Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ The Nephilim Complex ❯ The Necklace of Karator and Some Fatherly Advice ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four: The Necklace of Karator and some Fatherly Advice

The lights turned on suddenly, and brown eyes blinked rapidly. He had been lying on the couch as though asleep, but he had just been staring into the empty space above himself for quite some time now. Now that the lights were on, he found himself staring into one of them, the light burning patterns into his vision as he turned his head slowly to look at the unshaven man standing by the doorway.

"Kaji," Shinji said simply.

"Feeling any better yet?" Kaji asked the boy kindly, sitting down at the end of the couch where Shinji's feet didn't reach. He had been there for almost a week, only moving to eat and bathe, and otherwise he slept on the couch.

"Not really," he muttered his reply, closing his eyes again.

"Some pain will never go away, Shinji," Kaji said quietly, putting a hand on the boy's ankle to reassure him through a light touch as well. "And I am very sorry if I am a part of your pain right now..."

"It's not your fault, Kaji," Shinji said, opening his eyes again, though this time he seemed to be focused on the ponytail the man wore. "Thank you for letting me stay here. I am sorry if..."

"There is no trouble," Kaji interrupted him before he could go any further. "I am honoured to know that you think highly enough of me to come to me when you feel lost."

"You are the only one I know..."

"Misato has been good to you," Kaji interrupted him again. There was a pause before he continued. "She tells me that you have been speaking with her each day. I'm glad you don't want to shut her out of your life, too."

"Am I living a lie?" Shinji asked after a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Am I kidding myself? I have to go back sooner or later, don't I?" Shinji pointed out. "I will have to see her again when the next Angel attacks, right?"

"Yes," Kaji said slowly. There was another long silence, and then he spoke again, repeating something he had said for the past several days. "I'm sure she didn't mean to hurt you..."

Shinji looked at him for a moment, meeting his eye with a look of complete disbelief. "I heard what she said, remember?" Shinji asked quietly. It was the first time he had replied to Kaji's attempts to apologize on Asuka's behalf. He only wished that he knew if she was truly sorry or not.

"I know."

"Then how can you tell me that she didn't mean it? 'He told me his deepest secret, because I convinced him he could trust me...' Sound familiar?" Shinji demanded, sitting up and wrapping his arms around his legs as he pulled them up onto the couch as well.

"I should have stopped her," Kaji said when he stopped. "I am as much to blame as she is, Shinji," he pointed out.

"I doubt even you could have stopped her, not when she had her heart set on hurting me like that..." He looked up to Kaji and paused. It looked like he wanted to say something, but was hesitating.

"I am just looking for the truth, Shinji," the man said quietly. "Nothing more. Nothing less. And I would encourage you to do the same."

"Nephilim was special," Shinji began, but he faltered quickly.

"You don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to."

"You know some already," Shinji said, shaking his head. "And like I said earlier, I trust you not to tell anyone else. I don't see this as being anything that would be involved in a quest for truth."

"I must warn you, Shinji, that I use my knowledge to gain knowledge."

Shinji nodded, saying that he understood what the man was saying completely. "She never told me what she was, or where she had come from. I always knew, deep down anyway, that she wasn't human. I mean, humans can be seen by everyone, right?" he pointed out.

"So Asuka was right when she said no one else could see her?"

"I think she might have seen her once," Shinji admitted. "She said it after she woke up from being injured the first time we fought against Israfel, though I'm not sure if I believe her now."

"I'm surprised she didn't mention that fact to me," Kaji mussed to himself during Shinji's pause.

"I'm sure she would have, if you had given her more time. I'm sure she had a lot more to say..." He shook his head. "My sister became very sick just before the battle against Ramiel," he explained. "Extremely sick. I missed school for almost two weeks, just to try and help her get better."

"When did she recover?" Kaji prodded when Shinji faltered again.

"I don't know if she ever really did," Shinji admitted. "She watched from Misato's apartment's balcony when Rei and I fought Ramiel. She said she gave me the strength to destroy the AT Field from so far away. Misato and Ritsuko still have a hard time explaining what really happened."

"Misato swears that she saw you glowing," Kaji explained. "Says you seemed to be more powerful, almost as though a higher power was granting you extra strength for a fraction in time."

"Nephilim glowed," Shinji whispered, forcing Kaji to listen more carefully. "In the dark, she glowed. Her dress stopped glowing when she lost it..."

Kaji passed a glass of juice to Shinji, and had him drink it before he would let him continue. He knew that he was asking the boy to relive painful memories. Hopefully good memories, too, but he had to know the good and bad.

"You said you don't think she ever recovered?"

"I think she was faking it, to keep me from worrying," Shinji sighed. "I still thought she was quite warm, but she refused to let me even check her temperature. She said that she was fine. But she wasn't..."

"How do you know?" Kaji asked.

"Because Gaghiel didn't even touch her. I know that. I saw her on the deck of the ship just before he attacked, but I know that she wasn't hit."

"How do you know, though?"

"Her dress was clean," Shinji explained. "Even though it was in the water, if she had been struck, the blood would never have come out completely from the white dress."

Kaji stood from the couch after a moment and went to get his coat. He tossed another one to Shinji. "I think it is about time that I brought you back to the real world, Shinji," he said as kindly as he could.

"I don't want to see her again, Kaji," Shinji said, not moving from the couch. "I just..."

"You could try," Kaji admitted. "You could try, even, to avoid all human contact for the rest of your life. I'm sure I could find you a place where it would be just you, and only you, forever. That way you would never be hurt again, right?" he asked.

"That doesn't sound so bad..." Shinji mussed.

