With a groin, Shinji Ikari rolled off of the couch, mumbling something under his breath. He licked his lips in an odd sign of aggravation as he used his arms to rise himself up. Dressed only in boxer shorts and a white t-shirt, he rubbed his stomach lazily as he walked across the room to the kitchen. He yawned again before he looked at the digital clock that was situated in the stove.
5 : 35 PM
Shinji shook his head like a wet dog in an attempt to get every last bitof sleep out of his eyes. It worked, and he yawned lazily, his arms stretching, in order to get those last portions of laziness out of his system,
"What are you doing baka?" a pajama wearing Asuka demanded from across the room, irritated that Ikari's post-afternoon nap routine was interrupting her watching television, although it would be far more accurate to say she was merely just channel surfing.
"Yawning," he said plainly. "Ugh…uh, where are my clothes?"
"In the laundry basket, where else would it be? By the way," she noted as she flipped over onto her back, "you owe me money for the laundry!"
"I told you, I spent it at lunch! I didn't have anything for three days!"
"Yeah, well, because of you I spent twenty bucks – ten more than I shouldn't have!"
"Well, where the hell am I supposed to get twenty dollars, when it takes me forever to steal three?"
"Hell if I know! You are the one that forged those fake exchange student IDs so that we can get this apartment for free, so I am sure you can think of something."
"My gawd!", he groaned, rolling his eyes, "what did I get myself into?"
"You? What about me? I'm the one that has been teaching you English for the past month, not to mention that I have to deal with every other Yankee looking at my ass and boobs!"
Shinji raised his eyebrow. "Then maybe you should put on more clothes beyond t-shirt and shorts, hmm?"
"I would if we had more money!"
"And I would gladly give you some more money," a slightly smiling Shinji noted with a hint of sarcasm, "if all the restraunts and other places for jobs weren't filled."
"Oh, this is just perfect." Shinji heard her moan from across the room.
Jessica Kalem was very surprised with what her husband had in store for her. A few days after coming home from his latest tour of duty, Jonathon treated her to a fancy, four star, and very expensive restraunt that had absolutely the best steak that one could ask for. Jessica, being a cook herself, tried throughout their lengthy stay to find out exactly how they managed to get that delicate piece of meat to just melt in her mouth. And much to her displeasure, she never did uncover the secret, nor would the manager reveal the mystery when asked.
Afterwards, they returned to Jonathon's father's mansion, which also so happened to be theirs as well, and they watched a romantic movie that Jessica had been wanting to see for some time. As soon as the credits began to roll, Jonathon began to massage her back with such detail that the woman felt that she was in a spa.
Of course, with her golden blonde hair, sea blue eyes, and skin that seemed to radiate beauty, Jonathon felt that he was in heaven. So, it was a welcomed example of equivalent exchange.
"So," the blonde beauty eventually began, placing her tender hand on her lover's hand, "how does it feel to be back?"
"Unbelievable," he said softly as he pecked her neck with kisses.
"If only because you're father is the Lightning Hawk, right?"
"Hush, no need for talk like that. Just stay still for me…"
The soldier's love breathed in deeply. She turned her head upward towards the face of the man she loved. "Its good to have you back John."
"It's good to be back."
Shinji hummed softly Canon D-Dur quartet as he rested on his desk. It was study hall, and even though he had unfinished homework due next period for history class, he wasn't awake enough to even take it out of his book bag, forget about actually doing some work. Asuka was up until midnight watching her sitcoms, and considering where the television was just a mere slab of thin concrete away from his head and bedroom, it was near impossible to actually get some sleep. In the end Shinji joined the German, despite her protest. She eventually got over it by the next punch line. Shinji even laughed a little. He never liked comedies that much – he was more into drama and adventure stories.
Right now though, Shinji could care less as to why he was up so late last night. Sleeping right now was impossible, with the school's rule of no sleeping during breaks except lunch imposing over him like a vulture over a corpse.
Shinji yawned again as he scanned the rest of the room in an attempt to get his body awake somehow. It bore some fruit for his labor: his right eye was now not as tired as his left, although both were both about to close the lid.
