Disclaimer: I own everythin . . . Opps, wrong court . . .

_______________EVANGELION_GODS_WINGS__________________

Shinji awoke with a start. His breath was shallow and fast, like he had been running. Light was shining in his eyes, and he closed them instinctively. Images flashed before him. Evangelion. Father. Angel.

Shinji bolted upright in the bed he was laying on. It took a minute for him to settle down and observe his surroundings.

'This isn't my room . . .' Everything was sanitary white, and devoid of almost all furnishings save the bed he laid on, a dresser with a glass of water resting on top, and a few windows.

'It wasn't a dream . . . damn. But what happened? I don't remember . . .'

The scene replayed in his mind for the young Ikari. Rising out of the launch tube. His not so successful attempt at walking. Being lifted up by the Angel. The Angel breaking his arm. Crying out in pain. His head being split open and slammed into a building. Then . . . Then . . .

'Nothing. . . I can't remember anything after . . .'

Shinji sat in silence, the minutes feeling like hours as he waited for anyone to come and tell him what was going on. He lay in bed for hours, staring out the window of his room.

Hours past and no one came to visit or check up on the young man. Not even a nurse. Only one living being came to see him, and it wasn't human. A scraping sound outside of the room's window had surprised Shinji out of his mind's vegetable state.

Sitting, perched outside of his window, was a large bird. A hawk, to be exact. It sat on the sill of the window, looking around the inside of Shinji's room until it gaze rested on Shinji.

As Shinji looked into the hawk's eyes, he began to admire them. Those eyes had a superior quality to them, expressing a level of confidence and pride, which Shinji had no real experience of. The eyes made Shinji feel empty inside.

The hawk turned and spread it's wings to the full length, blocking a majority of the window and the light that once streamed through the glass and awoke Shinji from his sleep. The outline of the hawk's shadow enclosed Shinji completely in darkness before the hawk launched off the sill of the window.

'I envy you . . .' thought the young Ikari as he watched the hawk disappear from his view.

After gazing out the window for five more minutes, Shinji determined that the hawk was not coming back. 'I think I'll leave here too.' Shinji glanced down to make sure the hospital gown he was wearing was secure and covered all necessary components, then swung his legs over the edge of the bed and walked out of the room.

Outside of his room was just as plain as inside. The hallway outside of his door was all white, and sunlight poured in from a row of windows across from the doors lining the hallway. Other than room numbers, there was no difference between the rooms.

Shinji leaned again the far wall and stared out at the Geofront's interior, gazing out at the lake and pyramid shaped building he had only seen once since arriving in Tokyo-3. However, the noise of squeaky wheels coming down from the far end of the hall persuaded him to look up towards the source of the noise.

Two women clad in white were wheeling a hospital bed down the hallway. The bed's occupant was the blue-haired girl he had held before agreeing to pilot. The same girl whom he had seen before his first encounter with an Angel.

'Rei Ayanami, I think . . . you look familiar to me, but I don't know why . . .'

As the group moved past Shinji, he noticed that the uncovered red eye of the girl was looking right into his own eyes. Her other eye was covered in gauze.

'Your red eye . . . why do you stare at me? . . . Is it because your in pain . . . or because I piloted for you?'

Rei's cold, red eye gave no answers for the confused boy as her bed moved farther down the hall, eventually out of his sight and leaving the boy once again alone with his thoughts.

~0~

After finding his clothes back in his room, Shinji had decided he didn't want to stay in that place anymore. He dressed himself, and without anyone stopping him, he left the building. He found himself in front of a large field, with few real structures in sight. Guessing how large the complex was, to hold Evangelions and such, he figured there would be more buildings. This lead him to believe that most of the facilities here had to be underneath him, covered by the grass and lake he stood on and next.

Shinji sat down at the edge of the man-made lake and breathed in the recycled air around him. He stared up at the top of the Geofront. He could still plainly make out the skyscrapers that hung upside down from the ceiling.

A flutter of a shadow passing over him startled Shinji, and he scanned the skies for the source. He found it a moment later.

'Hello. . . We meet again. . .'

The hawk was aloft in the sky, making lazy circles around the field. There didn't seem to be any reason for the hawk to be flying right now, and it seemed to Shinji that it was just flying for fun.

The thought of flying just for the fun of it, enjoying life, brought a small smile to Shinji's face as he watched the bird.

