Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 12 ( Chapter 12 )

The Swim of Things

By

Ret Nuh

 

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

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

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

 

Shinji and Asuka were cuddled together in her bed on a Sunday night. It was the end of spring break and in the morning they would have to go to school once again. This also meant something else, if Shinji wanted to play baseball this year he would have to try out tomorrow. With the final winter sports tournaments and playoffs having already occurred that meant the winter season was over and spring sports teams were starting up.

 

Many people had given Shinji encouragement to try out as some of them had a good feeling he would make the team. Touji had played baseball his whole life and he knew what he had seen of Shinji's play during gym could earn him a spot on the team. Kensuke had played baseball just as long as Touji and he thought the same way. And even the gym coach was thinking along the same lines when he recommended that Shinji try out. Shinji had certain abilities that were greatly sharpened by his experiences being an Evangelion pilot and even if he didn't notice it himself those others did.

 

Kaji wanted him to join the team too as the Tokyo-4 high school baseball team was pretty good. They weren't really a threat to win the national tournaments but they won much more than they lost and that appealed to Kaji. Ever since third impact his favorite team was constantly losing and he really wanted to cheer on a team that actually won. With Shinji on the baseball team he would have a good and legitimate excuse to switch alliances and root for a winner for a change.

 

Misato was also on the Shinji joining the baseball team bandwagon. Her reasons were different from her husbands though, she couldn't care less how the team actually did as long as it got Shinji out of the house and doing something. Misato was a mom and she wanted her kids to participate in after school activities. It looked good on the high school transcripts, stuff like this would keep Shinji in good shape physically, the socialization would be good for him, and most of all if Shinji was off playing baseball Misato knew Asuka would be right there next to him. This whole coming home right after school thing the two of them had developed was really starting to bug Misato. She may have loved them but that didn't stop the two from becoming pests, especially Asuka.

 

For two kids that used to pride themselves on being so independent they sure were underfoot an awful lot and Asuka was always asking for one thing or another. But that same person who was making a pest of herself at home was also the reason Shinji was hesitant about trying out. Asuka didn't want him to join the baseball team as if he did then they wouldn't have as much time together. Baseball was an even more time consuming sport than swimming and Asuka was growing accustomed to being doted over by Shinji. This meant she wasn't exactly thrilled by the prospect of losing that attention.

 

Shinji had picked up on this vibe and that is why he had waited till the last second before talking to Asuka about it. Plus he didn't really want to have one of these conversations in the first place as he pretty much liked to avoid strife whenever possible. That was just an integral part of his nature.

 

Shinji wrapped himself around Asuka while lying in her bed, pulling her closer to him. “Asuka…”

 

Just by the way he said her name she knew what was coming. This conversation of theirs had been hanging in the air for a while now and she knew what the impasse was. She did not want to lose any attention and Shinji wanted to play baseball, something that would interfere with what she considered her time with him. She turned around and faced him as she wanted to see his eyes while they talked. “Yes Shin-kun…”

 

Shinji would have preferred if she would have stayed turned away from him. It was much harder to talk to Asuka about these kinds of things if she was staring him right in the face. “What do you think of me maybe playing baseball?...” Shinji voice trailed off and got quieter after each word of that sentence.

 

“I think your time could be spent doing better things” Asuka answered. Asuka answered this truthfully and plainly as that is what she really thought but she also told him “But whether you decide to play or not is not my decision.” While Asuka did not want to give up the attention she had grown up enough to realize that was a very selfish reason and not one she had any right to force.

 

Shinji sighed while looking at Asuka “But I don't want to make you mad.”

 

Asuka though shook her head no at that answer. “I'm not going to be mad at you no matter what decision you make. I don't really have the right to be in this situation.” Even though she told him that she could still see the melancholy look in his eyes. The most important thing in the world to Shinji was knowing he could make Asuka happy. This was one of the main reasons he came back. And just from the look she knew Shinji had made his decision. But even though it was the right one for her she couldn't live with it. It would make her feel too guilty. “Shinji, you want to play baseball right?”

 

“Well yes….” Shinji answered looking closer at Asuka. She was so pretty and beautiful, he knew he couldn't do something to make her pout. “But I'm not going to do something that you don't want me to.”

 

“This has nothing to do with me not wanting you to play baseball” Asuka answered him. “In fact I think you would have a lot of fun doing that. This has to do with me alone. I don't want to share you.”

 

“You don't have to” Shinji answered. “You know you're more important to me than anything else.”

 

“Oh please” Asuka scoffed. “You can't use that as a logical reason. This has nothing to do with proving how much we love each other.”

 

“Then how am I supposed to answer?” Shinji asked as he didn't know what Asuka wanted him to say.

 

“Answer with whatever you want to do” Asuka told him. “If you want to play baseball, play baseball. If you don't, don't. Make up your own mind Shinji.”

 

Shinji looked directly at Asuka as he answered “I already know what I want to do, I just don't want to make you unhappy…” and before Asuka could rebuff that he added “… and yes that is more important to me.”

 

And there within laid the problem. Asuka shook her head as they were getting nowhere in this argument. But while she did that she realized something. The two of them were doing something stupid again and she caressed his face while telling him “We're doing it again.”

 

“Doing what?” Shinji questioned as he didn't understand why the sudden switch in moods had occurred.

 

“Taking the opposite side of what we want to please the other” Asuka answered. “You want to play baseball yet are arguing against it while I am arguing for it yet don't want you to give up the time it will take to play it.”

 

Shinji let out a sort of frustrated chuckle as he let Asuka caress him. “You'd think we would at least know how to argue correctly by now.”

 

Asuka smiled at him “Shin-kun, if we actually did something the way we are supposed to I think fourth impact would be initiated.” She then turned around so he could hold her from behind again. “Let's just sleep on this for now and you can make your decision in the morning. But please think of this while you are sleeping, I do want you to be happy too.”

 

And that was the end of the argument. Both knew where the other stood and also that this wasn't as big of a thing as it started out to be. They had nothing to prove to each other and in the long run this decision wasn't really going to change their relationship with each other.

 

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

 

Asuka was awoken by her alarm clock the next morning. She reached over and turned it off but then got pulled back into bed as a boy started to kiss her neck. She let him continue to do it for a while as it felt rather pleasing to her but at the same time she knew what it meant. Shinji had made up his mind and now he was trying to make it up to her. She though had slightly different requirements. “Shin-kun, if you're going to have to play that silly sport you can only do it on a couple conditions.”

 

“And what are they?” Shinji asked in-between kisses.

 

“That you try your best and be really good. Because if I'm going to have to give up all the extra kisses, massages, and groping I better damn well have a good reason.” She noticed Shinji stopped kissing her then. “Because I will be sitting there in the stands supporting you and you know how much I like to brag.”

 

Shinji turned so he was on his back and looked up at the ceiling. He took a nervous swallow as he started second guessing his decision. Asuka sounded pretty serious about that and he didn't know if he could live up to her expectations.

 

Asuka turned around and looked at him. She wasn't exactly happy that he stopped kissing her as she was enjoying it. “Is something wrong?”

 

Shinji looked up at the beauty that was now looking down at him. He let out a troubled breath as he told her. “Please don't pressure me like that. I don't even know if I will make the team or not.”

 

Asuka though smiled at him while she crawled up on top of him and said “Oh you will make the team.” Asuka then took off her nightshirt. “And what's with this about you not wanting pressure?” She pressed her breasts tightly against his bare chest and started to grind her upper body against his. “Secretly I think you like pressure.”

 

What Asuka was doing and the incredibly sexy way she kept saying the word `pressure' was definitely making Shinji think she was right.

