Chapter 7

Shinji woke up the following morning with his eyes closed. As he lay there, cool and comfortable in his air-conditioned room, Shinji tried to remember what exactly happened the previous evening. The harder he tried to remember what transpired, the hazier it seemed to become. Shinji began to wonder if what he remembered happening actually did happen.

If I open my eyes and Misato's still here, I'll know that it actually happened and I actually slept with her, Shinji decided. Then, he slowly and carefully opened his eyes.

Lying next to him, with her head resting on his chest was his guardian, still sleeping. Shinji sighed and smiled. It hadn't all been some kind of a fever dream. Shinji's slight movement caused Misato to stir.

"Hmmm…'Morning, handsome," she sighed, looking up into Shinji's blue eyes with a smile.

"'Morning," Shinji replied, "Sleep well?"

"After the way you wore me out, who wouldn't?" Misato asked, her smile widening as she snuggled closer to her boyfriend, "God, you were so incredible!"

"You weren't so bad, yourself," Shinji said, bending his head to kiss Misato on the forehead. The two lovers lay there cuddling for another five minutes before Misato asked:

"Shinji, what time is it?"

"It is…9:30," Shinji said, craning his head to look at the digital clock sitting on a stand beside his bed.

"Nine-thirty?!" Misato gasped, getting up with a start, "Holy hell, I'm going to be late!"

"For work, you mean?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah," said Misato quickly as she jumped out of bed and dashed to the bathroom to wash up. Shinji followed at a slower pace. He was aware that the two of them were still as naked as they had been last night, but he really wasn't fazed by it.

"So, Misato," Shinji asked, walking into the bathroom, "exactly what do you do for a living? I mean, it's pretty obvious you make really good money, what with this gigantic house and that beautiful Alpine you have in your garage."

"I'm a CPA with Hart & Harvey Accounting," Misato answered briskly.

"You didn't really strike me as the accounting type," Shinji stated, "And anyway, isn't tax time in the spring? Why do you have to go into work? It's summer."

"I'm working off a backlog of companies who hire our firm to keep their books balanced the whole year round," Misato replied, "I'm currently doing the books for about ten different private corporations. And why don't I strike you as the accounting type?"

"I don't know," Shinji replied, "you're just so…"

"So what, Shinji?"

"Well…fun, I guess," Shinji said with a shrug, "I guess I fell into the stereotype that accountants are boring and don't know how to have a good time."

"Well, you know better now don't you?" Misato grinned. Then, she quickly stepped through the door to her room. Again, Shinji followed her, but at a slightly more leisurely pace. When Shinji entered Misato's room, he found her at her dresser, selecting her undergarments. Shinji smiled as Misato pulled out a strap-less, red lace bra and a matching red thong.

"Those will be fun to take off of you tonight, Misato," Shinji said, his voice low and seductive.

"Ohh, Shinji, please don't make me think about that right now," Misato moaned, her voice full of lustful pleading.

"Why not?"

"Because with you standing there buck naked and talking dirty like that, it's making me horny enough to throw you onto my bed and make you eat my pussy some more," Misato said, pulling on her underwear, "And if I do that, I'll be late to work for sure, and that'll get me in huge amounts of trouble."

"Well, we certainly don't want that," Shinji agreed with exaggerated seriousness.

Misato darted over to her closet and pulled out a gray skirt suit with a red dress blouse to go with it. As she dressed, Shinji watched this wild, sexy woman become a clean-cut, sexy business woman. Shinji felt himself falling even deeper in love with Misato, the lady who had started out as his guardian.

In a few minutes more, after a quick application of some makeup, Misato started for the downstairs. Shinji pulled on his boxers and followed her. Misato walked to the front door, her high-heeled pumps clicking loudly on the hardwood.

"All right," Misato said, running down a mental checklist, "There's stuff for breakfast in the fridge and freezer, help yourself. Feel free to invite friends over if you want, just don't throw any keggers without inviting me first. And no strippers please?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," said Shinji.

"Oh!" Misato said, snapping her fingers, "I just remembered something. Do you have your drivers' license?"

