Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Seasons ❯ Changing Seasons 08 ( Chapter 8 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: JErosion 
Anime/Manga: Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Hentai / Romance | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 07.11.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.0K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Hentai / Romance | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 07.11.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 5.0K | Visits: 1.2K | Status: Work In Progress
Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit work of fan fiction based on the anime and manga Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto and Studio Gainax. Dude! If we stay here, that means that we'll be Dr. Orpheus's kids. And that means Triana will be your sister. And that means you two will have extra-retard babies.
Changing Seasons
by: JErosion
This was the first time he had ever been to her home. He knew what street she lived on, but he had never actually seen which house was hers. It was a modest two-story home, that was an even mix of both western and japanese styles. The front yard was a little over grown, the grass itself had a wild look, probably due to the recent rains. There were small flower boxes near the windows, that were filled with weeds and flowers, that had that unhealthy look that said that they had long lived past their prime.
The inside of the house was the exact opposite of the yard. It was very clean, he could even say it was emaculate. Though it maybe because Hikari had been planning for him to come over. A neat house makes for a good impression.
"Um,.... Well.... this is it." she smiled as she lead him into her living room.
Shinji smiled too. He scanned the room. There was a rather decent sized tv in one corner, near it was a large bookself that was mostly filled with DVDs. The opposite wall had a stairway. Along another wall were framed photographs. A rather large and rather cushy looking couch sat in the middle of room. He saw a flutter of something in the corner of his eye. Turning quickly he found himself looking though a doorway at the side of the wall.He turned his head quickly towards a doorway to the side. He could see a table and chairs of what was probably a breakfast nook. Out of the corner of his eye he though he saw some movement from that direction. But he quickly dismissed it, as his attention drifted from object to object.
"um, well. Please make yourself at home." Hikari said motioning him to the couch with a way of her hand. When he sat down he felt as though he must have sunk about a foot into cushion. She didn't join him rather she fidgited in her place as though she was unsure at what she should do next. And if that was the case the both of them were going to be in trouble since he was just as clueless.
"uh, I'm going to drop my bag off in my room and I'll be back real quick." And with a small bow she quickly darted up the stairs.
He could only assume he was on his own for the moment. He bonced a little in his seat, testing the comfort of the furniture. Another second he was staring at the blank TV. Then his eyes where on the bookself again. Without getting up he strained his eyes to read the titles from the movie cases, to see what sort of entertainment the Horaki family was found of. It would be simpler for him to just walk over there and look. But Hikari put him right there. And that's were he was going to stay until he returned. It was like those little games you played as a child. Were you start climbing all over the furniture because the carpet had suddenly transformed into lava or poisonous snakes. But soon the bookself could no longer keep his interest. He looked to the stairs expected her to return any second.
But alas she did not. And his eyes were traveling across the room again.
He twisted on the couch to turn and look at the pictures on the wall. He saw a few family photographs. One of which looked ancient. There was a newer one of Hikari... no that wasn't right. It was Hikari but it wasn't. Could that be her mother? Further speculation was cut short when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He yelped. He probably would have jumped a foot into the air. It it wasn't for the girl that was standing over him.
"Hi!"
Now Shinji was already feeling a slightly uncomfortable, from being inside a strange house. And Hikari's failure to return after that 'second' had passed was calming his nerves. But now he was feeling the urge to run away. Because no more than six inches away from his face was a gleaming pair of mischievous gray eyes.
"huh, Hi."
The little girl standing over him giggled. But instead of backing off to a more appropiate distance, she stayed were she was at. Which may be because of he age, which he had to peg somewhere around eleven or twelve. She was wearing a baggy pair of jeans and an over sized t-shirt, that was marked with the logo of some video game. The way she dressed and the way she stood over him screamed of tomboy. Which was the very opposite of Hikari since he had only seen her in skirts or dresses. Although he may have seen her in a pair of shorts once or twice. But despite the obvious difference in clothing in that he marveled just how much the girl ressembled Hikari. Now she had mentioned that she had two siblings. But she had never shown him a photograph of them nor had she really bather to described them in anyway. Her hair was parted differently and her chin was a little more rounded, but otherwise she was a younger clone of her sister. If he remembered the name correctly it was Nozomi. Now if he could only get her to back-up about a foot or two he'd be ok.
"um your... n-Nozomi, right?"
"uh-huh, You guessed right! And your Shinji!" She said prehaps a little too loud and a little too enthusuastically.
"hmm, yeah."
"You kow Hikari talks alot about you."
"s-She does?" His face went red.
"Yep,... but she'll only talk to Kodama about you."
"oh."
"Are you doing pervy stuff with Hikari?"
"w-What?!"
"Kodama has lots a boy friends, and she does pervy stuff with them. And since Hikari keeps talking to her about you, I figure you too are 'messing aroung'." She said the last part with an odd inflection, like she wasn't entirely sure if she knew what that meant.
