A World Without Eva

by Ikari666

A continuation of the AU on episode 26

2. Places to Go

All right, this post officially makes this a multi-chapter Ep26 AU. ^_^ Down below I'm putting
my response to some of my reviewers before I start the story. Side Note: How scary... I'm on
someone's favorites list. Just label me shocked.

To my reviewers: Thanks to all for the positive reviews! Even
though I think this has a long way to go to be considered good...
^_^;

To Anonymous: Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I think
I'll wait a while before trying to post anywhere other than ff.n. I
have an annoying habit of letting my writings die... :-(

To dennisud: Thanks for re-reviewing!

To                      : I don't think there are too many Japanese
words. It shouldn't be too hard to follow since I tried to keep the
words and phrases as independent sentences.

To Gara: I agree. Heh, in this chapter I'm including the word
'gomen.' And any Evangelion fan who doesn't know what it
means should be dragged into the street and shot. lol j/k

To AnimEd: By your suggestion, I read Garden of Eva. I think it
should be considered a Post-Third Impact fic. So, I still contend
that this is the first multi-chaptered fic of the AU.

To andi: How 'bout a compromise? I'll put the translations right
after the word.

To Monkeys: It's because it's not enough to base a personality
on. Everyone else's stayed pretty much the same, while Rei
came out with a completely new one. I couldn't have her acting
that way all the time. Anyway, I plan to delve into a reason why
in the next chapter. And besides, I happen to like her personality
type. Especially since I have that personality type :-Þ

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion. Is it really
necessary for me to repeat this?

A World Without Eva

Chapter 2 – Places to go

"Are you sure about this, Ikari-kun?" Rei asked as Shinji led
her up the stairs.

"Of course," Shinji reassured. "We've got to do it
sometime." He stopped at the door.

Rei shook her head. "I am not sure about this..." She started
back down the steps, but was stopped when Shinji tighten his
grip slightly. They stood and stared at each other for a few
moments.

Shinji finally broke the silence. "It'll be all right." He placed
his hand on the doorknob and took another look at Rei. After a
few moments, she nodded her affirmation. He slowly opened the
door and led her through it.

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

"When are they coming?" Asked Asuka.

"They said that they're coming on Monday." Answered
Hikari. Then, she noticed the two people who just got on the
roof. Toji and Kensuke looked up from their lunch when they
heard Hikari greet them. Asuka just hmph'ed.

"Who's coming on Monday?" Inquired Shinji, leading Rei to
the railing overlooking the school grounds.

"New students. I was told today that their personal files would be
on my computer Monday morning."

"What are their names?"

"Um, I think one of their names was Kaoru. And, the other...
uh... I forgot it." Hikari said with a laugh. "I wonder what they're like..."

Shinji heard Asuka mutter something. He only heard the last
part, '...can't be worse than the last one.' Shinji took a quick
peek at Rei, who was leaning against the building and gazing at
the passing clouds, to see if she had heard. Apparently, she
didn't, because her expression didn't change. But, he knew that
he couldn't count on that. Hikari and Shinji gave Asuka a
disapproving look. Toji and Kensuke snickered. Asuka just
shrugged them all off.

Shinji stepped over to her. "You said you'd try." He said
simply, trying to keep Rei from hearing. Rei made no outward
response, but heard what he said.

Asuka glanced over to Rei, then turned back over to Shinji.
"I said I'd get try along with her. I didn't say I'd start to like
her." She whispered back. Shinji's only response was a deep
sigh. Asuka rolled her eyes. "Oh, alright." She raised her voice.
"Hey, Ayanami."

Rei didn't visibly react. Asuka started to walk over to her,
angry. She didn't like to be ignored. Shinji reached out and
stopped her. Asuka turned her glare to him. "Go ahead. She's
listening." An invisible smile graced Rei's lips, unnoticed.

"Okay..." Asuka said with a quizzical glance at Shinji.
"What are you doing tomorrow? Hikari and I were going to go
shopping, you want to come with us?" Without looking down,
Rei answered with a simple 'no.' Asuka wasn't pleased. "And
why not?! Are you too good to hang out with us?"

Rei stopped staring at the sky to give Asuka an indifferent
look. "I am not implying that. The reason I do not wish to join
you is that I have already made plans for tomorrow."

Asuka was about to say something, but Shinji cut her off.
"Where are you going?"

Some of the indifference in her expression went away as she
answered. "I'm going to the beach in the afternoon."

"Oh," Hikari interjected. "Me and Shinji are taking my sister
and a few of her friends to the beach today. Why don't you come
with us? That way, you won't have to go tomorrow and you can
come with me and Asuka." She suggested.

Rei thought about that for a few moments before replying. "I
cannot. I have some things to do."

"Okay. Maybe next time." Hikari smirked at Toji and
Kensuke, then turned back to Rei. "I'm warning you. While
you're at the beach, look out for those two perverts." She said,
jerking her thumb towards the perverts in question. "They might
try to sneak around and take pictures of you in your swimsuit to
sell around in school."

"Hey!" Shouted Toji. "Who said we were gonna try that?!"

"I've already had to break up your picture racket twice this
year!" Hikari shouted back. Toji winced, those were two very
painful days.

"Do not worry." Rei said. "Ikari-kun has already warned
me."

Toji and Kensuke glared at Shinji. Their glares practically
screamed 'Traitor!' He laughed nervously.

Hikari spoke up to save Shinji from certain injury. "So, Toji.
Are you sure you can't come today with your sister?"

Toji looked away from Shinji. "Yeah, I'm sure. Dad's got
me doing something." Then he glared at Kensuke. "And I got
dragged into going out into the rice fields later tonight up until
tomorrow morning."

Kensuke just shrugged. "What can I say? I'm good at
persuasion. And playing war isn't that much fun by myself."

