Longest chapter so far...phew. After that last one I was in such a great mood that I wrote this one a lot faster than I intended. On another note...THANKS FOR THE 100+ REVIEWS. Seriously though, I never thought this story would ever become this popular. Thanks a bunch to everybody who's given me support over the years. I'm hopefully finishing this by summer (I'm literally praying for it) because I'm so excited about the sequel, but of course I can't start that until this is finished. On a side note in response to Edopt90: As I was working on that last chapter phrases from Re-Take were coming to me, and I remember deleting some stuff because it felt too similar to Re-take. Be that as it may I believe I do get some of my inspiration from Re-Take, having the entire series sitting in a folder on my desktop. Its a fabulous story and any fan of AsukaXShinji should check it out.
Okay I'm done...start reading.
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but this place isn't so bad," said Asuka as she stabbed another piece of chicken with her fork.
...That was rather an understatement
Her and Shinji were sitting outside the Italian restaurant that Shinji had mentioned earlier. At first Asuka was rather reluctant about eating there, never caring much for Italian food. Though after they entered, and the aroma of rich garlicky food entered her nostrils, she quickly changed her mind.
The weather reflected there moods towards each other, which was significantly better than it had been in recent months. As such, they had decided that eating outside would be a nice change.
There was a small tile patio behind the restaurant in the shape of a small rectangle. Around the outer edges of the patio, a large hedge had been raised off the ground, supported by a brick layer all around the edges, with soil to hold the hedges in place. Small pockets of flowers lined the hedge rows around where Shinji and Asuka sat.
The table they were sitting at was made out of pine, while the chairs with the wooden backs were likewise made out of pine. Shielding them from the harmful rays of the sun was a large umbrella that completely covered the circular table, creating a sort of cocoon like environment that only Asuka and Shinji were present under. The tablecloth that adorned there table was simple cotton, with pictures of grapes placed sporadically around each other with increments of seven inches between them.
Not knowing specifically what to order, Asuka had left the decision up to Shinji and had been afraid that she would be regretting it. Her worries were unsubstantial, as the chicken Fettuccine Alfredo was quite good. Shinji had order some sort of spaghetti and meatballs, with ground up basil cloves sprinkled around the spaghetti sauce. She had an idea that no matter what he would have ordered for her, she would have enjoyed it.
"German food isn't the only thing in the world you know. Honestly, I don't see how you haven't gotten tired of all that fatty food yet," replied Shinji to Asuka's earlier comment.
Considering that they were on relatively good speaking terms, Asuka decided not to rebuke him for the fatty remark.
"Then do you hate Japanese food or something? You never seem to really stick with one thing."
"No, I've just tried many different types of foods and sorta built my own taste. Also, because of how much I used to move around, I ended up eating out a lot since I never had much of an opportunity to cook."
"So you consider it lucky that Misato is such a bad cook?" asked Asuka, inserting one of many jabs about Misato's cooking.
"Well, I won't deny that it wouldn't be such a bad change to have someone else do the cooking for once." Shinji said this with a subtle hint directed at Asuka.
"...What you want me to cook more often or something?" asked Asuka getting the meaning behind his words.
"...I can't deny I'd enjoy it...and not just breakfast."
Asuka thought about this for a moment with her arm propped up on the table and her chin resting in the palm of her hand.
"I'll think about it," she said eventually. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to remind myself a few things now and then. And I can also show you how to make a proper German dish."
'Wonderful,' thought Shinji silently, meaning both good and bad.
"But as for then and now," said Asuka turning back to her plate, "why haven't you ever cooked something like this?"
"...I figured you'd never eat it."
"Well before this I might not have...but I can't imagine your cooking is better than this."
"...Thanks"
"Anytime," replied Asuka heartily.
"So then what happens after this?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...what should we do?"
Asuka paused here for a moment, but her mind went back to something she had said before, and she figured that since they had left Nerv, she had silently been thinking of this.
"I'm gonna take you up on that offer you made."
"What offer?"
"The one where I make you take me around Tokyo-3 and buy anything I want."
"...I'm fairly certain I never agreed to something like that...at least conscious. And I think that was something you just decided on the spot."
"Either way," Asuka paused and looked across the table into Shinji's eyes, "Consider it compensation for worrying me to death...and...about earlier." This last part was referring to her emotional outburst, which she still seemed somewhat embarrassed about. Some of the things she had said...well, they were things that she had kept bottled up for a while.
"So then its like a...date?"
Normally Asuka would have thrown herself across the table and strangled Shinji for even using that word in a sentence when it involved them, though she was in an unusually good mood right and simply said, "If thats what you want to call it, then sure its a date."
The fact that she had accepted it as something like a date completely threw Shinji a right hook, stunning him momentarily.
"Okay then," he said, trying to grasp control of the situation, while throughout it all Asuka was watching him silently with strange expression on her face. It was almost expecting.
"Then...what exactly did you have in mind for this..." Shinji still couldn't bring himself to think of it as a date.
"No clue," said Asuka idly. In truth, she just wanted to spend time with him, and frankly didn't give a damn where and what they did, as long as they were together.
"...Well there is the aquarium I suppose. I've heard its got some pre-Second Impact animals from Antarctica there."
"Where is it?"
"From here...a few miles I think. We can get a cab I guess or-"
"No, we walk," said Asuka, interjecting her own thoughts into the conversation.
"You sure? It might take us some time so-"
"We walk," replied Asuka stubbornly, slight irritation showing on her face.
"...Okay then...if thats what you want. But don't expect me to carry you if your feet start hurting."
Asuka let out an indignant, "Hmph," and looked down at her sure to be cold food now, her appetite slipping.
Dear God didn't he get it? Or did she have to write it down on a piece of paper for him?
'How did I end up stuck with someone like him?' thought Asuka moodily.
"Hurry up and finish then," she said, clearly becoming annoyed. "Its already past noon and I'd rather not be back at Nerv around midnight."
Ignoring the prospect of mousse chocolate cake for desert, they paid for their food and started walking in the direction of the museum.
They walked side by side, and to any normal passerby, looked like two teenagers simply enjoying the rare chance to see even a glimpse of the sun. To the two of them however, what they were doing was far from what they considered normal. Neither could help but steal glances at the other if they thought one was looking the other way, though when there eyes met, they became briefly flustered and tried to pass it off as random occurrence. If this had happened once or twice instead of ten times, the random occurrence explanation would have made sense.
After what felt like at least a mile, they were both starting to sweat openly, with the hot sun beating down on the backs of their necks. The temperature had to be pushing ninety at least, and Shinji momentarily felt that rain water would have felt extremely good when Asuka pointed out an ice cream parlor across the street.
"We really shouldn't," said Shinji quickly. "I don't know how much longer it'll take us to get to the aquarium, nor whether it will take time to get in."
"But it'll be cooler in there," said Asuka as she grabbed Shinji's hand and started tugging him across the street. "And I feel disgusting with all this sweat."
'It was your decision to walk,' thought Shinji silently, though Asuka gave him a look as though she had read his mind.
"C'mon...it beats standing out here and arguing about it in the baking hot sun."
'She does have a point,' a voice in Shinji's mind replied.
"Alright," said Shinji relenting to Asuka's request.
Inside the ice cream parlor was much cooler as Asuka had predicted and it looked as though they weren't the only ones with the same idea; a large group of people were clustered around the small shop, taking up so much space that Asuka and Shinji had to practically fight there way to get to the front counter.
"One strawberry vanilla for me...single scoop...and...Shinji what do you want," asked Asuka as she turned her head towards him, a slight smile threatening to part her lips. Shinji had to suppress the tingling feel in his stomach then, as her actions were so unlike her that they made his head hurt.
