Chapter 03
12.27.2007

It was a case of musical futons. For the third time that night, Ikari Shinji woke up to the sound of regular breathing. Not his.

He let out a quiet laugh that turned into a groan because once again, Asuka was deeply asleep beside him. Only this time, she had thrown a leg and an arm over him making sure that he could not escape.

I give up, Shinji thought happily. Her bed, his bed, the couch, the futon; he had tried hard enough to avoid her but with no success. Shinji studied Asuka's face in the dark, trying to see how he would feel if the entire situation was genuine and not just the necessary result of some freak accident.

If this were real, Shinji imagined Asuka would say something like, "Don't be stupid, Shinji, make up your mind. Are you happy or not? A pervert like you should be enjoying himself."

Unaccountably, Shinji found himself laughing and crying at the same time and the Asuka in his mind's eye threw back her hair and pointed an accusing finger. "Baka! Why are you crying? Hey, hey, don't insult me, you idiot. You're lying in bed with me and you're crying. Stop being a baby!"

"I'm sorry," Shinji whispered, hiding his face with his free arm. "I can't help it. I don't know why I'm crying! I'll stop, ok?"

But try as he might, he couldn't stop. Shinji's mind was a jumbled mess of "why's" and "'what if's" and he couldn't find the strength to sort through them. Damn, damn, damn. Why was he crying?

Eventually, little tremors started to shake his body. He tried to control his trembling, lest he should wake the girl beside him, but it was too late.

Asuka pulled Shinji's arm from his face and he blinked owlishly in the face of her glare. "Um... hi?" Then he hiccupped and chuckled wetly. "Jeez, Asuka, don't look at me like that. I'm sorry I woke you. See? I'll stop." Asuka continued to look grumpily at him and Shinji gave a hopeful gasp. "Asuka, you're mad at me! Are you back? Asuka? No you're not, huh?" And Shinji let loose in a fit of uncontrollable giggling.

Shinji felt the redhead's arm and leg leave him and he was both sad and relieved. But then she was back and before he knew it she had pulled his head down to her bosom and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, God, I've died and gone to heaven." Shinji sniffled loudly into Asuka's chest and tried to calm himself. He could hear her steady heartbeat. Was this how babies felt inside their mother's womb?

It took a bit of time but Shinji eventually straightened up and left the redhead's hold. She was still looking a bit crabby but she pulled him down to the futon and continued snuggling.

"Asuka?" There was no answer but he wasn't really expecting one. "I don't know you very well at all, huh?" She grunted and put up one hand to close his eyes. Shinji smiled, pulled the sheets up over the two of them, and then tried to get some sleep.

x

x

x

The next day dawned bright and cheery and Shinji awoke to find his charge coming out of the bathroom with her hair wet.

"Eyy...!" Shinji yelped, "Asuka, the windows are open!"

Asuka only looked at him with a questioning tilt of her head, which Shinji had gotten used to receiving whenever she didn't understand why he was getting worked up, so Shinji simply grabbed her hand and pulled her to her room.

It had been a shock the first time she had done this at the hospital. And at first all he could do was hyperventilate and ogle. He got used to it really quickly though and, on the second day, after a male nurse almost walked in on her naked, had taken to scolding the redhead about it.

He threw a sheet over the girl and helped her dress under it, then he arranged his features in what he hoped was a suitably angry expression, "How many times do I have to tell you to warn me when you want a bath so I can at least get a towel for you!?"

But the redhead wasn't listening and was back to giggling, dressing was always a game, so in the end Shinji just gave up and sighed. He pulled off the sheet, pushed Asuka out the door and in front of the television set. "Sit and watch awhile, okay?" He handed her the remote. Then he hurried away muttering to himself, "Excuse me while I go look for my jaw, I think I dropped it somewhere near the bathroom door.

"Toilet. Shower. Cold. Yeah. Sounds good."

Shinji used the bathroom quickly; back at the hospital, he had found out the hard way that Asuka had a tendency to check up on him when he tarried in it for too long. He shivered, remembering the first time when she had almost broken down the door.

Afterwards, the two ate breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning playing several rounds of a fighting game they'd never tried before. It was almost lunchtime when their guardian walked in looking fresh and well rested, and announced in an excessively cheery voice, "Children, I'm home!"

Shinji looked up and said hi. Asuka looked up, glared, scooted closer to Shinji, and then went back to her game; she was almost through with the big bosses. At her reaction, Misato looked thrilled; the redhead wasn't making any move to attack her!

