Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ A New Beginning/ A New World: Emerald Edition ❯ Chapter 36: Week 2 ( Chapter 41 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

By: ST Pika

Chapter 36: Week 2

I know this chapter has been a long time in coming… I do hope you, the reader, enjoy it and I hope you feel that it was worth the wait. This is my Christmas/New Years present for my readers, a new chapter. Another redone chapter and a new Ranma chapter are coming some time in January.

There's been some good news in my life recently, my sister just got engaged and I got my diploma from Spartan College. I still have to get my associate's degree six months from now…

Unfortunately, I heard some bad news on the radio during my winter break- The Godfather of Soul, James Brown, died on Christmas Day. He was a favorite artist of mine and my prayers go out to his family in this sorrowful time…

Former President Ford also passed away recently as well- my thoughts and prayers also go out to the Ford family at this time of national mourning.

Thanks to Danny_171984 and Daniel for the preread. As always, thanks to Tex for his assistance with this story, you “Da man” as Toji would say…

Week 2

As the second main week of training begins, some of the focus of the battle sims shifts to that of teamwork and free-for-all battles to further challenge and strengthen the pilots. Asuka has some ideas of her own that she thinks will help out and asks Maya to input them when they start the next round of battle sims…

“You guys will have to work together in pairs for this next one… the odd person out gets to be paired with the `Double H' simulated EVA…” Maya says after turning on the intercom.

“I wanna work with Shinji!” Asuka says almost immediately.

“Why don't you work with somebody else this time…” Is the reply back from Maya.

Shinji hears Asuka sigh aloud over the communications channel and then focuses his eyes on her as a sudden smirk comes to her face.

“I want Rei for my partner…”

“I am… flattered…” Rei says, fully surprised by Asuka's choice.

“Come on Shinji, you've got to help me win at least one game against Rei!" Kensuke said in exasperation as he recalled how easily his girlfriend beat him at every video game they played before having to move into NERV.

“I guess I could do that…” Shinji says passively, not totally thrilled about the thought of fighting against his sister and his girlfriend.

A wide smirk suddenly appears on Asuka's face… her mind goes into action and decides now would be a good time to “have some fun”… since Kensuke left himself wide open to comments…

“Say Kensuke… how are you going to beat both of us when you can't even beat Rei?”

“Do not pick on Ken-kun… he is a very capable pilot.” Rei says in Kensuke's defense before the young man can even make a reply to Asuka.

“Hmmph… I guess you and I will have to show those two without words…” Asuka says with a huff.

Despite Asuka's words, Kensuke is feeling a bit better about the fight after what Rei just said. `She thinks I'm a good pilot… and coming from her that's a real compliment. I think that we can give them a good fight…'

“Aww man… I gotta work with the H EVA…” Toji says, changing the conversation after realizing that he's the `odd person' out and would be working with the H EVA.

“I wouldn't worry too much… the H EVA is pretty good… I think you could give those other guys a real fight with that one…” Maya says, trying to encourage Toji to not feel down.

“I guess I could give it a try…”

“Good.” Maya smiles. “Oh, there's one more thing… Asuka was nice enough to bring some motivational music with her today… I'll be playing that through as background music as you guys fight…”

“Is it Mortal Kombat music or something along those lines?” A curious Kensuke asks, wondering about what Asuka would consider “motivational”.

“No… just some good old fight music…” Asuka says

“Oh, one more thing… Misato asked me to throw in two more EVA's… two SEELE drones… she said it was `just for fun'…” Maya says, not believing that she just said that.

All five pilots turn and look at Maya on their view screens.

“That don't sound like fun to me…” Toji says to himself softly.

“Fine, fine… let's get this sim going…” An exasperated Asuka says a moment later.

Maya flips a switch and an audio countdown begins emanating from the computer…

“Five… four… three… two… one… BEGIN!”

The pilots prepare themselves for the battle ahead and then the special music Asuka had picked begins playing…

“Is that…” Shinji tries to remember where he heard this group from before…

“I like it… it is perfect for the situation… very rebellious…” Rei says, getting into the spirit of the music.

“I'm glad you like it… though I'd never have thought you'd be the type to like AC/DC…” Asuka says as she marches her EVA over to her teammate, Rei.

“I knew it was Asuka's rock music… it's very loud…” Kensuke hears Shinji say over the communication channel.

“Hey, I'd thought you'd be used to her music by now…” A chuckling Kensuke says back to Shinji. “Any ideas?”

“Well… I think we should focus on Rei and Asuka… that's what they're expecting and I don't want to disappoint them…”

Kensuke is surprised by this change in attitude by Shinji. “You know that Asuka won't like it if we beat her… you may have a rough night…”

Shinji rolls his eyes. “I know… but I want to show her that I'm a great pilot too… she doesn't have to do everything by herself… we're all here to help out…”

“Good point… let's do it…”

Asuka and Rei maneuver their EVA's into position on a hill and watch as Kensuke and Shinji come charging at them head first…

“Idiots…” The Second child mutters under her breath. “We have the high ground… and it looks the other stooge is taking care of the SEELE EVA's…”

“Kensuke and Shinji no doubt have a plan… I wouldn't dismiss the threat so easily…” Rei says cautiously.

“Maybe… but they're missing one thing… girl power…”

Rei nods her head and prepares for the assault. After hearing that last comment by Asuka, Maya chuckles and leans back in her chair.

“Leave it to Asuka to say something like that…” Maya's attention is turned to the other set of screen where the pair of SEELE EVA's are fighting against Toji and the H EVA…

Both SEELE EVA's are in headlocks and are being beaten down by Toji and his teammate… causing Maya to say just one word.

“Wow…”

“You bastards ain't gonna win… I ain't gonna let yah…” Toji says as he struggles with his opponent, a white SEELE drone. He can feel himself getting pushed back and overpowered by his opponent… his EVA is being pushed back towards the edge of a cliff.

“I ain't gonna die…” Toji prepares to unleash a head-butt when his opponent suddenly releases his hold. After looking up, the Fourth Child gets a good look at the H EVA for the first time.

“It's pink… but it's kickin' some ass…” He says, making note of the smoldering ruins off to his right. “Maybe this won't be so bad…”

The H EVA pulls out the prog knife out of the back of the SEELE EVA and prepares to make another attack when it's struck by a vicious blow to the head.

“Oh no you don't…” Toji says, maneuvering his EVA to be right behind the remaining SEELE EVA, which he puts in a headlock.

”Hey H EVA, go for da' core!”

The pink EVA recovers, grabs its prog knife, and stabs the SEELE EVA in its core… causing a large explosion and the total destruction of the pairs' last opponent… for the moment.

“Good job! Now let's go cause some trouble for those other four!” An enthusiastic Toji happily says over the communication channel.

As Toji and the H EVA march over to join the fracas in the center of the simulated environment, Maya softly makes a comment to herself.

“That was good… you're improving a lot… I know you didn't want to do this…”

“But he's finally taking it seriously… is that what you were going to say?” A voice says from behind Maya, causing her to turn around excitedly.

“Aoba!”

“I'm on break… and I wanted to see how my girlfriend was doing… and to check on our pilots…” Aoba says as he passes Maya a cup of coffee.

“Oh, I'm fine…” A blushing Maya says before taking a sip of coffee. “The pilots seem to be enjoying this free-for-all sim… their sync ratios are higher then ever before and it's a nice break… even if it's only for a little while…”

“Oooh…” Aoba notices that Kensuke's EVA is getting double teamed by Toji and the H EVA. “Looks like Kensuke's in trouble…”

“But look over there… Shinji's pulling some incredible moves against Asuka and Rei…” Maya says as she points to another view screen.

“How come we're not hearing anything then? I would've expected some yelling and screaming by now…” A curious Aoba asks.

“Oops… I forgot to switch it back to the `Open Comm' mode…” A moment later, a string of German curses blare over the intercom.

“You had to ask, Aoba…”

“I guess I did…” After a quick glance at his watch, Aoba leans in and places a kiss on Maya's cheek. “I gotta get back to work… I'll see you later…”

“All right…” Maya says as she happily waves at the departing technician.

The battle continues… all the while Maya is carefully supervising the pilots and takes notes about their performance for tomorrows' report to Commanders Ikari and Fuyutski.

Later that evening, after the battle sims are over, the pilots clean up and have dinner before heading back to the apartment, where they find Misato and Kaji cuddled together on the couch. A large purple blanket covers the two, keeping them warm.

“Are you feeling better, Misato?” Shinji asks as he walks over to his guardian.

“A little… I don't know what's been wrong with me lately… I've stopped throwing up but now I'm hungry all the time…”

“I've never seen her eat so much…” Kaji comments as he gently caresses Misato's hair. “Not to mention that she's quit drinking cold turkey… I'm worried about my Misato…”

“I'm fine…” Misato says softly.

“Something's wrong if Misato quit drinking…” Asuka quips as she walks over to Misato. “I just saw Pen-Pen and he's still 100 percent your penguin… he sure can drink…”

“How's my baby doing?” Misato says softly.

Kensuke and Toji decide to comment on that…

“He's got such a following down there… he may never want to leave…” Kensuke says with a nod.

“I saw da' girls giving him real expensive fish along with the booze… he's got it made…” Toji says as he recalls all the attention that a certain warm-water penguin was getting a short time ago.

“I'll have to visit him tomorrow…” Misato says with a sigh. “Or he may never want to go home after all of this is over with…”

That comment gets a smile out of all the pilots. Shinji rubs his full stomach and wonders if Misato and Kaji ate dinner already…

“Did you two eat already? I could make up something…”

“It's okay, Shinji… Hikari already made dinner and Misato made sure that none of it went to waste…” Kaji says as he looks over at his purple-haired goddess… who promptly burps.

“Excuse me…”

“Speaking of Hikari… Toji… she wants to talk to you in your room…” Kaji says as he snaps his fingers together.

“Someone's in trouble…” Asuka says to herself softly.

“I ain't in no trouble…” Toji says as he hastily leaves the room. Rei motions in the direction of the bedrooms and Kensuke follows her out of the room.

“I guess everyone's heading off to relax…” Shinji says, noticing the room quickly emptying.

“I don't blame them… it's been a long day for everyone…” Misato says with a yawn.

“Yeah…” Asuka tugs on Shinji's shirt. “Let's get something to drink, Shinji… and then go back to our room. We need to have a little talk…”

Shinji gulps and follows Asuka into the kitchen. Misato looks at Kaji and wonders aloud “What was that all about?” The former spy leans in and whispers a few words into his wife-to-be's ear…

“Oh… he's gonna really be in for it now…” Misato cannot help but exclaim. “I hope she doesn't hurt him or anything…”

“Do you want me to listen in on them?” Kaji asks, wondering how serious this potential situation could get in the near future.

“Well… let's just see what happens… and take it from there…” A yawning Misato says a moment later as she adjusts her head to better snuggle against Kaji's chest.