"Err...one vanilla for me, and single scoop as well."
"Coming right up," replied the cashier who looked as though he was about Rebecca's age.
Fighting there way back through the crowd, with their hands linked this time, they made there way to a small table at the back of the shop and sat down.
"We really shouldn't just sit here and eat these like this," said Shinji before he started licking his ice cream.
"What? And let it melt outside? Not a chance," replied Asuka who had already started on her ice cream.
For a second, Shinji couldn't help but gaze at her, unable to look away from the cute face she made as she ate her ice cream. To Shinji, it was like a blessing from the gods. To think that he'd be happily sitting here with Asuka, acting as though they were normal, and eating ice cream. He half expected the front door of the shop to explode outward and a scattering of bullets to come pounding through the windows. It felt too serene.
"Whats up?" asked Asuka when Shinji still hadn't started his ice cream and she was already half way done with hers.
"Just noticing how weird it is to be out here...with other people I suppose. Its almost like we're...normal."
"Really? I've never had that impression before."
"Just seeing all these people around...I guess we are just a small part of the world when you think about it."
"Well of course, there's something like ten billion people on the planet."
"No I know...just that what we've been doing with Nerv...I wonder how much it affects other peoples lives, not just inside Tokyo-3...but outside of Japan."
"Why worry about it?" asked Asuka almost bored. "We have a job that only we can do, while other people have a job that only they can do also. Its pointless worrying about what tomorrow might bring."
"No...I suppose that you're righ-Isn't that Touji and Hikari over there?"
Its a good thing that the shop was so crowded and so many voices were echoing off the walls, because Asuka spun in her chair so quickly that the sound of the legs screeching against the floor sounded like fifty nails on a chalkboard.
Shinji didn't have nearly the same reaction as she did, and found it rather comical that she was so intrigued by this so suddenly. Even so, he couldn't help but wonder what those two unlikely people were doing sitting across a table from each other. Then again, him and Asuka were doing the same thing so he supposed it wasn't his place to speculate.
"Its about damn time," whispered Asuka to herself more than ever, though of course Shinji had no trouble picking it up.
"Whats about damn time?"
Looking back at him, Asuka didn't see the harm in telling him...so she did.
"Hikari has liked that idiot for a while...why I can't possibly imagine, but it looks as though they've finally gotten together."
"Touji and Hikari? I don't know...doesn't seem like a very likely pairing."
'And yet here you and I are, talking with each other,' thought Asuka.
"Hikari's been slowly making advances on him, making his lunch and what not. I guess she finally called him out today."
Shinji paused for a minute before saying, "So...how long exactly was I gone from school?"
Asuka did her best not to laugh but ended up failing miserably.
"So are you going to walk over there or not?" asked Shinji.
"What are you stupid? Of course not. I don't even want them to know that we're here." Little did Shinji know, her words held a double meaning.
"Then lets leave...I was never one for ice cream anyway."
Back outside, the sun had not relented it scorching hot mercy on the residents of Tokyo-3 and Shinji and Asuka were now subjugated to those same harmful rays.
"I know I was sick of all the rain we'd been having, but this burning hotness is just ridiculous," complained Asuka as she fanned her face with her hand. Shinji on the other hand simply smiled and decided not to comment. The sun gleaming off Asuka's bright red hair was about as blinding as directly looking at the sun.
"How much longer is it?"
"I've no idea...just know where its located is all."
"How can you know where it is if you've never been there?"
"I've passed it many times before."
"When you used to walk a lot?"
"Yeah...and I remember that I had wanted to visit it at least once...with my father actually." Shinji even surprised himself by saying this and his face darkened slightly at the thought of his father.
Asuka couldn't help but notice the change in his face and asked, "You really hate him, don't you?"
"...Yeah, I do...for everything."
"...I suppose it must be hard...knowing that he's so close but so far away."
"...Not really. I got used to his absence so much after my mother died that sometimes I completely forgot about him."
"Wish I could have done that," mumbled Asuka quietly in reference to her own father.
Shinji's face, if possible, darkened even further at the mention of Asuka's father and his teeth clenched together tightly. He supposed that even after Asuka had left her father for college, there was still that shadow of him constantly there in the back round of her life. Though he supposed he had permanently put a stop to that.
"Lets not talk about that right now," Shinji whispered.
Asuka, in response to his whispered response, decided to remain silent and drop the topic altogether. Fathers weren't something that either of them had ever had.
They walked in silence for the majority of the rest of the time, glancing at each other every so often in hopes that the other would start up a conversation. Ironically enough, during this time of silence, they felt that they were becoming closer to each other...in a physical sense. There hands kept on bumping against each other as though both their bodies were telling them to take action of some kind. Of course neither were really able to accept that innate feeling that they were sharing.
After what felt like hours, and gallons of sweat shed, they finally found themselves standing in front of the cool shade of the entrance to the aquarium. There was a small line at the front of the entrance with a ticket booth on either side of the entrance so the line would move quicker. The entire buildings was rather large, while a small cloth like canopy streaked with green and white stripes jetted out from the front entrance, under which Shinji and Asuka were standing. The outside walls were painted a dark blue while posters of marine animals were plastered all along the walls like at a movie theatre. Shinji found the whole presentation rather stupid, as though there was some Broadway show going on in there.
As Shinji thought this last bit, Asuka turned to him and asked, "Err, this is the right place...right?"
"I think so," replied Shinji looking around as though expecting to see a sign that said, 'yes this is an aquarium.'
"Well lets go then," said Asuka.
The line quickly shortened, and in all most no time at all, Shinji and Asuka found themselves at the ticket booth.
"Just the two of you?" asked the ticket handler when they walked up to the booth.
"Yeah," said Shinji. "Ten dollars right?"
"Five for kids and teenagers yeah...unless wait, are you guys a couple?"
Before Asuka had even a chance to retort angrily, Shinji interjected in front of her.
"...Why?"
"Discount," the guy responded in a gruff voice as though this was common sense. "Normally its ten dollars, but if you two are a couple I can knock off two dollars."
"Whys that?" asked Shinji, hesitating slightly as he could tell that the girl standing beside him was starting to fume angrily.
"Its the special of the day. Sometimes its a discount for old people, sometimes for married grownups with their kids, today its for teenage couples."
"We're not-" Asuka said hurriedly, though Shinji cut her off.
"Yeah we are."
"Eight dollars then."
Shinji nodded and wordlessly handed over his Nerv card, during which the ticket handler glanced at it and snorted slightly, not understand how the kid how gotten a debit card such as this.
Tearing apart two tickets, he handed them to Shinji who in turn passed one wordlessly to Asuka.
"Just continue on through and make your way towards the right...there'll be arrows pointing you in the direction you should take for full exhibit. If you want brochures there are some before the first exhibit, and theres a gift shop at the end of the-"
Asuka had long ago dragged Shinji wordlessly towards the entrance, leaving the ticket handler rambling on in a business like tone.
After getting far enough in the aquarium, in which a faint blue color could start to be seen dancing off the walls, Asuka pushed Shinji against a black concrete wall so hard that Shinji thought he had thrown his back out.
Snarling at him hatefully, Asuka said, "What exactly was that all about!"
"What?" said Shinji innocently, knowing full well what she meant and knowing that he would have had to deal with this when he had said what he said at the ticket booth.
"You know damn fucking well what I mean! Us being a couple? The hell is this shi-"
"This is a date...which you yourself even said, and besides it doesn't matter whether we are or not because we only got a discoun-"
"We are not, and who cares about the stupid discount! Nerv pays off our cards every month anyway!"
