Well, here it is! Chapter 22 has finally been completed! You thought last chapter was long… This one is longer! I don't know how I do it I swear! Chapter 2 rewrite will come out in a couple days time, but for now… Shinji and Asuka have to work together to defeat Israfel. How will things go? Read and find out!


September 6th, 2015

Asuka's mind was all over the place, the apartment had long since gone to bed, and Misato's and Pen-Pen's drunken snoring could be heard from all over the house. She knew, always knew that she'd been alone for years, and for the first time in forever, she had people around her who she could call friends. And yet, as time passed, she still had lots of thoughts.

'I know I'm better than the others. I've been piloting the Eva for years, I activated Unit-02 when I was only 5 years old… Yet, when I get here, I'm outdone by someone who's only been piloting for a couple of months.' Asuka rolled over staring hard at the nightstand beside her. 'Despite everything, despite all that I've seen since I've arrived here… Would it still be better to stay alone. To only rely on myself?' She frowned and shook her head, her red hair draping around on her pillow. 'No, don't talk to yourself like that, Asuka. Get some sleep. 6am wake up call. That's what Misato wants.' And with that, Asuka fell asleep, not knowing that her fellow pilot and partner, was also still awake.

Shinji stared hard at all the boxes around him. He'd moved himself into the smaller bedroom once Asuka had moved in, he didn't mind really, so he'd given her his old room with no problems and taken the smaller room.

He didn't have his thoughts on Asuka though. As he listened to his SDAT player, noting the change from Track 25 to 26 once again, his thoughts where on a certain man. As Shinji stared at the boxes nearby, he lifted himself up, grabbing a hold of his cell phone that he'd obtained early in his stay. He typed in a single phone number and held the phone to his ear. It rung once… twice… three times… Shinji sighed, placing the phone down on the bed beside him. "I knew you wouldn't answer… father…" He muttered, before going back to sleep, knowing Misato would be waking him up early the next morning.


Misato yawned as she woke that morning, stretching her arms high as she took in the area around her. Unlike most days, which Misato would've liked to sleep in, today she was up and alert, for she had a job to do. There was the Seventh Angel resting in wait on their doorstep, and she had to get Shinji and Asuka started on their training so they could beat the damn thing, as it had caused a rather large mockery of them the day before despite Shinji and Asuka's best efforts in Unit-01 and Unit-02.

Misato glanced at the calendar, she had firmly circled the 11th September, the day that the MAGI predicted that the Seventh Angel would start moving again, she glanced over at the start of the week. Today was the 6th of September. She had five days to get those two working together and in complete synchronisation. 'Lord help me…' She thought as she quickly threw on that mornings work getup. She'd decided today to forgo her usual black dress/red jacket combo that she was very fond of, and had decided on a simple red dress today. She wasn't trying to look good, really.

She quickly grabbed some sheets that were sitting on the nearby bedside table and quickly exited the room. She now had one goal in mind. Find her charges and wake them up so they could get started on their training. She glanced at the clock sitting in the corner. '6am.' She thought, a teasing smile on her face. 'Perfect.' She crept quietly over to the first door, which contained Shinji's new room and quickly opened the door. She glanced down, noticing the mess of boxes, and the boy sleeping peacefully with his earbuds in his ears, the sounds of the heavily used SDAT player swirling in the boy's mind. Misato laughed as she carefully stepped inside, proceeding to shake the boy awake. Shinji immediately woke up, staring up at the face of his guardian.

Evangelion 2.22 OST – Disc 1, Track 6 – 2EM07_KK_B09_InDoor –

"Uh… Misato…?" He asked, still half-asleep.

"Morning!" Misato chirped cheerfully. "We have work to do, so you'd better get up and to the bathroom before I go wake Asuka up." Shinji nodded dumbly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as she pottered out of the room. Satisfied, Misato carefully moved around the maze of boxes and headed down towards the next door down, where Asuka's room now stood. She slid open the door, peering inside to find the redhead face down on her bed, her light snores filling the small apartment. She smiled as she walked in slowly, proceeding to shake the girl awake as well. Unlike Shinji however, Asuka immediately jumped up and started to twist Misato's wrists as hard as she could.

"Asuka! Stop!" Misato cried out, watching as the girl woke up, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Misato!?" Asuka said, surprised as she slumped back onto her bed.

"Yes, it's me!" Misato replied pulling her arm away and gently massaging it. "What the hell, Asuka!?"

"What the hell!?" Asuka replied, staring daggers at her guardian. "Why the hell were you waking me up like that!?" Asuka asked, glancing at the nearby clock sitting out in the hallway. "It's 6am, Misato! Let me sleep!" Misato grinned, crossing her arms again.

"Nope! You have to get up, you start training today!" Misato replied, giddiness in her voice. "Also, just for that earlier, you can clean the kitchen tonight!" Misato chirped, watching Asuka's face harden in annoyance.

"Fine!" Asuka replied, shaking her head in annoyance.

"Now, you have 10 minutes to meet me in the kitchen. I have to go over some stuff with you before we get started. Did you hear that Shinji!?" Misato shouted the last part, making sure the boy knew the current plan.

"Yes!" Shinji replied, as he pottered around the kitchen. "Yes, I heard you!" He said, causing Asuka to give the older woman a smirk.

"Hear that, Misato." She said, running a nearby comb through her hair so it was decent for the day. "He heard you." Misato frowned at her charges, before leaving the room.

End –

"Remember, Asuka! Ten minutes!" Misato finally reminded, giving the girl a smile, before entering the kitchen herself. She watched as Shinji cooked up a quick breakfast, still wearing his sleepwear due to getting Breakfast prepared instead of getting ready like Asuka was.

Asuka entered soon after, wearing a simple pale pink top over a light red dress. She sat down at the table and waited as Shinji brought out the food, quickly served, as the group set to eating their breakfast. As they went, Misato pulled out two sets of sheets, placing it on the table in front of them.

"Alright, let's get this started." Misato started, indicating to the sheets in front of them. "This here is the choreography for the dance that you are going to practice. Got that?" She said, watching as Shinji and Asuka glanced at the pages in front of them. They contained sheet music, as well as movement diagrams for their dance routine that would follow. "You are going to need to memorise this by heart so we can get your rhythms going." Misato said, pulling out a set of matching clothing. Black leotards with matching tops with lovely music notes on them. They were only set apart by the colour of the tops. Blue for Shinji, and Pink for Asuka. "You will also both be required to wear this." Misato said, throwing the clothing on the table. They both stared at the clothes, then at Misato in disbelief.

"You're joking, right?" Shinji asked, picking up the clothing and just staring at it.

"You want us to dance wearing this?" Asuka asked, annoyance on her face.

"Yes," Misato replied, a frown on her face. She was in full business mode, a mode that commonly wasn't shown at home. "Now go get changed, and back out here quickly!" She said, directing the children to their rooms. They obediently followed, annoyance on both their faces. "No complaining!" Misato called out to them, knowing they were both about to comment on the clothing again. Both Children stayed silent as they left the kitchen, heading towards their rooms to change.

Asuka stripped down, sighing as she pulled the leotard over her body. She sighed as she glanced at herself in the mirror, noticing the fabric clinging to the girl's developing curves. "I feel naked." She said to herself as she pulled the pink top on, glaring at it in annoyance. "Gott, this doesn't do much for me." She muttered as she pulled open her door, heading out into the hallway, waiting for Shinji. 'I can't believe this is what Misato wants us to wear!' Asuka growled to herself, waiting patiently until Shinji left as well.

'This feels weird.' Shinji thought when he was pulling on his own costume as Misato had so lovingly called it. He hated the fact that the thing was so tight that it left nothing to the imagination. 'Although, technically our Plug Suits are no different, so what's the worst that could happen.' Shinji thought to himself, pulling on the blue top, grimacing slightly at the obvious colourful notes on it. "Well, Misato knows what she wants at least." He said, pulling open the door to his room.

'Oh… god… It's Asuka's legs…' Shinji stopped immediately, his face flushing at the thought. He hadn't really considered the fact that Asuka's leotard was going to look a lot like a swimsuit. He simply stared, telling himself off repeatedly. 'Stop looking! She's going to notice! Oh god, it can definitely get much worse!'

Asuka glanced up as Shinji opened the door, raising an eyebrow as he froze immediately on the spot. She followed his eyesight, noticing that they were firmly planted on her legs. His reddening face seemed to confirm her suspicions. She stepped forward, prowling as if he was her prey.

"Anta Baka?" She asked, standing in front of him. "What are you, stupid?" Shinji glanced up, giving the girl a sheepish grin. She grinned at him. "You wouldn't be the one to jeopardise our training, would you? What, by staring at me all day?"

Shinji looked away, rubbing the back of his head slightly. "Sorry, Asuka… I didn't think that…" He said, not finishing his sentence as his face flushed red.

"That these costumes would be so revealing?" She asked, questioning in her eyes.

"Well… no. I figured that out when Misato got them out. I just didn't think it would look so…" Shinji said, as he ducked his head, muttering the last bit of his words. "Good on you…"

"What was that, Shinji?" Asuka asked, stepping closer to the boy. "I couldn't hear you, you need to speak up." She said, making sure she could be as loud as possible so Misato could hear them.

"I said it looks good on you." Shinji said, meeting her eyes. He grinned in victory as the redhead flushed the colour of her hair. Quickly turning away so he couldn't see her face.

"Well!" She started, still facing away from him. "Don't want to keep Misato waiting any longer! I'm sure she's got so much she needs us to do!" She said, moving out of the hallway and back to the kitchen quickly.

Shinji just stared at her back as she left, wondering why she had wanted to get away so quickly. "I don't understand girls." He finally decided, intending to follow Asuka quickly so the Angel's wouldn't see him like this early in the morning.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here!"

Evangelion 2.22 OST – Disc 1, Track 10 – 2EM11_B16 –

'Crap.' Shinji thought in his head, turning to find all four of their current Angel family, minus Skeletal, watching him with amusement. Sachiel was the one who had spoken, currently floating towards his pilot.

"You know, it looks really good on you!" Sachiel said, floating around to have a good look. "It's such a shiny fabric, and it clings like a glove." Ramiel floated forward, her octahedral body shining in the light of the apartment.

"Yes."

"See!" Sachiel said, floating in front of him, arms up in the air. "We are all in agreement."

"Shamshel?" Shinji asked, hoping for at least some normality in the early morning. "Please tell me something normal." He pleaded, watching as the Angel shook its head, it's little arms and legs fluttering about in excitement.

"No can do, Shinji." Shamshel replied, an attempt to look apologetic trying to come through. He really wasn't though. "But I can't let any of my siblings pass this up. This is just too good." He said, giving the boy some sort of grin, that honestly just ending up looking silly and stupid.

"And plus!" Gaghiel said, floating over to Shinji quickly. "You and Asuka match now! This is gonna be so cool! Do you think Asuka likes it!?" Gaghiel stated, his flurry of questions catching the boy off guard, he hadn't dealt with Gaghiel before, as he belonged to Asuka, and now he was glad she had got him. "Do you think you're going to defeat Israfel!?"

"That's precisely why I've had them all dressed up, Gaghiel!" Said Misato, a way to happy grin on her face as Asuka trailed behind her. "As I've always said, appearance is always vital for this sort of thing. And we need you both to be dressed like this for a reason, it's not just because I love teasing you both or anything."

"Somehow," Asuka said. "I think that's precisely why you have us wearing these."

"Eh, details, details!" Misato said, leading the two children to the main living room, where many of the normal objects like the small table, the rug, the TV, had all been moved to the side, where in the middle of the room, a giant metallic machine sat. It had two boards, one of the left and one on the right, both linked up to the giant score counter in the middle. The boards were largely white, with some red dots on both sides. Shinji and Asuka glanced up at Misato.

End –

"So… we're going to be playing DDR?" Shinji asked, wondering just what the hell was actually happening.

"Sure." Misato replied, "If you want to put it that way, but there's a reason for this." Misato said, immediately returning to business mode. "Now, the Angel has a shared mind. Two cores, but they share their mind so they can work their two bodies in tandem. What we need from you two is perfect harmony from you both, so it is vital that you both learn to move in unison, speak in unison, all that stuff." Shinji and Asuka glanced at each other in disbelief.

"You want us to basically fuse our minds and bodies?" Asuka asked, wondering the lengths to which this plan was formed.

"Basically, that's why we have chosen this melody." Misato said, holding up the music once again. "Memorising this attack pattern that I've formed will be the quickest way to master perfect harmony between you two. Using this melody, and these movements, we'll be able to get this completely down. Remember, we only have six days."

"We agree with Misato's plan." Sachiel told the two pilots.

"It is essential that we get you two in harmony so that Israfel's gimmick can be taken away." Shamshel said, Ramiel nodded in response, while Gaghiel simply flew around in happiness.

"Don't worry so much about it!" Gaghiel said, way to happy for the current time of the morning. "It won't be that hard." Before either of the children could answer, the sound of a door opening behind them alerted them away from the Angels and Misato, who was already frowning as a certain man walked into the room, hands lazily placed in his pockets.

"I should note, Major." He said, his calm voice flowing through the room. "That I was the one who came up with the music and the choreography. I'm shattered, you should give me more credit."

"Kaji!" Asuka squealed immediately, waving her hand at the man in happiness. Kaji didn't take much notice though, his eyes were all on Misato, who was currently giving him a very noticeable frown.

"What are you doing here!?" She said, placing her hands on her hips and staring the man down. "You know that I can do this myself?" She asked, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I'm hurt." Kaji replied, feigning being shot. "You shouldn't be so hard on me, Katsuragi." He said, giving her a charming grin. Misato growled, moving away from the man immediately and turning to the kids.

"Alright you two. Get yourselves on the mats and we're going to give this a shot. We're only going to practice the first part. Now, here's the music, and let's give this a try." She said, moving towards the nearby boom box and inserting the disc, it didn't take long before the woman hit play, lighting up the room with a wondrous sound.

Neon Genesis Evangelion OST II – Track 7 - Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win! –

Shinji and Asuka nodded, immediately starting their routine. They started off quite well. Showing an understanding of the movements required. They leaned down forward, one hand on the ground, then raising themselves, that hand now raised high in the air. This is when the routine went south…

Shinji started doing some weird, ballet type movement, switching the raised hand around, then bringing them both down in a weird, placement. Asuka on the other hand, had tried to do a pirouette. Completely different to what Shinji was doing, ending up in a completely different ending position. With one knee raised between her arms.

Misato, Kaji and the Angels looked on in disbelief. Wondering just how the two pilots had managed to get out of sync so quickly. "Well… this could've been better." Kaji noted, his eyebrows raised in utter confusion.

"At this rate, they're not going to defeat Israfel!" Sachiel said, his arms crossed in an attempt to look somewhat intimidating, he was really just imitating Misato.

"I thought this would be much easier." Misato muttered staring between the continuing charade of doing what is absolutely not the same thing. "Seems like this will take up as much of our time as possible."

"This looks much more like a dance between a monkey and a crane." Kaji muttered, watching as Shinji fell over, landing hard on his back, in turn sending Asuka tumbling to the ground right on top of him. Asuka immediately started trying to hit him in annoyance.

"Lots of our time." Misato muttered, staring at the clock on the wall.

End –


"Well, that was a great way to start training." Misato muttered, watching as Shinji and Asuka were very, very slowly trying their hardest to get anywhere. Unfortunately, this didn't get them very far, as the constant screw-ups where starting to get on both Children's nerves, this became more apparent as time went on.

Quite frankly, Misato and Kaji were also getting very restless as well. They were expecting some kind of progression in the mornings events, but unfortunately due to the constant mess-ups, both kids were starting to get very annoyed, and that didn't help the Major at all.

"Alright!" She finally said, raising her voice enough so she could be heard over the continued blaring of the music. "You two, take a break however you want. However, I don't want you two getting out of each other's sight, so go take a walk outside or something, get some Lunch. Come back in about half an hour, okay? We still have a lot of work to do." Misato then left the room, prompting the two pilots to finally take a moment that wasn't constantly dancing to the same tune repeatedly.

The Angels followed behind at an obedient pace as Shinji and Asuka left the apartment building for the first time that day, an obvious annoyance hanging in the air between them. As soon as they were out the door, Shinji started speaking, making his thoughts on the matter quite known.

"Misato seriously expects us to keep doing this? Straight up, very first thing in the morning, three hours straight of constant training. I'm beat… We still have to do more after Lunch…" Shinji muttered, running a hand through his sweaty hair. Asuka grumbled slightly, listening but not really giving Shinji a reply.

"As we said earlier, Shinji." Sachiel said, floating silently beside the boy. "We agree with Misato about this plan. She asked us whether we had any other ideas, and we didn't have any. This is literally the only idea that could possibly work."

"Besides, you both still have a very long way to go before we can even think of possibly facing Israfel. You guys still remember the first attempt, don't you?" Shamshel asked, floating between the two pilots.

"Don't remind me…" Asuka muttered as she walked, her thoughts more primarily on the tasks they had just been doing. "This is just overly difficult because you're a klutz, Shinji!" Asuka said, a grin on her face as she faced the boy. "We all know it would've already been perfect if we didn't have to try and synchronise our movements."

"Something that would only happen if we were doing it individually." Shinji noted, a small smile on his face. "But, we're doing it together, so we need to work together. Keep time together, instead of one person overtaking the other."

"Are you saying that I'm going to fast, Shinji?" Asuka asked innocently, giving the boy a small glare. "Are you implying that everything going wrong is my fault? You were the one who would fall and generally be a klutz."

"Um, Guys?" Gaghiel said, pointing a fin towards an incoming figure.

"Why can't you just admit that you're the one that's dragging us down."

"Guys!?" Shamshel said, higher in tone compared to Gaghiel, warning the pilots, who still fought back and forth.

"I'm the one? You're the one that's going too fast, and don't forget, Asuka, that you've fallen and – as you would say: generally, be a klutz. Just as much as I have!"

"Are you calling me a liar, Shinji!?"

"Tetris!"

"What!?" Both children replied at the same time, their synchronisation training starting to affect their general thoughts on when to speak.

Neon Genesis Evangelion OST I – Track 12 – I. Shinji –

"The Commander!" Sachiel called out, pointing towards the nearby crosswalk, where the Commander of NERV was currently walking towards them, calmly but sternly. He came ever closer, causing Asuka to immediately brighten up once again, trying to be as interesting of a person as she could.

"So, sorry you had to see that Commander!" Asuka said, turning quickly, giving the cold man a massive smile. Commander Gendo nodded, giving both children a small greeting.

"And there's the personality switch again…" Shinji muttered. "It's like I'm the only one who gets to see her true self."

"How is everything?" The man said, a small amount of affection in his voice. It was barely there, but it listened closely, it could be heard.

"Everything's going just fine, sir!" Asuka answered, jumping up on the balls on her feet. "Don't you worry, sir! We're both working very hard to make sure we can defeat that Angel in six days. Don't worry about anything. We will take care of that Angel!" Shinji however, largely kept silent, not meeting his father's eyes.

"I see…" Gendo replied, stepping past the children, continuing on his way. "I expect some great things then. I look forward to the defeat of the Seventh Angel." He said, stepping right past them. Shinji continued to glance down, before quickly turning towards his father.

"Hey… father…" He started, causing the man to stop in his tracks. He turned his body slightly, indicating that he was listening.

"Yes… What is it, Shinji?" The man said, using the boy's name directly to him. Shinji resounded himself, pushing the bile building up in his throat away.

"Well… you see. Asuka and I are about to have Lunch. I'm wondering if maybe you'd like to join us…" Shinji said, watching as the man listened to every word he said.

"I'm sorry." The man replied, turning away again. "Unfortunately, I have business to attend to." Gendo said, as Shinji looked down in sadness, preparing to turn away. "However, I am free in a few days' time… Maybe… we could eat together then…" Gendo said, his words obviously very unknown to him, Gendo felt uncomfortable, doing something he'd never done before. Being a parent. Yui would be proud.

"Uh… yeah. Sure, father…" Shinji replied, surprised at the man's reply. He fully expected the man to stop after saying he had business to attend to. Suggesting another day to eat together. It all made no sense to Shinji.

"Now, I must take my leave." Gendo replied. "Don't let me down." He finished, leaving around the corner. Shinji just watched his father leave in shock, confusion lining the boy's features.

Asuka glanced at her companion, wondering what exactly was going on between Shinji and his father. She was fully expecting the Commander to praise his son on his abilities, yet it seemed like the two barely knew each other.

"Don't worry about your father, Shinji." Sachiel said, floating towards the boy. "He can see just how much you two have prepared for this when you defeat Israfel!"

"Yeah, Shinji." Shamshel said, indicating to both him and Asuka. "You guys still have a lot of work to do. You can celebrate your victory with your father after Israfel has been defeated."

"Yeah…" Shinji replied, looking up, a smile slowly appearing on his lips. "Besides, we shouldn't keep Misato waiting for much longer." Shinji said, grabbing Asuka's hand and running towards the nearby supermarket. "Better get something for Misato and Kaji to!" He said, feeling substantially better after the Angel's words.

Asuka watched on, her own smile on her face. One thing stayed on her mind though: The relationship between Shinji and his father.

End –


The day had been long, and rather repetitive in Shinji and Asuka's eyes, but their day was finally over as the sun set beyond the horizon, the moon rising to take its place. Misato and Kaji had stayed at the apartment all day, the hopes of getting anywhere with the arrangement currently at an all-time low. Despite Shinji and Asuka's argument earlier that day, they hadn't thought much of what they were doing wrong, so all the same mistakes were still being made.

"Alright, let's stop it for the night!" Misato called out that evening, her fingers massaging her temple as the memories of the day's lacklustre performance returned to her. Shinji and Asuka stopped and glanced at the Major, who continued to rub her temples in frustration. "Okay, let me tell you right now that you've both got a long way to go!' Misato started, making her feelings on the matter very, very clear. "To be blunt, it was terrible." She stated, causing Kaji to roll his eyes slightly.

"Be calm, Katsuragi." Kaji replied, moving to wrap his arms around the purple haired woman, who immediately slapped his hands away from her waist.

"Don't think you can just grab at me, Kaji!" She said, crossing her arms once again.

"I was just going to say," Kaji replied, putting his hands up in defence. "That you shouldn't be so hard on them, they've only just started their training. We still have five more days until the Angel attacks again."

"I get that." Misato replied, a scowl still on her face. "But I was expecting at least a bit of progress after today."

"Don't worry so much." Kaji replied, a smile on his face. "They'll get it, I believe in them. You should to, Major." He said, giving her his signature lady-killer smile. She didn't fall for it, instead just giving him a small glare. "Oh well, I suppose this is the point where I take my leave." He said, giving the two children a wave, goofily giving a salute to the Angels (Which Sachiel and Gaghiel happily returned) and promptly made his leave.

Misato sighed as the door shut behind the man, quickly returning to the pilots in front of her. "Now, I want you both to be listening to this tune at all times. This is purely so you can both get a feel for the music, so we can work towards finishing this routine within a couple of days. Do you both, understand?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at her question.

"Yes, Misato." Both children replied, bored looks on their faces.

"Don't look so bored, you two." Misato said, giving the two a smile. "Now, I've taken the liberty of preparing your sleeping arrangements for you, while you two were busy practising. Come with me." She said, leading the children to the living room, where two hastily made futons were set up.

"You want us both to sleep out here!?" Asuka asked, alarm in her voice at the mere thought of even sleeping near a boy. "What if he-!"

"You've already made your point Asuka!" Misato replied, remembering the previous day. "From now until the Angel's defeat, you will sleep here, together. You will wake up, together. Wake up call is 6am. Goodnight!" Misato finished, leaving the living room soon after, waving as she walked towards her own room.

