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NEON GENESIS EVANGELION: ASCENT OF THE FALLEN

By Sparky Clarkson

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"Good morning, Asuka," Misato said.

Her greeting provoked a disgruntled "mmpff" from the redheaded girl as she stalked across the kitchen and opened the refrigerator. Asuka pawed through the rows and rows of beer cans, looking for her orange juice. With atriumphant grunt, she seized the bottle, twisted off the lid, and quickly chugged almost half of it down.

Misato giggled. "Are you going to give an imitation of my victory yell next?" she asked.

"Yeee," Asuka replied dryly. She took another swig of the juice and pushed the refrigerator door closed. "Where's Shinji?" she asked, gazing around the somewhat untidy kitchen.

"He went grocery shopping with Kaoru," Misato said, frowning."He left a plate of eggs and bacon for you in the microwave."

"Just as long as he left me something to eat," Asuka replied, turning on the microwave to heat her breakfast. She turned and leaned against the counter, taking another gulp of the orange juice. Asuka swirled the juice around in the bottle and studied her guardian, who sat at the kitchen table reading a report and sipping from a can of beer. "You don't like Kaoru very much, do you?" she asked.

Misato frowned. "No," she replied, "I don't."

"Is that because he was an angel?"

Misato put down the report and her beer, fixing Asuka with a piercing gaze."And just how did you find that out, Miss Soryu?" she asked sourly.

"I coaxed it out of Shinji."

Misato shook her head and picked the report up again. "You really shouldn't have done that, Asuka," she calmly scolded, "Technically, you're not supposed to know about Kaoru's... unusual position. And finding it out from Shinji... that mess really hurt him. I think it might be better if you left those emotions alone."

Asuka nodded. "I thought about that. But he wanted to talk about it some," she answered, "And... I wanted to lend an ear. Perhaps Ishouldn't have let it go as far as it did."

"Perhaps," Misato replied, frowning. "I just hope you're mature enough to deal with this the right way," she added.

Asuka snorted angrily as the microwave dinged to let her know her food was ready. "Maybe you should trust me a little more!" she snapped."I know Shinji's telling me about what happened made him vulnerable. Sure, sometimes I'm not as nice as I could be, but that doesn't mean I'd use something like this to hurt him! I'm not some bitch who toys with people's emotions just because I can!"

Misato froze for a moment while Asuka yanked the microwave open and pulled out her breakfast. Then she nodded. "You're right," she admitted,"Sometimes I think working for NERV has twisted me permanently made me suspect everyone of having some ulterior motive."

Asuka fumbled through a drawer momentarily to find a fork, then viciously dug into her breakfast. After a few chews she calmed down enough to speak civilly. "Then maybe you should give Kaoru a chance," she said around a mouthful of scrambled eggs. "He seems like a nice enough guy. He's alittle weird, but it's not... he just seems to be so, well... innocent. I'm sure it doesn't even occur to him that people think strange things about his relationship with Shinji."

"Maybe," Misato answered noncommittally, "I just find it really hard to trust one of the angels after all things they've done to me and the rest of the world you kids in particular." She took a big swig of her beer and picked up another report. "Speaking of giving people achance," she said, "I've noticed that you seem to be getting along better with Rei."

Asuka swallowed her mouthful of bacon and eggs. "Yeah," she said,"Rei seems to have changed a little, too. She's a little more talkative, now... but not really normal."

Misato nodded. "Well, you know we had planned to have a party tonight. Perhaps if you had her over you could get her to open up a little," she suggested.

"Do you think she'd come?"

"I think she'd be reluctant," Misato admitted. "Rei's usually not very fond of big gatherings. But I think she might want some extra company today..."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rei carelessly pulled on her school uniform. Her performance on today's synchronization test had not been optimal. The result had been a 30 synch ratio not bad, for having such a long absence from Eva. Or had she only just began? Everything still seemed so strange to her the memories from the First and Second remained somewhat jumbled in her mind. She had been given little chance to organize her thoughts, due to her contact with Adam and the tempestuous events brought on by Tabris... No, she reminded herself, his name is Kaoru. She had not heard anyone call him Tabris. Why, then, did she always think of him with that name?

A tap on her shoulder interrupted Rei's reverie. "Hey, Wondergirl," Asuka said, "You wanna go get lunch in the cafeteria?"

An invitation... Rei thought, She has never requested my company before. Despite her confusion, she nodded, and Asuka led her out of the locker room.

"The boys said they were going to wait for us," Asuka said.

"The boys..?" Rei said, still being half-pulled by the ebullient redhead.

"Yeah, silly. The other pilots. Shinji and Kaoru, remember?"

"I... remember. I just..."

Asuka turned around and put her hands on her hips. "You just what?Can't stand 'em? I know they're perverts, but they're okay for short periods of time," she replied with a superior grin. Rei blushed very slightly."Oh, I get it," Asuka said triumphantly. "You like one of them!"