"You wouldn't survive very long," Kaji pointed out. "You have no survival skills. In the wilderness, you would die within a few weeks."

"I'd get to be with my sister again, though," Shinji countered.

"There is no guarantee," Kaji said quietly. He then stopped at the door. "I won't force you to go back. But I want to show you something, something in my backyard. Just because."

Shinji stood from the old brown couch slowly. Something about the way Kaji was talking was making him take things in a lot more than he had been. The living room was a light blue, and he saw a picture sitting on top of the television that he hadn't noticed earlier. A picture of Misato.

As he followed Kaji through the living room door to the back entrance of his house, he counted no less than six other pictures of his guardian. He chose to remain quiet about them, though, as he stepped out into the morning sun. The grass was incredibly green and full in the backyard of Kaji's house, and there was a huge patch of melons in the back corner of the yard. The whole thing was cut off from the outside world by a large picket fence that was badly in need of paint.

"What do you see here?" Kaji asked him, stopping in front of the patch of watermelons.

"Fruit," Shinji replied with a shrug. "A lot of watermelons. Do you grow these?" he asked, looking up to the man in surprise. He hadn't seemed like the kind to have a garden of any type.

Kaji nodded. "Even though every year, dozens of them go to waste and die thanks to rot, I still continue to plant more. And I will continue to watch them grow silently in my yard."

"Isn't that kind of pointless?" Shinji asked hesitantly, not wanting to upset the man who had been so kind to him over the last week.

"Maybe," Kaji said with a shrug. "But sometimes, it is the little things in life that are worth living for. Even though I have to watch these die, I can also watch them grow again. Understand?"

"Not really," Shinji sighed.

"Give it time," Kaji replied with a kind smile. "You'll understand eventually." He paused for a moment before putting a hand on Shinji's shoulder, and the two continued to stand there, looking at the watermelons. Kaji offered to let Shinji water them, but once that was done, the two sat in the backyard in silence, watching the still, silent, unmoving watermelons.

--------------------

"Hey, wait for me!" Asuka turned in surprise, and found Hikari running down the mall towards her. She smiled and waited until her friend was next to her before the two started walking together. "Buying stuff for the school trip?"

"Yup," Asuka admitted, holding up two bags of clothes. "I'm looking forward to getting away from this city and to the beaches."

"Have you picked up a bathing suit yet?" Hikari asked.

"Not yet. You?"

"Let's go have a look," the class rep suggested, bowing her friend ahead of her. Asuka laughed and walked into the store, leaving her other bags at the checkout as she was asked. The two made their way to the back of the store, and the redhead started looking at the hundreds of suits found along the back wall.

"Think Toji would like this one?" Hikari asked, holding a small, one piece green suit against her and looking to Asuka for her opinion.

"Why would that matter?" Asuka asked. "He's an idiot."

Hikari blushed and put the suit back on the rack before picking up another. "He has a sensitive side, too, you know. He seemed very worried when I told him that I couldn't find Shinji to give him his papers for the week."

"Then he's a bigger idiot than I thought," Asuka said harshly, picking up a bikini that was a light blue. She looked at herself in the mirror for a moment, holding it against her, before tossing it back towards the rack. It fell to the ground, but she didn't stoop to pick it up. 'Blue is not my colour,' she thought to herself. The blue happened to be the exact shade of the First Child's hair.

"You aren't worried?" Hikari asked in amazement. "I mean, he is your roommate, after all, right? And a fellow pilot as well, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but that baka can do whatever he wants for all I can," Asuka said with a wave of her hand. She forced the next thought that passed through her mind out as quickly as it came. 'Except Wondergirl.' She picked up a green one piece, the very suit that Hikari had looked at earlier, and held it against her friend. "This one looks good on you. Goes well with your brown hair."

"I tried that earlier, and you didn't seem to like it," Hikari pointed out. Asuka looked at it for a moment, and then shrugged, putting it back quickly before taking down several bikinis to look at against herself. "Everything alright?" her friend asked after a moment, and after Asuka had thrown each suit into a heap on the ground.

"It's fine," Asuka said quickly. "Just feeling a little sick to my stomach, that's all. I can't get the thought of you and the stooge out of my head."

"Or is it..." Hikari said slyly. "The fact that you can't get the thought of Shinji and Ayanami out of your head?"

"That zicke?" Asuka demanded angrily. "She's got nothing to do with anything! The baka, either!"

Hikari didn't reply as she picked up the green suit again, happy with it. "I think Shinji mentioned in his introduction that he liked red," she muttered to herself.

"So?" Asuka said angrily, ripping several other suits off the rack before throwing them on the ground. She then saw a red and white striped bikini with a zipper to do up the top, and ties to hold up the bottom. She held it against herself and found that the red went perfectly with her hair, and the white really brought out her skin. "I think this one is nice. What do you think?"

Hikari looked at it for a moment before letting out a sharp gasp and reaching forward to touch the gold chain that she had just noticed Asuka had around her neck. "Who gave you that?" she asked, excitedly. New jewelry often meant good things.

Asuka pulled the necklace out from her blouse slowly, and looked down at the four points on it. She turned it over in her hands, and noticed on the tip of the one point that was attached to the chain was a small symbol, too small for her to make out clearly.

Hikari grabbed at her hand almost at once anyway, to get a better look at the object on the end. The sapphires and diamond were still sparkling, even though they were not in direct light, or even close thanks to Hikari's head being in the way. She ran her fingers along each point in amazement, and then looked back to Asuka. "So?"

"So? A... friend gave it to me," Asuka said quickly, stuffing it back into her blouse.

