From: "Lester Yung" <lyung@powersurfr.com>
Subject: [Eva][FanFic] A Simple Gift
X-Moderation-Queue-Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 19:21:51 -0600

Author's Notes:

(Text between _ (underscores) denotes text meant to be in italics.)

    This fan fiction is based on characters and events depicted
in the anime series _Neon Genesis Evangelion_
(aka _Shin Seiki Evangelion_).  It does not contains any spoilers
for those who have not seen the entire series.  However, it does assume
some degree of reader familiarity with the characters in the series,
particularly with Asuka and her past as revealed in Episode 22,
"At Least, Be Humane/Don't Be".

    _Neon Genesis Evangelion_ and its characters are property
of GAINAX.  Through this original work, this author does not claim
these rights.


*****

    "A Simple Gift"
    by Lester Yung


    "We're having a birthday party this Friday night!" declared Asuka
Langley Souryu as she entered Misato's kitchen.

    Shinji Ikari was standing by the stove, in the process
of ladling _miso_ soup into bowls for breakfast that Monday.
Misato Katsuragi herself was in her usual seat at the kitchen table,
sipping a can of Yebisu beer.  Both of them stopped what they were doing
to look at the part-German teen.  Shinji repeated "Birthday party?"

    "Of course!" replied Asuka.  "What better way to celebrate
my birthday than with a party!"

    "Oh, that's right.  December 4th is your birthday, isn't it?"
recalled Misato.

    "So, you'll be turning 15?" Shinji directed towards the redhead
as she sat down at the table.

    As she moved her beer can back to her lips, Misato interjected
"14."

    "Misato!" yelled Asuka.

    "But," Shinji began, looking bewildered, "you always said
that you were already 14."

    "13 and a half, 14, whatever," she dismissed, glaring across
the table at Misato for exposing her deception.  The major herself
just smiled from behind her Yebisu.

    "That means I'm half a year older than you," he concluded.

    "So what?  We're talking about my birthday, not yours!"
She allowed herself a second to calm down before continuing.
"Anyway, Misato, I want to invite some people here for the party."

    "Who?"

    "Hikari, and, of course, Kaji," she commenced.  As Shinji set
the soup bowls on the table, she turned to him.  "And you have
my permission to invite Wondergirl and the Stooges, if you want."

    Misato set her beer down.  "You don't want to go out to celebrate
your first birthday in Tokyo?" she inquired.  _If we're
in a public place,_ she thought, _maybe Kaji will behave himself and
not embarrass me.  Oh, who am I kidding?_

    Asuka sighed "I've resigned myself to the fact that no matter
whether I have my birthday party here or some place else in Tokyo-3,
it won't be as good as the ones I had when I was living in Germany.

    "Every year we would dress up formally and go
to my grandmother's home in the early evening.  When our car pulled up
to her house, I would see her in her 'church clothes', as she called
them, waiting at her doorstep.  She would get in the back seat
of the car with me, and we would start driving
to some surprise destination that only she knew.  She would just give
my father instructions on how to get there.  It must've made him crazy,
with her ordering 'Turn left here!  Go right here!  Go up
to the third set of traffic lights!'" she laughed.

    "Where would you go?" wondered Shinji, now on his chair
beside her's.

    "Every time it would be different.  One year it could be
to watch Cirque du Soleil, another year it could be to go
on a candlelit sleigh ride.  I think the first time it was
a Bach concert when I turned four."

    He raised his eyebrows.  "You listened to Bach when you were four?"

    "I was always mature for my age.  Anyway, after we finished
the surprise activity, we would then go back to my grandmother's house.
There, we would find a fantastic late supper already prepared for us
by her housekeeper.  That was probably the only time I would eat
all my vegetables when I was little, because I would be rewarded
with the absolutely best birthday cake I've ever had,
made by my grandmother herself.  Four thick layers of cake,
dark chocolate frosting, chopped pecans covering the top,
coconut sprinkled densely on the sides.  Following the cake,
I would get to open all my presents."

    "Presents?" echoed Shinji.

