Well, here we are again. At the beginning of another chapter. If this one came out a little later than usual... I blame my pet chickens. They're busier creatures than I'd originally thought they'd be and I've been working on making expansions to their cage. But, they're a lot of fun and it's nice having a bunch of animals running around in my yard. It makes the place seem more lively. Anyways, lets see if we can do some review responses this time. I know I've been really bad about not doing responses and leaving status updates at the end of my chapters. I guess that's what happens when life catches up and you need almost every moment of it.

.

iwearmysunglassesnyte: I know. I'm so bad about updating this story in a timely manner. I try to get out at least a chapter every month. It doesn't always happen, but I do try. I promise I will never completely abandon this story unless I physically am not able to update it for some reason. But... I know that sometimes taking a month or more to get a chapter out is sometimes probably a bit worrying.

Hellsink Bathhall: Ah, I really truly do enjoy reading you reviews, especially since you've been here practically since the beginning. It helps me know I've kept at least some of my audience since this story's inception and it motivates me to come back and try to get a chapter out every so often. And, it's just very heartening to know you've been able to stick with my story this long.

18nthboi: I'm really happy you point out my world building in this story. That's something I've actually been trying really hard to work on for this. (And you'll probably see some more in this chapter at the beginning) I really have been trying to just bring the entire world and its circumstances to light. I want to show how people see the world and how it affects them. So, I'm happy you appreciate the world building.

As for Rei... I will concede, she's probably one of my weaker points in this story. I just have a really hard time writing her well. But, I have been trying hard to shape her as the story goes on. I've been hoping for some beta readers to maybe help with the characterization and... especially my grammar and misspelling. I try to catch as much of it as I can and I'm constantly going back and rereading older chapters to find spelling errors. But, when I read it, much of it appears how I intended to write it and not how I actually wrote it. But, grammar aside, having a beta reader to help me develop Rei more would be really helpful. But, even without one, I really am trying my best to do good with her.

.

And, I guess that about wraps that up. I'd love to talk more, but I have tons of stuff to do, like give Misato her script for the chapter preview!

.

Text Guide

Standard Wording

"Spoken Dialogue/Speech"

'Internal Dialogue/Thoughts'

(Flashbacks)

/

[Slash denotes scene transition for the moment; this may be changed in the future so as to become more visible.]

.

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit off of Neon Genesis Evangelion, End Of Evangelion, or the Rebuilds of Evangelion. I do not own Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Langley Sohryu, or any of the other characters/ideas from the Evangelion intellectual property collective. All licenses remain with the proper license holders. If asked to, I will formally remove this story from the hosting website.

.

*Cruel Angel's Thesis and Eva intro starts playing*


Neon Genesis Evangelion

A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love

Chapter 32

The Liberating Force

.

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we took the train. Misato was so sleepy, I don't think she'd have been able to get us to school safely," Asuka said as she stepped off the railcar and onto the New Harajuku platform, which was a few blocks away from Tokyo-3 General Graduates Academy.

Just like the Old Harajuku district in the original, and now flooded, Tokyo, the New Harajuku District of Tokyo-3 was in the New Shibuya ward just as Old Harajuku was part of Old Shibuya, or just Shibuya depending on who you asked.

Generally, it was the elder folks who called it simply Shibuya while the younger crowd called it Old Shibuya. Not to be confused with the Re:Shibuya ward of Tokyo-2, which the kids born after second Impact generally called Shibuya, often leading to confusion when they spoke with people born before second impact who exclusively called it by the technically correct name of Re:Shibuya. So, Old Shibuya, Shibuya, Re:Shibuya and New Shibuya. It really was a mess of words that generally required further explanation if the context clues weren't enough to tell you exactly which Shibuya the conversation was about. This was also the case with several other districts and wards in Tokyo-2 and Tokyo-3 that shared names with places and areas of the original Tokyo.

To further muddy the metaphorcal waters, the people born pre-impact also generally called the shopping center in Old Shibuya, "Shibuya," as well. And speaking of shopping districts, New Shibuya in Tokyo-3 had one as well, with part of it, specifically, the shoppes along the road from the school to the train station, being heavily geared towards high schoolers since the high school was just down the road, and, as long as the kids had their student ID, they were permitted to leave school during lunch to go buy food or any other things they may need from the shops.

Asuka never liked going to school, but she did like walking by the shops in the morning before school. Already smelling the freshly made crepes as she stepped out onto the train station damn near made her drool unceremoniously.

Asuka looked behind her to see Rei and Shinji holding hands, their pace more relaxed than her own. For some reason Asuka couldn't explain, it brought a smile to her face. Maybe it was just that Rei was finally opening up to Asuka. Or was it the other way around? Maybe Asuka had opened up to Rei instead.

Either way, during their trip to the zoo yesterday, the redhead had found the little blue haired girl to be helpful and more talkative than she usually was and it had helped Asuka leave the impression that the girl was incapable of speech behind and perhaps allowed her in good faith to put the girl in a more comfortable place in Asuka's exceedingly small circle of friends, which, realistically, hadn't extended much beyond Shinji for several months now.

Of course, she hung out around Kensuke, Toji, and Hikari. But, she never really thought of them as friends. She envisioned them more as friends of a friend. She was only around them because they were around Shinji and there was nothing more to it. When they all hung out together, she generally didn't strike up conversation with them and instead focused her attention on Shinji, only speaking with the others when they spoke to her first or when the situation demanded it.

She really didn't even consider Misato her friend either when she thought about it. The woman made her uncomfortable too often. She was accommodating, sure. But, certain things about the woman still put her off.

As she smiled at her fellow pilots, she was broken out of the tender moment as the sound of thunder rumbled through the train station.

"Hey, lovebirds! Not to rain on your parade, but if you don't get moving, we're probably gonna get rained on anyways. Come on! Pick up the pace! Walk with purpose! " Asuka said, teasing more than she was demanding.

"Sorry!" Shinji said as he jogged up next to Asuka, still holding hands with Rei.

Asuka huffed, though, this sounded more like a stifled laugh rather than her normal indignant sounding huffs.

"I can't believe you actually wear rain coats. They make to look like dweebs," Asuka said, obviously amused as she judgingly looked at Shinji's neon yellow raincoat and Rei's pastel blue one.

