Nothing Will Ever Change That
Disclaimer- I do not own anything to do with NGE.
Chapter 48: Hikari's Daughter
Hikari's House – One Month Later
Hikari invited us over for lunch today, and we were sitting down at the table in an awkward silence. Asuka thought that she was starting to get a bigger stomach, but there was NO WAY anyone could notice. It just wasn't that much of a change, unless you knew that she was carrying a child, you wouldn't think twice about it. She stopped wearing her normal tight shirts and has drifted into more baggy clothing. Right now she was wearing a pair of jeans with a shirt about two sizes bigger then it needed to be.
"This is great food, thank you for inviting us…" I try to break the silence, but it was quickly shot down. No-one made a comment on it, and the silence went on. I hated this! I just tried to hurry up and eat so we could leave. Hikari said that she would go with us to the park where we were meeting Cass and Sam after lunch. By some miracle, her dad was okay with this. We finished eating and left without a word.
"Sorry… about my parents. They aren't really social people," we walked up to my car as she apologized.
"Don't worry about it. Have you met my father! I consider you lucky," and I did. She did have parents that loved her unconditionally. I mean, sure, I got a car, but only because Akagi convinced him to.
"Yeah, about that, do you mind doing me a favor?" this being a two-seat car, she had to squeeze in on the middle.
A/N- I know about the emergency brake and stuff, but I couldn't think of anything else.
"Sure, what is it?" she bows her head a little.
"Can you take my to this address? It's on the way, and I'll only be a minute. Please?" her eyes were full of sadness, so I agreed to it. When we got there, I saw a two-story house painted red. Hikari got out and knocked on the door. A woman came to the door and gave her a sweet smile. Hikari pointed to us and said something. The woman smiled again. "Shinji! Asuka! Come here!" we both got out of the car and walked up to her, "You know about my daughter? Well, would you like to see her?" Holy crap!
"Uh… s-sure…" we both say in unison. I was a little nervous; I could tell that she was using this as a warning of things that may come.
"Come on in, Hana's inside playing." Here goes… my heart is pounding.
"Thanks," did Hikari always act like this when she came to see her child? We walk in to see some toys with a three-year-old in the middle of the living room sitting down.
"Mommy!" the child got up and ran over to Hikari. I thought that it was weird for her to call Hikari mom, she did live with two other people that took care of her, so one would assume that the child would call THEM mom and dad. Apparently not.
"Hi honey," Hikari leaned down and hugged her, "this is Shinji and Asuka. They are friends of mine. Say hi."
"Hello!" she had brown hair and looked almost exactly like Hikari.
"This is Hana, my child," I can see that! I lean down to meet Hana at eye level.
"Hi there," this gets a smile from her. I didn't even realize that I was smiling too, but apparently I was.
"Hana, why don't you go play in your room?" the older woman spoke.
"Okay!" this was defiantly Hikari's child! I don't care if she never lived with Hikari a day in her life, the personality was clear.
"So, this is Shinji and Asuka?" she looks at Asuka, "Hmmm… what does seeing this make you think of?" what was she talking about? Did Hikari tell her?
"Well… I guess that it's pretty sweet of you to…" she cut Asuka off.
"Not that. I'm asking about the child. How do you feel about it?" Hikari did tell her!
"You mean Hana? I can definitely tell that it's Hikari's… but…" finally, Hikari cut in.
"Arina, what are you getting at?" wait… if Hikari didn't tell her… then who did? This had to be coming from somewhere.
"What I'm getting at is the young woman right here. Are you the father?" I nod slightly, "Well at least you stuck around. What were you two thinking?" how the hell did she know!
"I don't think that's any of your business!" Asuka was all red. I wasn't too sure if it was from being mad or embarrassed. I sure as hell know I was embarrassed!
"Look, all I'm asking is if you two think you're ready! I saw Hikari when she was pregnant, and it was NOT a pretty sight. She came to our door one day begging us to take Hana, and we accepted. I'm not saying I regret it by any means, but I think you will!" I've already had enough of this.
"We meet you and within a few minutes you're lecturing us? Screw this, we're leaving. Hikari, if you want a ride, I recommend you come to." I'm so pissed! Seriously, what the hell was her problem? As Asuka and I walk away, Hikari follows. I barely got in the car before we were driving. "Hikari, I thought you said you weren't going to tell anyone!" she did promise that.
"I swear, I didn't! I don't know how she knows!" I knew that to be true, but then how? Could it be that she could tell? There's no way! Even I forget about it sometimes.
"Whatever, I don't care. I'm not ashamed of it, and I won't ever be," that was a surprise comment coming from Asuka. We drove in silence the rest of the way. Hikari said that she just wanted to go home, and truthfully, so did I. We dropped her off and headed to the park. Once we got there, I saw Cass and Sam sitting down on a bench.
"Hey! Cass! Sam!" they both get up and walk towards us. We get out of the car and meet them halfway.
"Hey… what's wrong?" was the expression on my face that obvious? I didn't want to explain what happened, so I avoided it.
"Nothing," that was obviously a lie, and everyone knew it, "why did you need us to come here?" come to think of it, they never said why exactly, and of course, I didn't think to ask.
"Just to be together, we haven't had much time together lately." It was true. Ever since the party, we have barely had a conversation with them. In fact, I haven't talked to either of them in two days.
"Sounds good to me," maybe I could use this to relax a little. I did need a stress reliever right now.
A/N- Told you that it was a filler. Time jump for the next chapter, about a month and a half to Asuka's birthday. I'm really not going to make a big deal about it, and you'll know why soon enough! Find out in the next chapter; Another, until then, keep on keepin' on!