Okay, my pleads have been answered. The Darkening Hour has been officialy assinged to be the pre-reader of this fan fiction. So here is chapter 4 of the hopefuly type-o free "Sixteen and in love."

The Lunch Date

"Come ON! You're gonna stand there and tell me that nothing went on the other night!?!?"

Shinji just stared at Touji, begging for details of his date from last night as he, Kensuke, and Kaoru walked down the street for school. "No!" Shinji protested. "I'm not saying a word about it. You look like you can barely walk, and if Asuka was here, she'll make sure of it that you never walk like a man ever again."

It was like this ever since he, Kensuke, and Kaoru stopped by his home to walk with him to school.

Hearing his begs and pleads, Kaoru had to butt in. "If it's his wish to end up castrated in the end, then go ahead and tell him. It's not like he'll ever need those mashed "peas" anyway."

He was struggling to hold back his laughter until Touji, barely able to hold himself up, took a swing at Kaoru, which he was easily able to avoid. Touji strained himself too much in his condition and dropped to one knee. "You bastard…" Touji grunted. "Just give me a week and I'll show you, you damn-"

"You watch your mouth, Mr. Suzuhara!" he was cut off by the only person that had him wrapped around her pretty little finger. "And one more thing" Hikari shouted. "Why are you up and moving after Asuka's kick heard 'round the world?"

Toji couldn't control the blood flow rushing to his cheeks. "Well... I can't miss any more school than what we already have, and I wanted to see you personally."

Hikari was shocked at his words. "What? You wanna talk to me?"

Touji took a second to get back on his feet to stand up as straight as he could so he can look at Hikari face to face. He groaned a bit from the pain in his loins, as he was sure he was bruised pretty bad. "I just wanted to tell you..." his hesitated a second, until he choked it out. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being a jerk the other day and for getting in Ikari's and Sati- I mean- Asuka's business. I know I was wrong, and I regret it. More than you can ever imagine." He took a deep breath as he tried to re-collect himself from spilling his guts out for the class rep.

Hikari, on the other hand, was staring a blank. She didn't know whether he was serious, or if he was under so much pain that his brain stopped functioning all together. "Well...I...um..." She was speechless, plain and simple. She tried to grasp the situation. "I'm...not the one you should be apologizing to. You really made Asuka upset, so you're going to tell her that you're sorry and take it like a man."

Touji dropped his head when she said he'll have to apologize to the devil herself. "All right...I'll do it. But only because you're making me." He said. Hikari, on the other hand, gave him a mean scowl she only gave to those who would really press their luck with her. "...and because I know I was wrong." He had to stomach what he said, but couldn't help but gag at his own words. He just couldn't stand the fact he was going to apologize to a woman. Especially the woman who made his life a living hell since the day she met him.

Kaoru, with a stroke of his hand, brushed his hair back from his face a little. "By the way, Shinji. Is Asuka ever going to find a job? Or is she going to continue to leeching off of Misato's purse until she's out the door?" Shinji shrugged his shoulders. "Don't say it like that. She's going out job-hunting sometime this week and she's even got her driver's permit." Shinji replied. "Besides, with her graduating early, and a colledge degree, she should have no problem at all." "Well, I guess this means I'll never get my chance to say I'm sorry " Touji said with more than a little hint of joy as he started to walk on to school, still limping.

Hikari grabbed him by the ear, making damn-sure she gets through to him. "You will tell her you're sorry as soon as you see her when we visit her after school." She gave him one last tug before letting him go from her grasp. He rubbed his ear as Hikari lead the way to school.

Kensuke made sure he taped every bit of that priceless moment on camera. Over the years, he had built up quite a collection of momentous moments such as festivals, dances, and holidays. He was, however, really disappointed when he missed his chance the other day. After that, he swore to himself to never forget his camera before leaving the house ever again. He chuckled and thought to himself, 'With the way today is starting, I can't wait to see what's coming up next.'

Shinji noted the chuckling and asked him, "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. Just it's kinda pathetic seeing him at her every beck and call. It's just so sad."

Kaoru simply nodded as they followed the class rep to another day of high-school.

The School bell sounded and the class where, for the most part, all in their seats talking and visiting"Where can she be?" Hikari asked Shinji, who was listening to hisMP3. "Hey, Shinji!" She shouted loud enough for the whole class to notice.

