Essence of Shinji

By: Kristoffer Remmell

Summary: Shinji is a natural even in cooking. Asuka, like in Evas, is determined to show him up. A funny story of Shinji and Asuka's relationship. Mild language and violence. A humorous story with subtle romance between Shinji and Asuka.

Category: Humor/Romance

Disclaimer: I hold no copyright over Neon Genesis Evangelion. That is held by GAINAX and Anno. I am writing this story as a fan of the series and for my own enjoyment.

Rating: T (minor coarse language, and some violence)

A/N: This chapter was originally part of Chapter Seven. I cut it in half. I don't like making these chapters too long. Things are really going to start coming together now.

One of my favorite scenes to write in that last chapter was the first one at NERV. I also like how Rei pretty much ignored Asuka. The only reason Asuka didn't turn on Rei with her anger was, because Asuka was in a blind rage.

Shinji confronting Mana was a tough scene to write. I know what "I" would do in that situation, but what I would do isn't in Shinji's character. Some people still haven't gotten it about that article Mana wrote. Most of what she wrote about Asuka was a lie. I thought I answered most of that in the last chapter. Seems I have to spell it out for a very small few. Asuka did go to college, she is fourteen, golden-red is her real hair color, she would never of dated a boy from school, she is a great pilot, she's not trying to leech attention from Shinji, and Mana was dressed just as showy as Asuka was.

Chapter 8: Wasted Affection

Misato had eyed Asuka through the first ten minutes of dinner. Eventually, she just let it all go. Asuka and Shinji kept looking to each other from time to time. They felt like that were getting away with something. During the meal Misato went over the situation with her business trip. She was leaving very early the next morning and wouldn't be back till about mid Saturday. She also told them that if they needed anything they should call Ritsuko.

"I don't mind if you two ditch school tomorrow, but just promise me you'll stay home till school is dismissed."

"Okay." says Shinji.

"'Kay, whatever." says Asuka.

Misato got up to go to watch some television. She looked back remembering something. She says, "One more thing. Don't answer the phone. If Ritsuko calls and finds out I let you two skip all she'll do is bitch me out.". Asuka and Shinji agreed and gathered the dishes. Misato packed her bags, placed them by the front door, and went to bed early. She just asked the kids to keep the noise down for a while.

The kids silently watched TV for the rest of the night. Shinji was about to enter his room when he was called from behind. "Shinji?" Asuka said in a soft voice. Her hair was down and had just left the bathroom. He turned to look at her. Asuka walked to him slowly. She just looked into his eyes. No words passed, and Asuka suddenly embraced him, resting her head at his shoulder. He was in shock. She wasn't holding him very tight, but he felt his lungs suddenly empty. Asuka says, in a small voice, "Thank you.". She lighty pushed him away and walked into her room.

He stood there, looking to her door, for a minute till his motor fucntions returned and went into his room to change for bed. The small crack in Misato's door slowly sealed.

Shinji laid in bed looking to the ceiling and feeling rather proud with himself. Asuka was snuggled under her covers and looking to her red bear fondly.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

It seemed a complete shame to stay in on such a lovely day. Asuka was in bed until noon. Her alarm was off, but the chirping birds on her windowsill caused her to open her eyes. She made her bed and propped the bear on the pillow. Walking out she saw Shinji preparing lunch. She said, "What are you cooking, Shinji?".

He seemed a bit surprised she was up. He looked to her and replied, "Oh, I'm making some onigiri, some sandwiches, and chopped fruit. I was just about to wake you."

Asuka stretches. "That sounds nice." she says. She starts walking to the bathroom and an idea comes to her. "Hey, why don't we have that out on the balcony?"

"Okay."

"Cool, I just need to freshen up and get dressed." she says. While she got dressed Shinji had finished the meal and was setting some chairs and a small table outside. Asuka saw Pen-pen was wandering around and took the initiative to put his food in his bowl. Pen-pen picked up the bowl and carried it out to balcony. Seemed he was joining them."Shinji, what do you want to drink!" she yelled out to Shinji.

"Soda!" he answered back from the balcony. She opened the fridge and saw it was two thirds full of Misato's favorite beer, variety of domestic beers, some other brands of ales, and a couple of sodas. "Damn it. I thought Misato was suppose to go to the store yesterday." she thinks. It is then that Asuka remembers that Misato must of forgotten while driving through town looking for her. She grabs a few cans of soda and takes them outside. Pen-pen seemed put out that Asuka hadn't brought him a drink. He waddled inside and came back with a beer. "Pen-pen you shouldn't take that." Shinji says. Pen-pen guarded the can from Shinji's grasp and leered at him.

