Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 8 )

The Swim of Things

By Ret Nuh

 

It was the morning after her party and Asuka woke up feeling especially good. The birds were singing, the pleasantly warm sun was shining brightly through her window, and the memories of last night were still fresh in her head. And last night was a very good night indeed. She let out a little moan of contentment as she remarked “God I can't believe he even tasted good.”

 

“That's certainly nice to know.”

 

Asuka blinked a couple times and as she did a vision looking down at her came into focus. “Go away and send Shinji in. I want a nice awakening.”

 

“Not going to happen lover girl, he's already busy with breakfast.”

 

Asuka stretched herself out in her bed and yawned “So how long am I grounded for?”

 

Misato had to chuckle a bit at that. It also confirmed to her that Asuka had knowingly broke her rules so she was told “One week for almost doubling the size of the party I allowed you to have and a second week for you being so bratty about it.”

 

“I wasn't bratty about it” Asuka said sitting up in her bed. “I actually had too many people invited even before I got your message limiting the size.”

 

“Oh” Misato commented. “Then the second week will be for your audacity.”

 

Asuka smiled at Misato “Agreed.”

 

“You're being awfully nice and calm about all this” Misato smirked referring back to the previous statement Asuka had made when she first got up.

 

“Yeah, I know. But it's really hard for me to be mad right now. So any other punishments?”

 

“No other punishments” Misato told her. “But you did volunteer to clean up Kensuke's apartment since he was nice enough to volunteer his place for your party.”

 

Asuka had to laugh at that a bit. “So what exactly does the word volunteer mean in your world anyways Misato?”

 

“You're a smart girl.” Misato answered and threw some work clothes onto the bed next to Asuka. “Figure it out yourself.”

 

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After an especially delicious breakfast, Shinji made a German style one, Asuka found herself in a car alone with Misato. “Why couldn't Shinji come too?”

 

“Because Shinji needs to help take care of Keiko” Misato answered. “You know as well as I do that Kaji couldn't change a diaper if his life depended on it.”

 

Asuka sighed at that. Sure it was true but she still wanted Shinji's help. In truth Asuka was a lousy domestic diva and the fact that her room was always such a mess was testament to that. “So how much cleaning do I have to do?” she asked in a sort of whiney way.

 

Misato simply answered her “Everything.”

 

“Aren't you going to help any?”

 

“Why should I?” Misato answered. “I didn't make the mess.” The typical groan of disapproval from Asuka was very expected. “Don't worry honey, I'm going to stick around and not leave you alone. After all you do need a supervisor.”

 

Asuka gave a little glare towards her riding companion for that but as she did she noticed Misato was not looking as calm as usual. It was obvious she was thinking about something else. And the quick little looks Misato took back at her while driving indicated to Asuka that she was most likely the reason why. While you could never really know what Misato was thinking you could always tell when she was.

 

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Asuka and Misato arrived at Kensuke's apartment a little before 10:00 am. They knocked on the door and when Kensuke answered Misato said “Your maid service is here.”

 

“Fine, whatever” Kensuke yawned. “Just stay out of my room.”

 

“What, you got dirty magazines in there?” Misato kidded the tired boy.

 

Kensuke had an odd sense of humor sometimes and he answered Misato's teasing with “Yeah, and I don't want you to find the collage of naked pictures that I have of you.”

 

Asuka rolled her eyes at that while Misato laughed. The thing Misato liked best about the boy was he would tease back at her, Shinji usually got too embarrassed to and Asuka tended to take it too personally so they weren't as much fun as Kensuke. “So am I an internet porn queen yet?”

 

Kensuke answered while walking back to his kitchen table to finish his breakfast, which were leftovers from his fridge. “Of course. I make more money selling off those pictures than I do at my job.”

 

Misato took that as a compliment to her beauty as she sat down at the table next to him and told Asuka to get to work on taking down the streamers first. She looked over at Kensuke and noticed what he was eating. “Blech… You're as bad as Kaji. The least you could have done was throw that in the microwave.”

 

“What?” Kensuke chuckled “Takeout always tastes better cold.”

 

Misato apparently disagreed with him as she answered with a disgusted look. Even at her worst Misato never ate cold leftovers, this was something that was typically male. Misato then stretched her arms out a little and yawned before asking “So did you have fun at the party?”

 

“It was ok” he answered. “But I spent more time trying to keep people out of my stuff than anything.”

 

“I had the same problem back in college. That's why I never let parties be at my place.”

 

“So you set me up to be the sacrificial lamb for Asuka's party?”

 

“Yup” Misato answered. “But you're young, you'll get over it.”

 

“It would be easier to get over it if the girls in this town weren't so damn picky.” That came out with a little more grouchiness than Kensuke meant it too. But considering he totally struck out at the party it wasn't entirely his fault.

 

“So we're a bit fickle” Misato commented.

 

“Fickle” Kensuke grumbled. “More like mental. You guys love me when I bring you food but laugh at me if I ask you out.”

 

Misato could only shrug her shoulders at the lovelorn boy and say “The only advice I can give you is to keep trying. Eventually you will get one to say yes.”

 

Asuka couldn't let that one go without a comment of her own “Yeah and when one does it will start fourth impact.”

 

“Oh hush Asuka and get back to work.”

 

Misato's order got a tongue stuck out at her by the recipient. Asuka was obviously in a playful mood.

 

Misato looked back over at Kensuke. “See, you have nothing to complain about. You only had to put up with her for a night, I have to put up with her for a lifetime.”

 

When put that way Kensuke realized he didn't have it so bad after all. He also started laughing at Misato for it and then had to duck as Asuka whipped an empty pop can at him for doing that. Kensuke then returned to talking with Misato for a while more until he had to leave for work.

 

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After Kensuke had left for work Misato told Asuka she could take a little break. Asuka sat down at the table and complained “I had no idea parties were such a mess.”

 

“Which is why you're probably never going to have one again.”

 

Asuka only nodded her head yes to that, she knew better than to argue it. But as they were sitting there Asuka noticed Misato giving her the same looks as she had been in the car. This time though she called her out on it. “Did I do something else that you're not happy with? You keep giving me strange looks.”

 

Misato let out a little sigh “We might as well get this over with then.” … “Asuka you know I sleep with my door cracked open so I can hear if Keiko is crying, right?”

 

Asuka answered with a “Yeah” but then realized something else. If she was able to hear Keiko crying from over in her room that meant she probably could hear her and Shinji on the couch last night. Asuka began to blush a bit and actually offered an apology “Sorry if we were too loud.”

 

“I have nothing against what you two were doing last night” Misato told her. “It's just that I would like to know how far you two went. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to… but I want to make sure you know I'm here if you have any questions.”

 

That made Asuka very happy. The reason Misato was giving her strange looks was because she was worried about her. For this reason Asuka answered Misato with the truth. “We made out on the couch. It was mainly just kissing but I did lay down on top of him during it.”

 

Misato smiled at that as she was happy for the two of them, they had broken another barrier. But it also meant something else “I'll let you pick the time and the place but I need to talk to you about your relationship now. I don't want to put this off any longer.”

 

Asuka nodded her head yes to that again. Truthfully she was expecting that talk that was put off when she and Shinji first got together to be coming up so this wasn't a big surprise. She did have one request though “Could it just be the two of us? There are some… things… I need to question that I'm not really ready for Shinji to hear.”

 

“That was what I was planning anyways” Misato answered her. “And also why Shinji's not here right now. There are a bunch of “things” I'm sure he wouldn't want you to hear either.”

 

“So he's talking to Kaji?”

 

“Yup” Misato answered. “We thought it would be better if we handled you two separately instead of embarrassing you two to death in front of each other.”

 

Asuka thanked god for that in her head as she could imagine what would happen if she was with Shinji during this kind of talk. They would both be red faced and looking down at the ground through the whole thing along while probably not wanting to say a thing. Which would sort of defeat the whole purpose of the talk.

 

Her thinking was interrupted by a very ostentatious comment. “So what I heard from you this morning about Shinji tasting good, was that in reference to kissing him or did you have a libidinous dream last night?”

 

Now that got Asuka to really blush. She had enough problems having those kinds of dreams about Shinji and her, the last thing she needed was to be reminded about them. “You're an evil temptress, you know that?”

 

Misato nodded a big yes while saying “Well I did promise to make Shinji a man, and if I can't do it personally I need a willing pawn.”

 

Asuka got back up from her chair. “Sometimes when I'm lying in bed I truly do wish I was that willing.”

 

“Oh did I disturb something when I came into your room this morning?”

