Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ 10 things I hate about Eva ❯ The Turn ( Chapter 2 )

I shall use this space to cover my own ass: I do not own any of the intellectual property I use on this site (or story, in this case NGE and 10 things I hate about you/the taming of the shrew).

 

If you stumble across an original character of mine, feel free to pilfer it for your own amusement, as it would it be pretty hypocritical of me to tell you not to.

 

If you happen to own something that I have played around with here, please do not sue me.

 

Disclaimer taken from Agent Orange's own disclaimer, with minor differences.

 

The Turn.

 

“Ok. Ok; settle down, everybody…” Professor Kaji began as he dumped his bag in his seat, retrieving a book from within. “You've all met the newest addition to the class of 2-A, now let's get to work…”

 

Everybody groaned at that, but began to take their books out of their respective bags. Kaji chuckled at that, glancing at the whole room, seeing several familiar faces.

 

“I'm glad to see everybody in such good spirits, specially taking into account that this is the first day…” The whole class paled at that, knowing that Kaji could only mean one thing:

 

“Now let's talk about class requirements…” He said, all the while flashing a smile at the students.

 

“Now, for this year we are going to focus on Shakespeare; arguably the most influential writer of the English language. Toji, give us a brief explanation of Shakespeare…”

 

Toji glanced form his laptop compute and looked at Kaji questioningly. “Huh..?” When he realized that was not the answer Kaji was waiting for Toji looked down. “Sorry Teach…”

 

Asuka smirked and typed away on her computer.

 

>>Looks like the moron's taking up “Advance Speech for Monkeys” is finally paying off.

 

Hikari frowned at her PM and typed back.

 

>>I'm sure this would have nothing to do with the constant bashing of his head that somehow always seem to have you as the originator. NOW PAY ATTENTION!!

 

Kaji let out an exasperated sigh. “Ok. Kensuke, when and where was Shakespeare born..?”

 

Kensuke typed away and was about to answer when Kaji held up his hand.

 

“If the source is something ending with a dot-whatever don't even bother answering…”

 

Kensuke's smile froze in place. “S-sorry, Teach…”

 

Mayumi giggled at this.

 

>>Looks like Wikipedia won't save you this time `Suke…

 

Kensuke looked to his right and saw Mayumi's giggle.

 

>>That was harsh, Yamagishi.

 

“Miss Mayumi…” Mayumi `eepeed' when she heard her name called and saw Kaji looking straight at her. “Why don't you enlighten the whole class with your knowledge on Shakespeare…”

 

“Uhmm…” Mayumi stood up with uncertainty, not because she didn't know what to say, rather because she was being the center of attention of the whole class, something she wasn't used to and didn't like.

 

“W-William Shakespeare was an English poet, dramatist and playwright regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, as well as one of the greatest in Western literature, Sir…”

 

“Very good Mayumi; now Shinji name a comedy, a tragedy and a historical play from Mr. Shakespeare.”

 

Shinji closed his eyes at this. So much for anonymity.

 

“Uhmm… The Two gentlemen of Verona, Henry the V and Hamlet ...”

 

“Very good; now Rei…” Kaji smiled before turning around, as he began writing on the blackboard. “What's your favorite play by Mr. Shakespeare…?

 

“Romeo and Juliet…sir…” Rei answered, standing up, but with her eyes cast down, a slight blush on her face.

 

“Ahh yes…The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet…” Kaji began still writing more topics on the blackboard.

 

“Kaworu, please read the context explanation for this in page 135…”

 

Kaworu looked left, and then right, thinking there might be another Kaworu in class, when he realized Kaji was referring to him, he stood up from his desk and addressed the teacher.

 

“I'm sorry Mr. Kaji but I don't have a book…”

 

Kaji turned at this, looking at the seating arrangement. “Right you are Mr. Nagisa…” He pondered for a little bit more before continuing. “Miss Ayanami, please assist Mr. Nagisa and let him share your book…”

 

Both Kaworu and Rei gulped at that, as the whole class whooped and cheered, laughing as both had a reddish hint on their cheeks; meanwhile only three people in the whole class remained silent; Shinji Ikari, Asuka Langley Soryu and Mana Kirishima. All 3 separated by at least a row and 3 seats, none looking at the other; Asuka remained with an uninterested face, while class continued, while, Mana kept her face on her book, listening but not listening, oblivious to what happened outside her bubble; Shinji could only look with a look of pure amazement at Mana, before he felt something collide with the back of his head, followed by the familiar “ping” emanating from his laptop computer, signaling someone had PM'ed him.

 

>>Take a picture; it'll last longer…

 

Shinji blushed at that, not even bothering to see who the culprit was.

 

“Often commonly referred to as Romeo and Juliet…” Kaworu continued, still blushing. “This is William Shakespeare's most famous of his plays, one of his earliest theatrical triumphs, and is thought to be the most archetypal love story in Western history, concerning the fate of two young star-cross'd…” He paused, letting Kaji write the word in big bold letters. “Or ill-fated lovers…”

 

“Mana…” Kaji began addressing the other redhead in the classroom “What do you think of Mr. Shakespeare's artistic work..?”