Rei tried to respond in the negative, but only succeeded in letting her jaw drop open. "I..." she said, but trailed off as Asuka held a finger to her lips.

"I'll be! Wondergirl actually likes a boy! Don't worry, I won't let them in on your secret," she said, then turned and began pulling Rei down the hall again. Rei just shrugged and began to walk faster to keep up.

When they reached the cafeteria, Rei saw Shinji and Kaoru leaning up against the wall next to the entrance. Shinji drummed his fingers lightly on the doorframe, and he looked slightly uncomfortable. Tabris no Kaoru, Rei again corrected herself was giving the world his usual oblivious smile. As the girls approached, Shinji flashed both of them a slight grin.

"If you ate a bigger breakfast and drank less coffee you wouldn't always be so impatient to eat lunch," Asuka scolded as the two girls walked up. The smile on the redhead's face told Rei that her nagging was meant to tease Shinji more than to actually change his behavior. At the same time, however, Rei realized that her own stomach felt rather empty as well. So she was relieved when Shinji decided not to respond. Instead he shrugged, sighed, and then opened the cafeteria door, holding it while the others walked through.

Since it was already one in the afternoon, Rei was not surprised to see that the cafeteria had mostly been deserted. The large room was arranged to look like a restaurant, even down to the booths lining one wall. Most of the people still in the commissary were eating at more central tables, though. At this late hour, few of them had companions for their meals. These were the people who had manned stations while their friends had eaten earlier.

Friends, Rei thought, glancing at her fellow pilots as they walked to the serving line. Is that who they are to me? Or do I feel... something more? And what am I to them?

The servers had started to put away the food, but seeing the children approach, they replaced some of the trays. Rei helped herself to her customary meal of ramen and stir-fried vegetables. After adding a glass of cold tea to her tray, she carried it over to the booth where Asuka was already sitting. Rei slid into the booth next to Asuka as Kaoru and Shinji sat down on the other side.

Without further ado, the children began to eat. As she moved her chopsticks in quick, efficient strokes, Rei watched the other pilots eat. Asuka was sloppiest, but quickest, shoveling clumps of food in as rapidly as she could. Shinji's eating habits more resembled Rei's he ate rather slowly, trying to be as neat as possible. Kaoru was midway between Asuka and Shinji: slow, sloppy habits suggested that he hadn't quite gotten the hang of eating.

Asuka, of course, finished first, and then pushed her tray away with asatisfied sigh. "That felt good going down," she said, glancing at Rei.

Rei swallowed her mouthful, then dabbed at her lips with a napkin."It's good enough, I suppose," she said.

"Shinji's cooking is better," Kaoru noted, accidentally letting anoodle slip onto the table as he talked.

The recipient of the compliment blushed and slurped a final noodle into his mouth. "I doubt I could do so well with the large amounts they make here," Shinji replied. He set his chopsticks down on his tray and smiled slightly.

"Plus, your cooking probably improves by comparison with Misato's," Asuka noted.

"Yeah, Pen-Pen's cooking is better than hers," Shinji agreed.

"Pen-Pen?" Rei asked. The name seemed familiar, but she couldn't place it exactly.

"Misato's penguin, silly," Asuka replied.

"Oh."

"Speaking of cooking, whose turn is it tonight?" Kaoru asked.

"Please, please say it's yours," Asuka begged Shinji.

Shinji nodded. "Yep. I've got some new recipes I want to try. I was thinking of doing a buffet or something."

"A buffet?" Asuka asked. "For who? I mean, if it's just you, me, Misato, Kaoru, and Hyuga-kun, that seems a little much."

Shinji took a gulp of his drink. "Well, T-Touji and Kensuke are back in town, so I thought I'd have them over. And of course, I thought you'd invite Hikari," he responded.

Asuka nodded, saying "Eight's a good number, but... Rei, why don't you come? Nine's much better."

Rei swallowed a half-chewed mouthful. Another invitation? she wondered, What could she intend by doing this? She gazed placidly at the redhead, masking her confusion as she searched for sign that the question had been asked in jest. She saw no hints of insincerity, however. Still, she felt some reluctance. There would be so many people! "I... it would be an inconvenience..."

"Nonsense!" Asuka snorted and glared at Shinji.

"Yeah, c'mon Rei. I have some vegetarian dishes I'd like to make for you," Shinji said.

"You... would do that?"

"Sure," Shinji said, his face flushing slightly. He bowed his head, suddenly captivated by something on his tray.

He wishes to do something for me, Rei realized. I should not be ungrateful. She nodded her head, and said, "Then I should..."

"Great!" Asuka said. "Dinner's at eight."

As the boys stood up to bus their trays, Rei wondered what she'd gotten herself into by accepting the invitation. She watched Shinji and Kaoru leave the cafeteria, and continued staring at the door after they left. Abruptly, she felt a tapping on her shoulder. She turned to see a smirking Asuka.

