A/N: Back by popular demand (if 8 people can be called that) here's the much-anticipated second chapter. I think I did a better job of maintaining the same feel throughout the whole chapter than I did in the last one. This one flows a bit better, I think. Anyways, on with the show.

Battle of Wills

There is very little difference between an Asuka that admits she loves you and an Asuka that doesn't. She still called me an idiot. She still told me what to do. She still hit me when I didn't do what she told me to do the way she thought I should do it. In fact, the only true differences were that she insisted on sleeping together and she made out with me when she got bored.

The make out sessions didn't bother me as much as the sleeping arrangements. At least they only lasted for about a half an hour or less. Plus they didn't require much out of me, but to sit back and take it. A few times I even enjoyed them a little. But the fact remained that she was just too… hard? I think that's the best word I have to describe it. She came in fast, held my head with an iron clutch, and forced her lips upon mine with no relenting. The strange thing about it though was that I never saw it coming. We could be talking about something random or I could be working on something to "better humanity" and then I'm instantly being tackled by a blur of red hair with a European complexion. I never even get a chance to consent… or protest for that matter.

As you may have already guessed, sleeping together is something I had never planned on truly consenting to. Sure I allowed it that first night (to my great trepidation), but I expected it to be for just that night. Those were the unwritten rules I had set down. Asuka didn't follow them. She never follows the rules.

Our second night on the beach we had went to sleep much the same way we had on the first. She faced the fire; I faced the ocean, 1foot distance between us, no foul play. However, when I woke up later that night I was in the exact same position I had found myself in the night before: forcefully pulled into a full body embrace. The only improvement was that there was no loud screaming and incoherent babbling to accompany my return to consciousness. There was only the all-consuming presence of Asuka and an annoying tingling sensation that indicated I had to use the bathroom. I gently called her name to wake her up. That didn't work so I started rocking back and forth within the small loose space spared from her clutches. While this action probably made me look like a fool, there was really no one to see me and it got the job done. I had managed to wake the sleeping beast and instantly suffered its wrath.

"What'd you wake me for!" she yelled as she kneed me in the leg causing sharp pain at the area of contact. I tried to keep my outcry to a minimum and my explanation to a maximum.

"I just wanted you to let me go, so I could go to the bathroom," I managed to say through clenched teeth.

"Oh," she said quietly, almost apologetically. "Well you should have gone before we went to sleep."

"Well I didn't expect to have to wake you up in the first place," I said with what I thought was a bit of anger. At least it sounded like it to me. I'm not sure if she herd it the same way. "Why are you holding me like this again anyways? I said I hate you, didn't I? Are you so pathetic that you'll cling to a man that hates you?"

I knew I had gone too far, but I think it was for the better. In the moments that followed my small, but cold outburst we both learned one fact: I could hurt her. And not just superficial things like when I choked her, but I could really hurt her badly. It was etched all over her face. In that instant, I could read pain and disbelief all over her features.

Asuka instantly let me go and I could hear the sadness dripping from her voice when she spoke. She didn't even try to hide it.

"I was just cold… you didn't even think to get something for us to sleep under. You're a lousy provider, Shinji."

I didn't say anything in response, as nothing was really necessary for me to say. If I had apologized, it would have been shallow and she would have known it. If I had tried to hurt her more, I would have felt even worse than I did already. I really didn't want to cause her pain like that. I just wanted to pee without being hassled. But that was just too much to ask from Asuka. She couldn't just recognize the fact that I didn't want to sleep with her. She had to make up some stupid story about being cold.

When I came back from relieving myself, I saw that Asuka was already asleep again. I laid down next to her and soon realized that sleep wouldn't be coming for me. As I tossed and turned a bit, I found myself looking over in her direction. She was shivering. She was shivering because she was cold.

I felt like kicking myself.

After the urge to kick subsided, I decided to waste no more time waiting for a sleep that wouldn't come. I got up from my position and knelt down by the fire where I left a small message in the sand for Asuka.

"Gone for blankets, be back later"

It took me four hours to walk the distance from the beach to the nearest city (which was luckily not Tokyo-3). During these four hours I entertained myself by watching my shadow grow as the sun rose behind me and counting my footfalls until I forgot what number I was on. By the time I got there, it was well past sunrise and my feet were tired.

The city was empty and devoid of all human life. I could hear each step I made and every breath I took. It was kind of relaxing in a way, knowing that there was no one to watch me or hear me do anything. It was a freedom of the likes of which I had only dreamed about in the past. If I wanted I could strip nude and walk through the streets and no one could stop me. No one would even shout, "Hey look at that naked guy walking in the street!" These thoughts were purely liberating. I almost was tempted to act upon them, just because I could, but I remembered why I was here and what I had to do. I needed to get those blankets so I could go back to hating Asuka for good.

