Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

The Swim of Things

By Ret Nuh

 

Hikari showed up at Rei's place for the slumber party at around 7:00pm. When she entered she noticed only Rei was there and she was sitting in her special chair reading a book. “So where's Asuka?”

 

“She's still at her place. Shinji should be done with her in a short while.” Rei answered.

 

“Uh oh” Hikari said. “I think I may have made a mistake then. Touji's going to stay over at Shinji's tonight and I already sent him over there.”

 

“Don't worry” Rei said to her nicely. “Asuka will not mind. Around those she trusts she's comfortable showing that Shinji may touch her. I believe it's her way of proving that while she is still afraid of certain levels of intimacy, she is not afraid of him.”

 

Hikari laughed “Something tells me Asuka's not the only one who reads college level psych books.”

 

“Not as much as I used to” Rei answered. “I have discovered a much more enjoyable genre of books.”

 

Hikari looked at the book Rei was reading “Oooo, I like those too. Got any really steamy ones?”

 

Rei pointed at a book on an end table next to one of the other chairs. “That is one of my favorites.”

 

Hikari walked over and picked up the book. She noticed a folded up piece of red paper sticking out of it. “Asuka's bookmark I presume?”

 

“Yes” Rei answered. “She has been trying to read that book for three weeks now.”

 

“Three Weeks?!” Hikari questioned in surprise. “I have seen Asuka tear thru a Micro-Biology text book in less than a week.”

 

“True” Rei said and with what looked almost like a grin on her face added “But there's nothing in a text book that she can envision herself in.” Rei usually got a chuckle out of watching Asuka try to read a romance novel. It seemed to her that Asuka got very nervous at parts, sometimes to the degree that she had to slam the book shut and take a couple deep breaths to calm herself back down.

 

Hikari opened the book and read a bit where Asuka had left off. And then with a little laugh said “or Shinji for that matter” as the girl understood why Asuka was having troubles reading the book.

 

Rei looked up from her book no longer trying to hide the gigglish type of smile she had “That is the main reason for her delay. In fact she has spent the last three days alone trying to read that one page.”

 

“I can see why” Hikari commented. “I don't think those two have even kissed yet. So for Shinji to make Asuka” Hikari read a phrase from the book “… scream with unbridled passion as a euphoric orgasm ravished her body… Might be a bit difficult for her to read, let alone imagine.

 

Hikari actually saw Rei giggling after that. She just couldn't hold it in and she told Hikari “While Shinji and I complete our homework I have noticed several times she has had to simply put the book down and calm herself. Also if you want to believe, the blush on Asuka's face gets more intense than any I have seen on Shinji's.”

 

“I can believe it” Hikari giggled back. “There's a reason I call her emo girl after all.”

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

About fifteen minutes later Asuka showed up. She saw that Rei was letting Hikari tryout the vibrating chair. Hikari must have really liked it because she didn't even notice Asuka come in and Asuka noticed another situation she could take advantage of. So she carefully snuck up behind Hikari and oh so sneakily grabbed the remote for the chair. From her personal experience she knew the chair had a certain mode that if you were a girl and you were sitting in it just right you got more than a typical butt massage. Mode #34, or otherwise known as the restricted code because Rei blacked it out on the explanation sheet due to its indecent nature, was the one Asuka punched into the remote.

 

The reaction she got was completely not what she expected

 

“Eh… I've felt better.”

 

“WHAT?” Asuka yelled.

 

Hikari looked up at her while the chair kept going. It was obvious Hikari wasn't being affected in the least. “One, while we were waiting for you Rei was practicing her story telling. She told me about a certain red headed girl who was fiddling around with the remote one day and picked a mode that made her jump out of the chair and slap it.”

 

“It caught me by surprise, that's all!” Asuka said in her defense.

 

“Uh huh” Hikari answered. “And two, I meant what I said.”

 

Asuka leered at Hikari suspiciously for that. Hikari was sounding a lot like Misato and the only way she could was if she had true life experience in that category of life.

 

Hikari answered Asuka's apprehensive eyes by asking her a question. “When was the last time we had a sleepover?”

 

“About halfway through last winter.”

 

“And how far did I say I had gotten with Touji back then?”

 

“Ummm….” Asuka mumbled not liking where this was going.

 

“Don't you think we may have gone further than that since then?” Hikari asked.

 

Asuka answered with what she hoped the answer was even though she knew it wasn't “No?”

 

Hikari kind of looked down and got sad at that answer. “I know this slumber party was for me to hear about how you and Shinji got together but I was kind of hoping we could talk about other things too. Because ever since Kodama went off to college I haven't really had anyone I can talk to about these sort of things.”

 

“What about your dad and new step mom?” Asuka asked.

 

“While I like my step mom a lot, anything I say to her she would tell my dad. And I don't blame her for that as it is the right thing for her to do, but I know my dad. He knows what's going on while at the same time he doesn't want confirmation. I'm still one of his little girls to him and he doesn't really want to think otherwise.” Hikari then looked up at Asuka with compassion. “I just want someone to listen to me and maybe try to give me some friendly advice.”

 

This was now Asuka's turn to prove how good of a friend to Hikari she was. She knew Hikari wanted to talk about some very personal things that would be just as uncomfortable for Asuka to hear as Hikari to say. But she wanted to be there for Hikari just like Hikari was always there for her in the past. “Do you want to change into our pj's first or not?”

 

Hikari smiled at Asuka and said “Thank you.”

 

Asuka smiled back and nodded her head. She wasn't sure she was ready to hear what Hikari was about to say but now was not a time for her to pay heed to her insecurities.

 

Hikari then looked over at Rei. “You don't mind if we talk about this kind of stuff, do you?”

 

“No” Rei answered, a touch nervous herself. “But I'm not sure how much help I will be. The only thing I know about that subject is what I have read… and that is not exactly reality.”

 

Hikari smiled warmly at Rei “That doesn't matter. All I want is some friends to listen to me.”

 

“Then I will listen to the best of my abilities” Rei answered back returning the smile.

 

The girls then changed into their pajamas in preparation for the serious girl talk sessions. Hikari came out of the bathroom wearing a flannel pair of long bottoms with a matching long sleeved shirt. When Rei came out of the bathroom she had on an oversized thick long sleeve shirt that hung down to her knees. The shirt was big enough that should any outside appendages get chilly they could easily be pulled inside to be warmed up. Asuka changed last and came out of the bathroom in her normal sleepwear. A short sleeved top and a pair of flimsy shorts.

 

Both of the other girls just looked at Asuka strangely with Hikari asking “Don't you get cold wearing that?”

 

“No” Asuka answered and teased them “I'm not a freeze baby like you two. Besides it's not even cold in here.”

 

“But it's only 10 degrees outside” Rei argued. (A/N: I may be American but I have a science degree so I use the metric system and that temperature is in Celsius. If you don't know what that would be in Fahrenheit here is the conversion Tf = (9/5 * Tc) + 32.)

 

“Oh please” Asuka scoffed. “I've lived in places where they can go four months or more without seeing temperatures near that for a high.”

 

Both Hikari and Rei looked and each other for a second and then turned towards her and said together “But we haven't!”

 

Asuka snickered at the two for a second and then sat down by them.

 

Hikari looked at her and asked “Are you ready to hear this?”

 

Asuka shook her head no but said “Go ahead anyway.”