 

“I think you thrive on pressure” Asuka told him hovering her lips only an inch above his. She then wrapped her long legs around his body and locked them together giving the lower part of his a tight embrace with her legs. With her lower portion of her body pressing tightly against his she whispered onto his lips “I think you crave pressure.” Asuka then kissed him. He certainly did crave something and considering she was locked on to him pretty tightly she could feel exactly what part of him was craving her the most. And considering the part it was pressing against she got a thrill out of it too.

 

But that thrill was short lived as there was a banging on her door. Asuka pulled away from her kiss and yelled out an uppity “Go away, we're busy”

 

But the answer was another pound on the door and an uncaring “Be busy on your own time. It's a school day and if you don't get moving you two will be late.”

 

Asuka definitely pouted as she let Shinji out of her sensuous body lock and put her shirt back on, with a good bit of pouting by the boy too. She then got out of bed and opened her door while grumbling “I hate school.”

 

All she got for that was an unsympathetic “You and every other teenager in the world now hurry it up.” Misato then looked at Asuka and she changed something a little bit from the normal routine of their lives. “Asuka will make breakfast this morning, why don't you go get your shower first Shinji.”

 

Shinji was almost willing to argue this point as usually he made breakfast for them all but Misato was on the verge of giving him the mommy stare and he wasn't going to challenge that. He just told himself that Misato probably wanted to talk to Asuka about something that was better said if he wasn't around so he scurried off.

 

And Shinji was absolutely right about that as Misato was staring straight at Asuka, giving the girl a look that made her nervous. It was bad enough when Misato gave her this look when she knew she deserved it, right now though she didn't and she asked hesitantly “I- is something wrong?”

 

“That depends” Misato answered. “I personally want Shinji to play baseball because it will be a good experience for him. Now are we going to have to argue this point?”

 

Asuka let out a huge sigh of relief. For a second there she thought she was in real trouble but she already had the answer the somewhat demanding guardian wanted. “Relax Misato, Shinji's going to try out for the team after school today.”

 

Misato lightened up “Good. I was hoping you would come to your senses.”

 

Asuka looked at Misato with a raised eyebrow. “You were about to chew me out for being selfish, weren't you?”

 

Misato smiled at her “You better believe it. You know I don't like it when you act that way. But since you chose what was right over what you wanted you're off the hook.”

 

“Thanks a lot” Asuka answered her in a way that clearly did not mean it. “But just because it's right doesn't mean I can't be snippy about it you pushy broad.”

 

Misato's smile turned into a light chuckle “I wouldn't expect anything less from you.” She then got pelted by a little round yellow piece of cereal for that from a less than appreciative red head.

 

Truthfully though Asuka was more miffed at Misato for interrupting her romantic interlude with Shinji than she was for the planned lecture. Hell she kind of expected the lecture as something in the back of her mind told her it would be coming, but since she and Shinji had that argument last night they didn't have any fun before they went to sleep. And since the make up fun this morning was just interrupted she was left feeling a bit frustrated. And Asuka generally hated feeling frustrated.

 

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

 

Asuka's general grumpiness carried over to when she arrived at school and instead of saying hi normally to Hikari before class she just sort of grumbled it out. Thanks to a Saturday shopping trip which involved Asuka, her, and an enthralled Yuma she thought she knew why Asuka was grumpy. She sat down by Asuka and told her “It's not going to be nearly as bad as you think.”

 

“That's what you think” Asuka sniped back.

 

“Asuka the least you could do is be supportive of Shinji” Hikari told her and then added on as a reminder. “He was supportive of you during the swimming season.”

 

Asuka looked at Hikari confused “What are you talking about?”

 

“Well aren't you mad that Shinji's going to be playing baseball?” Hikari questioned.

 

“Oh no no no, that has nothing to do with why I'm grumpy” Asuka told her. “I'm pretty much coming to grips with the baseball decision, it's something else that happened this morning.”

 

“You and Shinji get into a different fight?”

 

“Just the opposite” Asuka sort of cried. “We were getting along very fine and I think we were about to do something very fun when Misato interrupted us, telling us we had to get ready for school.”

 

Hikari knew this feeling all too well. “Ok maybe it is as bad as you think it is.”

 

Even though Touji and her didn't show any signs of it they were quite active in that area of their relationship. But they also had some complications with this as in order to spend the night with each other involved one of the two sneaking out of their place and into the other's. Most of the complications with this involved Hikari's place. Touji's family was very supportive of his relationship with her almost to the point of being pushy about the whole marriage thing. In fact Hikari didn't even have to sneak into his apartment as she was given a key to the place.

 

But her place was much different, she lived in a house. And her father wasn't as liberal with the whole sneaking in or out thing. At night he wanted his daughter safely in her bed and considering he didn't want to know anything about her and Touji in that way he wasn't going to do anything like giving him a key to their place because that would encourage knowing something about it. That of course meant in order for her to go over to Touji's she had to sneak out of her room at night and then back in when it was morning. And while she was pretty good at climbing up and down that trellis outside her second floor window it was a hassle and she could get caught rather easily as it creaked a lot. That problem was a double-edged sword as it pertained to Touji sneaking up to her room too. He had to sneak in after bedtime and then sneak out before her dad got up as getting caught in her bedroom would not be a good thing.

 

And to make matters worse she had a little sister who slept in the room next to her's. Anything they did had to be done quietly as her sister was not shy about ratting her out even though nobody wanted to hear it. The whole hindrance issues involved in having a sexual relationship with Touji almost made the sneaking around thing not worth it. Almost being the key word though as about three or four times a week you would find them snuggled together in a bed in the middle of the night. Whether they were sleeping or not was a completely different question.

 

Asuka looked at Hikari and with a little blush she asked her “Can I ask you a really personal question?” Hikari nodded yes and leaned closer to Asuka so she could whisper the question in her ear. “How long did you wait before letting Touji go from second to third?”

 

Hikari blushed a bit from the question. It was more because of the answer than the question itself though. She looked around to make sure no busybodies were paying attention to them before she quickly flashed two fingers at Asuka.

 

“Two months?” Asuka whispered. Hikari shook her head no. “Weeks??” Asuka then said a bit amazed only to get another shake of the head no. Her eyes went wide as she questioned “Days???” Her eyes stayed wide as Hikari nodded her head yes to that one. “Really????”

 

Hikari was blushing a bit more as she nodded her head yes again. Even though it was not the case with her and Touji the answer sort of sounded slutty and she had to explain why to Asuka, more to make herself feel better than Asuka. “We waited a long time to get to second because I was kinda scared that he would be aggressive and stuff. But when I finally let him and found out he was very gentle with me I guess I wanted more.”

 

“So you went for him first?” Asuka asked quietly as she was sort of thinking that way earlier this morning.

 

Hikari though shook her head no. “We were just having a little fun when his hands started to roam. And while we were kissing his hand found its way down to my panties and I did nothing to stop him…” Hikari blushed even more as she told Asuka quietly “… he was being so soft and gentle with me that I took his hand and put his fingers under my panties.”

 

Asuka looked at Hikari completely amazed and sort of jealous. “What did he do?”

 

“Actually he pulled back and looked at me surprised” Hikari told her. “I don't think he was planning to go that far but I wanted him to so I put his hand back and told him it was ok. I think I just wanted to feel that kind of closeness with him.”

 

Asuka answered with a “Wow, you are so much braver than me.”

 

“Why do you say that?” Hikari questioned.

 

“That sorta happened with me on Saturday morning while Shinji and I were making out but I jumped when he touch the front of my panties.” Asuka told her this with a look of regret. It was regret as since then Shinji hadn't put his hand back there and she kind of wanted him to as while it did surprise her it also felt good.

 

Hikari looked over at Shinji after Asuka said that. “You scared him off.”