"Yeah, but they aren't all clunky like an umbrella," Shinji retorted, only mildly asserting his preference.

"I do not prefer either. I agree however. Umbrellas are unwieldy," Rei affirmed.

Asuka pressed the locking button on her umbrella handle and the deep red umbrella shot out over her head dramatically.

"Well, umbrellas are way more elegant and fashionable and that's what really matters. Just wait until we get force field umbrellas! Then they won't get in the way of anything and they'll look better than rain coats."

"Force field umbrellas?" Shinji asked, questioning the girl's rather dubious statement.

"Well, yeah! One day we'll have force field umbrellas when science catches up to commercial products. The Evas already have AT Fields. Imagine if you could channel your AT field into an umbrella instead."

"Oh… well, I guess that makes sense now that I think about it."

"Say, Rei, if you don't like umbrellas or raincoats… why're you wearing one?"

"Shinji insisted," Rei said simply.

"Oh, is that so? Finally taking the reins in the relationship, huh?" Asuka said as she elbowed the boy in his side teasingly.

"I just didn't want her to catch a cold," Shinji said sheepishly.

"Yeah, I guess it is a little chilly today. Not really though. I mean, it's not sweltering. But it is still almost eighty degrees. You're just used to it being over a hundred is all. No way she'd catch a cold in this heat. ...strangest thing. Supposedly, before second impact, eighty and ninety degrees was considered hot in most parts of the world. And now it's just considered mild. It's so weird to think about."

The trio of pilots left the bright underground train station only to be greeted with dark clouds and a gusty wind. The blue skirt of Asuka's school uniform blew in the breeze. And for a second, she almost wished she was in a rain coat, afraid that someone might think of her as childish for wearing strawberry print panties if the wind lifted her skirt high enough for someone to catch a glimpse.

Paranoid, she used her free hand to press her skirt back down against her thighs.

"I hate these uniforms! Why couldn't they have gone with black instead of white and blue. What an uninspired palette. I want something sleek and imposing that shows off my prestige. Shujin Academy's and Honnouji Academy's uniforms are much better than the General Graduates Academy's."

"Yeah, I heard both those schools have abusive teachers though..." Shinji trailed off in a slightly worried voice.

"Well, that just means people need to learn to stand up for themselves."

Thunder hammered the air around them again and the three pilots continued on their way to school.

The roads were steaming in the rain before the vapor was quickly blown away in the gales. The smell of food stalls selling delicious fried pork, shumai, and takoyaki wafted across the busy street, mixing with the scent of flower shops, car exhaust and the general stormy smell of water in the heavy and dense-feeling wind.

"Hmm, this kinda reminds me of that time I went as a guest on a business trip to Florida with my biological father before I moved in with Misato in Germany."

"You sound like you've been to so many places, Asuka! No wonder you're so experienced. It must be so great to be able to travel like that," Shinji said, idly complimenting the girl.

"Eh, Florida's not that great. It's probably the most godless place in all of the United States. The nature was good before second impact, or so I've been given to believe. But the people… the people there are just so… off sometimes. Though, I supposed every place has it's quirky people. But, Florida has too many of them. I heard they violate alligators and murderers saw into people with rusty spoons. Because of that, there's this saying in the U.S. that goes like its always a Florida man. And guess what!? It always is a Florida man doing the craziest shit. It's like there's some kind of cult there with a bunch of Florida men trying to think of the most insane degenerate ways to get in the news. I mean, I've heard that abusive husbands do shit like assault their housewives with squirrels there! How do you even get a hold of a squirrel to assault someone with!?"

"Geez, you really make the U.S. Sound like a bad place."

"Eh, don't get me wrong. There's some really beautiful places there. And some of the culture was shaped a lot by German immigrants, which I can find appreciation in, since Germany is like… my favorite place. And Louisiana has some really good unique food. But, there's definitely some places I wouldn't want to visit again. Even Nevada is generally seen as a sort of degenerate haven there. But, Nevada is actually pretty great compared to Florida. They have Casinos there and they're actually a pretty nice place to hang out. The atmosphere is nice. Though, I'm not a big fan of gambling."

"Oh. You seem like you'd be good at gambling," Shinji said with a hint of surprise.

"Don't get me wrong. I love card and dice games… really any tabletop game from cowboy checkers to chess. But, I don't like it when money gets involved. It takes the fun out of it and makes it too stressful to enjoy. Say, maybe I should teach you and Rei to play Liar's Dice or Blackjack. Dominos! Mahjong! Or maybe poker! I bet Rei would have a good poker face."

"I figured you'd be more into video games."

"Oh, I am. But… I've never really had the money to get a gaming system besides a few handheld ones. Daniffen, my biological father, made decent money, but never cared enough about me to get me one. When I used to live with Misato back in Germany, she was just too poor to get me one. And before I knew it, I was handed off to Kaji. He said he'd get me one when I used to live with him. But, he'd always move the goalpost for what I'd have to do to earn one under his watch. And, now I'm here in Tokyo-3, back with Misato, earning my own wage… but, I guess I'm a little bad about buying expensive things. So, I haven't saved up the money yet. But, a deck of cards is cheap. And they bring people together in a nice old fashioned sort of way, don't you think?"

"I wouldn't really know because I've never really been into any kind of games really. But maybe we could go to New Akihabara this weekend and see if they have a game system you could get. And… I actually have no idea where to get cards. I never really knew where people got playing cards from. I thought old people sort of just pulled them out of some magical portal in a dusty cabinet when they wanted something to do with their other old people friends."

Asuka audibly laughed, drawing the dark eyes of the people on the street. She must've been quite a sight wherever she went. A loud redhead would have been attention grabbing anywhere in the world, but even moreso in Japan.

Still though, even with all the eyes pointed in his direction, Shinji smiled knowing he made the girl laugh.

"You're so stupid, Shinji. But you're stupid in a good way."

The boy scratched the back of his head bashfully.

Asuka gently furrowed her brow and gave a regret filled smile.

"Sorry. That was mean. I should have said that you're funny or something. I know that you know that people don't just pull things out of nowhere and that you were just joking. ...it was a good joke," Asuka said as she gently punched the boy's shoulder with her free hand.

