Neon Genesis Evangelion
                          Higher Learning
                          ===============

                         Teacher's Edition
                       Lessons 11 through 20



                         Strike Fiss, 2000












Eleventh Lesson:  Fly on the Wall







"Oh shit oh shit oh shit..." Kaoru literally ran down the halls with 
his books in hand.  Two dozen or more papers for the day's class were 
clutched perilously in his hands, but never fell despite his frantic 
movement.  

One could surmise he was late, as the clock that hung over his 
classroom door read nine-twenty am.  "Argh..." he sighed, opening the 
door.

He prayed that Hikari had kept everyone at bay for the time he was 
away.  His prayers were answered as he skidded into the classroom, 
completely out of breath, and the eyes of 35 patient students all 
turned to him.  

Hikari smiled proudly.  "Good morning, Miyazaki-Sensei!" her tone 
darkened slightly.  "You're late."

The class all laughed as he did as well.  "Yes...yes...I am.  Forgive 
me class.  My alarm chose last night to stop working." he relaxed 
noticeably and walked over to his desk.

Still, right away, one could see something was wrong.  Shinji noticed 
this right away, even though he was still half asleep.  Most 
noticeably, he looked the way Shinji felt at the moment.  Though he had 
been able to get to sleep last night, it was wasn't very deep.  Every 
he was about to go under, Asuka would shift slightly, and rub herself 
up against him in some small...but very noticeable...way.

"Poor guy..." Shinji yawned.

Toji leaned over.  "Man, what happened to HIM?"

Kensuke smiled and adjusted his glasses.  "I wonder if Asuka beat him 
up for assigning that one paper?"

Asuka, who had been fairly tired as well for the same reason Shinji had 
been, groaned inwardly as she saw Kaoru sit down at his desk.  His 
socks were not matching...his clothes looked at least a day old, and it 
was pretty obvious he hadn't shaven or had anything to eat that 
morning.  While the Stooges speculated all they wanted, Asuka had 
already guessed the right answer.  "Shiite..." she hid behind her 
computer, praying she wasn't already blushing.  It was bad enough she 
was acting like that around Shinji all that morning...even having to go 
so far to miss him at the breakfast table and the walk to school...she 
almost was convincing herself that the kiss with her new teacher was 
all a little dream.  A tiny fantasy in a moment of weakness. 

By the way he was refusing to look in her direction, she knew it 
wasn't.  

"Okay, class." he said, stifling a yawn.  "A very important subject we 
should talk about has just come to my attention." he smiled weakly.  
"Does anyone have any thoughts on sleep?"

Asuka sighed to herself.  "Yeah...I want to be home right now." she 
turned her head around on her desk.

Shinji was looking at her, though.  She blinked.  He looked worried.  
Even more than usual, she mused.  With a sigh, she quietly typed a 
question into her computer and sent it to him.

He noticed the question appear on his own screen, turned slightly red, 
and then typed in a reply.  

"You look really tired...are you okay?" 

Asuka blinked, then looked at Shinji a little harder.  He looked a LOT 
worse than she did.  His eyes were red and tired.  His hair was mussed 
and uncombed...

He looked a lot like Kaoru, actually.  

Asuka sighed and grumbled to herself.  She typed in:  "I'm fine, Baka.  
You look horrible too, you know.  I bet you can't stay awake till the 
end of class!  Ha!"

Shinji read the message and blinked.  "I was just trying to be nice!  
And I CAN TOO stay up till the end of class!" he replied.  "I bet YOU 
fall asleep before I do!"

She smiled and leaned back in her seat.  "Sweet baka...he always know 
how to make me feel better." she mused to herself.  At least this would 
give her something to think about till the end of class.








It turned out that the infamous Langley spirit indeed triumphed, and by 
lunch time, Shinji was collapsed at his desk, sound asleep.  Asuka 
glared at the clock as she watched the last minute SLOOOOOWLY slide by.  

RRRRRIIIIIIIIING!

The class put away their notes and began to file out to the cafeteria 
as per normal.  But just as Asuka was about to do the same, Kaoru 
cleared his throat.  "Asuka, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Toji grinned like a damn shark.  "Oooh!  Who did you beat up now?" he 
chided, sticking his head back in the doorway. 

"It will be YOU in a second, butt-head!" Asuka glared at him.  

"Hehe...OW!" he fell back outside the door as she kicked the door-frame 
with sufficient force to cause the paneling to jar against his 
shoulder.  

"That'll teach you." she grinned back, slamming the door behind him.
Kaoru sighed as Asuka walked over to the desk.  Besides a sleeping 
Shinji, they were alone.  "Yes, Sensei?" she asked, hoping she wasn't 
turning red.  

It all came out in one breath:

"I'm so sorry!  I shouldn't have...I mean...that entire situation 
was...bad idea...I should have just...I mean...If you want me to 
resign...I'll get outta here in a second...I don't want..."

Asuka almost fell over.  "What?"

Kaoru let his head smash onto his desktop.  "Asuka...thank you...but 
you know very well what I'm talking about."

She nodded silently, now fully red in the face.

"Say the words, and I'll resign.  Your old sensei will probably be out 
of the hospital next week anyway.  I don't want there to be anything 
weird between us."

"That's enough!" she frowned, crossing her arms.

Kaoru blinked.

She looked down at the floor, still embarrassed, but determined.  "You 
were there for me when I thought I was alone, Sensei...thank you...and 
nothing happened...really...so I don't know why you'd have to leave 
just because of that."

Kaoru groaned and leaned back in his chair.  A long pause echoed out as 
he collected his thoughts.   "You're right, you know.  I'm sorry, Miss 
Langley.  I keep forgetting how mature you are." he smiled slightly.

She fidgeted slightly, but a deep breath later, nodded.  "Good.  
Because I don't want that old crummy geezer to come back.  He keeps 
handing out stuff I can't read."

They both glanced around the room as the silence seemed to echo out.  
"Uh...well, I better get going for lunch." she smiled and bowed.

"I better go home and have a shower." Kaoru laughed.  "I just realized 
I put on two different socks."

"Good." Asuka smiled, then bowed slightly again.  "Sorry..."

"No, its okay.  Go on.  I'll be back to my old self by second period." 
he nodded.




They both neglected to see the wide-eyes of Shinji Ikari watching the 
scene as Asuka left the room, relieved to have the situation done with.  
Kaoru leaned back in his chair and ruffled up his hair once before 
finally picking up his case and leaving the room as well.

Shinji just lay there...head against his desk...listening to his heart-
beat.  

"It's all in my mind..." he whispered to himself out loud.  "It's all 
in my mind...It's all in my mind..." he closed his eyes, squeezing out 
a tear or two.  "Yeah...just like in my head..."

Silence did not add to the train of thought.

He began shaking.  A moment later his fist clenched around his computer 
terminal...

then promptly threw it out the window.  The classroom door threatened 
to break as well as it slammed shut behind him. 










Shinji was out of breath as he reached home.  Still, as he almost 
stumbled into the main hall, he called out his presence.  "Misato?" he 
huffed and sniffed as he kicked off his shoes.  "Misato-san?" 

Not home.  

"...Misato..." he begged out to the empty room.  "Help me...?"

His voice was small.  Weak.  He hated it.  Hated talking.  Hated using 
it.  

A small note on the table.  From Misato, written in haste.  

"Working late tonight, children!  Order up some food, compliments of my 
turn to cook!  You know the account number.  Shinji, please make sure 
to get the whites in the laundry.  Thank you!  Ja ne!"  A little heart 
and smiley-face added onto the bottom.

Shinji was shaking as he read it.  Laundry...something to do...yes...

His mind focused onto that one, single task.  It was the only way he 
could stop himself from imagining things...

Every memory of Asuka flying into Kaji's arms was now replaced with her 
flying into Kaoru's.  Every single one of the precious kisses he knew 
with Asuka were now no longer in the first person as he watched them 
slip away. 

All while he folded shirts and underwear...trying to do it fast enough 
that the images wouldn't torture him so.  His mind kept analyzing the 
conversation he overheard.  

"Nothing happened...really..."
"I'll resign if you want me to..."
"You were there when I thought I was alone..."
"Thank you..."
"No...it's okay..."

again and again...every hidden meaning came out in those words.  No 
matter how openly he tried to imagine their meaning, they were 
unmistakable in the theme.  

Then...

Even worse...

Shinji finally couldn't keep out the images in his mind.  It was too 
much.  Too soon after the angel.  His mind and mental capacity 
succumbing to the pressure.

And as he folded one last pair of Asuka's modest, white panties...he 
almost dropped them in horror...imagining her standing over Kaoru, 
sliding them down her legs for him.

"NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!" Shinji yelled.  The 
sound was horrible in the tiny apartment.  It echoed off the walls to 
maddening levels.  "AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!" his fists began to plough 
though the baskets of clothes.

All at once, he was back in Unit-01.  Back inside the Angel.  One last 
thought on his mind.  That Mother said it was okay to fight back.  
Fight.

Fight.

Rip.

Kill.

Punch.

Crush.

DIE!!!

DIIEEEEEEE!

LET ME OUT!  DIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE! 

I WANT TO SEE THEM!  LET ME OUT!!!!

Ohhhhhhhgodohgodohgod...please...just die!  DIE! 
RRRRRRRRRRRIIIIPPPPPP!!!!  DON'T TAKE HER!  DON'T TAKE ASUKA FROM ME!  
MOMMA!  HELP ME!  HEEEEEELLLP MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!






Shinji sobbed quietly as he recovered.  His mind finally shivering back 
into place the best it could.  Every bit of fabric in the room was 
thrown.  The wet clothes from the washer stuck to the walls, slowly 
sliding off like they were gore from a dead Angel.  

He sat in the middle of it all, looking at his hands.  His knuckles 
were battered from where he almost punched through the wall.  

"Help me..." he shuddered to himself.  "Momma..."

But this time, he was not in Unit 01.

He stopped crying finally...looking at the mess around himself.  With a 
painful effort by his overused muscles, he lifted himself off the 
floor...and started slowly cleaning up; putting the clothes back into 
their neat little piles.








Asuka found only a quiet apartment when she came home that evening.  
Dead on her feet, she didn't bother noticing that there was no food on 
the table, and that the note Misato left had been crumpled up.  

"Tadaima, Shinji." she yawned, wondering past the laundry room where 
she usually found him if he was home already.  He wasn't there, though.  
"Mmm.  Baka must be asleep." she smiled to herself.  "That'll teach 
him."

As she walked past his room, though, a twinge came over her body.  
Almost as if she could sense something not quite right.  

She knocked softly on the corner of the door.  "Shinji?"

No answer.  Probably headphones.  She weighed the chances that he 
probably wouldn't be doing anything perverted with headphones on, and 
opened the door slowly.  

"Hey, baka!" she smiled as she saw him on the bed.

Shinji cringed as the light shone in on him.  His eyes blood shot.  His 
hands wrapped around fistfuls of his bed-sheets.  "A...Asuka?" he 
blinked.

The sight was very unsettling.  Asuka had never seen someone looking 
so...so...  "Shinji!" she covered the distance to his bed in a 
heartbeat, feeling his forehead.  "Are you okay??"

He wasn't burning up, though he looked like he had a fever.  In fact, 
he was in a cold sweat.  In some kind of shock.  She quickly looked him 
over for wounds, but found none.  

"W...why are you here?" he asked.  A hint of pain was in his voice.  
"You shouldn't be here..."

"Shinji...w...what's going on?!" Asuka begged, getting worried.  She 
almost couldn't bare to look in his eyes.  They looked completely 
lost...like...another time..."You look horrible..." she whispered.

"I..." he swallowed hard, but then quickly pushed away her hand.  
"G...get out of here..." he said with a sudden anger she hadn't been 
expecting.  

She backed away for a moment...but her brain screamed for her to do 
something.  "No!  Tell me what's wrong!  Do you need a doctor?"

"Fine..." Shinji began to crawl off his bed, straining under even that 
simple movement.  "You stay here.  I'm leaving..." he whispered, not 
looking at her anymore.  Instead, he tried to stand up.  

Asuka almost screamed as he collapsed into a heap...completely still.















Twelfth Lesson: Stress Fractures






Cold, blue light filtered in from the windows outside.  White and grey 
steel were smooth and sterile around the only splash of colour in the 
entire ward.  One single flare of red.  

Asuka watched through the glass...the light making her reflection hazy.  
Almost dream-like.  Shinji lay on the other side in a hospital bed.  

His head the only part of him visible under the clean white sheets.  A 
small oxygen tube ran across his face, and a slow IV drip stood off to 
the side on a metal stand.  

She hated this place.

The footsteps of another echoed slightly along the hall; finally 
bringing Misato to her side.  She watched with softened eyes as Asuka 
stared through the glass.  Her mind whirling, but her eyes stark and 
unmoving.  I wonder what she sees...Misato thought to herself.

"If you're so worried about him..." she whispered, catching Asuka's 
attention.  "Why don't you go in and visit him?"

Asuka turned slowly.  Her eyes low and dangerous.  Her lips pursed in 
an angry frown.  As she walked towards the older woman, Misato stepped 
out of her path in reaction to the sudden hostility.

"I'll never be on that side of the glass." Asuka said simply, before 
walking off down the hall.  "Not for Baka Shinji...not for anyone."

Misato watched her all the way down the hall.  Words failed her for the 
longest time.  Eventually, she turned back to look into the hospital 
room.  

Shinji lay there, motionless, but alive.  His heart monitor showed 
perfectly healthy readings, but she knew it was a false calm.  Inside 
his mind, he was only now able to take a break from the pressures he 
had experienced.  

The doctors had induced a special kind of sleep, involving minimal 
brain activity.  Shinji would stay alive, would wake up normally, and 
would continue on as if nothing had ever happened.  But, dreams would 
also not plague him, and whatever had caused his mind to snap like it 
did would hopefully be leaked out.  

"Maybe if they'd check on his heart once in a while." she whispered to 
the glass, rehashing an old conversation with Ritsuko.  

Misato turned and left a moment later.









Shinji woke to a new presence beside him.  Familiar, still.  As he 
turned to his left, he saw Rei Ayanami sitting next to his bed, reading 
a book.  

"Hello, Rei." he whispered.

Rei blinked, surprised.  She put away her book and turned to him.  
"Good morning, Ikari-kun."

"Why are you here?" he blinked, looking around.  "Why am I here??" his 
mind raced, but couldn't remember fighting an Angel since the shadow.

"Stress." Rei stated simply.  "The doctors reasoned you had a mental 
breakdown.  You should be fine now, however."

Shinji turned red.  "Mmm...well, Toji always said it was just a matter 
of time..." he sighed and looked at his hand.  It was bandaged up 
slightly.  "I still feel a little strange..."

"You are free to go." Rei said after a moment.  "The doctors said your 
mind had calmed back down.  Doctor Akagi has us scheduled for a Sync-
Test at Twenty-One-Hundred-Hours." she paused.  "Your clothes are over 
there.  I will wait for you outside."

Shinji watched Rei leave, then stood, holding a pillow to his body as 
he found his clothes on a chair in a neat pile.  Something flashed over 
him as he picked up his underwear and put them on. 

"Sensei Miyazaki..." he whispered...angrily, as the memory returned.  
"Asuka-chan..."

By the time he had put on his clothes again, he was resolute.  He would 
ask Asuka about it tonight at the Sync Test.  He knew enough about it 
to make sure she was telling the truth, too...

His father wasn't the only Ikari who would be able to find out what 
people were hiding from him.  

A strange thought struck him as he slammed the door. 

That had to be the warmest thought he had of Gendo in a long time.  

It made him shiver.










Ritsuko leaned up against the back wall as Misato sighed.  "This is 
new..."

"Shut up, Ritsuko." the raven-haired woman snapped, then turned back to 
the screens.  She pressed the comm. channel button to both Asuka and 
Shinji's plugs.  "Are you two even TRYING?!?"

Shinji frowned, slightly annoyed.  "Sorry, Misato-san..." he nodded, 
closing his eyes again.  His mind had been wandering around all day, 
and he supposed it was probably not helping his sync ratio.  Still, he 
couldn't help it. 

Asuka fumed.  "What do you WANT from me?  You wake me up to perform a 
SYNC TEST, so we can see if Shinji's brain is fried?  Of COURSE I'm not 
going to be at my peek!" she growled, making little bubbles in the LCL 
around her.  "That does it!  I'm getting out!  Let me out of here!"

"End the test, Maya." Ritsuko nodded finally.

"Yes, Sempai."

Misato turned on heel to glare at her.  "You're just letting them go 
with these scores?" she turned to Rei's screen, where the blue-haired 
girl was quietly meditating.  "That is the first time Rei has ever 
outscored them both!"

"I'm sure Commander Ikari will be pleased." Ritsuko said dryly.  

"But..."

Ritsuko sighed and leaned forward.  "We've been here for an hour, and 
all you've done is yell at them.  We'll try again tomorrow." she leaned 
forward, though, and said the next part very quietly:

"Two pilots operating at half their normal sync rates is unacceptable.  
I am in charge of the Evas, and YOU are in charge of the Children's 
well-being.  I have never told you how to do your job before...but I 
would suggest that you un-FUCK whatever situation is between the Second 
and Third Children before we all die because of it."

Misato registered a look of complete shock as Ritsuko walked past 
her...much too close for comfort...and then out the door.  "Easy for 
you to say, Ritsuko." she smirked to herself.  "At least the Evas only 
get their limbs ripped off and their skin fried." she turned to the 
screen where Asuka was now poking her head into Shinji's plug and 
yelling at him at the top of her lungs about keeping them there so 
long.








