Notes from GobHobblin: I cannot, for the life of me, write a convincing cover letter. I just felt the need to complain about that, because that's what I should be doing right now (sigh).
As it stood, keeping a secret from Yui was as successful an endeavor as appealing to the sun and moon to cease their crossings. Gendo was napping on a couch in one of the student common areas when he felt someone pinch his foot. He opened one eye to see Yui staring down at him, her face drawn.
"Are you okay?"
"Of course," he replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"Because you had a run in with your dad and it went bad," she answered.
"Fuyutsuki talks to much," Gendo grumped, turning his face away from her. Yui narrowed her eyes, turned, and sat down with a huff, right in the center of Gendo's stomach. He whooped as his breath was squeezed out. She was not a heavy woman at all, but she was doing a good job of focusing all of her weight in the smallest area as possible, and Gendo was at a grave disadvantage.
"For your information, I didn't talk to Fuyutsuki-sensei," she snapped. "I found out about it when I passed facilities on their way out of the annex. That's when I learned about the door, which is when I started asking around."
"I can't talk to you if I can't breathe," Gendo whispered, his legs popping up in the air and his face turning red.
"Really? Because you had nothing to talk about," she sniffed. "You don't need breath to talk about nothing. Meditate on that for a moment." Gendo did not, for he instead pinched Yui on the seat of her pants. Yelping, she hopped up. Gasping, Gendo took the opening to sit up and relax his stomach muscles. "Really, Gendo Rokubungi, that was quite fresh," she snapped, rubbing the spot he pinched her. She looked furious. It made Gendo blush a little: she rarely got angry, and when she did, she looked very pretty.
"Desperate measures," he explained, rubbing his abdomen. She turned, and began to plop down again, this time on his legs. He had just the presence of mind to draw them up to his chin, barely missing the window between Yui and the couch. She crossed her arms, and gave him a sardonic look.
"Learning so quickly," she said.
"There's nothing to talk about, with that," he snapped.
"With what?"
"With…my father. That's all."
"That tone says there's a lot to talk about," Yui sighed.
"Not now," Gendo pleaded. "It's going to take some time to discuss fathers, being a father, the whole…dad thing. All the connective words are a little sour for me."
"Well, you might be a father, someday," Yui insisted. "I mean, you want to have kids someday, right? Be a father yourself?"
"I'll be frank, I would be an awful father. If you plan on making a dad out of me, then maybe we should just call this thing between us off before we get more involved." He couldn't believe he had said it, but he had. The prospect of raising a child was so terrifying to him that he had all but willingly thrown his ticket to Seele out with the dishwater.
Yui shook her head. "Gendo, you no longer have a choice in the matter: I've got a stake in you. You're an investment. I plan on having kids with you. I want them to have my good looks and your noble brow. And your eyes, I really do adore your eyes."
"You seem dead-set on getting me into a matrimonial relationship. I thought I was the one pursuing you." He said it in a mocking tone, and Yui turned towards him, her expression earnest.
"I'm serious. Someday I'm going to make you Mr. Yui Ikari," she said.
He laughed for a moment…then ran her words through his mind one more time. "Wait a minute, what do you mean by that? Mr. Yui Ikari?"
Yui assumed a very coy posture, straightening her arms and rolling her head away shyly. Her cheeks had turned a rosy hue. "Well…you know…Rokubungi is such a silly name, and all, and Gendo Ikari has a much finer ring to it."
"I don't buy the act: I know for a fact you can blush on command."
"Cannot!"
"You've done it twice now. This is the third time," Gendo countered.
"When have I 'blushed on command?'"
"The first time was one week ago, when you were trying to persuade me to go buy your groceries for you. The second time was three nights ago, when I disagreed about the movie we wanted to see."
"…I should stop doing that," Yui mused thoughtfully. "If I use all of my good tricks up front, I'll never have the right amount of control over you."
"I agree with you about the name."
"Hmm?" Yui turned back to Gendo, surprised. "I was half-joking…"
"And you were half-serious. And I know why: no one in Seele knows Rokubungi, but everyone knows Ikari." Her bland expression settled for a moment, and then she grinned like a cat, her eyes narrow.
"You've thought out all the particulars, haven't you?"
"Rokubungi is a name that's given me nothing but trouble," he murmured. "I'll kill Gendo Rokubungi and make myself Gendo Ikari." The devious look on Yui's face melted away.
"You don't have to marry me to get into Seele, you know," she said. "There are other ways, some more guaranteed than others." Gendo's eyes widened in surprise. She had all but offered him a way out, and it had been something that pressed on his mind in the past month. They had spoken very frankly about marriage in that short time, both of them recognizing the very frank reasons behind such a union. Romance hadn't — entirely— factored into it in any strong way. Gendo himself placed little stock in the instutition of marriage beyond a sharing of names, rights, and tax benefits. When Yui gave him that offer, it occurred to him that he had not thought that way in this potential marriage. Whether or not he had consciously considered the implications of affairs and scandals within such a union, he had felt something…oppressive about it. He felt touched by Yui's gesture.
"I'm invested," he said, stuttering a little. Yui searched his face, and smiled. Whatever she had found, she liked it.
"Oh, I've got you hook, line, and sinker, don't I?" she teased.
"You can keep telling yourself that," Gendo said through a grin.
"I think you should pick where we eat tonight," Yui announced.
"At home, in your apartment, I'll cook."
"Ooh!" Yui squeaked. "A home cooked dinner! How domestic!" She wiggled her shoulders in delight. "And that gives you all the time to tell me about your father."
"No," Gendo insisted. "Not…tonight. I need some more time on that. Please?"
