Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

The Swim of Things

By Ret Nuh

 

(A/N: It might help you if you go back to the last chapter and read the tail end of it. This is the second part of where I left off of there due to space constraint.)

 

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That night Asuka pretty much complained all through dinner. She wanted her party but no one was cooperating with her. She even tried to hit up Rei again during dinner but got the same answer as before as Rei wasn't even planning on going to the party let alone hosting it. This time though Asuka had to listen to the no as when she tried to press Rei Misato told her to knock it off. The raised eyebrows of her parent meant she was serious so Asuka backed off. Of course that meant she went after Kensuke next for telling her no.

 

There was going to be no rest for the weary on this topic and the rest of the dinner table sighed. Asuka's mind was decidedly one track right now and nothing was throwing her off. Not even the playful antics of little Keiko, who was trying to see how far she could throw her food across the table, could distract the girl.

 

Asuka went as far as to seek Shinji's help and have him try and ask Kensuke again for her during her massage. Like the good boyfriend he was he said he would try and then stretched Asuka's leg back. Shinji ended up pulling her leg back further than usual distracting Asuka just enough to change the trek of her mind. “What are you doing?”

“Seeing if you are flexible enough to touch your heel to the back of your head” Shinji answered her.

 

Asuka smirked at him “Hentai” and grabbed the back of her foot and easily touched her head with her foot. With a big grin she asked “Happy now?”

 

“Yes” Shinji answered as Asuka had settled his curiosity and he figured she was flexible enough to try something he had read. He opened the massage book and showed Asuka a page. She nodded a yes and Shinji crawled up onto the couch and straddled her back with his knees. He leaned forward and had Asuka grab back onto his shoulders first and then sat back up straight stretching Asuka's arms out. Next he leaned back and grabbed onto Asuka's ankles. He pulled her legs back until they were touching the back of his shoulder blades. Then Shinji rocked back and forth alternating between stretching her arms and upper back and her legs and lower back.

 

After five minutes of doing this he got off and asked “So what did you think?”

 

“Let's keep that one” Asuka answered. “I really like how it stretches out my thighs.” Shinji nodded his head yes and circled the page. He had grown very good at the various hand techniques involved with rubbing and kneading the muscles but now they were trying out some of the stretches in the book as a good massage was made up of more than just a rub down. At first it was a little awkward because of panty flashes that resulted from a leg being pulled up but the advantages of a good stretch quickly offset any embarrassment. Not to say a red face didn't still pop up now and then but both of them just tried to look pasts such incidents.

 

So while Asuka and Shinji explored the world of stretching Misato and Rei were washing the dishes. Misato had just turned her head back from looking over at the two and was now shaking it. “Some of those stretches look like they would hurt more than heal.”

 

Rei agreed wholeheartedly as she had seen that last one too. “I don't understand how she could be so flexible.”

 

“She used to be in gymnastics” Misato answered. “And from what I was told she was pretty good at it.”

 

“Then why is she not on the gymnastics team?”

 

“She had a bad experience with the sport when she was young” Misato told Rei. “So I let her do swimming instead.”

 

“She could do both” Rei commented as swimming was a fall sport while gymnastics was a winters.

 

“If she wanted to give it another try I wouldn't stop her” Misato answered. “But I doubt she will.” When Misato looked at Rei after saying that she noticed Rei let out a small sigh. “Is there a reason you would like her to join that particular sport?” Rei didn't want to answer that question as it would make her look a bit clingy but she didn't have to. Misato could tell what Rei was thinking by the look on her face. “Something tells me you might have some talent in that area too.”

 

“I was intensively trained on a balance beam when I was younger” Rei answered. “It was judged and integral part of my Eva training.”

 

“Did you have fun doing that?” Misato asked. When Rei nodded yes she added “Then if you are thinking about trying out after swimming you should go and do it.”

 

“But I don't wish to be on a team of strangers” Rei answered with another sigh.

 

“But you should anyways” Misato told her. “It will be good for you.”

 

Rei looked over at Misato “But what is good for me is not always what I want.”

 

Misato smiled back at Rei “Lessons like that are all a part of growing up dear.” Misato then gave Rei a little hug and a kiss on the top of her head before Rei left to go back home as the dishes were done now.

 

Misato was happy that Rei was starting to grow up now and in some ways was even more mature than other teens her age. But at the same time she could tell Rei still had a long ways to go before she could be considered an adult. But with a little love and patience Misato could easily help her get there.

 

Of course after Rei left she had to show someone else some love and patience, and oh boy did she have to show patience. Keiko did not want to go to bed that night and was very vocal about it. But this too was all a part of being a parent and she wouldn't trade it for the world. A full night's sleep maybe but not the world.

 

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Misato was sitting on the couch watching TV with Kaji, Asuka, and Shinji when a thought popped into her head. The more she thought about it the more she realized it was time for someone else to learn a lesson. She wasn't going to do what she was thinking about to help Asuka, even though it would seem like it, so much as to make a certain child act his age.

 

Kensuke was a teenage boy who acted way too much like a working stiff for his own good. When Misato got him that job to help pay his bills she expected him to work part time like every other teenager. But Kensuke didn't do what she expected and became a full time employee. So on top of being a high school student he worked from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm Monday thru Thursday, 5:00 pm to midnight on Fridays, 3:00 pm to midnight on Saturday, and noon to 4:00 pm on Sundays. And that was not including any overtime he could pick up. That left the boy very little free time and with the little time he had he spent a majority of it studying for school exams.

 

The precious time he spent between the end of class and the beginning of his work shift was the only real time he ever acted like himself. The rest of the time he was too busy. And despite Misato's generous offers he refused to let her help him out with his bills so he didn't have to work so much. He was head strong and used to doing things on his own. Then again that was how he was raised as both his dad and uncle spent most of their time working in Nerv's research department. This meant that from the time Kensuke's mother passed away he basically was raising himself.

 

This was not how teenagers should grow up and Misato knew that now. The only reason she may have become his guardian was so he could avoid being put into a foster home and moved away but that reason was no longer good enough for her. It was time for her to change her role in his life from a fantasy woman to a real guardian. It's not like the change could harm him. Misato acting like a parent was doing a wonder for Asuka and Shinji, and Rei was well on her way down a good road too. Kensuke deserved the chance to be treated like what he was. I.e. Misato was going to treat him like a teenager whether he liked it or not.

 

Misato got up from the couch and walked over to her room where she picked up her phone.

 

“Hello, Shin Seiki's restaurant. May I help you?”

 

“Yes” Misato answered the polite young voice. “Could I speak with Mr. Zukav please?”

 

“One second please.” The young voice said and a couple seconds later an older sounding gentleman with a Russian accent answered the phone. “Hello, Shin Seiki's restaurant. This is the owner Mr. Zukav speaking.”

 

“It's just me” Misato answered.

 

“Oh hey boss. What do you need?” His greeting of Misato was in reference to what he used to call her back when he was a subordinate of hers. Misato was never big on all that rank and saluting stuff so all the people under her command used to simply call her “boss.” Many of them that were still around continued to do this as a sign of respect. She may have been retired from being in a command type position to become a mom but the fact of the matter was out of all the people who came back she was the second highest ranking officer of the Japanese branch of Nerv who did. Most of Tokyo-4 was made up of people from Tokyo-3 who in return worked for Nerv. So she was one of the more respected persons in the city and if she wanted to she could easily be one of the people in charge of things. But she always turned down any political party that offered her a spot on their ticket as she had no political aspirations. Being a mom was good enough for her.

 

Misato answered her old friend “Just checking in on my charge who is working for you.”