Asuka sighed, quickly leaving herself to prepare for bed that night, heading immediately for the bathroom to use the shower. As she left, Shinji lay down on his futon, staring up at the ceiling. "Well… it's not really unfamiliar anymore…" He said to himself, as the sounds of the shower pattered throughout the small home.

"Hey, Shinji." Sachiel asked, floating towards the boy in question. "Are you alright? You look kind've sad." Shinji glanced at Sachiel, shrugging in response.

"It's nothing, Sachiel. I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Well, okay…" Sachiel replied, not really believing the boy, but leaving him alone none the less. "If you need to chat to someone, or something, just let me know, okay?"

"Yeah." Shinji replied, as his thoughts continued to stray to his father and his curious reply, earlier that day. It seemed so out of character for the man, yet he still said it. Shinji wondered exactly what caused the man to say what he did. He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't notice the cutting off of the shower, and Asuka quickly after appearing back in the living room, drying her hair with a towel. Throughout all of this, the music they were performing to continued to play in the background.

"Mein gott. Misato really likes screwing with us! Why do we have to listen to this song all day, and all night! I just don't get it." Asuka complained as she returned to the living room. Shinji didn't pay her much mind, continuing to stare hard at the ceiling. "Geez, it's so annoying. Don't you agree, Shinji?" She asked, turning towards the boy as he continued to lay down. Staring at the boy she remembered back to before their Lunch, where Shinji and his father were reluctant to talk to each other. She settled on figuring out exactly what was happening, so she decided to ask the question. "Hey, Shinji?"

"Hmmm?" Shinji replied, glancing over at the girl who had called his attention, wondering exactly what she could want.

"I'm just wondering, what exactly is the problem between you and your father? What, do you have a father complex or something?"

"Great phrasing there, Asuka." Shamshel sarcastically commented, causing the girl to scowl.

"I'm trying, dammit!" Asuka replied, annoyed that the Angel even replied to her. She was fully expecting Shinji to reply.

"Sorry, what?" Shinji replied, not really paying attention to anything that Asuka had said. He was tired, so he was slowly fading throughout the evening. Asuka, however, was somehow still wide awake.

"I asked whether there was anything between you and your father?" Shinji just sighed, giving Asuka some sort of answer. "I'm right, aren't I? It's why you're so confused and sad right now. When he came by earlier, you offered Lunch, and because he couldn't, here you are now." Asuka replied, indicating to Shinji's current sad form. Shinji moved into a sitting position, facing Asuka directly.

"Look… It's not a father complex, as you called it." Shinji replied, wrapping his arms around his legs. "Look, I'll be blunt. I hate my father." Shinji said, causing Asuka's eyes to widen. "I hate him so much that I sometimes wonder how he even is my father." He said, watching as Asuka's eyes seemed to fly to a distant memory. "But…" Shinji continued, catching Asuka by surprise, who thought he would finish. "Despite all of this, I don't want to hate him. I guess that's just how I feel deep inside." He said, rolling onto his side.

"Right…" Asuka replied, "Sorry, I didn't really think about it like that."

"That's alright." Shinji replied, yawning from tiredness. "What about your father? Do you get along well with him?"

"You know, I almost didn't have a father." Asuka stated, staring off into space. "My mother for the longest time considered conceiving me as a test tube baby, considered it to be a great honour. I was to be a creation from the greatest sperm." Shinji just raised his eyebrows, wondering whether there would be more to the story. "But, my mother fell in love with a person from Germany, and they lived happily for a while…" Asuka trailed off, memories of those years coming back quickly.

"Asuka?" Shinji asked, watching the girl carefully, wondering exactly what she was currently thinking about. Asuka's eyes were far away, obviously sitting subtly in a memory from long ago. One she'd rather forget.

"Look," Asuka finally replied, after having stayed silent for a couple minutes. "I'm like you, I don't like my father. He was a bit of an asshole. He left my mother all alone when she needed him most." She said, rolling away from the boy, leaving her back facing him. "I don't want to talk about it. It's a part of my life I've tried so hard to forget. So just leave it alone." She finished, intending to leave it there.

Shinji stared at her in shock. He wasn't expecting the girl to not believe in her own father, like how he didn't truly believe in his own father. It was unusual to the boy, as he rolled over as well, the only light in the room being that of the moon shining through the window. He gently placed his headphones in his ears, letting the sound of his SDAT player flow through his ears. The entire time, one thing played in his mind. 'We're not that different…'


September 7th, 2015

The incessant beeping of the Alarm Clock that Misato had bought them so they would wake up on time. Misato had gotten this because she knew she wouldn't be around all day every day before the attack, NERV was still working on getting rid of Ramiel's remains, which were still hanging around, a month after Ramiel's attack. Every day, another piece of Ramiel's crystalline form was found in another crevice of the city, so NERV continued, day after day, to find more and more pieces of the thing. It didn't help that Ramiel exploded like the rest of her brethren did, leaving pieces of her in various strange places.

Because of her continued duties as NERV's Operations Director, she had employed, with some hesitation, Kaji's help for the operation. It just so happened that day two of Shinji and Asuka's training would be overseen by the spy, with Misato heading into HQ for the day.

Shinji and Asuka were both groggy early that morning. Neither had gotten much sleep at all, the thoughts of the previous day still on their minds. They didn't think much of what was currently happening around them as they moved into separate rooms to change into their costumes that Misato still loved them wearing. They didn't think much when they both moved to the bathroom to prepare for the day, unconsciously starting to do everything in unison as the music for their battle continued to play in the background.

"Manchmal möchte ich Misato den Hals reißen. Dieses Lied wird so ärgerlich sein, sobald dieser Engel besiegt ist." Asuka muttered in German as she walked into the kitchen, rolling her eyes.

"What was that?" Shinji asked, still not completely caught on to whatever Asuka was talking about.

"Verdammt, ich vergiss immer, dass keiner von euch Deutsch spricht." Asuka said, watching as Shinji just raised his eyebrows in confusion again. "I basically said that this music is annoying and I want to snap Misato's neck." Shinji just stared at the girl wide eyed, before settling into his usual routine of preparing Breakfast. He hummed along to the song unconsciously, already setting the tone that the following days would follow.

"Kaji!" Came Asuka's squeal, as the man stepped into the room, a smile on his face.

"Morning, Shinji. Asuka." The man greeted, taking in the visage of Shinji cooking breakfast that morning. "So, Shinji," He started, ignoring Asuka's incessant grabbing of his arm. "I take it you've become the home chef?"

"Something like that." Shinji replied, laughing slightly. "Besides, I don't think any of us want Misato to cook ever again."

"Ah, yes." Kaji replied, remembering back to his college days. "I remember that Misato very much tried her hardest to cook anything she could, it was always terrible, but at least she tried." Kaji laughed as he remembered those days. "I take it Misato hasn't got any better at cooking?"

"Of course, she hasn't!" Asuka replied, her arms still firmly wrapped around Kaji's arm. "Anyone could cook better than her! I'm sure you could, right, Kaji!?" She asked innocently, her eyes wide as she stared straight at Kaji.

"Wow, it's insane how you constantly change personalities Asuka." Sachiel idly commented, floating into the room.

"I think it's funny!" Gaghiel stated, giggling incoherently. "It's like she has a different personality for each person she talks to!" Gaghiel turned to Shamshel, who was currently completely indifferent to all that was going on. "Hey, Shamshel! My pilot's better than yours!" Shamshel just ignored Gaghiel's constant fretting, instead turning towards Kaji.

"Please ignore my siblings, Kaji. They don't understand the meaning of the word stop." Shamshel said, causing the man to laugh slightly.

"I'll keep that in mind, my Angelic friend." Kaji said, with a signature smirk, turning back to Asuka, who immediately melted under his look. "Now, Asuka, to answer your question, I'm sure that I could cook better than Misato. However, I believe I will let Shinji here finish up his job with the food, it looks delicious." Kaji commented, giving the boy a small nod of approval. "After we eat we'll get straight back into work, we still have a long way to go before this Angel can be defeated."

Shinji nodded, immediately setting into full work mode. Giving a small smile at the antics that were going on behind him, knowing full well that Asuka had gone into Kaji mode and nothing else mattered.

Not long afterwards, food had been eaten and Shinji and Asuka were immediately back on the DDR mats focusing on their synchronisation training. Despite the small amount of progress having been made regarding synching their overall physical and mental minds, when attempting to get their movements down, not much was really happening.

"Well, at least they've got the first…" Kaji started, glancing down at the movements on the sheets in front of him. "Three steps down…" He said, glancing up at the two children, having messed up again. They'd gotten out of time again, leading to Shinji falling behind, inevitably leading to Asuka getting too far ahead and things getting out of hand.

"I mean, you've got to give it to them… They're trying at least…" Sachiel stated, wondering exactly how they were going to perfect this in only five days, due to already losing the previous day.

"Yes."

"Well, yes." Kaji replied, studying as the children got back up, restarting the song to begin from scratch. "They are trying, and that's really all we can hope for at this point…" Kaji continued to watch throughout the day, as the kids slowly got more used to the music, but not the pattern itself, still struggling with some key movements. From his viewing, the problems seemed to stem from the two pilots falling out of time with each other, for a long time, he was unsure as to who was causing the screw-ups, and by midday, he still hadn't figured it out. To him, it seemed they both screwed up equally as often.

"Alright!" He finally called out, after a rather excruciating morning. "Let's take a break for Lunch, and then we'll get back into it afterwards, okay?" Both Shinji and Asuka nodded immediately heading for different places than the other so they could stay away from each other for five minutes. Kaji noticed this and immediately stepped in once again, heading towards Asuka. "Alright you two, the wonderful Major made it explicitly known that you two must be in each other's presence at all times. So, come on, Shinji, Asuka, stay together please."

"Fine…" Asuka pouted, hoping for at least a few minutes of peace to herself, but apparently even that was being taken away from her, as Shinji joined her in the main living area. She sighed as she collapsed on the ground, exhausted from the hours training. Shinji just sighed, sitting beside her. Kaji stuck his head into the living room, where he was currently preparing to go.

"Alright, I'm going to go out and get some Lunch, be back soon. Don't separate yourselves, okay? Or else Misato will have my ass." As Kaji stepped out the door, some final comments could be heard from him. "Actually, thinking about that… I wouldn't mind Misato having my ass very much at all."

Asuka gagged once the door closed, sending her thoughts on the situation towards the boy sitting beside her, who was staring into space. "Geez, give him a few seconds and he'd wish he was screwing her. Gott, warum haben alle Jungen Sex im Kopf?" She asked herself rhetorically, turning to Shinji to get his opinion. "Hey, Shinji?" She asked, noticing he was staring off into space, it felt strange to her, as it was obvious the boy was deep in thought.

Evangelion 1.11 OST – Track 3 – EM02#070720 –

"Shinji!" She called out again, this time alerting the boy to her presence. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, wondering exactly what Asuka was asking him about.

"Sorry, Asuka?" He asked, giving her a small smile due to his inattentiveness. Asuka smirked slightly as she wacked him on the head playfully.

"You know, you really should pay more attention when people are talking to you!" Asuka replied, a mock scowl on her face. "Or else, people will know that you're daydreaming!"

"I wasn't daydreaming!?" Shinji replied, threatening to whack Asuka right back. Instead, he collapsed backwards, his expression changing instantly. "I'm just… thinking about something…"

"Like what?" Asuka asked, curious on what Shinji could possibly be thinking about.

"My father…" Shinji replied, staring at the ground with a hard look on his face. Asuka brought herself to a sitting position, right beside the boy, a look of concern on her face.

"You're not really used to that… huh?" She asked, relaxing back slightly, staring at the ceiling, her gaze flittering occasionally towards the boy beside her, who continued to stare at the ground.

"No…" Shinji muttered, glancing at the girl for a moment. "He's always been… indifferent… even before he abandoned me…"

"So…" Sachiel stated, having noticed Shinji's current thoughtful state and had flown over. "You're saying that he was acting completely out of character?"

"I guess…" Shinji replied, staring at the ceiling. "It's just… something he's never done before… He's never shown any sort of affection to me before, so why now?"

"Maybe, he wants to try being a father to you?" Shamshel asked. "You are right though. It is very out of character for him to do that…"

"Maybe he just misses being a father!" Gaghiel commented, still flittering around wildly. Asuka gave the Angel a look, knowing that Shinji was quite sensitive about this subject.

"Quiet, Gaghiel!" She said, giving him a short look.

"Leave him alone, Asuka." Shinji said, turning to the girl. "He's just trying to be nice."

"Well, he's not doing a very good job of it!" She replied, flicking the boy on the head.

"Don't worry, Asuka." Shamshel said, floating towards his brother. "We know when to be quiet don't we?" He asked, staring the angel down.

"Yes…" Gaghiel replied, sadly. It didn't take the Angel long to start flittering around again in excitement though.

"So, anyway…" Asuka replied, turning back to Shinji. "Ignoring my annoying Angel, what are you going to do, Shinji?" She asked, concern in her eyes that felt quite uncharacteristic to her. "Are you going to go eat with your father?"

"I guess…" Shinji replied, staring straight ahead, at a spot on the wall. "I also kind've want Misato's opinion as well, so I might talk to her first before confirming with my father. I'm not sure what to make of this Asuka… It just came out of nowhere… and it sounded like it was foreign to him as well. Like he had been told this was a good idea by someone else…"

End –

Asuka continued to glance at the boy in thought, before she stood up and pulled the boy up with her. "Alright, well let's stop all this moping! Look, you need to cheer up if we're going to defeat this Angel in six days!" Shinji smiled slightly as he felt the girl pull him to his feet, chuckling as all thoughts of his father's words the day before disappeared, as she pulled him towards the kitchen table. "Well, Kaji will be here soon with some food, so how about you talk to me about something? We're supposed to be fellow pilots and we barely know anything about each other!"

Shinji laughed as she pushed him down onto the chair nearby, before settling herself down on another chair across from him. Gaghiel floated near Asuka, while Sachiel, Shamshel and Ramiel floated between the two pilots. "So, time to start Shinji! What do you want to know!?" She asked playfully, giving the boy a wink.

"Well…" Shinji replied, scratching the back of his neck again. "I guess it's best to ask where you're from first…?" He said, with a small smile on his face. It felt nice to simply sit with each other and talk, as they hadn't really had much time to do that.

"It should be obvious where I'm from, shouldn't it!?" Asuka asked, giving the boy a playful smirk. "Germany, duh! Born and raised there! Also, where my wonderful Unit-02 was built!" She finished proudly, causing the boy to smile slightly. "Alright, what about you?" She asked, putting her head in her hands.

"Well, I was born in Japan…" Shinji started, causing Asuka to snort. "That's about it really. I lived with my Aunt and Uncle for years before my father called me here." Shinji said, his head falling again at the reminder of his father. Asuka frowned again, clicking her fingers in front of the boy's face. Shinji glanced up in shock, staring at the girl.

"No thoughts about your father!" She said, snapping at him. "Keep it happy, alright!"

"Yeah, okay…" Shinji replied. "So anyway. I came here, fought some Angels and moved in with Misato. That's about it really. I guess, the next thing I can ask is when your birthday is?" Asuka gasped theatrically, giving a wicked smirk to the boy.

"My, my, Shinji! Don't you know it's not polite to ask a girl her age!?" She said, waving her finger in a no fashion. "But if you must know," She said, slumping back in a massive show. "I'm 13, born on the 4th December 2001. What about you?" She asked, raising an eyebrow in thought.

"Well… I'm actually older than you." Shinji said, more to himself than anything. "I'm 14, born on the 6th June 2001." Shinji smiled to himself, as he watched Asuka, wondering what the girl would do.

"Okay, so you're older than me. Does that make Ayanami older than me to?" She asked, a finger on her chin in thought.

"I'm not sure actually…" Shinji replied, glancing at the wall. "She's never mentioned something like that…" Asuka sighed.

"So, I could be younger than her, or I could be older than her. I don't know."

"Do you want to be older than her?" Shinji asked, wondering exactly why Asuka was making a fuss about how old Rei could be.

"Well, I've got to be older than one of you!" Asuka replied. "And now I know you're older than me, that leaves Rei, and Mari!"

"I think Mari might be the oldest of all of us. She looks closer to 15 or 16." Shinji replied, letting his thoughts wander.

"Of course, she is. She's the most sexual of all of us, there's no doubt she's the oldest of all of us." Asuka muttered, folding her arms and grumbling.

"Hey," Shinji said, giving the girl a smile. "At least you're older than Hikari right? You are older than someone." Asuka grinned as she glanced up.

"Yes…" She said, sitting up again. "I am older than her! Yes, I'm not the youngest!" Asuka replied, celebrating in her small victory. Shinji smiled as he watched her, Asuka caught his glance, blushing slightly. Shinji blushed as well, when he noticed that Asuka had caught him. "I caught you!" Asuka cried out, laughing as Shinji blushed harder. "Geez, I know I'm attractive but don't stare, as much as I enjoy it." Shinji blushed again, glancing up slightly as Asuka collapsed on her chair, glancing at the table in front of her. Kaji still hadn't returned yet, so they still had time to chat for a bit.

"Oh, right!" Shinji suddenly said, alerting Asuka, who'd drifted off into her own mind for a moment, glancing at the boy across from her. "You said you'd teach me some German so I can understand what you're saying sometimes, so why don't you start teaching me some things?" Asuka sat upright, immediately becoming a teacher personality.

"Yes, of course I remember!" Asuka replied, giving him a smile. "Don't you worry, Shinji! Miss. Langley Soryu will be your Sensei for German!"

"Well, would you look at that. Another personality, how many is that now?" Shinji asked, glancing at Sachiel, who thought for a moment.

"I think we're at about three or four now." Sachiel stated, causing Ramiel to nod frantically.

"Yes!" Ramiel replied, watching carefully as Asuka stood quickly, moving around the room.

"Now, Shinji, to start with we'll do some basic words, such as Hi, Hello, Goodbye, Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening and Goodnight. As we go we shall get harder and start to focus on stringing words together. Mark my words, Ikari, you will understand the subtleties of the German language under my tutelage. Honestly, I'm still surprised Misato didn't teach you anything." Asuka ranted, glancing at the door.

"Don't ask me, I don't think Misato thought it would be necessary." Shinji replied, shrugging to himself.

"Well it was stupid!" Asuka replied. "She should have taught you something, but that's alright. I'll be a better teacher anyway!" Asuka stated, grinning as she took in the boy. "Okay, first we'll learn to say Hello and Goodbye. So, hello in German is quite simple, it's simply Hallo!" Asuka stated.

"Really?" Shinji replied, raising an eyebrow. "That's it? It's just, Hallo?"

"Yep!" Asuka replied. "Quite simple, isn't it? But don't worry, it won't all be that easy. I hope you're a good learner Shinji, because we still have a long way to go. Okay, next is Goodbye, which is quite a bit harder. Auf wiedersehen. That is Goodbye in German. So, we have Hallo, and Auf wiedersehen." Asuka said, watching Shinji expectantly.

"Okay…" Shinji replied, running the words over in his mind. "Hallo, Asuka!" He stated, glancing at the girl, who smiled happily at him.

"Hallo, Shinji!" She replied, waving at him. Shinji thought for a moment again, before speaking again.

"Auf… wieder… sehen?" Shinji glanced questioningly at Asuka, who nodded slightly at him.

"Nice start, buddy." Sachiel mentioned sarcastically, causing Shinji to glance at the Angel in annoyance.

"Quiet, Angel, Sensei Asuka is speaking!" Asuka said, waving her finger in an accusatory manner. "Besides Shinji, you've got the pronunciation mostly down, you've just got to put it all together now. Auf wiedersehen, Shinji!" She said, waving at him again.

"Auf wiedersehen, Asuka…" He said, running the words slowly through his mouth.

"Ich hoffe, du bist nicht wirklich weg, Shinji?" Asuka asked in German, causing the boy to just look at her utterly confused at what she was saying. Asuka laughed at the boys look. "Don't worry, Shinji. I was just teasing you." She said playfully, giving him another wink. Shinji smiled, waiting for the next word. "Okay, next I'll teach you Good Morning! You should already know this one, right Shinji?"

"Guten morgen? Right, Asuka?" Shinji asked, wondering if he got it right.

"Correct!" Asuka celebrated. "You were listening to me!"

"Well, yeah… You were kind've talking to me." Shinji replied, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Details, idiot!" Asuka replied. "Alright, I guess we'll move on to Good Afternoon then, like it is right now. So, Guten nachmittag, Shinji!" Asuka said, instructing the boy on how to say Good afternoon.

"Guten… nachmittag?" Shinji replied, slowly running the unknown words through his mouth.

"Wow, you're catching on quick Shinji!" Asuka replied, giving him a smile.

"Well, I was a bit of a fast learner before I came here." Shinji replied. "I kind've needed to be. I wasn't exactly well liked before I came here. So, it's nice to be more liked here…"

"Oh…" Asuka replied, settling back a bit. "Well... I'm sorry about that…"

"It's okay." Shinji replied. "You wouldn't have known anyway." The Angels glanced at Shinji in concern as he glanced down in remembrance of his earlier School years before arriving in Tokyo-3.

"Shinji," Shamshel asked, glancing at the boy in concern. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk about any of this?"

"It's fine." Shinji replied, "It's in the past now, besides, since coming here I've had actual friends who like me for who I am and not because I was the mother-less kid who was abandoned by his dad."

"Anyway…" Asuka replied, wanting to move onto something more fun rather than sad. "Let's finish this off okay? Good evening and Goodnight. Good evening is Guten abend. While Goodnight is Gute nacht."

"Okay." Shinji replied. "Guten abend and Gute nacht?"

"Yep! Wow, you're a really fast learner Shinji!" Asuka replied. "That's where I'll leave it today, so I fully expect you to say goodnight to me in German Shinji!"

"Haha, yeah." Shinji replied. "I'll be sure to Asuka!"

"Good!" Asuka replied. "Be ready, Shinji! I'm going to be teaching you a lot of German! I want those special conversations, idiot!"

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." Shinji replied, laughing as the door opened once again, Kaji stepping into the room with a good-natured smile on his face.

"I hope you two didn't get into any mischief while I was gone?" Kaji said, walking into the room, placing the food he had bought on the table.

"Of course not, Kaji!" Asuka replied, immediately latching onto the man's arm again. "I'd never get into any mischief if you told me not to!"

"Besides," Shamshel stated. "I wouldn't allow them to get into mischief."

"Boo! You're no fun Shamshel!" Sachiel replied, giving his brother an attempt at a thumbs down.

"Now, now." Kaji said, pulling out the food and setting it on the table. "This is no time for games, we have an Angel to defeat. So, Shinji, Asuka, eat up. We need to be back out there and working as soon as you're done." Kaji said, the smile still on his face.

Asuka and Shinji groaned at Kaji's words, knowing that they would still have quite a few days of work to go, they took the food Kaji offered them and immediately set to eating, waiting for the moment they would continue to prepare for their upcoming battle.


Misato sighed as she stepped into work that day. Today she was overseeing the clearing of the remains of Ramiel, which was still occurring, nearly a month after the defeat of the Angel. Remnants would continue to be found due to Ramiel's rather untimely explosion and bits would stay everywhere. While the main form of the Angel was still slowly being taken apart and removed, it was mostly taken away now. No, it was the extra pieces that kept turning up in random spots due to the Angel's explosion. "I wish that these Angel's didn't explode into many pieces every time we killed one."

"Well… it seems that is something we will just have to deal with in the future, especially considering the Seventh Angel who's still waiting on our shores." Ritsuko replied, a hand sitting in the pocket of her lab coat. The other hand holding a pen she was currently tapping on her chin. "It's quite nice that Shamshel didn't explode upon defeat, as it allowed us to investigate the S2 Engine inside."

