Chapter Text
The cool morning breeze seemed to seep its way into Shinji’s room, awakening the boy earlier than most of his flatmates. He could hear the distinct sound of flippers making their way through the house, but besides that, it seemed as though no one else was awake. Shinji himself seemed to be the only morning person in the house, especially compared to the two women he shared it with; Asuka was always grouchy in the mornings, and Misato was barely conscious, something which was often made worse by her constant gravitation towards alcohol.
Shinji let out a tired sigh, rubbing his eyes in a feeble attempt at waking up quicker. He looked at the clock. 5:41 in the morning. He managed to get four hours of sleep, which was pretty good for someone like himself, who could probably be awoken by something as minuscule as a pin drop.
Electing to deal with being tired later, Shinji made his way to the bathroom to freshen up; definitely one of the positives to being the only morning person in the house. The only downside was how quiet it all was. The house was often bustling with either conversation or arguments, but when it was just him, there was nothing. Shinji didn’t particularly like the quiet. He could tolerate it sometimes, but it often meant that there was nothing to drown out his thoughts. The bath was no help either, he always seemed to find himself deep in thought whenever he relaxed in the warm water.
Once he finished in the bathroom, Shinji threw on his classic shirt and trousers, not particularly bothered about what to wear. ‘ It's not like I have anything better to wear anyway ’.
By the time Shinji was fully awake, he had already started making breakfast for everyone else. He heard the very familiar sound of heavy footsteps bounding into the kitchen. He didn't even have enough time to acknowledge his fellow flatmate before he was insulted.
"Is that what you're wearing to your date with Rei?" Asuka yelled. Grouchy as usual.
Shinji placed Asuka's breakfast down in front of her. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" He asked incredulously, to which he was met with a raised eyebrow from Asuka.
"What's wrong with it? It's just your normal clothes! It's a special occasion, idiot! You need to look your best!"
Raising his hands to try and quell the fiery redhead, Shinji glared at Asuka. "Shhh! Quiet or you'll wake Misato! Also- these are my best.” He stated in a harsh whisper, gesturing to his bland attire. All Shinji received from the girl was a judgemental look of contempt.
“Really?” She asked plainly, at least quieter compared to her previous outbursts.
The boy slumped down at the table and sighed, defeatedly. “Yes.”
Asuka let out her own sigh, this time of indignation. “Listen, you shouldn't wear your everyday clothes for a special occasion, but it doesn't really matter," she began, "The only real rule for you, as a boy, is never, and I mean never outshine your date's outfit with your own." Shinji hummed in thought and nodded. "What I'm saying is…" Asuka paused for a moment, trying to think up the right words to say. "Don't overdo it, but at least try and put a little effort in."
"That… doesn't make much sense."
A loud groan emanated from the girl, as she stood up in an attempt to appear more threatening. "Just don't overdo it! What is Rei wearing anyway?"
Shinji paused, stalling as he tried to think of a way to break the situation to Asuka. "I don't think she'll be wearing anything-" Shinji quickly fixed his mistake when he saw Asuka raise her hand to slap him, "No- No- I meant she'll probably just be wearing her ordinary clothes too!"
Before either of the two could continue the conversation, they were interrupted by a quick cough. Misato Katsuragi slouched to the table, staring at the two children in her care through barely conscious eyes. "What're you talking about?" She slurred, planting her head in her hands as support. "Shinji," before she could finish her request, a can of beer was swiftly placed in front of her, "Oh good."
Asuka turned her attention back to Shinji, not quite believing his previous statement. "Rei doesn't have any other clothes? Are you kidding me- what kind of bullshit is that?!"
"It's the truth!"
"I'm not believing that for a second!"
"How am I supposed to prove it to you?"
Misato just watched, exhausted, as Asuka and Shinji continued arguing with one another.
"Fine! I'll ask her myself!" Asuka quickly pulled out her phone and navigated to that previously unknown number which she had saved as 'Wonder-girl' and hit call, "Hello, Ayanami? This may be a weird question, but what kind of clothes do you own?" There was a brief pause as Asuka listened to Rei's response. "What!? Wha'dya mean 'only what's necessary'!?" The sudden loud noise caused both Shinji and Misato to jump in their seats.
"Asuka! Please be quieter, it's… 9:00 in the morning? Shit, I'm late!" As soon as she was in she was back out, as Misato Katsuragi ran back to her room to get ready.
