Neon Genesis Evangelion
   Higher Learning

  Strike Fiss, 2000









Thirty-Sixth Lesson:  "I spy"




It really was a shame that these favours had to be called on so early 
in the game.  While he did not have the omnipresent, reaching resources 
that Commander Ikari had, Kaji prided himself on his tight network of 
contacts, friends, and people who owed him favours.

Several had to be settled to even when he received the mission 
specification.  After all, infiltrating SEELE, even in such a rundown, 
unassuming warehouse that few knew about, and even fewer thought was 
used for anything...well...even at this level, it was insanely 
dangerous. 

Still, something had been powering him lately.  Misato had been 
right...he still strove to find the secrets...to shine a flashlight on 
them so the old men would sweat and make the mistakes he needed to 
continue...

So long as he pretended he didn't know the outcome of it all, he could 
fool himself to waking up in the morning.  He could pretend that this 
might all be worth something despite his fears.  

And, once in a while, he found himself hoping that Kaoru Miyazaki knew 
what he was doing.  

To those watching him...had they been able to after his 'favours' 
disabled the security cameras and systems...would have wondered what 
was on Kaji's mind.  The abandoned warehouse seemed to echo with each 
one of his expensive, comfortable dress-shoes hitting the tiled floor 
at their leisurely pace.  

With a hand in his pocket, he strolled down the hall, counting the 
doors to his right, knowing his destination was only a bit further.  
For some reason, he kept having the feeling of deja-vue that had been 
plaguing him lately.  

Still, besides the feeling he had done this all before, he could only 
sense safety ahead.  With a sigh, he tapped in a seven number sequence 
into the keypad...hoping the rather lucrative favour he had to waste on 
learning the sequence would pay off.

It did, and he was greeted with the quick swish of the door opening.  

An older man looked up, not really startled, but with a surprised 
expression on his face.  "It's been a long time, Kaji-san." The Sub-
Commander smiled.

"Likewise." Kaji smiled in his perpetual easy-going way.  With the door 
still open, he walked to Fuyutsuki and knelt down behind him to untie 
his hands that had been bound by nylon rope.  "Can you believe the room 
service in this dump?  It's appalling!"

That earned a genuine chuckle from the old Sensei.  "Still..." he shook 
his head.  "I didn't expect anyone to come.  This could mean a lot of 
trouble for you, you know."

"I know." Kaji said simply, shrugging as he stood and helped Fuyutsuki 
to his feet.  

"Why do you do this?" the Sub-Commander sighed as they walked out.  The 
door slid shut a moment later, locked by a new, randomly generated 
code.  "They would have let me go eventually."

Kaji considered the question for a moment as they walked out into the 
deserted outdoors.  

"I like changing their plans." He said.  "It gives me hope that we can 
still win this."

Fuyutsuki smiled and followed him to the old NERV jeep.  "You too?  I 
thought I was the only one..."











"Abducted?!" Misato coughed, nearly spitting out her coffee.

Ritsuko sighed and nodded.  "They're trying to get him back ass soon as 
possible...but most of the trouble is getting around possible traitors 
in the Security Branch.  We already know it was someone internal that 
let him get captured."

"What is the Commander saying?" Ritsuko shook her head.  "He can't be 
happy."

"He rarely is lately." Ritsuko mused, mostly to herself, before turning 
her attentions back to the screens.  All four Children were being 
monitored on the flat-screen panel.  They all looked very serene, 
actually...but the readings showed it was only their attempts at 
concentration that were calming.  "Mmm..."

"Mmm-what?" Misato sighed, looking over at the readouts.  This had been 
one of the first times the Children had been called in to sync...the 
staff still wary of Unit-01's behaviour.  

Shinji was showing a slight drop in his sync-ratio...no more than was 
expected after his month long absence, and certainly, he was fairing 
much better than they had feared.  He was such a fragile child...it 
wouldn't take much for him to snap into uselessness.  Luckily, his time 
with Unit-01 didn't seem to be detrimental. 

Toji and Rei were showing slight improvements over last time...adding 
to their steady climb to the level of Shinji and Asuka's ability...

Well...

Not quite Asuka's. 

Misato didn't even have to look at the readout to see something was 
wrong.  While the red-head's face seemed calm, she would occasionally 
catch a crinkle of her eyebrow...or a bit longer breath than normal.  

