Kaworu found the lights overwhelming, but he kept his face relaxed and his mouth set in a small smile. Every question and concerned greeting were met with a "I'm fine, how are you?" or a "I don't believe so, but thank you." Twice now he'd been slapped by angry men, and though he couldn't understand why, he went on smiling and in little time they ended up looking quite sad and left. Only the people in white told him goodbye when they left. The two who slapped him had not.

"How are you, Mr. Nagisa?" the lady in white asked as she entered. She had a face unlike the others, with red lipstick and bright blue eyes. He smiled wider.

"I'm fine, how are you?"

"Good," she answered, as she put the strap around his right arm and pumped until he felt it would burst. It was very unpleasant but he kept smiling because he knew it would stop soon just like the times before. She looked at the little orb of lines carefully before finally releasing the thing's grip on him. He sighed gently.

"Everything still looks normal," she cooed. Her Japanese was not as good as the others but it made her easier to understand for him. He quite liked her. He smiled wider again.

"Are you normal?"

She looked at him strangely, almost like one of the questioners, and his face stilled itself nervously. He wondered if he had said something wrong. But in an instant she laughed, waving her hand.

"Oh… as normal as I can be!" She laughed again before putting away the strap and walking towards the door. "I hear that you might have another visitor coming soon, so be ready, okay? Call me if you need anything."

"Thank you," he said with a nod. She smiled and was out the door.

He was alone again, and though he was used to it he was beginning to not like it. He enjoyed it when somebody was speaking to him, even if they were slapping him and yelling about Seele. Seele. Seele. He blinked rapidly as voices entered his mind, voices sounding ragged and distinguished. Booming, echoing, and they were very important and telling him very important things. He shook his head and they were gone.

For the first time he could remember, his lips curved downward. It felt bad but he did it without thinking. "A frown." He supposed that was what it was called. He would stick with it.

The door opened just as he managed to get the "frown" off of his face, and in walked a woman who had been here before. With one of those men. Her hair was purple and he quite liked it, but her face was angry and he did not like it.

"Mr. Nagisa," she said, not bothering with a greeting. She walked briskly to the foot of his bed. "I'm Commander Katsuragi with the UN. Do you remember me?"

"Yes, I do," he answered.

"The last time we talked it seemed that you didn't quite understand where you were," she said. The words were inoffensive but her voice kept a cross and unflinching tone. Kaworu listened curiously. "Have you become better adjusted now?"

He leaned back against his pillow, thinking about the question. He supposed he would have to say, "I don't think so, but thank you," and he did.

She sighed audibly and shook her head. She pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. "You know, Mr. Nagisa, this would go much easier if you cooperated with us. I hear you keep giving people the same answers."

He smiled and shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't understand. I'm doing my best."

She snapped to attention and narrowed her eyes. "Well, that was different."

He sat up straighter in bed, looking at her squarely. "This isn't how I was supposed to wake up. It's all very confusing."

"How were you supposed to wake up? Did you expect to meet Seele?" He sighed, folded his hands, and looked down at them, keeping the same serene smile all the while.

"I'm not sure about Seele. But I think I am the second."

"Misato, I'm kind of suspicious…"

She laughed it off. "Oh, please. Where do you think I'm taking you? To get a shot? Relax…"

Shinji's eyes wandered away. "It's just… not the first time you've taken me somewhere I didn't want to go."

Misato's face faltered as she looked back at him. He stopped in his tracks behind her. "And I hate hospitals."

"Look, I can't explain because it's top-secret info." Her voice was lowered and she was speaking directly into his ear, hand on his shoulder. "But it's not one of those meetings. Trust me. Totally different."

"Alright." They were off again, Misato leading confidently and Shinji trailing uncertainly. He kept his head down as he walked, though not out of any deference, but because the electronic lights spaced across the hallway ceiling burned an unnatural white. Just the glare of them made him uncomfortable.

The hallway took a sharp curve, and then Misato stopped immediately at the door on their left. Shinji peered at the room number next to the door: 333.

She placed her hand on the door handle, but stopped right before turning it. She looked back at Shinji nervously, and he grew suspicious all over again.

"I…" She bit her lip. "This might be a bit of a shock for you. But I didn't know what to say before you… saw it." She shook her head. "Just please… stay calm. And don't do anything sudden. I'll explain everything in a minute."

She gingerly pushed the door open, and Shinji took a step past her into the room. His eyes fell on the occupant, and a blood-curdling scream rang through the floor.

His breaths were still coming out unevenly, and they took a strong jolt every time the waves reached his shoes. He wasn't allowed on the beach he wanted to go, so he stood at the edge of the closest one he knew, staring out at the ocean. It meant nothing to most people, just another stretch of red water, but he knew the spot, he was extremely confident in it. He could still see the split in the face, the eyeball bobbing aimlessly out toward them on the shore. He wetted his lips with his tongue but they insisted on staying dry.

