Chapter 3: Heart of The Sunrise

A/N: Asuka will be real very soon, just a few more chapters, and I know exactly what to write so I'll hopefully be able to hit you guys with 2 chapters next week.

Unit-01 careened towards the surface, its pilot unsure of what to expect from the approaching foe.

Shinji felt nervous to go and fight again, worried that it would be stronger than the last and catch him off guard before Mother could help him focus.

Shinji. It's gonna be okay, honey. You've got me here, remember? Came the voice of Yui Ikari.

I know, Mother, I can't help myself, I just don't wanna end up useless, and have all this training be for nothing.

Listen, you're gonna make mistakes. It's okay, though. You told your friends to evacuate, right?

...Yes.

Then? They'll be far away from the action, and you can fight like nobody's around.

Yeah, I guess you're tight.

Of course! Now we're getting to the surface, so focus!

R-right!

Shinji didn't have the luxury of engaging away from the city this time. Unit-01 reached the bright surface and scanned the city around it, looking for a gargantuan eldritch horror.

"Target approaching from behind!"

Shinji turned Unit-01 around to see the foe of the week: A giant purple... tube? Shinji observed that for a threat to humanity, the angel was notably phallic in shape.

He shook these thoughts as a building came up beside him and he grabbed a pallet rifle.

"Okay, Shinji, remember your training!" Came Misato's voice.

"Roger!"

When the angel assumed a more vertical stance, Shinji noted that it had two neon-bright tentacles on each side of it. He opened fire, aiming for a small sphere that looked like an eye. The flurry of shots proved useless against the ever-reliable AT-Field, similar to the angel in the last battle.

"Shinji, you've obscured the target with smoke! Be careful!" Misato called out.

Damn it...

Don't worry, just stay defensive.

That's what I'm doi-

The mental exchange was cut short by the neon-pink whipping tentacles going straight for Shinji. He luckily jumped back before he could be touched, watching as the tentacles cut through buildings as if they were made of warm butter.

In the struggle. A tentacle wrapped around Unit-01's leg, flinging it upwards and sending it flying.

"Man, I'm bored in here!"

Toji rolled his eyes as Kensuke repeated what he had been saying for the fifth time since they had arrived at the shelter.

"Tough luck, man. Shinji's out there fighting so we can stay safe." He retorted, crossing his arms.

Kensuke turned to him. "Come on, Toj. Wouldn't you like to see the fight? They don't even have a TV for us to watch the fight!" He didn't get an answer, and he thought for a moment. "Say, what if we went and saw it ourselves?"

"Huh!?"

"Think about it! We'd get to see that robot for ourselves!"

Toji rubbed the back of his head, looking upwards as he considered his options. "...Alright, but if we get in trouble, you're the one getting buried, not me!"

"Deal!"

The boys got up and approached Hikari, who stood with authority as she watched the students around her. "Yo, Class Rep! Ken and I gotta piss!" Toji said, hiding suspicion.

Hikari arched an eyebrow at him. "Mister Suzuhara, weren't you told to go before we evacuated?"

Kensuke spoke up "W-well, I didn't have to go until we got down here!"

The girl sighed. "Ugh, fine. But if you take too long, you have extra class duties."

The boys both thanked her, and Kensuke high-fived a less enthusiastic Toji once they were out of sight. They reached the bathroom, relieving themselves before looking around and stealthily making their way outside and onto a hill.

In the distance, they saw a mechanical purple giant fighting another purple giant, with this one looking notably more round and shaft-like.

"Yo, Ken, it's a giant-"

"SHH! I'm filming!"

They watched as the giant robot fired a giant rifle at the other thing, before jumping back and getting hit with a massive pink whip.

Suddenly, the purple robot got a tentacle wrapped around it's leg, sending it into the air.

"Oh! It went flying!" Kensuke called out, focusing on his film.

"Kensuke, I think that thing is coming in our directi-AAAAAH!" Toji cried.

He was right, as the Evangelion was in fact coming their way

Unit-01 landed on its backside on a mountain outside of the city. Shinji instinctively used the Eva's hands to stabilize himself.

Shinji! Are you okay?

"Shinji! Are you okay?"

Mother and Misato's voices came through to him at the same time.

