Third Lesson: Enjoy the Weekend!







With no Angel attacks, the week went by very smoothly.  Hardly even 
realizing it, the students had gotten about the same amount of work 
done that they usually did...however...they did it without looking like 
they were sitting in the dentist's chair, waiting for a root-canal.  In 
fact, there were often days where the class would stare at the front of 
the class with one-hundred-percent attention for the full five hours.  
With only half an hour left in the afternoon, the weekend jitters were 
showing.  This was it.  Would the new Sensei be like every other Sensei 
and assign a shit-load of homework for the weekend?

Looking up at the clock, Kaoru smiled.  "I see there is only a few more 
minutes before the end of the day."

Everyone cheered.

"Ooh no." he laughed, reaching into his desk to pull out a stack of 
papers.  "You're not getting away THAT easily."

Everyone groaned.  Even the girls who had been trying to determine 
exactly what shade of blue his eyes were.

He frowned.  "Oh?  Do I take it that you children want to write a page 
of notes before you leave?  And do not care that I had reached into my 
own pocket to photocopy notes FOR you?"

Everyone blinked, not believing it...then cheered again.  

"That's better." He laughed, passing out a pile to the front desk of 
each row.  "On Monday there will be a report due." 

Everyone groaned.

"Relax." Kaoru chuckled.  "Now, it's basically an oral report.  I want 
you all to take notes on what you do on your free time.  Be honest.  I 
won't report you to the authorities if you are partying without your 
parent's permission or stealing N2 mines." He glanced over to Kensuke.  
"Right, Mister Aida?"

Kensuke smiled.  "You can't prove anything."

"Exactly." Kaoru turned back to the class.  "I want each and every one 
of you to be honest...or...at the very least, lie and come up with a 
great story to tell."

"I love this class." Kensuke gasped up at the heavens above.  "Thank 
you!"

"There is..." continued Sensei "one catch." He raised his fingers for 
emphasis.  "I want each of you to do something with another class mate 
this weekend.  Hang out with each other.  Go on camping trips.  Go to 
the arcade.  Do everything you normally do, but make sure it's doing it 
with others."

The confused looks on the class' faces prompted more. 

"Then, on Monday, you will tell me great and amazing stories about your 
weekends with your fellow young gentlemen and young ladies." He 
explained.  "And we will see how each story fits with the other 
stories."

Shinji raised his hand.  "So you're going to see if our minds match up 
with the events in other people's minds!"

"Exactly, Mister Ikari!  I'm glad someone has been paying attention." 
He nodded.  "We will see, as Rei had pointed out, if the 'Friends in 
your Mind' match with 'You in your Friend's Minds" he laughed "or 
something like that."

Realization sunk in and everyone nodded happily.  Asuka raised her 
hand.  "So, the only homework we have to do is hang out with each 
other?"

Miyazaki nodded. 

"That's easy!" Asuka said proudly.  "All I gotta do is force Shinji to 
do my chores and I'm done my homework!"

The class chuckled.  Shinji sighed to himself.  

Kaoru grinned back.  "Now, if you want to write a written report of the 
whole weekend, you may, but you will still have to say a word or two 
with whatever people you were around." He turned to Shinji again.  
"Even you."

Ikari nodded nervously.  

"Yosh!" he clapped his hands just as the bell rang.  "I expect you all 
to get out there, enjoy your weekends, and have lots of fun.  
Remember!" he pointed out.  "If you each have lots of fun, that means 
the longer we can listen to your reports, and the less REAL school work 
you'll have to do."

Keiko raised her hand.  "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Will we get to hear about YOUR weekend?" she smiled sweetly.  The 
girls of the class all leaned forward eagerly.  

Kaoru blinked, not expecting the question.  "Well, I suppose, if I see 
any of you over the weekend, I'll be forced to come up and tell the 
class about it." He nodded.  "Though, I'm afraid I'll have to give 
myself an A+, as always." He turned to the clock.  "Now, get outta 
here!  Ya bother me!" 

Gasping collectively, the entire class realized they just stayed EXTRA 
on a Friday!  Everyone rushed out and into freedom.  Rei was left 
behind, though.  

Kaoru sighed, regarding Rei with a sad look.  "Rei?  Are you okay?"

She nodded, stiffly.  "Hai." Her hands were fidgeting, though, showing 
she was anything but okay.  