Shinji laughed. "And he's never been able to convince me to
go."

Kensuke shrugged again. "There are just some people I just
can't persuade to do anything."

Rei spoke up in a soft voice. "Everyone has said what they
plan to do this Sunday except you, Ikari-kun."

He shrugged. "Well, umm... Guess I haven't made any
plans."

"I'll bet you want to join the new girl at the beach
tomorrow." Asuka teased. "Just so you can see her in her
swimsuit."

Shinji blushed at the thought. As did Rei, though she kept
her gaze upwards so no one would see. "Asuka!" Shinji exclaimed.
Asuka just giggled at his embarrassment. Shinji was just glad Rei
was there. Otherwise, Toji and Kensuke would've
joined Asuka in teasing him.

As they got into a more random conversation, Rei took her
attention from the clouds above and sat back and observed the
interaction between Shinji and his friends. So... this is what they
were talking about earlier in the morning... She watched as they
laughed about something. I know now about Ikari-kun. He is a
friend. Being around him will be... interesting...

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

When Shinji arrived home he went straight to his room and
dropped down onto his bed. It being Saturday, clean-up duty was
split among all the students. It was five and he decided to take a
nap.

He was taken out of his slumber by a knock at his door.
"Shinji." Came the voice of his mother. She had arrived home
thirty minutes after he had. "Wake up. Kotoko is here for you."

Shinji looked up at his digital clock. She's ten minutes early.
He groaned as he rose from his bed. Somehow, he had thrashed
around enough in his sleep to end up laying on his side with his
pillow just under his ribs. He let out another groan as he
stretched the kinks out of his back.

Outside the door, Yui laughed softly. She had opened looked
in on him when she got home and saw him in the precarious
position that caused his discomfort. With a smile on her face she
when over to the front door and told the violet-eyed young girl to
go ahead to Shinji's room.

Kotoko nodded and hurried off to the room, the small bag
she had that contained her swimsuit bumped against her leg a
few times. She knocked on the door a few times before letting
herself in. She knew Shinji wouldn't mind.

"Hey, Ko-chan." Shinji greeted. He had just pulled out a few
yen notes from his desk drawer and was putting them into his
pocket. Shinji ushered the little girl out of his room. They said
goodbye to Yui before leaving the apartment.

Minutes later, they were at the door of another apartment in
the complex. Shinji knocked and they waited for the last person
to round out their group. Another little girl of the same age as
Kotoko answered. She, too, had a bag holding a swimsuit. "Hi,
Kotoko."

"Hi, Sakura."

Shinji looked down to the girl. "You ready to go?"

Her reddish-brown locks shook as she nodded emphatically.
Her bright smile was seemingly mirrored in her emerald green
eyes. "Oniisan, I'm going now." She called into the apartment.

"Alright, have fun." Answered the child's older brother.

The trio made their way down to the street and Shinji
flagged down a taxi cab. On the way, Shinji leaned back in his
seat and closed his eyes trying to get rid of the last bit of
tiredness left in his body. Said body was rocked back and forth
by four small hands as the three reached their destination. Seeing
that he was fully awake the pair stopped and got out. The two
excited children bounded up to the door of the small house they
arrived at and knocked on it.

Shinji just smiled and paid the driver before getting out of
the cab. He smiled as he saw the two enthusiastic children were
met by four other children, who were as equally enthusiastic.

The girl who answered the door waved at him. He returned
the gesture. It was Hikari's little sister, Nozomi. Behind her were
Toji's little sister Mari and two other girls from their class, Rika
and Chiharu.

"Who is it?" Called a voice from the kitchen. Shinji was not
close enough to tell, but he assumed it was Hikari's since he
knew that she did most of the cooking for her family.

"It's Kotoko and Sakura." Nozomi answered as the group of
girls made their way to the living room.

"Oh, could you tell Shinji to... Ah!"

Shinji heard Hikari yelp out in pain and quickly took off his
shoes and went into the kitchen. He saw Hikari over a chopping
board, nursing her finger. "Are you okay?" Hikari nearly jumped
in surprise when she heard Shinji's voice. He stepped over to
take a look at Hikari's finger. It was only a light cut and only had
a small trickle of blood coming from it. Shinji called to Nozomi
to get something for Hikari's finger while he led her to the sink.
While Hikari blushed nearly the entire time. Other than her
parents, no one had ever fussed over her like that.

What a nice guy... Thought Hikari as Shinji put her finger
under the running water. "Thanks." She said.

Shinji just nodded. He kept his concentration on putting
pressure on the wound. Though there wasn't all that much blood,
 it did slow what bleeding that was there. Nozomi appeared a
minute later with a band aid. Shinji thanked her as he took it
from her.

Nozomi watched as the boy unwrapped it with one hand and
gently put it around her sister's finger. Once she was sure Hikari
was all right, she left the kitchen to rejoin her friends.

Hikari smiled at Shinji. "As long as you're in here, would
you help me finish making these sandwiches?"

"Sure." Shinji picked up a knife and continued slicing the
tomatoes that Hikari had started before she cut herself. They
finished after ten minutes. By then, the group of girls changed
into their suits and put their clothes back over them, Hikari did
as well.

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

Another ten minutes later, the whole group of eight was on a
train towards the beach.

Hikari leaned back in her seat. "Shinji?"  She turned her
head to see him listening to his SDAT. She smiled and tapped
him on the shoulder.

He looked up at her and took off one of the earbuds. "Yes?"

"Asuka told me something on Thursday." She quickly turned
away from his curious gaze. "She said something happened
when she tried to wake you up."

