Some Do Not Like It Hot
Chapter 9: School is (Not) Out.
"Please, slow down a little!"
The blue Renault careened round the corner at an alarming rate, the tires screeching as it narrowly avoided colliding with a fire hydrant. Prologue/Twilight by ELO was blasting out of the stereo loud enough to be heard outside the car, and the exhaust was broken again, making the conveyance sound like a swarm of angry hornets with chainsaws.
This was the MisatoMobile, survivor of a thousand minor collisions, avoider of speeding tickets, destroyer of bollards and bane of the road. And at the wheel was a 29-year-old woman with bright purple hair and in a state of mild intoxication.
"Oh calm down Shinji-chan!" Misato laughed as she drove over a speed bump, the car jolting under the impact as the ancient suspension was pushed to its limit. "Since when has my driving ever let you down?"
"Well," began Shinji. "There was that ti-"
She was interrupted by a curt gesture from Asuka.
"Just...don't bother..." whispered the redhead through gritted teeth. "You'll only make it a million times worse."
The sunlight streamed through the windows, partially blocked out by the tinted plastic Misato had haphazardly affixed to the rear windows. Even so, Shinji felt the need to shield her eyes- she still had a bit of a headache from her rude awakening.
"Nice weather, isn't it?" said Misato cheerfully. "I love the sunshine!"
Shinji nodded weakly. "Umm, yeah, it is..." she said half-heartedly. True, it was a glorious, sunny morning, but that meant practically nothing in this day and age. Second Impact had effectively erased the seasons from Japan, leaving the country in a perpetual summer. It was either bright sunlight or muggy, torrential rain. She couldn't help but feel a little bit sick of it.
Major Katsuragi shrugged. "Huh, you don't sound too great... Never mind, I'm sure you'll be feeling better soon!"
Asuka stared out the window, his head resting on his hand. "You know, I'm not sure you should be driving..." he mumbled, a sweat forming on his brow. "You had rather a lot to drink at breakfast..."
"Oh, nonsense!" chuckled the woman as she casually powerslid round a roundabout. "If anything it helps me concentrate, find my inner Ki, so to speak!"
"Misato, this isn't Dragonball Z-"
"KAMEHAMEHA!" shouted the inebriated woman as she zoomed past a speed camera at 3 times the limit. Fortunately, being a high-ranking NERV employee had its advantages, notably an immunity to speeding tickets. Her car technically counted as an emergency vehicle due to her line of work, basically excusing her of most traffic violations.
Also, most of the speed cameras in the city were constantly broken due to Angel attacks and more important focusses of budget than repairing the damned things, but that was much less gratifying to think about than being invulnerable to speed limits.
"M-M-Misato..." Shinji whimpered, cowering in her seat. "How long until we get to school?"
"Oh, only about 5 minutes or so!" she replied. "I reckon we should get there early if we really step on it!"
"Put your foot in it" might be a more appropriate turn of phrase... Asuka thought to himself.
10 minutes and several harrowing hairpin turns later, the car finally arrived at the school. Fortunately, by this point Misato had calmed down a bit, and as such brought the car to a gentle stop outside the front gate.
"OK, you two have a good day!" Misato said, smiling. "I'll be getting some good stuff for dinner when you get back!"
"Heh, th-thanks, Misato..." Shinji laughed weakly as she slid out of the car and onto her crutches. She had recovered her balance a lot since yesterday, but she was still a little uneasy. Misato's "driving" hadn't helped either.
"So then," said Asuka as he hopped out of the car. "Are we going home at the usual time?"
Misato nodded. "Yeah, unless anything goes wrong; otherwise I've been given permission to pick you up early."
The ginger boy nodded, before turning to Shinji. "OK, now we have that sorted out, let's...What are you gawping at?"
Shinji was staring at a large mob of girls clad in black sailor uniforms milling outside the school, with red ribbons and ankle-length skirts. Most had their hair down, but a few had their hair done into outlandish styles, dyed in garishly bright colours. One of them seemed to be wearing a bright red sash, and had a black eyepatch with a red eye embroidered onto it.
