Manga - Addicts Presents:
Treading Water
An Evangelion Fanfiction
05/10/2002
***
Neon Genesis Evangelion created by, registered, and copyrighted to GAINAX Project EVA, Movic, and any other company and/or division associated with
the creation and/or production of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A.D.Vision
holds the copyrights to the English version of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
This work of fiction is not intended for any commercial purposes but was created for the entertainment of the Author and Fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
No copyright infringement was in any way intended.
Treading Water written by Jino Turtlegod
***
" text " - spoken
:: text :: - thought
% text % - sang
/ text / - electronically transmitted
[text] - computer text
TEXT - white text on black screen
_text_ - stressed
*text* - sound
***
WAFF Warning! Discontinuity Warning! OOC Warning! All Standard Non-Lemon Warnings Apply! Minor Lime Content!
***
Part Three: Sink or Swim
***
Shinji trudged wearily down to the picnic table on the raised veranda of the house. The adults were chatting lively, like high school kids during lunch break.
The high school kids all acted like depressed adults in the throes of mid-life crises. Except for Rei who had her usual non-expression, and Kensuke who had a preoccupied look behind his glasses. Asuka wasn't at the table but probably looked like the melancholic majority.
Shinji looked down at the juicy steak on his plate and the large helping of vegetables and rice. Suddenly he wasn't as hungry as he was when he filled his plate.
"WHAT?!" It was an explosion of feminine outrage.
Everyone looked at the end of the table where Misato sat. Ritsuko had a pleased look on her face, Kaji smirked, and Misato tried to hide her face behind the can of beer she was drinking.
"Listen up kids," Ritsuko announced with malicious glee. "Misato will be giving a little talk later this afternoon."
***
[Misato's Voice: Someone once told me that love is like learning how to swim by jumping into the middle of the sea, you either sink or swim. Each relationship is different, what works in one may be disastrous in another.]
Misato floated face up on the surface of the sea, the gentle waves rocking her as a mother would a cradle.
Her Children had to learn life's lessons on their own. She really couldn't help them out in their current dilemma because for one, she doesn't know what caused the break up. And two, she really isn't the person to be pontificating about how to have a successful love life.
[Misato's Voice: My love life sucks. Of course I can talk to the kids about sex and all that, but sex isn't the end all and be all of a relationship. I mean I've never heard of successful relationships based on sex.]
"They'll have to figure out the rest for themselves," Misato said to Ritsuko who stood waist deep in the water.
"Of course, everybody does. But the least we can do is tell them what _not_ to do, ne, Mi-chan?" Ritsuko shielded her eyes with her hand as she gazed out at the distant speck of the speedboat the bridge bunnies and Kaji were using.
[Misato's Voice: 'Mi-chan'. It's been a long time since she'd called me that. Ritsuko. She's my best friend. And yet it's as if I don't know her anymore. Not that I felt I knew her well enough before, but then she wasn't that much of a stranger to me. It's as if she retreated even more into herself, afraid to come out of her shell. I can see the jealous look in her eyes whenever I'm with Kaji or even simply talking with Shinji. I can see that she wants someone to talk to, to be close to, but she is afraid. There's nothing I can do, but when she finally decides to open up, I'll be there. ]
"Learn from the mistakes of others? Not that I had any fear of getting pregnant y'know," Misato's hand strayed to her belly. The jagged scar hidden by the black fabric of her swim suit.
[Misato's Voice: I can't get pregnant. The incident that took my father from me also took my ability to become a mother. My womb cannot accommodate a baby, yet I still suffer from that time of the month. That's the reason I took Pen Pen in, because I cannot have children of my own. I guess that's another reason why I took in Shinji and Asuka. My Children. My poor, poor Children, what kind of mother had I been?]
"Will you need anything for the talk?" Ritsuko asked with a smirk.
[Misato's Voice: I swear she's enjoying my suffering.]
"No, I have all the things I need. A pack of rubbers, a clutch of bananas, and a six pack," Misato sighed before allowing herself to sink into the embrace of the sea.
***
"So, where have you been?" Toji asked Kensuke as he lay on his back on the sand. The boys were on a sand dune some distance from the house.
"Here and there," Kensuke replied distractedly as he played the disk in his camcorder to see if it was working properly after his little fall. The amateur filmmaker watched the sea gull fly in the view screen against a beautiful blue backdrop.
"You look different," Shinji remarked from Toji's other side. Kensuke ignored his friends for the moment and continued checking his precious camcorder.
"Yeah, it's as if..." Toji trailed off as he saw Kensuke's jaw drop and a blush spread on his cheeks. Toji sat up and snatched the camcorder from the bespectacled boy. He replayed the previous few seconds on the disk. Shinji leaned over Toji's shoulder so he could also watch.
Kensuke desperately tried to get his camcorder back but Toji's foot was on Kensuke's chest - keeping the military-fanboy at bay.
