Asuka turned in front of the mirror, checking if her old school
uniform fit properly. She looked good, even with her left eye obscured
by the eyepatch, but felt odd. She was used to the NERV uniform she had
been wearing, not this.
"How do I look?" Rei asked her tentatively. Asuka turned, her
face lighting up in a welcoming smile as she took in the blue haired
young woman. She blushed, smiling in pleasure in her matching girl's
school uniform.
Asuka grinned, "You look great."
Rei looked up at Asuka thoughtfully and said, "You know, I'm
more used to seeing you in the NERV uniform."
"Me, too," Asuka tugged at her skirt.
"So why not wear it?" Rei offered.
"I couldn't do that...," Asuka trailed off thoughtfully. She
smiled slightly, "But there is something I could wear instead."
The sound of the suite's front door opening announced Misato's
arrival and a few moments the general of NERV arrived. Her black hair
fell into her eyes and she looked tired. She looked them over and
smiled, "You look good."
"Thank you," Rei beamed.
"Any chance of a last minute reprieve?" Asuka asked with a
hopeful smile.
"Sorry," Misato shook her head, "what's really annoying is that
the decision to pout you back in school is as much politics as anything
else."
"Oh?" Asuka raised an eyebrow.
Surprisingly it was Rei that answered. "Japan was heavily under
the UN and NERV's influence," she noted, "this might be a way of trying
to exert their control over us."
"Got it," Misato nodded. They trooped into the living room where
she flopped down onto a couch. "At least your old uniforms still fit,"
she offered to Asuka.
"I'm not planning to wear them, though," Asuka replied firmly.
She sat forward in her seat, "Would you mind if I went in a boy's
uniform?"
Rei looked a bit surprised while Misato looked curious. "That's
going to get people talking," Misato finally said.
"I'm already going to be the topic of gossip," Asuka waved
towards her eyepatch, "I might as well be bold about it."
"I like the idea," Rei said softly, "Asuka looks good in pants."
"Fair enough," Misato flashed a smile, "but we'll have to get
you fitted with a new uniform. Do you want me to...?"
"I'll go shopping," Asuka smiled, "though I could use a ride."
"I have just the captain in mind," Misato smirked. Not long
after Maya was having the errand explained, the black haired young woman
smiling wryly. "You mind?" Misato finally asked.
"No problem," Maya smiled, "it'll be just like when I used to
run the errands for Ritsuko." She nodded to Asuka, "You want to go now?"
"Please," Asuka grinned.
Rei tagged along, leaving Misato alone for a bit. She went next
door, knocking on the door. Ritsuko answered a few moment's later,
peering at her over her glasses. Absolutely unintimidated Misato smiled,
"Can we talk?"
Ritsuko lead her inside, revealing a much neater version of the
sort of suite that Misato and the girl's shared. It was also the home of
a pair of technophiles, from an advanced personal computer to one of the
most sophisticated coffeemakers on the market.
"You have you command face on," Ritsuko noted, the blonde
pouring them each a cup of coffee, "but you're here in on our off hours,
so you don't want this to be official." She lead her to a seat, "What's
up?"
"It something like that, yeah," Misato agreed. She took a drink
of her coffee, savoring the smooth taste, "What's going on with the
Magi?"
Ritsuko's expression was unreadable, "Nothing."
Misato flashed a smile, "That's exactly what I mean." They sat
there silently for a few moments before Misato asked, "What is the
status of the Magi?"
Ritsuko took a drink, her own expression thoughtful. "I almost
wish that I was a beer drinker," she murmured. She smiled at Misato
wryly, "Whatever happened in the end effected the three Magi computers
too, it seems."
"What?!" Misato sat up, her expression alarmed.
"To the best of our technician's knowledge the Magi are nearly
catatonic," Ritsuko reported to her commander coolly. She drank some
more coffee, "They function as basic computers, but the mind seems to be
gone."
"Damn," Misato murmured, the oddest look on her face. "You said
the technicians," she noted, "you haven't gone down yourself?"
"My mother and I didn't get along very well to start with,"
Ritsuko said mildly, "and my encounters with her virtual incarnation
haven't been much better."
"I won't order you," Misato said, "but it might be worth a try."
Ritsuko met her eyes, then looked down at her coffee. "I'll
try," she finally said.
Misato decided not to push her any farther, changing the subject
instead. "So how is living with Maya going?" she asked.
Ritsuko felt herself blushing slightly. "We're remarkably
compatible, it seems," she smiled. There was a wicked tilt to her grin
as she added, "And she's remarkably inventive in bed."
Misato nearly choked on her coffee. "I didn't need to know
that," she coughed.
Ritsuko looked more serious as she asked, "Are you dating at
all?"
Misato shook her head, "No, not now anyway." She smiled
ruefully, "Kaji wasn't the most trustworthy man, and I don't really want
to...."
"I understand," Ritsuko nodded, "as you well know."
Misato tilted her head to the side curiously, "Do you ever wish
that we...?"
"Occasionally," Ritsuko admitted. She smiled sadly, "But at the
time I was still far to blinded by Gendo, there was just no way."
"True," Misato nodded. "And I had a we bit of a panic attack
right after we got back to NERV that time," she confessed.
Ritsuko flashed a smile, "Let me guess. You went out, got
blasted, and then went out with the first available man to prove you
were straight."
"How did you know?" Misato blinked.
Ritsuko shrugged, "Because it was what I did the first time I
slept with a woman."
They both shared a quiet laugh, talking softly as they drank
their coffees. "Rei surprises me occasionally," Misato noted at one
point, "we were talking about why we had to send her and Asuka back to
school and she got it instantly."
"Rei isn't stupid," Ritsuko agreed, "you've got to remember that
most of her DNA comes from Yui Ikari, and she was a genius."
"I forget sometimes. Rei is such an innocent," Misato mused.
"And don't think Rei doesn't occasionally take full advantage of
it," Ritsuko said in a half joking way. She smiled, "Though I noticed
Asuka doesn't have that problem."
"Rei's got her wrapped around her finger in other ways," Misato
agreed with a laugh.
Author's Notes: Part of what Ritsuko and Misato is talking about is a
short fling that the two women once had. That event was chronicled in my
story 'Blood Sisters' and is available on fanfiction.net and other
fiction sites.
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