Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

The Swim of Things

By Ret Nuh

 

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“Do you think she will be so pissed she won't come to school today?” Touji asked a touch on the hopeful side.

 

“No such luck” Hikari answered him. “If she misses class she can't practice.”

 

Kensuke added “I bet she gets into a fight today.”

 

“As long as it has nothing to do with me, I don't care” Touji told him. Even if he was one of the stronger kids in school Touji didn't want to get in a scuffle with the brash red head. She was a known wildcat that fought with a vicious nature. Definitely not something you want to tangle with if you valued your hide.

 

It was at this point that Asuka walked in the room. Hikari very cautiously said hi to her. Asuka responded with a casual hello back and a hello stooges to the other two. She then went and sat down in her seat to get ready for the school day. The three friends all looked at each other confused. They pretty much had guessed that she would have been extremely pissed off and in a foul mood right now but she was actually pretty calm. After a little prodding Hikari agreed to go over and talk to Asuka to see if anything was happening and also why she was being so complacent.

 

While Hikari was walking over to Asuka Shinji entered the room. Kensuke and Touji followed him to his seat. “Rough night last night huh?” Kensuke asked.

 

“It had its moments.” Shinji answered. “But I don't really want to talk about it.”

 

“I don't blame you” Touji sniggered. “No point in reliving hell. But you seem to have survived intact.”

 

“I pretty much hid behind Keiko most of the time.” Shinji smirked back.

 

“Hiding behind a baby” Touji jeered. “You wuss.”

 

Shinji just shrugged his shoulders at Touji like he didn't care.

 

Kensuke though contradicted Touji's statement with “You have to do what you have to do to get by in this world.” The three of them then saw Rei walk into the room. “I almost expected her to be in bandages again.”

 

“I think they worked something out” Shinji told his two friends. Both Kensuke and Touji looked at him like they just saw a pig fly out of his head. Shinji chuckled to himself a bit as what he said was something that just yesterday he would have thought was impossible too. He elaborated “Rei can help Asuka win. And when you get down to it that's what Asuka wants so it's not as weird as it sounds.”

 

That did make an ounce of sense to the other two boys. Asuka was a very competitive person who would stop at nothing to win. She routinely played sports with the boys during lunch and because of her athletic skills and abilities she was always one of the first ones picked. And if she was on your team winning was the highest priority and she would let you know it if you tried to slack off. So it came down to Asuka wanted to win. Rei could help her do that. So as weird as it sounds it makes sense.

 

On the other side of the room “… You and Ayanami worked things out???” This was said with complete disbelief.

 

“The coach was right” Asuka answered plainly. “She can help us win and that's what I care about.”

 

Hikari knew Asuka much better than the other two boys so she wasn't going to buy that answer. There was much more to this. “There's something you're not telling me, isn't there?”

 

“Stop being so suspicious” Asuka said blowing her comment off. “The coach said we have a chance to go to Nationals with Ayanami on our team. It pains me to say this but I know I won't get that far in the individuals. And last year when the relay team missed out on the regionals by .05 of a second it left a very bad taste in my mouth. If Blue improves like the coach says she will we have a better chance.” Asuka then looked directly at Hikari “And don't think just because you're my best friend that I won't work your little ass off too, because I will. You're on my team now and I expect the best.”

 

This sounded much more like the Asuka she knew so Hikari accepted that answer. It didn't mean Hikari didn't suspect something more was going on but she didn't care about it as much now. The school bell then rang and class was started.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

At practice Touji and Kensuke were surprised to see Shinji sit down next to them. “What?” he asked as the two other boys looked at him with extreme strangeness for the second time today.

 

“Why aren't you sitting near the top like always?” Kensuke asked with Touji following up “And where are your sunglasses?”

 

“I lost them?” Shinji answered as technically it was the truth. Asuka really did hate those sunglasses and when he put them on this morning while walking to school she ripped them right off his face and threw them to the ground. She then milled them into the ground with her foot and said “Did I mention my distaste for those things?” Shinji got the less than subtle hint and left them lying on the ground as they continued towards school. Rei looked at the sunglasses on the ground for a second as well. She then stepped on them as she continued on her way. Quite frankly she didn't like them either. As for the other question he pointed over at Karowu and said “If I sit by Touji he won't bug me.”

 

Touji looked over at Karowu and growled. He and Karowu had a spirited introduction when school started back up again. As to be expected with their time in adolescence along with some time had passed between when everyone had last seen one another, some maturing was noticed. Quite a few of the girls came back with a little more body, especially on top. None more so than Hikari Horaki.

 

Many boys noticed this very quickly but few approached her. There was already a rumor going around that she was taken.

 

Karowu was new to the surroundings so he didn't know better and he decided to introduce himself to Hikari in a special way. He was thinking she would make a rather pleasing friend that could offer him some interesting tangibles. So before class one day he walked up behind her and pressed his body up next to hers.

 

Hikari whispered quietly “What are you doing? I thought we agreed that we were going to keep this a secret.”

 

She then heard a whispered answer back “It's no secret. I love you.”

 

That whispered voice was definitely the wrong one and when she noticed a hand press against the back of her skirt she let out a loud scream. Everyone's attention was immediately gotten.

 

Touji looked up quickly just in time to see Hikari jump away from Karowu and cry out “He touched me!”

 

That is when Touji decided to make his introduction to the new kid. It took four teachers to pry Touji away from Karowu and by the time they were able to many lessons were learned. The school learned the rumors about Hikari and Touji were correct. And since Touji was one of the biggest and strongest kids in school already Hikari was deemed strictly off limits from that day forward. Touji learned that the punishment for fighting in school was a one week suspension. This bothered Hikari much more than it did Touji. Karowu learned that humans don't heal nearly as fast as angels. The five weeks in bandages emphasized that. He also learned that not everyone liked him and there were people he should stay away from. Touji, and Hikari by connection, were the first ones. The third and potentially more dangerous was Asuka. She made this known by “accidentally” hitting him routinely where he was injured during the five weeks he was injured. There was also an interesting side effect to all this. Touji's respect level rose in Asuka's eyes. Sure she still picked on and tormented the stooge but she didn't have a problem with him dating Hikari anymore.

 

“How pissed do you think Hikari would get if I had to miss another week of school?” Touji asked the other two while still glowering at Karowu. He jumped from his seat backwards when he heard a stern reply “VERY!” Touji should have been paying more attention to his surrounding than thinking how he was going to kick angel boy's ass because when he asked his question he failed to notice Hikari was standing right under him. Kensuke and Shinji had to snicker as Hikari chastised him for even thinking of getting into a fight.

 

When Hikari finally walked away he grumbled “Why the hell didn't you warn me she was standing there?”

 

“Because it would have spoiled the fun.” Kensuke laughed. They then heard a loud snap. When Kensuke and Touji looked over they saw Shinji holding the tail end of a twisted up wet towel.

 

“Nice of you to come in range” Asuka said as she yanked her towel back. Shinji just nodded his head at her. Asuka then turned and walked off. The only thing else the two shared was a slight hidden smile.

 

After Asuka had left Shinji noticed Kensuke and Touji staring at him strangely again. “Will you two stop that? It's bugging me.”

 

“H-h-how did you do that?” Touji stuttered.

 

“No one ever catches one of Asuka's rat tails” Kensuke said in amazement.

 

“Reflexes I guess” Shinji said with a shrug of his shoulders.

 

“Where can I get reflexes like that?” Touji wondered out loud.

 

“Eva training” Shinji answered.

 

“I don't remember any training like that.” Touji told him.