"She has been wracking herself over Shinji's disappearance all last 
month..." Ritsuko sighed.  "Maya told me that she actually started 
hanging around, just in case she could help.  I'm not surprised at the 
result."

Misato nodded wordlessly, taking a sip of coffee.  

"The question is...what's still on her mind?" Ritsuko said, looking up 
at Misato like she would know the answers. 

Strangely enough, she did.

"Do you know what day it is today?" Misato turned to the blonde 
scientist.  When she received a puzzled look, Misato sighed.  "A week 
before her birthday.  And also the anniversary of her mother's accident 
inside Unit-02."

Ritsuko blinked, then turned back.  "Her mother's suicide?"

"No...that actually took place a few weeks later." Misato whispered.  
"I'm not sure Asuka fully remembers the significance of today, though."

"It seems she had a very busy Fall, that year." Ritsuko shook her head.  
"Being drafted into Project E, and watching her family rip itself 
apart."

"Not to mention what's been happening lately." She leaned forward, 
resting her mug in her hands.  "We've all been working our asses 
off...Shinji's been in various liquid states, and changes are happening 
in both NERV and their personal lives.  Asuka must feel the world is 
falling apart again."

"But..." Ritsuko sighed.  "At the risk of sounding completely 
insensitive..." a small smile.  "She seems happier now that Shinji's 
back."

"Maybe." Misato nodded.  "But even then, I bet there are a lot of mixed 
feelings.  You know the record as well as she does..." a sad sigh.  
"Asuka has yet to defeat an Angel on her own.  The saviour she despises 
so much is also the boy she could not let go all last month." 

Ritsuko said nothing, watching the screens, gazing at each of the 
Children's faces.  

"We seem to have a lot of that here..." Misato whispered, now mostly to 
herself.  "The ones that do want to be saviours fail...the ones that 
don't are forced to fight."

"What was that?" Ritsuko turned back to her friend, blinking. 

"Nothing." The Major smiled softly.  "Just thinking out loud." She 
looked at the calendar.  "Of course, all this just might be because 
Asuka's hitting her period."

"You know the results wouldn't fluctuate that much..." Ritsuko shook 
her head.  "We tested Ayanami all throughout her puberty, and the 
readings never spiked or fell due to that kind of thing."

Misato raised an eyebrow.  "Well, of course not...the Commander has no 
use for menstrual cycles.  Rei wouldn't bother with them unless she was 
ordered to."

Ritsuko shot her an odd look, half disgusted, half angry.

The Major shook it off.  "I was kidding."






Not far away, Rei sneezed out a bubble into the LCL.  Her eyes cracked 
open, angrily.  "Someone is talking about me again..." she sighed.





"What's got you in such a foul mood today, anyway?" Ritsuko mumbled. 

Misato considered a response.  "My alarm clock broke." 

"Ahh."

The Major stewed a bit on some thoughts Kaji had brought to her 
attention.  "So, did the Commander release the lockdown on Unit-01 
yet?"

"Not yet." Ritsuko shook her head.  "We still have a lot of scanning to 
do first."

Bullshit.  Misato sighed to herself.  They had been scanning all month.  
Every three days saw every KIND of scan administered to the entire Eva 
over and over again.  

"Ahh.  Well, just tell me when Shinji-kun can help out again." She 
turned and walked over to the comm..  "It looks like Asuka might need 
the help again." She pressed the button.  "Hey kids."

All four of them opened their eyes.  Toji gave a little smile to the 
camera.  "How'd we do, Misato-san?"

"Not too bad!" Misato smiled.  "We might start scheduling some live 
sparing this week.  You all look ready for a bit of action."

"Just no dummy plugs, please." Rei smiled softly.  

"Don't worry, Rei...so long as you four stay happy and healthy, I doubt 
we'd have to use those things ever again." Misato smiled.

"Can I go too, Misato-san?" Shinji asked, eagerly.  The major noticed 
Asuka look away from the screen slightly.  "It would be a nice change 
of pace from sitting in the plugs for an hour."

"We'll see, Shinji.  Unit-01 might not be as ready as you are, yet." 
Misato lied, but smiled genuinely."

"Good.  I can't wait to start whoopin your ass, Shinji." Toji chided on 
through the video conference windows.  

