Right, so I'm about two hours short of getting a double post out considering its now 2 in the morning, so I guess today is a triple post. So here are the first two and expect the next sometime in the evening
Shinji woke up that morning feeling rather restless, but not nearly as restless as Asuka. As she walked out of her room, Shinji saw that she had circles under her eyes and her tank top was barely clinging on to her body.
"Morning," said Shinji.
Asuka grumbled back at him as she made her way into the bathroom. Shinji laughed lightly at that, but continued eating his breakfast.
As the water came on in the bathroom, Shinji started to hear Asuka humming softly. Hopefully she would feel better after a warm shower.
Shinji made coffee as she was showering, trying to wake himself up in the process. He had dreamed last night, something which hadn't happened in a while. It unnerved him, only because it had been about his time as an Evangelion pilot. He hated dreaming about that, because it reminded him what he had once done.
Shinji had tried ignoring everything that he had been involved with during Third Impact, but he had eventually come to terms with it. He blamed himself for the majority of it, as it had been his decision to nullify the AT-fields, even though he had been indirectly influenced by his father and Seele. He had rejected it in the end though, largely thanks to Rei, and things had progressed as they had. He had talked several times about this to Asuka, who still had mixed feelings over the subject. She had forgiven him over what he had done, but it still had not been an easy thing. The first few months after everyone returned had been rough for them, as they were still feeling the pain that they had inflicted on one another during there time at Nerv. As they got older though, they had forgiven each other of everything.
Last night, he had woken in a cold sweat, dreaming that he had still been lost in that sea of LCL fluid, voices swarming around him. He had a tough time going to sleep after that, and so, was still feeling groggy this morning. He wondered what had kept Asuka up all night though.
Shortly after thinking this, the bathroom door opened and Asuka stepped out, clad only in a red towel. Her hair glistened with water droplets and swayed as she walked towards the kitchen. Shinji tried not to notice these things, but it was hard not to, and he could feel something stirring within him.
It wasn't unheard of to see Asuka looking so uncaring as to her attire, but it was still unusual.
Shinji looked away as she sat down, but he couldn't help but notice the distinct line that revealed her cleavage.
"Feeling better now?" asked Shinji as he tried to focus on a line in the table.
"Somewhat," mumbled Asuka as she leaned back in her chair, revealing more of herself in the process.
"I made coffee," said Shinji as he quickly stood up.
Asuka turned her head towards him, wondering why he seemed so jumpy.
"You did?"
"Yeah, it seemed that both of us didn't sleep very well last night."
"Why would you ask that?" asked Asuka, feeling skeptical. She had woken up almost every other hour, tossing and turning. She kept on debating on what to get Shinji, and because of that, she had spent a good part of the night tossing and turning.
"No, you just seemed tired is all."
"Well, I'm feeling better now," sighed Asuka as she took a sip of her coffee. Looking up at Shinji, she saw that he was averting his gaze from her. This struck her as somewhat strange, as his simple attitude around her had been somewhat uncaring it seemed.
"Whats wrong with you Shinji," she asked.
"...Nothing...its just that...what your wearing is rather..."
Shinji couldn't help but turn red slightly as he mumbled this. Asuka didn't now how tempting she was right now, and Shinji didn't want to say it out right either.
"What are you-" Asuka started, but then she looked down at herself and understood what he meant.
"Oh," she said softly. She hadn't thought about the towel, but it seemed that Shinji had. She felt embarrassed as well.
Standing up suddenly, Asuka gripped the towel towards her chest and darted into her bedroom. As Shinji heard her bedroom door close, he turned back around, now that it was safe to look.
'She can be rather clueless at times,' thought Shinji. But as she had said before, she felt no sense of harm around Shinji, half naked or not. He could think of many guys that would have jumped at the opportunity to see her as such.
It was sometime later before Asuka came out, fully clothed now, and trying to forget about what had just happened. Shinji didn't bother bringing it up, and neither did Asuka seem to want to discuss it. As the years had gone on, neither had had much of problem showing skin around each other. Maybe it had been because Shinji was purposefully ignoring how she looked that it had seemed strange. They had both gotten flustered, something which hadn't happened in a while.
Asuka finished her cold coffee, neither of them speaking much, and then she want into the living room. Shinji didn't follow, still feeling strange from what had happened earlier, but all to quickly, the phone in the kitchen started ringing. Answering it swiftly, Shinji heard Misato on the other end.
