The Bicycle
Shinji heaved a sigh of relief as the bell rang. It was finally the end of the week. School always seemed to drag on forever on Fridays. This week had been especially long because for the last several days the pilots had been doing tests every day after school. Shinji stuffed his books and papers into his bag and left the classroom as the rest of his classmates talked to each other about their plans for the weekend. When he walked down the steps outside, he saw Rei walking ahead of him and carrying an enormous stack of papers in addition to her school bag. As he watched her walk down the sidewalk, several of the papers drifted off the top of the pile and landed next to her. Rei set down the larger stack of papers, but these started to blow away as well. Shinji ran over to help her before all of the papers became scattered over the lawn of the school.
She said nothing as Shinji came over and started to pick up the papers with her. When all of the papers were neatly stacked again she gave him a brief glance in acknowledgement of his help and started off towards her apartment. Within several minutes the same thing had happened again as the wind picked up. Shinji reached out and snatched a stray paper out of the air as it floated by him. He walked over to Rei again and said, "Umm, I don't think that this is going to work." Rei said nothing. Shinji helped put the stack of papers back together again. As he handed her the last paper he suddenly thought of a way to help her get home. Near the front of the school were several bicycles which had been abandoned after their owners had moved out of the city. Anyone was free to borrow one as long as it was returned to the school when a person was finished using it. "Wait here" he told Rei, and ran off to select a bike.
There was only one old blue bike left with squeaky breaks, but it was better than nothing. Shinji rode over to Rei and put some of the papers in the small basket on the front of the bike. Rei gathered up the rest and squeezed onto the seat behind Shinji. "Ready?" he asked.
"Yes" she replied. She put one arm around his waist and gripped the rest of papers tightly. Shinji sucked in his breath sharply as her hand gripped the front of his shirt and she leaned in closer. He had never liked it when people got too close to him. Shinji almost got off of the bike, but he had promised to help her so he started to pedal.
At first, all he could think about was how close she was to him. He could feel her arm around him and every time she moved he would flinch and the bike would jerk in another direction. They passed through the streets of the city with the breaks squeaking on the bike every time they went down a hill. Eventually Shinji became used to Rei's presence and started to enjoy the ride. The breeze from their passage was pleasantly cool and the bike moved smoothly along the sidewalk. He could smell the scent from her hair, but he decided that he liked the smell. It smelled clean, almost like after it had rained. Asuka and Misato tended to have shampoo that shouted FLOWERS! He always avoided the bathroom after one of them had taken a shower because the smell was so strong that he felt if he breathed in too much the scent would knock him out.
They arrived at Rei's apartment in a surprisingly short time. The bike squeaked to a halt and he gripped Rei's hand as she jumped off the bike. He collected the papers from the basket and turned to follow Rei. Rei had her other hand out to accept the rest of the papers from him, but Shinji shook his head. "I'll take them up to your apartment." She seemed surprised that he would bother to that, but she turned and went to the elevator. The doors opened immediately and they both stepped in. The ride upward was silent as both of them watched the numbers of the floors slowly move past.
They walked into her apartment and Shinji set the stack of papers down on her table. Rei set down the other stack. Shinji walked back to the door and was reaching for the handle when he felt Rei's hand on his wrist. He turned back to look at her and took a step back at her gaze. They looked at each other for a moment, then she said "Thank you Shinji."
"Err, you're welcome."
Rei closed the door and listened to Shinji walk away. She touched the handle which he had touched moments before and then went to the kitchen. This was the first time she had called him by his first name. The second time she had thanked him.
Outside, Shinji pushed the kickstand back with his foot and got on the bike. He pushed off and took a deep breath of the air. As long as he had the bike he might as well enjoy it. He turned to take the bike to a nearby park.
Rei opened the tiny window in the kitchen. She was not on the bicycle, but she still wanted to feel the wind in her hair.