A/N: Ah! Hello...me here is thinking: if you are here, you must have enjoyed the first chapter (or hated it so much you came back for more reason to flame me). Either way, my pointless blabbing isn't the reason you're reading this crap...well maybe it is...but WHO CARES? Let's read the story now!
Disclaimer : I do not own these characters, settings, ideas, or anypoo.
Chapter 2
"Oh gee...stop laughing, will you? It's not funny, Aya!" Asuka snapped.
Aya stifled her giggles, but her attempt was in vain. Chi slapped her hard on the back.
"Listen to our Mistress, Aya," she snapped, in a tone much like Asuka's. "Mistress' finger is in immense pain!"
The mockingly added statement just caused another eruption of laughter from Asuka's two servants. They were bandaging Asuka's left hand, where a few drops of Chi's hot sauce had landed when Operation X Suitors had been in motion. Asuka hadn't even heard the guy's name before Mr. Langley's butler led out him and his father. It had been a mess afterwards; it was about 6 in the evening now, and the Langley resident servants were still cleaning leftover spills of hot sauce.
"Well, with that out of the way..." Asuka thoughtfully said, as Aya finished dressing the burn.
"What do you mean? The suitor or the bandaging?" Aya asked.
"Both, I guess, if you're so nosy," Asuka said. Then her expression darkened. "I can't understand why Father has to keep on inviting so many suitors over! Isn't it obvious that I'm not interested? What do I have to do? Act like a chicken with its head cut off?"
"Well, I'm sure I'd be interested in knowing how'd you manage to do that with that ego of yours..." Aya said, earning an angry glance from Asuka.
Chi smiled reassuringly. "I'm sure Mr. Langley knows that you're not interested yet, Mistress, but he's only trying to make sure you find someone before your 18th birthday."
Asuka snorted. "It's about my 18th birthday again, isn't it? Why does Father insist on believing that girls should be married at age 18?"
Aya and Chi didn't answer. In fact, when Asuka turned to see where they went, she realized that they had disappeared.
In their place stood a large man, looking very tired and stressed.
"Father!" Asuka exclaimed, rising to her feet. "I –"
Mr. Langley put up a hand to silence his daughter. He heaved a sigh, and sat himself down on one of Asuka's bedside armchairs. "I believe that you were voicing your opinions to your maids a moment ago, about my beliefs?" he said, raising an eyebrow.
Asuka opened her mouth to protest, and then decided against it. Instead, she thought of something else that had just come to her. "Father," she said determinedly, "you want me to marry on my 18th birthday, right?"
"Right."
"Then let's make a deal."
Mr. Langley, who was taking a pipe from his butler, suddenly looked very concerned. "W-what kind of d-deal?"
Asuka thought for a moment. "How about we make it so that if YOU win, you get what YOU want, and if I win, I get what I want."
Mr. Langley gulped. He loved his daughter very much, but had never been able to control her wild side. "Let's hear about this...this idea of yours."
Asuka suddenly had a wild gleam in her eye. "Well, I was thinking that since you've offered like, the largest amount of money and the biggest dowry Germany has ever seen, to unknown suitors who might not be very worthy of this wealth, never mind me, I was thinking that instead, you should host a ball tomorrow night. Take down all those advertisements you've put up, and instead, invite all the suitors who want to come, to come to the ball and try to court the fierce Asuka Sohryu Langley."
Mr. Langley looked at Asuka with doubtful eyes. "Uh...I see. This idea...seems...seems a bit strange, yet logical at the same time. Go on."
Asuka looked up, as if she was deep in thought. "The ball should start at around eight. No, seven would be better. Yes, six hours should be ample time."
"Ample time for what?"
"Ample time for me to drive away all the suitors the way I've been doing it all this time," Asuka said, matter-of-factly. "You see, in this deal, I get to do whatever I want in order to get those perverts to leave. You, therefore, can do whatever you want to get them to stay."
The pipe Asuka's father had been smoking fell the ground with a clatter. The butler immediately retrieved it before it started a fire. Mr. Langley ignored him, and stared at his redheaded daughter.
Asuka continued, as if she had not seen the exchange of events. "By midnight, if there are any remaining suitors, I will choose one to wed," Asuka said. She hastily added, "If there are none, however, then I will have won the deal, and be free to choose my own husband whenever I like."
"..."