"Do you not get along with the others?" he asked, sitting down in the 
desk besides her.  

She shook her head.  "No...but...I do not...try...to get along with 
others." She sighed.  "My weekend will not be with anyone else."

He nodded carefully, sensing there was something more to her story.  
"It's okay, Rei.  If you don't want to, or can't be around anyone in 
the class this weekend, you won't have to give a report."

Rei nodded sadly.  "I am sorry.  I do wish to be part of the 
discussion." Her eyes brightened.  "Perhaps we shall have to go into a 
Sync Test.  That is with Pilot Ikari and Pilot Sohryu!  Or an Angel 
will attack!" she beamed. 

Laughing, he shook his head.  "I think we'd better hope for one of your 
sync tests.  An Angel will not be good for homework."

She nodded.  "Hai.  I suppose not."

"I'll tell you what." He said.  "If you're unable to do anything this 
weekend, I'll invite you over for dinner, and you can tell me more 
about your philosophies on life."

Rei's mouth opened in surprise.  "You...you would want to hear more?"

He nodded.  "Of course.  Not only that, but you can help me raise more 
interesting questions to ask the class." He smiled.  "How does that 
sound?"

"But..." Rei paused.  "If you are not busy, that is..."

"How does tomorrow sound?" Kaoru offered, giving her a card from inside 
his coat.  "I'm afraid I don't have a car..."

"It is not far from my home." Rei said quickly, looking up from the 
card with bright eyes.  "I will walk."

"Seven P.M. sound okay?" he bowed.

  


"I will be there." Rei bowed back.  "Thank you, Sensei Miyazaki." She 
smiled, then stood, walking for the door.  

"Rei?" he called after.

"Hai?"

"If you can hang out with the others, I won't mind if you miss dinner." 
He smiled.  "Enjoy your weekend, Miss Ayanami."

She bowed deeply, then left.  



 







Shinji and Asuka came home to find Misato rushing about, putting on 
makeup and her earrings.  Asuka's bright smile dropped as she smelt 
lavender perfume in the air.  "Konnichiwa." She grumbled, kicking off 
her shoes.

Oblivious to what was happening, Shinji just smiled and did the same.  
"Misato-chan?  You going somewhere tonight?"

Asuka shot him a dry, angry look.

"Oh, hi kids!" Misato finally noticed them and stopped zipping around.  
"What do you think?" she spun, showing them her nice, deep violet 
evening dress.  It was modestly low cut, but had a high slit on the 
leg, compensating for the ratio of flesh to fabric.

Shinji nodded, trying not to stare.  Dresses like that had a universal 
effect on the Male gender...even if their spines were a little wobbly.  
"It's very nice."

"Yeah." Asuka sighed, storming off to the kitchen.  "Did you make us 
food?  God I hope not."

"Don't worry, I didn't." Misato laughed to herself.  "I'm going to meet 
Kaji over at that new restaurant that's opening up.  I've heard they 
have the BEST steaks and salad bar.  Not to mention drinks are free 
with the meal tonight!" she whooped.  "They'll be broke by the end of 
the night!"

Both Children developed large sweat-drops on their foreheads. 

"So, anyway, I'm leaving the car here.  Don't wait up!" Misato bounded 
off, looking at the clock.  "Oooh, almost six...I'd better call a cab 
from downstairs." She waved.  "Make sure you feed Pen-Pen!"

The door closed, leaving the two alone.

Asuka walked over to the kitchen table and slumped down in it.  
"Shinji?"

He walked over and began to look for food in the cupboards and fridge.  
"Hai?"

"Am I attractive?"

Shinji blinked, then turned to her to see if she was just teasing him.  
She sat with her head on the table, though, and was looking very 
vulnerable.  He nodded, mostly to himself.  "Of course you are, Asuka-
chan!" he replied after a moment.  "Everyone knows you're one of the 
prettiest girls in Tokyo 3."  He nodded to himself.  That the ticket.  
Make sure you mention 'everyone' so she can't call you a Hentai, 
Shinji.  He broke open a package of instant-veggie-noodle-mix into a 
pot on the stove.

Asuka hadn't shifted her gaze from Shinji.  "What do you think?"

He blinked.  Warning signals were coursing through his head.

She frowned lightly.  "Shinji?  What do you think?" she closed her 
eyes.  "I promise not to get mad."

