"Speaking out loud"
'Thinking internally'
Through the Mind of One
by: brindani
Chapter 4
Asuka made it all the way to the end of the street before realizing something. 'How the heck am I suppose to know where Wondergirl lives?' She remembered Shinji mentioned something about Rei living in room 402 in a rather dilapidated area, but besides that she didn't have a clue. Not wanting to walk around aimlessly, she headed over to the man with the black suit that had been shadowing her. She knew who he was. The man waited patiently for Asuka as it didn't matter overly much whether the children saw him or any other part of his crew.
"Where the devil is Ayanami's place?" Asuka blatantly threw the question out at the man.
His face was unreadable as he looked down at her through his black shades for a second.
"Follow." He replied in a dry, professional manner, holding no emotion.
'These guys need to get out more.' Asuka thought as she walked after the agent.
They continued to walk for what felt like half the city before stopping. They now stood in front of an old building. Asuka was not happy. "This is the place?"
"Yes."
Asuka turned away from the agent for a moment simultaneously pointing sharply toward the building.
"You expect me to live in this dump?" Not hearing a reply she turned back only to find no trace of the agent. 'One of these days I have got to figure out how they do that.' Sighing with exasperation, she trudged up the steps to her new home.
'Darn, why does Wondergirl have to go and live on the fourth floor of a building that doesn't have a working elevator?' she wondered as she made it up the final flight of stairs, a little out of breath.
Asuka continued along the hall paying close attention to the numbers labeled on the front of each door. 'Let's see, 400, 401, ah 402' She noticed a piece of folded paper taped onto the front of the door. After unfolding the piece of paper, she glanced briefly through its contents.
Official reprimand:
You shall be confined to apartment 402 until further notice.
All food shall be provided by either a nutritional specialist or another appointed by Captain Katsuragi.
All monies shall be frozen until reprimand has been rescinded.
Escort shall be provided for school and NERV activities.
In one month's time, an inspection will reveal whether reprimand will be withdrawn.
This message did not make Asuka very happy. 'Gees, can things get any worse?' Opening the unlocked door, 'They left my stuff in an unlocked room!?' she thought as she moved into the main bedroom, which constituted much of the apartment. She gazed out in disbelief at the numerous stacks of boxes that dominated the small setting. Even her bed was completely hidden from view. 'Great, first they can't bother to get half my stuff into the last apartment and now they haul the remaining boxes out of storage and dump them in here. What were they thinking? It's not like this place has any room to spare.'
She wandered into the kitchen which sent her stomach growling. 'I haven't eaten in awhile. The notice did say food would be provided. Maybe this won't be too bad. I'll have food from a nutritional expert. No grocery shopping or anything.' She flung open one cabinet only to find instant ramen crammed into almost all the space within. She flipped open the next cabinet to find it stuffed with small cans of curry, the next more ramen. 'What kind of nutritional expert would recommend this junk?' After taking a critical look at the familiar generic brand name labeled on the instant noodles contained within she frowned. 'It looks like Misato nominated herself for food specialist. What makes her think that she could be a specialist? Everyone knows just how much her cooking stinks. Maybe she really wanted to make me suffer? No, Misato would have moved in with me to prepare all the meals if they were intent on really punishing me.' She shuddered silently at that last bit of imagery.
'If I can't go anywhere what am I suppose to do, sit around here and twiddle my thumbs?' She happened to see another piece of paper lying on the table covering a book that read
From: Misato
Knew you would be bored, so I left a little present for you.
Asuka looked at the title of the mammoth book and groaned. "Kanji and You: An Introductory Course"
(Misato residence)
Shinji wasn't sure why but he felt in high spirits that morning. 'I'm not moving. Asuka has moved out and Rei has moved in. I wonder what kind of a roommate she will be?'
Shinji slid open his door only to close it immediately. His face grew very pale as he stood hoping he hadn't seen what he thought he saw. "Misato, could you help?" he called desperately.
Misato walked out of her room, catching a brief glimpse of Rei's bare form walking casually through her bedroom door. 'Well that explains Shinji's insistence on calling me.'
Misato lightly tapped on Rei's door before speaking.
"Hey, Rei could you refrain from walking around naked? I think Shinji may have a nervous breakdown."
After nearly a minute, she was about to repeat herself when a soft reply came "Very well, Major."
