Disclaimer: blah blah blah, something about me not owning Evangelion.

Yay, chapter 4 already! I'm having a lot of fun writing this fic, so I'm thinking it'll likely end up being at least 6 chapters. This chapter is going to be waaay longer than my previous entries, because I'm getting to implement a lot of ideas I've had to keep bottled up until now. Things have been good for me so far! And thanks for the reviews!

Last time, Shinji finished his final mathematics exam for the year, thanks to some much needed study help from Asuka. Shinji's friends have speculated that Asuka may have an ulterior motive, but they've chosen to leave Shinji in the dark as to what it is. Now that Misato's anticipated weekend barbeque arrived, things are going to get interesting!


Humans weren't meant to float

By GeekViking86

Chapter 4 – The anticipated reunion

"Maya, you look beautiful!" Misato beamed as she embraced her former subordinate after letting her through the door.

Mrs. Maya Aoba looked almost exactly as she did when Misato last saw her, but now she was covered in a glow of healthy maternal warmth, in addition to having a modestly sized bulge of second-trimester pregnancy, which was complimented nicely by her simple but elegant white blouse and Capri pants. Misato had noticed she had let her hair grow out a little, as well. "I mean look at you, you're glowing!" she said again.

"Thank you Misato, although I really owe a lot to the father." Maya smiled as she stepped inside with her husband Shigeru, who was carrying an acoustic guitar case.

"What can I say? Our little bundle of joy hit the genetic jackpot." Shigeru smiled as he pecked Maya's lips with his own.

"So… Where's Makoto-san?" Misato asked.

"Oh, a customer needed to bump up the finalization of a deal to today, but Makoto offered to go so that we wouldn't be late. He'll only be an hour or two." Answered Shigeru.

"You know Misato, that Makoto is still carrying quite a torch for you." Maya teased.

"Yeah, I've kind of known for a while." Said Misato, suppressing a small blush.

"Every time we talk about old times at NERV, he's always the first one to bring you up. 'Major Katsuragi was the greatest! She always knew what to do, and even when she didn't she kept so cool!'" Shigeru chuckled. Now they're just trying to embarrass me. Misato thought, trying her best not to giggle.

"He really is a nice guy though. Maybe you should give him a chance sometime." Maya grinned.

"He was cute in his own special way, I suppose. But right now my priority is getting Shinji and Asuka through school."

"Still, a woman's entitled to some personal happiness. Shigeru and me are having a baby, but we're still going to make time for each other." Maya smiled as Shigeru rubbed her stomach.

Hmm…She does have a point I guess.

"So, where are the former pilots, anyway?"

"Oh, they're probably outside with Asuka's friend Hikari. Come on, I'll show you the house."

"Okay, but I want to say hi to the kids afterwards." Said Maya as she wrapped her arm around Shigeru's. Misato proceeded to give them the grand tour.


Don't let her see you staring…That was all Shinji could think about Asuka's choice of swimwear. She was wearing a red bikini and a tie-dye cover-up, and it took every ounce of willpower to keep his focus on her eyes. Hikari seemed to be a bit more modest, wearing a black one-piece and a pair of shorts. In a way, he admired that about her. But he couldn't deny that he liked what he saw with Asuka. The three of them had been making idle chitchat for the past ten minutes or so.

"…So then, Yin told me the only reason he asked her out to make his old girlfriend jealous, and then he stood her up! Can you believe that pig?" Asuka ranted.

"What a jerk. I just hope she doesn't give up just because one guy tried to use her." said Hikari.

A group conversation with two girls is…different…Shinji thought, not really having anything to add.

"So Shinji, when are your two stooges supposed to show up?"

"Oh-- I'm pretty sure they'll be here in a little bit. I told them to show up around ten."

Hikari glanced down at her sports watch.

"Well it's five of, I hope they arrive soon." Having noticed that Shinji didn't particularly enjoy their previous topic, she chose to switch to something that she was pretty sure he would. "So tell me Shinji, what kind of glaze are you using for the grill?"

"Well, I've got a mango barbeque sauce for the ribs, and I let the chicken soak in some teriyaki overnight. I'm also gonna give the burgers a little boost with some wooster—uh, worchester—dang, what's it called?"

"Worcestershire sauce." Asuka said blankly, while giving her eyes a roll.