"It's okay, Asuka. I know it's just how you talk."

The three continued walking down the street. So many shops and temptations. Asuka could barely restrain herself from buying the matcha flan, chocolate mousse, and pearl milk tea that were obviously intended to be sold to schoolgirls around her age. Asuka's tempered will almost broke as a pair of schoolgirls, probably students of Shujin academy judging by their regal black uniforms, walked past her towards the train station with milk tea in their hands.

Asuka twisted her head back to look at them keep walking behind her, likely trying to catch the next train to New Aoyama. She then turned her head back forward before glancing over at Rei and Shinji.

"How can you just sit there like that, Wondergirl?"

"Like what how?" Rei asked with casual ignorance.

"Like what what?" Asuka asked in exaggerated alarm, not sure the girls' awkward questioning answer to her question was really registering in her brain.

"Wait, what now? ...What?" Shinji asked blankly.

"What?" Rei asked again, confounding even herself now.

"..."

They all ceased walking and stared at each other in confusion for a moment.

"What?" Asuka finally asked again.

"Wait, what were you asking in the first place?" Shinji questioned as he and the two girls began walking again.

"I was asking her how she can just sit there and not even be fazed by that awesome looking milk tea those Shujin girls had. Eek! What about you?! You're a cook, Shinji! How can you just ignore it too?!"

"Uh… I just… didn't notice?" Shinji questioned more than answered.

"You should make me some when we get home!"

"I'd probably need ingredients first though. I'll try to remember to buy some this weekend."

They walked on for a bit longer in silence, Rei and Shinji enjoying the weather while Asuka was becoming somewhat irritated with the wind. Keeping her umbrella from flying off while also making sure her skirt didn't blow too high wasn't exactly how she wanted to start the morning.

As she tried to casually pushed her skirt down again, she tried to strike up a conversation, maybe hoping to distract Shinji from her fooling around with her skirt, though the boy didn't seem to take notice much in the first place.

"So, you know how I said I visited a few places in the U.S.?" Asuka sighed while trying to mask her frustration.

"Uh huh."

"And you know how I sorta mentioned I went to Nevada once on top of Florida and several other places?" Asuka asked as she patted her skirt down one last time before the wind temporarily died down.

"Yeah."

"Hey, Shin-man!" A voice shouted out from somewhere behind the pilots.

"Oh, great. I know that voice. Just when I think I'll have a nice atmospheric walk to school and he's gotta show up," Asuka spat.

Toji came up behind the boy and shoved himself between Shinji and Asuka, causing the redhead to hiss like a cat as the tanned boy made contact with her.

"What's up dude! Didn't expect to see you here. You weren't at school yesterday. Kensuke and I were worried."

"Tch, so was I!" Hikari groaned as she too arrived next to the group, coming up and walking besides Rei.

"So, where were you?" Kensuke asked as he barged ahead of the group and pulled his camera out to take a selfie, trying his best to make sure all of Shinji's friend group was in the shot on his older styled camera which had no screen for him to accuratly tell if everyone was in the shot. Though, Kensuke knew his lenses enough to make a pretty good framing assumption.

"Oh, uh, I was uh… at the zoo," Shinji said after weighing the decision to lie or tell the truth, ultimately deciding on the truth.

"Aww, no fair! That sounds so cool," Kensuke said as he quickly stuffed his camera away back in his backpack to protect it from the drizzling misty rain.

"Anyways, as I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted," Asuka said, putting the conversation back on track.

"Excuse me, Princess!" Toji mockingly bowed, somewhat exposing his takoyaki and his hotdog to the light rain.

Asuka shot him a glare and felt the urge to call him a filthy name but decided to ignore him.

"So, like I was saying. Nevada. You know what's in Nevada, right?" Asuka asked as she shoved Toji behind her and scooched next to Shinji again so that she was practically closer than Rei, her shoulder bumping off of his every couple steps.

"Skinwalkers?" Toji asked as he stuffed his hotdog down his thoat.

"No one asked you, dumbass! Besides, it's something Nevada is famous for."

"Hey! Nevada is famous for skinwalker encounters!" Toji retorted, trying to validate his answer.

"Area 51?" Kensuke guessed next.

"Closer, but no. I mean, you're sorta right, but not exactly," Asuka winked.

"Uh, Casinos?" Shinji asked, knowing Asuka had brought up Casino's earlier.

"Oh, come on, Shinji! I expected you to know considering your career path!" Asuka pouted.

"NERV-02?" Rei asked.

"Oh, there we go!" Asuka said, happy someone finally got what she was getting at.

Asuka would have given Rei a round of applause if she wasn't holding her umbrella.

"Ach! How'd I not get that!?" Kensuke muttered under his breath as he scuffed his shoe on the sidewalk.

"But, yeah, I was flown out to Nevada by Catherine Bow herself just so she could meet me."

"Who's that?" Toji asked, sounding unimpressed.

"The commander of NERV-02," Asuka said tersely and with disdain.

"Oh, cool." Toji said, though he still sounded rather uninterested.

"Yeah, she actually is pretty cool. She's working on a new project right now. Supposedly, its gonna end up being a long lasting power source for the Evas so we don't have to stay connected to our umbilical cables all of the time. It's called an S² engine. Supposedly, they researched into the core of some Angel Shinji defeated before I got here. Codename: Shamshel if I remember correctly." Asuka said airly, as though the thought was leaving her mind at that moment.

"Oh, yeah! I remember that one. That's the one you two had to get in my entry plug for," Shinji said.

"Oh, shit!? For real? So, like… that means we're all famous now right? For like… making an important scientific discovery and all, right?" Toji asked as he finished his hotdog and began devouring his takoyaki.

"Shinji, maybe, but I dunno about you," Asuka smirked.

Hikari left Rei's side and appeared beside Toji. She caringly brushed some droplets of rain off the young man's track jacket.

"You're going to need to do a lot more studying before you become famous for anything, Mister Suzuhara. So, I guess you're lucky you have me to help you study," Hikari said, oddly sounding almost possessive; as though she had Toji and not the other way around.

