Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A Soliloquy of Life ❯ The Apple ( Chapter 1 )

A Soliloquy of Life: Chapter 1- The Apple

By Ret Nuh

 

(BZZT, BZZT, BZZT)

“It's 6:30 am on a beautiful Monday morning, time to get up and enjoy the day” an obnoxious DJ was heard before a slam of a dial followed it.

 

“Damn alarm clock, wakes me up every time I am about to kiss her” Shinji said quietly as he rubbed the sleep from of his eyes. `Well I better get up, get a shower, and start breakfast before Asuka and Misato wake up' he thought as he sat up in his bed not really wanting to. A couple more minutes of sleep is all he really wanted.

 

So the daily routine goes on as usual, Shinji is the second to wake up (Kaji being the first, but he is already at work by now), grabs a quick shower, gets dressed, and then raps on PenPen's fridge as he puts some sardines into his dish for breakfast.

“Wark, Wark” is PenPen's usual reply.

“At least someone treats me nicely in the morning” Shinji said to PenPen but in a quiet tone as to make sure a certain someone won't be awaken by the comment. He knew from prior events that this was a capital offense in Asuka's book, and the bruise on his arm from last Saturday was a testament to the punishment he would receive if said offense was committed. Shinji then started breakfast for him and Asuka, and placed a beer on the table for Misato.

 

At precisely 7:00 am two alarms clocks went off simultaneously, followed by two loud SLAMS and a perfectly chorused “Fucking Alarm Clock.”

 

“I am going to be late for work again” Misato cried as she quickly got dressed. She then ran out to the kitchen and downed the beer that Shinji had set out for her. Even though Misato was in charge at Nerv and didn't really have any set work times, she felt she should always be at work by 7:00am so she could set an example to the rest of the Nerv staff. Of course this never happened and everyone knew she would not be at work till 7:20. Also even thought she lived on the outskirts of Tokyo-3 it was well known by other drivers that a certain blue car could travel great distances at great speeds, and it was best to just get out of the way.

 

As Misato ran out the door Asuka was getting up and grumbling quietly “Baka-Shinji, why is it always him.” As she walked over to the bathroom she was greeted with the usual “Good morning Asuka, breakfast will be ready soon” unfortunately for Shinji he got the usual response from her “It better be or else.”

“Why the hell can't Misato ever get going on time, instead of causing a huge scene and rushing out the door every morning” Asuka continued to complain rather loudly. Shinji thought to himself `look who's talking.' While he would never say that out loud just the fact that he thought it was proof of a growing backbone. Shinji tried to give Asuka an answer but before he could even open his mouth Asuka slammed the bathroom door, while muttering some vile curse in german.

“It's going to be one of those days” Shinji said to PenPen as he was cooking breakfast, from which an angry “I Heard That” was shot back out of the bathroom. `Here comes another bruise to add to my collection' was all Shinji could think.

 

As with their common routine the 2nd and 3rd child walked to school together, though this time Shinji was rubbing the back of his head and thinking, `at least she didn't hit me where someone could see a bruise, she must have liked breakfast.' Why they always walked to school together Shinji did not really know, and he never believed Asuka's reason. None of this really mattered to him anyways because he liked to walk to school with her and trying to get a better explanation out of Asuka would just cause another argument, and probably another bruise. Though if you asked Asuka why, she would always give the answer of it was just common courtesy for a young lady such as herself to be escorted to school, even if it was just by Baka-Shinji. Although the real reason was she liked this routine as well, but she would never admit it.

As they reached school they were greeted by Touji and Kensuke who were discussing the “Merits” of some of the senior girls.

“What a surprise the stooges are acting like perverts” Asuka said loudly as she saw Hikari coming up to greet her. “Why can't boys ever act mature?” she added as she made her first complaint about them for the day to Hikari.

