Neon Genesis Evangelion and all characters from therein are the property of Gainax. They are used without permission and we beg the kind and benevolent creators of the glorious show not to sue us. ^_^ Chain Lightning Studios Presents Together We Stand By T. L. Webb We don’t need no education We don’t need no thought control No dark sarcasm in the classroom Teacher, leave those kids alone 'The Wall part 2' Pink Floyd 'The Wall' []===============[] Book 1 Part 3 []===============[] Under ordinary circumstances, breakfast at the Horaki residence was a cheerful event. On this particular morning however, Nozomi could sense a tension between her sisters Hikari and Kodama. It had started awhile back when Hikari got in trouble. She hadn't told them exactly what had happened, but they did know the basics. They also knew that the incident had put Hikari at risk of being expelled from her school. It was a big mess and they didn’t know quite what was going to happen. As she watched her sisters eat in silence, she wished her father were around more often. He had been working so hard as of late, ever since Project E had received the extra funding he had even been sleeping at the labs. On a good week he was home just long enough to sleep and shower. On a bad one he only came home once or twice. Fortunately she and her sisters could take care of themselves--their parents had been keeping long and odd hours for years now. Unfortunately being self-sufficient didn’t make her miss her dad any less. Especially with her sisters acting like they were. "I better get going," Hikari said at last as she took her plate to the sink. "Why bother?" Kodama asked with a tone that Nozomi didn’t like at all. "What is that supposed to mean Kodama?" Hikari asked with hurt registering in her voice. Nozomi frowned at this. It was obvious to her that whatever had been brewing earlier was about to hit, and while she wasn’t so keen on being at ground zero-- she did want to find out what was bothering the two so much. "Just what it sounds like," Kodama said with ice edging into her voice, "why bother, its not like you're going to be there much longer." "I can not _believe_ you just said that!" Hikari shouted, obviously hurt by what their sister's words. "Am I not allowed to be humiliated by what happened?" Kodama asked vehemently, "I spent two years as class rep at that junior high, and look what you've done to the title." "Just leave me _alone_!" Hikari said, turning away from her sister so the older girl wouldn't see the tears that were forming. "Why? So you can pretend nothing happened for the next few days? Or maybe you just want to--" "Kodama!" Nozomi said, finally speaking up, "stop." Kodama looked over at her in shock, she had forgotten that her younger sister was even there-- as usual. Nozomi wondered just how long they would keep doing that. As many times as Nozomi had gotten dirt on the two this way-- she would have thought that by now they would know better. "You two better stop it before I decide to tell dad," he said as she got up and grabbed her bag off the back of the table, " lets go Hikari." Hikari blinked back the tears that were forming and nodded-- thankful for the escape that was being offered. They left the house without another word, and made their way to the elementary school. "She didn’t mean it," Nozomi told her sister. "Yes she did..." Hikari said softly as she walked beside her, " and I deserve it." "Don't give me that," Nozomi said, " you were tying to save Touji and Kensuke's lives weren't you?" "Yes..." "Then you didn't do anything bad. The school might not see it that way, but if I catch you glooming around about this again I'm going to be forced to take extreme measures" Hikari smiled at that, she apparently still remembered the last time Nozomi had taken 'extreme measures' with Kodama. "I'm sorry sis," She told the younger girl as she gave her a hug, "it's just that this thing happened at the worst time." "You mean there's a _good_ time for it to happen?" "I suppose not, but its timing is still horrible... there's this new kid in class and he really could use a friend or two. If I leave then I would have to leave the job to Touji and Kensuke. I trust them, but... well you know how they can get." "Yeah, I remember... so what's so special about this new guy?" "Well... He's the pilot of the Eva." "Really? So why would he have any problems making friends? "It's a long story... I'll tell you another time" Hikari said with a smile, she seemed to be feeling much better now. Nozomi grinned at that. Her job here was done []====[] []====[] "Morning Shinji!" Hikari called as she rounded a corner and seeing him at the stoplight. She hadn't realized that they took such a similar route to school. at least _something_ good would come out this day. "Good morning Hikari" Shinji replied as she stepped up next to where he stood. As they waited for the light to change Hikari made a show of looking around and scratching her head as if befuddled by something. Obviously confused at her behavior, Shinji finally broke down and asked what she was doing. "I was just looking for the idiot duo... they're usually walking with you when you get to class." "Oh they showed as usual, but since Nerv started the analysis of the Angel today, Kensuke wanted to get a look at it before class." "Why didn’t you go?" "I'm going with Misato after school-- besides, I've already seen enough of it to last me awhile." "Shinji I know you don’t like to pilot much, but you should take more interest. Anything you can learn about those things might help you." "I guess," Shinji said as they walked across the street, "but it's just hard for me to get excited about it, I'm still trying to find my center in all of this." "Well how are you and Misato doing? Are things better now?" "Yeah... I think she's proud that I stayed, but she still wont stop teasing me." "That's just her way. My sisters are the same way-- especially Kodama. She's one of those people who can't let an opening slide by." "She's the one who was class rep a year or two ago right?" "Yeah, the 'nitrogen queen' of Tokyo Three junior high," Hikari said with a roll of her eyes. "Was she that bad?" "Well she had this whole control trip thing going on back then so I can't rule out the possibility, but she isn't a mean person... well most of the time. It's a tough call; she might have just been really strict. Maybe if I'd been more like that I wouldn't be in trouble." "I'm sorry..." "It's not your fault. You didn’t make me go out there with those two blockheads." "Yeah, but I still wish there was something I could do to help. I mean, if I at least hadn't answered that private message you wouldn't be in as much trouble." "That group was well beyond human control Shinji. I doubt even Kodama herself could have reigned them at that point." "I still feel guilty about it." "Shinji, you have got to learn to let some things go-- taking every little thing and blaming yourself for it won't make it better. You can only deal with so much guilt before it gets out of hand." "I guess..." "Shinji, I'm going to get you to relax one of these days and I just hope Kensuke has his camera there to record the