"Well?" Asuka asked her father, as if noticing him for the first time. "How 'bout you go and send the invitations now?"
"Hmmm..." Asuka's father said, stroking his short beard. It was his turn to be deep in thought. "I suppose it's a deal then." He stuck out his hand.
Father and daughter shook on the deal, and then Mr. Langley strode out of Asuka's room, feeling lighter than he had been when he had entered. 'I finally have an organized method of solving this matchmaking problem!' he thought.
As for Asuka, who was still in her room...
"Dammit! I should have chosen the night before my 18th birthday!" Asuka shouted, slamming her fist into the desk. "We're never going to have enough ammunition by tomorrow evening!" Asuka put her face in her hands.
"The only available weapon at the time is Chi's hot sauce," said Aya, "and even that's only the leftovers from this morning's suitor."
"Who WAS that suitor, from this morning?" Chi wondered out loud. "The one who was victim to my hot sauce?"
"I don't give a damn," grumbled Asuka, her voice slightly muffled by her hands.
"Ikari Shinji," said Aya, almost dreamily. "He's the skilled and talented pilot of Evangelion Unit 01..."
"The Evangelion in Japan that was just activated three months ago?" Chi asked.
"Yeah..." Aya's eyes looked glazed.
"Hmmpf! That dummkopf, stealing all my fame!" Asuka muttered, getting up. "I don't care that he almost got burnt, he –"
"Uh, he DID get burnt by the hot sauce, Mistress," Chi put in. "A fair amount of hot sauce splashed onto his left hand."
"All the better," Asuka growled maliciously, while Aya whimpered.
"His left hand?" Aya was frantic. "How is he going to battle angels when he gets back to Japan?"
"Badly, I hope," Asuka snarled. "Anyways, if you like him THAT much, Aya, go ahead and take him."
"Really?" Aya said, hopefully. "I can have him? Hmmm...do you reckon that he'll take a liking to a servant girl of Asuka Sohryu Langley?"
Chi and Aya burst into another fit of giggles.
"MEIN GOTT!" Asuka shouted at both of them. "You have got to be kidding! This is no time for stupid girly daydreams! We've got an important war coming up tomorrow, with no plan whatsoever! Hurry up and get your asses moving!"
Ring...ring...ring...
"Um...sir?" The butler's deep voice penetrated the silence of Mr. Langley's office. "Should you answer the...?"
"Oh! Yes!" Mr. Langley suddenly got up, startled. He had been musing about the thousands and thousands of invitations he had just sent out. Quickly trying to compose himself, Asuka's father picked up the shiny black phone. "Hello?"
A deep, rumbling voice met Mr. Langley's ears.
"Oh..." Asuka's father tapped his desk nervously, realizing it was Gendo. He hadn't really liked the man, but respected him since he was the commander of Nerv, the secret organization that Asuka worked for. Of course, after that morning, he had more reason to respect and fear him. "Yes, I'm terribly sorry for what happened to your son today...I have t-to admit that I wasn't surprised by my d-daughter's wild actions...yes...I hope the burn was treated well? I know that your son, he – you say it means little?"
Mr. Langley frowned. If Asuka got a big burn on her slender hand, he wouldn't be as flexible as the man on the other end seemed to be. Briefly, he wondered whether Gendo had Shinji's burn treated at all. He did not, however, voice this opinion, because Gendo suddenly switched to the topic of Shinji not getting the chance to meet the pilot of Evangelion Unit 02.
"Yes, I'm dreadfully sorry...I – " Again, a deep frown crossed Mr. Langley's face. Gendo sounded awfully angry that Asuka hadn't given Shinji a chance. "Forgive me, Mr. Ikari," Asuka's father said carefully, "but I don't understand why you seem so desperate to get our children married. I've never had so much trouble with Asuka's earlier rejections...No! No, of course not...Asuka isn't playing around with such a serious matter, and neither am I. I'm just quite anxious to get her settled, but her own intentions are repelling mine."
Suddenly, Gendo made a comment that made Mr. Langley nearly want to slam the phone back in its place. "I believe you're mistaken, Ikari Gendo, I –" That did it. Gendo had struck home.
The butler was startled as he heard a
SLAM!
and the tingle of something breaking to many pieces, coming from inside Mr. Langley's office.
"How dare he? HOW DARE HE??? I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT MAN IS THE COMMANDER OF MY DAUGHTER'S ORGANIZATION! THAT SON OF A BITCH!"