 

And that's what Hikari did. She figured she would just come right out and admit it so there was no more speculation. “I'm not a virgin.” Even though Asuka was expecting that she still flinched and over the next hour Hikari got many things that weighed heavily upon her chest, off. This is exactly what she wanted as just having people around her own age to listen to her and tell her it was alright made her feel so much better. And when she was done the blush on her cheeks was matched by the one on Rei's and an even darker shade of one on Asuka's.

 

Rei's talking was even a bit flustered as she said nervously “Th- there is more to… that… than I expected.”

 

Hikari nodded in agreement. “Both Touji and I were caught a little off guard the first time.” Hikari then noticed Asuka was taking some very deep breaths. “You're even more scared of intimacy now aren't you?”

 

“It's not your fault” Asuka told her questioning and concerned friend. “I think I needed to hear how truly involved you need to be for that kind of intimacy. I need to learn that my fears are stupid and irrational and….”

 

Hikari stopped her there before she could say anything else. “No they aren't. Your fear is there because you're not ready. Over time they will disappear and that's one of the ways you can figure out when you are ready.”

 

“Are you sure?” Asuka asked. “Because I'm just as uneasy with it now as when Shinji and I first got together.”

 

“So it takes some time. I'm sure Shinji will wait.” Hikari told her and then laughed a bit “If I could get Touji to wait as long as I did, you can get Shinji to.”

 

“How long did you two wait?” Rei asked as she was unsure of how long the two had been dating.

 

“The easy answer to that is from the time we came back to the end of last school year, but in truth it's a bit more complicated than that. At first we realized we needed to be friends first, and that's what we were for a while, but at the same time there was something more. So it's really hard for me to say when we crossed that line from being good friends to lovers, it just kinda happened. One day we were palling around town and having fun and then the next we figured out how much we meant to each other.”

 

“It was after he kicked angel boy's ass, right?” Asuka said with a vicious grin.

 

Hikari gave her a little glare for that and said “No it was before that. And please stop bringing that up, especially around Touji!”

 

Asuka just snickered at Hikari's very direct statement. Rei though commented “If my memory's correct did you not cheer him on during that altercation?”

 

“More like egged him on” Hikari snarled.

 

“Who me?” Asuka said innocently. “I don't remember doing that.”

 

“There are a lot of things you don't conveniently remember” Hikari lectured. “That's why I'm not even gonna let you try and tell your story. I'm going straight to Rei for the truth.”

 

Asuka let out and offended “Aa” in protest but the other two ignored her and Rei began to explain the story while Hikari listened intently. All of Asuka's bravado and bluff quickly dissipated soon into the story though. And during certain parts of the story she looked embarrassed and guilty as hearing it come from another person she realized how not nice and egocentric she had acted. Other parts of the story made her feel sad as she could still clearly remember many of those feelings and doubts and how much they had hurt her. But the ending was worth it and she had a warm smile on her face while she gently stroked the side of her cheek.

 

By the time Rei was finished Asuka had her eyes closed and was deep in her memory. She totally missed the “That's my emo girl” comment that Hikari threw out. When Hikari noticed that she could tell Asuka was completely out of it so she decided this would be the perfect time to get some sweet justice for all the times Asuka had rat tailed her boyfriend.

 

Asuka was literally snapped back to reality as she felt a quick sting race up her spine. She looked around surprised for a second. Rei was sitting there with a hand over her mouth trying to hide a giggle. Hikari was standing above her with a twisted up wet bath towel in her hands and a wicked grin on her face. “What did you do that for?!”

 

“Because I saw an opportunity and took advantage of it.” Hikari said sarcastically and then started to back away. She knew the easiest way to get Asuka was to use her own words against her and soon the two were running around Rei's apartment with Asuka trying to get the towel so she could get some payback while Hikari fended her off with attempted rat tails.

 

This lasted until the two tired themselves out and Asuka gave up. They collapsed down beside Rei, who had ducked down to a few flying pillows. “So what should we do now?” Hikari asked while catching her breath.

 

“What else” Asuka answered “Talk about boys.”

 

“Ok” Hikari quickly answered and cut to the chase. She very much wanted to know something so she asked “Why haven't you and Shinji kissed yet?”

 

Asuka turned red and abruptly said “That's none of your business.”

 

“As your best friend, yes it is!” Hikari contradicted. “Plus c'mon you have been dating Shinji for over a month and a half. Even by your standards you two are being slow pokes.”

 

“How long we have been dating is irrelevant” Asuka argued back. But not without sounding a bit unsure of herself.

 

Hikari looked at Asuka with examining eyes for that. She studied the girl for a minute while Asuka grew more nervous. Hikari then looked over at Rei “She's scared to death of kissing him, isn't she?”

 

Rei nodded yes to that. It was blatantly obvious to her.

 

Asuka of course yelled “I am not!”

 

“Oh really” Hikari challenged and went over to pick up Rei's phone. “Maybe I should call the boys over and you can prove it to us.”

 

Asuka's eyes grew big as she saw Hikari get up and grab the phone and start to dial. She was trapped. If she tried to take the phone away that would be admitting that she was a chicken. If she didn't they would soon find out when Shinji came over, because there was no way it was going to happen. There was no way out and she closed her eyes tightly as she heard Hikari start to talk on the phone.

 

“Hello... Yes, I would like to order the Hunan delight with rice for three and three pork dumplings….” Hikari then looked at Asuka and the expression on Asuka's face was priceless. The poor girl didn't know if she was relieved, mad, or maybe even sad. But she was shaking her fist at Hikari which made the girl laugh while she was telling the people where to deliver the food.

 

When Hikari got off the phone Asuka grumbled “That was mean.”

 

“What?” Hikari answered innocently “I thought you liked Hunan Delight?”

 

Asuka continued to give Hikari the evil eye for that.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

About a half hour after Hikari had made the call for food the girl's slumber party had a guest drop by. The guest was Kensuke Aida and he was holding a paper bag with several boxes of food in it. Rei was surprised to see him at her door, the other two girls weren't though. They knew exactly who worked this side of town as a delivery boy for Shin Sieki's. He looked into the apartment and said “Score. First slumber party of the night.”

 

“Probably made your whole night” Asuka sassed back.

 

“Nah. The night doesn't get good till I make the college dorm runs. Drunken sorority girls are much more fun to look at than a couple prim and proper high school girls.”

 

“You're such a hentai.” Asuka shot back.

 

Kensuke let out a little snicker and looked back at Rei. “That will be 1560 please.” Rei gave him a 2000 yen note and he gave her back the change. She gave him 200 yen as a tip and he bowed politely and thanked her. And with that he was gone. Well almost gone for as soon as Rei shut her door she heard a familiar voice yelling at Kensuke to get back here. That was followed by the definite sound of someone running away in the hall. Misato's quarrels with that boy were none of her business so she carried the food over to her table so they could eat.

 

While eating Asuka asked Rei “Was that Misato yelling at Kensuke?”

 

“Yes” Rei answered.

 

Asuka rolled her eyes while saying “He must have slipped his tip back through the mail slot again.”

 

Hikari shook her head “Why can't he ever just take the money. Heaven knows he needs it.”

 

Rei looked at Hikari and Asuka confused. It was obvious that they knew something that she didn't. While munching on a spicy bit of beef she gave them a quizzical look.

 

“That's right, you probably don't know?” Asuka said.

 

“There is a lot of things that I'm learning I don't know” Rei answered as she was finding herself confused more often now that she was friends with other people.

 

Hikari decided to fill her in. “Kensuke lives by himself too. He doesn't really like to talk about it but I don't think his father came back and his uncle left town shortly after third impact.”