Misato continued to observe Asuka, and after several minutes when it was obvious that the girl wasn't going to do anything more lethal than shoot angry killing glances at her, she approached Shinji. Cautiously. "Shinji-kun," she said in the same irrepressibly happy tone she greeted them with, "I have a present for you!"

Shinji, looking surprised, accepted the small nondescript box Misato handed to him. A present? She was serious about that? Why on earth was she giving him one now? Nonetheless, he gave his guardian a small bow of thanks, peeked in the box, and gave a small scandalized eeep.

Inside were a dozen differently colored packets and, to the boy's consternation, Asuka promptly leaned over his arm and took one.

"A-asuka... d-don't..." Shinji whispered, face aflame, but Asuka was already ripping open the small green pack.

A minty scent wafted to their noses as the redhead unrolled the stretchy thing she found inside and curiously examined it. It didn't look very interesting and after about a minute or so she put it in Shinji's hand. Then she stood up, stuck out her tongue at Misato and went to the kitchen.

"She's not getting knives, is she?" Misato asked worriedly.

"I don't think so. She's been a lot calmer since we got here. But if she does bring out a knife and starts chasing you don't expect me to help." Shinji answered sulkily, cheeks still red.

"Oh, did I offend poor Shin-chan? You should be happy I brought you these. I don't expect you to use them. They're just here for..." the Major searched for the right word, "insurance."

Shinji was still pouting and trying to ignore his guardian's teasing, when suddenly Asuka was back. She grabbed the box from Shinji and then quickly disappeared back into the kitchen. For several minutes nothing could be heard from inside except shrieks and giggles.

"What could she be doing to laugh like that?" Misato asked, a slightly awed expression on her face, "Shinji, go see!" Misato poked Shinji on the shoulder urgently.

He answered with a sour look. "Do you really want to know?"

x

Katsuragi Misato's visit to the two Children was a twofold mission. First, to give one Ikari Shinji his 'present' and hopefully make him blush; mission accomplished admirably. Second, to see how Asuka would react to the rest of her 'friends.'

So when she saw how much calmer the redhead was that day, she took advantage of the girl's preoccupation in whatever it was she was doing in the kitchen, and made several calls.

It took an hour before the first two arrived and by that time, the Major had expired in a corner chair, laughing at the pained look on the Third Child's face. Asuka had come out of the kitchen and when Rei and Hikari walked in, was already romping around the room with her new toys.

Hikari gave Shinji a sympathetic look when she saw what Asuka was playing with. Rei simply caught one of Asuka's toys and lobbed it back at the redhead.

"Balloons," Rei turned impassively to face the fast approaching Second Child (Misato and Shinji tensed but couldn't see any angry signs in the girl) and let out a soft oomph as she and Hikari almost got tackled in a bear hug.

Then Asuka pulled both of them into the room. Hikari sat down beside Shinji but Rei remained standing, catching the makeshift balloons Asuka threw at her and sending them sailing back at the delighted redhead.

Shinji couldn't believe it. Now both Asuka and Rei were playing with his 'present.' Asuka alone was highly disconcerting, why did Rei have to join in?

The blush on his cheeks didn't feel like it was going away any time soon. In fact, he thought it had spread to his ears, he could feel them tingling. And to make matters worse, he now had two amused witnesses to his very acute discomfort. And although Hikari was being sympathetic, Misato-san looked pleased enough for two!

"This is your fault!" Shinji stood up and pointed an irritated finger at his guardian. True, it would have been more effective if he wasn't so red but for dignity's sake (his and the whole situation in general) he had to try to stop the other two pilots.

He turned to them and said in what he hoped was a steady voice, "Asuka, Ayanami, could you give me those and cut it ou –" he stopped when the two sent a torrent of balloons raining on his face.

Then he heard Rei's voice, and all Shinji could do after that was hide his hot face in his hands and shake his head in silent desperation.

Rei was holding a balloon in one hand and was looking at it intently, "Pilot Soryu, have you tried using... water?"

A/N: Sorry for the late update. The holidays are always so hectic. To those who reviewed, faved or alerted, thank you mucho mucho! And even those who simply read it and sent the hits to a happily high number, thanks too! I hope everyone's enjoying so far. I'm not sure how this fic will turn out 'cause even though I know where I want this to go, I'm still writing it basically 'cause it's fun. XP Happy Holidays!