Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Swim of Things ❯ Chapter 21 ( Chapter 21 )

The Swim of Things

By

Ret Nuh

 

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Rei waited till noon on Monday to talk to Misato. It was very apparent that everyone was really tired and lagged out from the trip so she left them alone and let them rest up Sunday. Along with it being the polite thing to do it was also the nicest thing she could have done for them as all Kaji wanted to do was sleep, all Misato wanted to do was sleep, all Keiko wanted to do was sleep, and all Asuka and Shinji wanted to do was… well you already know what they wanted to do. So now it was noon on Monday and Rei had just finished explaining to Misato what had happened to her during the week. It was probably the most the girl had ever talked at one time in all her life. The biggest news she saved for last, the stuff that had to do with Kensuke.

 

After hearing all of it Misato let out a little breath of frustration. “I always figured that boy knew more than he was letting on to.”

 

“I don't believe it will be a problem” Rei replied.

 

“Oh I trust him to keep his mouth shut” Misato said back as that was not the problem. “It's just that I think I may be at fault for all of this.”

 

“Why you?”

 

“While I can handle a computer pretty good I'm no where near an expert in that area. I'm afraid I may have been the one who clued Kensuke's father in on what was going on.” While Misato said that you could clearly tell she was a little miffed at herself. “I was just looking for the truth and in my hurry I wasn't exactly good about shutting the doors I opened behind me near the end.” Misato then reached across the table and put her hands on Rei's. “I'm really sorry sweetie.”

 

Even if you could prove it was Misato's fault that Kensuke knew about her past Rei would not place the blame on her. Misato was just looking for the truth so she could protect Shinji. That was a very noble thing and only something you could praise, not admonish. “You have nothing to be sorry for. And I don't even mind Kensuke knowing… for the most part.”

 

“For the most part?” Misato questioned as that was sort of an indefinite answer.

 

“I really wish those reports wouldn't have included my plugsuit measurements” Rei replied with a little blush.

 

Misato could understand that. Those were definitely not numbers you wanted a boy to know about you even if you were close to that boy. Hell Shinji had to get to the oral sex stage of his relationship with Asuka before she would tell him her numbers. With a smirk Misato told her “Just tell him if he ever repeats those numbers I will break his legs.”

 

Rei had to giggle at that but then she saw Kaji come up and put ten thousand yen down in front of Misato. He had taken today off of work too as he didn't want to go to work the day after he got back from Germany, it would have been too taxing. “So it's official?” Misato asked him.

 

“Oh yeah” Kaji smirked with a boyish grin. “I just bumped into Asuka when I came out of the bathroom. All I did was say hi and she let out a little eep while turning beet red. Then she pushed me out of the way and told me to stop being so nosey before slamming the bathroom door in my face.”

 

“That's my Asuka” Misato said with a laugh.

 

Rei was a bit confused with what was being said while at the same time very interested. For some reason this all sounded so dirty, kind of like one of her books. “Umm, Misato….?”

 

“Never mind what you just heard” Misato told her. “Kaji and I just had a silly little bet going, that's all.”

 

“And it has to do with Asuka?” Rei questioned and then followed that up with another question. “And why have those two been locked in her room since they got home?” Rei very much suspected that something new was in the air concerning those two.

 

“I probably shouldn't say” Misato answered coyly. “Just expect to be giving them even more privacy time in the future. Because they are really going to be very “busy” with each other for a while.”

 

Well that certainly answered that question in Rei's mind. Made her kind of jealous in a way too, soon Asuka would have stories just like Hikari. But more than anything she was happy for the two. They deserved to find that kind of happiness in each other.

 

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It was Wednesday afternoon and Misato paraded two teens into a restaurant to meet their prospective future employer. Actually there was nothing prospective about this, Li Mei and Zukav were going to be their bosses whether they liked it or not. Misato wasn't going to put up with any of their bellyaching over this issue even if the complaints were along the lines of they just wanted to spend more time in bed together. They would have plenty of time to do that sort of thing even if they did have jobs this summer. Not that she could really blame them though. Even she found it unfair sometimes that reality put work over pleasure. If it was up to her pleasure would always be a top priority.

 

“Hello Li Mei” Misato said as a greeting followed by two more forced versions of said greeting by the two teens in front of her.

 

Li Mei smiled back. “Hello Misato.” She then beeped Keiko's nose eliciting a giggle from the little girl before turning her attention over to her two new employees. “Now where should we put you two to work?”

 

Misato started off with Shinji first as he had a certain skill she was sure Li Mei would absolutely love. “Shinji why don't you go cut up some vegetables for Li Mei.”

 

“Ok” Shinji said with a shrug of his shoulders and went to do as he was told. The current attitude of his guardian right now suggested that he shouldn't really argue anything she said.

 

A couple seconds later Li Mei's eyes almost popped out of her head. “Most professional chefs can't cut that fast….”

 

“I figured you would like that skill” Misato grinned. Thanks to Shinji's quick reflexes he was a natural with kitchen knives. As everyone was learning, those quirky little side effects from operating an Eva produced themselves is some very useful ways.

 

Without even a second thought Li Mei told Shinji just exactly where he would be working. He was sentenced to be her cooking assistant as she could use someone who was quick with a knife. He would make very short work of the prep duties and help speed up orders.

 

After Shinji was told where he would be working Asuka chimed in “I can cut food up like that too.” She was pushing for working right along side him, even if that meant working in a kitchen.

 

It was Shinji who actually refuted that comment with a strict “No you can't.”

 

“What do you mean by that?” Asuka huffed.

 

“I mean” Shinji explained while cutting up a carrot. “I cut like this…” and Shinji cut the carrot the proper way with his fingers curled under, safely away from the knife's blade, “… and you cut like this.” This time Shinji stuck his fingers straight out.

 

“Oh for the love of god” Asuka said with a full roll of her eyes. “I cut my finger once and you go all nutsy on me.”

 

“It was a really bad cut” Shinji argued back.

 

“It wasn't that bad” Asuka replied rebutting him and then looked over to Li Mei. “So can I work in the kitchens or not?”

 

“Absolutely not” Li Mei told her unequivocally. “I stress proper cooking techniques in my kitchen. The last thing I need is for someone to cut their finger off.”

 

Li Mei was as bad as Shinji about this apparently. “You guys are all too big of worrywarts.”

 

“Well that's just too bad for you” Li Mei told her as she wasn't changing her stance on this. Li Mei then looked Asuka up and down, what she saw was a very pretty girl with an equally pleasing figure. “Say are you 18 yet?” Li Mei was thinking Asuka might look good working in the sushi bar. Slap a pretty little cocktail dress on her and she was sure that cliental would love her.

 

Asuka though shook her head no. “Not for another six months or so.”

 

“Shoot. I was hoping I could stick you behind the bar. You would have gotten a boat load in tips.”

 

“I would have also gotten you a bunch of lawsuits” Asuka told her flatly. “I'm not all that good with flattery in some cases and would probably kick any skeezy jerks who even thought of hitting on me in the balls so hard they would replace his tonsils. And that's nothing compared to what I would do to any baka who tried to lay a hand on me.”

 

Li Mei shook her head at that. “You have definitely been around Misato way too much.”