 

Maya smiled at that and stood up. “I think that he is a very prolific writer; he wrote tragedies and comedies, historical and fictional plays, he even had time for a book of sonnets…” Kaji nodded at this. Mana continued.

 

“In addition to that, Shakespeare is the most quoted writer in the literature and history of the English-speaking world…”

 

The whole class listened attentively, while Kaji could swear Shinji had a pair of hearts where his eyes should be. Just as Maya finished her explanation, the whole class heard a derisive snort coming from the other redhead classmate.

 

Uh-oh. Kaji thought turning to the classroom while smiling at the prospect of a debate between the two. This is gonna get ugly.

 

“Now; Asuka…what do YOU think of Mr. Shakespeare..?” He asked; his back still to the class as he continued writing.

 

“He's good, has a way with words, tends to overexpose the thoughts of everyone with more words that should be used, but over all; he's overrated…”

 

Kaji's chalk screeched to a stop, breaking in the process. While he had been sure Asuka would have a strong opinion, he knew she was setting the class up for a discussion. Still with his back to his student and charge, he smiled.

 

Any minute now…

 

“Oh really..?” Mana asked, turning around. “Why is that..?”

 

Kaji kept scribbling on the board. Predictable…

 

“Well, for starters he is quoted only by people who want to appear literate or intellectuals; Ivy-leagues wannabes…” Mana felt the zing of her words and turned to look at her, her blue eyes asking a silent question.

 

“Well…” Kaji added turning around, decided to stir up the conversation. “His readings are regarded as the height of Western culture…”

 

“Yes. His tragedies and historical plays are good…” Asuka smirked, just as Mana turned to look at Kaji and mouthed the words `Good', with a questioning look.

 

Kaji simply shrugged and nodded at Asuka, letting her continue.

 

“What I don't like about him is the condescending tone he takes on his comedies; The Taming of the Shrew, for instance, portrays women as stubborn, prideful little girls intent in only having their way…” Asuka added, as the whole class (Kaji included) decided it was best to kept silence.

 

Asuka was looking both at him and Mana expecting a retort, knowing she had left herself wide open for a personal attack. Mana simply glared at her and decided to le it go, sitting down and turning to look at the blackboard.

 

“Ok…” Kaji finally relented. “So you say that Shakespeare's comedies are not really your cup of tea…” He walked around his desk, taking a copy of the school book from within and opening it.

“That's understandable…now let's try to understand the bard from a different perspective…”

 

Kaji leafed thru his book, stopping at a particular page reading it and smiling at it. “Here we go…let's see then…Page 73, Sonnet 141…”

 

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes.

For they and thee a thousand errors note.

But `tis my heart loves what they despise,

who in despite of view is pleas'd to dote.

 

As he finished reading the poem Kaji turned to the red head. “Knowing that Miss Soryu has an opinion about everything, this exercise should be right up your alley…”

 

He began to copy the sonnet on the black board, talking while doing so.

 

“Everybody's got at least one thing he or she has to keep for himself …” Kaji turned to the top portion of the black board that still was free of writing and began to write again.

 

“So, this year we are going to go in a new direction; Creative Writing; by the end of the school year I expect to see an original take on this particular poem, preferably something with deep personal meaning from you all; it can be in poetry, or it can be in prose, so before you ask Kensuke…” He turned to the freckled boy who already had a smile on his face and his hand up in the air. “No, you can't videotape it; the only requirements are originality and for it to be written.”

 

Kaji let several minutes pass, waiting for the chatter to die, before continuing.

 

“O.k. Shinji…” The brown haired boy gulped but kept a steady look on his teacher. “It has been said that the reason why Shakespeare's plays are so accepted worldwide is because of his knowledge of the human psyche; in Hamlet, for instance…tell me…”

 

For a about 10 minutes, Kaji kept asking questions, seeking opinions, probing and making his pupils reach assumptions and answers on their own. Just as the class was about to finish, Kaji turned to look at his students.

 

“Now I have already gotten the pairing system for the rest of the school year, but the writing assignments will be done individually; First pairs are as follow Hikari and…” Kaji decided to add a little extra to the nominations, however he could swear he could hear a faint chanting coming from the where 2 students laid huddled together.

 

It sounded curiously; something like “Please Not Ayanami”, entangled with “Please Not Soryu”…

 

“Izurumi, Mogudan…” Both boys looked up to the teacher. “Would you like to add something to the class..?”

 

They simply shook their heads. Kaji shrugged.

 

“Hikari, you'll be paired with Kensuke…” The kids on the back let out a sigh of relief, although four other people had a very unsatisfied expression on their faces.

