Chapter 10: Letting someone find out
"Here you are, Shinji. Your tea," Dominique said with another of her million dollar smiles which he genuinely thought as a beautiful trait of the girl's but the waitress' mind thought otherwise. Great Asuka! Just give him one of your phoniest smiles ever known to man! Idiot! Wait-why do you even fucking care? Is it because you're falling for the guy! OH PLEASE GOD ALMIGHTY DON'T LET THAT BE IT! Okay Asuka just chill! You're just a little stressed because exams coming up, having a fake identity, making sure the government doesn't find out that you're still alive and if you set the DVD player to record Supernatural or Mana set it up for fucking Big Brother! Hmm that reminds me, I have to return those DVDs to the rental shop... wait! What the fu-
"That was sure fast! Thanks Dominique, I'm definitely gonna give you a tip!" Shinji said in gratitude, interrupting the 17yr old's first stages of her soon-to-come insanity.
"Oh you don't have to do that!" Sweetly replying and really hoping, Shinji wouldn't because if he did, Asuka had may as well throw her dignity out of the window. She was about to further protest but three guys, who all appeared to be Shinji's age, approached Shinji and sat down with him. Knowing that was her cue, Dominique left.
"Shinji where the hell have you been? We were looking everywhere for you!"
"Nowhere in particular Kensuke. Just been walking around and I decided to have a break here!" Merely shrugging his shoulders and then took a sip of his green tea.
"Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry myself!" Touji admitted and whistled to Dominique. "Hey cutie can we get some service here!"
Dominique's jaw tightened, Well, it seems that Shinji still has that bad habit of being friends with dick heads! She felt like walking over to the table and slam the guy in the face with her tray to teach him a bit of respect. Now that would've felt good, but shakily controlling her anger, she ignored him and listened to the customers giving their orders with her back turned towards Shinji and his friends.
"Hey waitr- OW!" Dominique smiled, it sounded like Shinji had whacked the asshole in the chest for his lack of manners. "What was that for?" From the corner of her eye, she could see that Shinji had given the offender the evil eye making him mouth an 'Oh' at the realisation of his ways. "Excuse me, may we please get some service when you're ready?"
"Sure. But after I finish serving these other people!" She answered in an overly sugared tone that was her main weapon of sarcasm, faced the boys and then turned back to the task at hand. A few minutes later Dominique came back to the table with Shinji's raeman and pulled out her pen & pad to take down the boys orders. "What will it be boys?"
"I'll have a coke and double cheeseburger, please." Touji ordered politely, secretly hoping to please the beautiful waitress with his new picked ability to say the word 'Please' and manage to use it in a polite tone.
"An orange juice and steak sandwich, thanks. And what will you have Kaworu?" Kensuke asked, giving his full attention to his silver-haired friend but it was quickly averted when the pen that formally belonged to Dominique, had slipped out of her hand and collided onto the paved concrete.
Embarrassed, the seventeen year old quickly picked it up and mentally cursed herself for her lack of hand-eye coordination, even if the action was a way to express her shock. Kaworu, isn't that the seventeenth angel named Tabris? I thought Shinji killed him! She knew almost everything about the final battle after managing to hack into some old NERV files at the age of fifteen; his powers, his angelic name and the affect he had everyone, but most importantly, the friendship he formed with Shinji.
So it was quite a shock for Asuka to know that the bastard was still alive and hanging out with Shinji, in some way, Asuka once again felt like she had been betrayed.
Kaworu slightly frowned, the girl felt strangely familiar but knew that if he did meet her once before it must've been while he was still an angel, but then again humans were so alike these days it was impossible for him to pick out the difference in without having the ability to feel their essence. He gave a slight sigh, he wished he still had his angel powers. Not that he didn't enjoy being human or finally be accepted by the human race but sometimes he wondered how they're able to wake up and face another day even though they knew what was most likely to occur.
Humans are confusing.
"Huh?" Quickly realising that he was being tapped on the shoulder by Kensuke, indicating that the waitress was asking him a question.
"I said, what would you like to have?" She asked, showing some concern for the man.
"I'm sorry! I'll just have the Asian stir-fry and water, please."
"Okay, I'll just go get your beverages now!" Dominique promised as she scribbled down the orders, grateful that her knowledge for kanji had increased after some tutoring from dear Daisuke. He had trouble with algebra and she had trouble with the letters 'Pe' & 'Be', they helped each other and since then, both were receiving A's each term. "Thank you, gentlemen," she collected the menus from the group and then left leaving the boys to discuss more important matters.
"Oh man, was she HOT!" Touji exclaimed watching the seventeen year old as she walked away.
"Touji, do you ever think with your upstairs brain?" Kensuke asked, rolling his eyes at his heart-wearing-sleeve friend. It saddened Kensuke knowing that the only way Touji was dealing with the loss of Hikari after Third Impact would be hooking up with random girls. He did it in hopes of ending the emptiness which lingered in his heart of the sweet, innocent school girl who had always found it in her heart to make him lunch each day just so he wouldn't order from the canteen.
