NGE SENIOR YEAR
Part Three: Straight Up
Written by: K-Ley Katsuragi (sailor_mercury_@crystal-tokyo.com)
[Bevan's Door Productions, September 2000]
SYNOPSIS:
Shinji Ikari -
We've been friends for ages.
We've been there for each other through everything.
I always knew I loved Asuka as a friend.
I never realised I loved her.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion or it's characters. What's the
point of saying that? If I owned any rights to NGE do you really think I'd be publishing my
fics on a dodgy homemade Geocities site? However, I do own the ACC's. But no one is really
going to use them so what's the point in claiming ownership?
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, before anyone socks me with a 'What is this Dawson's Creek, Eva style?'
email, can I say something? This whole fic has been inspired by Sweet Valley High, okay?
It's the shallowest of shallow. Try not to take this too seriously.
STANDARD PRE-FIC WARNING:
WARNING! THIS WARNING CONTAINS NO JOKE!
All the pre-fic warnings in Parts One and Two apply to Part Three. Can't be stuffed writing
them all out again.
--
*** NGE Senior Year - Part Three: Straight Up ***
"Hi."
Kami pushed her hair back and looked up, a bright smile on her face. "Hi," she replied,
pushing her sunglasses up on her head with her non-casted hand. She shifted her sling and
winced in pain, scowling the whole time. Damn, she hated injuries.
"Are you okay?" Shinji asked, all concern.
Kami nodded and managed a smile despite the slight pain in her wrist. No point in burdening
the boy.
Shinji sat down opposite Kami, shifting a thick notebook that was resting on the bench. "What
are you doing?" he asked, nodding at the pile of papers she was holding.
Kami made a face and sighed. "It's part of the enrolment-orientation process," she explained,
sounding pained. "I'm supposed to write all these essays and stuff on given topics. It's
supposed to help our coordinator understand me better or something."
Shinji nodded slowly. "Right. So basically you write a couple of hundred words and they
analyze your whole personality on that, which saves the school actually taking time to talk
to you."
Kami grinned. "That's pretty much it." She waved the papers she was holding slightly. "So I'm
going over my essays and trying to see if I wrote anything that'll result in me being forced
into a strait jacket."
"I could read it if you want," Shinji offered.
Kami hesitated and then handed him a sheet of paper resting on top, that was covered in small,
neat writing.
Shinji read it over, then looked up, a small smile on his face. "It's good," he told her
honestly. "It's really honest, and it's insightful too. I think whoever reads it will be
impressed," he said, handing her the essay back.
Kami flushed slightly and smiled. "Thanks."
Shinji checked his watch and cursed. "Damn. I'm supposed to meet my French teacher before
class starts," he informed her, standing up. "I'll catch you around, okay?"
He hurried off and Kami watched him, a speculative spark in her green eyes.
"I hope so."
--
Enrolment Essay Question #1
In order for us to better understand you as an individual, please answer the following
question:
Give an example of a challenge you have faced, how you overcame it and what you have learnt
from this experience.
Takeo Takei
12th Grade Coordinator
A year or two ago I probably would have described performing a perfect triple-herky back-
handspring combination at a football game while it poured down with rain. That's because a
year or two ago, that was as deep as I got. Cheerleading, shopping and parties were the main
focus in my life. I'm not embarrassed to admit that at one point I was probably the most
shallow person in Massachusetts.
But things change. And I like to think that in the past year, I have changed. I've grown.
And I know now that there's more to life than cartwheels, new shoes and partying.
Sure, I could probably reel off a bunch of challenges I've faced in the past. I could talk
about never having a father around, or bad relationships or being forced to move from Boston
to Tokyo-3 in my senior year. But I won't. Because all of those challenges are part of a
greater challenge that every single one of us face every day.
Life.
Life is a challenge. Every day life throws us new challenges, big or small, that all force
us to rethink our ways, our attitudes and our actions. And all these challenges have one major
purpose. To help us grow, and become better people.
I know I've grown a lot in the last year, but I'm not stupid. I know that there is plenty of
growing that I have yet to do. Plenty of challenges that I have yet to face.
And you know what? I say bring it on. Because I've survived seventeen years of life so far
and I think I've done pretty well.
And whatever adversity the future might hold for me, I know I'll be able to handle
it.
Kami Yatami, 12F
--
"This is nice," Rei said awkwardly, toying with the neckline of her pale green dress.
It WAS nice. Nice restaurant, nice food, nice music, nice atmosphere.
Too bad Rei felt like throwing up.
It was all very nice. And a little too much like a date.
'Of course it's too much like a date,' she reprimanded herself silently. 'It IS a date.'
Yes. It was a date. A very date-like date. With music and candles and flowers . . .
And overwhelming nausea.
The problem was, Blake was a great guy. He was smart. He was good looking. He was a good
dresser, and a pretty decent dancer. He cared fiercely about his family and friends.
The PROBLEM was, Blake was a great guy. Kind of like Shinji or Touji. As in, despite all his
remarkable qualities, she really didn't feel about him in a way that warranted a date.
And yet here she was. On a date. With Blake. In a beautiful irridescent green dress. Surrounded
by flowers and candles and couples giving each other goo-goo eyes.
Rei swallowed hard. Right now the only thing stopping her from throwing up was the thought of
throwing up on her dress.
Okay. Blake wasn't exactly the master of observation. But he was cluey enough to know when
someone was comfortable and when someone wasn't.
And Rei Ayanami was most certainly uncomfortable.
Which was okay with Blake because he wasn't particularly comfortable himself.
He was on a date with Rei. It was something he'd wished for since he'd met her.
Unfortunately, being on a date with Rei had cured him of wanting to be on a date with Rei.
It wasn't anything she'd done or said. She was beautiful, certainly. She was elegant. But she
was also fun, smart and easy to talk to.
Blake frowned slightly.
In many ways, Rei was very much like Kei.
A friend. A very attractive friend, but a friend nonetheless.
Blake suppressed a sigh. It was all he could do from resting his head on the table.
He was going to kill Misato.
"Well, that was nice," Rei said, feeling like she should probably say something.
Blake shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded. "Uh-huh."
"So, uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow or something," Rei said, suddenly finding interest in
her shoes. Strappy pearly sandals. Fascinating.
A silence passed over the two that couldn't even be ranked as awkward. Agonising was a far more
adequete adjective.
"Listen," he said abruptly, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead. "I feel pretty harsh
saying this after two dates, but . . ." He trailed off. He'd never been good at this kind of
thing. "I think we should just be friends."
Rei tilted her head skyward. "Oh, thank god," she breathed.
Blake blinked. Not quite the response he'd been expecting.
Rei offered him an industrial-strength smile. "That was so uncomfortable."
Blake returned the grin. "Totally. I wanted to drown myself in the soup."
Rei laughed. "So, friends?"
"Friends," he echoed, feeling a weight lifting off his shoulders.
To his surprise, Rei kissed him quickly on the cheek, offered him a smile and headed inside.
Blake headed home, feeling more at ease than he had in a long time.
The at ease feeling Blake was experiencing lasted approximately 24 minutes, which was the exact
time it took for him to get home.
The minute he saw his mother slumped over the kitchen table, his spirits fell. His mother never
slumped. She was an energy-packed, take charge kind of woman.
"What's wrong?" he asked, thoughts of Rei slipping to the vault for a while.
Raine McDermott ran a hand through her shoulder length dark hair wearily, and reached over to
the answering machine.
A recorded message filled the room.
Blake stared open-mouthed at the machine.
"No way."
Shinji was having a small personal crisis.
The problem was this. He was going to France for a year.
No one, besides his French teacher, knew he was going to France for a year.
And he knew he'd dug himself into a fairly major hole. Because he'd signed. And even if he
brought it up now, Misato would still be pissed that he'd signed without telling her first.
Shinji slammed his Legal Studies book shut.
No way was he getting anything resembling work done tonight.
Identify the difference between similes and metaphors. Include three examples of each.
"What the hell kind of assignment is this?" Asuka demanded to her empty bedroom.
Similes were easy. Similes could be churned out at warp speed.
Metaphors were a little more complicated.
Asuka had never liked metaphors. They were too strong for her liking. Stating something was
something else wasn't something you could take back.
Asuka looked at her text book.
Example: 'It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.'
Asuka frowned. She'd never liked that line. She knew Shakespeare was trying to say that Juliet
was beautiful and life-giving and all that. But what about the bad sides of the sun? Maybe if
Shakespeare knew about skin cancer he wouldn't be so cavalier about labeling people like that.
Asuka sighed. She was procrastinating something shocking.
Metaphors.
My life is . . .
I am . . .
Shinji is . . .
Asuka frowned. What was Shinji? More importantly, what was Shinji to her? A year or two ago,
she would have answered without hesitation.
Someone I live with.
Someone I work with.
But now? Asuka wasn't sure. She wasn't sure about much at all, except for the fact that things
had changed rather a lot.
Asuka slammed her book shut.
No way was she getting anything resembling work done tonight.
--
Shinji Ikari -
-Getting Over This Asuka thing-
1. No touching her. That means no nudging, no hip-chucking and hugging is RIGHT out.
2. No hanging out with her in dark places. Movies are definitely out.
3. Try not to make her laugh. She looks way too beautiful when she laughs.
4. Try to find all the stuff she does annoying instead of endearing.
5. Don't get too close to her. If I get close enough to smell her perfume or
shampoo - that fruity one that smells like apples and watermelon - move back.
6. Move on. Find a distraction. There are plenty of girls out there.
Hmm . . . I wonder what Kami's doing right now?
--
Blake pressed the doorbell, trying to quell the nausea in his stomach.
He knew he shouldn't have had that chocolate iced jelly donut for breakfast.
He swallowed. Just the thought of it was enough to make him gag.
He wasn't sure if it was the donut, his own nervousness or the fact that he was breaking a
promise to his mother that was making him nauseous.
Blake jabbed the doorbell again, more than slightly impatient. He could hear footsteps and
voices, muffled by the thick wooden door. He listened carefully. There was definitely, at
least, two sets of footsteps. Someone else was there.
The door swung open, alarming Blake, who had been concentrating on the voices inside. He
blinked into focus, glanced at the person who had opened the front door and was immediately
alarmed again.
"What are you doing here?" Kami demanded, one hand resting on the hip of her dark denim jeans.
Blake folded his arms over his blue shirt and eyed his friend archly. "I could ask you the same
question," he retorted, trying to process the fact that Kami was standing at the door. He
would have expected to see Batman and his trusty sidekick Robin at the door before he would
have expected to see Kami Yatami.
Another figure came into the picture, startling Blake for the third time in as many minutes.
Michael McDermott stood behind Kami, a hand on her shoulder, his green eyes wide as saucers.
"So, uh, you two know each other?"
"Hey guys," Kei said. "Mind of I join you?"
Touji gestured to an empty seat beside him, which Kei accepted.
"Where's that objectional, annoying guy who's usually surgically attached to you?" Asuka
wanted to know, flipping a red straw between her fingers.
Kei shrugged her slim shoulders slightly. "I wouldn't have a clue."
The fact that Kei didn't defend Blake clued the rest into the fact that she wasn't
overwhelmingly pleased.
"Do you think if trees screamed, we'd be so casual about cutting them down?" Kensuke queried
out of the blue. Kei saw straight through his attempt to change the subject, but appreciated
it nonetheless.
Hikari lifted an eyebrow. "Kensuke, you think way too much."
Touji snorted. "I somewhat doubt thinking too much is Kensuke's problem."
Rei considered the question. "What if they screamed all the time for no apparent reason?"
Kensuke pointed at Rei. "That's a good point."
Asuka buried her face in her hands. "It's definitely time I found some new friends."
Shinji mock scowled. "Well, gee, that was flattering."
Touji mirrored Shinji's mock scowl. "All in favour of banning Asuka from the table?"
Hands rose; Asuka looked up to see the result of the impromptu vote. She crossed her arms over
her yellow and blue three-quarter sleeve t-shirt and glared.
Shinji smirked. Asuka might be annoying, but she was definitely entertaining.
_And annoyingly gorgeous._
Shinji groaned inwardly. These very non-platonic thoughts that kept popping up in his head
were clearly going to drive him to insanity.
A bread roll thunked him on the head. "What are you smirking at?" Asuka demanded.
Why was she so damn attractive when she was being annoying?
Before Shinji could attempt to string a sentence together, an intrusive beeping interrupted
his thoughts.
"It's mine," Kei said before the group could engage in the communal checking-of-phone ritual.
Kei looked down at the LCD screen, reading the words silently.
KEI, SKIP CLASS AND MEET
ME AT CAFFEINATED JAZZ.
I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU.
LATER, BLAKE
Kei sighed. Why she insisted on remaining friends with someone so high maintenence was beyond
her.
She pushed back her chair and stood up. "I gotta book. I'll see you guys later."
As Kei departed, she heard the sounds of Asuka resuming her abuse.
She smirked. They were definitely entertaining.
"Talk."
Rei looked up from her position on the linoleum floor. She brushed hair out of her eyes.
"What?"
"Talk," Kensuke repeated, straddling a chair and fixing Rei with a stare. "Come on, I want
to know what happened on your date."
"Inquisitive much?" Rei placed a stack of CD's on the floor. She was re-alphabetising the
radio station's CD collection for what felt like the one hundredth time. "Am I doing this
by band or title?"
"Um . . . band. Come on, give me the scoop," Kensuke insisted. "You have to tell me. You
can't just leave me hanging."
"Actually, I can," Rei responded with a slight smile. "Isn't there an Avalanches CD around
here somewhere?"
Kensuke frowned and yanked open an overflowing drawer. He scrabbled under various sheets
of paper, exercise books and pens. He produced the CD and handed it to Rei. "You can't
just call the evening 'enlightening' or whatever you said to Shinji and then not elaborate,
Rei. That's pure evil."
"I see Shinji has kept you informed."
Kensuke snorted. "This is Shinji we're talking about," he reminded her dryly. "Guy voted
most likely to become a gossip columnist in a trashy women's magazine?"
Rei shook her head and placed a Bardot CD next to the Avalanches. "Shinji has changed so much
over the years."
"So true," Kensuke agreed wryly.
Rei busied herself studying the back of a Cake CD. Kensuke eyed her skeptically. Like she
really thought he was distracted to the point of forgetting the initial path of
conversation.
"So what happened?" he asked point-blank. Why beat around the bush?
Rei lifted her eyebrows but didn't say a word.
"Rei!" Kensuke exclaimed, his voice a curious mix of anxiety, annoyance and amusement.
Rei calmly opened the Cake CD and slid out the leaflet. Kensuke rolled his eyes.
He was about to either implode or explode with frustration. He wasn't sure which.
"If you must know," Rei began, unfolding the CD leaflet. "We came to a decision."
Kensuke folded his arms. He wondered when Rei had become so well-versed in cruel and
unusual torture methods.
"A decision," he repeated, sounding oddly in control considering he was coming close to
crushing the toothmarked 2B Tudor graylead pencil in his hand into a million pieces.
"Uh-huh," Rei confirmed. She folded the leaflet and slid it back into the cover, painfully
slow. "We decided that we're better off as friends."
Kensuke breathed a quiet sigh of relief, feeling as though he'd been holding his breath since
the minute Rei and Blake had made up.
He could breathe freely, his CD's were being alphabetised and Rei and Blake were just friends.
Things were definitely looking up.
--
Kensuke Aida -
Rei and Blake are just going to be friends. And I'm glad. Because it was a mutual decision, so
I was spared any post-break-up wailing on Rei's part. And because it was a decision made so
early in the relationship, so I was spared witnessing any sickening displays between the two.
But the bad news?
Now I really don't have any reasons for not admitting to Rei the fact that I've developed . . .
ahem . . . feelings for the girl.
But you know, even though it was a mutual break up, I should probably still give her the two
week buffer zone, right? And then there's the thing that she's been helping at the station a
lot lately, and it's not professional to hit on people who you work with. Not to mention
that I'm totally swamped with everything right now . . . maybe too swamped to even consider
having a relationship.
But I'm not avoiding. Really.
--
Kei sighed deeply. She'd figured that sooner or later, someone was going to ask why Kami and
Blake had been absent. To be honest, she was surprised she'd gotten to second period without
being interrogated.
Though she'd kinda expected the interrogator to be a girl.
"So where are they?" Shinji asked again, drumming a pen on his Psychology textbook.
Kei saw Hikari rolling her eyes at Shinji's gossip mode, but she could tell from the way that
Hikari was leaning forward slightly that she was interested in the answer, too.
"Come on, Kei," Shinji wheedled. "You know you want to tell us."
Before Kei could even open her mouth to respond, they were rudely interrupted.
"Mr. Ikari," Mr. Tomoe boomed, his dark eyes narrowed at Shinji. "Would you please turn to
the front of the room? In case you've forgotten, this is a psychology class, not a free for
all gossip session."
As Tomoe launched into an explanation of something called undifferentiated schizophrenia
which seemed like way too many syllables for second period, Kei jabbed Shinji in the back
with her silver pen and passed him a note folded neatly into a triangle.
'If you really want to know, come to Caffeinated Jazz tonight after school at about 5.'
Shinji turned his head slightly and nodded almost imperceptibly.
Kei rested her head on her faux-wood desk. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep.
Kensuke had spent a better part of his life listening to people whine about how they didn't
have time to do this or that. This was something he had never really understood. Outside of
the radio station, he didn't really do much. His theory was that doing to much led to spreading
oneself too thinly which led to disappointing other people which lead to disappointment in
oneself which could possibly lead to suicide. It wasn't about being lazy. Doing too much was
clearly a safety hazard.
