Chapter 33 - Happy Birthday!
Shinji stared moodily into his empty ice-cream bowl, his chin resting on folded arms on the table. The sugary treat had done a halfway decent job of improving his mood, even if he couldn't taste it, but there was still one underlying issue to contend with. An issue that was sitting directly across from him, polishing off her own ice-cream with every sign of enjoyment.
Soon, Asuka's spoon clattered into her bowl and she sighed with contentment. She then looked at Shinji, following his gaze to his own bowl. "Sorry Shinji, but it'll take more effort than that to develop psychic powers. If you want more you'll just have to get up and buy it."
His head bobbing slightly as he grunted, Shinji continued to stare at the bowl.
Asuka sighed again, this time for a different reason. After a quick glance around at the half-full parlour, she switched to German. "Don't think I've ever seen you this unhappy."
That got more of a response. Shinji looked up at her for a second, then his eyes nervously darted to the side. Finally, he sat up straight and exhaled, wishing all his problems could be carried away on that breath. "Sorry Asuka," he said, also in German. "I'm just... waiting for you to decide how you're going to try and let me down easy."
"Let you... down? What?"
Shinji shook his head. Now might not be the best day to do this, but he was tired of the uncertainty. "I confessed to you when I thought we were going to die, because I didn't want to have any regrets like you. But all I managed to do was make things weird between us." He waved a hand at her. "As soon as you found out, you ran away. Misato had to bring you back so you could make something up to try and smooth things over. Earlier this week she tried to tell me that it wasn't my fault, but-" He cut himself off, putting a hand over his mouth and looking away again.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shinji could see Asuka's stunned expression. Why was she surprised at him knowing the truth?
"Shinji," she began in a dangerous, low tone. "Do you really think so little of me? Do you really think I would string you along instead of giving you a straight answer if I was just going to turn you down?"
"What else could it be?" Shinji countered. All the stress of the previous week was starting to pour out of him. "Look, back in the briefing room you said we were still friends. Don't I deserve some up-front honesty?"
"Honesty?" Asuka brought her hands down onto the table and leaned forward. "You want some honesty? Here's some goddamn honesty, Third Child! The truth is that I'm-" she cut herself off, looking away for a moment and wrapping her arms around herself.
"I'm... scared."
Shinji could no more stop the disbelieving snort that erupted from him than he could stop Sahaquiel with his bare hands. This earned him the sort of look from Asuka that clearly said, 'pick your next words with great care, or face my unbridled wrath'. He took a steadying breath.
"Scared? Asuka, I've known you for most of my life," he carefully began, staring straight into the oncoming storm. "Even when we had the impossible task of practically catching a falling moon, you weren't afraid. Even when that giant spider was staring us down when we were on foot, you weren't afraid. What could possibly scare you?!"
"That's not-" Asuka cut herself off, her voice a bit too strident for the public setting. As it was, a few people glanced in their direction. She ran a hand down her face before continuing in a slightly calmer, but still frustrated tone. "That's not quite the same thing, Shinji. Besides, you might not have noticed but my knees were definitely shaking when we met the spider Angel."
"How is it not the same?" asked Shinji. "You're definitely a lot braver than me anyway."
Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Says the boy who hopped into a giant robot to fight a monster without training just so a crippled girl wouldn't get sent out. And you didn't run away from the spider either."
"That's-..." Shinji huffed, and got a triumphant smirk from Asuka in response.
"Yeah. Bravery isn't a lack of fear, it's acting in spite of it. Whether you think it or not, you are brave."
The compliment brought some heat to Shinji's cheeks. "So what's got you scared about... us?" he asked, pointing between the two of them.
"Well, it's..." Asuka broke off again, avoiding eye contact with him. "It's really not something I even like thinking about. My mother's... death..."
Shinji's breath caught in his throat as that subject came up once again. "I-I'm sorry," he managed to croak out. "I didn't mean to make you think about that. Forget I said anything!"
"No, Shinji." Asuka shook her head and hardened her gaze. "I need to tell you something so you can understand."
Shinji nervously rubbed the back of his head. He'd made a promise to her, and regardless of the situation he was not about to break it. "Um... well... I did say I'd listen when you're ready."
"It's not... quite that just yet," replied Asuka. "More like... a small step towards that."
Shinji nodded but remained silent, letting her gather her thoughts.
