Chapter 9

"Andrew," said Rei a short time later, "I am confused about something."

"What's that, Rei?"

"When we went to the Astral Plane, you led our way and your knowledge was quite extensive. Yet, you still brought me along, even though you did not require my aid in contacting Ikari. Why?"

"A number of reasons, Rei," I answered, "First, I did need you to be there. As I said while we were drifting, it is unwise to project yourself onto the Astral Plane alone in anything other than a dream. The way we were there, a telepathic projection, can cause madness if you don't have someone else's thoughts with you to focus on. You kept us both sane; just with your presence."

I saw Rei blush the palest of pinks. Her face softened, and her eyes became very gentle.

"Secondly," I continued, "I needed you there when we contacted Shinji because you two know each other. He trusts you. If I had attempted to contact him alone, he would probably have dismissed me as a phantasm or vision of some kind. With you by my side, he could not doubt that we were real."

Rei nodded as her blush deepened slightly. Taking a chance, I asked:

"Rei, are you okay? You're blushing."

At my observation, Rei's blush darkened to a deep red. She seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but held herself in check and tried to withdraw even farther from me.

"You're turning redder," I said, lightly teasing her, "Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"I am…fine," Rei whispered.

You are embarrassing me, came Rei's thought message.

Why?

You know why, Rei said, sounding almost…irritated.

Yeah, but I want you to tell me, I said, meeting her eye and giving her a smug smile.

Very well, said Rei calmly, You are complimenting me in the presence of several people, one of whom is our commanding officer.

What? You don't like to be complimented? I asked, feigning shock.

Not in a public setting, Rei replied.

That's when compliments carry the most weight, though, I countered.

It makes me uncomfortable, Rei said shortly.

Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I said, I'll just compliment you when we're alone, all right?

That would be suitable, Rei replied.

I rolled my eyes with exasperation. This girl was just being impossible. How could I get closer to her if she wouldn't allow herself to accept simple compliments? Rei and I walked over to where Misato was still cradling Shinji in her lap.

"H-he came back!" Misato hiccupped, looking up at Rei and me, "Th-they got him back!"

"So I see," I said.

Will you ever tell her the truth? Rei asked.

It's not my truth to tell, I replied, If Shinji chooses to tell her, he is allowed. But it is for him, and him alone, to tell her.

I listened to the reunited pair's thoughts. Shinji's were full of fatigue and a lingering reluctance to have left his mother. But, underneath it all, I sensed that he was, indeed happy to be back home.

Misato's thoughts were filled with immeasurable gratitude at seeing Shinji alive again. Also, I noticed a small, minute, and almost undetectable amount of lust in her thoughts in seeing Shinji in the nude. I shook my head in disbelief. The boy she cared about had just been released after being inside of his Eva for a month solid, and she was checking out his package! It was revolting. However, I had to give the woman some credit. She had those feelings pushed to the very back of her mind, and I sensed that the only reason she was having those feelings was because she was feeling very sexually frustrated. It had been a long time since she had been with a man.

That settles it, I thought to myself with resolve, As loathe as I am to do it, I'm gonna have to subtly influence Misato and Hyuga's thoughts and feelings and get the two of them together. They're a match made in heaven; completely perfect for each other, even if they don't know it yet.

You are planning something again, said Rei, Are you willing to tell me what?

Are you willing to keep my confidence?

Of course, Rei replied.

I'm going to try and subtly influence Misato and Hyuga and get them together, I said, I'm not sure quite how I'm going to pull that off, yet, but I've got to try. They both need each other.

Do they have underlying feelings for each other?

Hyuga does, I answered, He's completely in love with Misato. She, however, doesn't feel the same way. I don't think she really sees him as much more than a co-worker.

Her thoughts could be a challenge to manipulate, then, Rei observed.

Could be, I agreed, Wait a second, Asuka's coming.

And that she was. A few seconds after my telepathic warning, the red-head walked onto the catwalk and made a beeline for Shinji, carrying a bathrobe. Without even pausing to notice the boy's nudity, Asuka wrapped him up in the robe and then proceeded to pull him into a crushing bear-hug. Her thoughts mirrored Misato's relief and gratitude to have him back.

