He was a man sole set on his convictions and wouldn't let anyone or anything stop him, he was a man who knew the inner workings of Nerv and its true objective, he was the father of a pilot, and he was also the guardian of the girl most important to his objective. Gendo Ikari was considered to be a lot of things. Even with this in mind, there were still some things that even he, the head of Nerv, did not care about.

Gendo Ikari was by no means interested in the boy designated as the Third Child.

As long as he was a capable pilot, he did not care about any of his activities outside of Nerv. Despite that, when a report about Shinji Ikari's visits to Hikari Horaki's residence from Section Two landed on his desk he couldn't deny he was slightly curious.

He leaned forward to take a glance in the packet of information gathered by agents, "Did you know about this?"

Vice Commander Fuyutsuki stepped from behind him to also peek at the report, "Yes, I didn't believe you would take any interest in his… relationship with his classmate." He replied as they both looked at the pictures.

The former professor was actually well informed of the situation. Even if he rarely if ever spoke to Shinji, he looked forward to seeing Yui's child becoming a better person even if he knew being an individual would hold little value in light of Nerv's true mission.

"Commander?" The voice of Ritsuko drew both of the men's attention to her.

The doctor made her way across the large office and stopped at the desk, "We are ready to carry out the operation against the eighth Angel."

The Commander of Nerv set the report on his desk aside, "Tell the Major to sortie."

"Yes sir."

Gendo pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose, "And Dr. Akagi, how has the Third Child's synch ratio been?"

Ritsuko put her hands in her lab coat pocket as she recalled Shinji's latest results, "He has been steadily rising. Misato said he has been visiting the girl that was injured during the Fourth's attack so I believe that had a factor in his ratio."

He placed his elbows on the desk and interlaced his fingers in front of his face, "Dismissed."

As the doctor walked exited the office, Gendo voiced what was on his mind, "Do you foresee any… dilemmas in the Third visiting with this Miss Horaki?"

"I believe that's a question you should have asked the good doctor," Fuyutsuki looked down at the Commander. Even if it might lead to something later, it didn't' seem to bother the pilot of Unit 01 in the present, "But… In my opinion, I don't think it is a problem at all."

Gendo continued to look forward, his cool attitude matching the temperature of his office. A small smirk started to form on his face, "Excellent."

Lately

To say it was scorching was a stern understatement.

She could virtually see how hot it was as she struggled to pilot the Evangelion and, she quickly realized, the situation was hopeless.

The Evangelion slowly descended into the depths of the volcano and nothing she did could stop her fall. She could picture the painful death that awaited her already but she kept calm in the face of such adversity by attempting to tuck her emotions deep back inside herself.

Besides her death didn't really matter…

She could be replaced.

Unit 00 unconsciously released the hold it had on Unit 01's progressive knife, "Mission… complete." She softly said in the same tone she always spoke in, being careful even in her final moments to not let her emotions surface.

Rei was scared. As a matter of fact, she was being consumed by fear quicker than the volcano was welcoming the man-made weapon into its depths. She heard tales of how people envisioned their life flashing before their eyes or of how people repented for everything they did in their final seconds but neither happened to her.

The only thing different was the occasional sound of the equipment started to dissolve and buckle under the pressure and intense heat. As the thin sheet of sweat on the surface of her skin continued to develop, the First Child didn't see any flashes of her life or any regrets. She only had a lingering desire.

If only for a while, she wanted to see Shinji again. Besides saying goodbye, she also wanted to say thank you.

When Unit 00 bounced, Rei believed that the sky blue Evangelion simply hit the wall of the volcano but when the com link suddenly opened she felt a spark of hope.

Shinji stared at her and looked stressed as he spoke, "Rei! Are you alright!"

Openly shock, she could only nod as she noticed that her Evangelion was not sinking anymore. Nothing made her feel better than the change of direction when Unit 00 was being pulled upwards, "I am… fine." She said honestly, fully relieved.

'He…' She thought as she leaned back in the entry plug, 'He came for me."

A whole new level of emotion came forth and she could barely hold the flood of feelings back. Shinji did not only save her life, he gave her what she desired most.

Rei did not understand how to convey any of the emotions she felt but, now that she had another chance, she would get to ask Shinji about them some day; however, it was still something that needed to be said now, "Shinji." The First Child called out, her soft voice a bleak contrast to the searing heat around her.