The hawk screeched, as if announcing it's existence to the world, and continued to glide along the currents provided by whatever gave this dome it's air and wind. It continued its lazy circles before turning into a patch of woods nearby.

As Shinji watched the hawk disappear, he heard footsteps behind him. Turning, he saw Misato approaching him. She looked exhausted, but a happy- go-lucky smile on her face concealed some of her fatigue to the young boy. She sat down next to him.

"Misato?"

"Hey, Shinji. Sorry I couldn't come visit you earlier, I've been busier than a bee."

"It's alright." Shinji lay back down on the grass, looking out at the woods where the hawk had disappeared, hoping that it would come back so he could watch it fly again.

The two sat in silence for a moment before Misato spoke up again.

"Shinji, um . . . how do you feel?"

"Alright, I guess. . ." Shinji didn't turn to face her. He just continued to look at the forest while laying down on the grass.

"That's good."

"Hmmm."

Another moment passed.

"Hey, Shinji, what are you doing here, anyway? Why did you leave the hospital?"

"Was I supposed to stay there?"

"No, you weren't really in intensive care or anything, so it wasn't really important that you stayed. I just wished you told someone you were leaving. It makes tracking you down easier."

"Hmmm."

"You haven't answered my question."

"Hmmm? Oh, what am I doing?"

"Yeah. I'm just curious."

"Bird watching, I guess."

Misato smirked at Shinji. "Haven't spotted any, have you?"

"Yes, I have . . ."

"Huh?" Misato sounded generally confused by his response.

"I, um, saw a hawk flying around earlier before you came."

"Shinji, that's impossible." Shinji looked at the young major in confusion. "The Geofront doesn't have any wildlife inside. Not even insects. There's no way a hawk can even get in here, let alone survive."

"Well, I'm pretty sure I saw one . . ."

Misato shrugged. "I doesn't matter, I guess. But I need you to come with me. I have to get some more paperwork and find you a place to stay here in Tokyo-3."

" . . . Alright." Misato stood up, and offered a hand to the boy.

~0~

Shinji was right in guessing most of the facilities were underground. Save for the hospital, a few other Administrative buildings and security stations, everything was underneath the Geofront's man-made fields.

Shinji walked behind Misato, making sure he didn't loose her in the massive complex. This time, she seemed to know where she was going, but he held back any comments, not wanting to upset the major. They came to a set of elevators, and Misato indicated she was going down.

As the elevators opened, Shinji gasped in shock as Gendo Ikari stood behind the doors. Gendo stared down at his son, not showing any sign of emotion.

Shinji turned away from the imposing figure of his father, and waited for the doors to close and take the commander wherever it was that he was going.

Misato watched the boy in earnest, trying to figure out what was going on in the young boy's mind as he stood there watching the elevator's floor indicator drop down, showing the car descending into the lowest levels of the complex.

She turned away from the boy and summoned another elevator.

~0~

"So you don't want to live with your father?"

Shinji didn't look at Misato, but nodded his head.

Misato sighed, and pulled up the register for housing inside the Geofront. Both Gendo and Shinji had requested that they live separately, and considering the relationship between them, or lack thereof, it didn't really surprise her. Unfortunately, that led to a problem in her eyes.

Shinji didn't have any income. He had been living with distant relatives and teachers before coming to Tokyo-3, and he was still in school. There was no way he could afford any sort of decent apartment. Therefore, he would probably either end up in an old run-down apartment left over from when Tokyo-3 was being built, like Rei was, or one of the small, drab rooms that inhabited the Geofront.

And either way he would be alone, cut off from the world.

"You know that you'll probably end up alone, right?"

Shinji shrugged. "That's alright. I'm alone anyways. I don't really care . . ."

Misato saw the sad look in the young man's eyes, and decided to do something rash. She quickly pulled up a request from her computer, filled it out in record time, and printed it out. Misato ran out of the office to get approval for it, leaving Shinji watching her in confusion.

She returned about fifteen minutes later, smiling, and told him what she did.

~0~

"Are you nuts, Misato?!?"

"That's right, I'm taking Shinji to live with me at my place. It's already been approved, Risuko. This way he won't be living alone." Misato told her friend over her cell phone as she packed up for the day, ready to get Shinji to his new home.

