Shinji Ikari slowly awoke from his dreamless slumber, his eyes wandered about the room he occupied, seemingly looking for something or someone. He observed the motionless furnitures inside the small and enclosed room with his eyes still half awake, a small wooden table, a chair, and small lampshade. He turned his gaze then at the buckets and towels he found earlier, they were left the same in the position they were in a few hours ago. Having realize that nothing has changed after his sleep, except the fact that he was feeling much better, left him feeling a bit disappointed. He tried to get up from the bed that held him captive for several hours by now with all the sleeping he's done, but something soon stopped his action.
~Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars... Let me know what spring is like in Jupiter or Mars... In other words hold my hand... In other words darling kiss -~
It's Asuka's phone. Should I answer it? Why the heck is Asuka's phone in my room anyway? She must have left it earlier when she checked my temperature.
Shinji thought about the decision long and hard. But time was running out and he faced the dilemma of missing the call or infuriating Asuka if she wakes up because of the ringtone (not that it's bad or anything, just really loud). His time's almost up, and he decided to just pick up the phone and tell them that Asuka's not available at the moment.
Click.
"Asukaaa!" a high pitched voice resounded from the hand held device.
"..." Shinji was stunned momentarily and had to hold the phone a good 2 feet away from him just to salvage his hearing. Who in their right mind would scream your name the moment you pick up the phone?
"I really have something I need to talk to you about! It's about um you know, him" The voice coming from the phone now in a good distance from Shinji continued on, judging by the high pitched and girly voice, It most likely belonged to none other than the class rep. Hikari.
"Well anyway, we will be coming over in a few minutes after the rain lets up, unless you don't want us to interrupt your precious moments with you know, him"
All this "Him" is rapidly getting more and more confusing. He was about to say something about the whole him matter when he heard another voice from the phone.
"Who are you talking to Class Rep?" a deep voice was heard, probably a guy.
"I'm talking to Asuka" A short reply from Hikari.
Silence. Shinji was still listening to the phone, not even mentioning that he was Shinji, not Asuka. He gave the alarm clock beside his bed a quick side glance.
5:28 pm
"Well I guess I shouldn't interrupt you, don't want the red devil mad, right?" Toji, who else has the balls to say something like that to Asuka.
"Don't you ever call her like that again in my presence Toji!" and Hikari's loud voice confirmed it. Shinji heard some shuffles then a loud scream of pain that seemed to be in a distance. Toji must have dashed away from Hikari to avoid punishment, but failed to do so.
"Sorry bout that Asuka, But yeah, we'll be coming over there in minute or when the rain lets up, then we can talk more clearly. Good Luck with taking care of Shinji-kun, bye bye."
"w-wait this isn't As-" Beep. Beep. Beep.
And she hanged up. Great.
After having tried to contact Hikari several times again, only receive a voice mail saying that she will return to him/her immediately, Shinji finally decided to give up. With the knowledge that some people are coming over, he decided to at least make everyone some small snacks and some hot tea. He got up in haste and headed for the door, a few meters aways from him. He paced himself slowly as to not stress his newly recovered body and to not wake up the sleeping Asuka.
But before directly heading for the kitchen, he made a quick detour to the bathroom. Everyone will do as he did if they slept almost all day long, right? Shinji took quick and light steps towards the bathroom that's adjacent to his original destination, the kitchen. He opened the door quietly and proceeded to relieve himself.
What should I cook, maybe a quick yaki soba and some hot tea would be good for the weather. And what if Asuka wakes up, I should make some for her too, I don't want to get her in a bad mood or anything like that anyway.
After getting the job done, he washed his hands and his face. Then it hit him, something did change when was fast asleep and he only noticed now. The more Shinji thought about it, the more crimson the hue on his face turns and the more confusing the said change is. He glanced again at the mirror to see the reflection it made, and as expected it was still the same as the one a few seconds ago. Shinji's surprised look is still being reflected on the clear mirror and the shirt covering his upper body. The shirt was a simple T-shirt with the Nerv Logo right in the middle and a quote saying "If God is in Heaven, then all's right with the world". And that was the reason for his surprise, that dreaded shirt. Shinji Ikari slept with his plain white shirt that morning if his memory doesn't go coup d'etat on him, and unless he was sleep walking and decided to change his clothes while asleep, somebody else did. Asuka. Or maybe a ghost or even an Angel...not very likely Shinji.
Now that's one more debt he has to pay Asuka for and just thinking about the tremendous amount of work he has to do to pay it back made him shiver slightly. But if it's for Asuka maybe...
