Learn to Live Again

4. The Poets

Thursday. Most students liked Thursdays because they were close to Fridays and Saturdays. Rei was no different from them in this aspect. 'I wanna rest! This week and the previous have been too much for my poor head…' She thought as she got closer to the big white building that was her school. Soon she reached the black gates and entered, not expecting somebody to be waiting for her.

The boy smiled calmly as she froze, crimson eyes wide open. He just looked into her eyes for a while and then spoke:

"I'm sure your performance will be quite good!" his smile widened, if possible.

"Uh… what… you… I …" she babbled, not able to stare at those equally ruby eyes without losing concentration. No word was exchanged between them afterward. They both seemed hooked to the other's eyes in a timeless moment. None of them seemed aware that they had classes to attend.

Riiiiiing!

The sound of the bell made the bluenette return to reality. She broke their eye-contact and headed to the entrance, not daring to look back. Strangely, she still felt this guy smiling at her.

The first hour was English. Misato was early this time and handed them some practice papers. She announced that these were very important for the following exams and they needed to be prepared for anything.

"I'd rather be prepared for a date with her." whispered Touji, imagining the beautiful teacher in a nightdress.

"Stop drooling, you jerk!" beamed Asuka, who had heard that quite well. "You're lucky she is too absent-minded to listen to your stupidities!"

"Shaddup, bitch!" hissed the offended boy, dedicating her an offensive gesture as well. The girl did the same. Just when he was about to look away, he noticed Hikari looking at him, interested. He just glared at her and turned away. The girl returned to her papers.

"What's wrong with Horaki?" asked Kensuke "She usually tells you off… maybe Langley did all the work this time!" and he laughed.

"Silence over there, boys!" Misato smiled. She treated her students very well, but had her preferences too.

"Shin-chan, how are you doing?" she asked to an already nervous teen. She smiled at him and patted his back.

"Uh… I'm fine, thank you." He babbled. He felt so odd when anyone asked him about himself…

"Well, if there's anything you need, just ask me!" and she left to check the other students' works. Touji whispered to him "You're so lucky, Ikari." Kensuke added: "Rocks to be you!"

And time went by, filling those irritating papers and looking at the young and cheerful teacher, who gave them a few more hints before the class ended. The break passed quickly as the students revised their notes for the following class.

When everybody was already in the music room, professor Aoba came in with a suspicious smile on his lips.

"Class! I've decided to test your creativity today! Don't be shy! I will only check the way you perform!" and his grin widened.

The teens felt like he was the Grim Reaper today, ready to take their fragile and delicate souls to an unbearable hell. Nobody really felt ready for this…

Commonly, they practiced well-known classical concerts, but this class would a bit different from the others: the professor had asked the teens to 'perform something of their own'. To make things worse, this was an exam.

"Crap!" choked Touji, almost letting hi cello fall. "I haven't practiced enough!"

Kensuke, next to him, just laughed. "Come on, Touji, it can't be that bad… Let's see what we've got!" but in his voice there was a clear tone of nervousness. He held his violin carefully, waiting for the professor's instructions.

"Ok, people! I'll call and you'll come in little groups or pairs to see how you do." Many gulped. "The first ones will be…"

Silence. Aoba smiled and then sentenced.

"Ikari, Suzuhara and Aida. Step forward, please." The tension broke.

Touji nearly collapsed. 'C-R-A-P!' he thought as he and the other boys advanced silently to stand in front of the whole class. Shinji just stared at his feet. Kensuke seemed to have found the ceiling suddenly interesting.

"Ok, begin when you feel ready!"

The three boys nodded silently and began the exercise. The song was first a mix of sounds and disorganized tunes (Touji messed up a few times), but as they continued, it became quite colorful and harmonic.

"Very good, boys! You see? At first they were unsure, but soon they became part of the same group…" Cheered the teacher when they finished. "Next… ok, Langley." he added as Asuka stepped like the last time. "And your partner is…?"

