NGE "Once more with Feeling" Alt fic

[Vehrec]

If Gendo realizes his precious scinario is going tits up slowly, he might act to preserve it. On the other hand, more people know what the show is now. This gets harder to predict the more it diverges. Up until now, we were SURE things would go a certain way. Now? Not so certain.
Things are moving fast at the moment in character development land-small changes adding up over time have created avalanche conditions. When and how they will trigger is the big question.

[FA Xerrik]

Hmm if Shinji plays his cards right on the little shopping excursion he just might wind up a few points higher in Asuka's book. Or, she might just destroy him with the Fire of a Thousand Suns she seems to channel so easily...

Excellent developments as you start to deviate more and more from the OTL, it starts to become harder and harder to know where they'll go from here.

[Sidewinder]

A good chapter, but you should read this to avoid embarrassing mistakes like mispellings

But, if they tried in any way to warn SEELE, they would find themselves locked up in a run down prison on the Siberian / Chinese border Japan rented for almost nothing from the PRC, for the rest of their miserable lives.

FYI, the Chinese and the Japanese LOATHE each other, so you might want to rewrite this as "a run down gulag in Siberia Japan rented for almost nothing from the Soviet Union." (IIRC, the Soviet Union still exists in the world of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.)

[Chris OFarrell]

FYI, the Chinese and the Japanese LOATHE each other, so you might want to rewrite this as "a run down gulag in Siberia Japan rented for almost nothing from the Soviet Union." (IIRC, the Soviet Union still exists in the world of 'Neon Genesis Evangelion'.)

The Chinese and Japanese don't like each other, sure. Though in this new world order, a lot of that hate has, if not faded, been generally set aside. I recall Gendo was quite easily making deals with the Chinese military relativly early on in the show, in fact it might have even BEEN in this episodes time frame over Evangelion construction. If the Japanese are willing to pay, I don't think the Chinese would really deny...

Of course, its also possible I could say China got smacked around something fierce in the aborted attempts at WW3 and so isn't in any position to refuse the almighty post Second Impact Japan

And I don't recall anything about the USSR still existing. Russia, certainly...but nothing about the USSR. Hell, the Anime was developed in the mid 1990's and IIRC finished around 1997 -Jesus where does the time go?- well after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

[Sidewinder]

And I don't recall anything about the USSR still existing.

The last time I was in Taiwan, I read some of the 'Neon Genesis Evangelion' animanga. The one for episodes 7 and 8 had commentary on how the USSR still exists. Besides, I find it HIGHLY unlikely that a USN carrier, which many people assume the 'Over the Rainbow' is, has systems compatible with Russian-built fighters.

[Academia Nut]

It should be pointed out Sidewinder that the Over the Rainbow and the aircraft on it would have 15 years to find compatibility.

Plus the manga based on the anime is in a significantly different timeline. Asuka is blonde, Kaworu shows up waaaaaaay earlier and has a much more significant role, several Angels aren't even seen, and a whole bunch of other differences. So the whole USSR thing, since not mentioned in the anime could be safely excluded, especially since there was a good four years between the collapse of the union and beginning of the production of the anime, and Second Impact takes place in 2000, so there is no need to come up with some sort of convoluted reasoning for why the USSR would still be there.

[Darth Yoshi]

For the time being, at least, a repeat of the JSSDF assault seems to have been averted.

It's rather amusing that synch-training this time is a result of their success against Israfel, rather than their failure.

Keep it coming, Chris.

[Battlehymn Republic]

Wait, wait! So does this mean that if we were to think of NGE in Cthulhu Mythos terms (less literally than "Children of an Elder God", of course), that if SEELE is the Majestic-12 in the Delta Green supplement, Shigeru Ishiba and Kaji are Delta Green itself?

[Darth Fanboy]

FINALLY, Putting together a few hours over the course of three days finding the time to sit and view this fic has been very well spent!

I hadn't even peeked in this thread until a week or so ago, and now I'm mad that there isn't any new material.

Very awesome fic.

[Vehrec]

Evangelion Rhapsody. For fans of the series, queen and very appropriate songs. I thought it might be appreciated.

[Chris OFarrell]

Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!

This year, my New Years Eve celebrations were rather pathetically sad, most of the group I usually hang with were out of the country, out of the city or in the case of one person, so damn sick he just got out of hospital.
So instead of going over to a friends place or going out or even getting laid or anything fun, I sat at home.

Which ironically ended up being rather cool. Despite the fact that fireworks are illegal in New South Wales, everyone across Sydney set off their own private display last night around my house, when midnight hit it was frigen AWESOME to watch several kilotons worth of firepower exploding -well at least it sounded like it!-

None the less, in the long boring wait this afternoon and evening, I decided if I'm going to sit around moping, I might as well sit around moping and finish off the latest bit of fanficiton.

That also might be the affect of the little Rei Ayanami standee I got for Christmas from my Sister. I have no idea how she knew I loved Evangelion, I have no idea she even knew WHAT Evangelion was. But now I have a Rei Ayanami, about six inches tall give or take in her plug suit, holding the Lance which reaches much higher behind her back, sitting on top of my computer tower and inspiring me.

It also came with a piece of chewing gum from Japan itself. Which was rather cool.

Anyway.


This chapter(s) are something of a writing experiment for me, a style I've never used before and I thought I would give a try. I think I commented before that this fanfic is also a little bit about this kind of testing, so there you go. In this case, its a kind of 'split perspective' test, where you show the same events from the perspective of three different people in three different chapters. Think 24 except with each episode only focusing on ONE person, then the next episode going to the NEXT person or something. Or more accurately, like that Simpsons episode with 'Barts Day' and 'Lisa's Day' and 'Homers Day' and so on, if you can remember it.

The problem is, that it got a LITTLE out of control and I kept writing and writing and writing...you're looking at the first two complete chapters standing at 18K and 15K each, with the final chapter at 14K which I expect to increase just a tad by the time I expect to finish it.

I blame Academia Nut and his most excellent "Thousand Shinji" crossover as the bastard keeps posting chapter after chapter, moving the timeline along and leaving me flailing behind. I don't know if this is some sub plot of his Tzeentchich scheming to get me to write faster -and his later chapters are directly responsible for a large amount of the next chapter as he turns Rei into a Deamon Princess of Nurgle...which in turn rewrote half the bloody story- but its working...


Focus...focus...
The chapters are named after a 1990's film trillogy that apparently won worldwide critical acclaim called the 'Three Colors Trilogy". I never saw them, but the titles worked rather nicely from my perspective, partially because these chapters are VERY heavily character driven more then event driven and really revolve around the pilots.


Part One: "Three Colors: Red"


Part Two: "Three Colors: White"


Part Three: "Three Colors: Purple"


And if you can't figure out what those colors represent, then someone needs to hit you over the head with a progressive knife.


Last thing to say, if these chapters just don't DO anything for you, its perfectly understandable and rest assured that we'll get back to the tried and true linear multiple POV chapters after this, but I thought it would be a fun thing to try out. I'll be posting one chapter a day so people don't go insane, so you'll get 'Three Colors White' tomorrow -which IMO is stronger, if insane to write, bloody hell Rei is a hard character to write! - and 'Three Colors Purple' the day after that.


Three Colors Red

Dawn broke over Tokyo-3 on Saturday September the 5th 2015, the light and heat from the distant star striking the city and heralding another day of intrigue, plotting, reconstruction and repair; in short a typical day in NERV’s fortress against the Angels when the aforementioned attackers were, well, not attacking. Sol, the star Earth orbited didn’t really care about the plots and activities of the city it was not illuminating…but then again, humans were pathetically insignificant next to the ball of thermonuclear fusion and not really worthy of its attention.


Though on balance, had it been capable of rational thought, it might have found some degree of commonality with a fiery young adolescent stepping into a shower inside the fortress city.


Asuka Langley Soryu had once had her long auburn hair - which she rightly considered her best trait - compared to a blazing sunset. The comparison had secretly flattered her, even if the guy who made it back in Germany had been an utter jerk with an inflated opinion of himself. None the less, she took a great pride in her appearance and her literal crowing achievement, meaning that each morning she went through a methodical process in the shower to ensure that it –and she- would look as flawless as the day before.


First, she washed the hair out with a double action shampoo, often twice if she was talking a shower after having to sit inside an LCL filled coffin for a few hours, with no more then a five minute shower between the entry plug and her bed. Then she rinsed it carefully, before working through a series of superior German conditioners including a duel action moisturizer / reconstructor, generally followed by a glosser to bring out her color, before rinsing off one last time.


This morning as she showered under the wonderful hot water, she took extra care to get her hair looking its best, using up a dangerous amount of her conditioner reserves to achieve perfection, before turning her attention to the rest of her body, methodically running an exfoliating washcloth over every part of her perfectly tanned and toned body to scrub off the smallest trace of dead skin, noting with pleasure that her feminine attributes were continuing to mature; she was well in advance of anyone in her year at school…and arguably in direct competition with some girls several years her senior. Sighing contently with a smile on her face that would have utterly terrified Toji Suzuhara or Kensuke Aida, Asuka hummed a comforting tune to herself deep from her subconscious as she went about her daily routine, finally stepping out of the shower onto the bathroom mat to dry off, before taking a seat to methodically shave her legs to a silky smooth finish.
Asuka demanded perfection in all things…and expected nothing less of her own body.


All in all, this entire process had become less of a morning shower to her then a morning ritual. Not in the least because she had increasingly needed the hot, soothing water to wash away the dark shades that haunted her sleep…even if she would never admit it to anyone. Least of all herself.
Ensuring her towels were set, she let the content look on her face drop away to a more typical expression of mild glowering, against the expectation that she would find the Third Child waiting outside as she slammed opened the door-


There was nobody waiting outside.


Well except Pen Pen, who dropped his copy of the Wall Street Journal and all but flew past her into the bathroom. In any other house, waking up in the morning to find a Penguin checking the stock market while waiting for a hot bath before heading for a nap inside a fridge would probably be grounds to go and see a psychiatrist…but in Misato Katusragi’s apartment…well…it was pretty much situation normal.


Still, it was a disappointing outcome. She as yet had failed to catch the Third in a position where she could flaunt her body to cause maximum embarrassment to him and develop some kind of chink in his mental armor. It was increasingly infuriating her that nothing she did appeared to really affect him.


Oh sure she could annoy him, irritate him or just plain hurt him –though doing any of those three was considerably harder then she had hoped- but utterly nothing had a lasting effect…and even worse, Asuka was finding herself growing used to the idea of living with him.


She had considered it an utterly insane idea two days ago, the very thought that they should live together! Two adolescent teenagers with their hormones firing at full speed! She could control herself of course, but how could that Shinji be expected to control himself around her? The hottest damn Girl he had ever seen?


Misato’s answer had been less then blunt, suggesting that Shinji was the most well behaved, helpful and downright polite person she had ever had living with her and that she had great confidence in his ability to deal with Asuka’s advances.


Asuka didn’t know what had infuriated her more at that point. Misato’s not so subtle hint that Shinji made a far more reliable roommate then she had…or the implication that she would be making advances on him!

Oh come on Asuka…we both know how you kept glancing at him yesterday during training, with him in that tight fitting dance getup as he built up a sweat-

Asuka silenced the traitorous voice with the mental equivalent of a roundhouse kick before stepping into her room and swiftly getting changed into her ‘going out to be seen in a socially acceptable venue’ clothes. Barely half her stuff had gotten inside the apartment and she had ruthlessly selected only utterly critical boxes from the tons of clutter she had built up to be put in her room, sending the rest into storage down in the Geofront.


She still hadn’t really had time to thanks to their full day of stupid team coordination training yesterday, but thankfully Misato had granted them today off to go shopping with Rei, accepting Asuka’s dubious logic that it was just another form of team building when you got down to it.


Well, that and the fact that Asuka had breezily invited her along and said she wanted to buy something for her wonderful Guardian. Misato had probably seen right through the attempt at bribery, but hell, it didn’t make the bribe any less sweet…


Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she straightened the blue sleeveless shirt with the high collar she had chosen from her selection, carefully ensuring there wasn’t the slightest wrinkle or trace of lint that might mar her appearance before nodding in approval and reaching for a brush-


“Breakfast is ready!” Shinji’s voice came from the direction of the kitchen faintly through the door.


Her hand halted just before reaching the brush. It generally took her seven minutes to brush her hair into the state she considered acceptable, add another eight if she really wanted to get perfection for some formal occasion using hairspray products. And today clearly fell into that category.
On the other hand, she could admit that Shinij did know how to cook well and if there was one thing that could ignite her anger this early in the morning, it was having a cold breakfast because she had gotten to the table too late.


Screw it she decided, gathering her hair into a loose waterfall over her shoulders and snapping a convenient band to tie it off into a simple ponytail. I’ll finish up after breakfast…it’s not like the Baka is going to care or notice my hair.

Opening her door, she moved down the hall towards the delicious scents wafting towards her.



“Ohh, that smells good” she said in approval as she entered the dining room, dodging Pen Pen as he too made his way to the table with a small towel around his shoulders, making a beeline for the sardines Shinji had laid out for him. With an expression of surprise, she glanced over a very European breakfast quite different from yesterdays rather traditional Japanese breakfast, with utterly amazing smells coming from the table as Shinji finished laying out the last of it.


“Well I have to say, having a house broken male around is a more useful thing then I gave Misato credit for” Asuka said dryly as she dropped to the floor next to the table, still not entirely used to this Japanese style of sitting on the floor, Shinji sitting down opposite her.


But hell, when the food was this good and she didn’t have to cook it, she could dig it.


Without further comment, Asuka dug in, suddenly feeling the hunger she had developed overnight after the exertion of gyrating around that accursed dance mat in the corner of the room. In fact, she was so caught up in eating that it took her a good minute to realize Shinji was continually stealing glances at her as he slowly downed his slice of toast.


“What?” she demanded when she couldn’t take it any more, dropping her fork and glaring across at him.


Shinji blinked in surprise as she confronted him, the Third Child apparently realizing that she was not a blind idiot unaware of what was going on around her as she kept him pieced by her gaze, not shifting a millimeter as she waited for his response.


“Your hair” he said, after he rapidly swallowed his mouthful of toast. “It’s just…”


Asuka didn’t change her expression in the slightest as she felt tension slowly raise her blood pressure.


No its not like the Baka would notice my hair she cursed silently even as another part of her started to think up possible comebacks, of which she thus far had precious few.


Well, she would just bear it and add it to the list, glaring at him as if to make him up hurry up.


“Well…” he continued, looking at her as he put down his half finished slice of toast, clearly trying to brace for something. “Without your A-10 clips and with it pulled back like that…you just look…”


“Yes?” she asked with a slight sigh, wondering why he had gotten so flustered.


Clearly, he had much to learn about delivering and taking insults properly, they had a certain rhythm and flow that if broken, would just ruin the whole effect-


“Really, really stunning”.


Asuka’s mind crashed to a halt at those words, seeing Shinji’s own eyes widen slightly, as if surprised he had had the guts to say such a thing to her face, a look that had to be reflected on her own face, until she saw his face turn in on itself in a faint cringe, Shinji even starting to lean back from the table edge, as if he was preparing to be blasted out the window…


And that look caused any response from Asuka to die unsaid on her lips.
Excusing herself from the table and not even noticing her distracted mind had formed the words in German, she nimbly rolled to her feet and walked back to her room as those three words from Shinji rocked through her mind, her good mood if not gone, at least somewhat muted as she sat down on the edge of her stupid futon, her face now set in something of a frown.
She had, since puberty hit her age group, gotten countless comments from boys about her looks, so much so that the novelty had mostly worn off. In fact, it was generally the absence of such comments that stood out more then the comments themselves, which she had unanimously found to be shallow and superficial.


Of course she was beautiful damn it, any idiot could see that. Her hair in Japan thus far had been the subject of at least five dozen love letters, sixteen Haikus and three semi decent drawings of moderate to good talent, one of which she might even keep.


But none of that had hit her with the same force as Shinji’s simple statement.


Mostly it was because she knew he was really talking about her. Unlike just about everyone else in her age group who was easily overawed –damn right they should be- by her status as an Evangelion pilot, Shinji as a combat tested member of that rather select group had no reason to be…meaning he was truly talking about her.


She remembered his almost stuttered comment on the Othello when she had unveiled ‘her’ Evangelion to him; that its bright red color complemented her hair. At the time, Asuka hadn’t been entirely sure if he had meant it, or, if he was just stuttering out something that sounded legitimate, so she had just let it slide. But the complement he had paid her sixty seconds ago…that had not been a lie. That she had seen simply come out without him even thinking about it, seeing the flash of surprise that had passed through his eyes for a millisecond as he realized what he had said, followed by the look of slight unease as he waited to see how she would react…as if he was afraid she would hurt him…


For completing her? That thought had shaken loose a little of the furniture in her mind; that the Invincible Third Child would be afraid to complement her, to the point that she had excused herself from the table and retreated back to her room, not even noticing that she had spoken in German until she had taken her seat and started to think.


Gott, why does he have to be such a…a…a…argh! She cursed silently as she flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling.


Well, that was the problem, wasn’t it?


Who the hell was Shinji Ikari?


Even worse, part of her felt that same ‘butterfly squadron performing aerobatics in stomach’ feeling edging up as she reflected again on his statement, knowing that unlike every other jerk who might have thought he was being sincere…somehow, she just knew Shinji actually was.


He had found her emergency change of hairstyle, minus her A-10 clips, ‘stunning’…


Glancing over at her bedside ‘table’, she rolled over and reached across, picking up the two red neural connectors and gently running her thumb over the smooth, hard plastic as she thought about them.


She had worn the clips since she was nine since the first time she had joined with Unit Two, only taking them off in the shower or when she was sleeping. They had become a part of her identity, telling everyone at NERV ‘I am the Second Child, I am Asuka Langley Soryu!’ Just about everyone at school she had talked to had commented on the exotic looking clips, looking at her with awe when she told them -as if it was unimportant- that they were not hair clips, but part of the neural interface that let her pilot her Eva…


And although the association wasn’t precisely logical, Asuka had always felt diminished without them, as if by taking them off, she was shedding the Evangelion pilot, moving closer to that poor, pathetic little girl who had walked in on…on…


Closing her eyes tightly and breathing sharply through her nose, she willed away the tears that wanted to come for a few seconds as she gripped the clips tightly, suppressing the memory until she felt clam again.


Then, almost hesitatingly, she replaced the clips on her bedside table and gently pulled the band out of her hair, sitting up to take a good, long look at her reflection in the mirror.


‘Well…without your A-10 clips and with it pulled back like that…you…just look…really, really stunning…’


Without the A-10 clips…

He was talking about Asuka Langley Soryu she thought to herself. Not the Second Child…not the designated pilot of Eva Two, not his wingman…just…me.

So who am I?

I am not four years old.

I am fourteen, soon to be fifteen.

I am the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit Two.
I am the Second Child…but
“…I’m also Asuka Langley Soryu” she said in an almost whisper, directly at the reflection in the mirror.


It was that simple.


She was not one or the other…she was both.


She didn’t become less or more by putting on, or taking off her clips…she was just who she was.


I am Asuka…Langley…Soryu she thought again, feeling her confidence explode suddenly into a nova of power inside her as she looked at the clip-less image in the mirror.


I, am I.
Nice to meet you.

And with that thought, she reached over for her brush and a short selection of hair products, and got to work.




Putting the finishing touch on her hair, Asuka gathered her few required personal belongings for this days activities and quietly slid open her door, cocking her head slightly as she heard Misato talking to Shinji in the living room. Stealthfully, she made her way up to the end of the corridor, the voices growing louder as she tried to unashamedly eavesdrop on the conversation…


Ah, that was better.


“…in her room” she heard Shinji faintly saying to Misato and correctly guessed he was talking about her, upping her interest level considerably. “I…think I might have insulted her or something…I was just trying to say how I liked the way her hair looked but…I think I might have uh…”


Oh for the love of God…that was anti climactic.

“Baka” she broke in with an annoyed sigh as she stepped around the corner into view of her wingman and her guardian, causing Shinji to jump ever so slightly before he turned to face her as she stepped around the corner and leaned against the wall, taking a delight in even this slight chink in Shinji’s persona.


“Only in your mind would you consider complementing someone as a reason for her to leave the table” Asuka said with a raised eyebrow, pleased at the snicker on Misato’s face and the somewhat sheepish look on Shinji from having been caught talking about someone behind her back. “For future references, I went to finish getting ready” she continued, pushing off the wall and walking slowly towards him with a careful heal-toe motion that generated a rather implacable stride.


