+++++ Horaki House. +2

Sitting down for breakfast with her father, Hikari eagerly tore through what she'd prepared so that she could beat Shinji to class. She wanted to be in place and ready so that he would have as much time to eat as she could give him. She'd spent the time cooking the previous evening writing down a list of topics she wanted to cover with him in an effort to find things that she could help him with. "I may be home a little late tonight, daddy. If he has money, I'll be taking him to the places I shop for food so that he doesn't have to hunt for a good balance of price and quality."

"If he does not, please ensure that he at least has something to tide him over until the morrow." Glancing over the top of his newspaper, he made certain his words had been heeded. "You will find that your physical education instructor is both different and familiar to you today. Kindly ensure that your classmates understand that disrespect directed towards any special attention given to Ikari-kun is unlikely to end well."

"…It's not Suzuki-san, is it?"

"Gen-kun."

"Oh thank you," she sighed out. "Not to speak ill of your subordinate daddy, but Suzuki sometimes forgets that we live in the twenty-first century. He needs to find a nice woman to smooth out his edges."

Toshiro smirked, unseen by his daughter. "I have often said the same thing myself, child. Do not worry, the Shirakami will be intervening in limited ways for now. A war with NERV would not be beneficial to anyone, even the soul we would seek to uplift into the light."

Hikari couldn't have heard better news. Swallowing the last bite of her toast, she stood and took her dishes into the kitchen, calling back over her shoulder, "Thanks daddy, you're the best!"

+++++ Sasami's home. +2

Sasami spent her pre-school morning tweaking her plans and adjusting timetables. Reminders were set on the bangle that was her wrist-worn interface with Tsunami-no-ki. The 'good morning' text sent from Hikari gave her the likely arrival time of her best friend to the school, which set her deadline for getting ready herself. Standing from her seat and stretching, she snapped her fingers and a pair of wooden rings twice her shoulder-width appeared above her head. Another snap set them to work. The clothes she'd worn were evaporated, preventing her from wasting water on washing them or leaving evidence of her non-human DNA to be found. Then her body was cleaned effortlessly and efficiently, applying those light touches of makeup she wore to blend in with her female classmates. Checking her breasts, she made certain that there were no new masses, lumps, or bruises that would mean a potential disease or malady. Finally, another pass of the wooden rings dressed her in something suitably fetching but not overtly flirtatious. Cute or not, Shinji Ikari would have to prove that he was who she believed him to be before she so much as offered him a more-than-friendly hug.

"A girl must have standards, after all," she spoke into the air about her.

"And a Juraian princess must have higher standards than anyone else," Washu's voice called from nearby.

Sasami looked over her shoulder to see the red-haired scientist sitting on empty air with a pensive look about her gorgeous features. "Is something wrong?" She wasn't upset that her sister had arrived unannounced, nor surprised that she hadn't announced her arrival. "You seem displeased."

"Got some readings from Shinji last night." With a flick of her hand, she set out a projection that showed a number of charts, graphs, and pictures. "He is dangerously malnourished. He has a litany of poorly healed wounds. His depression has depression, and his anxiety is begging its own anxiety to calm down. This isn't a pilot, it's a timebomb." With a hint of a grin, she raised one finger to forestall the questioning. "Good things, though. He was having a nightmare, then thought of you and the nightmare slipped from his mind." Her grin became mischievous. "Then he had a dream about me. Apparently, when you take away the distractions caused by fear, there's a healthy male appetite beneath."

With her face hardening, Sasami growled out, "Washu."

"Now, now, now, no reason to become your mother." Twisting her hand, she changed the projection to the brainwaves he'd projected while sleeping. "What I'm saying is, I don't think he's a lost cause…but I think it's going to have to be handled carefully. If he spends all of his time with you, he's going to fixate on you as the source of joy. In my opinion, we need at least four people making his life better to really diversify his thinking enough that recovery is possible. Once we establish that, I'll use the permission you got to intervene and alter his brain chemistry a touch. Stifle the depression and anxiety, and we'll have ourselves a much healthier person to protect this rock."

"Okay…ok, then what we need to do is watch the class today for a few other candidates." Sasami picked up her satchel and slung it over her shoulder. "I've already put things in motion for Hikari-chan to take a place in his life if things work well, and I intend to become his friend myself."

"I'll be taking a closer interest in him myself," Washu shrugged, "because his notes are…certainly interesting. Extra time with his teacher to make sure that he's not falling behind will let him become accustomed to women that are older than him having an interest in him and his life."

Sasami frowned as she approached the portal that would drop her and Washu at the school. "You're interested in him?"

