Evangelion is not mine, the actions here scribed are fictional, and have no relations to the people in the aforementioned anime series.

To proceed: Kidnapped Ch 3

Against all of Asuka's loud, persistent pleas, and against all of Shinji's well-founded explanations, the police escorted the two tired teens to school, late. "Stupid, incompetent cops!" Shinji heard for about the thirteenth time that morning. "Dragging me to school with 3 hours of sleep, and nothing to show for it!" the grumbling had been a continuous rumble throughout the entire walk to school, while the cops stopped them before crossing each street, and before going in front of any alleyways. It was no wonder that they were now an hour and a half late. "We're an hour and forty two minutes late. The buzzards will have already spread the rumors of why we're late. And I don't have anything to tell them. Damn it! If only those stupid cops hadn't made us late! Why of all the nerve…"

For the life of him, Shinji couldn't figure out why she didn't tell the truth about the matter. 'I mean,' he thought to himself, 'its not as if the real thing wasn't exciting. She would get all the sympathy she ever desired.' a little voice told him that that was the problem. 'Oh, she works hard at the tough girl act, so this would cause her humiliation, instead of attention. Why do girls have to be so concerned with their social standings?' This train of thought carried him all the way through the explanations at the front office, and to their entrance into the classroom.

At the sound of the door opening, half the class turned to watch their entrance. Thankfully, the police stopped at the door, letting them enter alone and unaided. Glancing at the teacher who had his ancient back to them, they snuck to their seats with little whispered hellos to their friends.

"Oy, Shinji! What's up? You're late and being escorted by police officers? Was that really the chief all dressed up for swat action? What gives?"

After a quick glance at Asuka, who somehow knew to be glaring at him, and a groan, a quick "tell you later" was all he could accomplish. 'Why in the world is she mad at me? All I was going to do was tell my friends. Surely they wouldn't pick on her; well maybe they would, considering that they seemed to have a continuous war with her. I think I'll just be nice to her, and say they were burglars.'

A blinking light on his laptop alerted him to a message. (Don't you dare tell anyone! Why did you have to be so brave and heroic? Now I'll have to find a good excuse. Why must you make life so complicated? Huh? Why did you have to come and rescue me! I could have done it my self! It would have been better if you had just left me! You just…) he stopped reading the message and looked over at Asuka who was staunchly ignoring him. Then an unidentified message popped up. (Thanks)

'I wish I knew how to do that. An unidentified message, wow.' He looked over again in time to see the end of a quick turn of the head. 'It was her? Maybe she would show me how.' Then another thought occurred to him, 'did she just call me brave? Nothing I did was brave. Well, I did point a gun at two people, but anybody can do that. And what does she mean she could have done it herself, as if I intentionally ran in to save just her. Really! I ran in with a gun cause I was pissed! Now had it been, oh, I don't know,' he glanced at the empty window seat. 'Ya if it had been Rei, oh my god!' He had realized what he had seen. He looked again, but it was still empty and cold seeming. He shivered, 'she's probably just at NERV for tests. Hmm, another message?'

(Well?) - Kensuke and Toji.

(We got burglarized, and Misato wasn't there, so we called the police. If it was the chief, he must have known who we were. And about NERV. So I guess we got extra attention, as well as an irritating escort.) 'That should keep them off the real case, and Asuka of my back.' Though try as he might, he couldn't get rid of a nagging thought. Thoughts really, one, that something wasn't quite right, the other was, 'where in the world did that expression come from? Off ones back. I mean, what would they be doing there?' but before he could really think on that, a couple stray words from the professor made it through the mental block he had put up, "and all that was found was a girl with no possessions or family, floating in the middle of the sea…" something in those words had triggered a connection, a memory, 'what is it, what's trying to come into the light? The light! It was off! In Asuka's room, the light was off, and the guy said that the other girl had nothing in he apartment!' Satisfied that he had remembered something important to tell the investigators that were coming that night he sat back relaxed.

'I wonder why they were after Asuka?' he thought for about the thousandth time that morning. 'And why would they be after two girls the same age? I wonder if I knew the other girl? I wonder if there are any other connections between them? Two girls, the same age, one has hardly anything, oh, wait, in their confessions the only thing the guys knew about the other girl, was that she had asked for her glasses.' he looked around, 'well all the girls with glasses are in class, humph, I guess I don't know her.' Disappointed that he found no matches, Shinji stared off into space, and was brought back by a sneeze from Asuka. Disgusted by the fine spray misting over his head, he wiped what he could off. A slight ticklish presence on his finger alerted him that something else had come with the drops. 'A hair, isn't that nice of her.' he thought, disgusted. Just before he shook it off, he noticed that it wasn't the right length for her hair, and it was a lighter color than red. 'That's odd. I suppose that it came from those two creeps this morning.' on closer examination, he found that it was blue. 'BLUE! Neither of them had blue hair! It must have come from the other girl. Another clue to her identity! The only person I know with blue hair, is, oh! The glasses, the empty room, the same age, blue hair, '"Rei!"

When the entire class looked at him, somewhere in the back of his mind he realized he had spoken out-loud, but for that instant, the only person he wanted attention from, was glaring fiercely at him. 'Good, at least it wont be hard to get her attention,' he thought quickly. "Asuka! It's Rei! They have Rei!"

"What are you talking about Shinji" only Hikari saw the inner struggle in Asuka's face, "well? Who's got Rei? And why would you care, much less me? Her irritation was showing but she really could care less. 'How dare he start shouting about wonder girl in the middle of class right after it was me who he saved? And should I really bother being nicer to him if that's how he reacts?' She wasn't quite sure where that train of thought was going, so she hoped off. As Shinji came running over she thought she had a sinking suspicion about what he meant. 'Now I have competition?'

As the whispered story came out, Asuka glanced over at the window and frowned. "Well Sherlock, good thinking. How did you know it was her hair?" suspicious, she tried to find a weakness in his summery. 'I bet they were off... '

"Well, she's the only one I know with blue hair! Besides, when"

"Stow it, we'll be leaving now," she added to Hikari who had crept, what she had thought as stealthily, over. "I don't really know how long we'll be gone, so don't freak out if were not back before tomorrow. And Toji, you're coming too. This may involve you. Lets move out." A completely bewildered class watched as she and Shinji left the room, followed by a just as completely bewildered Toji. There were several minutes of chatter after the door closed, before the continuous droning of the teacher brought about what no amount of shouting could have, complete and utter silence.

The plot is laid, the titans aroused, the path set, will they be able to do anything?

I am trying to keep them in character, so if there are any suggestions, please do tell.