On the small view screen a girl came in sight from a worm's eye-view. The girl looked familiar. Then for a few seconds the girl stood directly over the camcorder - providing a clear, unobstructed view right up her skirt.
Toji and Shinji slowly turned a shade of red. Then they glared at Kensuke.
Kensuke smiled nervously. "I did not plan on that!"
***
[Hikari's Voice: I could blame Asuka for my troubles. But I knew that it was all me.]
Hikari walked down the corridor of the school back to her classroom. She was supposed to be meeting Toji for a movie but she forgot to tell the pair on clean up duty to change the class logbook.
Hikari paused as she noticed that the doors to the classroom were closed. Were the pair done already? Impossible, because Hikari knew that Asuka tended to drag her feet when doing the chores.
Then the class rep heard the whispers.
Hikari's Class Rep senses tingled and she stealthily walked over to the doors and peeked through the small viewing window.
Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw.
Asuka sat on top of her desk. The girl wore a white t-shirt and her school skirt with the straps off her shoulders. What shocked Hikari was that Shinji stood in front of Asuka and between the girl's legs with no space in between them. Asuka had locked one of her long legs around Shinji's, keeping him in place.
Hikari could hear Shinji's nervous and excited whispering, and Asuka's mischievous and reassuring tone. Hikari's breath was slow and heavy, unable to tear her eyes away from her friends.
The deep, heavy kissing was expected from Asuka but Hikari's jaw dropped when Asuka took one of Shinji's hands and slipped it under her t-shirt.
[Hikari's Voice: I could blame Asuka for my troubles. But I can't. It was my choice to watch. It was my choice to be envious. Before he became my boyfriend, I knew Toji had a perverted streak. I've overheard his conversation with Kensuke and Shinji and the other boys more times than I could remember. And I was ready for it. Even expecting it. But he won't touch me beyond a chaste kiss and the most daring we went was when he slipped me the tongue. He was very embarrassed after that. Almost ashamed. Am I not... attractive enough to get his interest?]
"Hey, I missed you," Toji greeted with a grin from where he waited in front of the cinema. It could mean 'Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting for an hour already' or it could mean 'I just saw you two hours ago but I already miss you'. With Toji it was hard to tell unless you know him very well that he was a sap.
Hikari stood uncertainly, her hands nervously wrung the handle of her schoolbag.
"Anything wrong, Hikari?" Toji knew his girlfriend enough to know her moods. She was currently having one of her, 'I need to say something but I don't know any nice way of saying it' moods.
Hikari sighed. Then a determined look came into her eyes. "I don't feel like watching a movie."
"Er, OK. So, what do you want to do?" Toji felt disappointed because he had wanted to do something with Hikari and the movie was his only idea.
Hikari bit her lower lip. She reached for her boyfriend's hand.
[Hikari's Voice: It was my fault. Our relationship changed after that, it was as if Toji was uncomfortable around me. He couldn't look me in the eyes, as if he was ashamed of what we've done. And now, because of me, my friend's happiness is gone.]
***
Shinji shook out his shirt of sand as he climbed up the stairs to the house. He had a smile on his face, refreshed by the friendly scuffle in the sand. He was a bit surprised to see Hikari greet him at the top of the stairs.
Hikari bit her lower lip. "I need to talk to you, Shinji."
Shinji nodded.
Hikari leaned on one pillar of the pavilion while Shinji nervously stood in the middle of the roofed area.
"Shinji, he told you didn't he?"
Shinji had a put upon expression as he slowly nodded. He knew very well that his chances of repelling an interrogation from a female was non-existent. "Kensuke actually had to trick him into actually telling us." Shinji winced belatedly as he realized that what he just said didn't put his friends in a good light. "We were worried about Toji, he wouldn't talk and always sulked, so Kensuke had to get it out of him. He didn't brag about it and was very troubled about it."
"So." Hikari replied, tears in her eyes. "He hates me."
"No. He loves you too much." Hikari and Shinji looked at Toji who stood by the edge of the pavilion. Shinji smiled in relief, bowed to Hikari, and left the two to talk it out.
"Shinji!"
Shinji looked over his shoulder at Hikari.
"You can tell her."
Shinji shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "I can't. It's not my secret."
***
Asuka turned in her sleep, waking to the grumble in her belly. She had missed lunch. And worse, had cried herself to sleep in the window seat - now her back ached and she felt miserable. At least it dulled the ache in her heart, even just a little bit.
She stretched, her arms over her head, a wonderful feeling as her spine popped to realign itself.
Then she saw Rei sitting on a chair opposite her. The other girl had paused from her reading to observe the redhead.
"What do you want?" Asuka asked sullenly, still envious of the girl who had danced with Shinji.
"shinji cooked for you," Rei stated and looked at the tray laden with food on an end table close to Asuka.
Regardless of appearances, Asuka attacked her late lunch.
"today would have been your third month."
"Wha-?!" Asuka asked through the steak in her mouth. It was useless since Rei was no longer there to answer her.
***
Asuka stood back and looked at her sandcastle. The edges were already crumbling as the water lapped against it.