"There is something about him that doesn't…flow." Floating through the folds of time and space, she stepped out into her new classroom with Sasami at her side. "You know how I adore a good mystery."

"And a mystery is all it's about?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Hikari's arrival cut off Sasami's response. "Good morning, sensei! Good morning, Sasami-chan!"

Both women silently looked at one another, and then back to Hikari. Washu spoke first, "You seem rather ebullient this morning, Horaki-chan."

"I didn't become the Class Rep just to ignore my fellow students when non-school problems crop up." Setting Shinji's breakfast firmly down on his desk, she turned and smiled brightly to her teacher. "When I can do something to help, it makes me feel absolutely fantastic. Too often I have to be the discipline for them, I rarely have the chance to instead be the support they require in more constructive arenas."

The idea that Hikari would make a good princess herself presented itself for what was not the first time to Sasami. "I hope he'll accept it. He doesn't think very highly of himself, that I've noticed."

Further discussion was put aside when the door slid open once more, revealing a concerned Shinji. "Uh, I'm sorry."

"You're not interrupting Ikari-kun," Washu motioned for him to come in. "The three of us were actually just discussing you."

Apologizing again as he ducked past Hikari to get to his seat, he frowned in confusion at the cloth-wrapped bundle on his desk. "H-have I done something wrong, Hakubi-sensei?"

"Quite the opposite, actually. The three of us agree that something should be done about your living situation, and at the request of both Horaki-chan and Masaki-chan, I'm going to see what can be done." She hooked a finger towards the breakfast. "Horaki-chan made you a breakfast, since Masaki-chan informed her that you had no food in your apartment."

"I hope you like what I chose," Hikari took her cue and stepped forward, "because I didn't choose anything too spicy or sweet for today."

Were he not already seated, you could have knocked Shinji over with a feather. "I-I…I didn't…."

Sitting down herself, Hikari gently untied the bindings on the cloth covering his meal. "You didn't have to ask. Moving has to be really hard when you're as close to graduating as we are. Not everyone is rich enough to afford everything they need right away, and a little extra effort from me when I already have four people in my house to feed isn't that hard."

The sight and smell of the food she uncovered for him caused him to start locking up. His breakfast for as long as he could remember was two pieces of plain rye bread and a small glass of water. Lunch, as a concept, didn't exist. If he earned a dinner, it was rarely anything more than a bowl of undercooked rice or noodles. Here, he was staring at a breakfast of fish, soup, and two rice balls. Faced with something of that magnitude, he had no idea how to react and so reverted to form. Looking down, he placed his hands in his lap and apologized, "I'm sorry."

Others might have thought that he didn't like what was put before him, the trio of women with him at that moment instead surmised the truth fairly easily. "I really didn't spend any extra effort, Shinji-kun." Hikari gently nudged one of the rice balls towards him, where he'd have the choice of catching it or letting it fall to the floor. When he deftly snatched it up before it reached the edge, she then nudged that hand towards his face. "Eat, please. For me, if not for you. I would feel terrible for the rest of the day if you were sitting there going hungry after I filled my fat face with my own breakfast."

Shinji was aghast, "Y-y-you're…you're not fat. Not at all." He knew fat. His uncle had been fat. Hikari could be a model, if she wanted to. Looking back to the rice ball, and past that to the fingers gently keeping him from moving in any direction but towards his gob, he swallowed and took as inoffensive a bite as possible.

Sasami and Washu analyzed his micro-expressions and his emotional output as he tasted the lightly seasoned rice. Both would agree later that his response was very understated.

"Thank you, Class Rep." Shinji's tastebuds and stomach were doing cartwheels with joy at what little he'd just put in himself. "This is very well made."

"Good." Hikari slid the rest closer to him a touch. "Then please eat. We've got time before class, and I really would feel much better to know that you weren't starving."

Taking the attention off of him so that he wouldn't grow increasingly anxious, Sasami began discussing the recipe used with Hikari. Washu added her own commentary from time to time, each of them occasionally glancing at the gradually disappearing breakfast. By mutual consensus, though using words that Shinji wouldn't believe meant what they did, it was agreed that Shinji Ikari was not going to be allowed to be abused further.

+++++ Tokyo-3 Academy. +2

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to your first day of a new you." Squat, with the build of someone who likely could have lifted the school building if he had a mind to, 'Gen-Sensei' walked slowly back and forth in front of the gaggle of stretching high school students that had the good fortune to be in a class with his 'beloved niece'. "The headmistress has decided that your physical education has not received the appropriate attention it deserves." He ignored several groans, maintaining his false smile of joviality. "The future of our nation, of our world, relies on all of you not just meeting some standard but setting an example to aspire towards! For the rest of this school year, the class period length for your physical education has been tripled." Gasps replaced groans. "I will mold each of you into the best shape of your life. I will carve the weakness, the poor discipline, the very idea of not living up to your full potential from your mind, your body, and your very soul if I must. We will create perfection, without reservation or excuse." Cracking his knuckles, his smile dropped away as if it had never been there. "Run."

