Asuka Langley Soryu gazed at her clock, noticing it was way too early o'clock, and sighed. "So much for beauty sleep." She noted to herself, that though it's not like she needed beauty sleep, she looked damn good no matter how much sleep she got. Not that it seemed to affect Kaji in any way. He was way too good at resisting her womanly charms dammit! Her mind, recognizing the mental tangent was going a bit too far down the Kaji Rabbit Hole, decided to switch gears back to her recent nightmare. "That wasn't one of the normal nightmares." She mumbled drearily. The fact that she had to specify that she had 'normal' nightmares was bad enough, now she was having 'odd' nightmares. And she could barely remember it now that she woke up! She could recall there was a boy, but her tired brain drank too deeply from the Kaji Kool-Aid when she woke up, and now she could only imagine Kaji's face on the boy's body.

"Stupid sexy Kaji. Damn his rugged good looks, making me misremember important nightmare details." On the bright side, she preferred having nightmares she couldn't remember, instead of nightmares involving hospitals and Mama and her cheating bastard of a father and-

She paused and took a deep breath before that mental tangent went into 'bludgeon her father with a crowbar' territory. Why a crowbar? Because she got a crowbar with a custom Unit-02 decal and she was damn well going to use it! Before she could delve deeper into why one shouldn't order custom crowbars at one in the morning, Asuka decided that she needed some coffee to wake up her brain, so as to prevent more mental tangents.

"Alright, I'm not going back to sleep, so I should probably get some coffee, right?" She asked her reflection in her vanity's mirror, and the Asuka in the mirror nodded her head. Good, glad she agreed with her. Asuka got up, heading out to fuel herself with that glorious black ambrosia before her certified college-level intellect began to shake the dust off, and she had to stop in the doorway because something about what just happened didn't quite add up. Was it the nightmares? No, those were, regrettably, normal. Well, aside from the not-normal one she just had but that wasn't the problem. Was it the Kaji thoughts? No, thinking about Kaji was normal. It wasn't about her father either, she always wanted to punch his smug face. What was it? Wait. Were mirrors supposed to nod back independent of her own actions?

Asuka stood there for a solid twenty seconds while her brain churned out an answer of 'No, they don't.' She rushed back to the mirror, grabbing both of its sides as she stared deeply at her reflection, daring it to do something unusual. The reflection, much to her joy and regret, just mirrored her actions. She breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm just seeing things because I'm tired, I need to get that coffee ASAP." She grumbled unintelligibly as she walked away, resuming her journey for the dark ambrosia.

She did not notice that her reflection did not leave with her, it stayed in place and watched her walk off. Her reflection's face twisted into a smirk as it soundlessly chuckled before it dissipated into nothingness.

Asuka nearly inhaled the coffee as soon as it was cool enough, thanking whatever deities that would listen for coffee. The mental cobwebs were being shaken off by the intake of caffeine, resetting her brain's functions to normal. She took a moment to cast her mind back…. nope, still can't remember anything about the new nightmare. Well, she'll label it as 'not a big problem' for now. Hell, if it takes the place of her normal nightmares she'd refile it under 'kinda beneficial'. Her musings were cut off as she heard the apartment's front door open. Her mind immediately began contemplating if it was an intruder, her eyes darting over to the closet where she kept her crowbar. Before her mind could cement the idea of breaking in her crowbar, the rational part of her mind reminded her that NERV Berlin was one of the safest locations in the world, and she was its most valuable asset as the best Evangelion Pilot. Therefore there would be no intruder, it was someone who was supposed to be here, and there was only one person who was allowed in her apartment without needing to worry about getting inflicted with blunt force trauma.

"Kaji!~" She called out in a sing-song voice. The visage of the unshaven emerged from the entryway, mild surprise etched onto his face along with a roguish grin.

"Oh, hey kiddo. Didn't realize you were awake. What're you doing up so early?" Asuka's eye twitched at being called 'kiddo', but she let it slide. He would see her womanly charms eventually!

"Oh, I just woke up a bit early, that's all." She didn't want him to know about the nightmares, men hate women who show weakness. That's what Mama did, show weakness. That's why her waste of oxygen father left Mama and shacked up with Mama's doctor that no good- Push down the bad thoughts Asuka, drink the coffee, and return attention to Kaji. "So, whatcha here for?~ What some coffee?~"

"I would actually love some coffee, thanks kiddo." Another eye twitch. "Just make it to go, I gotta get back to work, I'm just here to drop your mail off." Asuka gave a little pout, hoping it would convince Kaji to stay. She still started pouring some coffee in a paper cup, she didn't have any clean cups left anyway. "Don't be like that, I'm trying to help smooth along Unit-02's transfer. Wouldn't want to stay out of the fight too long, would you?" Gottdammit, he's right. The Third Child already had a leg up on her because some politician thought it'd be better to keep the Evangelion here as long as possible instead of sending it to the frontlines beforehand so we don't die to alien monsters. And it would still take months to actually depart! "Don't worry, I have come bearing a gift to tide you over."