"Give it a break Asuka, that guy obviously thought we were a couple anyway so-"
Asuka's face got so close to Shinji that he was afraid at first that she was going to head but him.
"We are not a couple, nor will we ever be one!"
Shinji was silent for a moment. Did he himself think they were a couple? Well maybe the constantly arguing part, though admittedly, they had shared some rather heartfelt moments with each other.
"Okay then I get it," said Shinji hurriedly. "But you didn't have to get so upset about it."
"I'm not upset," said Asuka indignantly. "Its just stupid," here her voice started to get quieter and quieter as she continued saying, "to think that you and me...being a couple...and-"
She suddenly had a mental image of herself and Shinji stepping out of a Nerv owned vehicle on there way to dinner. Shinji would get out first wearing a tuxedo and turn to her and hold out his hand for her. She would take it and slowly step out of the car and the light would fall on her. Her fiery hair would be tied back and twisted into a tight bun at the top of her head. Her lips would be rosy red and possibly preparing for the evening. The dress she would be wearing would be blood red with laces at the hem of the dress and her hands would be adorned with white gloves. Shinji would hold out his arm and she would take it and together they would walk up the red carpeted stairs into the lobby of some fancy restaurant with a gold chandelier and-
If this was what alcohol was like, than Asuka would have been considered way over the limit as her entire face lit up like the color of the dress she had been imagining. Shinji didn't even seem to notice her lapse in reality as he had already started walking ahead of her.
Asuka placed both her hands on her face in an embarrassed gesture that together with the rapid blush that was spreading across her cheeks, would have been too much for Shinji's mind to handle. Simply put...it was beyond cute.
'M-me a-and Sh-Sh-Shi-Shinji?' she stammered in her confused mind. 'Impossible, we can barely even get along properly to be considered friends.'
'But you care about him,' said another voice in her head.
'Of course I do...but not like that. Never like that...'
The voice in her head didn't bothering responding back, as though it knew how pointless the conversation would end up.
Trying to look as though she wasn't momentarily distraught by her daydream, she started walking faster to catch up to Shinji, who had just plucked a brochure off the wall they were mounted on.
"So what does this place have exactly," she asked in a tone that she felt was relatively passive.
Shinji glanced at her briefly before flipping through the brochure.
"A lot really."
"...So?"
"...You'll see."
"Moron," Asuka said annoyingly.
Shinji simply smirked and led the way towards the exhibits.
Arrows pointed them further into the museum, during which the faint blue color started to get more profound until they were standing at the top of some stairs that led down into a wide expanse of a room. Along the right hand side of the wall were large tanks filled with water filled with an assortment of rightly colored fish. As Shinji and Asuka started descending the stairs, they looked above them and saw that another aquatic tank was embedded right into the ceiling above them and housed more colorful fish.
Asuka opened her mouth with surprise at the sheer largeness of this one room. If she was correct in her reckoning, most of the apartment complex they lived in with Misato would have fit quite snugly into this one room.
As Asuka was visibly showing her surprise, Shinji said, "This first room is filled with nothing but fish from the Great Barrier Reef...or whats left of it I suppose. Apparently after Second Impact, many coral reefs died off because of the vast change in ocean temperatures."
Turning towards him, Asuka asked with a raised eyebrow, "How do you know that?"
"This thing," said Shinji waving the brochure in front of her face.
As Shinji waved it in front of her face, Asuka made a quick swipe for it with her right hand, but came up empty as Shinji was too fast for her.
Visibly angry at his childish ways, she turned away from him, her brightly colored hair flowing behind her, and stalked off to the far tank on the right side of the room.
Shinji wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt like laughing. He had to agree with her though, because he was also being absurdly childish. But he felt that he was acting partly because of how she had reacted earlier with the whole couple thing. I mean...maybe it was because she had refused to even think about it, because quite frankly, he wasn't able to think of anything else.
Sighing heavily, Shinji started plodding along the right hand side of the wall, examining the tanks as he went, but always making sure that he kept Asuka in his peripheral vision.
They were distant from each other for a while after this, both a little embarrassed at how they had acted.
After the room with the brightly colored fish and the dancing blue lights, the next room couldn't have been more different. When they each walked into the next room, it was first apparent that they weren't walking on the blue carpeting from the previous room, but some sort of reinforced glass. Underneath them, were two baby dolphins that were probably about a fourth the size of an Evangelion's arm. Shinji had to wonder though...how enjoyable it was to have thousands of people starring at you every day while you swam around in something little more than a prison.
Even though both him and Asuka didn't speak to each other about this, they both glanced at each other as the confirming what they each thought. What exactly was the entertainment value in this? It was downright cruel is what they thought.
They didn't stay very long in the dolphin room, and briefly passed through the next room which housed a single great white shark. They didn't like the idea of thousands of razor sharp teeth mere feet away from them.
The next room...well wasn't really a room. After the great white shark exhibit, the tour continued through to the next exhibit which happened to be outside. The sun was still high in the sky, but after being in the dark with no light but that eerie blue glow, ninety-six degrees felt pleasant.
The outside exhibit was much larger as you would expect. As you left the shark exhibit, you would step into the sun, while the carpet had all but disappeared, being replaced with white concrete, porous with many holes. Following the concrete path, you'd walk around in a half circle while a black railing on the right hand side would prevent you from falling over the side and into the freezing water. In the middle of this pool of water was a large structure, designed to look as though it was a large block of ice, though it was the same concrete that you'd been walking on. Situated around this structure, and shooting in and out of the water were of course penguins.
As Shinji walked up to the railing his first impression was one of surprise. He knew about Pen-Pen of course, but he didn't think that he'd see other penguins.
As Shinji continued watching, a penguin shot out of the water in front of him and did something like a somersault in front of him. Shinji couldn't help smiling as he thought about Pen-Pen's reaction to this.
Glancing to his left, he saw that a wall of people, some of them couples, separated himself from Asuka. A frown passed over his face as he wondered how much longer this silence was going to continue between them. He wanted to talk to her of course, and he had to assume that she felt the same, but it was almost like he couldn't muster the nerve. Its like a boy that has a crush on a girl and stumbles over his words every time he tries to talk to her. Was that how it was?
Shinji didn't really think so. He'd like to think that his and Asuka's relationship wasn't a simple crush, as childish as the thought of it seemed to him. But he still liked her, couldn't get the image of her face out of his head for that matter. And then there was of course what he had done earlier.
What had he thought when he had kissed her forehead? ...Nothing really, it had just seemed so normal, almost right in some way. Then did he have feelings for her...or had he had feelings for her long before this, and they were only now starting to surface? A nagging suspicion in the back of Shinji's own head told him this last part was true. But then should anything change? But he didn't want anything to change. Things were perfectly fine the way they were.
'Are they really?' he thought. 'How much longer are you both going to keep deluding yourselves? Until what you had is long lost, and you start to regret the decisions you made? Enjoy the time you have together, for it may be just like the sun overhead...a fleeting moment in the wide expanse of the sky...'
This last part sounded a lot like something Rebecca would have said, as though she was standing right next to him and telling him this. But she wasn't, and as much as he admired her, he couldn't turn to her for this.
Almost at this very thought, the sun finally clouded over, as though foreboding times to come...
Though it never did rain, it became overcast quickly, and soon it felt that all the happiness was sucked out of the world in the instance that the sun left.
After leaving the penguin exhibit, there was a short break that people could take at some picnic bench's where you could eat food that you had brought, or order food at the nearby shop. Having eaten just under an hour ago, Shinji and Asuka saw no reason to even consider sitting down, but through there glances towards each other, they knew that they had something to resolve.