"Ok, Shinji, it's safe to come out now." Misato watched his door slowly slide open as Shinji hesitantly looked around to make certain of Misato's statement. "Oh, come on Shinji, you know you wanted to see her naked." she said, lightly ruffling his hair before moving towards the kitchen.
"Me? I..I..I would never…"
"It's just too easy to tease you, Shinji," she called from down the hall.
Looking back, Misato chuckled softly as she witnessed Shinji's excellent impersonation of a human tomato.
Shinji remained stunned, standing absolutely still with his mouth hanging half open. At least he was until Rei opened her door fully clothed. She looked at him for a moment. "It may not be pertinent to attend school in such a state." Having said her piece, she proceeded towards the kitchen.
Shinji blinked several times, still getting over the shock of what he had seen. When he looked down, he quickly realized he was only wearing his boxers.
"Ahhhh!" He sharply closed his door.
Rei turned back, at the unexpected noise, to look at his door with her head tilted to the side for a second before continuing on her way.
(School)
Asuka found herself half asleep at her desk as lunch drew near. Her fractured thoughts a direct result of the escapades she had been put through. Yesterday had gone from bad to worse as she attempted to sort the huge pile of boxes. She quickly learned that the number of boxes wasn't her only problem as she was forced to try and decipher the mover's insane method of packing. 'Who puts the toothbrush in one box, the toothpaste in another, and floss in yet another?' After an exhaustive search, she had only managed to find her blanket, three school uniforms, and some toiletries by around 1:00 AM. If that wasn't bad enough, those guys practically knocked down her door at 6:30 AM hustling her off to school. To top it all off, she hadn't had anything to eat since lunch yesterday. It was this last item that her stomach insisted on advising her of constantly. 'Well this was a lousy way to begin the great move.'
Shinji sat several seats back and was letting his mind wander aimlessly. 'Asuka looks tired today. Maybe she tried to unpack everything in one night?' He glanced at the clock hanging above the teacher for the hundredth time that hour in expectation of lunch. 'It was kind of fun to cook different things. I hope Rei likes black bean soup and the apricot-nut bread.' He smiled slightly as he recalled her actions at breakfast that morning. 'Who would have figured she had never had blueberry pancakes before?' It was very interesting to watch as she tried the pancakes hesitantly at first, but with a subtle sense of gusto that she couldn't quite manage to hide.
The lunch bell managed to stir Asuka from her contemplation. The only significant differences her food starved mind registered was a marginal growth in hunger and that the sun's position had shifted. With food being top in her mind, the first thing she looked for was Shinji who typically had her lunch. She found him bent over in his seat going through his bag. She stood up to approach him.
"Hey idiot, where's my lunch?"
Shinji jerked up at the unexpected voice from above. "Asuka! I…ah…didn't think you would need one now that you moved."
Asuka had to admit that he had her there. That being the case, she chose her second option for food gratification. "Grrrrr…fine then, I'll just share with Hikari." She looked around to find her next chosen lunch provider. "Where is Hikari?" To her annoyance, Touji answered her.
"She's home sick with the flu."
"What? How did that happen?"
Touji looked at her with a small smile crossing his features before he casually gestured to the half empty classroom where nearly a fourth of the students present were trying to keep down a small cough of their own. "Tis the season."
Asuka couldn't believe this. Hikari was fine just yesterday and without her, she had no other options for lunch. Of course, there was always the cafeteria, but that idea was shot down as she recalled having to look for her lunch when she turned away momentarily. She could have sworn it had run off her plate.
With no other alternatives, Asuka stormed back to her desk, grumbling under her breath. When she sat down, she felt a small wave of nausea. She was unaccustomed to not eating. The nearly constant complaints being issued from below proved this without a doubt.
"Here Rei, I made you lunch." Shinji said, while handing her a thermos, some tasty looking bread, and a small bottle of orange juice.
"Thank you, Shinji. That looks very appetizing." Shinji's blush at Rei's small complement made it even worse for Asuka. 'Why can't this day just be over? For that matter, why can't this month be over? Well, only thirty friggen days until I get out from the residence of the damned and straight into heaven's arms.' With this, she forced all the delightful delicacies swirling in her mind back and imagined just what her new condo would be like.
She managed to sustain herself with these fantasies up until the ending bell rang. The first thought on hearing the bell, was of the food that awaited her back at the apartment. It really hurt to know that she anticipated such low quality food with such relish. Asuka shook herself of that thought and proceeded to the door, where four men in dark suits waited.