Asuka turned and looked at Shinji with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "She should really get her act together." There was a quiet response that came from Asuka's phone that Shinji couldn't quite make out at that distance. "Wha- no, not you, Rei- I was talking about Misato… where's the- there." Leaving Rei without a goodbye, Asuka turned back to Shinji, having pressed the button to disconnect her from the call.
"That was a little rude, don’t you think?"
“I don’t think it’s very rude, no.” Asuka stuck her nose up in a count of feigned superiority, believing herself to be right (because in her mind she always was), it was all untrue to herself of course, but even she didn’t know that. Asuka was like an onion in that regard; so many layers. But that doesn't matter currently.
Currently, Shinji was staring at Asuka, feeling as though it was far too early in the morning for her attitude. Then the German redhead stormed off, once again leaving Shinji alone. The silence didn't seem all that bad compared to the hectic morning he'd been having. He let out an already exhausted sigh, "I've got to make the food, make sure it's tailored to Ayanami's requirements, go to Ayanami, pick her up, go to the bus, get the bus to the country, actually date her- oh, god. Today's gonna be a long day." He was met with more silence.
Another sigh broke from his lips as he stood up and began preparing the food for later. He went through the process methodically. He kept reminding himself to avoid putting meat into the ingredients as he cooked, recalling the fact that Ayanami didn't eat meat. Shinji had a sort of knack for cooking, something he only really found out once he started living with Misato, who (speaking of) just got done getting ready for work.
She wore her ordinary red uniform, her once messy hair and tired eyes appearing much neater and aware of everything. She took one step out of her room before she caught a sniff of the food Shinji was preparing. Like a predator stalking its prey, the young woman slowly sneaked up to the food and its chef.
"This food isn't for you, Misato. I put your lunch in the refrigerator," Shinji said calmly, back facing Misato, never once turning to look at her, too busy watching his food.
"God damnit!" Misato exclaimed. In her defence, it did smell really nice.
[~~~~~]
It was hot. Too hot. That godforsaken sun seemed ever the antagonist today. Growing up in the world of eternal summer, Shinji's life had been full of warm days, but today? Today was the hottest day out of every day Shinji could recall. He reached deep into his memories trying, and failing, to come up with any day that could hold a candle to today's heat.
He was walking to Ayanami's now, having finished all of his meal prep for the date. A slight blush formed on his cheeks at the thought of himself and Ayanami dating. Shinji kept his head down, staring at the floor as he continued on his way to Rei’s apartment complex, the sun beating down on his neck, distracting himself with the feeling of the bag in his hand swaying with every movement.
The rows and rows of buildings all looked the same to Shinji; all falling apart and all vacant of residents… besides one. He didn’t need to get an extra look at the building as he entered, the placement seemed to be seared into his memory. The building had seen worse days, after his first outing with Ayanmi, they had elected to at least try and tidy up a little, of course, this didn’t extend to the building itself, seeing as it was practically falling apart underneath them. Besides that, they had done an alright job. The corridor to Rei’s apartment was nearly spotless, being the place that was cleaned the most because of its important nature to the blue-haired Eva pilot.
Her door was cleaner too, having been painted fairly recently by the two of them. Shinji raised his hand up to the door and proceeded to knock lightly, on the outside looking calm and composed, but on the inside absolutely shitting bricks. I mean it was his first date; could you blame him?
That outside composure almost slipped when the apartment door opened and Rei herself slipped out, the realization that this was in fact real and that there was no turning back now. 'I mustn't run away' seemed to play like a mantra in Shinji's head as he held his breath for what felt like hours.
"S- so, would you like t- to go on a- a date?" Shinji stuttered through multiple minor voice cracks.
Ayanami smiled softly, subtly tilting her head to the side. "That would be rather pleasant."
The girl bowed her head slightly to hide her barely noticeable blush, walking with Ikari as they exited her dump of an apartment building. Shinji's hand brushed into hers as she made her move and held onto it, smiling subtly as Shinji reflexively became rigid and then relaxed once he understood what was happening.
He was definitely enjoying the date so far, don't get him wrong; travelling in the boiling heat was at least made a little more bearable with the company of Rei- but he quickly realized that the hard part was about to rear its cute, yet terrifying head. The actual date itself…
[~~~~~]
A tension so thick you could choke on it seemed to permeate through the air amongst them. The small team of four were barely noticeable as they ducked between alleyways and building fronts, tailing the two lovebirds all the way to the bus.
