Music to My Ears
Asuka Langley Soryu had just stepped off the train coming from school. It was finally Friday, which meant that she could relax for the next two days. It was a chore for her to go to school five days a week. Everything they taught was too simple for her. She knew that she was smart for her age, her bachelors in physics was enough to prove that, but it still impressed her just how basic some concepts they were teaching. She'd at least hoped that there would be some interesting girls to talk with, but most of them were as dull as the topics they were learning. The only exception being Hikari. Asuka had always admired her honesty, even more so than her discipline. She didn't put up a front like the other girls did. Asuka's lips fell into a small frown as she made her way to Misato's apartment.
The elevator dinged as its doors opened. Asuka was met with a long hall accompanied by doors. She walked down the hall to the first one on the far side of the hallway. A plastic plate on the door read "M. Katsuragi" on the front. Asuka punched in the code on the keypad by the door. The metal door swooshed open. Asuka walked into the apartment, the door swooshing closed behind her. She flipped on the light switch, illuminating the dark hall. She kicked off her red flats and walked down the hall and into the kitchen. Over by the counter, a blinking red light flashed on the answering machine. She walked over to it and pressed the answer button. There was a silent beep before the message played.
"Hey Asuka! Shinji already called me about staying at Suzuhara's tonight. I'll be staying at Nerv late tonight so I won't be able to cook anything when I get home. Since Shinji won't be home either, just go ahead and order something for dinner. See ya in the morning!" Misato rang. There was another beep, signaling the end of the voice message. A sigh of relief escaped from the girl's mouth. She dreaded the woman's cooking every time it was her turn to make dinner. It was bad enough that Shinji wasn't going to be cooking tonight. The girl looked forward to every day he cooked. When it came to the culinary arts, the boy knew what he was doing. The usual dork she knew disappeared when he donned the apron. He was a good cook, she'd give him that. That's why she nearly strangled him when he told her he was staying at Toji's house today. She was looking forward to his go-to meal, miso-ramen with fluffy rice. No matter how many times he made it, she was equal parts amazed and delighted. Sometimes she'd even sit and watch him cook. Every time she did she saw a glint in his eyes, one Asuka couldn't shake off. Her stomach rumbling ripped her out of her thoughts. She walked back to her room to change into something more comfortable.
After putting on a shirt and pair of shorts, she walked over to her dresser where she placed her neural clips. She picked them up and looked at the mirror. A girl with striking blue eyes stared back. Her hair was a vivid auburn, flushed against her white skin. Strands of her hair fell across her face. The girl frowned as Asuka made eye contact with the girl. Asuka looked away from the mirror and pulled her hair back. She then picked up the neural clips and placed them on top of her head. She fluffed her hair and looked back at the mirror. The girl's frown was now gone and replaced with a proud smile.
Asuka walked into the kitchen to try to find something to snack on. She rummaged through the pantry and settled on a bag of salted chips. After getting a soda from the fridge, she hopped her way over to the living room and turned on the tv. She was met with a young woman dressed in a suit. On the bottom of the screen scrolled Japanese text. Footage was shown of a bunch of forklifts unloading crates onto trucks as the woman continued to speak.
"After a nearly year long shortage, coco and coffee beans are finally being imported from South America…" The female newscaster droned. Asuka groaned. Nothing bored her more than the news. She changed the channel and was met with a barrage of whimsical noises. A man in a purple suit stood on a stage. In front of him were two women standing across from each other. In between the women was placed a clear pipe with something in the middle. The man in the purple suit brought up the oblong microphone to his mouth.
"Our next contestants have stepped up to see who can blow a cockroach into the other's mouth!" Yelled the game show host. Asuka felt her stomach churn.
"Ew! Why do Japanese people have to be so gross with their game shows?" Asuka yelled before quickly changing the channel. A bright green field appeared on screen with a bunch of people running around on it. Faint cheers could be heard over the commentators.
"Japan is leading the AFC, however Takeshi is out with a recent knee injury…" The commentator spoke. Asuka tossed the remote onto the ground and leaned over on her elbow. She wasn't the biggest fan of sports, but it was better than anything else that was on. She ripped open the bag of chips and watched the football game.
After an hour the football game ended with a Japan win over South Korea. By the time the game ended, the afternoon sky had turned from a pale blue into a warm orange. The sun now hung low in the sky, shining red light through the sliding glass door. Asuka had long stopped watching the game and just resorted to staring up at the ceiling. She stood up and grabbed the empty soda can and chips. She put a clip on the chip bag and tossed the soda can in the recycling bin. She looked over at the clock in the kitchen. It read 6:17 p.m. Asuka walked over to the phone and thought about what to order for dinner. She was about to punch the numbers for a nearby pizza place when an idea popped into her head. Instead she dialed Hikari's home phone number. She waited for a few seconds, listening to the ring back tone. The ringing stopped and was replaced with sounds of chaos.