Shinji just grinned.  "We'll just have to see about that."

Ritsuko smiled over at the Major.  "Are you sure you haven't been 
letting him hang out with Kaji-kun?"

Misato groaned and turned back to the comm..  "Well, hit the showers, 
kids.  I'll meet you all in the debriefing room in twenty minutes.  Tea 
is my treat."

"Hai!" three voices agreed.  Asuka just turned off her comm. quietly.

Ristsuko nodded, now that the room was not being monitored.  "You were 
right." She shook her head.  "Maybe it is PMS..."






Asuka sneezed as the plug began to drain, coughing out a bit of the LCL 
that was still in her lungs.  "I hate when they talk about me..."  





"So, what did you have planned?" Toji called out of the shower as 
Shinji started getting dressed. 

"Pardon me?" Shinji blinked, doing up the buttons on his white school-
shirt.  

"For Red Devil's birthday."

"Y...You've been keeping track?" Shinji smiled.  "I didn't know you 
cared, Toji-san!"

"I don't." Toji laughed, poking his head out from behind the shower 
stall.  "But Hikari has been talking about it non-stop for the last 
week, so I decided I better at least pay attention."

Shinji laughed quietly.  "I suppose that is as good a reason as any."

"So?" Toji continued as he washed up.  "I know you MUST be planning 
something.  You've been staring at her with that...look...ever since 
you got back from Unit-01."

"What look?" Shinji asked, already turning bright red.

"That..." he shrugged.  "That LOOK!  I don't know." He laughed.  "I'd 
say you look pathetic...but I also see how she looks at you when you're 
not looking."

Shinji blinked, turning pale now.  "W...she...she looks at me?"

"Hell yeah." Toji nodded.  The shower stopped, and he emerged in a 
towel, walking over to his locker to get dressed as well.  "It's 
horrible for Kensuke and I to watch, but I suppose it had to happen 
eventually with all the time you've been together."

"Y...y..." Shinji swallowed hard.  "...it's that obvious, huh?"

"The only reason you two aren't the talk of the class...well, according 
to Hikari, anyway, is because everyone's actually excited about this 
project." He chuckled.  "Right, spy-master Ikari?"

"Ah..." he added weakly.

"So...I ask again...did you have anything special planned for her 
birthday?" Toji said as he shrugged on his own shirt.  "If you don't, 
Hikari's been holding off on plans herself, wondering if you'd want to 
have her all to yourself." He chuckled.

"Well..." Shinji swallowed and smiled weakly.  "I was thinking about 
cooking all her favourite German and American food.  She's always 
complaining about Japanese food, so I thought it might be a nice 
treat."

"Mmmm...that's a pretty good start, Ikari." Toji smiled at his friend.  
"I'm impressed."  But then he raised an eyebrow.  "What else?"

"Uhhh..." Shinji stammered for a moment.  "I guess...uhm..."

"Sure!  We'd love to come over for her surprise party." Toji offered 
with a smile.

"Would you?" Shinji beamed.  "You wouldn't mind?"

"Ahh, I suppose I can tolerate her so long as she's DROOLing over you, 
instead of yelling at me." Toji smiled.  "And Kensuke will love to come 
to say hi to Misato, at least." He nodded.  "It will be fun."

"D...drooling?"

"So..." Toji grinned, edging on.  "It WILL be her 'sweet sixteen'...a 
VERY important birthday for most Eastern cultures...are you going to 
give her anything else?"

"W...what do you mean?" Shinji hid his eyes by pretending to focus on 
folding his discarded plug-suit.

"Oh, come on, Ikari..." Toji grinned wider.  "Don't tell me a big, 
manly hero like yourself hasn't thought at least SOME manly thoughts 
about his very own damsel in distress..." he coughed.  "...even if she 
is Satan..." his smile returned.  "Am I right?"

Shinji swallowed hard, then glanced up at the clock. "Misato-san is 
waiting.  We'd better hurry." He dashed out the door without another 
word.

Toji just smiled.  "Atta' boy."









Misato almost screamed when she saw it.

She had been witness to the Second Impact itself...Evangelions tearing 
apart Angels and gutting their remains...and half a dozen instances in 
her life that would have made lesser people turn into babbling blobs of 
jelly, while she would just shrug them off. 

