117Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion and all rights go to their respective owners. Also, all OCs are the creation of JimmyWolk himself.
SPOILER WARNING: This contains spoilers for the fanfic "The 2nd Try " by JimmyWolk. So If you haven't read that then you should stop right here and check that out first.
Summary:
After Aki spots some cut marks in their home, Shinji recalls the time when Asuka noticed the difference in their height.
"Growing Taller (Than Me)"
"Come on Papa! Giddy up, Giddy Up!" Aki cried out in excitement.
Shinji sighed but otherwise happily followed his daughter's command, who was currently sitting on his shoulders and holding a tight grip on his hair a bit painfully like reins on a horse.
It was currently midday and Shinji and Aki were now just coming back from their short hike beyond the borders of their home for a change of scenery rather than being cooped up in the house which began shortly after the family had breakfast. Asuka had to tend to the garden chores, thus instructed the two to go ahead without her.
Not long into the hike, Aki once again wanted to experience being tall for the day and all but demanded her father to be her ride.
So having spent a good long hour and a half outside, the duo came back into the house although Aki still refused to come down from her high spot.
"Whoa, easy there, Papa. Here have a carrot," Aki said as she treated her father like an actual horse with gentle strokes to his hair and presenting a carrot down to his face as to feed him.
Shinji sweat dropped at this, feeling somewhat demeaned and wondering when exactly Aki had gotten a carrot to begin with. He highly suspected that Asuka might have something to do with this. Maybe she told Aki to do this as a joke at his expense? He certainly imagined Asuka getting a good laugh out of this.
Yet despite this, Shinji did not refuse the carrot and took a bite out of it and started chewing. Repeating till the carrot was all gone.
"Very good Papa, now on to the…" Aki's voice trailed off.
"Huh, what's the matter, honey?" Shinji asked after swallowing the last carrot bites in his mouth, wondering why his daughter suddenly went quiet.
"Papa, what's that?" Aki asked.
"What's what Aki?"
"That, that, on here," Aki pointed to the left and Shinji turned to the doorframe that was between the living room and kitchen.
Still unsure what Shinji was looking at for a moment before he finally noticed what caught Aki's eye. It was some deep cut marks on the doorframe along with the initials A and S and numbers. Something which Aki would not have been able to see due to her tiny stature.
It took him a second to remember what those marks and numbers meant and smiled at the memories resurfacing. "Oh, I remember this."
"Huh, what is it, Papa?" Aki asked as she squinted at the marks and numbers.
"This was when me and Mama were measuring our heights for a while," Shinji told Aki.
"Wait…why were you and Mama doing that?" Aki questioned.
"Well honey, let's just say that Mama was very competitive about being taller than me for a time," Shinji chuckled as he started remembering what led to the marks on the door frame.
(Flashback)
Something was wrong…very wrong.
He could feel the heated glares directed at his back as he was doing the dishes and honestly, it was starting to scare Shinji.
This had been going on for a few days now and he honestly did not know why Asuka was deeply frowning at him when she thought he wasn't looking. But his experience living with the redheaded German girl made Shinji develop a kind of sixth sense of detecting when his lover was glaring at him.
Was she angry at him for something? Everything was going great between them, especially after they had finally crossed the line into physical intimacy some time ago and now it was almost impossible to keep their hands off each other.
'Is she mad about what happened in the bedroom a few nights ago?' Shinji wondered in his head as he heard Asuka get up from her spot at the dinner table and leave the room just as he slowly dried the last dinner plate with the kitchen towel. It was the only explanation he could think of.
For starters, it had all been her idea in the first place and had been the one who kept insisting on trying out new things to do in the bedroom (or even outside it) even when he was a bit apprehensive of half the things that Asuka was willing to try out to spice things up with their sex life, especially after she had found that kama sutra book during one of their scavenger runs to the ruined city. Needless to say, both he and Asuka had been very shocked at the many positions and ways that two people could "connect".
'But you still like it when she comes up with new and exciting ways to please you and you especially like to do the same to her, don't you?' a dark and perverted part of him whispered to him making Shinji blush and hoping Asuka had not noticed.
Ok, he admited that he did enjoy the many of the perverted things that he and Asuka got up to. After all, who wouldn't, especially with a beautiful and sexy redheaded girl like Asuka who wasn't much of a prude on such matters. But there were just times when all he wanted was the traditional way of making love to his girlfriend, even if Asuka would consider it boring. Just the closeness and feeling of their hearts and bodies joining together was enough for him.
"Shinji!"
Shinji stiffened in place at the firm command of his lover who he had not hear coming back into the room. His face now paled in fright, now worried that Asuka had once again read his mind or just noticed how red his face was.
Just as he was slowly turning to face Asuka, he felt himself being forcibly pulled along by the back of his shirt till Asuka stopped them between the kitchen and living room.
The next thing Shinji knew he was placed into the doorframe and was kept there by Asuka's hand firmly on his chest. He noticed that Asuka still had a deep frown on her beautiful face, but he also noticed someone was in her other hand.
