Rebuild of Third Genesis
Nine
Ritsuko blinked at Misato in honest surprise, summoned to the office Misato was using in the NERV pyramid. "But why do I have to go along?" she finally had to ask Misato, sitting on the comfortable couch in her office.
"Because I hate going shopping," Misato sighed, "and if I have to do it, then I'm sharing the misery." She ran a hand through her short dark hair tiredly and asked her curiously, "What's going on between you and Maya?"
Ritsuko looked surprised at the change of topic as she answered stiffly, "Nothing."
Misato sighed with annoyance as she said, "That's what I mean." She gave Ritsuko a fierce look and asked, "I think you're smart enough to know how she feels about you, right?"
"Yes, I know," Ritsuko met her eyes equally fiercely, "and I also know that it would be completely inappropriate."
"What's going on?" Misato asked her as she met Ritsuko's eyes gently, "I'm asking as your friend, not as the commander of NERV."
Ritsuko sat there silently for a moment her face turned away from Misato's as she softly said, "You knew about my relationship with Gendo?"
Misato looked confused as she answered, "Yes. What's that got to do with...?"
"I knew he was taking advantage of me," Ritsuko's voice was very quiet, almost coming out as a whisper as she told Misato, "knew that he was manipulating me. I just didn't care." She finally turned back to look at Misato as she added, "I won't take advantage of Maya the very same way."
"There is no way," Misato burst out, "that you are at all like Gendo Ikari!"
Ritsuko smiled slightly as she said, "Thank you." The blonde looked into her friend's eyes, "And I don't ever want to become like him, either. So as long as Maya is my subordinate, I will not enter into a relationship with her."
Misato looked at her steadily for a few moments, then she startled her best friend by bursting into loud laughter.
"What?" Ritsuko looked over at Misato like she had lost her mind, her eyes narrowing in pure annoyance.
"I'm glad I put that promotion request through for Maya," Misato chuckled softly as she added smugly, "pretty soon you won't have that excuse to use anymore."
"What?" Ritsuko repeated, as if it hadn't quite penetrated yet.
Misato smirked as she got up from the couch and said, "Come on, let's join the others."
"Wait just a minute," Ritsuko ran to catch up with her.
Maya Ibuki looked over the oversized jeep with a frown, wishing that she had a better vehicle available for their little trip. Still, it was the best she could do on short notice. The boyish looking brown haired woman saw Asuka and Rei walk out of the nearby building and gave them a wave.
"Hey, Maya," Asuka smiled as the fiery haired girl asked, "are you coming along, too?"
A bit of a blush showed on Maya's cheeks as she admitted, "I thought Sempai and Misato could use a driver. Besides, it might be fun."
Maya looked at Asuka covertly, marveling again at how much she had changed. The bitter, angry girl that she had been was seemly gone, with only the occasional flare of temper remaining. She wasn't sure if it was her injuries, or the odd things that they had all been through during the Third Impact, but Asuka was a changed woman.
"Maya," Rei smiled at her tentatively, the almost albino woman staying close to Asuka.
"Hello, Rei," Maya nodded.
Asuka opened up the back door of the jeep, then gently helped Rei up and in. Asuka seemed... slightly torn over helping Rei that way. On one hand she seemed sort of annoyed at the seeming neediness of the other girl, yet part of her also enjoyed caring for someone else.
Noticing Maya looking Asuka scowled, then mustering up some of her old attitude Asuka she asked, "So when are we leaving, anyway?"
Maya smiled back cheerfully, "As soon as Sempai and Misato get here."
The two women came out of the building a few moments later, obviously in the middle of what looked like a heated conversation. "... I can't believe you did that without consulting me," Ritsuko said, "I am still her superior officer, you know."
"She was up for it anyway," Misato shrugged, "so what's the problem?" A smirk teased her lips as she drawled, "Besides your personal one."
"Misato," Ritsuko scolded.
Misato stuck her tongue out at her and blew a loud raspberry as Maya clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a fit of giggles.
"Well, that was mature," Asuka shook her head ruefully. Rei gently tugged at her arm and Asuka turned to look into those red eyes, "What?"
"What does that mean, anyway?" Rei asked curiously.
Asuka sweatdropped. "It's a bit hard to explain," she started.
Ritsuko resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Misato in return, but it looked like it was taking a real effort. She got close to the jeep and blinked in surprise at who was sitting in the front driver's seat. "Maya," she said quietly, nodding hello.
"Hello, Sempai," Maya looked a bit nervous as she continued on bravely, "I thought that you two could use a driver."
"Great idea, Maya," Misato beamed as she ordered, "Ritsuko, you get in front with her, I'll ride in the back with Rei and Asuka."
Ritsuko shot Misato a quick glare, but there was nothing reasonable she could say in protest, so she just climbed inside, wishing she wasn't wearing a skirt as the hem rode up. She pulled the cloth down as she settled, but a faint blush colored her cheeks.
Maya looked between the two women, wondering what, exactly, was going on. Tentatively she looked back to ask Misato, "Where do we want to go shopping?"