"Hey." The voice was flat yet cutting. Only one voice had that quality. He turned his head and sure enough, Asuka strutted towards him.

"Misato said you went crazy." She assumed the position beside him. He crossed his arms to keep his hands from shaking while she placed hers on her hips. "So she sent me to take her babysitting shift."

He didn't answer, but he felt more comfortable with her here. His breathing was slowing down. His eyes began to focus more on the waves than the specter of Rei's head.

"If that made you so upset, I don't get why the hell you'd come here," she scoffed.

His face scrunched up. "It felt like… a dream…" The salt breeze swept over them in a sudden gust. "This place feels realer to me than anything else…"

Asuka had no response. He wasn't sure if that meant she felt the same or that the idea made her uncomfortable. Maybe she just had no opinion at all. Either way they stood and stared together for a solid minute, totally silent. A single gull flew overhead and squawked.

"So… was Wonder Boy just as pretty as before?" Asuka chuckled at her apparent attempt to lighten the mood, but Shinji did not think it was funny at all and he turned on a dime to glare at her. Her face went dark.

"What?" She spat the word out, literally. He felt the saliva impact his shirt.

He was silent. Her face was going red. "If Wonder Girl had come back instead, I bet you wouldn't have thought it was so freaky. I bet your perv ass would gotten hard right there on the spot."

"Shut up."

"I bet you would taken it out right there and started—!" He recoiled, an arm raised over his face, and his breath came out in a hideous rattle. She stopped herself and her face drained of all its anger.

He walked a little distance away from the shore, rubbing his face and trying once again to calm his breathing. It was worse than before. Tears were stinging his eyes and he furiously pushed them away.

"Hey." The voice was still flat, but much softer than before. She was behind his back. "That was—that was too far. I'm sorry."

"It's OK." His voice was halfway to a sob. "I shouldn't have… it's just…" He pressed his fingers into his eyes, neck craned down. "It's been three years…"

She didn't touch him or even speak further, but she stood and watched while he cried. That was enough, and when it was done he straightened his back out. "…Thank you, Asuka."

"I'll be at home." She walked away down the beach, hair flapping in the wind. He watched her as she left and finally, his breaths returned to an even pace. He timed them with the motion of her hair. He slowly took out his phone and dialed Misato.

Kaworu smiled as the boy walked in, but it was his weakest smile yet. Quite frankly he had been very confused by his scream two days before. He wondered if he was very angry with him, angrier than the slappers, but today his face seemed pleasant, albeit wet with sweat.

"Hi," he mumbled, "Mr. Nagisa." He took a seat by the foot of the bed, smoothing out his lap once he did. "I'm, um… I'm Shinji Ikari. Do you… know who I am?"

He leaned back and laughed lightly. "Of course I do. Everyone knows you. You seem quite unaware of your own importance."

Shinji's face froze, and Kaworu was thrown off by the expression in his eyes. It was wide, intense, and something like sadness: "fear." He was afraid. Of what, he didn't know, but it was gone when the boy turned his head down and rubbed his eyes.

"I… I'm sorry about that." He exhaled heavily. "You remind me of somebody I once knew." He looked back up at Kaworu, his face more stolid aside from a little water in his eyes.

Kaworu shook his head. "The Lilin are just so fascinating. It seems that nothing is going how I thought it would."

Shinji paused and looked back at the purple-haired woman, who stood with her arms folded in the corner. She nodded her head at him, but Kaworu had simply no idea why because he had not asked her any sort of question. The mysteries kept piling up.

"And how did you, ah, think it would go?" Shinji asked.

"Well, I thought I would have reached NERV by now, for one." He tilted his head. "Or is this NERV? I've not been allowed to go anywhere on my own."

Shinji shook his head slowly. "NERV doesn't exist anymore, Mr… N-Nagisa. It… it seems that your last memories are of… of a few years ago." The boy's voice was faltering, and Kaworu thought that his words had an unusual sound to them. It was like a jittering sound transmission.

"Are you OK?"

Shinji stood up from his seat, and his whole body was shaking. Kaworu felt worried about what was happening to him. The purple-haired woman walked forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Shinji," she whispered.

"I thought I could do this, I thought I could, but I just… I just have to try later…" He refused to look Kaworu in the eyes. He slipped out of the woman's grasp and stepped past the chair, slinking towards the door.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Nagisa." The Katsuragi woman turned to him, smiling insincerely. "We'll have to come back another time. I'm really sorry for the trouble."

"Wait. Mr. Ikari." Shinji had his hand on the door, but he stopped when Kaworu spoke his name. He turned his head, but not enough to look at him.

"Please come back soon," Kaworu requested. "You're my favorite person I've met so far."

Shinji looked him in the eyes and grimaced. But suddenly, out of nowhere, it transformed into a smile. Kaworu smiled back.