Shinji listened to the Prelude for almost an hour, going through one small section at a time, trying to memorize the patterns he knew were in the music. Through the blackness in his room, a stream of light suddenly poured in through his partly open door. It stung Shinji's eyes for a moment, but he soon got used to the small amount of brightness that had been introduced to his haven. A figure blocked the light for a moment as it ran past, long hair flying behind it. Asuka ran for the bathroom.

Shinji paused the music and strained to listen. He heard the toilet seat hit as it was slammed upwards. He got up and took off his headphones, and rushed to the bathroom.

"Asuka!"

The second child was heaving out her dinner into the toilet, wretched spasms rocking her frame. Shinji hurried behind her and swept the hair out of her face. He held it there as the minutes passed. Finally she regained her composure, to an extent, and was able to stop vomiting.

"Asuka, what happened?"

"Uhng...I need to lay down…" Asuka moaned. Shinji grabbed a towel and wiped some of the dinner they had off of her mouth, and helped her to her feet. She wasn't able to stand by herself, and clung to him for support.

Shinji's room was closest, so he started to guide her there. Her feet moved like they were made of lead, and she kept tripping over herself. With some difficulty, Shinji was eventually able to lead Asuka into his room, and lay her on his bed. He put the sheets over her, and sat on the floor, leaning back on his bed. Though it was only a short journey, the whole ordeal had drained Shinji. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

Asuka reached out and placed her hand on his head, intertwining her fingers in his short hair. Shinji stiffened and his eyes widened, surprised by the contact. Asuka ran her fingers through his hair for a few moments, but then moved her hand down, tracing a line across Shinji's neck, and finally across to cup his left cheek.

"Asuka…" Shinji whispered, nervously. Why was she doing this? She was probably toying with him again. That was it; she was just toying with him. Even though, Shinji was glad for the darkness or Asuka might have seen his scarlet cheeks. "Is everything all right?" he asked.

"I just drank a little bit too much. That's all."

"I said you shouldn't drink." Asuka didn't reply. "Why'd you do it anyway?" Silence came for an answer. Moments passed with Shinji looking into the darkness of his room, and Asuka's hand caressing his cheek.

"When I was a little girl," Asuka began, "and Eva Unit 02 was just being completed in Germany, there was an accident at the lab. My mother was part of the team of scientists experimenting on the Eva that day. She got put in an asylum after that. The doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. They said they couldn't do anything to help her condition." Asuka fought to keep control over her voice, though it still came out shaky. "My mother got a doll from somewhere in the hospital. It had red hair, like mine. She started to think that the damn doll was actually me. She would talk to it like it was me, but when I went to visit her, she spoke to me like I was a complete stranger." Asuka clenched her hand on Shinji's face, pressing her fingernails into his skin. She didn't seem to notice. "On the day I was selected to pilot Eva, I ran to my mother's room to tell her the good news. I opened the door to her room to find her hanging from the ceiling. She killed herself, Shinji. She even hanged the doll she thought was me."

Moments of silence passed with Asuka's fingernails digging into Shinji's face. Blood welled up on her fingertips, and began making rivulets down Shinji's face and neck. He was too stunned to do anything but clench his teeth to stop from writhing in pain. If Asuka had to hurt him to get all this pain off her chest, then he was fine with it.

"On that day, I promised myself I would never cry again. I promised to live by myself, and to be strong. I had to take care of myself after my mother killed herself. My father remarried shortly after the death of my mother. It turned out he was having an affair with the doctor that was taking care of her.

"I never liked my step-mother. She was kind to me, but I could never love her. I still can't. She calls every now and then, just to check up on me, but that's the only contact I have with her."

Asuka finally noticed she was tearing Shinji's cheek open, and recoiled in surprise. Blood rolled down from Shinji's neck onto his shirt, and then down his chest. Asuka took her hand back. "You should have told me I was hurting you, idiot."

"I'll go get a towel," Shinji said quietly as he got up and went to the bathroom. He searched around for a good towel, one that wouldn't get stained from the blood. A dark blue one seemed to work well enough, and so he took it back to his room, pressed up against his face.

He cleaned off his wounds as best he could, and handed the towel to Asuka. She sat up, wiped her hand clean and gave it back. Once again she flopped down onto the bed as if she had no energy left in her body.

"Your shirt is stained. You better take it off before the blood smears everywhere."

Shinji looked at Asuka through the darkness. He saw she wasn't smirking or grinning at him, so at least she wasn't being sarcastic again. So he turned his back to the bed and took his shirt off. He laid it over the back of his desk chair, deciding he would take care of it in the morning. Before he could get another shirt, Asuka spoke.

"Can I sleep here tonight? I don't think I should get up and move to my room."

"Oh, um…o-ok. I can sleep in the living room."

"What's the point in sleeping on the floor when you can sleep in a bed?" Asuka asked.

"Well, I just thought that you wouldn't want me sleeping in your bed…"

"I wasn't talking about my bed. Why don't you sleep with me tonight?"