"Just leave him alone, Shinji." says Asuka. "I really doubt beer is anything new to the bird."

Shinji just gave up and they went back to eating. "Wonder what's going on at school today?"

"They're probably hearing an earful." Asuka says smiling. Shinji looks confused. Asuka was starting to explain about what Mana had to do to make up for her warrantless personal attack, but Shinji just go upset and said, "I don't want to talk about her.".

Asuka was impressed and rather touched. He was so upset for her. This wasn't pity that Asuka despised so much. It was loyalty. She says "We're free for the day of supervision. We should do something special.".

"Like what?" he asks. He was a little worried.

"I haven't decided yet." The smile on her face told Shinji she wasn't being honest. She had something on her mind, but had chosen to keep him in the dark - for now.

They spent the next few hours reading, watching TV, and playing video games. Asuka normally didn't like slow moving games, but joined in on one of Shinji's RPGs. School was letting out and Asuka called Hikari. Shinji started listening to his music just to drown out the giggling and gossip. The two girls laughed over the phone. Hikari was filling Asuka in on all the events at school. Many of the students thought some of the same things about Asuka that were in the story, but the joke today was Mana. Shinji snacked on dried fruits and never took notice that Asuka was looking to him as she talked with Hikari.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shinji was sitting alone in the house for a couple hours later. Asuka had gone out with Hikari to talk and get some groceries to cook dinner. Asuka made burgers and reheated fries. She used a tip from Hikari where she put all the seasoning and onions in the center of the patty before she cooked. She called him to dinner and he sat down. He took a bite of a cheese burger and was quite impressed. He says, "These are really good. Something tastes different though."

"They're made with beef and sausage ground together." she says. She thought about taking credit for the idea, but it was another tip from Hikari. Hikari had asked the butcher to grind the two meats together.

Shinji had finally made out there were no drinks on the table. Asuka took notice as well and went back to the fridge. She slid open the door, and Shinji heard her say, "Uh, oops.". He sat there with a mouthful of meat and bread. Asuka came back, with an odd grin, holding something behind her back. Shinji swallowed. "What are you hiding?" he asks.

Asuka revealed her secret and set a can of Yebisu beer in front of Shinji. She says, "We're drinking this.".

"We can't drink that! It's Misato's!

"It's all there is." she says, taking her seat and wishing he would drop it.

"You just went to the store. Why didn't you get any drinks?" he asks. Asuka looks away and mumbles something. He says in response, "Huh?".

"I forgot OKAY." she snaps. "It wont kill us."

"Misato might if she finds out."

"Well, she wont if we don't tell her. No way she could notice a few beers missing from that stock." Asuka opened her beer. She says, "We can get something after we eat.". She was about to take her first taste, and she saw Shinji's unsure look. "We can't go now. The fries will get soggy and the meat will get cold." She looked upset.

Shinji agreed reluctantly. She worked hard on this and didn't want to disappoint her. He opened his beer and took a tentative sip. The bitter taste washed over his tongue. "Agh!" he hollered. "How can Misato drink this? It tastes like piss."

"Oh, grow up." Asuka said laughing. She takes a large drink and swallows. Her eyes enlarge and she hollers out, "Mein Gott im Himmel!" She starts coughing, but quickly gains her composer. Beer is very important to the German culture. At that moment she wasn't sure why. Shinji eyes her with disbelief. They both find out the taste isn't so bad if used to wash down their food.

Once they were done eating Asuka got up to clear the plates and staggered. "Whoa." she groans. Shinji grinned. He could tell she was drunk. He got up to help, but his knees almost fell out from under him. "I -don't think we should go out like this." Asuka says. "We might get in trouble."

"Yeah."

Asuka got a smile on her face and came up with an idea. "Come on let's watch a movie." she says.

Shinji didn't see any harm in it. His slight inebriation didn't help his judgment at all. Asuka came back to the short table in front of the television with chips, pretzels, and more beer. Shinji gave her an odd look. "Don't give me that." says Asuka. "We've already had some. Let's just have some fun."

"I think we're pushing it, Asuka."

"Don't be a chicken." Asuka teases. This was the kick in the pants he needed. He snatched at a beer and opened it. Defiant to her challenge. Asuka was pleased and used the remote to input the parental code. They watched a wild and sexually charged comedy. The choice of these salty snack proved to be a bad decision. It just caused them to thirst, and their tongues were now numb to the taste of liquor. Pen-pen looked at them, with his own beer and jerky, like he was making a mental note of all their activities.