He gave his head a shake before speaking. "Y-yes! I'm okay."

Mother remained silent, but Misato pressed on. "Prepare to engage again! The angel is closing dista- wait, what is that?"

"Huh?" He asked.

"On the hill there!"

Shinji looked to his right, then his left, and he saw what she was talking about.

Two people were standing between Unit-01's spread fingers.

The internal system identified them quickly.

Toji Suzuhara - Civilian

Kensuke Aida - Civilian

Shinji gasped "Th-those are my friends! What are they doing out here!?"

"Well, there's no time to ponder it now, we have to let them into the plug!"

"WHAT!?" Shinji heard Miss Ritsuko exclaim.

"We don't have another choice!"

"Urghhh. Fine. Let them in."

An external speaker on Unit-01 raised into the air. "Hey, you two! Get in!" Misato called out as the entry plug opened and a ladder came down.

The two boys climbed into the entry plug, seeing their new friend sitting in the seat with a serious expression."

"Um... Hey, Shin-Man!" Toji said, trying to break the tension.

Shinji looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "I told you to get somewhere safe!"

"Hey, blame Ken here!" Toji said, putting his hands up!

Shinji let out a groan of discontent as the plug re-filled with an orange liquid.

"Augh, my camera!" Kensuke whined.

"It'll be fine." Shinji said without turning his head.

"Unit-01 reactivated, but the sync ratio is lower!" came a voice over the comm.

"It's because of thought noise in the entry plug!" Miss Ritsuko answered.

These are your friends, Shinji? Mother's voice cut in, albeit less clear than usual.

Yes. I wish they'd stayed in the shelter!

That's not your fault. But now's not the time to worry about it. The angel!

Y-yeah. Shinji noticed the angel, labeled "Fourth Angel - Shamshel" by the internal system, got very close to Unit-01. In a quick move, Shinji grabbed both tentacles and yanked them back before throwing them forward, sending the angel a distance away.

"Alright Shinji, now retreat!" Misato said.

Shinji hesitated.

"Shinji?"

"Sorry, Misato." Shinji answered before turning the comm off.

He pulled out his progressive knife and got ready to charge the angel.

Before he could, he was stopped by a voice.

Shinji, what the hell are you doing?

I gotta kill this thing.

With a minute of battery left and two passengers?

...Yes. I have to!

No, Shinji! You have to retreat! Listen to Miss Misato! You have two passengers! Your friends, for Gods' sake! Weren't you worrying about putting them in danger?

Shinji stopped. Yeah, I was.

Then get out of here and fall back!

He sighed. I guess you're right. With that, Unit-01 stopped itself from pursuing the threat and made it's way to the nearest Eva lift.

On the way down, Shinji turned the comm back on.

"-nji, what the hell was that?" Misato sounded irate.

"S-sorry, Misato, I almost made a big mistake." He said sheepishly.

"I'll say! We'll talk about that later, and you have some explaining to do. What you need to do right now, though, is get these passengers out and get back up there."

"Roger!"

After letting Toji and Kensuke out, the Eva re-synchronized and made its way back up to the surface.

Okay, Shinji, get the prog knife ready. I have a feeling this angel is going to be waiting for you when you get back up to the surface, so take it by surprise and get to it's core!

Okay!

Unit-01 reached the surface again, and Shinji scanned around to find the angel. Just as Mother predicted, it was snaking it's way up from the side.

Shinji acted in time, throwing up his own AT-Field. Shortly after, he heard a satisfying crack, which resembled a windshield breaking.

Now!

As mother spoke, Shinji lunged at the angel, wrapping one arm around it's 'head' and using the other to stab it right in the core. This one only took one stab, as the core was much smaller.

The angel gave a deafening shriek, and it flopped onto the empty hill lifelessly.

Shinji was relieved at his victory, but the peace was broken by two things: his friends' dumb stunt and his own dumb stunt. Near-stunt in his case.

Mother congratulated him before the Eva turned off. Hopping out of the entry plug and expelling as much LCL as he could, he descended the staircase to see Misato, hands on her hips and a very angry expression.

He gave her a nervous smile. "H-hey, Misato..."

She yanked him by the arm and pulled him aside. "Shinji, what the hell were you doing out there? Cutting the comm and standing still in the middle of a battle? You made yourself a sitting duck! You could've been killed!"