"Hello… Horaki residence- Hey put that down!" Yelled Hikari.
"Hey Hikari! I'm all by myself for dinner. I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner. My treat!" Asuka spoke, twirling the phone cable as she spoke.
"Sorry Asuka. I'm babysitting for my aunt's friend. I'd love to but… Hey! How did you manage- Sorry Asuka! Maybe next time!" Hikari yelled before she hung up. Asuka growled to herself as she slammed the phone down. She stormed out of the kitchen and walked down the hall. She slid her door open and turned towards the hall. She was about to slam her door shut, when she noticed something. A heart-shaped sign hung from Shinji's door. Puzzled, the girl walked up to the door. In hiragana, the sign said "Shinji's room." All this time living with the boy, she had never noticed the sign on his door.
"Why would he keep something so girly on his door?" Asuka thought to herself. She folded her arms and closed her eyes, contemplating something. After a sigh she placed her fingers on the metal knob and slowly slid the door open. The light in the hall flooded into the room, casting Asuka's shadow against the wall. She walked into the room and flipped on the light switch. A yellow light illuminated the room, revealing how barren it was. There was one desk next to the bed and a shelf on the back wall for storage. In the corner of the room was a black case shaped like a vase. The shelf over the case made it hard to see what exactly she was looking at. Asuka walked over and bent down to get a better look. She noticed a couple metal latches on the case. She pulled it out and opened the metal latches. When she opened the case she was met with a string instrument. She immediately recognized it at Shinji's cello.
"I wonder why he doesn't play this more? It's one of the few things he's good at." Asuka thought to herself. She reached out and felt the polished wood. Satisfied with what she'd seen, she closed the case and locked the latches back in place before putting it back in the corner. Asuka stood up to walk out before an object caught her eye. She walked over to the desk where the object sat. A pair of earbuds were wrapped around the object. It was the SDAT he's always listening to. Her curiosity got the better of her. She unwrapped the earbuds and put them in her ears. A wave of guilt stabbed at her chest. It felt wrong to listen to his tape player. He always had it with him no matter where he went, even when he slept.
"I wonder why he left it here? I guess he forgot it, we were late for school after all." Asuka thought to herself. She pressed the play button. There was a brief silence before the music started playing. The track had an upbeat rhythm, but the background synths added a layer of repose. The girl began to tap her foot and nod her head to the beat. About a minute into the song, an electric rift made its way into the music. A smile appeared on the girl's face. She began to swing her hips and bounce her shoulders to the tune. All too soon, the music began to fade and the track ended. Frowning, she looked at the player. "At least the dummy has good taste." Asuka thought. She wrapped the earbuds around the player and set it back on Shinji's desk.
Asuka's eyes flew open. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment as she listened to the sounds of traffic outside. She turned her head towards her nightstand where her clock sat, it read "1:31 am, 24 December." She sat up, kicked the covers off herself, and made her way to the bathroom.
She flushed the toilet and began washing her hands. After drying them with the nearby towel, she looked up at the mirror. The same girl from earlier stared back at Asuka. Her eyes were sunken and a frown hung on her face. Asuka snarled at the girl. She whipped her head from the mirror and opened the bathroom door. Instead of Misato's apartment, she was met with a long, dark hallway. A frigid breeze blew into the bathroom, biting into Asuka's skin. She hugged her elbows close to her chest and began chattering her teeth. Everytime she exhaled, her breath formed small white clouds. She took one step onto the concrete. The ice cold surface felt like she was stepping on daggers. She trudged down the hall, the bathroom fading into the distance. A wooden door sat at the end. A radio could be faintly heard throughout the hall. When she finally got to the door, she slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. She was met with pitch black. The sounds of the radio became more clear. An old timey song was playing. A faint light began to appear to the left side of the room. It got brighter and brighter until it started to seep into the room. The light crawled its way from the window towards the center of the room. An object sat at the center of the room, illuminated by the light. Asuka walked towards the object, taking one step at a time. Once she was close enough to the object, she bent down and touched it. The object felt like wood and had a circular top. She grabbed the object and moved it into the light, revealing a wooden stool. A puzzled look overcame the teen. The light began to move again. It crawled up Asuka's skin and up towards her eyes. She blocked the light with her hand and turned her head back. The first thing she saw was dangling feet. Asuka looked up to see a woman dangling by a rope. Her face was void of expression. The woman's auburn hair scattered across her face. Asuka could only stared up in terror. Her entire body froze, she felt her breath escape her body as everything around her faded.