Asuka gazed at the group for a few seconds. They seemed familiar somehow...
"Huh." Asuka muttered. "What a bunch of weirdos. Come on, Shinji, let's go."
"Oh! Umm, OK..." the girl replied quietly, snapping out of her brief trance. "Goodbye, Misato."
Misato waved cheerfully. "Bye-bye, you two!" she laughed, before driving off in a cloud of dust, barely avoiding a cat that had foolishly decided to sit in the middle of the carpark.
Asuka clapped a hand on Shinji's shoulder, nearly knocking her off balance.
"Right, now Misato's gone, I want to lay down a few rules whilst we're like this." he said, his usual fiery tone returning. "First of all: don't try hanging out with any of my friends! Just because you're a girl now doesn't mean you get to hang around with any girl you like the look of!" He folded his arms, shaking his head. "I know you've been eyeing up Hikari- heck, I wouldn't be surprised if you used her as a side dish!"
"B-But Asuka..." Shinji whimpered. "I...I don't feel that way about g-g-girls any-m-more...After I became, umm, a g-girl, I-"
"Which brings me on to the second rule!" declared the half-German. "Don't go around flirting with boys! If you start flashing your panties and being a slut around every single boy in the school, I'll not be happy! You're a girl now, you need to behave properly!"
Shinji nodded. "Of c-course, Asuka-kun..."
"Right, I'm glad you understand." he sighed. "And third, finally, and most importantly; I am absolutely NOT your boyfriend! If you in any way suggest that I am, I'm gonna deck ya faster than you can say Ashita no Joe!"
The mousey-haired girl gulped, trembling like a frightened hamster.
"Y-Yes, Asuka, don't w-w-worry about it..." she whimpered. "I won't embarrass you!"
The ginger boy grinned, and patted Shinji condescendingly on the head.
"Good! In which case, I think we can be going!"
"I wonder where Shinji's got to..."
Touji slumped forward in his chair, drumming his fingers on the desk and muttering to himself. Though the day had only just started, he was already bored stiff; he was stuck inside waiting for the teacher on a gloriously sunny day, his Game Boy's battery was flat, and one of his best friends was oddly late.
"Eh, I dunno." replied Kensuke, who was leaning against the window. "Maybe he's blocked by roadworks or somethin'. You know how often they're resurfacing the roads, what with the Angel attacks."
The older boy slowly shook his head. "Nah, I don't think that's it. I dunno, I've got a funny feeling about Shinji, like something's happened to 'im."
The bespectacled youth simply nodded. Touji could be a little thick at times, but Kensuke knew better than to simply disregard what he said, especially after an event the two only referred to as the "Swan Incident".
"Say, d'ya think we should ask Hikari?" Touji suggested, sitting up a little. "She might know where he's gotten to."
Kensuke shrugged. "Sure, why not?"
His eyes darting across the room, Touji managed to find Hikari, sitting with her usual friends.
"Hey, class rep!" he called out, raising his hand. "Could ya come over here for a sec?"
The class representative nodded to him, before excusing herself from her group and scooting over to Touji's desk.
"What's the problem?" she asked, smiling as usual. "Something bothering you?"
The boy scratched his head, his expression troubled. "Well, truth be told, I was wonderin' if ya knew where Shinji's gotten to. He's normally in by now..."
Hikari shook her head. "Nope, can't say I have. I've been wondering the same though; Asuka's much later than normal too. I hope they're alright..."
"Hey, you're right..." Kensuke muttered to himself. "I ain't seen hide or hair of the Red Devil today. Can't say I'm exactly sad, but it's pretty odd."
The class representative rolled her eyes. "Oh, give her a break!" she chided. "She's not so bad when you get to know her, she's just, well, highly strung..."
"Not so bad once you get to know her, my ass." Touji snorted. "Speaking of Asuka and my ass, if she carries on kickin' me every time I call her out on her crap, I'm gunna need a hip replacement..."
"Oh come on, dude," Kensuke interjected. "You did call her a sauerkraut-munching ginger cow..."
