Once More with Feeling

by Crazy-88

Third Impact AU. Shinji Ikari survives Third Impact only to find out that the end of everything is just the beginning...

11. Three Colors: Red

Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year!
This year, my New Years Eve celebrations were rather pathetically sad, most of the group I usually hang with were out of the country, out of the city or in the case of one person, so damn sick he just got out of hospital.
So instead of going over to a friends place or going out or even getting laid or anything fun, I sat at home.
Which ironicly ended up being rather cool. Despite the fact that fireworks are illegal in New South Wales, everyone across Sydney set off their own private display last night around my house, when midnight hit it was frigen AWESOME to watch several kilotons worth of firepower exploding -well at least it sounded like it!-

None the less, in the long boring wait this afternoon and evening, I decided if I'm going to sit around moping, I might as well sit around moping and finish off the latest bit of fanficiton.

That also might be the affect of the little Rei Ayanami standee I got for Christmas from my Sister. I have no idea how she knew I loved Evangelion, I have no idea she even knew WHAT Evangelion was. But now I have a Rei Ayanami, about six inches tall give or take in her plug suit, holding the Lance which reaches much higher behind her back, sitting on top of my computer tower and inspiring me.
It also came with a piece of chewing gum from Japan itself. Which was rather cool.
Anyway.

This chapter(s) are something of a writing experiment for me, a style I've never used before and I thought I would give a try. I think I commented before that this fanfic is also a little bit about this kind of testing, so there you go. In this case, its a kind of 'split perspective' test, where you show the same events from the perspective of three different people in three different chapters. Think 24 except with each episode only focusing on ONE person, then the next episode going to the NEXT person or something. Or more accurately, like that Simpsons episode with 'Barts Day' and 'Lisa's Day' and 'Homers Day' and so on, if you can remember it.

The problem is, that it got a LITTLE out of control and I kept writing and writing and writing...you're looking at the first two complete chapters standing at 18K and 15K each, with the final chapter at 14K which I expect to increase just a tad by the time I expect to finish it.

I blame Academia Nut and his most excellent "Thousand Shinji" crossover -if you haven't read it, do so, its rated M so you might have missed it- and the bastard keeps posting chapter after chapter, moving the timeline along and leaving me flailing behind. I don't know if this is some sub plot of his Tzeentchich scheming to get me to write faster -and his later chapters are directly responsible for a large amount of the next chapter which in turn rewrote half the bloody story- but its working...

Focus...focus...

The chapters are named after a 1990's film trillogy that apparently won worldwide critical acclaim called the 'Three Colors Trilogy". I never saw them, but the titles worked rather nicely from my perspective, partially because these chapters are VERY heavily character driven more then event driven and really revolve around the pilots.

Part One: "Three Colors: Red"

Part Two: "Three Colors: White"

Part Three: "Three Colors: Purple"

And if you can't figure out what those colors represent, then someone needs to hit you over the head with a progressive knife.

Last thing to say, if these chapters just don't DO anything for you, its perfectly understandable and rest assured that we'll get back to the tried and true linear multiple POV chapters after this, but I thought it would be a fun thing to try out. I'll be posting one chapter a day so people don't go insane, so you'll get 'Three Colors White' tomorrow -which IMO is stronger, if insane to write, bloody hell Rei is a hard character to write! - and 'Three Colors Purple' the day after that.

---

Dawn broke over Tokyo-3 on Saturday September the 5th 2015, the light and heat from the distant star striking the city and heralding another day of intrigue, plotting, reconstruction and repair; in short a typical day in NERV's fortress against the Angels when the aforementioned attackers were, well, not attacking. Sol, the star Earth orbited didn't really care about the plots and activities of the city it was not illuminating…but then again, humans were pathetically insignificant next to the ball of thermonuclear fusion and not really worthy of its attention.

Though on balance, had it been capable of rational thought, it might have found some degree of commonality with a fiery young adolescent stepping into a shower inside the fortress city.

Asuka Langley Soryu had once had her long auburn hair - which she rightly considered her best trait - compared to a blazing sunset. The comparison had secretly flattered her, even if the guy who made it back in Germany had been an utter jerk with an inflated opinion of himself. None the less, she took a great pride in her appearance and her literal crowing achievement, meaning that each morning she went through a methodical process in the shower to ensure that it –and she- would look as flawless as the day before.

First, she washed the hair out with a double action shampoo, often twice if she was talking a shower after having to sit inside an LCL filled coffin for a few hours, with no more then a five minute shower between the entry plug and her bed. Then she rinsed it carefully, before working through a series of superior German conditioners including a duel action moisturizer / reconstructor, generally followed by a glosser to bring out her color, before rinsing off one last time.

This morning as she showered under the wonderful hot water, she took extra care to get her hair looking its best, using up a dangerous amount of her conditioner reserves to achieve perfection, before turning her attention to the rest of her body, methodically running an exfoliating washcloth over every part of her perfectly tanned and toned body to scrub off the smallest trace of dead skin, noting with pleasure that her feminine attributes were continuing to mature; she was well in advance of anyone in her year at school…and arguably in direct competition with some girls several years her senior. Sighing contently with a smile on her face that would have utterly terrified Toji Suzuhara or Kensuke Aida, Asuka hummed a comforting tune to herself deep from her subconscious as she went about her daily routine, finally stepping out of the shower onto the bathroom mat to dry off, before taking a seat to methodically shave her legs to a silky smooth finish.

Asuka demanded perfection in all things…and expected nothing less of her own body.

All in all, this entire process had become less of a morning shower to her then a morning ritual. Not in the least because she had increasingly needed the hot, soothing water to wash away the dark shades that haunted her sleep…even if she would neveradmit it to anyone. Least of all herself.

Ensuring her towels were set, she let the content look on her face drop away to a more typical expression of mild glowering, against the expectation that she would find the Third Child waiting outside as she slammed opened the door-

There was nobody waiting outside.

Well except Pen Pen, who dropped his copy of the Wall Street Journal and all but flew past her into the bathroom. In any other house, waking up in the morning to find a Penguin checking the stock market while waiting for a hot bath before heading for a nap inside a fridge would probably be grounds to go and see a psychiatrist…but in Misato Katusragi's apartment…well…it was pretty much situation normal.

Still, it was a disappointing outcome. She as yet had failed to catch the Third in a position where she could flaunt her body to cause maximum embarrassment to him and develop some kind of chink in his mental armor. It was increasingly infuriating her that nothing she did appeared to really affect him.

Oh sure she could annoy him, irritate him or just plain hurt him –though doing any of those three was considerably harder then she had hoped- but utterly nothing had a lasting effect…and even worse, Asuka was finding herself growing used to the idea of living with him.

She had considered it an utterly insane idea two days ago, the very thought that they should live together! Two adolescent teenagers with their hormones firing at full speed! She could control herself of course, but how could that Shinji be expected to control himself aroundher? The hottest damn Girl he had ever seen?

Misato's answer had been less then blunt, suggesting that Shinji was the most well behaved, helpful and downright polite person she had ever had living with her and that she had great confidence in his ability to deal with Asuka's advances.

Asuka didn't know what had infuriated her more at that point. Misato's not so subtle hint that Shinji made a far more reliable roommate then she had…or the implication that she would be making advances onhim!

Oh come on Asuka…we both know how you kept glancing at him yesterday during training, with him in that tight fitting dance getup as he built up a sweat-

Asuka silenced the traitorous voice with the mental equivalent of a roundhouse kick before stepping into her room and swiftly getting changed into her 'going out to be seen in a socially acceptable venue' clothes. Barely half her stuff had gotten inside the apartment and she had ruthlessly selected only utterly critical boxes from the tons of clutter she had built up to be put in her room, sending the rest into storage down in the Geofront.

She still hadn't really had time to thanks to their full day of stupid team coordination training yesterday, but thankfully Misato had granted them today off to go shopping with Rei, accepting Asuka's dubious logic that it was just another form of team building when you got down to it.

Well, that and the fact that Asuka had breezily invited her along and said she wanted to buy something for her wonderful Guardian. Misato had probably seen right through the attempt at bribery, but hell, it didn't make the bribe any less sweet…

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she straightened the blue sleeveless shirt with the high collar she had chosen from her selection, carefully ensuring there wasn't the slightest wrinkle or trace of lint that might mar her appearance before nodding in approval and reaching for a brush-

"Breakfast is ready!" Shinji's voice came from the direction of the kitchen faintly through the door.

Her hand halted just before reaching the brush. It generally took her seven minutes to brush her hair into the state she considered acceptable, add another eight if she really wanted to get perfection for some formal occasion using hairspray products. And today clearly fell into that category.

On the other hand, she could admit that Shinij did know how to cook well and if there was one thing that could ignite her anger this early in the morning, it was having a cold breakfast because she had gotten to the table too late.

Screw it she decided, gathering her hair into a loose waterfall over her shoulders and snapping a convenient band to tie it off into a simple ponytail.I'll finish up after breakfast…it's not like the Baka is going to care or notice my hair.

Opening her door, she moved down the hall towards the delicious scents wafting towards her.

"Ohh, that smells good" she said in approval as she entered the dining room, dodging Pen Pen as he too made his way to the table with a small towel around his shoulders, making a beeline for the sardines Shinji had laid out for him. With an expression of surprise, she glanced over a very European breakfast quite different from yesterdays rather traditional Japanese breakfast, with utterly amazing smells coming from the table as Shinji finished laying out the last of it.

"Well I have to say, having a house broken male around is a more useful thing then I gave Misato credit for" Asuka said dryly as she dropped to the floor next to the table, still not entirely used to this Japanese style of sitting on the floor, Shinji sitting down opposite her.

But hell, when the food was this good and she didn't have to cookit, she could dig it.

Without further comment, Asuka dug in, suddenly feeling the hunger she had developed overnight after the exertion of gyrating around that accursed dance mat in the corner of the room. In fact, she was so caught up in eating that it took her a good minute to realize Shinji was continually stealing glances at her as he slowly downed his slice of toast.

"What?" she demanded when she couldn't take it any more, dropping her fork and glaring across at him.

Shinji blinked in surprise as she confronted him, the Third Child apparently realizing that she was not a blind idiot unaware of what was going on around her as she kept him pieced by her gaze, not shifting a millimeter as she waited for his response.

"Your hair" he said, after he rapidly swallowed his mouthful of toast. "It's just…"

Asuka didn't change her expression in the slightest as she felt tension slowly raise her blood pressure.

No its not like the Baka would notice my hair she cursed silently even as another part of her started to think up possible comebacks, of which she thus far had precious few.

Well, she would just bear it and add it to the list, glaring at him as if to make him up hurry up.