Asuka closed her eyes and brought up her hands to partially cover her mouth, looking vaguely like she was imitating that pose his father always adopted at his desk. "So, because of... things that happened around the time Mama died, I... decided I couldn't let myself be vulnerable again."
Shinji tilted his head. "Vulnerable?"
Asuka opened one eye to stare at him. "Two people that I thought... loved me. Two people that betrayed me when I needed them the most. They-" Once more, she stopped in the middle of her sentence.
"Asuka, don't try and force it out," said Shinji, his stomach roiling as he took in what had already been said. "I think you've already said more than enough for now, and I'm sorry -really sorry- for bringing this up."
It didn't matter that he had no idea who those two people were. Shinji felt such anger deep within him that they would turn their back on Asuka in her hour of need. This sounded like it was before he had written that first letter to her, but she had never mentioned a hint of it in her own correspondence. Then again, neither of them were ever willing to even tiptoe around the subject of their parents.
Asuka's open eye continued to stare, blinking several times.
"But at least now," Shinji pressed on. "I feel like I know what's happening. Because of what happened to you, you're wary about getting closely involved with anyone ever again, right?"
She gave him a slow, hesitant nod.
"But we are still friends, right? Nothing's changed there?"
Another nod, much more emphatic this time.
"And... you are thinking about..." It was Shinji's turn to trail off, too embarrassed to say the words.
"Yes, but..." Asuka paused, then snarled in frustration. "I hate being afraid like this, but I can't help it. You are my best friend, Shinji, but whenever I think about... taking things further, that fear wraps its claws around my heart. Reminding me what happened last time. Telling me what could happen this time, considering our line of work. We've known each other for practically a decade. I trust you implicitly when we're fighting Angels, but when it comes to romance..."
"I understand, Asuka," said Shinji as he tried to swallow down his disappointment past the lump in his throat. "If you're not ready, then I'm not going to do the dumb thing and try to rush you to a decision. Right, now, I'm just happy you've told me what's going on."
As if the universe was waiting for its cue, Shinji's phone vibrated in his pocket. He instinctively reached for it then stopped with his hand hovering awkwardly in the air as the call stopped then started again. Just like he'd told Hikari.
"They're ready for us," he announced. "The party, I mean."
Asuka's hands dropped to the table as she flashed a look of puzzlement at him. "How do you know?" As soon as Shinji told her about the signal, understanding dawned on her face. "Aaah. Pretty sneaky, Shinji. Just in time, too. I was about to get more ice cream, but we'd better save room."
Shinji nodded and got to his feet, taking their plastic bowls and spoons to the bin and waving goodbye to the woman behind the counter before joining Asuka outside the shop. Their journey back to the apartment building was done with just a bit more haste than necessary, as neither of them wanted to keep their friends waiting too long.
Right at the door to their apartment, Asuka put out a hand to stop Shinji as he made to unlock the door. "I need a second," she said, then grinned. "Gotta make sure I'm appropriately surprised, after all!" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her hands moving up her body and out to her sides as if she were adopting a meditative pose. "Right. Let's go in and have a perfectly normal evening, Shinji!"
The grin was infectious; Shinji couldn't stop himself from mirroring it. He slapped a hand over his face and dragged it down to try and physically force the smile away as he unlocked their front door. Stepping into the entrance hallway, he 'accidentally' bumped his shoes against the wall while taking them off just to make sure the other people in the apartment knew they were coming.
Asuka brushed past him after removing her own shoes, but turned to face him just before she would have seen into the kitchen and began to walk backwards. "Sure was nice of you to invite me out for ice-cream, eh Shinji?"
Shinji froze for a split second, before realising what Asuka was doing. "No problem, Asuka."
Asuka nodded and turned around again. "Thing is now I want mo-"
"SURPRISE!"
He had to hand it to Asuka; she did a good job of pretending that it really was a surprise. She recoiled at the unexpected shout, brought up a hand to her chest as if to quell its hammering, and the look of shock on her face might have actually been genuine. Then came the chorus of 'Happy birthday!'s, and that look dissolved into one of happiness.
For one brief moment, a fraction of a fraction of a second, Shinji thought she might have been about to cry. But that moment vanished as she stepped forward. He followed, rounding the corner into the kitchen, and realised that Asuka really had been surprised, in a way.
