143Bonus Chapter: Shinji's First Christmas
Dec. 20, 2016
St. Pauli Quarter, Hamburg, Germany
Asuka Langley Soryu, brave pilot of the Production Series Evangelion: Unit-02, Captain of NERV, daughter of Kyoko Zeplin Soryu, Spitfire of NERV and current housemate of Shinji Ikari very quietly entered her shared apartment. It's currently 11pm at night and considering her housemate had just spent almost the entirety of the past two days at NERV suffering through the gauntlet of tests with Doktor Diederich she tried her hardest to imitate a ninja as she entered. Honestly she didn't have a problem with NERV-03's version of Doctor Akagi, he didn't help plan for Third Impact after all but did he really need to do that many tests? In just two days?
She knew how important it is to get accurate readings from Shinji considering his Unit-01 will be going through a rebuild/retrofit soon but still, wasn't that a bit too much?
She still remembered the tired look Shinji had on him when she picked him up from the base earlier in the day, the only time she had ever seen him look so tired during their civilian life had been after he visited his mother's grave last year. Normally she would make him drive but even she couldn't help but sympathize as he collapsed into unconsciousness in the passenger seat beside her as she drove home, thanking that NERV had enough pull to get them licenses early.
The last thing Shinji needed was being driven home in a stuffy Section 2 SUV.
So with great care, using the inherent superior fine muscle control her biological sex possesses which had been further honed by training to pilot Eva she closed the door quietly. She hated being disturbed when she was tired and/or irritable and considering Shinji is nothing but a darling when she's on her period she decided she could grace him with her generosity and kindness when he just wants nothing more than sleep. Hell, she didn't even make him cook tonight! She had to suffer eating take-out after he had the gall to spoil her taste buds with his cooking.
'I really am too nice sometimes,' Asuka decided as the door closed with a quiet *click*.
"I'm home," she announced with a whisper in Japanese as she took off her shoes.
The reply is of course silence, but she didn't mind as she walked into the apartment. She noticed the lights are left on and she cursed internally, that was her fault, she must have forgotten to turn it off when she left in a hurry. She sighed and shrugged it off, her and Shinji are swimming in more money than they know what to do with so they can afford wasted electricity. When she had brought Shinji home he had basically stripped right in front of her, too tired to remember her being in the room and collapsed on his bed.
That had made her red faced for a good twenty-minutes, still she saved the memory.
…involuntarily of course.
She shook her head, clearing her head of…things, she threw her hand bag across the hallway, into the living room, plopping it onto the love seat. She took a look around her and Shinji's apartment, looking for signs if he had gotten up at all. He had looked really rough and honestly she was a bit worried about leaving him alone so when she went out she had asked (read: threatened) their neighbors, AKA a part of their Section 2 security detail, if they could check on him from time to time, or else.
Their apartment itself is quite large, twice as big as Misato's place, her and Shinji's combined income making a large apartment in the middle of the urban heart of Hamburg easy to afford.
She took off her coat and couldn't help but smile at the long red trench coat, a gift from her idiotic but lovable roommate. A part of her had been touched at the gift, for it was of very high quality while another part of her is happy that the world is now making a recovery so she could actually where something so warm.
Back when she left Germany in 2015 to go to Tokyo-3 she had never experienced weather that could really be called winter. Oh it had been cold during the old winter months but all it took to be warm was a sweater. In less than a year it had become legitimately cold again, it even reached negative five degrees Celsius today!
Idly she wondered if that was some reward for the human race defeating the Angels.
'I wonder if Papa or Mother knows how to skate?'she wondered, referring to her birth father and step-mother, while she had accepted the woman thanks to Shinji but she does make sure to differentiate her birth mother as Mama and her step-mom as either Mom or Mother. As Asuka took off her black turtle neck sweater and hanged it up on the coat rack, she tilted her head and thought, 'shame with the war going we can't leave the city and go skiing when it finally starts to snow again…whenever that will be. At least now it's starting to get cold enough for water to freeze outside.'
She walked into the apartment, turning off lights as she went and walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of milk and looked outside her apartment window and smiled at the sight of the street below. Lights were strung in between the trees that lined the streets and all kinds of decorations were hung on people's balconies and windows.
Asuka took a deep breath, savoring the feeling of peace. This is one of the reasons she fought now, as irregular as the fighting had gotten as time passed and SEELE weakened had gotten, this sense of everyday peace. Her smile took a prideful quality as she thought how that the only reason the world still worked the way it does, the reason people can still scurry around rushing to finish their Christmas and holiday shopping is because she and her fellow pilots had fought. Because she had lived this is all possible.
She really is great and amazing, why did she ever doubt herself before?
Her eyes lit up as she remembered that Alster, a part of the Elbe river that flowed through the city used to freeze up in the years before Second Impact, maybe it will freeze over this year?