 

“He's still one of the best delivery boys I've ever had” the owner answered.

 

“Good” Misato said. “Say there is an event happening this Friday that I would like him to attend. Any chance he has some vacation time he can use for it?”

 

“Oh hell, that boy has more vacation time than most of my full timers put together. And if he doesn't start using some he is going to lose it.”

 

“Then this is a case of perfect timing” Misato told him. “Tell him he has Friday off.”

 

“This an official order?” Zukav asked as normally he didn't push his employees around like that unless he was told to do so by a parent or guardian.

 

“Yup it is. And tell him if he even thinks about arguing it with me he will be taking Saturday off too.”

 

“Ok, will do boss.”

 

Kensuke was not happy to learn of this. He was even less happy that there was nothing he could do about it, Misato had every legal right to do what she did. He was supposed to be in control of his own life and not having to listen to a pushy guardian. The more that woman intruded into his life the less of a fantasy she was starting to be.

 

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The next day when Asuka arrived at school she was greeted with “I never thought you would sink so low as to sic Misato on me.”

 

Asuka looked and the blond haired spectacled kid strangely. “What are you whining about?”

 

“Don't play the innocent little girl routine with me Red” Kensuke grumbled. “Like you're not responsible for me having to take Friday off?”

 

The only part of that Asuka paid any attention to was that he didn't have to work on Friday. That meant his place was available for her party and with a huge smile “So I can have my party at your place?”

 

“Like I got a choice” Kensuke answered. And true to Asuka's nature she was so happy about getting what she wanted that she didn't even thank him. She just ran off to her desk to send out the invites.

 

Shinji had much more courtesy than his girlfriend so he went over and thanked Kensuke for her. He also told him “Asuka never actually asked for Misato's help. The most she did was complain a bit. Actually she complained much more about it not being at Rei's than your place. Misato must have done what she did on her own.”

 

“Does that mean I can change my mind and go tell Asuka no?” Kensuke asked.

 

“It's a little late for that now” Shinji told him. It was probably too late even before Kensuke said yes but Shinji didn't really know that, he just suspected it.

 

“Shit. I just played right into that woman's hands, didn't I?”

 

Shinji laughed a bit at him “It happens to the best of us.”

 

Kensuke looked around the room and noticed Rei coming in the room in her overdressed state again. “I bet Ayanami doesn't have to do what that psycho woman says?”

 

Rei misinterpreted who they were talking about and she looked over at Asuka while answering “She is not so much psychotic as she is very emotionally driven.” While Shinji didn't disagree with Rei's statement all that much he did correct her on whom they were talking about. He probably shouldn't have as Rei got angry and gave Kensuke a very dirty look before she turned her back to him.

 

As Kensuke watched the blue haired girl make her way to her desk he asked “Is she mad at me again?”

 

“Yup” Shinji answered. “You shouldn't have insulted Misato.”

 

Kensuke just shook his head and went to go sit down in his seat. He figured since Rei was pretty much in the same position as he was concerning Misato she would at least understand his point of view but apparently he was wrong and he was also all alone in his battles against the pushy raven haired broad. He didn't know how his day could get any worse.

 

But he got an answer as Misato left him a voice mail stating she felt bad for forcing him into this and creating some financial hardship so she was going to make it up to him. Kensuke would have much preferred a payback in the sexual sense but Misato did something that killed even that fantasy. She swiped his bills for the month and paid them off for him. She even had the audacity to tell him if she wanted her to do that again in the future it was fine with her and he should just leave his bills out like they were now. It then occurred to him where his bills were, in his apartment. That meant Misato had been there. That couldn't be a good thing as there were several magazines lying around that he would prefer she not see.

 

Normally Misato would tell him she was coming over but she didn't have time too. And she wasn't coming over to his place for him but to see what size limit she should impose on Asuka's little party. After looking around she decided on thirty people. This way it wouldn't be as noisy or packed and also Kaji wouldn't have to keep an eye on so many kids. While looking around she happened to find the bills and since he wasn't there to say no she paid them off. It is easier to say sorry than to seek permission in some cases. As for the dirty magazines, she didn't care. He was a teenage boy, it would be stranger if he didn't have a nudey mag or two than if he did.

 

As for Asuka, she didn't get the voice mail limiting her party till after she had hit the 35 mark. And when you factor in the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing the number would probably hit around 50. Now she had a difficult decision to make, she could either look really stupid and uninvite people or she could just try and let that number slide. As she made her decision she sensed a grounding in her future. Oh well at least her last days of freedom for a while would go out with a blast.

 

So with the invites sent out and the party an official go she sat back and started to think about what she should wear to it. There wasn't much time and she was sort of broke so she needed to think up something creative. Since her online lecture series was incredibly boring she spent the rest of the day thinking about possible costume ideas instead.

 

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At dinner time that night Asuka was begging Misato for some money. She still needed to buy some streamers and balloons for decorations and some food and drinks for refreshments. After enough begging Misato gave in and Asuka was given the money but at a cost of her next two weeks of allowance, which was fine to her as Asuka figured she wasn't going to be able to use that money anyway. Or more accurately she was not going to be allowed to go anywhere to use the money. But as long as Misato didn't find out she doubled the party number she told her Asuka didn't really care. Asuka then looked over to Rei “So have you thought up a costume yet?”

 

“No” Rei answered while eating.

 

“Well you better hurry up then” Asuka told her. “You only have like one day to get one.”

 

“There is no point to me buying a costume” Rei answered. “Because I have no intensions of attending your party.”

 

“Intensions or not Blue, you're going” Asuka told her directly. She wanted Rei there as much as she wanted Hikari.

 

Rei didn't even look up from her plate of food as she reiterated herself “No.”

 

“But you have to” Asuka whined.

 

“No I do not.” Rei answered plainly.

 

“Yes you do.” That answer got Rei to look up. Not because of what was said but because who said it.

 

This time it was Rei who let out a little whine “But I don't want to.”

 

“I know” Misato answered. “But the socialization will do you good.”

 

Rei then gave Misato a little `Do I have to' look only to get a nodded yes. There was no way out of it now, she was going and that was final. Rei let out a loud sigh and began picking at her food.

 

A couple minutes later Asuka spouted out “A Kitty.”

 

“I'm not buying you a kitty costume so don't even ask” Misato quickly said.

 

“Not for me” Asuka answered “For Rei.”

 

“I'm not going to buy her one either.” There was a thank you from the end of the table for that.

 

“Aw c'mon, Rei would make a bitchin' cat girl.” Asuka argued.

 

Misato looked at Asuka “Watch your language around Keiko young lady.”

 

Asuka quickly answered with a “Sorry ma'am” before she said in a much more appropriate way “But think about it, Rei would look really cute in a kitty costume. She might even meet a nice boy or two dressed like that.”

 

“Sorry Asuka but that decision is up to Rei” Misato said. “I'm only requiring her to go. I don't really care if she dresses up for it or not.”

 

Rei added onto that with “I don't really want to spend money on a costume.”

 

“But it would be so worth it” Asuka told her.

 

“No, it would be a waste of money” Rei argued back.

 

Asuka let out a series of “Hmpffs” to that as she didn't like what Rei said or Misato's flip little remark of “At least one of my kids knows the value of a yen.”

 

A couple minutes later Misato thought of something. “If you don't want to spend any money I could always give you back your old wig and contacts.”

 

This was in reference to the time when everyone came back. When Rei came back she came back to nothing. The people who had sheltered, along with cloistering, her had failed to come back leaving her all alone. On top of that most people wanted nothing to do with her as she looked strange and some referred to her as one of the enemy.

