Disclaimer: see part 4
Children
Part 7
Falling
By Random1377
"You know something?" Kensuke asked, grinning broadly, "Some days it's good to be alive!"
I just nodded, blushing deeply and wondering how he could find it in himself to speak where there was so much to look at!
"Hey Shinji," Touji said casually, "let me make an introduction for you. Shinji: breasts, breasts: Shinji. Now that you're on speaking terms you can stop staring, eh?" He laughed as I dropped my eyes from where they had been observing an attractive young lady's… ummm… bathing suit.
-How does he do that??- I thought, -I was subtle… wasn't I?-
The Tokyo-3 waterpark (imaginative name, isn't it?) was filled with the contents of our school. From eighth to twelfth grade, just about everyone had turned out for the trip, not wanting to miss the opportunity to laugh and play and… well, ogle, I guess…
I opened my mouth to point out that not everyone had a hot, aggressively sexual girlfriend with which to familiarize themselves with that particular, enticing portion of the female anatomy… but Touji was once again staring off into space.
"What's up with him?" Kensuke whispered, holding me back while Touji walked on, unaware that he was no long in our company, "He's been all spacey for like, four days now…"
"I don't know," I admitted, "it started when he got called to the principal's office… maybe he got in more trouble than we thought?"
"Oh please," the boy retorted, pushing his glasses up on his nose, "like he cares about a little school trouble – do you even know him, man?"
I shrugged. "I… think I do, but I-"
"You know what a rhetorical question is?" Kensuke cut me off, shaking his head sadly, "Man, Shinji… I thought Ayanami was bad…"
The mention of the blue-haired girl's name brought me up short.
I was still trying to work out what exactly I felt for her. She was pretty, and really smart – even if she was awfully quiet.
Did I love her, you ask? Well… you're definitely asking the wrong guy. Did I care about her? Yes, that I can say without question, but at that time I couldn't tell you what exactly love was. I think I liked the idea of being in love… but if I loved her is something I would have had to have sat down and thought about for a good many hours before being able to give you a straight answer.
Fourteen's a confusing age, you know?
"Hey, Shiiiiiiiiinnnnnjiiiiiii…" Asuka's voice made thoughts of Rei impossible.
Why? Well… you know how fingernails on a chalkboard sound?
This was nothing like that.
I swallowed. "H-hi…" I managed to get out, trying my best not to stare as the redhead approached our position, her friend Hikari in tow.
"Hi Touji," the brown-haired girl said casually, a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Hey," Touji replied absently, looking around the park. "I'll see you guys later," he said abruptly, "Miho said she'd be here, so I'm gonna go find her…"
I nodded, reminding him that we need to meet for lunch.
"Like he'd miss a meal," Kensuke said dryly, after Touji was out of earshot, "did you forget who you're talking to?"
"Like you said," I pointed out, "he's been kinda out of it."
"It's because of that tramp he's dating," Hikari said darkly, unaware that her right hand had clenched into a fist, "he should break up with her."
Asuka leaned forward and whispered something into her friend's ear.
Now, I don't know what it was, exactly, but Hikari paled slightly and muttered, "Shut up…"
Girls are weird.
"So Shinji," Asuka said, turning her attention to me, "how does it feel to be here with the cutest girl in school?"
Kensuke laughed out loud as I looked around in confusion.
"So dense…" Asuka sighed, "anyway, this place looks like fun…" she smiled broadly, "too bad Wondergirl had to stay home…"
"Yeah," I said, not really catching the sarcasm in her tone, "she'd love it here… she really likes swimming, and-" I cut myself off as I found Asuka glaring at me.
"Idiot…" she muttered, "come on Hikari… let's go…"
As the Second Child stormed off, dragging her friend behind her, Kensuke shook his head, "Damn, man… you have no idea how to talk to women…"
I grimaced. "I don't know what to do about her sometimes…" I said, following the redhead with my eyes as she was swallowed by the crowd, "sometimes she's so nice, and then-"
"Don't buy it," Kensuke cut me off, folding his arms, "and don't even waste your time trying to convince me – she's cold, man."
"N-not all the time," I stammered, momentarily distracted by a two-piece bikini that I was certain was no larger than five inches – total, "sometimes she's quiet, and thoughtful, and… what, why are you looking at me like that?"