"Yeah, I remember that. How is that coming along?" Misato asked, turning her head slightly to look at her friend. Ritsuko sighed as she took in her friend's question.

"The Americans wanted to take the S2 Engine and investigate it themselves. Commander Ikari allowed this, and so the 2nd Branch currently have taken the remains of Shamshel and the S2 Engine inside the Angel and are planning on utilising it in Unit-04. If they are successful, then we'll have the world's first Evangelion that doesn't have to use limited battery power, or be hindered by Umbilical Cords for infinite power."

"That would be very helpful. We know that the Umbilical Cords are a massive hindrance and if we remove them then we only have five minutes or else the Eva will completely deactivate."

"Leaving us a sitting duck if those five minutes run out. If the 2nd Branch can utilise the S2 Engine to its full capacity, it's entirely possible that we could be on the way to no longer needing the Umbilical Cords."

"That would be very helpful." Misato replied, staring out at the remains of Ramiel. "Won't need to worry about those cords anymore."

"Yes," Ritsuko replied, a small smile on her face. "It means that your increasingly ridiculous plans might have a higher chance of working."

"Hey!" Misato replied, glaring at her friend. "Never distrust woman's intuition, Rits! My plans have all worked, haven't they? You just need to have more faith!"

"Oh, I have faith, Misato." Ritsuko replied. "I just don't always have faith in your plans. Have you heard yourself when you tell us your plans? The MAGI certainly, have made sure to let you know that your plans are absolutely ridiculous and barely doable."

"Geez, Rits! We beat Ramiel didn't we? I don't know what else I could possibly say to prove to you that my plans are genius!"

"And yet, this new Angel stumped you so hard that you had to use a plan created by Kaji to get any idea of how to defeat it."

"Shut up…" Misato replied, rolling her eyes at her friend. "I'm only using his plan because I couldn't come up with a better one, okay?"

"Or you were just feeling nostalgic and you still love Kaji?" Ritsuko asked innocently, causing Misato to scrunch up her face in annoyance.

"Shut your face!" She growled in annoyance. "Look, if you've not got anything of interest to tell me, then I'm going to go see how Maya, Makoto and Shigeru are assessing this situation." Misato said, walking away from Ritsuko, who continued to watch as Ramiel's remains were continually taken away.

Misato walked quickly towards the nearby makeshift Control Centre, where Maya, Mokoto and Shigeru were all sitting, running tests and making sure everything was working out fine. "What's our status?"

"Ramiel is still being removed, although that's getting quite close to completion now." Makoto replied, checking the reports on his station. "The Seventh Angel is currently still immobile, with no signs of moving anytime soon."

"Let's just hope that the MAGI are correct in its prediction of six days. At the MAGI's prediction, the Angel shouldn't move until the 11th at the earliest, and it's entirely possible it could start moving earlier than we thought."

"I wouldn't be so worried, Major." Maya replied, directing Misato's view to the young technician. "The MAGI is quite a machine, Senpai tells me. It's hardly ever been wrong before."

"I know, Maya." Misato replied. "I just don't want to take any chances that's all. This is the second time I've had to come up with a plan for one of these things, and I don't want to have to come up with any more plans to get rid of these things."

"Well, you're not really getting rid of them, Major." Shigeru replied, with a small smile on his face. "You're just passing them onto the pilots to handle."

"Speaking of pilots," Maya replied, giving Shigeru a look. "How are Shinji and Asuka dealing with the plan?"

"I haven't seen them at it today…" Misato replied, glancing up at the sky. "I've left them in the care of Kaji, today." Misato said, making a face at the man's name. "After yesterday though… I guess it's easiest to say that we still have a long way to go, before either of them are even ready to fight Israfel."

"Ah, our new companions name is Israfel is it?" Came the distinctly old but calm voice of Kozo Fuyutsuki. "I see, I hope everything is going smoothly with the plan." He asked, a calm smile on his face.

"Sub-Commander." Misato relied, turning to her higher up. "To be honest, sir. It'll be close, but I'm positive Shinji and Asuka will come around eventually. They'll work hard, I'm sure of it."

"I'm glad to hear it." Fuyutsuki replied. "I'm sure they'll come through for us again. They have in the past after all."

"Sir, weren't you annoyed at their antics after they initially failed?" Misato asked, wondering what the man was thinking.

"Of course, I was." Fuyutsuki replied. "It was presenting a bad image for NERV as a whole. However, we were all once children as well, it was simply a very teenager reaction to the situation. Besides, I knew both Yui and Kyoko personally, and they also got into heated arguments in a similar vein to their children do today. I've learned over the years, especially in my teaching years, that sometimes it's better to let things slide a bit more. After all, they do know that they aren't really annoyed at each other."

"You seem like you know this quite well, Sub-Commander." Maya commented, glancing at the man out of the corner of her eye.

"You forgot that I was once a Professor at Kyoto University. It's easy to forget that we were once like they are now. Besides, you must remember that besides their rather interesting job, they are just regular kids, with a long life ahead of them. After all, that is what NERV is here for, giving people like them a chance at a long life ahead, despite the situation our lovely planet has ended up in."

"Yes, of course you were. My mistake, Sub-Commander. I should've known that you were a professor."

"Quite alright, Lieutenant Ibuki. Besides, I've come here more to find out exactly how our young pilots are faring with our plan."

"Well…" Misato started, glancing at the Bridge Crew. "There's still a lot of progress to go, but they will be able to defeat the Angel sir." Misato replied, not meeting the eyes of the Sub-Commander of NERV.

"Well, that is great to hear. I would love to come and see the effect of the training, and how they are handling it at some point, but unfortunately, I have a lot to do. But I should note Major, that Yui and Kyoko, Shinji and Asuka's mothers respectively, would be very proud of them because of all they've done." Fuyutsuki noted, giving the group a good-natured smile due to the day's events.

"I'll be sure to tell them that, sir." Misato replied, giving the man a nod, watching slowly as the man left quietly. "Hyuga, I need to head home, see how the kids are doing. If anything comes up let me know okay." Misato asked, leaving herself. The Bridge Crew stayed put continuing their jobs.

"Yes, Major!" All three chanted at the same time, returning to work immediately.

As Misato left, heading back towards her apartment, another piece of Ramiel's crystalline form was picked up and chucked in a nearby truck, ready to take it away for good.


Misato sighed as she unlocked the door to her apartment. Intent on finding out exactly how much progress Shinji and Asuka had made during the day's events. It they hadn't gotten very far then she could easily blame Kaji for it, so she wasn't overly concerned in the end.

She stepped inside slowly, already hearing the music for Shinji and Asuka's routine flowing throughout the house. She headed towards the main living area, where she saw the two pilots continuing their routine. To somewhat mixed results. The two pilots had moved forward a little bit, but it wasn't really very much at all. They were still having a lot of issues getting in sync with each other.

"Kaji." Misato growled as she stood in the doorway. "I hope they've done better today than what I'm seeing right now. I left you here for a reason." Kaji gulped as he turned to the woman, who's arms were crossed under her chest, a scowl on her face.

"Evening, Katsuragi." Kaji quipped, giving a woman a small wave and giving her a nice smile while hiding the fact that he was currently at the mercy of the woman in front of him.

"Care to explain exactly why my two charges are currently trying and failing to complete this task still. It's like they haven't made much more progress than yesterday." Misato replied, an annoyed look on her face.

"Well, you see…" Kaji replied, keeping his smile on his face. "They have made some progress, it's just been a very long day."

"Right." Misato replied, her face still a look of annoyance. "Well, there'd better be some progress tomorrow or else I'll consider getting Rei or Mari involved."

"Asuka wouldn't like that." Kaji replied, glancing at the girl, who was currently huffing in annoyance at the continual failure only 10 or so seconds into the song.

"This is impossible!" Asuka cried out in annoyance. "How are you expecting us to actually succeed at this!"

"Now Asuka, you know that we need to succeed at this, we can't let the Angel defeat us again."

"Yeah, well it's stupid!" Asuka replied. "It has to be impossible! There's no way that Shinji and I can sync up our mannerisms to the point where we are doing exactly the same thing at the exact same time!" Asuka replied, yawning in sync with Shinji directly after her tirade ended. Misato and Kaji looked on, amused at the resulting synced yawn after Asuka's tirade.

"Yes, it seems very difficult but the Angels agree that this really is the only way to defeat the Angel." Misato replied, giving the girl a smile. Asuka huffed, crossing her arms under her chest, turning away in annoyance. "Well, considering the yawn that you both provided us at the same time." Misato said, pointedly looking at Asuka as she said this. "I think it's time you both went to bed. Another big day tomorrow, and I will not be leaving this oaf in charge of you again, as he's shown me that he's not very good at this."

"Excuse me, Katsuragi. I resent that."

"Yeah, Misato. Kaji was a great supervisor!" Asuka replied, fawning over the man again. "You should definitely leave him with us again!"

"The idea here is for you both to succeed!" Misato replied. "Kaji obviously doesn't do that very well. So, I'll be supervising you tomorrow." She said, giving them a look. "I expect lots of good work from both of you tomorrow."

"Right, of course Misato." Shinji and Asuka replied in unison, causing the Major to grin once again.

"Now, before you go to bed, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki came around today." Misato said, causing both children to turn around in interest. "He said that both your mothers would be very proud of you because of what you've been doing. He knew them personally, so he thought he'd let you know that. He can't come around to see himself, due to his job, but he's been very impressed with your results against the Angels so far."

"My mother?" Shinji asked, as Asuka's eyes burned with unshed tears.

"Yes." Misato replied. "He said they'd both be very proud of you." Misato watched as her two charges stared at the ground in front of her. Obviously, her comment had caused some thoughts to go through the two children. "Now, get to sleep, you both have a long day tomorrow. I'm expecting a lot of progress tomorrow, so get some sleep."

"Right, we'll see you tomorrow Misato." Shinji replied, preparing for bed in sync with Asuka, who'd continued to stay silent throughout Misato's speech.

"Night, Shinji, Asuka." Misato replied, her focus already on Kaji, who had stayed seated beside her.

"Well, I believe that went well."

"Shut it." Misato sternly replied, glaring down at the man. "You've done your job for the day, why haven't you left yet?"

"Now, Katsuragi. You know as well as I do that we're both in this together. I love those kids as much as you do. I've been with Asuka in Germany for months and I'm already getting along quite well with Shinji. Besides, you know that I was the one that came up with this plan."

"Don't remind me." Misato growled, not looking at the man who was quite relaxed beside her.

"Well, there's not much more I can remind you of, so I will see you tomorrow Major Katsuragi." Kaji replied, giving the woman a salute as he left the apartment.

"I did not say you could come back tomorrow!" Misato shouted out towards the door as it shut behind the man. Misato sighed in annoyance and immediately headed towards the kitchen, opening the fridge and promptly grabbing herself a beer. She stared up at the ceiling as she swiftly opened the can with practiced precision. As she stared at the ceiling, she was plagued with feelings she swore she'd never return to. "Kaji…" She muttered as she stared at the ceiling. "Why do you do this to me…"


Evangelion 1.11 OST – Track 30 – EM09_Piano_D –

Shinji stared at the ceiling while he quietly listening to Asuka's soft snores from beside him. As he stared up above, he spoke to himself as he sometimes did during this time. "Asuka's mother…" He muttered as he glanced over at the redhead in the bed beside his own. "When Misato said that our mothers would be proud of us, she was unusually silent. It's so… unlike her."

"I know what you mean." Sachiel commented, as he floated over to Shinji. "She seemed, unusually… reserved."

"Yeah." Shinji replied, glancing over at the Angel. "It's like she just… shut down…" Shinji muttered, wondering exactly what troubled his fellow pilot. He wasn't as unobservant as Asuka liked to tease him about, he'd seen the unshed tears in her eyes.

"I wonder what it could be about…" Sachiel commented, glancing over at the redhead, who had squirmed slightly in her sleep. Quickly turning around under the sheets.

"Momma…" Asuka's soft voice came through in the brief silence, causing Shinji and Sachiel to immediately glance over.

"Wonder what she's dreaming about?" Sachiel commented, as he continued to watch the girl in concern.

"Something to do with her mother, it seems." Shinji commented dryly, as Asuka's voice cut through the silence again.

"Momma…" Asuka said, sniffling slightly in her sleep. "Why did you have to die? Why did you have to leave me behind, Momma?"

Shinji froze, glancing over at the girl. He contemplated getting up and waking the girl up. Talking to her about it. He didn't. He stayed still, just watching as the girl softly returned to a normal sleep. No longer speaking to herself. Shinji glanced at Sachiel, who looked extremely concerned.

"Despite everything." Shinji commented. "Despite how she acts around other people, she's just as sad and lonely as the rest of us." Shinji returned to staring at the ceiling, as Sachiel moved away from the boy slowly.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, Shinji." Sachiel commented, as he returned to a restful sleep himself.

Shinji sighed as he glanced at the girl across from him, memories from years before coming to him as well. 'Asuka's mother is gone as well. We're a lot more alike than I thought.' Shinji thought in his head as he slowly drifted off to sleep, another day of training to come the next day.

End –


September 8th, 2015

"Rise! Bow! Sit!" Hikari's authoritive voice cut through the chit-chat of Class 2-A. The class had returned from Lunch that day, and the small group of friends had been short two of their number since the beginning of the week, and this was now the second day of school that week that Shinji and Asuka had missed. It was because of this, that the group was now getting suspicious.

"The Second Impact," Came the tired old voice of the Sensei, starting on his tirade on Second Impact all over again. "In the year 2000, a catastrophe occurred in the land of Antarctica."

Toji groaned to himself as he droned the old Sensei out of his mind. He'd been getting suspicious, wondering exactly why Shinji and Asuka had both been absent for two days in a row. Being absent for a single day was normal, but the only person who repeatedly was absent on a consistent basis was Rei, and even she had been at school for the last couple days. Toji frowned as he opened a chat room, intent on finding out exactly what was going on with Shinji and Asuka.

Toji: Alright Mari, why are Shinji and the Devil still absent, that's been two days now!
Mari: Evening Jock! To what do I owe this pleasure?
Rei: It's the afternoon…
Hikari: Guys, please… At least try to pay attention.
Kensuke: No, Toji is right, and I know you're also concerned about them Class Rep.
Hikari: I have a name, Kensuke!
Rei: I think it would be best if you wouldn't antagonise Hikari, Aida. She's shown herself to be very authoritive.
Mari: Blueberry's right, Nut! Can't let our lovely Class Rep get annoyed now can't we. That's saved for one special person only!
Hikari: Mari! Be quiet!

Hikari blushed hard behind her own laptop screen, knowing exactly who Mari was talking about. She quickly composed herself, returning to a fake listening look so she wouldn't get caught. She was the Class Rep after all.

Mari: Saving yourself for him, Hikari!
Toji: Is your entire vocabulary sexual innuendos?
Hikari: Yes, it is! She knows it!
Mari: Hikari's right. It's my favourite part of life.
Kensuke: We've noticed.
Rei: It's… interesting.
Mari: I think we all know how interesting it is!
Hikari: I hate you all.
Mari: But not the Jock!
Toji: Shup up, Mari!
Mari: I got them both! This day is the best!
Kensuke: Okay, enough teasing Toji and the Class Rep. Why are Shinji and Asuka absent again? They've been absent for two days now. What aren't they telling us?
Mari: It's simple. They're boning!
Rei: What Mari meant to say is that they're busy. NERV stuff.
Kensuke: Like with the Eva's!
Rei: I'm not completely sure.
Toji: Sounds like it's important.
Hikari: I should hope so.
Kensuke: Maybe the Angels would know?
Mari: I w-w-wouldn't…
Toji: Sorry?
Mari: That was Skeletal, he saw Angel and decided to say something.
Hikari: And considering Shinji and Asuka hold the other Angels…
Kensuke: Well that went nowhere.
Rei: I suggest we go see them after school? Maybe we'll find out then.
Hikari: Great suggestion, Rei!
Toji: Alright, so we'll head over to their apartment to see them after school?
Mari: Yes! Maybe we'll find out exactly what they're actually doing!
Rei: I agree. I have something I need to ask of you all, and I require Shinji and Asuka's presence as well.
Hikari: Then it's settled. We'll head over there after School ends to see exactly why they are both away for longer than they typically would be.
Mari: Got it Captain Class Rep!
Hikari: Now get back to work! I can't believe you guys roped me into a group conversation during class!
Toji: Will do, Hikari!
Kensuke: Someone's whipped…
Mari: Got something you want to say, Jock?
Toji: Nope, nothing at all!
Rei: I believe that Suzahara is feeling something called… Love?
Mari: My god, Blueberry! You've been holding out on me!
Kensuke: Moment of the day, seeing Ayanami feel something…
Rei: It's not unusual, Aida. I've simply observed this over the past few weeks. Hikari feels something for Suzahara, who also feels something back. It's not that hard.
Mari: Geez, Blueberry. Didn't know you were so philosophical.
Rei: Someone had to be. Therefore, I can decipher their relationship.
Mari: Rei betting that Hikari and Toji will be together! Thought I'd never see the day!
Hikari: Guys! Seriously! Stop with this nonsense! I don't like Toji in that way at all!
Toji: Yeah! And I don't like Hikari either!
Mari: Sure, Jock and Freckles. Keep telling yourself that.

With that, Hikari immediately logged off, a blush rising high on her cheeks due to the incessant teasing from Mari and weirdly, Rei. 'Although,' Hikari thought, ignoring the visible blush. 'I don't think Rei actually realised she was teasing though. She seemed like she was more observant than anything… Which means that more people may know of my feelings!' Hikari glanced around her in fear, wondering what that could possibly mean. She glanced over at Toji, who was also quite red faced, then at Mari, who gave her a catlike grin, knowing exactly what she was thinking about. 'Wow… Toji… If only you would return my feelings… Maybe then Mari would stop being as curious as she is…' Hikari was cut off from her thoughts as the school bell rang throughout the halls, signalling the end of the long day.

"Rise! Bow!" Hikari stood and called, to end the day's classes. She quickly made sure that the students on cleaning that day where doing their jobs, before heading towards the School Gates, where she found the rest of her friends waiting for her.

"Alright!" Mari called out as soon as the pigtailed girl arrived. "Let's get moving people! We have places to be and people to tease!"

"I don't think that's what we're actually doing…" Kensuke commented, causing Mari to glance at him in mock fury.

"What reason is there to see people if not to tease them!?" Mari replied, exasperation sliding into her voice.

"Maybe just seeing them?" Toji replied, giving the girl a sarcastic smile.

"Eh. I highly doubt that." Mari replied, waving the boy off as the group set on their path towards Misato's apartment. "So, place your bets! What exactly are our two resident super pilots actually doing right now!? I still place my bet on boning!"

"You're insufferable Mari." Hikari bluntly stated, causing the Proto Child to sigh in disappointment. "If I would bet, which I wouldn't! I would say they're doing something important, like preparing for an Angel attack."

"If that's so, then why wouldn't Rei and Mari also be training?"

"Simple." Rei replied, turning to Kensuke asking the question. "Unit-01 and Unit-02 are the only working Eva's. Unit-00 still has repairs and Mari doesn't have an Eva yet. That's why we're here and my friends are training."

"So, they're definitely training?" Toji asked, scratching his head slightly.

"That's the only explanation I can think of." Hikari replied, currently mostly lost in thought.

"Yes." Rei replied, a simple reply to Toji's question. "I believe we are here now." She quietly stated, pointing at the large building ahead.

"Yes! Time for teasing!" Mari said, rushing towards the nearest lift and quickly getting in. The rest of the group hurried after the eccentric girl, only just making the lift before the door closed.

The group as a whole glanced up at the floor guide above the door, watching carefully as it slowly made its way up to Misato's floor. "You know, with everything that's happened so far, I am worried about them." Toji muttered, glancing down towards the door.

"That's a first." Hikari said. "You didn't call Asuka a devil. Maybe you're finally realising she's not that bad."

"I can't hear you, Hikari!" Toji replied, fingers in his ears. "Nothing she's ever done will possibly make me like her! Besides, I'm more concerned about Shinji, you haven't seen him when he was in the Eva. It was scary."

"I'll have you know, Toji Suzahara! That I was there against Shamshel! I know full well what piloting the Eva could be like! And Asuka's dealing with it just as much as he is!" Hikari replied, raising her voice slightly. She didn't hear the ding of the lift doors opening as she continued to rant at Toji.

"Yes, okay. I hear you. Geez." Toji replied. "All I'm saying, is that piloting an Eva sucks, and I hope I never have to do something like that."

"At least you're not Kensuke, who wants to pilot an Eva."

"Hey!"

"But I agree with you, I wouldn't want to pilot one of those things ever in my life. I think I'll leave it to Shinji, Asuka, Rei and Mari." Hikari said, glancing at the ground.

"While this conversation has been great and all, we have arrived." Mari said, standing on the hallway, pointing towards the door of Misato's apartment.

"We should probably go see Shinji and Asuka now." Rei simply said, already walking towards Misato's apartment.

"Right, of course." Toji replied, following the Eva Pilot, watching as she arrived at the door to Misato's apartment.

"Um, Rei… I don't think Shinji and Asuka will be living under the same roof." Kensuke said, pointing out the fact Rei was only at one apartment.

"Really? Because this is where Asuka said she is living, and considering Shinji lives here as well…" Hikari commented, as she came to Rei's side.

"Wait… no…. that's not good." Kensuke said, processing Hikari's words in his head.

"Oh god…" Toji commented, as the group came to a stop in front of the door.

"Well what are we waiting for!?" Mari commented, glancing at the whole group. "Hit the doorbell!" The group of five proceeded to hit the doorbell at the same time. "Okay, I didn't mean everyone at once. We can only have one person do it, like Rei, she was closest. But it doesn't matter, that looked cool!"

"Coming?" Came the simultaneous voices of two people in the room. The group glanced at each other in confusion. The word was said at the exact same time… The door opened at once, causing a multitude of reactions among the group of friends. Rei stayed the same, no emotion betraying her features. Hikari stood watching carefully, her eye twitching in confusion and anger. Toji and Kensuke immediately leapt backwards, trying their hardest to look at anything but who was standing in the door. Finally, Mari… had burst out laughing.

"Oh, this… is… priceless!" She said, getting words out between their laughs. "I never would've considered something like this!"

"You traitor!" Toji said, covering his face as much as he could.

"Oh god… You're even dressing similar again… Once wasn't enough!?" Kensuke said, almost collapsing to the ground in shock and terror.

"I don't see an issue." Rei commented from the side, no one really hearing her over the commotion.

The reason? Shinji and Asuka were standing together in the doorway, dressed similar, both wearing headphones and speaking in unison. "We'll make this clear!" They replied in unison, glancing straight at their friends. "Misato made it known that in Japan they tend to dress the part… So, due to our training, we have to wear the same thing! We can't believe it, we even have to eat, drink and sleep together!"

"Still priceless!" Mari replied, still laughing hard in the background.

"Will you calm down!?" Hikari stated, directing her comment at Mari. "This isn't good! This isn't okay at all! It's filthy that's what! Sleeping together! You're both living in sin!" She finished, directing her final comments towards the two pilots standing in the doorway.

"That's not it at all!" Shinji and Asuka replied, again, in unison. "It's not what you think, really!"

"Then what exactly is it!?" Hikari replied. "Because right now it looks a lot worse than it does!"

"Stay still a moment! I've got to get a photo of this!" Mari commented, fumbling hard trying to find her phone, so she could take a picture of what was, in her eyes, a glorious moment.

"Oh, hi everybody!" Came the satisfied and happy voice of Misato Katsuragi, walking over to the group, a good-natured smile on her face. "I was expecting you guys to drop by soon! Any questions?"