 

But Rei had an unlikely ally in Misato who knew the truth. Rei may have been a bigger cog than everyone else but she was still a cog being used as a tool by a crazed man. The girl didn't deserve the harassment she was being subjected to and Misato stepped in and took responsibility for the lonely blue haired girl. This caused ripples in the way people acted towards Rei as to argue with Misato was to argue with some still loyal subordinates who respected Misato very much.

 

After all Misato was one of the few people actually trying to prevent third impact. Along with that Misato's subordinates tended to be as well trained in combat as she was so there was definitely an intimidation factor there. Still Misato couldn't have people watching over the girl like they used to so she had Rei wear a dark brown wig and contacts that changed her eye color to brown as well. That would adequately disguise her till most people could come around.

 

Asuka complained about this. “You still have that stupid getup?”

 

“Yup” Misato answered. “It might be a little dusty but what do you think Rei?”

 

Rei shrugged her shoulders at it as she didn't care. It was no trouble for her to wear that and it saved her from wasting money at that god forsaken place called the mall so it was all right.

 

“Well if you're going to wear that the least you can do is where the outfit I bought you” Asuka said.

 

“No” Rei answered back “I will choose what I want to wear.”

 

“C'mon Rei, at least cooperate a little with me.”

 

“No.”

 

“If you wear my outfit and put on a little makeup I doubt anyone would even recognize you” Asuka told her.

 

“No.”

 

“Please.”

 

“No.”

 

“Pretty Please.”

 

“No.”

 

“You have to” Asuka tried.

 

Rei answered with another “No.”

 

“Why Not?”

 

“Because I do not want to” Rei told the obnoxious redhead.

 

“C'MON!!!… Pretty, Pretty please with a cherry on top.”

 

“I don't like cherries” Rei told her. “They are too sweet.” It was obvious that Rei was messing with Asuka right now after that. Well obvious to everyone but Asuka.

 

“Ok, how about we make a deal?”

 

Rei nodded yes to that as that was her intention all along. Asuka was horribly persistent but if you said no enough times she would try and compromise. “I will wear your outfit on one condition.”

 

“Name it.”

 

“That I get to leave the party an hour early” Rei proposed.

 

Asuka didn't like that compromise and said “No way.”

 

“It's that or nothing?” Rei replied to Asuka's remark.

 

After a bit of grumbling Asuka crossed her arms and grumped out a “Fine.”

 

Misato smiled at Rei after that. The girl was definitely learning how to deal with the different individuals in her life, that was a good sign of progress. Plus the display of compromising she just did was rather impressive.

 

Rei was actually a bit emboldened by what she just did and she smiled back at Misato. Then she opened her mouth to say something but quickly shut it as Misato said “Don't even try it child.”

 

Misato was the mommy in this weird little family of theirs and her word was law. And obviously there was going to be no compromising with mommy. While this did make Rei's life different she never complained about it. Misato was acting like a parent to her because she cared about her and not because she wanted something from her. That made what Misato did perfectly fine in her mind. Plus the fact that Misato gave her a reassuring hug and kiss on top of her head from time to time had something to do with Rei's attachment to her. It just made her life better.

 

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Asuka was lying down on the couch enjoying her massage. Shinji had been given freedom to touch just about everywhere as long as it wasn't someplace sensual. Right now in fact Shinji was rubbing out a kink Asuka had in her upper thigh. She let out a little “Ahhh… that feels good” as Shinji got just the right spot. His sport massages were getting better everyday.

 

Shinji answered this with “You need to stop overworking your legs.”

 

“But that's where all my power comes from” she answered him.

 

“That doesn't mean you should always push yourself so hard. The muscles in your legs are always too tight.”

 

“Oh what do you know?” Asuka said back with a roll of her eyes. Shinji was always telling her to pace herself but she rarely listened to him. He was starting to remind her of coach Kumara and Misato.

 

This time Shinji had some help in the matter as he kneaded a spot on her leg that was very tight and balled up. “I know you got a cramp in your leg during practice.”

 

Asuka grimaced a bit as Shinji went to work on the sore spot. He was absolutely right about her leg cramping up on her lately. This happened to her last year at about this time too. Maybe the boy was right and she should switch over to a routine that stressed repetition over maximum weight when it came to the leg presses. Normally she would have argued about this more but there really wasn't a point to it. Shinji could feel what he was saying was true and she didn't want the massage to end because of a petty little argument so she let out a “I'll think about it” and closed her eyes so she could enjoy his touch some more.

 

The rub down went on to extra inning that night as Shinji had no homework. Asuka loved it when that happened as she would stay on the couch all evening and enjoy the different kinds of massages Shinji could do. It was a mutual agreement between the two, she enjoyed being touched and Shinji enjoyed touching her. Plus Shinji could be a bit of a rascal from time to time and a little tickling of ones foot would lead to a tickle war. Much to her consternation Asuka never managed to win one of these outright. But on the flip side all it took was a little promise of a kiss for her to get Shinji to surrender. Sure it was cheating and not playing fair but neither of them minded it too much.

 

During the extra time of delight an idea suddenly popped into Asuka's mind. It was so simple she couldn't believe she hadn't thought of it before. It was simply the perfect idea for the costumes she wanted and she said “I got it!”

 

“Got what?” Shinji asked.

 

“I know what our costumes for my party are going to be” Asuka answered him.

 

Personally Shinji was really hoping not to have to wear a costume and he let out a sighed “Our?”

 

Asuka knew what that sigh was about so she answered him “Yes, Ours. I want us to go as a matching set and I also don't want an argument about it.”

 

At this point Shinji had the back of Asuka's shirt pulled up and he was rubbing her bare lower back. He realized he wasn't in a position to argue with her as if he did it would put a stop to this. He glided his hands around her curves for a second feeling the beautiful skin of Asuka and answered the only way he knew how. It was something he learned from Kaji. “Yes dear.” He then went back to rubbing Asuka as she let out a little moan.

 

Shinji used to question why he heard Kaji say that so much to Misato but by being with Asuka he figured out why. He didn't even respond to the little snicker coming from the person watching the TV in the recliner. He also didn't ask what Asuka and he were going to wear to the party as he didn't really care.

 

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Asuka let the massage continue until Misato came out of Keiko's room. She then got up from the couch and gave Shinji a little kiss as a thank you for all his effort and walked over to Misato. “Do you have some jewelry I could borrow?”

 

“What for?” Misato asked.

 

“I figured out what Shinji and I are going to go as” Asuka answered. “Newlyweds.”

 

That was a pretty cute idea and Misato smiled while saying “I have the perfect ring that I can let you borrow for that.” Asuka smiled in return and followed Misato into her room. It took a minute of digging around in Misato's jewelry box for her to find what she was looking for. But finally she found it and handed Asuka a ruby ring shaped into a small heart, embroidered with small diamonds. “Now be careful with this. Kaji gave this to me last white day and I do want it back in the same condition I'm giving it to you.”

 

Asuka nodded yes while saying “Thank you Misato, this is perfect.”

 

“So what else are you going to wear?” Misato asked as just a fancy ring wasn't much of a costume.

 

“I'm going for a tropical honeymoon thing” Asuka answered. “I have a nice floral dress I can wear but do you think I could borrow one of Kaji's Hawaiian shirts for Shinji?”

 

“Giving you the shirt is the easy part” Misato chuckled. “How are you going to get Shinji to wear it? Those shirts aren't exactly his style.”

 

“It won't be a problem” Asuka smirked. “He already surrendered to me.”

 

“I wondered what the `Yes dear' was about.”

