Kaji didn't like the mall.
It was loud, crowded, and potentially dangerous. He hated all of those things. He was much more comfortable operating from a place of finesse. A relaxed, controlled environment was where he worked best. A place like this offered no chance for subtlety, which he thrived on. It didn't help that he'd been on edge since before they arrived.
Speaking of loud and unsubtle, his teenage companion was doing more than her fair share to contribute to his unease.
"What do you think of this one, Mr. Kaji?"
Looking around, he saw the redheaded girl staring at him, a blue dress in one hand and bags from their previous stops in another. The dress was short, looking like it might not make it past her knee, and had a slit on one leg running from the hem all the way up to its waistline. It was something more befitting a grown woman, not a teenage girl. 'That's probably what she's going for, after all,' he thought to himself. Internally rolling his eyes, he offered up a response.
"It looks nice, Asuka. But it might be a bit small, no?"
A pout sprang to her face. "What, like I'm too big for it? That's not a very nice thing to say."
He let out a small laugh. "Not that you're too big, no," he replied. "Just that it doesn't seem like it'd do a very good job protecting your modesty."
Asuka huffed in irritation. "Who cares about modesty?" she asked, the calm in her voice sounding forced. "I only want to look good for you, Kaji. Don't you think I'd look pretty in this? Look at how it matches my eyes!" She held the garment next to her face to illustrate her point.
Kaji sighed. "I'm sure you'd look fine in it, Asuka. But you can't just consider me. What about boys your own age? How about Shinji? What would he think of that dress?"
She snorted. "Like I care about what a bunch of perverted teenagers think. And Shinji—" she paused for half of a second. "Shinji wouldn't know fashion if it bit him in the wardrobe. I could walk around the apartment naked and he'd think I looked good."
She seemed to realize what she'd said a moment after she said it. A furious blush rose to her cheeks as she gazed at the floor. "Not that I'd do something like that! He's got enough dirty little fantasies in that perverted brain of his without my help."
Kaji couldn't help but chuckle. "Is that right?" he replied with a grin. "I think he's a perfectly nice boy."
"That's the problem," Asuka snapped. "He's too nice." She paused. "And too much of a boy. I don't need attention from someone like that. I prefer the attention of men like you, Mr. Kaji."
Kaji suppressed another eye-roll. "Right. Well, all I'm saying is, don't be so quick to write off the people around you. Especially not the ones so close."
Asuka did roll her eyes. "Whatever. I've got you around me," she said with a big smile. "As far as I'm concerned that's all I need."
He sighed internally. He'd expected her to say something like that. It didn't make her response any less disappointing.
"If you say so," he replied, shrugging. He indicated the dress. "So, are you going to get it?"
She regarded it silently for a moment before giving a shrug of her own. "Eh. Maybe another time. I've got enough dresses anyway." She put the dress back on the rack and they left the store, empty-handed but for the bags they'd brought in with them.
They'd been shopping for about another half-hour or so when she came to a halt, right in the middle of the massive crowd. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered.
Looking around, Kaji felt his grin widen. "Well, would you look at that," he said. Asuka didn't respond, taking off in a beeline and pushing through the people in her way. Kaji had to jog to catch up. He was just approaching when he saw her tapping on the shoulder of a boy with dark hair, clad in a school uniform.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
The boy turned around, eyes going wide at the sight of the girl confronting him. "Wha— Uh, hi Asuka." He looked over her shoulder. "Hello, Mr. Kaji."
"Hey, Shinji," the man replied, still grinning. "What brings you here?"
"Yes, what does bring you here?" Asuka demanded, still glaring. "Answer my question, Third! Are you stalking me on my da— my day out with Kaji?"
Shinji's eyes widened even further. "What? No— no! I was just here to get groceries. I'm making—" He paused. "Well, I'm making dinner tonight and they didn't have everything I needed at the grocery story by the apartment."
Asuka narrowed her eyes. "Is that right? And what are you making with such rare ingredients?" Her voice carried a hint of sarcasm, almost a sneer.
His face flushed lightly. "Tem—" He coughed and cleared his throat. "Uh, tempura. I like to make something special after the Angel fights."
She eyed him quizzically. "What's so special about tempura? I've seen you make it with regular ingredients before. What gives?"