"That word is so hard! How the do they expect people to pronounce it?" Shinji grumbled, but Asuka and Hikari let out a laugh. Just then, Shinji saw his buddies Toji and Kensuke coming from around the side of the house, both wearing swim trunks, sandals, and T-shirts, with sports bags slung over their shoulders. Toji also carried a big nylon bag in his hand, which Shinji could only assume was his volleyball net.

"Hey Shin-Man, how's it flying?" Toji shouted.

"Hey guys." Shinji waved, and his friends soon dropped their bags and made themselves comfortable with Misato's patio furniture.

"Hi Hikari." Toji grinned as he leaned down and kissed his girlfriend on the forehead. She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey Shinji, did Misato's friends from NERV get here already? I saw a pretty sweet car parked out front." Kensuke inquired, which made Shinji feel a little more alert.

"Maybe Misato is showing them around the house?" He gestured.

"Ooh… If I find anything displaced in my room she's gonna get it!" Asuka angrily spat.


Hikari's gaze drifted over to the lake, and her eyes settled on a small island not far from the shore. It was less than a hundred feet wide with lots of tall trees growing on it, and had some large, smooth looking rocks coming out of the water around it.

"So Asuka, what's that little island over there?" she pointed.

"It's a pretty nice place, I've swum to it once or twice. Maybe later we can all swim over there, if you guys want." Asuka informed her with a grin. Shinji however seemed to sink into his chair quietly at this notion.

I'm going to need an excuse, but what? It'll be a miracle if I can get through the summer without Asuka figuring it out…Shinji's mind debated. His thought was cut off when the patio door slid open, and out stepped Misato—and almost instantly, Toji and Kensuke's jaws dropped when they saw her. She wore a navy blue string bikini, a pink cover-up around her legs, and a pair of flip-flop sandals.

"Ow!" Toji let out a quiet yelp, and his eyes went back to Hikari. Noticing he was now the only one staring, Kensuke's attention quickly went to his friends. What is with those two? It's just Misato in a swimsuit…Shinji shook his head. In all fairness though, he had a similar reaction when he'd fist seen her like that. After living with her for three years though, he'd adapted to it. Nothing I haven't seen before…She does look good though.

Misato led her two guests onto the patio with a smile, and introduced everyone to each other. Almost instantly, Hikari and Asuka had flocked over to Maya and wasted no time to start feeling her stomach and bombarding her with giggle-laced questions, which she was more than happy to answer.

Heh, girls. Shinji thought.

Shigeru pulled up a seat and sat down with the group of young men.

"So, you were part of the Evangelion project?" Kensuke asked with his face lit up.

"Yes, but I also worked with the Magi system. Most of my job was with computers, so it wasn't extremely exciting."

"So, did your work with the Magi help when you started your company with Maya-San and Hyuga-san?" Shinji asked.

"A lot. In fact, that's probably biggest reason we're doing so well. When the Magi were destroyed with Tokyo 3, all of the cities that were connected to them were almost completely blacked out. But since we were familiar with how the Magi worked, we were able to come up with individual systems that could carry out their basic functions, and get the cities up and running again."

"Cool!" Kensuke grinned. Most of this conversation seemed a little over Toji's head, so Shigeru took note.

"Ah, I'm sounding like a commercial, that's enough about my job for now. How was school this year? Did you meet any nice girls you like?" he smiled, and he had soon stuck a very active conversation.


"So, is it a boy or a girl? Do you know yet?" Hikari asked Maya.

"Well, we did have an ultrasound done, but we decided we wanted to wait till it's born to find out." Maya answered.

"Have you thought of any names yet?" Asuka asked.

"Actually, we have. But I need to wait for Shigeru and Shinji before I can tell you." Asuka looked over in the direction of the men who were still blabbering with eachother, and scowled. Aw come on… I want to know now!

"So Maya-san, Misato-san tells me that your business is doing really well… And actually, I'm thinking of being a business major when I start college! Is there any advice you can give me?" Hikari asked.

"Well, first of all, the business world we have today isn't quite booming yet, but I'd say you'd be making a smart choice to jump in early. I'd definitely advise you take something else on the side too though, so you have something to fall back on. But the best piece of advice I can give you, is don't let your professional ambitions make you forget what's really important." With that last sentence, Maya looked down and rubbed her pregnancy.

"Yeah, I really hope I can start a family someday too. But please don't tell Toji! Boys his age are terrified of that stuff." the young brunette blushed with a smile. Maya turned her attention to Asuka.