At the other end, Gendo smiled wickedly as he heard the tone on the phone. 'You can't hide from me, Second Child. I will get what I want, no matter how you try to hide.'
"He WHAT?" Shinji couldn't believe his ears. "Touji, this is serious!"
"I'm BEING serious, Shinji, o my dear, dear master!" Touji said frantically.
"You certainly don't sound like it," Kensuke remarked, frowning.
Touji ignored him, and threw Shinji's peasant costume into his arms. "Go! Find Nakuru! You've got to tell her, you know. Decide whether you're running away with her, or gonna abandon her."
Shinji was speechless.
Touji kept pushing Shinji out the back door. "Go! Hurry! Before your father comes and tells you himself! FIND NAKURU!"
"I'm not sur –"
"Go!" With one final push, Shinji was outside, and Touji slammed the door closed.
Shinji knew the door was old, and knew where there were cracks in the rotting wood. He reluctantly slipped on his costume, and called over his shoulder. "Touji, if this is one of your stupid tricks, I will never forgive you."
"You again?" Hikari said, looking up from the groups of young children, crowding around a filthy redhead.
The redhead looked up, revealing a bright smile. Then she asked the children to go play, which they did, and her smile dropped. "I need your help," she said hastily.
"What for, Asuka?" Hikari asked, not surprised. A few days ago, a servant named Chi had come by for hot sauce mix, and bought at least a pound or two of the stuff. Before that, someone named Shizuku had come for a few crates of wood chips, and before that, there was a Mina who grabbed three handfuls of thin and long knitting needles, and before that...
Asuka passed her friend a list, which seemed to expand as Hikari unfolded the many folds. It was all written in minuscule writing, and each request seemed impossible:
450 jars of honey
28 crates of chicken feathers
60 pounds of chicken feed
80, 000, 000 packages of powdered milk
and so on, to the bottom of the list. Hikari wrinkled her eyebrows at Asuka. "This list is a joke," she stated firmly. "We don't have 60 pounds of chicken feed here at the orphanage, never mind spare one. And the amount of powdered milk you want is outrageous!"
"Outrageous? OUTRAGEOUS? The number of suitors that my father has invited is outrageous!" Asuka protested under her breath.
Hikari went on. "I can understand the strange methods that you get your servants to drive the suitors away, and it's affordable. But this," – she gestured at the list – "this is impossible. No one in this village will have that many supplies. You're forgetting that we're all PEASANTS!"
"But I'm not a peasant," Asuka insisted. "I just need to find out who has these things, and my father will get them for me."
"You're forgetting that your father is the other side of the deal you two made," Hikari stated.
"How did you know about the deal?"
"Mina stopped by and told me last night. Warned me to stock up ahead of time," Hikari said simply.
Asuka sighed. "And yet you still don't have what I need. Maybe I should change my plan of attack. Do you reckon I could get Hatori to help?"
"Secretly, yes," Hikari said, thinking. "But if he asks you why you need all these things...he might..."
"He might what?" Asuka asked. Suddenly, she realized that someone else had asked it at the same time. Hikari and Asuka looked over the window.
"HATORI!" Asuka flung her arms around him. "Hatori, I'm so glad to see you!"
Shinji was panting, and out of breath, from running. After silently cursing Touji in case he was lying, he realized that Touji would never lie about something like this, and realized that he had to hurry. He had broken into a run, hoping that Nakuru was here. He was so happy that she was here, that he completely ignored the fact that she seemed so glad to see him for no apparent reason. He also noticed that she had a bandage on her left hand, but ignored that too.
"I'm glad to see you, too," he said breathlessly, still panting for air. "Listen; there's something really important I need to tell you, I – " He looked up at Hikari, and the kids watching them from inside the orphanage. "Maybe we should sneak over to that vineyard over there," he said to Asuka.
"Sure," Asuka replied, wondering what her childhood friend had to tell her this time. They crouched underneath the fence of the vineyard, so that the vines hung in front of them, hiding them from view. The only way anyone would see them was if the owner of the vineyard came into his yard and looked under the fence. Shinji's bandaged left hand brushed up against Asuka's bare thigh; but Asuka did not call him a pervert nor wonder why it was bandaged; she was too eager to see why he had come.