Kensuke was smiling wolfishly. "You wanna tell me about it?" he asked with a wink, "Or do I need to start singing, 'Shinji's got a girlfriend'?"
I blushed (something I find that I do a lot), and shook my head. "It's not like that," I mumbled, "she's just… she's not as bad as you think."
"Uh huh…" Kensuke grinned, "next you'll tell me that Mitsuki doesn't like you at all…"
My blush deepened. "I… she's a senior," I pointed out, "she's cute… but I don't think she would ever-"
"Hi Shinji…"
I think I actually bit my own tongue at that point… and I think Kensuke actually turned blue from laughing so hard.
"Ummm… Hi, Mitsuki…" I said timidly, wondering how much she had heard… and knowing that she had heard it all. –Thanks, Kensuke…- I thought darkly, -appreciate you helping me look like a fool, because you know, I can't do that well enough on my own…-
"I'm glad you could make it," Mitsuki said quietly, crushing Kensuke's laughter like a cicada crushed under a boot heel.
"I'm… glad I could too," I stuttered, committing her conservative, blue one-piece suit to memory before tearing my eyes away.
"Maybe I'll see you around later," she said with a smile, heading off to rejoin her group.
"Yeah," I breathed, "I'd like that…"
"Nothing going on…" Kensuke said scornfully, "I should have known! You and Touji have all the luck!"
"Kensuke?"
It was Kensuke's turn to blush. "Shinobu!" he exclaimed, turning to find the younger girl standing behind him, blushing almost as brightly as him, "I… didn't think you were coming."
"I… wanted to see you," Shinobu replied, unable to meet his eyes.
The foolish grin that lit up his freckled face would have made even the harshest skeptic reconsider their decision that love was dead. Not that I'm not saying they were in love, you understand… but in my opinion, they were well on their way.
"I'll catch up with you later," I said gently, smiling as Kensuke just nodded, never taking his eyes off of the girl in front of him.
I moved off into the park, fully prepared to spend the day entirely alone.
Ahh, it's nice when life catches you unprepared…
**
I sighed as I sat down on the cool rocks.
"I don't understand girls…" I muttered to myself.
Looking around the small alcove I had slipped into, I shook my head, wondering why Asuka was teasing me like she was.
Did it ever enter my mind that she might be serious? No… not for a second. Every time that notion tried to surface, the image of her running to the bathroom to brush after our one kiss would immediately squash it.
"Once is bad enough," I whispered to myself, "but does she have to keep leaning like that?"
The current count of the times Asuka had leaned over me, brushed up against me, said something provocative, or brought attention to her bathing suit, was… well, let's just say you can't count that high without taking off your shoes.
And I couldn't understand why. It seemed like she was going out of her way to make me uncomfortable, because whenever I complimented her, smiled at her, or in any other way responded to what she was doing… she immediately backed off.
Not that I responded very often, you understand… but I think I smiled twice and complimented her suit once – which was hard enough, considering how difficult it was for me even being there.
Think about it, if you couldn't swim, would you want to spend the whole day around water?
-I'll never understand her…- I thought bleakly, -it's like she's trying to get me to hit on her, but I know she doesn't want that…- "God, just leave me alone…" I muttered, putting my head in my hands.
"I… ok…" a soft voice replied.
My head shot up, and I found Mitsuki turning to leave. –Didn't I see this in a movie?- I thought, suppressing the urge to laugh… because it would have come out as insane, since I was suddenly all keyed up.
"No!" I said quickly, getting to my feet too fast and hitting my head on the low cave ceiling, "I wasn't talking to you," I said, rubbing my head ruefully as I sat back down, "I was just talking to myself… I do that sometimes… sorry…"
"Ummm… ok…" the brown-haired girl said, turning back to face me, "I just thought maybe you wanted to be alone… I'm sorry I followed you in here…"
"It's alright," I said quietly, "I just wanted to get away from everyone for a few minutes… I don't like big crowds…"
"Me either," Mitsuki said, folding her arms. "Can I have a seat?"
"O-of course…" I stammered, sliding to the side to make room for her.