"Come on, Asuka," Misato said, "let's take him home."

"Yeah," Asuka replied quietly. Her mind was in stunned silence. She didn't know quite what to think. She had almost given Shinji up for lost, and now here he was back in her life. I could only stand to skim the surface of her feelings at that moment, because I knew that if I tried to delve too deeply, I would be swallowed and drowned in the torrent of emotion. She was overwhelmed. As the two women walked past Rei and me, supporting Shinji between them, Asuka caught my eye and smiled. I gave her a gentle smile in return.

"Rei, if there's nothing else that's going to go wrong today, I'm gonna to go home," I said, joking a little bit.

"Very well," my companion replied.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to lighten up a little bit," I remarked starting to walk out of the cage.

"What do you mean?" Rei asked, walking after me.

"What I mean is, you always treat everything like it's so deadly serious," I said, "Not everything has to be regarded as business. Some things are purely pleasure to talk about."

"Such as?"

"Such as…food," I suggested, "Like me, for instance, there's nothing I enjoy more than a big, juicy cut of rib-eye steak char-grilled to perfection and smothered in steak sauce. How about you?"

"I dislike eating meat," Rei said flatly.

"Why?" I asked. I had nothing against vegetarians, but I always wondered what made them choose not to partake of meat.

"To obtain meat, a living thing must die," Rei answered, "I think it is wrong to kill in order to sustain myself."

"But isn't that what we're doing as Eva pilots?" I asked, "When we kill the Angels, isn't it just to sustain our own existence? By killing the things that are trying to kill us, we are ensuring that our species has a future."

"That is a different situation," Rei argued, "When I say sustenance, I mean eating. The way you use the word 'sustenance', you imply it to mean the continuation of a species."

"It's all the same," I retorted, "A species must feed itself in order to sustain itself. The natural way that most species of animals on this earth sustain themselves is to prey on other animals."

"Unless the animal is herbivorous," Rei pointed out.

"Granted," I acceded, "But, humans are not strictly herbivorous. We have the capacity to eat meat and meat is a source of vital nutrients that our body needs."

"Those nutrients can be synthesized in a capsule form," said Rei.

"You're trying to rationalize," I shot back, "Taking pills for everything is not the way nature intended us to absorb our body's needs. I won't deny that, in order for meat to be obtained, animals must die, but you should try to understand that everything on this earth has a purpose. Cows, sheep, goats, deer, and other producer animals have their purpose: To provide food for their keepers. They give us milk, cheese, and, in many cases, meat as well. That is their purpose."

"But they must die in order to give that meat," Rei repeated, failing to find another argument.

"Rei, just understand that I'm trying to get you to see both sides of the argument, okay?" I asked, sensing her frustration, "I'm not trying to change your mind, or make you eat meat if you don't want to. I'm just trying to help you see things with an open mind. I won't claim to see everything with an open mind; especially where my likes and dislikes are concerned, but I have to try and help others to see past that. It's just something I do."

"I understand," Rei replied.

The two of us talked for the whole train ride back up to the city. I was surprised. While I had been at NERV Central, I hadn't heard Rei carry on a conversation with anyone for as long as she and I had been talking. When we finally reached street level and disembarked, Rei started to walk away quickly. I took two large steps to catch up with her and caught her by the hand. She turned and looked at me curiously.

"Hold on a second, Rei," I said nervously, "Um…oh, damn, I lost my train of thought."

Rei continued to stare at me quizzically.

"It happens every time I look at you," I admitted, "I just…sort of…lose it."

"Lose what?" Rei asked innocently.

"My train of thought," I answered. Rei giggled quietly.

"When you laugh like that, it gets even worse," I whispered, blushing furiously.

"I will stop then," Rei said, sobering instantly, "If my laughter distracts you, I will refrain from laughing."

"That's not it!" I said, aghast, "Good God, I could never tire of your laughter or feel more than pleasantly distracted by it."