And yet, this event was so unexpected, Misato almost dove for cover the 
moment she saw it. 

Rei Ayanami was wearing a dress.

The other Children obviously were equally as shocked; sitting around 
her with staggered jaws, eyes wide.  Rei, for her part, seemed to be 
sitting at the end of the table quite normally.  Relatively 
expressionless except for a mild blush that had crept up along her 
cheeks under the attention. 

"Good afternoon, Major." She said quietly.

"Uhm..." Misato swallowed hard, rubbing her eyes again to make sure 
what she was seeing was real. 

Sure enough, Rei Ayanami was dressed in a white, modest, but very 
attractive sun-dress that put Asuka's yellow attire to shame.  Asuka 
was too busy being shocked to be jealous, however.  

"MEIN GOTT!" Asuka whispered under her breath.  "She...she...she 
has...FASHION SENSE??!??!"

Both Shinji and Toji just wondered where they could get their 
respective dates a dress that nice...and in the meantime, tried not to 
develop nosebleeds.  

"I went shopping." Rei explained with a small sigh, realizing they 
weren't going to stop anytime soon. 

"Ahh...okay." Misato cleared her throat and sat down at the table.  "It 
looks...very nice, Rei-chan!" she smiled earnestly, trying not to seem 
too creeped out.  

Asuka shook it off as well.  "So?  Can we get down to business and then 
get something to eat?" she sighed.  "I'm starved."

"Sure, sure." The Major replied, looking over the page of notes and 
test results.  "Shinji...congratulations, you've only lost a two-point 
score on your sync-ratio.  That's very impressive considering how long 
you've been away from the tests!"

Shinji blushed and bowed his head.  "Asuka's been helping me meditate."

Asuka shot him a private smile.  The young pilot proceeded to blush 
more. 

Misato ignored the look and smiled over at Toji.  "And Toji-kun here is 
finally past the Sixty-Five mark.  I'm recommending to the commander 
that you'll be put on full standby alert from now on.  You should be 
able to handle the next Angel alone if necessary."

Toji bowed, but looked slightly more stoic.  "I would still appreciate 
the other Unit's backing me up, Miss Misato." He smiled.  "I'm just 
tagging along to help."

"Don't worry.  It won't come to that." Misato smiled, hoping that 
statement would hold true.  "As for Rei, you're two points ahead of 
Toji.  I look forward to the level of skill you show during the next 
training mission."

"Hai.  Domo."  Rei bowed her head quietly.

"And..." she looked down at the sheet briefly, then up at Asuka's 
smiling face...one that was obviously expecting great news.  "We have 
determined an error in the system thanks to Asuka."

Asuka blinked...then her eye twitched.  "Pardon me?"

Misato coughed.  "Uhm...Asuka-chan...you know that 'time of the 
month'?"

Asuka blushed.  "W...what about it?"

Toji gagged and fell over.  "OH MY GAAAAWD!"

Everyone ignored him.  "Well...your sync rate is cut in half..." Misato 
smiled weakly.

Asuka almost jumped out of her seat as she slammed her hands on the 
table.  "WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S CUT IN HALF!!?!?!?!"

Misato began to sweat.  "It's nothing, Asuka!  In a few days, I'm sure 
you'll be back to normal."  She didn't have the heart to say anything 
about the steady decline they had recorded.  

Asuka grumbled, sitting back down.  "Is it above the minimum?"

"Barely." Misato sighed and nodded.

"Good.  Then at least I'm not out of the fight because of this..." she 
glared down at herself.  "...body..."

Toji stopped gurgling on the floor and sat back up.  "Are you two done 
grossing me OUT?!?"

Misato shot him a nod.  "Yes.  You're done here, Toji.  The briefing is 
finished."

"Thank you." He stood, still making 'icky faces' at her and Asuka. 

Shinji and Rei both moved out quickly after, not really wanting to 
incur more wrath.  

Asuka lingered, though, looking down at herself.  "This isn't fair, you 
know..."

Misato nodded.  "I know."

"I don't even want children..." the redhead sighed, walking out of the 
room.  "Why do I need this?"  Misato followed close behind.

The major smiled softly and placed her hand on her shoulder.  "It makes 
us human, Asuka."

Asuka's eyes lowered, but she seemed to agree.  "I guess."