"Have you given any thought as to how to even take care of him? This isn't like back in college, Misato!"

"Don't worry, it's not like I'm going to be making passes at him."

"You had better not! You're completely shameless, you know! Do you have any idea . . ."

Misato held the phone well away from her ear to avoid damage to her eardrums. "Geez, can't even take a joke . . ."

"I heard that!"

"Ritsuko, this is my decision and you can't make me change it. This is the right thing to do. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

Misato hung up the phone and sighed. She didn't want sarcasm, she had hoped that her old friend would give her some support.

"I guess she's just stressed out over Unit one." Misato thought out loud. Shinji tilted her head and looked at her curiously.

"Come on, Shinji, we have to make a few stops before going home."

'Home . . .?'

~0~

One could tell Ritsuko's mood and stress level but how fast she drank her coffee. Light stress days, like Magi maintenance, a cup of coffee would be forgotten and cold before she finished it. On a normal day, she would only sip it, and a cup lasted about fifteen minutes. On a busy day, she drank it like juice, and a cup lasted five minutes.

Today, staring at the bandaged face of Unit one from the observation deck, she drank a cup in one sitting, meaning a cup lasted about ten seconds or less before she went to get another one.

"Well, Ritsuko, what do you think?"

The doctor turned to her favorite aid, Maya, whom was engrossed at her terminal. Glancing at it, she recognized the power readings and electromagnetic pulses coming from the Eva. Both were reading zero.

"I can't say what yet, Maya. So far there haven't been any thermal or electromagnetic emissions from the Eva, and it's S2 organ that was absorbed from the Angel has been completely inactive, from what we can tell. It's being restrained by it's cage, and the Magi keep constant tabs on it. But I don't think we can really trust it."

"Why do you say that?"

"First off, this Eva has already ripped out of restraints before when it saved Shinji from that falling debris. Second, just because its inactive now doesn't mean it won't in the future. It's like a predator hiding. You can't tell it's there until it strikes."

"There's just too many unknowns right now."

"That's correct. All we can really do right now is repair it and replace the armor that was stripped off, then monitor it. Honestly, I don't think we can trust this thing right now. A single Eva, even with just five minutes of power has enough firepower to level entire cites. This Eva now has an unlimited amount of power. Plus, we don't have any idea what other abilities it might have gained when it absorbed the Third Angel. Having anyone pilot it right now is just too dangerous."

"Isn't that why we're bringing in Unit 02 from Germany?"

"Yeah. So far, Unit 02 has shown to be a lot more reliable than both Unit 00 and Unit 01."

"How long until Unit 02 arrives?"

"The air carriers for the Eva's aren't ready yet, so they're shipping it by sea. They should be prepping the Eva for transport now and gathering the escort fleet for it. They should be arriving in Japan a week from tomorrow."

~0~

" . . . I never expected this place to become a battleground. My husband says that the kids and me should leave, so that at least we'll be safe. This might be a fortress, but that's no guarantee for safety."

Shinji listened to those words, spoken by someone he didn't know as he and Misato waited in a checkout line. His eyes narrowed as he thought about them. Those people were scarred because of something he did. He didn't like it.

Misato seemed to notice his worry as she stood watching him.

Later, Shinji sat in the small blue sports car. The damage to it from the Angel attack was still evident when you looked at the bumper and the roof. He sat quietly in his seat, partly because that's the way he was, and partly in shock at the enormous amount of instant food and beer stuffed in the sack that sat in his lap.

Misato turned to the boy, smiling. "There's one more stop I want to make before we head home and have our little party."

"Party?"

"Yeah, a welcoming home party for my new roomie!"

" . . .." Shinji sat in shock. He didn't know what to say.

Misato didn't say anything else either. They continued in silence, Misato smiling and Shinji wondering what the heck he was getting into by moving in with this unpredictable woman.

The minutes past, and Shinji realized that they were traveling a good distance outside the city. He was even more surprised when Misato turned off the road and headed down a gravel road leading towards the mountains. However, they didn't travel far before stopping.

"Here, Shinji, this is what I wanted to show you." Misato exited the car, and Shinji followed her, having a little more difficulty getting out because of the heavy sack that sat in his lap.

Checking out his surroundings, he noticed that Misato was leaning up against some railing. The sun was setting, giving the surrounding area a golden glow and outlining the Major against the sky. He walked up to the edge of the railing next to Misato.

