.hack/EVA: Catharsis: Wandering in the Maze

Disclaimer: In this universe in the quantum foam, I do not own or in any way shape or form hold a claim to the .hack series or Neon Genesis Evangelion.

" " denotes speech

'italics' denotes thought

'bold' denotes location names

'bold italics' denotes skill use

Tokyo-3 General Hospital

"If you are near to the dark, I will tell you 'bout the sun," softly sang a sad, almost wistful voice, remembering a time long ago when she had sung to another who slept. The voice belonged to a mysterious but commanding figure all in black, sitting beside a bed in an unusually colorful hospital room. "Willst du immer weiter wander, Lycoris?"

'Most unlike the usual utilitarian rooms of steel-gray and white,' the woman mused, shaking her head slowly. 'This one reminds me of the past, in the way it is painted, with scenes of a forest on the walls.'

On a bed in the room's very center lay the comatose form of a certain silver-haired girl, the sister of a goddess, who had wanted nothing more than to laugh and dance in a field of wildflowers. But now she slept dreamlessly, golden eyes closed, unseeing, her uncased silver hair fanned out across her pillow framing a face haunted by sadness and longing. Wearing nothing but a simple white dress, she almost looked like another girl Morganna had known long ago, one who slept for ages in The World.

"You are far more like Aura than you realize, my Child of Twilight," the former goddess murmured, lost in distant memories. "Even entrusting your fate to a young boy, giving into his hands the key to overturning everything, knowing he would move heaven and earth to bring you back. A strange thing love is, as a power that can overcome even the terror of death, yet one that is as gentle as the twilight breeze. But will he master even his own shadow, I wonder, alongside the one who turned you into a Lost One."

She sighed, looking over at the small vase of spider lilies sitting on the corner table, and the red dress and cape that hung on a hook above it—the two spots of warmth in an otherwise plain room. 'You are the same as always, even if you have grown…making them question, making them grow, simply with your desire to live and the tale of your past. Whereas I…'

"Do you know the meaning of the name Dark Evangel?" she asked, looking down at the fragile girl in her slumber. "No doubt you do, as their origins are of the same tongue as your name. It is, after a fashion, Messenger of Darkness, or Avenger. That is the title by which Skari, the one you have chosen as Bearer of the Bracelet, is known. A rather interesting one, your Slayer of Angels…"

A quiet click sounded amidst the whirrs and beeps, as the door opened and closed, with a mousy brunette entering the room. The bridge tech had been on her way to NERV, but had decided to stop by to see the former denizen of Net Slum. Walking over to the woman beside the bed, the new visitor handed her a cup of coffee, which the former goddess took with a faint smile.

"I thought your assistant was the one who could always be found with food or drink in hand," Morganna teased half-heartedly, still brooding over the results of yesterday. "Or have you switched places with him, dear Queen?"

"He apparently prefers giant robot manga now, though why I cannot fathom," Maya replied dryly, a moment of tenderness flitting across her face for a moment as she regarded the girl on the bed. "Things have changed greatly since the time of Kite."

"Heh, the most interesting changes being what I am and who you are," the former Goddess noted, taking a sip of her coffee. "It is…strange, being in this position, mortal but still wondering at how mortals find the strength to do what they do. And now that I find myself where the bracelet bearer was years ago…"

"He was a brave little boy, wasn't he?" Maya asked idly, reminiscing of the past. "Or perhaps a very foolish one, to throw himself into danger so, becoming the knight of azure flame. His companion, was much the same, though they not were not as foolish as a certain pighead."

"The one who tried to delete the bracelet bearer?" Morganna inquired knowingly, remembering that particular incident well. "He was almost as foolish as…the Long Arm with eyes like the stars. But then, one could categorize most would-be heroes that way: brave, but foolish."

"The one administrator who began to understand the secrets of Fragment, yet was ultimately blamed for the Twilight?" interjected the mousy brunette, quirking an eyebrow as the Queen of the Dark made a connection in her mind. "The one who to whom Lycoris first gave up her fate, and who now lives with Yeats?"

"The very same," the black-haired woman confirmed, thinking of hospitals, comas, and the other matter they had discussed at Net Slum. "Speaking of the system, have you contacted Hino?"

"Indeed, and he will attempt to gather up the stray factors, should we be unsuccessful in our quest," Maya responded in the affirmative, giving a brief now. "The Prophet was most vocal about his irritation at CC Corp for their actions in the RA Plan and in the fire, and promised to render aid in exchange for that which had been given."

