Hyuga yawned quietly and continued clicking the commands to the sensors on his keyboard. "I hate Angels, you never know when they're going to show up. Could be ten minutes, could be ten years," he commented dryly.

Dr. Akagi was in the command center also, she was predictably standing near Maya's chair, looking down over the younger woman's work every so often from the larger screen above. "True, which is why we have to stay alert, Hyuga," she replied calmly, though she was perfectly able to read his tone.

Hyuga nodded. "Yes, ma'am," he replied in a noticeably weary tone. His eyes perked up slightly when he spotted something on the extra-atmospheric scanner. He clicked a few buttons to get the scanner to focus in on whatever it was and his eyes soon widened. "Dr. Akagi!" he called her quickly.

Ritsuko stepped over to his station. "What is it?"

"If that's not an Angel it's a problem anyway," he explained, pointing down at his screen.

A large, roughly ovular, but more egg-shaped, object was passing through the upper atmosphere like a solid teardrop falling against a sponge.

"It's directly above us, if it crash-lands at that speed..." he led off.

Ritsuko nodded curtly and then leaned back up. "Maya, notify the Commander and Vice Commander. Ayobi, call in Major Katsuragi and the four pilots, we may need the Evas to stop this... meteorite," she ordered calmly.

Swift affirmative replies met her orders as they were carried out.

Five minutes later, Ikari and Fuyutsuki were at their usual station in the command center with Misato down near Ritsuko and the four pilots quickly heading for their Eva units.

"How much time?" Misato asked calmly as she looked at the object on the main screen.

"We have ten minutes," Hyuga reported.

"Unit 00, ready for launch," Rei�s calm voice went out over the comm.

"Unit 14, ready," Cirus.

"Unit 01, ready," Shinji.

"Unit 02, ready," Asuka.

"Launch," Misato ordered, still calm despite the situation. According to the calculations there wouldn't be a square acre of Tokyo-3 left after the blast from the impact.

All four Evas launched up into the city, the buildings already lowered and weapons locking into position as the city took on its defense formation.

"So what are we going to do?" Shinji asked, looking up at the large object falling down to meet them.

"Expand your AT fields to catch the object and then put it down outside the city," Ritsuko explained over the comm.

"Why can't we just blow it out of the sky?" Misato asked with a slightly wry tone in her voice.

"We don't know what it is yet, it might make the situation worse if we did," Ritsuko answered calmly.

The four Evas expanded their AT fields up and away from themselves, toward the large object. It was almost four times the size of any one of them. Unit 14 disappeared thanks to its specialized design, but the AT field itself was more than visible.

"Object will reach AT fields in five... four... three..." Hyuga continued to count down until zero.

The object slammed into the AT field net powerfully, forcing the four Evas down to the knees before it stopped moving down. With its momentum broken, the four units weakened their AT fields and caught the object in their hands. They walked it out to the side of the city and then outside the limits, placing it down on the ground there. The four Evas backed away, but stayed active.

"Scanning the object," Hyuga informed them as he did so. "Blood pattern blue confirmed," he added calmly.

"So it's an Angel. Now can we blow it up?" Misato asked, but her tone was still more wry than serious.

"I'll accompany a team out there to examine it more closely," Ritsuko explained calmly and started to leave the command center.

"Something's happening within the target!" Ayobi reported suddenly.

Ritsuko ran back and looked down at Maya's screen as the closest source of information. "Four different entities?!"

"What?" Misato asked back.

"There are four Angels inside that... cocoon. And now they're starting to wake up," Ritsuko explained tensely.

"All Evas, prepare to attack the target," Misato ordered over the comm.

As the Evas did so, the 'egg' started to break apart. A long, slender arm punched out of the side and hit the ground, starting to pull the rest of its body out. Another two arms punched out near the top and started to break apart the shell there as well. The cocoon finally shattered and four Eva-sized, pale, humanoid Angels were standing there. Aside from two glowing eyes each, they were featureless.

Units 01 and 02 pulled their knifes, Unit 14 extended its forearm blades, and Unit 00 pulled its cannon from a nearby supply building on the edge of Tokyo-3.

Each Angel approached one of the Evas slowly before stopping and standing before them.

Shinji raised his knife and prepared to strike as the Angel lifted its hands up together and lowered into the same position as Unit 01. Shinji decided to wait until the Angel moved before he would.