 

“Yup. But do you have any plain rings that could pass as a guys?” Asuka asked. “I want Shinji to have a ring too.”

 

“I don't think I do” Misato answered. “But Kaji might, let's ask him.” Misato then called for Kaji and he came wandering towards the room. Shinji followed him as he figured he was the topic of the conversation. “Asuka needs a guy's wedding ring, you got an extra?”

 

Kaji thought for a second “You know I bet I do.” He then walked over to his closet and lugged out a big old military style boot locker.

 

Asuka looked at the drab green and black trunk and asked “What is that?”

 

Kaji blew some dust off of the cover and answered “This is my collection of important things.”

 

“How did it not get blown up?” Shinji then asked as just about every one else's stuff went up with Tokyo-3.

 

“Because a spy knows better than to keep the things he treasures in an unsecured location” Kaji answered. “So when Tokyo went up in flames this baby was safely tucked away in Switzerland. I doubt even SEELE knew about this secret.” If SEELE had they would have definitely have tried to steal his treasure chest. At one point in time not only did it hold his important things but it also had the account numbers, paperwork, and locations of all the money SEELE had squirreled away for a rainy day.

 

Before Kaji opened the chest though he remembered something that was inside it. “If you two wouldn't mind, please turn your head.”

 

At first neither teen did what they were told as they were too curious but Kaji refused to open the trunk until they did. Their curiosity though was satiated, and proven correct, as they heard Misato exclaim “You better not have kept those old pictures of me.”

 

“You mean those ones of us as a cute couple from college?” Kaji answered with a sly smile. “Of course I did. Those pictures are some of my most treasured possessions.”

 

“Don't you try and sweet talk me Ryohji Katsuragi” Misato warned him. “You know exactly what pictures I'm talking about.”

 

Kaji quickly shuffled a dozen or so pictures behind some others before he told Shinji and Asuka they could look again. The teens saw Misato was glaring at him while he had a chestier cat like smile on his face. It was obvious to everyone in the room that Kaji had some boudoir type photos of Misato that had kept him intimately aware of just how beautiful she was during that long time they were apart.

 

Misato then let out a sigh as she knew he would never get rid of those. She had told him a hundred times to throw them out but this was something he just wouldn't do. She supposed she could say it again but she knew he wouldn't so instead she tried to pass on her knowledge of guys to the next generation. “Asuka, whenever you decide to get intimate with Shinji, don't ever let him take pictures of you.”

 

“My Shin-kun would never do anything like that.” Asuka quickly answered.

 

“Wanna bet?” Misato smirked.

 

Asuka looked over at Shinji for only a second and turned her head to say yes but then she stopped and looked back at him. The boy wasn't blushing nearly as much as he should have at that statement. And there was a little grin on his face too. “HENTAI!”

 

Kaji chuckled at that but Shinji just kind of looked away to hide his expression. Shinji may have been Shinji but he wasn't stupid about these kinds of things. A camera plus a naked and willing Asuka would equal some pictures that would be too much for even Hustler to handle. He was a normal boy after all and Asuka was an incredibly hot girl. What boy wouldn't take a risqué picture or two.

 

Both women simply looked at each other and shook their heads. Boys will always be boys no matter how old they were.

 

While Kaji was looking through his trunk he came across and old uniform of his. Before he got involved with the whole Eva mess he was a Drug Enforcement Agent. What better costume for a chaperone to wear to a teenage party than a DEA uniform. He threw the pants, coat, and hat onto the bed to air out a bit.

 

Asuka took one look at the clothing and said “No way are you wearing that to my party!”

 

“Why not?” he asked innocently, or as innocently as he could fake. “I can be hip too and wear a costume.”

 

“But you're going to scare the crap out of all my friends if you wear that.”

 

Misato smirked at Asuka “Well it is a Halloween party. I think that would be very fitting.”

 

“No.”

 

“Yes” Misato said.

 

“NO!” Asuka restated. The last thing she wanted at her party was someone who looked like a nark. It was bad enough that he was going to be there but with that outfit he was going to definitely stand out and embarrass her. Plus most of her friends already sort of knew about him, after all most of them were the children of Nerv employees and things tend to spread around, so seeing him wear that would probably make her friends think he really was a nark.

 

While Asuka's no certainly was adamant, she didn't have the backing to support it. All it took was Misato giving a little tug on the ring she let Asuka borrow and a little “Yes” for Asuka to comply. Sometimes it really wasn't fair how Misato always seemed to have the upper hand. She had complained about this often to her friends but most of the time all she got was a `Welcome to the club' as her friends were all in the same boat.

 

After a little more digging Kaji finally found what he was looking for. It was an old cigar box with various jewelry he had used back in the olden days. Among these items were several wedding bands ranging in style from simple and basic to very ostentatious. A different look for different situations. He gave Shinji the simplest one as that was the most fitting. It was also like the one he wore as he never liked that high society look, it just wasn't him. “That should do you just fine.”

 

Asuka had Shinji put the ring on right away and then put her hand right nest to his “Oooooo….pretty.” Asuka very much liked the look. `Lets see anyone call us boring now' she thought as she was sure their costumes were going to be the best ones at her party. They were going to be newlyweds on their honeymoon, what could be more exciting than that?

 

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

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About a half hour after practice was over on Friday Asuka was at Kensuke's place. They kind of needed to hurry as there wasn't much time but plenty to do. The party was to start at seven and run till midnight and it was already 5:30 pm. Plus Kensuke's place was ill fit for a party as Asuka had found out when she came over on Thursday while he was at work.

 

Kensuke was actually happy he wasn't around when Asuka came over. If he had he probably would have been bitched out for not having all the fun things a techy person like him should. He didn't have the big surround sound entertainment system like he was supposed to. In fact his big expensive stereo was just a regular radio with a CD player in it. His TV was even more lacking as it had only a 19 inch screen and wasn't even high definition. He also didn't have any game systems, let alone games. And when she went looking for some super computer she was sure he had all she found was the lap top computer you used for school.

 

Friday morning when Asuka questioned him on what kind of a techy he was she found out why as his answer was “A poor one.” But that wasn't going to stop Asuka, anything he was lacking she could find. This wasn't a good thing for the boys as anything she found they had to carry.

 

Most of the things came from the Katsuragi household and Shinji was becoming uniquely aware of how spoiled they both were. He was trying to carry a box that had three different game systems in it along with a dozen games for each system and a HD DVD player. And his box wasn't the only one filled with technology as Touji was carrying an elaborate stereo system into Kensuke's place. If it wasn't for Misato stopping Asuka, their 60” widescreen HDTV probably would be in a box too. Semi-luckily for Kaji all he had to carry was a box full of food, which was almost as heavy as a TV would have been.

 

The girls weren't total slouches as they helped carry stuff in too. Asuka was carrying a bag with several horror movies in it to set the mood and Hikari was carrying a bag with some Halloween decorations and several streamers of the black and orange variety. Rei had the easiest, yet still unwanted, load. Her costume and some balloons. A slightly devilish thought occurred to her while she was bringing the balloons in though, she wanted to let them go. But if she did that Asuka would most likely make her go to the mall and get new ones so she fought off the temptation.

 

Since this was officially Asuka's party she was very quick to bark out orders on what to do and by 6:30 pm Kensuke's apartment was more suitable to her expectations. There were orange and black streamers hanging from the ceiling along with orange and black balloons scattered around the place and many snacks in various spook and goblins shapes. Along with the various new technical goodies the place was ready to host a party.