"So Asuka, what are your plans?"

"Well, I already got a college degree when I was like, twelve. But I'm thinking about going again to get my masters' degree. I haven't really decided what I want it in though."

"Well, do you have any personal goals, like Hikari?"

"Humph. Why would I want to start a family? All the boys I know are jerks, and besides, I don't think I want to have kids."

"Well, I used to feel that way too, but look at me now." Maya told her. "Asuka… Are you afraid you'd be a bad mother?" Asuka stayed quiet for a moment.

"Well-- I really don't know. It's not that I don't like kids, but I haven't exactly had a lot of good examples…"

Hearing this caused Maya to frown slightly, wondering if perhaps she'd asked a little too much. Poor kid… I do remember hearing she had some serious mom issues growing up…

"Well don't worry, you're still young. You have plenty of time to figure things out." She said reassuringly, to which Asuka made a small nod.

The patio door slid open, and Misato stepped out with a cooler in her arms.

"Drinks anyone? And remember, no beer if you're under 20, unless you're really nice to me!" she called teasingly, and all of the teens flocked around grabbing for various sodas. Maya stood up from her seat and put her hand on her husband's shoulder.

"Hey Shiggy, don't we have an announcement to make?" She asked him, speaking loud enough that the others could hear.

What? Did she just call Aoba-san "Shiggy"? What is it with married people…Asuka's mind tried to comprehend.

"Ah yes, we do. Shinji? Asuka?" the two teens looked at the longhaired man. "With both of your permission, we were hoping that if our baby is a girl, we could name it Asuka, and if it's a boy we could name it Shinji." Asuka's eyes lit up like stars, and Shinji's went wide.

"Well of course! Who wouldn't want to have their child named after me?" Asuka proudly accepted.

"Uh, yeah, sure I guess." Shinji said with a nervous smirk on his face.

"Well then thank you, both of you." Maya gleamed as she took a seat with Shigeru.

Finished with his cola, Toji picked up his big nylon bag and slung it over his shoulder. While taking Hikari's hand in his, he looked over to Asuka and Shinji.

"Hey newlyweds, do you want me and Hikari to whoop you at some volleyball?" He challenged, knowing Asuka's pride wouldn't be able to resist with that wording.

"Will you stop with that newlywe—argh! There's no way you can beat me, even with that baka on my team! Come on, Shinji!" Asuka grabbed her housemate by the arm.

"Asuka, did you remember your sun block?" Misato asked motherly.

"Ugh-- Yes!" the redhead huffed angrily. She pulled Shinji's arm and soon the two were following their friends down to the sandy beach.

Kensuke grinned and started rummaging through his sports bag, finally producing his trusted camcorder.

"This is gonna be great!" he laughed.


"You dummkopf! How are you supposed to hit the ball if you're too afraid to even look at it when it's coming?" Asuka yelled at Shinji, who had just allowed Toji and Hikari to score.

"I'm sorry, it's a reflex!"

"So you can catch a giant angel falling from outer space with enough explosives to destroy a city, but you can't parry a leather ball filled with air?" the german growled while picking up the white volleyball. "It's not like getting hit even hurts that much, see?" She then bounced the ball on Shinji's head.

"Ow!"

"Okay, now this time, if the ball is coming at you, just bump it to me and I'll take care of it. And don't cover your face!" Shinji nodded. Asuka rolled the ball under the net and Toji picked it up.

"Ready you two?" the shirtless jock asked.

"Bring it on!" Challenged the redhead.

Toji served the ball into the court, and Asuka rushed to set it, followed by a good spike, landing it in the opposing court before the other team could intercept. Wow, she's good. Shinji thought. She looks good, too…he mentally commented, as he stole a glance at her uncovered legs and bouncing "assets". Gah! Stop thinking about her like that! That's Asuka! He shook his head to clear his mind.

"Now, remember: if it's coming at you, don't chicken out, it's not made of lead!" Asuka barked as Hikari tossed her the ball.

The teams took their positions, and Asuka made her serve. Hikari managed to pass it to Toji, who made a hard spike in Shinji's direction. Remembering Asuka's instructions, Shinji did his best to parry, and was semi-successful—except that he ended up using his face instead of his hands. Seconds later, he noticed that he was now laying on his back in the sand. Oh man, I sure hope I don't get a nosebleed! Soon, Asuka was glaring daggers at Toji.