 

“That's because you only had a couple days of training” Shinji replied and then smirked as he gave Touji's leg a light kick. “And that's not the only thing you forgot.”

 

“You know I think Asuka is right about you” Kensuke added. “You've got to be the only idiot in the world who forgot he lost a limb when he re-envisioned himself.”

 

Touji answered with a little smirk “Doesn't bother me any.” The other two had to laugh at him for that but what he said was true. It truly did not bother him at all. When most people came back they were on the lost and confused side but Touji was different. When he came back he noticed he was standing there on the beach, on two legs no less. He started to jump up and down while waving his arms and hollering causing many people to believe he was a raving lunatic. He stopped though when he heard a little girls voice cut thru the air. It was a very familiar one and one that he missed hearing. It called out “Onii-chan.” He turned to look for the sound of the voice and found it in his dad's arms. His little sister was alright too. To him that was one of the happiest days of his life. Well that and the next day when he bumped into a blushing and bashful Hikari who said hi to him with a big hug.

 

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In the pool area Hikari had just finished a hundred meter lap. Asuka was waiting for her. “Not fast enough. You can do better.”

 

“Yes Captain” Hikari replied back snidely while catching her breath.

 

Asuka answered her by throwing Hikari a towel and saying “Your form needs work as well.”

 

“My form is just fine” Hikari told her. “Remember, I have been doing this a lot longer than you.”

 

“I don't know about that. You seem to be creating some drag in the water.” Asuka then looked at Hikari while developing a little smirk. “Maybe you should think about taping those puppies down.”

 

Hikari looked down at her chest for a second and replied angrily “I most certainly will not!”

 

“It was only a suggestion.”

 

“A dumb one” Hikari said back as they walked around the side of the pool.

 

“I don't make dumb suggestions” Asuka said back arrogantly.

 

“I beg to differ” Hikari teased back. “That was either a really dumb one or…” Hikari ramped up her teasing voice “You're jealous.”

 

“I am not!” Asuka said back almost before Hikari could even finish saying it.

 

Hikari smiled at her as she knew she had gotten closer to a truth than Asuka had wanted her to.

 

Asuka though tried to cover up for her little faux pas by saying “I don't want really big ones. Misato says they hurt your back.”

 

“I'm not even close to that big.” Hikari exclaimed.

 

“Well if you keep letting Touji massage them you will be” Asuka teased. But after she said that she noticed Hikari had stopped walking beside her and when she turned around she saw a friend with a red face. “I was just kidding. You don't need to get all embarrassed about it.” Hikari's face started to lighten up a little bit but a little of the blush still remained as a different kind of smile came over Hikari's face. It was a kind of smile she had seen before, specifically on Misato's face. It was a smile of experience. Hikari must have known exactly what Asuka was kidding about. Asuka took a nervous swallow and said “I was kidding….. Right?”

 

Hikari whispered in her ear “Well we have been dating for a very long time.”

 

“How could…” Asuka started to say out loud before Hikari slapped a hand over it.

 

“Tell the whole world why don't you?”

 

Asuka quieted down to a whisper. “Sorry.”

 

“It's okay. Just don't spread it around.” Hikari told her. “We don't really want it known what we do in our privacy.”

 

Asuka nodded her head yes to that but had to ask out of curiosity “That kind of thing doesn't really make them grow… does it?” But as she asked that question she threw a glance over at Shinji that she herself didn't really notice.

 

But Hikari did. “I knew there was something going on that I didn't know about. You didn't only settle your differences with Rei last night did you?”

 

Asuka looked down towards the ground and pleaded more than she asked “Please don't ask me about that yet.”

 

Hikari could tell Asuka truly was humbled at this point so she let up. “Ok, I will stop. But someday I hope you will trust me with the truth.”

 

“I already do.” Asuka quickly said before adding “But I'm not ready. Just give me a little time.”

 

Hikari smiled at her “Then it can wait till you are ready. Now let's get back to practice.”

 

“Ummmm…. Before we do, about that last question?”

 

Hikari grinned at her. “You are supposed to be the know it all.”

 

“Well yeah but from the looks of it…” Asuka said with a blush.

 

“It's all genetics.” Hikari told her. “My older sister Kodama went through the same growth spurt at around 15 and my dad said so did my mom.” She then threw a wink at Asuka as she added “But I'm not going to lie to you. The massages feel incredible.”

 

Asuka blushed a little bit more as she looked over at Shinji. She took a quick gulp and let out a weak little whine “I am so not ready for this.”

 

Hikari had to laugh at her a little for that as they got in line for the diving blocks. From the other side of her she heard “Is there a problem?”

 

“With me Blue, there's always a problem” Asuka told Rei. “But I noticed you are creating too much splash with your kicks. Try to condense them a little more while keeping the same amount of power and that should improve your times.”

 

Rei nodded her head yes at Asuka. “I will try.”

 

When the three of them were next up in the line at the blocks Asuka told them “I expect you two to be within one second of my time. If you're not we will keep doing these sprints until you are.”

 

Rei looked over at Hikari with an expression asking if Asuka was serious. Hikari only nodded a worried yes. Rei let out a sigh as practice was most likely going to get difficult now.

 

As they got on the blocks Asuka wondered out loud “Where's Mana? She should be practicing with us.” Rei's eyes filled with terror as she saw the answer to that question. Hikari's eyes followed Rei's to the source and reacted the same way. Both of them then looked at Asuka and saw her eyes practically blaze up. Right before the take off horn sounded the two other girls heard a low growl from Asuka. “That Bitch!”

 

Both Hikari and Rei gave it everything they had but when they hit the sensors on the far end of the pool and popped their heads above the water the only thing they saw was an angry redhead already out of the pool and making her way towards Mana. Not even the coach telling Asuka she did great stopped her.

 

Mana was standing by where the boys were talking to each other. She was kind of poking her chest out trying to look very cute. She wasn't getting the attention she wanted yet so she was about to say something. Asuka though showed up first and barked “We're not here to flirt! We're here to practice.”

 

Mana jumped a bit and turned around. “Geez you don't have to bite my head off. I was just trying to have a little fun.”

 

“Well have it after practice” Asuka told her. “Rei, Hikari, and I have all swam four sprints already along with a couple hundred meter laps.”

 

“So” Mana answered.

 

“Soooo” Asuka mocked back. “You have only swam two laps all day and your times were horrible.”

 

“Those were just warm up laps” Mana said rolling her eyes at Asuka. “Stop being so pushy.”

 

“Pushy am I?” Asuka said losing her temper. “I will show you pushy!” and Mana found herself unexpectedly in the pool.

 

The coach came up behind Asuka. “Asuka knock it off. I'm the coach and I will handle any motivation problems, got it?”

 

“Yes ma'am” Asuka answered. She then looked over at Hikari and Rei. “You two weren't even close. We're doing it again.”

 

The other two girls both let out exasperated breaths and trudged their way towards the blocks. The coach looked down at Mana. “So what are you waiting for?”

 

“But- but I just got pushed into the pool” Mana whined.

 

“So? It's a pool and you're a swimmer” the coach told her. “Now get up on the blocks with Sohryu, Horaki, and Ayanami.”

 

“But- but” Mana continued to whine.

 

“But nothing.” The coach told her raising her voice. “If you want to stay on the first team you better take practice more seriously.” Mana answered by slapping the water and whining to herself the whole way over to the blocks.

 

When that sprint was finished Asuka looked up at the coach. The coach shook her head no and Asuka yelled “Again” to the other three girls. That's how practice went for the rest of the day till the coach finally blew her whistle and told everyone to hit the showers.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Asuka grabbed a quick shower and got changed. Before she left though the coach called her into her office. “About the relay team you are on Asuka. I may make a change to it after all.”