"Come on, we'll stop by the supermarket on the way home." Misato smiled 
helpfully.  "We'll get you some nice tea.  The right kinds can help a 
lot, you know."  Asuka turned on her heel.  Misato almost fell over 
while she tried to avoid the collision.  

"I don't think some tea is going to fix me."  The redhead hissed.

Misato was more than slightly unnerved as the door slammed in her face.













While they were hardly worried about it anymore, a Sync Test usually 
meant the Children could skip the rest of the day of school.  Today was 
no exception, and they were all looking forward to some R&R.

Shinji and Asuka parted from Toji and Rei as they always did.  Misato's 
apartment was the furthest away from the inner city, so they were 
always last on the street, walking home.  

Ikari smiled to himself as he looked at the 'fall' sky.  There was no 
real difference from the Spring, Summer...or even Winter...skies, 
except a slight bit more orange in the sunset as it came about an hour 
earlier than usual.  The wind almost made the atmosphere seem cool and 
crisp.  Truly, a wonderful time to be walking outdoors.  Even if it was 
in a crowded city. 

"I'm cold..." Asuka whispered to herself, startling Shinji out of his 
reflections.  

"Asuka-chan?" he blinked, looking over at her to see her arms crossed 
around themselves.  She wasn't shivering, but seemed almost ready to.  

She gasped, almost as if she didn't know she had said anything out 
loud.  "Uhm...ahh..." she blushed.  "Come on, baka...pick up the pace.  
It's getting windy."

"Hai." He nodded, following her pace as she zoomed in front.  

When they got home, they were both in a cold sweat.  "I'm going to get 
a bath." She informed him.  Almost as an afterthought, she turned with 
pleading eyes.  "What's for dinner?"

He smiled brightly.  "I was thinking of trying out some spaghetti."

Asuka smiled softly.  "Sounds good.  I'll be out in a bit."

He watched her walk off, then turned to the kitchen to prepare a meal.  
His smile had faded, though, and as he began to take out the boiling 
pot and noodles, he decided that he had to figure out what was wrong.  







Misato sighed as the security guards came into the dimly lit office.  
"Nuts...I was almost finished this paperwork..." she thought to 
herself. 

"Major." One saluted.  "Do you know what this is about?"

She took a long breath and nodded.  "I assume it would have something 
to do with the Sub-Commander's disappearance." She raised an eyebrow.  
"How you stooges let that happen, I'll never know."

The man looked slightly embarrassed.  Not much...but enough to show 
through his professionally honed shell of indifference.  "The 
perpetrators were actually members of NERV, ma'am.  There was no way we 
could have anticipated it."

"Mmm.  Maybe." She sighed, digging into her pocket to pull out her 
access card.  "So I assume you think Agent Ryouji is the prime 
suspect?"

The agent nodded.  "Yes.  That's why we've been asked to confine you to 
one of the NERV lower levels until this is resolved."

Misato nodded.  She had to admit, she might have done the same thing.  
"Well, I suppose that's logical considering our past relationship."  
Her gun was retrieved slowly and also placed on the desk in front of 
her.  

"Thank you, Major.  I'm sure this will be over soon."






Kaji sighed as he walked into his apartment.  It was musty and stale.  
He must have forgotten to set the air conditioning unit.  Come to think 
of it, weeks had passed since his last visit to what he laughingly 
called 'home'.

It was quiet as a tomb.

He walked to the fridge and took out a block of soup he had made a 
while ago, then shoved it in a bowl, then the microwave to heat it up.  
The only other movement was the soft, red glow of a light that kept 
flicking on and off. 

"Ahh, hell." He sighed, rushing over to the answering machine to check 
the messages. 

First one.  Misato's voice sounded a bit tired.  She was probably 
bogged down with paperwork again.  "Hey, Kaji.  I'm stuck doing 
paperwork for tonight.  You might not be able to take me up on that 
dinner idea.  Call me tonight and we'll set up a better time.  Ja."

With a chuckle, he remembered he would have been late anyway.  "Thanks, 
Katsuragi.  You have impeccable timing."

Second message.  Gendo.  "Well done."

Kaji shrugged to himself.  He was surprised Gendo even bothered to 
thank him for retrieving the Sub-Commander.  Maybe the Commander had 
been drinking, and was feeling generous. 