incident." []====[] []====[] An hour before lunch, the teacher's lesson plan went down on the desk and 94% of the class tuned out of reality. As the teacher droned on and on, Kensuke began taking an interest in the latest rumors flying around the classroom's chatsite. Thankfully Hikari was distracted with something, because the prime topic of discussion was her. [Yume] well, I heard that they're going to expel her [Touji] that’s ridiculous!! they're not going to do that! [Ichigo] yeah, there not kicking jock-boy or G. I. Joker out, why her? [Touji] hey! watch it! [Yume] well its what I heard, and they would too because she has more responsibility so the punishment is harsher [Reisho] well I think we should do something, it's not fair [Denki] I agree, hey Kensuke, when is this hearing? [Kensuke] in a couple of days, I'll let you know [Kiri] yeah, Denki's right we should do something, if for no other reason because she isn't as mean as her sister was [Ichigo] well not all of us were there for it, but I guess you'd know. [Kiri] hey it wasn’t my fault! [Denki] oh yes, explain to us again how your getting left back for two years 'wasn’t your fault' I love this story. [Kiri] oh shut up [Yume] hey did you hear the latest about Ayanami? As the ever-changing discussion rambled along, Kensuke made good on his promise and started looking around for the school schedule. The School board was meeting in two days and that’s when they would decide Hikari's fate. It was likely that she would loose her job, and that was if they were lenient. He felt awful about it mostly because it had been his idea to go out there in the first place. Had they stayed in the shelter none of it would have happened. He intended to make it up to her somehow, and to that end he was dipping into some of the school's more secured files. If he got lucky he would find what he was looking for. Meanwhile he had a few questions for Shinji. He sent out a private message and made certain that his new lockout program was in effect so that Hikari would be unable to eavesdrop. [Kensuke] hey Shinji got a minute? [Shinji] according to the clock I have about twenty-seven of them. [Kensuke] provided you don’t fall asleep that is, but anyway; do you think I could go with you to see the Angel? [Shinji] I doubt it, Misato says I need to be more careful about even talking about them with you guys. [Kensuke] well crap. We couldn't even get a good look this morning. They have a huge tent covering the whole thing. [Shinji] wish I could help, but I'm still on probation with Misato for running off [Kensuke] Probation? [Shinji] yeah, I have to check in with her every hour or so that I'm not in school. Plus they docked my pay and I have to do this whole crazy password thing even if I just want to use my cashcard. [Kensuke] well, I don't want you to get in any more trouble... speaking of trouble, are you going with us to Hikari's hearing? [Shinji] I'm going to try to, I'll talk with Misato and find out if I have any tests for that day. With that Kensuke and Shinji closed out their discussion and tried their hardest to survive the monotonous droning of the teacher. []====[] []====[] "Mind if I join you?" Shinji opened is eyes and saw Hikari standing beside him. He rarely spent much time on his lunch. Neither Misato's cooking nor the school box lunches held much appeal-- so for the last few days he had just found a place to spent his lunch hour relaxing in the shade. Not having a sane reason to refuse, he nodded as Hikari joined in the shade. After unpacking her bento, she began looking around in admiration of the scenery. "This is a nice spot Shinji. It’s a wonder no one else uses it." "Well it's kind of out in the open, and most of the others tend to find more private places to eat." "That doesn't sound like you at all," she said with a giggle. "What do you mean?" Shinji asked as a blush rose to his face. "Sitting somewhere high profile like this... I 'd picture you off in a quiet corner or something." Shinji blushed even deeper and didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally he said, "Well the truth is... I... oh never mind, its dumb." "You can tell me," Hikari said as she poured some sauce on her food, " I swear I won't repeat it." "Well... it's just that, I was hoping someone would see me and come over" Hikari paused in mid bite. "If you wanted company, why didn’t you just go up and ask if you could sit with one of the other groups" This was obviously embarrassing Shinji, so she decided to drop the subject. "Hey," she told him, "if you don’t want to talk about it you don’t have to." "No, its okay," he said after another pause, "I think I was afraid they wouldn't let me join them. I... just didn’t want to... be rejected I guess." Hikari started to tell Shinji that he was being silly and that nothing like that would happen, but then she remembered something that she had seen the year before. A new student had done just that: gone up to one of the lunch groups and had asked to join them. The group hadn't been very polite about it; in fact they had been downright mean. She had seen all this happen and while she hadn't done anything at the time, she had been angry with the kids and had made a point not to speak with them if she could help it for the rest of that year. The incident wasn’t uncommon, some kids were just plain mean and they inevitably targeted students they felt were easy marks. It was just one of the things that you had to accept about school life. Fortunately there was little of that in her class, but Shinji didn’t know that, and she honestly couldn’t blame him for being nervous. "Why didn’t you sit with Touji and Kensuke?" she asked, " I'm sure they would have been happy for you to join them for lunch." "I would if I knew where they were-- that’s another reason I was out here. I looked around the other day, but I don’t know where they eat." "Oh?" Hikari said with surprise, "they eat on the roof. Didn’t you even ask them?" "Haven't had the chance, and when I did I just didn’t think about it," Shinji told her with an embarrassed smile, "I'll pay them a visit tomorrow... hey, how come you're out here? Don't you usually eat in the classroom?" "I do, but with the hearing coming up this week I decided that I might as well enjoy the company of my fellow students for a change, who knows if I'll have a chance afterwards." "Is it that serious? I know some of the rumors say it is but..." "I don’t know" she said with a sigh " going out there like that was a huge display of bad judgement, plus the thing with the class earlier, which wouldn’t have even come out if we hadn't gotten caught up with the fight. It's all up to them and my record. I just need to keep my fingers crossed." "I wish there was something I could do." "Stop blaming yourself... what happens, happens" There was a short silence as Hikari picked through her bento; suddenly she didn’t feel as hungry. "Hey that looks pretty good," Shinji said breaking the silence, "who made it? It took her a moment to pull herself from her musings and realize he was referring to her meal. "Oh, I cooked it last night," she told him proudly, "I make most of the meals at home since neither of my sisters can cook." "It