"Well…" he continued, looking at her as he put down his half finished slice of toast, clerly trying to brace for something. "Without your A-10 clips and with it pulled back like that…you just look…"

"Yes?" she asked with a slight sigh, wondering why he had gotten so flustered.

Clearly, he had much to learn about delivering and taking insults properly, they had a certain rhythm and flow that if broken, would just ruin the whole effect-

"Really, really stunning".

Asuka's mind crashed to a halt at those words, seeing Shinji's own eyes widen slightly, as if surprised he had had the guts to say such a thing to her face, a look that had to be reflected on her own face, until she saw his face turn in on itself in a faint cringe, Shinji even starting to lean back from the table edge, as if he was preparing to be blasted out the window…

And that look caused any response from Asuka to die unsaid on her lips.

Excusing herself from the table and not even noticing her distracted mind had formed the words in German, she nimbly rolled to her feet and walked back to her room as those three words from Shinji rocked through her mind, her good mood if not gone, at least somewhat muted as she sat down on the edge of her stupid futon, her face now set in something of a frown.

She had, since puberty hit her age group, gotten countless comments from boys about her looks, so much so that the novelty had mostly worn off. In fact, it was generally the absence of such comments that stood out more then the comments themselves, which she had unanimously found to be shallow and superficial.

Of course she was beautiful damn it, any idiot could see that. Her hair in Japan thus far had been the subject of at least five dozen love letters, sixteen Haikus and three semi decent drawings of moderate to good talent, one of which she might even keep.

But none of that had hit her with the same force as Shinji's simple statement.

Mostly it was because she knew he was really talking about her. Unlike just about everyone else in her age group who was easily overawed –damn right they should be- by her status as an Evangelion pilot, Shinji as a combat tested member of that rather select group had no reason to be…meaning he was truly talking about her.

She remembered his almost stuttered comment on the Othello when she had unveiled 'her' Evangelion to him; that its bright red color complemented her hair. At the time, Asuka hadn't been entirely sure if he had meant it, or, if he was just stuttering out something that sounded legitimate, so she had just let it slide. But the complement he had paid her sixty seconds ago…that had not been a lie. That she had seen simply come out without him even thinking about it, seeing the flash of surprise that had passed through his eyes for a millisecond as he realized what he had said, followed by the look of slight unease as he waited to see how she would react…as if he was afraid she would hurt him…

For completing her?That thought had shaken loose a little of the furniture in her mind; that the Invincible Third Child would be afraid to complement her, to the point that she had excused herself from the table and retreated back to her room, not even noticing that she had spoken in German until she had taken her seat and started to think.

Gott, why does he have to be such a…a…a…argh! She cursed silently as she flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling.

Well, that was the problem, wasn't it?

Who the hell was Shinji Ikari?

Even worse, part of her felt that same 'butterfly squadron performing aerobatics in stomach' feeling edging up as she reflected again on his statement, knowing that unlike every other jerk who might have thought he was being sincere…somehow, she just knew Shinji actually was.

He had found her emergency change of hairstyle, minus her A-10 clips, 'stunning'…

Glancing over at her bedside 'table', she rolled over and reached across, picking up the two red neural connectors and gently running her thumb over the smooth, hard plastic as she thought about them.

She had worn the clips since she was nine since the first time she had joined with Unit Two, only taking them off in the shower or when she was sleeping. They had become a part of her identity, telling everyone at NERV 'I am the Second Child, I am Asuka Langley Soryu!' Just about everyone at school she had talked to had commented on the exotic looking clips, looking at her with awe when she told them -as if it was unimportant- that they were not hair clips, but part of the neural interface that let her pilot her Eva…

And although the association wasn't precisely logical, Asuka had always felt diminished without them, as if by taking them off, she was shedding the Evangelion pilot, moving closer to that poor, pathetic little girl who had walked in on…on…

Closing her eyes tightly and breathing sharply through her nose, she willed away the tears that wanted to come for a few seconds as she gripped the clips tightly, suppressing the memory until she felt clam again.

Then, almost hesitatingly, she replaced the clips on her bedside table and gently pulled the band out of her hair, sitting up to take a good, long look at her reflection in the mirror.

'Well…without your A-10 clips and with it pulled back like that…you…just look…really, really stunning…'

Without the A-10 clips…

He was talking about Asuka Langley Soryu she thought to herself. Not the Second Child…not the designated pilot of Eva Two, not his wingman…just…me.

So who am I?

I am not four years old.

I am fourteen, soon to be fifteen

I am the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit Two.

I am the Second Child…but

"…I'm also Asuka Langley Soryu" she said in an almost whisper, directly at the reflection in the mirror.

It was that simple.

She was not one or the other…she was both.

She didn't become less or more by putting on, or taking off her clips…she was just who she was.

I am Asuka…Langley…Soryu she thought again, feeling her confidence explode suddenly into a nova of power inside her as she looked at the clip-less image in the mirror.

I, am I.

Nice to meet you.

And with that thought, she reached over for her brush and a short selection of hair products, and got to work.

---

Putting the finishing touch on her hair, Asuka gathered her few required personal belongings for this days activities and quietly slid open her door, cocking her head slightly as she heard Misato talking to Shinji in the living room. Stealthfully, she made her way up to the end of the corridor, the voices growing louder as she tried to unashamedly eavesdrop on the conversation…

Ah, that was better.

"…in her room" she heard Shinji faintly saying to Misato and correctly guessed he was talking about her, upping her interest level considerably. "I…think I might have insulted her or something…I was just trying to say how I liked the way her hair looked but…I think I might have uh…"

Oh for the love of God…that was anti climactic.

"Baka" she broke in with an annoyed sigh as she stepped around the corner into view of her wingman and her guardian, causing Shinji to jump ever so slightly before he turned to face her as she stepped around the corner and leaned against the wall, taking a delight in even this slight chink in Shinji's persona.

"Only in your mind would you consider complementing someone as a reason for her to leave the table" Asuka said with a raised eyebrow, pleased at the snicker on Misato's face and the somewhat sheepish look on Shinji from having been caught talking about someone behind her back. "For future references, I went to finish getting ready" she continued, pushing off the wall and walking slowly towards him with a careful heal-toe motion that generated a rather implacable stride.

"Uh…noted" he muttered, his gaze not shifting a micron from her as she moved closer, actually finding herself somewhat pleased that she was able to get the Third Childs undivided attention as Asuka Langley Soryu as she halted in front of him with a challenging look on her face, letting her snakelike ponytail arc around to splay over her left shoulder and arm.

"How does my hair look now Third Child?" she actually dared, wondering if he would have the guts to…

"More stunning" he replied instantly, this time without the slightest hesitation and a genuine smile on his face.

"Well, did you expect anything less?" she muttered as her hands moved up and carefully realigned her hair behind her head, mostly to hide a formation flyover by the butterfly squadron in her stomach, only a slight flicker in her smile showing her true feelings to Shinji's honest and…well…kind words.

Misato caught it however, moving a hand in front of her mouth to cover a smile as she directed a very knowing look at her that, that in turn caused her own smile to twitch slightly wider.

"Come on Asuka, stop trying to make Shinji fall unconscious from blood loss, we have shopping to do!"

Ah yes.

Shopping.

In dealing with the spontaneous situation with Shinji, she had forgotten the enormous core event of the day.

Shopping…shopping…shopping!

She started to laugh, almost cackling in fact when she saw Shinji flinch away from her sudden enthusiasm.

Well well well, the Third Child is scared of a little shopping trip.

The possibilities …

This could be a very productive day indeed.

---

"Damn it, we're still five minutes early" Asuka pouted as they came up to the doors to the massive shopping center that formed the heart of the shopping district of Tokyo-3. Around them, small groups of people were arriving and waiting for the doors to open, from families to single shoppers to groups of older school kids ready to start spending money.

Not that they'll have anything on me when I'm finished Asuka thought as her mind tried to figure out how to get the doors to open, now!

"Hey Misato, try your access card and code on that lock!" she suggested, pointing to the security panel next to the door, knowing that senior NERV personnel's access cards could get them inside just about any place in Tokyo-3 thanks to the MAGI's interconnectivity…

"Asuka" Misato said with an amused look, "that code is for emergency use only".

Well true enough. All the access uses were logged and Misato would probably have some explaining to do if she used it for a non essential purpose.

But on the other hand…

"But this is an emergency!" she declared, pointing down the street at the familiar figure she saw moving toward them "Ayanami is coming and she needs new clothes, stat!"

Shinji and Misato turned to look. Sure enough, Rei was approaching and sure enough, she was dressed in her omnipresent school uniform. "She can't go shopping looking like that!"

"She…needs to go shopping, to go shopping?" Shinji asked in an all too male tone…

"What are you, stupid?" she asked by reflex as she turned to face him, flicking her hair and feeling slightly giddy that she got an equally reflexive widening of his eyes in response to her hair flying around her as she stepped closer, ignoring the appreciative comments from more then a few other guys in the local area. "She can't go shopping looking like that! It's just not done, don't you know anything?" she asked, actually admitting she had found a modest degree of enjoyment from her verbal fencing with Shinji over the last few days, though this morning he appeared to be a little distracted…which was too bad.

"I…uh…." was the response from the Third Child, causing Asuka to sigh. Yup, he wasn't on his game today…damn, she had clearly screwed his mind at breakfast.

Well, in that case, victory was hers. Perhaps she would tone down the teasing…just for today at least, to help everyone get alone.

"Humph. I thought as much! A typical male" she sighed, but in an overly dramatic way to ensure he knew she was joking, before turning towards Rei. "Hey! Ayanami, over here!" she waved, pretty sure she had gotten Rei's attention, but the First made no clear response, slightly irritating Asuka.

After all, this whole day was –mostly- for her benefit.

"Typical male?" Shinji was appealing to Misato in protest behind her, of course to no avail. No man would come between women on this subject!

"Yes Shinji, you're a typical male, but we women need typical males along with our shopping trips" Misato –rightly- pointed out to the Third.

"Well I am so glad to hear you say that" a new voice came in suddenly, causing Asuka's eyes to widen as she spun around, again her tightly gathered hair whiplashing around as she sought out-

YES!

"KAJI!" she shouted in joy, all but leaping across the distance that separated them as she crashed into her former guardian and clamped onto his arm with a delighted expression…though for the first time, part of her mind was not entirely sure in the same way she always had been around him. The look he had been giving Misato when she turned towards him…and Shinji's passing comments yesterday during a quick break from gyrating around the dance floor that Misato and Kaji really did still care a lot about each other but hid it deep…

In the deepest part of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder if she had never even been in contention in Kaji's mind…if he had never looked at her as anything more then a surrogate daughter…

She knew for a fact he really did care about her, it had been a lifeline she had held to though many dark times…and even more embarrassing incidents. Asuka's face still went bright red every time she remembered that night on Over the Rainbow. It had been the night before Shinji and the Stooges had arrived with Misato, she had found a nice little corner of the ship with a wonderful warm night to spend just watching the stars…and getting drunk on the beer Kaji had –reluctantly- let her partake in. Kaji had suggested in fact that on arriving in Japan, she would make lot of new boyfriends and that the Third Child in fact was a boy…

Of course, at that point in a half drunken insistence, she had declared that she didn't care about any 'brats' and that he was the only man for her…and she was ready to 'do the other stuff' with him.

