Chapter Two

AN: £2,583 is the average monthly wage for an active sergeant in the UK, this translates to ¥495,959.

AN2: Fixed some German with the help of Matze.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

Was the first thing Shinji noticed as he woke up, fully expecting to see the gunmetal grey ceiling of his secure room in the second Nerv HQ. In his groggy state his mind turned over where he was for awhile before he remembered what had happened.

"That actually happened?" He whispered to himself, finally having some time to recollect his thoughts now he wasn't being rushed about everywhere. The first memory that came back was the command crew of Nerv congratulating him over the link as he descended towards his cradle, the memory bringing a smile to his face. It was so different from last time, as he had crippled his Eva and caused massive property damage then.

The next thing that came to mind was him docking his Eva in the cradle, and being greeted by Misato who was quick to give him a hug before practically shoving him into the closest shower to try and wash the LCL off before the smell became permanent on his clothes. It was too late for him, he had spent weeks at a time immersed in LCL, he would always carry the scent of it with him.

After that he had found the nearest bed and crashed. He had been awake for more than two days, there was the fighting he had done before the Third Impact, The Third Impact itself and then having to coerce his Eva into syncing with him properly so he could fight another Angel, He felt that he deserved a rest.

Now that he had time to sit and think, the first thing he did was to check if Misato's necklace was still there, and it was. Seeing that everything was in order, he thought over what he could do, he could kill the Commander, but then SEELE would have Adam regardless. He doubted he could destroy Adam or Lilith, so the only thing that came to mind was to follow Gendo's plan until the time came and to split off and hide Adam from the world. Space perhaps?

Letting those thought go, they wouldn't do him any good right now, he'd have to wait until he could re-group with Rei and Asuka. Misato should be nearby He thought, and she was. Sleeping in a room adjacent to his, somehow despite her having done nothing but sleep there it was a mess with clothes thrown everywhere and what looked suspiciously like Penguin footprints heading into the shower.

Not wanting to wake her, he wrote out a note on the back of the card he still had on him and left it on her forehead, snorting as she didn't even twitch. Having left his message he made his way to the only place left for him to visit, the hospital ward.

He managed to make his way there while only spotting one Section two agent, and she was sleeping. Have they just given up? He thought before a more amusing answer came to mind, Looks like Misato has plenty of new drinking partners.

He didn't begrudge them this short time of rest, in harder times he would get his hands on any sort of alcohol he could and share it with his fellow pilots. Sometimes to take the edge off and sometimes to get blisteringly drunk, a way to help them forget when they lost another friend, even if for a little while.

He knew what he was doing might be a bad idea, he shouldn't know how to get to the medical district of the Geofront but he needed so see Rei. Even if he remembered that she should be fine he couldn't help but worry, although he really shouldn't, he had seen her piloting in worse condition that she was right now.

Seeing the sign for the entrance of the hospital he sped up his steps and quickly made his way to where he knew she should be, remembering that she had been moved when he woke up last time. When he found her door he gave it a quick tap, waited a second and then tapped three times, with another tap at the end before he tapped his palm to the door. It might have seemed like a strange thing to do and it was but they knew that only another of them could produce the knock in the exact same way every time.

Having alerted Rei to his presence he pulled the door open and quietly closed it behind him, he wanted no interruptions, just to be in her presence for awhile longer. He made his way to her bed and sat on the stool provided where he leaned over and grasped her hand, feeling the controlled but slightly wild feeling that could only have been coming from Rei, he clasped it in both hands and lowered his head.

Letting his tears flow for the first time since he got here as he inhaled the smell that was Rei, not those clones, his Rei and he wept. Rei simply gripped his hand in hers, nothing needing to be said between them, they both understood the need for comfort. After awhile of just sitting there with her, he reversed their grip so he was holding her hands, not needing to look to know that there were silent tears flowing down her face just as there were on his.

She was suffering just as he was, but held it together for him so he could let it out, just as he now held it together for her to let her emotions out. After awhile of silence, basking in each others presence Rei looked up with a strange smile on her face "I was aware you know."

Shinji looked at her shaking, as his mind came to a conclusion that he didn't want to make.

"I saw as the world died, as every person's deepest fears or desires were turned against them, reverting them back to the LCL that birthed them." Rei looked up, the strange smile on her face breaking for one that showed so much pride.