 

Now that meant it was time for everyone to put on their costumes. The girls headed for the bathroom while the guys headed to Kensuke's bedroom. This didn't work out as well as Asuka had planned. First and foremost none of the other teens could guess what Asuka and Shinji were dressed up as. Asuka even got a little pouty that she had to explain that the two were dressed as newlyweds on a tropical honeymoon. The roll of the eyes Asuka got from her friends made her growl at them so she got two pieces of tape and wrote `Newlyweds' on each of them. Then she stuck one of the pieces of tape on her back and the other on Shinji's. She was bound and determined to get her message out one way or another.

 

Another problem was the unoriginality of her friends. Touji just put on his basketball uniform while Hikari borrowed some clothes from her big sister's closet and said she was a college girl. The worst costume, other than Kaji's nark outfit, was Kensuke's. He was dressed up as an unwilling participant who was forced into hosting a party by two pushy women who didn't know any better than to keep their noses out of his business.

 

Asuka's only response to that was a curt “Suck it up stooge.”

 

Kensuke took more comfort in Rei's statement though “You're not alone in that matter.”

 

There was still ten minutes left before the party but the boys couldn't take their eyes off Rei in her costume. She looked like a completely different person. While shaking his head in disbelief Kensuke told her “You know if I hadn't seen you wearing that outfit before I would have never guessed who you were.”

 

Rei answered while looking down “Hopefully no one else will.”

 

She knew both Asuka and Hikari were proud of the makeover they did to her but this was a bit too much for her to handle. While a lot of other people thought she looked strange Rei actually liked the way she looked. She had never felt the need to use makeup and now she was covered with it. When she looked in the mirror after the other two girls got done with her she didn't want to leave the bathroom. In fact she took that thought so far that Asuka and Hikari had to drag Rei out of there. Asuka had given her the full pouty glam lips treatment while Hikari went for sexy blue and silver eye shadow. Plus she was wearing a tight pair of pants and a tight t-shirt that drew attention to parts of her body that she would rather not have looked at intensely. If she didn't know better she would have said she was looking at a popular preppy girl in the mirror who was there showing herself off, i.e. Asuka.

 

If Rei had been smiling that may have been true but she looked pretty sullen about this whole thing. Touji though got an idea “I bet no one else will know who she is.”

 

Shinji let out a little “hmmmm….” to that. Touji had a good point. “We should make a game out of this.”

 

“It wouldn't work” Asuka told them. “The second Rei said something everyone would know who she is.”

 

Kensuke had a simple answer to that “Then Rei should just not say anything.”

 

“Stop being stupid” was Asuka's response but Rei had a different one.

 

She looked up at Kensuke inquisitively, that was a very good idea in her mind. “I think I like Aida's idea.”

 

Asuka looked over at Rei. “Stop fooling around Rei, these guys couldn't come up with a good idea if it bit them on the ass. This is a party and you talk to people at parties. You don't just walk around and be silent for the whole night. That would be stupid.”

 

Rei apparently disagreed with Asuka as she agreed to go along with what the boys told her. She was going to stay quiet and only talk to people if they guessed who she really was.

 

Asuka was vocally against this but she was outvoted as all three boys liked the idea and so did Rei. She of course went to Kaji to complain but he said as long as Rei wanted to do it he had no problems. He was only there to keep a handle on things, not to make people do or don't do things. If it wasn't for the doorbell ringing Asuka probably would have kept complaining so Rei was literally saved by the bell.

 

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Other than Rei being a stinker, at least in Asuka's opinion, the party was going fairly well. Most of the girls were chatting with each other and most of the boys were sitting over by the TV playing with the video games. Kaji was even cooperating as his presence was mainly located at the door. Basically his outfit expressed what he was going to say to anyone who entered the party. As long as you behaved yourself and didn't do anything stupid he wasn't even going to bug you. In fact he was more concerned with which leftovers he took out of Kensuke's fridge than the people.

 

One thing about Kensuke was he wasn't starving as any food left at the end of the day was free to take home. So his fridge was pretty well stocked with all sorts of dishes from the restaurant. This kind of brought back memories of the olden days as Kaji was basically just sitting there inconspicuously watching people and eating take out. He might have been able to spin a good yarn about all the exciting things he did as a spy but generally this was the truth about how he spent most of his time.

 

Rei on the other hand was having an easier time than she expected. She wasn't being a total stick in the mud and hiding off in some corner but was generally around and was letting people try and guess who she was. She knew no one was even close to knowing who she was because most of the people had the same question “Are you sure you're from our school?”

 

Even with Rei nodding yes each time not everyone believed her. Some were thinking Asuka was trying to pull a fast one on them and brought in a friend from another school for this game. Any questioning of that to Asuka just got a roll of the eyes though as she didn't even want to talk about the whole stupid Rei thing.

 

What Asuka would talk about was her costume. With her subtle hint not being so subtle she actually got asked a couple times if the ring she was wearing was a real one. She absolutely loved this and would smile and let them think it was true for a minute or two before she would tell them the truth. Basically she was just messing with everyone. Plus her little ruse was working as some of the girls at the party were starting to refer to her and Shinji as the newlyweds again.

 

But that wasn't the only reason for this party, she had another reason that she had kept quiet. She wanted to prove something to Shinji, others, and most importantly herself. Shinji was so patient with her that she couldn't understand it sometimes. She wanted to do something that would reward him for it while at the same time show she was comfortable with him and that their relationship was a real one. So when she noticed Shinji playing a video game she walked over to where most of the boys were and announced “I get next game.”

 

Since this was technically her party you couldn't argue with Asuka. This of course meant Shinji was going to try and Touji soon found his mortal combat character dead and gone in an instant. Normally Shinji didn't like to display his prowess at video games as all it did was get him ragged on by the other boys who didn't like to lose but it was obvious to him that Asuka wanted to have a match against him so he had to wipe the floor with his friend.

 

The problem with playing Asuka in video games was she was good too. She had quick reflexes just like him and she actually had more experience so it wasn't always clear who was going to win between the two of them. Plus the other problem was that Asuka didn't mind cheating to win. If she could do something that would give her an advantage she would go ahead and do it.

 

Asuka looked over at Shinji and proclaimed “I am so going to win.”

 

That caused several cheers for Shinji to show her who was the boss to erupt and quickly this became a girls vs. the boys thing. Not exactly what Asuka was expecting but not enough to stop what she was planning. It just meant she had a bigger audience.

 

Asuka chose her character and Shinji chose his and soon the two were facing each other in combat. Asuka was easily the more aggressive of the two battlers and she was throwing constant attacks at Shinji. Shinji in return would play defensively waiting for the right time to strike. The first round was a back and forth battle and both teens had their characters well into the red when Asuka pulled off a combo to drop Shinji's character.

 

The boys booed and goaded Shinji for losing the first round to a girl. Asuka only had a smug little smirk on her face, maybe she wasn't going to have to cheat to win this one. But that thought proved wrong as Shinji changed his tactics for the second round and Asuka found her character lying on its back in the end.

 

“Wipe that grin off your face Ikari” Asuka warned. “There's no way you're winning this last round.”

 

Shinji may have struck first in that third round but he did lose. But how he lost was the important thing for Asuka pulled out her trump card. At home in private Asuka would commonly cheat by kicking him in the middle of the fight or her even more devilish way, she would kiss him on the cheek. Shinji was prepared for her to kick him since they were in front of a lot of people when her character was in the red but he wasn't ready for her to pull the devilish maneuver.

 

Asuka completely surprised him as she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek in front of everyone. This was something very new to their relationship. Sure they kissed from time to time but never in public.

 

Asuka took advantage of Shinji's confusion and finished up the fight. “See I told you I was going to win.”

