I do not own Evangelion or any other copyrighted material that may crop up in the story.
I'll cut the crap short this time and get right into the story. Do read the ending notes though.
So without further ado, I present to you
Winning Her Heart In 7 Days
That Night
Soft sobs could be heard from a room with a banner outside referring it as Shinji's Lovely Suite. The occupant inside however, buried his head under his pillow while the bugs of his SDAT player were jammed into his ears. A person standing next to him could have heard him quietly berating himself.
"Useless... Coward… Wimp..." He repeated over and over again.
He did not want to run away. Honestly. All he really wanted was to stay and tell her how much she meant to him. There was nothing he would rather do than stand by her side and confess his feelings for her. But the circumstances were not right.
"Why did she have to say it out loud so soon?" he mentally blamed Asuka again.
The boy stopped sobbing long enough to curse the redhead once again. Then, he changed tracks on his SDAT and lay on his back. "I've probably ruined the impression she has of me." He thought sadly. "Nah, as if she ever had any good impression of me in the first pace."
That thought made him feel surprisingly bitter.
"Its not my fault that Asuka chooses the wrong time and place to tell Rei." He argued with himself. "The doctor said to not do anything to over exert her for goodness sake!"
"Rei will understand, right?"
As he asked himself this question, he realised to his horror that he was not certain of the albino's response. "Ah who cares? I'll just… never mention this again. Yes, that's right… no one will notice."
It did not occur to him then that this was another form of running away, once again taking the easy way out. The boy was so used to doing it that it has almost become routine for him. He had almost lost all sense of shame when he was escaping reality. But a person can only run away for so long before everything catches up with him. This time, it was about to be Shinji's turn.
Therefore, as he muttered to himself in the solace of his bedroom, the main door of the apartment opened and his flatmates stepped in. The redhead looked around for signs of the boy while the older woman went to get a beer.
Seeing no signs of Shinji, the redhead threw her head back and bellowed, "Baka coward! Where the hell are you?"
Shinji was startled out of his self-loathing by that shrill voice. By experience, he knew that a sharp pain would shortly accompany that voice. He quickly took out the earpieces and pretended to be asleep thinking, "Maybe if I ignore her, she'll go away."
As stated before, he was not going to be able to run away this time.
Asuka flung the door wide open and stomped into his room. Every step she took rattling his bed to its very rivets. Placing her hand on his blanket, she ripped it away from him, leaving him feeling very exposed and vulnerable. Luckily for him, he was concentrating on hating himself and not fast asleep. Or his body's natural reactions would cause the pain he would be experiencing to be doubled. Finally, he realised that he was unable to run away from this encounter.
"What the hell you want?" he asked irritably.
"Oh nothing really…" Asuka said silkily. "Just for an explanation on WHY YOU RAN AWAY LIKE THAT!"
Shinji looked at her angrily and opened his mouth to speak. However, the redhead continued with her tirade.
"Why are you such a coward? Don't you give a damn on how Wondergirl might take it? I'm surprised that she even agreed to go to the cruise after such a cowardly display from you." Asuka said in one breath.
"Oh yeah? So what if I'm a coward? What abou… huh? Rei agreed to go?" he asked. Not daring to hope.
"Yes she agreed. But so what? You won't dare to do anything anyways." Asuka said huffily. "What's the point in exerting herself for a coward like you? She's still injured if you remember!"
The boy was too happy to care about her insults. "Rei's really going?" Then his face paled. "Oh shit! How am I going to apologise to her? Asuka, you have to help me!" he said desperately.
"Sort out your own mess Baka. I have better things to do."
Shinji was unfazed. "Then why did you tell me about it in the first place?" he said with a slight smirk.
For the first time in the conversation, Asuka seemed a little uncomfortable. "I uh… arrg Baka! Why do I even care?" she said with a pout.
Misato chose this time to enter the room, sparing the redhead further embarrassment.
"That's because she cares for you silly," Misato said in a motherly tone.
Ok, maybe not sparing her.
"I WHAT… ARRG!" Asuka stormed out of the room in rage.
"Hahaha, she's quite cute sometimes." Misato said as she watched Asuka leave. "But seriously Shinji, Asuka treats you like a brother. Don't disappoint her."
The boy looked at his guardian dumbly. "Huh?"
Misato sighed; the boy can be quite thick sometimes. "She wants you to be happy my dear. That's way she is trying to get you and Rei together." Seeing the stunned expression on Shinji's face, Misato carried on, "Hey, she is a nice girl deep down inside you know."
Shinji laughed and replied. "Yes I know. Very deep down inside." Regardless of what he said, the boy was glad nonetheless. "Someone cares about me… maybe I'm not so worthless after all." He thought happily.
