Title: Neon Genesis Evangelion - Matters of Trust
Chapter: Promises to Keep
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: All of Neon Genesis Evangelion (just covering my basses)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Do not own Eva. I would buy it but I am broke.
Summary: AU, basically a series rewrite. Shinji must keep a promise he made years ago. S/R pairing. How NGE should be.
AN: Major deviation from Eva Cannon. Timeline elements ignored. Characters are OOC for the series. If you don't like this then stop reading now. You have been warned.
AN2: In this Rei is not a Clone nor is she related to Shinji in any way shape or form.
" " denotes speech
' ' denotes thought
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji stood staring down at the new tombstone in front of him that bore the name Yui Ikari.
"She's not in there." Shinji said in the slightly slurred voice of a three year old.
He looked over at his friend since forever, Rei Ayanami. Her eyes were filled with sorrow for her bestest friend, and a pain echoed in her three year old eyes, pain that Shinji had seen in the mirror that morning. Pain that no one should ever have to suffer. Rei held her best friend, remembering three months previously when he had held her, while she cried over her own parents' graves, taken from her by a car crash.
"Let me protect you too." Rei whispered to her now sobbing friend.
At her parents funeral Shinji had made a promise to always protect her, and she wanted to be there for him as well.
"When we grow up, I want to marry you." Rei said honestly, as only a child can.
She then went on to describe all the plans that her three year old mind had for them, which mostly consisted of a lot of holding hands. Finally, about ten minutes latter, Shinji's father came to take Shinji home.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Shinji promised.
The next day Rei waited, but Shinji never showed up. Little did she know that Gendo Ikari had sent his son away, to live with his Uncle, without giving Shinji any choice in the matter.
********
~2015 (11 years later) ~
Shinji Ikari stepped off the train at Tokyo 2, one step closer to home. As he walked through the busy streets towards the meeting place, to meet an attractive woman who had sent him a provocative picture, Shinji thought on the events that lead to his return from forced exile.
From the day he had been sent to his Uncle's house, Shinji had been working towards his return, working at odd jobs in the area, anything that would make him money, saving his allowance and never going out. Over the eleven years he had made almost enough money to return to Tokyo 3, and then a letter had arrived from his father, the man who had forced him into exile, requesting that he return. Naturally Shinji had jumped at the chance, but he wondered what his father wanted of him. Along the busy street of the meeting area a blue sports car pulled up beside Shinji with the woman from the photo inside.
"Hello Shinji Ikari. Nice to finally meet you." the woman said.
"Nice to meet you too, Miss Katsuragi." Shinji replied.
"Misato's fine. Well, let's get going."
Shinji got into the car and it sped off onto the highway to Tokyo 3. There was silence in the car for quite some time, before Shinji spoke.
"What will happen when we get to Tokyo 3?" Shinji asked.
"I think that you father wants to see you." Misato replied.
"Oh. Do we have to do that first?" Shinji said sadly.
"Why?"
"I would like to find an old friend first."
"Who?" Misato asked, intrigued because she did not know he had been to Tokyo 3 before.
"Rei Ayanami. I knew her a long time ago." Shinji said, looking out of the window and thus missing Misato's smile.
"Sorry. We have to go strait to headquarters." Misato replied.
Misato picked up her mobile phone and dialled a number.
"Yah, its Katsuragi. We need a car train. Yes, and I want the First Child to meet us when we get there. Thanks, bye."
Misato hung up the phone with a slight grin on her face. The rest of the trip was conducted in silence.
********
"REI!!" Shinji shouted when he saw the familiar pale Blue haired and Red eyed girl.
She had changed slightly from the three year old that he had known, but it was unmistakeably her. She had grown into pretty young woman. When she looked at him she was slightly confused at a seeming stranger yelling her name in NERV headquarters.
"Rei, it's me. Shinji." Shinji said when he saw her reaction.
He was caught off guard by her full handed slap.