 

Shinji turned to look at her strangely and then smiled, Asuka had made her point to him and he was happy about it. Sure she cheated but he didn't mind, anytime he got some sugar from Asuka he was generally happy. And since Asuka had kissed him in public, even if it was just on the cheek, he could tell this was a step up in his relationship with her.

 

The rest of the boys in the place did complain though and they all said she cheated. Asuka got up from the couch and flipped her hair at them “You're just mad because us women are superior to you little boys.” Asuka then walked off as a gaggle of girls followed her with the same smug looks on their faces.

 

When Asuka was gone the boy's attention turned to Shinji. “How could you let her beat you man?”

 

“Because I think I was supposed to” Shinji answered. Shinji then looked over at Touji who nodded yes to that. While a lot of people gave Touji crap for not being the smartest guy around he did get some respect for having the longest relationship with a girl. There wasn't another boy there who could say they had the same girlfriend for going on two years. What Touji lacked in book smarts he made up for in real life experience.

 

“So you threw the game?” one of the boys asked.

 

“No” Shinji answered. “She's just really good at distracting me.”

 

“Please” one of the boys jeered “All she did was kiss you on the cheek. It's not like she was blowing you.”

 

Shinji wasn't going to dignify that with an answer. He knew how crude some of the other guys were but he had no desire to be like them.

 

Unfortunately the boy continued on “And you wonder why you're called boring. If I was dating a chick like Asuka I would have already banged her.”

 

“And you would've already broken up too” Touji answered. “What the hell's the point of dating a girl if all you want to do is nail her once and then move on?”

 

“Like you can talk Touji” The kid argued back. “If you have even got anywhere with Hikari she would be the only one.”

 

“So” Touji answered.

 

“So haven't you ever wondered what it would be like to get with another girl?”

 

Touji answered truthfully “No.” To him Hikari was more than perfect and he could easily see himself married and happy with her. In fact he wasn't the only one who thought that. His little sister was prone to calling Hikari Onee-chan, his dad had said on more than one occasion that if they wanted to go and elope he would get Touji a ladder, and his grandfather always was saying how Hikari was going to make a great mother. This always embarrassed the hell out of the both of them but Hikari knew it was supposed to be a compliment.

 

As for Hikari's family, some of them weren't nearly as direct. Hikari's dad didn't want to even think of the subject till they were both 18 and her step mom tended to side with her dad. Hikari's big sister Kodama only had a couple stipulations that she did spell out to Touji once as she wanted to protect her little sister. He could never make her cry and he had to always protect her. If he managed to do that she was prone to keeping her mouth shut about what else she knew they were doing. Nozomi was a bit more direct and would have fun with this issue as she would always tease her bigger sister when Touji called by saying “Your hubby is on the phone.”

 

The other boy just shook his head as he thought Touji's answer was bullshit. “Dude you are never going to know how good sex can be if you only have it with one girl.”

 

“Whatever man” Touji replied brushing the kid off. He knew what good sex was already and the truth behind it too. The better you know your lover the better the sex is. Familiarity is a key to a great many things.

 

Since the other kid couldn't get a rise out of Touji he turned back to Shinji “You need to score with her now.”

 

“Why?” Shinji questioned.

 

“Because if you don't everyone will keep calling you boring.”

 

“So” Shinji answered. “Have you ever thought I don't care.”

 

“How could you not care about that?” The boy challenged. “Your reputation as a man is at stake.”

 

“Because what others think doesn't mean anything to me” Shinji told him. “Asuka and I will move at whatever pace we want.”

 

“I would move so much faster if I was you. The quicker you get the goods the longer you get to screw before you break up.”

 

Shinji just looked at the kid and shook his head. This was logic he didn't understand and it was re-enforcing his general negative ideas of why he didn't like to hang out with people who were not his family or friends. He was totally accepting that people had different ideas towards their way of life but that didn't mean he had to accept those ways. Some of them were just plain stupid to him.

 

Shinji ended up getting harassed for a bit more by some of the other boy's as while they wouldn't admit it they wanted gossip too. Finally Shinji had enough and he answered all the nagging questions with “I don't care what people call us. If we're boring then we're boring but I'm not going to go do something stupid just because you guys think we should be more involved with each other than we are. If you're not willing to be patient with a girl then you don't love her and when it comes to Asuka I'll wait as long and go as slow as she wants us to.”

 

That pretty much shut everyone up. It was obvious that the other boys weren't getting through to him so they gave up, Shinji was just too soft for his own good in their opinions. But it wasn't their opinions that mattered to him, only the opinions of those he trusted mattered. And one of them was nodding yes again to his statement while he looked over at Hikari. And the other, well it had a hat pulled down over its face but Shinji could see the smile. This was definitely something he had learned from Kaji and Kaji was proud of the boy for taking it to heart.

 

There were other people at the party who heard that too. Kensuke's apartment wasn't all that big so the girls couldn't go that far when they left the group of boys. And girls being girls were of course listening in on the conversation to hear what was said. The most important part of that was that Asuka had heard every word Shinji had said and she was happy. Shinji really was the right person for her and better yet most of the girls around her were jealous of that. Shinji had a maturity about him that most other high school boys didn't and Asuka was told several times by her friends that she was so lucky to have him.

 

She was also told that if she ever broke up with Shinji it wouldn't be long before he had another girlfriend. This semi-threat didn't even bug her as she had no intentions of ever breaking up with him, like her costume indicated she was in this for the long haul. What road, how winding it was, and how long it took the two of them to get to their destination didn't matter to her as she knew they would eventually get there. All it took for her to remember that was Shinji's pledge he had made during third impact that he wanted to be with her for forever. She knew he was telling her the truth about that even if at the time she wasn't ready to hear it.

 

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While the party went on its merry way a certain person was purposely detached from the whole thing. He was sort of hanging around his own room keeping people out of it. He knew from personal experience that people were gigantic snoops given half a chance so anything he didn't want people to see he hid in his room. This of course made some party goers curious as they wanted to see what he was hiding. Added to this was Kensuke wanted to keep people out of his room for another, bigger, reason. He didn't want any romantic hookups to take place on his bed. This was a high school party after all and an unattended room was usually taken advantage of.

 

A girl from the party walked up to him and Kensuke responded before even looking at her “My room is off limits and so is my bed. The only person who is going to score on it is me so unless you're offering just turn around.” He was expecting a roll of the eyes or a “you wish” but instead he got a cold stare. He blinked a couple times before closing his eyes and muttering “Oh shit!”… he then let out a little sigh before telling her “Sorry Ayanami. I didn't recognize you.”

 

Normally Rei would have been mad at him for what he said to her but this time she realized he wasn't totally at fault, her disguise was pretty good. Plus she could tell from his voice that he was rather frustrated. She looked around to see if anyone was watching or listening to her and then told him “I would not want people in my room either.”

 

“I don't really want them in my apartment” Kensuke commented. “Stuff like this always sounds good but when it actually happens at your place it's a royal pain in the ass.”

 

“I do not even think it sounds good.”

 

Kensuke looked at Rei for a second “I suppose for someone like you this isn't your idea of a good way to spend your Friday evening.”

 

Rei shook her head no. She would have much rather been spending the evening either at her place reading a book or watching TV over at Misato's. Rei then looked down at her watch “At least I can leave in an hour and a half.”

 

Kensuke gave her a weak smile while asking “Can I go with you?”

 

Rei actually took that for what it was, a little joke. She gave him a pleasant look and replied “Only if you like reading romance novels.”

 

“Romance isn't really my thing” Kensuke responded and then sighed again “I wish I was at work.”