"Agh! Can't I just get famous for running and getting in the Olympics or somethin'? I don't wanna study all that useless math! I'm never gonna use it except for counting reps… repetitions, not class representatives. Though, I guess it's not so bad have a class representative around," Toji said as his takoyaki skewer hung out of the corner of his lips.

Hikari blushed.

"Though it's kinda weird how often you come over to my place to help me with my homework."

Hikari blushed even more intensely, especially upon seeing Asuka wink at her.

"What!? Th-that's not weird! Not weird at all! That's just what a class representative does. Besides! You need special tutoring!"

"Ohohohoh, special tutoring, huh, Hikari?! That sounds intense!" Asuka said as she smirked a devilish smirk, remembering the class representative telling her about her crush on Toji when they went camping with Kaji.

"Eep!" Hikari squeaked as she closed her eyes in embarrassment, "He's barely passing his classes! He needs me!"

"Hey, I'm not having that hard of a time passing my classes! Kensuke helps me out sometimes too!"

"Yeah, well, Mister Aida always distracts you and asks you to play video games with him when both he and I are at your place." Hikari said, desperately trying to regain control of the conversation and compose herself as they all arrived at the school gate.

/

-Drab and Dark-

/

Rei, usually was the only one to really be lost in thought as she stared out the window of the classroom. But, with Asuka's excursion to the zoo the day prior, Shinji was also staring boredly out the window, beginning to see why Asuka found school so unstimulating. It was true. All the teacher did was talk about second impact and go on nostalgia filled tirades of how things were before. Going out into the world and learning was much more exhilarating than sitting in the classroom, even if Shinji was slower at grasping things than both of his female roommates.

It wasn't that Shinji was stupid. But, he was in a poor environment for learning. He wasn't encouraged for discovering new things and didn't have the worldly experience to dedicate or apply his learnings, which soon fell out of use and were forgotten.

The boy looked over to his left, eyeing Asuka and seeing she was trying to entertain herself by quietly tearing her assigned schoolwork into the longest, thinnest strips of paper scrap that she could.

Despite the fact Asuka could be described as lazy or irresponsible when it came to busywork at school, Shinji could see she was constantly putting in effort not just to learn, but to make use of what she learned so that she wouldn't forget. And she was better off than the other students because of it.

Maybe that's all Shinji needed. Maybe he just needed some way to use what he learned.

He turned his eyes back out the window of the classroom.

Despite the fact it had been thundering all day, it hadn't really rained much. It was mostly humid and blustery with only a couple light showers that had happened in the morning before the sun had risen. The clouds were almost menacingly dark though, and Shinji figured that at some point soon, it would probably start dropping entire mile high walls of water.

Despite the fact he'd brought his rain coat, he was secretly yearning for a huge downpoor that would soak him. He'd always been a fan of rainy weather. Even more oddly though was that Rei never seemed bothered by the rain. Maybe she'd even enjoyed it more than him. But, he'd still dressed her up in her raincoat this morning just before leaving Misato's apartment. Amusingly, the girl almost absentmindedly walked out without it, and probably would have if Shinji hadn't stopped her.

Shinji continued to stare at the clouds boredly, somehow finding them more entertaining than the teacher's lecture. But the sound of the intercom crackling with static broke him out of his daydreaming.

"Mister Natsuko, are Rei Ayanami, Shinji Ikari, and Asuka Sohryu with you right now," a pert female voice asked.

The teacher sleepily raised his thick eyebrows, examining the students, slowly but surely locking eyes with each of the pilots.

"Uh, yes. I believe so," the man said, almost sounding unsure of himself, though it was probably just the fact he hadn't been sleeping well.

"Can you send them to the front office? Someone is here to pick them up. He has a government excuse note," the girl recited as some static almost cut her out mid sentence.

"Yes. They'll be right there."

The three pilots looked at each other in confusion.

"Why're we being pulled out? We don't have sync tests today," Asuka questioned as she quietly conversed with Shinji and Rei. Though, everyone else had gone quiet as well and Asuka's lowered voice was still heard clearly across the classroom.

There were soft mumblings about the possibility of an angel attack and the air in the room started to feel heavy.

Rei leaned over and spoke even more softly than Asuka, practically whispering under her breath. None of the other student could hear her, though Rei wasn't exactly trying to be secretive.

"It is likely not an angel. There are no alarms," she said calmly and reassuringly.

"What do you think is happening then?" Shinji asked.

"You think we're in trouble for something? Or maybe there's some other emergency?" Asuka questioned even further.

"Miss Horaki, would you escort them to the front office?" the teacher asked.

"Oh, of course!" Hikari said as she stood up from her desk and bowed.

"Uh! Hey! Can I go too!?" Toji asked excitedly.

"No. You will remain seated, Suzuhara!" the teacher demanded.

Toji groaned and slumped even further into his chair.

After getting up from her seat, Asuka tapped the boy's desk to get his attention.

"Keep your back straight, jock. Or you'll get a spinal deformity and won't be able to run track," Asuka teased.

"Yeah, thanks," Toji mumbled back sarcastically.

Hikari followed Asuka out the door of the class room, as did Shinji and Rei.

"Hey, what's happening, Asuka? The entire class got kinda freaked out after they called you out. What's going on?" Hikari gently pried.

"I have no idea," Asuka said tiredly.

"Could it be about… the episodes?" Rei asked as she caught up with Asuka.

"Could be, yeah..." Asuka said, though she seemingly had no intention of speculating further since she knew she'd find out in a few minutes.

"Episodes? What episodes?" Hikari asked with mild concern.

"It's nothing Miss Representative," Asuka said dismissively, though she was obviously a bit flustered, "Why don't you just go back to class like a good little girl. There's nothing for you to do here."

Hikari looked slightly downcast by Asuka's words shooting down her attempt to help.

"I… can't do that. It's my responsibility to help people. And I said I'd escort you and I will."

"Well, you can come along if you want, but there's nothing you can help with. Even the best scientist at NERV is being given a run for her money over this whole ordeal," Asuka sighed.

Hikari glanced at Shinji, seeing he had a smile on his face that seemed to convey he wished he could say more but couldn't.

So, finally accepting that she couldn't, or at least wasn't being allowed to help, Hikari and the others walked the rest of the way to the front office in silence.