'It is cold enough to freeze now...' she thought to herself before she smirked as an idea came to her. She'd ask her Papa and Mother if they knew how to skate and ask to teach her in secret at one of the indoor skating rinks. Then once she had mastered the skill, which of course wouldn't take too long, she'd graciously teach it to Shinji. She put down her now empty glass and turned off the light in the kitchen, yes that should be a fun way to spend time with the Baka.
Besides Minna Ludwig, Doktor Diederich's nephew and a nurse at NERV-03 had been getting a little too close to her Baka for her liking and she didn't want him getting so close to someone…since he'll be heading back to Japan in a few months. She didn't want him hurting from separating from someone, she already knew he'd be missing herself and that was enough suffering for the Third Child as far as Asuka is concerned.
Asuka, now changed into a long sleeved shirt a few sizes too big for her and a pair of pajamas, not her sexiest sleepwear but it is quite cold in shorts even with heating. Currently she's standing outside of Shinji's room and she quietly opened the do-
*creeeeek*
"Scheiße," Asuka cursed, "damnit Shinji I thought I told you to fix that hinge."
"A…Asu..ka?" Shinji murmured groggily, not really awake.
Asuka froze, she had not meant to say that out loud, especially with the day her best friend had had.
Oops.
"Is…is something…wrong?" she heard Shinji murmur, obviously not wholly there. Still, Asuka held back a sigh, would it kill the idiot to worry about himself for once? As someone who is selfish, although she would never admit that to anyone, it got on her nerves from time to time.
"Nothing's wrong Baaaka," she drawled and after a barely audible 'ok' she heard, for it's too dark to see even with her now superhuman eyesight, Shinji rustle and probably got back to sleep…
"…Hey Asuka…" maybe not, "w…why are…you here then?"
"Uh…" Asuka's brain went blank, honestly she came in here because she wanted to sleep with him but like hell she'd say something so embarrassing.
"Night…mares?"
"Y-no. No Shinji, no nightmares," she admitted because in all honesty lying to him felt wrong after all he'd done for her during the war, after all the things he'd opened up to her about over their time together, after all the things she'd said to him, after she hurt him when her Unit-02 went berserk during the battle with the 15th Angel it just felt wrong. "It's…well it's cold tonight so…can…can I sleep with you?"
There, the technical truth. It is cold so it wasn't an actual lie.
"Mhm," he murmured and after she started to hear light snoring she shook her head in amusement and ninjad over to his bed, lifted the sheets, crawled beside him and covered them both again.
She sighed in contempt as she felt the warmth but almost 'eeped' when she felt Shinji instinctively snuggle up to her, it seems like he was cold too? Still, she wrapped an arm around him, making sure her hands don't go near anywhere inappropriate. Sleeping together took a lot of trust from both of them, especially Shinji she knew even if he didn't say so due to…his past so she didn't want to break that trust, even by accident. Also, honestly Shinji is probably the last person on Earth to develop wandering hands syndrome and while she isn't a pervert she is a hormone filled teenage girl.
As she looked around the room, waiting for the stress of Christmas shopping to finally sink in and make her fall asleep a glint caught her attention. She squinted and saw that it seemed to be the dog tags that Shinji had with him whenever possible, only taking it off when he slept, lying on his nightstand. Her chest tightened as she looked at it. While she would never admit it to anyone but herself, she's jealous of Miya. She had met Shinji, from what she could remember Shinji telling her when he was drunk once, that they had met only once. That was what? A decade ago? And their contact only lasted the better part of a day and she had made a huge impact on him.
Oh sure he was four or five at the time, children are impressionable, and yes he is an idiot but still she couldn't help but feel jealous of that connection. She knew Shinji and herself are close too, probably closer really but knowing something intellectually is different from feeling it emotionally. She looked at her roommate as he slept. His hair is messy and his face so adorably at peace that she couldn't help but smile.
Then her eyes wandered to the scar over his left eye.
A scar he had because she had failed to defeat all of the Mass Production Series Evangelions..
A scar that he carried because of her failure.
A mark, a reminder of how she had hurt him, how she had failed him.
She sighed softly. She knew Shinji didn't much care for the injury, actually he didn't care at all for the scar. In fact he had joked that it made him look more mysterious and she had to admit it added to his appeal but it didn't help alleviate the guilt she felt.
She was about to shake her head but refrained, Shinji is tired, more tired than after some battles against SEELE and she didn't want to wake him…again. So instead she ran a hand through Shinji's hair, gently of course, to clear her thoughts. Getting depressed over things won't help, she had done that before and it didn't work. No, instead she'll move forward. She too will make sure he will remember her when he finally leaves for Japan.