 

Rei gave him a little nod after that and then went on her way. At least she wasn't the only one who wasn't having a good old time. As she kept walking she passed by one of her teammates. This one was a bit star struck by the whole party as socially this was well above her level.

 

Yuma was only a junior high kid so getting to go to a high school party was really cool. She couldn't wait to tell her friends all about it tomorrow. She was also feeling a bit intimidated as there were boys looking at her, and some of them were cute. She herself was only a little girl compared to the other girls at the party who were much more developed than she was. Of course the girls she was comparing herself to were the ones two or three years older than her and not the ones who were only a year older but that is how girls tend to look at things like that.

 

As to why the boys were looking at her, well it was because she was cute and unlike Rei who said no to Asuka, Yuma was more than willing to dress up as a cat girl when Asuka suggested it to her. So as the girl walked around with cute little ears and a tail while supporting an enamored look she bumped into Rei. Yuma had seen this girl earlier but she didn't know who she was so she was afraid to go up to her. But now that she got a good look at the girl her mouth dropped open, she knew who it was.

 

Rei put her finger to her lips though to stop Yuma from saying her name out loud. While the whole point of this game was for someone to guess who she was Rei was not ready for the secret to be spilled just yet. She was planning to show people who she was at the very last minute and then leave before any of them would start asking stupid question that she didn't really want to answer. Yuma quieted up and only giggled as she knew something the others didn't and well this was a neat thing to her. Normally she was on the other end of things like this as she wasn't an established part of the grapevine yet.

 

As Rei continued on her wanderings she saw Shinji getting a pop so she walked up to him. She smiled nicely at him and whispered something in his ear.

 

Shinji chuckled back at her “Only if you can get her to let me go home early too.”

 

Rei's smile disappeared and she sighed. Getting Shinji to ask Asuka to let her leave even earlier wasn't going to work. Shinji himself apparently didn't even want to be there and as she watched him walk away she noticed he didn't walk back to where all the guys were hanging out but instead went over to Kaji. He pulled up a chair, tossed Kaji a pop, and began talking to him.

 

Which in the teen world was the stupidest thing he could do, he was talking to the chaperone. It didn't look like Shinji cared though and Rei even thought about going over there and joining him. Much like Shinji she did not really care what others would say about her if she did that and it's not like they would be saying anything different. Even she knew most of her other classmates considered her something of a prude. Just because she talked politely, had good manners, and did not publicly like talking about sex didn't mean she was one in her mind. She was just a bit on the shy side and was waiting for the right boy to come around, that's all. Unfortunately for Rei that wasn't going to happen tonight, in fact the exact opposite of that was walking up to her.

 

Rei felt very uncomfortable as this boy walked up to her and looked her up and down. What he said to her was even worse “While I have trouble remembering names and faces, I could never forget a pair of tits like yours. We hooked up and knocked boots at Sougi's party, didn't we?”

 

The pure implication of this sleaze ball hooking up with her and doing something like that was enough to tempt Rei to slap him. But she knew that was something she shouldn't do as it would create a big scene and that was the last thing she wanted. The only way she was getting through this party was by being basically ignored and she wanted to keep it that way so instead she gave him a look of death and turned away from the crass boy.

 

Most boys would have taken this as an indication that the girl was not interested in them but there are always the exceptions. “Aw c'mon babe, this time I promise to go down on you too if you want.”

 

It took Rei every ounce of her self-control not to turn around and slap the idiot for that. Instead she walked over to where Kaji was sitting and told him “He is insulting me” while pointing at the boy.

 

Now Kaji didn't have the same problems Rei did when it came to creating a scene and he looked up straight at the boy. Normally he would just classify this as boys being boys but Rei was not quite accustomed to this concept as she still did live a pretty sheltered life. Eventually he knew Rei was going to have to put up with these kinds of jerks someday but Misato wanted to break Rei into the realities of life slowly so it was better to get rid of the kid now before he said something he would really regret. So Kaji got up and walked over to the kid “Time for you to go” and even before the kid could respond Kaji grabbed him by the back of his collar and forcibly guided him to the door. The kid yelled and screamed the whole way.

 

This of course caused a commotion and Asuka was quick to question Kaji “What are you doing? You promised you wouldn't cause a scene.”

 

Kaji told her “I only promised that if there was no reason to. And unfortunately for the idiot he was insulting Rei.” He then threw the kid out the door and shifted his attention back to the boy “Don't come back.” The door was then shut right in the kids face. He looked back over at Asuka “Okay, I'm done being an ogre. I promise no more interruptions as long as everyone behaves.”

 

Asuka shirked her shoulders at him though. He had a good reason for doing what he did so she didn't care anymore but she did care about something else “Shin-kun could you come over here?”

 

Shinji got up from his chair and walked over to Asuka. “You need something?”

 

“Just you” Asuka answered and grabbed his arm. She then dragged him off so she could show him off to her friends. Basically she was just doing typical girl party stuff. Shinji was not really enjoying any of it but he knew this was important to Asuka so he put a fake smile on his face and let her drag him around the party. But it wasn't all bad as every once in a while Asuka would give him a kiss on the cheek throughout the night.

 

But one thing was lingering in the air now. The chaperone clearly said Rei was the one being bothered but no one had seen Rei at the party. No one at the party really had a complicated costume due to the lack of time to get ready so most everyone could tell who was who, except for that girl who was part of the game. This was what Rei was fearing as everyone could put two and two together and she was outed. The next comment she heard was the one she knew was coming but the least wanted to be heard “So that's what you really look like.”

 

Rei answered with a sighed “No” and took off the wig. She then took out her contacts. Many kids did a face fault as this didn't make any sense. If Rei was wearing a wig and contacts to look normal then that must mean the blue hair and red eyes really were her natural self. This was a bit hard to believe even if they did see it with their own eyes.

 

Asuka looked around at all the stunned people and let out a very egotistical “I told you so.”

 

The collective question to that was “But how???”

 

Rei did not want to answer that as it was much too complicated and the answer would only create more questions. This was when she herself spied a certain individual, maybe the kid could be beneficial after all.

 

From his doorway to his room Kensuke could tell what that gaze meant. He let out a beg “Please Ayanami, don't do it.”

 

But Rei did it anyway and told everyone she had already explained that answer to him so he could answer all their questions.

 

So while Kensuke got mobbed Rei went to the bathroom to go wash the makeup off her face. She was keenly aware of what a good distraction could do and she took this as her chance. So while everyone was paying attention and bugging Kensuke she was going to sneak out of the party.

 

This unfortunately only worked in theory as a hand grabbed onto her shoulder and stopped her even before she could open the door. “Just where do you think you're going?”

 

“The game is over” Rei answered. “There's no longer a need for me to be here.”

 

She heard an evil little laugh “But remember I never liked the whole game idea in the first place. You're stuck here till 11:00 pm per our agreement.”

 

Rei gave Asuka a very untypical whine “But why?”

 

Asuka only answered with a “Because I said so.” This of course was proper prompting for Rei to let slip a particular phrase but she got stopped before she even said it. “You can call me a queeny little bitch all you want tomorrow but a deal is a deal.”

 

Asuka was a bother enough in an argument where she was wrong so there was no way Rei could claim some sort of true argument that would work in this situation. She sighed as she realized she was going to have to stay at the party. She also realized that her previous plan was failing as Kensuke didn't know all that much and the people at the party were now looking over at her. She was going to have to explain herself and she knew it.

 

The only thought coursing through Rei's mind was `This just wasn't fair.' And right after that she thought `Oh god, now I am even thinking like that brat too.' She looked over at Asuka and stared daggers at the red head “You are a very bad influence in my life, did you know that?”