Shinji sighed as Misato drove them back to the apartment.  So much for 
confronting Asuka. 

"AND ANOTHER THING!" she yelled in his ear.  "What the hell was wrong 
with you!  If you were having a mental breakdown, you could have SAID 
so, and not been all acting like a zombie!  You scared the shit out of 
me!"

"The married couple..." Misato whispered to herself.

Too loudly, though.  Asuka instantly turned to Misato and growled, face 
now bright red.  "I DIDN'T ASK YOU, MISATO!"

She said nothing, opting to drive. 

Shinji sighed as the wrath of Asuka turned back to him.  He would have 
given anything for his SDAT at the moment.  "I...I couldn't really help 
it, Asuka...I'm sorry..."

"You ALWAYS say that!" Asuka sat roughly back down in her seat.  "When 
it IS your fault, you say it isn't...but when it's NOT your fault, you 
say it is to try to make up for it!  AAAAAAAARGH!"

"AAAAAAAAAGH!!" both Asuka AND Shinji yelled as they flew out of their 
seats, impacting in a heap on the floor of the back seat.  Had the pain 
not been so amazingly intense, the position of them collided might have 
given even Misato some ideas about her next time out with Kaji.

Misato, however, slammed on the emergency brake, then reached behind 
the back seat, grabbing Asuka's ear and hauling her off of Shinji.  
Then, she did the same for Shinji, hauling him back into his seat.  
"That is E-NOUGH!" she screamed. 

Both Children were dead quiet...scared for their lives.

"I have been listening to BOTH of you non-stop for the entire day!  
Shinji!  If all you can say is 'I'm sorry' then SHUT UP!  You should at 
LEAST know by now that it's not going to help!  And Asuka...LET IT GO!" 
she yelled.  "Whatever is up BOTH of your asses, you should both just 
LET IT GO!  NOTHING IS WORTH ALL THIS YELLING!"

Shinji looked up, dead serious.  "That's easy for you to say, 
Misato..."

That remark even surprised Asuka, who was unable to speak.  She had 
never seen Misato this angry before...and yet spineless Shinji Ikari 
just talked.  

Misato even looked shocked.  "P...what?!"

He was hiding his eyes from the two girls, but did not waver in his 
voice.  "I should have stayed in the Angel and died..." he sniffed.  
"Nothing's changed..."

Misato fell back into her seat, silent.  Asuka was shivering as a car 
honked and passed them, angry they had stopped in the middle of the 
road.  

"Shinji..." Asuka whispered.  "...don't say that..."

"Why NOT!?!" he yelled.  "Nothing's changed!  I'm better off drowning 
in LCL than staying here!  Every time I think anyone's being nice to me 
it turns out to be a LIE!"

Misato opened up the driver's side door and got out.  Asuka watched her 
leave, then turned back to Shinji.  "Shinji!  What are you talking 
about?" she whispered quickly.  "I...I mean...I like you!  I don't want 
to see you like this..."

She was cut off as Misato opened Shinji's door and hauled him out, 
almost throwing him onto the street.  "Get out here, Asuka." Misato 
demanded.

Asuka nodded quickly, not daring to disobey her guardian when she was 
like this.  The three of them were now standing in the middle of the 
road as cars honked and drove past them.  

"We're going to get this over, once and for all." Misato stated loudly.  
"I will not put up with either of you acting like this!" she sighed, 
gathering her thoughts.  "Ritsuko showed me your sync scores today.  
Rei beat both of you!"

Even Shinji looked a little surprised.  Asuka, downright horrified.  

"If we all get killed by an Angel because you two are constantly 
fighting...what a wonderful testament to the Human Race that would 
make!" Misato yelled.  "You both know Rei can't hack this by herself.  
It takes a will to live and skill to win against those bastards.  Rei 
only follows orders."

Shinji cringed like he was about to be hit as Misato knelt down in 
front of him.  "Shinji-kun.  You have to realize that we DO like you.  
I care for you like a little brother.  I'm sorry that every day, you 
are forced to fight for all of us...but that's something nobody can 
change.  It is your destiny."  she sighed.  "Just find what you need to 
keep going.  But do it soon..."

Asuka was staring at the ground as Misato turned to her.  "And you, 
Asuka.  If you're so damn perfect, maybe you should try HELPING Shinji 
for once...and not yell at him for every little thing!" she smiled 
suddenly.  "You have so much passion that you take it for granted."

"Hai..." Asuka whispered back.

"Now..." Misato sniffed.  "Shinji...come here."

Shinji complied weakly, but was suddenly dragged into a rough hug by 
Misato.  Before he could struggle free, Misato grabbed Asuka's arm and 
hauled her into the hug as well.  "Now, both of you, hug each other." 
she smiled.

Asuka and Shinji looked up at each other, then away quickly.  Finally, 
though, Misato forced them together, and they, mostly accidentally, 
hugged rather tightly, heads on the other's shoulder.  

Misato smiled happily with teary eyes.  "Now, both of you, please, just 
try to get along?  I promise once all these angels are gone, you can go 
your own ways...but...at least try not to kill each other in the 
meantime."

Shinji swallowed hard as Asuka pressed up against him.  "...okay..."

Asuka nodded slowly, trying her best not to shy away from his 
heartbeat...it had just doubled in the last three seconds, taking hers 
along with it.  "...okay..."

Misato let them go with a happy/proud look on her face, oblivious to 
the fact they were both still hugging.  "Well, come on, kids...tomorrow 
is Monday.  I don't want to keep you out too late." she sighed and 
walked back to the driver's door.  

Shinji wasn't sure what to do.  Asuka wasn't letting go...and 
therefore...he didn't want to either.  "Asuka-chan..."

"I didn't know..." she whispered.  "...that you felt like this...I'm 
sorry." she sniffled.  "I shouldn't be yelling at you...you've been 
through a lot..."

"J..." he swallowed hard.  "Just be kind to me...okay?"

Asuka finally let him go and held him out at arm's length.  She was 
smiling softly.  "Okay..."

They got back into the car and all drove home together.  At least the 
silence now wasn't forced.  









Ritsuko felt a shiver run all the way through her as she walked into 
the room.  The door labelled it as the "Dummy Plug production plant".  
She liked to think that the:  "Reiquarium" was a more fitting name.

Gendo was there...as he had been a lot lately.  Had the scenery been 
different, the small part of her mind that came up with such ideas 
suggested she sneak up behind him and wrap herself around his back, 
surprising him with an embrace.  But there was nothing romantic about 
the room with that....that...

Rei...

Rei's eyes opened and she smiled softly.  Gendo noticed and turned.  
"Good evening, Doctor..." he echoed Rei's soft smile. 

"You may be pleased to know that Rei-chan got the highest sync score 
tonight." Ritsuko smiled slightly at Rei.  Rei in turn looked very 
pleased.  

"Really...?" Gendo turned back to Rei.  "That is good news."  

"Unfortunately, it was mostly due to the Second and Third's inabilities 
to concentrate." she sighed.  "I think it's just stress.  I wonder if 
it would hurt to give them all a vacation?"

"It is irrelevant." Gendo smiled.  "If the dummy-plug works, we will no 
longer have to rely on them.  We shall be able to test the system 
soon."

Ritsuko's eyes went wide as she heard that.  "An Angel is on it's way, 
isn't it?"

"There will be more." Gendo said.  "Sooner or later.   We will be able 
to test it."

Ritsuko turned and began walking.  Sooner or later?  He knew...he had 
to know...

"Goodnight, Dr. Akagi."

"Goodnight, Ikari..."













Thirteenth Lesson:  Setting the Stage







"Back to our original conversation." Kaoru said loudly, interrupting 
the number of conversations still going since the second bell ending 
lunch had sounded.  "Who can bring us back up to speed on the nature of 
Sound?"

The class was silent for a moment as their Sensei tapped his chalk on 
the board, waiting for a reply.  

Suddenly, the door opened, admitting Shinji and Asuka into the room in 
a huff.  Kaoru smiled warmly at them both, missing Shinji's slightly 
odd look.  "Glad you could join us, Children.  Rei was beginning to 
surpass your attendance records for the month."

Rei blinked a response as the class chuckled and gave her all warm 
looks.

Not giving them a chance to apologize, Kaoru continued.  "Since you two 
are already standing...would you both mind recapping the nature of 
Sound, as we discussed last month?" he handed them a piece of chalk 
each, then went to his desk to lean against.

Asuka frowned at Shinji.  "See?  I told you we should have came this 
morning!" she began to draw on the board.  "I don't know why you don't 
like school all of a sudden."

"I just don't." Shinji mumbled.

Asuka seemed to get a glimpse of something behind Shinji's attitude.  
"We WILL talk about this later." she demanded, turning her full 
attention back to the board, just before the whispering started at why 
they were talking.

Shinji sighed.

"Shinji." Kaoru said suddenly.  "You're writing slow.  How about just 
giving us a brief description."

Shinji cringed, then turned to the class.  "Uh...mm...well..."

The class looked back, not helping much by their impatient faces.  Only 
Toji and Kensuke looked ready to hear him...oh, and Rei.  She was 
actually facing the front again.  It was her look that gave him 
strength to ignore his feelings about the class.  

"Sound is the...physical vibrations that we detect in the ear." he 
swallowed hard.  "B...but it is also what we perceive in our mind as 
such."

Kaoru nodded.  "Can you give us an example?"

Shinji looked around for inspiration.  He found it in Asuka's turned 
back.  With a nervous little smile, he nodded.  "For example, when 
you're drunk.  They say you're 'buzzed'.  Isn't that because you can 
hear buzzing?" he swallowed hard when he saw everyone's surprised 
reactions.  Asuka had stopped writing on the board after her chalk 
snapped in half.  "But...it's not really sound...just your mind." he 
finished quickly.

The class was blinking.  Toji looked impressed.  "Well, I didn't know 
Shinji could hold his booze!" he mentioned loud enough for a few people 
to giggle at. 

"Well..." Kaoru lifted up his attendance papers.  "Ikari Shinji...late 
due to hangover."

Everyone laughed, except Asuka, who glanced around quickly, then 
glowered at Shinji.  "I...I just heard from people." Shinji shrugged 
nervously.  

Asuka had a twitch to her eye...but didn't really look like she wanted 
to kill him...maybe just hurt...but at least that was a start.  Shinji 
relaxed as Sensei told them to sit down.  

"That's actually a good point, Shinji.  After all, we can all 'hear' 
our inner voices when we try to solve a problem in our heads.  We can 
imagine and recall events, sometimes to such clarity that we can hear 
the sound again." Kaoru walked over to the board.  "Getting drunk, I 
can tell you, does seem to screw around with your mind a little." he 
eyed his students.  "So I don't want you all getting drunk. It is NOT 
homework."

Everyone nodded with big grins.

"How about you, Toji?  What does sound mean to you?" Kaoru asked.  
"What's one of your favourite sounds that you can recall at whim?"

"Mm, well." Toji scratched his head.  "I mean, I kinda like the sound 
of splashing water."

"That's because you peep at the girls swim team all through gym class!" 
Hikari interrupted angrily, ignoring the chuckles that resulted. 

"Uh..." Toji shrunk under the Class Rep's glare.  "No...I mean, when 
it's really hot outside, sometimes I can remember splashing water, and 
it feels as if I just dove into a pond.  It's really nice." his voice 
was now a squeak as Hikari was almost leaning over another student's 
desk to glare at him.

"Humph." Hikari conceded and sat back down.

"Splashing water?  Ha!" Kensuke smiled and set down his camera.  "I'd 
know the sound of a F-15J's afterburners anywhere!  That's what I think 
of when class gets really boring."

"Hopefully not my class." Kaoru smiled.

"Uh...of course not, Sensei-san!"

"Good." Kaoru nodded.  "Anyway, that brings up the next point of our 
discussion." he walked over to the board and began to write on a clear 
section.  "Some sounds can make you feel happy.  Others bad.  Others 
can annoy you."

"Like Red Devil's voice." Toji smiled over at Asuka.

Asuka promptly threw her shoe, connecting with the boy's face and 
knocking him out.  "Jerk." she snuffed. 

"Lovely debate." Kaoru coughed as Kensuke helped Toji up to his seat.  
"But the point is that while Sound is an external property, it affects 
things in our mind besides the mind's ability to simply 'hear' a 
sound." he smiled and turned around, revealing a small list of dates.  
"Our topic in this class, bar the usual drivel of daily work, will be 
emotion and mental states."

Everyone groaned, sensing hard work.

"Have no fear!  There will be no homework required." Kaoru adjusted his 
glasses.  "These dates provide an outline for practice...hopefully not 
interrupted by pesky Angel Attacks...of our new class project."

Everyone sat and blinked.  Hikari finally raised her hand.  "What is 
our new class project?"

"Not so fast, dear." Kaoru circled the last date on the board.  "Does 
anyone know what this day is?"

Kensuke thought for a moment.  "Parent-Teacher-Interviews?"

"Correct!" Kaoru smiled.  "And I was thinking, what better way to share 
with your parents what you all have been learning, by offering a small 
sample of our work."

Everyone blinked.

"We..." he smiled.  "Are going to host a concert."

Everyone blinked again.

"What would be the purpose of this?" Rei asked, finally shattering the 
silence.

With a nod, Kaoru opened up his text book, reading from some line he 
had book-marked.  "Music is the way the soul communicates.  It is both 
the language, and part of the soul.  With music, one may tell a story.  
One may share love and tragedy.  And, with music, one may help another 
see that same thing they have known." he paused.  "I know there is some 
musical talent amongst you.  And those who will not be playing an 
instrument will be able to sit down and enjoy...and decipher...what the 
music means.  Perhaps it will even help you to discuss what we have all 
been talking about to your families."

The class began to nod.  Save Shinji, who was still looking gloomy.  
Asuka was the only one who noticed.  She looked worried.  Since when 
was Shinji not excited about music?  







On the way home, the situation had not improved.  Asuka watched from 
just a few steps behind as Shinji shuffled his feet along the sidewalk, 
looking down at his own feet.  Normally, she'd be quite annoyed at 
this...but worry seemed to be winning out.  Ever since she heard him 
say that one line in the car last night.  That he'd rather have died in 
the Angel.  

"Shinji?" she asked as they walked.  "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." he sighed.  It wasn't very convincing, even if one did take 
the words to be the truth.  

"Soo..." she shrugged.  "You excited about the concert idea?" she 
smiled.  "It would give you a chance to play the cello again."

"Mmm." Shinji grumbled.  "The strings are old anyway."

Asuka frowned.  "You know, I DO play the violin." she said proudly, 
leaning forward.  "We could make beautiful music together..." she 
whispered into his ear, hoping for a reaction.

Shinji all but ignored her and kept walking without missing a beat.

"Humph." she crossed her arms.  "Well that answers that."

He stopped and turned.  "Answers what?"

"You must have forgotten how to play." she glared at him.  "With all 
the times you've been beaten up, it's no wonder...I suppose I can't 
really blame you."

Shinji shifted uncomfortably in his shoes.  "I...I still know how to 
play." he frowned.  "I can play g...okay...sounding."

Asuka leaned at him until she was uncomfortably close to his face.  
"Then why are you so scared, Third Children?  Scared everyone's goinna 
laugh at you when you play off key?"

"N...NO!" Shinji backed off.  "I am NOT scared!"

She smiled evilly.  "Good." she reached out and grabbed his arm...then 
drug him across the street, weaving in and out of traffic at a rather 
impressive rate.  Shinji ran to keep up and not get hit by cars.

"What are you DOING!?!?" he gasped as they made it to the other 
side...but then kept running.

Asuka stopped suddenly, catching Shinji with one arm before he fell 
past her.  "Silence, Third Child!" she demanded with a grin on her 
face.  "And don't you DARE think I'm taking you out on a date!  I'll 
have you know that is YOUR job."

"D...DATE?!?!"

She sighed and smacked him across the head.  "I just said that it 
wasn't, baka!" she began walking again, leading them to a small 
shopping plaza.  "I expect that if I ever give you the HONOR of taking 
me on a date, we will go to a much fancier place!"

"..." Shinji swallowed hard, but couldn't help but take the note down 
in his head.  "Okay..."

"Here we are!" she announced proudly, pulling Shinji past a few parked 
cars to...

"A music store??" Shinji gasped.  "B...but I don't have money for new 
strings!"

Asuka nodded.  "And that's why you're going to owe me BIG for what I'm 
about to do." she pulled him through the door roughly, to the surprise 
of the shop-keeper.  

"Uh...good afternoon, young children!" he blinked as the red-head 
yanked the boy around by the collar, looking at some cello strings.

Asuka couldn't make any sense of the different strings, so instead 
found a cello that looked to be the same size and kind as Shinji's.  
"Is this like your cello, baka?"

Shinji nodded.  "Y...yeah, but mine's darker colored..."

Asuka turned to the shop keeper.  "I would like to get a new set of 
strings for this kind of cello, please." she stated in a no nonsense 
voice.

The older man quickly found the right kind of strings and handed them 
to Asuka.  "That will be 4320 yen, miss."

She glared at Shinji.  "4300 yen!  You better be REALLY good with these 
new strings, Shinji."

Shinji cowered promptly. 

Asuka dug out the bills and a few coins and gave them to the shop 
owner.  "I trust these are good quality for that price." she grumbled.

