Uhh... yah. Its 2:00 in the morning, and I really dont feel like having too many authors notes, so i'll get right to the point. Heres chappy 3, enjoy!

Pre-read done by Voidhawk of the Phoenix Souls. Danke mein Freund!

EVA's not mine. If you didnt know that beforehand, then you're too stupid to be reading this in the first place, go away.

Shinji snickered, and decided it was time to finally face the inevitable. He walked towards his room, and opened the door.

As expected, Asuka was sitting on his bed, looking through one of his mangas when he arrived. "Alright baka, may the explaining begin?"

Shinji sat in his computer chair, and gave Asuka a serious look. "After hearing this, you're gonna think I'm nuts, so this is your last chance to back out."

Asuka snorted a bit and responded with a humorous tone in her voice, "You've been insane for a while now, so you're gonna have to work hard to shock m."

Shinji still had that hard face on, and he sighed, "Then you'd better be ready to hear the craziest story that you'll ever be hearing…"

Asuka simply nodded.

…And so he began…

I want you to imagine a confused, utterly shocked expression that would put anyone to shame.

Alright, got that?

Good.

Now I want you to imagine that expression pinned to the face of a certain 15-year-old red-haired German girl who has just been the brunt of an explanation of her friend's behavior involving giant robots, crazy depiction of all destroying angels, and the end of the world.

Ok, now freeze! Hold that there for a minute or so. If that mental image can't bring a grin to your face, just stop reading now.

"…So, that's your reason for acting so strange today Shinji?" Asuka asked, still shocked.

Shinji could only nod dumbly while staring at the floor, contemplating whether or not he should have just revealed his innermost thoughts.

'Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me…' Shinji prayed silently to no one in particular.

He couldn't return to the blissful ignorance of some hours ago now, the truth was out. Either she'd believe him, or dub him a madman. 'Oh God, please… I have no one else to turn to…'

A few moments of silence ensued between Shinji and Asuka, and were eventually broken by a few calmly, yet broken words from the female occupant of the room.

"I…I have to go now"

Shinji looked up only to find himself staring straight into the doubtful yet concerned face of Asuka Langley Sohryu.

"Shinji, get some help for these… dreams, okay?" She said in a concerned voice, turning and leaving Shinji to his own thoughts.

Time would pass, and Shinji would eventually look back at this moment and consider how he could've handled it differently. But for the time being, all he could do was stay sitting in his chair, and watch one of his best friends leave him, thinking he was going insane. There was nothing he could've done to convince her, nothing he could have done to sway her mind…

"Why me, damnit all…? Why me…?" Was the last thing he said before deciding to retire for the night. This day had been too ridiculous. Who knew, maybe he would just wake up back in the ending phases of Third Impact… Maybe this had all just been some sort of vision.

'Yes, this is all just some kind of strange scenario, that's it! It's all being imagined! I'll just wake back up tomorrow and everything will be back to normal! I'm sure of it!' Were his last coherent thoughts before blissfully drifting into unconsciousness.

Its good to have faith in things that you believe in. But it is not wise to drape your very sanity on the hinges of one idealistic dream.

Shinji was never one to dream in his sleep. He was generally at peace with himself, and didn't question the World around him either. He had long ago accepted that he was a coward wimp, a weak-minded fool who couldn't do a thing right for himself or anyone else.

He had long ago accepted the World that he lived in wasn't going to change, that he would have to adapt to the insanity of the war against Angels ( …and weren't Angels supposed to be representations of purity, Messengers of God? The very nature of the enemy was a mystery to Shinji. A bad joke thrown into humanity's own arrogant face). But being locked inside of this new "World", it brought his subconscious to a new, uncomfortable level. A level that had his mind wondering, even in sleep. Any moment of sleep he got that night, didn't help him one bit.

His recurring dreams of the Pre-Third Impact World had him awake for a good part of the night

He tossed and turned, remembering the disastrous occurrences of his past. He dreamt of his first time arriving at Tokyo 3, of his horrific first battle with Sachiel, the Third Angel.

He dreamt of both him and Rei enduring the vicious blasts of the Fifth, Ramiel, and of being swallowed by the Twelfth, Leliel.

He dreamt of Asuka's last bit of sanity being taken away by the Fifteenth, Arael, and of watching Rei's very life being taken away before his eyes by the Sixteenth, Armisael, only to find both her and her many terrible secrets very much alive.

