NNN
Needs No Name
Chapter 7
"IT'S OVER TWO THOUSAAAAAND!!!"
'Say…'
'Hmm?'
'When's that guy going to stop drooling at her?'
The guy in question was none other than Kensuke who had covertly and cleverly (to him) had his camera pointed at Nyuka and was indeed drooling at her. That is until he heard the bleeping noise of a new message.
Shinji: ["Dude, no offense but at least keep your mouth closed!"]
'Oh crap!' – Kensuke thought, as he hastily wiped his drool and took away the camera – 'Great, now he's pissed off.'
Shinji: ["Whoa that was fast! I didn't even see your hands move! Lol!"]
'Should we tell him that he can just ask her to pose for him?'
'Nah, no need to spoil the kid.'
"Plus we need to keep low profile…"
'Low profile? Dude! Those old farts have your dental records!'
'Ah no I see his point. They can't be certain yet, can they?'
'... Re-he-he-he-eally? Well!'
"We all know that's soon about to change."
It was at that exact time that Kensuke hazarded a look behind him. The evil smirk on Shinji's face nearly made him pee his pants.
Oblivious to Kensuke's dilemma, Shinji looked at Rei. Today was the first day that she showed up to class. She looked better, if only marginally. She had her right arm in a cast and the bandages on her head covered her left eye.
'psst..'
It w…
'Pssst!'
… It…
'PSST!!'
What?!
'Wasn't it the other way around?'
Huh?
'He means the arm-in-cast and the bandaged eye. You might have got them in reverse.'
Huh?!
'You know, that it probably was her left arm and her right eye.'
'What he said'
Oh come on! You're not gonna pull a continuity error on me, are you?! No, don't answer that.
'Well…'
DON'T. I don't care! If I say it was like this THEN IT WAS LIKE THIS. This is MY fanfic! And YOU are just IMAGINARY VOICES IN A FICTIONAL CHARACTER'S HEAD, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!
'Touche'
'What he said'
Besides I already said it was her right arm in Chapter 3 and…
'… and didn't mention anything about the eye, huh.'
'Oh yeah! ... Ahahah! Sorry dude! My bad.
… Whatever. Now where was I? Ah yes…
It was interesting to note that she was not the tiniest bit concerned with the lecture. The rest of the class at least made feeble efforts to show that they were at least listening to the old teacher drone on and on about the second impact, but she just sat there and stared out the window with a blank expression. Getting a fun idea, Shinji powered up his school laptop and typed away.
Rei slowly turned her good eye to her monitor as the "new message icon flashed". She was not as surprised, because she rarely was, as curious when she saw who it was from.
Shinji: ["Yo, Rei! The old fart boring the hell out of you too?"]
Rei: ["If by the 'old fart' you mean the teacher, then I cannot say as I am not listening to him."]
Shinji:["Ouch! Cold."]
Rei: ["I do not understand. What does you feeling cold have to do with the teacher?"]
Shinji: ["Sense of humour? ;) I'm in love with you already!"]
Rei: ["…"]
Shinji: ["ahaha don't worry, I'll be gentle."]
Rei :["If I understand correctly, you have just made what is called a "sexual joke", correct?"]
Shinji: ["Exacto Mundo!"]
Rei: ["…"]
Shinji: ["Means 'yes'."]
Rei: ["It was… embarrassing. Please don't make any more"]
Shinji: ["Oh noes! I'm sorry! Please don't hate me."]
Rei: ["I do not think I hate you, Ikari."]
Shinji: ["Rei, honey… two things…"]
Even though she didn't realise it, she blushed a little.
Shinjj:["Firstly, call me Shinji. After all we're not strangers, we're partners. And partners need to be close to each other in order to work well together."]
Rei:["Your logic is understandable. Very well… Shinji"]
A strange feeling of familiarity, of warmth, maybe even happiness has passed through the girl. She was only vaguely aware of it.
After a minute, Shinji almost fell off his chair laughing silently as he got a message from Rei.
Rei: ["What was the second thing, Shinji?"]