 

“No but if you hadn't been there, it may have been a while before I came out” Asuka answered but then proposed a very serious question. “Is it possible for a body to want something even though the mind isn't ready for it?”

“Absolutely” Misato answered. “And it is a dangerous thing. That same thing happened to Kaji and me when we first got together. Unfortunately we gave into our libidos and the emotional backlash from it is what tore us apart.”

 

“So you wish you would have waited before becoming intimate with Kaji?”

 

“To this day that's still one of my biggest regrets” Misato answered. “It's also why I want to talk to you so much. I don't want to see you and Shinji repeating that same mistake.”

 

That answer was what Asuka did and didn't want to hear. It meant she was right about what she was thinking but also that she was not ready to go any further with Shinji than what she did last night. This was going to lead to some restless nights for her in the future.

 

After that little talk Asuka went back to work and by mid afternoon she had Kensuke's place cleaned up as best she could and left with Misato for home. When they got there they noticed a ball game on TV but it was obvious no one was paying any attention to it. Kaji was napping in his lounge chair and had Keiko doing the same thing while lying on his chest. As for Shinji, let's just say he was so deep into his mind that he didn't even notice the girls come home. Both girls knew it was better to let him be so Asuka tugged on Misato's sleeve and pointed towards her room. She figured if he had just gotten a talk so should she as she really wanted to be on the same page as him.

 

The results of the talking led to that night's dinner being on the quiet side. This confused Rei but when she inquired about it while helping with the dishes she got very wide eyed. Especially when Misato offered to talk to her too. Rei though declined the generous offer as it scared her to death.

 

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While technically Asuka was still grounded she was allowed to go to one fun event during this incarceration period, the end of the season pool party. After all she was captain of the girl's swim team so it would look kind of funny if she wasn't there and this was something that she, along with all the other girls, really looked forward to. It was just a very good time when they all could have fun together. Most of the pool rules were waived and the girls could bring any pool toys they wanted, wear any swimsuit they wanted (within reason), and each girl could invite one friend to the party. Most of the invites were boys and this was about the only time during the school year that boys and girls were allowed to intermingle in the pool.

 

Even Rei went to the party. This time it wasn't because she was forced to go but it was because she wanted to. She felt more comfortable in the pool area for some reason and there was something she had always wanted to do there as well. So she showed up with a floating chair, relaxed down in it, and just let herself float aimlessly around the pool. She was intermingling with others while at the same time detached from everything, the perfect thing for her in her mind. So as she floated around observing life other people were doing many other things.

 

Touji, being the athlete he was, couldn't resist starting a friendly game of water polo with the other guys there. Asuka of course joined in this game as she was never afraid of playing with the boys. The game itself only lasted fifteen minutes though as Asuka got mad and jettisoned the polo ball at full strength at some boy's head for scoring a goal on her. You could give Asuka a good mother figure, a stable family environment, some very good friends, and a completely understanding boyfriend but you couldn't take that poor sport streak out of her. Then again this is why she was so good in sports, she had an abject hatred of losing.

 

But after almost knocking the kid out the coach took the ball away and told the kids to play a less violent sport. And which activity do you think Asuka picked? Why water chicken of course. She hopped up on Shinji's shoulders and put out an open challenge to all as her competitive juices were still flowing. Most of the other girls wanted nothing to do with this but there was one willing couple that would take her on. Worse yet she had to look up at the girl when she was challenged. Another thing that made Hikari and Touji a good couple was that each was bigger than average when compared to their respective countryman. Hikari topped off at around 179 centimeters while Touji was around the 190 cm mark. When surrounded by their peers they tended to stick out a bit. Thanks to her bohemian blood Asuka wasn't a shorty by any means either but she was only 174 cm and while Shinji had the potential to reach that coveted 183 cm mark thanks to his dad's genetics, he wasn't quite there yet. In fact he was only one centimeter taller than Hikari right now.

 

Asuka and Shinji both were looking upwards at their competitors when Shinji questioned whether this was a smart idea “Asuka are you sure you want to do this?” Actually he didn't want to do this in the first place but he wasn't going to tell Asuka that as it was she who hopped up on his shoulders without a care.

 

Even if she was at a definite disadvantage Asuka never backed down. “You know what they say…” she then glared at Hikari and Touji who were now in front of them “… The bigger they are, the harder they fall.”

 

“Bring it on Red.”

 

But before Asuka could even respond to Touji's challenge Rei floated between the combatants. She realized that when the coach instructed the people to do something less aggressive, this wasn't what she had in mind. At the same time she had a curiosity floating around in her mind and this would be the perfect time to test it out. While Asuka was telling her to get out of the way she guided herself a little closer towards Shinji and poked a certain spot along the side of him, just a bit under his ribcage. Shinji's eyes went wide as he reacted to it intensely. Due to Asuka sitting on Shinji's shoulder, when he went down, so did she.

 

Asuka came up from the water scowling at Rei who was just lying there in her floating chair looking very relaxed. “Why did you do that?!!”

 

“Because” Rei answered. “I had a question that needed to be answered.”

 

The “Thank you Ayanami” that came from the coach didn't make the situation any better for Asuka. But another thought then popped into Asuka's head. Shinji only had one spot on his body that was ticklish. And the only person in the world who knew where that spot was, was Asuka. The bravado and competitiveness she was showing earlier turned over to jealousy as no one else was supposed to know him like that. She swam right up to Rei and demanded “How did you know about that spot?”

 

“It was just a hunch” Rei answered politely while keeping her composure.

 

“How could it be just a hunch?” Asuka questioned.

 

Rei simply shrugged her shoulders at Asuka and tried to glide away from her but Asuka wasn't going to let this infraction go without a real explanation. But as she raced after Rei she stopped. A certain little realization told her a possible answer. Shinji and Rei were more than just connected by the whole Eva's/Lilith/3rd Impact thing, they were also connected by genetics. The gleam in Asuka's eyes when she figured out why Rei knew about that spot was not a good one for Rei.

 

Asuka turned around from her chase and swam back towards Shinji letting Rei think she got off with just a crass look and a stuck out tongue but she was just biding her time till Rei turned her head away and stopped paying attention to her. Asuka then dove under the water and swam underneath Rei's floating chair. Two hands reached upwards from the depths of the pool and with fingers extended Rei got poked in the exact spot that she had poked Shinji. But she got a double dose of it as Asuka got both sides of her. Rei let out a very cute giggle followed by a loud yelp and lost her balance, ending up in the water.

 

When Rei came back up from under the water she saw Asuka smirking at her while she was leaning on the floating chair. “A bit ticklish too, are we?”

 

“That was uncalled for” Rei sputtered while shaking the water from her hair.

 

“Oh no” Asuka answered back smugly. “That was very called for. And since you seem to be using a unique form of knowledge gathering let me tell you one more thing. You're weaker than Shinji as only one side of him is ticklish, not both.” Asuka then stuck her tongue out at Rei again as she felt vindicated and swam off to go back to Shinji.

 

Rei grumbled a bit as she crawled back up onto the floating chair. She should have thought through what she did more thoroughly. Asuka had just learned one of her biggest weaknesses. Rei was in fact ticklish and if you got her in just the right spot not even she could hide it. Something told her that she wasn't ever going to live this down and Rei was forced to spend the rest of the pool party with one eye out for Asuka as she knew this wasn't going to be the end of this by a long shot.

 

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About an hour later things were more relaxed as Rei was simply floating around again, Asuka was talking with some of her other friends, and everyone was generally having a good time. Well except for one person. It seemed that a certain someone was receiving some divine punishment for what he had said during the practices.

 

Kensuke should have been suspicious when he got an invite to the pool party but he wasn't going to pass up the chance to see girls frolicking around in their swimsuits. This was one of the few things that would get even a workaholic like him to take a day off. So he threw any caution he had to the wind and showed up ready for some fun. He found it a pleasure full experience when he showed up and got mobbed by a bunch of girls right away but what he didn't see was the rolls of duct tape that they were hiding behind their backs.

 

Now Kensuke found himself with another unique view of the girls as he could look down at them from the bottom of the diving board to which he was taped to. Unfortunately not only was he taped there but he was also missing a very important possession, his glasses. He couldn't even see anything interesting as he looked down at the girls who swam below him as they were all blurry.

 

Kensuke squinted his eyes as he looked down at the girl who had floated under him. “Ayanami, is that you?”

 

Rei looked up at the boy looking down at her. She was a pretty unique looking person so it was hard to believe that he couldn't tell if it was her. “Is your eyesight really that bad?”

 

Kensuke sighed as it really was. “If it wasn't for your hair I wouldn't have even known it was you.” After he said that though he heard a loud sigh in return. The whole hair thing must have still been a touchy issue with Rei. “I tried to answer some of their questions.”

