Neon Genesis Evangelion Higher Learning Sixth Lesson: Dinner Plans. 7:00 P.M. One of Rei's guilty little pleasures was being EXACTLY on time. Strange to think of that as something fun to do, but she loved to see people's reactions when their doorbell rang at EXACTLY when it should have. "BING BONG!" Miyazaki Kaoru cringed at the loud sound, still nursing the remnants of his hangover from last night. "Coooommmingg!" he called out, rushing to the door. Standing out there, still in her school uniform, was Ayanami Rei. A small smile was on her face. "I am here for the homework assignment." She said. "May I be admitted into your home?" He laughed warmly and nodded. "Of course. Come on in. Dinner's almost ready." "I..." she paused. "I do not like meat." Kaoru nodded. "Don't worry, it's just soup and some home-made bread. Also, if you don't mind my salad, there's plenty to go around." He smiled at her obviously pleased reaction. "Everyone eats non-meat, so I try to keep that in mind if I'm not sure about my guests." Rei took off her shoes and followed the sensei into the dining area. It was small, being a bachelor's apartment, however, it was more than adequate. Dinner was already almost set up, so Rei decided to look around. "It will just be a second!" he called out from the kitchen. "Hai." She replied, surveying the area. A few boxes were still in the corner, indicating that he had just moved in. However, considering it couldn't have been more than a few days, and considering his teaching schedule, it was amazingly clean and presentable. Not many single men would have been able to copy the task. Kaoru walked out of the kitchen with a steaming pot of soup in his hands, wrapped around the handles with dish cloth. He noticed Rei looking at a painting on the wall. It was an amazing view, looking up at EVA-01 as it charged towards the Third Angel. In the foreground was the stone bust of Saint Michael, cracked from the resulting tremors of battle. "Do you like it?" he asked. She nodded. "Hai. It looks very realistic. The colors are very nice." Her eyes came down and found a signature. Most of it was smudged, though...but something about it looked familiar. "I painted it." Kaoru said as he set the table. "I've been studying the Evangelions for a long time now. Ever since I saw EVA-01 in action." "Is that why you teach here?" Rei asked, walking over to the table. "Hai." He nodded. "Mostly." "What is the other reason?" Rei pressed, kneeling down on her side of the table. He blinked, then smiled. "I have some old friends living here. I wanted to say hello." "That is not a reason to move into a dangerous city." Rei decided as he sat down, passing her a piece of bread. "It depends on the friends." He countered. "What about you, Rei? Do you have any friends like that?" She blinked, not getting the question. "Would you put yourself in harm's way for anyone?" he re-stated. "Even if nobody ordered it?" Rei considered this for a moment and then nodded. "For Pilot Ikari and Pilot Sohryu I would." Kaoru raised an eyebrow. "What about someone else? Do you have any other friends?" "No." He nodded at her quick answer, knowing it wasn't going to get any better. "Well, let's eat, shall we?" he smiled. Rei nodded and broke her chopsticks apart so she could dunk a piece of bread into the soup. "Why do you teach?" she asked. A long pause. "To help the future be better than the past." Rei frowned. "Then why do you ask philosophy questions and never talk about the past?" He thought about this for a moment. "Rei? Can I ask you something?" She nodded. "How often would you speak in class...say...two months ago?" "I would not speak in class." She shrugged slightly, taking in a mouthful of soup. "And how often do you speak now?" Kaoru continued. "Every day." Rei replied. "And is that better?" he asked. "It is not important." Rei said. "Me talking or not talking has no consequence on the future." "So then you do not believe in Sound." He smiled. "Even though there are people to hear you, you believe that your voice means nothing to their minds." Rei's eyes were locked on her sensei. "What people think of you is not important." He continued, taking a bite of his bread. "However, it is sometimes beneficial to have people interact with you. The people in your mind will influence the way you think, and the way you look at the world." She swallowed another helping of soup before talking again. "But this is not always better." "True." Kaoru nodded sadly. "Some people that connect to you will hurt you. Some will try to control you and influence you in bad ways. However, if you can try to avoid those people, most of those interactions will not happen, and the overall effect on your mind will be beneficial." "How does one..." she blinked, then looked down at her food. "Protect against those bad things?" "Practice." Kaoru nodded. "Lots and lots of practice." He smiled. "Or, hopefully, a good teacher." She looked up and regarded him with a tiny...tiny...smile. "That is why you teach?" He nodded. "Your young minds...especially you pilots...are horribly unmatched for the world around you. It takes most of your schooling years just to catch up with the whole world." He motioned over to the painting. "Because of the Angels, you are forced to do so at an even greater pace. That is why I am teaching now, and not when you are in college." He paused. "I hope it helps all of you gain that little extra you need." Rei nodded, understanding. "Hai." "You may know how to pilot. You know how to survive and how to kill. You know how to talk, read and write." Kaoru sighed. "But there are things much deeper than that. Things that most of us adults are still getting the hang of." He tipped the rest of his soup into his mouth, then let out a long sigh. "Even I do not have all the answers. Nobody does." He smiled. "And that is why I'm forced to teach you with riddles and questions, so you can find the answers for yourselves." Rei tilted back her bowl of