Title: Happenstances
Supervisor: Silpelit Seven
Final Genesis Committee
Disclaimer: I don't own EVA or anything else. I even stole all the words from the dictionary. The storylines are based off the manga alterations, of which I also have no ownership.

Mitamura sat on the cold bench in the pilot's changing room. In his hands he held the limp plug suit. His fist was clenched tightly around the suit, echoing the anger he felt within.

'I'm the backup. Basically unnecessary.'

He sighed loudly. "Aah, I shouldn't worry about such things. I have my place to fill, like everyone else."

"What do you mean?" The voice from beyond the curtain... It was definitely Ayanami Rei. She was so quiet, he hadn't felt her presence. "You said, 'I have my own place'. What did you mean?"

"Oh, just trying to put things into perspective, I guess. Hey, Ayanami-san?"

"...Yes?" Kunihiko dropped the plug suit, finally putting his anger onto the back burner in his mind.

"Commander Ikari said that we'd met before somewhere, but... I can't recall where." He waited for some kind of response before continuing. "I had an accident during an experiment involving EVA Unit 02 in Germany. It was just a couple months ago, but the doctors said I could experience some memory loss. Until now... there was nothing unusual."

"... I don't understand what you are saying." The air smelled heavily of LCL, but for whatever reason it didn't bother Kunihiko as it had in the past. Indeed, that smell which permeated the entry plug and seemed to constantly cling to his skin afterwards. As he spoke with Ayanami, however, it didn't seem so bad.

"Uh... I guess I'm trying to say that I'm sorry I don't remember you. I was also wondering if you recalled meeting me before."

"I do." He opened his mouth, but closed it quickly.

"Well... No, nevermind."

"Did you need a further explanation?" Of course he wanted to know, but something held him back.

"Not right now, but maybe in time I'll ask again. Thank you; see you at school tomorrow."

"Actually..." Rei's voice trailed off. Earlier in the day, the Commander had asked her to become more familiar with the Fourth Children. She thought it was an odd request, but of course she would obey him. "It seems that we live in the same apartment building. I... If you would agree, perhaps I could accompany you."

"Oh, that'd be fine," Mitamura responded without much thought. "I'm still not quite sure if my route is the quickest way to get to the entrance gates."

---

Subcaption 1:
Hidden Memories

---

Light gently filtered through the open windows of classroom 2-A, First Public School of Tokyo-3.

"Hey, did you hear? That Mitamura guy was seen walking with Ayanami this morning."

"Oh, you mean the silent duo of Class 2-A?"

"Silent duo? Mitamura only sleeps all day long. I heard he's some kind of 'night person'."

"You mean vampire!"

"Or just a narcoleptic."

The chatter of class 2-A's students was more underhanded than usual. After the Angel attack, slowly the class size had started to decrease, with the exception of the class's idol, the pilot Ikari Shinji. However, the interest in such things had waned after Shinji had been tapped of all useful information. Replacement topics had moved into place. Mitamura Kunihiko and Ayanami Rei had come under fire this morning.

"Hi, new kid!" Suzuhara exclaimed as he sat on Ikari's desktop.

"Oh hi, Suzuhara-kun," the smaller boy responded with a nervous grin. "Where's Kensuke?"

"He heard some info about a military exercise on the Atami coastline, so he's there. What's the class all excited about?"

"Um... Oh, I guess Ayanami and Mitamura were spotted walking to school together."

"So?" Touji deadpanned. Shinji had no other response other than a shrug. "They're both pilots like you, right?"

"Yes."

"So, why aren't you defending them? If they are your comrades, as the number one pilot you should stand up for their honor!"

"Hey, I never expected you to say anything so chivalrous," Shinji cautiously stated. He braced himself as Suzuhara froze in place, only to relax again when the boy shrugged.

"It's just a thought, man."

"Hm."

Later that day, Suzuhara pushed Shinji up to the school's ceiling, where a couple students had seen Mitamura retreat. True enough, there he was, leaning his tall frame over the railing just a bit precariously. "Ahem!" Touji cleared his throat in order to gain the other boy's attention. He didn't react at first, but turned just as Suzuhara was opening his mouth again. "Hey, you're an EVA pilot, too, right?" Mitamura nodded blankly.

"Um, I just wanted to say that... Well, some of our classmates were spreading rumors today about you and ... Ayanami, so-"

"About me and Ayanami?" the tall boy repeated thoughtfully, his gaze going past the pair and off into the distance.

"Uh, yea. I probably should have said something to stop them, but I didn't so, ya know..." Shinji trailed off. Curiosity finally peaked when Suzuhara turned around and tried to see what Mitamura was staring at. There wasn't anything unusual, but Ikari followed suit in another vain attempt. "Um... are you OK, Mitamura-san?" he asked as he turned back again.

"Huh?" he replied, shaken out of his trance. "Oh, yes, I was just feeling a bit strange."