Third message. 

Kaji's eyes raised as he listened to it.  It would seem a few more of 
the favours people owed him would pay off tonight.  Unfortunately, he 
reasoned by the time he made it to the appointed place, it would 
already be time.  No time for soup.  He sighed.  "Another busy day." He 
walked over to his coat and picked it up.

Just as he was halfway out the door, though...

Fourth message.  Kaoru Miyazaki's voice seemed urgent enough that it 
stopped Kaji's focused walk out the door.  

"Kaji...are you there?  Listen...listen good....we need to talk."

Kaji raised an eyebrow.  "About time..." he smiled, but then closed the 
door behind himself.  "Maybe tomorrow, Sensei."  He shrugged off the 
sense of deja-vue and ran for his car.












"Supper's on!" Shinji said proudly as Asuka emerged from the hall, 
still drying her hair. 

She had changed and was wearing a big, fluffy sweater and jeans.  She 
seemed a bit sleepy...probably from the hour-long, leisurely bath she 
had just had, but was smiling at the sight of the food on the table.  
"Right on!  I'm starving!"

Shinji laughed to himself as Asuka discarded the towel around her head 
and started rolling up a nice big chunk of the spaghetti to flop down 
on her plate.  He sat down opposite to her, watching in amazement, and 
trying to figure out how she was using the forks so easily.  

Asuka, in turn, just dug in, grabbing the sauce and pouring it on top 
of the pasta.  Shinji tried his best to echo, having never really 
bothered trying the Italian dish for himself.  

"Mmm.  Good." She huffed, wiping her mouth as she slurped up a few of 
the noodles. 

Shinji blinked, then smiled nervously.  "Really?  It seems a 
bit...squiggly." he tried a nice big fork-full himself.  "Mmmm..."

She smiled, watching him struggle with the utensil, laughing as his 
next fork-full ended up in his lap.  "Do you need any help with that, 
Baka-kun?"

Shinji blushed and hurriedly picked up the noodles from his lap before 
it started scalding anything.  "I...I can manage." 

Asuka raised an eyebrow as, in Shinji's attempts to clean himself off, 
his elbow hit the plate and spilled another generous helping of noodles 
onto his crotch.  

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Shinji yelled out...the steamed noodles finally 
having enough collective heat to seep though through his pants.  Asuka 
gasped as he ran off to the bathroom.  "Gomen!  Gomen!  I'll be back!" 
he yelled, zooming past her.

Pen-Pen waddled out from his fridge, and helped himself to the 
spaghetti that had landed in his food dish.  "Wuaagh."

Asuka sighed.  "You can say that again."

"Wuaagh."

"Smartass."








Time had been flowing erratically for Kaji.  He seemed so busy 
lately...with the assignment Gendo had dropped in his lap...all the way 
up to today.  His life seemed to have not one moment for rest.

Not even right now...though he did seem relaxed.  It was a nice place, 
this part of NERV.  Quiet, and quite beautiful in the calm evening 
light.  

The moments were marked by the steady rhythm of the cooling fan-blades 
behind his back.  The sandwich he had managed to pick up on the way was 
gone now, leaving a wrapper on the floor that had skittered away, off 
into the darkness thanks to the air-flow.  

For some reason, he found himself thinking about Misato.  

The sound of footsteps approached, off in the shadows.  He relaxed 
slightly as he saw it was his contact.  

"Hey." He smiled warmly.  "You're late."

His smile dropped when he saw the glint of a gun barrel cut a brief, 
tell-tale reflection through the shadows.  

And as the sound of a gunshot pierced the silence...the air seemed to 
explode with yellow light.  Kaji's eyes went wide as he was thrown 
back, consciousness stolen.

The last thing he remembered hearing, besides the brief splatter of 
blood and flesh, was a foil sandwich bag...off to his side...being 
stepped on.










Shinji moaned as he stood up from the bath...now completely drenched in 
icy water up to his stomach.  "Spaghetti is dangerous." He told himself 
with a shiver. 

It took him a while to re-compose himself.  He discarded his pants to 
the laundry bin, and found a fresh pair he had not had time to iron and 
put away yet.  Soon, though, he was ready, and coaching himself to go 
out to laughing eyes and try his hand again at eating some of Asuka's 
food.  

