In the heart of Tokyo-3, it's not hard to find yourself caught in the middle of a myriad of malls and restaurants, panning out in every direction. From what I've gathered, the reason this city is so populated with avenues for shopping like this is because of the rising need for money within NERV itself, who ultimately controls all these stores and eateries. Upkeep on just a single Evangelion seems like it would cost a fortune and a half, and NERV is looking after three, plus pilots, employees, military personnel, Tokyo-3's infrastructure, not to mention the HQ and all the underground workings of the Geofront. Every day, people who live here are influenced to eat out, or go on shopping sprees; the more money out of people's pockets and into NERV's budget, the better.

So, in a way, I really don't mind splurging every once in a while. It may only be droplets in a bucket, but in a roundabout way I'm helping out my own employer in doing so. That's not a bad thing, at least… I don't think it is.

"...so after we finish having a break, where do you think we should go next? Oh, I think I know the perfect spot, it's…" The excited words of the birthday girl carried with them an ominous air. I really don't mind spending money like this every once in a while, sure, but at this rate we're gonna be in the red before the day's out. This is getting ridiculous, even for her! "...are you listening, Lieutenant? You better be!"

I've had to make two trips out to the car already to offload the bags of clothing and trinkets she's wanted. She started so strongly, I had hoped her streak would slow down a bit, but every store we hit it just gets worse somehow…

Should I be… putting my foot down here? Subtly hint that I'm running out of spending money so she'll chill? I don't want to dampen her spirits today, though. Besides, it's not like she has these chances all the time. It won't hurt to be a bit more frugal for a month or two to work back up the savings, so there shouldn't be any real harm in letting her go nuts like this. Ugh.

Asuka's eyes were drilling holes into me from across the table. We had just sat down at the food court to catch our bearings after ransacking every store on the eastern half of the mall.

"Of course I'm listening."

She didn't react to my statement directly, instead just taking it as a sign to continue.

"So there's this one place I saw with Hikari a couple weeks back that has these incredible jackets on display. Ah, I almost cried then and there at the thought of wearing one myself! Soooo, we should drop in there first and work our way out from there after!" Her genuine smile made leaning towards telling her to relax even harder.

"R-Right, sounds great." I cautiously laughed before surveying the restaurants on offer around here. "But before any of that, did you want anything here?"

Asuka screwed up her face a little while thinking.

"Mmh, I'm not sure. I'm still full from breakfast, honestly." It had been a few hours since then, but I did cook a lot. As usual, I had woken up earlier than I had meant to, and in letting Asuka sleep in a bit, I endeavored to start cooking earlier as well. By the time I brought her meal into her room for the breakfast-in-bed she wanted, she was floored by the spread I had crafted. Guess I shouldn't be surprised.

I nodded. "So, just want me to get you a drink or something?"

"Yeah, a sports drink is fine. While you get me that, I'm going to work out what order we're going to hit all the other stores in!"

…All the other stores? At some point this is coming out of your allowance, young lady… is what I would say if what I gave her was actually an allowance and less a "here's the exact amount you asked for" situation…

I really have to learn to not be so easily walked over, don't I..?

Earlier in the day, just before we headed out, Misato and Shinji had stopped by quickly to hand in a couple gifts for Asuka. Misato had actually gone out of her way to find a dress for her, but told her specifically it was more an early Christmas present than anything else. I didn't get a chance to look at it myself, but Asuka seemed excited by the design, so that was nice of the Major. I rarely see Misato in outfits other than her uniform at the HQ, so I underestimated her fashion taste a bit.

Since Kaji was out of town on business, Misato had also dropped off a box of chocolates that he had left for Asuka. I don't know why but she didn't seem quite as excited for Kaji's gift. Perhaps she wasn't in the mood for chocolate at all, or maybe she was bothered that that's all he left for her. It was a hard expression to read.

After the duo left to go on their own excursion for this day off, we finished getting ready. I was very surprised to see Asuka walking out to the front door wearing that yellow sweater I had bought for her all those months back. She noticed I was staring at it too, at which her only response was that it was starting to get chillier out, and it was a fine day for it.

