Chapter 3: Great Shinji Panic! Pt.2

"Oh kids I'm home!"

'Oh God its Misato!' he bit his lip and shed a single tear,"I'm so fucked." He looked at his clock. 'It's only 3:35 what is she doing home already! What I am going to do! Okay, if I don't reply then she won't know I'm here. Okay Operation Silence commencing.'

"Shinji, you here?" wailed Misato.

"Yah, I'm here!" he yelled. Then he realized what he just did. 'What the hell! Shinji you idiot!' He mentally chastised himself. 'You idiot! Baka! Baka! Baka!'

"Oh Okay," replied Misato. She looked at the table noticing all the cans. 'Whoa did I really drink this much this morning?' she wondered. 'Man if I didn't get that VIP discount then I am really hammered for money right now if I keep up all this drinking.' Misato had previously won a contest Yebisu beer had held to find their most loyal drinker in all of Japan. Misato had won the contest easily with 43,840 cans of Yebisu brand beer in the past couple years in her life. They were so impressed with the numbers they had named her 'Miss Yebisu Beer 2012' and gave her a lifetime VIP discount. It was one of the greatest moments in her life as she saw it.

"Okay, okay focus Shinji focus," he concentrated. Maybe she won't come back here at all. Good, nothing to worry about then."

"Hey Shinji," she yelled across the apartment, "I'm gonna want you to tell me how I look kay!"

"Crap!" his plan just fell through the floor, she was going to be at his door any second now. 'Okay first things first, I gotta disconnect myself from Asuka.' He tried to gently peel her body from his via her shoulders, no such luck. Her grasp was very strong and she was now consciously resisting, not wanting to let go in her drunken stupor. She started to stir. His heart was really thumping now. He couldn't detach himself from Asuka's grip without hurting her, she was just holding on so tight.

"Hey Shinji what's going on?" Asuka creaked. She didn't really have a grip between her dream world and reality at this point and fell in and out of sleep every few seconds.

'Crap if I tell her she might freak and doing something rash.' Time was running out. Misato was making her way towards Shinji and in a last ditch effort he did the last thing he could think of. He reached over and turned off his futon-side light and threw his covers over Asuka body behind him trying to hide the outline of her body from someone standing at the door. (A/N: Think the first episode of Chobits if you've seen it.) Misato slid the door open to his room.

"Hey Shinji, you haven't seen that Asuka have you? She's not in her room and the school called me and said she had never shown up. Section Two said that she had left but then ran off somewhere in a hurry. She can't be sick so that leaves about one thing left, she skipped." She asked quizzically.

"Well she might be sick but I think she might not want to be found."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know she seemed fine this morning until she just up and ran off. She might be off at a friend's house or something." He didn't lie, just with held parts of the story.

"I swear sometimes that crazy girl never gives a crap about anything," Misato said lowly.

Asuka grumbled and Shinji could feel her breath on the side of neck as she prepared to speak, she had obviously heard. Shinji had quickly and decisively clapped his left hand over her mouth to keep her from making any comments. "Yah, well you know her," he timidly said with a rigid smile.

"Yah well I just wish she wasn't such a stuck up bitch all the time especially in the way she treats you. And I've seen how she treats Rei at NERV, can't imagine how bad it probably gets at school."

Now he could really feel her moving beneath the sheet. She could definitely hear Misato's bashing and was getting mad. She probably wanted to give Misato a piece of her mind. "Yah well, it's not really that bad ya know, she can be a really nice person to be around sometimes," he smiled nervously.

"Hmpf that must be rare!" she mocked. "Come on Shinji I seen the reports from Section Two about her behavior at school, your too nice a person than she deserves to be around in my opinion but what ever you say." Something suddenly and visibly moved underneath Shinji's sheets. Shinji had to force some of his strength to restrain Asuka, she must be pissed.

"Hey what was that?" Misato asked. She noticed the movement underneath Shinji's sheets which was strange considering that his body wasn't really facing her. Her mind sparked. "Hey Shinji doing something under there you don't want me to know about?" She lifted her left hand to cover her smirk and giggled.

"It's not like that!"

"Oh calm down, I'm just teasing." She said playfully and patted the air in front of her mouth as she giggled some more. "Oh, Shinji sometimes your just so easy." There was a pause in her speaking as tried to determine her original reason for coming here. " Oh yah Shinji how do I look? I'm going out drinking Kaji." Shinji laughed at the irony in his head. She twirled in front of Shinji showing off her highlights to him see and in her mind she thought it was funny to tease him and watch those nervously funny faces he'd make.

Shinji knew it was over. Misato had said she was going out with Kaji and Asuka had defiantly heard her. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold her down this time. After all Asuka is obsessed with that man in his opinion. But strangley she never even flinched at it. He looked up at Misato twirling in front of him.

'Why did she have to do that?'

'She's Misato, err.' A voice in his head said.

'Yah guess your right, she teasing me like that all the time.'

