[Episode 137876] [Episode 137876]Asuka groaned as she slowly lowered herself into the hot waters of the tub, gingerly easing herself down until she could lay recumbent against its base. She had drawn the bath a good deal warmer than she usually preferred, almost to the point of being uncomfortable actually, but at the moment the hot water was working small miracles on her, soothing her aching muscles and perhaps more importantly, slowly putting a damper on her admittedly heightened arousal. Truthfully, cooler water probably would have been more effective in that regard, but bad dreams or not, she wasn't about to start the morning with a cold shower.
Especially not for Shinji's sake.
Shaking her head, Asuka vainly tried to drive thoughts of the Third Child out of her mind, muttering vehemently under her breath as the mere thought of him caused another wave of desire to well up within her body. It just wasn't fair! She already had to put up with him at work, at school, at home, and now he had invaded her dreams as well. He had no right! Now, to make matters worse, ever since that incident in gym class that day, he had been making her feel things that she was ill-prepared to deal with. It wasn't confusing, not exactly, not when she had had the same kind of feelings for Kaji. Asuka knew that what she was feeling was attraction, an inescapable desire that went beyond mere animal instinct, but the prospect of having those sort of feelings for Shinji of all people was a little unsettling and more than a little frightening.
And regardless of what she might claim, there were certain things that Asuka Langley Sohryu was very much afraid of.
It wasn't as if she could act on her feelings anyway... ...could she? No, of course not. They were classmates, coworkers, and if she were to be perfectly honest with herself, friends. Even if she were to pursue him, NERV would never let it happen, right? Right. So it was immaterial. It couldn't happen, so it wouldn't happen. Besides, Shinji was just another baka right? Just another immature boy. No need to think about him that way. No need to feel for him that way. No use wasting anymore time thinking about him. No use, no matter how nice he looked, no matter how he took care of her, no matter how his hands had felt when he touched her, or how her heart had- NO! No. It was no good. This was Shinji. Shinji!
Shaking her head, Asuka pulled herself out of her reverie, blinking as she noticed that the her breathing had turned ragged then shivering with the realization that the tepid pool of water that she had been sitting in had somehow turned ice cold.
'Damnit! How long have I been in here? Wasting all this time thinking about the baka....? Get a hold of yourself!'
Lips twisting in self-loathing and not a little bit of disgust, Asuka quickly rose out of the water and toweled herself off, deftly drying her hair before slipping into her school clothes. She had to stop thinking about him, get her mind off of him, focus on something else. If she kept going like she had been, eventually she'd lose control, maybe even act on her feelings. And that couldn't happen. It couldn't.
It couldn't.
Moreover, looking at the disheveled figure in the mirror, Asuka realized that she was a wreck, her hair in disarray and dark rings marking her eyes. If she kept this up for too much longer, someone was going to notice, and then they'd ask why. Of course, Asuka was confident in her ability to avoid answering, but what if she slipped up? What if they could tell without her saying anything? Misato at least would never let her live it down, and Shinji-
Shinji...
Shaking her head and growling in irritation, Asuka fished out a hair brush from one of the counter drawers and proceeded to take her frustrations out on her hair.
"Bout time you got out of there," Misato called cheerily from where she lounged at the kitchen table, awaiting breakfast. Upon exiting the bathroom Asuka had found the apartment pervaded with the scent of cooking sausage. After a brief trip to the washing machine to drop off her sheets, she had then gone exploring, and had quickly turned up one Major Katsuragi, looking surprisingly lucid given the hour, as well as the inescapable Third Child, who was currently consumed with bustling around the kitchen and checking on his preparations, apparently having gone to the trouble of making yet another European breakfast.
For her.
Breaking eye contact with the Third Child's apron-clad backside and growling in irritation, Asuka shot an angry glare at Misato and forcibly pulled out a chair, plopping down sullenly at the kitchen table and tilting her head downwards to avoid drawing attention to the rings around her eyes. "What's it to you, Misato?" she bit out acidly.
Misato blinked, then turned a wry grin Asuka's way, "My, aren't we cheery today? Get up on the wrong side of bed this morning, Asuka-chan?"
"Something like that".