Kaoru yanked the plugs from his seat behind Shinji's. Shinji looked behind him to see what the deal was. "What's wrong, Kaoru? Misato's not here yet."

Kaoru simply pointed to the front. "She's been trying to ask you something." Shinji was puzzled until he turned back around to see a smoldering Hikari Horaki clenching her fists and grinding her teeth. Shinji was growing nervous with fear of what Hikari might do to him. "Um... sorry Hikari. It's just kind of hard to hear you and my music...and I didn't notice you until-"

"Excuses, Excuses!" Hikari started shouting as she banged her hands on the desk and got all up in his face. "I was standing here for an entire minute trying to get you to look up! It had to take Mr. Nagisa here to yank those damn plugs from your stupid head and point it out for you! You're as bad as Touji now that it comes to paying attention!" She finally finished and caught her breath and straightened her hair from the vicious state she had. All the class stood silent and stared at her as Shinji sank into his seat.

"Umm... I'm sorry?" That was all Shinji was able to blurt out by reflexes.

Hikari stared him down deeper into his seat when she asked him, "Where is Mrs. Kaji?!?!"

Shinji was still frightened and hesitant to answer her. "Well... she got sick today."

She gasped out of concern for her teacher and friend. "Oh no! What happened? Is it a cold? A virus? Come on, tell me something!" Hikari demanded to know, being the class rep and making it her business to know everything that might disrupt the learning process.

He sunk as low as he could as Hikari was but a mere inch from his face. "She woke up this morning throwing up and told us she wouldn't make it."

Hikari backed away and said to herself, "If she's not here, than what are we going to do?"

Kaoru laughed out loud when hearing this. "Well, well, well. Another drinking binge, I see. She's thirty-one years old and she still acts like she's in college. Come to think of it, I've never seen her without a beer in her hand when we visit."

Shinji couldn't deny she had a drinking problem, but the real surprise was what Shinji had to say next. "Actually," he pointed out, "I don't think she was drinking last night. She and Kaji went shopping for their wedding and I didn't smell any beer on her breath when we talked."

Hikari was out the door and running to the Principal's office as soon as she heard that. "Where is she going?" asked Kensuke.

"If she hasn't been drinking," she said to herself, running down the hall, "then something must be terribly wrong." Little did she notice that Misato's car was in the driveway and her walking threw the doors.

"Well," Misato said with a sigh, "That's not how I wanted to start my morning, but I still have a job to do." And with all that said and done, she walked on to her classroom with her purse in hand. She knew what was wrong with her and she didn't want to make anyone suspicious. She wanted to surprise everyone. Especially her roommates and their friends. "This is gonna be fun." She said right before she turned the knob of the door to her classroom. "Good morning, class! I'm sorry I'm late, but Pen-pen has been sick and I had to rush him to the vet as soon as I could." she fibbed as she took her seat. She looked up and saw Hikari nowhere in the class. She asked Toji "Mr. Suzuhara, where's your girlfriend this morning?" She loved to pick on them, seeing how it was so obvious that they both have a thing for each other.

Touji stood at attention. "She went to the principal's office to inform him that your were sick today and...." his face was turning as red as a rose in bloom. He fell for her tricks all the time and never took notice until he was made a fool out of the entire class. The students all gave him 'woo's' as he sat himself back down in his seat. 'Why is it always me? I'm always the first crack of the day.' he pondered in his head.

"I'm sorry" Misato said while holding her sides, trying not to fall from her seat. "I had to. Can you please go to the Principal's office and bring Mrs. Suzuhara back?"

Still embarrassed, he stood up again from his seat. "Okay, I'll bring her back." He walked across the classroom and walked out the door.

Misato looked at her wristwatch and counted down exactly as he left. "Five...four...three...two...one..."

"Ahhhggg, crap!" was all that was heard from the hallway when Touji finally noticed Misato's cruel prank. Misato couldn't help but fall out of her chair as she and most of the class burst into laughter, holding their splitting sides. Shinji, Rei, and Kaoru were the only ones left in their seats. Kaoru simply gave his chuckle that the women melted over, Shinji gave a sigh, feeling sorry for Misato always teasing, and Rei was just... being Rei.

