His face hurt.
Then again, getting punched in the face has a tendency to do that.
Shinji sighed as he pulled the bag of ice away from his face. Yep. Still had some ice left. He carefully held the bag against his tender cheek again, and looked back up at the ceiling from his prone position on the floor.
He was bored. Thinking wasn't helping him, and there wasn't anything on TV. The only thing he had left to do was listen to his SDAT – and even so, he had heard track 25 many times before. But he turned the music on anyway – after all, he couldn't go anywhere with this bag on his face.
Shinji drifted away to the gentle sounds of the music. He slept relatively peacefully... until he heard a noise from outside of his earphones.
Pulling them out, he tilted his head up to listen. He heard someone walking around, followed by the distinct sound of a beer can. There was no doubt in his mind who it was as he put his head on the floor again.
"Hey... is anyone here?" he heard her call out.
"I'm here, Misato-san."
"Ah, hey Shinji," she responded as she continued to walk around the kitchen, obviously occupied with something. "Where's Asuka?"
He paused for a second at the mention of her name. "Uh... she went to Hikari's house after school today."
Misato walked into the room, with a packet of papers in her hand. "Well, next time you see h-" She dropped off when she saw Shinji's predicament.
Shinji raised an eyebrow as Misato came and kneeled beside his spot on the floor. "What happened?" she asked, quite concerned.
"Nothing bad."
"Here, let me see," she said as she slowly moved his hand and the ice bag away. As the injury came into view, she winced involuntarily.
"See? It's not that bad."
She scowled angrily. "Not bad?! You've got a big gash in your cheek, Shinji. Not to mention the fact that the skin around it is bruised to hell." She paused, and examined the rest of him. "And you've got minor injuries all over your arms." She looked closer at the small cuts on his arms. They looks like lots of small gashes, like...
Misato swallowed, and felt her gut wrench. They were nail marks.
"Shinji..." she whispered quietly. "Was this..."
Shinji closed his eyes, and re-applied the ice. "Don't blame her, Misato. It wasn't really her fault; it was mine."
He heard a few footsteps, and then saw Misato come back with a first aid kit. "Misato-san... you don't have to-"
"Yes, I do." Misato said, in a tone that indicated finality. 'I feel like I'm your mother, and I'll be damned if I let you suffer like this,' she told herself.
It was silent in the room for a few minutes, as Shinji lied on the floor and Misato applied antiseptic and bandages to his wounds. The silence made Shinji nervous; he knew he wasn't getting past this one with a simple apology.
Finally, the tension shattered. "What happened?" Misato asked, without looking up from her task.
"Misato-san... it wasn't h-"
"I don't care if it's her fault or not! I want to hear what the hell happened!"
If Shinji hadn't detected the concern in that outburst, he probably would have run in fright. "It..." He paused for a little bit to take a couple deep breaths to relax himself. "It was after school had finished...
]|[
Asuka and Shinji headed out of the school. As they walked, Shinji looked at the ground, obviously concentrating on something.
"A-Asuka..."
She paused and turned around. "What is it?"
"I.. uh... well, I w-was wondering..." He nervously fiddled with his bookbag.
"Wondering...?" she repeated, obviously indicating that he had better continue.
He slowly looked up... but the moment his eyes reached her deep blue ones, they darted back to the ground again. "Well... I... um.... was wondering... i-if you... uh..."
Asuka put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "Come on, you idiot! We don't have all day to stand around here," she said irritably.
"I... er... was... wondering if... you... um.. would... grm trm trm drms wrm mm," he finally mumbled.
"SPEAK LOUDER!!!" she shouted in his face.
"gotothedancewithme," he finally got out.
Asuka paused. "Go to... dance... you..." she repeated, her eyes widening at him.
'She hasn't said no. She hasn't said no. There's a chance. Yes. Please please please pleasepleaseplease...' Shinji thought, awaiting an answer nervously but eagerly.
Her reaction was, unfortunately, one of the few "worst case scenarios" he had not predicted.