There was no question or backtalk, the message had been sent and received with crystal clarity. It wasn't 'Run for this distance', or 'run for this time', or 'shuffle like you're pretending to run'. They were to run. Not running with every ounce of strength they could summon was unlikely to end with a simple tongue lashing.

Far behind the pack, and losing ground, Shinji was pushing himself as hard as he could. The combination of a sudden heavy influx of food and a lifetime inside of a building without an opportunity to run had taken their toll on his ability to move. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, the teacher loping at his side easily. It was obvious the man could have outrun them all, but for the moment he chose to keep pace with the slowest present. "I'm…sorry…sensei."

"Do not be." Unlike the voice the machine had used during his speech, the man seemed far more caring. There was a note of something Shinji had never experienced, and couldn't put a word to for years thereafter, that made things seem as if they would be 'all right'. "You are putting forth your best effort. That your product is not of a similar amount as your peers is what we seek to fix in you, that their effort is not quite in line with yours is what we seek to fix in them. I will not leave you behind, Ikari-kun, so long as you present me with everything you have to give. You have my word, man to man."

An unused portion of his brain twitched in response to that promise. Despite his legs feeling as if they weighed ten tons a piece, and like they were about to detach from his body, Shinji chugged on. The entire three-hour period was devoted to running, and from time to time Gen left to go bark at people until they resumed running, and at the end Shinji had no strength left to drag himself towards the lockers.

"I gotcha, buddy," one of his fellow students leaned down and helped him up from the patch of ground he'd fallen upon during the post-run stretch, "good effort today." Setting Shinji's arm across his shoulder, he set them off towards their destination.

Another shuffled over and took up Shinji's other arm, "I got this side, Morimoto-kun. I haven't run like that since freshman year!"

Morimoto laughed. "Yeah, it's been a while Morisato-kun. I think we're going to call off practice for today, though, because there's no way I'm going to be able to do the hurdles after this."

"I feel that," Morisato groaned. "No offense, Ikari-kun, but you're a lot smaller than you look. Did you recently break something? My little brother broke his leg and lost, like, fifteen kilos of muscle. Looked like a skeleton for a year until his doctor cleared him for full training again."

"Uhm…n-no. I was homeschooled." What was he supposed to tell them? That his uncle had spent his entire life forbidding him from leaving the house? That he'd never had a chance to run and play like the kids outside his window?

Morimoto nodded. "Yeah, one of my friends was homeschooled for a while because his mom thought that the schools were putting microchips in the students' brains. He was totally out of shape because she didn't put any emphasis on strength training or cardio. It was all stretching and stability, the stuff you can do on your own in a closet." With the hand that was supporting Shinji's ribcage, he patted the 'new guy'. "You keep putting in the kind of effort you did today, and you'll be good to go in a couple of months. Just gotta eat right, too. Balance carbs and lean meat, get fruits and veggies in where you can."

"Garbage in, garbage out," Morisato quoted. "If you need, we can send you our diet plans. We eat different because our blood types are different from each other, but you can at least see the general idea from the differences so you can develop something similar."

They reached the doors into the lockers, and with some reconfiguring of their limbs managed to make it through. Inside, several showers were going and a lot of jack-jawing about how some one of them clearly put in more effort than the others. The air of conviviality froze at the sight of Shinji being carried in and several of them hurried over to help get him over to one of the therapy tubs. More than once Shinji tried to let them know that they didn't need to bother on his account, but his protests were either ignored or answered with some variation of it being perfectly fine that he needed a hand. Once he was in the tub, nude, with cool water filling around him, he was left with only the two that had brought him this far from the beginning. "Th-thank you."

Morimoto grimaced, looking at his friend with concern. "…We need to let Horaki-san know about this, man. Doubt she'd know, with how the clothes he wears hide it."

Nodding grimly, Morisato reached out and patted Shinji gently on the shoulder. "Class rep will know how to help, my man. She's good people, and she won't let people make fun of you for…this."

Looking down at himself, trying to make sense of things, Shinji saw the same thing he saw every day when he took a quick 'bath' using the merest hint of water from the sink. Pale skin, poorly healed bones that had been broken more than once, and a sea of scars from whenever he had forgot his place. "I…I'm sorry."

Cursing under his breath, Morimoto stood up and paced a bit. "You still live with them? The people that did this?"