"I'm in an emergency," Shinji said, his words flowing out quickly like a water fountain. "My father has arranged for me to court some girl, and if it works, which my father is certain, I'll be staying at the girl's place from then on! I don't think I'll ever be able to speak to you again, Nakuru." His eyes looked like they were on the verge of tears. Asuka noticed this.
"Don't be a sissy, dummkopf!" Asuka snapped, suddenly realizing that her eyes were brimming as well. "You'll still be able to see me from time to time, won't you? What's the name of this girl?"
"A – " Before the answer came out, Shinji was suddenly pulled upwards into the vineyard.
"Yo! Hatori! Old man wanted you back now," said a familiar voice. "Said he'd send men out to get ya if we didn't bring you home."
Shinji and Asuka looked up to see Touji and Kensuke standing in the yard.
Asuka scowled at them. "Ha...It's Perverted Ass and Nerd Brain, huh?" she sneered. She stared hard at Touji. "We still have an arm wrestling score to settle."
Touji looked tempted, but then a brief glance from Shinji reminded him of the situation. "Now's not the time," he said, somewhat dejectedly.
"We thought you'd be here, Sh – I mean, Hatori," Kensuke added, earning a curious glance from everyone. "Eh he, he..."
"Well, I guess this is goodbye," Shinji said to Asuka, getting up from the underground hole they had been sitting in. He turned to go, and then stopped, and turned back.
"Too scared to leave me?" Asuka taunted.
Shinji sighed, and took out a jade-beaded bracelet from the inner folds of his shirt. He slipped it onto Asuka's wrist. "Here, have this," he said calmly. "We made it together when we were little, and then had a fight about who got to keep it, remember?" He smiled, and Asuka smiled back through her tears.
"The only reason you got it in the end was because Touji won it for you in an arm wrestle contest against me," Asuka recalled. Hastily, she added, "but that was the first and last time Touji ever won in an arm wrestling contest."
"I'll get you one day, Nakuru!" Touji called, grabbing Shinji by the collar. "Let's go," he urged. "It'll be more painful if you stay for too long."
Shinji nodded, and waved goodbye to Asuka, who looked back at his retreating figure with longing eyes. He was going...going...gone. A few moments pass...
"HELLO? ANYONE HOME?"
Asuka snapped out of it and jumped back nearly a mile. "Hikari! What was THAT for?"
Hikari winked. "You were going to forget about your 'appointment' with the suitors tonight if I didn't wake you up!"
Remembering the ball that evening, Asuka sighed, and fingered the beaded bracelet on her wrist. "Isn't it ironic?" she asked no one in particular. "I worked so hard to make this ball happen so that I had a chance to be able to keep visiting Hatori, but he just comes one day and says that he's engaged, without even putting up a fight!"
"That's just how Hatori is," Hikari said softly. "He's always been different from you, you know. You're loud and eccentric, and he's quiet and soft-spoken. Hatori's a very calm and shy boy. Doesn't fight strongly for his own beliefs as much as you do."
"It's because he's like that, that no one really knows what his beliefs ARE," Asuka said. "If only he voiced his opinions more, then maybe his father wouldn't have forced him to court some girl. I mean, peasants HAVE to be more flexible than us rich people! And yet, I'm the one who's succeeding in my rebellion."
Hikari laughed. "I think you should go and start preparing for your ball. You don't have much time."
"Young Master Ikari, your father wants you in his office right away," said the butler at the door.
"Dressed like this?" Shinji asked, shocked. He dreaded meetings with his father. At first, when he saw his father again in Japan, he had been eager to meet him and find out what kind of man he was. But now...
"Master Ikari does not care for appearances," the butler said simply.
'Oh, but he will sure criticized me for it,' Shinji thought, as he followed the butler to his doom.
At last, after many quiet mutterings, Shinji found himself facing his father.
"Finally," Gendo said in his deep voice. His chair was facing the windows, so Shinji could not see his face. "You may go now," he said off-handed to the butler, who bowed and closed the door.
'Aw...why couldn't he stay? It doesn't seem a very good idea, leaving me alone with a man like him...' Shinji thought nervously.
"Well, Third Child," Gendo said softly, after an awkward pause. "I believe that servant of yours has given you most of the information?"
Shinji knew he meant Touji. "H-hai."
Gendo's tone immediately changed. "What did you say?"
"I meant 'yes'," Shinji immediately put in.
"The Second Child is native to Germany, were you aware of that?" Gendo's voice was urgent.