 

Asuka answered with a smile “Yup” and then went back over to Shinji while the group of partygoers mobbed Rei.

 

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11:00 pm couldn't come soon enough for Rei and she took off as fast as she could when it was. But she found herself some company when she left, Hikari and Touji were leaving with her. She looked at them strangely. “Why are you leaving?”

 

“Because my curfew is midnight” Hikari told her.

 

At first Rei did not understand this answer as it was only 11:00 pm but a blush came over her face when it dawned on her. Touji and Hikari were leaving early so they could have a little romantic interlude before they had to be home. This caused Rei to feel like she was intruding on them so she simply nodded her head at Hikari while saying good night and went on her separate way from them.

 

But she did find herself turning around to watch the two walk down the street in the opposite direction from her. She saw Hikari lean up against Touji as they walked down the street and then she rested her head on his shoulder. Touji in return draped his arm around her waist. But it didn't stay there for very long as he dropped his hand even further down on Hikari's body and Rei saw Hikari do absolutely nothing about it. In fact it almost seemed to her that the two's walking pace increased after he did that.

 

A very confusing emotion then struck her as the two disappeared around the corner, she was a bit jealous of Hikari. It had nothing to do with Touji but more to do with the companionship the two had. They were very much in love and were going to share that love with each other in a very intimate way. Rei smiled to herself as she was happy for Hikari and also because she realized she wanted something like that too. Even if she wanted to there was no escaping it now, she was growing up into a real girl who had real needs. And one of the biggest needs for any girl whether they want to admit it or not is love.

 

As Rei continued to walk home a new wonder was in her head. Was that sight with Hikari and Touji just an accident or was it planned? Did Misato ask them to leave early with her so she could learn a lesson or was this something that simply happened? It was hard trying to figure out Misato's plans as they were always very different from the norm but as she thought more about it more she recognized that it didn't really matter and wasn't worth inquiring about. And even if she did ask she probably would not have gotten a straight answer from either girls. Lessons in life are always learned in the most unusual of ways and she had to laugh to herself a bit as she knew that was what this whole night was about. And as she entered the apartment complex and rode the elevator up to the top floor she knew that was all Misato really wanted. She wasn't being mean to Rei or spoiling Asuka, she was just teaching Rei about life in her own way. Which of course meant living it.

 

Rei got to her apartment door but stopped before entering. She looked down the hall and something told her that Misato would probably still be up. She was probably waiting for everyone to get home safely. It was just something that a mother would do so Rei walked over to the door and knocked on it lightly.

 

Misato answered the door and smiled at her “You know you don't have to knock, just use your key.”

 

“I know” Rei answered. “But if I don't, I feel like I am intruding.”

 

Misato of course shook her head no at that but didn't really press the issue. Rei was just overly polite and while she didn't have to be that way towards her Misato knew that wasn't a bad thing. “So did you need something or are you just saying goodnight?”

 

Rei herself didn't really know the answer to that question. Part of her wanted to think about everything that had happened by herself while another equal part wanted to discuss it with Misato. She didn't notice it but she slipped back into her old self for a second as she stood at the door and said nothing. She was just standing there looking straight ahead.

 

Misato let out a little laugh and told her “If you're that confused about so simple of a question maybe you should come in.”

 

Since Rei couldn't decide for herself she went with Misato's suggestion and followed Misato over to the couch and sat down on it beside her. She kind of looked up at Misato in that confused way teenagers typically do when they are unsure of what they are thinking and asked “Was I supposed to have fun at that party?”

 

“Yes” Misato answered. “But it's written all over your face you didn't.”

 

Rei nodded a definite yes to that.

 

“Do you want to tell me what happened?”

 

“I learned several things” Rei answered. “Some of them I wish I hadn't though.”

 

“Oh?” Misato questioned.

 

“Kensuke Aida is not the epitome of crudeness that I thought he was, there are others who are much worse.” Rei sighed after that as the words that boorish boy had said to her was still bugging her. She just couldn't shake the feeling that he had violated her personal space when he talked to her like that.

 

Misato wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave Rei a little hug “I'm sorry you had to learn that. In fact Kensuke isn't even more than a little rascal. Sure he's playful and can be a bit unmannerly at times but compared to most other boys he's actually pretty well behaved.”

 

Rei didn't like that answer and she questioned “Why can't boys just show a little respect towards women?”

 

“Because they're teenage boys” Misato answered her. “Most of them eventually grow out of it but you have to be careful as not all of them do. But on the plus side men do have a few good points.”

 

“Very few” was Rei's answer to that.

 

Misato just smiled at her for that. Rei then went on to talk about other things that had happened at the party. Everything from the party game she was a part of to how she was forced to talk to other people when everyone found out who she was. Rei had gotten a big slice of what Misato wanted her to get, interaction with other people.

 

Rei felt very comfortable talking to Misato about all those things and she even mentioned the experience she had at the end of the party when she was leaving for home. She didn't say anything about whether it being planned but simply told Misato how it made her feel.

 

“That is a very normal feeling for a girl your age” Misato told her. “And you're not alone as Asuka is horribly jealous of Hikari as she wants with Shinji what Hikari has with Touji.”

 

“But Asuka already is with Shinji” Rei questioned. “Why would she be jealous?”

 

“Because Hikari and Touji are at a very different level than Asuka and Shinji. There are still very many emotional barriers between Asuka and Shinji that have to be broken down before they can be like Hikari and Touji.”

 

That was just too complicated for her to understand and Rei actually said that to Misato. Misato didn't even have to tell her that was another lesson and she just gave Rei a little kiss on the top of her head and said goodnight to the girl. That gave a little peace to Rei and she left for her place where she changed into her pj's and crawled into bed. This had been a very hectic day for her and she was glad to be in her warm and cozy bed where she was safe.

 

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

 

It was about a half hour after midnight when Kaji, Shinji, and Asuka got home. Kaji went straight to his room so he could go to sleep as he had enough “fun” for the night. After making sure everything was ok with the other two Misato followed him. With the parental types off in their bedroom Asuka went over to the couch and invited Shinji to sit next to her.

 

“That was a lot of fun Shin-kun, wasn't it?”

 

Shinji answered with a “Yup. We should do it again sometime.”

 

Asuka looked at him for a couple seconds before shaking her head at him and chuckling “You are so lying to me. You had almost as miserable of a time as Rei, you just don't want to admit it because you think I will get mad.”

 

Shinji gave her a guilty as charged look but as he looked down Asuka gently ran a finger along his jaw and raised his head back up so they could see each other's eyes again. “I really do appreciate what you did for me at the party Shinji. I just had something to prove to myself and you let me.” She then rewarded Shinji for all the patience and understanding he showed as she crawled up on to his lap and she gave him a kiss on the lips.

 

Shinji wrapped his hands around Asuka and kissed her back “I'll do anything for you.”

 

Asuka smiled at him and said “Including helping me take our relationship to the next level and making out with me?” Know you really know what the party was truly for, it was all a test. And both Shinji and her had passed.

 

Shinji only answered with a smile and gentle looking eyes as he laid down on the couch and took Asuka with him so she would be lying on top of him. The kisses that night changed from nice little smooches to more intense deep kisses, the holding got tighter, and Asuka sacrificed more of her heart to Shinji just like Shinji had sacrificed his true nature at the party. They were very different people Shinji and Asuka, but at the same time they were so very similar. In the middle of all this was a common ground where both of them could be comfortable with each other. This ground was the bond that would keep them together and let them take their time in the journey they were on.

 

(A/N: 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.)