"Of course, miss." the man nodded.  "They are used in orchestras across 
Japan." he handed her the change and receipt.

"Good." she grabbed the package of strings, and then Shinji's collar.  
"Come on, baka!  Now you have to play."

Shinji waved to the man goodbye, barely getting out "Thank you, sir." 
before the door was closed behind him.

The man behind the counter took a deep breath.  "What an incredibly 
intense young lady." he chuckled.  "Poor boy..."







Now halfway home, and the deed done, Asuka slowed down, and was smiling 
happily.  Shinji examined the package of strings in his hands 
nervously.  "T...thank you, Asuka...but..."

"But NOTHING." she snapped.  "I said you owed me big, and I mean it."

"But...I didn't ask you to get..."

"That shouldn't matter!" she explained loudly.  "When a girl does 
something nice for you, you shouldn't be questioning it all the time!" 
she sighed.  "Especially you, Shinji.  It's not like it happens all the 
time to you."

He blushed and turned his attention back to the strings.  "F...fine.  
Thank you...they do seem to be the nicest kind..." his voice trailed 
off as he read the package.  "How did you know there was a music store 
there anyway?"

"I told you." she yawned.  "I play the violin sometimes.  I needed new 
strings a while ago too, so I looked them up.  They're the only place 
in the city that hasn't been crushed by Angels yet."

"Really?" he blinked, now in the mood to talk about music anyway.  "I 
never hear you practice."

"That's because you always have your headphones on." she shrugged.  
"Maybe you should pay attention at night." she grinned sweetly.  "Maybe 
you'd hear something you'd like..."

"Asuka!" Shinji turned bright red and stumbled for a moment.

She smiled and sighed happily.  "That's better..." she whispered to 
herself as they walked back home, side by side. 


 






Late that night, Shinji had finished tightening his strings into place.  
Little tests with finger-plucking showed them to be reasonably in tune, 
though it would be a waste of time to accurately tune them now, while 
they were still being broken in.  

"Why am I doing this?" he whispered to himself.  "I don't want to play 
for school..."

His bo felt nice in his hand again.  It had been too long since he'd 
practiced, though, and he was hesitant as he touched the horse-hair 
against the strings.  

"But..." he sighed, very lightly bringing the bo across the strings.  A 
quiet, smooth sound was emitted from the instrument.  "Asuka asked me 
to..."

Shinji's brow lightened for a moment.  "She asked me to play.  She 
didn't say I had to...she...she's trying to be nice to me." he sighed.  
"Maybe I should.  Maybe I can..."

His hand pulled the hair back across the strings harder now.  A 
beautiful, crisp, deep vibration was heard.  

"And...maybe I can talk to Sensei about this..." Shinji wondered out 
loud.  There was a twitch in his voice.  Anger.  Frustration.  But at 
least it was having a voice.  

With a deep sigh, Shinji relaxed and let the music take him.  Slow, 
steady rhythms, not loud enough to wake his roommates, but lout enough 
to carry substance in the tiny bedroom.  





Across the hall...a tear escaped from the corner of Asuka's eye.  The 
music was just barely heard, but she could have sworn Shinji was right 
there with her.  Cello and all.  Though it invoked tears with it's 
soulful, strong sound...she also had a smile on her face.  














Fourteenth Lesson: Sound






Pen-Pen's scratching woke Shinji as always.  As always, around the same 
time, just before school.  Though there was no school on Sundays, 
Shinji always expected the little penguin's noises, and had even begun 
to count on them to wake up.  After all, SOMEONE had to feed him.  

Shinji walked out into the kitchen, scratching his head lazily as he 
went about fixing Pen-Pen's breakfast.

"Uh...Shinji...you might wanna..."

Shinji blinked as he realized Asuka was talking to him.  She was 
sitting over by the table with a mug of coffee in her hands...and a 
bright red face.  He followed her stare down to his boxers and...

"AAAAAAAGH!"  he jumped behind a chair, hiding his front.  "A...Asuka!" 
he was now even redder than she was.  "It...It's morning...I didn't 
think anyone was awake..."

Asuka turned away, still red.  "Well it's a good thing SOMEONE pays 
attention in class!  Mein Gott!  Today's our first test with the 
concert.  We're supposed to be at the gym by noon."

"Tha...that's today?" Shinji blinked, shifting in his boxers until he 
was certain he wouldn't be embarrassing himself.  

"Are you an idiot?" Asuka snickered.  "Sure, we'll just be playing one 
piece, but that's still a lot of practice to do before next month."

"Uhm...okay." he nodded.  "Makes sense..."

"What the hell?" Misato grumbled as she stumbled out of her bedroom, 
scratching in a few places that even Kaji probably hadn't been to yet.  
"Why's everyone awake so early?"

"Parent-teacher interviews." Asuka said.

Misato gasped and looked around for the calendar.  "Already?  Are you 
sure?  I have nothing to wear and..."

"Not NOW!" Asuka grumbled.  "Next month."

Misato blinked, turning to Shinji for an explanation. 

"We're going to have a concert for the interviews." Shinji said.  
"We're already practicing.  It's part of a philosophy class."

Misato blinked, yawned and then turned around.  "You kids need a ride?"

"No, ma'am." they both shrugged.

"Good.  I'm going back to bed.  Have fun." 

The door shut behind her with a soft 'thump'.  Shinji took advantage of 
the pause to get on some clothes.  "So why you so anxious to go?" he 
called out from his room.

Asuka yawned and shrugged to herself.  "I dunno.  Better than sitting 
around here all day."

Shinji's eyes narrowed as he put on his pants.  "Yeah...plus Sensei 
will be there..."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing." he called back, sighing and getting his cello ready in it's 
travel pack.  He watched the zipper close, slowly concealing the deep 
golden brown wood.  "That does it...I'm goinna finish this today..." he 
whispered to himself.  "I can't run away...not this time..."

Asuka smiled as he returned to the kitchen.  "So you want some 
breakfast?"

Shinji shook his head.  "No, let's just go." he walked past her to the 
door to put on his shoes.  

"Okay..." Asuka shrugged and followed, picking up her own instrument 
bag as she went.  










"Are you sure this won't be any trouble?  I can always change the 
plans." Kaoru said as they walked down the hall.

"It's really no problem." Principal Yamamoto smiled as he dug out his 
keys.  "The theatre hasn't been used in months anyway.  Ever since the 
angel attack, it's been closed off from the cleaning crews.  We're 
still waiting for the engineers to check the seats, but the actual 
stage is just fine.  If you don't mind the dust, it's all yours."

"I'm sure it will be perfect." Kaoru smiled.  With one final 'thoom' 
the doors were opened, throwing off a bit of dust that circled into the 
darkness beyond.  

Kaoru smiled as he stepped in side.  "Oh, this is perfect!"  

As the light filtered into the room, soon aided by the warming stage-
lights in the roof, he saw a long, wooden stage covered with dust.  
Modest, but more than adequate bleachers for an audience were off into 
the shadows, as well as a few stacks of folding chairs.  Some band 
equipment, including a small army of musical-paper stands, strewn 
across the floor gave the impression that the last concert was 
interrupted and had to be left in great haste.  

"Well?" Yamamoto said as they walked through the dust.

"I'll get the other students to help clean up." Kaoru said.  "We'll be 
more than ready."

"I look forward to hearing your kids play." the older man smiled.  
"Well, I'll instruct the janitors to leave an extra cleaning trolley 
outside for you.  If you need anything else, just ask."

"Thank you, sir!" Kaoru beamed.  "I must say, you're certainly a big 
help with this project."

"Not at all." he shook his head.  "This is what the school needs, in my 
opinion.  Some semblance of normality."  He sighed.  "Everyone's going 
nuts.  The tension is thick enough that you could use it for Evangelion 
armor.  I think what you're doing will be a great distraction."

"Well, it's my pleasure, sir." Kaoru nodded, then caught the key as it 
was tossed to him.  

"Just lock up when ya go." Yamamoto bowed slightly and then walked out 
the door.  "Good luck!"

Kaoru sighed and turned to the stage.  "This will work..." he nodded to 
himself.  "It has to work."

"What has to work?"

Kaoru spun to see Rei in the doorway, holding a viola case in her hand 
and her school bag in the other.  "Miss Ayanami!  You startled me!" he 
laughed.  "Do you enjoy doing that?"

If he didn't know better, he could have sworn Rei actually grinned.  

"Of course not." she said smoothly, walking into the darkened room and 
picking out a chair from the pile.  "What will be the lesson for 
today?"

There was a knock on the door, and a janitor smiled, wheeling in a 
large bin of cleaning supplies and mops.  Kaoru smiled and turned to 
Rei.  "Today's lesson?  Manual labour."

Asuka's sigh echoed throughout the room.  "Shit.  I KNEW I should 
have stayed in bed today."

"Hey, I'll be helping too." Kaoru said, wheeling in the bin and taking 
out a mop, throwing it to Shinji, who almost got whacked in the head by 
it before he realized it was coming his way.

Shinji's eyes narrowed.  "I thought this was going to be music 
practice."

"It is." Kaoru beamed as he handed Asuka a broom and then took a bucket 
for himself.  "Well, eventually anyway."











With a tiny 'click', the lock gave way, allowing the rest of the door 
to slide open.

"Hello?" Kaji smiled as he poked his head through the door.  "Anyone 
home?  I just need to borrow some wasabi." he paused.  "No?  Oh well, 
I'll just help myself."

It was a modest apartment.  One bedroom by the looks of it.  A kitchen 
and a small TV room or study.  The fact there was little furniture 
besides an odd box here and there seemed to suggest someone had just 
moved in.  Only the essentials were unpacked.

Kaji found himself admiring the man's style.  Much like his own, 
actually.  He made a mental note to finish unpacking once he got home 
as well.  

As he removed his shoes at the door, careful not to track any dirt or 
outside clues into the residence, he saw the painting.  A large mural-
ish masterpiece.  Oddly enough, based upon Unit 01 and Sachiel, the 
Third Shito.  

"Odd thing to unpack..." Kaji frowned as he walked past.  As he did, he 
brought out a small electronic wand and went over to the first large 
box he saw.  

He passed it over the box, but only a steady green light on the tip 
indicated the sensor was active.  He frowned and tested it next to his 
side-arm.  Sure enough, it beeped.  Working perfectly.  

A slow check over the room showed that if there were any weapons or 
technology in the unpacked boxes, they were plastic or organic.  Kaji 
briefly wondered if he should have brought an organic sensor as 
well...in case some "material" was smuggled in from the 2nd Branch.  
Still, anything like that would need a special transportation unit.  
Wouldn't want angel-tissue to "spoil."  Everything was spotless, 
though.

Kaji sighed and moved over to the kitchen, quickly rummaging through 
the cooking utensils and shelves, looking for anything out of the 
ordinary.  Finding nothing, he even took time to look in the fridge.  
Instant ramen, sandwich and dinner meats, and a half a dozen jars and 
boxes of condiments and other foods.  

"Damn.  This guy must be hiding something...his fridge is well-stocked 
and his house is clean." he smirked.  "No REAL bachelor would be able 
to manage that."

On the kitchen table were books and office supplies.  Two dozen papers 
were strewn about, some of them with grades on them.  This surprised 
Kaji.  The records he had managed to find showed this man as a 
construction worker.  What was he doing with school assignments?  He 
smiled.  Another false trail in the Magi.  Very interesting.  

After examining some of the attendance records, he wasn't too surprised 
to find the names of the three Children in his books.  "Interested in 
the kids, are you...?" he frowned, feeling a twinge of parental concern 
for Asuka and Shinji wash over him.  

He dropped the papers and walked down the hall, hand ready next to his 
gun, just in case.  As he opened the door to the bedroom, his eyes 
scanned it with a practiced ease.  Oddly enough, this was the messiest 
bedroom he had seen in a long time.  "Nice 'hurricane' d'cor." Kaji 
shook his head, then put away his weapon.  

Apparently, this Kaoru guy wasn't much of a sleeper.  The air was stale 
in the room.  The smell of sweat and a dozen restless nights was 
something Kaji knew all too well.  Though, he could probably guess it 
wasn't due to a woman.  This was frustration.  Nightmares.  Inner 
demons. Something else Kaji knew all about.

Also, another odd smell was floating through the air.  Almost like 
blood...but not quite.  Kaji had smelled blood before...but he could 
also tell this was something else.  Something else he had known...

He ignored the messy bed, knowing he wasn't going to find much there.  
Instead, he walked over to the closet, and to the source of the smell.  
The light paper door slid away to revile a box...and three tanks of 
LCL.

"Holy..." Kaji coughed, shielding his nose from the smell.  While NERV 
had cleaning crews to get rid of the stale LCL, it was obvious that 
this stuff had not had the same care and attention.  The canisters, 
each almost as tall as he was, were cracked and battered.  It was 
amazing they were still holding together from the looks of it.  He 
checked the readout of the pressure gauges and almost ran when he saw 
two of them were past max pressure.  Completely full.  There was still 
enough here to completely flood an entry plug half-a-dozen times.  He 
checked the readout on the third, surprised to see it was almost half 
empty now.  "What the hell does he need with LCL?" Kaji wondered.  
There were tests being run on the medical and mental effects of 
injection and digestion, but really, there was no reason anyone would 
need any LCL unless they were going to climb inside an Eva.  And EVEN 
then, you didn't need LCL.  It was mostly provided as a cushion and 
life-support barrier. 

Kaji ignored the urge to run in fear of being next to such potentially 
explosive metal, and decided to investigate the box.  It was dirty.  
Card-board.  Looked like it had been through hell and back.  

As he opened up the top flap, he blinked.  

Then, Kaji closed the lid and sighed, rubbing his head in frustration.  
"What the hell did you get yourself into, Kaji?" he groaned.  "This is 
not good..."








"Miss Ayanami." Kaoru huffed, wiping his brow with his sleeve.  "Would 
you mind getting me some fresh water?  This is getting rather messy."

Rei nodded and took his mop-bucket out of the stage to get a refill.  
Asuka watched enviously, obviously not enjoying her task, sweeping up 
all the plaster bits around the seats.  "Sensei-san, can I get a drink 
of water?"

He nodded.  "Of course, Miss Langley." he chuckled.  "And you don't 
have to make those pathetic coughing noises.  Just make sure you don't 
take forever."

Asuka grinned evilly and bounded off out the door.  Shinji cast her an 
odd look, then turned his attentions back to his rag.  He had been 
cleaning the seats and the walls with brushes and rags all afternoon, 
but he welcomed the work.  It was nice, and focused his mind.  

Finally, though, he realized now was his chance.  Asuka wouldn't be 
able to defend her precious Sensei, and he could finally get to the 
bottom of it all.  

"Something on your mind, Mister Ikari?" Kaoru said as he mopped up 
along the edge of the stage.  "You're even quieter than usual."  His 
glasses reflected the light in just that same way that made Shinji 
cringe.  

"M...maybe..." he admitted, almost surprising himself that he didn't 
deny the fact."

Kaoru smiled.  "Well, out with it man!  You're going to start going 
nuts."

Shinji raised an eyebrow.

Kaoru yawned, then looked over to the wall.  "Oh, you brought your 
cello?"

Shinji nodded.  "Uhm...yeah...but I was going to..."

"May I?" Kaoru smiled walking over to it. 

"Well...okay...but I really wanted to ask you about..."  Shinji gasped 
as Kaoru almost dropped his cello.  "Hey!  Watch out!"

Kaoru nodded.  "Sorry...it's been a while..." he chuckled, making sure 
he picked up the bag by the strap this time, moving it over to a 
folding chair.  Shinji sighed and groaned to himself.

"Please don't break that...my mother gave it to me." Shinji put down 
his cleaning brush.  "And I just got new strings."

Kaoru, however, seemed quite familiar with it, and soon had it set up 
in front of himself, checking the bow and strings.  "You did a good 
job.  Looks almost like new."

Shinji hovered next to his Sensei nervously.  Thoughts of Asuka were 
replaced with the anxiety of watching his most precious possession 
being handled by someone else.  "Please be careful..."

"I've been watching you, Shinji." Kaoru said, ignoring the warning.  
"You take your music pretty seriously, don't you?"

"Of course." Shinji nodded defensively.  "Nothing's wrong with 
listening to music..."

"Oh, I agree." Kaoru placed the bow against the stings and tested it 
with a nice, crisp low hum.  "But how often do you MAKE the music, 
Shinji?" he cast his young student a worried glance.  "When was the 
last time you played?"

Shinji turned red.  "I play just fine."

"That's not what I meant." Kaoru began to play a few notes that sounded 
something like "Air".  

Shinji's eyes widened as he recognized the song, but he quickly forced 
himself to keep serious.  He had to get this done...for his own 
sanity's sake.  "I played last year.  A school concert." he said 
quickly.  "But..."

Kaoru held up his hand, waving the bow at Shinji.  "Now, now.  Mister 
Ikari.  You KNOW what I mean.  When was the last time you played a song 
simply for yourself?"

Shinji blinked.  "I...I don't know..." he sighed, trying to think of 
the last time he played.  "It...it must have been before I moved here."

"Why haven't you?" Kaoru continued, slowly drawing the bow back again.

"I haven't had time." Shinji sighed. 

"But you've needed it more than ever." Kaoru pointed out.  "Haven't 
you?"

Shinji felt a lump in his throat.  "...yes..."

Kaoru nodded and took a deep breath.  