 

Asuka nodded her head yes to that while looking at Shinji too. He was just standing there talking with Kensuke and Touji and probably telling them he was going to try out as the two other boys looked like they were congratulating him. “But maybe that was a good thing. While I wouldn't mind a little heavy petting I don't want to go all the way.”

 

“Who says you have to?” Hikari asked.

 

Asuka answered with an unsure “Well a lot of the other girls always say that you are supposed to give it up right after you let a boy touch you that way.”

 

“Most of those girls don't know what they are talking about” Hikari answered with a voice of experience. “Touji and I stayed at third for a longer time than it took him to get to second.”

 

“You're kidding me???” Asuka asked astonished. From what she had heard from other girls she didn't think a guy would be happy with that.

 

“Nope” Hikari told her though. “And there's a whole lot more to do at third than most people admit to. I don't even think Touji had a problem staying there as he never pressed for intercourse till I told him I was ready.”

 

Asuka's curiosity was definitely peaked at this point and she wanted to know more. Sadly though the school bell rang and the rest of her questions would have to wait till lunchtime. There was so much that she wanted to know. If there was a level of intimacy that she could have with Shinji that wouldn't demand total intimacy right afterwards like she thought it would she was definitely ready for it. It was like a dam gate broke open when she let Shinji get to second base the first time. It felt very good and now she realized she wanted even more. And as she sat there at her desk, completely unable to concentrate on her studies, she realized she had been getting more and more aggressive with Shinji over the week. Maybe her body was telling her something. And maybe when Shinji and her got home she could explain to him that she only jumped in surprise and not because she didn't want it like she could tell he was thinking.

 

That's when this whole baseball issue came back and bit her on the ass. They weren't going to get home till very late today because of the tryouts and now she was even less happy about it. But she wasn't going to blame Shinji for that as he was only wanting to do something that was fun, instead her ire was going to be directed at the two people that were most responsible for recruiting Shinji. Kensuke and Touji. Those two were dead men as far as she was concerned.

 

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

 

After an interesting and very informative conversation with Hikari at lunch about all the fun things she and Shinji could do Asuka calmed down and she stopped punching the two boys in the arm for no apparent reason. Which was a good thing as if she hit either of them any harder than she did they might have had to go to the nurse's office instead of tryouts.

 

As for the tryouts themselves only Shinji and Kensuke had to participate. Touji had a spot on the team from last year and the coach already had him labeled to hit in the number four spot as he was the best power hitter on the team. Plus Touji was versatile as he could put him at first, play him in the outfield corners, or even if they were pressed he could have Touji pitch. While Touji wasn't the greatest pitcher he threw the ball hard and fast and that was enough to raise him to a relief pitcher status if in a pinch. Most commonly though Touji played first base as he was a big target and easy to throw to.

 

As for Kensuke, he was a catcher. In fact he was a pretty decent one and most of the pitchers on the team had worked with him in the past when they were on clubs or in Junior High. A lot of them were actually happy he was trying out this year instead of saying he had to work. While he wasn't the best batter in the world he could call a pretty good game and most pitchers want a catcher like that. Plus he was pretty good at trash talking the batters at the plate in an effort to distract them so he made the pitchers job a little easier. And considering the coach wanted to keep two catchers on his team Kensuke stood a pretty good chance at making it. Actually most coaches have to keep two catchers on a team as if one goes down and you don't have a replacement you will be in big trouble. Plus you add on to this the varying intricacies of certain pitchers preferences for certain catchers and it makes sense. Most teams just simply rotate their catchers based on who is pitching that day.

 

Now as for Shinji, he was an unknown to most of the other people on the team. Sure Kensuke and Touji knew what he was capable of but since the coach didn't he put the kid through the ringer to find out. To the coach Shinji was just another kid trying out for one of the few remaining open spots on his team this year.

 

But as the afternoon went on Shinji started to distance himself from the others. Shinji's reaction time and reflexes were almost unnatural to the coach. The most common thing the coach said to the kids trying out was “Keep your eye on the ball” but with Shinji he never had to. It was as if the kid was highly trained and developed for the task.

 

Shinji didn't have much of a concentration problem with this though as it was a whole lot easier to keep track of a baseball than say oh maybe a laser that wants to blow you to kingdom come. And as Shinji continued to take batting practice the coach walked up to the pitcher and told him to start throwing some real pitches so he could see what Shinji could really do. The coach liked what he saw more and more.

 

While it was clear Shinji wasn't a power bat he filled the roll of utility hitter very well. He had a good eye for the ball, didn't swing at bad pitches, and more often than not made contact with the ball. He looked like he could be a dependable hitter who could have a high on base average. That was definitely a niche role that had its place in baseball and the coach penciled him in at the number three spot in the batting line up along with a couple other kids who were impressive with the bat. You wanted a kid who could get on base a good majority of the time there because your number four spot was your power hitter. And while the power hitter wasn't always going to blast one out of the park they usually did hit the ball deep into the outfield and if someone was on base that could be a potential run.

 

Since the coach had seen enough of the kids trying out in the batting department he wanted to see how they did in the base running area next. While skills at base running wasn't exactly a necessity and most ball players didn't understand the intricacies of this skill at this level the coach still liked to see a hinting of some among his players. Some players had relatively little like Touji who was just there to smash the ball a mile so it wasn't necessary for him to threaten to steal while other players knew a lot about base running. Kensuke being a catcher was a natural for this, it was one of his jobs to watch base runners and in doing so he learned what to do and what not to do. This pretty much solidified a place for him on the team.

 

Shinji though was a very interesting case study. While the coach had to yell “Now” for the other kids to teach them when to start running in order to steal a base, it seemed unnecessary for Shinji. In fact Shinji was usually going before the coach was done yelling and eventually the coach tested Shinji even more as he stopped saying anything at all. It was obvious Shinji had very good eyes and his reaction time to when the pitcher started into a windup and when he took off was amazing. Shinji was quick, arguably a talent that is more important than being fast when it comes to stealing bases. Hesitation was something that doomed many a speedy base stealer.

 

What impressed the coach even more was the fact that his catcher wasn't even trying to throw Shinji out. The catcher kept having to hold up the throw to second whenever it was Shinji's turn to steal. Most catchers won't throw to second unless they know there is a good chance to get the runner out. It's just too dangerous as a bad throw or the baseman not handling the throw properly because he is being rushed could result in the runner by passing second and going straight to third.

 

To add to this when Shinji stole a base he didn't slide into it. While the rest of the kids taking place in this drill did, and some of them were good at it, the coach never got to see Shinji slide. And while that could be a bad thing as sliding was an important skill the reason why Shinji never slid was a more important one. He never had to. He was usually halfway to second by the time the pitch even got to the catcher and no matter how fast the reaction time the catcher had by the time the guy had control of the ball and was ready to throw it Shinji was only a few steps away from the base nullifying the effort. After the coach saw this he crossed off the other names for the number three batting slot and just had Shinji penciled in. A kid who can hit on a consistent basis and steal well was a natural number three hitter.

 

But as good as Shinji was at the offensive aspect of the game it didn't guarantee him a spot on the team. A ball player is on the field playing defense much more than they are offensive so you need to be good in that area too. It doesn't matter how good of a hitter and runner you are if you suck at catching the ball or you let it go by you, you're not going to make the team. Those kinds of deficiencies will cost a team many more runs than any single person will ever produce.

 

But it didn't seem like Shinji was having that problem. He was handling pop flies just as well as all the other kids trying out. But there was one peculiarity about Shinji, he didn't throw the ball overhand. In fact Shinji threw side armed and this indicated something to the coach. And when the coach asked Shinji what experiences Shinji had playing baseball Shinji told him he had always played infield when he was young and for gym. This confirmed what the coach had been thinking so having the boy continue to catch pop flies was worthless. Shinji had been trained as an infielder so the coach wanted to see what he could do.