So he'd narrowed his activities down to two.
The radio station, and people watching.
It was more than a hobby. It was an art.
Right now, for example, Rei was stirring her french vanilla latte for what was possibly the
last time before she developed carpal tunnel syndrome. The plastic stirrer had been moving
through the coffee in the same figure eight pattern for at least ten minutes.
This, Kensuke knew, was a sign of anxiety. And from the way her eyes kept glancing at Blake to
Kami to her latte and back again, he had a good idea the anxiety was Blake-and-Kami induced.
Likewise, Shinji was systematically grinding a biscotti into a fine powder with the end of a
spoon. His eyes kept darting to Blake to Kami to some point above Kami's head. He too was
showing signs of anxiety. But unlike Rei's case, Kensuke couldn't understand why Shinji was
so anxious. Rei had a reason. Even though her five-second relationship with Blake had crashed
and burned so pathetically, she still had to be a little miffed by Blake's switching flavors
so quickly. Unless Shinji was crushing on Kami . . .
Which would explain Asuka's behavior. She was busy swirling patterns in a pile of Sweet 'n Low
on the table. And they were pretty patterns too - flowers and stars and big round swirls. The
girl was oddly cheerful. And from the smirk that crossed her lips everytime she looked at Kami,
Kensuke was prety certain that she was behind it.
Kensuke's focus turned to Hikari and Touji, who had become a single entity since they'd started
dating. HikariandTouji. ToujiandHikari. Kensuke watched as Touji broke his cookie in half,
offering half to Hikari. Hikari blushed and accepted, Touji brushed hair from her forehead
and all Kensuke wanted to do was hurl from the sweetness of it all.
Kei slid into an empty seat at that moment, clutching a steaming cup of something. Kensuke
seriously hoped it was decaf. She was practically shaking with nervous energy.
Kensuke leaned back and bit into his chocolate-chip cookie. Yep, he definitely excelled in
people watching. Too bad it didn't count as an extra curricular activity.
Considering that their relationship had lasted all of five seconds, Rei was well
aware that she had zero claim over Blake. They were friends. Nothing more.
Still, she thought it was pretty callous for him to move on so quickly. Didn't he know
about buffer zones? It was the first rule of Dating 101.
Of course, she could be jumping to conclusions. Sure, Blake and Kami had said they had an
announcement to make. They hadn't said they had a relationship to announce. But honestly -
what other possibilities were there? Boy meets girl. Boy and girl take two days off school.
Boy and girl say they have an announcement to make.
What else were they going to say? That they were buying a muffin franchise together?
It wasn't like Rei cared or anything.
But it was still pretty harsh.
Asuka brushed sweetener from her fingers, crossed one leg over the other and smiled.
Shinji was annhilating his biscotti like the fate of the world depended on it.
Asuka's smile grew broader.
It wasn't like she thrived on other people's misery.
Okay, correction. Sometimes she did thrive on other people's misery.
But under normal circumstances, she didn't find people's misery a source of entertainment.
Well, not as much as she used to anyway.
But this time . . . well, this was a different story all together.
It was oddly poetic.
Asuka glanced at Kami and smiled. She almost wanted to thank the girl.
Kami adjusted her sling, wincing slightly. "Okay," she began, raising her voice to be heard
over the sounds of jazz, coffee grinders and over-caffeinated people. "We're all here for a
reason and it's not to drink coffee or . . ." She frowned. "Or do whatever the hell Shinji
is doing."
Shinji reddened, dropped his spoon and momentarily put the Tokyo-3 Biscotti Massacre on hold.
"And I'm just gonna come out and say it, because otherwise we'll be here till tomorrow and
by then you'll all be so caffeinated you'll be climbing the walls, and I don't know if I can
handle that so I'll say it really quickly and -"
"Uh, Kami?" Blake interrupted. "You're kind of babbling."
"I don't hear them complaining."
"That's because you haven't given anyone a chance to say two words!"
"Well, if you're so damn perfect, why don't you tell them?"
"Because you whined for three hours straight begging me to let you tell the news!"
"Exaggerate much?"
"Oh for God's sake!" Kei exploded, standing up, a portrait of exasperation. "Can you two shut
up for five seconds while I tell them?" Without waiting for a response, she turned to the
rest of the group. "Blake and Kami are brother and sister. Okay?"
A wave of silence passed over the group.
Blake closed his eyes.
Kami glared at Kei.
Kei sat down, looking no less stressed despite her considerable outburst.
Kensuke opened his mouth and closed it again. For maybe what was the third time in his
seventeen years, he was speechless.
Rei looked . . . not pleased, exactly. But relieved. Definitely relieved. She finally
abandoned stirring her latte, sat back and allowed the corners of her mouth to twitch upwards
slightly.
Asuka, on the other hand, was sporting a major scowl that was record-book worthy. Between
glares at Kami and Shinji, the girl did not look pleased.
Shinji was smiling slightly, glancing at the glass jar full of non-massacred biscotti at the
counter and concentrating very hard on not making eye contact with Asuka.
Finally, Kensuke spoke. "Uh . . . what?"
--
Kei Yamaguchi on Friendship
My parents are hardly ever around. But I remember one night my dad and I went out for dinner,
and we started talking about friendship. And I remember him saying to me, "You only come across
life long friends once in awhile, Kei. They're hard to find, but they're easy to lose".
Seeing as it was the closest thing to parental advice my father has given me, I took it to
heart.
Blake's my best friend. He has been ever since he moved here. He's my one in ten million,
you know? I look into the future and I see Blake. We'll always be friends.
So knowing that, I worry a lot about losing his friendship. We have this really
independent relationship, but at the same time we've always been hopelessly codependent on
each other. The thought of losing Blake is one that scares me.
That's why I've been so stressed about this whole Kami deal. Ever since I've known him, Blake
has harped on and on about how he wanted a sibling. And I remember one time in eighth grade he
said I was the closest thing to a sibling that he was going to get. And we both laughed
because we never thought Blake would actually ever end up getting a real brother or sister.
But then Kami Yatami rocks up. And not only is she Blake's half-sister, but she's the same age
as us, she's fun, and Blake just loves her to pieces.
I was always the closest thing Blake had to a sister. But now he has a sister. A real one.
So where does that leave me?
--
Asuka Langley Soryu on Friendship
Being friends with someone is a big responsibility. It takes more than kicking back with
someone and watching some TV to make a friendship. It takes work.
When you're friends with someone, part of your responsibility as a friend is to make sure
that you do what you can to stop them from getting hurt or in trouble or whatever. Right?
Shinji's my friend. We don't exactly thrive on saying it loud and proud, but we are. Living
with someone for that long is bound to do that. And since he's my friend, I do what I can
to make sure he doesn't do incredibly stupid things.
But right now, the guy is headed for major disaster.
I'm not stupid. I know that he's been having thoughts about Kami lately. And that bothers me.
It's not because I think have claim over him or anything. It's just that, as a friend, I'm
concerned.
Kami Yatami is a girl who is serious high maintainence. She's got her issues, and I know
that as soon as she has the opportunity she'll drag Shinji into them.
So I figure that, as a friend, it's my responsibility to make sure Shinji stays as far away
from Kami as possible.
That's what this is all about. Friendly concern. Nothing more.
--
"Shinji. Buddy. Pal. Champ. How's it going?"
Shinji was no stranger to sucking up. He rolled his dark blue eyes. "What do you want?"
Blake's eyes widened in mock shock at Shinji's cynicism. "Shinji, I am hurt - no, crushed -
that you assume I want something."
Rei laughed. "Blake, even from way over here I can see right through you."
Blake grabbed a chair from the desk in front of Shinji and straddled it, facing Shinji.
"Okay, here's the thing. Rei and I are going on a non-date tonight, but Kami's kind of in
a mood and I don't want to leave her by herself so I was wondering if you wanted to come with
us and make it a double non-date."
"Thanks for telling me," Rei commented sarcastically.
Blake grinned and continued pleading his case to Shinji. "So what do you say?"
"Does Kami know about this?"
"Oh, yeah," Blake assured him, drumming his fingers on his legs. "She was psyched."
Shinji's lips moved upward slightly at the corners - a fugitive smile. "Well, yeah. I don't
have any plans. Count me in."
From his desk beside Rei's, Kensuke glanced down at the pseudo-wood surface and smirked.
Asuka was going to be thrilled when she found out.
Touji wasn't usually one to buy into gossip. He usually left that up to Asuka and Hikari, and
in some cases, Shinji.
But what Kensuke had told at the start of Data Analysis and Programming was too good not to
bring up.
Playing his gossip like a well-tuned guitar, Touji waited till Shinji left his seat to ask
the teacher a question before bringing it up.
"Guess who's got a date tonight?" Touji said innocently, pretending to be absorbed in his
screen, which was difficult when he was trying to keep an eye on Asuka to gauge her reaction.
Predictibly, Asuka asked the question. "Who?"
Touji hit a couple of keys, totally relaxed. "Kami and Shinji."
Asuka choked. "What?" she managed to say, coughing.
Hikari patted her friend's back and shot Touji a reproachful look.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Touji said, eyes wide, voice dripping with innocence. "Did I say date? I meant
non-date. It's a friend thing. Purely platonic. Right, Kensuke?"
Kensuke turned away from his computer, doing a remarkable job of not looking amused. "Oh,
yeah. Totally. Friend thing. Purely platonic. Of course."
As Touji suspected, the numerous validations served only to heighten Asuka's suspicions.
Having now fully recovered from her choking, she turned in her seat and shot a glare straight
at Shinji, who was discussing his latest assessment task with the teacher.
Shinji looked up upon feeling Asuka's eyes on him, and saw the hyperdeath glare she was
shooting.
If only he knew why.
"What did you think of the movie?" Blake asked point-blank, barely one step out of cinema 9.
He loved being the first to ask that question - because then he got to watch people backpedal
as soon as he contradicted them.
"I liked it," Rei stated firmly.
"Why?"
Kami rolled her eyes. "Geez, Blake, what is this? An interrogation?" she teased, nudging him
slightly.
"I really liked MacKenzie Rosman's character," Rei explained, skipping down the purple-
carpeted stairs.
"Laine," Shinji supplied.
"Right. I really liked Laine," Rei continued, gathering her hair into a messy ponytail with
a black hair tie. "She had just as much power as the men in that movie. That never happens
in action movies."
Kami nodded emphatically. "I agree. Most chicks in action flicks are simpering sluts who
spend the whole time either screaming or taking off their clothes. Laine got right in there
and pumped lead into those steroid-eaters with the best of them."
Shinji laughed out loud at Kami's somewhat blunt review. "Steroid eaters?" he echoed with a
grin.
Kami returned the grin. "That's what they were. Those pecs cannot be natural."
Outside, Rei pulled her black cotton jacket around her tightly to combat the chilly wind.
"It's freezing," she acknowledged. "Where do you want to go now? Ice cream?"
Blake laughed and zipped his cord jacket up. "Rei, you're a walking contradiction."
"I could go for ice cream," Kami contributed. "Where's the nearest ice-cream place?"
Shinji racked his mental street directory. "There's a Haagen-Dazs about four blocks over."
"Four blocks?" Kami made a face. "Gee, I would have brought my hiking boots if I'd known."
"Whiner," Blake teased, pushing her slightly.
"Jerk," she shot back, pushing him right back.
Shinji thought it over carefully; four blocks was kind of a big haul, especially in this
weather. "How about a block over?" he asked, remembering a closer location. "Is that all
right?"
"A block?" Rei echoed. She couldn't think of any ice-cream places a block over.
It hit her, and she groaned. Shinji had to be kidding.
"Mr. Wiggly's Ice Cream Fun House?"
A screaming seven year old ran past, a blue helium balloon in tow. Rei winced.
"I think you have to be under four foot to eat here," Kami continued wryly, eyeing the
brightly coloured interior, balloons and indoor playground.
"So you should be able to get in fine," Blake cracked.
"Jerk," Kami muttered, but she didn't mean it.
Shinji ignored his friend's whines and strode purposefully into the ice-creamery. A
miserable looking kid in a paper hat blinked at Shinji from behind the counter. "What can
I get you?"
"Four Mr. Wiggly Kiddie Surprises," Shinji said, trying to look serious which was hard to
do while saying a phrase like 'Mr. Wiggly Kiddie Surprise'. "One with rocky road," he said,
calling up Rei's favourite flavor from memory. He studied Blake and Kami for a second then
turned back to the kid at the counter. "One with chocolate chip cookie dough, one with mint
choc chip and one with coffee-chocolate-chunk."
The boy nodded and set about preparing the Mr. Wiggly Kiddie Surprises. Minutes later, he
set four shallow melamine dishes on the counter. Each held three scoops of ice cream, two
'eye' scoops and one 'nose' scoop. Each eye scoop had a glace cherry in the middle; the nose
scoop had a big sugar wafer sticking out of it. Drizzled chocolate syrup served as eyebrows
and a raspberry twister was stretched across the bottom like a big smile.
Kami and Rei exchanged glances and burst into giggles. Blake look mildly alarmed that he was
going to be eating something like this in public.
A few minutes later, the four were seated at a table decorated with pictures of teddy bears,
crayons and balloons. Kami scooped up a bit of 'nose' and grinned at Shinji. "You might be
insane, but you're definitely different," she said. "I'll say that for you."
Shinji grinned back and Blake and Rei exchanged speculative glances.
Blake smirked and Rei shook her head slightly.
Blake obviously thought things were about to get interesting.
Rei just thought things were about to get messy.
Asuka opened Shinji's bedroom door, resplendent in a shimmery teal halter and black hipsters.
Nodding in greeting at Shinji, who was lying face up on his bed, she dropped a collection
of cosmetics on his dresser.
"Asuka, how many times do I have to remind you that you have your own mirror?" Shinji asked,
though he wasn't particularly annoyed.
Asuka opened a tube of mascara and examined the color critically. "And how many times do I
have to tell you that the lighting is better in here?" She frowned at the mascara. "Do you
think I'd look too weird with green eyelashes?"
"Just a little."
Asuka made a face. "That's the last time I let the girl at the Revlon counter talk me into
anything." She aimed the mascara at Shinji's blue plastic bin, then changed her mind.
"Knowing my luck, green will probably be in next month." Asuka caught sight of Shinji's
reflection and turned to face him, a slight frown on her face. "Aren't you coming?"
"Coming where?" Shinji asked, totally absorbed in the intellectual pursuit of throwing a
red rubber ball at the ceiling and catching it again.
"To Splash," Asuka reminded him, twisting open her Kiss lipgloss and studying it. "Remember?
They got some kick-ass DJ from Finland or something in, so it's going till 6am tonight."
Shinji nodded, throwing the red ball up at the ceiling. "Oh, yeah. I'm going. But I'm not
leaving for at least another half hour."
Asuka dipped her finger into the lipgloss and shook her head. "Who wears silver, anyway?"
she muttered, swapping it for her faithful pink Hologram gloss. "A half hour? We're all
meeting at 10:30, though."
"Kami had some stuff to do, so I'm picking her up at about quarter to eleven," Shinji said,
feeling a little uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had turned.
Asuka rolled her eyes and dropped her Hologram gloss back on Shinji's dresser. She leaned
forward slightly and checked the lines of her gloss. "What's this, like the fifty-eighth
time you've gone out with her this week?"
Shinji caught the ball and held it, glancing towards where Asuka was in the midst of a
deep decision involving eyeshadow. Her halter top scooped way low in the back, revealing
a cluster of rhinestones glued to her skin in the shape of a star. Shinji averted his eyes,
annoyed that he found that so damn appealing.
"Third," Shinji corrected.
"Third," Asuka repeated, not at all discouraged. "Three times in a week. Someone might
think that you're getting pretty serious."
"It's not like they were dates or anything," Shinji said. "The first was like a non-date and
the other things have been group things."
Asuka shrugged her slender shoulders and spun around to face Shinji, her blue eyes
expectant. "So how do I look?" she asked brightly.
Shinji rolled his eyes. "Come on, Asuka. You know you're gorgeous."
As Asuka headed back to her room to dump her makeup and grab her bag, her lips curved slightly
in a smirk.
"Well, Shinji," she said with quiet determination, glancing in her own mirror. "Let's hope
that you remember that."
"Someone's set to make a big impression tonight," Touji commented, nodding at Asuka.
Asuka's brow furrowed slightly. "What?"
"Someone's set to make a big impression tonight!" he repeated, louder.
"Well, I try," she replied, barely hearing him over the pounding music. Asuka sidestepping a
cloud of smoke a girl from her Chemistry class exhaled and observed the song that was pulsing
through the dim, smoky club, a mix of Lucky Star she'd heard before. "When does this Finland
guy start?" she asked Kensuke.
"About 11, I think," Kensuke informed her, shouting. "Hendrick Mason. He's an absolute master."
Kensuke shook his head, a look of awe in his eyes. "I don't know how Splash managed to get
him here."
Hikari's head bobbed up and down in agreement, fine pink glitter shaking from her hair.
"I know," she said. "I've heard his stuff. He's amazing." She grinned. "And he's total eye
candy, too."
Touji pretended to scowl.
"Hey, guys!" Kei's excited cry could be heard clear over the music. The group turned to see Kei
dragging Blake by the sleeve of his blue Quiksilver shirt, her pale blue eyes wide with
completely non-contained excitement.
"Hi!" she greeted them, bouncing up and down in her insanely high pink and gray platforms.
"I swear, I am so excited!"
Blake put a hand on top of her head to quell her bouncing. "Whoa. Ease up there, tiger. You're
seventeen. No need to act like a toddler."