Touji and Kensuke then responded with their usual greeting “Hello Hikari, Hello devil spawn from hell” which as usual caused the first insult contest of the day between Asuka, Kensuke, and Touji. Eventually Hikari had enough of this and pulled Asuka away for a little girl talk.

`Some things never change' Shinji thought to himself as the other two stooges tried pulling him into there renewed “Merits” conversation.

 

“Rise, Bow, Sit” the class rep instructed as their teacher entered the room. “Today class we will deviate from yesterdays teachings to instead focus on the environmental aspects of Second Impact.” This was of course followed by a large groan heard throughout the class. And as the teacher prattled on, Touji started up a chat to combat his utter boredom. In actuality this and surfing the net was about the only thing Touji could do on the computer, and even then he routinely screwed up and crashed it. Kensuke was quite happy about this as he was the one who would fix Touji's computer for the price of a manga, and since this deal had been made his collection had grown quite large.

 

Shinman = Shinji; Allstar = Touji; MilitaryIntel = Kensuke; RedQueen = Asuka; ClassRep = Hikari; and Ice = Rei.

 

Allstar has started a chat will you join y/n

MilitaryIntel: What's up Touji?

Shinman: Hello Touji.

Allstar: I swear I heard this lecture last month, I'm so bored, and I'm hungry.

Shinman: We have only been in school for 2 hours, how can be hungry already?

Allstar: I just am.

MilitaryIntel: Don't you know the teachers all have 31 different 2I lectures and just repeat them every month.

Allstar: Very funny Kensuke.

Shinman: It's true.

Allstar: Yeah…right.

RedQueen has joined the chat

RedQueen: So what's going on stooges.

MilitaryIntel: Touji didn't know about the lecture schedule.

RedQueen: HAHAHA what a dope.

Allstar: Shut up Demon.

ClassRep has joined the chat

ClassRep: Hi everyone.

RedQueen: Touji didn't know about the lecture schedule HAHAHA.

ClassRep: What?? Hasn't he seen it on Kensuke's web page?

Allstar: ?...How long has it been there?

Shinman: Almost 2 years.

Allstar: You're all lying.

Shinman: Nope.

ClassRep: If you paid more attention you would know it's true.

MilitaryIntel: Take a look for yourself, its listed under the link Class Lecture Schedule.

RedQueen: Nope, dopey stooge.

Allstar: Shut up Demon Spawn.

RedQueen: HAHAHA Dopey Stooge, that's a good new nickname.

Allstar has logged off

RedQueen: Aww…. Looks like we hurt his feelings.

ClassRep: Asuka that wasn't nice, you should apologize.

RedQueen: Like that is really going to happen.

MilitaryIntel: Like Demon Spawn have any human feelings.

RedQueen: Shut up you little computer geek, or I will kick your ass at lunch.

ClassRep: Behave you two.

MilitaryIntel: Demon Spawn.

MilitaryIntel has logged off

ClassRep: That wasn't nice Asuka.

RedQueen: I know but two stooges down, one to go.

Shinman: But I haven't said anything yet.

RedQueen: Before you go Shinji, I want ramen with pork for dinner tonight, got it.

Shinman: Yes Asuka.

RedQueen: Now log off, I want to talk to Hikari ALONE.

Shinman: Yes Asuka.

Shinman logged off

ClassRep: Why do you treat Shinji like that?

RedQueen: Because I can, and anyways he expects it.

ClassRep: Are you sure it's not to hide something.

RedQueen: Just what are you insinuating.

ClassRep: I read that some people treat the person they like the most, the worst.

RedQueen: Baka-Shinji, not a chance.

ClassRep: Are you sure?????

RedQueen: Drop it, anyways what is this stupid rumor that you are still brining Touji his lunch.

(Asuka's defense any time you tried to link her with Shinji was to change the subject. Hikari knew it well but she never really pushed the subject too hard because all it really would do is punish Shinji as Asuka would pick on him more just to prove she didn't like him.)

