"Why do you fight with Pilot Soryu?"
Shinji looked up. "Huh?" he responded intelligently.
"Why do you fight with Pilot Soryu, Shinji?"
"Why? Um... I don't really know why, Rei. It's just that she's impossible to get along with..."
"Major Katsuragi says it is friendly fighting, as a means of showing affection."
"Er... I wouldn't really call it 'friendly fighting,' per se ... We argue, but it's mostly about little things that aren't very important. I'm usually not very angry with her, just more annoyed than anything..." Shinji continued to prepare for bed.
"... I do not approve."
Blink. "Uh... what?"
"I do not approve. You should stop fighting with her."
"Why do you say that? It's not like we're really all that serious about it. It's more just venting than anything."
Rei paused, as if she was trying to find the words to express what she meant. "I do not want you to get hurt again."
Shinji blushed at her concern. However, Rei still seemed to be lost in thought...
Finally, she hesitantly spoke. "I do not like... the idea of you and Pilot Soryu... showing affection."
Everything came to a halt for Shinji, as he contemplated that. 'Wait... is Rei actually... jealous? That's pretty cute!' Shinji felt his heart speed up a little, and he couldn't hide the goofy grin appearing on his face...
Rei tilted her head at the odd expression. 'Is Shinji sick?'
After Shinji calmed down enough to speak, he smiled at Rei. "Well actually, Rei-"
BOOOM
They both started, and turned to the now open door...
Through the drunken haze, Misato became dimly aware of a thumping noise. It was causing ripples in her beer - vaguely reminiscent of Jurassic Park, actually. However, the stomping noises were far too fast to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex - that could only mean one thing, something far scarier...
She tilted her head back. "Asuka? Something wrong?"
What she got in response was a jumble of angrily noises. She could only make out a couple Japanese words - 'pervert,' 'wimp,' and 'Wondergirl.' The rest was delivered in German that she couldn't understand. She didn't think she really wanted to understand, judging by the girl's tone.
By that point, Asuka was already past the kitchen. Misato sighed, shrugged, and went back to work. 'I'm only gonna step in if there's any property damage...'
There is an old adage concerning women and hell's fury. Or rather, those were the only parts Shinji could remember at the moment.
"A-Asuka! Um... hi...?"
"You... PERVERT..."
At that point, Shinji could have sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes. "I-I wasn't doing anything perverted! This isn't what it looks like!"
Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? It sure looks like you're about to sleep with her," she bit out slowly.
"Well... uh... I was, b-but not like that..."
"So you were just going to cuddle, right?"
"Y-... I mean no! I don't see why this is such a big deal to you!"
Asuka's eyes widened a bit, before she turned her nose up at him. "Feh... I don't care about you!"
"Yeah right..." he muttered dryly.
"WHAT did you say?! If you have something to say, Third Child, you had better have the guts to say it to my...'
'I know I said I wouldn't interfere unless they were breaking stuff, but it's getting rather annoying...' Misato scowled a little. "Hey, SHADDUP over there!"
No one noticed.
She clenched her fist, and a vein appeared on her forehead. "I SAID SHUT UP, YOU TWO!! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO WORK HERE!!"
Asuka paused in her ranting. "Did you hear something?"
Shinji shook his head.
She shrugged before continuing to yell at him.
'Those children will be the death of me...' she thought. Angrily she stood up and made her way towards the clamor.
They paused and turned to look at her as she showed up at the doorway.
"Maybe you didn't hear me," she said calmly. "I NEED TO WORK, SO SHUT UP!! Asuka, room. Now. Shinji, couch. Go."
"Why do I have to sleep on the couch?"
"You're the man, aren't you? Men are supposed to let the woman have the bed."
Withering under Misato's fearsome glare, Shinji didn't feel very much like a man.
Rei finally spoke up. "But it was not a problem yesterday."
At this revelation, Asuka got even angrier, if that was possible.
"I didn't feel like murdering Children yesterday." she muttered. "Now GO!"
Grumbling, Shinji and Asuka headed out of the room. Misato slammed the door and sat back down at the kitchen table. She chugged an entire can of beer, sighed, and started to work again.