Every few minutes Shinji would glance to Asuka. She was chugging down the beer as fast as Misato. Soon his gaze was fixed on the red head. Her eyes were starting to droop, and laughing way too hard at the simplest joke in the film. Shinji was chuckling, but not from the movie. "She's looking pretty." he thinks. He was just noticing how cute she was when she laughed. His mind swimming with thoughts.

Asuka finally took notice that Shinji was staring. She got a goofy grin on her face. She says, "What are you… staring at…, Dork?", and tosses a pretzel at him.

He flinches and laughs, "Hey… d-don't throw stuff.". Seeing a challenge she grabbed the whole bowl and flung the contents. She fell back laughing.

Asuka runs her finger around the rim of the can. She says, "This stuff ain't 'alf bad once-".

"Once you loose all feeling in your mouth." Shinji says laughing, and Asuka joined in.

The movie was now forgotten, and they were finding entertainment in each other. They were talking and then Asuka says, slurring, "Youuu know what I 'ate about youuu?". Shinji seems confused by this statement. Asuka leans over the table and says, "You're 'air covers your EYES." She reaches out and brushes his hair away. "You 'ave those cute eyes and you cover them. It's - ANNOYING. Cut you hair."

"N-n-no!" he says. He plants his hands on his head like he was afraid she may jump over the table and start pulling the hair out with her bare hands.

"W-why not? I want you to." Asuka pleads.

"That's still n-no reason." he says.

Asuka drops her head to the table, taps her fingers, and stares at him. She looks like she's waiting for something to happen. Shinji takes a long draw from his beer, nearly falling backwards. "You know - I'm n-not gonna wait for you to ask, you know." she says.

Shinji looks like he just noticed she was there. "A-ask what?"

Asuka seems upset that he didn't already know the answer. "To ask me out on a REAL date, Dummkopf. If I waited for you to ask I'd be as old as Misato." Asuka looks up, and Shinji appears to be asleep. "ACHTUNG!" she hollars.

Shinji's head bolts up straight. "W-what! Hey, wasn't there a penguin in here? Who - who the hell owns a penguin?" Pen-pen was passed out on his favorite bean bag chair. A piece of jerky hanging from his beak.

Asuka kicks Shinji under the table. This finally catches his attention. Oddly, he barely felt it. She points at him and says, "Y-you're taking me out, S-stupid.".

"That sounds like an order." he thinks.

Asuka takes note of his odd expression, her lip pouts. "You like me don't you?"

"Yes."

"So, what you complainin' 'bout?"

"No - no. Let's do it."

Asuka gave him a goofy grin. She reached over the table again and flicked him across the nose. "Not on the first date, Pervesling." She looks like she has an idea. She stands up, loses balance, and staggers into the kitchen. He hears her giggling and comes back in with red marks on her fingers. She crawls over the table, knocking the empty cans around, and relaxes.

Shinji looked deep into her hazy, blue eyes. He feels an pain of guilt. Her lips look so inviting. "I need to tell you something." He reaches out and takes her hand. She starts to blush. He continues, "At the ar-arcade. I didn't mean to make you angry. I-I just wanted you to be happy. You're soooo pretty when you angry. Er - I mean happy. Both both. You- you're cute when you're angry too."

"Yeah?" she sighs.

He nods his head. "Yeah. So-so you're cute a lot."

Asuka looks like this is the most romantic thing she has ever heard. She starts to go on a rambling sentence. He can't understand her, because she keeps shifting from his native language to German. What ever she is trying to say it seems very heartfelt. Mindlessly nodding his head just seems like the right thing do it.

Her lip quivers and she looks like she may just cry. She grabs his collar and pulls him to a kiss. A rather sloppy and unskilled kiss. She breaks the embrace, and his face is glowing red. Looking into his eyes she belches. She giggles clamping her hand over her mouth. Her first words are. "You're drunk, Ikari. Let's go to sleep." Asuka pulls out one of her hair bows and lets it fall to the floor. She pulled out the last one when she saw Shinji lean against the wall and falls on his butt. She couldn't contain her laughter. "HERE let me help you." she says, dropping to her knees between his open legs. Looking into his brown eyes she remembers all the sweet things he's been saying lately. She looses control again and kisses him, planting a few on his neck.

"Ohhhh, that tickles, Asuka." Shinji moans.

Asuka was able to help him to his feet and support him to his room. "Idiot, you can't sleep in your clothes." she says.

"Y-yes I can." he says, leaning against his dresser.