"Was that before or after you supposedly broke his trust?" Hikari asked carefully.

"Hikari!" Asuka said sharply. "It wasn't that baka or anything!"

"Oh!" Hikari gasped in surprise. "I'm... I'm sorry, Asuka. I didn't know there was someone else. I wouldn't have kept making fun of you about Shinji had I known. I'm so sorry!"

"There isn't anyone else," Asuka interrupted her. Without another word, she picked up her selection again and went to the counter to pay for it. Once the two left the store with all of their purchases again, neither spoke of anything discussed in the store again.

As the two were talking in the food court after stopping for a quick snack, Asuka looked up and could have sworn she saw Shinji step out of a high end dress store. She told Hikari that she would be right back, and then took off through the mall to try and catch him.

When she reached the corner where she had lost sight of him, she found that he was no where to be found. A little disappointed by her failure, she returned to the store where she thought she had seen him and asked the clerk. She then found out that she had been mistaken, and no boy had actually come in for quite some time after all.

Returning to the table, she saw Hikari's questioning glance and sighed as she sat back down. "Thought I saw someone," she explained after a moment.

"Someo..." Hikari stopped, and gasped again. "Oh! And?"

"And it wasn't him," Asuka said, leaning back in her chair again with a drawn out sigh.

"Sorry," Hikari offered. She then saw the glance that Asuka was suddenly fixing her with, and she shook her head. "I won't say a word, don't worry. Not to anyone."

"He had better not be with Wondergirl right now..." Asuka muttered, leaning forward on her hands as Hikari finished off her drink and sat back again.

--------------------

'This appears to have been a waste of time,' Rei thought to herself as she stopped by the exit of one of the stores in the mall. She was watching two people in the food court carefully, and then shook her head. 'Pilot Soryu has not seen Ikari either. This is indeed distressing..."

She made her way out of the large shopping complex quietly, and stopped once she was in the shade of the building. A loud beeping noise was coming from her side, and she reached down to take out her cell phone.

Looking at the number, she sighed and returned it to the case without answering. That made three calls in the last week that she would have ignored from NERV. Whatever they needed her for could wait a little while longer.

She thought that maybe she should have answered, just so she could have asked if the Section Two agents knew where Ikari was. She sighed to herself when she realized that they wouldn't have told her, even if they did know.

"I have been in dereliction of duty," she said aloud to herself, her voice sounding flat to her own ears suddenly. "But that does not matter at the moment. Ikari has not been seen by anyone in almost a week." Rei thought for a moment, and then started to walk towards the apartment buildings on the other side of the town. She knew where the Major's apartment was. Even if Ikari wasn't there, she could at least ask the Major again if she had heard any news. She knew that Pilot Soryu would not be there at the current time.

It was high noon when Rei finally arrived at the large apartment complex. Scanning her infallible memory quickly, she remembered what number apartment she was looking for and pushed the button for the elevator. She heard a cry from behind her, and turned to see the lavender haired woman she was looking for hailing her. She stepped into the elevator, but held it for the Major.

She said nothing as the woman panted to catch her breath, but after a moment she reached out and pressed the red button labelled Stop. The ride shook to a halt at once, and the Major looked to her quickly.

"You refused to answer my question earlier, Major," Rei said calmly.

"And?" Misato asked. "You wanted to ask me again when I could not escape, that it?"

"That is correct," Rei replied, aware of a touch of humour to her voice suddenly. She knew it wouldn't last through her question, though. "I wish to ensure that Ikari is doing alright. Could you please tell me where I might find him?"

"You know I can't do that, Rei," Misato said with a sigh. "And you didn't have to stop the elevator to ask me, either..."

"I expect an answer, Major," Rei said, her voice harsh suddenly. "I do not wish to be kept in the dark about this. I am too worried to concentrate during synch tests, and I am concerned that, should an Angel suddenly attack, I would not be able to operate without the knowledge that Ikari is in good hands."

Misato took a deep breath and looked carefully to the First Child again, startled by the look in her red eyes. She looked almost on the verge of tears. "Start the elevator, Rei," she demanded. When Rei did not move, Misato pulled the button out herself, and then turned to the other occupant before she could even move. "I do know where he is, Rei. But I will not break his trust that he places in me. Can you understand that?"

"Can you at least tell me if he is being taken care of?" Rei asked, faltering as her voice cracked. She held a hand to her throat in surprise, and looked away from Misato's surprised look.

"I..." Misato paused. She was about to tell Rei that she could admit to nothing, but the sad look in the girl's eyes melted her resolve. She nodded slowly. "He is in the only hands I would trust, aside from my own."

"He is with Mr. Kaji, then?" Rei asked quietly.

"I never said that," Misato countered.

"You didn't have to," Rei replied, looking back to the Major slowly. "Thank you, Major. I apologize for acting in the manner that I just did. If you should feel it necessary to discipline me, though, then I am afraid that you may have a long wait. I believe the Commander will be first in line."

"Why is that?" Misato asked in surprise as the doors to the elevator opened.

"I have been ignoring his calls," Rei admitted.

"What?" Misato demanded before shaking her head quickly. "Look, never mind. Just give me your cell phone, ok?"

"I fail to see what purpose that would accomplish."

"I will put it in the changing rooms in NERV tomorrow morning, and you can say that you did not have it with you," Misato explained.

"That would be being dishonest," Rei said, her voice flat again.

"I think a little stretching of the truth is acceptable from time to time," Misato admitted. "Besides, think of it as a reward for caring about Shinji. Asuka hasn't even asked if I know where he is yet."