"I'll play alone, thanks." She hissed, still angry with her last performance.

Her song was rather aggressive and dominant, very suitable for a war cry. She played with her eyes closed, expecting to hear at least some 'oooh's.

When she was done, half of the class clapped and commented things like 'she's good!' and else. The others stared at her, impressed. This made the girl's ego grow at least four feet and three inches. The teacher joined the clapping, smiling.

"You've improved, Langley!" he beamed when the cheers were over.

Satisfied, she took her seat and smiled to Hikari, who seemed very pleased with her best friend's triumph.

Next was Hikari with two more girls, who played a bit badly, as they couldn't stop giggling and fidgeting. The following group was a bit similar to this, but instead of giggling the boys kept stopping and chocking to hide their laughter. The last one to be called was Rei, who had to perform alone (there wasn't anyone left when they had formed the groups in the previous class).

'Ok here we go.' Thought the girl, placing her violin expertly on her shoulder and beginning her song. 'One, two, three, four.'

It was rather melancholic at first, but after some time Rei felt like she was flying. She closed her eyes to listen better, trying to imagine at the same time. Her song seemed to take her far, far away…

'I know you'll be alright…'

Soon she was in another world, surrounded by snow. Yet, it was warm. There was nobody there with her, except for a tall boy whose wide smile made her feel uneasy. His eyes were as red as hers and his hair as silvery as the snow that fell slowly. Why didn't she feel the supposedly freezing crystals that flew around her? Maybe that person brought the warmth in the air…

Outside the classroom, a sole student passed by and stopped to listen. He didn't leave until the song ended.

When finally Rei opened her eyes, everybody was staring at her. There was a long silence, broken by the hands of the teacher, who began clapping slowly. Soon after everyone joined and cheered her.

"Ayanami, that was great!" said Aoba, clearly impressed. "I didn't know you had such a talent…!" and the cheers went on. The only one who wasn't happy at all was Asuka, who eyed Rei furiously all that time. She then walked away, followed by Hikari.

-o-o-o-

After surviving the Horrible Numbers class (Touji's quote) the students were ready to face Literature. Rei was looking forward to it and felt oddly happy after being praised by her classmates. This was too good to be true…

"Hello everyone!" Kaji's head popped from the classroom door before he came in. "I guess most of you have already finished your tomes already, huh?" he looked at the group of teens. None answered.

"Ah, I see you haven't. It's ok; we'll delay this work for…. One class!" a general moan of boredom was heard. "Even if you don't like it, you'll eventually have to do it, you know." And he sat on his desk. Before giving his planned instructions, he eyed the class once more. His eyes stopped on a certain girl and then he looked away. Getting up, he took a chalk and wrote a few exercises on the blackboard.

"Come on! Begin!" and he sat again.

Rei, unlike most of her classmates, had already finished Hamlet and was eager to read another story. She wasn't a bookworm, but reading was one of her hobbies. She loved Shakespeare's plays, poems, novels… almost anything. Next book… what would it be?

Like answering her mental questions, a book appeared in front of her eyes. The girl blinked and looked at it. It was real. No magically-popped-out imaginary book.

"It's the Dead Poets Society." A male voice nearly made her fall from her chair. The man was her professor, Kaji. He smiled, notoriously amused at his student's expression. "I assume you already finished Hamlet… so I brought you this!" the girl looked around. Nobody seemed aware of the little episode. That was good.

"Thank you very much!" she said while taking it. She looked at it before opening it. It was blue with golden letters which recited the tome's title. Kaji smiled one last time and walked away. Facing his class from his desk once more, he dedicated the rest of his time to help students with their doubts and else.

Rei opened the book happily (her smile absent, but happy) and scanned the pages before actually reading them. On the very first page there was something handwritten:

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do.

She laughed mentally about this and wondered whether the author of that comment had been her teacher or somebody else. Books were full of surprises…

Huh?

And talking about unexpected things, there was a little paper folded between the pages. This was also handwritten. It was different from the first one, though. It seemed scribbled by a rough hand… but it still looked good.

