****************
The next day at Yoko Beach was brought in with anything but normalcy: the previous night after he'd regained consciousness, Shinji had been poked, prodded and interrogated and that was before Misato had started, that was all Asuka. While he didn't want Kaji in trouble, Kaji had said it was better if Misato knew why he drank the beer. Although Kaji wore a lot of heat for it, most of the blame then shifted from Shinji.
"What a hellish night" Shinji said as he got up
[Aside from waking up beside Rei, come on you know you liked that] his inner voice said to him as he had a shower
Shinji blushed at the memory, brief that it was of being woken up and seeing Rei in the bed with him, not more than a foot away from him and nude: upon reflection Shinji was sure that had Asuka not punched him out, he would have collapsed of blood loss. Yet in that moment, there were no typical thoughts yet an immense feeling of peace and contentment the likes of which he'd never felt before.
"What was with that; I felt like I was flying" he wondered aloud
Shinji was unaware that in the next room, someone else was having the exact same mental self questioning session he was. Rei had been given a stern talking to by Misato last night for her behaviour, but her over logical answers to Misato annoyed the woman, save one. When asked how she knew Shinji wouldn't try anything, even with alcohol in his system, Rei answered 'I have looked into his soul, Major; I know that evil does not reside there'.
"Waking up with him in close proximity; it made me feel…" she searched for an appropriate word
"Safe" she found one
Rei continued to get dressed in silence but she continued to ponder the boy she knew in ways no one could imagine: she had seen his world through his eyes heard it with his ears. She had for a brief second ceased to be Rei Ayanami and become Shinji Ikari. She heard reports that a similar thing happened to Shinji just before her Eva went crazy. So she found it no surprise that she found is company more agreeable than most other people's.
"Come on Rei; we're off to go scuba diving today" Misato yelled from the main room
"I am coming major" Rei answered and tied her shoes on
Rei felt slightly uncomfortable with her attire: Misato had insisted no school clothes on the trip so this leads her to take Rei shopping for clothes. Rei was wearing her swimsuit underneath a pair of khaki shorts and a light blue sleeveless shirt and sandals. Misato also insisted on a hat since Rei's skin was very fair, it would burn very easily. That Rei saw logic in and they got a large wide brim sun hat
"Okay everyone, let's go" Misato cried
"Yeah, here we come" Asuka smirked and jumped up and down
"Coming" Rei was less enthused than the others as she walked downstairs
Shinji (who was avoiding eye contact with any of the females on this trip) and Kaji who was still sporting a hangover and a red face from the numerous slaps Misato had given him. Both men were to say the least not incredibly happy with the situation and looked like hell. Dark Prime was standing behind them thinking about the previous evening
[What a damned mess that was] he groaned as he followed the group to the scuba diving boat, at which point Dark Prime radioed the Seacons
"Guys, they're heading for your territory now, keep em safe or you answer to me, Starscream and the Dinobots" he warned
"Don't worry DP, we won't let them die" Snaptrap promised
"Good" Dark Prime changed signals to speak with Seaspray
"Seaspray here Dark Prime" Seaspray's gurgling voice entered Dark Prime's head
"Keep an eye on the boat that's heading out towards to reef; our three top priority people are on it" he explained
"Okay" the bubbly nautical robot replied
[Ack this is so annoying] he growled to himself and floated to see Starscream and the Aerialbots.
He floated in and sat beside Silverbolt and exchanged information. Dark Prime wasn't sure if he was going to relax as much as he wanted when he saw a black spot on the ground. He looked at Starscream who said nothing but whistled innocently: a sure sign of guilt
"Dare I ask, Starscream" Dark Prime said
"They tried to hurt Asuka, nuff said" the seeker insisted
"Okay, I don't want to know" he waved his original question off and just lay down
"A tough night?" Air Raid teased
"Screw you wing boy" Dark Prime groaned
The Aerialbots and Starscream just chuckled at their comrade as he rested: looking more peaceful than he usually did. Starscream was beginning to think that the boy Shinji was having an unconscious effect on the rough as guts warrior, even in small ways Dark Prime had begun to change. They were seeing that Dark Prime was (ever so slightly) becoming nicer.