"Then what is it about my laughing…?"

"That makes me so awkward?" I finished, "Well…it's like this…I-I…Oh, man I can't say it!"

Feeling like a damned fool, I let go of Rei's hand, turned tail, and ran the whole way back to my apartment. As I slammed my door, panting hard and sweating cold, I cursed myself up and down for running away like that.

Why am I suddenly so scared of her? I asked myself, Is it because she and I went to the Astral Plane together? Or is it that she's an empath like me? What is it about her that's tormenting me?!

I kept wondering and worrying about it for the rest of the afternoon. I even went so far as to work myself out doing push-ups, sit-ups, and chin-ups on my bedroom door frame until I was barely able to move. However, physical exhaustion couldn't dull my state of mental stimulation. Between my anxiety over running away from the situation with Rei, and my new mental powers that were broadcasting me the peripheral thoughts of every person within two square blocks, my brain was so chattery that I doubted that I would ever sleep again.

I have to find a way to turn these powers off! I complained to myself, Hearing all of these unrestrained thoughts is driving me mad! I can hardly hear myself think over everyone else's thinking. What am I going to do?

I thought about it for a while, despite how difficult it was to do with all of the psychic chatter. Then, I went into my bedroom and sat down on my bed in a cross-legged style. I placed my hands lightly on my knees, closed my eyes, and started to breathe deeply through my nose. I was trying to meditate and find a way of blocking out all of the noisy thoughts. Slowly, ever so slowly, as I withdrew into my own thoughts, all of the others fell silent until I was left with only my own thoughts. I sighed with relief. I had found a way to relax my mind. As soon as my mind was relaxed, my body seemed to remember just how exhausted it really was. My eyelids drooped and I flopped backwards onto my bed and was asleep almost instantly.

The next morning I awoke with my head ringing. After a few seconds, I realized that it was just the telephone, so I got up to answer it. Before I even picked up the receiver, I knew who it was.

Telepathy, I thought, the only caller I.D. I'll ever need. What's Misato wanna talk about?

"Hello?" I asked.

"Andrew, it's Misato," came the purple-haired major's voice, "I was just thinking…you never came over for that breakfast we offered you that first morning you moved in, so…"

"Give me about twenty minutes to get cleaned up and dressed, Misato," I said, "then I'll be over, okay?."

"Sure, okay," she replied, "See you then."

"Bye," I said. Then, I hung up the phone and headed for the bathroom. After a quick shower and shave, I pulled my damp hair back into a ponytail and headed for my dresser. Selecting some comfortable clothes, I walked out my door and down the hall to my neighbors. I rang the doorbell.

"It's open!" came Asuka's voice.

"Good morning all," I said as I entered the apartment. The place looked like mine, just…fuller and messier. Sitting at the dining room table, I found Misato sipping on a beer with two more empty cans on the table in front of her. This woman really packed it away! I sensed that those first two cans had been finished off in the span of less than five minutes after she had called me.

How can she drink so much before 9 am? I wondered, She's gonna end up with so many health problems that her liver is going to be the least of her worries!

Then, I pulled back and thought about it logically. Alcoholics always had some reason for drinking as much as they did. Usually, that reason involved some kind of traumatic pain that they are trying to forget or drown out with the booze. I guessed that from Misato's history of relationship issues, she was trying to fill the empty holes in her heart with beer and liquor. The only problem with trying to fill a hole with a liquid is: the liquid doesn't stick in the holes and leaves you feeling emptier after it leaks out.

Asuka came bouncing over to me and gave me a friendly hug. Somewhat awkwardly, I returned the hug and blushed.

"Guten morgan, Andrew," said Asuka, releasing me.

"Guten morgan, fraulein," I responded in fluent German.

"Sprechen sie Deuscht?" Asuka asked, amazed.

"Umm, actually, I just shot my entire German vocabulary saying good morning to you," I admitted sheepishly.

"Well, it's the thought that counts," said Asuka, "Hey, Shinji! How's breakfast coming in there?"