“Uh…noted” he muttered, his gaze not shifting a micron from her as she moved closer, actually finding herself somewhat pleased that she was able to get the Third Childs undivided attention as Asuka Langley Soryu as she halted in front of him with a challenging look on her face, letting her snakelike ponytail arc around to splay over her left shoulder and arm.


“How does my hair look now Third Child?” she actually dared, wondering if he would have the guts to…


“More stunning” he replied instantly, this time without the slightest hesitation and a genuine smile on his face.


“Well, did you expect anything less?” she muttered as her hands moved up and carefully realigned her hair behind her head, mostly to hide a formation flyover by the butterfly squadron in her stomach, only a slight flicker in her smile showing her true feelings to Shinji’s honest and…well…kind words.
Misato caught it however, moving a hand in front of her mouth to cover a smile as she directed a very knowing look at her that, that in turn caused her own smile to twitch slightly wider.


“Come on Asuka, stop trying to make Shinji fall unconscious from blood loss, we have shopping to do!”


Ah yes.
Shopping.

In dealing with the spontaneous situation with Shinji, she had forgotten the enormous core event of the day.


Shopping…shopping…shopping!

She started to laugh, almost cackling in fact when she saw Shinji flinch away from her sudden enthusiasm.


Well well well, the Third Child is scared of a little shopping trip.


The possibilities …
This could be a very productive day indeed.




“Damn it, we’re still five minutes early” Asuka pouted as they came up to the doors to the massive shopping center that formed the heart of the shopping district of Tokyo-3. Around them, small groups of people were arriving and waiting for the doors to open, from families to single shoppers to groups of older school kids ready to start spending money.


Not that they’ll have anything on me when I’m finished Asuka thought as her mind tried to figure out how to get the doors to open, now!

“Hey Misato, try your access card and code on that lock!” she suggested, pointing to the security panel next to the door, knowing that senior NERV personnel’s access cards could get them inside just about any place in Tokyo-3 thanks to the MAGI’s interconnectivity…


“Asuka” Misato said with an amused look, “that code is for emergency use only”.


Well true enough. All the access uses were logged and Misato would probably have some explaining to do if she used it for a non essential purpose.


But on the other hand…

“But this is an emergency!” she declared, pointing down the street at the familiar figure she saw moving toward them “Ayanami is coming and she needs new clothes, stat!”


Shinji and Misato turned to look. Sure enough, Rei was approaching and sure enough, she was dressed in her omnipresent school uniform. “She can’t go shopping looking like that!”


“She…needs to go shopping, to go shopping?” Shinji asked in an all too male tone…


“What are you, stupid?” she asked by reflex as she turned to face him, flicking her hair and feeling slightly giddy that she got an equally reflexive widening of his eyes in response to her hair flying around her as she stepped closer, ignoring the appreciative comments from more then a few other guys in the local area. “She can’t go shopping looking like that! It’s just not done, don’t you know anything?” she asked, actually admitting she had found a modest degree of enjoyment from her verbal fencing with Shinji over the last few days, though this morning he appeared to be a little distracted…which was too bad.


“I…uh….” was the response from the Third Child, causing Asuka to sigh. Yup, he wasn’t on his game today…damn, she had clearly screwed his mind at breakfast.


Well, in that case, victory was hers. Perhaps she would tone down the teasing…just for today at least, to help everyone get alone.


“Humph. I thought as much! A typical male” she sighed, but in an overly dramatic way to ensure he knew she was joking, before turning towards Rei. “Hey! Ayanami, over here!” she waved, pretty sure she had gotten Rei’s attention, but the First made no clear response, slightly irritating Asuka.


After all, this whole day was –mostly- for her benefit.


“Typical male?” Shinji was appealing to Misato in protest behind her, of course to no avail. No man would come between women on this subject!
“Yes Shinji, you’re a typical male, but we women need typical males along with our shopping trips” Misato –rightly- pointed out to the Third.


“Well I am so glad to hear you say that” a new voice came in suddenly, causing Asuka’s eyes to widen as she spun around, again her tightly gathered hair whiplashing around as she sought out-

YES!

“KAJI!” she shouted in joy, all but leaping across the distance that separated them as she crashed into her former guardian and clamped onto his arm with a delighted expression…though for the first time, part of her mind was not entirely sure in the same way she always had been around him. The look he had been giving Misato when she turned towards him…and Shinji’s passing comments yesterday during a quick break from gyrating around the dance floor that Misato and Kaji really did still care a lot about each other but hid it deep…


In the deepest part of her mind, she couldn’t help but wonder if she had never even been in contention in Kaji’s mind…if he had never looked at her as anything more then a surrogate daughter…


She knew for a fact he really did care about her, it had been a lifeline she had held to though many dark times…and even more embarrassing incidents. Asuka’s face still went bright red every time she remembered that night on Over the Rainbow. It had been the night before Shinji and the Stooges had arrived with Misato, she had found a nice little corner of the ship with a wonderful warm night to spend just watching the stars…and getting drunk on the beer Kaji had –reluctantly- let her partake in. Kaji had suggested in fact that on arriving in Japan, she would make lot of new boyfriends and that the Third Child in fact was a boy…


Of course, at that point in a half drunken insistence, she had declared that she didn’t care about any ‘brats’ and that he was the only man for her…and she was ready to ‘do the other stuff’ with him.


On reflection now, she was more then smart enough to see that he had been trying to let her down gently by telling her that she was still a little too young…but her response of lifting up her dress –with no bra underneath- and flashing him, in hindsight, had probably been slightly too much, too fast.


But by the same token, his actions had proven he cared about her, from the way he had then gently helped her put the dress back on, walked her on her unsteady legs back to bed and quietly helped her get to sleep with a tender kiss on her forehead, never mentioning the incident to anyone, not even bringing it up with her…


But now, with Shinji’s comment about their relationship hanging in her head and her memory of the way Kaji had glanced at Misato seconds ago…in a moment of cold, dispassionate logic, she wondered if she had ever had a chance at all.


Its not fair part of her mind wailed. They want us to be adults and fight their war for them, risk our lives for them but they still treat us like children in that way! No-one can possibly understand this…well…except perhaps-

“Hey there” Kaji suddenly said from next to her, snapping her attention back to him as she looked up at his grinning face. “I love that hairstyle” he commented as his eyes traced around her new cascade of hair.
“Really?” she replied in, for once, genuine surprise and delight. She was about to follow this up with her best ‘cute’ look and say ‘well I did it for you’ but…didn’t.


She lied all the time, everyone lied all the time about little things like that she knew, but she found, strangely, that it just didn’t feel…appropriate this time.


Tracing the thought, she found it was because, of all the things…that she didn’t want to hurt Shinji’s feelings? He had been the one to suggest that her impromptu hairstyle looked great and she should keep it after all…
It must be this team building stuff rubbing off on her.


Yeah, that was it. There was no reason to insult her teammate in that way, credit where credit was due, after all.

Sure Sister, you just keep telling yourself that…another voice snickered in her mind


Quiet you! She shouted back, delivering another mental kick to that voice that knocked it out.


“It was just an impromptu decision” she finally said, though only perhaps a second had passed in real time as she mentally battled. “So! You’re coming shopping with me…err…us?”


“Well actually, yes and no” he said, to Asuka’s confusion -and what she thought was Misato’s relief?


Together again my ass Ikari...


“I came to grab Shinji; I thought we might go shopping for some boys stuff while you ladies have fun”.


Wait, he can’t take Shinji? I need him! This whole day of dragging him around and making him stutter as we all keep modeling clothes in front of him…

“But…but” Asuka stuttered as Rei approached out of the corner of her eye, “I…we, need him to carry everything!” she whined in protest, picking up the first out of the corner of her eye as she approached the group.


And to model in front of him any and all new bikini’s that may be purchased, all -of course- in an effort to just get under his skin…and not show off your skin… the voice whispered once again in the back of her mind as it came around.


SHUT, UP Asuka bellowed, mentally picking up the equivalent of a two by four and pummeling the voice once and for all into silence.


“If you require male assistance to carry purchases” Rei spoke up as she joined the group in her quiet voice, “there are six Section Two agents currently assigned to watch us, any three of which could serve that function while leaving an acceptable bodyguard force”.


“What?” Asuka demanded in surprise as she turned around. “Where?”


“There” Rei said, pointing towards a group of men who to Asuka, looked like nothing more then a bunch of casually dressed businessmen but when she studied them closely, she saw the air of detachment and observation that quickly marked then as Two-Delta, protective bodyguards…


Well, okay, perhaps Kaji was going to take Shinji away, for a short time at least. But she didn’t have the slightest intention of lugging dozens of bags around for hours!


“Well that’s not actually such a bad idea” Kaji grinned at them with an odd look on his face as Asuka let go of his arm and marched a few steps in their direction.


“Hey! You six” she demanded in her most imperious voice to get their attention, causing them to flinch slightly, but not look up -to her annoyance- forcing her to raise her voice. “Yes, you group of Two guys” she repeated in a somewhat less friendly tone, stabbing a finger at them and finally getting their undivided attention. “Over here, now!”
Clearly not exactly happy, but with no choice, they looked at each other and started over, their previously casual faces as they tried to pull off the ‘friends shopping’ routine vanishing behind the professional masks of NERV intelligence agents.


Well, Rei called it alright she smiled, turning around to her fellow pilot.


“That’s some good team thinking First!” she smiled, then at this close range in this light, really started to see Rei.


Her skin was…well…a light mess of crud that was only visible from this range, her hair was the most basic possible cut with zero creativity and she lacked even the slightest hint of any kind of makeup at all…


Well, this certainly puts a new spin on things she thought, again cursing –and blaming- Shinji’s father over Rei’s current situation.


It wasn’t exactly that she was best friends with the Girl…but Asuka saw in her a dangerous precedent. If NERV stated to think they could treat one of their most important personnel –an Evangelion pilot- so cheaply and so horribly, well, who’s to say what might happen to her in the future?
Clearly, they had to be dissuaded of this.


Well that and she had to admit she felt a great deal of pity for the strange Girl after seeing the state of her living conditions and learning more about the one male role model she had in her life…


And in that spirit…


“Do you cut your hair yourself?” she demanded, looking at the split ends and slightly uneven lines before forgetting that line of thought and concentrating on the tiny splotches on her skin. “Hell, what kind of skin products are you using?”


“Just…soap” Rei replied in a slightly surprised sounding voice.


Asuka submitted at that point –in German- that Rei was not just a tomboy, but the übertomboy of übertomboys. And while another person might have just given up and done a bear minimum…well…she loved a challenge.
“Okay, new plan” she declared in a firm voice, taking charge as thoughts raced through her mind. Rei was in no shape to go shopping for clothes…
“FIRST we get you a makeover, and then we go shopping!” Asuka decided before, on reflection, deciding that although of course she didn’t need it, some time in a beauty salon didn’t sound like a half bad way to start the day. “Hell, makeovers for all three of us!” she declared at Misato, causing her guardian to beam in joy at the idea, Asuka guessing she couldn’t often afford or take the time out to visit such a place…and Asuka felt that she sort of owed at least something to Misato for taking her in.


Wait, didn’t she hate that idea?


“T..Thank you” Rei replied eventually with a slight blush on her face, as if surprised at the idea of being taken for a makeover…or perhaps shocked that someone could care for her, or take such a feminine interest?


Asuka just grinned at her as the agents come over.


“You wanted to talk to us?” a cool voice, modulated to let someone knew that they were doing something rather stupid suddenly broke into her thoughts, causing Asuka to turn around to face six rather annoyed looking Section Two agents, who had dropped all pretenses of being harmless window shoppers, for the moment.


Oh they would pay for taking that tone with her…


“Yes” Misato declared imperiously, stepping up next to Asuka, in a tone that suggested they really should listen very carefully. “As of this moment, three of you-”


“Four” Asuka corrected as she did a mental calculation of the amount of clothes Rei would need to fill a completely empty wardrobe with a bear minimum of attire…


“-Four of you are reassigned to porter detail, you get the honor of carrying our purchases today. The other two can stay on shadow detail, decide among yourselves”.


The lead agent looked like he was about to protest for a second, but a long, level look from Misato clearly let him know the futility of debate.
With a nod and a locked jaw, he turned around and the six started arguing in a heated tone about who would have the questionable ‘honor’ of becoming her…their mules for the day.


“That’s some nice work Misato” Asuka said in an impressed tone of voice.
Asuka always approved of a proper use of authority by a confident woman.
Misato grinned, then as the four ‘lucky’ agents approached, took them aside to begin briefing them. At the same time, Shinji ambled over to Rei, leaving just her and Kaji alone.

“So” Asuka said in a tone of forced cheerfulness. “What are you going to take Shinji to buy?”


“Oh, probably some clothes and a few bits and pieces” Kaji shrugged amiably. “Mostly we just want to have to some to chat together about a few things”.


“Well he needs someone with fashion sense, all that baka ever bother to put on is that school uniform. Hell Kaji, he’s almost as bad as Rei, he could look far better if he just tried a little…”


“Interesting” Kaji nodded with a slight smile on his face.


“Now what is that supposed to mean?” she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.


“Oh not much…its just that you appeared to be paying rather close attention to Shinji if you know what’s in his wardrobe, for someone who only just moved in two days ago…”


“Wh…by…arg! Don’t say things like that Kaji!” Asuka protested, suddenly feeling mortified as she realized what she had said.


“Oh just go with your feelings Asuka” Kaji laughed. “It’s how Misato and I got together the first time…now that was a wild ride”.


“What do you see in her?” she protested quickly at the opening, to change the subject…and out of a morbid curiosity.


What don’t you see in me? I can change!

“Oh, you would have had to be there” Kaji temporized with a knowing smile. “If you had asked anyone before we got together, I don’t think anyone would have accepted that we had a chance in hell for a serious relationship in college…but put two people close enough together for long enough to start to see the true other person, where you can answer that question of ‘who are you’…and sometimes, the answer can be surprising”.


That answer greatly disturbed Asuka for a reason she didn’t quite understand, but before she could open her mouth to continue, she heard a rattle and spun to see the doors to the shopping center retracting into the roof and the crowd start to run inside.


“Scheiße!” Asuka cursed, spinning away from Kaji to Misato. “Alright! Lets do this thing!” Asuka ordered, ready to grab Rei and sprint for the beauty salon to get makeovers…except for one little thing.


She didn’t know where it was.


“Misato, where is-”


“Right this way!” Misato grinned, before she saw Rei in a far too calm mood simply looking at them. Turning back to her, Misato raised an eyebrow and understanding came quickly to Asuka, stepping around to take one arm and left Misato the other, pulling the surprised First Child into motion as they sprinted inside, pulling her near manically along as they raced through the almost deserted shopping center, their escorts working to keep up with the energetic women as they finally arrived at their goal.


The ‘Beauty Complex’ was a large, all in one facility that offered everything to tend to a woman’s needs. From facials to nails to massages to haircuts to whatever else one might want or need.


“Greetings” the woman on the counter started to say as the trio arrived, probably the first customers of the day, but Asuka was far too excited to exchange the usual pleasantries…she always got this way when spending money.


“We need everything, the works, for all three of us!” she smiled widely.
“Certainly” the woman said in a slight tone that wasn’t quite condescending, but definitely sounded as if she found it a trifle difficult to believe these two kids and…their friend -clearly too young to be their mother- none of whom she had seen before could afford such a service. “For all three of you? That will be six hundred thousand Yen”.


The counter clerk was clearly expecting them to stop, talk among themselves and then ask for a more reasonable service, but Asuka took a great delight in taking out her NERV ID card and handing it over. It had been reconfigured by the local MAGI system after she had first arrived at the security barrier to the Geofront, forcing her to insert her card into a reader for thirty seconds, rather then just swipe it like she normally would. A program had run in the background as she logged in, updating her file to formally transfer her from NERV-3 to NERV-Central, doing all the ‘housekeeping’ to update her address, transferring the balance of her German account to a local Japanese account NERV had opened and reformatting her card as a Japanese EFPTOS capable ‘smart card’, giving her a general ID card and unlimited access to public transport, one of the perks of being an Eva pilot.


But it was unusual to say the least that a fourteen year old Girl would have such a card. They were not exactly rare in Tokyo-3 for obvious reasons, but they were also not so prevalent that they were a very common sight.
The sales clerk swiped the card and 600,000 yen was promptly debited from Asuka’s account, which currently stood at six and a half million. The clerk raised an eyebrow and handed it back, making a shrewd guess at just who these two children were from rumors that circulated about the pilots of those robots that fought those monsters...


“Please, accept my apologies for my tone” she said in that formal Japanese apologetic way that Asuka’s European mind still found confusing as she handed back the card, gesturing to a series of chairs just inside. “Please take a seat, our people will be with you in a minute”. Without a word, she led the group back into a small, but very well appointed waiting room as another sales rep took her place on the front counter, before she vanished through one of several doors from the room.


The store manager was just finishing her own daily routine to open up when the front desk receptionist walked in and in a terse thirty second conversation, told her what she suspected about the first customers of the day.


Swiftly, the manager left her room to the staff break room, where the several dozen strong employee force for today was getting ready, snapping orders of exactly what she expected of her staffs performance for the first customers, before telling the receptionist to call and rearrange the day’s schedules as needed.


Though as one would expect by the rules of Japanese culture, the manger would never confront or inquire the truth from ‘her’ customers, she trusted the receptionist and agreed with her conclusions, greeting the her first customers of the day with a deep bow and asking them to follow into the next part of the large, modern complex. Two of the customers, a young girl with beautiful red hair and an older –but still young- women moved with barely concealed enthusiasm, while the third obediently followed with a curious expression as they sat down and removed their shoes, letting teams of elite Pedicurists and Manicurists get to work.


Nothing but the best for these heroes was now the standing order of the day.




Asuka, as a student of beauty –namely her own- was very familiar with the various techniques and methods to generate a good pedicure and she was thus able to recognize experts when she saw them.


Even so, they took the time to complement her on the condition of her nails as they refined her work. Poor Misato’s nails were –understandably perhaps- half destroyed from ‘tension induced nibbling’ as the technician delicately put it.


None the less, they did a very impressive job in cleaning the mess up in even Asuka’s opinion. And while Misato was still having her fingernails repaired, Asuka was enjoying a small set of Acrylic nails being carefully joined to her own, then painted a beautiful, glossy red that looked identical to the finish on Unit Two. Unfortunately, she had to pass on the longer and, in her mind, more elegant nails, but quickly realized there was little chance they would ever fit into a plug suit without snapping…and that just wouldn’t do at all. Though she made a mental note to talk to Doctor Akagi, to see if there was any way to alter a plug suit to better accommodate extended nails…even though she had a feeling the answer would be ‘go away Asuka, I’m working’ or something equally chilly.


Still, even with the addition of the new fingernails the other two had declined, Asuka was ‘finished’ first, allowing her to sit back and sigh in pleasure, admiring the reflection of the lights in the room on her newest features, wondering idly if these could be ‘mature’ enough to tease Kaji back towards her…


Probably not, she admitted to herself in a dispassionate moment of intellectual honesty, before her emotions kicked back in and overruled logic.
But it might be a first step on that path…


Finally though, the other two were done, Rei interestingly taking the longest. Although her nails were in somewhat reasonable condition, their lack of shaping and any real attention had necessitated the most effort…but Asuka approved of the suddenly gleaming nails that stood out, Rei herself appearing to be fascinating with the effect of light shimmering on them…


This is not an unpleasant outcome” Rei finally said after her meticulous inspection was complete, looking up to smile slightly at them. “I believe this was quite an…enjoyable experience” she then stated to them, before turning to reach for her neatly placed shoes and socks.
“Hold it” Asuka ordered with a frown at Rei’s actions, “where do you think you’re going?”


“We are finished” Rei said to her, like she was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.


Holy hell, Rei really is utterly clueless Asuka thought in shock, before she shook her head and a grin worked its way onto her face. Well, she was in for a shock over the next parts of the services she had selected with the clerk, walking over to the confused looking First.


“Finished? Oh Rei, you’re priceless. Come on, we’ve barely started!” she said, firmly but gently taking her by the wrist and leading her into the next room, following the demure looking young Japanese lady who was ‘in charge’ of their group, as she passed through a ‘bead door’ into into a room filled with another half dozen people and three small ‘tables’, separated by screens, though the room looked like it had been partitioned from a much larger room.


Oh she loved a good massage. NERV in Germany as part of her ongoing physical training had had a staff of physical therapists who often after a particularly strenuous session had helped her into a state of relaxation, but it had been almost a year since she had actually needed one.


