Disclaimer: see chapter 1.
Folded Wings
By Random1377
Chapter 12
In Tokyo-3, birds sang a mellifluous chorus to the bright, sunny sky, chirping so merrily that any casual observer might have thought the poor creatures would have strained their tiny throats in their fervent worship of the puffy clouds and endless blue horizon. It certainly seemed like a nice enough day, all things considered, what with the birdsong and cicadasong and painfully azure sky overhead. Even a poet may have been overcome with emotion and laid his pen aside to simply bask in the glory of being.
Of course, even with a gorgeous summer day and an ocean of hazy sky, there will always be those who have reason to be gloomy.
Standing on the roof of the school and observing Touji Suzuhara's behavior, Rei felt that the boy was well within his rights to be a little down.
"You know, don't you?" Touji was saying miserably. "About everything…?"
"Yes," Rei replied simply, keeping to herself the fact that she had known of his recruitment before he had.
"Funny, isn't it? Me… fighting angels…"
Rei was not sure why this should be amusing, but she held her tongue.
Truth be told, she was not entirely sure why she had followed the newly christened Fourth Child up to the roof in the first place. She could not recall ever having a personal conversation with the boy, nor had he ever spared her a second glance before today, yet here she was.
Perhaps it was part and parcel to spreading her wings.
"Don't tell Shinji, ok?" Touji said, resting his forearms on the railing and looking down at the ground below. "He's got enough junk on his mind right now…"
Rei nodded.
"You like him, don't you?"
"Pardon?"
"Ikari," Touji said softly, "you've got a thing for Ikari. I always kind of thought you did, but lately it's like… you're always looking at him. I didn't even notice until Kensuke pointed it out…"
Though her cheeks colored slightly, Rei nodded a second time. "Yes," she said plainly, "I suppose that is true… though there are others I would like to be close to as well."
Abruptly, Rei realized that this was the fourth person she had shared this information with, and she wondered when, exactly, she had grown so liberal with the personal details of her life.
Suzuhara, she decided, would be the last person she volunteered this fact with.
…it is fitting, after all.
"Scheming on other guys, huh?" Touji mused after a moment of silence. "I never would have figured you for the player type, Ayanami…"
Rei felt slightly exasperated.
Player… playing the field… scheming… why was it that everyone picked these unflattering terms? She was simply exploring her feelings, nothing more. No one was being hurt by her actions, and as Kaji had pointed out, unless there was a declaration of exclusivity, there should be no expectations of it.
Right?
"And what of yourself?" she asked levelly. "Is there anyone you have affection for, Suzuhara?"
Touji snorted. "Is there anyone I have affection for?" he chuckled. "Man, you sound like a robot out of one of those old sci-fi flicks."
Rei's blush intensified. Why is it so undesirable to speak properly? she asked herself. The Commander always taught me that-
"No," Touji said suddenly, breaking into her thoughts, "I haven't thought about going out with a girl since Kimiko got hurt."
"Kimiko?"
"My sister."
"Ah."
Touji looked up at the sky. "I notice girls and stuff," he said thoughtfully, "don't get me wrong, I'm not like, gay or anything… I just… I ain't got the time, ya know?"
"I see."
Glancing down into the school, Touji spotted Hikari Horaki just turning away from the window.
He nearly jumped out of his skin, though, certain that Rei had read his mind as she murmured, "What is your opinion of Representative Horaki?"
"Hikari?" he said, trying to hide his surprise. "Umm… I dunno… she's cute, I guess. Why?"
"Because she is interested in you."
Touji, who had been approached by a few 'proxy' girls in his time, found himself horrible unprepared for the calm, methodical tactics Rei employed.
"Wh-huh?"
"She is interested in you, but too shy to voice her interest," Rei said clearly. "Would you date her, if she asked, Suzuhara?"
Feeling very much like a fish out of water, Touji stuttered, "I, er… I guess, I mean – yeah, if I had the time to." The reality of his situation quickly overrode his shock, reminding him rather forcefully of several facts. "I doubt she'd want to be with me, though," he said slowly. "I mean, I'm a pilot now, and my sister's in the hospital… so even if we were going out, I don't know when I'd get to see her."
"So you would not be able to commit yourself to her exclusively."
Touji blinked, finding this a rather odd question.
If he barely had time for one girlfriend, how could he have time for two?
"…no, probably not."
"I see."