"Good job kid" Silverbolt said quietly
*****************
The boat took the five holiday makers to a nice coral reef a few hundred meters from the shore. The instructor gave them a quick run down on how to use the equipment. Asuka, Kaji and Rei were the only ones who were going to go scuba diving anyway so Misato and Shinji were left to their own devices. After the instructor and the others went under, Misato turned a careful gaze on Shinji
"Okay Shinji; tell me the truth about the other night" Misato said
"It happened as I said. I was talking to Rei, and I feel asleep on the bed. Then I was woken up, assaulted and interrogated" Shinji said, some bite in his answer
"Okay, but, from someone who cares about you: I want to make sure you're safe" Misato said in a soft voice
"Okay, but keep this to yourself" Shinji asked
"I promise I will. Now, go on" Misato leaned back in her chair with a Pina Colada
"Well, Kaji gave me half a beer. When Rei came in, I said she was beautiful. Then I asked her if I could kiss her" Shinji recounted the first part
[If I knew all it would take to get him to finally do that was a beer I'd of done it long ago] Misato thought to herself
"Anyway, by the time I, we'd finished kissing, Kaji had come back and his presence, ruined the moment" Shinji couldn't say that without going a bright shade of red
"Rei left after that with a sort of dazed look. Then after a short conversation with Kaji, I resolved to fix my own mess for a change" Shinji said, this time his voice was low, almost shameful
[Come on Shinji, you played fair and nothing too untoward happened] Misato thought
"I apologised to Rei but she explained that I wasn't at fault. I disagreed and we had a short talk about our relationship and I feel asleep. Rei must have put me in her bed, cos that's where we were sitting" Shinji finished
"I see, then explain to me why Rei was not wearing any clothes" Misato reminded Shinji of the major piece of evidence against him
"Oh Rei sleeps in the nude" Shinji dropped that intimate detail without realising
"How do you know that?" she asked, a big smile on her face
"I ah, oh it isn't, um" Shinji stuttered nonsensically after he realised he'd revealed something very exact about someone that few knew anything about
"Forget it, I don't want to know. Just, please be gentle with her" Misato said before going to the fore section to look out at the sea
"I will" Shinji muttered to himself
"Maybe this trip won't totally fall flat after all" Misato said and smiled to horizon
**********************
Under the water, Rei was having the most enchanting time of her life; although her face betrayed nothing, she was filled with a sense of wonder and humbleness: this mighty coral reef was older than all the people she knew put together: and it still survived today. She longed to touch it but she wasn't allowed to due to the fragility of the reef. It was bright and full of colours. Rei even managed to tolerate the red coral as it blended in seamlessly with its yellow, green and blue brethren
[This is so wondrous, I never knew such beauty existed in nature on this planet] this was not Rei's thought but that of Overbite, one of the Seacons
[This is most beautiful] Rei thought as she ran her hand over the coral in such a way that if followed the contours but did not touch the coral itself
The ocean and all that existed inside it fascinated Rei; to her the ocean was how life should work: everything had an ordered place in the ocean from the smallest fish to the biggest whale, even the humble seaweed had a role to fill. Rei suddenly became aware of eyes watching her and she turned around: there was nothing there. A few feet below her, Overbite was sighing in relief
[Damn, she nearly caught me, not bad for a human] the shark thought as he continued to observe her
[Something, odd, is going on here. I feel as if I am being watched all the time] Rei was getting irritated, no easy feat
"Okay guys, we need to go back to the surface now, the tanks will be getting low" the guide's voice crackled over the radio
The group then began its accent to the boat. They were helped back on by Misato. Asuka was jumping up and down about what a great time she had doing that. Kaji stretched out and grabbed a soda and took a swig of it and looked towards the horizon, where a lone Misato stood on the fore.
"Well, go on" Shinji said
"Excuse me?" Kaji said
Shinji didn't say anything else and returned to just relaxing in the sun with his SDAT and a drink. Kaji had to smile; the boy was getting a little more confident with himself and was now offering HIM advice on women. Kaji let out some breath, Shinji was right though
[Okay Ryouji Kaji, time to prove that you are a man, and a man does not run from anything] he steeled himself up and walked over to Misato
Rei asked the instructor if it she could go back in the water and see the reef again. He said that the air refills were on the shore, but she could go snorkelling if she wanted to. Rei blinked so the man gave her a quick run down on what that was. Rei said she would do that, it sounded like it was okay. She was given a pair of goggles and a snorkel. Quickly donning the devices, Rei returned to the water
*******************
Rei was now finding out the hard way why Misato had made a fuss about her skin being so fair before: her swimsuit had a low back and she had neglected to use sunscreen when she went snorkelling that day and as a result her back was almost as red as her eyes. Having never been sunburnt before, Rei made the mistake of lying on her back when she got home. She was never going to do that again.
"Okay everyone, dinner at the Mitsirugi Club tonight" Misato cried and came out of her room wearing an outrageous party dress
"Oh cool, a real club for a change" Asuka ran to get into something she'd been saving
"I think I'll stay here, I like cooking my own food" Shinji said and edged towards the door
"Your loss" Misato shrugged and grabbed Kaji
"Asuka, let's go" Misato called out
"Coming" Asuka grouched and traipsed out in a strapless shirt and a jeans skirt
"She gets it from you ya know" Kaji whispered to Misato
"Shut up. Let's go!" Misato yelled
With those final words, the trio left the hotel: Shinji who had just simply frozen in his place when Asuka came out finally started to move. He finally stopped holding his breath and began to open the door when he heard a barely audible whimper. Turning around Shinji saw that Rei was lying topless on her bed and her back was practically glowing in the dark.