"A strange feeling? Maybe a hot girl is talking about you!" Suzuhara exclaimed, looking on the bright and slightly perverted side of things.

"I'm scared," Mitamura blurted. His face was blank again, showing no signs of embarassment. "Ikari-san, maybe you should call your guardian to check in. This feeling... I've felt it before."

"Huh? When?" Shinji inquired.

"The day you arrived in Tokyo-3." The third Angel, the true face of EVA-01, Ayanami Rei... These images flashed in Mitamura's head.

"Ayanami? What is it?" Shinji asked as the girl appeared on the rooftop as well.

"We've just received an emergency call. Both of you, follow me to headquarters."

---

Happenstances
Chapter 02: Issues of the Heart

---

The fourth Angel was defeated.

Mitamura Kunihiko leaned his back against the lockers. 'Once again, I wasn't needed. Why... After all my training, all I can do now is train more? Why couldn't I just stay in Germany?' Suddenly, he remembered the lecture he had received from Ikari after the defeat of the third Angel... He turned his head and focused on Ikari. The other boy was totally still, his head hanging low. They both knew that NERV's security was waiting outside to detain Shinji. After all, he had obeyed a direct command from his superior officer.

"Ikari-san, you were successful in beating our opponent," Kunihiko stated calmly.

"I know,... but I... It's not a big deal. I won."

"However, you may have been killed. How can you make such abritrary decisions?" Shinji's eyes widened slightly, remembering those exact words he had spoken to Misato when she changed his place of residence.

"It doesn't matter," he sighed as he walked out the door.

Two days passed.

Ikari Shinji sat in the holding cell inside of NERV, patiently waiting for the unavoidable appearance of his commanding officer and legal guardian, Katsuragi Misato. 'All I could do is run and hide... but I'm back here again.'

His thoughts were interrupted as the door suddenly slid open to reveal a quiet and morose Misato. "Welcome back."

"Um... yea..." was all he could say.

"Does it feel good to run away? Did you accomplish anything in the past two days?" she asked in a low voice. "Let me ask you something... Do you want to be an EVA pilot?" Shinji's eyes sharpened, and his fist tightened at the proposal.

"It doesn't matter to me. I said before that I don't pilot because I want to... but because I have to. Even if I said no, my opinion doesn't really have any weight, right? I'm the only one who can pilot Unit 01... and everyone would be in trouble if I didn't pilot it," he quietly admitted. "I do it because everyone tells me to-"

"I'm not asking about that, I'm asking what YOU think," she asked as she crossed her arms. "Shinji... If you don't want to, that's OK. You can go back to your uncle's. Rei will be healed soon, and Kunihiko should be able to pilot Unit 01." He was a bit surprised that she wouldn't try to change his mind at all... In fact, she seemed to be pushing him to leave... "It's for your own good. You'd wind up dead soon enough," she continued in an even and controlled tone. "Besides... An insecure pilot like you is nothing but trouble for the rest of us."

Shinji's shocked face was hurtful to Misato. She had failed as a leader and a guardian. "It hurts to lose a pilot, of course. We'll just overwrite Unit 01's personal data for Kunihiko." She went to the door and turned to see him one more time. "I'm sorry that we asked too much of you. Just forget about this place and about EVA. Go back to your old life. Goodbye."

Shinji began to call her name, but the door just slid shut. He was left alone again, abandoned. He stared at the door in shock, while on the other side, Misato tried to shrug off the sorrow she felt.

---

At school the next day, Suzuhara and Aida approached Mitamura, having learned of Shinji's departure. "Hey, why is Shinji leaving Tokyo-3?" they asked in unison.

"He said he was done being a pilot and wished to return to his uncle's place," the seated Mitamura explained.

"Do you know which train platform he'll be leaving from?" Suzuhara inquired desperately.

"I'm sorry, I don't. If you were to find his guardian, though, I'm sure she would know."

---

"The train is now arriving on track two. Please step back behind the white line," the recorded voice stated. Ikari Shinji waited patiently, accompanied by two NERV security officers. As the train rolled into position, Ikari was as morose as ever.

"What's wrong; get in," one of the officers commanded after the train had been stopped for several moments.

"Shinji!" It was Misato's voice. So she had come to at least see him off! "You guys can leave. I'll take it from here," she said, sending the men away. Shinji noticed that she was carrying Penpen.

"Misato..."

"I forgot something!" she exclaimed. "Penpen... well... He was being used in experiments at my old job... They were finished with him and were about to put him to sleep. Why do you think I saved him? Because I felt sorry for him... and... I've always lived alone. I thought it would be nice to have someone who would be there, waiting for me. I thought it might be nice to have a family," she explained. "I'm not the kind of person who's got it together enough to live with a stranger out of sympathy, or because its my job."

"M-misato..." He began to break down into tears. "I... I don't want to go back where I was..."

As the train departed, Misato wrapped her arms around Shinji's neck. "Let's go home together," she said, choking back her own tears.