Shinji cast his gaze downward. "S-sorry, Miss Misato, I was just... rattled by my friends and wasn't thinking straight."

"No kidding! You almost put their lives in danger, not to mention your own!"

"I sorta realized that while I was out there." Shinji left the part about Mother out, as Father had made it clear that Misato wasn't cleared to know about such a thing. He hoped he could tell her sometime.

"I can't have you fighting suicidally, Shinji. You can't just be replaced." Misato said with concern leaking into her voice.

He looked up at her. "I'm sorry, Misato. I won't do it again. I promise."

She smiled at him. "Good. And hey, if you want to train for combat more, just ask. Do you want to work on that?" He nodded. "Alright. I'll get Rits to schedule more training sessions for you."

Shinji smiled back at her, before shifting to a pensive expression. "What about Toji and Kensuke?"

Misato scratched her head. "I talked to Section 2. They interrogated them for a bit, but let them go with a warning. Apparently the glasses one begged them not to confiscate his camera and watched as he deleted the battle footage he was filming. They drove them out of the Geofront and explained the hefty punishment they could've received."

Shinji chuckled at the visual that came to mind. "Alright, good."

After a few words with Father, who left the reprimanding to Misato, Shinji was out of NERV and back to the apartment. Misato ordered pizza, saving him the task of putting a meal together after wrestling with a demigod. He took a long shower to wash off the LCL, which never seemed to come out so easily. After changing, he grabbed his SDAT and his phone, when he noticed he had a few messages.

Horaki, Hikari: Ikari! I'm so so so so sorry about Suzuhara and Aida! Not to worry! They will be receiving ample punishment for disturbing such an important mission! Thank you for your service!

Shinji chuckled at how official the young girl was trying to sound and politely brushed off concern with a 'No worries!'

Suzuhara, Toji: Yo Shin-man! I'm sorry about gettin in ur way

Ken's idea, between u and me hes an idiot for almost gettin us killed

Thankfully the dudes in suits just put us out on our asses. U shoulda seen Ken when they wanted to take his camera away This sentence was concluded with an emoji laughing with tears, and no period.

Anyway when r u gonna have us for dinner?

I wanna hear u play that cello thing too

Ur prob tired af so we can do the day after if u want

See u at school This message ended with a smiling emoji with sunglasses.

Shinji smiled as he read the messages. 'I'll see you and Kensuke tomorrow. It's all good on my end, Toji.' He responded. Man, he types how he talks, Shinji thought to himself.

Aida, Kensuke: Hey Shinji! I'm very sorry about Toji and I walking into an angel battle.

Man u were such a badass out there!

Do they really make u wear that leotard and hair clips though? Kinda embarrassing, ngl.

Toji was giving me hell for it all, and those guys in suits almost took my camera!

Sorry again! It's cool that I'm best friends with the badass Evangelion Unit-01 pilot though!

Anyways, Toji and I were talking about dinner, so we'll set a day tomorrow?

See u then!

Shinji read over the messages thoughtfully. At least his punctuation is better. 'No worries, Kensuke. I'll see you tomorrow, and I can tell you all about my pilot uniform.' He smiled as he pressed send.

Plugging his phone into the wall, he went to turn on his SDAT when he heard a knock at his door.

"Come in."

The door slid open to reveal his smiling guardian, beer in hand. "Victory pizza's here!"

Shinji put his SDAT down and moved to the kitchen, thinking of what to say to his friends.

As the two ate, both had their minds on the events of the day.

"I can't believe those guys snuck out into a warzone." Misato thought out loud.

Shinji hummed in agreement. "I'll press them about it tomorrow. Oh, by the way, they wanted to come over for dinner, and I think I was gonna do the day after tomorrow."

She smiled. "Sounds like fun! We can invite Rits and Rei, too!"

Shinji was putting his bento together when a knock was heard on the door.

"I'll get it!" Misato called out.

"Hello?" She opened the door to see two teenage boys about to knock again. They took a second to focus, but got completely stunned.

"Haaa, haaa..." Kensuke attempted to speak.

"I-i-i-i-is Shinji here?" Toji stammered.