"What were you thinking? Are you trying to kill the poor baka?" she shouted at him angrily.

"Oops. Oh well, a point is a point." The jock shrugged, and received a punch in the shoulder from Hikari.

"Argh! You stupid, smug-faced muscle-head!" Asuka yelled in frustration while pulling Shinji to his feet.

"This is pure dynamite." Kensuke laughed as he caught it all on camera from the sidelines.


"Makoto! It's so good to see you again!" Misato said cheerfully as she shook the former lieutenant's hand.

"Ah, hello Major Katsuragi." Makoto Hyuga said with a blush on his face. He'd never seen Misato dressed like this before, but she more than lived up to his mind's expectations... Even the large scar near her ribs, which Makoto had never before known of, didn't detract from her image one bit. If anything it showed strong character, since Misato clearly wasn't ashamed of people seeing it.

"I'm not a Major anymore." She reminded him. "And you're not my subordinate, so to you I'm just Misato now." A playful grin came across her lips.

"Oh, okay, Misato… It's good seeing you too." the young man smiled. He'd never called her by her first name before, but he certainly liked how it felt. "So, uh… Shigeru, the transaction went over smoothly. Maruki-san said that he looked forward to doing business with us again."

"Dandy. Now sit down!" Shigeru gestured to the seat next to Misato. Hyuga complied, and tried his best not to allow himself to sweat. Misato wanted to giggle at his shyness, but was able to contain herself.

Shigeru reached into the cooler and pulled out three beers, plus a ginger ale for Maya, at her request. "No drinking for you until you're of age." She had teased while looking at her bulge.

"Misato… Have you heard from Ritsuko at all?" Maya asked.

"No, I haven't. If she's gotten back yet--" she paused. Not since third impact…"I have a feeling we won't be hearing from her until she's ready. I think she had a lot of baggage that she still needs to sort through." They all sat in silence for a moment.

"Well then, here's to Dr. Aikagi, wherever she may be." Shigeru said while raising his beverage. His former NERV colleagues followed, and they drank.

"So… Tell me Misato, how are the kids?" Makoto asked.

"Well, they still act up sometimes, but they're getting along a lot better. Sometimes when they get started though, I almost feel like I'm not quite an adult." Misato gave a light-hearted sigh.

"Well you've certainly got my respect. It takes a really special kind of person to take on the commitment of raising two teenagers." Now, it was Misato's turn to blush.

"Th--thank you." She stammered. "So, how have you been? Your personal life, I mean."

"Well, I don't really know a lot of people in New Yokohama outside of work…"

He always did seem kind of shy, except when he was at work-- Almost like Shinji in a way. He probably just needs something to break him out of his shell.

"So, what have you been doing in your spare time?" asked Misato.

"Well—there's a nice art museum that I like to visit."

Art museum? Yup, that'd be a shell.

Misato's thoughts were cut short when they heard some very loud arguing coming from the beach, and soon the troupe of sixteen year olds were marching up to the patio. The first thing that everyone noticed was a large red mark on Shinji's face.


"What on earth happened to Shinji?" Misato shouted with worry, as she cupped Shinji's face with her hand and inspected the mark.

"He got hit in the head with the ball." Said Toji.

"Yeah, when you pegged him with it!" Asuka sneered, and shook her closed fist at him.

"You two stop it, we had this argument already!" Hikari scolded.

Shinji rubbed the red mark on his face, feeling embarrassed about being the center of attention.

"Don't worry, it doesn't hurt that bad. It'll probably go away in a few minutes…" He mumbled apologetically.

"Well, we should at least put some ice on it, or it might swell up. Asuka, could you go get a dish cloth?" Misato requested. Less than a minute later, Shinji had a decent sized wad of ice and cloth pressed to his face.

"Hmm… I feel like going for a swim. Hey Hikari, do you want to go check out that island?" Asuka asked.

"Sure, let's all go!" Hikari smiled at Toji, who stood up with Kensuke.

"Hey Shinji, you're coming too! A little cool water would be good for that mark on your face!" Asuka said, not exactly as a request.

"Uh, actually I was thinking I'd just stay here and start on lunch. Go ahead, you'll have more fun without me. Besides, you'll be hungry when you get back."

"What? Don't give me that! I seem to remember informing you that I wanted you to get some exercise today!"

"It's okay Asuka. If he's not interested in going, you don't have to make him." Misato stepped in.

