Essence of Shinji

By: Kristoffer Remmell

Summary: Shinji is a natural even in cooking. Asuka, like in Evas, is determined to show him up. A funny story of Shinji and Asuka's relationship. Mild language and violence. A humorous story with subtle romance between Shinji and Asuka.

Category: Humor/Romance

Disclaimer: I hold no copyright over Neon Genesis Evangelion. That is held by GAINAX and Anno. I am writing this story as a fan of the series and for my own enjoyment.

Rating: T (minor coarse language and some violence)

A/N: Firstly I am a graphic artist. I wrote this story to hopefully illustrate into a manga for my art web site. I posted this story once before in a script format. That was my mistake. In my infinite stupidity I thought they were talking about a different kind of script. I'm hoping to try and improve my writing skills. See my profile for a link to my web site.

I am also writing another longer story that follows the mood of the series.

It's a warm summer day at the 1st Munipal Jr. High School of Tokyo-3. It's also a boring day filled with algebra and long, droning recounts of events before, during, and after the almost fabled and tragic 'Second Impact'. The Second Impact was a catastrophic global event that struck on Spetember of 2000. The cause was named as a meteor that struck Antartica with such force that most of the continent melted. The water caused massive tidal waves all over the world and killing over two billion. Another billion died in the aftermath. Only those in the goverment organization NERV know the true cause was a powerful creature called, Adam, the first Angel.

The sun beams with a warm glow over all who have come outside to enjoy their lunches. Girls gather in their flocks to gossip and giggle, boys herd to laugh and joke, and young couples look for nice seats in the shade to be alone together.

High above all this activity on the roof of the school a small eccentric group gathers on the roof of the school. Asuka and Hikari sit in a small group of two. Shinji, Kensuke, and Touji sit in another. Rei sits by herself somewhere in the middle. Her quiet disposition would allow her to go unnoticed by anyone if it wasn't for her light blue hair and still, crimson eyes. None of them are too far away from each other. A conversation could easily take place between the whole if a topic presented itself.

"Oh, I am starved!" says the fiery, German Asuka Langely Soryu. Her long, golden-red hair seems to glow in the sun. Blue eyes match the sky. She opens her bento box. "What!" Asuka vents. Her excited expression quickly turns to disappointment. She glares over to the target of this frustration. A meek, brown haired boy. He laughs with his friends. No idea mentally Asuka has marked him. "Shinji, damn it! It's your turn to cook our lunches this week. What is this stuff? Peanut butter and jelly. Sausage octopus!". Asuka yells at Shinji Ikari, who is a short distance away. Shinji looks apologetic, and Touji looks to Hikari, the class representative, with praise.

"Hey, Class Rep. Thanks, everything tastes great." says a grateful Touji Suzuhara to Hikari, and cutting off Asuka. Hikari has been making Touji bento lunches. Disguised as a sheer act of convenience to prevent food from going to waist. In reality it's Hikari's expression of her crush over the crass, but kind hearted jock. She is a sweet, innocent, and freckled girl, but can be overbearing when it comes to the rules. Her uniform kept in perfect order. Her medium length brown hair is held in loose pigtails.

Touji has the appearance of a dark haired 'tough guy'. He is the only boy who doesn't dress in the uniform of white shirt and black slacks. He instead chooses to where a dark, relaxed athletic suit.

Hikari blushes softly saying, "Your welcome.".

The detached, blue haired Rei eats silently. She sits still and oblivious to the rush of teenage hormones surrounding her. Kensuke Aida takes large mouthfuls of his burger. He has freckles, sandy hair, and glasses. His deep obsession is for all things war, and filming anything with his trusty digital camera. No matter how mundane it may be.

"I'm sorry." says Shinji. "With making dinner and school work I didn't have time to make anything fancy." This verbal bashing from Asuka really comes as no great surprise. It has pretty much becomes a daily routine for Shinji. The topic may be new, but the treatment is the same.

Touji looking disgusted with Asuka and Shinji. Asuka for verbally abusing his friend, and Shinji for always putting up with it. Touji at times believes that Shinji must be housebroken from being so naturally accommodating and living with Asuka under the care of their guardian, Major Misato Katsuragi.