 

Misato had to refute that one. “One, Asuka's penchants for violence has nothing to do with me. That's her own doing. And two, that guy had it coming.”

 

Obviously this conversation was alluding to something that had happened in the past. “Well maybe he had it coming but you didn't need to send him to the hospital.”

 

Asuka grew curious about what they were talking about. “Why did you send a guy to the hospital?”

 

“It was back when I first started at Nerv” Misato told her. “Some security moron thought it would be funny to come up behind me and pat my butt saying he was doing a security check. So I decked him for it.”

 

“Decked him?” Li Mei said back giving her a little glare as that was grossly underestimating what she really did. “You punched him so hard you broke his jaw. His mouth was wired shut for a month.”

 

The answer from Asuka was not one Li Mei wanted to hear. “Way to go Misato!”

 

And Misato just egged it on as she said “It certainly taught him a lesson.”

 

Maybe Asuka was too violent of a girl to work for her Li Mei started wondering. She could see the similarities between the red headed girl and her raven-haired guardian. Neither were very shy about proving who was in charge and from the stories she heard from Rei she knew Asuka could back up her words almost as well as Misato could. This was a very worrisome trait and not one she wanted her employees to have. “You guys are making this very hard for me.”

 

“Actually just make me a regular waitress” Asuka told her. “Personally I would love to work where Rei is but even I know that's a disaster waiting to happen.”

 

Misato could still see the questioning look in her friend's eyes. She needed to do something that would show that Asuka wasn't all attitude so she handed off Keiko to her. Immediately Li Mei got to see Asuka's softer side as the little two year old just held onto her auntie Asuka and laid her little head down on her shoulder. Technically this was napytime for the girl. Misato then whispered something into Li Mei's ear. “Believe it or not she's pretty good with little kids now. And while I can't promise she won't give a customer or two the look of death for saying something inappropriate, she's in much better control of herself than she used to be. Just give her a chance. I think she will surprise you.”

 

It was hard for Li Mei to argue a request like that from a friend. “Ok I'll give her a chance.” She turned to Asuka “I'll make you a waitress in the regular family part of the restaurant. Please don't make me regret my decision.”

 

“Don't worry about it” Asuka told her quietly as not to wake up Keiko. “I'll be a good girl, I promise.”

 

And with that Shinji and Asuka had jobs for the summer.

 

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While Asuka didn't get to wear any of those fancy kimonos like Rei she did get to wear an outfit too. It was just a typical waitress getup but still pretty enough to please Asuka. Mainly because it stoked her boyfriends engine as he couldn't get enough of seeing Asuka in the cute little outfit. Then again he could never get enough of seeing Asuka in her cute little cheerleading outfit, or her cute little swimsuit, or her cute little school uniform, or any other cute little outfits she had hiding in her closet for that matter. This was something Asuka absolutely adored about Shinji. Not only did he love her with all his heart and soul but he also had the major hots for her. The only thing better than seeing Asuka in some type of outfit to him was seeing her out of that very same outfit. Given the proper motivation Asuka could get Shinji to be a real tiger in bed and the best part about all of that is that she herself was that motivation. Then again she could turn into a tigress herself and the two spent much of their free time in bed with each other. Their new private activity with each other was something they very much enjoyed and quite frankly couldn't get enough of.

 

As for their work duties, both of them fit into their respective roles quite well. Not only was Shinji good with the cutting and chopping he also knew his way around a kitchen as well. If she needed a bunch of cabbage chopped up he did it in a wink of the eye, if she needed a batch of fried rice he was comfortable behind a wok preparing it, heck he could even handle stirring some regular dishes if she was in a pinch for time and needed something watched while she worked on another dish. He proved himself so much that Li Mei chased off the other cooks in the restaurant that were interested in him. With his quickness the short order cooks were interested in him. The professional chef upstairs liked the kid as he was a hard worker and good with a kitchen knife. And even the sushi bar chefs were interested in him as he had showmanship speed with his cutting. But they all had to take a back seat as Li Mei was the boss and she refused to share.

 

As for Asuka, Misato was right about the girl. Asuka took the chance she was given and ran with it. She was a very good waitress with some interesting skills. Her first skill was a very basic showmanship one in the restaurant industry. She didn't need to write down an order. No matter how complicated it was she could easily memorize it. A lot of this was just very basic short-term memory tricks and she would eventually write down the order when she gave it to the cooks in back but to the customer it was a neat thing. Another one of her skills was that Asuka was an extrovert. She chatted up her customers and most of them appreciated that. The ones that liked it the most were the parents of young kids. This was Asuka's greatest skill. She used what she had learned from Keiko and applied it to her job. She knew when a kid shouted out what they wanted you always looked at mom or dad first to make sure it was ok. Just because the kid wanted juice, pop, or chocolate milk didn't mean the kid was going to get it. And as for the actual meals Asuka took the orders that one extra step concerning them for the kids. She asked if there was anything the little ones didn't like or didn't want touching each other. The parents absolutely loved Asuka for that. It was much easier to get kids to eat a dish if say the offending green peas were already picked out of the dish before it got to the table. This along with her ability to know how to talk to little ones made her a welcome addition to Li Mei's wait staff. In fact Asuka only needed a couple days of training before she was off doing work on her own.

 

The big payoff for Shinji and Asuka was that the two of them had money. Shinji could buy Asuka her chocolates again and Asuka could falsely admonish him for it. She also could do her sexy little trick of licking a little hole in the bottom of the chocolate and then sucking out the filling leaving behind just an empty chocolate shell. This talent definitely had a place in the bedroom. Along with that Misato wasn't too harsh with them as she told them they only had to work twenty hours a week. This would leave them plenty of time to have fun and do other things.

 

And other things were a big priority right now as Asuka had returned to the pool. In the summer the pool opened its doors to its students and the surrounding community. Most of the pool was open for whatever you wanted to do but there were a couple of beaded lines along the length of the pool that created three swimming lanes for people who were more interested in exercising than swimming. Asuka was one of these people and by association so was Shinji. Asuka wanted to get in better shape for swimming season as the bitter taste of losing by just a matter of sub seconds was still fresh in her mouth even after all these months.

 

No one was more happy to see her there than Kirika Kumara. Last year Asuka did not show up for these open swim sessions so she was very happy to see this year that her star athlete did. Technically it was against the rules for the girls swim team coach to have practices out of season but there were no rules against her being at a pool that was open to the public. And if by coincidence some of her squad also showed up there was nothing she could do about it, they had just as much of a right to be there as her. But unlike some coaches she did not make up any secret mandatory rules about attending these open swim times. If you wanted to come in and swim that was good, if you didn't that was your choice too. She never held stuff like that against her squad members as she knew they all had personal lives as well.

 

Asuka didn't always come alone either. Besides Shinji, Yuma was a very common sight. She wasn't there so much to prepare for the season but to prepare to go to swimming camp. She didn't want to embarrass her older sister and show up out of shape. Hikari showed up most days as well, but she didn't stay as long as the others most of the time. On days she had to work she left by 9:00 am so she could get showered and to work on time. Rei showed up too but not on a consistent basis. Maybe four days out of the week but most likely three. Her reasons for that were good enough though. She worked much later than everyone else and sometimes when Asuka came knocking she was just too tired to answer.