Cirus lowered his Eva into a basic fighting stance and watched the Eva do the same at the same time. His brow creased, but he didn't say anything.

Asuka held her knife out with one hand and kept the other back near her head as she slowly stalked toward her Angel. The Angel went into the exact same position, only in reverse, and walked toward her as she approached it.

Rei raised her cannon to take aim, and saw the Angel do the exact same, but with no cannon in it arms. She raised her head from the targeting sensor and narrowed her eyes in controlled curiosity at the thing�s behavior.

"What are they doing?" Misato asked in a low voice, but it was audible enough.

"They're mimicking us perfectly. Perhaps they're trying to learn about us?" Ritsuko suggested.

Shinji's brow creased and replaced his knife in his shoulder socket, standing in front of the Angel unarmed. He watched as the Angel did the same, only it had no knife to begin with. Even portions of it shoulder raised up to mimic his resheathing action.

Cirus resheathed his forearm blades and stood up also. "They're not going to attack us unless we attack them," he stated the obvious just to be official about it.

"Yeah, what is this?" Asuka asked over the comm.

Rei lowered her cannon and stood up straight, but said nothing.

Shinji looked at the Angel curiously. He took one step toward it, and it took one perfect reflection of his step toward him. He did so again, and it did again, positioning them very close to each other.

"Shinji, be careful," Cirus warned him calmly.

"I will, but I don't think they're here to hurt us... not this time," Shinji replied calmly. He raised his Eva's hands up, the Angel mimicking him perfectly, and then pushed them forward slowly. Finally his and the Angel's hands met and nothing occurred.

Cirus smiled faintly. "Well, Shinji, I think you've just done yet another first. You're in peaceful contact with an Angel."

"This is unprecedented..." Ritsuko�s voice died off quietly.

"So what now?" Misato asked, slightly bewildered.

"Destroy them," Ikari ordered calmly.

Misato and Ritsuko looked up at him in surprise.

"But they aren't doing any damage," Misato pointed out.

"NERV exists to destroy Angels, Major," Ikari reminded her calmly.

Misato didn't respond, though she wanted to. But this is murder...

"Destroy the targets," Ikari ordered directly over the comm.

"Why? They aren't doing anything to us," Asuka asked back.

"Destroy them now," Ikari repeated more firmly.

Cirus narrowed his eyes at the order, but decided against arguing about it. He activated a single line comm. "Shinji, can you get to a rifle?"

"Yes, why?"

"I'll take care of this," he answered calmly.

Unit 01 turned, the Angel doing the same, and walked a few hundred meters to a launch pad, picking up his rifle and then tossing it to Unit 14, which caught it in one hand.

"Rei, Asuka, you two go ahead and fall back," Cirus continued, calmly taking aim at his own reflection Angel. You don't want to see this...

Units 00 and 02, though 02 was far more reluctant to do so, lowered their weapons and started to fall back to the city limits of Tokyo-3.

Cirus opened fire, the volley ripping apart the Angel's arm, head, and upper torso before it dropped to the ground limply. The other three Angels turned to Unit 14 and approached it, but none of them attacked. Unit 14 took aim at one, and all three mimicked his movement. At least try and fight back. Cirus pleaded silently. He turned to aim at the Angel to his right, and all three Angels turned to their left an equal amount. It was as if Cirus was in one of the old carnival fun houses with the mirror room.

Cirus shook his head and activated his comm. "This is pointless, they're not even trying."

"They can not be allowed to stay. Destroy them," Ikari responded.

Cirus set his face into a flat expression and opened fire at each Angel in turn. The three dropped in the order he'd shot them, from right to left. Unit 14 turned around and calmly walked back to the others.

"...Cirus, you just..." Asuka's voice trailed off.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Asuka," Cirus replied calmly as Unit 14 brushed past them.

"Halt, all units," Misato ordered suddenly.

All four of them Evas spun around and raised their various weapons at the area where the Angels had been.

"They're not moving, but they're not dead," Misato informed them.

Unit 02 stepped up first and ran back over to the Angels' bodies, her progressive knife out and ready. She got down on her haunches and examined one of them more closely. She prodded it with her knife, but it didn't move aside from what she pushed on. "Are you sure they're not dead? They may have just stopped blowing themselves up," she commented.

"No, all scanners still show them active," Ritsuko replied. "In fact, there's five of them."

"The cocoon, of course!" Cirus said as if he was hitting himself in the head.