looks very good. Misato never makes anything other than instant stuff, and she messes that up half the time, see?" he held up a box filled with rice. It looked ok, but one whiff told her that someone had put curry spice in it. A lot of spice. Enough that the aroma alone was making her crave a glass of water. "Please tell me this is a joke..." not believing anyone would make that mistake. "I'm afraid not. Sooner or later I'm going to have to break out my cookbook. I'm getting tired of living off instant rice." "You call instant food living?" "Not really, but Misato does, I don’t think she ever buys anything else... well there is the beer, but that doesn’t count as food. I think." "Instant food and _beer_?" Hikari repeated with no small measure of surprise, "tell me that you don’t..." "No, no, no, I don’t drink it!" Shinji said rapidly, " the stuff smells bad enough! How anyone could drink it-- let alone as much as she does-- is a mystery to me." "Whew, you had me worried there for a second Ikari" she said with a laugh, "hey! You just said you have a cookbook! Do you cook too?" "Well I haven't done much since I arrived, Misato insisted for awhile that she was the provider and it was her duty... but I do cook a little." "We'll have to exchange recipes some time," she said with a smile. []====[] []====[] Shinji was still thinking of that smile as he followed Ritsuko and Misato into the computer station later that day. Even the sight of the dead Angel wasn’t able to fully attract his attention. It was an impressive sight nonetheless, even with all the scientist crawling all over it and the scaffolding rigged across it. But for reasons that he was only aware of on a subconscious level, every time he tried to concontrate on what was happening around him-- he kept flashing back the Hikari's smile. It was a little strange to be so close to the creature now. In the back of his mind he half expected it to wake up. Fortunately Doctor Akagi assured him that once the core had been shattered. All life signs had ceased. It was quite dead. It still didn’t make him feel any safer, and as he looked up at the construction crews taking it apart piece by piece he still saw its energy whips lashing around in his minds eye. But even as he thought back to the battle his mind drifted to that smile. 'Why cant I get it out of my mind?' he thought to himself as he leaned against a rail, 'is this normal?' As he let out a sigh, someone walked past him. A quick glance was enough to almost send him falling off balance. It was his father. He, sub-commander Fuyutski and the other two men didn’t even seem to see him as they made their way to a platform where a piece of the Angel's core was being lowered. As the small entourage began examining the shattered core sample, Shinji saw that his father had removed his gloves. The absence of the gloves, however, wasn’t what caught his attention. It was the painful-looking burns that covered the palms. "Hey Shinji whatcha doin'?" Letting out a short yelp of surprise-- Shinji jumped, and turned to find Misato standing right beside him with one of her trademark it's-time-to-tease-someone grins in place. Letting out a small groan in annoyence of the teasing-to-come, Shinji hung his head and made his way back to the computer room. "So what were you looking at so intently back there, Shinji?" Misato repeated. "Nothing," Shinji said quickly, hoping she would drop the subject, and at the same time knowing that she wouldn't. "Now, Shinji," Misato said a bit sternly as they reached Ritsuko's Magi uplink station, "are you aware that when you say 'nothing' in that tone of voice you're practically screaming 'pay attention to me' at the top of your lungs? 'Nothing' draws attention like evasive action." Realizing that if he didn’t answer the question Misato would most likely drag Ritsuko into the teasing he sighed again and told her the truth. "Father... seems to have burned his hands." Misato frowned and turned to Ritsuko "I hadn't heard about this one, hey Ritsu, you know how he toasted his hands?" "It happened the day before you arrived Misato, during Unit zero's activation test... Have the two of you heard of the incident?" Misato nodded, but Shinji still looked as confused as before. She shook her head as she realized that he had only recently received clearance for that level of information. "Sorry, silly of me. Unit Zero went berserk during the activation and the pilot was trapped inside." "You mean like Unit One did?" Shinji asked "Not exactly, but it was similar. I wouldn't think of it the same if I were you however, the incidents have several factors that set them apart. But to continue, the entry plug was force-ejected, striking the wall and ceiling before falling to the floor of the wire cage where we did your VR training. Commander Ikari ran down to the plug and forced the superheated hatch open with his bare hands, and that’s how he burned them." Shinji listened to this and Ritsuko could practically feel his mood darken. It didn’t take a mind reader to tell that the boy was upset about his father's concern for Rei when he had shown none during Shinji's own first fight over Tokyo Three. The man had not even been present during Shinji's second battle and it was undoubtedly bothering the boy. She herself was all too aware of the man's attitude toward his son, a particular conversation sprung to mind where the Commander had actually told her that brainwashing Shinji was one of the parameters that she needed to consider while writing the core data. Should the boy ultimately refuse to pilot, and if no other candidates were available; that would be what they would have to do. After all, the fate of mankind rested on his shoulders. It didn’t make her feel any better about assisting, however. "And that’s how he got those scars?" Shinji asked, broadcasting his mood quite clearly. "Yes," Ritsuko answered as she turned back to the computers, "That’s how his hands were burned." []====[] []====[] The next day during Gym it was the girl's turn in the pool. Below on the track field the boys rested from their latest set of laps and made a show of ogling the girls above and pretending not to. Up on the pools level, Hikari was enjoying the cool water. It had been so humid since the rain, and she welcomed chance to cool off. It also gave her a chance to forget her hearing. She didn’t want to think about it much, it was embarrassing enough as it was without the fact that her sister was going to be there-- Kodama was being unusually mean about the whole affair. A few moments passed where she finally relaxed, but then someone splashed a bit too close and Hikari's floating was interrupted. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she swam over and climbed out of the pool. Looking around she saw Rei sitting in the shade by the fence. She considered it for a moment, then decided to go and try to talk with her again. She had given up once, but then Rei had called that night... perhaps it wasn’t an impossible task after all. "Hi Rei" she said as she sat down beside the albino, "whatcha doing?" Rei looked at her, and she realized how obvious the answer to that particular question was. If she wanted a reaction from the girl other than an annoyed stare she would have to phrase her questions much more carefully. After the telephone call, she had realized talking to Rei was not unlike walking though a minefield. "Okay," she said with a smile, "silly question. Of course your sitting here. Let me rephrase that: what are you thinking about?" "I'm afraid it is classified information, Representative Horaki." Rei answered in her usual soft voice. "I see... Well I guess I shouldn’t press about stuff like that, I wouldn't want us to get in trouble. Hmmm... how come you don’t swim with everyone else? I hardly ever see you in the pool. If you don’t know how I could give lessons." Rei tilted her head slightly for a moment, as if confused, and then to Hikari's surprise (along with everyone in earshot) she spoke the longest set of words anyone had ever heard the girl say. "I enjoy swimming very much, Representative Horaki. I do not swim during class because my skin is very sensitive to sunlight. If I receive too much exposure to ultraviolet radiation, the resulting damage to my skin will severely impede my duties. Your offer is unnecessary." Hikari prevented her mouth from hanging open, but her eyes still went wide as she listened. Shaking off her surprise, she managed to somehow continue talking. "So where do you swim? I don’t know of any after hours pools around." "There is a natatorium not far from Nerv's medical facilities." "Really? I've never had the chance to swim in one. Is it any different?" As Rei answered, Hikari noticed that she seemed a bit uneasy. "Sounds carry differently and the chlorine content is very high as compared to an outside pool." Hikari smiled and let the subject drop. She could tell that Rei was unused to conversations like this. As she did, she noticed something down below. Shinji was looking up at them, and smiling. She waved back and as she did she saw Touji and Kensuke sit down beside him. As the three stared up a conversation she leaned back against the fence and closed her eyes. They were getting along nicely; things seemed to be going so well. It was going to be a shame if they expelled her; she was staring to enjoy Shinji's company and would miss it when or if she left. []====[] []====[] That night as he finished cleaning the apartment for their guest Shinji wondered what connection Rei had to his father. Earlier that afternoon in the Sixth Cage they had been preparing Unit Zero for the activation test that was coming up when he had seen the two talking. Talking... and actually holding a conversation. Rei had seemed almost giddy when his Father had shown up, and he wished he'd had an audio pickup handy. They hadn't spoken for long, but it had been long enough for the jealously to creep into Shinji's mind. He just couldn’t shake it off, even hours later. They had looked... like a father and daughter. He wanted to hate them for that. He wanted to hate them both for being so close when he barely knew the commander... but he couldn't do it. Letting out what might have been his twentieth sigh of the day, he took the trash down and went back inside to get dressed. Misato had invited Dr. Akagi over for dinner and it was going to be bad enough since Misato had insisted on cooking again. 'How in the world can she consider that junk food edible?' he thought as he changed clothes, 'and what's wrong with her sense of taste anyhow? Is it the beer that makes her think that curry spice goes with everything humans can consume?' Deciding that it was unlikely that he would ever understand the woman who was his legal guardian, he finished dressing and went to the living room to watch some television before company arrived. As he leaned back on one of the cushions he heard a phone ring. It took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t the one in the kitchen. A bit confused, he followed the sound to his room, where he discovered that it was his cell phone. Picking it up and answering the call he wondered if it was an emergency. "Hello?" Hikari's voice greeted him form the other end with a cheerful, "Hi Shinji!" "Um... hello," Shinji replied, a little taken aback that someone had actually called him. "Whatcha doing?" "Well," he said as his mind began working again, "one of Misato's co-workers is coming over tonight for dinner. I just got through with the cleaning, so I was just taking a quick break." "I see... Well the reason I called is... you know that my hearing is the day after tomorrow right?" "I didn’t realize it was so close." "Yeah it came too fast for me too, but anyway I was going over my paperwork and I saw that you're going to be absent tomorrow for duty... I just wanted to say goodbye in case I didn’t get a chance to see you again." "_What_?" "They might expel me for the incident Shinji. it's not a possibility I like to think about, but one that’s there. Anyway I wanted to say goodbye and to thank you for protecting all of us. And if it's not too much trouble, keep an eye on Kensuke and Touji? Those two could get in trouble in a padded cell." "Hikari..." Shinji started to say something but just didn’t have the words. "I should go-- you're going to have company soon... You’re a good person Shinji, I'm glad I had the chance to know you." As they said goodbye and Shinji set the phone down, a funny--and not entirely unpleasant-- feeling crept across his skin, not unlike an electric current. He walked out to the patio and leaned over the rail. There had to be something he could do about this, but what? []====[] []====[] "Um... What is this exactly?" Ritsuko asked as she eyed her food suspiciously. "Its curry silly," Misato told her with a smile, She'd already grabbed her fifth beer of the evening, and the food was only just now ready to eat-- assuming it was even editable this time. "Please don’t tell me you still try and live off this instant crap Misato!" "Humph," Misato said as she popped the top on her beverage, "I shouldn’t have to remind you my dear friend that you are a guest and have no right to complain." Sensing the conversation might degenerate even further if left to its own devices, Shinji quickly offered Misato some of the alleged curry. Smiling in her half-drunken state, she held up an instant ramen cup. "Just slop some of that stuff on this stuff!" she told him. "Um... you're kidding, right? He asked hopefully. "Of course not silly, it’s a nummy treat! You can't get the same savory taste with just plain cup 'o noodle, you gotta even out the water and make sure you get it nice and thick! It takes years of practice to do it right, mind you." 