ClassRep: What's wrong with that? I always have extras, and I don't want it to go to waste.

RedQueen: If you were smart you would stop it, forget about that troglodyte jock, and find a real man to share your lunch with.

ClassRep: That's mean.

ClassRep Logged off

…

RedQueen logged off

…

Ice has joined the chat

Ice: Hi Shinji, you there?

Ice: Sigh…all alone as usual.

Ice logged off

 

“Rise, Bow, Dismissed” the class rep declared as she dismissed the class for lunch.

“Man I was so hungry I could have eaten a horse” a now content Touji said adding “Lunch is by far my favorite time of the school day.”

“That's not surprising. Not only did you eat what Hikari gave you, but you bought some more from the cafeteria” Kensuke said in a sarcastic tone.

“Why don't you mind your own business Kensuke” Touji shot back

“I would but your trying to steal Shinji's apple right now” Kensuke said as he went for the apple as well.

“But I'm still hungry, and he's not even paying attention.” Touji argued.

Shinji was unaware of the ensuing battle that Kensuke and Touji were having over his apple as he was quietly thinking to himself and watching Asuka at the bottom of the front side of the hill were she was eating lunch with Hikari. After a little while Touji asked him “What are you staring at Shinji?” Caught a little by surprise Shinji said “Asu….I mean nobody...er nothing” Lately Shinji had a habit of saying things he was thinking if caught off guard, and this actually scared him as the reaction to some of his thoughts may not go over well with certain people. So as Touji and Kensuke were about to launch an attack on Shinji for what he almost said he pulled a trick he had learned from Asuka, change the subject. He noticed his apple was missing and in a very stern voice while standing up yelled “Where's My Apple?” Kensuke and Touji were now the ones caught off guard and tried to say that the other ate it when Shinji wasn't looking, which was a bold lie. What really had happened to the apple was as Touji and Kensuke were battling for it they accidentally dropped it down the back side of the hill. There it was rolling precariously close to Rei who was sitting by herself. And neither boy had the guts to go down and get it as they were still a little afraid of her. That is when they quickly turned their attention to Shinji.

 

Rei was quietly sitting alone eating her lunch when she noticed an apple roll up besides her. A minute later she heard a stern voice that sent a shock down her spine and frightened her. She quickly looked up the hill at were the voice came from just to see Shinji chasing Kensuke and Touji around yelling something about an apple. After observing this for a minute she smiled, picked up the apple and decided to walk up the hill to give back the apple that she figured was Shinji's. While chasing the other two around Shinji noticed Rei was coming up the hill towards him.

“Hi Shinji I believe this is your apple” Rei said in a quiet voice.

“Thank you Rei, it's good to know I still have one honest friend” Shinji said as he glared at Touji and Kensuke who were surprised at what was happening in front of them. It was not well known at the time but Shinji and Rei were quite good friends who had shared many conversations together while waiting around at Nerv for some stupid test or another to get over. Except when Asuka was around, as she took control of most of the conversations while the other two just sat there and usually said nothing.

As Shinji took the apple from Rei she whispered to him “When you talk sternly it is a little menacing. You sound like your father. Please could you not do that anymore?”

This shocked Shinji greatly as he had not noticed, and the last thing he ever wanted was to be like his dad in any way or form. In a very sincere voice Shinji told Rei “I am sorry I scared you, I will try to never sound like him again.”

This brought a small smile back to Rei's face and she said “Thank you” as she went back down the hill to finish her lunch.

 

This event was also noticed from another angle, by Asuka, who was with Hikari at the bottom of the hill. Asuka was just finishing her lunch while talking to Hikari when she heard a stern voice that scared her and sent a shock down her back. As she quickly turned around to see where the voice came from she noticed Shinji chasing after the stooges.

“What's wrong Asuka?” asked Hikari, a little concerned as she noticed Asuka jump.