"I saw your choice. If you had spoken a second sooner, everything would have ended."

Shinji shuddered as he recalled how close he was to giving in, his mind latching onto the fact Rei was there with him as an anchor for his sanity. "Without the two of you, it wasn't worth living."

"But here we are, Alive. Thanks to you." A soft smile.

Shinji could feel his mind, frayed after the events of yesterday, slip away from the void of insanity, once again anchored with his Rei. Just as she could feel the same, her lonely existence defined by two glowing figures, Shinji and Asuka. They were her everything. Just as she and Asuka were his everything. And she and Shinji was Asuka's everything.

Shinji leaned close, avoiding the various injuries Rei had as he sought out a scar he was very familiar with, one just beneath her eye, caused by a glancing blow from the Tenth Angel with it's paper thin constructs that passed through Eva's like a hot knife through butter.

"What will they say about your scars?" Shinji asked, his were easy to explain away, Gendo had never watched him.

"Injuries from the failed activation of Unit 00."

"If you think that will work." Shinji was slightly uneasy, but he knew somehow Rei would get her way.

Running his finger over the thin scar, he pressed a kiss to it and drew back. "I need to go now, Gendo will be especially unhappy with me if he finds me here." Making his way to the door, when he reached to open it he turned his head and whispered back into the room "I love you." And with that he closed the door and started on his way back to his room, hopefully before he was picked up by Section two for vanishing on them.

Finding his way back to his quarters, he made his way back to his room, only to open it to a see a sight that still froze the blood in his veins to this day.

Misato is angry was the only thought he managed to get out before he was grabbed by the lapels of his shirt and pulled into his room, a sight that would start a rumor from a wandering tech that would haunt him for months.

"And where did you think you were going?" Gott, Misato was still just as scary as she was.

"If I said for a walk would you let me go?" Shinji said as he tugged at her arms, not willing to hurt her by forcing her arms off. At this Misato looked down and realized that she was still pressing his face into her chest, her glorious, just T-shirt covered chest.

Letting him go with in an abrupt moment as she felt heat rise to her face. She had been forcing his face into her... hem, lady parts "Ah, sorry about that I wasn't paying attention." She said as she scratched her head, not the best start.

"Its fine, you wanted me for something?" She hadn't asked for him yet, but she would, it was just easier to get it done without having to go through official channels.

The strange look she directed at him told him that she hadn't done so, but she shrugged it off easily enough with a grin that still somehow smelt like alcohol "Are you drunk?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. He wouldn't really be surprised if she was, but he was somewhat impressed that she had already managed to get drunk enough to function, that amount being enough to kill most grown men.

The slightly whiny no he received reminded him of the time when he had tried to make her go sober, not that he would try again if his taste buds had anything to say about it, considering that she punished him for forcing her sober by cooking everything she could get her hands on and guilt tripping him and Asuka into eating it.

Misinterpreting his horrified shiver for coldness, Misato ruffled his hair before tossing him a spare jacket that she had lying around for some reason and starting to pull her hair into a semi-presentable state. "Right kid, first things first. Commander wants to talk to you and Rits will be there too right?"

Before he could try and question he was cut off again "She wants to talk to you about some science techno-babble to do with the Eva, something about your sync ratio?" She questioned with a raised brow, not really knowing for sure but guessing from all the awed muttering that 98% was mighty impressive.

"Right." His answer seemed a little short to Misato but she guessed he was psyching himself for the meeting with his Father. While true it was for a different reason, he wasn't scared of the man, he was scared of what he would do to him. It would be so easy to take Misato's gun and kill him before they could react, admittedly doing so was a terrible idea seeing as it was purely Gendo that was hold back the force that was SEELE but alas, the heart doesn't care for logic when hurting.

As they made their way towards Gendo's office Shinji was running through different methods of keeping calm he knew, many of them he had learned to teach to Asuka but some of them he still used himself, even if he rarely lost his temper now that he had been hardened by years of combat.

His mind taking him on autopilot, knowing the vast expanse of the Geofront inside out, he was thinking through on what to say to the Commander. All Nerv personnel were provided with a card that acted as a debit card, credit card, ID card, key card and a GPS built into each one. Though the pilots weren't told that they were, with the exception or Rei, they were paid a monthly stipend of ¥500,000 for services rendered.

