Ah, back again with another chapter! Yes, I know it's been a long time coming. And yes, the Christmas chapter isn't going to be very timely at all, because I haven't even gotten a chance to start writing it yet. But hey, progress is progress! I wanted to make sure this chapter was as good as I could get it, because like many transitional chapters it required quite a bit of polish to get it where I liked it. Plus, I've been on vacation the past few days with no internet access, so I was kind of in a rut even though this chapter was technically finished already. So please, enjoy!
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My mother's cello
By GeekViking86
Chapter 3: New roads, dead ends
Shinji smirked as he leaned his latest creation against the living room wall, and then sat on the couch to observe it. Even though it was just basic mountain landscape, the fact that just over a month ago Shinji had almost no experience with paint at all brought him some satisfaction. He would have liked to work on for one more session, but even so he felt it was at least "pretty good."
He really did feel fortunate that the UN was paying for his education, because at this point, he kind of doubted that he could have afforded art college tuition on his own, let alone while attending Kyoto separately for his lib arts. It seemed truly amazing just how much a fine arts education could cost, in spite of the relatively low pay expectancy for the career it promised.
"So you're home!" Asuka said as she walked into the room, and stepped up to the painting to take a look. "Is it finished?"
"Yeah. It's not much, but at least I can finally work on something new."
"Hey, you're doing really well!" Asuka encouraged. "You don't need to be Rembrandt; you need to be Shinji. And I like the way Shinji paints." she said proudly, before giving Shinji a peck on the lips.
"Thanks Asuka." Shinji said to her as he sat down on the couch, and Asuka found a comfortable spot snuggled next to him. Although it was pretty common for them to spend their afternoon loafing around like this, there was something on Shinji's mind that he'd been meaning to ask for a while, and unable to think of anything else, he found himself asking it.
"Asuka, I know we haven't really talked much about this, but… When do you think I can meet your dad and step mom?"
Asuka didn't answer immediately, and instead leaned back onto Shinji's chest, and looked towards her lap.
"I haven't told them I'm engaged yet." Asuka sighed. "Why do you care so much, anyway?"
"It's just that I always thought that, y'know… Meeting the parents was what couples do when they're getting married."
"Well, I guess maybe I could give them a call sometime."
"Are things—okay with you guys?" Shinji carefully asked, and he was worried for a moment when Asuka didn't answer. "I'm sorry, that's not really any of my business." He blurted shamefully.
"No, don't apologize!" Asuka pleaded. "They're going to be your family too, so you have every right to meet them!"
Asuka stood up from Shinji's lap and walked in the direction of the phone, and grabbed it in her hand.
"You're going to call them now!?" Shinji asked from his agape mouth.
"I might as well. I shouldn't put it off any longer." Asuka explained, as she was about to dial the number.
"But think about it, it's only three o' clock! They might not even be awake yet!"
Asuka's hand stopped before she could finish dialing the number, and then began to laugh as she turned the phone off and put it back on the receiver.
"Have I really lived in Japan that long?" she chuckled. "I guess I should wait a little longer huh?"
"It happens to the best of us." Shinji joked as Asuka re-took her place on the couch.
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Asuka had been talking on the phone in her room for well over an hour, but Shinji couldn't even hope to understand just what she was saying. Although Shinji had been getting excellent grades in his English language class thanks to Asuka's frequent tutoring, he couldn't make sense of any of her conversation since she kept switching from English to German in mid-sentence. Not that it mattered, because it wasn't like he was trying to eavesdrop anyway. He was at least glad not to hear any of Asuka's German cursing, and that she sounded like she was in a generally pleasant mood.
Finally, he heard an enthusiastic "Auf Wiedersehen", followed by the beep of Asuka turning off the phone. Deciding to take a more proactive approach, Shinji got up from the couch and went to Asuka's door, and carefully pushed it open.
"How did it go?" Shinji asked, to which Asuka patted the spot next to her on the bed, and Shinji took a seat.
