Disclaimer: Neon Genesis Evangelion/Shin Seiki Evangelion, Girlfriend of Steel, and all related concepts and characters are the property of Gainax, Project EVA, Movic, AD Vision, Manga Entertainment, and other copyright owners and are used without permission.

Promises

Chapter Four: Something to Believe In

- - - -

Rei Ayanami quietly laid her book bag down on her desk and took her seat, pausing briefly to move a few strands of powder blue hair out of her eyes before she propped her head up with her left arm and glanced around the classroom.

It was still early; there was still a good ten or fifteen minutes before class started – plenty of time for the rest of her classmates to arrive. The students who had already shown up chatted among themselves as they waited to begin another day. Well, almost all of them; as Rei surveyed the room she saw the Third Child glumly hunched over his desk several rows away, his head resting on top of his crossed arms.

Rei turned back to the window and let her mind wander. She watched students make their way through the school grounds below in a steady trickle until she realized that the classroom was suddenly quiet. She blinked. Had the teacher arrived early? She dismissed that thought immediately; the class representative would certainly have said something if he had. Puzzled, she turned her head slightly to look around the room.

She raised an eyebrow as Mana timidly stepped toward Shinji's desk and stopped, holding her book bag in front of her with both hands. The entire classroom seemed to hold its collective breath as rest of the students watched intently, looking for some sign that confirmed the rumors that had been swirling about the pair for nearly a week. Rei quietly studied the couple as Mana whispered something to the boy, but she was too far away to make out what the brunette was saying.

Curious, she thought.

Shinji impassively stared at his desktop and ignored the girl standing next to him until, finally, the Fourth Child shuffled dejectedly to her own desk and slid into her seat. As Rei watched, the girl half-heartedly tried to hang her book bag on its hook on the side of the desk but missed the mark completely. The bag fell to the floor with a loud thud. Mana didn't seem to hear it; instead, she folded her arms on her desk and let her head sink into the crook of her elbow.

The room exploded into frantic whispers as several students tactlessly discussed the scene that had just played out before them. Hikari quickly made her way down the aisle and gently reached for Mana's arm. The freckled girl murmured something to Mana that Rei couldn't hear, but reluctantly withdrew her hand when the brunette shook her head. Hikari nodded and took a few steps back before she snapped her head around to fix Shinji with a scowl.

Shinji seemed to be too lost in his own misery to care. Hikari opened her mouth and was about to say something to him when Asuka grabbed her elbow and whispered something in her ear. With a final glance at the couple, Hikari nodded and let the redhead lead her away.

Suddenly aware that she had been staring, Rei quickly looked back out the window and turned her gaze back to the horizon. Her forehead crinkled in a delicate frown. It seemed unlikely to her that Shinji would hurt anyone – especially someone who, even if the rumors she had overheard were halfway true, he had feelings for – and yet…

"Ayanami?"

The sound of Hikari's voice brought Rei's thoughts back to the present. Startled, she turned her head and saw the other students already standing at their desks. Her cheeks grew warm as she felt everyone's eyes – including the teacher's – watching her expectantly. Her crimson eyes widened for an instant before she regained her composure and stood to join the rest of the class.

- - - -

Asuka shaded her eyes from the sunlight with her hand and scanned the schoolyard. She nodded to herself when spied a lone figure leaning against a tree in the corner of the grounds. With a slight smile on her lips, she calmly strolled to the shady patch of grass he was sitting on and leaned against the tree. "I thought I'd find you here," she announced.

If Shinji had heard her, he didn't show it. Instead, he plucked a blade of grass from the ground beside him and silently stared off into the distance.

Asuka nudged the untouched bento box beside him with her toe. "Not hungry?" she asked.

Shinji shrugged without looking at her. "I guess I've got a lot of things on my mind," he replied.

"I'll bet. That was quite a show you two put on this morning." The redhead didn't see the painful expression that shot across Shinji's face as she leaned back against the tree and placed her hands behind her head. "I hate to say I told you so," she continued, "but I said she wasn't your type."