Asuka fell down onto the grass, laughing her ass off. "HAHAHAAHA!!!!! YOU... YOU... HAHAHAAHAHAA..." she shouted as she rolled on the grass and kicked her feet. She began to draw the attention of the few students who were still within hearing range.
Shinji clenched his fist and sighed as he watched her. He tried as hard as he could not to react.
She hit her chest a couple times, and brushed a couple tears of laughter away. She finally managed to stop shouting, and tried to talk between frantic breaths and small laughs. "... you... you... dance... wimp..." But she lost control again. "HAHAHA!!! OH MY GOD!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!""
Inside, Shinji raged. This was most definitely worse than her usual poor treatment of him. Though he would never raise a hand against her (or anyone, for that matter), he still was pretty pissed. 'How could she embarrass me like this? Of all the ways to say no! Not that I was expecting a yes... Wow, do I feel dumb...' His head filled with particularly dark and violent thoughts, aimed towards a certain roommate of his.
He picked up his school bag, and walked past the giggling form on the grass. Itching for a release of his temper, he passingly said the first thoughts running through his mind – unfortunately, not the best choice.
"Damn it. I don't see why I even bothered asking you, you fucking bitch. Why don't you go run home to your fucking parents in Germany or something," he muttered under his breath, obviously trying to vent without Asuka noticing. Unfortunately, Shinji underestimated the female sense of hearing.
The laughter died in an instant. He froze in position when he heard the sudden change in mood. Shinji heard rustling, and footsteps heading towards himself.
He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. 'I did something wrong again, didn't I?' he asked himself mentally.
Shinji felt an iron grip on his shoulder, and himself being spun around. For a second, he saw Asuka's face, and nothing would ever make him forget it. Her mouth was turned into a snarl, and she definitely looked tortured – worse than any reaction she had before. The tears of mirth in her eyes were now replaced with tears of anger and sadness. The expression was so painful, it hurt his heart to see it...
That is, until the fist hit him an instant later. He felt a sharp pain along with the dull pain of the fist. As he watched, he saw some of his blood go flying in the direction his head was forced. He stumbled back, and another punch hit his face.
"FUCK YOU!!" Asuka screamed.
A particularly hard kick to the chest knocked the wind out of him, and he gasped and dropped to his knees. Shinji sensed various other damage being done to his body, but by this point he was disoriented and in too much pain to remember exactly what happened. Although his memory was hazy, he couldn't forget the sound of Asuka's pained screaming...
At some point the shouts and strikes stopped, and by the time Shinji's head had cleared, Asuka was gone.
]|[
"See? It's my fault, not hers," Shinji said quietly.
Misato blinked a couple times. This was not the sort of stuff that was supposed to happen. Sure, they piloted Evas and held the fate of the world in their hands. They were supposed to fight the angels. Not each other...
Misato sighed. "Shinji... though I can't say what you did was right, I can understand your reaction. It was particularly... cruel... for her to act that way, and she shouldn't have..."
She finally finished with his arms, and moved to cover the largest gash on his cheek. "Kami-sama... it was probably a ring that did this, right?"
"Yeah..."
She put antiseptic on the wound, and they both winced as he hissed in pain. "This wound is kind of ragged... I think a little of the skin's even missing. So... uh... the wound's not going to heal very well, and it'll leave a big scar on your face," she told him sadly.
One side of Shinji's mouth turned up into a slight smile. "I figured as much. At least now I'll have a permanent reminder not to cross that girl again," he said, with a small chuckle.
Misato also had a tiny smile. "You know, you're taking this surprisingly well. All things considered."
He shrugged. "It just seems kind of odd to me that she'd react like that to what I said. It seems a bit... out of proportion."
Her smile faded, and her eyes drifted away from him. "Asuka's had a pretty... um... rough time with her parents. Uh... her father left her mother when she was very young. Soon afterward, her mother had to participate in a sync test. Things went... bad... and it left her mentally damaged. Her mother stayed in a hospital, because she was insane... and she eventually committed suicide."