'Just be glad she's not in her underwear this time.'

'Yah, your right." Shinji thought immediately followed by flashbacks of times where Misato simply waltzed outside of her room in her underwear or some of her really crazing drinking binges. It was enough to make Kensuke and Toji bleed to death instantly. Still she looked really good tonight she was in the black dress that she had worn to the JetAlone Convention months ago.

"Misato isn't that a little too classy for going out to drink?"

"No, no Kaji said he is taking me to a high class bar on 5th and 6th downtown. It's going to be really nice and there will be lots of imported beers," she said dreamily.

"Oh okay, well you look great."

"Really! Thaaanks!" she said sweetly and giggled. She waved towards him and did a 240 spin and walk away from Shinji's room. But without closing Shinji's door.

'Boy she's in a good mood.' She walked towards her own room singing some Japanese pop song.

'Hopefully she'll just get out.' He suddenly felt a bad pang of guilt but then mentally passed it off realizing the direness of his current situation. She could come back at any moment and then he still had Asuka to deal with. He listened carefully for Misato to leave.

Misato was back in her room still singing her song whilst putting on some make-up. She quickly finished and was heading towards the kitchen. Shinji felt like he was going to be very relieved soon.

"Hi Pen-Pen," she said excitedly, "How're you today?" On the other side of the apartment Shinji face-faulted knowing that she'd never leave now. Asuka was beginning to fidget. Even in her drunken state she didn't like to be covered like this. He was holding his hand over her mouth and was holding her down. 'Sorry Asuka but right now you are too wasted to know what the heck is going so just trust me.'

"Wark!"

"Okay then, bai bai Pen-Pen, Hey cya Shinji!' she yelled. She started towards the door.

"See ya later Misato!" he yelled back. He was somewhat relieved but knew there was still much to be sorted out. He heard the door opened and shut. "Shoo, what a relief finally!" he sighed. He enjoyed a short moment of peace and relief. He quickly squelched it and got back to the problem at hand.

"Asuka," he uncovered her but quickly changing his line of questioning, "What's wrong?" Her cheeks were puffed out and her face began to look green. 'Oh man.'

He was holding back as she blew chunks into the toilet bowl. 'Today is just so, so wrong.' His chest felt tight with stress. She heaved into the toilet again. 'What did I do to deserve this?'

"Shinji," Asuka tried to speak, "I'm so ... bleehh.. blaaaggh."

"It's alright Asuka," for once knowing what she was going to say. He rubbed her shoulders in an attempt to help her feel better but it wasn't helping her too much. Bleeeaaaghh "Jeez Asuka, how much did you drink? I saw the cans on the table."

"Like," wiping the corner of her mouth, 'five or six."

"Huh? There's maybe thirteen cans out there and only a few are Misato's. You lose count or something?" he had a good laugh.

"Pen-Pen drank with me, we watched TV together most of the day."

"That explains it." He remembered that the warm-water bird did his share of drinking too in this place. 'Well that explains the crankiness today when I stepped on him.'

"Wonder how Misato does this all the time," she said wiping her mouth and grabbing a toothbrush and began cleaning her mouth out. Shinji waited patiently behind her. "I think I'm gonna go to bed." It was now mid-evening she she'll have time to wake and let her hang-over dissipate before school.

"Alright Asuka," he said helping her to her feet, "just don't go drinking like that again."

"Yah, yah I won't, believe me." She left the bathroom and stumbled into her room.

"Shinji?"

"Yah?"

"Thanks. A lot, I'm sorry for messing up your day and pulling you into this."

"It's no problem Asuka," he said then hesitated, "I mean we're friends right?" He said it smiling a pure hearted smile and hoping she'd acknowledge his need for friendship with her. The question had caught her unaware though. She looked at him bewildered and in shock and then paused thoughtfully for nearly 3 seconds before

replying.

"Yah, we're friends," She said smiling bright. But her breath was still horrible and her teeth we're still a bit green, Shinji didn't notice. It was the meaning behind the smile and the words. She had acknowledged as a friend and possibly even an equal. It made him feel great. He knew that she was still drunk and she probably wouldn't say it otherwise but his friends told nearly everything someone says when they're drunk is true. And the just the chance she thought of him that way made his mind grab the glimmer hope and digest it through his psyche. "Good night Shinji."

"Night Asuka." They both turned and enter their individual rooms closing the doors in peace. For at least two nights now, especially this night thought his door wasn't his barrier between him and Asuka Langley Satan but his friend Asuka Langley Soryhu.

Awwwww, Isn't it just so cute! Well my friends this was going to be an Asuka x Shinji fic. But some of my friends tell me I should include other girls like Rei or even maybe Maya Ibuki or something like that for competition. What do you guys think? Please review and tell me! Don't worry more funny situations will ensue in the process. After I get some good replies I'll post Chapter 4 real quick. SO PLEASE REVIEW!

See you Space Cowboy.