Shinji looked up sharply but stopped his gaze at Asuka's knee, knowing what was in store for him if she had any reason to think that he was trying to steal a peek up her skirt. "Oh no," he replied softly, turning his head again to look back across the schoolyard. "You're wrong."

Asuka blinked, confused, before she lifted her head off her hands and looked down at her roommate. "Really? Then why…?"

"You wouldn't understand."

The redhead raised a puzzled eyebrow. "Oh-kay," she said, drawing out the last syllable as she let her head fall back against the trunk again. "I guess it's really not my business anyway. I just wish you'd get over her already." A smile suddenly brightened her face. "I know!" she exclaimed with a snap of her fingers. "Why don't we head to that burger place down the street after school so you can take your mind off of everything?"

Shinji shook his head.

"You sure? It's Misato's turn to cook dinner tonight, you know."

"Yeah, I'm sure. Thanks anyway."

Asuka shrugged. "Your loss. Don't say I didn't offer."

Shinji held the grass blade between his fingers for a moment before he absently tossed it away. It was easy enough for Asuka to tell him to get over Mana but, try as he might, he found that he just couldn't get her out of his thoughts. Add to that the fact that, like it or not, they would still be working closely together, both at school and at NERV…

He thoughtfully shook his head again. She had a point. Maybe he needed to talk with someone who had been through this sort of thing to help him get through this, or at least let him get everything off his chest—but who?

Kaji would have been the obvious choice. Unfortunately, Shinji hadn't seen him since their talk in the lounge the week before.

His father? Shinji nearly laughed out loud at the thought.

That left…

"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

"Huh?" Shinji started as Asuka's voice shattered his thoughts. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, for…" the redhead grabbed the back of Shinji's collar with one hand and pointed at the shrinking crowd of students filing into the school with the other. "Didn't you hear the bell?"

"Uh, I guess not. I've got a—"

"A lot of things on your mind, I know." Asuka rolled her eyes and sighed before she grabbed the boy's arm and helped him to his feet. "Come on, hurry up or you're going to be late."

"Yeah, sure," Shinji mumbled before he knelt down, grabbed his lunch, and followed her inside.

- - - -

The lamp sitting on the corner of Mana's desk lit up her bedroom with a cheerful glow, but it did little to brighten the girl's sour mood. She chewed thoughtfully on the end of her pencil and tapped her finger on the cover of her textbook while trying not to grimace in disgust as she stared at the stack of neatly typed papers in front of her.

Evangelion pilots, she thought bitterly, shouldn't have to do trigonometry. Unfortunately, it seemed that neither NERV nor the Japanese school system agreed with that philosophy.

"Well," she muttered to herself as she straightened herself in her seat, "I might as well get started."

An hour later, a doodle of a cat smiled back at her from an otherwise blank sheet of paper. Mana closed her books with an exasperated sigh and slid them into her schoolbag. For several minutes she dejectedly leaned back in her chair, unsure of what to do, before she opened a drawer, pulled out a small metal box, and gently pried its lid open.

A pair of neural connectors sat inside the foam-lined compartment and gleamed under the soft glow of the lamp. She plucked one out of the container and gazed at it, almost mesmerized by the light playing off the device's polished surface. She couldn't help but notice that its cobalt blue finish was almost the same shade as Shinji's eyes…

Mana squeezed her eyes shut as she suddenly realized where her thoughts were taking her. The bauble slipped from her fingers and skittered along the wooden surface of her desk. When she opened her eyes again, she found the connector resting against the base of a small, black picture frame. Her hand reached over after a moment's hesitation and lifted the photo up. A faint smile tugged at her lips as she remembered the day the picture was taken.

Her smile, along with those memories, faded as Shinji's words from the day before, words that now rang hollow in her ears, came back to her:

"I... I do like you. A lot."