Shinji's mood dropped immediately. "Oh god... I'm so sorry... I didn't know... I shouldn't have said... " His eyes began to fill with tears.
"Hey, hey," she said, patting his shoulder. "Don't get like that. I think that after that, you deserve a break. Take it easy and don't worry about it; we'll deal with this later. OK?" She was in her carefree mode again.
Shinji's eyes drifted downward. "Yeah... " he responded. She didn't seem to be able to cheer him up.
"Do you want something to drink?" she asked as she got up and headed back towards the kitchen.
"No thanks... I think I'll just lie down for a while..."
Shinji slowly made his way down the hall towards his room. He stopped however, when he reached Asuka's door. With his hand, he idly traced the English letters on her nameplate. Slowly, he shut his eyes and leaned forward until his head was resting against the door.
"I'm so sorry, Asuka..." he whispered, even though he knew the room was empty. He waited a few more minutes, and then slowly eased the door open a little so he could peek in.
Oh crap.
"Misato!"
]|[
Misato heard Shinji's worried shout, and immediately dropped what she was doing in the kitchen. She ran up to a frantic Shinji.
"What? Whatwhatwhat?" she asked, still catching her breath after running.
He pushed the door open. "Most of her stuff is gone," he said, gazing blankly at the empty closets that used to be filled with clothes.
She paused for a minute. "Wait... didn't you say she was at Hikari's?"
"I'm not sure. When I could think clearly again, she was gone. I don't know where she is."
Misato stood for a minute in thought. "Well, that's the most likely place she'd go, besides out of the city. I'll call them anyway," she said as she turned around and headed to the phone.
Shinji looked again at that empty bed. 'Please Asuka... I hope you're safe...' He was pulled out of his thoughts by voices, and tuned into the half of the phone conversation that he could hear.
"Hi, this is Misato Katsuragi, Shinji and Asuka's guardian... uh-huh... is Asuka there?... um... yeah... yeah... I know... OK, that's good... yeah, I think that would be best... OK, I understand... yeah... thanks a lot... ja."
"I take it she's over at Hikari's?" he asked her as she came back.
"Yeah... that was Hikari herself, actually. She said Asuka sounded extremely distressed and had her stuff with her. They talked, and she's letting her stay there. We decided it would be best if you two were separated for a while. But Hikari doesn't think she'll be able to make Asuka go to school or do anything."
Shinji didn't know whether to be glad or disappointed. He wouldn't have to deal with her in school, especially after that fight... but then again, he wouldn't be able to see her – period.
Not that there was really anything he could do about it.
He decided to try and get some sleep, and worry about it tomorrow...
]|[
He made a valiant effort to sleep. Too bad it didn't mean a damn thing; he was fretting all night about his fight with Asuka, and didn't get nearly enough sleep to function well.
Shinji rubbed at his eyes as he trudged down the street towards school.
Alone.
He decided to take the big irritating bandage off before he went to school. The gash may have been uglier, but it was less obvious than that big white clump of cotton.
He wandered through the halls towards his classroom. Some people gave greetings or inquired about the wound. He was too tired to respond to them. He vaguely remembered Hikari watching him with a strange expression as he entered the room. He was too tired to really care. Dropping his stuff and sitting in his seat, Shinji rested his head on his palm and stared at nothing in particular. Time passed, and a few classes passed. He was too tired to keep track.
"Pilot Ikari. Pilot Ikari. Pilot Ikari... Pilot Ikari..."
A voice calling him pulled him out of his stupor after several tries. "Huh? Huh? What?" he asked, glancing around confusedly. His gaze finally settled on the owner of the voice.
It was Rei. And she was speaking to him of her free will. This was new.
"Huh? What is it, Ayanami?" he asked, trying his best to focus.
"Who did this to you?"
"Huh? Did what?"
"Your wound. Who caused it?"