As Shinji settled down on the couch, he felt oddly... cold. Alone. As if something was missing from his side.
Well, something was missing. Rei was. He longed to feel her heat next to him. Shinji blushed a little at that thought. He wasn't being perverted, it's just that... her warmth beside him was... calming. Comforting. It-
Asuka's face appeared above him. "AND IF I FIND YOU SLEEPING WITH HER AGAIN TOMORROW MORNING, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS SO HARD YOUR GRANDCHILDREN WILL HAVE MY FOOTPRINT FOR A BIRTHMARK!! DO YOU HEAR ME THIRD CHILD?!"
Shinji nodded hastily.
Satisfied, Asuka went back to her room and slammed the door.
'Yeesh...' Shinji thought. "I don't see what her problem is..."
The next morning, Asuka was up earlier than normal. This was not because she wanted to check on Shinji, mind you. She just felt like getting an early start.
As she left her room, she passed by Shinji's couch. Of course, this was only because it was on the way.
Never mind the fact that from her room, the couch was in the opposite direction of the bathroom. Details, details.
She snuck a peek at the person on the couch as she went by. Oddly enough, there was a two-headed creature on the couch. One head had black hair, and one head had blue hair. She shrugged, and continued walking, until she finally kicked her half-asleep mind into awareness. Asuka went back and did a classic double take.
Rei and Shinji were on the same couch.
POP
A vein bulged.
Rei stirred a little, mumbled Shinji's name, and pulled him closer to her.
POP
Another vein bulged.
Shinji tightened his arm around her slightly in response.
POP
There's another one. Strangely, they were beginning to resemble the kanji for 'kill.'
Asuka chuckled a little, in that 'I'm actually not amused at all' kind of way.
"PERVERT!!!!!!!"
Birds all around the apartment building scattered.
Shinji awoke to the shouting of a certain redhead. This wasn't exactly new, though. He opened his eyes to see the irate German's face looking down at him. If looks could kill, Shinji was certain he and Rei would have been vaporized by now. What was she mad about now?
Wait. Back up.
He finally noticed Rei beside him. She must have come over in the middle of the night. He noticed her arms around him, and blushed a little. It felt good to be held by her like this.
Then she pulled him against her body tightly, and he turned red as a tomato.
You thought Asuka was angry before? Yeah.
While Rei had gotten used to sleeping deeply due to the construction by her apartment, nothing could sleep through the current noise. For one thing, Pilot Soryu was holding Shinji's collar, shaking him as she shouted in his face. His head flopped back and forth uselessly as he was pulled from Rei's arms..
Rei sat up and scowled. She was actually angry. Pilot Soryu was hurting Shinji. Putting a hand on each of the pilots, she pushed the two apart, and moved in between them. She turned her angry expression on Asuka. "Stop."
Asuka was a little unnerved. She never saw Wondergirl angry like this before. Judging by his expression, Shinji hadn't, either. Determined not to lose, she bolstered her anger. "What do you want, Wondergirl?"
"Stop. You are hurting Shinji."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
Seeing as how Rei seemed to be perfectly content with repeating this witty dialogue all day, Asuka changed tactics. "So what? He's a wimp and a pervert, and needs a little sense beaten into him!"
Rei reached up and gently caressed Shinji's injured cheek, causing him to blush profusely. "I will not see Shinji hurt again."
Asuka knocked her hand away from him. "You..."
Misato awoke with a hangover. This was normal. But that damn girl was shouting again, and it was causing a rather painful throbbing at her temples...
She slowly stood up and shuffled out into the hallway. After a quick detour to the kitchen for a beer, she made her way towards the sound of the World War occurring in her apartment...
"Who are you to tell me what to do?!"
"If Shinji's safety is involved, then it is my concern."
"Are you gonna do something to stop me?! Can you, even?!" Asuka began to roll her sleeve up.
"If I have to, yes."
Seeing how things were about to get dangerous very quickly, Shinji tried to step in and mediate. "Now, girls... maybe-"
"Stay out of this, Shinji!" Asuka shouted, and punched him. While it wasn't hard as her punches from before, it still was enough to knock Shinji on his back.