“Nothing. I just thought I heard a voice from my past that I'd rather forget about” Asuka said still a little jittery.

But as she was about to turn back around she noticed Rei going up the hill toward Shinji carrying an apple. “What is 1st child up to?” Asuka said to herself quietly. She then noticed the other two stooges becoming slack jawed as Rei started to talk to Shinji, and a small fire started to grow in her eyes. When Rei gave Shinji the apple and whispered something to him the fire grew larger.

“What the hell does she thinks she is doing?” Asuka growled.

Then as she saw Rei smiling as she walked back down the hill and out of site the fire grew into an inferno and she scowled “ Stay away from him Doll.”

As all this was happening Hikari had been paying more attention to Asuka than the situation on the hill. She clearly noticed the look in Asuka's eyes go from questioning to extreme rage in a rather short time.

Against her better judgment Hikari chimed “Jealous Asuka?”

Asuka responded with an incredibly loud “SHUT UP!!!” that pretty much got the attention from everyone around, but was quickly diverted as the end of lunch bell rang, and everyone headed back to class.

 

As Shinji was heading back to class he was eating his apples when out of nowhere a hand swiped it away.

“I was eating that” Shinji said angrily until he turned around and saw it was Asuka with the apple.

“I know Baka-Shinji, but you don't need this apple” Asuka said as she threw the apple in the trash.

“But..But Asuka I…” he started before being quickly interrupted by Asuka

“Shinji just to let you know, if you ever try to sound like your father again I will repeat Misato's actions on you. OK?” Something in her voice told Shinji this wasn't just another one of her idle threats but a severe warning.

“I'm sorry Asuka, I won't do it again” Shinji said as he contemplated the two reactions he had now gotten for using a stern voice he did not know he had.

“That's good Baka-Shinji, and remember what I said I want for dinner” Asuka said in a lighter tone as they entered back into the class room to take their seats for class.

 

“Stand, Bow, Sit” the class rep said as class resumed and the teacher started to drone on about 2nd Impact once again. A strange but not really unexpected thing happened a couple minutes later. The whole class fell asleep pretty much at the same time and some even started dreaming.

 

Let's start off with the simplest dream, Touji Suzuhara's. Touji's dreams were never very complex and usually centered around one of two things Hikari Horaki or food. So he was greatly pleased when he dreamed about Hikari wearing nothing but a very skimpy bikini, cooking and serving him plate after plate of all his favorite dishes. The combination of Hikari and food made this one of his favorite dreams by a long shot.

 

Hikari Horaki's dreams were surprisingly similar to Touji's except without the bikini, and with a little romance thrown in. Her dream started out with them attending a very romantic dance, where they danced closely together for a long time. After the dance they took a leisurely stroll hand and hand until they reached her house. At her house she invited him in for dinner, which he gracefully accepted. And as she made him a love filled dinner he came up behind her and slipped his hands around her waist and held her closely. He then started to whisper in her ear very gently, and she knew he was about to say those three little words she so longed to hear from him. “What's for Dinner?”

“Damn It” she said out loud as reality invaded into her beautiful dream once again.

“Yes Hikari, that is the reaction most people had to the situation” the teacher said.

Hikari blushed. She was the class rep and even though the teacher didn't notice, the thought of her getting caught napping during class was very embarrassing to her. But she quickly calmed down as she looked around the room and noticed everyone else was still sleeping so no one had seen her indiscretion. She then took an extended look at Touji and noticed that he had about the biggest smile you could have on his face. She thought to herself `Probably thinking about food, but someday Touji I will be in your dreams too.' Hikari let out a sigh and looked up to the front of the classroom.

