A/N: Thank you all so much for being so patient in waiting for this update. This chapter is long overdue so I won't waste time with going on about what might as well be called a three-year hiatus and get on to it.
Disclaimer: A lot has changed but ownership of Neon Genesis Evangelion has not. I am still just a fan doing fanfiction.
Kensuke rested his forearms on the counter as the receptionist in front of himself and Toji went over the registry of patients.
"Ikari Shinji... Ikari Shinji... Ikari Shinji..." She mumbled the name to herself under her breath as her eyes scanned the screen of the computer before her. After a few more minutes of this she turned to the boys and shook her head. "I'm sorry, but there's no one by that name staying at this hospital."
"What!?" Toji exclaimed, pent up frustration at the long list of dead ends finally coming out. "Ya can't be serious..."
The receptionist flinched slightly at the outburst before steadying herself from her surprise. "I really am sorry, but that person simply isn't staying at this hospital." Her voice was very professional but Kensuke could tell that the young woman wanted them both to leave now.
The bespectacled boy straightened his postured and bowed. "Thank you very much for your time."
Toji followed suit a second later. "Th-thank you very much." He said, a bit rattled by his own frustration, and then followed his best friend out the door.
"Well," the shorter of the two began a about a block away from the hospital. "I don't think they're going to let us back in there anytime soon." At least she hadn't called security on them, though it was cold comfort in the face of another dead-end.
The Fourth Child was still fuming a bit. "Jeez, dis sucks. We're running outta places to look." He turned his gaze skyward and gave an irritated sigh.
Kensuke made a neutral sound in his throat. "If he's in NERV's private hospital we won't have access to it." Tokyo-3 didn't have very many hospitals to begin because of how small the population really was, though they were well spread out. There was only one other place they could check and if Shinji wasn't there then all that was left for them to do was pray.
Toji sat down on a public bench. "I need a minute." The artificial leg he had to replace the one he lost in the incident with Unit-04 was still taking some getting used to along with regular adjustments. It wasn't all that comfortable to stand on for long periods so rest breaks were becoming common.
The blond boy took a seat on the concrete next to the bench in order to get a better look at the mechanical limb. It was covered by his friend's pant leg so he couldn't really see it but the outline through the cloth looked the same as if it were natural.
Toji hadn't been quite the same since it happened. He was still as tactless and stubborn as ever but there were times when he'd become quite and troubled. Not to mention prickly, which was a lesson that had been learned the hard way. Toji only rarely talked about the day he lost his lower leg and what he did was more than a little upsetting to hear.
It sometimes made Kensuke wonder if getting to pilot an Evangelion would really be everything he had always thought it would be. And wasn't that a depressing thought? Between Toji's clear issues with the thing, Shinji's disappearance, and Rei and Asuka's sudden withdrawal, NERV had a lot to answer for.
The dark-haired teen stood up then, breaking the other from his train of thought. "C'mon, let's get going already. We ain't got all day." He complained, looking at his friend.
Kensuke considered mentioning that they did have all day and that Toji was the one who had needed to stop but thought better of it and bit his tongue on the remark. Instead he got up and followed the taller boy's lead.
. . .
There were only a handful of pairs of footsteps resounding in the grocery store. Tokyo-3 was beginning to feel like a ghost town. This was amplified by choosing an odd time on a Sunday to do one's grocery shopping. It had an eerie sort of peace to it, and that had been the point.
Asuka examined a cabbage seriously for a few long minutes. Rei held the shopping basket as she watched her do this. The red haired German was wearing a yellow sundress and brown sandals. It was a warm day.
After another half a minute of speculation on it she dropped it into the basket with the other ingredients for the night's meal. Large amounts of time spent outside and socializing was still a bit stressful so the girls had decided on shopping for lunch and dinner now instead of going out again later.
Blue eyes regarded the paler girl and the fact that she was still wearing her school uniform. Like always. Asuka frowned at it, staring distastefully. "Honestly, why do you always wear that?" She snipped at Rei. It was annoying, and she didn't want to think about how many of those uniforms she had to own just to get through a week, or otherwise, how often she had to wash that one in particular.
Rei just stared at Asuka flatly. "It's what I own." She said unblinkingly.
That got a reaction out of the Second Child, it was not a good one. "What!? You're kidding!" She exploded. "There is no way you can walk around in the same outfit all the time - you're supposed to wear different clothes on your free days - all girls do." This seemed to be a very big deal to the redhead at the moment. "Besides, wearing the same thing all the time is gross."
