EVANGELION: A SWIMMING LESSON
Chapter Five: A Time For Faith
Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion and its characters are property of GAINAX and ADV Films. I don't own them, nor do I intend to utilize them for any profitable purposes. Simply the purpose of writing entertainment.
Pre-Chapter Author's Note: Okay, now that I've made a bunch of spelling corrections, maybe I can stop making them. But, then again, in one's endeavor to type up words and sentences, we can make the occasional typo, or two...or three.....or more. ^_^() Nevertheless, they've been corrected, and thus I shall continue with this tale.
Oh, and before I go on, my thanks to those who have notified me of corrections in their reviews. They shall be corrected henceforth. Besides, it's a work in progress, both as a story and as my ability as an author, so of course mistakes will be made along the way. This little note is just to inform the readers of such decisions, because I do want to make sure that the reviews are well-received. Oh, and it's also to cover my own ass, in case I screw up again, though I try not to. :-D
Now, last time, we had Asuka teaching for a day, as well as Rei and Shinji's bond continuing to strengthen. Let's see what happens when time accelerates a bit and we look in on the characters...
Oh, yeah, can't forget about Asuka sleeping in Shinji's bed, and the emotionally unstable Third Child finding out. Who would've thought it? :-P
And, for a quick recap of mark use....stupid being unable to use italics....or perhaps I just don't know how to format it correctly, yet.
"Spoken Dialogue"
'Character Thought'
Written Material
And a new one, since it is needed in this chapter...
[Instant Message]
Diving into the world of Evangelion in three....... two....... one.......
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It is often thought that time flows like a river. As events begin, occur, and pass, such a concept can be lost or be regained. A day might pass by for one person's perecption as quickly as a second, while for another, it may seem like an eternity every second of that same day.
The thought processes of Shinji Ikari decided to take the former route as he prepared himself for school on a Thursday morning before looking at the lone calendar in the kitchen during lunch preparation for himself and Asuka. What he saw made him stop in movement for a moment or two.
"My God..." he noted as his eyes came upon this particular date, which turned out to be approximately three weeks since Rei had chosen to begin instructing him in the ability to swim. Oddly enough, for a while, he had been guilty about her aiding him, not because of her gender, but since he felt he was taking up her time.
"You are not," had been the First Child's reply to that statement born of worry and depression when he spoke it to her. "Outside of my duties as an Eva pilot, you are the only one I wish to spend time with."
The compliment had made Shinji blush horribly as well as mentally silence his worry back then. And as each day went on, his voice of fear seemed to be slipping away, though due to having as much fear and anguish as he did, it was an uphill battle. A conflict that continued on every minute he wasn't around her. Somehow, being near her gave him an odd sense of comfort and protection.
Interestingly enough, he had some form of that same feeling when hanging around Asuka. But it seems as if only he felt it, thanks to being one of the few if not the only person to have ever seen a softer side of her.
Of course, the aftermath of that first Monday still gave him a bit of a spook even to this day. He had indeed questioned Asuka as to why she had been sleeping in his bed, though it had taken him a while to get up enough guts to. And the only answer that the redhead had given him was that she had been too tired to figure out exactly where her room was. Ikari's gut told him it was a bluff, but common sense stepped in and prevented him from asking any deeper, lest he tread where he didn't want to.
'Why am I frightened to know..?' Shinji asked himself. 'Am I afraid she'll retaliate, or that I'll be drawn into something I can't get out of? I can't figure her out....'
Unknown to the Third Child, he was so lost in his thoughts that he voiced them aloud. Thankfully, no one was around to hear the and call him crazy. Misato was off on an after-work drinking spree while Asuka had rushed out in a hurry to meet Hikari. In fact, it had been the German girl who had jostled Shinji awake earlier than usual, but only to request of him to have her food ready for school despite her immediate departure. Oddly enough, her tone had been rather soft and with a hint of pleading instead of barking or ordering.
The young Ikari chalked it up to hallunication from receiving less sleep than usual as he put the final goods into both lunches, stuffed them into his pack, and headed for the door, shoes already on.
Fortunately, his day didn't begin completely different when Toji and Kensuke popped up at his doorway as he exited the partment, as if on a constant cue.
"Good morning, Shinji!" they called out in unison.
"And Misa..." Toji began, but then spotted the look on the Third Child's face and stopped the usual greeting. "Hey, you ok?" the jock then inquired.
Shinji's only response was to let out a loud yawn and blink repeatedly, his eyes looking a bit bloodshot. "G'morning..."
The jock and his voyuer buddy sighed together. Today was going to be a long day.
-------
A short while beyond meeting up with Shinji, both Toji and Kensuke finally made a realization as the three of them strolled along the street towards school, namely that despite recent changes and events, the Third Child still didn't look too pleased for some reason. His face looked rather sullen, as if lost in cofusion or depression, neither of which would really surprise them.
Finally, after a few more minutes of hearing little traffic noise as well as not a single spoken word, Toji broke the weird tension by jumping in front of the catatonic boy and standing in his path. Sure enough, Shinji continued to walk for a second or so before bumping into his friend, shocked to the point that he fell back onto the street. Fortunately, it also snapped him out of his stupor as he looked up at the black-clad boy.
"Huh?" Ikari muttered.
Kensuke laughed a little at the scene. He couldn't have guessed Shinji to fail noticing something in front of him. It was almost a little pathetic, but he decided not to say anything about it. Or at least not before finding out why, anyway. "Finally awake yet, Shinji?"
"Yeah..." the Third Child replied as he regained his feet and rubbed his temples a bit, still disoriented from the fall.
"So what's up with you today?" Kensuke chimed in. "Asuka hit you so hard, you blanked out?" That remark caused a sudden burst of laughter from Toji.
Shinji shook his head. "It's not that, guys..."
"So just what is it, then?" Ida continued in his little interrogation.
"I'm....just confused, I guess."
"What about?" Toji questioned aloud as he took a knee and began to untie his shoe.
"Well....have you ever felt like you owed someone?"
"All the time!" Kensuke exclaimed. "Hell, we owe you our lives many times over ever since you came here."
"Thanks, really," Shinji responded with a bit of embarrassment, "but that isn't exactly what I was referring to. Not exactly that grand."
"Need to get money to someone?" Suzuhara inquired.
"Definitely not that small..."
"Well, what do you think you owe?" the camera-boy said. "And to whom?"
Shinji now blushed, nearly causing another round of laughs from the other two boys, for they had never seen a male with reddened cheeks before. However, it also caused both their sets of eyes to widen as they realized what he was talking about.
Afterward, they grinned at the same time. "You're talking about Rei, aren't you?" the boys asked the Unit-01 pilot, again in uncanny unison, a testament of sort to the bond of friendship they shared.
"Yeah..." was Shinji's answer, the blush still quite apparent upon his face. Kensuke got comfortable leaning against a nearby ledge and viewing the sky through his videocamera.
"I suppose it makes sense," Toji noted as he re-tied his shoe. "After all, she has been helping you out-"
Kensuke had guessed that, too, and decided to finish his friend's sentence, "But what we wonder is, if you're serious about this...you ARE serious, aren't you?"
Shinji nodded. "Of course." However, as he said this, his cheeks were still deep red, and the voyeur easily caught on to this, as his hormone-driven brain formulated what the Third Child's idea happened to be.
"I know what you want to do, Ikari!" Kensuke stated before grinning wide.
"Wh-what do you think I'd do..?" Shinji nervously asked.
"Plain and simple." This came from Suzuhara, who had stood up and also had a rather overly beaming look upon his face. "You want to ask her out, right?"
Silence participated in this conversation after that statement as the Third Child's jaw dropped. In his body's shocked and frozen state, his mind decided to chip in its two cents. 'Am I that easy to read?' he wondered.
Naturally, Ida decided to gleefully add more in to this. "Come on, Ikari," he said in a slightly teasing manner, "you can't fool us when it comes to her!"
"I...I can't?"
Toji laughed. "Not a chance! We've seen how you look at her the past few weeks. And you're almost always skipping out on lunch with us to be with her. You're falling for her, and hard."
At this point, there was no denying to anyone the feelings running through Shinji's mind. "Okay. I admit....I admit that I want to."
"Well, duh!" his two friends chimed simultaneously.
But then Shinji's face again took on the mantle of worry. "But I don't really know how to go about it...."
That prompted his friends to grin together. "Well, don't worry about it, Shinji!" Kensuke exclaimed with a bit of pride. "That's what we're here for!"
"R-really...?"
"Of course, dude!" Toji added. "We'll help you figure it all out, no sweat!"
By now, Shinji's blush had more or less disappeared. "Thanks, guys," he said while feeling at ease about the whole idea. "But we'd better get going or we could be late."
"It's not like we're late that often," Toji stated as the three boys walked on and their conversation became quickly inaudible.
Inaudible, that is, to a certain class rep who ducked behind an alley after hearing all of that conversation, still panicking about accidentally eavesdropping on the three Stooges, but nevertheless feeling compelled to act upon it.
'I have to tell Asuka...' she thought in an attempt to rationalize her listening in on them as she picked up her own pace toward the school, feeling both glad that Shinji was becoming more socially involved with a girl, as well as an opposed determination to aid her red-headed friend in some way.
-------
School proceeded in its usual dull fashion for almost all of those involved, though of course not as many as before were currently attending due to prior Angel attacks taking out good portions of the city, forcing refugees and victims to seek shelter elsewhere. This, at times, caused an overall depression amongst the students as they struggled to keep themselves occupied, entertained, or at attention during classes, no matter how boring or frustrating they may have been.
Eventually, though, did lunchtime strike. And, as often was the case, it was a frenzy for many a student as they scrambled like mad to gather in their usual circles, groupings, or sometimes even pairings to socialize and enjoy the simple sensation of nutritional fulfillment within their stomachs.
As for the only person outside of the Stooges' circle who was privy to any bit of their plan, she currently was eating by herself, both hopeful and worried about what might happen once Asuka knew of her fellow pilot's intentions.
Or, rather, it seemed as though Hikari Horaki was eating by herself. Asuka was seated right next to her, but she hadn't begun to eat yet, her face giving off a mixed look of both distance and awareness, as if she was cut off in perceiving anyone else, yet fully focused on those she was paying attention to. As the class rep easily guessed, the Second Child's hawk-like gaze was directed toward Shinji.
After several intense minutes of muching and drinking of milk being the only noise, Hikari decided to risk asking a question. "Is....everything alright, Asuka?"
Asuka's only response was to blink rapidly a few times while feeling disoriented. "Huh?" she replied before her eyes settled upon her brown-haired friend.
"You seem a bit distant today," Hikari said while setting down her food and looking the German firecracker in the eye. "What's on your mind?"
Thankfully, the class rep's interruption of Asuka's daydreaming did allow her to finally begin eating her food. "Oh, you know," she mused, "the usual..."
"By the usual, do you mean gazing at him as if you want to be right next to him, while also glaring at him as if you totally hated him, all at the same time?" That remark was followed by a look of surprise on Asuka's face, along with a giggle from Hikari.
"Am I that easy to read?" the Second Child thought out loud, still in a bit of shock at her friend summarizing up what the redheaded girl had felt during that long look so well. Yet, she felt thankful for having a friend like Hikari at this moment, whom she could rely on and talk to, especially after telling off, yelling at, or arguing with Shinji, which happened often.
"Well, were you?" the class rep shot back as she took another drink.
"Yeah..." Asuka started before sighing a little and reclining in her chair. "Reminds me of something that happened a while back..."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Sure, why not..." With that, Asuka let her mind slide back into the past, searching for a not-so-distant memory of the boy she both liked and hated at the same time.
-------
The memory that the Second Child's memory brought up happened shortly before the battle with Sandalphon, the Eighth Angel, inside of a lava pool on Mount Asama. More specifically, it had occurred, ironically enough, at the school's swimming pool. Asuka had been denied permission to go to Okinawa by none other than Misato, who also notified the redhead as well as Shinji of her disappointment in their dropping grades.
That particular day, they were both at, coincidentally enough, the school's swimming pool, so that Asuka could satisfy her desire for some form of scuba diving in a stunning two-piece red-and-white swimsuit she had recently purchased while Shinji struggled with physics problems on his laptop. Before the German girl began to dive, though, she came over to assist him, as well as show off a little of both herself and her intellect.
Her presence took some effect since the Third Child was momentarily blushing when his eyes fell upon the girl's chest, and afterward,also seeming impressed at her having gone to college and graduated the previous year.
"So, just what makes this hard for you?" Shinji asked of Asuka as his eyes finally moved from her chest back tot he screen.
"Well, one can't answer if one doesn't understand the question," she managed to say while pouting just a little.
"You can't read the questions in Japanese yet?" the Third Child inquired in a bit of shock.
"It isn't exactly something I studied," Asuka began before her eyes caught the next problem on Shinji's screen. Pointing at it, she now questioned of the boy, "So what's this one about?"
"Thermal physics..." Shinji said, sighing.
"Thermal physics? Ha!" Asuka's eyes lit up. "Child's play."
"What do you mean?"
That remark caused the Second Child to scoff at her roommate a little. "I'll put it in terms even you can understand, Shinji." Using her hands to make appropriate motions, she began to explain. "When most things get hot, they tend to expand. And when they get cold, they often contract."
"I suppose it sounds simple enough..."
"For example," Asuka continued as she put her hands on top of her chest, "if I were to warm up my breasts, do you think they would get bigger or smaller?"
At this point, Shinji's cheeks had once again taken on a red coloration and his eyes were diverted from her. Quickly did the redhead's glare fall upon him. "Well, what do you think would happen!?!" she asked in a bit of exasperation.
"I...I don't think about things like that," Ikari answered, fearing to look at her in any way.
"Hmph. You're such a boring little boy." With that, she headed back over to a close edge of the pool where her scuba equipment was located and began to put the air tank apparatus on.
