Work of fanfiction.

Blades and Love

"Hey Shinji!"

Shinji and Rei looked down to see Kensuke at the bottom of the hill. He walked up to them. "Hey, Kensuke."

"Taking a break, huh? How's your project been going?"

"Tiring," said Rei.

"And bruising," added Shinji.

"Bruising?" asked Kensuke, "You aren't fighting over the project, are you?"

"No."

"Then how is it bruising?"

"We learned Kempo from Mr. Kaji."

Kensuke fell to a sitting position. "Kempo? Why in Kami-sama' name did you…"

"Fighting styles," said Shinji, "Besides, Misato's been after me forever to learn some self-defense technique."

"Oh. Wow. So what else have you done for your project?"

"Memorized the stances, strengths, weaknesses, forms, uses and special techniques of every famous or popular Bakamatsu or Meji sword style," said Rei with a groan that never would've been there a year before, "In one week."

"Really? Jigen-Ryu's ultimate technique."

"Tsui no Eidan," they recited in stereo, "An extremely powerful two-handed jump slash that focused one's entire strength into the swing. All Jigen techniques were two-handed, while the style was normally one-handed. Easy to predict."

"Holy…you weren't kidding."

"Why lie?" asked Shinji, "I sure don't have the energy for it," he elaborated as he flopped onto his back. "No ceiling. Ahh."

Kensuke and Rei followed suit on either side of Shinji, basking in the sun. Shinji yawned. "So Kensuke, how's your project going?"

"Not too bad. Mana and I have narrowed it down to a single pirate group called the Kairyu. Seems that their leader was a woman named Shura. She fought with a three-piece staff, kinda like nunchakus, except with an extra segment, and the segments could be held together by a skillful user to be used like a short staff."

"Hmm."

"Supposedly, no one who saw her face ever escaped alive. Funny, though. In the tenth year of Meji, the Kairyu disappeared entirely. No explanation was ever given"

"Huh. Very peculiar. One would assume if the government shut the pirates down, they would extol their accomplishment," wondered Rei.

"Yeah," agreed Kensuke, "My guess is they were broken up by an internal struggle."

"That's probably a good guess," said Shinji, "How's Touji doing?"

"Oh, he complained about his project until he realized that Hikari was the perfect partner for it. She already knows the whole deal. Hey, I gotta be going. Ja na."

"Ja na."

"He has energy," noted Rei, almost enviously.

"Lucky bastard," Shinji concurred. "Hey, Rei, was this park even around before the Angels stopped?"

"I do not believe so. If so, it is one of the best things that came of it."

Shinji looked over at her. "Above the world government?"

"There is really little difference. War became useless when the Angels appeared. I think this little bit of peace is much more meaningful."

"Hmm. I guess you could be right. But there was also the overlook."

"With the view of the city."

"What do you mean?"

"Tokyo-3 was, and still is, a fortress. A castle may be beautiful, but not as this park is. This is peace."

"Tranquil, but not boring."

"Exactly."

"I could get used to it."

"You are not used to it already?" asked Rei confusedly

"Well, I guess I should be used to peacetime, and I am! But…it wasn't like this."

"I do not understand."

"Well, when I was going out with Asuka, life was always moving so fast. I didn't even know there was a park in Tokyo-3. I was never bored, but I think I missed out on some of life."

"Perhaps. I would not know. It can also be bad to take life too slowly…"

"Nikkaido Heiho-Ryu," blurted out Shinji.

"One, Three, Ten!" Rei recited, "What was that for?" she asked as Shinji laughed.

"I decided we needed to stop worrying and have a little fun."

"Fun?" When Shinji's mouth dropped open, Rei cracked a small smile. "Agreed."

Shinji and Rei drew quite a crowd on DDR. Shinji had always liked it, and it took no time at all for her to pick it up. The song they danced to was a simplified version of the routine that Kaji had worked out for the Seventh Angel, so they were able to sync their upper body movements along with their feet. It was rather ironic really, that the saving grace against the Seventh was one unshaven man's love of DDR. Of course, only Kaji, Shinji, and now Rei knew this, but…

Not the point. Two 'perfects' were the point, along with the thunderous applause from the crowd. DDR pads was possibly the only places in the world Shinji wasn't shy at all. Rei on the other hand, was blushing bashfully.

"Damn girl, you fine! You wanna go out with a stud like me?"

Amazing how fast she could go to cute blush to 'Kempo girl'. The fact that he was laid out cold made it rather obvious that the combo had hurt. Shinji looked on in what would've been shock had he not trained with her. Now it was just amusement, though he did have to wonder why she had reacted so…violently.

"Ahh, you two are back. Well, are you ready to go learn kenjutsu tomorrow?"

"Yeah, thanks again, Misato."

"Thank you once again, Ms. Katsuragi."

"Rei, now that you live with me, my name is Misato, got it?"

"Yes."

"Now go and get some sleep. You'll probably need it."

"Right."

"I'll see you two until we drop you off."

"Bye, Shinji! Bye, Rei!" yelled Misato as they walked off.

They waved and kept on walking towards the place that Misato had told them to go to. The town was very old-fashioned, looking somewhat like a smaller Tokyo of old. After a little bit of walking, they came to a dojo, surrounded by a wall like every other private place in the town, with a wooden sign proclaiming 'Authentic Sengoku/Meji kenjutsu taught here.' Two people were standing outside of it, one a black-haired, slim man, short, with his hair cut short. The other was also black-haired, but she wore her hair in a high ponytail. She was built similarly to the man, and had a sheathed sword  tied onto her back.

"Hello," said the man, "I take it you are Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami."

"Yes," affirmed Rei.

"Pleased to meet you two. I am Hiko Sejiurou, and this is my sister, Sakura Myojin.*"

Done with the third chapter. Three in three days, booyah! Now, let's get to the sword training, and the part where things cross over a little more. And some more interaction between our two trainees. Ah, I do so love fanfiction.

*Hiko Sejiurou and his sister Sakura Myojin? This is not a miss-type. Hiko Sejiurou is the passed-down name for the master of a certain style of kenjutsu.