"So which one is it, Wondergirl?" the German girl asked. "You can't pretend that Shinji's offer didn't move you..."

"I..." Rei began, and blushed.

"It is Shinji!" Asuka exclaimed, then suddenly changed to apensive attitude. "Or are you just using him to make Kaoru jealous?"

"I... do not know."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"How were the tests, Lieutenant Ibuki?" Gendo asked, entering the command center.

Maya was hunched over a computer terminal, overseeing the Magi as they crunched the numbers from the day's work. She turned and said,"Inconclusive, commander. Rei's scores are up, but since we've only run three tests the Magi can't predict a general trend. I estimate at least two more full tests are needed before the Magi are willing to make aprediction."

"A precise prediction may not be necessary," Gendo replied."All we need is an estimation of battle readiness."

"I can have that for you before 1700. Still, I'd like to run the tests to get a precise answer, just to be sure."

Gendo nodded. "Do it," he said, then turned to leave.

"Um, Commander?" Maya asked.

"Yes?" Gendo replied, looking back at the Lieutenant over his shoulder.

"I... I've been meaning to ask you... I went over the pilots' medical records and realized that there weren't any genetic variation reports in there for Rei. I was wondering if you knew about that."

Gendo turned his face back towards the door. /Asking questions already,/he thought, But I cannot very easily replace her. Still, she must be controlled... He looked back at her eager face. "I will look into it," he said. "Bring the reports from the Magi to my office at 1700 and we'll discuss this then." Maya nodded and turned back to her computer as Gendo left the room.

"Yes..." he murmured, "control..."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"So she's coming?" Misato asked.

Asuka nodded. "It worked perfectly. I could swear she started to melt when Shinji said he wanted to make some special vegetarian stuff just for her," she replied.

Misato and Asuka were sitting in Misato's living room. The sounds of clanking pots and pans, as well as some smells of cooking food, were already emanating from the kitchen. "Aren't you going to help the boys?" Misato asked.

"Oh please. I'm a worse cook than you are," Asuka replied wryly.

Misato snorted. "I doubt you're any worse than Kaoru. He's certainly never bothered to cook before. That's probably why he eats over here all the time."

"Even when you're doing the cooking. He probably doesn't have any taste buds."

"Hey!"

Asuka grinned. "Well, as much as he helps Shinji out, Kaoru's probably picked something up," she said. "I'm still hopeless."

"Well maybe you should help Shinji out more. You'll never attract a man if you can't cook a good meal," Misato teased.

"Yeah, I might end up an old maid like you!" Asuka shot back, then ducked Misato's attempt to tackle her. As Misato recovered from the miss, Asuka jumped over a chair to put some distance between herself and the irate Major.

A knock at the door interrupted their roughhousing. Asuka gave the"time out" sign, then straightened her clothes and walked over to answer it. "Hikari!" she shouted, and hugged her friend. "What alovely dress!"

Hikari grinned, smoothing the pleats in the blue skirt. "Thanks," she said. "Touji bought it for me."

"Touji?" Asuka whispered. "You let that jerk buy you adress?"

"He insisted I have something new to wear tonight," Hikari said, giggling girlishly.

Asuka's next comment was interrupted by Makoto's arrival. The technician was wearing slacks and a dress shirt, and carried a bouquet of violets and white carnations. "Hi girls," he said. "Can I come in?"

"Of course, lovebird," Asuka said, stepping aside.

Asuka and Hikari stayed at the door for a moment after Makoto entered."Is she really dating that guy?" Hikari whispered conspiratorially.

"Ya. It's shameful, the way they carry on," Asuka replied. The two girls walked into the apartment to find Misato and Makoto seated very close together on the couch. When Hikari giggled, they quickly scooted apart alittle, which provoked a loud laugh from Asuka.

Before the redhead could sit down, however, another knock came on the door. Asuka groaned and walked back to the entrance. The sight that greeted her when the door opened didn't improve her mood. "Two of the idiot trio," she sneered as she stood back to let Kensuke and Touji in.

Touji grunted, then stomped past her, limping slightly as he walked into the room. His obliterated left arm and leg had been replaced with advanced artificial limbs. Asuka noted that they could barely be distinguished from the real thing, complete as they were with toned skin and fully articulated digits. Still, subtle differences in the boy's motion spoke to the incompleteness of the technology. Touji's movements had once been agile, made catlike by his athleticism. Now his steps stuttered, as if he were having trouble keeping his balance. Asuka frowned at the loss, realizing that she and Shinji hadn't been the only ones to pay for this war.

Once inside, Touji immediately scanned the room to find Hikari, and his face broke into a broad grin when he saw that she was wearing the dress he had bought her. The boy made a beeline to the couch, sitting down heavily and throwing his good arm around the inchou.

Kensuke, on the other hand, began to pelt Asuka with questions. "How was the battle against that last angel? Did anyone get hurt? I hear that you had to stab it in the eyes! Is that true? How did that feel? What's the new pilot like?"