Choosing a spot aways away from everyone else, they plopped down on a picnic bench and sat across from each other, while cherry blossoms fell around them from a nearby tree. If not for the topic of discussion, it would have been fairly romantic.
Asuka started first, wordlessly putting her chin in the palm of her hand and resting her arm on the bench as though saying, 'Well? What do you want to say?'
Shinji who had been looking at a point just over her shoulder hesitated momentarily, but seemed to hold himself together as he said, "I don't want things to be like this...this silence; its too painful."
Asuka let out a low, 'Hmph,' in response, though Shinji was at least glad she had listened.
Continuing, he said, "Look, I'm sorry for what I did earlier...it was stupid and childish."
"Idiot," Asuka harshly said back.
Shinji winced at this but didn't retort back, she was technically right.
After waiting a few seconds Shinji said, "...I don't want to lose what we have Asuka..."
It was this last part that made Asuka finally look at him, and when she did she felt that she had suddenly swallowed ten butterflies and they were now fluttering around in her stomach. Shinji was sincere, truly sincere about how he felt and that he didn't want to lose the bond that they had developed. Well that was exactly how Asuka felt as well. But even so...just the look on Shinji's face of remorse made Asuka want to throw herself at him and tell him she forgave him. Unfortunately being out in public as they were, her normal abrasive behavior kicked in and she instead said-
"Fine, I'll forgive you."
Shinji's face relaxed immensely and he was about to saying something else when Asuka cut in.
"But...you're gonna have to make up for it by buying me something at the gift shop."
"No problem," said Shinji hurriedly. Honestly, he didn't care if Asuka wanted him to buy the whole store, anything to just gain back her trust.
"So whats next then?" asked Asuka in a friendly tone, as though there past argument had all been a hallucination.
"Umm...after the penguin exhibit I think there's a polar bear one...and then some fish from other parts of the world. I think theres some video at the end also, where it talks about Second Impact and how its affected each animal at the aquarium."
"We can skip that. It'll be the same bull shit that governments have been feeding the general public anyway."
"...I suppose."
Asuka was somewhat surprise at the reluctance in his voice and asked, "Why, did you want to watch it?"
"Not really...but." The thought of sitting with you in a dark room isn't so bad, though he'd never come right out and say that.
"Well if you don't have a reason then theres no point to watch it," said Asuka as she stood up.
"Right," replied Shinji distractedly.
Standing up also, he looked across at her for a moment, before Asuka turned away from him with a slight smile on her face, and started walking back towards the path they had left.
As Shinji watched her leave, his head was suddenly assaulted by a brief vision of her walking into a blinding white light with her back turned towards him, but he brushed it off. It wasn't like one of his normal visions anyway, just something his mind thought of on the spur of the moment, and he realized at that moment how much she really meant to him.
'We'll stay together,' he thought. 'We'll stay together until the world ends...and even after.'
Shinji hurried after her then, without a second thought to what he had thought momentarily ago, not knowing how right his thought was.
Above them, the sun came out from behind the clouds, but the clouds lingered thereafter.
The exhibit for the polar bears was much like the one that housed the penguins, though much larger, and a viewing room was placed under the water for when the polar bears dove in. Unfortunately for Shinji and Asuka, the polar bears weren't nearly as active as the penguins, and slept soundly on the hard concrete structure in the middle of the water. Shinji supposed even concrete felt fine for sleeping on...if you had a mane of fur as a pillow.
The next was the same as the first, though without the brightly colored fish. They were largely a dull grey color with a few light shades of pink mixed in, though Shinji thought he saw one with a pointed nose.
As they left this last room, they both briefly glanced at the door leading into the makeshift theatre where the video was presented.
"Wanna take a guess at how many Americans are in there?" asked Asuka.
"After all this walking...I'd guess that theres fifty Americans, six Europeans, and a lone Chinese man."
Asuka had to stifle her laughter as a family with two kids went by them, glancing at Shinji and Asuka as they passed.
"So then...gift shop?" asked Shinji after the family went by.
Looking towards him, Asuka nodded and said, "Yeah, because you're gonna buy me something, and it better not be a cheap keychain or some shit."
"I'll keep it in mind," thought Shinji, who had briefly thought of that very thing.
Turning towards there left instead of the right, which was where the theatre was, they followed a hallway with many signs and pictures of marine wildlife taken apparently by well known photographers. As they reached the exit sign, Shinji thought he heard Asuka mutter a barely audible, "Finally." He understood what she meant and couldn't really blame her, it certainly hadn't been the best time they'd ever had.
As they entered the gift shop it was clear just how right Shinji's assumption that most people had stopped at the theatre first and he was glad he had listened to Asuka. Just them two and another teenage couple were standing inside the small gift shop. Shinji couldn't imagine what it would have been like with fifty plus people in there.
Turning to Asuka, he asked, "Do you want to choose something, or should I?"
Asuka tried to act as though this was a difficult decision, even though she had long ago decided.
"You decide...surprise me, and make it good. I don't want something cheap as compensation."
"Look around a bit, and then wait outside...I'll be out shortly."
Asuka raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You sound as though he already have something in mind..."
"Not really," said Shinji lamely, making it all to obvious that he did. In fact, the moment they entered the shop, his eyes had been drawn to a specific thing.
"Okay then," said Asuka slowly. Next second she looked wildly around, looking at all the things Shinji might have decided to get her.
After looking over a necklace that was set with bright blue stones that supposedly reflected the suns rays, she gave up and went outside to wait patiently.
After making sure that she really had left, Shinji walked over to the counter where the cashier stood and asked, "How much for those?" He said this while pointing at two exact objects that were sitting on a cushion inside a glass case behind the counter.
"Ah one of our more popular items with young couples. Imported all the way from France, woo your beloved with these lovely golden-"
"Can I just know the price?" repeated Shinji.
"-and lets not forget about the blue eyes, embedded with a precious stone found only off the coasts of Hawaii-"
"The price," Shinji said, putting a little more force than he had intended in his voice.
"Ah yes the price," said the cashier who seemed to not have noticed Shinji the first few times. "This can be yours for a very reasonable price of twenty US dollars."
"I'm Japanese in case you didn't realize," said Shinji, becoming increasingly annoyed.
"Of course you are...now are you buying or-"
"Yes I'm buying." Shinji refrained from adding on, 'damn it,' at the end of his sentence.
"Splendid! Now, is this for a special someone of yours, because if it is I can wrap it up nice and neat for a healthy price of-"
'Did this guy live in England for a few years?' wondered Shinji.
"Yes, wrap it up and...whatever," said Shinji, cutting across the mans rant.
"Al-righty then I'll have it all wrapped up in a minute and you can be on your-"
"Thank God," mumbled Shinji.
Asuka was disgusted by herself, or rather at the way she was feeling right now as she leaned against a tree just outside the gift shop exit. Unfortunately she couldn't see or hear Shinji from where she stood and wouldn't be surprised if even he couldn't have known what was going on in the shop if in her position.
Really why had she asked him to buy her a gift, it was a stupid decision on her part. Or did she just want something to remember the time spent with him today? She was acting as though this was a date for them, and even though she had said, 'Sure why not,' she hadn't actually meant it. She had just been humoring Shinji. Now though, it did feel like a real date to her.
How was she supposed to react when he came back with some gift? Should she act happy? Excited? Or should she be passive until she discovers what it was he bought her. Surely if wasn't that necklace she had looked at. She knew she said to not buy her some cheap junk, but she hoped Shinji hadn't bought her some eighty dollar necklace. She would feel bad about something like that.
As she thought this, she suddenly saw him walking towards her out of the blue.