 

Rei gave out a weak “I know.” Even a week later she was still getting bugged about it as it was firmly entrenched in the grapevine and a topic of interest. She then looked up at the boy and told him “Thank you for at least trying… and also for not bugging me about it.”

 

“Anytime Ayanami” he answered.

 

Rei looked up at the trapped boy for a second longer and then decided on something. “You may call me Rei.”

 

That was an awfully big promotion considering who it was coming from so he thanked Rei politely before asking “Since we're friends now could you do me a big favor…..”

 

Rei interrupted him before he could ask it though. “Sorry but I cannot let you down. And I am sorrier because that is the least of your problems right now.” Rei then glided her way out from under him as it was at this point that his life was going to get worse, Asuka was going for some extra punishment.

 

“Trying to put the moves on Rei are we hentai boy?” Asuka accused and then bounced on the board causing Kensuke's stomach to bounce as well. The groan of discontent was exactly what Asuka was listening for. “Oh, does this make you feel nauseous?” Asuka asked and bounced again.

 

“C'mon red, how many times do I have to apologize?” Kensuke groaned out.

 

“Until you have learned your lesson” Asuka stated and bounced again.

 

Shinji at this point tried to intervene on Kensuke's behalf. “Asuka, don't you think this has gone too far?”

 

Asuka raised her eyebrows at Shinji and answered him squarely “No. Now stay out of it. This matter doesn't concern you.”

 

“Please Asuka?”

 

“Shinji I know he's your friend and all but he's a perverted little child who must be taught a lesson. I mean what kind of mature high school boy would hit on a poor defenseless junior high girl. That's just plain robbing the cradle and he knows it.”

 

This was one bit of teasing that Asuka just wouldn't let go of and Kensuke answered in misery. “I called her cute once. Just let it go.”

 

“Oh you have done so much more than that hentai boy” Asuka accused.

 

“Like what?” Kensuke asked.

 

“Yuma tells me that you smiled at her the last time you delivered food to her place.”

 

“I smile at all my customers” Kensuke answered back. “It's part of the job for cripes sake.”

 

“Suuurrreee it is” Asuka mocked. “You were being a sleaze ball and you know it.”

 

Kensuke got some help from an unlikely source, Yuma herself. “Miss Asuka, I don't think he was trying to hit on me.”

 

Asuka looked over at the sweet young girl. “That's because you don't know Kensuke like I do. Everything he says and does have an alterative motive.”

 

Now that was a total case of the pot calling the kettle black and Kensuke called Asuka out for it even though he knew he was going to pay for it afterwards.

 

And he was right, Asuka did not take this slight lightly and she bounced hard three times in a row. But this time she heard a little urk out of the trapped boy. Asuka stopped and leaned down to look under the diving board “You're not really going to get sick are you?”

 

“If you bounce one more time I will” Kensuke groaned.

 

“You wuss” Asuka taunted and then walked off the board over to Hikari. Hikari in return gave her a pair of scissors and Asuka walked back onto the board and laid down on it. “I suppose I should cut you down” she falsely sighed. “But on one condition.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“That you get some new material next year. You were getting kinda boring near the end of the year and repeating yourself too much.” Asuka then cut him off of the board and watched him fall into the water.

 

When Kensuke got his head back up above the water he glared up at her “You're pure evil.”

 

“No” Asuka answered standing back up on the diving board. “I am the great Asuka Langley Sohryu” and with that she walked off the diving board very egotistically as most of the other girls laughed at Kensuke.

 

Kensuke in return looked over at Rei “I feel so sorry for you that you have to live by her.”

 

“You don't know the half of it” Rei sighed back.

 

And since both of them now had a shared problem with the over intrusive red head they started to trade stories about her with each other much to the consternation of Asuka. Neither Rei nor Kensuke were saying anything too private about her but they both knew a multitude of embarrassing stories. To add to this even though Rei tended to talk on the quiet side most of the time she seemed to be talking a bit louder right now, almost like she wanted others to overhear the stories. This was playing dirty in Asuka's mind but there wasn't anything she could do about it. One of the two was always keeping an eye on her so she couldn't sneak up on them. And nailing Kensuke with a rat tail or getting Rei in her ticklish spot in retribution would only be fun if it was unexpected.

 

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So it was the beginning of November now and things have changed as life has a strong penchant of doing. Asuka and Shinji were a touch more serious with each other and Rei was now starting to realize that life just might be a little better with a closer companion than she has previously known.

 

In Rei's case though knowing that is only the start of the battle, she still had a multitude of problems. The biggest being she didn't really like being around people she didn't know and that left her with relatively few options. Of course she could always extend herself out a bit more like Misato continually told her to and increase the amount of people she knew by socializing but even Misato would tell you that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

 

But things weren't all confusion like for Rei as some good changes happened for her, the best being the school finally got a new heating system installed. It was actually based upon technology developed as a result of the Evangelion Project so it was proof that some good things can come from bad. Still Rei brought a coat and a blanket, for her legs, to class everyday. It didn't matter if they heated the school or not, if it looked cold outside she was cold.

 

As for Asuka and Shinji, it took them roughly two months just to get to the kissy face making out stage so no one was expecting any fireworks from those two for quite some time.

 

Plus an added factor in all of the changes was that the beginning of November signaled the end of the regular swimming season and the start of the tournaments. The girl's swim team had lived up to their expectations and captured first place in their division. Sadly though they lost in the Sectionals. They were a team that was pretty strong in some key areas but as a whole they had some big holes. They ended up getting second place in the Sectionals out of the group of schools in their section.

 

But not everyone's season was over on the team. Asuka, Hikari, Rei, and Yuma made it to the Regionals in several relay races and Asuka even made Regionals in the 100 and 200 meter single freestyles. She wasn't the only one though that made Regionals by herself, Yuma was actually going to be a competitor of hers in the 100 meters. Yuma almost made the 200 too but she was lacking in endurance and the last 50 yards of that race caused her to lose. This was something she knew she would have to work on if she wanted to live up to the potential the coach told her she had. Along with the one long distance champion the team had that pretty much wrapped up who was going onwards for the team.

 

Unfortunately for the girls the only one who got past the Regionals was the girl who swam long distance. She ended up competing in the finals for a National title and scored herself a much deserved scholarship to a good college. As you can guess Asuka took not getting by Regionals the hardest as she felt like she had failed not only herself but also her team and her coach. The fact that they had placed second in two of the three events they competed in made it even worse. If only she had tried a little harder and pushed herself just a bit more maybe they would be at Nationals right now.

 

Needless to say Asuka spent the next two weeks of November being a real pill and Misato's premonition about all this stuff coming back to bite Asuka on the ass came true.

 

Hikari as you would suspect was fairing much better and was probably the saving grace of Asuka as she knew how to talk to the distraught red head. Plus Hikari had other commitments to distract her now as basketball season was starting up. Just like Touji was there for her during swimming she was at his practices for basketball. So Hikari's role changed from being an athlete to being a spectator, something she actually liked better even if she would never tell anyone. She loved to swim and compete but watching Touji run up and down a basketball court or around the bases was just more exhilarating to her.

 

Rei was sad about not making it further as well but it wasn't the tragedy that Asuka was making it out to be. And like Hikari she had other commitments too, she was part of the gymnastics team. How she got on the team was the real story though because she never made up her mind about joining the team in the two weeks between the end of the swimming tournaments and the start of gymnastics. On one hand she really did want to be up on the balance beam again while at the same time she was hesitant to join due to the fact she knew very few girls on the team. Her relative shyness was reappearing big time.

 

The two people she did sort of know on the gymnastics team was one girl from her classroom, but it was a girl she didn't really ever talk to, and the other girl was from the swim team. And like the girl from her class Rei only knew her by name. But it wasn't like she didn't like either girl, she just didn't know them too well. If she joined the team that might change and she might make some new friends but at the same time what if she didn't get along with any of the other teammates. These two thoughts ended up canceling each other out as she thought about it and she didn't know what to do.

 

But her decision was made for her as one day when she came home she found a skintight leotard on her bed. It was in fact the gymnastics team uniform and there was a note on it saying a certain someone was looking forward to watching her compete. Rei stood there for a couple minutes staring at the outfit and note. Misato was definitely meaning well by joining her up on the team but at the same time she was feeling a bit forced into this. Also factored into this was whether this could be something she would regret not doing. Misato had basically forced her into swimming and even she had to admit that was a very good experience for her and she came out better because of it. Maybe she should heed Misato's advice again, even if it was a touch on the pushy side. And that is how Rei became a member of the gymnastics team.