Pervy stuff. Messing around. He shook his head as those phrases repeated in his head. His eyes darted back to the stairs, there was still no Hikari. He was starting to feel as though he had been abandon. Suddenly a weight dropped on his leg. He whipped his head back around to find that the girl had practically sat down in his plopped herself down in his lap, and effectively pinned his arm to the couch. Did she not have any concept of what was appropiate? Shinji already felt uncomfortable about the way she was staring at him. And her sitting on him was just too much. He was trying to put together the right words, to ask her to to get off of him as politely as he could. He didn't want to offend her since this was her house as much as it was Hikari's.
"ummm yeah, Could... Would you...ummm, please get off me?"
Much to his dispair she shook her head no.
"Nope. I got to keep you right here....."
He was about to question her as to why, when she began to rumage though her pockets.
"....Cause, I got to tell you something....."
When she pulled her hand out of her pocket, she drew out a strange black stick. Shinji's eye widened when she flicked her wrist and the stick unfolded. It was one of those old-fashion straight razors.
"If you break my sister's heart, I'll cut ya!" her voice dropped about two octaves and crossed her eyes.
She was playing with him. Or she was insane. He favored the idea of the first, but wasn't prepared to dismiss the later of those two choices. The expression on her face and the tone of her voice was just silly. She had to be playing with him. And honestly there was nothing wrong with that, except that the weapon she was holding was very real. And judging from the little scars and faint cuts that ran across her fingers, she had probably spent a great deal of time learning how to use it.
"You know, that's not a nice thing to do to our guest."
Shinji glanced over at the new voice. It wasn't Hikari. For a second he thought it was. She was much taller than his girlfriend. Even her voice was more mature and was laced with a honey like quality that gave him the chills. But it wasn't wise to take one's eyes off of a blade-weilding child, so he had to put off given the new arrival his full attention. By the time he had turned back to Nozomi, her face had gone back to normal and the knife had disappeared.
Yet Nozomi continued to defiantly stay where she was at. He wasn't entirely sure if he should be annoyed at this or not. But for some reason he found that he couldn't bring himself to show any anger towards her. He then felt the cushion next to him shift. Feeling a little safer with the absence of the knife, he turned to introduce himself to the girl who just sat down.
"um, Hi I'm Shin.... ji," Wow.
His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. The chills her voice caused him was nothing compared to the sight of her. Much like the younger girl, she too bore an amazing likeness to Hikari only much older. And much more... developed. She was dress much like Nozomi, however the effect was very different. The pants she wore were white and stained with splotches of different colored paints. She was also wearing a tight tank top, that would have made a better undershirt. Now he wasn't trying to stare on purpose, but he was finding it difficult not to look, as she wasn't wearing a bra. Now living with Misato he had grown use to that sort of thing. But this was different. He could only figure that it was because of how much she looked like Hikari.
The thin corrugated fabric of her top clung to her body in such a way he could pretty much see everything. Her breasts were large and round. Like smooth orbs, masterfully shaped. His eyes guiltily darted across them. Taking in how the white cloth darkened just a bit at their centers. And also how those shadows were also marked by an abrupt change in texture that was crowded by a single and inviting peak. Shinji blinked a bit. His brain was descending quickly into the gutter.
"Hi. I'm Kodama." She extended her hand to him.
Shinji slowly took her hand, and turned away blushing. His pulse quickened at the contacted. What is going on? He nearly forgot that Nozomi was there. Which could be a cause of great disaster. As he well on his way of developing a major case of wood. And that was big a problem in of itself. Because you don't go to you girlfriend's house and then get an erection after looking at her sister. It was rude,.... or something like that.
But that was the thing, he never had this sort of reaction around a woman before. But after a while he came to the conclusion that it wasn't just because the of the translucency of her shirt, nor was because of the smile she was giving him. It wasn't the soft scent of her shampoo or the traces of perfume she wore. It was just her. It was like she exuded sex.
He wondered if Hikari would look and be like that in a couple of years.
"i-It's...um,... nice to... um,.... meet you."
His face flushed further. He could barely talk. He ventured a glace over at the stairs silently praying. Hikari, where are you?
Suddenly a pair of hands clamped onto his head smushing his cheeks and lips together. She forced him to turn his head back towards Kodama in such a way that his neck made a painful pop.
"Hey Kodama check out this out!" exclaimed the overly exuberant child.
He was now face to face with the older girl. And she was looking straight into him with her dark chocolate colored eyes.
"Hmmm. So tell me?" Kodama said with a sultry voice. She reached up at him. Her index finger began to twirl around a stray lock of his hair. "Where did you get those pretty blue eyes."
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!"
"Nothing!!!" they instantly cried out. His captors released him immediately. Kodama scooted away as far as she could on her side of the couch. The younger one jumped off of him and ducked behind the far side of the couch, her head poking up just enough to see Hikari come sprinting down the stairs in an orange and white blur.
