Shinji Ikari sat up straight in his bed covered in a cold sweat. His nights had always been uneasy and sleep had never come naturally, especially on the weekends. Weekends had always meant separation from his friends and classmates, which ultimately led to boredom. He hated being bored. It always filled him with an empty feeling. Almost like depression, but deep down he knew he was just lonely. He was one of those people who had never liked being alone.

He wiped the sweat form his brow and reached for the glass of water he habitually placed by his bed every night. Empty. He must have woken up earlier and finished it off. He squinted and glared at the clock, which sat on the dresser to his left.

5:18. He would have to be getting up soon. He had a cello recital at 9 but was supposed to be at the music hall by 8 plus he had to make breakfast for Misato and himself, as she wasn't competent enough to do it herself and she had promised to go and see him perform. Her cooking was terrible anyway. She had started to stray from her belief in instant food and had started shopping like a normal person. NERV was no longer in massive debt to the world so all employees were given a raise. Misato was now making regular military wage a week. He didn't know how much this was, as Misato would never tell him. She would just reply with some comment about how "he should never ask a parenting figure about their income!"

Shinji rubbed his eyes and stared at nothing for a few minutes, waiting for his motor skills to fully come into play. He stood up and stretched sniffing around his arms in the process. His face twisted a little. First priority: take a bath. He thought to himself. He had stayed up late the previous night practicing the 1st Cello Suite: Prelude, by Bach, which he would be performing this morning. He needed to get into the bath before Pen Pen woke up and wanted complete control of it for the next 6 hours or so.

He walked down the hallway to the bathroom, kicking a few beer cans out of his path on the way. He had grown quite tolerant of Misato's sloppiness and had actually become somewhat of a motherly figure in the household, as he usually pulled her around like a child and tucked her into her own bed when she came home from clubbing hammered. He was beginning to believe that she wouldn't have any brain cells left when the time came for her promotion; if it ever came around.

He turned on the water to fill the tub and stuck his hands under the warm flow to make sure he was still alive. He needed a test of his nerves every now and then. The water felt good on his hands, as they were still sore from the night before. Maybe had had practiced a little too hard? He didn't want to be playing with bleeding fingertips.

The tub was full.

He stepped into the warm water and let out an easy sigh of comfort. He hadn't been taking baths lately. He'd been in such a hurry that there was never time to soak in one of these wonderful artificial hot springs. He had begun to forget how pleasurable baths could be. It's strange, he thought, that such little and trivial things can make someone so happy. It felt as though he had never known any pain in his life, much to the contrary of his former self, which loathed bathing because his memories seemed to bombard him when he was naked and most vulnerable.

After soaking for about 5 minutes he got down to business and bathed properly, eradicating the foul odor that had enshrouded his body. He kicked the plug on the drain so that it came out of place and allowed the water to slowly be sucked down the spiral hole in the floor. He remembered the fear he and other children had many years ago; the thought of being sucked down into the drain with the bath water, never to be seen again. Luckily he'd grown up a little since then and bath's not longer seemed threatening.

He stepped out of the emptying tub and reached for a towel to dry himself with.

The day wouldn't be easy. The stress had already built inside of his head and he felt as though he would suffer from a fatal aneurysm at any moment…. He wasn't very fond of being in front of people, and performing in front of them was a whole different story. At least he wouldn't be the only person making fools of themselves that morning.

Rei Ayanami stared at the ceiling of her 1 room apartment wondering about the day that she was about to face. Shinji had invited her to his cello recital that day but she couldn't decide if she should go or not. Shinji had always seemed like a timid person so him inviting her to something as degrading as this seemed very unbefitting of him. Perhaps it's a trap? She thought to herself in silence. No, of course not. Shinji is probably just trying to be nice. He had been considerably less active since Asuka was committed, but his atypical behavior was probably just result to his loneliness. She could tell that the Instrumentality had not fully taken Shinji out of his self-conscious daze.

Rei realized she had been staring at the same spot for nearly 5 minutes and blinked nervously a few times to bring herself back into reality. We don't have school today so I don't have to wear those stupid clothes. She thought. Rei's personality had greatly developed since the incident four years ago, though she still wasn't quite up to date with exactly what had happened. She had begun to wear moderately normal clothing on the weekends as opposed to the traditional school uniform, which she had been accustomed to.

"What today?" she thought aloud, even though no one was there to listen. She began to shuffle through the various outfits she had jumbled in her closet. She didn't want to be too formal at the recital, but enough to give off a good impression. She twisted her nose at a hideous blue and yellow striped shirt that Misato had gotten her last Christmas. "What was she thinking?" she thought in disgust. Rei's fashion taste had become somewhat superficial.

After nearly 10 minutes of consideration and rejection, Rei finally decided on some blue jeans that Shinji had bought her saying, "you should try on something different. You'd probably look good in these!" as he had purchased them for her nearly 2 years ago. They were nothing special, but they gave her a rugged casual look when she wore them with a blue blouse. Besides, if he saw her wearing this he'd probably feel a little less pressure while he performed…. But then again, maybe not.

