Disclaimer: Same as Chapter 1.
Chapter 19: Hebrews
"...Well, it's about time we got back!" Asuka declared as the cab finally pulled up to Misato's apartment around an hour to midnight. Shinji had been dreading the walk back, especially with a certain testy redhead in tow, but thankfully their guardian had given them the money for a taxi, certain that she would be able to write it off as a 'medical expense.' He got out with Rei and was about to walk around to Asuka's side and open her door when he noticed she was already out. She caught his look of surprise and glared at him.
"What are you staring at, idiot? Not that I can't imagine..."
He managed to hide a blush. Despite the fact that he had been doing no such thing, Asuka had the uncanny ability to make him feel guilty for anything, from things that actually were his fault to the completely uncontrollable factors such as the weather.
"S-sorry...I just thought that you might, uh, need help..."
To neither his nor Rei's surprise, she stuck her chin out proudly as she began to walk toward the elevator to the 10th floor.
"...Hmph! Do you think that I, of all people, need help from some perverted idiot like you! Ha! You've gotten even dumber than before!" She then indulged in a malicious laugh as her male companion sighed in defeat. The entire journey to their apartment was quiet, outside of Asuka's occasionally muttered slights on Shinji, from 'a jellyfish has more spine than that idiot' to 'probably just wanted an opportunity to grope me, the pervert.'
Well, at least she's no different than before, Shinji thought, not sure if it was a good thing or not.
Rei was the first one to reach the door, so she pulled out her keycard and slid it through the lockslot. Asuka, noticing Rei's actions, looked at her suspiciously.
"Hey Wondergirl, why the hell do you have a key? And shouldn't you be getting back to yourlovely little hovel?"
Shinji glared at Asuka but she didn't notice, her attention focused on the girl who, as far as she was concerned, was invading her territory.
"...I am currently living with Misato and Shinji. Thus it only makes sense that I have a way to get inside my place of residence."
A fuse blew in Asuka's brain, temporarily leaving her speechless.
"...WHAT! WHY THE HELL DO I HAVE TO LIVE UNDER THE SAME ROOF AS YOU!"
"Asuka, come on! We couldn't justleave her in that place she was staying at!"
"WE COULD TRY! I'll be DAMNED if I have to live with this bitch! What psychotic IDIOT came up with this idea!" She the felt Shinji's hand on her arm, gripping it tightly.
"...That 'idiot' was Misato. And if you have a problem maybe you should bring it up with her."
the volatile Caucasian was stunned by the angry look on Shinji's face for about a second, then jerk her arm away.
"...Fine, whatever! I suppose I can allow Wondergirl to stay here...but only because I'm feeling so charitable! I'm going to bed!" With that, she stormed into the apartment, cursing in German all the way to her room. The boy's brow furrowed as he looked at where she had run to.
"...Well, I guess I should have seen this coming," he sighed to Rei. "...Are you going to be all right around her?"
"...Don't worry, Shinji," she said calmly, as though nothing had happened. "There is little she can do or say to upset me. Besides... I know that she is merely ill-tempered from her recent ordeal."
Shinji smiled in spite of himself. How she could be so patient with Asuka, a girl who wasn't even remotely nice to her, was quite admirable as far as he was concerned.
"...It is late," the blue-haired girl said as she stepped across the threshold. "...We should go to bed. And Shinji..."
He looked at her as she turned her head back in his direction.
"...I think it would be wise to avoid mentioning anything regarding the last two Angels around Asuka."
Shinji nodded severely. There was no way of being able to know how she would react if she found out how much she had missed...
Asuka awoke the next morning to the sunlight streaming through the windows. She rubbed her eyes, glad to be back, yet she couldn't shake an odd nagging in the back of her head.
Everything looks exactly the same as I left it... but I can't help but feel like I'm forgetting something important. They said I've been asleep for a month, but beyond that...nothing. Was I really hurt by the Angel that badly?
She shook the strange thoughts from her head.
"Snap out of it, Asuka," she sternly told herself. Even if something had happened, there was nothing she could do about it now. "...Just focus on moving ahead."
She put on a pair of sleep pants before opening the door and blindly heading toward the kitchen, where she found Shinji cooking breakfast and Rei helping him. She slinked up behind them, neither noticing she was there.
"...Well, well, now I can see why you were soinsistent for Wondergirl to stay, Shinji," Asuka said in a mocking voice. To her satisfaction, the boy turned around surprised, his face as red as her hair, and she enjoyed another laugh at his expense. She didn't notice that he failed to deny her accusation. Rei merely looked around to acknowledge the other girl's presence.
"...Good morning, Asuka."
The girl suddenly stopped laughing at hearing Rei use her first name.
"...Why are you acting so friendly, Wondergirl?" she said with a not-too-subtle hint of sarcasm.
"I am merely addressing you by your name because we are all living in the same location now. Familiarity has nothing to do with it."
Shinji could tell that Rei was just saying it like it was, not to be malicious, but the former Pilot of Unit-02 narrowed her eyes.
"...Well, if you want to start something right now, I'm game for it, Wondergirl."