She jumped into the middle of the room. And the reason why it had taken her so long to come back became clear, she had discarded her school uniform in favor of something more casual. Her white skirt flared out as she turned towards him and grabbed him by the wrist. Shinji barely had time to register the fact that her shirt, a plaid of pale orange and yellow, was only halfway buttoned. Because the next second she had pulled him up from the couch so hard, it felt like she had dislocated his arm.
She stepped between him and Kodama. If there was a reason to fear Hikari as a class representative it was this. When angered, she could be like a devil. The look she cast at Nozomi was enough to send her diving behind the couch for Kodama's for protection. Satisfied at vanquishing the little one, she turned her focus solely on the elder girl. However her glare had none of the effect on her as it did with the twelve-year-old.
"I asked you... the both of you, not to do anything like that."
"Hey, we didn't do a thing to him,"
"Then what the hell do you call that!"
"You know that your being awfully protective?"
"Don't try and change the subject!"
"Aww, come on.... it's not like I pulled a knife on him or anything." She shrugged.
"That's not the...." Hikari froze in mid-sentence before mouthing the word 'knife.'
"NOZOMI! Please tell me that you did not pull that razor on him!"
Shinji could feel the anger radiating off of Hikari. And he knew that she was about to explode.
"I only showed it to him." came a very tiny voice from behind the couch. The older girl nodded in confimation, carrying a mirthful smile on her face.
It did matter that they were playing around because in the next second, Hikari was about to run forward and jump over the couch. She would twist herself in mid-air to avoid Kodama from grabbing her. And she would land behind that couch and commit first degree murder on little sister.
Or at least she would had had Shinji not placed his hands on her arms. She jumped a little when he did so. It was strange, but at his touch all her anger vanished. She turned her head to him. A tiny blush marked her cheeks as he smiled at her.
"It's ok, really....um,... she didn't threaten me or anything,... she just showed it to me."
"um,.... alright."
Kodama watched the two with some interest, as they quietly reassured her that Nozomi did nothing wrong. She had her eyes especially set on her sister. Carefully taking note of her reactions to him. Not only did her mood change but so did her body language. Her mannerisms became shy. There was also the way she lowered her eyes when he looked directly into hers. And how she seemed to forget that therewere two other people in the room with them. Kodama smiled, the signs where there. Hikari was, weither she could see it or not, was falling in love with him. She couldn't read his feelings. She was pretty sure that he liked her. But to what degree she did not know. She would have to watch them closely. This Shinji, seemed like a nice guy, considering he was lying for Nozomi. But over all he seemed a little shy and kinda wound-up. But over all he seemed like a nice guy.
She was happy for her, and prehaps a little jealous as well. She never really had fallen in love with someone. There was that one guy.... but in hindsight she only tried to convence herself that she was in love. Since then she really hadn't allowed herself to feel those sort of things. She could be honest with herself, her relationships were built around sex. Her relationships tended to be emotionally sterile. She looked at the guys she dated more as partners rather than boyfriends. But you can only have sex with someone for so long before you start to feel something for them. And before that could happen she broke off her relationships. And why not? She was young, she had her entire life to find someone. She could enjoy herself for the time being.
But she felt she needed to end her musings. It was time for a little more fun.
"Hey Hikari, so are you going to finish get dressed you would you like me and Nozomi to leave the room for a while."
Ah, the chaos that caused. Hikari denying that she was doing anything like that. And that she was changing when she heard both her and Nozomi talking to Shinji. Her boyfriend stood as quitely as he could, his face turning several shades of red. Nozomi coming back out from behind the couched to ask something about them if they were doing 'pervy things'. Kodama smiled she loved this sort of thing.
Since he graduated high school, there had been at least one girl every decade. His first was a girl he meet in his freshman year at Kyoto Univerisity. Another was a colleague he had briefly worked with while working at a private medical company. Another came when he first became a professor. The last had been....
Her name was Mitsune. She was a good-looking young woman, that was less than half his age. He had met her in a rather desolate time in his life. He had been sent, as a token observer, with a U.N. expedition to the south pole to survey the extent of the damage done by the so-called 'metor'. He was suprised to find Gendo was onboard the same ship as he was. And to his horror, the young man informed him that his last name was no longer Rokubungi, but had become Ikari. Not only had he married his most prized student, but she was now with child. His love for Yui being what it was, he felt devestated. Not long after that, he resigned his position at Kyoto University. And left to put his medical knowledge to help who he could. He had eventually wound up working at a refugee camp near the coast. It was there that he meet her. Mitsune was working as a nurse. And much like the suvivors that they treated, she had lost her family.
Loneliness was a powerful thing. And during a night they had been assigned to work together. She had started to cry. And being the only other person around he offered her a small hug and a shoulder to cry on. The next day she thanked him. And the days after that, she reacted more and more warmly to him. Until another night came when they were working alone together. And at one point they had bumped into one another. They both apologized to one another at the same time. And then they laughed. And then she unexpectedly kissed him. It was sort of a heat of the moment sort of thing. Because the next thing he knew he was kissing her back. And then he had her pressed up against a wall and his hands were snaking their way into her panties. It had been a long time since he had been with a woman. But she didn't ask him to stop. No she reacted down and undid his belt.