She snuggled up to Shinji, enjoying the warmth of her friend as she decided that she too will give him something he can keep with him all the time, to remind him of herself. Plan in mind she drifted off into the land of dreams, the war and the departure of her roommate temporarily forgotten.
Dec. 22, 2016
Altstadt Quarter, Hamburg
Shinji stood beside Asuka as they waited outside a café on the Mönckebergstraße, one of the main shopping streets in Hamburg. Shinji is dressed in a black well-fitted pea coat, hiding the white dress shirt and black tie he wore underneath. He is also wearing black dress pants and black leather shoes due to what he has planned today.
Asuka herself is dressed in a somewhat similar fashion with her favorite long red coat worn over a light grey turtle neck sweater. To show off the body she's proud of she wore a pair of tight fitting light grey pants and they're paired with a pair of knee high black boots. To keep herself warm she also wore a white scarf.
The Second Child of NERV put her hands in her coat as she stood beside her roommate as the two teenagers enjoyed the sunny weather and the pleasant bite of the cold morning air. She saw a few older men, from college students to people the age of her father give her looks and she laughed inside. She was half-tempted to tell them she's actually 15 and then run to a police officer, or perhaps scream to get the attention of Section 2 and tell them they made her uncomfortable. In the end though she refrained, she has a mature figure for her age and damn proud of it, besides they can look at her fully dressed. If they tried to get touchy though…well it was a toss up to who would kill them, her in the heat of the moment or Section 2 after they had been arrested, under the orders of an angry Misato after she found out back in Japan.
And honestly none of them interested her, they'd never understand the pain she had been through, the trauma she suffered, the scars she has.
Speaking of getting looks…
Asuka glanced at her best friend beside her and her eye twitched, "Baka Shinji."
Shinji blinked in surprise before he gave Asuka his whole attention.
"Yes Asuka?" he asked her in Japanese, the way they spoke pretty much anywhere to each other, at home, outside, at work it didn't matter although they did choose to speak German when people who need to understand what they say are around and they don't speak Japanese. His German is actually quite good thanks to Asuka but Japanese just felt natural to him and Asuka just didn't care what she spoke.
"Do you have to dress like that?" She said, motioning to what he wore. "You're going to make me feel underdressed."
Shinji blinked in surprise, "huh?"
Asuka in response face palmed, "don't tell me you forgot Japanese. You only speak two other languages Baka, go at this rate and you won't be able to communicate anymore."
"Oh ha ha," Shinji said with a deadpan face, "I know what you mean. I'm just wondering why? You look great as always."
Asuka flushed a bit at the complement and cleared her throat, "*ahem* I'm just saying why did you dress so nicely? Dress clothes and a pea coat? Isn't that a little much?" Of course what she really meant was 'why do you have to be so good looking?' And 'you can't be so dense that you don't notice the look women are giving you.'
Shinji of course is oblivious to all of that, and is instead being confused about the glare Asuka sent at the crowd. When he had asked Kaji why Misato always acts so strangely back on the carrier UNS Over the Rainbow last year even Kaji admitted he didn't fully understand women.
And if someone as suave as the deceased spy couldn't understand women then how could he ever hope to?
So instead he just answered her question.
"Your sister asked me to take her to some places today. I have some tickets for a show at the Hamburg State Opera in the early evening, so I suppose I'll treat her to lunch before then and probably finish up my Christmas shopping.
"Wait," she interrupted, "you aren't finished with your shopping yet? Shinji Ikari, mister perfect Third Child? I didn't even know you knew the meaning of the word procrastinate."
Shinji just smiled with amusement, he had gotten quite used to Asuka's attitude and had gotten to like it. It was a part of who she was.
"I am," he said with a smile that hinted a bit of smugness, causing Asuka's eye to twitch, that was her thing! His face turned calm once more before he took a sip of his coffee and shrugging, "Honestly though I think our place is missing…something."
Asuka blinked in surprise, what were they missing? They had made sure that all the furniture and appliances they'd ever need before they moved out of base housing had been delivered…and what did it have to do anything with this time of the year?
"We…" Shinji started, looking a bit embarrassed, "I…kinda wanted a Christmas Tree."
Again blinking in surprise Asuka spoke, "you want a stupid a tree taking up space? We aren't even going to be celebrating at home, we'll be going to my parents' remember?"
"W-well," Shinji looked away, his lips pursed and Asuka didn't know what she wanted to do more: Slap him and hope that suddenly makes it easier for him to speak his wishes or slap herself for calling what he wants to do stupid without a thought. "I…never really celebrated Christmas before…"
"And?" She felt her eye twitch in impatience. "I know they don't celebrate the religious part of the holiday, or most don't, in Japan but I know they still have lights, presents and stuff there. I mean now that I think about it neither of us really believe in religious crap anymore after what we've been through, why are you so into this? You've been excited for weeks…" she trailed off as she remembered a strange fact, "and don't you guys eat a bunch of KFC in Japan during this holiday? Is Turkey that hard to find?"