    "Yes, what kind of birthday would it be without presents?
Hey, were you trying to play dumb to avoid getting me
a birthday present?" accused Asuka.

    He straightened up a little.  "No!  I mean, I..."

    His voice trailed off under her scrutinizing gaze.
"Good," she said, "and I expect something decent,
not some ridiculous or perverted gag gift!  And the same goes
for whatever the other Stooges give me!"

    Sipping his miso, Shinji thought _The truth is,
I've never really associated gifts with birthdays._


*****


    "Man, why would I want to go celebrate
that stuck-up girl's birthday?" asked Touji Suzuhara, as he leaned back
in his seat and crossed his arms.

    Shinji and Kensuke Aida were gathered around the jock's desk
during self-study time at school.  The military _otaku_ looked over
in the direction where Asuka and Hikari Horaki would normally
be sitting now if they weren't out of the classroom.  "I can understand
why she would invite you, Shinji, being her roommate
and fellow EVA pilot, but she hurls more insults at us than she does
at you.  Why would she let you invite us?"

    "I suppose to get presents."

    "So that's it," Kensuke concurred.  "She probably expects
nothing less than gold, frankincense, and myrrh, too."

    "Gold and what?" asked Touji.

    "It's in the Christmas -- oh, never mind."

    Shinji related "She did say that she wanted good presents."

    "Well, if the only reason she wants us there is to spend
our allowances on her, then she can go to hell," stated Touji.

    "Sorry, Shinji," apologized the other Stooge, "better you than I
go broke."

    Shinji looked at his feet.  "I don't even get that much allowance
from Misato.  I'd ask her for an advance, but she already agreed
to help Asuka with the costs of the party, and she has to shop
for a gift, too, and a party dress --"

    Suddenly, Touji jumped out of his seat, and both he and Kensuke
leaned their heads so close to the Third Child's that he could feel
their breaths.  "Mi-misato..." started the tracksuit-clad Stooge.

    "...in a party dress?" finished the spectacled Stooge.

    Looking alternately at each of his friends, Shinji answered
"Uh... yes."

    Touji stood straight up and placed his hand on Shinji's shoulder.
"Kensuke, we cannot allow our dear friend to endure the burden
of Asuka's birthday party alone!  We will be there this Friday night!"

    Kensuke grabbed Shinji's other shoulder.  "It is the very least we
can do to thank you for protecting us and this city!"

    "Yeah, right," said Shinji, not hiding his skepticism.


*****


    The female salesclerk handed Shinji a plastic bag
with a Seibu Department Store logo on it.  "Thank you very much, sir,"
she chimed.

    Passing through the store entrance, he stepped out
onto the city sidewalk.  The late afternoon sun was already beginning
to disappear somewhere behind the horizon, bathing him
and his surroundings in reddish-orange.  He swung his schoolbag
over one shoulder and turned to his right, prepared to start
his return home, when he recognized someone a short distance away.
"A...Ayanami!" he called.

    A schoolbag in both hands, Rei Ayanami was standing before one
of the window displays of the store.  She slowly turned her head away
from it towards him as he approached.  He stopped a couple of footfalls
away from her and asked "What are you doing here?"

    "I am searching for a birthday gift for the Second Child,"
answered the First Child in a soft, flat voice.  She returned
to facing the display.

    "I just came from finding one," he enthused, jostling
the Seibu bag a little and giving a large grin, "and only a day left
before her birthday!"

    She went on staring at the store display.  "So..." Shinji fumbled,
"what are you going to get for Asuka?"

    "I do not know," she responded, her eyes still focused in front
of her.

    Shinji took a step closer to her, getting a better look at what
had seized her attention so strongly.  Behind the large glass pane was
a store worker dismantling a mannequin, and nothing else.

    For a few seconds, he watched her observe the proceedings,
one of his eyebrows cocked higher than the other.  Then, he joined her
in looking at the display.  "Um, I had trouble deciding
what to get her, too.  This will be the first time I ever celebrate
somebody's birthday, so I don't have very much experience thinking
about what to give a person."