"Why did you leave me, Shinji?" she asked in a cold voice.
"I did not want to. It was my father." Shinji replied.
"The Commander?" Rei whispered, her shock not evident on her face or in her voice.
There was a moment of silence before Rei turned.
"He wishes to see you. This way." She said over her shoulder as she began walking and thinking on this new information.
********
Shinji stood in his father's massive office in a slight state of shock. His father had called him because he wanted Shinji to pilot a giant biomechanoid in battles against an enemy that he had never even heard of and, more shocking to him, that Rei already was a pilot and would be in the frontlines of the war.
"Well. Will you pilot or won't you?" Gendo Ikari asked.
"This is too much. I need time to think." Shinji said.
"You have twenty-four hours. Fuyutsuki, take care of the rest." Gendo ordered.
Fuyutsuki escorted Shinji out of Gendo's office and down to receive a temporary NERV ID.
"Where is Rei?" Shinji asked when he had is ID.
"She's about to have an activation test." the second in command of NERV replied.
"Can I watch?"
********
Unit 00 stood in the test cage, as the activation test began. Rei smiled slightly when she saw Shinji's face in one of the observation windows. The activation test proceeded normally until the Eva reached the absolute borderline and then it went out of control. In the control room Shinji looked on in horror, not understanding any of the commands being given around him, just knowing Rei was in trouble.
When he saw the white tube, that he had been told contained Rei, fly out of the back of the Eva he began to run. When he reached to floor of the test cage the Eva had stoped and the entry plug was half resting on a mound of a red substance. When he grabbed the handles of the emergency hatch, Shinji burned his hands but, grunting with determination, he continued to open the hatch. When he got the hatch open he was relieved to see Rei alive and conscious.
"I still want to protect you." Shinji told the injured girl.
"Thank you." Rei responded.
The emergency medical team arrived and took Rei off on a stretcher.
"For you, Rei. Only for you." Shinji whispered after her.
Turning around, Shinji saw his father looking at him.
"I'll do it. But not for you." Shinji replied before walking off.
********
The next two weeks were busy for Shinji. Whenever he was not in Unit 01's entry plug, he was sitting by Rei's bed in the hospital, re-establishing a relationship and friendship with his best friend, which had been destroyed by his father. Both of them had been scared by Gendo's actions. Rei had become emotionally closed off and reluctant to interact with others as she had been lead to believe that the one person she had trusted above all others had betrayed her, while Shinji had been abandoned by his father and grown up in a household where he had been treated as useless.
When Rei finally got out of the hospital and Shinji had finished his intense training in his Eva, Rei being discharged about an hour after Shinji finished his training, it was decided that Shinji needed accommodation (having slept in a chair beside Rei's bed the entire two weeks she was in hospital). Shinji arranged for an apartment near Rei's and, seemingly by chance, ended up getting the apartment right next to hers. When he saw his apartment he was shocked at how dirty it was and went over to Rei's to see if he could borrow some cleaning products. He found that Rei's apartment was filthier that his own and was appalled. After spending some money on cleaning products, Shinji spend the next two days cleaning up both apartments, starting with Rei's because she was still injured.
"What are you doing Shinji?" Rei asked quietly when he stated to clean her apartment.
"I'm cleaning, Rei. How can you live like this?"
"It is all I have had since you left." Rei replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Oh, Rei." Shinji said giving Rei a hug, which became slightly uncomfortable when Shinji felt Rei's maturing body pressed against his.
"All I ever thought about was getting back to protect you." he said when he released her from the hug.
Rei nodded slightly then sat down to watch as Shinji cleaned her apartment. There was a comfortable silence in Rei's apartment as Shinji worked and Rei watched, the friendship that had existed years ago had returned, slightly differently as they were different people now, and it allowed them to spend a lot of time together without awkwardness. Shinji finished cleaning the apartments on Saturday, so on Sunday Shinji and Rei went out so that Shinji could reacquaint himself with the city. In fact they spent little time in the city, most of the day was spent wandering the hills around Tokyo 3 and reminiscing over their lives before Shinji was sent away.