Misato finally collected herself and picked herself up from the floor and sat down in her chair. "Well...now that we all had our laugh for the day, I'll check roll now." Misato took out her pen and her roll-call sheet. "Oh, wait! I almost forgot. Class, we have a new student joining us starting today. Now I want you to all make her feel welcome. Say 'Hello' to Ms. Crystle Summers." She walked over to the door and opened it for the new girl. She was dressed in the school uniform with her fine hair slightly braided with emerald green ribbons to match her eyes. she had stockings instead of socks and a small black purse to top it all off. All the boys, even Kaoru, was awe-struck by her immense beauty.

"He-hello...everyone. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Clearly, she was nervous and wasn't sure of what to say.

Misato smirked and looked at how she 'conveniently' placed a new desk next to Shinji. "Well, seeing as you're new here, Hikari will show you around when she comes back. So in the mean time, have a seat next to Mr. Ikari." she pointed to the first row of desks next to the windows and two seats in front of Rei. Shinji looked up at Misato with eyes that where ready to pop right out of his head. Before he could say anything, Misato threw him a 'V-for-victory' sign. Shinji closed his mouth and gave Crystle a smile as she settled down in her new seat. She looked to her right really quickly and gave her a wink from her eye. Shinji couldn't help but blush and gave a feint smile towards her.

Misato looked at how Crystle and Shinji looked real cute together. 'I hope he shows her a good time. That is, while she's here for the semester' she thought to herself. Misato noted that the past few days had been full of surprises and unexpected twists. She felt more or less proud that he'd gotten over most of his life in the past and started over from then. She shook her head and remembered that she had a job to do. She cleared her head and began to get down to business. "Okay class. Today, I have an assignment for you. You will all give a seven page report on the United States and it's culture, climates, and brief history. It's due in two weeks, so I expect all of you to have it done by then." she was overcome by boos and jeers as she announced her assignment. She reached under the desk into a drawer full of 'in-case-of-emergency' pack and pulled out an air-horn and a pair of ear-muffs. She put the muffs on her head and held up the horn in the air. She pressed the button and held it down for a good twenty-five seconds. The whole class covered their ears in an attempt to block out the mind-ripping pain raiding their eardrums. Misato finally ended the suffering and set down the horn. She stood up and with a very fed-up tone, addressed the class.

"I WILL NOT tolerate this! You have an assignment to do and I expect it to be done when I ask you to present it in front of the class." Misato's fists dug into the desk, making her knuckles white as the paper next to her hands. She loosened her grip after a moment of silence on the class's part. She sat back into her chair, swung her hair back, and proceeded with class. "Now, with that done, take out you're English books and turn to page 54 please." The class, without any complaints, did as asked and complied with Great Teacher Katsuragi.

"Well, I'm just grateful I didn't have to go through that damn horn like she did on the first day." Touji said as they walked home. "The last time she used it, I was standing right behind her with it right up to my ear!"

Hikari laughed as she reminisced on the time. "Yeah, but I'm just relieved she wasn't sick after all. Unlike what that dork Ikari told me. I was worried sick."

Kensuke stopped in his tracks and looked behind him. "Hey guys. Where is Shinji anyways? I didn't see him after we left from school."

Kaoru answered. "He's gone off with Ms. Summers. He said he wanted to show her around and then take her to lunch again."

Touji looked up from his limping form and asked "What?!?! Another date!?!?!? Is this the same Shinji that we know? This guy is always the quiet one in class and now he's on his second date in a row?"

Hikari tugged Touji along by the ear to get him to keep walking the best he can.

Kaoru chuckled and walked along with the gang. 'Shinji, you lucky dog.' Kaoru thought to himself. 'Treat her good. Remember that women are angels. All of them.'

Shinji waited by the school gate next to a cherry tree after school for about five minutes. 'I hope I won't be a bother for her.' As the rest of the school emptied, Shinji took out of his shirt his birthday gift from Asuka and begun to wonder, "I'm sure she's fine. I bet she's out job hunting right now." From behind the tree, two hands come out of nowhere and wrapped around Shinji's eyes.

"Guess who," asked the voice from Shinji's back.

"Umm..." Shinji was taken completely by surprise and blurted out the first thing that popped in his mind.

"Asuka?"

...

There was an awkward silence until the hands covering Shinji's eyes slowly came off. Shinji was feeling really vulnerable with someone whom he knew damn well was right behind him. "Okay, Shinji. I'll give you another guess." came the more-than-a-bit-irritated voice from behind Shinji. Shinji was kicking himself a hundred times over and over again when he recognized the voice was that of one of his new friends.