'Please let us survive this so called meal' Shinji prayed privately as he poured some of the curry into the cup. Meanwhile Ritsuko had taken a bite of the food and had seemingly frozen in place. She slowly and apparently painfully swallowed and then downed her entire glass of tea. "Misato cooked didn’t she?" she said as she held back a coughing fit, "Next time invite me over when its Shinji's turn okay?" letting out a sigh, she refilled her cup and cpntinued, "Shinji, you might want to consider a new roommate before this madwoman's habits ruin your life." "Actually," Shinji said as he pushed around his 'food' to keep Misato from realizing it was going uneaten, "I'm starting to get used to it." "Hesh right Ritsu, never doubt the adaptapility of mankind... um Shinji sweetie? Could you grab me another beer? Thanks. Beshides, if he did move out he'd have to go through a sea of red tape. I just got his perminininate security card today you know." "Oh! I can't believe I forgot _again_!" Ritsuko exclaimed as she hit her forehead lightly with her palm, " hey Shinji could you do me a favor on your way to work tomorrow?" "Hmm?" Shinji replied as he returned with Misato's sixth beer, "what is it" "Ayanami just got her card renewed and I keep forgetting to give it to her. Could you drop it off at her place before you go in tomorrow? I'll give you the address." "Sure, no problem," he told her as he took the card. Holding it up, he glanced at the photo of the first child and the glance turned into a look. The look would most likely have turned into a stare, but Misato caught on and let out a drunken giggle. "You're looking at her picture arn'tcha Shinji?" she said with a playful grin. "Huh? What? No!" Shinji said as he realized that she was insinuating the same thing his new friends had on the track field. 'And she's about as stubborn as they are' he thought as he tried to think of something to say. Ritsuko seemed to find the whole thing highly amusing, but at least she wasn’t laughing. "I wasn’t!" he said in what he meant to be a firm tone of voice. Unfortunately it came out as defensive and nervous. "Yesh you were, I can tell!" Misato said, "now ya got an excuse to go over to her housh... and a good one too, don’t you think?" "Rrrrgh" Shinji grunted as he sat down, " stop teasing me!" "Awww, but its so much fun, you go so balishtik" "Kind of like you huh Misato?" Ritsu said finally speaking up. For some reason that Shinji didn’t quite understand, the Captain looked at them for a moment, then blushed bright red. He made a quick mental note to ask Dr. Akagi to explain that some day. "It's... I just think it's strange that I don’t know anything about her even though we're both pilots." He said while looking down at his plate. "She's a... nice girl" Ritsuko said a bit hesitantly, "but she's a good deal like your father. She's not very adept at..." "At what?" Shinji asked hopefully. "At living I guess." Ritsuko finished somewhat cryptically []====[] []====[] He couldn't believe anyone lived in a neighborhood like that. Despite the construction he could hear going on, it didn’t look as if anyone had lived in this part of town for decades. Cracks crisscrossed the streets and sidewalks, and everything was covered in concrete dust. That was most likely due to the construction, but it just made the area look worse. The strange part was that even though the apartments were designed for high occupancy, there didn’t seem to be anyone living there at all. It was eerie to walk down the street and not see anyone; it made him feel almost as if he was the only one on earth... It was disturbing to say the least. Rei's apartment was #402 and even it looked abandoned. Letters and advertisements were jammed into the mail slot to the point of overflow and there was trash all up and down the walkway. Did anyone even live here? And to make matters stranger, how could a _girl_ live like this? If he hadn't seen her name above the door he never would have believed it. However, after he had tried the doorbell a few times before convincing himself that it was broken, he began to doubt she was even home. 'Oh great... if I don’t give this to her, she can't get into headquarters and someone will chew me out for blowing it off. Think Shinji, maybe I could just leave it in the mail? No, she obviously never checks it. I wonder...' He reached out and tried the doorknob, and to his surprise it turned. The door swung open and he found himself with a slight dilemma. "Um... Ayanami? Are you home?" He called from the door. 'I cant hear anything with all this construction going on.' he realized quickly and stepped inside to the foyer. Shutting the door he thankfully found that it blocked out a good deal of the sound, and he called out again "Miss Ayanami?" Not knowing what else to do, and a bit curious as to whether or not anyone actually lived in the tiny apartment, he removed his shoes and stepped past the small kitchen into the living area. 'This is... worse than outside!' he realized with a start. The walls and floor were completely bare, revealing the concrete slabs used in the foundation. The only furniture was a bed, a chair, a fridge, and a dresser. there was an item on the dresser, flashing in the dim light that a curtain behind the bed allowed in. Stepping closer he saw that it was a pair of glasses. 'That's funny, I've never seen her wear any.' Shinji thought as he stepped up to the dresser and picked them up. They were bent and the glass was cracked in several places, but what immediately caught his eye was an etching on the rim of one side. G. Ikari. "Father?" he whispered aloud. Whatever line off thought that might have brought, however, was banished as a sound from behind startled him. Turning he saw Rei Ayanami stepping into the living room clad only in a towel, and not very well covered at that. 'Ohm'GodI'madeadman' repeated over and over in his mind as the nearly nude young lady looked at him, and then to his hands where he held the glasses. He did a fairly good job of not passing out, but as she strode towards him, Shinji finally began to panic. When she reached towards him he lost it. Stumbling backwards, he hit her dresser and let out a yelp as she swiped the glasses from his hands. As she pulled the glasses a bit of relief fell over him, unfortunately he wasn’t very well balanced and as she took a short step back, his bag caught on the dresser and he fell forward. Right on her. He couldn't move. He knew he should, he knew he _had_ to move; but he was too stunned and his panic was too high for him to even think straight, let alone move. As he kneeled there looking into her red eyes he tried to start his brain, but had no success. It wasn’t until she spoke that he finally was able to even think straight. "Will you get off?" she asked calmly displaying none of the anger he had expected. The higher functions of his brain finally rebooting, he managed to move his eyes away from hers, only to realize that his left hand was pressed right against her breast. "Yeep!" he gasped as he scrambled back. Clambering to his feet he turned from her and tried his best to apologies "I'm... um I didn’t mean... um I, er..." he stammered as he wondered if he had left anything out of the will they had made him write. "Why are you here?" Rei asked as she began to dress. "Hum? What? Oh yes, well its... um I think, oh yeah the card, your card! Doctor Akagi asked me to deliver it to you so I um... well that’s..." He might have gone on like that for several hours, except as he continued to babble his apologies, he heard the front door close and he was suddenly alone in the apartment. "Wha?" he said aloud in total confusion. Had she just walked out on him? []====[] []====[] Sure enough that’s exactly what she had done. He finally caught up with her about three blocks down the road. She didn’t seem to see him-- or if she did, she apparently didn’t care. After another three blocks they finally reached one of the Geofront Access gates. As he dug around his pocket to finally give her the card, he heard a beeping sound. Looking up he saw that she was trying to gain access using her old card, and was receiving no clearance. Suppressing a smile he removed the card from his pocket and walked up. "Clearance for Central Dogma access gate number four approved" the feminine recording announced as he slid her card thought the reader. She looked at it, then at him, still showing no sign of annoyance or any other emotion. "This is your new card Miss Ayanami, Doctor Akagi asked me to deliver-" as he spoke she reached out and plucked it from his hand before continuing into the access gate. "-it to you..." he finished before shrugging and entering the complex himself. 