Chapter 5 – Will you play with me?

Asuka was watching Rei's face intently with a growing, unpleasant awareness that, despite her well-honed perception, the girl's reactions were still a mystery to her. The thought that her perception might have indeed been well-honed, but towards detecting danger on the battlefield, and not reading facial expressions of pretty girls did not get too far in her mind before perishing from the lack of attention.

In fact, most thoughts she had right now were not exactly focused – or, at least, not focused on anything except Rei.

All the while, Rei seemed to be entirely unaware of the attention she commanded as she was entirely focused on the content of her plate: a fancy-looking, barrel-shaped dessert covered with chocolate dust, with a cherry on top. She was methodically working her small fork, separating pieces of various sizes from the dessert and eating them, occasionally taking a sip of her tea. Her expression was unchangingly ponderous and the precision of her movements more befitting an operating table than a café.

"How do you like it?" Asuka – unable to bear the silence any longer – finally asked.

Rei finished the piece she just had and considered her answer quietly for a few more moments. "It is… interesting", she finally said, her voice uncertain.

"Interesting?" Asuka scoffed, doing her best not to notice the smallest smudge of chocolate on Rei's lips; there was a thought in her head telling her what she should do with it – and she was fighting hard not to allow that thought to even form properly. "I mean… people usually love chocolate or hate it, but… interesting?"

Rei tilted her head slightly. "Is this an incorrect description?"

"Well, not incorrect, but it doesn't say if you like it or not, for starters", Asuka stated, forcing her eyes to go up; she realized why this was a mistake the moment she locked her gaze with Rei's. "I – mean…"

"Perhaps the right word would be – fascinating?" Rei corrected and seeing that Asuka's confused expression did not change, tried again. "It is… enjoyable."

Asuka took a deep breath, her gaze still focused on Rei's beautiful eyes. 'I guess that's the most positive I'm going to get out of her', she decided. "Great! And the tea?" she asked immediately, unsure how to follow up otherwise.

"Its bitterness is an appropriate counterpart to the sweetness of the dessert", Rei replied, this time with far more certainty. "It was a good choice. I am… grateful for your recommendation."

'Is it getting warmer in here?' was Asuka's first thought upon hearing this.

"Is everything all right, Soryu-san?" Rei asked, her voice suddenly carrying a hint of concern. "Your face appears flushed."

"It's the tea! And the cake!" she babbled out as she gestured to the almost untouched piece of cheesecake on the plate in front of her. "I just like them so much!" she added. 'Yes, Soryu, carry on. Soon you'll need a proper shovel to dig yourself deeper! Or maybe a bloody, huge, massive excavator would do better, when we are at it?'

"I see", Rei nodded to that, seemingly convinced. "But if you like them, why do you consume them so slowly?"

A witty retort containing a suggestion that she was seeing something she liked far more – and preferred to consume that – got brutally and decisively squashed in Asuka's mind before it could reach her consciousness. "Right!" she said instead. "I'm sorry, I got distracted. It's the heat, you know?"

"Is your attire inadequately adjusted to the weather?" Rei kept querying.

"No, no, no, it's just perfect", Asuka replied, in a bit nervous tone. "Except for the sleeves, but I'll manage. Don't worry about me! By the way, don't you feel cold? Or too warm?" she tried, a part of her mind registering with relief that in the meanwhile, the temptation of the chocolate disappeared from Rei's lips.

"I am comfortable with the current temperature", Rei stated as she looked down at her dress. "This attire is pleasant to wear and provides me with adequate comfort. I do not want to take it off."

"Well, you definitely shouldn't, not here", Asuka quipped with some effort. "You look great in that, by the way", she added with a smile and a hint of envy in her voice.

"Thank you", Rei said after looking confused for a moment.

A moment of awkward silence descended between them. Asuka quickly reached for her cup, took a sip, and decided that actually starting on her cake was the best she could do now; she was relieved that Rei took this as a cue to return her attention to her own plate.

'This is not going entirely according to plan' flared in Asuka's head – and refused to go even as they finished their respective desserts – be it in a methodical and studious way or chaotically and committing the crime of not paying much attention to the definitely great taste.

...

As they departed, Rei seemed to be somewhat concerned about Asuka paying for them both, but a quick reassurance and Asuka's confidence on the matter seemed to put her at ease and made her protests stop. 'Well, the dress might have a few hidden pockets, I saw to that, but I don't think she gets much money…' Asuka concluded – and led Rei out of the café and into the wider space of the mall.

"So, what's your fancy now?" she asked once they were in the open.

"I do not know", Rei replied matter-of-factly after a moment of pause.

"Hm. What do you like to do? In general, I mean."