Suddenly, his once exhausted eyes caught a site: he saw a face that he did not recognize. In the two weeks that he and Asuka were at the New England high school, the boy had nearly memorized into his head the face and names of every fellow student in all of his classes, if for no better reason than to pass the time between his almost infinite amount of chores, homework, finding info on just what the hell happened in the two years the two were floating in space, and Asuka's occasional tantrums.
And surprisingly enough, there was a great deal of it for the Third Child.
Suddenly, the stranger turned his head towards Shinji's exhausted face. Seeing that the teacher – who at the moment was too busy grading some papers to give any heed to what the boy was up to – he picked up his notebook paper and took a seat next to the tired Shinji.
"Okishimwae?" the boy said.
Shinji perked up his head. "You know Japanese?"
He nodded. "I come from Japan. My twin sister and I, we're exchange students."
"Ah, same here! Except my, err, room mate is not my sister, and I'm glad for that!" Shinji chuckled a little. "Then again, we argue so much you'd think we were."
"I see what you're saying. Girls can be such a pain in the ass, y'know?" Shinji nodded in agreement. "So, err, this sounds really odd, but, what's name?'
"Shinji. Shinji Yamamoto."
"No relation to that famous Samurai by any chance?"
Shinji chuckled. "Hell no."
"Well, my name is Souske Miyamoto." He cracked his knuckles, probably to get the numbness out of them from all of his note taking, and opened his notebook to the inside cover. A schedule was glued to it. He handed it to Shinji. "Got any classes? Same as mine, I mean."
"Uh…" he slurred as he strayed his finger down the line. "Just fifth period…gym."
"My god, I hate gym!"
Shinji handed the notebook to his new acquaintance. "Same here. I'd rather play the cello than do the mile."
"You play the cello?"
"Yeah, I learned way back, well, I, mean I started way back, in like, what second, or third grade? I can't remember which."
"I'm kind of good with the guitar. Still on my way, though."
Shinji raised his eyebrows. "You don't look like the rocker type."
Souske laughed. "It's because I'm not!"
And so, the two found themselves entwined in a conversation that neither could of gotten themselves out of, even if they wanted to, until the period bell rang. They said their goodbyes as they packed their things, and promised to talk again in gym class, just a few hours away.
At two forty, Shinji was sitting on the front steps of the school, his gym clothes stuffed into his bag. He was sweating horribly. The coach must of thought it would 'fun' to have the class run the mile in just forty five minutes, and then play tackle football for the remainder of class. Needless to say, Shinji did not agree with the coach's opinion on entertainment, if for no better reason than after that pig pile that consisted of half the class, he would be aching for a week, if not more.
Shinji looked at his watch. Asuka was usually at the entrance by two thirty five. Ikari was by no means a worry wart, and was willing to let the great Asuka Langley Shoryu spend as much time as she wants walking to the entrance. Last time Shinji told her to move faster, he couldn't fell his balls for a week.
The door swung open. Hoping it was Asuka, Shinji turned. Instead of the red head, he found Souske, still clothed in his gym clothes. "'Sup," he said in a sarcastic gesture. Seeing Shinji giving him a confused, he decided to sit next to him. "So, what are you still doing here Shinji-kun?"
"Asuka," he groaned.
"Ah, the boss maiden of your fine apartment home I see. Well, I'm waiting for my sis too. We said we were gonna meet here ten minutes ago, but she's running late. Which is a miracle in itself! Y'see, my sister, she's never late. I'm starting to wonder if terrorists have made her their hostage or something."
Shinji smiled slightly. "If she is anything like Asuka, it will be the other way around."
"Damn straight!" came a familiar cry. The two startled teens turned their heads to see Asuka and Kanomai towering over them. "I see you have meet Souske."
"And", Souske observed, "I see you have met my sister." Intrigued by the situation, Souske grinned. "I just love how everything turns full circle."
"Anyways," Kanomai interrupted, "we're going to their place."
"Says so?" Souske asked, not exactly expecting the turn of events.
"Says me," she declared quite cheerfully.
With that, Souske got up to stare at his twin sister. "And I have to listen to you why?"
Kanomai smiled, quite proud of her response, which is the one response that no sane man in his right state of mind ever wants to hear from the current woman of the household: "Because if you do, I'm not making dinner."