Very slowly, he began to play.  Long, deep notes began to be pulled 
from the strings.  They flowed almost like waves...gentle, and yet 
complex and fast.  

  Suiten Fur Violoncello.  

Perfect, smooth notes echoed throughout Shinji's soul as he stood in 
front of the music, completely absorbed in it's power.  A song Shinji 
had heard so many times through his SDAT, and in his memories.  The 
song that made him feel alive.  Feel good.  The song that let him 
forget his father, his mother, his pain and everything around him.  The 
thing he could draw on to prove he was worth his spit in the world.  

One cello against all the black, evil things.  And the cello would 
always win.  It would drive them back.  It would always prove it's 
sound.  







Asuka sighed as she met Rei half way back to the concert hall.  "What 
took you so long, Wondergirl?"

Rei held the bucket in her hands as she walked.  "The washroom was 
locked.  I had to find the janitor." she turned to Asuka.  "Why are you 
still out here?"

"I'm taking a break." Asuka said simply.  "Shinji's used to this stuff.  
The Second Child is not supposed to do menial cleaning work!" she 
grinned proudly.  Rei walked past her.  Asuka followed with a huff.  
"Well, might as well get back to it, eh?"

"You complain too much." Rei stated as she opened the door with a free 
hand.  

Asuka would have retaliated at the comment, when she heard crying.  
"W...what's going on?" she whispered.





Shinji cried softly as Kaoru hugged him.  "It's okay, Shinji." he 
sighed, wiping away a tear himself.  "Let it out.  I'm here for you."

"I'm sorry..." Shinji cried.  He wouldn't have been able to finish that 
statement if he wanted to, but Kaoru seemed to understand, so he didn't 
care.  

For the first time in a long...long...time...Shinji Ikari felt like he 
had a father.  This man who knew exactly how to push back all the bad 
things.  To protect him and teach him.  Who asked nothing in return.  

"...That song always does this to me too." Kaoru smiled sadly, holding 
Shinji like a son.












Fifteenth Lesson: New Disguise







"Back when I was a child..." Kaoru said as he handed Shinji a cup "...I 
didn't really have anything else except my music."

They stood alone in the cafeteria, helping themselves to some of the 
vending machine drinks and snacks.  Luckily, they were always open, 
even on Sunday.  Both of them agreed that talking over food would be a 
nice change.  Asuka and Rei would probably just go home.

Shinji filled his cup up with water and they walked over to one of the 
empty tables.  He had only eaten here two days out of the year, often 
when the classroom had been busy, so the whole room had an unfamiliar, 
empty feeling.  He sat down, content to listen, though, ignoring the 
odd state of mind he was in.  

"You know, Shinji..." Kaoru took a sip of coffee.  "One thing every 
teacher is told is where to draw the line with a student's personal 
life, and school life.  However, I'm a little concerned how you never 
seem to talk much about the earlier in your free-writing assignments." 
he paused.  "Do you like doing those?"

Shinji perked up and nodded quickly.  "I do, Sensei.  They're a lot of 
fun, actually."

"I enjoy reading them." Kaoru smiled back.  "But most of the students 
talk about the usual stuff..." he shrugged, waving his hand around.  
"What they did for summer, how much they hate sitting at home or hiding 
out when the angels attack, blah blah blah." he smiled.  "Not that it's 
a bad thing, just compared to what you and Asuka write, it's a whole 
different class."

"Asuka-chan?" Shinji blinked, turning slightly pink.  "What does she 
write about?"

"Shinji..." Kaoru sighed.  "I really shouldn't tell." he took a quiet 
sip from his cup and shook his head.  "Really, you and Asuka spend 
enough time together, if she wanted you to know what she writes about, 
I'm sure she'd tell you."

"You make it sound like that's a bad thing." Shinji said quietly, 
staring into his cup.  

"Quite frankly, it is, Shinji." Kaoru said suddenly.  "Did you know 
that three of the stories I've received so far involve you getting 
murdered and then a big mystery springing up...eventually showing that 
Asuka was your killer?" he shook his head.  "How you two can live 
together is a point of amazement for me."

"If you actually got to know her..." Shinji grumbled under his breath.  

Kaoru blinked like he had been shot.

Shinji looked up.  "What?"

"...nothing." Kaoru sighed, shaking his head.  "No, you're right.  I'm 
out of line." he smiled.  "Though I must say, Shinji, you have the 
patience of a Saint to put up with her.  From what I've been told, you 
always have." he shook his head.  "I'm just scared it might not be in 
your best interests."

"What do you mean?" Shinji frowned.  

"Shinji..." he sighed.  "You two are both only sixteen years old, in 
the world's most dangerous profession, and have to deal with that 
lovely awkward time called Adolescence.  The last thing either of you 
need is to..."

"What?" Shinji interrupted.  "Be NICE to each other?"

Kaoru stopped himself in mid-sip.  "Pardon?"

"For the first time Asuka's been in my life I can actually talk to 
her." Shinji explained.  His voice was still coming on strong, though, 
not letting up for a moment.  "She knows things about me and piloting 
Eva that you could never HOPE to understand!  I can finally talk to 
her, and now everyone thinks that it's some horrible bad thing!" he 
glared up at Kaoru.  "Some even think that they might have a chance at 
her now that they know she's not a complete bitch.  How does that 
sound, Sensei?"

Kaoru blinked, completely unable to do much more. 

"Asuka is my music, Sensei." Shinji sighed, settling down slightly.  "I 
don't know if she knows that, or wants to be any more, but when I am 
around her, and I hear her, and she talks to me, I feel better.  She 
can be yelling at me, but I still enjoy it.  I like that she isn't 
afraid of anything, Sensei.  I like how she fights everything she 
doesn't like.  Sometimes I think I can be like that, even just a little 
bit, when I'm around her."

There was a long silence.  Kaoru slowly finished his coffee as Shinji 
stared into his water.  

"I didn't know..." Kaoru sighed finally. 

Shinji looked up, surprised to see him looking away.  

"I thought I knew you, Mister Ikari." he sighed, shaking his head.  
"But to tell you the truth, I'm still learning as well.  You, Asuka and 
even Rei.  You're all nothing like what I expected." he let loose a 
small chuckle.  "One can learn about a student only so much from the 
records, I guess."

Shinji nodded quietly to himself.  "I guess so."

"It's a compliment, I can assure you." Kaoru smiled, turning back 
around.  He took off his glasses, to Shinji's surprise, and wiped his 
eyes with a napkin.

"...Are you okay, Sensei?"

"I'm fine." he nodded sternly, sliding back on his glasses.  "I promise 
you I won't bring up this subject again.  But if you need any help on 
the matter of Miss Langley, or anyone else for that matter, you know 
you're free to talk to me about it, right?"

Shinji nodded with a shy smile.  "Okay." 

"Good." Kaoru sighed.  "Sorry..." he added after a pause.  "I'm no good 
at this kind of thing."

"Really?" Shinji blinked.  "You're probably the best teacher I've had."

"You're still not getting an A on that last report, Mister Ikari." 
Kaoru smiled. "So just forget it."

They chuckled for a moment, then relaxed and finished their lunch.









Asuka was bouncing.  

Well, that wasn't quite the correct term, but she wasn't exactly 
behaving normally anyway.  Not that Shinji considered her to be very 
normal to begin with, but she normally walked back home behind him.

Today, as they walked back to the apartment, Shinji found himself being 
glared at from all angles.  Asuka would be beside him, then suddenly on 
his other side, circling him like a shark with her sharp eyes and 
pursed lips.  

He let it continue for as long as he could stand, but finally broke 
down.  "WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" he yelled, coming to a stop.

"What were you two talking about?" Asuka demanded, glaring at him.  

"You." Shinji smirked.  Asuka's face went into a panic.  "Just 
kidding." he sighed, a split second before she launched into a barrage 
of questions.  

"Not funny." Asuka frowned.  Her face softened slightly.  "I saw you 
crying."

"I'm better now." Shinji blushed considerably.  Even redder than usual.  
He picked up his pace and passed her on the sidewalk.  "I just had a 
lot on my mind."

Asuka smiled.  "You always have a lot on your mind." she raised her 
finger in a scolding manor.  "You should learn to talk to someone so it 
doesn't keep building up."

"And since when have you told anyone anything???" Shinji countered.

Asuka blinked and shook her head.  "I don't count.  You see, I'm a 
genius, so obviously, my brain can handle pretty much anything!" she 
said proudly.

"How do you expect me to tell you anything if you don't tell me 
anything?" Shinji said as he walked.  "If you wanted me to say 
something, that might be a good way to start."

Asuka blinked then shrugged, catching up to him.  "Okay.  What do you 
want to know?"

"It doesn't work like that." Shinji sighed, keeping his eyes forward.  
He paused for a moment, then looked at her.  "Is there anything you 
want to tell me about?"

She actually seemed to consider the idea...before huffing in 
frustration.  "What could I possibly have to tell you?"

"I don't know." Shinji said dryly.  "That's why I asked."

Realizing she wasn't about to sneak out of the situation so easily, 
Asuka sighed and gave Shinji a long, steady glare.  "Very well.  I 
don't like being asked personal questions.  How's THAT for an insight 
into my mind??"

Shinji shrugged.  "I suppose it's a start."

Asuka raised an eyebrow.  "Now it's your turn."

"I heard you and Sensei Kaoru talking." Shinji said quietly, never 
slowing down.

Asuka, however, suddenly found it hard to walk.

"W...WHAT?" she gasped.  

"He seemed really upset about something." Shinji said.  His voice was a 
little more tense than before, but didn't seem to be ready to crack.  
"I guess with the school's views on student-sensei relationships it 
would be pretty..."

"WHAT!!!!!!!?" Asuka suddenly found speed again, and she raced up to in 
front of Shinji, stopping him with a look.  "What are you TALKING 
about?!?" despite her exasperation, though, her blush betrayed the fact 
she knew exactly what he meant.

"Oh...I'm not mad." Shinji said, walking past her like she wasn't even 
there.  "I mean, I was...but I thought about it.  I don't want to hate 
Sensei just because of this...and well, I suppose I'm used to you and 
Kaji...I don't see why I should be all worked up about this."

"Shinji!" Asuka gasped.  Something about that statement hurt a lot, and 
it threw her off guard.  "Wh...well, what about us!?!"

Shinji blinked and turned, surprised to hear that.  The moment he did, 
Asuka turned bright red and turned away.  "Us?"

"I mean..." she coughed.  "...Nothing's going on with me and Kaoru, so 
there's no reason for you to be worried about it."

"You can stop pretending." Shinji shrugged calmly.  His eerie smooth 
demeanour was beginning to worry Asuka.  "I told you.  I'm used to it."

To Asuka, Shinji seemed almost tired.  Like he had been putting way too 
much thought into it and finally accepted this 'situation' he had in 
his mind.  As she ran over the events of the last few days in her mind, 
she began to feel very guilty.  "Stop all this crap, Shinji!" she 
demanded.  "There is NOTHING going on between Kaoru and I!"

He just shrugged and kept walking.  

Asuka growled as she watched him walk away.  "Dammit, Shinji!" she ran 
up to him.  "Fine!  You want to know what's in my head?  You scare me 
to DEATH!"

Shinji blinked, not quite expecting it.  "W...what?"

"When you were inside that damn Angel, I thought I had lost you." Asuka 
said, grabbing his shirt and spinning him around.  "Misato had the 
NERVE to send Rei and I for a BREAK as they tried to figure out the 
best way to blow you to Kingdom Come!" a tear slid down the side of her 
cheek and she shook her head.  "Kaji wasn't home.  I needed someone to 
talk to." she chuckled softly.  "I even considered talking to 
Wondergirl," her scowl returned "but she went SWIMMING!"

He stayed quiet, watching her eyes for any sign of treachery, but found 
none.   

"So I ran to our Sensei's apartment, Shinji." she sighed, pulling him 
closer.  "I bawled like a little baby for ten minutes before I finally 
passed out on his couch." she sighed, pausing only to wipe a tear from 
her nose.  "And when I woke up, I gave him a kiss and thanked him for 
listening."

All of Shinji's brain did a double take.  

Images of some raunchy, deprived moment of passion were swept away.  
Hours of adolescent over-analyzing were destroyed.  All replaced with 
the simple image of a little Asuka leaning over and giving her teacher 
a simple kiss on the...

"Cheek or mouth?" Shinji asked suddenly.

"Mouth." Asuka admitted with a blush.  "But it was just a touch."

...A simple kiss on the mouth, then she rocked back on her heels and 
ran off to save the day, leaving the poor teacher blushing something 
terrible.  After all, it wasn't socially acceptable for a teacher to be 
kissed by a student...at least not on the mouth.  Maybe a cheek.  

Shinji slumped.

The sound was almost audible.  His entire body releasing the breath he 
had been holding for the last 3 days without his knowledge.  

"Oh..." he said simply, looking up at her with apologetic eyes.  

Asuka raised an eyebrow.  "You thought I did something perverted with 
him...DIDN'T you?!?!?!"   Of course she knew...but this was her revenge 
now.  She wasn't about to pass it up.  

"H...hai..." Shinji turned stoplight-quality red all over his body.

"BAKA!" she smacked him on top of the head.  "And you FORGAVE HIM?" she 
crossed her arms.  "But you still hated me for it!????  I would have 
expected you to avenge my purity for such a perverted thing!!!"

"Gomen!" Shinji cringed, now completely under her mercy.  He would have 
probably passed out from the sudden tension release, but luckily, Asuka 
was around to keep him on his toes. "I'm so sorry, Asuka-chan!  OW!  
Really!  I'm sorry!"

Asuka sighed and stopped smacking him.  "Shut up and kiss me before I 
change my mind." she grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him in before 
he knew what was happening.

"Gom...mmmmph!"














Sixteenth Lesson:  "Timing is everything"






Misato yawned.

She seemed to be doing that a lot lately.  Of course, she also wasn't 
getting much sleep.  Good Mother-Nature seemed to connect the two quite 
well, and therefore, one could be explained by the other.  

"Are you okay, Major?" the voice of Ritsuko floated over to her across 
the lounge.

The Major nodded.  "Just grab me a coffee on the way and I'll live." 
she turned around.  A smile slid across her lips as she saw her friend 
already bringing an extra mug over.  "Thanks."

"Why so sleepy?" Ritsuko asked, sitting down across from her.  She took 
off her glasses and started to rub her nose.  "Has Kaji been spending 
his weekends with you again?"

"WHAT!?!" Misato spluttered.  Ritsuko just grinned.  "Of course not!" 
she frowned.  "Actually, I haven't seen him in a while.  Normally he at 
least stops by..."

"Then who's the lucky guy?" Ritsuko pressed.  "I doubt it's work that's 
been keeping you up late.  We've been slow ever since the cleanup 
effort was finished." she smirked.  It sounded so mundane, but of 
course, a NERV cleanup effort usually involved several tones of gore 
and a river of water and industrial strength cleaners.

"No, it's not that." Misato finished another big yawn before trying a 
bit of the coffee.  "If THAT was the case, I wouldn't be complaining 
about it." she smirked.

Ritsuko shrugged.  "Then...what???"

"The Children." Misato grumbled.  "I don't know why someone didn't tell 
me before."

"Asuka and Shinji?" Ritsuko blinked.  "Why?  What are they..."

"I mean, far be it for me to ruin a party." Misato yawned.  "But 
they're at it EVERY night!"

CLINK!  Ritsuko nearly dropped her cup.  "Pardon?"

"Well, I'm not sure when they started.  But it sounds like they've been 
doing it for a while now." Misato took a long, grateful sip of her 
coffee as Ritsuko just blinked at her.  "I just wish they didn't do it 
when I was around.  Good coffee, by the way."

"But..." the scientist gasped.  "Don't you want to be there to stop 
it?"

"Why would I stop them?" Misato raised an eyebrow.  "I mean, I don't 
want to spoil their fun or anything."

"You don't try to stop them!?!?" Ritsuko blinked.  "Do they know you 
know?"

"Of course they do." she shrugged.  "Kinda hard for me not to.  They're 
at it all the time." she chuckled.  "They even asked if I wanted to 
join in one time, but I'd be too embarrassed.  It's been so long!"

Ritsuko turned white...then completely red.  

"Well, I mean, it's not like they're perfect either, but I'm probably 
even more out of practice." Misato continued.  "They sound really good 
together...but, well, especially Asuka, every once in a while she'll 
just let out this screech that just drives me nuts and..."

"YOU ARE A PERVERT!!!!!!" Ritsuko yelled, attracting the attention of 
the dozen or so others sharing the lounge with them. 

Misato blinked.  "Pardon?????"

"YOU!  THEM!  Just sitting back and...listening to them having...making 
out across the hall!??!" Ritsuko huffed.  "Commander Ikari is goinna 
KILL YOU when he gets the physical scan results this week!!!!!!"

Misato blinked again.  Then started laughing.

"This is NO laughing matter, Major!" Ritsuko slammed her cup on the 
table.  

"They're practicing for a concert." Misato laughed.  "A school concert.  
With music."

Everyone looked at Ritsuko.  Ritsuko promptly wished to die. 

"Oh..."

"Calm down already!" Misato chuckled.  "Well, I gotta thank you for 
yelling like that.  I'm awake now."

Completely red, Ritsuko tried to compose herself.  "Well...the way it 
sounded..." she coughed.  "So what's this concert thing?"