The burly youth shrugged, folding his arms. "Ehh, she filled my sax with liquid soap in music class. She deserved it."
"Hey, you two!" cut in Hikari. "The teacher's here! Look busy!"
Sure enough, the door of the classroom creaked open, and the ancient teacher shuffled in. In seconds, the students scurried to their desks, sitting down before the teacher could hand out any detentions. Touji sat stock still in his chair, trying to look inconspicuous.
The teacher crept forwards, slouched over somewhat and looking as decrepit as ever. However, to Touji's surprise, he seemed to have two new students with him- one was a tall, athletic boy with reddish orange hair and bright blue eyes, and a stern, irritated look on his face. The other was a small, slight looking girl with mousey brownish-black hair, cobalt blue eyes and a very timid look to her. They both looked oddly familiar...
The teacher reached his desk, cleared his throat noisily, and began to address the classroom.
"Mnk...Good morning, class...ng..." he began, his voice giving the impression of a very old and slightly depressed goat. "First, mnm, I should explain these two pupils here. They may look different, but they are actually...grn...Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu."
The whole class erupted in quiet chatter after a few seconds of dumbfounded silence.
"That's Shinji?!" Kensuke whispered. "Why is he so buff looking, and why is his hair the same colour as the Red Devil's?"
"You know..." Touji replied. "Call me crazy, but I don't think that's Shinji-"
"S-Some quiet, please!" the teacher exclaimed weakly, although the class did, for once, quieten down. "As I, mnk, was saying, These two are actually Shinji and Asuka...glrk...By means currently unknown, they've been...what's the right word for this...flipped."
"What, as in they're the opposite gender, like in Ramna ½?" butted in a student.
The teacher nodded. "Mnnnmn, yes, yes..." He scratched his head, trying to comprehend what the young whipper-snapper was talking about. He hadn't watched any of this newfangled anime stuff since Tetsujin 28 when he was a lad. "In any case, Try and be nice to these two...mnk... It's going to be difficult for them, and while they may have, nng, different bodies, they're the same- *cough*- students we've had for the past few months...gnnrrr."
Another student put her hand up, a short girl with dark reddish-brown hair. "Sir, may I ask how they ended up like... this? People don't just-"
"I'm sorry, Miss Kirishima," the teacher interrupted. "But I'm afraid- *cough*- I don't know. Nobody has told me anything about how this happened, so you'll have to, mnnnng, ask these two."
The girl's hand sank back down, her expression one of disappointment.
The teacher turned to face Shinji and Asuka, coughing as he did so. "OK you two, go, umm, sit where you normally do, and tell me if there are any problems." he said, gesturing to their seats. The two youths simply nodded, Asuka striding over to sit with Hikari, and Shinji hobbling to his seat next to Touji. The pair sat down, the teacher clearing his throat again.
"The second thing you should all know is that- *wheeze*- there have been reports of a large group of dangerous delinquents outside the school." the ancient teacher continued, his voice becoming stern and grave. "They're calling themselves... oh, what was it... ah, that's it, the Tokyo-3 Women's Advanced Neo-Delinquent Alliance- they're identifiable by the black and red sailor uniforms with the lengthened skirts. They've been committing acts of crime and violence all over the city, and as such, gnnrr, I highly recommend that you stay away from them at all costs... tsk tsk, bloody kids, never respecting their elders..."
He sighed, wiping the sweat from his wrinkly brow.
"Anyway, I think it's about time to begin lessons. Hitomi! Start handing out tests!"
"Darn, Shinji, what happened to ya?" Touji gasped as he stared at his formerly male classmate.
Touji had seen a lot of strange stuff. He'd seen a titanic purple robot with a Bowie knife battle what looked like a colossal pink dildo with lightsabre tentacles. He'd seen a penguin that lived in a refrigerator and read newspapers. He'd even seen a robot with a television for a head burst out of a boy's forehead and wear a bomber jacket, although that didn't really count as it was just some weird TV show he'd watched on Kensuke's VCR. But this... this was something else.
