Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: Third Genesis ❯ Chapter 20

Evangelion Third Genesis: Part Nineteen

Asuka turned in front of the mirror, checking if her old school uniform fit properly. She looked good, even with her left eye obscured by the eyepatch, but felt odd. She was used to the NERV uniform she had been wearing, not this.

"How do I look?" Rei asked her tentatively. Asuka turned, her face lighting up in a welcoming smile as she took in the blue haired young woman. She blushed, smiling in pleasure in her matching girl's school uniform.

Asuka grinned, "You look great."

Rei looked up at Asuka thoughtfully and said, "You know, I'm more used to seeing you in the NERV uniform."

"Me, too," Asuka tugged at her skirt.

"So why not wear it?" Rei offered.

"I couldn't do that...," Asuka trailed off thoughtfully. She smiled slightly, "But there is something I could wear instead."

The sound of the suite's front door opening announced Misato's arrival and a few moments the general of NERV arrived. Her black hair fell into her eyes and she looked tired. She looked them over and smiled, "You look good."

"Thank you," Rei beamed.

"Any chance of a last minute reprieve?" Asuka asked with a hopeful smile.

"Sorry," Misato shook her head, "what's really annoying is that the decision to pout you back in school is as much politics as anything else."

"Oh?" Asuka raised an eyebrow.

Surprisingly it was Rei that answered. "Japan was heavily under the UN and NERV's influence," she noted, "this might be a way of trying to exert their control over us."

"Got it," Misato nodded. They trooped into the living room where she flopped down onto a couch. "At least your old uniforms still fit," she offered to Asuka.

"I'm not planning to wear them, though," Asuka replied firmly. She sat forward in her seat, "Would you mind if I went in a boy's uniform?"

Rei looked a bit surprised while Misato looked curious. "That's going to get people talking," Misato finally said.

"I'm already going to be the topic of gossip," Asuka waved towards her eyepatch, "I might as well be bold about it."

"I like the idea," Rei said softly, "Asuka looks good in pants."

"Fair enough," Misato flashed a smile, "but we'll have to get you fitted with a new uniform. Do you want me to...?"

"I'll go shopping," Asuka smiled, "though I could use a ride."

"I have just the captain in mind," Misato smirked. Not long after Maya was having the errand explained, the black haired young woman smiling wryly. "You mind?" Misato finally asked.

"No problem," Maya smiled, "it'll be just like when I used to run the errands for Ritsuko." She nodded to Asuka, "You want to go now?"

"Please," Asuka grinned.

Rei tagged along, leaving Misato alone for a bit. She went next door, knocking on the door. Ritsuko answered a few moment's later, peering at her over her glasses. Absolutely unintimidated Misato smiled, "Can we talk?"

Ritsuko lead her inside, revealing a much neater version of the sort of suite that Misato and the girl's shared. It was also the home of a pair of technophiles, from an advanced personal computer to one of the most sophisticated coffeemakers on the market.

"You have you command face on," Ritsuko noted, the blonde pouring them each a cup of coffee, "but you're here in on our off hours, so you don't want this to be official." She lead her to a seat, "What's up?"

"It something like that, yeah," Misato agreed. She took a drink of her coffee, savoring the smooth taste, "What's going on with the Magi?"

Ritsuko's expression was unreadable, "Nothing."

Misato flashed a smile, "That's exactly what I mean." They sat there silently for a few moments before Misato asked, "What is the status of the Magi?"

Ritsuko took a drink, her own expression thoughtful. "I almost wish that I was a beer drinker," she murmured. She smiled at Misato wryly, "Whatever happened in the end effected the three Magi computers too, it seems."

"What?!" Misato sat up, her expression alarmed.

"To the best of our technician's knowledge the Magi are nearly catatonic," Ritsuko reported to her commander coolly. She drank some more coffee, "They function as basic computers, but the mind seems to be gone."

"Damn," Misato murmured, the oddest look on her face. "You said the technicians," she noted, "you haven't gone down yourself?"

"My mother and I didn't get along very well to start with," Ritsuko said mildly, "and my encounters with her virtual incarnation haven't been much better."

"I won't order you," Misato said, "but it might be worth a try."

Ritsuko met her eyes, then looked down at her coffee. "I'll try," she finally said.

Misato decided not to push her any farther, changing the subject instead. "So how is living with Maya going?" she asked.

Ritsuko felt herself blushing slightly. "We're remarkably compatible, it seems," she smiled. There was a wicked tilt to her grin as she added, "And she's remarkably inventive in bed."

Misato nearly choked on her coffee. "I didn't need to know that," she coughed.

Ritsuko looked more serious as she asked, "Are you dating at all?"

Misato shook her head, "No, not now anyway." She smiled ruefully, "Kaji wasn't the most trustworthy man, and I don't really want to...."

"I understand," Ritsuko nodded, "as you well know."

Misato tilted her head to the side curiously, "Do you ever wish that we...?"

"Occasionally," Ritsuko admitted. She smiled sadly, "But at the time I was still far to blinded by Gendo, there was just no way."

"True," Misato nodded. "And I had a we bit of a panic attack right after we got back to NERV that time," she confessed.

Ritsuko flashed a smile, "Let me guess. You went out, got blasted, and then went out with the first available man to prove you were straight."

"How did you know?" Misato blinked.

Ritsuko shrugged, "Because it was what I did the first time I slept with a woman."

They both shared a quiet laugh, talking softly as they drank their coffees. "Rei surprises me occasionally," Misato noted at one point, "we were talking about why we had to send her and Asuka back to school and she got it instantly."

"Rei isn't stupid," Ritsuko agreed, "you've got to remember that most of her DNA comes from Yui Ikari, and she was a genius."

"I forget sometimes. Rei is such an innocent," Misato mused.

"And don't think Rei doesn't occasionally take full advantage of it," Ritsuko said in a half joking way. She smiled, "Though I noticed Asuka doesn't have that problem."

"Rei's got her wrapped around her finger in other ways," Misato agreed with a laugh.

Author's Notes: Part of what Ritsuko and Misato is talking about is a short fling that the two women once had. That event was chronicled in my story 'Blood Sisters' and is available on fanfiction.net and other fiction sites.