Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

The Swim of Things

By Ret Nuh

 

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

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It was the last day before winter break and all the teens in the classroom were in the exact same position, their heads down staring at pieces of papers in front of them. This wasn't a good thing at all either as the papers in front of them were filled with all sorts of questions designed to test just how much knowledge they had accumulated in the first of the three trimesters of school. When I said all of them I meant all of them as even Asuka had to do this. She had tests too. The only good thing about having to go through this academic nightmare was that tomorrow there would be no school and wouldn't be for two whole weeks.

 

For some people this day was very, very hard and something that was as close to hell as it could come. To others, this was a stroll in the park. The classes that Asuka was taking online were not exactly up to her level so to her the test were just a mere formality. Write a few fancy words, fill in a couple bubbles and then she was done. The same could be said for Rei. One of the advantages of hiding that you were really smart is that tests were really easy.

 

Then there were more normal cases like Touji. He had to study his ass off just to do decent. When it came to book smarts Touji just didn't have much to spare and even by his own admission if it wasn't for Hikari's help he probably wouldn't even have stayed in school. But don't mistake that with Touji being dumb, for he wasn't. His brain was more geared towards life smarts. Touji was young, strong, and a hard worker. You teach him how to do a job and in no time he was good at it. You put a book in front of him though and he was yawning before he even got done with the first page. Hikari's opinion of that was as long as Touji tried hard she was happy. So what if he wasn't going to follow her down the college path, he more than made up for it in many other ways.

 

As for Hikari though the tests were manageable and she could figure out most of the answers. Anything she didn't know she just made a mental note of to study a bit more for the next time. Next around the room was Shinji. He was doing a lot better in school now and even on these tests he was doing ok. But if you looked at his over all grades you would quickly notice that his homework scores and his tests score were a bit different from each other. He seemed to do much better on his homework and it didn't always reflect on his tests.

 

The final person, Kensuke, seemed to be having a harder time than usual. Normally he cruised through the tests like Hikari and would even do slightly better than her but this time around he wasn't doing nearly as good. He didn't really have all that much time to study due to his job and it was showing right now.

 

But whether you had to tough this out or just go through the motions the end result was the same. The gleaming light of freedom at the end was well worth it. So with the last papers turned in the first trimester of school was over and the teens were free to go have some fun. Well most of them were, both Touji and Rei still had practices with their respective sports but with no games or meets schedule for those two weeks, due to the holidays, the practices themselves tended to be on the easy side and shorter than usual.

 

Touji stretched himself out while still sitting in his seat and said “Thank god that's over with. My brain feels like its been beaten to a bloody pulp.”

 

Asuka of course couldn't let that go without a comment. “I would think it is hard to beat something up that doesn't exist.”

 

“Tease all you want Red” Touji shot back. “Nothing's going to bother me now.”

 

“Aw you're no fun” Asuka grumped before switching over to a more normal voice. “So anyone got any big plans for the next two weeks?” Even though there was a multitude of different reasons why the answer was the same for everyone. “Not really.”

 

Touji's plans were Hikari, sitting around doing nothing, and b-ball. In that order actually as with less obligations him and Hikari could spend much more quality time together. And when Hikari was busy he could either sit back and relax or go shoot some hoops with his friends.

 

Everyone could guess Kensuke's plans. Overtime and plenty of it. He responded to the looks he was getting with “What? I make good money this time of the year.”

 

Rei looked over at him and asked “But why would you voluntarily drive around in this cold weather?”

 

“Ah it doesn't bother me” Kensuke answered. “It's not that bad once you get used to it. Plus it sends business through the roof as when it gets cold people get lazy and orders come flooding in.” He then smirked as he looked directly at Rei “You know they say it's going to drop below freezing tonight. So am I going to be seeing you later?”

 

Rei actually shivered at the mention of the upcoming night temperature. She was definitely not looking forward to it. She also knew Kensuke was absolutely right about his appearance at her place tonight. Rei had a habit of staying up late on Friday nights so she could catch up on some of her books and if she got hungry she typically called out for food. “Please place an order for me of sukiyaki with a vegetable harumaki for around 11:30 pm.”

 

“Not a problem” Kensuke answered writing the order down on a scrap piece of paper. “Want any red bean paste?”

 

“No thank you” Rei answered. Normally she could be tempted with that treat but she didn't burn off nearly the amount of calories in gymnastics as she did with swimming so she had to watch what she ate. And considering the gymnastics team uniforms were almost as tight as her old plugsuit she couldn't exactly hide any excess winter weight under a bulky sweater.

 

“You aren't planning to read trashy romance novels for the next two weeks are you?” Asuka asked shaking her head in disapproval even before Rei answered her.

 

Rei didn't see anything wrong with doing that so she answered “Yes. It will be a relaxing experience.”

 

“You need to do something fun” Asuka answered her.

 

“I will still have gymnastics practice and that is fun.”

 

“That's not what I was talking about blue.” Asuka then looked over at Hikari and thought of something “We should have another sleepover.”

 

“That sounds like it would be fun” Hikari answered. That sounded like a good idea to Rei and she agreed to it as well.

 

Asuka smiled at that “I will call you guys later then and we can pick a date. But first…” and she started to pull on Shinji's arm.

 

“Can't we do that later?” Shinji whined.

 

“No” Asuka told him. “You're as bad as Kaji with your Christmas shopping. Well this year you're not going to wait till the last second so let's go.”

 

There were snickers from four individuals as Shinji continued whining and trying to get out of shopping with Asuka but to no avail. Asuka had already made up her mind and there was no way out of it now. So with the two of them gone it was just Hikari, Touji, Rei, and Kensuke.

 

“So you going anywhere this year Hikari?” Kensuke asked.

 

She shook her head no. “Grandma's coming here this year for a couple days because Asuna really doesn't feel like traveling.”

 

“Morning sickness already kicking in for you step mom?” Kensuke asked.

 

“Yeah… and it seems to be more than just the morning” Hikari answered. Hikari was feeling much better about this situation now. That long talk with Asuka she had helped a lot and she had some talks with her step mom and her dad that really helped as well.

 

“Do they know the gender of the baby yet?” Rei asked.

 

“No” Hikari said. “They probably won't know that till sometime in late February or early March. But I think my father is hoping for a boy.”

 

“What do you want it to be?” Kensuke asked.

 

“A boy. I think I would just feel more comfortable if it was one.”

 

It was after Hikari said that when Touji got up out of his desk. “I suppose I should get changed or the coach is going to throw a fit for me being late.”

 

Hikari smiled at him and gave him a little kiss. “I will see you in a bit.” Touji smiled back at her and then left. Hikari turned her attention over to Rei then “Do you have practice today?”

 

“It's only an informal one” Rei answered. “Coach Ando has a meeting after classes so he won't be able to be there.”

 

There was a small “Oh no” in reply to that.

 

That made Hikari giggle. Without the coach there that meant Kensuke was free game for Kaede. And Kaede was an interesting girl as Rei had found out. Not only did Rei learn that Kaede was the inventor of that disgusting Macarena virus she had been subjected to once she also learned that perversion wasn't only limited to boys. That girl was not shy and just about every day she went after Kensuke.