After running it through his head for awhile Shinji really couldn't find much leverage to try and put the screws on the Commander, he was in too good of a position and only the threat of him never piloting again would ever get Gendo to consider his point, that fact made redundant by Shinji knowing that Gendo would sacrifice Rei in an impossible battle if he didn't pilot. Just to make a point.

Guess I'm going to have to improvise It was what he was best at after all. Feeling a slight rumble he realized that the elevator had stopped at its designated destination, the doors opening to the sight of a seemingly empty room containing only a receptionist and nothing else. This was all a cover though, Shinji knew, having seen it in action that the room was laden with traps. Explosives at the elevator door, multiple retractable heavy machine guns that extended from the ceiling, walls and the floor, deadly neurotoxin, prototype energy weapons that were procured during the construction of the Eva, a ten second wait before a squad of armed guards could arrive outfitted with the best they could get their hands on, and finally the deceptively friendly looking receptionist who was a section two agent that was armed again with various tech.

Assaulting this room on foot was suicide, and even after they had left the old Nerv HQ the room remained unbreached to the bitter end, where it promptly self destructed, killing or wounding nearly a hundred SEELE personnel.

Putting his suddenly weak position if the Commander decided to get rid of him out of his mind, he strode forward as the elevator opened, the secretary only appearing to glance up before going back to her work, her mind still hyper-aware of everyone in the room. "Commander Ikari is waiting for you. Go on through." Taking that at face value, Shinji made his was to the large double doors that separated him from the overlord of Nerv.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out he pushed open the doors, ignoring Misato's slightly worried look being directed at him as he strode across the pitch-black room, something that seemed to take forever but only took at most twenty seconds before he stopped several meters away from the Commanders desk, where he sat with the Sub-Commander standing to his side and Ritsuko slightly in front of him.

Being shy won't help me here "You called for me?" Shinji said, keeping his eyes on the Commander as he did so, ignoring Kozo who seemed happy enough to loom where he was.

Gendo eyed him for a moment, as if trying to see into the depths of his soul. Try all you want, you'll get nothing from me, I'll do anything to ensure their safety He thought, not noticing or remembering the fact that that was the exact same thing Gendo used to reassure himself, only for Yui.

As Gendo stared into the Third Child's eyes, he expected to see many things, fear of him, anger over what he did or depression as perhaps he had given up. But he didn't expect to be staring into what seemed like a wall of steel, tempered by the flames of hell and tested in combat with gods. As he tried to decipher what this meant for his scenario, Kozo looked between the two, a familiar feeling starting to form.

Their eyes are exactly the same. As he tried to wrangle the thought around his head, trying to figure out what had caused this, he took notice of Misato standing off to the side of Shinji, looking awkward at the staring contest between her scary boss and a kid who had just killed what was essentially a deity continued.

Doing the only thing he could do he pointedly cleared his throat, making both of their stares move onto him, before they passed over his suddenly still visage.

"You've changed." Gendo said as he looked into the hard eyes of his son, a slight sense of respect welling up in him. He didn't hate his child even when he was a spineless wimp, far from it in fact, it was just that his love for Yui far eclipsed his love for his son. So much so that it was barely even a blip on his radar.

As Shinji started into his Fathers eyes, he felt the same grudging respect, they might have hated each other with a fiery passion, but they could practically feel the tangible will coming from one another. Unknowing of the AT fields that all beings possessed poking and prodding at one another, pushed from their dormant state by sheer force of will. It would never function in any form of combat, or even be visible, but even normal people could feel it pressing down on them as they exerted their will on reality around them.

Shinji could see the well hidden fire in his Fathers eyes, the strength to stand against fate and defy gods, the same strength that had led him to many of his own victories. "You've changed." He said, mirroring his Fathers words. It didn't matter what he thought of his Father, they would stop the Third Impact.

They both blinked at the same time, some sort of understanding settling between them, as the frigid cold that seemed to permeate the office let off slightly.

Ritsuko took this moment of silence to move in, data-pad in hand, different information flying across the screen. "Shinji, today you broke the Synch ratio record by such a large margin that we need to move the entire scale around." Ritsuko looked up from her pad for a brief moment before going back to what she was doing "We noticed some strange brainwaves before your Synch rate started climbing, do you know anything about that?"