 

Asuka wasn't as pushy as she used to be and she understood Rei better. If she knocked and Rei didn't answer in about five minutes that meant Rei was too tired to go swimming. Asuka would just leave it at that. Sometimes Rei would show up later and sometimes she wouldn't show up at all, it was all up to Rei and how tired she felt that day. Plus Asuka knew Rei sometimes had other reasons for not showing up, sometimes Rei used this time when everyone else was gone to have a personal talk with Misato about the things going on in her life. Those same kind of talks helped Asuka very much in her life so there was no way she was going to cast judgment upon Rei for wanting to do the same thing.

 

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Now it was several weeks later and near the end of July on a very sunny Tuesday. With a little planning Asuka had set up to take this day off along with Hikari and Rei. This wasn't that hard to do actually as Asuka's shift overlapped with Hikari's in the beginning and Rei's at the end so she had ample ability to set up a little fun date with the girls. Personally Li Mei wished Shinji and Asuka would work the evening shift as their skills would be best used at that time but it was made very clear that the evening was Asuka and Shinji's personal time. There was no arguing that and in addition Asuka and Shinji always worked the same day and at the same time. They were paired employees and if Misato didn't argue that point Li Mei wasn't going to either. She knew what Misato did was the best for those two even if she didn't understand it at times.

 

Rei was a little mystified about this whole play date deal as where they were going to go didn't make any sense to her. They were going to go to the beach and even stranger Asuka was looking forward to the trip as this was something she and Hikari did all the time last year. Considering Rei knew Asuka hated the beach for many legitimate reasons this made no sense to her. But since Asuka basically begged her to go with her she had a hard time telling the girl no since it was on one of her days off and she had nothing better to do. And as she answered the knock on her door from Asuka and Hikari she asked suspiciously “Are we really going to the beach? This isn't just a ploy to get me to go shopping with you guys again?” This wouldn't be the first time she got tricked into going on a shopping trip with the two shopaholics.

 

“No Rei” Asuka answered with a little chortle. “We really are going to the beach.”

 

“But you hate the beach” Rei answered as she just couldn't figure this whole thing out.

 

“That's where you are mistaken” Asuka told her. “Yes, I do hate the Tokyo-3 beach but I don't hate all beaches…” and as Rei left her apartment she saw that it wasn't just going to be the three of them as Misato and Keiko were waiting out in the hall too. “… Keiko's beach is actually a beach I really like.”

 

“Keiko's beach?” Rei questioned.

 

“That's Asuka's term for a manmade beach I take Keiko to in the summer” Misato said clearing things up. “I don't know why she likes to go along as the only other teens you see there are the lifeguards. Everyone else is either young children or their parents.”

 

Actually that sounded pretty good to Rei and she quickly liked Asuka's idea. While she didn't have the same hang up about the Tokyo-3 beach as Asuka she didn't like it either. It was basically a teenage meat market out there and she wanted nothing to do with that sort of environment. The beach Asuka and Hikari went to was most likely free of that kind of thing so this was a dream come true for her. While Rei was a private girl she was also a bit of a beach babe in some senses. It was very warm outside and she would have liked nothing better than to sit under the sun and let it warm her up. Doing so on a nice beach added to that particular enticing idea. The only things holding her back from doing things like that were the other people. But Asuka and Hikari had found a way around that obstacle and in no time Rei was laying around on a beach blanket under a nice summer umbrella enjoying the very warm summer wind. She was definitely going to have to remember this place.

 

Right now she was only with Misato. Hikari and Asuka had gotten dragged off to the edge of the water by Keiko and were working on building a sand castle with the little girl. Keiko was very busy making the moat aspect of the castle as the little girl loved to dig holes and fill them full of water. She of course then splashed around in it but that was to be expected from a growing two year old. As for Misato, she was sitting in a lounge chair wearing her sort of sexy black swimsuit and a pair of sunglasses. She also was reading a steamy romance novel courtesy of Rei. I wish I could add that she had a brightly colored tropical drink in a tall glass as well but this is Misato we are talking about. Planted right next to her was a cherry slurpee she bought from a service station on the way over.

 

Just like Rei she was very much enjoying herself as even though the loud din of children was present it was rather peaceful. She wasn't the only one reading a book either as Rei was laying on her belly reading one as well. This was a great way for Rei to spend her day off.

 

A little bit later Asuka had come back as she needed some zinc oxide for Keiko's nose. The little girl had rubbed it off in all her splashing. But as she reached into the bag Misato brought with for it she sort of looked over Rei's shoulder to see what the girl was reading. Rei was so engrossed in the story that she didn't even notice Asuka was doing this. After a couple minutes though Asuka turned to Misato and asked “Can you really do that?” while pointing at what Rei was reading.

 

Misato turned her head and looked at Rei's book for a second. She glanced over what was written and then answered “I've done that before. Trust me, you'll enjoy it a lot.”

 

“Really?” Asuka asked as a spark of excitement showed up in those blue eyes of hers.

 

Misato nodded her head yes and went back to her own story. Asuka though turned to Rei and asked “Umm??.. When you're done with that book could I borrow it?”

 

With a little giggle Rei told her yes. Asuka responded with a big thank you before going back to what she had come over to do in the first place. As for Rei, she reread that part of her story. Most of the time the smutty scenes in her books were exaggerated and she knew it. But Misato just indicated this one she was reading wasn't so far out there and that made it doubly interesting. For a girl who was a virgin in so many ways she had a very deep understanding of many sensual things. Now if she could only find that one special guy she could like in that way to try such things out on.

 

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A while later the situation had changed up from what it was before. Asuka and Hikari were talking to each other on the beach blanket while sitting next to Rei who looked like she was sleeping. Misato was down in the water carefully watching her child while she played with some other little ones. While Misato trusted the lifeguards at this beach they were not a replacement for her direct supervision of her daughter when she was in the water.

 

“So how are things with you and Shinji?” Hikari asked.

 

“They couldn't be better” Asuka responded with a pleasurable shiver. “The sex just keeps getting better and better. You should have told me that it was this good sooner.”

 

“I did” Hikari laughed. “At least a hundred times.”

 

“Well then you should have said it a hundred and one” Asuka responded with a playful smirk. She then turned a bit more serious as she asked “Sometimes when Shinji and I do it, the feelings are very different from other times. Do you believe there is like a difference between making love and having sex?”

 

Asuka and Shinji were still very new to all this so Asuka was brimming with questions. Hikari was a great conduit for these questions as she had much more experience in the matter and also didn't mind talking about it. “Oh yes. There's a huge difference between the two in my opinion. It's hard to describe but like you said, the feeling are totally different.”

 

“I think I know what you mean” Asuka said. “Last night Shinji and I were trying out a new position and we were on our sides and he was behind me. He kept whispering into my ear that he loved me and the next thing I knew I was crying. I sort of felt like an emotional putz for doing it while at the same time I couldn't stop because he was making me so happy.”

 

Hikari smiled warmly at that. “Touji has done stuff like that to me too. Even though sometimes my orgasm aren't as intense as when we are just screwing around I love it so much more.”

