Author's notes- Sorry its been so long, but I have been reluctant to release any chapters until I had more done. I hope things will proceed much quicker once Winter semester is over. I am still ironing out the dialogue for future chapters, and I have already submitted some to my pre-readers. A special thanks to Misty-Chan, Miss CrazyHappyOrangeLady, and her royal evilness Vegeta's Lil' Princess for pre-reading. Thanks for all the prodding and poking (and occasional burning) to keep me writing.

Disclaimer- I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or Jekyll and Hyde.

Sometime after the defeat of the Twelfth Angel…

For the first time in weeks Tokyo 3 enjoyed an rare afternoon silence. It was to be short-lived, as it was quickly broken by a high-pitched voice that caused nearby birds to take flight in alarm at what could only be the forewarning of another impending disaster.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE KISSED YOU?!"

"Shhhhhhhh!" Asuka hissed as she slapped a hand over her less-than-discreet friend's mouth, looking around to make sure no one heard. She dragged Hikari around the side of the building away from the prying eyes and ears of the their inquisitive classmates.

Looking around to be sure there was no one listening, she whispered, "What are you, stupid? You don't need to announce it to the whole school .It was just a kiss."

Great, just great, she though. The last thing she needed was for it to get around school that she and the lead stooge had kissed. She knew she could trust Hikari, but Hikari's voice tended to carry well, and Asuka didn't want to spend the next few months answering all the stupid questions the other girls would invariably ask. She was going to have a hard time explaining it to Hikari, let alone a dozen or more. Arrrrgh! Why did I even bring it up with Hikari?!

Because you wanted to tell someone, came the response in her head. Asuka mentally cursed at the voice in the back of her mind in German, Japanese, and in a few other languages that she could not speak well, or at all, but could swear quite fluently in.

A muffled, panicked noise brought her attention back to the real world and the girl she was currently holding prisoner. Asuka released her hold on Hikari with a slight embarrassed blush, allowing the pigtailed class rep to gasp for air.

"When did this happen? How? What was it like?"

Asuka rolled her eyes at her friend, who was now acting like one of the airheads she had wanted to avoid, "It was a little while before the last angel attacked."

"So, what happened?" Hikari asked excitedly, sitting down on a bench against the wall.

"We were stuck at the apartment alone and it was boring so…" Asuka said, taking a seat next to her.

"That's it? Doesn't sound very romantic. It was boring so he kissed you?"

"Actually… I… kinda… dared him to kiss me…" Asuka added sheepishly, looking away to avoid Hikari's gaze.

"You dared him to do it? And he did?" Hikari asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Yes he did, and why do you sound so surprised?" Asuka asked narrowing her eyes at her friend.

"N…n…nothing. Its just Shinji seems so shy," Hikari stammered and grinned nervously, hoping that Asuka wouldn't start interrogating her and whether or not she was thinking of using the same approach on a certain stooge.

Asuka flipped her hair over her shoulder haughtily. "Well, shy or not, the idiot should feel privileged that he got to kiss a vision of beauty such as myself."

"So what was it like? Was he a good kisser?"

"It was ok, I guess." Asuka began to get uncomfortable, and fidgeted on the bench. Why should I be edgy? Its not like it was that big a deal. Then why do I feel so anxious?

Because some part of you liked it. Asuka hushed the voice in her head. So what if a part of her enjoyed it? So what if

"Its not like it was a real kiss anyways."

"Asuka?"

"Yeah?"

Asuka turned to Hikari, who's face had taken on a very serious expression "Did you use your lips?"

Asuka nodded hesitantly.

"Did it involve his?"

Asuka nodded again, trying to figure out where her friend was going with this.

"Well, Asuka," Hikari said, "I hate to break it to you, but that was a real kiss." She flashed a jubilant grin at Asuka.

"Oh, Mein Gott Hikari!" Asuka said, throwing her arms up in the air and rolling her eyes, "If I had know you were going to make such a big deal out of this I would never have told you!"

"So, was this the first time you ever kissed a boy?" Hikari continued, still beaming.

Asuka made a disgusted noise, "Like I would waste my first kiss on a dummkoph like Shinji."

"So you've kissed someone before?"

Asuka hung her head before answering quietly, "I already told you… It wasn't a real kiss…"

"Asuka you shouldn't take this so lightly. Your first kiss is not something you forget."

"What if you don't want to remember?"

"Was it really so bad?" Hikari asked, she put a hand on Asuka's shoulder, causing Asuka to flinch. "What happened?"

"You wouldn't understand," Asuka muttered.

"How can I understand if you don't tell me what happened?" Hikari had a pleading look in her eyes. At first she had just been curious, now she was genuinely concerned that something had happened to Asuka.

"He pushed me away! Are you happy now?" she shouted at Hikari. "He ran out of air, pushed me away, and I ran into the bathroom to wash my mouth out."

"Seems a little overly-dramatic to me." Hikari observed quietly. There was a long silence as the two girls just sat there. Finally Hikari broke the silence, "Have you tried talking to Shinji about what happened?"

"That idiot? Why should I talk to him?"

"Well, If you like him…"

"Ha! Me like that spineless wimp?" Asuka laughed. "What ever gave you the idea that I liked Shinji?"

"Asuka, I know you, " Hikari stated, "and you wouldn't kiss someone unless you really liked them."