Shinji pondered what to say for awhile, before a devious idea came to mind "I'm not quite sure, when I heard my Synch rate I knew that I could do better and I just kinda... Pushed, against the Eva, I needed control to fight so I thought that I would force it to acknowledge me."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow from where she was, ideas forming and being discarded as soon as they appeared in her mind. "You would describe Eva Unit One as alive?"

Shinji made himself appear to hesitate for a second before nodding "Yeah, I don't know what it it. But it just feels alive."

Ritsuko looked like she'd just had a brainwave and was hurriedly tapping away at her datapad as she slowly made her way out of the room, the seed of an idea firmly planted in her mind.

Shinji was pondering this before he was interrupted by the voice of his Father "Third. You are to live in the Nerv apartments located to the east of the school you will be attending. You will be escorted to your room when you arrive, all pertinent information will be supplied on site, Go."

"Hai." No more needed to be said, an understanding had been reached, information exchanged.

As they made their way across the darkness of the room, Shinji felt Misato's gaze burning his back, he supposed he'd have to try and explain the best he could. "Outside." He whispered to her, getting a nod in return. He didn't want to have that conversation in ears reach of his Father, he trusted him as far as he could throw Unit One, despite their understanding.

Making their way outside, he only had to shush her once before she got the picture, staring to the camera with a dopey grin on her face as she tried fruitlessly to annoy the person on the other side. Making their way into the halls Shinji tapped her on the shoulder and nodded his down the hall, a subtle way of telling her to stop being stupid.

After making their way down several halls, resulting in Misato getting lost again, Shinji lead her to one of the more secluded spots. It was an outside balcony that let you overlook a good portion of the Geofront, even better was that there were no cameras as the birds kept breaking them as they roosted on them, bird repellant spikes be dammed.

"As I'm sure you know, the Commander is a harsh man. Any perceived failure is dealt with." Misato nodded at this, having seen people go to Gendo's office and never return, supposedly being transferred. Yeah, to the after life Misato thought to herself grimly.

"It turns out being a child is enough to count as a failure." Shinji said with a humorless grin, seeing Misato gasp as she got what he was implying. "He left, went to the door said how I was useless to him and was gone. In fact, I'm pretty sure if he could have he would have removed me."

Letting that sink in for awhile, Shinji turned to walk away before he was grabbed by the shoulder, and despite expecting it he almost gave in to the twitch in his arm to turn around and deck whoever had grabbed him. Taking a slight calming breath he turned around to see Misato looking at him with something in her eyes. "You don't mind where you live?"

"No." He hoped this was going where he thought it was, he had been subtly trying to get her to think of this. "You umm." Misato bit her lip in indecision "You wouldn't mind living with me? The Nerv apartments are not the best place for a teenager." Seeing Shinji's raised eyebrow she squirmed, not realizing it was a teasing one instead of a 'are you stupid' one.

After letting her stew in her nervousness for long enough, he let a teasing smile come to his lips and enjoyed her reaction to the fact that he had been teasing. "I wouldn't mind at all Katsuragi-san-"

"Please call me Misato when we are off work." Misato said with a smile, she didn't mind people calling her by her name and Shinji seemed nice enough.

"Hai, Misato. I wouldn't mind. You seem like a good person and are one of the few to have shown that you care about my well being."

"Its settled then, you're coming with me for tonight, I'll talk to the Sub-Commander tomorrow about moving your permanent housing to where I am."

After making their way through town Misato lead them to an apartment not far from the schooling area and not far from Nerv HQ if they needed to rush back in case of an Angel attack. Not that he expected them to be forgiving enough to give him time to get to and into his Eva.

Having made their way towards Misato's apartment in casual conversation, they had somehow gotten onto the subject of old flames and as Misato was sharing tales of her old conquests at the top of her voice, something that he was sure was due tot he affect of the five cans of beer that she had downed on the way back. When she turned to Shinji and asked something that almost made him swallow his tongue "So Shinji-kun, any jealous girlfriends that little old me needs to watch out for?"