 

“Why?” Asuka questioned.

 

“Some of the senior girls have expressed their frustrations over not making the first team.”

 

“Too bad for them” Asuka said without a real care. “If they wanted on the team so badly maybe they should have tried harder.”

 

“For the most part I agree with you” the coach told her. “But for the sake of keeping the peace I'm going to switch Ayanami with one of them.”

 

“Not a chance” Asuka quickly yelled.

 

“But just yesterday you were demanding I remove her from the team” the coach argued back.

 

Asuka took a breath to calm down and told her coach “Look, I was wrong about that and you were right. Rei has a lot of potential.”

 

That answer caught the coach completely by surprise. Whoever this person in front of her was it wasn't Asuka. “Are you feeling all right?”

 

“I had a change of heart yesterday and lets leave it at that” Asuka said and then offered an alternative idea. “If you want to replace anyone on my team, replace that slacker Mana.”

 

“You know I can't do that” the coach told her. “She is the number three swimmer and if I replace her and leave the number four girl on the team I would never hear the end of it.”

 

“Then just wait.” Asuka said.

 

What?”

 

“Just wait” Asuka said again. “By the time we have our first real meet in a month I guarantee Rei will overtake Mana.”

 

The coach let out a very big sigh at that answer. “You're making my job very difficult.” She then looked squarely at Asuka “Are you sure you can guarantee this?”

 

Asuka answered yes without even the slightest bit of doubt.

 

“Ok” the coach said shaking her head as she didn't know why she was going along with this. “But you better be right.”

 

“I'm always right.” Asuka answered egotistically with a flip of her hair.

 

As the coach watched Asuka walk out of her office she wondered out loud “Sometimes I wonder if this job's really worth all the hassle.”

 

When Asuka walked out of the office and over to her locker to get her book bag three senior girls made their way strait to the coach's office. As Asuka walked by the office to leave there was three girls glaring at her from out of it. She just kept on walking by as she didn't really give a damn what they thought.

 

In the showers Rei was leaning her head up against the wall while she let the hot water pound against her sore muscles. Hikari was next to her doing the same thing. On the far end Mana was still there too but she was bitching to other girls about how horrible Asuka was.

 

Rei let out a little breath and said quietly “May I ask you a question Miss Horaki?”

 

Hikari nodded her head yes while saying “Just call me Hikari. We're friends now.”

 

“Was Asuka simply trying to test us?”

 

“To see if we break?” Hikari asked.

 

Rei nodded her head yes.

 

“I wish I could say yes” Hikari told her with pain in her voice. “But she wasn't. She expects the best of herself and those around her. Trust me, she will push us everyday to get there. Thankfully though she will never push us as hard as she will push herself.”

 

“She has only changed somewhat.” Rei sighed out.

 

With a little more pain in her voice Hikari whimpered out “Is it a bad thing to wish for the old days when she only cared about herself?”

 

That brought a little smile to Rei's face and she responded “I wonder if I can get on her bad side again?”

 

Hikari started giggling at that.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Asuka walked out of school and down the block a bit to where she found Shinji waiting for her. “You weren't by any chance waiting for me, were you?”

 

“Who says I was waiting for you?” Shinji said back. “Maybe I was waiting for Kensuke, Touji, or Rei.”

 

“Kensuke's already long gone, Touji's waiting for Hikari outside the locker room, and Rei was still in the showers when I left.”

 

“Well I guess I'm stuck with you then” Shinji answered back, with just a touch of blush to his cheeks. Acting like this to Asuka caused him to be a touch flustered.

 

“Guess you are.” Asuka said as they started to walk together towards home. Both were displaying something of a rarity, smiles.

 

Shinji asked while walking “Should I be waiting outside the locker room like Touji?”

 

Asuka shook her head no. “I would rather meet up outside of school for now. Is that ok with you?” She asked that question tentatively as she didn't want to sound like she was slighting him.

 

“It's ok” Shinji answered with a smile. Shinji's understanding made her smile again as well. They walked a little more of the way before Shinji smirked “You know I could probably get you in trouble.”

 

“What for?” Asuka smirked back.

 

“You lost your temper and pushed Mana into the pool.” Shinji teased.

 

“So?” Asuka answered gruffly. “She deserved it.”

 

“But still, you lost your temper and lashed out” Shinji pointed out. “Misato doesn't like that.”

 

“Well it's not like you didn't enjoy it.” Asuka sassed back.

 

“Me?” Shinji questioned mockingly.

 

“I saw you smiling.” Asuka teased.

 

“No I wasn't” Shinji said. “I was aghast at the rudeness of it.”

 

“Spare me” Asuka laughed. “It was an ear to ear smile.” Asuka then stopped walking and flipped her hair while looking directly at him. “You got your rocks off because I got jealous.”

 

Asuka had hit the nail right on the head with that statement and the only thing Shinji could say was “I uhh….” while blushing.

 

“I knew it” Asuka teased him again.

 

“Well can you blame me?” Shinji asked as they started walking again.

 

“I am magnificent, aren't I?” Asuka said with a smug smile and a brush of her hand through her hair.

 

“Yup.”

 

Asuka switched over to a pouty voice “I wouldn't mind seeing you get jealous over me.”

 

“But I suck at it” Shinji said. “I get all mopey and sullen. You make it into a big presentation and are so much better.”

 

“Yeah I am” She smiled while giggling. “If you want I can teach how?”

 

“Misato would probably have a problem with that.”

 

Asuka gave him a little shove. “Wuss.”

 

Shinji actually gave her a small shove back. “Am not.”

 

“Feeling competitive, are we Ikari?” Asuka said with a feisty smile. “I'll race you home.”

 

“What?”

 

Asuka answered Shinji's confusion by taking off and yelling “Loser has to make dinner.” Shinji stood there for a second, watching the beautiful red head run, then took off after her. No way was he ever going to let her escape again.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Asuka was the first to get to the door of the apartment, Shinji was only seconds behind her. While taking off her shoes and breathing heavily Asuka teased him “Ha ha I won.”

 

“You cheated” Shinji accused.

 

“Hey I'm not the one who was sitting on his butt during practice. I deserved a head start.”

 

“You threw your book bag at me and made me carry it the second I got close to you.” Shinji quickly said.

 

“I didn't throw it, I dropped it” Asuka falsely corrected. “And besides you should be carrying my books now.”

 

Shinji didn't argue either of those points but he did ask “Why is your bag so heavy?”

 

“It just is.” Asuka told him and snatched it away.

 

“I would have caught you if it wasn't.”

 

“You couldn't catch me in a million years” Asuka challenged.

 

“Oh yeah” Shinji challenge back. There was just something about Asuka's playful spirit that brought out more in Shinji. It was like he couldn't resist her temptations.

 

“Yeah.” Asuka said and a second later the two were chasing each other around the apartment.

 

When Misato saw them running around she knew she should say something along the lines of “Stop running around before you break something.” But since she was actually happy to see the two acting like that she just said “Careful around the furniture you two.” Just in case Misato went over to where Keiko was playing with some toys and picked her up. “Let's just stay out of their way for now.”

 

Keiko looked at the two teens running around the house. “Asa, Shini pay?”

 

“Yup. Auntie Asuka and uncle Shinji are playing.”

 

“Me pay. Me pay.” Keiko said excitedly.

 

“Sorry honey but you're too little to play with those two right now.” Misato told her little one.

 

Keiko started to sniffle at that answer and cried “Me pay.”