Shinji shook her head, averting her gaze. "I don't think I'm allowed to tell anyone..." she whispered, still trembling a little. "But, you're my best friends, so, umm, I'll tell you this much; we were fighting an Angel, and me and Asuka got...well, you know..."
"Jeez, that's bad." Kensuke butted in. "I can't believe they're allowed to make you pilot those things! I mean, I saw you suffer before when you fought Dongzilla, but this is nuts!"
"Well, umm, apparently we're the only people that can pilot the Evas, so I suppose they don't have any choice." the girl replied sheepishly. "And I think Ritsuko said that Angel you saw me fight was called Shamshel or something... definitely not Dongzilla..."
"Eh, whatever it's called..." the sandy-haired boy sighed. "Are you OK though, Shinji?"
She weakly nodded, staring at the floor. "I, I think I'm alright..." she mumbled. "It is still OK for me to, umm, hang out with you, isn't it? I mean-"
"Hey, don't you worry about it!" interrupted Touji, clapping a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "You're our best friend, Shinji. We'll always be there for ya. Ain't that right, Aida?"
"That's right! We ain't gonna leave ya to suffer with ol' Redtop just because you have to wear, erm, a bra now!" Kensuke chuckled.
Shinji smiled a little, blinking bashfully. "Th-Thanks...I really appreciate it. But, there is one thing I need to ask you..."
"Oh?"
"Please, d-don't act like I'm your g-g-girlfriend." she said, her voice trembling. "I'm still, er, confused, and I don't...I don't feel comfortable with getting c-c-close with anyone just yet."
The brawny lad shrugged, a friendly grin on his face.
"That's no problem at all, Shinji." he said, unusually gently for him. "If anybody's botherin' ya, just tell us. Besides, we ain't entirely sure about goin' out with a girl that used to be, well, a guy- no offence or anythin', but, you know..."
"Although, you do have to admit, Shinji," Kensuke interjected. "You do look kinda cute!"
The three of them laughed heartily, the anxiety in Shinji's heart melting away a little.
"I tell ya, though," Touji sighed, shaking his head. "If I were you, I'd stay away from carrot top for a while. If he's anythin' like he was when he was a girl-"
"Since when was Asuka ever a girl?" sniggered Kensuke.
Touji rolled his eyes and continued on. "As I was sayin', if he's anythin' like he was when he was... less of a guy... he could hurt ya. Ya both know how darn angry she got when ya as much as looked at 'er funny. He could really hurt ya, bad. Stay away from 'im."
He stretched, cracking his joints worryingly loudly.
"Oh, and one more thing," Touji said, his one stern. "If he ever tries to... you know... touch ya, then jus' tell me. I'll deal with 'im."
Shinji's face took on a look of pure horror for a second, but she managed to regain her composure. "O-OK. I'll do that." she said, quietly.
"Speakin' of Das Fuhrer," cut in the sandy-haired military buff. "I wonder how he's doin'?"
"Oh, this is so embarrassing!" Asuka groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I can't believe I'm actually...actually a boy! This is ridiculous!"
Asuka had been trying to maintain his usual irritable front all day, but now, in front of his friends, and with no reason to hide his perceived weakness, he let loose his feelings of utter despair and humiliation.
Hikari sighed, shaking her head. "It's alright, Asuka! You're in safe company; we're not going to make fun of you." she said, flipping open her weighty textbook to the page entitled On the Reaction Between Organic Tissue and Synthetic Fluids ready for the lesson. "I'm just glad you're alright."
"Does this look alright to you!?" Asuka wailed. "I'm not sure you're appreciating the gravity of the situation! I'm a...a boy! Like stupid Shinji and his stooges! In what universe is this possibly alright?"
"Well, look at it this way!" chirped Shoko Nataki, a girl with short straight slate-grey hair and tanned skin. "You're mostly healthy, you can walk, you can talk, and you look normal. I'd say it could be a lot worse!"
"Yeah, you aren't looking too bad!" said Ji-Yun Park, the Korean exchange student. "In fact, if you don't mind me saying, I think you look kinda hunky..."