 

Her first day on the team wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be as their were several friendly faces in the crowd. Misato had shown up to cheer her on. There was another reason why Misato was there but her little conversation with the coach of the team while Rei was changing didn't need to be mentioned. Along with Misato came her little one, Keiko.

 

While Rei was still hesitant to hold the child she was genuinely fond of the girl. The little girl just had a way of making her smile, especially with the cute little antics she displayed at the dinner table. And seeing as how there were extra tumbling mats lying around the part of the gym that the team wasn't using Keiko was allowed to go have some fun trying to walk around on them. It was more like she was falling down on them over and over but on big cushy mats that's half the fun.

 

Misato's little one wasn't alone in this matter as several other members of the team had their parents there and they were letting the little ones that had been brought along do the same thing. Unofficially the mats were a kind of daycare center for a lot of the kids who were too young to be in school. It even came with a babysitter as the gym was shared by several different sport teams. The gymnastics team occupied a third of it, the girls basketball team occupied a third of it, and the boy's basketball team occupied the last third. And sitting in the stands watching the boy's basketball team practice was of course Hikari.

 

A couple of the reasons that Misato was very fond of Hikari were, she was a very good and stable friend to both Asuka and Rei. Another was she was a highly respectable girl. And the third and very big reason, she could trust Keiko in her care as within five minutes of seeing Keiko playing around on the mats Hikari walked up to Touji and told him she would be watching him from the other side. This didn't surprise Touji too much and he just smiled at his girlfriend while she went and played with Keiko. So with a dependable babysitter watching her kid she could pay more attention to Rei.

 

Another person in the crowd Rei recognized was a boy. She actually walked up to this one and questioned him “Why are you here?”

 

“Boredom” Kensuke answered. “I can either sit at home and do nothing until I have to go to work or I can watch the sports teams practice… Plus the school is closer to my work so it's less of a drive.”

 

A very logical answer and one that made sense to Rei. But she did have a little request “Please do not make a spectacle of yourself like you do at swim practice.”

 

Kensuke chuckled a bit at that and told her she didn't have to worry. He only knew a handful of the girls on the gymnastics team so he usually kept his mouth shut. He did add though “I do talk to Kaede a lot and it would be better if you didn't listen to what we talk about.”

 

Rei gave him an odd look and was going to question him further about what that meant but the coach called all the girls together to start up the first practice. But when Rei left Kensuke found another woman seeking his attention.

 

“Hello there cutey.”

 

“Get away from me” Kensuke answered.

 

Misato of course laughed at that. “Aw c'mon what's wrong? I thought I was the hottest milf in the world to you.”

 

Kensuke explained the intricacies of a milf to the busy body of a guardian. “You can't be one of those anymore. In order to be good enough for that rank you must be a sexy distant woman who doesn't try to nose her way into my life.”

 

“So I paid a couple of your bills off. What's the big deal?”

 

“You also forced me to throw a party I didn't want to” Kensuke answered her with a slight glare.

 

“Oh no” Misato falsely mocked him. “I forced you to have some fun. I'm such an evil woman.”

 

“You took the words right out of my mouth” Kensuke answered back.

 

“Awww, I'm hurt” Misato teased. She then looked out at all the girls in front of him “So what do you like better, the swimsuits or the gymnastics team uniforms?”

 

Kensuke actually had to think about that one for a bit. Both of the outfits definitely had their advantages but he eventually came to a conclusion. “Gymnastics.” There was just something majestic about them in his eyes.

 

Misato looked at the smirk on his face and could tell he liked what he saw out there on the tumbling mats. “So any particular one you want me to try and hook you up with?”

 

Kensuke opened his mouth to answer her but stopped. This was a trap and he almost fell into it. Misato was trying to worm her way into his life, and not in a way he would like. “You're not allowed to fix me up. Besides there isn't a girl out there that would say yes.”

 

“What about that one?” Misato said pointing to a girl.

 

“She wouldn't give me the time of day” Kensuke answered.

 

“How about that one?” Misato said pointing to another girl.

 

“I have already been turned down by that one” Kensuke sighed.

 

Misato started going through the girls one by one after that, just basically joking around with him. Misato would get him to talk to her one way or another, she was sneaky like that.

 

Truthfully though Kensuke didn't mind talking to Misato as much as he accused. She was one of the few people he knew who was light hearted and could tell when he was simply joking around. Most of the other girls he knew took him way too seriously or not seriously enough. But eventually Misato was down to the last two girls, Kaede and Rei.

 

“What about my innocent little Rei?”

 

“What about a complete and total no” Kensuke answered. “I will admit she's good looking but we're way too different and she gets offended by a lot of the things I say even if I am just fooling around.”

 

“True” Misato said agreeing with him. “Plus Asuka would probably try to kill you for it.”

 

“You think” Kensuke chuckled. “I wonder if I could get away with asking Yuma out though?”

 

Misato thought about this for a minute. She didn't really know the answer to that one as Asuka teased him an awful lot about the time he hit on Yuma but that could mean she approved of it as much as she didn't. Misato was forced only to shrug her shoulders at the kid as she couldn't give him a real answer.

 

“Yeah I don't know either. I was telling the truth when I said she was cute but I don't really like to go behind a friend's back and if Asuka truly doesn't want me to ask Yuma out I'm not going to.”

 

“You could always ask Asuka what she thinks. I can't guarantee you a straight answer but at least you would get an idea where she stands on the matter.”

 

Kensuke sighed at that. He would rather not talk to Asuka about that as it might make her mad. Misato then pointed out the last girl on the team to which he answered “She's too much like a sister for that to happen.”

 

“How long have you known Kaede?” Misato asked.

 

“Ever since I was born. Her mom and my mom were best friends” Kensuke answered. “Hell I thought she was my real sister until I was probably four.”

 

“I don't hear about you hanging out with her that much.”

 

“We talk a lot but it is mainly online or at school. I don't like to go over to her house for her mother's sake.” Misato didn't understand this and she looked at him quizzically. Kensuke looked over at Kaede for a bit and then back at Misato “I remind her mom of my mom. They grew up together and were very close so when my mom was taken Kaede's mom took it very hard. To this day her mom can't look at me without tearing up.”

 

Misato looked at Kensuke sympathetically “Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up.”

 

“It's okay” Kensuke replied. “It still hurts some when I think about it, most likely it always will, but I know I need to move on with my life or I will end up like my dad.” There was so much to that statement that Misato could not answer the boy. She only put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

 

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

 

Just like at swimming practice Kensuke left gymnastics practice at 4:30 pm to go to work. By this time Hikari had joined them because Keiko wanted to go back to her mommy. With Keiko firmly on her mother's lap Hikari asked Misato “So how is Rei doing?”

 

“She's a lot better on the balance beam than even I thought. The rest of the stuff she's pretty much a novice at but as long as she's having fun I don't care.” This was definitely something Misato wanted Rei to do to simply enjoy herself with rather than the whole team building experience stuff. And it was obvious to her that is exactly what was happening.

 

Since Rei was new to the team the coach had her run through the basics so he could see if she was good enough to make the team. At first he was thinking a resounding no as she barely knew the basics. While she looked very elegant and refined trying the floor exercises she also looked like this was her first time. The pommel horse was a little better but not good. The parallel bars were almost a complete disaster as Rei didn't even want to get up on those things let alone try a basic routine. Same thing with the uneven bars. But once she got on the balance beam the coach's jaw dropped. Rei was way beyond just good, she was great. Easily among the best on the team if not the best. How a girl could excel so much at one single event yet not have a clue about the other ones confused him greatly. The only thing the coach could think was whoever trained Rei was a complete idiot. If she was that good on the balance beam she should have been trained in the other stuff as she was a natural.

 

But he remembered his earlier discussion with Misato about Rei not being an ordinary girl so he should expect some strange things from her. This couldn't have been more strange but he wasn't going to drop her from the team. As far as he was concerned Rei would be a single event competitor. When it came to competitions he would enter Rei as a participant in the balance beam but she would not be entered in any of the other events and she definitely would not be part of the overall events. If only he would have gotten to Rei when she was young he could have made her into something great.

 

Rei on the other hand didn't care if she was good or not, she was actually having fun. Being on the balance beam reminded her that not everything in her past was a bad memory, there were those rare occasions that she did have fun even if she didn't understand it at the time. While a lot of people would say she was emotionless back then it was more like she didn't understand emotions. That is why she rarely reacted to anything.

 

As for her new teammates, they were as confused about Rei as their coach. How she could be such a beginner at everything else yet she could easily kick their asses up on the beam didn't make sense. Then again Ayanami never made any sense to any of them before so why waste their time trying to figure it out now. She was good and could help the team so that was it.