Mana gently sat the picture down next to the base of her lamp. She folded her arms on the desk and rested her chin on them with a weary sigh. Her gaze moved from side to side – from the neural connector sitting off to the side of the desk, to the photo, and back again.

"Enough to let me keep a promise to myself, Shinji?" she whispered.

Shinji's face shyly smiled back at her from the photograph and said nothing.

- - - -

Shinji gloomily trudged up to his apartment and slid open the door. His afternoon classes did little to distract him or to clear his mind; if anything, it gave him more time to brood over his predicament. By the time he got home his mind was reeling with so many questions and conflicting thoughts that he didn't notice the sounds of chopping coming from the kitchen. "I'm home!" he called.

"Welcome home," answered Misato's muffled voice. "I'm in here."

Shinji kicked off his sneakers and placed them neatly on the mat next to the door before shuffling down the hallway toward his guardian's voice. He pressed his lips into a thin line as he tried to think of what to ask her. After all, she and Kaji had gone through so many ups and downs that it seemed as if their whole relationship was one long fight. If anyone could help him straighten things out—

Shinji abruptly stopped when he turned the corner and entered the kitchen. The sight of Misato with a large knife in her hand and an apron over her usual tank top and cut-offs immediately chased any thoughts out of his suddenly panicking mind. It took a moment for him to find his voice again when he realized that his guardian, whose cooking skills usually involved something to do with the microwave or instant ramen (usually both), was actually trying to cook something from scratch. "Misato…" he asked warily as his eyes flicked suspiciously to the blade in her hand, "what are you doing?"

"Chopping onions," Misato replied with a cheerful smile. "What does it look like?" She set the knife down next to a cutting board and dabbed at her eyes with a corner of her apron before picking it up again. "I figured I should do something different for a change."

Shinji cocked an eyebrow at the indigo-haired woman. "In other words, we're out of instant stuff, right?"

"Yeah, that too."

Shinji surveyed the kitchen, unable to shake the growing feeling of apprehension that had settled in the pit of his stomach. "Can I give you a hand with anything?" he asked.

"Oh no, that's all right. You just sit down and relax. I've got everything under control."

"But Misato—"

"First rule of the kitchen: never argue with the person holding the knife." Misato waggled the gleaming blade in Shinji's direction with a wicked smile to emphasize her point before she grabbed another onion and went back to her work.

Shinji opened the refrigerator and grabbed a can of soda. "But, uh..." he replied hesitantly as he sat at the table, "aren't you supposed to peel onions first?"

The chopping suddenly stopped. Misato paused and stared at the papery brown bits now hopelessly mixed in with the chunks on the cutting board in front of her. "I knew that," she grumbled before she scraped everything into the garbage and reached for another onion.

The sound of the knife striking the cutting board soon resumed its slow, uneasy rhythm. "Misato," Shinji asked after a moment, "can I ask you something kind of personal?"

Misato lifted the lid off a pot bubbling away on the stove. The spicy aroma of curry and something else Shinji couldn't quite recognize filled the air. "Depends," she replied as she tossed the onion pieces inside and gave the pot's steaming contents a quick stir. "What's on your mind?"

Shinji looked down at the tabletop and nervously ran his finger around the rim of his now empty soda can as his cheeks flushed slightly. "Uh… when you and Kaji were dating—"

The indigo-hair woman nearly dropped the lid. "Whatever he said isn't true," she said hastily.

Shinji raised his head and blinked. "Huh?"

Misato looked back at her charge, puzzled. "You mean he hasn't said anything stupid to you again?"

"I haven't seen him since last week."

Misato sheepishly mumbled something and put the lid back on the pot.

"Uh, anyway," Shinji continued hesitantly, "you two fought a lot, didn't you?"

The older woman paused for a moment and sighed. "You could say we've had more than our fair share."

"But… you always made up after, right?"