"Where's Shinji?" Kei asked, choosing to ignore Blake. "I thought he was totally stoked
for tonight."
"He's coming," Asuka assured them all, lifting herself on her toes slightly to see if Shinji
and Kami were coming through the door. "He said he was picking up Kami at quarter to eleven."
Kensuke's eyebrows lifted. "Kami, huh?" he said in a knowing way that made Asuka want to
deck him. "What's this, the fourth date this week?"
Asuka bit her lip in barely contained annoyance. Why was that important? "Third," she
corrected tightly. "And besides, it's not like they were dates anyway. They were like non-
dates. Group things." At the doubtful glances her friends exchanged, Asuka became indignant.
"No, it's true!" she insisted. "Shinji said so himself!"
Touji shrugged. "If you ask me, it sounds like a classic early-dating play formation. Denial.
Totally vintage."
Asuka looked doubtful; Kensuke nodded in agreement. "No, he's right. This early in a
relationship no one wants to admit that they've been on 'dates'. Because you don't really
know if the other person considers them dates or not."
Asuka's hands rested on her hips. "Okay, maybe," she conceded. "But why would he lie to me?
I know him better than anyone and he knows that."
Asuka watched her friends' reactions. Hikari smirked and looked down at her four-inch
platforms. Kensuke and Touji exchanged speculative glances. Kei looked amused and Blake
looked slightly concerned.
Asuka felt herself blushing profusely, and she hated when that happened. She sighed loudly.
"Look, can we just go dance instead of standing around like this?" she demanded. "Geez."
As she headed out to the dance floor, Asuka was glad that the music in the club was so loud.
She had a sneaking suspicion that she didn't want to hear anything her friends might have to
say tonight.
--
Asuka Langley Soryu -
I don't care what happens between Shinji and Kami.
I don't care what happens between Shinji and Kami.
I don't care what happens between Shinji and Kami.
Really. I don't care.
Shinji Ikari -
Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami.
Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami.
Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami.
Do I care that Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami?
--
By 7:15am, they were still standing around Splash, waiting for Kensuke to finish gabbing
with Takeo, one of the owners of Splash. Kensuke had done work experience for him a year
ago and still worshipped the guy like he could walk on water.
Shinji and Kami were standing by themselves, laughing hysterically as Kami attempted to teach
him some superlame rave move. "Big fish, little fish, box, box," Kami instructed, her
movements hampered somewhat by the plaster still on her wrist.
Shinji attempted - and failed - to duplicate the string of movements. "Big fish, box fish,
little box . . . " he said, confusing himself. "What?"
As Kami stood behind Shinji and gently grasped his wrists, moving his arms for him and giggling
hysterically, Asuka glowered from the other side of the room.
Hikari shifted her position on one of the black vinyl bar stools and crossed her right leg
over her left. "This could get messy," she said quietly, directing her comment at Touji
and Kensuke.
Kensuke followed Hikari's eyes and clued in. "You mean this little Shinji-Kami-Asuka triangle?"
he asked.
Hikari nodded. "I thought Shinji was smarter than to get tangled up in something so
obviously headed for disaster," she commented fretfully, swinging one four-inch-platformed
leg.
Touji glanced at his girlfriend. "You want my opinion? I bet Shinji doesn't even realise
where this is headed."
Kensuke nodded in agreement, but his expression was grave. "You're right. He's so totally in
denial about Asuka that he probably doesn't even realise." He paused, shaking his head,
knowing what was going to happen. "And my guess? He's not going to realise until it hits
rock bottom."
Hikari sighed and pulled her hair off her shoulders. "So, I give it two weeks, tops."
Surprisingly, considering it was the crack of dawn, Caffeinated Jazz boasted a sizable crowd
by the time they all got there at Kei's insistence.
They'd managed to snag a table in the back that was decoupaged with pages from old comic
books, next to a table full of generic black suits sipping espresso and eyeing the post-rave
conditions of the group with practiced distaste.
"Man, I can't believe this," Kei whined, holding out a lock of her hair in disgust. "Can
you believe how gross my hair is from one night of dancing?"
"I have a hair tie," Hikari offered, opening her wallet and producing a clear plastic band.
Kei took it gratefully and slipped it over her wrist. "I'm gonna go tie up my hair," she
announced, pushing back her chair and standing up. She glanced at Hikari, and, as an
afterthought added, "Hikari, come with me?"
When they reached the black-tiled bathroom, Kei pulled her messy, glittered-up hair into
a careless ponytail and turned to Hikari, hands on hips. "So I heard you, Touji and Kensuke
talking this morning at Splash," Kei said, straight-to-the-point.
Hikari nodded and leaned forward to apply some watermelon lip gloss.
"So what's the score?" Kei pressed.
Hikari sighed deeply and studied her watermelon gloss. "What do you want to hear?" she asked,
smoothing the top of her gloss over with her index finger.
"Explain the phrase 'headed for disaster'," Kei suggested wryly, leaning her right hip against
the black Formica counter.
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Hikari asked, exasperated. "Shinji's dating Kami -
whether he admits it or not - while he's in love with Asuka, okay? He's totally screwing
them both over."
Kei tightened her ponytail and frowned. "Shinji and Asuka," she stated.
Hikari wound her hair up and secured it with a pink hair tie. "I know they don't exactly
convey it or anything," Hikari began dryly. "But Asuka and Shinji are so totally in love.
They have been since they met. They just won't admit it, you know? They've both had their
share of relationships. But they never work out. They're meant to be, you know what I mean?
They're like . . ." Hikari trailed off and snapped her fingers. "Give me a couple who are
totally meant to be."
"Um . . . Buffy and Angel?"
Hikari stared at her friend. "Yeah, okay. Buffy and Angel," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Shinji and Asuka are just like that. You can't escape destiny."
Kei laughed. "Could you sound anymore like a movie trailer?"
Hikari cracked a smile but soon turned sober. "Trust me on this, okay? It happens all the time.
One of them get to knows someone, they start dating them because they think they should and
end up breaking up because the whole denial thing gets to be too much."
Kei folded her arms. "Okay. Maybe. But if this happens all the time, then why are you
freaking out?"
Hikari smiled tightly. "Two reasons. One, this time it's not just someone who Shinji can
callously dump and move on. And two?" She paused and shook her head. "I don't know Kami all
that well. But I get the feeling that when Shinji does break up with her, it's going to hit
her hard."
--
Kami Yatami -
I only went out with Shinji as a favor to Blake. "Come on, Kam," he said. "Come out with me
and Rei and Shinji. He's a great guy. You'll have a good time."
I only went because I had nothing better to do. But Blake was right. I did have a good
time. Shinji is a great guy. He was attentive, he was sweet and he made me laugh. It had
been so long since I'd been with anyone like that. Someone who liked me for me. It made me
forget . . .
Forget what? Forget my mother.
I lied when I said we moved here because of business. We didn't.
We moved because of what happened back home.
But I know damn well that my mother didn't move to protect me. She moved to get away from the
rumors. About how Michiru Yatami was a hopeless mother and her daughter had a severely loose
screw. She didn't care about me. She cared that people were talking about her. Heaven forbid
Michiru Yatami should lose face.
Shinji likes me for me. And spending time with him makes me forget. Makes me forget my mother.
The one who never bothered to know me at all.
Touji Suzahara -
Shinji's been my friend for years. And he's a really nice guy. Honestly. He's the guy your
family asks about. The one who everyone trusts. He's the guy who can get socks for his
birthday and actually like it. Cuddly toys sneer at him.
He's nice.
But he has one major flaw.
He's bad in relationships.
He's had a string of perfectly nice girlfriends. All sweet and nice and totally gorgeous.
Shinji's never had a problem finding girlfriends. It's because he's so nice. He has this
way of making everyone feel super-important from the get go.
And no matter how sweet and nice and gorgeous they may be, all of Shinji's relationships
last two weeks, tops.
Naturally, it's because of Asuka. He always breaks up with girls because of Asuka. Because . . .
okay, let's face it.
The girl's a total manipulative ball-and-chain.
All I know is that Shinji either needs to tell Asuka that he was a thing for her or go into
therapy. Because otherwise he's never going to be able hold a relationship.
And he'll just keep hurting all the girls that make the mistake of thinking he'd actually
make a cool boyfriend.
Normally I wouldn't care. But this time it's Kami. And that girl is way too nice to have
her heart broken.
That, and well, Kami is Blake's sister. And Blake's kind of an aggressive guy. And I kind of
don't want to see Shinji get hospitalized.
--
"Rei, I have a problem."
Rei closed the door to the radio station behind her and smiled slightly at Kensuke's earnest
comment. "I've been saying that for years."
Kensuke let the lighthearted insult pass. "I have a problem and I have" - He trailed off and
glanced at the track time on the CD player - "two minutes thirty three to tell you about it.
Slightly more if I put on another song. Which I can't because when this track ends it'll be
time for the eight o'clock news."
Rei dropped her bag on a table and sat down. "Go ahead."
"I told my next door neighbour I'd baby-sit her kids tomorrow night," Kensuke blurted out,
desperation all over his face.
Rei blinked. "Kensuke, baby-sitting requires responsibility."
Kensuke groaned deeply and pushed his hands through his already messy hair. "I know. But she
offered me all this money. It's like the call of the Siren's song. How could I resist?"
Rei pulled at the hem of her gray skirt. "How old are the kids you're baby-sitting?"
"Six months and five years," Kensuke told her, his voice full of suffering. "A girl and boy."
Rei's eyes widened. The idea of Kensuke baby-sitting kids was amusing. The idea of Kensuke
babysitting a six-month-old baby was . . . well, a little alarming.
Kensuke glanced at the track time - he had fifty three seconds to wrap this up. He had to
move fast. "Rei, please help me baby-sit tomorrow night," he begged, sliding off the desk
chair he was seated on so he was on his knees on the linoleum floor. "I'll split the money
with you. I'll do your math homework. I'll do anything! Just please, please, PLEASE help me."
"You want me to give up my whole night so I can look after a couple of kids?"
Kensuke stared up at Rei. She couldn't honestly be considering turning his request down.
She wouldn't be so cruel. Not when his knees were digging painfully into the rock-hard floor.
Rei laughed. "Okay. I'll do it. But only because I can't handle seeing you look so pathetic
anymore."
Kensuke stood up, his knees creaking in protest. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he said
profusely. "You're saving my life."
Then he dropped back into his chair, spun around and eyed the track time. Nine seconds to go.
Not a bad effort.
Shinji blinked. He had a strange sense of being detached from reality.
At least, he hoped that he was detached from reality.
Misato couldn't be serious. She had to be joking. She did that lot, right? That was Misato
all over - full-time-joker.
"I'm serious," Misato insisted, bending over to pick up a silver flower-shaped barrette off
the floor. She dropped it on the table, shaking her head with exasperation. Shinji recognised
the shake. It was the mildly-annoyed-with-Asuka shake.
"But," Shinji began which was all he managed to get out before Misato cut him off.
"But nothing," Misato said firmly, doing that authority thing she occasionally pulled. The
authority thing that Shinji hated. "If you're going to date this girl, I want to meet her."
"But why?" Shinji asked, seriously marring his manhood by whining. Shinji glared at Misato.
This was clearly all her fault. Why did she insist on being so damn caring?
Misato rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "What is your problem?" Misato
demanded, her eyes wide. "I'm not asking for a Barbara Walters interview over dinner. I'm
asking to meet the girl." Her lips curved into a taunting smile. "Besides, how will I able
to tell if you're going to break up with her in one week or two if I don't meet her?"
Shinji sputtered. Was the woman trying to give him a premature coronary? "Who said I was
going to break up with her?"
"Gee, I don't know," Misato responded sarcastically, tapping her chin with her index finger
in mock thought. She tilted her head, her hair falling over her face slightly. "Your
track record, maybe?"
Shinji folded his arms over his blue shirt and tried to stare Misato down. It wasn't easy -
Shinji didn't find it easy to intimidate someone who knew as much about him as Misato did.
"That's so unfair," he protested.
"Oh, my bleeding heart," she shot back dryly.
When had Misato gotten so good at sarcasm?
Shinji opened his mouth to protest. Misato cut him off before he could even speak.
"Nope!" she said cheerily. "I don't care! You'll bring her around so I can meet her tomorrow.
And that's final."
Shinji stomped off to his room, muttering incoherent curses under his breath.
Kensuke flung open the door as soon as the doorbell chimed. Rei stood there, looking a little
taken aback at his enthusiasm.
"Hi," she greeted him.
Kensuke grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the door. "I was so worried you wouldn't
show," he informed her.
Rei shook her head, amused. The boy was the Prince of Paranoia.
She followed him into the house and spotted a small boy seated at a coffee table as he
diligently worked on a picture. Even though he was only five, his drawing was quite good and
was easily recognizable as a dinosaur. Further inspection revealed that it bore rather close
resemblance to a brontosaurus.
Rei sat at the coffee table across from the boy. "Hi," Rei said brightly.
The boy looked up from his picture briefly. "Hi."
"I'm Rei. What's your name?"
"Brendan," he told her, switching his brown Crayola crayon for a green one.
"That's a pretty cool dinosaur you're drawing," Rei said, taking a piece of paper from the
stack sitting on the table. She selected a blue crayon from the jumble strewn all over the
table and floor. "Do you like brontosauruses?"
Brendan looked up, looking pleased that Rei could accurately identify his drawing.
"Brontosauruses are my third favourite dinosaur," he told her.
"Yeah?" Rei replied, looking extremely interested. "You know what my favourite dinosaur
is?" Brendan shook his head, and Rei continued. "Triceratops. I think they're pretty cool."
Brendan's gray eyes widened. "That's my favourite, too!"
Rei lowered her head and started drawing. She lifted her eyes and grinned at Brendan.
"You know what, Brendan? I think you and me are going to be great friends."
Brendan smiled up at Rei with a mixture of awe and adoration.
Kensuke couldn't keep the awe off his own face. The girl definitely had a way with kids.
Asuka smoothed her blue skirt over her hips and checked her reflection, studying her left
side critically. Then she smiled.
She looked good in blue. She knew that. So in her short blue skirt, the one that matched
her eyes and a yellow tank top, she knew she was styling.
The thing was, would Shinji know that?
Asuka frowned. She wore yellow and blue a lot. Maybe she should wear a different colour.
Inspiration struck and she rifled through her closet, dragging out a loose, slightly
shimmery tank of lighter blue. She tossed the yellow top aside and slipped the lightweight
fabric over her head. She examined her reflection and smiled broadly.
"You can't beat a redhead in blue," Asuka acknowledged.
Even Shinji, for all his boneheadedness, couldn't ignore that.
Asuka leaned forward and checked her makeup. "It's not like I'm doing this to impress Shinji,"
she told her reflection, holding her hair off her face with one hand. "It's not like I want
him or anything. I'm just doing this because Kami's so wrong for him. I'm doing this for
him and Kami. Why let them have a relationship if they're just gonna break up? I mean,
that's gonna be painful for everyone involved. Hell, I'm doing this for everyone. It's
not selfish at all. This is probably the nicest thing I've ever done for anyone."
Asuka dropped her hair and wiped her fingers down the sides of her mouth. "They'd
probably break up in a week or so anyway. So what does it matter if I push that along?"
Shinji was lying on his bed. And he was agonising.
If there was one thing he hated, it was doing the girlfriend-introduction thing.
For some reason, girls seemed to think that meeting a guardian was one step away from
engagement, when what it really was was just a demand coming from Misato.
"It's going to be like Twenty Questions," Shinji muttered darkly, glaring at a wall. "Where
are you from? What do your parents do? Do you have any prospects? Have you had many boyfriends
before?" Shinji shook his head at the idea. "God help me."
A thought entered Shinji's head and with it came panic. What if Misato gave Kami a summary of
his past relationships.
"In 9th grade it was Courtney, Tamika and Tamae. In 10th grade it was Kaya, Taura, Akiko and
Elizabeth. Last year it was Kamlyn, Tomoko, Courtney again, Kaya's sister Taya and that
really odd blonde exchange student, Vesna. And those are just the ones I met," Shinji
said, mimicking Misato's super-perky tone.
Okay. So his track record was far from stunning. But did that mean Misato had to assume
he was going to break up with Kami as soon as he got bored?
Shinji sat up, resting his back against the wall. It occurred to him that at seventeen,
at the precipice of adulthood and responsibility and all that, the closest thing he'd
had to a long term relationship was three weeks and two days with Taura in the tenth
grade and that was because she'd gone away for the last two weeks of that time and he hadn't
been able to break up with her when she was on vacation in Singapore. No wonder Misato didn't
take him seriously.
"All right," he said out loud to his empty room. "Here's the plan. I have a few months
to convince everyone that I too can be responsible and one of those relationship types. So
here's what I don't do. I don't break up with Kami."
And having sorted that out, Shinji fell back on his bed, feeling slightly relieved.
Kami pressed the doorbell of the Katsuragi apartment, aware of her highly unimpressive
appearance. Her eyes were red and kind of puffy and she was wearing an orange and gray t-shirt,
3-quarter, slightly rumpled khakis and a pair of Etnies that were beyond the tattered point.
She knew she liked hell. Thing was, she didn't even care.
She hated her mother. Absolutely hated her.
The door to the apartment opened and suddenly Shinji was standing before her, looking all
too sweet considering she felt like crap.
"Hey," he greeted her, smiling.
"Hey," Kami responded weakly. She shook her head. She had to pull it together if she didn't
want Misato thinking she was a freak.
Shinji leaned forward, dark eyes curious. "Are you okay? You look like you've been crying."