The two women stood together in silence, both tired, needing the moment's respite from the world. Outside, the sun was beginning to rise, and the brief interlude of twilight was passing. Very soon, both of the powerful women in the room would have to depart to their respective destinations, playing their roles as they did each and every day.

"I shouldn't need to warn you," the mousy brunette said after a few moments, "but the free man will be transferring into your class today. Observation has confirmed unstable elements, as well as a close friendship with the Bringer of Strife. "

"The meddler from the old men, together with the hedgehog girl…this does not bode well," Yumi Aranami admitted with a sigh. "I will take the necessary measures to protect our allies. Meanwhile, perhaps you should set Fili to the task of investigation."

"Indeed so, though I would be curious as to whether AIDA possession has granted either of them abilities beyond the human norm," the Queen of the Dark mused quietly, turning to leave, but first casting one last glance at Lycoris. "Lying there sleeping, clad in white…the Child of Twilight seems very much like Aura, doesn't she?"

"They are sisters of a sort, and I am their mother, from a certain point of view," the former goddess acknowledged. "Dusk, Twilight, and Dawn…Aura and I given destiny and fate to follow, but Lycoris allowed to choose her path…truly a captive fallen angel, and the most human of us all."

"Hm," was Maya's noncommittal response, as she walked to the door and opened it, leaving a few words in her wake. "Thank you once again for your assistance last night, dear Morrigu. May the Child of Twilight soon awaken from her slumber."

"Consider it my thanks for the tangled emotions you inspire, my old enemy," nodded Morganna, watching the brunette as she walked away. "Loathe as I am to admit it, I need you, just as you need me."

"I recall you once telling a certain wavemaster the very same words," the bridge tech noted, lips quirking into a momentary smile. "I still don't trust you entirely, you know, even if you did save my life."

"Isn't that all the more reason for us to walk together? Since we clearly mistrust each other enough that we can easily pick out betrayals?" the former goddess reasoned, coaxing a soft laugh from the Queen of the Dark. "They do say to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer."

"Touché," conceded the mousy brunette. "The usual place and time?"

"Indeed. I'll be waiting."

NERV Medical

"Their awful folds in the dark air; silent she lay as night," recited the enigmatic Fourth Child as he stood over the comatose First. "For never from her iron tongue could voice or sound arise…the eternal sleeper, Lost One."

The grey-haired boy was peering down at the blue-haired girl intently, a trace of his trademark smirk upon his lips.

'We are alike, you and I, no matter how much you or the Third may deny it,' he thought silently, contemplating how already the situation so favored him. 'But I wonder, would he really still care for you if he found that in truth you were of his enemies?'

"What are you babbling about now, Kaworu?" a certain German redhead asked impatiently. She was leaning against the doorframe since she couldn't stand the sight of the blue-haired wench, and had only come because the grey-haired boy had been rather…insistent in taking her along. "And why did you want to visit the First anyway?"

"Is it not important to know one's enemy?" the Fourth countered with ease. "Did you not say you wanted so prevent the Third from visiting her, or at least to catch him doing perverted things? After all, should one not observe a subject until his reactions are predictable, or he does something incriminating? At the very least, if we are here, we may deny him access to the so-called girl, no?"

"Yes…yes, you're completely right, Fourth," conceded Asuka Langley Soryu, rubbing her hands in anticipation. "But—"

"You don't like seeing the First's doll-like face," Kaworu finished flatly, finishing his study of the body of Rei Ayanami and walking over to join the Second. "Tell me something, Asuka, when the Third visited this place in the past, did he act suspiciously, almost as if he harbored feelings of guilt? Did he act abruptly as if stung by criticism? And does he play The World?"

Asuka's eyes widened as she thought back to the…incident…in Ayanami's room, when the Third Child has forcibly stolen two kisses from her after molesting the blue-haired girl.

"Th—that baka hentai!" the redhead snarled, still remembering how he had forced a kiss upon her, humiliating her. "Yes, he did…and he does, as that infuriating Dark Evangel Skari, the blue-haired dumbkopf who makes it his mission to stalk me with his metallic tentacle monster. What about it, Fourth?"

"A metallic tentacle monster…I see…in that case, he is definitely the one responsible for putting the First into a coma," summed up the enigmatic Kaworu. "The display of guilt, and his desire to use her comatose body only confirms it."

"W-what? The Third is a hacker?" Asuka asked, almost incredulous at the thought.

