Conflicted Feelings (An AsuShin fanfic)

Chapter 2: Argument

"Dammit, Baka Shinji! I'm hungry! Go make dinner already, idiot!" Asuka yells from the living room.

I sigh, since this is a daily event in this apartment. To be fair, I don't mind cooking every day. It lets me hone in on my cooking skills, which I rarely did before I moved here. My food beats Misato's crappy cooking anyway. 

I don't even know what to cook anyway, so I walk over to the living room once again. Asuka's lying on the sofa with her legs pointing in my direction. I make sure not to look at them in case she calls me a perv or something.

"Er, Asuka? What do you want for dinner?" I ask.

At this moment, her eyes gleam with a look of devilish glee. Oh lord, she's in one of those moods again. BRACE FOR IMPACT!

"I want a 5-course meal, consisting of the finest Peking duck..."

I tune out what she says from there, because I'm not cooking any of what she's saying. I swear her mouth is motorised or something, it doesn't stop moving! She keeps jibbering and jabbering like her life depends on it! Finally, she ends her novel of an order and turns to me with a smug look on her face.

"So, Baka Shinji! What do you say?"

I look at her blankly and just start laughing spontaneously. She gets shocked and gives me an offended look.

"Excuse me?! How dare you, undermining my authority like that!"

She begins to sit up as I lay it on her.

"Listen, Asuka. You may be able to boss me around for simple tasks, but there's no way -- neither in heaven nor hell -- that I'm cooking you something that can't fit in a bento box. If you want to eat that, cook it yourself."

She stares at me with a mixture of shock and frustration.

"Now," I continue, "What do you really want to eat?"

She looks a bit uneasy and mutters something I can't quite make out.

I look at her again and she says it louder.

"Stir-fry, Baka Shinji! Listen to me, damn you!"

I smile (a bit eeriely, to be fair to her) as I retreat from the living room and say "That isn't so hard to cook, huh?"

I don't really know where I got that spine from...

Dinner is a bit earlier today which makes sense, since I'd rather do something productive after waking up than feeling sorry for myself and getting bullied by that girl.

Speaking of girls, the older one (I suppose a girl in a woman's body?) should be arriving at some point, so I might as well get it over and done with.

Tonight, I'm thinking of making some beef stir-fry. Some vegetables and beef and then sure enough, everything will be good to go. 

As I begin to prepare and cook, my mind drifts elsewhere.

Cooking is good, because it is a time where I don't have to talk to anyone! I'm a guy who hates talking to people. I don't mind being alone for a few hours... actually, that beats talking to people. Getting immersed in a book or music is fun, because you really don't have to think emotionally. 

You see, I think you can think logically or emotionally. Some thoughts are more compatible with these two concepts. Like, you can't solve an equation with logic, but then again, being logical in a light-hearted conversation is difficult. Keeping a balancing act between these two is impossible if you're not both charismatic and smart.

I don't think I'm either of those things.

...

Um... enough with the psychology. Let's get cooking.