Hikari had gone all out with the party planning. The kitchen had been done up with streamers all over the walls and ceiling, with a banner over the doorway into the lounge room proclaiming HAPPY BIRTHDAY in big bold characters. There was food all over the kitchen benches, including a round covered up thing that could only be the cake, and there was a pile of presents in the middle of the dining table.
Most of the work had likely been done by Toji and Kensuke, who looked somewhat tired and dishevelled. Rei and Hikari also looked slightly rumpled, hinting that while they'd pitched in too, most of the hard work had clearly been done by the boys. Pen-pen was sitting on one of the dining chairs with small pieces of ribbon wrapped around his flippers at what would approximately be the shoulders on a human, with more ribbon tied around his neck just above the collar in a bow. There were smiles on everyone's faces -apart from the penguin for obvious reasons- as Asuka approached, even as she surprised Hikari by giving the class representative a quick hug.
There was no Misato, which didn't faze Shinji considering her workload, but he took out his phone and tapped out a text message asking if she would be able to make it. He wasn't expecting an immediate response, so the phone went back into his pocket. He looked up just in time to receive a glass of soda from Hikari.
"You, um, weren't sitting around waiting for us that long, I hope?" he asked after taking a sip.
Hikari shook her head. "No, Rei asked the Section Two people down in the lobby to let her know when you two showed up."
"Ah. Yes. Of course." Shinji was cut off by his phone vibrating. Flipping it open, he checked the message.
Asuka's party is starting now. Will you be able to make it?
omw brt asap
Shinji blinked several times, but the response firmly remained gibberish to his eyes. Decrypting this would require a genius.
"You're texting Misato right?" Asuka was suddenly right there in front of him, almost making him spill his drink all over himself. She plucked the phone out of his hands and checked the screen. "Oh cool, she'll be here soon. Wish I could ask her to get some alcohol on the way home, but there's three problems with that."
"Three problems?" Shinji echoed.
"Yeah. Hikari, Misato herself, and the fact that even if she did agree, she would just get whatever she likes, which probably tastes like the wrong end of an Angel. Oh wait, four problems. The potential for a damn Angel to attack while we're drunk." Asuka huffed and folded her arms.
"...We're not due for one are we?" Shinji nervously asked. "It'd be just our luck to spend all this time getting your party set up only for an Angel to come knocking."
Asuka tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "Okay, admittedly getting to smash an Angel's face in would be a bit of fun, but I'd rather just relax, you know?" She turned and poked him in the chest. "So no jinxing things, got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" Shinji replied, throwing a mock salute at her.
She grinned at him, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "Smartass."
It only took ten minutes for Misato to arrive, blowing into the room like a hurricane carrying a present. "Sorry I'm late, but being a major sucks hard when it comes to paperwork," she said, before sighing. "Think I preferred it when I was still a sergeant, I could still shout at people all day without having to worry too much about writing reports."
"Well now that Miss Katsuragi is here," said Hikari, "we can get started!"
"No formality for me please," Misato corrected, placing her present with the others. "I'm off duty and this is a party. I'm just Misato now. Anyway, I'll be back in a moment, I just need to get changed into something more comfy while you get ready!"
Shinji noticed two pairs of eyes stuck to the... lower back of Misato as she left the apartment as quickly as she came, and he gave a small sigh. Hopefully she wouldn't come back in her usual 'around the house' getup, or his two male friends would be distracted by her all night. Not that he could blame them; Misato was certainly a beautiful woman who enjoyed... making things awkward.
True to her word, Misato was back within a couple of minutes, wearing yoga pants and a blouse. The way Toji and Kensuke's gaze immediately shot back to her when she walked in was like their eyes were metal and she was a magnet.
But soon enough even their attention was pulled towards the main event as the candles were lit and the cake was placed in front of the birthday girl. The song began, Pen-pen doing his best to squawk to the tune, even as Asuka's attention was fixated on the cake itself. When the song ended her gaze drifted off in thought for a few seconds, presumably due to thinking about her wish. She blinked, and Shinji found himself pierced by her gaze for half a second before she leaned forward and blew the candles out in a single breath while everybody cheered.
"Sooo," Misato immediately drawled while the candles were being carefully removed. "What did you wish for?"
Asuka gave her a deadpan look. "You know I can't tell you that, or the wish won't come true. That's the rule."
Misato reacted like the mature and responsible adult she was. By blowing a raspberry. "Boo, spoilsport."