"There is no such monster in The World, thus his possession of such a creature marks him as a hacker, does it not?" explained the grey haired boy. "It is said that five years ago, during the Second Network Crisis, such a monster was seen, with the player who controlled it affecting players in real life. It has been further stated that the comas then were the work of a virus spread by hackers—these two are not unrelated, in my mind. The Third, then, is definitely the cause of the recent outbreak of Doll Syndrome."

"Affecting real life…yes…yes, it all makes sense now," the Second child breathed, baring her teeth in a maniacal grin. "That's why Hakubo chose him over me…they're both hackers trying to put people into comas with a virus. That bitch—she tried to put ME into a coma! It all fits…he tries to steal my glory, my richly deserved praise, my friends…and now he wants to steal my mind, so he can have his way with my sleeping body, that baka! Heh Heh…I'll see how good that baka is at getting out of situations when I report both of them to the World Network Council, him and his accomplice, Reimeiki Hakubo, the traitor and false friend."

"A report to the World Network Council…a wise tactic, and a death sentence for the Third if he is confirmed as a hacker, unless NERV decides to intervene," Kaworu noted, his eyes shining with amusement. "Indeed, if the Third is the malevolent force putting pilots into comas, then that would be the best course of action, as I would prefer not to be a victim. Nor would I like it if you were to become a Lost One."

"Heh…as if some virus could possibly hurt the great Asuka Langley Soryu!" the redhead crowed arrogantly. "Thanks to my obvious power and skill, I was able to shrug off the traitor's attack and defeat her. And I would have eliminated that verdammen Skari too, if he hadn't called up a powerful dragon. Serves him right, always running away after his perverted acts are stopped, the coward…I'll just have to punish him, and show him the true meaning of pain."

She raised an eyebrow as Kaworu took her arm and led her out of Ayanami's room.

"I believe we have spent enough time in this cold, unsightly place," the Fourth said as he pulled her along. "In any case, it is time for us to be going—I would be far from a gentleman if I were to deprive the school of the beauty of its idol."

Tokyo-3 General Hospital

'I don't really like hospitals,' Shinji thought to himself as he wandered through maze-like corridors, colors washed out by bright florescent lights. 'They don't seem like places of healing, just of suffering and death, concentrated into a single location. And now both Reimeiki and Ayanami are in hospitals, since I couldn't protect them…'

The brown-haired boy was tired, and understandably so, as he had been at the city's main hospital overnight, alternately crying, talking with the imposing Yumi Aranami, sleeping uncomfortably, or wandering the halls. It was still hard to accept that his lover was now in a coma, or that he couldn't do anything about it in this world—and it was even harder to accept that he had to go to school and work beside the one who had put her into that state. And on top of that, having to deal with the unsettling Fourth Child was not to his liking either.

Thus, Shinji remained in the hospital, taking the time to face himself and the times he had failed in his duty to serve and protect. He had sat beside the silver-haired girl in silence for most of the night, falling asleep in an awkward pose, only waking up when Morganna had gently shaken him and told him to take a short walk outside to clear his head.

During his wanderings, he had come across the room of Touji's sister, and had plucked up the courage to finally pay her a visit and apologize for allowing her to get injured. The Third had thought to do so quietly, slipping in and giving a recounting of his many sins while the younger Suzuhara was sleeping, but to his surprise, she had been awake and greeted him with a smile.

'It was strange, to be so easily forgiven…though I don't deserve her praise,' he mused in the aftermath of his confession. 'Strange to think of myself as idolized, when I simply do what I can, and not always well, either. But I do feel a little lighter, knowing she doesn't blame me for what I did, even hoping that her brother and I will be good friends. I can see why Touji is so protective of her…'

With that personal business concluded, Shinji had left, heading back to Lycoris' room to spend a last few hours by her side before going to school.

"Macha…" came a muffled voice, as a door to one of the rooms swung open, and Maya Ibuki emerged, seemingly as tired as he, a troubled expression on her face.

"Ibuki-san!" he exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

'Did I really hear Ibuki-san say "Macha"? It couldn't be…'

"Just checking on an old friend, from years ago, one I met through The World," the bridge tech replied, gesturing to the name on the door, a certain 'Kaoru Ichinose.' "He was always somewhat of a recluse, though he did love a certain other called 'Mia', or 'Macha.'"

"Macha…" Shinji repeated, narrowing his eyes. 'Macha…as in the Phase?'