"Nice recovery." Misato added with a tip back of her mug.  "Well, from 
what I can gather, the kids are going to put on a concert for parent 
teacher interviews.  Should be a nice change from the usual boring 
chats."

"A concert?" Ritsuko pondered.  "Rei hasn't said anything about that."

"Well, I suppose it's not dealing with her normal work.  Maybe she 
didn't think it was important to bring up." she finished her drink.  
"Rei doesn't exactly inspire casual conversation."

"You'd be surprised." Ritsuko smiled cryptically.  "But yeah, I suppose 
you're right." she yawned.  "I wonder if the Commander would want to 
come?"

Misato blinked.  "The Commander?" she smirked.  "Since when does he 
live outside of NERV?"

"It's been a slow time for everyone, Major." she smiled.  "I'm sure 
he'd like to spend time with his son."

Her friend replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, at least once in a while." Ritsuko amended, then turned her 
attentions back to her own cup.

Misato started to snicker.

Ritsuko blinked.  "What?"

"You're lucky you stopped me when you did." she said with a groan.  "I 
was just about to say they're practicing their fingering tonight."

"Cut that out!"








"Shinji?"

Shinji blinked, looking up from his music sheet.  "Yes?"

"I'm bored." Asuka yawned, setting aside her violin.

Shinji blinked.  "Oh."







Kaoru sighed as he walked down the street.  The weekend was hard for 
him, as it always was.  Too much time alone to get caught up in stray 
thoughts.  Still, at least he had some essays to grade and dinner to 
make.  At least he wouldn't be completely bored that evening.  

That thought took on a whole new meaning as he opened the door to his 
apartment.

He smelled coffee. 

And cologne. 

"What the..." Kaoru closed the door behind himself and was about to put 
down his groceries when he felt the cold metal touch of a gun barrel at 
the base of his neck.

In a calm, cool voice, Kaji Ryouji walked out from behind his shoulder 
and said:  "You might not want to make any sudden moves." a smile.  
"Your coffee has a lot more caffeine than I'm used to, and I'm a little 
jumpy."

Kaoru breathed out a long sigh.  "I don't suppose I could offer you 
some decaf?"

"That all depends on what you say in the next ten minutes." Kaji stated 
flatly.  "If I like what you have to say, then sure, I wouldn't mind a 
cup.  If I don't, you'll have to worry about bloodstains on your carpet 
instead of coffee."







It probably would have hurt a lot if he had been paying attention to 
his back at that moment.  Losing your balance and being wedged against 
another body and the edge of the dining table would usually warrant a 
cry of pain.  

All Shinji said was:  "HmPH!" 

Of course, his mouth was slightly muffled by the mouth of Asuka Langley 
Sohryu.  She gasped, breaking free from the kiss with a worried look on 
her face.  "Are you okay?"  Her voice was almost drowsy, just over a 
whisper.  Shinji found it rather pleasant indeed.

Shinji nodded, propping himself up at a less painful angle...also 
serving to quiet the worries of Asuka, who found the situation again 
convenient for a kiss.  Her arms circled around his back, propping 
herself against the table as well, but just enough so she could lay 
against his body and kiss him harder. 

A bored Asuka, Shinji found, was a force to be reckoned with.

Of course, it was becoming so even more when he felt her arms slide 
around to his front and start to work on his belt buckle.  The warning 
signals in his mind told him he should start to panic now, but he 
reasoned it was only fair...

after all, Asuka was now leaning against him without a skirt, clad only 
in panties.  

He relaxed against her and tried not to shake too much, instead 
focusing on her mouth pressed against his.  Oh, and her tongue was 
rather nice as well.  "Mmm..."







With one final yawn, Misato gave up.  Ritsuko and Maya both looked over 
to her and shook their head.  

"Major, you should get home and get some sleep." the elder said, 
turning away from the projection screen.  "You're only allowed to pull 
in three hours overtime without authorization anyway."

Misato sighed and looked at her watch, then at the report board.  She 
wanted to get a head start on next week's paperwork, but it was 
beginning to fade in and out of her mind anyway.  "Maybe you're right." 
she nodded, rubbing her eyelids.  "Can you two handle it from here?"

Maya nodded with her usual spunk.  "Of course, Major.  You go home and 
get some sleep."

The Major rose to her feet and grabbed her coat.  "Okay.  Just put the 
reports under my door when you leave so I can look them over tomorrow 
morning." she yawned.  "I hope the Children play something quiet 
tonight."

Ritsuko smiled and nodded her head as Misato walked out of the door.  
Maya looked up at her.  "Sempai?"

"They're having a concert at school." Ritsuko explained with a chuckle.  
"I'm glad you weren't around this afternoon, though.  I was so 
embarrassed!"

Maya smiled brightly, eager to know.  "What do you mean?"

"Well, the way Misato put it..." she laughed.  "I thought she was 
talking about Shinji and Asuka having sex.  Very loud sex."

The younger scientist promptly blushed redder than a tomato.  
"T...That's disgusting!"

"I thought so too." Ritsuko laughed quietly.  "But then she explained 
why they were keeping her up all night.  Practicing for the concert." 
she shook her head.  "I should have known.  Asuka would probably kill 
the poor guy if he ever tried to lay a hand on her body."

Maya laughed and nodded.  "That sure does sound like Asuka, Sempai."






"N...no!" Asuka scolded Shinji as he reached around under her shirt.

Shinji paused, confused.

"It's not a snap-clasp..." she smiled softly.  "It's a button to the 
left..."

"Ahh...okay..." Shinji's fingers promptly found the right clasping 
mechanism on her bra.  A satisfying 'click' later and the strap was 
free.

Asuka purred her approval of his handiwork and smothered his mouth with 
her own once more.  "Mmm...you're good at this...have you been 
practicing on Rei again?" she teased as she slid his belt away.

"No way!" Shinji said, turning slightly pink around the ears.  Then, he 
smiled.  "She has the snap-clasps..."

"BAKA!" Asuka laughed and bit his lip playfully.






Kaji never let his eyes off Kaoru as he drug a chair into the living 
room area from the kitchen.  He twisted it around, making the back face 
forward and then sat down, hanging his gun in front of himself, ready 
in case it had to be used.  

"Do you know who I am?" Kaji asked firstly.

Kaoru sighed, shaking his head.  "I have no idea.  You know, I'm just a 
teacher.  If you're here for cash you picked a really lousy..."

"Miyazaki Kaoru." Kaji interrupted.  "Age 26.  Blood type A.  You are a 
teacher of second year middle-school classes A-1 and A-2 at Tokyo Three 
Marduke, and say your birth-date is June first, but I have records that 
state July first." he cocked his head to the side.  "Tell me, do you 
often get those two mixed up?"

Kaoru just blinked, completely stunned.  

"You can call me Kaji.  As you can guess, I don't care about money." he 
smiled grimly.

"Kaji?" Kaoru blinked.  

He frowned.  "I'm sorry...but have we met before?"

"N...no..." Kaoru shook his head, looking away quickly.  "I...just I 
used to know someone with that name..." he chuckled.  "Never mind."

Kaji searched his memories for anyone else with his name, but came up 
blank.  He made a mental note to check personnel files again.  "Now, if 
you don't mind, I think you are down to eight minutes."

"Eight minutes?" Kaoru blinked.

Kaji nodded, then leaned forward slightly to make his point.  "Yes.  
Eight minutes to tell me why you're stalking the pilots of the 
Evangelion."

Kaoru made every attempt he could to keep calm, but that didn't turn 
out to be nearly enough under the older man's glare.  

"W...what do you mean!?!?" he sputtered.  "I'm their teacher!  I'm not 
stalking..."

Kaji reached across to the coffee table nearby, retrieving an object 
that Kaoru hadn't noticed on his way inside the door.  

It was his cardboard box.  From the closet. 

Kaoru went completely white as Kaji turned the box upside down, letting 
the contents fall out.

A worn, slightly chipped and damaged, but still recognizable red 
synchronization headset hit the carpet with a soft bounce.

Kaoru looked up at Kaji to see the gun was now re-pointed at him.  He 
was finding it hard to breathe at that point.  "I...I can explain 
everything!"

The perpetually unshaven man nodded once and smiled.  "Seven minutes."







Misato's blue Alpine Renault A310 slid to a stop in her parking stall 
not too long after she left NERV.  Mainly because she drove like a 
maniac as usual, and missed a red light due to almost falling asleep at 
the wheel.  

"Ahh...home sweet home." she yawned, looking up at the apartment with a 
sigh to see the lights were still on.  "Damn...another practice 
session." she grumbled, walking up the steps to the door.







Asuka resolved to practice this more often.

To his credit, Shinji was an excellent kisser for someone who would 
usually get a nosebleed and pass out at the sight of someone else 
kissing.  Not that Asuka was any more learned on the subject, but she 
was definitely a more willing student.  

The whole exchange was beginning to get a little more involved now.  To 
let Shinji know she didn't mind his reactions to her, she was now 
pressing herself up against his pelvis.  Of course, it wasn't exactly a 
bad deal for her, and she was finding breath was a luxury at the 
moment.  

Poor Shinji's mind was completely fried at this point, of course, but 
saved himself from becoming a babbling puddle on the floor by kissing 
Asuka with all his might.  What little part of his mind was not focused 
on caressing her lips and tongue with his own was currently trying to 
solve the puzzle of how to remove her bra from under her shirt.  One 
final tug earned him his reward, coaxing a content little sigh from her 
as he let the white cotton restraint flutter to the floor.  







Misato cursed as she walked back out to the car, this time remembering 
to lock the doors.  

Then, she sighed, turned around, and walked back up to the apartment.  
"I am soooooo tired..." she grumbled to herself.







Shinji winced involuntarily as Asuka began to kiss neck.  "Ouch..."

Asuka paused, realizing her poor roommate was still propped up against 
the table after all this time.  "Oh, Shinji-kun...should we move?"

He nodded weakly.  "W...where to?"

The redhead looked into his eyes with a smile.  "I have an idea."

Shinji began to sweat.

"I..." she whispered into his ear...with her hand slowly descending 
down his chest.  "Am going to run a bath..."

"A bath?" Shinji swallowed hard.

"Yes." Asuka nodded, letting her hair rub up against his cheek.  The 
way he was shivering betrayed the fact he liked it more than he was 
letting on.  She smiled and continued.  "Oh yes.  And then I am going 
to get into the bathtub."

"Oh..."

"But..." Asuka pouted playfully.  "I'm so tired, Shinji...and I don't 
think I can make it out of my clothes..."

"Oh?" 

"So I want you to come in and help me take them off when I'm in the 
tub." Asuka smiled against his ear.

Shinji stopped breathing as Asuka finally backed away slowly, now clad 
only in her panties and her white school shirt, already without it's 
tie.  "Okay..." he nodded weakly.

"Good." Asuka winked, slowly backing away.  "Just wait until you hear 
the water stop." she grinned like a kitten who had just been tossed a 
ball of string.  "Nice shorts, by the way."

Shinji quickly covered himself, but smiled.  "Uh...thanks..."

"See you in a bit..." she said finally, before feeling her way around 
the corner. 

"Oh god..." Shinji shivered as he heard the water start up. 







"I told you already!" Kaoru yelled back.  "I don't HAVE all the 
answers!"

"That's not a very smart thing to say when you only have three minutes 
to live the rest of your life without holes!" Kaji growled, cocking his 
weapon to make the point.  "Actually, you have four...if I start 
shooting you in the legs and arms first."

"I TOLD YOU!" the teacher pleaded.  "I love those kids as if they were 
my own!  I would NEVER hurt them!  This is just something I found in 
the bloody garbage and..."

"Then what about the LCL, Kaoru?" Kaji never let up for a second.  "Do 
three canisters of Link Connect Liquid have some sentimental value to 
your sick mind as well?" he pushed aside the chair.  "I cared for Asuka 
for four and a half years, Mister.  If you think I'm letting you off 
with a 'I'd never hurt them' rap, you have another thing coming."

"If I told you," Kaoru said with accusing eyes "you'd never believe me 
anyway."

"Then make me a believer, buddy." Kaji said.  "Two minutes."








Misato started towards the door of the apartment building once again.  
She wasn't grumbling this time, though, since her delay was caused by 
beer.

"I'll have to thank the manger for staying open for me." Misato smiled 
to herself as she lugged the case of cans up along the stairs.  
"Though, I suppose I spend enough money there...he owes it to me." she 
already had a can popped open and in her hand.

"I wonder how the kids are doin?" she wondered to herself around a 
mouthful of Yebisu.

The elevator doors closed a moment later and she ascended. 






Shinji paced back and forth now.  He was only able to do so by taking 
off his pants completely, but walking around the kitchen in his 
underwear was the last thing on his mind at the moment.  

"Are we goinna do it?" he whispered to himself.  "What's Misato-san 
going to say?  What's Father going to say?  What am I goinna do if she 
gets pregnant?" he groaned.  "What if she laughs?  Oh god, what if she 
laughs?  Or doesn't like it?  I'm going to go crazy!" he stated to 
himself loudly.  

"What if I don't like it?" he wondered, but struck that out of his 
mind.  "What if she doesn't like it?  What if she doesn't want to do it 
again but I do?" he began to panic.  "What if I accidentally tell her 
that I..." he swallowed hard.  "A...and then she laughs or kicks me 
away or..."

He could hear splashing in the tub. 

"Oh god I want her..." Shinji whimpered.  "I...Maybe..." his eyes 
brightened.  "We don't HAVE to do it today...maybe I can 
just...well..." he pondered the other activities in his mind.  After 
all, hanging around Toji and Kensuke was more than enough sexual 
education to at least know what to do in times like this.  "...yeah...I 
mean...I want to, but I'm sure she'll want to wait till later too..." 
Shinji's eyes brightened.  "She keeps saying she doesn't want kids 
anyway...so she probably just wants to..." he turned red.  "...be naked 
and..." his frazzled mind couldn't bear saying anything more but:  
"...and stuff..."

He began to pick up his shirt and Asuka's bra and skirt, absentmindedly 
tucking them under his arms to bring to the clothes hamper in the 
laundry room. 

"I mustn't run away." he told himself, then thought with a smile.  "The 
Asuka in my mind doesn't want me to run away..."

The water began to slow.

Shinji fought the urge to pass out, and began the long, dangerous trek 
(15 steps) to the bathroom door.






"Thirty seconds." Kaji pressed his gun to Kaoru's temple, making the 
poor man stutter even more.

"I can't tell you because I don't know myself!" he begged, holding his 
hands up over his head.  "I wish I had the answers!  I DON'T!  I can't 
leave until it's finished, though!"

"Until WHAT is finished!?!" Kaji demanded.  "Fifteen!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" the teacher screamed.  "I don't KNOW what's going to 
happen!  Things have started to change!"

"Ten!  Nine!" the gun dug in harder.

"AAHGH!  PLEASE!  JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

"Five seconds!  I'm ALL ears!" Kaji demanded, his finger already 
pressing into the trigger, taking some of the 5 pounds of pressure 
needed away from the mechanism.  

Kaoru stammered, desperate on what to say.

"THREE!!"

"Oh god!"

"TWO!!"

"B..."

"ONE!!!!!!!!"

"SAMAEL!!!!!" Kaoru yelled back.







Shinji placed his shaky hand against the door frame as the water 
stopped flowing.

"Asuka?" he asked in a small voice.

"Mmm..." she replied with a soft moan that almost brought him to his 
knees right then and there in the hall.  "Come on in, Shinji...the 
water's perfect..."

The door slid open.

Shinji almost had a heart attack when he realized it was the front 
door.  His hand jetted away from the bathroom door and held onto the 
clothes in his hands just as Misato peered into the hall.  "Hey 
Shinji!" she yawned. 

"A...A...Misato-san!" he prayed he wasn't already beet-red.  
"Y...you're home!"

He heard a splash come from within the bathroom, as well as a gasp.  

Misato nodded, then paused, looking him over.  "Why do you have Asuka-
chan's skirt in your hands?"

"J...just do...doing the laundry." Shinji fumbled.  "B...But Asuka's in 
the bath so..."

Misato frowned, but her foggy mind didn't detect much more than 
Shinji's usual nervous banter.  "Oh, okay then." she took a long sip 
from her beer.  "Can you kids keep it quiet tonight?  I'm dead tired."

"S...sure thing, Misato-san." Shinji bowed his head slightly as Misato 
walked past him in the hallway.  "Oh, and remind me to tell you about 
Ritsuko tomorrow morning." she laughed.  "She's so much fun to 
embarrass."

Shinji nodded.  "Goodnight, Misato-san." he gave one last look at the 
bathroom door, then quickly turned and walked off to his room, pausing 
only to throw the clothes in the laundry.  






Asuka Langley Sohryu sat in a tub of steaming hot water up to her nose.

Her hair, now damp from the steam, hung frazzled around her neck as she 
glared at her knees...sticking out of the otherwise pristine water's 
surface.  

Her eyebrows were knitted together in such a way to suggest extreme 
frustration. 

Her clothes, being white and soaking wet, would have offered quite a 
view for a certain Eva Pilot...had not a certain NERV Major interrupted 
the events of the evening.  While it would have been quite sexy indeed, 
because of the sudden lack of fantasy and desire in her mind, she 
currently felt like a drowned rat.

"BRELABLBLLALABLALBLABLAAA!" she bubbled angrily, almost sending more 
of the water into steam-form.