Misato chuckled softly as a wide grin split her face. "Making up's usually the best part of a relationship." Her brow suddenly furrowed. "Hey, wait a second," she said thoughtfully, "don't tell me you and Mana…?"

The pilot nodded glumly and went back to staring at the table.

"Ah, I see," she murmured, nodding. "Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later."

Shinji's head snapped up. His eyes narrowed as he fixed Misato with a stony glare. "What do you mean by that?"

Misato defensively raised her hands in front of her. "All I mean is that all couples fight at least once in a while."

"Oh." The boy went back to fidgeting with the can. "Uh… well, it was a little more serious than a fight."

A look of chagrin crossed Misato's face. "Uh-oh," she said gravely. "What happened?"

After a moment's hesitation, Shinji took a deep breath and told his guardian everything that had happened over the past week, from the phone call he had had with his father and the conversation between him and Mana on the train on their way to headquarters – Misato winced at that – to what had happened at school earlier that day. After he finished, a heavy silence hung over the kitchen as he slumped against the back of the chair.

"Ouch," Misato said softly after a minute. "So, now what?"

Shinji heaved a gloomy sigh. "I don't know."

Misato placed a hand on her hip and pursed her lips in thought. "Well," she said after a moment, "I think talking with her about it would be a good start."

The young pilot folded his arms on the table and rested his chin on them. "What's the point? She probably hates me by now."

"What makes you say that?"

"After what I did?" Shinji shot his guardian an incredulous look. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"I think she'd hate you more if you don't talk," Misato pointed out. "An apology and a few words will go a long way. You don't want misunderstandings to ruin a perfectly good thing. Besides, if things don't work out, at least there won't be any hard feelings, right?"

The boy gave a half-hearted shrug. "I suppose."

Misato walked up behind Shinji and gently placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "At least try it, okay? It worked with Kaji most times."

Shinji looked back at her with a confused look on his face. "Most times?" he repeated.

"Well, sometimes he needed to use a little more persuasion," Misato replied with a sly wink.

Shinji was about to ask her what she meant by that, but the grin on her face made him realize that he really didn't want to know.

- - - -

The arcane symbols decorating the ceiling and floor of Gendo's cavernous office seemed to glow with a pale light of their own as he sat at his desk. The commander of NERV sat motionless, moving only to set his elbows on the desk and push his tinted glasses up the bridge of his nose. His brow furrowed slightly while he coldly analyzed his situation before he deliberately reached across the desk and placed a black stone on the lacquered go board in front of him. "I just had a word with Doctor Akagi," he remarked.

The slender, gray-haired man sitting across the desk from him raised his eyebrows as he reached for a teacup. "Oh? And what did she have to say?"

"She seems to have some issues with some factors that may affect the Fourth Child's performance."

"Don't tell me she's starting to second-guess herself," Fuyutsuki replied with a hint of amusement in his voice.

Gendo sat back in his chair. "Hardly. I believe she is concerned over trivial matters."

The porcelain cup froze halfway to Fuyutsuki's lips. "You're referring to the Fourth Child's relationship with your son? That hardly seems trivial."

"A mere distraction, nothing more."

Fuyutsuki set the teacup back down on its saucer with a faint clink. "I take it you won't be making any changes, then?"

"There is no need. Her test results are acceptable, no matter what Doctor Akagi seems to think, and Major Katsuragi has reported that the girl's training is progressing according to schedule. She will perform the activation test of Unit 03 this weekend as planned."

"And the fact that she's been dating Shinji?"

"If anything comes of it, it can be worked to our advantage just like everything else."

Fuyutsuki's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing as silence hovered over the two men. "Speaking of our newest pilot," he added casually after a moment, "I took the time to take a look at her personality profile. Have you had a chance to read it yet?"

Gendo grunted noncommittally.

The older man returned his attention back to the game. "In many ways she's a lot like Yui was."

Fuyutsuki was so intent on analyzing the stones on the board that he didn't notice the wistful smile that appeared on Gendo's lips for the briefest of moments before it was buried behind his usual cold, impassive mask.

