A/N: I've been using some psychoanalytical / Freudian lingo with the chapter titles, i.e. Eros and, now, Neurosis. To get the real meaning out of these names, head to Wikipedia and look 'em up—if you don't already know they're meanings, that is.
Shinji woke slowly, opening his eyes every few minutes to confirm that it really was morning. The sun was shining right into his room, outlining the window frame in bright exuberance on his floor. The alarm clock had gone off a few hours earlier, but Shinji had unplugged it after the rude beep beep beep it so vehemently gave to the world almost pushed him over the edge. It was Sunday—no school, no tests, no fighting—so he wanted to sleep in, for a change. It was also a good time to sleep because the children got Monday off, too—something about a regional teacher's conference or something. Asuka had come in a while after the clock died to yell at him for not making breakfast; he shrugged her off, though, and snuggled back into his sheets. She gave up, eventually, and went to fend for herself.
It was just about eleven in the morning as Shinji lay in his bed, feeling unexpectedly comfortable and content in nothing but his boxers. He hadn't the energy or the inclination to get into his pajamas once he had come home last night; he had just wanted to go to sleep. After Rei had surprised him so, Shinji had wandered around the city for hours. He hadn't had a goal to reach, nor a place he was really headed to; he just walked, hands in his pockets, eyes on the ground in front of him, thinking about Rei. She said she was in love with him. She had barely talked with him for more than five minute at a time before, and had never shown any signs of love towards him. Even when he went to her apartment to help with her physics homework, she just listened to his instructions. Not once did she bring up something outside of the work; no talk of the weekend or NERV or Asuka—just a few quiet questions on a certain formula, a certain law. So why, all of a sudden, did she love him?
It made Shinji's head hurt, thinking about it. It made his heart ache a little, too, though he took that as the regular, general anxiousness that held onto his being with sharp, steel claws. He sat up, letting the sheet uncover his bare torso. He brought up a hand to rub the sleep from his eyes, yawning all the while. It was late, for Shinji—he should have been up at six, getting ready for the day. No use crying over spilled milk, he thought as he got out of bed and searched for some pants. A pair of shorts was soon found in his dresser, along with a nice, loose-fitting T-shirt. Shinji pulled on the clothes, and ventured to the great unknown beyond his room.
After searching the apartment for a minute, Asuka didn't show up. Neither did Misato, though that didn't worry him as much. Shinji went to the kitchen and found two notes on the table: About time you woke up, idiot! I'm going to Hikari's house for a while, and then we're coming back here. Put some clothes on before we get back!! This one was signed as "Asuka the Valkyrie", in big, bold letters, with a few lightning bolts drawn in for emphasis. The other said, in a quick scrawl that was barely legible: I'm out with Kaji for the day. Might not be back for dinner. Shinji grabbed the notes, crumpled them, and threw them in the trash. He took a look around the room; it was messy, just as he had thought it would be. Asuka and Misato were on cleaning duty, and, lo' and behold, they "forgot" to do it. If Hikari was coming over, then he'd better clean up a bit. Shinji definitely didn't want a guest to think he was untidy.
So he went about, picking up wrappers and beer cans, wiping the counters and the table, and putting the dishes away. After thirty short minutes, he was done, and the place was spotless. A pang was felt in Shinji's stomach as he put away the last of the plates; that's right, he hadn't eaten yet! Now what was there for him to eat?
"Oh, please, please, PLEASE be there!" he said as he moved for the cupboard. Inside was a glorious box of Colonel Balph's Choco-Yummins, just waiting to be eaten. Shinji smiled as he grabbed the Yummins—this was his favorite cereal, and he was afraid Asuka might have eaten it all before he had a chance to savor its delectable morsels of incarnate happy. Within a blink of an eye, he was at the table, pouring the milk into the bowl that held his precious Yummins. And so began the feast, though it was all over in a scant few minutes, with Shinji feeling good and full. He didn't mind so much that Asuka and Misato had forgotten to clean, now that the Yummins were swimming in his tummy. He leaned back in his chair and smiled, clasping his hands upon his stomach.