[That looks painful: I better help her] he thought and went into the bathroom
"Excellent" Shinji smiled when he saw the bath was very wide, almost a meter wide in fact.
"Okay, some cold water and some white vinegar" he said as he put the plug in and ran the cold water
He found some white vinegar in a cupboard in the kitchen and put a few drops in the cool water: since this stuff stopped mosquito bites from stinging, he figured that it may work on sunburn too. He turned off the water and went to begin the most difficult part of his plan: actually getting Rei into the bath. He gulped and knocked on the door
"Yes?" she answered him, a little terse because of the pain in her back
"Rei, I have something that can help you with the pain, if you want" Shinji offered
"You do?" Rei's eyes widened and she sat up and Shinji did a fast 180
"Yeah, a bath of cold water and white vinegar: the water will cool the skin and since the vinegar is an alkaline, it should stop the stinging on your back too" he explained, sweat running down his face
"That sounds, appropriate" she said and put a towel around her neck so that it covered her chest
"Ikari, are you sunburnt too?" she asked when she copped a look at Shinji's face
"No, just hot" he said
"What is?" she asked, a little confused
"You are--I mean I am" Shinji was making all the mistakes tonight
[Shit, not having a good time of it are ya kid] Dark Prime was watching him, as always
Rei just chose to discard Shinji's odd comment and continued to the bathroom where relief was supposed to be. Rei checked the temperature of the water: biting cold. She then carefully got into the water: the effect was almost instant: the stinging died down by almost half and the heat on her back almost disappeared. Rei closed her eyes and let the water and vinegar do its work and soon fell into a relaxed nap
[That back will need some kind of cream before she goes to sleep] Shinji gulped as he realised that he was going to have to apply said treatment
"Rei, I'm just going down to a chemist, I won't be more than a few minutes" Shinji called out
"Okay" she replied, a fatigued tone in her voice
"Soundwave, send Ravage around. Full stealth mode, Shinji needs to go out for a few minutes and I got to follow him" Dark Prime said
"Affirmative Dark Prime" Soundwave replied
As Shinji opened the door to leave the room, Dark Prime saw via thermal imaging that Ravage was here. Satisfied that Rei was safe, Dark Prime followed Shinji down to the local pharmacy to get, well, whatever it was Shinji was buying there. Shinji arrived and began perusing the various remedies for sunburn when a pharmacist came up to him
"Can I help you, young man?" he asked
"Yeah, a friend of mine has sunburn on her back, pretty severe too. I need like a soothing cream" he said
"I see; does your friend have very fair skin?" the man asked
"Yes, very fair, she's albino" Shinji answered
"My, my. Well, the best remedy for that kind of sunburn is aloe vera plant, or an extract gel but I recommend fresh plant" the old man told Shinji where a stall for such things was
"Thanks, I'll get there as quick as I can" he said and turned to leave the store
"She's a lucky girl" the old man said
"It isn't like that" Shinji explained
"Trust me when I say this, but that really is what they all say" he chuckled as Shinji jogged away
Shinji found the stall and explained why he needed the aloe vera plant and the vender was more than happy to give him the plant for a smaller than normal price. Shinji thanked her but stopped and turned to ask the woman why she was helping him. The woman smiled and said
"In this world a long time ago, there were men like you, good and decent men who believed in honour. Even then they were few, now they are fewer. I try to help the ones I find as best I can" she said
"Thank you again" Shinji said and laid the full price down on the cart and ran off before the woman could protest
"May all the spirits of this world grant him protection and safety" she prayed
[Don't worry about that, we've taken care of it] Dark Prime heard the prayer, and as far as he was concerned, he was the answer
***********************
The Mitsirugi Club was pulsing with good music, food, drinks and people and Asuka and Misato and Kaji were having a good time. The dinner was superb and the dance floor was full of polite and fun people. Even Asuka found a few younger men with which to enjoy a friendly dance on the floor with. Misato and Kaji mainly danced with each other but occasionally broke off for other prospects.
"This is a nice place" Asuka said and drank her lemonade and raspberry
"I agree, this is a very nice club" Kaji agreed
"You should know; you've been to a few below this standard" Misato shot
"That was low, Katsuragi" Kaji made a show of being hurt
"I know" she giggled and drank her martini
"Barkeep, another coke" Kaji grumbled
"Why not indulge in a beer sir?" the barman asked
"Cos I got to look out for these lovely ladies here, I can't be to careful" Kaji said and drank the sugary drink
"Fair enough" the man said and gave Kaji his drink
They danced into the night and had a good time; so much so that Misato drunkenly suggested that they all run away from Nerv and stay at Yoko Beach forever. Asuka and Kaji smiled in indulgent agreement. At around midnight, they decided to go home.