"Misato?" asked Shinji, "how come you're calling so earlier?"
"I actually had something I wanted to ask Asuka," was the reply on the other end.
Shinji looked at the phone in his hand for a second before he turned towards the living room and said, "Asuka...Misato wants to talk to you for a second."
Asuka stepped halfway out of the living as she asked, "What does she want."
"No idea, she wouldn't say."
Asuka frowned, but walked towards Shinji and took the phone from him. Though Shinji could only hear one side of the conversation, he understood that Asuka wasn't entirely thrilled about what she was hearing.
"Yeah...I'll be over in a bit Misato," mumbled Asuka as she hung up the phone.
"What was that about?" asked Shinji as Asuka continued staring at the phone.
"...Misato wants me to come into Nerv for a bit...says she needed my help with something."
Though this had happened several times before now, Shinji never liked hearing this. He had always been afraid that something would happen to Asuka if she went into Nerv. Maybe he was simply projected his own hatred for Nerv onto this, but he still worried about her.
"You have to go?"
"Seems like it," said Asuka as she looked at him. Shinji seemed worried however, and so she reassured him with a slight pat on the shoulder. Shinji was slightly taller than her now, so she had to stand up straighter than when she was a kid.
"I'll be fine," she said. "Misato wouldn't let something happen, and I doubt it's something dangerous to begin with considering what Nerv has become."
Shinji still didn't seem that assured, but Asuka next hit him lightly on the cheek and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, I'll be back later tonight.
"Right," whispered Shinji.
"And I'll expect dinner by the time I get back as well," said Asuka.
"Yeah," said Shinji.
Asuka went back into her room and grabbed herself a jacket and a temporary Nerv ID card that Misato had given her. Saying goodbye to Shinji once again, she walked out through the front door.
Shinji watched her leave, wondering as he did multiple times before now, if he would ever see her again.
Asuka took the bus to one of the many outposts that would take her into the underground fortress where Nerv was. Nerv had always been a public company, although the public didn't know what actually went on there until the angels attack and Third Impact was initiated. Afterwards, they started to open up more, until they now were in charge of the remodeling process of Tokyo-3.
Misato met Asuka outside one of these outposts, and they walked through it, taking the elevator down into the Geofront.
"Sorry I had to call you today Asuka," said Misato.
"Its fine, I wasn't doing anything anyways," said Asuka as she thought of her and Shinji's earlier embarrassment.
"Haven't figured out what you want to get him either?"
"Is it obvious?" asked Asuka, still aware that she had dark circles under her eyes.
"Very," said Misato. "You didn't sleep much last night?"
"Hardly, though Shinji seemed not to have gotten much either."
"Does he still have nightmares?" asked Misato.
"I'm not sure," said Asuka, though in truth, that was likely the cause of his sleeplessness.
As they reached the bottom of the Geofront, a car picked them up, and they drove the rest of the way to Nerv. The Geofront hadn't change much since the time of Third Impact, only that the landscape was remodeled slightly to accommodate for the damage the Evangelions did to it. Asuka remembered that she had done some of this herself.
Reaching the giant pyramid that was Nerv, Asuka and Misato got out, and Asuka was surprised to see that Ritsuko and somebody else were there to great them.
"Good, you've arrived Asuka," said Ritsuko. "Has Misato told you what we're doing here today?"
Asuka shook her head, but she was looking at the person next to Ritsuko. She had heard a lot about Rei from Shinji, and so she still had troubles getting along with her.
"Hey Rei," said Asuka in what she hoped was a friendly voice.
"Asuka," nodded Rei. Rei herself still had trouble talking with other people, but at least she did call Asuka by her first name now.
"Misato...did you not tell Asuka about what we're doing?" asked Ritsuko as she directed her gaze towards Misato.
"Umm..." started Misato, but Asuka interrupted her.
"Why...what is it?" asked Asuka skeptically.
"Asuka, you remember that Gehirn had some of its founding in genetics?"
"Yeah," said Asuka slowly.
"Well...today we're conducting some tests involved with that. Simply put, we're researching a humans DNA structure. The government asked to do this since Ritsuko has some knowledge on the subject, and most of the equipment is already available so-"
"You still haven't said what I'm doing," said Asuka as she looked at Misato, her eyes starting to narrow.
"The AT-fields," said Ritsuko tonelessly.
Asuka turned towards her.
"What?"
"The government wants to learn where the AT-fields come from, whether its in our DNA...or something else."