"I know," came the reply.

- - - -

Mana silently stood alone in the elevator as it whisked her away into the bowels of Central Dogma. She barely noticed the clicking of the floor indicator as she leaned against the back wall, her arms folded across her chest, and tried to clear her mind of the jumble of thoughts and emotions that had been running through her head over the last couple of days. After all, the last thing she needed was to have Doctor Akagi chew her out her slipping synch scores on top of everything else.

She felt a faint lurch as the elevator came to a halt. Mana let her gaze travel instinctively to the doorway as it slid open – and stifled a nervous gasp when she saw Shinji step aboard. Their eyes met briefly until Shinji blinked anxiously and looked away to face the front of the lift. He stiffly stood at the front of the car, motionless, as the two pilots resumed their descent.

Mana's frantic heartbeats grew louder in her ears as she stared at the back of Shinji's silver and blue plug suit, hoping that he would turn around and look at her again. Her mind instantly filled with things to say to him but she just couldn't open her mouth. Instead, she nervously bit her lower lip and shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other as the minutes ticked away.

"Mana?"

Mana started as Shinji's voice, barely louder than a whisper, shattered the silence between them. Her stomach lurched, but whether it was from her nervousness or the fact that the elevator was slowing down, she couldn't say.

"Y-yes?" she managed to squeak through her suddenly tight throat.

"I've been doing some more thinking... well, about us, and…"

Mana held her breath and steeled herself for the words she had been hoping she wouldn't hear.

"…can we get together sometime?"

She tore her gaze from the ceiling and stared in stunned silence at the boy in front of her. He still had his back to her, but she saw his ears redden as his head tilted downward as if he was staring at the floor. "I… I think we need to talk," he mumbled before he hurriedly stepped out into the hallway without looking back.

Mana chewed her lower lip thoughtfully, her eyes following Shinji's retreating back, until the doors started to close.

"Shinji!"

The boy lifted his head and slowly turned around as Mana thrust her hand between the elevator's doors. He found himself staring into her steel-gray eyes as the panels stopped with a jerk and slid open again.

"After we're done tonight…" Mana said hesitantly, "Can you walk me back?"

Shinji shifted his feet slightly, his cheeks turning crimson. "Um," he replied uncertainly, "I was going to get a lift home with Misato…"

Mana felt the floor disappear from under her feet as disappointment washed over her.

Shinji smiled weakly at her. "But I don't think she'll mind once I tell her. See you after testing, then?"

Mana returned the boy's smile with a timid one of her own. "Sure. I'll see you then."

Shinji nodded as the doors finally closed between them.

Mana leaned back against the wall of the lift in relief and let her breath explode out of her lungs. Her smile widened for an instant before it suddenly froze on her face as a new wave of anxiety and tumultuous thoughts swept through her mind. She kicked at a scuffmark on the floor and scowled.

"Great," she muttered. "How am I supposed to concentrate now?"

- - - -

The sun was little more than a faint purple smudge on the horizon by the time the two pilots made their way to the bus shelter and hesitantly sat down on opposite ends of the cold wooden bench. Except for the cawing of birds coming home to roost and the shrill chirping of cicadas, everything was quiet for several long minutes.

"Well?" Mana finally prompted.

Shinji briefly glanced at Mana before he squirmed in his seat and quickly looked away, blushing.

"You said you wanted to talk."

"Um… Y-yeah." Shinji lifted his gaze and quietly watched the streetlights quietly flicker to life above them one by one. "Mana," he asked uncertainly, "Why do you want to be an Eva pilot so much?"

The Fourth Child shifted uncomfortably on the bench as her face clouded. "My father," she replied solemnly after a long pause.

"Your father wants you to become a pilot?" Shinji asked, puzzled.

"Not exactly." Her expression darkened, as if to match the gathering gloom. "He was a pilot with the UN security forces."