Frustrated with Shinji's explanation Asuka sits back "I can't believe the stuff I have to put up with." Asuka takes a bite of the sandwich. The flavor hits her and she looks surprised.

Hikari notices the calm confusion on her friend. "Is something wrong, Asuka?"

Asuka leans in, put up her hand to shield her talking mouth from view, and whispers, "I don't get it. Shinji can be the biggest dork, but somehow can make a simple PB&J taste so good." Curiosity gets the best of her. She looks to Shinji. He's chuckling as Touji seems to chastise him for not standing up to Asuka more. She uses her sweetest tone to address Shinji. "Shinji? So what did you put in this food?"

"Sorry Asuka. It's a trade secret." says Shinji smiling. The talk he's been having with Touji seems to of had some effect on his confidence. Touji laughing to himself as Asuka pouts.

"Meanie." says Asuka. Crushed her charms have failed, and a blow to her pride. Nothing is as annoying as a desired secret being kept from you. Frustration soon changes to confusion as she hears Hikari starts to giggle softly to herself. Curiosity has claimed Asuka attention again, and she looks to her best friend. "And what are you all giggly about?"

Hikari seems reluctant to share her thoughts. "Well. What if - the secret ingredient Shinji put in - was - LOVE?" She blushes looking to Asuka for her friends reaction to her theory.

The thought scatters through Asuka's brain. She blushes innocently for a second, realizing Hikari is watching she changes her emotions, and jaw drops. "Hikari! How could that stupid idiot know anything about love? What a laugh." Asuka raves defensively. Shinji looks on silently as Asuka rants hearing every word. Rei just eats unfazed by the outburst. It's none of her concern nor is that surprising. "That's it!" says Asuka standing dramatically, pigtails blowing in the wind, and points her finger to Shinji. "Shinji, next week I'm cooking lunch! I'm gonna show you how it should be done." This dramatic proclamation even catches the attentions of Rei.

Shinji looks to his agitated friend, and room mate thinking, "It's your turn any ways?"

Asuka sits huffing. She continues to eat her modest, but well prepared meal. Her pride would probably encourage her not to finish if she wasn't so hungry. She is that stubborn. Hikari tingles all over with excitement as she looks to Asuka and says, "Asuka, you're going to cook? Want some help? I know some great recipes."

Asuka smiles for the kind offer, but says with confidence. "Thanks Hikari, but no thanks. I'm gonna show that loser how it should be done all by myself." She waves her pointing finger to Shinji.

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Several days and a few more lunch times pass. The meals Shinji prepares over the rest of the school week range from a variety of humble meals. Each have an enjoyable flavor. This however is almost like some sort of bizarre torture for Asuka. Shinji still refuses to give away the secret to his skill in cooking. His friends have been making it a daily ritual to remind him to keep his formula to himself. They don't tell Shinji that this is not for his sake, but for their own entertainment watching Asuka's blood pressure climb from being denied. Pride gets the best of her, and she stops asking after the third day. Though the question still remains bouncing around in her head. In her free time she flips through magazines. Clipping and scanning recipes she finds. She is confused as she reads through the instructions, but confident none the less. In her mind if that idiot Shinji can pull this off it should be nothing for her.

In an apartment complex on the outskirts of Tokyo-3 sits Misato Kaysuragi. Misato is watching tv in her apartment and surrounded by several empty beer cans. Her pet Pen-Pen, the warm water penguin, sits by her side. Misato is a stunning, beautiful woman in her late twenties with long, dark purple hair. She is energetic and has a strong work ethic as the head tactician for NERV, the only organization in the world that was designed specifically to defend against the Angels. Her conduct at work is in sharp contrast to her home life. Her place would be a total mess on it's best day if Shinji didn't clean up after her. She has quickly become his surrogate family. Shinji sits at the table close by. He looks from his laptop to his reference guides as he does his school work.

The Sunday before the new school week has come and as night falls Asuka busies herself in the kitchen. A large racket of bashing pots, buzzing kitchen tools, chopping knives, and a slue of German curses can be heard.

Hearing the clamor Misato leans looking into the kitchen and calls out, "Asuka what are you doing in there?"