Shinji paled and nearly dropped his SDAT. "What did Asuka
say?" He asked, putting a tighter grip on the tape player. He
watched Hikari's cheeks redden as she relayed what Asuka had
told her. Why does Asuka do that? Shinji asked himself. "Really
what happened was... umm..." The crimson from Hikari's face
transferred over to Shinji's. "Uhh... It was morning and, uhh...
She... snatched the covers off me... And... it... I..."

Hikari stopped him before his head exploded from excess
blood flow. "I understand."

Shinji let out a grateful breath. "Thank you." Hikari giggled
at him, causing him to laugh too.

"I knew there was something to it." Hikari said after her
laughter died down. They sat wordless as the shadows of the
surrounding buildings passed through the train windows. "I
knew you weren't like that..." She said, scarcely over a whisper.

Shinji barely heard her over the kids talking around them.
"Hmm?"

Hikari's eyes widened in surprise. "Huh? I didn't say
anything."

"Alright..." Shinji said, unsure. He put the earbud back and
lost himself in his thoughts as he listened to his music.

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

They arrived at the beach at quarter past seven. The girls got
out of their outer layers of clothing while Shinji set out a few
blankets and put aside a set of towels. He was getting ready to sit
in the sand when he got hit in the back of the head with a
volleyball. He whirled around and saw the girls giggling at him. 
He smiled and tossed the ball back. Kotoko caught it and asked
Shinji to join them. He smiled at her and walked over. They
knocked the ball around a while, until the girls felt like
swimming. Shinji headed back over to the towels to make sure
the sandwiches would be ready when the girls were. When he
finished he leaned back on one of the towels and closed his eyes.

Shinji laughed inwardly. I can't believe that Asuka said that
I tried to jump her. Good thing that Hikari-san didn't believe
her... I wonder what she said on the train. He thought back to try
to figure out what she said. Not finding an answer, his thoughts
turned to something else. I wonder what the new students will be
like. Hope they're nice... Shinji's thoughts were broken by
Hikari's voice.

"Someone really needs to teach you to swim."

While keeping his eyes closed, Shinji smiled, then answered.
"Humans aren't made to float." Hikari giggled with her hand
over her mouth. That was always his answer. Shinji opened his
eyes and looked at her. His eyes widened slightly. He hadn't
really taken a good look at her in her conservative white
one-piece during their volleyball game. As he did with most
things, he only kept half his mind on what he was doing and
didn't notice how attractive his class' representative looked in it.
He tore his gaze from Hikari and put it on the girls playing in the
water. "Besides, you don't plan on doing that while we have to
watch them, do you?"

Hikari stammered in her response. "I-I didn't mean me!" She
turned to look out at the ocean, bright red. She huffed when
Shinji started to laugh. "Maybe you are the pervert Asuka makes
you out to be..." She said with a smirk.

Shinji let out a strangled yelp. "Hey! No fair..."

Hikari giggled at him again before heading for the water.
"Come on. At least join us in the shallow water."

"Oh, alright..." Shinji answered. He got up from the towel,
brushed off some sand, and ran after Hikari.

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

Hikari smiled to herself as she began cooking dinner. I can't
remember the last time Shinji-kun smiled and laughed so much...
It was just something simple, a splash fight between the elders of
the group and the younger ones. Heat rose in Hikari's cheeks as
she thought of the conversation she and Shinji had afterwards.
She started humming as she returned to her cooking.

This didn't go unnoticed. Hikari was being watched by her
older sister by three years, Kodama. Curious, she went into the
living room where Nozomi was watching TV. "What's with
Hikari? She's happier than usual."

Nozomi just looked at her eldest sister and shrugged. "I
don't know. She's been that way since we got back."

"Hmm." Kodama went back into the kitchen to see Hikari
putting some vegetables into a pot. "What's up? You seem
happy today..."

"Do I?" Answered Hikari. A big smile was still present on
her face.

Kodama laughed, then approached Hikari. Hikari yelped in
surprise as her sister pulled her to the middle of the kitchen.
Kodama put her hand to her chin as if she were examining the
freckled young girl. "Hmm..." She circled around Hikari. "A
bigger than usual smile... A slight glow... A little shine in your
eye..." Kodama laughed lightly as Hikari started to wring her
hands. "And that, right there, is a dead giveaway. It's a boy!"
She exclaimed.

"Kodama!" Hikari whined, turning red.

"Well?" Kodama urged.

Hikari went back over to the stove. "Sort of..." She said in a
low voice.

"Ha ha! I knew it! So? Who is it?"

"I've already told you all I'm going to tell you."

"Come on, sis! Just give me a name!"

"Okay. How about yours? Kodama Horaki." Hikari
answered with a giggle.

Kodama frowned. "Okay, that's all right. I'll get it out of
you eventually." With that she left Hikari to finish dinner. She
headed off into her room. She was the only one of the Horaki
sisters with her own room. Her sisters shared a room next to
hers. Their father was down the hall. They also had one more
room, but Nozomi preferred sleeping with Hikari rather than
sleeping by herself. So, they kept that room for guests. Why
couldn't she tell me who her guy is? I just want to make sure he
isn't a jerk... Kodama never really had a good track record with
relationships. The guys she went out with were either guys she'd
rather be friends with or guys that cheated on her. What had her
wary about guys was that the latter happened more frequently
that the former. It's not like I won't find out anyway... Kodama
spent the rest of the time before Hikari finished dinner to think of
a way to find out who the guy could be. The only thing she could
think of by the time she was called to eat was to wait it out a
while and then grill Nozomi. Satisfied with that, Kodama join
her sisters in the dining room.

Meanwhile, across town, Shinji had finished cooking dinner
as well. He had only cooked for two, because his parents had to
work late and he'd invited little Kotoko to stay to eat.

"So, what'd you and Hikari-san talk about right before we
left for home?" Kotoko asked Shinji as he poured a cup of green
tea for them both.