"Then I guess you don't know me as well as you think." Asuka said as she stood abruptly and stormed off.

* * *

Later that evening, the Katsuragi/Ikari/Sohryu apartment.

It had been a comparatively quiet evening for the apartment's four residents. Misato and PenPen had been as active and noisy as they usually were, particularly after both had consumed one or two cans of yebisu. Shinji had been stereotypically silent and reserved. But there was still a crucial component missing from the surroundings.

Asuka had been quiet the whole evening. Sensing that he had somehow done something to make Asuka angry at him, Shinji had earlier retreated to the safety of his room. He lay on his bed with the earbuds to his SDAT on, but the player itself remained off. He heard the door slam as Asuka entered the bathroom.

Sighing, he went over everything that had happened that day, trying to discover what he had done to make Asuka so mad that she wouldn't even speak to him to insult him. Whatever it was, he couldn't remember.

In truth Asuka was still going over her argument she had earlier with Hikari. It was driving her crazy that Hikari had thought she LIKED Shinji.

She grabbed the tube of toothpaste, crushing it in her grasp and loading up her toothbrush with it until the bristles were completely obscured by the minty gel.

Stupid Shinji, she thought, he must have done or said something to make Hikari think that I liked him, or she wouldn't have pursued it so hard.

She brushed her teeth briskly and forcefully, scrubbing until her gums were sore and her mouth burned from the strong mint and cleansers in the toothpaste.

Of course it probably hadn't helped that she told Hikari about the kiss…

Taking a swig from her glass, she vigorously rinsed her mouth out cleansing it of the burning foam, then spit violently into the sink. With a smug smirk she slammed the glass down and looked up into the mirror.

…to be greeted by a face she did not recognize.

Oh it was definitely her face, no one else in Tokyo 3 had that particular shade of red hair or those blue eyes, but the expression on her face. She knew that expression well, the one she used so often to look down upon the rest of the world with. She knew exactly what that look felt like with every muscle in her face, but she had never taken the time to really look at it for herself.

She traced the outline of her lips as the sneer softened into a hesitant frown. She had looked like a spoiled child, some uppity brat that always got what she wanted.

Was that really how the rest of the world saw her?

Look at me and tell me who I am.

Why I am what I am.

She plugged the sink and turned on the faucet, watching it slowly fill with water, the steam rising up to tickle her nose, finding the sensation disturbingly familiar. She splashed some on her face, the hot water relaxing.

Call me a fool, and its true, I am.

I don't know who I am.

She took her bar of soap and started to wash her face, relishing the sweet fruit scent of the soap. She didn't wear much makeup, so there wasn't a lot to clean off. Just enough to hide tiny imperfections.

Just a façade to hide behind, like her behavior.

It's such a shame. I'm such a sham.

No one knows who I am.

Hikari, the girl that was supposed to be her best friend, the person she could share everything with, really didn't know anything about her. Despite that, she actually cared. She had only been trying to help, and Asuka had bitten her head off. Maybe, if she talked to Hikari about it, she might understand.

Am I the face of the future? Am I the face of the past?

Unplugging the sink, she watched as the water drained, the last remnants of foam and spiraling down into the dark.

Am I the one who must finish last?

She glanced her reflection in the mirror again, noticing the bright red points she hadn't yet taken out of her hair. Carefully removing the interface clips, she held them for the longest time, just staring at them.

She looked back up, finding it strange to see herself without them. They had been a part of her daily attire for so long that they almost seemed a part of her, and with them absent she looked like a different person.

Look at me and tell me who I am.

Being the best pilot had been her claim to fame. She had the highest scores, the best EVA, and the more skills and training, but now Shinji had the highest scores and it scared her that she might not be the best anymore.

Was that the only thing she had in her life?

Why I am what I am.

Was EVA the only thing she had? Was that the only thing she was good for? If it was, then what made her any better than Rei? Sure she showed more emotion than Rei ever did, a tree stump showed more emotion than Rei ever did. But was that necessarily a good thing? Did it make her any more important? Better? What really made her any different than the Commander's little wind-up doll?

Did anyone care about her for anything else? Was EVA all she was good for? Was there anything else about her worth caring for? She never showed anyone who she really was. How could she, when she didn't know herself?

Will I survive? Who will give a damn,

If no one knows who I am?

Asuka had no illusions about how dangerous being a pilot really was. She knew that it was quite possible any one of them might go into battle and never make it back. The last time Shinji nearly didn't make it back. The pilot with the highest scores and he only survived by the slimmest of margins.

Nobody knows…

She took a lingering glance at Shinji's door, before retreating to her own tiny room. He was probably one of the few people who would care if she...

Not even you…

…and she treated him like dirt. The fact that he still COULD still care about her, despite what she had made herself into, made her feel sick to her stomach.

There were times when she was sure he had a crush on Wondergirl, the way he always stared at her, defended her. And why shouldn't he? What had SHE ever given him but grief and abuse?

She didn't want Shinji to like her, not if he liked her for who she was now. She almost wished that he did hate her for everything she did to him.

She crawled under the covers , too exhausted to do anything else but lie there, too caught up in her own troubled thoughts to sleep.

No one knows who I am…

She just stared at the dark ceiling, for empty endless hours, gazing at nothing until her mind finally drifted into the merciful bliss of a dreamless sleep.