 

“Ok… Mayumi you'll be paired with…” Again Kaji could swear he could hear the same chants coming from the same place. He was about to ask the kids in the corner when he saw Asuka's eyebrow twitching.

 

Kaji decided to let this dog lie.

 

“Mayumi, you'll be working alongside Mana…” Kaji kept reading the list and crossing out names. ”Mogudan and…”

 

Somehow the chanting now resembled “Please Ayanami” with the same words of “Please Not Soryu”. Rei paled. Shinji was clenching and unclenching his hand and Kaworu had a tick in his eye. Kaji frowned at this and was about to call Mogudan on his actions when a shrill shriek interrupted him.

 

“WILL YOU PERVERTS KNOCK IT OFF..?” Everyone turned to look at Asuka who was seething on her desk. Turning around, the red-head looked squarely at the other three.

 

“AND YOU…” She continued looking at Izurumi menacingly, however the boy was apparently a sadomasochistic as well as a pervert for he could only stare in admiration and lust at the irate redhead.

 

“YOU BETTER PRAY THAT I DON'T END WITH EITHER YOU, PIZZA FACE OR WITH FAT AND GLASSES OVER THERE, BECAUSE THEN WHAT HAPPENED TO KRUTTA WILL LOOK LIKE NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT I'LL DO TO YOU, VERSTANDENER ..?”

 

The whole class remanded quiet at that, Kaji cleared his throat and decided to carry on as if nothing had happened. “Yes…well…Rei you'll be with…”

 

Mogudan raised his hand “U-uhmmm…Mr. Kaji, Sir…I haven't been given a partner yet…” He finished while turning to leer at Rei, his glasses flashing as they reflected the light from the outside.

 

Rei paled at that, her eyes going wide with fear. Kaji simply stood there, not knowing what to say as Rei pleaded silently with him. The pony tailed man turned to look at the list looking for a name any other name rather than Mogudan's

 

“Uhmm… yes Mogudan, what I mean to say was that Rei will be paired with…”

 

The faint chanting of “Let it be Me” was briefly heard before a loud crashing sound, followed by a thud was heard on the classroom. Everyone turned around in surprise to see Shinji sitting down again, his literature book on the floor next to an unconscious Mogudan.

 

Kahji sighed at that. Jus then another young man opened the door and stuck in his head; his dark eyes glancing around the whole room.

 

“Musashi…” Kaji addressed the young man. “So glad you could join us…”

 

“What did I miss..?” The young man asked as he took of his jacket and beanie, brushing his bangs away from his eyes.

 

“Aside from the usual Mana vs Asuka throw down for intellectual reasons..? Only Shinji exploding against the dweeb squad over there…” Toji said as he high-fived the newcomer

 

“Oh…” Musashi said as he sat down, turning to give Shinji 2 thumbs up. “Nice man…”

 

Shinji simply sighed and shook his head.

 

“You really are stooges…”

 

------------

The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Two Gentlemen, and The Merry Wives

 

“Uhmm…Hello..?”

 

Kaworu knocked on the door simply marked as “A/V Department”. After a couple of seconds it opened to reveal a sandy haired, freckled boy with glasses exiting the room, while carrying a medium sized duffel bag.

 

“”Uhh…” The boy nin glasses fumbled as he came face to face with the questioning face of Kaworu Nagisa. “H-heyyy…uh…Kawaru..?” Kensuke Aida tried to remember his name, with little success.

 

“Kaworu…” The boy answered before asking his own question. “Why did you ask me to meet here..?”

 

Kensuke chuckled embarrassed at this as he made an effort to appear unassuming, while he tried to hide the duffel bag behind him.

 

“Well…me and my associates couldn't help but noticed that you seemed rather stricken by the lovely Miss Ayanami…”

 

Kaworu blushed at that. “W-what are you talking about..? Whose associates..? What Ayanami..?”

 

“Kaworu, it's obvious you like Rei…” Kensuke laughed as he explained himself to Kaworu. “However there s a small problem…”

 

“What do you mean..?”

 

“Look Kaworu, just follow me and I'll explain in the way…” Kensuke ordered as they began to jog down the corridor towards a side exit.

 

“So are you gonna help me meet her..?”

 

“It's not that easy chief…” A tall boy with purplish hair with bangs, dark tanned skin, dark eyes and dressed in a track suit said easily. “Hi I'm Musashi…Musashi Lee Strassberg…” He motioned to the other tall teen behind him, dark skinned and dressed in a track suit as well, but with short brown hair. The one in the back came forward and nodded at Kaworu.

 

“Hey…Toji Suzuhara…” He then began to twirl a basket ball on his forefinger. “Wanna shoot some hoops..?”

 

“Uh…sure…” Kaworu answered back. As Toji threw the ball at him and made his way to the basket ball court on the gym.

 

“There is something you should know first, about Rei…” Kensuke kept conversing walking behind them, fiddling with the camera to make sure he had Kaworu's attention.