"Believe it or not Kensuke, I do! And at the moment I would like to know who was that girl that I danced with last night!" Touji retorted, replying in a more serious tone.
"I know what you mean, my date ran off when she realised the time! I asked her what was wrong and all she told me was that her friend had a deadline before running off!" Touji raised an eyebrow, interested with what his friend had to say before asking his own question.
"Was your date wearing a cat mask & a silver dress?"
"Yes! She also had short red hair and blue eyes!"
"That girl came and interrupted our dance! They must've knew each other because my date asked the girl what was wrong and when she told her what the time was, she freaked and they both ran off!"
"Now that you mention it... when Realistic-girl took off in a vehicle, it had two girls waiting for her, I noticed one fitting your description Kensuke!" Shinji said at the realisation that maybe this wasn't a coincidence.
"Did you get a glimpse of the car?" Kaworu inquired.
"A yellow beetle! It had no roof so it's obviously a convertible," he answered, noticing his answer did not please neither Kensuke or Touji, however, Kaworu remained optimistic.
"Well think of it this way, how many eighteen or seventeen year old girls have a yellow beetle convertible? Which, may I add is a rare commodity!" Although Touji and Kensuke wanted to protest their friend's theory, they knew it was the best clue they had. Besides a contact lens.
Kensuke was about to say something else but was interrupted as a glass of orange juice and the brunette waitress serving their drinks, blocking his view. "Thank you."
"No problem," she replied with that plastered, innocent smile of hers and continued with her job of serving the drinks to the table of young men. Once she had finished, she took Shinji's bowl and asked if he would like anything else, during that small conversation Kaworu could sense a feeling of uneasiness coming from the girl and he was sure that if Shinji were to get up from this table and leave and never return, she would not be at a loss.
This intrigued him.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his phone which announced that he received a text message, he smiled. Yes she texted me! The girl he had been dancing with had given him her number after the unveiling of the masks. Her name was Kaldea and she had turned eighteen only a few weeks ago. Kaworu really liked talking to her, but he couldn't help shaking off the sense of familiarity towards her. But that was crazy, they had only just met then and Kaworu never really had that many female acquaintance even before Third Impact.
Hey Tabris, how hav u bn? I was wondering if u wanted 2 go 2 a movie 2day, do u wanna? Kaldea
He flinched, he forgot that he told the girl his angel name and not his real name! Natural reflex.
Sure i'll come 2 the movies with u! Wat time?
3 ok?
Kaworu checked the time on his mobile; 2:36 it said. Knowing that he wouldn't make it on foot, he told her where he was.
I could give u a lift if u want.
Kaworu wasn't sure, not that he wasn't concerned but it was just that it wouldn't be too impressive as a first date but she texted back, convincing him that she knew where he was and that she had to meet someone there anyway. Kaworu's curiosity level was raised to another notch so he texted her. She replied that she would meet him in 10 minutes, so receiving this info Kaworu quickly finished his meal and eagerly waited for her.
After being four minutes late Rei had finally shown up in her midnight-blue, three door Free-Lander. She had managed to get the vehicle after Third Impact while humanity was still recovering from the shock, she found it during her trip from the shops and knowing that it was already difficult to be walking five blocks with ten grocery bags, she drove it back to their apartment and decided that if Asuka had a Citreon, why shouldn't she have a car of her own? Looking around for her date, Kaldea quickly glanced around the cafe and smiled when she found him.
Kaworu also smiled when he saw her and waved her over. God, she's even more beautiful in the day time than in the night! Wearing a short denim skirt, white tank top & beach styled platforms, Kaldea had her hair down, letting her luscious locks of mahogany hair flow freely with the calm breeze as she walked over to her date. "I'm glad you made it!"
"Well I kind had to if we wanna see in the movie in time!" She sweetly replied, the other boys were astounded at the beautiful girl that stood before them saying she had a date with Kaworu!
"Yeah I guess we better get going!" He agreed and got out his wallet and then chucked his money onto the table. "See you later guys!"
"Hey wait a minute! Aren't you going to introduce us?" Kensuke asked.
"Yeah! Talk about rude, Kaworu!" Touji added.
Kaworu? Who are they talking about? Wasn't that the name of the seven- her thoughts were instantly interrupted as Asuka came to the table and handed a bowl of mint ice-cream to Shinji and begun collecting the plates.
"Thank you, Dominique," Shinji thanked.
"Your welcome, Shinji." And that just about did it for Rei.
"I suppose you're right! Kaldea my name is Kaworu and this is Kensuke & Touji! The guy talking to the waitress is Shinji! I'm real sorry about the confusion," Kaworu apologised but Kaldea was more focused at the realisation that dawned upon her.