The team leader signalled to the other three to move forward, wherein one of them poked a camera around the corner and snapped a picture, using it as an indicator to see how safe they were at that distance.
"All clear," the cameraman whispered.
There was a brief pause as they all turned to face their leader, whose smile twisted into a grin so uncomforting it could make you question if the sky was blue. "Vundabar…" Suddenly, out of the shadows stepped the one and only Asuka Langley Souryuu.
Beside her stood Kensuke Aida, the group's scout and reconnaissance man; handy with a camera and with quite the stealth experience, Kensuke was a good fit for their team. "They're approaching the stop now," he whispered, his head round the corner.
"I dunno why you brought me to this stupid activity." The group's muscle said. Touji Suzuhara may not have been the smartest amongst the troupe, but what he lacked in brains he more than made up for in brawn.
Finally, stood behind them all was Hikari Horaki; the moral support and the peacekeeper between Asuka and two of the three Stooges. "Well, I'm glad you came, Suzuhara." She said with a supportive smile.
"Of course you are," Asuka muttered to herself, "the only way I could get you to tag along was if he was here." Kensuke, the only person to hear Asuka's remark, simply rolled his eyes as the other two members engaged in simple conversation.
"What kind of food do you like?" Hikari asked.
It was a tough decision for Suzuhara to narrow down because, in all honesty, Touji liked all food. But he couldn't just say that, so he had to think and fast. "I could go for anything really," Okay, Touji good start, “I don’t think I’d eat bugs?” Goddamnit, Touji, what the fuck was that?
Hikari let out a short giggle that calmed Suzuhara’s nerves and made him feel as though he was floating on air for just a split second. “Well, that’s nice to hear.” She spoke with genuine enthusiasm for Touji’s fairly understandable distaste for bugs and insects.
“I hate to interrupt you two lovebirds, but the other two lovebirds have gotten onto the bus,” the nasal voice of Kensuke cut through the two’s conversation like a knife, “How are we gonna catch up to ‘em?”
Everyone’s heads turned to Asuka, who simply stared at them, a smug grin stretched across her face. “I have just the thing…”
[~~~~~]
Misato Katsuragi sat in her office, filing through paperwork apathetically, trying to think of anything to take her mind off of how utterly mind-numbing the task was. Her brain thought back a couple of days, recalling a conversation she had with Asuka.
“Hey, Misato?” She had asked in that voice she used when she was trying to appear innocently curious.
Misato raised her head from the dining table. “Hm?”
“What would happen if an Eva pilot got caught driving under the legal age?” She had to do a mental double-take at Asuka’s question. There was only silence in the room as she stared at the girl with distrust.
“What are you getting at?” She countered.
Asuka, in what was either a genius play or suicide, decided to drop the ball. “Would it be okay if I borrowed your car?”
She wasn’t actually expecting Asuka to ask her that, and hearing those words had nearly killed her after she breathed in a relatively large amount of her drink. "Wha- Asuka!" She continued to cough for a good ten extra seconds after her aghast response.
"Well, it's not like I'm not qualified! If I can pilot an Eva then who's to say I can't drive a car!?" She did have a point. And to be completely fair, Asuka had risked her life in much more dire situations than if she were to drive Misato’s car.
“No, you’re too young for that kind of stuff.” Misato visibly cringed when she saw Asuka’s hopeful expression quickly shift to one of defeat and sadness. “Though… if I was at work, and my car just so happened to disappear for a few hours, I probably wouldn’t notice if it just so happened to be exactly where I left it when I finish…”
The German girl raised her finger to her chin in contemplation, proceeding to curtly nod at Misato before walking back into her room. “Wow, I’m absolutely crushing this whole guardian thing,” Misato spoke aloud before taking a rather large swig from her beer can. ‘ Yup, easy as pie’.
[~~~~~]
There it sat; its blue frame absolutely unmistakable, the little scuffs and scratches only succeeding further to inform everyone of its unique identity. Misato Katsuragi’s infamous Renault Alpine. The entire group, minus Asuka of course, were positively astonished at the sight of it. Hikari was the first to speak up while the two boys sat mouth agape admiring the car. “You’re allowed to drive, right Asuka?”
