Shinji Ikari walked along the city sidewalk, Sokila's hand in his own. The younger girl seemed pleased with this arrangement, taking exaggerated steps and swinging his right arm with excited emphasis.
He pondered where to go for lunch, because his first suggestion — sushi — had been shot down.
("No fish!" exclaimed Sokila with an almost instinctive defiance. When he tried asking why, she simply reiterated "I don't want fish!" Somehow, he knew there was a story there, because what Japanese kid didn't like fish?)
Although...even though she speaks the language, maybe she's not Japanese? Something about that idea seemed wrong, though...but he wasn't sure why.
Speaking of which, what ethnicity is Mister Igor?
Before he could ponder such esoteric questions further, a familiar sight came into view. "Ah...how does a beef bowl sound?"
"...what's beef?" she asked with a tilt of her head.
Well,
that made the decision for him.
Stepping into the colorful interior of the
Big Bang Beef Bowl Shop, Shinji and Sokila were instantly directed to an open booth by the proprietor. "Enjoy your meals!" exclaimed Kunikazu Okumura as he left him a menu and a kid's menu for Sokila. Shinji watched as the man walked away to help another customer, briefly mollified by the fact that the man didn't treat him the same way that most of the other students at school had as of late.
(The thought that the man simply didn't care
who he was so long as he was a paying customer didn't cross his mind.)
"So...what would you like, Sokila-chan?"
The girl stared at her miniature menu with the sort of intense and hyperbolic focus that only children were capable of. "...I recognize some of the veggie and rice characters, but not the others...uh..."
"How about I order for you instead?"
"Okay!" Sokila seemed just fine with that arrangement.
As such, Shinji ordered a classic
gyudon (kid's size, naturally) for Sokila while he requested the Big Bang Special, with extra ground beef (because he was
famished). While their orders were being made, Shinji looked over at the girl, who was looking around inquisitively. "So...you've never had beef before, huh?" he asked, sipping from his water.
"Nuh-uh!"
"...you know, come to think of it, what is there to even
eat in...well, you know?" For some reason, saying the words 'Velvet Room' out loud felt...verboten.
"Nothin'."
"...
nothing?" he asked, flabbergasted. "How-?"
Sokila took a large sip of water before replying, "well, there's no kitchen! And in that place...I don't feel hungry. No one does. Dunno why."
"...huh." The Velvet Room was
weird.
Before he could inquire further, a familiar voice echoed through the cafe. "Well if it ain't Ikari!" Glancing over his shoulder, Shinji watched Kensuke and Toji walk towards their booth. Sokila impulsively ducked under the table, shuffling across the floor to slide onto Shinji's booth, between himself and the wall. As he impulsively slid outward to get some more room, his two roommates grabbed the opposite booth. "Finally out of the
clink, eh?" asked Toji, pronouncing the latter word like 'coo-rinku'.
"What's a
clink?" he and Sokila both impulsively asked.
"English slang for a jail," answered Kensuke. "Because learning foreign slang
instead of what's actually going to be on our exams is such a bright idea."
"Hey, it's a legitimate idea! You never know what kind of curveballs they could throw!"
"They have a
curriculum to stick to Toji, they're not gonna throw any curveballs!"
"Eh, whatever." It was at this point that he finally mentioned the proverbial elephant in the room. "So, who's the girl?" asked Toji.
The silver-haired girl went nervously quiet, so Shinji answered for her. "This is Sokila-chan." (
Oh crap how do I explain her because there's no way they're going to buy my cosplay lie from the last time she was outside!)
Kensuke thoughtfully hummed. Toji instead, decided to voice his hypothesis out loud. "Never woulda figured you for a
lolicon...guess you never know with some guys." Kensuke audibly facepalmed (not even bothering to take off his glasses), which elicited a defensive, "hey, I'm just saying! You really never know with some people!" from Toji.
Shinji darkly glared at Toji.
"What's a lolicon?" innocently asked Sokila.
"Nothing you need to know about," immediately answered Shinji, his grim displeasure somehow
not emerging in his voice.
"Kay!" said Sokila, accepting his word as law.
The sudden burst of fierce protectiveness in his gaze brought Toji to a halt, since he gulped nervously. "Okay, never mind, it was just a dumb guess...but seriously, who is she?"
"I'm babysitting," Shinji impulsively answered. (
Hey, that actually isn't bad...)
Sokila pouted, irritably crossing her arms. "M'not a baby."
"Huh, never would've thought. It's not like you're hard up on money," said Kensuke with an observant glance.
(In a normal situation, Kensuke — being the A.T. Task Force aficionado and NERV intern that he was — would've seen her yellow eyes, so eerily like those of a Shadow. He would've asked some insightful questions that Shinji may not have been able to answer...or unwilling to.)
(How fortunate, that the Velvet Room protected its Guests in more ways than one, and not always in so obvious a manner. As such, the boy's mind simply chalked up her appearance as being a little odd, and thought nothing more of it.)
"Anyhow, my name's Kensuke Aida!" He pointed a thumb towards his taller compatriot. "This here's Toji Suzuhara."
"Yo," grunted the track jock.
Sokila looked back and forth between the two of them. "Kenny...and Meanie!"
"Wuh, HEY!" exclaimed Toji. "I ain't a meanie!"
Kensuke snorted. "Eh, you kind of deserve to be called a meanie after the 'loli' crack."
"Look, okay, so maybe I was being stupid, but I ain't mean!"
"You
sound mean," said Sokila with a matter-of-fact tone. "So that makes you a Meanie."
Toji gawked at her; Shinji — putting his inherent politeness aside for a change — didn't feel obligated to correct her. Kensuke simply laughed, saying, "she has a point, Toji; good thing she hasn't seen you in one of your surlier moods, or she would've nicknamed you
Yakuza. Or maybe
Thug."
The newest Persona-user of the trio grunted. "Whatever," he grumbled, crossing his arms petulantly.
It was at that point that Shinji and Sokila's orders were brought out. "Enjoy!" said Kunikazu before turning to grab Kensuke and Toji's orders.
Sokila stared with wide eyes at the bowl of rice and neatly-cut sirloin. "Whoa...what is that...?"
"It's sliced beef," answered Shinji as he slapped his palms together. "
Itadakimasu."
"Oh, right!
Itadakimasu!" exclaimed the smaller girl, dutifully snapping her chopsticks and taking a big heaping bite of sliced beef with rice...and the way her eyes practically
glowed with disbelief and awe signalled how she felt about the food.
"It's so
good~!" she exclaimed, digging in for even larger mouthfuls.
"Hey, eat slower," impulsively cautioned Shinji.
Kensuke blinked at the sight of the girl voraciously devouring her beef bowl with all the ferocity of a starving wolf. "Man, what's with her?"
"She's apparently never had beef before."
Shinji's answer elicited a dumbfounded look of shock and horror from Toji. "What kind of deprived life has she been living?!"
The lone Evangelion-user shrugged (because he honestly didn't
know), taking a bite of his own meal in the interim. Before two minutes passed, the kid-sized
gyudon was all gone, consumed by Sokila. "Can I have some more?!" she excitedly asked.
"I don't see why not," answered Shinji with a warm smile; coming here had been a
great decision.