Shinji remembered the little girl who came running to him when she had scraped her knee, while Rei remember the little boy who had given her he favourite birthday present, a small stuffed pig, which had later been confiscated by Commander Ikari. They both remembered the friend that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with, and while strained, that friend was still there, only buried by time and Gendo Ikari. Finally they watched the sunset from a cliff that overlooked the city before they went back to their apartments, because they had school in the morning.
********
Shinji awoke in the morning and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling, and was confused for a moment, and then he remembered that he was back and Rei was in the next apartment. Shinji got up and quickly got ready for school and went outside to meet Rei. They walked to school, without seeing any other students, and arrived early so that Shinji could formally enrol, it turned out that he was in the same class as Rei, and the whole class apparently knew that there would be a new student and that Rei would be back at school today.
Shinji's enrolment had taken longer that they thought it would so when they reached the classroom the rest of the class was already there. The class was shocked into silence when the door opened revealing Rei, one arm in a cast and one eye covered with a bandage, and a strange boy, obviously the new student. Every eye in the class tracked them as they moved across the room, the boy whispered into Rei's ear at one point and she nodded, towards the window side of the room. Rei sat in her usual chair and the boy sat in the chair next to her. For once Rei did not immediately start looking out the window, instead she and the boy chatted quietly until class began.
The shock in the room was palatable, no one in the class had ever seen Rei talk to anyone unless they asked her a direct question and it seemed as if she never wanted or needed a friend. When the teacher arrived, Shinji introduced himself.
"Hi everyone. My name is Shinji Ikari. I just moved her from my Uncle's home in Atsugi. Actually I used to live around here, many years ago." Shinji said before sitting down again.
No one except Rei recognised the pain in his eyes when he said the last part. After Shinji's introduction the teacher began his regular drone on his experiences during the Second Impact.
"Hey, Touji. How do you think Rei knows the new kid?" asked Kensuke Aida.
Kensuke, a short, bespectacled boy who loves computers and pretending he is in the military while his friend Touji Suzuhara was a tall boy who was in the best sports teams at the school, and always wore his Basketball team tracksuit to class.
"I don't know, Kensuke. Maybe he knew her when he was younger." Touji responded.
The pair got a glare from Hikari, the class representative and promptly shut up, knowing that beneath the perky exterior was that metal that resided at the core of all Tokyo 3 residents. Those without that metal left quickly.
********
The rest of the morning went smoothly and at lunch Shinji and Rei were having lunch out under one of the trees in the schoolyard when three of their classmates came to speak to them.
"Hi. My name's Hikari Horaki. As class representative, I would like to welcome you on behalf of the class." The girl said.
"Um, Hi." Shinji said nervously.
He had not been well liked at his previous school, as he had dedicated all his time in trying to get back to Rei. As a result he had been the target of several bullies and thus was reluctant to form new friendships. Touji and Kensuke hung back slightly trying to get a better look at the new kid.
"These two morons are Touji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. For some reason they seem to be following me today." Hikari said lightly, but with a hint of warning.
"Well, we saw you coming over here and thought we would say hello to the new kid... I mean Shinji." Touji said.
"Yah sure." Hikari responded.
"Don't mind them." Kensuke said as Touji and Hikari started arguing. "Names Kensuke. So you said you used to live here?"
"Yah. My father sent me to my uncle when I was three. Are those two alright?" Shinji said, pointing to Touji and Hikari.
By now Hikari had Touji by the ear and he seemed to be apologising for something.
"Oh, that. They're fine. It happens every couple of days. Touji puts his foot in his mouth and Hikari chews him out for it." Kensuke said.
"How can someone fit their foot into their mouth?" Rei asked.
Shinji and Kensuke started laughing.
"It means he said the wrong thing, Rei." Shinji said, trying to control his laughter.
"I see." Rei said reservedly.