"Actually, I do mind..." the redhead groaned.
Shoko shrugged. "So, hang on, if you're a boy now, does that mean that you like-"
Asuka's face turned a deep shade of red. "D-Don't ask about stuff like that!" he shouted. "I-I-I mean, yeah, a little I suppose, but it's in its early days! In any case, I'm not forming any attachments I might regret after I turn back to normal!"
Hikari giggled, her laughter girlish and cheerful.
"Oh Asuka, you're funny sometimes!" she chuckled. "It doesn't matter who you like, as long as you like them and they like you! You need to learn to relax a little...Say, have you ever considered yoga?"
Asuka shot the class representative a puzzled look. "I already eat yoghurt, what difference would that make?"
The 3 girls rolled their eyes in mock despair.
"Not yoghurt, Asuka, yoga..." sighed Ji-Yun. "You know, exercises to help relieve tension and stuff... Surely you must have that in Germany?"
"Oh, that." he sighed. "I've heard of it, never done it though. Isn't it mostly squatting and silly poses?"
A giggle escaped from Ji-Yun.
"... Yeah, mostly..."
The three girls laughed, and even Asuka couldn't resist chortling a little.
"Well, I'll try anything once..." Asuka chuckled. "Never let it be said that the great Asuka Langley Soryhu shied away from new experiences, even when she is a boy!"
Hikari grinned, clapping a hand on Asuka's shoulder. "That's more like the Asuka I know!" she chuckled. "But, I think we should get on with the tests before teacher wakes up again..."
Asuka cautiously glanced over his shoulder, and to his relief saw that the decrepit teacher was asleep at his desk, snoring loudly.
"Yeah, you might have a point there..." he sighed. "I don't know about you, but I'm really not in the mood for an ear-chewing from ol' crusty features!"
The lesson was long and dull, although the teacher was mercifully asleep through most of it. Unfortunately, the occasions where he did wake up were agonizingly boring, as once again the subject was diverted onto the same old Second Impact cover story, and the differences between post- and pre-impact cabbages.
Everybody had gotten bored of it after the 56th retelling, but there was quite the rumour mill about the teacher himself. Did he always tell that story because he was just going senile, or was he being forced to recite it by some government agency? Perhaps he witnessed the disaster itself, and some kind of PTSD left him obsessed with it, like with Vietnam veterans.
Or maybe, as Asuka suggested, he was just a senile old fart who had lost his purpose in life.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of pontificating, wittering, and general droning about how modern television rotted children's brains and how they should bring back national service, the bell rang. Its shrill peals could not be more welcome- the teacher was about to have repeated the story of the post-Impact cardboard box industry for the 30th time that lesson, and any more of his blathering might have left the students resorting to chewing their own legs off to stay awake.
"Mnk, OK, class... It's... Erm... Time for you to go, gnnn..." the teacher mumbled. "And remember, please don't... erm... I've forgotten now..."
With that, the class breathed a sigh of relief, and promptly left their seats and filed out of the classroom. Shinji struggled to follow them, hobbling along on her crutches and trailing towards the back of the line. Touji and Kensuke, to her relief, slowed down for her and made sure she didn't fall over.
"Welp, I don't know about you guys," yawned Touji, stretching from being sat down for so long. "But I needs me a drink. Wanna head over to the vending machine?"
Kensuke nodded. "Yeah, I think that would do some good- I could do with some refreshment..."
The surly boy was about to lead his friends onward when he felt a tap on the shoulder. Jumping a little, he turned on his heel and found himself facing Hikari. She had a strangely concerned look on her face; normally she was either smiling happily or scowling with irritation at the stooge's antics, but now...
"Hey, Touji..." she said, quietly but purposefully. "Could you and Kensuke come with me? I need to talk to you guys..."
Touji sighed and rolled his eyes. "Oh, god, what have we done this time?" he groaned.
"No, you big lug, you haven't done anything, I just need to have a word with you- look, just follow me, OK?" she replied exasperatedly.