Had there not been water in the way of her yelling, this fan fiction 
would have to be censored to keep it's Lime rating, because there would 
be no way to explain how a 12" diameter brass pipe, a grizzly bear, and 
Misato could possibly be in that situation without some kind of 
extreme, sexual imagery. 

Luckily, when Asuka did lean back far enough to expose her lips to the 
air, she simply added:

"And then...I...am going to KILL her..."












Seventeenth Lesson:  Digging Graves







Kaji swallowed hard in the dry air, shivering with the effort of 
holding on as the line retracted back into his grappling pack.  He 
clung onto the side of a double-helix of illuminated metal that 
stretched up and down for what seemed to be infinity.  What little 
light there was came from the shaft of 'DNA' he hung on to, and a 
similar glowing tunnel that spiralled around the edges of the cavern he 
was descending down.  

How it all hung like this in mid air, he dared not guess, because he 
was currently survived only by hanging on for dear life.  

"If..." he gasped.  "...This doesn't pay off...I'm goinna KILL that 
asshole!"

Finally, he heard a small 'thunk!'  His backpack shook slightly, and he 
reached around with his free hand and found the hook that had finally 
managed to reel itself up to him again.

It was the only way to descend the shaft without using the 
elevator...an action that was no doubt recorded, even with security 
clearance.  Kaji attached the hook onto the metal where he was, secured 
it with the electronics and magnetic lock, and then, for the sixth 
time, let himself drop off of the shaft, trusting his fate to the 
mechanics of his gear. 

After about twenty seconds of sheer acceleration, the backpack began to 
slow him down before the end of the line was reached.  A few seconds 
later, it stopped abruptly, and he swung himself over to the next part 
of his ladder, holding on as he disengaged the hook above thanks to the 
electronics.  

About twenty seconds later, the hook passed him, safely out of reach so 
as not to ricocheted off his head, and the backpack began to reel the 
line in so he could make another descent.  It was terribly time 
consuming...but really, the elevator would have probably taken longer 
anyway.

He had made this journey three times before, each time learning more 
about the systems so he could proceed deeper into Dogma.  To his 
dismay, the last leg of his journey had always been interrupted, as 
there was a solid-state computerized lock on the final chamber's 
entrance.  

Kaji cursed himself for leaving Kaoru.  He should have brought the 
bastard into Gendo and watched the fun.  Still...

If Kaoru was telling the truth...

Then that was worth the risk.  He had to know.  

"This is going to make a very interesting journal entry." he sighed, 
dropping the final leg of the route.

This time, the backpack sensed the ground coming up and began to slow 
him down early.  By the time his feet touched down on the ground, he 
was almost hovering.  The hook above disengaged and dropped with a 
muffled 'THUNK!' next to him before reeling back into his pack.  

Kaji took the climbing gear off and stretched his shoulders, finally 
able to relax until he had to go back up.  With the soft glow around 
him, he saw he was at the entrance to a hallway.  The door seemed to 
appear out of nowhere thanks to the strange light and darkness.  

He walked through the door...it only being guarded by an unlocked knob.  
The hall was short and dank.  Most of the florescent lights above had 
been long burnt out, and the floor was probably the dirtiest he'd seen 
in all of the NERV complex.

The other end of the hall, however, had a REAL door.  Polished 
stainless steel and whatever other alloys that composed it's structure 
spelled strength against even the most persistent intruder.  The 
computerized lock was also much different than the usual.  While NERV 
had these locks all over the place, often they would have diagnostics 
and programming ports that Kaji could use to bypass the codes or 
discover what they were.

This lock was a chip built into the door, filled with concrete to 
provide no access except for a keypad.  Last time he had brought a 
scanner, and almost gave up when he saw the structure of the door and 
lock.  If he destroyed the lock, the door would never move again until 
technicians arrived to replace it.  If he tried to hack into 
it...well...how would he be able to do that?  Even the keypad only had 
input...no I/O port to use.  

And so, it was with all this in mind that he wondered how Kaoru could 
possibly be telling the truth.  When only Ritsuko and Commander Ikari 
probably had access to this door.  

He walked up to it and typed in one word:

                               S-A-M-A-E-L
Samael.  A fitting password, he supposed.  Another name in a long list 
for Lucifer, the Devil, or whatever else you wanted to call him.  The 
programmers for NERV weren't without their sense of irony, he supposed.  
Fallen Angels to combat the enemy of Angels. 

He pressed 'enter'.

The door began to open.  

Kaji watched the door as if it was the most incredible sight he had 
ever seen.  In a way it was.  It meant that teacher had told him the 
truth.  Even if it was just a small part.  

The impact of that truth hit him as he peered into the next chamber and 
almost fell to his knees.  "Oh my god..."







"Today, I have a few new points to bring up in class." Kaoru yawned as 
he sat down on the edge of his desk.  The class listened patiently, 
sensing the poor guy had a rough night. 

"Guns are bad." he said with a smile.  "And always remember to get a 
home security system." 

The class blinked.

"Anyway." Kaoru laughed as he walked up to the board.  "As some of you 
may know now, the program listing of our concert is finally finished." 
he turned with a smile.  "I'm very impressed with your suggestions." he 
told the smiling students.  "You all chose some excellent songs." 

"I told ya he'd like 'Ride of the Valkyries'!" Kensuke smiled proudly.  
"Best war music ever made, in my humble opinion!"

"There's nothing humble about it." Rei stated quietly, prompting 
numerous chuckles.

She smiled briefly as Kaoru turned to her.  "Ladies and gentlemen!  The 
amazing Miss Ayanami just made a joke!" he beamed.

"And at the Stooge's expense." Asuka added with a smile.  "Good job, 
First Child." 

More chuckling, of course, Kensuke was now curled up in a ball.  "Now 
Rei's picking on me...I swear this is a conspiracy..." he grumbled. 

Shinji patted his friend on the shoulder.  "You'll get used to it." he 
smiled.  "At least Rei insults you quietly."

"We will be setting up the school's sound system to play any parts of 
the tracks we don't have instruments for." Kaoru continued, writing 
down some of the information on the board.  

Ride of the Valkaries
Symphony no 9 (9 minute edit)
Parita III fur Violino Solo
Kanon D-Dur
Air
Suiten fur Voiloncello


"Also, I'm going to give you each a copy of the songs we'll have 
playing or be playing.  That way, you all can do the next assignment."


A collective grumble erupted.

"You should know by now not to worry about my assignments." Kaoru spun 
on his heel with a smile.  "You kids have done MAYBE three essays in a 
month.  Don't complain or I'll triple that number."

The complaining stopped.

"Better." he laughed.  "Now, Shinji, Asuka and Rei will be in the 
concert, as well as whoever still wants to play the non-lead 
instruments.  I know Keiko, Hikari, Tiobie and Kenada have been 
practicing as well." he turned to the board.  "But since you all can't 
be playing instruments, I want everyone else to help out with the 
visual aspects of the concert."

Kensuke was promptly sitting in his seat, ready for anything.  

"I'm going to get one of the multimedia projectors for the concert to 
display your projects during the music." he wrote down the list of 
songs.  "You'll each get into groups and work on your favourite song, 
or help out with another group if you have any ideas." he smiled at 
Kensuke.  "Yes, that means you can have war-footage."

"YES!!!!!!"

"I want you all to use your graciously-provided computer terminals to 
compose short graphic and movie clips.  Even if you just want still 
pictures, that would be okay, so long as they fit the songs." Kaoru 
said, moving over to his desk to sit on the corner again (ignoring the 
odd grins of 2 or 3 of the girls in the front rows).  "You should all 
listen to your songs until you get a nice, clear mental image of what 
you want.  Let them inspire you." 

Shinji raised his hand.  "Sensei?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"What if we have different ideas about the same song?" he turned pink. 
"I mean...if it's just our own personal views on the songs...they might 
be...conflicting."

"Excellent question." Kaoru smiled to Shinji's relief.  "I don't mind 
if one song makes you think happy things, while another person may get 
depressed...I want you all to put your personal ideas into these 
projects.  We'll display them at random, and they'll all get some time.  
That way, our audience can see what we've been trying to show them, and 
consider the music only as inspiration...not just as is."

Toji raised his hand.  "Can we have clips of other students in our 
presentation?"

"So long as they're tasteful." Kaoru said carefully.  "Try not to get 
any butt-crack this time, okay?" 

Everyone laughed out loud, but Toji just nodded with a smile. 

"Everyone write down the songs you'd like to add to, and I'll tell you 
if you can do it or not.  Remember, we have five songs to fill up." he 
pointed at the board.  "We have to make sure everyone doesn't just 
choose one or two."

Asuka blinked, not even raising her hand. "But there are six songs."

Kaoru nodded, looking at the board.  "Yes.  However, the last song will 
be a music-solo." he smiled at Shinji.  "Mister Ikari and I will play 
the Cello piece."  

Shinji looked up at his teacher nervously, but nodded.  

Rei suddenly raised her hand.

"Yes, Rei?" Kaoru asked.

"May we also add to the presentation?" she asked quietly.

Kaoru blinked, not expecting it.  Rei, however, was obviously practiced 
enough with her instrument...  "I don't see why not...so long as you 
think you're ready to play the music first."

"Hai." she nodded.

"Anything else?" Kaoru looked out over the class.  "Good.  Remember!  
Only a week away!  This will be the only homework you'll have." he 
smiled and erased the blackboard.  "And now, math."

Everyone groaned. 







Asuka and Shinji walked home that afternoon, watching as the sun 
started turning the sky pink and red, instead of the pure blue 
overhead.   

"Sorry about last night..." Shinji said suddenly.

"It wasn't your fault." Asuka smiled quickly.  "I...we shouldn't have 
been moving that fast, I guess.  Maybe it was all for the best."

He nodded solemnly.

"Of course," she grumbled.  "I'm still goinna KILL Misato for that.  I 
was having fun!"

Shinji laughed, earning the same from Asuka before turning completely 
pink again.  "Uhm...thanks." he smiled.

"Tell ya what." she said with a determined nod.  "You promised to get 
me drunk on my birthday, right?" 

Shinji nodded with his blush getting deeper.

"We'll behave till then." she winked.  "But if we decide to, I'm going 
to invite you into the bathroom with me again."

"T...t..." he swallowed hard.  "Okay..."

"That's a good boy." Asuka smiled brightly as she put a little bounce 
in her step.  "Of course...that doesn't mean you're goinna get away 
from your duties in the meantime."

"D...duties???" Shinji almost passed out. 

She chuckled and grabbed his hand.  "Relax, baka.  All I meant is that, 
well, if you're trying to seduce me, you can't be completely boring." 
she smiled coyly.  "You still have to obey me without question." her 
voice softened.  "But I also expect you to be able to kiss me now and 
again..." she leaned over to him and gave him a peck on the cheek.  

Shinji nodded quickly, trying to keep calm. "O...Of course, Asuka-
chan!"

"And stop getting all nervous." she sighed.  "You make ME nervous when 
you get like that!" she winked.  "You weren't too nervous last 
night..."

"Asuka!"

"Hehe.  Sorry."  

Shinji watched her skip ahead with a sigh, but a smile on his face.  
"Maybe she's right.  I just gotta rel..."

"SHINJI!  Hurry up!"

"Hai!" 







When Kaoru opened the door to his apartment, he wasn't surprised to see 
Kaji sitting on his couch, having a cup of coffee.  Still, he sighed.  
"Make yourself at home."

Kaji looked up, but didn't smile.  

Kaoru smiled, though, as he hung up his coat and put his briefcase down 
on the table.  "I assume the password worked?"

"Yes." Kaji said simply.  His thoughts were still very distant.

"You know..." Kaoru said, walking back from the kitchen with a coffee 
of his own.  "I never did have a chance to see them in person." he took 
a sip and sighed contently.  "Was the Eva Graveyard as spectacular as I 
told you?"

"...you...you could say that." Kaji nodded weakly.  "Though I 
personally would say it freaked the hell out of me."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Kaoru sighed as he sat down across 
from the older man.  "Unfortunately."

"What do you want?" Kaji asked, looking up.

"The same thing as all of us." Kaoru smiled grimly.  "And I need your 
help, Kaji."

"But can you do anything?" Kaji frowned.  "A password or two doesn't 
change the situation or anyone's plans.  Especially the old men.  You 
could have fucked Ritsuko and gained that information for all I know."

"I can assure you, I did not." Kaoru nodded, taking a sip.  "And I know 
more than passwords." he shook his head quickly.  "But I can't tell you 
everything, my friend.  If I did, then everything we're working for 
could be in jeopardy."

Kaji regarded the man with a long, hard glare, but finally nodded.  
"Can you tell me one thing?"

"That depends." Kaoru nodded.  "But ask."

He smiled tiredly.  "Does Misato survive all this?"

Kaoru looked up from his coffee.  His eyes seemed haunted.

Kaji said nothing for a long time, then nodded.  "And will she if your 
plan works?"

"I hope so." Kaoru nodded.

"Then what do you need me to do?" Kaji said without hesitation.  

Kaoru sighed, then stood, walking over to his briefcase.  A moment 
later, he returned with an envelope.  It was sealed, and plain looking.  
He handed it to Kaji and smiled.  "Nothing much yet..." there was a 
sudden smile on his face.  "But you can run this little errand for me."

"An errand?" Kaji frowned, looking at the envelope.

Kaoru nodded.  "Yes." he looked up and out the window, taking in the 
sight of Tokyo 3.  "Get the Commander to come to parent teacher 
interviews."

"Are you crazy?" Kaji almost laughed.  "He'd never come.  That bastard 
is colder than..."

"Give him the envelope the night before.  Mention the interviews in the 
same breath." Kaoru explained, looking back at Kaji as he edged his 
glasses up on his node.  "He'll come."

"One week from now?" Kaji sighed.

Kaoru nodded.

"Okay." he stood and walked over to the kitchen to put his cup in the 
sink.  On his way out he turned to Kaoru.  "You better not be fucking 
with me."

He shut the door softly on the way out.

Kaoru sighed and nodded to himself.  "Don't worry, good man." he walked 
back over to the window.  "I have more important things to do."










Eighteenth Lesson: Hitting a NERV







"Tell me why we have to do this again?" Asuka yawned as they walked 
down the isles of food.  

"Because if we don't, Misato will." Shinji said wisely.

Asuka nodded.  "Oh yeah.  I remember last time she went grocery 
shopping." a cringe appeared on her face.  "I...I didn't think I'd ever 
have anything that looked like THAT put on a plate in front of me."

Shinji smiled slightly and then put a few packs of ramen into the cart 
as they walked by.  

"So..." Asuka said, walking behind him as usual.  "You nervous?" 

He paused, looking at her. "About what?" he instantly turned pink.

"About the concert." Asuka said, using her height advantage to pick up 
a tin of wasabi from the top shelf.  "After all, you'll be doing that 
solo."

Shinji shook his head.  "Not really.  I know that song off by heart.  I 
won't make any mistakes."

She smiled and winked.  "Oooh, such confidence!"

He turned completely red.  "Uh...t...thank you." he looked up at her.  
"How about you?"

Asuka raised an eyebrow.  "I'm only worried that Wondergirl or you 
might screw up and make me look bad." she grinned evilly.  "And I know 
you wouldn't DARE screw up..."

Shinji swallowed hard. 

"Still..." she shrugged.  "Rei wouldn't screw up.  Especially if the 
Commander is there."

Shinji almost...almost...smiled.  "My father?  There would be a better 
chance of Misato actually paying us for once."







Rei sat alone in her apartment, on the edge of the bed...looking at the 
violin in her hands.  Besides herself, it seemed the only thing alive 
in the entire room.

And even then, Rei almost seemed to blend into the background 
sometimes.  

The pale blue light shimmered off the polished red surface as it gently 
rocked in her hands to her breathing.  Red.  

This is not part of school. 

  It is.

Ikari does not know of this.

  It is under his authorization. 

Images of the concert hall flooded her mind in an echo.  Images of the 
other Pilots sitting across from her with their music in front of them.  

Asuka...the one in red...always red...but laughing for once. 

Ikari-kun...smiling.  Like before.  At her too.  

"Good job, Ayanami!" he said to her brightly.  "That sounded great!"

"Yeah, not bad, Wondergirl!  For a while I thought you were deaf or 
something!" Asuka added with a sigh...but still a smile. 

"Outstanding!" Sensei Kaoru clapped as Rei finished her solo.  His 
glasses shimmered in the light like the violin in her hands.  

He smiled.  So brightly.  His hands clapped for her.  A sign of 
appreciation.

Ikari appreciates you.

  "She's not dead...yet.."

Ikari appreciates you.

  "You will do it again, Rei."

Ikari appreciates you.

  ...

"You've added so much to class!" Kaoru said.  "You may not realize it, 
but even though you've only talked once in a while, the other students 
learn from that." he smiled and took off his glasses.

It's only his job.

"You've done so much for the others!  And you've made my job a 
pleasure!"

He was only being kind.

"Ladies and gentlemen!  The amazing Miss Ayanami just made a joke!" 

He smiled.  The class smiled. 

"Thank you, Rei."  Kaoru smiled as he looked up from the music.  "That 
was beautiful."


A lone tear hit the otherwise dry surface of the instrument. 


Rei put the violin away, then opened up her laptop.  Normally, she 
would never bring it home with her...but today she had a purpose for 
it.  









"You wanted to see me, sir?"  Kaji strolled into the office, admiring 
the patterns on the floor as he always did.  Though he would never say 
so, the Commander did fascinate him; he was always looking into the 
scrolls around the office to insights on the Commander's mind. 