Lunch. Library. Alone.

Definitely, full of surprises.

She almost laughed out loud now. Was that note meant to be there? Rei was already getting used to mysterious notes and flowers, but none of them had actually indicated her to go somewhere. Besides, the book seemed to be Kaji's. Maybe he wanted to meet her? What? Ha ha ha, like that's possible, Rei! Unlike the other girls, Rei didn't like Kaji in a romantic way: she just admired him as a teacher. Plus, he didn't seem the type to flirt with teens. The girl also doubted she had a special charm on boys: she was too invisible.

Folding the little paper and putting it away she looked around once more. Nobody seemed to have noticed: they were all talking and writing calmly. Good!

This made the girl think of all the spy movies she had watched sometime in her life. Top secret mission! The idea amused her, but she didn't show it on her face. This was out of the ordinary… it would have excited anyone…

Wait.

Was she beginning to feel like anyone? Like a normal person? What was going on?

Hah, like you'll ever change! Laughed an inner voice, Get over it, you'll always be a dummy!

'I won't!' she replied mentally, but was a bit unsure of her answer.

-o-o-o-

Shinji sat alone near the school entrance. He was eating rather slowly, thinking. He suddenly saw Asuka fighting with Touji, a usual episode in his life. God, would she ever be nicer? Did she have to pick on everybody like that?

He then reminded her commentary about his cooking. He looked down at his lunch box. It looked better than the other one… 'What the hell? Why does it have to look good to her?' he frowned 'If she could afford a maid or somebody to cook for her, good! But Shinji had to learn to do al this by himself: there was nobody at home who could help him.

"Shin-chan!" Misato popped out of nowhere "So this is where you've been! I've been looking for you since lunch began." A smile crossed her pretty face. He didn't reply, so she went straight to the point: "Would you like to come with me? There's something I want to show you…"

"I… er… um…"

"Great!" and she took him by his right arm and walked towards the opposite side of the building. She looked rather happy.

"Um… professor Katsuragi…" he managed to say.

"Call me Misato."

"Fine, Misato. Where are we going?" he asked, feeling he was getting tinier with every step he took. She just smiled and kept walking till they reached their destination.

"What…?" was Shinji's last unfinished question before they entered.

-o-o-o-

Rei took a deep breath and looked at the school library doors for the third time. What was she supposed to expect? This wasn't normal.

Now holding her breath, she stepped forward and entered the dark building. Waiting for somebody to jump from the shadows and attack her – what an imagination, Rei! –, she walked cautiously, trying to see her surroundings. Very surprised was the girl when she saw her literature teacher sitting in front of her, smiling. Next to him sat the English teacher, Misato. Wait. Ikari was also there? And Langley too… What was this?

"Hello Ayanami." Greeted Kaji. "We were waiting for you… come, sit." And he offered a chair to her. She sat, closing the little circle the five persons made. Another circle…

"So… were you the one who wrote the note, professor?" asked Rei a bit doubtfully. The man just nodded and smiled.

"So she's the one you told me about…" commented Misato, smiling at the girl too "She's very good in my classes too…" she was about to go on, but Asuka stood before the two adults and spoke, offended.

"Can we start this meeting now? We're supposed to talk about important matters… not just chat about… things." And she sat, satisfied with the results: Kaji smiled at her and told her that she was right.

"Ok, you may not know, but Misato and I sometimes gather a few number of students who have outstanding artistic aptitudes…" he looked at the three teens "This is not an elite group, though. We have our meetings at lunch, and we talk about art in general. That is, of course, if you want to join. I believe that your art, guys, can be an important element of your lives, but I repeat: you're free to go if you don't want to be part of this…" and he fell silent. Misato looked at them and imitated Kaji.

"I'm in!" stated Asuka before anyone else could talk. "I love the idea!" and grinned.

"… Me too." Said Rei after a minute or two.