********
By the end of the week, Shinji had formed a friendship with Touji and Kensuke, having need of male friends, while Rei had formed a tentative friendship with Hikari. Encouraged by Shinji's return and the fact that Hikari actually seemed to want to spend time with her, Rei had begun to be more sociable, answering most of Hikari's questions, and even asking a few reserved questions of her own. Hikari found it encouraging that the reclusive girl began to open up to her and Rei liked the fact that she had a girl that she could talk to, even if she was to reserved to actually talk to her most of the time. Rei was confused by some of the interactions between Shinji and the other boys. While Hikari and herself mostly talked when together, Shinji and his friends seemed to act unintelligently when together. Once when Hikari and Rei were talking, the three boys had gotten into a fight with some other boys.
"Look, Rei. Here's my number." Hikari said near the end of lunch on Friday, scribbling her phone number on a piece of paper. "Call me sometime and we'll go shopping."
"Shopping?" Rei asked, slightly confused.
"Don't tell me you've never been clothes shopping." Hikari said, shocked.
Rei shyly shook her head.
"Oh. This is a fashion emergency. Rei, I'm taking you shopping tomorrow. Unless you were planing to do something. Shinji?" Hikari said.
"Go for it. I think she only owns School Uniforms." Shinji said. 'And plug suits'
"Cool. And we'll take Shinji to the arcade." Kensuke said with a large grin.
Hikari, Touji and Kensuke left the old friends together and started to move off to class, even though there were a few minutes of lunch left.
"Why did you say that?" Rei asked, nervous about the shopping trip.
"A few reasons. Firstly, you need to go out socially other than at school, and Hikari will be happy shopping. Secondly, you need some clothes other than school uniforms and plug suits. And thirdly, I would not mind seeing what you too buy." Shinji said with a grin. "Plus I now get to go to the arcade."
"Ok." Rei replied.
Shinji and Rei stood up and headed back to class.
TBC
Chapter: Promises to Keep
Author: Knife Hand
Feedback: Constructive feedback appreciated, flames unappreciated
Spoilers: All of Neon Genesis Evangelion (just covering my basses)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Do not own Eva. I would buy it but I am broke.
Summary: AU, basically a series rewrite. Shinji must keep a promise he made years ago. S/R pairing. How NGE should be.
AN: Major deviation from Eva Cannon. Timeline elements ignored. Characters are OOC for the series. If you don't like this then stop reading now. You have been warned.
AN2: In this Rei is not a Clone nor is she related to Shinji in any way shape or form.
" " denotes speech
' ' denotes thought
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shinji stood staring down at the new tombstone in front of him that bore the name Yui Ikari.
"She's not in there." Shinji said in the slightly slurred voice of a three year old.
He looked over at his friend since forever, Rei Ayanami. Her eyes were filled with sorrow for her bestest friend, and a pain echoed in her three year old eyes, pain that Shinji had seen in the mirror that morning. Pain that no one should ever have to suffer. Rei held her best friend, remembering three months previously when he had held her, while she cried over her own parents' graves, taken from her by a car crash.
"Let me protect you too." Rei whispered to her now sobbing friend.
At her parents funeral Shinji had made a promise to always protect her, and she wanted to be there for him as well.
"When we grow up, I want to marry you." Rei said honestly, as only a child can.
She then went on to describe all the plans that her three year old mind had for them, which mostly consisted of a lot of holding hands. Finally, about ten minutes latter, Shinji's father came to take Shinji home.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Shinji promised.
The next day Rei waited, but Shinji never showed up. Little did she know that Gendo Ikari had sent his son away, to live with his Uncle, without giving Shinji any choice in the matter.
********
~2015 (11 years later) ~
Shinji Ikari stepped off the train at Tokyo 2, one step closer to home. As he walked through the busy streets towards the meeting place, to meet an attractive woman who had sent him a provocative picture, Shinji thought on the events that lead to his return from forced exile.