If by chillier, she means "maybe 2 degrees less than any other day of the year, and still well within warm temperature", then sure. A curious choice, but she seemed comfortable enough in it, and it did look good on her. Maybe my taste for fashion isn't too shabby either...

As the two of us roamed around, hitting every store and booth on the mall's west side, Asuka eagerly piled more bags onto my arms.

Though, as we rounded a corner that led to a row of escalators that progressed to the last underground section of the mall, she stopped suddenly. Barely able to see over the tops of the bags weighing down my arms, I nearly crashed into her.

"...why are you so nice?"

The question confused me as I struggled to retain my balance. Amidst the bustling people around us, she had just stopped dead in her tracks to ask me that?

"...that's a good question. I don't really know how to answer though."

Her expression pensive, she continued. "I mean, I'm being a real pest today. I'm spending all our money, and you're just… going along with it." She cocked her head to the side, looking just as confused as I felt. "Is it just because it's my birthday? Are you really that stupid? Shouldn't you say something?"

"...and what do you think I should say?" Asuka didn't have an answer, just leaving her mouth open for a moment. "You've been really happy today, haven't you?" She nodded earnestly. "Then that's enough for me, after all the tough stuff lately. I'll at least take solace in the fact that there's nothing you can do to my wallet that Misato hasn't done ten times over on her own. We'll be fine."

"But that's not–"

"I expected you to revel in this experience. You have the entire mall open to your heart's desires, you don't need to feel bad about going nuts. Really." I smirked. "Just expect to eat rice three meals a day for the next couple weeks."

Still looking a bit conflicted, Asuka sighed. "You really are a pushover. It's a good thing I told Hikari she didn't need to come, you would've killed her with second-hand anxiety for the stuff you're letting me do!"

She told Hikari not to come? Odd, first I'm hearing of that.

"Well, if Hikari did come, I wouldn't've had enough room in the car to drive her back anyway, with all this!" Chuckling loudly, I expected to hear Asuka join in, but instead of that, I noticed her ears had turned a bright red and she was silent. "...Asuka?"

"Wh-Why are we on the topic of Hikari anyway? She didn't want to come, so who cares. Let's just keep going, we have tons of shops downstairs to deal with… and I'm not gonna hold back anymore!" And just like that, she disappeared down onto the escalator.

Oh, now it's 'Hikari didn't want to come'? Very suspicious indeed… Eh, whatever, probably none of my business.

…wait a second, did she mean she was holding back before!?

It took six trips to get all of her new belongings up to the apartment. Thank god the complex has an elevator, because if I had to manage with all this while navigating stairwells, I would've worn my legs down to stubs well before the end.

However, it's a good thing Asuka chose to head inside to pack her new gear into her room, as that gave me a chance to sneakily leave my own gift until the very end.

I don't know all that much about video games, but I do know she plays that handheld one often. So, today when Asuka was occupied with trying on some clothing, I expected her to be there for a while and ran off to go find… this thing. The Playstallion 2, a home gaming console that should serve as the perfect upgrade to that little thing she carries around with her. I think it comes with controllers, but no games came packaged with it, so I had to pick out one myself in a rush. Really, I didn't give much thought to it at all; I just grabbed the one with some dude in camo with a gun on the cover and paid for it all as quickly as I could. I mixed the bag into another that was already in my arms so as to not seem suspicious, and I luckily made it back before Asuka noticed I had left.

I impress myself sometimes.

When I entered the apartment with this final trip, Asuka was sitting back on the couch, still wearing her yellow sweater, and looking over the stuff I had brought up on the last trip. She didn't look over at me, just asked "is that everything?", to which I responded affirmatively.

She took so much of her haul and returned to her room once again, a pleasant look painted on her face. I'm glad she had a good time.

…now, quickly!