Asuka jumped up. Her eyes wide, breathing rapidly. She quickly looked around her room for any signs of danger. Her face relaxed as she realized it was just a bad dream. She sunk into her bed and hugged her knees to her chest, placing her head back on the pillow in hopes of going back to sleep. After a few minutes the girl gave up. She sat up and stared out of the window. The sounds of nearby traffic drove the girl mad. She got up and ripped the covers off her and walked out of her room. She stood in front of Shinji's door for a moment before sliding it open. The girl then walked over to the desk where Shinji's SDAT sat.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I borrowed it for one night." Asuka thought to herself. She unwrapped the earbuds and placed them into her ears. She turned in on, revealing the black digits on the screen. On the screen read "Track 02." She pressed the play button. She was met with a gentle piano followed by a cello. The girl laid down on Shinji's bed and listened to the soothing music.
Annoying beeps woke Asuka up from her slumber. The girl blinked her eyes a couple of times before sitting up. She felt something dripping down the side of her mouth. She brought her hand up and wiped the drool off her mouth. The annoying beeps continued on. She was about to reach over and turn off her alarm, until she realized she wasn't in her room. The window by her bed was gone. Other than the alarm clock, no light was present in the room. The alarm clock read 8:00 am. Asuka reached over and turned off the alarm. She then stretched her arms and legs. Asuka felt something pop out of her ears. She looked down to see a pair of earbuds from a device in her left hand. She looked at the device and recognized it as Shinji's SDAT. Memories from last night came rushing back to her. She looked around her to see that she was in Shinji's bed. Her eyes widened, she placed Shinji's SDAT on his desk and ran out of his room.
After fixing her bed hair, she walked out of her room and down the hall. When she walked into the living room, she noticed that the door to Misato's room was open. The girl raised an eyebrow as she turned to open the kitchen door. She was met with the purple haired woman sitting at the kitchen table. Dark bags were marked under her eyes. The woman turned to see the source of the sudden noise. An evil grin crept up on her face when she saw Asuka.
"Well look who decided to get up this morning!" Misato spoke. Her voice was dripping with zealousness. In her fingertips she swung around a beer can.
"Yeah, yeah, good morning." Asuka spoke, making her way to the table. Misato didn't take her eyes off the young lady. Asuka poured herself a glass of orange juice and took a sip.
"So… Asuka, you missed Shinji last night?" Misato spoke. Asuka kept her eyes glued on her orange juice.
"Why would I miss that idiot? Besides, why are you up so early?" Asuka spoke, trying to change the subject. Misato chuckled to herself.
"I have to go to an officer's meeting later at noon, but I won't bore you with all that." Misato spoke.
"Whatever." Asuka spoke as she bit into her instant scrambled eggs. Misato's grin widened even more.
"You wanna come with me to pick him up?" Misato asked. Asuka scoffed at the woman.
"Like I would care to see him." Asuka spoke.
"Hmm…strange. You want to sleep in his bed, but you don't want to see him in person?" Misato spoke. Asuka remained calm and raised an eyebrow at Misato.
"What are you talking about? How are you already drunk, Misato?" Asuka spoke, hoping that would convince her officer. Misato held her grin.
"Actually I'm only one beer in. I don't want to be too buzzed before I go. In fact I may take you two with me to Nerv. That way I can supervise you two. There's no telling what perverted things you'd try with him if I left you two alone here." Misato spoke, calling her bluff. Asuka slammed her fists onto the table and jumped out of her seat, a blush running across her face.
"What are you talking about?" Asuka yelled. Misato finally busted out laughing.
"Oh please! When I woke up I thought it was strange that you hadn't woken up yet, so I knocked on your door. When I didn't get a response, I walked in to see that you weren't in your room. At first I was worried that something had happened to you, but then I found you sleeping in Shiji's room. All snuggled up with his tape player!" Misato laughed. Asuka's mind went blank. She couldn't think of any good excuse for being in Shinji's room.
"I-I was just curious about why he always listens to that thing! That's all!" Asuka defended herself. Misato eased her laughing. She then looked back at Asuka with a straight face.
"On a serious note, You shouldn't go around snooping in someone's room like that, Asuka. How would you feel if Shinji just waltzed into your room and rummaged through your stuff?" Misato spoke. Asuka just kept her head tilted to the side while crossing her arms. Misato sighed.