Asuka finally clamped her hand over his mouth to shut the boy up. "The new pilot's in the kitchen," she said, "Why don't you go ask him?" the redhead slowly released her grip.

"Really? I'll go talk to him!" Kensuke said, grinning. Asuka rolled her eyes as the inquisitive otaku wandered into the kitchen... and emerged only a moment later, pursued by a madly squawking Pen-Pen. The warm-water penguin stopped at the door to the kitchen, huffing loudly, as the people in the living room laughed at Kensuke. "They don't want to be bothered until dinner is ready," Kensuke said by way of explanation.

"And when's that gonna be, I'd like ta know," Touji said.

Asuka looked at the clock and saw that it read 7:45. "About 15 minutes," she announced happily.

The time passed quickly. The dinner get-together was a reunion for all the children, and most of them had been completely separated since the destruction of Tokyo 3. Thankfully, Kensuke chose to ignore Asuka in his further inquiries, focusing instead on Makoto and Misato. The expressions on their faces as they tried to simultaneously answer as many of the excited boy's questions as possible and maintain proper confidentiality were priceless.

Hikari spent most of the time talking to Asuka, much to Touji's annoyance. Still, he kept his good arm around her shoulder. Occasionally, he would interject questions about how Shinji was doing, and whether they would have the same boring teacher when the school reopened. At Hikari's request, he also recounted a few stories about his sister Anita, whose condition had started improving rapidly after she was moved to the NERV hospital.

Suddenly, the conversations were interrupted by Pen-Pen's squawking. Asuka turned and saw that the penguin was jumping up and down, yammering as loudly as he could, and pointing to the door at the same time.

Asuka signaled for silence. That didn't work, though, so she shouted"QUIET!" Everyone present knew the danger in ignoring that voice. Silence fell immediately as she walked to the door. "Ladies and Gentlemen," Asuka began, "Our guest of honor..." she drew back the door to reveal an expressionless Rei. "Ayanami Rei!" Asuka finished, reaching out to pull the shy girl into the room.

Everyone applauded as Rei gaped. "Why..." she began.

Asuka leaned over and whispered in her ear, "It's your birthday, silly. Misato checked it in the records."

"Oh. I had forgotten." Rei seemed uncertain, but she was also wearing a slight smile.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the kitchen as Kaoru banged on an empty pot with a spoon. "Dinnertime, everyone. Grab a plate and serve yourself."

The kitchen had been turned into a makeshift buffet, featuring foods from half-a-dozen cuisine styles. The serving bowls and pots all had signs on them: FRIED OKRA, MASHED POTATOES, LAMB SAAGWALA, BRATWURST & KRAUT, and numerous others. Shinji had clearly outdone himself, and looked faintly worn-out."I don't know if all of it goes together," he said, "but some of the ingredients for things I knew would taste good together were too hard to find."

Everyone chose different combinations. Asuka, who found herself feeling strangely ravenous, plopped some potatoes and saagwala on her plate, adding some wurst and kraut in memory of her home country. She noticed that Rei carefully avoided the meat.

Asuka used a spoon to get a lump of potatoes. The taste was pretty bland, but not unpleasant. She'd had them before, in the States, but the Americans always put too much salt on them. She next swallowed a bit of the saagwala astrange stew-like combination of spinach and meat. She immediately stuffed another bite of the potatoes into her mouth to counteract the spicy dish. They went oddly well together.

"Shinji, this is delishious!" Misato gushed as she stuffed a bite of something that Asuka recognized as CHEESE SOUFFLE into her mouth. The boy didn't reply, but smiled slightly. He seemed oddly withdrawn.

"Yes, Shinji. Thank you," Rei said. This time, Shinji blushed and stared down into his plate. Asuka smiled at his discomfort and stuffed a slice of bratwurst into her mouth.

Most of the boys were too busy stuffing their faces to compliment the chef, but Hikari leaned over and whispered something in Shinji's ear as she walked past, getting more water from the kitchen. Shinji smiled slightly at whatever she said, but looked strangely glum only a moment later.

Asuka decided to concentrate on getting Rei to open up. She leaned over to the introverted girl and whispered, "Doesn't Shinji look really cute with that expression on his face?" Rei nearly dropped her spoon and looked at Asuka quizzically. "Well, doesn't he?" Asuka demanded.

"I... suppose so," Rei whispered back.

"He's so dull though," Asuka said. "Gloomy on a happy occasion like this."

"Happy?" Rei asked.

"Of course. Birthdays are always happy occasions!"

"Oh."

Asuka continued her efforts to gossip with Rei all through dinner, but had to desist afterwards, as she had promised to do the dishes. Most of the girls went into the kitchen to pitch in, but Kaoru firmly blocked all of Rei's attempts to do the same, ushering her out into the living room so she could relax.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shinji stood out on the balcony, morosely gazing at the reconstruction of Tokyo-3. He heard the door open and close, but did not turn around, hoping that whomever had come out would leave him alone.