 

She honestly tried not to listen in on their conversations but sometimes it was really hard not to as while Kensuke kept his voice down Kaede didn't. Just yesterday she overheard Kaede invite Kensuke over to her house to help her relieve some test stress. And considering the girl used the terms “Clit licking” and “Pole sucking” there was nothing decent about the invite.

 

What surprised her the most was Kensuke's reaction to the way Kaede talked to him. She had expected Kensuke to fire back at Kaede with his own brand of crude humor but that wasn't always the case. It might start out in the beginning with some light jesting but it was obvious to even Rei that Kensuke was outmatched by the girl. Kaede could twist up Kensuke's words far better than she had ever seen Asuka do and Kaede could also do something she had seen no other girl able to do, make Kensuke blush.

 

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When Rei got home from practice that night she dropped her stuff off at her place and then went over to Misato's. She of course knocked on the door and got a chagrined smile from Misato who told her she didn't have to knock. But when Rei came in she noticed Asuka and Shinji were not there. “Is Asuka still at the mall?”

 

“Most likely” Misato answered. “It's not like her to leave from there so early.”

 

“I feel sorry for Shinji.”

 

“Better him than me” Misato quickly answered with a smirk. “But don't feel too sorry for the boy. I already got a phone call from Asuka saying they wouldn't be back till around curfew.”

 

“Then shall I make dinner tonight?” Rei asked politely.

 

“If you would please” Misato answered. “I need to make a quick run down to the corner store with Keiko. I'm down to my last pair of diapers.”

 

Rei nodded her head yes to that and made her way over to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and looked inside. While Rei wasn't exactly an accomplished chef yet she wasn't a novice in the kitchen anymore thanks to Shinji's teachings. She took out some of this and some of that and started on a simple supper consisting of some leftover miso soup, some rice, a nice vegetable medley, and some chicken flavored with teriyaki. She was just finishing up the last touches of that dinner when Kaji got home.

 

Kaji gave Rei a wink and a boyish grin while telling her “Well aren't you just a pretty little homemaker?”

 

Rei knew Kaji was just teasing her but she blushed anyways. The guy just had a way to him that made him seem like the ultimate ladies man even if you knew the truth behind him. Kaji was a one woman man and a very happy one at that.

 

With a slightly embarrassed and sheepish little smile she told him “Misato needed to run to the store to get some diapers for Keiko. And Shinji and Asuka are out for the night.”

 

“Ah… so a nice quiet night for a change.” Kaji then took off his tie and threw it over the back of the couch. “You're welcome to spend it over here if you want.”

 

Rei had to think about that at first. Eventually though she asked “If I was here then it wouldn't be so quiet.”

 

“I know” Kaji answered. “I don't like quiet. I spent most of my life skulking around unnoticed and being quiet, I never did understand the novelty of it.”

 

Rei lightly laughed at that. Kaji was an interesting person all right but he was also one of the nicest ones she had ever met. Plus she had learned much like Shinji that he could be a good person to go to for advice. The only vice to him was he could get you to say what you were thinking even if you were trying not to. He just had a very unique way with words. But as it stood now he was inviting her to stay for a bit after dinner so she politely accepted his invitation. It would be rude not to otherwise, or at least that is what she told herself.

 

Right after she agreed to stay Misato walked in the door with a bag of diapers in one hand and Keiko in the other. “Hey there stud how bout giving me a hand?”

 

“If you want I can give you a lot more than that” Kaji teased back and gave her a little kiss. He then took Keiko from her so she could put away the diapers. He looked at his little daughter “And a kiss for you too” and placed one on top of her head.

 

Keiko responded with a very cute “I wuv daddy” and clamped her arms around her daddy's neck giving him a big hug.

 

Not even Kaji's ultra cool demeanor could challenge this and a big stupid grin appeared on his face.

 

While most people could tell that Keiko had her father wrapped around her little finger these kinds of displays also made him look so much more attractive in Misato's eyes. He was a loving, caring father to their child and that was exactly what she had wanted him to be. She had grown up with an absentee father and knew how hard it was so that was the last thing she wanted her child to suffer through.

 

She wasn't alone in that thought though. Kaji had grown up for the most part without any parents thanks to second impact and the horrors of his young life were deeply etched inside him. No child should ever be forced to grow up the way he did, especially his own child. So while daughter was clamped onto her daddy Misato helped Rei set the table for dinner.

 

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After dinner was over Rei helped with the dishes as usual but instead of going home afterwards she stayed behind and watched TV with Misato, Kaji, and Keiko. This was a little different to Keiko and she crawled over her mommy's lap and sat down by Rei. She looked up at Rei. “Rei-Rei? Why here?”

 

Rei smiled back at Keiko while looking down at her. While the name Rei-Rei wasn't quite right it was still better than the old form of Ra-Ra. With a pleasant voice Rei told the inquisitive child “I'm visiting for a little while more.”

 

That made Keiko smile even more “You pay wif me?”

 

With a little nudging from the woman sitting next to her Rei nodded yes to that. That made Keiko really happy. While Rei was always nice to her she didn't play with her all that much, which of course meant Keiko wanted to all that much more. And being the precocious cutey she was Keiko hopped off the couch and reached for Rei's hand in an effort to drag her over to where all her toys were.

 

Rei was smart enough to realize she better do what Keiko wanted now or she would hurt the little girl's feelings. So Rei ended up filling a roll that night that usually went to either Shinji or Asuka.

 

Misato and Kaji though stayed on the couch pretending to watch the TV. Truthfully they were mostly paying attention to the action happening over in the far corner of the living room. At first they noticed a bit of tension and nervousness as Rei did not know exactly what to do. She had never really played with other kids when she was young so she didn't really know how to. But after a while it seemed like Rei was loosening up, that made the two smile.

 

Rei may have never been allowed to play with others when she was young but there was a tiny hidden part of her that she may have not even known about that was coming out. Making Keiko happy wasn't even that hard. Just pick up a stuffed animal and hop it over the ground and she was happy. It was more the attention part of playing that Keiko wanted as opposed to the toys.

 

Kaji took another look at the two and after he saw both of the playmates with smiles on their faces he remarked “She's growing up to be a very beautiful girl inside and out.”

 

“That's all that I have ever wanted” Misato answered. “I could see it crying out in her eyes when we came back from 3rd Impact. She just needed the chance.”

 

Kaji smiled at Misato for that and wrapped his arms around her pulling her closer to him. “Who would have ever thought you would have made such a good mother?”

 

Misato looked into his eyes with tenderness. “You… and only you.” … “Thank you.” And she gave Kaji a nice kiss before laying her head down on his shoulder. Misato then returned her attention back to Rei and Keiko and simply watched them play. It was such an innocent and uncomplicated sight. And because of that she was happy.

 

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It was around 11:45 pm when Rei heard a knock at her door. She unwrapped the blanket she had around herself and got up out of her chair. She then walked over to the door and when she answered it she saw a rather tired looking Kensuke standing on the other side.