“This” she declared as she let go of Rei’s hand and headed for the nearest ‘bed’ come table, “is the best part”. Rei looked a little confused, but obediently moved to the next table in line after a polite gesture from the people there, with Misato heading for the furthest away. Asuka slowly stripped out of her clothes, painstakingly careful in folding them into a near pile next to her shoes which had been brought in from the next room, until she was in her underwear. Lying face down on the very comfortable table, she reached nimbly behind her to removed her bra, slide it off the front and toss it in the general direction of her clothes, feeling a thick towel then placed across her backside. The slightly cool air caused her skin to slightly break out in Goosebumps, followed by a slight giggle as she felt her nipples harden slightly.


“Chilly in here isn’t it?” Misato called out at her giggle in a slightly naughty voice, causing a sudden feeling of shock to pass through Asuka’s mind and her head to spin to the right and only seining the Japanese style folding screen there, turning back to the downward ‘hole’ headrest, which looked at a currently switched off plasma TV. No, there was no way that Misato could possibly have guessed that was what she was laughing at…could she?
Any further speculation was halted as Asuka suddenly felt a thick oil dribble onto her skin, making her shiver slightly, before a pair of delicate, but firm hands pressed into her back and started to work her muscles, the oil quickly spreading to reduce frication. Asuka felt her muscles tense slightly at the contact before she forced them to relax and let the hands, soon joined by two more on her right leg, do their work.


She however, was not passive and started soon to give out instructions as the ‘itch’ started to come, areas that just begged for attention from the hands and her orders were instantly followed, though the pleasurable spasms that soon started to run through her muscles tended to limit them to grunts of ‘higher’, ‘lower’, ‘left’, ‘right’ and repetitive demands of ‘Harder!’, followed by deep moans when they hit ‘the spot’.


Though soon even that stopped as she let the relaxing and pleasurable hands slowly rub her into a light doze…




She was lying on her futon in the living room with Shinji next to her as they both vainly tried to get to sleep after a days hard training on that accursed dance machine. Granted, they had made quite good progress after they had finally started to settle into some kind of synchronization, but both of them had been too tired after a day of simulated Eva vs Angel combat in which Misato and Akagi hadn’t cut them the slightest slack, simulating Angel attacks with the known five Angels, but variations that moved faster, hit harder and even attacked in teams themselves, forcing the pilots to work together.

And after a few false starts, they really had started to work together in their group of three machines with, naturally, herself proving to be the perfect leader of the group, but still just a part of the whole team who fought as one.

Pleased with their performance, Misato had let them off easy with only an hour of that stupid dance machine, before they had been allowed to crash to bed early, feeling a little tired and sore from their long, long day.
Except for the slight problem that they couldn’t sleep.

Her muscles ached from the workout they had received over the day, despite her careful regimen of warmup and cooldown exercises. They didn’t ache so much to hurt, but the ache was almost universal and immensely distracting to her attempts to get some damn sleep.

After half an hour of trying, she rolled over in disgust onto her back and sighed, glancing at Shinji across from her. Misato, denying such an early end to the nights work, had headed back in to NERV for some reason or another, leaving them alone. It was a remarkable statement on how confident she was they could be trusted to look after themselves, when Asuka thought about it…

‘Shinji’

There was no response.

‘Shinji’ she said slightly more insistently, turning her head this time to look at him.

Still no response…though now she could see the headphones to that primitive SDAT of his.

Ah, easy to fix she thought, reaching over and plucking an earphone out, causing him to jump slightly and turn in surprise, before he removed the other and paused his tape.

‘What?’ he asked in a tone of tired annoyance.
‘My back is aching’ she complained.

‘Well, go have a shower or something. What do you expect me to do about it?’

‘Well, you could rub my shoulders’.

‘…Asuka, the last male to touch your shoulders -who wasn’t Kaji- was down in the nurses office for the rest of the day’.

‘He didn’t ask’ she pointed out in a reasonable tone. ‘And he was a creep with too high an opinion of himself’.

‘Oh?’ he asked with a raised eyebrow. ‘So then, what am I?’

‘Oh your still a stooge’ she said freely with a hint of a smile on her face. ‘But a good class of stooge. And if you trust me enough to hit an Angel with a positron cannon classified as a weapon of mass destruction and not you when I’m watching your back, then I think I can trust you to touch mine, when I ask you to’.


‘Well…fair point I guess’ he admitted, removing his earplugs. ‘So, why should I when I want to just get to sleep?’

‘Because as my teammate, you should respect my needs and accede to them in the interests of the team’.

She could tell that this logic wasn’t quite enough for a dubious Shinji, so she shrugged.

‘Or because if I don’t get this under control somehow, I’ll probably have a very bad night which means you’ll have a very bad night which means I’ll be ticked off tomorrow morning. And you don’t want that’.

There was a moments silence.

‘I’m not getting out of this am I?’ he asked.

‘No’ she agreed.

He sighed, but edged up. ‘Well…what do I do?’

Asuka rolled over towards him, onto her stomach. She was wearing rather little, just a yellow T-Shirt and some shots, neither without anything on under them and without ceremony, hiked her shirt up.

‘Uh Asuka, you don’t have a bra on’.

‘Congratulations Baka, you don’t need glasses’ she muttered into the pillow under her mouth. ‘Now, start with my shoulders’.

Slowly, hesitatingly, Shinji reached over and lightly pressed his fingers into her shoulders, moving them in circular motions. Impatient, Asuka had barked out for him to press harder, then again and again until finally, he was sufficiently annoyed by her insults that he didn’t have a clue what he was doing, he really did press harder, eliciting a moan from her that surprised both of them, but Asuka put behind them as she directed him to go lower…and lower…and lower…until she was sure his face was as Red as her Evangelions paint job, his fingers in contact with the waistband on her pants…

‘Ohh that’s so good’ she murmured in a silky voice as his hands danced up and down her back, rapidly soothing the tension that had built up all day…the, surprisingly, she felt his hands almost daringly edge to the side of her back, towards her breasts. Her heart stopped as she felt the fingers tantalizingly get closer…and closer…then stop, right on the edge of her suddenly hot feeling ‘female attributes’-

‘Don’t stop Baka she hissed as the rather pleasurable feelings cut off with the cessation of his hands.

She felt his hesitation at her order like a heavy blanket in the air…then ever so slowly, as if expecting a counter order, he started up again…his fingers slowly descending away from her back…and a primal, electrical feeling starting to surge as they moved down her sides, lower…and lower…and lower-

[Chris OFarrell]

Asuka snapped her eyes open with a gasp as the hands ceased their motions, snapping her out of her day dream like a switch had been thrown.
Mien Got, she thought in horror. Okay, Sexual tension between people forced into a close environment like her and Shinji, was one thing.
But THAT kind of dream…

And to her shock, she found that much of the ‘primal feelings’ she had felt had not gone away when she woke up…the ‘pointy end of the twins’ feeling almost numb with pleasure-


Oh of course she thought in sudden, pure relief. That makes sense, they were ‘excited’ by the cold by the time I lay down, then as I was massaged, they were rubbed against the fabric of this bed and got stimulated…and the rest was just my mind making up some dream based on current events, nothing about it at all!

Sure, you just keep thinking that that frigen voice chuckled from the depths of her mind once again.


Ignoring it, she got up and luxuriated in the feeling on her toned, firm muscles feeling relaxed and loose, feeling yesterdays efforts on that thrice cursed dance machine wiped out as she belted on the offered robe, taking care to not tighten it too much…the last thing she wanted was the blasted thing rubbing against her breasts again, as her arousal faded behind the bliss of her muscles. Nodding in approval and thanks at the two women already packing up who offered respectful bows, she stepped around the screen to find Misato in her own robe looking in amusement at Rei, who remained on the table and unresponsive.


“I think she’s asleep” Asuka muttered from Rei’s left, crossing her arms as she gazed down at the breathing, but otherwise unresponsive First Child, trying not to gaze too much at her perfect skin. Its tone was a little too light for her, but it wasn’t as if she was an albino or anything. More then a few girls would kill for skin like that...


Not Asuka, she was proud of her perfect skin after all. But with just a little effort, she might be able to turn Rei into someone who looked as special as she really was.


After all, an Evangelion pilot was by definition one of the, if not the, most special person in the world, one in a billion, give or take. And it was about damn time Rei started to be treated like that!


“Be nice Asuka” Misato chided her, reaching down to lightly tough Rei on her shoulder. “Rei, it’s time to move on”.


Rei slowly responded, raising her head first out of the headrests and slowly opening her scarlet eyes to look around, apparently unconcerned with the way her breasts were on display to her teammate and superior officer –which was good considering the next room- and arched her back with the slightest of shuddering breaths. After a few seconds, she nimbly swung her legs up and across to sit on the bed, letting Misato put her own robe on her before she stood, tied it off and took a deep breath in, with an odd look on her face.


“Are you okay?” she asked, feeling a slight concern at the state of her fellow pilot’s suddenly almost fragile looking state.


“I am…content” Rei replied with a slight smile at her.
Interesting choice of words she thought, but Asuka shrugged –good enough- and headed for the next room with Rei following obediently after her as they passed through a pair of quite thick glass doors, into a humid large, dimly lit room.


The large spa was the size of a small swimming pool, bubbling with a veritable cocktail of chemicals and finished with a ‘rocky’ look as it was sunken into sandstone tiles, albeit smoothed off and with a slick surface inside hidden under the rampage of bubbles. Rei, to Asuka’s faint surprise, unceremoniously dumped her robe, then her underwear and stepped in, almost looking eager to get into the water…and finally confirming Asuka’s somewhat embarrassing question of if blue was Rei’s natural color.


Deciding to follow her example, Asuka also dumped her robe and underwear and splashed down into the water, followed by Misato. She caught an odd looking scar on Misato’s chest for a second, but it vanished as she hit the writhing, bubbling water and Misato leaned back, sighing in pure relaxation.


“Feels good, doesn’t it?” she asked her guardian as she closed her eyes.


“Uh huh” she agreed. “You kids just get the honor of risking your lives to kill the Angels. I get the singular honor the Commander and Vice Commander devolved to me to do all the paperwork cleaning up the messes you, Shinji and Rei make”.


“Well why can’t you devolve the responsibility?” she asked, enjoying the bubbles writhing and bursting against her skin by the thousands.


“Can’t” she sighed. “UN regulations require someone of my rank to deal with the aftermath of each of these skirmishes. Everyone from signing some stupid report on how many shells the defensive buildings fired to Ritsuko's repair bills to the rocket fuel for those Eva transports…it takes a week to really finish the battle, even after the Angel is dead”.


“I had no idea” Asuka said in some surprise and even a little sympathy, then she realized the last two Angels attacking timeline...


“Oh man, the last two Angels attacked only a couple of days apart” she breathed.


Misato chuckled at that, and it was the chuckle of a cat who had finally found the cream…


“Oh that’s okay. Actually, the UN fleet had to deal with almost all of the paperwork for your first battle and you two managed to blast the Seventh on the shore away from Tokyo-3, so the paperwork was only a tiny fraction of what it would normally be. Hell, since you came, my job has actually become easier”.


“Heh, well I am to please” she shrugged, trying to think of a way to ask her about that scar…when she suddenly noticed a series of items laid out carefully at the edge.


“Oh looky, we got these cool things!” she said, leaning out to pick up three pairs of orange, oversized gloves up. She tossed one set to Misato, who looked at them and shrugged, placing them to the side and shutting her eyes, lying back with a content sigh.


Well.
No help there.

So instead she tossed a pair to Rei, who stared and fiddled with them curiously as she swam over.


“Okay, you do my back and I’ll do yours” Asuka ordered, knowing that it was damn near impossible to properly do ones back. And with all that oil from the massage pressed into her skin, she wanted this done right.


“I…do not...” Rei hesitated, causing Asuka to roll her eyes to the roof. Okay, baby steps then.


“Okay okay”. “Look, I’ll do your back first then, pay attention then do mine, okay?”


“Understood” Rei agreed, turning to present her back. Carefully, she maneuvered up next to Rei, marveling in the softness of her skin as her thighs lightly brushed against hers as she squirted a measure of the exfoliating body wash onto Rei’s back, watching a charming shiver in response, before gently at first, then more and more briskly worked with the gloves to exterminate the upper layers of her epidermis. It only took a few minutes and then she stopped, turning and impatiently commanding Rei to do her back, so then they could separate and work on the rest of their bodies in private.


Rei obediently squirted a measure of the same body wash onto her back and used the gloves to work her skin…


And while she did at least an adequate job, better then she could have done with her own hands, she continually hesitated and got distracted, not able to work a consistent motion up. She just wasn't as skilled as she was, unfortunately...though that held true for most people when compared to her.


No matter, eventually Asuka declared it good enough and retired to Misatos end of the pool to leave Rei in peace, only occasionally having to wake Misato before she slid in and started to drown as she worked the rest of her body lightly.






An hour or so later, Asuka was leaning over a sink with her eyes shut, feeling the light jet of water systematically moving down her face and washed off the layers of facial chemicals applied to her face, followed by a soft, absorbing towel that patted it dry carefully and gently. Finally however, a voice told her she could open her eyes and she complied, blinking as she stood. A mirror was offered by one of the women and Asuka accepted it, looking carefully over her face at close range.


Oh man she was looking hot.

She took good care of her face, but the systematic treatments by professionals had imparted a glow to her face, without the slightest blemish showing.


Grinning and infecting the normally somber and calm technician with the same grin, she handed the mirror back and bowed, before stepping around the sink and the chair she had sat in for the last hour, to enter the tiny changing room that sat open with her clothes sitting nearly folded on the bench.


She removed her second robe and hung it on a convenient hook, before dressing again, careful not to disrupt her clothes. This whole makeover was only part one of the day, after all and it wouldn’t do to get them wrinkled.
Fortunately, the people here had handled her clothes with great care and she soon looked identical to when she had dressed this morning.
Well, except for the even more perfect skin, glowing scarlet fingernails and slightly mussed hair.


Though the later should only be a problem for a short time, as she did her best to straighten it out, the bath of chemicals in that spa probably not the best for it.


Smiling at the reflection in the small mirror, she exited the room and found both Rei and Misato dressed; Misato looking pretty much the same as always, if quite happy at how their day was going so far.


Rei’s at first glance looked to be the same as she had always been in the week or so Asuka had known her - albeit with her skin now all but glowing, but a closer look showed her eyes were focused on almost nothing and she had wrapped her arms around her chest, shivering slightly as she ran her hands gently up and down her arms.


The sight was slightly disturbing to Asuka for some reason, but she shrugged as she emerged and jumped into place near the other two women.
“Well, are we having fun yet Rei?” Asuka asked, actually hoping the answer was yes. As much as she was enjoying today, it was technically about taking Rei shopping after all. This side trip was just because Asuka had decided decisive action was needed after seeing the condition of Rei’s skin and hair.


Then they could go shopping.


“Yes…” Rei admitted to her, which caused Asuka to sigh tolerantly, but Misato to raise an eyebrow at Rei’s frank admission of enjoyment…
“Oh lighten up” Asuka said, stepping closer to Rei, not realizing this was probably about as ‘light’ Rei had gotten in a rather long time. “The question is, what are we going to do with this…style” she finished, barely stopping from using other words that came to mind as she looked at the all but ‘tomboy’ haircut.


“Oh, I know someone who might be able to help” Misato said as they were led into the next and final room.


“Misato!” a man with an odd accent said in surprise and delight, all but floating across the room to the Captain as Misato skipped forward with a big grin on her face, taking her hands in his as both leaned in an ‘air kissed’ the others cheeks to Asuka’s amusement, her ‘Gaydar’ exploding as she studied the person.


This guy was just about every stereotype of the European male beautician rolled into one, from the violent, bright purple shirt, to the braid to the Italian loafers…Ironically, she had never seen such a person in her own travels around Munich or Berlin, yet halfway around the world in the first place she stepped into…


“Hey there Francesco” Misato said happily. “I brought some friends with me”.


“So I see” he said, gesturing the two girls forward, Asuka obediently stepping up quickly, Rei following somewhat more sedately, causing Asuka to be the first target of the mans interested look.


“Oh wow, I mean wow; I love the hair” he said in appreciation. Asuka let a slightly impish smile fall across her face and rotated with a surprising grace to let her still loose hair fly around before striking an all too ‘cute’ pose for the stylist, who sighed.


“Yeah, where were you fifteen years ago? If I was like twenty years younger and attracted to the opposite gender, I would so ask you out” he said causing Asuka to giggle slightly.


She had never been hit on by a gay man after all…at least she hoped he was gay.
Otherwise, he was dead.


“Hmm” Francesco said with a raised eyebrow as Asuka waited in front of him, suddenly feeling an irrational nervousness at being judged by this man as he tapped his foot, before he reached out to lightly push the side of her head. Asuka went with the feeling, tilting her head slightly as he studied her hair closely before he backed off with a smile. “I’m thinking…take an inch off the length, trim this fringe back and…really, really straighten it out?”
‘It just looks…really…really…stunning…’


Well, he may be a Baka…but that complement came from the heart. And damn it, I do look good.

“Can…can you put it back into something like a braid or ponytail?” she inquired almost hesitatingly, wondering...


“Oh I love that” he breathed in almost a giddy voice at the shear gall of the idea, turning to a Japanese woman waiting patiently and calmly. “Aki, that whole braid thing you have going, I expect magic! Take a seat and hold on Girl, you’re in for a wild ride!”


The next hour again passed quickly, though still very pleasantly as she struck up a conversation in German with this Francesco, who spoke with the slightest accent she guessed placed him as an Austrian, a delighted hairdresser confirming this as he also guessed her Prussian heritage, the two chatting away about all manner of things from ‘their’ neck of the woods, as this Aki girl firmly worked her hair with a will.


“So” he finally asked as he started to hack away at Rei’s hair in a blur of motion, his eyes not leaving his client as he worked his ‘magic’, “you’re a long way from home, what are you doing in Japan?”


“Exchange student” she supplied her primary cover story with a smile to him.


Stupid story, everyone would know soon enough who she was. And how was she, a College graduate supposed to maintain the pretense of a school kid anyway?


“Ahh” he said in interest at her story. “I’m surprised, given the cost of air travel these days, that you came this far”.


“Well it wasn’t an air trip” Asuka said truthfully. “We, uh me and my chaperon, came down the Trans Siberian Railway and took a…ship from Vladivostok”.


No need to say she had in fact been chaperoning an Evangelion and the ‘ship’ was the flagship of most of the combined UN fleet…


That trip had been somewhat crazy. NERV or the UN had, with remarkable foresight, upgraded the Trans Siberian in the years since Second Impact to the new ‘super-heavy’ grade of railway track, quite a task for the longest railway in the world. The official reason was to provide a backbone for massive cargo shipments from Europe to the newly viable resource fields in the post Second Impact Siberia and back again…but it had also meant the super-heavy flatbed trucks could, just, lug Unit Two across the European continent from the Berlin terminus to the Russian East coast. The only other alternative, that of using an Evangelion 909 transport was viable, but would take roughly forty Airbus A380-T tankers spread evenly across the distance to support it, a cost that had been deemed patiently unnecessary with the railway. It would be a pinch, but it was good enough.


Though the cost of the total loss of a third of the combined UN fleet in the effort however, would probably skew future UN thinking over the airborne delivery vector…


This was a pity as she had quite enjoyed her trip over the wilderness in the train…


Finally, Aki declared her work finished, causing Francesco to bustle over and inspect the work for himself, before sighing in pleasure and declaring it finished, holding up a mirror for Asuka to view in her mirror.


Her fringe was loose, scattering over her forehead and down to her eyes with darker highlights running through it that gave her a wonderfully dangerous look, but the rest of her hair had been neatly bound into a single, elegant French braid to just about where her high collar rested, and from there was a loose splay tied off with her red ribbon, the hair revitalized with a hurried wash and highlighting treatment…


And damn, it looked good.


Why in the hell didn’t I ever think of something like this before? She wondered, making a note to at least…well…acknowledge Shinji for the idea…even if she should rightly take credit for moving it to its logical conclusion.


Shrugging, she pushed her way through the doors smiling at the staff who collectively bowed at her, to the slight confusion of the now packed reception area. Misato was just outside, her hair turned into a rippled wave that cascaded loosely down her shoulders and back. In an amusing irony, Misato had abandoned her ponytail style just as Asuka had taken it up.
“Hey, that looks great” Misato complemented her.


“You too” she nodded back. “Rei is going to be longer, he had just finished the last washing when I had left.


“Might be a good time to get her something to put before we go shopping” Misato pointed out.


“That’s not a bad idea” Asuka admitted, noting that time was getting on and nodding at what she recognized as a reasonably priced general clothing store for girls her age, already busy with a bustling traffic of girls, half of whom needed to loose about ten percent of their body mass before stepping through the doors, but well, if they wanted to wear clothes utterly unsuited for them, that just made her look better…


A quick but expert raid by the two women soon had a selection of clothes that Asuka wondered if they weren't a trifle too daring for the rather timid Rei, but Misato assured her that Rei wasn’t timid in any way, just quiet.
After thinking back on the utterly unashamed way Rei had disrobed without a seconds thought, Asuka admitted that Misato might have something there…


They paid for their purchases and reveled in the envious looks from nine out of the ten women in the store at their fresh makeovers, great clothes and hot bodies, before walking back to the Beauty Center, Asuka bounding back inside with the bags.