Normally the dark-skinned jock would protest, but for some reason he held his tongue. His intuition was telling him to go along with it, and it had rarely failed him before.
Well, except for the "Swan Incident". That was best forgotten altogether really.
"Well, OK. But you owe me, Kensuke an' Shinji a drink."
"So, uh, what was so important that you had to drag me and Touji all the way to the gym, Hikari?"
Touji, Kensuke and Hikari were sitting on a rather musty wooden vault-horse in the corner of the school gym. The lights were off (as nobody was meant to be in there) but light streamed through the windows and provided some illumination. The lock on the door was broken, and there were rumours around the school of the seldom-used hall being used for...less than savoury activities.
The three students, however, were not there for a tryst. They were there to talk in secret.
"Right, that's what I was going to get to." the freckled girl replied, sighing as she casually brushed dust off from the vault-horse she sat on. "It's...It's about Shinji and Asuka."
There was a brief silence. The 2 boys gave each other a few incredulous looks.
"Uh, OK..." Touji said, puzzled. "Whaddabout'em?"
"Well, it occurred to me..." she responded, nervously toying with her hair beads. "Shinji is... well, a girl now... and Asuka... she's a boy..."
The stooges nodded. "Uh-huh." they said in unison.
"Well, I was thinking, maybe... maybe it would be better for them if Asuka hung out with you for a bit and Shinji stayed with me?"
If the 2 boys had been drinking tea, they would have spat it out.
"A-A-Are you joking!?" protested Kensuke, gesticulating madly. "I mean- just- Red Menace- for hell's- What are you thinking?"
"Yeah, she hates our guts, girl!" piped in the larger boy. "She'd go berserk jus' thinkin' abouddit!"
The class rep simply shook her head. "Look, I know you don't exactly see eye-to-eye... and between you and me, she can be a bit of a harridan... but I'm just thinking, with Asuka being a boy and all, it'd be better and healthier for her if she had some... I dunno, not boyfriends, but just some male friends she could hang out with?"
Touji sighed. "I s'pose, but I dunno... You think it'll work? You know what she's like..."
She nodded. "I think it will. It might take a while to start working properly, but I think it should be fine once she- he even- gets used to it. Strictly off the record again, if you ask me, she's not too different from a boy herself..."
The stooges nodded, flicking each other glances.
"I get what you mean..." said Kensuke. "But where does Shinji come into this?"
"Much the same as Asuka, really." the class rep said. "I think it would be better for her if she had some friends of her... new gender to get along with. I know you're kinda getting the short end of the stick here, but I think it's for the best."
"I see whatcha mean..." interjected Touji "But we've been his friends for a while now... What makes ya think we can't help 'im?"
Hikari couldn't help but let out a little giggle.
"Well... you're boys." she sighed. "I know you've been great friends to Shinji, but you can't help him get used to being a girl." Normally something like this would annoy him, but there was a kind of quiet pleading in her voice which Touji couldn't help but be touched by. He had a bit of a weakness for the freckled girl, and when she was so gentle and sweet...
The surly boy tentatively touched his chin, temporarily lost in thought. Eventually, however, his paranoid face softened, replaced with an expression of understanding, if not contentedness.
"Eh, I s'pose you're right..." he admitted reluctantly. "I really know nuttin' about bein' a girl. It's probably for the best."
Kensuke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you'd probably be better with him- sorry, her- than us at the moment."
The pigtailed girl smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thanks, you guys. I'm... I'm really sorry to be a bother, but you know, I worry about those two..."
Touji flashed her a friendly grin. "Heh, s'awright, don't worry about it." he said, reassuringly. "Jus' be careful with Shinji, I really don't think she's in the best shape at the moment-"
"You know, speaking of Shinji," Kensuke interrupted, "Don't you think we should check up on her?"
The dark-skinned boy took a glance at the gym clock. "Yeah, I was thinkin' that. I reckon we should tell 'er before too long."
Shinji was slumped on the bench in the school's front yard. The heat had picked up, and the inside had become too stuffy to bear, even with the puny air conditioner rattling and wheezing away. It was still hot outside, but the relative coolness of the shade offered by the school building certainly helped.
