Shinji's Birthday Present by Kanomi --------------------- Shinji tried to control his nervousness. It wouldn't do to hide behind his slice of cake. After all, this was -his- birthday. And there was no need to be so self-conscious about the others. They had come here, so they were his friends, right? Well, maybe Asuka wasn't really his friend. She lived here, after all, so she had no choice but to be at the party. His eyes lit on Rei and he wondered. Was *she* his friend. Well, she had come, but.. What if she just thought she was doing her duty, or something like that. With Rei, you never knew. But Kensuke and Touji were definitely his friends. They had come to party him, and they had brought gifts, a replica colt 1911 pistol, and a black shirt featuring some current music star, "Chicks dig that, y'know?" He smiled, you could guess right away which gift was whose. Okay, so, he -was- enjoying this. It was fun. It was a party. It was a party for HIM. No need to pretend he wasn't having fun. A bowl of chips hit him in the head, spreading its content over him as he looked up in alarm, to find Asuka all but snarling at him, "OOooooooooh... It's your party and there you are brooding like a .. like a .. like something I can't even think of!" she exploded. Shinji put his hand behind his head and laughed nervously, "Ah ah ah ! I'm sorry!" Misato was laughing behind her big beer can, a hickup betraying that she'd already drunk quite a lot. "And stop saying you're sorry, you wimp!" Shinji, in a fit of laughter gathered some of the chips that were on his shirt and threw them at Asuka. And thus started the food fight. Many would taste the cake, few would eat much of it, that night. --------------- Shinji was drying his hair with a towel, going back to his room. Upon coming into the room itself, he stumbled on a package that had been placed inside and out of sight. "What the...?" wondered Shinji,m as he bent down to pick it up. He heard the slidding door to Asuka's room slam shut as she cried "Cover yourself, pervert!" Shinji blushed beet red as he noticed the towel he had tied around his hips had slipped and exposed his butt... Asuka must have seen him. "S-so-rry!" he called back, hurrying to close the door. Once safely inside, he finaly picked up the box, which he saw, bore the kanji's for Kensuke's and Touji's names, and, sitting down on the edge of his bed, he started to unwrap it. He studied the content for a bit, before he pulled it from there. It was made of some plastic or rubber, smooth to the touch, and a strange cream hue. He studied it a few more moments before, his eyes growing wide, he made out what the form of the thing, once inflated would be. He stammered a whisper of disbelief, "A blow-up doll?" -------------- There had been a bottle of compressed air in the box, and blowing up the doll had been a cinch. Now he was staring at it, still not quite believing his friends would give him such a... strange gift. "Good thing they hid it in my room, I wouldn't want to have unwrapped *this* in front of Misato... Or. Gah, in front of Asuka! She already calls me a pervert." The thing was not cheaply made. In fact, it obviously must have cost a lot. The feel to teh touch was smooth and yet grainy, almost like skin. It was col, and yielded more than a person's body would... a small flash back brought him back to that time when he'd fallen on top of Rei, the feel of her naked body against his... He shook his head, returning to the study of the blow-up doll. The detailing was a very credible job, and from afar, he was sure he'd take the doll for a real girl. From close up it was obvious it was fake though. Still... Blushing furiously and gnawing at his lips, berating himself for a pervert and weak all the while, Shinji started feeling the doll up. -------------- Asuka blearily walked out of her room, making it to the breakfast table where Shinji was humming and eating cheerfully. "Verdamnt, I hate morning people," she grumbled, steating herself down, and getting some of soup which Shinji happily poured for her in a bowl. "What's gotten into you?" she asked him, suspiciously, before sipping some steamy broth. It was good. "Oh nothing," he all but sing-songed. "I just feel well rested and nice. And the party was fun, wasn't it?" "Fun.. I wouldn't call such a stupid thing as a foodfight -fun-," she mumbled. "Sure, Shinji, it was a birthday just for you," she replied louder. Shinji seemed blissfully ignorant of any sarcasm. She muttered one more word under her breath, something she called him often, and then ignored him for the rest of the breakfast, before she stalked off to school. -------------- That night, she was