"Shinji!" he heard Rei exclaim, some concern noticeable in her voice. He looked up, just in time to see Rei punch Asuka. It was not a very fast or graceful punch; it was obvious that Rei did not have a lot of hand-to-hand training and was just trying to imitate Asuka's punch, but it did the job. Shinji watched in shock as Asuka fell back, much as he had just done.
Asuka held a hand to her cheek and looked up at Rei, stunned. Then her face contorted in anger, and she got up to lunge at the blue-haired girl.
She would have done so, at least, had Misato not stepped between the two. "Hai hai, that's enough."
Despite her anger, Asuka knew that hitting a senior officer was a good way to get her ass in trouble, real quick.
"Bitch!" she screamed at Rei.
"... but I am not a canine..."
Asuka slapped her forehead.
"Ok, ok, what's happening here?" Misato asked, after taking a swig of beer.
The redhead pointed at the bluehead, shaking with anger. "She... she... she was sleeping here! With him!!"
Misato eyed the trio before taking another drink and shrugging. "So what?"
"So WHAT?! SO WHAT?!!" she screamed incredulously. "They could be doing something... gross!! Like... screwing, or something!"
Shinji turned bright red, and even Rei had a bit of color on her cheeks.
Misato just shook her head. "They would be naked, and there would be plenty of evidence on the couch. I don't think so." She then narrowed her eyes at Shinji. "Speaking of which... don't get anything nasty on my couch."
Shinji face was flaming. "M-Misato-san... I wouldn't... I mean..." The color left his face as Misato burst out laughing. "Misato-san!" he whined indignantly. "Don't tease me like that!"
"Sorry, sorry," she chuckled.
Asuka stared at the others, flabbergasted. How could Misato just overlook it that easily?! "So you're just going to let him get away with it?!"
"Well, they just slept next to each other, right? It's not that big a deal," Misato replied nonchalantly.
"But... but..." She realized that arguing decency with Misato, of all people, was futile. Misato herself was quite... uh... shameless.
Unfortunately, Misato spun things back on her. "Why do you care so much about what they do? You sound... almost..."
Asuka's eyes widened as she realized what was coming next. She tried to interrupt. "I-"
"Jealous!" Misato declared loudly, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
Shinji paused, and looked at Asuka. 'Really?' He blushed a little.
Rei noticed his blush. Her brow furrowed... again.
Asuka turned away. "Feh. Yeah right. Like I care about this pervert." She stalked into her room.
Misato snickered a little, and Asuka stuck her head out. "I'M NOT JEALOUS!!" She shut the door forcefully.
"Sigh... that girl..." Misato shook her head, tossed the now-empty can, and went to the kitchen for another.
As soon as Misato left, Rei was right beside him. She was examining his cheek. "Does it hurt, Shinji?"
Shinji blushed a little, and rubbed his cheek. The punch missed his previous wound, fortunately, but there was still a very minor bruise. "I'm ok, Rei. It doesn't really hurt anymore."
Before he could stop her, she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on the bruise. Shinji looked at her, shocked, as she pulled away. They both blushed. He could feel that silly grin coming on again...
"WOO-HOO!!" Misato screamed, having seen everything from the doorway. "Look at the lovebirds!!" she shouted as she grabbed Shinji in a headlock.
As you can tell, she was quite drunk. Everyone knows that the best way to get rid of a hangover is to get drunk again.
Shinji was about to complain, but as he looked up, he noticed Rei quietly giggling at their antics. Grinning, he played along. 'Progress...'
Later on, Shinji and Rei were relaxing on the couch, watching TV. Misato was at NERV for her shift.
Asuka hadn't come out of her room all day. Silently, Shinji was grateful. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, it's just... there's only so much stress one person can take, you know?
"... Shinji?" Rei's voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned to look at her. "Yes, Rei?"
"What were you going to say last night?"
Shinji tilted his head in thought. "When?"
"When I said I did not approve of the idea of you and Pilot Soryu showing affection."
That's right. Rei was jealous. He was grinning again.
"Shinji, you have the same expression on your face as you did last night. You are not mentally ill, are you?" she asked, a little concerned.
Shinji sweatdropped. After rearranging his facial features into a more natural smile, he replied, "No, I'm not crazy. I'm just really happy."