On reflection now, she was more then smart enough to see that he had been trying to let her down gently by telling her that she was still a little too young…but her response of lifting up her dress –with no bra underneath- and flashing him, in hindsight, had probably been slightly too much, too fast.

But by the same token, his actions had proven he cared about her, from the way he had then gently helped her put the dress back on, walked her on her unsteady legs back to bed and quietly helped her get to sleep with a tender kiss on her forehead, never mentioning the incident to anyone,not even bringing it up with her…

But now, with Shinji's comment about their relationship hanging in her head and her memory of the way Kaji had glanced at Misato seconds ago…in a moment of cold, dispassionate logic, she wondered if she had ever had a chance at all.

Its not fair part of her mind wailed. They want us to be adults and fight their war for them, risk our lives for them but they still treat us like children in that way! No-one can possibly understand this…well…except perhaps-

"Hey there" Kaji suddenly said from next to her, snapping her attention back to him as she looked up at his grinning face. "I love that hairstyle" he commented as his eyes traced around her new cascade of hair.

"Really?" she replied in, for once, genuine surprise and delight. She was about to follow this up with her best 'cute' look and say 'well I did it for you' but…didn't.

She lied all the time,everyone lied all the time about little things like that she knew, but she found, strangely, that it just didn't feel…appropriate this time.

Tracing the thought, she found it was because, of all the things…that she didn't want to hurt Shinji's feelings? He had been the one to suggest that her impromptu hairstyle looked great and she should keep it after all…

It must be this team building stuff rubbing off on her.

Yeah, that was it. There was no reason to insult her teammate in that way, credit where credit was due, after all.

Sure Sister, you just keep telling yourself that…another voice snickered in her mind

Quiet you! She shouted back, delivering another mental kick to that voice that knocked it out.

"It was just an impromptu decision" she finally said, though only perhaps a second had passed in real time as she mentally battled. "So! You're coming shopping with me…err…us?"

"Well actually, yes and no" he said, to Asuka's confusion -and what she thought was Misato's relief?

Together again my ass Ikari...

"I came to grab Shinji; I thought we might go shopping for some boys stuff while you ladies have fun".

Wait, he can't take Shinji? I need him! This whole day of dragging him around and making him stutter as we all keep modeling clothes in front of him…

"But…but" Asuka stuttered as Rei approached out of the corner of her eye, "I…we, need him to carry everything!" she whined in protest, picking up the first out of the corner of her eye as she approached the group.

And to model in front of him any and all new bikini's that may be purchased, all -of course- in an effort to just get under his skin…and not show off your skin… the voice whispered once again in the back of her mind as it came around.

SHUT, UP Asuka bellowed, mentally picking up the equivalent of a two by four and pummeling the voice once and for all into silence.

"If you require male assistance to carry purchases" Rei spoke up as she joined the group in her quiet voice, "there are six Section Two agents currently assigned to watch us, any three of which could serve that function while leaving an acceptable bodyguard force".

"What?" Asuka demanded in surprise as she turned around. "Where?"

"There" Rei said, pointing towards a group of men who to Asuka, looked like nothing more then a bunch of casually dressed businessmen but when she studied them closely, she saw the air of detachment and observation that quickly marked then as Two-Delta, protective bodyguards…

Well, okay, perhaps Kaji was going to take Shinji away, for a short time at least. But she didn't have the slightest intention of lugging dozens of bags around for hours!

"Well that's not actually such a bad idea" Kaji grinned at them with an odd look on his face as Asuka let go of his arm and marched a few steps in their direction.

"Hey! You six" she demanded in her most imperious voice to get their attention, causing them to flinch slightly, but not look up -to her annoyance- forcing her to raise her voice. "Yes, you group of Two guys" she repeated in a somewhat less friendly tone, stabbing a finger at them and finally getting their undivided attention. "Over here, now!"

Clearly not exactly happy, but with no choice, they looked at each other and started over, their previously casual faces as they tried to pull off the 'friends shopping' routine vanishing behind the professional masks of NERV intelligence agents.

Well, Rei called it alright she smiled, turning around to her fellow pilot.

"That's some good team thinking First!" she smiled, then at this close range in this light, really started to see Rei.

Her skin was…well…a light mess of crud that was only visible from this range, her hair was the most basic possible cut with zero creativity and she lacked even the slightest hint of any kind of makeup at all…

Well, this certainly puts a new spin on things she thought, again cursing –and blaming- Shinji's father over Rei's current situation.

It wasn't exactly that she was best friends with the Girl…but Asuka saw in her a dangerous precedent. If NERV stated to think they could treat one of their most important personnel –an Evangelion pilot- so cheaply and so horribly, well, who's to say what might happen to her in the future?
Clearly, they had to be dissuaded of this.

Well that and she had to admit she felt a great deal of pity for the strange Girl after seeing the state of her living conditions and learning more about the one male role model she had in her life…

And in that spirit…

"Do you cut your hair yourself?" she demanded, looking at the split ends and slightly uneven lines before forgetting that line of thought and concentrating on the tiny splotches on her skin. "Hell, what kind of skin products are you using?"

"Just…soap" Rei replied in a slightly surprised sounding voice.

Asuka submitted at that point –in German- that Rei was not just a tomboy, but the übertomboy of übertomboys. And while another person might have just given up and done a bear minimum…well…she loved a challenge.

"Okay, new plan" she declared in a firm voice, taking charge as thoughts raced through her mind. Rei was in no shape to go shopping for clothes…

"FIRST we get you a makeover, and then we go shopping!" Asuka decided before, on reflection, deciding that although of course she didn't need it, some time in a beauty salon didn't sound like a half bad way to start the day. "Hell, makeovers for all three of us!" she declared at Misato, causing her guardian to beam in joy at the idea, Asuka guessing she couldn't often afford or take the time out to visit such a place…and Asuka felt that she sort of owed at least something to Misato for taking her in.

Wait, didn't she hate that idea?

"T..Thank you" Rei replied eventually with a slight blush on her face, as if surprised at the idea of being taken for a makeover…or perhaps shocked that someone could care for her, or take such a feminine interest?

Asuka just grinned at her as the agents come over.

"You wanted to talk to us?" a cool voice, modulated to let someone knew that they were doing something rather stupid suddenly broke into her thoughts, causing Asuka to turn around to face six rather annoyed looking Section Two agents, who had dropped all pretenses of being harmless window shoppers, for the moment.

Oh they would pay for taking that tone with her…

"Yes" Misato declared imperiously, stepping up next to Asuka, in a tone that suggested they really should listen very carefully. "As of this moment, three of you-"

"Four" Asuka corrected as she did a mental calculation of the amount of clothes Rei would need to fill a completely empty wardrobe with a bear minimum of attire…

"-Four of you are reassigned to porter detail, you get the honor of carrying our purchases today. The other two can stay on shadow detail, decide among yourselves".

The lead agent looked like he was about to protest for a second, but a long, level look from Misato clearly let him know the futility of debate.

With a nod and a locked jaw, he turned around and the six started arguing in a heated tone about who would have the questionable 'honor' of becoming her…their mules for the day.

"That's some nice work Misato" Asuka said in an impressed tone of voice.

Asuka always approved of a proper use of authority by a confident woman.

Misato grinned, then as the four 'lucky' agents approached, took them aside to begin briefing them. At the same time, Shinji ambled over to Rei, leaving just her and Kaji alone.

"So" Asuka said in a tone of forced cheerfulness. "What are you going to take Shinji to buy?"

"Oh, probably some clothes and a few bits and pieces" Kaji shrugged amiably. "Mostly we just want to have to some to chat together about a few things".

"Well he needs someone with fashion sense, all that baka ever bother to put on is that school uniform. Hell Kaji, he's almost as bad as Rei, he could look far better if he just tried a little…"

"Interesting" Kaji nodded with a slight smile on his face.

"Now what is that supposed to mean?" she demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"Oh not much…its just that you appeared to be paying rather close attention to Shinji if you know what's in his wardrobe, for someone who only just moved in two days ago…"

"Wh…by…arg! Don't say things like that Kaji!" Asuka protested, suddenly feeling mortified as she realized what she had said.

"Oh just go with your feelings Asuka" Kaji laughed. "It's how Misato and I got together the first time…now that was a wild ride".

"What do you see in her?" she protested quickly at the opening, to change the subject…and out of a morbid curiosity.

What don't you see in me? I can change!

"Oh, you would have had to be there" Kaji temporized with a knowing smile. "If you had asked anyone before we got together, I don't think anyone would have accepted that we had a chance in hell for a serious relationship in college…but put two people close enough together for long enough to start to see the true other person, where you can answer that question of 'who are you'…and sometimes, the answer can be surprising".

That answer greatly disturbed Asuka for a reason she didn't quite understand, but before she could open her mouth to continue, she heard a rattle and spun to see the doors to the shopping center retracting into the roof and the crowd start to run inside.

"Scheiße!" Asuka cursed, spinning away from Kaji to Misato. "Alright! Lets do this thing!" Asuka ordered, ready to grab Rei and sprint for the beauty salon to get makeovers…except for one little thing.

She didn't know where it was.

"Misato, where is-"

"Right this way!" Misato grinned, before she saw Rei in a far too calm mood simply looking at them. Turning back to her, Misato raised an eyebrow and understanding came quickly to Asuka, stepping around to take one arm and left Misato the other, pulling the surprised First Child into motion as they sprinted inside, pulling her near manically along as they raced through the almost deserted shopping center, their escorts working to keep up with the energetic women as they finally arrived at their goal.

The 'Beauty Complex' was a large, all in one facility that offered everything to tend to a woman's needs. From facials to nails to massages to haircuts to whatever else one might want or need.
"Greetings" the woman on the counter started to say as the trio arrived, probably the first customers of the day, but Asuka was far too excited to exchange the usual pleasantries…she always got this way when spending money.

"We need everything, the works, for all three of us!" she smiled widely.

"Certainly" the woman said in a slight tone that wasn't quite condescending, but definitely sounded as if she found it a trifle difficult to believe these two kids and…their friend -clearly too young to be their mother- none of whom she had seen before could afford such a service. "For all three of you? That will be six hundred thousand Yen".