"Shinji, you know how we were planning to visit with Misato for the holidays?"
"Uhuh."
"Well… Papa says wants to meet you, and my step mom suggested we fly out there to spend Christmas with them."
"Really?"
"Yeah, she said they'd pay for the air fare and everything."
"Well, I'm sure our friends and Misato would understand. We can still go back to her place for New Year's Eve, right?"
"Heck, I'll even bring the lampshades. And besides, I think it'd be a good time to talk with her and our friends about our wedding plans." Asuka explained. "Which reminds me…"
"What is it?" Shinji asked.
"My cousins from Boston are probably gonna be visiting my Dad's house, and…"
"Wait a minute… I didn't know you had any cousins." Shinji said in surprise.
"Their names are Patrick and Kate, and I lived with them for a while when I was in America. We haven't seen each other in a while, but we were pretty tight."
"Is your whole family flying half way around the world to meet me?" Shinji asked nervously.
"Well… I guess you could put it that way, sort of. It's been a while since the whole Langley family has gotten together, and I guess this was the perfect excuse."
"Talk about no pressure…" Shinji sarcastically groaned as he rubbed his forehead anxiously.
"Hey, relax. They're going to love you." Asuka said as she playfully shook Shinji's shoulder. "Anyway, would you be okay with having Patrick as a groomsman? I don't want just the stooges on your side of the altar, and I was hoping both of my cousins could be in the bridal party." She asked with Bambi-eyes.
"Sure, anything to make you happy." Shinji said with a smile. "But if they're anything like you, this is going to be one heck of an endurance test." He snarkily added.
"Hey!" Asuka grunted as she gave Shinji a playful punch in the shoulder, which got a satisfying wince out of him. "Well I guess that means I can call Papa and Marie back a lot sooner than I expected." She picked the phone back up, and began to redial her parents' number. "Get your cello, Yo-Yo Ma. Once I'm off the phone, we're going to start practicing carols."
Shinji nodded, and left to collect his cherished instrument.
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After a somewhat rough but promising rendition of "Silent Night" came to it's end, Shinji put down his cello's bow and huffed some air out of his lungs in relief.
"Do you think we can give it a break now?" he pleaded, but Asuka simply raised her violin bow as if she was ready to start playing again.
"We've still got a long way to go if we want to impress my dad. You've got to keep up with my tempo!" insisted Asuka.
"I thought the song is supposed to be slow. If we played it as fast as you kept trying to, it'd sound all weird." Shinji lectured, and although Asuka did not want to admit defeat, she knew that Shinji was probably right. "We've been going for over an hour, and we've got two months to work on it. We're not in a hurry."
"Yeah, I guess we should take a break for a while." The Redhead confessed, lightening up a little. Shinji sighed with relief and placed his cello on its stand. Asuka took her usual place next to him, and lied down with the back of her head resting on Shinji's leg.
"You know Shinji… With all this talk of meeting my folks, there's something I've been meaning to ask you…" Asuka spoke softly.
"What?"
Asuka took in a breath of air and thought for a moment. Knowing the hesitation she'd felt about the subject of her own parents, Asuka knew that it might be a little difficult to bring up what she wanted to ask Shinji. That's why when she approached the subject, she tried to do it carefully.
"Do you still want to look up, you know, some stuff about your mom?"
Shinji's fingers halted their usual habit of running through Asuka's hair for a moment, which sent Asuka the signal that he was thinking.
"I guess so."
"You guess so? That's a pretty weak answer if you ask me." Asuka scowled with disappointment. "Sure, we didn't really find much at school, but that doesn't mean we have to give up. I thought you really wanted to do this?"
"Well…"
"Come Shinji, no-one understands you better than me. Don't be afraid to talk about it."
"I don't have a lot of memories of my mom. It's just a few little things, but I always clung on tight to those. I guess I'm afraid…" Shinji started to trail off.
"You're afraid you'll be disappointed if you find out more, right?"