"Why?"
"Well... you were jealous, Rei."
"... jealous?"
He nodded. "It's... uh..." This was a little complicated to explain. "In basis, it's envy - wanting something that someone else has." Shinji scratched his head a little before continuing. "But when it comes to relationships, it's a bit different... It's when someone you care about gives their time and attention to someone else, instead of you. And you want their time and attention for yourself. I think." He sat and thought. Did that sound right?
"I see." Rei nodded. "I do not like the idea of you and Pilot Soryu sharing time and affection, because I would rather you shared them... " She blushed. "... with... with me."
Shinji nodded. "And that's what makes me happy. It shows that you care. A-About me, I mean."
She smiled gently at him, and replied, "Of course I care about you."
Shinji could feel his heart dancing in his chest.
Then she stopped smiling. "But Major Katsuragi said that Pilot Soryu was jealous."
Ergh. "Uh... yeah..."
"Which would mean that she wanted you to share time and affection with her, which would mean that she cares about you."
He started to sweat a little. "Uh... I suppose..."
Rei's mood was dropping visibly. He had to do something. "But... but Rei, that doesn't really matter to me. I'm only really happy that you care about me. Because... I c-care about you, too."
He hesitantly reached out and gently took her hand. "I only w-want to share my time and affection with... y-you."
She looked at him in slight surprise, before nodding. She squeezed his hand back gently, and smiled.
Only you...
TBC
- xiphux
20040826
Whew... I drew a complete blank for over a year, and then one sleepless night, this popped into my head. Funny how that works... I just hope I haven't lost whatever touch I had for the previous chapters.
There's more action and drama than sappy stuff this chapter, but hey... Asuka came back, what do you expect...?
I can't take credit for the "footprint for a birthmark" line. I read it in some fic and thought it was hilarious, but I don't remember which fic.
fanfiction(.)net now strips extraneous symbols, so my cool little scene break symbols aren't there, nor are the symbols I use to denote sound effects. So it doesn't look as cool as it will on my site.
Shinji looked up. "Huh?" he responded intelligently.
"Why do you fight with Pilot Soryu, Shinji?"
"Why? Um... I don't really know why, Rei. It's just that she's impossible to get along with..."
"Major Katsuragi says it is friendly fighting, as a means of showing affection."
"Er... I wouldn't really call it 'friendly fighting,' per se ... We argue, but it's mostly about little things that aren't very important. I'm usually not very angry with her, just more annoyed than anything..." Shinji continued to prepare for bed.
"... I do not approve."
Blink. "Uh... what?"
"I do not approve. You should stop fighting with her."
"Why do you say that? It's not like we're really all that serious about it. It's more just venting than anything."
Rei paused, as if she was trying to find the words to express what she meant. "I do not want you to get hurt again."
Shinji blushed at her concern. However, Rei still seemed to be lost in thought...
Finally, she hesitantly spoke. "I do not like... the idea of you and Pilot Soryu... showing affection."
Everything came to a halt for Shinji, as he contemplated that. 'Wait... is Rei actually... jealous? That's pretty cute!' Shinji felt his heart speed up a little, and he couldn't hide the goofy grin appearing on his face...
Rei tilted her head at the odd expression. 'Is Shinji sick?'
After Shinji calmed down enough to speak, he smiled at Rei. "Well actually, Rei-"
BOOOM
They both started, and turned to the now open door...
Through the drunken haze, Misato became dimly aware of a thumping noise. It was causing ripples in her beer - vaguely reminiscent of Jurassic Park, actually. However, the stomping noises were far too fast to be a Tyrannosaurus Rex - that could only mean one thing, something far scarier...
She tilted her head back. "Asuka? Something wrong?"
What she got in response was a jumble of angrily noises. She could only make out a couple Japanese words - 'pervert,' 'wimp,' and 'Wondergirl.' The rest was delivered in German that she couldn't understand. She didn't think she really wanted to understand, judging by the girl's tone.
By that point, Asuka was already past the kitchen. Misato sighed, shrugged, and went back to work. 'I'm only gonna step in if there's any property damage...'