As soon as she said that, Souske agreed on the spot.
The office of Keel Lorenz, the supreme master of SEELE, and coincidently, the world, was as dark as it had ever been. The symbol of SEELE, the six eyes of Lilith, shone at the ceiling. His gloved hands were folded below his chin in both a frightening and commanding manner.
"Come in," he commanded and the mischievous form of Christopher-Ryan Fredicoh entered the darkness.
"The twins have found the second and third child."
"An interesting development."
"Want them to start splitting some heads? Somewhat? Not at all?"
"Not at all will do. We need Master Ikari and Miss Langley Shoryu. The Human Instrumentality Project may just come to fruition. We merely just need the Lance and everything that began with the invasion of the old NERV will fall into place."
"Whatever ya say, boss-man."
"And speaking of twins, where did you acquire them? Granted, our corporations trust does not involve investigation, but I cannot help but curious as to how you acquired such valuable assets."
"Heh heh, why, they just came to me, they did!"
Keel raised his eyebrows, intrigued. "Out of the blue?"
Fredicoh licked his lips. "Out of the blue and into puddles of blood from my guards!"
Keel rubbed his hands in satisfaction. "A fitting assassin's introduction if there ever was one." He sighed as he turned his chair to face the representative of ADVENT. "I take it that they are acting 'normal' in their current setting?"
"As friendly as Helen of Troy with her ass on fire!"
"Yes, I suppose so. Well, make sure that they do not make Ikari and Shoryu suspect their true intention. They need to act like actual High School students, although I am fairly certain they are aware of the situation."
"Sure thing, boss man. Well, I must be off! So adios amigos!" With that, the holographic image of the madman vanished.
"It is all coming together."
"Nothing like good old fashioned American Pizza, now is there Shinji?" a mischievously smiling Asuka asked the quiet teen. The Miyamoto twins were invited for dinner, and Asuka and Shinji had used every stray penny, dime and quarter in their apartment to help pay for the pizza.
"I still prefer good old noodles," he solemnly noted as he grabbed another slice.
"You'll never learn," Asuka sighed before turning to face Kanomai. "See what I've got to put up with?"
"He doesn't seem that bad. He's more behaved than Souske, at least."
"Wha?" a startled Souske asked, half a slice of pizza in his mouth. The two girls just giggled. Shinji sighed as a counter measure.
When the twins finally left, it was close to ten. Shinji and Asuka didn't even start work on any of their homework. It would doubtlessly prove simple for Asuka: she was a college graduate, after all. Shinji, on the other hand, would like be up until two in the morning working on his assignments, with half of it being Shinji flipping through his Japanese-English dictionary to translate the letters.
Asuka sighed miserably as Shinji started work on cleaning the table. "Baka!"
Shinji stared at her, confused as to why she was calling him her imposed nickname when he was just doing what he did everyday ever since he first moved in with Misato. "What?"
'Oh god, I know I am going to regret this! But if I don't, I know Kanomai will be bugging me about it tomorrow.' "Don't you have homework to do?"
"Yeah, but who's going to do the dishes? You?"
"And why not?"
"Do I even need to say it?"
"That's it, Third Child!"
"Aw crap." With that, the German caught Shinji into a tackle, and when she had a strong enough hold on the squirming teen, practically threw him into his room, his book bag along with him. "I'll handle the dishes! You get those Algebra questions done!"
Rubbing his head, which was the cushion for his book bag, Shinji wondered what he did to piss of Asuka this time. And why did she decide to the chores in his stead? Concluding that it was all thanks to Lady Luck, Shinji unpacked his school work and got to work. Asuka humming some tune as she worked on the dishes could be heard in the background.
A few rooms over, the Miyamoto twins were conversing amongst themselves, regarding their new allies, and consequently, targets.
"Without a doubt they are Ikari and Shoryu."
Kanomai sighed. "And yet, somehow, they are oblivious to our true intent. You would think that they would be more aware of SEELE's hold on the world?"
Souske chuckled softly. "Floating in space for two years will do that to you."
"I suppose," his sister sighed. "When do we kill them?"
"When father or Fredicoh tells us to."
"And, for being our friends, it will be quick, and painless."
"They couldn't ask for better friends," Souske noted.