The color on his cheeks intensified. "Ah. Well, I wanted to make it with this particular kind of shrimp. The last time I made it that way I remember that you liked it, and I wanted to try it again. They only sell the shrimp at one of the stores here at the mall, so here I am," he finished quietly, staring at the ground.
Asuka didn't seem to have a response. Kaji could almost hear her own blush when she replied. "Yeah, well, whatever. Do what you want, idiot. As long as the food is better than Misato's I don't care."
Shinji let out a small laugh. "Right," he said, smiling a bit. "Uh, anyways. I'm gonna go do that. I'll see you at home." He glanced at the man standing silently behind her. "Bye, Mr. Kaji." After receiving a small wave in response he turned and disappeared, swallowed by the crowd.
Kaji laid a hand on Asuka's shoulder. "Well that was something, huh?" he said. "So, where to next?"
She didn't respond, seemingly lost in thought. All at once she snapped to attention. "Can you take me home?" she asked suddenly.
Kaji raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? We've only been here for a couple of hours. Usually this kind of thing is an all-day endeavor." Not that his wallet would be complaining.
Asuka shrugged. "I've got more than enough new clothes for one day. And now that I know Shinji isn't at home I can enjoy some time alone without him bothering me for no reason."
Kaji doubted the frequency of how often the boy bothered her without reason, and indeed that that ever happened at all, but said nothing. They made their way to the front of the building. Along the way, a thought occurred to him. He couldn't help his grin turning playful.
"Hey," he said as they walked. "I've just had the idea— if Shinji is here, with so little business, why don't we offer him a ride? That would probably be convenient for him, no?"
Asuka faltered for a step. "Yeah, right," she said with a snort before resuming her pace. "He's probably going to spend the afternoon in the manga store checking out all the new chapters for his dirty little harem books. Not to mention he probably goes to all the lingerie shops and ogles the mannequins, drooling over the stuff he'll never see on a real girl."
Kaji felt his grin disappear, frowning slightly. "I don't think that's fair," he said. "Maybe I don't know him as well as you do, but he doesn't seem like that type."
She didn't respond for a few moments. "Yeah. I guess not. Whatever," she muttered as they left the building. They didn't speak as they made their way through the parking lot.
On the road, Kaji felt like something was off as he drove. He had to suppress a chuckle when he realized amusedly that there was a silence in the car that would not normally be there. Glancing over, he noted that Asuka once again seemed to be wrapped up in her own thoughts. While he could appreciate the uncharacteristic quiet, and maybe should've, he figured he might as well take another stab at getting her to open up.
"So," he said in a casual voice, keeping his eyes on the road. "Shinji mentioned the recent Angel battle. That was during the blackout, right?"
She started beside him. "Huh? Oh. Yeah," she replied absently.
He nodded. "Yeah, I heard about that. Heard it was a real team effort." She hummed in agreement. "What was it again? Something like, you used yourself as a shield to give Shinji a chance to get the killshot?" Another hum. He glanced over. "That doesn't seem very much like you. The Asuka I know would've been itching to kill an Angel all by herself."
She snorted. "If you say so. It was just the plan we came up with. We were a bit pressed for time, you know."
He nodded. "Sure, sure," he replied. "From what I hear, though, it was the plan that you came up with."
Out of the corner of his eye he saw a look of surprise spring up on her face. "How did y—" She shook her head. "Whatever. Yeah, okay, it was my plan. So I didn't take the glory for once. As the best of the Pilots I had to give myself the most important job, naturally." Even if he hadn't known her, he could tell from her tone that she didn't believe it. "Besides, I owed one to him after the Eighth." Ah, and there it was.
He raised an eyebrow. "The Eighth? Why, what happened there? I wasn't around for that." That was true, at least.
She huffed. "He swooped in and stole my glory is what happened. I killed that thing all by myself, and all anybody remembers is what he did." Despite the words there was no malice in her tone.
Kaji feigned ignorance. "Really? How does that work? What did he do?"
She was silent for a moment. "He—" She paused before continuing in a quiet voice. "I was falling. They were pulling me out of the volcano but it wasn't fast enough. The cables broke on the way up. I was going to fall in. I was probably going to…" She trailed off. "But I didn't. He jumped in and caught me by my arm. He— he saved me."
