The two boys ate besides Kensuke's tent, huddled close to the fire that was protecting them from the cold night. No one else was around for miles.

"Toji was sorry, you know." Kensuke stirred the pot above the flames for a minute, idly. "His kid sister scolded him, apparently. 'That robot saved us all!' she said." He looked at Shinji, huddled in a jacket that he'd borrowed. "Pretty embarrassing, being scolded by a little girl who isn't even out of second grade, isn't it?"

Shinji didn't say anything in response.

Kensuke was confused by this for a moment, but then he decided to just keep talking to fill the silence. "I like it at night because those noisy cicadas don't chirp. Although it was nice and quiet when I was a kid, there've been more of them each year."

"'The ecosystem is restoring to its normal state.' That's what Misato-san said."

"Hmm… Misato-san, eh?" Kensuke seemed glad to know that he was right. "I really envy you. Living with a beautiful woman like her and getting to pilot Evangelion." Kensuke swung his arms around a little, mimicking the way Shinji had used the controls. "Oh, I wish I could get behind the controls!"

Shinji sighed. "You'd better not. Your mother would be worried."

Kensuke just smiled. "…Ah, that's okay. I don't have one."

"Uh…" Shinji was shocked.

"I'm the same as you, Ikari."

Shinji couldn't think of anything to say to that. How did Kensuke know that his mother was dead?

"You'll have something to eat, right?" Kensuke said, changing the subject like it was nothing.

"Yeah."

Morning came, and with it, several Nerv agents. Shinji heard them coming from awhile away, but didn't do anything. When Kensuke realized they were approaching, he jumped out of the tent, ready to shoo them off, but… The man he faced was clearly much stronger than him. "Ugh."

Shinji came out.

"Ikari Shinji, correct?" the muscular man asked.

"Yes."

"We are from Nerv's Department of Security Intelligence. In accordance with Clause 8 of the Security Regulations, we are taking you to Nerv Headquarters. All right?"

"Yes," Shinji said again, not even bothering to put up a fight.

"So you just stood there and watched…?" Toji demanded when Kensuke related all of this to him.

Kensuke looked down, trying not to see Toji's scowl. "Easy for you to say. They were Nerv Security Intelligence."

"So what! Don't you have any balls!"

"Only an idiot fights when he knows he can't win. Balls have nothing to do with it."