The view was amazing, had there been anything to see. Tokyo-3 was beneath them, and it looked flat and plain.

'It looks desolate, lonely . . . like there's no one there . . .'

"The city looks so empty . . ."

Misato only watches her watch, not really paying attention to him. About two minutes pass before she speaks up. "It's time."

Sirens going off in the distance surprise Shinji, and before he realizes it, the buildings that were pulled underground during the Angel attack rise up to their normal positions above the Geofront.

"The buildings! They're . . . they're growing!"

Misato smiled. "This city is a fortress a mankind, built to stand up against the Angels. This is the city that you saved. Without you, everyone here would have been killed."

'I . . . I saved this city?' I sounded foreign to Shinji, something that he never really would have considered himself doing. 'But, if I saved it, why don't I remember it?'

The buildings stopped rising, and Shinji could hear the large deadbolts locking into place, holding the buildings at their current height. As he stared out at the city, he decided that it didn't look desolate at all. It looked magnificent, and full of life in the setting sun.

A hawk again came into Shinji's field of view, catching his attention. It flew towards the city and into the setting sun before he once again lost it.

"C'mon Shinji, I want to get this party started!"

Shinji shook out of his reverie and noticed Misato waiting for him near her car.

"Sorry!" Shinji sprinted over to where the car was parked.

~0~

Holding the bag of what Misato called groceries, what anyone else would have called a bag of gunk frozen into easily microwavable packages, Shinji followed Misato into the elevator of the apartment complex. They rose up six floors, then exited and down the hallway.

Misato pulled out some keys and unlocked the door with the nametag M. Katsuragi. "Your stuff already has been brought here. Those guys sure do things fast." Said Misato, pointing down to three boxes next to the door before entering the room. "I just moved in myself, but make yourself at home."

Misato turned around to see Shinji standing just outside the door. "I, um, don't want to intrude . . ."

"Shinji, this is your home now."

" . . . ." Shinji stood quietly, but then took a step inside the door. "I'm . . . home."

Misato smiled. "Welcome home."

"Sorry, but it's a little messy."

"This is. . . a little messy?!?" The counters and tables were covered in empty and half-full beer cans and liquor bottles. Trash bags covered the floor and came up to his knees in some places. What he could see of the floor made him guess that the color wasn't what the original floor color.

"Oh, hey, would you please put the food in the fridge? Thanks!"

Shinji wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that with all of this junk around. He waded through the garbage towards one of the two big white boxes in the room and opened the door to the appliance he was pretty sure was a fridge. But in this apartment, he couldn't be sure if that was it or what the gunk sticking to the bottom of his shoe was.

The contents surprised the boy. "Ice . . . snacks . . . and fifty cans of beer? What kind of lifestyle does she lead? And what the heck am I getting myself into?"

As Shinji filled the fridge with more snacks and beer, he looked up to the other white appliance that he was pretty sure was another fridge. "Hey, Misato?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"What's in the other fridge?" 'Please let it be something edible . . .'

"Oh, that, never mind that, he's probably still sleeping."

"Sleeping?" 'Hoy boy.'

Misato came out of her room, having changed from her Nerv uniform to a pair of very short shorts and tank top that didn't leave much to the imagination. Shinji blushed at the site of her.

Misato grinned. "Well, we had better get the hard part done."

"Hard part?" 'Don't think like that, Shinji . . .'

Misato put a printout schedule on the table, indicated to Shinji to sit opposite of her, and held out her hand in a fist.

Five minutes later . . .

"Last one . . . paper, scissors, stone! Ha! Shinji for Saturday trash. That was a pretty even way to split up the chores, huh?"

Shinji looked down at the job sheet. There were two meals on it, breakfast, dinner, trash, and cleaning for each day. It ended up with Shinji doing almost everything everyday. Right there and then he decided to get a lot better at paper, rock, scissors or else he could be in for a lot of unfair work in this apartment.

"Well, now that's finished, let's eat!"

Shinji was curious on what they were planning to eat until she pulled out some of the microwavable snacks out of the fridge, along with four cans of beer. 'She can't be serious . . .'

Misato finished nuking the meals, and handed one to Shinji. "Let's eat!"

"Yeah . . . let's eat . . ." Shinji stared down at his meal with a lot less enthusiasm than his new guardian, and hoped it wouldn't kill him to eat it.