"Ha – yes."
"Good." The black chair turned to face Shinji, and Shinji saw the inevitable happen: Gendo's eyes immediately travelled to Shinji's clothes. "What, may I ask, are you planning on doing in those...rags?" he asked, a slight tone of icy amusement in his voice.
"I-I...I was just...playing..." Shinji mentally hit himself on the head. He could practically hear a little Nakuru in his head saying, 'Is THAT the best you can do, Hatori?'
"I expect better next time," Gendo said.
Shinji was shocked; did his father just let him off? Then he gulped; perhaps Gendo had something more important to say. As if on cue, Gendo cleared his throat.
"I have heard from my 'sources' that Mr. Langley, father of the Second Child, is holding a ball this evening, at seven," he stated. Shinji knew what was coming next. "You are to attend this ball, to court the Second Child. Remember what I have just said about my expectations of your...outfits."
Shinji let out a sigh so barely audible that it was almost only existent in his mind. Nakuru had once said that Hatori was so chicken that he would never have the wits to court, nonetheless, attract a girl. He now hoped that she was right. Shinji ignored his father's comment on his peasant outfit – he was smart enough to leave the outfit only for sneaking off to Nakuru.
"However," Gendo continued, waking Shinji from his thoughts, "one of my spies has also informed me that this ball has been sabotaged. As I am such a willing father, I will make arrangements to make sure you are the last suitor standing. This is all I wanted to tell you. Dismissed."
Shinji stood up and left, but barely. What on earth did his father mean by 'last suitor standing'?
He'd find out tonight.
"SCHIESSE!" There were thunderous boom's and bang's coming from the cellar, as Asuka tried to move the shipments of 'ammunition' to good attack points in her mansion.
"Mistress?" Chi asked, from behind a crate of goat dung. "Where should these go?"
Asuka read the label, and laughed evilly. "The kitchen."
Chi looked terribly worried, but did as she was told. After all, being Asuka's servant for so long had convinced her that she didn't need to worry about such things – she knew Asuka wouldn't have any sympathy for a single one of the suitors.
"THEY'RE HERE!" A shrill call came from Asuka's room. Shizuku came into view, panting as she ran to her mistress. "The first of the suitors – Mr. Langley's ushering them into the ball room right now!"
Asuka's smile grew into an evil grin. "Then start the first stage of our operation: The Nails on Chalkboard symphony!"
Shizuku put on a pair of extra-thick earmuffs, and gave Asuka a thumbs-up. "All systems go!" she said, leaving.
"So far, everything's going smoothly," Asuka stated maliciously.
DING DONG!
The butler hurried to the door, and opened it to reveal – Gendo Ikari. The butler gasped. "Uh...Mr. Ikari...Master wasn't expecting you."
"I know," Gendo said, his voice low and ominous. Shinji, who was standing beside him, shuddered.
"I'll go g-get him to speak with you, then," the butler said, hurrying off. Apparently, his master's fear of Gendo had passed down to his servants.
Not long after the butler disappeared, Shinji heard fowl music – was it music? – coming from deep inside the mansion. Gendo smirked.
"Ah, so Asuka has started driving them away already...what a clever litter girl, however, she cannot outsmart the Nerv commander himself."
Shinji wondered what his father's musings could possibly mean, but just as he became uncomfortable, the large figure of Mr. Langley appeared, looking a bit shaken.
"Mr. I-Ikari!" he stuttered, obviously not appreciating Gendo's presence. "I'd like to wonder why you would be here?"
Gendo answered calmly. "My son Shinji is here because of the beautiful Asuka Sohryu Langley...I hope that's not a crime?"
Mr. Langley looked just about as uncomfortable as Shinji felt. "I do not recall inviting you to this ball, Gendo."
"I didn't waste my valuable time to escort my son to the BALL, Mr. Langley," Gendo said smoothly. "I came so that you would find a way for him to be your ticket to win the deal that I believe you made with your daughter?"
Mr. Langley, if possible, looked even more terror-struck. However, he didn't ask the question that Shinji was thinking he would. Instead of asking how Gendo found out, he recomposed himself. "I'm insulted if you think that you can persuade me to have my daughter wed your son after all that has happened," Asuka's father said.