 

“Is it more because how you are feeling or is it because you know he's telling the truth and not just saying it because you're having sex?”

 

Hikari had to think about that for a second, she had never really thought about that sort of thing in that way. She couldn't decide so she said “Both.”

 

Asuka nodded her head yes to that. “I can't figure it out either. But I don't think it really matters.”

 

“It doesn't to me” Hikari responded shoring up that this particular question didn't need a definite answer. But the fact Asuka was talking about crying while having sex brought up another question. “Are you still crying every time you have sex?”

 

“Not anymore” Asuka answered. That question had to do with a little problem Asuka had during that first week. The three girls had already had their slumber party to talk all about it but that was two weeks ago. Asuka had mentioned that she couldn't help but cry during sex. She didn't want to but that very real overly emotional part of her just made her do it. “I still cry when we're being really intimate but I'm much better when we do the fun stuff.”

 

“See I told you it wouldn't last forever.” Hikari could tell Asuka was very self-conscious about it and back then she told her it would get better and that it was nothing to worry about.

 

“Well Shinji doesn't exactly help me out too much in the matter” Asuka said with a huffy breath. “Guess what he started doing now?”

 

Hikari had no clue and couldn't even guess so she just shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Well the overly romantic baka started kissing each of my tears away” Asuka sort of complained. While it made the crying situation worse she wasn't sure that she didn't want him to do this.

 

Hikari added to that confusion as she let out a “That sounds so romantic.”

 

Asuka chuckled to herself for a second and gave in. “I would tell him to stop it as it just makes me cry even more but it feels so good.”

 

“I'll bet” Hikari answered as she wouldn't mind it if Touji pulled that move on her the next time this situation came up in their case. Maybe she would have to give that boy of hers a little hint. Then again he might already know. She was well aware of the fact that Touji and Shinji talked about this sort of thing too. It was very apparent that they exchanged information as Asuka had come talking to her about things that Touji did to her and Touji himself did a new thing or two now. And trust me, she wasn't complaining about this one bit. “So has he developed any weird traits yet when you have sex?”

 

“What do you mean weird?” Asuka asked as she wasn't sure what Hikari was talking about or what could be classified as weird.

 

“I mean like with Touji when we have sex he is always grabbing or sucking on my tits” Hikari answered. “Even after all this time he's still completely obsessed with them.”

 

“Ohh…” Asuka said catching on to what Hikari was talking about. She also teased her before answering by saying “With knockers like yours I don't blame him. As for Shinji… well lets just say he likes positions where he can grab my ass. Not that I'm complaining mind you.”

 

“I wasn't either” Hikari told her with a smirk. “So does he just like to grab or does he want you to feel you?”

 

“Is there a difference?” Asuka asked.

 

“I think there is” Hikari answered. “Grabbing is sort of aggressive while feeling is sensual.”

 

After thinking for about a minute Asuka responded with “The feeling thing. He doesn't really squeeze or pinch or anything like that, he just likes to feel my ass in his hands I think. And actually for a long time now whenever we kiss in private or anything like that he always puts his hands down there.”

 

“So what do you do about it?” Hikari had to ask.

 

With a naughty smile Asuka answered “Before I just let him feel me up, but now I hop up into his hands and wrap my legs around him so he can fuck me good.”

 

“You dirty little girl” Hikari laughed.

 

“Hey you're the one who put these kinds of thoughts into my head with your stories” Asuka replied back with a giggle.

 

“Has he pushed you up against a wall while doing it yet?”

 

Asuka nodded yes. In fact it was only two days ago that they did it like that. “The only problem I had was I ended up ripping one of my posters off my wall because I was looking for something to grab onto.”

 

Hikari couldn't help laughing at that. Not because of what Asuka did but because something like that had happened to her too. “I know the feeling. You know that little wall shelf with my stuffed animals on it in my room?” Asuka nodded her head yes. “The one on my wall is actually a replacement. The first one got ripped off. You have no idea how hard it was to come up with an excuse on how it happened that I could tell my father.”

 

“Is he still really stuck up about you and Touji about that?” Asuka asked. “I mean by now he has to know what you two are doing up in your room.”

 

“Yes and no” Hikari answered. “Touji isn't supposed to be there after dark but on the same point he will not come into my room unless my door is open. I even have a lock on my door now.”

 

“So kind of like a begrudging acceptance sort of thing huh?”

 

“Something like that” Hikari answered. “Right now though he's too distracted to even think about me and Touji.”

 

“That's right” Asuka said remembering that just a couple days ago Hikari's little sister went from being the baby of the family to the big sister of a baby brother. While Hikari's step mom thought her pregnancy was going to drag into August she actually had the baby a day earlier than expected. Just goes to show you that no matter what you think or feel nature always has its own plans. “How is Asuna doing?”

 

But even before Hikari could answer they heard a “Don't change your subject” from the girl sleeping beside them.

 

“I thought you were sleeping?” Asuka said with a huge smirk. She had a feeling Rei was listening to the whole conversation, not that she minded.

 

“It's rather hard to sleep when you two talk about that.” Rei was still lying there with her eyes closed but now she had a definite smile on her face.

 

“So if we change the subject then that means you can fall back to sleep” Asuka teased her.

 

“Who says I want to sleep?” Rei teased right back.

 

Both Asuka and Hikari had to laugh at that. Even though she didn't have a boyfriend Rei was all ears whenever they talked about this sort of thing. She didn't even blush at anything they said anymore and if anything could be described as inquisitive as she wasn't opposed to asking a question or two either. “You know Rei” Hikari started. “I know a boy or two who wants to ask you out.”

 

“A boy or two” Asuka said sarcastically. “How about half the boys in school.”

 

“No thank you” Rei said though. “To most of them I'm nothing more than a curiosity. They only want to be with me to see what it would be like. That's not the type of person I want to be with.” Rei then opened up her eyes and looked at the two of them. “I want what you have.”

 

Hikari smiled at that as it was a rather large compliment. “And I'm sure you'll find it some day.”

 

Asuka liked the compliment as well. “But getting it right the first time is a rare occurrence.” This had more to do with the truth about the world today. The person you lost your virginity to and the person who you married being the same was not as common of a thing as it used to be. Hikari and Asuka were just lucky in that aspect and were more the exception than the rule. All you had to do was listen to the other girls in the school talk to know that.

 

While Rei knew what Asuka said was true it didn't bug her. “My whole life has been a rare occurrence. I have no problems with this part of it being rare as well.”

 

“Good point” Asuka commented as Rei was right about that one. “So is there even one boy out there that you would think of giving a shot to at least dating?”

 

“There was one” Rei said before getting a little mad. “But he can go away. He was being nice to me for all the wrong reasons.”

 

Asuka had an idea of whom Rei was talking about. Even though Rei never responded to him there was a boy from another class who tried to be nice to her. But Asuka knew the reason why and it was now clear that so did Rei. “You heard about the bet then, didn't you?”

 

“Of course I did” Rei said with some sharpness. “What makes boys do stupid things like that?”

 

“Pride, vanity, and ego” Asuka easily answered.