"Yes, Macha, named for one of the faces of the triple goddess Morrígna of Celtic lore," Maya informed him. "The others were usually the Morrígan and the Badb. Macha the temptress, Badb the mirage of deceit, Morrígan the prophet…together they were the three of war, the Phantom Queen, although sometimes other accounts include Fea the Avenger or Anu the Terror of Death."

'The titles of the Phases…?'

"Ah, that's almost like the titles of the Phases of the Cursed Wave in the Epitaph of Twilight," Shinji remarked after a thoughtful pause. "And all these were part of a goddess called Morrígna…interesting. How is your friend?"

"He's…in a coma," the mousy brunette answered softly. "His parents found him slumped over at his computer, where he had been playing—"

"The World," the Third Child filled in tonelessly, suddenly feeling tired once again. "He's a Lost One, then?"

"So it seems…its strange that he would be involved once more as the Twilight comes again," Maya sighed, shaking her head. "Sorry Ikari-kun, I know that it's been hard on you with Ayanami falling into a coma, and now your girlfriend too."

"You know about—?"

"I happened to meet her guardian Aranami-sensei while I was here," the bridge tech answered. As usual, she spoke words that technically it weren't lies, even if they didn't reveal too much. "I'm sorry to hear about that…but I hope you find a way to bring them back. And now I have to go…Akagi-sempai wants me to come in early to do some work on MAGI. Good luck, Ikari-kun."

With a wave and a friendly smile, Maya walked briskly down the corridor and soon disappeared from sight, as Shinji likewise made his way to his destination, Lycoris' hospital room. Knocking twice to announce his presence, the Third Child opened the door and entered, making his way over to an empty chair by the bedside, next to the one named Yumi Aranami.

It was strange to think that his teacher, the tall, imposing woman who had walked in to Class 2-A one day, could seem to very vulnerable in the night, as if haunted by memories of something in her past.

"Aura was like this too, once, sleeping in The World," the older woman murmured, eyes unfocused, seeming to see another scene of years ago. "And there she waited until a young Tsukasa woke her, a frightened little girl whose mother had died when she was young, whose father neglected and abused her. A cold one hiding a kind heart, who found the courage to stop running away from reality...she was very much like you in that way."

Morganna turned to look at the tired brown-haired boy, blinking as her eyes focused upon him.

"How are you holding up, Shinji?" she asked, coming back to the present and putting a gentle hand on his head. "I know this must be hard for you as well, especially since you two were close. The higher up it is dropped, the worse the crash will be…and it is a hard thing, bearing the weight of both worlds on your shoulders, just like the last Bearer of the Bracelet."

"I…I don't know," the brown-haired boy admitted, his mind feeling somewhat heavy. "I'm still in shock right now, I think, and I keep thinking that Reimeiki-chan is only sleeping, that she'll wake up soon. She…she sacrificed herself to save me…and I…"

"That's because she loves you, as Aura loved the one she chose…"

"The one she chose…?" Shinji questioned, not having heard of this part of the story before.

"He was the last Bearer of the Bracelet," Morganna began hesitantly, coming to grips with the reality of the now. "A boy no older than you who lost a friend to the Wave before his eyes, who walked a very difficult path to bring him back…a boy who was forced into situation he did not understand, and yet emerged a hero. His name…was Kite…the legendary dothacker who gathered the scattered fragments of Aura, for whom Aura laid down her life in the final battle against…against the Wave. All Aura wanted was to live…but she was willing to die because she loved him—and thus she was reborn."

"…as the Goddess of The World," Shinji breathed, this new view of the dothackers altering his outlook on the situation. "You mentioned the scattered fragments of Aura…would this have anything to do with the strange item I was given alongside the book, a certain 'etaf . Cyl?'

"Yes, like Aura she segmented her consciousness so as to prevent its destruction," Morganna acknowledged with a small nod. "And she has given you the most important piece—her fate. To bring her back, you must gather the other pieces of her mind in The World…her memories, her awareness of self, her dreams…and restore them to her wandering form trapped in The World."

"And how would I—?"

"You will know, Bearer of the Bracelet, as her fate will be drawn to her other fragments," the tired woman told him. "But Eris likely holds a fragment of her, since it was her blade that struck the fatal blow. The Bringer of Strife…so very fearful deep inside, held in thrall to her dark side, as she tries to drown her self-doubt in a river of blood. I would be wary of her, Ikari, as a wounded animal is often the most vicious."

