Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Note: Italics are the lyrics of the song.

The Swedish Royal House proudly presents:

The Talent Hunt

Chapter 3: Rei's Performance/ Broken Silence.

 D-day

19:30 PM

Tokyo-3 Municipal High School, Gymnasium.

Shinji was making his way through the audience towards his friends. He was still in his Jonathan Davis costume, which earned him a few curious glances and to his infinite embarrassment, a couple of standing ovations from the local Headbangers.

 Another one of his classmates had taken the stage in a homemade Elvis costume and was mercilessly butchering "Blue Hawaii", one less competitor to worry about. 

If he remembered correctly Rei would be next, and he was extremely curious about her performance. What kind of music did she like anyway? Once more he realised just how little he knew about the pale girl, and he probably knew her better than anyone else in school.

When he finally found his friends he got some rather odd reactions.

"Shinji my man, that was totally awesome!" Touji exclaimed.

"Never knew you had it in you." Kensuke admitted while patting him proudly on the back.

"You know, I saw KoRn live once back in collage. Yeah those were the days." Misato mused, lost in her own little world, as she laid an affectionate arm around his shoulders.

Asuka however, said nothing. She merely looked at Shinji with a curious frown, as if seeing him for the first time.

Frankly it was making him very nervous.

"That was an…interesting…performance Ikari." A soft voice said.

Shinji turned and found himself staring into a pair of crimson eyes.

"Oh, hi Rei, did you think so?" he felt himself starting to blush without any apparent reason. He always seemed to embarrass himself in front of Rei.

"Yes, I do." She answered, "I must go and make some preparations now."

And with that she vanished into the crowd.

"You know, I'm curious about that one. I mean its REI for God's sake! What kind of music does she listen to?  Touji ranted.

Shinji could do nothing but agree.

***

Rei was sitting in front of a mirror making some last minute adjustments to her make-up.

 At that moment Mr. Yoshida walked in, he still had problems adjusting to her new look, it was the wig, he decided.

"So Rei, are you nervous?" He asked the pale girl.

"Yes." She answered simply, she looked like the same old Rei to him, but what the hell did he know.

At that moment the Elvis-imitator was booed of the stage, smiling for no apparent reason.

"I think they liked me, my mom said I was really good. What do you think Mr. Yoshida?"

"Top of the pops kid. Now go and join your friends."

"Poor kid, he is still in denial. There aught to be a law to protect innocent music from people like him." He thought as the kid scampered of towards the audience.

"Ok Rei, I will announce you now. You just wait for your cue ok." He said and walked onto the stage.

***

Hikari had been delayed at home. The washer had exploded, spreading water and unmentionables everywhere, and she had been forced to mop it all up, and afterwards she had to change her clothes and annoy her family until they had gotten themselves into the car. She wouldn't have to get ready for at least an hour, but she had already missed Shinji's performance and would soon miss Reis (I mean, it's REI for crying out loud!) if they didn't pick up the pace.

"Come on dad! Run the red lights!" she hollered as they sped down the road at speeds that would even make Misato impressed.

"TRUCK!" Kodama shouted as they narrowly missed a FedEx truck coming out from a side street.

"For the love of God dad! Slow down! Nozomi pleaded.

"I would like to, but your sister is giving me that look again, and I fear that she will hurt me if I slow down." He answered while glancing nervously in Hikari's direction.

"Don't get me wrong dad, I love you and all, but if we miss Rei you'll get dog food for a month, get it?" Hikari threatened with a dangerous look on her face. After all, she was responsible for the cooking and thus controlled the entire house.

"WHAT?!" Up until now Kodama had been praying silently to the God of all traffic victims to spare her and her family. But even she had heard of the fabled "Ice-Queen of 2A".  

"You mean Rei 'The Popsicle' Ayanami is performing? Step on it dad!" she shouted.

They arrived at the school with two whole minutes to spare.

 The three sisters ran towards the school while their father was desperately searching for a parking space, as they entered they were surprised by the large turn up and started to elbow their way towards the front. After a short while they found Asuka standing together with the rest of the gang.

"Hey Asuka. Did we miss Rei?" Hikari asked her friend.

"No, Wondergirl is up any second now. " she replied, "Why the hell are you so interested?"

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Hikari looked at Asuka's scowling face, "Don't tell me you're not curious!"

"HAH! Like I would ever care about what that stupid doll is doing!" she replied and stuck her nose in the air.

In fact she was ready to explode with curiosity. Finally Wondergirl was showing something resembling an actual personality, and Asuka was dying to know what was hiding beneath that cool, emotionless exterior.

"By the way, who did Shinji do?" Hikari asked.

"Some guy called Jonathan Davies." Asuka answered with a somewhat odd expression on her face.

"I almost touched him that one time." Misato commented, still lost somewhere on memory lane, "Five security guards had to drag me of the stage." She added proudly.

Before Hikari could ask what that was all about, Mr. Yoshida walked onto the stage and took place behind the mike.