Shinji looked down and Asuka really wanted to slap herself for making him so down, she really needs to watch her mouth more. 'Damnit Shinji why are you so easy to open up to?' She sighed and subconsciously took his hand in a comforting gesture. "Look I'll shut up and let you finish."
"Well…" he started, "I dunoe…I…I agree that we aren't exactly religious but…" He trailed off and gestured to the cheerful people and the decorations on store windows and smiled, "I can't help but be swept up in this you know? Last year was hard I know and neither of our lives were all that happy before that but the last year? Even if we're still sent to fight every now and then life here in German has been…good. Real good. I'm happy, you're happy and…I dunoe where I'm going with this now…"
Asuka chuckled, that sounds like the bleeding heart, super sentimental idiot she lives with all right. She gave him a hug, careful not to startle him and make him drop his coffee. "Yeah, I get you. Let's enjoy these normal peaceful days to the most right?" She nodded, why not? She had spent too much time before they met being angry, she needs to spend more time trying to be happy.
Then Asuka remembered she had interrupted him, "are you taking my sister anywhere else?"
"Mhm," he hummed in agreement, enjoying the comforting presence of his roommate. "The Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra is playing at the Laeiszhalle concert hall. After that dinner and I'll drop her home afterwards."
"Oh, I was wondering why we weren't coming home together."
"You know," an older female voice came from behind, "you two really should just get married."
Asuka's eyes widened in surprise as she blushed hard and broke off her hug with Shinji and turned around, igoring Shinji's embarrassed and incoherent blabbering, "M-mom!"
"H-Hello Oba-san," Shinji stuttered. "guten Morgen"
Nora smiled at her step-daughter's best friend, "guten Morgen Shinji-kun." She then turned to her step daughter and she couldn't help but tease her so stepped a bit closer to whisper to the blushing red head, "keeping yourself warm earlier, Frau Asuka?"
"Gah?!" Asuka then decided to just glare at her mother, causing the older woman to chuckle in amusement.
'Ah, to be young again.'
The sound of little feet running across the pavement got their attention and they turned in time to see a small blonde haired bullet fly at Shinji, screaming in German.
"GUTEN MORGAAAAN!" the small 10 year old tackle hugged Shinji and of course he caught her with a bit of a grunt and she smiled at him. "Guten Morgan, Großer Bruder"
Shinji smiled down at the girl and ruffled her hair. Her name is Edith Langley Soryu, the recently adopted member of the Soryu family. The ten year old looked a lot better than when Shinji and Asuka first met her, they had rescued her from some human traffickers in southern Norway that SEELE used to fund themselves. Sadly she was orphaned but Asuka had asked her parents to adopt the girl. Looking at her now Shinji knew Asuka made the right call. That said he knows he has to switch to German now, Edith is every bit a genius as her older adoptive sister but she just didn't have enough time to learn a useful amount of Japanese.
"Good morning little sister," Shinji greeted her in German.
"D-do I look good?" she said to him shyly as she straightened her dark red winter coat. Shinji couldn't help but be a bit amused as the girl's fashion sense really mimicked Asuka. She wore black pants, light grey boots with a snow flake pattern.
"Very good," he said with a smile. "Looking forward to today?"
"Yes!" she chirped and Shinji laughed, if she took to Asuka in her sense of dress then she took to him when it came to love of music, classical music, opera or as Asuka called it 'old people music.'
Edith then turned to Asuka with her signature mega-watt smile, "good morning big sister!"
Asuka smiled, glad the girl looks to be a lot happier than she herself was when she was her age and she walked up to her and kneeled down and patted the girl on the head. While Asuka usually isn't a person who liked kids the small blond had become the exception, "good morning, looking good. Red suits you."
"Asuka," Shinji chimed in, "you think everything looks good in red."
"Hmph," Asuka scoffed, "and, like always, I'm right. Look at her. The again being right is just what I do unlike you, Baka Shinji."
"Ne ne," Edith tugged on her sleeve and Asuka turned to the girl who whispered to her. "I'll be borrowing big brother, ok? I'll bring him back, don't be sad."
"Wha?" Asuka squawked. What the hell is up with today? Is everyone picking on her today? Anymore blushing and she may feint.
"How is Edith?" Asuka asked as she and her mother walked down the street, looking through the windows of the shops that lined the street. Shinji had taken Edith and drove off in their car ten minutes ago. Honestly Asuka felt a little awkward around her step-mother. Not that she didn't like her, no she had accepted her with Shinji's help last year, still she hadn't actually spent that much time alone with her though. When Shinji was around she felt fine, she knew he would support her like she would him but alone? It felt awkward for her just a tiny bit but she didn't show it, or at least tried not to.