He blinked a couple times. "It's nothing, Rei. Don't worry about it."
To Shinji's surprise, Rei reached up and cradled the side of his face in one hand. She gently stroked the normal skin under the gash with her thumb. "This is a serious wound. I wish to know who did it."
Shinji, however, was really in no position to answer any questions. He was afraid that if he blushed any more, his head would explode. She... she... she was... was...
"Pilot Ikari. Are you ill? Your body temperature has risen significantly, and you are having obvious trouble breathing. If you are unwell, I can request for you to be taken back to your apartment."
"Uh... er... um... no, that's ok..."
Rei's head tilted slightly. Her eyebrows were slightly raised, in a strange expression (at least, for Rei). Shinji observed that she looked almost... expectant... of his answer to her query. This was also new for her. Why was she doing this? Was it out of... concern?
Did Shinji really care at the moment? Not really. She was touching his face like that, and nothing else mattered. He was in heaven.
Rei paused, raised one eyebrow, and pulled her hand away, shattering the moment. She settled back into the emotionless facade. "I will ask once again, Pilot Ikari. Who caused this injury?"
He stared into those red eyes. So red. So deep. He stared, hypnotized. And for some reason, felt comfort. Somehow he felt the urge to tell her the truth.
"Asuka and I... we got into... um... we got into a particularly bad fight..." his eyes drifted away from hers as he recalled the battle, and the sadness afterwards...
"I see."
He was pulled back to her eyes by that simple statement. But now, her eyes were focused on something else. Rather, they were focused on nothing in particular. And... she narrowed her eyes slightly. Almost, but not quite a glare.
It was unsettling, to say the least.
After a moment, she focused back on him. Her face was expressionless once again, and it made Shinji wonder if he had even seen it in the first place. "T-.... Thank you for your assistance, Pilot Ikari." With that last statement, she turned and walked away. To Shinji's surprise, however, she went to her desk, gathered her things, and left the room.
He blinked.
Where the heck was she going now?
-TBC
TT
[email protected]
Then again, getting punched in the face has a tendency to do that.
Shinji sighed as he pulled the bag of ice away from his face. Yep. Still had some ice left. He carefully held the bag against his tender cheek again, and looked back up at the ceiling from his prone position on the floor.
He was bored. Thinking wasn't helping him, and there wasn't anything on TV. The only thing he had left to do was listen to his SDAT – and even so, he had heard track 25 many times before. But he turned the music on anyway – after all, he couldn't go anywhere with this bag on his face.
Shinji drifted away to the gentle sounds of the music. He slept relatively peacefully... until he heard a noise from outside of his earphones.
Pulling them out, he tilted his head up to listen. He heard someone walking around, followed by the distinct sound of a beer can. There was no doubt in his mind who it was as he put his head on the floor again.
"Hey... is anyone here?" he heard her call out.
"I'm here, Misato-san."
"Ah, hey Shinji," she responded as she continued to walk around the kitchen, obviously occupied with something. "Where's Asuka?"
He paused for a second at the mention of her name. "Uh... she went to Hikari's house after school today."
Misato walked into the room, with a packet of papers in her hand. "Well, next time you see h-" She dropped off when she saw Shinji's predicament.
Shinji raised an eyebrow as Misato came and kneeled beside his spot on the floor. "What happened?" she asked, quite concerned.
"Nothing bad."
"Here, let me see," she said as she slowly moved his hand and the ice bag away. As the injury came into view, she winced involuntarily.
"See? It's not that bad."
She scowled angrily. "Not bad?! You've got a big gash in your cheek, Shinji. Not to mention the fact that the skin around it is bruised to hell." She paused, and examined the rest of him. "And you've got minor injuries all over your arms." She looked closer at the small cuts on his arms. They looks like lots of small gashes, like...
Misato swallowed, and felt her gut wrench. They were nail marks.
"Shinji..." she whispered quietly. "Was this..."
Shinji closed his eyes, and re-applied the ice. "Don't blame her, Misato. It wasn't really her fault; it was mine."