"Was?" Shinji repeated.

Mana closed her eyes and nodded slowly. "He… he was killed about six months ago while flying an attack gunship."

"Oh." Unsure of what to say next, Shinji sat quietly until the pieces of her story suddenly fell into place. His eyes widened as he turned back to her. "Are you saying what your father died in the first Angel attack?"

Mana paused before she looked down at the pavement between her feet and nodded. "At the time, all they said was that it was an accident. I didn't know what really happened until I… I saw…" Her voice trailed off. Shinji thought he saw a tear trickle down her cheek, but in the gloom it was hard to be sure.

After a while Mana felt something on her shoulder. With a start, she glanced up to see Shinji crouching in front of her, his face even with hers and a sympathetic look in his eyes. She smiled weakly and sniffled as she briefly placed her hand over his, unwilling to lose the comforting feel of his touch.

"I'm sorry," Shinji murmured. "I didn't know."

"That's all right. I'm okay." Mana blinked a few times before she took a long, shuddering breath and rested her hands in her lap. "When my father was away on assignment he wrote to me almost every day, telling me that he couldn't be with me because he was doing what he thought was right. He said that everyone should do what they can to make a difference in the world, and that he was doing what he could by protecting people who couldn't defend themselves."

"And you want to do the same."

The Fourth Child nodded. "I know he died doing something he believed in. I want to make a difference in this world like he did, and now I have a chance of doing it in a way almost no one else can."

After a moment Mana felt Shinji's hand slip from its perch. She instinctively grabbed at it before her hand paused for an instant in midair and finally settled down into her lap.

Shinji watched the girl in front of him, his expression unreadable. "You know," he finally said after a moment, "something tells me that nothing I say or do will change your mind about piloting." He paused before looking into her eyes. "Now that I know why it's so important to you… I'm not going to stand in your way. I just want you to be happy."

Mana's brow wrinkled. "But… how can I be happy if I have to choose between you and piloting?"

The corners of Shinji's mouth twitched. "Who said anything about choosing?"

"But I don't want to—" Mana protested before her mouth hung open for a second as his words sank in. "Does this mean…" she whispered, "that you want us to…?"

Shinji looked down at his feet a moment before raising his head again. Their eyes met for an instant before he nodded slightly with a timid smile. "If you'll forgive—"

He never finished his sentence as Mana wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly with a giddy laugh. The stunned boy stiffly returned the favor. "I guess that's a 'yes'," he gasped.

"Mmm-hmm." Mana released Shinji and nodded at him before motioning him to sit beside her.

Shinji's mind seemed empty of everything and yet moved a thousand miles an hour as Mana snuggled close to him and placed her arm behind his neck with a contented sigh. Nothing needed to be said for a long while; neither pilot made a sound, content to simply be alone in the growing twilight.

"Your turn," Mana suddenly whispered.

"Huh?"

The brunette looked up at Shinji. "I told you why I want to pilot. Now it's your turn."

"I don't know if you want to hear it."

Mana looked at the pilot indignantly. "Fair's fair."

Shinji opened his mouth to protest, but one look at Mana's determined expression was enough to change his mind. "All right," he sighed. He looked up and stared at a streetlight across the road. "After my mother died, my father simply left me with my uncle and disappeared. For ten years we barely spoke to each other. I didn't even know why he left until after he asked me to come and stay here a few months ago. I thought he wanted us to be together again, but I was just a tool to him, just someone to pilot the Eva." The hint of a smile crossed Shinji's lips. "When I finally heard him praise me after we defeated the Tenth Angel, it felt like I had become more than that. He treated me like I was human. I realized then that I want him to be proud of me instead of pushing me away. That's why I pilot, I guess. I want to matter to someone."

The girl in Shinji's arms gave him a squeeze. "You already do."

Shinji blushed. "M-Mana..."

"Shh." She silenced him with a finger to his lips before she paused with a thoughtful look on her face. "On the train the other day you said that piloting only brings pain and suffering to everyone, right?"