"Fine Asuka," her step mother reassured her, if she could tell Asuka was nervous she didn't show it. "She's hyper and bright but she misses you and Shinji. Why don't you move in with us at Blankenese when Shinji goes back to Japan?"
Asuka suppressed a flinch at the mention of Shinji's departure, she knew Nora meant well. Blankenese is a suburban quarter in the western part of Hamburg, the houses there are much larger than the apartments at St. Pauli in downtown Hamburg and her father had a nice house there but…
"I can't. It's too far from NERV's base," Asuka sighed, dropping to an almost inaudible whisper, temporarily switching back to Japanese. "Our apartment in St. Pauli is already too far from NERV for a lot of people's liking. Shinji being allowed to stay in northern Tokyo-4 when he leaves took a lot of effort on both our and Misato's part to convince the old man. Luckily Misato was able to convince the people over there, probably over drinks knowing the alcoholic, to let it happen."
Nora took a few moments to digest the information, while fluent in Japanese she isn't a native speaker nor has she been speaking it for the majority of her life like Asuka, herself picking up the language in her earlier tries to bridge the gap between Asuka and herself. So after she made sure she had heard everything correctly…she blinked in surprise. She had looked at the map of Tokyo-4 out of curiosity, knowing Shinji and Asuka, the children she loved like her own were both destined to be stationed there as Tokyo-3 is rebuilt. If she remembered correctly…
"The new base is so close to Tokyo-4 though, like here where NERV-03 is pretty much a part of Hamburg."
"I know. I refuse…we refuse to let what little freedom we have be taken from us," Asuka scowled before she switched back to Geman and a normal volume, knowing they are no longer talking about sensitive information. "And with the Baka being too stupid and too nice to fight for it himself I have to help him."
What she didn't mention was that their small apartment felt like…home to her. They spent quite a few days looking for a good apartment and once they had moved in back in mid-February they had made the space their own, placing their own touches on their home. They each had beds big enough for two people since they comforted each other at night from time to time. Shinji had basically declared the kitchen his domain, upgrading everything. Herself making the living room her own entertainment centre, Shinji's cello tucked in the corner his own addition to the room.
Even now Shinji will be buying a tree, probably getting it delivered, another touch to their home and as much as she didn't want one she'd gracefully let him have his way, it is his home too.
That said she did miss Misato and Pen-Pen and even Rei, it just didn't feel right without them.
Nora smiled as she looked at her step daughter, "just think about it Asuka, it's all your father and I ask."
Asuka nodded with a 'hm' before she looked at her mother with a raised brow, there was something about her mother's smile she didn't like…
"Sooo…" Nora drawled, smirking, "how is life with Shinji?"
"…Why?," Asuka squinted in suspicion, "it's good as it can be with Baka Shinji."
"Oooh…" the older woman looked away innocently, "well Shinji lives with you. You two are both beautiful people with exotic appearances, especially with your red eyes and even more so with Shinji's snow white hair, and exotic for Germany, Japanese heritage. You two are both teenagers. You're both co-workers as well as the closest friends of each other…."
"W-what are you getting at?"
"I'm just wondering…when should I tell Edith she's getting nieces or nephews."
"…"
"…"
"…MOM!"
Nora laughed as her step-daughter reddened, glad to finally have the relationship with the young Eva pilot she had always wanted. 'She's growing into an amazing woman Kyoko, you'd be proud.'
St. Pauli, Hamburg
Nora looked around as she sat across the table from her step daughter at a Japanese restaurant in the quarter of the city the seemingly glued at the hip pilots called home, not actually that far from where they had been trying to do some last minute shopping.
Key word trying.
"You know," Nora started as she looked through the menu, getting Asuka to look up from her own. "I'm surprised you found this place."
"St. Pauli has always had strong ties to Asia with a good sized Asian community," Asuka returned to her menu, "it's the main reason we moved here."
Nora raised a brow, wondering if Asuka realized what she had inferred. Shinji knew nothing of Hamburg and the meek boy would stay in base housing if he was told it was for the best due to his dutiful nature, the moment they landed on Germany she knew best. Asuka had lived in Hamburg almost her whole life, she would have chosen where to live, Shinji just agreeing. She decided not to tease Asuka on the obvious fact that she chose Pauli for Shinji, she still doesn't know the limit to what Asuka will take from her before snapping and she had teased the redhead plenty already.
Asuka put in more effort in deciding their meal, for she knows her mother had no real knowledge in the names of Japanese dishes. Shinji had cooked for her family before but that's as far as her knowledge went, Asuka knows she's pretty much ordering for them both. Points to her mother for trying though, if anything to accommodate Asuka's Japanese ancestry and knowing she was trying to be a good mother made Asuka happy. 'I have to make sure I order something Shinji hasn't made for her yet. He's getting a lot better than he gives himself credit for.'
