The air still hung heavy with the rusty smell of dried LCL and the sharp sting of disinfectant.
Asuka went rigid, as if struck by an electric current. That voice...
She whipped her head around and pulled down the sheet, though it still covered half her face, leaving only her eyes exposed-
There stood Shinji Ikari.
"You..." Asuka opened her mouth, but her usual sharp retorts caught in her throat.
Shinji said nothing.
He simply sat there, looking into her eyes from so close that their breaths mingled.
Watching the girl suddenly fall silent in bed as though playing dead, then cautiously peek out at him with her eyes half hidden, Shinji Ikari found it amusing.
Asuka lay curled on her side, wishing she really had become a corpse. Having that boy look at her now felt worse than death.
She wanted to curl her toes in embarrassment hard enough to dig out an entire apartment, or find a crack at the foot of the wall and crawl into it.
A faint aroma of food drifted over from beside the bed. She did not need to think to know Shinji Ikari had made it.
He and Rei Ayanami had come together to deliver lunch bentos. They had just seen Ritsuko in the Technical Department, then visited Misato next door.
The doctor had said Asuka would wake up today. Though no one knew exactly when, Misato Katsuragi had still told him to bring her bento first.
Rei Ayanami had a simple checkup in the Technical Department and would probably come by later, but for now, the two of them were indeed alone in the room.
"Do you want to eat now? Or wait until I've left?" Shinji Ikari asked with a smile.
"Take it away. I'm not eating that stuff." Asuka