Her timing was exquisite, finding Rei heading for-
Woah.
THAT was REI?

Her hair was amazingly exotic, a loose thin fringe reaching to her eyes creating a barrier between her deep scarlet eyes and adding yet more mystery to the young woman, while a far more thinned out top, that looked disorderly in a paradoxically orderly way gave her fifteen times the personality, two thin waves reaching down either side of her face to bracket it.


Wow was the thought that came to her mind at the different person in front of her.


But it would take more then that to eliminate her equilibrium.


“Oh hey, you finished! Perfect! Look I got you some clothes to change into, before we go shopping. I looked outside and well, there are so many people around today, I didn’t want you to be seen in that damn uniform while we’re shopping!”


“You went shopping…so I can go shopping?” Rei asked with a raised eyebrow that was so Rei it shattered the illusion the haircut created.
Yup, that’s Rei alright.


“What are you, Shinji’s Sister or something?” she muttered, recalling the exact same confused question from the Third Child earlier, rolling her eyes with a sigh. So she still had a way to go…but this was a huge improvement, soon to become a quantum leap.


“Look, just put these on” she said, shoving the bags into her hands, then turning to the other person in the room. “Hey Francesco, can Rei just use you’re change room, real quick?”


“Honey, knowing your fashion sense, Rei can use it for as long as she likes” he said back as he packed away his tools, getting a grin from Asuka and a blush from Rei as the Second pushed the First into the room and shut the door.


After Rei was safely ensconced, Asuka stepped over to Francesco and feeling oddly bold, gave him a hug.


“Thank you” she said simply. “She looks…well..”


“Hot?” he supplied.


“Well getting there” she grinned. “Wait till you see her come out…” she left it hanging as she stepped out for the last time, enjoying the way her hair moved and felt…



“You give the clothes to Rei?” Misato asked as she rejoined her a hundred meters or so away casually browsing through some clothes racks, the quartet of Section Two agents looking rather miserable, each holding a pair of bags Misato explained was filled with basic necessities for Rei.


Ah, Misato had already dragged them through the women’s hygiene section of that chemist a few doors down.
Damn, she had really wanted to see that…


“Yup” Asuka nodded.


“I hope they weren’t too much of a change for her” Misato said with a raised eyebrow.


“Oh relax, its all good” Asuka said in a dismissive tone that slightly worried Misato.


“Well I hope so” her guardian replied, now second guessing her impulsive earlier decisions. “This is supposed to be a day about bonding with her; I’d rather not start a feud that might explode into ‘Evangelions at dawn’ or something”.


“We’re allowed to duel in our Evas?” Asuka asked in genuine interest.
Perhaps she could work out that ‘frustration’ with Shinji by beating his Eva to a pulp…


“Well…no, but we might find some kind of simulation model or something…later” Misato shrugged, giving up on the clothes and walking out to the railing that circled this level of the long rectangular building and looked down to the ground floor one level below. “But we have a whole heap of training simulations where you’ll learn to work together in pairs with both Shinji and Rei, with a third providing fire support in turn and I’d rather not have you or her start shooting each other in the back in front of the Commander”.


“Yeah...” Asuka said, glancing down over the railing they were both leaning against, “do you know much about him?”


“The Commander? A bit” Misato said carefully. What do you want to know?”
“I just…do you know what happened between him and Shinji?” she asked.


Misato raised an eyebrow, but looked away as she thought about how much she could tell Asuka without violating carefully placed Shinji’s trust.


“You really would have to ask Shinji about that Asuka” Misato said, before sighing slightly. “But all I can tell you…Shinji doesn’t consider him his Father. Oh he acknowledges the biological fact…but for all intents and purposes, he is alone in this world, he doesn’t have any family. Except for us and his few friends and frankly, that’s why I need you to get on with him and Rei, to learn to work together. I…can’t tell you about what happened to his Mother, but you two are more alike then you-”


“He told me” Asuka said shortly. “I…I made a stupid joke about this time when we were together as kids he told me about…and he told me all about what had happened to his Mother…”


Alarm bells went off in Misato’s head as Asuka slowly turned her face to Misato.


“What happened to his Mother…it…” she took a deep breath “it was the same thing, more or less, that happened to mine, wasn’t it?”


How in the hell did I end up in the middle of this minefield without a map? Misato wondered in amazement. Perhaps I’m drinking too much…no…wait, I haven’t had a beer in three days…perhaps I’m not drinking enough?
Confusing. I’ll have to ask Ritsuko.

“Misato?” Asuka repeated, sounding more insistent this time.


“Asuka…you know I hadn’t joined NERV until long after what happened to both your Mothers” Misato hedged.


“That isn’t answering my question” she pointed out.


God damn GermanUniversity courses on logic! She thought about just lying through her teeth…but damn it, how could she, her guardian and CO for less then a week betray her trust like that by dodging the hard questions?


“Look, Asuka…all I know is from some coffee talk with Akagi after Shinji arrived and confronted his Father and no I am not going to tell you what happened there-”


“He told me” Asuka said again to Misato’s exasperation, that he was opening up so quickly to Asuka and still so closed to her…


“But did you tell him?” Misato challenged her. “About your Mother?”


“…No” Asuka admitted after a long, drawn out silence in a low voice. “I…I wanted to...but…I just…couldn’t”.


“You know, he’s probably going to kill me for telling you this, but I never told him anything about you” Misato said after a few seconds of Asuka clearly wrestling with her inner demons.


“But…on the Rainbow, when you, he and the stooges got off the-”


“I know” Misato shrugged slightly. “I have no idea how he learned what he did about you or why he said that I always talked about you, but it didn’t come from me. I intended you all to be a surprise for him and hadn’t told him anything more then your name once, in passing. No offense intended".


“None taken” Asuka murmured as her perception of Shinji changed yet again…


He was like a rubix cube. Every time she thought she had come closer to understanding an aspect of him, another side of him mutated…


“I’m not putting you through this team training for the fun of it” Misato continued. “As a pilot, tell me, honestly please Asuka…when Shinji told you to go for the core of the Seventh, were you thinking of him at all? Working with him?”
“No” she admitted after several long seconds of surprisingly honest thought, in an even more sotto voice.


“You’ve seen the combat replay, seen how he matched you step for step, move for move, without you even noticing. I have no idea how he did that and frankly, neither does Ritsuko; he’s never done anything like that in the simulations, not even with Rei…just you”. Misato turned to face Asuka who was looking at her out of the corner of her eyes. “If you can work and learn to do the same with him Asuka, then Rei with the both of you and vice versa, able to predict each others moves and cover each others backs…then you might just save me from having to write to your Father and Step Mother some time and explain how I got you killed, because my pilots were not working together”.


Asuka chewed that remark down in silence, finally starting to see why Misato, Kaji and the Vice Commander were pushing so hard to get her and Shinji –and Rei to a lesser extent- working together with that crazy DDR crap, along with more conventional Evangelion simulations.


“And the team is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain” she thought, without realizing she had said it out loud until Misato without warning, reached over and hugged her tightly.


“You’ve grown a lot in a few days Asuka” Misato said simply. “I’m so proud of you”.


It was all Asuka could do not to violate her promise to never cry…at least not in public, as she hugged Misato back, then from her position caught sight of someone.

[Chris OFarrell]

“Uh…is that Rei?” she asked, in a tone of some degree of awe…
Misato let go and turned, her jaw dropping as a girl in a stunning white singlet top, short charcoal skirt just under knee length with blue leggings as bright as her hair strutted –there was no other word for it- across the lower level ground floor with such an air of confidence that Asuka was left speechless, watching as numerous males their age –and more then a few disturbingly above it- stopped and stared, stumbled or just fell heavily to a convenient seat as, with a radiated ‘cool’ factor of a hundred and fifteen percent, Rei Ayanami moved into some store named Games Workshop, on a beeline for someone Asuka quickly recognized.


“It’s the third stooge” she muttered, spotting Aida, but why Rei had made a beeline for their classmate…and how she had changed her entire body language vocabulary like that she didn’t get in the slightest.


“You uh…didn’t slip her any drugs or anything, when I wasn’t watching did you?” Miasto asked.


“No!” Asuka spluttered in shock. Misato nodded slowly.


“Well I’m outa ideas for what happened…I think we’ve either done something very very right, or very very wrong”.


“How do we know the difference?” Misato shrugged.


“If we’re not demoted to painting every new building in Tokyo-3 when the Commander returns, we’ll know” Misato assured her.




Rei only took a minute inside the store, before she emerged with an –understandably Asuka decided with her first sympathy for the Stooge- shocked looking Kensuke in tow. They talked for another minute or so, before he appeared to somewhat pull himself together and ask Rei something, which she replied with a smile, before, to Asuka’s increasing amazement, leaning in to give him a light kiss on the cheek, before spinning and ‘strutting’ away back towards the stairs. To Asuka’s amusement, but again slight understanding, she saw Aida just stand there, stunned, until several of his friends walked out to pull him back in the shop, probably to minimize the risk of someone running into him and knocking him over…
“Hey look, it’s the men!” Misato said suddenly in an all too cheerful voice. None the less, Asuka’s expression perked up as she saw Shinji and Kaji descend…and got a look at Shinji’s new clothes.
Her lips pursed in silent appreciation of his clothes, guessing that it had to have been Kaji’s handiwork. She doubted Shinji could find his way around the clothing store if you gave him a map, a GPS receiver and a guide dog, after all.
He was wearing a high collar charcoal shirt cut rather flatteringly similar to her own blue shirt, but colored almost identical to Rei’s skirt –much to her annoyance at both herself, Kaji, Shinji and Rei- with a very stylish looking suede jacket over the top, dark, expensive looking jeans and what looked like new desert boots.


Annoyingly, he was also getting quite openly speculative looks from many girls…no, that had to be Kaji she corrected herself at once. Truly annoyingly however, he and Kaji both stopped at the top of the stairs and greeted Rei when she arrived. Asuka didn’t feel her fingers slowly strangle the metal railing to little effect as Shinji hugged Rei freely and without hesitation, but she knew enough about body language to see that he wasn’t holding her like someone madly in love…it was more the hug a very close friend would give another…almost the hug a brother would give a sister in fact.


It was the only reason she remained in place and didn’t stalk over there to…wait, why was she so upset over this?


This was starting to get ridiculous. The sooner she was able to move back out of Misato’s, the better.


As a result of her introspection however, she failed to catch Rei’s curious look focus on her…


Finally however, Shinji and Rei started back over, Shinji looked both stunned and pleased with the transformation of the First Child before his eyes, though Asuka thought he looked slightly more shell shocked then she would have guessed.


This is all it takes to break down his walls? Yeash, you’re mine Third Child once we get to the swimsuit area…

“Uh…wow” Misato said as Rei walked up to them, looking twice as hot at close range and even making Asuka feel a little uneasy. She was sure she still looked better…but…


“Hmm…not half bad” Asuka admitted, studying the effect and deciding that in a few hours, they had killed Ayanami the schoolgirl and brought out Ayanami the vixen…


Just like that.


“Can I choose clothes, or can I…” she muttered, rhetorically.


“I would be pleased if you continued to do so” Rei smiled slightly in return, before her gaze drifted past to the Section Two agents behind them.


“Oh these are just some fashion accessories for you” Asuka shrugged, dismissing the already significant haul and the equivalent of male hell they had been dragged through to get all of it, God only knows how much of it they had had to carry to the counter with a loudly talking Misato…


“Some things to put in your hair, some hygiene products, beauty products, brushes, clips, ribbons, all the basics…” she listed the items, trailing off as Shinji and Kaji both rejoined them. Asuka squared her stance and faced him with a raised eyebrow, admitting that much like Rei, he didn’t look half bad up close in these clothes…almost a Kaji lite…


“Well, I’m impressed. With Kaji’s fashion sense to guide you, you don’t actually dress up half bad Baka” she admitted publicly.


“And you…well, you’d look amazing no matter how you did your hair…but I really like it” he said in return in a tone that suggested he meant what he said, but desperately didn’t want to give any kind of offense, ruining the comparison to Kaji in a heartbeat.


One day you might get a real spine Ikari…one day…


“Well of course you do” she finally replied with a roll of her eyes to try and hide to smile she felt at his once again honest compliment of Asuka over the Second Child.


“So, what do you think Kaji?” she asked in a pleading tone, letting her hair flick out and opening her eyes to their maximum ‘cute and vulnerable’ setting.


“I think you’re growing up far to fast” he replied with a gentle but approving smile that carefully dodged the thrust of her question, turning towards Misato with a sloppy grin coming over his face that she just wished he would turn on her once in her lifetime, a wrapped package appearing into his hand from nowhere. “And for you, Misato-Chan” -both Asuka and Misato slightly flinched at the honorific- “as a token of my undying esteem. I’ll see you all later” he finished, backing away and vanishing down a nearby stairwell to Asuka’s annoyance.


Here for hours with Shinji and barely a few minutes with her. That wasn’t very nice of him!


She’d remind him of it later and leverage some ‘personal time’ with him…
Misato raised an eyebrow and looked at the gift suspiciously, as if she expected it was about to explode before she finally gave in and ripped open the paper.


Inside, was a bright yellow and black book.


“Parenting for Dummies, 4th Edition” the Kanji proclaimed along the top.
Asuka had to work very hard to hide the laughter that came out after she finally translated the stupid Japanese characters, managing to reduce it to a kind of shortened snicker as her face went red, taking a good ten seconds to get back under control.


Misato’s face on the other hand held her expression for a good five seconds, then she finally looked up and a wry smile came across her face as she smiled with true appreciation for the humor of his gift.



“Funny. I’ll have to kill him later of course, but funny”.


“They were all out of ‘Parenting for Parents with Temperamental Germans” Shinji added lightly with a smirk threatening to make its way onto the edge of his face.


Asuka was delighted.


So, you DO want to play today, do you Third Child? She asked hopefully in her head.


So be it!

Her fist crashed out, albeit only at moderate intensity, crashing into his arm and causing the startled Shinji to jump backwards and rub his arm.


“You’ve made progress today Third Child” she said in a sweet tone, which was belayed by the slight narrowing of her gaze at him, willing him to melt under it. “Don’t push it”.


He pushed it.


“Jawohl Mein Fuhrer” he smirked with a slight mocking edge, causing Asuka’s threat response programming to ascend to tier two-


“Alright, cool it you two, playtime can wait” Misato broke in, in her ‘Operations Director’ tone she only used off duty to really get their attention.


Oh damn it; it was just starting to get fun!

Tactics. Examine all blockages carefully. With care, they can be used as counterweights…

“Well! Now that the Baka has rejoined us, we can finally get this day underway! You four are dismissed” Asuka said, hiding her smile as she let the Section Two agents go without bothering to ask permission –hey she had first called them over, she got to send them packing.


The quartet didn’t wait for a countermanding order, dumping their bags at the feet of a surprised Shinji and running for the stairs.


“Hmm. Perhaps we shouldn’t have dragged them through the ladies toiletries section after all” Misato frowned, before shrugging and dumping her own bag next to the others…next to Shinji.


“Hey!” Shinji suddenly protested as he realized Asuka’s move, glancing up at her in what Asuka could only describe as vengeful admiration.


Good! The best wars are against an opponent who can see what happens to him…she cackled inwardly.


“Well, what are you waiting for?” she twisted the knife in. “Be a man and get moving!”


She’d say this for him, he knew when to cut his losses and start planning for the next battle. Indeed, a worthy opponent was the Third Child…


He glanced at Rei who, approvingly, offered him not an iota of sympathy, forcing him to sigh and, with dignity, reach down to pick up their purchases.
“Better!” she snapped, getting a warning look from Miasto about taking it too far and took it to heart, reaching out to take a grip on Rei’s hand followed shortly there after by Misato, leading Rei through a cross passage into the ‘main’ clothing stores area., a massive multi level, long building, with countless busy shop fronts doing a brisk trade.


“Now” Asuka started, finally ready to get down to the business of the day and mentally unfolding a checklist in her mind. “To begin with, we need some casual clothes you can just wear when you’re lazing around. Then some ‘going out’ clothes of various types suitable to various needs, as well as a moderate amount of undergarments and so on”.


Good summery, now to specifics-

“Going out clothes…this would include clothes to go to a dance?” Rei interrupted oddly. Asuka just shrugged.


“Not really, that’s formal fashion, stuff like dresses and…” she paused as she realized Rei didn’t generally just ask questions for the sake of it. “Why do you ask?”


Rei raised an eyebrow in confusion, causing her stomach to ice over.
“Because the Summer Dance is only two and a half weeks away” Rei replied, not understanding how this caused the floor to crash out from under Asuka’s feet.


“WHAT?” she screeched, noting the disapproving looks on the faces of people around them, but not caring.


Rei, clearly taking her shouted comment literally, tried to repeat herself.
“Because the Summer Dance is only”-


“WHY wasn’t I TOLD about this?” Asuka demanded of the world “How long has this been planned? Oh my GOD I don’t have anything to WEAR!” she freaked out, realizing she had left her more formal dresses back in Munich…then the more critical problem. “I don’t have a DATE!”


Now to find someone to blame.


Her head snapped around to pierce Shinji with an icy stalagmite, causing him to prudently take a step back.


“Why” she asked, “wasn’t I informed about this? Oh my God, I don’t have a date!” Thinking quickly, she turned from the not quite smirking, but clearly working his way there Shinji, to someone more useful. “What about you Rei?”


“I am…taking classmate Aida to the dance”.


“That Stooge?” Asuka wondered, kicking herself as she realized exactly what Rei had been doing downstairs earlier with him. “Oh well, I guess he’s not as bad as Toji, what Hikari sees in him I have no idea...”


So who the hell could she take? Kaji was clearly a non starter and she would not show up alone thank you very much! All the idiots at school who would drop their current dates without question if she asked them to were not worth the time of day from her…and that just left…


“What about you Third Child?” she demanded, turning back again to Shinji, who had placed the bags down and appeared to be frowning at his arm, then looking up in surprise, then a curious and clear unease at Asuka’s question. Interested in this hesitation, she was just about to press the attack, when Rei saved her the effort.


“Classmate Tanaka offered to accompany Pilot Ikari to the dance, but he declined and let it be known that he was disinclined to participate in the Summer Dance, to a great deal of disappointment by most of the female classmates in class 3F”.


Shinji had been propositioned by Tannaka?


Asuka had no time for her nearest competition, coolly acknowledging her looks were not half bad…but she had nothing on her intelligence, social abilities or cult following.


Still, she was arguably the number two girl in class, would have been the number one when she asked Shinji…


And then he had let it be known to the rest of the girls that he didn’t want to go to probably the crowning social event of the season?

Oh she knew most of her class had some form of crush on Shinji, something she utterly failed to understand…mostly…but he could have had any of them, well except perhaps Hikari and one or two others with ‘steady’ boyfriends.


But…he’s free…

“What are you, stupid?” Asuka demanded of him, now really wanting to know why he hadn’t gone. “Why the hell wouldn’t you want to go? It’s a DANCE”


She saw something snap inside his eyes and he almost glared at her.


“Because I’m not anything like a sociable as you! Because…because I didn’t know any of the girls who had offered to go with me at all and didn’t want to go just because I was the almighty hero they thought I was, because I don’t know how to dance, because I’ve never been good in those kinds of situations. Happy?”


Asuka…was…a little intimidated by that.


Shinji could have had any attractive Girl on his arm…but he wanted more…and was embarrassed about making a fool of himself, even if he was a hero with a capital H and anyone would be inclined to forgive him any mistakes at a dance…not that their classmates would exactly be experienced either.


More then that, she saw she didn’t trust himself, or anyone –then- to be with him either, probably because no-one could know what he had been through and was going through.


Well except another pilot of course…


“You really are an idiot” Asuka smiled slightly at him, before, before frowning as if in deep thought. “Well, fortunately for you, your stupidity is also your gain. I need a date, you’re it”.


”Wh..what?” Shinji asked, his head arcing around to lock back on hers, his expression suggesting that while he had heard the words, they had been gibberish.


“It’s simple. We’re already learning to dance together on that damn machine Misato is forcing us to-”


“Asuka” Misato chided her.