 

“Rei isn't allowed to date…”

 

------------

“Hey Shinji…” Shinji cringed as he hard his name being called, just as he was about to sit for lunch. He turned in time to see two young women make their way to the table he was sharing with Rei.

 

“I heard you had a Bratwurst incident in the cafeteria…” The blonde began innocently, while Rei blushed and looked away. Shinji groaned at that.

 

“I-I…”

 

“Yeah…come on Shinji…tell us how it was…” Out of nowhere, Misato Katsuragi appeared, putting Shinji in a fake chokehold.

 

Shinji blushed and tried looked away.

 

“Did she touch your dinky..?” Satsuki pressed on, while Misato appeared to his side, pushing into Shinji, her breast pushing against his left arm. She kept her gaze thru half-lidded eyes, speaking in a low seductive growl.

 

“Did she brush her long, fragile fingers against your throbbing, quivering mem..”

 

“Misato, Satsuki…please…stop harassing the boy…” Ritsuko said in an exasperated voice, as she made her way from the cafeteria into the adjacent teachers lounge, only stopping to whisk the two teachers away by grabbing the back of their uniform jacket.

 

“I swear, you two are even more immature than the kids in here…” She ignored the protest of Misato, turning around to address Maya Ibuki, Kaede Agano, and Aoi Mogami. "Do I have to put both of you in detention..?"

 

“This is precisely the example Principal Fuyutsuki had in mind when he said `teachers harassing the student body'…”

 

“Hey…” Both Misato and Satsuki protested, while Maya and Kaede stifled a laugh.

 

“You should be more careful Misato…” Kaede teased. “One might think you are actually two timing Kaji with Shinji…”

 

Shinji spluttered his tea, his blush now covering his whole face. “Mi-Miss Agano, it's not like that…”

 

“Aww come on Shinji, you can tell it to the world…” Misato said as she broke free from Ritsuko's hold, glomping the hapless child. “We are living together after all…” She whispered seductively into his ear.

 

“How did you ever ended up being our guardian..?” An stoic Rei complained, shaking her head. “Didn't our father gave you some sort of orders to follow while around us..?”

 

Misato paused, remembering. There was something in the quiet dignity with which Rei said it that made Misato feel like a fourteen year old for trying to uphold that stupid Gendo Law.

 

------------

“In order for them to better acclimate themselves to this school some ground rules need to apply…”

 

“Ok...” Misato looked up her mouth full of ramen. Gendo closed his eyes and willed his face to remain emotionless at the display. “You're still paying the bill, right..?”

 

The older man decided to not even dignify that with a response; instead he withdrew a small piece of paper from within his coat and began reciting.

 

“No drinking, no drugs, no smoking…No dating of any kind…” Gendo made a pause, his colored tinted glasses reflecting the light before letting out a sigh and continuing.

 

“No kissing, no tattoos, no indecent exposure, no piercings…”

 

“Well of course Uncle…I will look after their best…”

 

“Those were meant for you…”

 

------------

“Hey…I will let you know that I happen to be a decent and qualified guardian for the both of you…”

 

The laughter that erupted both fro the children as well as the teaching staff in the cafeteria could be heard miles away.

 

It became louder when Misato's face changed color to purple, matching her tresses.

 

------------

Kaworu kept dribbling the ball as Kensuke kept working on his video recorder in the benches. Nearby Toji and Musashi were now playing one on one; their grunts, and laughs echoing on the otherwise empty gymnasium.

 

“Now, we have a problem, same as you but not quite…” Kensuke grunted. “Hand me the ¼ screwdriver…”

 

“And which is that..?”

 

“The one to the left…No, no…MY left, not YOUR left…”

 

“Sorry…”

 

“Anyway…first some back story…now, you remember what Shinji did to Mogudan back in Kaji's class, right..?”

 

Kaworu nodded. “He had it coming; he was leering at Rei as if she were…I don't know…something out of an erotic movie…”

 

Kensuke laughed at that. “Yeah, those two freaks have always been like that. Mogudan's have an obsession with Rei since day one, and Izurumi, his best buddy has a thing with Asuka…” Kensuke chuckled. “They used to be four; Mogudan, Izurumi, Krutta and Meguro. Krutta and Meguro had the same insane obsessions with Asuka; the only problem is Krutta was like a fat lard wheezing kid who would follow Asuka every where, even staking her inside he gymnasium when she had swimming or track practice…”

 

As Kensuke kept working on the camera, Toji and Musahsi made their way, Musashi putting on a head band to keep his purple colored hair bangs from his face.

 

“Wat'cha talking about..?” Toji asked as he grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the cooler and threw one to Musashi.

 

“I'm telling Kaworu here about the perverted four…remember them…?”

 

Musashi chuckled at that. “Yeah…how to forget them..? Remember that one time they stole the girls' gym shorts…when Asuka found out…man…” Toji laughed at that.