 

“The weird thing about all that is that no one knew about it” Asuka added. “But about a year ago he was caught sneaking back into school and sleeping there.”

 

“At first social services were going to send him to a foster home in another city when they found out but somehow Misato found out about it too” Hikari continued to explain. “And like she did with you she volunteered to become his guardian.”

 

“Yeah but he wasn't as smart as you were” Asuka said while nibbling on her pork dumpling. “He didn't let Misato put him up. Instead he somehow got one of those apartments near school along with a job. He works like forty hours a week to pay for that thing and schooling. I don't think he has that much extra money because he doesn't bring any of the toys he used to and worse yet he won't let Misato help him.”

 

“So whenever he delivers food to their place Misato tries to slip him and extra 2000 yen as a tip” Hikari said.

 

“But then he usually returns it and she gets mad at him. That boy has way too much pride for his own good.”

 

Both Hikari and Rei had to stop eating and stare at Asuka for that comment. She was the last person in the world who should be saying that.

 

Asuka answered with a “What?” and continued on eating ignoring the other two.

 

After the girls finished eating they went back to good old fashioned girl talk. Mainly the topics were what you would expect of teenage girls. Boys, gossip, and clothes. Rei was pretty good at those last two topics. Being the quiet one she often overhead things she wasn't supposed to be privy to. This made her gossip especially juicy. As for clothes, she definitely had her own tastes now. But as for the topic of boys, she just sat there and let Asuka and Hikari talk while she listened.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

At around midnight there was another disturbance in the hall. Apparently Shinji had invited Kensuke to stay over when he was done with his shift but Misato wasn't letting him in until he took the money she had tried to give him before. He hated taking handouts but he also didn't like to be chewed out by Misato. She was his fantasy girl and Misato was very hard to picture naked when she was yelling at him and making a commotion.

 

On top of that he noticed three girls peaking their heads out of a door down the hall. One was simply looking at him, the other was prodding him to take the money, and the third was laughing at him. He let out a sigh and took the money from Misato, which was now doubled, and put it in his pocket. Then, and only then, did Misato let him in the apartment.

 

Kensuke walked over to the couch where Shinji and Touji were playing a fighting game. “So…” Touji asked trying to keep his character from getting hit by Shinji's “… did you run into any horny old women who answered their door naked?”

 

Kensuke looked at Touji and answered “Two, but I only screwed one of them.”

Touji whipped his head around to look at Kensuke only to see him laughing while Shinji took advantage of Touji's lack of attention to the game and finished of his character.

 

Kensuke then snatched the controller away from Touji when Touji turned back towards the TV and said “You know the rules. Loser loses the control.”

 

“Screw that man” Touji said back. “You set me up with a bogus story.”

 

“Who said the story was bogus” Kensuke challenged back while selecting a character to battle Shinji. When it came to video games Shinji vs. Kensuke was always a good match. Kensuke had the edge in skill but Shinji had better reflexes.

 

So as the games went on Kensuke told the two all sorts of things that happened to young delivery boys while in the course of a night. Of course the only one of the stories that he told that was true was that he had delivered an order to Rei's place, everything else was an elaborate hoax meant to distract his opponent. Touji fell for it about a quarter of the time while Shinji never did.

 

Well almost never. For some reason he faltered big time when he heard Kensuke commenting on how he couldn't understand how Asuka could wander around in such little pajamas during the fall.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

At around 2:00am the boys got a visit from the girls. And like Asuka had guessed all three were asleep. Very quietly she, Hikari, and Rei put shaving cream in the boy's hands and all at once tickled the boy's noses. Three boys woke up to a creamy mess and laughter. But it was only two girls that laughed, Rei curiously just looked at her victim. She then bowed politely and apologized for her prank. Asuka grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out the door. “Geeze Blue, you don't apologize for a prank. You play it and run.”

 

This of course meant war. The girls may have struck first but the boys weren't going to go down that easily and concede defeat. It was now their turn to go on the attack. And at 4:00am Asuka let out a scream as she tried to use the bathroom. Apparently there was a saran wrap version of an ATF taped up to the doorway into the bathroom. It didn't stop there though as when she tried to march out the front door to give the boys a piece of her mind she ran into a second clingy barrier outside Rei's front door. The mastermind behind the girls prank had just been nailed not once but twice, and it took both Hikari and Rei to hold the hot tempered girl back from pounding on a trio of boys laughing in the hallway. In a prank war physical violence was not allowed. If she wanted to get back at them she was going to have to return prank them. And there was no way she was going to let them upstage her.

 

At 6:00 am all three boys were awoken by water balloons filled with ice water to the heads. A chilly awakening to say the least and Asuka ran out of the apartment with the two other girls saying “Those who laugh last, laugh best.”

 

So the girls were now up two to one. Evening things out would be much harder now that it was morning. The girls would most likely not be going back to bed so there was no way to sneak in on them. They had to find a subtler plan of attack. Things like spiking their breakfast with hot sauce or waiting them out with squirt guns was too crass. They wanted to do something that would drive the girls out of the apartment and beg for a truce. After discussing everything from stink bombs to releasing a wild animal into the apartment Kensuke came up with a particularly nasty idea. “Say Shinji, does Rei have a computer in her place?”

 

Shinji nodded his head yes “And just like ours it's always online so Misato can IM her or she can IM Misato.” All three boys got dirty little smiles on their faces as they raced over to the computer and Kensuke put his old hacking skills to work. They totally ignored the parental type warning they got from the raven haired lady who was feeding a little cutey who was more intent on watching the new action in her apartment than eating her breakfast.

 

At precisely 7:05am Rei's computer chimed at her saying she had a message. The three girls thought this was suspicious right away and went over to the computer to check it out.

 

“I bet they're trying to lure us out with fake messages promising a truce” Asuka said. “Probably waiting outside the door with silly string or something.”

 

But the message they saw didn't say anything to that effect. Instead it only said `Sorry Ayanami' and soon her computer flashed at her for a couple seconds before her background was replaced by a video file of a bunch of very fat, very sweaty, and very naked men dancing to the Macarena. And not only could the girls not turn it off but the song kept getting louder while the video looped over and over. It was utterly repulsive and grating to the ears. The only way to stop it was to pull the plug on Rei's computer. But when they plugged Rei's computer back in and the computer was rebooted the torture just returned, this time even louder. Finally after thirty minutes of this the girls fled the apartment to find the boys waiting for them out in the hall.

 

“Something wrong?” Touji asked.

 

Asuka just glared at him and growled. Rei though went up to Kensuke and said “We would like a truce. Please return my computer back to normal.”

 

Kensuke smirked a bit and went into Rei's place and sat down at her computer. Rei followed him in as she wanted to make sure he did what she asked him to. It only took a couple clicks on the keyboard for Kensuke to return Rei's computer back to normal and after he did he looked up at her. “Believe it or not I got this from a girl during class once. Good thing I keep my sound off.”

 

Kensuke little attempt at brevity did not impress Rei at all. This was a bit cruder than she was used to. While the other two girls didn't seem to mind it and they were now chatting it up in the hallway with their boyfriends she couldn't help but feel it as an invasion into her personal space. “In the future this is not the type of prank I wish to be subjected to,”

 

“Understood” Kensuke answered as he could tell Rei was still a bit miffed about the whole thing. “I apologize again for it. I guess I just got carried away. I should have figured you wouldn't like it.”

 

Rei nodded her head at him and that was the end of that. This being a real teenage girl was rough on her. She just didn't seem to have the same tolerances her other two friends had.