The silence was broken when he heard the two girls returning from Hikari's house, approaching the door. They were laughing uproariously—rather Asuka was, Hikari wasn't too loud—and Shinji could hear them from inside the house. He stood, not wanting to be seen slacking off and relaxing, and started to put way his dishes and the Yummins.
Sliding open, the door let in the two girls, Asuka in the lead with a plastic bag in her hands, Hikari smiling warmly in the background. Shinji overheard Asuka say that she thought he was still in bed, and that they should pull a trick on him; he deserved it anyway, she said, for not making her breakfast. Shinji, not ten feet away, could hear it all perfectly. He sighed as he finished washing his bowl. "Asuka, I'm awake. Don't think I can't hear you over there," he called. He heard a whispered "Scheiß," and was soon greeted by the two girls. They walked into the kitchen and stood, appraising him, like he was some kind of artifact in a museum.
"Nice outfit," Asuka said, snidely. "Did you get my note?"
"Yes, I did. What did you two do?"
"We went and got this new game. It's gonna be awesome." She turned to leave, but paused. "You wanna play with us?"
Play with those two? Asuka would be too loud for me to think, and Hikari is…well, I guess she's not too bad. But still, I have better things to do. "No thanks. I'm going to be working on my cello after I finish cleaning up here."
Hikari piped in. "Well, if you want to come and join us, I'm sure it'd be alright. Don't feel that you aren't allowed in Asuka's room." She giggled and pushed a shocked Asuka out of the kitchen and down the hall. Shinji could hear Asuka arguing with her friend after they had closed the door. She said something about never wanting a stupid pervert boy in her room, and that he would kill all the fun that they were going to have—even though she had just invited him to join them.
Shinji shrugged off that last part. She didn't seem to have any problems when they were alone yesterday. He blushed, remembering her sudden need to fling her shirt off. He still didn't understand why she couldn't have just opened one of her windows.
He decided to dismiss such complicated matters and go relax with his cello. He'd almost perfected the Prelude now, though he still had to play it at a slower tempo than what Bach had wanted it to be played at. He had been learning the next part of the suite, the Allemande, and was progressing quickly through the music. It was quite a bit longer than the Prelude, almost 1/3 longer, really, but the task did not daunt him. After getting situated in his room, Shinji brought up his bow and began playing the grand music.
Asuka growled as she heard the cello. "Why does he always have to practice when I'm home?" she complained to no one in particular. She felt a little guilty after saying it, though. It wasn't like Shinji was a bad musician, or that she didn't enjoy the music he played; she guessed it was just a conditioned reaction after living with Shinji for these long months.
"You shouldn't be so mean to him, Asuka," Hikari said, sitting on the bed. "He never makes fun of you or anything, so what's the point in teasing him?"
She had to think a moment to come up with a reasonable answer. "Well, it's because he's an idiot, and if I don't remind him every now and again, he gets arrogant, and even more stupid. A stereotypical male, I'd say." Asuka dismissed the lie she had told and started playing the new game. She and Hikari were soon immersed in the new characters, the plot, the battles, the new world they had jumped in to, and had forgotten about Shinji and his cello. But every now and again, Asuka would snap back into this world, and hear the evolving music coming from his room. Whenever this happened, she felt bad about telling Hikari that lie about how he was an idiot. Of course, she really did think that, some times; but as of late, it seemed like Shinji wasn't being as stupid as usual; it seemed like he was actually a really nice person, a person you could care for.
And every time Asuka would think this, she'd say to herself, "What the hell am I talking about?" and go back to the game.
Time passed as the great Hourglass slowly spilled sand upon the universe. These tiny crystals of light showered and covered everything, permeating all matter, all thought, all consciousness. Though Shinji could not feel these small beings entering and flowing through him and his cello, he sensed them. When he played music, he could feel the universe around him sing in splendor; he could feel his surroundings vibrate with the glory of what he created with that strange, wooden thing called a cello. In his subconscious, Shinji knew what was happening around him; those realizations were soon squashed by his mind, however. Those types of revelations were dangerous, his mind knew, and by destroying them, it was saving this poor human from utter destruction at the hands of Time.