After she was done, Asuka called out to Shinji and rolled backward into the pool. Just before the memory ended, she remembered one last detail, which happened to be seeing another girl, who was cleaning her hair and pulling a towel off.
That girl turned out to be none other than Rei Ayanami.
-------
"So Rei's a swimmer.." Hikari mused while discarding her lunch's storage materials into a nearby trash bin. "It makes more sense now with her helping Shinji and all."
"Hey, don't give Wondergirl all the credit!" Asuka exclaimed, her voice muffled a bit from having her mouth close to full. "I'm helping that idiot, too, you know. One day a week, maybe, but I still am!"
"You also like that boy you call 'idiot'."
Asuka blushed a slight shade of crimson. "Yeah...so what do I do about it?"
"Well, why don't you try going out with him?" the class rep suggested.
The Second Child burst out in laughter over that idea. "That's funny, Hikari. Like he'd ever be convinced I'd want to really ask him out. He'd think I was trying to trick him or something."
"Come on, you don't really think that, do you?"
Asuka let silence be her only response.
"You really should give gim a try before..." In trying to reveal her knowledge, Hikari froze, not truly sure of how her friend might react.
"Before what?" Asuka inquired, trying to finish the brown-haired girl's statment. "Before I do irreparable damage?"
Hikari shook her head.
"Before another Angel attacks?"
Again, another negative.
"Before he asks someone else out?"
Now Hikari could nod.
"Ha! It'll never happen. Shinji Ikari doesn't have enough guts to ask any girl out."
Hikari sighed. "I...wouldn't be so sure about that..."
"Hey, just what is that supposed to mean?" Asuka demanded, giving her friend a curious look while she finished eating her food.
"I....it's...well..."
"Come on, Hikari. If you've got something to say, say it already!"
"Shinji plans to ask Rei out!" Hikari finally blurted out. Fortunately, the pressure she had been feeling all day vanished immediately.
Asuka's jaw had dropped, unable to believe what her ears had just received. "Are....are you sure about this?"
The rep's voice then lowered a bit. "Yes...he said so himself earlier."
"To you?"
"N-no, to his friends...as they were heading for school..."
That caused Asuka to grin. "Hikari, you little sneak! I didn't think there was a spy in you!"
"I never meant for it to...to happen like that."
"Oh, don't worry about it! Now, what can I do to stay one step ahead of that blue-haired bitch? Think, Sohryu, think..."
Hikari, rather naturally, saw quite a bit of fault in Asuka calling Rei a bitch, seeing as how she hadn't really done anything to the German hothead, aside from the fistfight a few weeks ago.
Shortly after the beginning of her brainstorm, the Second Child snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Hikari, do you need any clothes or accessories?"
"No...well, maybe just a little, what for?"
"Because I've got a plan..." Asuka said with a wicked grin, "...and I'll need your help to pull it off."
-------
On the opposite side of the cafeteria, Shinji Ikari was consuming his food alone. This happened as a result of both Kensuke and Toji choosing to ditch classes for the rest of the day. The cameraman's reasoning, quite logically, was that he needed more videodiscs. As for Suzuhara, he had chosen to sneak out so that he could spend more time with his sister than usual. Given that Tokyo-3 wasn't exactly heaven on Earth (more like hell on Earth at times), Shinji couldn't necessarily blame them. He was pretty sure that even if they were caught, they wouldn't be too badly disciplined.
Fortunately, a short talk with his two friends before they had left revealed the true flaw in the Third Child's plan. He indeed had a good clue of what he figured she might be open to doing, it was just actually gathering up the courage to ask her that was the problem.
As he began to eat, Shinji slowly felt himself becoming distanced from everyone. Not physically, of course, unless the hand of an Eva unit happened to smash its way through a wall or ceiling and flick him with but a single finger to a far corner of Japan. More like the underlying loneliness that always found its way into him before he fell alseep, leaving him with worries and fears.
Over the past few weeks, most of this proved to have disappeared, as his bond with Ayanami grew. However, even now, he could feel it trying to creep up on him, though he didn't fully realize it as he ate. That is, until he heard a voice. However, he was unable to hear it, as it felt like an incoherent whisper.
'Weird...' Shinji thought. 'I must be hearing things.'
'You only hear what you want to hear.'
It was the same voice he thought had been an illusion.
'What...do you mean?' Shinji asked, curious about this voice, and yet fearful, for it sounded familiar to him. Where it came from, he couldn't figure out.
'You only desire to hear that which will not hurt you.'
Shinji began looking around to try and see if anyone was speaking to him, but no one was close enough to speak in such a low tone and volume.
'Who are you?' Shinji wondered.
'A meaningless question,' the voice replied, 'because you know the answer.'
'I...know you...?'
All of a sudden, images to his left appeared in the blink of an eye and was gone just as quickly, then some to his right in the same amount of time. Both on the left appeared to be in similar height and form to himself, while one image to his right seemed to look taller, almost as if it were an adult, though his brain couldn't really discern anything in all the confusion.
'Who are you!?!' Shinji demanded, feeling both frustrated and frightened.
'I am one who speaks what you cower and run away from. The truth.'
'The truth..?'
'The parts of you that you choose not to see. Those which you do not accept, yet still exist.'
'I..don't accept...?'
'The world is changing...' the voice continued. 'And the time comes when you must change as well.'
'I don't understand!' By now, Shinji was feeling agonized by this voice.
'You will understand soon enough. Do not be afraid to make a choice.' By now, the volume of this voice was fading, and Shinji began to feel weird, as if trying to awaken from something that he percevied to be real.
'In the meantime, wake up...'
"Huh?" Shinji asked, only to suddenly feel fully aware of his surroundings, mostly the realization that he was still the only person sitting at the table as well as the clamor of the other students, chatting away as if nothing unusual had happened.
Bewildered, the Third Child looked around, curious as to whom had been speaking to him. However, not a single student was nearby.
"Weird.." Shinji muttered as something clicked in his brain and he glanced at the clock. Though he shouldn't have been surprised, he nevertheless was as his eyes noted there was only five minutes left for this lunch break. Naturally, he hurried to eat his food and dispose of the bag.
As he left the cafeteria, Shinji stopped to take one last look at the table he had been at, still bewildered by the recent experience.
'That was quite odd...' Ikari thought as he left the eating area, his thoughts moving back to convincing Rei to spend time with him.
-------
Back in the classroom, sure enough, Toji and Kensuke were absent, though the sensei made no real effort to find out why. 'Boys will be boys', he thought silently as his mouth droned on in yet another Second Impact lecture that never failed to deliver a lack of interest in every student.
However, as Shinji took his seat, he noticed another folded note on his desk. Not knowing whom it was from, he took the paper and unfolded it, examining the writing.
Need to talk to you in the back. Asuka.
In a rather predictable fashion, Shinji turned his head toward the back of the classroom, past Rei, who was engaged in her usual activity of staring out the window, to see Asuka in one of the back seats, noticing his gaze and beckoning him with a hand.
Timing it so that the sensei didn't notice, swiftly did the Third Child move and sit in an empty seat near the redhead. Then, after looking around to ensure that no one had really spotted him, he leaned over. "What is it?" he whispered to Asuka.
"Oh! Misato gave me a call. She wants to talk to us later, after your lesson."
"What about?"
"She didn't say. All she told me was to meet up with her at the shopping mall after you were done today."
"Oh, alright. I'll go there."
"I'll wait outside after Wondergirl's done with you. Wouldn't want you getting lost now, would we, Third Child?" Asuka sarcastically commented while smirking.
Shinji rolled his eyes. "I know my way around the city, but okay." After that, he moved back to his seat, looking over the monitor of his laptop.
In the meantime, Asuka received a message upon her screen. [How did it go?] Of course, this question was from Hikari.
[He bought it!] Asuka responded with a few taps of her fingers upon the keyboard.
[How will I find you once you both get there?]
[I'll find you. Don't worry.]
[I don't have to be there all day, do I?]
[Of course not! Just for a little while. Then make up some excuse, like you have to go home or something, and leave. After that, he's all mine.]
[Alright...]
[Hey, Hikari?]
[What is it, Asuka? I'm somewhat busy.]
[Thanks again for letting me know.]
[Anytime.]
-------
In due time, school let out, the general population of students departed to engage in their recreational activities, and the First and Third Children went off again to engage in another lesson. Though it had only been approximately three weeks since they had begun, Rei was noticing considerable progress in Shinji's swimming abilities.
"You learn quickly," she spoke as she drifted on her back, alongside the Unit-01 pilot, who felt at peace for the moment.
"I...I do?"
"You have shown much improvement in a small amount of time," Ayanami stated. "Some would be envious of such rapid development."
"Thank you, Rei, but..."
"What?"
Shinji turned his head slightly to look at her gentle face. "Why are we on our backs liks this today?"
"The purpose of today is not to learn."
"Huh?"
"You are being taught this skill five days a week. It is but a natural necessity to occasionally deviate from constant instruction, if only in small amounts."
Shinji smiled at the blue-haired girl and held her hand. This action produced a blush in both teacher and pupil as their momentum ceased.
They spent the rest of their time in the pool that way. Outside, however, Asuka Langley Sohryu had taken a chair, sat in it, and waited next to the boys' changing room, doing her best to finish some of her own homework and uttering the occasional curse when she couldn't read certain questions. She didn't even care about the occasional muttering from passing students. At least, not until she heard a familiar one.
"Whoa, speak of the Devil!"
Asuka looked up from her computer to see Toji and Kensuke together. As usual, Kensuke was viewing her, and probably the world as well, through his videocamera, and Toji happened to be carrying a basketball with him.
"Oh, it's you two," Asuka said rather flatly.
"Yeah, it's us!" Toji retorted, leaning against a nearby wall. "Thought we'd check up on Shinji. What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for the idiot. He and I have business to take care of after those two are done."
"Oh, yeah?" Kensuke questioned, zooming in on her face. "What kind of business?" Normally, the voyeur wouldn't even think of having guts in a situation like this, but with Toji close, he felt a bit safer.
"None of yours!" Asuka fired back, closing up her laptop, placing it within her bag, and smirking at the two boys. "It's classified."
Toji decided to call her bluff on this one. "The hell if it is! You just want to torment the kid more, don't you? Haven't you put him through enough?"
By now, Asuka had stormed up to them and her face was blatantly staring holes into the jock, doing her absolute best not to lose her temper, knowing they were only trying to stick up for their friend. "I told you, it's between me and Ikari."
"Whoa, check out how angry she looks!" Kensuke chimed in, getting a decent shot of her snarling face. "This is priceless!"
Without so much as even a twitch of warning, Asuka's hand flew, slapping Kensuke on his left cheek and causing the boy to stumble back a bit in shock from the speed of her movement. "Jerk!" she called him.
"Hey, you two!" another voice called. To be exact, the class rep's voice.
"Hikari!?!" All three of them replied at the same time.
"Don't you Stooges have any shame?" Hikari went on, stepping between the hothead German and the angry jock to put some space between them. "Now get out of here before you ruin Asuka's date!"
All three faces went wide-eyed. "WHAT?" was the response of Toji and Kensuke.
"Umm, Hikari.." Asuka began.
"Huh?" Now it was Hikari's turn to be shocked, as she had just revealed Asuka's true intent! "Oh, shit."
"They...weren't supposed to know..." Asuka quietly uttered while looking away.
Toji, on the other hand, was stuttering. "Y-you...and....you and he....you're..going to...you've gotta be kidding me!"
"Like I said," the Second Child restated though gritted teeth, "it's between me and him, so don't get involved, or you'll have to answer to me, understand!?!"
"Fine," Toji answered. As both Stooges prepared to take off, the jock leaned in close to the redhead and said, "Just don't put him through hell, or you'll have to answer to US."
"Fair enough..." Asuka muttered a Hikari ushered the jock and his Eva-obsessed friend out of the school, berating them all the while for trying to get involved in Asuka's plan.
-------
Shortly after all the yelling taking place beyond them ceased, Rei and Shinji exited the pool and began to dry off. Neither spoke a word, the movements of their respective towels being the only sounds for what seemed to be several intense seconds for both pilots.
Finally, Rei spoke, having finally placed the earlier shouting heard not far beyond them with a person whom she was only somewhat familiar with. "Shinji?" she asked.
"Hmm?" Ikari halfheartedly responded as he worked moisture out of his hair.
"The Second Child is here..."
"That's right." By now, Shinji's hair was dry enough for him.
"What for?"
"Hmm, well.." Shinji answered while folding his towel up, "..Misato needs to talk to us both once I get changed and leave."
Rei nodded slightly, not seeing a need to pursue that line of questioning any further at this time. "You will not be walking with me today?"
"Not with Asuka waiting for me. But, um...can I, I mean..." As he trailed off, Shinji felt something that he couldn't exactly describe. As if he felt he would lose strength if he were even just a second away from Rei's side.
"What?" The First Child's voice, though quiet in volume, did possess care within the single word.
"Rei.....can we talk a bit...later?"
"Later?"
"Yeah, after I get done with whatever Misato wants to discuss with us."
Rei pondered the idea for but a few seconds, then nodded. "Of course. I will be at home."
"Gotcha!" Shinji cried while hauling to the changing room. "It won't take long. I'll be there, I promise!"
Rei then smiled just a little, feeling both a bit elated from the boy's eagerness to be with her, and yet also somewhat saddened that he had to be gone so soon. They hadn't even had time for a farewell hug before his departure.
These feelings all passed within the span of mere seconds before other feelings surfaced. Emotions such as fear, longing, and premonition. Naturally, however, no one would be able to discern any of this from seeing her statue-like face.
Fortunately, rationalization quickly surfaced. 'Shinji has promised to meet with me, and I know him to be worthy of my trust...and perhaps...'
Even as her cheeks began to redden in color and one of her hands placed itself upon her chest, she chose to finish her thought, desiring to embrace the words as opposed to rejecting them, for to deny a truth so very apparent would consume her with doubt as to the bond formed between herself and the Third Child.