"Nice to meet you all! If you'll excuse me, Kaworu, I have to talk to Dominique for a moment!" She said distractedly. She walked over to Dominique, grabbed her wrist and then dragged her off to the bathroom, all the boys raised their eyebrows of confusion but none of them mentioned it.
Man, Kaworu, you really need to stop at always jumping to conclusions. Remember the saying; Curiousity killed the cat.
"Shut up, inner voice."
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"What the fuck was that about!" Rei questioned in a harsh tone merely seconds after locking the door behind her.
Shit, she found out! Wait maybe she didn't, okay just play dumb Asuka and pray to god or Buddha or whoever the fuck is in charge of my life that Wonder Girl doesn't know! "What are you talking about Kaldea?" She innocently asked, using that name in case of an eavesdropper and she would not be surprised if anyone would hear, Rei's voice was booming!
"Don't play dumb with me, Dominique! You knew that they were in Kyoto, didn't you?" Rei growled whilst playing along with the name game. There was a certain harshness in her tone that made Asuka never be the one to back done from a fight, feeling slightly scared. Asuka had already seen Shinji's wild side when he was mad and Asuka preferred not to see Rei's.
"Yes," Rei wasn't idiotic as she appeared, she deserved to know the truth. A mixture of hurt and anger flashed through Rei's eyes causing once blue-haired girl to curse loudly. So loud that Dominique was afraid that someone may barge in, demand an explanation and Asuka would be out of a job.
Several moments later, Kaldea managed to calm down by attempting to take deep breaths, but it only made her feel lightheaded. "How long?"
"Since last night! Actually, I wasn't even aware that Shinji was still friends with those other two stooges or that angel was alive! I only met Shinji, that's all," Asuka quietly admitted feeling somewhat ashamed.
Rei looked deep into Asuka's eyes and searched to see if she was telling the truth or not. When she saw no trace of doubt, Rei gave a deep sigh and bowed her head, somehow, it saddened Asuka to Rei look so confused and defeated. And although Asuka would never admit it to anyone, or herself for that matter; it fucking terrified her to see Rei give up. "So what are we going to do now?" Rei lifted her head up so fast that Asuka mentally complimented Rei's reflexes, guess there's still a bit of Evangelion pilot in her after all.
"What are we going to do? How the fuck should I know? We just can't go up to them and pretend that we don't have a history with them! That's just fucked! We have to tell them!"
"Tell them? As in," Asuka speaking into her air-head facade, "'Oh hey guys, ah we've got something to tell you and this is really funny; we're the girls that fought on your side during the Angel period. That's right, it's us; Rei and Asuka, the girls who you thought were dead! Ain't that funny?'" Rei instantly cringed at Asuka's girlie, high-pitched tone. The way Asuka said it, made Rei prefer to let a drunk infant drive her car (whilst she was drunk herself) rather than let them know.
"Fine we won't tell them. But we should at least tell the others, let alone Jayne."
"What do you mean?" Asuka slowly asked, feeling the slow painful sensation of fear which was clutching her chest.
"You know what I'm talking about. Telling Jayne that we know them, about our past, who we were and what really happened during Third Impact..."
No one in the gang had ever told Jayne about the events of Third Impact, Jayne knew that the events were caused by the phenonum known as the angels, but Asuka had never actually told her why Third Impact occurred. She was afraid that she would lose Jayne as a friend once Asuka had told Jayne the whole truth.
"Okay, random. What made you suddenly come up with that idea?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.
"It's been something I've thought about for a long time and don't tell me you haven't thought about it as well!" Asuka couldn't deny it; she had thought about it for a long time. She had thought about it since the first day she met Jayne on the beach, but fear and uncertainty had always held her back because she was always unsure of when it was the right time to tell Jayne their deepest, darkest secret.
To tell Jayne that it had been all Asuka's fault that she became an orphan.
Noticing the inner struggle raging within the adolescent, Rei's features softened. "I know, you're scared to lose Jayne. But eventually you're going to lose her anyway if we keep continuing to hide secrets from her. Jayne lost her parents because of this, don't let her lose her faith in us too." She softly finished, looking at Asuka one more time before unlocking the bathroom door and leaving Dominique to be suffocated by her inner turmoil.
End of Chapter 10.
AN: So what do you think? I've re-edited the chapters up to this point, nothing major, just fixing up a few spelling errors and grammar. Sorry it's been such a long time since I updated but I haven't been into the writer's mood lately. I've already updated "A chance".
The reason why I made Kaworu introduce himself as Tabris to Rei is because I noticed in the 24th episode when Kaworu talked to Rei, she had no idea who he was nor did she ever addressed him by his name so I thought it would be easier for Rei to get his number if she didn't know who he was. Am I making sense?
Anyway, thank you all for your patience & reviews. And please keep R&R, it's good karma!