"You can build them all your life, but not one of them lasts a lifetime," Asuka mumbled to herself.
Asuka grimly contemplated her words and her fragile little castle.
She began knocking it down, stomping angrily at it as her cheeks began to flush with her emotions.
With a cry of frustration, Asuka bent down, grabbed a huge pile of sand from the ruined castle and threw it into the sea.
"I can see why Shinji's so timid around you."
Asuka turned with a glare at Hikari.
The pigtailed girl waved at her, a smile on her face. "Hey, Asuka."
"Hey yourself," Asuka growled. The redhead squatted down on her heels so she could wash her hands in the incoming surf. "What do you want?"
Hikari felt lost. She had rehearsed the possible ways of starting the conversation but she still felt uncomfortable and the best that she could come up with was: "Well, remember when you told me that I could keep my fucking secret?" Hikari blinked. Did she really just say that out loud?
Asuka looked suspiciously at her blushing friend.
"Well, you see... er..." Hikari paused and took a deep breath, held it awhile, then let loose with: "myfuckingsecretwasjustthat!!!"
"Your fucking secret was..." Asuka's eyebrow twitched. "I am so going to kill Toji."
Hikari had a pained look, "Please, Asuka. No violence on my boyfriend. I'm still going to need him for a while."
"But he told Shinji, and if Shinji knew, that means Kensuke knew!" Asuka grabbed Hikari by the shoulders. "Hikari! He just fucked and told! He doesn't have any sense of decency and respect for you if he just made you a subject for their immature locker room talk!"
Hikari winced, "Can we please lay off the _F_ word? It's not what you think! I was the one who got him to do it! Toji might not be academically inclined, but he's not stupid where it counts! He's very sensitive and he understands people! He didn't talk about me in the locker room, it was just the Three Stooges under a tree! And it was Kensuke who twisted his arm to talk because they were worried because he was sulking all the time. It's all right between Toji and me now! I thought he hated me or that he lost interest after we did it because he was acting differently! But it wasn't that and I'm glad! It was just that he thought I wouldn't be interested in that this early in our relationship and that I wouldn't do it till we got married! Anyway, after we did it, it sort of made him guilty because he thought I only did it to keep him interested, which I think is a stupid thing to do!" Hikari finally paused to take a breath.
Asuka's jaw hung open, unable to believe the words that had cascaded from her best-friend's lips. Asuka sighed and pressed against her temples with her thumbs. "OK! OK! Can you please speak slower? And can we please at least sit down? My head is killing me."
Both young women sat down on the sand. Hikari smiled at Asuka, the Class Rep had a rosy sheen to her face unlike the depressed, sallow expression she had for the past few days.
"So, let me get this straight, _you_ seduced _him_?" Hikari nodded slowly, almost embarrassed at her boldness. "Why do I find that so difficult to believe?"
Hikari turned an exasperated, almost angry look at her friend. "Why do all of you people think I'm a frigid square! I'm a woman too y'know! I also get tired of being prim and proper Hikari the Class Rep! I want to do something wild and exciting once in a while!" Hikari would have up and walked away if only she didn't owe her friend a debt.
"Hey! Calm down, Hikari!" Asuka tried to soothe her friend. She tried to stifle a laugh and failed.
"Oh, FINE! Laugh Soryu!"
"No, don't be angry! I just remembered when Shinji and I had our synch training!"
Hikari's brow furrowed as she tried to remember. A blush spread on Hikari's face and she tried to hide behind her fingers. "Oh, my God. 'You're living in sin!' I feel like such a hypocrite!"
"That's why I had my doubts about you being a seductress, but now that I do look back on it, yeah I guess you do have your drives. You just repress them too much because of your position." Asuka lay down on her back. The two friends stayed there for a while, savoring the tranquil beauty of the afternoon. "Hikari?"
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you tell me? I thought I was your best friend." Hikari winced at Asuka's hurt tone.
"Because you are my best friend. I was afraid you'd think less of me if I told you I ---" Hikari's words were cut off as Asuka wrapped her arms around Hikari.
"Best friends don't think like that about each other."
"That's why I was scared. You were my first best friend. All the others just hung around me because I was Class Rep - they pitied me for being alone, or because they wanted favors. You were the first one to be my friend because you really wanted to!"
As the sun set the two had a nice friendly cry.
***
[Rei's Voice: human emotions. like the deep blue sea, unfathomable, mysterious. yet it is one of the things that make life so beautiful. the basis for the rift has been remedied. it is only logical for the rift to mend afterwards. a lot of variables can still affect my scenario. but i have a lot of trust in shinji and soryu. they are meant to be together.]
After dinner everybody gathered in the living room. Misato stood in front of the fireplace, facing the teenagers who sat on the sofa and the armchairs. The rest of the adults watched from chairs they had pulled from the dining table.