"Umm... J-just when she could have some time to teach me
how to swim." Shinji stuttered out.

Kotoko grinned. Lying had never been one of Shinji Ikari's
strong points. "You're a bad liar, Shinji-san." She pointed out.

Shinji smiled at the child. "That's true. But, if it's all the
same to you... I'd like to keep what went on between me and
Hikari to stay private, for now. Okay?"

"Hai." She answered. Shinji's smile widened a bit. He was
bemused at how much she trusted him, but liked it just the same.
He knew that she wouldn't bring it up again until he did so first.

Kotoko's grin widened as well. She enjoyed the fact that
Shinji truthfully told her anything she wanted to know sooner or
later. And she knew that even if he wasn't comfortable with
telling her now, he would tell her as soon as he was ready. The
unspoken arrangement was one of the things that kept them as
close-knit as family.

"It's a good idea though..." Kotoko said as she took a fried
fish from the center of the table.

Shinji grabbed a fish as well. "What is?"

"Having someone teach you how to swim."

"Maybe." Shinji laughed.

"Why don't you ask Asuka-san?"

"I don't think so."

Kotoko tilted her head curiously. "Why not?"

"Asuka isn't exactly the most patient person in the world. I
don't think she'd make a good teacher."

"I guess you're right..." She said thoughtfully.

As the two ate and talked about the good time they all had at
the beach, the conversation he and Hikari had scratched at the
back of his mind. I wonder if it'll work...

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

"What is he doing here!?!" Asuka demanded as Hikari
walked up to their meeting place with Shinji in tow.

"I invited him along." Hikari answered simply.

"Why!?" Asuka could have tolerated the idea of shopping
with Rei, but she definitely did not want to shop with a boy.  She
glared daggers into Shinji as Hikari answered.

"Well, he said he didn't plan on doing anything today, so I
asked him to come yesterday at the beach." She said with a
shrug. She had practiced this answer a few times that morning to
keep from turning a deep red. To her credit, her face only gained
a light tint of pink for a few seconds.

Asuka eyed Shinji dangerously before finally giving in. "All
right, but we're going to change our plans." Hikari gave her a
confused look. Asuka didn't waste time in answering Hikari's
unasked question. "The only type of clothing were getting is
shoes. I don't feel like having this pervert ogling me." With that,
the trio headed for the nearest shoe store.

A two hours later, they stopped to rest on a bench in a local
mall. Asuka went back on her word; she and Hikari both ended
up with a couple bags of clothes, all of which Shinji was
carrying at that point. Of course, Asuka only let herself and
Hikari get clothes if Shinji stayed and waited outside whatever
shop they were in.

Elsewhere in the mall, Toji and Kensuke were entering a
McDonald's. They had just gotten back and Toji wanted some
fast food instead of Kensuke's canned provisions. Kensuke put
Toji's stomach to his advantage and took the opportunity to look
around for better camping equipment beforehand. They both
ordered the same thing, a teriyaki burger with a medium
softdrink. Since Kensuke didn't bring that much money, Toji
agreed to pay for them both if Kensuke paid him the eight-
hundred yen for his meal later on. They took a seat at the
window facing a music store. After a few minutes of idle
conversation, Toji noticed something out of the corner of his eye.
Curious, he abruptly left the table and went to the exit.

Kensuke watched his friend, perplexed. He then turned his
gaze out the window in time to see an angry German red-head
shouting at a meek Japanese boy holding quite a few bags. He
couldn't hear what Asuka was yelling, but he knew two things:
first, Asuka most likely didn't have a real good reason to yell at
Shinji and, second, Shinji would just wait it out and hope she
doesn't injure him too badly.

Toji, however, was closer and went unnoticed as he listened
to what was going on.

"Baka(Idiot)! Why can't you do that some other time?!"
Asuka shouted.

"Fine." Shinji answered. He didn't really want to go through
an argument at that moment. He had no idea that spending the
day shopping with the two girls would've been so tiring and he
wanted to finish up so he could home and lay down.

Hikari spoke up to step in for Shinji. "Come on, Asuka. Just
let him go. It'll only be a few minutes." She didn't see why
Asuka was so adamant about not letting him pick up a new tape
or two for his SDAT.

"Why are you siding with him?" Asuka demanded. She
scoffed as color started to rise in Hikari's cheeks. "Oh, all
right..."

By that time, Toji had made his way to a near by bench
within earshot. He was facing away from them in hopes he
wouldn't be recognized. Yeah, why is Hikari taking up for
Shinji? He asked himself with a twinge of jealousy.

Shinji mumbled his thanks to Hikari, then quickly made his
way into the store.

Asuka looked at her friend, then shook her head. "Hikari...
we really need to sit down and talk about your taste in men. Or
boys, in this case." At that, Hikari flushed without missing a beat
and Toji had gotten enough. Asuka noticed him get up and walk
away. She'd seen him a little while earlier trying to listen in. She
didn't know why he was doing it, but she planned to solicit an
answer from him somewhere down the line. Seeing him at that
moment, though, had her thinking of something Hikari had told
her months before. "Although, he isn't the worst you could do."
Asuka smirked.

Hikari frowned. She knew what Asuka was hinting at. "It's
not what you think." Her voice didn't betray any of the
embarrassment she felt at what Asuka previously implied. She
was too upset by the second thing Asuka implied to be
embarrassed.

"Whatever."

Shinji walked up to them. "I'm done." He said before he
bent down to pick up the girls' bags.

"It's about time, baka(idiot). And don't worry, we only have
one place left to go."

Kensuke made a mental note to ask Shinji why he was with
the girls as he watched  the three walk away. He heard Toji
coming back. "Why didn't say anything to them? Don't tell me
your little crush on Hikari has gotten so bad that you can't just
run into her outside of school." It was a fact that only the two of
them knew. Toji had liked Hikari for about a year, but had never
gotten the nerve to do anything about it.