“nice machine that Misato is generously loaning us for our very important training” Asuka grudgingly corrected herself. “We’re learning to dance together anyway, what the hell is a couple of more dances to learn? And besides, I need a Date, I can’t show up alone! And while I’m sure every boy in our class would probably drop to their face at my feet begging for a chance if I asked them, I’d rather not make an enemy of an ‘ex-date’ who got dumped for me and…well…you showing up with me can frankly only help your social standing significantly” she pointed out in a positive voice. “So, well…I need you, it’s that simple. Any objections?”

She said the last two words in a tone that suggested very dire consequences should there be any, feeling her heart actually skip a beat as she wondered if he would, if he could possibly refuse her…


He simply shook his head, his eyes not leaving hers as the slightest ghost of a smile painted onto his face.


“Good!” she declared, hiding her extreme relief as she glanced around. “Well first we’ll get Rei’s shopping done, then you can go home while I find something to wear. Damn it, so little time!” she fretted once again, hurrying Rei into action as she lead Rei towards the nearest suitable store.




The rest of the afternoons shopping moved rapidly with the ‘preliminaries’ out of the way as Asuka methodically moved around first one level, then to Shinji’s disbelief, up to the next level and started all over.


Asuka ignored him as she steadily worked down the list to give Rei a comprehensive outfit set of top quality clothes and all the little accessories that went along with them.


It finally got to the point that Miasto called back in the two remaining Section Two agents who had been hanging around the whole time in the background, both looking rather displeased as they were assigned to help Shinji, splitting up his load as the bags continued to multiply.


There were however, several highlights.


Misato’s chosen ‘reward’ dress was sickeningly daring, slit up almost to her damn mid thigh with a low V neckline and thin straps that looked depressingly good on her and would probably get Kaji’s attention like Evangelions drew Angels, but she had no choice but to do the honorable thing and pay for it, though Rei was kind enough to split the bill between them.


On the plus side, Misato’s provocative purchase left her no wiggle room when Asuka emerged in her chosen swimsuit, a rather ‘thin’ looking red and white striped bikini that she put on and slowly stalked towards Shinji with, who was sitting down looking a little tired on a nearby lounge.


Flatteringly, her sudden appearance in a garment that left nothing to the imagination as she set her legs on either side of his, her arms supporting her weight by holding the chair on either side of his head as she leaned in to ask ‘if he liked it’ caused all traces of fatigue to vanish, his face to light up red and a stuttering nonsensical reply to issue from his mouth.


She took that as a ‘yes’ with emphasis, quietly pleased that as she suspected, the ‘twins’ were quite effective artillery against him, getting dressed back into her clothes and purchasing it without a second thought.


But that was about it for the day. Mostly because Shinji was starting to complain about the weight and even the Section Two agents were looking increasingly like they might just mutiny and face Gendo’s retaliation instead of ‘just one more bag’.


Conceding that Shinji had been properly put into place, she called it a day, deciding to head back in the next few days some time to help Rei –and herself- find a dress and any other accessories, after Rei finished moving into her new apartment.


They got back to Misato’s care, agreeably close to the door thanks to their early arrival and loaded it up, barley fitting themselves, Rei and the bags inside.


The cars engine didn’t appear to notice the extra mass as they screamed through the city.


“So, did you three have fun today?” Misato asked sounding very happy.
“Uh huh, you bet!” Asuka smiled from the shotgun position, pleased with the outcome.


“It was a very pleasant day” Rei agreed from one side of the back seat, her eyes a mystery as for some reason, she just kept stroking her arm…


Shinji on the other hand just grunted, eliciting a smirk from Asuka at him, though his attention appeared to be lost in the far distance…


Faster then even Asuka thought possible however –a factoid she put down to being the weekend with less traffic to dodge around- they arrived at Rei’s place and helped –figuratively speaking- Shinji with Rei’s purchases up to her room.


Well, she’s done a little cleaning Asuka noticed as she stepped in, the tons of mail was gone and most of the loose junk was also missing…
But Asuka still wouldn’t keep a pet here, let alone a human being, let along an Evangelion pilot!


“Well, you’ll be out of here in a couple of days” she said, as much to remind herself as well as Rei, thinking of that unused wardrobe and frowning. “So you might want to leave most of this in these bags, no point taking them out and packing them back up again two days later!”


“Understood” Rei nodded.


There didn’t really appear to be anything more to say.


“Well, we’ll all see you at headquarters tomorrow for the combat simulation training” Misato cheerfully stepped in. “Until then, see you later!”


Asuka led the withdraw down to Misato’s car, Shinji rubbing his arms yet again and looking at her in accusation that she returned with a sweet, all too innocent smile as they screamed home.


Shinji pointedly didn’t help them this time with their purchases, but they were relatively minor and easily carried by the girls, which just rubbed in the point even more of course.


Finally, they arrived, an irate looking Pen-Pen glowering at the tardiness of his roommates and clearly wondering when dinner was going to be started. Asuka actually felt her stomach rumble slightly, realizing with a start that it was only an hour or two till dinner and she had only had a very light lunch that really only qualified as a snack, causing her to go hunting around for some junk food to tide her over till dinner.


“Shinji, if you’re not up for cooking, we’ll just order in tonight, I think you’ve more then earned a break” Misato called from her room.


“I’m not arguing” Shinji replied from further down the hall where he was also dumping his purchases. Curiously, he came back out into the room holding that largish A3 sized thing wrapped in paper and having dumped his jacket, just as Misato came out of her own room, changed into a T-Shirt and shorts and kicked off her shoes.


“What’s that?” Asuka got in first, pointing to the package as she tore apart a stick of liquorish with her teeth.


“It’s a…picture Kaji got me. If its okay Misato, I’d like to hang it on the wall” he said, pointing at an empty hook on the far living room wall, next to the veranda doors.


“Of course you can” she said warmly, “this is your house as much as mine”
“Thanks” he smiled, walking over to the wall. Misato, he curiosity piqued followed as he appeared to hesitate, then ripped the wrapping off and carefully lifted it onto the wall hanging mount. Misato gave it a curious but not that fussed look –then did a double take, her mouth slowly opening in shock…


Then she literally fell to the floor, almost crushing a surprised penguin that scuttled out of the way, laughing so hard she looked to be having trouble breathing as she flailed about on the floor.


Asuka now more then a little intrigued walked out of the kitchen and around, glancing down at the helplessly cackling Misato before looking up at the slightly sheepish Shinji, then at the picture and feeling her breath freeze in her lungs.


Staring back at her was Gendo Ikari.


The picture had to be a real photograph, but it captured the essence of the man Asuka had never met, but seen pictures of and heard much from other NERV personnel and Shinji himself. She could instantly see the resemblance to his Son and vice versa, but utterly alien to any look she had seen on Shinji’s face was the expression of utter disdain and contempt, the desire to control and dominate burning in from behind the tinted glasses.


One of his hands in the picture held a mate black gun.


The other, an utterly adorable white kitten, which the gun was pointed at.

PILOT THE EVANGELION! The main caption said in harsh, angular kanji.
Or the kitten gets it a smaller and much gentler subtext kanji added.


Within two seconds, Asuka was also laughing, leaning against the wall as she tried to control herself, not having met the commander…and wondering how in the hell she was now going to be able to do so, without cracking up…

[LadyTevar]

PILOT THE EVANGELION! The main caption said in harsh, angular kanji.
Or the kitten gets it a smaller and much gentler subtext kanji added.

*hits the floor, just like Misato*

[Vehrec]

I'm very sorry now, but the reading of this chapter, awesome as it is, must be put off. I've got to be going places and moving things tomorow, so I must not stay up reading EVA fic.

Even if I want to.

[Sidewinder]

Well done. You should've proofread it for spelling and grammar errors, but the portrayals were pretty good. I like how Rei's character is developing.

[Darth Fanboy]

Fucking fantastic. This really should be made into a follow up series. The development of Shinji is as close to perfect as I believe possible.

[Darth Yoshi]

Rei, strutting? Oh, that is simply beautiful. That's just so...not Rei, and yet her knowing how to strut somehow fits.

I agree with Tev about the picture. Hilarious.

Keep up the good work, Chris.

[Academia Nut]

Mwahahahahaha! Ah... as always Chris, you deliver the awesome, although of course we won't find out about Shinji's debriefing just yet. I'm sure that since you put that one last that indicates just what a whopper it is.

Oh, and the inclusion of the Games Workshop store is priceless. Incidentally, your story will get a mention in a later chapter (no spoilers yet of how but trust me, it'll be there and has been planned to be there for a long time) so if you want to fire another shot across my bow (or into it as the case may be) go right ahead. Commentaries about the 40k figurines looking "silly" will be met with intense giggling. I am manly enough to admit that I giggle, although it falls squarely into the psychotic version.

[FA Xerrik]

Awesome chapter. I started laughing so loudly at the picture of Gendo that I got in a little trouble with my roommates, who were all trying to watch Planet Earth. Whatever. I can't wait to see the perspectives of the other two Pilots, especially what was going through Rei's mind during the massage and what exactly Shinji and Kaji were talking about for hours.

[Vehrec]

You keep mentioning something. Asuka calls Rei Shinji's sister, and then mentally remarks that he hugs her in a sisterly way. Well, I wonder what will happen when they finnaly get the message about how this whole thing ties together.
Strutting Rei and Asuka's dream get bonus points for mental fire drills, but the Kitten poster gets mega bonus for the chinese fire drill it triggered.

[Chris OFarrell]

Just to answer a few questions / points made via emails/PM's and reviews since this whole thing started...and to offer some commentary.

Asuka’s hairstyle came mostly from watching End of Evangelion -as in the first half, NOT the second- as Asuka lays into the Mass Production model Evangelions. If you watch her as she duels with one of those blades/hidden lances, her hair often reels around behind her like its in a ponytail or something, so I sort of took it a step further, mostly out of curiosity.

The idea for the 'PILOT THE EVA' picture came from South Park and the 'SIT DOWN! OR THE CUTE LITTLE BUNNY GETS IT!' bus driver. Which lead to Stan and Kyle wondering if the Bus Driver really would follow through with it...and Kyle comment 'Oh she would dude, she WOULD'. Which in turn lead to -for some crazy reason- me thinking about instead of Rei being wheeled out to force Shinji to pilot Unit One, of Gendo glaring, picking up a kitten and telling him to pilot the Eva, or it gets it, Shinji asking Misato if he really would do it and everyone in the Eva bay nodding furiously that yes, he would.

Clearly, there was something wrong with that chicken I had for lunch.
Mana Kirishima...I had a lot of questions asking if I was going to use her. My first response was 'no'. My second response was who in the hell was Mana Kirishima?


A friend of a friend had actually brought a copy of Girlfriend of Steel - then downloaded the English fansub version which he lent me. I played through it over a day or so last week, though it very much wasn't a game, more like a lost episode. I appreciated the effort, even if I found a lot of the plot rather stupid. I mean, why would the UN or Japanese Government waste money on the Tridant after the spectacular failure of Jet Alone? Especially after Ramiel proved that brute forcing an AT field just really isn't practical and only an Evangelion can produce an AT field to counter an Angels? Let alone why you would need a frigen 14 year old pilot? The Evas require it...a robot doesn't.

That said, I found Asuka's fuming jealousy utterly delightful...and was stunned by Ganix actually producing a picture of her and Shinji getting THAT close...

http://www.vazcomics.org/mamend/extra/eva_steel.jpg

I mean look! Her hands aren't anywhere near his throat...yet.

So in answer to the dozens of emails, yet I will allow Mana Kirishima to make an appearance in this fanfic.
She will have exactly three lines, be seen once and never be seen again, nor be involved with any super secret Government project...but there you go. I'll figure out somewhere to put her at some point

This chapter was the hardest to write.

Asuka as a character, is simple. She's a 14 year old girl going through puberty who sees herself as far older woman, is confused by her feelings towards Shinji even from a rather early point in time -even more so this time around- and half in denial about those feelings, while having deep dark suppressed memories that she lives in denial over, that subtily drive most of who she is.

Rei on the other hand...

Is it that she didn't feel emotions until they were awoken more by being around Shinji and Asuka? Is is that she felt them and ignored them? Is it that she felt them but couldn't express them? Does she know about who she is in terms of Yui and Liliths Genetic material? Does she understand what that means for her interactions with Shinji? Does she have her own soul in addition to that of Liliths she carries? If she she aware of who she is, is it only only Rei III who can manifest the incredible power of her AT field that we saw used against Tabris? And those questions are just the tip of an enormous iceberg which make writing Rei, especially Rei's inner thoughts, difficult. To say nothing of a Rei II being encouraged to think for herself and evolve.

So yeah, its fun and horrible at the same time

Anyway, enjoy. You might be able to spot a tiny nod to another Evangelion fanfic, used with permission somewhere in here...

Oh and I'm sorry for the formatting, FF.net screws everything up and I can't be bothered to fix it.

Three Colors White


Rei Ayanami’s eyes opened at exactly Seven Thirty AM, as they did just about every morning. It was a routine that had been all but hard coded into her biological clock from an early age. While she could over or under sleep this happened rarely, most notably during her recovery after Unit Zero’s activation test when discomfort had interrupted her sleep at various random times. The only other time this rhythm had been interrupted had been a sleepless night after Shinji had given her flowers and confronted her with the truth that she was a unique being, who had the power and right to make her own choices in life.


Without moving her head, she glanced across at where those flowers had stood until a week ago, shortly before the Second Child had arrived. They had looked rather dead by that point in time but she had been unwilling to simply throw them out, until she had mentioned their state to Pilot Ikari…to, Shinji, in passing.


He had been extremely surprised that she still retained the flowers and had gently told her it was perfectly acceptable to throw them out when they started to ‘turn’, and although he was very touched that she had kept the flowers this long, the gesture itself was worth far more then their physical presence…especially when they had gotten to the state she had described them in.


Much like the rest of this apartment she thought in a rather clinical tone as she glanced around. Residual embarrassment over pilot Soryus horror at the state of her dwelling had led her to make a minimal clean up of the mess, throwing out much of the loose debris such as her old bandages and unopened mail, but there was no doubting that her place was far from clean compared to all other ‘homes’ she had entered.


Part of her was still somewhat, if not apathetic, then relatively unsure of the sudden changes being forced upon her by her fellow pilots, but a greater part that Shinji had awoken was increasingly confident in her ability to adapt and evolve into them and even looked forward to moving into a clean, new apartment very close to her friends.


First however, she had a different experience to survive.
A shopping experience.


While normally on a Saturday she would head into NERV for various tests, she had been given leave to proceed on this expedition by no less a person then the Vice Commander, when he had summoned her into his office for a talk.


“The Second and Third Children were in here earlier” the Vice Commander said, without preamble. “Both saw your living conditions yesterday and were, to put it mildly, appalled by them”.


“Yes Sir” she acknowledged, offering nothing more.


“To put it simply Rei, they have all but demanded that you be moved into a new apartment, one up to proper standards of construction, hygiene and safety. I had no good reason, nor any real inclination to refuse such a request, so, after consulting with the Commander, I have done so”.




It sounded so simple and straight forward to the Vice Commander.
In fact the Second and Third Child had started a minor crisis. Gendo had been in Geneva –the new home of the UN after the destruction of New York in the Second Impact- where he had been busy in meetings with Keel and the rest of the Committee, as well as a few closed door UN sessions.
Rei however was of such critical importance to Gendos plans that the Vice Commander would have been in far more trouble had he taken such a decision without consulting him.


Of course, there was the slight problem that on even a secure line to UN headquarters SEELE would be listening to every single word and looking for anything that could be used against Gendo, or, anything that could threaten their plans. Rei was just as important to them as one of the key components of Human Instrumentality, the container for Liliths very soul.


But unlike Gendo, they wouldn’t care if any Rei’s incarnations became a threat to Gendo’s plans by developing a free will. They had all the time in the world after the Angels had been terminated to grow another vessel from scratch, loyal to them, kill the Rei’s, then use their own pawn for their own plans.


Gendo (and Fuyutsuki) on the other hand knew their window of opportunity would probably be measured in days after the 17th was terminated, not the years needed to develop a new Rei from scratch if something catastrophic happened. Ultimately, this was the reason they kept so many ‘spares’ of the First Child around along with the monthly backups of her mind, just in case the First died in combat, became unmanageable or otherwise was lost to them.


But…the system was not without its drawbacks.


The most glaring problem remained that it wasn’t possible to digitize a human’s memories or thought patterns to any real degree. Attempts had been made with limited success; in fact, that failed technology had been reborn as the key to the Dummy Plug project, with Rei as the basis subject. But the Dummy Plug was just a poor imitation of a human, little more then a trick to fool an Evangelion into synchronizing with a digital file through the A-10 links. A very basic, aggressive ‘intelligence’ that could be used as a last ditch defense, should the pilot be incapacitated that would probably be just as dangerous to any other Evangelion on the field as the Angel it was pointed against.


The backup system for Rei’s memories on the other hand, was able to, reliably, duplicate every aspect of her thought processes and memories then download them into a new clone. Above the tank of LCL Rei spent so much time in was a mass of piping that concealed a small 7th Generation computer, very similar to the cloned brains used in the MAGI systems. Less powerful then even one of the super computers that made up that triad, it was however far more specialized. The system was designed to map the changes from month to month in Rei’s mind, and then duplicate them in its own neural pathways as neurons and protein chains. In the event that Rei died, the Soul of Lilith would return to one of these vessels –each of which had a tiny fragment of it to anchor Lilith to NERV- almost at once, at which point the chosen clone would have the former Ayanami’s memories dumped unceremoniously and painfully into it, with the data unspooling over a matter of weeks until the new Rei would be indistinguishable from the old.
But as with all things in an imperfect world, the system was not without its drawbacks.


The most glaring of which was that the technology was analogue. Not digital.


There was no such thing as an ‘incremental backup’ of Rei, no chance to revert to an ‘earlier version’. Keeping the backups up to date was utterly critical for several reasons, not the least of which was that her combat training and experiences needed to be kept current. The absolute last thing they needed was to put a ‘Rei’ in the entry plug of Unit Zero who had missed some critical training, during an Angel attack. Equally important was the fact that the Firsts synchronization ratios continually improved with her dutiful training, albeit at a very slow rate and neither Gendo nor SEELE would have accepted loosing ten percent of that ratio due to a lack of a current ‘image’.


Secondary, but no less real concerns included the clear problems of a Rei who had forgotten years of her life re-appearing to people who knew her. Some temporary memory loss would be expected as the memories unfolded, but that would only be a matter of a week or two until she remembered everything and she could surely be passed off as having temporary amnesia, or just kept in ‘critical care’ isolation if needed.


Loosing several years worth of memories on the other hand for real…
While Rei was odd enough and withdrawn enough that it was unlikely people would even notice, all it would take would be the smallest slip of the tongue to start to unravel the first thread, which led to the first rip in the fabric…and neither Gendo nor SEELE were willing take that chance.


Of course, for Gendo, Rei’s ‘backup’ presented its own, unique problems. So long as she would do what he told her to do, then having a backup of Rei able to be replaced at a moments demand was arguably a huge advantage as the system was entirely under his control. Meaning he could freely risk her against the Angels without any concern of her death, which in itself was an advantage, should the need for suicidal tactics in battle become a necessity.


But the nightmare scenario at this stage late in the day, was that Rei might, somehow, start thinking for herself. And as a consequence, decide that she did not wish to perform her appointed task.
It was, however, unlikely in the extreme of course.


Years of careful isolation from humanity and robbing her of any real interaction had left her utterly beholden to Gendo, even after he had ‘released’ her unsupervised into school and her own apartment. Even Ikari’s impulsive saving of Rei had simply bound her tighter to his will as the only human to show her the slightest warmth or concern. All evidence suggested she would be ready to do her part when needed.


Except for the other two Children…


They were variables in the equation which had the potential to be disastrous. Kōzō couldn’t help but be perversely proud of the fact that the children, despite all their own problems, had clearly taken Rei protectively under their wing. Asuka had been just as fiery as all his reports had suggested, confronting him with her Mothers brilliance and a passion of her own that that had actually slightly intimidated him as he tried to find some hole, any hole in her logic.


How could he or Gendo defend the conditions Rei was being kept in, which probably violated half of Japanese law on the treatment of minors in particular and human beings in general? Even if NERV was mostly above the law, it wasn’t as if the Vice Commander could exactly be expected to fight for Rei’s status quo without a VERY good reason…and that they had deliberately isolated Rei to make her pliable to Gendo’s purposes would probably not be a reason Asuka, Shinji or just about everyone else at NERV would be inclined to accept.


So the Vice Commander had temporized, offering to move Rei into quarters inside the Geofront, which offered both tighter control over Rei for Gendo and clearly met the major issues the Second and Third had brought up.