He heard a few footsteps, and then saw Misato come back with a first aid kit. "Misato-san... you don't have to-"
"Yes, I do." Misato said, in a tone that indicated finality. 'I feel like I'm your mother, and I'll be damned if I let you suffer like this,' she told herself.
It was silent in the room for a few minutes, as Shinji lied on the floor and Misato applied antiseptic and bandages to his wounds. The silence made Shinji nervous; he knew he wasn't getting past this one with a simple apology.
Finally, the tension shattered. "What happened?" Misato asked, without looking up from her task.
"Misato-san... it wasn't h-"
"I don't care if it's her fault or not! I want to hear what the hell happened!"
If Shinji hadn't detected the concern in that outburst, he probably would have run in fright. "It..." He paused for a little bit to take a couple deep breaths to relax himself. "It was after school had finished...
]|[
Asuka and Shinji headed out of the school. As they walked, Shinji looked at the ground, obviously concentrating on something.
"A-Asuka..."
She paused and turned around. "What is it?"
"I.. uh... well, I w-was wondering..." He nervously fiddled with his bookbag.
"Wondering...?" she repeated, obviously indicating that he had better continue.
He slowly looked up... but the moment his eyes reached her deep blue ones, they darted back to the ground again. "Well... I... um.... was wondering... i-if you... uh..."
Asuka put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. "Come on, you idiot! We don't have all day to stand around here," she said irritably.
"I... er... was... wondering if... you... um.. would... grm trm trm drms wrm mm," he finally mumbled.
"SPEAK LOUDER!!!" she shouted in his face.
"gotothedancewithme," he finally got out.
Asuka paused. "Go to... dance... you..." she repeated, her eyes widening at him.
'She hasn't said no. She hasn't said no. There's a chance. Yes. Please please please pleasepleaseplease...' Shinji thought, awaiting an answer nervously but eagerly.
Her reaction was, unfortunately, one of the few "worst case scenarios" he had not predicted.
Asuka fell down onto the grass, laughing her ass off. "HAHAHAAHA!!!!! YOU... YOU... HAHAHAAHAHAA..." she shouted as she rolled on the grass and kicked her feet. She began to draw the attention of the few students who were still within hearing range.
Shinji clenched his fist and sighed as he watched her. He tried as hard as he could not to react.
She hit her chest a couple times, and brushed a couple tears of laughter away. She finally managed to stop shouting, and tried to talk between frantic breaths and small laughs. "... you... you... dance... wimp..." But she lost control again. "HAHAHA!!! OH MY GOD!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!!""
Inside, Shinji raged. This was most definitely worse than her usual poor treatment of him. Though he would never raise a hand against her (or anyone, for that matter), he still was pretty pissed. 'How could she embarrass me like this? Of all the ways to say no! Not that I was expecting a yes... Wow, do I feel dumb...' His head filled with particularly dark and violent thoughts, aimed towards a certain roommate of his.
He picked up his school bag, and walked past the giggling form on the grass. Itching for a release of his temper, he passingly said the first thoughts running through his mind – unfortunately, not the best choice.
"Damn it. I don't see why I even bothered asking you, you fucking bitch. Why don't you go run home to your fucking parents in Germany or something," he muttered under his breath, obviously trying to vent without Asuka noticing. Unfortunately, Shinji underestimated the female sense of hearing.
The laughter died in an instant. He froze in position when he heard the sudden change in mood. Shinji heard rustling, and footsteps heading towards himself.
He felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. 'I did something wrong again, didn't I?' he asked himself mentally.
Shinji felt an iron grip on his shoulder, and himself being spun around. For a second, he saw Asuka's face, and nothing would ever make him forget it. Her mouth was turned into a snarl, and she definitely looked tortured – worse than any reaction she had before. The tears of mirth in her eyes were now replaced with tears of anger and sadness. The expression was so painful, it hurt his heart to see it...