From the day he had been sent to his Uncle's house, Shinji had been working towards his return, working at odd jobs in the area, anything that would make him money, saving his allowance and never going out. Over the eleven years he had made almost enough money to return to Tokyo 3, and then a letter had arrived from his father, the man who had forced him into exile, requesting that he return. Naturally Shinji had jumped at the chance, but he wondered what his father wanted of him. Along the busy street of the meeting area a blue sports car pulled up beside Shinji with the woman from the photo inside.
"Hello Shinji Ikari. Nice to finally meet you." the woman said.
"Nice to meet you too, Miss Katsuragi." Shinji replied.
"Misato's fine. Well, let's get going."
Shinji got into the car and it sped off onto the highway to Tokyo 3. There was silence in the car for quite some time, before Shinji spoke.
"What will happen when we get to Tokyo 3?" Shinji asked.
"I think that you father wants to see you." Misato replied.
"Oh. Do we have to do that first?" Shinji said sadly.
"Why?"
"I would like to find an old friend first."
"Who?" Misato asked, intrigued because she did not know he had been to Tokyo 3 before.
"Rei Ayanami. I knew her a long time ago." Shinji said, looking out of the window and thus missing Misato's smile.
"Sorry. We have to go strait to headquarters." Misato replied.
Misato picked up her mobile phone and dialled a number.
"Yah, its Katsuragi. We need a car train. Yes, and I want the First Child to meet us when we get there. Thanks, bye."
Misato hung up the phone with a slight grin on her face. The rest of the trip was conducted in silence.
********
"REI!!" Shinji shouted when he saw the familiar pale Blue haired and Red eyed girl.
She had changed slightly from the three year old that he had known, but it was unmistakeably her. She had grown into pretty young woman. When she looked at him she was slightly confused at a seeming stranger yelling her name in NERV headquarters.
"Rei, it's me. Shinji." Shinji said when he saw her reaction.
He was caught off guard by her full handed slap.
"Why did you leave me, Shinji?" she asked in a cold voice.
"I did not want to. It was my father." Shinji replied.
"The Commander?" Rei whispered, her shock not evident on her face or in her voice.
There was a moment of silence before Rei turned.
"He wishes to see you. This way." She said over her shoulder as she began walking and thinking on this new information.
********
Shinji stood in his father's massive office in a slight state of shock. His father had called him because he wanted Shinji to pilot a giant biomechanoid in battles against an enemy that he had never even heard of and, more shocking to him, that Rei already was a pilot and would be in the frontlines of the war.
"Well. Will you pilot or won't you?" Gendo Ikari asked.
"This is too much. I need time to think." Shinji said.
"You have twenty-four hours. Fuyutsuki, take care of the rest." Gendo ordered.
Fuyutsuki escorted Shinji out of Gendo's office and down to receive a temporary NERV ID.
"Where is Rei?" Shinji asked when he had is ID.
"She's about to have an activation test." the second in command of NERV replied.
"Can I watch?"
********
Unit 00 stood in the test cage, as the activation test began. Rei smiled slightly when she saw Shinji's face in one of the observation windows. The activation test proceeded normally until the Eva reached the absolute borderline and then it went out of control. In the control room Shinji looked on in horror, not understanding any of the commands being given around him, just knowing Rei was in trouble.
When he saw the white tube, that he had been told contained Rei, fly out of the back of the Eva he began to run. When he reached to floor of the test cage the Eva had stoped and the entry plug was half resting on a mound of a red substance. When he grabbed the handles of the emergency hatch, Shinji burned his hands but, grunting with determination, he continued to open the hatch. When he got the hatch open he was relieved to see Rei alive and conscious.
"I still want to protect you." Shinji told the injured girl.
"Thank you." Rei responded.
The emergency medical team arrived and took Rei off on a stretcher.
"For you, Rei. Only for you." Shinji whispered after her.
Turning around, Shinji saw his father looking at him.