/

As the pilots and class representative approached the front office, they saw a man in a sleek black suit and heavily shaded glasses.

"You can probably go back now, Miss Horaki." Shinji said, politely discouraging the girl.

She glanced at him before nodding and turning back to head to the classroom.

Asuka, still leading the way, pushed open the office door followed by Rei, who held the door open for Shinji.

Before anyone could say anything, the man already seemed ready to leave as he started walking past the kids with nothing more than a, "Follow me."

"Not even any foreplay, huh?" Asuka said to herself as she turned to follow him out the door.

Rei also turned and left, leaving Shinji awkwardly standing in the principal's office.

"Uh… well… Okay," Shinji said unsurely as he too left.

Just before passing through the door, he glanced into the principal's office and saw the man smiling at him, seemingly wishing him the best of luck. He gave the man a nod that said he acknowledged him and wasn't just walking off the school grounds with no one knowing.

"Shinji, come on!" he heard Asuka whisper at him harshly.

Shinji finally quit lollygagging in the doorway and jogged after his friends.

As they exited the main door to the school, Asuka stared at the man expectantly, hoping he'd give her some info. But, when he didn't say anything, she took the initiative.

"So, Mister Guy, why're we getting pulled out today?"

The man looked down at Asuka for a moment with his jaw only barely agape. Because of the glasses the man was wearing, Asuka couldn't tell if he was glaring at her or if he was simply awestruck and staring at her metaphorical lady balls that allowed her to so casually call him, "Mister Guy."

After a couple seconds, he concisely and quietly replied with, "Doctor Akagi wishes to speak with you."

"Huh. Guess its what we thought it was," Asuka shrugged.

At this, Rei frowned slightly before she suddenly reached for Shinji's hand and took it in her own.

/

-A Nightmare a Day Doesn't Keep the Doctor Away-

/

The three pilots sat quietly and patiently as Doctor Akagi looked over some notes on her clipboard.

Chocolates and empty candy wrappers lay strewn across the woman's workdesk and a backlog of research papers sat at almost every corner. There were also some cubes of metallic, folded, ornate paper; compressed, dissolving, microwavable, coffee cube wrappers.

Ritsuko flipped a paper up over her clipboard before repositioning her glasses with her pen and raising her eyes to look at the kids.

Shinji and Asuka smiled sheepishly back at her while Rei had an inquisitive expression on her face.

"Now, I thought I told you," Ritsuko started, "that you needed to tell me everything that happened and to spare no detail."

Asuka raised her hands in the air as though she were surrendering.

"Alright, you got us. We didn't divulge all our secrets the first time around. But, like I'm pretty sure we all said over the phone, we didn't know that the nightmares were even connected to anything at all at first."

"That is why I told you that you needed to tell me everything. So that I can decide what's relevant! I'm the doctor! I'm your medical reference! I can't do my job if you don't tell me everything. And, believe it or not, unlike apples, a nightmare a day won't keep the doctor away!"

"Okay! So we were on different pages! There's nothing we can do about that now! So, instead of focusing on that, do you have any news for us?" Asuka inquired asking the question she knew Shinji and Rei were eager to know the answer too.

Ritsuko sighed and pulled her glasses off before resting her face in her hands.

"No. There's nothing. I have no idea what's going on or how to stop it," the woman said with a muffled voice, "Of course, I'll do everything I can to find a way. But, right now, I have nothing. We may need to do tests. Look for some kind of abnormality. And, to do that, we're going to need some baselines."

"Oooooooh... I see where this is going! More sync tests..." Asuka groaned.

"Look, I know you don't like it. But, believe me, I don't like it any more than you. I'd much rather be at home sleeping. I'm afraid I'm gonna have a heart attack with how much sugar and caffeine I've been taking to keep myself awake."

Asuka crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, don't blame us. We didn't pick your job out for you!" Asuka said defensively.

"We can start right now if you want," Shinji offered kindly.

"SHINJI!" Asuka scolded the boy.

"Would you really do that for me? It would be great if I could sleep in my own bed tonight," Ritsuko asked in relief as she glanced at the small guest couch in her office that she'd slept on for the past two nights with nothing but her lab coat to keep her warm.

"Of course we can if it'll help," Shinji affirmed.

"I don't mind," Rei mumbled as well.

"Hey! No! We aren't doing that!" Asuka tried to assert, though it seemed no one was listening to her.

"Great. Well, I guess you should go head down to the changing room. I'll be waiting by the test plugs whenever you're ready," Ritsuko said thankfully as she picked her glasses up from the table and headed out of the room, putting her hand on Shinji's shoulder out of gratitude as she left.

"Hey! Wait! Literally no one agreed to this!" Asuka shouted.

/

"So, if you're so tired, why don't just just go home and do the sync tests tomorrow?" Asuka's annoyed voice blared into the monitoring room.

Ritsuko sighed.

"Tell her to be quiet. My head already hurts enough," Ritsuko ordered to Maya.

Maya pressed down the com button and answered Asuka's question in place of Ritsuko.

"She's a workaholic, Asuka. She doesn't rest until she gets the job done. She can't relax while she still has stuff to do," Maya said sweetly, hoping Asuka would understand.

A hissing profanity garbled by static was the woman's response from Asuka.

"Calm the hell down, Asuka. I need you in your right mind. We're trying to detect abnormalities, not create more," Ritsuko leaned forward and spat into the com.

"This is totally normal!" Asuka huffed back.

"Maybe for sync tests, yes. But you don't usually throw a fit when you're being sortied and that's what we're trying to emulate."

Another rude word rolled off Asuka's tongue and out of the speaker, but was censored by the static.

"Asuka, please. Take it easy. At least you aren't in school," Shinji begged.

"Oh, like this is any better than sitting at a desk all day!"

"At least they can't assign you homework," Shinji said.

"Yeah, until Hikari shoves it in our face first thing in the morning tomorrow. Geez, maybe I should just come in for as sync test tomorrow too. I can't even deal with that crap. Luckily she seems pretty preoccupied with Suzuhara right now. But, you know that if she didn't have feelings for him, she'd be over at our place enforcing her petty school-granted authority over us. Ptah! As though a class representative's word would override ours! We're soldiers, damn it!"