"I know it's all instant, but really, it's not that bad."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Yes, yes, yes . . . is that all you have to say?!?" Misato reached across the table, grabbing his head with her right hand and gave it a playful toss. "It's getting on my nerves! You're a man, so act like one!"

"Y-Y-Yes Ma'am!" Shinji stuttered.

Misato sat down, and gave a long sigh. "Well, I guess that's just the way you are." Misato grabbed one of the beers sitting on the table and gave it a long pull. "Yeeeaaaah! That's the stuff! Life just doesn't get any better than this!"

Shinji found the floor to be very interesting, staring down at it to avoid Misato's outbursts.

Misato smiled. "Hey, you don't you take a bath? Yeah, bathing clears the mind and soul."

Shinji nodded, if only to get out of the awkward situation he was in. He quickly left the kitchen and headed into the changing room outside the bathroom. As he stripped he tried not to pay attention to the women's underwear hanging on a drying rack. He opened the door to be greeted by a penguin, wearing a towel and shaking water off its body.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Shinji dashed out of the changing room and back into the kitchen to alert Misato of the intruding animal.

"Misato! There's a P-P-P a P-P a Pen . . ."

Shinji stopped as the animal calmly crossed in front of him, still wrapped in its towel, and proceed to the second fridge. It used one of its claws to hit the open button, then turned to look at the Third Child again before retiring into its bed within.

"Oh, him? Don't worry; he's your other roommate. He's one of those new warm-water penguins." Misato picked up her beer and gave it a gulp. "Trying to show off to me, Shinji?"

Shinji looked down and realized how much he was showing. He gasped, and covered up with his arms as he retreated into the privacy of the changing room.

Misato just smiled. 'I guess I should be nicer to him, but he's just so fun to tease!'

~0~

Shinji sat in the bath, thinking about what was going on. Misato's word came to him. 'Bathing clears the mind and the soul!'

'But bad memories always find me in the bath.' A flash of bad memory hit him. 'Father . . .'

"Leave!"

'Why am I here? Should I leave? What's keeping me here?'

"This is the city you saved, Shinji. This is your home now."

'But what did I do?'

Images of Rei lying down in the hospital bed, and then of her trying to get up out of it to pilot but yelling in pain flashed in his mind. He could still remember the blood on his hand as he held her after being thrown from that bed. Her blood.

'Is that why I stay? To keep others from feeling pain?'

The only response his mind gave him was the image of a hawk, flying across the city into the sunlight.

No more answers came to him, and he decided that he had stayed in the bath long enough.

Shinji dressed himself in one of the uniforms he found in his closet. His stuff lay in boxes as he still hadn't bothered to unpack it. He did dig through it to get one precious item from the boxes. His SDAT lay now next to his pillow, playing the soft music he had come to love when his mind was troubled.

A School Transfer application stood on his desk. Misato had already filled it out, probably. All he had to do was turn it in when he arrived to his new school in two days.

"Another unfamiliar ceiling. Of course, there's no place in this city that's familiar."

Shinji stared up at the ceiling, and once again memories came to him.

And for some reason, the first memory that hit him was a roar. The Eva's roar.

'Did Eva roar?' Shinji closed his eyes, and images played out before him. Eva unit 01, with him inside, smashed up against the building. Blood streamed from the split head. And the Eva jerked. The armor on its stomach exploded. The eye glowed blood red, and the mouth opened.

'Eva did roar. . .'

Unit one charged the Angel, and ripped through the AT field.

'AT field? What is that? How do I know this?'

The Eva pinned the helpless Angel down, and brought it's mouth down on it.

Shinji felt sick. He didn't know why he couldn't remember this before, and now remember with such vivid detail. He remembered the blood, the ripping sounds of tearing Angel, even for reasons he could not explain, the taste of the Angel as it entered the Eva's mouth.

It never occurred to him that these memories might have not been his.

~0~

"YAWN!" Misato stumbled out of her room, sleepy eyed and not really functioning all that well. Yesterday had been the day after the Angel attack, and the situation was hectic. There was just so much to do, like getting the city ready for more Angel attacks, prepping for the arrival of Unit 02 and its pilot, keeping tabs on Unit 01 and trying to get Unit 00 ready again for combat . . . it was just tiring.