The remaining three Evas joined Unit 02 over by the cocoon, or its remains. At the center of the gooey mess was a red spherical Angel core, and it was still active.

Asuka raised her knife and then stabbed it down, piercing the core powerfully and cracking it down the middle.

Suddenly the core flashed brightly and an AT field rushed out from it, throwing all four Evas back and sprawling on the ground.

"Well you got its attention, Asuka," Cirus commented as he hopped up in Unit 14.

Unit 00 was the next to get back up, followed quickly by Units 01 and 02. Before they could attack the core again, the four Angel bodies rose up from the ground and healed, rather quickly at that. Each of their forms started to change slightly. One of them grew longer, more slender arms, another became more powerful looking with a mouth appearing below its eyes, another grew long bony blades from its forearms, and the fourth formed a large cannon with its arm. Each was a perfect match for the Eva it had faced before.

Then all four of them activated their AT fields and faced off against their individual Eva.

Cirus put his rifle down and unsheathed his forearm blades. After what he'd just done to all four of them he was up for a fair fight.

Asuka put her knife back into her shoulder socket and faced off against the more powerful looking Angel.

Shinji leapt at the slender Angel and knocked it to the ground bodily, pinning its arms down with his hands.

Rei fired at the Angel, but it dodged down to the side and returned fire. Rei spun around to her right and fired again, hitting the Angel in the left shoulder with a firm impact, sending a shudder through its form.

Asuka's Angel threw out a powerful gut-punch, but Asuka grabbed its arm with hers and then kneed it in the stomach area before hitting across the back of the head with her other fist. The Angel sprang back up and grabbed her by the neck, practically shattering the Eva's own it was squeezing so tightly. Asuka's eyes flared wide as she lost the ability to breathe. Unit 02 gripped the Angel's arm around the wrist and then lifted its legs up before shoving them powerfully into the Angel's chest. The Angel let go and fell back a step as Unit 02 fell to the ground; its torso heaving like it was breathing heavily.

Cirus slashed out at his Angel with his right arm first, but the Angel spun to its own right and slashed down at him with its left. Cirus pivoted his upper body down and around to avoid getting sliced as he brought his right arm up again, but this time into the Angel's face. The Angel dodged to the side and grabbed his arm instead before pulling him up into the air by it. Cirus spun his right leg around and slammed it into the Angel's side, but it was not overly affected by the attack, and so wrenched him to the ground on its other side with a powerful yank. Unit 14 slammed into the ground with a shattering crash and went limp, the pilot unconscious from the impact.

Unit 02 spun around with a roundhouse kick, catching her Angel in the head and snapping it to the side so quickly it almost snapped its neck from the impact as it flew back to the ground. She then pounced on it and slammed her right fist into its head repeatedly.

Unit 01 was still in a power struggle with its Angel until the Angel reached up with its long right arm and grabbed him around the neck. Shinji reached up with his own right hand and gripped the Angel's wrist behind his head, his teeth bared as he did. Unit 01's eyes flashed and the Angel's wrist snapped apart within its skin. He pulled the loose arm over his head and then used the same fist without letting go to slam the Angel's face into the ground. Unit 01's eyes turned red and its jaw section separated in a low growl of anger as it repeatedly smashed the Angel's head into the ground. The Angel's other arm went limp, but Shinji continued to attack.

With a final scream of rage he slammed his fist through the Angel's head and it exploded underneath him, engulfing him in the fiery cross-pattern until it faded.

"Shinji, are you alright?" Misato asked over the comm.

"Yes, Miss Misato," Shinji answered calmly.

Unit 14's pilot stirred awake and saw its Angel approaching Unit 01, who was standing up from scorched landscape. He narrowed his eyes and Unit 14 started to stand up. Unit 14 ran up behind the Angel and wordlessly drove both of its blades into the Angel's back, making the creature�s back arch in an agonized spasm before he pulled one blade out and slammed it down into the Angel's face, slicing it in half with one stroke. The Angel roared through its damaged face and raised one arm, driving its blade into Unit 14's right shoulder deeply. Unit 14's eyes flashed and it gripped the Angel's arm with its left and yanked it out firmly before letting go and sending the same fist through the Angel's chest and down into the ground. The Angel let off a massive spurt of blood all over Unit 14, but didn't explode. It fell to the ground limply and didn�t get back up.