"Here look. I'm not." She pulls her shirt off dropping it on the floor. She is now wearing only her bra, skirt, panties, and a single sock. She walks up to Shinji and pulls his shirt off. He's too tired to resist. Even as she starts to fumble with his belt. Blood rushes to his head and he passes out. Asuka reaches out to catch him around the waist, and they both fall on his bed. "Ohhhh, my idiot." she moans.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaji walked in the front door of Misato's apartment. He's carrying several bags. Misato was right behind him. "Shinji. Asuka. I'm home!" says Misato. There is no reply. She walks into the apartment and notices the plates and left over food on the kitchen table. Pen-pen dashes to Misato and clings to her leg. "You alright, sweetie?" she says.

"Where do you want these?" asks Kaji, holding out all the bags in his arms.

"Just drop them in my room." Misato walks to Asuka's door. She knocks and gets no response. Opening the door her room is empty, bed made. "Huh. Guess she's already gone out." Kaji comes out of the room, and Misato starts gathering up the empty plates. Something doesn't feel right to Misato. She looks to Kaji and says, "Kaji, could you check on Shinji?"

"No problem." he says walking to Shinji's room.

She can hear Kaji calling at the door and she trips on an empty beer can. She lifts it and thinks, "Did Pen-pen steal this?". She notices Asuka's hair bow on the floor. Glancing to the large calendar she sees, on two weeks from today, something is written in red marker and surrounded by a big heart. It says:

First Date!

"Uh. Misato?" says Kaji standing at Shinji's open door. His eyes fixed on the sight inside.

"Yeah."

"You remember how you were working on the kids being closer."

"Yeah, what of it?"

Kaji points into the room, still not looking away. "I - don't think that's going to be much of a problem now."

Confused Misato walks up to Kaji and looks to what he's pointing at. "AGHHHH!" Misato screams. She rushes into the room and stops by Shinji's bed. Kaji walks in a casual stride, but close behind her. Shinji is asleep on the bed, shirtless and his shorts around his knees. Asuka has her arms wrapped around his waist and is cuddled up to him like he is a huge teddy bear. She looked very happy. Both reeked of beer.

Misato is running in fingers through her hair frantically, and Kaji looks more bemused and bewildered. "Oh, MY GOD!" Misato says. "Are they DRUNK!" Misato starts pacing back and forth in Shinji's room. Pen-pen is still attached to her leg. The kids don't even twitch. "Oh, OH! This is BAD! This is soooo bad."

"How can they sleep through all this screaming?" Kaji thinks, as Misato goes into a panic.

"Why would they do THIS! HOW could they do this! I'm a horrible guardian!"

Kaji has a sly grin and says, "Well, at least one question is answered.".

Misato goes quiet and looks to her friend and lover for the words that will make this all okay. "Huh?"

He points down to the sleeping teens and says, "'Boxers or briefs?'". He gives a small chuckle.

Misato's blood goes to an instant boil. "THIS ISN'T A LAUGHING MATTER!" she yells. Asuka mumbles and just snuggles up to Shinji's midsection. This draws Misato's attention and she looks closer to Shinji. His face is expressionless, but the color on his lips stands out. "Is he wearing lips stick?" she says pointing.

Kaji leans in for a closer look and replies, "No… I think they were kissing. There's some on his cheeks and neck." He starts to laugh to himself.

Misato gives him a nasty look. "How can you be so CALM!"

"Well,… isn't this how we got together?"

Misato gives Kaji a slap. "What are you SAYING!" Misato screams, eye wild. "THIS is totally different. We were in college. They're FOURTEEN!" He rubs his sore cheek, and another thought comes to Misato as she remembers the other things her and Kaji did that first time. She slaps her hand over her eyes. "Ohhh, I hope they didn't do what we DID."

"I don't think so." he says. "Their pants are still on… mostly."

"Oh, Shut Up! You're No Help!"

"Shhh, You'll wake them." he says, smiling, and trying to calm her.

"This is just so wrong. How could they do something so STUPID as get themselves drunk and fool around like this? How IMMATURE could a person be? I swear."

Kaji is eyeing her with a silent, confused look. Before he can make a comment the phone in the apartment starts to ring. "I'll get it." he says. "That might be the pot calling." He calmly walks out. Misato looks to the comfortable teens and a devilish plan comes to mind. Kaji can be heard in the apartment answering the phone saying, "Hello, Kettle's Residence.".

A few minutes later Kaji peaks into the room. "That was Ritsu. She's doing some tests today and needs the kids." he says. "No rush. Just some time before five." Kaji waves his finger in the room. "And no I didn't tell her about THIS."

The last piece has just fallen into Misato's evil plan. A wicked grin comes to her lips. "Kaji, get my camera."

"Uh, why?" he says, unsure.

"I have a plan." she says.

"Is this something I'd rather not be an accessory to?" he says, brows raised.

Misato doesn't answer. She only smiles.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Be Continued...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------