"Phooey," Yui said in a child's voice. "It's been so hard not to peek at the public records."
"And I appreciate it," Gendo sighed. Yui smiled at him, leaned over, and kissed that secret place between the nose and the cheek, the spot only lovers spoke to each other with.
"Take your time," she said. "White wine, tonight?"
"Sake, actually. Have you ever had Hannya?"
"Yes. Nice and spicy. Very sweet."
"Three bottles, if you please."
"Three? Oh, dear." Yui stood, shaking her head. "I do not know what you think you'll get away with if you want that much Hannya."
"My intentions are exactly at the level you've set for me," he said, holding his hands up defensively.
"You always know the right thing to say," Yui teased, flouncing away. Gendo studied her as she left, finding that he reveled in every detail. Her height. The color her hair and its particular cut. The little poetry of movement that was her particular walk, the way she moved her hands and her hips and her shoulders just this way, or that way. Gendo smiled to himself, sadly. He was involved much more than he planned to be. It made him wonder, in that moment, what it was about him that Yui had seen. The trait that had told her, 'Take this man. Keep him, and you won't regret it.' She didn't make foolish decisions.
Why, then, did Gendo feel like he was a foolish decision? He slumped down on the couch, crossing his arms and scowling.
"God, don't cut yourself…." Yui murmured, standing at the edge of the kitchen. Gendo had been slicing cuts of beef and chicken, and he was doing so with a bit of flourish.
"I've cut myself enough," he said. "I won't be cutting myself again." Each strip he produced came from a deft, easy slice from Yui's santoku knife. It was, he noted, like all the other cooking knives in her kitchen: brand new and untouched. Finishing his cuts, he rolled the knife handle easily on his fingers as he deposited it to the sink. He then took a pairing knife to trim away some of the gristle from the meat. He probably shouldn't have used a pairing knife, but he was a self-taught cook. He had a tendency to use whatever was within reach. He himself only had a cook knife in his collection, and it was the primary tool he learned by.
Yui watched with newfound appreciation of Gendo. "So, what, were you a butcher when you were a kid? Or a…yakuza, or something?"
"I thought my file indicated my knife skills learned in the school of hard knocks," he retorted. Yui crossed her arms, raising her eyebrows in mild bemusement. He laughed at the expression. "I did the cooking in the house. My dad was useless for it. If I didn't want to starve or live on noodles, I had to teach myself."
"It looks like quite the talent," Yui noted.
"I was about to ask you, in that vein," he continued, putting the pairing knife down and grabbing a random steak knife from her collection. "Why so shiny?" He held the handle between two fingers, holding it just so that Yui could see the blade.
"Because I take care of my cutlery?" she said, shrugging.
"These aren't used, Ms. Ikari," Gendo accused.
"They are, too…You're using them," she pouted.
"Do you know how to cook?" Gendo asked, turning to look at her with a sly glance. Yui blushed, an honest one this time. It wasn't from embarrassment, though. She always blushed when he called her on her fibs.
"Barely," she admitted. "I know a few ingredients, but as you can imagine, I have a comfortable stipend. I tend to…eat out a lot."
"That'll go straight to your guts. Then your hips, and before you know it, you won't be able to get through doors," he said loftily.
"What a crude thing to say," Yui whined. "I swear, this verbal abuse will have to be dealt with. You don't want to see what I look like when I get mean."
"What I was trying to say," Gendo said, without missing a beat, "Is that you should rely on me to actually cook healthy things for you, instead of spending your money on questionable food. Are you actually saying you don't want me to pamper you?"
"Oh-ho-ho…you're good. Bravo, Gendo, bravo." She smiled broadly at him, watching as he tossed the gristle into the trash can. He already had a skillet with oil on the stove, heating at a low temperature. He started with the beef, flicking the purple blocks of meat into the hot oil. Yui watched the practiced motions, and drifted close to him. She laid a hand on his elbow.
"I'm…sorry you had to learn to cook. For yourself. I mean…for the reasons you had to," Yui said. Gendo shrugged, and smirked at her. It was his default shield, that smirk.
"It was what it was," he replied.
"I don't think it was fair, though," Yui said. "I'm not on the best terms with my father, but I can't say that…we have what…well…what you and your father have."
"Me and my father don't have anything. You and yours have something. That's the fundamental difference." He shook his head. "I can't talk about this tonight."
"You were doing well, though."
"Don't wheedle it out of me, Yui."
"I may have to, if you keep moping like this. It's cute when you mope, but only to a certain point. One way or the other, I'm going to get the whole story out of—"
Gendo turned, scooping Yui towards him with one arm. She gasped gently, and he gave her a soft, sweet kiss on her bottom lip. Nothing too dramatic…but it was the first time their lips had touched. Gendo gently broke away from her. Yui touched her lips with her fingers, looking distant and happy at the same time. She had a smile all her own, like she had just been given a great secret.
"Really, and I haven't even had any sake yet," she said quietly. "I'll let it slide."
"You'll let it slide?"
"Well, I wanted to be the one to make the first move on you," she said, only half-pouting. "You beat me to it."
"I've had a great mentor for the past month," he said. There was genuine affection in the words, and Yui smiled, leaning into the arm and grasping it gently with both hands. Her eyes glittered at him, and Gendo felt as though he was the most important man in the world in that moment. Something in his expression made Yui feel shy, and she glanced away. She licked her lips, and nodded to the skillet.
"The beef is burning," she said. He glanced down, and quickly disentangled himself from her. A lot of smoke was pouring off of the beef strips. As he scrambled to turn the meat over, Yui swayed into him, bumping his hips with her own. "Try not to get cocky, Gendo."
"Oh, I know exactly where I stand," he retorted through his smirk.