Recess had come at the school the Children went to. Before going outside to eat her lunch (prepared by Shinji) with her friend Hikari, the two girls were discussing about a few things.
"Pilot Sohryu..."
Asuka turned away from Hikari to look at the source of this interruption. Unsurprisingly, it was Rei Ayanami who stood there, seemingly waiting for her to acknowledge her desire to talk to her. Asuka blinked, surprised that the First Child, the Doll who did nothing of her own will, would come to her like that. She had been sure the Commander's pet wanted nothing to do with her and Shinji outside of NERV activity.
"Yes? What do you want?" She asked a little snapishly. She didn't like Rei and didn't do much to hide it.
Rei did not show signs of being offended or discouraged by Asuka's latent hostility and continued "I noticed pilot Ikari did not come to school today. Yet I was told he had been released from NERV medical with a clean bill of health after the incident yesterday. May I inquire why he was not present?"
Alarm flags were raised in Asuka's mind. Rei was decidly acting oddly by the standards she was known for. She knew there was some kind of strange relationship between her roommate and the albino girl (she didn't ignore him as much as the others after all) but this was going farther "Uh... Yeah. Why do you want to know?"
"I have to talk with pilot Ikari" Clear, concise, economical and to the Point. Typical Rei response. However, Asuka couldn't help but think there was something fishy behind Rei's demand "Why has he not come to school, pilot Sohryu?"
"Oh really?" Something was definitely up. Now that she was getting a good look at Rei's face, Asuka noticed something weird. The blue-haired girl had combed her hair much more neatly than usual as if she had wanted to be more... presentable? Attractive? She supposed it had this effect on boys.
Rei continued to stare at Asuka, waiting for an answer. Somehow, Asuka bet she could stay like this the rest of the day if she said nothing. And it all revolved around the invincible Shinji, as always "He didn't come because Misato dragged him in town for a shopping trip. Satisfied, wondergirl?"
"Major Katsuragi took him shopping? Why?"
"God, you're dense. You know what happened to him yesterday, right? And you know about the... big change too?" Rei nodded "Well, think! Baka-Shinji doesn't have clothes that fit him anymore! So he had to go buy new ones! And without a school uniform, he couldn't have come here anyway!"
"I see... You say major Katsuragi too him with her to replenish his wardrobe" It was faint, but you could almost hear aggravation in Rei's voice.
"For the last time, yes! Why do you care, wondergirl? Afraid she'll do something to Shinji?"
Rei didn't respond and seemed lost in deep thoughts "Thank you for the information. I shall speak with pilot Ikari tonight then"
"Eh?" *Did I hear what I think I heard?* thought Asuka "What?"
"I must talk to pilot Ikari as soon as possible. To do this, I will have to go to major Katsuragi's appartment directly after school. Maybe you could show me the way? I also have some questions about what is called 'girl things' that perhaps you can answer"
*WHAT THE HELL!? Since when Rei visit other people?* "What kind of talk? Sounds pretty important to you..." *Don't tell me...*
"It is... personal" The alarms in Asuka's mind were screaming at their loudest. Rei's OOC behavior and questions formed a disturbing picture in her mind.
"Sorry but I have things to do after school. You'll have to go by yourself" *Me, help you? Ha!*
"Very well..." Without further ado, the First Child left the classroom, leaving a stunned Asuka. She stayed lost in her own little orld for a good minute before her friend nudged her out of it.
"Um... Asuka..." Hikari was clearly confused "What was that all about? And is there something you didn't tell us about Shinji?"
Asuka groaned. Now she would have to explain the whole thing to her friend and pass for a crazy person at the same time "Well, Hikari, it's like this... There was this experiment..."
See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Wed, 10 Dec 2003 22:13)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.