I hurriedly removed the game console box from the bag and propped it up on the couch. I heard her room door slide open. I propped the Rebel Gear Squalid game case up next to it. I could hear her footsteps approaching the exit from the hallway. Acting like I was minding my own business, examining the… floor behind the couch, I waited with bated breath for her to announce her surprise.

…

…

Nothing.

I turned my head to see her looking through the other bags I had brought with the last batch. Damn those colorful bags and their fancy lettering, taking all the attention away from my present.

Asuka noticed my admittedly strange behavior all of a sudden. "...weirdo." That was all she said before her attention was once again absorbed by her other items. Once more walking into the hallway after clearing out the final batch of bags, I scooped up all of them and brought them into the kitchen, laying them in a neat pile. Then I moved the Playstallion 2 box and its game over a bit, and sat down next to it on the couch.

…

…

…

She was in her room for quite a while. Probably packing everything away. She'll be out in a minute.

As I expected, after another few moments, I heard her room door once again slide open, and she walked down through the hallway. Into the bathroom.

…and then I heard the shower turn on.

I fell asleep on the arm of the couch.

I don't know how long I was out, but when I came to, Asuka was kneeling on the floor in front of the couch, dressed for bed.

Her eyes fixed on the Playstallion 2 box.

She just sat there in the dim living room, wordlessly examining every inch of the box, her expression showing more confusion than anything else.

"Happy birthday." Was all I said. She was slightly startled, shuffling as soon as my mouth opened, obviously not expecting me to be awake. She now looked at me, no less confused than before.

"...is this… for me?"

"Well, it's not like I know how to play it." I sat forward and the two of us began admiring the box together. "...but, maybe whenever I get around to teaching you how to cook, you can teach me how to play this?"

Her hand reached out, picking up the game case. "...ah, how'd you know I wanted this one?" She said under her breath, noticeably still perplexed by this whole thing. I lucked out there. She turned back to me. "I don't understand… Why are you giving me this on top of everything else today? That's too much, Lieutenant… I…"

"I guess my wallet really was ready, is all." Asuka gave me a small smile. "Besides, half of all this was your Christmas gift too." The smile immediately disappeared.

"...MY WHAT!?"

I shot her a rare smug look of my own. "What, Christmas is in 21 days, Asuka. I hope you weren't expecting a second batch of gifts of the same magnitude then too!" Her eye twitched in anger, as if I had suddenly betrayed her or something.

The girl growled as she leaned towards me, threateningly. "Lieutenant, that's… that's… oh, you're evil."

"And you're all shored up on gifts until this time next year!" I grabbed the console box with one hand and shoved it into her chest. "Now, why don't you relax and unbox this sucker, eh?"

Begrudgingly, she knew she couldn't stay mad for long (I wouldn't be surprised if half of it was just for theatrics anyway). She sat with her legs crossed in front of the TV and opened the box, removing the smooth black machine inside, along with its myriad of wires. I got up and helped her move off the TV stand from the wall so she could begin hooking it up.

Asuka stared at the machine as it sat on the floor, its one red light staring back at her.

"This time next year, huh..?"

Her voice was soft, so I wasn't even certain of what she said, but before I had a chance to ask her what she meant, the Playstallion 2's loud startup noise rang through the den.

This time next year? I wonder if we'll still be here, fighting. I wonder if the Angels will be finished off by then, and if they are… Asuka will probably be going back to Germany anyway.

Or maybe we'll all just be dead.

Author's Note : Hey all, sorry it's been a minute. Video games have been good lately, and I've been soaking those in. That's my only excuse for not getting this out sooner haha

Nothing really else I needed to say, besides making a comment on a question I have seen a bit. On the topic of whether or not I'll be doing a Rei version of this fic idea is very much still up in the air, and very much leaning towards me not having any ideas on how to parse her much more intricate connections to the inner working of Eva's story in this medium. I do like Rei too, and I'd have to not only figure out what I'd do story-wise, but also make a brand new protagonist as well. If I were to consider it, it'd definitely not be until after this fic is finished. So who knows, maybe I'll find some inspiration then!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, peace!