"I'll do it. But not for you." Shinji replied before walking off.
********
The next two weeks were busy for Shinji. Whenever he was not in Unit 01's entry plug, he was sitting by Rei's bed in the hospital, re-establishing a relationship and friendship with his best friend, which had been destroyed by his father. Both of them had been scared by Gendo's actions. Rei had become emotionally closed off and reluctant to interact with others as she had been lead to believe that the one person she had trusted above all others had betrayed her, while Shinji had been abandoned by his father and grown up in a household where he had been treated as useless.
When Rei finally got out of the hospital and Shinji had finished his intense training in his Eva, Rei being discharged about an hour after Shinji finished his training, it was decided that Shinji needed accommodation (having slept in a chair beside Rei's bed the entire two weeks she was in hospital). Shinji arranged for an apartment near Rei's and, seemingly by chance, ended up getting the apartment right next to hers. When he saw his apartment he was shocked at how dirty it was and went over to Rei's to see if he could borrow some cleaning products. He found that Rei's apartment was filthier that his own and was appalled. After spending some money on cleaning products, Shinji spend the next two days cleaning up both apartments, starting with Rei's because she was still injured.
"What are you doing Shinji?" Rei asked quietly when he stated to clean her apartment.
"I'm cleaning, Rei. How can you live like this?"
"It is all I have had since you left." Rei replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Oh, Rei." Shinji said giving Rei a hug, which became slightly uncomfortable when Shinji felt Rei's maturing body pressed against his.
"All I ever thought about was getting back to protect you." he said when he released her from the hug.
Rei nodded slightly then sat down to watch as Shinji cleaned her apartment. There was a comfortable silence in Rei's apartment as Shinji worked and Rei watched, the friendship that had existed years ago had returned, slightly differently as they were different people now, and it allowed them to spend a lot of time together without awkwardness. Shinji finished cleaning the apartments on Saturday, so on Sunday Shinji and Rei went out so that Shinji could reacquaint himself with the city. In fact they spent little time in the city, most of the day was spent wandering the hills around Tokyo 3 and reminiscing over their lives before Shinji was sent away.
Shinji remembered the little girl who came running to him when she had scraped her knee, while Rei remember the little boy who had given her he favourite birthday present, a small stuffed pig, which had later been confiscated by Commander Ikari. They both remembered the friend that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with, and while strained, that friend was still there, only buried by time and Gendo Ikari. Finally they watched the sunset from a cliff that overlooked the city before they went back to their apartments, because they had school in the morning.
********
Shinji awoke in the morning and stared at an unfamiliar ceiling, and was confused for a moment, and then he remembered that he was back and Rei was in the next apartment. Shinji got up and quickly got ready for school and went outside to meet Rei. They walked to school, without seeing any other students, and arrived early so that Shinji could formally enrol, it turned out that he was in the same class as Rei, and the whole class apparently knew that there would be a new student and that Rei would be back at school today.
Shinji's enrolment had taken longer that they thought it would so when they reached the classroom the rest of the class was already there. The class was shocked into silence when the door opened revealing Rei, one arm in a cast and one eye covered with a bandage, and a strange boy, obviously the new student. Every eye in the class tracked them as they moved across the room, the boy whispered into Rei's ear at one point and she nodded, towards the window side of the room. Rei sat in her usual chair and the boy sat in the chair next to her. For once Rei did not immediately start looking out the window, instead she and the boy chatted quietly until class began.
The shock in the room was palatable, no one in the class had ever seen Rei talk to anyone unless they asked her a direct question and it seemed as if she never wanted or needed a friend. When the teacher arrived, Shinji introduced himself.
"Hi everyone. My name is Shinji Ikari. I just moved her from my Uncle's home in Atsugi. Actually I used to live around here, many years ago." Shinji said before sitting down again.
No one except Rei recognised the pain in his eyes when he said the last part. After Shinji's introduction the teacher began his regular drone on his experiences during the Second Impact.