'Perhaps...my heart as well...'
With a gentle sigh, the First Child got her feet moving again, taking her to change back into her uniform.
'My heart is with you, Shinji Ikari,' she thought. 'We shall see each other again, as you have promised.'
-------
Deep down within NERV HQ at this point in the day, Lieutenants Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba, and Makoto Hyuga were unwavering in their presence despite the recent halt of destruction in the city.
Currently, the three were engaged in some common downtime activity. Ibuki, typing with incredible speed by most standards, was working on a routine maintenance check of the Magi systems. Hyuga, of course, was getting laughs out of a manga he happened to be reading. And Aoba happened to be lost in guitar motions with his hands, his mouth humming away to a tune only he understood.
Maya, however, was a bit bothered by the two males and their casual attitudes at the moment. "Can't you guys be a bit more serious for once?" she asked while taking a sip from her coffee, noting that it was empty now. "You both look like you're slacking off."
Shigeru gave her a rather confused look. "What, aren't we allowed to savor what small amounts of peace we get?"
"He's right!" Makoto chipped in. "It's not exactly like we get a hell of a lot of free time to begin with, doing what we do and all. So why shouldn't we relax a little and enjoy ourselves?"
"Because the moment you let your guard down," a businesslike, yet famliar voice answered, "is the moment they might assault us."
All three operators turned their heads to notice Ritsuko approaching them, having just stepped off from a nearby elevator, a look of business on her face, as was often the case.
"Oh, um, afternoon, Doctor Akagi..." Aoba nervously began, his hands frozen in place right after she had spoken. Hyuga had also stopped, making sure his attention was on his superior.
With little care to the men's frozen looks, Ritsuko approached Maya, leaning over and looking at her monitor. "So, how are the Magi?" she asked.
"Just fine, m'aam," Ibuki answered, her gaze stuck to the screen while her fingers continued to fly across the keyboard. "Nothing out of the ordinary to report."
"Thanks, Maya," the blonde scientist said before standing back up and directing her gaze to Shigeru and Makoto, still with slightly fearful looks upon their faces.
"Now, as for you, Lieutenants Aoba and Hyuga," Dr. Akagi stated, her tone becoming a bit strict, "I'd suggest you be more attentive to your work, and less concerned about daydreaming."
"With all due respect, Doctor," Hyuga pleaded while setting down his manga, "we were just trying to enjoy ourselves a little. The city's been quiet lately, after all."
"He's right!" Aoba chimed in. "And that isn't even mentioning how the longest known time between Angel attacks was fifteen years. Don't we deserve a little bit of R&R?"
"That may indeed have been the longest recorded time between when the Angels chose to strike," Ristuko argued, "but that doesn't mean it'll happen again. Based on the data we've obtained from all previous battles, it's safe to conclude that while the time between appearances shows no real consistency, it doesn't mean we can sit back on our asses. We need to be ready whenever it happens, whether it be five seconds from now, or several weeks into the future. Do you both understand that?"
"Yes, m'aam," the male lieutenants responded together as they both got to work on their monitors.
Ritsuko left after that without another word. As soon as she was out of earshot, Hyuga whispered over to Aoba, "That went well..."
"No kidding," Shigeru replied in a similarly hushed voice, "I thought she was going to send us to the Commander."
"Well, as long as do better to avoid being caught next time, it shouldn't be all that bad," Makoto offered. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you..."
"What's up?"
"You think she plays favorites? Dr. Akagi, I mean."
"With who?"
"Maya, of course..."
"Well," Aoba answered, "it's certainly possible. Granted, they're both women and they work on the Magi systems together, but favorites?"
"You have to admit, they seem to work well together," Hyuga noted before leaning a bit closer to the long-haired operator. "In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd almost say they were a bit closer than colleagues."
Shigeru went a little wide-eyed from that. "Are you saying that they've got a thing for each other?"
"I don't know. It seems to be a one-way street, from what I've seen."
"Just what have you seen? I'm closer to her than you are."
"I've got a better viewing angle. And from what I see, Ritsuko's all business, even with her. But Maya...the way she looks at her sometimes...it makes me think she's got a crush."
Aoba was forced to stifle a laugh from Makoto's idea. "Well, that would be rather interesting to see, wouldn't it?"
"You bet it would," Hyuga finished as he brought his eyes back to his computer screen.
Unbeknownst to either of the men, Maya had heard every bit of their conversation. She was quite thankful for being able to hear them secretly discussing her, yet far enough from either one so that they wouldn't notice the deep blush upon her cheeks.
-------
As the day moved on, Asuka and Shinji made their way to the mall, engaged in a conversation. Or, rather, a one-sided conversation, as the redhead talked on and on about little things while Shinji's head was in the clouds. In fact, he had been that way ever since their conversation in class. Eventually, the Second Child noticed this and intentionally stepped ahead of Ikari to block his progress.
Sure enough, the Third Child bumped right into her, his face taking on a shocked look. "Huh..?"
"Are you even listening to me, Shinji?" Asuka asked, looking rather annoyed.
"I...I'm sorry..." Shinji managed to say as he shook his head clear of cobwebs.
"Ugh!" the Second Child cried, disgusted as usual with her fellow pilot's contsant apologies. "Just pay attention, will you?"
"Um, alright...." the brown-haired boy replied as the two pilots began to move towards the mall once again, their steps in uncanny synchronization.
Of course, no one except the two of them would ever understand how they were able to do such a feat, having needed to do so once for an Angel battle, and while it had been a difficult process, it helped to form the beginning of their friendship, as rocky as it was.
"Just what was with the blank stare, anyway?" Asuka inquired as they neared the mall.
As usual, Shinji wasn't sure what to say, lest he offend her in some way, so he decided to stick with what portion of his day he felt safe talking about. "I..something weird happened during lunchtime..."
"You mean aside from sitting all by yourself?" the Second Child questioned with a smirk forming on her face.
"I...saw things..."
"Everyone sees, you dork! What do you think we have eyes for?"
"I'm serious...something felt odd about it..."
"You're feeling weird about eating food now, Shinji?"
"That's not it. If felt...like..." Try as he might, the Third Child couldn't find the right words to express his encounter.
"Like a hallucination?" Asuka joked, just before Shinji's eyes went wide as he realized that that was the correct word for his experience.
"Y..y-yes....that's what it was...it had to have been.."
By now, Asuka was the one with the look of confusion on her face. "You're kidding me. You, a simpleton, seeing things? That's impossible."
"It's...it's what happened..."
Sighing, the redhead decided to try a little rationalization, along with a fierce tone in her voice to snap her brown-haired companion from his latest trance. "That can't happen, Shinji, and for one simple reason, and that's because...."
"Hmm?" Shinji wondered, curious as to what she might offer to disprove his vision.
"Well, don't tell anyone I said this..."
"Ok....I won't."
"Good! Now, the reason I think you couldn't possibly be hallucinating is because you may be a boring person, but you're quite healthy. You don't go getting in trouble, and even I can't ever think you'd stoop to the level of drugs. So, therefore, you shouldn't be having this kind of problem." With that, Asuka put on a face of victory, as if she had just won an argument against Rei, overkill included.'
And yet, Ikari remained quite somber. "But...it happened...it told me..."
"It? It who?"
"Just some voice..."
"Someone you know?"
"Well, it was familiar.."
"So who was it?" Asuka continued, wanting to see just how much dirt she could milk out of Shinji in this state. "One of those Stooges? Wondergirl? ME, perhaps?"
"No, none of them, or you."
"Then just who was it?"
"I don't know!" Shinji cried, a bit exasperated by the German girl's barrage. "I just know it from somewhere!"
"Like a dream or something?"
"No, it wasn't a dream...."
"Then where did you hear it?"
"I...don't remember..."
"Scheisse..." Asuka said as she took hold of Shinji's wirst and walked forward, dragging him somewhat as his feet tried to keep up.
"Hey, Asuka..."
"This isn't getting us anywhere! Let's just meet up with Misato before she gets worried."
Letting the conversation die there, Shinji picked up his pace and followed the ego-inflated girl to the shopping mall, still wondering just what their guardian wanted to talk about, as well as why she would do it in a mall of all places.
-------
As for Rei Ayanami, nothing was out of the ordinary at the moment for her trip home, save for the fact that Shinji wasn't walking with her. While going home alone was quite normal for her, she nevertheless felt a bit lonely, seeing as how she was used to and enjoyed the company of the Third Child these past few weeks.
Naturally, she paid no attention to anyone around her, except to avoid bumping into people and causing awkward moments with her silence. It's not that she couldn't hear or observe them, but rather, she felt they were not a significant part of her life and, thus, she felt it unnecessary to make contact.
'Is it this way with all humans?' she thought. 'Do they all exist within what few connections they feel safe with, unable or unwilling to reach out to others?'
To her, Shinji was a whole different story. Lack of contact with him had been impossible, for they had to work alongside one another. After all, they were two of the only three people capable of piloting the monstrous and fearsome Evangelions. And yet, Ikari, despite being an introvert on par with herself, made an effort to know and understand her.
'From the moment he first held me in his arms, he felt...different. He was as afraid as I was at the time, yet he chose to try and help me, comfort me, despite the possible danger to himself at the time...'
As she neared a curb to wait at, she continued to over hear bits and pieces of conversations among other people. Two, in particular, caught her attention with the first sentence she heard.
"I still can't figure it out! That redhead and...Shinji? I still can't believe it, dude!"
Hearing this, Rei's attention shifted to the speaker, a tall boy in black clothes, carrying a basketball. She quickly identified him as one of Shinji's two friends from school. The other was as equally unmistakable, carrying his prized videocamera.
"You'd better believe it, Toji," Kensuke replied as the two waited for a walk light to appear. "Though, I admit it's hard to swallow myself."
Unknown to either boy, Rei was now behind them, wondering what else they might say before either one noticed her, if at all. Though the First Child wasn't accustomed to engaging in such behavior, she did feel a desire to know where Shinji was, if only to ease her loneliness a little.
"Fifty bucks says they don't last ten minutes!" Suzuhara threw back as he stretched his neck. "Should we go check it out?"
Kensuke was humored by the idea. "I thought you wanted to change clothes and head to my place today?"
"Might be worth missing out on another round of games just to see if it works, you know," Toji responded. "What do you say, man?"
Realizing that neither boy might yield anymore information without her asking, Rei sharply cleared her throat. Sure enough, both boys took notice and turned around to see the First Child behind them, freezing up after realizing who it was.
After a few moments of silence did the two guys try to break the ice.
"Um....uh..." came from Kensuke.
Toji, at least, kept his cool. "Ayanami," he greeted with a slight nod. Rei nodded back in acknowledgement.
"What are you doing here?" the cameraman wondered, thankful that his friend had decided to start this possibly nerve-wracking conversation.
"I am going home," Rei answered. Though she didn't normally ask questions, the blue-haired girl couldn't stop herself from doing it now. "What are you two doing here?"
"Same thing," Toji spoke as he flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles, for no apparent reason. "Is something wrong?"
"You two were discussing the Third Child..."
By now, the walk light was showing, yet none of the three took a single step off the curb. "Yeah, we were talking about Shinji," Kensuke confirmed.
"I see..." the First Child replied before her gaze returned to its neutral state.
Not long after their words died, the walk light appeared. Kensuke began to start off the curb, but was stopped by Toji's arm blocking his chest. Rei noticed this as well, for they were in front of her and would need to cross before she could.
"Hey, what gives, Toji?" Kensuke asked.
"We can't leave it at this, you know..."
"What do you mean?"
Suzuhara made a head gesture to Rei. "Her."
Ida sighed. "You sure you want to tell her?"
"It isn't right to keep her in the dark..."
"In the dark?" Rei questioned, startling both boys, having forgotten that she was directly behind them and could easily hear everything they were saying. In her experiences, Ayanami didn't exactly hear a lot of slang expressions.
"Well, yeah..." Toji explained, "when someone isn't informed about certain things. That's what it means."
"Nah, there's a little more to it then that," Kensuke chimed in. "In most cases, those who do know are keeping the uninformed person from finding out that information."
"You are...withholding information?"
"Not anymore," Toji answered as he leaned against the light post. "Look, it's not going to sound good, and it might even be kinda heartbreaking, but..."
Rei awaited in pure silence, not needing to get home right away and somewhat curious as to what else the jock would say, as well as wondering why she was even here, having this conversation.
"...well, Shinji and Asuka are over at the mall-"
"I know of their meeting with Major Katsuragi," Rei interrupted.
"Oh, so that's her bullshit excuse, huh?" Suzuhara retorted, causing the blue-haired girl to flinch slightly, since she wasn't accustomed to harsh profanity any more than slang.
Kensuke took notice of this and jumped back in. "I have to apologize for Toji's language. He gets mouthy where certain people are concerned. But, I gotta admit, it's a good bluff for this kind of plan."
Though Rei's epxression ceased to change, a slight amount of fear began to creep into her heart. "You mean what Shinji told me is not what they will be doing?"
"Well," the cameraman went on, "it's what he thinks will happen. Truth is, Asuka's luring him into a date."
Yet another term the First Child wasn't familiar with. "A date?"
"Y'know, when two people get together to be with each other?" Toji said in an attempt to clarify the term.
"Like you two are now?"
Toji went slack-jawed. Kensuke did his best not to burst out in laughter. "No, no, nothing like that!" the tan-haired student exclaimed. "We're just hanging out. We're friends, after all."
By now, Rei's look was that of some confusion. "I do not understand."
"Well, how about this, then?" Suzuhara offered. "Two people being with each other in a more...agh, what's the word..."
"Looking for -intimate-, Toji?" Kensuke interjected.
"Yeah, that's it! Two people being with each other in a more intimate way than normal."
"Oh..." A blush found its way to Ayanami's cheeks as she began to understand. "And this is what Pilot Sohryu and Shinji are doing?"