 

Asuka Langley Souryu's dream was also about romance. Her dream was about what she perceived her first real romantic date would be like. While Asuka had been asked out by just about every boy in the school, she rarely ever accepted. And none of them were ever romantic. Also she had never actually completed one either, as she usually ditched the guy half way through the date because she felt none of them were really good enough for her. But in her dream she was carefully getting ready for her date with a song in her heart and the yellow sundress she had picked out would kindly show her radiant light. She was filled with the feeling of true love she knew she would have for the handsome and dashing man who would soon show up with a beautiful bouquet of a dozen roses that would match her stunning hair perfectly. As the knock on the door was heard she quickly, but elegantly, answered the door to cheerfully greet the future love of her life. And as she opened the door to greet the man of her dreams there stood Shinji with a bouquet of roses. (A/N: Now who didn't see that coming from a mile away)

“Damn It! Why the hell is it always Shinji?” Asuka said with a snap of her head as she woke up. Immediately a blush came to her face as she noticed that she had actually just said that out loud. But as she looked around the room she saw that everyone else was still asleep and that no one had heard her, especially Shinji. That was until she saw Hikari who had a big smirk on her face and shot her a rather knowing wink, which of course was returned with the look of death, mixed with a little embarrassment though.

 

Now let's move onto Kensuke Aida's dream. Most of his dreams started out the same—“Aida, Kensuke Aida.” As he played the role of James Bond in his dreams and he always got the job done, saved the world, and got the girl in the end. As he woke up, he looked around to see only a limited number of people awake and no one to really chat with on the computer. He then started to daydream about the same thing he just dreamed. His daydreams and regular dreams were usually very similar to one another.

 

As for Rei she always seemed to have the same recurring dream- A Birthday Party. She had never had one and the closest thing she had to a birthday was a Project Completion Date that Dr. Akagi used as a way to track her age, and schedule a yearly physical. In truth Rei absolutely hated this as its only purpose, at least to her, was to remind her that she wasn't like the other children. While Rei had made great strides toward becoming more `Normal', thanks mainly to the talks she had with Shinji, she was still very quiet and introverted around everyone but Shinji. Because of this she had never made any friends other than Shinji. And Shinji knew nothing about her dream. In her dreams though she was surrounded by her closest friends and family, although the only one she could see clearly was Shinji, having a great birthday party. Rei woke up with a smile and a blush to her cheeks. Even though she figured in reality it would never happen she was still very happy to at least dream about it. As she looked around the room to see if anyone had noticed she saw Shinji sleeping silently and happily. She thought if anyone was ever going to throw her a birthday party it would probably be him. As she thought this she smiled again while looking at Shinji. This did not go unnoticed by Asuka and she shot a look at Rei that conveyed hatred and death. For a split second their eyes met and Asuka's message was clearly delivered. Rei immediately turned and stared straight ahead to avoid any further “messages” from Asuka. Inside though Rei was laughing hysterically. Rei knew about her origins and that she was biologically a half sister to Shinji, so being close friends with him was good enough for her. Asuka did not know any of this though. Rei also suspected that Asuka liked Shinji and with this little bit of hidden knowledge she could torture her. Rei had developed this little mean streak quickly since the end of the angle attacks and she was quite happy she had it.

 

Now let's move onto Shinji Ikari. It was a bright and beautiful morning and Shinji was making breakfast. As Asuka woke up he greeted her with his usual

“Good Morning Asuka, breakfast will be ready soon.”

“Good Morning Shinji, and thank you” Asuka cooed back soothingly. To add to his dream Asuka was walking around in just her pajamas which Shinji knew were very flimsy and semi-see through. (He knew this because he did all the laundry, but sadly in reality he had never got the chance to see her in just her pajamas since she always put a robe on when she left her room) As they finished breakfast Asuka stood up and slowly walked over to Shinji. She then seductively wrapped her hands around him and pulled themselves very close together and whispered “I want to thank you in a very special way Shinji” and as she stared deeply into his eyes with those stunningly beautiful blue eyes of hers he could feel her hot breath on his lips as she leaned in for a passionate kiss. Just then he heard Kensuke say “Shinji you awake?” and his dream was tragically ended instantly.