The counter clerk was clearly expecting them to stop, talk among themselves and then ask for a more reasonable service, but Asuka took a great delight in taking out her NERV ID card and handing it over. It had been reconfigured by the local MAGI system after she had first arrived at the security barrier to the Geofront, forcing her to insert her card into a reader for thirty seconds, rather then just swipe it like she normally would. A program had run in the background as she logged in, updating her file to formally transfer her from NERV-3 to NERV-Central, doing all the 'housekeeping' to update her address, transferring the balance of her German account to a local Japanese account NERV had opened and reformatting her card as a Japanese EFPTOS capable 'smart card', giving her a general ID card and unlimited access to public transport, one of the perks of being an Eva pilot.

But it was unusual to say the least that a fourteen year old Girl would have such a card. They were not exactly rare in Tokyo-3 for obvious reasons, but they were also not so prevalent that they were a very common sight.

The sales clerk swiped the card and 600,000 yen was promptly debited from Asuka's account, which currently stood at six and a half million. The clerk raised an eyebrow and handed it back, making a shrewd guess at just who these two children were from rumors that circulated about the pilots of those robots that fought those monsters...

"Please, accept my apologies for my tone" she said in that formal Japanese apologetic way that Asuka's European mind still found confusing as she handed back the card, gesturing to a series of chairs just inside. "Please take a seat, our people will be with you in a minute". Without a word, she led the group back into a small, but very well appointed waiting room as another sales rep took her place on the front counter, before she vanished through one of several doors from the room.

The store manager was just finishing her own daily routine to open up when the front desk receptionist walked in and in a terse thirty second conversation, told her what she suspected about the first customers of the day.

Swiftly, the manager left her room to the staff break room, where the several dozen strong employee force for today was getting ready, snapping orders of exactly what she expected of her staffs performance for the first customers, before telling the receptionist to call and rearrange the day's schedules as needed.

Though as one would expect by the rules of Japanese culture, the manger would never confront or inquire the truth from 'her' customers, she trusted the receptionist and agreed with her conclusions, greeting the her first customers of the day with a deep bow and asking them to follow into the next part of the large, modern complex. Two of the customers, a young girl with beautiful red hair and an older –but still young- women moved with barely concealed enthusiasm, while the third obediently followed with a curious expression as they sat down and removed their shoes, letting teams of elite Pedicurists and Manicurists get to work.

Nothing but the best for these heroes, was now the standing order of the day.

---

Asuka, as a student of beauty –namely her own- was very familiar with the various techniques and methods to generate a good pedicure and she was thus able to recognize experts when she saw them.

Even so, they took the time to complement her on the condition of her nails as they refined her work. Poor Misato's nails were –understandably perhaps- half destroyed from 'tension induced nibbling' as the technician delicately put it.

None the less, they did a very impressive job in cleaning the mess up in even Asuka's opinion. And while Misato was still having her fingernails repaired, Asuka was enjoying a small set of Acrylic nails being carefully joined to her own, then painted a beautiful, glossy red that looked identical to the finish on Unit Two. Unfortunately, she had to pass on the longer and, in her mind, more elegant nails, but quickly realized there was little chance they would ever fit into a plug suit without snapping…and that just wouldn't do at all. Though she made a mental note to talk to Doctor Akagi, to see if there was any way to alter a plug suit to better accommodate extended nails…even though she had a feeling the answer would be 'go away Asuka, I'm working' or something equally chilly.

Still, even with the addition of the new fingernails the other two had declined, Asuka was 'finished' first, allowing her to sit back and sigh in pleasure, admiring the reflection of the lights in the room on her newest features, wondering idly if these could be 'mature' enough to tease Kaji back towards her…

Probably not, she admitted to herself in a dispassionate moment of intellectual honesty, before her emotions kicked back in and overruled logic.

But it might be a first step on that path…

Finally though, the other two were done, Rei interestingly taking the longest. Although her nails were in somewhat reasonable condition, their lack of shaping and any real attention had necessitated the most effort…but Asuka approved of the suddenly gleaming nails that stood out, Rei herself appearing to be fascinating with the effect of light shimmering on them…

This is not an unpleasant outcome" Rei finally said after her meticulous inspection was complete, looking up to smile slightly at them. "I believe this was quite an…enjoyable experience" she then stated to them, before turning to reach for her neatly placed shoes and socks.

"Hold it" Asuka ordered with a frown at Rei's actions, "where do you think you're going?"

"We are finished" Rei said to her, like she was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.

Holy hell, Rei really is utterly clueless Asuka thought in shock, before she shook her head and a grin worked its way onto her face. Well, she was in for a shock over the next parts of the services she had selected with the clerk, walking over to the confused looking First.

"Finished? Oh Rei, you're priceless. Come on, we've barely started!" she said, firmly but gently taking her by the wrist and leading her into the next room, following the demure looking young Japanese lady who was 'in charge' of their group, as she passed through a 'bead door' into into a room filled with another half dozen people and three small 'tables', separated by screens, though the room looked like it had been partitioned from a much larger room.

Oh she loved a good massage. NERV in Germany as part of her ongoing physical training had had a staff of physical therapists who often after a particularly strenuous session had helped her into a state of relaxation, but it had been almost a year since she had actually needed one.

"This" she declared as she let go of Rei's hand and headed for the nearest 'bed' come table, "is the best part". Rei looked a little confused, but obediently moved to the next table in line after a polite gesture from the people there, with Misato heading for the furthest away. Asuka slowly stripped out of her clothes, painstakingly careful in folding them into a near pile next to her shoes which had been brought in from the next room, until she was in her underwear. Lying face down on the very comfortable table, she reached nimbly behind her to removed her bra, slide it off the front and toss it in the general direction of her clothes, feeling a thick towel then placed across her backside. The slightly cool air caused her skin to slightly break out in Goosebumps, followed by a slight giggle as she felt her nipples harden slightly.

"Chilly in here isn't it?" Misato called out at her giggle in a slightly naughty voice, causing a sudden feeling of shock to pass through Asuka's mind and her head to spin to the right and only seining the Japanese style folding screen there, turning back to the downward 'hole' headrest, which looked at a currently switched off plasma TV. No, there was no way that Misato could possibly have guessed that was what she was laughing at…could she?

Any further speculation was halted as Asuka suddenly felt a thick oil dribble onto her skin, making her shiver slightly, before a pair of delicate, but firm hands pressed into her back and started to work her muscles, the oil quickly spreading to reduce frication. Asuka felt her muscles tense slightly at the contact before she forced them to relax and let the hands, soon joined by two more on her right leg, do their work.

She however, was not passive and started soon to give out instructions as the 'itch' started to come, areas that just begged for attention from the hands and her orders were instantly followed, though the pleasurable spasms that soon started to run through her muscles tended to limit them to grunts of 'higher', 'lower', 'left', 'right' and repetitive demands of 'Harder!', followed by deep moans when they hit 'the spot'.

Though soon even that stopped as she let the relaxing and pleasurable hands slowly rub her into a light doze…

She was lying on her futon in the living room with Shinji next to her as they both vainly tried to get to sleep after a days hard training on that accursed dance machine. Granted, they had made quite good progress after they had finally started to settle into some kind of synchronization, but both of them had been too tired after a day of simulated Eva vs Angel combat in which Misato and Akagi hadn't cut them the slightest slack, simulating Angel attacks with the known five Angels, but variations that moved faster, hit harder and even attacked in teams themselves, forcing the pilots to work together.

And after a few false starts, they really had started to work together in their group of three machines with, naturally, herself proving to be the perfect leader of the group, but still just a part of the whole team who fought as one.

Pleased with their performance, Misato had let them off easy with only an hour of that stupid dance machine, before they had been allowed to crash to bed early, feeling a little tired and sore from their long, long day.

Except for the slight problem that they couldn't sleep.

Her muscles ached from the workout they had received over the day, despite her careful regimen of warmup and cooldown exercises. They didn't ache so much to hurt, but the ache was almost universal and immensely distracting to her attempts to get some damn sleep.

After half an hour of trying, she rolled over in disgust onto her back and sighed, glancing at Shinji across from her. Misato, denying such an early end to the nights work, had headed back in to NERV for some reason or another, leaving them alone. It was a remarkable statement on how confident she was they could be trusted to look after themselves, when Asuka thought about it…

'Shinji'

There was no response.

'Shinji' she said slightly more insistently, turning her head this time to look at him.

Still no response…though now she could see the headphones to that primitive SDAT of his.

Ah, easy to fix she thought, reaching over and plucking an earphone out, causing him to jump slightly and turn in surprise, before he removed the other and paused his tape.

'What?' he asked in a tone of tired annoyance.

'My back is aching' she complained.

'Well, go have a shower or something. What do you expect me to do about it?'

'Well, you could rub my shoulders'.

'…Asuka, the last male to touch your shoulders -who wasn't Kaji- was down in the nurses office for the rest of the day'.

'He didn't ask' she pointed out in a reasonable tone. 'And he was a creep with too high an opinion of himself'.

'Oh?' he asked with a raised eyebrow. 'So then, what am I?'

'Oh your still a stooge' she said freely with a hint of a smile on her face. 'But a good class of stooge. And if you trust me enough to hit an Angel with a positron cannon classified as a weapon of mass destruction and not you when I'm watching your back, then I think I can trust you to touch mine, when I ask you to'.

'Well…fair point I guess' he admitted, removing his earplugs. 'So, why should I when I want to just get to sleep?'

'Because as my teammate, you should respect my needs and accede to them in the interests of the team'.

She could tell that this logic wasn't quite enough for a dubious Shinji, so she shrugged.

'Or because if I don't get this under control somehow, I'll probably have a very bad night which means you'll have a very bad night which means I'll be ticked off tomorrow morning. And you don't want that'.

There was a moments silence.

'I'm not getting out of this am I?' he asked.

'No' she agreed.

He sighed, but edged up. 'Well…what do I do?'

Asuka rolled over towards him, onto her stomach. She was wearing rather little, just a yellow T-Shirt and some shots, neither without anything on under them and without ceremony, hiked her shirt up.

'Uh Asuka, you don't have a bar on'.

'Congratulations Baka, you don't need glasses' she muttered into the pillow under her mouth. 'Now, start with my shoulders'.