"OK, listen up, it has come to my attention that Sex Ed is not part of the curriculum in the middle school," Misato glared at Ritsuko. All the teenagers had shocked looks in their eyes at the announcement. Even Rei seemed a bit troubled. "And I also believe that it is timely because you are at that time in your life that _stuff_ happens."
A pregnant pause.
"I never had that stage when I was a teenager," Makoto whispered conversationally to Shigeru. Shigeru palmed his face and kept reminding himself that Makoto's family owned the rest house.
"this does not concern me." Rei stood up and attempted to walk away.
"Hold it, Rei! You will sit down and listen to my talk. You may find it informational," Misato winked mischievously at the blue mopped girl.
"unnecessary. commander ikari has already given me a lecture regarding human reproduction."
Everybody's jaw dropped to the floor at the image of grim Commander Ikari giving a lecture about sex. Not a pretty picture.
Misato blinked before she was able to regain her composure. "Rei. You will sit down and listen - Just to verify what the Commander told you."
"i doubt the commander would have made errors. he was able to reproduce satisfactorily with doctor yui ikari."
A round of stifled giggling at Shinji's expense.
"Rei, it might be fun," a red-faced Shinji interrupted before things could get out of hand. Rei looked at Shinji and then slowly returned to her seat.
[Rei's Voice: i still believe that this is a waste of effort. but i did agree with shinji to try and explore what is called fun.]
After everyone had settled down again, the audience looked questioningly at the implements on the coffee table.
Shigeru cleared his throat and asked the question in everybody's minds. "What are the bananas for?"
[Rei's Voice: i was wrong. the talk proved informational and entertaining. i like bananas.]
***
Shinji lay on a lawn chair on the deck. Stars twinkled merrily in the dark sky. He could hear the mostly drunken laughter coming from the house as the others played charades. The last time he checked, Rei's team was ahead by several points.
"_That_ was different," Shinji mumbled to himself as he lost himself in the soothing sound of the surf. He looked up at the bright full moon as he remembered the previous hours of Misato's talk. Rei had been very inquisitive about some points that made everyone (except possibly Misato) uncomfortable.
Then the moon was blotted out by a familiar silhouette. "I didn't know bananas could be so much fun," Asuka grinned at Shinji. Before Shinji could respond, Asuka laid on top of him and gave him a very passionate kiss.
"Asuka?" Shinji pulled away from the girl with some confusion.
"Why? Expecting somebody else?" Asuka gave a hurt moue which made Shinji _uncomfortable_. Asuka snuggled playfully against him.
"O-of course not! B-but I thought---" Shinji cursed himself for stuttering like a sex crazed teenager.
Another kiss cut off any other words. "So did I. I was wrong. I shouldn't have pressed. Secrets are secrets and it didn't concern us directly." Asuka sighed as she felt Shinji wrap his arms around her.
Asuka's head was cradled in the nook between Shinji's head and shoulder. "But keeping secrets from you is also wrong. So what do we do?" Shinji whispered tenderly in her ear.
"I guess that will be up to your discretion. I can't help it if there are things that you can't tell me. I trust you not to hurt me intentionally."
"Ok. I can live with that." Shinji kissed her forehead. "I also trust you, Asuka-chan. I'm sorry I didn't comfort you when you cried."
"It's all right, I really didn't do anything to lessen your fear in me. Deep down, we both know I'm still the Red Headed Demon. But I promise to be much more gentle with you from now on," Asuka purred happily and they were content to listen to each others' heartbeat. "Hey, Shin-chan?"
"Yes?"
Asuka rose from lying on top of Shinji and sat up straddling the boy's waist. "Wanna have some fun?"
A strangled gurgle of surprise came from Shinji's throat.
"I got something from Misato's talk. She's too wasted to notice that I took it." Asuka had that devious glint in her eyes which made Shinji _uncomfortable_.
Shinji's eyes bugged out and he could feel the heat spread over his body.
"So? Wanna do it?" Asuka whispered huskily into his ears.
"!!!"
"I'll take that as a yes." Asuka breathed hot air into Shinji's ear before making her tongue follow the contours of his ear.
"!!!"
Asuka reached into the back of her shorts as she drew out her pilfered Sex Ed visual aid. She grinned as she brought it to the fore. "Here! Let's share this banana."
***
Some distance from the rest house, a black car was parked in an inconspicuous grove. At the driver's seat a man observed the house with a set of high powered night vision binoculars. The man watched as the Second and Third Children capered around on the deck. Once more, friends and lovers.
"Everything proceeds according to the scenario."
And Gendo Ikari smirked.
As he started his car, Ikari fooled himself by telling himself that as long as the Children were romantically involved it would make them easier to control. And besides, happy employees are productive employees.
But in his heart, he knew the truth.
It made him happy to see his son happy.
If he only had the courage to face that truth. Yui would probably be disappointed in him.
And the Commander drove off into the night, humming the song his wife had loved so much.
END
Auhtor's Notes:
Bleah! Done. I know that I left a lot of loose threads but I thought it would be best to quit while I'm ahead.