'She is so _strange_,' he thought as he follower her into the base. []====[] []====[] 'And I thought I was quiet' he thought as they rode the almost eternally long escalator down to the ground floors of the Geofront. 'Perhaps I ought to say something, I saw her and Hikari talking so at least there's a precedent-- no mater what the other kids say. Plus I still gotta apologize...' "Um... I'm sorry about that," he said in what he hoped was a friendly voice, he didn’t have much experience in these things. "What for?" she asked in the same soft mysterious voice. "Um... well..." okay, he decided, new line of conversation, "I heard your activation experiment is today, I, um, hope it goes well." Silence from the young girl. "Are... are you afraid of getting in that thing?" "Why should I be?" 'Does she ever give a direct answer?' he thought before continuing "well I heard you got hurt pretty bad last time, but you don’t seem nervous, I was just wondering if you were scared is all." "You are commander Ikari's son are you not?" "Yes." "Do you have no faith in your own fathers work?" What was this? Now she was grilling _him_? "Of course not," He replied hotly, " how could I ever trust him? He's no father at all!" This was when she slapped him. He never saw it coming, and even though it wasn’t a powerful strike, it stung like blazes and left him stunned for the rest of the trip. In fact, he stayed confused right through the experiment. Right up until the sirens began to go off. []====[] []====[] "I'm worried about him." Hikari told her sister as they sat in the shelter. It had been hours since the alert had gone off, and the authorities had still not given them any news. This was the longest the city had been under alert yet; it was almost seven and still nothing. Nozomi had wandered off and their father was working somewhere at the lab, and this left the two uncomfortably alone. "Oh? You mean the pilot kid right?" Kodama asked with an amused tone, " the one you swore wasn't your boyfriend?" "I barely know him! It's just that... after what I saw I can't help but worry." "How bad on him can it be? The boys in school are raving otakus for that sort of stuff-- he's probably loving it." "You haven't seen it Kodama... It's not some game. I saw him have a nervous breakdown in the middle of the fight you know." "Which is why I'm curious as to why you're so fixated on him." "Will you _stop_ that? He is my friend, and he is a nice boy who is in a dangerous situation. Why shouldn’t I worry about him?" "Okay, okay, but I do wish you'd stop hanging out with all these guys-- they do nothing but get you in trouble "That's not fair Kodama." "Oh really? So it _wasn’t_ the famous 'idiot duo's' fault that you're about to be kicked out of school?" "I told you; it was my own fault, I should have gone back for an adult" Hikari said angrily. "And if you'd stopped hanging out with them last year when I first asked, you wouldn't have had to do that either." "At least I have friends," Hikari said coldly as she stood and walked away. []====[] []====[] He hurt all over. Being boiled alive did that to a person of course, and that’s what had happened to Shinji. The Fifth Angel had arrived over Tokyo Three just as they finished Unit Zero's activation and he had taken Unit One out to fight. Before he could even lift a weapon however, the strongest beam of energy he had ever seen erupted from of the giant eight-sided figure and had begun to burn into Unit One's chest. The LCL had overheated and he had mercifully passed out in a daze of pain. But not before experiencing enough to ensure at least a month of nightmares about being a lobster. As he drifted back to consciousness he was well aware that every inch of his skin felt like it had been scrubbed by a Brillo pad and then dipped in lemon juice. Even so, he felt better than he had any right to, and by all means he should be dead. As he opened his eyes to find the hospital ceiling he let out a sigh of sad amusement. "Well at least it's familiar now." A few moments passed and the door slid open. Turning to look; he saw Rei enter his room pushing a tray of food. As he watched on in silence she placed the tray beside him and pulled out a small book with a Nerv logo "I'm here to inform you of the schedule of Operation Yashima." She told him calmly as ever, "It will begin at 0:00 hours. The two pilots, Ikari and Ayanami, will scramble at the cage at 17:30 hours today. At 18:00 hours, ready Units One and Zero. At 18:05 hours, launch. At 18:30 hours, arrive at the Emergency Base on Mt. Futagoyama. We will wait there for further instructions. The operation will commence at midnight." She closed the book and stood there for a moment before setting a plugsuit down on the bed. "Here is your fresh uniform. Don’t show up looking like that." Shinji looked down and yelped as he realized that his sheets had slid down more than he cared for them to. Quickly scrambling back under them he bowed his head and began to mumble another apology. As he did so, he stopped himself however and sighed "I've been apologizing since this morning..." "The doctors informed me you were to eat when you awoke." Rei said, seemingly not paying attention to anything he had said. "I don’t think I could keep it down." "You should attempt, we depart in sixty minutes." "Do I really have to get back into that thing?" he asked almost pleadingly" "Yes you do." She said simply. "You don’t understand," Shinji said softly, " you can be so cool about it because you haven't had to go through the things I have... I don’t want to do it again. I can't..." "Then stay here." Shinji raised his head and looked at her in surprise. "I will pilot Unit One, Doctor Akagi is ready to rewrite the core data should that become necessary." "Doctor Akagi..." "I must go, Captain Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi are awaiting me." With that she turned and walked to the door. She said one more thing before she left. As the door slid closed behind her, she looked at him and said goodbye. For some reason it sent chills down his spine. []====[] []====[] "What's wrong, Hikari?" Nozomi asked as she sat down beside her sister. "I had another fight with Kodama." Hikari replied reluctantly. Her younger sister nodded sagely and leaned back on her elbows. "What was this one about?" "Well