 

Hikari knew what this conversation was about as well. Ten boys from the school made a bet at the beginning of the school year on which one could get Rei in bed first. It was really stupid and immature, not to mention insensitive as all hell, but not something she would put past any of these boys. She had known quite a few of these boys from elementary school on up and they all thought they were God's gift to women. In fact this little bet of theirs wasn't the first time they made it, this was the fourth year in a row that they had made a wager on getting such and such girl. Last year Rei happened to be that target as they wanted to prove how studly they really were. Unfortunately this was the first time none of them would succeed in their callous quest. The trail of broken hearts these guys had left behind them doing things like this spoke louder than anything to people. “So how did you find out about the bet?”

 

“Kensuke told me” Rei answered. “It was after one of the boys showed up at the restaurant one day and tried to hit on me. Did you know Kensuke's part of the bet too?”

 

“What?” both Asuka and Hikari said together.

 

“He bet all ten of them that they would lose” Rei answered.

 

“Kensuke's got more brains then I thought” Asuka joked as it made sense now.

 

“So how much is he going to win?” Hikari asked out of curiosity. There was no doubt in her mind that Kensuke had this wrapped up. In fact she was sure that the blonde haired spectacled kid told Rei everything about the bet and who the ten boys were just to make sure she knew who to stay away from. Just like her and Asuka he was Rei's friend and didn't want to see her hurt.

 

“Fifty thousand yen” Rei answered plainly.

 

“You got to be kidding me?” Asuka said as her eyes went big. That was a lot of money. Rei must have been one hell of a prize to these boys to be wagering that much.

 

“Nope” Rei answered though. “Kensuke said each one of the guys wagered five thousand yen and it's winner take all.” Rei was smiling again now. While she didn't like what those boys were up to and their actions even personally insulted her she was glad they were going to get what was coming to them. Kensuke was going to bilk them all of their money.

 

“I hope he at least plans on splitting the money with you now that he has told you all about it” Asuka said.

 

“You know he offered to do that but I told him he could keep it.”

 

“Why would you do that?” Asuka asked surprised. “If anything he should give you all the money. You deserve it more than anything considering what those jerks are doing.”

 

“I know” Rei told her trying to calm Asuka down. This wasn't really an issue she wanted to talk about anymore as all it did was show what jerks some people could be. “I don't want the money. It would be too soiled for me to have. Kensuke can have it…” and then with a huge roll of her eyes she added “… he will probably just sink it all into his bike anyway.”

 

“Ain't that the truth” Asuka said copying the roll of the eyes along with Hikari nodding in complete agreement.

 

“You know he told Touji the other day that his moped can now go faster than your Vespa.”

 

“He says a lot of things” Rei answered Hikari while smirking. “But not all of them are true.” But then Rei had to stop to think for a second. “Well maybe they are not all true. He said he was going to spend today with Snake. And I never know what those two will do to that moped of his.”

 

“If it isn't one thing he gets all otaku about it's another” Asuka said. “At least motorcycles are better than weapons, I'll give him that.”

 

“True” Rei responded as she thought it was a vast improvement as well. Plus she got free maintenance on her scooter out of it so she wasn't going to look that gift horse in the mouth. But what she was going to do was steer this conversation back onto its intended path. “So what exactly were you and Shinji doing three days ago when you yelled out that rather vulgar German phrase?”

 

Asuka turned a little red while stuttering “Y-you heard that?”

 

“Well I was over making lunch” Rei giggled. What ever Shinji did to her must have been pretty good as she sounded damn happy about it at the time.

 

While Asuka's blush didn't disappear she did let the cat out of the bag on that particular incident. Like always she had her two friends' undivided attention.

 

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

 

Later on that day when they were done with their little beach outing Asuka asked Rei “So what do you think? You want to come to the beach with Hikari and I from now on?”

 

“Definitely” Rei answered. In fact she was planning on coming to this particular beach without them even, she liked it so much.

 

“You know after we get back home and changed Hikari and I are going to hit the mall. What do you say, want to tag along?”

 

Rei's answer to that was to ask for Asuka's phone for a second. She then scrolled down to Yuma's number on the girl's speed dial list and gave it back to Asuka with the phone ringing. “I was going to call her anyways” Asuka said sarcastically.

 

“Then next time just save your breath and do it right away” Rei kidded. She then lowered the boom on the two of them as she told them about her other plans. “Besides Misato and I already agreed to go shopping together earlier.”

 

After Asuka got off the phone with an excited Yuma who quickly said yes to a shopping trip she looked at Rei like she was some sort of weirdo. “You know most girls find it embarrassing to go shopping with their “moms” by our age.”

 

“Good thing I'm not like most girls then” Rei poked back.

 

Along with that Misato added on her own two cents to this conversation. “If you don't stop bugging Rei you two will be taking Keiko with you while shopping instead of us.” Misato had a whole list full of errands she had to do today and she appreciated that Rei was going to give her a hand with them. So there was no way she was going to loose that help to Asuka and her little endeavor into the land of wasted money.

 

Asuka shut her sassy little mouth real quick after that line. Keiko was absolutely no fun on shopping trips and had the patience of a honeybee. You had to be always doing something and moving or she would get bored very quickly. But since Rei was going to be going with Misato that meant Asuka and Hikari could make use of something that Rei owned. “Can we borrow your scooter?” Asuka asked.

 

“Ummm???… “ Rei said thinking to herself. She had gone out riding last night and had run the battery down to just about zero by the time she got home. “If there is more than a 3/4 charge on my battery you can.” Rei did not mind letting Asuka borrow her scooter. She knew the girl was going to ask to do it anyway but she was rather impressed with Asuka's reaction when she found out Rei had one. Asuka actually congratulated her and told her she was jealous of Rei that she saved up enough money to buy one. Because Asuka showed her respect Rei let her borrow her scooter on occasion. She also let the others in her family borrow it as it was an absolute treasure if you just had to pop out for a second and get something from the grocery store or something like that. And to tell you the truth the person who borrowed her scooter the most so far had been Misato as she was the one with the most quick errands to do.

 

“Where were you going?” Hikari asked her. “Because Nozomi and I saw you over on Elm Street when we went for a walk last night.”

 

“Nowhere really” Rei answered. “I was only driving around. I did bump into your older sister though. She was with Touji.”

 

“Yeah I know, they went out last night to go look for something” Hikari answered. “Apparently he asked for her help with something but won't tell me what it is.”

 

“Maybe he's looking for a wedding ring and he needed her help” Asuka kidded.

 

“Will you stop that” Hikari said with a giggle and a blush. Things with her and Touji were getting very serious and now when Asuka teased her about that sort of thing very different emotions surged through her. Instead of herself saying she is just teasing me they now said `I hope she is right.'

 

Asuka though pressed on. “So where exactly did you see those two Rei?”

 

“They were walking down 20th, near where it crosses with Aspen.”

 

“There are some really nice jewelry stores down in that area you know.” Asuka started giggling as she saw Hikari turning even redder.

 

Misato gave Hikari a little lifeline as she added on to Asuka's statement. “There are jewelry stores all over this city Asuka. That doesn't mean a thing.”

 

“Well you never know” Asuka kept up. She then looked over at Hikari. “What if that was what he really was doing? Would you say yes?”