You see loneliness was a powerful thing. If it wasn't for the Second Impact, he doubted that a girl like her would ever be interested in a man like him. And he would still have his eyes set on Yui. If it wasn't for that punk, Rokubungi. He would still be pining away for her. Never being able to confess what he trully felt.
But he found that unlike his previous relationships, they didn't break up after a week or two. She didn't seem to lose interest in him either. He found her to be funny and intelligent. They spent their spare time with each other. They would eat together, talk with each other, and when they could manage it, they would leave the camp for the mainland. And sometimes they slept together, other times they had sex. And it was good. And not because of the act itself. But because unlike his previous encounters, it never felt hollow. He started to have stronge feelings for her. It wasn't quite love yet. But it would be long before it was.
Just when he was starting to feel happy again. He recieved the letter. One written by Yui, asking him to come to the new city, Tokyo-3. All the feelings he had manage to put behind him came rushing back. He was asking himself all sorts of questions. Was she still beautiful? Did she miss him? Did her child look anything like her? Had her marriage turned bad?
He told Mitsune that he would be leaving. That a U.N. organization named Gehrin, had requested him. He could have, at that moment extended that invitation to include her. But he didn't. His thoughts of Yui, stayed his tongue. She didn't cry. Nor did she ask if she could go with him. Maybe it was because she was waiting for him to ask. But he didn't. The last thing he could remember about her was that look in her eyes as he left. An image that would come to haunt him later, when he saw it repeated in the eyes of a child. Abandonment.
Weeks had past before he had fully settled in Tokyo-3. His illusions and hope surrounding Yui turn out to be false. And after a while he began to feel an absence in his heart. He didn't think he was in love with her. But a part of him was. And by the time he realized this, he knew too much time had pasted. He hadn't tried to phone her once since he arriveding. And maybe, he no longer had the no right to anymore. He should have asked her to come with him. He left her for a woman he could never have.
It was the single greatest regret of his life.
He often wondered what became of her. Was she still alive? Did she find someone new? Was she happy?
This added to a great irony of his life. Despite his failures in relationships, people still came to him asking for advice concerning the subject. It was true when he was a teacher, and it was the same now that he was at Nerv. He guessed that people must have felt comfortable talking to him about it. Everytime he looked in a mirror he was looking more and more like somebody's grandfather. A wise old man that had little little pieces of wisdom to pass out. To some degree he didn't mind assuming the role of a fatherly figure. And now that there were more years behind than there were ahead, it maybe the only chance he had in taking the role. And besides some of the inner office romances around here had all the makings of a particularly good soap opera.
But what he didn't expect was Ritsuko Akagi coming to his to ask what she should do now that she was pregnant.
"Well, first you will need to tell him."
"I know...." her voice was just above a whisper. "but.....
"....w-What if he tells me to.... end it."
He though carefully about this question. He had been asked this question before. It had come up once or twice while he was a teacher. So the only advise he could give was the same he told them.
"It doesn't matter what he thinks. You have to ask yourself what you want."
"Do you want to keep it."
It took her a moment to answer, but slowly she nodded her head, as if she still had some doubts herself.
"No matter what, it has to be your decision. Don't change it just because of what he wants. And even if he is the commander of Nerv, he can't order you to have an abortion."
He saw doubt creep onto her face.
"...And if he tries it, I won't allow it."
Her lips pursed into a small but forced smile. Her gaze was largely unfocused and directed to the top of his desk.
"Listen. I know alot about missed opprortunities. So, please think carefully about this. Because regret is a poltergeist you will take to your grave."
"d-Did you... ever have children?" She asked without looking at him.
He shook his head even though she wasn't looking.
"I may have had the chance to once, but.... I did something selfish. And now...." He didn't finish his story and he didn't have to. She was now looking at him with watery eyes. But she nodded to him and stood up from her chair.
"um, t-Thank you for listening." she said before turning to leave.
"hmmm, Ritsuko..." he wasn't accustom to using her first name, even she looked surprised when she turned back towards him. "Good luck."
She smiled once more and gave him a single nod.
Once the door closed he sighed, feeling a little older than he had when she walked into his office. Loneliness was a powerful thing. Even the treat of it was enough to cause rational people to do irrational things. Even forsake their children.
This chapter was a little more difficult that I thought it would. But once I got this chapter moving it came together. I kind of hoped the first part captured some of the playfulness of chapter 2. As for the second part, sometimes real life makes an excellent source to write from.
I thank you for the reviews. One of the ones I got for Chapter 7 was quite informative, Thank you 'Roland the Last Gunslinger'. He kind of beat me to the punch, because I was thinking of asking what you think of my writing style. I like to thinking I write in the way people talk or think. Which may or may not be a good thing since I live in Texas, which is probably why I go nuts with Touji's speech patterns. Speaking of which it's about time I brought both him and Kensuke back. Oh, well back to work.