"So..." Touji said. The word died in the humid air, losing its force almost as soon as it was said. Shinji cringed from it all the same.

"I'm sorry, Touji," he replied quietly. "I tried to stop it, but... I wasn't strong enough." Still, he could not turn to face the boy his friend, who had been crippled at the hands of his Eva.

"I heard... Kensuke told me... that you threatened to attack NERV headquarters for what they did."

"Yes," Shinji whispered.

"That was pretty cool. I appreciate it," Touji said warmly.

Shinji dared to half turn around. "Then... you don't... hate me?"

Touji shook his head and stepped forward, placing his good hand on Shinji's shoulder. "Nah. Misato explained what happened I know it wasn't your fault. I hate the guy who really did this to me. I hate your dad."

"That makes two of us."

The balcony was silent for several minutes, and then Touji said, "Well, I want to meet this Kaoru kid we haven't been properly introduced. Besides, Ithink there's a girl in there with very nice calves who would like to thank you properly for making her birthday dinner."

The two boys started to turn, but froze as a quiet voice said, "There's no need to leave. I came out to thank him myself."

Touji coughed loudly and blushed bright red, then excused himself and left as quickly as possible, trying to disguise his limp for Shinji's sake. Shinji and Rei were left alone on the balcony.

"My calves?" Rei asked calmly. Shinji could have sworn there was actually a twinkle in her eyes.

"It's a joke... something he and Kensuke said when I first came here and asked about you. You have more admirers than you know."

Rei smiled slightly in the darkness and stepped towards Shinji. "I wanted to thank you..." she began.

"There's no need. I wanted to do it," Shinji interjected.

"Still," Rei said. "I should."

Shinji turned back to the view of the city. Rei moved forward another few steps, but stopped as he asked, "Is that the only reason you do things?Because you should?"

Rei had no response for that. Shinji turned back around to face her. They were only a step apart as he asked, "Like that time we were in the limo. Did you do that because you thought you should, or...

"...or because you wanted to?"

Rei said nothing, but stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Shinji's body. Shinji returned the embrace, still unsure of what Rei's actions meant. After a moment, Rei whispered in his ear, "I did it because I wanted to. Ithink... I think I always have."

For the next few moments, they did not speak.

But for once, it was because they did not need to.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Oh great, now there are /four /of them," Asuka groused.

"Stand up, class. Bow. Sit down," Hikari intoned.

Touji, Kensuke, Shinji, and Kaoru were now all seated together. For his first day of school, the fifth child had made an attempt to comb his hair. He had obtained mixed results, however, for half of it had stubbornly sprung back into its usual chaotic state the middle half. The sides of his head, however, were impeccably groomed.

"He looks like a used Q-tip," Asuka whispered to Hikari, who barely suppressed a giggle. Kaoru seemed to have heard, because he half-turned in his seat and glared at Asuka, until Shinji reminded him with a soft bat on the shoulder that he was supposed to face forward. The teacher, as usual, failed to notice the utter lack of discipline in his class and launched headlong into an achingly boring lecture about the Second Impact.

Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke immediately began trading messages on their desktop computers, paying no mind to the familiar lecture. Asuka and Hikari started to do the same, but Hikari stopped to stare at Touji, and Asuka's attention was caught Kaoru's strange behavior.

Strangely, he seemed to actually be paying attention to the aging man. Even more oddly, he was clearly disagreeing with what the old man was saying. He regularly shook his head as the teacher went over facts that everyone already knew. Kaoru only stopped making motions of disagreement when the teacher began talking about his personal experiences during the impact. He still shook his head from time to time, but his expression was more sad than displeased. Asuka decided to ask him about it later.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Ha! You should forget trying to control your hair," Touji said. "You look like an idiot."

"Oh really? I was not aware of that," Kaoru replied, glowering."It just seemed a waste to give up after I went through the trouble of getting part of it combed."

"Why don't you go to the washroom and mess your hair up again? Then it might look better," Kensuke suggested. Kaoru shrugged and agreed, plodding off to the boys room while the others continued eating their lunch.

A loud giggling drew their attention to the spot where Hikari and Asuka were eating. The boys looked over, but the girls quickly turned their faces the other way. "What's that about, I wonder?" Touji mused aloud.

"Probably about those noodles you're eating," Shinji commented. Touji blushed, but overcame the embarrassment quickly. He purposefully shoved aclump of the food Hikari had given him into his mouth.

"Damn good noodles," he said, grinning and chewing at the same time.

"Oh that's awful," Kensuke replied, unwillingly treated to a view of the food in Touji's mouth. Shinji merely shook his head and looked to the ground.

He stiffened quickly when a small hand grasped his shoulder. "Whose calves are you admiring today?" Rei asked quietly. Touji nearly spat out his noodles. Kensuke blushed and looked miserable.