"I do not think she wishes to know."

"She does, Rei. She just doesn't think she deserves to," Misato explained.

"She is not alone in that feeling," Rei said to her own surprise. Before she could say another word to the Major, or could hear another reply, she turned and left the apartment buildings quickly. She made her way to her own apartment again, and open the door slowly, finding it just as clean as it had been the days before, ever since she and Ikari had taken the time to clean it.

She did not, as she had hoped she might, find him waiting for her on the inside. She checked her phone again, and found no messages, either. With a small sigh, she sat on her bed slowly, feeling only mildly better now that she knew where the boy was, at least. It was a start, anyway.

--------------------

The walk home from Hikari's house seemed longer that afternoon to Asuka than she ever really remembered it. As she came upon the large apartment complex, she stopped in front of it for a moment, looking up.

"So this is my home now..." she said aloud to no one around her. "Not exactly everything I dreamed of, is it?" she added with a sad grin as she hoisted the bags into a better position before she dropped any of them.

She walked into the elevator and juggled things for a moment so she could push the button for the right floor. Once the doors opened again, she made her way down the hall quickly and leaned on the buzzed for her apartment.

The apartment that she shared with two others, though she wished it was still with three.

The door opened after a moment, and she pushed her way in quickly. "Thanks," she managed as she hurried to her room to drop her things there, rather than in the entrance way.

"No problem."

Her bags fell to the ground as she turned quickly. She stood face to face with Shinji again, the two just looking at each other. She swallowed deeply, started to say something, but then stopped. After a moment, she shook her head, picked up her bags, and went to her room.

When she emerged again a few moments later, she found the boy at the table with Misato, with Penpen sitting at his food dish. There was supper on the table, including a space set for her, despite the fact that the other two had already started.

She sat down without a word and started to eat. After the first mouthful, she knew that Shinji had cooked. The noodles were far better than anything any restaurant could have made, and if Misato had made them, then she doubted she would have still been alive to think about it.

For one of the first times in her life, she found the silence in the room extremely unsettling. She looked up from her food for a brief moment, and saw that Shinji was staring at his empty plate, but not looking anywhere else, while Misato had picked up her plate and was sitting back in her chair, watching both of them.

"Shinji?" Misato called once she set her plate down again. The boy looked up slowly, and she smiled to him. "It's good to have you back." He nodded, and then looked down again.

Silence gripped the kitchen completely as Asuka set her chopsticks down as well. Just when she decided that she couldn't take it any more, Shinji stood up from his chair and, without a word, left the kitchen and entered his room.

"I'm going to take a bath," she offered as she stood. Misato nodded, but her gaze never left her penguin. Shaking her head, Asuka left and grabbed her things from her room before closing and locking the bathroom door behind her. She had managed to convince Misato to put a lock on at least that door.

She shed her clothes silently, listening for any sound of movement outside the bathroom. She heard Misato get up and turn the TV on in the living room, but beyond that, she didn't hear anything different.

Once she had put her clothes in the laundry hamper at the side of the room, she started the water running. Sitting on the edge of the tub as she waited, she sighed. 'Couldn't even say anything to him, could I?' She watched the warm water mix with the soap she had already added with an odd fascination as bubbles grew, were crushed by other bubbles, and then grew again.

She stopped the water when the tub was almost full and lowered herself into it slowly. The tub was long enough that she could stretch out her legs and there was still plenty of room at the end. 'Why would it matter, though? I don't need him anyway...' She closed her blue eyes and leaned back in the water, enjoying the gentle caress of warmth against her skin.

A splash at the other end of the tub caused her to look up sharply. A young girl was sitting there, a girl with red hair and sharp red eyes. A girl who had just splashed her in order to get her attention.

A girl that a boy outside of the bathroom would give anything to see again.

"Hello, Nephilim," Asuka sighed, knowing full well that there wasn't anything she could do about the invasion of her privacy.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully, leaning back in the tub to get her hair wet before sitting up again to look back to the older girl. "The water's nice and warm."

"I know," Asuka replied. "I filled the tub just a few minutes ago, or didn't you notice?" There was a pause, and then she sat forward a bit, crouching down to keep her breasts under the warm water rather than expose them to the cooler air again. "Why do you keep coming to me?"

Nephilim shrugged. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "All I know is that I feel a calling towards you. That, and I was told to try to speak with you, if I could."

"Told? By who?" Asuka asked, surprised.

"I don't know." There was another long pause, during which time the girl rung her hair out a bit and put it over her shoulders again rather than let it drape down across her front. "I just heard the request, and here I am."

"Just following orders?" Asuka demanded. "Just like that stupid doll?"

"That 'stupid doll' seems to be having an easier time admitting her feelings than you do," Nephilim pointed out.

"What feelings?" Asuka said harshly, then lowering her voice again quickly, not wanting anyone outside the bathroom to hear what she was saying. "Listen, I don't have any feelings to admit, okay?"

"Then why do you want to gain his trust again?" the girl asked, looking deep into her blue eyes with her red ones. "Why would you care if he had spent the last week with Rei Ayanami... with the doll? What would that matter to you?"

"I don't want him to make a stupid mistake."

"How would it be a stupid mistake?" she asked.

"I... It just would be. Trust me."

"Strange words for you to be using right now, wouldn't you say, Asuka?" Nephilim said calmly, sitting forward and putting her hands on the older girl's knee that was sticking out of the water.

"That's a low blow right now, Nephilim."

Nephilim shrugged and leaned back again. "Maybe. I suppose your heart is masked even from yourself..." she said slowly, picking up a pile of bubbles and blowing them into the air in front of her. She did this a couple of more times before Asuka held up a foot to pull her hand back into the water. "What's wrong?"