Treading Water
An Evangelion Fanfiction
05/10/2002
***
Neon Genesis Evangelion created by, registered, and copyrighted to GAINAX Project EVA, Movic, and any other company and/or division associated with
the creation and/or production of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A.D.Vision
holds the copyrights to the English version of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
This work of fiction is not intended for any commercial purposes but was created for the entertainment of the Author and Fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
No copyright infringement was in any way intended.
Treading Water written by Jino Turtlegod
***
" text " - spoken
:: text :: - thought
% text % - sang
/ text / - electronically transmitted
[text] - computer text
TEXT - white text on black screen
_text_ - stressed
*text* - sound
***
WAFF Warning! Discontinuity Warning! OOC Warning! All Standard Non-Lemon Warnings Apply! Minor Lime Content!
***
Part Three: Sink or Swim
***
Shinji trudged wearily down to the picnic table on the raised veranda of the house. The adults were chatting lively, like high school kids during lunch break.
The high school kids all acted like depressed adults in the throes of mid-life crises. Except for Rei who had her usual non-expression, and Kensuke who had a preoccupied look behind his glasses. Asuka wasn't at the table but probably looked like the melancholic majority.
Shinji looked down at the juicy steak on his plate and the large helping of vegetables and rice. Suddenly he wasn't as hungry as he was when he filled his plate.
"WHAT?!" It was an explosion of feminine outrage.
Everyone looked at the end of the table where Misato sat. Ritsuko had a pleased look on her face, Kaji smirked, and Misato tried to hide her face behind the can of beer she was drinking.
"Listen up kids," Ritsuko announced with malicious glee. "Misato will be giving a little talk later this afternoon."
***
[Misato's Voice: Someone once told me that love is like learning how to swim by jumping into the middle of the sea, you either sink or swim. Each relationship is different, what works in one may be disastrous in another.]
Misato floated face up on the surface of the sea, the gentle waves rocking her as a mother would a cradle.
Her Children had to learn life's lessons on their own. She really couldn't help them out in their current dilemma because for one, she doesn't know what caused the break up. And two, she really isn't the person to be pontificating about how to have a successful love life.
[Misato's Voice: My love life sucks. Of course I can talk to the kids about sex and all that, but sex isn't the end all and be all of a relationship. I mean I've never heard of successful relationships based on sex.]
"They'll have to figure out the rest for themselves," Misato said to Ritsuko who stood waist deep in the water.
"Of course, everybody does. But the least we can do is tell them what _not_ to do, ne, Mi-chan?" Ritsuko shielded her eyes with her hand as she gazed out at the distant speck of the speedboat the bridge bunnies and Kaji were using.
[Misato's Voice: 'Mi-chan'. It's been a long time since she'd called me that. Ritsuko. She's my best friend. And yet it's as if I don't know her anymore. Not that I felt I knew her well enough before, but then she wasn't that much of a stranger to me. It's as if she retreated even more into herself, afraid to come out of her shell. I can see the jealous look in her eyes whenever I'm with Kaji or even simply talking with Shinji. I can see that she wants someone to talk to, to be close to, but she is afraid. There's nothing I can do, but when she finally decides to open up, I'll be there. ]
"Learn from the mistakes of others? Not that I had any fear of getting pregnant y'know," Misato's hand strayed to her belly. The jagged scar hidden by the black fabric of her swim suit.
[Misato's Voice: I can't get pregnant. The incident that took my father from me also took my ability to become a mother. My womb cannot accommodate a baby, yet I still suffer from that time of the month. That's the reason I took Pen Pen in, because I cannot have children of my own. I guess that's another reason why I took in Shinji and Asuka. My Children. My poor, poor Children, what kind of mother had I been?]
"Will you need anything for the talk?" Ritsuko asked with a smirk.
[Misato's Voice: I swear she's enjoying my suffering.]
"No, I have all the things I need. A pack of rubbers, a clutch of bananas, and a six pack," Misato sighed before allowing herself to sink into the embrace of the sea.
***
"So, where have you been?" Toji asked Kensuke as he lay on his back on the sand. The boys were on a sand dune some distance from the house.
"Here and there," Kensuke replied distractedly as he played the disk in his camcorder to see if it was working properly after his little fall. The amateur filmmaker watched the sea gull fly in the view screen against a beautiful blue backdrop.
"You look different," Shinji remarked from Toji's other side. Kensuke ignored his friends for the moment and continued checking his precious camcorder.
"Yeah, it's as if..." Toji trailed off as he saw Kensuke's jaw drop and a blush spread on his cheeks. Toji sat up and snatched the camcorder from the bespectacled boy. He replayed the previous few seconds on the disk. Shinji leaned over Toji's shoulder so he could also watch.
Kensuke desperately tried to get his camcorder back but Toji's foot was on Kensuke's chest - keeping the military-fanboy at bay.
On the small view screen a girl came in sight from a worm's eye-view. The girl looked familiar. Then for a few seconds the girl stood directly over the camcorder - providing a clear, unobstructed view right up her skirt.