Kami flushed a deep crimson and folded her arms. "What? Oh, no," she responded quickly. "I was
just watching a movie before I came over. Empire Records. That always makes me cry."
Shinji shrugged and offered her a teasing grin. "How sweet."
Kami pasted on a fake smile and pushed Shinji's shoulder. "You're such a jerk," she told him
lightly.
Shinji grinned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her inside. "Come on, Misato's dying to meet
you." His eyes flickered over her outfit. "You look great, by the way."
Kami smiled wryly. He was either easily impressed or a great liar. Her money was on the
latter.
They found Misato dumping a handful of various hair accessories into a drawer.
"Hey, Misato."
Misato turned, a couple of bobby pins and a beaded ponytail holder in her hand. "Hi," she
said brightly. She tossed the bobby pins in the drawer. "I swear, how a girl with a like, 5
billion IQ can't understand the concept of putting things away is beyond me." She grinned.
"You must be Kami."
"So I've been told," Kami responded, smiling.
"It's so nice to meet you," Misato told her. "Shinji's told me heaps about you."
Misato sat down at the kitchen table, gesturing for Kami and Shinji to join her. "So, you just
moved here, right?" Misato questioned, pulling her long hair over her right shoulder. "From
Boston or something."
"Just outside of Boston," Kami confirmed, completely grateful for the way Shinji kept his
hand on hers. She hated doing the parent thing.
"How come you moved?"
Kami immediately tensed at the question and from the look Shinji shot her, she knew that
he could tell. Wanting to save her from an uncomfortable line of questioning, Shinji stood
up suddenly. "Did you want a drink?"
"Um, thanks," Kami responded gratefully, more because she wanted to stall than because she
was thirsty. "I'll just have some water."
As Shinji headed off to get her a drink, a door opened behind Kami. She twisted in her seat
and immediately wished she hadn't.
Asuka was standing in the doorway of her room in a blue skirt and shimmery camisole and looking
more gorgeous than anyone had a right to look.
Kami's t-shirt and 3 quarters suddenly seemed totally inadequete.
Asuka's irritatingly bright blue eyes widened. "Kami, I didn't know you were coming over,"
she said in fake surprise, her voice dripping with pseudo innocence.
"Hi, Asuka," Kami said quietly, looking down at the table. She had a slight problem with
the fact that Shinji happened to live in the same apartment with a goddess.
Asuka walked forward and looked at Kami intensely. "Have you been crying?"
Kami twirled her ponytail nervously. "Oh, I was watching a movie before I came over," she said,
her voice just as quiet as it had been before. "I guess I cry easily in movies."
"What movie?" Asuka prodded.
"Um, Empire Records," Kami told her, wondering why she hadn't come up with a better lie. Why
hadn't she said she'd been watching Beaches or something that was actually tearworthy?
"Oh, I love that movie!" Misato exclaimed. "It's one of my favourites. What part made you
cry? The part where Renee Zelweger told everyone about Liv Tyler's drug thing?"
Kami nodded gratefully. "Yeah. I felt really bad for Liv Tyler there."
Asuka shook her hair back and shrugged. "Well, that's what you get for trying to be perfect,"
she remarked somewhat snidely.
Even though her comment was general, Asuka's words stung.
Asuka leaned against the table and Kami could have sworn she muttered something along the
lines of 'You would know, wouldn't you, Miss Perfect?' but dismissed it as paranoia.
Shinji returned then bearing a glass of water and a smile. "Hey, Kam, I was thinking. Have
you been to the new mall yet?" When Kami shook her head, he grinned. "It's awesome. It's
like four levels of shops and the top level is like games and it's got a mini golf course
and everything. You want to go?"
Asuka watched as Kami's face lit up and she just about dumped the glass of water over her
charmingly messy hair. The girl's hair was a mess and she looked like she'd dragged on
whatever had been on her floor but somehow it worked. Kami didn't look a mess, even though
that would have made Asuka's day. Somehow, the girl managed to do the rumpled, tousled
thing and actually come out looking super cute.
It was definitely irritating.
"Oh, I love mini golf!" Kami exclaimed, her green eyes bright with such wide eyed innocence
Asuka couldn't help rolling her eyes. Geez. What was the girl, 99% cotton candy?
"Great!" Shinji responded, sounding way too chirpy for someone who hadn't had any
caffeine. "Do you need to stop by your place for anything?"
Kami grinned. Asuka noted that her smile was slightly lopsided, but somehow that only added
to her cuteness. Annoyingly so.
Kami opened one of the pockets of her khakis and pulled out a plastic card, waving it
slightly. "I never leave home without it," she informed him.
Of course not, Asuka reflected sourly. Mommy's little princess probably gets anything she wants
including a no-limit credit card.
Asuka hated people like that.
As soon as Kami and Shinji headed off, laughing, nudging and making Asuka seriously nauseous,
Asuka looked at Misato expectantly and sat down. "Verdict?"
"I think maybe you should be nice to her."
Asuka looked at Misato, stunned. Misato was preaching? Since when?
Misato made a face. "I know, I know. And I know you don't like her. But she's hiding
something. Trust me. I've seen Empire Records at least one hundred times. I can understand
the shedding of an errant tear but it's definitely not sobworthy. Which is exactly what
she was doing. The girl's got a secret."
"What does that have to do with me being nice to her?"
Misato pushed her chair back and stood, eyeing Asuka with a wiseness she rarely showed. "When
Shinji breaks up with her, she's not going to handle it well. And I don't think you not
hiding the fact that you don't like her will help at all."
But Asuka's stubborn expression didn't waver and Misato realised that she didn't care.
Kensuke dropped into the soft gray couch and looked up at the ceiling. "My God. I am more
exhausted than I have ever been."
Rei nodded in agreement, sitting beside him. "I could fall asleep right now," she replied,
holding back a yawn.
Kensuke ran a hand through his unruly hair and reached for the remote. "Man. Who knew looking
after a couple of kids could be so exhausting?"
"They're adorable, though," Rei said in response as Kensuke channel surfed. Cooking show.
Soap opera. Boy band video clip.
"Yeah," Kensuke said. "Brendan took a real shine to you. I think you deserve more babysitting
credit than I do. You were really great with him." He glanced at her and winked. "I think
the boy has a little crush on you."
Rei's complexion grew slightly pink at that comment. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You
were wonderful with Tara. She loves you."
Kensuke shrugged. "She's easy to look after. She's totally adorable." He grinned. "Did you
see the soles of her feet? They're like tiny little velvet cushions."
"I see the feeling is mutual."
Kensuke reddened noticeably and took a sudden interest in the sitcom on the TV. "Yeah, well
don't tell the guys, okay? Otherwise I'll have to live with some totally original nickname
like Koochy Koo Kensuke for the rest of my life."
Rei laughed at that.
Minutes later, the front door opened and Mrs. Taylor walked into the living room. Kensuke
and Rei stood up.
"Hi, Mrs. Taylor," he said politely. "How was your evening?"
Mrs. Taylor sighed and shrugged her cranberry red jacket off. "Oh, the usual. The same old
boring speeches and warmed over chicken. But it was for the Children's Hospital so I guess
it was worth it." She shrugged slightly. "You know how these things are."
Rei and Kensuke exchanged glances. They had no idea how these things were.
For the first time Mrs. Taylor noticed Rei and blinked in surprise. Kensuke mentally slapped
himself for skipping the introductions.
"Rei, this is Mrs. Taylor. Mrs. Taylor, this is Rei. She helped me out tonight."
Mrs. Taylor's eyes widened. "Tell me my kids weren't so out of control you had to call her
for help."
Kensuke laughed. "No, not at all. I asked Rei to help me out beforehand. I wasn't sure how
much attention a six month old would need."
Mrs. Taylor cringed. "She screamed like a banshee all night, right?"
Kensuke blinked in surprise. "Tara? No, definitely not. She was perfect. Barely whimpered
at all."
"No way!" Mrs. Taylor exclaimed. "You're kidding, right?" She didn't wait for a response.
"Tara never lets anyone but me, her father and Brendan near her. She hates strangers." She
winked at Kensuke. "Looks like someone has the gift."
Kensuke blushed profusely.
Mrs. Taylor dug into her wallet and handed a bunch of notes to Kensuke. Kensuke gaped. "Come
on, Mrs. Taylor," he protested. "This is way too much."
She shook her head. "Anyone who can look after Tara all night without her screeching her
little head off deserves it." She grinned. "Just make sure you guys split it evenly."
Kensuke grinned back with enormous gratitude. "Thanks so much, Mrs. Taylor. Really."
"You'll be hearing from me again really soon," she informed them as they headed out the
door.
"Okay, Mrs. Taylor," Kensuke replied cheerily. "Thanks again. Good night."
"Good night, Kensuke. And . . . I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your girlfriend's name."
Kensuke and Rei blinked in surprise and Mrs. Taylor waited on expectantly.
"Um . . . Rei," Rei said, still suffering from a degree of shock.
"Good night, Rei," Mrs. Taylor said, oblivious to the awkward vibes. "It was nice meeting
you."
When the door closed, Rei and Kensuke exchanged glances and laughed awkwardly.
"That was just a conclusion. That she, you know, jumped to," Kensuke stumbled uncomfortably.
Man. Right now he could think of one hundred other places he'd rather be.
Rei nodded. "Yeah, I know." She offered him a smile that put him at ease. "Come on, Koochy
Koo Kensuke," she said, a teasing note to her voice. "If I'm supposed to be your girlfriend,
the least you could do is walk me home."
--
Kensuke Aida -
Is it at all bad, bizarre and wrong of me to be thinking back on what Mrs. Taylor said -
and to be liking the sound of it?
Is it bad to think that the words 'Kensuke', 'your girlfriend' and 'Rei'
sound really good together?
Is it bizarre to like the fact that Rei didn't correct Mrs. Taylor?
And is it wrong for me hope that any of this means something?
Probably.
But let's be realistic here - it's probably not going to stop me.
Rei Ayanami -
I am well aware that that scene should have been very, very awkward.
Is the fact that it wasn't - at least to me - wrong?
Or is it the exact opposite?
Is the fact that it wasn't awkward to me something right?
--
"Three cans of whipped cream," Shinji stated disbelievingly, setting the three said cans on
the kitchen counter. "Who bought three cans of whipped cream?"
Asuka closed the fridge and spun around, her hands on her hips. Total indignation. "You told
me to make sure we had enough."
"Yes, I told you to make sure we had enough," Shinji agreed, rolling his dark blue eyes and
leaning back against the counter. "This isn't enough. This is ridiculous."
Asuka shrugged and turned back to the fridge. "Hey, at least we know we have enough to make
this cake."
Shinji pulled the last item, a bottle of aspirin, out of the paper bag and set it on the
counter. He collapsed the bag into a neat rectangle and frowned slightly. "You didn't get the
cookies?"
"What cookies?" Asuka asked, selecting a small bottle of orange and passionfruit juice and
closing the fridge. She twisted the green plastic lid off.
"The chocolate cookies," Shinji explained. "We can't make a chocolate ripple cake without
chocolate cookies."
Asuka took a long drink of juice. "I thought we already had some."
Shinji began opening and closing every single cabinet in the kitchen, searching for the
elusive cookies. "Are you sure we already have some cookies?"
Asuka hoisted herself up onto the kitchen counter. "No. I just thought I'd seen some. Who
knows when that was, though."
Shinji rolled his eyes.
Asuka grabbed a canister of cream and popped the red plastic top off. She pressed the top
down and squirted a big blob of whipped cream into her mouth.
Shinji spun around. "Hey," he scolded. "We might need that."
Asuka laughed. "Get real. We couldn't eat three canisters of whipped cream if we tried."
"I could," Shinji cracked. They both laughed. Shinji closed the last cupboard. "We don't
have any cookies."
"Maybe we can make a whipped cream cake," Asuka suggested. "Just a big slab of whipped
cream."
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard," Shinji replied. Asuka squirted another
blob of whipped cream into her mouth and Shinji's stomach growled. "Give me some of that."
Asuka flipped the can around and pressed the top down. Whipped cream sprayed all over
Shinji's chin.
"Hey!" he protested.
"Sorry," Asuka replied, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief.
Shinji lunged for another canister, popped the lid off and thrust it in front of him. "This
means war!" he declared.
"No, wait!" Asuka slid off the counter and raised her arms protectively. "That was an
accident. Hey - this is a clean shirt!"
Shinji sent a spray of whipped cream across Asuka's pale green shirt. "Z for Zorro!" he
cried. "Ole!"
As Shinji spoke, Asuka took advantage and sprayed a white blob of whipped cream into
Shinji's mouth. "Bulls eye!" she cried, keeping her finger pressed down and covering
Shinji's face.
Shinji, barely able to see, let loose a barrage of whipped cream across Asuka's face.
"You look ridiculous," Asuka informed Shinji, giggling.
"You look ridiculous," Shinji declared. "I look dignified!"
"That does it!"
Asuka launched a full frontal attack, covering his gray sweater with a cloud of whipped
cream. Shinji, laughing too hard to shoot accurately, sprayed some of Asuka's hair and
half of the fridge door. Asuka slipped on cream covered spot on the floor and grabbed
Shinji's arm for support. He slipped too, and they both hit the floor, laughing
hysterically.
They were both laughing too hard to shoot straight now, and bursts of whipped cream hit
the walls, the cupboards and the ceiling.
"Truce!" Shinji said. "It's all over the kitchen."
Asuka leant back against a cabinet, giggling. She sprayed a blob onto Shinji's nose and
another non-stop-spray ensued.
A few minutes later the battle ended, the two cans empty. Asuka wiped a pile of whipped
cream off her sleeve and sucked it into her mouth. "I guess we can't make the cake now,
huh?" she remarked.
Shinji shrugged with a grin. "That's okay. I'm pretty full, anyway."
He attempted to stand, slid on a pile of whipped cream and fell back to the floor. Asuka
laughed. Shinji mock scowled at her.
Asuka wiped whipped cream from her long lashes, shaking her head. "Man, this is insanity.
Misato's gonna go postal when she sees what we did to the kitchen."
Shinji lounged against the cabinet, feeling cream squelch between the cabinet and his back.
"Hey, we had fun," he responded with a slight shrug. "Who cares?"
Asuka reached out and pushed his shoulder slightly. "Shinji, I've never known you to be such
a teenager," she commented lightly, teasingly.
"Moron," Shinji said, not really meaning it. Far from it, in fact.
"Jerk," Asuka shot back with a grin.
Shinji studied Asuka carefully. Funny. With the fluorescent lights shining on all that
white whipped cream in her hair, she kind of looked like an angel.
Shinji looked away, wondering if his cheeks were flaming like a wildfire. They certainly
felt like it.
His brain screamed at him. Warning! Red alert!
Shinji forced himself to look at Asuka, who was totally oblivious to Shinji's inner turmoil.
"Tell you what," he began, forcing a smile. "Why don't you go have a shower and I'll start
the clean up. Then when you're done you can help me finish up."
Asuka blinked in surprise. "Really?" Shinji nodded and Asuka started to stand up, bracing
herself against the counter to stop from slipping over again. She held out a hand to help
Shinji up.
Asuka leaned her left hip against the counter. She wiped some cream off the counter with
her index finger and sucked it into her mouth. Her eyes sparkled. "You know, Shinji," she
began slowly. "It's too bad we have to clean up before Misato comes back." Her lips slowly
curved into a teasing smile. "This had the potential to be really fun."
Before Shinji could even remind himself to breathe again, Asuka turned around and sauntered
off to the bathroom.
Shinji leaned back, his head falling back so he was looking at the ceiling.
Suddenly, cleaning the kitchen was the last thing on his mind.
--
Kami Yatami -
In my sophomore year, I decided to renounce relationships. Sophomore year was all about
casual dating. No pressure. No commitments. It was all about fun.
But by my junior year, I was totally sick of casual dating. I was sick of the same old
'first dates'. Sick of going to the same old places with the same kind of guy, talking
about the same damn thing.
Of course, by junior year I'd dated my way through the worthwhile male population at
Clonard High. And it's actually really hard to approach the steady relationship thing with
a guy you've told a year before that you were just looking for a casual thing.
I really like Shinji. Really. And I'm hoping beyond hope that that's where we're headed. To a
steady relationship. Because I'm sick of dating around. Sick of finding out that every guy
is just like the last one.
But Shinji's not like that. He's different.
At least . . . I hope he is.
Shinji Ikari -
In psychology, we learnt that repressing emotions is seriously unhealthy. Repressing emotions
can lead to people being really messed up.
So it's kind of funny, because I've always believed in denial as a coping method.
But lately doing the denial thing is a little harder than it used to be.
The way I see it, I have three options.
I could crush Kami, launch Blake into hyper-protective mode, make Misato say 'I told you so'
and embarrass myself horribly by telling Asuka how he felt.
I could move to Idaho and be a potato farmer.
Or I could stay with Kami, leave this . . . whatever . . . with Asuka as just friendship and
essentially take the safest route.
I don't care what my psych teacher says. Sometimes things don't go by the textbook.
Sometimes things depend on situations.
And sometimes you have to do what's right for other people, no matter how insane it might
drive you.
Asuka Langley Soryu -
Ugh.
I didn't seriously just say that, did I?
I didn't just say 'this had the potential to be really fun', did I?
And I didn't just think things that I swore I would never, ever think about HIM of all
people. Did I?
Suddenly, I feel really, really sick.
And I don't think it has anything to do with the whipped cream I just ate.