Asuka of course, had had none of that, instead demanding that she be granted the same rights as both her and Shinji, that it was grossly unfair to force Rei to work and live in the caverns of Central Dogma when there was an apartment building opposite that of Captain Katsuragi with an apartment free, especially given that NERV clearly had no problems with any of the children living about ground, Rei having lived on her own for years before either Shinji or Asuka had –though in their case, Misato had taken them both in.


Her voice had risen and fallen in a cadence of a much older woman as she laid out the exhaustive reasons why it was not acceptable, until Kōzō had finally admitted defeat and given in. Surprising and slightly embarrassing him, Asuka had then walked over and lightly kissed him on his cheek before heading out of the room with a smile on her face, mentioning in passing that she would be taking Rei shopping over the weekend, given the non existent state of her wardrobe.


Kōzō had suspected Asuka in fact found that a far more heinous crime then her living conditions.


Fuyutsuki had thought about putting off the news, but Gendo wouldn’t care for being kept in the dark, so, he had called him, obstinately to deliver the daily reports.


Unsurprisingly, Gendo had been unconcerned at the news when Fuyutsuki had delivered it in a simple, matter of fact tone at the end of much more mundane news; that at the requests of the other pilots, Rei was being moved to new and more suitable quarters closer to them, leaving unsaid the consequences of the other pilots now unavoidable involvement and concern for the First Child.


Gendos reply had been curt, approving the move and agreeing that the First should be allowed to skip this coming weekends’ tests, to allow the shopping trip to proceed. If SEELE were listening in, which was about as close to a ‘sure bet’ as you could come in this business, Gendo’s orders would be taken to be nothing out of the ordinary, though Keel would probably grumble about a non existent delay to the Human Instrumentality project that everyone knew didn’t exist, but was still a small point to score off Ikari in their ongoing game.


Fuyutsuki however easily read between the lines; No uploads for Rei until they were sure she was stable after this weekend…just in case. He knew Gendo wouldn’t care one way or the other what Rei did with her time or if she was allowed to live a little, just so long as she remembered firmly what she had been created to do. For all his apparent indifference and cruelty to her, he knew Gendo did care for her, at least on some level as his impulsive, rescue of her had shown. On the other hand, Gendo Ikari had not gotten to his position by making unwarranted assumptions. He might care for Rei more then his own Son, but he wouldn’t hesitate to take action against her should a decades worth of patient work be in danger.




Now, sitting across from Rei as she simply stared at him, Kōzō was trying in vein to determine if this would be the case or not.


“What is your primary purpose Rei?” he asked her bluntly.


Rei didn’t even hesitate in answering as she lied through her teeth. Gendo and the members of SEELE might have had poker faces that would keep them out of Vegas…but Rei would have been promptly banned from the greater state of Nevada itself had she shown up.


“Primarily; to serve as the catalyst for the Commanders Scenario as well as piloting Unit Zero in an Angel engagement scenario. Secondary considerations include-”


“Yes yes” Kōzō said in a dismissive tone that hid his relief that indeed Rei was still Rei.


Still, halting of the backups until Gendo himself could talk to her was a sensible precaution for now.


“None of this however” he continued, “precludes your interaction with the other Children” Kōzō continued. “To that end, you are to take this weekend off all NERV tests and spend some time with them as part of your team building training. You, Shinji Asuka should become good friends, to reinforce your working relationship. Against the Angels, we can leave nothing to chance, including teamwork. All indications are that the Angels will continue to evolve and adapt, and so must we”.


“Understood” she replied flatly, expertly hiding the sudden swell of emotion as she realized she was being ordered to spend time with her friends.


This was most advantageous.


“You are also aware I take it, that the Second and Third have pushed for you to be relocated to a new apartment?”


“Yes Sir” she acknowledged again.


“Do you have any problem with this?”


“I do not” Rei said after several seconds of consideration. “The state of my current dwelling appeared to infuriate the Second. It would be prudent to avoid such outcomes if we are to become…friends”.


“Indeed” Fuyutsuki nodded, pleased at her answer. “Well, keep me apprised. The Commander will return on Monday and we will reschedule your tests for some time in the future. Your new apartment will be ready inside forty eight hours, have your apartment cleared out within that time period. Dismissed”.


Outside, Rei maintained her typical dour look as she exited NERV into the Gefront.
The look continued as the mostly empty train ascended the Geofront and into a tunnel to the surface.
Only when the train broke into the brilliant sunset, did she let the slightest smile edge its way onto her face.






Kōzō watched her leave and the door close behind her, shuddering ever so slightly as she finally left. It still haunted him how much she was starting to look like Yui as she got older...


Would Yui forgive him for what he had helped do to her legacy? For what he had stood by and watched Rei be put through by Gendo? For the tiny spark of redemption he still desperately sought, perhaps in her level, familiar gaze staring out from Shinji Ikari?


On balance, he decided that Yui probably would forgive him; she was just that kind of a person. But he on the other hand…


No. He would never be able to forgive himself. His soul had been damned the second he had joined Gendo in fear of SEELE’s threats.
And there was nothing he could do now to stop the avalanche, except perhaps help the children to find some kind of joy out of life. Before death claimed them all.
And Rebirth.





Rei let another slight smile move onto her face once again as she finished her brief shower and, after considering her rather limited wardrobe, dressed in a fresh school uniform, dismissing her new formal and semi formal white NERV uniforms as not suitable for this exercise with the other pilots. She had a rather bland if nutritional breakfast then cleaned up –strange she was getting into that habit when she was about to leave this place- and left, heading down the not terribly well maintained elevator and out onto the street towards the local train station.


She walked alone –except for the Section 2 agents trying poorly not to look like they were following her- through the loud omnipresent clanging and drilling of construction around her neighborhood in the early morning light.


Already from the pale, almost silvery blue hue the sky had taken on, Rei could tell the day would be a warm one, unusually so for this time of year. The Earths axial tilt had been reduced to seventeen degrees from twenty three after Third Impact, a minor difference on paper, but one that had led to an median increase of temperature in the Northern hemisphere and a decrease in the Southern. While the winters were still quite chilly at times in Tokyo-3, snowfalls across Japan had become increasingly rare and heavy winter clothing had all but vanished from the streets as time went on. To some extent, this was why she had never been that bothered with her choice of clothes. The uniforms were durable and comfortable enough to wear in any season.


But apparently, this was grossly insufficient.


As the increasingly crowded train sped into the City, Rei took the opportunity to study other women on the train, who wore a bewildering array of clothes of different cuts, shapes, shades and colors which Rei studied as carefully as any Evangelion training manual, of which she had read more then a few in her life. A few of the styles she thought were agreeable, others less so…the concept of choosing her own clothes suddenly interested her as she superimposed her own image –she had seen ‘herself’ enough in the tanks to be able to easily do this- with the clothes and studied the effect.


Her analysis in fact became so involved her that she found she almost missed the stop as the train decelerated, realizing the twenty minute trip had all but ‘flown’ by. A curious sensation for Rei, who usually tracked every second precisely, but one she could ignore as she left the train, ran her NERV card through the ticket machine –unlimited public transport was one of the few ‘perks’ she found useful as an Eva pilot- and started to walk down towards the shopping center.





“Hey! Ayanami, over here!” the Second Child shouted in her general direction ten minutes later. She easily spotted the excited looking pilot in a small group comprising her and the Third, as well as the Director of Operations, a quartet of Section Two agents and Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji making his way stealthfully towards the group from the direction opposite her.


Adjusting her pace, she shifted towards the group, somewhat pleased to see them waiting for her, fascinated as she watched them conversing. The Second looking rather energized, the Third confused and the Captain amused…until the Special Inspector announced his presence, causing the Captain to whirl with a look of shock on her face, listening to their conversation with interest as she closed distance.


“But…but” Asuka stuttered as she stepped into close range, “I…we, need him to carry everything!” the Second whined in protest at Inspector Kaji saying he was going to take Shinji shopping for ‘guy stuff’ while she and the other two Girls did ‘girl stuff’.


Curious. A custom that males were required to carry purchases for females during shopping. A custom apparently in danger from the aforementioned plans Kaji had to take Shinji for his own shopping, at least for part of this trip.


She must act quickly.


“If you require male assistance to carry purchases” Rei suggested helpfully as her mind compared a list of known assets available with the problem, coming up with an easy solution, “there are six Section Two agents currently assigned to watch us, any three of which could serve that function while leaving an acceptable bodyguard force”.


“What?” Asuka asked with a surprised expression on her face as she looked around. “Where?”


“There” Rei replied, pointing at the gaggle of men, including the two who had followed her from her apartment, trying to their best to look for all the world like a bunch of casually dressed businessmen going in to do some shopping, surprised that pilot Soryu hadn’t seen them. Then again, she could understand that having only been in Tokyo-3 for a short time, she may not have had the chance to memorize the faces of the omnipresent shadows around them.


To Rei, they stood out rather clearly.


“Hey! You six” Asuka shouted, placing her hands on her hips with a confidence that Rei slightly envied as she stabbed a finger out at the suddenly unmasked agents. “Yes, you group of Two guys” she repeated, “over here, now!”


Turning back to face her, Asuka favored her with a smile.


“That’s some good team thinking First!” she said. Before Rei could manage to think up an acceptable response to the complement however, she narrowed her eyes and stepped closer then Rei would have liked, if not in a hostile manner as she ran her eyes with an intense concentration over her face and hair, making Rei feel slightly uneasy.


“Do you cut your hair yourself? Hell, what kind of skin products are you using?” she demanded both answers at once, causing Rei to wonder if she had somehow given offense.


“Just…soap” Rei replied honestly.


Asuka said something in German.


“Okay, new plan” Asuka said in a determined voice that left no room for arguing. “FIRST we get you a makeover, and then we go shopping! Hell, makeovers for all three of us!” Asuka declared.


Rei was peripherally aware of Captain Katsuragi all but crying in joy –a difficult concept Shinji had once explained to her- but turned her attention back to the Second, understanding, at least intellectually, what her fellow pilot was offering.


“T..Thank you” was all Rei could think to say, a compliment Asuka appeared to accept with the flash of a grin as she moved to direct her ire at the agents she had called over.


Rei moved off slightly, listening to the two other women start giving orders as she considered the strange overreaction of Captain Katsuragi, before she suddenly realized Shinji had walked up to her, yet again his eyes boring into her as if he knew exactly what was going through her mind.


“I know this might seem a little overwhelming” he said softly to her with a supportive smile, “but Asuka and Misato really mean well by all this”.


“I understand” she replied, Shinji’s simple statement meaning more to her then he could possibly know.


The idea that her…friends were doing this out of concern and respect for her…


“Think of it as a learning experience” he suggested and Rei focused on him in interest as he said what she had been thinking for some time.


“If you want to understand more about…human interaction” Shinji continued “then think of this as a lesson in the kind of thing most girls your age dream of”.


“Then…I will endeavor to show my appreciation” Rei said, deciding not to query Shinji on the concept of dreaming. At least for now.


“No, its not about showing appreciation Rei, though I’m sure they’ll…um…appreciate it” Shinji smiled somewhat earnestly. “It’s about you having fun!”


“Perhaps” she replied softly, glancing at the other members of their group, Misato laying down instructions Rei caught snippets of…and understood none of. They might as well have been speaking another language. “But I am not sure how I will do this…if I do not understand”.


“That’s what learning is about” Shinji pointed out to her in a somewhat more direct tone. “Life isn’t a textbook Rei, some things you can only learn by doing”.


“Then I will…do” she repeated.


Ah, treat this entire exercise like a practical classroom lesson.


If only she had even the slightest idea what the test was going to ask…
“But…I am not sure about what I will purchase to wear” she pointed out.


“Well…you might want to try something made of silk” Shinji suggested.
Silk. Interesting she thought as her mind flashed over everything she knew about the protein fiber…


“I will do so” Rei replied, just as the doors were opened by a security guard, who was promptly almost trampled by the crowd as they surged inside.
Foolish. There was only a small crowd and a large shopping center; the crowd would disperse within seconds of entering, why would they possibly want to-


Any further thoughts were cut off as both the Second Child and Operations Director grabbed an arm each and pulled her at speed into the doors, without even a change to thank Shinji as he and Inspector Ryoji flashed out of sight.







The next ten minutes passed in a blur as the Captain led them at speed through the shopping center, overtaking many other groups moving at less then reckless speed. Rei had no problems keeping up, but found herself slightly in awe of how the two women had turned into examples of…inanity?
No, that wasn’t accurate. Insanity would imply they had lost their sanity, where they appeared to be very much in control of themselves…just…obsessive.


Yes. Obsessive.


Very curious.

In no time at all, they had arrived at their destination, were whisked through to the back and before she knew it, she was sitting down in a chair, with two older ladies working with a will on the nails on her hands and feet.


The feeling of their files had been slightly strange and uncomfortable at first, but as she forced herself to relax, she found she had gotten used to the sensation and even started to accept it in a way she could even categorize as…enjoyment?


Rei was used to being prodded and poked none too gently, even painfully over the years by scientists such as Doctor Akagi and as such didn’t really find anything ‘flinch’ worthy in the way strangers touched her anymore. But none of them had ever treated her as gently as these people did, nor have the ultimate goal of making her look and feel ‘beautiful’. She could even characterize this as slightly soothing…


She watched with interest as after they had finished shaping the nail into quite pleasing shapes, the technicians methodically ‘polished’ then painted her nails. She had given some serious thought to the offer of the artificial nail tips, but declined, satisfied with the trimming, cleaning and polishing of her own. A creature of infinite patience, Rei calmly waited until the last of her nails were finished and dried with hot air before she was allowed to stand. She carefully inspected their work…


And decide that yes, on balance, she was actually very pleased with the effect of her now pearly and shimmering nails that glowed as they caught the light…


“This is not an unpleasant outcome” she offered with the slightest smile as she looked up. “I believe this was quite an…enjoyable experience” said continued, starting to reach for her socks in a strange duality, feeling…sadness?


Yes, a slight sadness that this was now over.


“Hold it, where do you think you’re going?” Asuka broke in.


“We are finished” Rei said in some confusion, generating a spectacular explosion of laughter from Asuka and a grin from Misato.


“Finished? Oh Rei, you’re priceless. Come on, we’ve barely started!” the Second declared, reaching over and taking a firm grip on her hand once again to lead her into the next room, Rei wryly noting in passing at that Asuka had no problem in touching her…and finding herself, for once, actually quite unphased with the constant physical contact.


“This is the best part” she declared as they passed through a ‘door’ of thin cloth strips, pointing to a series of odd looking beds, each separated by shoulder high screens attended by yet more ‘technicians’ who were clearly making preparations.


Odd.


None the less, she followed the given instructions obediently as she always did, undressing down to nothing but her panties and lying face down, finding the oddly contoured bed surprisingly relaxing as the shapes worked to fit her body and the two women at each bed made their preparations, listening but not responding to the talk and noises of the two people on either side of her, too caught up in the experience.


She heard the Captain next to her suddenly moan in an almost subsonic grunt, followed shortly but Asuka in a similar, but higher pitched moan, followed by several demands of ‘harder!’, then very precise directions-
At which point Rei felt what she presumed to be oil dribbling onto her back before a pair of gentle, but firm, light but insistent hands started to work it in. Rei closed her eyes and breathed in sharply as the hands moved across her back and sides, feelings she had never felt surging through her nervous system as expert hands found tight muscles and worked them, against their will, to unwind and relax.


Rei had sampled all manner of pain through the years of her life from the sharp acid burning of a long thin cut to the throbbing agony of internal organs being damaged, to the grinding of broken bones rubbing against each other…but she had never felt, nor suspected, that pleasure could be anything like this, as a second pair of hands went to work on her long legs.
Suddenly, she felt as if she was lost in a sea of bliss and almost unconsciously, she started to let out soft, slight moans of pleasure in chorus with the other two women around her, the volume of their grunts and moans slowly increasing-




Across town somewhere, Shinji Ikari suddenly sneezed, before looking around in confusion and wondering where that had come from.





Rei Ayanami was thinking deeply as she found her mind drifting, almost floating in the pure relaxation that she had never felt or understood before as the seconds turned to minutes, then tens of minutes. In her clearly far too simplistic analysis, she had thought of pleasure as the absence of pain. While it was true the concepts were opposed in most texts she had read and that no pain was a…pleasurable state of sorts, it was clearly not pleasure, in of itself, but any deeper thought was impossible as her concentration narrowed to the feelings. Right now, Rei’s nervous system was near overloading with sensations she had never felt before as the quartet of hands, without mercy, worked along her back, legs and sides. She almost felt as if she was melting, being ‘relaxed’ into a puddle that was spreading across the table from all the attention…and all she cared about was that it not stop.


If an Angel had attacked, Rei didn’t know if she would be able to get up.
If he had demanded she get up, for the first time, Rei thought there was a chance she might have been tempted to disobey…


Or at least take, as that saying went, ‘her sweet time’ in following the order.


But all too soon, the hands slowed, then stopped.


Still, the feeling continued to rebound randomly through her body and Rei simply lay there absorbing them, breathing deeply with her eyes shut as she luxuriated in the strange, overwhelming new sensations tingling up and down her nerves.


She might be a clone, but she still had every nerve any other human did -and few more besides for that matter- letting her mind drift on the currents of feeling…images, thoughts and feelings drifting across her mind...





‘Mountains’.


(The mist in the morning over the hills of Tokyo-3)-


‘Heavy are the mountains…but that changes…with the passage of time. Sky, blue sky’


(Staring out the window of the classroom at the crystal blue sky)-


‘What your eyes can't see. What your eyes can see.’


(Shinji following her up the stairs onto the roof)-


‘Water. It is agreeable.’


(The feel of water as she dove into the pool)-


‘Flowers. So many the same. So many without purpose.’


(Shinji handing over the flowers to her, a blush on his face-)


’Sky. Sky of red. Red the color, the color I hate…yet the color of friends.’


(Unit Two’s pilot in her scarlet plug suit smirking cheerfully at her as she prepared to leave NERV to fight the 7th Angel)-


’From the red soil the humans come.’


(Floating in a tank of LCL in the darkness, all alone, so very alone)-


’Humans made by man and woman.’


(Classmate Hikari’s gaze continually lingering on Classmate Suzuhara)-


’City, a human creation.’


(Being pulled through the shopping center earlier today by her frantic companions)-


’Eva, a human creation as well.’


(“GO AWAY ECHO!”)-


’What are humans? Are they creations of God?’


(A strange but familiar giant white being in the clouds, nine tiny points of white light around it as reached for a tiny red cross in front of it…)-


’Humans, that which is created by humans.’


(“We may need to accelerate your recovery profile”)-


’This is that which is mine, my life, my heart. I am a vessel for my thoughts.’


(“How could you let her live like this Baka?”)-


’The Entry Plug, a throne for the soul.’


(“You are a tool, a disposable, replacement copy of a dead person!”)-


’Who am I? I am I. This object that is unique, that is I. That, which forms, is me.’


(“Rei, you cannot be replaced. You are a unique individual”)-


’Awareness dawns of someone who is not me.’


(“Who are you? An Angel? The person that we call an Angel?”)-


’Who is here, there, beyond me here?’
‘Shinji’


(“Should I initiate romantic contact with pilot Ikari?”)-


’This person I know, Captain Katsuragi.’


(The look of happiness, friendship and…obsession on her face as she pulled her through the shopping center)-


’Doctor Akagi.’


(The look of utter contempt and boredom as she performed her monthly uploads)-


’People, my classmates.’


(“Good luck today Rei!)-


’The pilot of Unit Two…Asuka’


(“Let’s be good friends!”)-


’Commander Ikari?’


(“Merge all souls into one. And then, take me to Yui's side.”)-

’Who are you?’


(“You've existed for the sake of today, this day, Rei”)-


’Who are you?’


(“I’m home”)-


’Who are you...’


(Welcome Home)-


And with that, the world of images shattered as she heard someone calling her name-




“Rei” the voice repeated, accompanied by an electric shock of feeling from a light touch on her shoulder that caused her to open her eyes as, as the voice commented that it was time to move on.


Sitting up, she shivered slightly as her rather flexible back arched, nerve endings firing off as she moved to a sitting position.


“Are you okay?” Asuka asked with a raised eyebrow from beside her as Misato held up a robe.


No. I am far better then ‘alright’ Rei thought to herself.


“I am…content” she replied, trying not to gasp at the contact of the robe with her skin, wrapping it tight around her. Not to preserve her modesty, Rei had rather little concern about that in the presence of these two people, but suddenly wanting the contact as close as possible with her skin.


Asuka shrugged at her response and twirled, her own robe much more loosely tied off.


“Come along then, this isn’t over yet” she said and Rei obediently forced herself into motion, not even noticing that her clothes had been discreetly removed by the staff as they had left. This time a pair of glass doors with polished metal handles that sealed the room off almost as well as an airlock separated this room from the next. Her curiosity piqued, Rei followed Asuka closely through the first, then instantly felt the moisture and heat as soon as they stepped into the second, though far from unbearable amounts.