"I..." he paused.  "I think you're very attractive." He finally said.  
His voice was tiny, but confident. 

If he had the courage to be looking at her at that moment, he would 
have seen something flash through her eyes.  Almost like a pleasant 
surprised look.  However, it faded quickly, and she nodded to herself, 
still downcast.  "Then again, you're Shinji."

He frowned, turning his attention back to cooking dinner.  "Yeah.  I'm 
just Shinji." He poured the water in at full-speed, making a little 
more noise than was required.  "Just little, Baka Shinji."

Asuka heard him and instantly felt bad...not that she would say 
anything about it, though.  "Mm." She sighed.  "You're not Kaji."

"I most certainly am not." He grumbled, then let a wicked thought cross 
past all his walls of defense.  "After all, I'd never spend night after 
night with Misato.  That just doesn't appeal to me."

Asuka's jaw opened, but she could say nothing.  The tears began to well 
up in her eyes ever so slightly.  She really didn't know what to say, 
that comment had a lot of bite to it. Especially coming from Shinji.

He turned around, then saw her face.  She was trembling.  "Oh..." he 
swallowed hard.  "A...Asuka...I didn't mean it like that..." he backed 
away, waiting for a slap.

It never came, though.  She closed her mouth, turned back to the table, 
and began to cry.  Loudly.  

Shinji never wanted to smack himself so hard in his life.  "Asuka!  
Please don't cry..." he knelt down next to her as her chest hitched in 
sobs.  "I...I didn't know he meant that much to you..."  It was a lie, 
but the only one he could come up with.

The crying redhead began to laugh under her sobs.  "N...no...it's 
okay..." she sniffed.  "You...you're right.  You..." she looked up at 
him with wet eyes.  "At least I still have you." She sniffed.  

Shinji smiled softly.  "Even if I'm just Baka Shinji?"

She nodded, then let out another good sniff.  Shinji walked over to the 
counter and returned with some tissues.  "Sorry..." she sighed, blowing 
her nose.

"For what?" Shinji shrugged.

"For crying." She shuddered.  "I...I normally don't."

"I don't mind." Shinji replied, gently putting his hand on her 
shoulder.  "I won't tell anyone."

"Not even in our report for class?"

"I'll make something up." Shinji nodded.

"Shinji?"

"Mmm?"

"GET BACK TO WORK!" Asuka yelled, throwing him back with her voice 
alone.  "The water's boiling!"

He sighed, then turned around, missing her throw a small smile his way.  












Ritsuko sighed as the nicotine flooded her veins, easing out the ragged 
nerves she could almost count by memory.  It was like applying a warm, 
smooth cream to sore blisters that would only get worse as she worried 
about them.  

Maya gave her that worried look, but she didn't care.  "This is the 
lounge, Maya.  I'm allowed to smoke here."

The younger operations officer nodded, turning away slightly.  "Hai, 
Sempai."

"You've been on edge lately." Ritsuko frowned as she took another deep 
puff from her cigarette.  "Maybe you'd like to join me for a smoke?" 
she teased.

Maya blushed considerably.  "N...no thank you, Sempai.  It's just the 
Magi..."

"I thought I told you." Ritsuko hissed, looking around quickly.  "That 
does NOT get said out loud."

"Hai..." she nodded quickly.

A long pause.

"D...do you know..."

Ritsuko sighed and nodded it was okay.

Maya continued.  "...who might have known enough to do it?"

Ritsuko smirked.  "You might have been able to."

"Sempai!" Maya's blush made her look like she was trying to hide in a 
tomato patch.

"Maybe SEEL sent someone." Ritsuko sighed, lowering her voice.  
"Whatever did it was good.  I can't even figure out what they changed.  
There's simply too many operations that the Magi do every day.  It's 
impossible to look over each choice and decision."

Maya nodded, slumping over slightly.

"No matter." Ritsuko sighed as she finished off what little smoke she 
had left.  "Nothing happened.  There are no new Angels.  Ikari will 
never notice, let alone care someone was tampering with Magi."

Maya's eyes darkened at the mention of the Commander's name.  "I hope 
not, Sempai."

The two sat in the employee lounge, watching the sun as it faded into 
the tree-covered hills.  Not another word about the Magi was spoken. 
Tomorrow, it would be like it never happened.  