Hikari retrieved a large knife and laid it on the table next to the cake for Asuka to begin cutting. In her careful hands the knife sliced through the cake like it wasn't even there, easily dividing it into eight pieces; exactly enough to go around. They dug in, and immediately there were compliments about the cake. Shinji tried to hide his reddening face behind his slice, especially as Asuka practically inhaled her slice like it was a godly feast, but fortunately nobody besides Hikari seemed to notice; she gave him a slight nod of encouragement.
Plates were cleared away, and attention turned to the presents. Unable to decide which one to pick first, Asuka closed her eyes and waved a hand over the table for a few seconds before bringing it down on what turned out to be Toji's present; something in a rectangular box. The inexpertly wrapped paper was removed, followed by the lid, and then Asuka drew out a pair of...
"Runnin' shoes," Toji explained, before giving a helpless shrug. "Was the only thing I could think of, ya know?"
"Nice, thanks a lot" said Asuka. "But... how did you know my size?" she added after checking for the number on the box.
"I asked Doctor Akagi for your measurements," Rei answered for Toji. "She was somewhat confused by the request until I explained it was to facilitate buying your presents. She also said to say 'happy birthday' if she could not make it."
"Oh, okay," Asuka replied, nodding in understanding before suddenly halting. "Hold on. Presents?"
Rei's face reddened slightly. "...I believe I just accidentally gave away what some of the gifts are."
"Meh." Asuka waved a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it. Technically I still don't really know what they are yet. I just have a major clue." She then proceeded to pick up another boxy present and shake it next to her ear. "...A clue which does nothing to hint at this gift from... Glasses apparently."
More paper was torn away, and Asuka was left staring at four small boxes. Two of them were games for the SNES and the other two were for her Wonderswan.
"Oh ho, thanks Aida. These are some nice choices!" Asuka remarked upon checking their titles.
Misato's present was next; several tops that went well with Hikari's gift of a couple of skirts. Clearly the two of them had collaborated so as not to get something that clashed. Then finally came Rei's present, which looked to be more clothing. Asuka removed the wrapping paper, but halted as her face turned red. "Um... Rei?"
"I did say that I asked for your measurements," Rei calmly replied.
"What's the matter?" Shinji asked curiously, but refrained from trying to sneak a peak; Asuka seemed incredibly embarrassed and he valued his head in its current place atop his neck.
"Yeah but I wasn't expecting... this!" Asuka went on as if he hadn't spoken. "I can't exactly show them off you know!"
"Why not? They are items of clothing just like the rest."
"If it were just us girls here then fine, but I can't let these boys see them!"
Now things made sense. "W-well, in that case..." Shinji began, walking over to Toji and Kensuke and putting a firm hand on their shoulders. "We'll just step away for a minute, yeah?"
Shinji's words brought Asuka's head spinning around to stare directly through his skull, but he was already making his exit with his two male friends. They were out on the balcony before he let them go.
"The hell was that all about?" Toji asked, directing a confused look back into the apartment.
"Oh figure it out, Toji," Kensuke sighed.
"Yeah, I worked it out right away," said Shinji, dropping his voice to a near whisper. "Rei got underwear for Asuka, and that's not exactly something you show even to friends."
Toji sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "...Ah, yeah. Right. I sure as hell wouldn't be flashing a pair of boxers at my birthday party."
Hikari's voice called out from inside. "You can come back in now!"
Back in the kitchen all the clothing had vanished, leaving only the game boxes and a pile of wrapping paper. Asuka was patting around in the pile, but looked up as the boys came in.
"Hey Shinji, where's your present?"
What she asked could have been construed as selfish, but Asuka's tone of voice was anything but. She sounded genuinely curious, and perhaps a little concerned. And the best Shinji could do in response was freeze up in fear.
Hikari came to his rescue. "Shinji was the one who made the cake, Asuka."
"What?" Asuka blinked several times, then glanced at the empty cake dish. "Shinji? But..."
"His lack of taste sense doesn't matter when it comes to baking a cake."
After a moment's thought, Asuka tilted her head in an 'I suppose so' gesture. "Yeah okay, good point. Thanks a lot for that, Shinji," she said, giving him an appreciative smile.
Those blue eyes of hers, like living sapphires. Shinji was positive there was the faintest hint of disappointment at his gift that was gone far quicker than it had taken to make. He wanted to see her blue eyes sparkle. Blue eyes.