That is, until the fist hit him an instant later. He felt a sharp pain along with the dull pain of the fist. As he watched, he saw some of his blood go flying in the direction his head was forced. He stumbled back, and another punch hit his face.
"FUCK YOU!!" Asuka screamed.
A particularly hard kick to the chest knocked the wind out of him, and he gasped and dropped to his knees. Shinji sensed various other damage being done to his body, but by this point he was disoriented and in too much pain to remember exactly what happened. Although his memory was hazy, he couldn't forget the sound of Asuka's pained screaming...
At some point the shouts and strikes stopped, and by the time Shinji's head had cleared, Asuka was gone.
]|[
"See? It's my fault, not hers," Shinji said quietly.
Misato blinked a couple times. This was not the sort of stuff that was supposed to happen. Sure, they piloted Evas and held the fate of the world in their hands. They were supposed to fight the angels. Not each other...
Misato sighed. "Shinji... though I can't say what you did was right, I can understand your reaction. It was particularly... cruel... for her to act that way, and she shouldn't have..."
She finally finished with his arms, and moved to cover the largest gash on his cheek. "Kami-sama... it was probably a ring that did this, right?"
"Yeah..."
She put antiseptic on the wound, and they both winced as he hissed in pain. "This wound is kind of ragged... I think a little of the skin's even missing. So... uh... the wound's not going to heal very well, and it'll leave a big scar on your face," she told him sadly.
One side of Shinji's mouth turned up into a slight smile. "I figured as much. At least now I'll have a permanent reminder not to cross that girl again," he said, with a small chuckle.
Misato also had a tiny smile. "You know, you're taking this surprisingly well. All things considered."
He shrugged. "It just seems kind of odd to me that she'd react like that to what I said. It seems a bit... out of proportion."
Her smile faded, and her eyes drifted away from him. "Asuka's had a pretty... um... rough time with her parents. Uh... her father left her mother when she was very young. Soon afterward, her mother had to participate in a sync test. Things went... bad... and it left her mentally damaged. Her mother stayed in a hospital, because she was insane... and she eventually committed suicide."
Shinji's mood dropped immediately. "Oh god... I'm so sorry... I didn't know... I shouldn't have said... " His eyes began to fill with tears.
"Hey, hey," she said, patting his shoulder. "Don't get like that. I think that after that, you deserve a break. Take it easy and don't worry about it; we'll deal with this later. OK?" She was in her carefree mode again.
Shinji's eyes drifted downward. "Yeah... " he responded. She didn't seem to be able to cheer him up.
"Do you want something to drink?" she asked as she got up and headed back towards the kitchen.
"No thanks... I think I'll just lie down for a while..."
Shinji slowly made his way down the hall towards his room. He stopped however, when he reached Asuka's door. With his hand, he idly traced the English letters on her nameplate. Slowly, he shut his eyes and leaned forward until his head was resting against the door.
"I'm so sorry, Asuka..." he whispered, even though he knew the room was empty. He waited a few more minutes, and then slowly eased the door open a little so he could peek in.
Oh crap.
"Misato!"
]|[
Misato heard Shinji's worried shout, and immediately dropped what she was doing in the kitchen. She ran up to a frantic Shinji.
"What? Whatwhatwhat?" she asked, still catching her breath after running.
He pushed the door open. "Most of her stuff is gone," he said, gazing blankly at the empty closets that used to be filled with clothes.
She paused for a minute. "Wait... didn't you say she was at Hikari's?"
"I'm not sure. When I could think clearly again, she was gone. I don't know where she is."
Misato stood for a minute in thought. "Well, that's the most likely place she'd go, besides out of the city. I'll call them anyway," she said as she turned around and headed to the phone.
Shinji looked again at that empty bed. 'Please Asuka... I hope you're safe...' He was pulled out of his thoughts by voices, and tuned into the half of the phone conversation that he could hear.