 

Misato staved off the impending tantrum by asking “How about you play with mommy instead?”

 

Keiko stopped crying and looked up at her mommy. She then cooed out “Mommy pay.”

 

Then Misato put her down and chased her little one around the kitchen table while little Keiko cooed out happily. She just wanted to have fun like her auntie and uncle.

 

Shinji had Asuka cornered behind the couch. She tried to make a fast break to the left but Shinji leapt at her and caught her by the foot. Asuka looked back at him and warned “It's awfully dangerous to catch a tiger by the toe.”

 

“Not when you know the tigers weakness.” Shinji said with a little smile.

 

“I don't have any weaknesses.” Asuka proclaimed proudly.

 

“Really” Shinji teased and then lightly drew his finger across the bottom of her foot.

 

Asuka immediately stiffened up. “Don't you dare Shinji Ikari.”

 

“Don't I dare do what?” Shinji asked as he drew his fingers across the bottom of her foot again. He was testing the waters here, seeing if Asuka got mad at him or kept playing along. Right now he was searching for their limits.

 

Asuka stiffened up again and bit her lip desperately trying not to react. She then pulled her foot away quickly to escape. She didn't count on Shinji holding onto her sock and she quickly found herself with a bare foot. Asuka gulped and said “Y-You stay away from me.” Shinji crept a little closer. Asuka scooted away a bit. Shinji crept a little closer again. Asuka tried to scoot away again but found her back against the wall. She let out a little “Oh no” and closed her eyes tightly as she knew she was trapped. She felt Shinji grabbed her foot and draw his finger over the bare flesh of the bottom of her foot. She couldn't help but giggle. She then braced herself for the worst as she knew how ticklish she was. But instead she felt Shinji put her sock back on. She opened one eye and asked almost in disappointment “Aren't you gonna tickle me?”

 

“Maybe later” Shinji answered and pointed up to Misato who was standing there with Keiko in her arms.

 

“So whose cooking dinner?” Misato asked.

 

“He lost so he has to” Asuka said pointing at Shinji.

 

“Really” Misato said. “It sure looked like he was winning to me.”

 

Asuka got a slight blush to her cheeks and said bashfully “Not that. When we were racing.”

 

“Well no matter” Misato said not totally understanding Asuka's answer. “I need to run a quick errand. So can you feed Keiko her dinner and watch her?” Asuka and Shinji both got up off the floor and Asuka took Keiko from Misato and over to her highchair while Shinji headed towards the kitchen. “Make sure she eats the little pieces of meat I cut up for her” Misato shouted as she headed towards the door. “And if she's thirsty give her milk. She has already had too much juice for today.”

 

When the door closed the first thing Keiko said was “Juith.” Asuka looked at her and pouted “How did I know you were going to say that.”

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

When Rei finally dragged herself into her place she immediately collapsed into one of her plush reading chairs. She reached down and whimpered a little as it took some muscle to pull the handle on the recliner. But the payoff was worth it as she let out a long sigh of relief as the comfortable reclining position was incredibly pleasing to her. She then heard her door's buzzer followed by “It's just me” and Misato came in.

 

Misato looked at Rei. “A little sore are we?”

 

Rei simply nodded her head yes but her eyes told the real story. There was nothing simple about the soreness. The girl was in pain.

 

Misato then got a guilty look on her face as she asked “This is gonna sound kinda weird but can I borrow one of your instant cup of noodles?”

 

Rei wanted to turn her head and look very oddly at Misato but that would have taken too much effort so she simply answered “Yes.” She then heard Misato tear into her cupboards, grab something, and throw it in the microwave.

 

As the microwave whirred away Misato kept saying “Hurry up, Hurry up!” Then there was a ding and Rei heard Misato say “Oh hot hot hot!” and blow on something. That was followed by a moan of enjoyment. Misato made her way over to Rei and sat down in the chair opposite of her. “You have no idea how much I've missed eating these things.”

 

This time Rei did not have to turn her head to look oddly at Misato so she did.

 

Misato let out a little laugh. “Asuka says these things are full of empty calories and have too much sodium so she won't even let them be in the house.”

 

“She's correct.” Rei responded.

 

“I know. But they taste so good!” Misato cooed as she slurped up some more.

 

“I preferred Shinji's stew over those.”

 

“I'm not knocking Shinji's cooking” Misato said in-between bites. “But sometimes these things really hit the spot for me.”

 

“That is quite obvious” Rei commented as her eyes started to droop.

 

“By the way could you do me a little favor?” Misato asked of the tired teen. “Don't tell Asuka about this.”

 

Rei gave her a little nod of the head yes and her eyes closed all the way as she breathed out “Please wake me for dinner.”

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

After a five minute temper tantrum Keiko finally realized she wasn't going to get any more juice so she stopped crying, smiled at Asuka, and drank some milk happily from her sippy cup. Asuka breathed a huge sigh of relief as she was just seconds away from giving in to the crying child. As Keiko started to eat her food Asuka felt a peck at her leg. “Stop begging PenPen. It's rude.” PenPen looked up at her and warked. He then walked over to Shinji and pecked his leg. Shinji cut off a small chunk of the fish he was preparing and threw it to him. PenPen gobbled it up happily and wandered off towards the TV. “You spoil that bird too much.”

 

“It's just a little piece of fish.” Shinji said back. They then heard the TV turn on.

 

“And did you have to teach him how to use the remote?”

“It was either that or do the channel surfing for him” Shinji said.

 

“But he picks the dumbest shows to watch” Asuka complained.

 

After flipping through the channels for about five minutes PenPen settled on a show that looked interesting. A perky female field reporter came on. Next to her stood an unkempt and rather dubious looking man. The perky reporter had to fight off the heavy stench of sake he was emanating as she started her report “Today in our search for the truth about the Evangelions and Angels we have someone who claims to have been one of the pilots of the Evas” The perky reporter announced. “Now sir, which one did you claim to be the pilot of?”

 

“I was da pilot of da orange one. Den I switched over to the blue one because I didn't like the orange one anymore.” PenPen watched as the reporter looked like she was seriously biting her lip while the guy was talking.

 

“That's very… interesting sir” the perky reporter said, although if you were listening closely you could tell there was strain in her voice.

 

The halfwit then grabbed the microphone from her and said “I also piloted da big red robot too.”

 

The perky reporter grabbed the microphone back and looked at the man with contempt. While she did that PenPen watched as a spoon went flying over his head and hit the TV, splattering applesauce over it.

 

“You ever call my mommy a robot again and I will pound you into a puddle of red goo myself!” Asuka's comment was said at a rather loud level so PenPen missed what the reporter said but it looked something like “Fucking Moron.” The perky reporter then turned back towards the camera. “Well folks looks like we ran into another phony here. But rest assured I will not stop searching till I find the truth.” She then smiled brightly, cocked her head slightly to the side and waived her hand while saying “So that's all for me, Maya Ibuki, and my trusty cameraman Makoto Hyuga. So good evening and see you tomorrow everybody. Te he.”

 

“Thank you Miss Ibuki. A pleasant report as always” the news anchor said. “And now onto sports with Ryo Hayakawa…” PenPen flipped the TV off. He hopped off the couch and picked up the spoon off the floor and carried it over to Shinji. Shinji took it and gave him a paper towel and the penguin went over and wiped off the TV screen with it. Asuka got up and grabbed another spoon out of a drawer for Keiko and sat back down while saying “I can't believe those two get paid to do that.”

 

“Some people will believe anything they're told on TV” Shinji said.

 

Asuka replied with only one word “Baka.”