"If you want to listen to his tape player so badly, why don't you just ask him?" Misato asked. Asuka frowned, thinking about what happened the night her and Kaji were out drinking.
"Because… I'm going to go take a shower!" Asuka spoke before leaving the table in a fury. Misato looked at the young teen with a tinge of guilt on her face.
"Maybe I was a little over the top." She muttered to herself.
Shinji didn't sleep well. Without his SDAT he couldn't relax one bit. Eventually, the boy managed to get some sleep. When he woke up early in the morning, he couldn't force himself back to sleep so he just stayed awake until Toji and Kensuke woke up. Shinji punched in the code to the apartment. The door swished open, the light inside the apartment illuminated the dark hall. Shinji stepped in, slipped off his sneakers and placed them by the door. The boy was not excited to see his redheaded roommate. The last time he saw her, she was giving him a long rant about how he was supposed to cook tonight and now she'd have to suffer eating Misato's food. He'd hoped that Her and Hikari would be out doing something since it was Saturday, but all hopes of that were squashed when he saw that the hall light was on. He walked into the kitchen and was met with Asuka Langley Soryu. Her eyebrows were tilted and she had a mean snarl on her face. She had her hands on her hips and her torso was bent forward.
"Hello, Third. Since you spent the night with the two other stooges yesterday, I didn't get my afternoon snack! I expect to be compensated, Third!" Asuka shouted, pointing a finger at him. Shinji tilted his head to the left, looking at the fridge.
"Sorry. I would've made something beforehand if I knew I was staying over at Toji's." Shinji replied, swallowing the sudden buildup of spit in his mouth.
"Hmph! Don't let it happen again, alright?" Asuka spoke, lowering her tone. Shinji tilted his head back to face Asuka. The girl had placed her finger on her chin. Her head was tilted up, thinking of something. "Aha! I know! You can play your cello for me!" Asuka beamed. Shinji raised an eyebrow.
"My… cello?" Shinji replied. Asuka nodded her head.
"Yeah! I don't know why you don't play that thing more. You shouldn't throw away a talent like that!" Asuka spoke, crossing her arms. Shinji felt a small blush rush to his face.
"I… uh…" Shinji stammered. Asuka rolled her eyes.
"Well don't just stand there! Go and get ready! I'll wait." Asuka spoke. Shinji didn't argue with the girl and made his way to his room.
The first thing Shinji did when he got into his room was to pick up his SDAT. The boy smiled when he picked it up. He put the earbuds in and turned on the player. He was met with silence when he pressed play. He looked at the digital screen and it read Track 26. Whenever he would finish the tape, he would rewind it so when he could listen to it again. He made it a habit to rewind it so whenever he wanted to listen to the tape he could just turn it on and press play.
"That's odd. I guess I forgot to rewind it." Shinji thought to himself. He took out the earbuds and placed the SDAT on his desk. He grabbed his cello case and made his way to the kitchen.
Shinji spent a few minutes preparing the cello. He put on the endpin and tightened the strings that needed tuning. While he was doing this, Asuka had taken one of the kitchen chairs and set it against the kitchen wall. She sat in it, patiently waiting for him to finish. After he got everything ready, he sat in the kitchen chair facing Asuka.
"So… what do you want me to play?" Shinji asked. Asuka crossed her legs and folded her arms.
"Just play the same one you played before. The one you were playing when I got back from my date." Asuka spoke. Shinji looked at Asuka. Her eyes glistened in anticipation, as a smile spread across her face. Shinji wondered about the redhead. Her actions were never consistent with him. When they first met, she seemed to dismiss him. Her exact words being "Doesn't seem like much." After their synchronization training she started to acknowledge him. Every now and then she'd call him stupid or mopey. A week ago she asked to kiss him, only later for her to get mad at him for doing it. Now she's wanting him to play his cello for her?
The boy sighed and brought up the bow to the cello. He closed his eyes and started playing. His fingers danced along the strings as he caressed the cello with the bow. Heavenly sounds filled the apartment as the boy played. With every stroke of the bow, the world around him began to disappear. The angles, the Evas, all of his troubles faded to nothingness as he played. The climax of the piece rose to its peak. The boy's fingers rapidly moved, his bow hand moving to the rhythm of the piece. He stretched the final note for a few seconds before all that remained was its echo. Shinji opened his eyes to be met with a bright smile from Asuka. She clapped her hands and stood from her chair. Shinji's eyes widened. He stood up and bowed for her, a blush rising to his face.
"Thank you," Shinji spoke with a shy smile.