 

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*********** OOO ***********

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The next two weeks at school were rather good for Asuka. No one was bugging her or Shinji anymore as they were basically relegated to just another couple status. And a boring one at that as the two were never caught doing anything exciting. Because of this they were allowed to be around each other without causing any of the probing questions that would have come up before and this led to some good things happening.

 

One day during that period Asuka decided to sit down by herself for lunch so she could think about some things and Shinji came over. He didn't say a word though, he just sat by her. The closeness was all that was needed and for the rest of the day she was in a good mood.

 

As for class, like normal it was extremely easy for her. The school was trying to accommodate her by allowing her to enroll in an online college but her learning was at her own pace and most of the time she would rather sit around and talk on some chat board than watch a lecture on her computer.

 

The closest thing to a problem that Asuka had was that her relay squad had to train in Yuma. Yuma may have been a gifted swimmer but she was out of her element and it showed. She had a tendency to jump early from the blocks in an effort to do better and she commonly got fatigued faster than the other girls. None of that was too surprising though as she was two to three years younger than most of the team. So her team worked with her and showed her the ropes and just to make her feel more comfortable they had her in the starter role for the relay squad. This way she only had to listen to the gun to know when to take off. It took some of the pressure off of her and she didn't have to worry about jumping off the block before her teammate hit the sensor. This led to the relay squad sweeping their events and that of course made Asuka very happy.

 

So life was good, she was happy, and everything was roses.

 

Unfortunately roses don't last forever and the Monday after that nice little span of comfort things changed. Mana came back. For some reason that girl just brought out the worst in Asuka. And unlike Karowu who knew enough to stay away from her, Mana had no problems interjecting herself into situations.

 

What was really pissing off Asuka right now was that from the second Mana arrived at school she was saying things behind her back. Mana was saying to her friends that she was going to take Shinji back. The fact that she found out about this even before lunch meant she was supposed to know. That pissed her off even more.

 

And worse yet she couldn't do anything about it. If she confronted Mana and got into a fight it would make her look bad, plus she would be kicked off the swim team for a week and also there would be trouble at home too. And even more troubling, if she did nothing it would look like she didn't care about losing Shinji.

 

It was a no win situation, so the more she thought about it the more frustrated she got. It got to the point where she slammed one of her books shut and dropped it down on her desk out of frustration right in the middle of class. This of course got the attention of the class and the teacher.

 

Now their teacher didn't have a problem with Asuka not paying attention to him but he did have a problem with her disrupting his class. As most teachers do, Asuka was called out on it and she had to stand up and politely bow while apologizing for disrupting the class. This was a horribly embarrassing experience.

 

So as a embarrassed and mad Asuka sat at her desk, Mana sat at hers with a mean little smirk. She knew she was getting to Asuka and it was only a matter of time before Asuka would snap and do something rash. Then everyone would see that everything really was Asuka's fault and she was just an innocent victim in all of this. Plus if Asuka resorted to violence, like normal, she could feign getting hurt right away and that would get Asuka in trouble. Then just like her Asuka would get suspended and she would have a clearer shot at Shinji. Mana had spent the last two weeks planning this out in her head and it was working. She knew she could get Asuka to snap and all it would take now was a little flirting with Shinji. Whether Shinji responded to it or not she didn't care. He was just another boy that she teased and truthfully she didn't even get really interested in him until he was taken. She cared more about winning the prize than the prize itself.

 

Both Hikari and Rei had ominous feelings about this day from the start and everything that was happening only proved they were correct. They had both tried to calm down Asuka at lunch but they knew she was uncontrollable. You could talk to her for forever and a day but if her moods were pointed in a singular direction there was almost nothing that could stop her. This was not going to be a good day at all.

 

Kensuke and Touji were being typical boys about this and sending IM's back and forth to each other discussing the upcoming fight. Asuka's fights were always awesome to watch as she went all out. There wasn't any of that wussy hair pulling or pushing going on, when Asuka fought she threw punches. And what better way to end the school day than to watch a cat fight. Kensuke even said he was going to stay late if he had to so he could see the fight.

 

The most interesting question was if Asuka would let up on Mana when the girl went down or would she keep at it until they got physically separated. That conversation was so fun that half the boys in the class missed out on the history lesson the teacher gave.

 

But in all this turmoil sat a certain figure. He was a very important person in all of this but no one really gave him much thought. This was a big mistake. Everyone who had ever met Shinji had underestimated him. In the past he had given them good reason why but to do so now was unwise. He wasn't the one calling the shots during third impact for nothing, when he was pushed too far he became a dangerous foe. And even though his mother wasn't around to help him anymore he had learned enough from her to know when to do something. He may have also inherited a touch of his mom's berserker genes as well explaining why when he snapped he went about it in a big way.

 

Shinji was well aware of what was happening and he had no plans of abandoning Asuka. She was his and he was hers and if pushed he would prove it. And that is exactly what he was feeling right now, pushed. Someone was challenging the validity of Asuka and his relationship and after everything they had gone through to get together there was no way he was going to sit by and let someone pull them apart. Something inside of him may have snapped.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

After class had ended Asuka raced to the locker room and got dressed very quickly as she didn't even want to be around Mana anymore. That girl was getting to her and now Mana was acting like she didn't have a care in the world and that she just wanted to let bygones be bygones and that they should be friends.

 

Everything was going just like Mana had planned. And when she heard Asuka snap a coarse “I'm Fine!” at Hikari and Rei and saw her storm out of the locker room towards the pool she knew she had Asuka right where she wanted her.

 

There was a five minute span between when Asuka left the locker room and when the rest of the girls came out. But when the girls did come out they saw something beyond belief. Asuka was not a brooding, boiling bitch with an intent to kill but simply a girl sitting quietly on the edge of the pool dangling her feet in the water, supporting a soft and reflective smile on her face, and if you looked just right you could have sworn she was even blushing.

 

If none of the girls knew better they could have sworn Asuka was in a very good mood. Quite confusing indeed.

 

This turn of events certainly required investigation but that was almost impossible as Asuka got up and clapped her hands while saying “C'mon girls, we got practice. Let's start off with a couple four by fours and then a good 250 meter swim before we brake up into our groups.” And then Asuka jumped into the pool.

 

The very confused swim team was then prodded to do the same as their coach walked up behind them and asked “Well, what are you waiting for?… Get Moving!” And with that practice started out all normal like.

 

Half way through the second four by four Shinji came out and stood by the coach. “Sorry I'm late ma'am. I had to open the general pool doors.”

 

The coach looked up and saw the normal arrangement of spectators filling in. “Hmm? I could have sworn I unlocked those doors already today?” The coach then simply shrugged her shoulders as she figured she must have forgot and went back to concentrating on her team.

 

After the warm-ups were over several girls finally had the chance and they went over to question Asuka. She told them “I just needed a minute or two to cool down. It's not like I have anything to worry about. I know where Shinji and I stand.”

 

That was a very mature answer by the team captain and impressed most of the girls there. Asuka must have been more level headed than they figured. A couple girls didn't buy this though. Hikari and Rei knew Asuka had matured somewhat since they first met her but not this much. Something happened, but what they had no clue. The coach couldn't have talked her down because she was in the locker room with them. There was no one in the stands so that eliminated that possibility. They both thought of Shinji next but he didn't come out till after practice started. Could Asuka really have done what she said?... calmed herself down by herself. That was very unlike her and Hikari and Rei were left befuddled by the event unfolding in front of them.