"Yeah," Shinji replied, "Why?"

"Follow me out to the garage, there's something I want to show you," said Misato. Shinji heard a note of excitement in her voice.

Shinji, feeling a little embarrassed that he was wandering around outside in his underwear, followed Misato to her three-car size garage. Shinji hadn't been inside the garage yet, but it made sense that Misato would have parked her car in there before all of the guests had arrived the previous day. Misato opened one of the carport doors and stepped inside, motioning for Shinji to follow. Shinji, feeling immensely curious, stepped into the garage. Shinji nodded to himself as he saw Misato's blue Alpine A310 sitting directly inside the door he had just walked through. Misato flicked a light switch and illuminated the rest of the car port. Shinji saw, at the far end of the garage, a vehicle covered in a dust blanket.

"Go ahead and take the cover off, Shinji," Misato said, "I think you'll like what you'll see."

Shinji gave Misato a questioning look. Misato only smiled and motioned with her head for him to go on. Shinji walked slowly over to the lumpy shape. He stood for a long moment, pondering what he was seeing.

Hmm, he thought, well, obviously it's a car. But what kind is it? Let's find out.

Shinji grasped the front end of the dust cover and pulled it back. From beneath the dirty, brown cloth emerged a sleek, shiny, black, 1977 Corvette Stingray. Shinji's jaw hit the floor as he took in the fantastic curves of the car. He stuttered with shock as he reached out to touch the car of his dreams, hardly daring to believe that what he was seeing was reality. As his hand made contact with the cool, metal exterior of the car, Shinji knew that he wasn't dreaming.

"How--?" Shinji stammered, "Where did--? Oh, my god!"

"Ebay," Misato replied, "That little gem set me back about 500 grand, but it was worth every penny."

"Does she run?" Shinji asked.

"Not right now," Misato admitted, "I think there might be something up with her engine. Maybe you could take a look at it? When I read your file, it said that you were good at working on cars. I mean, if you feel like taking care of a part of your 18th birthday present, that is."

"This is…m-mine?!" Shinji asked, totally flabbergasted.

"It is if you want it," Misato replied, "But now, I really must run. There are tools along the back wall, here, if you feel the urge to work on your baby. The key is hidden in the silverware drawer in the kitchen. If not, figure out some way to entertain yourself. I ought to be home around 4-ish, 'kay?"

"Okay," Shinji replied absently, still staring at his car.

"Bye!" Misato said cheerily. Then, she jumped into her car and pulled out.

Shinji stood there, still in his boxers, his feet getting chilly on the concrete floor. He didn't know quite what to make of his present situation. He had just spent the night, in bed and naked, with his guardian, and now he comes down in the morning to find out that he's got a cherry (mint condition) Corvette waiting for him in the garage of his house with his name on it.

"Can this morning get any better?" Shinji asked aloud.

"I think maybe it can," a voice from behind Shinji replied.

Shinji turned around fast. There, standing in the doorway of the carport, was Rei. Shinji didn't know what to say or do. When Rei had left the previous evening, she had left in tears, or virtually in tears. There was a long, awkward pause.

"Rei, what are you doing here?" Shinji asked stupidly.

"I thought I'd come over and apologize for being so dramatic yesterday," Rei said, "I didn't mean to sound so…I don't know…Young and the Restless?"

"Well, I won't say it was easy to cope with what you made me realize, Rei," Shinji admitted, "I couldn't believe what I had done to you."

"You loved me," Rei said.

"I violated you," Shinji protested, "I stole something that you can never get back. I'm sorry."

"I'm not," said Rei gently, "and I hope that you'll get over being sorry, because what we shared was magical."

"You really think so?" Shinji asked.

"Sure do," Rei replied with a smile, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No, not yet," Shinji answered, "I just got up about ten minutes ago. I'm sure you heard Misato peeling out as she rushed off to work."

"I think the entire development might have heard her," Rei said. Then, she and Shinji both laughed.

"Would you like to come in?" Shinji offered, "Misato said I can have anyone that I want over to the house while she's away. You could join me for breakfast, if you'd like."