"Yup! He lives with me!" She said. "I'll let him know you're here! Come on in!" When she turned and went back into the apartment, the two boys stood astounded at the open door.

"He lives with a babe!?" Toji whispered.

"This kid lives in heaven, Toj!" Kensuke whispered back.

They heard Misato call out "coming in?" and both scrambled inside, where they saw Shinji putting his bento away in his bag.

"Oh, um, hey guys." Shinji greeted his unexpected guests.

The two stunned gentlemen before him attempted to form a coherent sentence, before (semi-)wordlessly grabbing him by each arm and hoisting him out of the apartment with them. "See you later, Misato!" He called out before the door shut.

The boys dropped him on the ground, and he looked up at them. "Guys? What, uh... what's going on?"

"You live with a supermodel, Ikari? Why have you been hiding this? Oh man, I am so coming over every day!" Kensuke ranted.

Toji was Italian about his arm movements. "So NERV just has a cast of hot chicks or something? What the hell, Shin-Man? Hogging the babes?"

Shinji got to his feet. "Whoa, whoa, guys! Misato's my guardian! I've known her for years, now. Since my Father's so busy with NERV, he asked if she could take care of me, that's all! She's like an older sister at this point! Not to mention she's my commanding officer!"

The boys began to walk with him, continuing to bombard him with questions as they made their way to school.

"So, Shin-Man, have ya ever, y'know, had those thoughts about her?" Toji asked with a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Shinji went a little red. "Well, uh, she's kinda pretty, And I guess she's... d-developed. But Toji, she knew me when I was 12, I can hardly think of her in that way."

That seemed to satisfy the boy. "Hmph. At least you can acknowledge what ya've got."

Lunch rolled around once again, and the three boys ate in the schoolyard, under some nice shade.

"Oh, by the way, can I ask you guys something?" Shinji asked levelly.

"Shoot, dude." Kensuke said.

He took a deep breath, then a sharp exhale. "What the hell, guys? Why did I almost crush you two in Unit-01!?" He said with a hint of anger.

Kensuke's eyes widened. "Damn, dude."

Toji went on the defensive. "W-well it was Ken's idea! He was all like 'ayy, Toj, lets go see the Eva!' and I wasn't so sure about it."

"Did you say no?" Shinji asked deadpan.

"I, uh, didn't. But you said it was fine!" Toji shot back.

Shinji sighed "It's fine, you guys, but listen to me: don't jump into a warzone like that! Especially when there's 70-foot tall monsters involved."

They both nodded.

"Promise?"

"We promise." They said slightly out of sync.

"Alright, good." He said, changing his expression to a smile. "Anyways, with that out of the way, how about tomorrow for dinner? Misato said she was gonna invite Miss Ritsuko and Rei!"

"Sure, Shinji!"

"Hell yeah, Shin-Man!"

Another class, another ordeal of sitting through the teacher and his monotone ramblings about second impact. Shinji was tired of it within the first hour of day 1. As soon as the teacher uttered the word 'meteor' he knew it'd be pointless to listen to whatever came next. After all, Shinji had learned about Second Impact already.

2012

"Shinji, your mother told me a long time ago that you should learn about Second Impact at some point." Father spoke to him, seated next to him on the couch during a visit.

He was glad Father made time to come over like this. He usually tended to come by for dinner at least once a week, complimenting Shinij for picking up on Mother's cooking abilities, especially at the young age of 11. After all, living with Misato Katsuragi made it more of an urgent necessity. Father had offered to hire a cook using NERV budget, but was convinced otherwise after enough meals from his son.

"Second Impact?" Shinji wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about. He had heard of the phrase itself and was vaguely aware it carried negative connotations, but wasn't actually sure what it meant.

"Yes. In the year 2000, NERV was doing an experiment in Antarctica, but it went horribly wrong, causing a huge disaster known as the Second Impact." Gendo knew that an 11 year-old would have trouble comprehending an event with such weight, so he tried to simplify it as much as he could for his son's sake. "I believe your Mother made a tape about this topic, and she is definitely better at explaining it than I."

Shinji did his best to take in the information. So... NERV caused a massive disaster? "Why?" was all he could ask.

Father sighed. "We were trying to make contact with a creature known as an angel. We didn't predict that it would release the energy it contained, and the aftermath of that."