"Ok folks, here is what you have all been waiting for, I know I have. Rei Ayanami as Liv Kristine!"  With that he left the stage, and immediately it started to fill up with smoke, and was lit by a couple of white spotlights, giving an impression of early morning mist.

"Now THAT was a surprise! I would never have guessed that she was into that kind of stuff."  Hikari Thought as a soft, slow tune started to flow over the audience.

And there she was. Slowly emerging from the mist like some form of spirit. She was dressed in a white corset, richly covered with white embroideries, with sleeves of white lace covering her arms and a long white skirt that hugged her hips tightly. The whole ensemble accentuated her body in a way that made the guys drool, and some of the girls too. On her head she wore a long, light blonde wig that cascaded down her shoulders in soft waves. Her crimson eyes, together with the red lipstick, added the perfect touch of color in the sea of white.

The audience was completely speechless as she slowly walked over to the mike, and started to sing.

"She's the month of June

A summer's tune

The wind that blows
The flower that grows"


Her voice was soft, barely more than a whisper, but still reached the entire room. This time there was no cheering, no booing; every one just listened under complete silence.


"She'll forever be

So proud and free

A firefly

The sun in the sky"

Shinji, who had been sent to get drinks, found himself staring dumbly at the stage, unable to move a muscle.


"And forever she'll dance
It's the summer

Of her days and forever
Her heart is yours"

"In the heart of Juliet
One love she won't forget
She longs to give
Forever live
Her soul has such desire
She needs to love, admire
A tide to the shore

Searching for more"

As the song reached the chorus Hikari started to calculate her odds. She had this album herself and as far as she could see, Rei was an almost perfect likeness. "This is going to be very though to beat." She thought and continued to enjoy the song


"No vale of tears
No haunting fears

Another birth
She's joy on earth"

"Dancing like a child

So pure and wild

A virgin rose
She longs to be close"

"My God, it's beautiful." Asuka thought, and immediately pushed the thought away; she wasn't going to start liking Rei because of a stupid song. But still, it was very beautiful.

"And forever she'll dance
It's the summer

Of her days and forever
Her heart is yours"

"In the heart of Juliet
One love she won't forget
She longs to give
Forever live
Her soul has such desire
She needs to love, admire
A tide to the shore

Searching for more"

As the solo started to play, Hikari snuck away from the group and headed toward the dressing room. She needed to have a talk with Rei, and she had a feeling she was going to do a lot of that in the future.

"In the heart of Juliet
One love she won't forget
She longs to give
Forever live
Her soul has such desire
She needs to love, admire
A tide to the shore

Searching for more"

"In the heart of Juliet
One love she won't forget
She longs to give
Forever live
Her soul has such desire
She needs to love, admire
A tide to the shore

Searching for more"

As the final notes faded away there was a moment of silence, and then there was a massive roar of applause, as Rei quietly left the stage.

As she entered the dressing room she found Hikari waiting for her.

"Tell me Rei, do you only listen to Liv's solo album or do you like Theatre of Tragedy as well?" she asked with a little smile.

This caught Rei of guard. No one had ever asked her about this before; she had always assumed that she was the only one who listened to that kind of music in school. For a moment she just stared at the other girl.

"Well?" Hikari pressed.

"Yes, I do." Rei answered in her regular monotone.

"Before or after Musique?"

"Before of course." Rei answered, growing more confused by the minute.

"Good." Hikari said and walked up to Rei, and put her arm around the pale girls shoulders, "Rei, you and I are going to have a serious talk." She said as she led a very confused Rei out to the audience.

***

"That was just…Wow!" Touji remarked, and the two other Stooges could only nod in agreement.

Misato was still totally shell-shocked and couldn't give her opinion on the matter, so the boys turned to Asuka, prepared to hear some condescending rant about how stupid Rei was.

"Well, at least she can do something right." Asuka commented.

After a second she realised the boys were staring at her with huge, unbelieving eyes.

"What!?" she asked angrily without getting an answer.

"Oh screw you guys!" she shouted and stormed off to look for Hikari.

"That was an actual compliment… to Rei." Touji whispered, unable to believe what his ears were telling him.

"I'm going to go check if the world is ending yet." Kensuke added and walked to the door to get some fresh air.

Next: Hikari's Performance/ Revealing the Truth.

*************************

Liv Kristine is the lead singer in the band "Theatre of Tragedy". The song "In the Heart of Juliet" however, is taken from her solo album "Deus ex Machina". I once again recommend listening to the song while you read this chapter. Personally I thought it fitted perfectly for Rei, and I dare you to say otherwise.

I most apologise for the time it took to get this chapter out, I was visiting a cousin of mine for a couple of weeks, but when I actually started to write I had no problems with nailing this together.

On a different note: I need some suggestions on what artist Asuka is going to imitate, I have a few ideas but I would like some different opinions on the subject.

E-mail me at: shade_or_bust@hotmail.com with your suggestions.