"A very good question," Misato admitted. She looked over at Rei, "What sort of clothes would you like?"
Rei smiled back shyly as she answered innocently, "I really don't know."
"Then let's hit what's left of the clothing district," Asuka suggested practically, "and let Rei try some different things on. That way she can decide for herself."
"Sounds like a plan," Misato agreed.
Maya started up the engine, looking over at Ritsuko with a little smile as if she was asking her for her opinion. Ritsuko smiled back, "Lets go."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Oh my," Asuka said weakly as Rei stepped out of the change room dressed in a school uniform. They had used her old size to start with, but obviously that wasn't going to work considering how... sexy Rei looked..
Rei tugged at the too short skirt self consciously, while being careful not to take too deep of a breath in case she popped open her sailor blouse. Misato was killing herself laughing, while Ritsuko and Maya were fighting off a similar urge.
"I think we'll have to try a size larger," Asuka finally managed to get out, her throat strangely tight and her heart beating just a bit faster..
"Thank you," Rei puffed out a sigh before going back into the change room.
"Sorry, Asuka," Misato finally was able to get her laughter under control.
Asuka shook her head as she muttered disapprovingly, "I can't believe you two are supposed to be the adults." She looked at over at Maya and added, "Not that you managed much better."
Maya nodded meekly, but there was a amused twinkle in her eye as she pointed out, "I'm just glad we didn't get a swimsuit for her to try on in that size."
Asuka suddenly had a mental image of Rei nearly spilling out of a swimsuit appear in her head and had to blush furiously. 'Damn it,' she thought fiercely, 'what's wrong with me!'
'Interesting, very interesting,' Ritsuko noted. Aloud she said, "Let's go grab her another uniform, then. Some slacks and shirts, too."
"Right," Misato smiled slightly. Turning towards the change booth she called out, "Rei, what color clothes do you want?"
Without really thinking about it Rei opened up the door to answer, "White and blue."
"Oh, god," Asuka squeaked, turning quickly away from the nude Rei. While still pale she had a much more healthy coloration, and to be honest was much better filled out than the first clone.
Ritsuko stepped forward and shut the door firmly as she told Rei, "Thank you." Moving over to Misato she quietly murmured to her, "We might want to try to explain to Rei the concept of modesty."
"That sounds like a good idea," Misato agreed, noting the fierce blushes on both Asuka and Maya's faces. With a amused smile she ordered,"You take care of Maya, I've got Asuka."
"Right," Ritsuko nodded. She grabbed Maya's hand as she said, "Come on, let's go find Rei a few more items to try on."
"Right, Sempai," Maya stammered, stumbling behind the taller woman.
"You all right?" Misato asked quietly as she stepped up to where Asuka was standing, the redhead looking a bit shell-shocked.
"Sorry, she just surprised me," Asuka said quietly.
"And she'll probably keep doing that too," Misato admitted with a sigh. Asuka looked at her curiously so she explained, "It looks like Gendo educated her about the EVAs and NERV, but he left out all the usual social skills."
"Sort of like the first Rei," Asuka murmured thoughtfully, thinking of her frustrating encounters with the emotionless girl.
Misato shook her head in disagreement, "No, even the first Rei had some body modesty." She looked thoughtful, "Though I do remember Rei traumatizing Shinji once dressed only in a towel."
"Now there's a interesting mental image," Asuka mumbled.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
In a different part of the world Satsuki Ooi, temporary head of NERV-Berlin, was attempting to break into her former employers' files. It wasn't easy but she had put the number crunching abilities of their three Magi to work on the encryption, and she had high hopes on breaking in.
The tall brown haired woman was sitting in her boss' office, the lights on in what normally would have been a dark room. It was a big office with a big desk, and some part of Satsuki was tempted to wonder if her boss had been compensating for something.
"Hullo," a voice called from the doorway, then her friend and co-worker Aoi Mogami stuck her head in and looked around.
"Come on in," Satsuki smiled tiredly.
Aoi walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair opposite of Satsuki, her glasses gleaming. "Have you told Katsuragi at Tokyo-3 about the Asukae?"
"Asukae?" Satsuki blinked.
"Asuka, singular, Asukae, plural," Aoi shrugged. "Well?"
"Not yet," Satsuki admitted. She frowned as she studied the data scrolling on her screen, "I want to find out what they were doing with those clones."
"Back ups?" Aoi offered.
"Maybe, but...," Satsuki started to answer when the computer chirped, signaling the document was decrypted. "Hold on a second," she ordered as she read, her eyes widening in alarm. "Oh hell," she muttered, sitting back.
"What? What?" Aoi asked eagerly.
"They.. let two of the clones out, in a attempt to socialize them," Satsuki said flatly as she closed her eyes, "One is a junior in your department, the other is a pilot trainee."
"One of MY...?" Aoi blinked. Then she shook her head as she asked, "Who's the pilot?"
"The crazy one," Satsuki sighed quietly, "Mari Illustrious Makinami."
To be continued...