 

“I thought Krutta was fat, but seeing his fat ass in a wheel chair running from Asuka was hilarious…”

 

Kaworu looked from one to the other with a questioning look.

 

“What does that have to do with anything..?”

 

“Hate to break it to you chief, but you, going out with Rei is impossible…” Kensuke said not bothering to look up.

 

“Why is that..?”

 

“Well. For starters, Shinji would probably clobber you silly…” At Kaworu's questioning look Kensuke elaborated. “Rei and Shinji are half brothers; they live off campus with Miss Kasturagi, who's the homeroom teacher for 2-B…”

 

“Aha…”

 

“And he's overprotective as hell…”

 

“Now we are willing to help you with Rei, but we need some help with Asuka…”

 

Kaworu looked at them but said nothing. Kensuke continued. “Asuka and Mana live with Hikari Horaki and Mayumi Yamagashi on the girl's school dorms…”

 

“Yeah…and..?”

 

“Asuka is rather…” Kensuke strained for a moment. “I guess the correct term is possessive in her friendship with Miss Horaki and Miss Yamagashi, who both Toji and I have been dating, unbeknownst to Miss Soryu, for quite some time…”

 

“And Musashi here has been going out in secret with Mana…”

 

Kaworu took a minute to let everything sink in. “But why the secret..? And what does Asuka have to do with this..?”

 

“Well…” Musashi began. “It's a well known fact that after Krutta's and Meguro's…untimely suspension and subsequent expulsion from this institute, Rei's and Asuka's guardians…”

 

“Misato Katsuragi and Ryouji Kaji…” Kensuke supplied helpfully.

 

Musashi gave Kensuke a glare for interrupting him. “Yes, they decided that neither of the girls would be able to date alone…”

 

“Now we have a problem because neither Toji, nor I can see Mayumi and Hikari, and Musashi can't date Mana unless Asuka gets a date…” Kensuke took the center stage explaining everything as Toji simply nodded his head and Musashi let out an exasperated sigh for being interrupted again.

 

“I don't seem to follow…why would you…” Kaworu began but was interrupted again by Kensuke.

 

“Asuka refers to Toji, Shinji and I as The three stooges, and has deemed us two not worthy of to date her friends.”

 

“And Hikari and Mayumi follow this insanity because...?”

 

“Sometimes it's easier to just comply with das Ãœberbitch's commands…” Musashi supplied as he leaned against the wall with his hands intertwined behind his head.

 

“And you…” Toji continued thrusting the basket ball towards Kaworu. “Can't get to date Rei because Shinji is really, and I mean REALLY overprotective of his sister…”

 

“So…we need both Shinji and Asuka to get a date so that we all can date…” Toji said as he gave Kaworu's back a friendly slap.

 

“And that's where you come in…” Kensuke finished smiling, his glasses reflecting the light in an eerily familiar way.

 

------------

“Uh Mr. Kaji I was wondering if…” Kaworu stopped short as he reached the door.

 

"Mr. Kaji..?" The gray haired teen repeated the question softly as he tapped lightly on the door in front of him. "Are you in there..?

“Uhm…Mr Kaji..?” Kaworu opened the door quietly.

"Come in…" the pony tailed man called from behind the door.

Kaworu slowly opened the rest of the door and stepped inside. Glancing around the room he noted the stacks of documents, some piled from the floor to the ceiling. Scattered about between the skyscrapers of paper were more paper, some with grades in them. Walking into the room he sat down in the chair directly in front of the man's desk.

 

“You wanted to see me, sir..?”

 

“Why yes Kaworu…” Kaji finished grading a paper before putting it away. “How have you been feeling these past months here at the institute..?”

 

“Uhmm…f-fine, I-I guess…” Kaworu stammered out.

 

“Yes; your grades appear to be going up, you have a decent attendance record...” Kaji peered at the report in front of him “Hmm…says here you haven't gotten anything even resembling a vocal notice from your Teachers or the class representative…” He whistled with appreciation.

 

“T-thank you sir…”

 

“However, I need to ask you a favor…” Kaji smiled at the boy. “I need you to tutor somebody for a class…”

 

------------

“Wh-what do you mean I need a tutor..?”

 

Shinji sat in front of Kaede Agano wide eyed and worried. “Miss Agano, I've always turned in my papers on time, and have gotten good grades, and have a good attendance record…”

 

“Yes Shinji I understand, however with the placement tests just around the corner, you are going to need more than a good understanding to round up the exams…”

 

Shinji closed his eyes and let out an exasperated breath.

 

“In any event, we already have a tutor assigned to you so you both have to get to study at homeroom in 5th period, which will happen in about five more minutes sooo…” Kaede added. “You better get going…shuu…scoot…”

 

“But I don't understand…” Shinji asked with frustration “Why do I need to understand Physics if I'm aiming for music and Humanities…” He turned towards Misato who sat behind him. Misato chuckled at that.