So I searched around for a while, breaking into various glass window establishments with no guilt what so ever. Would a dead man care if you broke his window and stole his blankets? I think not. It took me about an hour of perusing the local department stores until I found exactly what I was looking for. It was a huge red blanket with flowery embroidery that Asuka could wrap herself in three times over. It was expensive too, designed for a king sized waterbed at a king sized price. I decided that given the circumstances I could afford to take the loss in revenue. Nothing was too good for the girl I abhorred. And while I was there I figured, why not get something for myself? I deserved to sleep in comfort as well didn't I? So I picked up a noticeably smaller blue blanket that I thought would handle the job quite nicely. It was soft to the touch and it reminded me of the past for some reason or the other.

Just walking out of the store with these blankets in my arms was hard work. I couldn't see where I was going and the fabric was making me feel overheated under the intense rays of the sun. I stopped at the local grocery store and got a shopping cart to place them in. From then on out it was smooth sailing back to the beach. Sure it took me about an hour longer while pushing the cart, but I still managed to get back well before sunset.

Asuka met me with an array of emotions starting with relief, moving to anger, then on to thankfulness, and ending with (you guessed it) anger. She was relieved that I had come back to her. When she saw me in the distance she ran up to me, pushed the shopping cart to the ground, and embraced me in a desperate hug. She then kissed my forehead (which I found odd for the most part) and stood back smiling into my eyes. Then, of course, she slapped me leaving a dark red mark on my cheek.

"Where were you all that time? I thought you were gone! I thought you had left me here all by myself! You're so inconsiderate Shinji! I wish you hadn't come back, then you'd realize how good you've got it here with me!"

"But Asuka," I said wearily not willing to say something I'd later regret and feel compelled to make up for. "I left you a note over there by the fire." She followed my pointing finger to the ruins of my message that she had undoubtedly trampled on earlier in the day.

"I don't see any message you liar! If you made a mistake, why don't you just own up to it? Just admit that you went out to do perverted things behind my back that were much more important than your responsibilities! That's what a real man would do!"

"I didn't do perverted things! I'm not like that!" Not like that anymore… at least that's what I convinced myself.

"Go ahead and believe whatever helps you sleep at night Shinji! Just don't expect me to buy your crap too."

At the mention of sleep I remembered the blankets that were now lying along the beach. I pointed to them and Asuka finally shut up for once in her life. Her mouth gaped open in shock. I just watched her expression as a "how do you like me now?" smile subconsciously formed on my lips.

"Shinji," she said holding up the red blanket and pulling it up to her chest. "It's beautiful. And it's so warm too…" she trailed off as the realization of what she was saying formed in her mind. She was complementing something I'd done and there was no way to get around it. She must have also recognized that she had falsely accused me of "naughty deeds", but she wasn't about to apologize for that. She just lowered her head a bit, avoided eye contact, and said "thanks" in an unusually soft voice.

"Your welcome," I said with more than a little pride.

My stomach audibly grumbled. Asuka punched me in the arm.

"You idiot!" she yelled loudly. "You went into the city and you didn't even get any food! There must have been a million canned goods in there and all you got were two stupid blankets! I knew you were dumb, but I didn't think you were that dumb! Do I have to tell you to do everything?"

For one shining moment I had forgotten that everything I do is wrong. I don't know how I allowed this particular fact to slip my memory because it was the single most important principal that governed my relationship with the young vindictive girl. I guess I really am stupid.

That night Asuka went to sleep looking happy and content underneath her red blanket and I went to sleep feeling happy and content under my blue blanket. She slept facing the fire, I slept facing the ocean, 1 foot distance between us, no foul play. The best part about it was that we both had what we wanted. Asuka was warm and I had my space. We'd both played the game and we both came out winners. But I had forgotten one fact. Asuka doesn't play by the rules.

I woke up the next morning to find myself surrounded by a red cocoon and the ever-clasping arms of Asuka. Needless to say, I wasn't happy with this situation.

"What the heck, Asuka!"

"Why are you yelling at me?" she asked innocently, while releasing her embrace on me. That's when I knew she had to have done something.

"Why'd you pull me under here? And where's my blanket?" I demanded to know the truth.

Asuka just looked at me sternly and said, "You have no right to yell at me Third, since I just saved your life."

"What?"

"You rolled over in your sleep and your blanket caught on fire. If I hadn't pulled you out of it you would have burned to death."

"What?" I repeated.

"You better be grateful! If it wasn't for me you'd look like that thing over there about now!" She pointed to the remains of my blanket, which was still slowly burning in the fire. It was the saddest thing I'd ever seen. The blue fabric that had provided me with so much warmth and comfort was now going up in flames, along with my happiness and self-esteem. This was no accident. Accidents show mercy. This was sabotage.

"My… blanket," I said in sad disbelief.

"Well you're lucky I had pity on you," said Asuka in a sympathetic tone. "I saw how cold you looked without it so I decided you could sleep under mine with me. It's more than big enough for the two of us anyways." I'm sure you'll agree with me when I say that that last remark was going a step to far.

"Why?" I asked in disbelief.

"These things happen Shinji. You've got to learn to move on."

"How could you?"

"How could I what? Save your life? I couldn't just let you die, now could I? Why don't you come and lay back down here with me? It'll help you forget about the loss."

"I'd rather freeze to death."

"Suit yourself, Shinji, but you're not sleeping out there by yourself at night. I'm not going to let you die just because you lost some stupid blanket. You are the future of humanity, after all."

