DISCLAIMER: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or its associated properties. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

A long summer.

Such was the sentiment felt by Kouzou Fuyutsuki as he trudged towards his research room at Kyoto University in the fall of 1999. He had to start work in preparation for the new academic year, and was eager to get started.

The summer had been a trial of endurance for him. He was doing research work at the university, but the student working on placement with him had been an annoyance more than anything.

'Mari Makinami,' Kouzou thought hatefully. Then, with a wry grin, he mused: 'Yui must have recommended her as a practical joke.'

He didn't think that Yui's recommendation was incompetent. After all, the half-British, half-Japanese Mari was a child prodigy who'd skipped a couple of grades in high school before enrolling at Kyoto at 16 years of age. And she was able to fulfill her requirements with next to no help, so she wasn't a hindrance in terms of work getting done.

It wasn't her intelligence that bothered Kouzou, but her personality. Yui was teasing and could be tactile, but was generally polite and had a shy vulnerability which endeared her to Kouzou. Mari, on the other hand, was constantly bubbly and had no sense of personal space.

Her over-the-top cheerfulness rankled the cynical, withdrawn Kouzou, who found her incessant talking and singing left him with earache. And the fact that he couldn't turn around without bumping into her cleavage left him embarrassed and irritated in equal measure. It happened too often to be inadvertent, and the sly smile on Mari's face reinforced Kouzou's suspicions that she positioned herself accordingly.

'Mercifully, the English will suffer her from now on,' Kouzou reflected with grim satisfaction as he entered his research room. For Mari had been recruited to Saint Ford University there by a Professor Alex as a special research student, and was transferring this term. 'Still, how on Earth did she and Yui become friends in the first place?'

He'd ask her this weekend. Yui was returning from her placement in Germany on Thursday, and agreed to go hiking with Kouzou and catch up with him. Mari's departure and Yui's return were two of the main reasons why Kouzou was looking to the new academic year with enthusiasm.

As he sat at his desk, Kouzou thought back to when Yui was first mentioned to him by Taue in the late spring, and the hopes he had that this bio-engineer could work with him to uncover new discoveries as the new millennium approached. And while that passion remained strong, it was overshadowed by a stronger passion - one that had only grown stronger in Yui's absence.

Kouzou remained unsure of how Yui saw him. He knew she had high regard for him as a researcher and as a mentor. He also knew that she cared about him, and was comfortable enough with him to tease him and banter back-and-forth with him. But romantic feelings...

'Out of the question,' Kouzou dismissively thought. 'She's 20 years younger than me, why would she even consider that?'

There was that near-moment, ruined by the appearance of Taue. And the deep kiss that they had after overcoming the awkwardness of their near-moment. But he had rationalized these as 'heat of the moment' situations. And since then, there had been nothing to suggest that Yui wanted anything more from Kouzou on a personal level than his friendship.

That hadn't stopped Kouzou wondering in his quieter moments if there could be anything more. And he was about to wonder again, when his telephone rang. He picked up the receiver.

"Hello, Professor Fuyutsuki speaking."

"Good morning, Professor," an official-sounding male voice replied. "I'm Constable Takada with the Kyoto Police Department."

Kouzou was frozen on the spot. 'The police?' What had happened? 'This is not the way I wanted this new academic year to start.'

"Hello? Professor?"

"Uh, s-sorry Constable," Kouzou spoke haltingly. "What can I do for you?"

"It's in connection with a Mr. Gendo Rokubungi."

Kouzou raised an eyebrow on hearing this name, but kept an even tone. "Gendo Rokubungi? I've heard of him."

"Is he a student of yours, Professor?"

"No, I've never met him, but there's always some rumor going around about him." Among students and faculty alike, Gendo Rokubungi was often spoken of in disparaging terms. A mature student in his early thirties, he was supposedly a moody and odd fellow who was always getting into rows.

"Well, Professor," Constable Takada went on, "he asked for you personally."

"What?" Kouzou just blurted this out unthinkingly.

"Yes. He wants you to post bail for him, and to be released into your custody."

Kouzou was dumbfounded by this. "He asked to be released into my custody?"

"Will that be a problem, Professor Fuyutsuki?" The Constable's question was posed in the same official tone that he had maintained from the start of the call.

Kouzou was unsure why this student, with such an unenviable reputation, would seek him out. He had no prior interaction with Rokubungi, and saw no reason for him to want Kouzou to take him into custody.

'Perhaps he's burned his bridges elsewhere,' Kouzou thought despairingly. 'Well, as a member of staff, I have a duty of care to all the university's students, so I suppose...'

"Professor?"

"No, I'll come," Kouzou replied, with all the eagerness of a condemned man. "When should I come over there?"

It was a couple of hours after the call from Constable Takada before Kouzou entered the Kyoto Police Department. He was just about to approach the receptionist when a familiar voice rang out.

"Professor Fuyutsuki," boomed a large police officer wearing a belt too tight for his bulging stomach to be restricted by. "Thank you for coming. Apologies for the inconvenience."

Kouzou was unimpressed by any fitness regimen the local police were adhering to if this specimen could make constable, but as usual he hid his cynicism behind a veneer of professional courtesy. "Quite all right, Constable Takada. What do you require from me?"

"Please follow me, Professor. There are a few forms to fill out, but it'll only take five minutes."

Kouzou took care not to groan out loud. A lifetime in academia had taught him the horrors of bureaucracy, and the notion that any administrative task would 'only take five minutes' could only be conceived of by either an idiot or a liar. It was quite possible that Constable Takada was both. Still, he wasn't in any position to do much about it.

"Very well, Constable."

Kouzou followed the waddling constable down a dank hallway, and was then escorted into a side room. "Please take a seat, Professor," Takada offered, as official-sounding as ever. "The relevant paperwork is on the desk. I'll come back for you in ten minutes." And with that, Takada closed the door behind him, leaving Kouzou alone in the small room with only a chair and desk with some forms and a file atop it to keep him company.

'First it would only take five minutes, now it'll be ten minutes,' Kouzou bitterly stewed. 'I'll be lucky to get back to the university by lunchtime at this rate. Still, at least he didn't stay here with me.' Sharing a confined room with the portly Constable Takada for any length of time could only have made this whole situation even more unpleasant.

As Kouzou sat down, the file caught his attention first. This was presumably for reference to help him complete the forms more accurately. "Best look at this first, then," Kouzou muttered resignedly.

Opening the file, Kouzou's eyes popped.

There was a photo in the file, a mugshot.

And the person in the mugshot was someone that Kouzou had seen before, but never had occasion to meet.

This was the strange, hungover man who had sat in on that lecture Kouzou had delivered earlier that year on the origins of life.

The same man who had kept glancing repeatedly at Yui during that lecture.

The same man who, unbeknownst to Kouzou, had been watching him and Yui in the cafeteria two weeks after that lecture.

And as he looked at the face of this man, with the off-putting grin and the staring eyes, he noted the name beside the photo.

'So this is Gendo Rokubungi.'

To be continued...

Author's notes: Needless to say, now that Gendo is a factor, things are going to get more interesting. As always, please read and review.

Traitor of All Traitors, you (and others) had this figured out already. Hope you're enjoying the story so far.

jellodude, thanks again. You've been a great encouragement from the start, and it means a great deal to me.