Blue.
Something went 'ping' in Shinji's head, causing it to shoot up. "Wait, there's something else! Give me a minute to get it!" he shouted before nearly sprinting to his room.
When he had arrived in Tokyo-3, Shinji had had little more than the clothes on his back and a small bag of essentials, having decided to heed his father's summons as soon as possible. The rest of his clothing and personal effects, as well as his cello, had been packed up and shipped by his teacher, arriving at the Geofront before being redirected to Misato's apartment. The clothes and other items had been taken out only as he saw a need for them, thinking that he was going to get sent back to his teacher and would therefore have to repack everything. But there was one item, one strange item, that never got considered even after the move to his apparently permanent home.
Hikari appeared at his door while he was kneeling on the ground, frantically searching through the pockets of his luggage. "Shinji, what are you doing?" she asked. "I told you, the cake was enough. Asuka's happy."
"No," Shinji replied with a resolute shake of his head. "I can do much better. I have to."
His hands finally found their target: a small velvet box that he drew out and stared at for a long time. How had he forgotten about this? It had sat on his desk at his teacher's home for the longest time, rarely glanced at but generally ignored. Shinji frowned in puzzlement. Why did he ignore it? The thing inside the box was such a mystery, and yet he had never even thought to ask his teacher about it. It was like his thoughts had just simply slipped off-
Shinji blinked, looking around his room in confusion. What was he doing again? Why was he in here while Asuka's party was still going?
"...Shinji? Are you okay?"
The question brought Shinji's head spinning around. Hikari was standing in the doorway to his bedroom, looking like she wanted to enter but was afraid to. "Um... what did I come in here for?" he asked, inwardly cursing how stupid that made him sound.
"You... ah... told Asuka there was something else you wanted to give her, and ran in here," said Hikari. "Then you took out that box and went kind of... um... funny?"
"Box...?" Shinji echoed, before suddenly realising there was a weight in one of his hands. He brought it up to his eyes and started in realisation. How had he forgotten about this? It had sat on his desk-
"Shinji!"
He jolted in surprise. Hikari was now standing over him, worry etched on her face.
"Sorry, but your eyes were glazing over again," she said by way of explanation, and then pointed at his hand. "The box?"
"Oh. Right." He had to concentrate. His own mind seemed to be trying to get away from... whatever this was. It was as if the box were a bar of soap to his brain. No matter how hard he concentrated, it just slipped away. "Here," he said, thrusting the box at Hikari. "Please, take it and open it up."
"M-me?!" Hikari stammered, gingerly taking the box from his outstretched hand.
Shinji felt his mind start to slide again. "Open it, please!" he repeated.
"Okay, okay!"
Hikari slowly opened the box, and then immediately gasped in surprise.
"What's going on in here?" came a voice from the doorway. Shinji and Hikari both turned to see Misato standing there, hands on her hips. "The others are wondering what's taking... so... long..." She trailed off upon witnessing the scene in front of her, her mouth slowly curving up into a manic grin.
Shinji wanted to slap himself. He was down on one knee in front of a girl holding a velvet box. And Misato had seen it. He was never going to hear the end of this.
There was much, much red-faced stammering of denials and attempts to get the story straight, but Misato's grin just grew wider and wider. Finally, Shinji had enough. He took the box from Hikari's unresisting hands and shoved it at Misato. "Here. Take it. Please."
"Oh ho-"
"Misato."
He didn't shout or get angry. His voice didn't raise above its normal volume. It was the look on his face that convinced Misato to snap her mouth shut in the middle of her next bout of teasing. "Ms. Horaki," she said, glancing at the girl in question. "Could you please give us some privacy? Keep Asuka distracted if you can."
"Y-yes Miss Katsuragi," Hikari replied with a quick bow before retreating from the room.
The moment she was gone, Misato quietly closed the door. "Okay what's wrong, Shinji?"
"That..." Shinji began, clenching his teeth as he tried to force his mind to focus for five damn minutes. "That box... something about it... my mind struggles to remember. Please... I need to... need to know what's inside but..."
Misato's eyes began to widen as he haltingly spoke, her eyes drifting down to the contents of the box. She reached into it with a thumb and forefinger, and drew out...
A silver necklace, surprisingly simple in the design of the chain, but it was what was attached to it that drew Shinji's eye so strongly that he didn't need to force his concentration. A shimmering blue gem, shaped like a teardrop, in a frame of silver.