"Yes." Toji replied, having recovered the most from everybody in the group. He stood facing the woman, pointing over his shoulder towards the duo, who were glancing out the door towards Misato. "Would you be so kind to explain just what the hell is going on here!?" Toji said, utterly confused as Misato led the group into the depths of the Apartment.

Pen-Pen greeted the group as they entered, Hikari immediately picking the penguin up to have something to hold onto.

"It's quite simple actually." Misato commented, leading the group towards the living area, where the DDR-like training system was still set-up. "Mari and Rei already know a little bit about this, but basically, Shinji and Asuka went out to fight the Seventh Angel, called Israfel, and got utterly defeated. The Angel is currently dormant, and it will attack in just three days." Misato started, knowing the kids would find out about Israfel's name later, so just decided to say the name, despite it commonly being NERV business only. "So, we've formulated a plan where Shinji and Asuka need to work together to get their biological rhythms completely synced so they can defeat the Angel, due to its ability to split itself into two identical forms. The Angel can only be defeated by taking out both cores at the same time, so this is the only solution we have."

"The kind Major has conveniently forgotten that I was the one who came up with the plan." Kaji said, stepping into the room.

"I really need to lock that door…" Misato commented as the kids greeted Kaji one by one, Kaji giving each a wave in greeting. "Yes, Kaji made the plan. As he so lovingly likes to note." Misato sarcastically commented, watching in satisfaction as Shinji and Asuka prepared to start another run-through.

"So, Shinji! How is it working day to day and living with Asuka?" Mari asked innocently, grinning slightly from ear to ear.

"It's okay. But yes, that is what we're doing." Shinji replied. "So, no, Hikari. Nothing sinful happening here."

"Well damn, Shinji!" Toji replied, settling down immediately, as the two pilots started their next run-through from the beginning. "You shoulda just started with that, maybe then we wouldn't have thought you would be doing something more… sinful as Hikari put it, with the Devil!"

"I can hear you Toji." Hikari commented, staring the boy down as she sat across from him. "So, if that's the case, Misato. How exactly are they handling the training? They must require lots of training to get their coordination as good as they can."

"Well, it's been a long couple of days, and as you can see…" Misato started, watching silently as Shinji and Asuka messed up yet again. Asuka growled in anger, throwing her headphones against the nearby wall. Shinji glanced up, concern on his face as he took in Asuka's bout of anger.

"Scheisse! Kann Shinji nichts richtig machen!? Diese Übung fickt saugt!" Asuka growled in German, crossing her arms and turning away from the group.

"Are you done?" Misato asked, frowning at the girl, who simply nodded and glanced at the woman carefully. "Now, can we stop for a second. Here's what's happening between you two. Shinji!"

"Yes?" Shinji replied, staring at the woman wide eyed.

"Pay attention! Both to the music and Asuka! You're being way to self-conscious and as such it's messing you up. Trust in yourself, you'll be fine." Misato replied, causing Shinji to look at the ground.

"Right… Okay, Misato… Sorry…"

"Mein Gott, you say sorry too much…" Asuka replied, causing Shinji to glare at her.

"I'm not done yet, now it's time for you Asuka. I don't want to do this in front of your friends but I'm going to have to." Misato started, watching as the redhead started to shrink back from Misato's unblinking stare.

"Oh boy. The Princess is going to get it." Mari said, watching the exchange with apt interest.

"I didn't think that their training would be so tough…" Hikari muttered, watching her friend in concern.

"The problem isn't with Shinji, the main issue is coming from you, Asuka. How many times do I or Kaji have to tell you not to speed up! Don't go too fast! You're trying to keep in sync with Shinji, not be competitive and get ahead of him! I know you both like to be competitive with each other, but now is not the time!" Misato said, crossing her arms under her chest. "The goal is to keep your pace with Shinji's!"

"That's nearly impossible, Misato! So much for Synchronisation! There's no way that I would be able to sync myself down to the level that this animatic turnip lives at and he knows I don't really mean that but this entire thing is impossible! He should be trying to keep up with me!" Asuka ranted, directing her words directly to Misato while pulling Shinji up from the floor. Misato just stared at the girl in confusion, as Shinji stood up and took deep breaths. Asuka stayed directly by his side, her hands on her hips as she stared the woman down.

"Those two have the most confusing relationship I've ever seen…" Kaji muttered, as Misato was trying her hardest to gather her thoughts.

"Hey, at least you don't live with them." Sachiel replied, floating above the table.

"There's obviously something going on in their minds." Mari noted, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Sachiel, whiteboard!"

"Got it!" Sachiel replied, snapping his fingers and revealing the whiteboard that he'd used to induct Gaghiel into the apartment a week before.

"Now, it's rather obvious what is happening." Mari stated, drawing some rather crude versions of Shinji and Asuka's faces on the whiteboard. "Shinji is feeling some sort of heavy, romantic-like feelings for Asuka, and Asuka, despite pining after Kaji, is also starting to feel these romantic-like feelings. It's all rather elementary, my dear fellows." Mari finished, her whiteboard looking more like a mess of lines and objects, but she was satisfied.

"Of course." Hikari sarcastically replied. "That's precisely what they're feeling,"

"I could go through what you and Toji are going through." Mari replied, grinning like a cat as Hikari blushed hard, turning away. "My point exactly."

"Guys!" Gaghiel started, fawning quickly over Misato, who was finally starting to gather some words and actually form them. "Misato's starting to say something!"

"What a weird relationship they have…" Misato muttered as she finally found her thoughts and smirked at the leotard-clad girl in front of her. "So, you're going to be giving up?" Asuka smirked, flicking her hair around in happiness.

"Why would I? Shinji and I have the best performance of all four of us pilots. There's no one else you could use!" Asuka replied, crossing her arms in satisfaction.

"Asuka, you do realise that both Rei and Mari are here? Misato can easily give them a shot on the machine with Shinji to see how they'd go." Kaji said, giving the girl a small smile.

"She wouldn't dare." Asuka replied, the challenge in her eyes.

"Oh, I think you'll find that I would. Rei?" Misato replied, glancing over at the teen, who glanced up at her name being called.

"Yes, Major?" She asked quietly, staring at the woman.

"Would you care to give it a try instead of Asuka?"

"Of course." Rei replied, standing quietly, walking over to Asuka.

"You'd better not take my thunder, Wondergirl." Asuka said, giving her a small smile as she handed the headphones to the First Child, who smiled slightly.

"I would not dream of it, Pilot Soryu." Rei quietly replied, as she placed the headphones on her head and prepared to start.

'Dance with Rei?' Shinji thought as the girl got into a starting position. 'What's Misato's plan here?'

Asuka watched with horror as Shinji and Rei continued the routine, staying in perfect time and hitting every move at precisely the right moment. When they were done, everyone was watching in amazement and awe as the duo came to a stop, not a single movement having been failed or out of time. Misato smirked as she watched Asuka, who was getting more and more frightened by the minute. "Thanks, Rei! Now, Mari, it's your turn?"

"My god, Four-Eyes too?" Asuka muttered as Mari took the headphones and got into position.

'Okay, Misato's definitely up to something here…' Shinji thought as he and Mari started their routine. It wasn't as perfect as what he did with Rei, but it was still a pretty decent run-through. Some minor mistakes that could easily be fixed by the next couple days' work.

"You know, Asuka. If Mari had a Unit or Rei had Unit-00 repaired, we'd pair either of those two up with Shinji in a heartbeat."

"So!?" Asuka replied, a slight waver in her voice. "Why not just send Rei or Mari out in my Unit-02? Obviously, they're both a lot better than me!"

"Fine." Misato replied, noting it down on her notepad in front of her. "I can easily change the operation so that we'll be pairing Shinji with Rei or Mari."

"What!?" Asuka replied, shaking as she took in what was being told to her. "But it's me! I'm the one going to do this! I will do this with Shinji! Not Wondergirl! Not Four-Eyes! Me! Just…! Verdammt! I can't take this anymore!"

"Wait! Asuka!" Shinji called out, watching as the girl quickly ran out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

"Goddammit! We don't have the time for this!" Misato muttered, growling under her breath. "If she's not back in half an hour, I am going with Rei or Mari, that's a promise!"

"Well, would you look at that…" Toji muttered, glancing towards the front door. "The devil does have the ability to cry."

"Hey, Shinji…" Hikari asked sweetly, watching as Toji immediately turned his attention to her and watched carefully, wondering what she was doing.

"Yes, Hikari?" Shinji asked, still glancing towards the doorway.

"Go after her!"

"What?" Shinji replied, processing the Class Rep's words for a moment.

"She's crying because of this! She obviously wants you to go comfort her, so go do it!"

"Sorry?"

"Fine! I'll make this clear so you'll go after her! You made her cry, you jerk!" Shinji took a step back as Hikari suddenly tore into him. "Go after her and apologise!"

"But… I didn't make her cry!"

"Move! Now!" Hikari replied, proceeding to push him out the door.

"Good luck, Shinji!" Kaji called out as Hikari continued to push the boy towards the door. "It is partly your responsibility, it is your job as well."

"Now, don't come back until you have Asuka with you!" Hikari said, slamming the door in Shinji's face, leaving the boy stuck outside.

"Wow, Hikari… I've never seen you do something like that before…" Toji commented, staring at the girl with fear in his eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that…" Hikari muttered, her face turning red. "I had to get him to move somehow…"

"Toji's love-struck." Kensuke commented, glancing around in horror.

"I've never seen you do something like that before…" Toji said, quickly falling silent again.

"Wow, this is very interesting…" Shamshel stated, glancing between the two friends.

"Well, I don't think either Blueberry or I actually wanted to do it. Right, Blueberry?" Mari asked, turning to Rei, who nodded.

"Yes."

"There you go."

"Well, either way." Misato muttered, walking towards the kitchen. "I give them half an hour to get back, or else I am changing the operation to either of you two. I really need a beer…" She muttered, heading straight for the fridge.


"Asuka!" Shinji called out, rushing out of the apartment and trying his hardest to find the redhead's current hiding place. "Asuka! Where are you!?" As he wandered, he rushed into the nearby supermarket, wondering whether Asuka would be hungry and wanting something to eat when he found her. He quickly wandered the halls of the supermarket, picking up a bunch of different things, considering Asuka's German heritage as he went.

Shinji quickly paid for the different foods that he had found, and then returned to rushing around the city, trying to find where the girl had gone. It wasn't long before he found a beautiful pond, a fountain sitting in the middle, spraying some clean, blue water repeatedly into the lovely blue pond. A reminder of what the world was like before the Second Impact. A beautiful gazebo sat in the middle of the place, which is where Shinji found Asuka, staring out at the lake in front of her.

Evangelion 2.22 OST – Disc 1, Track 11 – 2EM11_KK_A09 –

"Asuka…" Shinji said, stepping into the gazebo, glancing at the girl slightly.

"Don't say anything." She replied, not turning to face the boy. "I know… I have to pilot the Eva. I'm the only one that can do it." Asuka sighed, not moving. "Why are you here, Shinji? Why did you follow me?" She said, massaging her hands.

"I'm… Sorry…" Shinji replied, staring down at the ground.

"Why did I have to get yelled at?" She said, asking herself the question. "No offense, but I am the one that's doing all the moves. I'm doing it perfectly. You know you're a klutz. You're the one lagging behind. So, why the hell does she feel the need to take it all out on me!?"

"Asuka…" Shinji replied, coming to sit beside the girl. She didn't look at him, continuing to stare out at the lake ahead. "This entire operation is something we've never done before. You have to realise that we're both making mistakes here, it's not just me. I'm trying my hardest to get this right and I'm sure you are as well… But, if you just… brought yourself back a little bit, we might be able to get somewhere…"

"Why not just do it with Rei or Mari, Shinji?" Asuka asked, not bothering to call either of them the nicknames she'd already given them. "They're both a lot closer to getting a complete and successful battle than I am."

"Because… I want to do this with you, Asuka…" Shinji replied. Glancing over at her.

"Of course, you do…" Asuka replied, a small smile gracing her features. She glanced at him, standing up beside him.

"One more thing, Asuka." Shinji said, facing her. "You don't need to act like an adult. Yeah, you're an ace pilot. Yeah, you've already graduated from college… But you're still young. You're still a kid. Just like me. Just like the rest of our friends."

"Don't try and give me advice Shinji. You're not very good at it." Asuka replied, smiling at him.

"Advice?" Shinji replied in surprise, looking at her shocked. "I'm not trying to give you advice… I'm just saying. You don't have to put on a personality. You can just be yourself. I know the real Asuka, why can't you show anyone else." Asuka growled slightly, grumbling under her breath. "You look… unnatural."

"Are you done?" She said, staring at him from under her bangs. "Why are you saying this to me? What gives you the idea to say this to me!? Why do you do this to me, Shinji…?"

"I'm sorry…" Shinji replied. "I just wanted to say this. I know what it feels like. Because I used to be like that too…"

"Stop thinking you're like me!" Asuka cried out, staring hard at him. "Stop trying to give me advice! You don't know me at all! How can you think you know me!" Asuka replied, the tears threatening to come out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Shinji replied, dropping the food at her feet. She glanced down at it, a soft gasp coming from her lips as Shinji turned away from her. "I'm sorry for trying to help you, Asuka. I'll head back now. Maybe I'll see you there…" He said, walking away from the gazebo.

"Wait… Shinji…" Asuka said, the tears slowly forming. "Wait! Shinji, come back! I'm sorry! I'm sorry that I snapped! Please! Just come back… to me…" Asuka said, collapsing to her knees. "I'll do it! No one else will take this opportunity away from me! Please, Shinji! Just come back!"

End –

From behind a nearby pillar, Kaji watched as Shinji walked away, and Asuka collapsed to her knees. "Well, Katsuragi…" Kaji muttered, walking away slowly, popping a matchstick in his mouth. "They certainly have an interesting relationship." He said, as he wandered the streets towards NERV HQ, knowing that was were Misato had gone since it had been about half an hour since Asuka had stormed off. He headed in that direction, arriving not long after he'd started walking. He quietly swiped his ID card and entered the complex, heading quickly towards the cafeteria, where he immediately found her conversing with Ritsuko. He knew exactly what the woman would be talking about. He caught her words as he approached the table.

"So, she didn't come back to the apartment!" Misato grumbled, glancing up at Kaji as he wandered into the room. "Please actually be useful for once and tell me something good?" She asked, laying her head on her arms as Kaji spoke.

"Well, Shinji went after her, and he tried talking to her. But it doesn't look good right now. Shinji left after she went off at him, she then collapsed to the ground, close to tears. Those two have a very weird relationship."

"Great…" Misato said, staring hard at the ground. "The battle is in three days, and I have my two pilots currently not talking to each other. Getting those two completely synced is going to be nearly impossible. This is a disaster…" Misato sighed as she turned to Ritsuko, who listened carefully, occasionally taking a sip of her coffee sitting nearby. "We're probably going to need to use Rei or Mari…"

"Want me to do a run-up on Rei and Unit-00? We could possibly get Unit-00 ready for deployment. If not, I can always prepare Unit-02 for Mari's use…" Ritsuko replied, concern about the plan coming into her mind.

"I disagree." Kaji simply stated, staring out the window towards the Geofront.

"No one asked you." Misato said, annoyed.

"Hear me out, Katsuragi." Kaji replied, giving her a warm smirk. "I'm just saying, we're still too early to be considering something like this. We still have three days, we just have to put our faith in them. I know they can do this. Sometimes, being believed in is all it takes."


Shinji sighed as he entered the apartment later that day.

"Hey, Shin-man!" Toji greeted him as he returned to the apartment. "No Devil?"

"No…" Shinji replied, sitting down beside them. "So… it looks like either Rei or Mari will be going out there with me…"

"Well, let's just hope that the Princess comes back then, because I'll be honest Puppy, neither Blueberry or I actually want to go out and fight that Angel. I don't have a working Eva yet, and I won't be as efficient in Unit-02 or Unit-01 in comparison to my own Eva, and Unit-00 is still in repairs. You and Asuka are literally the best shot we have." Mari said, shrugging slightly.

"I guess…" Shinji replied, staring at the ground. "I just… feel like I've failed her. Like I've failed Misato. I went to talk to her, but I just feel like I've made things worse because of it. I wonder where she's gone off to." Shinji sighed. "I just feel like I always make things worse."

"Shinji…" Sachiel said, coming over to the pilot. "Do you really think that?" Shinji just nodded, causing himself to be engulfed in hugs from Hikari and Mari, while Toji, Kensuke and Rei watched with sadness in their eyes.

"I feel… sad for you, Shinji." Rei said, contemplating in her head. "It's… strange…"

"Thank you… Rei…" Shinji muttered, letting himself be held by his friends due to his own weakness. He didn't even hear the door to the apartment open slowly. Shinji glanced up as he heard the soft footsteps approach.

The girl stood in front of him, directing his face to look up at her. "Do you really think you always make things worse?" Asuka asked, staring right at him. "Do you think that you can tell me what to do?"

'Oh, no…' Shinji thought, staring at the ground. 'She's still annoyed I bet.'

"Shinji." Asuka said, the boy turning to look at her again.

"What are you doing?" Shinji asked warily, everyone watching the girl carefully.

"More like, what we're going to do." Asuka smirked, giving the boy a wink. "We're going to train! We're going to train so hard so that Misato will regret ever considering taking me off the plan! Understand, Shinji!"

"Yes…" Shinji replied, wondering exactly what Asuka was asking of him.

"Now," Asuka started, dumping the bag of groceries she had brought back with her on the nearby table. "I'm hungry, so we're going to eat first!"

The food was quickly deposited on the table and the group started getting their food together. As the group sat down in a group, their food settling easily in their mouths, Mari spoke up. "So, Princess? How did you feel about this whole situation, Misato sending Blueberry and I up with Shinji to see how we'd do?"

"Mark my works, Four-Eyes! I'll make sure to put all of you to shame! Misato doesn't need any of you for this, she needs me! I'm the only other one with a working Eva here! There's no way that either of you could even have a chance to attack the Angel!"

"That's the spirit, Asuka!" Gaghiel called out, flittering around excitedly.

"But still…" Shinji replied. "You really don't need to be so hard on any of them… Rei and Mari were only doing what they were told, and Misato is just really stressed out."

"Tempting the devil, Shinji?" Toji asked, currently getting words out through a mouth full of food.

"Stop being so easy and simplistic, Shinji!" Asuka replied, standing directly in front of him. "You're a man, aren't you? Act like one!"

"I can definitely act like a male…" Shinji replied, giving Sachiel and Gaghiel a glare so they couldn't get any comments out.

"Funny." Came Shamshel's voice. "I still distinctly remember you running away after you defeated me due to not following Misato's orders."

"You're not helping." Shinji bluntly stated, the laughs echoing around his friends. Except for Asuka, who hadn't paid attention to anything that had just been said between her friends and the Angels and had continued her tirade.

"Besides! This is all about honour now! My pride and abilities are at stake! But don't worry, I'll show you all ten times over!" Asuka finished her tirade, crossing her arms and returning to a seated position. Shinji glanced at her, a small smile forming on his lips as he watched her tirade.

"Well, that was great and all, but I'm full!" Toji said, giving them all a happy smile. "I could not have more food right now! Somehow Shinji and Asuka did it!"

"Do you do anything besides thinking with your stomach?" Hikari innocently asked, Toji ignored her, just giving her a smile.

"I can't hear you, Hikari! Anyway, we'd better get going! Don't do too much wrong! We'll see you eventually!" Toji said, heading quickly towards the door. Rei didn't move however, raising her voice to speak.

"Before we leave. I have something I need to ask you all about." Rei asked, looking around at all her friends.

Neon Genesis Evangelion OST I – Track 4 – Rei I –

"Of course, you can ask us, Rei!" Hikari said, glancing over at the blue-haired girl. "What do you need to ask us about?" Rei didn't reply immediately, instead pulling out the bag of pills from her pocket, and presenting them in her hands.

"Rei, what's that?" Asuka asked, forgoing her usual nickname and calling the girl her name, staring in shock and confusion at the package sitting in Rei's hands.

"It's medication that I've been prescribed by Dr. Akagi for as long as I can remember." Rei replied, passing the bag to Mari, who inspected them carefully as Rei continued speaking. "Dr. Akagi told me that it was essential to me, and that I had to keep taking them. A few days ago, I felt strange, and thought it might have something to do with the pills." She said, her voice uncharacteristically wavering slightly. "I'm… scared… Please help me."

"Kensuke, laptop, now." Hikari stated, watching as Mari continued to inspect the pills sitting in her hands, concern crossing the spectacled girls features.

"I don't know what this is…" Mari commented, as Kensuke pulled out his laptop and immediately got to researching the pills as quickly as he could. Rei's revelation had caused a lot of interest regarding it in the group of friends, as a sense of protection came over them. "But I sure hope it isn't bad in any way…"

"Geez…" Toji commented, glancing at the pills. "Things are really weird with you Eva Pilots."

"Well?" Asuka asked, glancing over at Kensuke. "Do we know anything?"

"I'm getting there!" Kensuke hotly replied, typing quickly on the keyboard, glancing between the screen and the Pills still in Mari's hand at a very quick pace. "Guys…" Kensuke stated, staring hard at the screen, I think we've found something of worth. "He said, turning the screen around."

"Rei?" Hikari asked, turning to the girl immediately. "What are these Pills called on the bottles?"

"Benzodiazepines." Rei replied, thinking back hard.

"Well, that's not so bad." Kensuke said, having quickly looked it up. "They're just a form of tranquillisers. Very minor, mainly used to relieve stress and anxiety, can also help people sleep."

"Have you had trouble sleeping, Rei?" Hikari asked.

"I'm not finished, Hikari." Rei replied, continuing to think. "But no, I don't have trouble sleeping."

"That would be because of the drugs…" Mari commented, continuing to look at the pills.

"There's also Neuroleptics…" Rei replied, continuing her thinking on her pills that she had been told to take her entire life.

"Mainly used to deal with Schizophrenia." Kensuke replied. "That's also quite normal, but I'm getting concerned with this, she's not done yet."

"This isn't looking good…" Shinji commented. "Mixing various drugs can be bad, but she's still not done yet."

"I am also required to take SSRI's, as requested by Dr. Akagi." Rei replied.

"Mein gott!" Asuka cried out, shock and horror coming over her features as she realised exactly what Rei was talking about. Kensuke was typing away quickly, and his face quickly turned pale.

"What is it?" Hikari asked, her voice wavering in fright. "Kensuke, tell me what it is!"

"SSRI's are a type of anti-depressant." Kensuke replied.

"But Rei's not depressed… right?" Mari asked, glancing over at the girl, who looked more confused on what was happening around her than anything.

"Is there a problem?" Rei asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Yes, there's a problem!" Asuka replied, staring straight at the girl in horror. "You're not depressed in any way, so they're obviously being used for another purpose. This explains why Rei is so robotic and wooden most of the time, because her emotions are being heavily suppressed!"

"What!?" Toji said, turning to the girl.

"Yeah!" Kensuke said, continuing to research. "That's why Rei has always been considered weird and emotionless, because she's always acted like a doll."

"But why would they do something like that!?" Hikari asked, hugging Rei tightly. "Why would they make her emotionless?"

"So that she could be controlled…" Shamshel stated, deep in thought. "There's no other explanation I can think of. Something's off here…"

"Like, what is the Commander and Dr. Akagi doing?" Sachiel said, turning to his siblings.

"Is it bad?" Gaghiel asked, glancing around at the group.

"Yes, it's bad!" Asuka replied. "If that's what they're doing to her, just think about what they could be planning to do to us!"

"Shit! You're right!" Mari replied, hugging herself. "I don't want to become a doll!"

"There has to be something we can do!" Shinji said, staring at the girl in wonder. "She can't stay like this!"