"I… do not know", Rei repeated with some hesitation creeping into her tone.

"What do you mean, you–" Asuka started in a raised voice and interrupted herself as she saw Rei's tilted head – and worryingly more than just a hint of wariness in her eyes, the kind that usually came before a fight. She suddenly felt horrible, like she just scared a kitten. "I'm sorry", she blurted out quietly. "You really don't know, do you?"

"I would not deceive you, Soryu-san", Rei replied, her tone neutral. "Have you assumed that I did?"

A loud sound marked Asuka's palm landing on her own face as she stopped in her tracks. 'God, I'm dense!'

"Do you require assistance?" Rei asked as she stopped as well; her head tilted further – but the wariness was slowly going away.

"Give me a literal minute, okay?" Asuka requested, her voice low but tense, her eyes closed, her hand raised. "I'm sorting things out", she added in the hope it would explain something – while at the same time, a stampede of thoughts was already happening in her head. 'She's lost here because she was never in such a situation. I brought her here. I planned it all out… well, some of it. I decided how it starts and what we are going to do. So it's up to me to make it feel right to her. To guide her by her hand, figuratively speaking', Asuka tried to order her realizations. 'Or… even literally?' she suddenly added one more. 'There's no rule against that, is there? She seems to expect me to be forward, she seems to be fine with following, she seems fine with me–'

She shook her head as the realization dawned on her.

'–with me being the boy here. I mean, taking the role of the… damn. Okay. Stereotypes exist for a reason. For a very good reason… let's roll with this, then. I'm a certified genius, I am a trained soldier, I've been on some dates, good and bad, and I can improvise better than anyone. So… what would I want to hear in her place? What would I expect from a boy? What would make me happy?' she pondered for a few moments before making her decision. "Okay, I'm back", she finally let a breath out and gazed once more into those red eyes. "We got you all dressed up, check. We went through the mall, looking at things, not much fun. We just ate, so there's no reason to grab anything. The closest movie that makes sense to watch is about an hour away if I remember right", she listed and paused. "Do you enjoy arcade games?"

"I am not certain", Rei replied, her head tilted again.

"Do you want to check?" Asuka probed with a careful smile.

"I am not certain", Rei repeated.

Asuka's brow furrowed in frustration – but a solution was slowly becoming clear. "Okay. Different question. Do you object to checking?"

Rei pondered for a moment. "No", she finally replied. "I do not."

"Let's go, then", Asuka declared, forcing herself to sound more cheerful and less anxious than she really was. After half a second of internal struggle, she slowly reached for Rei's hand, giving her a chance to pull away.

But – contrary to her fears – it did not happen; she felt the cool skin of the girl's palm under her own – and closed her hand around hers. "Come on", she managed, her smile wider and the cheer in her voice more genuine. "Should not be that busy yet", she added as she tugged gently.

Rei followed Asuka, wondering all the time why the usually aggressive and self-assured redhead was suddenly behaving very similarly to a boy trying to talk to a girl he was attracted to.

'A logical explanation must exist. Soryu-san is a girl. I am a girl. This situation does not match the pattern I am familiar with. Thus, I need to perform research once this encounter is concluded', she decided before returning to her observations.

She was doing her best to capture every detail, as she usually did – except right now, the interesting and important details seemed to be limited to two people: one particular girl – and herself.

...

A few minutes later

"I do not understand", Rei admitted as she observed both the game table and the plastic components. "This table indeed resembles a hockey court. But the game is played on the table, not in the air."

"Yeah, it's just called like that", Asuka explained with a shrug as she checked the table and the price list. "You know, everything needs a name, and not all of them make sense. Need more explanation on the rules?"

"I do not believe so", Rei replied as she intently studied the game area.

Asuka was almost expecting those red eyes to slide aside and measuring lasers to emerge from the girl's skull. She quickly shook that thought off with a small internal chuckle. Rei was odd, nobody could deny that, but she felt very flesh and blood. 'Or, at least, her hands did', Asuka's treacherous mind quickly suggested and unhelpfully recalled the recent memory of having led Rei here by her hand. "So, what do you think of it?" she asked quickly to stave off those thoughts – and the blush they evoked that threatened to creep on her face.

"It has a certain potential for providing entertainment", Rei stated after a few seconds of pondering. "It appears to require both dexterity and perception."

"Yes, but would you like to play it?" Asuka tried to rephrase, beating herself for still not being able to speak Rei's language too well. The girl, despite her clear intelligence, seemed to require very direct questions and seemed to be unable to understand subtext or indirect communication. On the other hand, once the right question was asked, she seemed to have no issue answering it. 'Not dumb. But very different', rang in Asuka's mind; she scoffed at the uselessness of this diagnosis and shelved it for later. "Or… if I wanted to play it, would you join me?" she tried again upon seeing Rei's hesitation.