 

So as practice went on Misato sat there with her little one simply watching Rei trying out different kinds of rolls, flips, splits, and handstands on the balance beam. It was kind of interesting to watch and also kind of painful. Rei was a bit rusty as you would expect so she fell a couple times and no mother likes to see one of her kids fall. Another thing that occurred to her, Rei was almost as flexible as Asuka. Rei may not have known it personally but Misato recognized it and she winced a bit as she saw Rei perform.

 

She wasn't alone in that though as when Hikari saw Rei do a full splits on the balance beam she winced too. “God I hope Touji isn't looking over here.”

 

Misato chuckled a bit at that. “Not quite that flexible?”

 

“She's just like Asuka” Hikari answered. “Double jointed and then some.”

 

“Too true” Misato sighed as she wished she was that flexible too. “You would not believe how many ways Asuka can touch her head with her foot.”

 

“I probably would. Asuka loves to show off during gym class” Hikari said with a roll of her eyes. And since they were talking about Asuka now she asked “How's she doing at home?”

 

“Still all sulky and moping around everywhere” Misato answered. “But that should change on the fourth.”

 

“You know she hasn't said anything about her birthday yet this year. Usually she's dropping hints about what she wants like two weeks in advance.”

 

“Since I have already told her she can't have a party for it I don't think she wants to do anything” Misato answered. “And don't bother getting her anything that costs real money…” and with a sigh indicating that she was weak and gave in to spoiling Asuka yet again with another material good “… I already took care of that.”

 

That was a small relief to Hikari but she had to ask “Did you have to give money to Shinji too? I know she isn't a cheap girl to shop for.”

 

“That little rat got off scott free” Misato grumbled. “All he had to do was promise to keep giving her massages and that was enough.”

 

Hikari gave Misato a questioning look for that as she found it hard to believe.

 

“I'm serious” Misato answered. “She really meant it when she told him that. I swear I almost fainted. What's worse is that even with that offer he's still going to spoil her as he already bought her a huge box of Godivas…” another sigh from Misato “…I just know Asuka is going to throw that in my face at every conceivable chance.”

 

“Same here” Hikari answered with a similar sigh.

 

Asuka loved to brag and even though Shinji wasn't supposed to buy her chocolates not a day went by when she wouldn't drop clues about her getting some. Hikari even told her that she didn't really care about chocolate that much but it never stopped Asuka.

 

Personally Hikari was a girl with much different tastes. She would take ice cream over a chocolate Godiva any day. Touji was probably the one most thankful for that as ice cream really never cost that much. Hikari was a relatively cheap girlfriend as what she wanted the most was his love and she already had that, the rest of the material stuff didn't really matter to her. Yes it was nice to have but she didn't need most of that crap.

 

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

 

With the house empty Asuka and Shinji had some time to just be around each other without interruptions so they were on the couch together watching TV. Granted they were supposed to be doing their homework but since when does a teenager actually do what they are told when they are told too.

 

“This just sucks!”

 

“You did your best” Shinji told Asuka.

 

Shinji had been telling her this since they lost at Regionals and she was sick and tired of it so she snapped at him “No I didn't. If I would have done my best I would have beaten all my personal best times.”

 

Shinji answered the grouchy girl to which he was giving a back rub “You tied one of your records and almost did the same with the other two.”

 

“Almost doesn't mean shit” she cussed. “If I would have just did a little better we would have won at least two of those relays.” Even though she couldn't see Shinji she knew he was shaking his head at her and she snapped at him again “Stop patronizing me. I know what I'm talking about better than you.”

 

Shinji let out a little “Sorry” even if he didn't mean it. He was basically just doing what she wanted until she cheered up. And it wasn't like Asuka was being really mean or violent, she was just grumpy. He could tell she felt like she had failed and he knew that was one of the worst things in the world to her. He had been dealing with this for about two weeks now and he finally asked “Asuka, how can I make you happy?”

 

While lying on her stomach she breathed out “I wish I knew.”

 

After about ten more minutes Shinji said to her “I think you just like being crabby.”

 

Asuka turned herself to look at him and was about to cuss him out for that. But she stopped herself before she did and turned back around. “I'm going to let that one go Shinji because you might be right.” She then sighed “I wish I wasn't like this.”

 

“I don't mind” Shinji answered being the good boyfriend he was. This was a legitimate part of Asuka's psyche and he knew that when he fell in love with her. So what if Asuka was a bit on the moody side and took things too personally that she shouldn't, it wasn't like he was any better. At least Asuka displayed when she was mad about something and didn't hide it from people.

 

Asuka though didn't like this answer and she told him “Yes you do. It bugs you and I can tell.”

 

“It really doesn't” Shinji argued back.

 

“Why won't you just admit that I bug you sometimes?” Asuka asked him directly. “I know YOU bug me sometimes.”

 

Shinji stopped rubbing Asuka's back after that. He had to think how he was going to answer that question.

 

Asuka though took this the wrong way and she started to feel bad about it. While some part of her probably did like being a grump she didn't like to fight with Shinji anymore. It always left her feeling hollow and full of regret because most of their arguments were about stupid and petty little things. She got up from the couch and sat right next to Shinji. She looked at him and it appeared to her that he had questioning eyes, that just made her feel worse and she actually apologized for what she said. “I'm sorry Shinji, I-I didn't mean it like that.”

 

Shinji though smiled at her “Yes you did…” he looked at her sad face for a second more “… And you are right, you do bug me sometimes. But for some reason I don't mind it.”

 

That made Asuka feel a little better and her faced lightened up some. “You know that doesn't make any sense.”

 

“Yeah” Shinji answered. “But sometimes if what I was thinking made sense I would be even more confused.”

 

A complete contradiction of words but as Asuka thought about it she realized she was like that too. Life was just so confusing at times. But right now it didn't have to be and she leaned her back against Shinji's chest and pulled his arms around her stomach so that he was holding her. “I don't want to argue anymore, can we just be quiet and watch TV?”

 

Shinji answered her by not saying a word and only giving her a little kiss on the cheek. That of course was followed up with a return kiss, which lead to retribution by Shinji again and the two of them got into a different sort of battle for a bit. A minor smooching war broke out.

 

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

 

A half hour later in the Katsuragi household Shinji and Asuka where still sitting in the same position as before just watching some pointless game show. That was until PenPen raced into the living room and snatched the remote off the coffee table. “Geez PenPen, what's your hurry? Your girlfriend won't be on for another hour.”

 

PenPen looked back at Asuka and warked at her for that while changing the channel. And when he got to the right station the teens heard the news director interrupt the current program with “This just in. A special report on a possible breakthrough in the Evangelion investigation”

 

Asuka let out a “How in the hell???….” as she could not understand how the penguin knew this was happening but PenPen actually let out a loud wark at her to be quiet as Maya was coming on.

 

Maya was reporting from the edge of the Tokyo-3 Sea. “We have big news today folks. We have actually found a piece of material from one of the Eva's. What mysteries will we be able to decipher from this? I don't really know at this time but this could be a prime piece of that confusing puzzle we call Evangelion.”

 

Asuka didn't give a damn about what Maya said, all she cared about was the piece of shiny red metal in her hand. She bolted from the couch and dived into one of the kitchen drawers. It was the drawer with Misato's personal black book as she knew Misato had to have Maya's personal number. She cursed a couple times as Misato's organization skills were less than par and it took her a while to find Maya's cell phone number. But when she did she immediately called Maya.

 

By this time Maya was just finishing her report and signing off but not before her personal cell phone went off on air. This surprised Maya greatly and she rushed her goodbye a bit. Not too many people had her personal number and she could count them on one hand. One of the people was holding the camera for her so it couldn't have been him. Another was currently down in Australia and most likely setting up for a later performance by his band so it probably wasn't him. Then there was Fuyutsuki but she knew he was in the middle of teaching a lecture so it couldn't be him. Her parents were a viable possibility but they never called her till the evening when they knew she wouldn't be on air. That left one possibility, Misato. “Umm… Hello??”

 

“Gimmee it!”

 

Maya had to hold the phone away from her ear as that was said really loud. “Who is this?”

 

“Asuka. Now gimmee it!”

 

“How did you get my number?”

 

“I stole it out of Misato's black book” Asuka answered. “Now that better be a real piece and not something you made up.”

 

“It's a real piece all right but what exactly are you doing home from school. Don't you have swimming practice?” Maya knew Asuka and Shinji didn't watch her program so she was surprised that Asuka was calling her. Plus she didn't even think Asuka would be home right now so Asuka had really screwed up a surprise learning about this.