"Gift?!" Her mind lit up, wondering what he could possibly have gotten he- it's a folder. She takes the folder from him with a flat look on her face, inspecting it. Her face immediately lights up again when the words 'Third Angel After Action Report' are visible to her eyes. She opens it up, ready to tear into the report and point out the faults of the rookie Third Child, only for her face to scrunch in annoyance when most of it is redacted. "What the hell?! Why is it redacted!? The most it says about the battle is that the Angel died due to 'environmental assistance'. What does that even mean?!"

"Maybe it means the Third Child uprooted a skyscraper and beat the Angel to death with it?" That actually sounds kinda creative, if the Third Child did that she'd have to begrudgingly give him points for ingenuity. "Your guess is as mine. Apparently, there's a big information blackout due to Operational Security. Even the Third Child's picture is unavailable to get." That got her attention.

"OpSec? Is there some kind of outside force threatening the pilots?" Kaji shrugged as he drank his coffee.

"Could be, would explain why they're hushing up everything. Lot's of crazies in our world nowadays. Still, I'll see if I can get something, it would do well if our best pilot here was as well informed as possible before she gets to Tokyo-2, right?" Asuka nods in agreement, but something about that last part struck her as odd.

"You mean Tokyo-3 right? That's where NERV is located." For the first time in a while, Kaji's ever-present smirk morphs into a thoughtful expression, revealing the dark bags under his eyes. Then, a look of surprise overcomes his face.

"Oh shit." He mutters, then he bolts out of the apartment, leaving behind Asuka's mail and the smell of cheap aftershave, which is odd because Kaji never shaves. Asuka sighs then turns to her mail.

"Junk, junk, junk, shampoo catalog, cult brochure, an advertisement for a steakhouse, a letter from my fat-" She pauses, eyeing the letter from her father with enough heat to rival a star. She tears it open, and surprise, it's an invitation to brunch with one of his business partners that just so happens to have a son that would love to get to know her. Bah, she wished she had a fireplace so she could burn this waste of paper. Her next letter, however, catches her interest. Something with postage saying it was shipped overnight from Tokyo-3. She opened it and read the message, wondering if this was relevant to her upcoming journey.

"Congratulations!" It started in German. "'As the honorable Second Children, you have been granted access to a NERV limited edition eating fork.' Children, eating fork? Ugh, this is why you pay your translators and proofreaders." She fished around in the packaging to see if they actually remember to include her gift. She was pleasantly surprised when she pulled out a two-pronged red fork with a spiral handle. "Well, it's red at least so they have good taste." She inspected it for a moment before she placed it on her kitchen counter. She would need to remember to bring it with her when she went to Japan. But that was still some time off, until then she decided to see if there were any good movies on at whatever time it was.

Shinji Ikari's day, much to his joy did not get worse. Aside from not getting to eat his now ruined lunch, the incessant queries of his pilot status, and the teacher's ramblings about Second Impact his day was fairly fine. Though he dreaded the day he would have to face whoever this Suzuhara was, he had time to mentally (and potentially physically) prepare himself for that meeting. Until then, he needed to focus on other things so he didn't think about the young girl whose life he probably ruined. Oh gods he's doing it right now.

"Leader, Shiki. What do you think we should do for dinner?" He hoped the guilt and desperation didn't leak out into his voice, thankful the way back home was devoid of foot traffic at this time. Shiki just shrugged, which didn't help distract him from the bad thoughts. Leader however seemed very adamant about what she wanted, the problem was that Shinji had to guess what she was pantomiming at him. She started by making stirring motions. "A soup?" She nodded at him, confirming his guess. What type of soup though? There were a few he saw when searching up recipes. She made a motion where she was holding something and throwing it upwards. "A….. pancake?" She gave him a thumbs up. Pancake soup? That was… wait, he remembered seeing something like that when he was searching up German recipes.

"A F-Fladlesuuppe, right?" Leader stared at him incredulously for a moment before she burst out laughing. Even Shiki started chuckling, though she at least tried to stifle it. "W-what?! Did I say something wrong?" Leader shook her head in between fits of laughter, giving him a shaky thumbs up to confirm, that's what she wanted.

"Ant- pfffff Anta Baka." Leader continued to laugh uproariously, while Shiki seemed to quiet down. He frowned a bit, wondering what he did that was so funny? He decided to file that away for later, mentally checking if he had all the ingredients required. He confirmed that he did in fact have everything required. He hoped Misato wouldn't mind German food today, she said she lived in Germany before so she should be fine.

As the door to Casa de Katsuragi opened Shinji was assaulted by a smell so horrific that his lizard brain's fight or flight instinct activated, and overloaded into nonfunctionality. He stumbled into the apartment proper and muttered a weak "I'm home?". Unfortunately, Kitchen Catastrophe Katsuragi heard her prey's terrified whimpering and pounced.

"Welcome back Shinji! How was your first day?"