 

“I apologize for being late but business was chaotic today.”

 

Since Rei hadn't even noticed the time she told him it didn't matter. But she did question him on something else, her order. “This seems to be a bigger order than I placed.”

 

“That's because it was the last order of the night before the kitchen closed” Kensuke explained. “So you got whatever was left of the sukiyaki along with a couple extra harumaki's.”

 

“Do I owe more?” Rei questioned.

 

“Nah” Kensuke answered. “We would have just thrown it out anyways. If we give extra to our customer at the end of the night it saves us the trouble of tossing it.”

 

While this was a pleasant surprise for Rei it was also way too much. She never ate a whole order by herself in the first place and what she was given was about twice that. More than likely she would just throw it out as she had grown kind of picky and was no longer that hot on microwaved delivery food. She looked at Kensuke and since he looked half dead she asked “Have you eaten yet?”

 

“I haven't had time” Kensuke answered. “It's been nonstop since I got to work.”

 

“Then would you like to come in for something to eat?” Rei offered. “I can't possibly eat all of this myself and I don't like to waste food.”

 

Normally Kensuke would have turned down a kind offer like this with a kind “No thank you” but since he was done with work for the day and he was starving he asked “You sure you don't mind?” Rei shook her head no and Kensuke took up Rei's generous offer. After all if he went home the only thing he would be eating was something cold out of his refrigerator and a hot meal beat that any day.

 

As he walked into her place he noticed it looked different from the last time he was there. She seemed to have a couple more paintings on the wall along with some pictures of various people scattered around. The most noticeable difference was that Rei had painted the walls a very warm color. “I like what you did with your place” Kensuke commented.

 

Rei looked around for a second and then answered him “Yes. I had Misato help me with it. I felt that it was too plain before.”

 

“Looks nice” Kensuke said sitting down at the table while Rei set out some plates and glasses.

 

After pouring some drinks Rei sat down at the table too and they began to eat. While they were eating though Rei looked up at him and said “I feel like I should apologize for what happened at practice today.”

 

“There's no need for that” Kensuke answered. “You had nothing to do with it.”

 

“But still” Rei insisted. “The team let Kaede get too far out of line. We should have done something to restrain her actions.”

 

“Trust me, that's not the first time she has pounced and pinned me on my back” Kensuke grinned.

 

That bought up an interesting question that Rei, and probably everyone else, wondered. “Kaede seems very aggressive towards you, yet you always back away. I would think you would welcome her advances.”

 

“From anyone else, yes” Kensuke answered. “But not from Kaede. It's too complicated for me to explain why but lets just say I could never be interested in her. There's just too much past stuff between us for that to happen.”

 

This was something that Rei could easily understand. The past was a very volatile thing that could alter and shape the reality of the future. “So she really is just teasing you?”

 

Kensuke thought about that for a minute while eating. “That's the way I see it.”

 

“What if that is not the truth?”

 

“Then it's too bad for her” Kensuke answered. He then saw Rei look at him with a little discontent. “Sorry if that sounded crass but I really can't help feeling like that.”

 

Rei thought about this for a second and lightened up. What he said was the truth and he could not be judged or blamed for that. In fact it would probably be far worse if he did return the affection he was shown as that would be lying to himself and manipulating Kaede's feelings. That would be a much greater sin in Rei's mind than simply being crass.

 

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As Kensuke thanked Rei one more time for the meal while leaving two other people just returning from their little night out showed up. “What's a loser like you doing here at this time of the night?”

 

Kensuke didn't even need to turn around to know who said that. But when he did he noticed something else. He looked closely at Shinji and rubbed his chin a bit before saying “You know Shinji, I'm a pretty tolerant and open minded guy. But that shade of lipstick just doesn't go with your complexion.”

 

That of course got Shinji to react and he quickly wiped off his lips with his sleeve. But he wasn't the only one to react as the one who indirectly put the lipstick on his lips blushed a bit too. It wasn't so much what they did but the fact she got caught so easily.

 

Even Rei had to giggle at that a bit. For as bold as Asuka was she got awfully shy and embarrassed when certain implications were thrown at her. Rei also explained Kensuke's appearance. “Kensuke brought me too much food and I offered to share my meal with him.”

 

“That was nice of you” Shinji commented after getting the last bit of lipstick off him. Shinji then looked over at Kensuke “You look like you have been busy.”

 

“You don't know the half of it” Kensuke responded. “Business was a bit too good tonight. I had to switch out three different batteries on my moped because I didn't have time to recharge them in-between stops to pick up more food.”

 

“You must have made some serious cash then?” Asuka said as if he really was that busy that meant he must have gotten a load in tips.

 

“Oh yeah” Kensuke answered with a big grin. “A couple more nights like this and I will finally be in the black again.” He then let out a laugh as he added “You know what Asuka, you're right about winter. It is a wonderful time of the year.”

 

Asuka rolled her eyes “That's not what I meant about that and you know it.”

 

“Doesn't matter” Kensuke responded. “People just seem to open up their wallets more when it is cold outside.”

 

“That's because they feel sorry for you” Asuka said back and then smirked while she added. “Only a baka would drive around on a moped delivering food in weather like this.”

 

“I may be a baka but I'm a rich baka” Kensuke said pulling a big wad of cash out of his pocket and waiving it in front of her.

 

Asuka looked at the cash and said “I bet that would be just enough to buy me those sandals we were looking at Shinji.”

 

There was more than 15 thousand yen in his hand and Kensuke put the money back into his pocket while commenting “Why in God's name would you spend that much on a stupid pair of shoes?”

 

“Because they look really cool” Asuka answered.

 

Kensuke stepped up to Shinji after Asuka said that and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Man do I feel sorry for you.”

 

Asuka yelled “Hey!!! What's that supposed to mean?” as she could tell that was a shot at her character.

 

But Kensuke just chuckled a bit and waived goodbye as he made his way over to the elevator.

 

Asuka looked over at Rei after that. “You really need to pick who you hang out with better. Some people are not the best influences on you.”

 

“I couldn't agree more” Rei answered and shut the door before Asuka could figure out what that meant.

 

When Asuka did she let out a little offended “Aa.” She then looked over at Shinji with a frumpy face “Everyone's being mean to me.”

 

Shinji smiled back at her though. “I'm not.”

 

Asuka smiled at that and sort of pushed him gently down the hall so that they were outside their door. She leaned into Shinji and gave him a kiss making his lips the color of her lipstick again. “You're never mean to me.” She kissed him again. “You spoil me rotten and treat me like the princess I really am.” She gave him yet another kiss. “I love you for that.”

 

After Asuka said that Shinji dropped the bags he was holding and slid his hands around her waist pulling her closer to him so he could give her a kiss back. He was never as good with words as Asuka was so he didn't even try to respond to what she said. He just simply let her know how he felt about her through his kissing.

 

This was exactly how Asuka liked it, words may have been nice and flattering but actions were the truth.

 

After about five minutes of this Asuka rapped on the door outside their place. “So how much longer can we stay out past curfew?” Both Shinji and Asuka chuckled after she said that because they knew who was listening to them on the other side of the door.

