As everyone completed their meals, Mayumi suddenly cleared her throat. "So. Ikari-san..."
"Yes, Yamagishi-san?"
"I couldn't help but notice that, earlier during the spars...you didn't say 'Kirishima-san'. You said 'Mana-san'. A few times, in fact."
"...I did?" Shinji honestly hadn't caught himself; he had gotten so used to that, if only because Mana hadn't corrected him or requested that he change it. Having heard the others say 'Mana-san' so consistently, though...perhaps he had simply caught up with them?
I guess...there just wasn't a point to using it anymore. When was the last time I used her surname like that? The day of our fight with Strega at the Himmel facility? "Well..."
(As Shinji thought about it, he missed quite a few things: Mana's suspicious glare sent at Mayumi; Kensuke's shrewd grin at the same; Toji and Asuka's confused frowns; and Rei quietly nibbling on a vegetable roll, seemingly detached from the drama entirely.)
"...the rest of our team has been calling her Mana-san, and we're all friends, so..." Shinji shrugged. "I guess it just felt proper? I guess I wasn't thinking..." Nervously scratching at the back of his head, he remarked, "Sorry if it made things awkward..."
"This whole
conversation is awkward," griped Asuka. "So you called her by her given name instead of her surname. Why is this a big deal?"
"Another cultural difference, Sohryu-san," remarked Rei.
"Yeah, so butt out," grumbled Toji.
Asuka rolled her eyes. "I mean, from the sounds of it, literally
nothing has changed about your personal dynamics since the last time he called her 'Kirishima-san' or whatever. So what if he calls her 'Mana-san' or 'Kirishima-san'? If your feelings for each other changed, that would be true regardless of what you call each other."
"But it's a socially acceptable and
recognizable way for you and for other people to categorize relationships. Among other things, it's a matter of politeness," explained Kensuke. "And it's efficient, but that's kind of a dry and unnatural way of looking at it."
The redhead snorted. "So? Why should other people's opinions matter when it comes to a relationship? If you like someone, you like 'em. If you hate someone, you hate 'em. Why would other people's opinions affect that?"
At this, the others couldn't immediately rebut her point. Shinji decided to speak up. "Well...if there's one thing I've learned, is that relationships don't occur in a vacuum. If someone you trust tells you that a relationship is a good thing, or that getting involved with someone is a bad idea...then should their opinion be discounted?"
The Beast laughed.
"And how many people have told you to throw in the towel with regards to your father?"
His Other quietly shook his head.
"It is one thing to take the opinion of others into account; yet another to discard them; an entirely different matter, to proceed in spite of acknowledging their concerns...isn't that right?"
"But we're not talking about people you trust, we're talking about total strangers!" protested Asuka. "Tch. Whatever. I just don't get the point of stirring drama over something so silly."
Mayumi balked at the apparent accusation. "I-I-I wasn't stirring drama!"
At this, Kensuke actually winced. "Eh..."
"Here, I'll prove it," interrupted Asuka, unintentionally coming to Mayumi's rescue. Clasping her hands together and adopting a seductive tone, she cheerfully said, "Oh,
Kensuke~♡, Toji~♡, and
Shinji~♡, you were all so
manly during training!"
Shinji's face
blazed red, whilst Kensuke sputtered — wide-eyed — at the sheer audacity; Toji, to his credit, merely crossed his arms in response, yet even
his cheeks were slightly flushed. Mayumi was agog at what Asuka had said; Rei didn't react; as for Mana, she simply seemed confused. "It sounded like you were complimenting them...but I can tell that you don't mean it."
"My point exactly," answered Asuka, once more speaking normally. "It's the emotions and the intention behind what you call someone that matters, more than what you actually say. I mean, just speaking about Japan: statistically speaking, there's probably a couple who only use their surnames with each other, yet are incredibly close; meanwhile, I'd bet there are a bunch of people who refer to each other by their given names that are incredibly crappy towards each other. Yet your society would judge the former as being distant, and the latter as being close buddies?"