Shinji yelled “Damn It, Not Again.”

To which the teacher responded “That's right again. You know class I am very proud of you for paying such close attention to me today.” while the rest of the class giggled at Shinji for his outburst.

 

As the end of school bell rang and the class rep said “Stand, Bow, Dismissed,” Touji was startled from his sleep and promptly fell out of his seat as he tried to get up. Unlike the others who has just taken a short nap he had slept through the whole rest of class, mainly due to the fact he didn't really want to wake up. After the laughter had died down the class rep said “Mr. Suzuhara since you were paying attention so well you can help me clean the room now.” Secretly Hikari was happy at this turn of events, but Touji was trying to do anything to get out of it as he hated cleaning. Although the fact it was with Hikari did make it a little better.

 

As Shinji and Asuka were walking home from school Shinji interrupted Asuka's rant about how funny it was when Touji fell out of his chair “I need to stop in the store to pick up stuff for dinner.”

“OK” Asuka said and then went back into her rant about Touji. As Shinji was leaving the store he noticed Asuka was lagging behind. `Did I forget something?' Shinji thought, but as Asuka came out of the store she handed him an apple and said “Here Shinji, this is the kind of apple you need”

“But this doesn't look any different from the one you took from me” Shinji said. Normally Shinji would not have said anything but he actually was still hungry when Asuka took the other apple away and he was a little miffed about the situation.

“Baka-Shinji just eat the apple” Asuka ordered.

“OK, OK” Shinji said as he figured he had pushed this as far as he should, lest a real argument break out and most likely one he would lose.

“That's a good Shinji, now hurry up I want to get home” Asuka said making sure she got in the last word. As they continued on their way home Shinji could not figure out why there was such a difference in the two apples to Asuka. Although as he was eating it while walking along, for some reason this apple did taste better, but he just thought it was because he was still hungry. He noticed Asuka was now smiling as they walked home and wanted to say something but he figured why push his luck, so he decided to just stop thinking about the situation and enjoy the stroll.

 

Back at Nerv headquarters Misato's phoned buzzed “Commander Katsuragi, head of Personal Security Major Kaji to see you Ma'am”

“Send him in” she replied. “So did my kids have any problems today Kaji?” Misato asked him as he entered her office.

“Nothing out of the ordinary” Kaji answered “they're at home now most likely watching TV.”

“Good” Misato said but then changed to a very seductive tone as she started to unbutton her blouse “Now I have another assignment for you Major Kaji…”

Kaji quickly said “Yes Ma'am” and jumped over her desk to help.

 

Life at Nerv was very boring for most. With no Angels, or Eva's for that matter, there was basically nothing to do. But the UN insisted that the main staff stay together, more out of fear of a tell all book than anything else, so they all got paid to sit around and be ready just in case. Maya and Ritsuko were usually found updating the Magi system or reading the latest computer manual while Makoto and Shigeru were playing video games or Shigeru was teaching Makoto how to play the guitar. Fuyutsuki was usually seen wandering around aimlessly “inspecting things” and making sure everything was running smoothly. Actually everyone knew he was just as bored as they were and that this was his way of passing time until he left for the day.

 