"Ficken Hölle!" Asuka said, racking her brain. "We can't help deal with this now, we still have to take care of that Angel!"

"Rei? How many pills do you take a day?" Hikari asked, curiosity and concern in her voice.

"Six a day. Each one twice. Morning and Evening." Rei replied, still confused. Wondering exactly what was wrong with this. Dr. Akagi said that these were required, that they would help her, but her friends were reacting in a completely different way. 'Who do I trust…?' She thought, as she watched Asuka mumble under her breath. 'Dr. Akagi… Who's looked after me my whole life… Or my… Friends?'

"Fuck me…" Mari muttered, staring at Rei. "We can't take her off it immediately, but she needs to be weaned of off this. With an Angel on our hands we're way too busy right now."

"That explains why Rei doesn't really get better results during her sync tests…" Shinji said. "The Drugs are affecting her numbers."

"Rei! Promise me right now! You'll reduce your dose to start with, we can't take you off this immediately, but we can reduce your load. We have to make it clear that we're taking you off this, yet can't make it look like that to Commander Asshole and Dr. Bitch!"

"I've been… concerned." Rei said, looking at Shinji and Asuka. "But I will try… Asuka."

"Thank you." Asuka replied, turning to Hikari. "Hikari, I need you and the two remaining stooges to watch Rei with Mari over the next couple days, there will be aftereffects because of our efforts to get her off these. She's become addicted to them over the years and she needs to get them out of her system sooner rather than later."

"Of course, I will, Asuka!" Hikari replied, giving her friend a smile as she stood up. "We'd better go now, Asuka. Don't you worry, we'll take care of Rei! We'll sort out what to do next but yours and Shinji's priority right now should be taking care of that Angel!"

"We can handle this together as a team!" Mari said, stretching her arms out and puffing out her chest in a usual stretch. "Just like we will out there on the battlefield in the city once I get my Eva!"

"Alright, this has been… rather interesting." Toji commented, as the group slowly made their way to the door. "But don't worry, Shinji! We'll look after Rei while you and the Devil take care of that Angel out there!" Asuka glared straight at Toji for his comment, but said nothing as the group excited the apartment, leaving Shinji with Asuka.

As soon as the door shut in front of them, Asuka turned to Shinji with a wicked smile. "I meant what I said, Ikari!" Shinji gulped as she came right into his space, her face inches from his own. She continued to walk forward, until Shinji's back was against the nearby wall. She was inches away from him, so close they could feel the breath of the other on them. "We're going to train, Ikari! We're going to train so hard that Misato will regret ever considering taking me off the plan! I'm the great Asuka Langley Soryu, and we'll show her together!" She said, stepping back slightly, and holding her hand out to him. "Shall we dance, Shinji?"

Shinji smiled back at her, taking her hand in his and leading her towards the machines, intent on working hard for the rest of the day.

End –


September 9th, 2015

Evangelion 2.22 OST – Disc 2, Track 4 – Des Cordes Opus 1 –

"You know…" Sachiel stated, as he led the group of friends minus Shinji and Asuka towards School that day. "Shinji has never properly taken us with him to School before, so this is going to be a brand new experience for me, and Shamshel, and Ramiel, and Gaghiel, and – "

"No need to say Skeletal, he's been at school quite a bit now." Mari stated, watching in amusement as the Angel flittered around in excitement.

"It's going to be great!" Gaghiel stated. "I'm going to learn so much, and I'll tell Asuka all about it! And then I'm going to tell Shinji about it! Then I'm going to tell Rei about it! Then I'll tell Mari about it!"

"We get it, Gaghiel." Hikari stated, glancing at the Angel in concern and interest. "We get that you're very excited to come to school with us for the first time, but you guys do need to stay hidden, remember, no one else at school actually knows about you."

"Technically, we shouldn't even be bringing you guys at all!" Kensuke stated.

"Tetris?" Ramiel asked, glancing… kind've… at Kensuke in thought.

"What'd she say?" Kensuke asked. Pointing towards the octahedral Angel, still having not quite deciphered the Angel's weird speech patterns.

"She asked why." Shamshel stated, seemingly the only one of the Angels who generally had any sort of idea on what Ramiel was actually talking about, which was an accomplishment. "She's wondering why we're not allowed at the school, despite Mari already breaking that rule."

"I-I-I-It was consensual…" Skeletal stated, staring at the group, wanting to be seen somehow.

"That's not the point." Shamshel replied. "The point is, we need an answer to this question, and I think I already know what it is."

"Well, that's quite simple really." Kensuke replied, staring at the Crystalline Angel. "You guys are actually NERV business, and as such, being NERV, you aren't allowed to be known about by the general public. But considering that Mari has already broken these rules that were clearly laid out for her."

"No, they weren't!" Mari replied, laughing at her own joke.

"We've decided that we can all do these things together as a group, despite Hikari making it quite clear that this was a bad idea and that we can very easily get in trouble with NERV."

"You guys pressured me into this!" Hikari replied, crossing her arms. Staring hard at the Angels. "So, you guys had better stay as quiet and as silent as possible. We can't have NERV finding out that you've come with us while Shinji and Asuka are working hard on getting their rhythms synced so they can take out that Angel. I think they just really wanted you guys out of the house for a bit due to how annoying you guys can be. But besides that, you'd better not do anything stupid! I am Class Representative after all!"

"You're Class Rep! Sweet! No rules! No rules!" Sachiel cheered, waving his arms around in excitement. "Did you hear that guys, we can do what we want!"

"That's not what I said!?"

"Calm down, Hikari." Toji replied, coming into step beside the young girl. "We know you're wanting this to be as smooth as possible and we know that you think this is a terrible idea, but you have to remember that we're doing this for Shinji and Asuka. We're helping them out while they work hard. Remember, they only have a couple of days to complete their training, and they know it's going to be extremely close, that's why we're taking the Angels with us."

"I guess so…" Hikari replied, scratching her head. "But I don't want anything bad to happen, not to us and not to them. I understand we're helping them out with their training as best as we can, but there's only so much we can do." Hikari sighed, running her hands through her hair. "I just want them to take out the Angel so we can move on with our lives again."

"And they will, and if we can help in anyway, we'll help. Even if it is playing babysitter to a bunch of small angels."

"Hey!"

"Thanks, Toji. You somehow know what to say to make me feel better… Even if you are an annoying stooge!" Hikari replied, laughing at Toji's disgusted face.

"Of course, she's got you doing it too. Next thing you know, Rei will be calling us stooges."

"I don't think Stooge is in Rei's vocabulary."

"That's fair." Toji replied, giving the girl a smile, causing her to immediately blush hard, shyly turning away from him.

"Hey, lovebirds! You can make out in the corners of the halls later! I'm sure that Hikari can use her Class Rep skills to find you a lovely little corner to suck face in!" Mari called out, laughing at the misfortune of her friends due to her mirth. "I'm so funny!"

"Yes, you are!" Sachiel replied, laughing along with Mari. "I think we've made it clear our thoughts on your situation so I'll make it clear once more…" Sachiel dramatically cleared his throat, before saying a few very simple words. "Just ask her out already!"

Hikari and Toji blushed hard as the Angels quickly ducked away, as the group entered the depths of the Tokyo-3 high school. Another lovely day of classes ahead for the group, depending on their point of view on the situation. Hikari, still very red faced, proceeded to lead the group to their usual classroom, 2-A, with as much dignity as she could muster, due to Mari's comment still in her brain.

The group slowly entered the room, each heading towards their desks silently, well mostly. Mari was very much chatting herself up as much as possible, mostly due to speaking to the Angels that she had. (The others had pinned them on her, due to Mari having Skeletal as a Shoulder Angel herself, so she had the most experience with them.)

"Today will be fun!" Sachiel stated, from inside Mari's shirt pocket. He relaxed against the back of the pocket, shifting quickly back and forth. "Ooooohhhh! Nice and soft!" He relaxed back against Mari's breast, prompting a laugh from the girl.

"They are aren't they!" Mari said, flopping into her seat. "Well, time for another lovely day with our boring sensei about Second Impact! Yay!"

"Is it really that bad?" Shamshel asked, tilting his head as best as he could in the small space provided by Mari's pockets. He tried as best as he could to at least be respectful to the girl, despite her own thoughts on the matter.

"Trust me." Mari replied, glancing down at the Angels. "It is really that bad."

"Tetris." Ramiel stated, as Rei settled down at her desk, being the last of the group of friends to head towards her seat. She was a little bit unsteady, but still fine, she wobbled on the heels of her feet, before settling into her seat. She immediately booted up the laptop in front of her and opened an interactive chat room with her friends.

Rei: You should really say something… Stooge.

Toji: Wha-!?

Kensuke: The Devil has corrupted Rei as well!

Rei: It's… an unusual way to refer to someone… I will contemplate this.

Hikari: Leave Rei alone, Stooges!

Rei: I will also say, Class Rep, that you shouldn't stay silent either…

Mari: This is glorious! Don't you agree.
Mari: Yes! – Sachiel
Mari: Certainly – Shamshel
Mari: Tetris – Ramiel
Mari: S-S-S-Sure – Skeletal

Mari: Wow! This is so cool! What's this do! ( Oooooohhhhh! What about this! "Nailed it! – Gaghiel

Hikari: Just… keep them calm. Please…?

Mari: Of course, Captain Horaki!

Hikari scowled at her desk, standing quickly and directing her attention to the door, where their sensei had once again entered the classroom, ready to start another day of classes. "Rise! Bow! Sit!" She said maybe a bit too aggressively, quickly slumping back in her seat.

"Okay. Shinji Ikari and Asuka Soryu not here again. Oh well… Let's start work on our new subject… Second Impact." The groans drowned out the Sensei once again as he started his spiel.

End –


Asuka was the first up that morning as she yawned, opening her blue eyes to the world. She quickly sat up, stretching slightly as she woke up for the day. She groaned as she remembered that she was supposed to be working hard again today, she stood silently, turning towards Shinji's bedding, where the young boy was still asleep. Asuka grinned as she decided what that day was going to be about, and she had to best way to wake him up.

She silently shifted the blankets and slowly but carefully slid in under the blankets next to the boy. 'Good. He hasn't woken up yet.' Asuka thought, watching carefully as the boy slowly woke up, he rolled around slightly, almost pushing the girl away, but he eventually came to a stop, his eyes opening immediately. Blue met Blue, and Shinji froze.

"Asuka?" He asked with shock, watching the girl as she lay in the bed next to him.

"Morning, Shinji!" She said, giving him a wink as he tried to process exactly what was happening in front of him as Asuka continued to grin at him.

"Have… you been…?"

"No." Asuka replied. "Although I'm sure you wished it." She added, cheekily poking his nose. "I just wanted to see how much shock you'd be in if I did something like this, so I decided to do this. Besides, I wanted to talk to you anyway, so I decided to come lie down here. Besides, speaking to someone in bed is fun, isn't it?"

"Don't couples usually do that though?" Shinji asked, watching as Asuka turned red, having not considered that train of thought before she'd started this charade. "Got you." Shinji said, smiling at her.

"Doesn't matter." Asuka replied, looking at the boy. "Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" She asked, with Shinji nodding in reply. "Okay, so I have an idea for today's training. How do you feel about annoying Misato as much as possible, so that we can maybe cause her to get as annoyed with us as possible."

"Why do you want to do this?" Shinji asked, wondering exactly what Asuka's motives behind this was.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Asuka replied, flicking his forehead. "Misato made a fool out of me yesterday and I want to get back at her after my moment yesterday. So, I have an idea. I've asked if Hikari and those guys can handle the Angels for today because I do want to have a day without Angel if I can, and she said yes so, they'll be coming around soon to come pick them up. Now, we just have to keep fighting with each other, like we usually do, and hopefully it'll drive Misato so mad to she'll go crazy with what's happening!"

"Shouldn't we, you know. Try and actually finish this training thing?" Shinji asked, staring at the girl. Asuka grinned and gave him a smile.

"Ah, now you see Shinji, that is the best part!" Asuka replied, waving her finger at him in glee. "While we're annoying Misato as much as we can, we'll continue to train for our battle in a couple days' time. So, Misato can't say that we aren't training, because we are! That won't stop, we're just going to give Misato a little bit of payback!" Asuka grinned again, rolling herself of Shinji's bed into a standing position. "Now you need to get up! I'm going to go have a shower and you have to watch out for our friends because they'll be taking care of our Angel friends today." She said, making quotation marks with her fingers at friends.

"Right, of course." Shinji replied, trying as hard as he could to not think about Asuka's legs again, which he would inevitably spend most of the day trying not to think about. Asuka retreated from the room quickly, grabbing herself a towel and heading towards the bathroom.

Shinji waited patiently for the door to lock behind the girl, and the sounds of water pattering against the floor before he relaxed slightly.

Nearby, Sachiel stretched his arms very dramatically. "Good morning, city!" He called out in a dramatic tone, spreading his thin arms wide for the world to see. "Got a long day ahead gang! School! That's about it."

"Wow… So, dramatic…" Shamshel commented sarcastically, having been woken up by his brother's rather interesting morning display. "But yeah, we have a long day as far away from these two as possible."

"Don't be so sarcastic, Shamshel." Gaghiel stated, way to chipper for the current early morning cheer. "Sachiel is right! This is going to be so much fun!"

"Yes." Ramiel replied, moving her entire body in a nodding motion.

"See! Everyone agrees! Besides, we can spend the entire day telling Toji and Hikari how much they are perfect for each other! Seriously! It means to world to me! And Mari! And Gaghiel! And Shamshel! And – "

"Okay, I think you had too much to drink last night…" Shinji stated, pushing the Angel back down to the bed below. "You need to calm down…" Sachiel dramatically huffed, crossing his twig arms in front of him, turning his head away from Shinji in an extremely dramatic showcase that he was very proud of. Shinji sighed, it was way too early to be dealing with Angels right now. Whether it be the ones who continued to hunt their doorstep, or the ones that currently sat in that very room. "Don't do anything stupid today guys. Hikari has been very generous with this idea that she definitely didn't have, but there's a reason why Asuka and I don't take you to school. No doing anything stupid. Got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" Sachiel replied, laughing all over again at his own wit. "See! I'm hilarious!" Gaghiel laughed along with his brother, clapping his fins in cheerful rhythm.

"Don't mind them, Shinji. Don't worry, Hikari will definitely make sure that they stay hidden." Shamshel stated, a smile on his face. Shinji smiled back, as the doorbell rung behind him, signifying his friends at the door. He headed over quickly, pressing the button to open the door to the world outside. Standing there was the rest of their group of friends, waiting on the Angels.

"Morning, Shinji!" Came the somewhat simultaneous call from all his friends, each one giving his a wave of some sort in greeting.

"Morning, guys." Shinji replied, rubbing his eyes slightly and yawning. He was still tired. 'Damn Misato and her ridiculous plans.'

"Hey, where's Asuka?" Hikari asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, wondering where her new best friend was.

"She's currently having a shower, I'll tell her you said hi." Shinji replied, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. It was still too early.

"Nice!" Kensuke replied. "What are you doing, Shinji? Imagining her silky-smooth skin sitting, lying in wait under that illustrious white towel that always shows off all her curves. Ow!" Kensuke rubbed the back of his head, where Hikari had smacked him.

"Be quiet, Aida! Shinji would never think that of the people he lives with! Right, Shinji?" Hikari asked, giving him a very notable look telling him that he needs to say the right thing right now.

"Uh… yeah. Sure…" Shinji idly replied, ignoring his quickly reddening face and glancing at a spot that was not his friends faces. Kensuke's words had most definitely put those thoughts in his head. "Anyway…" He moved on, brushing himself off. "Hey, Shamshel! You guys ready to go!"

"Yes, we are! Just trying to pull Sachiel along… and Gaghiel, who thought Sachiel's resistance was a great idea and decided to copy him!" Shamshel replied, showing up in the doorway with Ramiel, Sachiel and Gaghiel hanging off him in various forms of excitement.

"Good evening, gentlemen!" Sachiel called out. "It's time to embark on our newest adventure… School!" Sachiel immediately flew out, pointing towards the nearby stairs. "Let's go!" He immediately floated away, out of sight.

"Well, I guess we'd better get going, Puppy!" Mari called out, rushing after the departing Angel. "We'll see you and the Princess later!" She called over her shoulder, still rushing after the very quickly moving Angel.

"Well, I guess we're going then…" Toji said, leading the rest of the group with him. "We'll see you later Shin-man!"

"See you later… Shinji." Rei said, the only words she'd spoken that morning, making up the rear of the group. Shinji just stared in shock as his friends left in varying states of readiness.

"Right. Well, that just happened." Shinji muttered as the door closed behind him. Now it was just him and Asuka. Kensuke's words once again came to his mind. He shoved them as far as he could into the depths on his head. "Damn you, Kensuke!"

"What was that?" Asuka asked, entering the room with a towel wrapped around her wet hair. She continued to dry her hair with the towel as Shinji turned to her.

"It was nothing." Shinji replied, keeping his eyes on hers. "The Angels are officially out at School with our friends, so I hope they can handle the problems that they cause… They said to say hi, by the way."

"At least you got the normal Angels!" Asuka replied, ignoring Shinji mentioning their friends. "I got one that asks questions all the damn time!"

"At least you can understand him." Shinji replied, giving her a smirk. "I have one who only speaks in Yes', No's and Tetris'. Who knows what she's saying 99.9% of the time."

"Fair." Asuka replied, moving onto the hairbrush, moving it quickly through her hair, straightening it as best as she could. "What's for breakfast?"

"I haven't got to that point yet." Shinji sheepishly replied. Moving quickly towards the kitchen, Asuka's smile clad face following behind, satisfied.

"Well might as well get on it! I want some food, Ikari! Misato will be up any moment and I want the annoyances to start as soon as possible!" Asuka said, the grin still on her face, she'd obviously been plotting what they were going to do while she was in the shower.

Shinji quickly whipped up some food, serving it to himself and Asuka, who ate quickly. "Well, the Shower's all yours," Asuka said, pushing him towards the bathroom. "And quickly please, I think Misato's going to wake up soon." Shinji just smiled as he ducked in the bathroom. Asuka waited until she heard the water running once again, before she set to planning. They were going to annoy the Major as much as they could. Asuka grinned as said woman woke up that morning, yawning slightly. "Morning, Misato!" Asuka called out, as chipper as she could.

"Geez, Asuka, could you quiet down a bit." Misato groggily replied, rubbing her eyes. "The world's spinning and I need a beer."

"Of course, Misato!" Asuka replied, heading quickly for her refrigerator and taking out a beer, handing it to the woman.

"You're too chipper…" Misato commented, but took the beer anyone, cracked it open with practiced precision and downed it in one go, an eye on Asuka the entire time. "What are you planning?"

"Nothing!" Asuka replied, sitting at the table in front of her. "What could possibly make you think that?"

"You're too chipper." Misato bluntly pointed out, raising an eyebrow at the girl.

"I'm not allowed to be chipper in the morning?" Asuka asked, crossing her arms back.

"I didn't say that… Just not before I've had my morning beer." Misato commented, throwing the can towards the garbage bag in the corner of the kitchen. "Where's Shinji?"

"In the bathroom, he'll be out soon." Asuka replied. Misato grinned at the girl, teasing mode activated.

"Thinking on being in there with him?" She asked with mirth in her eyes.

"Ew! Misato! What the hell are you thinking!?" Asuka replied, making a face at the table.

"So, you are thinking it!"

"Stop! I don't want your stupid feelings on life to be projected onto me, I don't like Shinji that way! I want a real man! Like Kaji!" Asuka squealed again, clasping her hands together as she usually did when talking about Kaji.

"Exactly what someone who's falling for him would say!" Misato replied, still grinning as Asuka continued to glare at her in annoyance.

"Like you should talk!" Asuka replied. "You wish you could jump Kaji at any point! I see the way he looks at you!" Misato stared at Asuka hard, her smile turning quickly to a frown.

"I don't like that jerk!" Misato grumbled, slumping back in her seat and staring at the ceiling. "When Shinji gets out of the shower you two need to get to work." Misato said, slipping into business mode like a click of the fingers.

"Yes, of course Misato." Asuka replied, grinning to herself. 'Phase 1 is a go!' Asuka thought to herself as Shinji entered the kitchen, his hair damp from the shower.

"Morning, Misato." Shinji said, as he entered the room, and noticing his guardian sitting at the table.

"Morning, Shinji!" Misato chirpily replied, giving the boy a big smile. "Straight to work, Shinji, I'll get some breakfast while I still wake up." Misato replied, giving the boy a wink. Shinji smiled at his guardian's behaviour and exited the kitchen with Asuka, bee lining for the machines sitting in the living room.

"Okay," Shinji said, turning to Asuka. "What's your plan?"

"I'm glad you asked, Shinji!?" Asuka replied, hands on her hips. "Step One is quite simple. We just work the dance as normal, and just mess up as we did before. But we'll be working on it properly as well. Mess up though, I kind've want to have a go at you. It's fun." Asuka said, laughing to herself.

"Of course." Shinji replied, moving towards his mat, preparing for the mission ahead. "As long as you let me have a go at you at some point."

"You'll get a chance." Was all Asuka said as they both settled into their positions, headphones on their heads. They started their routine, as they normally did, matching each other much better than they were yesterday after their afternoon the day before. In fact, they were getting to a point where they could feasibly take out Israfel. Then Asuka purposely started to speed up, and Shinji purposely started to lose his balance.

Music from Evangelion 1.11 – Track 23 – Trailer Eva Special –

"Baka Shinji!" Asuka called out, giving Shinji a good kick to the side. "You made me mess up again!"

"Again!?" Shinji replied, getting up as well, matching Asuka's smile with his own. "You were the one that was speeding up! Did you not remember anything about what Misato said yesterday!"

"Are you blaming me, Baka? How dare you! Obviously, I'm the one staying in time, and you're the one that's falling behind!" Asuka replied, trying as hard as she could to not break into laughter.

"Me!" Shinji replied, also trying his hardest not to burst into laughter. "I'm the one falling behind?"

"Yes!" Asuka groaned. "You also have no balance at all, I don't understand how you are ever going to finish this task that we have set before us!"

"Both of you shut up!" Came Misato's annoyed tone as she quickly entered the room, a glare on her face. "You have two days to complete this task, so get to work and stop arguing! We don't have time for this!" Misato sighed, exiting the room quickly, rubbing her head in annoyance. It was still early morning for her.

Asuka grinned and subtly high fived Shinji, she watched as Misato left the room. "Yes! Stage One completed! Now it's time for Stage 2!"

"When do we start Stage 2?" Shinji asked, wondering what Asuka's next plan was.

"Well, we just have to wait until Lunch, as we're going to get into a war while we're brushing our teeth."

"Why are we specifically doing that?" Shinji asked, raising an eyebrow at her in wonder at exactly what Asuka's plan was.

"Because I wanted three steps and I could only think of that." Asuka replied, shrugging. "Don't think too much about it, we have to annoy Misato! Now, let's just get back to this and annoy Misato even more by actually doing it mostly correctly." She said, and the duo went back to practicing on the mats. This time they were doing the moves correctly, and the routine ended up looking a lot better, with only the second half having mistakes now.

Misato wandered into the room a couple of hours later, where Shinji and Asuka continued to practice their routine in silence, not noticing that Misato had entered the room and was watching them intently. Asuka messed up, she growled slightly but said nothing, and the duo quickly restarted their routine afterwards.

Misato watched in confusion, she was fully expecting Asuka to freak out and go off at Shinji as she usually did, but they just silently continued their routine as if nothing had happened. 'Those two are so confusing.' She thought to herself as Shinji messed up again. They were getting better, she couldn't deny that, but it was starting to get very annoying when they would get so close but then mess up. "Alright!" She called out, getting the two children's attention. "Let's take a break, we'll order some Lunch and just stop for five minutes." Asuka and Shinji nodded as Misato left towards the kitchen, grabbing the phone and ordering some take out for Lunch. Asuka grinned over at Shinji as Misato left.