soup and hiccupped, blushing slightly, but smiling. "Hai." "How is the soup?" "Very good." She nodded. "May I have some more?" He smiled. "Of course." Shinji...somehow...managed to get out of bed that afternoon. His eyes refused to open for a good half-an-hour, though, and he spent the time sitting on the edge of his bed, hoping he knew which way was up. Forgetting to change his clothes, he stumbled out into the hall, finding the bathroom by feeling his way on the walls. Thankfully, Misato kept a bulk supply of pain-relievers in the medicine cabinet, and he was able to keep them down long enough to remember his head was not in twenty thousand pieces like it felt. He shuddered, wondering what would have happened if an Angel attacked that morning. The shower had already been used, so at least someone else was up. He took a quick shower, letting the razor-sharp water droplets wake him up and restore some humanity to his alien-like appearance. By the time 7 rolled around, he was revived, in the kitchen and working on supper. Misato suddenly came through the front door, looking very tired. "Hey, Shinji." He smiled weakly and noticed she too looked a little hung over. "How did your date with Kaji go last night?" he asked. "Bad." She sighed. "He didn't show up." She shrugged, moving past him to the fridge. "Met another guy, though. Really cute. Smart. Very hot kisser." She grinned to herself, then frowned. "So? What happened?" Shinji pressed, sensing there was something else. "I flipped out." She grumbled, opening a can of beer. "I don't know. Must be all the stress lately. I almost wish an Angel would attack. This waiting game is horrible." "Oh." Shinji nodded. "So where were you just now?" She raised a little bag from the grocery store downstairs. "Carpet cleaner." She blushed. "I think I spilled something by the couch last night. I came home pretty loaded." "I'll take care of it." Shinji smiled to himself. "Don't worry." "You're a sweetie." Misato smiled back. "Oh, and I also got some medicine for Asuka. I think she might have a cold." Shinji blinked. "She's been in her bed all day, groaning. Must be a sinus flu." She giggled. "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was suffering a grade-B Misato Hangover." Shinji jumped, but shook it off before she could notice. "I'll make sure she gets it with her dinner." He nodded. "I'm making some chicken-ramen." Misato sat down at the table and leaned back. "You're really nice to her, you know?" "Nani?" The raven-haired woman looked up at him and nodded. "Most men would have tried to strangle her by now. I'm impressed, Shinji. You really care for her, don't you?" She wasn't even using her teasing tone of voice. "I guess so." He shrugged, blushing quite noticeably. "Either that, or you're waiting till she's asleep to strangle her." Misato joked. He laughed. "Maybe I am." She blinked, not quite expecting that, but laughed as well. Suddenly, she looked concerned. "You look a little rough too, Shin-kun. Are you feeling okay?" He nodded. "Okay, I don't want you getting Asuka's cold. Maybe take some of that medicine too." "Hai." He nodded. "I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning." Shinji knocked on Asuka's door. From inside, he heard a muffled moan "It's me." He announced. "I have food." Another moan. "It's open..." He nudged open the door and found Asuka on the bed, almost exactly where she had been last night. Their eyes caught in the soft light of the sunset outside, and a blush followed. Even though she looked pale, and lost the fuzzy perfection caused by alcohol, she still caught Shinji's eye for a little longer than most would. "You okay?" he whispered, resting the tray of soup on her nightstand. She nodded, but looked away, still red in the face. "Thanks." He nodded, hesitating for a second. "I'm sorry." She said suddenly. "For what?" He cringed, waiting for her to say 'for that horrible kiss' or something like that. 'For making you think I liked you' was also on his nightmare-list. "For spilling your present." She said quietly. A blush was still evident on her face. "I'll make it up to you." He smiled. "Don't worry about it." A pause. "I left you some pills for the headache." He said. "The soup should help too. Misato thinks we caught a bit of the flu so everything's okay." Asuka sighed in relief. "I'll let you get some rest." He whispered, turning to leave. "Have a good night, Asuka." She turned, just before he left. "Shin-kun?" He stopped, looking back. "Hai?" A small smile was on her face. "Be patient with me?" He blinked. A confused look on his face. "I...I'm still learning." She whispered. "Just be patient." Shinji Ikari wouldn't have looked happier if he tried. He nodded one last time, then softly closed the door behind himself. Asuka took a deep, shuddering breath, then looked over to her meal with a smile. "Thank you, Baka." To be continued... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- First of all, I'd like to frown at all you Rei fans. ^_^ You all thought I was going to do something HORRIBLE to the lovely miss Ayanami, DIDN'T YOU?!?!?! You thought Sensei Kaoru was goinna give her some 'LESSON'S, didn't you!??!? You sick bastards. ^_^ : "Yeah, that's right! Take it off! Take it all off! : "Oh no! No! I don't...wanna...ohh...feels sooo...NO! I mustn't! : "You like that, don't ya? You little slut!" : "Oh oh...we ran out of KY Jelly" : "Just use some LCL. You can use it for ANYTHING!" There...you HAPPY?!?!?!? ANYway...I'd just like to say thanks for all the GREAT feedback! I'm very pleased at the response so far, and you can all rest easy in that it will only get better. Next Lesson: ... The Class Presentations. You sick bastards. ^_^ I know what you're thinking. REI WILL BE FINE! RELAX! e-mail: strikef@bigfoot.com website: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110 Archive if you want! Just send me a message if you haven't already. Strike Fiss, Ninja Crowbotics 2000. Khattam-Shud, EOF.