Asuka simply replies, "Cooking.".

Silently scoffing Misato thinks to herself, "Sound more like she's tearing the place apart.". She doesn't have the guts to say this out loud. She's far too smart to go ticking off an emotional girl who is surrounded by sharp cutlery. It's also a bit hard for Misato to blame Asuka though. Her attempts at the culinary arts have sounded about the same.

Shinji looks up from his studies and to the kitchen, "Asuka, do you need a hand with-".

"No you don't!" Asuka says quickly cutting Shinji off. "You stay out of here, Dommkopf! I'm not going to let you show me up!" A kitchen object is tossed at Shinji, barely missing his head. He looks to the object after it has landed. It was just a spatula. Shinji is just glad it wasn't a rolling pin or a hot skillet. Those probably weren't in arms reach at the time.

Misato looks from Shinji, to the booming kitchen, and back to Shinji. "What's up with her?".

Feeling crestfallen Shinji exhales as he goes back to his school work, shrugs his shoulders, and says simply, "No idea.". Misato chuckles and she goes back to her program.

Asuka stands in the kitchen. Bowls are filled with mixtures of things and the counters are a mess. She is wearing an apron and hair pulled back in a scarf for protection. Asuka looks at her work and worries. Her desire to do a good job nags at her. She is suddenly hit with a brain storm. She glances to her side with a devilish grin. Looking at the back of Shinji's head her plan is set. He has no idea what she has planned for him. He's gonna get a great meal and love it even if she has to make him.

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It's Monday at the 1st Munipal Jr. High School. Lunch time bells ring and the students exit with their meals. Everyone goes about their rituals of separating into their normal cliques. It's a warm summer day almost exactly like the Monday before. The only exception is the delicate breeze. Much like lunch time the week before the kids sit in the same groups. Asuka had left the house when Shinji woke this morning, but met up with her on the way to school. She refused to give Shinji his bento box until he got to school. She forbid him to peak on threat of bodily harm. Shinji sits and opens the boxed lunch with perfectly prepared food. It is well filled with smoked salmon sushi, sesame seed balls, a stick of kushi dango for dessert, and other things. He is looking happy and very impressed.

Asuka stands by Shinji looking rather proud of herself. Sitting Shinji looks up to her. Surprised she would go through so much trouble and work for him "This looks great, Asuka." he says. Kensuke looks disappointed from Shinji's food to his vending machine hot dog, fries, and chips. Touji wouldn't want anything else then what he is already eating. He is completely happy with Hikari's cooking. Any ways he wouldn't touch anything Asuka would cook out of fear of it being laced with some form of poison.

With her hands on her hips Asuka says, "Well, was there ever any doubt?"

Looking to Asuka Touji and Kensuke think in unison, "Yes.".

Rei sits quietly eating her meal. Oblivious to the drama that always seems to surround her.

Asuka goes back to her seat next to Hikari, opens her bento box, and glances over to Shinji for his reaction to the first bite. Nervous anticipation tingles in her gut. Shinji digs into the food. He takes a bite and smiles. "It tastes really good too." says Shinji. "You did a great job, Asuka." Shinji looks over to Asuka. Expecting a grateful smile he instead sees something different. She is sticking her tongue out at him. Asuka goes back to talking with Hikari and doesn't speak to Shinji for the rest of lunch time. She feels avenged.

Rei eats silently.

The rest of the meal time is fairly uneventful. Nothing out of the norm until yelling can be heard from the school grounds below. Looking down the friends on the roof see a tall boy running from a much shorter girl. The girl chases after him screaming and tossing food. Later in the day Kensuke found out the boy is a member of the baseball team. Seems he was cheating on his girlfriend with two girls at the same time. Only reason he was caught was, because he bought all three girls the same charm, claiming it to be some rare family heirloom. The two girls confronted him during lunch and spilled the beans to his girlfriend using the charms as proof. While everyone was watching the chase on the ground. Rei took that time to finish her meal and walk back to class. Kensuke however had pulled out his camcorder and filmed the whole thing.