"I'd like that," said Rei, still smiling, "but I've already eaten. How about I make you breakfast, instead?"

"Umm, okay," Shinji said, shrugging his shoulders.

People in this neighborhood sure are friendly, he thought, But who am I to turn down a home cooked breakfast by a cute girl? Maybe if I'm lucky, she'll put on a cute little apron. I love seeing a girl in an apron when she's in the kitchen.

Shinji quickly realized that his line of thought was starting to seriously arouse him and that his boxers would be far less than adequate to restrain his rising dragon. He quickly excused himself to go and get dressed for the day. Once up in his room, Shinji quickly relieved his tension and put on some work clothes before too much time had elapsed and Rei became suspicious.

Once he was back downstairs, Shinji noticed the smell of food. Shinji followed his nose to the kitchen and found Rei frying up some eggs and bacon on the stove. To Shinji's disappointment, she didn't have an apron on. Shinji sat down at the kitchen's island and said:

"You know, it's really nice of you to cook breakfast for me. I hope you aren't planning on coming over to do this every day."

"I will if you want me to," Rei replied, "Now, how do you like your eggs?"

"Over easy," Shinji replied, "with the yolks still nice and runny, please. And no, I wouldn't ask you to come over every morning just to cook breakfast for me. That wouldn't be fair of me. And don't try to talk me into it, either. My mind's made up."

"Okay," Rei said, sounding slightly defeated, "Well, your breakfast's about ready, if you'll get a plate out for it."

Shinji opened a cupboard and removed a medium-sized plate. Next, he pulled a fork out of the silverware drawer, rummaging for the key that Misato had mentioned while he was about it. While Rei piled the food onto the plate, Shinji grabbed a glass and went over to the fridge to help himself to some orange juice. Once Shinji had this, he sat down to eat his breakfast.

"You know, I feel kind of guilty about eating in front of you," Shinji said.

"Don't," Rei replied, "I told you, I've already had breakfast."

Shinji took a bite of his food. His eyes widened with surprise.

"This is delicious!" Shinji exclaimed, "Where did you learn to cook like this?"

"Mom taught me," Rei answered, "I'm glad you like it. Eat up. I can even make more, if you'd like."

"I dunno," Shinji said through a mouthful of eggs, "This is gonna make me pretty full, and then I'm gonna get right to work."

"On what?" Rei asked.

"That car you saw me looking at," Shinji answered, "It's part of my birthday present. Misato said there might be something wrong with the engine, so I'm going to take the thing apart and see what's what."

"You work on cars?" said Rei, raising a surprised eyebrow.

"I did; for a while, anyway," Shinji replied, "When I was ten, I lived with a family near Cincinnati that owned an auto repair shop. When I wasn't doing schoolwork, I would hang out with the father, who actually did most of the repair work. He taught me everything he knew about cars and how to take them apart and put them back together again."

"So, you know all about every car on the road?"

"Not every car," Shinji said, pausing to take a gulp of juice, "But most car engines are similar enough that the oddballs stand out. Take for example a Ford and a Chevy: you show me both engines and I can tell you with about 98 accuracy which one's which. However, both of them are made up of pretty much the same stuff put together in basically the same way. I sometimes have a little trouble with the imports. You know, Toyota, Suzuki, Suburu, and the like. But the thing with imports is…they're imported. They're made of foreign parts and put together in a way that only the Japanese know."

Rei listened with rapt attention as Shinji went on about the different types of engines and cars that he had worked on in Cincinnati. As Shinji finished, he finished eating and dumped his dishes in the sink. Rei followed Shinji back out to the garage, where Shinji immediately set about finding all of the tools and equipment that he would need.

Shinji took a hydrolic jack and boosted the Corvette up off of the floor. Next, he pushed blocks under the axles and released the jack. The car was now up high enough that Shinji could crawl under the front end and lie on his back. Shinji popped the hood on the car, as well. Then, he hung a shop lamp on the underside of the hood and slid himself under the car.

"Let's go to work," he said.