She was already climbing into the front seat by the time she replied dismissively. “Huh, what? Oh, yeah sure.” She took one final look in the rear-view mirror as she watched Touji and Kensuke climb into the back, staring back at her with a mix of dread and excitement. “Everybody ready?” She turned to look at Hikrai in the passenger seat next to her, who gave a very shaky thumbs-up of approval. “Alright; let’s go!”
Suddenly, taking everybody by surprise, the car slammed backwards into a lamppost, denting both the car and the post in the process. “Oops,” Asuka awkwardly laughed, “Forgot to take it out of reverse.” After that… minor inconvenience… they were off, tailing behind the two lovebirds carefully, making sure they couldn’t be spotted at their distance, and knowing her fellow Eva pilots, Asuka was already aware that they were both quite astute observers, so she had to be extra careful.
[~~~~~]
For two people who weren’t exactly known for their social skills, Rei and Shinji were doing quite well talking with one another. Their conversations started simply; talking about sync tests and Rei’s ever-evolving apartment, then it shifted to school and Shinji’s friends, who Rei had told him were quite amusing in their buffoonery, which Shinji couldn’t really deny, then all of a sudden, during another conversation about what it means to be alive, Rei got this sudden concerned look on her face.
“Shinji… it appears that Major Katsuragi is following us from behind. Although something must be wrong, as she is traversing the road roughly sixteen per cent more erratically than usual.”
Shinji looked out of the back window, shocked to see that Rei was in fact right and that Misato’s car was in fact following them. “Oh my God…” He slapped his palm into his face in disappointment and concern. “It’s Asuka… She asked Misato to borrow her car a few days ago, Misato’s at work right now.” What could he say, it’s not like they had thick walls in their apartment. He looked down to check his watch before recalling that he did not actually have a watch. He continued staring at his wrist, believing that if he stared long enough the numbers would appear. “This isn’t going to end well is it?” He asked, still staring at his lack of a watch.
Rei spoke up softly from beside him, “The chance of this excursion ending successfully is fluctuating between forty-three and thirty-nine per cent.”
He shrugged, “Those odds aren’t terrible…”
The blue-haired girl leaned into his shoulder softly, causing his face to suddenly heat up. “We should enjoy ourselves while we continue to have our own privacy.” It was a remark Shinji could agree with, so he did what came naturally (not that anything particularly came naturally to Shinji) and gently wrapped his arm around his date.
His date… His date . He felt like the luckiest guy alive to have someone as uniquely kind and interesting as Ayanami. He gently brushed some of her hair away from her face as she rested against Shinji’s shoulder. He could get used to this.
Meanwhile, Rei was experiencing a mini panic attack. At least that’s what she thought it was; it shared similar symptoms at least. Her breathing was erratic and she felt uneasy… but she also didn’t. It was something she couldn’t quite place. It felt as though something was fluttering in her stomach, but not like she was going to be sick because of it- and to top it all off her face felt incredibly hot whenever she thought about getting closer to Ikari. She tried to dismiss these thoughts by thinking about piloting the Evas but all this did was make her think about Ikari in his plug suit, which made her face feel even more hot. She didn’t quite understand why this was happening to her, or how to make it stop…
“Are you feeling okay Rei? You’re sweating like crazy” She hadn’t noticed how much she had begun to sweat during her internal dilemma, much to the surprise of both herself and the pilot of Unit 01.
“I am fine, Shinji. I just feel a little warm… Due to the weather?” She seemed unsure of her own reasoning. She knew that the weather wasn’t entirely to blame for this situation. It was also her own fault for finding Shinji attractive… Admitting that in her own head didn’t seem to quell any of the thoughts or desires that were currently running through her own mind.
There was a soft tug at her arm as she started to take in what was happening around her. Shinji was gently pulling at her to check if she was okay. “Are you sure you’re okay?” He double-checked.
Her eyes met his and she was suddenly struck by an enormous sense of what felt something like pride and joy, or an emotion along the same lines as them. “N- never better.”
“If you say so…” He still sounded like he didn’t believe her, but smiled anyway, gently squeezing her hand in a reassuring manner. It helped a little, at least enough to eventually calm her down to the point where her face had regained its familiar pale tint.
There was a brief pause of awkward silence before Rei spoke up again, "I am glad that you found me enjoyable, and wish to keep me around, Shinji."