I really wanted to go for a swim.

Later that day, we ventured back into the city. We had to really. It was either that or eat the LCL soaked fish from the ocean. I suggested we take the shopping cart, as it had been a big help to me before, but Asuka said it was a stupid idea. She insisted that we could just get another shopping cart when we got up there and bring that one back. An image filled my mind of a beach littered with shopping carts that we'd taken from the grocery store, but never brought back. Still, I didn't protest.

The trip seemed to go relatively faster this time, as most trips do when you've already made them once before. Plus there was Asuka to factor into the equation. She seemed in a talkative mood and we spent the time just talking about the past. Nothing too serious, or too personal. We just talked about how school used to be, and what it was like just hanging out with our friends, and just city life in general. It was kind of nice in a way, but kind of sad also. All those things were behind us now and there really wasn't much we could do about it.

When we got to our destination Asuka stated the obvious.

"It's so empty," she said. I just shrugged.

After a short discussion about how I was too stupid to buy the right kinds of foods, I pointed her in the direction of the grocery store and went upon my merry way. I met her in the store twenty minutes later with another blue blanket in my arms. She stared at it for a while and said, "What'd you get that thing for?"

"I figured it would make nice fuel for the fire." Asuka looked guilty. My point was made.

When she finished up in the grocery store Asuka decided that we had to shop for clothes.

"After you took that thread out of my suit it started to fall apart! Just look at what you've done!" she showed me an open area on the suit that was located right at that tantalizing valley of a woman's anatomy. I hadn't noticed the rip before, but I surely noticed it then. I looked away quickly to maintain some gentlemanly composure.

"What's a matter Shinji? So ashamed at what you've done that you can't even look at it?"

I wisely didn't respond.

We finally found a clothing store that had just the type of clothes that Asuka was looking for and she went crazy. She seemingly picked up everything she saw that was even remotely in her size range. I could hear her mumbling to herself as she picked things up.

"This one looks nice… yeah, that could be useful… That'll be comfortable… I could tan while I'm wearing these…" and all sorts of other replies that silently irked me. The worst of them though occurred when she saw something she didn't like.

"Don't like this color… probably make me look fat… who'd buy this anyways?" These phrases bothered me the most because even after she would express her dislike for an article of clothing, she'd pick it up to try on anyways.

And try them on she did… all of them. The red dress, the wife beater and kakis, the orange blouse and yellow skirt, the yellow blouse and orange skirt, the tight jeans, the bellbottom jeans, the tight bellbottom jeans, the yellow sundress, the black dress, and all other sorts of clothes that a man shouldn't know exists. And nearly every time she tried on something new she'd ask my opinion of it. It got to the point where if we didn't get out of there soon, we wouldn't make it back to the beach by sunset. I told her as much and she started to complain.

"But Shinji I can't decide, between these dresses. I know we can't take them all, but I need to have a few of them so I can feel pretty every now and then. You want me to feel pretty don't you?"

I sighed in frustration. "Why don't you bring them out here and I'll tell you which one I like the best?"

She brought out a simple spaghetti strap red dress with no design on it and a strapless blue dress of the same simplicity. Of course, being Asuka, she had decided not to be wearing either of these dresses at the time.

"Asuka," I gasped, shamefully looking the other way. "Why aren't you wearing anything?"

"I wanted your honest opinion. If I were wearing one of them you'd probably like that one better. This way you can judge honestly." This explanation, while logical, didn't seem to appease my discomfort.

"But you're… you're… indecent."

"You're going to have to see it sometime, right? So just pick a dress."

Her words only seemed to make me feel worse really. Just another painful reminder of what we'd eventually have to do. I didn't feel like discussing it at the time so I just kept my head turned away and made a choice.

"T-the blue one."

"You're not even looking!"

"I saw it before…"

"Whatever, Shinji," she said sounding annoyed and disappointed. Then after a few seconds she said, "You're such a girl!"

It seemed odd to me that Asuka would be mad about me not looking at her while she was nude, but I figured she probably would have hit me anyways if I had looked at anything but the dresses. It was a lose, lose situation… and I lost.

Asuka walked back to the beach wearing the blue dress I had picked out. I think it really was the better of the two choices. I pushed the cart filled with the rest of her clothes, the food, and the fire kindling (my blanket). She walked in front of the cart not speaking to me at all and making what I thought was a deliberate effort to be seen. During the walk, I couldn't help but think about what she had said in the store. I was going to have to see it anyways. It bothered me greatly that it was an obligation and not a choice.

We got "home" and I threw my blanket on the fire pit, lit a match, and watched her burn. I made an effort to look as sad as I possibly could and Asuka undoubtedly took notice of this. Every now and then I'd see her looking over at me with this pitiful, "look what I did to him" expression and I knew that this was one battle that I'd actually won. But even though I won the battle, there was very little chance I'd win the war.

That night I slept in a sea of red, trapped mercilessly by Asuka's arms.

A/N: Not too much to say here. I think it speaks for itself. If I tell you too much then I'll be pushing my views of the story onto you. I think it's better that everyone has their own interpretations. Hope you enjoyed.

Fresh C