'How the hell does he do that,' she wondered as she watched him draw closer.
"Took you long enough," she said as he got nearer, falling back on her usual behavior.
"Sorry, the cashier was rather talkative."
"Whatever...so, what did you get me?" she said trying to not act too excited.
In response, Shinji brought a hand that had been resting in his pocket out, and held out a small package in the palm of his hand. It was a case, simple enough, the kind you'd keep a ring in when not wearing it. However, it was still surprising enough for Asuka to have to stifle a gasp with her hand.
"I saw it when we first walked in and thought...well open first I guess."
Throwing off the facade she normally wore, Asuka took it wordlessly and glanced at it for a moment before saying to Shinji, "Look, if you spent to much on this go in and give it back. I didn't really mean when I told you I wanted something expensive. Anything will be find, so just-"
"Asuka..."
"What!" she snapped back without meaning to.
"Open it..."
"But-"
"Forget about the price and open it."
Asuka frowned at him and bit her lip silently.
"Oh fine. If you insist."
And so she opened it.
Her face didn't really change at all for the first few seconds, but slowly a look of surprised astonishment showed on her face.
"Shinji...this-"
"As I said...I saw it when we first went in, but wasn't sure if you'd be able to wear them or not."
"...No, I can," she whispered quietly.
Slowly reaching into the case, she drew out two golden earrings, both in the shape of dolphins with eyes that gleamed blue like the ocean. Holding both of them in the palm of her hand she blinked several times as she felt tears starting to well at the corners of her eyes.
"Shinji...I mean...its great but..."
"If you don't like it I can take them back and get them returned, and then-"
"No its not that...but it is, I mean...you shouldn't have gotten me this."
"Why not? You said that you can wear them so I'm guessing your ears are pierced."
"No, thats fine. I got those done a long time ago. Its just...do I really deserve something like this?"
"What?"
"I don't like it," she whispered. "I'm always mean to you and yet you put up with me all the time and here you just bought me...one of the best gifts I've ever gotten."
"Asuka..."
"I'm serious. Why should you do this for me?"
"Because I value our relationship."
Asuka opened her mouth and closed it wordlessly. Looking back at Shinji, her face gleaming in the sun from the tears no longer held back she said, "Thank you..."
Shinji opened his mouth to say, 'Your welcome,' when Asuka took several steps forward and practically fell into Shinji's chest. There height was never more profound as it was in this moment, and if Asuka didn't know any better, she would have guessed that Shinji had grown several more inches since last time they had been this intimate with each other. Her head came to just below his neck line so that if she were to look up, his lips would be a second away from hers. There bodies were perfectly alined as they stood like that, with her head resting against his chest, silent tears still streaming down her face while her hands she kept pressed against the soft fabric of the shirt he was wearing. Shinji on the other hand still stood surprised at her sudden forwardness. Slowly though, the situation seemed to dawn on him, and both hands rose from his side and wrapped around Asuka's back, pulling her closer to him. Asuka didn't even relent to this new closeness, and the hands that she had pressed against the cloth of his shirt, suddenly grabbed the shirt and entwined themselves in the cloth, as though finding comfort in the fact that all that separated her skin from his was a thin layer of cloth. Shinji then looked down at the girl who only knew how to express herself through her actions and buried his face in her hair, enjoying her unique smell as it filled his nostrils, and the feel of her silky hair as it passed over his lips. Asuka let out a small sigh into the fabric of his shirt as her eyes started drying, pressing herself further against Shinji trying to get the feeling of how happy she was across to him. All in all, they felt as though they were floating on cloud nine.
"You're welcome," Shinji finally managed to whisper, his face still buried in Asuka's hair. Asuka mumbled something inaudible as she shifted her head against Shinji's chest, finding a more comfortable spot to lean against.
Its probably a good thing that there was a hard concrete walkway next to them, because if given the chance, and a bed, they probably would have fallen down like that, there bodies still entwined. Be that as it may, something possibly better happened to interrupt them.
"Err Asuka...Shinji. What are you guys doing?"
Neither of them really recognized the voice at first, still too absorbed in the moment to give a damn about anything else when another voice spoke up.
"I told you something like this would happen." This last voice almost sounded as though it was holding back a laugh.
"You can't really blame them," said another, male this time. "They haven't had anytime by themselves recently.
It was this last voice which got both Shinji and Asuka to turn around, though it was oddly funny. Both of them simply turned there heads, still not letting go of the other and almost fell over at the sight of the three people who were standing there in shorts watching them.
"Well, I suppose I can't say I'm honestly surprised since I was expecting something like this," said Misato who had sun glasses on her head.
"But to think we'd meet them at a place like this," said Ritsuko this time, chuckling a little bit.
"Ah to be young again," replied Kaji. "Reminds me of our college days Misato."
Misato openly threw him a dirty look and turned back to the two teenagers, still gripping each other and not really registering what was happening.
"Well you're young and it happens to everyone so I suppose I can-"
Misato was cut short however when Asuka's hands that had seconds ago been holding onto Shinji's shirt in a way that suggested deep affection, suddenly jerked backwards and slammed into Shinji chest, knocking the wind out of him and sending him spiraling backwards.
"Wha-Wha-Wha-What are you doing you pervert?" she stammered nervously as the warmth between them disappeared in an instance. Asuka was completely unaware that she still held the earrings in her hand, nor that the corners of her eyes were starting to water again.
In response, Shinji glanced behind himself at the trio who had interrupted them and frowned, as though it was entirely there faults.
Meanwhile, Misato and the other two were starting to feign ignorance over Asuka's delayed reaction to being seen like that with Shinji.
"So, what are you doing here?" asked Shinji, clearly grumpy about present conditions. Behind him, Asuka looked as though she'd like nothing more than to sink into the ground.
"Some research on how marine animals have adapted to a harsher environment," replied Ritsuko.
"Sounds fascinating," said Shinji, sarcasm only too obvious.
"Were you two on a date?" Misato finally managed to blurt out, causing both Kaji and Ritsuko to look at her rather surprised. Shinji was about to shrug as though it was whatever she thought, when Asuka hurriedly spoke up.
"Absolutely not! No way! I just dragged him around as compensation for...for annoying me, about some things."
"Then whats that in your hand?" asked Misato suspiciously.
"What this?" Asuka responded, looking at the earrings, "Just some cheap souvenir that I made Shinji buy for me."
Shinji openly flinched at that, but only Asuka seemed to notice, whereas Misato didn't look as though she believed her in the slightest.
"A huh...well just don't stay out too late, and don't forget that you're returning to Nerv and not my apartment."
"Right," said Shinji, trying to keep the anger in his voice in check. Misato seemed to notice though and tried giving him a weak smile which turned into a grimace.
"See you two back at Nerv then..."
"Yeah see ya," responded Shinji.
As Misato and Ritsuko passed Shinji, Kaji paused for a moment, clapped him on the shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Trust when I say I know the feeling of being interrupted like this. Don't let it bother you too much though."
He didn't even bother responding, shrugging Kaji's hand off his shoulder and digging his hands deep into his pockets.
Kaji frowned at the adolescent in front of him, hoping that he wouldn't make the same mistake he did when he was a teenager, before he nodded his head slightly, and walked towards a door that Misato and Ritsuko had disappeared through marked with, 'authorized personal only,' plastered above the door frame.
After Kaji left, nothing remained but a frosty like atmosphere in which both Shinji and Asuka were absorbed in their own thoughts. Eventually though, Shinji started walking towards a sign that read exit and would take him out on the streets of Tokyo-3, his hands still deep in his pockets and his pointed towards the ground.
