Disclaimer: Evangelion is owned by some smart folks.

Author's Note: Yes, it's been edited. I threw in a few scenes just to smooth things out for the long run. I realized that it wasn't finished by the time I wrote chapter 3, so I had to go back two chapters and rewrite a few sequences, edit in a few more. Oh well. Here's the finished chapter 2.

CHAPTER ii: THE GIRL IN THE RAIN, WHEN HE THOUGHT HE STOOD STILL

"I love microwaves." The man smirked as he pulled out a steaming bowl of that sodium-filled ramen soup out of the mentioned kitchen appliance. "Shinji my man, you have no idea how much I love microwaves!"

Shinji stood in the doorway of the tiny kitchen space, observing the appointed caretaker for the evening; the pony tailed, the slick, the easy going Kaji Ryoji. Kaji was currently fishing around in the soup bowl with his chopsticks, pulling out long strands of the noodles and dumping them unceremoniously into his mouth.

"How long was Misato going to be out?" Shinji asked awkwardly, after a few meager, failed attempts at speech.

"Mmm?" Kaji made a noise that loosely translated into a vague question of some sort, looking up from his otherwise engrossing meal. He chewed the noodles currently in his mouth, before slurping up the ones that hadn't quite made it. "She's supposed to be back in a few days," he said finally, toying with the chopsticks in his hands as if they were drum sticks; flicking them back and forth across his knuckles. "As for where, well…" Shinji could tell he resisted a sardonic smirk. "I'm not supposed to know. You know how NERV works, kiddo."

Shinji nodded in understanding, before letting his gaze fall to the dirty linoleum floor of the kitchen. He remained motionless in the doorway, awkwardly waiting for something to happen.

Kaji broke the silence as he observed the boy. "Aren't you gonna eat something?" he asked between a bite of the ramen. "You haven't had dinner yet, have you?"

Shinji looked startled by the sudden speech. "I—" he cleared his throat. "I'm not really hungry." He said.

The man sitting at the table paused for a moment, then shrugged it off and continued eating. It wasn't his business to question the third child on his eating habits.

"Suit yourself."

The door to the apartment opened suddenly, a redheaded blur striding past the kitchen door, stopping momentarily to shoot an icy glare at Shinji. He reciprocated with a quick look away, and an uneasy gulp.

A door slammed shut in the apartment.

Kaji quirked his eyebrow once more, characteristic smirk lighting up his eyes. "Lovers' quarrel?"

"It's…. It isn't like that. She—I—we don't get along very well."

The smirk faded, but the eyebrow remained poised up near his hairline. "Well, you're going to have to try. Shinji, you two are pilots. If you two don't get along—"

"Yeah, I know." Shinji snapped his reply and cut Kaji off. He visibly winced when he realized it, but continued anyhow: "I'm sorry, but… I know. It's just—everybody keeps telling me the same thing. 'You need to do this thing or that thing'. It's all the same." His face became sullen and he shadowed his eyes with his bangs. "That's all I ever hear anymore. The only person that gives me praise anymore is Misato—a-and she only does it because my morale is her responsibility."

Kaji set his bowl down, and grappled the chopsticks in his hand. He sat back in the chair, observing the Third Child. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and his eyes grew hard. "That's what you're going to have to get used to, Shinji." His voice was soft, and lower than normal. "These people—anyone, for that matter—they're selfish. We all are. And don't try to say you don't understand because," Shinji finally returned the eye contact, "Because, I think you do. They're going to use you up, and when they're done, they're going to throw you out. That's how this place works. It's how the world works. I'd love to say that they care about you, need you—personally—but, the truth is… they really don't. The saddest part is that you're right—you're important because you're useful for NERV. You pilot Eva. At least you're important for something."

Shinji threw his gaze to the floor, and started to walk out. He suddenly found the bowing linoleum very interesting.

Kaji blinked and sighed. "I've given you praise before." His tone had softened.

With a deep sigh, he stopped at the doorway, head hung low. His face arched over his shoulder as he looked back at Kaji.

"…Have you?"

---

Sleep came in sparse increments that night. Before he knew it, and after an eternity of cat naps and waiting, the alarm echoed its tiny voice into the vastness of morning.

Shinji turned it off as he slid open his door, yawning ever so slightly as he walked in to prepare Misato's coffee. He stopped in mid-thought as he contemplated the last string, gazing idly at Misato's door. A soft groan emerged from the other side, followed by a low mumble.

"Shinj… nosh ugar 'day. Jus' black. Mm, lemme know wheni's ready." The groan came again.