Wiping his brow, Shinji leaned back in his chair, very happy with the progress he had made today. He looked at the clock—unfortunately, he had forgotten to plug it back in after the incident in the morning. Putting his cello aside, he plugged the clock in, only to get the time at which he had stuck out at the machine. Shinji shook his head, mad at himself for being so lazy. He left his room and ventured to the kitchen. He could hear Asuka and Hikari down the hall, yelling at the game and at each other, exclaiming that the A.I. must hack or something, since it was so damned good. "Girls," Shinji said to himself, shaking his head once again. The clock in the kitchen said it was two in the afternoon, so Shinji decided to have some lunch. Soon after he had gotten out the things he needed to make some soup, the girls came out of their cave.
"What, were you gonna make lunch just for yourself, Shinji?" Asuka asked as she took a seat. "How selfish of you."
"I'm sorry," he said, rather sheepishly.
"Come on, Asuka. It looks like he just got out here himself. There's no need to badger him about it." Hikari said, coming to his defense.
"Y-yeah, that's right. I was going to finish making the lunch, then ask you two to eat with me. I didn't want to make you wait…"
Asuka grunted, cradling her chin in her hand and leaning on the table. "Well, do you need any help?" she asked, surprising the other two. Asuka lending a helping hand to Shinji, of all people? It must be "Help Your Fellow Eva Pilot" day, or something.
"U-um…sure." Shinji began to cut up some vegetables, and told Asuka to put the pot on the stove to boil some water with. Hikari sat down, watching the two work. After the water was sufficiently hot, Shinji added the diced veggies, and told Asuka to put some bullion in the pot as well. After twenty or so minutes, the lunch was ready, and the three ate together. Not much was said between them, though there wasn't a blanket of awkward silence covering them. Once finished, Asuka helped with the dishes—another surprise.
"So how long are you going to be here, Hikari?" Shinji asked. "Not that you aren't welcome," he quickly added.
"She's staying for the night," Asuka answered. "How 'bout you? What're your plans?"
"Oh, well, I was just going to stay here. I guess I'll keep practicing in my room…" Shinji gloomily said. He enjoyed the music and the knowledge he was getting better as a musician, but that was no way to spend yet another weekend evening. Toji and Kensuke were out with their families for the three-day break, though, so it wasn't like he could go to a friend's house to hang out.
As Shinji was walking back to his room, Hikari nudged Asuka and whispered, "Can't he come in with us? He seems so lonely."
A small smile shown on Asuka's lips, and a light laugh came from her. "Do you really think he would want to be around us girls?" she whispered back. "If he wants to come with us, then let him do it on his own initiative. Now let's get back to gaming!"
And so Shinji stayed in his room, playing the Prelude and Allemande over and over, by himself. The girls stayed in their room, and kept yelling and having fun. Shinji stopped playing after a few hours, had some dinner by himself, and then decided to go to bed; there wasn't anything else to do, really. He listened to his SDAT as he fell asleep, not thinking about anything, not worrying about anything.
In the morning, Shinji started on some homework, though it wasn't due for another week. Once the girls came out for breakfast, they were both dressed in they're pajamas with tired faces. They didn't get much sleep last night, it seemed. They had probably gone to bed around three in the morning, figuring that to pull an all-nighter meant that they wouldn't get any beauty sleep at all. Shinji asked how the game was going, and Asuka wearily said that it was pretty tough, though they were still getting through it with good time. Nothing else was said during the meal.
With nothing to do, Shinji sat at the kitchen table doing homework. Around noon, Hikari left, thanking him for being such a kind host. Asuka wandered around for a bit, looking a little lost, and finally planted herself in the living room on a pile of pillows. With the T.V. in the background, Shinji couldn't concentrate all that well, and gave up on his homework soon thereafter. He didn't want to ask Asuka to turn the television off or down—more than likely, that would get him a nice thrashing from the girl still in her pajamas. Shinji leaned back in his chair, looking at the ceiling, not knowing what else to do.