"That's what they'll be doing soon enough...." Toji's voice trail off as he felt his heart grow heavy. "I'm sorry that we had to tell you...we didn't meant to hurt you, Ayanami-"
"You have not harmed me in any way," she corrected as she stepped ahead of them to cross the street, the next walk light having appeared. "Goodbye."
As she walked away, the two Stooges could only look in awe.
Shortly after, Toji began to stretch again, feeling slightly stiff from leaning against the post for so long. "That...had to be one of the weirder conversations I've had."
"No kidding. You can never tell if she's paying attention or off in her own universe. Damn..." Kensuke muttered as he adjusted the shoulder strap of his camera, giving temporary relief to his eyes, and stepped off the curb, ready to head to his home, only to be halted in place by the taller boy's arm once again.
"Hey!" Kensuke spoke as he looked back to Toji's rather stern face. "What gives?"
"Let's head for my house this time."
"Well, sure, but what for?"
Toji grinned. "I've got a plan..."
-------
In many cultures, shopping centers are always an excellent example of humanity's unity, or rather, the illusion thereof. Many people gathered in a small space, and yet they individualize, going about their lives with almost no concern for others except for those few known by or close to them.
Shinji Ikari proved to be no exception to this rule as he remained like a statue in the clothing shop he and Asuka were in, wondering when the hell Misato would make her presence known. As for the Second Child, she had insisted on coming in here after meeting up with the class rep, who happened to be one of the few friends she had in Tokyo-3. Naturally, Shinji offered little to no resistance upon entering this place, though his cheeks had taken on a constant tinge of red as he stood here in the women's section while both Hikari and Asuka rifled through clothes like Kensuke and top-secret military data, were he ever to acquire any.
And the feisty German wasn't making the ordeal any easier. "Hey, Shinji!" she called, breaking his trance.
The Third Child turned to meet her eyes. "Yeah?"
"Make yourself useful and help us out, would you?"
"What is it?" Shinji pondered as he approached the two girls, each holding onto a hanger.
"We need a third opinion on these-" Hikari began to explain.
"You're the one who thinks we need a third opinion!" Asuka blurted with a tone of irritation. "And why do we need him, anyway?"
"It's not like there's anyone else around here we know." The almond-haired girl's focus then went back to Asuka's flatmate. "You don't mind helping us, do you?"
"N-no, of course not.." Shinji stammered, the light blush on his cheeks easily evident.
Asuka scoffed. "Fine, just don't sit there and spend an eternity deciding, okay? Let us know which you think would look better on me." On that note, both girls held swimsuits up for Shinji to observe.
After another wave of embarrassment struck and passed, as well as a proportionate deepening and fading of red upon his cheeks, Ikari finally managed to look at the articles presented before him. Held upon Hikari's hanger was a one-piece crimson suit, similar in style and modesty to the ones he'd seen girls wear at school, while Asuka's held a yellow string bikini, less material and with less to leave to the imagination.
"Well, don't just stand there and stare, idiot," Asuka said, "make up your mind!"
Shinji couldn't help but stare a bit as he wrestled with the choice. But, soon enough, he came to a logical conclusion, pointed toward Hikari, and said, "The red one works."
"Oh, really?" Asuka shot back while smirking. "And just why is that?"
"Well, umm..."
"Don't tell me," the Second Child interjected, "you're incapable of seeing me in anything that lets me show off my gorgeous figure!"
That statement, of course, allowed a split second for Shinji to imagine her clad in the yellow outfit as well as for much more red to appear on his cheeks.
"Ah-ha!" the redhead exclaimed, as if figuring out something only she could understand. "You were thinking about it, weren't you, Third Child?"
Before Shinji could reply, the rep butted in. "Please, Asuka, give him a chance to explain." Asuka found herself at a loss for words, not having expected her friend to stop her from one of her daily verbal bashings of the boy.
With a curious look, Hikari inquired, "So, just why did you choose this one, anyway? Is it really because of what Asuka just said?"
"No!" Shinji answered, though he knew it to be a half-truth. He was just thankful Hikari had been around to help him dodge a bullet with the German female. "I mean...she just seems to like red, that's all..."
"Ohh, well then, great Shinji Ikari," Asuka spoke in a sarcastic tone, "enlighten us with your wisdom. How ever did you come to that kind of conclusion?"
"It wasn't hard...it's the color of your hair and Unit-02." It felt desperate, but Shinji knew enough about Asuka to know that she had a lot of pride in her Evangelion.
Asuka's face brightened, much to the surprise of the class rep and the brown-haired pilot. "Hey, you're right!" After that, she took the suit from her classmate. "Well, I'll go purchase this, then. Didn't you have something you needed to take care of, Hikari?"
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot..." Hikari responded, while shouldering her bookbag. "I've got to get home. Seeya, you two!" She then took off, waving to them as she made herself scarce.
Shortly thereafter, Asuka purchased the one-piece suit and departed the store with Shinji in tow.
Shinji couldn't help but sigh. "It's been two and a half hours," he thought aloud, "so where's Misato?"
A series of beeping noises startled both of them. Asuka cursed under her breath and reached into her purse, pulling out a phone similar in shape and model to Ikari's, undoubtedly given to her by the Major like she had with him.
Taking a seat on a nearby bench, Shinji paid little attention to the redhead's voice, instead taking a moment to close his eyes and clear his thoughts, his body taxed as a result of Rei's lesson and his mind exhausted from enduring Asuka's usual sarcasm.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon how a person viewed it, Asuka wrapped up her conversation shortly and sat next to Shinji, jostling him. "Hey, wake up, dork! This isn't nap time!"
Shinji's eyes opened slowly and he found himself looking into her dark blue eyes, and it slightly spooked him. "Wh-what's going on?"
"Looks like whatever Misato wanted to talk to us about turned out to be nothing," Asuka explained, "so we've got the rest of the day to ourselves."
"Nothing...?"
"Yeah..." As the Second Child sighed, both pilots looked up toward the sky, currently crimson as afternoon beginning to wane, each of them lost in their own thoughts. For Shinji, a small bit of reflection upon the day's activities, while Asuka wondered just what she should do now that she had him alone. Thankfully, she didn't need to think too much, as she noticed the Third Child gulp involuntarily. Her gaze found his face and she asked, "Hey, what is it?"
"Nothing....just starving, I guess."
"Well, that works, then..." Asuka started.
"What does?" Shinji questioned.
"I've got an idea," the redhead said while she got to her feet, "let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry, too."
"It's getting late...shouldn't we get home?"
"Don't worry about it!" Asuka stated. "Misato won't worry about us."
"Are you sure...?"
"Of course I'm sure!" With that, she offered her hand to him. "Now, come on!"
Nervously, he grasped her hand and stood, following as she resumed walking.
Asuka felt a bit ecstatic. "Let's see, since Wondergirl isn't with us, our choices for dining aren't limited! This should be interesting..."
And on Shinji's end, two things bothered him. First, he was feeling nervous about holding Asuka's hand. Though her grip was tighter than Rei's, he didn't feel threatened by it. Second, though he didn't know why, he had an eerie feeling as they looked around for the food court. It was almost as though the two of them were being watched...
-------
Not far from the pilots, two pairs of eyes observed their movements, though they neither heard any conversation amongst the introvert Shinji and redheaded Asuka, nor made an effort to do so between themselves. Using vendor stands as cover, the eyes of each viewer was concealed due to devices held to the face, and although they received an occasional odd look or two from passerby, no one cared enough to say anything. For one, the view was focused, but very little magnification as he adjusted the position of his binoculars, while the other made use of his camera's zoom feature to close in on the pilots' faces.
"Man, you'd think they'd be done by now!" Toji said with a slight tone of disgust while taking a minute to rest his supporting arm.
"What are you complaining about?" Kensuke asked, kneeling and keeping a close eye on the action. "It was your idea."
Suzuhara sighed. "I know...but I didn't think staking out those two would be so exhausting."
"You're a jock, and you call this tiring?" Kensuke joked.
Toji shot an annoyed look at his friend before placing the binoculars to his eyes once more. "Funny. I meant that it's wearing my patience thin."
"You just can't wait to jump in and break it up, can you?"
"Damn right. If she even lays one hand on him...."
"What, you're hoping he'll strike back?"
Toji nearly lost his balance from an outburst of laughter. "Well, that would work! Shinji can pack somewhat of a wallop."
"You'd know, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah..." Toji took a quick moment to reflect upon when he begged Shinji to strike him back. It happened between Shinji's first and second battles in Unit-01, with Toji blaming the shy pilot for having his little sister hospitalized and subsequently beating him up one day.
After seeing how the encounter affected the fragile psyche of Shinji, especially during and after his battle with the Fourth Angel, Suzuhara had asked to be hit back as a matter of retribution, to put his mind at ease. The Third Child had done so, but only after the guilty jock requested him not to hold back.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Kensuke responded, "for everyone's sake." Noticing that the couple had finally stopped, he looked up at Toji. "They're at the food court. Let's go!"
Treading carefully, the two spies hid behind a nearby corner, positioning themselves to take full advantage of their viewing devices while leaving as little of their bodies exposed as possible, seeing as how they didn't want to be discovered.
At this point, conversation took a backseat to fascination as Kensuke pondered just what would transpire here and Toji, though his eyes were in the same place, kept his ears perked, not wanting to be escorted out if they could help it.
Sure enough, the jock's paranoia kicked in as a series of footsteps closed in upon them, then abruptly stopped.
Toji tensed up, prepared to bolt if need be. 'The steps don't sound too heavy..' he thought. 'Not like regular shoes or sneakers...'
Suddenly, a familiar female voice spoke from behind them. "Excuse me..."
Both the jock and cameraman stopped watching the unknowing pilots and immediately turned to face Misato, clad in her usual NERV gear as well as a pair of high heels and looking as surprised as they did.
Kensuke quickly lowered his camera and bowed, with Toji following suit. "Greetings, Major!"
"Yeah, greetings, Miss Misato..."
Misato felt slightly embarrassed, but understood they were just being polite. "Well, thank you both."
"Is something wrong?" Aida asked after rising.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Misato spoke, her tone becoming serious. "I need to ask you two something."
"Hey," Toji chimed in, "how did you find us?"
Kensuke decided to answer that. "Dude, NERV's got people all over this city! You'd be nuts to think they'd have a hard time locating someone."
"Yeah, something like that..." Misato added, thankful she didn't have to tell them how she actually found them. "Now, I've got a question for both of you."
"What is it?" Toji wondered.
Misato now took on a look of concern. "Have either of you heard from or seen Shinji and Asuka? They haven't come home from school yet, and I'm a little worried."
Toji handed her his binoculars. "See for yourself."
"Huh?" Curious, Misato took them from the dark-haired boy and leaned forward a bit as she viewed her two charges eating together at a table.
"So why are you two over here, spying on them?" she asked.
"Well...they're...on a date."
Misato felt surprised by the idea as she handed the binocs back to Toji. "You're kidding..."
"Not at all!" Kensuke exclaimed as he set his attention back to the couple. "They've been here ever since Shinji's lesson."
"I see..." Misato stated as she took in the information. Then she got an idea. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back." She then turned and headed outside, nearly colliding into a bystander in the process.
After a few minutes' time, the Major came back with her own hi-tech scopes and joined in on watching the date with Shinji's friends.
"It's not too surprising that Asuka decided to take a more proactive approach.." the purple-haired beauty noted. "So, who else is in on this, anyway?"
"Feels like everybody but Shinji's aware of it..." was Kensuke's reply. "And that includes Ayanami."
"Rei knows?" was Misato's reply, easily in disbelief as she kept a close eye on the two children she both commanded and guarded. "How'd she find out?"
The two boys were hesitant to answer. Misato quickly noticed this and guessed something to be amiss.
"Is something wrong?" she asked them.
"No, not at all," Kensuke interjected. "But, to answer your question..."
"We're the ones who told her!" Toji blurted out.
Another moment of being taken aback in what seemed to be an endless stream for Misato today. "Really? I wouldn't figure you two to be the type that would go looking her up."
"It wasn't like that..." Toji explained. "We just...happened to meet, that's all...shortly before coming here."
"And how did she take it?"
"She didn't seem to be upset," Kensuke replied, "but, then again, it's hard to understand Ayanami at times...no offense."
Misato couldn't help but feel the same. "None taken. She is a bit of an enigma, isn't she?"
Neither student said anything after that, so she let her voice trail off as the three of them kept further watch on the unsuspecting duo. In the meantime, Misato halfheartedly patted her jacket with one hand to comfirm that her cell phone was still with her, deciding to have a little fun of her own soon if things didn't get interesting on their own...
-------End of Chapter Five
Post-Chapter Notes: Not much to talk about this time. However, I hereby deeply apologize to all whom have come to read and enjoy these writings for taking so damned long to continue. There is absolutely no excuse for this whatsoever, and I can only make extreme efforts so as not to let it happen again. I personally have read stories I would have liked to seen continued that ceased to do such, so I know how it can feel on that particular end.
As for getting characters other than the three pilots involved as part of the developing triangle, be it in a direct manner or otherwise, I cannot remember if it was a part of the original plan. Creation of a general scheme or idea is simple, yet forging and carving out the details can become troublesome, which easily became one reason for the lengthy delay, along with net troubles.
At the very least, a good portion of the cast has been thrown in, even if in few scenes. So might good ol' Kaji make himself seen here? Perhaps. And do you know whom the 'voice' is that spoke to Shinji during lunchtime? If not, that's fine, for thanks to my usage of backstory to explain certain thoughts, feelings, and events, all shall be revealed in due time.
Looking towards the next chapter, what is one to expect?
-Might the three novice espionage agents be discovered or caught by the confident redhead and her unusually spaced-out date?
-Just what sort of "fun" is Misato planning?
-And, of course, what will dear Rei Ayanami think of all this?