 

Misato was busted listening in on something she probably shouldn't be but holding true to her style she didn't care. She simply told them “As long as you keep doing what your are doing take all the time in the world.”

 

Both teens were left there looking at each other after that. In a normal family being late for curfew because of this kind of thing would probably get them in trouble but not this family. The fact that Asuka and Shinji were kissing each other out in the hall was a very pleasant one and meant all was right in their world to Misato. Asuka and Shinji though were smart enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth and stayed out there for another twenty minutes.

 

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

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One restful week and a pleasant Christmas had passed when Misato came in carrying a load of things in several bags. Kaji saw this and let out a “Uh oh… I take it you weren't happy with what you were told?”

 

Misato wasn't unhappy with what she was told but she wasn't happy with it either. “Things need to change. I think they can all do better so some alterations are in order.”

 

“So how big of a change are we talking about?” Kaji asked so he could be up to date on things.

 

“For certain individuals the change will be drastic, for others it will just require some extra work.”

 

Considering Kaji knew what she was talking about he knew what this meant. “So do you want me to take Keiko somewhere during this?”

 

“Well she could use a hair cut so why don't you go do that” Misato told him. “I'm not 100% sure what everyone's reaction will be so it would be best if she wasn't around.”

 

“So what time should I call to make the appointment for?”

 

“I told Kensuke I had some mortgage papers for him to pick up and he said he would stop by around here at 3:00 pm so plan around that. I'll make sure the other three are here too” Misato told him.

 

“Got it” Kaji answered and picked up the phone to schedule a hair cut for his little daughter.

 

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Rei was sitting in her vibrating chair, wrapped up in an electric blanket, and reading a steamy story when her phone rang. She grumbled to herself for a second as she was at a steamy part and didn't really want to be disturbed but that stopped when she saw who it was on the caller ID. Some people couldn't be ignored. “Hello Misato.”

 

“Hey sweetie. I just wanted to give you a quick little call to let you know I need to talk to you at 3:00 pm. You can be over here then, right?”

 

“Yes I can” Rei answered politely.

 

“Thanks sweetie” Misato said and then hung up.

 

Rei thought nothing of this and went back to her book after she put down her phone. A minute later she was blushing as her mind envisioned what she was reading.

 

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Asuka was standing in a line talking with Hikari when her cell phone rang. “Oh, hey Misato. You need something?”

 

“I need to know what your plans for the day are.” Misato told her.

 

“Hikari and I are in line for a movie and the boys went to go play some basketball.”

 

“Do you think you will be able to be home by three?” Misato asked.

 

“We were planning to go pick up our report cards then” Asuka answered. “But that shouldn't take more than fifteen minutes.”

 

“Forget about the report cards for now” Misato told her. “I just need you home by then.”

 

“Ok” Asuka said shrugging her shoulders not understanding why it was so important for her to be home by then but at the same time not arguing it.

 

After Asuka got off the phone Hikari looked over at her and asked “What was that all about?”

 

“No clue” Asuka answered. “Misato just wants me to be home by three. You and Touji are probably going to have to get your report cards by yourself.”

 

“Oh well” Hikari answered. “So be it.”

 

Asuka looked at the smirk that came over Hikari's face when she said that. It was definitely a knowing one and Asuka teased “Bad Hikari!”

 

Hikari refused to surrender the smile and only giggled while saying “You'll know someday.”

 

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Shinji picked up his cell phone and said “Hello?”

 

“Hey, it's just me” Misato answered. “Do you think you could be home by three?”

 

“Sure” Shinji answered. He then hung up the phone after that and walked back out on the basketball court and stood by Touji.

 

“Please tell me that wasn't the girls and that they changed their minds and want us to see that chick flick with them now?” Touji said while dribbling the ball.

 

“Nope. It was only Misato” Shinji answered. “She wants me home by three.”

 

“Oh” Touji commented and since it wasn't anything big he announced out loud “Game On.” And Shinji, him, and some of their friends went back to their basketball game.

 

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It was about five minutes before 3:00 pm when Asuka and Shinji got to the top of the stairs. They had just stepped out of the doorway to the stairwell when they saw Kensuke step out of the elevator. Oddly enough he wasn't carrying any food with him. “What're you doing here?” Asuka asked.

 

“I have to pick up some papers from Misato” Kensuke answered.

 

“Oh” Asuka answered and as the three of them continued walking they were joined by a fourth as Rei stepped out of her place. She inquired about their presence as well as all of them walked toward the Katsuragi residence.

 

“Misato asked me to come over at three as she had something to tell me” Rei answered the inquiries she got in return.

 

“Wait a second…” Asuka said stopping before she opened the door. She then turned around at looked at the other three with her back to the door. “Misato asked both Shinji and me to be home by three. Plus she called you over Rei, and she knew Kensuke would be coming over at this time too.” Asuka's eyes then went wide as she figured it out “This is a Trap!!!” This was too well orchestrated and too much of a coincidence for it not to be. She may not have known what kind of plan Misato had but she knew the woman had one.

 

But as the other three looked at her strangely the door behind her opened up and a raven-haired beauty appeared. She was smirking as she said “You're way too smart for your own good sometimes.”

 

Asuka slowly turned around and saw the look in Misato's eyes. She let out a little “eeep” as she knew she was right, this was a trap. And worse yet they were already caught in it. Asuka tried to take a step backwards but with reflexes quicker than hers Misato got a hold of her wrist and held her.

 

“And just where do you think you're planning on going?” Misato asked as a wickedly parental essence emanated from her.

 

“I…Uhhhhhhh…. Ummmmm… My report card….” It wasn't only Asuka who was getting nervous at this point as the other three were starting to think like her. “…Ummm. That's right, I need to go get my report card. I will be right back.”

 

Misato tightened her grip on the poor girl and started tugging her inside the apartment while saying “There's no need for that. I already picked up your report cards this morning.”

 

That made even Rei's normally calm demeanor disappear as her eyes went big just like Asuka's had. Even though she was sure she got good grades there was just something ominous about Misato having hold of her report card. And the fact that Misato got her hands on it before she did just made that feeling worse.

 

The worse thought though was Shinji's. You got your report card from your teacher, and if Misato had them now that meant she had gotten them from Mr. Ohta himself. And if that was true that meant so much more happened as it wasn't like Misato not to discuss things with people like that. She was a very involved parent after all.

 

While Asuka was probably the most nervous out of all of them as she was thinking just like Shinji, and then some, Kensuke was the most confused. “I thought I just came over here for some documents?”

 

“That's one of the reasons you are here” Misato answered the bewildered boy. “Now why don't you all come inside so we can have a nice little talk.”

 

Not one of the four teens liked the sound of that but there wasn't anything they could do about it. Asuka was already inside the place so she was beyond help and Shinji knew not even he was quick enough to escape Misato right now. Rei's mind was even contemplating trying to run away but another side of her was saying that would be a very bad thing to do and would most likely get her in trouble. She had seen that happen enough times to Asuka to know that was something best avoided. Kensuke just marched in behind the others with a railroaded look on his face and the thought `Why me?' running through his head.