 

“Well Shinji, the thing is that if you want to go to a good university you first need to be accepted, and to be accepted you need to pass the placement tests, and to…” She paused when she saw Shinji was looking blankly at her. “Am I boring you..?”

 

Shinji blinked at that. “I kind of got your general idea after the first two examples Misato, so…yeah…I'm a little bored…”

 

Misato smiled in a playful and dangerous way. “Would you like me to take of my clothes to make it more interesting..?”

 

Both Kaede and Shinji turned beet red at the notion, while Misato continued to tease the boy relentlessly. "M-Mi-Misato..."

 

“I mean after all it is soooo hot in here, I guess I'm gonna have to pop open some buttons…” Just as Misato was ready to open her blouse and show some more cleavage, and Shinji were sure he had reached the heaven of fanservice, Ritsuko opened the door adjacent to the teacher's lounge.

 

“What the hell is going on here..?” The blonde doctor asked as she closed the door, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "Misato didn't I just tell you to stop harassing the poor boy..?"

 

“Misato, close your blouse and hide your same…Shinji, close your mouth, clean your dribble and…” Both did as they were told as the doctor retrieved a cigarette and lit it up. She stopped short as she saw Shinji's hand cupping his nose. Ritsuko sighed and retrieved a handkerchief from inside her lab coat.

 

“Here…take this, put your head back and go lie down…”

 

As Shinji made his way outside, Ritsuko turned back to Misato. “Now I know why my mother decided against taking this position when they offered it to her…”

 

------------

“As I was saying, I need you to tutor somebody for a class…”

 

Just then another soft knock followed by the soft calling of Kaji's named was heard, before the door opened again.

 

“Hey Rei…” Kaji smiled at the blue haired girl that was standing in front of his door. “What can I do for you...?”

 

Rei blushed a little, unsure as to how to respond when she saw Kaworu looking intently at her. “Uhm-m…” She stammered as Kaworu turned around quickly.

 

“Yes Rei..?”

 

“I'm having some trouble with a class…” Rei let out a sigh and continued in a small voice, while giving Kaji a print out note. “And Miss Horaki advised me to look for a tutor for this class, and I was wondering if…”

 

Kaji studied the print out in front of him for a while, while he weighted his options, looking at the possible outcome. “Hmmm Rei, I think the only natural option for your problem would be to get help from Asuka…have you tried asking her…” Before Kaji could finish his question, he saw Rei look down at her shoes, evidently answering with a negative.

 

“Asuka and I aren't…” She paused, choosing her words carefully. “What I meant to say is we aren't really that…used…to helping the other out…”

 

“I see…” Kaji said a she locked his hands behind his head. “But she is the only one I know of in the whole institute who knows enough German to help you with level 3. Other than that…”

 

"German..?" the, until then, silent boy replied curiously as he placed his books on the desk.

 

Kaji blinked at this. “Yes, Rei here is taking German as an elective; she is currently on level 3, which is the highest level we currently have here.” He turned towards the blue haired girl. “Rei, give me a minute and I'll see what I can come up with…” He turned and muttered under his breath. “I'll probably have to bribe Asuka into helping you again…”

 

“Uhm…Mr. Kaji…is there anything else you wanted to tell me..?” Kaworu asked as Kaji gave the young man in front of him a puzzled stare.

 

“Hmm…” Kaji held his chin, deep in thought. “No…I think that's it…” Kaji finished while addressing Kaworu.

 

“You may go now…” No sooner had Kaji said those words, Kaworu left the office, stopping on the corridor to look first left, then right. Not seeing anyone, he frowned and saw in front of Kaji's office a stairway leading to the upper floors. Without thinking, Kaworu took the stairs and repeated his earlier actions. Catching the retreating form of Rei Ayanami's back, he quickly made his way towards her, calling after her.

 

“Miss Ayanami…Miss Ayanami…” Rei stopped short when she heard her name, recognizing the voice of Kaworu. She turned towards him just in time to see him skidding to a stop in front of her. Her face never changed expression, although her eyes widened a bit at the notion of suffering a crash from him.

 

Only to see him slide past her.

 

“Mister Nagisa…” Rei smiled, despite herself; although she pushed her skirt between her legs to avoid any indecent exposure. After thinking for a second, she kneeled besides him.

 

Kaworu smiled at her from the floor. “I'm sorry…”

 

“No need for apologies, Mister Nagisa…” She said while he got up.

 

“I thought I told you to call me Kaworu…” He dusted himself off while Rei got up herself.

 

Rei smiled at that. “You did…Kaworu…” He smiled back at her.

 

Thank you Miss Aya…” Kaworu stopped short when Rei held her hand up.

 

“Rei…” Kaworu looked stunned, and then, smiled at her, nodding only once.

 

“Now what is it that you wanted to speak to me..?”

 

“I heard you needed a tutor for German…” Kaworu smiled confidently as he got his own German book from within his book bag.

 

------------

“What do you mean that I have to do this..?”