That, and hopefully more, to come in the next chapter: The Heart's Yearning
Chapter Five: A Time For Faith
Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion and its characters are property of GAINAX and ADV Films. I don't own them, nor do I intend to utilize them for any profitable purposes. Simply the purpose of writing entertainment.
Pre-Chapter Author's Note: Okay, now that I've made a bunch of spelling corrections, maybe I can stop making them. But, then again, in one's endeavor to type up words and sentences, we can make the occasional typo, or two...or three.....or more. ^_^() Nevertheless, they've been corrected, and thus I shall continue with this tale.
Oh, and before I go on, my thanks to those who have notified me of corrections in their reviews. They shall be corrected henceforth. Besides, it's a work in progress, both as a story and as my ability as an author, so of course mistakes will be made along the way. This little note is just to inform the readers of such decisions, because I do want to make sure that the reviews are well-received. Oh, and it's also to cover my own ass, in case I screw up again, though I try not to. :-D
Now, last time, we had Asuka teaching for a day, as well as Rei and Shinji's bond continuing to strengthen. Let's see what happens when time accelerates a bit and we look in on the characters...
Oh, yeah, can't forget about Asuka sleeping in Shinji's bed, and the emotionally unstable Third Child finding out. Who would've thought it? :-P
And, for a quick recap of mark use....stupid being unable to use italics....or perhaps I just don't know how to format it correctly, yet.
"Spoken Dialogue"
'Character Thought'
Written Material
And a new one, since it is needed in this chapter...
[Instant Message]
Diving into the world of Evangelion in three....... two....... one.......
-------
It is often thought that time flows like a river. As events begin, occur, and pass, such a concept can be lost or be regained. A day might pass by for one person's perecption as quickly as a second, while for another, it may seem like an eternity every second of that same day.
The thought processes of Shinji Ikari decided to take the former route as he prepared himself for school on a Thursday morning before looking at the lone calendar in the kitchen during lunch preparation for himself and Asuka. What he saw made him stop in movement for a moment or two.
"My God..." he noted as his eyes came upon this particular date, which turned out to be approximately three weeks since Rei had chosen to begin instructing him in the ability to swim. Oddly enough, for a while, he had been guilty about her aiding him, not because of her gender, but since he felt he was taking up her time.
"You are not," had been the First Child's reply to that statement born of worry and depression when he spoke it to her. "Outside of my duties as an Eva pilot, you are the only one I wish to spend time with."
The compliment had made Shinji blush horribly as well as mentally silence his worry back then. And as each day went on, his voice of fear seemed to be slipping away, though due to having as much fear and anguish as he did, it was an uphill battle. A conflict that continued on every minute he wasn't around her. Somehow, being near her gave him an odd sense of comfort and protection.
Interestingly enough, he had some form of that same feeling when hanging around Asuka. But it seems as if only he felt it, thanks to being one of the few if not the only person to have ever seen a softer side of her.
Of course, the aftermath of that first Monday still gave him a bit of a spook even to this day. He had indeed questioned Asuka as to why she had been sleeping in his bed, though it had taken him a while to get up enough guts to. And the only answer that the redhead had given him was that she had been too tired to figure out exactly where her room was. Ikari's gut told him it was a bluff, but common sense stepped in and prevented him from asking any deeper, lest he tread where he didn't want to.
'Why am I frightened to know..?' Shinji asked himself. 'Am I afraid she'll retaliate, or that I'll be drawn into something I can't get out of? I can't figure her out....'
Unknown to the Third Child, he was so lost in his thoughts that he voiced them aloud. Thankfully, no one was around to hear the and call him crazy. Misato was off on an after-work drinking spree while Asuka had rushed out in a hurry to meet Hikari. In fact, it had been the German girl who had jostled Shinji awake earlier than usual, but only to request of him to have her food ready for school despite her immediate departure. Oddly enough, her tone had been rather soft and with a hint of pleading instead of barking or ordering.
The young Ikari chalked it up to hallunication from receiving less sleep than usual as he put the final goods into both lunches, stuffed them into his pack, and headed for the door, shoes already on.
Fortunately, his day didn't begin completely different when Toji and Kensuke popped up at his doorway as he exited the partment, as if on a constant cue.
"Good morning, Shinji!" they called out in unison.
"And Misa..." Toji began, but then spotted the look on the Third Child's face and stopped the usual greeting. "Hey, you ok?" the jock then inquired.
Shinji's only response was to let out a loud yawn and blink repeatedly, his eyes looking a bit bloodshot. "G'morning..."
The jock and his voyuer buddy sighed together. Today was going to be a long day.
-------
A short while beyond meeting up with Shinji, both Toji and Kensuke finally made a realization as the three of them strolled along the street towards school, namely that despite recent changes and events, the Third Child still didn't look too pleased for some reason. His face looked rather sullen, as if lost in cofusion or depression, neither of which would really surprise them.
Finally, after a few more minutes of hearing little traffic noise as well as not a single spoken word, Toji broke the weird tension by jumping in front of the catatonic boy and standing in his path. Sure enough, Shinji continued to walk for a second or so before bumping into his friend, shocked to the point that he fell back onto the street. Fortunately, it also snapped him out of his stupor as he looked up at the black-clad boy.
"Huh?" Ikari muttered.
Kensuke laughed a little at the scene. He couldn't have guessed Shinji to fail noticing something in front of him. It was almost a little pathetic, but he decided not to say anything about it. Or at least not before finding out why, anyway. "Finally awake yet, Shinji?"
"Yeah..." the Third Child replied as he regained his feet and rubbed his temples a bit, still disoriented from the fall.
"So what's up with you today?" Kensuke chimed in. "Asuka hit you so hard, you blanked out?" That remark caused a sudden burst of laughter from Toji.
Shinji shook his head. "It's not that, guys..."
"So just what is it, then?" Ida continued in his little interrogation.
"I'm....just confused, I guess."
"What about?" Toji questioned aloud as he took a knee and began to untie his shoe.
"Well....have you ever felt like you owed someone?"
"All the time!" Kensuke exclaimed. "Hell, we owe you our lives many times over ever since you came here."
"Thanks, really," Shinji responded with a bit of embarrassment, "but that isn't exactly what I was referring to. Not exactly that grand."
"Need to get money to someone?" Suzuhara inquired.
"Definitely not that small..."
"Well, what do you think you owe?" the camera-boy said. "And to whom?"
Shinji now blushed, nearly causing another round of laughs from the other two boys, for they had never seen a male with reddened cheeks before. However, it also caused both their sets of eyes to widen as they realized what he was talking about.
Afterward, they grinned at the same time. "You're talking about Rei, aren't you?" the boys asked the Unit-01 pilot, again in uncanny unison, a testament of sort to the bond of friendship they shared.
"Yeah..." was Shinji's answer, the blush still quite apparent upon his face. Kensuke got comfortable leaning against a nearby ledge and viewing the sky through his videocamera.
"I suppose it makes sense," Toji noted as he re-tied his shoe. "After all, she has been helping you out-"
Kensuke had guessed that, too, and decided to finish his friend's sentence, "But what we wonder is, if you're serious about this...you ARE serious, aren't you?"
Shinji nodded. "Of course." However, as he said this, his cheeks were still deep red, and the voyeur easily caught on to this, as his hormone-driven brain formulated what the Third Child's idea happened to be.
"I know what you want to do, Ikari!" Kensuke stated before grinning wide.
"Wh-what do you think I'd do..?" Shinji nervously asked.
"Plain and simple." This came from Suzuhara, who had stood up and also had a rather overly beaming look upon his face. "You want to ask her out, right?"
Silence participated in this conversation after that statement as the Third Child's jaw dropped. In his body's shocked and frozen state, his mind decided to chip in its two cents. 'Am I that easy to read?' he wondered.
Naturally, Ida decided to gleefully add more in to this. "Come on, Ikari," he said in a slightly teasing manner, "you can't fool us when it comes to her!"
"I...I can't?"
Toji laughed. "Not a chance! We've seen how you look at her the past few weeks. And you're almost always skipping out on lunch with us to be with her. You're falling for her, and hard."
At this point, there was no denying to anyone the feelings running through Shinji's mind. "Okay. I admit....I admit that I want to."
"Well, duh!" his two friends chimed simultaneously.
But then Shinji's face again took on the mantle of worry. "But I don't really know how to go about it...."
That prompted his friends to grin together. "Well, don't worry about it, Shinji!" Kensuke exclaimed with a bit of pride. "That's what we're here for!"
"R-really...?"
"Of course, dude!" Toji added. "We'll help you figure it all out, no sweat!"
By now, Shinji's blush had more or less disappeared. "Thanks, guys," he said while feeling at ease about the whole idea. "But we'd better get going or we could be late."
"It's not like we're late that often," Toji stated as the three boys walked on and their conversation became quickly inaudible.
Inaudible, that is, to a certain class rep who ducked behind an alley after hearing all of that conversation, still panicking about accidentally eavesdropping on the three Stooges, but nevertheless feeling compelled to act upon it.
'I have to tell Asuka...' she thought in an attempt to rationalize her listening in on them as she picked up her own pace toward the school, feeling both glad that Shinji was becoming more socially involved with a girl, as well as an opposed determination to aid her red-headed friend in some way.
-------
School proceeded in its usual dull fashion for almost all of those involved, though of course not as many as before were currently attending due to prior Angel attacks taking out good portions of the city, forcing refugees and victims to seek shelter elsewhere. This, at times, caused an overall depression amongst the students as they struggled to keep themselves occupied, entertained, or at attention during classes, no matter how boring or frustrating they may have been.
Eventually, though, did lunchtime strike. And, as often was the case, it was a frenzy for many a student as they scrambled like mad to gather in their usual circles, groupings, or sometimes even pairings to socialize and enjoy the simple sensation of nutritional fulfillment within their stomachs.
As for the only person outside of the Stooges' circle who was privy to any bit of their plan, she currently was eating by herself, both hopeful and worried about what might happen once Asuka knew of her fellow pilot's intentions.
Or, rather, it seemed as though Hikari Horaki was eating by herself. Asuka was seated right next to her, but she hadn't begun to eat yet, her face giving off a mixed look of both distance and awareness, as if she was cut off in perceiving anyone else, yet fully focused on those she was paying attention to. As the class rep easily guessed, the Second Child's hawk-like gaze was directed toward Shinji.
After several intense minutes of muching and drinking of milk being the only noise, Hikari decided to risk asking a question. "Is....everything alright, Asuka?"
Asuka's only response was to blink rapidly a few times while feeling disoriented. "Huh?" she replied before her eyes settled upon her brown-haired friend.
"You seem a bit distant today," Hikari said while setting down her food and looking the German firecracker in the eye. "What's on your mind?"
Thankfully, the class rep's interruption of Asuka's daydreaming did allow her to finally begin eating her food. "Oh, you know," she mused, "the usual..."
"By the usual, do you mean gazing at him as if you want to be right next to him, while also glaring at him as if you totally hated him, all at the same time?" That remark was followed by a look of surprise on Asuka's face, along with a giggle from Hikari.
"Am I that easy to read?" the Second Child thought out loud, still in a bit of shock at her friend summarizing up what the redheaded girl had felt during that long look so well. Yet, she felt thankful for having a friend like Hikari at this moment, whom she could rely on and talk to, especially after telling off, yelling at, or arguing with Shinji, which happened often.
"Well, were you?" the class rep shot back as she took another drink.
"Yeah..." Asuka started before sighing a little and reclining in her chair. "Reminds me of something that happened a while back..."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Sure, why not..." With that, Asuka let her mind slide back into the past, searching for a not-so-distant memory of the boy she both liked and hated at the same time.
-------
The memory that the Second Child's memory brought up happened shortly before the battle with Sandalphon, the Eighth Angel, inside of a lava pool on Mount Asama. More specifically, it had occurred, ironically enough, at the school's swimming pool. Asuka had been denied permission to go to Okinawa by none other than Misato, who also notified the redhead as well as Shinji of her disappointment in their dropping grades.
That particular day, they were both at, coincidentally enough, the school's swimming pool, so that Asuka could satisfy her desire for some form of scuba diving in a stunning two-piece red-and-white swimsuit she had recently purchased while Shinji struggled with physics problems on his laptop. Before the German girl began to dive, though, she came over to assist him, as well as show off a little of both herself and her intellect.
Her presence took some effect since the Third Child was momentarily blushing when his eyes fell upon the girl's chest, and afterward,also seeming impressed at her having gone to college and graduated the previous year.
"So, just what makes this hard for you?" Shinji asked of Asuka as his eyes finally moved from her chest back tot he screen.
"Well, one can't answer if one doesn't understand the question," she managed to say while pouting just a little.
"You can't read the questions in Japanese yet?" the Third Child inquired in a bit of shock.
"It isn't exactly something I studied," Asuka began before her eyes caught the next problem on Shinji's screen. Pointing at it, she now questioned of the boy, "So what's this one about?"
"Thermal physics..." Shinji said, sighing.
"Thermal physics? Ha!" Asuka's eyes lit up. "Child's play."
"What do you mean?"
That remark caused the Second Child to scoff at her roommate a little. "I'll put it in terms even you can understand, Shinji." Using her hands to make appropriate motions, she began to explain. "When most things get hot, they tend to expand. And when they get cold, they often contract."
"I suppose it sounds simple enough..."
"For example," Asuka continued as she put her hands on top of her chest, "if I were to warm up my breasts, do you think they would get bigger or smaller?"
At this point, Shinji's cheeks had once again taken on a red coloration and his eyes were diverted from her. Quickly did the redhead's glare fall upon him. "Well, what do you think would happen!?!" she asked in a bit of exasperation.
"I...I don't think about things like that," Ikari answered, fearing to look at her in any way.
"Hmph. You're such a boring little boy." With that, she headed back over to a close edge of the pool where her scuba equipment was located and began to put the air tank apparatus on.
After she was done, Asuka called out to Shinji and rolled backward into the pool. Just before the memory ended, she remembered one last detail, which happened to be seeing another girl, who was cleaning her hair and pulling a towel off.
