Author Note: This story is considerably darker than the previous ones. At first I wasn't sure if I should write it for the challenge but in the end I was already thinking out the story before I knew what was happening. I'm not sure how I feel about it… oh and I finally figured out who to add the rulers ; I feel kinda embass since it is actually pretty simple.

Title: Learning to Cope
Author: NeoChick
Theme: #3 only playing/ pretending
Fandom: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Pairing: Shinji x Asuka
Disclaimer: Sadly the characters of NGE do not belong to me in anyway or form. They belong to GAINAX.

It was simply a little game they played, the game of life or at least the way a normal life would be. Each morning the pair would wake up next to each other, whispering good mornings. They'd walk downstairs to the main floor and Shinji would make breakfast as Asuka ranted about something he had done or something he hadn't done; whatever the case maybe. Together, they eat breakfast, making small talk before Shinji leaves to get food and pick up some other items they needed. Asuka, although at first argued about it, grudgingly accepted to do chores.

The hours would pass and eventually the male would return, carrying armfuls of food and Asuka would launch into another interrogation of why he'd taken so long or where would they keep all the groceries. The evening would be uneventful, save for the occasional spat over which would do the dishes, Shinji losing horribly in the end. At night they'd crawl into bed and laid in silence as Asuka aloud him to loop him arms loosely around her waist, falling asleep like that. It was this way that they could survive peacefully without allowing the severity of there situation to settle in.

On one particularly cold day, Shinji hunched his shoulders for warmth as he walked the silent streets, not a soul in view. In one hand he held a jacket for his roommate that he'd scavenged, knowing she'd need it soon with the changing weather. Although that was only if she finally decided to leave the house and joined him on his little excursions. The teen, now sixteen, turned down a familiar street, the freshly painted trim of one house stood out among the abandoned rundown ones on either side of it. He walked up the steps and unceremoniously opened the front door.

He was greeted with the sight his empty living room, lined with a worn couch and a coffee table that was missing a leg, substituted by a stack of books. It was oddly quiet, having gotten use to the ranting of a certain red head that often met him at the door way. The brunette placed the coat in the closet along with his own before moving to the kitchen. Inside he found Asuka seated at the kitchen table, a bowl of ramen in front of her, remaining untouched as she stared down at the meal.

"Asuka, you alright?" The German jumped at the voice and glared at him though it seemed to lack it's usually fire.

"Damn it Baka-Shinji don't sneak up on me like that!" Shinji grimaced in regret but didn't apologize, finally learning that this was her way of testing if he had a spine. The female pointer her thumb over her shoulder at the microwave and said, "Dinner's in there."

He muttered a word of thanks and went to fetch his meal. Sitting down at the table next to her, Shinji paused before offering some reassurance "Didn't mean to startle you." Asuka merely waved it off causing him to cock an eyebrow in surprise, what no argument? He was about to question her further when she rose from her spot, carrying her bowl (still full), and headed to the sink.

"I'm not hungry." She stated quietly as she dumped the contents in the garbage under that counter and began filling the sink with water. This further puzzled him, was Asuka actually starting the dishes? Shinji stood and walked toward her. He reached for her shoulder, "Asuka, are you sure-"

"Why did you bring me back?" It came out slowly but still threw Shinji completely off guard. His hand fell to his side, she was asking this now? Asuka turned the tap off and dropped the dishes gently into the water, for once patiently waiting for a response. She hadn't been planning to finally pull the sheet off of there thinly veiled life but after all these years, she couldn't take it anymore. "Why did you bring me back?" she repeated.

Shinji was panicking on the inside. No, he wasn't ready yet. He'd grown too comfortable with the way things were, he didn't want it to shatter, not yet. He began laughing uneasily, hoping he could simply brush it off. He wasn't ready. "What are you talking about Asuka? Maybe you're sick. I'll run out and get you some medicine if you want." He was about to leave when she spoke again in that chilling serious tone. Right now he was missing the shrill girl he'd been arguing with earlier that morning

"Answer the question Shinji." There was no 'idiot' attached to his name which only served to add to his fear. The clinking of dishes was heard but the sound seemed distant to him. He took a deep breath, steadying his hands.

"Asuka, I thought we already talked about this. I don't think I had anything to do with…" he trailed off as the red head spun around her eyes narrowed.

"Then why am I here? Why are we the only ones here?" She spat desperately.