"Hey, Touji. How do you think Rei knows the new kid?" asked Kensuke Aida.
Kensuke, a short, bespectacled boy who loves computers and pretending he is in the military while his friend Touji Suzuhara was a tall boy who was in the best sports teams at the school, and always wore his Basketball team tracksuit to class.
"I don't know, Kensuke. Maybe he knew her when he was younger." Touji responded.
The pair got a glare from Hikari, the class representative and promptly shut up, knowing that beneath the perky exterior was that metal that resided at the core of all Tokyo 3 residents. Those without that metal left quickly.
********
The rest of the morning went smoothly and at lunch Shinji and Rei were having lunch out under one of the trees in the schoolyard when three of their classmates came to speak to them.
"Hi. My name's Hikari Horaki. As class representative, I would like to welcome you on behalf of the class." The girl said.
"Um, Hi." Shinji said nervously.
He had not been well liked at his previous school, as he had dedicated all his time in trying to get back to Rei. As a result he had been the target of several bullies and thus was reluctant to form new friendships. Touji and Kensuke hung back slightly trying to get a better look at the new kid.
"These two morons are Touji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida. For some reason they seem to be following me today." Hikari said lightly, but with a hint of warning.
"Well, we saw you coming over here and thought we would say hello to the new kid... I mean Shinji." Touji said.
"Yah sure." Hikari responded.
"Don't mind them." Kensuke said as Touji and Hikari started arguing. "Names Kensuke. So you said you used to live here?"
"Yah. My father sent me to my uncle when I was three. Are those two alright?" Shinji said, pointing to Touji and Hikari.
By now Hikari had Touji by the ear and he seemed to be apologising for something.
"Oh, that. They're fine. It happens every couple of days. Touji puts his foot in his mouth and Hikari chews him out for it." Kensuke said.
"How can someone fit their foot into their mouth?" Rei asked.
Shinji and Kensuke started laughing.
"It means he said the wrong thing, Rei." Shinji said, trying to control his laughter.
"I see." Rei said reservedly.
********
By the end of the week, Shinji had formed a friendship with Touji and Kensuke, having need of male friends, while Rei had formed a tentative friendship with Hikari. Encouraged by Shinji's return and the fact that Hikari actually seemed to want to spend time with her, Rei had begun to be more sociable, answering most of Hikari's questions, and even asking a few reserved questions of her own. Hikari found it encouraging that the reclusive girl began to open up to her and Rei liked the fact that she had a girl that she could talk to, even if she was to reserved to actually talk to her most of the time. Rei was confused by some of the interactions between Shinji and the other boys. While Hikari and herself mostly talked when together, Shinji and his friends seemed to act unintelligently when together. Once when Hikari and Rei were talking, the three boys had gotten into a fight with some other boys.
"Look, Rei. Here's my number." Hikari said near the end of lunch on Friday, scribbling her phone number on a piece of paper. "Call me sometime and we'll go shopping."
"Shopping?" Rei asked, slightly confused.
"Don't tell me you've never been clothes shopping." Hikari said, shocked.
Rei shyly shook her head.
"Oh. This is a fashion emergency. Rei, I'm taking you shopping tomorrow. Unless you were planing to do something. Shinji?" Hikari said.
"Go for it. I think she only owns School Uniforms." Shinji said. 'And plug suits'
"Cool. And we'll take Shinji to the arcade." Kensuke said with a large grin.
Hikari, Touji and Kensuke left the old friends together and started to move off to class, even though there were a few minutes of lunch left.
"Why did you say that?" Rei asked, nervous about the shopping trip.
"A few reasons. Firstly, you need to go out socially other than at school, and Hikari will be happy shopping. Secondly, you need some clothes other than school uniforms and plug suits. And thirdly, I would not mind seeing what you too buy." Shinji said with a grin. "Plus I now get to go to the arcade."
"Ok." Rei replied.
Shinji and Rei stood up and headed back to class.
TBC