The T.V. suddenly quit spewing out its obnoxious announcements for this wonderful product, or that magnificent invention, or how if you acted quickly, you could save thousands. Shinji turned his head to see Asuka walking into the kitchen. She sat down across from him, looking just as bored as he. The two sat in silence for a while, not looking at each other, but only gazing off into the distance.
"Shinji," Asuka finally said, "why don't we go get some ice cream? It's really boring here."
Shocked to hear that Asuka actually wanted to be with him, Shinji looked wide-eyed at her. "What? You mean me? And you?" He licked his dry lips with his dry tongue. "Together?"
She sat up straight, looking hurt. "If you don't want to go with me, just say it. You don't have to beat around the bush."
"No, no! I do want to go with you. You just surprised me."
"Great. I know of a cool place we can go. Come on!" Asuka leapt from the chair and headed for the door.
"Asuka! You're still in your pajamas, and I'd like to change, too." Shinji was wearing some old shorts and a pretty ragged-looking shirt—not something he'd like to be seen in public with.
"Ah, of course!" Asuka said, turning and running to her room. "I'll be right out!" she said as she closed the door.
Shinji went to his own room, excited about actually doing something after so many hours of doing absolutely nothing. He put on a pair of jeans, a dark undershirt, and a brilliantly white collared shirt over the top, tucking both into his pants. After a minute of tidying his hair as well, he went back into the kitchen.
"You almost ready?" he called to Asuka. A muffled voice behind the door said that she would be out soon enough.
Soon enough turned out to be fifteen minutes. Shinji sat on the table, waiting for Asuka to get out of her room. What was taking her so long? All she had to do was slip off two pieces of clothing, and slip into another two pieces. It had taken Shinji less than five minutes to get ready—what the hell was taking her so long?
The door finally opened, revealing Asuka in the dress she wore when the two pilots had first met. The simple yellow garment looked ravishing on her, though. Shinji noticed her hair wasn't a mass of tangles anymore, but nicely put back like she usually wore it. She smiled at him and, making her way for the exit, said, "Right, let's go!"
Once the two were out on the street, Asuka insisted that the ice cream parlor that she wanted to go to wasn't very far away, and that riding a train wouldn't be any fun anyway. They walked next to each other, Shinji hesitant and making sure they never got too close, Asuka striding playfully beside him, humming a little tune to herself. Once, she glanced over at him, smiled a sly smile, and began to hum the Prelude.
Shinji thought she was making fun of him. She was humming that song because he played it so much, it got stuck in her head. He had to practice so much at it because he was such a failure, that the song had been permanently engraved into Asuka's mind. "I-I'm sorry…" he said, cowering a little and slowing down.
"What?" Asuka asked, confused. "What's wrong?" She stopped walking and faced him, demanding an answer. She was a wrathful sentry in Shinji's path, blocking his way to freedom. Or at least that's what he thought.
"I got that song stuck in your head from playing it so much. That's why I'm apologizing…"
"So you're saying it's a bad thing?" Putting her hands on her hips, Asuka peered down at him. "I was humming it because I like it so much. I really like it when you play the cello—it's really relaxing, most of the time."
This brought Shinji's eyes up to meet hers. She liked it? "S-so, you don't mind that I practice as much as I do?"
"What are you, stupid?" she said jokingly. "I love it when you play. Hey, maybe you could play a few songs for me when we get home!"
"Y-yeah, s-sure—I'd enjoy that."
"Cool! But first, let's go get that ice cream!" Asuka began walking again, and started up the humming as well. After that, Shinji felt light-hearted knowing that she liked his music. He had always thought it annoyed her, the way she would belittle him about it sometimes. It was fantastic that she wanted to have him play for her, though, and this fact put a small spring into his step.
A short, twenty minute walk brought the couple to the parlor they'd been seeking. It was a plain two-story building on the corner of the street, looking small because it was surrounded by looming apartment complexes. A great ice cream cone was painted onto a part of the main window, which made up part of a wall. A few people could be seen through the window, sitting at the small, round tables, enjoying the flavor they'd picked. Two small children ran about the place, the bigger chasing the smaller, and both were having a great time with their game of tag.