Even if just out of some sense of self-preservation. 

"Where is the list." Ikari said flatly.  Something was putting him on 
edge.  He was never this...

dangerous...

at least not in the way he spoke. 

Kaji had been expecting it and casually flicked a copy of his disk onto 
the desk a few feet away.  Ikari made no effort to catch the disk, 
letting it slide to a stop by his elbow.  

"Will that be all?" Kaji yawned. He was terrified...but if he gave the 
bastard even just an inch...that would be more than enough for him to 
hang by. 

Ikari stood.  

Oh shit.

"You should watch your tone with me, Agent." the Supreme Commander said 
as he picked up the disk.  "I only tolerate your attitude when you 
deliver what you promise to me."

"Would you like to continue your..." he smirked.  "Attempts...at 
intimidating me, or would you like me to get down to business."'

Ikari sat down.  Slowly.  "Continue, Agent."

Score one for the Kaj-ster, he sighed in relief to himself.  

"I believe I was contacted by the party in question." he smiled 
innocently, noting the way Ikari's glasses flickered at the news.  
"Nothing to report on that end.  I'm afraid he left before I could do 
any questioning."

"Mmm."

"That list might have his name.  If you are wondering WHY I didn't give 
it to you earlier it was because the data was corrupted, and I had to 
reconstruct it." he yawned.  "Now do you understand?"

Ikari was not having a good day.  He said nothing...unable to disprove 
this. 

"Enjoy the list." he said, turning.

"You have not been dismissed."

Kaji smiled, stopping.

"You are dismissed." Ikari sighed, turning his focus to the new disk.  
"Be sure to include this kind of information next time."  The dangerous 
tone was back.  "I would hate to misunderstand your incompetence as an 
act of treason." a smile. 

"Oh, there is just one more thing." Kaji nodded, pulling out an 
envelope from his pocket.  "Did you know the Children are having a 
concert on Friday?"

"It is of no concern." Ikari nodded.

Kaji prayed Kaoru wasn't bluffing...or this wouldn't sound nearly as 
dramatic.  

"Oh...is it now?" he passed the envelope onto the desk.

Ikari looked at it with a strange frown.  Kaji just walked on out 
without another word.






Gendo picked it up and used his gloved hands to silently pick away at 
the paper seal. 

A moment later, he pulled out a single white piece of paper with bold, 
black handwriting on it.  He read it.  

"Mmm."

His hand came up and pushed his glasses up along his nose. 

"Fuyutsuki." his hand pressed the comm. button on his desk. 

A moment later.  "Yes, Ikari?"

"Cancel the meeting on Friday."

A shocked pause.  "B...but, sir!  We might not be able to re..."

"Something's come up." he said simply.  "Handle it."

"...Y...yes sir."

Gendo looked down at the paper once more, still not quite sure what to 
make of it.  





   EVANGELION UNIT 03
   SUZUHARA TOJI (Fourth Children)

   Activation Test:  SUCCESSFUL.









Nineteenth Lesson:  "All the World's a Stage"







Miyazaki Kaoru stood at the window, looking out over the buildings of 
Tokyo 3.  The sun was just beginning to rise, casting the incredible 
oranges and yellows across the white cityscape that were the norm for 
the season.  Even in this endless summer, one could see the 
differences.  Cicadas and color were the only change, yet it was still 
change.  

Earth was fighting back against this war.  Trying to regain it's 
climate and it's stability.  Heaven and Earth were not meant to battle.  
It was only the stupidity of mankind that had brought this war to such 
a level.  

"Father..."  he took a deep breath and sighed.  "You taught me so 
much..."

Hid fist began to clench.  

"And now is my chance to repay you." he gritted his teeth, turning away 
from the window.  "Time to get this show going."









Across the city, Shinji Ikari lay in bed, gazing up at the ceiling as 
his SDAT played music for his ears.  They were the songs they were to 
play at the concert in just a few short hours.  

As he listened to them, his mind raced.  So much more than usual...this 
was odd.  Almost as if he was listening intently to the music, but at 
the same time, had his entire brain free to ponder other things. 

He wondered if Misato would enjoy the performance.  If Asuka would 
congratulate him afterwards.  If maybe...his father would be there...

Would he make everyone proud?  Would he show them that he could do 
this?  Just this one thing besides Eva?  Something he had prayed would 
give his life direction and purpose since he was but a small boy 
playing in sand boxes and running from cicadas.  

What if he failed?  He knew he had no choice but to succeed.  

Asuka would help him.  She would lend him strength.  She always 
did...even without her knowing it.  Her angry frowns...and sometimes 
scary smiles...were more encouragement for him to do his best than he 
could ever thank her for.

Misato was his friend...his father was so out of reach...but Asuka?  
Even if she wasn't always friendly, she was always his partner.  

A blush crept up on his face as that thought passed over his brain.  

Maybe...if he didn't screw up, she'd kiss him.  That...that alone would 
be worth the days of practicing they've done.  Not that they were very 
unpleasant.  It was always great to spend time with Asuka, but she had 
insisted (for the most part) that they do everything perfectly.  

No wonder Kaoru thought she was such a great teaching aid.  

He glanced over to his clock and smiled.  

"Time to get up..." he sighed.  "Yosh..."






 

It was just a small garden salad and some whole wheat toast and 
water...as she usually ate.  Rei wondered if she should pick up some 
kitchen utensils besides the microwave, small fridge, and the toaster 
she currently owned.  After all, the soup Sensei had made that one day 
was excellent.  She was sure she could emulate it with practice.  

As she was busy mentally listing the ingredients she would need, the 
door opened, startling her out of her toast-munching trance.  She 
wasn't expecting anyone...but since only NERV personnel knew she lived 
here, she wasn't concerned.  

When Gendo Ikari walked into the small room, she smiled.  He returned 
the smile in his own curious way, then sat down across from her, 
opposite to the small end-table she always ate off of.  

"Hello, Rei." he said simply. 

"Good morning, Commander." she stated after chewing and swallowing her 
toast.  Even with the delay, though, their conversations were fairly 
common to start out like this. 

"Are you going to school today, Rei?" he asked, looking around the 
musty apartment.

"Hai." she nodded.  "There is a concert today.  I will be expected to 
play."

Gendo nodded simply.  "I will come to watch."

Rei's eyes lit up, and her mouth dared a small smile.  She only nodded 
crisply as a reply, though.  

"Are you finished with breakfast, Rei?"

She paused, looking at the toast, not sure what to reply with.

"Take your time, Rei.  We have transportation." Gendo offered.

Rei nodded again, and returned to her food.  Gendo watched her behind 
his glasses as he always did...but his mind was already boiling with 
questions about the concert.  He would find out, soon enough, though.  

Unit 03.  

The Marduk reports had still not found the Fourth Child...but this 
'Toji' was part of Rei's class.  Gendo had already instructed Doctor 
Akagi to set up testing for him. 

Gendo hated being toyed with. 

A dangerous smile crossed his lips, however.  This would be 
interesting, regardless.









After the month of somewhat 'relaxed' classes, Hikari was starving for 
this.  She needed it like some men needed water...craved it like some 
kind of drug.  

"OKAY PEOPLE!  LET'S MOVE IT!" she demanded, rolling up her sleeves.  

Toji and Shinji both groaned as they were forced to push one of the 
speakers into the corner.  "We're moving as fast as we can!" Toji 
gasped.  "Give us a break!"

"You'll have a break when we're DONE!" the Class Rep said in a gruff 
tone.  Before the two could say anything else, she whipped around and 
pointed at a group of girls who were gossiping in the corner.  "GET TO 
WORK!!!"

They all jumped and scrambled back up to the seats, getting them ready 
for the concert.  "Yes, ma'am!" they said collectively. 

Shinji shook his head and patted Toji on the back.  "She needs this, 
man.  Let her have her fun."

"Shinji!  Hurry up with that mop!"

"Ahh!  Yes, ma'am!" 

Toji sighed as he watched everyone scurrying around at Hikari's orders.  
"Well, at least she's not as loud as Asuka."

"SILENCE!" Asuka promptly slammed her water-bucket into Toji's side, 
knocking him over.  "Stooges like you will never know the honor of 
being in MY presence!"

"I never knew honor and pain were synonyms." Toji groaned as he 
twitched on the floor.  

"Smart ass." Asuka grumbled before returning to cleaning the stage 
lights.  

Sensei Kaoru watched with a smile as he helped Kensuke set up the 
multimedia equipment.  "If she wasn't so good at being class rep, I'd 
say she enjoyed being a sadist."

"Asuka or Hikari?" Kensuke smiled.  "I'd say that's why they're both 
friends." he looked around for eavesdroppers.  "You don't suppose 
they..."

"Don't even start, ecchi." Kaoru chuckled.

Kensuke looked around again.  "Oh, come on, like you haven't 
noticed..."

"I happen to be on good authority that Hikari would sooner cook for 
Toji than want to sleep with Asuka." Kaoru said with a chuckle.  

"Beh!" Kensuke sighed.  "Food over sex.  I'll never understand women."

"NO man understands women." Kaoru said, shaking a wise finger into the 
air.  "But, conversely, I doubt they understand us men all the time 
either, so it's a fair trade."

"You are a wise man, Sensei." Kensuke grinned. 

"That's what my resume says." he grinned right back, then frowned as he 
looked at his watch.  "Well, we better get this finished.  Only two 
hours left."

"Don't worry, sir!  We'll get this done in time!" Kensuke said proudly.

Kaoru smiled.  "Good man." he looked around.  "Though I do hope Miss 
Ayanami shows up soon..."








Gendo studied Rei as the city slid past them outside of the limo's 
windows.  She had been acting oddly ever since he arrived.  It was 
strange to see her like this.  In her arms she held her violin case, as 
well as a small media disk in a case.  

"Rei."

"Hai?"

"What is that disk?" he asked, curious.

Rei blinked, looking down to it.  "It is homework."

Gendo considered letting it slide, but that was not the first time he 
had heard her say 'homework', and it was standing out in his mind.  "Of 
what?"

"Music." Rei stated flatly.  "It is difficult to explain..."

"Will I be able to see it later?"

"At the concert." she nodded with a brief smile.  

Gendo nodded.  "How is school, Rei?"

Her eyes brightened.  "Good.  We have been learning about Socrates."

"Ancient nonsense." Gendo commented idly. 

Rei blinked, then thought for a moment.  "Also, more recently, Timothy 
Leary."

"Mmm.  I have not heard that name for a long time." Gendo thought to 
himself.  He had only heard Yui and Ritsuko refer to that particular 
philosopher.

"We have a very good Sensei." Rei said with a nod. 

"I'm sure you do." Gendo nodded.  

The car slowed and turned, finally coming to a stop outside of the 
school.  Already, a few of the eager parents who had not been busy 
working were milling around the front area as he and Rei exited the 
vehicle and made their way inside.  

Not surprisingly, they found Misato already raiding the complimentary 
food table that had been set out for the concert/parent-teacher-
interviews.  

The Major looked up from her plate to see the Commander and Rei walking 
in...

and almost had a heart attack.  

"Sir?" she gasped over a mouthful of rice-crispy-square.  

"Major." he replied crisply, walking past. 

She almost fainted.  "I must be dreaming...it's all a dream..."

"What a strange woman." Gendo thought to himself as they walked down 
the hall.  

Even in the short time it took them to cross the school, the crowd had 
increased.  This being the first real event in Tokyo 3 besides an Angel 
attack, parents were excited, and many brought their friends.  It was a 
very heart-warming sight to see Tokyo-3 so alive and...dare 
say...normal.  

Gendo ignored it completely.

"Sir." Rei said suddenly.  "I must go prepare for the concert." 

"Very well." he nodded.  "You may go."

She nodded.  "It will start in half an hour.  The Major should be able 
to tell you anything you need to know."

"Thank you, Rei." he allowed a small smile.  "I'll see you then."

She smiled and walked off trough the backstage entrance. 

Gendo looked around with a sigh.  He hadn't been in a school in years.  
Since just before Yui's...accident.  Back then, they would often visit 
Shinji's Godparents.  One had been a professor in the local community 
school then.  Sensei had been the one that offered to take Shinji in 
when NERV had needed his attention.

Last time he had been in a school was for Shinji's first recital.  

It was horrible.  The boy and his class...just children back 
then...even compared to now...made the most horrible, squeaky racket 
with their instruments.  

But he remembered watching Shinji.  How the boy wouldn't give up.  He 
just gripped the bow tighter and held onto the cello with all his 
might.  At the end of it all, he played one entire verse without making 
a mistake.

Even as his class continued to screech around him.  

But Gendo had noticed.  He had picked out the sounds and stood, as the 
other parents did.  But, when they clapped in humouring gasps and 
chuckles over how bad the music was, he had stood there, clapped for 
only a moment, and then smiled.

And Shinji saw this, and smiled back brightly.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and he turned to his wife.  Yui 
smiled.  "I told you he'd do fine."



Brought back to the present by the sight of the Major approaching, 
Gendo sighed and buried the memories once more.  "I didn't expect to 
see you here, Commander." she said, not bothering to mask the surprise 
in her voice. 

"Is it not a parent-teacher interview?" he said simply.

"Yes...but..."

"Shinji is still my child, is he not?"

Misato conceded with a sigh.  "Yes, sir." 

The doors to the auditorium opened finally, and people began to file 
into it excitedly.  "Shall we, Major?"

She nodded and followed.  They found seats in the middle of the rows, 
blending in with the crowd nicely.  Misato wondered if maybe Gendo 
didn't want Shinji to know he was there.  It wouldn't surprise her.  
A few minutes later, the lights dimmed, and the small stage that the 
seats were arranged around lit up by a spotlight.  The crowd, now 
completely filling the seats, hushed quickly.

A very nervous, but smiling class rep walked onto the stage and bowed.  

"Welcome, everyone, to Class A-2's concert." Hikari announced.  "For 
your enjoyment this evening, we have composed a short selection of 
music, as well as a multi-media presentation to compliment it." she 
turned and pointed to the projector-screen.  "These images reflect our 
classes ideas about the songs and the feelings they represent.  We 
encourage you all to make note of each song, and talk with your 
children about them." she smiled brightly.  "It's been a lot of fun to 
do.  So, without any further delay..." she bowed and walked off the 
stage after a short round of applause.  

The lights dimmed again...until the screen lit up with projector light.  

A slow fade in revealed a peaceful sky.  

And then Ride of the Valkyries began to play.  The Aida family all 
began to laugh as the screen started to show bomber aircraft begin to 
fly around.  

Gendo watched in amusement as, to the soaring, humming strings and 
horns, several WWII sequences were displayed on the screen in a 
glorious fashion.  

Next, (again, to the music) there were several buildings being 
demolished and exploding.  Parents and spectators alike loved it, and 
many began to laugh out loud.  

And now, as the song was just nearing it's climax, BEES!  Swarms of 
bees began to fly around on the screen.  Then, marching ants.  During 
the last major orchestra hits, scenes of mushroom clouds and N2 mines 
again dominated the visual.  Misato groaned as she realized most of the 
song was probably Kensuke's idea.  Still, she had to admit it, it was a 
great combination.  

A surprising final image, as the song drummed and clashed to an end, 
was the scene of Evangelion Unit 00 and 01 rising out of the mountain 
on their elevator to battle the Fifth Angel.  

Everyone 'oohed' and 'awed'.  Gendo just smirked and pushed his glasses 
up on his nose.  

As the lights came back on half-power, the assembled crowd all stood 
and clapped.  Kensuke, though he was back stage, now had an ego the 
size of the moon.

The clapping continued as people walked out onto the stage in the dim 
light.  Gendo could see Shinji, Rei, and Asuka, as well as three of 
their classmates, all lining up along the edge of the hardwood stage.  
Each brought sheet-music and their instruments.  Two other students 
quickly scurried back and forth to get their chairs and music stands 
ready.  

Finally, as the movement died down, there was one last figure to walk 
up onto stage.  Gendo assumed it was the Sensei, but did not get a good 
look in the light.  "Mmm."

He raised his hands as the lights dimmed, showing to have a conductor's 
wand.  Tiobie, one of the students, was stationed at the drums, and 
with a quick wave of the Sensei's wand, the song began in a glorious 
combination of drums and a thick trumpet from Kenada and the speakers 
nearby, filling in the background instruments that were unavailable to 
the small orchestra.  

Beethoven's Symphony Number 9 Choral, Forth Movement, An Ode To Joy.

The crowd listened in amazement as the six began to play...very 
well...into the first half of the song, slowly winding their way up to 
the main chorus.  As they did, Shinji's cello, and the two violins were 
crisp and distinct.  Every note was right on the mark, flowing 
perfectly with the background tones, and with each other.  The only 
other noise in the room was the occasional whisper by an astonished 
parent or friend.  

The screen showed patterns and art along with the music, but most of it 
blended into the sound.  And finally...the chorus.  

Together, the Children played.  The familiar tune that so many knew, 
but often, never appreciated, took on a whole new light to the ears of 
the audience.  The music soared!  As it did, the images began to get 
more distinct.  Scenes of thunderclouds and volcanoes.  Oceans and 
leaping dolphins.  Such a wide variety, yet, they all seemed to fit.  

Misato was completely taken by the experience, not being used to such a 
moving scene when she was sober.  Gendo watched silently, but it was 
easy to tell he was leaning forward in his seat, enjoying the 
experience as well. 