"You're not seriously making him cook on his first day back, are you?" I asked disapprovingly.

"Nobody's making me to do anything," I heard Shinji say from the kitchen, "I like cooking. And trust me, you don't want to eat Asuka or Misato's cooking. Asuka doesn't know how to cook, and the only thing Misato knows how to make are instant dinners. If I didn't know how to cook, I'd have starved to death by now!"

Shinji and I both burst into a raucous fit of laughter that made Misato scowl and Asuka march rather angrily into the kitchen. I heard a slapping sound followed by an exclamation of pain from Shinji.

"You know, you used to only slap me in the face, Asuka," Shinji said, rather louder than necessary, "I didn't know you wanted to touch my butt."

"Shieβe!" Asuka squealed, "Will you just shut the hell up?! Misato doesn't need to hear that!"

"Misato!" Shinji called, pretending to tattle-tale on her, "Asuka's grabbing my ass!"

"Whatever," Misato mumbled through her beer can.

I started laughing again despite myself. If I had known mornings were as much fun in Shinji's apartment as they appeared to be, I would have taken Misato up on that breakfast offer a long time ago. A few minutes later, Shinji and Asuka came out to the dining room table carrying plates of food.

"Have you ever had a Japanese breakfast before, Andrew?" Shinji asked.

"Not that I can remember," I answered truthfully.

"Well," my friend replied, "dig in. Rice, miso soup, and some natto."

"And for those of us who have a little more Western taste," said Asuka, "There's toast, jam, bacon, and coffee."

"I'll have what she's having," I said gratefully. I don't have anything against trying food from other cultures, but when it comes to breakfast, I like to have something that I'm at least semi-familiar with. I'm just weird that way, I guess. While Asuka and I ate our Western breakfast, Shinji and Misato had a Japanese breakfast, and, in Misato's case, I noticed she washed every other bite of food down with a large swig of beer.

"Umm, not to be nosy or anything, but how much do you normally drink, Misato?" I asked cautiously.

"What?" she asked, sounding more than a little tipsy, "You think I'm unhealthy? Well, missster, I'll have you know that I've never been fore mit in my life!"

Oh yeah, she's drunk, I thought, Hmm…now that I think about it, this could make manipulating her thoughts to pair her up with Hyuga that much easier. If I plant subliminal cues in her mind while she's pasted, she won't question where they come from. The question is: How do I get them all together in a situation where Misato is sure to drink and won't feel embarrassed around Hyuga…?

"So," I said, trying to sound casual, "Shinji Ikari's back home, at last. I would assume that Misato would have hosted some kind of celebration in honor of that homecoming?"

"Nah, not last night," said Asuka, sounding a little disappointed, "She wanted to, but Shinji said he was too tired and just wanted to go to bed."

"We're gonna party tonight, though!" Misato roared happily. After her loud exclamation, I heard a squawking sound coming from the kitchen.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Oh, that's just Pen-Pen," said Shinji, "He's our other housemate. Hey, Pen-Pen! Come on out and say hello to our guest!"

I watched as a funny little feathered creature come waddling out into the dining room. He appeared to be some manner of penguin, but I couldn't discern what species. He had some manner of claws on the tips of his wings. They looked almost like fingers, truth be told. Pen-Pen also had red crests over each of his eyes and a strange, metal pack on his back. I had to admit, he looked rather cute and cuddly.

"Hi, Pen-Pen," I said.

"WARK!" was the little penguin's response as it waved one of its flipper-like hands at me. Then, it turned around and waddled back into the kitchen to finish its breakfast.

Such a funny little family, I thought drolly, Ah, well. Let's see how things are going on the Shinji-Asuka front?

I reached out and read Asuka's mind. I still read all of her feelings of love and desire for Shinji, but I also sensed a certain amount of patience. She was waiting for him to get reacclimated to his old life before approaching him with a possible change. I was impressed.

She's changed more than I gave her credit for, I thought, She's actually waiting to spring her feelings on Shinji until she thinks he's ready. Good for you, Red.

"So," said Asuka, "how's Rei?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to avoid the question.