Seeing what he was doing, Asuka took several steps towards him when she paused and waited until he was a good distance ahead of her before she started walking. After the way she had reacted, she could understand if Shinji didn't want to talk with her, and respected his wishes...even if they were painful.
As Shinji stepped onto the streets of Tokyo-3, he looked both ways, trying to decide which way would most likely burn the rest of the day away. He felt empty right now, more empty than he had felt in a long time. It wasn't so much being interrupted that bothered him, but how reluctant Asuka had been to be seen with him like that by other people, and specifically, people she knew. Then there was what she had said about the earrings he had gotten her. He was angry when he didn't want to be, but he was, and it bothered him that he was angry at her. Right now he didn't want to talk, even though he could sense the fall of her foot steps behind him. He was afraid that he'd fly off the handle and hurt her...in an emotional way. He'd sooner cut his own arm off with his AT-field than cause her physical harm. Maybe later they could talk...but not right now.
As Shinji turned a corner, he glanced around, trying to pick out where he was located in Tokyo-3. He had been almost everywhere in the city in his relatively short time in Tokyo-3, and could recognize where he was almost immediately, but right now he just let his feet take him where ever they pleased.
And so it was that they returned to there first encounter.
Though relatively different from how it had been before, it was technically still the same as Shinji gazed out across the beach from where he had first seen Asuka those many months ago. The sun wouldn't set for another five hours at best, but Shinji felt as though waiting wouldn't be such a bad idea.
Following along the edge of the hill, he reached the cement staircase and started climbing down to the sandy beach below. Small pieces of driftwood littered the beach along with smoothly shaped stones, but other than that little else was on the beach. Shinji was glad that people had refrained from littering on it. It was something of a special spot for him, both for the first time he saw Asuka, and also for the time they fought there first angel together.
Looking out towards the ocean, he watched as wave upon wave crashed towards the shore before slowly dissipating to almost nothing. In some ways, it reminded him of his own life.
Suddenly a strong sea breeze hit him, sending his hair whipping around his face as the smell of salt filled his nostrils. Above him, the sun was still burning a hole through the ozone layer, sending waves of heat onto the back of his neck, but the sea breeze felt nice and cool at least.
Having a sudden inclination to feel the soft crunch of sand under his toes, and the touch of the cold water as it hit his skin, he untied his shoes and pulled off his socks, throwing them in a heap. Rolling up his pant legs, he slowly walked out into the surf.
He felt oddly relaxed as he continued walking through the water, almost serene, as the water splashed around his pants, slowly soaking them and his shirt as the spray from the waves flew around him. Suddenly having an urge to completely soak his body, he turned around and let himself fall slowly backwards, just as a large wave came crashing into him, propelling him forward several feet. With his entire body soaked, his head broke the surface of the water and he let himself float there for a few seconds before he placed his feet down on firm ground.
With his body now facing the other way, he could see a figure standing exactly where he stood those many months ago. Her fiery hair flew behind her as the sea breeze splashed over her face, making her already over saturated eyes produce more tears. Unfortunately, she wasn't wearing the sun dress that he had first seen her in, but even so...
She stood there for a few minutes, as though unsure whether Shinji was ready to talk yet. But as Shinji continued to gaze at her, she took that as an unspoken that, 'Yes...it was fine...'
Turning towards the cement stairway, she jumped the stairs two at a time before landing with a thud on the soft sand and started running towards him, but slowed as she neared him before stopping all together at the edge of the water.
Shinji meanwhile sat in the water several feet away from her, ignoring his water logged pants and the feel of the water as it splashed against his back. Smiling slightly at the expression that now showed on her face as though she wasn't really keen to get wet, he threw her a look that said, 'C'mon, its not that cold really.'
Asuka frowned at his expression but eventually knelt down and slipped the sandals off her feet that she had been wearing and kicked them next to Shinji's discarded shoes. Rolling up her own pant legs, she started wading out to where Shinji waited for her.
As she slowly got closer, Shinji finally broke the long silence, "Took you long enough."
Asuka was silent as she couldn't walking towards him, being careful to avoid any small rocks or shellfish.
"What happened? Why'd you wait so long to come down here?"
"I didn't want to intrude," mumbled Asuka in a very sincere, and un-Asuka like way as she neared him.
Shinji frowned at this depressing response and with a sudden thought, leaned forward and grabbed Asuka's arm, pulling her towards him.
"Shinji what are yo-WAAHH!"
Shinji accidentally pulled a little too hard, sending her cascading into him, pushing him backwards in the process so that she fell on top of him. Shinji's head hit the soft sand and soon he felt it cake on the back of his head. Well he'd just take a shower later.
Water flowed around his hair, turning it wavy while Asuka's pants unrolled themselves and got soaked everywhere below the knee.
"Shinji you idiot," said Asuka, as she pushed herself off of him. "Why'd you go and do something like that?"
"Because you didn't seem to want to get wet."
"Of course not! We do still have to walk back to Nerv and-"
"We can let them dry out in the sun."
"I don't want to walk around Tokyo-3 looking as though I jumped into a swimming pool fully clothe-"
At that moment, Shinji chose to sending his right hand soaring upward through the water, splashing water across the left side of Asuka's face, cutting her off instantly.
As the water slowly dripped from Asuka's wet bangs, Shinji could see a vein pulsating in her temple and knew that he was in for it.
"Moron," seethed Asuka as she pushed Shinji down into the water, creating an imprint of his body in the wet sand. Shinji retaliated by splashing water across the rest of her pants with both his hands, creating an anchor of some kind to weigh her down. Not much is left to be said besides the fact that for the next ten minutes they engaged in a very heated water fight.
As the splashing of water died down though, and both became visibly exhausted, they let themselves fall down to earth and lay in the surf for several minutes before Asuka finally spoke up.
"I'm really sorry for earlier," she whispered.
Shinji had been waiting for this sometime or another and simply said, "You were surprised is all, I expected that."
"No, it was rude for me to call you a pervert after what we...well shared together. And what I said about the earrings, I'm sor-"
"You're starting to sound like me you know."
Asuka rolled over on her side so she could see him better and said fervently, "I'm serious. I don't like acting all abrasive when I'm around you, I wish I could just be myself."
"But you are being yourself Asuka...moodiness and all."
Silence greeted his words and Shinji was momentarily waiting for a backlash when Asuka smoothed it over by saying, "I suppose you're right."
Shinji nodded silently up at the sky in response.
"But it was embarrassing to meet Misato, Ritsuko, and Kaji there."
"Really? I think I might have been more angry at them then you actually."
"For what?"
Shinji shrugged. "Interrupting I suppose."
Asuka raised an eyebrow and said, "Why? Did you expect anything else to happen?"
"Well..."
"Forget it," replied Asuka, wishing she hadn't asked. After a moments pause, she add, "Though I did have fun overall...it has been a while since we could relax."
"...So it was a successful date then?" asked Shinji hesitantly.
Asuka paused for a moment before she said, "Yeah...you could say that I suppose."
They continued laying like that in the water for several minutes, there previous discussion forgotten.
"Hey Asuka?" asked Shinji suddenly.
"Hmmm, what?" she replied with her eyes closed.
"I never told you that I had met you before we actually saw each other at school did I..."
Asuka repositioned herself so fast that Shinji felt the water ripples from her movement hit his arm. She was now sitting up with her mouth slightly open and a surprised look on her face. Shinji noticed then that part of the Nerv shirt she was wearing was pulled down over one shoulder, while large splotches of the shirt were virtually see through. Not to mention the A10 nerve clips she normally wore were lost sometime during the water fight and her hair now hung in two large bunches over each shoulder.