Another brief pause as Shinji thought about how to reply. I mean, how could he reply to a confession like that? “Well… Hm…” It took Shinji a minute to discover his words, but once he did, he knew he had something good. “Of course I find you enjoyable, Rei! At first, I thought you were cold and distant, but as I’ve grown to know you, I’ve found that you’re more than that. So much more… You’re kind, you’re brave- both despite your situation. And you look out for me. And I want to be able to do the same for you.”
A further beat had passed in silence before Rei spoke up again. “Thank you.” It was a short and simple reply, but coming from Rei Ayanami, it meant so much more than just those two words.
[~~~~~]
Meanwhile, a few several feet behind Rei and Shinji, a blue car trailed them like a hawk- a poorly driven hawk, but a hawk nonetheless. Its driver was positively beaming from her seat, happy to be driving a car; her three passengers, however, were not having fun. Shouts and screams seems to reverberate around the car as Asuka drove recklessly, still trying her hardest to remain undetected, completely unaware that she had been detected long ago.
"Asuka, please! Drive carefully!" Hikari shouted from the seat next to her, holding onto the dashboard for dear life. In a similar state to Hikari, Touji and Kensuke held onto each other with unbridled fear, praying to whatever sick god was out there that they wouldn't crash.
They were all lucky enough that Asuka had good reaction time courtesy of her time with an Eva, but just because she was a decent pilot doesn't mean she was a decent driver. "It's okay, I think I get it now!" She beamed at Hikari, her fist holding onto the wheel like some sick imitation of a dance, twirling and spinning to keep them on the road, and possibly give them minor head trauma.
"Are we dead yet?" A dazed and confused Aida asked, still furiously flailing back and forth with every sharp turn.
Asuka knew that she was going fast, fast enough to catch up to the bus in seconds, so every time she got closer than she thought was safe, she would slam down the brakes, then start driving again. Rinse and repeat.
"I don't know, but if we have died, we must be in hell!" Touji yelled in a mix of frustration and fear, as his head whipped forward and back from the insistent braking.
The redhead turned and smugly grinned at the two boys.
[~~~~~]
The scenery had changed from a sprawling, technologically aided mega city to a picturesque view of fields and forests. Rei of course had seen all these things before, but not from this perspective; often she'd find herself overlooking the natural areas of Tokyo 3 in her Eva, or seeing similar sights in her textbooks- but never had she been able to see the sprawling natural landscape from such a low and intimate angle.
"It's…" She held onto what she was going to say, taking in all the scenery around her. “It’s beautiful.”
Shinji’s face took a flushed tint. “Uh- well- you see- it’s just a spot that- I thought it would be nice-,” Shinji would’ve probably continued blabbering on in an attempt to downplay his own ability to think of a nice spot; if that weren’t for Rei turning around and quickly interrupting him.
“It’s absolutely perfect.” There are very few people who could read Rei, but the ones who could would definitely notice the slight smile on her face. She offered her hand to Ikari, who stared a little awkwardly at first, before accepting the offer and intertwining his fingers with hers.
As they began to walk through the grass, the soft summer breeze gently blew Rei’s hair in front of her face, Shinji briefly thought about helping Rei out by brushing her hair from her face but quickly caved from the idea, worried that he’d be pushing too far.
They eventually stopped, finally reaching a more than suitable spot for the picnic, surrounded by near-endless fields, and a few trees here and there. The hot sun beamed down upon them, not only providing them with warmth but also seemingly bathing the surrounding landscape in a more saturated manner, everything around them seeming to have a little more pop to its colour.
Perhaps the colour of the scenery would’ve interested Shinji at another point in his life, right now, however, the boy seemed to be solely focused on one thing… Or rather one person. Rei Ayanami wasn’t one who you’d describe as tranquil; yet there she was, sitting in a field, hands clutched into the grass, legs stretched out in a relaxed position, the wind blowing the hair from her face, there was only one word Shinji could think of to describe her expression. Tranquil. She looked at peace. It was enough to put a smile on Shinji’s own face.
After she caught him staring at her, Rei gave Shinji a quizzical head-tilt, as if to ask ‘Are you alright?’.
Shinji’s face took on a familiarly flushed expression as he quickly raised his hand to scratch at the back of his head, his eyes darting down to look at the individual blades of grass beneath him. “Y- you look nice, Rei.” He stated, awkwardly.
Her soft smile ever so slightly grew a little wider at Shinji’s remark. She moved to sit closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder. “You look nice too, Shinji.” She seemingly buried her face into his shoulder, her face taking its own, unseen, pink tint.