"Wait… Hikari has a crush on Toji!?" Shinji asked in surprise, "I never would have guessed!"

"All of you, shut up! I'm trying to impose zen upon this research facility!" Ritsuko snapped.

"You… massive colossal cuntasaurus!" Asuka spat under hear breath.

"I heard that!" Ritsuko shouted spitefully as she glared at the speaker.

"Eep!" Asuka squealed before shutting her mouth, hoping Ritsuko wouldn't drag her in for even more sync tests.

"Thank you for being quiet, Rei," Maya said, praising the girl's performance.

Rei lightly grunted in acknowledgment of the compliment.

Maya looked over at Ritsuko, seeing the tired woman idling in the chair and trying her best to stop what was probably a splitting headache.

"You don't look too good, boss," Maya said with a bit of concern.

"If its that bad, I probably feel even worse than I look."

Maya looked down at the floor.

"Hey, are you doing okay?" she asked a bit more seriously this time.

"Not really. I don't have any idea what I'm doing."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?" Maya asked as she left the communication console and sat next to Ritsuko.

"I feel like I should have the run of the place, but it seems like it has the run of me instead."

"I'm still not sure I understand exactly. But, you have me," Maya said as she reached her hand down to grab Ritsuko's.

Maya slowly leaned forward towards Ritsuko. She sort of felt the urge to kiss her, but it seemed Ritsuko was hesitant.

"The cameras," Ritsuko said.

"Oh, I replaced the feed with loop. It was a trick Mister Kaji told me I should try out sometime if I ever wanted more time to myself… or with someone else," Maya blushed as she waved her hand dismissively.

"Ah, that's a classic Kaji move. Though, it seems a bit unlike you, Maya."

"You think so? Maybe I'm a changed woman," Maya said, trying her best to talk smooth to Ritsuko, though, she had to admit, Kaji was better at the art than she was.

Ritsuko smiled, though she didn't really believe Maya had changed all that much, but more that she was just showing a side of herself that she hadn't before.

"Come here," Ritsuko said as she reached her hands forward, grabbing for Maya like a baby.

Maya took Ritsuko by her hands and kissed her fingers.

"You know, that was pretty bold of you. This whole sync test was unannounced and done in response to a crisis… and you come in here and hide what we're doing just like that. You're either pretty opportunistic or really desperate."

"What if it's both?" Maya asked teasingly as she sat on Ritsuko's lap and nuzzled into her neck.

"Well, I don't have a problem with it."

"Hey, Ritsuko?"

"Hmm?"

"I'd love nothing more than to be with you right now… do all kinds of... things with you. But..." Maya blushed as she trailed off.

Ritsuko looked down at Maya in surprise.

"But what?"

"Well, you just seem really exhausted. So, I figured I'd actually just try to let you rest tonight… or is it daytime… I'm not sure this far underground," Maya said as she got off Ritsuko's lap.

"Oh, that's sweet of you," Ritsuko said, almost sounding disappointed at first, though she quickly replaced her frown with a smile.

"You should try to get some rest until the sync test is over. I can handle this by myself, so you should get some shuteye."

Maya then leaned over Ritsuko and kissed the top of her head.

Ritsuko felt her stomach churn with some kind of ecstasy.

"Thanks, Maya. Thanks a lot."

"Remember, don't be afraid to share the load," Maya said with a sweet smile.

Ritsuko smiled back before she lost consciousness and fell into a fitful sleep on her chair.

/

"Now then..." Ritsuko grumbled, having the three pilots back in her office.

"Oh, what!? We can't go home?" Asuka huffed.

Shinji glanced at Asuka with a worried look on his face while Rei continued patiently sitting, saying nothing.

"I think we should clear a few thing ups actually," Ritsuko said.

Maya shuffled uncomfortably on her feet before looking over some papers.

"During your sync test, it seemed… there wasn't anything abnormal… not that we could detect at least," Maya said, still acting a bit flustered for some reason though despite the seemingly good news.

"Great! So we can go home now, right!? Nothings wrong!" Asuka said, trying to steer the direction of the conversation.

"On the contrary, you will probably need to come in even more often," Ritsuko said as she pressed her fingers down on one of her pens and rolled it back and forth along her desk.

"Please, Pilot Sohryu. This is serious! If we haven't found anything that points to what may be underlying your episodes, it only means we should redouble our efforts to find out just what is wrong," Maya whined, hoping Asuka as well as Shinji and Rei would understand.

"We may even need to devise other types of tests. Though, given the nature of the situation, I assume sync tests will be our most surefire way of finding our what's wrong. At the very least, even if nothing is immediately wrong, we should still have records," Ritsuko added supplementally.

Asuka growled in frustration.

"Grrr! Didn't you just say nothing is wrong!? And if nothing is different, won't our past sync test records be just as good!? What's even the point!?" Asuka shouted.

"It may seem like nothing is wrong now. But, to be prudent, we need to take more measurements! You never know when you may overlook something initially and come to recognize a pattern later on. And, I will not be negligent of this knowledge or responsibility!" Ritsuko said, slightly raising her voice as she began to loose her patience.

"Asuka, please try to understand, it's for your own safety. And that goes for all of you." Maya pleaded.

"Come on, Asuka. It'll be okay." Shinji said, though he wasn't really sure Asuka was going to take him seriously or that he even knew if he could truthfully say that.

"So, can we go home now?" Asuka asked, anxiously trying to hide her frustration.

"Quit derailing the conversation, Sohryu. The longer it takes to get through this, the longer both of us have to wait before we get to go home! Now, listen up. I have something else to ask."

"Uggggh!" Asuka groaned.

"It's about your nightmares or… whatever they are. We haven't come up with a formal name for the phenomenon yet. But, I'd like to clear things up so we can hopefully get a clearer idea of the nature of what's been happening. So, too start… I'd like you to tell me about this business about the three of you sleeping together."

Shinji choked and Rei's eyes widened while Asuka simply blushed. None of them expected this topic to be brought up, not only because it seemed irrelevant, but also because it should rightly have been a secret, at least to some degree.

As well as the pilots being caught off guard, Maya could feel a blush creeping across her face and was beginning to get dizzy.