 

“Swimming season was over with like two weeks ago. Now that piece belongs to me and I want it!”

 

“I'm sorry Asuka but you are going to have to wait” Maya told her calmly hoping that Asuka herself would calm down. “You weren't supposed to know about this.”

 

“And why not?!” Asuka demanded proving that Maya's attempt to calm her down was an act of futility.

 

Since the surprise was obviously now spoiled Maya told her “You weren't supposed to learn about this till next Tuesday.”

 

That date clicked in Asuka's head. This was supposed to be a birthday present and she answered with a sort of embarrassed but not really “Oh.” … “Ummm can I have my present early??”

 

Maya let out a little laugh and told her “You're just going to have to wait.”

 

Asuka let out a pouty “Aaaa, can't I have it now please?”

 

“No” Maya answered and then she hung up on the girl.

 

Asuka then hung up the phone and looked over at Shinji. “They aren't being nice to me.” Shinji chuckled at that and Asuka let him have one of her trademarked “Hmmpffs” as she sat down on him. But as she sat there she realized something. If it wasn't for that stupid bird she would have never known about this and it really would have been a good surprise. “You stupid bird.”

 

PenPen simply warked at her in reply and walked back over towards the fridge.

 

But as he was walking he heard Asuka wonder out loud “You know if I didn't know any better I could have sworn PenPen did that on purpose.” PenPen turned around and saw that Asuka was looking straight at him.

 

He tried to give her one of his `stupid penguin that doesn't know anything' looks back but as Asuka kept scrutinizing him with her eyes he began to get nervous. At the first sweat drop Asuka burst out “You did do that on purpose you miserable feather head!” and she took off after him.

 

PenPen barely escaped a beating for his little trick as he was able to jump in his special fridge just a second before Asuka got a hold of him. To him this served Asuka right as she always told the others to stop spoiling him and it wasn't fair. He was the family's pet so he deserved to be spoiled. And while he was incredibly smart as far as penguins go he forgot to realize one thing, his sanctuary was nothing more than a modified refrigerator.

 

Now Asuka was being as nice as she could as she stood outside the door and tapped her foot. She was going to give the bird a full minute to come out and apologize to her. But when he stayed cooped up in his coup she opened the whole fridge door and grabbed him by his feet. She picked up the bird and stared it straight in the eyes “You know I think I'm going to make dinner tonight. And I am in the mood for something exotic. I bet penguin tastes like chicken, let's see if I am right.”

 

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

 

When Misato came home she could hear the ruckus going on inside her place from outside of it. She opened the door and saw Asuka was trying to put PenPen in a pot while PenPen was squawking loudly trying to get away. She blinked a couple times and then told Shinji to take Keiko from her. Misato then walked over to Asuka “Why are you trying to stuff my penguin into a pot?”

 

“Because he's going to be dinner tonight” Asuka answered with a teasing smile.

 

Misato shook her head and let out a little motherly breath “Let him go.”

 

Asuka did what she was told but not before adding “Well he deserved it.”

 

“And what could he have possibly done to deserve you threatening to cook him?”

 

“He spoiled a surprise that Maya was going to give me on my birthday” Asuka answered.

 

“Wait… how did you know Maya was even going to give you a surprise?” Misato asked as Asuka wasn't supposed to know about that.

 

“Because some stupid bird turned the channel on the TV to one of her reports where she said she found a piece of an Eva and it was red.”

 

Misato got upset at this and turned to look at her naughty little penguin. “Just what were you thinking huh?” … “You knew that was supposed to be a surprise.”

 

PenPen let out a series of warks trying to explain himself but Misato kept looking at him with disapproval. Eventually the penguin stopped trying to defend himself and walked up to Asuka and bowed its head while letting out a sad sounding wark.

 

Asuka responded with a “Serves you right” and a flip of her hair.

 

Misato though turned her attention back to Asuka. “And you young lady shouldn't threaten him like that.”

 

“Oh please” Asuka scoffed. “There wasn't even water in the pot and I wasn't even close to the stove. The featherbrain was clearly overreacting.”

 

Misato gave her a disapproving “Uh huh.” She then walked right up to Asuka and stood directly in her face “No more of that kind of teasing, understand?”

 

Asuka let out a half sigh and rolled her eyes while answering “yes ma'am.”

 

“Good. Now that that is settled, what's for dinner?” Misato said cheering up.

 

“How should I know?” Asuka told her. “Shinji's cooking it.”

 

This of course caught Shinji's attention and he opened his mouth to argue that as technically this was Asuka's day to make dinner but then he closed it. He looked at Keiko and said “Why do I even bother?”

 

Keiko just laughed at him and said “Shini funny.”

 

“Yes Shinji is a funny, funny boy” Asuka teased as she took Keiko away from him “Now what do you want for dinner.”

 

Keiko thought hard about this before answering “Theti!”

 

Misato thought about this choice for a second and decided it was a wonderful idea “Spaghetti it is then. Oh and Shinji don't forget to make some garlic bread with it too.”

 

“Put some cheese on that garlic bread” Asuka added.

 

“Oooo good idea and make a nice salad too” Misato said finishing up the order.

 

Shinji replied to the two with a sarcastic “Anything else?”

 

“Watch it Shin-kun” Asuka warned. “Be sarcastic with me and I might just decide that I want some chocolate black forest cake for dessert.”

 

Shinji smiled at her shrewdly as he answered “I can't do that. I haven't bought any cherries yet.”

 

That made Asuka smile widely. She had guessed her birthday cake apparently and that meant Shinji had picked up on the all so subtle clues she was giving him about her favorite dessert. Maybe she had been in a funk long enough after all. Maybe she could start cheering up some and she decided to go play with Keiko while Shinji made dinner and Misato went to sit down for some peace and quiet for a couple seconds.

 

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

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

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

 

It was Tuesday, December 4. Asuka was just waking up from a rather nice night of sleep. She blinked her eyes a couple times and rubbed the sleep from them while sitting up. She then noticed a bell sitting on the stand beside her bed. Curiously it had not been there the night before so she had to question its appearance, but not too much actually as there was a note under it. It was a simple note in nature as all it said was `Ring me when you wake up.' Now Asuka was not one to question things that weren't clear when she could simply find out the answer quickly with a simple action so she picked up the bell and rung it rather loudly.

 

About a minute later there was a knock on her door and she heard Shinji ask “May I come in?”

 

Asuka of course said yes and Shinji came in with a tray of food and set it down in front of her while she sat up in bed.

 

She looked down at the tray and saw two eggs sunny side up with a touch of pepper sprinkled over them, a couple strips of bacon, one sausage patty, and a perfectly toasted English muffin with lots of strawberry jam on it. Along with her meal was a small glass of orange juice and a bigger glass of milk. She had to smile at what was in front of her. She may have not minded a traditional Japanese breakfast but give her a western style one any day and she was happy. She looked up at Shinji and told him “You are scoring mega points with me this morning.”

 

“It's your birthday” Shinji answered. “You deserve to be treated special today.” Shinji then frowned a little bit as he reached over and took the bell away from Asuka. “Sorry but I have to take this away now. Misato said if I let you keep this she would skin me alive.”

 

Asuka had to chuckle to herself a bit for that because at the same time Shinji was going for the bell she was thinking this kind of treatment could be very habit forming. “It's ok Shin-kun. But tell that little hussy that your skin belongs to me. She isn't allowed to lay even one finger on it.” And after that Asuka indicated just what part of his skin she wanted as she requested something to sweeten up her lips as an appetizer before she ate her breakfast. Shinji's lips were just the thing and it made her meal taste all the better.

 

After she was through with her breakfast Shinji carried the tray away but told her to wait there for just a moment longer before she got up to use the bathroom. He returned with a box wrapped in gold foil. This box was much bigger than her usual gold boxes and her eyes got big as she opened the top. Twenty decadent, scrumptious, mouth watering Godiva truffles were staring her in the face. Being she was totally addicted to them she had to try one right away. Her eyes fluttered a bit as she let the creamy and oh so good chocolate melt in her mouth. And when that tangy raspberry syrup filling inside it coated her tongue she let out a little moan of happiness.

 

It took her a good two minutes to savor that chocolate before she could talk to Shinji again and with a falsely admonishing voice she said “Shin-kun you are a very bad, bad boy. You know these things are not good for me and I shouldn't be eating them.” Her voice then switched over to a truthful one “And I love that you get me them anyway.” With her finger she signaled him to come closer to her and she whispered to him “And I love you most of all” before she gave him a rather delicious chocolate/raspberry infused kiss.