"What? Don't tell me you're—oh fine, stay here and be bored. But you're gonna be running laps later!" Asuka said with a mix of anger and disappointment, and was soon off to the water with Shinji's three other friends.

"Well, I think I'll go get the food ready." Shinji said. He got up and went into the house, sliding the door shut behind him.

"Misato, is Shinji—" Mokoto started.

"Yes." Misato sighed, as a memory from long ago came back to her in vivid detail.


"Shinji-kun, you really need a break. Look at you, you've already taken down three Angels, but it's like you never leave the house!" Shinji's lavender-haired room-mate complained.

"Well, I don't really have anywhere to go except to visit Toji and Kensuke." He explained reluctantly. Misato let out a sigh, but then a bright smile came across her face.

"Tell you what, this weekend we'll drive down to the ocean. It'll be just the two of us without any of our problems, unless something comes up at NERV and they really need us. The ocean is perfect for swimming this time of year!"

"That sounds nice Misato, but you don't need to go through all that just for me."

"Come on, it'll be lots of fun! I'll get us a nice hotel suite to stay at, and we can eat out somewhere special!" she nagged.

"Thanks, but I'm fine." He said passively.

Okay Shinji, you asked for it. It's time for my secret weapon. A minxy grin appeared on Misato's lips, and she stooped down to Shinji's eye level so that her face was only a few inches away from his.

"If you're a good boy-- I'll let you rub suntan lotion all over me. And I just bought a really nice new bikini…" She said in a seductive voice, which made Shinji's face turn the most adorable shade of red Misato had seen.

"I, uh—thanks, but um…" he stammered nervously.

"Oh come on Shinji, why don't you want to go?"

"I can't swim, alright?" He shouted, and Misato's playfulness suddenly left her.

"Are you a bad swimmer? Because if you want I could teach--" she began to ask pleadingly, but was cut-off.

"I'm scared of water. Are you satisfied now?" Shinji said looking almost like he was about to cry. He plopped down onto the couch with a thud.

"I—I'm sorry Shinji."

"Don't be, I'm the one who should be sorry-- sorry for being such a wimp and rejecting your kindness and generosity." He sniffled. Misato then took a seat next to him on the couch.

"It's okay Shinji, that's nothing to be ashamed of." She put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We'll just go somewhere else, okay?" Shinji's eyes had stopped welling, and he gave a weak smile.

"Yeah, sure."


The island had turned out to be really nice, just like Asuka described. The water around it was fairly shallow, only about four or five feet deep, making it a little warmer than the rest of the lake. There wasn't much of a shore, but the large smooth rocks surrounding it made it fairly easy to climb onto the land. The trees provided plenty of shade on the island itself, but it wasn't long before Toji had climbed one of them and was trying to convince Kensuke to do the same. Hikari and Asuka however, had decided to lounge on the rocks while dipping their feet in the water.

Asuka was disappointed that Shinji decided not to come, but she was mad at him too, especially for hiding behind Misato like that. Hmm… I wonder if I should make him do some pushups later, too…

"Asuka, are you thinking about Shinji?" asked Hikari, catching Asuka a little off guard.

"What? As if I don't have anything better to think about than that little baka." The redhead denied.

"Oh, well I was just wondering…" Hikari trailed off.

"Wondering what?"

"Well… Do you think Shinji can't swim?"

"What? Of course not! He obviously had no problems being completely submerged in LCL when he was an Eva pilot, and he had to breathe that stuff! He's probably just lazy."

"Well, it's just that he seemed to be kind of jittery whenever we brought up the subject of swimming, and I could tell he was disappointed when we all left."

Asuka thought for a minute, and then the idea really started to stick with her.

"Hmm… Actually, when I think about it… I'm not even sure Shinji owns a pair of swim trunks. And ever since I met him, I can't think of a single time I've seen him in the water."

"Maybe he's afraid?"

"That'd be just like that baka! He handles an extreme just fine, but when faced with something normal he's terrified! It's just like at the volleyball court."

"But, if he's scared of water, then why didn't he mind moving to a lake house?"

"Well you clearly don't know Shinji like I do."

"Hmm… I guess not."


At lunch, the teenagers and adults had broken off into groups to eat in. Kensuke decided to sit with the adults, because he was having an absolutely fascinating conversation about some recently de-classified NERV information with Shigeru. Misato was having a pleasant talk with Maya and Makoto about who-knows-what, but she looked like she was enjoying it immensly.