 

But not as confused as Mana. She had the situation in the palm of her hand just a matter of minutes ago but now she was completely lost. And to make things worse Asuka had the audacity to tell her she could earn her way back on the first team. That was if she could improve enough to actually challenge her replacement. Now it was Mana's turn to be pissed. And things were only going to get worse as five minutes later her replacement showed up.

 

Yuma was always late for practice as she had to take a bus from the middle school to the high school to get to practice. Mana watched closely as Yuma went up to the coach and bowed politely for being late. The coach merely smiled at her and told her to go join up with her team. Yuma then walked over to Asuka and bowed politely at her. “Sorry for being late Miss Asuka.”

 

Asuka's answer is what totally pissed Mana off. “That's ok. Just swim a couple laps and then I will work with you on your takeoffs.”

 

That was unbelievable. If she had been late for practice Asuka would have chewed her out and made her swim laps till the end of practice, and the coach would have approved of it as she was a stickler for promptness. But here was this snot nosed little brat getting away with it. This was completely unacceptable and she was about to go up to the coach and complain. That was until she saw Yuma's time. Not only did that brat beat her best time but she did it on her initial warm up lap. What made it worse was Asuka was not happy with the time.

 

Yuma looked up at her captain. “Did I screw up again?”

 

Asuka nodded yes. “There was a little too much splash in your hand movements. Let's do it again. Except this time I will be swimming with you and I want you to keep up.”

 

“Yes Miss Asuka” and Yuma got out of the pool and followed Asuka.

 

As Mana watched this happening she overheard some of the other girls giggling. “Looks like Asuka has a tail again.”

 

In fact Yuma's nickname was `Tails' now. She got it because she was always following around Asuka during practice. Everything was “Yes Miss Asuka”, “No Miss Asuka”, or “Ok Miss Asuka.”

 

As for Asuka, she loved it and on several occasions pointed out to the others that at least one person on the team showed her the proper respect she deserved. This would just get a roll of the eyes from the other girls.

 

So idol and protégé were walking along side of the pool when they were stopped by a whistle. It wasn't the coach's or Shinji's whistle, it was a wolf whistle from the stands. Asuka turned her head and growled “You did not just whistle at Yuma?”

 

Kensuke laughed back while leaning on the front rail. “Well I sure as hell didn't whistle at you.”

 

Asuka's jaw dropped open and she exclaimed loudly “She's only 14 years old!”

 

“That doesn't stop her from being a cute” Kensuke smirked back.

 

At this point Yuma was blushing from head to toe. Kensuke may have been the boy Asuka called the biggest hentai in the world but still he was a high school boy and he just called her cute. That's a big thing to a junior high girl.

 

Asuka though was just glaring at Kensuke for that. She then took the towel she had wrapped around herself off, twisted it up, and walked forward while issuing a command “Lean forward Hentai boy.”

 

“Not on your life!” Kensuke said backing away out of Asuka's range. Those rat tails hurt, there was no way he was going to voluntarily take one. So as Kensuke made his way back to his seat Asuka yelled out “Wuss” and most of the girls started giggling at him. He sat down next to Touji. “That could have gone better.”

 

Touji snickered “And Kensuke strikes out again.”

 

“Swing at enough pitches and you're bound to get a hit sooner or later” Kensuke answered back.

 

Touji could understand this logic so he asked “Who's next?” as watching Kensuke try to get somewhere with the girls was as interesting as watching practice. The boy just had a certain flair for the dramatics at times.

 

Kensuke started looking around at all the pretty girls “So many to choose from.” He then looked up at the clock on the wall and sighed “And so little time.” Kensuke then sat there and did nothing. He only had about a half hour before he had to leave to go to work and that bummed him out. He might as well just sit there and enjoy the precious few minutes of freedom he had left before he returned to the real world full of obligations. Some days he really wished he had more time on his hands but a person with a real job doesn't have that kind of luxury.

 

On the other side of the pool “Why must he always be so crass?”

 

Hikari looked over at Rei. “He's just playing around.”

 

“It's inappropriate” Rei answered.

 

Hikari merely said “It's just Kensuke. Personally I wish he would act that way more often.”

 

Rei did not understand that comment at all. Then again she didn't understand Kensuke so it didn't matter and she didn't bother thinking about it all that much either as Asuka and Yuma had come over and they went back to practicing.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

In the locker room after practice Asuka was changing into her gym clothes when two girls sat down on either side of her. “So are you going to tell us what happened or not?”

 

“What makes you think “anything” happened?” Asuka answered the inquisitive Hikari.

 

“Because you're not the type of girl to just get over things” Hikari quickly answered.

 

Asuka looked over at Hikari and answered with something that could be best described as faux modesty “Maybe I am changing.”

 

From the other side of her though came “And maybe you are hiding the truth.”

 

Asuka smirked “Oh hush up Rei. You two don't need to know everything. I can have some secrets.”

 

Both girls stared at Asuka directly for that. It was not the answer they wanted.

 

Asuka in return ignored them and looked over at Yuma. “Good job on your takeoffs today. You're getting better.”

 

Yuma smiled widely “Thank you Miss Asuka!” Yuma then looked at her a second longer and had to ask “Why is everyone acting so strangely today?”

 

“Because they're a bunch of busy bodies who can't mind their own business apparently.” Asuka said that answer loud enough for everyone in the locker room to hear it as she was sure that there were more than just two sets of ears trained on her. Asuka then got up and headed towards the gym.

 

She had more than just her usual tail attached to her though. In fact she had two extra tails following her. If she got on the treadmill they were there on either side of her. If she was at a weight bench she had two spotters. If she got a drink of water she had two girls getting a drink with her. She couldn't even go to the little girl's room without company. And finally in the hall outside the bathrooms she stopped and sighed out loudly “When are you going to stop this?”

 

“When you tell us the truth” she was told.

 

“Can't I have a private life?” she huffed.

 

“No” Hikari answered. “Last time I let you hide from me you did something stupid.”

 

Asuka looked down at that point. Hikari was just worried about her and wanted to know if everything was ok. The fact that Rei was with her meant she was wondering the same thing. Asuka let out a soft breath and said “If I tell you guys, do you promise not to tell a soul?”

 

Both of them nodded yes and crouched close to her as Asuka whispered to them the truth about what happened.

 

“When I came out of the locker room I thought I was alone. Which was weird as normally there are people in the stands already but for some reason the doors were still shut. Then I noticed who had shut them, Shinji. He was waiting for me. He knew I was going to be all frustrated and upset so he waited for me.” Asuka then smiled “He gave me a hug and told me I had nothing to worry about and then he proved it.” Asuka touched her lips softly after she said that.

 

Both girls figured it out right away. Shinji had picked the perfect time to give Asuka her first true kiss.

 

And that kiss proved to Asuka that when it counted Shinji was going to be there for her and that she didn't have to worry about what anyone else was saying. Their relationship was between them so only what they said mattered. This is what made Asuka happy, the realization of trust and love. Mana could say anything she wanted too but they would only be words and mean absolutely nothing. Shinji was with her and no one could ever steal him away.

 

They even got a show of that as when they returned to the weight room they noticed Mana was trying to take advantage of Asuka's absence. In a very rare show of spite Shinji snapped at Mana a little when she wouldn't stop bugging him. “Can't you see I'm busy? Now either change the weight settings on that machine yourself or wait your turn.”

 

Asuka smiled again while standing in the doorway, the look on Mana's face was priceless. She then walked up behind the machine Mana was on and said out loud “I will take care of Mana for you Shin-kun.”

 

Shinji yelled a “thanks” back from across the room as he helped another girl.