Toji and Shinji slowly turned a shade of red. Then they glared at Kensuke.
Kensuke smiled nervously. "I did not plan on that!"
***
[Hikari's Voice: I could blame Asuka for my troubles. But I knew that it was all me.]
Hikari walked down the corridor of the school back to her classroom. She was supposed to be meeting Toji for a movie but she forgot to tell the pair on clean up duty to change the class logbook.
Hikari paused as she noticed that the doors to the classroom were closed. Were the pair done already? Impossible, because Hikari knew that Asuka tended to drag her feet when doing the chores.
Then the class rep heard the whispers.
Hikari's Class Rep senses tingled and she stealthily walked over to the doors and peeked through the small viewing window.
Her breath caught in her throat at what she saw.
Asuka sat on top of her desk. The girl wore a white t-shirt and her school skirt with the straps off her shoulders. What shocked Hikari was that Shinji stood in front of Asuka and between the girl's legs with no space in between them. Asuka had locked one of her long legs around Shinji's, keeping him in place.
Hikari could hear Shinji's nervous and excited whispering, and Asuka's mischievous and reassuring tone. Hikari's breath was slow and heavy, unable to tear her eyes away from her friends.
The deep, heavy kissing was expected from Asuka but Hikari's jaw dropped when Asuka took one of Shinji's hands and slipped it under her t-shirt.
[Hikari's Voice: I could blame Asuka for my troubles. But I can't. It was my choice to watch. It was my choice to be envious. Before he became my boyfriend, I knew Toji had a perverted streak. I've overheard his conversation with Kensuke and Shinji and the other boys more times than I could remember. And I was ready for it. Even expecting it. But he won't touch me beyond a chaste kiss and the most daring we went was when he slipped me the tongue. He was very embarrassed after that. Almost ashamed. Am I not... attractive enough to get his interest?]
"Hey, I missed you," Toji greeted with a grin from where he waited in front of the cinema. It could mean 'Where the hell have you been? I've been waiting for an hour already' or it could mean 'I just saw you two hours ago but I already miss you'. With Toji it was hard to tell unless you know him very well that he was a sap.
Hikari stood uncertainly, her hands nervously wrung the handle of her schoolbag.
"Anything wrong, Hikari?" Toji knew his girlfriend enough to know her moods. She was currently having one of her, 'I need to say something but I don't know any nice way of saying it' moods.
Hikari sighed. Then a determined look came into her eyes. "I don't feel like watching a movie."
"Er, OK. So, what do you want to do?" Toji felt disappointed because he had wanted to do something with Hikari and the movie was his only idea.
Hikari bit her lower lip. She reached for her boyfriend's hand.
[Hikari's Voice: It was my fault. Our relationship changed after that, it was as if Toji was uncomfortable around me. He couldn't look me in the eyes, as if he was ashamed of what we've done. And now, because of me, my friend's happiness is gone.]
***
Shinji shook out his shirt of sand as he climbed up the stairs to the house. He had a smile on his face, refreshed by the friendly scuffle in the sand. He was a bit surprised to see Hikari greet him at the top of the stairs.
Hikari bit her lower lip. "I need to talk to you, Shinji."
Shinji nodded.
Hikari leaned on one pillar of the pavilion while Shinji nervously stood in the middle of the roofed area.
"Shinji, he told you didn't he?"
Shinji had a put upon expression as he slowly nodded. He knew very well that his chances of repelling an interrogation from a female was non-existent. "Kensuke actually had to trick him into actually telling us." Shinji winced belatedly as he realized that what he just said didn't put his friends in a good light. "We were worried about Toji, he wouldn't talk and always sulked, so Kensuke had to get it out of him. He didn't brag about it and was very troubled about it."
"So." Hikari replied, tears in her eyes. "He hates me."
"No. He loves you too much." Hikari and Shinji looked at Toji who stood by the edge of the pavilion. Shinji smiled in relief, bowed to Hikari, and left the two to talk it out.
"Shinji!"
Shinji looked over his shoulder at Hikari.
"You can tell her."
Shinji shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "I can't. It's not my secret."
***
Asuka turned in her sleep, waking to the grumble in her belly. She had missed lunch. And worse, had cried herself to sleep in the window seat - now her back ached and she felt miserable. At least it dulled the ache in her heart, even just a little bit.
She stretched, her arms over her head, a wonderful feeling as her spine popped to realign itself.
Then she saw Rei sitting on a chair opposite her. The other girl had paused from her reading to observe the redhead.
"What do you want?" Asuka asked sullenly, still envious of the girl who had danced with Shinji.
"shinji cooked for you," Rei stated and looked at the tray laden with food on an end table close to Asuka.
Regardless of appearances, Asuka attacked her late lunch.
"today would have been your third month."
"Wha-?!" Asuka asked through the steak in her mouth. It was useless since Rei was no longer there to answer her.