"Round 2 is a go!" She said softly, leading the boy into the kitchen so they could be ready for some food later. Asuka sat down quickly resting her head in her hands and staring up at Misato. "Okay, Misato. What's for Lunch?" She asked, idly waiting. "I hope it's something German!"

"It's just the local noodle take out." Misato replied, sitting down at the table. "Now, what are you two doing?" She asked, suspicion in her eyes.

"What do you mean, Misato?" Asuka feigned ignorance. "We're not doing anything. How can you think that we're doing anything weird?"

"You guys are so strange. Your relationship should be strange and weird yet you get along swimmingly. You can try and make it look otherwise but I can tell that you both get along very well with each other." Misato said, looking between Shinji and Asuka. "And we've gotten to the point now where when one of you are doing something, generally, both of you would be. So, I ask again, what are you doing?"

"Asuka's right, Misato." Shinji replied, glancing at the redhead beside him. "We aren't doing anything strange, we're just working hard, like you told us to." Shinji said, hiding his smile as best as he could.

"Well, okay…" Misato said, not really believing them but moving on. "So, after Lunch you guys will have more training. You're getting somewhere but you still aren't completely finished with the routine yet, you still have a bit to go. If you're getting somewhere and you don't argue with each other while practicing, then I'll let you do what you want for an hour before dinner. Understood?"

"Yes, Misato." Shinji and Asuka replied, simultaneously, something that was happening far more often since they'd started their training. Misato saw this as a good sign, it showed her that her two charges were getting somewhere with their training. It would only be a matter of time before they would complete their training, and get to a point where they would be able to defeat Israfel.

Misato's thought processes where interrupted by knocking on their door, indicating that their Lunch was here and ready to be eaten. Misato stood up and headed towards the door, leaving the two kids at the table, giving each other a grin. She returned soon after, placing the food on the table, the small group of three got to eating quickly.

The sound of a refrigerator opening reverbed throughout the small apartment, as Pen-Pen made his first appearance for the day. He waddled into the kitchen, the smell of Lunch being what had awoken the penguin to the day. He glanced up at Shinji, and gave him a wark, who glanced down at him and quickly fed him some food, placing it into his bowl nearby. Pen-Pen gave a satisfied wark, and proceeded to start eating his food.

It wasn't long before the group finished eating, and proceeded to their next location. Shinji and Asuka headed down the hall towards the bathroom, Asuka's grin growing wider as they went. "Time for Round 2, Shinji!" She said to him in excitement, leading him into the room and situating him next to her.

"So, what's the plan, Asuka?" Shinji asked, watching as Asuka grabbed both her own, and Shinji's toothbrushes and gave his to him.

"Simple my accomplice," Asuka replied, smiling at him. "We'll start brushing our teeth in unison and play it off as annoyance on both our parts to once again annoy Misato as much as we can. Rather simple this one, ready?" She asked, giving him a grin, a gleam sitting in her eye.

"Yep." Asuka replied, readying her toothbrush and Shinji's with some toothpaste, then turning to the boy. "Ready?" She asked, raising her toothbrush.

"Ready." Shinji replied, clinking his own toothbrush against hers like it was a glass. They immediately both started brushing their teeth in unison, their movements subconsciously becoming identical to the other in response. They both grabbed a glass of water nearby, and started to clean their mouths, the water moving around in the same way. They gargled in unison then moved to spit their water into the sink at the same time.

"Ikari!" Asuka cried out, wanting to slap the boy beside her. "Don't spit your dirty water onto me!"

"Kind've hard not to do that, Asuka, when there's only one sink between the two of us!" Shinji replied, equalling her intensity with his own.

"Are you blaming me again, Ikari!?" Asuka asked, a frown on her face. "I'll have you know that you're the one doing the things wrong here!"

"Wanna bet!?" Shinji replied, showing her his arm, where there was undoubtedly water sitting in wait, having landed on him from the spitting of the water in unison. "This came from you I'll have you know!" Asuka gasped dramatically, placing her hand on her chest for extra effect.

"Are you saying this was my fault!?"

"Yes, I am! Yes, I am, Soryu!" Asuka moved into Shinji's space once again, intent of faking a slap when Misato walked in and pulled them away from each other.

"Please, both of you, for the love of all that is holy, stop arguing!" Misato said, glancing between both of them, as they tried to grab at each other again. "This is petty and annoying! Go out and train again, now!" She said, dropping them and directing them towards the mats in the living room, where they would be training once again. "If you two can give me three hours of proper, uninterrupted training, then I will allow you a half hour break!"

"You said it would be an hour!" Asuka replied, giving her guardian a glare.

"Yes, if you didn't argue at all." Misato replied, her arms crossed. "You guys just had an argument, henceforth, only half an hour. Don't make it nothing." She said sternly, watching as they walked towards the mats and proceeded to pick up their headphones for training again. Misato sighed in response to their fighting. 'How am I going to get them to stop fighting for five minutes?' She asked herself, as she moved towards the kitchen. She needed a beer… Again.

"Round 2 is a success!" Asuka cried out in excitement, giving the boy a high-five. Shinji responded in kind, laughing with her.

"So, what's Round 3 then?" Shinji asked, tilting his head to the side, wondering what Asuka's next idea in her plan was.

"Round 3 is simple. We've got to make this training right now work as best as we can, as Round 3 requires our break to work well. So, let's get to training Ikari!" She said, standing on the mat. "I want that TV time for Round 3, so get to it!"

"I assume we'll be fighting over the TV channel?" Shinji asked, walking over to his own mat and getting ready, settling the headphones on his head.

"Right in one, Shinji!" Asuka replied, winking at him. "Now focus! No mistakes!"

"Well, I don't know how that will go…" Shinji replied honestly, giving Asuka a nice smile. "We've been messing up the ending a lot. And don't kick me so hard next time… that hurt."

"Sorry about that, Shinji… But it needed to look believable!" Asuka replied. "Misato wouldn't have believed it as well without a bit of physical attack."

"Maybe I should kick you next time?" Shinji questioned, glancing at her.

"No can do, Shinji. Didn't you ever learn that you shouldn't hit a girl?" Asuka replied, in mock horror. "Besides, I'm the aggressive one, not you."

"You obviously haven't seen how I attacked Toji before I battled Shamshel." Shinji commented, giving her a smile.

"Oooohhhh, story! You're telling me that in our break, Shinji! Now, let's get to work!" Asuka replied, as the music came on once again, and the two pilots started their routine all over again.

Misato wandered in a while later, and stayed for the rest of the training session. There were mistakes, largely in the latter half of the routine, as the first half was mostly completed and ready to go by now, but she was satisfied seeing that her charges were not arguing again and were actually taking their training and plan seriously.

Misato watched the entire time, as the clock struck 6pm, she called them to a halt. "Here's what we're doing." Misato said, satisfied with their progress over the last day. "Despite your arguments that could've been avoided if you weren't so intent on verbally abusing each other…" Shinji and Asuka shared a smile as Misato spoke, their plan wasn't over yet though. "So, you guys get half an hour to do what you want, then we'll have dinner, Shinji that's your job, cook us something good so I can just finish this day. Then we'll train for another couple of hours. The ending is still spotty, so I want you two focusing on that tomorrow as well. Got it?"

"Yes, Misato." They replied in unison, moving away to do their own thing. Misato headed towards her room, while Shinji and Asuka settled in front of the TV.

"So, what's the plan here?" Shinji asked, grabbing the first remote and holding it in his hand.

"It's simple." Asuka replied, holding the other remote. "I'll turn on the TV, then you change the channel, then I'll change the channel, and so on!"

"It's really that simple isn't it." Shinji replied, laughing slightly, readying the remote and holding it at the TV in front of him. "Well then, I hope you're not expecting this to be easy, Asuka?" Shinji asked, giving her a smirk.

"Is that a challenge I hear, Ikari?" Asuka replied, giving a very happy grin. "Well then, don't expect me to make it easy as well." Asuka flicked the TV on with her remote, relaxing back against her seat with a satisfied grin.

Shinji sat back against his own seat, pulling a face to make their scheme as realistic as possible. Shinji just tapped a button on the remote, changing the channel. Asuka flicked her own remote, changing the channel again.

"Asuka…" Shinji said, flicking the TV channel again.

"Shinji!" Asuka replied, flicking the channel back over. "I was watching that!"

"Wow! What you watch is really boring, Asuka!" Shinji replied, changing the channel again. "Now, Asuka, this is a much better show. It's about – "

"Yeah, I don't really care." Asuka replied, changing the channel back. "Let me watch what I want, Shinji! Be a gentleman!"

"How about no?" Shinji replied, flipping the channel back. "I'd rather watch what I want to watch. I was here before you were, Asuka!"

"But I'm the new girl, so I should get what I want!" Asuka replied, flipping the channel back.

"Change it back!"

"No!"

"Asuka! Change! It! Back!"

"Come over and make me!"

"Alright then!" Shinji replied, getting up to walk over to Asuka, intent on taking the remote away and getting the channel himself.

"Fine! Whatever!" Asuka replied, her grin betraying her true feelings. "Have the TV! I need to go to the bathroom anyway!" She threw the remote at him, Shinji catching it without really paying attention, and she proceeded to storm to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

End –

"Well," Shinji said, turning to Pen-Pen, who sat nearby. "That was fun."

Pen-Pen warked in reply, waddling over to the nearby seat that was once occupied by Asuka.

"Shinji! How many times do I have to tell you and Asuka to stop arguing!?" Misato asked, walking into the living room.

"One more I think." Shinji cheekily replied, giving his guardian a smile, getting up and putting the remote down on the ground.

"Okay, well tell Asuka that that's enough. I don't want any more arguing." Misato said, wondering where the girl was. "Where is she?"

"She's in the bathroom." Shinji said, heading that way as well. "I'll tell her when she comes out." He said, walking out of the living room.

"Good, because I want to talk to you two after you're both done, okay?" Misato said, letting Shinji know that she was very concerned about their arguments.

"Alright!" Shinji called out, standing outside of the bathroom. Pen-Pen waddled over soon after, standing nearby as well. Seconds stretched to Minutes. Shinji was wondering just what the hell was taking the girl so long. 'Great…' He thought, as his need to use the bathroom increased drastically by the second, Pen-Pen next to him also starting to become distressed due to the wait. 'Just how long does someone need…' Shinji thought as he heard the creaking of the door opening. 'Finally!' He thought, getting ready to move… Only to be stopped by the door slamming into his face. Pen-Pen warked and immediately dashed into the bathroom.

"What the hell!?" Asuka said as she watched the Penguin shut the door behind him, using the bathroom like any normal human being. "What a weird penguin…" She commented, turning to Shinji, who was rubbing his nose, in any attempt to relieve the pain that he felt in his nose. "What happened?" Asuka asked, glancing at Shinji's nose.

"Here's the short version." Shinji replied, still very much distressed due to desperately needing to use the bathroom. "You were in the bathroom, I needed to go. I wait here. Pen-Pen comes to wait as well. You finally come out, whack me with the door, and Pen-Pen takes the opportunity to dash in and steal my spot. Bloody penguin…" Shinji finished, his words coming out quite quickly due to his discomfort.

"Poor Shinji!" Asuka replied, mockingly. "Do you need me to kiss it better?" Shinji glared at her, watching as she left as well, heading towards the Kitchen.

"Wait, Asuka!" Shinji called out, causing the girl to turn back towards him in confusion. "Misato wanted to talk to both of us after you came out of the bathroom, I don't think she's very happy with how we've been acting today…" Asuka sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"I thought so…" Asuka replied. "I guess we don't have much of a break anymore, don't we?"

"I'd say so…" Shinji replied, glancing at the bathroom door again. 'Stupid Penguin…' Asuka grinned slightly, stepping into the Kitchen where Misato was waiting for her.

"There you are, Asuka." Misato said, a can of beer in her hands. "So, have you and Shinji stopped fighting?"

"Yes, Misato." Asuka replied, her grin in full force. "We have stopped fighting. Don't worry, we'll work hard towards completing our training for the Angel battle."

"I should hope so." Misato said, sipping her beer. "Because, you two have been fighting non-stop all day. What is happening here? Neither of you are showing me that we can defeat this Angel in two days' time."

Asuka suddenly started laughing, as Shinji entered the room after finally using the bathroom. Misato was completely confused. "What?" She asked Shinji, who just smiled at her.

"Want to start Asuka?" Shinji asked, turning to the girl, who was trying (and failing) to get her laughter under control.

"Yeah, sure." She replied, her giggles still coming through between sentences. "So, basically, I decided I wanted to get back at you after using Rei and Mari yesterday, and telling me that I could easily be replaced by one of them in this mission. I told Shinji the plan and we tried to annoy you as much as possible today just for payback!"

"Seriously, Asuka!" Misato replied, her annoyance with her two charges coming through. "Your entire point behind today's arguments was just to make a point."

"Essentially." Asuka replied, her grin still on his face.

"Alright, well this has just told me that I do need to do this." Misato commented, glancing between her two charges with a frown on her face. "Tonight, I'm going to be sleeping out there with you two so that I can make sure you're not doing anything annoying, or arguing. Okay?"

"What!?" Asuka replied, slamming her hands on the table. "You've already forced us to sleep in the same room! Why are you doing this now?"

"Because, you two are obviously capable of conspiring a plan behind my back, so I need to watch you. Tomorrow, we'll be working really hard to finish this routine so that we have a chance to defeat this Angel. Do I make myself clear?" Misato asked, glancing between both Shinji and Asuka, not taking no for an answer.

"Yes, Misato." Both kids replied in unison, glancing down at the table in sadness.

"Good." Misato replied, sipping her beer again. "Look, I'm not annoyed with you two." She started, causing both teens to glance up at her. "I just need you two to understand the seriousness of this situation. I'm happy with the progress you've made today, despite your arguing… But we still have a bit to go until we can reasonably take out the Angel, so we'll be working extra hard tomorrow." Misato finished her beer, tossing it towards the recycling in the corner. "Now, Shinji, I believe we need some dinner soon?" Misato asked, big sister Misato coming out once again. She'd scolded her charges, and now she was going to be her usual relaxed self.

Shinji nodded, getting up and heading towards the fridge, where he found a whole bunch of ramen. "Well, I guess we're all having ramen tonight." He said to himself, as he started prepping the ramen for dinner that evening. As he worked, the doorbell rung throughout the apartment, signifying the return of their friends and the Angels, after a long day at school.

Asuka stood and headed towards the door, opening it to reveal Hikari standing behind. "Evening, Asuka!" She said, hugging her friend in greeting.

"Hi, Hikari!" Asuka replied, letting her friend go and turning to the rest of the group. "How were the annoyances today?" She asked, glancing around at the group of friends.

"Hey!" Sachiel called out, flying through the group towards the front, pointing his stick hand towards Asuka. "I'll have you know that we are not annoyances! Now! I'll tell you what I think about you! You are – "

"Alright, Sachiel, calm down." Shamshel said, floating forward. "The day was fine." He simply said, indicating to the group of friends. "Your friends showed us what the school is like, but besides that…"

"The day was pretty normal." Toji said, shrugging his shoulders. "Considering Mari brings Skeletal to school often anyway, it was just that, but add another four Angels to the mix. Besides, they couldn't come out at school anyway, so the day was just normal."

"Enough about that!" Kensuke said, peering at Asuka, who instinctively took a step back to keep Kensuke away from her. "How's your training going? Are you and Shinji going to be able to take down the Angel from a few days ago, or are you going to bring us to our doom!" He said ominously, making jazz hands for extra effect.

"Don't know why you'd want to know, but we're going fine. I'm sure that we'll be able to take down the Angel…" Asuka said, not really knowing how to talk to the military nut, due to his rather obvious obsession with the Eva's, it made talking to him when you weren't Shinji or Toji difficult.

"Well, that's good to hear." Hikari said, giving her friend a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. But enough about me, how was Rei today?" She asked, noticing that the girl was rather quiet.

"I have been fine." Rei quietly replied. "I don't feel much different right now. You will help me with those pills once this Angel has been defeated?"

"Of course, Blueberry!" Mari said, putting an arm around the girl. "Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this conspiracy as soon as that Angel out there has been defeated."

"We'll all work together," Hikari said, hugging the girl. "We'll figure out why you were given these pills." Rei blushed slightly, glancing down at the ground.

"Thank you…" Rei said, giving her friends a small smile.

"Anyway, we'd better get going." Toji said, pointing over his shoulder. "We've got more school tomorrow and you've got more training tomorrow. Tell Shinji I said hi."

"I'll be sure to let him know." Asuka replied, giving her friends a wave as they headed back down the hallway, heading towards the nearest lift to get out of the building and head home for the evening. The door shut and the Angels immediately zipped into the apartment, obviously very energetic after the long day at school they had had.

"Evening, Shinji!" Sachiel called out as Shinji was putting the finishing touches on the ramen he had prepared, already setting portions aside for the Angels and Pen-Pen, and preparing bowls for the human members of their weird little family.

"Hi, Sachiel." Shinji replied, not glancing up from his work. "How was your day?" He asked, moving over to the table with their dinner, setting a bowl down in front of Misato, and in front of Asuka, who had returned to the table after her adventure to the front door.

"It was boring!" Sachiel replied, slumping against a seat. "That sensei of yours doesn't teach about much more than Second Impact, doesn't he?"

"No, he doesn't." Asuka replied, grabbing her chopsticks with a face and preparing some food. "Geez, why can't we have something that's more German next time!" She said, taking the ramen onto her chopsticks and putting it into her mouth. She was subconsciously eating her ramen at the exact same time as Shinji was, both pilots taking their ramen and slurping it into their mouths at the same time. Pen-Pen, for some reason, had also eaten his ramen at the same time as Shinji and Asuka.

"Wow." Shamshel said, glancing between the two pilots. "So, I assume that their training is coming along somewhat well then?" He asked, looking over at Misato, who had also noticed the simultaneous movements.

"Yes," Misato replied, "Somewhat being the key word. There's still a lot they need to work on, but their rhythms are starting to sync up with each other, so it seems that we are getting somewhere."

"That's good, then!" Gaghiel called out, zipping around, taking as much ramen from everyone's bowls as he possibly good, giggling and laughing the entire time.

"Yes." Ramiel said, nodding her head as she absorbed her ramen through her drill… tube… thing… No one at the table really understood how Ramiel worked so largely just left her to her devices.

"Shinji!" Asuka said, turning to the boy, "Next time I want German! You cook really well so I want to see how you'd handle German food." She said, thinking slightly. "I know! I'll go out food shopping with you sometime this week so we can have some German!" She said, a massive smile on her face.

"Alright, Asuka. I think we should try and make a night every week or two where we have German." Shinji replied, laughing slightly as he took in Asuka's extreme excitement for German food.

"That's a good idea, Shinji. It'll be a way for Asuka to reminisce on her home, that she can't be at right now." Misato said, eating her ramen slowly but carefully. "Besides, it's been a while since I've had some German food, it'd be great for all of us I think."

"Then it's settled!" Asuka replied, getting up from the table and placing her bowl in the kitchen sink. "We're going shopping once this Angel is defeated Shinji! We're going to get some German food so we can have a lovely German feast!"

"Okay, Asuka!" Shinji replied, getting up as well, placing his own bowl in the sink.

"Woohoo! German Partay!" Sachiel called out, laughing uncontrollably as he zipped around. "German food huh, I must notify this in my scientific notebook and take a large thought on this intriguing bit of new information."

"Sachiel," Shinji asked, glancing over at the Angel. "Would this Scientific notebook be the same one you were inspecting the… female body…" He cringed out, watching as Sachiel puffed his chest out and nodded.

"Yep! The exact same! Besides, I still need some info from your female friends. I've got information from Misato, but I need more!"

"Okay Sachiel, calm down!" Shinji replied, blushing hard as his mind went straight to female anatomy. "Alright, I'm going to go do something else for a bit okay! I'm going now!"

"But Shinji! Female! Scientific! Purposes!"

"I'm leaving Sachiel!" Shinji replied, exiting the room quickly.

"Asuka, go with Shinji, you're still training remember." Misato told the girl with a smile on her face. Asuka sighed as she left the room, stopping in the living area to grab the earbuds and the portable music player that Misato had gotten them to help with their training. She walked out onto the balcony, where Shinji was sitting against the wall, humming the tune of their song to himself.

"Hey." Asuka said, sitting down beside the boy, handing him one side of the earbuds. "Misato's still on training mode, so we can't get away from each other yet."

"That's alright." Shinji replied. "At least I'm doing this thing with you." Asuka blushed a bit as she took in Shinji's words.

"You wouldn't want to do this with Rei or Mari?" She asked, placing the other earbud in her own ear, leaning back against the wall.

"It's not that I don't like them," Shinji replied. "It's just that… you're probably the most normal and relaxed about this. Rei would stay very silent throughout the entire process, and Mari is well… Mari…"

"Yeah." Asuka replied, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "As much as they're my friends, I'm glad that I'm doing this with you. I don't know, I just feel the most comfortable with you." It was now Shinji's turn to blush. Asuka said nothing, just hitting the play button on the music player, letting the tune of the song sink into their minds.

They sat in silence until night fell completely and the darkness of the night overcame them. They'd spent the time tapping along to the beat of the song, letting their bodies sync up rhythm wise. After a couple of hours, they stopped, getting up together and heading into the apartment, where they found Misato passed out on the table, drool forming in the corners of her mouth.

"Well, I think Misato's out to it." Shinji said, glancing over at the girl next to him.

"The perfect time to try and actually finish this thing." Asuka replied, heading out into the living area, where the machines were still in place. "We need to finish this thing, and Misato is completely out to it. We only have one day left, so… we're going to train!" She said, standing on the machine and getting ready to go.

"Okay!" Shinji replied, getting into position as well and letting the music flow through their ears. They started their movements quickly, staying in time and in unison until about halfway through, where the problems started to come into place.

"Shinji!" Asuka cried out, taking in his movements in annoyance. "You're behind again! You need to jump higher there as well!"

"Asuka, calm down!" Shinji replied, causing Asuka to stop the song and turn to the boy.

"Listen, Shinji…" She said, glancing at him. "You're klutzy and I'm going too fast. We need to settle this rhythm together!" Asuka walked over to him, pointing her finger at his chest. "Here's what we're going to do! We're going to show Misato! We're going to show Wondergirl and Four-Eyes exactly what we can do! We're going to keep working until we have this completely perfect. Understand?" She said, looking directly at the boy. Shinji nodded, determination in his eyes.

"Good!" She replied, getting back into position. "Now, let's finish this thing!"

They started their routine all over again, settling back into their rhythm all over again. Shinji's thoughts became occupied with the girl beside him as they worked, his thoughts based on her drive to succeed. 'She's unstoppable. When she puts her mind to something she works to get it done. Something she can be proud of.'

"That's better!" Asuka said, turning to him. "There we go! If we work together instead of fighting, we can actually get somewhere!"

"Okay!" Shinji replied, giving her a high-five. "Then let's take it from the top again!"


September 10th, 2015

They spent the entire evening towards the next morning going through their routine over and over again, until they had it completely perfect, they looked at each other in happiness, finally being able to say that they were in perfect unison.

"That was perfect!" They said together, at the same time.

"Once more!" Shinji said, getting back into position. "If we get it completely correct once again, then we can rest for a bit."

"We won't need to rest once we're done with this!" Asuka replied, a massive smile on her face. "We're too good!" She said, yawning, the evening's events finally getting to her.