"Are we going back to Mönckebergstraße after lunch?" Nora pursed her lips as she tried, in vain, to match up what the names of the dishes and their descriptions to the few dishes Shinji had made for her family. Then she saw the prices and gasped, "A-Asuka…the prices."
Asuka waved her off, not taking her eyes off the menu, "it's fine, Shinji and I make way more than you anyway."
Nora twitched a bit in annoyance at that fact.
"And yes we're going back, I didn't even buy anything."
"What are you looking for?"
The Second Child sighed in frustration as she put down her menu, waved off the waitress that was about to walk up to her table and looked at her mother, a frustrated frown on her face. "I…I don't know…*sigh*…you know how hard for me this is but…mom…I…I need your help."
Nora blinked in surprise, she honestly thought she'd never hear her step-daughter ask her for help. She felt honoured really, she knew she only really let Shinji see her as anything but perfect and strong. Sure this is about buying a present but it's a step forward for the both of them, even more so if Nora is right about who it's for.
"I'm all ears."
"How…how do you buy presents for guys? How did you choose Papa's present?"
Nora quirked a brow, "you need to buy a present for your father?"
"N-No…" Asuka sighed, "I…don't know what to get the Baka alright? There!" she snapped a bit at the end.
"It's fine Asuka," Nora said to Asuka, letting the snap slide, knowing the young girl still had deep scars. "Men are hard to understand."
"I know! Stupid Baka Shinji," Asuka grumbled. "He even said 'anything is fine' when I got his stooge friend to ask what he wanted! Stupid, I don't get boys."
"Haha," the older woman chuckled, "well…do you have an idea?
"I don't know…I want it to be special though. I was talking to Shinji the other day and this is his first Christmas…that he'll be celebrating I mean. At least for me people tried to make me happy during this time of the year, so I want this to be something he'll really like. I'm pretty sure he's a lot more excited about coming over on the 24th than he's letting on too, probably embarrassed the idiot."
"Well…do you want to get him a practical gift or a more sentimental gift? Trust me, it's easier to have an idea in mind instead of…just wandering around."
"…Sentimental, Shinji's a big softie," Asuka nodded to herself besides what would she do for a practical gift? She knew nothing of playing music and while she had learned from him how to cook she knows nothing compared to him so buying him a new appliance or knife set is out the window.
"What do you want it to mean?"
"I…I.." Asuka reached for the necklace hidden under her sweater. It was a simple thing but of obviously high quality, a fine gold chain attached to a small locket. She opened it and smirked at the site of the picture Misato had taken on the UNS Over the Rainbow. It was taken just after the defeat of the giant fish Angel, her and Shinji on the flight deck, Unit-02 on in the background. She wore her red plugsuit with her hands on her hips and a victorious smirk on her face while beside her Shinji stood in her spare plugsuit looking a bit uncomfortable with an embarrassed smile on his face, both of them still covered in LCL. On the side opposite of the locket, engraved, is the date that they had met on the damn rust bucket in the middle of the Pacific. The locket had been gifted alongside her red coat for her birthday on December 4 and the gift touched her, a reminder of the start of their complicated friendship, and of an amusing memory. "I want something that will remind him of us. Something that he can wear anywhere."
"Well do you want to get him a locket then? A necklace like yours? Does he wear jewelry at all? If he does what would he wear?" Nora took a sip of water, her mouth getting dry.
Asuka hummed in thought, Shinji being the way too nice kid he is she knew he would wear anything she gave him unless it was really unreasonable. She wouldn't give him a necklace, she knows that for sure. She may be jealous of the dog tags he always wears but she also knew how much it meant to him and she did respect this Miya woman for the positive influence she had on Shinji, even if she also had negative influences on him in her opinion. She wouldn't make him choose to wear one or the other. A ring? That made her blush, no, too many meanings that can be taken the wrong way, plus she wanted something he could wear over his plugsuit when going into combat, unlike the dog tags which need a special pocket to store. A watch? No, he'll probably complain about how expensive it is and she'll end up snapping at him, her own personality preventing her from buying anything but the best for Asuka Langley Soryu does not accept anything less.
That's it! A bracelet! He could wear that over his plugsuit and unlike a necklace it wouldn't flow around and maybe off him as he gets thrown around in combat or even just a combat air drop so he wouldn't need to get another addition to his plugsuit. And if she gets it made out of stainless steel then it wouldn't rust!
She really is a genius.
December 24, 2016
*click*
The door to the Soryu/Ikari apartment opened, letting in the cold night air and two teenagers walked in, burdened with presents. Allowing Asuka to go in first, Shinji held the door open before following her inside and closing the door behind him, the door locking itself.
