Asuka Langley Soryu sat alone in her room, letting the evening sun light up the space. A half-eaten bowl of ramen sat on the desk, next to which sat the neural clips she normally wore. There were a lot of things that she normally did that she didn't anymore: for instance, there was a certain idiot boy that she would torment, but she didn't-couldn't- do that. The idiot was gone, sucked into his Eva. At least, that's what Doctor Akagi and Misato told Asuka. The German redhead found tears forming in her eyes and she allowed herself to cry. Not for the first time since Shinji Ikari had been absorbed, and she hated herself for showing such weakness. She'd promised herself she'd never cry again and she broke that promise as soon as that stupid boy disappeared. She hated herself for that but she also couldn't believe that her relationship with Shinji would advance so quickly.
Asuka laid down next to Shinji, in a half-brained attempt to force him to make a move. To her surprise, she fell asleep far too quickly. When she woke up, she felt arms around her and looked down to see the boy's arms holding her lower back, Shinji's face close to her own. He looked peaceful and a flitting thought to kiss him passed through her. She blushed at that, before gently removing his arms and going into the bathroom. When he woke up, she was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee. She hated coffee, but she needed to be fully awake for the ensuing conversation. He walked over to start making breakfast, as if nothing had happened. She huffed, catching his attention.
"Did you do anything?" She glared at him and watched as he shrunk away from her.
"N-no," Shinji replied shakily.
She narrowed her eyes, "Good. Now, why did you hug me? And why did you try to kiss me?" She threw that last part at him, trying to gauge his reaction to the prospect of kissing her.
He blushed heavily and looked toward the ground. "I-I stopped before doing it…" Asuka's look stopped him- she was staring at him.
"…w-what?" That was all she could muster saying. Her face matched his by this point.
"I-I-I…" he swallowed hard. "You were crying." Shinji looked away from her and Asuka simply stared at him, trying to decide whether to hit him or run to her room.
"So you were going to take advantage of that and the fact that I was asleep to make a move on me?" Asuka recovered quickly and started getting agitated.
"No! You crying is what stopped me. I realized that you needed a friend, not a lustful roommate."
Shinji's answer and resolve took the redhead aback. Maybe I misjudged him. "Well, I'm glad you came to that decision before I had to kill you." She resumed eating and watched his expression pale, smiling to herself.
"Glad I could save myself, I guess." Shinji mumbled, just loud enough for Asuka to hear him. She started laughing. "What?"
"I'm glad you have a sense of self-preservation, Third," she snickered.
"Of course I have a sense self-preservation, I pilot an Eva." Asuka laughed harder. "What?" Shinji looked really confused.
"I'm just teasing you, Idiot, and you answered so seriously. 'Of course, I pilot an Eva.'" Asuka did her best Shinji impression, something that drained his frustration and confusion. Soon, the pair were laughing together.
The two finished eating their breakfast in a companionable silence, something Asuka was happy about. Shinji dealt with the dishes while Asuka found herself watching him. Stop it. He's an idiot, you need to focus on piloting.
Shinji turned around and caught Asuka's gaze. He smiled at her and she felt her heart sputter while she smiled back.
Gott, what am I doing? You need to get ready for school.
Where you can walk alone with-
NOPE. Shut up, self!
Asuka shook herself slightly and got up to finish getting ready for school.
"Okay, Third, let's go. Did you get the lunches?"
Shinji nodded and smiled. Damn that smile. Asuka couldn't help but smile back. "Let's go, Asuka." He handed the redhead her bento and Asuka took it, grazing her hand across Shinji's. The two froze for a second before they both jerked their hands away, blushing.
"Aww! You two are soooo cute~!" Misato's voice rang out as a camera shutter could be heard. "Look at that! A perfect picture." She waved the photo around for the two teens to see.
"M-Misato!" "MISATO!"
"Aw, you even yell in unison. That training must have gone really well." Shinji and Asuka looked at each other before deciding that arguing with Misato wasn't worth it.
"We have to go to school, we'll see you afterwards."
"Alright you two lovebirds," Asuka threw Misato the angriest glare she could, "I'll see you at NERV. Be careful and have fun!" The woman winked at the teens as they left the apartment.