Changing Seasons
by: JErosion
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Chapter 08This was the first time he had ever been to her home. He knew what street she lived on, but he had never actually seen which house was hers. It was a modest two-story home, that was an even mix of both western and japanese styles. The front yard was a little over grown, the grass itself had a wild look, probably due to the recent rains. There were small flower boxes near the windows, that were filled with weeds and flowers, that had that unhealthy look that said that they had long lived past their prime.
The inside of the house was the exact opposite of the yard. It was very clean, he could even say it was emaculate. Though it maybe because Hikari had been planning for him to come over. A neat house makes for a good impression.
"Um,.... Well.... this is it." she smiled as she lead him into her living room.
Shinji smiled too. He scanned the room. There was a rather decent sized tv in one corner, near it was a large bookself that was mostly filled with DVDs. The opposite wall had a stairway. Along another wall were framed photographs. A rather large and rather cushy looking couch sat in the middle of room. He saw a flutter of something in the corner of his eye. Turning quickly he found himself looking though a doorway at the side of the wall.He turned his head quickly towards a doorway to the side. He could see a table and chairs of what was probably a breakfast nook. Out of the corner of his eye he though he saw some movement from that direction. But he quickly dismissed it, as his attention drifted from object to object.
"um, well. Please make yourself at home." Hikari said motioning him to the couch with a way of her hand. When he sat down he felt as though he must have sunk about a foot into cushion. She didn't join him rather she fidgited in her place as though she was unsure at what she should do next. And if that was the case the both of them were going to be in trouble since he was just as clueless.
"uh, I'm going to drop my bag off in my room and I'll be back real quick." And with a small bow she quickly darted up the stairs.
He could only assume he was on his own for the moment. He bonced a little in his seat, testing the comfort of the furniture. Another second he was staring at the blank TV. Then his eyes where on the bookself again. Without getting up he strained his eyes to read the titles from the movie cases, to see what sort of entertainment the Horaki family was found of. It would be simpler for him to just walk over there and look. But Hikari put him right there. And that's were he was going to stay until he returned. It was like those little games you played as a child. Were you start climbing all over the furniture because the carpet had suddenly transformed into lava or poisonous snakes. But soon the bookself could no longer keep his interest. He looked to the stairs expected her to return any second.
But alas she did not. And his eyes were traveling across the room again.
He twisted on the couch to turn and look at the pictures on the wall. He saw a few family photographs. One of which looked ancient. There was a newer one of Hikari... no that wasn't right. It was Hikari but it wasn't. Could that be her mother? Further speculation was cut short when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
He yelped. He probably would have jumped a foot into the air. It it wasn't for the girl that was standing over him.
"Hi!"
Now Shinji was already feeling a slightly uncomfortable, from being inside a strange house. And Hikari's failure to return after that 'second' had passed was calming his nerves. But now he was feeling the urge to run away. Because no more than six inches away from his face was a gleaming pair of mischievous gray eyes.
"huh, Hi."
The little girl standing over him giggled. But instead of backing off to a more appropiate distance, she stayed were she was at. Which may be because of he age, which he had to peg somewhere around eleven or twelve. She was wearing a baggy pair of jeans and an over sized t-shirt, that was marked with the logo of some video game. The way she dressed and the way she stood over him screamed of tomboy. Which was the very opposite of Hikari since he had only seen her in skirts or dresses. Although he may have seen her in a pair of shorts once or twice. But despite the obvious difference in clothing in that he marveled just how much the girl ressembled Hikari. Now she had mentioned that she had two siblings. But she had never shown him a photograph of them nor had she really bather to described them in anyway. Her hair was parted differently and her chin was a little more rounded, but otherwise she was a younger clone of her sister. If he remembered the name correctly it was Nozomi. Now if he could only get her to back-up about a foot or two he'd be ok.
"um your... n-Nozomi, right?"
"uh-huh, You guessed right! And your Shinji!" She said prehaps a little too loud and a little too enthusuastically.
"hmm, yeah."
"You kow Hikari talks alot about you."
"s-She does?" His face went red.
"Yep,... but she'll only talk to Kodama about you."
"oh."
"Are you doing pervy stuff with Hikari?"
"w-What?!"
"Kodama has lots a boy friends, and she does pervy stuff with them. And since Hikari keeps talking to her about you, I figure you too are 'messing aroung'." She said the last part with an odd inflection, like she wasn't entirely sure if she knew what that meant.
Pervy stuff. Messing around. He shook his head as those phrases repeated in his head. His eyes darted back to the stairs, there was still no Hikari. He was starting to feel as though he had been abandon. Suddenly a weight dropped on his leg. He whipped his head back around to find that the girl had practically sat down in his plopped herself down in his lap, and effectively pinned his arm to the couch. Did she not have any concept of what was appropiate? Shinji already felt uncomfortable about the way she was staring at him. And her sitting on him was just too much. He was trying to put together the right words, to ask her to to get off of him as politely as he could. He didn't want to offend her since this was her house as much as it was Hikari's.