woken by a noise, but when she slid opened her door, she could see no one, nor could she hear any further noises. She shook her head, chasing childish fears, and went back to bed quickly enough. ------------- The week came and went, and Asuka was woken twice more during the night by strange noises, but each times, they stopped as soon as they started, and she couldn't locate them. They happened at different times of night, as well, so she couldn't pin it on some strange automatism. Something was going on. She was almost ready to attribute them to a ghost or something. They had an eerie quality, like a wail, or a cry. But one that ended up immediately, as if strangled. Asuka went "Urk" while brushing her hand to her throat, "Strangled. Why did I have to think of that..." -------------- A couple of school girls passing him on the street giggled at him, and he blushed redly, but he looked the other way and ignored them. He was in front of a store, and staring at a school's uniform. A girl's school's uniform, like that worn by the girls of his school. Finaly, he stepped into the store and bought the outfit that was presnted in the street-window. He hurried to push it down into his bag to hide it before he was back on the street. He then walked off real quick, as if affraid someone would be following him. -------------- The next week had the noises disturbing Asuka's sleep more and more often. She wasn't getting her share of rest anymore, she'd spent long hours dreading that strangled wail. Some poor soul, whose story she had reconstructed. Most proably a young girl, who had been murdered in this very place, strangled in her sleep. And now she was haunting *her*! It was obvious no one else was hearing those noises. Shinji seemed so happy and well-rested all the time now, and Misato.. Bah, that girl would sleep through third impact, what with the amount of alcohol she drank. -------------- Shinji's eyes darted right and left. He'd come here directly from school, using a taxi that had cost him a lot of his allowance. But it was worth it, none of the other kids from schools were around yet. He hurried into the costuming shop and browsed around quickly, until he found what he wanted. "Ano.. Can this be cut shorter?" he asked. The shop owner agreed to make the alteration, for a fee, of course. Shinji agreed to the price. Minutes later, the changes were made, and Shinji hid the item into his bag, before rushing off. He didn't know why he was so nervous, after all, wehat he'd bought it wasn't criminal or even perverted. But still, he knew what he wanted it for, and butterflies tickled his stomach and his cheeks burned hotly with shame. No one saw him, thankfully, and he got home without any mishap. ------------- There it was, again. That noise! Asuka almost screamed. It was starting to drive her crazy. She slammed open the sliding door to her room and looked right and left in the apartment. At the noise of her door opening so violently, there was a gasp coming from Shinji's room. Asuka was so furious with whatever entity that she wasn't thinking very straight. Not that thinking was one of her very strong point. She stamped over to Shinji's room and yanked the door opened. The sight that greeted her, instead of some ghost complaints of stranglements, was that of Shinji, buck naked, on top of a girl, looking back over his shoulder at her with a look fright. "A-a-asuka!" he whimpered. Asuka caught sight of the girl's hair, although her face was hidden by Shinji's arm. It was pale blue, short. "Shinji and vondergirl!?" she wondered out loud, "Ah! I can't believe it!" "N-n-no! That's not it, I can explain!" hurried ly stammered Shinji, slipping as he tried to get up and cover himself and hide the doll all at the same time, and failed to do all three, falling off the bed. "ACH! It's a doll! YOU PERVERT!" Shinji tried to cover his privates, which had suddenly, and thankfully shrunk in his terror, but forgot about that when he saw the look of fury on Asuka's face. He scrambled backward, covering into a corner of his room as she stepped towards him. --------------- "AAAAOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!" The scream tore through the house. Misato snored on, turning in her sleep, but otherwise undisturbed. -------------- Shinji was sitting up, both hands now cupped over his crotch. Asuka could kick and very acurately. "W-w-what... I mean. Aah.. It's not.. " he shivered as he tried to speak. "Why is the doll's hair blue?" she asked, snarling. "B-blue? Ah.. Huh. Well.. You know..." "Why isn't it RED?! AM I NOT SEXY ENOUGH FOR YOUR SICK PERVERTED FANTASIES???" she shouted. Shinji's eyes grew wide in terror.