Shinji laughed nervously and replied, "Uh... n-nobody's. W-we were discussing H-Hikari's c-cooking."

"Oh yes," Rei said, "Asuka said something about that the other night. I guess Touji can't be caught 'admiring' me any more." Rei's calm, even voice made it unclear whether she was teasing or speaking in earnest.

Touji swallowed, and then his jaw dropped. He hastily got up and staggered off to the washroom, hoping to salvage some of his pride in the face of the suddenly verbose Rei.

"I'm still free!" Kensuke volunteered helpfully.

Rei eyed him curiously. "So you have found that boats make cold lovers?" she asked. Kensuke nearly fell off his chair. While he was trying to pull some kind of response together, Rei pulled gently on Shinji's arm and led him away from the table.

"What is it?" he asked when she had led him off to a corner of the room. They stood a step apart, facing each other.

"I... I don't want to... mislead you..."

"M... mislead me?"

"The other night, on the balcony..." she said.

"I don't... I don't understand."

"Neither do I," she replied, "These feelings are... new to me. I want to know them better before we... before I..." Her face became expressionless again as she trailed off.

"I... I see," Shinji said. He felt at once disappointed and relieved.

There was a long pause. Then Rei smiled and quietly said, "Thank you." She looked like she might say something else, but Kaoru chose that moment to approach them. His hair had been returned to its usual messy state."You look better," Rei noted.

"Yes," he replied. "I suppose that I am not well suited for grooming."

"Then how are you ever going to get any girls?" Asuka asked. She had come up behind him, though no-one had noticed. Apparently, Hikari was now busy talking with Touji.

"Girls?" Kaoru asked.

"That's how it works," Asuka said. "You boys are supposed to chase after us girls, right? Don't you have your eye on someone?"

"Ah... no, I was not, err... looking," he said, taken aback by Asuka's direct questions.

Asuka was ready to shoot something back, but Hikari called the class to order. Asuka shrugged. "Maybe you should be," she replied as she breezed past him.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The alarm had finally gotten to her. Misato slapped the cutoff switch and turned back to the screen. "I really don't like the looks of that one," she commented.

"The destruction reminds me of Leriel," Makoto said.

"But this is different. It has shape... and look at those stars," Maya replied. They all stared at the screens, which showed yet another giant angel striding towards Tokyo-3. Like Jophiel, it had the general shape of a man with wings. But the angel did not seem to have flesh instead it looked like ahole in space. Its surface was perfectly dark, and stars could be seen shining within. It had eyes glowing spheres of pure white but other than that the creature had no distinguishing features at all.

But every step that the creature took left a hole in the ground. It seemed that the surface of the angel was consuming a sizable portion of the matter that came into contact with it. Misato watched in horror as it swept one of its arms through a stand of trees, and the part of the arbor it passed through simply disappeared. The tops of the trees toppled to the ground, neatly severed from their roots.

"Analysis confirmed," Maya said. "The surface of the angel's body is a Sea of Dirac. I don't know how it creates one that contours to fit its shape, and I honestly have no idea what we should do about it," she admitted.

Gendo snorted, "It's a mystery, but he will give us the answer. That is Raziel's nature. He is the revealer of secrets."

"Well, let's start off simply, then," Misato said. "Kids, Iwant you to use the positron rifles again. Try to focus on a single point."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Shinji tensed, ready to fire. He could glimpse Rei and Kaoru out of the corner of his eye, flanking the winged monster. Asuka had already run ahead and wide to get behind it. "I always have to be in front," he murmured. Then he added in a louder voice, "I say we shoot the head."

"Good enough for me," Asuka said.

"Might as well," Kaoru added.

"Okay, then let's do it. On three. One... two... three!"

The EVA units fired their positron rifles simultaneously at the creature's head. Raziel didn't even bother to react. The rays sank into his head and disappeared.

"Okay, so that didn't work," Shinji muttered. "Anyone else have an idea?"

He didn't get a chance to hear the response, because at that moment the archangel pointed at him. A huge ray emerged from Raziel's finger, as powerful as the four beams that had struck the creature combined. Shinji barely had time to duck and send his Eva rolling away from the blast of antimatter. He grunted as he jumped out of the roll.

Kaoru decided to take the initiative. Activating the wings of EVA-05, he jumped into flight, dropping his positron rifle and equipping his prog knife."No Kaoru!" Misato shouted. "Don't touch him!"

But it was already two late. Kaoru plunged headlong and disappeared into the angel. "Kaoru!" Shinji shouted. EVA-01 kept its grip on the positron rifle, but also equipped its prog knife. The angel, however, raised its finger once again towards EVA-01, and Kaoru's Eva appeared upside-down just beyond it, flying at an immense speed. Shinji was too surprised to move out of the way."Ouff!" he grunted as the two giants collided.

"Oh..." Kaoru groaned. "That was the wrong thing to do."