 

Hikari was beet red at this point. But even being this embarrassed didn't stop her from nodding her head yes. It wouldn't even take her a second to think about it, she would agree to a proposal immediately.

 

“So whose name would you take?” Misato asked. “Have you guys ever talked about that?” Issues like this always tended to be touchy ones and were best gotten out of the way before a certain question was popped.

 

Hikari nodded her head yes again. “He said he would take mine if I really wanted him to but I'm going to take his. I know it is sort of old fashioned but I like it that way.”

 

“So you want to be Mrs. Hikari Suzuhara” Asuka said.

 

You could see the tingle run down Hikari's spine when Asuka said that. She wanted that to be her name pretty badly now. She also wanted to get back at Asuka for all the teasing so she asked “So what name are you and Shinji going to go with?”

 

“Nice try” Asuka said knowing what Hikari just tried to do. “But Shinji and I have already talked about this. Because of our mothers neither one of us really want to give up our surnames so we came to a compromise. I know it is not the tradition here but we are going to hyphenate.”

 

“So you are going to have three surnames now?” Rei questioned.

 

“Nope, just two as always” Asuka answered. “I have no problems dropping the Langley from my name. In fact I will be happy when I can call myself Asuka Ikari Sohryu.” Asuka then asked Misato “How did you and Kaji decide to go with your surname?” Even though everyone still called him Kaji his real name was Ryohji Katsuragi.

 

“It was just safer to do so” Misato answered. “His surname attracts too much unwanted attention.” This had to do with his previous life before third impact of course.

 

“I suppose” Asuka commented. “Do you guys get phone calls anymore from some of his old contacts?”

 

“Not the kind I don't like” Misato answered. “The UN wanted him for something about two years ago but that was the last time any of “those” kind of calls came. He's officially retired from that game and now the only time he gets in touch with his old contacts is when one of them is in town. They head out for drinks or something like that and reminisce about the old days. From what he has told me most of them have retired from the business as well.”

 

“Well if they're smart they have” Asuka added on before asking the blue haired girl sitting in the front seat the same question that was floating around in the car. “What about you Blue?”

 

“I have no attachment to the name Ayanami as it's more an alibi than anything” Rei answered. “So I suppose I will change my name to whatever my future husband's will be.”

 

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

 

Shinji was hard at work cutting up some vegetables for Li Mei when he heard giggling. It was coming from not only Li Mei but a couple other cooks in the area themselves. It had been going on for a while now and was getting kind of annoying as he could tell the joke was about him. “What am I doing wrong?”

 

“Nothing” Li Mei giggled. “Just never mind us.”

 

Shinji only shook his head slightly and went back to work. But it was hard to do that as every couple minutes or so the girls in the kitchen would repeat their actions. And it wasn't only the girls as he could tell some of the guys were chuckling under their breaths as well. Saying anything would get him no where so he waited till he saw Asuka come in back to post an order. “Asuka is there something stuck on me somewhere?” he figured someone might have stuck a note on his back or something like that.

 

Asuka took a quick look. “I don't see anything. Why?”

 

“Because everyone back here keeps giggling at me over something.”

 

“Well that's because they're all weirdo's and busybodies” Asuka said sticking her tongue out at all the cooks. She knew what they were giggling about but she didn't want to tell Shinji about it. If she did he might stop and she sort of enjoyed what the other cooks found funny. It was very flattering to her. “Just ignore them and go back to work.”

 

Well that didn't work either and Shinji was left in a confused state as he started chopping things up again. This went on for another good hour before he spotted Rei. She was walking up towards Zukav with a phone in her hand. Shinji stopped her first as he asked “Hey Rei, do you know why the cooks keep giggling at me today?”

 

“Because of Li Mei” she smiled and then walked away giving him no real answers. She wasn't going to be the one who spilled the beans on this.

 

Shinji already knew that and he looked over at Li Mei again. “Will you just tell me?”

 

Unfortunately she just repeated herself. “Nothing. Just never mind us.”

 

This was getting real old real fast but there was nothing he could do about it. No one was saying anything, including his girlfriend. This wasn't very fair and it got down right weird as a half hour later he spotted Kensuke coming back from one of his runs. He questioned him as well.

 

The answer he got back though was “If I said anything the girls would kill me.”

 

“C'mon, just tell me.” Shinji begged.

 

“Not a chance” Kensuke responded as he felt a couple cold glares directed at him. He knew what was going on but he was told to keep his mouth shut by the cooks and they sounded serious.

 

Getting no answers from Kensuke either caused him to get frustrated. And it was becoming apparent with his expression. When his shift wrapped up and he left with Asuka for home he was sort of grumpy.

 

“What's your problem?” Asuka asked.

 

“I don't know” Shinji grumbled back. “No one will tell me.”

 

“Oh are you still bugged about that?' Asuka said completely blowing it off. “Listen Shinji, it's nothing. It's just something Li Mei noticed the other day that she found humorous. It's not a joke on your character or anything.”

 

“Then what is it?” Shinji asked.

 

“Well if I tell you, you would probably stop” Asuka answered. “And I don't want you to.”

 

She sort of pouted that last part and Shinji became confused again. Part of him really wanted to know while another part was telling him to leave this alone. The wrong part won this battle as he said “Just tell me. I'm tired of this.”

 

Asuka's bottom lip quivered a little. “Ok I will tell you. Li Mei said that she noticed whenever I walk back into the kitchen your chopping speed slows down a lot and you can't resist taking a peak at me. Then when I go back out to the floor you start chopping full speed again. And you don't do this once in a while but every time I walk back.”

 

“I do?” Shinji questioned with a little blush. This was more than just a little embarrassing.

 

Asuka nodded her head yes but at the same time starting to look very sad. Now that she had told him he wouldn't be doing that anymore and a part of her would miss it. Those little nonverbal clues he gave out about finding her attractive were just as important to her as when he said something.

 

But a funny thing happened because of this after Shinji got over the embarrassment. He knew how much little things like this meant to Asuka so he decided to continue doing what he was told he was doing and even elevated his actions a bit. The next day they had to work when Asuka walked back in the kitchen he stopped cutting things up entirely and stared at her through the opening that separated the kitchen from the dinning area. And he continued to do this every time she walked by.

 

This wasn't nearly as funny as before as Li Mei could tell Shinji was consciously doing this, but at the same time she didn't have the heart to stop him. She could tell Asuka clearly noticed what he was doing and if you looked just right she blushed just a tiny bit every time. This was one of those lovers' things and it didn't even seem to bother Shinji that it was sort of embarrassing on his part. And by the end of their shift Asuka was so flattered by all of this that she didn't even hang around for a couple seconds afterwards to say bye to everyone but took off like a shot with Shinji. There was no second-guessing what those two were off to do.

 

A little bit later Li Mei was with Rei while the girl took her dinner break. She had just finished telling her what happened when she added on “It's almost intimidating how much those two love each other.”

 

“Yes it is” Rei answered clearly. “It's a very hard example to look at sometimes.”

 

That very much sounded like a cry from the heart to Li Mei. “Don't worry Rei. Somewhere out in this crazy world is the perfect guy who will give you exactly what you want.”