'Wait is that a box cutter!?' Shinji thought and he felt himself getting scared once Asuka removed her hand from his chest and extended the blade on the cutter in a familiar stance, one that reminded him of when they first met and fought the angel in the ocean.
"Stand straight and don't move," Asuka's voice commanded and despite Shinji's fears, his body did exactly what he was told.
"Wha-wait! Are you mad at me?! Look whatever it is, I'm sorry Asuka!" Shinji asked in fear for his life and quickly closed his eyes just as he saw Asuka prepare to strike with the weapon.
Shinji didn't feel any pain like he expected. Slowly opening his eyes, he found that Asuka's arm was above his head and seemed to be digging into the wood just above his head.
"Move it, Baka," Asuka said as she quickly pushed him aside, nearly making him fall over before turning around and placing herself exactly where Shinji was before the doorframe to which Shinji saw her using the box cutter to mark where her head was.
This all confused him and was about to ask his lover what was going on just as she backed away and turned around and looked closely at the cut marks. "…Asuka what going on?"
"I…I do not believe it! You've gotten taller than me!" Asuka cried out.
It took a moment for Shinji's brain to resister what the redhead had just said. "Wait, what?"
"Look at this you've grown eight and a half centimetres, that's a few millimetres taller than me!" Asuka complained.
"Wait, so I grew that much? Huh neat," Shinji said as he looked more closely at the cut marks on the door and saw the small difference in height between him and Asuka. "Hold on…this is the reason why you have been glaring at me for the last few days?" Shinji asked as he turned to Asuka next to him who was giving the marks a heated glare before turning back to him.
"Of course! What did you think I was looking closely at you for?" questioned the redhead.
"Err…well I thought you were angry at me for…you know what happened in the…bedroom," Shinji slyly let out a bit embarrassed while rubbing the back of his neck at bringing the topic up, especially now knowing that it wasn't the reason for Asuka's ire.
His response was met with confusion before the realisation eventually hit the redhead. Asuka's face lit up blushing deep crimson from both anger and embarrassment. "BAKA HENTAI!" the redhead screamed as she shoved him away hard. "God you are such a pervert hentai!" Asuka turned away, still red-faced from embarrassment and remembering what they did on that unforgettable night of passion.
"Said the one who instigated the whole thing," Shinji murmured.
"What was that?" Asuka said sharply as she turned her head around to look at Shinji with a glare.
"Nothing, nothing…so I've grown taller," Shinji quickly changed the subject hoping to avoid any potential arguments.
"You're telling me you didn't notice it at all?" Asuka questioned.
Shinji shook his head negatively. "Not really. I mean what's the big deal, it's only natural we're getting bigger as we age."
"Baka! Don't you remember? When we first met you were a little shorter than I was and now that you are growing taller than me you are going to be looking down on me," Asuka complained childishly.
'Ah, so that was the problem,' Shinji thought, realising why Asuka was so hung up on the matter. He knew that the redhead was prideful and loved to be the one in charge of many matters of her life, especially their relationship. Anyone who had known her long enough like him would see that. So, with him getting bigger than her, she saw it as a challenge or threat to her "rule" in the relationship.
Honestly, Shinji did not see why his getting taller than her would change anything about them or their relationship. He was perfectly content with following Asuka's lead in anything and him being taller was never going to change that.
"Wait, I got it!" Asuka suddenly shouted, making Shinji snap out of his thoughts and before he could ask, he watched his lover quickly run out of the hallway and into their bedroom.
Shinji just stood there for a moment before walking towards the bedroom, wondering what exactly Asuka had in store. As he approached the bedroom, he heard sounds of boxes and clothes being moved about and Shinji knew for certain that Asuka had gone into their closet.
He sighed knowing that whatever Asuka was looking for, he was going to have to clean up and reorganise everything again. Just as he was about to open the door, it swung open to reveal Asuka, who was sporting a smug and confident grin.
"Ta-da! What do you think now, Shinji?" Asuka asked confidently.
Shinji was about to ask what Asuka meant exactly, but knew if he did ask, he would get the typical response of him being called stupid. Instead, Shinji looked over his redheaded girlfriend and did not notice anything new until he got to her feet, on which Asuka was now wearing a pair of fancy red footwear he had not seen before.
"Wait…are those high heels?" Shinji asked. Surprised that Asuka even had such shoes before.
"That's right Shinji and now with these babies, we're just about the same height again…oh wait I'm taller again," Asuka smugly exclaimed as she noticed that with the high heels, she was slightly an inch taller than Shinji.
Shinji again really did not care for the height situation, but he did care for Asuka's safety upon seeing the redhead wobbling a great deal while prancing around and trying to show off to him. "Err Asuka, are you ok walking in those?" He asked in concern.
"Of course I'm fine…walking in these Baka…ah!" Asuka said while a bit unsteady before she screamed out in pain as her foot bent in an angle and Shinji rushed quietly to catch her in his arms.
"Are you ok?" Shinji asked, concerned.
"Yeah…I think so…ow ow ow!" Asuka cried out in pain as she tried to stand on her own.
x-x-x
Asuka sighed as she sat on the couch, watching Shinji as he was down on his knees and applying some cream and bandages around her bruised foot.