Gendo's face twisted into an ugly smile. He grabbed Mr. Langley's collar, and spoke softly. "You WILL find a way for my son to win against your daughter. It's a choice you will make, for life or death. If you cooperate with me, I have the power to appoint you to a high position in Asuka's organization, where you can always monitor her safety and well-being. If you choose otherwise, you won't have the breath to argue in the matter for long. You know I have eyes everywhere you look, Langley." With that, Gendo let go, and left with all his escorts and bodyguards. As for Shinji...Gendo had left him standing nervously in front of Asuka's father.
After regaining his composition, Mr. Langley heaved a sigh. "Well then, Shinji. I guess it's just you and me."
Shinji gulped.
"Follow me."
Shinji obeyed silently, and they walked past millions of closed doors, and passages that led to a multitude of rooms and more hallways. Finally, they reached a stairwell that led down to a dark and damp tunnel. Mr. Langley motioned for Shinji to keep following.
At last, they reached a wooden door at the end of tunnel. A lone oil lamp illuminated the dark space. Mr. Langley took out a rusted key from his pocket, and stuck it into the keyhole. He turned the doorknob, and it opened without a sound, much to the shock of Shinji. He didn't have much time to wonder about it, because inside was a room far from what Shinji had imagined could possibly be down in such a desolate place.
Instead of a damp, musty, cave like what Shinji had imagined, he found a furnished room that had a thick, luxurious carpet and a fireplace. The walls were lined with portraits and imported tapestries, and at one end of the room were three bookshelves, filled with what Shinji made out to be classics. At the other side of the room was a clear glass coffee table, with a basket of fruit and another basket filled with assorted treats. The table was surrounded by puffy velvet couches lined with what looked like cloth of gold. They faced a large screen that seemed to be a TV. Shinji was astounded. The only thing this room was missing was a window!
Shinji turned to face Mr. Langley. "Mr. Langley, I – "
Asuka's father put a finger to his lips. "I know that you might get a bit bored, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to lock you in until midnight. There's a clock on the mantelpiece, so you can keep track of time – "
"You're going to lock me in here?" Shinji interrupted.
"It's going to be mayhem up in the mansion, I know it, I saw one of Asuka's servants carrying a crate of what looked like dung into the kitchen just now," Mr. Langley said, acknowledging the fact that Shinji suddenly turned a shade of dark green. "It's best if no one knows that you're here. This room is top secret – I'm the only one who knows its existence. If you need anything, ring the bell that's beside the TV. It'll cause my pager to vibrate, and I'll know it's you. At midnight, the door will automatically open and close once you come out. Just follow the tunnel back up to the mansion, so that the deal can be completed. Also, the bathroom is just behind that middle bookshelf. Take out the red book that's titled, 'The Door in the Wall', and you'll find a red button. If you press it, the bookshelf will slide to the side, and you'll find the entrance to the bathroom. Since you have so much time on your hands, I think it would be a good idea to take a long bath," Mr. Langley said, eyeing some left over soot in Shinji's hair.
"Thank you, Mr. Langley," Shinji said, appreciating how kind Mr. Langley was. "I will."
Mr. Langley chuckled softly, and left, muttering to himself. "What a kind boy he is, compared to his father..."
"ASUUUUKA!" Mina's voice rang. "Can I start Phase 15 now?"
Asuka gave her servant the thumbs up. "All systems go!" As Mina left, Asuka turned to Teri, a servant who was marking something on a clipboard. "How many left?" Asuka asked her.
"Well, if you count the twelve perverts who Chi just persuaded to go to hell...I'd say that we have exactly ninety two pinheads left to evacuate," Teri answered happily.
"So much fun!" Asuka said dreamily. "Anyways, how did Phase 18 go? I heard that Chi went ahead with it before I gave the order."
"Oh, you mean the one where Chi served the goat poo?" Teri asked, immensely amused.
Asuka laughed maniacally. "Y-yes."
"Well, two of the victims are still vomiting, and the other sixteen have left," Teri said, a big smile plastered onto her face. "In case you wanted to know, Chi's planning to use the vomit for the next phase."
"Good, good, good," Asuka said. "I'm going to personally carry out Phase 16 now...I mean, so far, my helpful servants have been doing most of the work...I thank you all, but now the master of mistresses is going to work!"
Teri watched as Asuka slid down the banister, and disappeared into the crowd of men, attracting all of their attention. 'What a life...' Teri thought to herself. 'I'd never thought that being a servant could be such a great form of entertainment.'