 

The easiest position for an infielder was first base so he tried him out there first. It took only a couple minutes for the coach to realize that wasn't the place for Shinji as it seemed to be a waste of the kid's quick reflexes. So he moved Shinji over to third. An important position that got a good amount of action as most right handed hitters had a tendencies to hit toward third, but even that position seemed a bit too easy for Shinji. Then again that could be a good thing as a solid player in the hot corner was a blessing for a coach. It meant a whole lot less balls dribbling into the left field. But the coach wanted to really test Shinji, the kid's reflexes were so good and honed that he seemed a natural for second or even shortstop. Among the defensive positions those two were the most important and required the most amount of skill for fielding the ball. You had to be quick to act, quick to handle the ball, and quick to throw. Shinji could do all three of these things and Shinji's name went from being penciled in to penned.

 

Shinji had made the team but now the question was where to put him. Normally for someone playing their first year they rode the bench most of the time but Shinji was too good for that. His quickness at the plate, on the base path, and on the field was not going to be wasted. But as he watched Shinji practice at both second and shortstop he was left with a hard decision. While it looked like Shinji had natural talent he could also recognize the boy was incredibly well trained to react to things. This is why he was so good. Now who, why, or even how the kid was trained that well he didn't know but it was clear that Shinji had the skills to play shortstop.

 

But putting Shinji there would be a major mistake as that was the hardest position to play on the field and usually required a good amount of experience along with ability. Plus shortstop tended to be a glamour position that almost rivaled the pitcher. Putting Shinji there right away may tax the kid too much and also might cause problems on the team. He already had a shortstop as he promised that position to a kid that played at second last year. This kid was a senior and something of a hot head as he knew how good of a player he was and wasn't shy about telling people that. Going back on his word might cause the coach more trouble than he wanted and create friction within the team, something he wanted to avoid. So even though he thought Shinji would grow into being a better shortstop he put him at second base. At least this way maybe the team could turn a couple more double plays.

 

As for Shinji, for the life of him he always remembered baseball as being much harder. But he was just glad to make the team so he didn't put much thought into it and thanked the coach for giving him the opportunity to play.

 

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

 

The action wasn't only on the ball field though as while Shinji was trying out he had a supporter in the stands. Unfortunately she was a very aggressive supporter and not afraid to speak her mind. This included her calling out anyone who she didn't think was as good of a player as Shinji, which essentially was everyone in her opinion as you could easily guess. Basically Asuka was making a pest of herself again. Most of the other ball players just tuned her out but the few that did react to what she said got an earful.

 

All that was sort of embarrassing to Shinji but he wasn't going to do anything about it. He figured he had already pushed his luck with trying to join the team so he wasn't going to go over there and tell her to tone it down. But after the batting practice he didn't need to as something distracted Asuka.

 

Actually it was more like a someone as Hikari walked by Asuka and waived hi at her. It wasn't so much as Hikari saying hi as it was that Hikari did it while on the other side of the fence and she was wearing a team uniform.

 

“HEY!!! How come you get to be in there? And why are you wearing a team uniform?”

 

Asuka didn't even disguise her voice one bit and Hikari could almost feel the jealousy dripping off Asuka's words. She knew quite well that Asuka was not happy simply being a spectator sitting behind a chain length fence, it was not the girl's style. Hikari though told her with a bit of smugness she couldn't hide “I'm one of the team managers.”

 

Now this wasn't fair at all in Asuka's mind. “I want to be a manager too.”

 

“Sorry Asuka but the position of junior manager is already taken” Hikari teased her.

 

The word junior manager though struck in Asuka's mind. If there was a junior manager that meant there must be a senior one too. And what more natural position for Asuka could there be than the person in charge. “Well then I want to be the senior manager” Asuka told her. “Who do I go talk to, the coach or something?”

 

Hikari just sort of laughed quietly at Asuka for that. “The only way you become senior manager is to be the junior one first.”

 

“That isn't fair” Asuka contested despite the truth of the matter.

 

“Just settle down Asuka” Hikari told her. “I had to sit in those bleachers all of last year too. Plus you have no idea how much sucking up I had to do to get this job as the person who picks the junior manager is the senior one.”

 

“Well that's just stupid” Asuka grumbled as she hated being told no.

 

“Well too bad” Hikari replied. “I'm not giving up my position.”

 

The fact that Hikari was being downright defiant to her right now indicated to Asuka how much Hikari must have wanted the position so she dropped her attitude and just let her normal curiosity flow as she asked “So what do you do as manager?”

 

“Since I'm the junior manager I pretty much just clean up after the boys and make sure they have water.” Hikari then looked over at a girl standing in the outfield. “The senior manager is in charge of uniforms and she keeps the stats for the team.”

 

“That sounds like actual work” Asuka told her. “You can have the position.”

 

“What did you think being manager involved?”

 

“I don't know” Asuka said shrugging her shoulders. “I just want to be on the other side of the fence like you.”

 

“You're horrible, you know that?” Hikari giggled.

 

“I know, I know” Asuka chuckled back and then looked over at Shinji “He's going to make the team isn't he?”

 

“Most likely” Hikari answered. She had been watching the tryouts too while doing her duties and she could tell Shinji was as good as Touji had told her he was. She then looked at Asuka and asked “Disappointed?”

 

Asuka didn't know how to answer that question. On one hand she didn't want Shinji to make the team as that meant less alone time while on the other she was proud of Shinji. She guessed she would just have to live with this. But she also noticed something “Can I at least have a uniform? They look kind of cute.”

 

“Only if Shinji lets you wear one of his” Hikari told her. It was actually a very common thing for a girlfriend to wear her boyfriend's jersey. Hikari had done it all of last year and at home games she would wear Touji's away jersey while at away games she would wear his home jersey.

 

“Ah but that's just the shirt” Asuka falsely whined. “I want a pair of those tight white baseball pants too.”

 

“If I could I would give them to you” Hikari told her while tugging a bit on hers. “These things were made for the male body, not a girls.”

 

“Ah but you looks so good in a pair” Asuka teased. “And just look at Touji. He's practically drooling all over you out there.”

 

“I know” Hikari said with a huge smile. “I have already been informed that this uniform goes home with me tonight.” She then walked off as she had to get back to work. Asuka though couldn't help but laugh at that.

 

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

 

A while later Hikari returned to where Asuka was hanging out by the fence. While Asuka wasn't the biggest fan of baseball she was no dummy about the sport either. She knew which positions were the skill ones and since she was watching Shinji being practiced at both shortstop and second base she knew there was no longer even a shadow of a doubt about what Shinji would be doing this spring. She let out a little sigh as she said hi to Hikari again. “I guess I'm going to be seeing a whole lot of you in that uniform.”

 

Hikari nodded her head yes “Touji already told me the coach has him marked as the number three hitter on the team. Now he's just trying to figure out what position he will be best at.”

 

“Shortstop” Asuka answered proudly as that was the premier spot in the infield and exactly what she thought Shinji should play.

 

“I don't know” Hikari told her. “I've never heard of a rookie getting that spot before. Usually you have to earn it.” Hikari then pointed over to one of the other players. “Plus Touji already said that guy gets to play shortstop.”

 

“That looser” Asuka said. “My Shin-kun is way better than him.”

 

“Asuka please don't start any trouble” Hikari begged.

 

“Don't worry, I won't” Asuka told her. “If I kicked that guy's ass it would just get me in more trouble than it would be worth.”

 

Hikari looked at Asuka with some leery in her eyes. “Please don't even say that.”

 

“Why?” Asuka questioned as that was just her doing her usual boasting.

 

Hikari had her lean up to the fencing and whispered “He has a huge ego and probably would do something stupid. Already he's making chippy little comments about Shinji because he's feeling threatened.”