A sapphire. Like Asuka's eyes.
"Shinji..." Misato breathed in wonder. "This is... beautiful. Is it yours?"
"I... think so? I know I didn't steal it or anything," Shinji admitted. "My mind seems to keep rejecting it, keeps pretending it's not important, but I've had it as long as I remember." He slowly reached out pudgy little fingers to wrap around the shiny blue thing. He tugged on it, trying to bring it to his mouth, as a woman chuckled in amusement and gingerly pulled his hand awayfrom the necklace. Shinji jumped at the physical contact, glancing at Misato's hand on his wrist then up at her face. His head was starting to throb in discomfort.
"You kinda went strange there," she stated somewhat apologetically. "Did you... remember something?"
The memory skittered away like Matarael deciding not to mess with a bunch of teenagers, fortunately taking the discomfort with it. "M-maybe?" he replied. "But... I can't..."
"Don't try and force it to come back," Misato calmly interrupted. "If it's going to return, it'll happen in its own time."
"O...okay." Shinji returned his attention to the necklace. Reaching out to it again didn't trigger the memory this time, but there was something familiar about closing his hand around the gem. Misato let go of the chain, leaving it to flop down onto the outside of his hand.
"You were going to give that to Asuka, weren't you." It wasn't even a question, despite being worded like one. Misato was not nearly as silly as she sometimes acted.
Shinji slowly nodded. "Yeah. I just feel like... the cake wasn't enough. Asuka deserves more than a quick snack for her birthday."
Misato hummed cryptically. "Well I won't waste my breath attempting to convince you otherwise. Hikari probably already tried." She gave the slightest of tugs on the necklace and Shinji relinquished it, watching as she carefully laid it out in the box. "Do you want me to give it to her, since your brain is being wonky about it?"
"N-no!" Shinji exclaimed, only just refraining from turning it into a shout. "It's my gift to her. I have to deliver it."
Even as he spoke his mind rebelled, making his eyes dart around to look at anything else besides the box. He felt a flush of embarrassment as they settled on Misato's chest, and with a grunt of effort he forced the box up to break his line of sight.
Misato, for her part, either didn't notice or didn't mind. "Considering the circumstances I suppose there's no point wrapping it," she remarked before taking him by the shoulder and gently steering him out of the bedroom.
Somehow, her guiding hand helped Shinji to focus even as it shifted to his spine. He stubbornly kept the box and its contents in the front of his mind as they headed to the living room, where the SNES had been brought out and Kensuke and Asuka were busy beating the pixelated hell out of each other. As Shinji watched, one of the fighters simply... exploded while Asuka cheered.
"Hah!" she crowed. "Close one, but you'll have to try harder than that to beat me!" Kensuke grumbled something that Asuka diplomatically ignored. "So who else wants to try their luck, huh?" she asked, looking around the room.
Whereupon she immediately discovered Shinji was standing nearby, holding something away from his body like he was worried it would burst into flames.
"Hey Shinji," she said, getting up from the couch. "Everything okay?"
"Huh?" Shinji blinked as he mentally switched gears. "Oh, yeah. I, um... finally found your present."
"Oooh!" Asuka's face lit up in anticipation.
And then there was a sound like a kettle boiling. Everybody looked over at the source: Hikari, who had clapped a hand over her mouth too late to stop the involuntary sound.
A poke in his back brought Shinji back to what he had to do. Just in time too, as his concentration was starting to slip again. He coughed nervously, getting Asuka's attention.
"H-here you go, Asuka," he said, holding the box out to her with a small bow. "Happy b-birthday."
Wonder filled Asuka's face as she beheld the offering. She would obviously know the sort of thing that would be kept in a box like this. As she hesitantly reached out for the box, Shinji put all of his effort into focusing on the damn box.
He had to remember this.
The box was gingerly taken from Shinji's hands, which he let flop back to his sides. His eyes were on Asuka's, waiting for the moment they would sparkle like the ocean in the sun again. Like so many previous times when she was truly, genuinely happy.
The box was opened, and Asuka's mouth dropped open in pure shock. Her eyes darted between Shinji's face and the necklace several times before steadfastly focusing on the jewellery.
"Shinji, I-I..." she stammered, conflicting emotions running across her face. "I can't-... are you sure you want to give this to me?"