    He paused, and dropped his gaze.  "I never really celebrated
my own birthday, either.  When I was living with my teacher, the most
that would happen would be getting a greeting card from him."

    "You wanted more than a greeting card?" questioned Rei, who was
finally facing Shinji once more.

    He turned to her again.  "There's a Western saying about presents:
'It's the thought that counts.'  The intent behind the gift is
more important than the gift itself.  My teacher gave it to me
because he felt obliged by custom, nothing more."

    "What is your purpose for giving the Second Child a gift?"

    "It's partly to follow custom and partly to, um, make her happy,
I guess"

    "And she will be satisfied with that?"

    "I hope so."

    Rei looked back to the window.  "Under consideration
of what you said, the intent behind my gift may not be sufficient.
I am only following custom, like your teacher."

    "Well... you can also try to find something that Asuka will enjoy,"
offered Shinji.

    "She enjoys being the object of attention, as this birthday party
will make her.  As for material items, however, I do not know what she
will like."

    Shinji cast his eyes downward and to one side, and soon moved them
to the shopping bag he was holding.  Several seconds passed before he
raised it towards the blue-haired girl.  "You can give her this,
if you want."

    She stared at it, then at him.  "You do not want to give it
to her?"

    "Yes," he replied, "I do... but if it'll help you..."

    Rei's cheeks flushed a little.  She looked at the Seibu bag
further.  Then, she reached into her pocket, and retrieved
a few crumpled yen banknotes and coins.  Letting them rest
in her open palm, she queried "Is this enough for the gift?"

    He quickly scanned the contents of her hand, and nodded his head.
The two teens exchanged the items.  When she accepted the handles
of the bag, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.  "Thank you,"
she said.

    Shinji returned the smile, and continued to wear it even as she
began to walk away home.  He rotated his head to the store display,
and sighed.  _I'm back to where I started,_ he thought.  _What do I
get Asuka now?_


*****


    Asuka was staring at the contents of the box she
had just unwrapped.  "It's a rock," she flatly stated, frowning.

    "It's a geode," Kensuke clarified, one eye behind the viewfinder
of his activated video camera.

    In Misato's living room, Asuka was sitting on her knees at one end
of a low table littered with half-filled and empty plates and glasses.
Kensuke and Touji were sitting along one side, with Hikari as a buffer
between them and the birthday girl.  On the other side, Ryouji Kaji was
closest to the redhead, with Misato next, and Rei the farthest.

    "How pretty!" Hikari exclaimed.

    "Mr. Aida probably saw the beautiful sparkling crystals
and the fiery red colors, and immediately thought of you,"
Kaji speculated.

    Asuka's visage brightened a little.  "Well, I suppose it would make
an interesting paper weight.  Thanks, Aida."

    Kaji watched Kensuke let out a long silent breath, and grinned.
Misato leaned close to his ear.  "Nice save," she whispered.

    The stubble-faced man turned to her, and murmured "Say,
your birthday is this Monday, isn't it?  How about having
our own little party at my place?  You can come in your birthday suit."

    She glared at him.  "What?!  You..." she muttered.

    "Hey!  What are you two whispering about?!"  Asuka interrupted.

    Kaji leaned away from Misato and returned to his original posture.
"Oh, I was remarking how Katsuragi is turning 30 next week."

    Turning red, the major bared her gritted teeth at her ex-boyfriend,
who pretended not to notice and continued.  "Traditionally in Japan,
a woman is expected to be married before then.  So, in a few days,
you might consider her to be an old maid."

    Misato grabbed the _zabuton_ cushion from underneath her and
began pummeling him with it.  Kaji fell onto his back and was shielding
himself with his arms, still grinning.  She went on her knees,
poising over him and continuing her assault.  Touji and Kensuke took
the opportunity to admire what the short hemline of her dress
didn't cover up, the latter boy recording with his camera.
Hikari and Asuka were laughing.  Rei stared blankly.

    The entrance to the apartment opened, and an out-of-breath Shinji
stumbled in, banging his schoolbag against a wall in the foyer.
The mouth of a shopping bag was twisted inside his fist.  "I... I'm
home," he announced between inhalations.

