Shinji awoke with a start. His familiar ceiling looked down at him from that dark, windowless room. Only the small LED glowing of the clock illuminated the space.
He looked at the clock. 4:30. Way too early. He closed his eyes and rolled over to get back to sleep… but after almost twenty minutes of lying in bed he realized sleep wouldn't come. He grunted and accepted the day, getting up out of bed and sliding his door open.
The apartment was still dark and cold. He shivered a little before pulling on a sweater and sweatpants and heading for the kitchen. The dim lighting from the city outside played through the windows, giving the place a foreboding feeling.
He took a moment to walk to the windows and look out. A thick fog obscured the world outside... There was no sunlight yet.
An odd feeling of loneliness and transgression cloaked him. He wasn't supposed to be up this early. A part of him felt like he wasn't supposed to be here at all. As he considered the two roommates of his apartment, both sleeping in their rooms and closed off from him, he could feel the tangible distance that had sprang up around them since… since…
He plodded into the kitchen. He turned on the light to look at the calendar and figure out when he was. December.
He moved his finger across Misato's handwriting to see that today was the 4th. He blinked. A red heart sticker was put there months ago, and scribbled red handwriting said "ASUKA'S BIRTHDAY"
He blinked with this realization. Pulling his hand back he got lost in thought as he recalled Asuka's hostility and distance. Things hadn't been well after the latest Angel Battle.
He looked back at the calendar. He should do something nice for her, on her special day.
He tried to put some brain cells together to formulate a plan and get his breakfast started. He opened the refrigerator and stopped at what he saw within.
A cluster of products sat in the fridge, partitioned off, with a recipe taped to the top. He stared at it, then pulled up the recipe card to look at it.
"Black Forest Cake..."
He couldn't remember putting it in there. Maybe Misato had, intending either to try cooking it herself or asking Shinji to do it later.
He stared at all that for a moment to ask himself if he wanted to go ahead and make this, or wait for the official request. He looked at the clock. 4:45. He had plenty of time.
He thought of Asuka.
Shinji set the recipe down on the counter and started to pull out the ingredients. As he pulled out the buttermilk something fell out and rolled across the floor. Grabbing it he tried to decipher what the packaging said, which was also in German. "Oh." He said.
It was import sausage. Misato on a whim had taken him to an imports market earlier in the week, and Shinji bought this. He forgot that he had in response to Asuka's weekly complaints about Japanese cooking. He smiled a little, replaced the sausage, then got to work on the cake.
Asuka's Birthday
Norsehound
Shinji was a little nervous with anticipation as he applied the whip cream to the outside of this cake. The bowl of cherries was next to it, freshly washed, which he would be adding to the top after the frosting was to his satisfaction. He had just pulled away from it with the butter knife when he heard, "What the hell is this?"
Shinji jumped, startled. Looking up he saw Asuka standing in the doorway into the living room. Her hair was tousled, and she was still wearing her pajamas: a pink dress with a red bow at the nape of the neck.
"O-Oh…" Shinji sighed as he recovered, "G-Good morning, Asuka."
She said nothing but plodded across the kitchen floor, around the table, to stand next to the cake. Behind her the light from the day was bleeding into the room as 5:59 rolled over to 6am. This is when Shinji would normally get up to begin prepping their day.
She said nothing, just stared with disbelief, as Shinji turned back to the cake. "I was making this for you so we can have it after school. I… I thought we would celebrate, if you wanted."
Nervous that Asuka hadn't responded to discovering the cake, he looked at her as he said, "S-Since it's not a surprise anymore… Happy birthday, Asuka."
The girl simply stared dumbfounded at the cake. Then she looked up at Shinji. Sleep was still in her eyes and she was reeling from the surprise of… this statement… for her. She opened her mouth to say the only thing she could process in the face of this. "I want breakfast."
Shinji nodded. "Let me finish this and I can start Breakfast."
Shinji turned back to it, bracing just a little for Asuka's scathing retort. Instead, it never came, and when he looked up he saw the bathroom light on and heard the sink running. He hesitated, curious about what she was doing, but figured it was teeth brushing or something and moved on to finish the cake. He checked the instructions one last time, saw that it needed to chill, and made room in the refrigerator on the top rack for it.
By the time Asuka returned from the bathroom Shinji was making breakfast. Asuka again stopped to stare at Shinji's back as she… smelled the sausage. It was a scent she didn't know she missed.
When Shinji glanced backward to see her he said, "Take a seat! It'll be ready in a few minutes."