And finally, before waking with a start, he dreamt of destroying the life of the only friend he had had left in that World. He dreamt of crushing the Seventeenth, Tabris, Kaworu Nagisa, with his own hands.

In his defense, he did manage to keep the scream he let loose while regaining consciousness relatively quiet. Although in retrospect, it wouldn't have really mattered, because it was of such a high pitch that only he and the neighborhood dogs would have heard it where it any louder. Shinji found himself sweating profusely, grabbing onto his bed sheets so firmly it felt like his knuckles were about to snap under the pressure. The previous night's assault of images appeared to be too much for the boy, as he curled up into a ball under the covers, and just lay there while shivering, hoping that everything would just end.

Yui was concerned now. This was the fifth time that she had called into his room for him to get up. Normally he would at least be making some low grunting sounds by the third or so, but today, there was nothing. 'Alright then, making it difficult for me today… huh?', she thought as she began to open his door to wake him in a more effective manner. "Hey, Shinji, it's time to get up and get ready! You're already la-…"

"I'm not going mom…" He interrupted her quietly, still underneath his bed sheets. "I feel like shit, I wouldn't make it through first period."

Yui hesitated for a moment before dismissing the need to continue her last statement, and continued on with her new thoughts. "Alright, I guess it won't hurt, it IS Friday after all…" she concluded before walking back out the door, not even bothering to close it.

'Thank God.' He thought as he heard the sound of footsteps falling further and further away from his resting spot. He knew he wouldn't have been able to make it through the day, but for completely different reasons than the one he gave to his mother. 'I would've snapped under the pressure, someone would've been bound to find out… Asuka would tell Hikari, Hikari would tell her close friends… it'd be around in no time, Shinji Ikari the psycho.'

His thoughts were derailed momentarily by the sound of renewed footsteps making their way towards his door. "I'm heading out Shinji! I made a lunch for you and put it in the fridge for later, ok? It's in the brown paper bag." She paused for a second, then concluded her statement, "Hope you feel better, you know my cell number if anything happens."

"Alright mom, thanks. Bye." He responded as he heard the door closing, and the footsteps slowly beginning to drown out until yet another door was locked and closed in the distance. Then there was silence, and Shinji drifted back into a now beneficial sleep. Effectively exhausted by the previous night

Yui Ikari sighed as she boarded the train that would take her to work.

Today would be the day she was supposed to alert Shinji as to what he would be going through over the next year or so of his life. But with the way he had acted that morning, he just didn't look like he could've taken it.

'The boy looked like he was under enough pressure. I doubt telling him would've gone over very well…' She knew Gendo and Fuyutsuki-sensei weren't going to be very happy about her stalling, but the two head honchos of NERV were just going to have to be a little reasonable today.

The typical atmosphere of classroom 2-A was lacking something this morning in Tokyo 3 Municipal Junior High. This certain something being quickly identified by a certain 2/3 of a 3 stooges.

"Hey Sohryu! Any idea where Shinji is this morning?" Asked a slightly concerned Kensuke.

"Yah, his disappearance wouldn't have anything to do with you now, would it, Devil Girl?" Seconded Touji as he absent-mindedly doodled on his desk, notably not quite as concerned as his goony counterpart.

The first question caught Asuka off guard, even though she knew she should've been ready for it. She did have to drag his ass in there every morning after all. Her work on a superficial answer was placed a bit further down the "To Do List" below "Ripping Suzuhara a new asshole" when she heard the second one though.

Hikari noticed the smoke starting to emit from Asuka's ears, and decided it would probably be in the classmates (mostly Suzuhara's) best interests if she intervened right about now.

"Touji, shut it for a minute." She snapped, then turned her attention to Asuka, "But seriously, do you have any idea where Ikari is this morning? Normally he walks in with you…"

After again editing her To Do List, Asuka churned out the most logical, sensible, non-debatable answer she could think of in 1.3 seconds- " I dunno." -and then mentally grinned at her own inner genius.

Hikari was not amused, but before she could get in anymore of a say on the matter, the class bell went off, and she set off to perform "The Routine" She would have time to worry about Ikari's whereabouts after school.

This was not the mind set of a certain Rei Ayanami just a few seats away. She had witnessed the entire conversation between Asuka and the Stooges, and did not wear a happy expression on her face. 'He didn't seem very ill yesterday on the walk home… something's going on here.'