Asuka and Shinji reenter the front room a moment later and say goodnight to the couple on the couch before heading into their bedroom. Shinji sits down on the bed and tries to relax… he notices Asuka fidgeting with her glasses and knows that's not a good sign…

In a nearby bedroom, Hikari is talking with Toji about the days' events. Toji cannot help but be slightly distracted by her new pink pajamas… the soft, silky material feels nice to the touch.

“So, which team won that little competition you guys had earlier? I heard it was pretty rough…” Hikari says, curious about the results.

“Well… I got paired with this `Double H' EVA, and it was a pretty good fighter. We knocked out the two SEELE EVA's while Shinji and Kensuke were fighting Rei and Asuka… then Double H and jumped into the fight. Kensuke knocked out the Double H before I could get him out of da game… Shinji was fighting both Asuka and Rei…”

“That must've been a crazy battle… but what happened next?” Hikari says, wanting to hear the rest of the story.

“All of the sudden… Shinji just went crazy… I don't know how else ta say it… I was gone in no time flat… and then Rei and Asuka tried to stop him… they couldn't. I was surprised that even Asuka couldn't stop him…”

“Wow… I would've never expected Shinji to do that… I wonder how the others are taking this…”

“I know Rei and Kensuke felt good about it afterwards… we talked at da dinner table… but Asuka was very quiet. I know I did a great job and that simulated EVA is pretty cool… I think you'd like it, Hikari… it was pink…”

“A pink EVA? Really?” A surprised Hikari exclaims.

“Yeah… I'm gonna work with dat one next time… and I know I'll do even better…” Toji says confidently.

Hikari smiles at Toji and then leans in for a kiss. The two share a slow, passionate kiss before Hikari gently breaks it and asks a question.

“Speaking of pink… do you like my new pajamas?”

“Of course…” Toji gently brushes his hand against the fabric on her sleeve. “They're nice and soft… just like you…”

Hikari blushes. “Toji…”

Slowly, Hikari leans back and rests her head against his shoulder. Toji wraps an arm around her and sighs aloud.

“I'm glad I have you… or I wouldn't be doing as good as I am…”

“Toji… you're doing great… this isn't the easiest job in the world for you to do… and after what happened to you with that 13th Angel…”

“Well… this time I'm going to be ready… all of us will be ready.” Toji smiles at Hikari. “We're gonna be heroes…”

A soft sigh escapes Hikari's lips. “You're already one to me… I mean…”

Toji gently kisses the now blushing brunette. “Thanks…”

Hikari and Toji snuggle together and soon fall asleep. In the next room over, Rei and Kensuke have just finished talking about the day's events when Rei feels a sudden twinge of pain in her back… she winces and Kensuke becomes immediately concerned…

“Rei! Are you okay?”

“The pain… it is back…” Rei says as she stretches out on the bed.

“Where does it hurt?”

Rei sighs aloud. “My back… my muscles are tense…”

Kensuke pauses for a moment to think about what to do next… and decides that the best he can do for her is another massage…

“Rei… do you want me to give you a massage, like last time?”

“Please…”

After taking a deep breath, Kensuke gets to work. Rei tries to relax as the massage commences. Starting with her lower back, Kensuke slowly works his way up to her shoulders and then spends a few minutes giving her a deep shoulder massage.

“That feels… wonderful…” Rei says softly, fighting the urge to fall asleep.

“I'm glad you like my work… but I'm beginning to get worried about you, Rei… you're in pain more and more lately…” A concerned Kensuke says back to his girlfriend.

“The process must be accelerating… I feel like I have grown slightly taller this week… and there have been other changes…”

This piques Kensuke's curiosity. “Like what?”

“I… believe that I am taking on a more womanly figure… have you noticed?”

Kensuke looks at her behind and hips and nods his head slightly. `She looks great… she's really developing some nice curves…' His fingers idly caress her hips and then he has to admit- “Umm… well… maybe a little…”

A smile plays across her lips that goes unseen to Kensuke as several thoughts pass through Rei's mind. `Ken-kun is touching my hips… and now my behind- without any prompting from me. He is being bold… I like that- it feels good…'

“Rei… umm… you look great and I… like your new pajamas. This sky blue color is perfect for you…”

“Thank you… however, I prefer the monogrammed pajamas that you bought for me…”

“I'm glad you liked those… but don't worry, they'll be there when all of this SEELE business is done and we've kicked their ass…” Kensuke says while feeling happy about the fact the she loved his present.

“They may not fit by that point…”

That comment throws Kensuke for a loop and he has to ask one question: “Why not?”

“My hips and… behind… are different…”

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean the top part would be no good…”

“It is more then that… I believe my bust is slowly filling out…”

Kensuke blushes. “Umm… last night umm… you felt the same to me…”

“Perhaps I am imagining things…” Rei says with a soft sigh. “I still have about fifteen days or so left until this process stops… so the pain may continue…”

“I'll help you through this, Rei… if you need anything, just ask…”

That comment from Kensuke makes Rei feel real happy inside. The genuine concern that he is showing and his assistance to her during this difficult time is really making an impression on Rei.

“I wish to snuggle with you tonight, Ken-kun…”

Kensuke takes off his glasses and places them on the nightstand next to Rei's. He stretches for a moment and then walks over to the light switch…

“I'm gonna turn off the lights… are you ready for bed?”

Rei turns over and then nods at Kensuke. “Yes.”

“All right…” A moment later, the room goes dark except for a clock alarm near the bed, which continues to cast a red glow into the room. Kensuke crawls into the bed and finds Rei's arms around him a moment later.

“Good night, Ken-kun…” Rei says after placing a kiss on the otaku's cheek.

“G-good night…”

A soft sigh is heard as Rei nuzzles her head against Kensuke's chest. Feeling comfortable, she soon falls asleep… leaving Kensuke to his thoughts…

`She's beautiful… I am the luckiest guy on earth… I knew there was something with this girl from the moment she transferred into our school. I know you used to be part angel… but now you're my angel… and I will help you through this.'

Back in the front room, Kaji and Misato have fallen asleep in front of the television, leaving only one couple awake in the apartment. Shinji and Asuka had been talking and reading together… but Asuka soon brings up something that's been on her mind ever since the battle sim was over…

“Say, Shinji… that was one hell of a match today, wasn't it?” Asuka asks slyly as she glances over at her boyfriend, who's sitting next to her.

Shinji begins to get increasingly nervous as each second passes. “Umm… yeah… it sure was… it was very hard… I can't believe that I umm… beat you and Rei…”

“I'll say… you went berserk… I don't remember you being like this before. The closest thing I could think of was when you found out that I'd…”

Asuka stops speaking before she begins to trigger memories of getting savagely eaten by the SEELE EVA's. Shinji notices this and nods his head, having a good idea of the point that she was trying to convey.

“I wanted to win for once… I made myself focus on one thing… something that's been bothering me for a long time…”

This gets Asuka's attention right away. “What's that?”

“I…” Shinji pauses to gather some courage to speak this thought out loud. “I still feel guilty about not saving you… letting you get eaten by those SEELE EVA's…”

“Oh…” Asuka says softly. All anger about her loss to Shinji fades away, at least for the moment as she ponders that poignant incident in their common past.

“Shinji… I have your memories… so I understand what you were feeling, especially after seeing Misato die but…”

Shinji looks over at Asuka, who has stopped speaking. Suddenly, a sly grin appears on her face. `Uh-oh… she's up to something…'

“Don't worry about it, Shinji… what's in the past is in the past. I'm more worried about our battle with those damn things again…” After saying those words, Asuka gives Shinji a gentle push and he falls back on the bed. “Let's not forget about today, though. You beat me…”

Knowing how much Asuka hates to lose, Shinji says an all too familiar line. “I'm sorry…”

“That's not good enough… you were a bad boy today, Shinji… and now you have to pay the price…” Asuka says, her grin getting ever wider.

“But…”

“No buts. Now close your eyes and when I tell you to, open them. I want you to do something for me…”

Not knowing what Asuka is up to, Shinji hesitates for a moment before closing his eyes. `I hope she doesn't hit me or something… I thought she was taking this well but I guess not…'

After watching Shinji close his eyes and keep them close, Asuka implements her “payback” plan. She quickly stands up and heads over to one of her clothes drawers… Shinji hears the sound of rustling clothing and is almost tempted to open his eyes…

“Not yet Shinji…”

“Okay…” Is the nervous reply back.

A few moments later, Asuka is done. She takes a quick glance at herself in the mirror and then walks over to the bed. A increasingly nervous Shinji feels her get on the bed and move closer and closer…

“Asuka…”

“You can open your eyes…”

Slowly, the Third Child opens his eyes… only to find Asuka's chest mere inches away from his face.

“Where's your umm… shirt…?” A blushing Shinji asks as he stares at the redhead's lingerie clad figure.

“I took it off… and I switched to those short blue shorts of mine that you love so much… Shinji… I want you to make me feel good… show me what you can do.” Asuka says after tilting her glasses down slightly, adding to the effect.

“Very umm… sexy…”

Asuka is flattered by that comment and winks at her boyfriend. “And don't you forget it!”

“What umm… do you want me to do?”

“Hold me… touch me… make me feel good… like you always do when we make out.” Asuka says in a sultry tone of voice.

“But I'd have done that if you didn't ask… ummm… that is…” A nervous Shinji feels the blood flow in his body changing as Asuka lowers herself on top of him.`She's so hot… she's wearing a really nice bra, it highlights her figure well…'

Asuka closes her eyes and rests her head on his chest. Several seconds pass by before Shinji even moves… but when he does, she knows it. His hands begin to softly caress her back in an effort to calm down and make her feel good at the same time…

“Shinji…” Asuka says softly, inviting the response of “What is it?” from her boyfriend.

“By the way I…”

There is a short silence as she decides on what to say next, though Shinji patiently waits for her to finish her thought…

“I… don't feel bad… about umm… losing. Normally I would but…”

A somewhat shocked Shinji is silent by that revelation but is happy to hear that. `That must've been hard for her to say… but she's becoming more mature about things… I like this new Asuka… the glasses are a nice touch, too…'

“It's okay, Asuka…”

“Thank you… for not making fun of me because I lost…” Asuka says with a soft sigh.

“Asuka, you know I wouldn't do that…”

“Even the other stooges didn't make fun of me… but next time, I WILL win!”

“That's my Asuka…” A grinning Shinji says as his hands start moving again, running across Asuka's hips and behind. He begins thinking about a way to help her make that happen…

“Next time, you and I should work together… and then we'll both win…”

Asuka turns her head and looks thoughtfully at her boyfriend. “Do you really mean that?”

“Of course…”

“Good… these sims aren't getting any easier, even for me. I'll bet those SEELE EVA's will be tough… so we have to be tough, too…”

“Yeah… we all need to be tough. Just look at how much better their scores are since we first started, especially Kensuke and Toji. Rei's gotten a lot stronger too…”

Shinji's hands slowly move up Asuka's back and his fingers dance across the back of her bra as he tries to be a little bolder. Though he doesn't see it, Asuka's smile widens and her heart starts to race as he gentle rubs his fingers against that general area of her back…

“You're a lot better Shinji… you calculate your moves, even when you were going berserk today- you knew how to beat me…”

“Umm… yeah… I guess…” A humble Shinji responds back.