"I don't know… Asuka." He racked his brain for the best possibly way to end this conversation and let the world continue running as it did. "We should just get some sleep…you must be exhausted-"

"Stop running away! I didn't fucking ask to be the next Adam and Eve with you Shinji!" The male winced at the comment, the girl turning her head back at the dishes, her hands scrubbing viciously at a pot.

"I know… but Asuka, I'm sure that the others will come back too, eventually…they… they have to!" He added, having fed this reasoning to himself several times in the past. The pot smashed back into the sink, scaring the brunette, why did she have to break the seal he'd placed on this topic? Wasn't she happy with the way things were going? He secretly knew she wasn't but wouldn't let himself believe so not to shatter what little they had.

"You can't honestly believe that! Shinji, it's been two years! Don't you understand that? They're dead! Gone! Everyone is gone!"

"No! You came back didn't you! Rei… Misato… Kaji…" He let the names harshly roll from his tough as if they were foreign to him, "They just can't be dead…" Asuka began running water for the rinse.

"Shinji…" but she stopped, removing her hand from the tap. "This is all that dolls fault." She whispered darkly. Shinji heard it and fiercely grabbed her wrist, forcing her to face him, his brown irises flashing in a manner that Asuka had never seen before.

"You take that back."

"Make me."

"Take it back Asuka! Rei…she didn't….she didn't have anything to do with this!" The third child's voice rose considerably, causing the second to look away in disgust.

"How can you say that when she stares back at us everyday, laying in that water!"

"That's…that's not her." Asuka snatched her hand away and grabbed the newspaper that the male had used to cover the window. "Hey wait-" but the paper fell away and the bloodshot eyes pierced through him.

"You can't tell me that's not her!" The female muttered a couple words in German, now noticing the water overflowing from the sink but did nothing to stop it. Shinji looked down; images from the fateful day when he'd watched hundreds of red eyed girls break apart at the click of the button. It then wheeled forwards to him in the familiar hospital room, watching another girl precious to him lying in a near death state, looking almost too fragile. Then Misato, his first real kiss and last moment with her, the sound of Asuka being brutally murdered as he sat unable to do anything. Shinji grasped his head, shaking.

Asuka too at this point felt the weight of everything that happened fall on her. "I hate this…" she whispered at first, and then felt every emotion she had been suppressing for the brunette's sake bubble over. "I hate it! I hate this so much Shinji! Why did we…why were we the ones that had to stay? This is worse than death." In hysterics, Asuka turned away clutching the counter tightly. The boy, now a man having to grow up far to quickly in his life, grabbed her shoulder and held on tightly, hoping to wake up and have this all be one horrible nightmare.

"I wish you had killed me on that beach…" It was barely loud enough to hear but Shinji grasped its meaning instantly.

"You don't mean that."

"Don't tell me what I mean baka!" Pushing him off, he stumbled back into the table, it collapsing under his weight. He looked like a beaten puppy as he watched her. Asuka looked around and spotted a knife on the counter. Shinji's eyes widened, shaking his head fervently.

"Asuka…don't." He pleaded. Realizing she wasn't going to listen, they both dove for it at the same time. Asuka's smaller hand curled around the handle first and was prepared to use it when Shinji clamped his own hands around her wrists. She struggled but he over powered her and forced her against the counter top, rendering her motionless. They both stood there silently, glazing at each other in pain. The male breathed slowly and leaned his head in, pressing it gingerly against her forehead. Asuka squeezed her eyes shut but remained quiet. "Please Asuka…" he whispered, praying that she wouldn't leave him. There was a moment that Asuka considered arguing back.

But only a moment.

The knife clattered on the linoleum floor and she feet her legs buckle beneath her. Shinji went down slowly with her, thankful she hadn't gone against him this once. Red hair covered her eyes as her figure shook. Awkwardly Shinji pulled her into his body as she burst into sobs, an action he had never seen done by the German until now.

"I hate you." She spat as she wrapped her arms around his stomach, staining his shirt in tears that she didn't know she had. "I hate you! I hate you!" The words were muffled by the folds of his shirt.

Shinji had known this day would come, however much he denied it. He also knew that tomorrow they would wake up as they always did. Asuka would continue pretending as though she was happy and he would go on telling himself that nothing was wrong. She'd bicker, he'd cave…because it was the game that they played and without it they'd lose the last bit of sanity they had. Without each other they'd lose all hope. But for now they'd let this moment of honesty last... if only to exhaust themselves to the point that today would all just be a blur.

Shinji Ikari carefully placed a hand in her red tresses, the other on her back as he felt his own tears threatening to fall. The water from the sink pooled around them as he cradled her and whispered,

"I know Asuka, I know."