"I…" Shinji was unsure, but after eyeing the four persons around him, he said: "Yeah, I'll join you too."

"Great!" jumped Misato, hugging the three of them "You know, commonly we don't get many students to join us, but I'm happy this year we have the three of you." She looked at the literature teacher. Kaji smiled at her.

So a brief talk about Shakespeare's works took place. At first Shinji and Rei just listened, but then Misato encouraged them to give their own opinions. They did.

"… And talking about writers, there's also this guy here at school, who I think would be great to join us." Commented Kaji after a while. "I don't know him much, but I know he has impressed many teachers with his ideas and analysis. I think his name was…" he looked at Misato. She looked back at him.

"You mean the boy named Nagisa?" she asked.

"That's it! Kaworu Nagisa!" he clapped "Thanks, hun." This made the woman giggle.

"So what's with this guy?" inquired Asuka.

"He's very intelligent, as we already mentioned…" replied the man in front of her. "He's a senior, so he must be a year older than you three. I never see him around… he woke up my curiosity." And he laughed.

Rei didn't know what they were talking about. She didn't know this guy…

"You mean the silver-haired freak?" snapped Asuka, winning Rei's attention. What did she just say? "It can't be him!" finished Asuka.

"Why do you say that?" asked Shinji, a bit angrily. Rei wondered.

"Cause I've seen him a few times. He's always smiling stupidly at everyone! He always seems as calm as if he had Heaven granted! Plus, he's got those creepy red eyes… like Ayanami's!"

Rei blinked. There was no mistake this time. It was him. Feeling a strangely, the silent girl looked at Asuka, then at Shinji. Her eyes turned then to the two teachers.

"Maybe he's a bit odd…" began Misato.

"A bit." Snorted Asuka.

"But he's quite good in my class. He's got the highest marks… at least with me." And she got lost in thought.

"Anyways, guys, if any of you sees him, please tell him about our little group, will ya?" Kaji looked at them once more.

"Why can't you do it, professor?" asked Shinji.

"Because I've got quite a lot of things to do." He eyed Misato for a split second and continued "And I think it'd be better if you invited him. I don't want him to feel forced."

And then they returned to the Shakespeare subject. Asuka commented some interesting things about the plays 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Macbeth'. Shinji could only add a few ideas about how he saw 'The taming of the Shrew'. Rei didn't speak any more.

Ten minutes before lunch ended the teachers dismissed their students and told them that the next meeting would be announced later either at English or Literature class.

Asuka was the last one to leave, and seemed content with herself. She sang quietly and danced a bit before reaching the school's main building. Shinji just walked, looking at his shoes. He didn't speak. Rei seemed totally absent and scanned the campus a few times before returning to her normal activities.

-o-o-o-

"Ikari! I saw you talking to professor Katsuragi today… at lunch!" Touji came happily. "Getting intimate?" he joked, a hint of jealousy in his voice. The boy just glared at the bully.

"Ikari!" spat Kensuke "I'd love to be in your place! How did you get her attention! TELL ME!" he nearly reverenced the confused boy, who stared at his two classmates for a while. He got up from his seat and said.

"Look, I don't know. I'm going." And he walked away. This was the first time Shinji left the classroom with everyone else to go home. The other two stared at him.

"Hey, Touji. I think he's hiding something from us…" the two friends looked at each other for a while. Then Hikari came to them with an angry look in her face. They didn't notice her until she spoke:

"Suzuhara and Aida, it's your turn to clean and tidy up the classroom."

"Curse the obedient shrew…" muttered Touji. Hikari had only heard the last word, but that was enough to make her tell him off for his bad behavior and all those things the boy was used to hear from her. Never a compliment. Only this and that, what he should do… Man. This was getting really tiring.

"Come on, Touji. The sooner we begin, the sooner we'll leave." Half-cheered the boy wearing glasses.

"Hmm… but we're getting Ikari after this."