That girl turned out to be none other than Rei Ayanami.
-------
"So Rei's a swimmer.." Hikari mused while discarding her lunch's storage materials into a nearby trash bin. "It makes more sense now with her helping Shinji and all."
"Hey, don't give Wondergirl all the credit!" Asuka exclaimed, her voice muffled a bit from having her mouth close to full. "I'm helping that idiot, too, you know. One day a week, maybe, but I still am!"
"You also like that boy you call 'idiot'."
Asuka blushed a slight shade of crimson. "Yeah...so what do I do about it?"
"Well, why don't you try going out with him?" the class rep suggested.
The Second Child burst out in laughter over that idea. "That's funny, Hikari. Like he'd ever be convinced I'd want to really ask him out. He'd think I was trying to trick him or something."
"Come on, you don't really think that, do you?"
Asuka let silence be her only response.
"You really should give gim a try before..." In trying to reveal her knowledge, Hikari froze, not truly sure of how her friend might react.
"Before what?" Asuka inquired, trying to finish the brown-haired girl's statment. "Before I do irreparable damage?"
Hikari shook her head.
"Before another Angel attacks?"
Again, another negative.
"Before he asks someone else out?"
Now Hikari could nod.
"Ha! It'll never happen. Shinji Ikari doesn't have enough guts to ask any girl out."
Hikari sighed. "I...wouldn't be so sure about that..."
"Hey, just what is that supposed to mean?" Asuka demanded, giving her friend a curious look while she finished eating her food.
"I....it's...well..."
"Come on, Hikari. If you've got something to say, say it already!"
"Shinji plans to ask Rei out!" Hikari finally blurted out. Fortunately, the pressure she had been feeling all day vanished immediately.
Asuka's jaw had dropped, unable to believe what her ears had just received. "Are....are you sure about this?"
The rep's voice then lowered a bit. "Yes...he said so himself earlier."
"To you?"
"N-no, to his friends...as they were heading for school..."
That caused Asuka to grin. "Hikari, you little sneak! I didn't think there was a spy in you!"
"I never meant for it to...to happen like that."
"Oh, don't worry about it! Now, what can I do to stay one step ahead of that blue-haired bitch? Think, Sohryu, think..."
Hikari, rather naturally, saw quite a bit of fault in Asuka calling Rei a bitch, seeing as how she hadn't really done anything to the German hothead, aside from the fistfight a few weeks ago.
Shortly after the beginning of her brainstorm, the Second Child snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Hikari, do you need any clothes or accessories?"
"No...well, maybe just a little, what for?"
"Because I've got a plan..." Asuka said with a wicked grin, "...and I'll need your help to pull it off."
-------
On the opposite side of the cafeteria, Shinji Ikari was consuming his food alone. This happened as a result of both Kensuke and Toji choosing to ditch classes for the rest of the day. The cameraman's reasoning, quite logically, was that he needed more videodiscs. As for Suzuhara, he had chosen to sneak out so that he could spend more time with his sister than usual. Given that Tokyo-3 wasn't exactly heaven on Earth (more like hell on Earth at times), Shinji couldn't necessarily blame them. He was pretty sure that even if they were caught, they wouldn't be too badly disciplined.
Fortunately, a short talk with his two friends before they had left revealed the true flaw in the Third Child's plan. He indeed had a good clue of what he figured she might be open to doing, it was just actually gathering up the courage to ask her that was the problem.
As he began to eat, Shinji slowly felt himself becoming distanced from everyone. Not physically, of course, unless the hand of an Eva unit happened to smash its way through a wall or ceiling and flick him with but a single finger to a far corner of Japan. More like the underlying loneliness that always found its way into him before he fell alseep, leaving him with worries and fears.
Over the past few weeks, most of this proved to have disappeared, as his bond with Ayanami grew. However, even now, he could feel it trying to creep up on him, though he didn't fully realize it as he ate. That is, until he heard a voice. However, he was unable to hear it, as it felt like an incoherent whisper.
'Weird...' Shinji thought. 'I must be hearing things.'
'You only hear what you want to hear.'
It was the same voice he thought had been an illusion.
'What...do you mean?' Shinji asked, curious about this voice, and yet fearful, for it sounded familiar to him. Where it came from, he couldn't figure out.
'You only desire to hear that which will not hurt you.'
Shinji began looking around to try and see if anyone was speaking to him, but no one was close enough to speak in such a low tone and volume.
'Who are you?' Shinji wondered.
'A meaningless question,' the voice replied, 'because you know the answer.'
'I...know you...?'
All of a sudden, images to his left appeared in the blink of an eye and was gone just as quickly, then some to his right in the same amount of time. Both on the left appeared to be in similar height and form to himself, while one image to his right seemed to look taller, almost as if it were an adult, though his brain couldn't really discern anything in all the confusion.
'Who are you!?!' Shinji demanded, feeling both frustrated and frightened.
'I am one who speaks what you cower and run away from. The truth.'
'The truth..?'
'The parts of you that you choose not to see. Those which you do not accept, yet still exist.'
'I..don't accept...?'
'The world is changing...' the voice continued. 'And the time comes when you must change as well.'
'I don't understand!' By now, Shinji was feeling agonized by this voice.
'You will understand soon enough. Do not be afraid to make a choice.' By now, the volume of this voice was fading, and Shinji began to feel weird, as if trying to awaken from something that he percevied to be real.
'In the meantime, wake up...'
"Huh?" Shinji asked, only to suddenly feel fully aware of his surroundings, mostly the realization that he was still the only person sitting at the table as well as the clamor of the other students, chatting away as if nothing unusual had happened.
Bewildered, the Third Child looked around, curious as to whom had been speaking to him. However, not a single student was nearby.
"Weird.." Shinji muttered as something clicked in his brain and he glanced at the clock. Though he shouldn't have been surprised, he nevertheless was as his eyes noted there was only five minutes left for this lunch break. Naturally, he hurried to eat his food and dispose of the bag.
As he left the cafeteria, Shinji stopped to take one last look at the table he had been at, still bewildered by the recent experience.
'That was quite odd...' Ikari thought as he left the eating area, his thoughts moving back to convincing Rei to spend time with him.
-------
Back in the classroom, sure enough, Toji and Kensuke were absent, though the sensei made no real effort to find out why. 'Boys will be boys', he thought silently as his mouth droned on in yet another Second Impact lecture that never failed to deliver a lack of interest in every student.
However, as Shinji took his seat, he noticed another folded note on his desk. Not knowing whom it was from, he took the paper and unfolded it, examining the writing.
Need to talk to you in the back. Asuka.
In a rather predictable fashion, Shinji turned his head toward the back of the classroom, past Rei, who was engaged in her usual activity of staring out the window, to see Asuka in one of the back seats, noticing his gaze and beckoning him with a hand.
Timing it so that the sensei didn't notice, swiftly did the Third Child move and sit in an empty seat near the redhead. Then, after looking around to ensure that no one had really spotted him, he leaned over. "What is it?" he whispered to Asuka.
"Oh! Misato gave me a call. She wants to talk to us later, after your lesson."
"What about?"
"She didn't say. All she told me was to meet up with her at the shopping mall after you were done today."
"Oh, alright. I'll go there."
"I'll wait outside after Wondergirl's done with you. Wouldn't want you getting lost now, would we, Third Child?" Asuka sarcastically commented while smirking.
Shinji rolled his eyes. "I know my way around the city, but okay." After that, he moved back to his seat, looking over the monitor of his laptop.
In the meantime, Asuka received a message upon her screen. [How did it go?] Of course, this question was from Hikari.
[He bought it!] Asuka responded with a few taps of her fingers upon the keyboard.
[How will I find you once you both get there?]
[I'll find you. Don't worry.]
[I don't have to be there all day, do I?]
[Of course not! Just for a little while. Then make up some excuse, like you have to go home or something, and leave. After that, he's all mine.]
[Alright...]
[Hey, Hikari?]
[What is it, Asuka? I'm somewhat busy.]
[Thanks again for letting me know.]
[Anytime.]
-------
In due time, school let out, the general population of students departed to engage in their recreational activities, and the First and Third Children went off again to engage in another lesson. Though it had only been approximately three weeks since they had begun, Rei was noticing considerable progress in Shinji's swimming abilities.
"You learn quickly," she spoke as she drifted on her back, alongside the Unit-01 pilot, who felt at peace for the moment.
"I...I do?"
"You have shown much improvement in a small amount of time," Ayanami stated. "Some would be envious of such rapid development."
"Thank you, Rei, but..."
"What?"
Shinji turned his head slightly to look at her gentle face. "Why are we on our backs liks this today?"
"The purpose of today is not to learn."
"Huh?"
"You are being taught this skill five days a week. It is but a natural necessity to occasionally deviate from constant instruction, if only in small amounts."
Shinji smiled at the blue-haired girl and held her hand. This action produced a blush in both teacher and pupil as their momentum ceased.
They spent the rest of their time in the pool that way. Outside, however, Asuka Langley Sohryu had taken a chair, sat in it, and waited next to the boys' changing room, doing her best to finish some of her own homework and uttering the occasional curse when she couldn't read certain questions. She didn't even care about the occasional muttering from passing students. At least, not until she heard a familiar one.
"Whoa, speak of the Devil!"
Asuka looked up from her computer to see Toji and Kensuke together. As usual, Kensuke was viewing her, and probably the world as well, through his videocamera, and Toji happened to be carrying a basketball with him.
"Oh, it's you two," Asuka said rather flatly.
"Yeah, it's us!" Toji retorted, leaning against a nearby wall. "Thought we'd check up on Shinji. What are you doing here?"
"Waiting for the idiot. He and I have business to take care of after those two are done."
"Oh, yeah?" Kensuke questioned, zooming in on her face. "What kind of business?" Normally, the voyeur wouldn't even think of having guts in a situation like this, but with Toji close, he felt a bit safer.
"None of yours!" Asuka fired back, closing up her laptop, placing it within her bag, and smirking at the two boys. "It's classified."
Toji decided to call her bluff on this one. "The hell if it is! You just want to torment the kid more, don't you? Haven't you put him through enough?"
By now, Asuka had stormed up to them and her face was blatantly staring holes into the jock, doing her absolute best not to lose her temper, knowing they were only trying to stick up for their friend. "I told you, it's between me and Ikari."
"Whoa, check out how angry she looks!" Kensuke chimed in, getting a decent shot of her snarling face. "This is priceless!"
Without so much as even a twitch of warning, Asuka's hand flew, slapping Kensuke on his left cheek and causing the boy to stumble back a bit in shock from the speed of her movement. "Jerk!" she called him.
"Hey, you two!" another voice called. To be exact, the class rep's voice.
"Hikari!?!" All three of them replied at the same time.
"Don't you Stooges have any shame?" Hikari went on, stepping between the hothead German and the angry jock to put some space between them. "Now get out of here before you ruin Asuka's date!"
All three faces went wide-eyed. "WHAT?" was the response of Toji and Kensuke.
"Umm, Hikari.." Asuka began.
"Huh?" Now it was Hikari's turn to be shocked, as she had just revealed Asuka's true intent! "Oh, shit."
"They...weren't supposed to know..." Asuka quietly uttered while looking away.
Toji, on the other hand, was stuttering. "Y-you...and....you and he....you're..going to...you've gotta be kidding me!"
"Like I said," the Second Child restated though gritted teeth, "it's between me and him, so don't get involved, or you'll have to answer to me, understand!?!"
"Fine," Toji answered. As both Stooges prepared to take off, the jock leaned in close to the redhead and said, "Just don't put him through hell, or you'll have to answer to US."
"Fair enough..." Asuka muttered a Hikari ushered the jock and his Eva-obsessed friend out of the school, berating them all the while for trying to get involved in Asuka's plan.
-------
Shortly after all the yelling taking place beyond them ceased, Rei and Shinji exited the pool and began to dry off. Neither spoke a word, the movements of their respective towels being the only sounds for what seemed to be several intense seconds for both pilots.
Finally, Rei spoke, having finally placed the earlier shouting heard not far beyond them with a person whom she was only somewhat familiar with. "Shinji?" she asked.
"Hmm?" Ikari halfheartedly responded as he worked moisture out of his hair.
"The Second Child is here..."
"That's right." By now, Shinji's hair was dry enough for him.
"What for?"
"Hmm, well.." Shinji answered while folding his towel up, "..Misato needs to talk to us both once I get changed and leave."
Rei nodded slightly, not seeing a need to pursue that line of questioning any further at this time. "You will not be walking with me today?"
"Not with Asuka waiting for me. But, um...can I, I mean..." As he trailed off, Shinji felt something that he couldn't exactly describe. As if he felt he would lose strength if he were even just a second away from Rei's side.
"What?" The First Child's voice, though quiet in volume, did possess care within the single word.
"Rei.....can we talk a bit...later?"
"Later?"
"Yeah, after I get done with whatever Misato wants to discuss with us."
Rei pondered the idea for but a few seconds, then nodded. "Of course. I will be at home."
"Gotcha!" Shinji cried while hauling to the changing room. "It won't take long. I'll be there, I promise!"
Rei then smiled just a little, feeling both a bit elated from the boy's eagerness to be with her, and yet also somewhat saddened that he had to be gone so soon. They hadn't even had time for a farewell hug before his departure.
These feelings all passed within the span of mere seconds before other feelings surfaced. Emotions such as fear, longing, and premonition. Naturally, however, no one would be able to discern any of this from seeing her statue-like face.
Fortunately, rationalization quickly surfaced. 'Shinji has promised to meet with me, and I know him to be worthy of my trust...and perhaps...'
Even as her cheeks began to redden in color and one of her hands placed itself upon her chest, she chose to finish her thought, desiring to embrace the words as opposed to rejecting them, for to deny a truth so very apparent would consume her with doubt as to the bond formed between herself and the Third Child.