Shinji paused again. "Father... you weren't involved in that, were you?" He looked up, concern in his eyes.

He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Shinji, I'm the commander of NERV. Pretty much everything that goes on I have a level of involvement in. In short, I wasn't the one poking the angel."

"Oh." Shinji felt relief wash over him. "Well... who was it?"

Gendo looked around the room, noting Miss Katsuragi oddly wasn't around. I was going to ask her about a position as a captain when the Evas are ready, he thought to himself.

Instead of naming names, he went with the safe answer. "A team of scientists. They weren't trying to do what they did, but these things happen. Like I said, your mother's video on this is better at explaining. One thing you should know, however, is that the 'official story' is that a meteor hit. So if anyone asks about Second Impact outside of NERV, that's what you say."

Shinji thought of what he was to do. "In NERV, experiment. Out of NERV, meteor. I'll remember it best I can."

Father patted him on the back. "Good."

Later that night, Shinji found a video called 'Second Impact,' so he decided to see how Mother would recount the events. Shinji inserted the VHS and his 'play,' awaiting Mother's words.

Her image faded in from the static. "Good evening. My name is Dr. Yui Ikari, but for the sake of this video, I'm also Mom. Hello Shinji, I'm assuming your father deemed it appropriate for you to learn about Second Impact. In public, they say a meteor hit Antarctica, and the rapid rising of sea levels caused worldwide chaos. That would be true, but instead of a meteor, it was an experiment by NERV gone wrong..."

Yui Ikari went into a lot of detail about Second Impact, even vaguely mentioning SEELE without naming them, hinting at revealing more down the line. By the end, Shinji's head was spinning, but he appreciated that Mother took her time, it made his young mind comprehend it all better.

Shinji thought about it all for a while, realizing such a topic is notably heavy for an 11 year-old.

As he got older, he understood the events around Second Impact a little better, aware that there was a major player in the event that he would learn about in the future, probably soon if the angels are attacking one-by-one. When he heard his teacher start talking about meteors, he decided to focus his energy elsewhere.

This resulted in him opening his laptop and starting a chat with Rei.

S_Ikar: Hey Rei, wanna come over for dinner tomorrow? I invited Toji and Kensuke, and Misato was gonna invite Miss Ritsuko

R_Ayan: Good afternoon, Shinji. I would enjoy such an occasion. Might I also suggest Class Representative Horaki? She has been very polite and helpful to the both of us since transferring.

S_Ikar: Oh yeah, good idea!

He looked over at Rei and noticed she wans't wearing her bandages from her Unit-00 incident anymore.

S_Ikar: Btw, how are your injuries?

There was a pause for a moment, and Shinji leaned to the side to see what Rei was doing. He saw her looking 'btw' up on the internet.

Oops. forgot how formal she always is, He thought to himself. Just then, the chat pinged.

R_Ayan: My injuries have gotten substantially better. I appreciate your concern, Shinji. An activation test is scheduled in five days from today.

S_Ikar: You'll do great, Rei!

R_Ayan: Thank you, Shinji.

Shinji closed his chat with Rei and decided to open one with the Class Rep.

S_Ikar: Hey, Hikari. Misato, my guardian, and I were planning on having a few people over for dinner tomorrow. Would you like to come?

H_Hora: Hello, Ikari. Who's coming?

S_Ikar: It'll be me, Misato, Rei, Toji, Kensuke, and Miss Ritsuko. She works at NERV.

H_Hora: I'd love to! I'll even bring something of my own!

S_Ikar: Don't worry about it. I'll be cooking.

H_Hora: No, I insist!

S_Ikar: Okay, okay. Don't make too much, though.

H_Hora: I won't!

The dinner was now up to five guests, meaning Shinji was cooking for seven people, not to mention playing his cello for them as well.

The next day rolled around quite fast. Shinji chalked it up to him busying himself with making a recipe for seven, and also practicing his cello.

He decided upon cooking beef curry, an old classic in the house of Katsuragi, and playing Pachelbel's Canon, modifying the piece for one instrument. Shinji figured that'd be enough for his guests, especially since he was half-certain Toji didn't know which instrument a cello is. He noted mentally that Rei was a vegetarian, so he made vegetable curry as well, making extra in case anyone else wanted some. Hikari wouldn't tell him what she was bringing, but she promised it wouldn't be too heavy. Shinji also decided to have some miso soup on the side.