 

Personally Asuka really wished she could have skipped school for her birthday as a day kissing and cuddling with Shinji would have been one of the best presents ever but she knew that wasn't the case. She got up from her bed and stretched herself out and then headed over to the bathroom. After cleaning herself up she got dressed in her school uniform and came out into the living room. Shinji was still in the bathroom getting ready for school himself so she decided to play with Keiko, who herself was still in the process of waking up. When she picked Keiko up she found out just how tired the year and a half old was as she wrapped her little arms around Asuka and snuggled her head onto Asuka's chest.

 

Keiko let out a little “Asa” coo and fell asleep.

 

Asuka looked over at the girl's mother and let out an “Ummm… Misato?”

 

Misato looked over at Asuka and smiled. “She had a rough night last night so she's tuckered out. Could you hold her for a minute or two while I get some breakfast ready for her?”

 

Asuka let out a “Sure” and went to go sit down in the rocking chair. She couldn't help but smile as she looked down at the sleeping child. Keiko looked so content and comfortable being in her arms it made Asuka happy. In her own way Asuka considered this her birthday present from Keiko.

 

While she was sitting there she saw Kaji come out of his room tying his tie. He was getting ready to leave for work as well. He passed by Asuka and said quietly “Happy birthday there kiddo.” Asuka smiled back at him and continued to rock Keiko. Kaji then walked up to Misato and gave her a kiss. “See ya later hot stuff.” And then he gave her ass a little pinch.

 

Misato of coursed giggled at that like she did every morning and told him “I'll be waiting.” And after one final kiss Kaji was out the door and on his way to work.

 

A couple minutes later Shinji got out of the bathroom and made his way to his room where he got changed and ready for school. When he came out of his room he saw Misato taking an obviously tired Keiko from Asuka and carry her over to her high chair. Misato said goodbye to the two teens as they went out the door.

 

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

 

Asuka and Shinji walked down the hall of their apartment building and knocked on Rei's door. “You ready in there Nanook?”

 

Rei came out of her apartment and gave Asuka a little stare. Just because she was wearing a big furry hat, furry mittens, a furry coat that went down to her ankles, and a furry scarf did not mean she was an Eskimo. Of course that never stopped Asuka from insinuating it because she always thought Rei was overreacting to the temperature. Hell it wasn't even below freezing most of the time but judging by Rei's dress you would have thought they lived in arctic conditions. But that was just Rei so after the little teasing the three teens left for school.

 

Once they got to school and up in the classroom Hikari greeted them and gave Asuka a little present and wished her a happy birthday. Asuka thanked her for the gift and soon afterwards Hikari was giving the commands to stand, bow, and be seated as class started.

 

During class though Asuka noticed something different about Hikari, she just didn't look like her normal self today. She sent a quick instant message to Hikari asking if she was feeling all right. The answer she got back from Hikari was she was just feeling a little off today, that's all. Since it was wintertime Asuka figured Hikari must have just caught a little cold. It wasn't all that unusual of a thing this time of the year and already there were a couple classmates either out of class or sniffling while carrying around some tissues.

 

This line of thinking continued for Asuka until about lunchtime. When Hikari didn't sit down by her and Rei she got suspicious. Her suspicions grew as she saw Touji walk over to where Hikari had sat down by herself and he rubbed her back a little and it very much looked like he was inquiring if she was ok. But it wasn't like he was seeing if she was feeling bad physically it was more like something in an emotional sense. Asuka was very much confused about this now and she called Shinji over from where he was eating lunch with Kensuke.

 

“Do you know what is going on with those two?”

 

Shinji shook his head no. “We asked Touji if she was feeling alright earlier but all he told us was Hikari was feeling a little down. It didn't seem like he really wanted to talk about it.”

 

Asuka looked back over at the other two. There was something definitely wrong. She was about to get up and find out for herself but the end of lunch bell went off. She then watched as Hikari walked back towards the classroom with Touji. She was tempted to follow but she got the feeling she shouldn't. Her, Shinji, Rei, and Kensuke all walked back to the classroom wondering what was wrong.

 

Asuka wanted to ask Hikari what the problem really was during class but she knew that she would only get the same answer as before. Plus if it really was a real problem there would be no way for Hikari to talk about it and pay attention to the teacher. No matter what was going on in her life Hikari was always a serious student. Education was a very big thing to her and just about everyone expected her to go to a top college and she wasn't going to let them down. But while Asuka knew Hikari wasn't going to talk during class she also knew where Hikari would be after school. It was a simple decision for her to not come home right after school today. But first she had to ask someone a question so she sent a quick IM.

 

Asuka: Say Shinji did you have any really special plans for when we get home?

Shinji: Nothing really special why?

Asuka: I am not going to go home right after school is done today. I want to see if I can talk to Hikari for a bit.

Shinji: Ok. I will just spoil you rotten some other day then.

Asuka: Trust me Shinji, I will hold you to that.

 

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

 

After class was over Hikari went about her usual way and headed towards the gym. It was hard for her not to notice she had someone following her. When she sat down on one of the bleachers her little tag along sat down right next to her. She looked over at Asuka and asked “Don't you have somewhere to be right now?”

 

“Not really” Asuka answered.

 

“But it's your birthday” Hikari responded. “I figured Shinji would have something planned or Misato and Kaji would be taking you somewhere right after school.”

 

“Nope” Asuka said. “This year my birthday is going to be a bit low key. Maybe a little extra spoiling but that's about it.”

 

Hikari looked at her friend confused after that. There wasn't any real reason why Asuka was with her that she could think of. “If you're here to see how Rei is doing, they practice on the other side of the gym so you might want to sit over there.”

 

“Why would I want to do that?” Asuka answered. “I know Rei is doing good and it would be hard to talk to you from the other side of the gym.” Hikari only answered that with another confused look. “See… Now I know something is wrong. You're almost always on top of things.”

 

Hikari gave Asuka a weak smile after that “It's nothing important. Just go home and let Shinji spoil you.”

 

Asuka blinked a couple times after that and then stared at Hikari. She knew exactly what a brush off was and that Hikari had just tried to do one to her. “Now listen here Hikari. If you want to act like me that's fine but you better show a little more attitude. And if you do I will act like you and point out who is a very concerned friend who won't let you get away with it.”

 

Hikari let out a light chuckle at that as Asuka was pretty much right about what she just said. She let out a little breath after that and told the demanding red head “It's kind of a family problem.”

 

“So” Asuka answered. “I tell you my family problems all the time.”

 

“More like unload them on to me” Hikari commented. “But if you must know I was told something last night that I'm not sure how to react to.”

 

“What?” Asuka asked. “You can tell me. You know I'm not going to blab it around.”

 

Hikari let out a huge sigh as she answered “Someone in my family is pregnant who I didn't really expect to be.”

 

Asuka's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at that “But… but I thought you said you were on the pill… did you stop taking them?”

 

Hikari was nearly floored by that implication. It also scared her to death and she waved her hands while saying “I didn't mean me. Touji and I are very, very safe about that sort of thing.”

 

Asuka was able to catch her breath after that and told her “Don't ever scare me like that again. You're pretty much my moral guidance and if you did something like that then I would be really screwed.”

 

Hikari could only look at Asuka after that and shake her head while smiling a bit. The two then noticed the basketball team was starting to come out of the locker room. Hikari smiled at Touji when he passed by her and he smiled back. Truthfully he was happy to see Asuka there. He had tried to talk to her about her problem but after a while he could tell he wasn't doing much good. This was something she needed to talk about with another girl.

 

So while the girls watched the boys jog around the gym for a warm up Asuka asked “Is it your older sister?”

 

“Trust me if it was her I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe a little disappointed but not surprised” Hikari answered and just to clear everything up she added on “And it isn't my little sister either.”

 

That of course left only one option and Asuka questioned “Your step mom?”

 

Hikari nodded her head yes.

 

“Isn't she a bit too old to be having kids?”

 

Hikari breathed out a sighed “No.” … “Actually my step mom is younger than Misato.”

 

That surprised Asuka. Truthfully she had only met Hikari's step mom a couple of times and even then it was for only a matter of seconds. “Wait… but how old is your dad?”

 

“Younger than you think” Hikari answered. “My mom and dad got married and started a family at 18. In fact my dad was still 18 when my big sister was born.” That of course meant that Hikari's dad was only around 38 right now. “And my step mom is only 29.”

 

These facts made Asuka question something. “Did you just not think they were going to have a kid or did they tell you that?”

 

“The thought never even occurred to me” Hikari answered. “And now that it has I don't know what to think about it.”

 

“Are you mad that they didn't come to talk to you first?”