Meanwhile, in the orphanage...
Hikari was making dinner for the children, when she suddenly remembered Mina telling her that Shinji Ikari, the most recent suitor, had been the victim of her hot sauce.
"Chi made it SO hot, and a big bit of it landed right on his left hand!" Mina had gushed excitedly. "Aya was so sad, she kept whining, cuz you know, Ikari is the pilot of Evangelion Unit 01, the invincible Eva of Japan."
Left hand?! An image suddenly came to Hikari's mind: Asuka embracing Hatori at the window, and Hatori had hugged her back...with a bandaged left hand! Hikari suddenly dropped the carrot she had been slicing. It landed with a soft thud on the cutting board.
"What is it, Hikari?" the second Horaki sister asked. "What's wrong? Did you cut yourself?"
Hikari weakly shook her head, and her sister went back to her kitchen duty. Hikari looked at the carrot on her cutting board. There were lines and dents in it everywhere.
'Is it possible?' Hikari thought to herself. 'Could Asuka's joke be more than what it was? Could Hatori really be pretending, just like Asuka is? It's not impossible...' Suddenly, Hikari had another flashback.
'Aww, Hatori, do you REALLY have to go?' Asuka whined.
'Yeah, I do. I'm sorry.'
'Three months is a long time for me to wait.'
'It's very important, and I'll finally get to meet my father...'
Hikari shook her head. It worked only too well! The invincible Shinji had appeared in the news just a while after Hatori left. Then Asuka had told her that Shinji Ikari had come to court her...right after Hatori came back!
"Hey sis, I don't think those carrots are going to slice themselves anytime soon."
Hikari looked at her sister. "Do you happen to have any pictures of Ikari Shinji, or Shinji Ikari, whatever you call him?"
Hikari's sister narrowed her eyes. "N-no, older sister has one...but she doesn't like it when people go through her stuff, you know,"
Hikari let out a squeal, and then ran out of the kitchen.
"Hey! The children are getting hungry! Hikari!"
Hikari heard her sister's cries, but ignored them. She looked frantically in her small room that she shared with her two sisters. Finally, when her sister came in, she found what she was looking for.
"What's that?" the older sister asked.
"It's a photo album that Asuka gave me weeks ago," Hikari answered. "Tell me sis, where does older sister keep the picure?"
"She's not going to like you very much after this."
Hikari sighed. "I know...but it's important. It's for my friend..."
"You mean the rich redhead who gives us money?" Her face brightened right away, and Hikari's sister reached into a desk to reveal a slip of paper. "Here it is. Don't tell older sister that I gave it to you, though."
Hikari's sister happily left the room, and Hikari compared a recent picture of Hatori to the picture of Shinji in his plug suit. She let out a scream.
They were exactly the same.
"Mistress, we're down to twenty-two to go!" Teri squealed happily.
"That was some trick you pulled there, Mistress," Mina gushed, leading a foreign suitor out the door. "About thirty suitors fled in one blink of an eye."
Asuka smiled innocently. "Well, they don't call me the Great Asuka Sohryu Langley for nothing! Now, where are Shizuku and Aya? I haven't seen them ever since the operation started! Are they doing well?"
"We're fine as fine is fine!" Aya said, strolling casually with one arm on Shizuku's shoulder. "We've been taking care of another suitor who apparently got lost. Said he didn't want to own a house where he couldn't find the bathroom, so he stupidly left."
"Good," said Asuka. "Chi's down in the ballroom 'enchanting' the guests, why don't you two join her? I'll be down in a moment, after I read this list to see who the people left are."
"Okey dokey!" Aya said, leading her and Shizuku down to the ballroom.
"Well now, there's John Norrington from England," started Teri, "and then Tamahome Wattanabe from Japan, and some guy from South America – I can't pronounce his name – and some other people, ah, I see a name that looks German...yeah, another one...another Japanese one, named Yuki Mitsuharu, wait, here's a Chinese one...looks like Bartman the butler didn't write it himself; the dude wrote his name in Kanji characters!"
"Okay...this isn't very interesting at all..." Asuka grabbed the clipboard. She didn't look at the names that weren't crossed off, though. No, something else caught her eye. "Shinji Ikari?" she asked.