"Rei! Stop spacing off and pay attention to the attendance please!" Barked Misato, "It's hard enough to keep track of you new kids as it is!" After a small chuckle from the surrounding students, she too decided that this matter would have to be settled later.

Shinji found himself slowly waking up from his nap, and immediately noticed one thing, he couldn't feel his right arm.

After freaking out for a total of about 14 seconds, he groggily realized that he was sleeping on it, and calmed down enough to take a peek at the digital clock sitting on the desk across the room. "4:32! Wow… didn't think I was that exhausted."

While it was true he had slept the majority of the day away, he felt amazingly better than he had the same morning. The previous night's events were almost forgotten about for the time being, and replaced by an equally anguishing hunger.

'Ah damnit… I haven't eaten since lunch with Ayanami yesterday, have I?' He realized, his stomach growling rather profusely.

In some blurry memory from earlier that day, he recalled the words, "mother", "lunch", "bag", and "fridge". It took a few minutes for him to piece together that that meant he could eat, in his current state, but he figured it out nonetheless and got up to head for the kitchen.

Still groggy, it took him a bit longer than usual to determine that the bathroom and the kitchen were QUITE different rooms, and to head in the right direction, but he eventually made it to his destination and got his food. It wasn't anything too extravagant, a small sandwich and an apple. But he wasn't exactly picky at the moment. If he was still hungry afterwards, he'd just heat himself up some instant ramen or something. He took the first bite of the apple, and for the first time in the last couple of weeks, was at peace.

All good things however have a tendency to be interrupted in this story.

A couple of floors down, two young girls could be seen walking through the lobby towards the elevator. At the same time, they were there for identical, yet different reasons They were both concerned, but each in a different way.

"So… Ayanami-san, why did you come along with me?" The first asked a little cautiously to Rei, afraid of offending her in any way.

"First off, you can call me Rei." She said rather quickly to the nervous girl. "Secondly Horaki-san, two reasons. I never got to see where he lived, and…to be perfectly honest… I think that Sohryu-san did something to him…"

The second reason was semi-anticipated, but the first surprised her a bit. Nevertheless (Holy shit, that's one word!), she determined it was none of her business, and got back to the topic on hand. "You can call me Hikari too, Rei-san But yah… I'm pretty sure that something did happen with those two, you almost never see them apart normally unless he's hanging out with Aida and Suzuhara."

The conversation stopped for a brief instant as Hikari pressed the button to open the elevator, but was then quickly resumed by Rei's questioning. "Are they really a couple then?"

Hikari shook her head sadly. "You'd think that they would be after all this time, but no." Rei's head picked up noticeably at that answer "They've just been really good friends since Asuka moved here from Germany with her parents."

While the elevator beeped to indicate their arrival, Hikari could've sworn for a split second she saw a look of absolute glee in Rei's eyes, but quickly dismissed it to focus on the task at hand. "Well, here we go. His family's room is right over here."

Shinji was in heaven, to put it in lamest terms. He had cooked for Misato and Asuka for so long he had forgotten the simple pleasures of non-complicated foodstuffs. 'Who would've thought an apple could taste so freaking good!'

His blissful state was however interrupted (as I hinted upon earlier) by the distinct buzzing of the front doorbell. He begrudgingly put down his cherished apple, and made his way towards the door. As he opened it, he found himself looking into both an expected face, and a surprise one. "Hikari-san… Ayanami! What can I do for you two?"

Hikari was the first to speak up, "Well, I think you know why I'm here. Here's the printouts you missed from today." Shinji took the papers from her and observed them for a moment before doing the only thing he could think of with them both standing outside like this. "You two can come inside you know…"

"We don't want to intrude…" Hikari said a little too nervously for Rei's liking, but was quickly taken away from thoughts like that as Shinji dismissed Hikari's concerns and went back to the kitchen.

"It is ok. Come inside!" He said, while motioning for them to come in.

After laying the papers down on the kitchen table, Shinji sat down and went back to eating his very late lunch. Only pausing to signal to the rooms two females that they could sit down as well. "So, did I miss anything terribly interesting while I was gone today?"

Rei was the one to speak up this time.