There's a brief pause before Asuka decides to drop the subject entirely and mention something that will get Shinji's attention immediately…

“Tomorrow Rei and I are going to show off our other new swimsuits… I'm sure you'll like my choice…”

Shinji has to wonder to himself- `What color will she be wearing this time? It's gotta be a two piece… and revealing…'

“You'll see tomorrow…” Asuka softly repeats to herself as she begins to doze off. She begins to mumble Shinji's name as she falls asleep, comfortable with her position.

Silence fills the room, except for the sounds of the two lovers breathing. Shinji yawns and the begins to gently caresses Asuka's hair, his nostrils are filled with the scent of her strawberry shampoo, making him realize how much red things are a part of her life and her way of doing things. `Good night my Angel…'

The long day has taken its toll on Shinji, he gently removes Asuka's glasses and puts them on the nightstand before joining Asuka in slumberland. He cannot help but dream about the wonderful woman snuggled on top of him.

The next day, the regular training schedule continues. In the later morning, the pilots do a regular round of swim practice, working on more advanced strokes and breathing exercises.

After spending an hour in the pool, the five pilots and Hikari break for lunch. The girls and guys split up and head off to their respective changing rooms to change back into regular clothes…

In the girls' locker room, the three girls start undressing when Hikari notices something is missing…

“I'm missing something here… have either of you seen my panties?”

“No… I just have my stuff over here… right where I left it…” Asuka says as she inspects her pile of clothes.

“I appear to have all my clothing as well…” Rei says after sifting through her clothes.

“That's weird… I could've sworn that I put them right here…” A befuddled Hikari says softly to herself.

“I have no idea where they went…” Is the response from the other side of the room. “Maybe we should go ask those security guards that are SUPPOSED to be watching out for us. “ Asuka says sarcastically as she reaches for her own underwear.

“I agree… I feel uncomfortable knowing that someone could have been in here while we were swimming…” A nodding Rei says, feeling uneasy after thinking about the matter further.

Hikari sighs and gets dressed, putting her pants on and making due with the situation. Rei and Asuka head outside and confront the security guard that's standing in front of the locker room.

“Can I ask you something?” Asuka says nicely. When she receives a nod back in return by the guard, her tone of voice instantly changes. “What in the hell is going on here? Hikari is missing some of her underwear… did you let someone in here while we were swimming? Tell me!”

“I wish to know as well…” Rei adds while staring at the increasingly nervous guard.

“I have been here the whole time that you two were swimming… no one has come in here, Pilot Soryu, Pilot Ayanami…”

“That is not my name anymore…” Rei says, her voice filled with disdain over her former last name.

“Umm… sorry… I forgot… Pilot K-Katusuragi…” The now nervous and sweating guard says while trying to maintain his composure.

“Then how did Hikari's underwear disappear?” Asuka asks, redirecting the topic back to the disappearance.

“No idea, Pilot. I will swear that no one has entered here since you and the two other entered about an hour and a half ago…” The guard says, looking Asuka right in the eye.

After that line, Asuka decides to drop the matter for the moment. She can tell with reasonable certainty that he's telling the truth. She glances over at Rei and the two head back inside to get Hikari… the trio head up to NERV security to have a little “talk” with whoever's running it…

In the meantime, the three male pilots head over to the cafeteria, talking amongst themselves on the way…

”We finally got to see the other swimsuits that our girls ordered… Rei looked great in that sky blue two piece…” Kensuke says with a smile on his face.

“That was the first time I saw Asuka in a yellow swimsuit… very nice…” A nodding Shinji says, heartily agreeing with the otaku's comment about the girls.

“Hikari still likes those one-piece swimsuits… but she looks great in them, so I ain't gonna complain… she has a great figure and now I get ta see it…”

Toji is about to say more when the three arrive at the cafeteria and find Kaji standing at the entranceway talking to Misato…

“Look who just arrived…” Kaji says, acknowledging the three pilots. “Misato and I were just about to have lunch… we wanted to eat with you three and the girls… but they're nowhere to be seen…”

“We haven't heard anything…” A shrugging Shinji says back.

“I can't wait any longer for them… let's eat!” Misato says while gently tugging on Kaji's sleeve. “I'm hungry!”

Kaji sighs. “I swear you eat more then me now… let's go inside and get some seats before they're all taken…”

“Yeah, let's eat!” Toji says enthusiastically.

The group of five make their way across the increasingly crowded cafeteria to get into line. Misato's eyes light up as she gazes on the days' offering…

“A buffet! That's perfect!”

Kaji sweatdrops as his fiancée rushes up to the line, her eyes wide as saucers. The other four males make their way over to the buffet line… when they hear a familiar voice calling them from the entrance…

“I thought you were going to wait for us…” Asuka says as the trio of young women move closer.

“We were… but Misato had to eat now…” Kaji says, defending the other three males against any other comments from Asuka and company.

“Oh… I didn't realize that mom was so hungry… she has been eating a lot lately…” Rei comments as she observes Misato loading her tray with food.

Asuka walks up to Kaji and gently elbows him. “You know she'll get fat if she keeps eating like this… there's definitely more calories in all the food she's eating versus all the beer she used to drink…”

“Asuka…” Shinji says, surprised at her comment but also inwardly agreeing with it.

“What?” Asuka shrugs her shoulders. “I'm just telling the truth…”

Before Kaji can say anything in return, he's motioned over to the buffet line by Misato, who's holding an empty tray.

“Well, looks like I'm being summoned… you six get your food and meet us over at that far table…” The former spy says as he cuts into the line right where Misato is.

The six teen exchange momentary glances with each before walking over to the end of the line. While in line Rei notices that her mother is picking out most of the choices for Kaji… and he's agreeing with all of them…

After getting through the line and loading up their trays with food from the “standard” KFC buffet spread, the teens sit down and begin eating. Asuka looks over and gasps at the sight next to her.

“Damn! You're done already?”

Misato shrugs her shoulders. “You guys were in line… and I was hungry. So sue me…”

Rei decides that this is the time to bring up her question. “Mom… I saw you getting food for Dad earlier… you know his eating habits that well?”

Kaji smiles. “Yeah, she does. Rei, when you spend as much time as I have with that special someone, you learn certain things about them… like what foods they like.”

Asuka and Shinji exchange brief glances, knowing that they have that ability as well, though that's a result of the shared memories and not a long time of knowing each other.

“That's nice… so you know what to cook for Misato?” Hikari asks while thinking about Toji and how she's learning about his likes and dislikes when it comes to food.

The former spy nods his head. “Since she doesn't cook very often… I had to make most of the non-instant meals…”

“Let me give you an example. I picked out the pieces of chicken for Kaji… and since I know he's a breast man… that's what I picked…” Misato says with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

The three young males chuckle at that comment and get stern looks from their girlfriends.

“Dat's a good one…” Toji says softly to himself.

“Anyways…” Kaji clears his throat and is about to change the subject when Rei speaks up.

“Ken-kun also seems to be of that persuasion… look at his tray…”

Kensuke blushes… he knows that Rei meant more then his choice of chicken pieces. Misato and Kaji turn and look at the otaku, causing him to squirm in his chair…

“I see…” A nodding Misato says, making a mental note to talk to Rei and Kensuke later.

Asuka decides to join the fray and tease Shinji a little bit.

“Kensuke isn't the only one that's a breast man, right, Shinji?” A wink follows that statement, causing Shinji to blush beet red.

Toji knows that Hikari is probably not going to make a comment about him… but decides to make a comment before someone else does about him.

“Yah know, there's more to a chicken then da breasts… or a woman…”

“That's right…” Hikari says while nodding in agreement.

“The legs or thighs can be the best part…” With that, Toji takes a bite out of his chicken leg, leaving Hikari to wonder if he was talking about chicken only… or if he liked her lower body.

“Anyways… what happened to you three… we were waiting for you…” Kaji says, changing the subject.

Asuka immediately gets vocal. “We had a problem after that swimming lesson… someone's not doing their job…”

Misato's eyebrows go up. “What happened?”

After a quick glance at Hikari, Asuka mentally revises her words before speaking them, to avoid embarrassing her friend. “Someone came into the locker room and stole some of Hikari's clothes while we were swimming…”

“WHAT? I'll beat `em up! How dare they mess with my girl!” A chivalrous Toji says, getting angrier by the moment.

“What did the guard say?” Misato asks while thinking about ways that this could've happened.

Asuka recalls their journey a short time ago. “He swears that no one came into the locker room while we were swimming. We didn't believe him, so after that, all three of us went up to the security office and looked at the recording… and he was right. No one had entered the room after we did…” She says, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“That's really odd…” Kaji says, wondering if something more serious is going on.

“Maybe the tapes were altered…” Kensuke suggests, knowing a good bit about this field. “It could be part of some kind of SEELE infiltration…”

Shinji shakes his head. “What would SEELE want with Hikari's clothes?”

“In any case… someone stole my stuff… that makes me feel uneasy…” Hikari says softly as Toji slips his hand into hers and holds it, comforting the young woman.

“One of us may be next…” Rei says, also worried about the situation.

Increasingly worried about this topic and the loss of Hikari's clothes, Misato stands up and looks at Kaji.

“Kaji, let's go…”

“But what about lunch?” Is the reply back from Kaji, who is almost done with his meal.

“We can come back down after we're done… I need to find out what's going on for myself. I'm worried about these guys and if someone's playing a joke or worse, I want to know…” Misato says, her voice full of energy and determination.

After wiping his mouth with a napkin, Kaji stands up and addresses the six teens. “Misato and I will look into this. Just keep your eyes open, okay? We'll let you know what we find after you get out of your afternoon sim battle…”

“Okay… and thanks…” An appreciative Hikari says as the two adults leave the table. The six teens return to eating lunch, a feeling of uneasiness permeates the air around them… which is exemplified by the slight paranoia that manifests itself later. On the way to the sim locker rooms, any unusual noise is met with suspicion.

Maya wonders why it takes twice as long for the pilots to get into the simulator as compared to a normal day… but passes the thought off to stress, which is ever present in this race to prepare for the inevitable confrontation with SEELE. The pilots once again work in teams, this time Asuka is with Shinji, Rei and Kensuke pair up, and Toji by choice picks to work with the `Double H' EVA. Instead of one pair of drones, there are two, adding to the challenge…

Back at the apartment, around dinnertime, Kaji and Misato are sitting at the table discussing the days' events and the two main issues- the difficulty in finding SEELE's base and the missing clothing.

“This is getting difficult… there's so many different mining and energy interests in the northern part of North America… lots of them have the capital to be puppet organizations under SEELE… not to mention the huge land area…”

“Don't get down, Kaji… we'll narrow the choices down somehow… it's this other problem that has me more worried. If someone was able to outsmart Section 2 and alter the video recording… or sneak into that locker room without our knowledge, then we could be dealing with some real problems here...” Misato says, trying to cheer Kaji up. “You're doing a great job…”

“Thanks… but speaking of worrying… what about you? I've never seen you like this… maybe we should go see a doctor or something…”

“Well…” Misato contemplates the idea for a moment. `I've never felt like this before… being so hungry and eating so much. It was like all of a sudden I felt the urge to eat… and not to drink any alcohol… maybe something is wrong with my system.'