"What did you say?" she asked completely stunned.
"Well...we didn't really meet, but I saw you, though you didn't see me."
"When? Where?"
"Err...right here actually."
It took Shinji's words a few seconds to register before a puzzled expression passed over her face.
"What are you talking about?"
"It was...the day before I met Misato and you were here looking out across the sea. The sun was setting and I remember you were wearing that summer dress of yours."
Asuka paused as she tried to remember what he was talking about.
"I think I remember something like that...but what were you doing out?"
"Walking and thinking. I always did a lot of that then."
"And you saw me? And I was looking out across the ocean?"
"Yeah...and I remember thinking that I should have talked to you then, but I was supposed to be leaving the next day. But of course I met Misato and I remembered you and how I should have talked to you. Then of course you show up at school and...well the rest is obvious."
Asuka continued looking at him for several seconds before she said, "Why didn't you ever tell me that before?"
"Didn't remember it until just now...everything else just sorta eclipsed it."
Asuka continued to look back at him utterly dumbfounded by the fact that she could have met him before the Evangelions and everything else.
"Actually I've always wanted to know what you were thinking that time when you were looking at the ocean," said Shinji, pulling Asuka way from her train of thought.
"Thats," she started, but didn't really want to finish.
"What?" he asked after she didn't respond after a few seconds.
"Its stupid..."
"I doubt that."
"No, it really is."
"I don't care, and its not like I'd laugh or anything."
"If you do I'll kill you."
'How many times have I heard that,' thought Shinji.
"Yes, I know...now tell me."
"Fine...I was talking to my mother."
It was Shinji's turn to look surprised and he had to do a double take at that. Looking at her, he could see that a steady tinge of pink was starting to creep into her cheeks.
"Go on...laugh."
"I'm not...but Asuka isn't your mother...dea-"
"Yes, she's dead. I know she's dead. But I don't know...maybe it was because I'd finally moved to Tokyo-3 after all the training to become an Eva pilot...I just felt like talking...and I just sorta thought of her then. I never knew her very well...being too young to remember much but I sorta conjured up a mental image of what she looked like. I think a part of me just wanted to be praised for what I had accomplished."
Silence ensued between them at Asuka's finally words, and Shinji wasn't really sure how he should respond. In truth, Shinji had never thought of speaking to his mother...well he supposed he had inside Unit 01, but in the sense Asuka was talking about. Maybe it was because he'd never had anything substantial that he could talk about, before he met Asuka, Misato, and started piloting Unit 01.
"You must think I was acting childish," mumbled Asuka, interrupting Shinji's thought.
Turning towards her, his hair dripping wet from the surf he said, "No, I don't. If I had something to talk about with my mother I'd probably do the same. And don't call it childish...its perfectly reasonably to want to talk to your mother, and besides," here Shinji looked up into the blue sky and said, "we're still children after all...so its okay to want the love of a parent."
Asuka scoffed lightly at his comment, but understood what he meant. They were still kids and had a kids outlook on life, even if they were forced to shoulder an adults responsibility at a young age.
"Thanks," Asuka whispered.
"...For what?" he replied.
Asuka laughed lightly and said, "For everything I suppose...I'm glad that I met you."
Asuka smiled here and it was like the sun suddenly came down from the sky and greeted Shinji's face. He had to openly turn away from her.
Looking up in the sky he briefly reflected on everything that had happened to him. Did he consider himself happy? Well, he supposed that this was the happiest he had ever been in his life, even with the prospect of fighting another angel soon. But he supposed that he had to be thankful for piloting Unit 01, because in someway, it had changed him as a person, and he felt that this person was different that his old self.
"We should probably head back to Nerv," he said suddenly, still looking at the sky.
"What happened to laying out in the sun waiting for our clothes to dry?" asked Asuka.
"Do you want to stay out here and steadily get colder? Or would you prefer to hurry back to Nerv and take a shower?"
Briefly looking at herself, Asuka understood what he meant. In simple terms, she looked worse than when she usually woke up.
"I guess you're right...even though you were the one that suggested staying out in the first place."
Placing his hands behind himself, Shinji pushed himself up in a sitting position and then reached a hand out to Asuka.
"C'mon, lets go before we start shivering."
Asuka looked at him blankly for a view seconds with his hand outstretched towards her, before she said very quietly, "One last thing Shinji..."
Shinji was rather taken aback at this and drew his hand back to his side.
"Whats up Asu-" but thats as far as he got before she reached out with her right hand and pushed roughly against his chest, sending him back into the water.
Shinji at first thought this was retaliation for earlier when he had splashed water across her face during there water fight, when he noticed the sun being blocked out through his half closed eyes. As he opened his eyes, he saw that Asuka was kneeling beside him on his left, biting down on her salty lips.
Shinji blinked several times, under the impression that this was some strange illusion that his adolescent mind had conjured up in the span of four-seconds, when he noticed a weight pressed against his chest. Realizing this wasn't an illusion, he looked up into Asuka's face, which had drawn exceedingly close to his own, while both of her hands were resting on his soaked shirt.
"Asu...ka...what are you-"
"Returning a favor," she said through half closed lips.
'Oh God,' was all Shinji was able to think as Asuka drew closer.
Like a tire rupturing on a freeway, Shinji's brain all but imploded on itself as Asuka's lips came into contact with his skin. His body, already starting to shiver from the lukewarm water, suddenly heated up and boiled over to the point where people would think he had a fever. Shinji suddenly felt small droplets of water hit his face and momentarily thought that Asuka was crying, when he looked up and saw that water from the surf still on her face was steadily dripping from her chin and falling around the corners of his lips. Moving his lips slightly, the droplets which had built at the corner of his lips fell between them, spilling across the inside of his mouth. Salty...but pleasant nonetheless. Her hair, drenched with there past water fight and laying in the surf, hung limply around his face, creating a sort of curtain, shielding them in case other people saw them. He could smell the salt of the ocean mixed in with the normal flowery smell that seemed to radiated off her hair. It was enough to make his head spin. Her lips...well those were currently pressed against his forehead, as his had down earlier that the morning. He felt the softness of them against his forehead, there own moistness mixed in with the ocean water, the feel as she parted them slightly as he himself had done. What he wouldn't give to let this last a little longer...
And then it was gone.
Asuka lips along with her hands, left his body all at once, creating the impression that they had never been there. Still kneeling next to him, she wasn't really looking at him, more like a point directly past his shoulder. She thought she had surprised him, and that was part of it, but she wanted to see his response to what she had just done. Honestly, she couldn't believe what she had done herself...and yet it had felt oddly pleasant.
Shinji continued laying there, his face completely passive as though nothing had happened. Suddenly though, he moved so fast that Asuka blinked and he was sitting up, a hand pressed against the spot where she had kissed him.
A moment of awkward silence passed between them before Shinji asked, "How come you did that?" It wasn't accusatory, just curious.
As Shinji watched out of the corner of his eyes, he was rather surprised that Asuka wasn't blushing. It was almost as though there places had switched since earlier. She had simply done it because she felt like, and she didn't feel embarrassed about it in the least.
"Not sure," she finally said. "Part of it was payback for earlier I suppose. Another part of me...just felt like it though."
Shinji nodded his head briefly at that, understanding what she was getting at. He had virtually felt the same thing when he had kissed her forehead earlier. As she had said, he had just felt like it...
"We should probably get going," said Shinji again, thinking of steering the conversation away from something they weren't quite sure of yet. They had taken a few steps...but things could wait.
Shinji made to stand up, but Asuka grabbed his hand and said, "Hold on...one last thing."