Part Three: Straight Up
Written by: K-Ley Katsuragi (sailor_mercury_@crystal-tokyo.com)
[Bevan's Door Productions, September 2000]
SYNOPSIS:
Shinji Ikari -
We've been friends for ages.
We've been there for each other through everything.
I always knew I loved Asuka as a friend.
I never realised I loved her.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any rights to Neon Genesis Evangelion or it's characters. What's the
point of saying that? If I owned any rights to NGE do you really think I'd be publishing my
fics on a dodgy homemade Geocities site? However, I do own the ACC's. But no one is really
going to use them so what's the point in claiming ownership?
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, before anyone socks me with a 'What is this Dawson's Creek, Eva style?'
email, can I say something? This whole fic has been inspired by Sweet Valley High, okay?
It's the shallowest of shallow. Try not to take this too seriously.
STANDARD PRE-FIC WARNING:
WARNING! THIS WARNING CONTAINS NO JOKE!
All the pre-fic warnings in Parts One and Two apply to Part Three. Can't be stuffed writing
them all out again.
--
*** NGE Senior Year - Part Three: Straight Up ***
"Hi."
Kami pushed her hair back and looked up, a bright smile on her face. "Hi," she replied,
pushing her sunglasses up on her head with her non-casted hand. She shifted her sling and
winced in pain, scowling the whole time. Damn, she hated injuries.
"Are you okay?" Shinji asked, all concern.
Kami nodded and managed a smile despite the slight pain in her wrist. No point in burdening
the boy.
Shinji sat down opposite Kami, shifting a thick notebook that was resting on the bench. "What
are you doing?" he asked, nodding at the pile of papers she was holding.
Kami made a face and sighed. "It's part of the enrolment-orientation process," she explained,
sounding pained. "I'm supposed to write all these essays and stuff on given topics. It's
supposed to help our coordinator understand me better or something."
Shinji nodded slowly. "Right. So basically you write a couple of hundred words and they
analyze your whole personality on that, which saves the school actually taking time to talk
to you."
Kami grinned. "That's pretty much it." She waved the papers she was holding slightly. "So I'm
going over my essays and trying to see if I wrote anything that'll result in me being forced
into a strait jacket."
"I could read it if you want," Shinji offered.
Kami hesitated and then handed him a sheet of paper resting on top, that was covered in small,
neat writing.
Shinji read it over, then looked up, a small smile on his face. "It's good," he told her
honestly. "It's really honest, and it's insightful too. I think whoever reads it will be
impressed," he said, handing her the essay back.
Kami flushed slightly and smiled. "Thanks."
Shinji checked his watch and cursed. "Damn. I'm supposed to meet my French teacher before
class starts," he informed her, standing up. "I'll catch you around, okay?"
He hurried off and Kami watched him, a speculative spark in her green eyes.
"I hope so."
--
Enrolment Essay Question #1
In order for us to better understand you as an individual, please answer the following
question:
Give an example of a challenge you have faced, how you overcame it and what you have learnt
from this experience.
Takeo Takei
12th Grade Coordinator
A year or two ago I probably would have described performing a perfect triple-herky back-
handspring combination at a football game while it poured down with rain. That's because a
year or two ago, that was as deep as I got. Cheerleading, shopping and parties were the main
focus in my life. I'm not embarrassed to admit that at one point I was probably the most
shallow person in Massachusetts.
But things change. And I like to think that in the past year, I have changed. I've grown.
And I know now that there's more to life than cartwheels, new shoes and partying.
Sure, I could probably reel off a bunch of challenges I've faced in the past. I could talk
about never having a father around, or bad relationships or being forced to move from Boston
to Tokyo-3 in my senior year. But I won't. Because all of those challenges are part of a
greater challenge that every single one of us face every day.
Life.
Life is a challenge. Every day life throws us new challenges, big or small, that all force
us to rethink our ways, our attitudes and our actions. And all these challenges have one major
purpose. To help us grow, and become better people.
I know I've grown a lot in the last year, but I'm not stupid. I know that there is plenty of
growing that I have yet to do. Plenty of challenges that I have yet to face.
And you know what? I say bring it on. Because I've survived seventeen years of life so far
and I think I've done pretty well.
And whatever adversity the future might hold for me, I know I'll be able to handle
it.
Kami Yatami, 12F
--
"This is nice," Rei said awkwardly, toying with the neckline of her pale green dress.
It WAS nice. Nice restaurant, nice food, nice music, nice atmosphere.
Too bad Rei felt like throwing up.
It was all very nice. And a little too much like a date.
'Of course it's too much like a date,' she reprimanded herself silently. 'It IS a date.'
Yes. It was a date. A very date-like date. With music and candles and flowers . . .
And overwhelming nausea.
The problem was, Blake was a great guy. He was smart. He was good looking. He was a good
dresser, and a pretty decent dancer. He cared fiercely about his family and friends.
The PROBLEM was, Blake was a great guy. Kind of like Shinji or Touji. As in, despite all his
remarkable qualities, she really didn't feel about him in a way that warranted a date.
And yet here she was. On a date. With Blake. In a beautiful irridescent green dress. Surrounded
by flowers and candles and couples giving each other goo-goo eyes.
Rei swallowed hard. Right now the only thing stopping her from throwing up was the thought of
throwing up on her dress.
Okay. Blake wasn't exactly the master of observation. But he was cluey enough to know when
someone was comfortable and when someone wasn't.
And Rei Ayanami was most certainly uncomfortable.
Which was okay with Blake because he wasn't particularly comfortable himself.
He was on a date with Rei. It was something he'd wished for since he'd met her.
Unfortunately, being on a date with Rei had cured him of wanting to be on a date with Rei.
It wasn't anything she'd done or said. She was beautiful, certainly. She was elegant. But she
was also fun, smart and easy to talk to.
Blake frowned slightly.
In many ways, Rei was very much like Kei.
A friend. A very attractive friend, but a friend nonetheless.
Blake suppressed a sigh. It was all he could do from resting his head on the table.
He was going to kill Misato.
"Well, that was nice," Rei said, feeling like she should probably say something.
Blake shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded. "Uh-huh."
"So, uh, I guess I'll see you tomorrow or something," Rei said, suddenly finding interest in
her shoes. Strappy pearly sandals. Fascinating.
A silence passed over the two that couldn't even be ranked as awkward. Agonising was a far more
adequete adjective.
"Listen," he said abruptly, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead. "I feel pretty harsh
saying this after two dates, but . . ." He trailed off. He'd never been good at this kind of
thing. "I think we should just be friends."
Rei tilted her head skyward. "Oh, thank god," she breathed.
Blake blinked. Not quite the response he'd been expecting.
Rei offered him an industrial-strength smile. "That was so uncomfortable."
Blake returned the grin. "Totally. I wanted to drown myself in the soup."
Rei laughed. "So, friends?"
"Friends," he echoed, feeling a weight lifting off his shoulders.
To his surprise, Rei kissed him quickly on the cheek, offered him a smile and headed inside.
Blake headed home, feeling more at ease than he had in a long time.
The at ease feeling Blake was experiencing lasted approximately 24 minutes, which was the exact
time it took for him to get home.
The minute he saw his mother slumped over the kitchen table, his spirits fell. His mother never
slumped. She was an energy-packed, take charge kind of woman.
"What's wrong?" he asked, thoughts of Rei slipping to the vault for a while.
Raine McDermott ran a hand through her shoulder length dark hair wearily, and reached over to
the answering machine.
A recorded message filled the room.
Blake stared open-mouthed at the machine.
"No way."
Shinji was having a small personal crisis.
The problem was this. He was going to France for a year.
No one, besides his French teacher, knew he was going to France for a year.
And he knew he'd dug himself into a fairly major hole. Because he'd signed. And even if he
brought it up now, Misato would still be pissed that he'd signed without telling her first.
Shinji slammed his Legal Studies book shut.
No way was he getting anything resembling work done tonight.
Identify the difference between similes and metaphors. Include three examples of each.
"What the hell kind of assignment is this?" Asuka demanded to her empty bedroom.
Similes were easy. Similes could be churned out at warp speed.
Metaphors were a little more complicated.
Asuka had never liked metaphors. They were too strong for her liking. Stating something was
something else wasn't something you could take back.
Asuka looked at her text book.
Example: 'It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.'
Asuka frowned. She'd never liked that line. She knew Shakespeare was trying to say that Juliet
was beautiful and life-giving and all that. But what about the bad sides of the sun? Maybe if
Shakespeare knew about skin cancer he wouldn't be so cavalier about labeling people like that.
Asuka sighed. She was procrastinating something shocking.
Metaphors.
My life is . . .
I am . . .
Shinji is . . .
Asuka frowned. What was Shinji? More importantly, what was Shinji to her? A year or two ago,
she would have answered without hesitation.
Someone I live with.
Someone I work with.
But now? Asuka wasn't sure. She wasn't sure about much at all, except for the fact that things
had changed rather a lot.
Asuka slammed her book shut.
No way was she getting anything resembling work done tonight.
--
Shinji Ikari -
-Getting Over This Asuka thing-
1. No touching her. That means no nudging, no hip-chucking and hugging is RIGHT out.
2. No hanging out with her in dark places. Movies are definitely out.
3. Try not to make her laugh. She looks way too beautiful when she laughs.
4. Try to find all the stuff she does annoying instead of endearing.
5. Don't get too close to her. If I get close enough to smell her perfume or
shampoo - that fruity one that smells like apples and watermelon - move back.
6. Move on. Find a distraction. There are plenty of girls out there.
Hmm . . . I wonder what Kami's doing right now?
--
Blake pressed the doorbell, trying to quell the nausea in his stomach.
He knew he shouldn't have had that chocolate iced jelly donut for breakfast.
He swallowed. Just the thought of it was enough to make him gag.
He wasn't sure if it was the donut, his own nervousness or the fact that he was breaking a
promise to his mother that was making him nauseous.
Blake jabbed the doorbell again, more than slightly impatient. He could hear footsteps and
voices, muffled by the thick wooden door. He listened carefully. There was definitely, at
least, two sets of footsteps. Someone else was there.
The door swung open, alarming Blake, who had been concentrating on the voices inside. He
blinked into focus, glanced at the person who had opened the front door and was immediately
alarmed again.
"What are you doing here?" Kami demanded, one hand resting on the hip of her dark denim jeans.
Blake folded his arms over his blue shirt and eyed his friend archly. "I could ask you the same
question," he retorted, trying to process the fact that Kami was standing at the door. He
would have expected to see Batman and his trusty sidekick Robin at the door before he would
have expected to see Kami Yatami.
Another figure came into the picture, startling Blake for the third time in as many minutes.
Michael McDermott stood behind Kami, a hand on her shoulder, his green eyes wide as saucers.
"So, uh, you two know each other?"
"Hey guys," Kei said. "Mind of I join you?"
Touji gestured to an empty seat beside him, which Kei accepted.
"Where's that objectional, annoying guy who's usually surgically attached to you?" Asuka
wanted to know, flipping a red straw between her fingers.
Kei shrugged her slim shoulders slightly. "I wouldn't have a clue."
The fact that Kei didn't defend Blake clued the rest into the fact that she wasn't
overwhelmingly pleased.
"Do you think if trees screamed, we'd be so casual about cutting them down?" Kensuke queried
out of the blue. Kei saw straight through his attempt to change the subject, but appreciated
it nonetheless.
Hikari lifted an eyebrow. "Kensuke, you think way too much."
Touji snorted. "I somewhat doubt thinking too much is Kensuke's problem."
Rei considered the question. "What if they screamed all the time for no apparent reason?"
Kensuke pointed at Rei. "That's a good point."
Asuka buried her face in her hands. "It's definitely time I found some new friends."
Shinji mock scowled. "Well, gee, that was flattering."
Touji mirrored Shinji's mock scowl. "All in favour of banning Asuka from the table?"
Hands rose; Asuka looked up to see the result of the impromptu vote. She crossed her arms over
her yellow and blue three-quarter sleeve t-shirt and glared.
Shinji smirked. Asuka might be annoying, but she was definitely entertaining.
_And annoyingly gorgeous._
Shinji groaned inwardly. These very non-platonic thoughts that kept popping up in his head
were clearly going to drive him to insanity.
A bread roll thunked him on the head. "What are you smirking at?" Asuka demanded.
Why was she so damn attractive when she was being annoying?
Before Shinji could attempt to string a sentence together, an intrusive beeping interrupted
his thoughts.
"It's mine," Kei said before the group could engage in the communal checking-of-phone ritual.
Kei looked down at the LCD screen, reading the words silently.
KEI, SKIP CLASS AND MEET
ME AT CAFFEINATED JAZZ.
I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU.
LATER, BLAKE
Kei sighed. Why she insisted on remaining friends with someone so high maintenence was beyond
her.
She pushed back her chair and stood up. "I gotta book. I'll see you guys later."
As Kei departed, she heard the sounds of Asuka resuming her abuse.
She smirked. They were definitely entertaining.
"Talk."
Rei looked up from her position on the linoleum floor. She brushed hair out of her eyes.
"What?"
"Talk," Kensuke repeated, straddling a chair and fixing Rei with a stare. "Come on, I want
to know what happened on your date."
"Inquisitive much?" Rei placed a stack of CD's on the floor. She was re-alphabetising the
radio station's CD collection for what felt like the one hundredth time. "Am I doing this
by band or title?"
"Um . . . band. Come on, give me the scoop," Kensuke insisted. "You have to tell me. You
can't just leave me hanging."
"Actually, I can," Rei responded with a slight smile. "Isn't there an Avalanches CD around
here somewhere?"
Kensuke frowned and yanked open an overflowing drawer. He scrabbled under various sheets
of paper, exercise books and pens. He produced the CD and handed it to Rei. "You can't
just call the evening 'enlightening' or whatever you said to Shinji and then not elaborate,
Rei. That's pure evil."
"I see Shinji has kept you informed."
Kensuke snorted. "This is Shinji we're talking about," he reminded her dryly. "Guy voted
most likely to become a gossip columnist in a trashy women's magazine?"
Rei shook her head and placed a Bardot CD next to the Avalanches. "Shinji has changed so much
over the years."
"So true," Kensuke agreed wryly.
Rei busied herself studying the back of a Cake CD. Kensuke eyed her skeptically. Like she
really thought he was distracted to the point of forgetting the initial path of
conversation.
"So what happened?" he asked point-blank. Why beat around the bush?
Rei lifted her eyebrows but didn't say a word.
"Rei!" Kensuke exclaimed, his voice a curious mix of anxiety, annoyance and amusement.
Rei calmly opened the Cake CD and slid out the leaflet. Kensuke rolled his eyes.
He was about to either implode or explode with frustration. He wasn't sure which.
"If you must know," Rei began, unfolding the CD leaflet. "We came to a decision."
Kensuke folded his arms. He wondered when Rei had become so well-versed in cruel and
unusual torture methods.
"A decision," he repeated, sounding oddly in control considering he was coming close to
crushing the toothmarked 2B Tudor graylead pencil in his hand into a million pieces.
"Uh-huh," Rei confirmed. She folded the leaflet and slid it back into the cover, painfully
slow. "We decided that we're better off as friends."
Kensuke breathed a quiet sigh of relief, feeling as though he'd been holding his breath since
the minute Rei and Blake had made up.
He could breathe freely, his CD's were being alphabetised and Rei and Blake were just friends.
Things were definitely looking up.
--
Kensuke Aida -
Rei and Blake are just going to be friends. And I'm glad. Because it was a mutual decision, so
I was spared any post-break-up wailing on Rei's part. And because it was a decision made so
early in the relationship, so I was spared witnessing any sickening displays between the two.
But the bad news?
Now I really don't have any reasons for not admitting to Rei the fact that I've developed . . .
ahem . . . feelings for the girl.
But you know, even though it was a mutual break up, I should probably still give her the two
week buffer zone, right? And then there's the thing that she's been helping at the station a
lot lately, and it's not professional to hit on people who you work with. Not to mention
that I'm totally swamped with everything right now . . . maybe too swamped to even consider
having a relationship.
But I'm not avoiding. Really.
--
Kei sighed deeply. She'd figured that sooner or later, someone was going to ask why Kami and
Blake had been absent. To be honest, she was surprised she'd gotten to second period without
being interrogated.
Though she'd kinda expected the interrogator to be a girl.
"So where are they?" Shinji asked again, drumming a pen on his Psychology textbook.
Kei saw Hikari rolling her eyes at Shinji's gossip mode, but she could tell from the way that
Hikari was leaning forward slightly that she was interested in the answer, too.
"Come on, Kei," Shinji wheedled. "You know you want to tell us."
Before Kei could even open her mouth to respond, they were rudely interrupted.
"Mr. Ikari," Mr. Tomoe boomed, his dark eyes narrowed at Shinji. "Would you please turn to
the front of the room? In case you've forgotten, this is a psychology class, not a free for
all gossip session."
As Tomoe launched into an explanation of something called undifferentiated schizophrenia
which seemed like way too many syllables for second period, Kei jabbed Shinji in the back
with her silver pen and passed him a note folded neatly into a triangle.
'If you really want to know, come to Caffeinated Jazz tonight after school at about 5.'
Shinji turned his head slightly and nodded almost imperceptibly.
Kei rested her head on her faux-wood desk. Right now, all she wanted to do was sleep.
Kensuke had spent a better part of his life listening to people whine about how they didn't
have time to do this or that. This was something he had never really understood. Outside of
the radio station, he didn't really do much. His theory was that doing to much led to spreading
oneself too thinly which led to disappointing other people which lead to disappointment in
oneself which could possibly lead to suicide. It wasn't about being lazy. Doing too much was
clearly a safety hazard.
