Nerv: Dry Cleaning and Takeout

Stage V: First Taste's On the House

Pre-knowledge of: Rudimentary Spanish is requisite for reading this chapter

Rei was raised by a good woman, and as a rather schoolmarm-ish—well, she thought she was schoolmarm-ish—and proper young lady herself, she must keep everything neat and organized. It was with this mindset that she set about cleaning up the impromptu BDSM chamber she had erected in the spacious basement of the shop. Shinji lay flat on the rack she had tied him to, limp and spent from having his thoughts corrected for a good hour and a half. The leather whip was meticulously rolled into a tight bun and stowed in its casing, after having been oiled to ensure that the leather did not crack. As a final test for her brother, Rei undid her suit casually, letting it fall onto the ground. She wore nothing underneath, as this was how the particular article of clothing was designed as a sexually arousing piece of underwear and thus should not be further padded. She padded over to Shinji and bent to pick up a random segment of rope that had fallen. His head followed her, but no more reactions came. Item one, check; she clapped her hands.

"You will now be aroused," she informed him. He responded most satisfactorily; item two, check.

Now for the most difficult part

"End your arousal"

His body complied, though it was doubtful that the reactions were conscious actions on his part. However, this concluded Rei's training. She sealed the paper away and stamped it.

XXXXX

Normally, Asuka headed straight home, unless she was inclined to stay and watch the school's football team do something violent. Today, though, Hikari was waiting outside, ready to get Asuka to go have a little fun the moment she came out of the building. Not knowing much of the demographics of local eateries, Asuka opted for the one she thought would be the cheapest, a freshly opened take-out sushi shop two blocks from school grounds. Apart from a surprisingly smooth and charming young man and his sister transferring in from Japan—of all places!—nothing interesting had occurred. It was with this sense of boredom that she led Hikari in a silent march to the shop.

"Ay, don' wait for me today, mamí!" a voice yelled from across the street, where he was sitting with a group of men. "I'm gonna hang with the barrio t'night, comprendes?"

"Sí, Kaji-san; make your own dinner, then!" Asuka shot back.

"Who was that?" Hikari asked, unable to comprehend why Asuka was living with a near-two-meter Asian-Hispanic hulk of a man almost twice her age.

"Ryoji Jose-Rodriguez Kaji, the guy I was sent to after…well, he's my uncle," Asuka answered.

Out of politeness, Hikari declined to point out the fact that Asuka was a Eurasian girl of petit build, with creamy white skin and long, straight, red hair, while the supposed uncle was massive, dark-skinned Hispanic man, but Asuka answered her anyways.

"Different fathers," she said. "All sorts of mixtures in this place; don't be surprised. Besides, I learn Spanish for free."

She sounded oddly hollow about the subject. Hikari winced to think of how many memories of her mother Asuka has to remember by just thinking about this man, whose roof she lived under. Asuka pushed open the door to the shop, and stared in surprise. The shop was packed with laughing people, and the young man from before was shuttling trays of sushi back and forth from the kitchen to the dingy eating room.

"Didn't they just open?" Hikari asked.

"Well, how am I supposed to know that they could do so well?" Asuka snapped, back to her usual self. The young man, whose name Asuka remembered to be Shinji Ikari, waltzed up to them with his tray.

"Good afternoon," he said with a little bow. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yes," Asuka said. "You can find us somewhere to sit."

He swept his arm in the direction of the back of the shop.

"There are more spaces out in the back," he said. "Please feel free to call me whenever you feel like taking an order."

"Cute," Hikari commented when the boy was out of sight. "It's a nice place."

"Let's go, Hikari," Asuka said, dragging the other girl through the throngs of customers. They found an empty spot, and prepared to sit down, when Asuka bumped against someone.

"Ah, good afternoon, Asuka," Kaworu said. "What a pleasant surprise."

When she glared at him, his hand shot up to his chin, where there were still residues of white stuck to his face. Feigning a cough, he wiped his mouth clean.

"Well, what are you still standing here for?" she demanded. Hikari pulled on Asuka's shirt.

"Asuka!" she admonished. Then, in a louder voice, "Hey, why don't you sit down with us?"

"My pleasure," he answered. Asuka turned her nose. The young man came back with dishes, which he set in front of them, and each received a small piece of sushi.

"First taste is on the house," he said. "You'll be coming back for more, soon enough!"

As he left, Kaworu chuckled.

"The boys say the same when they sell, well…" he looked at Hikari. "Their own wares"

Asuka snorted, angrily looking away from the boy. She picked up the sushi, and bit into it. Her countenance instantly changed. Electricity seemed to rush through her body. Her eyes glistened with the sensation.

"It's…magical…" she whispered. "What is this, I don't even…"

The air billowed as Hikari registered the taste of the sushi. Her senses screamed. Kaworu merely remarked, "Better than cocaine, definitely."

The sound of a poorly tuned guitar bounced into the dining room. Asuka's eyes widened. A man with an extraordinary beard stood on the counter, crappy, peeling guitar in hand.

"Wercome!" he yelled in heavily accented English. "To restaurant's opening day, yes?"

"What is he saying?" Hikari demanded.

"I believe he is speaking in a language known as Engrish," Kaworu informed her. "Decipher it as English."

"I see," she said. The man played another jarring note.

"I came to America, see? 'Cause I wanted opporturity, for my famirry," he sang. "There many opporturity here in America, so I make raundry shop and restaurant! Thank you for coming today, I has a speciar for you arr today!"

He whipped a platter out from behind him without disturbing the pile of sushi on top in any way.

"First taste's on the house, as arways!" he proclaimed. The young man began dishing out the sushi, which themselves looked rather like cocaine packaged in dark wrapping paper, in Kaworu's eyes.

Proudly, Gendo surveyed the room as the customers partook of his sushi, the potent new recipe that he had gone through fire and brimstone for, that he had spent the better part of his life perfecting. It was magical. He knew it would be.

Gasps sounded all over the tables. Gendo's hair veritably stood on its end as a shockwave of pure delicious set the room's senses ablaze. He could almost feel it; their brand new sensation, their need, their desire for more, no matter what, and their addiction. There's no way they wouldn't be coming back for more after this.

As Kaworu said, better than cocaine.

End Stage V