"Stupid jerk," Asuka muttered. Raziel turned to face her. She raised her rifle and fired it directly at one of the eyes.

"Don't!" Misato shouted, realizing that Asuka had not seen what happened to Shinji right after the last attack. But it was too late. The beam lanced into the creature's right eye and disappeared momentarily. It then emerged from the left eye, firing back at Asuka.

"Scheisse!" the girl yelled as the beam from Raziel came into contact with her rifle and destroyed it. She willed her Eva to leap nearly 20 meters back to avoid the last bit of the ray from the archangel. "Why didn't anyone warn me about /that/?" she shouted.

"I tried," Misato groaned. This battle was not going well at all. At least Shinji and Kaoru were back on their feet.

"Well, it is obvious that Raziel can take in and emit as much matter and antimatter as he likes," Kaoru noted.

"I wonder..." Rei said. EVA-00 knelt to scoop up a rock. With an expert throw, she sent it arcing through the air so that it rolled to a stop just as the archangel's foot came down on it. Raziel immediately whirled and pointed to Rei. The rock emerged from his hand, but it was not moving very fast, and it quickly fell to the ground.

"He does not seem to be able to add much velocity to objects that he takes in," Maya confirmed.

"He did well enough with me," Kaoru complained.

"His ability to accelerate emissions may be proportional to the initial velocity of the object," Maya suggested.

"That would explain why he hasn't fired any of the dirt or scenery he's taken in at us. Their relative velocity was too low," Asuka commented.

"So what if we did the same thing?" Shinji asked. EVA-01 moved in front of the archangel and stood resolutely in its way.

"No! Don't!" Misato shrieked.

"Not again," Asuka groaned.

"Ikari-kun..." Rei said.

"I won't run out of power this time," Shinji said. "If I use the S2 engine, there's no reason to worry."

"This is bad strategy. Fall back!" Misato ordered, but it was already too late. Raziel casually collided with EVA-01 and Shinji disappeared.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blinding light poured in from all the external views, making Shinji dizzy. He slapped a control to turn them off. "Too bright!" he moaned, rubbing his aching eyes.

Shinji quickly took stock of his situation. His attempt to enter the angel had apparently worked. Everything seemed fine except for the brightness outside. That, and the fact that the LCL felt odd thinner and warmer than usual. Last time it was cold, Shinji remembered. He shivered involuntarily and shut his eyes for a moment to clear away the memory.

He was sorry when he opened them.

In those short seconds the entry plug had transformed. Where once it had been a metallic construction, it had now become organic. The walls were streaked with blood vessels, and pulsated with a constant rhythm. Gentle, diffuse light radiated through the tissues, having its brightest glow at the bottom. Shinji felt something brush against his leg, and realized that the transformation had gone even further. His plugsuit had disappeared and the "throne of the soul" had changed into a huge fleshy mass, with thousands of protrusions that wrapped themselves around his legs and abdomen, and waved in the currents of the LCL. Shinji tried to fight down his fear for a few moments, but eventually gave up and screamed in horror.

After he'd let it out, he gasped for a few seconds, then shook himself. Come on, Shinji, he thought, get a grip. You've got to destroy this thing, and screaming won't help. He took a deep breath to steady himself and then tried to will the Eva to move. Shinji smiled as he felt the Eva's leg move."Okay," he muttered, "It works. I've just got to kill this thing and get out of here, and everything will be fine."

Shinji looked to the bottom of the entry plug, towards the source of the strongest light. "It's as good a bet as any," he muttered. He tried to walk the Eva down towards the light, but found himself paradoxically drifting away. He flipped the Eva upside down, then tried to /swim/towards the light, thinking that Raziel's interior might be liquid. That seemed to work better, although it was by no means a quick advance. He moved slowly towards the light.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Kaoru charged the angel, jumping aside at the last minute. He nimbly dove between Raziel's arm and leg, somersaulting through the angel's assault. As he ran away from the confrontation, he checked over his shoulder to see the archangel's response. Raziel turned around momentarily and took a step after him, but quickly desisted and faced the city again. His progress resumed.

Kaoru skidded to a halt, panting heavily. Though he himself was not doing the running, he felt physically tired from all the exercise. "I hope Shinji pulls something off soon," he wheezed.

"So... do... I..." Asuka replied, still breathing heavily after several similar runs of her own. The three remaining pilots, unable to use any of their weapons against the alien invader, had engaged in a tactic of attempting to distract it. Hopefully, that would buy enough time for Shinji to kill the angel before it destroyed the city.

"There's not much time left," Rei noted. "Raziel is only three kilometers away from the city now."

"Does anyone have more suggestions?" Kaoru asked.

"I... I don't know," Maya whispered. "There's just not enough information to plan a course of action."

"I've got something," Misato said. "Kids, rearm your positron rifles. I doubt Raziel's capable of flight if his wings can only absorb air instead of pushing against it. Use your guns to create obstacles in front of him craters, trenches, anything you can think of."