"Wh-what!? You two have been sleeping together!" Asuka said accusingly as she looked Shinji and Rei, hopping her bluff would work.

"No, don't you pull that, Asuka. I said three of you," Ritsuko said, lightly scolding the girl.

The blush on Asuka's face turned even redder and she could feel tears of embarrassment and anxiety pooling in the corner of her eyes.

"H-HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT!?" Asuka shouted, this time more shrilly than she'd shouting been earlier.

"Misato told me!" Ritsuko said angrily, still wincing from Asuka's loud voice.

"B-but! She- She only knew about Shinji and Rei!"

"She walked in and saw all three of you in the bed together!"

"What!? But, that's totally not possible! I was so careful!" the girl shouted again, though she was starting sound more like she was despairingly wailing.

"God damn it, Asuka! I don't care what you do with your friends. And I think Misato cares even less. So just chill out and let me talk! As long as you don't get pregnant, I don't care who you sleep with. We cannot have any pregnant Eva pilots. It would introduce thought noise, so we just simply can't have it."

"P-pregnant!? N-n-no! It's not like that! I was just cold! I wasn't doing anything like that. I'm still a virgin for fuck's sake! I swear it!"

"Pilot Sohryu is correct. We have not had intercourse," Rei said rather blandly, though she could sense Asuka's discomfort and was sincerely trying to help her confirm her story.

"Well… Misato did say she was somewhat doubtful you had sex, but still. I don't care. That's not what I'm here to talk about!"

"THEN WHY'D YOU BRING IT UP!?" Asuka shrieked, causing Doctor Akagi to plug her ears.

"Damn it! Because each and every one of you said you were nude in your nightmares and…. If all of you were sleeping together, maybe it wasn't anything related to your episodes and it could have just been an odd dream. Sometimes people dream about the things they were thinking about right before they fell asleep. I don't think that's the case here, but I had to ask anyways!"

Asuka balled her fists together and squeezed them in between her thighs, obviously feeling vulnerable. Shinji was in a similar pose as he grabbed his kneecaps tightly enough that his hands where shaking. And, Rei, though it wasn't as obvious with her, could still be deduced as being off guard given the fact her arms were exceedingly straight and rigid and her fingertips unnaturally jutted like an arrow past the seat of the chair she was on.

Ritsuko almost could have laughed at the sight if she wasn't so exhausted and didn't have a brand new headache given to her by Asuka.

"Look… we're all tired. But, I still have more I need to ask you. You'd been at that sync test for hours and it'll probably be getting dark in about 30 minutes. So, I think I'm going to leave it here for today. But… I am going to call you out of school again tomorrow. Specifically, I need to ask you more about the first episodes you had a bit further back. But, before I let you go, I need to ask your right now… did you have any accompanying dreams with those as well?"

Asuka gasped and Shinji made another choking sound while Rei only exhaled sharply.

"Oh… well… about that..." Asuka said, not explicitly confirming they had, but at least inferring it.

"I did. Though, I cannot speak for the others," Rei said.

"Yeah… me too," Shinji stammered.

"Okay..." Ritsuko sighed, "We'll start first thing tomorrow. I'll have Misato call you out of school assuming she shows up for work tomorrow. If she doesn't I'll call myself and send someone over to deliver an official excuse referral document. You all go to the General Graduates Academy right. That should be right."

"Uh, yes. It is!" Shinji said timidly.

"Alright, well, get out of here and go to bed. Early I might add. No fooling around with each other under the covers."

Asuka inhaled sharply.

"It- it's not like that!"

/

"Welcome to South-West New Jiyugaoka. This is New Jiyugaoka station. Thank for using Tokyo-3 loop line. Please have a good night. The next stop is New Aoyama," an automated voice sounded out over the train station loudspeakers.

"So… more dreams, huh?" Asuka mumbled as she led Shinji and Rei off the train car and towards Misato's apartment.

"Yeah… I didn't think it would be like this… Do you think it means anything?" Shinji asked in a slightly down voice.

"Probably..."

Each of the pilots had a lot they wanted to say to each other. But, not here. Not on the train. Not in the train station. And so they'd remained silent for most of the trip up until leaving the station and arriving in Misato's neighborhood.

"My dream..." Rei started, though she quickly trailed off.

Shinji and Asuka looked at Rei expectantly. Each of them wanted to share their experiences. They all wanted to just blurt out what they'd seen. But, if even Rei was having trouble finding her words, it wasn't going to be an easy conversation to get out.

"I… I….." Asuka said, also attempting to start a dialogue.

Asuka squeezed her eyes shut before she suddenly throwing her hand in front of Shinji, causing the boy to abruptly stop.

"I need you to hold my hand!" Asuka recited loudly, though she wasn't really shouting.

"Asuka!?" Shinji asked with a surprised look on his face.

"You're always holding her hand!" Asuka whispered as she looked through her red bangs and saw Rei and Shinji's fingers interlaced, "I… I need someone to hold my hand too!"

Shinji and Rei could both sense Asuka was distressed and likely hiding her true intentions behind her request. They both looked at each other before they released their grip on each other and instead, stood on both sides of the redhead, Shinji on Asuka's right and Rei on Asuka's left. They each took one of her hands in their own and began pulling her along with them.

Initially, Asuka was shocked that they'd both let go of each other to take her hands instead. But, before long, there was a warmth and she felt tears welling up in her eyes, which Shinji and Rei both noticed.

"You are leaking, Asuka." Rei said naively, as she watch a tear streak down Asuka's cheek.

"Is everything okay?" Shinji asked with a slightly sad smile.

Asuka hung her head lower, trying to hide her eyes with her bangs.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just… I don't think I want to talk about the dreams tonight. I don't think any of us do."

"We'll have to talk about them at some point." Shinji said softly.

"Yeah. Yeah, I know. But, not tonight…. I just don't feel up to it. We can talk about it tomorrow…"

"We should probably do it before we meet up with Doctor Akagi. I know that you are... uncomfortable around other people. And, I know you will not be able to be open with Shinji and I if Doctor Akagi is there. But," Rei said, glancing at Shinji before looking back at Asuka, "I am sure we would both like to… help you."