"ummm yeah, Could... Would you...ummm, please get off me?"
Much to his dispair she shook her head no.
"Nope. I got to keep you right here....."
He was about to question her as to why, when she began to rumage though her pockets.
"....Cause, I got to tell you something....."
When she pulled her hand out of her pocket, she drew out a strange black stick. Shinji's eye widened when she flicked her wrist and the stick unfolded. It was one of those old-fashion straight razors.
"If you break my sister's heart, I'll cut ya!" her voice dropped about two octaves and crossed her eyes.
She was playing with him. Or she was insane. He favored the idea of the first, but wasn't prepared to dismiss the later of those two choices. The expression on her face and the tone of her voice was just silly. She had to be playing with him. And honestly there was nothing wrong with that, except that the weapon she was holding was very real. And judging from the little scars and faint cuts that ran across her fingers, she had probably spent a great deal of time learning how to use it.
"You know, that's not a nice thing to do to our guest."
Shinji glanced over at the new voice. It wasn't Hikari. For a second he thought it was. She was much taller than his girlfriend. Even her voice was more mature and was laced with a honey like quality that gave him the chills. But it wasn't wise to take one's eyes off of a blade-weilding child, so he had to put off given the new arrival his full attention. By the time he had turned back to Nozomi, her face had gone back to normal and the knife had disappeared.
Yet Nozomi continued to defiantly stay where she was at. He wasn't entirely sure if he should be annoyed at this or not. But for some reason he found that he couldn't bring himself to show any anger towards her. He then felt the cushion next to him shift. Feeling a little safer with the absence of the knife, he turned to introduce himself to the girl who just sat down.
"um, Hi I'm Shin.... ji," Wow.
His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. The chills her voice caused him was nothing compared to the sight of her. Much like the younger girl, she too bore an amazing likeness to Hikari only much older. And much more... developed. She was dress much like Nozomi, however the effect was very different. The pants she wore were white and stained with splotches of different colored paints. She was also wearing a tight tank top, that would have made a better undershirt. Now he wasn't trying to stare on purpose, but he was finding it difficult not to look, as she wasn't wearing a bra. Now living with Misato he had grown use to that sort of thing. But this was different. He could only figure that it was because of how much she looked like Hikari.
The thin corrugated fabric of her top clung to her body in such a way he could pretty much see everything. Her breasts were large and round. Like smooth orbs, masterfully shaped. His eyes guiltily darted across them. Taking in how the white cloth darkened just a bit at their centers. And also how those shadows were also marked by an abrupt change in texture that was crowded by a single and inviting peak. Shinji blinked a bit. His brain was descending quickly into the gutter.
"Hi. I'm Kodama." She extended her hand to him.
Shinji slowly took her hand, and turned away blushing. His pulse quickened at the contacted. What is going on? He nearly forgot that Nozomi was there. Which could be a cause of great disaster. As he well on his way of developing a major case of wood. And that was big a problem in of itself. Because you don't go to you girlfriend's house and then get an erection after looking at her sister. It was rude,.... or something like that.
But that was the thing, he never had this sort of reaction around a woman before. But after a while he came to the conclusion that it wasn't just because the of the translucency of her shirt, nor was because of the smile she was giving him. It wasn't the soft scent of her shampoo or the traces of perfume she wore. It was just her. It was like she exuded sex.
He wondered if Hikari would look and be like that in a couple of years.
"i-It's...um,... nice to... um,.... meet you."
His face flushed further. He could barely talk. He ventured a glace over at the stairs silently praying. Hikari, where are you?
Suddenly a pair of hands clamped onto his head smushing his cheeks and lips together. She forced him to turn his head back towards Kodama in such a way that his neck made a painful pop.
"Hey Kodama check out this out!" exclaimed the overly exuberant child.
He was now face to face with the older girl. And she was looking straight into him with her dark chocolate colored eyes.
"Hmmm. So tell me?" Kodama said with a sultry voice. She reached up at him. Her index finger began to twirl around a stray lock of his hair. "Where did you get those pretty blue eyes."
"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING!"
"Nothing!!!" they instantly cried out. His captors released him immediately. Kodama scooted away as far as she could on her side of the couch. The younger one jumped off of him and ducked behind the far side of the couch, her head poking up just enough to see Hikari come sprinting down the stairs in an orange and white blur.
She jumped into the middle of the room. And the reason why it had taken her so long to come back became clear, she had discarded her school uniform in favor of something more casual. Her white skirt flared out as she turned towards him and grabbed him by the wrist. Shinji barely had time to register the fact that her shirt, a plaid of pale orange and yellow, was only halfway buttoned. Because the next second she had pulled him up from the couch so hard, it felt like she had dislocated his arm.
She stepped between him and Kodama. If there was a reason to fear Hikari as a class representative it was this. When angered, she could be like a devil. The look she cast at Nozomi was enough to send her diving behind the couch for Kodama's for protection. Satisfied at vanquishing the little one, she turned her focus solely on the elder girl. However her glare had none of the effect on her as it did with the twelve-year-old.
