoring her guardian's attempts to calm her, "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
It was Gendou who replied. "Lieutenant Ibuki does not need to explain herself to you, Second Child," he said flatly, "why she has chosen to have the Fifth Child stay with her is none of your concern."
"You ASKED for him to stay with you??" Asuka shouted, her entire frame quaking with rage.
Maya looked from Kaworu to Asuka, blushing brightly. "Yes…" she whispered softly, "I did…"
Gendou nodded slightly, a very faint smile on his lips.
Abruptly, Asuka's face became a mask of indifference. "I see," she said coldly, "well then, I guess I'll just be going home." She turned and headed for the door, "I'll walk, Misato," she muttered over her shoulder, "that will give you plenty of time to call Shinji and tell him what's going on…"
As she stepped out, Misato swallowed, looking as if calling the Third Child was the very last thing she wanted to do – which is hardly a surprise, as it WAS the very last thing she wanted to do. This impromptu meeting with the Second and Fifth Children had been last on her list, but she decided that she would rather do this five times again than call Shinji and tell him that his girlfriend had chosen to have another boy live with her.
"Good day," the Commander said abruptly, "I'll leave this to you, Major."
"Right…"
As the dark-haired man also made his exit, Maya slumped slightly. "I guess we should go," she said softly, "do you have any other bags?"
"No," Kaworu replied quietly, "just this one." He looked from the technician to the purple-haired woman, noting that both seemed incredibly displeased… though obviously for different reasons. "Is this… not alright?" he asked softly.
"It's fine," Maya answered tiredly, "it's just… never mind, you don't need to worry about it…"
"Why?" Misato asked suddenly, "Why are you doing this, Maya?"
-I have to!- the brown-haired woman wanted to scream. "I… didn't want him to have to stay in the barracks…" she mumbled, "he's-"
"Save it," the Operations Director cut in, her tone slightly sad, "I'm sure you have your reasons, but please don't insult my intelligence ok?" she sighed, rubbing her temples. "If you'll excuse me," she murmured, "I have to make a call…"
Maya blushed and nodded, motioning for the Fifth Child to follow her. –I hope he can understand,- she thought, her ears picking up the sound of a very familiar number being dialed behind her.
**
Asuka came into the apartment as quietly as she could, slipping off her shoes and heading straight for Shinji's room. As she had expected, the boy was lying on his bed, with one arm over his eyes and his SDAT clutched loosely in his palm. Resisting the temptation to open with something witty, like, 'Mope here often?' or 'Anything good on that SDAT?' she simply crossed over to the bed and nudged him, gesturing for him to make room for her.
As the brown-haired boy complied, scooting over against the wall and offering her an arm to lie on, she smiled. "Am I that predictable?" she whispered, lying down beside him and resting her head against his shoulder while he wrapped his arm around her.
"Just a bit," Shinji admitted, "but that's ok, I guess it's just part of… this…"
What, exactly, 'this' was… Asuka wasn't sure. Since the last angel (and before that, now that she thought about it) she had been spending more and more time in Shinji's room, just lying next to him. She was fairly sure this transcended the bounds of simple friendship, but she was also sure that it wasn't love – at least, not romantic love, as she had no particular desire to do more than just be with him.
"Misato called…" Shinji whispered after a moment, "she told me… about…"
"Shh…" Asuka murmured, closing her eyes and smiling gently, "you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Shinji…"
The brown-haired boy smiled, his fingers absently rubbing her arm. "Thanks…" he said weakly, "I didn't really want to…"
The redhead moved a bit closer, turning so that she was resting with her chin on his chest. "I don't think she's trying to hurt you…" she said softly, meeting his eyes levelly, "while I was walking home, I thought about it… and I think that she was just being nice…"
Shinji sighed. "Yeah," he admitted, "I think you're probably right. I'm sure if I had moved in with her, Misato would have had Kaworu live here…"
"Kaworu?" Asuka said, arching an eyebrow, "You met him, what? Yesterday? By chance… and now you're on a first-name basis with him?"
The Third Child smiled faintly. "He asked me to call him that," he replied, recalling the odd first encounter with the boy on the lookout, "kinda stuck with me."
"Well," the redhead muttered, "don't expect me to start fawning all over him… he seems nice enough, but I'll be damned if he gets into my EVA!"
"I know…" Shinji said soothingly, slowly stroking the girl's hair, "just… don't be mean to him, ok? For me?"
The Second Child sighed, closing her eyes as his fingers gently massaged her scalp. "I'll try," she murmured, feeling her body relaxing, "but I'm not guaranteeing anything, Third Child…"
"Fair enough…"
Nothing else was spoken for five minutes, and Shinji thought that Asuka must have fallen asleep, as her breathing had grown deep and even and her body was entirely slack against his. He was just raising his other arm up to cover his eyes when she whispered, "Are you ok, Shinji…? You don't have to talk about how you feel… but at least tell me if you're alright…"
The brown-haired boy considered this in silence, staring up at the ceiling. "I don't really know," he replied finally, "I'm hoping that I'll figure it out when I see her. Half of me wants to be mad at her… but the other half wants to find out why…"
Asuka yawned. "Sorry…" she whispered, "long day." Sighing, she nestled closer to him. "Listen to the second half," she advised drowsily, "don't jump to conclusions…"
Shinji blinked, then grinned. "Are you sure?" he teased, "I thought you would be the first to recommend jumping to conclusions."
The redhead smiled. "People… change…" she whispered faintly.