There is an old adage concerning women and hell's fury. Or rather, those were the only parts Shinji could remember at the moment.
"A-Asuka! Um... hi...?"
"You... PERVERT..."
At that point, Shinji could have sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes. "I-I wasn't doing anything perverted! This isn't what it looks like!"
Asuka raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? It sure looks like you're about to sleep with her," she bit out slowly.
"Well... uh... I was, b-but not like that..."
"So you were just going to cuddle, right?"
"Y-... I mean no! I don't see why this is such a big deal to you!"
Asuka's eyes widened a bit, before she turned her nose up at him. "Feh... I don't care about you!"
"Yeah right..." he muttered dryly.
"WHAT did you say?! If you have something to say, Third Child, you had better have the guts to say it to my...'
'I know I said I wouldn't interfere unless they were breaking stuff, but it's getting rather annoying...' Misato scowled a little. "Hey, SHADDUP over there!"
No one noticed.
She clenched her fist, and a vein appeared on her forehead. "I SAID SHUT UP, YOU TWO!! SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO WORK HERE!!"
Asuka paused in her ranting. "Did you hear something?"
Shinji shook his head.
She shrugged before continuing to yell at him.
'Those children will be the death of me...' she thought. Angrily she stood up and made her way towards the clamor.
They paused and turned to look at her as she showed up at the doorway.
"Maybe you didn't hear me," she said calmly. "I NEED TO WORK, SO SHUT UP!! Asuka, room. Now. Shinji, couch. Go."
"Why do I have to sleep on the couch?"
"You're the man, aren't you? Men are supposed to let the woman have the bed."
Withering under Misato's fearsome glare, Shinji didn't feel very much like a man.
Rei finally spoke up. "But it was not a problem yesterday."
At this revelation, Asuka got even angrier, if that was possible.
"I didn't feel like murdering Children yesterday." she muttered. "Now GO!"
Grumbling, Shinji and Asuka headed out of the room. Misato slammed the door and sat back down at the kitchen table. She chugged an entire can of beer, sighed, and started to work again.
As Shinji settled down on the couch, he felt oddly... cold. Alone. As if something was missing from his side.
Well, something was missing. Rei was. He longed to feel her heat next to him. Shinji blushed a little at that thought. He wasn't being perverted, it's just that... her warmth beside him was... calming. Comforting. It-
Asuka's face appeared above him. "AND IF I FIND YOU SLEEPING WITH HER AGAIN TOMORROW MORNING, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS SO HARD YOUR GRANDCHILDREN WILL HAVE MY FOOTPRINT FOR A BIRTHMARK!! DO YOU HEAR ME THIRD CHILD?!"
Shinji nodded hastily.
Satisfied, Asuka went back to her room and slammed the door.
'Yeesh...' Shinji thought. "I don't see what her problem is..."
The next morning, Asuka was up earlier than normal. This was not because she wanted to check on Shinji, mind you. She just felt like getting an early start.
As she left her room, she passed by Shinji's couch. Of course, this was only because it was on the way.
Never mind the fact that from her room, the couch was in the opposite direction of the bathroom. Details, details.
She snuck a peek at the person on the couch as she went by. Oddly enough, there was a two-headed creature on the couch. One head had black hair, and one head had blue hair. She shrugged, and continued walking, until she finally kicked her half-asleep mind into awareness. Asuka went back and did a classic double take.
Rei and Shinji were on the same couch.
POP
A vein bulged.
Rei stirred a little, mumbled Shinji's name, and pulled him closer to her.
POP
Another vein bulged.
Shinji tightened his arm around her slightly in response.
POP
There's another one. Strangely, they were beginning to resemble the kanji for 'kill.'
Asuka chuckled a little, in that 'I'm actually not amused at all' kind of way.
"PERVERT!!!!!!!"
Birds all around the apartment building scattered.
Shinji awoke to the shouting of a certain redhead. This wasn't exactly new, though. He opened his eyes to see the irate German's face looking down at him. If looks could kill, Shinji was certain he and Rei would have been vaporized by now. What was she mad about now?
Wait. Back up.
He finally noticed Rei beside him. She must have come over in the middle of the night. He noticed her arms around him, and blushed a little. It felt good to be held by her like this.