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

When dinner was served Asuka noticed Misato only took a small portion. “I thought you really liked Shinji's baked fish?” she questioned suspiciously.

 

Without looking up Misato answered cautiously “I had a bigger lunch than normal. Don't want to gain back any of the baby weight I lost.” She then threw a quick glance over to Rei to see if she was going to say anything. But she had nothing to worry about, Rei kept her mouth shut. In fact it looked like Rei was barely there as she was half asleep and you could tell her mind was elsewhere, specifically in her bed or comfy chair.

 

Keiko though provided the disruption Misato was looking for to escape Asuka's gaze as she was reaching for one of Misato's chopsticks. “Do you want a piece?” she asked but when she tried to give Keiko a flake of fish Keiko instead grabbed one of the chopsticks out of her hand. The little girl then giggled as she gave it a toss threw the air. Shinji grabbed it out of mid-air and handed it back to Misato. “Thank you” Misato said and turned her attention back over to Keiko. “That's odd. Since when did you start throwing eating utensils?”

 

Both Asuka and Shinji dropped their heads to hide their snickers but Misato noticed anyway and the glaring going on at the dinner table was reversed as she could tell those two were hiding something.

 

After dinner was over Asuka and Shinji headed over to the couch to watch TV again. Rei was going to try and help with the dishes again but Misato sent her home to bed. Rei didn't even argue the point.

 

Asuka was flipping through the channels looking for a good show when she stopped on Jeopardy. “I love this show!”

 

“That's because you can answer more of the questions than the rest of us” Shinji said.

 

“Can we watch it… pleeaassee???” Asuka asked in a cute voice. Shinji smiled at her and gave in. When Asuka wanted to, she could be devastatingly cute. After watching the show for five minutes she laid her head on a pillow and put her feet up on Shinji's lap. She then looked at Shinji and falsely admonished “No tickling.”

 

“Maybe later?” Shinji asked.

 

“Maybe” Asuka answered. “But for right now I jut want to relax.” Five minutes later she was asleep.

 

After a while Misato came out of Keiko's room and went to sit with them. She looked down at Asuka and said quietly “I doubt she's going to move over.” Shinji shook his head no.

 

Kaji though offered from the chair he was sitting in “You can sit with me.”

 

“Ok” Misato said. “But no funny stuff.”

 

“Who me?” Kaji asked innocently as Misato went over and got comfortable in his lap.

 

Shinji looked over at the two and with a smug expression on his face. “Do I need to have a talk with you two?”

 

Both of them quietly laughed back at his little joke. Him being with Asuka was already doing wonders for the boy's disposition. In the pass a display of affection between his guardians would have caused him to leave for his room with a depressed look on his face. But right now the boy looked pretty happy.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Asuka felt a finger tickle the bottom of her foot. “I said no tickling” she giggled sleepily. She then noticed the TV. “Hey where's my show?”

 

“It ended two and a half hours ago” Shinji answered.

 

“Huh?” Asuka said confused at first until she noticed it was dark outside. “What time is it?”

 

“9:30 pm” Shinji answered. “We should be going to bed now.”

 

Asuka whimpered “I don't want to get up.”

 

“I bet Rei and Hikari would like to know you're too sore to move.” Shinji said in a off the collar type of way. Asuka didn't even answer him though as her eyes started to droop back down. Shinji lifted her feet off of his lap and put them on the floor. He then pulled her up into a sitting position. Asuka pouted a bit as Shinji pulled her upright off the couch and helped her to her room. Once there she fell into her bed and instantly curled up into her blankets. “Good night Asuka.” Shinji said as he closed her door. He heard a very drowsy “Night Shinji” followed by sleeping breaths. Shinji couldn't help but smile. That right there was Asuka's soft side that she didn't show to anyone but those she greatly cared about. And it seemed to him that Asuka seemed very comfortable showing him that part of her.

 

\\\\||||////

*********** OOO ***********

////||||\\\\

 

It was several days later, Friday to be exact, and the teens were in school. There was a couple changes to the way school was run now. Most of the old second impact teachers were forced into retirement. They complained to no end about this as they were all looking forward to droning on and on about third impact as it was something new and fresh that they could really sink their teeth into. It was also something the parents association wanted to avoid at all costs. They put great political pressure on the school board during the formation of the curriculum and as a result real teachers who taught real facts were put in the classroom. This made it vastly harder to goof off and chat during class as the kids had to pay attention now. Of course just because it was harder didn't mean it still didn't happen because Shinji and Asuka were having a nice little chat online with each other during class while the teacher went over a trigonometry lesson.

 

Right now the teacher, Mr. Ohta, was writing a few problems on the board when he heard the unmistakable clacking of computer keys when there shouldn't have been. This was math class, and you took notes by hand in math, not on the computer. He turned around and looked at his class. He was not surprised to see Asuka's head was down staring at her computer screen. He had a distinct notion that Asuka knew more about most of the subjects he taught than he did. He had also noticed she rarely paid any attention to him during class because of that. Sometimes she would even pull out college level books and read them during class while he was teaching. Normally this would drive a teacher nuts but he was pre-warned about her by Misato. Misato told him she wasn't so much interested in Asuka getting an academic education as she was in her getting a social education. I.e. being allowed to be around kids her own age and being allowed to act like one of them.

 

The other head that was down did surprise him though. So far this year Shinji was one of his more attentive students. He found himself wondering what was going on here. He knew it wouldn't do any good but he tried to catch Asuka off guard first. More to see if that stopped Shinji from typing so he could find out if they were talking to each other or if the both of them typing away was merely coincidence. “Miss Sohryu, would you please come up to the board and do the first problem.”

 

Asuka looked up from her screen “Huh?.. Me?”

 

The teacher nodded his head yes and Asuka looked at the blackboard. She shrugged her shoulders and said “Ok” with a roll of her eyes as the question was nowhere near difficult for her. She walked straight up to the board and immediately wrote the answer.

 

The teacher just nodded his head yes again and told her “good job” as she got it right and then told her to go sit back down. For the second problem he called upon Shinji, who had stopped typing the second Asuka got called upon. That clearly answered that question in his head.

 

Shinji hadn't been paying attention and unlike Asuka did not know how to solve the problem. He started to get very nervous as he walked towards the front of the class. There was no way he was going to be able to do this problem and he figured he was in trouble now. But as he passed by Asuka's desk she turned her computer slightly so he could see the screen. On it he read: It's an oblique triangle. Use the law of cosines; C² = A² + B² - 2AB cos C. The answer is 4.

 

Asuka smiled and chuckled to herself for a second as she saw the look of fear in his eyes disappeared. She royally just saved his ass.

 

When Shinji got to the blackboard he looked at the problem in front of him for about a half minute before he wrote out that formula on the board. He then looked over at the teacher and the teacher told him that he was correct and that was the proper equation to use. Shinji then stood there for about a minute more acting like he was trying to figure out the numbers in his head. Finally he wrote the number 4 on the board.

 

“Very good Mr. Ikari. You may take your seat.” The teacher told him.

 

As Mr. Ohta watched Shinji walk back to his seat he saw Shinji mouth the words `thank you' to Asuka as he passed by her. This was certainly a new twist in his classroom. Never before had he seen those two talk to each other, let alone on being on such friendly terms. Along with that twist he saw another. On the other side of the room one of his girls was looking strangely back and forth between Asuka and Shinji. The teacher then saw Mana shake her head like she was dismissing a really weird thought. This was enough and he assigned a couple problems out of the book for his students to work on at their desks and then he sat down at his own. Distract everyone with some work so things would go back to normal was his thought.