Once again, the others couldn't immediately rebut her point. At this point,
Rei spoke up. "I believe you are trying to summarize and oversimplify a cultural difference...and all for the sake of justifying your intention to call your peers by their given name instead of their surname." She spoke so calmly and so matter-of-factly that there was nothing to latch onto as a point of contention.
Asuka didn't respond. Not at first. "...maybe," she eventually admitted.
Toji's jaw dropped. "Wait, so this whole thing is all because you're being
lazy?!"
"It's a stupid social convention!" retorted Asuka. "You overcomplicate it too much!"
"More like you're too used to how they do things in Europe," grumbled Kensuke.
"Whatever. I know I'm right," petulantly said Asuka, rising from the booth. "I'm tired. Can we go now?"
The utter whiplash was too much for everyone else. "...I think that's a good idea," said Shinji, playing the role of diplomat for everyone else, still too befuddled by Asuka's demeanor. "I'll pay for everyone's meals."
Asuka arched an eyebrow. "Trying to be a gentleman, hm?"
"I mean, my salary from NERV is kind of a lot for just me..." He didn't even really spend that much on anything, to be honest.
"That's not the sort of information you should just volunteer," she said, nonchalantly strolling out the front door.
"...she's
exhausting," muttered Kensuke, slumping onto the table.
"I have to agree," murmured Mayumi.
Rei shrugged. "You will get used to her."
Once Shinji paid for dinner and Mana retrieved her weapons, the seven teenagers gathered outside. Mayumi briefly took Mana aside to talk with her about something, giving Shinji time to try and smooth things over. "Well, today was...eventful." Lightly bowing in Asuka's direction, he said, "I look forward to working with you, moving forward."
"Such a polite boy," said Asuka, looking at him with a complicated expression. "Well...I'm satisfied that you're all not
completely hopeless. So that's better than most people."
"How
generous," chorused Kensuke and Toji.
Asuka rolled her eyes at the duo. "Indeed; I'm
very generous." Without warning, she began fading into static. "Well, see you all tomorrow for 'school'.
Later!" Her voice faded out as her form vanished from sight.
"...well. She's certainly pleasant," mused Kensuke.
"More like
bitchy," growled Toji.
"Suzuhara-san, I think that's too far," cautioned Shinji.
"She is used to working with adults," reminded Rei. "I imagine she will eventually warm up to you all."
"...so are you
confirming she's an extreme tsundere?" asked Kensuke. When Rei simply stared flatly in return, he added, "I'm going to take that as a yes. Good to know."
("-I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to-" said Mayumi.)
(Mana interrupted her. "It's not a big deal. It's fine.")
("...okay, if you say so...")
Finally, Mana and Mayumi made their way back to the group. "So, I guess we're heading back to the Academy, now?" asked Mayumi.
"I draw the line on 'fast travel'," growled Toji.
"It'd be pretty far to walk, though," said Kensuke.
As such, they ended up taking the bus back to the Academy.
"This seems...out of place," observed Toji.
"The bus is an adequate method of public transport," said Rei.
"At least they let me bring my weapons on board," said Mana, taking up a whole row by herself.
"The wonders of a NERV badge," joked Kensuke.
"Yeah..." murmured Mayumi, still apparently unsettled by the dinner conversation. "You won't mind making your way back to Katsuragi's alone?"
Mana shrugged. "I'll just take a shortcut through the Metaverse. Besides, this is...nice."
"...what are the odds that Sohryu would find something to criticize about Japan's public transportation?" asked Kensuke.
Toji snorted. "A hundred percent, if only to intentionally annoy us..."
Shinji simply let the conversation wash over him, staring quietly outside the window as the bus rumbled through the streets of Tokyo-3.
Today was...something. He had no clue if Asuka was truly going to fit in with everyone...but for some reason, he looked forward to seeing how things would pan out...
xxxx
END OF 9/7/2015
