In case you were wondering, yes, this is fanfiction.

Blades and Love

"So what do you want to do, Rei?"

She interlaced her fingers with his, but loosely so she could free her sword hand quickly if necessary. "I think getting something to eat would be good."

"Sushi?"

"Yes, I do like seafood."

"Shit. I forgot about the meat deal."

She gave his hand a squeeze. "Not a problem, Shinji."

He squeezed back and they walked off into a slice of the past, intent on finding a place that served sushi.

If it was not for the fact that one every once in a while saw an obviously modern object, it was possible to feel like you were back in the Meiji era Japan they taught you about. It was very peaceful. Shinji and Rei walked through the marketplace, no longer hand in hand, as they had their arms in the sleeves of their gi's, but they walked so close they could feel each other off their sides. Shinji was really starting to like the gi and hakama. His was a two-layered gi, dark blue outside white, and he wore gray hakama. Due to Japan's eternal summer, he left it mostly hanging open instead of drawing it close to his body. Rei's gi was white and she wore dark-blue hakama. She wore her gi more closed than he did, keeping some sense of modesty, as the wrappings did not go all the way down her torso, but every once in a while Shinji caught a glance of her bare stomach. This was not a fact that either of them minded. The style of dress of a swordsperson was much more comfortable than their school uniforms. The cloth was surprisingly soft, and it allowed a great deal of movement. And Rei looked really, really good in it.

Shinji nudged Rei and they moved over to a stall selling kitchen knives. As they got closer, Shinji saw that they were tempered like the reverse edge of his katana. "Whoa. Those are some good knives."

Rei nodded. "I do not believe I have ever seen knives of such quality. Much better than Misato's."

"Most anything would be," answered Shinji, thinking of the bent, chipped set in Tokyo-3.

"Do you think we should get them, Shinji?"

"Probably. But those things must cost a fortune." He looked disappointed.

She cocked her head. "Shinji, we are EVA pilots."

His eyes widened. "I forgot about our salary." He bent down and entered the stall, making sure that his saya did not knock anything over. Rei followed. "Sir, may I see your wares?"

"Why certainly, young man," said a small old man as he stood up from his corner. "What are you looking for?"

Rei looked on contently as Shinji and the old man tested and discussed the knives. She couldn't cook worth a damn, better than Misato, maybe, but Shinji loved it. Though, she thought with a smile, not as much as he loved her, she was certain.

"Come on. I know that stall is around here somewhere." Rei's ear twitched. She knew that voice, but from where?

"Hey, how many people in Japan have real blue hair?" That one too. She thrust her arms all the way through her sleeves.

"I can only think of one. Ayanami."

"Let's go say hi, but quietly." Rei's left hand went to her saya and she popped the blade, getting ready to draw. Footsteps crept up quietly. Rei's right hand rested on the cotton-wrapped handle of her nami iaito. 

"HEY..!" the person never got any farther as Rei unsheathed her blade, spun around, and gave Touji Suzuhara a faceful of nami iaito.

"OH MY GOD!" yelled Hikari Horaki.

Shinji spun around, hand on the hilt of his sakabatou. He let out a sigh when he saw what has happened.

"Did someone get the license plate of that truck?" asked Touji groggily from the ground.

Shinji handed the shopkeeper the money, and tucked the package of knives into his gi. "How about the maker's mark on the nami iaito? Or the sword style?" he quipped.

"Oh! Ikari," said the surprised class rep.

"Shin-man?" asked Touji as he picked himself up form off the ground. "That you?"

"Yeah, it's me, Touji."

Touji dusted himself off and looked at the two sword students, standing next to each other. "Where'd you get the new clothes?"

"The dojo," said Rei as she sheathed her sword in the traditional style.

"So what are you two doing here?" asked Shinji.

"Doing a little research. We heard about this place, that it was the closest old-style town to Tokyo-3," said Hikari.

"Course, that's only a cover story," said Touji, "Hikari already knew most of the stuff, and what she didn't know, we found out in the library."

Hikari nodded. "We decided to take a little trip while we had the time off school. Besides, I wanted to get a set of kitchen knives they sell here, but we can't find the booth."

Shinji pointed over his shoulder. "You just found it."

Hikari went into 'kitchen utensil shopping mode' while the others waited.

"So," asked Shinji, after Hikari had gotten her knives, "Have you two had lunch yet?"

"No," grumbled Touji, "We were too busy looking for knives."

"Oh, stop complaining. We can go to that sushi restaurant now."

Rei and Shinji both wheeled around. "Did you say sushi? Where!?"

"Hookay," breathed Touji and Hikari under their breath.

Ten minutes later, the four teens were kneeling in a very traditional restaurant, that joy of joys, had sushi. Hikari and Touji were enjoying a 'love boat'. Shinji had ragged on them a bit for it until Touji had half-jokingly suggested that Shinji and Rei get one too. They had declined, finding another 'meal for two' that they thought looked better. This got a gasp out of Hikari.

"So you two are going out now?"

Rei nodded. "Yes."

"Isn't it a little soon after breaking up with Asuka?" asked Hikari.

Shinji slashed the air with his chopsticks. "Not really. People have to get on with their lives. One can't decide the timing by which emotions run. Besides, it's been a month already."

"Yeah, but…"

Shinji cut the brunette off. "Hikari, I'm not going to wait forever for something that's never going to come, especially when I've found something as precious, if not more." He popped a piece of sushi in his mouth. When no one said anything, he swallowed, and continued. "That's just how it is."