'Perhaps...my heart as well...'
With a gentle sigh, the First Child got her feet moving again, taking her to change back into her uniform.
'My heart is with you, Shinji Ikari,' she thought. 'We shall see each other again, as you have promised.'
-------
Deep down within NERV HQ at this point in the day, Lieutenants Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba, and Makoto Hyuga were unwavering in their presence despite the recent halt of destruction in the city.
Currently, the three were engaged in some common downtime activity. Ibuki, typing with incredible speed by most standards, was working on a routine maintenance check of the Magi systems. Hyuga, of course, was getting laughs out of a manga he happened to be reading. And Aoba happened to be lost in guitar motions with his hands, his mouth humming away to a tune only he understood.
Maya, however, was a bit bothered by the two males and their casual attitudes at the moment. "Can't you guys be a bit more serious for once?" she asked while taking a sip from her coffee, noting that it was empty now. "You both look like you're slacking off."
Shigeru gave her a rather confused look. "What, aren't we allowed to savor what small amounts of peace we get?"
"He's right!" Makoto chipped in. "It's not exactly like we get a hell of a lot of free time to begin with, doing what we do and all. So why shouldn't we relax a little and enjoy ourselves?"
"Because the moment you let your guard down," a businesslike, yet famliar voice answered, "is the moment they might assault us."
All three operators turned their heads to notice Ritsuko approaching them, having just stepped off from a nearby elevator, a look of business on her face, as was often the case.
"Oh, um, afternoon, Doctor Akagi..." Aoba nervously began, his hands frozen in place right after she had spoken. Hyuga had also stopped, making sure his attention was on his superior.
With little care to the men's frozen looks, Ritsuko approached Maya, leaning over and looking at her monitor. "So, how are the Magi?" she asked.
"Just fine, m'aam," Ibuki answered, her gaze stuck to the screen while her fingers continued to fly across the keyboard. "Nothing out of the ordinary to report."
"Thanks, Maya," the blonde scientist said before standing back up and directing her gaze to Shigeru and Makoto, still with slightly fearful looks upon their faces.
"Now, as for you, Lieutenants Aoba and Hyuga," Dr. Akagi stated, her tone becoming a bit strict, "I'd suggest you be more attentive to your work, and less concerned about daydreaming."
"With all due respect, Doctor," Hyuga pleaded while setting down his manga, "we were just trying to enjoy ourselves a little. The city's been quiet lately, after all."
"He's right!" Aoba chimed in. "And that isn't even mentioning how the longest known time between Angel attacks was fifteen years. Don't we deserve a little bit of R&R?"
"That may indeed have been the longest recorded time between when the Angels chose to strike," Ristuko argued, "but that doesn't mean it'll happen again. Based on the data we've obtained from all previous battles, it's safe to conclude that while the time between appearances shows no real consistency, it doesn't mean we can sit back on our asses. We need to be ready whenever it happens, whether it be five seconds from now, or several weeks into the future. Do you both understand that?"
"Yes, m'aam," the male lieutenants responded together as they both got to work on their monitors.
Ritsuko left after that without another word. As soon as she was out of earshot, Hyuga whispered over to Aoba, "That went well..."
"No kidding," Shigeru replied in a similarly hushed voice, "I thought she was going to send us to the Commander."
"Well, as long as do better to avoid being caught next time, it shouldn't be all that bad," Makoto offered. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you..."
"What's up?"
"You think she plays favorites? Dr. Akagi, I mean."
"With who?"
"Maya, of course..."
"Well," Aoba answered, "it's certainly possible. Granted, they're both women and they work on the Magi systems together, but favorites?"
"You have to admit, they seem to work well together," Hyuga noted before leaning a bit closer to the long-haired operator. "In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd almost say they were a bit closer than colleagues."
Shigeru went a little wide-eyed from that. "Are you saying that they've got a thing for each other?"
"I don't know. It seems to be a one-way street, from what I've seen."
"Just what have you seen? I'm closer to her than you are."
"I've got a better viewing angle. And from what I see, Ritsuko's all business, even with her. But Maya...the way she looks at her sometimes...it makes me think she's got a crush."
Aoba was forced to stifle a laugh from Makoto's idea. "Well, that would be rather interesting to see, wouldn't it?"
"You bet it would," Hyuga finished as he brought his eyes back to his computer screen.
Unbeknownst to either of the men, Maya had heard every bit of their conversation. She was quite thankful for being able to hear them secretly discussing her, yet far enough from either one so that they wouldn't notice the deep blush upon her cheeks.
-------
As the day moved on, Asuka and Shinji made their way to the mall, engaged in a conversation. Or, rather, a one-sided conversation, as the redhead talked on and on about little things while Shinji's head was in the clouds. In fact, he had been that way ever since their conversation in class. Eventually, the Second Child noticed this and intentionally stepped ahead of Ikari to block his progress.
Sure enough, the Third Child bumped right into her, his face taking on a shocked look. "Huh..?"
"Are you even listening to me, Shinji?" Asuka asked, looking rather annoyed.
"I...I'm sorry..." Shinji managed to say as he shook his head clear of cobwebs.
"Ugh!" the Second Child cried, disgusted as usual with her fellow pilot's contsant apologies. "Just pay attention, will you?"
"Um, alright...." the brown-haired boy replied as the two pilots began to move towards the mall once again, their steps in uncanny synchronization.
Of course, no one except the two of them would ever understand how they were able to do such a feat, having needed to do so once for an Angel battle, and while it had been a difficult process, it helped to form the beginning of their friendship, as rocky as it was.
"Just what was with the blank stare, anyway?" Asuka inquired as they neared the mall.
As usual, Shinji wasn't sure what to say, lest he offend her in some way, so he decided to stick with what portion of his day he felt safe talking about. "I..something weird happened during lunchtime..."
"You mean aside from sitting all by yourself?" the Second Child questioned with a smirk forming on her face.
"I...saw things..."
"Everyone sees, you dork! What do you think we have eyes for?"
"I'm serious...something felt odd about it..."
"You're feeling weird about eating food now, Shinji?"
"That's not it. If felt...like..." Try as he might, the Third Child couldn't find the right words to express his encounter.
"Like a hallucination?" Asuka joked, just before Shinji's eyes went wide as he realized that that was the correct word for his experience.
"Y..y-yes....that's what it was...it had to have been.."
By now, Asuka was the one with the look of confusion on her face. "You're kidding me. You, a simpleton, seeing things? That's impossible."
"It's...it's what happened..."
Sighing, the redhead decided to try a little rationalization, along with a fierce tone in her voice to snap her brown-haired companion from his latest trance. "That can't happen, Shinji, and for one simple reason, and that's because...."
"Hmm?" Shinji wondered, curious as to what she might offer to disprove his vision.
"Well, don't tell anyone I said this..."
"Ok....I won't."
"Good! Now, the reason I think you couldn't possibly be hallucinating is because you may be a boring person, but you're quite healthy. You don't go getting in trouble, and even I can't ever think you'd stoop to the level of drugs. So, therefore, you shouldn't be having this kind of problem." With that, Asuka put on a face of victory, as if she had just won an argument against Rei, overkill included.'
And yet, Ikari remained quite somber. "But...it happened...it told me..."
"It? It who?"
"Just some voice..."
"Someone you know?"
"Well, it was familiar.."
"So who was it?" Asuka continued, wanting to see just how much dirt she could milk out of Shinji in this state. "One of those Stooges? Wondergirl? ME, perhaps?"
"No, none of them, or you."
"Then just who was it?"
"I don't know!" Shinji cried, a bit exasperated by the German girl's barrage. "I just know it from somewhere!"
"Like a dream or something?"
"No, it wasn't a dream...."
"Then where did you hear it?"
"I...don't remember..."
"Scheisse..." Asuka said as she took hold of Shinji's wirst and walked forward, dragging him somewhat as his feet tried to keep up.
"Hey, Asuka..."
"This isn't getting us anywhere! Let's just meet up with Misato before she gets worried."
Letting the conversation die there, Shinji picked up his pace and followed the ego-inflated girl to the shopping mall, still wondering just what their guardian wanted to talk about, as well as why she would do it in a mall of all places.
-------
As for Rei Ayanami, nothing was out of the ordinary at the moment for her trip home, save for the fact that Shinji wasn't walking with her. While going home alone was quite normal for her, she nevertheless felt a bit lonely, seeing as how she was used to and enjoyed the company of the Third Child these past few weeks.
Naturally, she paid no attention to anyone around her, except to avoid bumping into people and causing awkward moments with her silence. It's not that she couldn't hear or observe them, but rather, she felt they were not a significant part of her life and, thus, she felt it unnecessary to make contact.
'Is it this way with all humans?' she thought. 'Do they all exist within what few connections they feel safe with, unable or unwilling to reach out to others?'
To her, Shinji was a whole different story. Lack of contact with him had been impossible, for they had to work alongside one another. After all, they were two of the only three people capable of piloting the monstrous and fearsome Evangelions. And yet, Ikari, despite being an introvert on par with herself, made an effort to know and understand her.
'From the moment he first held me in his arms, he felt...different. He was as afraid as I was at the time, yet he chose to try and help me, comfort me, despite the possible danger to himself at the time...'
As she neared a curb to wait at, she continued to over hear bits and pieces of conversations among other people. Two, in particular, caught her attention with the first sentence she heard.
"I still can't figure it out! That redhead and...Shinji? I still can't believe it, dude!"
Hearing this, Rei's attention shifted to the speaker, a tall boy in black clothes, carrying a basketball. She quickly identified him as one of Shinji's two friends from school. The other was as equally unmistakable, carrying his prized videocamera.
"You'd better believe it, Toji," Kensuke replied as the two waited for a walk light to appear. "Though, I admit it's hard to swallow myself."
Unknown to either boy, Rei was now behind them, wondering what else they might say before either one noticed her, if at all. Though the First Child wasn't accustomed to engaging in such behavior, she did feel a desire to know where Shinji was, if only to ease her loneliness a little.
"Fifty bucks says they don't last ten minutes!" Suzuhara threw back as he stretched his neck. "Should we go check it out?"
Kensuke was humored by the idea. "I thought you wanted to change clothes and head to my place today?"
"Might be worth missing out on another round of games just to see if it works, you know," Toji responded. "What do you say, man?"
Realizing that neither boy might yield anymore information without her asking, Rei sharply cleared her throat. Sure enough, both boys took notice and turned around to see the First Child behind them, freezing up after realizing who it was.
After a few moments of silence did the two guys try to break the ice.
"Um....uh..." came from Kensuke.
Toji, at least, kept his cool. "Ayanami," he greeted with a slight nod. Rei nodded back in acknowledgement.
"What are you doing here?" the cameraman wondered, thankful that his friend had decided to start this possibly nerve-wracking conversation.
"I am going home," Rei answered. Though she didn't normally ask questions, the blue-haired girl couldn't stop herself from doing it now. "What are you two doing here?"
"Same thing," Toji spoke as he flexed his fingers and cracked his knuckles, for no apparent reason. "Is something wrong?"
"You two were discussing the Third Child..."
By now, the walk light was showing, yet none of the three took a single step off the curb. "Yeah, we were talking about Shinji," Kensuke confirmed.
"I see..." the First Child replied before her gaze returned to its neutral state.
Not long after their words died, the walk light appeared. Kensuke began to start off the curb, but was stopped by Toji's arm blocking his chest. Rei noticed this as well, for they were in front of her and would need to cross before she could.
"Hey, what gives, Toji?" Kensuke asked.
"We can't leave it at this, you know..."
"What do you mean?"
Suzuhara made a head gesture to Rei. "Her."
Ida sighed. "You sure you want to tell her?"
"It isn't right to keep her in the dark..."
"In the dark?" Rei questioned, startling both boys, having forgotten that she was directly behind them and could easily hear everything they were saying. In her experiences, Ayanami didn't exactly hear a lot of slang expressions.
"Well, yeah..." Toji explained, "when someone isn't informed about certain things. That's what it means."
"Nah, there's a little more to it then that," Kensuke chimed in. "In most cases, those who do know are keeping the uninformed person from finding out that information."
"You are...withholding information?"
"Not anymore," Toji answered as he leaned against the light post. "Look, it's not going to sound good, and it might even be kinda heartbreaking, but..."
Rei awaited in pure silence, not needing to get home right away and somewhat curious as to what else the jock would say, as well as wondering why she was even here, having this conversation.
"...well, Shinji and Asuka are over at the mall-"
"I know of their meeting with Major Katsuragi," Rei interrupted.
"Oh, so that's her bullshit excuse, huh?" Suzuhara retorted, causing the blue-haired girl to flinch slightly, since she wasn't accustomed to harsh profanity any more than slang.
Kensuke took notice of this and jumped back in. "I have to apologize for Toji's language. He gets mouthy where certain people are concerned. But, I gotta admit, it's a good bluff for this kind of plan."
Though Rei's epxression ceased to change, a slight amount of fear began to creep into her heart. "You mean what Shinji told me is not what they will be doing?"
"Well," the cameraman went on, "it's what he thinks will happen. Truth is, Asuka's luring him into a date."
Yet another term the First Child wasn't familiar with. "A date?"
"Y'know, when two people get together to be with each other?" Toji said in an attempt to clarify the term.
"Like you two are now?"
Toji went slack-jawed. Kensuke did his best not to burst out in laughter. "No, no, nothing like that!" the tan-haired student exclaimed. "We're just hanging out. We're friends, after all."
By now, Rei's look was that of some confusion. "I do not understand."
"Well, how about this, then?" Suzuhara offered. "Two people being with each other in a more...agh, what's the word..."
"Looking for -intimate-, Toji?" Kensuke interjected.
"Yeah, that's it! Two people being with each other in a more intimate way than normal."
"Oh..." A blush found its way to Ayanami's cheeks as she began to understand. "And this is what Pilot Sohryu and Shinji are doing?"
