So I bought myself new shoes today and thought I'd share that fact.

----


Thanks to Ammadeau, Donny Cheng, Alan Harnum, Richard Lawson, 
              and the C*B*L for pre-reading duties.


Characters belong to Gainax, and they need the money more than I 
         do probably - unless they get audited for fun.



                            P A G E S

                         by Lara Bartram
                         ---------------

Page 6


	"Oh, Gendo.  Your face looks awful."
	"I wish I could say the same about you, but no... you're 
perfect."  He kissed Yui on the cheek, trying not to touch her 
skin with the cut on his lip.
	"They wrecked you last night," she said quietly, looking 
at his face.  "The smartest man in class and this is what they 
do.  Assholes."
	Smirking, Gendo put his arm around his waist.  "Really, 
it's nothing the police can't handle."
	Yui looked completely horrified at the implication.  "And 
have them beat you up again?  No way in hell is that going to 
happen."
	"Why, I'd almost think you care about me."
	"I do, so you don't have to play any of your games to get 
me to say it."
	"This really _has_ put you in a bad mood.  Should I get a 
puppy for you to kick?"
	Yui snarled at him.  "No, but if you set those assholes in 
front of me, I'd enjoy kicking them in the balls."
	Gendo swallowed audibly.  "I'm sure you would, but for 
now, breakfast or straight to class?"
	That brought a warm smile from Yui.  "Class, and stopping 
for a breakfast of champions on the way."  She took his hand in 
hers and headed for the door.

	Two sodas and packages of chips later, they were settling 
into their seats in the lecture hall.
	Leaning over, Gendo whispered, "Last day of class, I'm 
going to yell out 'France can kiss my ass!'  What do you think 
will happen?"
	"People will think you're an idiot and I'll be branded 
insane for going out with you."
	"You don't think they'd agree?"
	"Probably, but you still shouldn't do it."
	"Is that an official request?"
	"Yes.  Here, keep your mouth busy with something else."  
Yui held up a chip and put it in his mouth.  "Now hush, the 
lecture is about to start."
	It was about halfway through the class period that Gendo's 
head settled on Yui's shoulder.  She was about to push him off 
when she saw that he was asleep.
	Setting her pencil down on the desk, she put her arm 
around him and rested her hand on the side of his head.  Only 
listening to the lecture now, she stroked his hair softly.
	Yui continued to do so until the class was almost 
finished.  "Gendo, wake up.  Class is over."
	He stirred, then looked up at her with his one good eye.  
"Over?  And I missed it?"  Gendo sat up quickly, fumbling for 
his pen.  "Let me see your notes," he said and reached for her 
notepad.
	"Don't worry about it.  There wasn't that much anyway... 
all in the book."  Maybe.  She wasn't sure since she hadn't been 
listening too closely.  Most of her concentration had been on 
the man sitting next to her.  No matter how much she said school 
was her top priority, she was having trouble separating it from 
Gendo.
	"Come on.  You're exhausted.  I told you not to take those 
painkillers, that they'd make you drowsy, but did you listen?"
	"I try to tune out your nagging as much as possible."
	"Snot."
	"Who is madly in love with you."
	Yui, who was in the process of standing up, sat roughly 
back down.  With eyes widened in amazement, she looked at Gendo.  
"Did I hear... what I thought I just heard?"
	Grinning with the undamaged side of his mouth, Gendo just 
gave her an enigmatic look.
	"I... don't know what to say."
	He shrugged.  "I'm hungry still.  I'll take you out for 
something."  Standing and taking Yui's hand, he pulled her to 
her feet.  "I know what you're going to say, but trust me.  I 
know what I'm doing."  If only that were the truth.

---

Page 7


	Yui tried not to laugh and spit food all over.  "You're 
kidding."
	"Nope.  It took about two seconds for everyone else to 
start laughing.  The guy ran out of there like he was on fire."
	Smiling, Yui shook her head.  "You know what?"
	"Hm?"
	"You are not a very nice man."
	With a wide smile, Gendo answered, "I know."
	Leaning against him, Yui kissed his cheek.  "What I see in 
you, I'll never know."
	"It's my charm."
	Yui shook her head.  "It's not that."
	"My good looks then."
	"Oh no, not that."
	Gendo frowned.  "Personal hygiene?"
	Touching the swollen area around his eye, Yui shook her 
head.  "No, not that either.  I really don't know what it is."  
She leaned forward and kissed him again, letting it linger this 
time.
	Pausing for a breath, Yui said quietly, "It could be 
something about that."
	"You're not too bad yourself.  You've got to be better 
than me at any rate."  His hand slid under the table and rested 
on her knee.
	Yui arched an eyebrow.  "Funny business?"
	Gendo pulled his hand away quickly.  "Sorry about that.  I 
didn't mean..."
	"Be quiet, Rokubungi," Yui said quietly, putting her hand 
on his cheek, "and kiss me again."