"Ms. Soryu, we are to return you to your apartment."
Asuka groaned audibly. She had at least hoped to walk herself home to maintain some dignity, but that didn't seem very likely at the moment. "Ok, ok, lead the way Saheb." Ignoring her jib, the four men nodded simultaneously. Two then took positions in front and two behind her. 'Great now I get to be paraded around like a circus freak!'
Besides the odd spectacle of four black suited men escorting a young fiery haired teenage girl, they made remarkably little commotion as they walked out of the school, with only a half dozen pointing fingers and several condescending remarks. Asuka didn't much care as the slow moving agents progressed through it all. Once they made it to her apartment, the agents left without saying a single word. When she opened her door, her stomach wailed in a war cry as it would be denied no longer.
Three packages of instant noodles later, she felt full for the first time in what felt like days. With her hunger slightly sated, she turned to gaze out at all the boxes that still needed to be unpacked with trepidation.
(Misato Residence)
Shinji sat at the table, his physics homework laid out before him. He wasn't really paying much attention to it. His mind centered on the current situation he now found himself in. In one way, it was an absolute delight. Rei seemed more comfortable around him and she thanked him for his efforts. Better, she never demanded anything from him. On the other hand, he noticed Asuka's very obvious hunger that day. He wished he could help her, but Misato said it would be rude to try and force help on someone, especially when they just moved. He wasn't too sure about that, but Misato's stern stare wouldn't allow for an acceptation. 'I wish I could help her.'
Glancing to the other side of the table, he saw Rei as she worked at an incredible pace on her own homework. She was definitely a nice girl, just like Dr. Akagi had mentioned some time ago. He was just having a difficult time talking to her.
He started slightly when Rei brought her eyes up to meet his.
"Is there a problem Shinji?"
'Have to think of something fast!'
"I was just wondering if you… understood these review questions in physics."
'That was close.' he thought in relief
Rei blinked once before lightly closing her book and coming around the table to stand just behind his shoulder. 'She actually came?'
"What difficulties are you experiencing?"
Shinji eyed the questions in front of him frantically trying to find one that he had difficulty with, yet was hard enough that she wouldn't look down on him. He finally settled for #34.
"This one here."
"The question on static friction?"
"Yes, I didn't quite understand what the difference between static friction and kinetic friction was supposed to be."
"Static friction is the resistive force that prevents a stationary object from moving. Kinetic friction is the resistive force felt by a moving object that decelerates it. For this particular problem, we have a box with us = .34." Rei started to draw a rough diagram detailing all this. Shinji stared in amazement. 'Rei is so good at explaining things.' He had had a lot of difficulty trying to understand these types of problems, but she made them seem so simple.
"Ok, now you try this one." Rei pointed to the next problem that looked similar to the one she had just demonstrated. Shinji looked at it in panic. 'I don't know this. How can I know this?' He was slightly startled when Rei placed her hand on his shoulder, which oddly enough, seemed to calm him. When he looked back to the question, he was amazed that he could see how it was done now. In seemingly no time at all, he worked the problem out perfectly. "Good." Her one word of praise sent a pleasant shiver down his back.
"Have you ever thought of becoming a teacher, Rei? You would be excellent at it." When he didn't hear a reply Shinji turned around to find Rei shifting her head to the side with a small blush.
"Thank you"
'These words, they seem to come so frequently now, with him,' Rei thought
(School)
Asuka wasn't feeling very good. There was only so much ramen you could eat before becoming utterly sick of it. She passed that point some six instant ramen packages back. Her stomach could not endure this much longer.
She also started to notice something that she hadn't before. Every day Shinji brought Rei something new and interesting to eat. She never realized how much she had become dependent on that, when he had done the same for her. With each new culinary delight he made for Wondergirl the more she wanted that part back in her life.
She had been tempted to try and force Shinji to make her a meal, but something deep inside felt it would be wrong. So many warring emotions like this raged within her. The one quickly becoming predominant was that of hunger. She just didn't want to deal with eating the crap they provided her. But the alternative was asking for help, something she loathed to do. It only took one last thought of a 10th straight meal of ramen to settled her next course of action.