“After dinner, we'll go down to the infirmary, okay?”

Kaji nods after hearing Misato say that. “Sounds good… but that could be a while. I know the kids are involved in a harder sim then usual…”

This comment gets Misato feeling uneasy. “Late dinner… hmm… you know what I'm thinking?”

“I think we've had enough cafeteria food for one day…” Is the response Kaji gives back, not wanting another “fast food” meal.

Instead of responding with a “no” answer, Misato begins to giggle, causing her concerned fiancée to stare and wonder what's going through her mind.

“Why don't you and I make dinner?”

“Something must be wrong with you if you offered to help cook…” Kaji says playfully, Misato sticks out her tongue at the former spy.

“Let's get started… we can have fun cooking, right?” A hopeful Misato says.

“Of course… hmm. Do you remember that one book we read during that one special week… `Cooking for Couples'…”

Misato grins and instantly remembers that book and some of the recipes they worked on.. “Of course I do… but I meant just cooking together…”

The sound of laughter fills the room. “I know… we don't have the privacy to do that kind of cooking my dear…”

“Well, let's get started…” A determined Misato says before the two head into the kitchen to make a nice dinner for the battle weary pilots.

Hikari gets in before the other five and assists the “Kaji couple” in the preparations. They finish just before the five pilots walk into the apartment. Smells of food waft through the air, causing expressions of gratitude…

“Dat smells good!”

“Very pleasant…” A nodding Rei says, agreeing with Toji.

Asuka stretches her arms towards the ceiling. “Enough talk, let's eat!”

Inwardly, Shinji smiles and is happy that Asuka is okay… the fight that had just ended was much tougher then any of the pilots had expected. Every blow given and taken was felt with uncanny precision…

Dinner is quickly served and the topic invariably drifts towards the simulations and the aftermath of them…

“Damn those SEELE EVA's were persistent… and that simulation really hurt! When I got punched, it felt like someone actually hit me!” A vocal Asuka says while eating her deluxe ramen.

“That was tough…” Kensuke says with a sigh. “I guess I know how you guys felt when fighting those angels…”

“It was worse… especially when…” Shinji is about to say something when he gets glances from Rei and Asuka. “Never mind…”

“Despite the difficulty, Asuka and Shinji were able to win… though I am concerned about the way Asuka won…” Rei says, worried about Asuka's behavior earlier.

That comment gets Misato and Kaji's attention… they didn't witness the fight today or talk to Maya about it.

“What do you mean?” Kaji asks, wanting more clarification on that.

Misato looks over at Asuka and notices her face has an expression of sadness… with a touch of anger. She decides to press the issue, since Asuka didn't respond. “What happened Asuka?”

“Look… I won… I mean Shinji and I won… isn't that enough?” A defensive redhead replies back, not wanting to talk about it.

“Rei wouldn't have said anything if she wasn't worried… tell me…” Misato says in a more firm tone of voice.

All eyes focus on Asuka… the other pilots, including Shinji, decide not to say anything unless pressed to by Misato- leaving the decision to talk up to Asuka…

Reluctantly, Asuka goes back to fight in her mind and prepares to describe what happened during the fight.

“Do you... do you remember what Shinji did yesterday?”

“Yes… he went berserk and… no offense guys, he really destroyed the rest of you…” Kaji says, choosing his words carefully.

“I did the same thing… I focused my mind on a… bad memory and put myself back when…” Words fail Asuka and a concerned Shinji takes her hand and holds it.

“Asuka, I can tell them… if you want…” Shinji says, wanting to spare Asuka some of the pain of telling this story herself.

“No… I'll tell them…” A downcast Asuka looks at Misato and Kaji. “I… put myself back to the time when I… when I was fighting those nine SEELE EVA's… when I was fighting for my life…”

Tears begin to form in Asuka's eyes and she turns her gaze away, not wanting the others to see her like this.

Misato turns to Rei and asks a simple question. “She went berserk, didn't she?”

“Yes… and since I have memories and experiences from everyone at the time Third Impact… I have a fragment of what she went through. Brother, however, has seen the whole experience…”

Asuka turns and looks at the other pilots. “I'm sorry… I didn't mean to hurt any of you… I got so caught up in the battle that I thought I was back fighting those damn EVA's… telling them that `I'll kill you…'”

“Don't worry, Asuka… it's all part of da game…” Toji says, breaking the awkward silence that fills the air after Asuka's last comment.

“Asuka… are you going to be okay?” A concerned Hikari asks, worried about her friend.

“Yeah… I'll be fine… let's finish eating this good food…”

A smile forms on Kaji and Misato's faces after hearing those words… the Second child notices this and asks aloud the question that has suddenly popped into her mind.

“You two made dinner?”

“Of course… with some help from Hikari at the end. I can cook, you know…” Misato says with a wink.

“You could've fooled me… at least, before Third Impact… I guess you can make a few decent dishes…” Asuka says teasingly.

“Gee, thanks…” Misato says wryly.

The first ones finished eating are Kaji and Misato, who excuse themselves and head down towards the infirmary. On the way down, Misato cannot help but bring up what happened earlier…

“These sims are getting that bad… that hard… that Asuka has to literally do anything in order to win… even make her mind go back to such a horrible experience…”

“Asuka loves to be on top… to win… and I think she was making up for losing yesterday. I've known her for a long time… she's changed since Third Impact but there are some things that'll never change about her. That worries me… especially if these simulations get any worse…” Kaji says that last part with a sigh.

“I'll have to talk to the Commander tomorrow, and see if we can at least tone down the sims, even if it's for one day. I know they're our only hope but we can't…”

Misato's words are cut off by a brief kiss and then a tight embrace.

“Katsuragi… we'll protect them. I didn't come back to see them lose… or anybody to get hurt, including you. Let's get you checked out and make sure you're okay…”

It's several seconds before a slightly trembling Misato replies. “Yes…”

A little while later, up in the apartment, most of the teens have gone to their rooms after putting the dishes into the dishwasher and cleaning up the table. Hikari is worried about the punishment that all of the pilots are taking and spends the night talking to and cuddling with Toji to make him feel better. In the next room, Rei and Kensuke talk about what happened and worry about Asuka…

In the front room, Asuka is snuggled against Shinji as they watch the news on the TV. The world events that appear on the screen get both teens more worried by the moment…

”It's really getting crazy out there, Shin-chan… I know those SEELE people are setting up something really bad…”

“I know Asuka… they want to rule to world by any means possible… and we're the only real obstacle left in the way…” Shinji says as he gently runs his fingers through Asuka's hair. “Especially you and I…”

Asuka talks in a near whisper. “Everyone wants to get the great Asuka Langley Soryu… but I'm not going to lose. Having momma on my side… and you… I know I can do anything…”

“That's right… owww…”

Shinji winces as pain rips through his back and Asuka sits up and looks at him, very concerned about his well-being.

“Are you okay, Shin-chan?”

Despite his wanting to say “yes”… he doesn't. Lying wouldn't help the situation…

“My back hurts…”

“I can give you a massage… and then you can give me one if you feel up to it.” Asuka says, making an offer to help ease the pain.

A warm smile forms on Shinji's face. “Asuka… okay. I want to help you get that memory out of your head… you were… almost vicious earlier… you lost it…”

Silence is the answer Shinji gets back to that statement… and he begins to worry about his statement. `Did I offend her? I hope not…'

“Shinji… you're right… I shouldn't have done that- only when we're actually facing those bastards. I don't want to hurt anyone… but I do want to win…”

“Of course…” Shinji stands up and extends his hand out to Asuka. “Let's go back to our room and talk some more…”

Taking Shinji's hand, Asuka gets on her feet and the couple heads into the bedroom. After closing the door, Asuka begins to giggle.

“What's so funny?” A curious Shinji asks.

“Nothing…”

“No, really, what's so funny?” Shinji asks, pressing the issue.

“I was just thinking about what we just did… you were really in a hurry to get back here… did you have something in mind?”

“Yeah… I want to be with you… I want to help you, Asuka…” A blushing Shinji says back, knowing full well what she was implying.

A swift kiss on the cheek is Asuka's reply to that and Shinji looks over at his girlfriend… and for the first time, really takes note of what she's wearing. As he looks her over, Asuka does various modeling poses…

`I was so focused on helping her and all the problems from today that I didn't even notice this new outfit of hers…'

“What do you think?” A winking Asuka asks to wide-eyed Shinji.

“Very nice… umm… I like the white shorts and black belt combination… it shows off your umm… lower body nicely…”

“What about my new yellow top?”

A yellow sleeveless top with delicate ruffles around the two arm openings is what Shinji sees in front of him. Small black button go down the middle from the top collar to the bottom of the short length shirt… small ruffles flank the middle section as well. `This definitely shows off her figure well…' Is the thought in Shinji's mind as he figures out what to say back to Asuka…

“I've never seen you wearing something like this before… I mean… it shows off your stomach and even further up then that…”

“Mmm… just some loungewear, that's all…” Asuka said as she stretched and her back pops but she still looks uncomfortable. ”Man that was a rough day!”

“You said it.” Shinji responded as he hid the pain that he was in. Their last training mission had been particularly tough and though they were both battered, Shinji took a hit for Asuka that she was not aware of. The hit was from one of the drones, but the Progressive Knife it held had dug into his EVA's back which also meant he felt the pain across his back.

“Shinji?” She asked sweetly.

“Yes?”

“Could you give me a back rub first? I promise to give you a good one in return.”

“Sure,” he said with a smile. “Ladies first, right?”

“Of course…” Asuka says as she lies down on the bed face first.

Shinji realizes immediately that she forgot something important. “Ummm… Asuka… how am I going to give you a good massage with…”

“Oh yeah… I forgot to take off my shirt…” She says as she rolls over on the bed. “Did you want to take it off for me? It'd be good practice…”

“I have to run to the bathroom and get something really quick… for your back. Why don't you take it off and wait for me?”

“Hmm… okay. Hurry back…” A slightly disappointed Asuka says as Shinji stands up and leaves the room.

After getting into the bathroom, Shinji quickly searches some massage oil that he had seen in the medicine cabinet. After grabbing the oil, Shinji rummaged through a medicine cabinet before finding his quarry. Quickly taking care of that problem, Shinji rushed back to Asuka.

“Glad you're back…” A soft voice says as he enters the bedroom again. Shinji looks and sees Asuka lying down on the bed, face first and with no shirt on.

“Well, let's get started…”

Asuka smiles and Shinji straddles her back. He places some of the oil on his hands and starts massaging her lower back. Every once in a while he would grit his teeth as his shirt felt like it was pulling into his back and making his bruise hurt worse.

“Mmmmm…. That feels good…” She said, he just smiled, and forgetting about his pain, he focused on making her feel good. Asuka felt wonderful and she took in a quick breath as Shinji just unhooked her bra and kept massaging her back with that wonderful oil. She sighed inwardly and thought it felt good to help him get past his insecurities.