Still dumbfounded, Asuka pulled a chair and plopped into it. She was still coming to her senses as Shinji put a plate in front of her with scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast. She stared at the food, not believing her sight and smell.
To top it off Shinji placed a glass of milk in front of her and gave her the one fork in Misato's apartment- freshly washed. A knife accompanied it for her to cut the sausage.
After beholding all of this she craned her head up at Shinji. He smiled at her. "Go ahead, eat."
Asuka stared back into the meal before her stomach demanded that she consume it. She obeyed, while Shinji prepared his own breakfast. The sausage was absent from her plate by the time he sat across from her with his own food.
"So…" he asked, "Did you like it?"
Asuka stared at him. An incriminating, hostile remark about how his cooking didn't measure up to the real thing bobbed to the surface…
...but right behind it was the feeling behind knowing Shinji went out of his way to treat her to a familiar, home cooked meal for her this morning. Her strength bobbed and faltered as emotion spilled from her like a geyser and she started to cry. Heaping sobs first as she tried to keep it in, then she collapsed- planting her elbows on the table as her face rested in her hands while she started to bawl.
"Idiot!" She warbled, "Don't look at me! Why did you do all this?"
"I saw it was your birthday…" he answered hesitantly, unsure what to make of her breakdown, "I wanted to do something special for you." Shinji answered.
Asuka wanted to fly away- go hide in the bathroom or run to her room, but her legs wouldn't comply. She could only sit in that chair, in front of him, stunned at the gestures he made for her.
She sniffed, rubbing her face as she recovered. "You're an idiot, Shinji." She said with a chime in her tone suggesting she wasn't truly mad.
Shinji, for his credit, spotted her signal and only smiled a little. "I'm glad you like it, Asuka." He looked at his own meal and decided to confess, "I like it when I make you happy."
Her breath heaved again, gurgling in a crying way Shinji had never heard before. "Asuka?" He asked as her head hit the table beside her plate. "Asuka?"
Concerned a little, he stood and rounded the table to her. "Asuka?"
She didn't care if he was weak and pathetic. She didn't think of her thirst and expectation for independence. At the base of her being was a creature that desired to be understood and loved. The home cooked breakfast, with the promise of delicious cake later, combined with his statement and it was too much.
She reached up and clawed him closer to her, then stood to drive her face into his for a desperate kiss.
Shinji had plenty of time to go over in his head how the bored kiss from before went, and had been determined to do better if given the opportunity again. Now that it was here, he didn't feel so blindsided. He shoved his anxiety aside to do what men were supposed to do- holding the girl in return. He swung both hands around and pulled her in a crushing grip. If anything this pushed Asuka further into him, a fresh wind of validation propelling her lips and body forward into him. Shinji almost toppled back as Asuka opened her heart to him once more.
Unnoticed by both of them, Misato yawned while she stepped into the kitchen. "Hey, Shin…"
She stopped as she realized the teens in her care were having a moment. She blinked, then grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and left the room.
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Ritsuko took a breath. "Right," she said, squaring her tired shoulders, "We've come to the last phase of the operation. All sections, standby, this will be the final push."
Misato didn't hear the commands ongoing in the center. She stood at the glass of the control box overlooking Evangelion 1. Her face was strained with worry over the boy who was lost for 37 days. She sighed and leaned her face against the glass.
Maya was studiously focused on the status displays for Evangelion 01. She looked up to glance at Ritsuko, who had moved out of the corner of her eye, and Maya anticipated an order. Mistaken, Maya turned back to the screen just in time to see a massive projection flux of the unit's AT Field. The spike jutted out of the sensor's scope of vision for an unknown distance.
She opened her mouth to report this but in the next eye-blink it was gone. Wincing, Maya pulled up the information review to find any evidence of the anomaly. Seeing nothing Maya shook her head.
"Something wrong?" Ritsuko asked.
Maya shook her head again. "No Doctor, just thought I saw a blip on the sensors. It's nothing."
Ritsuko looked at the data as Maya reviewed it with her, but with nothing on the log they moved on.
Misato took her eyes of Evangelion 01 to look at the clock and calendar ensemble in the complex. There was something about the 4th she wanted to remember…
Maybe it was the beginning this final phase of Shinji's recovery. Yes, that was probably it. She refocused back on the mask of Eva 01.
In the dark of the morning, alone and asleep in her room, Asuka hugged the pillow. Her arms and legs tightened around the soft thing in her body grip.
She dreamt of chocolate, cherries, and the one she wanted. A small sob escaped her nose and mouth, and moisture welled in her eyes, as she turned 14 years old.
Happy birthday, Asuka.