 

Asuka then pulled the pin out of the press machine Mana was on and in a louder than she needed to voice said “Silly me, I left the weight at my setting. Here let me drop it twenty pounds.”

 

The embarrassment factor of that was brutal. Mana had done a whole lot of talking during the day only to find herself even less of a threat than before. And if things weren't bad enough it wasn't only obvious to her, it was obvious to everyone else too. She was never going to be able to live this down.

 

Asuka more or less put the punctuation mark on the day after that and staked her claim as she grabbed a water bottle and brought it over to Shinji. Shinji took a big drink and gave it back to her, Asuka then finished the bottle off.

 

For an indirect kiss Asuka couldn't have been more direct. Things returned back to normal from then on with Asuka trying to raise the weight settings on the machine some poor girl was working on so she could push her limits while Shinji changed the weight settings back and told her to mind her own regime as he had to follow the one the coach gave him.

 

Asuka of course stuck her tongue out at him and told him he was too soft on the girls as she went off to another machine. Two seconds later he followed her and lessened the weights on her machine while she chastised him for it. You couldn't get more normal than that. And that's how things were allowed to be for a while as other less important things were allowed to be factors in their lives.

 

\\\\||||////

*********** OOO ***********

////||||\\\\

 

It was late in October on an unusually brisk day when Rei stepped outside the apartment building complex along with Asuka and Shinji. A chilly breeze blew right between her legs and she stopped dead in her tracks. She then turned around and went right back inside.

 

“Rei where are you going? We'll be late for school.” Shinji called out but the only answer he received was the door to the apartment complex shutting. He looked over at Asuka to see if he missed something. Asuka though looked like she was contemplating doing something herself. Another big gust of wind blew and Asuka had to reach down to keep her skirt from flying up. That was followed by a full body shiver that started at Asuka's toes and traveled straight to the top of her head.

 

Asuka then looked over at Shinji. “I may not be as big of a freeze baby as the rest of the people in this town but I will be damned if I'm going to walk around in a short skirt on a day when icicles can form on my naughty bits.” Asuka then turned around and headed inside while telling Shinji to go on ahead and tell the teacher that Rei and she would be late.

 

Shinji stood there for a second and felt another cool breeze blow by. It didn't feel that cold to him. Sure it was cold enough where he was wearing a jacket, gloves, and earmuffs but his legs felt fine. Then again he was wearing a pair of trousers and not a skirt that was only mid thigh high so that might have had something to do with it.

 

When Shinji got to school he walked right past his locker and straight to the classroom. There was a little problem with their school as when it was chilly outside it was chilly inside too so he decided not to take off his coat. It seemed that the school's boiler system did not react very well to being underwater for ten or so years, so to say it worked marginally was a huge compliment. Last year wasn't so bad as it rarely stayed cold for more than a day or two but this year was different. The first cold spell of the season was sticking around and instead of warming back up a day or two later it got colder. That taxed the old boiler system into its grave.

 

Shinji looked around the classroom and noticed most of the other students were wearing their jackets too. The only one who wasn't was Touji and that was because his jacket was wrapped around Hikari's legs. And since it was Hikari was the only girl in the room not shivering. The rest of the girls in the room were freezing their ta-ta's off as even a pair of thigh high white stockings didn't impede the cold from giving them a bad case of the shivers.

 

Mr. Ohta came into the room to the same situation as he did yesterday, a bunch of goose bumped girls and a group of guys who weren't all that much warmer. He breathed out a sigh as he reached into his bag. He pulled out an oscillating heat fan and plugged it in. It was small and considering it was colder today than it was yesterday he knew it would be of little help. What he needed was either a much larger heat fan or a bunch more little ones.

 

When the bell sounded the teacher noticed his classroom representative get up to give the normal command to stand, bow, and sit very quickly. It was more like she stood up for a second, skipped the bow, and sat back down wrapping a coat back around her legs. And out of all the girls that was probably the most as they were all a little crabby and only greeted him with stares as cold as the room. Sadly there was nothing he could do about this situation but take attendance.

 

When he noticed who was absent he naturally looked over to Shinji who told him they were going to be late. When asked why Shinji shrugged his shoulders at him and said he didn't know.

 

Fifteen minutes later Rei and Asuka walked in causing an immediate commotion. This was because Rei walked in wearing a pair of sweatpants under her skirt and a blue sweater over her blouse along with a coat, stocking cap, a pair of furry mittens, and a scarf. Asuka thought Rei was overreacting as a pair of pants under her skirt and a nice warm jacket was enough for her.

 

Still this was a complete infraction on the school's dress code. Even though it was cold outside the school board refused to change it because it would disrupt the decorum of the school. That didn't matter to any of the other girls in the room though as there wasn't a one who didn't wish that they thought of that first. And technically the two girls were in uniform, they just had a little extra clothes to go with them.

 

The teacher looked at the two girls for a minute and then made a very un-teacher like announcement. “Girls go home and get something warm on. And when you come back see if you can't bring back a heat fan or two.” He didn't have to tell the girls this twice as they were already out the door.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

An hour later there was a classroom full of girls dressed similar to Asuka and Rei. Actually more Rei than Asuka as Asuka was right about the town being full of freeze babies. All those years of hot weather had spoiled them. Circling the room was a collection of heat fans all blowing heat in every which direction. Still it took another half hour for the room to get up to a temperature were the chilliest of girls would at least take off the hats, mittens, and scarves. For the first time in a week the room was warm enough and the students weren't a shivering mass. This meant the teacher could actually teach, and that is just what he was doing until there was a knock on his door at around 11:00 am.

 

When the teacher opened the door he saw one of the school administrators standing there. He also heard just about everyone in the classroom yell at him to shut the door as he was letting cold air in. So the teacher stepped outside and shut the door behind him. By the look on the school administrator's face he could tell this wasn't going to be a quick social call. The primary question was asked right away “What do you think you are doing?”

 

“My job” the teacher answered.

 

“Since when is it your job to tell the students to break the dress code and bring contraband from their homes?”

 

“Since you failed at doing yours.” The teacher told him causing the administrator to take a step back at the insult. In truth the teacher knew he was going to be confronted about his decision the second he made it so he was ready to defend himself. He was ready to speak what many of the other teachers, along with the students in the school, wanted to say to an administration that was making their job impossible by not providing a suitable learning environment.

 

The administrator blustered out a “How dare you accuse me of not doing my job” to the teacher.

 

“Then where is the heat?” was all the teacher had to ask to make his point.

 

“That is not my fault” the administrator protested. “The school board had no clue it was going to be this cold and the furnace system would malfunction.”

 

“Bullshit” the teacher argued back as there was no way he was going to believe that excuse. “The weather forecasters have been warning us for months that a real winter was coming. Why do you think every one of those students had winter clothes at the ready? And as for the furnace you could hear that thing clunking and clattering on the few cold days we did get last year. The teachers union even mentioned that the thing sounded like it was on its last leg to the board at the end of the year review last year. Didn't you at least look into it?”

 

The administrator didn't really have an answer to that. The administration had decided to forgo any inquiry and see if they could push the system for a couple more years as it would save money. And the saved money had already been earmarked for several other things, one namely was a modest pay hike that was given to the administrative staff for saving the school money.

 

The teacher looked at the dumbfounded administrator for a second longer and then turned his back to him and went back into his classroom where it was warm. He was greeted with a bunch of smirks. He guessed the teens could hear his conversation but it was not a matter to him. He had a job to do and now that the environment was suitable he went to it and had his class open up their science books.