"No, not really. Everything that was covered in the lectures were included in the printouts Hikari-san gave you." Rei looked to Shinji to see if he was following, then continued, "But that's not why I'm here…"

Shinji almost choked on what was left of his apple after hearing that. He looked up and allowed her to finish her statement. "Did something happen with you and Asuka yesterday? Hikari-san said that you two normally walk in together… but this morning, she said she didn't even know why you were missing."

A sense of dread instantly formed itself in Shinji's mind. It was hard enough trying to explain everything to his 'confidant' in Asuka. How the hell was he supposed to divulge things like this to two girls he barely even knew in this new world?

"No… nothing happened, I just got sick this morning… and… called Asuka's mom to tell her she didn't need to come over." As he finished twiddling his thumbs, he looked up and found that neither girl was really buying that explanation.

"Try again Ikari-kun." They both chorused back at him. It was then that Rei spoke again: "We're worried about you, just tell us what happened… ok? We'll try to help you…" Her eyes really conveyed concern for the troubled boy.

Shinji took a deep sigh, and decided. 'To hell with it all… I might as well get it out so that everyone can think I'm a madman.' "Alright… I'm going to tell you the reasons why have been acting so "strange" lately. Though I want to warn you, this explanation is why Asuka avoided me this morning."

Both girls expressions turned serious, and Hikari responded, "We'll try to help you get through whatever it is, I'm sure Asuka will as well once she gets some time to herself."

Shinji could do nothing but chuckle at that last statement, which needless to say left a rather confused look on the face of Hikari. "I'm serious you know!"

"I know, I know.." Shinji quickly replied, "But you're going to think I'm a madman too once I'm done with this little explanation. Are you ready?" Both girls nodded to him, though Hikari seemed rather anxious to hear his reasons. "Alright then, don't say I didn't warn you…"

Naoko Akagi took one long, last sip of her coffee as she looked over the final mechanical projections of the day.

'Tests took a lot longer then I thought they would. She's one unsupportive bitch when it comes to running tests on the control systems…' She turned her head when she heard the door open to her left. "Ah, Yui, can I help you with something?"

Yui just yawned and took a dramatic slumping seat into the lab chair across from Naoko. "Nah… just wanted to chat for a bit, don't really feel like heading home yet."

Naoko nodded in understanding and decided she might as well bring up the first topic, "So, do you think these things will actually be able to pull through for us?" Yui looked up as if confused at first, but was then quick to respond, looking at the big screen in front of them.

"Of course! We've been working on these systems for the last 10 years… It'll be more than enough to protect the children when the time comes!" She smiled cheerfully, but was quickly brought down by the next question from the elderly Akagi.

"Does he know about it?"

The rather sudden face fault from her corresponding chair indicated that she obviously had not explained it to him. "…Yui dear… care to go for a little walk?"

As Yui recovered and stood back up, she nodded and followed her out the door.

"You do know what kind of repercussions it could have if he goes into shock about this whole thing, right?" Naoko shot, without any warning.

Yui nodded grimly, her face simply looking downwards at her feet. "I know… I just haven't been able to find it in me to tell him so far… I was going to do it this morning, but he looked rather sick as it was, he didn't even go to school." She sighed, slumping her shoulders a bit.

"Well, that could be a problem for the first manual tests tomorrow. Actually get to see if the linking system works, we wouldn't want him in bad physical shape." The doctor replied, now looking slightly concerned. "Make sure he feels better by 5:00 pm tomorrow, and make sure you tell him tonight, ok?"

Yui looked at the door that the pair were walking towards, and froze, halting suddenly.

"Yah, I don't really have much of a choice… Rei's known for a while now, and I can't just go dragging him in here without an explanation." She added, rather briskly.

Naoko nodded simply in agreement.

"Well, thanks for the conversation, I'm heading home!" She said, turning on her heels and speeding up towards the exit halls.

Naoko watched as her friend and co-worker lightly jogged off down the hallway and out of sight before opening the door and walking inside onto the catwalk.

"Funny, I guess she's never really liked seeing you unless she has to, huh girl?" She asked to the empty room. Naoko looked straight forward into the darkened giant eyes of the enormous form in front of her and chuckled. "Oh well, she'll have plenty of time to get used to you from tomorrow on…"

Yep, ooo, ahhh. Make what you want of it, I had fun with that last scene. Hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Read and review please, I enjoy the feedback, both positive and negative.

-Da Plague