The large spa in the next room was bubbling with a veritable cocktail of chemicals, designed to leach the oils from the previous massage, as well as remove deep grim and other microscopic junk out of their skin. Rei, showing a complete disregard for her modesty promptly disrobed and stepped in, closing her eyes and sighing slightly as she let the withering and rolling water wash over her, followed quickly by Asuka and Misato.


Water had indeed always been ‘agreeable’ to Rei, but this was a whole new kind of water. Not the running heat of a shower, not the calm solid mass of a swimming pool. No, instead this water surged and writhed around her, pulling and pushing, almost like she had stepped into a living breathing ecstasy.

It was also pleasant.


“Oh looky, we got these cool things!” Asuka suddenly said in triumph, leaning over the edge to pull a number of what looked like gloves of some kind in from a shelf, tossing a pair to Misato and Rei. Rei studied her pair, they felt slightly odd, almost like a thin, very fine mesh of some kind was on the outside…


Running her hands over the surface, she couldn’t quite describe the sensation. Not soft, but not uncomfortable either…


“Okay, you do my back and I’ll do yours” Asuka said, half crawling and half swimming across to her as Misato placed her gloves aside to lean back and simply enjoy the wonderful hot water for a few minutes.


“I…do not-”


“Okay okay” Asuka sighed. “Look, I’ll do your back first then, pay attention then do mine, okay?”


“Understood” she said, turning around to face away from pilot Soryu, her curiously now increasing to the point of expectation.


She heard the splashing as the Second moved closer, then the feeling as he legs pressed up against Rei’s-


Soft…so soft…


-followed by Asuka’s breath on her neck as she gently moved her hands up, dribbling some new liquid onto her back before gently moving her hands onto her shoulders-




For a second time, Shinji Ikari sneezed across town, this time much more violently as he again looked around the small room he was inside in irritation.



This…is most…interesting Rei Ayanami thought to herself almost an hour later.


Currently, she was lying with her eyes closed under a pair of slices of cucumber –she didn’t exactly understand why, but obediently followed orders as always - on a reclined chair. She was wearing a new, thinner robe, trying not to writhe in pleasure as she felt every millimeter of the fabric moving against her skin and the underlying leather coverings.
Countless years in LCL tanks combined with simple showering had left her skin, if not damaged, then with deep buildups of LCL junk inside her pores and over her skin, deadening her ability to ‘feel’, like trying to pick up sand with heavy gloves. The spa had broken down these layers, and then Asuka had methodically removed everything with her ‘exfoliating’ gloves and liquids from her back, before Rei had done the same, then worked every other square inch of her own body with the same attention to detail.


Her skins sensitivity had been heightened to a level that, when combined with the forced relaxation of her muscles, had left her in a state which could only be described as ‘sensory overload’. It had been all she could do to turn around after Asuka had declared her and return the favor to Asuka with the gloves, striving to duplicate the effort as best she could on the seconds back and sides, following her rather exacting directions as best she could.


Finally, they had left the spa and dried off in individual rooms, Rei gasping ever so slightly as she felt the play of air currents over her new skin cells, standing there undressed for at least a minute until an impatient Asuka had thumped on her door and demanded she get moving. Now, sitting in her reclined chair with her face coated in chemicals, she turned her awareness inward, studying the strange tingling sensations as the chemicals forced her pores open following something called an ‘exfoliating steam treatment’, purging her face of all manner of built up debris-


“Say Rei…” Asukas voice came, from roughly two point five meters from her right.


“Yes?” she answered with part of her concentration, the rest of her mind still far too busy being blasted by sensations she had no experience in…


“You have any ideas what kind of clothes you want to look at” the Second Child asked with a content sigh.


“I was…told…that silk garments are nice” Rei threw out the first thing that came to her mind, thankful that Shinji had suggested something, but aware with an uneasy feeling that she now had precisely no ‘knowledge’ to fall back on.


Then again…the Third Child had told her to view this as a learning experience…so, she would.


“Ohh, a silk girl eh? Hey, Misato?”


“Eh?”


“Know any good places with silk around here?”


“Eh?”


“Are you listening to me?”


“Eh?”


“…Hey, Kaji!”


“I’m awake, I’m awake!” Captain Katsuragi suddenly called out in a tone of surprise and outrage. “What…oh…hey, that wasn’t fair!”


“Whatever. As I was saying, Rei here is interested in looking at silk clothes; you know any stores around here?”


“Several” Misato assured her, then paused. “I wonder if Shinji is waiting outside...”


Asuka snorted. “The Baka is probably trying to figure out a way to get in and perv on us while we can’t see”.


“Is that a hint of hope I hear in your voice Asuka?” Misato asked in a coy voice.


“NO!” Asuka said in alarm.


“Captain Katsuragi is correct” Rei decided to offer helpfully. “There was a tone of expectation in your voice over such a-”


“No there wasn’t!” Asuka all but screeched in her defense, not quite hiding Misato’s cackles…and causing Rei to blush slightly under her mask. She had just tried to be helpful…


Eventually, she felt the slices of cucumber removed and hands carefully rinsed off her face, then patted it dry until she was told she could open her eyes.


“Well, are we having fun yet Rei?” Asuka asked as she appeared at point blank range of Rei’s gaze as her sight returned, almost causing her to flinch back from the intrusion into her personal space.


“I…believe I am” Rei admitted, her skin slowly becoming used to its state of increased sensitivity not sending quite so overwhelming signals to her brain helping greatly in letting her regain her composure…but it still feel very, very….nice.


“And the final stage, the haircut” Misato sighed, glancing at her own hair in a convenient mirror and twirling a strand in a thumb and finger. “You know, I think I need to have this colored again” she sighed in annoyance as she glanced at the roots, which were starting to again show the much darker, raven black over the lighter purple above.


“Oh lighten up” Asuka said, stepping closer to Rei to study her hair with a critical eye that almost made Rei feel embarrassed next to Asuka’s own hair that burned like it was trying to dissipate the excess energy bubbling inside Asuka. “The question is what we are going to do with this…style” she said delicately.


“Oh, I know someone who might be able to help” Misato smiled, gesturing them into the next room.


“Misato!” a man commented in surprise and joy as the Captain led her charges into what even Rei could recognize as a hair salon.


“Hey there Francesco” Misato replied with a sheepish looking grin as she walked over and curiously ‘faked’ kissing his cheeks, a gesture which was returned without any hint of embarrassment or hesitation. “I brought some friends with me”.


“So I see” he said, gesturing them forward.


Asuka of course danced ahead with enthusiasm, getting very appreciative comments as the man clearly saw the same personification of Asuka in her hair that Rei did, joking and laughing with her before his gaze turned professional and after short excited conversation, Asuka was moving off to a chair and he then gestured her forward, feeling almost locked in place by his intense gaze, a strange but not uncomfortable feeling sending shivers down her spine as he focused intently on her.


“Oh, wow” he finally said as he stepped back. “This is…” he hesitated slightly for a few seconds and Rei, feeling strangely impulsive, showed a glimpse of her sense of humor.


“Hair” she supplied in her usual, soft voice.


Everyone in the room burst out laughing at that perfectly delivered line, collectively making even the poor stylists waiting in the room under strict Japanese cultural rules helplessly snicker despite all their efforts.


Asuka on the other hand laughed so much that she doubled over, her face starting to turn the same shade as her hair as she desperately struggled for breath.


“Rei…” she eventually managed to get out, “don’t ever change”.


Oh but I am, she thought in a rare, sudden rebellious surge at Asuka’s clear enjoyment of her joke.


“What…I was going to say” Francesco said a few seconds later, getting himself under control and striving for the cool, calm image he worked so hard to cultivate, “was that this hairstyle is…basic, but it has all the building blocks to do wonderful things and with that utterly amazing skin of yours…you will be something utterly unique".


“That is…good” Rei agreed. Secretly, she found this ‘Francesco’s’ instant recognition of her as a unique being most pleasing and anything he could do to enhance that, differentiating her from the genetically identical ‘sisters’ deep under Central Dogma, could only be useful.


Sitting down when directed, Francesco showed her a series of pictures, describing the hairstyle he was planning on. Rei understood little of it, but decided the suggested styles were…provocative.


She risked the Commanders displeasure with all of these changes she was undertaking…


But so be it. She had ‘lived’ in a dead zone of obedience to his will for her entire life under the assumption that if she died, another would replace her. And another would replace her and another would replace her…
And yet again, she saw Shinji on the school rooftop all those months ago looking deeply into her eyes…


‘You are a unique, free, individual. By definition, your purpose is to live life as you wish to live it!’


If this was her one chance to live…then she would live. Though…continued discretion to hide this revelation from the Commander would probably be a wise precaution, against the possibility of her termination and ‘replacement’.
At least until the time came when she no longer had to fear such an outcome.


So instead she sat calmly as blue hair started to fall away around her, Francesco working with an intensity easily matching any concentration she had ever put into Evangelion piloting…




“Well?” Francesco asked in a near breathless tone as he finally stepped back an hour later, declaring his work finished.


Rei glanced up at the mirror –she had deliberately not watched the process to better be surprised at the end – and gasped lightly at the stranger looking back at her.


Her hair had always been very thick and while it had been kept clear of her face, its style had been…basic; evenly combed from the top of her head down around three hundred and sixty degrees to a uniform length.


Now however, she looked in considerable surprise at a very different face. She had been given what her stylist had called an ‘asymmetrical short cut’, her hair, thinned considerably was now parted on the far right and pulled neatly across her head, several forward strands hanging down almost exotically in front of her forehead with two major waves framing her face on the left and right and almost touching down at her chin. To the rear and sides, her hair looked almost messy and random, much as the Second Childs had when she first arrived in Japan, but made up of much longer and thinner strips of hair…all of which shone, courtesy of some highlighting chemicals sprayed on.


It was so utterly different from the face that usually stared back in her mirror that Rei blinked and had to look closer, before smiling ever so slightly once more.


“It is…very acceptable” Rei said.


Where as Francesco would probably take such a reply as a statement of utter dissatisfaction from anyone else, his many rather one sided conversations with this young lady over the last three quarters of an hour had suggested that she truly did mean what she had said.


“Good!” he smiled, ripping her covers off her and letting her stand with a flourish. Asuka and Misato’s own work had taken much less time; Rei had needed her hair to be washed and worked much harder then theirs, Misato hadn’t even bothered to recolor, just taking a slight cut for today. Asuka’s hair, she had felt a slight jealously at, as it was continually complemented and commented on how well she had taken care of it, as it was slowly gathered tightly, then waved into a snakelike tail that fell down her neck, before releasing and splaying out. The Second spent most of her time chatting with this ‘Francesco’ in German, apparently delighted to have someone fluent in her native language, though he periodicly broke out to query his own client, giving detailed information that Rei appreciated on the process, finding the knowledge fascinating.


Ultimately however, both Misato and Asuka had left her behind as they finished rather quickly, slightly annoying her as they apparently abandoned her...


On the other hand, yet again she absorbed a new feeling, as her stylist ran his hands through her hair, working in various chemicals which he then rinsed, and started the process all over again with a new solution.
The feeling of him briskly massaging her hair…then pulling her thick hair up and slicing it off…


As with the massage and Asuka’s skin treatment, the sensations had ended, but the echoes remained, causing her to shiver.


Now finished, she stood turned and bowed slightly in respect for his skills, before heading for the front door-


Only to be almost run down as Asuka bounded in, her arms carrying several bags.


“Oh hey, you finished! Perfect! Look I got you some clothes to change into, before we go shopping. I looked outside and well, there are so many people around today, I didn’t want you to be seen in that damn uniform while we’re shopping!”


“You went shopping…so I can go shopping?” Rei asked in confusion.

Asuka’s grin slowly reduced to an exasperated expression as she directed her gaze at the ceiling with a sigh. “What are you, Shinji’s Sister or something?” she muttered, missing the startled look from Rei at that statement before she pulled her gaze back and thrust the bags into her arms. “Look, just put these on, they should fit fine oh…hey Francesco” Asuka suddenly said, turning a pleading expression on him, “can Rei just use you’re change room, real quick?”


“Honey, knowing your fashion sense, Rei can use it for as long as she likes?” he said back as he packed away his tools, getting a grin from Asuka and a blush from Rei as the Second pushed the First into the room and shut the door.

[Chris OFarrell]

Rei Ayanami left the beauty center feeling slightly odd as she stepped into the bustling shopping center.


It wasn’t so much the fact that she was getting stares from everyone as she walked past that generated this feeling. Having blue hair and red pupils tended to mean she got much more of those then anyone else her age as a matter of course and she had learned to simply ignore them.


But this was the first time she was getting stares that could be described as full of envy, lust and/or blunt sexual attraction.


Francesco had given her a perfect, deep bow without a word as she had exited the facility, but the crowd of people she ran into outside –especially the males relatively close to her age- all appeared to give her their undivided attention for a very different reason then the normal slight curiosity. The probability assessment was that it probably had something to do with the new clothes she was wearing, combined with her new haircut.


Her shoes were the only part of her clothes that had not changed, her uniform neatly folded inside one of the shopping bags Asuka had pressed into her arms before pushing her inside the changing room. She now wore a perfectly white singlet top that dipped daringly towards her chest and was just short enough to leave a small strip of her midriff exposed – and a short skirt of a deep charcoal which reached to just above her knees. Under the skirt and reaching to just above her ankles were tight fitting aqua leggings that felt good to her somewhat over stimulated skin, making her shiver as she had pulled them on.


For the first time in her life, she felt ever so slightly self conscious about her appearance as she stopped just outside the business. Halting for several seconds, she moved her thoughts back over the body language of Asuka, the way today she had moved and presented herself…


Rei didn’t exactly have experience, but she did have an exquisite sense of the appropriate combined with a perfect memory, and so, let her walk, body language and even the way she held her head subtly mutate as she walked along, seeing the Second and Captain Katsuragi in the far distance…then slowing as she glanced downstairs and saw a familiar figure inside a crowded store full of boys her age.


Classmate Aida Rei thought for a matter of seconds…then altered her trajectory to a nearby stairwell for an intercept.


Excellent, a practice run to calibrate my behavioral patterns she decided, trying her best to call up the memories of her female classmate’s interactions with male classmates as she angled for the store, filled with all manner of men, but few women…



Ramiel, the 5th Angel, the mighty Angel of Thunder, fired.


A beam of super accelerated helium roared out from the corner of the Octahedron, the particles heated to a temperature that would rival the heat of the surface of a main sequence star. The beams target, two enormous humanoid figures on a hilltop far to the South of Tokyo-3 did not flinch from the raw, unholy power rushing towards them. One remained standing, its arms wide as if mocking all the awesome power directed against it. The second, yellow figure remained crouched on its knees next to it, but the two worked together, warping time and space, causing the beam to curve around them, in violation of just about everything anyone knew about AT-Fields.


Almost contemptuously, the purple giant reached out an arm and a gigantic rifle like cannon all but leaped into its hand as the AT field smote it, and that this too defied any and all laws of the AT field didn’t appear to matter.


"KNOW THE NAME OF YOUR DESTROYER” a voice challenged across the waters of the lake at its adversary in both triumph and rage. “YOU WHO HAVE COME DOWN TO JUDGE HUMANITY! THIS IS EVANGELION! TITANICUS! -PRINCIPIO ETERNUS-!”


“IN ITS NAME, DIE!”


Unit One took aim almost casually, as if the rifle worth several billion yen was nothing more then an oversized handgun, the second EVA next to it looking up as if in adoration as it directed mankind’s blessed vengeance towards the enemy that started to rise up from the ground, as if to beat a hasty retreat.


"IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY” the voice decreed with all the authority of judge, jury and executioner, “DIE!"


The positron beam shot out unerringly as if homing into the Angel's core. It punched through its AT-field. It blew through its blue armor as if it wasn't there.


Ramiel let out a screech. It fell.


And it died-





“Uh no, you can’t do that Aida” a voice protested, ripping Kensuke out of his glorious fantasy of Good against Evil with a sound in his mind like an old record player’s needle being pulled off in haste.


“Why in the hell not?” Kensuke demanded, looking down at the gigantic tabletop terrain set up and the two quite realistic looking Evangelion models. which had just arrived today, Based off the videos he had taken during Shinji’s battle with the second of those damn things, Rei’s Unit Zero was similar in most ways to Shinji’s, but painted yellow, without the shoulder pauldrons and a much more simple head, the best he could do based of Shinji’s rather minimal descriptions of the Unit as Kensuke had never seen it himself, just Units One and Two –which put him ahead of just about everyone else his age.


Still, the model was probably close enough.


Given Japans significant so called ‘Otaku’ class, it was probably unsurprising that when combined with the often fanatic interest of young Japanese males in military technology, that the Evangelions had been thetopic of conversation of many people for quite some time.


Some –well most- Otaku however, took it to the next level.


As one of the few living people to have seen the Evangelion - and not just seen, but seen them in combat, as well as close friend to one Eva pilot and secondary level enemy of another, Kensuke Aida was now by definition the next best thing to an Alpha Male in this group and he used the authority ruthlessly. Right now, the major project of the people here was to modify the Warhammer 40,000 Epic ruleset into a game that could be used by countless people to engage in simulated Evangelion combat.


Why? Well, no-one really knew, but it was fun and popular, so who gave a damn?


Defining the Evangelions as Titans was the simplest thing to do of course, though who had named Unit One ‘Principo Eternus’ no-one could remember…
But as everyone agreed it was just such a cool name, it stuck.


Perhaps I can get Shinji convinced...and he can convince NERV...nah, not going to happen Kensuke sighed.


It had cost Kensuke almost all the money he had made selling pictures of the Red Demon to set this up, the sideline having dried up as the heat had increased when Hikari had found out someone was selling pictures of her best friend and started searching, but 'his' people had come through for him and delivered a pair of quite realistic looking Evangelions, designed based off a few give out frames from his now carefully hidden video files, the group getting to work with a will, using pieces from countless model kits and not a little ingenuity to build quite a viable replica.


But they had collectively scratched their heads at the attempt to build their opponents given their odd shapes and features.


Fortunately, the 5th Angel, a nice, simple Octahedron had been a godsend of simplicity and the 5th Angel, or the ‘D8 of Doom’ as one of the gamers had christened it after its shape, had become the victim of the first full test of their rules system.


But their first test had just run into a slight snag.


“See” the player opposite him said, pulling Aida’s attention back to the present, “you don’t have a proper line of site with the Angel moving the way it was then. You fire and you’re going to hit that building in front of the target, it counts as in cover”.


“The positron cannon is firing with all the energy in Japan, I don’t think its going to care about a little, unarmored building like that!”Kensuke protested in exasperation. “I mean this counts as high end Titan scale weapons here, I think we should just write it as an ‘ignores cover save’”.


“Well…okay, I can see that” his opponent shrugged, picking up a sheaf of paper –their working draft of the rules- and editing the ‘Heavy Volcano/Positron Cannon’ entry. “So the gunnery modifiers for the Earths rotation and gravity are…?”


“Just minus two at in the shooting phase” Aida decided on balance, looking down at his notes and thus missing the increasing attention of people in the store to something or someone around the door area. “Now we have to just modify the defensive stats for Unit Zero and I think we should be set”.


“Perhaps I can help” a silky, gorgeous and very female voice came from behind him without warning. Slowly looking up from the table, Kensuke noticed just about the entire store, made up of males his age group and mostly without girlfriends, was looking at him –or the unknown person behind him, mostly with jaws trying to hit the floor. Swallowing slightly, Kensuke slowly turned and set his sights on the person behind him…
She looked roughly his age; utterly gorgeous in amazing clothes. She had perfect skin, a rather well developed chest area and striking red pupils hidden behind her blue fringe-


Wait a second…


Red pupils? Blue fringe?


“R…R…” he tried pathetically to get out…


“Rei?” the First Child helped him in a soft voice, moving a step closer as she modulated her voice in the same way classmate Tanaka had and stepped inside the outer boundaries of what she knew was classified as ‘personal space’. “Yes, that is my name Kensuke” she said, glancing past him to look with great interest at the tactical battle simulation underway, recognizing the setting at once and smiling slightly. “However, I must tell you that in this engagement, I shielded Shinji using a heavily modified heat shield from a decommissioned spacecraft, while he fired the weapon from a stable prone ground position”. Turning her gaze back to the clearly stunned boy in front of her, she raised an eyebrow and let the smile fade, causing him to flinch slightly. “However, I cannot talk much more about this due to issues of security classification” she apologized.


“Th…that’s okay” he managed to get out, his mind all but fried by the gorgeous appearance of his classmate as he drank in the vision in front of him talking to him! Over the years he had known Rei, she might have said what, ten words to him?