"I think she likes Shinji, man." Toji said dejectedly.

"Shinji? Why do you say that?"

"She sort of stood up for him."

"So? You know how nice she is."

"Yeah, but during one of Shinji and Asuka's fights?"

"Well, I guess you have a point..." I need to do some major
recon... Kensuke thought. They finished eating in silence.

Afterwards, Toji went home and Kensuke decided to go to a
new computer shop that opened up a month before. It had the
best and latest equipment. As he walked into the store,
something caught his eye. Or, rather, someone. She was at the
back desk giving one of the employees a list of what she wanted
for a custom computer. At first glance, she appeared to have a
few tomboyish qualities. But, as Kensuke looked further, he
noticed how attractive she really was. She had a kind of
unimposing beauty. The kind that's noted in the back of your
mind, then becomes more and more apparent. Kensuke listened
in on the girl's extensive list of customizations. The girl knew
what she wanted and had a good technological sense. She didn't
go for all the top rated features, she made sure she got the best
combination of components for her purposes.

As the young woman reached into her purse to get money to
prepay for her computer, the feeling she had of someone
watching her got stronger. Finally, she turned around to see a
boy her age with something akin to awe in his eyes. She was
used to this. Most guys were surprised to see a female techie.
She smiled at him, then turned back to hand over a large sum of
money to pay for her soon-to-be computer.

Kensuke was shocked to see the girl pay with cash. He
expected her pull out a credit card or something, not a wad of
cash.

"It's not polite to stare, you know." The girl told Kensuke as
she walked away from the desk.

Kensuke followed her to the exit. "You sure know your way
around computers."

The girl giggled and gave him a side view of her face.
"That's original."

"Huh?"

The girl stopped, surprised. "Oh, nothing. Never mind." She
waved off her comment.

"You must have saved up for a while to pay all that money
for your computer."

"Yeah, I saved up for almost a year for a computer I had my
eye on back in Osaka."

Kensuke opened and held the mall doors for her. "You just
moved here?"

"Thanks. Yeah, a few days ago. I was real excited when I
found out that the computer store in this mall did
customizations."

"Are you enrolled at one of the schools here, yet?"

"Yes, tomorrow's my first day."

Kensuke was about to ask if he could walk her home when
she started to wave at someone in the parking lot. "Maya-san!"
The person waved back. "Come on!"

"That's my cousin. I have to go." She turned around and
gave him a smile. "It was nice a talking to you. Ja(Bye)."

Kensuke watched her run up to the older girl and get into her
car. He waved goodbye as they drove away. Then, he realized
something. I don't have a way of getting in touch with her
again... He cursed himself before heading back for the computer
store.

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

As usual, Hikari was the first to arrive in the classroom. It
was Monday and she was getting ready to check the new files
that were sent to her network folder. She had already picked up
two new laptops from the main office for the new students. Ah,
that's her name... She thought as she looked at the display on her
laptop. Hmm, there must be a typo in the records. The file on the
other student said 'Kaworu,' not 'Kaoru.' At this point, students
started to come in to the classroom. Or maybe I heard wrong. I
hope I won't have to get Toji and Kensuke for selling pictures
again. At least Rei knows, I'll find these two during lunch to
warn them. Hikari was about to prepare two data disks
containing the school's rules and regulations when Shinji, Asuka
and Rei walked in. Hikari greeted the three before getting back
to putting the documents onto the disks. She hoped an argument
wouldn't start again. The fight between Rei and Asuka caused
her to forget her duties. She had to give Rei her laptop and rule
disk on Friday morning. By the time Ms. Katsuragi came into the
classroom, everyone was in the room. Hikari was on. "All rise.
Bow. Sit down." Her morning obligation done, she waited for
their teacher to introduce the new students.

"All right, everyone! We got two more people joining our
class today. Come on in you guys!"

The door opened to reveal a gray, almost silver, haired boy
holding the door open for a young girl with tomboyish short
brown hair. The girl smiled her thanks and stepped into the
classroom. Her eyes widened as she saw a familiar spectacled
boy sitting at his desk, as did her smile.

The girl's surprised reaction was mirrored on Kensuke's
face. He sat up slightly.

The boy stepped up beside the girl and scanned the faces of
his new class. He was startled to see someone who shared his
eye color. She was leaning on her desk with her elbows, resting
her chin on her interlaced fingers, and looking out the window
through her peripheral. He motioned for the short brown-eyed
girl next to him to go first.

The girl took the cue. "Hello. My name is Maya Ibuki." She
bowed politely to the class. "Nice to meet you all." She threw a
quick glance at boy she'd met the day before. She fought a
strong urge to laugh at the intent look he was giving her.

The boy then stepped up and took Maya's example, he
bowed to the class. "I am Kaworu Nagisa. I am pleased to be
acquainted with you all." He said in a soft, smooth tone. He
smiled as a few of the girls in the class swooned at his voice. It
had happened a couple of times before, and it had amused him
every time.

"Hikari?" Said Misato.

"Hai(Yes)." Hikari answered. She got the disks she prepared
and grabbed the laptops from under her desk. The two watched
her as she walked up. Hikari handed them their supplies. "These
are your assigned computers. For the rest of the school year, you
are allowed to take them between school and home. You are
responsible for their return at the end of the year. The disks
contain all rules and regulations regarding school policies and
procedures." Hikari pointed out two seats in the back row.
"Those are your seats." That being done, the three sat down at
their desks and Misato began the lesson.

At lunch, the group all met on the roof, save Hikari. She
arrived a few minutes after they did, having talked to Maya
about two boys and a camera.

"You guys want to go to the downtown arcade after school?"
Asked Toji.