"Umm... sorry about that, Crystle. I was just... thinking..." Shinji felt the hands grab his shoulder and spin him right around to meet Crystle face to face once again.

"Were you waiting here just for me?" she said with an oh-so-lovable smile.

"Umm...yeah. I actually wanted to know if..." Shinji couldn't get the words out right. He didn't know what the deal was. The last time he had trouble talking to anyone was with Rei two years ago. Every time he starts a conversation with her, he just chokes. He stopped for a second, took a deep breath and let it all out. "I was wondering if you could help me with my assignment in English class." He waited on the spot for an answer. An acceptance, a refusal, he just stood there with his eyes squinted shut ready for her to laugh at his face. However, all that he heard was a giggle and felt a playful shove on his shoulder.

"Is that it? Is that what you where trying to let out? Of course I'll help out. We're friends, after all." Shinji was still trying to regain his composure when she said yes. "Re... really? That's great! We'll need to talk over it sometime. I was thinking..." Shinji hit that mental wall again, but this time, broke right through it with all his willpower. "We could talk about it over a cup of tea. Or a soda or whatever, you know?" Shinji was scratching the back of his head, looking down at the ground. A universal sign of unconfidence. She simply gave him a smile and offered him her arm to escort her to a drink.

"So, you know any good soda shops?" she asked him while walking downtown. He thought about it for a second.

"Well, there is this one place me and the guys go to every once in a while, but I don't think it's a good idea to go," he said. His cheeks where as red as the street light they stopped at.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me that I'm gonna have to clean up after they bring us the tab again?" She joked. "This is my only school uniform, and I don't want to get it all stained."

Shinji pushed back his blush and picked up his guts. "You ever heard of Anna Miller's?"

Several minutes later...

"I kinda think I know now as of why you and your friends come here often." Crystle said with a bit of remorse for insisting on coming.

"It's not that." he pleaded. "The food is great and they have the best cakes and pies anywhere near here. Touji only tags along because the waitresses here are really pretty."

Crystle gave him a sly look. "And you're telling me that you don't see anything in them at all?"

Shinji opened the door for Crystle as she walked in and took a seat in the booth by the window. "I hope we can order right away. I'm starved!" Crystle rubbed her stomach and called for the waitress. Immediately, the waitress walked right over.

"Hi, my name is... Shin...ji?" She just stood their, the waitress did. There was more than an awkward silence as Shinji and Crystle sat in their booth with Asuka wearing a rather cute waitress uniform and her hair tied with bows instead of her usual Eva-clips. "Wha..." Asuka couldn't think of the words to say, as the embarrassment dug deep into her brain and forever etched in her memory.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU OF ALL PEOPLE DOING HERE!?!?!?"

Asuka was in total rage as everyone looked up from their posts, tables, and stoves to see what all the shouting was about. Shinji was backed into the corner of the booth as Asuka climbed in with a hot coffee pot in hand dangling it over his head. Shinji began to plead for mercy. "I... I... I didn't know you would be working here! I just came here with Crystle to talk over the English report I have for Misato's class! Don't kill me!"

"Ms. Sohryu! What on earth are you doing to our customers!?!?"

said a stern voice from behind her. Asuka immediately stood up right and faced her employer. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kobayashi! It's just this is my roommate and... It's..."

Kobayashi cut her off right there. "I don't want to hear it! First day on the job and you're already causing trouble. This is your first and only warning. I don't want to see you with this type of temper ever again. Got it?"

Asuka bowed her head to him "Yes sir. I understand." She was defeated for now, but she swore on her honor that she would get him back for this moment, and she always gets what she wants.


Weeeell... to be honest, I have been slacking off, trying to get my homework done and playing Zone of The Enders: The Second Runner (by the way, one of the best games EVER!). I am also working on another fan-fic and I will finish this chapter by the time I'm on Summer Vacation and when I get back from the A-Kon in Dallas/Ft. Worth airport (If I got). And by the way, I borrowed Anna Miller's from Mega Tokyo (Don't sue PLEASE! I HAVE NOTHING!) and the REAL surprise is yet to come.

And now leave you with a quote of "wisdome

"COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! COME ON! COME ON!" Alucard from "Hellsing"