Slowly, hesitatingly, Shinji reached over and lightly pressed his fingers into her shoulders, moving them in circular motions. Impatient, Asuka had barked out for him to press harder, then again and again until finally, he was sufficiently annoyed by her insults that he didn't have a clue what he was doing, he really did press harder, eliciting a moan from her that surprised both of them, but Asuka put behind them as she directed him to go lower…and lower…and lower…until she was sure his face was as Red as her Evangelions paint job, his fingers in contact with the waistband on her pants…

'Ohh that's so good' she murmured in a silky voice as his hands danced up and down her back, rapidly soothing the tension that had built up all day…the, surprisingly, she felt his hands almost daringly edge to the side of her back, towards her breasts. Her heart stopped as she felt the fingers tantalizingly get closer…and closer…then stop, right on the edge of her suddenly hot feeling 'female attributes'-

'Don't stop Baka she hissed as the rather pleasurable feelings cut off with the cessation of his hands.

She felt his hesitation at her order like a heavy blanket in the air…then ever so slowly, as if expecting a counter order, he started up again…his fingers slowly descending away from her back…and a primal, electrical feeling starting to surge as they moved down her sides, lower…and lower…and lower-

Asuka snapped her eyes open with a gasp as the hands ceased their motions, snapping her out of her day dream like a switch had been thrown.

Mien Got, she thought in horror. Okay, Sexual tension between people forced into a close environment like her and Shinji, was one that.

But THAT kind of dream…

And to her shock, she found that much of the 'primal feelings' she had felt had not gone away when she woke up…the 'pointy end of the twins' feeling almost numb with pleasure-

Oh of course she thought in sudden, pure relief. That makes sense, they were 'excited' by the cold by the time I lay down, then as I was massaged, they were rubbed against the fabric of this bed and got stimulated…and the rest was just my mind making up some dream based on current events, nothing about it at all!

Sure, you just keep thinking that that frigen voice chuckled from the depths of her mind once again.

Ignoring it, she got up and luxuriated in the feeling on her toned, firm muscles feeling relaxed and loose, feeling yesterdays efforts on that thrice cursed dance machine wiped out as she belted on the offered robe, taking care to not tighten it too much…the last thing she wanted was the blasted thing rubbing against her breasts again, as her arousal faded behind the bliss of her muscles. Nodding in approval and thanks at the two women already packing up who offered respectful bows, she stepped around the screen to find Misato in her own robe looking in amusement at Rei, who remained on the table and unresponsive.

"I think she's asleep" Asuka muttered from Rei's left, crossing her arms as she gazed down at the breathing, but otherwise unresponsive First Child, trying not to gaze too much at her perfect skin. Its tone was a little too light for her, but it wasn't as if she was an albino or anything. More then a few girls would kill for skin like that...

Not Asuka, she was proud of her perfect skin after all. But with just a little effort, she might be able to turn Rei into someone who looked as special as she really was.

After all, an Evangelion pilot was by definition one of the, if not the, most special person in the world, one in a billion, give or take. And it was about damn time Rei started to be treated like that!

"Be nice Asuka" Misato chided her, reaching down to lightly tough Rei on her shoulder. "Rei, it's time to move on".

Rei slowly responded, raising her head first out of the headrests and slowly opening her scarlet eyes to look around, apparently unconcerned with the way her breasts were on display to her teammate and superior officer –which was good considering the next room- and arched her back with the slightest of shuddering breaths. After a few seconds, she nimbly swung her legs up and across to sit on the bed, letting Misato put her own robe on her before she stood, tied it off and took a deep breath in, with an odd look on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked, feeling a slight concern at the state of her fellow pilot's suddenly almost fragile looking state.

"I am…content" Rei replied with a slight smile at her.

Interesting choice of words she thought, but Asuka shrugged –good enough- and headed for the next room with Rei following obediently after her as they passed through a pair of quite thick glass doors, into a humid large, dimly lit room.

The large spa was the size of a small swimming pool, bubbling with a veritable cocktail of chemicals and finished with a 'rocky' look as it was sunken into sandstone tiles, albeit smoothed off and with a slick surface inside hidden under the rampage of bubbles. Rei, to Asuka's faint surprise, unceremoniously dumped her robe, then her underwear and stepped in, almost looking eager to get into the water…and finally confirming Asuka's somewhat embarrassing question of if blue was Rei's natural color.

Deciding to follow her example, Asuka also dumped her robe and underwear and splashed down into the water, followed by Misato. She caught an odd looking scar on Misato's chest for a second, but it vanished as she hit the writhing, bubbling water and Misato leaned back, sighing in pure relaxation.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" she asked her guardian as she closed her eyes.

"Uh huh" she agreed. "You kids just get the honor of risking your lives to kill the Angels. I get the singular honor the Commander and Vice Commander devolved to me to do all the paperwork cleaning up the messes you, Shinji and Rei make".

"Well why can't you devolve the responsibility?" she asked, enjoying the bubbles writhing and bursting against her skin by the thousands.

"Can't" she sighed. "UN regulations require someone of my rank to deal with the aftermath of each of these skirmishes. Everyone from signing some stupid report on how many shells the defensive buildings fired to Ritsuko's repair bills to the rocket fuel for those Eva transports…it takes a week to really finish the battle, even after the Angel is dead".

"I had no idea" Asuka said in some surprise and even a little sympathy, then she realized the last two Angels attacking timeline...
"Oh man, the last two Angels attacked only a couple of days apart" she breathed.

Misato chuckled at that, and it was the chuckle of a cat who had finally found the cream…

"Oh that's okay. Actually, the UN fleet had to deal with almost all of the paperwork for your first battle and you two managed to blast the Seventh on the shore away from Tokyo-3, so the paperwork was only a tiny fraction of what it would normally be. Hell, since you came, my job has actually become easier".

"Heh, well I am to please" she shrugged, trying to think of a way to ask her about that scar…when she suddenly noticed a series of items laid out carefully at the edge.

"Oh looky, we got these cool things!" she said, leaning out to pick up three pairs of orange, oversized gloves up. She tossed one set to Misato, who looked at them and shrugged, placing them to the side and shutting her eyes, lying back with a content sigh.

Well.

No help there.

So instead she tossed a pair to Rei, who stared and fiddled with them curiously as she swam over.

"Okay, you do my back and I'll do yours" Asuka ordered, knowing that it was damn near impossible to properly do ones back. And with all that oil from the massage pressed into her skin, she wanted this done right.

"I…do not..." Rei hesitated, causing Asuka to roll her eyes to the roof. Okay, baby steps then.

"Okay okay". "Look, I'll do your back first then, pay attention then do mine, okay?"

"Understood" Rei agreed, turning to present her back. Carefully, she maneuvered up next to Rei, marveling in the softness of her skin as her thighs lightly brushed against hers as she squirted a measure of the exfoliating body wash onto Rei's back, watching a charming shiver in response, before gently at first, then more and more briskly worked with the gloves to exterminate the upper layers of her epidermis. It only took a few minutes and then she stopped, turning and impatiently commanding Rei to do her back, so then they could separate and work on the rest of their bodies in private.

Rei obediently squirted a measure of the same body wash onto her back and used the gloves to work her skin…

And while she did at least an adequate job, better then she could have done with her own hands, she continually hesitated and got distracted, not able to work a consistent motion up. She just wasn't as skilled as she was, unfortunately...though that held true for most people when compared to her.

No matter, eventually Asuka declared it good enough and retired to Misatos end of the pool to leave Rei in peace, only occasionally having to wake Misato before she slid in and started to drown as she worked the rest of her body lightly.

---

An hour or so later, Asuka was leaning over a sink with her eyes shut, feeling the light jet of water systematically moving down her face and washed off the layers of facial chemicals applied to her face, followed by a soft, absorbing towel that patted it dry carefully and gently. Finally however, a voice told her she could open her eyes and she complied, blinking as she stood. A mirror was offered by one of the women and Asuka accepted it, looking carefully over her face at close range.

Oh man she was looking hot.

She took good care of her face, but the systematic treatments by professionals had imparted a glow to her face, without the slightest blemish showing.

Grinning and infecting the normally somber and calm technician with the same grin, she handed the mirror back and bowed, before stepping around the sink and the chair she had sat in for the last hour, to enter the tiny changing room that sat open with her clothes sitting nearly folded on the bench.

She removed her second robe and hung it on a convenient hook, before dressing again, careful not to disrupt her clothes. This whole makeover was only part one of the day, after all and it wouldn't do to get them wrinkled.

Fortuantly, the people here had handled her clothes with great care and she soon looked identical to when she had dressed this morning.

Well, except for the even more perfect skin, glowing scarlet fingernails and slightly mussed hair.

Though the later should only be a problem for a short time, as she did her best to straighten it out, the bath of chemicals in that spa probably not the best for it.

Smiling at the reflection in the small mirror, she exited the room and found both Rei and Misato dressed; Misato looking pretty much the same as always, if quite happy at how their day was going so far.

Rei's at first glance looked to be the same as she had always been in the week or so Asuka had known her - albeit with her skin now all but glowing, but a closer look showed her eyes were focused on almost nothing and she had wrapped her arms around her chest, shivering slightly as she ran her hands gently up and down her arms.

The sight was slightly disturbing to Asuka for some reason, but she shrugged as she emerged and jumped into place near the other two women.

"Well, are we having fun yet Rei?" Asuka asked, actually hoping the answer was yes. As much as she was enjoying today, it was technically about taking Rei shopping after all. This side trip was just because Asuka had decided decisive action was needed after seeing the condition of Rei's skin and hair.

Then they could go shopping.

"Yes…" Rei admitted to her, which caused Asuka to sigh tollerntly, but Misato to raise an eyebrow at Rei's frank admission of enjoyment…

"Oh lighten up" Asuka said, stepping closer to Rei, not realizing this was probably about as 'light' Rei had gotten in a rather long time. "The question is, what are we going to do with this…style" she finished, barely stopping from using other words that came to mind as she looked at the all but 'tomboy' haircut.

"Oh, I know someone who might be able to help" Misato said as they were led into the next and final room.

"Misato!" a man with an odd accent said in surprise and delight, all but floating across the room to the Captain as Misato skipped forward with a big grin on her face, taking her hands in his as both leaned in an 'air kissed' the others cheeks to Asuka's amusement, her 'Gaydar' exploding as she studied the person.

This guy was just about every stereotype of the European male beautician rolled into one, from the violent, bright purple shirt, to the braid to the Italian loafers…Ironically, she had never seen such a person in her own travels around Munich or Berlin, yet halfway around the world in the first place she stepped into…

"Hey there Francesco" Misato said happily. "I brought some friends with me".

"So I see" he said, gesturing the two girls forward, Asuka obediently stepping up quickly, Rei following somewhat more sedately, causing Asuka to be the first target of the mans interested look.

"Oh wow, I mean wow;I love the hair" he said in appreciation. Asuka let a slightly impish smile fall across her face and rotated with a surprising grace to let her still loose hair fly around before striking an all too 'cute' pose for the stylist, who sighed.

"Yeah, where were you fifteen years ago? If I was like twenty years younger and attracted to the opposite gender, I would so ask you out" he said causing Asuka to giggle slightly.