Then she pulled him against her body tightly, and he turned red as a tomato.
You thought Asuka was angry before? Yeah.
While Rei had gotten used to sleeping deeply due to the construction by her apartment, nothing could sleep through the current noise. For one thing, Pilot Soryu was holding Shinji's collar, shaking him as she shouted in his face. His head flopped back and forth uselessly as he was pulled from Rei's arms..
Rei sat up and scowled. She was actually angry. Pilot Soryu was hurting Shinji. Putting a hand on each of the pilots, she pushed the two apart, and moved in between them. She turned her angry expression on Asuka. "Stop."
Asuka was a little unnerved. She never saw Wondergirl angry like this before. Judging by his expression, Shinji hadn't, either. Determined not to lose, she bolstered her anger. "What do you want, Wondergirl?"
"Stop. You are hurting Shinji."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are."
Seeing as how Rei seemed to be perfectly content with repeating this witty dialogue all day, Asuka changed tactics. "So what? He's a wimp and a pervert, and needs a little sense beaten into him!"
Rei reached up and gently caressed Shinji's injured cheek, causing him to blush profusely. "I will not see Shinji hurt again."
Asuka knocked her hand away from him. "You..."
Misato awoke with a hangover. This was normal. But that damn girl was shouting again, and it was causing a rather painful throbbing at her temples...
She slowly stood up and shuffled out into the hallway. After a quick detour to the kitchen for a beer, she made her way towards the sound of the World War occurring in her apartment...
"Who are you to tell me what to do?!"
"If Shinji's safety is involved, then it is my concern."
"Are you gonna do something to stop me?! Can you, even?!" Asuka began to roll her sleeve up.
"If I have to, yes."
Seeing how things were about to get dangerous very quickly, Shinji tried to step in and mediate. "Now, girls... maybe-"
"Stay out of this, Shinji!" Asuka shouted, and punched him. While it wasn't hard as her punches from before, it still was enough to knock Shinji on his back.
"Shinji!" he heard Rei exclaim, some concern noticeable in her voice. He looked up, just in time to see Rei punch Asuka. It was not a very fast or graceful punch; it was obvious that Rei did not have a lot of hand-to-hand training and was just trying to imitate Asuka's punch, but it did the job. Shinji watched in shock as Asuka fell back, much as he had just done.
Asuka held a hand to her cheek and looked up at Rei, stunned. Then her face contorted in anger, and she got up to lunge at the blue-haired girl.
She would have done so, at least, had Misato not stepped between the two. "Hai hai, that's enough."
Despite her anger, Asuka knew that hitting a senior officer was a good way to get her ass in trouble, real quick.
"Bitch!" she screamed at Rei.
"... but I am not a canine..."
Asuka slapped her forehead.
"Ok, ok, what's happening here?" Misato asked, after taking a swig of beer.
The redhead pointed at the bluehead, shaking with anger. "She... she... she was sleeping here! With him!!"
Misato eyed the trio before taking another drink and shrugging. "So what?"
"So WHAT?! SO WHAT?!!" she screamed incredulously. "They could be doing something... gross!! Like... screwing, or something!"
Shinji turned bright red, and even Rei had a bit of color on her cheeks.
Misato just shook her head. "They would be naked, and there would be plenty of evidence on the couch. I don't think so." She then narrowed her eyes at Shinji. "Speaking of which... don't get anything nasty on my couch."
Shinji face was flaming. "M-Misato-san... I wouldn't... I mean..." The color left his face as Misato burst out laughing. "Misato-san!" he whined indignantly. "Don't tease me like that!"
"Sorry, sorry," she chuckled.
Asuka stared at the others, flabbergasted. How could Misato just overlook it that easily?! "So you're just going to let him get away with it?!"
"Well, they just slept next to each other, right? It's not that big a deal," Misato replied nonchalantly.
"But... but..." She realized that arguing decency with Misato, of all people, was futile. Misato herself was quite... uh... shameless.
Unfortunately, Misato spun things back on her. "Why do you care so much about what they do? You sound... almost..."