Kaji didn't say anything, simply nodding. "And so you felt you owed him for that?" he asked eventually, breaking the silence overwhelming the vehicle.
She nodded. "Right," she replied, voice regaining some of its usual bluster. "The thing with the Ninth was just me paying a debt. That's all."
He gave another silent nod as he continued driving. Shortly afterward they arrived at Misato's apartment building. Asuka seemed surprised when he pulled in to a parking spot rather than dropping her off in front of the door, as he usually did.
"Are you coming up?" she asked excitedly, a sparkle in her eyes. She cleared her throat. "It makes sense I suppose. I ended our day out together prematurely, it only makes sense you'd want to keep spending time with me."
Kaji laughed as they entered the elevator. "Sure, kiddo." He ruffled her hair. "That, and I thought I might see what your other roommate is up to."
The excitement vanished from her face, disappointment flashing for a moment before being replaced by a look of flat boredom.
"Oh. Right," she said, mostly succeeding at keeping the hurt out of her voice. "She's probably home. She doesn't spend every day working all day."
Kaji glanced at her curiously, but let the comment slide. He wondered for a moment just how involved his maybe-girlfriend was with the children she'd taken into her care. That seemed like a topic better broached with the woman herself, however, so he pushed it aside for now.
Entering the apartment, they walked down the hall to find the object of their recent conversation seated at the table.
"Hey, Asuka. You're back early. How'd it go with—" Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the man in her kitchen. "Kaji," she finished in a low voice.
Asuka shrugged. "It was fine. Got some new clothes." She raised in her hands to illustrate.
Misato's gaze never left Kaji's. "Sounds like a good time," she replied. "And what are you doing here in my home?" she finally addressed the man before her.
He smirked as he took a seat at the table across from her, holding her stare. "Who, me? Oh, I figured it wouldn't be fair to spend time with one of the lovely ladies in my life without also spending some time with the other." His smirk widened when the corner of her mouth tugged upwards as Asuka gagged behind him.
"Is that right," Misato said, more of a statement than a question. "Well I'm afraid you're a bit out of luck there. I was just about to take a bath."
He didn't blink, continuing their staring contest. "That doesn't mean we can't spend some time together."
"UGH! Gross!" Asuka stormed out of the room. Kaji felt his heart speed up for a moment when Misato let out a giggle.
"Sorry. Maybe next time. I need a nice, relaxing soak after driving around all day. Grocery shopping will really take it out of you, ya know?"
He chuckled. "Sure, sure. If you say so."
His heart skipped another beat as she gave him a small smile. "So, did it work?" she asked, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Did you see him?"
Kaji nodded. "It sure did. I almost couldn't believe it. That place was very busy today. I was beginning to worry you'd wasted your time. Both of you, I mean."
She shrugged. "It wouldn't have been a waste either way. You've never had Shinji's shrimp tempura." She paused. "But I'm glad it did work. How did it go?"
It was his turn to shrug. "About how you'd expect. He was awkward and quiet. She was awkward and loud. She got the truth out of him, though. It was a bit of a surprise, honestly. I didn't know if he'd be able to tell her."
"Tell me what?" came a voice from the hallway.
They froze, turning in unison to find Asuka glaring at them. They looked back at one another, Kaji silently pleading for help with his eyes. Misato stared at him for a moment before laughing as she rose to her feet. "Go ahead," she said as she patted him on the arm. "I think I'm gonna go take that bath now." She disappeared into the bathroom.
Asuka moved to fill the recently-vacated seat, staring across the table at him. "Tell me what, Kaji?" she repeated. "What's going on? What are you hiding from me?"
He contemplated his options before sighing. "Alright. So, your run-in with Shinji at the mall might not have been an accident. Not entirely, anyway. You saw how packed that place was. I can't count how many times I almost lost track of you in a crowd, even with that hair."
She appeared unamused. "'Not an accident,' how, exactly?" she asked before scowling. "Did the Third put you up to this?"
"Put him up to what?" Another interruption from the hallway, this one in a voice belonging to the only male member of the residence. Asuka rounded on him.