Touji smiled. This was a side of his friend he didn't see too often, and a welcome sight.

Hikari frowned. It felt like Shinji was betraying her best friend. But also, she knew that Asuka was the one who had ended it. The frown was for herself as well.

Rei didn't know how to feel. Something as precious, thought the pessimistic side of her mind. Am I just a replacement? No. Shinji is not that kind of person. If there was one thing she believed entirely, it was that Shinji was good and honorable person who would rather lop off his own arm than cause someone pain.

Plus, she caught Shinji's wince. She gave his free hand a squeeze.

"So, you two are learning kenjutsu out here, huh? Sounds like a pretty nice project," said Touji as he, Rei, and Shinji waited for Hikari to finish her clothes shopping.

Shinji yawned. "Yeah, but it's rather tiring. The training is rather intense." His eyes narrowed and he stood up, hand on the end of his saya, ready to pop his sakabatou. Rei had done the same.

Touji looked back and forth between the two of them. "Hey, what's going on?" Suddenly a shriek cut through the air. "Hey, that sounds…HIKARI!" Touji was up and sprinting off in the direction of the scream. Shinji and Rei ran behind.

They soon came upon a group of maybe ten thugs, 19 years old on average. A couple of them were holding knives. All of them were in modern clothing, and were rather intent on giving Hikari and a few other girls a horrible time.

But not nearly as determined as Touji was to give them a savage beating. He rushed in behind two of them, jumped up into the air and split-kicked the pair. "You're gonna die," he growled.

The men all turned on him, drawing knives. Touji made ready to charge, only to stop at…Shinji!

The formerly timid boy was walking forward, in front of him. "You are despicable," said Shinji, sword still undrawn, "Assaulting defenseless innocents, and carrying knives to frighten off those that will stand up." He flicked this thumb against the tsuba of the sakabatou at his side, making ready to draw. "Why don't you find a worthy opponent?"

"Shut up kid!" yelled one of the brutes as he stabbed a butterfly knife towards Shinji.

A flash of light, a meaty thump, a grunt, and another heavy thump, and in the space of a blink, Shinji's sakabatou was out and the guy was out cold on the ground. Another blade was drawn, more slowly, as Rei stepped up to stand beside him, bringing her nami iaito to the ready.

The rest of the gang lunged at them. Rei leaped in between a pair of them, hitting one from the front, and the other from the back, crossing her body with the blade.

Shinji blocked a thrown knife and smashed the hilt of his sakabatou into the man's cheek before slashing out in wide arc that caught two of his opponents. He put the blade over his shoulder to catch a slash before spinning around in a powerful two-handed blow that caught the 19-year old in the side and sent him flying into a nearby stall. He used a Ryu Kan Sen on the next one, before flipping off and kicking another goon in the face.

Rei smashed a skinny guy's hand with a palm strike before dropping him with her sword. She and Shinji both slashed downwards on the last one, hitting him on either shoulder. He dropped to the ground, boneless.

Touji stared. "Oh, dear lord. How the hell? How can you move so fast?"

Shinji sheathed his sword. "I've had a good teacher."

Rei did the same. "Things worked out this way. Class representative?" She offered her hand.

Hikari took it and the azure-haired girl pulled her up. "Why did you do that?"

"My training as a swordswoman would let me do nothing less. Katsujin-ken is the foundation of my ryu."

"Why don't you two come to the dojo with us?" offered Shinji, "Meet our teachers, have some tea. I think you two could probably use it after this." The two unarmed students nodded.

Rei and Shinji were both very surprised to see a familiar blue Renault Alpine sitting in front of the dojo. They also didn't expect to see Misato there, arguing with Kenichi.

"Look, all I know is that they're in town, probably shopping…wait, they're here." He looked up to see Shinji and Rei.

Misato turned around and walked over to them. "We have to go back to Tokyo-3."

"What? Why?" asked Shinji.

"Peace is falling apart. The UN has lost control," said Misato, "No time to explain now. It'll be a lot clearer back at NERV."

Sakura came running out with a bundle of things, mostly the clothes that they had brought, but also a shirasaya, and a cape. "You might want to take these. They're yours now." She put the load in Shinji's arms. "Good luck."

Kenichi clapped his hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Remember the First Principle."

"The sword swung in my name shall be swung for the people of the world."

Kenichi smiled. "Go and protect the people of the world."

Sakura smiled sadly at Rei. "Carry on the style for me, please?"

Rei nodded. "Of course. Katsujin-ken."

"Katsujin-ken."

Shinji, Rei and Misato climbed into the car. "Goodbye, and thank you!"

After they had been driving for a while, Shinji turned to Misato, one of his arms around Rei, the other around his sakabatou. "Alright, Misato, what's going on?"

Misato pushed the pedal down further. "It looks like some moron got the bright idea to play warlord with their EVAs. Each NERV base is basically turning into a city-state. We don't have much of an idea of what is going on, outside of that NERV Berlin has fallen."

Shinji gasped. "Asuka?"

"She and Unit 02 are alright. They're making their way here by F-wing, but they have a real roundabout route to follow. It'll be a day. We're hoping she knows something about what's happened."

Bum-bum-bum! Peace shatters and it's EVA vs. EVA! Asuka returns! What will happen next in Blades and Love? (And why am I asking you?)