"Don't we already know the answer for that?" asked Asuka. "An AT-field is the embodiment of a persons soul, the thing which separates us from other humans."
"We tried to explain that to the government but..."
"If we want to continue receiving funding from the government, then we have to do this, no matter what we already know." answered Ritsuko. "The government still holds Nerv responsible for the attacks by the angels, and because of that, without there funding, the rebuilding process won't continue."
Asuka was silent as she looked from Misato to Ritsuko
"Are you okay with this?" she asked Rei.
Rei nodded silently.
'Still the same,' thought Asuka.
Sighing deeply, she thought briefly what Shinji would say if he could hear her reply.
"Fine...I'll do this," said Asuka.
It wasn't anything like an entry plug, but it still felt weird.
Asuka and Rei were hooked up to all sorts of equipment with wires crisscrossing over there bodies. Both were naked except for the loose fitting hospital gown that covered there bodies. Asuka was glad that Shinji wasn't here to see this, for multiple reasons.
"This might hurt for a second," said Ritsuko as she reached for Asuka's wrist. She had a syringe in her hand. Asuka could only guess what was in it, but she nodded all the same.
Ritsuko injected the fluid, and Asuka felt her consciousness starting to slip away. She had been subjected to several tests before becoming an Evangelion pilot, but this still felt strange. She hoped that Shinji wouldn't find out about this however, because she knew he wouldn't approve.
She was still awake, but she was unable to move. All pain seemed to have been removed from her mind; even her thought process was gone.
"Asuka, can you still hear me?" asked Ritsuko. Beside her, Misato had a worried look on her face.
Asuka heard herself reply, but she couldn't make out the words.
"Okay," said Ritsuko.
Asuka wasn't sure what Ritsuko was looking at, but there appeared to be some sort of monitor beside the bed that she was watching.
"How does Rei look?" asked Ritsuko to the other doctor.
"Same."
"Figures," said Misato. In her mind, this test was entirely pointless, but she also saw the need for it. Even so, she felt worried. This technology was entirely new, and she couldn't deny that there was in fact a risk involved. Looking at the monitor beside Asuka's bed, she watched as strands of DNA were projected on the screen and enlarged.
"No change in the patients," said Ritsuko. "Continuing with the test."
Shinji sat on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. It was getting close to night now, and still no word from Asuka. Even if she was busy, he had at the very least expected a call from Misato, letting him know that everything was alright. He couldn't shake his fear that something had happened.
Sitting up, he left his room and walked into the kitchen, glancing at the clock on the wall.
'I suppose I should at least start dinner,' thought Shinji.
It wasn't extravagant, simple fish and rice. He wasn't in the mood to cook anything right now to begin with, but he wanted something made at least whenever Asuka came home.
Just as he was beginning to think that the silence had gone on long enough, he heard the front door open.
Turning around, he saw that Asuka was taking off her shoes in the front doorway.
"Asuka...your back," said Shinji
"Yeah...sorry for taking so long," said Asuka as she started walking towards Shinji. She seemed tired however, and was walking slowly.
"Did you make dinner?" she asked.
"Yeah...its ready," said Shinji as he glanced at her as she walked passed.
"Great...I'm-"
Asuka stumbled as she walked, but managed to catch herself on the kitchen table.
"Asuka!" shouted Shinji, darting forward to assist her.
"I'm okay," said Asuka as she shook off Shinji, "just a little tired is all."
Next second though, her face turned blank and she fell backwards. Shinji thankfully caught her just as she almost hit the floor. Her eyes were slightly glazed over, and for a second, Shinji couldn't find his voice.
"Asuka..."
Light seemed to come to her eyes as he spoke to her.
"...I'm a little light headed I think..." mumbled Asuka.
"What did they do?" asked Shinji, his voice steadily rising.
"Could you not speak so loud..." said Asuka. "I'll be fine it a bit so..."
She seemed to lose herself again, and next second, she pushed Shinji away, just as she felt bile rip against her throat as she vomited on the kitchen table. She retched violently, bringing up both breakfast and black oil, which was likely the coffee.
Forgetting about himself, Shinji scooped Asuka up in his arms and ran to the bathroom. He barely made, just as she retched again, this time making it into the toilet.
"Fucking hell," Asuka swore in between puking.
Shinji was about to open his mouth, when Asuka snarled, "Not now!" though it game out in a gasp.