It was a good thing Shinji had moved in with her. He proved to be a great help. Already he had cleaned a good portion of the house, and even took care of her only chore yesterday because she had been so tired.

She entered the kitchen, not surprised to see Shinji already there; stirring a pot that she guessed was Miso soup. Also, she saw that some other light breakfast items already ready for consumption. Then Misato suddenly remembered that it was her turn today to cook breakfast.

"Oh, good morning Misato!"

"Grumble, grumble. . ."

Shinji sighed and tossed her one of her best stimulants. He learned fast that Misato wasn't an agreeable person in the morning until she's had at least one beer. He didn't want a repeat of yesterday morning, when he stood between her and the first beer of the day. His neck still wasn't feeling quite right after that incident.

"YEE-HAW! Now that's the way to start your morning!"

Shinji didn't say anything as he pulled down two clean bowls and poured some of his soup into both of them, and placed them on the table. Misato started on her bowl immediately as Shinji started to make some toast for himself and fish for Pen Pen, the warm water penguin.

"So, Shinji, are you excited?"

"About what?"

"Your going to school today, right? Your first day, so are you excited?"

"I don't know . . ."

" . . . You certainly are strange."

"Hmmm."

Shinji finished his toast and put the dishes he used in the sink to be cleaned when he returned from school later on that day. Deciding he better get going, Shinji grabbed his bag from his room, along with the transfer application.

"Go have fun, Shinji! You'll be home alone for a few hours after you get back, I have a lot to do at headquarters today. You have a key, right?"

"Yes, Misato. Bye."

"Bye Shinji. Don't be afraid!"

~0~

"I'm telling you, man, there had to have been at least a few casualties, and maybe even some fatalities with an explosion like that." The youth that spoke was small and wore glasses and freckles, a video camera by his side talking to another student.

The other student shook his head. "The news said that no one was hurt, Kensuke."

"Well, there's at least one casualty." A third boy walked in on the conversation, obvious muscled and athletic.

"Hey, Touji. What do you mean by that?"

"My sister's in the hospital. She's pretty bad, the doctors aren't sure she's going to make it. And to make it worse was it was from our own side! That damn giant robot of theirs knocked over some debris, and it fell on my sister! Argggh, that pilot is really dumb! How could he wreck his own city like that?"

"Hey, speaking about the pilot, have you heard the rumors?"

"Huh?"

"The new kid. Over there." The freckled boy named Kensuke pointed to the silent Shinji Ikari, who sat a few desks in front of them. He had been listening to the conversation, but now that it was focused on him, he cowered in his seat.

However, before they could do anything, Hikari Hokoto entered the room and shouted "Rise, bow, be seated!"

Shinji had learned quickly to respect her. He had met her when he first came to class, as he needed to introduce himself to the class representative. He thought she was kind but a little strict.

His laptop computer, colored red to match everyone else's, was opened to his note-taking program. He was surprised when an Instant Message dialogue popped up on his computer. Glancing around the room, he noticed two girls giggling and staring at him. They typed on their computer, and another IM appeared on his screen.

It was a question. Are you the pilot of that robot? Y/N.

Shinji thought for a moment. 'Why not?' He typed 'yes' on his screen and sent it.

The entire class gasped. How they all knew at the same time when he only sent the IM to one person was beyond him. He found himself closed in around his desk, unable to escape. The teacher went on without noticing the entire class, save the track boy, camera man, and the class rep, were huddled around the flustered Shinji and not even pretending to be interested in his lecture.

"That's so cool!"

"What's it like?"

"What's it called?"

"Evangelion, but they all call it Eva . . ."

"How did you get chosen? Was there some kind of test?"

"What's its specialty weapon?"

"I don't know about any . . ."

"What is it like inside the cockpit?"

The questions continued for over half an hour, until the school bell rung for lunch. The class of 2-A were largely teenagers, and like all teenagers, food came before anything else. So they disregarded the flustered and embarrassed Eva pilot and headed outside to eat their lunches.

Shinji stood up after the class left and grabbed his own lunch, but a strong hand grabbed his color before he was halfway out the door.

"Come here!" The boy who had been complaining about his sister dragged Shinji mercilessly down the hall and outside, the freckled boy with the video camera following at a small distance. Touji dragged poor Shinji to a secluded area of the school and pulled Shinji straight up to his face. "My sister is in the hospital because of you!!"