She would probably think he was such a klutz.  At first, he hadn't 
minded it...normally ending up falling over her or her over him.  But 
spilling freshly boiled noodles on your privates?  That was pretty damn 
bad.  

He expected Asuka to be still laughing as he poked his head out from 
the hallway. 

She wasn't.

His worries were suddenly washed away as he saw her...sitting 
there...but not doing anything else.  Almost like a doll with it's 
strings cut away, frozen in it's last thought.

Her fork was raised in her hand, still having a mouthful of pasta 
entwined around it's teeth...but it didn't move.  She seemed to be 
studying it...if it wasn't for the look on her face.  

Asuka's eyes seemed dead.  For a brief moment, Shinji panicked.  The 
only thing that stopped him from rushing over to help her was a long, 
shaky sigh that the redhead let escape her lips.  

"A...suka..." he whispered to himself.  

It took him a long time to figure out what to do.  He couldn't just 
barge in on her like this...she seemed...so fragile.  Yet, his mind 
demanded he study this moment.  Candid Asuka.  He forced himself to try 
and figure out why she was doing this.  

Finally, though, he could come to no logical conclusion, and only 
promised himself to try to find out later. 

Shinji made a tactful retreat back into the hall, closing the bathroom 
door with more force this time, and sighing loudly so as to alert Asuka 
to his return. 

He wasn't too sure if it was a good thing...but when he turned the 
corner again, she was smiling over at him.  "Have fun, Baka?" she 
winked.  "You didn't singe anything, did you?"

"Not at all." He blushed, then smiled, sitting down...carefully...and 
helping himself to a much smaller plate of noodles before looking up at 
her.  "Asuka?"

"Hai?" she blinked, talking around the mouthful of food she had been 
neglecting before.  

He blinked, then looked down at the plate.  The image of her lifeless 
face worried him...but he forced himself to look back up.  "H...how's 
the spaghetti?"

Asuka smiled brightly.  "It's just fine, Shinji.  You're such a worry-
wart."

"Hai hai." He nodded, then tried again himself.  "Mmm...you're 
right...it's not bad."

She winked.  "See?  I told you that some non-Japanese food would be 
good for you."

He nodded and smiled back.  "You're right.  Thanks, Asuka!"

"No problem." She smiled and sighed.  "You're the one that cooked 
it...you should thank yourself."

Shinji shook his head.  "But I cooked it for you." A blush crept up on 
his features again.  "I never would have picked up any if you hadn't 
suggested it at the market.  Arigato, Asuka-chan."

She smiled happily, then returned her attentions to the food.  

Shinji sighed to himself.  If only he had been a better spy...maybe 
like Kaji-san.  He always knew how to solve problems like this.










Kaji wasn't really to sure what was going on when he awoke to see the 
fan blades above him.  

"H...holy shit..."  That was what he would have said...if it didn't 
come out as a series of coughs.  

His hand jetted up to his chest, then neck, then head...finally...to 
his groin, searching for blood and bullet-holes.  He relaxed as he 
realized he was completely intact. 

Except...

There was a bit of blood.  Not his...but it had splattered across his 
shoulder.  

The images and senses came flooding back into his mind.  T...those... 
glasses.  Such a cold...cold look.  It chilled him, even as he was 
thanking kami-san for the ability to feel cold at the moment. 

But...what had happened? 

The gun went off...

Then...

That feeling washed over him.  The way the air had split.  The light 
that erupted from nowhere, yet seemed as a knife.

Kaji took a scrambling step back as he saw a thin, charred line across 
the floor.  His finger explored it, then returned bloody.  He yelped as 
the pain set in.  The cut in the metal floor had been perfect, leaving 
a razor-edge.  

"God in Heaven..." he whispered.  "An A.T. Field..."












To be continued....

======================================================================


Good evening everyone!  It seems Higher Learning is on a 2 week 
rotation at the current time...and it won't get any worse, I promise.  
Of course, depending on my free-time, it will probably improve 
again...I'm aiming for a week-and-a-half.  Seems to be a good 
compromise. 

Ahhh, and yes, back to more Shinji-Asuka action.  I bet you were all 
hoping for some spaghetti-hentai-stuff to happen.  Well...so was 
I...but if I started doing that, it might not be good for the 
spookiness of the story.  :P  Yay!  Kaji gets to live...for now!  ^_^  
More on that next time, I hope.  After all, we can't have him dying 
before he and Misato get some funky horizontal action, now, can we? 