 

“He can shove his ego up his ass” Asuka declared loudly. “If my Shin-kun is the best he should get to play the best spot…”

 

That rant would have gone on a lot further if not for a dirty look and a phrase that included three magic words. The words were hushed so only Asuka could hear them but they still had impact. Worse yet they were words she couldn't argue as they indicated Asuka was pushing buttons she shouldn't be. Basically Hikari had just told her to “Stop being a bossy little bitch.”

 

Pretty much if anyone else had said that to her she would have gone ballistic and they would have found out just how much of a bitch she truly could be but Hikari had the right. She looked at Hikari and essentially pleaded with her best friend “You can't use that now.”

 

“Asuka, I'm one of the managers of this team and I know this sport a lot better than you. This is just how some things are. Baseball tends to draw the biggest jocks and you know what a lot of those guys are like. You have to placate some of them or they try to take it out on the team.”

 

Even though it was a good explanation that rang with the truth Asuka still pouted and whined about it. But she also settled down a little bit and stopped being so confrontational. “Being a spectator sucks.”

 

“Well who says you just have to be a normal spectator” Hikari told her and then smirked while looking at a handful of girls sitting up in the stands all dressed alike. Then with a louder than it had to be voice she told Asuka “You could always give cheerleading another try.”

 

While this was an inside joke between Asuka and Hikari that was supposed to make Asuka cheer up and laugh, it caused some of the girls sitting in the bleachers eyes to fill with fear. Asuka had an interesting history with the cheerleading squad that caused the head cheerleader to stand up and basically beg “You promised Sohryu! We leave you alone and you leave us alone.”

 

Well the joke worked as Asuka chuckled back at her “Don't worry Kaiya, it was just a joke.”

 

She saw a huge sigh of relief come from the lead cheerleader after she said that. Personally Asuka had nothing against this year's crop of cheerleaders, it was the head of last years she had a problem with. After she finished up with the swimming season last year Asuka thought it might be a good idea to join the cheer squad. She was pretty, she was athletic, and she could easily be boisterous like the other girls and shout out cheers. And truthfully she was a natural fit and just about every guy in the school drooled on that one day she walked down the hall in that cute little cheerleading outfit.

 

But her stay as a cheerleader was short lived as for being the new girl she was expected to go through the same kind of games that all the other girls went through when they were newbies to the squad. Basically the senior cheerleaders expected to be able to haze Asuka like they did all the other first year girls who wanted to be cheerleaders. As you could guess this didn't work out very well and less than a week after she joined there was a major confrontation.

 

It seemed that the head cheerleader of that year's squad was also the unofficial queen in the school's hierarchy and wasn't exactly thrilled about this upstart who had shown up at her school. It seemed like this first year didn't play by the established rules of the school so she decided to put Asuka in her place. So right in the middle of the hall one day she stopped Asuka and ordered her to tie her shoe like the “good little sub cheerleader” she was. But that wasn't all as the girl added on to that while Asuka just stared at her like she was a complete idiot. She wanted Asuka to bend all the way over while tying her shoes so the boys in the school could see what kind of underwear cheerleaders wore under their outfits.

 

This attempt to completely embarrass Asuka and place her above the upstart first year did not go smoothly as Asuka told the head cheerleader to “Fuck off you bitch.”

 

Now the head cheerleader had a reputation to uphold so she challenged Asuka right back and pushed her while ordering Asuka to tie her shoes, this time with her skirt hiked all the way up. The head cheerleader had really picked a bad time to do this as Asuka was extra moody and just looking for something to set her off. This was more than enough to light her fuse and she slapped the senior girl right across her face and started calling her everything from a whore to a cunt.

 

Ultimately Asuka was baiting the girl into a fight and the head cheerleader was stupid enough to bite as she tried to strike Asuka back. The fight was on and it was quick. In no time at all Asuka tore the girl apart and kicked her ass. Literally too as while she was being pulled away by a teacher the head cheerleader was face down on the ground and Asuka took one final swat at her with her leg. While she did kick the girl in the ass that wasn't the purpose of the kick, the kick was to give the girl some divine justice as it sent the girl's skirt up and everyone got a look at her “Skanky thong” or at least that's how Asuka put it.

 

After that little incident Asuka was suspended from school and kicked off the cheerleading squad. And considering she kicked the head cheerleader's ass only days before a major competition of the cheer squad she was told to never come back. This could have started a war in the school as Asuka was ready to take on every cheerleader looking for some retribution but a certain raven-haired lady who wasn't exactly thrilled by all of this forced a sort of peace treaty. Even Asuka agreed to it quickly as she had spent a week of suspension basically getting scolded at by Misato. (This would actually happen twice that year as a girl from the kendo club wanted to prove she was the toughest girl in the school and got in a fight with Asuka too but that was a different story.) That was were the whole you leave us alone and we leave you alone thing came from.

 

Of course just because she had nothing against the current cheerleading squad didn't mean she wasn't going to tease them from time to time. “And besides I don't need to wave a pair of pompoms to cheer on my man.”

 

“Asuka, you know darn well that's not only what we do” Kaiya implored. The entrenched stereotype was bad enough. The last thing the cheer squad needed was a former member to play upon it.

 

“If you're talking about those silly competitions, I'm not buying it. Those things are a joke.” Asuka really did feel that way as the cheerleading competitions were something she didn't know about when she joined the squad last year and even in the short time she was part of the team she detected the stink of petty politics involved in them. They were too much like gymnastic competitions for her taste and she was actually going to quit the squad because of that but she wanted to wear the uniform at least once before she did.

 

Asuka then smirked devilishly as she told them “The only reason those things are so popular is that guys like to watch and imagine lifting up a cute girls skirt and fucking them while the other girls cheer him on.”

 

The evil smile was justified as Asuka got every one of the cheerleaders to blush, which is exactly what she wanted to do, but Kaiya pleaded again “Please Asuka…”

 

“Please what?” Asuka replied smiling normally at them, indicating she was just teasing and then chuckled “Stop telling the truth?”

 

“Well among other things, yes” Kaiya answered in a hushed tone. She knew damn well what guys thought when they wore those outfits. Hell, most of the time she could literally feel the pervishness of the boy's thoughts but Asuka didn't need to be saying it out in the open.

 

Asuka laughed a bit more at that. “I suppose I should stop.. but only on one condition.”

 

“And what is that?” Kaiya answered not sure where this was going.

 

“That you cheer on my Shin-kun too” Asuka said seriously.

 

“Don't worry” Kaiya said with a smirk. “We cheer on everyone…” “…Well almost everyone” Kaiya corrected. “If Aida makes the team we might just boo him.”

 

Kaiya actually said that pretty loudly and there was a loud “Hey!” in return from the recipient of that comment. Kensuke walked over to the fence and stated with what was almost true genuineness “I was only trying to be helpful.”

 

“Oh god, what did you do this time you hentai?” Asuka asked not really wanting to know the answer.

 

Kaiya answered for Kensuke before he could. It was a very crass “He tried out for the cheer squad.”

 

Asuka just closed her eyes and shook her head negatively at him while saying “Pathetic.” When she did re-open her eyes she stared straight at him “Every cheerleader in the world knows the only guys who try out for cheerleading are either gay or they're there to feel up a girl's ass while holding them up.”

 

“So” Kensuke said with a dirty smirk.

 

“So” Asuka sassed back. “As much as every girl in the world wishes you were gay so you would just leave us alone, we know the perverted truth about you.”

 

Kensuke didn't even react to that comment as he told Asuka and the cheerleaders “At least I was upfront about myself and never hid my intentions.” Kensuke then winked at Kaiya as she was the hottest one out of the group of girls in his opinion.

 

He got shot down though by an almost laughed out loud “Not in a million years.”