Also, for once, she was glad she was wearing a skirt. It certainly kept her legs cool.
"So, Shinji, what are you thinking of being a girl so far, huh?" grumbled Asuka, heavily sitting down next to her. He seemed to have cooled off from earlier, having descended from the earlier ranting to a more relaxed, but still grumpy, mood.
The scrawny girl sat up a little, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Well, it's, umm, confusing..." she mumbled. "I-I think I'm getting used to it, but..."
Asuka lifted an eyebrow. "...But what?"
"...It's a little, er, uncomfortable. I... I feel like everybody's looking at me, and... and my b-b-back is aching a bit..."
The boy rolled his eyes, letting out an exasperated groan. "Of course your back is aching, that's what happens when you have breasts! Say, did you properly adjust your bra?"
Shinji shot the boy a quizzical look.
"Y-You have to adjust bras?" she asked, genuinely bewildered.
Asuka couldn't help but facepalm at this. He felt a little sorry for her, being so completely clueless at looking after herself, but this... this was a whole new level of dumb.
"Of course you have to adjust it, you numbskull!" he snapped, pointing to Shinji's chest. "When I was a girl, I had bigger breasts than you, so if you haven't properly adjusted your bra then you won't be getting proper support! Honestly, you're going to kill yourself at this... who's that?"
Shinji turned round, and noticed a figure emerging from a black car. It was wearing a school uniform and appeared to have pale skin, red eyes and a blue bob cut atop its head.
Could it be...?
"Is that..." Shinji gasped "Is that Rei?"
Slowly, the figure came nearer and nearer, until eventually it came into clear view. Yes, it was Rei! But something... something looked off about her.
Regardless, Shinji was overjoyed to see her. She hastily picked up her crutches and hobbled towards her, her previously mournful expression completely gone.
"Rei! Oh thank goodness, Rei, you're alright!" she cried, utterly overjoyed. "I was so worried, I... Rei?"
Standing before Shinji was indeed Rei. But something wasn't quite right. Her face was a little less dainty, and she looked overall less delicate and slender than before. Her hair was a bit shorter, and her jaw more defined. Her arms seemed a bit thicker too, showing some increase in muscle mass.
This could only mean one thing.
"... You too?" Shinji spluttered in shock.
"Yes, me too." said Rei, his voice as monotone as ever, but a lot less feminine. "Dr. Akagi told me it happened to you too. Are you alright?"
The mousey-haired girl briefly glanced away, before resuming eye contact with Rei. "Well, I'm having a little difficulty walking, and I'm a bit confused, but I think... I think I'm OK-"
"What?!" Asuka butted in, storming forward to confront the blue-haired, somewhat androgynous boy. "Why the hell are you wearing a girl's uniform if you're a boy? That's weird, even for you, Wonder...boy!"
"Firstly, my name is not Wonderboy, it is Rei Ayanami." He said matter-of-factly, and was utterly unfazed by the redhead's remarks. "Secondly, I am wearing a girl's uniform because I do not have a boy's uniform. Also I am perfectly comfortable in this garment, although due to practicality I had to go without underwear, as otherwise I couldn't fit in my-"
"Whoa, too much information!" shouted the redhead. "I'm wishing I hadn't asked now, I mean... Oh, that's disgusting, even for you, Rei!" He pretended to gag and wretch a little, although Rei did not react in the slightest.
"D-Don't worry about it..." Shinji said, sheepishly. "I'm... I'm just glad you're OK..."
Suddenly the bell rang, sadly signifying that the break period was over and the lectures were ready to begin again.
"Well, regardless of what you're wearing, it's time to go back in now." sighed Asuka as he turned to head back towards the building. "Just... don't do anything creepy, Wonderboy!"
**TO BE CONTINUED**
A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to get done. Various real-life issues have prevented me from being able to get this updated, including my former betareader being unable to continue, school pressures and other similar crap. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the swing of things and get the next chapter done on time.
Many thanks to Agentomega of EGF, without whom this fic would be dead in the water.