"I think you do need to rest, Asuka." Shinji replied, yawning at the same time. "You're just as tired as I am…"

"One more time, Shinji." She replied, smiling at him, their movements taking them through the routine all over again. To the left, then to the right, on one foot, arms outstretched, crossing each other, going different directions, then back to sync. Shinji moved to hold her, the girl coming close to him, their movements continuing to stay in sync. They smiled at each other as they moved apart again, sliding to the side, coming up into their finishing position. They laughed as they smiled at each other, confirmation that they were ready in their brains. All they had to do was defeat the Angel tomorrow. That was it. They were almost there.

"And now, we can sleep." Asuka said, heading towards the living room, where Misato was still out to it, the early morning sun coming through the nearby windows, starting to illuminate the room. Soon after both Asuka and Shinji's heads hit their pillows, they were completely out to it, their soft breathing in their sleep coming through as the exhaustion of the night finally caught up to them. But they were finally successful, they had finally finished everything that they needed to do before fighting the Angel, who was so close to waking up.

Misato yawned, stretching as she woke up for the morning, she felt her bones crack as she relaxed into the morning breeze. She turned to her left and right, where both Shinji and Asuka were sound asleep, she sighed, wanting to wake them up but deciding not to, she didn't need to see to know that they were exhausted. She would let them sleep for a bit longer today.

She moved around the house slowly and carefully today, she was still concerned about her charges success against the Angel, but the shuffling and movements she had heard throughout the night alerted her to the fact that her charges possibly just spent the entire evening practicing their routine until they had it perfect. She would check it with them, tonight, and leave them to their own devices today. They deserved it after all. Besides, she had to go into NERV anyway. Being Operations Director the day before an Angel Battle certainly make her work load much bigger.

She prepared herself in her usual red jacket, sporting a cream top and a nice skirt today. She left silently, glancing once more at her two charges as they continued to rest the evening away. She smiled. They had a chance, she would just check that evening. The door closed behind her, alerting the Angels to her leaving. They woke up and slowly started to move around the home, staying as silent as possible so their pilots wouldn't wake up too early. They needed the sleep.

It was not until midday when Asuka finally woke up, she yawned and stretched her arms, turning to her left to find Shinji still asleep on the ground beside her. She nodded in satisfaction at their efforts the night before, grabbing a couple of towels and heading towards the bathroom for her morning shower, taking the opportunity to refresh herself after the night before.

Shinji woke up to the sounds of shower water pattering against the floor in the bathroom. She glanced up at the bathroom door, where he knew Asuka was currently having a shower. He got up and cooked himself and the Angels a breakfast of some sort, leaving some for Asuka when she inevitably came out of the shower.

"Misato!" Shinji called out as he walked around the apartment, wondering where the woman was. "Hey, Sachiel, do you know where Misato is?"

"Yeah, she had to go into NERV for today. She was proud of the fact that you two worked hard last night, so she decided to leave you to it today." Sachiel replied, floating into the kitchen and settling down at the table. "Hey, that leaves you with Asuka today. That's fun, right?"

"Yeah." Shinji replied, glancing around the room. "I guess that's fun."

"Fun?" Sachiel replied, glancing at the boy in confusion. "Shinji, this is genius! I need more information regarding Asuka anyway, and I think you could help me…"

"I'm not helping you, in any way." Shinji replied, scrunching up his nose. "You have a very curious definition of information."

"You'll both love it! As my information, I've gathered has told me."

"Where'd you find this information?"

"On this website, I found. I think it was called Por- "

"Okay! I understand where you're getting your information now! The answer is also still no!" Shinji replied, sighing at the Angel's very curious nature, and wondering exactly how he had even managed getting on… that…. website.

"Should I keep my brother in check?" Shamshel asked, floating over to sit nearby. "He's being more curious than he usually is."

"I guess so…" Shinji replied, glancing around the room. "Just, occupy him with something for like, the rest of the day. Asuka and I still need to focus on this thing, the Angel hasn't been defeated yet, and won't be until tomorrow.

"Got it." Shamshel replied, turning to Ramiel, who nodded as well. "We'll also keep Gaghiel in check. Not that he's curious about anything, just that he's very excitable, all the time."

"Fair enough." Shinji replied, glancing at his bedding. "I don't know how Asuka deals with him on a daily basis."

"Don't worry, Shinji." Shamshel said. "We do understand the importance on your current situation, we know how hard your training has been. We'll make sure you're fine until you've defeated Israfel. Once they're defeated, we can take care of the other stuff we've learned about, like Sachiel's over interest in things, and most importantly, Rei's pills that we are still annoyed about."

"Thanks, guys." Shinji replied, turning away, watching as the two Angels went to keep their own brothers in check.

"Yes!" Came Ramiel's voice obviously getting annoyed with Gaghiel's arguments.

"But my holder's in there! She needs me with her!"

"No!" Came Ramiel's exasperated (if that was possible), reply.

Shinji laughed to himself as the noise from the Angels continued to reverberate throughout the apartment. He relaxed against his bed on the living room floor, his SDAT earphones in his ears, letting the music soothe him for the afternoon.

The door to the bathroom opened soon after, with Asuka stepping out, humming a happy tune to herself. She was wrapped in only a towel, with another towel wrapped around her hair in an attempt to dry her hair as best as she could. Asuka glanced around as she held the towel up, noticing the absence of one person in the room.

"Hey, Shinji? Where's Misato gone?" Asuka asked, walking towards the living room, where Shinji was still lying down on the ground, SDAT in his ears, reading a magazine of some sort.

"She's at work!" Shinji replied, not looking up from his book. "She left us today because she was satisfied with how we performed yesterday! She'll be there all day and she won't be back until late tonight! She wants us up then so that we can show her our progress!" Shinji glanced up and looked over at Asuka, freezing in place as he took in her form, covered only by a towel. Shinji gulped as Asuka smirked at him, winking.

"So… that means we've been left alone today huh? And for the night?" Shinji took one earphone out, looking at the girl as she picked up her bedding and started to shift it into Misato's room, knowing that the woman was going to be out for most of the day. Shinji watched in confusion, wondering exactly what the girl was doing.

"Hey, Asuka?" Shinji asked, watching as she dumped the last of her stuff on the ground in Misato's room, using her foot to have the door slam behind her, the door bouncing off due to the impact. "Asuka? What are you doing?" He heard the rustling of clothes as Asuka changed into something more manageable. "Asuka? What's happening?" He asked one more time as the door was immediately opened, Asuka on her hands and knees on the other side, she had a scowl on her face, though her eyes betrayed her true emotions. Shinji glanced down, the shirt she was wearing hanging slightly, giving the boy a view of the girl's young breasts. Shinji gulped as Asuka spoke.

"To answer you Shinji, think of this. This right here, is the impenetrable Wall of Jericho, Third Child." She started, her eyes twinkling.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked, glancing at the girl in confusion. Keeping his eyes as firmly on her face as he could.

"The Wall of Jericho. Take one step over this wall and come into this room and you'll be a dead man! And now, Children, it's time to go to bed!" Asuka replied, slamming the door in reply, the door opening slightly once again.

"Wait! Asuka!" Shinji called out, daring not step beyond the door. "It's midday!"

"I'm tired, Shinji!" Asuka called out in reply, slight anger in her voice. "Our training is tough! Uh! How can you Japanese sleep on the floor!? It's so uncomfortable!" Asuka cried in annoyance, settling down on her blanket and watching the door carefully. 'Take the bait…' She thought to herself, keeping the door's movements on mind.

Shinji sighed, turning away from the door and keeping it out of his mind. Although, the girl's words continued to annoy him. 'The Walls of Jericho…' He thought, as he relaxed against his own bedding. 'Why does that sound so familiar?' He thought to himself, racking his brain hard for the reasoning on why this was alluding him so much. 'Maybe… I learnt about it at School before I came here…?' He thought, thinking back on those annoying years that he'd rather forget about. 'The Walls of Jericho, I know I've heard of it before…' He continued to think, until he suddenly remembered something. Something really important. She'd used the Walls of Jericho specifically, so why had she. And it finally came to him.

Asuka growled as she turned away, not wanting to please herself or the boy on the other side of the door any longer, she glanced at the wall across from her. 'Of course, he didn't… Why do I even bother?' The door suddenly opened, she turned slightly, where she found Shinji standing in the doorway. He stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.

Evangelion 2.22 OST – Disc 2, Track 22 – Instabilitie Piano Solo –

"Why are you here, Shinji?" She asked, giving him a look. "Didn't I say that was the impenetrable Wall of Jericho."

"Asuka…" Shinji replied, giving her a look. "I know that you know the Walls of Jericho fell." Asuka glanced up, turning towards the boy.

"And? So, what? If they fell they fell. I said you'd be a dead man, Ikari." Asuka replied, keeping her eyes on the wall instead of Shinji.

"Why did you want me here, Asuka?" Shinji asked, hopping down onto the bedding beside the girl, who frowned as she glanced at him.

"Who said I wanted you here? Why do you assume I wanted you here?" Asuka replied, not looking at the boy, staying on her side of the bed.

"Because you mentioned the Walls of Jericho, Asuka. You know they fell so you wanted me here." Shinji replied, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Fine. So, what if I did want you here. You can stay, but don't expect me to give you much attention. Stay on your side, don't turn around." Asuka replied, wanting to look at the boy but not allowing herself to.

"Right. Okay." Shinji replied, staying on his side, both children back to back, not paying the other much attention.

"Just… don't say anything. Not to Misato. Not to the First or Four-Eyes. Just let me lie like this." She said, giving him a look out of the corner of her eye.

Shinji complied, listening to his SDAT, letting the music continue to consume him. He glanced over at the girl, watching carefully. "Hey, Asuka?"

"Yes?" The girl calmly replied, her soft voice flittering through the small room. "Make it a good question, Shinji. I won't answer if you're wasting my valuable sleep."

"I just wondered… why do you pilot the Eva?" Shinji asked, glancing over at her. Asuka laughed slightly.

"You've known me for a couple of weeks now and you're asking me this?" She asked, a small smile on her face. "It doesn't matter. It was a stupid question anyway. Idiot Shinji."

"Right… Sorry…" Shinji replied, glancing back out at the door, keeping his eyes away from the girl.

"Stop apologising. I never said I wasn't going to answer." Asuka replied, glancing at him. "I pilot the Eva for myself. Because I want to. It's the only thing I have in life." Asuka replied, eyeing the boy. "What about you, Shinji?"

"I'm… honestly not completely sure." Shinji replied, thinking it over in his head but not figuring it out.

"Are you stupid?" She replied, not looking at him. "It's obvious you're just running from your responsibilities. If you want others to like you, and look forward to your presence, then stop running away from yourself."

"If I have to say something…" Shinji replied. "Then I guess I pilot the Eva for my father's approval."

"And him doing something else is unusual?" Asuka asked, glancing at him.

"But a few days ago, when he said that we could have Lunch someday. Something felt different. I didn't know what to feel. Maybe he's finally realising that I'm his son. Something to be proud of. Misato said something like me. That I'm my own person. So, I should live for it, instead of pining for somebody's affection." He replied, clenching his fist in satisfaction at his words, satisfied with his answer.

"Wow…" Asuka replied, her smile on her face. She turned to face him pretty quickly, giving him a smile. "Stupid Shinji… You really are an idiot." She smiled slightly, settling against the bedsheets.

"Are you okay now?" Shinji asked, wondering whether the girl is okay with everything.

"Yes. I did want you in here." Asuka replied. "I said the Wall of Jericho for a reason and you figured it out. You're still an idiot, though." Shinji smiled wryly in response, staying largely silent as she sat facing him. "I'll be back. Don't leave." She said, giving him a warning look before heading out of the room. Shinji glanced down at his cell phone, seeing the time. A couple of hours had passed, leaving them in the mid-afternoon, Misato would be home in a few hours. The sound of a flushing toilet brought Shinji back to the present, as Asuka lay back down on the bedsheets.

"What are you listening to?" She asked, taking out of Shinji's earphones and put it in her ear. "What the hell kind've music is this?" She asked, wondering exactly what it was that she had just heard. Shinji shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just whatever my father had on it when he passed it on to me."

"He obviously has terrible taste in music. God, it sounds like Misato is singing!" Asuka replied, making a face and throwing the earphone back at him. She relaxed, looking at him with a smile on her face. Shinji smiled slightly, before his eyesight headed down slightly. Asuka was still wearing a loose shirt, so he currently had an eyeful of cleavage. Asuka smirked, noticing his reddening face.

"What's up, Shinji?" She asked, innocently, pushing her breasts up playfully. "Cat got your tongue?" Shinji looked up at her eyes again, denying as best as he could.

"I'm not! I mean… I didn't!" Asuka smiled, putting a finger on his lips.

"You're alright." She replied, winking at him. "You don't think I noticed that? I don't care, Shinji. Look all you want." She replied, leaning forward a bit. "Although, don't touch, then I'll kill you." She said, a serious look in her eyes as she took in Shinji's reddening face again. She laughed again. Shinji's eyes moved towards her lips, sighing slightly as he took her face in. Asuka's face went red now. "Something on your mind?" She asked, looking at him in confusion.

"No." Shinji replied quickly, turning away from her. "It's fine, don't worry about it." Asuka sighed, as Shinji turned away from her, taking in the boy's back. She moved forward, wrapping her arms around his torso, pressing herself against his back. Shinji gasped, his eyes wide in shock.

"Asuka…" Shinji asked, wondering what the girl was thinking as she lay pressed against his back, he was currently very red, the girl very obviously pressed against him.

"Shhhh." She replied, keeping quiet against his back. "Just shut up and let me have this." She said, not moving.

"Asuka… Misato will get home soon." Shinji replied, giving her a glance out of the corner of his eye.

"Then let her find us like this. You're the first person I've felt comfortable around in years. So, you will shut up… and let me have this…"

"Right, okay Asuka." Shinji replied, staying as silent as he could. "Hey, Asuka?" Shinji asked, after they had stayed in this position for about an hour.

"Yes?" She replied, still staying in her position that she was in for a while now.

"You murmured about you mother in your sleep a few days ago. Is that okay? Do you know your mother?" Shinji asked, turning around in Asuka hold to face her.

"My mother is dead, Shinji." She replied, saying not much more than that. "Something I don't think you'd understand…"

"But I do…" Shinji frowned, glancing at the girl. "Cause my mother is dead as well…"

"What?" Asuka replied, wondering exactly what the boy was talking about. "You're like me. Both our mothers are dead. There has to be something going on there."

"We could ask Rei and Mari after we defeat the Angel tomorrow? They might be able to tell us something as well."

"Yeah, let's do that." Asuka replied, glancing at the boy. "Thanks for this. I… kinda needed it."

"That's alright. Although we'd better get up soon, I'm sure Misato will be home anytime now."

"Yeah." Asuka replied, slowly letting the boy go. "You're comfy Shinji, you're letting me do this again in the future." Shinji smiled slightly, glancing over at the girl as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

"Sure, Asuka." Shinji replied, giving her a smile. The two stayed silent as they left the room after their rest. Ready to return to training for the rest of the afternoon. They didn't say anything, just content in the company of the other.

– End –


Misato walked quickly through the halls of NERV HQ, heading towards the nearest lift so that she could head home for the evening. She had spent all day going through battle plans and quite frankly, wanted a nice lovely home cooked meal by Shinji to end the day.

She came to a stop quite quickly, opening the lift with a press of the button. She waited impatiently, watching carefully as the door opened. She frowned at the smirk that came from the other side, he was the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Well, fancy seeing you here Katsuragi." Kaji said, giving her a wide smile.

"I'm not here to see you Kaji, I'm just heading home to make sure that those two aren't doing anything reckless." Misato replied, turning away from the man, keeping her eyes anywhere but on him.

"Ah, but aren't you being a bit overly protective? I'm sure they can handle themselves for a little bit longer. Come, let me treat you." Kaji said, intent on taking her out for a meal. "Besides, it would be awkward if you just suddenly showed up."

"What are you implying?" Misato replied, suspicious of the man, finally turning to face him. "Are you saying that you know what they're doing? How would you know! You haven't been there today!" Kaji stepped forward, taking the woman's hands in his own and holding her close. Misato froze, her face starting to tinge red from the closeness of the man before her.

"Now, now Katsuragi. You shouldn't make such a scary face. Leave them to their own, they're smart enough to know when and when not to do something. Besides, we can enjoy ourselves in here. We are all alone, if you couldn't tell." Misato was staring straight into the man's eyes, as he stepped forward and captured her lips with his.

Misato struggled for a moment, trying not to give the man the time of day. But it didn't do much, as the man had a tight hold on her waist. She wasn't going anywhere too quickly. "Kaji…" Misato got out between kisses. "Someone might see us…"

"Who's going to see? There's no one here." Kaji replied, as he continued to hold her close, pressing her body against his.

"Someone… will… this isn't the most out of the way place ever." Kaji didn't reply, continuing to kiss her as Misato continued to try and get away from the man. Misato dropped her folder that she'd been holding on the floor, the contents streaming out onto the floor of the lift. Kaji moved them towards the nearby wall, where he pushed her against it, continuing to kiss her.

Misato opened one eye, glancing at the lift numbers as they flicked through one by one, waiting for the inevitable opening of the door. The lift dinged and the doors finally opened. Kaji let Misato go, as she slapped him, backing out of the lift, her face still flushed. She scratched behind her head as she stood in the hallway, keeping her eyes on the floor so she wouldn't see the man.

"Ow." Kaji said simply, scratching his cheek. "That hurt, Miss. Katsuragi."

"Good." She said, no real anger in her voice. "It was supposed to." She continued to stare at the ground, her voice wavering with tons of emotions. "Look Kaji, what we had? It's over, it's been over for years now. Don't ever do that again. Besides, what makes you think I've forgiven you for what you did." She said, still looking at the floor.

"Ah!" Kaji replied, picking up the pieces of Misato's folder from the floor of the lift. "But you see, you say one thing, but your lips… they say something else." Misato glanced up at him, wondering where the man was going. "Tell me something, Misato. Which one should I trust? Should I trust your lips, or your words?" He asked, a glint in his eyes, holding her folder with everything in it out towards her.

Misato growled and slapped the folder towards the floor, out of the man's hands. The folder fell to the floor, falling apart all over again as Misato turned away in annoyance. Kaji smiled, bowing towards her, keeping his eyes directly on her. "Till next time, my lady." He said, as the door shut behind him, leaving Misato alone in the corridor. Misato picked up her folder once again, staring at the doors with confusion in her eyes.

She was flushed still, that much was certain. The man had somehow been able to worm his way back into her life and now she was confused and concerned. 'I am not falling for him again!' She growled to herself as she got more and more annoyed the more she thought about it. "Damn you, Kaji!" She cried out as she threw the folder straight at the door, the folder once again falling to the floor. "Damn you…" She said silently as she collapsed onto the floor, picking up her folder once again. "Why do you do this to me?"

NGE S2 Works – Disc 4, Track 11 – C-55 (Type B) –

She got up silently, heading towards the exit with her stuff. "Hey, Ritsuko!" She called out, meeting the woman at the front gates of NERV HQ. The woman turned to face her friend, wondering exactly what she could be wanting.

"Yes, Misato?" Ritsuko asked, wondering exactly what was causing her friend distress, she could see it in her eyes.

"We're getting a drink." Misato replied, grabbing the woman's hand and taking her towards her car. Ritsuko got in with no complaints and Misato drove rather recklessly towards the nearest bar, intent on getting herself a nice drink to end the day. She pulled into the carpark and quickly got out, heading quickly into the bar. She'd settled herself down at a table before Ritsuko had even got herself out of the car.

Ritsuko walked in a lot calmer than Misato was, heading towards the main bar. She bought herself and Misato a drink, bringing the drink towards the annoyed woman. "Here you go, Misato." Ritsuko said, placing the drink in front of the woman.

"Thanks, Ritsuko." Misato replied gratefully. A lot of her anger evaporating immediately.

"So," Ritsuko started, sipping her own drink. "You're unusually sober today. Something on your mind?" She asked, glancing at her friend, sipping her drink once again.

"Yeah… I guess you could say that…" Misato replied, her mind very much somewhere else instead of on the situation at hand.

"So… Would it be work? Or a man? Or maybe it's both?" Ritsuko tried, smiling to herself, having a feeling about Misato's turmoil.

"It's… a lot of things." Misato replied, still focused on the fading light outside the windows.

"So… You're still in love, aren't you!?" Ritsuko said, laughing to herself as Misato spat out her drink, turning to her friend in annoyance.

"What the hell are you talking about!? Get real, Rits! I don't know why you'd even think that I'd still want that Jerk! He's annoying, and stupid, and he doesn't know when to keep to himself!" Misato replied, ranting about the man who she would've hated to be caught kissing earlier that very day.

"Ah! So, this is about Kaji." Ritsuko replied, grinning slightly as she watched Misato.

"Oh, whatever." Misato replied, sipping her drink. "I may have been only a kid, and I was acting off youthful judgement, but getting involved with him was the worst mistake I've ever made in my entire life. I'd be happy to live the rest of my life never seeing him again."

"I'm just saying that he may still like you." Ritsuko replied, looking at the woman across from her. "I've seen the look he has in his eyes all the time, are you scared or something?"

"I'll show you scared…" Misato grumbled, leaning across the table to glare at Ritsuko.

"I'm just saying, your Anger has proved my thoughts. You're scared of committing to a relationship again, especially with Kaji. I'd say you should go with your feelings. Trust them, Misato. You know, it has been eight years, things can change in that time." Ritsuko replied, still smiling at the thought of her friends possibly getting back together again.

"Nothing's changed." Misato stubbornly replied, staring at the ceiling. "He's still the same person he was eight years ago. Still a stubborn jerk-ass!" Misato sighed as Ritsuko watched silently. "Well, I've got to get home… Tomorrow's the big day! A long day tomorrow, got to defeat this Angel." Misato said, getting up and setting her drink down silently, intent on heading home for the evening. "I just want a relaxing evening with Shinji and Asuka. I feel that they're ready for tomorrow, but I just want to check a couple of times beforehand." She said, leaving the room with a small smile, leaving Ritsuko on her own in the small bar. Ritsuko smiled as the woman left, knowing that she was feeling confused and conflicted on her own feelings.

End –


Misato grumbled to herself in the car drive home, intent on cursing Kaji as much as she could in the short drive back to her apartment, where she expected to find Shinji and Asuka doing some last-minute training for tomorrow's attack on the Seventh Angel, still standing out at sea, still unmoving.

She expertly drifted the car into position outside the apartment building, getting out and heading up towards her level. She waited patiently in the lift up the floors of the building, intent on getting out quickly so she could see her two pilots.

She stepped out and walked the short path towards the door of her apartment, she pulled out the card and keyed herself in, the door opening in response. "I'm home!" She called out as she entered the apartment, glancing around the room.

"Welcome back!" Sachiel called out in response, glancing at the woman in the doorway. "Don't worry, Shinji and Asuka are running through the routine a few more times to be ready for Israfel tomorrow!"

"Excellent!" Misato replied, stepping into the kitchen, where she found the Angels relaxing at the table. "I want to look over it with them afterwards, just to be sure."

"Fair enough." Shamshel replied, watching carefully as Ramiel and Gaghiel flittered around the kitchen. "If you want our opinion, we think that Shinji and Asuka are ready to go, the ending is still a little bit of a sore spot, but they'll be able to defeat Israfel if they keep up the work they've been doing today." He said, turning back to the living room, where Shinji and Asuka were working again.

"Great!" Misato replied, heading towards the fridge for her customary can of beer, despite having already been at the bar with Ritsuko before. She glanced over at Ramiel and Gaghiel as she returned to the table, utterly confused at what was happening.

"No, Ramiel! You've got to put this in there!" Gaghiel cried out, floating over to the blue Angel and indicating to the pot on the kitchen bench.