	"What about class?"
	Yui gave Gendo a sidelong glance before taking his hand.  
"I thought I was supposed to trust you.  I thought you knew what 
you were doing."
	"I thought school was your top priority."
	"It is, but... so are you."
	"How do you balance that out?  We're fairly exclusive to 
one another."  His hold on her hand tightened.
	"I worked out a plan," Yui said, smiling.  "You see, when 
I go to class, I bring you along.  When I need to study, I'm 
going to make you study with me.  But every so often, I think it 
would be okay to take a break from school, and I think you could 
help me with that."
	"Gladly."
	"But you have to help with all of it, not just the fun 
stuff," Yui warned, looking at him sternly.
	"Boring stuff too.  Got it."  He moved closer to her and 
put his arm around her waist.  "But since you reminded me, I did 
have a little something in mind for us to do this afternoon."
	"No funny business!"
	"Nothing like that!  Why do you keep jumping to that 
conclusion?"  A sly grin appeared on his lips.  "Maybe it's 
because that's what you want me to do."
	Unwilling to be defeated in one of his games, Yui answered 
simply, "Maybe."  She took the hand that was around her and 
yanked on it, pulling him closer.  "I hope you're not... 
intimidated by my bluntness."
	"Me?  Of course not."  The game was afoot.  Who would give 
in first?  "Feel free any time you'd like."
	Yui was determined.  "Ooh, I think I will.  I couldn't 
pass up an offer like that," she purred.  Offer?  Ha!  It was a 
challenge, pure and simple.  He might have been the smartest man 
she knew, but he wasn't smarter than her.  No way.
	"That'd be great," he whispered into her ear.  "Forget the 
movie.  We can go to a hotel."
	That did it.  Yui pulled away and hit him on the shoulder.  
"How dare you!"
	"But I thought you would have liked it," Gendo said with 
all seriousness, looking completely innocent.
	"Smug bastard.  Fine.  You win this round, but don't think 
it'll be this easy next time," Yui vowed, not going quite so far 
as to shake her fist at him.
	"Next time?  I'm looking forward to it."  Taking her hand 
again, Gendo started to pull her along.  "Don't want to be late 
for the movie now."

---

Page 8


	The overheads dimmed, illuminating the theater in front of 
them in the light from the movie screen.
	"I will get you for that."
	"I don't think so.  Remember, I'm not a very nice man.  
That's something you'll never be able to match."
	Yui looked at him for a moment.  "That's it!"
	"What's it?"
	"Your unflagging arrogance and infuriating attitude.  
That's what I find so attractive about you," Yui said with 
obviously sarcastic cheer.
	"Birds of a feather, my dear."
	"Hush, the movie's about to start."
	The two held hands in the dark.
	"I've noticed," Gendo whispered, looking at the screen, 
"that whenever I make a point, you change the subject.  Why is 
that?"
	"Because I don't want you to make a fool of yourself 
arguing," Yui whispered back.  "You would lose and be publicly 
humiliated."
	"I doubt it, though this show of confidence is... quite 
attractive."
	"You always think you're right, don't you?"
	"Because I _am_ always right."
	"Are you now?  Then why don't you tell me..."  Yui leaned 
over to whisper the rest in Gendo's ear.
	Suffering through the rush of heat to his face, Gendo 
tried to think of something appropriate to say in response.  He 
would not let Yui win this round on a question like that.  "Even 
if I answer, what guarantee is there that you'll tell me that 
I'm right?"
	"Give me your guess first."
	"I'd say...maybe... 34B."
	Yui shifted in her seat so her torso was facing him.  
"Let's find out," she whispered and kissed him hard on the 
mouth.  He brought his hand up to cup her neck as she forced him 
back slightly.  Taking his other hand, she steered it toward her 
stomach, then under her shirt.
	That was all the permission Gendo needed.  His hand moved 
up her stomach until it reached the material of her bra and 
swell of her breast.
	Yui's hands were on his chest, alternately pushing him 
away and pulling him closer.
	"Am... am I right?" he asked, gasping for breath when they 
separated.
	"Why don't you find out?" she said, thrusting her chest 
out, into his hand, and kissed him again.
	Glasses almost falling off, hand worming its way under her 
bra, Gendo promptly forgot what movie that had gone to see.