"Hmm. Too bad. I slept better than I have in years," Misato responded cheekily. Asuka shot her a disgusted glance, but had to concede that Misato did look surprisingly good, particularly given the hour and the fact that the NERV Major typically wasn't a morning person. In fact, outside of a slight flush, the older woman looked positively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "Care to let me in on your secret?" Asuka grumbled irritably.
"Nice dreams," Misato shrugged, her cheeks heating slightly. "Does a body good."
Asuka stared at her for a long moment before shaking her head and shifting her chair forward slightly. "Y-yeah, whatever Misato."
"You alright?" Misato asked after a moment, pausing to take a sip out of her ever present can of Yebisu and giving Asuka an appraising look, "It doesn't look like you slept very well last night".
"Mind your own business!" Asuka snapped.
"Fine, whatever," Misato shrugged, picking up a long yellowish object from the center of the table and thrusting it over to Asuka, "Here. You'll feel better after you've had your morning banana."
Asuka stared at the offending object, her face paling, then shot a suspicious glance up at the Major, searching the older woman's face for any trace of mischief then frowning when she saw only concern mirrored there. "W-what?"
"Your banana," Misato repeated, gesturing to the fruit in question, "Shinji got it for you. He said that you looked a little under the weather yesterday and went out to pick them up this morning. The fridge is full of the damn things. Hardly any room left for beer."
"I bought one bunch, Misato," Shinji admonished from his place at the stove, "And the potassium's supposed to be good for energy. You've still got plenty of beer left. Besides, you don't see Pen-pen complaining."
"That's because he's still asleep," Misato shot back, raising an eyebrow as she noticed Asuka staring at the banana, sweat beading her brow. "Asuka? Aren't you going to eat it?"
"N-no thanks," Asuka replied somewhat shakily, pushing the disturbingly phallic fruit across the table. "I'm feeling much better, really."
Misato shot Asuka an assessing look and frowned slightly, but decided to let the matter drop for the time being. She wasn't about to try to force Asuka to eat something she didn't want to, but she wasn't about to let her get sick either. She'd have to speak to Ritsuko about scheduling a checkup for the Second Child when she went in today.
Asuka, for her part, was still staring unsteadily at the banana where it rested on the other side of the table, her mind a jumble of conflicting thoughts.
'Shinji gave me a banana? Why would Shinji give me a banana? I didn't ask for Shinji's banana? I certainly don't want Shinji's banana! Then why in the heck did that baka buy me a damned banana?! Could he- no! Urgh! Does he know?! But he couldn't... could he? It's not like I wanted to have those dreams! It's not my fault! Of course not! As if the great Asuka Langley Sohryu would waste time dreaming about a spineless weenie like Shinji! As if- he couldn't know could he?! I didn't want to have those dreams! I didn't want to spend the night thinking about Shinji and then wake up covered in-'
"Juice?" Shinji offered, holding up a glass of orange juice in front of the Second Child.
Asuka stared back at him for a long moment before nodding numbly and accepting the glass with a trembling hand, sighing slightly as her fingertips brushed hers in passing.
'Argh!' Asuka's mind railed once Shinji had turned away again, 'What the hell am I doing?! Thinking about the baka this way! Out, out out! Get out of my head you verdamnnt baka! Out! I don't like Shinji. I don't want Shinji. I don't need Shinji! Not him. Not him! Not him, and certainly not his-'
"Sausage?" Shinji questioned, placing a plate of sausage in front of the increasingly pale-faced Second Child.
'It's impossible!' Asuka's mind redoubled, sweat now trickling down her temples, 'This has gotta be some kind of a coincidence, right? Right? Right! Of course it is! Of course it is! Asuka Langley Sohryu would never lose it thinking about baka-boy's twig! Of course not! No need to spend any more time thinking about it! Not at all! As if I'd let Shinji's sausage anywhere near my-'
"Eggs?" Shinji questioned, holding up a pan filled with golden fluffy scrambled eggs.
...
"AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!"
*SLAM*
Shinji blinked, staring nonplussed at where Asuka had suddenly screamed, bolted up out of her chair, fled through the front door, and slammed it behind her. Shaking his head, he turned to look at the equally startled Misato. "What's with her?"
"Beats me," Misato responded after a moment, taking another swig of her beer, "Guess she's not hungry."
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(Posted Tue, 19 Apr 2005 21:48)
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