Shinji sat in his desk slightly spaced out. He knew Asuka was having problems since moving. He often saw her lying on her desk pretending to be asleep while watching Rei and himself eat with an almost feral expression. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Asuka's approach to talk to him that first day when she had demanded lunch.
"Hello, Shinji." Shinji was totally caught off guard by the slightly subdued tone coming from her as well as the subtle need that lay just beneath them.
"Hello, Asuka. How has the new apartment been?" Asuka flinched at his question.
"Um, about that do you think you…" Asuka hesitated looking around at the other students several of which were watching their conversation. "Could I talk to you in private?"
"Sure."
That was interesting; he had never expected to hear Asuka politely ask him to do something.
They left the classroom with Asuka starting an immediate search for a secure location. Shinji followed just behind her, his eyes settling on her back. This is how he noticed something very peculiar. 'She's wearing the same clothes? That's odd Asuka never wears wrinkled clothes.'
When Asuka found an empty classroom, she gestured for Shinji to enter, which shook him from his contemplation. Shinji entered the indicated classroom and waited patiently for Asuka to tell him what was going on.
After she closed the door, Asuka turned to look at him. He was amazed to see a warn expression just barely penetrating her usual self assured features, something he had never seen before. "What's wrong Asuka?" he said with concern.
"Shinji, could you come by my place sometime? There's not much there to eat and…and I've missed your cooking." She was rather startled by this last admission as she hadn't planned on saying that.
Shinji looked at Asuka closely. He could see no indication of a lie or intent to tease only a silent cry for help.
"Sure Asuka, I can drop by sometime later tonight."
Asuka offered the best smile she could, "Thanks."
(Apartment 402)
Shinji hesitantly knocked at the door. Almost immediately it swung open revealing Asuka still in her school uniform. He was stunned. She looked so much apart of the surroundings of the drab apartment. It was obvious that being confined had had a profoundly negative effect on her.
Her eyes instantly lit up when she saw the small bag of sub sandwiches that he carried.
"Is that…food?"
He smiled slightly and nodded. "Ya, I tried to bring something filling."
"Please come in," she said, her eyes never wavering from the bag. Shinji looked sadly at the surroundings. Dozens of boxes laid strewn around the apartment in various stages of disassembly.
When he sat the bag down on the kitchen table, Asuka's hands started to twitch almost imperceivable. "Go ahead, Asuka, I made two large ones for us to eat." Asuka needed no more invitation as she opened the bag and began to tear into the first sandwich.
Shinji looked at Asuka sadly. 'She must have been starving. Didn't they provide her with food here?' Seeing that Asuka was oblivious to her surroundings, Shinji turned towards the cabinets to figure out why the red headed pilot would be so famished. When he saw their contents his frown grew. 'This is no way to live. There isn't anything of nutrition value here at all. No wonder she was so hungry.' Glancing around he noticed a sink full of dishes. It seemed that Asuka had found some dish soap and a washrag, but had been too tired to use them past that point.
A little later, Asuka ate the last bite of the second sandwich and sighed contentedly. She had almost forgotten what real food tasted like. Her stomach felt nice and fuzzy in total agreement. It took a second to realize that the person responsible for her first real meal in four days was not at the table. She also realized that she had eaten his sandwich. 'I didn't mean to do that.'
She glanced around and found all her dishes clean and sitting out to dry. 'He…did the dishes?' She heard some noise in the other room, so she decided to take a peek. She found Shinji sorting the contents of several boxes into coordinated piles. She leaned against the doorframe watching him. For once she truly appreciated what he was doing.
She went over and tentatively laid a hand on his shoulder. His flinch made her realize she had done some nasty things to him in the past. She couldn't blame him for his reaction. "Thank you Shinji…for everything."
He turned his head to her and truly smiled. It was the first real smile she could remember him directing towards her. An odd feeling seemed to move through her. Asuka found it very confusing. 'Is this feeling friendship? Or is it something more?'
"Sorry, I noticed that there were way too many boxes for you to move around easily. I was thinking that we could try to sort them out into useful piles of what you need and don't need, so we can get the excess stuff into storage. That should give you more room around here."
Shinji missed it, but Asuka smiled for the second time since coming to the apartment….
End Chapter 4
Post Authors Note: This is a rather important chapter to how things will later play out. It therefore becomes essential to know exactly how the reader views the current situation and what is going on. To this end please review. Positive remarks or Constructive criticism would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
brindani