Rei finally dropped her cannon and pulled her knife, charging the Angel as it fired at her. She leapt and spun around the blast as she threw her arm out, slicing the Angel down the torso from its left shoulder to its right hip. The Angel grabbed her by the neck suddenly and lifted her up by it, pointing its cannon arm at her Eva's face at point blank range. Rei gritted her teeth against the need for air and calmly stabbed her knife through the cannon arm of the Angel, then spun it around the limb and twisted it. The arm fell off at the elbow and Rei raised her legs, grabbing the Angel around the head with them before raising her knife and stabbing it down into the Angel's face, directly between the eyes. The Angel roared and reached up with its good arm, across her legs, and gripped her blade arm tightly. Rei unwrapped her legs and fell down to her feet, trying to pull the Angel's hand off of her arm. The Angel squeezed suddenly and Rei gasped in pain as her Eva's arm snapped and went limp from the point of the Angel's grip and on. She reached up with her good hand and gripped the knife still in the Angel's face before wrenching it down through its head and down into the middle of its torso. Its grip went limp as the Angel's upper body fell in two directions before the whole thing collapsed to the ground limply.

Asuka still had the advantage over her Angel as the other three Evas surrounded her.

"Asuka, I think you can kill it now," Cirus said dryly, though his voice was slightly hoarse.

Unit 01 had returned to normal, though it hadn't exactly been out of control. Shinji watched in a form of morbid curiosity as Asuka continued to beat the living day lights out of the Angel without really doing any damage.

"Oh, if you insist," Asuka replied in a wild tone like that of a person who was greatly enjoying a physical activity. Unit 02 raised its arm up high and then slammed it down into the Angel's head, shattering it into oblivion.

Shinji walked over to the cocoon and pulled his knife. He ripped through its AT field and then stabbed the blade into the Angel's core. It fragmented and then exploded around his hand. "Target destroyed," he reported with a slight tone of relief in his voice.

"Well done everyone. Damage report?" Misato said over the comm.

"Unit 01, damage minimal."

"Unit 02, no damage at all!" Asuka answered happily.

"Unit 14, moderate damage."

"Unit 00, severe damage to left arm, other systems minimal," Rei said calmly, cradling her left arm in the cockpit and hiding the excruciating pain she was in.

Cirus' head shot up and saw the damage on Unit 00's left arm. He'd heard her gasp over the comm, but hadn't been able to see her at the time.

"Confirmed. All Evas report back to cages. Rei do you need a trip to the medical bay?" Misato asked.

"N-no," Rei answered, having swallowed as she started to speak. Her arm was in immense pain, even though it was only synched from the Eva she would still not be able to use it for a few days.

A few minutes later, when the Evas had all docked, Cirus hopped down from his entry plug and hurried around to Rei's. As he ran up he saw her start to climb down, her left arm clutched near to her body as she did. She finally got down to the grating and looked up, she was slightly startled to see him, but smiled faintly as he walked up.

"How badly is your arm hurt?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head. "Just badly twisted. It will heal soon."

Cirus reached out with his hand and gently touched her left shoulder. Rei felt a warm wave pass down her arm and the pain was eased quite substantially. "Thank you," she said quietly, able to let her arm hang down.

"I'm sorry I couldn't heal it completely. Why didn't you wish to go to the medical bay?" he asked with a deep concern both in his voice and on his face.

Rei looked down at the grating. "...I don't like it there."

Cirus� face calmed with realization. "Of course. You can go home and rest if you'd like, I'll cover for you," he told her with a slight smile.

She shook her head again, but smiled back. "No, I will be fine now."

He bowed his head to her. "As you wish." He then turned headed for the locker room. As he got within the threshold of the locker room his face sank. If I hadn't been such an idiot about that Angel I could have prevented that from happening. He shook his head and continued in.

Rei had watched him leave calmly before starting on her own way to the locker room. She could sense in his manner that he was guilty. She didn't fully understand why he would be. Perhaps it had something to do with him not being able to fully heal her arm? But that was understandable, his Eva had used a great deal of his and its own energy in the battle. Then she suddenly realized what it was. But that is foolish. It was my error, not his. Why would he blame himself?

Almost as soon as Rei had left the locker room she was summoned to Ikari's office. Not being able to recall anything she could have done that was not allowed she was slightly curious about the reason for his call. As she reached the door to his office it opened for her, with Fuyutsuki stepping through.