She had never been hit on by a gay man after all…at least she hoped he was gay.

Otherwise, he was dead.

"Hmm" Francesco said with a raised eyebrow as Asuka waited in front of him, suddenly feeling an irrational nervousness at being judged by this man as he tapped his foot, before he reached out to lightly push the side of her head. Asuka went with the feeling, tilting her head slightly as he studied her hair closely before he backed off with a smile. "I'm thinking…take an inch off the length, trim this fringe back and…really, really straighten it out?"

'It just looks…really…really…stunning…'

Well, he may be a Baka…but that complement came from the heart. And damn it, I do look good.

"Can…can you put it back into something like a braid or ponytail?" she inquired almost hesitatingly, wondering

"Oh I love that" he breathed in almost a giddy voice at the shear gall of the idea, turning to a Japanese woman waiting patiently and calmly. "Aki, that whole braid thing you have going, I expect magic! Take a seat and hold on Girl, you're in for a wild ride!"

The next hour again passed quickly, though still very pleasantly as she struck up a conversation in German with this Francesco, who spoke with the slightest accent she guessed placed him as an Austrian, a delighted hairdresser confirming this as he also guessed her Prussian heritage, the two chatting away about all manner of things from 'their' neck of the woods, as this Aki girl firmly worked her hair with a will.

"So" he finally asked as he started to hack away at Rei's hair in a blur of motion, his eyes not leaving his client as he worked his 'magic', "you're a long way from home, what are you doing in Japan?"

"Exchange student" she supplied her primary cover story with a smile to him.

Stupid story, everyone would know soon enough who she was. And how was she, a College graduate supposed to maintain the pretence of a school kid anyway?

"Ahh" he said in interest at her story. "I'm surprised, given the cost of air travel these days, that you came this far".

"Well it wasn't an air trip" Asuka said truthfully. "We, uh me and my chaperone, came down the Trans Siberian Railway and took a…ship from Vladivostok".

No need to say she had in fact been chaperoning an Evangelion and the 'ship' was the flagship of most of the combined UN fleet…

That trip had been somewhat crazy. NERV or the UN had, with remarkable foresight, upgraded the Trans Siberian in the years since Second Impact to the new 'super-heavy' grade of railway track, quite a task for the longest railway in the world. The official reason was to provide a backbone for massive cargo shipments from Europe to the newly viable resource fields in the post Second Impact Siberia and back again…but it had also meant the super-heavy flatbed trucks could, just, lug Unit Two across the European continent from the Berlin terminus to the Russian East coast. The only other alternative, that of using an Evangelion 909 transport was viable, but would take roughly forty Airbus A380-T tankers spread evenly across the distance to support it, a cost that had been deemed patiently unnecessary with the railway. It would be a pinch, but it was good enough.

Though the cost of the total loss of a third of the combined UN fleet in the effort however, would probably skew future UN thinking over the airborne delivery vector…

This was a pity as she had quite enjoyed her trip over the wilderness in the train…

Finally, Aki declared her work finished, causing Francesco to bustle over and inspect the work for himself, before sighing in pleasure and declaring it finished, holding up a mirror for Asuka to view in her mirror.

Her fringe was loose, scattering over her forehead and down to her eyes with darker highlights running through it that gave her a wonderfully dangerous look, but the rest of her hair had been neatly bound into a single, elegant French braid to just about where her high collar rested, and from there was a loose splay tied off with her red ribbon, the hair revitalized with a hurried wash and highlighting treatment…

And damn, it looked good.

Why in the hell didn't I ever think of something like this before? She wondered, making a note to at least…well…acknowledge Shinji for the idea…even if she should rightly take credit for moving it to its logical conclusion.

Shrugging, she pushed her way through the doors smiling at the staff who collectively bowed at her, to the slight confusion of the now packed reception area. Misato was just outside, her hair turned into a rippled wave that cascaded loosly down her shoulders and back. In an amusing irony, Misato had abandoned her ponytail style just as Asuka had taken it up.

"Hey, that looks great" Misato complemented her.

"You too" she nodded back. "Rei is going to be longer, he had just finished the last washing when I had left.

"Might be a good time ot get her something to put before we go shopping" Misato pointed out.

"That's not a bad idea" Asuka admitted, noting that time was getting on and nodding at what she recognized as a reasonably priced general clothing store for girls her age, already busy with a bustling traffic of girls, half of whom needed to loose about ten percent of their body mass before stepping through the doors, but well, if they wanted to wear clothes utterly unsuited for them, that just made herlook better…

A quick but expert raid by the two women soon had a selection of clothes that Asuka wondered if they weren't a trifle too daring for the rather timid Rei, but Misato assured her that Rei wasn't timid in any way, just quiet.

After thinking back on the utterly unashamed way Rei had disrobed without a seconds thought, Asuka admitted that Misato might have something there…

They paid for their purchases and reveled in the envious looks from nine out of the ten women in the store at their fresh makeovers, great clothes and hot bodies, before walking back to the Beauty Center, Asuka bounding back inside with the bags.

Her timing was equisite, finding Rei heading for-

Woah.

THAT was REI?

Her hair was amazingly exotic, a loose thin fringe reaching to her eyes creating a barrier between her deep scarlet eyes and adding yet more mystery to the young woman, while a far more thinned out top, that lookeddisorderly in a paradoxically orderly way gave her fifteen times the personality, two thin waves reaching down either side of her face to bracket it.

Wow was the thought that came to her mind at the different person in front of her.

But it would take more then that to eliminate her equilibrium.

"Oh hey, you finished! Perfect! Look I got you some clothes to change into, before we go shopping. I looked outside and well, there are so many people around today, I didn't want you to be seen in that damn uniform while we're shopping!"

"You went shopping…so I can go shopping?" Rei asked with a raised eyebrow that was so Rei it shattered the illusion the haircut created.

Yup, that's Rei alright.

"What are you, Shinji's Sister or something?" she muttered, recalling the exact same confused question from the Third Child earlier, rolling her eyes with a sigh. So she still had a way to go…but this was a huge improvement, soon to become a quantum leap.

"Look, just put these on" she said, shoving the bags into her hands, then turning to the other person in the room. "Hey Francesco, can Rei just use you're change room, real quick?"

"Honey, knowing your fashion sense, Rei can use it for as long as she likes" he said back as he packed away his tools, getting a grin from Asuka and a blush from Rei as the Second pushed the First into the room and shut the door.

After Rei was safely ensconced, Asuka stepped over to Francesco and feeling oddly bold, gave him a hug.

"Thank you" she said simply. "She looks…well.."

"Hot?" he supplied.

"Well getting there" she grinned. "Wait till you see her come out…" she left it hanging as she stepped out for the last time, enjoying the way her hair moved and felt…

"You give the clothes to Rei?" Misato asked as she rejoined her a hundred meters or so away casually browsing through some clothes racks, the quartet of Section Two agents looking rather miserable, each holding a pair of bags Misato explained was filled with basic necessities for Rei.

Ah, Misato had already dragged them through the women's hygiene section of that chemist a few doors down.

Damn, she had really wanted to see that…

"Yup" Asuka nodded.

"I hope they weren't too much of a change for her" Misato said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh relax, its all good" Asuka said in a dismissive tone that slightly worried Misato.

"Well I hope so" her guardian replied, now second guessing her impulsive earlier decisions. "This is supposed to be a day about bonding with her; I'd rather not start a feud that might explode into 'Evangelions at dawn' or something".

"We're allowed to duel in our Evas?" Asuka asked in genuine interest.

Perhaps she could work out that 'frustration' with Shinji by beating his Eva to a pulp…

"Well…no, but we might find some kind of simulation model or something…later" Misato shrugged, giving up on the clothes and walking out to the railing that circled this level of the long rectangular building and looked down to the ground floor one level below. "But we have a whole heap of training simulations where you'll learn to work together in pairs with both Shinji and Rei, with a third providing fire support in turn and I'd rather not have you or her start shooting each other in the back in front of the Commander".

"Yeah..." Asuka said, glancing down over the railing they were both leaning against, "do you know much about him?"

"The Commander? A bit" Misato said carefully. What do you want to know?"

"I just…do you know what happened between him and Shinji?" she asked.

Misato raised an eyebrow, but looked away as she thought about how much she could tell Asuka without violating carefully placed Shinji's trust.

"You really would have to ask Shinji about that Asuka" Misato said, before sighing slightly. "But all I can tell you…Shinji doesn't consider him his Father. Oh he acknowledges the biological fact…but for all intents and purposes, he is alone in this world, he doesn't have any family. Except for us and his few friends and frankly, that's why I need you to get on with him and Rei, to learn to work together. I…can't tell you about what happened to his Mother, but you two are more alike then you-"

"He told me" Asuka said shortly. "I…I made a stupid joke about this time when we were together as kids he told me about…and he told me all about what had happened to his Mother…"

Alarm bells went off in Misato's head as Asuka slowly turned her face to Misato.

"What happened to his Mother…it…" she took a deep breath "it was the same thing, more or less, that happened to mine, wasn't it?"

How in the hell did I end up in the middle of this minefield without a map? Misato wondered in amazement. Perhaps I'm drinking too much…no…wait, I haven't had a beer in three days…perhaps I'm not drinking enough?

Confusing. I'll have to ask Ritsuko.

"Misato?" Asuka repeated, sounding more insistent this time.

"Asuka…you know I hadn't joined NERV until long after what happened to both your Mothers" Misato hedged.

"That isn't answering my question" she pointed out.

God damn German University courses on logic! She thought about just lying through her teeth…but damn it, how could she, her guardian and CO for less then a week betray her trust like that by dodging the hard questions?

"Look, Asuka…all I know is from some coffee talk with Akagi after Shinji arrived and confronted his Father and no I am not going to tell you what happened there-"

"He told me" Asuka said again to Misato's exasperation, that he was opening up so quickly to Asuka and still so closed to her…

"But did you tell him?" Misato challenged her. "About your Mother?"

"…No" Asuka admitted after a long, drawn out silence in a low voice. "I…I wanted to...but…I just…couldn't".

"You know, he's probably going to kill me for telling you this, but I never told him anything about you" Misato said after a few seconds of Asuka clearly wrestling with her inner demons.

"But…on theRainbow, when you, he and the stooges got off the-"

"I know" Misato shrugged slightly. "I have no idea how he learned what he did about you or why he said that I always talked about you, but it didn't come from me. I intended you all to be a surprise for him and hadn't told him anything more then your name once, in passing. No offense intended

"None taken" Asuka murmured as her perception of Shinji changed yet again…

He was like a rubix cube. Every time she thought she had come closer to understanding an aspect of him, another side of him mutated…

"I'm not putting you through this team training for the fun of it" Misato continued. "As a pilot, tell me, honestly please Asuka…when Shinji told you to go for the core of the Seventh, were you thinking of him at all? Working with him?"