*****************
Shinji returned to the hotel with the medication: he found that Rei was still in the bath but the water had become tepid. Shinji knocked on the bathroom door and told Rei that he had something that could help her before she went to bed. Rei said she would be out in a minute. Shinji used this time to prepare the medication. He heard the swoosh of a door and turned: Rei was wrapped in her towel
"What are you doing?" she asked
"I got a lotion to rub on your back, it should help you" Shinji said, averting his gaze from Rei's scantily clad form
"What do I have to do?" she asked
"I put a few pillows on the floor, you need to lay down so I can rub the lotion onto your back; I'll be careful" he said
"Very well" Rei agreed and went to her room
[Oh God this is nerve racking] Shinji then chuckled at his own joke as Rei reappeared in a pair of tracksuit pants, but no shirt. He averted his eyes
"Please, lay down" Shinji said, blushing heavily
"Okay" Rei lay down so her upper body and head were on the pillows
"Okay, this may sting a little, but it does help" Shinji promised
Rei nodded and clenched her hands. Shinji broke off a large piece of the plant and split it open as he had been instructed. The gel inside the leaf was thick and sticky with an odd smell. Shrugging, he gently placed the open leaf on Rei's skin, which was far less inflamed than when she got in the bath. Shinji felt her body tense up as the aloe was applied to the skin but after he began rubbing the aloe she relaxed a bit more.
"I know this is uncomfortable; but it's the best treatment" he said off hand
"The water and vinegar worked very well. This seems to help also" she replied
"The pharmacist also recommended that if you have a ceiling fan, to turn it on and leave it on full power with the burnt skin exposed to the fan" Shinji began babbling as he got further up her back
"Shinji, you are shaking" Rei said, a slight smile on her face
Rei giggled silently when Shinji stiffened and checked his indeed shaking hand. Shinji felt very ashamed for feeling the feelings he had when he was trying to help someone. Rei sensed Shinji stiffen and she turned her head towards him; in her eyes was warmth the likes of which Shinji had never seen in the girl. She reached out with her hand and brushed her fingers across his cheek
"You are in much pain" she whispered
"I'm used to it by now" he said and smiled sadly
"You shouldn't be" Rei replied
"I've nearly finished putting the aloe vera, how is your back?" Shinji asked
"Better, much better than before you helped me, thank you" Rei replied
Shinji felt like his heart was soaring again; he'd actually helped someone rather than hurt them through his actions and they were genuinely grateful for it. Shinji felt as if he got a lot of false gratitude for his Eva piloting, they were thankful to be alive but it wasn't as if people stopped him on the street and said thank you to him, or the others. He told Rei he was finished and that he'd help her get to her room
"Thank you again, Ikari" Rei said
"Ayanami, please, call me Shinji" he asked
"I can only agree to that if you have sufficiently earned my trust" she said
"I understand" Shinji said and cast his eyes down
"You have earned it, you earned it when you piloted in my place when you first arrived, Shinji" she said
"Thank you Ayan…" Shinji was cut off
"I hope I have earned enough trust from you for you to use my name" she said
"Of course you have, Rei" Shinji said
[If anyone walks through that door and disturbs this, heads will roll] Dark Prime thought
Shinji helped Rei get into bed, a remarkable feat since he was looking to his left most of the time and trying to ignore the small breast that was pressing into his right side. Fortunately for Shinji he only had to move Rei a few feet so he was able to survive with his sanity totally intact. He gently put Rei on the bed and went hunting for the switch to the ceiling fan he saw in the room. He found it and turned the fan on full power
"There, with the water, the aloe vera and the fan, your sunburn should be nearly gone by tomorrow" Shinji said and began to leave the room
"Stay" Rei uttered a single word, yet stopped him with the power of thousands
"You want me to stay?" he asked
"Yes, please" Rei asked
Shinji nodded and sat down on the floor beside the bed and leaned against the bedside locker. Rei frowned slightly and asked him what he was doing. Shinji realised that Rei wanted him to be closer. He sat and debated in his head whether the inevitable repeat of what happened last time he was caught close to her was worth the feeling of utter happiness he got from the closeness: he decided it was. Breathing deeply and gathering all the courage he could muster, Shinji climbed onto the bed and laid beside Rei
"Thank you" she said
"For what?" Shinji asked
"For not abandoning me" Rei replied and closed her eyes, letting the cool air and Shinji's presence lull her to sleep
Shinji then noticed that Rei was on her side, her back was thankfully facing him and he sighed with relief and rolled over as well, shuffling closer to Rei in the process however. Without thinking he grasped one of her hands and gave it a gentle squeeze; which Rei returned with a small squeeze of her own. This one act seemed to coerce the pair into sleeping calmly, with Dark Prime watching them: and heaven and earth would not move him.