10

AN: Mostly working on the Rei side of things here, solidifying Misato's hold on Shinji…

(School)

Rei Ayanami watched Shinji Ikari, who was now using the name of Tenchi Masaki, leave the room and hid a little giggle as the room erupted into chaos not long after that. The giggle, of course, didn't last long as she caught herself while Class Representative Horaki tried to regain control over the class; of late, since the Commander's murder, she had found herself feeling… very odd at times. Before, she knew, she'd felt nothing that she was not ordered to feel, but once the treatments in the LCL tanks had stopped, she'd found her mind wondering at times, she'd found herself musing over possibilities, and she'd even found herself reacting in ways that had been totally out of character before.

Her computer pinged and she looked down at the message box that had popped up, blushing lightly as she recognized the screen name for Kensuke Aida, 'What's going on here, Ayanami-san? Who was that goon?'

Rei felt a flash of anger scorch through her, enough that she turned her head and gave Aida-san a glare that caused him to flinch a little before turning back to her screen and typing, 'He is who he says he was, one Tenchi Masaki.'

Another ping, 'snort Forgive me if I don't believe you, given that he looked EXACTLY like the Commander, sans beard. Was he telling us the truth about Shinji and the Red Devil?'

'Yes, he was.'

'takes off glasses and bats eyes Care to elaborate for me? Please?'

Rei felt a little more heat rush to her cheeks as something inside of her began to feel… odd. Another thing she had noticed of late was that she was noticing the male half of the species, specifically males around her age. Yes, she had been ordered by the Commander to seduce Shinji, but ever since she had begun to feel these feelings, not to mention with her last conversation with him in the hospital, any feelings she felt around here were not of the type that would allow a romantic situation to take place. When she tried, her stomach actually turned and she was filled with revulsion at the thought… and not because he wasn't pleasant to look at. No, it was something else, something else entirely…

Another ping, 'Rei?'

Rei shook herself out of her reverie and typed, 'We will speak at lunch.'

'Alright, I'll be there with bells on. wiggles foot and bells jingle'

Rei covered her mouth to prevent an eruption of giggles – Aida-kun was so funny at times…

(NERV)

"So, do I call you Mr. Masaki? And, if so, who am I? Personally, I'd go with the super sexy space pirate Ryoko," Misato said upon seeing him, a teasing grin on her face.

Shinji blushed, gulped, but then decided on a new tactic rather than being the target – he became the aggressor, "Well, I don't know, Misato. I mean, yes, you're even prettier than Ryoko, but as I haven't found you floating above my bed when I wake up, I'm not sure you'd fit the bill."

Sadly, Misato's returning smirk told him that he'd just walked into her carefully planned trap, "Well, if you want, I can work up a harness of some type… and I've got this cute little cosplay costume I'd be willing to try on for you. You just have to help me get Pen-Pen into the Ryo-Ohki outfit."

"Then the idea's pretty much dead in the water." The pair walked towards the elevators and Shinji looked over at her, "You were spying on me?"

Misato shook her head, "Not overtly." She reached up and took his tie pin away from him, "A little microphone, just in case."

Shinji frowned, "Since when did NERV get our own Q branch?"

Misato snorted, "So we've gone from Tenchi Muyo to James Bond, eh?"

Shinji smirked a little, "Ikari, Shinji Ikari, at your service, madam." He took her hand and kissed it, causing his one-time guardian to blush brightly, "Still, how are we going to tell the others about this? I mean, it's not like we can tell them the truth when they ask."

Misato shrugged, "We'll figure it out in a little while. For now, though, we have to get you into a plugsuit and see if you can still run an EVA, Shinji. Just because we've had some time off of late doesn't mean the Angels won't still come."

Shinji sighed, slumping in on himself. He hated that damned suit…

A half-hour, two wrong turns and a change later, Misato was hammering on the locker room door, "Come on, Shinji, it's time to go out!"

The door opened and Shinji exited the locker room in a white terrycloth robe, his plugsuit and neural interface unit both in place, "Alright, let's go."

Misato arched her eyebrow at him, "What's this?"

"I'm not about to parade around in this dominatrix reject for the world to see, Misato," Shinji said as they started their way towards the Synch Test center. "I have my pride now, after all."

Misato rolled her eyes, "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Shinji, trust me."

They made their way to the Entry Plug and, once inside of it, Shinji tossed out the robe before the hatch was sealed. Inside of the control room, Ritsuko looked at Misato, "What was that about?"