"Yeah, I heard they got this new VR-game last week."
Answered Kensuke as he pulled out his lunch. "It's a
five-on-five shooting game. It has a bunch of different
environments players can fight in."

"Humph. Figures." Scoffed Asuka.

Kensuke laughed. "But, you'll still play won't you?"

"Of course." She answered in a superior tone. "Someone has
to show you how to really play war games."

That got another laugh out of Kensuke. "That's the name of
the game, actually. 'VR War Games.'"

"So, Kensuke and the Demon are in. How about the rest of
you?" Toji said, but not before getting out of Asuka's arm reach.
Asuka remedied this by taking two steps before slapping him on
the back of the head.

"I'll go." Hikari said.

"I will go, as well." Said Rei. "It sounds like it will be...
interesting."

Everyone looked at Shinji. "I don't know."

"Come on." Argued Hikari. "It'll be fun." She took a quick
glance away from Shinji and back again.

He read the look perfectly. "All right. I'll go."

The exchange went unnoticed by everyone, except Rei. She
resolved to ask Shinji about it another time. She'd been noting
this type of behavior all during the morning and didn't see its
purpose.

Five minutes before lunch ended, Toji brought Shinji into
the stairwell to the roof to talk. "You know, I saw you with the
Demon and the Inchou(Class Representative) at the mall
yesterday."

"You... did?" Shinji expected something like this, but later as
opposed to earlier.

"So did you and the Demon get together?" He asked,
sounding hopeful.

Shinji almost fell on the floor laughing. He was able to
successfully stop himself. "No. I've told you a lot of times that
me and Asuka aren't like that."

"Uh huh. You were out the Inchou, then?" Toji asked.

He had tried to hide the grief from his voice, but Shinji
noticed it anyway. Again, he had to reign in his laughter. "No,
she just invited me to come with them while we were at the
beach Saturday."

"Oh." Toji visibly looked relieved.

Shinji decided not to comment and went on. "I think she said
it was because I said I wasn't planning on doing anything. She
said she didn't want me doing nothing while everyone had
plans."

"Hmm."

Shinji noticed his friend tensed up again. This time he just
had to laugh. "You know, if you want to ask Hikari-san out you
should just do it."

Toji took a step back, completely red. "Huh? No! You got it
wrong! I'm just curious. That's all!"

Shinji smirked. It wasn't often he was the one to tease
someone. He didn't like doing it to the point where the other
person would squirm, like Toji was, but he felt it was good to get  
payback for all the teasing he'd received by Toji's hands.

Toji frowned, then approached Shinji again. "Hey!" He
barked out while dangerously brandishing a fist.

Shinji backed up, waving his hands in surrender. "What's the
worst that could happen?" The look Toji gave him told him that
he would regret asking that. Luckily, he was saved by the school
bell.

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

Shinji looked down at the new corpse. This is the part he
hated. How the body would just lie there after the kill. He didn't
have much time to think about it, however, as he felt a slight
pain in his back. The pain flashed for a moment, then everything
around him faded to black.

Toji gave a wicked smile as he removed the sword from
Shinji's back.

"Dummkopf(Idiot)! Stop doing that! You're lowering our
score! Du verdammter schweinhund(You damn pigdog)!" Said
an angry German as she passed the scene. Unlike the spacecraft
scenario they'd played earlier, they didn't have access to a team
comm..

Toji was once again surprised at her mastery of German
curses, even though she had only lived in Germany for five
years.

The body Shinji was looking at faded from view. The
player's fifteen second down time was over.

Shinji sighed and flipped up the visor on his VR helmet. He
restudied the controls in the darkened chamber as he waited to 
respawn. Toji was obviously still angry about what he had said
before lunch ended. It was the third time Toji had gutted him. He
looked over to the side. None of this game's objectives had been
completed yet.

The group of six was at the downtown arcade and was
playing the game Kensuke was talking about during lunch. The
game consisted of two teams of five playing against each other
trying to score more points than the other before time was up.
Teams received two points for enemy kills, a three point
deduction for ally kills, and a one point deduction for times
killed. Aside from the ten human players, there were ten players
controlled by the computer meant to impede the progress of the
human players. As well as bring the point count up a bit. There
was also a list of objectives that could be completed for points
depending on the difficulty of the task.

Hikari was outside watching the match as it was displayed
on a large screen. She was angry with Toji for killing Shinji as
many times as he did. She decided chew him out when the game
was over. Under the large screen, which showed the entire
virtual battlefield, there were ten smaller screens that gave the
perspective of the ten human players. The one blackened screen
out of the ten smaller ones came back to life, indicating that
Shinji was back in the game. Hikari took a quick glance display
above the large screen. It was a digital readout of the overall
team scores. They were still ahead, but only by seventeen points.
On either side of the field overview, there was a readout for
individual scores. Toji had just put himself in the negatives by
killing Shinji.

Inside the game, Shinji reappeared in the Blue Team
respawn zone. He set out to find a kunai attached to a long chain
(kind of weapon usually used as a type of grappling hook). He
needed it to cross a crevice he saw a little after the start of the
game. The objective he was trying to complete was to bring a
spell scroll back to the team base which was next to the respawn
zone.

Kensuke and Rei were working together to complete another
one of the objectives. It was a two person gauntlet with another
spell scroll at its end.

Toji was hung up with two members of the Red Team. He
was able to take down one of them before he was killed himself.
Frustrated, he punched the console in front of him as the lights in the chamber dimmed.

Asuka was inside a house of ninjas with a Red Team
member fighting for the third of the five spell scrolls. She would
have already taken care of the opposing team member, but there
were four AIs there before she got there. The other person's
arrival was secondary to her. She just made sure to look over to
him every once in a while to see if he had any weakness she
could exploit when it was just the two of them.