After about ten minutes Asuka who was almost asleep decided to return the favor. “Here Shinji let me massage your back.”

“Okay…” he said dreamily and he did not think about anything other than what he was doing. Asuka sat up and though her bra was unhooked, she left it in place to cover her breasts. Shinji took off his shirt and laid face down as well.

Asuka straddled him like he had just done to her but when she looked at his back she could not get her hands to touch him.

Shinji lay there for about five minutes before he realized that she had not touched him… and then he felt something hit his back. He blinked as it felt like water. The first water droplet was then joined by another, and then another. Shinji looked over his shoulder and winced as the pain in his back made itself known to him again. “Asuka?”

“You… you…” She said and pointed at his back, her eyes had tears streaming from them.

In her mind, she had been screaming obscenities at the commander for making the simulation so real, but then she remembered how he got this. He had warned her to watch her back and then suddenly he was there… but so was one of the drones. `He took the hit for me…' she thought as she realized that he would have sacrificed himself to save her. The thought, just the thought of what he would do to save her touched her.

Shinji turned over, so that he was looking up at Asuka. His mind did not even notice that she was only in her bra… or that it was unhooked. Instead, his eyes focused only on her face, and her crying. “Asuka?”

“You took the hit for me… didn't you?” She asked and he simply nodded. “But… your back...”

“It's nothing, it'll be gone by morning…” He lied, but he could not stand to see her crying like this.

“Oh Shinji!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him close. Shinji just placed his arms around her and held her as she cried. He gently pulled the blanket over both of their bodies and held her trembling body close to his…

`She means too much to me… I can't stand her crying about me and worrying about me like this.' After a gentle kiss on her cheek, Shinji softly says three very important words to Asuka- “I love you…”

“I love you too, Shinji… and I always will. Thank you…”

Asuka snuggled her head against his chest and then relaxed, eventually falling asleep a few minutes later. Shinji stayed awake a little while longer to make sure that Asuka was okay and then went to sleep as well…

After a good nights' rest, Asuka is the first one to wake up the next morning. She instinctively got out of bed and stretched out her arms towards the ceiling. When she did so, a weird feeling hit her… something was missing…

Looking down, she realized that her feeling of freedom was well justified- her bra had come totally off while she was sleeping and she was naked from the waist up. Stealing a quick glance down at the bed, Asuka breathed a sigh of relief.

`Thank goodness he's still sleeping…' She looks at Shinji and spots her bra on his chest. `There's my missing bra…'

Asuka reached out for her bra and stopped dead in her tracks when the bedroom door opened up. Rei looked inside and immediately noticed Asuka's “situation”. The First Child's eyebrows shot up and then the inquisition began…

“I see you have not been able to control yourself…”

Looking next to Asuka, Rei's eyes come across a shirtless Shinji with a bra on his chest.

“Nor has Shinji… I believe I have won the bet…”

“Now just hold on a minute here, it's not what you think…” Asuka says, trying to clarify the situation before it gets out of hand. Rei doesn't waver, however…

”I find that very improbable…” Rei says while waving a small bottle on pain meds. “If you were that sore to need these, you should have at least put the cap on.”

"Now wait just a a second! I didn't take any pain... pills..." While Asuka had started out angry, seeing the bottle reminded her of something. 'Shinji... he must have taken them...' Asuka realizes almost immediately. `He went to the bathroom... was he in that much pain… Shinji…'

Shinji starts to stir from dream and regain consciousness. Ironically enough, he had just dreamt about Asuka and how she would look without her clothes on…

Rei stares at Shinji while Asuka sits down on the bed, facing her body away from Shinji. Upon opening his eyes, he sees Asuka's bare back right in front of him…

Asuka clears her throat. “Can I get my bra, please?”

All a confused Shinji can say is “Huh?”

“My bra…” Asuka says as she snaps her fingers together and begins to get impatient.

Shinji still hasn't realized that her bra is on his chest and so replies: “What're you talking about?”

Rei cannot help but comment in a nonchalant fashion- “The one that is lying on your chest…”

Finally, Shinji looks down at his chest and sees the garment in question. “Oh… ummm… here you go…”

Rei looks on as Shinji hands the bra to Asuka- he steals a glance at the lacy garment, one of Asuka's favorites. Asuka puts the bra on and is about to re-hook the back when Shinji boldly reattaches the hooks for her.

`He's really getting better at this- I didn't even ask him to do that…'

“I am going back to the kitchen, breakfast should be ready by now…” An exiting Rei says… leaving the two worried teens alone.

Asuka immediately realizes the potential damage that Rei could cause and calls it to Shinji's attention…

“Shin-chan, could you go to the kitchen and make sure Rei doesn't blow this out of hand? You know how Misato can overreact sometimes… and I have to get dressed, anyways…”

After turning to face Asuka, a nodding Shinji says “Sure, Asuka.”

Before he can leave the bed, Asuka reaches out her hand and places it on top of his…

“One more thing, Shinji.”

Asuka takes Shinji's hand and places it over her heart. He gets nervous for a moment, realizing where his hand is. She pauses for a moment to take a deep breath and then talks to him in a soft, loving voice…

“I would do the same thing for you that you did for me yesterday… because you're my boyfriend and I love you. I would risk my life for you, Shin-chan…”

Asuka is silent for a moment… Shinji wraps his other arm around her bare stomach and pulls her back a little. Her last words strike a chord in Shinji's heart, and he can see how much she truly loves and cares for him. He places a tender kiss on her cheek and both enjoy the warmth of each other's body for a moment… which does not last too long…

“Shinji!!!!!” Misato yells from the kitchen.

A very worried Shinji lets go of Asuka immediately. “I guess I better get in there…”

“I'll be there in a few minutes, don't let her overwhelm you, ok?”

Shinji nods his head and stands up. To his surprise, Asuka stands up as well and turns around. She smiles at him and pulls him into a warm embrace…

“You almost saw me topless again… you know you're the…”

Shinji finishes the thought. “Luckiest man on earth… to have such a beautiful woman for a… a… fiancée…”

A blush runs across Asuka's cheeks and she makes no audible reply. She gently gives Shinji a kiss on the cheek and whispers softly…

“Thank you, Shinji…”

The warm moment is interrupted by yelling coming from the kitchen. “Shinji! Get in here!”

Asuka lets Shinji out of the hug. “I'll be there in a minute, okay?”

Shinji nods his head and hastily puts his shirt back on, allowing Asuka to get another look at his bruise before he exits the room. Misato and Kaji are sitting at the table, eating omelets and toast. Rei gets some food for herself and sits down at the table. All three look at Shinji with varying expressions as he sits down at the table…

`Brother used that special oil that Ken-kun had gotten for me on Asuka…' An annoyed Rei thinks as she waits for Misato to start speaking.

Misato tries to have a sense of humor despite this tense situation. “Sooo… Shinji… how'd yah sleep last night?”

“Well, umm… pretty good…” Is the nervous reply back from the Third Child, who gulps and prepares for the onslaught to come.

After hearing that, Rei cannot help but think: `He must have slept good… they used my massage oil's... that was supposed to be saved for a special time with Ken-kun… and then Asuka took some of my pain pills.'

The other three at the table fail to notice the blush creeping across Rei's face and Kaji decides to bring up what he just heard.

“Rei just told us an interesting story about what she found when she went into your bedroom just a few minutes ago…”

“It's not what you think…” Shinji says, waving his hands frantically.

The purple haired guardian doesn't take that at face value and her eyes narrow. “Oh, really? Rei said that she found Asuka topless and her bra on your bare chest… that's a lot more then I thought you two were doing…”

“Well Shinji, it looks like it didn't take you long to get her topless…” Kaji interjects, trying to be funny… but Misato doesn't agree…

“Kaji! Let's be serious here…”

Before the former spy can reply to that, a now fully dressed Asuka comes into the room and immediately puts on her cutest face and smoozes on Kaji…

“Oh come on Kaji, you know I wouldn't pressure him into doing anything that he's not ready for… we did NOT have sex last night, okay?”

“It certainly looked like it… or you two were really fooling around…” Misato says, keeping the pressure on.

Rei watches Shinji as Asuka takes on the task of defending them from Misato's onslaughts. `Brother appears to be nervous, non-confident. He is shaking and I don't believe that's behavior of someone who just had sex with the one they love… at least as far as I saw in those movies of Kensuke's…'

“Look, I don't know how my bra came off, but the only reason why it was unhooked in the first place was because he was giving me a back massage. That's why we had no shirts on…” An impatient Asuka says, trying to make a point.

“Is this true, Shinji?” Kaji says, turning to look at the nervous young man sitting across from him.

“Y-yes… I didn't even take off her shirt or touch her umm… front- she took off her own shirt and then I gave her a massage… she was in pain from yesterdays battle sims…”

“That's right! And I was going to give him a massage until I saw his back… and the bruise on it…” Asuka says, continuing the thought. “Shinji… show them your bruise and what these damn sims are doing to us…”

A concerned Misato and Kaji watch as Shinji turns around and takes off his shirt. Rei looks at her brother's back and cannot help but feel a strong emotional response…

“Did you take the pills, brother? You… appear to be hurt badly…” Rei says, wincing slightly from seeing the large bruise across her brother's back.

“Yes… I'm sorry for not closing the cap again…” An apologetic Shinji says with a nod. Misato leans in and takes a better look at Shinji's back…

“That's from the sim? I knew they were very realistic but not this realistic…” A very worried Misato says as Shinji puts his shirt back on. “You two are off the hook… I believe you.” Her eyes lock onto Shinji and she looks into them for a moment and then does the same for Asuka. “I know you two very well… and seeing that bruise, I know you're telling the truth. I'm going to have a little talk with the Commander… there's a line between training and punishment and I think we've crossed that line…”

“Yeah, go tell him!” An enthusiastic Asuka says, heartened by the news.

“I'm glad this is over…” Shinji says with a sigh.

Rei gets up and walks over to Shinji and he stands up.

Feeling a measure of guilt about what just happened, Rei opens her heart. “I am sorry… I had no idea… I did not mean to…”

Shinji smiles. “Rei… I'll be fine…”

Asuka watches as Rei gives Shinji a hug. `She's on the verge of tears… I'm sorry for yelling at her… she's not used to all of these emotions yet…'

After releasing her brother, Rei turns and looks at Asuka. “I apologize…”

“Rei, it's no big deal… really…”

Kaji and Misato look at Rei and realize how much she's grown emotionally in the last few months… and her progress makes them happy.

“Rei… come here…” Misato says with open arms. Rei walks over to her mom and the two embrace…

Watching this touching moment, Kaji cannot help but comment aloud. “To be that age again… do you remember what you were like at their age, Katsuragi?”

“Yes...” She says with a blush, remembering some of the things that she did in those pre-college days.

“Mother how old were you when you lost your virginity?” Rei asks, curious about this since the subject of sex has just come up.

The purple-haired colonel blushes and Kaji looked around nervously.