"No" she admitted after several long seconds of surprisingly honest thought, in an even more sotto voice.

"You've seen the combat replay, seen how he matched you step for step, move for move, without you even noticing. I have no idea how he did that and frankly, neither does Ritsuko; he's never done anything like that in the simulations, not even with Rei…just you". Misato turned to face Asuka who was looking at her out of the corner of her eyes. "If you can work and learn to do the same with him Asuka, then Rei with the both of you and vice versa, able to predict each others moves and cover each others backs…then you might just save me from having to write to your Father and Step Mother some time and explain how I got you killed, because my pilots were not working together".

Asuka chewed that remark down in silence, finally starting to see why Misato, Kaji and the Vice Commander were pushing so hard to get her and Shinji –and Rei to a lesser extent- working together with that crazy DDR crap, along with more conventional Evangelion simulations.

"And the team is only as strong as the weakest link in the chain" she thought, without realizing she had said it out loud until Misato without warning, reached over and hugged her tightly.

"You've grown a lot in a few days Asuka" Misato said simply. "I'm so proud of you".

It was all Asuka could do not to violate her promise to never cry…at least not in public, as she hugged Misato back, then from her position caught sight of someone.

"Uh…is that Rei?" she asked, in a tone of some degree of awe…

Misato let go and turned, her jaw dropping as a girl in a stunning white singlet top, short charcoal skirt just under knee length with blue leggings as bright as her hair strutted –there was no other word for it- across the lower level ground floor with such an air of confidence that Asuka was left speechless, watching as numerous males their age –and more then a few disturbingly above it- stopped and stared, stumbled or just fell heavily to a convenient seat as, with a radiated 'cool' factor of a hundred and fifteen percent, Rei Ayanami moved into some store named Games Workshop, on a beeline for someone Asuka quickly recognized.

"It's the third stooge" she muttered, spotting Aida, but why Rei had made a beeline for their classmate…and how she had changed her entire body language vocabulary like that she didn't get in the slightest.

"You uh…didn't slip her any drugs or anything, when I wasn't watching did you?" Miasto asked.

"No!" Asuka spluttered in shock. Misato nodded slowly.

"Well I'm outa ideas for what happened…I think we've either done something very very right, or very very wrong".

"How do we know the difference?" Misato shrugged.

"If we're not demoted to painting every new building in Tokyo-3 when the Commander returns, we'll know" Misato assured her.

---

Rei only took a minute inside the store, before she emerged with an –understandably Asuka decided with her first sympathy for the Stooge- shocked looking Kensuke in tow. They talked for another minute or so, before he appeared to somewhat pull himself together and ask Rei something, which she replied with a smile, before, to Asuka's increasing amazement, leaning in to give him a light kiss on the cheek, before spinning and 'strutting' away back towards the stairs. To Asuka's amusement, but again slight understanding, she saw Aida just stand there, stunned, until several of his friends walked out to pull him back in the shop, probably to minimize the risk of someone running into him and knocking him over…

"Hey look, it's the men!" Misato said suddenly in an all too cheerful voice. None the less, Asuka's expression perked up as she saw Shinji and Kaji descend…and got a look at Shinji's new clothes.

Her lips pursed in silent appreciation of his clothes, guessing that it had to have been Kaji's handiwork. She dobuted Shinji could find his way around the clothing store if you gave him a map, a GPS receiver and a guide dog, after all.

He was wearing a high collar charcoal shirt cut rather flatteringly similar to her own blue shirt, but colored almost identical to Rei's skirt –much to her annoyance at both herself, Kaji, Shinji and Rei- with a very stylish looking suede jacket over the top, dark, expensive looking jeans and what looked like new desert boots.

Annoyingly, he was also getting quite openly speculative looks from many girls…no, that had to be Kaji she corrected herself at once. Truly annoyingly however, he and Kaji both stopped at the top of the stairs and greeted Rei when she arrived. Asuka didn't feel her fingers slowly strangle the metal railing to little effect as Shinji hugged Rei freely and without hesitation, but she knew enough about body language to see that he wasn't holding her like someone madly in love…it was more the hug a very close friend would give another…almost the hug a brother would give a sister in fact.

It was the only reason she remained in place and didn't stalk over there to…wait, why was she so upset over this?

This was starting to get ridiculous. The sooner she was able to move back out of Misato's, the better.

As a result of her introspection however, she failed to catch Rei's curious look focus on her…

Finally however, Shinji and Rei started back over, Shinji looked both stunned and pleased with the transformation of the First Child before his eyes, though Asuka thought he looked slightly more shell shocked then she would have guessed.

This is all it takes to break down his walls? Yeash, you're mine Third Child once we get to the swimsuit area…

"Uh…wow" Misato said as Rei walked up to them, looking twice as hot at close range and even making Asuka feel a little uneasy. She was sure she still looked better…but…

"Hmm…not half bad" Asuka admitted, studying the effect and deciding that in a few hours, they had killed Ayanami the schoolgirl and brought out Ayanmi the vixen…

Just like that.

"Can I choose clothes, or can I…" she muttered, rhetorically.

"I would be pleased if you continued to do so" Rei smiled slightly in return, before her gaze drifted past to the Section Two agents behind them.

"Oh these are just some fashion accessories for you" Asuka shrugged, dismissing the already significant haul and the equvilant of male hell they had been dragged through to get all of it, God only knows how much of it they had had to carry to the counter with a loudly talking Misato…

"Some things to put in your hair, some hygiene products, beauty products, brushes, clips, ribbons, all the basics…" she listed the items, trailing off as Shinji and Kaji both rejoined them. Asuka squared her stance and faced him with a raised eyebrow, admitting that much like Rei, he didn't look half bad up close in these clothes…almost a Kaji lite…

"Well, I'm impressed. With Kaji's fashion sense to guide you, you don't actually dress up half bad Baka" she admitted publicly.

"And you…well, you'd look amazing no matter how you did your hair…but I really like it" he said in return in a tone that suggested he meant what he said, but desperately didn't want to give any kind of offense, ruining the comparison to Kaji in a heartbeat.

One day you might get a real spine Ikari…one day…

"Well of course you do" she finally replied with a roll of her eyes to try and hide to smile she felt at his once again honest compliment of Asuka over the Second Child.

"So, what do you think Kaji?" she asked in a pleading tone, letting her hair flick out and opening her eyes to their maximum 'cute and vulnerable' setting.

"I think you're growing up far to fast" he replied with a gentle but approving smile that carefully dodged the thrust of her question, turning towards Misato with a sloppy grin coming over his face that she just wished he would turn on her once in her lifetime, a wrapped package appearing into his hand from nowhere. "And for you, Misato-Chan" -both Asuka and Misato slightly flinched at the honorific- "as a token of my undying esteem. I'll see you all later" he fnished, backing away and vanishing down a nearby stairwell to Asuka's annoyance.

Here for hours with Shinji and barely a few minuites with her. That wasn't very nice of him!

She'd remind him of it later and leverage some 'personal time' with him…

Misato raised an eyebrow and looked at the gift suspiciously, as if she expected it was about to explode before she finally gave in and ripped open the paper.

Inside, was a bright yellow and black book.

"Parenting for Dummies, 4th Edition" the Kanji proclaimed along the top.

Asuka had to work veryhard to hide the laughter that came out after she finally translated the stupid Japanese characters, managing to reduce it to a kind of shortened snicker as her face went red, taking a good ten seconds to get back under control.

Misato's face on the other hand held her expression for a good five seconds, then she finally looked up and a wry smile came across her face as she smiled with true appreciation for the humor of his gift.

"Funny. I'll have to kill him later of course, but funny".

"They were all out of 'Parenting for Parents with Temperamental Germans" Shinji added lightly with a smirk threatening to make its way onto the edge of his face.

Asuka was delighted.

So, you DO want to play today, do you Third Child? She asked hopefully in her head.

So be it!

Her fist crashed out, albeit only at moderate intensity, crashing into his arm and causing the startled Shinji to jump backwards and rub his arm.

"You've made progress today Third Child" she said in a sweet tone, which was belayed by the slight narrowing of her gaze at him, willing him to melt under it. "Don't push it".

He pushed it.

"Jawohl Mein Fuhrer" he smirked with a slight mocking edge, causing Asuka's threat response programming to ascend to tier two-

"Alright, cool it you two, playtime can wait" Misato broke in, in her 'Operations Director' tone she only used off duty to really get their attention.

Oh damn it; it was just starting to get fun!

Tactics. Examine all blockages carefully. With care, they can be used as counterweights…

"Well! Now that the Baka has rejoined us, we can finally get this day underway! You four are dismissed" Asuka said, hiding her smile as she let the Section Two agents go without bothering to ask permission –hey she had first called them over, she got to send them packing.

The quartet didn't wait for a countermanding order, dumping their bags at the feet of a surprised Shinji and running for the stairs.

"Hmm. Perhaps we shouldn't have dragged them through the ladies toiletries section after all" Misato frowned, before shrugging and dumping her own bag next to the others…next to Shinji.

"Hey!" Shinji suddenly protested as he realized Asuka's move, glancing up at her in what Asuka could only describe as vengeful admiration.

Good! The best wars are against an opponent who can see what happens to him…she cackled inwardly.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she twisted the knife in. "Be a man and get moving!"

She'd say this for him, he knew when to cut his losses and start planning for the next battle. Indeed, a worthy opponent was the Third Child…

He glanced at Rei who, approvingly, offered him not an iota of sympathy, forcing him to sigh and, with dignity, reach down to pick up their purchases.

"Better!" she snapped, getting a warning look from Miasto about taking it too far and took it to heart, reaching out to take a grip on Rei's hand followed shortly there after by Misato, leading Rei through a cross passage into the 'main' clothing stores area., a massive multi level, long building, with countless busy shop fronts doing a brisk trade.

"Now" Asuka started, finally ready to get down to the business of the day and mentally unfolding a checklist in her mind. "To begin with, we need some casual clothes you can just wear when you're lazing around. Then some 'going out' clothes of various types suitable to various needs, as well as a moderate amount of undergarments and so on".

Good summery, now to specifics-

"Going out clothes…this would include clothes to go to a dance?" Rei interrupted oddly. Asuka just shrugged.

"Not really, that's formal fashion, stuff like dresses and…" she paused as she realized Rei didn't generally just ask questions for the sake of it. "Why do you ask?"

Rei raised an eyebrow in confusion, causing her stomach to ice over.