So he'd narrowed his activities down to two.
The radio station, and people watching.
It was more than a hobby. It was an art.
Right now, for example, Rei was stirring her french vanilla latte for what was possibly the
last time before she developed carpal tunnel syndrome. The plastic stirrer had been moving
through the coffee in the same figure eight pattern for at least ten minutes.
This, Kensuke knew, was a sign of anxiety. And from the way her eyes kept glancing at Blake to
Kami to her latte and back again, he had a good idea the anxiety was Blake-and-Kami induced.
Likewise, Shinji was systematically grinding a biscotti into a fine powder with the end of a
spoon. His eyes kept darting to Blake to Kami to some point above Kami's head. He too was
showing signs of anxiety. But unlike Rei's case, Kensuke couldn't understand why Shinji was
so anxious. Rei had a reason. Even though her five-second relationship with Blake had crashed
and burned so pathetically, she still had to be a little miffed by Blake's switching flavors
so quickly. Unless Shinji was crushing on Kami . . .
Which would explain Asuka's behavior. She was busy swirling patterns in a pile of Sweet 'n Low
on the table. And they were pretty patterns too - flowers and stars and big round swirls. The
girl was oddly cheerful. And from the smirk that crossed her lips everytime she looked at Kami,
Kensuke was prety certain that she was behind it.
Kensuke's focus turned to Hikari and Touji, who had become a single entity since they'd started
dating. HikariandTouji. ToujiandHikari. Kensuke watched as Touji broke his cookie in half,
offering half to Hikari. Hikari blushed and accepted, Touji brushed hair from her forehead
and all Kensuke wanted to do was hurl from the sweetness of it all.
Kei slid into an empty seat at that moment, clutching a steaming cup of something. Kensuke
seriously hoped it was decaf. She was practically shaking with nervous energy.
Kensuke leaned back and bit into his chocolate-chip cookie. Yep, he definitely excelled in
people watching. Too bad it didn't count as an extra curricular activity.
Considering that their relationship had lasted all of five seconds, Rei was well
aware that she had zero claim over Blake. They were friends. Nothing more.
Still, she thought it was pretty callous for him to move on so quickly. Didn't he know
about buffer zones? It was the first rule of Dating 101.
Of course, she could be jumping to conclusions. Sure, Blake and Kami had said they had an
announcement to make. They hadn't said they had a relationship to announce. But honestly -
what other possibilities were there? Boy meets girl. Boy and girl take two days off school.
Boy and girl say they have an announcement to make.
What else were they going to say? That they were buying a muffin franchise together?
It wasn't like Rei cared or anything.
But it was still pretty harsh.
Asuka brushed sweetener from her fingers, crossed one leg over the other and smiled.
Shinji was annhilating his biscotti like the fate of the world depended on it.
Asuka's smile grew broader.
It wasn't like she thrived on other people's misery.
Okay, correction. Sometimes she did thrive on other people's misery.
But under normal circumstances, she didn't find people's misery a source of entertainment.
Well, not as much as she used to anyway.
But this time . . . well, this was a different story all together.
It was oddly poetic.
Asuka glanced at Kami and smiled. She almost wanted to thank the girl.
Kami adjusted her sling, wincing slightly. "Okay," she began, raising her voice to be heard
over the sounds of jazz, coffee grinders and over-caffeinated people. "We're all here for a
reason and it's not to drink coffee or . . ." She frowned. "Or do whatever the hell Shinji
is doing."
Shinji reddened, dropped his spoon and momentarily put the Tokyo-3 Biscotti Massacre on hold.
"And I'm just gonna come out and say it, because otherwise we'll be here till tomorrow and
by then you'll all be so caffeinated you'll be climbing the walls, and I don't know if I can
handle that so I'll say it really quickly and -"
"Uh, Kami?" Blake interrupted. "You're kind of babbling."
"I don't hear them complaining."
"That's because you haven't given anyone a chance to say two words!"
"Well, if you're so damn perfect, why don't you tell them?"
"Because you whined for three hours straight begging me to let you tell the news!"
"Exaggerate much?"
"Oh for God's sake!" Kei exploded, standing up, a portrait of exasperation. "Can you two shut
up for five seconds while I tell them?" Without waiting for a response, she turned to the
rest of the group. "Blake and Kami are brother and sister. Okay?"
A wave of silence passed over the group.
Blake closed his eyes.
Kami glared at Kei.
Kei sat down, looking no less stressed despite her considerable outburst.
Kensuke opened his mouth and closed it again. For maybe what was the third time in his
seventeen years, he was speechless.
Rei looked . . . not pleased, exactly. But relieved. Definitely relieved. She finally
abandoned stirring her latte, sat back and allowed the corners of her mouth to twitch upwards
slightly.
Asuka, on the other hand, was sporting a major scowl that was record-book worthy. Between
glares at Kami and Shinji, the girl did not look pleased.
Shinji was smiling slightly, glancing at the glass jar full of non-massacred biscotti at the
counter and concentrating very hard on not making eye contact with Asuka.
Finally, Kensuke spoke. "Uh . . . what?"
--
Kei Yamaguchi on Friendship
My parents are hardly ever around. But I remember one night my dad and I went out for dinner,
and we started talking about friendship. And I remember him saying to me, "You only come across
life long friends once in awhile, Kei. They're hard to find, but they're easy to lose".
Seeing as it was the closest thing to parental advice my father has given me, I took it to
heart.
Blake's my best friend. He has been ever since he moved here. He's my one in ten million,
you know? I look into the future and I see Blake. We'll always be friends.
So knowing that, I worry a lot about losing his friendship. We have this really
independent relationship, but at the same time we've always been hopelessly codependent on
each other. The thought of losing Blake is one that scares me.
That's why I've been so stressed about this whole Kami deal. Ever since I've known him, Blake
has harped on and on about how he wanted a sibling. And I remember one time in eighth grade he
said I was the closest thing to a sibling that he was going to get. And we both laughed
because we never thought Blake would actually ever end up getting a real brother or sister.
But then Kami Yatami rocks up. And not only is she Blake's half-sister, but she's the same age
as us, she's fun, and Blake just loves her to pieces.
I was always the closest thing Blake had to a sister. But now he has a sister. A real one.
So where does that leave me?
--
Asuka Langley Soryu on Friendship
Being friends with someone is a big responsibility. It takes more than kicking back with
someone and watching some TV to make a friendship. It takes work.
When you're friends with someone, part of your responsibility as a friend is to make sure
that you do what you can to stop them from getting hurt or in trouble or whatever. Right?
Shinji's my friend. We don't exactly thrive on saying it loud and proud, but we are. Living
with someone for that long is bound to do that. And since he's my friend, I do what I can
to make sure he doesn't do incredibly stupid things.
But right now, the guy is headed for major disaster.
I'm not stupid. I know that he's been having thoughts about Kami lately. And that bothers me.
It's not because I think have claim over him or anything. It's just that, as a friend, I'm
concerned.
Kami Yatami is a girl who is serious high maintainence. She's got her issues, and I know
that as soon as she has the opportunity she'll drag Shinji into them.
So I figure that, as a friend, it's my responsibility to make sure Shinji stays as far away
from Kami as possible.
That's what this is all about. Friendly concern. Nothing more.
--
"Shinji. Buddy. Pal. Champ. How's it going?"
Shinji was no stranger to sucking up. He rolled his dark blue eyes. "What do you want?"
Blake's eyes widened in mock shock at Shinji's cynicism. "Shinji, I am hurt - no, crushed -
that you assume I want something."
Rei laughed. "Blake, even from way over here I can see right through you."
Blake grabbed a chair from the desk in front of Shinji and straddled it, facing Shinji.
"Okay, here's the thing. Rei and I are going on a non-date tonight, but Kami's kind of in
a mood and I don't want to leave her by herself so I was wondering if you wanted to come with
us and make it a double non-date."
"Thanks for telling me," Rei commented sarcastically.
Blake grinned and continued pleading his case to Shinji. "So what do you say?"
"Does Kami know about this?"
"Oh, yeah," Blake assured him, drumming his fingers on his legs. "She was psyched."
Shinji's lips moved upward slightly at the corners - a fugitive smile. "Well, yeah. I don't
have any plans. Count me in."
From his desk beside Rei's, Kensuke glanced down at the pseudo-wood surface and smirked.
Asuka was going to be thrilled when she found out.
Touji wasn't usually one to buy into gossip. He usually left that up to Asuka and Hikari, and
in some cases, Shinji.
But what Kensuke had told at the start of Data Analysis and Programming was too good not to
bring up.
Playing his gossip like a well-tuned guitar, Touji waited till Shinji left his seat to ask
the teacher a question before bringing it up.
"Guess who's got a date tonight?" Touji said innocently, pretending to be absorbed in his
screen, which was difficult when he was trying to keep an eye on Asuka to gauge her reaction.
Predictibly, Asuka asked the question. "Who?"
Touji hit a couple of keys, totally relaxed. "Kami and Shinji."
Asuka choked. "What?" she managed to say, coughing.
Hikari patted her friend's back and shot Touji a reproachful look.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Touji said, eyes wide, voice dripping with innocence. "Did I say date? I meant
non-date. It's a friend thing. Purely platonic. Right, Kensuke?"
Kensuke turned away from his computer, doing a remarkable job of not looking amused. "Oh,
yeah. Totally. Friend thing. Purely platonic. Of course."
As Touji suspected, the numerous validations served only to heighten Asuka's suspicions.
Having now fully recovered from her choking, she turned in her seat and shot a glare straight
at Shinji, who was discussing his latest assessment task with the teacher.
Shinji looked up upon feeling Asuka's eyes on him, and saw the hyperdeath glare she was
shooting.
If only he knew why.
"What did you think of the movie?" Blake asked point-blank, barely one step out of cinema 9.
He loved being the first to ask that question - because then he got to watch people backpedal
as soon as he contradicted them.
"I liked it," Rei stated firmly.
"Why?"
Kami rolled her eyes. "Geez, Blake, what is this? An interrogation?" she teased, nudging him
slightly.
"I really liked MacKenzie Rosman's character," Rei explained, skipping down the purple-
carpeted stairs.
"Laine," Shinji supplied.
"Right. I really liked Laine," Rei continued, gathering her hair into a messy ponytail with
a black hair tie. "She had just as much power as the men in that movie. That never happens
in action movies."
Kami nodded emphatically. "I agree. Most chicks in action flicks are simpering sluts who
spend the whole time either screaming or taking off their clothes. Laine got right in there
and pumped lead into those steroid-eaters with the best of them."
Shinji laughed out loud at Kami's somewhat blunt review. "Steroid eaters?" he echoed with a
grin.
Kami returned the grin. "That's what they were. Those pecs cannot be natural."
Outside, Rei pulled her black cotton jacket around her tightly to combat the chilly wind.
"It's freezing," she acknowledged. "Where do you want to go now? Ice cream?"
Blake laughed and zipped his cord jacket up. "Rei, you're a walking contradiction."
"I could go for ice cream," Kami contributed. "Where's the nearest ice-cream place?"
Shinji racked his mental street directory. "There's a Haagen-Dazs about four blocks over."
"Four blocks?" Kami made a face. "Gee, I would have brought my hiking boots if I'd known."
"Whiner," Blake teased, pushing her slightly.
"Jerk," she shot back, pushing him right back.
Shinji thought it over carefully; four blocks was kind of a big haul, especially in this
weather. "How about a block over?" he asked, remembering a closer location. "Is that all
right?"
"A block?" Rei echoed. She couldn't think of any ice-cream places a block over.
It hit her, and she groaned. Shinji had to be kidding.
"Mr. Wiggly's Ice Cream Fun House?"
A screaming seven year old ran past, a blue helium balloon in tow. Rei winced.
"I think you have to be under four foot to eat here," Kami continued wryly, eyeing the
brightly coloured interior, balloons and indoor playground.
"So you should be able to get in fine," Blake cracked.
"Jerk," Kami muttered, but she didn't mean it.
Shinji ignored his friend's whines and strode purposefully into the ice-creamery. A
miserable looking kid in a paper hat blinked at Shinji from behind the counter. "What can
I get you?"
"Four Mr. Wiggly Kiddie Surprises," Shinji said, trying to look serious which was hard to
do while saying a phrase like 'Mr. Wiggly Kiddie Surprise'. "One with rocky road," he said,
calling up Rei's favourite flavor from memory. He studied Blake and Kami for a second then
turned back to the kid at the counter. "One with chocolate chip cookie dough, one with mint
choc chip and one with coffee-chocolate-chunk."
The boy nodded and set about preparing the Mr. Wiggly Kiddie Surprises. Minutes later, he
set four shallow melamine dishes on the counter. Each held three scoops of ice cream, two
'eye' scoops and one 'nose' scoop. Each eye scoop had a glace cherry in the middle; the nose
scoop had a big sugar wafer sticking out of it. Drizzled chocolate syrup served as eyebrows
and a raspberry twister was stretched across the bottom like a big smile.
Kami and Rei exchanged glances and burst into giggles. Blake look mildly alarmed that he was
going to be eating something like this in public.
A few minutes later, the four were seated at a table decorated with pictures of teddy bears,
crayons and balloons. Kami scooped up a bit of 'nose' and grinned at Shinji. "You might be
insane, but you're definitely different," she said. "I'll say that for you."
Shinji grinned back and Blake and Rei exchanged speculative glances.
Blake smirked and Rei shook her head slightly.
Blake obviously thought things were about to get interesting.
Rei just thought things were about to get messy.
Asuka opened Shinji's bedroom door, resplendent in a shimmery teal halter and black hipsters.
Nodding in greeting at Shinji, who was lying face up on his bed, she dropped a collection
of cosmetics on his dresser.
"Asuka, how many times do I have to remind you that you have your own mirror?" Shinji asked,
though he wasn't particularly annoyed.
Asuka opened a tube of mascara and examined the color critically. "And how many times do I
have to tell you that the lighting is better in here?" She frowned at the mascara. "Do you
think I'd look too weird with green eyelashes?"
"Just a little."
Asuka made a face. "That's the last time I let the girl at the Revlon counter talk me into
anything." She aimed the mascara at Shinji's blue plastic bin, then changed her mind.
"Knowing my luck, green will probably be in next month." Asuka caught sight of Shinji's
reflection and turned to face him, a slight frown on her face. "Aren't you coming?"
"Coming where?" Shinji asked, totally absorbed in the intellectual pursuit of throwing a
red rubber ball at the ceiling and catching it again.
"To Splash," Asuka reminded him, twisting open her Kiss lipgloss and studying it. "Remember?
They got some kick-ass DJ from Finland or something in, so it's going till 6am tonight."
Shinji nodded, throwing the red ball up at the ceiling. "Oh, yeah. I'm going. But I'm not
leaving for at least another half hour."
Asuka dipped her finger into the lipgloss and shook her head. "Who wears silver, anyway?"
she muttered, swapping it for her faithful pink Hologram gloss. "A half hour? We're all
meeting at 10:30, though."
"Kami had some stuff to do, so I'm picking her up at about quarter to eleven," Shinji said,
feeling a little uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had turned.
Asuka rolled her eyes and dropped her Hologram gloss back on Shinji's dresser. She leaned
forward slightly and checked the lines of her gloss. "What's this, like the fifty-eighth
time you've gone out with her this week?"
Shinji caught the ball and held it, glancing towards where Asuka was in the midst of a
deep decision involving eyeshadow. Her halter top scooped way low in the back, revealing
a cluster of rhinestones glued to her skin in the shape of a star. Shinji averted his eyes,
annoyed that he found that so damn appealing.
"Third," Shinji corrected.
"Third," Asuka repeated, not at all discouraged. "Three times in a week. Someone might
think that you're getting pretty serious."
"It's not like they were dates or anything," Shinji said. "The first was like a non-date and
the other things have been group things."
Asuka shrugged her slender shoulders and spun around to face Shinji, her blue eyes
expectant. "So how do I look?" she asked brightly.
Shinji rolled his eyes. "Come on, Asuka. You know you're gorgeous."
As Asuka headed back to her room to dump her makeup and grab her bag, her lips curved slightly
in a smirk.
"Well, Shinji," she said with quiet determination, glancing in her own mirror. "Let's hope
that you remember that."
"Someone's set to make a big impression tonight," Touji commented, nodding at Asuka.
Asuka's brow furrowed slightly. "What?"
"Someone's set to make a big impression tonight!" he repeated, louder.
"Well, I try," she replied, barely hearing him over the pounding music. Asuka sidestepping a
cloud of smoke a girl from her Chemistry class exhaled and observed the song that was pulsing
through the dim, smoky club, a mix of Lucky Star she'd heard before. "When does this Finland
guy start?" she asked Kensuke.
"About 11, I think," Kensuke informed her, shouting. "Hendrick Mason. He's an absolute master."
Kensuke shook his head, a look of awe in his eyes. "I don't know how Splash managed to get
him here."
Hikari's head bobbed up and down in agreement, fine pink glitter shaking from her hair.
"I know," she said. "I've heard his stuff. He's amazing." She grinned. "And he's total eye
candy, too."
Touji pretended to scowl.
"Hey, guys!" Kei's excited cry could be heard clear over the music. The group turned to see Kei
dragging Blake by the sleeve of his blue Quiksilver shirt, her pale blue eyes wide with
completely non-contained excitement.
"Hi!" she greeted them, bouncing up and down in her insanely high pink and gray platforms.
"I swear, I am so excited!"
Blake put a hand on top of her head to quell her bouncing. "Whoa. Ease up there, tiger. You're
seventeen. No need to act like a toddler."