"Apparently Shinji has issues with the fact that the suits are so skin tight," Misato replied, sitting in her chair and rubbing her temple. "Something about it being a dominatrix reject."

Ritsuko chuckled even as several of the bridge bunnies snorted, "Well, it is necessary for him to wear it. Now, people, let's have a successful test and try not to put another of our Pilots into the hospital."

"That wasn't our fault, Doctor Akagi," Makoto said, pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"Be quiet, Makoto," Maya said as she keyed the Activation sequence to begin, her eyes glued to her monitor. "Activation sequence beginning, circuits connecting…"

(School)

"You wanted to talk in private, Ayanami-san?" Rei's head jerked up from her lunch at Aida's voice and looked at him, allowing her to see that he was a little worried, enough so that he asked, "Are you alright?"

Rei nodded and motioned for him to sit, "I am fine, Aida-san."

The spectacled boy frowned a bit and narrowed his eyes, "Then what's going on? I heard you snorting today at what that Masaki guy was saying and, well, you don't snort, let alone giggle."

Rei blushed a little bit at having been caught before she nodded, "You are correct, I do not normally act like that, but then again as of late… I have been changing."

Kensuke blushed this time, "I've noticed. You've grown a few centimeters."

Rei looked at him, her cheeks still pink, "Not physically in this instance, Aida-san, but thank you for noticing. No, I've changed because… something has changed at NERV. I am not as I once was."

"How so?"

Rei took a breath, let it out slowly, and then looked at him seriously, "I require your word of honor that nothing I am about to say will ever be repeated."

Kensuke blinked and nodded quickly, "You have my word."

Rei shook her head, "You do not understand. If you do not keep your word, you will be terminated. I… would not enjoy that."

Kensuke blinked again but nodded, this time slower, "I understand and you still have my word."

Rei nodded and, haltingly, began to explain her treatment sessions with the Commander in the depths of NERV, leaving out a great many things that were not germane to the discussion, but then got to the Commander's orders to get closer to Shinji after his 'recovery', "I was ordered to seduce him."

Kensuke blinked, "You… what?"

Rei shook her head, "At first, I did indeed attempt to get closer to Pilot Ikari in order to follow the Commander's orders, but now… I feel… differently." Rei frowned, touching herself on the stomach, "I cannot explain, but when I try to think of Pilot Ikari… Shinji… in a sexual manner, I feel a churning sensation here and I cannot force myself to think of him that way."

Kensuke frowned and scratched his temple, "Well, if you find him ugly, I guess that could explain it…"

Rei shook her head, "No, I do not find him physically unpleasing, rather it is something… else." She blew out another breath, this one laced with more than a little irritation, "I cannot explain it as of yet."

Kensuke nodded at this for a moment before he paused, appearing to be thinking as to how to phrase his next question, "Don't get me wrong, Ayanami-san, I appreciate this information… but why are you telling me all of this? I mean, we aren't exactly friends."

Rei appeared to shrink a little and looked down at her hands, which had fallen into her lap, "I… am alone, Aida-san. Apart from my connection to Ikari-kun and my visits to the medical facilities with Doctor Akagi, I have nobody to speak to."

Rei's mind was so focused on the fact that she indeed had no one that she didn't notice that tears had begun to drip out of her eyes… and she didn't notice that Kensuke had noticed until he awkwardly hugged her. She froze for a moment, unsure what to do, but then she decided to mimic his actions and hugged him back just as awkwardly.

After a moment the pair let go and both of them were blushing brightly, Kensuke being the first to speak, "I'm sorry to hear that, Ayanami-san."

Rei wiped her cheeks with a handkerchief that Kensuke offered her, nodding at him, "Thank you, Aida-san." She looked at her lunch and then at his lunch, "I do believe we should eat before the bell rings."

Kensuke nodded, "Sure. It's been a little different without Touji here, but as he's coming back soon, I'd better eat what I can before he comes back and commandeers my lunch."

Rei frowned at this, "I thought Class Representative Horaki made him lunch."

Kensuke nodded, "Yes, she does, but invariably I end up missing part of my lunch."

Rei continued to frown at this and began to think of how she could make some extra food to combat this… travesty.

AN: Well, there we go. Shinji's virtue is safe from Rei… but who is going to save Kensuke from Shinji when he decides to have 'chat' with his friend about what'll happen if Rei gets hurt? Should be interesting. Reviews, please.