"See," Shinji started as they both started taking off their shoes as he turned to the lights of the Christmas tree, the only source of light in their dark apartment. "It looks nice."
"Yes yes," Asuka rolled her eyes, in her opinion it was tacky but if it made him happy then that's all that matters for her. "It's all very pretty."
Shinji let the dismissive comment roll off him, knowing she didn't meant to insult him. Instead he just turned on the light as he carried the various presents that he and Asuka had received. They had just spent the day at Asuka's family's house in the west end of Hamburg, celebrating with some of the few people who Shinji thought of as family.
Even though he found it really embarrassing when Asuka's step-mother and Edith would indirectly imply what kind of family member he is.
He walked in, bags and boxes in hand and dropped off the presents, mostly clothes and a few expensive bottles of wine, in the living room before walking back to the entryway to hang up his jacket. Since he didn't need to dress formally this time around to fit in he was dressed far more casually. He wore a black leather jacket with a red stripe running down each arm and after taking it off and hanging it he heard Asuka snicker.
The reason for that is he wore the gaudiest, tackiest, ugliest Christmas sweater on the face of the planet, something Asuka had bought for him a few weeks ago as a joke. Personally he found it funny too and so did Edith earlier today so he wore it happily.
If anything it's a lot better than wearing Asuka's spare plugsuit had been. That was embarrassing, the red skin tight suit not built for his sex, having extra material in all the wrong places and lacking extra material in all the wrong places as far as he's concerned.
"Hey Shinji," Asuka called him and he turned around to face her, seeing her look a brown package stacked in the corner of their hallway. Peering over Asuka's shoulder he could see that a note was on top from Section 2 saying that it was from one Chiho Hidaka. "Packages from my cousin."
"I hope she's doing well," Shinji commented as he remembered his sick friend.
"She's strong Shinji," Asuka assured him as she walked to the living room while Shinji went off to the kitchen, probably grabbing himself a glass of wine or something similar. Asuka turned on a light before opening the package. Sitting on top of crumpled packing paper was a note and she took it and read.
Dear Cousin,
Asuka-chan I hope this letter finds you and Shinji well and hopefully in time for my present to the two of you to not be late for this season. I know you've never had a lot of attachment to this time of the year but I hope this year will be special.
I have to thank you for the offer to move me to a better hospital in Germany, I look forward to being able to see you and aunty and uncle again. It gets a bit lonely here, I admit but your emails about you and Shinji's adventures brightens my day. Also please send my regards and thanks to Shinji for the treats he had sent me, they were as delicious as always and some of the children here at the hospital enjoyed them.
Asuka shook her head at that, she honestly wondered sometimes who was nicer, Shinji or Chiho?
Edith-chan sounds lovely and I'm glad she was taken in by your family. She sounds like a mix of you and Shinji-kun and I look forward to meeting her as well.
Perhaps she's what you children will be like?
Asuka's face reddened, "the hell?!"
"Something wrong Asuka?" she heard Shinji call from the kitchen as she heard the distinct pop of a bottle of wine being opened.
"N-NOTHING!" Asuka yelled as she read the rest of the letter.
I hope you two enjoy the gift I've sent you both and I look forward to your next email.
Missing you both,
Chiho Hidaka
PS: I have just bought a laptop so I don't have to rely on the computer in the recreation room. Can we video message on the internet in the future? I would love to see and hear you both.
PPS: About this Miss Ludwig person that's trying to get close to Shinji-kun, what is she liked? I don't mind sharing Shinji-kun but only if she's a good person.
"Gah!" Asuka shoved the note into her pocket in sheer embarrassment. She knew Chiho had a BIG thing for Baka Shinji, whose as oblivious as can be physically possbile. Chiho had once told her that they should share Shinji, to keep an eye on him she said, and that Asuka is the alpha female of 'Team Shinji.'
She honestly didn't know what to think about that.
…other than be embarrassed of course. It's so…so…gah! What happened to Japanese decency?!
"Asuka!"
"WAH!" she shrieked in surprise before she looked up at Shinji, "you scared the shit out of me!"
"Sorry," he apologized but she saw a bit of amusement on his face. "Merry Christmas!"
Asuka blinked before turning to the clock and was surprised to see that it was now midnight, Christmas Day, wow they really did come home late. She turned to Shinji and smiled, "Merry Christmas Baka."
"So what did Chiho send us?"
"Good question," she took out the packing paper to see two picture frames and handed one to Shinji. They were identical pictures and they both smiled, it was a class picture of their class from Tokyo-3 Middle School. The picture itself was taken soon after the battle with the eighth Angel, a photo from happier and simpler times. "Man I look even better now."
"Hey Asuka."
"Hm?" she hummed as she started to set up the picture frame in their living room, she already knew Shinji would set his up in the kitchen.