"It was?" Shinji's language center was failing him as he beheld the kitchen and the terror that was wrought within. To call it a mess would be like calling Second Impact a mildly unpleasant day. The errant pots and pans were strewn about haphazardly, remnants of failed(?) cooking attempts lined the walls, and the smell wasn't describable with any word known to man or beast.

"Yeah, first days are like that. But I figured you'd be tired, so I made dinner. Enjoy!~" Leader had tactically retreated at the first sign of trouble, while Shiki clamped onto his neck like it was a life raft, her eyepatch shining blue and her breathing panicked. He stared at the 'food' sitting on the table. His survival instinct warred with his deeply ingrained politeness and urge to avoid conflict before one won out.

"I mustn't run away." He muttered, causing Shiki to freeze. He sat down at the table and weighed his options. Deciding that the bowl of what looked like soup would be a good starting point, he took a spoonful and instantly regretted his decision. As soon as the broth entered his mouth he was assaulted by a sense of dryness as if all moisture was sucked out of his mouth by the broth. His hand shot out for a glass of nearby water, gulping it down before nearly spitting it back out. Why does the water taste burnt!? He gazed at the final dish, a plain plate of rice covered in a non-Newtonian magenta mass that he swore was staring at him. He grabbed a spoon and scooped some up, noting it was both like an airy cream and a solid rock. He was barely cognizant of Shiki shaking him, begging him to stop, but he still took a bite out of wait, why was he staring at a vaguely familiar ceiling?

He was then informed by a very worried nurse (and two screaming tiny redheads) that he was in the Geofront hospital's ICU after getting his stomach pumped. Apparently, he broke a world record by eating two spoonfuls of Misato's cooking and only being unconscious for eight hours.

"It's official, I'm banning Misato from the kitchen." He grumbled as Leader and Shiki were pummeling his head.

Kozo Fuyutsuki filed away the last of the paperwork 'bequeathed' upon him by the Commander. He was certain Gendo wanted to give him more, but as much as he appeared to be a figurehead Sub-Commander he was responsible for keeping NERV efficient and running. Not that it was easy lately, with the Ishim performing constant acts of minor anarchy all around. Not that he could be mad at them, they reminded him too much of Kyoko and Yui during their college days for that. Those two were always minor troublemakers in their good-natured quest to one-up the other. A pang of sadness hit his heart, the memories of those days weighed heavily on him. Thankfully, fate saw fit to provide him with a distraction.

"Anta Baka?" Fuyutsuki blinked as he just noticed the Ishim standing on his desk. She was different from the others, she was wearing a lab coat on top of the plugsuit, her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she wore a pair of glasses. A near spitting image of Kyoko during her lab days, Fuyutsuki mused. She even had a tiny name tag that introduced her as 'Professor Soryu'.

"Hello there Professor, how may I help you?" Fuyutsuki thought to use this opportunity as a way to gain insight into the Ishim. Also, he was curious as to what she wanted with him. She pantomimed a familiar shape with her hands that he instantly recognized. "Oh, Shogi! Well, I have the time if you want to humor an old man." He opened his desk drawer and pulled out his Shogi board. His eyes lingered longingly on the dusty box of Chutes and Ladders that lay underneath the Shogi board. "One day." He muttered. "One day."

"Baka?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing. Shall we begin, Professor?" She nodded, and soon they were playing. Fuyutsuki, while no master, was an experienced player, but even he was having trouble matching the tiny Professor. His moves were calculating and controlled, like Kyoko's, but there were bursts of spontaneous randomness that reminded him of Mary's playstyle. It was completely different than what he was used to nowadays, his only opponent being the Commander, whose playstyle was altered every time they played, just enough to through him off and force him to adapt. His mind couldn't help but return to an older, simpler time when he was a professor in charge of dealing with four rowdy youngsters who wanted to change the world. Unfortunately, the world did change, and not for the better.

"Baka." He was brought out of his musings by the Professor, as it seems that while he was distracted by his recollections, his king was defeated.

"I see an excellent showing, Professor. I must be getting rusty in my old age." A glance at the clock showed that his free time was nearly at an end. "I certainly enjoyed that, but it appears I have more work to get through. If you ever want to humor an old man for another game, please do come again." She nodded, but instead of leaving she grabbed a pen and a post-it note. She struggled writing due to the pen being nearly as tall as she was, but she apparently succeeded as she slapped the note down in front of him before strutting off, displaying pride in what she had done. He grabbed the note as she left his office, inspecting it like he was inspecting an ancient document. After minutes of analyzing it, he came to one conclusion.

"Her penmanship is terrible, I can't understand what she wrote." Unfortunately, she was long gone, leaving him with a mystery to ponder and paperwork to fill out.

Flädlesuppe aka pancake soup is a real German dish surprisingly enough, and Shinji's bad german is very funny to the Minisukas. And there's a new scholarly Minisuka going around, probably doing science and such. Anyway, hope you all enjoy, as always leave a review if you like, and have a pleasant day.