    The others turned their attention to him, including Misato
who ceased her attack.  She replied "Welcome home, Shinji!
I was afraid you were going to miss the party altogether!"

    Shinji slipped off his shoes and entered the living room.  He
looked at Kaji lying on the floor and Misato holding her seat cushion.
"What's going on?"

    "Shinji, you've just saved me from NERV's ultimate weapon
against the Angels: the 'Katsuragi Zabuton Blitzkrieg'," answered Kaji.
"I am forever in your debt."

    "Okay, if the 'adults' are finished now, let's continue
with this party!" Asuka proclaimed as Shinji sat down
at the opposite end of the table.

    She picked up an unopened present from the floor between her
and Hikari.  "Ah, this one's from Wondergirl," she noted
and began ripping off the wrapping paper to reveal a flat box inside.
Lifting the lid off and parting the fine tissue paper inside, she found
a beret.

    Hikari gushed "That's one of those new berets all the idol singers
have been wearing lately!"  Shinji looked down the hallway and
through Misato's open bedroom door, at the stack of fashion magazines
under her desk.

    "Who knew Wondergirl had taste?" Asuka commented as she put on
the hat.  "How do I look?"

    "Like a model," assessed Hikari, and in response the Second Child
put her hand behind her head and did a mock pose.  Kensuke made
a wolf whistle.

    Asuka turned to Rei.  "Thanks!"

    "You're welcome," the blue-haired girl answered emotionlessly.
Shinji's face was beaming for her.

    "Is that for me?" Asuka asked him.

    He looked down at the shopping bag he still had in his hand.
"Uh, yes," he responded, and he handed it to Kensuke.  "I'm sorry
I didn't have time to wrap it.  I went straight from school
to the mall, and then here."  While he was talking, his present
was passed from one person to another along that side of the table,
until it arrived at the birthday girl.  Without looking inside,
she reached into the bag, felt something, and pulled it out.

    In her hand was a stuffed toy penguin.

    "That's so cute!" Hikari cried.

    "Now Pen-Pen won't be alone when we're out," said Misato.

    "He can use a drinking buddy.  Besides you, I mean, Katsuragi,"
Kaji quipped.

    While the others had been talking, Asuka had her eyes fixed
on the toy, expressionless.  Suddenly, a scowl came across her face,
and she looked up at Shinji.  "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" she screamed,
got up onto her feet, and hurled the doll across the table.  It flew
past one of his ears and landed at the base of the far wall.

    The others were staring at her, their eyes widened in surprise
except for Rei's.  The seeming object of her anger, Shinji,
appeared the most shocked.  "What, what did I do?"

    "I'M NOT A LITTLE GIRL, YOU MORON!"

    "I never said you were!"

    "THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE SAYING WITH THAT LITTLE GIRL'S DOLL,
YOU IDIOT!"

    "That isn't why I gave it to you!"

    "THEN WHY?"

    "Because-!  Because..." Shinji's voice tapered off.
Frowning, he turned his head downwards and to the side.

    Hands balled into fists, Asuka waited for an answer from him,
and when she saw that one wasn't forthcoming, she yelled "I HATE YOU!"

    She stormed out of the living room and down the hallway
to her bedroom.  Hikari stood up.  "Asuka?" she called,
and soon followed her friend.

    Kensuke mumbled "Maybe it's that time of the month."

    Touji replied "With her, it's always that time of the month."


*****


    Long after the guests had left, Shinji was sitting on his bed,
with his back against the wall, listening to his SDAT player
through his headphones.  _It's the thought that counts,_ he recalled,
and closed his eyes.

    There was a knock at his bedroom door.  He paused his player.
"Shinji, I'm coming in," announced Misato quietly.

    A second later, the door slid open, and she stepped
inside the room.  She sat down on the corner of his bed.
"I told Ayanami yesterday that the intent behind a gift
is more important than the gift itself," he began.  "But..."

    "...You're afraid that your intention wasn't strong enough?"
she finished.

    Eyes still shut, he nodded almost imperceptibly.