After recovering from feeling like he was going to choke he tried to say something along the lines of no but all that came out was a coughing that made Misato's quiet giggling raise her mood higher she started laughing aloud. "Aah, no. Nothing that you need to worry about." They certainly won't be jealous He thought to himself, he was already starting to miss Asuka despite her only having been gone for a little over a day and a bit now. I hope Asuka is alright, she is probably really confused. I need to get in contact with her. Shinji started running through some mental calculations in his head It's toughly ten PM here so its around three PM there. This is irreverent, the only chance I have to contact her is to sue the school laptops and connect through the internet. And Misato sure as hell doesn't have an internet connection.

Shinji let out a sigh before accepting that he would need to wait another day to know if Asuka was ok or not. She was smart enough that if she did come back then the first thing should would have done is test to see if he and Rei had also come back in time. The fastest way to do that was to connect to a chat room that they both knew was always empty and only accepted German posts and responses in addition to their own pass phrases so ensure it was actually them. Asuka also knew that the only way for him to realistically connect unobserved was to go to school and do so there. Somewhere that took him a entire day to get to considering he went straight into school after he was discharged from Nerv after the preliminary testing.

"Right, we'll set ground rules in the morning but for now go to sleep and make sure not to get between me and my beer in the morning."

"Hai Misato, I'll be loud in the morning to wake you up." A subtle punishment for drinking that she seemed to understand considering her glowering, being loud on purpose to make her hangover excruciating, hopefully that would help her learn not to drink so much Wishful thinking on my part there... When did I become such an optimist? Putting the thought off for later, preferably when he had Rei or Asuka nearby, he made his way to bed, quickly hiding Misato's bloody necklace under it before he laid his head down and the second he smelt the familiar smell of Misato's washing powder, something he could smell on everything of hers he was out like a light.

Soon, Asuka.

The first thing Shinji was aware of was the fact that he was comfortable, that he could smell something familiar Probably one of the girls his sleepy mind supplied and that yesterday was a complete mess. When that thought crossed his mind he was suddenly wide awake, throwing off the covers as he sat up fully his mind taking a quick glance around are realizing, yes this was Misato's apartment and once again, no that wasn't a dream and not even the most vivid hallucinations the Twelfth Angel could conjure felt like this. They never felt so real that he had to verify that it had happened again for the second time in a row, something he felt he was going to be doing with some regularity.

Hearing nothing and assuming that Misato was either too hungover to care for life or was still asleep, he made his way to the shower where he passed PenPen who only stopped to hive him a salute before moving on again. As he entered the shower and started basking in the water a sudden thought crossed his mind We only taught PenPen how to do that after Misato... Was gone. Thinking about her death still hurt even if he could visibly see her happy and alive. I'll talk to Rei about it, she was a part of Lilith for awhile so she must know something about what happened.

Speeding up his shower he quickly jumped out and threw on a new school uniform that was lying around, the only clothes he had Misato was probably supposed to give it to me at the other residence or something. Having been dressed, he quickly made his way over to the oven and grimaced at what was available to cook I think I might live if I can cook it right. So he set to work trying to make something that didn't seem like it was trying to eat his soul.

As he was putting the finishing touches on the barely non-sentient meal, he was pretty sure he had caught it trying to escape when he wasn't looking, he heard Misato stumble out of her den muttering to herself as she did so. He greeted her with a smile that she returned without thinking before she almost spat out the beer she was drinking. In her still half asleep mind the only thing she could make out was that she wasn't alone, not unusual considering her drinking habits. But what was unusual, even in her sleepy mind was that her visitor was fourteen year old.

The thought made he stomach drop as she looked to her beer and back to the teenager that she had somehow gotten a hold of last night before she took a long swig. Shinji knowing her strange habits, shrugged it off as Misato being Misato in the morning, as he decided to let her wake up with the barely palatable food he had managed to conjure from the oven.

Misato accepted the food without thought, her mind slowly coming back to her as she came to her customary mildly drunken state, finally remembering the offer she had made when she had heard where Shinji was supposed to be living. Right, didn't sleep with him then. She thought with a relived sigh. With her first bite she froze, a rainbow of flavor exploding in her mouth as she ate what had to be the work of some sort of god.

"This... This is amazing!" Misato shouted, slamming her free hand to the table as she enjoyed the bliss that was Shinji's cooking.