In the younger group, things were a lot quieter, but not nearly as friendly. Having already wolfed down her food, Asuka simply sat there watching Shinji eat, and staring with a hard look that almost frightened him. Finally, Shinji just had to ask.

"Um… Asuka, is there something you're mad about?"

"You can't swim, can you?" Asuka's words nearly knocked Shinji out of his seat. "I knew it! I'll bet you're afraid of water, too!" Her face made a mean grin, and Shinji almost felt like he wanted to curl up under his chair and die.

"Asuka-- You're embarrassing me." Shinji whispered.

"Shinji, there is no rational reason for you to be scared of water!"

"Yes there is, it's called drowning." This really seemed to annoy Asuka.

"Ugh! Since when did you become so stubborn? If you learned to be a good swimmer, you wouldn't be afraid of drowning!"

"I don't want to." He stated, trying to hold his ground.

"Then I'll make you!" Asuka shouted at him while shaking her fist, drawing everyone's attention. Shinji's eyes went wide, and he didn't have anything to say. "Before summer is over, you're going to swim over to that island and back, and I'm going to teach you how!"

"I—ow!" Shinji felt a kick in the shin from Toji, who made several odd gestures that seemed to demand Shinji agree. Shinji's insides were at complete war with each other.

"You know me, Shinji. When I set my mind on something, I won't give up until I get it. Now are you going to let me be your trainer, or not?"

Toji gave Shinji another kick.

"Do it!" he whispered. Shinji was extremely confused at this point, but in the end the word broke free of it's prison in Shinji's throat.

"Yes."

"Perfect!" Asuka smiled triumphantly.

Shinji slumped into his seat, and started poking his potato salad idly. What did I just get myself into?

Misato on the other hand couldn't be happier. Not only had Asuka willingly made a commitment to spend more time with Shinji, but the girl also was able to do what Misato had given up on long ago and get Shinji to face his fear of water. Whether or not she'd have success, only time could tell. But regardless, Asuka had actually managed to break down Shinji's barrier, and Misato wanted to hug her for it. Maybe her domineering personality can help Shinji to change? Now, if only Shinji could help her scale it back a little… Misato wondered.


"What is wrong with you? Do you think this is funny?" Shinji belted at Toji. Shinji had taken his two friends to a slightly more secluded area around the other side of the house, because they needed to talk.

"Hey man, I'm not the one who said yes." Toji chuckled. He was finding all of this very amusing.

"That was only because you pressured me into it! What I want to know is why? Is it because you think I'm a wimp too?"

"Ah, so naïve… I was once the same." There he was again with the chuckling. This was really getting annoying for Shinji.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"He means, there's a lot more to this than you being afraid of water." Kensuke inserted.

"Yeah, like what?" pouted the young Ikari.

"Shinji, do you remember when Hikari first offered to make me lunch at school?" Toji asked, and Shinji nodded. "Well at first, I thought that she was just being practical. But when I was in the hospital, she'd visit me and hold my hand, and say she wished there was more she could do…"

"And?"

"After third impact, when we were able to see each other again, she kept finding little favors to do for me. She even started giving me haircuts, and that's when it hit me… She enjoyed doing things for me, because she liked me."

Shinji suddenly realized what Toji was getting at, and his jaw went slack.

"Are you saying Asuka might—like me?" he asked.

"Let's just put it this way—For her, it's not just about whether or not you know how to swim. It's because she wants to teach you."

"You'd better watch your back Shinji, because the demon wants to put her mark on you!" Kensuke laughed juvenilely. Shinji just shook his head.

"This is… Heavy." He sighed while rubbing his forehead.


Author's notes

Whew! Finally, I finished that chapter! I had a lot to cover in it, so it ended up being lot longer than I had originally anticipated. I had originally contemplated breaking it in half, but decided against it since it didn't feel complete otherwise.

And just in case anyone was wondering about the whole "No drinks if you're under 20" line, I made sure to google it and found out that Japan's legal drinking age is 20, a year younger than the legal age here in the US.

The next chapter might take a little while to go up because I didn't have time to get a head start on it like I did with chapter 4, because it was so much longer and took a lot more time to proof read. I really hope it was worth the wait though, and it'll be enough to tide you over till I can get Chapter 5 out. Keep on the look out for the next chapter, and please try to leave a review if you've got the time. Thanks again, and God bless:)