A stiff breeze rose up, forcing Touji to cover his eyes for a moment to avoid getting something in them. When the wind died down and allowed him to open them again, he found that Rei had joined him at the railing, and was glancing down at the school with a completely neutral expression on her face.
Venturing a wild, uncharacteristically intuitive guess, Touji whispered, "You're not… are you… asking me out…?"
For a long, long moment, Rei said nothing, choosing instead to stare down at the window she spent so much time looking out of as if noticing for the first time that there was another way to see that small pane of glass.
Finally, after what felt to Touji like an eternity, the blue-haired girl lifted her gaze, looked him straight in the eyes, and gave him a soft, one-word reply.
The resulting conversation kept the two on the rooftop long after the bell signaling the end of lunch had rung.
( 0 0 0 )
Kaji rubbed his tired eyes, finally clicking his monitor off before resting his chin on his hands and staring at the blank screen.
If only he'd had the presence of mind to do that earlier.
"Jeez," he muttered, "she really went ballistic, didn't she? Good thing she still doesn't know about Rei…"
The she in question, a certain Miss Souryu, had stormed off in a huff a mere fifteen minutes prior, leaving Kaji alone to lament the fact that she had uncovered the identity of the Fourth Child before it had been formally announced. So far, only top-level personnel and those directly involved with the activation of the EVAs, knew that Touji had been chosen.
Well, them and Asuka, Kaji reminded himself sardonically. Yeah, it's DEFINITELY a good thing she doesn't know about Rei.
He could not even imagine the ruckus that would be raised if the volatile, fragile, confused Second ever found out that her arch nemesis was prancing around naked (which she still did from time to time, much to Kaji's chagrin) in a place she herself had not even set foot in.
Hell hath no fury, and all that.
Kaji looked up as his door was opened, suppressing a groan as he found Misato striding boldly into his small office.
And speaking of fury…
The purple-haired woman walked over to his desk, leaning casually against it as she folded her arms under her generous bosom, every muscle in her body projecting 'confrontation' like a loudspeaker on high.
Kaji braced himself.
"So," she said abruptly, "you banging her…?"
"Ahh, delicate as always," Kaji sighed, pushing away from his computer and lacing his hands behind his head. "Yes, actually. It's a lot of work, because she's such a little thing and I have to concentrate on being careful not to break her, but it's worth it, because she makes this cute little whimpering noise when I-"
"Ugh," Misato interrupted, making a nauseated face, "not funny."
"You started it."
"Yeah, but I was kidding."
"…no you weren't."
Misato averted her eyes. "I liked the cross," she said evenly, "that was a nice touch."
"I didn't have anything to do with that," Kaji said patiently, "you know perfectly well that I don't have time to take anyone shopping for clothes or accessories or any of that crap – I've got too much going on for that."
"Oh, so she just picked all that stuff herself?" Misato asked, arching an eyebrow.
Kaji pursed his lips. "Has it ever occurred to you that she might have other friends?"
"No," Misato said bluntly, "it hadn't. I wonder if it's that Horaki girl… she's been spending a lot of time with her, according to the Section Two reports. Heh… wonder why she didn't get Rei all made up while she was changing her wardrobe."
Scowling, Kaji muttered, "I wouldn't have let Rei in the house if she had."
Misato clucked her tongue. "Still haven't gotten over that dislike of makeup, have you?"
"Never have, never will."
"You never did explain that to me, you know… made going out with you that much harder – and it wasn't easy to begin with."
"What's this all about, Katsuragi?" Kaji said, deftly avoiding the issue yet again. "You know what I'm doing… you've seen what's under our feet… why would you think I'd have time to go around screwing teenagers and rubbing your nose in it?"
"Just seems like something you'd do," Misato said evenly. "When you were with me, we-"
Misato cut herself off as Kaji abruptly rose to his feet.
In spite of being armed, and trained in several styles of hand-to-hand combat, she found her left foot sliding backwards, putting more distance between her and Kaji.
"It was different with you," Kaji said flatly, staring boldly into her questioning eyes as he took a corresponding step closer. "You know… it was different with you."
"Yeah, well," Misato cleared her throat, "that was… a long time ago, and… and…"
Words failed her as Kaji put his hands on her waist, keeping her from pulling back any further.
"Stop running from me."
Misato opened her mouth – to say what, she was not sure, as she had been suppressing her feelings for so long that she wasn't even sure what they were anymore… but before she could say a single word, her lips were gently occupied in another endeavor.