 

It wasn't long afterwards that the school experienced a mass exodus of girls who went home during lunch to get some warmer clothes. And following the lead of classroom 2-B they all brought back their own heating systems. The money the school was saving from not fixing the boiler system was now being sucked up by the power company. A school that is heated by hundreds of oscillating heat fans tends to eat up electricity at a fast rate and even if you live in a country that uses very cheap geothermal heat for energy it can add up to some serious dough.

 

****^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^****

 

During lunch the students of 2-B decided to stay in the classroom. It was warm, it was comfortable, and no one wanted to eat outside in the cold. Asuka was chatting with Hikari “We should do something fun for Halloween?”

 

Hikari looked over at her while saying “We don't really do Halloween that much over here.”

 

“I know” Asuka responded. “And that has always bugged me. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. It's the one time of the year when we can dress up and pretend to be something you're not and have fun doing it.”

 

“Uh huh.” Hikari responded as she had already translated what Asuka really was saying. “Why can't you just come out and admit you want to have a party. Your subtle hints don't fool anyone.”

 

Asuka narrowed her eyes at Hikari and answered with a bratty “They do too.”

 

“Ok whatever emo girl” Hikari laughed. “So when do you want to have this party?”

 

“On Halloween of course.”

 

“But Halloween is next Wednesday. I doubt my dad would let me sleep over on a school night.”

 

“I don't want a sleepover” Asuka clarified. “I want a big costume party with lots of people. It would so rock.”

 

“And I would so not be there” Hikari answered. “My dad lets me get away with way more than he is comfortable with already concerning Touji. I don't even need to ask him to know the answer I would get if I asked to go to a house party on a school night.”

 

That caused Asuka to get all frumpy. She wanted a big party but if her best friend couldn't come there was no point to it. But the more she thought of it the more she realized Hikari was right. To have the party actually on Halloween wasn't very smart because she knew Misato's answer as well. It would be the same as Hikari's father. But Asuka wasn't going to let this idea go so easily. There were some obvious problems to it but for every problem there was a solution. So when class resumed she sat at her computer trying to think up some possible solutions.

 

The first and easiest solution was to change the date from Halloween to the Friday before it. That was this Friday but since it was only Tuesday she figured she still had enough time to get it going. Anytime else she figured she would get a nein from more than just Hikari's dad.

 

And there was no sense in throwing a party that no one could go to. Normally parents aren't a consideration when planning parties but ever since third impact the family is most important theme in life had taken front stage. Parents tended to be on the overprotective side now whether their kids liked it or not.

 

After thinking about some other details for a while she decided to try and get a hold of Misato. Mostly to see if she should continue thinking or just scrap the whole idea as technically she didn't even have her permission yet.

 

Getting hold of Misato was a relatively easy thing as all she had to do was send her an IM. Misato was a housewife now so the chances of her being around were good. And Asuka got a reply back pretty quickly, it said J1M. Or in mothers speak `just one minute.' Asuka figured she was busy with Keiko so she waited patiently. About five minutes later she got another IM back.

 

Misato: Hey Asuka, what do you need? Another heat fan?

Asuka: No, the room is pretty toasty right now. Just don't ask Rei that question though.

Misato: Good.

Asuka: Can I go to a party on Friday?

Misato: That depends. Who will be supervising this party and where is it going to be?

Asuka: You and Kaji and at our place????

Misato: Asuka if you are smart enough not to be paying attention in class, you are smart enough to figure out the answer to that question.

Asuka: Please.

Misato: No.

Asuka: Why not???

Misato: Because I don't like strangers in my house.

Asuka: But they aren't strangers. They will be my friends.

Misato: But I don't know all your friends. And I don't really want to have a place full of kids partying while I am trying to put Keiko down for the night.

 

Asuka didn't have an answer for that one. It was a rather good argument and she knew nothing she could say would sway Misato's mind.

 

Asuka: Well if I can find another place to have it could I get you or Kaji to come?

Misato: I am not going to but you can ask Kaji.

Asuka: Thank you.

Misato: Why do you want a chaperone anyway? Isn't that considered uncool?

Asuka: Of course it is. But having a party where no one shows up is worse.

Misato: I see you have already talked to a friend or two. Most parents think alike when it comes to things like this.

Asuka: Yeah. You are all too nosey.

Misato: Oh well you are just going to have to live with that as you are in the same boat. No chaperone means no party.

Asuka: Understood.

Misato: Why do you want a party anyway? There is nothing to really celebrate.

Asuka: What about Halloween?

Misato: What about that is a lame excuse.

Asuka: No it's not. I know it isn't really a holiday over here but it has always been one of my favorites.

Misato: If you want free candy just ask Shinji.

Asuka: It has nothing to do with candy.

Misato: Then why?

Asuka: Why are you being so nosey?

Misato: Because I am being a parent, it's what we do. And I am about a hairs length away from saying no to everything.

Asuka: Why???

Misato: Because you are not telling me everything.

Asuka: Can't I just want to have some fun?

Misato: No. You always have a different reason for wanting something this big.

Asuka: Not always.

Misato: I am about to kill your whole idea.

Asuka: Ok, ok I will tell you.

 

Asuka looked at her monitor and sighed. It was getting near impossible to trick Misato. Mommy Misato was a much more difficult adversary than the Misato she used to know. Maybe too difficult for her.

 

Unfortunately for Asuka that sigh caught the teacher's attention. The rest of the class was quietly working on a assignment so it was pretty easy to notice. “Is something the mater Miss Sohryu?”

 

“Ummm??” Asuka started and then thinking quickly added “No, it's just that these online molecular biology lectures are so boring.”

 

“Okay…” the teacher said shaking his head, not knowing how to respond to that gripe. “Anyone else having trouble with their assignments?” A couple hands went up and the teacher walked over to those students. He wasn't spiting Asuka but both she and him knew there was little he could do about her problem. While this was happening Asuka got another IM.

 

Misato: I'm waiting….

Asuka: Sorry the teacher was talking to me.

Misato: You aren't supposed to be working on something right now are you?

Asuka: Not really. I was listening to one of those online lectures but it is too boring.

Misato: That's not a good excuse. You need to get back to your schoolwork.

Asuka: Don't worry, I will. I just needed a little break and plus it's not like I am learning anything new.

Misato: Asuka the school is trying to help you out. You should take advantage of the special privileges.

Asuka: I know, I just wish some of the professors were a little livelier.

Misato: Just do what you used to do during those kinds of lectures.

Asuka: You mean fall asleep.

Misato: I should yell at you for that.

Asuka: But you can't because you did that too.

Misato: Guilty as charged. But do the best you can please.

Asuka: I will. So can I have my party?

Misato: Can I have the real reason why?

Asuka: It has to do with Shinji and me.

Misato: I pretty much already knew that, I want a more descript explanation.

Asuka: You know how we used to be called the “Newlyweds” all the time?

Misato: Yes. And as I recall you hated it.

Asuka: Well my feelings have changed. But now that we really are a couple no one will call us that. The new nickname they gave us was the “Boring Couple.”

Misato: That's not as bad of a thing as you think it is.

Asuka: But I want to show everyone that we aren't boring. Sure we may not be as “active” as other couples but that doesn't mean we're boring.

Misato: Asuka you are making way too big of a deal about this.

Asuka: Maybe but can't I just have this one please???

 

A couple of minutes passed by of silence as Misato thought about it.

 

Misato: I am spoiling you way too much for your own good.

Asuka: THANK YOU!!! You are the best.

Misato: But only under several conditions.