"Where's Shinji?" Kei asked, choosing to ignore Blake. "I thought he was totally stoked
for tonight."
"He's coming," Asuka assured them all, lifting herself on her toes slightly to see if Shinji
and Kami were coming through the door. "He said he was picking up Kami at quarter to eleven."
Kensuke's eyebrows lifted. "Kami, huh?" he said in a knowing way that made Asuka want to
deck him. "What's this, the fourth date this week?"
Asuka bit her lip in barely contained annoyance. Why was that important? "Third," she
corrected tightly. "And besides, it's not like they were dates anyway. They were like non-
dates. Group things." At the doubtful glances her friends exchanged, Asuka became indignant.
"No, it's true!" she insisted. "Shinji said so himself!"
Touji shrugged. "If you ask me, it sounds like a classic early-dating play formation. Denial.
Totally vintage."
Asuka looked doubtful; Kensuke nodded in agreement. "No, he's right. This early in a
relationship no one wants to admit that they've been on 'dates'. Because you don't really
know if the other person considers them dates or not."
Asuka's hands rested on her hips. "Okay, maybe," she conceded. "But why would he lie to me?
I know him better than anyone and he knows that."
Asuka watched her friends' reactions. Hikari smirked and looked down at her four-inch
platforms. Kensuke and Touji exchanged speculative glances. Kei looked amused and Blake
looked slightly concerned.
Asuka felt herself blushing profusely, and she hated when that happened. She sighed loudly.
"Look, can we just go dance instead of standing around like this?" she demanded. "Geez."
As she headed out to the dance floor, Asuka was glad that the music in the club was so loud.
She had a sneaking suspicion that she didn't want to hear anything her friends might have to
say tonight.
--
Asuka Langley Soryu -
I don't care what happens between Shinji and Kami.
I don't care what happens between Shinji and Kami.
I don't care what happens between Shinji and Kami.
Really. I don't care.
Shinji Ikari -
Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami.
Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami.
Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami.
Do I care that Asuka doesn't care what happens between me and Kami?
--
By 7:15am, they were still standing around Splash, waiting for Kensuke to finish gabbing
with Takeo, one of the owners of Splash. Kensuke had done work experience for him a year
ago and still worshipped the guy like he could walk on water.
Shinji and Kami were standing by themselves, laughing hysterically as Kami attempted to teach
him some superlame rave move. "Big fish, little fish, box, box," Kami instructed, her
movements hampered somewhat by the plaster still on her wrist.
Shinji attempted - and failed - to duplicate the string of movements. "Big fish, box fish,
little box . . . " he said, confusing himself. "What?"
As Kami stood behind Shinji and gently grasped his wrists, moving his arms for him and giggling
hysterically, Asuka glowered from the other side of the room.
Hikari shifted her position on one of the black vinyl bar stools and crossed her right leg
over her left. "This could get messy," she said quietly, directing her comment at Touji
and Kensuke.
Kensuke followed Hikari's eyes and clued in. "You mean this little Shinji-Kami-Asuka triangle?"
he asked.
Hikari nodded. "I thought Shinji was smarter than to get tangled up in something so
obviously headed for disaster," she commented fretfully, swinging one four-inch-platformed
leg.
Touji glanced at his girlfriend. "You want my opinion? I bet Shinji doesn't even realise
where this is headed."
Kensuke nodded in agreement, but his expression was grave. "You're right. He's so totally in
denial about Asuka that he probably doesn't even realise." He paused, shaking his head,
knowing what was going to happen. "And my guess? He's not going to realise until it hits
rock bottom."
Hikari sighed and pulled her hair off her shoulders. "So, I give it two weeks, tops."
Surprisingly, considering it was the crack of dawn, Caffeinated Jazz boasted a sizable crowd
by the time they all got there at Kei's insistence.
They'd managed to snag a table in the back that was decoupaged with pages from old comic
books, next to a table full of generic black suits sipping espresso and eyeing the post-rave
conditions of the group with practiced distaste.
"Man, I can't believe this," Kei whined, holding out a lock of her hair in disgust. "Can
you believe how gross my hair is from one night of dancing?"
"I have a hair tie," Hikari offered, opening her wallet and producing a clear plastic band.
Kei took it gratefully and slipped it over her wrist. "I'm gonna go tie up my hair," she
announced, pushing back her chair and standing up. She glanced at Hikari, and, as an
afterthought added, "Hikari, come with me?"
When they reached the black-tiled bathroom, Kei pulled her messy, glittered-up hair into
a careless ponytail and turned to Hikari, hands on hips. "So I heard you, Touji and Kensuke
talking this morning at Splash," Kei said, straight-to-the-point.
Hikari nodded and leaned forward to apply some watermelon lip gloss.
"So what's the score?" Kei pressed.
Hikari sighed deeply and studied her watermelon gloss. "What do you want to hear?" she asked,
smoothing the top of her gloss over with her index finger.
"Explain the phrase 'headed for disaster'," Kei suggested wryly, leaning her right hip against
the black Formica counter.
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" Hikari asked, exasperated. "Shinji's dating Kami -
whether he admits it or not - while he's in love with Asuka, okay? He's totally screwing
them both over."
Kei tightened her ponytail and frowned. "Shinji and Asuka," she stated.
Hikari wound her hair up and secured it with a pink hair tie. "I know they don't exactly
convey it or anything," Hikari began dryly. "But Asuka and Shinji are so totally in love.
They have been since they met. They just won't admit it, you know? They've both had their
share of relationships. But they never work out. They're meant to be, you know what I mean?
They're like . . ." Hikari trailed off and snapped her fingers. "Give me a couple who are
totally meant to be."
"Um . . . Buffy and Angel?"
Hikari stared at her friend. "Yeah, okay. Buffy and Angel," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Shinji and Asuka are just like that. You can't escape destiny."
Kei laughed. "Could you sound anymore like a movie trailer?"
Hikari cracked a smile but soon turned sober. "Trust me on this, okay? It happens all the time.
One of them get to knows someone, they start dating them because they think they should and
end up breaking up because the whole denial thing gets to be too much."
Kei folded her arms. "Okay. Maybe. But if this happens all the time, then why are you
freaking out?"
Hikari smiled tightly. "Two reasons. One, this time it's not just someone who Shinji can
callously dump and move on. And two?" She paused and shook her head. "I don't know Kami all
that well. But I get the feeling that when Shinji does break up with her, it's going to hit
her hard."
--
Kami Yatami -
I only went out with Shinji as a favor to Blake. "Come on, Kam," he said. "Come out with me
and Rei and Shinji. He's a great guy. You'll have a good time."
I only went because I had nothing better to do. But Blake was right. I did have a good
time. Shinji is a great guy. He was attentive, he was sweet and he made me laugh. It had
been so long since I'd been with anyone like that. Someone who liked me for me. It made me
forget . . .
Forget what? Forget my mother.
I lied when I said we moved here because of business. We didn't.
We moved because of what happened back home.
But I know damn well that my mother didn't move to protect me. She moved to get away from the
rumors. About how Michiru Yatami was a hopeless mother and her daughter had a severely loose
screw. She didn't care about me. She cared that people were talking about her. Heaven forbid
Michiru Yatami should lose face.
Shinji likes me for me. And spending time with him makes me forget. Makes me forget my mother.
The one who never bothered to know me at all.
Touji Suzahara -
Shinji's been my friend for years. And he's a really nice guy. Honestly. He's the guy your
family asks about. The one who everyone trusts. He's the guy who can get socks for his
birthday and actually like it. Cuddly toys sneer at him.
He's nice.
But he has one major flaw.
He's bad in relationships.
He's had a string of perfectly nice girlfriends. All sweet and nice and totally gorgeous.
Shinji's never had a problem finding girlfriends. It's because he's so nice. He has this
way of making everyone feel super-important from the get go.
And no matter how sweet and nice and gorgeous they may be, all of Shinji's relationships
last two weeks, tops.
Naturally, it's because of Asuka. He always breaks up with girls because of Asuka. Because . . .
okay, let's face it.
The girl's a total manipulative ball-and-chain.
All I know is that Shinji either needs to tell Asuka that he was a thing for her or go into
therapy. Because otherwise he's never going to be able hold a relationship.
And he'll just keep hurting all the girls that make the mistake of thinking he'd actually
make a cool boyfriend.
Normally I wouldn't care. But this time it's Kami. And that girl is way too nice to have
her heart broken.
That, and well, Kami is Blake's sister. And Blake's kind of an aggressive guy. And I kind of
don't want to see Shinji get hospitalized.
--
"Rei, I have a problem."
Rei closed the door to the radio station behind her and smiled slightly at Kensuke's earnest
comment. "I've been saying that for years."
Kensuke let the lighthearted insult pass. "I have a problem and I have" - He trailed off and
glanced at the track time on the CD player - "two minutes thirty three to tell you about it.
Slightly more if I put on another song. Which I can't because when this track ends it'll be
time for the eight o'clock news."
Rei dropped her bag on a table and sat down. "Go ahead."
"I told my next door neighbour I'd baby-sit her kids tomorrow night," Kensuke blurted out,
desperation all over his face.
Rei blinked. "Kensuke, baby-sitting requires responsibility."
Kensuke groaned deeply and pushed his hands through his already messy hair. "I know. But she
offered me all this money. It's like the call of the Siren's song. How could I resist?"
Rei pulled at the hem of her gray skirt. "How old are the kids you're baby-sitting?"
"Six months and five years," Kensuke told her, his voice full of suffering. "A girl and boy."
Rei's eyes widened. The idea of Kensuke baby-sitting kids was amusing. The idea of Kensuke
babysitting a six-month-old baby was . . . well, a little alarming.
Kensuke glanced at the track time - he had fifty three seconds to wrap this up. He had to
move fast. "Rei, please help me baby-sit tomorrow night," he begged, sliding off the desk
chair he was seated on so he was on his knees on the linoleum floor. "I'll split the money
with you. I'll do your math homework. I'll do anything! Just please, please, PLEASE help me."
"You want me to give up my whole night so I can look after a couple of kids?"
Kensuke stared up at Rei. She couldn't honestly be considering turning his request down.
She wouldn't be so cruel. Not when his knees were digging painfully into the rock-hard floor.
Rei laughed. "Okay. I'll do it. But only because I can't handle seeing you look so pathetic
anymore."
Kensuke stood up, his knees creaking in protest. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," he said
profusely. "You're saving my life."
Then he dropped back into his chair, spun around and eyed the track time. Nine seconds to go.
Not a bad effort.
Shinji blinked. He had a strange sense of being detached from reality.
At least, he hoped that he was detached from reality.
Misato couldn't be serious. She had to be joking. She did that lot, right? That was Misato
all over - full-time-joker.
"I'm serious," Misato insisted, bending over to pick up a silver flower-shaped barrette off
the floor. She dropped it on the table, shaking her head with exasperation. Shinji recognised
the shake. It was the mildly-annoyed-with-Asuka shake.
"But," Shinji began which was all he managed to get out before Misato cut him off.
"But nothing," Misato said firmly, doing that authority thing she occasionally pulled. The
authority thing that Shinji hated. "If you're going to date this girl, I want to meet her."
"But why?" Shinji asked, seriously marring his manhood by whining. Shinji glared at Misato.
This was clearly all her fault. Why did she insist on being so damn caring?
Misato rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "What is your problem?" Misato
demanded, her eyes wide. "I'm not asking for a Barbara Walters interview over dinner. I'm
asking to meet the girl." Her lips curved into a taunting smile. "Besides, how will I able
to tell if you're going to break up with her in one week or two if I don't meet her?"
Shinji sputtered. Was the woman trying to give him a premature coronary? "Who said I was
going to break up with her?"
"Gee, I don't know," Misato responded sarcastically, tapping her chin with her index finger
in mock thought. She tilted her head, her hair falling over her face slightly. "Your
track record, maybe?"
Shinji folded his arms over his blue shirt and tried to stare Misato down. It wasn't easy -
Shinji didn't find it easy to intimidate someone who knew as much about him as Misato did.
"That's so unfair," he protested.
"Oh, my bleeding heart," she shot back dryly.
When had Misato gotten so good at sarcasm?
Shinji opened his mouth to protest. Misato cut him off before he could even speak.
"Nope!" she said cheerily. "I don't care! You'll bring her around so I can meet her tomorrow.
And that's final."
Shinji stomped off to his room, muttering incoherent curses under his breath.
Kensuke flung open the door as soon as the doorbell chimed. Rei stood there, looking a little
taken aback at his enthusiasm.
"Hi," she greeted him.
Kensuke grabbed her wrist and dragged her through the door. "I was so worried you wouldn't
show," he informed her.
Rei shook her head, amused. The boy was the Prince of Paranoia.
She followed him into the house and spotted a small boy seated at a coffee table as he
diligently worked on a picture. Even though he was only five, his drawing was quite good and
was easily recognizable as a dinosaur. Further inspection revealed that it bore rather close
resemblance to a brontosaurus.
Rei sat at the coffee table across from the boy. "Hi," Rei said brightly.
The boy looked up from his picture briefly. "Hi."
"I'm Rei. What's your name?"
"Brendan," he told her, switching his brown Crayola crayon for a green one.
"That's a pretty cool dinosaur you're drawing," Rei said, taking a piece of paper from the
stack sitting on the table. She selected a blue crayon from the jumble strewn all over the
table and floor. "Do you like brontosauruses?"
Brendan looked up, looking pleased that Rei could accurately identify his drawing.
"Brontosauruses are my third favourite dinosaur," he told her.
"Yeah?" Rei replied, looking extremely interested. "You know what my favourite dinosaur
is?" Brendan shook his head, and Rei continued. "Triceratops. I think they're pretty cool."
Brendan's gray eyes widened. "That's my favourite, too!"
Rei lowered her head and started drawing. She lifted her eyes and grinned at Brendan.
"You know what, Brendan? I think you and me are going to be great friends."
Brendan smiled up at Rei with a mixture of awe and adoration.
Kensuke couldn't keep the awe off his own face. The girl definitely had a way with kids.
Asuka smoothed her blue skirt over her hips and checked her reflection, studying her left
side critically. Then she smiled.
She looked good in blue. She knew that. So in her short blue skirt, the one that matched
her eyes and a yellow tank top, she knew she was styling.
The thing was, would Shinji know that?
Asuka frowned. She wore yellow and blue a lot. Maybe she should wear a different colour.
Inspiration struck and she rifled through her closet, dragging out a loose, slightly
shimmery tank of lighter blue. She tossed the yellow top aside and slipped the lightweight
fabric over her head. She examined her reflection and smiled broadly.
"You can't beat a redhead in blue," Asuka acknowledged.
Even Shinji, for all his boneheadedness, couldn't ignore that.
Asuka leaned forward and checked her makeup. "It's not like I'm doing this to impress Shinji,"
she told her reflection, holding her hair off her face with one hand. "It's not like I want
him or anything. I'm just doing this because Kami's so wrong for him. I'm doing this for
him and Kami. Why let them have a relationship if they're just gonna break up? I mean,
that's gonna be painful for everyone involved. Hell, I'm doing this for everyone. It's
not selfish at all. This is probably the nicest thing I've ever done for anyone."
Asuka dropped her hair and wiped her fingers down the sides of her mouth. "They'd
probably break up in a week or so anyway. So what does it matter if I push that along?"
Shinji was lying on his bed. And he was agonising.
If there was one thing he hated, it was doing the girlfriend-introduction thing.
For some reason, girls seemed to think that meeting a guardian was one step away from
engagement, when what it really was was just a demand coming from Misato.
"It's going to be like Twenty Questions," Shinji muttered darkly, glaring at a wall. "Where
are you from? What do your parents do? Do you have any prospects? Have you had many boyfriends
before?" Shinji shook his head at the idea. "God help me."
A thought entered Shinji's head and with it came panic. What if Misato gave Kami a summary of
his past relationships.
"In 9th grade it was Courtney, Tamika and Tamae. In 10th grade it was Kaya, Taura, Akiko and
Elizabeth. Last year it was Kamlyn, Tomoko, Courtney again, Kaya's sister Taya and that
really odd blonde exchange student, Vesna. And those are just the ones I met," Shinji
said, mimicking Misato's super-perky tone.
Okay. So his track record was far from stunning. But did that mean Misato had to assume
he was going to break up with Kami as soon as he got bored?
Shinji sat up, resting his back against the wall. It occurred to him that at seventeen,
at the precipice of adulthood and responsibility and all that, the closest thing he'd
had to a long term relationship was three weeks and two days with Taura in the tenth
grade and that was because she'd gone away for the last two weeks of that time and he hadn't
been able to break up with her when she was on vacation in Singapore. No wonder Misato didn't
take him seriously.
"All right," he said out loud to his empty room. "Here's the plan. I have a few months
to convince everyone that I too can be responsible and one of those relationship types. So
here's what I don't do. I don't break up with Kami."
And having sorted that out, Shinji fell back on his bed, feeling slightly relieved.
Kami pressed the doorbell of the Katsuragi apartment, aware of her highly unimpressive
appearance. Her eyes were red and kind of puffy and she was wearing an orange and gray t-shirt,
3-quarter, slightly rumpled khakis and a pair of Etnies that were beyond the tattered point.
She knew she liked hell. Thing was, she didn't even care.
She hated her mother. Absolutely hated her.
The door to the apartment opened and suddenly Shinji was standing before her, looking all
too sweet considering she felt like crap.
"Hey," he greeted her, smiling.
"Hey," Kami responded weakly. She shook her head. She had to pull it together if she didn't
want Misato thinking she was a freak.