The school day ended. Everyone was talking and laughing about the events during lunch. The guilty boy ran out of the building on the bell. It was rather funny seeing as all three of his pursuers were half his size. Asuka just went on a rant to Hikari about how all men were pigs. With one very special exception. Anyone who knew Asuka well enough also knew she was talking about Ryoji Kaji, Misato's ex-boyfriend from college. Currently, he was also an employee at NERV.

Asuka, Hikari, Shinji, Touji, Kensuke, and Rei are walking home on the sidewalks. Asuka and Hikari are a few feet ahead, behind them is Rei, and past her is Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke. Pretty much the same groups and distances that they sit in during lunch. Asuka gossiped with Hikari, and Touji whispered to Kensuke and Shinji about how that baseball player made his mistakes. He also went into detail as to how they could do the same thing, but not get caught. Touji had to whisper in fear Asuka and Hikari would hear. Hikari Horaki is a sweet and moral girl, but she could also be venomous if given cause. This only seemed to of gotten worse when she became friends with Asuka. Kensuke was the only one who was intently listening to Touji's tips. Shinji thought it was pointless. He didn't understand why you would want to go around with other girls if you already had a girlfriend.

"So, Asuka." says Hikari. "Want to go to the new arcade after school tomorrow? Kodama went over the weekend with her boyfriend. She said there are a lot of really fun games." Kodama is one of Hikari's two older sisters.

"Nah." replies Asuka. "I promised Misato we would stay home and rent movies and it's my turn to pick." A sudden idea comes to her. "Want to join us?"

"Sure that sounds like fun. So what kind of movies are you going to pick? Should I bring anything?" says Hikari.

"You don't have to bring anything. If we need something we'll just send Ikari to fetch it." says Asuka pointing her thumb back to Shinji.Shinji looks to Asuka upset for her referring to him as if he was some kind of trained dog, but stays silent. A slip of paper falls from Asuka's bag. It drops on the ground and Kensuke picks it up. He was about to call after her to return the paper when the contents caught his eye. Touji leaned in to see what had his friends interest. They both have matching smiles as get the same devious idea.

"So, Kensuke." says Touji. "That was some lunch that Asuka pulled off."

"Yeah, real pro stuff." says Kensuke.

Asuka is walking looking rather pleased with herself. Her nose pointing a few degrees higher then normal. She is pretending not to hear even thought they are speaking louder then usual. Hikari is curious as to what they are doing as well, but follows Asuka example to appear to not to notice. Rei is walking quietly. She hears them, but has no care for their conversation. Shinji is walking a few steps ahead of his friends. He just looks to them wondering why they are talking louder.

"What do you think something like that would cost in a store?" asks Touji.

"Oh, I don't know." Kensuke gives a long pause feigning deep thought and replies, "Maybe about 1560 yen."

Asuka stops in her tracks as if an invisible brick wall has just jumped in front of her. "1560 yen" she thinks to herself. Asuka opens her school bag and starts frantically digging through. Pencils, gum, and erasers fall and hit the ground as she dredges through the books and notepads. She is unable to find whatever she was looking for. Glancing up she sees Kensuke holding the receipt. They both look like they are about to laugh.

Her hot blood flowing Asuka storm on them, grabs the receipt, and knocking them out with her school bag. Striking them about the head several times and off their feet. Even Rei has stopped walking to watch, but seems to show no real interest. Hikari gasps as she watches her friend's attack. Shinji wants to protest and defend his friends, but too afraid he would just end up taking their place.

With all her anger released Asuka upset looks to Shinji to see his reaction. Seeing if he too was part of this joke. Shinji has no reaction to what has happened. Leaning slightly backward. Prepared to make a run if he happens to be the next victim.

Asuka sees Shinji is oblivious to what is going on. "Vollidiot!" she yells passing Shinji. Asuka grunts in annoyance and storms off quickly.

Hikari glances to the injured Touji. She realized what had happened once she saw the reciept, and thinks in a small way he kind of deserved it. She looks to Shinji for a second, then chases after her friend who is already a hundred feet away. "Hey Asuka wait up!"

Kensuke and Touji are out cold. Shinji just stands looking at the aftermath of Asuka's assault and completely confused. "Uh, What just happened?" Shinji ask himself out loud.

Rei just walks back on her path as if nothing has happened.

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To Be Continued...
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