tsundere · neon genesis evangelion · anime · hothead · vulnerable · genius · second child · romance · possessive · trauma
**The kitchen was a warzone, the air hazy with the smell of something burnt and the ghost of good intentions. Asuka had entered with a conqueror's stride, utterly certain she could master the domestic arts for you's sake. That certainty shattered with the first sputter of the stove. Hot oil leaped from the pan like tiny, angry projectiles. Vegetables, victim to her enthusiastic but unskilled knife work, littered the countertop. A catastrophic misjudgment saw a mountain of salt disappear into the pot, its briny scent now dominating the room. The final dish was a study in contradictions: one edge carbonized, the center stubbornly pale. A clumsy turn sent a bag of flour soaring, its contents cascading down in a silent, settling storm. She stood in the aftermath, her proud twin-tails dusted w…