"I'm sorry."

With timing that likely could not have been worse if it were planned out in advance, Toji called in a mock-posh accent from where he'd just gotten out of the shower, "The new kid too good to shower with the common rabble?"

Shinji saw Morimoto's face fall flat, then turned and saw Morisato standing upright himself with a similar look etched onto his features. It was the first that responded, "Did anyone hear anything? I could swear I just heard a rat squeaking."

"Couldn't be," Morisato chimed in. "I mean, a rat that punches Princess-chan for being who she is around Ikari-san? That'd be awfully brave of them. Rats ain't brave."

"That rat might want to consider walking away," another student, this one a member of the school's judo club by the gi he'd changed into for club activities, added from closer to Toji. "At least while walking remains an option."

"D-don't…it's…uhm," Shinji cut off at a sharp gesture from Morimoto.

"It is never right to bully someone, Ikari-kun. It is never right to stand by and let someone be bullied." With a firm finger, Morimoto pointed to the door. "Because I'm a nice guy, I'll give the rat ten seconds to get dressed and get out before we help him on his way."

More of the students, whether emboldened by the three of their fellows sticking up for Shinji or of their own volition after their morality had been offended, turned to glare at Toji and either limber their limbs menacingly or crack their knuckles. If the message hadn't come across before, it was perfectly evident now: Shinji Ikari was now officially under the protection of the class.

"Man…fuck you guys." Shoving his still damp limbs into his clothes, he pointed at Shinji. "That fucker's fighting got my sister put in a hospital!"

"Ikari-san's fighting made it so your sister lived long enough to make it to a hospital," Morimoto stated without backing down in the slightest. "Probably wouldn't have needed a hospital if her older brother had done a better job of making sure she got to a shelter like everyone was supposed to."

After delivering a rude gesture to the audience at large, Toji stalked out of the lockers and slammed the door behind him. Feeling very small in his bath, Shinji couldn't meet anyone's eyes as he said, "I…I'm sorry."

There was a general call, using different words but with the same theme, assuring him that he had absolutely nothing to apologize for. The next several minutes were spent with people listing off all of their relatives, and how grateful they were that he'd been brave enough to do what only he could. How the bad things were, without question, the fault of the alien that attacked. A few injuries, instead of millions of casualties. Stories of relief and celebration instead of tales of sorrow and loss. It was one of the students that hadn't spoken up much that summed it up best, "We were standing in water that was growing up around us by the second, man…. Yeah, our clothes may have gotten wet, but I'll be damned if I let some varsity team failure clown on you for throwing us the floatation device and hauling our stupid asses to shore just because in order to save us you had to get us a little more wet."

The cold water had done wonders for his body, allowing his muscles to not only stop screaming at him to stop hurting them but also giving him enough range of motion to curl in some on himself in confusion. His actions had hurt Toji's sister. Why were they defending him when he'd hurt someone? While he tried to piece together a sensible narrative of events, he became too preoccupied to see his classmates come to a silent agreement to give him some time to think on what they'd said. Two of them that were already dressed were sent to find either the nurse or their homeroom teacher, and Morimoto and Morisato chose to hurry and go report to Hikari what they'd seen instead of taking a shower.

What Shinji couldn't yet see was what his classmates saw easily. He'd been abused, he'd been mistreated, he'd been thrown to the wolves to save everyone else's skin. He sat quietly in class and didn't make people's days worse, he asked questions that weren't pointless, showy, or designed to make himself look good, and he was always respectful of everyone else's time and education. He'd only been with them two days, now, but everyone that had defended him felt honored to have him on their side because he hadn't come in like some braying jackass demanding they all bow to him for saving them. He was a hero, he just didn't know it yet.

+++++ Author's Notes:

TheHiddenLettuce: RE: Tenchi Muyo.

I've always felt it was a shame that the OVAs didn't do more with the multiverse they'd created.

RTech: RE: Ritsuko.

Since I'm combining the twin sins of WAFFy Neon Gen and Focused Plot Tenchi Muyo, I figured 'brightening up' a few NGE canon characters wouldn't be out of place.

Captain Bardiel: RE: The Horaki patriarch.

My Horaki patriarch predates 3.0 + 1.0: Thrice Upon a Time by three years. I'm certainly not claiming to have created the character, but I chose a name for the character three years before it became canon as something else. You Are (Not) Complete named him Toshiro...and I admit I don't quite remember why I chose that name...wait, no I'm lying, I chose it to honor Toshiro Mifune's career. So yeah, Toshiro Horaki was a part of my universe three years before the release of the movie that would have given me the real name to work with. /shrug/ I'm too lazy to go back and change every instance, so he stays Toshiro.