The final chorus!  The Sensei's wand moved with power to the music, and 
the players played in sync.  

And the final scene shown on the screen was something few would be able 
to recognize, yet was amazing in any respect.  Gendo knew it to be from 
inside the Geofront, in a small swimming pool Rei would often go to.

The scene itself was simply looking up at the artificial sky, and the 
inverted city of Tokyo-3...and yet...it was breathtaking.  Stories of 
the Geofront could never show how truly massive and amazing it was, and 
the entire crowd...including the people who worked down in the Front, 
were awed.  



The standing ovation came before the last note rang out from the 
strings, and the ecstatic smiles of the six children showed how proud 
they were.  

The lights came back on, and Sensei Kaoru turned around, a huge smile 
on his face.


Misato almost swallowed her tongue. 


Gendo blinked once.



Sensei Kaoru clapped along with the audience, allowing the students an 
extra bow before talking.  "Thank you again for coming!" he said above 
the lingering applause.  

He zeroed in on Gendo Ikari and smiled...but not before pushing his 
glasses up on his nose in such a way that made the Commander's mood 
darken considerably.  

"And now..." Kaoru continued, addressing the crowd once again.  "On 
behalf of the class and I, sit back and enjoy." he tuned to Gendo, 
right in the middle, and raised his chin slightly.  Their eyes 
connected across the crowd with such ease that Gendo, all at once, knew 
this man had been expecting him.

"Mmm." he hummed to himself.

Kaoru smiled and nodded.  "The show is just starting."













Twentieth Lesson:  "Interviews"









Something that Shinji never quite noticed during their practice 
sessions came to his mind as Asuka stood and bowed to the audience, 
readying her violin against her neck.

When the hell did she have time to learn Parita III fur Violino Solo?

It wasn't exactly a long piece...something that, to a skilled player, 
could be learned in a relatively short amount of time, compared to how 
long it took to practice Symphony 9 and the choruses to the other 
songs.  Shinji had never bothered to keep it in mind, since he would 
not be playing this piece, he would be able to sit back and listen with 
the rest of the audience.  

The first sharp, crisp notes danced out across the room as she pulled 
the bow across the strings.  It was a fast, almost 'dancing' song.  
Light and bouncy, yet the sound was also high and exact.  Shinji found 
himself...and everyone else who knew Asuka (besides Gendo)...staring at 
her in amazement as she played the piece flawlessly. 

Behind them, Shinji glanced over to the screen and was surprised to see 
Toji's presentation playing.  

Scenes of desperation.  Collaged together were images of some unknown 
girl at a hospital somewhere, trying to walk again and not giving up 
when she fell again and again.  A blurry, but instantly recognizable 
scene against the Fourth Angel...as the view from inside Unit 01 showed 
them rushing towards either fate or death...progressive knife first.  
All the while, one could see the screaming face of Shinji Ikari as he 
piloted, even when the pain of the Angel's attack hit him.  He would 
have thought NERV would have destroyed that footage, but leave it to 
Kensuke to be able to retrieve it from his erased data-disk.  Mixed 
into the chaos, however, were also small scenes of peace...however 
small...that kept the whole thing from overwhelming the imagery.  

Oddly enough, it fit perfectly.  

But, halfway through the song, Shinji began to watch Asuka instead.  As 
he hands danced across the instrument, at first, impressed with her 
skill.  However, then he saw the look on her face.  It was not an echo 
of the happy...if slightly odd...music.  In fact, Shinji found her 
grim, concentrated look to be an almost perfect copy of the images on 
the screen.  

There was something more, though.  Something just beneath the surface.  
A quiet, contemplative madness that showed through the music in angry 
pitches and drawing wines...at first just part of the song...but 
distinct now that he was listening to them.  

"No wonder she never needed to practice..." he thought to himself as he 
watched her with sad eyes.  "This is her song..."







Misato was beginning to think of an excuse to leave.  

The music and the show were great, but as Asuka was finishing up her 
song, and the clapping began, she could FEEL the Commander's glare.  

"I was not aware classified images of the entry plug were public 
knowledge, Major." he said as everyone gave their applause. 

"Oh boy..." Misato sighed to herself.  

Not far away, Kensuke and Toji sat.  "That was really good!" the 
freckled of the two mentioned happily...glad his footage came to good 
use. 

Toji nodded and smiled slightly.  "Yeah, I suppose so...kinda worked 
out."

"Who was the girl?" Kensuke asked suddenly.

"Who?"

"The one in the hospital."

Toji smiled and shook his head.  "Oh, that's right...you've never met 
my sister."

Kensuke blinked.  "Oh...I'm sorry, man..."

He shook his head.  "Don't worry man...I wanted to have that footage." 
he shrugged and smiled.  "Maybe now you'll all see why I'm such an 
asshole."







Shinji leaned over to Asuka as the crowd was beginning to finish.  
"That was amazing, Asuka-chan!"

She didn't turn back to look at him...probably lost in the moment of 
her song, but she did nod and he could see the corner of her mouth let 
a small smile escape.  "Thanks, Shinji."

He let it alone at that; but resolved to ask her later.

Rei interrupted his thoughts.  

"We are ready for the next song." she said.  The other players in their 
little orchestra all nodded, ready to provide backup.  Luckily, this 
would be one song that they had all practiced. 

Kanon D-Dur.

Asuka winked at Shinji, suddenly back to her old self.  "You're lucky, 
you know.  You only have to do the background harmonics."

"Yeah, I guess." Shinji smiled.  

"Screw up and I'll kick your ass." she advised with an evil grin, 
before motioning to Kaoru that they were all ready.  

The Sensei smiled proudly and raised his baton, letting the song start 
at Shinji's digression. 

The cello started, playing long, sweet notes that rocked back and forth 
in a soothing manor that the instrument was famous for.  As the screen 
flickered into life, and the violins joined in for the chorus, the 
audience all smiled. 

Images of classroom life.  

While some of the other songs explored the darker, odd meanings and 
feelings behind them, this song was so perfectly representative of a 
more happy mindset that it was no surprise for the choice of images to 
accompany it.  As the instruments worked together in sync, each 
exchanging solos and backgrounds, all with the steady harmonic tempo of 
the cello behind them, one could really get the sense of togetherness 
that this group emanated.  

Shinji...a powerful presence, even though he always preferred to be in 
the background helping others.  Asuka...often taking the lead with her 
precision and skill, but without the others, would be lost to her own 
perfectionist urges.  Rei's violin was close behind...never stepping 
higher than was necessarily, but also closer to Asuka's than either 
would probably admit.  It was together, however, that they all balanced 
out.  Even if it was just for a few minutes of song.  

Misato found herself enjoying the music much more this time...even 
forgetting the strange cold air that was sitting next to her.  

She was proud of them.  No...more than that.  She was happy they were 
able to do this...have this chance at being the children they were.  In 
a school concert instead of a battle.  They were the stars of the show, 
instead of the tools of humanity.  

All too soon, the song was over, it's echo still reverberating as the 
crowd stood and applauded once more.  Cheers and bright smiles were one 
in the same as the children, nervous, but excited, bowed and smiled.  
Even Rei...which was event in itself.  

"That was not a hard song." Gendo mentioned to himself.  

Misato, as she sat down, had to fight not to say anything that would 
probably get her fired.  

Sensei Kaoru turned and addressed the audience once more.  "Now, ladies 
and gentlemen, we're going to be switching lead violins for this last 
group song of the evening.  I would first, however, ask you all to give 
our amazing Miss Sohryu a big round of applause!"

Asuka blushed and bowed as the entire crowd erupted in a wonderful 
chorus of clapping and whistles.  As she sat back down, she smiled back 
at Shinji.  "They know REAL talent when they see it.  And I thought you 
Japanese didn't usually go to these kinds of concerts?"

Shinji just shook his head and sighed. 

Rei stood on cue and nodded to the Sensei that she was ready.  

"Performing the lead on Air, I give you Miss Rei Ayanami!" 

The quartet of violins readied themselves for the next song.  Air was a 
difficult piece to play...requiring a level of synchronization to sound 
nice, but also, the 'lead' had to effectively blend into the background 
so as not to sound too forced.  

By the end of the first chorus, however, it was clear they had 
succeeded.  Everyone watched, stunned, as the mysterious Rei Ayanami 
played one of the most haunting, beautiful songs in existence.  

The multi-media screen showed scenes of stars and sky, but nobody was 
paying much attention to it.  In fact, it was simply background for the 
music being played.  Misato looked around to see some of the audience 
simply smiling, eyes closed, listening to every note.  For once, brief 
moment, she could swear Gendo's face changed.  The hard mask of dark 
mystery had melt away...if only for a moment...

...okay, it was about 2 seconds...but she swore she didn't imagine it.  

Rei seemed to be simply at one with the song.  A soft smile was set on 
her face as she and the others played.  

Suddenly, the song was over...the last notes ending finally, 
reverberating in everyone's minds for a long, long moment of silence.  

Rei looked up to Kaoru, worried that she might have done something 
wrong.  Kaoru just smiled and waited.  

Sure enough, the crowd began once more.  A standing ovation unlike any 
other that night, instantly re-doubling in intensity and joy.  Gendo 
Ikari even stood, clapped his reasonable amount of clapping, and then 
waited for the rest to die down.  

He was about to return to his seat when time slowed down...

...Rei Ayanami burst into the biggest smile she had ever known, and ran 
over and gave her Sensei a giant hug.

He could almost see the Sensei's lips mouth:  "I'm SO proud of you, 
Rei!"

Misato didn't dare look at the Commander as she returned to her seat.  
The air next to her had turned deathly cold. 

Kaoru turned to the crowd with a bright smile.  "Everyone!  One more 
round of applause for these amazing young musicians!" he motioned for 
everyone to stand, and they did, bowing happily to the applause.  

Misato clapped in earnest as she saw her kids laughing and bowing.  It 
really was great to see them like this.  "Ahh, I'm glad I came." she 
said out loud...then almost choked, hoping Gendo hadn't heard it.

She turned, ready to see his icy glare.....


...But he had already gone.  She turned to the exits and saw his tall 
figure leaving through the door. 

"Oy...there's goinna be shit to pay..." she decided to herself.  Then 
smiled.  "And I got tomorrow off work!  SCORE!"

People around her began to edge away nervously. 

Kaoru interrupted further ranting by the Major with a tap of his 
conductor's baton on the edge of his music sheet.  "And before you all 
scurry off to talk to myself and the other teachers about your 
children, we present to you the last song of the evening."

He motioned to Shinji and the crowd settled down, waiting in 
expectation.  

"Mister Ikari will play for you, Suiten fur Violoncello.  One of my 
personal favourites, and I'm sure his as well." he smiled and motioned 
for Shinji to take the centre seat.

Shinji looked around nervously.  "Sensei?" he whispered.

Kaoru leaned forward. "What is it, Shinji?" he asked, keeping his voice 
down.

"You said you'd be playing along with me?" the boy asked, nervously.

"I lied." Kaoru smiled.  "You'll do fine.  Besides, it's a solo.  We 
wouldn't want to disgrace the song, would we??"

With a small nod, Shinji agreed.  "Hai..."

"Good-good." Kaoru nodded and turned to the crowd as Shinji took the 
seat and prepared his instrument. 

Asuka leaned over his shoulder suddenly.  "Hey, Shinji...If you do this 
perfectly, I'll consider it your asking me out on a date."

Shinji almost fell over.  "A...Asuka?"

She winked and nodded.  "Don't disappoint me, Third." Then, she 
returned to her seat and waited ominously.

The young Shinji Ikari just sighed.  "No pressure, Shinji...no 
pressure..."

Kaoru pocketed his baton and moved off the stage, knowing he wouldn't 
be needed.  Shinji was forced to stare down the hundred-plus people who 
were waiting for him to begin.

"I mustn't run away..." he whispered to himself.

And then put his bow to the strings.










Kaoru looked up with a tiny sigh as he saw Misato walk into the room.  
"Hey..."

"Hey..." she nodded and echoed, walking over to his desk, eyeing the 
children's desks around them.  It must have been three hours after the 
concert, but he had just finished with most of the interviews now.  
"That was a great show, by the way."

"Thank the kids." he smiled and nodded, pretending to file papers to 
look busy.  

She laughed out loud.  "You had to be their teacher." she groaned.  
"I'm never goinna live this down.  I should have guessed or something."

"Sorry about that." he nodded.

"Don't be." Misato sighed, sitting down on his desk, legs crossed.  "If 
anyone should be sorry, it's me."

He turned slightly pink.  "No, really, it's okay..."

They were silent for a long time.  

Finally, Misato nodded, standing up again.  "I better go before the 
kids think I'm in here trying to seduce you." she winked. 

He gave a weak nod and smiled.  "It was nice seeing you again, Misato."

"How about tomorrow?"

"P...pardon?"

"I'll pick you up.  Around eight." she winked.  "How does that sound."

"I...I really shouldn't..." Kaoru replied nervously.

"Seven-thirty, then?" she pressed, walking back over to him with a 
smile.  "I have promised myself I'd make my bad behaviour up to you, so 
you're not getting rid of me."

He swallowed hard.  "Seven-thirty sounds great." 

"Good." she smiled then turned.  "You can tell me how the kids are 
doing then.  Ja!"

The door closed and Kaoru sighed...then groaned to himself.  "I'm 
getting too old for this..."  His watch began to beep suddenly and he 
looked at it.  "Oh shit...I'm goinna be late!"

He rushed out the door, already calling for a cab on his cell phone.








"I still can't believe Wondergirl got louder applause than I did." 
Asuka mumbled to herself as they walked home in the late evening sun.  

"She played very well." Shinji commented.  "But if would have sounded 
horrible if you weren't playing to, Asuka-chan."

"Don't Asuka-Chan me!" she crossed her arms in a huff.  "Maybe I should 
rent you two a room so I don't have to hear how much you admired her 
performance."

Wisely, Shinji decided not to say anything. 

"Just because we work with her, that's no excuse, Third Child." she 
leaned over his shoulder and growled into his ear.  "You're no longer 
allowed to ogle over that doll."

"I wasn't ogling!" Shinji defended, uselessly. 

"Hmph!  BAAAAAD Rei..."

"I swear!  I was just impressed that she played so well!"

"You were looking at her boobs!"

Shinji almost fell over.  "NO I WAS NOT!"

"We may be going out now, and I may have to be nicer to you now..." 
Asuka whispered into his ear.  "But if I see you looking at another 
girl, I'm raking you over the coals, buddy.  You got that?"

Shinji smiled at the realization that she said they were now, 
officially going out...then swallowed hard as the mental images of her 
dragging him across flames came into mind.  

"Hai-hai!" he agreed quickly.

"Good.  After all, you played so well, I would hate to have to rid the 
world of your talents!" Asuka smiled and quickly returned to his side, 
entwining herself around his arm.  "So where should we go for our first 
date?"

"Uhm...your choice?" Shinji shrugged.

"Good boy." Asuka beamed.  "I know this one place..."








In an icy cold room, decorated by etchings and a small desk in the 
middle of the otherwise barren expanse, sat Gendo Ikari.

He sat, as he always did, with his elbows on the desk.  His gloved 
hands were folded in front of his lips, and his glasses were edged up 
on his nose.  Unless one was able to approach and study the scene 
closely, Gendo Ikari could have been mistaken for an ice-sculpture.  

He barely breathed.  His mind raced, though.  

And, with the first use of that breath in three hours, he muttered a 
single phrase.

"This is not part of the prophecy..."






End of part 2

===================================================================

Good day, and welcome to the author's notes!  Wheeeeee!

First of all, you'll be glad to know I'm going to be compiling a list of all the 
omakes and "Adventures of The Missing Unit 4" together into one file at the end 
of the series.  ^_^  So just sit tight, and you'll get the whole meal deal.  For 
now, though the Collected Editions won't have anything special added in.  
They're basically just to bring people up to speed without having to link to 10 
separate files at a time.  

Damn...has it been 20 weeks already????????

That's coming up on half a year!  It has become painfully obvious that this 
fiction takes up a lot of my time.  But it's good experience for when I start to 
write for cash, so don't worry, I'm keeping at it.  ^_^ 

I may have to switch to a biweekly or monthly schedule soon, however, as I 
intend to someday be called Doctor Fiss, and I need to start cracking back in 
school soon.  It's been a lovely vacation, but I don't want to be an old geezer 
by the time I have my BCS degree.  I'd LIKE to keep it weekly, and I intend to 
strive for it, even if I have to miss a due-date once in a while.  But if it 
becomes too common, I'll let everyone know my new schedule.  

Some extra information about HL and Eva stuff in general:

-Not sure how many Lessons there will be, but I'm guessing it could run up 
around 50 or 60.  So this is kinda an entire year planned.  

-I'll try to get each Lesson past an 8 page limit.  Currently, I have an 
unofficial bare min of 5 pages.  If I can get to 10 in a regular rotation, I'll 
easily be able to get HL done in 50 or so.  

-Expect a few more missed weeks coming soon.  I may be moving, and like I said, 
school is coming up.  Lots of stuff to do.  Sorry. 

-Holding Hands 2 is in the works.  It's around 1/3 done, but those extra 2/3's 
might take a while.  (and yes, it will have at least 1 lemon scene)

^_^  So, before I keep rattling on about unimportant things, I shall say 
farewell, and thanks for reading!




e-mail: strikef@bigfoot.com
homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110

Strike Fiss, Ninja Crowbotics 2000.  Khattam-Shud, EOF.