 

“Well that hurts” Kensuke commented about the bit extra harsh in his opinion shoot down but then said in defense of himself “At least I wasn't the only boy who showed up at tryouts with alterative motives.”

 

“Who could be as big of a perv as you?” Asuka said not believing him.

 

Kensuke though turned around and started to walk away as he said his answer. “Angelboy.” He knew he didn't have to say anything else after that.

 

And he was right as Asuka did an instant 180 in her mood. She turned and stared straight at Kaiya with a look that forced the head cheerleader to take a step back in fear. “If that asshole ever shows up here in an cheerleading outfit and even thinks of cheering for Shinji our truce is over as I will kick his ass. And I don't even care if he is holding all of you up in a pyramid and you all fall down and break your necks, it will happen.”

 

Luckily for the cheerleading squad Kaiya had the right answer to that. “Don't worry, he didn't make the team. That supersensitive, might be bi, thing may work on the first years but it didn't work on me. I've been around enough of those kind of boys to know what they are really after.” Kaiya was happy that Asuka calmed down after that but she was suspicious about why the girl hated that Kaworu kid so much. Her curiosity had to be held in check though as she notice the team's junior manager waving her off the subject with two hands while Asuka had her back to her.

 

It was best to leave that subject alone as this was one of those old wounds that would never heal concerning Asuka. And considering that Asuka and Shinji were a couple now the hatred was even stronger. She knew that Kaworu wasn't a confused little angel that was just looking for a friend like he had pretended to be, he had a mission. His first was to initiate third impact by connecting with Adam but since that was proving to be impossible he was ordered to by SEELE to go onto plan B. Neutralize Evangelion Unit 01 so they could control it. But he knew he couldn't do that physically and would lose in a fight so he decided if he couldn't take out the Eva he would take out its pilot. And he almost accomplished that with his psychologically scarring act. And since he came back acting the same way, trying to manipulate people for his own purposes, Asuka had no reason to stop hating him.

 

But Asuka showed a little bit of maturity as she stopped mulling over this and instead went back to watching Shinji. She began to smile again as Shinji looked like he was having fun. That was enough to cheer her up, well at least for now. When this stupid practice finally got over she had a whole different idea of cheering herself up in mind.

 

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

 

While all this excitement was going on over at the school Rei was sitting in her studio apartment by herself. This was the first day in a very long time that she had nothing to do after school and she had planned on spending it catching up on her reading. So she sat there in her favorite chair… and she sat there, and she sat there, and then as she sat there some more she realized something. She was bored. Even though the smutty romance novel she was reading was one of her favorites it just wasn't holding her interests as much as it used to. She kept finding her mind wandering to different places as she read. For a couple seconds she actually found herself contemplating putting down her book and going back to school to watch Shinji try out. At least then she would be doing something remotely interesting. This was a very new thing to her as in the past she could always get interested in a book and loose herself but now she was finding the books just couldn't cut it anymore. She had simply gotten used to having something to do and her books were now for her special down time, not her normal time.

 

Eventually she got up from her chair and started to walk around her place, she had never noticed before but her place was sort of on the small side. And while it was now nicely decorated, thanks in big part to Misato, she didn't really want to be there. If she didn't know any better she could have sworn she was craving some company to talk to or just hang around with. Being by her lonesome self just wasn't as much of a sought after thing as it used to be and she actually found herself understanding why Kensuke showed up at practices now. Sure he had a bigger place than her and all but it probably felt just as empty as her place did right now. She realized that she simply needed something to do so she decided to walk down the hall.

 

Misato answered her door and saw Rei standing there “Awfully early to be coming over to start dinner. You planning something special?”

 

Rei shook her head no and asked “Is this a bad time?”

 

“Of course not” Misato told her. “Come on in.”

 

Rei replied with a courteous “thank you” and entered the apartment. She looked around and noticed Keiko sitting in her highchair with a pair of droopy eyes. Obviously the little girl had just woken up from her nap. She hadn't even touched any of the food in front of her she was still so tired. Rei walked up and knelt down so she would be face to face with the little one. “Are you still so sleepy Keiko?”

 

The tired little child just cooed out a drowsy “Rei-Rei” and reached out. Things had changed very much since Rei was first introduced to Keiko and now when Keiko reached out to her she wasn't so hesitant to picking the girl up. Plus she knew this was typical action from Keiko. The little girl was just a bit more on the snuggly side when she got up.

 

Misato smiled at this but did warn Rei “Watch out there sweetie, she might just fall back to sleep on you.”

 

The warning was already too late as that is just what Keiko did. But it was ok and Rei liked it that the child felt so comfortable and safe around her that she would sleep with her head nestled on her shoulder.

 

This made Misato very happy. Rei had developed and grown so much since the school year started and it was nice to see that she had no problems showing certain people she had a soft and gentle side to her. She then sat down at the table and asked “So why did you come over so early?”

 

Rei pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the kitchen table and sat down carefully, still holding Keiko. “I think I was starting to become bored.”

 

Misato let out a little chuckle at that “I see someone got used to being around other people and having something to do.”

 

“I believe that is your fault” Rei answered with a slight smile.

 

“Then I shoulder that blame proudly” Misato told her with a big smile.

 

Rei looked at the child sleeping on her shoulder for a second more before turning to look back at Misato “Thank You.”

 

“You're welcome sweetie” Misato told her. “So is there anything else you might be interested in? There's still plenty of time to get on another sports team or join a after school club.”

 

“No” Rei answered. “I think I have had enough of sports and the gym for the year. I would like something less involved with athletics.”

 

“I can understand that” Misato replied. Sports are fun and all but you can burn yourself out if you don't take a break once in a while. “And you are probably tired of always being at school so that rules out clubs too, right?” Rei nodded her head yes to that. The halls of the school were starting to get a little too familiar to her and she swore she probably could walk from her classroom to the locker room with her eyes closed and not miss a step. Misato let out a little “Hmmm??? What else is there for you to do?”

 

When Rei's mind was wandering while she was reading there were some things she thought she might like to have. “I think I should finally get a TV for my place.”

 

“You already have a TV” Misato told her.

 

“I do?”

 

“Yup” Misato answered the confused girl with the sleeping child in her arms. “Look in the back of your closet. I bought you one of those flat screened kinds over a year ago.” Misato had to giggle at the embarrassed look Rei gave her for that. When Misato had brought that TV over she knew Rei wasn't paying any attention to her as the girl was reading a book but she at least thought Rei would have discovered she had put it back there by now. With a motherly smirk she asked Rei “Anything else you want? … Or do you want to look around your place some more to make sure you don't already have it?”

 

With a pair of red cheeks Rei answered “No.” She really should have known about that but all that stuff hiding behind her school clothes was sort of forgotten about as Rei didn't pay that much attention to that part of her closet anymore. “Still, there are other things that I'm sure I don't have that I would like to buy.”

 

“If you want we can go to the mall this weekend” Misato offered.

 

Rei shook her head no to that. It wasn't that she didn't want to go to the mall as with Misato it was a fun experience and they had similar shopping styles but she knew anything that would be bought would be bought by Misato. She knew Misato was just spoiling her like she did Asuka and Shinji but she sort of felt indebted by it and she told Misato “I would like to buy certain things on my own.”

 

That raised Misato's brow. “What are you asking for then?”

 

“I think I would like to get an after school job” Rei told her. “That way I could earn some money on my own.”

 

Misato responded to this by getting up and walking over to the other side of the table. She then gave Rei a big hug even though she knew it would wake up the sleeping child in her arms. “Thank you god for giving at least one of my children a sense of financial responsibility.”