Shinji looked around. There was no sign of Kaji. There was no sign of Kaji's trash or Kaji's dirty bowl from the previous night. There was no sign Kaji had even been there at all.

"Misato?" He lightly tapped on her door.

"Mmgg. Coffee first."

"Do you know what happened to Kaji?"

"Ffgh. No. Gimme som'dat coffee."

He frowned and sighed. "…Alright. Coffee it is."

As he stepped back into the kitchen, he realized that Asuka's room was empty.

And he frowned again.

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The melancholy sound of a viola echoed through the school auditorium. It was empty. Rows upon rows of wooden seats faced the stage, with its lone light shining down from the heavenly catwalks, the solitary figure of the schoolgirl poised on her metal folding throne, the instrument of divinity cradled confidently in her arms, singing, sighing, hymning a dance of sadness.

The music lay unceremoniously on the wooden floor. Aged pages filled with water damage and other stains were protected only by the torn and frayed cover.

BACH

As she drew the solo to a close, her eyes closed on instinct. The roar of silence that followed allowed her to pull her thoughts back together. But instead, she focused on the raindrops; how the water pelted against the roof of the auditorium, how it pooled in places and hallows right above her very head, how it sank through cracks and crevices in the faulty architecture, seeped through concrete, dripped down into the empty cavern, splashed onto the floorboards all around her. She shaped her phrases around the water, imitated its movement and flow with her music, became one with the essence of the water's ambivalence. The water had no positive or negative, no poles, no need; it simply flowed anywhere the terrain would shape it—and she treated the music as such.

The auditorium door swung shut with a loud, remarkable, ordinary, deliberate, punctual clatter.

---

"R—Ayanami!" She turned as she heard her name. Ikari slowed from his jog down the hallway to meet her. "Sorry I missed the quartet today—I had to make up that test I missed a few days ago when I was out. Did Asuka complain like she normally does? How was Kaoru? Does he have those sixty-fourth note runs down yet? That's a tough song."

Rei shook her head, her aimless gaze staring past him. "The others did not attend today. I practiced my solos."

Ikari looked taken aback. "Oh." He frowned. "I'm sorry. I thought—"

"It isn't something you need to apologize for." She looked toward the utilitarian doors.

"I know this must look pretty bad and all—I missed yesterday's too. The fish market took longer than I thought. And the one before that was canceled." She heard him sigh. "At least I've been able to do some practice on my own—not as much as I'd like to, since Mom's been needing my help around the house lately—not that I'm complaining, I love my mother, but it's just that… you know." He chuckled nervously as he tousled the hair on the back of his head.

They stood in silence for awhile. Rain beat against the doors. The storm outside wasn't even into full swing, yet.

"Do you know the time?"

"Eh—no, sorry. My watch battery's dead." As he shrugged, Rei approached the door, staring through the vertically cut window to the grey, wet world outside. Water pooled into the holes in the mud and gushed out of the downspouts, flooding the sidewalks.

He followed, peering over her shoulder. "Pretty damp outside, huh?"

She didn't offer a response.

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Kaji lit up a cigarette. "Want a smoke?" He was leaning against the wall of the Science building. He didn't even have classes there.

She looked over at him curiously. "Sure, I guess." She had just come out of said building.

"What was your name, again?"

"Misato." She took the offered cigarette with her index and middle fingers, holding it for him to light with the Zippo. She looked at it for a couple seconds, before inhaling—and coughing. "Sh-shit!"

Kaji chuckled. "New at this?"

She chuckled nervously. "I guess it shows, huh?"

"Yep."

He took a drag, and she took another—this time with less choking.

"So that's it? Just 'Misato'? No last name?"

"Do you need it?"

"I suppose not."

She leaned up against the wall next to him. He watched the clouds go by.

"It looks like a storm's coming." She said.

He grinned. "We'll be gone by the time it gets here."

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"You spend too long staring into those cups, Ryoji."

"Ah, Sub Commander. I didn't see you there."

Fuyutsuki inserted some coins into the vending machine. A peanut-butter and chocolate candy bar clanked into the dispensing tray, and was quickly dispatched.

"Finger O' Peanut?" Kaji read the wrapper between Fuyutsuki's fingers. "I didn't know you were a fan of junk food."

"I'd like to pretend it's nourishment, for the time being." He crunched into the bar and sat down on the bench beside Kaji. "Besides, I need a break."

"And what devious plots are you up to now, that you need a break from the chamber in the heavens?" Kaji smirked and gulped down some coffee—cold. Ugh.