---

"So, the Third Children decided to stay here and pilot afterall, huh?" Mitamura asked. He looked across the Commander's desk, awaiting Ikari's next move on the Mah-jongg board.

"That's right."

"Good. I got the distinct impression that EVA-01 doesn't like me very much." Ikari's eyebrows raised ever-so-slightly.

"Is that so?"

"I don't know... Maybe. I've just been getting a lot of new sensations lately. I can't explain it," the younger man sighed.

"Are you troubled because a need for your presence had not yet arisen?" probed the Commander. "As I explained previously, there will be a time when you will become necessary. Rei isn't ready for combat as of now, and the Third had already encountered personal issues."

"You mean your son?"

"My son... He is the only one who can pilot Unit 01 to its fullest extent. No matter how it seems on the outside, NERV and mankind needs him to be the pilot."

"He only seeks your approval."

"Hmph." Ikari placed a winning piece down, finally ending Mitamura's first game. "As expected, your scores with Unit 01 were slightly lower than those of Unit 00. I've been pushing the Americans to quickly finish Unit 03, but the committee is standing in our way once again. For now you will continue co-piloting with Rei. Your harmonics are very good, but you need to work on raising your synchro-rate. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

---

Later that evening, an impromptu homecoming party was held for Ikari Shinji. His friends and fellow pilots, along with Ritsuko, came together in celebration.

"No, I'm serious Ikari, hit me!" Suzuhara exclaimed after a quick meal.

"What? Are you OK?" Ikari queried nervously.

Suzuhara's voice quieted. "I didn't know nothin' about you, but I knocked you down, even though I knew you'd saved our lives. And... I don't like to owe anyone! So I wanted to make things even this way."

"Uhhh..." Ikari deadpanned. "Well, just once maybe."

"Good! Don't hold back!" Touji responded as he braced himself. Shinji pulled a fist and readied a hit, but just sighed. "What's wrong?"

"I think I'd rather have you owe me one," Shinji slyly said.

"WHAT!"

"Things will be more fun this way, I think."

"Why you! I'll knock some sense into that thick head!"

Misato stood back along with Ritsuko, watching as the two boys tormented each other. "You know, he's much cuter when he smiles," Ritsuko noted.

"This is the first time I've seen it. His smile, I mean. Now, if we could fix those other two..." Misato trailed off as the two older women glanced over into Misato's living room. Rei silently read her book. She didn't appear very interested in the party's happenings, although she seemed to steal gazes at Shinji once in a great while. Kunihiko appeared to have fallen asleep in Misato's personal recliner.

"Rei never shows her smile to anyone but the Commander," Ritsuko sighed. "Oh well. I knew Shinji would come back."

"You knew? How's that?"

"The first self-motivated act of growing children is to rebel against their guardian. It's a validation of the child's existance, as well as a test of the guardian," the doctor explained. "I think you passed, since he returned."

"What the hell do you know?" Misato asked in a slurred manner. A small pyramid of beer cans was forming on the table. "Don't bitch me out in my own home!"

"I'm just speaking statistically," Ritsuko nonchalantly responded, having gotten used to Misato's drunken outbursts many years ago.

"You're a strange one, you know."

"Yea, I know. Anyway, were you able to review that data I sent you?"

"You're asking me this now?" Misato groaned. "Yea, I did. It just shows how little Mankind really understands." Misato hazily remembered the connection between Angels and humans... A 99.89 DNA match, despite being made of a different kind of matter...

"Hey, Ritsuko..." The two women look up to find three young boys leaning towards them from across the table.

"Um, what is it, Shinji... boys?" Ritsuko asked as she recoiled just a little.

"Well, we just noticed that Mitamura-san seems to... well,..." Shinji trailed off as he tried to put it into an acceptable form.

"He's always asleep!" Touji spat out, finishing Shinji's thought.

"What do you mean?" Misato asked, suddenly interested.

"Here!" Kensuke edged closer to the woman. The jealousy in Touji's eyes burned out of control as Misato looked back on some recorded tape from Aida's omnipresent camera. "As you can see, he sleeps all day at school."

"Our classmates spread rumors that he's a vampire or a narcoleptic," Shinji admitted. "So we were wondering if there was a reason for his sleepiness."

"Well," Misato thought, placing a finger on her chin. "He does train nearly seventy hours every week, in addition to never missing an hour of class. His grades are excellent, so he must also complete all of his studies at home. There's also the issue of his address..."

"His address?" Touji inquired.

"He lives in the same apartment building as Rei. There is always construction going on there. If he is a light sleeper, he would be constantly awoken if he tried to sleep at home. He would need every spare moment of sleep he can get, because I have never heard him yawn, and he has never filed any sort of complaint with NERV. Therefore, school is probably his last sanctuary," Misato explained.

"So, he is some kind of night person, in a sense," Akagi finished as they all gazed at the sleeping form of Mitamura Kunihiko.

-
End of Chapter 02.