"Yes", Rei finally replied, confirming Asuka's hypothesis once more. "I do not think I have the required currency, though. I shall procure–"

"Ha!" Asuka's expression turned from ponderous to triumphant within a tenth of a second. "For that, I am prepared!" she declared, reached into a small satchel tucked into her obi, and procured a few coins. "Good luck!" she declared as she put the coin into the machine and waited for the strikers and pucks to drop.

"I do not understand", Rei stated. "Why are you wishing me luck?"

"Um… what?" Asuka blinked in clear confusion. "What do you mean, 'why'? Because it's what you say before a game?"

"If I understand the rules correctly, the purpose of the game is to win, and this is done via scoring goals", Rei continued. "If I am luckier than you, I will win. Therefore, wishing me luck is illogical on your part. It is contrary to your interests."

Asuka stood there for a few seconds, confusion in her eyes. "Well", she finally spoke, "you're not wrong. Maybe it's something like 'good luck, you're going to need it because I know I'm better'?"

Rei pondered for a moment, then nodded. "This would make sense. Good luck, then", she said as she picked up the striker and placed it in position.

'Did she just…' Asuka remarked to herself with a mix of amusement and respect just before chuckling internally – and focusing all her attention on the game.

Well, most of her attention; she noticed with some dismay that Rei still commanded quite a lot of it, even now.

Or, more correctly, especially now.

...

Asuka was very far from being a champion of air hockey; she simply saw this as far too easy a game for her standards – and most boys that took her to dates did not consider this game an option, even if they thought of taking her to the arcade. 'Perhaps out of fear I'd beat them and make them look dumb', she thought of it most of the time. 'As if most of them needed to be made that way', she often added with a feeling of superiority, only subtly tainted with a hint of annoyance.

But while she was not a champion, she considered herself to be quite good in the game.

And yet, to her utter confusion and quite a lot of dismay, she was barely able to hold her ground against Rei.

She, of course, blamed part of it on the inexplicable fact that she could not help but watch how well Rei moved and how fast her movements were despite being restrained by the dress. This looked almost as if the girl was dancing against the table, her eyes fixated on the game but her body free from such restraints. What Rei lacked in technique – which was, effectively, everything due to this being her first time playing the game – she made up with intense focus, good perception, and surprisingly quick reflexes.

And by the time they were done with their fourth match – the first match that Rei won – Asuka quietly blessed the fact that there was not enough time for a fifth one, for she was quite certain that she would have lost it.

...

"Did you like that?" Asuka finally asked as they settled in their seats in the cinema room about fifteen minutes later. She was a little bit concerned that – aside from answering questions about snacks before confirming she would like to try roasted nuts – Rei was even quieter than usual.

"Yes", Rei finally answered. "I think I like air hockey."

"That's good, I – wait. Did you just say you actually liked something?" Asuka asked, shaking her head in confusion.

"Yes", Rei confirmed, her expression hinting at her being mildly surprised. "Is this a problem?"

"Well, that'd be the first", Asuka explained. "At least the first time I hear it from you…"

"This is incorrect", Rei countered in a matter-of-fact tone. "I have already used that term in regard to the dress I am currently wearing. I like it as well."

"Oh", Asuka tracked back to her memories at the Gothic Madel shop – and, to her dismay, had to admit that she barely remembered what was discussed there; the words were heavily overshadowed by the first impression she got of Rei emerging from the changing room. She felt a growing blush creeping up her cheeks – and dearly hoped that the low lighting of the room would hide it. "I see", she added, her voice unfocused.

"Would you be willing to play with me again?" Rei asked – and Asuka was really happy that this was the moment the lights dimmed and the screen lit up with the pre-movie advertisements.

"Sure", was all she managed to blurt out. "With pleasure!"

"Thank you", Rei said – and Asuka could swear she saw a smile.

Asuka was prepared for many things happening today: the movie being bad, Rei being uncooperative, clothing suffering accidental damage, Rei's dress not fitting, some boy bothering them, a terrorist attack happening, food being bad, and even the fact that she might simply get bored.

But she was not ready for this to turn into something she only refused to call a very successful date because of how absurd that sounded in her head.

But she had to admit that everything started to point to exactly that.

The lights went dark and the movie started – and when Asuka was slowly starting to relax with certainty that she had at least an hour and a half of distraction from her current confusion, Rei's hand, framed in the frills of her dress, accidentally brushed against her own.

'Uh oh…'