Having thought the conversation was over; Shinji motioned for Misato to leave. Misato however, stood her ground. "I think you are forgetting something." She said simply.
For the second time that night, the boy looked dumbly at her.
"For cancer, there is a cure; but stupidity? Shinji's got a terminal case." The lavender haired women thought. But out loud, she said, "You haven't apologised to her. You want her to bear a grudge?""Good point, I don't." Shinji said simply.
The boy then exited his Lovely Suite and cautiously approached the volatile German in the living room. Clearing his throat, Shinji said nervously, "Eh hi Asuka. Um, I'm sorry about just now. Don't get too angry eh?"
He winced involuntarily when Asuka turned around and considered him. "Shinji Ikari." She said menacingly. "You have a lot of guts, laughing at me just now."
The poor boy was sweating buckets now. "No I wasn't! It was just that Misato looked funny…" he trailed off. It would not do well for his guardian to hear that comment.
Asuka looked at him queerly and leaned towards him, her hands twitching uncontrollably. Shinji then closed his eyes and awaited the imminent pain that she would be dealing to him. However, when he heard the smacking sound, the boy was surprised to not feel any pain.
"Maybe I have already become numb," he thought hopefully. However, Asuka's raucous laughter brought him out of his daydream. She was slapping the sofa in mirth.
"You're right! Hahaha! That pinhead is wearing that see-through shirt again! I can see her poker-dotted bra underneath! Hahaha!" Asuka laughed happily.
"Oh ya… haha very funny." He said weakly, heaving a huge sigh of relief. "Um I have something to ask you Asuka…"
The girl stopped laughing long enough to reply, "Well, spit it out!"
"Well, about the cruise…" he flushed slightly. "WhatcanIdotowinAyanamiover?"
"Speak up Baka!"
Shinji looked even more embarrassed than before now. "Well, I uh… was wondering if it would be uh… ok… if you would uh… givemesometipstowooAyanami."
Asuka managed to catch the 'woo Ayanami' part.
"What an idiot" Asuka thought. "He's a nice guy, but he's too damn shy."
"Ok I'll tell you what. First, go get some balls. Next, work on that stutter of yours. Finally, CONFESS to her how you feel." Asuka said dryly. She had wanted to tell him about Rei's reaction at the hospital as well but thought otherwise. "I might be mistaken," the girl reasoned.
Shinji looked at the redheaded German with an annoyed expression. "That's not really much of an advice is it?"
"Well, it works!" Asuka snapped. "Now you'd better go back to your room and think about how you're gonna make her enjoy your company."
Finding no better advice than that, Shinji heeded what she said and entered his room. "Now to recall what Rei likes…"
Hospital Ward
Rei was unable to sleep. Try as she might, there was a voice inside her head that would not be silenced.
"Pilot Ikari likes me."
Emotions were not the blue haired albino's forte. Having spent the first seven years of her life in isolation, she had simply not learnt to feel. Or so she thought.
"Do I like him?"Having asked herself this question, Rei's mind was involuntarily inundated by memories of the times they had spent together, memories that she held dear. She remember when he first piloted the Evangelion so that she would be spared from it; when he visited her house and fell on her by accident; when he opened the superheated hatch of her entry plug to rescue her. Unknown to herself, a small smile was etched upon her face as she recalled.
"But most of them are not my memories."
It was true. She was the Third clone. Most of the memories belonged to the Second.
"I am Rei Ayanami, as much as she is Rei Ayanami. The memories belong to us."
A small sigh escaped her lips, shocking her greatly.
"Why do I feel so empty without his presence?"She tossed around in her bed, trying to find a logical answer to this illogical feeling. He was not a necessity that she needed to sustain life. Neither was he a part of her body that she would not be able to do without. Why then, was he eliciting such feelings from her?"
"It must be because I am curious about him." She thought finally. "I am curious as to why he would like a person as unworthy as me."
As she drew her conclusion, the girl felt sleep overtaking her tired body. However, another voice could be heard in the distance as she drifted off to sleep. "Or maybe its because I like him as well…"
Sadly, when she woke up the next day, she could not remember the last voice.
TO BE CONTINUEDAhh, nothing like a little melodrama to spruce up the story a little. It must be noted though, that this is probably going to be as sad as it gets. I'm too much of a WAFFy person to let angst get in the way.
And in reply to Marine Brother, I would like to say that yes, I am a die-hard S/R fan. (Hope I don't sound like a prude by saying this - although I would have probably destroyed my credibility by now)
Lastly, please review! This writer always gets a warm fuzzy feeling when he sees his hotmail inbox containing e-mails from the bot informing him about having new reviews.