"I asked you... the both of you, not to do anything like that."
"Hey, we didn't do a thing to him,"
"Then what the hell do you call that!"
"You know that your being awfully protective?"
"Don't try and change the subject!"
"Aww, come on.... it's not like I pulled a knife on him or anything." She shrugged.
"That's not the...." Hikari froze in mid-sentence before mouthing the word 'knife.'
"NOZOMI! Please tell me that you did not pull that razor on him!"
Shinji could feel the anger radiating off of Hikari. And he knew that she was about to explode.
"I only showed it to him." came a very tiny voice from behind the couch. The older girl nodded in confimation, carrying a mirthful smile on her face.
It did matter that they were playing around because in the next second, Hikari was about to run forward and jump over the couch. She would twist herself in mid-air to avoid Kodama from grabbing her. And she would land behind that couch and commit first degree murder on little sister.
Or at least she would had had Shinji not placed his hands on her arms. She jumped a little when he did so. It was strange, but at his touch all her anger vanished. She turned her head to him. A tiny blush marked her cheeks as he smiled at her.
"It's ok, really....um,... she didn't threaten me or anything,... she just showed it to me."
"um,.... alright."
Kodama watched the two with some interest, as they quietly reassured her that Nozomi did nothing wrong. She had her eyes especially set on her sister. Carefully taking note of her reactions to him. Not only did her mood change but so did her body language. Her mannerisms became shy. There was also the way she lowered her eyes when he looked directly into hers. And how she seemed to forget that therewere two other people in the room with them. Kodama smiled, the signs where there. Hikari was, weither she could see it or not, was falling in love with him. She couldn't read his feelings. She was pretty sure that he liked her. But to what degree she did not know. She would have to watch them closely. This Shinji, seemed like a nice guy, considering he was lying for Nozomi. But over all he seemed a little shy and kinda wound-up. But over all he seemed like a nice guy.
She was happy for her, and prehaps a little jealous as well. She never really had fallen in love with someone. There was that one guy.... but in hindsight she only tried to convence herself that she was in love. Since then she really hadn't allowed herself to feel those sort of things. She could be honest with herself, her relationships were built around sex. Her relationships tended to be emotionally sterile. She looked at the guys she dated more as partners rather than boyfriends. But you can only have sex with someone for so long before you start to feel something for them. And before that could happen she broke off her relationships. And why not? She was young, she had her entire life to find someone. She could enjoy herself for the time being.
But she felt she needed to end her musings. It was time for a little more fun.
"Hey Hikari, so are you going to finish get dressed you would you like me and Nozomi to leave the room for a while."
Ah, the chaos that caused. Hikari denying that she was doing anything like that. And that she was changing when she heard both her and Nozomi talking to Shinji. Her boyfriend stood as quitely as he could, his face turning several shades of red. Nozomi coming back out from behind the couched to ask something about them if they were doing 'pervy things'. Kodama smiled she loved this sort of thing.
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He had come to accept the idea, that the women he had loved the most in his life had never returned his feelings. He had few relationships that ever went beyond the platonic. Those that had, were usually at the initiation of the woman. Typically these weren't women that he was truly attracted to. But loneliness was a powerful thing. When he was younger he was too shy to talk to a girl, in romantic sense. And as he got older that hadn't changed. These relationships were often intense and very brief. But ultimately they all came to a sour end. Usually after the sex became too awkward and certain expectations regarding each other had changed.Since he graduated high school, there had been at least one girl every decade. His first was a girl he meet in his freshman year at Kyoto Univerisity. Another was a colleague he had briefly worked with while working at a private medical company. Another came when he first became a professor. The last had been....
Her name was Mitsune. She was a good-looking young woman, that was less than half his age. He had met her in a rather desolate time in his life. He had been sent, as a token observer, with a U.N. expedition to the south pole to survey the extent of the damage done by the so-called 'metor'. He was suprised to find Gendo was onboard the same ship as he was. And to his horror, the young man informed him that his last name was no longer Rokubungi, but had become Ikari. Not only had he married his most prized student, but she was now with child. His love for Yui being what it was, he felt devestated. Not long after that, he resigned his position at Kyoto University. And left to put his medical knowledge to help who he could. He had eventually wound up working at a refugee camp near the coast. It was there that he meet her. Mitsune was working as a nurse. And much like the suvivors that they treated, she had lost her family.
Loneliness was a powerful thing. And during a night they had been assigned to work together. She had started to cry. And being the only other person around he offered her a small hug and a shoulder to cry on. The next day she thanked him. And the days after that, she reacted more and more warmly to him. Until another night came when they were working alone together. And at one point they had bumped into one another. They both apologized to one another at the same time. And then they laughed. And then she unexpectedly kissed him. It was sort of a heat of the moment sort of thing. Because the next thing he knew he was kissing her back. And then he had her pressed up against a wall and his hands were snaking their way into her panties. It had been a long time since he had been with a woman. But she didn't ask him to stop. No she reacted down and undid his belt.