	"Right, as usual," Gendo said with a happy sigh.
	"Lucky guess," Yui responded, her fingers intertwined with 
his.  "I'm glad I took this day off.  I really think I needed 
it."
	"I'm not going to answer that because I think you'd hit 
me, and my fragile body can't take any more abuse after what 
happened in that theater."  Gendo tried his best to sound hurt.
	"Then I guess we should make sure that never happens 
again.  How does that sound?"
	"Very, very bad, actually.  I concede, just this once.  If 
I didn't have you, I'd probably die, and unless you're going 
with me, that's not something..."  He trailed off, realizing it 
wasn't a very pleasant topic to be going on about.  "Sorry."
	"That's okay.  I understand what you were trying to say."
	Yui smiled.  "I think I have something we can do aside 
from talking about morbid things..."  Her eyes sparkled in the 
afternoon sunlight as she looked at him.  "Why don't we... cut 
loose and go to the bar?  It's been ages since I've been."
	"But we could..."
	One stern look from Yui quieted him.  If she wanted to go 
to some loud, smelly bar instead of spending some... quality 
time alone with him, then he wasn't going to argue.  Especially 
not with Yui.
	Maybe it was time to get a TV and VCR in his room, and 
then they could watch all the movies they wanted.

---

Page 9


	Gendo winced when he heard Yui's loud cheer again.  If he 
had been able to get at her, he would have dragged her out of 
the bar forcibly.  But the crowd around her was too large, and 
he didn't think they'd appreciate him removing their source of 
entertainment.
	He drained his glass and relaxed in his chair.  Yui'd get 
tired eventually.  She couldn't sing all night.  He hoped.  Then 
they all started clapping to the beat, and he knew he had to get 
her out of there.
	Standing up, he looked at the mob of people.  Never again 
would he allow her to drink so much; she would be hungover in 
the morning like nobody's business.
	Pushing his way through the people, many of them giving 
him dirty looks, he finally reached the middle where Yui was.  
"It's time to go," he said stiffly.
	Yui looked at him and smiled widely.  "It's just starting 
to get fun!  I can't leave now!"
	Gendo took her hand.  "Come on, Yui."
	"No!"  She jerked her hand out of his and stood on a 
chair, where she continued her drunken singing, much to the 
delight of the crowd.
	Swearing to himself, he was about to physically remove her 
when he saw the hand.  He couldn't see the face, but he didn't 
need to.  Everyone else was having too good a time and Yui was 
too drunk to care as a hand caressed her thigh, even becoming so 
bold as to squeeze her butt.
	Something snapped.  Gendo pushed his way over to the 
offending hand and grabbed it.  "What do you think you're 
doing?" he shouted to be heard over all the noise.
	"You again?  Wasn't last night enough?  You need some 
more?"
	The crowd immediately parted to give them more room, but 
didn't stop clapping.  Half of them were looking at Yui, while 
the other half were watching for the fight that they were sure 
was about to take place.
	It did, but it wasn't nearly as interesting or exciting as 
everyone had hoped it would be.  Gendo's lip twitched in a snarl 
before he punched the student that had attacked him the previous 
night in the gut, sending him to his knees, dry heaving.  A 
solid uppercut tossed him back, leaving him unconscious on the 
floor.
	There were assorted cheers and general applause as Gendo 
turned his attention back to Yui.
	Without another word, he grabbed her around the waist and 
lowered her to the floor where she stood unsteadily.
	"Hey!  I wasn't done with my set yet!" she protested, 
pouting, but also bowing as people gave her enthusiastic 
applause.
	"You're definitely done.  Overdone.  And we need to leave 
before that guy wakes up."
	"What guy?"
	"The guy I beat up."
	Yui's eyes brightened.  "Really?  I wanna see!"  She tried 
to go back, but Gendo held her tightly.
	"No, you don't.  You want to go and get some sleep because 
you're going to be miserable when you wake up.  And if you're 
going to puke, do it now.  Don't wait until we get back."
	"How do you know so much about drinking, Gendo?" Yui 
asked, leaning against him and clutching his arm.
	"Lots of practice.  And next time, I'll be sure to watch 
you closer.  You can't handle that much.  And you're scary 
drunk."
	Yui leaned her head against his shoulder and giggled, 
covering her mouth and nose when she started to snort.  "No I'm 
not."
	"Oh yes you are.  And your singing is horrible."
	"It's not that bad."
	"Yes, it is that bad."
	"No.  Listen..."
	Gendo winced, ready for Yui to start "singing" at the top 
of her lungs, but instead, she began to softly sing in his ear.  
As much as he enjoyed her breath tickling his ear like that...  
"You need sleep worse than I thought."
	She gave him a raspberry, another interesting sensation 
when it was right in his ear.  "I know exactly what I'm doing," 
she answered, imitating him.
	"Oh do you now?" he asked, leading her back to his room.