It was now the end of the school day, and Shinji was heading home to make sure everything was ready. He had done some meal prep last night and in the morning, but now he had to put it all together.

Rei had to stay behind for classroom cleaning duties, as did Toji and Kensuke. Their duties were doubled, courtesy of an irate class representative, so he'd see them all later.

Shinji got to the apartment and called out "I'm home!" to be met only by Pen-Pen, relaxed as ever. After feeding him, he got started on dinner, making sure everything was being prepared to his liking. When he had a moment to let the food simmer, he went to his room and played through the piece a few times. Shinji had always been unsure of his abilities. Misato had praised him on multiple occasions, she even had him play for Father one night after a dinner, and he expressed how impressed he was, but Shinji had never played for this many people at once.

Satisfied with how the cello piece sounded, he went back to the kitchen and continued to prepare dinner.

The door to the apartment opened. "I'm home!" called the voice of his guardian.

"Welcome home!" He called back, hard at work on the food.

Misato entered the kitchen. "Mmmmm, smells good, Shin. I bet your friends'll love it! One of them's a girl, you said?"

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "Misato, I met her a week ago. Besides, I think she's already into someone. Not sure who, though."

"Ah, alright. Not to worry, put her in a room with me and I'll get that out of her within half an hour!" Misato said.

Shinji cringed a little. "Oh gods, please don't scare my friends, Misato."

"No promises!"

A few hours later, the guests arrived. Rei, living next door, was the first to arrive. Miss Ritsuko came next, which was a surprise for everyone present, given the name 'Akagi' was synonymous with working 25 hours a day. Shinji's friends from school were the last to arrive. He was a little worried that Toji and Kensuke would be hard to control around Misato, but Hikari being present meant that she could reel them in easily. She brought some onigiri for everyone, as well as some pudding.

As Shinji was serving the food, he could sense his male friends quietly ogling Misato, even Miss Ritsuko. He briefly made eye contact with Hikari, who elbowed Toji in his side. He, in turn, elbowed Kensuke, and they toned down their gawking for the time.

The presence of Shinji's admiring friends didn't mean that Misato would act any less herself.

"YYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH! Let's get this party started!" She shouted after chugging back half a beer. Toji and Kensuke reacted with goofy smiles, Hikari looked stunned, while Shinji, Miss Ritsuko, and Rei all exchanged unamused looks. It was starting to get old at this point.

Shinji couldn't help his nerves as he watched the entire table take in his cooking. He was met with silence for a considerable amount of time as the guests dug into their food, focused on filling their stomachs.

Finally, Toji opened the floor for discussion. "Mmmm. MMMM! Shin-Man, where did you get so good?" He said with a mouth half full of food.

Kensuke joined in. "Yeah, Shinji, this kicks ass on anything I've eaten in the past, like, six months!"

Shinji's face went a little red at the praise. "I, uh, guess I just practiced a lot. I'm not really sure how good it is, though."

Hikari swallowed her food and gave him a smile. "Well, Shinji, it's very good. You should be proud!"

Ritsuko smirked a little. "Misato, what is it you always say? 'Never underestimate the ability of the human animal to adapt to its environment'? That explains it: You're gods-awful at cooking, so Shinji had to compensate by being really good. It balances out."

Misato stuck her tongue out at her longtime friend. "Look, my noodle-curry is top class, and you just don't appreciate it!" She said with faux hurt. Shinji widened his eyes and shook his head at his friends.

Shinji then looked over at his cousin, the vegetarian of the bunch. "How's yours, Rei?" He asked her.

"It is high-quality, Shinji. I appreciate the effort to accommodate my diet. If you were to provide the recipe for this, I could add it to a small collection of recipes I've been putting together."

"Sure thing! And you're always welcome over for dinner, you do live next door." He said with a smile.

"Next door? Ayanami, do you live alone?" Hikari asked.

Rei nodded. "Officially, Commander Ikari has custody of me, but like Shinji, I have a guardian as well. That person being Dr. Akagi. However, her duties keep her confined to the Geofront, so I live on my own and learned to be self-sufficient. I occasionally sleep at NERV when my duties keep me late, but I live next door."