"Ah, there you are, Rei. He's waiting for you inside," he said calmly and then walked off down the hall.

Rei eyed him calmly for a moment as he did so before entering herself. Ikari turned around in his seat as she entered so that he faced her. His elbows were resting on the armrests, his hands clasped in front of his face. "Thank you for coming, Rei."

Rei's eyes tightened, but she didn't respond.

"I called you here because I need you to be more careful in the battles you are in," Ikari continued plainly.

"Why?" Rei asked back, her brow creased slightly.

"...Because you can no longer be replaced," Ikari answered after a brief pause.

Rei tilted her at him slightly. "Why should I not be as careful as the others?"

"You have an importance beyond the Angels; you must be more careful."

Rei's eyes hardened as they looked at him. "I am not your doll to control."

"You were created for that purpose alone!" Ikari almost shouted.

Rei stepped back slightly, her eyes widening.

"I have let you do enough! You will do this for me!" he raised himself out of the chair, his hands resting on his desk.

Rei shook her head slowly, as if in disbelief, but really only numb.

"...Rei-" he started more softly, but she cut him off with a glare.

She turned and started to leave, but Ikari rounded his desk and grabbed her arm. Rei's head shot up to look at him, gasping from the sudden pain. He had grabbed her injured arm. Ikari looked down at her coldly; her eyes calmly looked up at his despite the sheen growing in them from the pain.

"Why are you going against your purpose?" he asked her calmly.

"H-how do you know what my purpose is?" she asked back, her voice slightly strained.

Ikari narrowed his eyes at her thoughtfully before letting go. She brought her other arm up and held the injured limb to her side where he�d gripped it, her eyes staring down at the ground as her tears stopped.

"Go," Ikari ordered softly before turning his back to her walking back to his desk.

She slowly opened the door and stepped out, her arm still in pain. Her emotions were numb, buzzing in her mind after the startling attack from Ikari. Rei continued to look down at the ground, holding her hurt arm, as she moved down the hall. Soon she heard footsteps hurrying toward her. It was Shinji, apparently in a rush to get somewhere. He was looking down as he was running and looked up just as he was getting close to her. He lost his footing and stumbled to the side brushing against Rei before being able to stand up straight. The small impact was enough to make her arm spike through with pain and she inhaled sharply. Shinji turned around; about to apologize when he saw Rei�s pained expression and that she was cradling her arm. "Ayanami? What's wrong with your arm?" he asked quietly.

Rei shook her head and started to walk away from him. "...Nothing."

"W-well... I'm sorry for bumping into you," he called after her. She didn't respond. Something made her arm worse... He realized with slightly widened eyes.

Rei closed the door to her home behind herself and slowly walked into her bedroom. She was extremely glad she was no longer in her apartment, she couldn't take that at this moment. She changed into her nightclothes and went into the bathroom before brushing her teeth and getting into her bed. She wrapped the blanket around herself and curled up slightly into a ball to stay warm.

She was woken up a few hours later by pain shooting through her arm. She had turned over and laid down on her bad arm in her sleep. She rolled onto her back and held her arm to her chest. It hurt so much that tears started to come from her eyes, but it wasn't just the physical pain. She didn't want to go back there the next day.

Cirus suppressed the urge to yawn as he opened the door to the synch lab. He'd been reading the SEELE report on the anti-NERV militants he'd helped wipe off the earth until close to three in the morning. He was rather disconcerted when he saw Shinji and Asuka there before him.

"Ah, Cirus, you're actually a few minutes late for once," Ritsuko greeted him wryly.

"Yes, sorry about that," Cirus apologized with a light smile as he lined up beside Asuka, Shinji was on her other side. He noted to himself that Rei wasn't present.

"I guess she�s not coming today..." Hyuga said quietly.

Ritsuko looked back over her shoulder at the techie with a sour expression on her face. "She's not the type to just not come to work. It's not like Rei to do this," she replied.

"Oh, sorry, Dr. Akagi. I told Rei to stay home today. She was very worn out from the battle yesterday," Cirus said calmly. It was a complete lie of course, but they didn't know that. "I said I'd cover for her."

Ritsuko nodded knowingly. "I see."

Misato half-smiled as she looked down at Hyuga's screen. "Fair enough. Well the test plugs are ready for the three of you then. Cirus you can take Rei's if you want, we'll just shift the program," she explained.

"I'll be fine with mine, thank you, Major," Cirus replied calmly as he followed Shinji and Asuka out.