( 0 0 0 )
The apartment was quiet, as it usually was on weeknights, giving Rei ample opportunity to do her homework in peace. Though it was getting rather late, she did not expect to see Kaji for a while yet. His schedule was erratic, but Rei knew that he rarely got home sooner than nine o'clock on a work day.
So it was that she found herself mildly surprised to hear the door to the apartment click open at a quarter past eight.
"You left it unlocked again…"
Rei began to reply, but stopped herself as she caught sight of her roommate.
"S'up?"
"Nothing," Rei murmured, trying not to stare at the man's disheveled, unkempt appearance. "Are you… alright?"
Kaji shrugged, tossing his sport coat over the back of the couch and kicking the door absently closed. "Sure," he said cheerfully, "why wouldn't I be?"
"Your clothes…"
Rei trailed off as she realized that the man had not been attacked.
…not by thugs, anyway.
Kaji walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer.
He was smiling rather broadly.
"Well, you can guess how my day went," he said slyly. "How was yours?"
Pursing her lips, Rei bent her head back over her homework.
"Productive…"
"Really?" Kaji said curiously. "How so?"
Rei pushed her homework away and rose to her feet, making her way to the cupboards and pulling out an empty glass. "I clarified some questions I had," she said carefully, turning on the kitchen tap and allowing it to run for a moment to cool the water. "It was… unexpectedly satisfying."
"Like, cooking satisfying?"
Giving him a sideways glance, Rei wondered, "Must every conversation we have return to the topic of intercourse?"
Though she had not thought it possible, Kaji's smile grew.
"Only the ones that can."
"Ah."
Seeing that the girl was not amused by this, Kaji sobered a bit. "So what did you do that was so… man, did you have to use the word satisfying? It's like an engraved invitation to – ok, ok, I'll stop! Come back."
Rei, who had begun to leave the room, paused for a moment before slowly returning to the sink and filling her glass. "I spoke with someone," she said quietly. "It was… enlightening."
"Was it one of the guys you like?" Kaji probed. "Hey, don't give me that look – I didn't ask if you were screwing him!"
Turning off the tap, Rei replied, "I don't want to answer you."
"What? Why not?"
Rei sipped her water for a moment.
"Because you will try to find out who I spoke with," she said bluntly, "to see if you are able to discover who I favor."
"Wow, that's paranoid," Kaji said petulantly.
"Am I mistaken?"
"…well, no – but I would have been subtle about it, how's that?"
"Unsurprising."
Rei set her glass on the counter, slowly taking in Kaji's entire frame. After a moment, she stepped closer, closing her eyes for a moment and inhaling through her nostrils.
"You smell of lavender," she said quietly, opening her eyes as Kaji was on the verge of asking what she was doing. "I would suggest a shower, Mister Kaji… Miss Ibuki expressed an interest in dropping by for a visit this evening."
"Ah crap!" Kaji explained, reaching for his buttons… but freezing as he realized what Rei was saying. "You didn't have to tell me, you know," he observed, slowly slipping the first two buttons of his shirt free of their loops. "Maya's your friend, right? And you know what I'm doing… why would you warn me she's coming and make sure she didn't find out?"
Rei returned to the table, pulling her homework back over to her before replying.
"Because you are more important to me than Miss Ibuki," she said unapologetically. "Furthermore, had she found out this way, she would have been hurt… and it is not my place to interfere with the affairs of those around me anymore than it is their place to interfere in mine, wouldn't you agree?"
Kaji was very close to asking Rei to clarify the 'you are more important to me' portion of her dialogue, but before he could speak, there was a soft, tentative rapping sound at the front door.
An unexpectedly sharp jab of guilt hit Kaji's gut, making him wince.
"Get that, would you?" he asked, making his way towards the bathroom without sparing a glance at Rei. "I'm gonna take a shower…"
"Alright…"
It was funny, Kaji mused, how the afterglow of fantastic sex seemed to fade when held up in comparison to a remembered smile and a few softly whispered, honest words of affection spoken unexpectedly in a darkened apartment.
Turning the shower on, he began to strip out of his clothes… but when he got under the water, he nearly screamed out loud, finding that he had neglected to turn on the cold tap.
Fumbling for the faucet, he could only think, Damn subconscious. Freud would have a field day!
As he set about washing, Kaji deliberately kept himself from thinking of how many people were going to be burned before he was done doing what he had to do. The number, he guessed, would be rather high… though three, in particular, would be the ones that would keep him up at night.
Provided he survived, of course.
Continued…
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