Asuka's eyes widened as she realized what was coming next. She tried to interrupt. "I-"
"Jealous!" Misato declared loudly, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
Shinji paused, and looked at Asuka. 'Really?' He blushed a little.
Rei noticed his blush. Her brow furrowed... again.
Asuka turned away. "Feh. Yeah right. Like I care about this pervert." She stalked into her room.
Misato snickered a little, and Asuka stuck her head out. "I'M NOT JEALOUS!!" She shut the door forcefully.
"Sigh... that girl..." Misato shook her head, tossed the now-empty can, and went to the kitchen for another.
As soon as Misato left, Rei was right beside him. She was examining his cheek. "Does it hurt, Shinji?"
Shinji blushed a little, and rubbed his cheek. The punch missed his previous wound, fortunately, but there was still a very minor bruise. "I'm ok, Rei. It doesn't really hurt anymore."
Before he could stop her, she leaned in and gave him a gentle kiss on the bruise. Shinji looked at her, shocked, as she pulled away. They both blushed. He could feel that silly grin coming on again...
"WOO-HOO!!" Misato screamed, having seen everything from the doorway. "Look at the lovebirds!!" she shouted as she grabbed Shinji in a headlock.
As you can tell, she was quite drunk. Everyone knows that the best way to get rid of a hangover is to get drunk again.
Shinji was about to complain, but as he looked up, he noticed Rei quietly giggling at their antics. Grinning, he played along. 'Progress...'
Later on, Shinji and Rei were relaxing on the couch, watching TV. Misato was at NERV for her shift.
Asuka hadn't come out of her room all day. Silently, Shinji was grateful. It wasn't that he didn't want to see her, it's just... there's only so much stress one person can take, you know?
"... Shinji?" Rei's voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned to look at her. "Yes, Rei?"
"What were you going to say last night?"
Shinji tilted his head in thought. "When?"
"When I said I did not approve of the idea of you and Pilot Soryu showing affection."
That's right. Rei was jealous. He was grinning again.
"Shinji, you have the same expression on your face as you did last night. You are not mentally ill, are you?" she asked, a little concerned.
Shinji sweatdropped. After rearranging his facial features into a more natural smile, he replied, "No, I'm not crazy. I'm just really happy."
"Why?"
"Well... you were jealous, Rei."
"... jealous?"
He nodded. "It's... uh..." This was a little complicated to explain. "In basis, it's envy - wanting something that someone else has." Shinji scratched his head a little before continuing. "But when it comes to relationships, it's a bit different... It's when someone you care about gives their time and attention to someone else, instead of you. And you want their time and attention for yourself. I think." He sat and thought. Did that sound right?
"I see." Rei nodded. "I do not like the idea of you and Pilot Soryu sharing time and affection, because I would rather you shared them... " She blushed. "... with... with me."
Shinji nodded. "And that's what makes me happy. It shows that you care. A-About me, I mean."
She smiled gently at him, and replied, "Of course I care about you."
Shinji could feel his heart dancing in his chest.
Then she stopped smiling. "But Major Katsuragi said that Pilot Soryu was jealous."
Ergh. "Uh... yeah..."
"Which would mean that she wanted you to share time and affection with her, which would mean that she cares about you."
He started to sweat a little. "Uh... I suppose..."
Rei's mood was dropping visibly. He had to do something. "But... but Rei, that doesn't really matter to me. I'm only really happy that you care about me. Because... I c-care about you, too."
He hesitantly reached out and gently took her hand. "I only w-want to share my time and affection with... y-you."
She looked at him in slight surprise, before nodding. She squeezed his hand back gently, and smiled.
Only you...
TBC
- xiphux
20040826
Whew... I drew a complete blank for over a year, and then one sleepless night, this popped into my head. Funny how that works... I just hope I haven't lost whatever touch I had for the previous chapters.
There's more action and drama than sappy stuff this chapter, but hey... Asuka came back, what do you expect...?
I can't take credit for the "footprint for a birthmark" line. I read it in some fic and thought it was hilarious, but I don't remember which fic.
fanfiction(.)net now strips extraneous symbols, so my cool little scene break symbols aren't there, nor are the symbols I use to denote sound effects. So it doesn't look as cool as it will on my site.