"That's what they'll be doing soon enough...." Toji's voice trail off as he felt his heart grow heavy. "I'm sorry that we had to tell you...we didn't meant to hurt you, Ayanami-"
"You have not harmed me in any way," she corrected as she stepped ahead of them to cross the street, the next walk light having appeared. "Goodbye."
As she walked away, the two Stooges could only look in awe.
Shortly after, Toji began to stretch again, feeling slightly stiff from leaning against the post for so long. "That...had to be one of the weirder conversations I've had."
"No kidding. You can never tell if she's paying attention or off in her own universe. Damn..." Kensuke muttered as he adjusted the shoulder strap of his camera, giving temporary relief to his eyes, and stepped off the curb, ready to head to his home, only to be halted in place by the taller boy's arm once again.
"Hey!" Kensuke spoke as he looked back to Toji's rather stern face. "What gives?"
"Let's head for my house this time."
"Well, sure, but what for?"
Toji grinned. "I've got a plan..."
-------
In many cultures, shopping centers are always an excellent example of humanity's unity, or rather, the illusion thereof. Many people gathered in a small space, and yet they individualize, going about their lives with almost no concern for others except for those few known by or close to them.
Shinji Ikari proved to be no exception to this rule as he remained like a statue in the clothing shop he and Asuka were in, wondering when the hell Misato would make her presence known. As for the Second Child, she had insisted on coming in here after meeting up with the class rep, who happened to be one of the few friends she had in Tokyo-3. Naturally, Shinji offered little to no resistance upon entering this place, though his cheeks had taken on a constant tinge of red as he stood here in the women's section while both Hikari and Asuka rifled through clothes like Kensuke and top-secret military data, were he ever to acquire any.
And the feisty German wasn't making the ordeal any easier. "Hey, Shinji!" she called, breaking his trance.
The Third Child turned to meet her eyes. "Yeah?"
"Make yourself useful and help us out, would you?"
"What is it?" Shinji pondered as he approached the two girls, each holding onto a hanger.
"We need a third opinion on these-" Hikari began to explain.
"You're the one who thinks we need a third opinion!" Asuka blurted with a tone of irritation. "And why do we need him, anyway?"
"It's not like there's anyone else around here we know." The almond-haired girl's focus then went back to Asuka's flatmate. "You don't mind helping us, do you?"
"N-no, of course not.." Shinji stammered, the light blush on his cheeks easily evident.
Asuka scoffed. "Fine, just don't sit there and spend an eternity deciding, okay? Let us know which you think would look better on me." On that note, both girls held swimsuits up for Shinji to observe.
After another wave of embarrassment struck and passed, as well as a proportionate deepening and fading of red upon his cheeks, Ikari finally managed to look at the articles presented before him. Held upon Hikari's hanger was a one-piece crimson suit, similar in style and modesty to the ones he'd seen girls wear at school, while Asuka's held a yellow string bikini, less material and with less to leave to the imagination.
"Well, don't just stand there and stare, idiot," Asuka said, "make up your mind!"
Shinji couldn't help but stare a bit as he wrestled with the choice. But, soon enough, he came to a logical conclusion, pointed toward Hikari, and said, "The red one works."
"Oh, really?" Asuka shot back while smirking. "And just why is that?"
"Well, umm..."
"Don't tell me," the Second Child interjected, "you're incapable of seeing me in anything that lets me show off my gorgeous figure!"
That statement, of course, allowed a split second for Shinji to imagine her clad in the yellow outfit as well as for much more red to appear on his cheeks.
"Ah-ha!" the redhead exclaimed, as if figuring out something only she could understand. "You were thinking about it, weren't you, Third Child?"
Before Shinji could reply, the rep butted in. "Please, Asuka, give him a chance to explain." Asuka found herself at a loss for words, not having expected her friend to stop her from one of her daily verbal bashings of the boy.
With a curious look, Hikari inquired, "So, just why did you choose this one, anyway? Is it really because of what Asuka just said?"
"No!" Shinji answered, though he knew it to be a half-truth. He was just thankful Hikari had been around to help him dodge a bullet with the German female. "I mean...she just seems to like red, that's all..."
"Ohh, well then, great Shinji Ikari," Asuka spoke in a sarcastic tone, "enlighten us with your wisdom. How ever did you come to that kind of conclusion?"
"It wasn't hard...it's the color of your hair and Unit-02." It felt desperate, but Shinji knew enough about Asuka to know that she had a lot of pride in her Evangelion.
Asuka's face brightened, much to the surprise of the class rep and the brown-haired pilot. "Hey, you're right!" After that, she took the suit from her classmate. "Well, I'll go purchase this, then. Didn't you have something you needed to take care of, Hikari?"
"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot..." Hikari responded, while shouldering her bookbag. "I've got to get home. Seeya, you two!" She then took off, waving to them as she made herself scarce.
Shortly thereafter, Asuka purchased the one-piece suit and departed the store with Shinji in tow.
Shinji couldn't help but sigh. "It's been two and a half hours," he thought aloud, "so where's Misato?"
A series of beeping noises startled both of them. Asuka cursed under her breath and reached into her purse, pulling out a phone similar in shape and model to Ikari's, undoubtedly given to her by the Major like she had with him.
Taking a seat on a nearby bench, Shinji paid little attention to the redhead's voice, instead taking a moment to close his eyes and clear his thoughts, his body taxed as a result of Rei's lesson and his mind exhausted from enduring Asuka's usual sarcasm.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending upon how a person viewed it, Asuka wrapped up her conversation shortly and sat next to Shinji, jostling him. "Hey, wake up, dork! This isn't nap time!"
Shinji's eyes opened slowly and he found himself looking into her dark blue eyes, and it slightly spooked him. "Wh-what's going on?"
"Looks like whatever Misato wanted to talk to us about turned out to be nothing," Asuka explained, "so we've got the rest of the day to ourselves."
"Nothing...?"
"Yeah..." As the Second Child sighed, both pilots looked up toward the sky, currently crimson as afternoon beginning to wane, each of them lost in their own thoughts. For Shinji, a small bit of reflection upon the day's activities, while Asuka wondered just what she should do now that she had him alone. Thankfully, she didn't need to think too much, as she noticed the Third Child gulp involuntarily. Her gaze found his face and she asked, "Hey, what is it?"
"Nothing....just starving, I guess."
"Well, that works, then..." Asuka started.
"What does?" Shinji questioned.
"I've got an idea," the redhead said while she got to her feet, "let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry, too."
"It's getting late...shouldn't we get home?"
"Don't worry about it!" Asuka stated. "Misato won't worry about us."
"Are you sure...?"
"Of course I'm sure!" With that, she offered her hand to him. "Now, come on!"
Nervously, he grasped her hand and stood, following as she resumed walking.
Asuka felt a bit ecstatic. "Let's see, since Wondergirl isn't with us, our choices for dining aren't limited! This should be interesting..."
And on Shinji's end, two things bothered him. First, he was feeling nervous about holding Asuka's hand. Though her grip was tighter than Rei's, he didn't feel threatened by it. Second, though he didn't know why, he had an eerie feeling as they looked around for the food court. It was almost as though the two of them were being watched...
-------
Not far from the pilots, two pairs of eyes observed their movements, though they neither heard any conversation amongst the introvert Shinji and redheaded Asuka, nor made an effort to do so between themselves. Using vendor stands as cover, the eyes of each viewer was concealed due to devices held to the face, and although they received an occasional odd look or two from passerby, no one cared enough to say anything. For one, the view was focused, but very little magnification as he adjusted the position of his binoculars, while the other made use of his camera's zoom feature to close in on the pilots' faces.
"Man, you'd think they'd be done by now!" Toji said with a slight tone of disgust while taking a minute to rest his supporting arm.
"What are you complaining about?" Kensuke asked, kneeling and keeping a close eye on the action. "It was your idea."
Suzuhara sighed. "I know...but I didn't think staking out those two would be so exhausting."
"You're a jock, and you call this tiring?" Kensuke joked.
Toji shot an annoyed look at his friend before placing the binoculars to his eyes once more. "Funny. I meant that it's wearing my patience thin."
"You just can't wait to jump in and break it up, can you?"
"Damn right. If she even lays one hand on him...."
"What, you're hoping he'll strike back?"
Toji nearly lost his balance from an outburst of laughter. "Well, that would work! Shinji can pack somewhat of a wallop."
"You'd know, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah..." Toji took a quick moment to reflect upon when he begged Shinji to strike him back. It happened between Shinji's first and second battles in Unit-01, with Toji blaming the shy pilot for having his little sister hospitalized and subsequently beating him up one day.
After seeing how the encounter affected the fragile psyche of Shinji, especially during and after his battle with the Fourth Angel, Suzuhara had asked to be hit back as a matter of retribution, to put his mind at ease. The Third Child had done so, but only after the guilty jock requested him not to hold back.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that," Kensuke responded, "for everyone's sake." Noticing that the couple had finally stopped, he looked up at Toji. "They're at the food court. Let's go!"
Treading carefully, the two spies hid behind a nearby corner, positioning themselves to take full advantage of their viewing devices while leaving as little of their bodies exposed as possible, seeing as how they didn't want to be discovered.
At this point, conversation took a backseat to fascination as Kensuke pondered just what would transpire here and Toji, though his eyes were in the same place, kept his ears perked, not wanting to be escorted out if they could help it.
Sure enough, the jock's paranoia kicked in as a series of footsteps closed in upon them, then abruptly stopped.
Toji tensed up, prepared to bolt if need be. 'The steps don't sound too heavy..' he thought. 'Not like regular shoes or sneakers...'
Suddenly, a familiar female voice spoke from behind them. "Excuse me..."
Both the jock and cameraman stopped watching the unknowing pilots and immediately turned to face Misato, clad in her usual NERV gear as well as a pair of high heels and looking as surprised as they did.
Kensuke quickly lowered his camera and bowed, with Toji following suit. "Greetings, Major!"
"Yeah, greetings, Miss Misato..."
Misato felt slightly embarrassed, but understood they were just being polite. "Well, thank you both."
"Is something wrong?" Aida asked after rising.
"As a matter of fact, yes," Misato spoke, her tone becoming serious. "I need to ask you two something."
"Hey," Toji chimed in, "how did you find us?"
Kensuke decided to answer that. "Dude, NERV's got people all over this city! You'd be nuts to think they'd have a hard time locating someone."
"Yeah, something like that..." Misato added, thankful she didn't have to tell them how she actually found them. "Now, I've got a question for both of you."
"What is it?" Toji wondered.
Misato now took on a look of concern. "Have either of you heard from or seen Shinji and Asuka? They haven't come home from school yet, and I'm a little worried."
Toji handed her his binoculars. "See for yourself."
"Huh?" Curious, Misato took them from the dark-haired boy and leaned forward a bit as she viewed her two charges eating together at a table.
"So why are you two over here, spying on them?" she asked.
"Well...they're...on a date."
Misato felt surprised by the idea as she handed the binocs back to Toji. "You're kidding..."
"Not at all!" Kensuke exclaimed as he set his attention back to the couple. "They've been here ever since Shinji's lesson."
"I see..." Misato stated as she took in the information. Then she got an idea. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back." She then turned and headed outside, nearly colliding into a bystander in the process.
After a few minutes' time, the Major came back with her own hi-tech scopes and joined in on watching the date with Shinji's friends.
"It's not too surprising that Asuka decided to take a more proactive approach.." the purple-haired beauty noted. "So, who else is in on this, anyway?"
"Feels like everybody but Shinji's aware of it..." was Kensuke's reply. "And that includes Ayanami."
"Rei knows?" was Misato's reply, easily in disbelief as she kept a close eye on the two children she both commanded and guarded. "How'd she find out?"
The two boys were hesitant to answer. Misato quickly noticed this and guessed something to be amiss.
"Is something wrong?" she asked them.
"No, not at all," Kensuke interjected. "But, to answer your question..."
"We're the ones who told her!" Toji blurted out.
Another moment of being taken aback in what seemed to be an endless stream for Misato today. "Really? I wouldn't figure you two to be the type that would go looking her up."
"It wasn't like that..." Toji explained. "We just...happened to meet, that's all...shortly before coming here."
"And how did she take it?"
"She didn't seem to be upset," Kensuke replied, "but, then again, it's hard to understand Ayanami at times...no offense."
Misato couldn't help but feel the same. "None taken. She is a bit of an enigma, isn't she?"
Neither student said anything after that, so she let her voice trail off as the three of them kept further watch on the unsuspecting duo. In the meantime, Misato halfheartedly patted her jacket with one hand to comfirm that her cell phone was still with her, deciding to have a little fun of her own soon if things didn't get interesting on their own...
-------End of Chapter Five
Post-Chapter Notes: Not much to talk about this time. However, I hereby deeply apologize to all whom have come to read and enjoy these writings for taking so damned long to continue. There is absolutely no excuse for this whatsoever, and I can only make extreme efforts so as not to let it happen again. I personally have read stories I would have liked to seen continued that ceased to do such, so I know how it can feel on that particular end.
As for getting characters other than the three pilots involved as part of the developing triangle, be it in a direct manner or otherwise, I cannot remember if it was a part of the original plan. Creation of a general scheme or idea is simple, yet forging and carving out the details can become troublesome, which easily became one reason for the lengthy delay, along with net troubles.
At the very least, a good portion of the cast has been thrown in, even if in few scenes. So might good ol' Kaji make himself seen here? Perhaps. And do you know whom the 'voice' is that spoke to Shinji during lunchtime? If not, that's fine, for thanks to my usage of backstory to explain certain thoughts, feelings, and events, all shall be revealed in due time.
Looking towards the next chapter, what is one to expect?
-Might the three novice espionage agents be discovered or caught by the confident redhead and her unusually spaced-out date?
-Just what sort of "fun" is Misato planning?
-And, of course, what will dear Rei Ayanami think of all this?
That, and hopefully more, to come in the next chapter: The Heart's Yearning