"I didn't have much to work with, I'll need to get some proper food."

Misato felt her eyes widen "This can be better?"

Shinji let a smile onto his face "Much, I just need some proper ingredients."

With how quickly Misato moved Shinji thought for a brief moment she might have been an Angel in disguise as she latched onto him, beer in one had as she gave him a crushing hug. After letting her hug him for awhile, Shinji had to pry her off of him with the help of PenPen, who had emerged from his freezer to the sight of his stupid owner hugging the happy boy who used to be the mopey boy.

"Right Misato, I need to get to school now, do you mind driving me there for the first day so I can memorize the route?" He knew the route but she didn't know that.

Yawning and pushing into a stretch that made Shinji avert his eyes as some of her shorter clothes were pulled off places "We've got a meeting with Rits today, I'll drive to to school on your first day when you're discharged, its on the way to one of the Nerv entrances anyway and I did take responsibility for you didn't I?"

After doing a quick cleanup of the dishes Shinji and Misato made their way over to the nearest entrance to Nerv HQ, passing his new school as he did so. Quickly making their way through the Geofront, helped no end by directions that Ritsuko had left at the entrance. Once they made their way to where Ritsuko wanted them to meet, The medical center. Misato was shuffled off to do whatever she did during the day and Shinji was put through a battery of medical tests, 'to ensure his health' they told him. I'm sure it's not because they aren't curious about how I synced with the Unit One so easily. He though sarcastically as they took another vial of blood for testing.

After the testing was done, some minor embarrassment over having to be naked for some of it, he answered what seemed like every question Ritsuko could fathom What did it feel like to pilot? What was this presence in the Eva that you felt? Could you describe it? How did you Synch so easily?

After enduring what had to be several hours of questions she eventually stopped with a curious look on her face before she directed him to a scanning machine where they took the measurements for the Plug suits, once again naked. Less bothered this time though as he had done this several times before when he had outgrown his previous Plug suit.

After having his measurements taken and putting his clothes back on, he was directed to the changing rooms where he was told to wait for them to come back. After about an hour they supplied him with his new Plug suit, the familiar blue comforting to his eyes as they told hm to get changed. Quickly changing into his Plug suit with the ease of having done something thousands of times, he put his clothes away into his locker and made his way out of the other end of the locker room, where it exited into the Eva cradles.

Following the directions given over the PA system he made his way over to where his Eva had been outfitted for sim combat, reveling in the comfort of wearing something that was made precisely for his body and ignoring the naked feeling that came from also wearing something so thin and well fitting. When he entered Unit One he felt that comforting presence that made him smile, something that stayed with him for the rest of the weeks testing. They ran him through every form of test that they could safely do, ranged combat, melee combat, acrobatics, it didn't matter what he did he excelled with the ease born from repeated practice. Something that stunned them all, to them he really was born to pilot an Eva, it seemed like his life's purpose.

Seeing one of their pilot's give such a show and taking into account his somewhat easy win on the Fourth Angel yesterday, morale around the base was sky high, the feeling that they could do this was heavy in the air.

Seeing everyone around him so happy made Shinji smile, it was temporary, but you need to take happiness when you could or you would end up as a husk of your former self.

While everyone was in a good mood, Ritsuko was deep in her focus, looking through terabyte a after terabyte of data. Shinji had presented her with a challenge whether he knew it or not, Eva didn't normally act like this and she wanted to get to the bottom of this. She made another cup of coffee for herself as she predicted many sleepless nights to come.

After resting for the night Misato set off to Nerv and to drop Shinji off at school, it didn't take long, only a couple of minutes in the low-traffic area that was Tokyo-3. After giving Misato a quick goodbye and for her to tell him that someone from Section Two would pick him up, she went on her way as Shinji made his way to the schools main entrance.

Talking a moment to look around, seeing teenagers just being teenagers, Shinji felt a peace that he hadn't felt for a long time. That what he was doing was the right thing, no matter what others might say in his situation. Taking a moment to gaze across the school ground he finished memorizing what he could. Making his way towards the school, he passed through the crowds of energetic teenagers with a smile as they completely ignored him, his status as an Eva pilot still unknown to them The way it would stay if he had anything to say about it.