 

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

 

After leading the teens towards the kitchen table, where they saw a lot of different stuff in bags on it, Misato lined them up in the order she wanted to deal with them. Asuka first, then Shinji, followed by Rei, and finishing up with Kensuke.

 

Asuka nervously stepped forward from the group and stood at the other end of the table from Misato. She then noticed something else on the table. “Why do you have my back pack?”

 

“We will get to that in a second” Misato answered. “But first let's talk about your schoolwork.” The groan from Asuka after that was very expected. “First off I will let you know you got top grades in all your courses.”

 

Even though Misato said that Asuka did not feel anymore relaxed. It was just how Misato said that indicated there was more to this.

 

“But when I talked to your teacher he seemed to feel that you weren't exactly applying yourself too hard. Personally I think that is because you took a bunch of slack off courses and subjects that you had already learned so you wouldn't have to do much.” Misato was absolutely right about this and a trickle of worry sweat appeared on Asuka's brow. “From now on you're going to take courses that are recommended by your new advisor.”

 

It was a good thing that Keiko was gone as Asuka let fly a “Oh shit” as she knew whom Misato was talking about. This was not a person who she could easily fool, if at all, and who was actually smarter than her. A very dangerous combination indeed. This person had already suggested on several occasions that the school he was dean of would gladly accept Asuka into their fine institution as she was a special talent. Asuka began to quiver as she begged “Please… I don't want to leave high school.”

 

“Don't worry” Misato told her. “I would never do that to you. But on Monday morning you are going over to Tokyo-4 University where you will meet with Professor Fuyutsuki and he will help you choose courses more set to your level.”

 

Asuka pouted and stomped her foot a bit as she whined “Do I have to?” If this course of action was true that meant Asuka was going to have to really try and work hard to get good grades as low level college courses were easy but the ones that Professor Fuyutsuki taught and would probably recommend wouldn't be. While being the dean he was also still a professor and as such he still taught classes. The classes though were all upper level or graduate type.

 

“Yes you do” Misato told her directly. “And because of that you will not need these anymore.” Misato then proceeded to take three of Asuka's big college level books out of her bag. They were the ones that Asuka always seemed to have with her at school.

 

“No!… I still need those.”

 

“Oh please” Misato scoffed. “You know the kanji upside down and backwards. You don't need these now.” As Misato said that she revealed one of Asuka's biggest secrets as she opened up one of the books. There was a cut out in the book with a smaller book inside.

 

When Asuka had come back from third impact she was still having trouble with the kanji. Now her pride wouldn't let her admit this and Misato knew Asuka would never submit to some sort of remedial learning class to catch her up, so she had to think up something creative. After doing some thinking, and snooping around, she found certain books in German that she caught Asuka reading in private from time to time. If Asuka did enjoy those books maybe this would be a good way to get her to study the kanji indirectly so she went out and bought the whole collection of the series written in kanji. This wasn't enough though as while Asuka would attempt to read the books she would never let anyone see her do it which kind of defeated the whole point of this. She was supposed to be studying it while in class but she wouldn't let herself be caught reading these kind of books during class as they were technically written for kids and she was technically too old to be reading them.

 

Misato wasn't one to give up so easily on a good idea though so she developed this sneakier way. She bought three very big and complicated looking college books and cut out enough of the insides of them where she could put a small paperback book in it. This way Asuka could hide what she was really doing while at the same time give off the image of what she wanted others to think she was doing. At first Asuka was skeptical of this but after she found out she could get away with it she accepted it gladly.

 

Asuka blushed horribly as Misato took the other book out and the others got to see what it was, a Nancy Drew novel. Misato then looked up at Shinji “Do you know why Asuka won't let you look in her closet ever?”

 

“Because she's a girl” Shinji answered stating what he thought was obvious.

 

“Well besides that” Misato said hoping he would have come up with a better answer. “It's because she has the whole collection of these books hidden in there and she doesn't want anyone to know that she still reads these types of books.”

 

Asuka let out a loud cry “Misato!!!” in an effort to get the over intrusive guardian to stop telling everyone her secret. It was embarrassing enough that she still liked to read these novels, she didn't have to go broadcasting it to the world. Truthfully though Asuka didn't have to worry about anything. Shinji wouldn't have a problem with it, Rei considering her love of trashy romance novels didn't have a foot to stand on, and Kensuke couldn't care less about what kind of books Asuka read.

 

But as Misato reached into a bag to pull out some papers Asuka whined and complained about it even more. She didn't want Misato to take away her books as whenever she was feeling bored or uninterested in a subject she would read one of these books instead. They just made her smile. Too bad for Asuka though as those books were a goner now, she could still read them at home but not in school anymore. What she could read though were some papers thrown in front of her. They were placement exams for college.

 

“I want these done by Wednesday so I can turn them in with enough time for Kouzou to grade them.”

 

Asuka took one look at the exams and then threw them down on the table while letting out a German curse word. Asuka then gave Misato a very dirty look and stomped off towards her room where she slammed her door behind her.

 

From the kitchen table though came a “Sulk all you want, you're not getting out of this.” But right after she said that she told Shinji “Don't you dare go over there.”

 

“But.. but..” Shinji started to argue as he knew he should go to Asuka.

 

“But nothing” Misato stated. “She can stay in there by herself for a bit to think about this, it's your turn now.”

 

Shinji got very nervous at that and his hand started to twitch.

 

Misato saw that and shook her head at him “You don't have to get that worked up over this. Your grades were up and I'm proud of that. But…” Shinji really didn't want to hear that “… I don't like how your homework grades and your test grades differ so much. I think you may be getting a little too much help from Asuka so from now on I want you to study and do your homework on your own.” Misato then looked directly at him to make this next point clear “And your grades are not allowed to drop any. You already know what college Asuka is in and that it is the top college in this country. And thanks to your past you pretty much have a free ride to that college too. But if you're not academically qualified to go there I won't let you. Do you understand?”

 

Shinji looked down to the ground at this point and sighed “Yes ma'am.” This was going to mean a whole lot more work from now on.

 

“Good” Misato said. “Now you can go over to Asuka and have a little pity party.”

 

And that is exactly what he did as he made his way over to Asuka's room. When he opened the door Asuka looked around him and straight at Misato with eyes that still said she was pissed off. Misato didn't care though and just looked back at Asuka with an expression that told Asuka she wasn't backing down from what she said. As Shinji shut the door Asuka turned her attention towards him. Shinji though just stayed quiet and collapsed on the bed next to her. Asuka leaned her head up against him and said “This Sucks.”

 

Shinji simply nodded his head in agreement and let out a sigh.

 

Outside the room Rei was sweating bullets. Asuka had gotten good grades and she basically got punished for it. Shinji had gotten the best grades he had ever gotten and he got punished for it. And now it was her turn. She knew having the top grades in her general class was not going to be good enough for Misato at this point. She nervously and very slowly trudged her way towards Misato when she was called forward by a scary finger. “Y- yes ma'am?”