And now this?


“You…you look amazing” he half blurted out, striving to sound ‘cool’ but not exactly succeeding; his rather brilliant mind trying and failing to reconcile the ‘school’ Rei with this ‘sex kitten’ Rei standing a half meter away from him. He was aware that his friends and acquaintances in the store were still staring in shock and envy at him…and at this moment in time, part of Kensuke could easily relate to their surprise.


He had told them about Rei of course, as well as Shinji and Asuka, his knowledge of the pilots and the Evangelions the stuff of hard currency in this circle of friends…but clearly, he didn’t know Rei anything like as well as he thought if she was looking like this!


“Thank you, Kensuke” she purred, causing most people within earshot to vibrate in sympathy and Kensuke to damn near rupture a blood vessel in his nose. “I need to talk to you for a second, please come with me” she said, turning and causing her skirt to lift most provocatively as she slowly strode out the door into the bustling crowds, glancing curiously at a figurine in the window labeled as an ‘Ork Warboss’ which appeared to be winking at her…
Part of Kensuke watching her go wanted to run screaming in horror as far away from here as possible.


The saner, sex crazed teenage part however, overruled it and forced his legs into action.


“You are aware, of the Summer Dance that is approaching?” Rei asked him without preamble when they had stepped slightly outside into the crowds.
“Yes…” he said cautiously, feeling his heart start to hammer. Oh no, it couldn’t be…she wouldn’t…


“Shinji suggested that he would attempt to ‘set me up’ with a date” she continued, some of the ‘old’ Rei coming through now in her inflections. “Unfortunately, I think he has been slightly distracted by our duties at NERV. As such, I have decided to approach you myself”.


“Shinji…decided to set me up with you?” he asked in a somewhat surprised tone with a slight, disbelieving edge that Rei instantly took the wrong way.
“Yes…I did not mean to insult you” she said with a slight flush of Red on her face that caused Kensuke to suddenly feel like crap.


“No no, its not that you insulted me…I just don’t understand how someone as…as amazing as you, a beautiful Eva pilot, could possibly want to go to the dance with someone like me”.


Rei had been feeling quite pleased at the reactions she had gained from her classmate and the people around him, but now felt somewhat unsure. Why would Kensuke Aida think ‘someone like me’ in a negative?


He was highly intelligent and had been a good friend to Shinji since he had arrived by all her observations. And he had been the one person, outside Shinji himself, to wish her luck when she had headed into NERV for Unit Zero’s reactivation test…


“I do not understand why I would not want to go with you” she eventually said with a slight shrug, dismissing his concerns as irrelevant and waiting patiently.


It was after all, customary for the male to ask the female, was it not?


“Um…well…” he said, wondering at the expectant look she was giving him and deciding what the hell? “Would…would you like to…I mean, would you let me do the honor of…uh…” damn it, she’s starting to frown, pull it together Kensuke his mind screamed, forcing himself to stop and take a deep breath.


“Rei, would you like to go to the dance with me?”


Rei appeared to consider his question very seriously, before nodding and giving him a very direct look.


“Yes, I would”.


“Uh…” he wondered at that, not entirely sure about that response. “So…will you?"


Now she smiled slightly.


“Yes, I will”.


“Awesome, I mean, uh, excellent” he smiled back, trying to be cool.
Rei then proceeded to the final stage and leaned in without warning to gently kiss him on his cheek, causing him to make a strange, slightly strangled noise before she withdrew, turned and headed for the stairs, not noticing the fact that Kensuke was locked in place and not moving until his friends, looking at him in awe, walked out of the store to drag him back inside, Aida still not moving or acknowledging anything as if in a state of shock




“Wow” Shinji Ikari said to her as she ascended the final flight of stairs, finding to her surprise and happiness that he and Kaji were waiting for her at the top of the stairs. Instantly, she noticed that he also had ‘had a makeover’ of his own. Now, he was dressed in a rather intriguing gray shirt and mustard colored jacket, along with jeans of such a dark blue they looked almost black as well as what appeared to be brand new shoes.
But more then that…


His face looked suddenly different.


Some things Rei found very difficult to understand or perceive in terms of human emotion. Other things, she noticed at once. In this case, Shinji…suddenly, he looked calmer, for lack of a better word. As if he had finally confronted something, something extraordinary and moved past it. His shoulders were just a fraction lower and his head a fraction higher, his back a fraction straighter and the smile on his face lacked that slightest haunted edge she had always perceived, instead reinforcing the determination in his stance.


It was not an unpleasing change to look at…but Rei felt slightly…sad, that she had not been there to share his changes with him.


And it then occurred to her, that a similar thought may well be running through his mind about her as he drank in her changes.


“Wow” he repeated after several seconds, as if it was the only thought that came to his mind.


“You like?” Rei asked coyly, slowly rotating in place to give him a full look, missing the astonished look he shot at Kaji at the tone of her smoky voice, his face looking like he either wanted to burst out laughing or take a DNA test to make sure she was who she appeared to be as she finished her turn.


“I very much like. I didn’t even recognize you at first” he said admiringly, glancing down over the railing into the gaming store with a grin on his face. “And I think you might have broken Kensuke”.


“It was a convenient opportunity” she defended her decision. “Now I have a date for the major social event of this year.


“You walked in there and asked him out?” he said in a tone of unhidden amazement and…was that pride?


“Yes” she acknowledged with a slight frown. Should I not have?”


“Oh no, its just that it’s just that…well…I’m so proud of you” he admitted, reaching across suddenly to enfold her in an impulsive hug. Blinking slightly in surprise, Rei flushed in slight embarrassment…then slowly raised her own arms to gently return it, enjoying his sheer presence against her sensitive skin...


Of all the sensations she had felt today, that had overwhelmed her, this…this was by far the most powerful and she felt helpless to do anything but accept it.


She could feel pride, friendship, acceptance and a genuine feeling that he cared about her, in the same way she had felt his fear when they had headed to headquarters to battle the 4th Angel. It was that same connection that had ‘clicked’ between them the first time they had talked, when she was lying in a hospital bed, and when their gaze had locked on the rooftop at school, an invisible bond that linked the two of them irrevocably on a fundamental level, beyond that she shared with anyone…


Despite the fact that he had only known her a matter of months…


Despite the fact that the first time they had met, he had been forced into doing something he clearly did not want to do, to save her life…


Despite the fact that he barely knew the first thing about her, the secrets Rei was hiding from him…


Is this love? She thought to herself silently, until Agent Kaji broke the mood with a polite cough.


“I’m sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds” he said lightly, causing Rei’s cheeks to flush and Shinji to look more then a little sheepish as they quickly let go of each other, “but we should go and join up with the others” he said, inclining his head much further down their level.


Rei looked up and saw both Captain Katsuragi and pilot Soryu…Asuka, watching them from a distance.


The Captain appeared to be amused at their position. The Second however…


For the briefest second, a look of…pain? Jealously? Envy?


Interesting…she must discuss this with the Second at some point in time.
For now however, she easily regained her composure, stepping away and ‘strutting’ as she knew it was called, away from Shinji towards the other members of her group.





“Uh…wow” was all Misato could say as she walked up.


“Hmm…not half bad” Asuka allowed with a grin on her face as she studied the effect. “Can I choose clothes, or can I…”


“I would be pleased if you continued to do so” Rei smiled slightly in return as she noticed the Section Two agents, each with a small number of bags trying to look make themselves look as small as possible, all with miserable looks on their faces. At Rei’s curious look, Asuka followed her gaze, then snickered.


“Oh these are just some fashion accessories for you” Asuka shrugged, dismissing the already significant haul. “Some things to put in your hair, some hygiene products, beauty products, brushes, clips, ribbons, all the basics…” she said, trailing off as Shinji and Kaji both rejoined them.


“Well, I’m impressed. With Kaji’s fashion sense to guide you, you don’t actually dress up half bad Baka” Asuka commented with a raised eyebrow at Shinji as he rejoined them.


“And you…well, you’d look amazing no matter how you did your hair…but I really like it” he said in return in a slightly shy sounding voice to Rei, as if he was testing the waters…


“Well of course you do” Asuka replied with an exasperated roll of her eyes as she turned to face Kaji…though Rei caught the twitch of a smile on the side of her face Shinji couldn’t see at his complement.


“So, what do you think Kaji?” she asked in an all too ‘sweet’ tone as she batted her eyelids at him, clutching her hands together as she let her hair swing around for the best view.


“I think you’re growing up far to fast” he said back with a slight smile, before he turned and bowed extravagantly to Misato –to both women’s annoyance – and from nowhere producing a small, paper covered package with a flourish. “And for you, Misato-Chan, as a token of my undying esteem. I’ll see you all later” he said, backing away and vanishing down a nearby stairwell to what looked like Asuka’s consternation and Shinji’s surprise.


Misato raised an eyebrow and looked at the box carefully, examining it as if she was worried it could contain a live N2 warhead…but in the end, curiosity ran out and she ripped open the paper.


Inside, was a bright yellow and black book.


“Parenting for Dummies, 4th Edition” the Kanji proclaimed along the top.
Misato’s face held her expression for a good five seconds, then she finally looked up and a wry smile came across her face as she smiled with true appreciation for the humor of his gift.


“Funny. I’ll have to kill him later of course, but funny”.


“They were all out of ‘Parenting for Parents with Temperamental Germans” Shinji added helpfully, resulting in a loud meaty ‘thwock’ as Asuka’s fist crashed into his arm, Shinji yelping slightly as he jumped back and rubbed it.
“You’ve made progress today Third Child” Asuka said, with a narrowing of her eyes. “Don’t push it”.


“Jawohl Mein Fuhrer” Shinji smirked back…which of course caused Asuka to advance on him with narrowing eyes-


“Alright, cool it you two, playtime can wait” Misato broke in before Asuka could retaliate, the Second ‘humphing’, but letting it go as she turned back to Rei.


“Well! Now that the Baka has rejoined us, we can finally get this day underway! You four are dismissed” Asuka said without so much as a by your leave from Misato, waving at the Section Two agents, who without hesitating to look at the Operations Director for orders, promptly dumped the bags at the feet of the Shinji and fled for the nearest stairwell.


“Hmm. Perhaps we shouldn’t have dragged them through the ladies toiletries section after all” Misato frowned, before shrugging and dumping her own bag next to the others.


“Hey!” Shinji protested in surprise and fear as he looked over the plastic bags at his feet in dismay.


“Well, what are you waiting for?” Asuka demanded impatiently. “Be a man and get moving!”


Shinji glanced at Rei, who retuned a look that offered him no sympathy. If this was the custom, then this was the custom and he had no choice but to follow orders of the Second and Captain…though she had to admit she did find it a trifle unfair.


Slowly, albeit with great dignity, Shinji reached down and managed to take up the bags, with a betrayed look on his face.


“Better!” Asuka snapped with a delighted expression on her face at the look on his, then reached out and took a firm hold of Rei’s hand, followed shortly by Misato on the other side, both of them hurrying her along into a cross passage, then a massive multi level, long building, with countless busy shop fronts doing a brisk trade.


“Now” Asuka said in a tone like a teacher, causing Rei to listen closely and start ‘taking notes’. “To begin with, we need some casual clothes you can just wear when you’re lazing around. Then some ‘going out’ clothes of various types suitable to various needs, as well as a moderate amount of undergarments and so on”.


“Going out clothes…this would include clothes to go to a dance?”
“Not really, that’s formal fashion, stuff like dresses and…and…why do you ask?”


Rei raised an eyebrow in confusion.


“Because the Summer Dance is only two and a half weeks away” she replied, not quite expecting the reaction she got.


“WHAT?” Asuka all but screeched, drawing a few looks from people around them that she either didn’t see or didn’t care about.


“Because the Summer Dance is only”- Rei tried to repeat, only to be cut off with a glare that baffled Rei.


“WHY wasn’t I TOLD about this?” Asuka cried? “How long has this been planned? Oh my GOD I don’t have anything to WEAR!” she all but wailed. “I don’t have a DATE!” Her head snapped around to pierce Shinji, who prudently took a step back”.


“Why wasn’t I informed about this? Oh my God, I don’t have a date! What about you Rei?”


“I am…taking” Rei rolled the word in her mind, thus far unused by her in that context and decided she liked it, “classmate Aida to the dance”.


“That stooge? Oh well, I guess he’s not as bad as Toji, what Hikari see’s in him I have no idea. What about you Third Child?” she challenged him with a smirk…but Rei, yet again saw through the mask to the suddenly nervous Asuka under…as if she was worried about the answer…


Deciding to put her at ease, Rei jumped in before a slightly stuttering Shinji could think of a response.


“Classmate Tanaka offered to accompany Pilot Ikari to the dance, but he declined and let it be known that he was disinclined to participate in the Summer Dance, to a great deal of disappointment by most of the female classmates in class 3F”.


“What are you, stupid?” Asuka snapped at Shinji, who took a careful step back, holding ‘Rei’s’ purchases up like a shield as Asuka’s anger –her own shield for a suddenly vulnrable heart Rei thought- flared. “Why the hell wouldn’t you want to go? It’s a DANCE”


“Because I’m not anything like a sociable as you” he snapped back, before looking away somewhat embarrassed with his face blushing as he looked away. “Because…because I didn’t know any of the girls who had offered to go with me at all, because I don’t know how to dance, because I’ve never been good in those kinds of situations. Happy?”


He is deceiving her... Rei suddenly realized with the slightest narrowing of his eyes. He is telling the truth...but he is not truly embarrassed...


“You really are an idiot” Asuka said in an impressed tone, before frowning.
“Well, fortunately for you, your stupidity is also your gain. I need a date, you’re it”.


”Wh..what?” Shinji asked, his head snapping back around as Asuka rolled her eyes and again Rei noticed the genuine flash of emotion there...he was happy that she had just asked him, in contrast to his current persona.


This was indeed fascinating behavior to learn from...


“It’s simple. We’re learning to dance together on that damn machine Misato is forcing us to-”


“Asuka” Misato chided her.


“nice machine that Misato is generously loaning us for our very important training” Asuka grudgingly corrected herself. “We’re learning to dance together anyway, what the hell is one a couple of more dances to learn? And besides, I need a Date, I can’t show up alone! And while I’m sure every boy in our class would probably drop to their face my feet begging for a chance if I asked them, I’d rather not make an enemy of an ‘ex-date’ who got dumped for me. So, well…I need you, it’s that simple. Any objections?”


Shinji wordlessly shook his head slowly as if afraid to make any sudden movements.


“Good! Well first we’ll get Rei’s shopping done, then you can go home while I find something to wear. Damn it, so little time!” she fretted, before yanking on Rei’s arm and hurrying her into motion, Rei managing to catch Shinji's eye with a look that spoke volumes and got a sheepish smile back that made her smile slightly in return, before Asuka started running her through the shops.

The rest of the afternoon passed in something of a blur for Rei. Shinji started to carry an increasingly heavy load as time went on and the pair of women moved her from one location to another, trying on countless clothes of various styles and cuts. Rei admitted she utterly loved the feel of silk on her newly sensitive skin; like she was wearing a garment of water that flowed over her body.


Other types of clothes from tops to pants, from bras to shoes all slowly were purchased as her account dwindled…but even Asuka was hard pressed to put a dent in close to ten million yen.


But oh she tried.


Poor Ikari finally reached the point that Misato called the other two Section Two agents over from their ‘fly on the wall spot’ to help out, the two men giving Shinji a sympathetic look as they divided up the load, the two men still grunting slightly at the number of bags. Misato was, as promised, brought what Rei thought was a very tight fighting black dress that Asuka thought was cut a little too daringly, but Misato insisted on buying. Asuka purchased relatively little, but did stop to buy a rather ‘adult’ looking red and white stripped swimsuit that made even Rei blush and Shinji nearly faint when she emerged from the change room to push into his very personal space, demanding his opinion.


Rei decided on balance that Asuka found his blush and stammering a sign of approval, whirling around to return and put on her clothes again and buy the suit.


Finally though, even Misato put her foot down, mostly because Shinji was all but pleading with her as he continually was forced to drop several of the bags and massage his arms.


“Oh all right” Asuka sighed, glancing longingly at some of the eveningwear further along, then shrugging and glancing over Shinji and the two Section 2 agents, who between them had so many bags their knees were starting to shake. “I can bring Rei back to finish up and get our dresses for the dance some other day I guess. Besides” she added with a sly smile towards the exhausted Shinji, “I don’t think Shinji could take seeing us in something too slinky”.


Shinji Rei saw, closed his eyes and mouthed what she believed to be a short prayer as he realized the day was almost over, appearing to suddenly finding new reserves of energy to follow the girls even as Asuka and Misato appeared to look slightly tired.


Accepting the offered ‘lift’ this time without question, Rei rode in the back with Shinji and all the bags that couldn’t fit in the small boot as Misato gunned the engine then roared down to Rei’s apartment.


“So, did you three have fun today?” Misato asked loudly over the roar of the engine before downshifting and screeching around a corner to the sound of several horns that dopplar shifted from a high pitched scream to a low pitched roar as they sped away.


“Uh huh, you bet!” Asuka grinned, looking eminently satisfied with her experience.


“It was a very pleasant day” Rei admitted, secretly still finding the simplest pleasure in stroking the underside of her arm and the now sensitive skin there.


Shinji simply made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a grunt, holding his own few clothes purchases and an odd package wrapped in brown paper.
Quicker then Rei could possibly have thought, they arrived at her place, this time everyone taking an equal number of Rei’s bags in hand –though Rei noted Asuka quickly accepted the lightest ones- up to her apartment. Again feeling slightly embarrassed as she led them inside, Rei directed them to place the bags in a clean area along one wall.


“Well, you’ll be out of here in a couple of days” Asuka said brightly as she looked around the room with a barely hidden look of unease. “So you might want to leave most of this in these bags, no point taking them out and packing them back up again two days later!”


“Understood” Rei nodded.


There was a slightly uncomfortable silence.


“Well, we’ll all see you at headquarters tomorrow for the combat simulation training” Misato cheerfully said. “Until then, see you later!”
“Goodbye” Rei said, offering a slight bow as they exited. Shinji the last to leave shot her a very penetrating look with a grin on his face, before closing the door behind him.


Rei stood there for several minutes…


Then spent the next six hours trying on every single outfit, altering, changing, coordinating, learning, adapting, evolving and studding her reflection in the mirror with a critical eye.


By the time she was finished, night had fallen long ago and so she dressed for the first time in her new sleeping clothes, shivering in the cool night air at the slick feel of the silk against the Goosebumps on her skin, lying down on her bed and letting a content smile cross her face as she luxuriated in sensations in her fourteen years on this planet, she had never felt.
Instrumentality a treasonous thought whispered across her mind before she fell into her dreamless sleep, be damned.





Okay, perhaps it wasn't such a tiny nod to Shinji and Warhammer, but damn it I loved that sequence. Of course, it was used with permission of Charles Bhepin. And when Rei is 'strutting' out towards Aida, I have to admit I was playing 'Extreme Ways' from the Bourne Ultimatum soundtrack...and seeing her moving in slow motion.


Cliche? Probably. But most writing is


Also, I've had a surprsing amount of people not apparently liking the Ayanami + Aida hookup. I can understand that -Shinji is NOT going to be 'doing the dirty' with someone he looks on as a Sister people - but I'm not planning to push it that fast. In fact I'd be surprised if they ended up beyond second base by the end of this fanfic. Think of them more as increasingly close friends as they slowly start to understand each other a bit more...so don't panic. Yet.


And enjoy the rampant humor in this trilogy while it lasts, hardball stars the chapter after this. Not that there won't be funnies, but we're going to be heading increasingly darker over the next few Angel battles, at least after the dance. But Shinji has had enough of a head start now, its time for the bad guys to start playing catch-up...


And I'm afraid the Shinji Chapter is probably going to be delayed a few days or a week.

[Sidewinder]

Well done. I'm surprised the Unit 01-based Titan is named "Principo Eternus" instead of something demonic, e.g., Lord of Hellfire. After all, the mecha designer specifically chose to make the Eva resemble an oni (demon).

[Vehrec]

D-damnit. You are making me wibble over here. It's still not clear exactly who or what Rei is, how much she knows. And I. Don't. Care. This rocks hard man. It's very tricky stuff, and very awesome at the same time.

The way Rei interacts with people is so clinical it could be scary, but it's not. It's rather more comforting, to see her from this angle, and I don't know why. Though giving her skill at lieing, she could probably say she was a orange furred gorilla and not cause a blip in her telltales.

Loving the fact that she's got 'every nerve a human does-and a few they don't.' Its an interesting progress curve, screw instrumentality, she's having too much fun with the clothes.