 

An obvious comment meant to relate her frustrations to Rei about the others in her life. Rei even giggled a bit during the hug as she knew Misato was right. If you ever talked to Asuka you would actually get the impression that money grew on trees and while Shinji didn't want nearly as many things as Asuka he also wasn't much better in the fiscal outlook area of life. Even her husband wasn't the best example as while Misato did grow up and adapt to parenthood, Kaji didn't do as well. Down in the garage you would find two cars in their assigned spots. One was a family sedan and the other was a ridiculously overpriced sports car. Guess who owned what? Big clue, right now the sedan was there and the sports car wasn't.

 

The hug did in fact wake Keiko up but the little girl didn't mind it that much. After all she was in the middle of a hug between her auntie Rei and her mommy. But when the hug ended she reached out and changed who was holding her as she wanted her mommy. Misato then picked her up and carried her over to her highchair where she put the child down. Thanks to her little catnap on Rei she was more receptive of the food in front of her and she started eating.

 

With the little one taken care of Misato turned her attention back to Rei “You have no idea how happy I'm to hear you say that. It really did make my day.”

 

“You're welcome” Rei responded politely. Praise from Misato always felt very good to her.

 

“You know last trimester I actually told both Shinji and Asuka to get a job” Misato said to her.

 

Considering she knew neither of them did Rei asked “What happened?”

 

“Shinji told me he would think about it and that's as far as that got concerning him” Misato answered. “And Asuka basically laughed at me.”

 

Rei could easily believe that. Asuka always avoided a real job like the plague and Shinji never worked out at the ones he had. But that really wasn't a concern of hers and she asked Misato “How do I get a job?”

 

“Normally I would tell you to look in the want ads but I may have a better idea.” Rei looked at Misato approvingly so she continued. “I have some good friends who have helped me out in this area before, if you like I could give them a call?”

 

“I would appreciate that very much” Rei told Misato. And personally she was thankful that Misato could pull a few strings as she didn't want to do the want ads thing. If she did, that would require her to go on interviews with potential employers. That aspect of the job search was a scary thing to her and something she wanted to avoid as much as possible if she could.

 

And so after a quick call Misato said they would go over to her friend's place tomorrow and see what could be done about getting Rei a job.

 

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

 

You could hear when Shinji and Asuka got home by the complaining. While Asuka played the role of a nice girl at the baseball diamond so egos wouldn't get ruffled she was now letting it all out. Shinji knew how things were in the sports world so the situation didn't even bother him but he also knew his girlfriend so he simply let her complain. Basically so the girl could get it out of her system. He just responded with a bunch of “yes Asuka's” and head nods to whatever the girl was saying. Eventually she would calm down and things would get back to normal.

 

Kaji had actually come home early as he wanted to know if Shinji had made the team or not. If you would have asked Misato about this she would have told you he was more excited over Shinji's tryout than Shinji was. So as the two kids came through the door Kaji got up from his chair and asked right away “So Shinji, did you make the team?”

 

Asuka answered for Shinji. “Yes… But they're screwing him over.”

 

“Oh” Kaji replied. “Making you ride the bench for a year?”

 

Shinji shook his head no to that. “Actually I'm the number three hitter and will be playing second.”

 

“Really?” Kaji said with a bit of prideful surprise. Shinji nodded his head yes to that. “Then congratulations son. That's one hell of an accomplishment.”

 

“Like hell it is!” Asuka contradicted. “He should be playing shortstop.” And with a heavy heaping of mocking criticism she added “But Nooooo. The stupid coach already promised to give that position to some assh…” she noticed Keiko was nearby so she changed her words “… er jerk even though Shinji's better at fielding than him.”

 

“Asuka, you have to earn shortstop with experience” Kaji tried to explain to the irate girl.

 

But it didn't work as Asuka snapped back at him “Mein Gott. Alle Männer sind Idioten!” as that was the same thing she had heard from both the coach and Shinji.

 

Kaji actually knew German pretty well so he knew he was just called an idiot but all he did was look at Shinji and say quietly “She just doesn't get it?”

 

Shinji shook his head no while Asuka continued on with her rant. And she must have been pretty riled up too as most of it stayed in German. Shinji didn't really want to stop her so he talked to Kaji and just let her go “Coach says I need a new glove though.”

 

“Well if you're going to play second he's right” Kaji answered. “That's a utility glove I got you. We're definitely going to need to get you an infielder's glove. And since you are going to play second it will have to be a closed web one too.”

 

“It needs to be open backed” Shinji added on. “Those are more flexible for me.”

 

“Hmmm… good idea” Kaji said. Personally he was a fan of closed backed gloves but then again he always used to play center field. “Anything else you need?”

 

“Actually I was wondering if I could get a new pair of cleats?” Shinji answered.

 

“Something wrong with the ones you got?” Kaji asked.

 

“They're fine and all” Shinji answered as he didn't want to hurt Kaji's feelings as technically they were a birthday present from him last year. “But some of the other guys had interchangeable cleats. They can switch between long cleats when it's wet and the shorter cleats when it is dry.”

 

“Now that would be good” Kaji said nodding his head approvingly. “I hated having to buy and carry around two sets of cleats because of the weather.” Kaji then nodded towards the door at Shinji “We can go to the sports store now if you want?”

 

“Sure” Shinji said excitedly and the two headed off with Kaji yelling behind him “We're going to go get some things. Don't worry about dinner we'll grab something on the way hone.” The door then shut behind the two guys heading off to the more grown up male version of a toy store.

 

Asuka was actually too busy with her ranting to listen to Kaji saying bye but she didn't miss the door shutting. “Hey where do they think they are going!?”

 

“Next time you should rant less and pay attention more” Misato told her. “But don't worry they're just going to the sports store to get some new equipment for Shinji.”

 

“HEY!” Asuka yelled loudly and then took off after them while saying “This is my time with Shinji now!”

 

Sadly the delay in finding out what was happening proved to be too long for the girl as when she got out in the hall she saw the elevator door had just closed. She didn't give up though and she roared down the stairs in an effort to catch up. Now if Shinji and Kaji were just going down a couple flights Asuka may have actually been able to catch them but they went all the way down to the parking garage under the complex and by the time Asuka got there all she saw were the tail lights of a restored and refitted 69 Mustang super cobra jet coupe pulling out of the garage. She let out an aggravating scream and kicked the elevators door before taking it back up.

 

When Asuka got back in the apartment she got a couple looks of bewilderment as Misato asked “What is wrong with you today?” and Rei was kind of shaking her head as even for Asuka that was a bit too much.

 

Asuka though made her way over to the table and sat down to catch her breath. “Shinji's supposed to be with me now.”

 

“They're only going to be gone for a couple hours” Misato told the pouting teenager. “Seriously girl, you really need to settle down and learn to share.”

 

Asuka only responded to that by burying her head into her arms.

 

At this point Misato suspected there was something more to this situation that she didn't know about. While Asuka had a tendency to be moody this was much more than average for the girl. Something must have been wrong so she went over to Asuka and sat down in a chair she pushed up next to her. She then rubbed Asuka's back in a motherly and reassuring fashion while asking “Can you at least let me try to help you?”

 

Asuka looked up from the table and had an expression that screamed disappointment and frustration. She had been thinking about all the things she wanted to do with Shinji for the whole day and as far as she was concerned she had shared him enough with others for today. This was supposed to be a time when her and Shinji should be doing something new and intimate that would make them closer. She whispered into Misato's ear a condensed version of what she had been talking about with Hikari and what she wanted to do as her explanation for her volatile mood.

 

After hearing that Misato understood Asuka's mood much better. The red head had every right to be frustrated as she had planned on something special only to have it loused up by a bunch of other things. She kind of blamed Shinji for this a bit too as he really should have picked up on Asuka's frustration and not left with Kaji. But on the other hand coming from a woman's experience she knew that guys weren't the most dependable people in the world at picking up on things like that. At this particular point in time Shinji may have been a tad too much of a typical guy. Misato did try to help Asuka out though but when she tried to call Kaji she heard his phone ring from their bedroom, he must have left his phone in his work pants again. Shinji wasn't any better as his phone rang from his book bag. She let out a sympathized sigh of “Sorry.”