I don’t know if that’s easy to answer. We were arguing about some of my friends, but I don’t think that’s why we were fighting... I think that she's disappointed in me." "Oooooohhh the school thing again?" "Yeah, the hearing is tomorrow and I think that’s what the little spat we had was really about." "Could be, but maybe she isn't really mad, maybe its something else." "Really? How do you figure?" "Well, it's not like either of you have ever been very good at coming out and saying stuff that’s really personal. Remember when she had that crush on wazhisname? She beat around the bush for months and never came out and said it. Eventually he found someone else and she lost whatever chance she did have. And don’t try to tell me you're not the same way. She was kinda jealous when you first go the class rep job, but I think she was finally starting to be proud of how well you were doing when all this happened. Now she's confused cuz she doesn’t know what to think" "You ever consider doing an advice section in the school paper?" "Why give it away when I could start a business of it? No, the free advice is just for family." "Thanks sis" Hikari said as she gave the younger girl a hug "I'll apologize to Kodama first chance I get." "Hey, can't have my two favorite people fighting all the time" Nozomi said with a smile, "now tell me more about this pilot guy, is he cute?" []====[] []====[] "Oh god don’t let her be dead!" Shinji prayed as he tried to pull the hatch to Unit Zero's entry plug open. Things had gone sour with the first shot. Whatever the Angel's energy beam was made of it had some weird distortion effect on the positron canon's own discharge and he had missed. As he'd chambered in the fresh round and tried to will the canon to cool faster, the Angel had fired again. Just before the devastating wave of energy struck him Rei had jumped into position. The shield that they had provided was designed to provide seventeen seconds of protection before giving out. This was a problem seeing as how the rifle required at least three more seconds than that before he could fire again. As her shield gave way and Unit Zero took the full brunt of the onslaught, Shinji took aim and opened fire. This time the blast struck home and in the distance the angel fell to earth in flames. As he looked back however, he saw Unit Zero falling as well, its armor melted and twisted from the heat. Now as he opened the plug's emergency access hatch in an uncanny duplication of his father's actions almost a month before he wondered if Rei Ayanami had gone out intending to die. Her last words to him had been spoken as if she would never see him again, and they way she had said goodbye had been made infinitely more disturbing than had been when she'd said the same at the hospital. "Rei! Are you alright?" he cried as he climbed into the Entryplug to find the pale girl lying in the pilot seat. As he reached for her hand he remembered her words as they had waited for the order to move out. "I have nothing else," she had said. "Rei?" he said again a bit louder as he saw her head turn slightly. As her eyes opened he couldn't hold the tears back anymore, he had been so afraid she had died… that she had died for something as worthless as saving his life. As the tears streamed down his cheeks he began to speak. "Don't say you have nothing else, and don’t say goodbye before leaving on a mission, its just too sad!" She leaned up in the chair and looked at him with confusion. "Why... why are you crying?" She asked Shinji sniffed back a sob and told her that he was crying because he was happy she was alive. "I see..." she said as she looked down, "I am sorry, but I do not know what I should do or say at a time like this." "If you're happy... then you should smile" he told her as he calmed down a bit. She nodded and sat there for another moment before he began helping her out of the Entryplug. He wasn’t sure if she had even listened to what he had said until his eyes met hers and he realized that there was a soft look in them, another closer glance and he realized that she was actually smiling for the first time since he had met her. As they made their way up the path toward the oncoming emergency crew, he decided that a smile suited her. []====[] []====[] "Please step outside while we deliberate." The school council told the few people in the audience. It had gone about as she had expected, and save for the presence of most of her classmates, it had been an awful experience. Touji and Kensuke had actually spoken on her behalf, and although they hadn't done very well, she was proud of the two for standing up for her. They had tried to take the entire blame for the incident and while they had been less than convincing, she did appreciate the effort that her friends had made. The committee was not easy to speak to, mostly due to the fact that none of them wanted to be there in the first place. As she waited outside with her classmates, she made half-hearted acknowledgments to the ones who were wishing her luck and telling her they would miss her if she had to go. She was feeling very depressed however, and Kodama still wasn’t speaking to her. Not only that, but She hadn't heard from Shinji since she had called him the other night and she was worried for him. They had defeated the angel, the one Kensuke kept referring to a giantD8--whatever that was. Unfortunatly there was still no word on the condition of the pilots. Rumors were spreading that someone had seen Unit One take a full force blast not too long after the first siren. It was possible that Shinji was hurt badly... and there was no way for her to find out. As she sat there, she saw a familiar figure walk around a corner and up to the door where her fate was being decided. It was the blond woman who had taken her and the boys' blood samples after the incident that this entire mess stemmed from. As Hikari watched on, the woman opened the door and entered the meeting hall. A few minutes later, she walked out with a slight smile. Realizing that the woman worked for Nerv, Hikari stood and hurried after her, catching up just before a set of elevators. "Excuse me ma'am?" "Yes?" The woman responded as she turned. "I don’t mean to be rude, but do you work for Nerv?" "Yes I do actually," the woman responded with an amused voice. "Um... I was wondering, if it isn't classified I mean, if you know if Pilot Ikari is all right? He's a friend of mine and I was worried." "You're Hikari Horaki aren't you?" the women asked as her smile widened. "Um, yes ma'am." "Shinji's fine, and he's actually part of the reason I stopped by here today." "I'm sorry?" "It's not really important, but as I said, he is fine and you should see him in school within two weeks." Before Hikari could even begin to explain about the hearing, the elevator opened and the blond woman stepped in. As the doors closed Hikari let out a sigh of relief that her friend was alright. It was too bad that she probably wouldn't have a chance to see him though. []====[] []====[] "After careful consideration of all the factors involved in this incident, we have decided that while the charges are severe, the circumstances surrounding them point to