"You looked in my heart, right?" Asuka asked pointedly. Before Nephilim could even answer, she continued. "Then you know why I can't need anyone already, don't you? You know why... I do a lot of things."

"I understand why you feel that way," Nephilim admitted. "But I do not understand why you feel you have no other choice."

"I will never cry again," Asuka said. "I made that vow a long time ago, and I do not intend to let anyone make me break that vow, understand?"

Nephilim smiled and picked up another pile of bubbles. "There is an old saying about vows," she explained. "God loves nothing more than making someone break a vow." She then let loose a large breath at the bubbles in her hand, and when they cleared again, the girl was no longer there. Asuka sighed and leaned back once more.

"About time she left," she muttered to herself. The golden chain around her neck caught her eye again, and she pulled the necklace out of the water, turning it over again and again in her hands. "I wish I knew how this is going to help fix anything..."

After almost an hour of lying there, soaking in the tub, she let the drain out of the bottom and stood up slowly. Her skin was wrinkled thanks to the amount of time she had spent underwater, but she didn't really care just then. She took her large towel and dried herself off for the most part before wrapping it around herself snugly. She then took her smaller red towel and wrapped her hair in it tightly to try and speed the drying process.

She rubbed the steam that the heat of the bath had caused away from the mirror, and found herself staring into her own eyes. "I refuse to break a vow over a stupid baka," she muttered to herself. When her reflection did not reply, and she sighed and opened the door.

Making her way to her room, she found the door to Shinji's room still open. He was lying on his bed, the earphones to his SDAT Player in, and the player itself in his hands. His eyes were closed, and Asuka wasn't sure if he was asleep or not. "Glad you're back," she whispered, and then made her way quickly to her room, not wanting to know if he was going to answer her. She had said it. It wasn't her fault if he didn't hear it.

The next morning started earlier than Asuka would have liked. The sun woke her again, and, as she looked at her clock, she saw that it wasn't even six in the morning yet. With a sigh, she rolled over and got out of bed slowly, pulling on the first thing she found, which happened to be her yellow dress that she had been wearing when she first met Shinji. Just before she left the room, she remembered that she had taken off the necklace to sleep, and picked it up from her night stand and put it on quickly, tucking it into the top of her dress again.

She found Shinji in the kitchen, cooking with his back turned to her. "Guten morgen, Asuka," he said cheerfully, causing her to stop in her tracks. This action apparently didn't go unnoticed by the boy, and he turned quickly as though to make sue she was alright. "What's wrong?"

"Wrong?" Asuka repeated. "Wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong! You take off for a week without telling anyone where you are going, and then once you show up again, up act as though nothing happened!"

Shinji didn't reply to her rant. He simply turned back to the counter where he was in the process of preparing breakfast. "Kaji asked me to say hello."

"He did?" she asked, caught off guard by his comment. So far things hadn't gone exactly as she had planned. Shaking off her confusion, she pressed on with what she had been saying. "Haven't you got anything to say for yourself, baka?" she demanded. "Any explanation as to why you took off?"

The look he gave her made her stop in an instant. There was a lot she had wanted to say. She had spent most of the night thinking about them. But his calm demeanour had thrown all that out the window. The look in his eyes was of shattered dreams and hopes. He looked almost like he had nothing to live for at all, and he wasn't sure if he should have been standing there or not.

"I'm... glad you're back," she said quickly as she sat down at the table.

"You are?" Shinji asked in surprise.

"Uh... of course! You have no idea how boring it is with only the drunk and a penguin who acts drunk half the time as your only company!" she explained.

"I lived here with just the two of them for a while too, remember?" he pointed out to her quietly.

"Then you'd understand!"

He shrugged and turned back to his preparation. The clock on the wall above him was reading 6:30, and Asuka leaned back. "I didn't think you'd want to come back," she admitted quietly. As soon as she said it, she clamped her hand over her mouth. She had meant to just think it, not say it aloud...

"Neither did I," he whispered. He said nothing else for a time, until he finally turned around with two plates in his hands, and set them on the table. "I hope you enjoy your Frühstück," he said without conviction, sitting down across from her.

On the plate that he had given her was a few different pieces of bread, a small dish of honey and jam, and a pile of cheese at the side. There were several pieces of thinly sliced cold meat rolled up next to the cheese, and there was a small egg cup as well containing a single boiled egg. In the centre of the plate was another small bowl, this one containing a piece of quark, sprinkled with a few sliced strawberries, a handful of blueberries, and a couple of raspberries along the edge.

She could only stare at the meal for a moment, not sure what to think. She had been feeling bad about how she had yelled at him as the first thing she did now that he had finally returned. She was feeling even worse now that she saw what she had interrupted to do so. He had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to find everything. Quark was not easy to find in Toyko-3. She had searched high and low and hadn't found even the smallest amount for any price in any store.

"Good to know you didn't forget our agreement," she said despite herself as she picked up the fork that he had offered her. She saw him flinch at her words, and she bit her tongue. With a small sigh that she didn't think he noticed, she decided it safest simply not to say anything to him at all for the rest of the meal.

She then noticed that he had served himself rice, toast, and a bit of jam. That didn't help her guilt at all, knowing that he had gone to all the trouble entirely for her sake, and didn't even make any for himself. She felt the bottom drop out of her stomach, and if it hadn't been for the fact that he had gone to all the trouble to make the special meal, she probably would have skipped breakfast entirely.