Shinji pushed open one of the windowed doors for Asuka, letting her go in first. A cool breeze flowed from inside, taking some of the heat from the customer's bodies. Asuka went in, thanking Shinji for holding the door. He followed, carried by the coy look in her eyes.
Asuka ordered a double scoop of mint chocolate ice cream, and Shinji decided on a scoop of vanilla. He grabbed for his wallet, and pulled out enough money to pay for both of them, but Asuka had already produced enough money for her ice cream. She smiled, saying, "It's only fair that I pay for what I ordered." Shinji would have gladly paid for both of their ice creams—he didn't do much else with the monthly "allowance" he got from NERV. Asuka headed for the door, saying that they should walk and eat. Shinji followed, wanting to do whatever she wanted.
Once outside, Asuka stood on the corner, looking this way and that, trying to make up her mind as to where to go now. "Oh! Let's go to Nagura Park!" she suggested, already walking toward the place. Shinji followed, wanting to go wherever she wanted to. He took his place beside her again, and started the joyous task of eating his ice cream.
The sun shone down upon the two with increasing intensity. It only seemed to get hotter the longer they walked, despite the wonderful yumminess they were both eating. Not many people crowded the streets these days, so the two pilots were able to take up most of the sidewalk on their journey.
They walked in silence as they headed for the park, licking at the ice cream with earnest. Once Shinji was almost done with his, Asuka spoke. "Misato's still with Kaji, huh? Musta been a long night." She took a lick of her ice cream. She had about a scoop left, and looked at it suspiciously. "I don't get those two. Misato says she hates him, but then she always hangs off of him. He doesn't seem to notice though, ya know? He just pats her head and says, 'Good girl.'" Shinji looked over at her, not knowing why she was talking about those two. "Adults are so weird sometimes," she said with a sigh. While she was talking, the ice cream was slowly melting and dripping onto her hand. She looked at the imposter liquid, then drew her tongue across it, licking it all up. Shinji stared at her doing this, as if he was watching it in slow motion. Her tongue moved so slowly across her hand, then once it finally got across, it flicked up a little, losing the object it was so passionately pushing against. Shinji grew red, thinking about Asuka like that. He snapped his head forward, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
Looking at the rest of her ice cream, she thrust it out at Shinji. "Here, I don't want the rest of this. Do you?" Startled, he fumbled with his own cone and dropped it. Asuka giggled slightly, and insisted that he take her remaining ice cream. He took it, looking at the perfect hemisphere of what was left—she had molded it into that shape with her tongue. Shinji reddened even further.
He soon finished the mint chocolate ice cream, and devoured the sugary cone. Wiping his hands, he looked up the street. Nagura Park was just up ahead; they had reached the lush oasis in this burning city. They entered the park, walking under an iron-wrought arch and big oaks shading the path. A small grove of trees—asp, willow and cherry—stood solemnly to the right of the path the two were on, while an open field with low, rolling hills was to the left. The leaves and grass in the park were almost all perfect shades of green, despite the heat of the day. A playground was seen across the field, and Asuka shouted and ran for it. Shinji followed, seeing what she saw. They ran across the grass, both laughing with carefree comfort and child-like appreciation of simple things like the swings they were fast approaching.
Right off, Asuka dove into a swing and started up. "Push me, Shinji!" she called out. He got behind her and grabbed onto the chains. He started to push, but was obviously having difficulties. "No, you have to push on my back!" Asuka said, correcting his error. He said he was sorry and started the pushing over. He didn't want to hurt her, or make her feel uncomfortable; so he pushed, but not too hard, and he tried to get his hands on her shoulder blades, not too far down. Once the swing gained momentum, though, this was almost impossible, and soon Shinji would have to grab Asuka's hindquarters to get her any higher. She called for more altitude, though; she insisted he push her higher. What choice did he have? He swallowed, pushing down the nervousness and uncertainty that was creeping up his throat. Asuka came swinging back, calling again for more height. There was no way to get out of this one. She came closer and closer, quickly in reality, slowly in Shinji's eyes. He brought up his hands, ready to push off of Asuka's round behind. Contact was made between the two, and Shinji got ready for a harsh scolding. He pushed, closing his eyes, waiting for the shocked exclamation to arise from Asuka. He waited—and it never came. He opened his eyes, seeing Asuka swinging gleefully, not a hint of a scowl on her face, not a clue of any violence in her body.