-o-o-o-

Hikari stood in the middle of the corridor. There was nobody else around. She looked very uneasy, twisting and folding a little paper she had in her hands. The girl looked around several times, like expecting somebody to come and yell at her.

'The students should be leaving the building now' she thought, still playing nervously with the now partially torn paper.

Suddenly a shadow appeared far away in the corridor. It was coming in her direction. Judging the silhouette, it was a girl. This made the brunette feel even more nervous.

The other was now visible: it was the Ayanami girl.

'Shit!' she thought as the blue-haired girl came closer. She wasn't even looking in front of her, as if she was lost in thought.

"Um… Ayanami." Hikari interrupted the other girl's inner maze. She blinked twice before acknowledging her and asked.

"What?" Coldly, as usual.

"Well…" the brunette fidgeted a bit before gathering the courage to speak again. She looked rather reluctant. "It's about the musical instruments. You see… the door to the storage room should be closed…" she paused.

"Yes." The ruby-eyed teen waited patiently for the other to continue.

"Well, I came here just now. Yes. Just now…" another pause, longer than the previous.

"…" Time passed slowly.

"I… err… I found the door opened." She looked at her feet. Rei stared at her.

"And?" there wasn't any color in her voice, but Hikari assumed she was already getting impatient. She had never seen Rei show any emotion, but still she didn't want to try to see her angry or disappointed.

"You better see by yourself…" and the brunette turned around and ran away, never looking back.

Very confused, Rei entered into the room. The door was, in fact, unlocked. That was rather strange. Commonly the room was closed until the music classes, or whenever a student needed to get his or her instrument. In that case, he or she had to look for the hall monitor or something like that to open the door for them.

There wasn't any particular reason for the rules, but it was almost obvious that many could just enter and steal something to sell it later. 'After all, classical instruments were very expensive these days.' Rei thought as she entered the room.

It was a bit dark, but she could see without turning the lights on. Many boxes were piled on the farthest corners, probably containing drums or bongos. Who would play those? The girl wondered. Before the boxes stood many cello and bass cases. Big and heavy things were put on the bottom, always. Then there were the violas, trumpets, clarinets, flutes and violins.

Rei needed to take hers to continue her music at home.

Every case and box had the name of the owner in a label: this way nothing got lost or stolen. Rei had hers in bright red letters, so she would tell it from the others in no time. She didn't like to waste her time.

Carefully looking for her violin the girl came across a little torn paper. It wasn't bigger than a coin, probably a part of something much bigger. Paying no attention to it, she folded it ant tossed it in the closest corner.

She then remembered Hikari's nervousness. There wasn't anything wrong with the place, she noticed. Looking around for a few seconds, Rei could not find anything out of its place. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then why did the delegate panic like that? Another rhetorical question to ask God when I die, she sighed and continued searching… but she stopped.

"If I get to see God." She thought aloud.

When she finally found her violin, Rei saw what Hikari meant. There was definitely something wrong with the case. She began to worry.

The little black padlock was missing.

The girl instinctively looked for the room's trash box and walked toward it. There was an open white plastic bag inside. At the bottom, a little black square spot could be seen. Her padlock.

Returning to her violin case, she opened it desperately. Desperate? Me, desperate? She thought before letting out a quiet scream. More of disgust than surprise. But clearly a shock. The girl took out the fragile instrument in disbelief, wishing that when she could see it clearly, everything would just be her imagination.

But there was no mistake. The light was enough to tell a string from another…

And talking about strings…

The four silvery strings of her precious violin were missing.

Irritated for the first time in her life, she looked for the ones she saved in case any of the originals got cut or anything, but none was found.

The fact wasn't very preoccupant: the problem could be solved. But the question was worth analyzing.

Who had done that and why? Her name was labeled on the case…

"So this was definitely directed to me."

-o-

There goes the fourth chappie. Last week I wasn't here so I'm posting it now. Thanks for all the people who are reading and reviewing! It's very nice to get reviews!

I'm already working on next chapter, so I don't think you'll have to wait too much.

Thank you

RaineL.