You see loneliness was a powerful thing. If it wasn't for the Second Impact, he doubted that a girl like her would ever be interested in a man like him. And he would still have his eyes set on Yui. If it wasn't for that punk, Rokubungi. He would still be pining away for her. Never being able to confess what he trully felt.
But he found that unlike his previous relationships, they didn't break up after a week or two. She didn't seem to lose interest in him either. He found her to be funny and intelligent. They spent their spare time with each other. They would eat together, talk with each other, and when they could manage it, they would leave the camp for the mainland. And sometimes they slept together, other times they had sex. And it was good. And not because of the act itself. But because unlike his previous encounters, it never felt hollow. He started to have stronge feelings for her. It wasn't quite love yet. But it would be long before it was.
Just when he was starting to feel happy again. He recieved the letter. One written by Yui, asking him to come to the new city, Tokyo-3. All the feelings he had manage to put behind him came rushing back. He was asking himself all sorts of questions. Was she still beautiful? Did she miss him? Did her child look anything like her? Had her marriage turned bad?
He told Mitsune that he would be leaving. That a U.N. organization named Gehrin, had requested him. He could have, at that moment extended that invitation to include her. But he didn't. His thoughts of Yui, stayed his tongue. She didn't cry. Nor did she ask if she could go with him. Maybe it was because she was waiting for him to ask. But he didn't. The last thing he could remember about her was that look in her eyes as he left. An image that would come to haunt him later, when he saw it repeated in the eyes of a child. Abandonment.
Weeks had past before he had fully settled in Tokyo-3. His illusions and hope surrounding Yui turn out to be false. And after a while he began to feel an absence in his heart. He didn't think he was in love with her. But a part of him was. And by the time he realized this, he knew too much time had pasted. He hadn't tried to phone her once since he arriveding. And maybe, he no longer had the no right to anymore. He should have asked her to come with him. He left her for a woman he could never have.
It was the single greatest regret of his life.
He often wondered what became of her. Was she still alive? Did she find someone new? Was she happy?
This added to a great irony of his life. Despite his failures in relationships, people still came to him asking for advice concerning the subject. It was true when he was a teacher, and it was the same now that he was at Nerv. He guessed that people must have felt comfortable talking to him about it. Everytime he looked in a mirror he was looking more and more like somebody's grandfather. A wise old man that had little little pieces of wisdom to pass out. To some degree he didn't mind assuming the role of a fatherly figure. And now that there were more years behind than there were ahead, it maybe the only chance he had in taking the role. And besides some of the inner office romances around here had all the makings of a particularly good soap opera.
But what he didn't expect was Ritsuko Akagi coming to his to ask what she should do now that she was pregnant.
"Well, first you will need to tell him."
"I know...." her voice was just above a whisper. "but.....
"....w-What if he tells me to.... end it."
He though carefully about this question. He had been asked this question before. It had come up once or twice while he was a teacher. So the only advise he could give was the same he told them.
"It doesn't matter what he thinks. You have to ask yourself what you want."
"Do you want to keep it."
It took her a moment to answer, but slowly she nodded her head, as if she still had some doubts herself.
"No matter what, it has to be your decision. Don't change it just because of what he wants. And even if he is the commander of Nerv, he can't order you to have an abortion."
He saw doubt creep onto her face.
"...And if he tries it, I won't allow it."
Her lips pursed into a small but forced smile. Her gaze was largely unfocused and directed to the top of his desk.
"Listen. I know alot about missed opprortunities. So, please think carefully about this. Because regret is a poltergeist you will take to your grave."
"d-Did you... ever have children?" She asked without looking at him.
He shook his head even though she wasn't looking.
"I may have had the chance to once, but.... I did something selfish. And now...." He didn't finish his story and he didn't have to. She was now looking at him with watery eyes. But she nodded to him and stood up from her chair.
"um, t-Thank you for listening." she said before turning to leave.
"hmmm, Ritsuko..." he wasn't accustom to using her first name, even she looked surprised when she turned back towards him. "Good luck."
She smiled once more and gave him a single nod.
Once the door closed he sighed, feeling a little older than he had when she walked into his office. Loneliness was a powerful thing. Even the treat of it was enough to cause rational people to do irrational things. Even forsake their children.
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Author's note:This chapter was a little more difficult that I thought it would. But once I got this chapter moving it came together. I kind of hoped the first part captured some of the playfulness of chapter 2. As for the second part, sometimes real life makes an excellent source to write from.
I thank you for the reviews. One of the ones I got for Chapter 7 was quite informative, Thank you 'Roland the Last Gunslinger'. He kind of beat me to the punch, because I was thinking of asking what you think of my writing style. I like to thinking I write in the way people talk or think. Which may or may not be a good thing since I live in Texas, which is probably why I go nuts with Touji's speech patterns. Speaking of which it's about time I brought both him and Kensuke back. Oh, well back to work.