“Well… technically... um...” She starts to mumble and then Asuka looks at her.

“What was that?”

Shinji decided to do his normal routine- not say a word…

“Honey…”

“She asked you, dear…” Kaji says, diverting the question back to his wife to be.

Misato shakes her head and sighs. “Geez, you're no help… fine… eighteen. I had sex for the first time at eighteen…”

“I see…” Rei looks at Kaji and notes his appearance. “And you helped her with this?”

“Well, umm…” The nervous former spy says nervously.

“Come on Kaji, you can tell us…” A smoozing Asuka says, trying to coax an answer out of Kaji.

After glancing over at Misato, Kaji takes a deep breath. “This woman is my one and only love… and the only one I've ever been with…”

“The way you two look at each other, I umm… could see it was love…”

“Thanks, Shinji…” Kaji stands up and walks over behind Misato. A moment later, the other three teens walk into the room, judging the situation had toned down enough for them to enter.

“I didn't know you were going that far, Shin-man…” Toji says jokingly to Shinji, as he pats his best friend on the back rather roughly not knowing about his bruised back.

“OWW!” Shinji cannot help but exclaim.

“Stop that Toji! Shinji's injured!” Hikari says after hearing the young man cry out in main.

Asuka is ready to kill Toji for hurting her Shin-chan when the jock immediately apologizes. “Sorry, I forgot your back got hurt yesterday in da sims…”

“Anyways… as I was about to say earlier, this woman right here was a real looker, even at your guys age…” Kaji says, changing the subject and trying to derail Asuka's thoughts about making Hikari a widow after that slap on the back…

“Oh, stop that!” An embarrassed Misato says back. Though Hikari can only beg silently that he continues because she didn't want her best friend to kill Toji before they even had a chance to do anything! Though as that thought crossed her mind, the shy class rep ducked her head to hide her bright blush and was very thankful that no one noticed.

“What about you, Dad?” Rei asks, curious about his younger days.

“Well, the girls liked me…” Is about all Kaji is willing to volunteer so he doesn't offend Misato.

“The guys were staring at me in high school… but don't forget for two years, I was mute. My shyness kept them away, coupled with the fact that I didn't talk.”

Misato giggles a little and then continues. “I really started to bloom and they started to notice me a lot… and I could talk then… but it wasn't until I went to college that I found the man I really wanted…” A starry eyed Misato looks at Kaji and smiles.

“Awww… that's sweet…” The class rep says, finding the last comment really romantic. `Maybe I'll bloom one day and then Toji won't be able to keep his hands off of me…'

“I bet that's when her drinking started, too…” Toji says to himself softly, not noticing the blush on his girlfriends' face.

Asuka's stomach begins to rumble and she cannot help but request one thing…

”Now that we've established our innocence, can we please get some breakfast? I'm starving!”

Seeing an opportunity to talk with Asuka further and make breakfast at the same time, Shinji asks her: “Asuka… did you want to help me make something?”

“Sure!” Is the hearty reply back.

After Shinji and Asuka leave, Hikari feels Toji's hand touching her. `Is that Toji's hand on my hip? Maybe I don't have to look like Misato to get him to…' The class rep's face grows even redder as she thinks about being more intimate with the Fourth Child. In truth, Toji had noticed her turning away and decided to show a little intimacy to the young lady.

To hide her blush and to stifle her current line of thought, Hikari decides to take Toji's hand and pulls him in that direction…

“Why are we going in da kitchen?”

“Because I don't think it's fair to have Shinji do all the work… and you can help, too… you did want to learn how to cook, right?” An insistent Hikari says while the two enter the kitchen.

“I didn't know you liked cooking… thought the only thing you liked was sports…” Asuka says as the Fourth Child enters the kitchen.

“Ain't nothing wrong with knowin' how to make a meal, Red…” Is the carefully crafted reply back by Toji, in order to save face and not make him look less “manly”.

“Good… I see that Hikari is really making a difference…” With that, the redhead returns to work and starts boiling some water.

Back in the dining room, Rei and Kensuke are talking to Misato and Kaji about what happened earlier. After giving it some thought, Rei comes to a very important conclusion and decides to share it with the other three.

”I believe that Shinji and Asuka are the closest couple on earth. Nobody else has the shared memories, the shared experiences like they do. I believe they make a good match… and I am happy for them…”

“You may be right, Rei… those two have really changed since Third Impact… and so have you…” Kensuke says as he places a hand on Rei's shoulder. “I love this `new' Rei… your personality is definitely one of a kind…”

“Don't forget about us, her `parents'…” Misato chimes in while absently rubbing her stomach.

“That reminds me…” Rei says, noticing what Misato's doing. “Have you found out the cause of your constant hunger?”

Kensuke was about to ask about this as well and notices the giddy smile on the woman's face… which is in contrast to Kaji, who's looking more serious then ever after that comment.

A loud crash in the kitchen diverts everyone's attention to that area of the apartment, where two loud swears, one in German and with a female voice, and the other in Japanese… and a male voice.

“I think we'd better see what's going on… Asuka isn't too happy with Toji right now…” Kensuke says as he stands up.

The group in the front room heads into the kitchen, where they find food in the middle of the floor…

“Damn it! Those were my sausages and they were almost done, too!”

“Look, I'm sorry… I grabbed it and it was hot…” Toji says, not wanting to aggravate the redhead any further.

Hikari takes a closer look at Toji's hand and notices that there are some minor burns on it from grabbing the pan. She takes his hand and turns on the faucet, letting the cold water run over the burns…

“Hold that there for a while… you burned yourself…”

Shinji on the other hand, is trying to keep Asuka from going ballistic on Toji by gently massaging her shoulders and whispering to her.

“Do we even have to ask what happened here?” Kaji says while shaking his head.

A beeping noise suddenly comes from Misato's watch and she bids a hasty retreat, wanting to make sure she's not late for work. `I've gotta talk to the Commander… this is too much for those kids…'

After thinking about it for a moment, Kaji realizes that he has to take matters into his own hands in order to diffuse this situation. “Look… I'll help clean this up while you guys finish breakfast. There isn't that much time until you have your morning exercises…”

“I will assist as well…” Rei says, stepping forward.

“I'll… get the table ready…” Kensuke says with a sigh, realizing that someone had to do it. While working on that project, however, he realizes something… `I'll get to see Rei in one of those nice swimsuits again… I guess I can wait…'

With some help and direction from Kaji, the kitchen is cleaned up and breakfast is served. The pilots and Hikari quickly eat their food and get dressed for the days activities. Within fifteen minutes the apartment is empty, Kaji has gone up to the bridge to do his job and so the day begins in earnest.

To the great relief of the pilots, by the time the sims come around, they aren't as bad as yesterday. The common thought of `Thank you Misato' is on each and every one of their minds as they fight the SEELE EVA's… as a team, not against one another.

While the pilots fight, Hikari has made her way back up to the apartment. `I want to surprise them with a nice dinner, in case Misato wasn't able to tone down those sims…'

Heading into the kitchen, Hikari grabs a pink apron and puts it on. `I feel weird doing this… I lost track of time in the pool and I still have my swimsuit on… but I don't want to get it dirty…'

Grabbing a nearby cookbook, the class rep gets to work. Soon, all manners of wonderful smells and aromas start emanating from the kitchen. Whistling while she works, time swiftly goes by as each dish is prepared and then put on the side.

“Whew, almost done… just have to get this into the oven…” She says to herself softly as she gazes at her finished meal. “Looks great…”

"Not as good as you look...." A familiar voice says from behind her. `She looks great in that swimsuit… really makes her butt look nice…'

“Toji!”

Hikari turns around and rushes over to her boyfriend. He holds out his hands and embraces the girl of his dream.

“Smells good in here…” He says, looking down into the hazel eyes of the cook.

“I wanted to surprise everyone with a special dinner… and I had no time to change.”

“Dat's great! We could use a good meal, especially from a good cook like you…” Toji says, staring into her eyes during the last part of that sentence. This of course, cause Hikari to blush…

“Thanks…” She says while leaning to place a kiss on his cheek. “Let me get this cake into the oven and we can talk…”

Hikari backs away and then grabs the cake on top of the oven. She opens the door and places it inside… and by doing so, inadverantly gives Toji another good look at her backside.

“All ready!” Hikari says after hearing the oven knob click into place. “It's all set, so… what did you want to do?”

"Umm... Umm.... I... I want... I want.... you... you to change clothes..."

"What?" A confused Hikari asks back.

"I... If we're gonna talk I can't do it... I mean talk... while yer lookin' so... so..." He keeps loosing he train of thought as he continues to look over her before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I can't.... Hikari..." he says getting himself under control as she just stares at him. "If you wanna talk then I need ya to change first. I can't concentrate on two things at once, ya know."

Hikari just blinks a few times as she looks at him and then looks at herself. "What's wrong with what I have on? I know it looks silly, but it can't be that distracting."

He shakes his head and smiles. "It's not how it looks... it's how you look in it..."

"Huh? How I look?" She askes the looked over herself and then realizes how tight the suit actually is before blushing a very bright red. `I just bent over in front of him... in my swim suit!'

"EEP!" came from her as he hurried off to their bedroom to change knowing that any moment her face was goign to explode from how red it was. Toji barely steps out of the way in time and sighs aloud.

In their bedroom, after takign off her apron, she stared at herself in the mirror and couldn't help but ask herself- "Is he that distracted by my body that he can't think straight?" For a long moment she thought on that before smiling slowly. "He... he asked me to change... so that we could talk." Her smile soon enlarged to where she thought her cheeks might hurt. “He wants to listen to me! He wants to listen to me!" She said to herself while quickly changing into regular clothes.

Patiently, Toji waits outside the door for Hikari to finish changing. Her head peeks out of the door a few minutes later and tells him to come in.

“So… what did you want to talk about?” A curious Hikari asks.

“Well, I'm worried about all of da stuff that's going on around here… including in da apartment. It's getting pretty tense…”

“Yeah… I almost thought Asuka was going to kill you this morning for slapping Shinji…”

"Yeah, the old Asuka would have, but he's done a good job of calmin' her down."

Hikari sits down and the bed and motions Toji to do the same.

“I think it's gone both ways… Shinji's a lot less shy and he's more open then he was before. He likes to be around other people and doesn't avoid human contact like he used to…”

“I think you've changed a little bit, too…” Toji says while looking at the brunette sitting next to him.

“What do you mean?”

“I know you were always a very caring person but you've gone out of your way to help everyone here… keepin' some of us outta trouble… and you ain't as violent as you used ta be…”

Instead of getting angry, Hikari just giggles. “That's because we're not in class, silly.”

“That's my Hikari…”

“Toji… you've really changed too, and I like it. Especially your compassionate side…” A blush forms on Hikari's face as she recalls talking to Asuka about this last year… and telling her that there was more to Toji then meets the eye.

Toji pulls Hikari into a close hug. “Glad yah think so…”

“How was today's test?”

“Not really that bad… no one got hurt or anythin'… I got eliminated early, so…”

“Oh…”

“It's okay… I'm getting better, so don't worry…” He says, trying to alleviate any fears that she might have. “At least I get ta spend time with you…”

“That's a good thing…” She says as she snuggles her body against his.