Straining to haul Unit 00 back to the surface, he could only manage to look at her through the com-link to wait for what she was going to say.

Remembering something the pilot of Unit 01 taught her, Rei smiled, "Thank you."

-

Misato was not exactly angry but that didn't mean she wasn't. Shinji's blatant disregard of his orders was something she had to address seriously and put a stop to now. Even if he probably did make good choices, she didn't even want to think of what would happened if he broke an order and made a bad one.

No matter how much she didn't want to chastise him, it was her job to.

"Goddamnit! Shinji listen to me! You have to listen to your orders," She yelled as she and her charge stood in one of Nerv's halls, "I don't just order you to do stuff because I feel like Shinji."

She placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned forward in order to look him directly in the eye, "I know you are trying to do right but I make orders for the safety of everyone."

His guardian sighed, "If you had fallen in with her…"

Shinji agreed with her completely. He knew that her job wasn't easy and, of course, he knew orders were made to be followed but that didn't mean he was going to let anyone around him just die.

Misato patted his shoulder, "Even if you broke direct orders… again. You did a good thing Shinji, but please try harder not to ignore orders. Okay?"

He felt bad as he nodded, drawing a comforting smile from her. Even if he agreed with her, it didn't mean that he wouldn't do it again if he had to. No matter what order he received from someone, if it conflicted with him possibly saving the life of Asuka, Rei, or anyone for that matter, then it would simply be ignored.

After Misato walked off, Shinji headed towards the changing rooms. Allowing his mind to wander, he long ago discovered that he detested the plug suits. Even if he needed them for a better synch ratio, the boy always disliked tight clothes and the plug suit was as tight as you could get.

He found it mildly amusing that he would be one to think of clothing when the only thing he really wore was his school uniform. As a matter of fact, besides an old jacket and a baseball cap he never touched, he only had dress shirts and slacks.

Discarding the plug suit, Shinji entered the showers with freedom written across his face. Freed from another fight until another Angel arrived, he could rest at ease knowing that he got a victory even if another fight could come at any time.

All he had to do was just hold out until all of them were defeated.

Still, winning the war that Nerv waged against the Angels wouldn't mean anything if the people close to him died. If he had to sacrifice for someone to live, he honestly wouldn't mind in the least. Shinji rubbed his arm as he remembered the burning sensation the rescue left him with, but knowing Rei was safe more than made up for it.

"She looked so thankful…"

She looked happy. He had seen her smile before. He even saw her happily speaking with his father once, but the expression on her face when he glanced at the com-link was the definition of gratitude. Just being on the receiving end of something like that was reason enough to make him feel good and the fact that she was alive made him feel even better.

Grabbing a towel to dry with, Shinji was more than certain he would have dove into the volcano to save his friend if he had to.

-

Stand-by was one of the worst things in existence to Asuka and she didn't find it amusing at all that she was placed on it.

She was the best pilot and the one who deserved to be placed on point. To not have Unit 02 on the front lines was almost an injustice to her even if the mission wasn't exactly suited for her since putting Unit 02 in that equipment was almost an equal injustice to not having it sortie in the first place.

Anyway, when it was all said and done there was one thing she was certain of. She did not have any hand in defeating the Angel. It was all good though; she would plead her case to Misato and take point next time.

Asuka leaned on the wall near Misato's office when Shinji walked up.

She knew what took place at the volcano even though she was still at Nerv. When Asuka heard word that Unit 01 reached into the lava to save Unit 00, she was impressed. Given the way he has been talking about Rei, Asuka couldn't exactly say she was surprised.

The pilot of Unit 02 thought that it was something between Shinji and Hikari but she was becoming more and more suspecting of his relationship with the First Child not that she really cared about it or anything.

It was just that it was starting to seem like almost every girl her age was interested her roommate. When their co-workers, especially the female technicians, waved at him a blush would creep up on his face when he shyly waved back. She could remember the time when Shinji almost seem to hate going to school, but, every now and then, she would over hear the girls in the locker room saying some very… kind things about him.

Honestly, she didn't see what was so good about him.

Yea, he didn't have the necessary training and was a natural pilot but that didn't make him amazing. Compared to someone like Kaji, Shinji was just a little boy in every aspect.