She sat down beside me, blushing slightly. "I don't… normally do this…" she said after a moment of silence, "follow boys around, I mean."
I blinked, not really knowing what to say. –She was following me?- I thought, -Is there a hit out on me that I don't know about, or something?- it was about the only logical explanation I could come up with.
"Were you going for the James Dean look?" she asked, gesturing to my tee-shirt.
"James who?" I asked, confused.
"He was a… oh, never mind…" she laughed, waving a hand.
An awkward silence fell.
"Hey Shinji…" Mitsuki said abruptly, "do you… have a girlfriend?"
I just gaped at her for a minute. "N-no…" I finally managed to get out, aware that almost a full minute had passed since she had spoken, "no, I don't…"
My breath left me as she laid her hand over mine. "Shinji…" she whispered, her voice barely audible over the waterfall the small cave was located behind, "will you be my boyfriend?"
If there was a prize for 'best shocked look,' I'm sure I would have won hands down. "W-why?" I managed, "You're a senior… you could have any guy you wanted… why me? You hardly know me…"
She averted her eyes. "Ummm… this might sound bad," she said quietly, "but I don't really know." She smiled, "I know that you're really nice with your friends… and I know that you're really cute…" she shrugged, "and three years isn't so much – my dad is more than ten years older than my mom."
I considered this. My father was also quite a bit older than mother when they got married… but it wasn't so much that she was older, it was that she was interested at all.
My confusion must have shown, because she smiled, gently turning my hand over so she could lace her fingers with mine.
"I like you, Shinji…" she whispered, ignoring the water crashing all around us as she met my gaze intently, "I never really stopped to think about why…"
"I…" my mouth was dry as a bone, "I like you, too…" I managed to get out, feeling my face grow hot.
The smile she gave me made all of my discomfort seem completely unimportant.
Slowly, she leaned towards me, trying to say something more… but finally giving up. Gently, she put her hands on my sunburned shoulders (my shirt was torn from where Touji had tried to strip me of it) and pulled me close to her. I might have winced at the touch... had she not pressed her warm lips against mine
Unlike the kiss I'd shared with Asuka, this was soft… and gentle… and asphyxiation-free. I expected her to pull away after a minute (aren't first kisses supposed to be short?), but instead she just moved her hands from my shoulders to my sides and leaned closer, her damp hair brushing my skin.
When she finally did break away, she was flushed and her eyes were half closed. "Mmmm," she whispered, "that was nice. Thank you, Shinji…"
I blinked, "For what?" I wondered, thinking that I should be the one to thank her.
She blushed, "For not… trying to touch me, I guess…" her eyes met mine, "I've… only kissed two boys before… and they both wanted to touch me," she pointed to her chest, "here."
While I couldn't blame anyone for wanting to touch such a fabulous body, I could not approve of such a sweet person being taken advantage of. It made me sick.
"That's why I like you," she continued quietly, "because you're not like other guys. " Her hand came up and stroked my cheek, "You're sweet, and kind, and gentle…" she leaned forward, "and a great kisser…"
We stayed under the waterfall for over an hour, just talking and kissing and holding hands. When we finally parted… I was her boyfriend (I hesitate to say that she was mine… at the time If felt that would be a touch bold), and she had elicited a promise from me to call her every day.
I waved as she headed back to her group, idly wondering why Asuka looked so upset… but for the first time in a long time, not truly caring what was running through the redhead's mind.
It was one of the brightest, happiest times of my life, and I'll never forget it.
Of course it couldn't last…
Continued…
Author's notes: ((insert standard 'Geez, this chapter took a long time, I'm really sorry,' note here)). About Hikari obviously liking Touji, and Shinji's lack of noticing this fact. Well, what can I say? It's pointed out in ep 17 that boys are dense, and you know something? We are. ^_~ It's hard for young men to pick up on the signals of attraction – especially at that age… and considering his background, Shinji's got more of a challenge than most, as evidenced by how bold Mitsuki had to get before he even noticed that she was interested. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, and before you get too worried that's it growing too WAFFy… just sit tight for the next few chapters, and remember that I posted this as Drama, not Romance.
Big thanks goes to Rhine on this one for pre-reading and making some damn fine suggestions!
Feedback is always welcome at random1377@yahoo.com