***
Asuka stood back and looked at her sandcastle. The edges were already crumbling as the water lapped against it.
"You can build them all your life, but not one of them lasts a lifetime," Asuka mumbled to herself.
Asuka grimly contemplated her words and her fragile little castle.
She began knocking it down, stomping angrily at it as her cheeks began to flush with her emotions.
With a cry of frustration, Asuka bent down, grabbed a huge pile of sand from the ruined castle and threw it into the sea.
"I can see why Shinji's so timid around you."
Asuka turned with a glare at Hikari.
The pigtailed girl waved at her, a smile on her face. "Hey, Asuka."
"Hey yourself," Asuka growled. The redhead squatted down on her heels so she could wash her hands in the incoming surf. "What do you want?"
Hikari felt lost. She had rehearsed the possible ways of starting the conversation but she still felt uncomfortable and the best that she could come up with was: "Well, remember when you told me that I could keep my fucking secret?" Hikari blinked. Did she really just say that out loud?
Asuka looked suspiciously at her blushing friend.
"Well, you see... er..." Hikari paused and took a deep breath, held it awhile, then let loose with: "myfuckingsecretwasjustthat!!!"
"Your fucking secret was..." Asuka's eyebrow twitched. "I am so going to kill Toji."
Hikari had a pained look, "Please, Asuka. No violence on my boyfriend. I'm still going to need him for a while."
"But he told Shinji, and if Shinji knew, that means Kensuke knew!" Asuka grabbed Hikari by the shoulders. "Hikari! He just fucked and told! He doesn't have any sense of decency and respect for you if he just made you a subject for their immature locker room talk!"
Hikari winced, "Can we please lay off the _F_ word? It's not what you think! I was the one who got him to do it! Toji might not be academically inclined, but he's not stupid where it counts! He's very sensitive and he understands people! He didn't talk about me in the locker room, it was just the Three Stooges under a tree! And it was Kensuke who twisted his arm to talk because they were worried because he was sulking all the time. It's all right between Toji and me now! I thought he hated me or that he lost interest after we did it because he was acting differently! But it wasn't that and I'm glad! It was just that he thought I wouldn't be interested in that this early in our relationship and that I wouldn't do it till we got married! Anyway, after we did it, it sort of made him guilty because he thought I only did it to keep him interested, which I think is a stupid thing to do!" Hikari finally paused to take a breath.
Asuka's jaw hung open, unable to believe the words that had cascaded from her best-friend's lips. Asuka sighed and pressed against her temples with her thumbs. "OK! OK! Can you please speak slower? And can we please at least sit down? My head is killing me."
Both young women sat down on the sand. Hikari smiled at Asuka, the Class Rep had a rosy sheen to her face unlike the depressed, sallow expression she had for the past few days.
"So, let me get this straight, _you_ seduced _him_?" Hikari nodded slowly, almost embarrassed at her boldness. "Why do I find that so difficult to believe?"
Hikari turned an exasperated, almost angry look at her friend. "Why do all of you people think I'm a frigid square! I'm a woman too y'know! I also get tired of being prim and proper Hikari the Class Rep! I want to do something wild and exciting once in a while!" Hikari would have up and walked away if only she didn't owe her friend a debt.
"Hey! Calm down, Hikari!" Asuka tried to soothe her friend. She tried to stifle a laugh and failed.
"Oh, FINE! Laugh Soryu!"
"No, don't be angry! I just remembered when Shinji and I had our synch training!"
Hikari's brow furrowed as she tried to remember. A blush spread on Hikari's face and she tried to hide behind her fingers. "Oh, my God. 'You're living in sin!' I feel like such a hypocrite!"
"That's why I had my doubts about you being a seductress, but now that I do look back on it, yeah I guess you do have your drives. You just repress them too much because of your position." Asuka lay down on her back. The two friends stayed there for a while, savoring the tranquil beauty of the afternoon. "Hikari?"
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you tell me? I thought I was your best friend." Hikari winced at Asuka's hurt tone.
"Because you are my best friend. I was afraid you'd think less of me if I told you I ---" Hikari's words were cut off as Asuka wrapped her arms around Hikari.
"Best friends don't think like that about each other."
"That's why I was scared. You were my first best friend. All the others just hung around me because I was Class Rep - they pitied me for being alone, or because they wanted favors. You were the first one to be my friend because you really wanted to!"
As the sun set the two had a nice friendly cry.
***
[Rei's Voice: human emotions. like the deep blue sea, unfathomable, mysterious. yet it is one of the things that make life so beautiful. the basis for the rift has been remedied. it is only logical for the rift to mend afterwards. a lot of variables can still affect my scenario. but i have a lot of trust in shinji and soryu. they are meant to be together.]
After dinner everybody gathered in the living room. Misato stood in front of the fireplace, facing the teenagers who sat on the sofa and the armchairs. The rest of the adults watched from chairs they had pulled from the dining table.