"Because the Summer Dance is only two and a half weeks away" Rei replied, not understanding how this caused the floor to crash out from under Asuka's feet.

"WHAT?" she screeched, noting the disapproving looks on the faces of people around them, but not caring.

Rei, clearly taking her shouted comment literally, tried to repeat herself.

"Because the Summer Dance is only"-

"WHY wasn't I TOLD about this?" Asuka demanded of the world "How long has this been planned? Oh my GOD I don't have anything to WEAR!" she freaked out, realizing she had left her more formal dresses back in Munich…then the more critical problem. "I don't have a DATE!"

Now to find someone to blame.

Her head snapped around to pierce Shinji with an icy stalagmite, causing him to prudently take a step back.

"Why" she asked, "wasn't I informed about this? Oh my God, I don't have a date!" Thinking quickly, she turned from the not quite smirking, but clearly working his way there Shinji, to someone more useful. "What about you Rei?"

"I am…taking classmate Aida to the dance".

"That Stooge?" Asuka wondered, kicking herself as she realized exactly what Rei had been doing downstairs earlier with him. "Oh well, I guess he's not as bad as Toji, what Hikari sees in him I have no idea..."

So who the hell could she take? Kaji was clearly a non starter and she would not show up alone thank you very much! All the idiots at school who would drop their current dates without question if she asked them to were not worth the time of day from her…and that just left…

"What about you Third Child?" she demanded, turning back again to Shinji, who had placed the bags down and appeared to be frowning at his arm, then looking up in surprise, then a curious and clear unease at Asuka's question. Interested in this hesitation, she was just about to press the attack, when Rei saved her the effort.

"Classmate Tanaka offered to accompany Pilot Ikari to the dance, but he declined and let it be known that he was disinclined to participate in the Summer Dance, to a great deal of disappointment by most of the female classmates in class 3F".

Shinji had been propositioned by Tannaka?

Asuka had no time for her nearest competition, coolly acknowledging her looks were not half bad…but she had nothing on her intelligence, social abilities or cult following.

Still, she was arguably the number two girl in class, would have been the number one when she asked Shinji…

And then he had let it be known to the rest of the girls that he didn't want to go to probably the crowning social event of the season?

Oh she knew most of her class had some form of crush on Shinji, something she utterly failed to understand…mostly…but he could have had any of them, well except perhaps Hikari and one or two others with 'steady' boyfriends.

But…he's free…

"What are you, stupid?" Asuka demanded of him, now really wanting to know why he hadn't gone. "Why the hell wouldn't you want to go? It's a DANCE"

She saw something snap inside his eyes and he almost glared at her.

"Because I'm not anything like a sociable as you! Because…because I didn't know any of the girls who had offered to go with me at all and didn't want to go just because I was the almighty hero they thought I was, because I don't know how to dance, because I've never been good in those kinds of situations. Happy?"

Asuka…was…a little intimidated by that.

Shinji could have had any attractive Girl on his arm…but he wanted more…and was embarrassed about making a fool of himself, even if he was a hero with a capital H and anyone would be inclined to forgive him any mistakes at a dance…not that their classmates would exactly be experienced either.

More then that, she saw she didn't trust himself, or anyone –then- to be with him either, probably because no-one could know what he had been through and was going through.

Well except another pilot of course…

"You really are an idiot" Asuka smiled slightly at him, before, before frowning as if in deep thought. "Well, fortunately for you, your stupidity is also your gain. I need a date, you're it".
"Wh..what?" Shinji asked, his head arcing around to lock back on hers, his expression suggesting that while he had heard the words, they had been gibberish.

"It's simple. We're already learning to dance together on that damn machine Misato is forcing us to-"

"Asuka" Misato chided her.

"nice machine that Misato is generously loaning us for our very important training" Asuka grudgingly corrected herself. "We're learning to dance together anyway, what the hell is a couple of more dances to learn? And besides, I need a Date, I can't show up alone! And while I'm sure every boy in our class would probably drop to their face at my feet begging for a chance if I asked them, I'd rather not make an enemy of an 'ex-date' who got dumped for me and…well…you showing up with me can frankly only help your social standing significantly" she pointed out in a positive voice. "So, well…I need you, it's that simple. Any objections?"

She said the last two words in a tone that suggested very dire consequences should there be any, feeling her heart actually skip a beat as she wondered if he would, if he could possibly refuse her…

He simply shook his head, his eyes not leaving hers as the slightest ghost of a smile painted onto his face.

"Good!" she declared, hiding her extreme relief as she glanced around. "Well first we'll get Rei's shopping done, then you can go home while I find something to wear. Damn it, so little time!" she fretted once again, hurrying Rei into action as she lead Rei towards the nearest suitable store.

---

The rest of the afternoons shopping moved rapidly with the 'preliminaries' out of the way as Asuka methodically moved around first one level, then to Shinji's disbelief, up to the next level and started all over.

Asuka ignored him as she steadily worked down the list to give Rei a comprehensive outfit set of top quality clothes and all the little accessories that went along with them.

It finally got to the point that Miasto called back in the two remaining Section Two agents who had been hanging around the whole time in the background, both looking rather displeased as they were assigned to help Shinji, splitting up his load as the bags continued to multiply.

There were however, several highlights.

Misato's chosen 'reward' dress was sickeningly daring, slit up almost to her damn mid thigh with a low V neckline and thin straps that looked depressingly good on her and would probably get Kaji's attention like Evangelions drew Angels, but she had no choice but to do the honorable thing and pay for it, though Rei was kind enough to split the bill between them.

On the plus side, Misato's provocative purchase left her no wiggle room when Asuka emerged in her chosen swimsuit, a rather 'thin' looking red and white striped bikini that she put on and slowly stalked towards Shinji with, who was sitting down looking a little tired on a nearby lounge.

Flatteringly, her sudden appearance in a garment that left nothing to the imagination as she set her legs on either side of his, her arms supporting her weight by holding the chair on either side of his head as she leaned in to ask 'if he liked it' caused all traces of fatigue to vanish, his face to light up red and a stuttering nonsensical reply to issue from his mouth.

She took that as a 'yes' with emphasis, quietly pleased that as she suspected, the 'twins' were quite effective artillery against him, getting dressed back into her clothes and purchasing it without a second thought.

But that was about it for the day. Mostly because Shinji was starting to complain about the weight and even the Section Two agents were looking increasingly like they might just mutiny and face Gendo's retaliation instead of 'just one more bag'.

Conceding that Shinji had been properly put into place, she called it a day, deciding to head back in the next few days some time to help Rei –and herself- find a dress and any other accessories, after Rei finished moving into her new apartment.

They got back to Misato's care, agreeably close to the door thanks to their early arrival and loaded it up, barley fitting themselves, Rei and the bags inside.

The cars engine didn't appear to notice the extra mass as they screamed through the city.

"So, did you three have fun today?" Misato asked sounding very happy.

"Uh huh, you bet!" Asuka smiled from the shotgun position, pleased with the outcome.

"It was a very pleasant day" Rei agreed from one side of the back seat, her eyes a mystery as for some reason, she just kept stroking her arm…

Shinji on the other hand just grunted, eliciting a smirk from Asuka at him, though his attention appeared to be lost in the far distance…

Faster then even Asuka thought possible however –a factoid she put down to being the weekend with less traffic to dodge around- they arrived at Rei's place and helped –figuratively speaking- Shinji with Rei's purchases up to her room.

Well, she's done a little cleaning Asuka noticed as she stepped in, the tons of mail was gone and most of the loose junk was also missing…

But Asuka still wouldn't keep a pet here, let alone a human being, let along an Evangelion pilot!

"Well, you'll be out of here in a couple of days" she said, as much to remind herself as well as Rei, thinking of that unused wardrobe and frowning. "So you might want to leave most of this in these bags, no point taking them out and packing them back up again two days later!"

"Understood" Rei nodded.

There didn't really appear to be anything more to say.

"Well, we'll all see you at headquarters tomorrow for the combat simulation training" Misato cheerfully stepped in. "Until then, see you later!"

Asuka led the withdraw down to Misato's car, Shinji rubbing his arms yet again and looking at her in accusation that she returned with a sweet, all too innocent smile as they screamed home.

Shinji pointedly didn't help them this time with their purchases, but they were relatively minor and easily carried by the girls, which just rubbed in the point even more of course.

Finally, they arrived, an irate looking Pen-Pen glowering at the tardiness of his roommates and clearly wondering when dinner was going to be started. Asuka actually felt her stomach rumble slightly, realizing with a start that it was only an hour or two till dinner and she had only had a very light lunch that really only qualified as a snack, causing her to go hunting around for some junk food to tide her over till dinner.

"Shinji, if you're not up for cooking, we'll just order in tonight, I think you've more then earned a break" Misato called from her room.

"I'm not arguing" Shinji replied from further down the hall where he was also dumping his purchases. Curiously, he came back out into the room holding that largish A3 sized thing wrapped in paper and having dumped his jacket, just as Misato came out of her own room, changed into a T-Shirt and shorts and kicked off her shoes.

"What's that?" Asuka got in first, pointing to the package as she tore apart a stick of liquorish with her teeth.

"It's a…picture Kaji got me. If its okay Misato, I'd like to hang it on the wall" he said, pointing at an empty hook on the far living room wall, next to the veranda doors.

"Of course you can" she said warmly, "this is your house as much as mine"

"Thanks" he smiled, walking over to the wall. Misato, he curiosity piqued followed as he appeared to hesitate, then ripped the wrapping off and carefully lifted it onto the wall hanging mount. Misato gave it a curious but not that fussed look –then did a double take, her mouth slowly opening in shock…

Then she literally fell to the floor, almost crushing a surprised penguin that scuttled out of the way, laughing so hard she looked to be having trouble breathing as she flailed about on the floor.

Asuka now more then a little intrigued walked out of the kitchen and around, glancing down at the helplessly cackling Misato before looking up at the slightly sheepish Shinji, then at the picture and feeling her breath freeze in her lungs.

Staring back at her was Gendo Ikari.

The picture had to be a real photograph, but it captured the essence of the man Asuka had never met, but seen pictures of and heard much from other NERV personnel and Shinji himself. She could instantly see the resemblance to his Son and vice versa, but utterly alien to any look she had seen on Shinji's face was the expression of utter disdain and contempt, the desire to control and dominate burning in from behind the tinted glasses.

One of his hands in the picture held a mate black gun.

The other, an utterly adorable white kitten, which the gun was pointed at.

PILOT THE EVANGELION! The main caption said in harsh, angular kanji.

Or the kitten gets it a smaller and much gentler subtext kanji added.

Within two seconds, Asuka was also laughing, leaning against the wall as she tried to control herself, not having met the commander…and wondering how in the hell she was now going to be able to do so, without cracking up…