'Hook, line and sinker!'
Rei: ["Did I say something… strange?"]
Shinji: ["No, no, no… It's nothing, don't worry, ok?"]
Rei: ["… alright."]
'I think she's still suspicious'
'Duh. Ya think?'
Shinji: ["Anyway the second thing is…"]
Shinji: ["Would you, Ayanami Rei, join me, Ikari Shinji, on the rooftop for lunch?"]
A few seconds passed. Shinji drummed his fingers on the desk.
A minute passed. Shinji glanced in Rei's direction. Hands poised above the keyboard, she seemed to be in deep thought.
Two minutes. Rei could be mistaken for a statue, if not for the occasional blink of an eye.
After five long minutes Rei replied.
Rei: ["Yes."]
Shinji: ["Booyah! It's a date!"]
Rei: ["A school rooftop does not seem to be a suitable place for a romantic dinner."]
Shinji: ["Don't worry we'll manage."]
Grinning from ear to ear, Shinji opened a line to both Kensuke and Toji.
Shinji: ["Yo!"]
Kensuke: ["W-what?"]
Toji: ["'Sup"]
Shinji: ["Change of plans for today's lunch."]
Toji: ["How so?"]
Shinji: ["I'm on a date with Rei"]
Kensuke: ["The ice queen? You would choose her over us?"]
Shinji: ["Uh-yup! :D"]
Toji: ["… Cool"]
Kensuke: ["WHAT?"]
Toji: ["Well I don't think we'll mix well with Ayanami"]
Kensuke: ["…"]
Toji: ["Just leave it be man. Talk to ya later Shinji"]
Shinji: ["Okey-dokey!"]
Kensuke: ["Say Shinji… Earlier…"]
Shinji: ["Yah?"]
Kensuke: ["… Never mind… See ya later too"]
'Weird kid. Likeable, but weird.'
As the bell for lunch rang, Nyuka grabbed Shinji's bag and ran off. Shinji walked up to Rei's desk.
"Ready for our date?" – he asked, grinning.
"If you mean our lunch together on the roof of the school, yes I am ready." – Rei answered.
Shinj outstretched his arm, palm up, grinning wider. Rei stared at him, confused.
"Take it." – Shinji said, winking – "It won't bite."
Ever so hesitantly, Rei's raised her arm and placed her hand onto his palm. Grinning wider, Shinji took firm hold and led her out of the classroom. A few people stopped and stared after the pair.
As they walked, Rei was vaguely aware of a good, warm feeling coming from an unknown source. Curious she glanced around until her eyes fell on her hand grasped firmly, yet gently in Shinji's. Driven by a sudden urge she could not even start to comprehend, she intertwined her fingers with his. The feeling grew.
Rei was so caught up in her musings that she did not notice when they arrived at the roof-top. She snapped back to reality when she heard Shinji speak to her.
"Sweety, we're here and, heh, I know how much you are anjoying it but I need both my hands"
Rei looked at him confused. Shinji lowered his eyes. Following his gaze, Rei discovered that she was still tightly holding his hand, fingers intertwined. Blushing slightly she let go.
"Ok, now, why don't you take a seat and I'll get you something nice." – Shinji said, walking up to Nyuka, who obviously ate her fill and was lightly napping. She only twitched her ears slightly as he picked up the bag and walked back over to Rei.
As they sat down, Shinji took a bento out of his bag.
"And now!" – he said, turning to her, grinning – "In celebration of my fellow pilot, partner and, I hope, friend, I present to you… this!"
And with all the flourish he could muster, he opened the bento to reveal…
'Nachos!'
'… one ring to rule them all… ugh I mean… I mean… uh… what he said…'
'… you're weird'
"What is it?" – asked the ever confused Rei.
"Ah I'm glad you asked." – replied Shinji, handing the bento over. – "But! I'm not telling you until you take a bite"
Silently Rei lifted the food item in question out of the bento and inspected it closely. It was a flat piece of bread folded around a filling made of fried fish, lettuce, tomatoes, onion and what seemed to be sour cream. It smelled compellingly good. Tentatively, Rei took a bite.