She slipped on the jeans and put on a different bra, one that blended in with the fabric of the blouse and didn't blaze through in a spectacular display of bright and clashing color, as the blouse itself wasn't exactly made out of a thick material. She had plenty of time before the recital. Nearly 3 hours, but she felt like going out and wandering around town until then.

As she headed for the door she stopped and remembered that she didn't have a clue as to where this place was. She turned around and walked out to the dresser, on top of which was laying a small white piece of paper with an address quickly scribbled on it. Shinji had given this to he the week before and she had set it there for easy retrieval in case she decided to go.

157 Courier St. was the address of the place it would be held at. Come to think of it, she didn't even know what kind of place this would be. It could be some amphitheater that only rich high rollers go to. She though, beginning to reconsider her attire for the day. Maybe I should go just a tad more formal. She pondered on this for a moment. Nah, I don't really care.

She headed over to the door again and walked outside.

Shinji Ikari

It had to have been 7 and Misato still wasn't up! I was starting to get a little pissed, but I never let that go to my head. I knew that the one thing that could get under any girl's skin was kindness. Deep down Misato knew that I was desperate to get her up, and she knew that she could stay in bed until I got mad; but if I never got mad she would get severely annoyed and get up out of her own concern. Besides, I'd already cooked breakfast and it had been ready since the first time I had woken her up, which was about 30 minutes ago.

She was the only one who could get me to the theatre by 8, because A.) The subway would take way too long, B.) If she slept in she would miss the show (which she promised on her life to go to.), and C.) THERE'S NO FREAKING WAY I COULD EVEN THINK ABOUT TAKING MY CELLO ON THE DAMN SUBWAY! I didn't exactly have any other option than to wait around for her to wake up.

I plopped down at the table and sat my head in my hands, counting the seconds until she would finally get off her lazy ass and take care of business.

Three minutes.

Four minutes.

Five minutes.

I was really getting annoyed by now.

Six minutes.

My patience grew thinner than thinner.

Seven minutes.

Eight minutes.

Nine minutes.

Ten minutes. That's it!

I stormed into her room without knocking and crept up close to the breathing mass of blankets that lay bundled in the floor.

"WAKE THE HELL UP!" I screamed at the blob of exhaustion.

Misato yelped and jumped up from her bed. She seemed completely awake now, as the glare in her eyes was that of a child who had been denied a toy.

"You," she hissed under her own heavy breathing. She wasn't as awake as I had thought. "You- JERK!" She yelled, grabbing the pillow that had been wadded under her tangled mass of hair and swinging it strait at me face. Despite how tired she looked she had some pretty mean accuracy for someone at 7 in the morning.

The blow didn't hurt very much. At least she wasn't one of those people who slept with a handgun tucked into their pillowcase. That would have really sucked.

"Hehe." I chuckled. "Your breakfast's been ready for nearly half an hour, so don't blame me if it's cold. It's your own fault." She blinked a few times and yawned.

"What time is it?" she mumbled, squinting at the clock on the other side of the room.

"12:30. Good going, you made us miss the recital." I said, acting disappointed.

"WHAT?" She screamed, scrambling off of her bed and snatching the clock off the mantle.

"Just kidding, it's 7."

She sighed and then threw me one final menacing glare.

"But that doesn't change that fact that you need to get up. In fact, it emphasizes it even more. I have to be at the theatre in an hour and we don't even know how bad traffic's gonna be, as it's a Saturday and all." I remarked coldly.

"Saturday mornings are over rated. Everyone thinks that the weekend is when you have to crack down and get everything done, but they need to just get their heads out of their asses and realize that weekends are for sleep and WEEKDAYS are for work." She said, disregarding what I had said.

"Well, you need to eat and take a shower."

"I'd rather bathe."

"Too late, " I said, she was really riding my nerves now, "you don't have time. I suggest you eat first before the food fossilizes."

She got up and did as she was told. She really did act like a little kid sometimes, and I'm just glad that I didn't have to pilot the Eva anymore; that way I didn't have to see her rough side ever again. I hated it when she would yell at me for stuff.

She finished eating and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. After a few minutes I heard the water turn on. It was 7:28 now.

She had better hurry the hell up. I'm not going to wait around all day just so she can be comfortable. I thought to myself. By now the annoyance was seething in my veins, running through my system as though it was blood. I clenched my teeth and stared up at the ceiling. The minutes passed like seconds. I had completely zoned out, and next I knew Misato was standing next to me wrapped in a towel, drying her hair.

"You gonna be alright? You've been practicing this music for weeks." She said, trying to sound concerned.

I looked at her. "Yeah, I guess I'll be alright." She stared at me for a second.

"So, what are you going to wear?"

"I guess my normal school clothes are enough. They aren't exactly fancy but no one will notice, right?" I said relaxed.

"Well, I guess not. I'm not too picky about how you look. It's your choice anyway."

I nodded and signaled that we needed to go soon. She glanced at the clock on the microwave and jumped.

"7:45! We have to go! It'll take at least 25 minutes to get there!" she said, alarmed.

"Ain't my fault." I said. By now I had pretty much given up on getting to the theatre on time. "you're the one who fell in love with the shower."

She had already bolted into the other room to change. I leaned back and smiled.

"Today's gonna be another wonderful day." I said sarcastically.