Teri looked slightly startled. "Uh yeah...a moment ago, when I saw his name on the bottom of the list, Chi told me that she didn't see him anywhere, I mean, she for one would remember his face, right? SHE was the one who poured hot sauce on him from the balcony yesterday. But she told me that she didn't see him anywhere for the whole time, so I told everyone to scan the mansion for him. I crossed him off after, because no one could find him. He probably left since he didn't want a bandage on his right hand as well."
Asuka shrugged. "Probably."
Mina suddenly ran over to them. "Asuka! We have an emergency! There are ten suitors left and only five minutes left till midnight!"
Asuka frowned. "What? That's no emergency! You can scare 'em off in like, three seconds!"
Mina gasped for air. "You don't understand! Mistress Langley, they've, they've figured out that you're just trying to drive them all away. They won't leave no matter what we throw at them!"
Asuka narrowed her eyes. "Let me deal with them then. I know exactly how to handle this."
Mr. Langley smiled at the ten suitors still chatting in the banquet hall. In four more minutes, the clock would strike midnight. As long as Asuka didn't notice them for a few more minutes...
But no such luck. Asuka came flying across the banquet hall, her crimson robes flaring out behind her.
"Hey you!" she pointed an accusing finger at one of the ten suitors. "Get out of my house, right now!"
The suitor stayed calm. "Oh? Aren't you the Mistress of this mansion? You must be the daughter of the man who hosted this...ball, if you can call it that, corrupted as it is."
Asuka's anger reached the limit. "How dare you! You're only here because you want to court me, right? Well, why don't your fucking asses just go home? Now you know what I'm like, so you can just go and have some sleep. You don't need a cheating wife like me, do you?"
"Nice try," said another guy sitting at the table, "but we've seen enough tonight to know that this is all some sort of weird trick. You're seeing which suitor will last the longest, and the last ones to stay will be eligible to be your groom on your wedding day."
"H-how did you?" Asuka barely stuttered out. She glanced at the clock. Two minutes left. "Fine then! My last resource," Asuka muttered. She dug into her robe and revealed ten bags full of what sounded like money to the suitors. "Here," she said giving one bag each to the ten suitors.
They all looked into their bags, to check the money was real, and then they bid Asuka a good night. Mr. Langley was astounded, and came out of his observation spot.
"You can't bribe them! That's completely cheating!" Mr. Langley shouted. Suddenly, the front door closed, and Mina shouted from the front foyer.
"They've gone, now!"
As if on cue, the gong inside the grandfather clock upstairs rang throughout the mansion, signifying that it was now midnight.
"Father, I have driven out every single suitor that arrived this evening," Asuka announced loudly and clearly. "And bribing the last few wasn't cheating, because in the rules, I had said that I could do anything I wanted to."
"Well then, I have no choice but let you get away with that," Mr. Langley said thoughtfully.
"Yay!" Asuka exclaimed extremely happy. "Then for my first wish, I would like a nice beach bungalow on the coast of Hawaii, and have a few of my closest servants to come with me...and I'd also like it if you stopped teasing me about cute guys..."
"Excuse me, but I don't think I've finished, quite yet," Mr. Langley said, interrupting Asuka. "I meant to say that I have no choice but to let you get away with it, since I was allowed to do what I wanted to as well, remember?"
A dark expression suddenly came over Asuka's features. "W-what do you mean by, 'what I wanted'?"
"I meant, that I hid one candidate in my safe keeping, which I had every right to do," Mr. Langley said evenly.
Asuka's eyes widened. 'No...no...it can't be...'
"You can come out now," Mr. Langley said, facing a shadow that was behind him.
A short, skinny figure cautiously wandered out of the protection of the darkness, and Aya screamed when she saw him.
It was Shinji.
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LOL! There it is, folks...another stupid cliffhanger. I'm rather enjoying them now...MWA HAHAHAHAHAZ.
Lina )
Oy! In case you're wondering...M is my beta reader and 'other half'. If you'd had the curiosity to look at Sunlit Wings' profile, you'll see that we are two authors who share one account, and once in a while we write one fic together. Otherwise, we Beta-read each other's stories. Therefore, the email address above isn't completely my own. If you're very anxious to speak to me only, send your emails to .
I'll take this opportunity to advertise one of M's Harry Potter fics: dun dun DUN! drumroll TRAVELING SOLDIER!!!! It's a D/G romance that's a bit dark, but really good! Go take a lookey sometime! It'll make you cry your eyeballs out! .