He had touched her…down there…but she hadn't gotten mad! What glorious knowledge, this was! Shinji waited for Asuka to come swinging back, and pushed again, harder this time, but still basically grabbing her ass. She laughed as she was propelled onward. Soon, she was telling Shinji how great it was, swinging around like a kid again. She told him to join her in this new-found happiness, and he gladly complied. Both were now swinging, innocently ecstatic in such simple joy.
Asuka slowed down, and eventually planted her feet on the ground, stopping the swing. Shinji slowed as well, but kept swinging ever so slightly. She looked at him, grinning from ear to ear. "I remember back when I was in Germany, I used to play on the swings like this. It used to be so much fun!" The grin failed, and began creeping into a dejected frown. "That was a long time ago. That was before my mother died."
Shinji stopped swinging, looking at Asuka. "I never really played on swings when I was little. After my father left, I just kinda stayed by myself. I lived with my uncle for a few years, but I never lived with him. We ate together, lived under the same roof, all that; but we never played. We never had fun together." He looked at the ground, saddened by the memories. "I didn't have any friends back then, so I couldn't play with the other kids."
Asuka stood and walked to the grass, sauntering out into the field a bit, with Shinji following behind. She then lay down, careful to keep her dress covering up her legs. She patted the grass beside her, letting Shinji know it was alright to lie next to her. He hesitantly went prone, trying not to get too close to her.
"I'm sorry that I brought up our childhood. It seems the past brings nothing but pain," she said quietly. Shinji groped for something to say, but nothing he thought of would have sounded right. So he said nothing, but looked up into the vast blue expanse that was above. The grass ruffled. Shinji turned his head, making his own ruffle. Asuka looked at him with teary eyes. She wasn't crying yet, but if things kept going they way they were, she would be soon enough.
And Shinji couldn't do anything. Nothing he could say would help, he figured. Nothing he could do would console this poor girl in lying next to him.
A drop of water hit him on the arm. He looked at it, then the sky—no rain clouds to be seen. Another drop hit him, and another and another. Shinji sat up, looking around.
"Asuka, the sprinklers! We're going to get all wet!" He stood and started to jog for the swings, where he wouldn't get hit with the water. Asuka stood soon after him, but stayed where she was. A grin quietly, but with growing fervor, grew on her face until her teeth flashed in the afternoon sun.
The water was soon shooting from the sprinkler heads, covering the field with sustenance—and covering Asuka as well. She laughed, head turned to the sky as the water rained down upon her, hit her on the legs, on the back, on the chest. She ran around, arms spread out. She called to Shinji, imploring him to join her in this wonderful game. She looks so happy, he thought. It looks like she isn't worrying about her mother anymore. He watched Asuka running about in the water for a moment. What the hell, why not?
Shinji ran into the deluge, almost slipping on the wet grass as soon as he stepped upon it. He soon found his feet, though, and chased after Asuka, laughing along with her. She ran now, but playfully, elegantly, wistfully, like a faerie playing in her forest. He followed, slipping on the grass whenever he took a sharp turn, getting completely soaked. Asuka never fell though, no matter how hard she turned—still, she was just as wet as Shinji. Their clothes were sticking to them, which was comfortable, for some unknown reason; it felt like they were kids again. This was their time to relive that horrible time, but with a twist. They could now have the fun they never did when they were little, when what they truly needed was to enjoy simple pleasures like swings and running through sprinklers.
Asuka wheeled around after Shinji had fallen, flying around like a plane. She closed in, looking straight into Shinji's eyes. He quickly stood, not know what she was planning.