Hikari thought for a moment. "Well, if you're self-sufficient, what can I say? You also have Shinji and Miss Katsuragi next door. I still want to give you some more recipes."

"I appreciate that, Class Representative Horaki." Rei said with a small smile.

"Oh-kaaaay!" Toji interrupted. "I think we've all filled our bellies, but the Master Chef over here also has a certain instrument that he said he'd play!"

"The cello?" Kensuke added, amused.

"Yes! That's it! The cello! Now, Shin-Man, what say you get playin'?" Toji asked, grinning.

Shinji looked down a bit nervously. "Um, sure!"

After tuning and warming up in his room, Shinji set up his cello near where everyone was eating. Mentally, he was putting Pachelbel's Canon front and centre, with the modifications he made.

Seated in front of six pairs of eyes (and a penguin), he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to play.

The notes flowed naturally, a testament to over 10 years of practicing and playing. Shinji found relief and a bit of solace in his cello. Moving apartments, getting adjusted to the new school, and two angel attacks within the last month meant that his usual practice had become less frequent. Toji and Kensuke's insistence ended up being good for him, as it meant he was able to set aside some time to play. Thankfully, the rust wasn't there yet.

When he played his cello, his mind tended to drift. Usually, these thoughts drifted to Mother, especially since the instrument in his hands belonged to her. In some videos, she'd play the instrument and gently sing along. Shinji was not about to start singing, as it was uncharted territory for him, but he knew he wanted to be able to play like her. At times, she'd play lullabies, as well as some of her personal favourite songs, which soothed him extremely well, especially when he was younger. Shinji knew that he wanted to fully display his ability for Mother. Maybe she'd be able to get out of Unit-01 when the angels were gone, then he'd truly be able to play for her.

The piece came to a close, and Shinji lifted his head and opened his eyes. Staring back were Misato and his guests, and they all looked as though they were mesmerized.

He gently set the cello aside. "S-so? What did you guys think?" He asked nervously. Misato knew what he was capable of, as did Rei, but the rest of the people present had never heard him play.

They all erupted into clapping. Toji was hollering, Kensuke was grinning ear-to-ear, and Hikari was smiling warmly.

"Shin-Man! You're a legend! Never thought a cello could be so... so... moving!" Toji said enthusiastically.

Kensuke chuckled. "You never knew what a cello was until today." Toji elbowed him. "But seriously, Shinji, you blew us away!"

"Well done, Ikari! I'd suggest immediately joining the music club if you weren't working in NERV!" Hikari cheered.

Even Pen-Pen was enthralled, 'wark'ing happily.

Misato grinned. "Not bad, eh Rits? Would it surprise you if I said I haven't put the moves on this kid?"

Ritsuko just facepalmed. "Ugh, Misato, you're so gross sometimes." She looked up at the young cellist. "Well done, Shinji. If we need to fight an angel with the power of music, you'll be front and centre."

Rei smiled softly. "Extraordinary job, Shinji. I expected nothing less."

Shinji blushed at the extensive praise. "Th-thank you all." he stuttered out.

The rest of the night was filled with talking, stories, and laughter, but like all fun things, it had to end.

"Well, Shin-man, you've completely blown me down. I didn't know you had it in ya!" said Toji as he stood at the door. "Lemme tell ya, I'm gonna be screaming about ya in the halls, the ladies will know that you have the Toji Suzuhara Seal of Approval!"

Shinji laughed. "Um, Thanks?"

"Don't worry, it doesn't do much." Kensuke half-whispered, which was followed by a smack on the head from Toji.

"Oh, um, by the way, sorry about Misato. She's a little, uh... lively at times." Shinji said apologetically

"Eh, she's a babe, it cancels out." Toji responded with no hesitation, which got him an elbow in the side from Hikari.

"Thank you again for a fun night, Ikari. I won't forget it!" Hikari said. She had taken a liking to Pen-Pen, who likewise took a liking to her.

"Thank you guys for coming! Get home safe!" Shinji said to his friends as they left.

"'Jet Alone'?"

"Yes, after Unit-01's success in battle, Japan Heavy Chemicals had pressure put on them to streamline the project. They see themselves as a competitor to us, with this project intending to replace Evangelion." Gendo said to Ritsuko.