 

“Rei sweetie” Misato started. “While I'm happy that you always get good grades I'm also suspicious of it. No matter what's happening in your life you always get the top grades and that is unusual. You have gone through some big changes in your life this trimester but you wouldn't be able to tell that from your grades. I mean if they were down a slight bit I would perfectly understand it. But your grades were the same as always which leads me to believe that getting these high of grades is something that's very easy for you. Something tells me you may remember a lot more of that knowledge that was pumped into your brain when you were younger than you have admitted to.”

 

Rei gulped as Misato was right. Life was a lot easier this way if people thought she had just normal intelligence.

 

“Now I had a good talk with your teacher and he is very impressed with you but he also told me that you rarely look like you are ever trying. I believe he is correct so…” and Misato took out a whole bunch of study guides and handed them to the flustered blue haired girl. “… I have decided that you're to spend the next two trimesters studying for Tokyo-4's college placement exam which you will be taking at the end of the school year.” And just like she did with Shinji she stared directly at Rei to stress her point. “And I expect that you will make it in.” Misato went back to her normal look after that as she added “But don't worry as I won't take you out of class. I will just copy the setup I have for Asuka with you.”

 

Rei stared at Misato for a second before letting out a rather large sigh. This was a very unwanted change in her life as she would have preferred to just coast along in school as that was simple. Misato really was a person of great compassion and caring but that always came at a price. She expected those she cared about to live up to their potential. It was clear to Rei that Misato was attempting to do that with her and she put the study guides back in the bag while uttering a downtrodden “Yes ma'am” just like Shinji did.

 

Misato smiled back at Rei and told her “You don't have to start studying right away this week as I want you to enjoy your vacation but you should at least flip thru the pages a bit so you know where you stand.”

 

Rei nodded her head yes at that and then headed back to her place. Once she got there she dropped the bag of books on the floor and sat down in her chair. She then did what every other teenager does, and what Shinji and Asuka were doing right now, she sulked. She didn't want to do this, it wasn't fair, and she didn't understand why she had to. This was all just a big hassle and she stared up at the ceiling while she cried out “Why?” She of course got no answer and spent the next several hours trying to contemplate all of this.

 

The final person left in all this mess was Kensuke. He still had no clue as to what was going on but was even more confused as to why Misato had his report card. He had never had to answer to her before and truthfully even before third impact he never had to answer to anyone as his dad was always too busy to look at it. Trying to avoid as much discussion as he could he said “Can I have my paperwork now? I need to get back to work.”

 

“No you don't” Misato answered him while handing him his paper work. But before she let go of the papers she said “I suggest you look over that first before you go.”

 

Kensuke gave her a confused look for that but did as he was told. He noticed something very quickly, this wasn't the run of the mill paperwork but was ownership papers. According to this document he, along with his co-signer Misato, owned the apartment he was living in. “What the hell is this?”

 

“It's the deed to your place” Misato answered.

 

“I know that” Kensuke argued. “But I got at least ten more years of payments on my place.”

 

“No you don't” Misato repeated. “In order for you to get that place you needed an adult to co-sign for you and thanks to the generosity of that adult your entire mortgage has been paid off.”

 

“WHAT???!!!” Kensuke yelled.

 

“No thanks are needed” Misato said. “I just needed to alleviate some of your troubles before I could take some other actions. I also had most of your bills transferred over to my name and they will be taken care of automatically. Well accept your cell phone bill, you are old enough and responsible enough to handle that yourself.” She then flashed him a very big smile only to get a dumbfounded look back.

 

Kensuke simply could not believe what he was just told and was left speechless.

 

Misato looked back at this obviously perplexed boy for a couple seconds before asking “Are you alright?”

 

“What the hell do you think?” Kensuke shouted. “How could you do this to me?”

 

“Easily” Misato answered. “I'm your legal guardian and as such anything financial is more my responsibility than it is yours. And now since you don't have to worry about money as much you can cut down on the amount you work.”

 

“This is bullshit!” Kensuke yelled and then directly challenged Misato with “You can't tell me what to do.”

 

In less time than it took Kensuke to blink Misato's face changed from a friendly one to an angry one. She stood up and slammed her hands down on the table while challenging him right back “What did you just say to me?”

 

Kensuke did not expect this. In all his meetings with Misato he never saw her look like this. And it wasn't even what she said back to him or how she said it that got him, it was the look he was getting from her when she said it. It was a completely overwhelming look. The only thing he could think while being stuck under this gaze was `Do as you are told.' He tried to stand up to the gaze at first but he could feel himself backing down, it didn't matter if he wanted to back down or not he just was.

 

But as scary and overwhelming as this gaze was it was also something that he remembered, something from long ago that he couldn't quite place his finger on. Even though this was the first time Misato had ever acted this way towards him this was familiar. It was oddly enough a look that made him think maternal thoughts. Eventually his looked shifted from one of anger to one of confusion “But I don't know how to live like this.”

 

Misato's face shifted to one of compassion as she told him softly “Then you need to learn. You're a 17 year old kid in high school, you shouldn't have to work a full time job.”

 

“But what will I do with all that extra time?” Kensuke then questioned.

 

“First off I would like to see you apply more of your time back into your studies” Misato told him. “While your grades didn't drop much they were down. That's what indicated to me that you were being stretched too far apart.”

 

What Misato said to him was true. He was so tired everyday now. He was dead tired when he went to bed each night, tired when he got back up, tired of going to his job everyday, tired of going to school, and some days he was just plain tired of life. Even if he didn't want to admit it to himself he knew he couldn't continue on this way if he wanted to achieve any of his dreams. It would simply be impossible. Kensuke let out a breath and then asked Misato “What am I going to tell my boss?”

 

“He already knows” Misato told him. “As he has probably already told you we go back some ways. He was sad when I told him what I was going to do but he knew it was right. He will probably just have to hire another kid or two to replace the time you can't work anymore.”

 

“And how much will that be?”

 

“No more than twenty hours per week now” Misato answered and knowing he was going to question it she added “And there will be no debate on this. My word is final.”

 

Kensuke was now understanding why all his friends acted the way they did around Misato. He just couldn't see her as the sexpot he used to, she was something different now. It was clear to him that Misato cared about his well being and he smirked at her while repeating what both Shinji and Rei had said to her when she spelled out what she had in store for them. “Yes ma'am.”

 

Misato smiled back at him “Now you're learning.”

 

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

 

While all that commotion was happening back at the apartment Kaji was at a stylists shop with his daughter. And while his daughter sat on a chair shaped like a pony and sucked on a lollypop the hairstylist commented “Is she really only a year and a half old?”

 

“Yup” Kaji replied to the astonished woman. “She came out with a head full of hair.”

 

“Wow” the woman said as she trimmed the edges of the little girls hair so they would be even. “It's such a beautiful raven color. It's almost purplish if you look at it under the right light.”

 

“Just like her mothers” Kaji answered with a proud papa grin.

 

Keiko herself didn't care what was going on or what the strange lady was doing to her, she was sitting on a horsey and eating some candy. That's all it took to bribe her. Plus another magical thing happened as when the strange lady was done messing with her hair she sprayed it with stuff that made it all sparkly.