Even if she didn't hold him as high in regard as everyone else did, Asuka was still on friendly terms with her roommate.

"Asuka?" Shinji's voice sounded strangely out of place as it echoed down the halls of Nerv.

The girl in question lifted her head, "Good job saving Ayanami."

Even if he was nothing more than a roommate to her, she knew when to congratulate someone on doing a good thing.

His eyes got a few inches wider as he received praise from his roommate. Shinji was almost tempted to ask her to repeat it just so he could verify the statement but, knowing Asuka, she probably wouldn't say it twice.

"T-Thanks…" He slowly replied still taken back.

Shinji's mind was on fire trying to think of a way to respond to her statement and suddenly one exited his mouth, "Um… Good job on stand-by."

Although he was trying to be kind, voicing that particular statement set Asuka's mind ablaze. Sadly, her mind was also set on thinking of a way to reply to Shinji's statement except with her hands rather than her mouth.

The red-haired girl stretched her arm as she moved towards Shinji, "Idiot…"

-

School wasn't really all that bad.

If you didn't count waking up early, walking to school, listening to the same speech about Second Impact, the various unwanted interaction and attention from your classmates, the short lunch period, how long school actually was, and the walk back to the apartment then you could certainly say that school really wasn't all that bad.

Asuka had enough of school a long time ago but she had to go for 'social value'.

The pilot of Unit 02 leaned back in her seat as the teacher kept repeating the estimated number of dead caused by Second Impact. If she could, she would just get up and leave but, since she couldn't, she had to find ways to interest herself.

One of the things she found interest in was the love letters she received from her classmates. Of course she wasn't surprised given her beauty but the sheer number of letters that piled up in her shoe locker was ridiculous. None of them mattered seeing that she would be marrying Kaji though.

She didn't really read any of them in detail but she did look at them. Even she would admit some of them were cute, but most of them were just plain strange.

Asuka could recall one guy writing that he wouldn't mind being 'on the side' at all and the love letter she got from a girl just made her feel strange.

Another one of the things she paid attention to in class was the pilot of Unit 01. Not to be taken out of context, she wasn't interested in him so to speak but she was interested with him.

Most of the time, Shinji was actually sitting straight up in his chair and seemed to be listening to the teacher word for word. She knew her roommate was diligent, but taking notes in here was just crazy.

Besides being a good student, he occasionally fell into a light sleep like most of the other students or he would look at the girl who sat in front of her.

Hikari sat directly in front of Asuka.

She rarely spoke to the girl and really only knew her because of Shinji. She was an average looking girl despite the scar…

By no means did it make her ugly, but Asuka could easily see why it would lower one's self-esteem. The scar was fairly thin but the length of it is what made it noticeable. It divided her eyebrow and stopped on the side of her nose under her eye.

Overlooking the scar, Hikari was a nice girl. She helped out her classmates whenever possible and even helped the class representative, Mitsuki, with her duties even though she was the former class representative.

The thing about it was that when Hikari caught Shinji looking in her direction she would just smile. After a blush formed on his face, he would turn away and either take notes or a nap.

She guessed that the freckled girl was the right match for Shinji. With Hikari seeming to be the confident and caring type, it seemed like she would be able to take care of anyone.

'Speaking of match…,' Asuka thought as she pulled another one of the love letters out of her desk to occupy her time with, 'What if I got one of these from Shinji?'

The redhead commonly thought about mundane things like that but actually holding an unopened one in her hand made her thoughts more vivid as she imagined Shinji neatly, but nervously, writing out his feelings on a piece of paper.

She laughed out loud, interrupting the class and waking a few of her peers. As if the thought of Shinji confessing to someone wasn't amusing enough, the thought of him actually building up enough courage to actually deposit the letter made her sides hurt.

Asuka wiped a tear from her eye as her laughter died down, "That was gold."

Besides, love letters were childish. Someone like Kaji would invite her to dinner and then confess as he served wine or something like that. Chumps like Shinji probably couldn't even say 'I like you' without stuttering then giving up all together.

Thankfully for her, the lunch bell rung before anyone got the nerve to ask what was so amusing.

Feeling good because of her laugh, Asuka reached under her desk for her bento. She felt around on the floor until she remembered that she didn't even bring it. She was so busy yelling at Shinji to make breakfast that she didn't realize she walked out without in hand.