A few more tears fell out of Asukas eyes and both Shinji and Rei could feel the girl's arm quivering.

'Why am I crying?' Asuka worried as she wondered to herself, 'What is this feeling. I don't understand. This is so stupid. Why the hell am I crying?'

"Just what the hell is wrong with me?" Asuka questioned in a shaky voice as she looked up at the night sky, causing even more tears to fall out of her eyes.

"Asuka, there's nothing wrong with you," Shinji said, squeezing her hand in his.

"Thanks, Rei… Thanks, Shinji," Asuka sniffled.

/

"I still can't believe she saw us and didn't say anything!" Asuka whispered as she opened the door to Misato's apartment quietly.

"Y-yeah," Shinji stuttered, also whispering for no particular reason.

"I'm going to be so embarrassed if she's still awake in there. So awkward. I don't think I can even look at her," Asuka whined.

"It will be okay, Asuka," Rei reassured.

"Ugh, I hope so," she whined yet again before pushing the door open.

They slipped their feet out of their shoes and they all quietly crept down the foyer, trying not to make too much noise. Luckily, the floor was smooth and made of tile and their socks allowed them to employ the utmost stealth.

Asuka was about to check around the corner to make sure Misato was asleep, but her nerves were getting to her.

"Rei, can you check?" Asuka begged uncharacteristically.

Rei nodded, and she leaned around the wall.

"She is asleep," Rei confirmed.

"Oh, thank god!" Asuka sighed before quickly gliding across the kitchen floor, then through the living room, and then ran down the hall to Shinji's bed room.

Shinji and Rei were more lax however and weren't in as much of a rush. They arrived in the room about 10 seconds later to find Asuka already in bed, holding the covers up with her arm, ready for Shinji and Rei to get under the covers with her.

"Come on! Get in!"

"But, what about a shower! NERV's showers aren't any good and we still have LCL all over us!" Shinji protested.

"We can shower in the morning and I'll wash the sheets tomorrow! Besides, I'm already in bed!"

Shinji groaned, knowing that when Asuka said she'd wash the sheets, she actually mean that he would be the one washing the sheets and not her. But, she was right. She had already dove onto his futon. So, there wasn't nearly as much point in getting a shower now. At least the LCL was dry by now and they'd already showered once at NERV. Though, as Shinji had pointed out, the showers and soap there weren't the greatest being government provided and all.

Shinji reluctantly crawled under the covers and Asuka immediately rested her head on his chest. Catching a waft of her hair, it lacked its usual orange and cinnamon scent and instead reeked of metallic blood. As Rei nuzzled into Shinji's neck, he realized it too was lacking the smell of the seaweed and lavender shampoo that she'd been using ever since she'd moved in with Misato.

Despite the smell of the LCL, he took a deep breath as he repositioned himself under the girls. It may not have been the most pleasant, even it it was pungent and smelled slightly like iron. But at least it didn't smell of rot or any other even more foul smelling object that may assault his olfactory senses. And, too an extent, Shinji was just being nitpicky. He breathed the stuff in for hours on end anyways and had gotten use to both the scent of it and to coughing it out of his lungs every time he exited the Eva.

Often times, it was rather quick to evaporate. But it wasn't quick enough for Shinji's liking or for either of the other pilots either. They were always coughing and choking after leaving the plug and often times, still had plenty of the liquid in their lungs to excise even with its fast evaporation. Many times they coughed so hard that they almost threw up or ended up with a raw throat for several hours afterwards.

But, it was something they'd gotten used to. When Shinji had first arrived in Tokyo-3, he'd coughed and had been upset with the procedure. But, Rei and Asuka had been submerged in LCL years before he had ever even heard of it. And, before long, he'd caught up with them in their tolerance to it. Now, none of them complained. It was just a normal thing to them all now. For Asuka perhaps, it might have even been an acquired taste based off what she said next.

"You know… it's not that bad. The LCL I mean. It's kinda strong smelling and it sorta messes up the taste of food. But… just by itself, it's not horrible smelling or anything. I kinda like it actually."

Shinji was unsure if it really wasn't that bad. Maybe he'd develop a stronger taste for the stuff as time went on as well. But, right now, it mostly just made him cringe. Even so, after a few minutes of laying in bed, he found himself not noticing the smell anymore, his mind automatically blocking it out as he began to loose consciousness.

.


*Eva credits roll and Fly Me to the Moon plays*

.

"Well... maybe Asuka doesn't mind the smell of LCL. But, personally, I'm a big fan of my instant noodles with curry seasoning. And, I think everyone would agree they're pretty great too."

*Misato flips hair proudly.*

*Kaji hides unseen in a dark corner*

*Kaji slurps noodles out of cup*

*Misato notices Kaji*

"Hey! Are... are those mine!?"

*Kaji slurps noodles... slowly*

"What? …These? No!"

*Misato glares at Kaji doubtfully*

"But... you know those are my favorite brand of instant noodles, right?"

"Well... they're my favorite brand too."

*Kaji looks around nervously*

"Are you sure those aren't mine?"

"Tch, yeah! I'm sure. Why don't you just get on with the preview while I... go... buy some more instant noodles... to replace the ones I'm eating... right now... currently… that are completely a hundred percent mine."

"You better not have been pretending to be a spy again! And I swear, if you snuck into my house to steal my food, you better not sneak back in to replace it!"

"Pft!"

*Kaji gestures dismissively*

*Kaji leaves the room*

"Ah, geez. Let's just get on with it. The sooner I get home, the sooner I can make sure he doesn't get back into my house again.

So, next time, Kaji... I mean Shinji"

*Misato makes annoyed expression*

"Shinji, Asuka, and Rei all tell each other about their dreams before returning to Doctor Akagi's office first thing in the morning for another rigorous gauntlet of examinations. But, will Doctor Akagi find a way to stop the dreadful nightmares and everything else that accompanies them?! The audience wants to know! Sucks for them though, because they won't find out until they can read it for themselves! Next time, on Neon Genesis Evangelion: A Journey of Hate, Power, and Love; An Enigmatic Problem for Inquiring Minds!

Oh, and the end of this chapter totally makes it seem like the beginning of next chapter could have some fanservice in it. So, stick around, alright!"