 

Asuka asked again, throwing the fliers, papers and related paraphernalia on the desk in front of her, resting her forehead on her arms as if she were asleep.

 

“Well..." Hikari began picking the papers and stacking them up, easily slipping back from Asuka-supporter to Class-rep mode "The board is making it a sort of community-service type of punishment, so...you have to be involved in a school activity, which is either a school club or tutoring.”

 

Asuka exploded at that explanation. “Ach..! Verddamtt Scheiß…” She grabbed the school print out which had been given to her by Principal Fuyutsuki, crumbling it into a ball and throwing it at the far end of the classroom. She kept huffing and puffing for several more seconds before she let out a long sigh.

 

“Are you sure this is the only way to keep me out from being expelled from school..?" At Hikari's slow nod, Asuka slumped back to her chair, arms crossed at her chest and thinking about her options. Suddenly she leapt up, a bright smile on her face.

 

"What if I joined a sport club..?”

 

Hikari thought about it for a moment. She knew the implications these would have to the plan they had all devised. They had never taken into account that Asuka would rather kick a ball than kick a book. So she did the only logical thing she could do.

 

She lied.

 

“Well, the only reason they let you practice sport is because it's a mandatory school class..." Hikari let that piece of information sink in, allowing Asuka to digest it, to give it form and to expect something afterwards.

 

"YOU, however are banned from any and all clubs that are of a competitive nature and of physical-related activity.”

 

Asuka looked like she wanted to contest this, but then thought it up and decided that was something likely to happen.

 

“How about a book of the month club or something like that..?” She asked, turning to Mayumi who until then had remained silent, hopping to not be noticed. Mayumi squeaked like a mouse at this and began to sweat profusely, being under the watchful electric blue eyes of Asuka Langley Soryu.

 

“N-NO..!!!” She shouted, blurting out the response.

 

“…” Mayumi gasped at the silence. When she saw that both Hikari and Asuka were gaping at her, but that Asuka had a twitch in her right eye and brow, she decided she needed to embellish her reasons, since she was sure she wasn't being considered in her family's health insurance and live coverage plan.

 

“Uhmm…" Mayumi began, looking down and playing with her twitching fingers. "W-w-what I mean to say was…uhhh…that…I-I think that your…intellectual…abilities are far more…advanced than those that would otherwise be considered your peers so…” She began to say, lowering her voice with each passing minute as she realized that none of her friends were buying her explanation.

 

“Mayumi…" Asuka began seriously. "You suck at lying…”

 

Hikari felt her breath hitch a ride to her throat. The whole plan was then resting in Mayumi's less than capable and very bad at lying shoulders.

 

Mayumi let out a sigh before continuing again.

 

“Sorry Asuka; It's just that Miss Aoi banned you after you ended the last book debate by throwing your book at the other contestant's face…”

 

Everyone let out a collected sigh out.

 

“So…I guess that means that the only other activity I have is the academic sort, right..?” Asuka asked dejectedly.

 

“I-I…guess…” Mayumi answered, blushing and still looking at the floor.

 

“Well who is the numbnut I have to tutor..?” Asuka sighed; pinching her nose and closing her eyes, feeling the beginning of a migraine take place on the center of her fore head. When silence was the only thing answering her she looked up to notice both Hikari's and Mayumi's flushed face.

 

That's when it hit her.

 

“…Oh God…don't tell me it's one of the stooges…”

 

When the blush deepened she let out a groan.

 

"Scheiß...Ok...who is it..?"

 

“…well…”

 

------------

“I don't get it…”

 

Mayumi looked from her book, still curled up in the sofa dressed in the school's signature track ensemble, listening attentively to the conversation. Hikari closed her eyes, turned around, finished preparing her tea, and tried to forget herself in the spicy smell.

 

“Remind me again why am I doing this..?” Asuka asked, crossing her arms like a petulant child. Hikari only sighed (an activity which apparently had increased exponentially after she had been paired in the same room as Asuka) and tried to explain it to her again.

 

Asuka listened intently as they made their way to the front door of the school dorm. It was snowing outside; not a blizzard, just the gentle falling of snow, blanketing everything, covering any available inch. Asuka waited patiently for Hikari's to finish before continuing with her tirade.

 

“But why do I have to do it..?”

 

“Asuka, I know you have an excellent point average, only slightly marred by your disciplinary actions, but there are some of those who actually need to study to pass tomorrow's test on Physics by Miss Kaede…”

 

Asuka smiled toothily at that. “Hey!! I was just asking a question, no need to bite my head off…” Hikari closed her eyes at this, still feeling somewhat angry to her friend for ruining her lunch date with Toji. Sure, she knew that on a scale of 1 to 10 Toji ranked somewhere along the lines of a -12, but still…

 

“Besides, it's not my fault that I already aced most of the questions from the take home test, and we still have until midnight today to send it to her, so we should go get a pizza or something…”

 

Hikari smiled at her, but inwardly cringed. She had to get rid of Asuka for this to work.