Toji is about to say something when a loud feminine voice is heard: "Wow! Hikari's been busy!"

"How do you know it's Hikari?" A male asked in return. The two instantly know that it's Shinji.

"Oh please, do you think Toji cooked this after dropping MY sausage this morning?"

"That and we saw mom just a few moments ago," came the soft voice of reason, otherwise known as Rei.

Toji sighs and wonders if Asuka will ever let him live that down. Hikari whispers into his ear: “Let's stay in here for a few minutes… that cake still isn't ready yet…”

“As long as one of them don't interupt us…”

In the distance, the pair hear the door open and some more voices are heard in the front room.

“What smells so good? It's making my mouth water…” A very hungry Misato says as she walks into the kitchen.

“Looks like Hikari's been doing overtime…” Kensuke says as he peers into the oven. “There's even a cake in the oven for dessert…”

"So where do you think Toji and Hikari are?" They can hear Shinji ask.

"Oh no..." whispered Toji.

They can hear Kenuske laugh: "Think he and Hikari are making out in their room?"

"Ken-kun that is not nice... though it is highly possible."

Asuka scoffs: "I doubt it."

"Hay!" Toji calls out and then covers his mouth quickly.

Hikari quickly covers her mouth as she begins to giggle and tries to calm down.

“Did you just hear something?” Kensuke says, leaning over towards the entrance to the kitchen.

“Like I said, those two aren't doing anything, otherwise, we'd hear it…”Asuka says with a nod.

"What?" Squawked Hikari then coverd her mouth as Toji began to laugh. After exchange a few words and glances, the two agree on a course of action…

“Asuka! I can't believe you!" Hikari says as she leaves her room and heads towards the kitchen, with Toji following close behind her.

"What?"

"How could you? What is this about hearing us when we're making out!"

Asuka just grinned. "So are you saying that we won't hear you when you're making out with him?"

"That's right, you won't hear us when we're..." Suddenly she stopped and looked at her friends grinning face. "ASUKA!!!!" Making a quick about face, the class-rep ran back into her room with a right red face.

“I don't think you know what you're talkin' about… and you're one to talk about making noise…” Toji says, deciding to take Asuka head on, especially since she scared Hikari off.

Asuka nods in affirmation. "You're right, I'm one to talk about making noise, but that's just because my Shin-chan knows what to do. You should take some lessons from him."

“What?" The two named boys shout in dismay.

"But if you two want to continue to make out in silence then I'm not one to interfere." The redhead says, keeping the pressure on.

"Good!" He stated flatly. "When we make out you won't hear it and..."

“Toji Suzahara..." Misato said softly.

"Oh damn..." The boy said softly as he realized what he just said.

"Asuka... what are you doing?" Shinji asked quietly.

"Nothing, I just said that if they were making out we'd hear them and they are saying that we won't hear them."

"Asuka... Langly... Soryu..." Misato said slowly and evenly.

"I believe that means you are in trouble." Rei told her friend.

"No really?" The redhead replied.

Kensuke leans over and whispers into Rei's ear. “I'm glad we're not getting yelled at…”

“I heard you were a breast man, Kensuke… is there something I should know about?” Misato says, catching that comment.

”Not at the moment mom, though if something does come up you will know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Misato asked dangerously.

"Kids... I think everyone needs to calm down... and Kensuke..." A voice says from the entrance to the apartment.

"Yes sir?"

"If something does come -up- it will soon get cut down. Understand."

"Eeep..." The bespeckled boy said as he backed away from Rei's father figure.

"I believe you're learning fast," Misato said to her love with an evil glint in her eye.

Rei nodded at them and taking Kensuke's hand in her's, she began leading the boy to their room. "We will return in a few moments."

"Where do you think you're going?" Misato almost barked at her daughter.

"If dad is about to cut off a piece of Ken-kun, I would like to experience something before hand." So saying she led the sputtering boy away from the others.

Misato and Kaji just stood there until the door closed… and then rushed over to it. "REI!! Open this door!" they demanded only to hear... laughter... from the other side.

"Is that..." Kaji asked of Misato.

"I... I think it is... Rei when you come out of there you are so grounded!" Misato yelled at her laughing daughter.

On the other side of the door, Kensuke is trying to keep Rei from falling to the floor as she continued to laugh. He wanted to be upset with her for what she just did, but it's so seldom that he gets to hear her laugh, especially like this that he decided he would endure any punishment for her.

While Misato and Kaji were dealing with their daughter, Asuka tried to make a run for her room with Shinji in tow... but they were stopped abruptly with a shout from the two parents causing the German girl to curse.

Hikari comes out of her room and says "Can we please eat? I don't want my food to go to waste..." She stops as a pinging sound from the kitchen can be heard.

"Oh no! The timer! My cake!" A frantic Hikari yelled and ran into the safety of the kitchen to take care of her cake before it gets burned.

Misato glances at Kaji and then says some words that provide some relief, if only for a little while for the teens.

“Let's eat… and then I want to talk to all six of you guys…”

“Umm… sounds good to me…” Shinji says softly.

In the kitchen, Hikari pauses to breathe a sigh of relief before putting a quick layer of icing on the cake. `Thank goodness this didn't burn…'

A few moments later Hikari peeks her head out from the kitchen and announces that dinner is ready. Shinji and Kaji head into the kitchen to bring in the food.

The door to the bedroom that Rei and Kensuke are in slowly opens and the two emerge, Rei looking as calm and stoic as ever… except for the wide smile on her face and Kensuke feeling nervous… but happy to see Rei in such good spirits. The pair head into the kitchen to help and bring out drinks for everyone…

A nearly silent dinner follows, the teens eating the wonderful food appreciatively but slowly, wondering what fate awaits them after the meal is done…

“Thank you, Hikari. That was wonderful… and I can't wait for dessert! It smells so yummy!” Misato says while rubbing her stomach.

“Make sure and leave some cake for the rest of us…” Kaji quips after hearing that.

“Ha-ha…” Is the sarcastic reply.

“So umm… did you want me to get the cake now?” A nervous Hikari asks.

“Please!” A still-hungry Misato exclaims, eagerly awaiting the wonderful cake that Hikari just made a short while ago.

Slowly, Hikari stands up and heads into the kitchen. She takes a few moments to steele herself before heading back into front room. `Just be calm, Hikari. Misato's not angry at you and Toji… we haven't done anything. We're probably the most innocent couple here…'

After grabbing the cake, Hikari walks into the front room and places the cake in the center of the table, drawing all eyes to the culinary creation.

“What're we waiting for? I bet this will be even better then dat dinner!” Toji says, trying to encourage his girlfriend, who looked down a little while ago.

“I'll cut it and serve it… I hope you guys like it…” A nervously smiling Hikari says as she reaches for a knife.

The cake is cut and served to the eager audience. The six teens feel a little better after eating the chocolate cake and having food in their stomachs. Misato and Kaji step into their rooms for a moment to briefly discuss their “plan of attack” before returning to find the couples sitting on the couch and in chairs in a circle.

“Let's get this over with…” Asuka says, annoyed with having to do this.

Rei leans her head on Kensuke's chest. She whispers softly: “Be strong, Ken-kun…”

Misato clears her throat. “To start… I know I'm not Hikari, Kensuke, or Toji's parents… but I am in charge of you and as such, I am your guardian until further notice. The same also goes for Kaji… he's your surrogate father…”

After getting no response, Misato takes that as a sign to continue on…

“Kaji and I are not out to yell or make fun of any of you guys. We know that you guys are busting your butts all day… and that you want some downtime and private time after the day is done. I understand that…”

“But there has to be limits. You guys are still young and under a huge amount of stress… Misato and I just want to make sure nothing is getting out of hand here. We were your age once…” Kaji says, continuing Misato's thought.

“Then you understand, mom… my need to be close to Ken-kun. I was only joking earlier… we are not involved in anything advanced…”

“Yeah, umm… I like to spend time with Rei… you guys see us out here watching anime and umm… cuddling…” Kensuke says, trying to be supportive. “Rei's going through a lot right now… her body is changing and she's dealing with new things… so I'm just trying to be here for her and support her.”

“I'm glad to hear that, Kensuke. I think you've really grown up… Rei can't stop talking about you…” A happy Misato says while Kensuke blushes. “I'm just worried that my daughter may let her hormones do the talking and rush you two into something that you aren't ready for…”

As the discussion continues on, focusing on Kensuke and Rei, the other two couples think about questions that they may get asked and what to say in return. Asuka, in particular, knows that her early comment about Shinji basically knowing how to “push her buttons” will come back to haunt her.

“I gave Shinji and Asuka a break after their… joke where I got fooled into thinking they had sex… so this is your one free pass, Rei. I don't mind you kidding around… in fact, I love it… shows your humanity is getting stronger but…”

“I understand, mom…” Rei says, finishing the thought. “I will be more selective in joking with you and dad…”

“Thanks, Rei…” Kaji says, happy to hear those words coming from her mouth.

“Now it's on to couple number two… Hikari and Toji…” Misato pauses to let out a small burp. “Excuse me… it was that wondeful dinner…”

“I'm glad you liked it… and the dessert.” A beaming Hikari says, proud of her work. Her boyfriend prepares to say a few words and works up the courage to do so.

A few deep breaths later, Toji speaks his mind. “What I said before… umm… well… Hikari and I ain't doing much more then da basics… we're taking our time.”

“Sometimes I enjoy just talking to Toji…” Hikari volunteers next, trying to continue Toji's thought.

Kaji looks at the couple. “Well… Misato and I weren't going to say much to you two. I know you're telling the truth, Hikari… you've been honest with us and we know Toji pretty well, too. Just keep it simple and don't rush things… and keep up the good work.”

“That just leaves us then…” Shinji says softly.

Kaji and Misato turn and look at the last couple. “Yes, that's right…” Is the response back from Kaji.

“Hey, don't worry… we're not ready to be going at it like rabbits… but we do like to have some fun, right Shinji? Especially after all that's been going on lately…” Asuka says while taking Shinji's hand.

“What kind of fun would that be?” Misato asks, her anger rising at Asuka's apparent lack of seriousness in this matter.

“Now, now dear… let's calm down…” Kaji says, trying to defuse this escalating situation before it gets any worse.

“If you two don't take what Kaji and I are saying seriously, then I'll have to punish you two on your down time…” A resoulte Misato says, not budging from her position.

Asuka rolls her eyes. “What are you going to do, take away my TV or computer rights?”

Misato takes a quick moment to think about her answer to that. `I hate to have to do this… it makes Shinji a pawn in a sense but I have no choice…'

“Not at all. I'll just make Shinji sleep out here on the couch or somewhere else ALONE…”

Rei nearly gasps aloud after hearing that, not believing her ears. `Would mom really do that to brother?'

Toji knows his friend would really be hurting without Asuka… and Hikari is also well aware of the deep bond Asuka has with Shinji. Kensuke speaks up meekly on their behalf…

“Isn't that cruel… I mean… after what they've been through…”

Boldly, Shinji speaks up. “I don't care what you say… I'm not leaving Asuka alone.”