Shinji gave Asuka a confirming nod.
"But don't you feel like owe it to yourself to find out?"
"Yeah, I do." Shinji sighed. "And I think I know where to look."
Eyes lit with curiosity, Asuka sat up as Shinji took his cello by the neck, carefully turned it on its side, and pointed to a small bronze plaque with some katakana writing on it. Asuka began to read it aloud.
"Presented by the Kyoto Center for the Performing Arts to Yui Ikari: May everything you do in life be as beautiful as your music." Asuka paused for a moment, taken aback. "This—belonged to her?"
Shinji nodded gently.
"I guess we could try looking up the place where she got it."
"I'm up for some digging." Asuka grinned. "So what are we waiting for?"
His vigor seemingly returned, Shinji gave a small but honest grin, and soon they were both headed to the car.
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As Shinji made his way up the steps of the large white building before him with Asuka at his side, he couldn't help but feel a few butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He had never been to the Center for the Performing Arts before, and although he knew it did have a very good reputation for fostering talent, he had always wondered about what kind of reputation his mother might have had there—after all, it was unlikely that they'd hand out an expensive cello to just anyone who walked through the door. And then, his anxiousness caught him—and actually stopped his ascension of the stairs.
What if I find out that I can never live up to her? Am I really ready for this?
"Shinji, what's wrong?" Asuka asked.
"It's nothing, just give me a second." Shinji answered meekly. But really, it was hard to explain, and he questioned if Asuka would even be able to understand.
"If you've changed your mind, then…"
"No, it's okay, let's go."
I've come this far already… If I don't go now, what if I never do?
He reached the top of the steps, where he opened the glass doors and found himself in the lobby. It was a beautifully decorated room with a richly patterned carpet, two comfortable looking sofas and a chair, and woodwork around the walls coated with a rich, dark varnish. Behind the reception desk was a middle-aged woman who had her hair pulled back in a bun, and she smiled politely when she saw Shinji and Asuka enter.
"Good evening! May I help you?" she asked them.
"Um, maybe… We're looking for information about someone who was a student here." Shinji told her.
"Let me page Mrs. Morimoto; she handles our archives." The woman explained, and then picked up the phone. "Mrs. Morimoto? There are some young people here who'd like to see the student archives. Oh? Thank you." The woman placed the phone back on the receiver, and then left her place behind the desk, motioning for Shinji and Asuka to follow her down a hallway. They went around the corner and saw an elderly woman waiting in front of a door. She had gray hair and wrinkles near her eyes and mouth, and she gave the three of them a warm smile when she saw them approach.
"Hello, I'm Mrs. Morimoto Leena." The elderly woman said cheerfully with a bow.
"I'm Ikari Shinji, and this is my fiancée, Sohryu Asuka Langley."
"Pleased to meet you." Miss Ibishi said to them both.
"Likewise." Asuka smiled.
Once they'd all been introduced, the receptionist went back to her desk and left the three of them alone. Mrs. Morimoto opened the door to the archives room, and began to speak as they walked through the room's various file cabinets and shelves.
"So, Ikari-san… Would you happen to be related to Ms. Yui Ikari?"
Shinji could feel his heart skip a beat, and he could tell Asuka's grip on his hand was tightening.
"Yes, she was my mother."
"I knew it, you have her eyes!" The woman said in delight as she began looking through file cabinets. "She was one of the finest Cello players ever to grace this school… And that was before we had digital archives, as you might have guessed…" The woman chuckled, pointing to the dusty shelf units
"Shinji plays Cello too!" Asuka excitedly told her. "And he's pretty darned good himself!"
"Well isn't that wonderful!" Mrs. Morimoto said brightly. "So Shinji, what kind of information about Yui were you hoping to find?"
"Anything, really. But I was hoping to at least find a picture of her." Shinji replied.
"Oh my… I'm terribly sorry. I didn't realize…"
"It's okay." Shinji sighed.