"Who's behind the project, anyways?" She asked.

"Shiro Tokita. I knew of him as a colleague of Yui's but I hardly would refer to him as such. In fact, she had him beat on every achievement, leaving him in her dust in second place every time." Gendo answered.

The scientist had another question "I see. What is to be done about Tokita?"

"Simple." He said with a smirk. "You, Captain Katsuragi, and Sub-Commander Fuyutski will be present on NERV's behalf, and behind the scenes you teach Tokita a lesson."

Ritsuko smirked back. "That I can do, but why send Fuyutski instead of going yourself?"

"I don't do public appearances, Doctor. That was more Yui's thing." he said with a hint of sadness.

A few days after the dinner party, Shinji was getting ready for another week of school. He was finishing making his lunch, when he saw Misato emerge from her room in an unusual fashion. Instead of her usual loungewear, which consisted of a tank top and shorts, she was in her official NERV uniform.

"Something going on today?" Shinji asked the obvious.

Misato shrugged. "Yeah, some NERV competitor thinks they can upstage the Evas. Me, Rits, and the Sub-Commander are gonna be there, hopefully knock that guy Tokita down a peg."

"Who?"

"Some guy named Shiro Tokita. Head of the project, apparently the Sub-Commander knew him from the University, seems to think he's a hotshot. Eh, I think it'll be a bit embarrassing for him, to be honest."

Shinji nodded his head. "Well, have fun?"

"I wouldn't count on it." Misato said, which prompted a laugh from both of them.

A/N: Wow, what. A. Battle, eh fellas? I decided to move the Jet Alone thing sooner, and I'm also shaking it up a little. Yui will be there, It'll be a great time!

This is the first chapter with a music-related title, so for each of those (There'll be a few, or a lot heheh, can't help it), I'll have a little blurb at the end about what music it's a reference to.

Chapter Title Inspiration: The chapter title From the Yes song 'Heart of The Sunrise'. I picked it because Shamshel is the angel of the morning. Great tune, give it a listen if you have like 12 minutes.

These early chapters are a bit tough to write, so they may get shorter until we get to Over the Rainbow, which should be within the next few chapters. After Asuka makes her YW debut, the chapters will probably be longer and a bit more focused since a lot of my ideas are Shinji and Asuka-related. I plan to wrap up Jet Alone in the next chapter, do the Unit-00 activation then have the initial Ramiel attack. The chapter after that will be Operation Yashima, and that chapter will end after Ramiel gets hardscoped. I got some neat stuff for Rei planned. Rei is our friend here :)

Reviews! My oh my!

TalonEmpire: Me too, man. Got a lotta ideas for when she steps onto the scene

Panther2G (Prologue): If only... Btw thanks for taking a read! Especially considering A&T inspired this fic.

Panther2G (Ch1): In this story, Yui formed a plan to undermine SEELE, which she left to Gendo before the contact experiment. Given her intelligence, combined with her connection to SEELE, she formulated a plan undermine them. I briefly mentioned it, but it'll be explained in future chapters. Eventually, SEELE's aim will be revealed to him. The plan Yui gave to Gendo follows SEELE's plan until certain points, which is brought up in the prologue. This keeps them off his tail for long enough. I don't wanna reveal too much about it though, but bear with me. There's something about Yui's plan that's keeping Gendo from hitting the ceiling ;).

Nikys: I'm planning on having Asuka react to the tapes and stuff in some form.

spartanman2: I have plans for when Shinji gets in Unit-02 as well.

Author0fntent: Right!? I should've made Evangelion. Hell, gimme the time machine and I'll do it. /s

skyf0x: Glad you're looking forward to more! I'm following Advice & Trust logic in terms of communicating with the soul inside the Evas. In A&T, the pilots don't reach 100% sync to achieve that. Also, the line about 90s anime was one of my favs from that chapter, and lines like that are a reason why Shinji/Toji/Kensuke scenes are so fun to write.

Next time: NERV find out if whether or not Japan Heavy Chemicals is a worthy business rival or not, if Shiro Tokita is the real deal, and a screech is heard over the horizon in Chapter 4: Should The Opportunity Arise!