“Should- should I unpack the food?” Shinji asked, reaching for the bag he took with them.
“That would be a good decision.” She continued smiling at him, moving slightly to help Shinji unpack.
[~~~~~]
Touji sat, consoling a retching Kensuke, watching as the two girls observed the other party with different utensils. Asuka had brought a pair of binoculars with her, already aware as to what lengths they’d have to view the opposing duo from. Hikari just simply borrowed Kensuke’s camera to view them from a distance. “So what’s happening?” Touji asked, a little annoyed that neither of the girls was giving them the scoop on what was actually occurring between the two other Eva pilots.
“It looks like they’re eating… I’m not sure what it is though.” Hikari said through squinted eyes, struggling to see all the detail through the digital camcorder.
Asuka nodded, corroborating Hikari’s run-down of the events. “Nothing interesting yet,” the redhead added. That was before she noticed something off about Rei’s expression. “Wait a minute…”
[~~~~~]
It was nice. They were chatting, as good as two fairly socially withdrawn teenagers could chat of course, but chat nonetheless; and considering who said chat was coming from, it was rather impressive. It was the simple things they were both comfortable with at first, but then it moved to topics that were more out of their depths; things like what they would do after the Angels stop attacking, or what might happen if they got married, or how much they really did love each other. They both did love each other, yes, but neither of them fully knew how to express their love, but they both admitted that it was something they would have to figure out together in the future.
“Ikari?” Rei’s voice brought Shinji back to the present, she was staring at the grass, her fingers sifting through it absentmindedly, her face taking a slightly red tinge. “Is it true that expressing oneself through physical intimacy is a common expression of one’s love?” She asked him.
Shinji stammered slightly, “Wha- what do you mean, Rei?” He brought his arm to scratch at the back of his neck, which suddenly felt a lot hotter.
Rei stared at him with her piercing red eyes. She felt desires that she had never felt before, feelings that were completely locked away from her, ideas that had never surfaced and sensations which had never shown themselves before. “Yes or no, Shinji.” She simply stated, matter-of-factly.
“Well, I mean- yeah! Of course it is-,” Before Shinji could finish his sentence, Rei lunged at him, allowing what most would describe as our base primal urges to take over. She pressed her mouth against his, biting and licking at his lips.
The boy who happened to be underneath Rei at this moment was quite surprised by the turn of events. He was shocked that someone as reserved and quiet as Ayanami would do something so bold and fairly strange all things considered. Of course, that concerned part of his brain was shut up by the louder, monkey part of his brain which simply thought something along the lines of ‘ This is really cool ’.
He could feel the sensation of Rei’s lips on his, her hand sliding up and down his cheek, caressing his face affectionately. He could feel her hair in between his fingers as he brushed his hand through it. He could feel the hot air coming from her mouth. He could feel her tongue as it seemed to slip in between his lips; another surprise, yet not an unwelcome one.
[~~~~~]
As Asuka watched, and saw what she could only describe as a primal hunger on the face of her female co-pilot, only one thought crossed her mind. “Wait a minute… She’s not going to…”
Hikari, who had thoroughly given up looking through the blurry and pixilated artificial zoom from Kensuke’s camcorder, turned and looked at Asuka curiously. “What are you talking about Asuka?”
“Yeah, what’s going on up there?” A more than curious Touji asked. Kensuke remained quiet, completely bereft of any colour in his face.
Asuka turned to face her group in a minor act of acknowledgement, “I’m not too sure, but I could’ve sworn…” She turned back around and continued to look through the binoculars, as she re-adjusted, trying to find the area that she was last looking at. Her face suddenly shifted to one of abject horror. “Code six! Code six!” She yelled.
Hikari immediately blushed, but then stood to attention, nodding firmly “Code six!”
Touji stood completely dumbfounded “What the hell is a code six?” He turned to Kensuke for assistance, who seemed to have regained a fair bit of his energy.
“Code six, Touji! Come on, let’s go!”
“WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?”
“Suzuhara,” Hikari began, as Asuka and Kensuke ran in a full sprint towards the picnic spot, “Didn’t you read all the email?” The dark-haired boy paused for a moment, trying to reach as far back as this morning in his memory to any emails. He looked back at the class representative and simply shrugged. “Well, that doesn’t matter right now, c’mon we need you!” She grabbed his hand (a fact only he seemed to notice if the light blush on his face was anything to note), and began leading him to the rest of the group…