Disclaimer: Evangelion: Neon Genesis is not owned by me, it's owned by GAINAX. This fanfic cannot be distributed without the clear, explicit consent of the author (me). No profit has been made from this piece.

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Kaworu retired early, at 22 o'clock, but couldn't manage to fall asleep. His mind was in turmoil, pondering upon the situation, and trying to think of what to do next. He tried of thinking up a solution to every possible scenario that Asuka could throw at him, but in the end, he just gave up. There were just too many possible situations for him to prepare for. By 1 o'clock, he was drifting in and out of sleep... Then, a wailing sound pulled him out of his light slumber. He looked around, and there was nothing but darkness. He could see some light creeping in from the crack between the door and the doorframe. Kaworu put his ear to the door, and listened closely. He could hear quite sobbing that came from Asuka's room.

"She's crying... What should I do?"

"What can you do?"

"I can try to talk to her and comfort her..."

"Yeah right, remember how she reacted to you?"

"I have to do something."

"There is nothing you can do that will help her."

"I have to at least try."

"What if you just end up making it worse?"

Kaworu cursed at himself for his inability to do anything. He returned to his bed, and eventually fell asleep despite the sobbing next door.

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

Asuka laid still in her bed, sobbing uncontrolably, with tears streaming down her cheek. Suprisingly, she didn't make an effort to stop the flow of tears from her eyes.

"And its the world against me... First my father left me... Then Mama abandoned me. Nobody understands me... Nobody even tries..."

"Thats not true. Shinji tried, but you just pushed him away."

"I don't want any pity."

"The Fifth did. You didn't even give him a chance."

"He's just trying to take advantage of me... Like everybody else... Shinji wanted me for my body. NERV wants me for my ability to pilot Eva. Nobody values me... To them, I'm just an expendable, little whinny bitch... I wonder if Ikari would've let Rei suffer like I did..."

"Suffer... It's all I do..."

"Pain... It's all I know..."

"Death... Is all I want."

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

"Wake up!!! You're going to be late for school!!!"

"What teh..."

"Get up, get up! You're almost late!"

Kaworu sat up, and tried to open his eyes, but then shut them after seeing the blazing sunlight shine into his room. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Misato leaning over him with quite a large amount of cleavage. He tried keeping his eyes off her, but found some difficulty.

"Get up! You don't want to be late to school on your first day!"

"Whaa? I have school today?"

"Yes! It's a Thursday! Now get up!"

"Ok, ok..."

Kaworu almost fell out of his bed, then straightened him. He walked to the kitchen, only to see Asuka already there. Asuka was just staring straight, lost in her own thoughts.

"Look, I have go to work, ok? Your breakfast is on the table. When you're finished, put it in the sink, then go to school. Asuka? Could you show Kaworu-kun the way to school please?"

Asuka just looked up at Kaworu, then returned to her previous position.

"Ok? Bye!"

Misato then rushed out the door, leaving it wide open.

Kaworu sighed, then closed the door after her. He sat down, and started eating his breakfast, which consisted of 2 flat pieces of burnt carbon. Misato had left a can of beer on the table, and Kaworu briefly toyed with the idea of drinking it, but then decided against it. After all, he didn't want Misato to get mad at him for stealing her beer. While he was eating, he took the opportunity to examine Asuka closely. Asuka was still dressed in her pajamas which hid her slender figure. She had a pretty face, Kaworu noted, and sliky long red hair. He would've loved to examine the rest of her, but couldn't do so without making it too obvious, so he settled for what he could see. He stared at her, completely forgetting his breakfast. After a few seconds, Asuka gave him a small glance, and Kaworu just gave a slight smile instead of adverting his gaze. He eventually finished his breakfast, brushed his teeth, then got ready to go. It was only then that he realized that he lacked the school supplies.

"Crap... First day of school, and you don't have your stuff? Not good."

"You could ask Asuka for hers..."

"Yeah right... She's not exactly very affectionate towards me, and I'm willing to bet that her pencil case is pink..."

Eventually, Kaworu decided against asking Asuka for her stuff. He returned to his room, put on his uniform, then glanced at the clock. It read 7:50. Kaworu then walked leisurely out of his room, and up to Asuka.