"I can't forgive her for what she did, even if she is like me," the Third Child said in turn. "Wounded she may be, hurt, she may be, but she has hurt so many others—taken away Reimeiki and Ayanami, even taunting them as she cut them down. When I was…unconscious, a part of me realized that she was like me, but that she is so far gone, I have to destroy her to save her. That is why I can't forgive her, even if she is in pain…because if I think of her as human, if I think of her as vulnerable and hurting, as a person who could have been a friend, I won't be able to stop her. All I can do now is consume my emotions and try to save everyone…to not give up, not run away."

"A curious thing, isn't it, the emotions of human beings?" Morganna asked once more. "To at once aid and hinder on the path. Personally, I think that is what it means to be a Shadowed One, to be able to feel, to think, to go beyond the logical. Because I have seen how people waver, seen how others confront themselves and the demons within to overcome. They struggle with themselves, uncertain of their paths, but still they press on…amazingly enough, not for their own sake, but for that of others. You are like that too, because you stand against the Angels, forces much greater than yourself. Tell me…why did you come to Tokyo-3? And why do you stay?"

"I came because…because Father wanted me to come," he admitted for the first time. "Because I thought that things might be different—I just wanted to be accepted. And the first time I piloted EVA…it was because there was no one else, because I didn't really have a choice. I-I nearly died then, and I ended up hurting people because all I wanted to do was run away, some of who are also in this hospital. The second time…I-I nearly killed two people, and I almost couldn't take it anymore. I would have run away, if not for finding a strange box in my room, with a copy of The World. It kept me here, and then…after meeting everyone and knowing them… I found that couldn't run away anymore, because to run away only means more people being hurt, and I can't let that happen, not after this. So…that's why, I've resolved to see things through to the end."

"You are a brave, if foolish boy, Shinji Ikari," his teacher told him with a wan smile, a rueful chuckle escaping her lips. "Very much like the silver-haired girl sleeping here…which is probably why she loved you enough to sacrifice herself for you."

The tall, commanding woman rose from her seat then, turning to the Third Child.

"Come then, let us head to school—your friends are waiting."

Tokyo-3 1st Municipal Junior High School, Courtyard

Though Touji and Kensuke had often been called the Idiot Duo, they were actually fairly intelligent people, if lacking in common sense. However, despite this handicap, having spent a considerable amount of time around the Class Representative, they knew that it would be a very bad move to annoy her—which is all they were likely to accomplish if they moved to stop her from stalking to the gate, where the Second Child, the self-proclaimed beauty of Tokyo-3, was now entering.

Given the dark aura of menace and killing intent that they had recognized around the usually peaceful and rule-abiding Hikari Horaki (one more often present in her counterpart, Tomoyami of the Shadow), the two were simply following at a distance, walking as if over eggshells, trying not to set her off.

'I have a very bad feeling about this,' thought Touji, as the tall, athletic boy watched from a distance, not wanting to get too close lest he become the focus of her displeasure. 'The Class Rep is the most strait-laced person in school, and normally only harsh with words. But if she's really getting angry, then…'

The jock gulped and shuddered as terrible images of a blood-splattered Hikari howling in laughter as she ripped a demonic beast apart with her bare hands popped into his mind, this coincidentally being the same image in Kensuke's mind.

'They say to beware the quiet ones…well, we've seen Shinji in his EVA…so what's going to happen if the Class Rep goes berserk?'

They looked at each other fearfully, as the pig-tailed girl came closer and closer to her target-until at last she reached her destination, lashing out at the Second Child without warning.

Thwack!

A vicious clawing slap that cracked against the face of the Red Devil-followed up with a backhand that sent her victim sprawling with a string of vehement curses.

"Was für ein Haufen Scheiße!" Asuka snarled, eyes flashing as she rose and brought a hand to her wounded cheek, feeling the slickness of blood. "You…how dare you strike me?"

"You deserve it, bitch!" Hikari snarled, calling upon all her repressed rage as she lunged forward, driving a violent punch into the redhead's gut with one hand, her other grabbing a handful of Asuka's bosom and twisting hard, extracting a wounded howl from Asuka's lips. "You…you turned Reimeiki into a Lost One!"

Though winded, the redhead was not about to go down without a fight, and so grabbed into her opponents arms and twisted violently, as if to break them.

"She got what she deserved" Asuka hissed, livid at the thought that someone had dared to strike her, the savior of the world. "She was a verdammen schweinepriester hacker who tried to put me into a coma after lying to me and calling herself my friend! So what if her little virus rebounded and got her? Why do you care...are you a hacker to-oopf…"

Though the primary weak point of a female was not between the legs, a fierce strike with the knee to the pubic bone would still hurt like hell, as Asuka discovered to her chagrin.