"We were all so sad to learn when she passed away. It must have been hard for you…" Mrs. Morimoto lamented as she came to the drawer she was looking for. "Ah, here we are—Ikari Yui…"
Shinji's eyes lit up as Mrs. Morimoto pulled the folder out of the drawer. She handed it to Shinji, who carefully opened it and began to examine its contents… And his heart sank when he discovered that it was almost completely empty save for some bland school records, and a stack of white paper that had been stapled together in the corner.
"Wait a moment… I'm sure there was more in there! I know we had pictures of her, they should have been with everything else!" the woman exclaimed in disappointment. "It's been years since anyone's gone through that file, I don't know who could have taken everything!"
"I'm sorry Shinji…" Asuka whispered to the boy next to her as she held his hand, looking sorrowfully into his eyes. Out of curiousity, and perhaps desperation, Asuka began thumbing through the small stack of stapled paper. And to her surprise, she discovered hand written sheet music beneath it. "Well, it looks like whoever was here at least left this…"
"Ah…" Mrs. Morimoto admonished as she looked at the pages. "On the night of her swan song, Yui played this."
She handed the music to Shinji, and he began glancing over it, although none of it seemed particularly familiar to him.
"It's a piece she wrote herself. When it ended, the chairman of the center personally presented her with a beautiful cello on behalf of everyone here. We were all disappointed that Yui wasn't going to play Cello professionally, but that was one of the most beautiful nights I can remember in the twenty-six years I've worked here."
"I actually have that same cello… It's all I really have left of her."
"Well then I'm sure she would want you to have this."
Shinji sighed as he looked down at the music. He at least wouldn't go home entirely empty handed, but this was certainly not the prize he had been hoping for.
"Well, if you ever have the chance to come back, I'd love a chance to hear you play." Mrs. Morimoto humbly requested.
"We'll see, I suppose. Thanks for your time, Mrs. Morimoto."
"Think nothing of it. And I do hope you can find what you were looking for someday." The older woman said.
After they said their farewells, Asuka took Shinji's arm and they headed back to where they started, at the front steps of the building. Asuka could tell that Shinji was disappointed by the look on his face, and she wasn't really sure how best to comfort him. She had known that it was possible that their search would end in failure, but she now scolded herself for not thinking far enough ahead about what to do if that should happen.
"Shinji, do you want to sit down for a moment?" She asked thoughtfully, to which Shinji silently nodded, and then they found a vacant bench.
"I should have known this would happen." Shinji grunted angrily, clutching the sheet music just barely light enough not to crumple it.
"At least you tried. It's better than not knowing at all, isn't it?"
"I thought it would be… But then to learn that my old man got here first… It's like even from beyond his grave, he's still trying to hide her from me." Shinji said with anger lacing his words.
Asuka wanted to say something to make Shinji feel better, but she just couldn't think of anything that wouldn't potentially make it hurt more, so she decided against it.
"I always thought that somehow, being able to play my mother's cello would bring me closer to her. But all it's really done is make me want to know her even more, and now I don't think I'll ever be able to. I know it's kind of stupid, but…"
"No, there's nothing stupid about that at all. I can understand." Asuka said reassuringly as she caressed Shinji's shoulder. "Let's go home. I think we're both tired, and could use a good night's sleep."
"Yeah. And maybe this weekend I can take a crack at my mom's cello notes. Might as well get something out of all this."
They went to get their car out of the parking garage, and spent the trip home listening to the radio rather than talking. It had been one of the longest days either of them had had in a long time, and now all that they could seem to think about was putting it behind them.
End chapter
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Another chapter under the ol' belt! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go pass out for a few hours and hopefully get started on Chapter 4 sometime soon! Hopefully it'll be out by the end of January. But hey, whoever said you can only have Christmas stuff in December, anyway? Heck, nothing stopped me from watching a Christmas episode of The Office while I was having a DVD binge this weekend.
Thanks for reading, please send your reviews, keep an eye out for the next chapter, and God Bless!