---

Page 10


	"Stop that."
	"Mm mm..."
	"Yui, stop it."
	"I don't want to."  She leaned up and began kissing up and 
down his neck.
	"You keep this up and you're going to end up doing 
something you're going to regret.  Not that I'd particularly 
regret it..."
	"Oh, Gen-chan, that's what I wanted to hear," Yui said 
softly, putting her arms around him.
	Things were going in a direction he wasn't quite ready 
for.  This was Yui, after all.  There'd be hell to pay in the 
morning if he actually went along with her.  "You know I love 
you, Yui, but this is not a good time."
	"Mm hmm, it is, Gen-chan.  We're both willing..."  Yui 
alternated between taking off her own clothes and trying to 
remove Gendo's.
	"Yui, stop," he said, trying to push her hands away.  She 
was like an octopus though, skillfully maneuvering her hands 
through his defenses.
	This situation went on for a few more minutes, looking 
like a kung fu movie, before Gendo finally barked, "Stop!" and 
grabbed both her hands.  He looked sternly in her eyes while he 
held them tightly.
	Yui's eyes were half-lidded and slightly glazed.  Shaking 
his head, Gendo forced Yui to sit on his bed.  "You stay here.  
Get some sleep.  Understand?"
	Not speaking, Yui fell over sideways on the bed, her body 
limp.  After another moment, her eyes closed.
	"Crazy woman."  Giving her one last disgusted if 
affectionate look, Gendo turned and went to change his clothes.  
They smelled terribly of alcohol and smoke, a fact that he'd 
never noticed before.
	Why did Yui continue to occupy his bed when he knew it was 
all so perfectly innocent?  But she was so... teasingly innocent 
that she probably had no idea what a powder keg she was toying 
with.  He sighed.
	Turning back to his bed to take care of Yui, he shook his 
head again.  Damn, she was gorgeous even when she was 
unconscious.  Indecisive, Gendo wasn't sure whether he should 
try and get her out of most of her clothes, or to just leave 
her.
	Testosterone getting the better of him, he undid Yui's 
shirt the rest of the way and slipped it off her.  Leaving it at 
that, he moved down to her skirt.  He undid the zipper down the 
side and removed the skirt, really trying not to look at her 
panties.
	White, plain, but high cut.  He would have never expected 
such a thing from the outwardly conservative Ikari.  Sleeping in 
the bed with her might prove to be a huge mistake, but... the 
floor was so uncomfortable.
	Gendo pulled back the covers and put Yui's feet on the 
bed.  He then climbed over her, laid between her and the wall, 
and pulled the covers over them both.  Getting comfortable next 
to her, he took her into his arms, much the same way he had done 
that first night.
	Certainly she would understand in the morning.  He wasn't 
really doing anything wrong...  It was far more innocent than 
what Yui had been wanting.  And so comfortable.  He was quite 
prepared to fall asleep with only that limited contact, but 
again, Yui was more demanding.
	She rolled over and leaned her entire body right against 
his, rather tightly, throwing her arm over him, entangling one 
leg with his own.  No details of just what kind of condition she 
was in were spared.
	Taking a deep breath, Gendo removed her arm, then removed 
his shirt with as little movement as possible.  "You really have 
no idea, do you?" he whispered.
	Yui murmured something and turned her face up so it wasn't 
in his chest.
	Ten years younger than he...  It was strange, and he 
hadn't really been able to figure out why, except that Yui had 
very odd taste in men.  She had such... determination, and a 
really annoying habit of keeping at something until she got her 
way.
	His fingers wandered down her back, enjoying the feel of 
her smooth skin, marred only by the strap of her bra.  For a few 
heartbeats, his fingers lingered there.
	Again he was torn.  He was almost desperate to feel her 
body naked against his, but...  Kissing her upturned face, he 
pulled her closer and went to sleep.

---


lara@emunix.emich.edu
http://www.thekeep.org/~lara/index.html