 

Rei gave Li Mei a weak smile for that as she knew her friend was just trying to cheer her up. “How did you know Boris was the right one for you?”

 

“It's really hard to explain” Li Mei answered. “It was just this feeling I got whenever I saw him. Everyday he would come by for lunch and he always had this look about him. He was this big guy that everyone was afraid of because it was widely known what he did. He was the rough and tough interrogator who would mess you up big time if you didn't give him the answers he wanted. But the more I looked at him the more I could see that was not who he was. It was his eyes, they just had the look of a kind and gentle man. I don't know why I could see it and others couldn't but I always felt so sorry for him. He would sit at a table with all the others burly guys during dinner time and they would all talk tough but when he came back later in the night for a coffee break I would always see him sitting all alone as everyone else was too afraid to sit by him. Most of the time he would just sit there reading the paper but sometimes he would look off into nothingness while drinking his coffee. He looked so sad when he did that and one day as I was cleaning up I felt I had to do something. So I summed up all my courage and walked over to him with a piece of cake. I put it down in front of him and asked if he wanted it as it was a left over piece and I didn't want to throw it away. And for a guy who had such a mean reputation he had the cutest smile as he said thank you.” Li Mei blushed a little bit as she admitted “I think it was his warm smile that I fell in love with first. And after that day every time he came by for his coffee break I would always go over and talk to him for a little bit. All the others girls told me I was crazy and should stay away from him but I couldn't. He just seemed so happy when I talked to him and I couldn't figure out why he got stuck with such a tough reputation because it was not who he was at all. In fact one night he told me he hated his job. All his life he had been a big tough guy but all he wanted to be was a regular one. Unfortunately because his size he never got the chance and the perception people had of him sort of bullied him into his profession. The more he told me about his real feelings and the more he confided in me the more I fell for him. He was the gentle sweet guy I had been looking for my whole life and before I knew it we were seeing each other outside of work too. And the more I saw the more I loved.”

 

That was a really sweet story that made Rei feel better. It also made her do something else, she put her hand gently on Li Mei's stomach and said “I think this little one is going to grow up in a very loving family.”

 

Li Mei had to hold back her tears as she gave Rei a heartfelt thank you for that very kind compliment. Just about everyone was giving her those compliments lately but this was by far the sweetest. Having a baby was a big thing for this couple as genetically Boris and Li Mei were very different and sometimes that leads to troubles with conception. In fact they had been trying to get pregnant since they got married and for two whole years they had no luck. Li Mei didn't want to give up on this as she really wanted to have a baby with him so she started going in for fertility treatments at the beginning of the year. It took a good six months but eventually those treatments paid off and she was blessed with a little one inside of her.

 

At first she didn't say anything to her staff but it wasn't long before people figured it out. The more than normal trips to the bathroom and the apparent on again and off again nausea was a clue to every woman who worked there. Plus you could add to this was the fact that Boris was downright giddy and look very proud of himself. He just looked like a proud papa to be and the big Russian teddy bear couldn't have been happier.

 

The word couldn't have spread around quicker either as it was only a matter of days ago that people found out and already he was being greeted at the front door with congratulations from the regulars. It's one thing for the news to travel through the restaurant at mach speed but it had even escaped to the outside in this case.

 

It was only the next day when the venerable old Mr. Mitsuishi came up and patted Boris on the back while giving him a hearty congratulations and a very expensive Cuban cigar. It's not like Mr. Mitsuishi could smoke them as his granddaughter Yuriko had forbidden that sort of thing ages ago. So he just gave out the prized cigars to people he liked as congratulatory presents. And when it came to the owners and operators of his favorite restaurant the congratulations couldn't have been more sincere.

 

I mean not only did this restaurant have owners that were friends of his it also had the greatest, and not to mention prettiest, hostess in the whole wide world in his opinion. In fact his visits always coincided with her hours as he liked the special treatment he was given by her. Not only did this beauty guide him to his table in the most elegant of ways she took him by the hand while she did it. Holding hands with such a young beauty like her always warmed his heart.

 

As you can tell Rei softened up considerably towards Mr. Mitsuishi. He was just a really nice, friendly old man. Yes he made her blush from time to time but she could tell he really meant those flattering things he said. And many times those things made her feel very good and appreciated. Because of that she gave him special treatment and guided him to his table by gently leading him with his hand in hers. She knew this would make his day and if anyone deserved this kind of special treatment it was Mr. Mitsuishi. She also knew this was something she should do as every time she did his granddaughter Yuriko would thank her for being so nice to her grandfather.

 

And normally Yuriko did not do such things. She only thanked people who she knew was genuine and sincere about what they were doing for her grandfather. Most of the people around him were business suck-ups whose flattery was nothing more than a thinly veiled ploy to get on his good side and advance their careers. She did not like these people one bit and the easiest way to get your bum thrown out the door at this company was to compliment her grandpa one second and then degrade the old man the next when he left the room. That kind of business backstabbing was something she did not like about the business world. But at this restaurant she did not have to worry about such things as he was among real friends here. And along with that they served a horseradish rubbed lamb chop that was heavenly. It always meant an extra hour on the treadmill for her the next morning but it was so worth it.

 

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

 

Rei was just getting home from a hard day's work. She worked part of her hours as a hostess and then worked the banquet room for a wedding rehearsal party later on that night. The flip side to getting paid really well to work the banquet room was that sometimes these banquets didn't end when they were supposed to. While formal meetings and the such were nicely scheduled and stuck to those schedules, party types of reservations tended to run long. If it wasn't for Zukav coming in around 1:00 am and shutting off the alcohol Rei was sure she would still be there serving sake or something to the bride and groom's fathers as those two were having a good old time. It was nice to see such happy things like that but she was exhausted now and not getting home till 2:00 in the morning really pushed her to her limits work wise. There was no way she was going to go swimming with Asuka tomorrow and she put a note on her door telling the redhead not to even bother knocking.

 

And to her delight Asuka didn't as she read the note the next morning. “Geeze, she didn't get home from work till two.”

 

“No wonder they pay her so well to do stuff like that” Shinji said back.

 

“Even if they gave me what she gets paid I doubt I would do that” Asuka replied. “If I'm not going to get to bed till that late it better be because of something we are doing and not work.” Loving was high on the list of things Asuka would lose her beauty sleep over, work was not.

 

“So should we get going then?” Shinji asked.

 

“Yup” Asuka answered. “The sooner I get done with my swimming the sooner you can give me a massage.”

 

“Or we could just skip the swimming part?” Shinji tempted as they started going down the stairs.

 

Asuka could see that naughty little twinkle in Shinji's eyes. She had to think while she walked down the steps to try and decide if Shinji's idea was a good one or a brilliant one. After all if you were energetic enough in your lovemaking you could call it exercise, well at least she could. But at the bottom of the stairs she said “No.” It was more to herself than it was to Shinji but he still looked down about it. “Trust me Shinji, I'm sad about it too but I need to go to practice.”

 

“I suppose” Shinji answered her as they walked out the door of the complex. “Whoa! It's hot out already”

 

“I'll say” Asuka said shading her eyes from the bright morning sun. “You'd think this was still before third impact or something.”