Kensuke stayed at a distance, but did say, "Sorry about this, he's pretty upset his sister was hurt and I can't stop him."

The blow didn't come as much as a surprise as Shinji thought it would, but it didn't hurt any less. He sat in the dirt, wiping blood off his mouth. Touji scowled, and turned to leave the boy in the dirt.

"I didn't have a choice - they made me pilot the stupid thing!"

Touji stopped and turned around, stormed over to Shinji and picked him up again. He scrowled at the young boy, then threw him back down to the ground not so lightly.

Shinji watched the jock walk off in a huff, but the camera boy stayed behind, and offered his hand.

"Sorry about my friend there. He gets a little emotional this time of month. Plus, his brain isn't among the first things he thinks with."

"It's alright, I probably deserved it for what I did to his sister." Shinji accepted the boy's hand and pulled himself up. "You're Kenseke Aida, right?"

"Yep, that's me. Military nut and camera man extoridanarie! And your Shinji Ikari, right?"

"Right. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. Hey, tell me about the Evangelion or whatever you called those things. They looked pretty awesome!"

'It seems that everyone wants to know me just because I pilot Evangelion.' Thought Shinji as he listened to Kensuke's ramblings. 'Eva and nothing else. I don't think that's right.'

"Man, this is so awesome! To talk to a real pilot! . . ."

But Shinji smiled. 'But it's better than being alone.'

~0~

Shinji walked out of school alone, and started down the path towards the apartment. He was surprised to see his new friend Kensuke, along with Touji, walking down the path not to far in front of him. Shinji didn't know what to do, and apparently Kensuke and Touji hadn't seen him yet. However, he was close enough to listen in the their conversation.

"Listen, man, we should head to the arcade. There are some girls hanging around there, and I want to try to get a picture of them . . . maybe with me in it too, you know?"

"Sorry, Ken, but I'm just not in the mood. I just want to go visit her, ok? Be there for support, you know. . ."

"Yeah, I hear ya. But on that subject, about that pilot, the new guy, I've been talking to him . . ."

"You talked to that ego-bound son of a . . ."

Shinji balked. He wasn't like that at all, was he?

"Touji, you're jumping to conclusions again. He's really a nice guy. A little weird, and a little out there, but he does feel almost as bad as you do about your sister. You're just assuming that because he's an Eva pilot that he's arrogant. People make that assumption about you because you're a pitcher for our baseball team, right?"

"Say what you want."

Kensuke sighed. "There's just no convincing you sometimes, is there?"

"Listen, Ken, I have to get on this train if I want to see her in time before visiting hours end. You coming with me?"

"Nah, I'll give you two some time alone. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Alright. Stay cool."

"Always!" With that, the big jock turned down another street, headed apparently for a train depot. Kensuke stayed where he was, watching his friend continue on his walk. Shinji decided it would be OK for him to talk to Kensuke now that Touji had left.

"He still hates me, huh?"

Kensuke jumped. "Shinji! Geez, warn me or something! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry, I was sneaking, it's just that the apartment is this way and . . ."

"Hey, it's cool."

"I feel awful about his sister. It's all my fault . . ."

"I thought you said it was an accident?"

"It was, but it's still my fault . . ."

"Hey, we're not going to do anything interesting standing here. Where did you say you lived?"

"Down the street here about four blocks or so . . ."

"That's not far from where me and Touji live, even the class rep. Listen, how about I walk you home? I want to see the Operations Director, eh? More military photos for the scrapbook, ya know?"

Shinji paled. 'Please, Misato, don't embarrass me . . .'

~0~

Shinji and Kensuke entered through the door of the Katsuragi residence, and removed their shoes in respect.

"I'm home! Not that anyone's here, of course. . ."

"Shinji, is that you?" Misato's voice surprised him.

"Misato? I thought you would be at Nerv. . ."

"I just got back, and I'm exhausted."

"Oh, um, I brought a friend with me . . ."

Misato walked into the hallway, dressed in her nightclothes, which didn't leave much to the imagination. She smiled at the young Kensuke. "Nice to meet you!"

Kensuke had a goofy smile plastered on his face when he saw the Major and how she was dressed, and promptly fell over backwards, landing hard and twitching.

Shinji stared at the prone form of his new friend. "Misato, I think you killed him . . ."