The Sub Commander smirked. "Now, now. If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

"I suppose not." The ponytail stood. He threw his cup into the waste bucket and did a mock salute to the Sub Commander. "If you'll excuse me, O lord."

Fuyutsuki returned the mock salute with a bemused smirk. "Excused." He watched him exit the room, the door swishing shut with a silent gust of wind. The smirk faded, and his eyes wandered up to the blaring red EXIT sign.

His phone vibrated in his pocket.

"We have located the Third Child." It was Section 2. Of course.

"Status of the Second?"

"Status remains unchanged."

"Have you determined the whereabouts of the First?"

"Negative, sir. It remains our top priority."

"Inform me should anything change. And keep the Third Child in the brig until I arrive."

"Understood."

He clapped the device shut with a single, brisk motion. Today was giving him a headache.

---

If Fuyutsuki had had the chance to voice his opinion at the time of construction, he would probably have argued against the building of such an obnoxiously deep room which occupied the highest level of the NERV pyramid. An office was one thing, but this was a little ridiculous.

"They have located the Third Child." His voice was the usual soft monotone. Ikari didn't need to know that he disagreed with his furnishing habits.

"Do they have him in custody?" He moved his bishop into position next to his golden general.

"Yes. I'll speak with him at noon." He dropped a pawn. "With the Major taking a week of her vacation time and Ryoji working on that special assignment, it only seems appropriate that I go, after all." He checked his watch. 11:58.

"You could send one of the techs." Ikari slid his remaining silver general into formation.

"I should send you, being his father. But seeing as how I'm not in a position of authority to do that…" The Sub Commander pushed his rook into the appropriate rectangle and stood to leave. "Your 'Yagura Castle' had some holes, especially after I captured your other silver general. Good try, though."

The door shut with an electronic hiss, leaving the Commander of NERV to frown over their lunch game of shogi.

---

"You've been missing for quite awhile, pilot." The shadow in the doorway stretched across the floor like an iron beam. It was silhouetted in the frame of the door, seeing as how there was no light inside.

Shinji didn't take his gaze from the ground. "…have I?"

"Do you know how long it took Section 2 to finally track you down?"

"…No, I don't. I'm sorry."

Someone sighed.

"Do you know where Rei is?"

"Is she missing, too? That's sad."

"So you don't know."

"I really didn't know I was missing. I always knew where I was… I think."

Silence.

"Am I in the brig, right now?"

"Yes. You're detained until I, the Major, or the Commander say otherwise. Seeing as how the Major is in Osaka for the time being, and the relationship with your father has been previously established as… strained, at best, that leaves myself."

"Yourself?"

"Convince me that you want to leave. And then convince me why I should let you."

"…Misato's in Osaka?"

"Eh—Yes. Didn't… Didn't she tell you where she was going?"

"I didn't know she was gone."

"Ik—" A cringe, then a sigh. "Shinji…"

It almost sounded like a chuckle. "I don't even know what's going on anymore. It's fitting that there isn't a light in here, since I'm always in the dark anyway." He bowed his head and ran his fingers through his hair. "How's Asuka doing?"

"The same as when you left."

"When did I leave?"

"After… After you killed the Seventeenth." If there had been light, one could have spotted Fuyutsuki's eyebrows scrunch into thought. "You don't remember, do you?"

"I don't remember when that was. I don't remember where it happened, either. It's happened before, feeling like this—just, never for so long. At least, I think it's been a long time. How long was I missing? A day? A week? I can't even tell."

"Three months."

"This feels like the first time I've been outside the apartment in three months."

The shadow in the doorway sighed and rubbed its forehead.

The door hissed shut, meeting the frame with a loud, metallic clang.

Darkness consumed the empty cell.

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"Lovers' quarrel?" The words echoed off of the graffiti-ridden wall.

"Who's there?!" Asuka turned quickly, azure darting around and between the great friendly letters tattooed across the uneven brick. Her fists clenched dangerously.

Nothing.

She turned trackside, folding her arms. A stray hair fell in front of her face, and she blew it off with a sneer. Then she bit her lip.

"'Lovers', hah." She glanced around as she refolded her arms and tried to chuckle. "Yeah," she whispered. "Right."

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Rei sat down at an empty desk in the classroom. Rainwater poured down the windows in torrents and sheets. There was no thunder, no lighting; just the oppressive grey cloud cover outside.

With the streets flooded, she couldn't leave the school. Ikari insisted that she stay put while he tried to find a phone.

The viola melody played once more, and echoed down the corridor.