    "What was your intention?"

    He was silent for a few seconds.  "To tell Asuka
that I consider her my friend."

    Misato looked down at his mattress.  "And so you think she's
rejected your friendship."

    He sat motionless.

    She slid closer to sit beside him.  "Even in the best
of relationships, there will be disagreements and fights.
The two of you have been through so much in the last few months
that a bond has grown between you, as it often happens
with comrades-in-arms.  I don't really understand why she reacted
so strongly to your gift, despite the reason she gave,
but I don't believe what happened tonight is powerful enough
to break that bond, unless you let it.  Your friendship is worthy.
Don't be scared to express it again."

    Misato watched him for a second, and got up.  She walked out
of the room, turned around, and wished him good night before sliding
the door shut.

    _I'm not sure how to express it again,_ Shinji thought, and opened
his eyes.  He let them wander the landscape around him.  They fell
on the dresser.  Then, his schoolbag.
Then, his NERV orientation manual.  Then, the toy penguin.
Then, his cello.


*****


    Asuka was lying on her bed, her fingers clasped behind her neck.
As her eyelids fell little by little, she thought _This is
the worst birthday ever._

    In her mind's eye, she saw the penguin doll.  It transformed
into the stuffed toy monkey that she once owned when she was younger.
Classical music began to play, and the image of the monkey faded
into darkness.  A diffuse amber glow gradually filled the void,
revealing people, adults sitting in rows before her.  She found herself
as a small child in a seat too large for her.  The adults all seemed
to be watching something that she was too short to see.  She tried
shifting around in her chair, looking through the gaps
between the seat backs in front of her, but the rows further ahead
obscured her view.  Then, a pair of hands lifted her up and
set her down on someone's lap.  She twisted her body around to identify
the lap's owner.

    Her mother's smiling face greeted her.  "Can you see now, Asuka?"
she asked.  Beside her mother was her father, transfixed
like the strangers around them.  Almost eye-level now with the adults
in front of her, the young redhead turned to look forward.  She felt
her mother kiss the back of her head as she gazed beyond the rows
of people, and saw a cello player performing --

    "Bach," Asuka gasped on her bed, and opened her eyes at once.
_Oh, my God, I had forgotten,_ she realized.  _On that last night
that I was still her daughter, it was Mama who surprised..._

    She wrapped herself into a fetal position, and pressed her chin
against her knees.  _I'm sorry, Mama. I'm so sorry I didn't remember._
Staring into space, she asked herself _But after such a long time,
why did it come back to me now all of a sudden?_  That was when
she noticed the sound of a cello coming from outside her room.

    She climbed out of bed, and approached the threshold.
_Bach's Suite No. 1,_ she thought.  She pressed her fingers lightly
against the door, and bowed her head.

    Outside her bedroom, Shinji was on a folding chair, sitting
with his cello.  One hand was drawing a bow back and forth rapidly
across the strings, while the other was shifting and changing position
of its digits on the fingerboard.  He was concentrating
on a flat-screen computer tablet resting on a music stand.  Sheet music
was displayed on its screen, and as he neared completion of one page,
a new page of musical notes appeared.

    A short time later, he came to the end of the last movement
of the suite, concluding with a prolonged final note.  He then
looked up at the closed entrance of Asuka's room.  In pajamas, Misato
walked silently up to Shinji's side, and waited with him.

    After almost half a minute, the door slid open, exposing Asuka
from behind it.  Her head still in a lowered position, she gradually
raised it.  Her eyes had a sadness to them, yet she was also showing
a strained smile.  "Shin-", she started in a small, tremulous voice,
but abruptly stopped herself from continuing.  She frowned and dropped
her head once more.

    Slowly, she stepped up to him, leaned over, and kissed his cheek.
A moment later, she straightened up, turned around, and went back
to her bedroom, where she shut herself in again.

    Misato touched his shoulder gently, and returned quietly
to her room.  Blushing and astonished, Shinji stared at the door.
He then sat back in his chair, managed a weak grin, and mouthed
the words "You're welcome."

EOT