There was one branch of Nerv that was still in real service, and had actually doubled in size over the years as it was now considered Nerv's top priority. Personal Security. It was Kaji's job, at Misato's insistence, to make sure the Eva pilots were to be safe at all times. No one was actually after the children and very few actually knew who they were anyways, but Misato and Kaji were not taking any chances. Only once had they ever had a situation. Shortly after the end of the angel attacks Rei was still living in her run down apartment that was not in the best part of town. One day as she was coming home from Nerv she passed by 4 older boys from her school that were known to be less than polite towards women. Normally they would just holler and harass the girls as they walked by, but one of the boys recognized Rei from school and decided to make a certain proposal to her, which Rei coldly rejected. Sadly for him he did not give up and listen to Rei's no, but instead continued his insistence as Rei walked away from him. He then made an even worse decision as he decided he was going to try and grab her to turn her around. But as he went to grab her two large men in black suites walked out of a nearby alley, one more came out from a nearby van, and still another appeared from a building in front of the boy. As this sequence of events was unfolding Rei felt that something might be wrong, but when she turned around curiously all 4 boys had disappeared. The only thing she saw was a black van speeding away down the road. “That was…strange” she said to herself as she wondered where the 4 boys had disappeared too. The next day at school there was a general announcement that a certain 4 boys were transferring from Tokyo-3 to the school in Tokyo-2. Another announcement followed it “Would Miss Rei Ayanami please report to the principle's office, there is a Ms. Katsuragi to see you.” At the office Misato informed Rei that she was uncomfortable with Rei living in her old apartment and that she had found her a new one that was nicer and closer to school. And also the move was effective immediately. Rei wondered if the disappearance and transfer of the 4 boys and now her move were related, but since she didn't really like her old apartment and the new one was closer to school she decided that thinking about it was not worth her time. After that day Misato doubled the Personal Security force and made sure it was more than adequately funded.

 

“Hi Asuka and Shinji were home” Misato said as she and a disoriented Kaji stepped through the door. Misato went straight to her bedroom to change while Kaji sat down at the kitchen table so he could get his bearings straight.

“Misato Drove?” Inquired Shinji as he was just finishing up dinner

“Misato Drove” Kaji replied still feeling disoriented.

Just then Asuka walked into the kitchen “What's wrong with you?” she asked Kaji.

“Misato Drove” Shinji answered for him as Kaji put his head down on the table.

“Well it's your own fault for letting her” Asuka lamented and then added “Is dinner ready yet?”

“Yup” Shinji said serving up 4 plates of ramen with pork as Misato came into the kitchen. At dinner Asuka and Misato talked about their respective days, while Kaji and Shinji sat silently eating their dinner. They had both found it easier to have a peaceful conversation at dinner if neither one of them talked.

 

After dinner Shinji cleaned up the kitchen and Misato and Asuka announced they were off to do a little shopping. Once done cleaning Shinji grabbed a can of pop and two beers and joined Kaji and PenPen who were watching TV on the couch.

“Kaji I have a question” Shinji said as he handed a beer to Kaji and PenPen.

“Shoot away” Kaji said.

Shinji then went into explaining the apple episode to Kaji and finished “And I can't figure out what is was all about.”

“Well my boy, what you are trying to do is figure out what a woman is thinking, and that usually leads to trouble.” Kaji started as he went on to try and explain why sometimes it is better to just go with the flow than to think too hard about these things. In truth though Kaji could see what was really happening but saying it would just create more problems than it solved, and it was better for Shinji and Asuka to work this out. After Kaji had finished his spiel PenPen threw in his two cents with a “Wark, Wark” and both laughed and agreed that he was probably right and turned their attention to the TV.

 

“Were back” Asuka said triumphantly while holding a couple shopping bags.

“Geez, if you two buy anymore clothes were going to have to move to a bigger place” a now poorer Kaji complained as he noticed Misato coming in with 4 bags of her own.

“Really” Misato and Asuka said to each other getting suddenly wide eyed. At this Kaji quickly turned off the TV and said it was bedtime for all and grabbed Misato before any further discussion could take place. As he was leading Misato to the bedroom he said to Shinji “And sometimes it's better to keep your mouth shut.”

“What was that all about?” Asuka inquired as Kaji's outburst confused her.

“Nothing important” Shinji said following it with “Goodnight Asuka” to which Asuka replied “Night Baka-Shinji, and don't you have any perverted dreams about me, or else” while shaking her fist. And so just another normal day ended for all. Well except for Touji as he was still limping around and trying to come up with a good explanation for hurting himself to satisfy his little sister's questions without actually telling her the truth.