 

“Thanks Asuka, but I really need to cram it, I'll probably have to do an all-nighter just to get a decent grade…”

 

“C'mon `Kari…I'll let you copy from me tomorrow…”

 

“What..?” Hikari tried to sound shocked, unconvincingly. “Are you asking me, the Class representative to get involved in a cheating ring..?”

 

As the minutes flew by, Hikari managed to soften up the red head, joking in and out, stroking her ego and letting her down easy for the next part of her plan.

 

“Like I told you Asuka…I need to cram it up…I-I'm…not really good at physics…”

 

Asuka looked like she wanted to press the issue, but saw the resolve on Hikari's face and kept silent, turning instead to the window to look outside.

 

“Hikari…”

 

The sound of her name broke the pigtailed brunette from her thoughts. She turned towards he bespectacled friend and saw her signal her watch. Asuka was still looking out the window into the whiteness.

 

“I need to go to Miss Aoi's at the library, if you want to, you can come with me and I can explain you some of the physics problems there…”

 

“I'm meeting Kensuke in the library, and then we'll be sneaking out to go get a pizza; Toji will be there waiting for you.”

 

Hikari, smiled, understanding the code.

 

“Thanks `Yumi, I still need to go to the room and get the books and print outs to meet you there…”

 

“I still have to go to the room to change into something, go ahead, I'll meet you at the library…”

 

“That's all right…” Mayumi smiled at this, excitement barely contained within her voice. “I have a copy of the prints with me on my backpack, and I'm sure Miss Aoi can give us a copy of the textbook…”

 

“I have a set of clothes for you on my backpack, as well as some toiletries, lets roll…”

 

Hikari smiled again, closing her book and standing up from the chair. “All right let's go…”

 

Both girls began to exit the lounge room on their floor, not bothering to turn around and look at Asuka. The tall-tale ding of the elevator a few seconds later announced to the girls the car was here, as the made their way inside and turned to press the button, both Hikari and Mayumi looked in shock as Asuka was standing behind them, got into the car, turned around and pressed the button.

 

“Asuka…what are you doing..?” Hikari asked, as she turned to look in worry to Mayumi, Asuka simply sighed.

 

“We are going to the library…I need to brush up on Kaede's Physics as well…”

 

Mayumi squeaked at this, and turned to look wide eyed and frightened at Hikari who was worriedly looking back at her.

 

Uh-oh.

 

“Besides, I need to meet with the loser I'm going to be tutoring in Miss Kaede's, class any way…”

 

Oh, der Scheiß…

 

That was when they all arrived at the lounge. As Asuka opened the doors and came face to face with the person inside, she could only find one word to sum her feelings for this particular moment.

 

“You…” She said simply, narrowing her eyes as she saw who was standing there.

 

------------

Author's Ramble:

I apologize for the delay; Work school and personal issues in the form of two beer infested weekends have taken their toll on me.

 

Another matter has been that I felt that the first part was rather…rushed; I don't like to do half-assed things, or be categorized as a hack, so I decided to invest more time on this story, hope you like the final product. And I apologize for any past and future misspelling; I revise the story every now and then, do some retooling and upload it again; nothing drastic, just take some things out or put some things in, minor stuff to try and not leave any loose strings, really.

 

Kewpie dolls go for whoever recognizes the references of the teachers (Satsuki, Kaede and Aoi) as well as the perverts (Mogudan, Izurumi, Krutta and Meguro); Yeah I know the Trident project had a third wheel, Keita Asari, I'm still unsure whether to add him or not, so I'll have to see if the story needs another character running around, picking on Shinji and being picked by Asuka…

 

My thanks go to Adam Kamon for his pointers on “How to write Mana in 5 easy steps”; unfortunately, I fell asleep somewhere along the first lesson. Thank Adam for the words and reviews, your stories rock, and my little pet project cannot even begin to compare with your work. I guess you'll have to wait for “the knock-down drag-out brawl between Asuka and Mana”, but I promise to do something about it; I just need the right settings, y'know…string bikinis…mud…oil…something equally slippery and glistening…

 

Zephyr, my man, thanks for the ideas, I believe that you are correct in all that you pointed out, however part of the story is still in development, so your ideas will make the final cut (I even tried to include some of them wit a few twists on this chapter.)

 

Hounza, it's an honor for me to receive your reviews, as well as your ideas, 2 out of 3 told me the same thing (you were the second one) which was my original intent, but I kept thinking it was way to obvious, I thank you for the ideas, and lets see if the twists I made are not as obvious as I think they are.

 

To all my other viewers and reviewers, thank you for your time, I apologize once more for the delay, I hope you like this installment, and believe, I will not disappear throughout the night, leaving the fic unfinished; I may be a pervert, and a bit of a con artist, but a witter is not a quitter.

 

Or something like that.

 

Peace Y'all…