 

“Sort of. But at the same time I think they were going to at one point but this may have happened differently from what they expected.” Hikari looked over at Touji as he practiced out on the court after that for a minute trying to compile her thoughts while Asuka patiently waited. “Last night I overheard her talking on the phone telling her mother the news and she said it was a happy accident. So while this may not have been planned right now it may have been something that might have been in the future.”

 

“So you're going to have a new baby brother or sister” Asuka said. “How'd your sisters react to it?”

 

“When I talked to Kodama last night on the phone she said she didn't really have a problem with it. She was actually a bit surprised they waited as long as they did. As for Nozomi, she was very excited about it so I don't think she has a problem with it either.”

 

“But you don't feel like they do, do you?” Asuka asked.

 

Hikari shook her head no. “I know Asuna (Hikari's step mom's name) isn't trying to replace my mom. And I know she isn't trying to start her own family and take dad away from us. And I know all the other negative stuff that goes with these situations isn't correct either and that she really does love and care about my sisters and me but there is still a part of me that feels a bit betrayed.”

 

Asuka could recognize what was going on right now. Hikari was feeling something that she had no rational for. She knew the truths, she knew why, and she knew all the facts and how she should feel but that didn't stop her from feeling a certain way. Asuka had lived most of her life in this confusion prone state so she did to Hikari what she had always wanted people to do to her. She reached over and gave Hikari a hug and told her “It's ok. There's nothing wrong with the way you're feeling.”

 

Hikari hugged her back and replied with a very soft “Thank you.”

 

After the hug was over Asuka reached into her schoolbag and took out her box of chocolates. She opened the top and pushed it in front of Hikari. “Do you want one?”

 

Hikari looked at her very surprised. The fact that Asuka was willing to share her coveted chocolates must have meant she was really worried about her. Hikari though answered with “No thank you. I wouldn't feel right eating your birthday chocolates from Shinji. But if you want…???” Hikari gave Asuka a leading look after that.

 

Hikari didn't need to do that really as Asuka already figured out what Hikari was thinking. While she knew Hikari just needed someone to talk to this about, where they were was probably not the greatest place. Just too many other ears around and not private enough. “I suppose if you want we could talk about this while walking around the mall. And if by perchance we wander by the ice cream parlor maybe, just maybe we could stop in there. It is my birthday today so I suppose a couple extra treats would be ok.”

 

Hikari smiled at her for that and the two got up. Hikari then told Touji she was leaving now and he gave her a little kiss while telling her to have fun. Asuka on the other hand called home on her cell phone. “Umm Misato… Were you planning on anything special when I got home? Because I'm going to spend some time at the mall with Hikari if that is ok?”

 

“That's perfectly fine with me” Misato answered over the loud cry of a child. “I was planning to take you out to a nice restaurant for dinner but right now is not a good time.”

 

By the loud crying Asuka could tell why Misato said that. “Is something wrong with Keiko?”

 

“Unfortunately yes” Misato answered sounding a bit on the worn out side. “There was another reason she was sleepy this morning and when I took her to the doctor this afternoon he told me she caught a nasty little stomach virus that has been popping up all around town.”

 

Asuka let out a “Poor Keiko. She's going to be all right, right?”

 

“If she takes her medicine she will be” Misato answered with a labored breath. “But as you can hear that's easier said than done.”

 

“Ok. As soon as I am done talking with Hikari I will be right home.”

 

“Take your time” Misato told her. “Shinji's already helping me and Rei is just going to order us some delivery.”

 

Asuka said ok to that and then said bye. Hikari though looked over at her and asked “Is something wrong with Keiko?”

 

“She has a stomach bug and doesn't want to take her medicine. Everything's under control though.”

 

Hikari chuckled a little at that. “You seem to be having all kinds of troubles with babies today.”

 

“As long as it's indirect troubles I don't care” Asuka answered. Hikari giggled at that too and the two took a train towards the mall where they each had an ice cream cone while talking.

 

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

 

Asuka got home from the mall at around seven in the evening. When she got home she found she had some company. She also saw a worn out Misato along with a worn out boyfriend and a worn out father type figure. She looked around and noticed Rei was missing though. “Didn't Rei give you a hand?”

 

“No” Misato answered. “That girl had enough brains to run back to her place after dinner. I wish I did.” And after a couple relaxing breaths she added “There's some dinner in the fridge if you're hungry.”

 

“Maybe later” Asuka answered and then turned her attention over to the company. “I didn't keep you waiting did I?”

 

“No” Maya answered. “We got here about five minutes ago. Just late enough to miss the terror going to bed.”

 

“I wondered why it was so quiet in here. So ummm…. Can I have my present now?”

 

Maya smiled at Asuka and Makoto took something out of a bag he was carrying and gave it to the anxious girl. “Happy birthday Asuka.”

 

Asuka took the shiny piece of red metal and caressed it with her fingers lightly. “Are you sure this is from my Eva?”

 

Maya took the piece back and flicked it with her finger. A very unique ding was heard and Misato said “That's Eva armor all right. Only one metal I know makes that sound.”

 

Maya agreed with that and added. “The metal we used for the armor plating was very unique and one of a kind. I don't even think the technology exists anymore to replicate it.” Maya dinged it again and had Asuka listen closely to it. “I know there's a lot of fake stuff out there that people are trying to pass off as real to make a quick buck but if it sounds like this it's real.”

 

Asuka took back the small piece of metal and flicked it with her fingernail so she could hear the sound again. She instantly memorized every aspect of the sound it made from the frequency to the modulation of it. This really was a piece of armor from her Eva and she was happy to have it. She got up and gave Maya a big hug and told her “Thank you” with misty eyes. This was a very important keepsake to her. She even had the perfect place to display it as she had a picture of her mother that she kept beside her bed and she put it in the corner of the picture frame. When she was done with that she came back out and asked Maya “Where did you find it?”

 

“Actually Makoto and I found it while we were shopping at the outdoor market about a month ago” Maya answered.

 

“Apparently some fisherman found it inside one of the fish he caught and just thought it looked neat so he kept it in a display case as a novelty” Makoto added. “Both Maya and I recognized what it was immediately and we bought it off of him.”

 

Asuka smiled after hearing that but had to ask “Did he know what it was when you bought it from him?”

 

“No” Maya answered. “And we didn't really tell him so don't say anything about it please.”

 

“Don't worry, I won't” Asuka answered. “This is my treasure now.”

 

“Good thing you didn't say anything” Kaji spoke up. “If you had you probably wouldn't of been able to buy it off the guy and it would just be on e-bay with all the other so called Eva stuff.”

 

Everyone in the room agreed with that as while the Eva's were steeped in mystery, so called pieces of them were a dime a dozen on the internet. Now how many of those pieces were authentic was anyone's guess but truthfully if it didn't look like it was a piece off one of the MP Eva's it was definitely a fake. There was nothing left of Unit-00 after Rei self detonated it, all of Unit-01 was up in space, and the few fragments of Unit-02 that weren't vaporized by the third impact explosion could only be found among the rubble of Tokyo-3 on the bottom of the sea that was now above it. Finding this one little piece for Asuka in itself was a miracle.

 

After that very special, and to be forever cherished, gift Misato gave Asuka her spoiled rotten girl gift. Asuka actually had to go out in the hall in order to not wake up Keiko so she could celebrate it. Once out there though she was jumping up and down yelling “It's a Versace!!! It's a Versace!!! It's a Versace!!!” This of course attracted a bit of attention and several of the other people on the floor opened their doors to see what the commotion was all about.

 

One of the peoples was Rei and she soon found an overly excited red headed girl jumping up and down in front of her shoving a dress in her face yelling “It's a Versace!!! It's a Versace!!!” When Rei didn't react to that Asuka stopped jumping and looked straight at her “Why do I even bother Blue? You never get it.”

 

Rei answered with a deadpanned “I have asked myself that a million times.”

 

Asuka looked at Rei for one more second and rolled her eyes at the girl. She then turned around and made her way back to her apartment and gave Misato a huge hug.

 

Rei only shook her head as she closed her door.

 

The other people who had opened their doors to see what the commotion was all about could only chuckle a bit. This floor definitely had a unique cast of characters living on it.

 

(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. As for the proof reading, yes I know it sucks. I am referred to lovingly by my girl as the dyslexic wonder sometimes so that is a bit of an explanation why things seemed flipped around in my writing style from time to time. As for taking on pre-readers to help, I am not spiting you people by saying no to the request so don't take it personally if I don't respond. It is just that I have had one of my stories stolen by a pre-reader once so I am a bit once bit twice shy about that sort of thing.)