Misato: One, you have to convince Kaji to chaperone it.

Misato: And two, I have to agree to where the party is. Otherwise the answer will change to no.

Asuka: Yes ma'am.

 

Now Asuka had her permission to have her party, that was half the battle right there. She did lose her primary location but she didn't think it would be too hard to find a new one. After all who wouldn't want her to throw a party at their place, she certainly couldn't think of anybody. But first things first, she sent an IM to Hikari with the new info. This time Hikari at least said she would ask her dad so that was an improvement. The next thing was to get a place Misato would agree to. It took her less than a second to figure it out.

 

Asuka: Hello Rei.

Rei: I am busy doing schoolwork. I will talk with you later.

Asuka: Bull. You were done with that assignment five minutes after you got it.

Rei: That is not true.

Asuka: What it only took you four?

Rei: What is it that you need?

Asuka: Honestly Rei, why don't you just admit to being über smart too. I know you are.

Rei: I do not wish to be anymore different than I already am.

Asuka: That is so going to blow up in your face one of these days.

Rei: So be it.

Asuka: Well anyways, how would you like to do something really fun?

Rei: No, I will not go shopping with you.

Asuka: I wasn't going to ask that.

Rei: Good.

Asuka: Remember what I was talking about at lunch with Hikari?

Rei: Yes, you wanted to throw a party. My answer to that is the same as if you asked me to go shopping.

Asuka: But you have to say yes this time.

Rei: Why is that?

Asuka: Because the party will be at your place.

 

Rei actually looked across the classroom at Asuka and gave her a look twice as cold as the temp outside. There was no way that was going to happen. Her apartment was her place of comfort in this world. Unless you were a friend or family your access to it was forbidden.

 

Rei: Absolutely not.

Asuka: C'mon Rei. It will be lots of fun.

Rei: No.

Asuka: I bet it would make you popular with the boys.

Rei: No.

Asuka: Stop being a stick in the mud.

Rei: No.

Asuka: Just say yes.

Rei: No.

 

And for a good ten minutes that's how it went. Asuka tried to convince Rei to say yes and Rei only answered with no. The teacher was working with the student sitting behind Rei during this time and he noticed this. Rei was obviously done with the assignment so it didn't bother him that she was talking to someone but what he did see made him chuckle a little. Rei was simply rolling her fingers over the letters N and O and then hitting enter. From his vantage point he could tell she wasn't even paying attention to what she was saying no to. To him it looked like she was paying most of her attention to the heat fan blowing in her face. He looked up for a second and could tell who Rei was talking to for every time she entered in no Asuka would start typing furiously.

 

He whispered out a “Persistent girl I will give her that.”

 

Rei answered her teacher still focusing most of her attention on the heat fan. “It will do her no good.”

 

The teacher let out another little chuckle at that and went back to helping one of his students.

 

Eventually this exercise in futility ended when the teacher began his next lesson. Rei finally sent Asuka a different answer, unfortunately it was a message stating that Rei had put her on ignore. Asuka let out a quiet little growl and then IMed Hikari.

 

Asuka: Tell Rei that the party has to be at her place.

 

A Minute passed by before Hikari answered her.

 

Hikari: She said no.

Asuka: Well ask her again.

Hikari: I am busy, you ask her.

Asuka: I can't, she put me on ignore.

Hikari: That's a good idea.

 

And then Asuka was put on Hikari's ignore list. Asuka could play hardball like the other two too so she IMed someone she knew would never ignore her.

 

Asuka: Shin-kun could you be a dear and IM Rei for me and ask her if she would be really, really nice and let me have a party at her place?

Shinji: Sure.

 

A couple minutes went by.

 

Shinji: She said no and to stop bugging her.

Asuka: That little brat.

Shinji: Why don't you ask Misato or some of your other friends?

Asuka: Misato already said no but I suppose I could ask some other people. But I really wanted it at Rei's place.

Shinji: Sorry but I don't think that is going to happen. Rei is really picky about who she lets in to her apartment.

Asuka: I know. Thanks for trying anyway. X's & O's Shin-kun.

Shinji: X's & O's Asuka.

 

Asuka then went off and IMed her other friends. She tried every one of them and while they were all receptive of going to a party the answer to could they have it at their place was always the same, No. Things just weren't going her way again and she soon realized why most parties happened when parents weren't around. There was no one to say no. She began to sit there and pout at her desk until inspiration struck while she looked around the room. She hadn't thought of this individual before but she really should have. Just like Rei this person had a place of their own and his place was even bigger than hers.

 

Asuka: Say Kensuke, what are you doing this Friday night?

Kensuke: Working till midnight, why?

Asuka: I am trying to get a Halloween party going.

Kensuke: Sounds like fun but I can't afford to take it off.

Asuka: Actually you kinda have too.

Kensuke: Too bad because I kinda can't.

Asuka: Then how are we going to get in?

Kensuke: In where?

Asuka: Your apartment, Duh.

Kensuke: What does my apartment have to do with it?

Asuka: Your apartment is the location for the party.

Kensuke: I don't think so.

Asuka: I do. And I have already been telling people that.

Kensuke: If you had, I would have heard about it already.

Asuka: Maybe you are not as in the loop as you think you are.

Kensuke: Why are you trying to bully me into saying yes?

Asuka: Because I want you to and I get what I want.

Kensuke: That's because you are a spoiled brat. The answer is no.

Asuka: The answer is Yes.

Kensuke: No.

Asuka: YES.

Kensuke: No.

Asuka: YES.

Kensuke: No.

Asuka: YES.

Kensuke: No.

Asuka: If you don't say yes I am going to kick your ass!

Kensuke: But there within lies the problem Red. If I do say yes the power company, the bank, and the phone company will kick my ass.

Kensuke: And after they do that they will steal the clothes off my back to get what they want as they want my money more than you want your party.

Asuka: No they don't.

Kensuke: I got three big bills and an entire paycheck devoted to them that says they do. Sorry Red but I have to work.

 

Asuka sent one final IM to Kensuke after that but it called him a meanie and told him she put him on ignore. Kensuke really did feel bad about doing that but he didn't have a choice. Life was difficult and money was tight. He couldn't afford money wise or time wise to have that kind of fun. He wished he did though as it sounded like a lot of fun.

 

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After class was finished the girls on the swim team rushed down to the pool and got changed quickly. The locker room may have been ice cold but the pool wasn't. The pool's heating system was hooked up to it's filtration system and that ran off of electricity. There was no shortage of that so the pool was nice and warm and the coach had no problems getting the girls to practice. In fact she had a harder time getting the girls out of the pool at the end of practice than she ever did at the start of any practices.

 

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(A/N: This is a strange place for me to break the story but I didn't want to make this chapter any longer than it is. The next chapter I post will be taking off at this point with Asuka still trying to get her party. Plus I may reign back on that cold weather stuff as it is not as funny as I thought it would be. I even debated getting rid of it totally but it fits into Rei's future character a bit more so I kept it. Clarification on the term emo girl. I'm a child of the 80's so I subscribe to the original meaning of that word, i.e. short for emotional. I know current meaning has been mutated so it just means angsty and depressed but when I was a kid we used the word to describe people who were all over the map when it came to their emotions. Granted a lot of the kids labeled as that were bi-polar and the such so they had their reasons for manic mood swings but since when do teenagers care about such things when they proceed to making fun of others? I Re-re-edited. Changed a few words around. Fixed some grammar. Broke up some of the bigger blocks of text. And expounded on some parts to make them clearer. Basically gave this a good once over to improve its quality.)