 

It wasn't even a month into the new school year and already he could tell he had a soap opera brewing in his classroom. Then again this was high school, stuff like that was always happening and for the most part teachers ignored them as long as they didn't distract from their teaching.

 

When Shinji sat back down at his desk he saw and instant message waiting for him. `Sorry Shinji. I shouldn't be talking to you when the teacher is talking. You really do need to learn this stuff. How about after practice tonight I make it up to you by teaching you how to do those problems?'

 

Shinji of course messaged back yes.

 

A bit later Mr. Ohta was sitting at his desk going over and correcting the problems he had assigned the students. He looked up for a second to check on them while they were doing some other studying only to see Asuka pull out a book from her bag. It had the words Quantum Molecular Physics as the title. He found it extremely strange that Asuka seemed to be smiling as she started reading it and you could tell from her eyes she was very interested. He couldn't understand this. He had taken some intro courses that touched upon that subject and the last emotion he ever had in dealing with it was happy. Then again Asuka was by far the strangest student he had ever had so if it made her happy to study stuff like that it was fine by him.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

Before practice the coach called Asuka over to her office again. “What is it this time?” Asuka asked rather annoyed. She had been catching flak all week from a trio of disgruntled senior girls and she figured she was about to hear more complaints.

 

The coach though said “No complaints from the seniors. This time it's from Mana's parents.”

 

“What's their problem?” Asuka asked already knowing the answer. She wasn't deaf and pretty much knew how much bitching Mana was doing after practice.

 

“Lay off her.” The coach said.

 

“Hikari and Rei don't have a problem with what I'm doing.” Asuka responded.

 

“Yes but her parents do.”

 

“Fine then. She can practice all on her own if she likes.”

 

The coach didn't expect Asuka to give in so easily and when she questioned her star about it Asuka told her.

 

“Look all that does is make my promise to you about Rei all the easier to keep. Hell maybe this way I can kill two birds with one stone. Mana can suck up the pool because she doesn't want to practice and one of the seniors will get better than her.”

 

The coach couldn't help but not like that answer. It was horribly narcissistic. If the coach would have said that about Rei or Hikari, Asuka would have blew her top but since it was about Mana, Asuka didn't care. The coach sighed at her “How come you can't be a better team player?”

 

Asuka thought about that question for a minute. “I think it is because I don't really care about teams per say, just people.” The coach shook her head in disappointment at that answer. “Well if it makes you feel any better there are only a couple girls on this team I don't like so for the most part I care.”

 

“It doesn't” the coach told her “But since you're probably going to get your way it doesn't really matter. Just don't create any new problems please.”

 

“Ok” Asuka answered and then left so she could get ready for practice.

 

The teacher just sighed to herself while leaning back in her chair. Being the coach of a team full of catty teenage girls certainly had its moments, this year more than most already.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

As Shinji and Asuka got home Asuka told him “Why don't you work on those problems and I'll handle dinner tonight?”

 

Shinji was interrupted from answering her as Misato called out from her bedroom. “Don't bother making anything for us. We have somewhere to go tonight.” They heard a loud groan from the bathroom following that.

 

Asuka walked over to Misato's bedroom and said “Ooo don't you look pretty. Going out on a date with Kaji tonight?”

 

“Nope “ Misato answered while putting in an earring. “Kaji's company is putting on a little dinner party that I just found out about.”

 

“By the sound of that groan I take it he doesn't want to go?”

 

“Not really” Misato answered. “He hates these things. But going to them keeps him on his boss's good side and I want to keep him there. Oh also I already fed Keiko her dinner and just to warn you she didn't nap too well today. Plus she has a runny nose so she might be a bit cranky.”

 

Asuka let out a troubled breath “Is she getting in another tooth?”

 

“That's what babies do at her age” Misato told Asuka and then asked “Be a dear and zip me up.” Asuka did and Misato looked at herself in the mirror. She smiled as she liked what she saw. “I look hot in this.”

 

“And who is responsible for that?” Asuka asked egotistically.

 

Misato took another look at herself in the mirror. “While I can't argue the results, your methods were brutal.”

 

“Hey, no pain, no gain.”

 

“Boot camp caused me less pain than you did” Misato said with sarcasm as they left the room.

 

Kaji greeted them in the living room while holding Keiko, who was less than happy. “You know she's really cranky. Maybe we shouldn't go?”

 

“The kids can handle her” Misato answered.

 

“Maybe the kids have plans of their own tonight” Kaji said. “It's a Friday night after all.”

 

“I doubt it” Misato told him. “Asuka's still grounded so she can't go anywhere.”

 

Kaji excuse got devalued even further as Asuka added on “The only thing we had planned was some TV and homework.”

 

Misato then took Keiko away from Kaji and gave her to Asuka while telling him to stop trying to get out of this. It was important for him to make a good impression and be present. Kaji didn't really want to hear that and was grumbling a bit as the two went out the door.

 

When the door shut Keiko eyes filled with tears and she cried out “MOMMY!”

 

“Mommy will be back later” Asuka told her in a comforting voice. “How about if Uncle Shinji plays with you for a while?”

 

“Wan Mommy!” Keiko shouted.

 

It was at this point that Asuka looked over at Shinji for help. She wasn't the best person around when dealing with temper tantrums. He came over and took Keiko from her. “Do you want me to read you a story?”

 

“NO!”

 

“How about we play with your dollies?” Shinji offered.

 

“NO!”

 

“Do you want snackies?” Shinji tried.

 

“NO!”

 

Shinji was running out of options so he asked “Then what do you want?”

 

Keiko had to think about that for a second. What she really wanted was her mommy but her mommy wasn't around so she decided on something else. She looked over at the TV and said “Pepo.”

 

Both Shinji and Asuka cried a bit themselves due to that answer. They knew what it meant and Shinji went over to the couch and put Keiko down on it. Then he put in a disc of Keiko's favorite show, Little People, for the millionth time this week. As the opening song started both the teens wished they could be anywhere else but where they were. But for a 15 month old baby she was happy and in the end that was all that really mattered.

 

Since they had about twenty minutes before the show was over Asuka decided to start on dinner. She quickly browned some chicken and steamed some rice. Mixed them together with a bag of frozen vegetables and added a can of cream of mushroom soup. She threw the whole concoction into the oven and wala, Asuka's famous chicken vegetable casserole was finished. Or otherwise known as the only dish Asuka really knew how to make.

 

Shinji smirked at her when she put it in the oven. “What?” Asuka said with a hint of embarrassment.

 

“Nothing” Shinji answered.

 

“Well, it's still better than anything Misato can make” Asuka declared in her defense.

 

“I didn't say there was anything wrong with it. In fact I kind of like it.”

 

Asuka smiled at that. She always had felt a little bad about herself over this. In the past she had actually tried to improve her culinary skills but every attempt ended in failure, and usually the smoke alarms going off. As she remembered this she started to feel even worse. “Are you saying that just to make me happy?”

 

Shinji wasn't going to answer that question. It was too risky.

 

Asuka though didn't except the non-answer and demanded “I want the truth!”

 

“It-it's not that I don't like it…” Shinji started to say getting a little flustered in the process. “It's just that, well… it's… boring.”

 

Asuka sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and started to get all frumpy. “I knew it.”

 

“It's ok” Shinji said “You can't be perfect at everything.”

 

“Yes I can” Asuka said back indignantly.

 

“Do I have to bring up the fish incident?” Shinji teased.

