Angel Grace and Lilin Heart

Fruitless of the Spirit

"Alright boys, you've done some good work. How 'bout we head back for the day?"

Shinji let his head fall back with a sigh, the sun glowing bright and white through his closed eyelids. "Oh, finally..."

The sound of dirt-muffled footsteps made Shinji look forward again, neck aching.

"Wow, you got a good one there, Shinji; nice webbing and everything. Wanna bring that back with you?"

He smiled weakly. Crouching back down, Shinji pulled a knife from his pocket in a sweating hand and severed the large fruit from the vine. Even though it wasn't very heavy, his arms and legs still strained when he picked up the melon and began walking with it.

He followed Kaji back to the makeshift pavilion that'd been erected not far from his rows of precious melons. With the lack of angel attacks they'd been experiencing for the past few months - much to everyone's intense relief - Kaji had the time to focus on his hobby, and thus, the little garden he once had was now much more of a large-leaved, sprawling field than anything else.

With the amount of yield he was getting now, it became imperative he got help with tending it all, and Shinji was quick to respond. At first, he wasn't sure why he was so eager to help, but after some consideration, he supposed it was because the lack of angels, aside from being relieving, gave him this sort of empty, non-productive feeling he couldn't quite get rid of. Helping Kaji like this filled that unpleasant uselessness a bit. It also helped Shinji understand why Kaji liked gardening so much; there was something so calming and fulfilling about watching nature grow. He never would've assumed work could be fun too, not when his other job was always so stressful. But these gardening days really were enjoyable. Especially when another friend had joined.

"Do you think you put on enough sunscreen, Kaworu? You burned pretty badly the last time."

"Oh, I'll be alright. Thank you for this, Ryoji-san." Kaworu slipped off the baseball cap Kaji lent him and shook out his hair. Many of the strands stood up frizzly, but the fair boy neglected to fix it further.

Kaji tossed the hat casually on top of the mini fridge he was using as a table, turning then to Shinji. "Here we go. I think you both deserve a treat after all the help. I'm guessing you've never had watermelon before, have you, Kaworu?"

Kaworu shook his head. "No, I haven't."

"Well then," Kaji smiled, finally taking the melon from Shinji's arms, which allowed him to wipe the sweat from his face.

Noticing this, Kaji laid the fruit on the centered fold-out table and tapped on the surge protector near his foot, awakening the whirring industrial fans around the perimeter. Shinji sighed in relief as a cool breeze hit the back of his neck. He joined Kaworu as he curiously watched Kaji steady the melon with one hand, holding a knife over it.

"We got some good ones this season. This big, yellow patch here," Kaji poked it with the knife, "that means it's sweeter inside. A lot of them had good color; I was surprised." Kaji centered the knife and slid it down through the melon, then again, cutting it into equal fours.

Kaworu made a sound of wonderment as Kaji separated the wedges and smoothly cut one down its length. "It's red inside!"

Kaji chuckled, chopping the skinnier wedge into edible slices. "You know, the rinds used to take up a lot more space inside watermelons hundreds of years ago. These things were mostly tasteless and white; seeds were bigger too."

Shinji looked down at the slice Kaji handed to him. "What, really? How come they changed so much, then?"

Handing another slice to Kaworu, Kaji turned back to his worktable, swiftly cutting up the rest of the melon. "There's this thing humans do called 'selective breeding.' Maybe you've learned about it in school?"