 

“It's ok” Asuka told her getting up. “I actually already tried to call them when I was in the elevator. And I put a new dent in the door of the thing when I couldn't reach them.”

 

“Big dent or little?” Misato asked really hoping she wouldn't have to buy a new elevator door.

 

“Little one” Asuka answered. “Don't worry, you can't even tell it from the million other dents in that door.” Asuka saw a look of relief come from Misato when she said that but she also saw something else. Even though Rei was hiding it and pretending to be concentrating on making dinner Asuka could tell the girl was curious.

 

That was just how Rei was now, she knew it would have been rude of her to intrude but her mind did wonder what was going on. But she didn't have to wonder long as Asuka walked up to her too and whispered what she told Misato to Rei.

 

Although she didn't have any experience in that area she found herself being able to understand Asuka very well. After all while Asuka did have a good reason to be frustrated at least she had a boyfriend to be frustrated about. Rei didn't even have that and had to take care of her frustrated nights by herself.

 

Rei did try to offer some condolence though. “If you haven't eaten them already you may have the rest of the chocolates Shinji gave me for White day.”

 

A very nice gesture by Rei that Asuka did take her up on. Although the truth behind all this was that while Rei did appreciate the sentiment of the gift that Shinji gave her she actually wasn't a big fan of chocolate. And because of that all but one piece in the box that she had gotten that had already been devoured was by Asuka and not her. It was only fitting that Asuka finished the rest off.

 

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

 

The next day when Rei got home from school Misato was at her place waiting for her. She had Rei change into something business casual as she wanted the girl to make a good first impression with her future employer. Then with Rei in the front seat and Keiko in her baby seat in back she left for her favorite restaurant, Shin Seiki's. She was going to have Rei work in the same place as she had Kensuke, in an entirely different capacity most likely but still the same place.

 

There was a wide range of jobs there as the restaurant had morphed quickly in the time it had been opened. It started out as a little outside eatery with take out but thanks to booming business and a very sizable, and no interest, loan Mr. Zukav had added on a family restaurant inside the building he owned. It was a good sized building too as originally he had only planned on the small restaurant and was going to convert the rest of the building into apartments but his plans changed when his business picked up. And as of a couple months ago he added on to his restaurant again. On the second floor of the building he opened up a very formal dinning establishment. He was uncertain whether this would work or not as high class dinning was a risky business venture but interestingly enough most of the other dining establishments in the city thought this way too, creating a lack in the market.

 

After some encouragement from some people in high places who told him they would eat there he opened up a third section to his place and now Shin Seiki's had something for everyone. For the laymen or passing by businessperson they could just stop at the outside stand and grab a quick bite to eat at the counter. Or if you were with your family you could go inside and enjoy a pleasant sit down meal together. If you were among the richer sect or were part of the trendsetter clique you could go upstairs to the trendy and high-class sushi bar. And next to the bar was one of those fancy restaurants that cost way more than it should and had meals that all sounded super fancy. Basically one of those places where you go to be seen more than you go to eat.

 

But Mr. Zukav didn't cheap out on this part of his restaurant as he did hire a top chef to run the kitchen as his wife and him were more used to cooking casual types of meals. Although Mr. Zukav did show up there once in a while because he was adept at cooking Russian style cuisine. While those dishes weren't ordered too often just having them on the menu gave it an international flair. Plus in a pinch if anyone wanted something cooked in a traditional Chinese way the head chef could always call downstairs and have Mrs. Zukav cook it. She was rather good at that sort of thing.

 

Mrs. Zukav was a pretty good chef too as her husband would tell you it was one of the things that drew them together. Originally they met while working for Nerv. Mr. Zukav was a big burly Russian who worked under Misato in information gathering and Mrs. Zukav was a Chinese immigrant who came to work for Nerv as a cook. To make a long story short they spent a lot of time together before Third Impact and after it the two got married and stayed in Japan to start a new life together, opening Shin Seiki's. An odd couple especially considering what country they were in but that sort of thing was becoming more common around town. Nerv was a pretty international organization so it wasn't uncommon to have many foreigners working there and a lot of those people stuck around as Japan had become home to them after 3I.

 

The first thing Rei noticed about Mr. Zukav was that he was big. Very big in fact as he probably would have to look down to look a sumo wrestler in the eyes. The guy had to be at least 6'5” and Rei pretty much guessed he was one of those strong-arm investigators used to get information from people. But while that was sort of correct he was used more for intimidation than anything else. He was usually the big guy standing behind the interrogator that the interrogator kept threatening to leave you alone with if you didn't cooperate. But in reality he was a big ol Russian teddy bear as he gave Misato a big bear hug when he greeted her, picking her up off the ground in the process. “Boss, it's so good to see you again.” And after he put down Misato he picked up Keiko and put her up on his shoulders. Obviously there was some familiarity here as Keiko started giggling and used this high up advantage to look around in wonder at a great many things. Things were always hustling and bustling in the restaurant so there was a lot to gawk at for the little girl.

 

And right after Mr. Zukav picked up Keiko another person showed up, Mrs. Zukav. Misato gave her a hug while saying “Thank you so much Li Mei for doing this.”

 

“No problem at all” Li Mei told her. “We always need good help.” She looked up at her oversized husband and smiled after saying that. He was such a softy for the kids. She then turned her attention over to Rei.

 

While Mr. Zukav, most people actually just called him Zukav rather than his first name Boris, ran the business and host side of the restaurant it was Li Mei who ran the kitchens and hired the help. She asked Rei to follow her as she left her big push over of a husband to entertain Misato and Keiko. She sort of looked Rei over a bit and was impressed with the girl. Rei was pretty, nicely dressed, very clean looking (a big thing in the food industry), and she seemed very polite as she bowed properly when introducing herself. That little customary sign of respect was part of a dying breed with the new generation of teenagers.

 

Li Mei first toured Rei around the kitchens and asked her what kind of experience she had with cooking. While Rei did have some she could tell it wasn't enough to work in a professional kitchen. In fact she was a little intimidated by the frantic scurrying around she saw as people tried to prepare meals. A bit too much for her and Li Mei next suggested Rei might work out better in the service side of the restaurant. Plus she already had a special place for Rei in mind when she first saw the girl. She figured Rei would look very nice in a traditional Kimono and her uniqueness would be accentuated in a more high-class environment. Basically she wanted Rei to be one of the hostesses at the posh restaurant upstairs. While no one in the industry will come out and say it they usually put their prettiest people right out front to make their establishment look even better.

 

Li Mei explained to Rei what the responsibilities of the job would be and there was an agreement. This was something Rei figured she could do but she did have one hesitation, she had no idea how to dress up in the traditional sense. She had never done that sort of thing before but Li Mei told her she would give her a hand the first couple times until Rei got the hang of it.

 

And so now Rei had a job to help her fill up some of her extra time and to let her earn some extra money. She was going to be a pretty little hostess at a fancy restaurant. Not a bad gig in the least and for the type of job it was she was going to be given a reasonable pay. Misato was happy to learn about this and it was decided that Rei would start the next day with her training.

 

(A/N: And that is the end of part 12. Interestingly giving Rei a job was something I was going to do at the start of my story but somehow it just kept getting pushed off. But I think it worked out better this way as this is better timing and goes with the whole `Rei incorporating into normal life' thing I have been working on with her. Don't worry eventually I will be giving her a bit more screen time in this fic along with the other characters. As for Shinji and Asuka, what can I say? It was a powder keg waiting to happen. Plus this mirrors real life IMO more than taking their sweet time getting from second to third. See you next month folks. 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.)