Shinji thought for a minute that sparks were ready to start flying, but after a few tense moments Asuka uncharacteristically decided that discretion was the better part of valor.
"...But I'm hungry, so let's just forget about it." The redhead walked over to the table where there were already place settings and set herself down.
"...Asuka, are you okay?" Shinji said, surprised that his belligerent roommate would pass up the chance to start a fight with Rei. She turned her puppy-dog eyes on the boy and whimpered as though at the brink of tears.
"N-no, S-S-Shinji...d-d-do you know w-why?...BECAUSE I'M FREAKIN' STARVING!" she finished on a yell that could have cracked glass. She turned her head to stare at the wall, apparently finding it more interesting than the people cooking in front of her. He had gone back to his cooking when he heard Asuka mutter under her breath.
"Besides...Now I have to live with a girl who's my age--I suppose I can make an effort to tolerate her." Shinji blinked, and knowing what she really meant, smiled.
For the rest of the day, Asuka made an effort to at least treat Rei as though she didn't find her presence repulsive. It was clear she was getting frustrated, though; while Shinji had been able to make a great many strides with the introverted girl over the last week, she still retained many of the inclinations she had grown up with for the past fourteen years. The habit that was beginning to get on the redhead's nerves the most, however, was her 'five-word-or-less' answers to questions while they were busy washing the dishes from dinner.
"So...how has Misato been without me around?"
"...She seems acceptable."
"Shinji can at least cook well, huh?"
"Yes."
"...Has Shinji tried to attack you yet?" she added mischeviously, to try and get a reaction out of the stoic girl.
"No."
"GODDAMNIT, WONDERGIRL, I'M TRYING TO HAVE A CONVERSATION HERE AND YOUR LITTLE 'RESPONSES' ARE PISSING ME OFF!"
Asuka threw down her washrag in frustration, then turned angrily to Rei. Shinji ran in from in front of the TV, ready to step in as soon as things got ugly. Rei kept her eyes fixed on the cauldron of fury in front of her, not even batting an eyelash at Asuka's obvious attempts to assert her superiority.
"GOD, HOW COULD I EVEN THINK THAT LIVING WITH YOU WAS POSSIBLE? COULD YOU BOTHER TRYING TO ACT LIKE YOU'RE HUMAN?"
Shinji saw Rei's eyes flash at the remark that had inadvertently hit too close to home. The pale girl now turned her face to Asuka's, who seemed slightly surprised at the angry look that Rei was now displaying. When she spoke, however, her voice was as quiet and composed as it always was.
"Perhaps I could act more 'human'... if you could make an effort to stop being a bitch."
At that moment, the world stopped turning. Both Shinji and Asuka's eyes had become three times their normal size, and even Rei seemed shocked by what she had said. She was about to apologize when Asuka took her by surprise as well.
She started to laugh. She was laughing so hard that tears were trickling down her face and she literally collapsed onto the floor. And it wasn't malicious laughter, like Shinji was used to hearing from her, either. Both Rei and Shinji stared at her as though she was an imposter Asuka, and she had the real one tied up somewhere.
"...Asuka?" Shinji finally said with some hesitation.
"T...that was great! Oh my...God... Rei, I...I had no idea that...that you had a sense of humor!" she managed to get out in between breaths.
"...'Sense of humor?'" Rei was confused again. Why did she seem to elicit these responses from others when she was being serious?
"Wait...You mean you're not mad?" Shinji asked, equally confused that Asuka would take someone calling her a 'bitch' to her face, much less Rei, without a frenzied attempt to kill her. At this point, Asuka had finally managed to calm down, and still wheezing for air, was able to pull herself up off the ground.
"W...well, I guess...I've had it coming for a while. And hey, she finally showed SOME feeling--I can't blame her for that--not too much." She then turned and gave Rei a mock glare. "...Just don't do it again, Rei. I'd 'hate' to have to beat you up." She smiled and headed back to the dishes.
Rei was speechless. She never thought she would be angry enough to ever tell Asuka what she really thought about her, and had found it even less likely to believe that Asuka would take it so...well. Suddenly, she realized something odd about how Asuka had addressed her. It hadn't been her normal nickname of 'Wondergirl'...
"You...called me Rei."
Asuka turned away from her dishes to give the red-eyed girl a frustrated grin.
"Well, of course I did, you idiot! After all, we're all 'living under the same roof,' or something like that, right? God, you're as dense as Shinji..."
Rei didn't quite understand that Asuka was really trying to be friends with her-- the girl could hardly understand herself, much less the near-bipolar nature of this strange half-German. But she smiled nontheless, glad to no longer be called by a derogatory name and at being treated with some degree of kindness from Asuka. She joined her roommate at the sink and proceeded to continue helping her, the tension from the entire day now gone.
Well, at least they won't kill each other right away, Shinji thought happily.
A/N: Well, I'm going to try and make Rei and Asuka friends...for a little while, at least. But you know what they say about teaching an old dog new tricks...
BTW, I don't know if 'lockslot' is a real word or not, so don't hate me for using it, English police! I don't know what else you'd call those card reader thingsfor mechanical doors anyway... : P