Everyone in the room stares at Shinji… very surprised at his open defiance just now. In her heart, Asuka is very proud of what she just witnessed. `He… told Misato NO… that he wouldn't leave me, no matter what. Oh, Shinji…'

Hikari glances over at her friend and can swear that she sees pink hearts in her eyes and stars floating around her head as a symbol of her love for Shinji.

Instinctively, Misato wants to get angry with Shinji… but she knows boldness doesn't come easy to the young man. After a few seconds of deliberation, she decides to test his resolve about this matter and see how deeply feels about Asuka…

“Okay… so tell me, why aren't you going to leave Asuka alone?”

Caught off guard by that answer, Shinji hesitates for a moment before giving his answer.

“I love her… and though we may not agree all of the time, we're still working on our relationship. There's no one I'd rather spend time with and talk to… I wouldn't be wearing this ring if I didn't want to be with my Asuka…”

Asuka's face turns a crimson red and her grip tightens on Shinji's hand. `My Asuka… I love the sound of that…'

Misato nods her head. “I see…” Kaji then whispers something into Misato's ear and she has a thoughtful look on her face. The teens, especially Shinji and Asuka, have no idea what's going to happen next.

“I've been your guardian for a long time now… and I've really gotten to know you two pretty well. Of course, I knew Asuka from before in Germany… and I just want to ask one thing of you two… of all of you teens. Just keep your relationships at their current level and don't give me and Kaji scares, okay? There's enough going on right now to make all us stressed out… and I don't want to have to worry about hormonal teens. Show me how much you want to be adults… by being mature and responsible…”

“Good job honey… I couldn't have said it better myself.” Kaji looks at the attentive crowd sitting in front of him. “You guys are free to go…”

Kensuke tries to stand up… and feels Rei's grip on his hand tighten.

“Ken-kun, please help me back to our bedroom…”

“S-sure Rei-chan…” He says while slowly getting to his feet. “Good night everyone…”

“Good night…” Is the reply back from the other occupants of the room.

“Toji… let's go to bed.” Hikari yawns. “I'm tired…”

“I'm sure yah are… you made all of the food besides all of that excercising…” Toji extends out his hand. “Did yah want me to hold your hand?”

“Well, umm… okay…” The blushing brunette says shyly.

Misato and Kaji watch with a smile as the second couple leaves together. Shinji looks over at Asuka and waves a hand in front of the spaced out redhead…

“Asuka… Asuka… are you there?”

“Hmm… oh… what is it, Shinji?” She says, recovering from her trance.

“Are you okay Asuka? You normally don't space out…” Kaji says, knowing that any time in the past she had done that it was for a negative reason.

“Oh… I'm fine. I'm… sorry about what I said earlier… I didn't mean to cause a problem…”

“That's okay Asuka, really. I don't mind your joking around… it's just sometimes the timing isn't the best…” Misato says with a sigh.

“Okay… well, I'm going to bed.” The relieved redhead says happily. “Good night.”

“Good night…” Is the shared response from Kaji and Misato.

Shinji takes Asuka's hand and the two walk over to the bedroom. When they get to the door, Asuka lets go and tells Shinji to wait outside for a moment…

`I wonder what's going on? Why would she have me wait out here?' Shinji continues pondering this until the door opens about two minutes later.

“Shinji… here's your pajamas. I think it'd be best if you changed in the bathroom…”

“Oh… okay.” Taking the clothes, the Third Child understands what Asuka is doing. `She wants to keep it low-key for a while… that's a good idea.'

After turning around, Shinji heads to the bathroom and changes clothes and then returns to the bedroom, not noticing that Misato is watching the hallway from her bedroom, her head peeking ever so slightly into the corridor.

`Good… I'm glad those two are taking this seriously and toning it down a little.'

Satisfied with what she just witnessed, the Colonel turns around and closes the door.

“Is everything okay?” Kaji asks, wondering what she's up to.

“Everything's fine. I think the kids are off to a good start…” Is the happy reply back. “Let's cuddle for a bit before going to bed…”

“Anything for you, Misato…”

After entering the room, Shinji finds Asuka sitting on the bed, one of her hands on the chain for the lamp on the bedstand.

“I'm ready for bed…”

Shinji yawns. “Me too…” He walks over to the bed and places a kiss on Asuka's cheek before she turns out the light. The two get under the covers and get comfortable…

“Shin-chan… before we go to bed… I have something to tell you…” Asuka says softly.

“Sure, what is it?”

“First, I wanted to say… thank you… for sticking up for us earlier.” A smiling Asuka says, happy with Shinji's boldness just a short time ago.

Shinji sighs softly. “I had… to say what I did… I need you.”

“I need you too… but there's one more thing…”

“Oh?” A curious Shinji asks.

“I've been thinking about this since yesterday and I've come to only one conclusion. There's no way I could've slipped out of my bra while I was sleeping… just no way.”

After turning his head slightly, Shinji finds a pair of blue eyes staring at him and waiting for his response.

“I umm… well… you were moving around and you didn't umm… seem comfortable so I…” Shinji gulps and tries to regain the courage to explain what happened.

“Yes?”

“I… I took it off. Once I did, you umm… stopped moving around and actually seemed to sleep better… and you umm…”

“Go on… tell me…” Asuka says, trying to encourage the young man to finish his thought.

“You umm… felt good on top of me…” Is the response back, Shinji ready to die of embarrassment.

“Shinji… thank you. For looking after me, even when I was sleeping.” Asuka giggles. “You really are getting bold… looks like you're working on the next level with me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Remember, I told you that you graduated… so now I think you've gotten your associate's in Asuka 101…” A grinning redhead says with a small chuckle.

“Oh… but where's my diploma then?” A teasing Shinji says back.

Asuka says nothing but plants a passionate kiss on his lips. The two kiss for a short while and then Asuka pulls away…

“There's your diploma. Good night, Shin-chan…”

“Good night Asuka…”

Shinji watches as the beautiful young lady next to him nuzzles her head into his chest and soon falls asleep. He can't help but wonder what's going to happen with their relationship… especially after this fight is over…

The last day of the week is soon here… a normal breakfast is prepared by Shinji and Hikari and lunch is eating at the cafeteria. The normalness of the day, however, is shattered by two separate incidents when the pilots return.

In her bedroom, Hikari finds two piles of clothes on the bed. `I'm glad the clothes came back… I really wanted to wear that bra again…'

Upon further investigation, however, the one that she's looking for isn't in the clothes pile. `Where is it?' Is the thought passing through the class rep's mind as she begins looking through her underwear drawer.

“Something's not right… I could've sworn I had it washed… but it's not in the pile or in my drawer… maybe Asuka or Rei have it by mistake…”

Deciding to visit Rei first, Hikari walks out of her room and over to the next one. She knocks on the door and Rei opens it.

“Yes?”

“I was wondering… I missing a bra and I think it may have gotten misplaced…”

After thinking about it for a second, Rei speaks. “I have already put away my clothing and did not see anything that wasn't mine…”

“Oh…” A disappointed Hikari says back. “Sorry to bother you…”

Before getting too discouraged, however, Hikari remembers that she has one more place to check. As she walks towards Asuka's room, however, she can hear the sound of heated discussion within the room.

`I guess this wouldn't be a good time… I'll ask Asuka later…'

Inside the bedroom in question, Asuka and Shinji are having a “discussion” about the fact that once again, the room is filled with flowers.

“Are you sure you're not playing with me? Did you get these flowers?” Asuka asks playfully.

“No, I didn't. This is the second time someone's done this… I don't like it…”

“Are you jealous?”

“I… I…” Shinji's face turns red, knowing Asuka has probably figured out why he's so agitated and angry.

On one hand, Shinji has been bold and invested a lot of time with Asuka… anything that would try and take her away or divert attention is bad in his eyes.

Asuka has a different point of view. `Maybe it's a fan of mine or something… it's just flowers and it's a nice gift. I don't know why he's getting all bent out of shape…'

“Shinji… why don't you let me take sometime to organize these flowers and you can go and cool off… I don't wanna argue with you…” Asuka says, trying to diffuse the situation.

After contemplating the idea for a few seconds, Shinji agrees. “You know what… that's not a bad idea. I'll be back later…”

Shinji takes his leave and heads into the front room, leaving Asuka behind to work on the room. She marvels at the numerous bouquets of flowers in her room and starts humming as she organizes the room…

Upon entering the front room, Shinji finds Rei and Kensuke watching the last episode of Love Hina Again…

“Do you mind if I join you?” A courteous Shinji asks, knowing that this is the other couples' bonding time.

“No, not at all. Please join us brother…” Rei says with a smile, happy to have some additional company.

“You're just in time… Rei and I were gonna finish the last episode of Love Hina and then it's onto Ai Yori Aoshi…” Kensuke says with a nod.

Rei looks at the box set of Ai Yori Aoshi that was dropped off earlier by Kensuke's father and cannot help but comment aloud…

“This girl… Aoi… looks like me…”

“I'm not surprised… Kensuke here likes…”

A well timed elbow stops Shinji's comment and arouses curiosity in Rei.

“Let's just watch the show, okay?” A slightly nervous otaku says while pressing the “play” button on the remote.

Time passes and Hikari visits Asuka in her bedroom in her search for her missing bra. The two talk for a little bit before that subject is brought up…

“Have you seen it? Or did you borrow it?”

“Your bra?” Asuka shakes her head. “No… I put all my clothes away and I didn't see anything that wasn't mine. Besides, why would I borrow one of your bra's? It'd be a little tight on me…”

Hikari blushes and feels a little embarrassed and angry as a result of that comment. “Gee, thanks Asuka…”

After hearing and observing the result of her words, Asuka quickly waves her hands and tries to apologize.

“Sorry… I didn't mean to insult you…”

“No… it's okay. You're right… I'm not quite as big as you are…” Hikari says, feeling very self-conscious about her body.

Asuka takes a moment to think out her next words and tries to encourage the brunette standing next to her. “Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about that… Toji's wanted to date you for a long time from what I heard… I don't think he's that shallow. Besides, it takes time to get a nice figure… and you've gotten fuller since I've known you, so I think you're on your way…”

“Thank you Asuka…” Hikari says before embracing her best friend. “I hope so…”

“You'll be fine… and I'm sure that bra was just left behind or got mixed up in the laundry room, that's all.”

Hikari sighs. “I hope so…”

And so, Week #2 of intense training draws to a close… but Week #3 is full of even more surprises…

The journey continues in Chapter 37: Week 3

Thank you for reading this chapter, my longest ever for any of my stories. I'd also like to thank Blasterlion for his help at the end as I was putting on the finishing touches to the chapter. If there's any readers out there that also read my Pokemon story and would like to assist with prereading, etc. with it, please let me know. I don't want to abandon that story, but it's been a while since I've written on it. New chapter 37 should be out hopefully around end of January or early February.

Don't forget to leave me some feedback! Until next time, this is ST Pika signing out…