"Good idea," Asuka said, "But I'd rather kill this thing with my own hands."

"Try that," Kaoru commented, grabbing his gun again, "and you might lose them."

"Watch your mouth, mop-head," Asuka replied. She pulled the trigger on her gun and began blasting away at the ground in front of Raziel's feet. "Or else you might lose something of your own," she added with a teasing smile.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Eventually, the light became so strong that it was bright even when filtered through the biological walls surrounding him. Shinji decided that he would now flip on the external sensors and choose his attack point.

He then realized that he had no way to turn the sensors back on.

"Damn!" Shinji muttered as his hands fumbled through the jumbled organic protrusions that had been his entry plug. He once again felt a sense of rising panic, but managed to get a grip. "I'll just do a pattern sweep," he said. "I've got plenty of power to give my rifle."

Shinji began by pointing the rifle straight towards the apparent center of the light. He willed the Eva to fire the gun, and was rewarded by a momentary dimming of the light. But the damage was only temporary. He began to sweep the gun away from the center point: up, down, right, and left. But nothing happened except when he shot at the center. Still, the effects there did not last.

This isn't working, he realized. He thought for a moment, then realized a way he could cut off the core from the rest of the angel without necessarily destroying it.

Once again Shinji willed his Eva to swim down towards the light. After several minutes, it bumped into something. By now, the light had permeated the entry plug, nearly blinding Shinji. He could even see the glow through his eyelids. Shinji squeezed his eyes shut and willed EVA-01 to grasp the source of the glare. Once he had it firmly in the Eva's arms, Shinji initiated an AT Field.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Raziel stopped at the edge of Tokyo-3, just as Asuka finished blasting a new trench with her positron rifle. She tossed the empty gun aside and equipped her progressive knife. The last defense had been set, and like the other obstacles, it would do no more than slow the implacable foe they faced.

"I wish Shinji would do whatever was his bright idea to do," Asuka shouted as the angel carefully inspected the trench. Any moment, Asuka expected it to start walking again, striding over the tortured earth to fulfill its grim destiny. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw units 00 and 05 drop their own guns and draw their knives. "That jerk, why I ought to..." she began, but stopped in open-jawed shock as Raziel's head detonated, releasing abrilliant light.

Asuka had to shut her eyes momentarily, afraid she might be blinded. The image hung in her view even through her eyelids. As she sensed the light fading she looked again where Raziel had stood to see Shinji standing there, holding aglowing sphere that was rapidly growing smaller and dimmer. Within moments, it had disappeared entirely.

EVA-01 slumped for a moment, then drew itself back to its full height. Shinji looked around his entry plug in wonder. He was once more in his plugsuit, and the interior of the plug had returned to normal. "It must have been a hallucination," he murmured.

"Shinji, if you ever do that again..." Misato threatened. Shinji sighed and turned off the communicator.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"You are troubled," Kaoru noted. The two boys had gone to Kaoru's apartment after debriefing. Shinji was curled up against the wall, resting his chin on his knees and staring pensively into space, trying to calm his frayed nerves. Kaoru was lying down on his bed, his worried gaze locked on his friend's face.

"Something happened while I was inside Raziel," Shinji replied. Kaoru's eyebrows knotted together in a quizzical expression, and he nodded for Shinji to continue. The blue-eyed boy sighed. "I've always known that the Evas were alive, but... after I entered the archangel, the entry plug turned into flesh, and I was naked in it. I... I'm sure it was just an hallucination, but... it seemed so very real," he explained.

Kaoru's frown deepened and his head settled down on his pillow. He rubbed at his temples. "I don't know," he said. "I saw something when Iwas in it, too... a brief image, fleeting, but..." He trailed off, his brow furrowed.

"The picture you were drawing earlier, outside the debriefing room. Was that it?"

Kaoru closed his eyes and nodded. "I cannot place it," he said,"But I feel... that the image represents something very important."

"Can... can I see?" Shinji asked.

Kaoru nodded again, slowly rising from his position on the bed to open his knapsack. After a moment of digging, he pulled out a single, folded sheet of paper. Tiny white shreds still clung to the edges, a sign that the sheet had at one point been ripped from a ringed notebook. Shinji took the page and knelt as he unfolded it. The faint blue lines crossing the paper did not interfere with the clean lines of the picture Kaoru had drawn. The fallen angel had rare artistic skill the face that peered out of the torn page looked almost real enough to touch.

As he stared at that image, Shinji felt a pang of emptiness in his chest. His hands began to tremble so violently he almost ripped the paper in two. After a moment, he let the sheet drop to the floor, but he continued to stare at it, too shaken to even cry. More than ten years had passed since he had last seen the face that peered so realistically out at him from the page, but still Shinji knew it. Ten years and more had gone, but still it haunted his dreams.

Kaoru had drawn a picture of Ikari Yui.