Shinji sat next to her for several minutes as Asuka emptied her stomach. He couldn't do much, except hold her hair behind her head to make sure she didn't puke on it. Asuka kept swearing, cursing everything that even entered her head. Shinji heard his own name uttered a few times, but he knew it wasn't in malice.
Spitting several times into the toilet, Asuka brought her head up and wiped the edge of her mouth with the sleeve of her shirt. She didn't look the greatest.
"Get me some water," she said weakly.
Shinji didn't want to leave her alone, but he obeyed nonetheless. Filling a glass from the kitchen he carried it back into the bathroom and gave it to Asuka. She rinsed the water around inside her mouth for several seconds until she spit it out.
"How are you feeling?" asked Shinji.
"Fucking incredible," said Asuka angrily, though as she saw the worried look on Shinji's face she replied, "Sorry...but I feel like shit right now."
Standing up was still difficult, so Asuka had to lean on Shinji as they walked out of the bathroom. Asuka looked towards the kitchen were the black bile was starting to collect and shuddered.
Walking into the living room, Asuka sat down slowly with Shinji assisting her.
"Can you get me a change of clothes...anything will be fine."
Shinji thought about questioning her on this logic, as he had very rarely been inside her room before, but now wasn't the best time he supposed.
He was in and out of her room as fast as he could go, grabbing the first thing that his eyes had set on which was a loose shirt and sweatpants. Handing these to Asuka, he turned and left the room as she changed.
"Its okay," said Asuka, letting him know that he could come back in.
Shinji walked back in and sat down next to her, looking at her face. She was pale white, but her complexion was slowing starting to come back.
"How do I look? And don't say I look fine, because I don't."
"Terrible," said Shinji.
"Thats putting it mildly," said Asuka. "This reminds me of the first time I had beer."
It had been about a year ago, and Shinji could remember it as both of them hadn't felt very good the next day.
"Asuka, what did you they do to you?"
"Shinji...I expected this, or at least some of this. Ritsuko said there would be side affects, but-"
"Side affects of what?" Shinji all but shouted.
"Forget it Shinji. I knew what I was doing, so just forget it."
Standing up to fast, Asuka felt all the blood go to her head and almost felt like she was going to pass out again. Shinji caught her, but his face was still angry.
"Don't shut me out like that Asuka, not now."
Asuka opened her eyes and looked at him, aware of how close they were.
'And my breath probably smells like shit,' she thought.
"Fine, they ran some tests and gave us a sedative."
"Us?" asked Shinji.
"Both me and Rei," said Asuka.
"They did this to both of you?"
"Calm down Shinji. What are you going to do? Complain to Misato about it? She didn't like it either, but I still made the decision to go ahead with it."
"No more," said Shinji. "You aren't going back there."
"Who are you to decide how I lead my life?" asked Asuka, getting angry in turn now. "I can make my own decisions."
"Asuka I just...I don't like seeing you hurt."
Asuka looked at him, but felt the anger starting to leave herself. She couldn't stay angry at him, not after how worried he had been. If there positions had been switched she would have reacted the same.
"Idiot," she sighed as she leaned against him.
Shinji looked at her and brushed a strand of her hair away from her eyes. If though she had been puking not even a few minutes ago, she still looked beautiful.
"C'mon," said Shinji, "I think some rice would do you go."
"What else is there?"
"Fish, but I don't think you should try to eat that now."
Asuka nodded, even though she still didn't like it. She had always had white rice.
Asuka went to bed shortly after finishing dinner, and Shinji had sat with her for a while. He had been surprised that she had allowed him to enter her room not once but twice in the same day. She had gone to sleep quickly though, and Shinji hadn't stayed long afterwards.
As he closed the door to her bedroom, he saw the doorknob to the front door turning. Misato had come back.
Misato stepped through the doorway, and was greeted by Shinji, who didn't look happy.
"Why didn't you stay with her? She was half dead when she got home?" he asked.
"She said she was fine...and to not worry."
"You know how she is. She's too stubborn to ask for help from other people."
"Shinji-"
"For being a guardian, you certainly don't act like one very much."
Without waiting for Misato's reply, Shinji walked into his own room and slammed the door. He stared at the closed door for several seconds before hitting his fist against the wood, splintering his knuckles. Blood trickled down from the open wound, but he didn't seem to notice. He was too used to pain to care about something so insignificant.
'And Asuka had been in much worse pain earlier,' thought Shinji.
Walking over to his bed, he sat down on it and thought-
'It may be time to decide on a different apartment,' thought Shinji.