"Tetris?" Ramiel replied, sounding confused.

"Yeah! In there! At least, that's what I think it means anyway…" Gaghiel replied, not really understanding anything in the book that he was looking at, but he would try anyway! "Don't worry, I'm sure it will be fine!"

"Uh… What are Ramiel and Gaghiel doing?" Misato asked, turning to Sachiel, who shrugged.

"Gaghiel decided that he would attempt to cook because he'd seen Shinji do it and thought that it would be easy. He also dragged Ramiel into it to help him. Both Shamshel and I tried to tell them to leave it to Shinji but they wouldn't budge. So, it looks like we're having whatever Ramiel and Gaghiel cooked for dinner tonight." Sachiel replied, looking concerned, very unlike the Angel.

"Well, we're hoping it won't be as bad as whatever you manage to cook up when you've got the groceries and have something on your mind." Shamshel idly commented, throwing an Angel-like smirk at the Major, who gasped dramatically in response.

"I am not that bad at cooking!" Misato said, taking a point and glaring at the Angel. "I make some great stuff."

"Yeah, that only you can eat." Sachiel commented, causing the Major to turn to him and glare. "Face it Misato, there was a reason why Shinji took up the cooking duties once he arrived here, it's because literally everyone that's not you can't stand your cooking."

"Agreed." Shamshel said. "That's why we're hoping that dinner tonight will be edible, because we honestly can't find anything that's worse than what you've been able to cook up when you're in charge."

"Okay! Shinji! Asuka!" Gaghiel called out, flying directly into the living room, straight towards his holder, who stared at him with hands on her hips. "Dinner's ready!" He cried out in excitement. Flying quickly back towards the kitchen, where his creation was ready to go.

"Why did he have to attempt to cook!" Asuka said in annoyance, glancing at Shinji, who looked at her in question. "You're supposed to cook up a lovely German feast Shinji! Why did Gaghiel think he could do something like that!"

"I wouldn't know." Shinji replied, stepping into the kitchen with Asuka. "But it can't be that bad… Right?" He questioned, seating himself at the table so they could be ready for dinner.

"Yay. Let's have ramen, courtesy of Angel for dinner." Asuka sarcastically commented, sitting down at the table as well.

"Evening you two." Misato said, glancing between the two of them, neither of them even realising that Misato was even home. "How has your day been?" She asked, a smile on her face.

"Ah! Misato! You're home!" Asuka replied, staring at the woman in surprise, confusion dawning on her face. "You're home early."

"Not really." Shinji replied, staring at the clock. "It's evening, and she wasn't required at NERV tonight either, so it makes sense that she would be here at this time."

"Thanks, Shinji." Misato replied, smiling at the boy. "And yes, Asuka, I am here, this is my apartment after all!"

"Of course." Asuka replied, glancing at the table, as Gaghiel brought the tub of food that they'd made over to the table.

"Should we be concerned?" Sachiel asked as Ramiel floated into the room.

"No." She replied, satisfied with what she had done with her brother.

"Alright, serve it up Gaghiel." Shamshel stated, watching carefully as Gaghiel pulled out Sachiel's favourite ladle and started to serve that evening's meal for everybody, piling the food into everybody's bowls as they all stared ahead.

The food looked like slop, and it wasn't the best colour either. The slop sat in front of them, a sickly brown colour in the bowl, and it didn't look appetising in the slightest. "Oh well, let's just get to it then…" Asuka said, taking a spoon and putting some of the food in her mouth at the same time as Shinji did. Misato watched in satisfaction as their movements had been synced up completely, obviously, they'd done some training today to prepare for tomorrow's fight against Israfel.

"Everyone ate the food at the same time, as Gaghiel watched carefully. As soon as the food hit their mouths, everyone froze in shock and terror as what they'd just eaten dawned on them. Everyone tried as hard as they could to eat the food but it didn't get very far.

"So, what did you all think?" Gaghiel asked quickly, flying above everyone's heads. "It was great wasn't it!"

"I think we've found out what it was like to eat something that was worse than Misato's cooking…" Asuka replied, trying her hardest to get the food down to please her Shoulder Angel.

"I can agree with you there…" Shinji replied, pushing his bowl forward and heading towards the bathroom to wash his mouth out.

"Shinji, this is precisely why you should cook!" Asuka called out, as he also rushed to the bathroom to wash her mouth out.

"That's kind've hard to do when there's some very curious Angels around the house all day!" Shinji replied, Misato grinning as she listened to her two charges argue back and forth. "They spend time doing things they really shouldn't be doing!"

"Well," Sachiel stated, settling his bowl as far away from him as possible. "I believe we have found something that is worse than Misato's cooking."

"Yep," Shamshel replied, his face making a weird look. "Gaghiel and Ramiel's cooking. How about we just leave the cooking to Shinji from now on."

"Yeah, agreed." Misato commented, placing her bowl on the kitchen bench, considering Pen-Pen's currently unconscious form. "I don't think Pen-Pen took that very well." She commented, laughing slightly at the Penguin's predicament. "Alright, Shinji! Asuka!" The woman called out, stepping into the main living area.

"Yes, Misato?" Shinji asked, stepping out of the bathroom, his mouth thoroughly washed out. "What do you need?"

"I know you've spent today getting ready for tomorrow's battle, but I need to see what the routine is looking like now. I haven't been here today and I don't know how it looks and I don't know if we'll be able to win tomorrow." Shinji shrugged in reply, taking his place on the machine, getting ready to show Misato their progress.

"Did you hear that, Asuka!?" Misato called out, glancing towards the bathroom, where the gurgling of running water could be heard.

"I heard you Misato!" Asuka replied, between gurgles. "Just getting this stupid taste out of my mouth!" A couple minutes later, Asuka arrived, heading towards the machines, turning to Shinji. "Ready, Shinji?" She asked, headphones on her head. Shinji nodded, and music flowed through their ears once again.

Misato watched the entire movement carefully, taking note of every little thing that the children were doing. She was impressed, after their moment a couple days before and the subsequent arguing of the day after she had dealt with, she was surprised that they had been able to push through it all and pull the entire routine together. She watched carefully as the routine came to an end, taking into account Sachiel's note that the ending was a little bit shaky, and he was correct. However, the rest of the movement was good enough that they would win tomorrow. Misato felt sure of it.

"Beautiful, you two!" She said, as they pulled the headphones of. "Something tells me we'll be obtaining a new member of our weird family tomorrow."

"I'd say so!" Asuka replied, scrunching up her face. "We spent hours practicing that Misato, so I hope that it's good!"

"On the contrary, Asuka. That was amazing! You two have excellent movement together, and you can tell the training has paid off. We have a chance tomorrow, and it's all thanks to you two coming together to pull this off."

"Thanks, Misato." Shinji replied, smiling at his guardian, feeling a renewed sense of achievement that he hadn't felt earlier that week.

"Now, go get some rest, we don't know when the Angel will start moving, although the MAGI predicts it will start moving a midday. Get that rest, we have an Angel to defeat!" Misato said, moving immediately towards their bedding, and moving them away from each other. "You can sleep in your rooms tonight. You've both deserved it." She said, walking away and heading towards her room.

"That was great! You're totally going to defeat Israfel and bring him to our side, the side of good!" Sachiel said, glancing around in happiness at the prospect of having his brother and sister around with them again. "I'm looking forward to seeing Israfel again."

"Who knows what they've been up to in the time since we've last seen them." Shamshel stated, glancing around at the pilots. "Besides, you two have an excellent chance at taking Israfel out. We thought it might be a lost cause but it's not. You've got this."

"Yes. Tetris."

"Yeah! Take out Israfel as quickly as possible! That's another group of Angels' to take care of!" Gaghiel called out. "Did you hear that Asuka? New friends!"

"Yeah, I heard you." Asuka replied, glancing over at Shinji. "Well, it's been fun I guess. Assuming this is what Misato's messed up definition of fun is."

"Yeah…" Shinji replied, glancing around him, the feeling of completeness overcame them both. "It feels, great to be able to know we have a chance at this."

"Yeah… it does…" Asuka replied, glancing around the room. Shinji stood up, glancing around them. Night had come, and Misato had gone to bed, the Angels had exited the room not long after Shinji and Asuka had finished their routine, and they were ready to see their next sibling tomorrow. "Shinji?" Asuka asked, as the boy turned to her, holding out a hand.

"Well, it seems kind've fitting, considering what we've done over the last few days. "Want to dance? As… celebration." He said, getting the words out eventually.

"My, Shinji. Being bold, are we?" She asked, taking his hand and standing up. "But yes, I will dance with you Shinji." Shinji laughed, then just stared at the floor, a blush rising on his cheeks. "Shinji?" Asuka asked, peering at the boy. "What's up?"

"You know, I didn't really think about this after I thought of it. I kind've just decided to ask it out of the blue. I don't actually know how to dance." He admitted, glancing at the floor. Asuka brought his chin up to look at her.

"Then I guess we'll find out together." Asuka replied, as they started to move in an awkward way. Shinji's arms around Asuka's waist, her arms around his neck. They largely had fun in the dim moonlight of the apartment, letting their memories of their last few days guide their movements. In the end, they danced for hours, going late into the night, holding each other close throughout. They ended with a smile, as they collapsed under a blanket due to exhaustion, the day ahead ready and on their minds.


September 11th, 2015

Music from Evangelion 1.11 – Track 14 – The Longest Day II –

The aggressive sounds of the nearby chopper swept throughout the city as they noticed the slight movements of something that was still supposed to be still.

Ready, Brother!

Ready, Sister!

Let's give these guys a big welcome!

The two parts of the single Angel moved into place along the plane, watching the choppers around them with relative ease.

It's time you guys, stopped sneaking into other beings' business!

Central Dogma watched n shock as the Angel's appeared on their scanners. It was way too early for the Angel to be moving.

"The target has passed the Goura defence line!" Maya called out in shock, watching as the Angels continued their trek. "The targets are currently on a mountain course towards Tokyo-3!"

"ETA on arrival?" Ritsuko asked, picking up the phone to call Misato immediately.

"Not long! About 10 minutes! They'll be entering ground zero at any moment!" Makoto replied, as Ritsuko rung the phone, hoping the woman would pick up.

'Misato, now is the time to pick up the phone.' She thought, as it continued to ring.


Misato yawned as she woke up that morning, but was immediately up and at it. Today was the day that Israfel would be defeated, and all the training that Shinji and Asuka went through would finally pay off.

She walked into the living room, glancing over at the bundle of sheets and blankets on the floor. She glanced over at the bundle, smiling when she found Shinji and Asuka lying under the same blanket, exhaustion on both their faces. She moved to the kitchen, when the phone starting ringing, who went over and grabbed it immediately, placing it against her ear.

She knew exactly who was calling as she picked up. "Talk to me." She said, as the phone line came through.

"The targets have broken through to ground zero." Ritsuko replied simply.

"What!?" Misato replied, shocked, moving quickly to get moving to get her stuff together and get to NERV. "That's earlier than the MAGI predicted!"

"Three hours, early." Ritsuko replied, continuing to watch the Angel at the other end. "Better get here quick Major. The Eva's are already prepared, we just need the pilots, now."

"Got it!" Misato replied, hanging up and moving quickly. "Shinji, Asuka! Get up! The Angel is moving early, and we need you both to pilot now!"

"W-What?" Asuka mumbled as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "What's happening?"

"The Angel's moving. We need to get going now!" Misato replied, watching as the two pilots got up quickly, moving to get into spare plugsuits always kept on hand if something like this occurred. The Pilots and Angels were ready in record speed, as Misato moved them quickly towards her car, jumping in and breaking every speed law to make it to NERV.

She slid into NERV HQ, dropping off the Pilots at the entrance. "Get inside, and get to the Eva's, they're ready to go, just get in and get ready to fight! Angels, you're with me!"

"Got it!" Came Shinji and Asuka's reply, rushing to get into NERV HQ and into their Eva's, already waiting for them.

Misato drifted the rest of the car into NERV HQ, and rushed quickly out of the car and towards Central Dogma, where the preparations for battle were taking place.

"How far have they gotten?" Misato asked as soon as the door opened, glancing out towards the main screen, where Israfel walked in wait, simultaneously.

"Far enough, we need to get the Eva's out now!" Maya replied, glancing at the screen.

"Okay, this time, we won't fail!" Misato replied, turning to the Eva's and speaking to Shinji and Asuka directly. "Okay, as soon as you are launched spread your AT Fields as soon as the music starts. Afterwards, follow the mission choreography as you practiced. Got it?" She asked, watching as Shinji and Asuka appeared on the main feed.

"Roger!" They replied in unison.

"Maya, are we set for launch!?" Misato asked, the female Bridge Bunny nodding in reply.

"Yes, we do. Passage is clear and all green. Unit-01 and Unit-02 are ready for launch, Major."

"Alright, make me proud you two. We had no time for last minute training so this has to be perfect." Misato said, glancing at Asuka, who smirked back at her.

"Don't worry, Misato." Asuka replied, smiling at her guardian. "Shinji and I already have perfect unison, don't we, Shinji?" Asuka said, glancing at Shinji out of the corner of her eye.

"Yes." Shinji replied, watching ahead carefully.

"Got the plan, Shinji? We'll attack with full power and maximum speed from the get go. The Angel won't see what's coming." She said, a smile on her face.

"I know." Shinji replied, glancing at her as well. "We have sixty-two seconds to take care of the Angel, that's how long our internal batteries have."

"What?" Kaji asked, turning to the Angels, who floated in the background.

"That's strange, they've had a complete bout of confidence. Where did this come from?" Ritsuko asked, confusion on her face. "I thought they were arguing the whole time?"

"They weren't." Sachiel replied, "They were more interested in annoying Misato after their initial issues."

"They're ready, you can trust us. Okay?" Shamshel said, watching the screen intently himself.

"Yes."

"Let's do it! Asuka, Shinji! Whoohoo!" Gaghiel called out, as Shigeru glanced at the screens in front of him.

"The targets have entered the streets of Tokyo-3!" Shigeru called out, turning to Misato.

"Then let's get this operation started! Detach power cables!" The timer beside them flicked on, the timer counting down from a minute, ten seconds. "Launch the Eva's!"

End –

Neon Genesis Evangelion OST II – Track 7 – Both of You, Dance Like You Want to Win! –

Immediately, Shinji and Asuka felt the movements of their Eva's heading up towards Tokyo-3. As soon as the gates opened, the two Eva's were launched high into the air, ready to start their attack on the nearby Angel, who reformed into one immediately upon seeing the Eva's up in the air.

The two Eva's immediately pulled out their Progressive Swords, sending it towards the Angel in complete unison. The Angel held its arm out, but it didn't help the dual swords sliced through the combined form, splitting the Angel back into Alpha and Beta.

Both Eva's came crawling down after their attack, kneeing both Angels simultaneously, as they landed gracefully on their feet. They turned as one, weapon silos launching up around them, both Eva's grabbing the same weapon. Shinji grabbed a pallet gun, running along one side aiming against the Angel, while Asuka grabbed a rifle, staying in one place as Shinji distracted the Angels, firing on them one at a time.

With an Angelic cry, both forms fired hard at the Angels. The Eva's immediately held on to their weapons hard, back flipping once, twice, thrice, fouice, five times as they landed as one on a switch in the ground. Up popped the nearby blast shield, protecting both Eva's from the Angel's large attack. In return both Eva's fired as one once again. The Angels flying away as they went.

They jumped away as the Angel came down on the blast shield, splitting it into three pieces, watching between them as they leapt away. Misato ordered the nearby cover to fire hard at the Angels, the repaired systems taking immediate effect as they rained fire on the two Angels. The Angels jumped forward again, where the Eva's waited for them, a simultaneous kick once the smoke cleared sending them flying away immediately. As the Angel flew away, it reformed into one. Staring hard at the Eva's with its final breath.

Shinji glanced at Asuka, who was smiling widely as they went. They shared a look, and without talking, leaped high into the air, readying the Eva's for a spin to drill straight towards the Angel.

Central Dogma looked on in satisfaction as they went, surprise and happiness on their faces. Everyone was proud as the two pilots gave a final cry of victory, slamming the feet of both Eva's straight at the core of the Angel, sending them flying along the ground at blazing speed.

5 Seconds.

They went flying up the nearby mountain as the core cracked and blistered as it went.

3 Seconds.

The Core started to vibrate wildly as the mountain continued to cause damage to the Angel.

2 Seconds.

A blinding white light started to form inside the core.

1 Second.

With barely any time left, the Angel's core vibrated wildly, the light too blinding to see anything, and as the clock struck zero, the Angel exploded as it was defeated, a large cloud forming in the sky, the smoke obscuring the view of anything that could happen.

– End –

"Is that it?" Misato asked, as the smoke cleared, revealing no Angel. "Yes! We did it!" She cried out as she headed towards Kaji and immediately hugged him. Kaji smirked at her as she watched him, before growling and pushing him away.

"Um… Major." Maya asked, turning to the screen. "The Eva's aren't getting up…"

"Huh?" Misato asked, turning to the main screen, where the two Eva's could be seen entangled together. "Are they operational?" She asked, watching the screen as Maya typed away.

"Yes, they are, and both Pilots are okay."

"Phew, thank god!" Misato replied, sighed happily as the voices of Shinji and Asuka appeared over the speakers, everyone in Central Dogma able to hear.

Evangelion 2.22 OST – Disc 1, Track 7 - 2EM08_B17 –

"You messed up the landing… didn't you?" Asuka asked, sounding annoyed as they lay there, pulling the switch to eject the Entry Plug.

Shinji pulled himself out of his own Entry Plug, pulling himself onto the arm of Unit-01. He looked with confusion as the phone nearby rang, taking it, he put it to his ear.

"Hey, Idiot! Answer me when I'm taking to you! You messed up the landing again, didn't you!?"

"Sorry?" Shinji replied, entirely unsure as to why Asuka was going off at him. "I'd say it was both of our fault…"

"Both of us! Look at what's happened to my Unit-02!" Asuka replied, growling at him.

"How would you know that!?" Shinji replied, as they immediately started their argument all over again. "If you haven't noticed, Unit-02 is on top of Unit-01! You obviously fell on me!"

"You can at least land without falling out of time! Mein gott, you are such an idiot! You're so slow, what exactly were you thinking last night! I could hear you while I was trying to sleep!" Asuka replied, knowing that she'd gotten more sleep than him.

"Why do you need to know that!?" Shinji replied, "We beat the Angel, why are you so concerned… I just want to sleep…"

"You weren't thinking anything perverted where you?"

"Like you can say something like that! Wanting me to come into your room a couple night's ago…" Shinji muttered, as Asuka shrieked in indignation. Everyone in Central Dogma watched in disappointment as they continued arguing.

"What! You were supposed to keep that to yourself, Dummkopf! Don't tell me you tried anything last night! Like trying to kiss me!" Asuka replied, a blush on her cheeks despite her yelling.

"What!? Cause you wanted me to kiss you!?" Shinji replied, fighting right back at her as she growled again.

"I was kidding! I didn't want any kisses from anyone, especially not you! What were you thinking about!? God, I never want to see something like that from you again!?"

"Are you kidding me? When I tried to sleep a few nights ago you were busy talking in your sleep! What do you talk about anyway!?"

"Pervert! Leich! Fiend!" Asuka ranted, as both pilots got more and more tired as they continued fighting, eventually collapsing to sleep, as Central Dogma continued to watch in shock.

Fuyutsuki sighed, a hand sitting on his face. "Good god, those kids are embarrassing us again…"

"Usually, I'd have some idea as to what's going on… but…" Ritsuko said, utterly confused at everything that had happened.

"It looks like they've gone silent." Misato muttered, watching on the screen as Maya zoomed in quite a bit, to find the two pilots completely out to it, the events of the previous two night finally catching up to them.

"Well, I think we've figured out why." Maya said, watching the children. "It looks like they've both fallen asleep!"

"Of course, they would…" Misato muttered, as crews went out to retrieve the Eva's and start cleaning up. 'Get some rest you two…' She thought to herself, as she left Central Dogma. 'You've earned it.'

つづく

End –


Neon Genesis Evangelion OST I – Track 22 – Next Episode (30 Seconds) –

"The arrival of the combined forces of Israfel create some crazy shenanigans to the ever increasing makeshift family of Pilots and Angels. Meanwhile, the arrival of a mysterious new Angel causes Shinji to lose his memory, leaving everyone concerned with getting Shiji's memory back, and leaving the decision for pilot of Unit-03 on hiatus once again. Rei's lowered pill intake also starts having some dire consequences… Next Time, First Impression! And as always, I'll be giving you a little something as well!"

End –


Sync Ratios:
Shinji: 65.0% (+ 0.2%)
Asuka: 61.5% (+ 0.5%)
Rei: 50.0% (+/- 0.0&)
Mari: 26.4% (+ 1.3%)
Shinji/Asuka: 75.0% (+/- 0.0%)

Angels Defeated (6 / ?):

Shinji – Sachiel, Shamshel, Ramiel, Israfel (A)
Asuka – Gaghiel, Israfel (B)
Mari - Skeletal

German – English:
Mein gott – My god
Manchmal möchte ich Misato den Hals reißen. Dieses Lied wird so ärgerlich sein, sobald dieser Engel besiegt ist. - Sometimes I want to wring Misato's neck. That song will be so annoying once this Angel is defeated.
Verdammt, ich vergiss immer, dass keiner von euch Deutsch spricht. - Damn, I keep forgetting none of you speak German.
Gott, warum haben alle Jungen Sex im Kopf. – God, why do all boys have sex on their minds?
Ich hoffe, du bist nicht wirklich weg, Shinji? – I hope you aren't actually leaving, Shinji?
Scheiße! Kann Shinji nichts richtig machen!? Diese Übung fickt saugt! - Shit! Can't Shinji do anything right!? This exercise fucking sucks!
Ficken Hölle! – Fucking Hell!
Dummkopf – Idiot / Fool etc.

Well there it is! Chapter 22 is complete! Chapter 23 is coming up, and Episode 10 won't be for a few chapters, also the short Preview bit at the end might give you an idea at where I am going for the next couple of Chapters. With that said, until the 23rd

Quick Extra Note: I've decided on forming a English and Japanese Dream Cast List for this series that I'll post either at the end or start of the story. Evangelion Characters will be voiced by those who play them in Japanese, and my personal favourite English Dub voice for the English version. But I need your guys opinions. Who do you think should voice the Angels in both English and Japanese? I want some suggestions from you guys cause I think that would be awesome! (PS. I have no qualms using some of the other English Eva voices for Angels. For instance, Spike Spencer is my pick for Shinji in English, but I'm happy to have Casey Mongillo as an Angel choice. I like Casey's voice acting, I just don't like their Shinji. In general, most of my cast list favours either the ADV or Funimation Rebuild dubs.)


Reviews!

Alexanderlay: Did you expect Shinji to do what he did here? No sleepwalking Asuka needed here!

G-Matt: If you thought the last chapter was packed then what do you think this one is? Hope you liked the changes made here!

YourBlandestNightmare: Thanks! I like trying to incorporate the Manga and Rebuild into this, although it's only going to get harder from here on out. We'll see how it goes. Hikari kinda needed to go off about the picture buisness I think. There was no way she wasn't going to find out. Asuka would probably go nuts that something is happening to her precious Unit-02!

David. S: Won't ignore, just might have some time between updates. Plenty of Asushin to come!

dalek117: Not much different in the rematch compared to the initial battle, but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! As I said, plenty of Asushin to come!

Guest: Asuka flipping between friendly and angry is just something she does. Besides, she knows that Shinji understands she doesn't mean it, and they love fighting anyway. Hope you enjoyed all the extra stuff I put in during the synchro training! As for EoE, I have some ideas in mind, it'll be interesting to say the least...