"Well, the two of you walked home together, yesterday, didn't you?" Asuka demanded, sounding like her old self.

"Well, yeah, we did, but--,"

"Then are you a couple or what?" Asuka asked eagerly.

"No!" I insisted.

"Oh, don't give me that," the red-head scoffed, "C'mon, you think we can't see the way you stare at her when we're all together? Good lord, anyone with half a brain could see that you're totally in love with her. Don't lie to us, Andrew. Admit it; you're in love with Rei."

I bit my tongue nervously. How the hell had Asuka hit the nail so accurately on the head? Why was it that women could see affairs of the heart so clearly when men had to stumble around in the dark? These questions and many others flooded my brain as I considered whether to lie again or actually come clean about it. I decided that truth might be a little bit more painful a course in the immediate moment, but it was still the better course to take.

"Okay, you want the truth?" I asked, "The truth is…"

"You love her," Asuka finished, not bothering to hear my answer, "Your hesitation says everything. Any time a guy hesitates when talking about a girl, it's because he really likes her."

"Be careful about how you generalize men," I cautioned, "I could say that any time a woman gets pissy, it's because it's almost time for her period."

"Now wait just a damn minute!" Asuka sputtered, "That's not true and you know it!"

"By the same token, then, how can you be so quick to judge that every time a guy gets tongue-tied talking about a girl, he's in love with her?" I asked logically.

Even if you're one hundred percent right this time? I added mentally.

"Because that little assumption just happens to be true!" Asuka shot back, "It's true, I'm right, and you're in love with the Wonder Girl!"

"Back down a little bit, Asuka," Shinji said, coming to my defense, "Maybe Andrew does love Rei. So what? In our own ways, we all love each other."

"So you're saying that I love you and you love me?" Asuka said, her tone still sounding a little bit mocking.

"In some way or another, yes," Shinji replied.

I sensed Asuka's heart leap with hope at Shinji's words. This girl was more clever than she gave herself credit for. She was brilliantly maneuvering Shinji into place to confess her feelings for him. All she had left to do was to isolate him long enough to blurt it out and maybe kiss him, and he would probably be hers. I suspected that this would work because with Shinji I sensed that, despite his bright outward appearance and seeming happiness at being back home, he was deeply saddened about being back out somewhere where he thought that there wasn't anyone who really cared about or loved him. Quietly, within my own thoughts, I urged Shinji to be patient for just a little bit longer. The rest of breakfast was occupied by Shinji and Asuka going back and forth with childish insults and name-calling. Finally, I had had my fill of their bickering and politely excused myself to go to Headquarters.

"See you later," Shinji said, looking away from Asuka for an instant.

"We have a team-synch test scheduled for today," Misato informed me, sounding more sober where work was concerned, "So be ready for it at 1100 hours."

"Yes, ma'am," I responded, giving a quick salute.

"Oh…go on, you," Misato said, waving me off.

"See you later, guys," I said. Then, I closed the door and went back to my apartment. After I picked up my work-out clothes, I started for the front door and stopped suddenly. All of a sudden, I felt terrified of walking out the door. I realized that Rei and I seemed to keep the same work-out hours and tended to be in the gym facilities at the same times. After the way I had run away from her yesterday, I wasn't sure if I could face her again so soon.

You can just avoid her, you coward, I told myself sternly, She's just a girl. Why are you so worried about it?

'Because,' another part of me argued back, 'I really want her to like me. And I can't believe that I was so afraid of trying to talk to her about my feelings that I ran away from her! That's never happened to me before. No girl has ever gotten inside my head like Rei has. She's…intoxicating to be around.'

A.N.: Thanks for taking the time to read this and for being so patient with me, readers! I was away from my computer for a little while taking some well-earned vacation. And, I have to warn you that from here on, progress and updates on this story might be a little few and far-between, since I'm going away to college in just a couple of weeks and with packing and last-minute preparations, things are gonna be a little crazy for me. But anyway, enough of my rambling, please post a review and tell all of your friends about my stories!

--Andrew Hildreth