"Here," she turned to him and was shocked by the two large boxes, one rectangular and the other square. "How did you hide all that?" She was in his room just a few days ago and he never closed his closet either.
"Section 2 hid them next door for me," he explained as she walked up to the smaller square box and tore it open, revealing…
"A guitar amp?" her eyes shot to the large rectangular present and absolutely shreddedthe wrapping paper, revealing a plain brown box. Opening it she saw a guitar case, it was rectangular and a bronze gold colour, written on it was 'Gibson.' After gingerly taking it out and placing it on the floor she opened it. She opened it and saw an electric guitar. "Les Paul Delux in cherry red…it's…it's beautiful. I don't know what to say…thank you Shinji."
"You welcome," Shinji smiled, she obviously liked it. He had gone through quite a bit of trouble to get to know what she wanted and it had been worth it to see her smile. He already looked forward to playing together with her when she started to learn.
Asuka then ran off into her room and grabbed a small wrapped box and back into the living room and searched for around ten minutes, forgetting where she had hidden her present for him. After finally finding it she went into the living room to see it empty. She looked around to see Shinji's back through the double glass doors that lead from their kitchen and into the balcony. She pocketed her present for him and grabbed her coat and Shinji's leather jacket and walked out.
Stepping onto the balcony of their apartment and closing the door behind her she put his jacket over him.
"I know idiots can't get sick but aren't you cold?" she smirked as she leaned on the railing beside him. She then saw he had two glasses of wine and he offered her one and she took it. "Haven't drank enough yet? You drank quite a bit of beer earlier, please don't turn into another Misato. I don't think the universe can two black holes that swallow all alcohol in their vicinity."
"Oh ha ha," Shinji shook his head in amusement, "I don't really like beer, I just did it because your dad kept offering it."
"And you didn't want to be rude right?" she deadpanned before shaking her head, "you are unbelievable."
She handed Shinji a box and turned around in embarrassment. A part of her felt like her gift didn't match up with what she got too, she knew that guitar costed Shinji a few thousand Euros and while she didn't skimp out she felt like hers just didn't match up. She heard tearing paper and she braced herself, for what she didn't really know.
"A…Asuka…" Shinji voice trailed off and Asuka gathered herself and turned to him and saw him with such a bright, happy and touched on smile on his face she couldn't help but blush.
Well damn, it looks like her step-mom knew her stuff, and any doubt she had in herself was burned away. Shinji really was a sentimental person, he placed meanings of items and actions, precious memories and the like higher than just the sheer material worth of an item.
In his hand he held a bracelet made of shining steel links connected to a rectangular plate of stainless steel. Engraved into it are two music notes, one had a red ruby and the other a purple topaz cut into the shape of the notes and inset into the metal. Below the two notes, engraved, is the date of her and Shinji's second and successful battle against the Seventh Angel. While their meeting on the USN Over the Rainbow had been the start of their friendship she actually hadn't gotten along with Shinji immediately, she found him annoying and infuriating, viewing him as a challenge to herself among other things. It hadn't been 'till they were forced to live together during their synchronization training to defeat the Seventh Angel that they started to get along.
She watched as Shinji rolled up his left sleeve put the bracelet on and clasped it secure. He ran a finger over the notes and engravings with a smile on his face.
"Do…you like it?" she asked him and he turned to her with a smile and a blush on his face, from the cold or something else she didn't know. She could feel herself reddening as well, from the cold or something else she, again didn't know.
"I love it."
Asuka smiled, satisfied before blinking in surprise as something floated down between them.
It was small and white and she held her hand out to catch it only to see it melt.
Both of them gasped and looked up with wide eyes to see more of it coming down.
Snow.
It was snowing!
Both of them smiled, their eyes full of childish wonder at the new site as some of the people on the street bellow or standing on their balconies like them cheered. People ran into their homes and came out with more people, pointing up at the night sky. The two young soldiers just drank in and enjoyed the moment of peace, future battles and past horrors forgotten as they both felt, for the first time, the hope of a peaceful happy future.
A future where they no longer needed to fight.
A future where quiet moments like these happen everyday.
"Merry Christmas Asuka," Shinji said as he clanked his glass with hers in a small toast before taking a sip.
"Merry Christmas Baka Shinji," she greeted back and took a sip.
Wine had never tasted so good.
H
A/N
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to my readers!
With the story going to focus more on the sekirei plan we're going to see less of Asuka since she's stuck in Germany for the time being so I wanted to have a chapter that just focused on Asuka and Shinji's life after the Angel War but before the sekirei plan.
How did you guys like it? I really enjoyed writing this even if I had to really push for it to make the deadline.
The next chapter with Shinji and the sekirei is almost finished, mid-January release!
Stay safe during the holidays anyone, and whatever you celebrate have fun!