Shinji leaned forward, dark eyes curious. "Are you okay? You look like you've been crying."
Kami flushed a deep crimson and folded her arms. "What? Oh, no," she responded quickly. "I was
just watching a movie before I came over. Empire Records. That always makes me cry."
Shinji shrugged and offered her a teasing grin. "How sweet."
Kami pasted on a fake smile and pushed Shinji's shoulder. "You're such a jerk," she told him
lightly.
Shinji grinned and grabbed her wrist, pulling her inside. "Come on, Misato's dying to meet
you." His eyes flickered over her outfit. "You look great, by the way."
Kami smiled wryly. He was either easily impressed or a great liar. Her money was on the
latter.
They found Misato dumping a handful of various hair accessories into a drawer.
"Hey, Misato."
Misato turned, a couple of bobby pins and a beaded ponytail holder in her hand. "Hi," she
said brightly. She tossed the bobby pins in the drawer. "I swear, how a girl with a like, 5
billion IQ can't understand the concept of putting things away is beyond me." She grinned.
"You must be Kami."
"So I've been told," Kami responded, smiling.
"It's so nice to meet you," Misato told her. "Shinji's told me heaps about you."
Misato sat down at the kitchen table, gesturing for Kami and Shinji to join her. "So, you just
moved here, right?" Misato questioned, pulling her long hair over her right shoulder. "From
Boston or something."
"Just outside of Boston," Kami confirmed, completely grateful for the way Shinji kept his
hand on hers. She hated doing the parent thing.
"How come you moved?"
Kami immediately tensed at the question and from the look Shinji shot her, she knew that
he could tell. Wanting to save her from an uncomfortable line of questioning, Shinji stood
up suddenly. "Did you want a drink?"
"Um, thanks," Kami responded gratefully, more because she wanted to stall than because she
was thirsty. "I'll just have some water."
As Shinji headed off to get her a drink, a door opened behind Kami. She twisted in her seat
and immediately wished she hadn't.
Asuka was standing in the doorway of her room in a blue skirt and shimmery camisole and looking
more gorgeous than anyone had a right to look.
Kami's t-shirt and 3 quarters suddenly seemed totally inadequete.
Asuka's irritatingly bright blue eyes widened. "Kami, I didn't know you were coming over,"
she said in fake surprise, her voice dripping with pseudo innocence.
"Hi, Asuka," Kami said quietly, looking down at the table. She had a slight problem with
the fact that Shinji happened to live in the same apartment with a goddess.
Asuka walked forward and looked at Kami intensely. "Have you been crying?"
Kami twirled her ponytail nervously. "Oh, I was watching a movie before I came over," she said,
her voice just as quiet as it had been before. "I guess I cry easily in movies."
"What movie?" Asuka prodded.
"Um, Empire Records," Kami told her, wondering why she hadn't come up with a better lie. Why
hadn't she said she'd been watching Beaches or something that was actually tearworthy?
"Oh, I love that movie!" Misato exclaimed. "It's one of my favourites. What part made you
cry? The part where Renee Zelweger told everyone about Liv Tyler's drug thing?"
Kami nodded gratefully. "Yeah. I felt really bad for Liv Tyler there."
Asuka shook her hair back and shrugged. "Well, that's what you get for trying to be perfect,"
she remarked somewhat snidely.
Even though her comment was general, Asuka's words stung.
Asuka leaned against the table and Kami could have sworn she muttered something along the
lines of 'You would know, wouldn't you, Miss Perfect?' but dismissed it as paranoia.
Shinji returned then bearing a glass of water and a smile. "Hey, Kam, I was thinking. Have
you been to the new mall yet?" When Kami shook her head, he grinned. "It's awesome. It's
like four levels of shops and the top level is like games and it's got a mini golf course
and everything. You want to go?"
Asuka watched as Kami's face lit up and she just about dumped the glass of water over her
charmingly messy hair. The girl's hair was a mess and she looked like she'd dragged on
whatever had been on her floor but somehow it worked. Kami didn't look a mess, even though
that would have made Asuka's day. Somehow, the girl managed to do the rumpled, tousled
thing and actually come out looking super cute.
It was definitely irritating.
"Oh, I love mini golf!" Kami exclaimed, her green eyes bright with such wide eyed innocence
Asuka couldn't help rolling her eyes. Geez. What was the girl, 99% cotton candy?
"Great!" Shinji responded, sounding way too chirpy for someone who hadn't had any
caffeine. "Do you need to stop by your place for anything?"
Kami grinned. Asuka noted that her smile was slightly lopsided, but somehow that only added
to her cuteness. Annoyingly so.
Kami opened one of the pockets of her khakis and pulled out a plastic card, waving it
slightly. "I never leave home without it," she informed him.
Of course not, Asuka reflected sourly. Mommy's little princess probably gets anything she wants
including a no-limit credit card.
Asuka hated people like that.
As soon as Kami and Shinji headed off, laughing, nudging and making Asuka seriously nauseous,
Asuka looked at Misato expectantly and sat down. "Verdict?"
"I think maybe you should be nice to her."
Asuka looked at Misato, stunned. Misato was preaching? Since when?
Misato made a face. "I know, I know. And I know you don't like her. But she's hiding
something. Trust me. I've seen Empire Records at least one hundred times. I can understand
the shedding of an errant tear but it's definitely not sobworthy. Which is exactly what
she was doing. The girl's got a secret."
"What does that have to do with me being nice to her?"
Misato pushed her chair back and stood, eyeing Asuka with a wiseness she rarely showed. "When
Shinji breaks up with her, she's not going to handle it well. And I don't think you not
hiding the fact that you don't like her will help at all."
But Asuka's stubborn expression didn't waver and Misato realised that she didn't care.
Kensuke dropped into the soft gray couch and looked up at the ceiling. "My God. I am more
exhausted than I have ever been."
Rei nodded in agreement, sitting beside him. "I could fall asleep right now," she replied,
holding back a yawn.
Kensuke ran a hand through his unruly hair and reached for the remote. "Man. Who knew looking
after a couple of kids could be so exhausting?"
"They're adorable, though," Rei said in response as Kensuke channel surfed. Cooking show.
Soap opera. Boy band video clip.
"Yeah," Kensuke said. "Brendan took a real shine to you. I think you deserve more babysitting
credit than I do. You were really great with him." He glanced at her and winked. "I think
the boy has a little crush on you."
Rei's complexion grew slightly pink at that comment. "Don't be so hard on yourself. You
were wonderful with Tara. She loves you."
Kensuke shrugged. "She's easy to look after. She's totally adorable." He grinned. "Did you
see the soles of her feet? They're like tiny little velvet cushions."
"I see the feeling is mutual."
Kensuke reddened noticeably and took a sudden interest in the sitcom on the TV. "Yeah, well
don't tell the guys, okay? Otherwise I'll have to live with some totally original nickname
like Koochy Koo Kensuke for the rest of my life."
Rei laughed at that.
Minutes later, the front door opened and Mrs. Taylor walked into the living room. Kensuke
and Rei stood up.
"Hi, Mrs. Taylor," he said politely. "How was your evening?"
Mrs. Taylor sighed and shrugged her cranberry red jacket off. "Oh, the usual. The same old
boring speeches and warmed over chicken. But it was for the Children's Hospital so I guess
it was worth it." She shrugged slightly. "You know how these things are."
Rei and Kensuke exchanged glances. They had no idea how these things were.
For the first time Mrs. Taylor noticed Rei and blinked in surprise. Kensuke mentally slapped
himself for skipping the introductions.
"Rei, this is Mrs. Taylor. Mrs. Taylor, this is Rei. She helped me out tonight."
Mrs. Taylor's eyes widened. "Tell me my kids weren't so out of control you had to call her
for help."
Kensuke laughed. "No, not at all. I asked Rei to help me out beforehand. I wasn't sure how
much attention a six month old would need."
Mrs. Taylor cringed. "She screamed like a banshee all night, right?"
Kensuke blinked in surprise. "Tara? No, definitely not. She was perfect. Barely whimpered
at all."
"No way!" Mrs. Taylor exclaimed. "You're kidding, right?" She didn't wait for a response.
"Tara never lets anyone but me, her father and Brendan near her. She hates strangers." She
winked at Kensuke. "Looks like someone has the gift."
Kensuke blushed profusely.
Mrs. Taylor dug into her wallet and handed a bunch of notes to Kensuke. Kensuke gaped. "Come
on, Mrs. Taylor," he protested. "This is way too much."
She shook her head. "Anyone who can look after Tara all night without her screeching her
little head off deserves it." She grinned. "Just make sure you guys split it evenly."
Kensuke grinned back with enormous gratitude. "Thanks so much, Mrs. Taylor. Really."
"You'll be hearing from me again really soon," she informed them as they headed out the
door.
"Okay, Mrs. Taylor," Kensuke replied cheerily. "Thanks again. Good night."
"Good night, Kensuke. And . . . I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch your girlfriend's name."
Kensuke and Rei blinked in surprise and Mrs. Taylor waited on expectantly.
"Um . . . Rei," Rei said, still suffering from a degree of shock.
"Good night, Rei," Mrs. Taylor said, oblivious to the awkward vibes. "It was nice meeting
you."
When the door closed, Rei and Kensuke exchanged glances and laughed awkwardly.
"That was just a conclusion. That she, you know, jumped to," Kensuke stumbled uncomfortably.
Man. Right now he could think of one hundred other places he'd rather be.
Rei nodded. "Yeah, I know." She offered him a smile that put him at ease. "Come on, Koochy
Koo Kensuke," she said, a teasing note to her voice. "If I'm supposed to be your girlfriend,
the least you could do is walk me home."
--
Kensuke Aida -
Is it at all bad, bizarre and wrong of me to be thinking back on what Mrs. Taylor said -
and to be liking the sound of it?
Is it bad to think that the words 'Kensuke', 'your girlfriend' and 'Rei'
sound really good together?
Is it bizarre to like the fact that Rei didn't correct Mrs. Taylor?
And is it wrong for me hope that any of this means something?
Probably.
But let's be realistic here - it's probably not going to stop me.
Rei Ayanami -
I am well aware that that scene should have been very, very awkward.
Is the fact that it wasn't - at least to me - wrong?
Or is it the exact opposite?
Is the fact that it wasn't awkward to me something right?
--
"Three cans of whipped cream," Shinji stated disbelievingly, setting the three said cans on
the kitchen counter. "Who bought three cans of whipped cream?"
Asuka closed the fridge and spun around, her hands on her hips. Total indignation. "You told
me to make sure we had enough."
"Yes, I told you to make sure we had enough," Shinji agreed, rolling his dark blue eyes and
leaning back against the counter. "This isn't enough. This is ridiculous."
Asuka shrugged and turned back to the fridge. "Hey, at least we know we have enough to make
this cake."
Shinji pulled the last item, a bottle of aspirin, out of the paper bag and set it on the
counter. He collapsed the bag into a neat rectangle and frowned slightly. "You didn't get the
cookies?"
"What cookies?" Asuka asked, selecting a small bottle of orange and passionfruit juice and
closing the fridge. She twisted the green plastic lid off.
"The chocolate cookies," Shinji explained. "We can't make a chocolate ripple cake without
chocolate cookies."
Asuka took a long drink of juice. "I thought we already had some."
Shinji began opening and closing every single cabinet in the kitchen, searching for the
elusive cookies. "Are you sure we already have some cookies?"
Asuka hoisted herself up onto the kitchen counter. "No. I just thought I'd seen some. Who
knows when that was, though."
Shinji rolled his eyes.
Asuka grabbed a canister of cream and popped the red plastic top off. She pressed the top
down and squirted a big blob of whipped cream into her mouth.
Shinji spun around. "Hey," he scolded. "We might need that."
Asuka laughed. "Get real. We couldn't eat three canisters of whipped cream if we tried."
"I could," Shinji cracked. They both laughed. Shinji closed the last cupboard. "We don't
have any cookies."
"Maybe we can make a whipped cream cake," Asuka suggested. "Just a big slab of whipped
cream."
"That's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard," Shinji replied. Asuka squirted another
blob of whipped cream into her mouth and Shinji's stomach growled. "Give me some of that."
Asuka flipped the can around and pressed the top down. Whipped cream sprayed all over
Shinji's chin.
"Hey!" he protested.
"Sorry," Asuka replied, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief.
Shinji lunged for another canister, popped the lid off and thrust it in front of him. "This
means war!" he declared.
"No, wait!" Asuka slid off the counter and raised her arms protectively. "That was an
accident. Hey - this is a clean shirt!"
Shinji sent a spray of whipped cream across Asuka's pale green shirt. "Z for Zorro!" he
cried. "Ole!"
As Shinji spoke, Asuka took advantage and sprayed a white blob of whipped cream into
Shinji's mouth. "Bulls eye!" she cried, keeping her finger pressed down and covering
Shinji's face.
Shinji, barely able to see, let loose a barrage of whipped cream across Asuka's face.
"You look ridiculous," Asuka informed Shinji, giggling.
"You look ridiculous," Shinji declared. "I look dignified!"
"That does it!"
Asuka launched a full frontal attack, covering his gray sweater with a cloud of whipped
cream. Shinji, laughing too hard to shoot accurately, sprayed some of Asuka's hair and
half of the fridge door. Asuka slipped on cream covered spot on the floor and grabbed
Shinji's arm for support. He slipped too, and they both hit the floor, laughing
hysterically.
They were both laughing too hard to shoot straight now, and bursts of whipped cream hit
the walls, the cupboards and the ceiling.
"Truce!" Shinji said. "It's all over the kitchen."
Asuka leant back against a cabinet, giggling. She sprayed a blob onto Shinji's nose and
another non-stop-spray ensued.
A few minutes later the battle ended, the two cans empty. Asuka wiped a pile of whipped
cream off her sleeve and sucked it into her mouth. "I guess we can't make the cake now,
huh?" she remarked.
Shinji shrugged with a grin. "That's okay. I'm pretty full, anyway."
He attempted to stand, slid on a pile of whipped cream and fell back to the floor. Asuka
laughed. Shinji mock scowled at her.
Asuka wiped whipped cream from her long lashes, shaking her head. "Man, this is insanity.
Misato's gonna go postal when she sees what we did to the kitchen."
Shinji lounged against the cabinet, feeling cream squelch between the cabinet and his back.
"Hey, we had fun," he responded with a slight shrug. "Who cares?"
Asuka reached out and pushed his shoulder slightly. "Shinji, I've never known you to be such
a teenager," she commented lightly, teasingly.
"Moron," Shinji said, not really meaning it. Far from it, in fact.
"Jerk," Asuka shot back with a grin.
Shinji studied Asuka carefully. Funny. With the fluorescent lights shining on all that
white whipped cream in her hair, she kind of looked like an angel.
Shinji looked away, wondering if his cheeks were flaming like a wildfire. They certainly
felt like it.
His brain screamed at him. Warning! Red alert!
Shinji forced himself to look at Asuka, who was totally oblivious to Shinji's inner turmoil.
"Tell you what," he began, forcing a smile. "Why don't you go have a shower and I'll start
the clean up. Then when you're done you can help me finish up."
Asuka blinked in surprise. "Really?" Shinji nodded and Asuka started to stand up, bracing
herself against the counter to stop from slipping over again. She held out a hand to help
Shinji up.
Asuka leaned her left hip against the counter. She wiped some cream off the counter with
her index finger and sucked it into her mouth. Her eyes sparkled. "You know, Shinji," she
began slowly. "It's too bad we have to clean up before Misato comes back." Her lips slowly
curved into a teasing smile. "This had the potential to be really fun."
Before Shinji could even remind himself to breathe again, Asuka turned around and sauntered
off to the bathroom.
Shinji leaned back, his head falling back so he was looking at the ceiling.
Suddenly, cleaning the kitchen was the last thing on his mind.
--
Kami Yatami -
In my sophomore year, I decided to renounce relationships. Sophomore year was all about
casual dating. No pressure. No commitments. It was all about fun.
But by my junior year, I was totally sick of casual dating. I was sick of the same old
'first dates'. Sick of going to the same old places with the same kind of guy, talking
about the same damn thing.
Of course, by junior year I'd dated my way through the worthwhile male population at
Clonard High. And it's actually really hard to approach the steady relationship thing with
a guy you've told a year before that you were just looking for a casual thing.
I really like Shinji. Really. And I'm hoping beyond hope that that's where we're headed. To a
steady relationship. Because I'm sick of dating around. Sick of finding out that every guy
is just like the last one.
But Shinji's not like that. He's different.
At least . . . I hope he is.
Shinji Ikari -
In psychology, we learnt that repressing emotions is seriously unhealthy. Repressing emotions
can lead to people being really messed up.
So it's kind of funny, because I've always believed in denial as a coping method.
But lately doing the denial thing is a little harder than it used to be.
The way I see it, I have three options.
I could crush Kami, launch Blake into hyper-protective mode, make Misato say 'I told you so'
and embarrass myself horribly by telling Asuka how he felt.
I could move to Idaho and be a potato farmer.
Or I could stay with Kami, leave this . . . whatever . . . with Asuka as just friendship and
essentially take the safest route.
I don't care what my psych teacher says. Sometimes things don't go by the textbook.
Sometimes things depend on situations.
And sometimes you have to do what's right for other people, no matter how insane it might
drive you.
Asuka Langley Soryu -
Ugh.
I didn't seriously just say that, did I?
I didn't just say 'this had the potential to be really fun', did I?
And I didn't just think things that I swore I would never, ever think about HIM of all
people. Did I?
Suddenly, I feel really, really sick.
And I don't think it has anything to do with the whipped cream I just ate.