So, for now, this is Strike Fiss signing off...but before I go...oh 
yes...you know what time it is! 




   ***********THE ADVENTURES OF THE MISSING UNIT-04!***************







SCENE:  We open to the blue sky, then pan down as the roar of a crowd's 
cheer fills our ears.  The camera zooms in finally to show a giant 
arena, with each and every one of it's seats all packed full of fans of 
all ages!

Not everyone is happy, though.  One young boy in particular who seems 
to have a ball-cap surgically implanted over his eyes, and wild hair 
sticking out of the sides.  His clothes are simple, but he does have a 
long vest on, with several round objects on them, hanging via Velcro.

BOY:  "NOOOOOOOOO!  Butterfree!  Don't charge at him!!!  What are 
you...ARGH!"

We cut to the arena, where too small monsters are battling it out in 
the ring, that is shaped much like the round white-and-red balls that 
many of the younger children seem to have on their clothing.  

A tiny, abet, bouncy yellow rat-thing is on the ground, while a 
smoking, fluttering giant butterfly is in the air, getting ready to 
attack.  Sure enough, Butterfree charges...but the yellow Pikachu 
simply discharges another round of electricity, knocking it's opponent 
out of the sky and into the dirt. 

PIKACHU:  "Pika Pikaa!"

We now scan back to besides the boy with the weird hat, to see Ash, the 
up-and-comer in the Pokemon battle circuit this evening.  

ASH:  "Hah ahahahaa!  I win again!  You rule, Pikachu!"

The other trainer retrieves his battered Butterfree as he walks off.  
Ash's name, along with a picture of his winning Pokemon is put up on 
the board as the new champion so far...with only one more challenger 
before he takes home the prize.  

ASH:  "All right!  Just one more, Pikachu, and we've won the cup!"

PIKACHU:  "Pikaaaaaaa!"

ANNOUNCER:  "And finally, the last match of the day...for the title of 
Pokemon Master!  Will the challenger please step forward!"

Everyone is a bit surprised as an older man steps out of the crowd with 
a big, metal suitcase in his gloved hands.  

GENDO:  "You are Ash, are you not?"

ASH:  <smirking>  "That's right, old man.  You think you can win 
against me and my best buddy?"

GENDO:  "Yes."

ASH:  "Hey!  Pikachu!  This old grandpa thinks he's goinna win!" 

PIKACHU:  <laughing>  Pikkkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

GENDO:  <his glasses reflecting the light>  "Shall we begin?"

ASH:  <nods>  "Okay, let's fight!"

GENDO:  <grins, then opens his case, pulling out a Pokeball> 

                  "I CHOOSE YOU, EVA-UNIT-FOUR!"


Pikachu is dwarfed by a giant shadow that blocks out the sun as the 
Pokeball deposits it's contents onto the battle.


PIKACHU:  "P...Pika?"

ASH:  "Holy...mother...of...Christ..." <shakes out of it>  
"Uhm...Hurry, Pikachu!  He can't be all that tough!  FIGHT!"

Suddenly, the Sub-Commander is seated besides Gendo. 

FUYUTSUKI:  "Looks like we've won."

GENDO:  "Mmm..."

Pikachu steels himself and unleashes a massive explosion of electricity 
unlike anything he had ever done before!!!

UNIT-4:  "Grrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

PIKACHU:  "P..."

A massive, yellow, cross-shaped explosion vaporized everyone within a 
10 mile radius, except Gendo and Fuyutsuki.  

GENDO:  <surveying the desolate wasteland that was the arena>  "Yui 
never thought I'd become a Pokemon master."

FUYUTSUKI:  <sighs>  "You really want to impress her, don't you."

GENDO:  <adjusts his glasses>  "Now...if only I could beat Final 
Fantasy VII.  That Sepharoth guy is one tough fucker."

Both the Sub-Commander, and Unit-04 fell over, creating large amounts 
of dust. 



***********************************************************************

The end! ^_^ 





e-mail:   strikef@bigfoot.com
homepage: http://www.studioshinnyo.com
            or
          http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9110




Strike Fiss, Studio Shinnyo 2000.  Khattam-Shud, EOF