Being a Friday night, the restaurant was packed.  The fact that Kaji 
hadn't shown up yet was beginning to worry Misato.  They had 
reservations, but the staff could only hold their table for so long.  
"Uh...Waiter?" she walked up to the reservations man and tapped him on 
the shoulder to get his attention.  

"Yes, madam?" he smiled politely.

"H...have there been any messages left for me?" she paused, hoping not.  

"Your name?" the man asked, checking a list.

"Katsuragi Misato." She replied, looking around at the angry patrons 
who had yet to receive a table.  Each looked like they were willing to 
kill her for her reservation.  

The waiter whispered something to another man in a similar jacket and 
then nodded.  "Yes, actually." He smiled the same, polite smile.  "From 
a man named Kaji?"

She nodded.  "That's him."

"He said that some kind of business came up, and he regrets to inform 
you that he can't join you for dinner." The man said.  "I'm sorry 
ma'am."

She sighed, slumping her head.  "Can I still get in?"

The waiter looked at her name on the list.  "If you can find someone 
else who's her alone, I'll let it slide."

She turned around quickly.  "Anyone here without a date?"

Most of the couples began to grumble.  One man shrugged, though, and 
nodded.  "Yup." He walked past all the others to the front of the line, 
then almost jumped backwards as he saw who it was. 

Misato smiled warmly, not noticing his reaction.  "Come on!  You can 
buy me a free drink."

Kaoru Miyazaki nodded nervously and put on his best smile.  "Sure.  
Yeah." He gestured past the waiter.  "Shall we?"

"That's a good boy." She winked as they were escorted to their seats.  
She had to admit, the guy was cute.  Not in a Kaji kind of way, but 
something else that seemed familiar.  Maybe it was the glasses.  
Hanging around with Gendo must have been rubbing off on her after all 
these years. 

They were seated and given menus as the waiter began to recite the 
night's specials.  "Stop it, short-stuff." Misato interrupted.  "I'll 
have a nice, big margarita, a steak with all the trimmings, medium 
done, and point me in the direction of the salad bar."

Both the waiter and Kaoru laughed.  "A woman who knows what she wants."  
The waiter smiled.

Misato grinned.  "Oh, and make his a margarita too.  I'm feeling 
festive." She said the last word with a little bounce in her voice.

Kaoru held up his hand.  "Uh...no thanks.  I'm not a big drinker."

Misato gasped.  "WHAT!?" she turned to the waiter.  "Get this man a 
margarita before it's too late!" she coughed into her hand.  "I mean, 
jeez!  I'm not about to drink alone, am I?  And NORMAL beverages aren't 
free tonight!"

The waiter nodded with a smile on his face.  "The madam is correct, 
sir."

"Well, I suppose that makes sense...and I'm not driving..." Kaoru 
shifted uneasily in his seat, but then smiled.  "Make sure I get two 
umbrellas."

The waiter bowed.  "Very good sir.  Would you like some time to decide 
on your meal?"

"Chicken curry sounds wonderful." He said, quickly inspecting the first 
two pages of the menu.  "No dressing on the salad."

"Excellent choice." He took their menus.  "If you need anything at all, 
just ask." He smiled and went off to the kitchen.

"Wow." Kaoru grinned.  "I forgot how nice it is to have someone else 
cook for you."

"Really?" Misato smiled.  "You cook too?  Wow, and here I thought all 
the cute ones were just interested in us ladies."

Kaoru blushed slightly, but grinned.  "You'd be surprised." He held out 
his hand.  "Miyazaki Kaoru.  A pleasure to meet you, Miss Katsuragi."

She took his hand after a pause.  "How do you know my name?"

"You told it to the waiter up front." He replied.

"Wow, he pays attention too." She smiled sadly.  "Unlike the date that 
never showed up."

"I'm sure it was something important." Kaoru offered.  "I'm sorry."

"No, no..." she nodded.  "It's okay.  After all, I got to meet you, 
didn't I?"  Misato flashed him a rather cute smile.

He laughed.  "In that case, I hope he works late."








To be continued....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ahh, there we go.  Little plot hints.  Don't worry, this actually DOES 
have a plot.  After all, the best mind-fluff has a solid spine to keep 
it up.  ^_^  Too much WAFF makes one yearn for End Of Eva scenes and 
DarkFics, so I'm trying to keep this part of a mentally balanced diet.  

Next week:  We find out what sake goes good with.  ^_^ 



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