Making his way through the crowds, he spotted his room Class 2-A. Pushing his way through the thinning teenagers around him, he clamped down on his urge to fight when he felt someone grab his arm before it was let go, having been mistaken for someone else in the corridor.

After getting through the mess that was school corridors I'll get here earlier next time to avoid that, he made his way into his class his eyes taking in the familiar room as he scanned its occupants. Toji, Kensuke, Hikari and several other students that he knew were going to be leaving soon after the second battle of Tokyo-3. As his eyes were scanning the room, they came across someone who he didn't recognize. I've never seen her before. Another change in the past perhaps? Ignoring this addition, he made his way to an empty seat

As he sat down next to where Rei would sit when she got back She'll be healed soon he took stock of his classmates to see if anything significant had changed with them. Toji seemed happy and relived about something His sister must have made it out fine. Kensuke was nattering away to Toji about the rumors flying around his fight with the Fourth. Hikari was in full class rep mode so he couldn't tell if the glances she was shooting at Toji were to see if he was being good or if she was still crushing on him. Something Asuka had accidentally shared with him in the middle of a rant after she had to spend the entire day listening to Hikari swooning over Toji.

Then there was that new girl, she seemed really fidgety the second he had turned his attention to her and was trying desperately to avoid his gaze. Was she afraid of him? No, he'd never met her before, but she seemed to know who he was. Narrowing his eyes at her as she seemed to look at him with a knowing gaze even as she tried to squirm under her seat to be out of his sight. A Section Two agent? No, they would have announced their presence to me to avoid problems. Something the various Section Two staff that worked in the school did, in case he needed their protection or to have easy access to the Third Child by Nerv in case of an emergency

What was up with her? Deciding to put it out of his mind, he'd think about it later, he moved his attention to the laptop in front of him. His way of getting a hold of Asuka. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking, ignoring that strange girl again, he logged in using the account provided to him earlier that day. Once he was in he opened up the internet and found his way to a little known proxy that he used from time to time, it was a good way around basic security systems such as the schools.

Once he was routed through he proxy he made his way to the chat side, watching as it seemed to take forever to load, a mix of nerves and the fact that proxies slowed down loading times. When the site finally loaded he went straight to the German chat room with one person in it. Loading into the room and making up a false name he typed the first part of their confirmation that they made up based on wherever they were.

'Schule, Lila 01.' (School, Purple 01.) He was at school and his Eva was the Purple Unit 01

'Scharlachrot, A-10' (Crimson, A-10) She was in her room as it was completely red, crimson. A-10 for the piloting headset she used to style her hair and proclaim she was a pilot.

Having confirmed that it was Asuka Shinji let out a shaky breath, he didn't know if he could go back to before Asuka had let he and Rei in. It would have broken him to see her so hurt and angry again and typed out a message.

'Ich habe dich vermisst.' (I've missed you.)

'Ich dachte, du wärst weg.' (I thought you were gone.)

'Geht es dir gut?' (Are you all right?)

'Mein linkes Auge kann wieder sehen. Es ist verwirrend, aber es scheint nur temporär zu sein. Ich kann das Schwarze am Rande meiner Sicht schon sehen.' (My left eye can see again. It is confusing, but it seems to be only temporary. I can already see the black on the edge of my vision.)

'Ich werde sehen, ob ich sie nicht davon überzeugen kann, Einheit 02 früher zu senden. Ich möchte dich so früh wie möglich wiedersehen!' (I'll see if I can not convince them to send unit 02 earlier. I want to see you again as soon as possible!)

'Reden wir morgen wieder?' (Talk to you tomorrow?)

'Wenn ich kann.' (If I can.)

With words exchanged they both shut down their laptops, deleting their search history as they did so. They didn't want anybody to know they were communicating, it could lead to awkward questions that they couldn't answer. Now in a much better mood, a lot of the tenseness having left his shoulders he looked up to the school room as the teacher came in and focused on what he had missed from his education last time while his mind filled with thoughts of the future. Not noticing the girl whose name he never got looking at him strangely before she tried to focus on her own work.

First things first. No, I'm not shipping Shinji with the girl.

Right, now that's out of the way, please tell me what you think.

And can any German readers please make sure I translated this correctly? I had to use Google translate and that thing is unreliable as balls.