"Do you mind if I just make a lunch for you today as well, and then we call it even?" he asked once he finished his own meal. She looked up in surprise, and he sighed. "Figures as much. I don't know if I can find some of the ingredients again, though. Those cheeses are harder to find than I thought they would be..."

"Lunch would be fine," she forced herself to say. Even though she had been looking forward to the week of excellent breakfasts that reminded her of who she was, she found that she couldn't ask it of him. Not after all she had put him through. She was glad that he had given her an out in the first place.

When he actually smiled, it caught her completely off guard and she looked away, pretending that she hadn't noticed. "Thanks. I did manage to find a large enough variety of vegetables, I think. And I pile of meat. And two different kinds of potatoes, though I'm not sure if both are really potatoes or not. I haven't had many myself..."

"I like sweet potatoes," she offered, knowing that that was what he was talking about.

"Good."

They both looked up when a very tired Misato walked into the room. She was dressed in very little, and was scratching at her exposed stomach, barely even aware that the two were sitting there. She dragged her feet over to the fridge and opened it, taking out a can of beer.

After downing it and ending with her traditional morning scream, she looked to both of them, instantly awake again. "I think coffee is more traditional, isn't it?" Asuka muttered.

"Morning to you, too!" Misato said cheerfully. She then looked to Shinji slyly. "No Frühstück for me?" she asked, pretending to be hurt.

"I made a bit of it for you, too. Though I didn't think you would like it much, so yours is mostly rice and toast, still," he explained, motioning to the counter. When she brought her plate over, Asuka saw that she had a small stack of cheese and a few breads, but no meat, egg, or quark. It didn't do anything for her conscience at all.

"I think it only fair to warn you, Asuka, as I did Shinji yesterday when he returned, that neither of you will be able to go on the school trip," she said as she picked up her bowl of rice and her chopsticks.

"What?" Asuka demanded, standing from the table to stare down at her guardian in surprise. "Why not?"

"In case of emergency," Misato explained calmly. "Rei won't be able to go either."

"But that's not fair!"

"But it is necessary. What if an Angel attacks when you are in the middle of nowhere on some beach?" Misato pointed out.

"And what if no Angel attacks at all? We will have missed the trip for nothing!" She was fuming, and she knew it, but she wasn't about to stop. "I've already gone out shopping for all the new clothes that I would need, and I even picked up a bathing suit!"

"I'm sorry, Asuka." Misato set down her empty bowl and looked up finally to meet her furious gaze. "But consider this as punishment."

"For what?" she demanded angrily, though she didn't think she wanted to know the answer. The only thing she could think of was what she had done to Shinji, but then, why would he be punished for it, too?

"This," she explained, holding up two floppy discs. Asuka could only stare at her teacher's handwriting on the disc with her name on it. Shinji's was also there, right next to hers. "You're grades are horrible. Shinji's, too."

"So what?" Asuka asked with a shrug. "This school system makes no sense anyway. I mean, I've already got a degree, for crying out loud! Why do I have to go to school still?"

"You know, you are arguing in circles here," Misato pointed out. "If you don't have to be in school, you wouldn't be going on the trip anyway, would you? Tell you what. If you both can improve your grades in a month, I will take you out somewhere to relax for a while, ok?"

Asuka didn't reply to her question. She sat down in a huff with her arms crossed, not meeting anyone's gaze. Finally she looked up to Shinji. "Don't you have anything to say about this?"

He shrugged. "I didn't even know about the trip. I guess I've missed a bit too much school," he added after a moment. "Besides, why should I expect something good to happen anyway?"

"Spineless baka!" Asuka shouted at him, standing again. "Why don't we just find where the Angels are hiding, and go after them that way?" she demanded of Misato, turning her fury from Shinji back to their guardian again.

"Believe me. If we could, we would."

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With a silent splash, Rei Ayanami dove into the Olympic sized swimming pool. She swam almost half the length before coming up for air, and then continued on with a front stroke to reach the other end before turning around for another lap.

This action, of course, was missed by Shinji, who was sitting at the side of the pool, far enough away to make sure he couldn't even be splashed. He had his computer out on the desk, and had several books piled up behind it. There was a single question sitting on the screen. A question that he not only didn't understand, but had no clue where to even start looking for the answer.

He sighed as he picked up the first textbook. He really had missed a lot of school in the past few months. He glanced up in surprise when he heard a snort next to him.

"Obedient little boy, aren't we?" Asuka asked. He had meant to only glance up, but when he saw her wearing the small bikini that she had picked out with Hikari, he found that he couldn't look away from her. The zipper was hanging in front of his nose as she leaned over to look on the screen. "What are you working on, anyway?"

"Physics," he stammered, not looking away from the breasts that had been thrust in his face suddenly. He noticed a gold chain around her neck, and saw that whatever was on the end was tucked into the top of her bathing suit. He wanted to ask her about it, but figured it to be a bad idea. She would accuse him of staring at her bust, and, for once, she would have been right. He looked down quickly as he felt the blood rushing to his face, not to mention another part of his body, and saw her punching in a few keys on the keyboard.

"There. That's simple," she explained, standing up again. "Understand now?"

Shinji looked at the screen, surprised that she had managed to do it so quickly. Underneath the question was a series of numbers that he had managed to extract from the problem. Beneath his own work, however, the numbers had been mixed with some math signs, followed by a simple result underlined.

He looked back to her, being careful not to look away from her blue eyes, for he knew that if he did, he would have a red cheek very quickly, if not worse. "How did you do that so quickly?"

"It's simple," Asuka replied with a shrug. "What's not to get?"

"If you're so smart, why are you failing?" Shinji asked her.