"I don't mind. It's functional." The First Child said simply.
That answer didn't sit well with Asuka. "Gross is still gross." She insisted heatedly. She marched past Rei, grabbing her hand as she went and charged along shopping. "You're getting clothes on our next day off. Hikari will back me up."
Rei just looked at their hands and felt confused as Asuka led them down the aisle. Why? Her school uniform was fine, wasn't it? Her red irises watched the skirt of her fellow pilot's yellow sundress billow and swish with each movement. It flowed freely and fluidly, it was in it's own abstract way. The sandals made a firm, determined clicking sound every step; a contrast to the graceful fluttering of the skirt.
They were impractical. Asuka couldn't really run or use many of her abilities as a pilot dressed like that. Rei's own clothes, while less pretty, were better suited to such things. She made very little noise in the plain brown shoes she wore but they were more comfortable. Her school uniform skirt gave her free motion without the long, loose folds of Asuka's sundress to get caught on things. It didn't make any interesting swirls as movement as she walked either, though. It just served it's function and didn't get in the way. The clothes were much like Rei herself; a good little doll that only ever did as told. A doll who didn't even wear different clothes if no one said something, who didn't have different clothes to wear to begin with. 'But...' Red orbs stayed fixed on the skirt near the hem as each motion made it dance airily.
'I am not a doll!' "Okay." Rei said finally, returning to the half-lost thread of conversation.
Asuka hadn't been expecting the other girl to say anything else about it and turned to look at her surprised. "You aren't getting a choice." She said bluntly but didn't hide the pleased tone or smile at the First Child's decisiveness. Then she went back to finishing their shopping list without another word about it.
As Asuka had her back to the other pilot while she went back to shopping she didn't notice Rei's lips turn up at the corners faintly. Maybe she would pick out a sundress.
. . .
"Um..." Shinji began in a small voice as he tried to get Benjamin White's attention while he gripping his broom tightly out of nerves.
Benjamin turned from his inventory check to look at his youngest employee. "Hello there, Shinji. Is everything okay?" He asked kindly in Japanese.
"Mm." The Third Child's blue eyes flicked to look at the counter and floor briefly before continuing. "There was something I wanted to ask you about."
Benjamin gave a warm smile. "Of course. Why don't you come over hear so we can talk about it." He offered.
The ex-pilot hesitated, the he set his broom against the wall and walked over so that they wouldn't have to talk from halfway across the room. Although the bakery was still and the sound carried well, he didn't want to be overheard anyway. Shinji took a moment, trying to gather up the right words and courage to speak. "The 13th is Kaworu's birthday..." He started, his hand opening and closing anxiously by his side. "He's never had anyone celebrate it with him. I - could we bake him a cake?" His nerves were getting to him and the brunet really hoped that he wasn't asking for too much.
He just couldn't help it. When Shinji had heard Kaworu tell him about how SEELE regarded his date of birth is just made him too sad. It was true that Shinji had never celebrated his personally either but he had never felt that it mattered that much. He had no one to celebrate with anyway. But Kaworu was different. He was wonderful and Shinji wanted more than anything to show him that.
Benjamin listened to the brunet teen's request and his smile widened at it. "Oh, we can do better than that. We'll dress the shop up to the nines. You don't mind if I let Sally in on it, do you? She'll love to be involved." He said with a conspirator's whisper.
Shinji brightened at that and nodded, his whole face lighting up at the positive response. He had wanted to ask Sally himself but his English just wasn't good enough to hold the conversation yet. At least, not without drawing the attention of the birthday angel.
Kaworu would probably tell Shinji that he was just happy to be thought of and not to bother with any sort of actual celebration. But Shinji wanted to. Even though he didn't really remember it, the Third Child knew that his had been celebrated when his mother had been alive. He'd seen a picture once - just once, though. It had been before his father had abandoned him and destroyed any photographs that they had of her.
But that just made Shinji determined to do this. Kaworu had done so much for him so now it was his turn to do something for Kaworu.
"I'll bring it up to Sally tonight. I'm sure she'll have some good ideas." Benjamin said with a wink. "Now let's get you back to work before Kaworu gets wind of it." He added with another conspiratory whisper.
Shinji nodded again. "Thank you." He said sincerely with a faint happy blush on his cheeks. Then he got on with his work, trying to keep his excitement to himself.
A/N: Again, thank you all for your support of this story and your patience. Knowing people were still interested in it really helped me kick myself into gear to get back to it. Here's hoping the next chapter is less difficult to wrestle with.