Shinji nodded.

"If I'm out there with you... if we face the pain and suffering together, it won't be as bad, will it?"

"I suppose."

The smile returned to Mana's face. "Good. Just remember that."

An awkward silence fell over the two teenagers. The birds and cicadas had long since fallen quiet; the couple's soft breathing and the distant whisper of traffic were the only sounds they heard as they held each other in the darkness.

"Shinji?" Mana finally whispered in a tiny voice.

"Yes?"

"What will happen if something goes wrong?"

Shinji thought for a moment. "There's fail-safes and overrides built into—"

Mana interrupted him with a shake of her head. "No, No. I mean…" she paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "Will you look out for me out there? Will you keep me safe?"

The boy blinked in puzzlement before he reassuringly traced her cheek with his fingertips. "Of course I'll look out for you."

"Promise?" Mana looked up at his face. The light from the streetlamps above gleamed in her eyes, turning them into liquid silver.

Shinji firmly nodded back at her. "Promise."

The brunette smiled sweetly as her body relaxed in his arms. She nestled her head against Shinji's shoulder and nuzzled his neck. Almost without thinking, he rested his head on top of hers and gently stroked her mahogany hair before kissing her forehead.

Mana's eyes widened slightly. Her body stiffened at the boy's touch as she let out a tiny gasp. She looked up at Shinji, then closed her eyes as her body seemed to melt against his in response. Her pretty face and soft, inviting lips mesmerized the boy in her arms; before he knew it he had bent down and was nervously bringing his mouth closer to hers.

He closed his eyes, encouraged by her apparent willingness. He could feel her soft breath caress his cheek as they slowly drew closer. Shinji's anxiety grew with every slow, agonizing second. When their lips finally met, he was trembling so badly that their teeth came together with a sudden, almost painful click. He pulled back in surprise and embarrassment. "Sorry!" he whispered. "I—"

Shinji's apology was cut short as Mana grabbed the front of his shirt, pulled him to her, and eagerly kissed him.

It was an awkward, clumsy kiss to say the least, but what it lacked in technique it certainly made up for in raw emotion; to the two teens it was enough to make everything around them disappear into a world of warm, hazy bliss. A little while later—minutes, hours, the two neither knew nor cared—they were interrupted by the rumble of a diesel engine and the squealing hiss of hydraulic brakes. Mana swore under her breath, reluctantly opened her eyes, and pulled away from the stunned boy before she got up and hurriedly ran to the waiting bus. She climbed aboard and waved at him with a shy, apologetic smile just before the doors closed. It was all Shinji could do to wave back as the bus pulled away.

It was several minutes after the bus disappeared into the darkness before Shinji stuck his hands in his pockets and began the long walk back to the apartment. A brisk wind, cool and damp with a hint of rain, came from out of the night to greet him. It swirled around him and plastered his shirt against his skin, but he hardly noticed it.

The warmth from their kiss stayed with him all the way home.

- - - -

To be continued…

- - - -

Author's Notes (03-18-2005):

I'm terribly sorry for the slowdown again, folks. It seems like my muse decided to take a winter vacation this time. Add to that the trials and tribulations of real life (family, kids, the general chaos of the holiday season, moving, new job), and… well, you get the idea. Hopefully this will only be a temporary setback as everything else in my life settles down again.

Anyway, it looks like I'm back on track with the plot of the original fic… enjoy it while it lasts, because it will start to diverge again soon. And no, I'm not saying how or when. You'll have to wait just like everyone else. Nyah.

Okay, enough of my rambling. This time, I'd like to extend my thanks to Chibi Fenrir and the perpetually proficient prereading pair of 'notime' and 'chewy' for their valuable input – and, of course, to all of you who have taken the time to read this fic. Reviews and emails are always welcome as usual. See you next chapter – which, at this rate, should be out by Christmas 2010.

Just kidding. No, really.