no real wrongdoing on the part of Miss Horaki. However, due to her lack of judgment we are placing her on probation and any further breaches of discipline will result in loss of her rank as class representative." Hikari could not have been more surprised; it just wasn’t possible. She had fully expected the worst punishment that the school had available for her screw up. For them to be this lenient was unreal. As she stood there in a state of not unpleasant shock, the rest of her class cheered behind her and she suddenly found her sister beside her. The older girl gave her a hug and as they left the building (after about an hour of praise from her classmates) Kodama spoke up. "Congratulations sis." "Thank you Kodama." "I think I owe you an apology for what I said last night. I was way out of line." " Its okay, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. "It's not okay... I think I was a bit jealous." "Jealous? Of what?" "Well when I was class rep, I didn’t have many friends... well any real ones. I was a bit of a bitch and didn’t really care about it at the time. When you got the job and I heard that you were... well at the time I thought you were slacking off and wouldn't last a month. Then you not only kept the job but seemed to be doing a good job, well lets just say that after I didn’t win the position in my class this year a green eyed monster bit me." "You've been talking with Nozomi haven't you?" "How can you tell?" "She says we both tend to beat around the bush too much and that whole bit just now sounded more like her than you... or me for that matter." Kodama smiled and let out a chuckle. "Ok, you got me there, she gave me a pointer or two. Hey you want to go to the mall?" "Well actually if your not busy I was wondering if you wouldn't mind making a quick stop somewhere..." []====[] []====[] As he sat in the living room, Shinji Ikari swore that he was never going to eat anything that had been boiled ever again. His entire body felt sore, and that wasn’t counting the constant itching his clothing was causing as it brushed his skin. Ritsuko had assured him that the aching would be gone in a few day's as his skin finished repairing the outer layers, but until then he would still feel like hell warmed... boiled over. He only dimly heard the doorbell and as Misato answered he tuned even that out until she called his name. "Hey Shinji!" she yelled from beyond the kitchen, "get decent, we got company!" He rolled his eyes and got to his feet. Just because she wandered the house half-naked didn’t mean everyone else did too. As he walked into the kitchen he was more than a bit surprised to find Hikari and a slightly older girl he didn’t know walking in after Misato. "Shinji!" Hikari said cheerfully as she saw him, "guess what?" "Hi Hikari, what's going on?" he asked as he wondered who the other girl was. "I didn't get expelled or even booted off as class rep!" she said with obvious joy. "That's great Hikari!" Shinji said as Misato agreed, "I'm glad, we would have missed you at school." The other girl looked back and forth between the two and smirked. Shinji saw this and immediately grew worried, she had just mimicked perfectly what he tended to think of as a 'Misato smirk' and it usually signaled an imminent round of teasing. "You were right Hikari, he is a sweetie." The older girl sad, immediately sending Misato into a gigglefit. Hikari, meanwhile blushed furiously and looked at the girl with an obvious desire to strangle her. "Kodama!" she said with indignation, " that wasn’t nice." "You're right, I should at least introduce myself before I start teasing someone. I'm Hikari's older sister Kodama. By the way I am very pleased you meet you Mr. Ikari, and you as well Captain Katsuragi. Thank you both for saving my sister's life the other day." "Oh, just doing our jobs Kodama, and lets all be friends here, He's Shinji and I'm Misato." "Sounds fine by me," Kodama said. As the two began talking, Shinji and Hikari slipped out unnoticed into the living room. "Oh great, " Shinji muttered, " there's two of them now." Between the giggles that this statement caused in Hikari, she agreed "I think bringing sismay not have been one of my better moves. "Well at least they seem to be getting along," Shinji said, "I am glad you didn’t get into much trouble though, I've been worried about it ever since you called the other night. I would have been there but they didn’t release me until an hour ago and Misato wanted me to stay inside." "Well I should be thanking you anyway, that doctor lady said something and I think that had more to do with their decision than anything." "Doctor lady?" "The one with the lab coat and the short blond hair." "Oh you mean Doctor Akagi? Was she there?" "You didn’t know? She implied that she was there because of you." "Well she was in the room when I was asking Misato if there was anything we could do to help you... maybe she thought of something." "Well thank her for me next time you see her okay?" "Absolutely. "Shinji said. As they talked about school for a bit, Misato leaned in and asked to speak with 'the lovebirds' for a moment. As they blushed and complained about the teasing they stepped back into the kitchen. Misato was sitting at the table with Kodama and asked them to sit down. "Okay, listen up cuz I'm about to get serious for a change-- don’t worry it won't last long. Anyway, look-- the two of you are friends and I'm happy about that, but I want you to remember that Shinji works for a organization that has many top secret projects. I don’t want either of you discussing Nerv when you can help it, and never _ever_ talk about it or the Evas over the phone. Do you understand that?" Shinji and Hikari nodded. "Good, now who wants to play quarters?" []======================[] To be Continued... []======================[] Authors incoherent babbling I skipped over a lot of the fight because like I said awhile back, we've seen these in the episodes, and in this case it didn’t have a lot to do with the story I'm telling (not to mention it didn’t go any differently). Other stuff, whatcha think of Hikari's sisters? My concepts for them are as follows: About the * I don’t know just how Japanese schools are structured, but if they are like what I know, then junior high is two years. I'm going on the assumption of Kodama being class rep all the way up to high school. Kodama: after realizing that she was something of a jerk while class rep she had become a little jealous of Hikari, but felt bad about feeling that way. Now that that’s behind them I intend to play her a bit like Misato in the fact that she teases Hikari about Shinji often. She and Misato hit it off and will be friends, (should be a good way to do more scenes with the 'lovebirds' together) (not them you hentai, I meant Shinji and Hikari!) Nozomi: a little imp. She is sharp as a monomolecular edge and loves it when people don’t realize this. She plays up the helpwess wittle goil act and uses it to fool people into thinking she's a flake. Her sisters know better, and keep an eye on her. She is full of useful advice and surprises people often with this. Hotwire Chain Lightning Studios http://www.chainlightningstudios.com