But a quick glance at the clock mounted atop the mirror stopped his train of thoughts.
5:49 pm
"What!11! it's already that late." Shinji exclaimed, while quickly but quietly dashing towards the kitchen to prepare the yaki soba and boil some hot water for the tea. quickly he gathered the ingredients and looked at the recipe book...
Ingredients:
2 packages steamed noodles (150g/package)
1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 lb boneless pork rib
thinly sliced 2 inches carrot
cut into thin rectangles1 green bell pepper
cored and chopped1/4 medium onion
thinly sliced 2 green head cabbage leaves chopped
salt and pepper
4-6 Tbsp yakisoba sauce, or 2 packages of yakisoba seasoning in yakisoba kits
or 4-6 Tbsp Worcestershire saucebeni-shoga (pickled red ginger)
*optional ao-nori (dried green seaweed)
Preparation:
Lightly loosen pre-steamed chuka noodles and set aside. Heat vegetable oil in medium skillet on medium heat. Stir-fry the pork until almost cooked. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to season. Add carrots, onion, and green bell pepper in the skillet and stir-fry for a couple of minutes. Add cabbage in the skillet and stir-fry for a minute. Add noodles in skillet. Pour 1/4 cup of water over the noodles and cover the skillet. Turn down the heat to low and steam for a few minutes. Remove the lid and add yakisoba seasoning powder or sauce.
(*Adjust the amount of sauce to your taste.) Stir the noodles quickly. Divide yakisoba into two plates. Sprinkle with aonori and beni-shoga just before serving if available.
"This is just for two servings, better make some more"
"Hey Aida, hurry up and get what you need before we leave for Asuka's place" Hikari said as she tried to break the spell Ayanami casted on her poor classmate.
It seemed as though Kensuke's focus at the silent beauty was impossible to break or even just divert. But Toji was able to cut the gordian knot by merely playing a single tune in his phone. The quality of the sound wasn't great rather it was pretty bad, one can easily determine that the tune was a recording. With the loud splashes of water and something like a shower running in the back ground it was clear that the place where the recording was made was indeed a bathroom. After a few minutes of just hearing the sound of water, somesort of music can now be heard, a pretty upbeat song but it's hard to say because of the poor recording. It seems like a normal recording, nothing too special.
"Toji what the heck is this?" asked the curious class rep clearly not understanding the point of making them listen to a normal recording of what it seems like a shower turned on in a bathroom.
"Shhh wait for it class rep." a quick reply by Toji
Still the same sound of someone's shower turned on. But a few seconds later the music that was inaudible earlier became louder and clearer. But still nothing too special.
"I can't, were going to be la-...No...no...nooo...Please stop it Toji...I beg you"
Then the real meaning behind Toji's plan hit them. And it hit them hard. And it didn't take more than 2 seconds to awaken the enticed Kensuke Aida, the moment the first few words came out it was clear that Kensuke can't take it any longer.
The music, or whatever you might call the abomination playing in Toji's phone silenced the whole cafe, but only to transform it into a raging hell of haters full of energy that can even outmatch an Evangelion that has gone berserk. Yes that was Toji's triumph card, his hidden ace, the last straw.
Hikari was at a corner now holding her ears as tight a she could, mumbling something that is barely audible, while Kensuke was as red as the Evangelion Unit 02, either furious or really really embarrassed. Even the usual cool aura of the guy with the butler suit was slowly turning into an aura of threat and malice. But what surprised Toji the most was the very unexpected reaction of the usually silent and emotionless beauty called Rei Ayanami, he caught a glimpse of her beautiful face with a slight blush on and with her usually stoic lips turned into an innocent smile and seen her hollowed eyes filled with happiness (if you can even see that) and some slight tear drops in the corner. He even heard a faint giggle or even laughter as one might call it amidst the shouts and howls of his friend turned berserk. Toji might have been the luckiest guy on earth, for a few seconds before everything went black and silent.
One thought filled Toji's mind though, Kensuke it was helluva worth every single punch, scratch and insult I took. I guess now I know why you fell for her but I my feelings won't waver alright brother?
*Authors rants*
well first of sorry for the long as* time to update, was too busy finding time to finish this chapter because of all the games that came out on the psp and the ps3...so don't blame the poor author. :\
well now that summer is here I guess I can update more frequently now and make it a lot better for y'all. hehe
look forward to the next chapter guys and about Toji's secret weapon I'll tell y'all about it next time :D
don't forget to review, constructive criticism is always accepted and some hate flares as well if you want. but please don't be harsh :)