"Here it comes…" she said, softly enough that he could barely hear her, but avidly enough that the sprinklers didn't drown her out. She dug in her heels, sliding right in front of Shinji, but never quite stopping. She gazed into his brown eyes, brought her face close to his, reached with her lips for his.
An electric shock flew through his eyes, an invisible hand pushed back his head ever so slowly, an unknown weight pulled his mouth open slightly. Asuka was millimeters away when she saw all this happen at once. So that's how it is? She quickly spun, pulling her face away from Shinji's, and losing balance. She slipped and fell backwards onto her back with a thud.
Shinji turned, not quite realizing what had happened. "Are you alright?" he said, though he laughed at the same time. He put his hands on his knees, bending down to see if Asuka was hurt—still giggling a bit, of course. He offered his hand.
Asuka grabbed it, planting her feet as best she could. She grinned an evil little grin and pulled Shinji down with her. They collapsed onto the ground in a fit of laughter until both had to wipe water and tears from their eyes.
"Right," Asuka said, "let's get out of this water and try to dry off!"
They scrambled to the other side of the field to a path, Asuka trying to trip Shinji the entire time, Shinji trying to get ahead of her the entire time. Both smiling and laughing in such unbridled happiness, a passing couple glanced at them and had to laugh a bit themselves. What strange people, they were, standing in dripping wet clothes and laughing about it.
The sun was dropping low in the sky now, covering everything with a yellowish-orange color. Shinji and Asuka walked, heading for the pier to watch the sunset. Shinji glanced at Asuka, walking next to him. The dress she wore was now covered in grass stains, and it looked like it was painted onto her skin. He couldn't help but stare at her curves, so voluptuously outlined as they were. Asuka knew he was staring, and let him do it. He looked her up and down, taking in her marvelous figure slowly and deliberately.
Asuka flashed a coy grin and looked at Shinji from the corner of her eye. A light laugh escaped, throaty and seducing. Shinji instantly turned a bright crimson and snapped upright, looking at the ground. Good, Asuka thought. He's finally noticed me.
By the time the pier came into view, the two weren't exactly wet anymore, but more like pleasantly damp. The sun was just beginning to hide behind the far horizon as they began their slow meandering on the boardwalk. Painting the landscape in a blood-orange color, the sun began saying its farewells to this part of the world. Asuka and Shinji walked side-by-side, their long shadows accompanying them to the side. The waves washing up against the pier was all that broke the silence, calmly enthralling in their meticulous rhythm.
"An Angel hasn't attacked for a while," Asuka said. "It's nice that they finally gave us a chance to rest."
Shinji nodded, quietly agreeing.
"I wonder what Gendo does on his off time. He's such a stony person, I don't think he can even have fun."
Talking about his father didn't sound like fun to Shinji, and he tensed up a fraction.
"A better question is what Wondergirl does on her off time," Asuka said. "I bet she just sits in her apartment, staring at the wall." A flock of seagulls swept past the pilots, heading for their nests, squawking noisily. Asuka watched them for a time. "You know, I tried to be her friend, but then I realized that she doesn't care about people. So I stopped trying, figuring that I'd only eventually be hurt by her cold way of dealing with people." She suddenly stopped, turning and grabbing Shinji's hand. "But I know you wouldn't hurt me like that, Shinji. I know you'd be gentle and kind to me."
He nodded his stunned agreement, not knowing if he should grab her hand back, or leave it limp in her grasp. Before he could decide, she lowered her arm to her side, still holding his hand, and pulled him to the wooden railing of the boardwalk. They stood there, holding hands, in a sacred kind of silence. Shinji now held fervently onto Asuka's hand, not wanting to let go. He inched closer to her, trying not to be secretive about it, but trying to be inconspicuous at the same time.
But she noticed, and turned. Not saying anything, she took Shinji's other hand in hers, and pulled him close. They're noses were almost touching, with Asuka's eyes locked onto Shinji's. She looked deep into those eyes, peering right into his soul, finding what he desired the most. With the sun outlining the young teenagers, Asuka leaned forward, pulling Shinji's lips close.