Just then, a general announcement was made. The leader of
the Red Team had just earned ten points for getting a spell scroll.

Shinji had hurried his pace when he heard the
announcement. He was holding the scroll and was on his way
back. Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the foliage around him. He
put the scroll into his waistband and drew his sword. One of the
AIs lunged at him from the bushes. He brought his blade up to
block the overhead slash. His attacker brought his katana around
for a strong sideways strike. Shinji ducked it and countered with
a quick thrust. He took his sword out and sheathed it as the
computer-controlled opponent slumped down to the ground. He
ran towards the Blue base as fast as he could.

A minute later, he ran into the base. A robed man was there,
waiting for him. He held out his hand to receive the scroll. Shinji
complied. The man opened the scroll and chanted an incantation
in some ancient language. The scroll dissolved into particles of
light which swirled around Shinji. After the lights died down,
another announcement was made rewarding the Blue Team ten
points. Shinji was about to leave to see if he could help any of
the others before the robed man grabbed his arm.

"Before you go," The figure said in a ghostly voice. "Know
that you now have the power of lightning." With that the man
dissolved like the scroll had. Shinji ran out of the base, heading
for the Red base. He hoped to get the Red Team's crest and to
find a few teammates along the way. Getting the other team's
crest was the pretty high on the objective list and was worth a lot
of points.

Meanwhile, Asuka was heading for base. She had the scroll
and Toji in tow. Toji, newly respawned, had been a great help in
taking down the last AI and the Red Team member. Though,
she'd never admit it.

At the gauntlet's end, Kensuke was panicking. "There is no
way to do this!" He exclaimed. The scroll was being protected
by an assortment of mechanical blades and a wall of flames that
came up whenever he tried to reach for it. At the same time, an
hourglass shaped like a hand weight ticked down the time before
they would be skewered by the grate of spikes that were bearing
down on them. "It's impossible!"

Rei looked around the room and studied it for any possible
solutions. After a few moments, she came across an idea. "No."
She bent down and, in one deft movement, she unsheathed her
sword and slashed the hourglass. Before the shards of glass hit
the ground, everything stopped abruptly. "It is not impossible."
 She finished as she replaced her kodachi(A type of short sword).
The spike ceiling started to rise to its original place. The little
alcove that held the scroll opened up and, at its rear, the pedestal
holding the scroll slid back. Kensuke stared at Rei with his
mouth agape. She gave him an impassive glance before she went
through the opening.

As the two entered the final chamber, a cloaked figure faded
into existence behind the pedestal. "Congratulations." The man
picked up the scroll. "Now, step up and claim your prize."
Kensuke approached him while Rei looked on. He opened the
scroll. "This is the Scroll of Water and Ice. Make your decision."

"Huh?"

"Water or Ice. Choose."

Kensuke scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Um...
Water, I guess."

"Very well." After a short invocation, the scroll in his hands
broke up into lights colored two different shades of blue. The
deeper blue flew and circled around Kensuke, while the lighter
blue swirled around Rei. As the man started to fade away, Rei
and Kensuke were blinded by a bright light that flooded the
room from the pedestal. The next time they opened their eyes,
they found themselves back at the Blue base in time for the
announcement of the points they picked up.

Kensuke sat down to take a breath. "Where are you going?"
He asked Rei as he noticed her heading for the door.

"I am going to see if I can find the others. We should get
together and formulate a plan of action to ensure that we win."

Kensuke was impressed with her analytical thinking, though
not for the first time. She had displayed the same type of
thinking in the previous scenario they all had played. He noticed,
though, that she still spoke with her usual apathetic tone. It
seemed to him that the only times that he'd heard her speak in a
different way was when she had everyone's attention or when
Shinji was around. Kensuke assumed it was because Shinji was
the only one to not be swayed away by her usual demeanor and actually tried to talk to her. His thoughts were interrupted by a
sound right outside the door. It sounded like someone hit the
ground. Thought Kensuke. As he got to the door, he heard Rei's
quiet voice.

"Your group of friends has an odd habit of knocking me to
the ground."

Kensuke froze in place. Did she just make a joke? It was the
first time he'd heard her not be serious. He looked out the door
to see Rei on the ground, Asuka staring down at her with an
angry look on her face, and Shinji a few meters back chuckling a
bit.  That explains it.

Asuka glared down at the pale-skinned girl on the ground.
She was angry. The girl had popped out just as she came in out
of the forest. What was worse was the fact Shinji was laughing.
Asuka thought he was laughing at her. She didn't take Rei's
comment as a joke. The only solace she had at the moment was
the fact that Toji wasn't there. She had heard someone crawling
around in the bushes and she sent Toji to draw him out and buy
her some time. After that, she found Shinji and told him come
with her.

Shinji, with a smile, walked over to Rei and offered her his
hand. She took it gratefully. When she smiled at him, he nearly
dropped her. In the few days she'd spent in the city, a smile on
her face was very rare. Shinji'd already seen it a few times, but it
still floored him. That small, warm smile was in complete
contrast with her usual icy disposition that she exhibited in
school and in public.

Asuka spoke up. "All right. We're just missing the last
Stooge..." Just then, Kensuke came out, with Toji right behind
him. "Oh, never mind. There he is."

"Very funny." Toji answered curtly. "It turns out that the
guy in the bushes was the Red Team leader. I was running to
attack him and all he does is hold out his hand and yell out
'quake.' And suddenly the ground starts shaking. I lost my
balance and fell."

Asuka laughed. "Well, that's because you're a clumsy oaf. I
wouldn't have fallen."

"Shut up!" Toji growled. Asuka just smirked. "Anyway,
while I was getting up he threw these things at me."

"Kunais(In this case, Small blades, used  as projectile
weapons)?" Shinji offered.