The sky blue eyed pilot didn't have in money so she only had one option.

Share lunch with someone.

With that, most of the class was already eliminated. She didn't want to give off the wrong impression to anyone especially none of her secret admirers in the class.

After a while, she narrowed it down to two people, Hikari and Shinji.

She knew the girl who sat in front of her always brought extra but she also shared her lunch with the jock who sat a few desks behind Shinji so Asuka counted her out.

And so, she was left with the boy she just finished mentally ridiculing.

It just so happened to be that Shinji was setting his bento on his desk with chopsticks already in hand. Swiftly, Asuka moved towards him as the room emptied, "Hey Shinji."

He looked up at mention of his name to find his roommate standing on the side of his desk, "Y-Yea?"

"I…" Asuka shifted her weight. She didn't exactly want to ask Shinji of all people for something. As a matter of fact, she was about to walk away thinking that it would just be better to miss lunch.

"You didn't bring your lunch?"

"How did you…?"

Shinji pointed at her desk, "If it was something else you would have asked me before school."

Without saying anything, he placed his chopsticks on top of the bento and handed it to Asuka who stared at it.

She was honestly planning to only ask for a small share, like a rice ball or something like that but she didn't at all expect him to hand it all over.

"I just wanted some of-"

"D-Don't worry about it." Shinji scratched the side of his face as he held the bento in front of her, "I didn't plan on really eating much. I'm not really hungry today."

Asuka almost face faulted when his stomach growled. Shinji was perhaps the worst liar she ever met in her entire life.

He coughed, "Um… I guess I'll go buy something from the cafeteria."

Asuka forgot how fast Shinji was as he slipped out the room before she could stop him. Briefly wondering if she should go and drag him back to share it with her, she took the best course of action and sat in his seat.

She wouldn't say it out loud, but she enjoyed Shinji's cooking. She liked it to the point where it would make her mouth water but, as of now, she didn't really care who made it as long as it was something to eat.

Asuka opened the bento and picked up the chopsticks. With a look around the room, she was about to eat until she noticed Rei looking at her intently.

"Don't get the wrong idea Wondergirl, it's not like I like him or anything."

Rei turned her attention back to the window, "I would not assume as much Sohryu."

Had anyone been in the room besides the two pilots, he or she would have sworn it was going to be a fight based on the tension between the girls. The thick atmosphere of the classroom was broken as Asuka suddenly stood up. She remembered that she did have enough money to get her self something to drink from the cafeteria.

Figuring she would see Shinji at one of the tables, she brought the lunch with her.

As she walked the halls alone, she thought about the bento she held in her hand. It was more than just an offering of food. She didn't want to sound melodramatic but it was almost like a small sign that he actually cared about her.

In a way, this was his love letter.

She didn't laugh this time around as she looked out the window and caught sight of a boy sitting at the base of a tree. Not that it uncommon to eat outside, it was just that he was sitting there.

Asuka stared for a while wondering why he didn't just sit in the classroom if he wasn't going to eat. Moving outside for nothing was a waste of energy.

"Wait…" She said out loud as she back stepped to the window and took a closer look at the boy. Noticing who it was, she almost instantly felt aggravated but the feeling quickly subsided.

"If you wanted me to eat all of it myself, you should have just said so idiot." Asuka whispered as she made her way outside, deciding that she wouldn't make fun of the boy that much anymore.

She smirked, 'Well, not nearly as often as I normally do.'

-Fin

Author's note: Rolling… chapters… out… so… fast…

Gah, FFN doesn't like my line breaks so I have to use dashes now and don't worry about me going MIA on my story because I'm probably working on chapter eleven by the time you are reading this. o.o

Hmm, I think I did a good Asuka in this chapter. Seriously, she felt just a bit off at the end but we all know that she isn't a bitch. Yea, she gets laughs at Shinji's expense and stuff but that doesn't mean she kicks his ass physically and mentally all day. To me, Asuka was always just looking out for number one when she was number one so that's how I want to write her. o.o

Another thing, I'm seriously surprised that the story ended up like this so far. I mean I call it a Hikari/Shinji story but, with a bit of effort, I can easily make this Shinji/Asuka or Shinji/Rei.

With this complete, I just wrote three chapters in six days. ;;

Chibi Fenrir