'You...how dare you, you freckled slut?'

Reeling with pain and shock, the German girl let go and doubled over, staggering away just enough for the brunette to grab her hair, and with a bestial roar, smashing her fist into Asuka's face and hurling the redhead to the ground, with the Class Rep continuing her relentless barrage as the Second Child cursed, seeking to defend herself from the flurry of blows.

Watching from the distance, the Idiot Duo cowered, whimpering.

"I don't care if you hate me, or if you hurt me, but you," Hikari growled in a low, very dangerous tone of voice, punctuating each of her words with a vicious kick to the redhead's prone form. "But you do NOT hurt my friends. And you don't tell me that putting someone in a coma was that they deserved. BITCH!"

A particularly brutal blow for emphasis, but one that Asuka anticipated, using the force of the kick to fuel a roll from the attacks, where, with a smidgen of breathing room, she recovered to her feet, balling her hands up into fists and baring her teeth in a primal sign of challenge.

"No one attacks me and gets away with it," she bellowed, blocking the next slap and lashing out with one of her own punches—only to be blocked. "How dare you strike me, your savior, who fights against the Angels? Are you on their side, a traitor to humanity who sides with them?"

A fast-spinning leg sweep knocked the Class Rep off her feet, and the Second Child followed her to the ground to pin her foe and make her submit, but the pig-tailed girl was more resilient than she thought, and driven by rage, Hikari clamped her hands around the redhead's throat and squeezed, enduring the punishment of Asuka's clawed hands and fists, only grimly tightening her grip as the other struck and flailed and fought desperately to escape the choke-hold.

"Traitor, eh?" the Class Rep spat, watching as Asuka's efforts began to weaken, eyes burning with hatred. "You tried to kill Ikari-kun, you hurt Ayanami-san, you put Remeiki-san into a coma, and you call ME the TRAITOR? Let this be a warning to you…don't mess with my friends!"

"A-aah—" Asuka gasped for breath, choking as she grabbed onto Hikari's wrists in an attempt to wrench the brunette's hand loose, to make the girl let go. To her surprise, the pig-tailed girl played along, releasing the Second Child—but only so that she could deliver a snap kick that sent her flying, only to land with a sickening thud in a broken heap at the feet of the Third Child, who along with Morganna, willfully ignored her and walked on, going to Hikari's side.

"You're pathetic, Asuka, no Eris, Bringer of Strife," the Class Rep said, her fury dampened slightly by the physical release granted by violence. "Be grateful I'm not like you, or you would have received far worse than that."

Asuka Langley Soryu got up, her body tensing to charge the one who had dared to attack her and to eliminate her for good—but before she could, she was stopped by a hand from behind closing around her wrist.

"Not now, Asuka…there is another place for such matters. We have already reported the perpetrators to the World Network Council, so the day of reckoning is nigh," a silky voice whispered softly, causing the redhead to freeze in her tracks. "Besides…why bother with this now…do you really want to become like her, a mere doll enslaved to wrath?"

"Let go, Kaworu…" the Second Child bit back harshly. "I need to teach this bitch a lesson..."

"No…" the grey-haired boy broke in firmly, cutting her off in a tone that would brook no disagreement. "That would be reckless, as you would simply be playing into that Lilim's wishes for you to do so. Remember, you are the best, so choose your battles wisely. This is neither the time, nor the place for such things…you are beyond this."

A tense stalemate of wills as the Second and Fourth locked eyes, though after a few seconds, the Second conceded grudgingly, standing down while rubbing her throat-and glaring daggers at the Class Representative.

"And who might you be?" Hikari asked of the newcomer, having once again returned to her more pleasant business like demeanor.

"My name is Kaworu Nagisa," he replied, smiling pleasantly at the Class Rep. "And it appears I have the dubious honor of being the newest member of Class 2-A. Now if you will excuse me, it appears I must take my girlfriend to the infirmary."

With that, the Fourth escorted the Second Child to the stated destination, ignoring her vehement protests that she was perfectly fine and did not need any treatment. And as he walked away, Shinji couldn't help glaring at Kaworu's retreating back, as the others did likewise, their thoughts unvoiced.

'You…what are you planning?'

'Another EVA pilot…why wasn't I chosen?'

'I don't like the look of this guy…'

'He seems a suspicious character, to control Asuka so easily…'

'So at last we meet in person, Siarl of the Seven Eyes…servant of AIDA and SEELE.'