"Yeah, that's it. I wonder how he did it..."

"He must have gotten the earth spell scroll." Rei reasoned.
"Keeping his kill count down will be a challenge."

"How so?" Questioned Shinji.

"He has an excellent strategy." Rei pointed out. "He can use
the quake spell to immobilize us, and then kill us."

Asuka interrupted. "So? We can always take to the air."

"If we jump up when the ground starts shaking, we will be
easy targets." Rei answered in her usual calm voice.

"Wait, if he was able to do that after getting the earth scroll.
Then..." Shinji's eyes lit up with realization. "Thunder!" He
shouted suddenly. The air around him crackled with energy as
bolts of electricity rained down around him. "Whoa..." He
whispered in awe.

"Wow!" Kensuke exclaimed. He turned his palm toward a
tree. "Water!" A bubble of water appeared above the tree then
abruptly dropped onto it.

"Hmm." Rei did the same, though with a considerately less
amount of enthusiasm. "Blizzard." The tree was split in half by a
huge block of ice. Seconds after the ice hit the ground, the block
broke up and disappeared. "Interesting. Perhaps was a bit rash of
me to assume the leader of the Red Team had an advantage."

"Oh, yeah!" Asuka cried out. "I almost forgot! I got one of
the scrolls too." She ran into the base. Seconds later a ball of fire
sailed out of the door.

"Hey!" Shouted Kensuke as he grabbed his singed hair.
"You know, the pain simulators in this game can be too realistic
sometimes. When was the technology for making a neural
connection that stimulates the pain sensors of the brain made,
anyway."

Rei started to answer, but was interrupted by Asuka. "What's
wrong? Not man enough to take the pain Aida? Who cares,
anyway?"

"Well, now that we know we can do these spells. We should
try to go for a big lead. I say we go for the Red Team's crest."
Shinji said.

Asuka was surprised. "Wow, Shinji. After all these years,
you finally grew a spine. I figured you'd want to wait around
here until they came for our crest." Shinji frowned at her. She
just smiled. Teasing Shinji about his shy nature was always fun
for her.

They got together and formulated a plan. Kensuke and Toji
stayed back while Shinji, Asuka, and Rei set off for the Red base
on a mission.

[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]=======[ ]

"Su... zu... ha... ra!" Hikari yelled, stressing every syllable.
Though she was happy that they won, she was still angry. "Why
did you keep going after Shinji-kun like that!?!"

"Uh..." Toji reeled back. He didn't really want to say. And
he really didn't want to face an angry Hikari, so he hid behind
Shinji.

Hikari didn't want to go through Shinji, so she just settled
for glaring at Toji.

Shinji decided to intervene. "It's okay, Hikari-san. He's just
angry about something I said earlier."

Hikari fixed her glare onto Shinji. "First, that's no excuse.
And second, would you stop being so formal with me?! You've
known me as long as you've known Toji and Kensuke and you
still call me -san!"

Shinji bowed his head. "Gomen(Sorry). I didn't realize..."

Hikari's expression softened. "It's okay, Shinji-kun." She
put on a serious face again. "Just don't do it again."

Shinji managed a meek "Hai(Yes)."

Hikari giggled.

As Toji watched the two, the green-eyed creature known as
jealousy crept into his mind.

Asuka and Kensuke both held back a laugh. Toji's plight
was very entertaining.

Rei watched passively. She couldn't grasp why Suzuhara
was getting upset over Horaki and Ikari-kun's exchange.

They talked outside the VR center for a while before
deciding to leave for home.

First to break off was Kensuke. He left with a one last
private shot at Toji about Hikari.

Next, they reached the point on their route where Hikari had
to separate from them. Toji called out to her. "Hey, Inchou(Class Representative)."

"What, Suzuhara?"

"Um, can I walk you home? I need to talk to you about
something."

"Uh, sure." They both left for the Horaki residence.

A while down the road, the remaining three found
themselves at the last break off point.

"I will see you both tomorrow." Rei said as she turned to
leave for her home.

Shinji followed her. "I'll go with you, Ayanami."

Both girls quirked an eyebrow at him.

"I just don't trust the neighborhood you live in."

"And I don't deserve the same protection?" Asuka teased
with a mock hurt expression.

Shinji laughed. "Since when did you need anyone to protect
you, Asuka?"

Asuka laughed as well as they turned to leave. She watched
them for a moment before leaving for the apartment.

To Be Continued...

Sorry to the miniscule amount of people who were possibly waiting for this next installment in this series.
Though, it's probably a number less than one anyway... ^_^; My pre-reader's been busy and couldn't get
back to me for a while. And the fact it takes me two to three weeks to write something even remotely
satisfactory to myself doesn't help matters either... If anyone would like to take some of the workload off
her and think they can stand being in contact with some as weird as me, E-mail me at
LQsniper@MSN.com. I could use another pre-reader to annoy.

Anyway, I know someone's going to ask about Maya. So, I'll address that right here. I want to keep as
much of the cast in this story as possible, and I couldn't see any plausible way to bring in the bridge crew
other than making them students in the school. And also, about Toji's sister... Out of all the fics I've read
Mari came up as the most common name for her, so that's the one I used. Get it? Got it? Good.

Pop Quiz! Alright everyone! Clear your desks and pull out a piece of paper.

(1) Name the series Kotoko, Mari, and Nozomi's friends are from.

(2) What movie was the end of the gauntlet from?

(3) Where did I get the idea of the spells from?

Okay, pencils down. I said, pencils down! You, in the back! Automatic 'F,' anyone else? Good. Anyone
who gets all the answers right gets... uhh... nothing! Aren't I the best? Heh, don't mind me... I'm an idiot.

Okay, I'm sure you're all tired of my longwindedness(is that a real word?), so I'll shut up now.