"Ready to go?"

Asuka looked up at Kaworu for a few seconds, then responded.

"I'm not going to school today."

She said this matter-of-factly, as though it was something a three year old boy should know.

"Oh... Um, then could you show me the way to school?"

Asuka just stood up. Then walked towards the door.

"Let's go."

"Aren't you going to get dressed first?"

"Let's go." She repeated herself, as though impatient.

"Uhh, right..."

Kaworu followed her down the hall, and into the elevator. The elevator descended, then opened at the first floor. Asuka stepped out, and Kaworu followed. Together, they walked out the building, and onto the sidewalk. Asuka took the lead, with Kaworu on her right, a few steps behind her. Together, they walked a few minutes before Kaworu spoke.

"Umm... The weather is nice."

Asuka looked up before responding.

"Its too sunny."

"But the temperature is comfortable." Kaworu said, desperately trying to start a conversation.

"Its too warm."

"Oh." Kaworu responded, not sure on how to respond to that.

Kaworu and Asuka walked for a few more minutes before Asuka suddenly stopped and turned around.

"You're going to be late. Aren't you worried?"

Kaworu just chuckled, and responded, "I'm already going to be late. A few more minutes won't matter. Why fight the inevitable?"

Asuka just blinked, as though suprised. She then quickly regained her composure, then started walking again.

"True..."

A few more minutes later, they reached the gates of the school.

"This is it. Your class is A-2. Bye."

Then Asuka turned around without saying another word.

"Bye..."

Kaworu entered, and searched the school for his room. After looking for it for ten minutes, he finally found it. He entered the room.

"Sumimasen. Osoku Narimashita " Kaworu said, with a lofty smile to show he wasn't sorry at all.

The teacher, an old man, just looked at him, then said, "Go find your seat." It was as though he didn't know that Kaworu was a new student, whuch was faine by him.

Kaworu found a seat at the end of the room, right behind a blue haired girl's.

"Yes... Ayanami, Rei. The First Child."

Kaworu looked around the room, not really paying attention to the teacher. Everybody was just leaning on their chairs, not really paying attention. Kaworu could see a few people chatting with each other, and one nerdy looking boy with freckles and glasses typing furiously. A few girls were even glancing at him, and giggling. Kaworu gave them a slight smile, which only increased their giddy laughter. He turned his computer on, which greeted him with a welcome screen. He briefly amused himself by reminding himself the number of flaws that the infamous "Windows" system, programmed in the last century, had.

Kaworu looked at the list of active members. Suzuhara, Touji... Ikari, Shinji...

"No Ayanami? Oh well, I'd prefer to speak to her face-to-face..."

After listening to the teacher lecture about the Second Impact, or more correctly, the coverup of the Second Impact, Kaworu's mind began to block him out. He scanned the room again to see what everybody else was doing. Suzuhara was leaning on his chair, staring at the ceiling. Shinji had laid his head on the desk, listening to his SDAT and trying to get some sleep at the same time. There was one girl who seemed to be trying to take notes on what the teacher was saying, but Kaworu could tell she was bored too. He redirected his attention to Rei, who was staring out of the window, into the sky. Hours passed before the bell finally rang, relieving everybody of their misery. Most of the boys rushed out of the room, while some of the girls remained in the room or on the balcony, chatting loudly. Rei, however, just sat there, and kept staring out the window like she did before. The bell rang again, signaling the end of recess. Everybody returned to the room, obviously dreading what was to come. Lunch came, then ended. Kaworu had a few friendly conversations with some people, mostly girls, but still didn't have the chance to talk to who he wanted to. Finally, the last bell of the day rang, and everybody packed up their things and left. Kaworu got up, and followed Rei out the classroom. Kaworu followed her until there was nobody around to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Hello Ayanami."

Hearing this, Rei turned around, and looked at him. Kaworu noted that she was a few centimeters shorter than him.

"Who are you." Rei stated coldly, without emotion.

"I'm Kaworu Nagisa, the Fifth Child."

Rei's eyes expanded a little in suprise.

"Pleased to meet you, Rei."