"I don't understand all the kanji," she explained. "I never needed to learn it when I went through college."

"You've graduated already? I thought you were just joking with Misato earlier..."

"Didn't they tell you?" Asuka asked with a grin. "Of course I have. That's why I feel so stupid sitting in class again." She then looked back to the screen. "What's this problem about, anyway?"

"Thermal expansion," Shinji said with a sign. He had missed the entire chapter on it, though by what Asuka had typed on the screen, it looked like he could at least solve the problems now, even if he didn't understand what it was all about.

"Oh, that's easy," she said with a wicked grin. "Simply put, things get warmed and bigger, or colder and smaller. Like my breasts, for example," she said, putting her hands over them, causing Shinji's mouth to hang open suddenly. "Do you think they would get bigger if I warmed them up?"

Shinji forced himself to look away quickly when she looked up to him again. "How... How would I know that?" he asked, intently studying the pool deck and trying his best to ignore the discomfort his pants were suddenly causing him as another part of his body demonstrated Asuka's lesson.

"You really are boring, aren't you?" she asked with a sigh, and then walked away. The moment she had her back turned, he looked back to her.

He closed his eyes slowly, and then heard a splash from behind him. Turning, he saw Rei getting out of the pool and stretching, her one piece blue bathing suit hugging her form tightly. He looked away from that, too. "At least Nephilim was too young for that..." he muttered to himself. "I don't think I would have managed to bathe her if she were my own age..."

"Hey Shinji!" Asuka called him back to reality. He looked up, and saw he about to dive into the pool. "Back flip!" she cried. With a bound, she flipped over in the air and splashed into the water with a grace that he could only imagine.

He suddenly found himself wishing that he could swim.

Their swim was interrupted by Misato's entry to the pool. "I need to speak with you three," she explained before any of them could question her. "I'll meet you in debriefing room three in ten minutes."

"First you cut our vacation, and now you..." Asuka began, but the older woman was already out of the room. Still grumbling, the German girl pulled herself out of the water and walked to the changing rooms, dripping all the way. Shinji started to pack his things up, and stopped when he realized that Rei was right next to him, watching him.

When he looked up, he was startled to see her smiling. "It pleases me to see that you were unharmed by your long disappearance," she said slowly.

"I'm sorry I worried you," Shinji began, but she shook her head.

"It is alright. I hope you realize that you could have stayed with me, as well," she pointed out. "I would not have been obverse to the idea of you spending the night with me."

"But you only have one room and one bed," Shinji pointed out.

"I'm sure we would have been able to make ourselves comfortable," Rei explained. Before Shinji can come up with a reasonable reply, she hugs him, getting his clothes wet thanks to her own wet bathing suit. "I was worried. You were right."

"I'm sorry," Shinji managed when she let go of him after a few minutes.

"It is not your fault," Rei said again. "I would worry about you anyway, if I thought it necessary, or I thought it would help. You worried about me, before, too, remember?"

Shinji nodded. "I did. I don't like seeing people get hurt."

"Every piece of literature I have read tells me that it is only natural to be worried about those we care about. It is for this reason that I am not upset that I worried about you, Ikari," she explained. Before he could reply, she left to the women's changing rooms.

It took a few minutes before Shinji started thrusting his books and computer into his bag as fast as he could. If he was later than the two girls who had to change, what excuse could he possibly give?

Once he finally made it to the right room, he found Misato sitting at the head of the table, drumming her fingers, and Rei and Asuka sitting next to her. "About time you decided to join us, Shinji," Asuka said with a glare.

'Still not back to normal between those two...' Misato thought to herself. She sighed as Shinji took a seat. 'At least he was willing to come home again. It was hard just talking to him on the phone. I hope they can fix things soon, though. The tension is getting so thick I can see it...' It was then that she noticed the hand being waved in front of her face.

"About time you came back to us, Misato," Asuka said sitting back. "You aren't drinking on the job, are you?" she asked with a grin.

Her guardian and commanding officer glared at her for a moment before looking to the others again. "We have a mission in northern Japan," she explained. "It involves something extremely dangerous, more so than you have ever faced before."

"What could be more dangerous than fighting Angels?" Asuka asked, sitting forward. The Major had succeeded in getting her attention, anyway.

"We are following your suggestion, actually," Misato replied with a grin. "We have found a dormant Angel deep in a volcano. The mission is to capture the Angel alive, and bring it back here for study. The last thing we want, however, is to cause another Second Impact. Not only that, but as it is in the heart of the volcano, the mission is extremely dangerous to the pilot who has been selected."

"I'll do it!" Asuka volunteered at once.

'Great. They'll probably ask me. I know they will. They'll just bank on my Unit going berserk again if something goes wrong...' Shinji thought to himself, sighing.

"Glad to know, Asuka. You were the pilot selected," Misato said cheerfully.

'What?' Shinji thought, sitting forward in his chair. 'Why wouldn't they have picked me? Is it really that dangerous? Is my father unwilling to risk my life? Or is it Unit-01 that they care about?' When he noticed the others watching him, he spoke quickly. "I'd like to be there to back her up, if need be."

"I don't need your help, Shinji," Asuka said fiercely. "I can capture it on my own!"

"Shinji will be there anyway, Asuka," Misato interrupted the two. "In case the mission fails and we have to change from the A-17 protocol to the usual attack and destroy objective. As we have learned before, having an extra Eva on hand is useful."

"So long as he stays out of my way," Asuka muttered, though on the inside she was smiling. Shinji had offered to go with her. That must have meant that he didn't hate her, at least. Or, at the very least, didn't want to see anything bad happen to her. He could still hate her. She knew he didn't trust her yet, and she had to admit to herself that she couldn't blame him.