 

This was one of Asuka's biggest disasters. Not only did they lose the fish Asuka was trying to prepare but the pan was burned beyond saving and the stove shorted out and had to get fixed because of it having to be sprayed with the fire extinguisher. Asuka let out a very angry “Stupid Fish!” Shinji chuckled a bit and Asuka yelled “It's not funny!” Asuka then looked at him a declared. “Besides with you around it's not important that I learn to cook.”

 

After Asuka said that Shinji made a simple offer “I can teach you?”

 

Asuka was pretty frustrated with herself and she snapped “You Can What?!” before she could stop herself.

 

Shinji backed off quickly as he noticed the mood swing of Asuka. “Nothing. Just forget I said anything.”

 

Asuka glared at him for a second before she realized what she had just done. She had reverted back to her prideful ways. Her pride may have been her strength for a long time but it was also what prevented her from ever being happy. This was something that was not allowed anymore. Too much had happened for Asuka to go back to her old ways. She reached across the table to Shinji and grabbed his hand. “Sorry my stupid pride got the better of me.” She then closed her eyes and squeezed his hand. “Please ask me again.”

 

Shinji was hesitant at first but after Asuka prodded him again he asked “Would you like me to teach you to cook?”

 

This time Asuka smiled at him when she answered. “Yes I would. We can make a fair deal out of it. I help you with your homework and you help me with my cooking.”

 

Shinji turned his hand so that both their palms were touching and he smiled back. He then shook her hand and said “It's a deal.”

 

When he tried to let go he noticed Asuka didn't. “I kinda like this. It makes me feel happy.”

 

Shinji then wrapped both his hands around Asuka's and the two sat there enjoying a nice moment.

 

And a moment was all that it was as a curious gaze of a child distracted them. Keiko stared up at the two and said “Pepo” while pointing to the TV. They looked over and saw that the show was over.

 

“You want to watch it again, don't you?” Shinji sighed.

 

Keiko repeated herself even louder. “PEPO!”

 

Shinji reluctantly let go of Asuka's hand and walked back over to the TV. He hit replay on the DVD player and put Keiko back down on the couch. This time when he tried to leave though Keiko looked over at him disgusted. She reached out and called “Shini!” Shinji groaned as he knew what she wanted, so he picked her back up and sat down with her now on his lap. It wasn't good enough to just watch the show anymore, she now wanted company.

 

For reasons she didn't even understand Asuka had to smile at that. But she also did feel a little jealous so she walked over to the couch, jumped over the back of it, and landed right next to Shinji. She then turned to look at Keiko and scrunched her face up all funny at her. “Are you trying to steal my boyfriend Keiko?” Keiko just giggled as a response.

 

While Keiko was watching her show Asuka leaned her head onto Shinji's shoulder. “Do you ever think about the future Shinji?”

 

Shinji looked at her not knowing what to say, this was a much bigger question than he was ready to answer. He ended up asking “What brought this up?” instead.

 

“I was just sitting in class, bored as usual, when I started thinking” Asuka answered. “I know a lot about you but at the same time I know so little. I have no clue as to what your goals or your wants or what your dreams are. Do you want to go to college after high school? Do you want to get a job? Do you want to stay here? Or do you want to move away? Basically what do you want to do?”

 

Shinji had never really thought about these things. In truth he was just kind of coasting along in life like always. Whatever happened, happened. He answered her question the only way he could “I don't know.”

 

Asuka let out a sigh. “I came to the same conclusion about my life.”

 

Shinji lifted up one of his arms and wrapped it around her shoulder “At least I know who I want to be with.”

 

Asuka smiled at him “You can be a real sweetie sometimes, you know that?” Shinji only blushed as an answer. Asuka took another breath before saying “So we both know who we want to be with in life but not what we want.”

 

“Yup” Shinji answered nodding his head in a way that said he didn't really mind that it was this way right now.

 

“I can live with that” Asuka said back. “I'm in no rush to grow up.”

 

Shinji turned his head and gave Asuka a very odd look. That was a bit out of character for the red head.

 

“If you want to stay in this position you'll bite your tongue Shinji.”

 

“But…” Shinji started to say and then quickly stopped when Asuka began to lift her head off his shoulder. He decided to do what she told him to do and he didn't say anything else. Asuka responded by laying her head back onto his shoulder and the two watched Little People along with Keiko.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

While Shinji and Asuka were watching Little People for the fourth time they heard a knock at their door. Asuka yelled out “It's open.”

 

Rei entered and the first thing she saw was Asuka and Shinji sitting together on the couch. It looked like they were snuggling with each other. “Am I interrupting? I can come back later if you like.”

 

“That's ok” Shinji said to her. “We're not exactly alone.”

 

Rei walked over and then noticed the captive audience on Shinji's lap and what was playing on the TV.

 

“Misato and Kaji are out for the night so we are the designated babysitters” Asuka told her. “If you're hungry dinner's in the oven.”

 

Rei nodded her head at Asuka and went into the kitchen. She grabbed a pot holder and took the casserole dish out of the oven. When she took the cover off the dish she grew a bit confused. This dish was prepared in a way she was unaccustomed to. It looked like normal food but at the same time she had to ask “What is this?”

 

“It's a chicken vegetable casserole” Asuka answered from the couch. “Just grab yourself a fork and a plate and dig in.”

 

Rei was a little hesitant at first but her stomach was also growling so she put her concerns aside in favor of settling that. Anyway it looked, it was still better looking than anything that came out of a microwave. And since she was already getting used to eating real food she walked back over to the couch with plate in hand and sat down next to Asuka.

 

After Rei had eaten a couple bites Asuka asked “So what do you think?”

 

“It is much blander than the other dishes I have eaten here” Rei answered.

 

“Hmpf” Asuka pouted. “Even Rei thinks I'm a lousy cook.”

 

Rei realized she may have made a tactical blunder as before she did not know that it was Asuka who prepared this dish. She quickly added to her statement “I did not say I disliked it.”

 

“It's ok” Asuka told her. “Even I think it's boring. But it's the only thing I seem to be able to make without risking burning down the place.” Asuka then lifted her head up off of Shinji and looked over at Rei. “You got any suggestions on how to improve it?”

 

Rei answered with what almost sounded like sarcasm. “I have not turned on my stove since I moved into my apartment. My knowledge of cooking is minimal at best.” But as she said that she realized it was not entirely true so she added on “Correction. I'm quite skilled at using a microwave.”

 

“You were right the first time” Asuka said shaking her head at Rei.

 

“I do not believe Mrs. Katsuragi would agree to that.” Rei argued back.

 

“You're talking about a woman who used to try and feed us pickled eggs, beer nuts, and popcorn for dinner” Asuka told her. “She has no say in what's considered food.”

 

Rei looked at Asuka skeptically. No one could be that bad but Asuka insisted it was true and that before third impact Misato really had tried to serve that as dinner several times. Rei took another look at her plate of food and began eating it again. It might have been a bit on the bland side but at least it was edible.

 

When Rei finished eating she thanked the two for her meal and washed her dishes before leaving. It was at this same time that Shinji noticed Keiko's eyes were starting to droop. It was near her bedtime and since she didn't nap well she was pretty tired. The problem with this is the other person on him was in the same condition. Asuka was very close to falling asleep on his shoulder. He really didn't want to disturb either one of the girls but he knew he had too. He carefully got up with Keiko in one of his arms while putting a pillow down on the couch with the other. It took very little effort for Asuka to accept lying down on the pillow and Shinji carried the now sleeping child in his arms to her room. By the time he got back he saw that Asuka was sleeping.