 

While the two walked towards the pool the idea of swimming sounded better with every step. “Too bad Rei had to work late last night. She would have loved today's weather” Shinji remarked.

 

“I'm sure she's enjoying it anyways” Asuka replied. “She probably has her windows wide open and her air conditioner turned off.” As they turned the corner they met up with Yuma. “Hey Yuma.”

 

“Hello” Yuma replied back and then noticed it was just the two of them. “Isn't Rei coming today?”

 

Asuka shook her head no. “She didn't get home from work till late so she's still sleeping.”

 

“She works really hard doesn't she?”

 

Shinji nodded his head yes to Yuma's question. “She says she enjoys it.”

 

“That and she needs the money to make the payments on her scooter” Asuka added on. “I'm still surprised she was able to buy something like that on her own.”

 

“I saw her the other day driving around on it” Yuma said. “She was going really fast.”

 

“She does that sometimes” Asuka smirked.

 

Rei was a closet speed demon and had no troubles seeing how fast she could go on her scooter. She always explained it away as she was only seeing what her scooter was capable of as she needed to know its limits but Asuka knew better. Rei just liked to go really fast. The bigger question was who got her hooked on that, Misato or Kensuke? Kensuke was a speed junkie and you could tell because he always wanted that moped of his to go faster. As for Misato, well she still had that speed queen part in her. Every once in a while she would leave Keiko with a babysitter and go out with Kaji in his Mustang. They would then both find some nice out of the way country road or some sort of track and burn it up. It was the thrill of it all and also something else, revving that car's engine really revved theirs as well. There was still plenty of spark in that relationship, becoming parents did nothing to extinguish it.

 

“You know what would be really good on a day like today” Shinji said. “Ice Cream.”

 

“Now that sounds good” Asuka said in complete agreement. She then looked over at Yuma “So you working today? Because we might just stop by.”

 

“Really?” Yuma said getting a little excited as they entered the school. She loved it when Asuka or any of her other friends stopped by the bakery/ice cream parlor she worked at. “We just got in this really yummy new flavor” she told them. “It's blue raspberry.”

 

“That sounds good” a third girl's voice interrupted. “Might need some chocolate chips thrown in.”

 

“I can do that” Yuma said enthusiastically.

 

“I take it I don't even need to ask if you are up for an ice cream run later on today” Asuka chuckled at Hikari who was waiting for them outside the locker room. “You don't have to work today, do you?”

 

“Nope” Hikari answered as the girls parted ways with Shinji as he headed off to the boys locker room to change. “I probably can get Touji to come too.”

 

“He won't be too busy working?” Asuka asked as the only person she knew that worked more than Rei was Touji. The kid was working between fifty and sixty hours a week for his dad.

 

“Not really” Hikari said as she started changing into her swimsuit. “If he wants to he can take a long lunch break. His dad doesn't mind as Touji works pretty hard for him.”

 

“Good” Asuka said as maybe a day out with friends was a good idea for how to spend the day as well.

 

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Both Hikari and Asuka stayed at the pool a little extra longer, partly for the exercise, partly because it was so hot, partly because they were trying to set a good example to the other girls on the swim team as they were seniors now, and also partly to burn off some calories that they knew they would be putting right back on when they went out for ice cream. So by the time they left with Shinji and picked up Touji it was noon and the hard working construction boy was looking for something to eat.

 

He was first in line at the bakery. “Okay, get me two of those meat buns, one of those pork buns, some takoyakis, an extra large ice tea, and…” he looked down towards the end of the counter where Asuka and Hikari were standing. It was right in front of the ice cream. “…Hey babe! What kind of chocolate ice cream they got there.”

 

“Either plain chocolate or chocolate with peanut butter swirls” Hikari answered back.

 

“And throw in a chocolate peanut butter cone” Touji told the girl taking his order.

 

The girl was in fact one of Yuma's friends and her eyes were a little big right now. That was a pretty big order but then again it was obvious Touji was a pretty big guy so it sort of made sense. Her friend Yuma sure knew some interesting people.

 

Shinji was up next and his order was more in line for a guy to her. “A pork bun, some takoyakis, regular ice tea, and a vanilla cone with some Snickers crumbled into it.”

 

She blushed a little as she took the order. Yuma and her two friends all had little crushes on Shinji. It wasn't really the whole love interest kind of crush but more he is such a nice guy type of crush. They all wanted to find someone just like him.

 

While Shinji was absolutely oblivious to this Asuka knew all about it. She could recognize the reactions easily but she also knew they were harmless. That didn't stop her from teasing the three younger girls from time to time though when they went out shopping together. Usually it was in the form of her saying “I hear that is one of those nice quiet boys, you should go ask him out” to any cute boys that were age appropriate for the girls. She could get three blushes out of it every time.

 

Since it was lunchtime Asuka and Hikari got something besides ice cream as well. Hikari got some takoyakis to go along with her raspberry and chocolate ice cream cone and Asuka got a pork bun to go along with her chocolate dipped strawberry cone.

 

They were all finishing up their meals and just talking to each other when a blue scooter stopped besides them. “Well hello there sleepyhead” Asuka greeted her.

 

As Rei took off her helmet you could tell she really was that as she had a terminal case of bed hair still. Truthfully she had only been up for about a half hour and the only thing she had time for was a quick shower. It was only 1:00 pm and she didn't start work for another hour but she wanted to go in early so she could get something to eat and fix her hair up right before she started. “What are you guys doing here?”

 

“Just thought we would go out for some ice cream” Hikari answered.

 

But as she did Yuma came out with a big cookie and gave it to Rei. Rei in return gave her a couple coins for it. Asuka chuckled a bit at that. “I figured you knew all about this place.”

 

“Well it's only polite to support a business a friend works at” Rei answered.

 

“And if that friend's business make big warm soft gingersnap cookies that's all the better” Asuka playfully teased.

 

“Well….” Rei said getting a guilty smile and looking away a bit. A stop at this restaurant was pretty much a staple for her now. Originally she had only stopped at this bakery to see what they had because Yuma worked there but when she discovered they made her very favorite treat they got a regular customer. But she didn't have all that much time to sit around and chat and she said goodbye to her friends as she had to get going to work. She knew her hair was going to take a lot of taming so it might be good if she got there with plenty of time so she could work on it.

 

As Asuka watch Rei zoom off she stretched herself out in the hot summer air. She had never imagined her life would turn out this way but she was very glad it did. She had the best boyfriend in the world, the bestest of friends, and her life was so much simpler than before. Even if you gave Asuka the option of giving her that dream life of hers she had when she was 14, a glorious pilot of an Eva and the world's hero, she would not have traded it in for her current life. Never in a million years. She was truly happy right now and to her all was right in the world.

 

(A/N: Since I have been laying on the emotional drama lately I thought I would throw in a lighthearted chapter so this story doesn't get too bogged down with seriousness. Sort of like how many anime throw in a filler episode as a break between several major plot advancement episodes. Also keep in mind the bit characters I brought back for this chapter as some of them play a major role in what is coming up next. Like life this story isn't going to stay all fun and games, as into every life a little tragedy must fall. I am such a cliché freak aren't I? :-p 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.)