 

Kaji was chuckling to himself as he agreed with the stylist to spray some glitter in his daughter's hair at the end. It would just make the girl that much more cute and adorable. And also he saw his daughter get a pricelessly happy smile on her face when she saw the stuff sparkling in the mirror. That was more than enough for him to leave the stylist a big tip.

 

When he got home with his little girl he saw Misato sitting at the kitchen table looking a bit exhausted. “I take it everything's done now?”

 

Misato looked up at him from the table and at first she was going to let out a sighed yes but then she saw her daughter. She got a smile on her face and got up out of the chair. She walked up to her beaming little girl “Well aren't you just a pretty, pretty girl.” Keiko cooed at that and reached for her mother so Misato picked her up and held her.

 

“So where is everyone now?” Kaji asked.

 

“Shinji and Asuka are in her room pouting about everything. Rei is probably doing the same thing back at her place. And more than likely Kensuke is trying to get his boss not to listen to me.”

 

“So pretty much what you expected was going to happen then” Kaji commented.

 

“Yup” Misato said as she twirled her little one around gently making her hair sparkle and shine. “But some things just have to be done.” Misato then looked at her beautiful daughter for a bit more before saying “And there's no time like the start of a new year for big changes.”

 

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

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It was Friday, January 4th. This was a day of escapes as all three girls who were involved in this slumber party gathered together at Rei's place for a bit of peace and quiet… and mostly to get away from certain family members. You know the reason why Asuka and Rei were looking for solitude but Hikari had a some reasons too. Too much of her family. Her father was off work so he was always around, her little sister had no school so she was always around, her big sister had come home from college during the break so she was always around, her stepmother was a housewife so she was always around no matter what, and while normally she could escape all this togetherness by hanging out with Touji her grandmother had come to visit so she had to stick around for the most part this week.

 

Asuka and Rei had already griped about there problems and now it was Hikari's turn. “I can't believe my grandma. She's so old fashion sometimes.”

 

“Had to mind your P's and Q's while she was around?” Asuka asked.

 

“Not only that” Hikari answered. “But she expects me to follow in my dad's footsteps.”

 

“You mean she wants you to become a lab technician like your father?” Asuka asked.

 

“Other footstep” Hikari corrected her. “She wants me to get married and start a family right away after high school.”

 

Both Asuka and Rei were taken aback by this. Even before third impact things like this were getting to be a rare occurrence. But considering they both knew that Hikari's parents got married at 18 and started a family right away if anyone was a candidate for this kind of thing Hikari would be the one in a traditional sense. Rei looked at Hikari and asked her “Are you planning to go through with your grandmother's wishes?”

 

Hikari answered quickly with “NO!” After a couple more seconds she calmed down a little from the thought. “It's not like Touji and I haven't thought of getting married after high school but its been nothing more than thoughts. We both plan to move in together right away but whether we are married or not doesn't really matter to us. And as for the starting the family thing, I don't think so. My dad has preached to me from day one of my relationship about the kids thing. He told me that his and my mom's life was so much harder than it had to be because they started a family together way to early due to their parent's wishes. He told me that both of them trying to get thru college while raising babies was impossibly hard and he had no clue how they managed to do it.”

 

“So a maybe on the marriage thing but a no on kids” Asuka said.

 

“Something like that” Hikari answered. “I want to have a family but I don't want to start till I am through college and have a job.”

 

Rei then asked something she was curious about “Was Touji around when your grandmother said that?”

 

Hikari's face definitely showed some emotion as she shook her head yes. “I felt so sorry for him. I swear it scared him to death. And then Nozomi had to go and shoot her mouth off by saying that Touji and I already spend the nights together which of course gave the impression to my grandma that Touji and I already should be married.”

 

“That couldn't have gone over well” Asuka commented.

 

“Trust me it didn't” Hikari said. “If it wasn't for the law stating you have to be 18 now my grandmother probably would have shoved a shotgun into his back and forced a wedding right there and then. She was actually younger than I am now when she got married.”

 

Asuka couldn't help it, she had to laugh at that. She could just picture it: Touji in a tux with a look of absolute fear and shock to his face while a little old lady pointed a gun at his back. Hikari would be in a veil and gown with eyes open as far as they could possibly be saying “I do” more out of fear for her boyfriend's life than anything else. “And I bet you his dad would be behind this one hundred percent.”

 

“Knowing Touji's dad he would probably be shoving oysters and eels down Touji's throat to speed up the babies part” Hikari said shaking her head.

 

Rei found this odd so she asked “Why is Touji's father so insistent on you being part of his family.”

 

“Because of my cooking is what Touji tells me” Hikari answered. “He says that I cook just like his mother did… which is really strange because his grandfather says the same thing about Touji's mom.”

 

“What a surprise” Asuka chuckled. “You're accepted into the family because of food.”

 

“What do you know?” Hikari sassed back. “You couldn't cook to save your life.”

 

“I can too.” Asuka quickly stated back. She then looked up and away at the ceiling as she quietly added on “I don't know how good of a life it would be but it would be a life.”

 

That caused both Hikari and Rei to giggle. While Asuka did try and was learning how to cook, Rei actually had surpassed her in that department. Asuka could easily explain that away though as she was going to be with Shinji forever so she didn't have to get all that much better while eventually Rei would have to go out on her own so it was more imperative that she learn how to cook. A very typical reasoning by Asuka that elicited the usual reply, a roll of the eyes.

 

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

 

Later on that night Asuka and Hikari wanted to watch a movie and Rei agreed that might be fun. The only problem with that was Rei didn't have a DVD player, or more importantly a TV for that matter, so that meant they would have to switch apartments if they wanted to watch one. Now Asuka and Rei weren't being mean to Misato in any way, they were just basically staying the hell away from her out of fear that they would get saddled with even more crap, so going over there was risky in their eyes. This was sort of stupid in Hikari's mind so she had no problems being a sacrificial lamb and she went over there first to inquire if Misato was still awake. While Misato was up she wasn't around. Kaji and her turned in early right after they put Keiko to bed so the boys could talk to each other without being guarded.

 

Or at least that's what she told them, with her door completely shut you didn't really know what she and Kaji were doing in there. But considering she told the boys not to interrupt them unless Keiko was crying or there was an emergency you could be excused if your thoughts were in the gutter, and truth be told you would be right.

 

But the only part of that Asuka and Rei cared about was that Misato was in fact not around so when Hikari told them that they went over to the Katsuragi household. Now as you can guess Shinji and Touji were there but Kensuke was also there again too. This was more due to the fact that he was bored out of his wits. He had reached his twenty hours by Wednesday and even though they were on break he still wasn't allowed to work extra hours. Misato was being a bit of a dictator in that sense and worse yet his boss never disagreed with her. So as Hikari, Rei, and Asuka walked into the apartment they saw Kensuke and Shinji sitting on the couch playing a video basketball game while Touji was watching from the reclining chair shouting out what they should do.