"What did you do, idiot?" she snapped. "What is this? And why are you home so soon?" She paused. "Actually, never mind. I think I understand that part." She narrowed her eyes. "But that doesn't answer my other question. What's going on?"
Shinji cowered in the face of her attack. "Don't ask me," he whined. "I don't know anything!"
She snorted. "Well, we knew that." She turned back to face Kaji again. "Alright. It's time for answers. I'm tired of saying this so I'll only ask one more time— what is going on, Kaji?"
Kaji's gaze flickered back and forth between the two teenagers. With a grim amusement he noted that his plan had been a failure, at least from a secrecy perspective. Sighing once more, he indicated an empty chair. "You might as well sit down, Shinji. I imagine you've got questions of your own, and you're entitled to answers, too." Shinji moved to the table, hesitantly taking his place beside the seething redhead in the other chair.
"Okay, look," Kaji began. "First of all, I want to make it clear that nothing that happened today was intended with any ill-will. Can you trust me on that?" After a moment both teens nodded. "Okay. So. Shinji— Misato called me yesterday and said that the two of you had a little conversation after the last Angel fight. Know what I'm talking about?" Shinji nodded again.
"Right. So, after that—"
"Hang on," Asuka interrupted. "What conversation?" She looked at Shinji. "So you did plan this! I swear, I'm gonna—"
"No, Asuka," Kaji cut her off. "He didn't know anything about this. He's as clueless as you are." 'In more ways than one,' his brain silently added. "After that fight, they talked and, well—" He paused. "Well, why don't you tell her about that, Shinji?"
With the attention on him, Shinji seemed to shrink in his seat. "We, uh. Well, Miss Misato suggested that I make a nice meal to celebrate our victory. I asked her what she might like, and she told me never mind that, to think of something we would like. 'You're the ones doing the hard work,' she said. So I thought about it and I decided on the tempura, like I told you before. So this afternoon she offered to take me grocery shopping since she had the day off. Eventually we ended up at the mall and, well, that's where I ran in to you."
Asuka remained silent, the gears in her head visibly turning. Eventually she directed her gaze at Kaji. "How could you?" she asked in a low voice. "You call me this morning, offering to take me out to spend the day shopping and spending time together, and it was just for, what? To try and set me up with this idiot?"
Shinji bristled beside her. "Hey, I'm not an idiot! I told—"
"Shut up, idiot," she cut him off before redirecting her attention back to Kaji. "So you were lying to me? You were… using me? You didn't want to spend time with me, not really. I was just some part of some stupid plan with stupid Misato."
Kaji shook his head vehemently. "No, Asuka," he replied. "You were the plan. The both of you, really." When they gave him confused looks he tried to explain. "I don't know if there was some grand result we wanted to achieve. Misato and I just thought we might try to give the two of you a nice moment.
"Shinji, Misato thought it was very nice of you to remember something like that about Asuka. And for the record, so did I. Girls like it when you pay attention to details like that." He glanced pointedly at Asuka. "As for you, we wanted to show you that maybe Shinji isn't some beastly pervert, but rather someone kind who's willing to pay attention to you. You've got to admit, it feels nice, right?" Her face bright red, the girl could only nod. Kaji gave a nod of his own. "Right. And really, that's all it was. You guys are more alike than you know. You could get along great if you wanted to. Misato just thought maybe we could help you see that a little bit."
He sighed. "Speaking of Misato, I'd probably better get out of here before she's done in the bath." He grinned. "Or maybe I should stick around. Who's to say the two of you won't jump into each other's arms the moment you're alone?"
Asuka's blush amplified, while Shinji's cheeks brightened to match it. "Oh my GOD Kaji!" she yelled. "Just leave already if you're going to keep saying things like that!"
Kaji couldn't help laughing as he stood up. "I guess I'll trust your judgement. Just be sure to make good decisions." He laughed again as he exited the kitchen, sounds of the girl's loud fuming following him down the hallway as he slipped on his shoes and left the apartment.
He reflected on the day's events as he rode the elevator down. It had been a good day, all in all. Spending time with Asuka could be tiring, and sometimes difficult, but that was rarely enough to bother him. He knew as well as she did, maybe even moreso, that she just needed someone to care about her. He couldn't help smiling at the thought that maybe, just maybe, she would realize that she had exactly that in her own home, just across the hall.