"I would like to accompany them as well, Major," Rei said quietly, causing Asuka to look at the girl sharply. "I do not like the idea of Ikari being sent and being forced to work with someone who hurt him so badly."

"Please don't mention that, Rei," Shinji whispered, looking away from the table.

Misato shrugged in reply to the question. "He offered, Rei. And we need one of you to stay behind to protect the city, just in case," she added. "Seeing as the D-Type equipment does not fit your Unit-00, you were elected to stay behind."

"So they decided that I would be going anyway?" Shinji asked quietly. When Misato nodded, he looked to her slowly, meeting her eyes. "Who decided that?"

"Your father decided all the deployments before he left for Antarctica," she explained. "He'll be there for nearly three weeks with the Sub-Commander."

"So who is currently in charge of NERV?" Rei asked quietly.

"That would be me," Misato replied easily, though her voice betrayed her worry.

"I understand," Rei said. She then stood. "If you wish to punish me for my actions in the past week, I will accept them now."

Misato shook her head. "I will let you off this time, Rei. But only because I know that you did it only because you were worried about Shinji."

"What did Wondergirl do?" Asuka asked in surprise.

"Nothing that concerns you, Pilot Soryu," Rei replied almost at once, her voice colder than the others remembered it suddenly. "So I will thank you not to interfere."

No one replied to her strict comment for a moment, until Asuka stood angrily. "You can't order me around, Wondergirl!" she said loudly.

"Asuka," Misato said calmly, getting the girl to look to her. "She can not order you around. But you can not know the information that you wanted to, either."

"Fine!" she shouted, storming from the room. She stopped at the exit. "Just let me know when we are leaving."

"I will show you the equipment first," Misato said before she could leave. The four left the debriefing room, and made their way down the corridors of NERV, the pilots following the Major. After almost an hour of walking, Ritsuko appeared as though out of nowhere.

"You still don't know you're way around?" she asked Misato, a touch of anger showing in her voice. Misato shrugged.

"I'm working on it," she explained. Ritsuko shook her head, and motioned to the group to follow her. "Thanks, Rits," Misato offered.

"You owe me one, Misato," Ritsuko replied with a grin as she looked back. "Just remember that."

"I will," Misato promised.

They stopped before massive doors that looked the same as the ones that lead into the large Evangelion cages. The pilots all knew that they were not the same, however, as a big letter D was inscribed upon the door.

When Ritsuko swiped her card along the security scanner, the doors parted to reveal a large white figure. The kids all looked to each other, before Asuka ran forward. "What have you done to her?" she cried, looking back to Ritsuko after seeing her Unit-02 was inside the white bubble suit.

"It is the heat shielding," Ritsuko explained.

"There is no way I'm getting in her when she looks like that!" Asuka said angrily. "What did you do to the plug suit? Make it swell like a balloon?"

"Actually..." Ritsuko started before Asuka cut her off.

"I don't think so! Come up with something else if you expect me to do this!"

Shinji sighed and started to offer to take her place, but was surprised by Rei cutting him off. "I will go in Unit-02 while Asuka stays here to protect the city with Unit-00," she offered.

Asuka slapped the raised hand instantly. "I don't think so! Wondergirl, in my Unit-02? Not a chance!" she said angrily, turning back to Misato. "I'll do it! Even if I have to look like a blimp!"

"But..." Rei started, but Misato was already nodding.

"Good. Go to the changing rooms to get ready, and we will fly over at once," she explained. She then turned to Rei as Shinji and Asuka left the room. "Thanks for your offer, Rei, but I think they will do fine. Take care of yourself here, alright?"

"Yes."

Shinji and Asuka walked in complete silence down the long hallways and during the elevator ride up the dozen or so floors. When they reached the fork in the halls that lead to each changing room, Shinji held out a hand to stop Asuka.

"What is it, Shinji?" she asked harshly, though she didn't look necessarily angry.

"I wanted to ask you something," he said quietly. Something about his demeanour forced her to calm herself down suddenly. She hadn't really realized that she had been worked up in the first place. When she nodded, he took a deep breath. "Where did yo get that?" he asked.

"Get what?" she replied, not sure what he was talking about.

"The necklace you are wearing," he explained, pointing to the gold that was showing along her neck that wasn't covered by her red hair or her white blouse.

Asuka gulped and looked away from Shinji. He had finally asked about it, as Nephilim had said he would. Her hands trembling suddenly, she reached up and slowly undid the clasp, fumbling with it a few times before actually getting it unlocked.

Without a word, she reached up behind his neck and did the clasp up again, shaking more than she had been a few minutes earlier. As she let the cross fall to his chest when gravity took it, she looked into his brown eyes. "I wanted to give that to you for quite some time now," she explained quickly. Without another word, she turned and started walking as fast as she could without looking unnatural towards the girl's changing rooms.

Shinji stood unmoving for quite some time at the fork confused thoroughly by his roommates actions. He finally looked down at the cross slowly, and then lifted it into his hand to look more closely at it. "Where did she get Nephilim's necklace?" he asked aloud. With a deep breath, he clasped the golden object against his chest and closed his eyes for a moment.

When he started towards the boy's changing rooms, he found himself with a better outlook on life. Better than he could remember having in a long time. "I guess sometimes it is just the little things, isn't it?" he whispered to himself as he pulled on his plug suit and hit the valve to vacuum the air out. Attaching the connector clips to his head, he left to make his way to Unit-01 without another word.

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