 

Asuka being Asuka walked right in front of the TV and looked at both boys. “We want to watch a movie.”

 

“And we're trying to play a game” Kensuke sniped back. “So get out of the way.”

 

“Don't you dare get snippy with me” Asuka said back and then yanked the video game cords leading up to the TV out to permanently end their game.

 

There where two loud “Hey!”s to that.

 

The one by Kensuke was totally ignored while the one by Shinji garnered a strange look. “Why'd you say hey me?” Asuka pouted. “You're always supposed to be on my side.”

 

“But I was just about to win” Shinji said back. “There was only ten seconds on the clock and I was up by five.”

 

“Then I will just have to declare you the winner” Asuka said solving the situation.

 

“Good” Touji said with a smirk. “Now you can plug the game back in so I can play next.”

 

“Don't make me hit you” Asuka said with a shake of her fist. “We girls want to watch a movie and if you guys stop giving us crap we might just allow you to watch it with us.”

 

“Big deal” Kensuke answered. “Why in the hell would we want to watch some stupid chick flick?”

 

Kensuke got a bit of a life line from an unexpected source after he said that. “We will not be watching one of those types of movies.”

 

Asuka looked over at Rei. “Don't give in to a stupid comment like that so fast.”

 

“I'm not giving in” Rei corrected her. “I don't want to watch that type of movie.”

 

“Why not?” Asuka asked confused.

 

“Because I don't like them.” Rei simply answered.

 

That got an even more confused look from Asuka. “Wait?… how can you not like chick flicks yet love romance novels?”

 

Rei shrugged her shoulders at Asuka as she had no real answer to that. That was just how it was. Most likely it had to do with her imagination of events being grander than what movies usually showed.

 

Asuka blinked her eyes a couple times and then lightly shook her head. “That makes no sense at all?”

 

Rei looked directly at Asuka for that and told her “And neither do you most of the time?”

 

The fact that Asuka just got majorly zinged wasn't half as bad as the fact the others around her were snickering at her for that. The one she picked on though was Shinji as he definitely shouldn't have laughed at it. After a little love swat to the back of his head, which as you can guess he apologized for after getting hit, Asuka plopped down beside him and let out a frumpy “Fine someone else can pick a movie… But it better be good.” Asuka then looked over at Kensuke and literally kicked him off the couch. “Next time keep your mouth shut hentai boy.”

 

Even though he was just kicked off the couch Kensuke was still laughing. Not even the menacing growl that came from Asuka afterwards could silence it. But since he knew he was not welcomed back on the couch he switched spots with Touji.

 

Now Touji was allowed to sit on the couch but that was only because Hikari sat down and snuggled herself into him right after he sat down. And after seeing that Asuka did the same thing to Shinji on the other side of the couch. After Asuka did that Kensuke pulled the lever on the recliner to make himself comfortable. Five people then all looked at Rei as she was the only one left standing.

 

“So what's it going to be Blue?” Asuka asked. “Since you're the last one standing it's your choice now.”

 

Rei actually got a little worried about this. Anytime she was involved in a group activity it was someone else calling the shots but now it was up to her. She didn't really like this and with a little bit of meekness she asked out “What do you want to watch?”

 

“I don't care” Asuka answered. “As long as it's not some stupid blow em up flick.”

 

“What's wrong with them?” Touji said from the other side of the couch. But he quieted up when Hikari shook her head at him. She didn't want to watch one of those movies either.

 

Hikari smiled at Rei and told her “Something nice and light. I don't really like those mind game types of movies.” Rei nodded her head yes at that as she didn't like those kinds of movies either. Too much like her past life for her tastes.

 

The final suggestion came from the recliner. “Don't put on anything boring.”

 

That was followed by a “Oh shut up!” from a red head on the couch as the boys opinions weren't important to her.

 

Armed with this knowledge, some of it being contradictory unfortunately, Rei looked over at the rack of DVDs. She couldn't really decide but then she spotted one that was out of place. This of course must have been one that Misato watched and considering Shinji hadn't put it back in its right place yet that must have meant it was recently. She pulled it out and looked at the back. It seemed to be a light hearted tongue in cheek comedy with enough action in it to satisfy the boys so she decided to go with it.

 

She must have made a good choice as when A Knights Tale started playing she got a couple of accolades in the form of “Sweet, this movie rocks” … “Oooo good choice” … “Alright.” Rei then looked around and noticed she didn't have a spot to sit really. She didn't want to disturb the two couples on the couch, Kensuke was already in the good reclining chair, and the other chair didn't have a good view of the TV. But then she spied something just as good as a chair or a couch, a futon that must have been taken out for use later. She dragged it over in front of the couch and then laid down on it. Two seconds later though she looked back up at the people on the couch.

 

Rei didn't even need to say anything as Asuka grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and tossed it down to her with a chagrined “Freeze baby.”

 

Rei just shrugged her shoulders at Asuka again and then said “Thank you” because she was a courteous type of girl. A couple minutes later though she got a visitor. PenPen walked up to her and sat right up against her stomach. In his flippers were two cans, one was a can of pop and the other was a can of juice. He gave Rei the can of juice and Rei in turn gave his head a little scratch.

 

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

 

Misato turned over and looked at Kaji “Mmmmmm… That was a very good idea on how to keep out of the kid's hair tonight.”

 

Kaji gave Misato a nice kiss and said “I'm glad I thought of it.”

 

“Well keep thinking it” Misato purred. “I will be right back, I just need to get a glass of water.”

 

“Oh I will definitely be waiting “ Kaji said back with a smirk and a wink while Misato threw on a robe.

 

She then slowly creaked the door open and looked out into the apartment. She could hear from the living room a familiar song that she could have sworn she just heard earlier that day. It was in English too and after a couple seconds she figured it out, the boys must have been watching the same movie she had been before. She then made her way towards the kitchen to get a glass of water. She stopped though when she saw who else was in the living room. The girls had come over apparently and that wasn't all. Everyone was asleep but one.

 

PenPen looked up at Misato and let out a soft wark as not to wake up the others. He then got up and waddled towards the TV to turn it off while Misato walked over to a closet. She pulled out some blankets and placed one over Kensuke who was sawing logs in the recliner. Then she placed a blanket on top of each of the two cute couples snuggled up together on the couch. She could tell this was nothing new for Touji and Hikari but she would love to see the reaction Asuka and Shinji had when they woke up and found that they had slept with each other for the first time. The blushing cheeks that both would most likely exhibit would have been priceless to see. If she was lucky maybe Asuka and Shinji would wake up when she was getting Keiko up. Next she laid an extra warm blanket over Rei, who in turn snuggled up under it as it was all toasty and warm.

 

After tending to the tuckered out teens Misato returned to her previous task and got a drink of water while saying goodnight to a tired looking penguin. Then she made her way back towards her bedroom where she shut her door behind her and stripped off her robe to a very appreciative audience.

 

(A/N: And that is the end of chapter 9. I was going to actually elaborate on Shinji and Asuka waking up together but I decided it would be better done in a preluded third person sense. Plus you readers probably can picture it in your minds better than I could have described 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.)