"I don't see how she was any more worn out than the rest of us," Asuka commented sourly as they headed toward the locker rooms.

Cirus caught his flash of anger before it became visible physically.

"Her arm was hurt pretty badly, it makes sense to me," Shinji replied.

Cirus' brow creased. "I thought her arm was doing better after the battle?"

Shinji nodded. "So did I, but I saw her late yesterday and she was holding it like it was really hurting her."

"If you didn't know that, how come you told her to stay home?" Asuka asked Cirus suddenly.

"Having your arm snapped like a twig has that affect regardless, Asuka," Cirus snapped sharply.

Asuka reeled herself in quite a bit and looked down.

Cirus grimaced. "My apologies, Asuka. It wasn't my place," he apologized and then brushed past the two of them so that he got to the locker room faster.

Asuka eyed him warily for a moment before quickening her own pace.

The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. A bit busier thanks to the Angel clean up, but not very much so. Upon being allowed to leave, Cirus instantly went to Rei's house. He practically broke into a run, his coat almost staying horizontal behind him thanks to his speed. He slowed when he got closer to her house and caught his breath before going up the small walkway to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited.

The door opened slowly and Rei looked around its edge. Her eyes widened momentarily before her features softened and she stepped out from behind the door. "...I'm sorry if you were concerned..." she said quietly, looking down at the ground.

Cirus noted that she was hiding her left arm behind her back. He shook his head and smiled.

"Don't worry about that, I told them I was covering for you," he explained then his face became more concerned. "Are you hurt?" he asked more softly.

Rei shook her head too quickly for his liking. "N-no, no more so than when you saw me."

"Rei, please, tell me the truth," he said softly.

Rei slowly let her arm hang out at her side and Cirus winced. It was badly bruised all over.

"Thank you, may I come in?" he asked, motioning inside.

Rei nodded and stepped back from the door. He stepped in, taking his shoes off and his glasses. "May I see your arm more closely?" he asked her gently.

She raised her arm and he lifted his hands up, gently holding it. She winced and he let go.

"What happened?"

Rei shook her head and closed her eyes, tears starting down her face.

"You want to go to the kitchen and sit down?" he offered, trying to change the subject as smoothly as he could.

She nodded and he gently put his arm around her shoulders, walking with her into the kitchen and sat down with her at the table. He sat there calmly as she let her tears dry up before looking back up at him. He didn't ask her again, he just smiled at her warmly and took her good hand in his, gently caressing the back of her hand with his thumb. She smiled back and gently squeezed his hand. She swallowed and looked at him more directly. "It was not you," she said quietly.

His frame visibly relaxed. "Thank G'd for that at least. I can try and heal your arm more completely if you want, I've just never done it at this range before," he offered her more sympathetically.

Rei's frame curled in on itself. "...Please try," she responded in a barely audible voice.

Cirus nodded with another warm smile and put his hand very gently on her injured arm's shoulder before closing his eyes. At such range he had to focus a great deal more. Rei felt the warm wave wash over her arm again and the pain faded. It continued to do so, at a noticeably slower pace than before, until it was completely gone. Cirus slowly opened his and pulled his hand away. Rei's arm had returned to normal, there wasn't even a trace of bruising.

Cirus hid it, but he was about to collapse from exhaustion. What he'd just done, combined with his lack of sleep had wiped him out completely. Rei's hand gently holding his snapped him out of his self-pitying trance and he looked up into her smile.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"You're more than welcome," he replied, smiling at her warmly again.

"I didn't want to go back there today, I'm sorry if it caused you difficulty," she added apologetically, looking down at the ground.

Cirus covered her hand gently in his other and his smile broadened. "It was no trouble at all." He didn't ask the question he so desperately wanted to. "You can stay home tomorrow also if you like," he added instead.

A faint smile played over her lips and she shook her head. "No, I will come tomorrow." She looked up at him with her calmly curious eyes. "May I ask why you came here so soon?"

Cirus' face sunk slightly to a calm smile. "... Shinji mentioned your arm being worse late yesterday, so I covered for you until I could leave and check in on you."

Rei closed her eyes against the silent tears, which had softly returned. "...Thank you."

Cirus reached up and caressed her cheek gently with his fingers. He knew that her words carried a great deal more meaning than he could really understand. He was going to find out what had done that to her, and he would make sure it never did it to her again.