 

Since Shinji was the only one up he decided he might as well get something to eat. He also figured that since Asuka was already asleep his homework would have to wait and he closed his books and carried his plate of food over to the couch. When he got there he carefully lifted her feet and put them back down on his lap. Then while eating he turned on the TV and set the volume on low. Like a typical teenager he decided he was just going to veg out till bedtime.

 

He had just finished eating when he felt a peck at his leg. He looked down at PenPen and told him quietly that he was already finished with dinner. That wasn't what PenPen wanted and he pecked Shinji's leg again. This time the penguin reached up for the remote with his flippers.

 

Shinji grabbed it and said “Remotes mine.”

 

PenPen warked back at him and pecked his leg again.

 

“Nope” Shinji said. “I want to pick what show we will watch for once.”

 

PenPen let out a loud wark of protest to that.

 

“Mine.” Shinji said back to the disgruntled penguin.

 

Then quick as a flash Asuka sat up and snatched the remote from Shinji. She growled at the two boys fighting over the remote and changed the channel to one that was showing anime. She glared at the two for a second longer to make sure her message was clearly delivered and then put the remote under her pillow. Asuka then laid down and went back to sleep.

 

Shinji looked back down at the penguin. “I guess the remote is hers.” PenPen warked back a guess so and the two watched what Asuka had put on.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

When Misato and Kaji got home from Kaji's company social gathering Misato saw Asuka sprawled out on the couch with her feet on Shinji's lap while Shinji was just watching TV quietly with PenPen. This was becoming a very familiar site to Misato and one that she loved. It was also a sight she could have some fun with so she walked up to the couch and started talking to Shinji quietly. “Everything go all right tonight?”

 

“No real problems” Shinji answered. “Just a lot of Little People.”

 

“Good.” Misato then looked down at Asuka and smirked devilishly “You know Shinji, she is wearing a skirt. If you wanted to I bet you could lift it up a little and take a sneak peak of things to come. She would never know.”

 

Shinji instantly blushed “I- I wouldn't do that.”

 

“Ah c'mon Shinji, you know you want to.” Misato teased back.

 

Shinji took a big gulp and actually looked at Asuka's skirt. He couldn't deny it, part of him really would like to take a peak and she was a pretty heavy sleeper. But he knew better. Something like that would violate the trust Asuka was placing with him. Still he did notice her skirt was a bit hiked up and he could see more leg than normal. To add to this the thought of getting to see Asuka's panties was a very alluring one. He then heard the voice of temptation urge him on “Go on. Do it. I won't say anything.”

 

Shinji took an extended look at Asuka's legs and sighed. He then regained as much of his composer as he could and said “Please stop.”

 

Misato laughed at him but got surprised as she heard “That was very cruel of you.”

 

“Hey! You're supposed to be asleep” Misato said. “Now close your eyes again. I'm not done teasing the boy.”

 

Asuka sat up and informed Misato in a very authoritative way. “He's my boyfriend now so that's my job. Now back off you hussy.”

 

“That's not fair” Misato cried out “You need to learn to share.”

 

Asuka shook her head no and said “Mine!” At this point a horribly embarrassed Shinji begged them to stop but both girls told him no and Asuka pressed her feet down to make sure he couldn't go anywhere. She then turned her face towards him. “And what's with you getting all flustered by me showing a little extra leg? You get to see the whole thing at swim practice all the time.”

 

“Well….. I…. Uhhh….”

 

“It's forbidden fruit” Misato answered interrupting Shinji's mumbling as she was pretty sure he wasn't going to be able to answer that thanks to his deer caught in the headlights look.

 

“It's What?” Asuka said confused.

 

“It's forbidden fruit” Misato repeated. “When you're wearing a swimsuit your legs are out for all to see. But when you're wearing a skirt part of your legs are covered. Those parts that are covered are deemed off limits to the eyes so to see some of those parts that would normally be covered is a very enticing thing to a male.”

 

“That's just stupid” Asuka declared. “There's no difference between what you're seeing. Here I will show you.” Asuka then proceeded to pull her skirt all the way up to where her panties were just covered.

 

Shinji's reaction was immediate. His eyes were practically bugging out of their sockets and glued intensely to her legs. The way Shinji was staring at them was making Asuka a bit uneasy and also a little turned on. To get a reaction like that from showing Shinji something he had already seen a million times before didn't make any sense. She pulled her skirt back down “You know Shinji, there are some things I just don't understand about you.”

 

“It gets even stranger” Misato told her. “Let's say I let you get a very skimpy bikini, which I won't so don't bother asking, and I give Shinji a choice of watching you walk around all day in either that or a regular pair of bra and panties. Which one do you think he would pick?”

 

“The bikini of course” Asuka quickly answered. “He would be able to see more of me.”

 

Misato looked at Shinji who was seriously wanting to be anywhere else at this moment due to the shear tormenting of talking about things he was very uncomfortable with. “That ain't right, is it?”

 

Shinji looked down and refused to answer. Asuka lifted his head back up and said “You're not allowed to be a wussy about this. Now tell Misato I'm right.” Asuka then hedged her answer by adding very seductively “You would much rather see me in an itsy bitsy, teeny weenie, yellow polka dotted bikini…” Asuka switched over to a frumpy voice. “… Than a pair of dumpy old white underwear.”

 

Shinji pouted a bit as he knew Asuka wasn't going to like his answer. “Bra and panties.”

 

“What?!” Asuka yelled pissed off while Misato let slip a very smug “I told ya so.” Asuka stared daggers at Shinji and demanded forcefully “Explain yourself baka.”

 

Shinji took a deep breath. “I'm allowed to look at you wearing a swimsuit right?”

 

Asuka answered with a “Duh.”

 

Shinji continued “Am I allowed to look at you in your bra and panties?”

 

“Well…. Ummm…. No.” Asuka started to realize Shinji's point of view and she dropped her head down. “I was being stubborn again, wasn't I?”

 

“Yes you were” Misato told her. “But now you know why some things are considered forbidden. Plus if either one of you had said yes at any point of that conversation we would be having a very different kind of chat right now.”

 

Asuka cried out “Misato! You know we're not ready for those kinds of things.”

 

“I know” Misato answered. “But it doesn't hurt to ask.”

 

Both teens frowned at her nosiness. They knew she was just trying to be helpful but quite frankly she was much more casual about sensuality than they were. She didn't help matters any when she said “And now I need to give some very special favors to Kaji. That's another thing about relationships Asuka, sometimes in order to get a man to do something he doesn't want to do you gotta put out.”

 

Asuka didn't want to hear that and she begged Misato to stop tormenting them.

 

This time Misato did but only because she was heading over to her bedroom. Before she went in though she looked over at the two and winked at them “Night guys. Just make sure it's not as good as mines gonna be.”

 

When Misato's door closed Asuka looked over at Shinji for a second and then fell back down on the coach and closed her eyes while pouting out “I am so not ready for any of this.”

 

Shinji chuckled a little and said “Would it help any if I said neither was I?”

 

Asuka opened her eyes back up to look at him and responded. “Yes… Yes it would.” Her stomach then growled “But it would help even more if you would be a really nice boyfriend and get me a plate of food.”

 

Shinji did as he was requested but as Asuka started eating she looked over at him. “Dork.”

 

“I only added a couple extra ingredients and some salt and pepper” Shinji replied looking a touch guilty. Asuka went back to eating again but every once in a while she would turn to him and stick her tongue out at him. They spent the rest of the night before they went to bed playfully teasing each other while watching TV.

 

(A/N: I Re-re-edited. Changed a few words around. Fixed some grammar. Broke up some of the bigger blocks of text. And expounded on some parts to make them clearer. Basically gave this a good once over to improve its quality.)