"… Delicious." – She said, surprise evident on her face.
"Ha! I knew you'd like it! And to answer your question, this amazing culinary piece is the 'Tacos de pescado'. It is known as 'Fish Taco' to us common folk. I picked up the recipe from this guy in Mexico… funny story that one… but right now food is more important." – Shinji finished as he procured a second taco-containing bento.
And so they just sat there, eating and enjoying the silence.
That is until Nyuka suddenly woke up. Ears twitching she looked in Rei's direction with an annoyed look on her face. A few seconds later, Rei's phone rang.
'Dude.'
'What?'
'Rei is getting a phone call.'
'So? Probably the old bastard wanting dunno, to have dinner with her?'
'Rei is getting a phone call'
"An angel has been sighted" – Rei said as she placed her phone back into her pocket. – "I shall go on ahead."
And with that she was off.
"Wait up!" – Shinji said, chucking the empty bentos into his bag and running after her with Nyuka in tow.
'Finally! Some Action!'
"Evangelion Launch!" – Misato yelled. A moment later, the platform carrying Unit-01 rocketed up to the surface.
Up on the surface, Unit-01 turned towards Shamshel and released a small burst into the angel's direction, which was easily blocked by the latter's AT-Field. After a pause, the Evangelion seemed to nod to itself and heaved with all its might.
Back in the NERV headquarters everyone sweat-dropped as the gun bounced off the angel's head, slightly knocking it backwards. Fuyutsuki raised both eyebrows, while Gendo frowned.
"Shinji what the hell are you doing?!" – Misato yelled.
"I'll get back to you on that." – replied Shjinji as he deployed the prog knife.
A moment later, he was using all of his skill to dodge and avoid the Shamshel's deadly energy whips that seemed to cut through anything like a hot knife through butter.
'Hot damn! Those look hurty.'
'Yeah imagine if we kept the stupid gun. We'd be shredded'
"Damn this is not gonna work." – Shinji murmured. – "Misato!"
"What is it Shinji?" – Misato asked, concerned.
"Please go easy on me after this."
Before Misato could enquire further, Shinji cut off his feed.
"What happened?" – Misato demanded.
"The pilot has cut off all communication from the Entry Plug!" – Maya replied.
"What the hell?! The pilot has ejected the umbilical cable!" – Shigeru yelled a moment later.
"WHAT?!" – Misato screamed.
"… Misato I think you better watch this…." – said Ritsuko, her voice strangely calm under the circumstances.
Unit-01 was dancing. There was no other way to describe it. It spun, jumped, twisted and even rolled between the deadly whips.
"Well I'll be…" – Ritsuko mumbled as she watched the synch ratio steadily climb to and rest on 90%.
'Put yo hands up in the aya! Like ya don't caya!'
'BoomChakka-BoomChakka-BoomChakka…'
"HEEEYYY MAACCAARREENNAA!"
Roaring in victory Unit-01 plunged its knife at the core… only for it to be caught by the insect-like "legs" that surrounded it.
'Oi! Not fair! That kinda $%# is 10 angels too early damn it!'
Taking advantage of the moment Shamshel head-butted Unit-01, causing it to fall to the ground. But as it fell, the Evangelion, roaring in defiance, delivered a powerful kick at the angel's chest, driving the knife past the now shattered "legs" and deep into the core. And as it landed heavily on the ground, the timer hit zero, and it lay there powerless. Moments later Shamshel's lifeless form fell on top of it.
"Well that was close…" - was all that Shinji was able to say as he felt energy drained from his body and unconsciousness found its hold on him.
Up on the hill overlooking Tokyo-3two teenagers looked on dumbstruck.
"What… What the hell was that?" – muttered Kensuke, dumbtruck.
"I don't know, man. I just don't know." – was all that Toji could say, shaking his head.
"Had a good toilet break?" – came a stern female voice from behind them, laced with sarcasm and promise of severe punishment. The boys winced.