In Between

By Eric Blair

The intellectual property of the characters, institutions and places depicted here belong to Hideaki Anno and GAINAX/KARA. This is a work of fiction and it's not associated with any of them.

Asuka sighed wistfully, staring out the window as she watched time go by. She looked at the clock hanging above the old teacher who kept droning on and on about second impact this and second impact that, before she broke her sight to her wrist watch, noticing that only a minute and close to 20 seconds had passed since last time she had checked.

She let out another sigh before her gaze fell invariably on the boy that was to her upper right.

Shinji let out a breath, before resting his head on his folded arms looking around at the rest of the class; the teacher had once again gotten caught up with his remembrance of what the world was before second impact, and was starting to lull him; a deep sense of lethargy creeping on his body, like a warm blanket being wrapped against still cold and shivering body.

It was a very nice feeling.

However, as with everything, this came to an end when the school chimes began to signal the end of the school day, and everyone quietly stood up, bowing respectfully before the teacher dismissed them all.

Shinji began to slowly pick up his things, glad another day was over; the last week or so had been a tense calm, ever since Mt. Asama.

"I've done it but… that's it. I'm done for." Every time he closed his eyes at night, Asuka's tired voice, almost resigned to her death came back to haunt him, and Shinji sometimes could not help but wonder morbidly what would have happened if he hadn't acted on the exact moment he had.

It had been more than a reaction, much more than a simple instinct to press forward, to move even as he heard Misato's order to back down; he had leaned over the edge of the volcano and let himself dunk Unit 01 from the waist down, feeling immediately the heat of the magma hearing the sizzling sounds of the paint and armor melting away, even as the LCL began to bubble and the temperature inside the entry plug began to make itself feel more and more.

Breathing was hard; the LCL was starting to boil, he felt his plugsuit sticking to his body, sweating profusely just like Asuka had mentioned before, but he never thought about it. His only goal was grabbing Asuka's hand.

"Shinji!? Idiot! You showoff!"

And those soft last words she said before passing out made it all worthwhile.

Shinji turned to look at Asuka, who had, after the whole trip to the open air bath, become somewhat different. Sure, she would still shout and sometimes act like a brat, expecting Shinji to wait on her, hand and foot, waiting for the briefest of signals to come and give her whatever she asked for; a specific meal, or another can of juice, or a specific softener on her clothes.

But sometimes, Shinji could swear he had seen her staring at him, almost as if she were weighing the effects of approaching him. Sometimes she would look at him before snorting like an angry bull and looking away, muttering under her breath in that exotic combination of German and English she used when she was equal parts angry and frustrated at something.

And other times…

Shinji sighed.

Other times, a small part of him would swear she would look away quickly to avoid his gaze, and her face would look with just the slightest tinge of red, and she would then shout louder but never look up before storming to whatever room was closest; her room… the bathroom.

Those were the times Shinji would allow himself the briefest of hopes and fantasize maybe she did feel something more, something else besides the way she always made him feel.

Like she was just stuck with him, unable to move forward or, even worse, being weighed down by him.

And Shinji would find himself unconsciously staring at her retreating form, opening his mouth to speak words that would never get past his mind, words that would be exact and powerful and beautiful.

Words that would finally allow him to understand what he felt every time he saw her; be it early morning just as she would be waking up and exiting her room; hair tussled and eyes halfway closed, rubbing the sleep away, yawning every once in a while.

Or those rare times he would see her just fresh out of the shower after being at Nerv, or after coming from school and having changed from their uniform… hair still damp, but the fragrance of strawberries still all around her, smiling softly as she combed her hair, letting it fall freely before picking it up in her usual way, using her headsets to hold it in place.

Or the even rarer times when they would catch the train back home after having to be at school late to take make up exams, or from Nerv when Misato would have to stay to pull an extra shift and he would feel her slowly resting her head on his shoulder, before her breath came out even and softly, a whispered small snore coming out from within her while her face held a relaxed, peaceful expression so surreal on her.

And once they reached their destination, Shinji would feign nothing had happened, getting up and going about hearing Asuka's jabs and teases while he could still smell her perfume, shampoo and body wash; the smell still residing with him even after the day had ended, helping him sleep more peacefully at night.

Right now, however… The wait for Asuka to finish packing all of her things was, as usual, made in a tense silence, with Shinji simply standing by the door, staring at Asuka who was looking at her briefcase, checking and double checking, taking her time before she finally closed it and stood up, signaling she was ready to leave. Asuka turned to look at Shinji, and the boy felt again the need to break the silence by saying something, anything.

"H-hey Asuka?"

Asuka turned to look at Shinji who was blushing, rearranging his own pack, hiking the shoulder strap up, clenching it tightly.

"What?"

Shinji fidgeted some more, before he took a deep breath.

"W-well, Misato said we needed to buy some groceries a-and I wanted to stop by the store before going h-home." He admitted before giving her a small smile, looking somewhat endearingly, but at the same time like the idiot he was.

"So?"

"W-well, uhm… I…" Shinji stammered, looking at her eyes, before blushing deeply and looking immediately down, almost as if he had been ashamed of being caught by Asuka staring at her. Asuka stared at him, raising an immaculate eyebrow, questioning what he wanted without uttering a word, and Shinji took a couple of deep breaths before he finally found his voice.

"Y-you can go to the apartment, I'll just stop by quickly a-and buy the things on the list."

Asuka sighed, rolling her eyes.

"As stimulating as the idea of going out with you for grocery shopping is, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pass." The redhead said as she walked out towards the right side of the hall, knowing full well Shinji had to go to the left. "I promised Hikari I'd wait for her after school."

"O-oh…" Shinji said simply, a soft whispered response topped by a slow nod as he understood. "So-sorry…"

He wasn't sure Asuka had actually heard or not, because the minute he looked up, Shinji noticed Asuka had began walking away taking small, lady like steps as her hands locked behind her head, her briefcase hanging daintily from her fingers.

Shinji just stood there, looking at Asuka's retreating figure down the hall, wondering if he should say something; maybe if he insisted, Asuka would actually go with him to buy the groceries; even if she would just tease him mercilessly and ask for outrageous things and candies before Shinji would finally convince her to just settle for some hot potato chips and a juice drink.

But at least he would be going out with somebody…

At least I would be going out with you. Shinji thought dejectedly, before he rearranged the shoulder strap of his briefcase and turned around, ready to leave…

Before he saw someone waiting for him down the hall.

AN: Wait a minute... what the hell happened to the sabbatical I swore I was taking from writing? am I so untrustworthy I even lie to myself?

Ok, this one is a short and sweet one, not sure how long, or how often it will be updated, but the last time I began to write just for the sake of writing, I came up with "cliches" and it didn't do half bad, so here's hoping.

Random statistics: This portion, excluding the boring AN's and the obligatory disclaimer, counted 1,396 words and was only 2 and a half pages long.

Not sure why I'm putting this.