Chapter Text
“Shinji.”
Shinji slowly opened his eyes to scarlet eyes and a smiling face above his.
“How did you get in?” He muttered as he slowly sat up from his sleeping position on his carpet.
“The door was unlocked.”
“Mm.” Shinji blinked sleepily. He turned his attention to the alarm clock on his desk and read 11:43 P.M.
“You should really start locking your doors Shinji-kun. What if it wasn’t me who walked in?” Kaworu said with what Shinji assumed to be a slight scowl. As if Kaworu could seriously scold Shinji. His apartment complex was moderately safe and you could only be let in if you were buzzed in. He probably called the cat lady upstairs to let him in again. According to Kaworu, he and the cat lady were very good acquaintances and from time to time had conversations about similar interests – that being about cats.
“Mm.” Sleep began to fade away and Shinji’s mind began to clear. “Why are you even here?”
Kaworu’s smile widened and his eyes practically sparkled and Shinji felt a wave of fear come over him. Oh no. That was the I-have-a-fantastic-idea-Shinji-kun! look. The last time Shinji went along with one of his “fantastic ideas” Shinji ended up hanging off a bridge holding onto an old man for dear life. The poor man had dropped his cane in the lake and Shinji had to wait for two hours while the lake patrol fished it out. Shinji wasn’t willing to go through that again.
“Wait no never mind. I don’t want to know.” Shinji blurted out and quickly went back to laying on the floor with his back to Kaworu.
“What? Why not?” Shinji answered by turning his head and shooting a glare in Kaworu’s direction. Shinji could almost feel the other boy's sulking face stare into his back. After about 5 minutes passed, Kaworu seemed to catch on to what Shinji was thinking and there was a rustling of clothes as Kaworu knelt down next to Shinji. Shinji was surprised he didn’t jump when Kaworu leaned down and whispered in Shinji’s ear.
“I promise this idea won’t be like last years.” Shinji felt a blush creep up his face, whether it was from their close proximity or the embarrassment of the memory, he didn’t know and decided he was better off not knowing.
“Gee that’s reassuring.”
“I promise it isn’t.” Kaworu continued to whisper in a soft voice. Shinji groaned inwardly. Kaworu never had any problem convincing people to go along with something. With the way Kaworu spoke, how could they not? He had a way to make everyone feel secure and at ease at the biggest prospects. He could ask someone to eat 5 pounds of raw cookie dough and that person would probably think “Hey that’s not such a bad idea.”
Shinji sighed and sat up and looked at Kaworu warily. Let’s get this over with.
“Ok what is it?”
Kaworu perked up at that. He got up and shuffled through his discarded messenger bag on the floor and crawled over back to Shinji, shoving a large folded piece of paper in his face.
Shinji blinked and took the paper out of his hands. He began to unfold the paper to reveal a map. There were pen marks everywhere and indecipherable symbols in what Shinji could only imagine Kaworu created.
“What is this?”
“It’s a map.”
“Yes I see that. But why.”
Kaworu positioned himself to sit crossed legged and clasped his hands together. Oh boy.
“Well Shinji, I was watching that show about that man who travels to different places and eats a lot of food. Ahh what's his name... Dude Fire? ”
“You mean Guy Fieri?”
“Yes Shinji! Him! Well anyways I thought how much fulfillment he must get from exploring the world and trying new food – I mean he has a look of joy on his face every episode and I thought it would be nice to do that too.” There was a pause.
“So Shinji I was wondering if you would like to travel across the state with me.”
Shinji looked at Kaworu and wondered how this could possibly be a better idea than last year. Traveling across the state? How could he think I would want to go? Shinji was possibly the most introverted, awkward, pessimistic person he knew. Why would Kaworu want to spend that much time with Shinji anyways?
Shinji was ready to reject Kaworu with a flat out no but stopped himself short. Kaworu looked so hopeful, his red eyes shined with excited anticipation and his shoulders were stiff, waiting for Shinji's response. Shinji felt ashamed of himself. How could he say no to Kaworu, he was his friend and probably the nicest person in the world. He continued to look at Kaworu's smiling face and knew he couldn't bare to watch it fall because of him. Even if he were to say no, he knew Kaworu would be nothing but understanding. He puts up with your shit way more than any other person should. Shinji thought, leading him to think of a question.
“Why would you want to go with me?”
“Um – well…” Kaworu’s mouth twisted into shy little grin and a slight blush fell on his pale cheeks.
“Because Shinji is my best friend and I wouldn't wan't to spend a trip like this with anyone other than you.”
Shinji wanted to scream. How does he say that with such a sincere tone? Shinji's face heated up and he cast his eyes downwards to avoid eye contact at all costs. Kaworu was quiet for a moment before he began.
“We’d be borrowing my brother’s old car.” Kaworu started. “He doesn’t mind if we use it, I already asked.”
When Shinji didn’t respond Kaworu continued.
“You don’t need to worry about the expenses, I’ve been saving up money for something like this for a while.”
Kaworu stopped talking, allowing the dark haired boy to think it over. Shinji pondered all of this in his head with worries and questions racketing back and forth in his head. He ceased his train of thought and drew in a deep breath. He knew he had his answer. How does he do this to me? Shinji twisted his body in order to fully face Kaworu.
“Ok.”
Kaworu’s face slowly formed into an expression of glee and he looked as though he would fling himself on top of Shinji but restrained himself to only grasping Shinji’s hands in between his own.
“Thank you Shinji! You don’t know how happy this makes me!”
“Mmhm y-yea.” Shinji muttered nervously. What have I gotten myself into?
They made plans to leave on a Monday and to return within two weeks. The past couple of weeks consisted of planning out stops and sight-seeing on the map, shopping for food and other basic necessities, and coordinating on who would be driving. Shinji had gotten his license mostly out of necessity when he was a teenager and had to drive twenty minutes to school, but after moving to the city for college he found it was almost impossible to drive or park anywhere and just decided to sell his car. Kaworu was the more exprienced driver, having to drive almost everyday through the city, and suggested he drive for most of the time. Shinji automatically felt guilty and insisted he drive at least half of the time and promised he still remembered the basic laws of driving. The week passed by quickly and the Sunday before they were supposed to leave, Shinji spent the night at Kaworu’s house.
Shinji and Kaworu laid in silence on Kaworu’s bed. The light smell of the pizza they ordered still lingered and sound of the fan standing by the bed filled the room. Shinji stared up at the ceiling, playing out the possibilities of what the next two weeks were to bring in his head.
“Shinji are you awake still?”
“Yes.” A soft giggle came from Shinji's left.
“You should be asleep. We’re leaving early in the morning, remember?”
“You’re the one who's driving first, why aren’t you asleep?”
“I’m thinking.”
“About what?”
“Our trip.”
“Mm.”
A comfortable silence enveloped them and Shinji felt his eyes begin to droop.
“Hey Shinji?”
“Hmm.” Shinji hummed with eyes now fully closed.
“It really means a lot to me that you’re coming on this trip with me.”
“Mmm.”
“Are you going to sleep now Shinji-kun?”
Shinji made some sort of sound of confirmation before he felt sleep completely take over.
Kaworu looked on and smiled.
“Sweet dreams, Shinji.”