"Can't it wait till later...or were you planning to ki-"
"As if," she said getting annoyed, "I just wanted to ask you something that I thought would be...well, something that would be appropriate for right now."
Shinji looked at her evenly and even though he didn't know what she was gonna ask, he kinda understood what she meant. They both realized things then, things that didn't need to be spoken about where they were going, and what they would be doing in the near future.
"So...whats up?"
In response, Asuka steadily applied more force on Shinji's hand and he took that to mean she wanted him to sit next to her. Sitting down next to her again, he felt water trickling around his feet but ignored it and turned to her wordlessly. Looking back at him, Asuka hesitantly for a second before she took a deep breath and said...
"Have you ever kissed somebody?"
Asuka caught Shinji so off guard that he almost fell over.
"What! What do you mean have I ever kissed somebody...when I've-"
"Not like that," Asuka said hurriedly, shaking her head, making her hair even more unruly then it already was.
"I mean actually kissed somebody."
Shinji opened his mouth when he was still confused, but suddenly understood what she was getting at and let it hang open.
"Oh...that," he said after finally closing his mouth with a snap. Swallowing loudly he finished, "No I haven't..."
"I see," said Asuka as though finally coming to some conclusion.
"You?"
"Nope...never really thought about it much..."
"And exactly why did you want to know that?" asked Shinji a little smugly.
Asuka blinked openly for a second before she grimaced and said, "Not telling you anything."
'Figures,' thought Shinji.
"So whats next," he asked, poking fun at her sudden inclination to get all affectionate, "Wanna know what my-"
Asuka elbowed him none to gently in the side and said, "Say anything else and I'll hit you idiot."
Shinji smiled at that. Things had somewhat shifted to what they were normally used to. Though what they felt for each other still lingered.
"Fine then," said Asuka standing up and trying to ignore how water logged she felt. "Lets get back to Nerv...you're were right, I do need a shower."
"Should we take the tram or call a cab?"
"How far is the tram?"
"A few blocks that way," said Shinji pointing to his right.
Asuka thought for a moment before she said, "On second thought, lets walk. It'll dry us out some and I don't really want to be gawked at by other people right now."
Shinji understood what she meant and briefly looked at her chest where a white bra could be seen underneath the faded shirt.
"C'mon on then lets go," Shinji said for what he hoped was the last time.
Not having anything else to add, Asuka nodded wordlessly at Shinji and together they walked away from there first encounter.
"I don't even want to know what you two were doing or where you went...but for Gods sake refrain from embarrassing Nerv already," said Misato harshly.
Her, Shinji, and Asuka were standing inside her office. As it turned out, Shinji and Asuka had ended up taking the tram when they realized how long it would take to return to Nerv with their water logged clothes. In the end, many people had gotten an eyeful of Asuka's semi nakedness and Shinji had threatened to bight off a few many teenagers heads in response. Asuka however was oddly touched by Shinji's protectiveness over her, even if it did annoy her at the same time.
Misato faced planted on her desk after her rebuke over their behavior.
Shinji, unable to hold back the subject any longer finally said, "If you must know we went swimming."
"Swimming?" asked Misato as she raised her head off a stack of papers that were resting on her desk.
"Yeah, down on the beach."
"And you didn't think to take your clothes off first?"
Shinji raised an eyebrow at Misato and glanced briefly at Asuka who was determinedly not looking at either of them. Realizing the problems that would have been involved with her suggestion, Misato mumbled, "Oh right...didn't think about that."
"Its fine," said Asuka, surprising both Shinji and Misato. "Are we done, because I do need to take a shower?
Leaning back in her chair, Misato sighed and said, "Yes alright, go take a shower. Shinji?"
"...Yeah I need one also."
"Fine, Asuka you know where they are right?"
"Yeah, I'll show him."
"Great, because I've got a lot of stuff to finish before tomorrow. And Asuka."
"Hmmm?"
"There is a synchronization test scheduled for you tomorrow...I know its rather sudden but-"
"I'll be fine," said Asuka without any hitch in her voice.
Misato looked at her for a view more seconds, looking for any sort of fear or resentment in her voice. Not noticing any such thing she said, "Okay get going...the smell is starting to get to me."
Shinji and Asuka nodded and left silently together through Misato's office door.
Out in the hallway, they walked silently together for a while until they reached the fork where there respective showering areas were.
"Its through that door," said Asuka pointing towards the mens showers, obviously weary of the days events and looking forward to crawling into bed. As she turned towards the woman's bathroom however, Shinji grabbed ahold of her hand and asked quietly, "About what Misato said back there...are you really okay with the synchronization tests, because if not I can go back and-"
"No...I'll be fine," Asuka whispered.
Shinji hesitated, not sure how far he wanted to go with this. Asuka however sensed his uneasiness and said, "I'm fine...really. Today made me...think about a lot of things that I had never wanted to think of, or acknowledge for that matter."
"So then you're okay with this?"
"Its fine," she repeated.
"If you...need anything...you know I'm here."
Asuka turned towards Shinji and said, "You just being here is why I'm still able to continue."
Without another word, she pulled her hand away from Shinji's grasp and walked into her own shower rooms.
Shinji stood there in the corridor for a few minutes before he himself walked into the mens shower room.
Pulling off the his wet clothes, he tossed them in a heap next to the shower, and walked in. Turning on the water, he let out a low sigh and relished the feel as the hot water fell around his body.
Unsure how long he stayed in there, when he eventually got out his fingers and toes were completely pruned. Wrapping a towel around his waist, he walked up the mirror and examined himself briefly. His own reflection blinked blankly back at him.
'Whats changed?' he thought.
In response, a brief flash of scarlet flickered in his eyes, unnerving him slightly but still reminding him that he had angel blood flowing through his veins, and no matter how much he wished it, his future was different than Asuka's...
Whiteness filled this world, with nothing but the sky and the white sand. Yet a different type of whiteness filled this world, a whiteness that would have been consider nothing but a large mass of energy. Currently, three masses of this white energy were gathered around the only object on the planet that casted a shadow. A large tree, devoid of any fruit stood in the middle of the infinite mass of sand, on what would have been considered the equator of the planet. The tree was a light grayish color, with many branches that forked off in many directions. This tree, according to the knowledge of the white masses, had been here for as far back as they could remember. But nothing had been born from the branches of the tree for many years. Hopefully that was about to change soon though.
All three white masses sat on the branches of the tree, and to normal people, they would have considered the tree to be extremely brittle, and the branches to snap easily. The white masses seemed to not care about this though, or knew that no amount of weighed could ever cripple this tree.
The white masses each had there own place on the tree, each governed a branch, and the one above them governed another branch until the last branches at the top opened up to the wide sky above them. However these last two branches were devoid of anything, for those white masses had long ago usurped there place here and chosen to remain on Earth until a human worthy enough to rebuild the tree could be found.
The white mass at the top of the branches governed to him was looking up at the sky, as though pondering about the future of things to come. Below him, his brother and sister were talking about things to come. Unfortunately for him though, he saw the end of there lives, yet was expressly forbidden from deterring them from the chosen path. He was the last part of the objective, the last obstacle for the human chosen to overcome, the last thorn in the side for all of humanity for that matter.
As he continued looking up at the sky, he placed a formless hand over the branch and thought, 'Soon the Tree of Life shall be restored and all of humanity will revert to the substance from which they were born from.'
As almost a parting thought, Tabris said out loud, "Ikari Shinji...I wish to meet you again..."
Final thing I wanted to add...you could probably just call this chapter Small Steps Part2, but I hate it when authors do that as if they aren't creative enough to think of a different chapter name. Just a pet peeve of mine I guess