"It's just a sprained ankle. So, you have to keep your weight off it for a while, maybe a week at best," Shinji advised his lover as he looked up at her. Already he could see the look of displeasure on her face knowing the fact that such an injury would prevent her from doing her part for their chores. One of the things he knew about his lover was that she was a continually active person and hated being useless.
"…You know this is your fault right," Asuka grumbled while crossing her arms and looking away.
"Why is it my fault?" Shinji inquired. "It wasn't like I particularly wanted to grow bigger than you."
"Still, how did I not notice sooner that you had gotten bigger? I remember when you were this short, skinny, stupid, clumsy and unreliable little kid and now…you are like this," Asuka said a bit melancholy in her voice.
"Asuka, it does not matter to me if I am bigger than you or you are bigger than me. To me, you are always going to be the one I am going to follow and you are the one who wears the pants in this relationship, so me being bigger isn't gonna change anything," Shinji told her which looked like it was working as he saw a tiny smile on her face. "Also, we're both still growing not just physically but mentally too plus you've grown more ways than one."
"Oh yeah like what exactly?" Asuka asked as she finally stopped sulking and looked down at Shinji, which she noticed had a growing cheeky grin on his face.
"Well, your breasts and bottom have grown much bigger in these last months."
Asuka was stunned for a second before she blushed in both embarrassment and anger. "You pervert!" Asuka shouted and tried repeatedly to stomp her uninjured foot on his face, but Shinji was easily able to block her hit with both of his hands. He eventually caught her foot and started tickling it which soon made her start laughing and demanding him to stop.
(Flashback end)
"Papa?" Aki's voice as well as her lightly tapping her hand on his forehead broke Shinji out of memory lane.
"Oh, sorry honey, just remembering," Shinji said with a fond smile.
"Oh, hey you two are back already," Asuka arrived around the corner, making Shinji and Aki turn to see her.
"Mama!" Aki happily cried out.
"Hey Schätzchen," Asuka came closer and reached out to gently give her daughter's face a caress which Aki leaned into. "Did you have a nice walk around outside with Papa?" Asuka asked before as she gave Shinji a quick kiss on the lips.
Aki nodded rapidly. "Yeah, we did Mama! Me and Papa walked around and we saw lots of birds and butterflies flying around and oh we saw a lot of deer which I wanted to go pet but they all ran away before I could and after we came back I asked Papa to carry me and when we got to the house I fed the carrot you told me to give Papa, which he ate it and that's when I saw the marks on the door which Papa told me was when you were competitive with Papa about being bigger."
"Wait…marks?" Asuka questioned as if trying to remember before she looked to where Aki was pointing as if to answer her question. Upon seeing the marks, a small frown formed on her face. Seemed she remembered that time also and seeing the results they made. "Oh, those marks."
Shinji chuckled nervously as he looked at the results on the door frame. After that first time, Asuka had made it a routine to also check their height every so often and it infuriated the redhead when Shinji continued to grow much faster than her and to the point that he was always a few inches taller.
The only reason that Asuka stopped was due to the sudden pregnancy with Aki after which they both just forgot about it.
"Hey Papa, Mama, will I get bigger too?" Aki asked with a bit of uncertainty as she was still looking at the marks.
Shinji looked up, or at least tried to along with Asuka looking at Aki before they both chuckled.
"Of course you will honey," Shinji reassured his daughter, already knowing that Aki was fearing of not getting bigger. "Everyone starts small before getting bigger as they age."
"Papa's right Schätzchen, you're little now but you definitely will get bigger as time goes on," Asuka added in before an idea came to her. "In fact why don't we start keeping track from today on?" the redhead finished as she lifted her daughter from Shinji's shoulders.
"Really!" Aki asked as an excited look dawned on her face while Asuka held her.
"Yep, just wait here with Papa for a second," Asuka told Aki as she put her down before walking away.
It was not long before Asuka came back with a familiar boxcutter. Shinji was about to complain to Asuka about using that to mark Aki's height instead of using a normal pen marker but resisted the urge as he knew it would be pointless and not worth going against Asuka like before and besides the door frame already had their cut measurements.
"Ok Aki just lean back and stand straight," Asuka told Aki while kneeling. Aki did what she instructed while she was trying to hold in her excitement. Giggling as Asuka carefully used the boxcutter to mark on top of her head.
"Ok that's it," Asuka turned and pulled Aki back a bit to show her daughter the mark. "See that Schätzchen, this is where will start keeping track of your height from now on."
"Wow," Aki stared at her measured mark before looking up where her parent's were. A frown appeared on her face.
"So when will I get bigger like Mama and Papa?" Aki asked honestly which made Shinji and Asuka laugh.
"Not for a long time Aki," Shinji chuckled.
"Aww but I wanna get bigger now!" Aki complained.
End.
Notes:
Once again this chapter is a homage and tribute to the artist and writer, Pengel/Michiru Shiduki, the creator of the manga Epilogue of Evangelion and Happy End of Evangelion.
In this case a big chunk of this came from the chapter 44 of Epilogue of Evangelion for those wanting to know.