"As sure as I've ever been," said Shinji, silently amazed that he'd managed to get that sentence out without stuttering. Asuka was starting to blush now, and Shinji's cheeks began to pink up as well. This was far more than a simple gift for a friend; especially considering all that they had been through together.
"I..." Asuka halted, then cleared her throat and continued. "Knowing you as long as I have, I can tell there's no changing your mind about this."
The necklace was brought out into the open. All eyes immediately gravitated to the gently spinning gemstone, its beauty prompting admiring murmurs from Toji and Kensuke as well as wide-eyed astonishment from Rei.
And open-mouthed shock from Shinji. Seeing the sapphire dangle in front of Asuka's face drove home just how perfect the gift was. As the gem sparkled, so too did her eyes. He wished he could preserve this scene forever.
A flash lit up the room for a split second, breaking everybody out of the trance. Kensuke dropped his camera from his face, revealing a grin so big it threatened to make the top of his head fall off. "Sorry, I just had to," he remarked with an expansive shrug, sounding not at all apologetic. Shinji made a mental note to ask for a copy of that photo.
Asuka shook her head, then returned her attention to the necklace. Setting the box aside, she took the silver chain in both hands, brought the ends around to the back of her neck, and secured them together.
Whatever strange power the necklace had once had that made Shinji forget about it seemed to be gone. Even without effort it was the only thing on his mind now; the perfect gift for Asuka, now sitting around her neck.
"Excuse me a sec," said Misato, ducking between the two of them to pick up the discarded jewellery box. "Just gonna get rid of this. I'll get you a new one, Asuka."
"New one?" Asuka echoed. "What's wrong with that box?"
Misato was already heading to the kitchen. "I'll explain later," she called over her shoulder. "Or maybe Shinji will beat me to it!"
The next thing they heard was the sound of something being dropped into the rubbish bin. Asuka blinked, then turned to Shinji, who gestured towards the balcony door with a jerk of his head.
XXX
"So... a mysterious necklace that made you ignore it," said Asuka after Shinji finished explaining the story to her. "And a strange vision when you went to touch it."
Shinji nodded, staring out at the city while leaning on the balcony wall. Asuka was sitting on one of the deckchairs behind and to his left. "You now know as much as I do about it," he muttered dolefully. He looked thoughtful for a moment, then glanced at her. "You didn't get anything strange happening when you touched it, did you?"
"Nope, just the shock of you giving me such a beautiful gift," said Asuka, her hand absently reaching up to touch the gemstone for the dozenth time since they'd walked outside.
"It's absolutely perfect for you, Asuka," Shinji remarked, getting another eyeful of her blissful expression. "I knew it would be a good match for your eyes, once I remembered it existed, but... it's like your eyes were cut from the same gem."
Asuka swiftly turned her face away, but it was too late to hide her blushing cheeks. In any case, Shinji was feeling the exact same heat in his own face. "Y-you dummy," she stammered. "That line was cornier than a farmer's field."
"Maybe, but it's still true."
"And that line is just maximum corn."
They both chuckled quietly and returned their gazes to the city lit by a reddening sunset.
"...Thank you, Shinji," said Asuka after a long yet comfortable silence. "But I hope you know that it'll take more than this to dispel... that fear I told you about."
"I never did it to try and... win you over or whatever," replied Shinji, even as he felt a twinge of disappointment. "It feels like pure luck that I even managed to remember about that necklace long enough to give it to you today. But still, I gave it to you because we're friends and I wanted you to have it."
Asuka huffed in amusement. "And now whatever spell it had over you has been broken. Don't think I haven't seen you staring at it hanging around my neck. It's a good thing I know exactly where your male gaze is, if you catch my drift."
More heat hit Shinji's cheeks. "I-I would never do that to you, Asuka!"
"I know, I'm just messing with you!"
Behind him, Shinji heard movement as Asuka stood up. A moment later, he almost jumped out of his skin as a delicate hand came down on his where it rested on the balcony wall.
"Really though, thank you again," said Asuka, flashing him a look of pure happiness. "Even without this amazing gift, today has been the greatest birthday party I've ever had. Even if I had to give you a bit of a hand with your role." She patted his hand a couple of times. "But the night is young! Let's get back in there and have some more fun!"
Before Shinji could respond, that deceptively strong hand was suddenly wrapped around his wrist like a vice and he was being pulled back into the apartment.
But the smile never left his face.