"Hi, this is Misato Katsuragi, Shinji and Asuka's guardian... uh-huh... is Asuka there?... um... yeah... yeah... I know... OK, that's good... yeah, I think that would be best... OK, I understand... yeah... thanks a lot... ja."
"I take it she's over at Hikari's?" he asked her as she came back.
"Yeah... that was Hikari herself, actually. She said Asuka sounded extremely distressed and had her stuff with her. They talked, and she's letting her stay there. We decided it would be best if you two were separated for a while. But Hikari doesn't think she'll be able to make Asuka go to school or do anything."
Shinji didn't know whether to be glad or disappointed. He wouldn't have to deal with her in school, especially after that fight... but then again, he wouldn't be able to see her – period.
Not that there was really anything he could do about it.
He decided to try and get some sleep, and worry about it tomorrow...
]|[
He made a valiant effort to sleep. Too bad it didn't mean a damn thing; he was fretting all night about his fight with Asuka, and didn't get nearly enough sleep to function well.
Shinji rubbed at his eyes as he trudged down the street towards school.
Alone.
He decided to take the big irritating bandage off before he went to school. The gash may have been uglier, but it was less obvious than that big white clump of cotton.
He wandered through the halls towards his classroom. Some people gave greetings or inquired about the wound. He was too tired to respond to them. He vaguely remembered Hikari watching him with a strange expression as he entered the room. He was too tired to really care. Dropping his stuff and sitting in his seat, Shinji rested his head on his palm and stared at nothing in particular. Time passed, and a few classes passed. He was too tired to keep track.
"Pilot Ikari. Pilot Ikari. Pilot Ikari... Pilot Ikari..."
A voice calling him pulled him out of his stupor after several tries. "Huh? Huh? What?" he asked, glancing around confusedly. His gaze finally settled on the owner of the voice.
It was Rei. And she was speaking to him of her free will. This was new.
"Huh? What is it, Ayanami?" he asked, trying his best to focus.
"Who did this to you?"
"Huh? Did what?"
"Your wound. Who caused it?"
He blinked a couple times. "It's nothing, Rei. Don't worry about it."
To Shinji's surprise, Rei reached up and cradled the side of his face in one hand. She gently stroked the normal skin under the gash with her thumb. "This is a serious wound. I wish to know who did it."
Shinji, however, was really in no position to answer any questions. He was afraid that if he blushed any more, his head would explode. She... she... she was... was...
"Pilot Ikari. Are you ill? Your body temperature has risen significantly, and you are having obvious trouble breathing. If you are unwell, I can request for you to be taken back to your apartment."
"Uh... er... um... no, that's ok..."
Rei's head tilted slightly. Her eyebrows were slightly raised, in a strange expression (at least, for Rei). Shinji observed that she looked almost... expectant... of his answer to her query. This was also new for her. Why was she doing this? Was it out of... concern?
Did Shinji really care at the moment? Not really. She was touching his face like that, and nothing else mattered. He was in heaven.
Rei paused, raised one eyebrow, and pulled her hand away, shattering the moment. She settled back into the emotionless facade. "I will ask once again, Pilot Ikari. Who caused this injury?"
He stared into those red eyes. So red. So deep. He stared, hypnotized. And for some reason, felt comfort. Somehow he felt the urge to tell her the truth.
"Asuka and I... we got into... um... we got into a particularly bad fight..." his eyes drifted away from hers as he recalled the battle, and the sadness afterwards...
"I see."
He was pulled back to her eyes by that simple statement. But now, her eyes were focused on something else. Rather, they were focused on nothing in particular. And... she narrowed her eyes slightly. Almost, but not quite a glare.
It was unsettling, to say the least.
After a moment, she focused back on him. Her face was expressionless once again, and it made Shinji wonder if he had even seen it in the first place. "T-.... Thank you for your assistance, Pilot Ikari." With that last statement, she turned and walked away. To Shinji's surprise, however, she went to her desk, gathered her things, and left the room.
He blinked.
Where the heck was she going now?
-TBC
TT
[email protected]