"OK, listen up, it has come to my attention that Sex Ed is not part of the curriculum in the middle school," Misato glared at Ritsuko. All the teenagers had shocked looks in their eyes at the announcement. Even Rei seemed a bit troubled. "And I also believe that it is timely because you are at that time in your life that _stuff_ happens."
A pregnant pause.
"I never had that stage when I was a teenager," Makoto whispered conversationally to Shigeru. Shigeru palmed his face and kept reminding himself that Makoto's family owned the rest house.
"this does not concern me." Rei stood up and attempted to walk away.
"Hold it, Rei! You will sit down and listen to my talk. You may find it informational," Misato winked mischievously at the blue mopped girl.
"unnecessary. commander ikari has already given me a lecture regarding human reproduction."
Everybody's jaw dropped to the floor at the image of grim Commander Ikari giving a lecture about sex. Not a pretty picture.
Misato blinked before she was able to regain her composure. "Rei. You will sit down and listen - Just to verify what the Commander told you."
"i doubt the commander would have made errors. he was able to reproduce satisfactorily with doctor yui ikari."
A round of stifled giggling at Shinji's expense.
"Rei, it might be fun," a red-faced Shinji interrupted before things could get out of hand. Rei looked at Shinji and then slowly returned to her seat.
[Rei's Voice: i still believe that this is a waste of effort. but i did agree with shinji to try and explore what is called fun.]
After everyone had settled down again, the audience looked questioningly at the implements on the coffee table.
Shigeru cleared his throat and asked the question in everybody's minds. "What are the bananas for?"
[Rei's Voice: i was wrong. the talk proved informational and entertaining. i like bananas.]
***
Shinji lay on a lawn chair on the deck. Stars twinkled merrily in the dark sky. He could hear the mostly drunken laughter coming from the house as the others played charades. The last time he checked, Rei's team was ahead by several points.
"_That_ was different," Shinji mumbled to himself as he lost himself in the soothing sound of the surf. He looked up at the bright full moon as he remembered the previous hours of Misato's talk. Rei had been very inquisitive about some points that made everyone (except possibly Misato) uncomfortable.
Then the moon was blotted out by a familiar silhouette. "I didn't know bananas could be so much fun," Asuka grinned at Shinji. Before Shinji could respond, Asuka laid on top of him and gave him a very passionate kiss.
"Asuka?" Shinji pulled away from the girl with some confusion.
"Why? Expecting somebody else?" Asuka gave a hurt moue which made Shinji _uncomfortable_. Asuka snuggled playfully against him.
"O-of course not! B-but I thought---" Shinji cursed himself for stuttering like a sex crazed teenager.
Another kiss cut off any other words. "So did I. I was wrong. I shouldn't have pressed. Secrets are secrets and it didn't concern us directly." Asuka sighed as she felt Shinji wrap his arms around her.
Asuka's head was cradled in the nook between Shinji's head and shoulder. "But keeping secrets from you is also wrong. So what do we do?" Shinji whispered tenderly in her ear.
"I guess that will be up to your discretion. I can't help it if there are things that you can't tell me. I trust you not to hurt me intentionally."
"Ok. I can live with that." Shinji kissed her forehead. "I also trust you, Asuka-chan. I'm sorry I didn't comfort you when you cried."
"It's all right, I really didn't do anything to lessen your fear in me. Deep down, we both know I'm still the Red Headed Demon. But I promise to be much more gentle with you from now on," Asuka purred happily and they were content to listen to each others' heartbeat. "Hey, Shin-chan?"
"Yes?"
Asuka rose from lying on top of Shinji and sat up straddling the boy's waist. "Wanna have some fun?"
A strangled gurgle of surprise came from Shinji's throat.
"I got something from Misato's talk. She's too wasted to notice that I took it." Asuka had that devious glint in her eyes which made Shinji _uncomfortable_.
Shinji's eyes bugged out and he could feel the heat spread over his body.
"So? Wanna do it?" Asuka whispered huskily into his ears.
"!!!"
"I'll take that as a yes." Asuka breathed hot air into Shinji's ear before making her tongue follow the contours of his ear.
"!!!"
Asuka reached into the back of her shorts as she drew out her pilfered Sex Ed visual aid. She grinned as she brought it to the fore. "Here! Let's share this banana."
***
Some distance from the rest house, a black car was parked in an inconspicuous grove. At the driver's seat a man observed the house with a set of high powered night vision binoculars. The man watched as the Second and Third Children capered around on the deck. Once more, friends and lovers.
"Everything proceeds according to the scenario."
And Gendo Ikari smirked.
As he started his car, Ikari fooled himself by telling himself that as long as the Children were romantically involved it would make them easier to control. And besides, happy employees are productive employees.
But in his heart, he knew the truth.
It made him happy to see his son happy.
If he only had the courage to face that truth. Yui would probably be disappointed in him.
And the Commander drove off into the night, humming the song his wife had loved so much.
END
Auhtor's Notes:
Bleah! Done. I know that I left a lot of loose threads but I thought it would be best to quit while I'm ahead.