Going Against Biology - Kawoshin

The Silver-Scaled Fish

Shinji leaned against the wall outside of the main doors where he said he'd meet Kaworu. Seeing the silver-haired boy suddenly made him conscious of the position of his hands and the way he held his shoulders.

As he avoided eye contact, feeling very awkward, Kaworu boldly walked up to him and put a slender arm around his shoulder, giving him a little squeeze.

"What are you doing . . ?!" Shinji asked, gently pulling away, his face lighting on fire.

"I just wanted to say thanks for choosing me," he said kindly, retrieving his hand and putting it, along with his other, in his pocket.

"Oh. Um, it's no problem . . ." Shinji said, beginning to walk. "My house is this way, so . . ."

Kaworu nodded and began to walk alongside Shinji.

Shinji couldn't think of anything to say other than small talk such as "what's your favorite color" and "what's your favorite class" so he remained silent. The only con to this was that Kaworu was also silent. Shinji's face began to slowly heat again until Kaworu broke the silence.

"Nice day, isn't it? The temperature is finally going down, I don't know if I could survive many more hot days," he quietly laughed to himself and looked kindly at Shinji. "What about you, do you like the cold weather?"

Shinji still had to get used to Kaworu's genuine kindness. He wasn't used to it, especially because of Asuka (though she meant it in a joking way) and his father. "Oh - I like the cold more, cuz there's only so many ways you can cool down in the heat, you know?"

Kaworu nodded in agreement. "Exactly! And the snow and rain are gorgeous, don't you think?" he asked, suppressing a smile.

Shinji let out a nervous laugh. Small talk was definitely not his thing... Shinji swung his arm a little too far and brushed Kaworu's finger with his own. His hands were soft and warm, while Shinji's were sweaty and cold.

Kaworu let out a small gasp and looked over to Shinji. "Sorry, I just -" Shinji stammered. "That's my bad, ugh, I didn't -" he began to flail with his words. Kaworu let out a soft laugh and stopped walking. "Don't worry about it," he smiled. "Though, your hands are cold."

The silver-haired boy reached out a slender hand to grab Shinji's nervous one. Shinji felt a muscle in his forearm jump and he immediately felt his face heat. He felt his body turn to face Kaworu's. He put Shinji's hand between both of his and lifted it to his mouth where he blew hot air onto it in an attempt to warm it up.

"You don't have to do that..." Shinji started to stammer, but Kaworu looked at him and smiled.

"I thought you said you liked the cold weather," he began to grin. "Looks like you're not quite used to it yet, though..."

Or maybe I'm just nervous, Shinji thought to himself, looking to the side. "Let's keep going," Shinji said, turning himself so that his hand was released from Kaworu's grasp. His smile gently faded. "We go over the bridge, across the street, and then we're practically there," Shinji explained, pointing out the route to show Kaworu.

Kaworu nodded and they started walking.

Soon, they approached the once-distant bridge, and as they crossed, a loud and flustered splashing was coming from below. The boys' curiosity peaked, and they leaned over the railing to see a silver-colored fish flailing in the shallow water, seemingly stuck to something.

Shinji quickly crossed the bridge, dumped his bag on the stairs, and stumbled downhill to the riverbank to see what was going on. Kaworu followed, bemused, gently setting his bag down.

There was a wad of discarded fishing line peeking through the rounded river rocks, strangling the fish. It was half out of the water, half on the rocks, seeming to injure itself more every time it tried to get free.