"I guess they do…" Shinji conceded, resisting the temptation to point out that she had changed the most of all… at least, when she was with him. He realized that reminding her that she was an entirely different person when they were alone might upset her, and he truly enjoyed the quiet relationship that had unexpectedly grown between them.
For a long moment, neither of them said anything. Shinji was finally starting to drift off himself, when Asuka whispered softly, "I'm having… trouble, Shinji…"
"Trouble?" he yawned, "In school, or-"
"Never mind," Asuka cut him off quickly, "it's nothing…"
Shinji considered the girl as she lapsed into silence. Smiling softly, he whispered, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Asuka…" His smile collapsed as he felt her trembling against his side. "Hey…" he murmured, "what's-"
"If I said I loved you," the redhead broke in, her tone desperate, "what would you say, Shinji?" Though her eyes were closed, she could tell by the way his breath abruptly halted that he was shocked. "I promised myself," she hurried on, "that I would never fall in love with you – and I'm not, do you understand? I'm not in love, Shinji… but you're not just someone I live with… and you're not just a friend…" She took a shaking breath, "You don't know how hard this is," she whispered, "I can't… I can't keep all of this inside anymore – I feel like I'm going to die! It just keeps getting worse and worse, every single day I have to tell myself that I'm not a failure, that I won't cry! Shinji, I-"
Her breath caught as she felt a finger lay gently against her lips, silencing her frantic raving before it got entirely out of hand. She felt all of her muscles slowly unwinding as Shinji lightly traced her lips with his fingertip, humming under his breath and pulling her closer to him with the arm still wrapped around her.
"Asuka…"
"Yeah…?"
"Go to sleep. When you wake up… you can tell me everything, ok? But right now… I think you're too tired to think straight."
"Ok…"
She sighed as he stopped touching her lips, moving his hand around to the back of her head and slowly caressing her neck. –He's right,- she thought, slipping her arms around him, -I'm all messed up…- She decided that maybe – just maybe… being messed up might not be so bad, if you had someone to help you through it.
As consciousness slowly slipped away from her, she felt him lean forward and press his lips briefly against her forehead, kissing her tenderly. She smiled, trying to reply as he whispered, 'I love you too, Asuka…' but finding herself unable as his gentle touch and soft words ushered her into a deep, peaceful sleep.
**
"I am… intruding, aren't I?" Kaworu asked as Maya awkwardly showed him around her apartment, "I can go to the barracks, Miss Ibuki… it will not be a problem."
"No, it's ok," the brown-haired woman sighed, "just… when you meet the Third Child, try not to make a big deal out of living here, ok? That would make things difficult…"
"Shinji?" the gray-haired boy said brightly, "I've already met him."
"You have?" Maya wondered, "When?"
"Yesterday," Kaworu answered absently, looking around the living room with avid interest, "though it was only briefly, and I look forward to a more formal introduction tomorrow."
"Well," the brown-haired woman reiterated, "don't make a big deal out of living here, if you can avoid it. Shinji and me…" she blushed slightly, "are involved…"
"Really…" the Fifth Child replied, refocusing his attention entirely on her, "physically?"
Before she could stop herself, Maya nodded. "It's…" she fumbled for words to explain herself, "I know it may seem… inappropriate…" she stammered.
Kaworu shrugged. "Who am I to judge?" he said quietly, "Do you love him?"
The brown-haired woman averted her eyes, nodding slowly. "Yes…" she whispered, "very much."
"Then I see no reason for shame," the boy replied. "Though your ages are very widely spaced," he elaborated, "he is still old enough to choose his own path in life – regardless of what his guardian or father might believe." Maya gaped at the boy as he resumed his inspection of the room. "Thank you for housing me," Kaworu said finally, bowing from the waist, "you are most kind…"
"It's ok," Maya said quickly, "really…"
"I will try not to inconvenience you," the boy said quietly, "I am… to sleep on the couch, correct?"
The technician shook her head, "You can have the bed," she said quietly, "you're a guest, and-"
"I won't allow that," Kaworu interrupted softly, "I am here by your graciousness… I will not dishonor myself by putting you out any further than I have already…"
Maya blushed, averting her gaze from his intense, unwavering red eyes. "Ok…" she mumbled, turning away and heading for her room, "I'll get some blankets for you…"
"Thank you…"
As the woman left, Kaworu sat down on the couch. –Very clever, Commander…- he thought approvingly, -you are suspicious of me, as SEELE sent me directly, so you placed me with your subordinate, believing this will allow you to observe me easier…- A small smile played across his lips as he leaned back, studying the ceiling. "We shall see who is the cleverest…" he whispered, closing his eyes, "it should be a most interesting game…"
When Maya returned several minutes later, she found the boy asleep on the couch, his hands laced behind his head… and a small, pleased smile on his face.
Continued…
Author's notes: I'm trying!! Really trying to finish this!! ^_^ Hmmm… real notes… real notes… ummm… the only thing I can think of is the fact that Kaworu is… nah… I won't spoil it. heh. I had a lot of trouble deciding if Asuka should tell Shinji that she loved him. Ultimately I chose to go with it because, well… it's true. ((shrug)) I also wanted to make sure there would be no repeat of the 'Rei making a move on Shinji' concept from book 2 in this section, so I wanted to remove any vagueness on that point :P
Pre-read on this was done by Ryoma and John M. Brown, soooo… thanks! ^_^
Feedback is always welcome at random1377@yahoo.com