"Stupid Misato and her stupid camera and her stupid timing." Asuka grumbled. She could see Shinji glancing at her often, so she acted like she didn't notice. And the best way to do that was to be angry. Fortunately for her, Misato gave her the perfect excuse.
After walking for a few minutes, the German grew frustrated with her companion's lack of initiating conversation. She huffed, catching his attention, albeit with a slight panicked look on his face.
"Are you going stare at me the whole time or are we going to talk?" She noticed Shinji retract and moved to amend her statement. "Nnnot that…" Oh Gott, what am I doing? "III… mind you… watching…" She trailed off and found that the ground was very interesting all of a sudden. She also became keenly aware of just how hot it was.
Asuka could hear the boy fidget a little, obviously nervous. "Well, it's just… um. I-I… was thinking. I thought we had a nice moment before Misato… uh… interrupted. I was trying to gauge your reaction, but you were just mad at Misato," he chuckled nervously, trying to ease the tension that had suddenly appeared.
Asuka looked at Shinji, surprised. "You think that was a nice moment?"
"Yeah, it was nice." Shinji looked toward his feet and found a rock to kick. "We didn't have to worry about our pasts or saving the world or anything like that. It was nice to be… normal." He smiled over at Asuka.
Gott damn that smile! Ach, du bist so frustrierend! "I guess it was nice. You know, a walk to school is a nice normal moment, too." Asuka prayed the boy caught her meaning, she didn't want to have to do everything.
Apparently he did, even more so than she hoped. Shinji, the boy who was so shy and dumb sometimes, made a bold move and grabbed her hand. Asuka looked shocked at the movement and quickly intertwined her fingers with Shinji's.
"Das ist die beste idee, die du je hattest."
"What?"
"Shh. Don't ruin the moment, idiot."
Asuka walked alone to school, sorely missing the comforting pressure she felt in her hand. She walked alone into the room, a minute before the teacher.
"It's just not the same since the idiot went away." Asuka found herself admitting. She huffed and straightened up. "Now I have to eat whatever I can scrounge up, or die from Misato's cooking. I also never have anybody to talk to on the way here or to NERV. Well, there's Wondergirl but I repeat myself." She felt her eyes filling with tears, despite her trying to stop them.
Hikari didn't say anything for a while. She watched Asuka battle tears for a time; Asuka was losing slowly. She wiped her face, keeping her head down to try and cover up that she was crying.
"Asuka, it's okay to miss someone. Especially because of how close you two were." Asuka's head shot up at that and she glared at Hikari. "Oh, come on. You can hide a lot of things from other people, but you can't hide it from me. I know that you were together-"
"Are. We are together," Asuka's eyes had a fire that Hikari had never seen before. "He's not dead, just away. For an unspecified time." The tears returned and Asuka again looked down.
"Are together. So its perfectly acceptable to miss him. You aren't alone, though-"
"Yes I am. No one understands me, no one cares to even try. Except him. He's the only one who kept coming back, time after time and after all the hurt I caused him." The redheaded German was sobbing heavily.
"Asuka, you don't have to suffer alone. I'll help you through this."
"Why?"
Hikari seemed surprised by her friend's question. "What do you mean 'why'? I'm your friend and I care about you, that's why."
"That's just what he would have said." The redhead started to cry again.
"Asuka," Hikari's voice was stern but compassionate, "you can't compare everything to Shinji's actions. You'll just be stuck in a rut of reliving the past. You have to remember him but live in the present."
The crying slowly ceased. "You-you're right." Asuka took a deep breath, steeling herself. "I am Asuka Langley Sorhyu, I don't let my past control me."
"That's the spirit! Now, let's finish our lunches before we run out of time."
A/N: So, it's been a while. I got some writer's block for some of these stories. Go figure, right? I've also been working and attending school, so I have less time than I'd like sometimes. But, I decided to use the time I did have to write multiple stories at once. So, here are the results of that experiment. I think it went okay, but I'd love to hear what your thoughts reading this though.
Hope you enjoyed, leave a review have a great day,
Commander Sarco.