+++++ Kirijo Residence. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

When breakfast time arrived, as it tended to every day, the Kirijo Manor was in a state of controlled panic, unlike what was typical for each day. Every available woman was either going from room to room searching for the world's only man or going over the external camera feeds that showed every possible entrance or exit from the compound. Mentally replaying her daughter's explanation of the last known conversation to be had with Shinji, Miyuki drummed her fingers against the bannister where she stood looking at the organized clusters of her employees. "This is not your fault, dear. Whatever has happened, has happened because a woman that is not enjoying her life at the moment prioritized her own disgusting desires over the needs of a child."

The facts of the matter were not terribly important to Mitsuru at the moment. She wanted nothing more than to be a part of the search party, to attempt to do what she could to find him, but without any training in the matter she would simply be slowing people down. "I should have taken my own advice and not risked harming him by discussing his mother."

"Which would only have kicked this can down the road. We must find the pressure points before we can help him learn to defuse them." Cupping Mitsuru's cheeks in her hands, she gazed intently into her eyes. "You did nothing wrong, and we will find him."

"Find who?" Shinji stood, dressed in rumpled clothing, at the bottom of the stairs. He blinked, attempting to place everything where it belonged in his mind. "Did we find another…." He wasn't prepared for both Miyuki and Mitsuru to approach him rapidly and begin physically examining him for trauma. "I…uhm…huh?"

Yuko approached with a sigh, eyeing her employer with a hint of reprimand. "If madam would allow me to be so bold, might I recommend in the future someone check in the closet?" Gently pulling Shinji back from the other two women, she righted his hair before adjusting his posture. "Shinji finds the open layout of the room uncomfortable, when compared to where he'd spent his youth. With the soundproofing he was unaware that a search for him was ongoing. Fortunately he listens to good advice, and called for me when he awoke, knowing that he would likely lose his way in the house."

"A…search?" Shinji looked at the three women, Mitsuru and Miyuki's actions registering differently now with the benefit of the rest of the story. "O-oh…I-I'm s-sorry." As he went to crumple in on himself again, he found that Yuko's hands were preventing each adjustment his body made as it made it, like it or not his posture would remain appropriate, it seemed.

Miyuki pinched the bridge of her nose, swearing at herself internally. "Shinji, dear, these are the type of things that we mean when we say, 'please let us know'. I have no doubt that our staff have informed you of the internal phone system, yes?" She watched him nod, still sullen despite Yuko's efforts. "I have it staffed all day, every day, because business has never waited for reasonable hours. They are here to do whatever must be done, when it must be done. If nothing else could have been done to accommodate you as you adjusted to your new environment, they would have at least marked down on the report that you were going to be sleeping in the closet."

"I'm sorry, I-"

"Please, in the future make use of the opportunities available to you, ok?" Miyuki stepped in and gave him an enormous hug. Her voice was full of emotion as she held him close, "I was terrified I had lost you, Shinji, and I don't know what I would have done if I had."

He blushed, both embarrassed and overjoyed at the same time. He mattered. "I'm…sorry. I promise I will use 'zero' like I did this morning, in the future."

"Thank you." Stepping back, she cupped his face the same way she had Mitsuru's. "Let's get you and Mitsuru some breakfast, then she'll help you pick out a uniform for today."

Both meal and necessary hygiene were taken care of in a blur. Shinji had a conversation with the chef over breakfast, discussing those foods that he personally felt uncomfortable eating, then effusing joy about the meal the night before and the breakfast before him. He did not notice that the entire time he spoke the woman was carefully picking apart everything he said and did, unaware of her prior profession as an educator, and therefore was giving off far more information than he believed he had been. He didn't want to make waves, she wanted him to be as happy as possible. She'd win, he'd never know, and that was simply how it would be.

Stepping out of the bathroom to the clothes Mitsuru had chosen for him, Shinji didn't hesitate to dress himself in them. He thought they looked far too expensive to wear, but he also thought that it would be tremendously rude to not do as he had been asked. Each item fit him perfectly, and every fabric chosen felt like heaven against his skin. He was free to move as he wanted, while also not feeling as if he had to constantly scratch at some new itch. Much like the chef, he was unaware that the tailor and cobbler had noticed fabrics that caused him discomfort. The same result as before would play out once more, he was to be happy and that was that.

Shinji arrived with Mitsuru to school half an hour early for the late-start schedule, despite the happenings of the morning delaying their departure. Waiting for him, patient as the stones surrounding the building, were the two teachers he recognized, one teacher he didn't, and the principal. Applying the admonition he'd received to allow the security team to open the door for him, he hopped out once the guard was out of the way, turned around, and offered his hand to Mitsuru to help her climb out of the vehicle. It was a trained reflex, but at that moment it was also a gesture of comity. When she kept her hand in his afterwards for a span of heartbeats, he mouthed another apology for the morning's events, only for her to shake her head and murmur that it would be ok.

"Good morning, Ikari-kun," the principal greeted him with a formal bow. "I wish to commend you on your defense of our lives, the lives of our students, and the lives of their families. I wish to thank you for coming to school today despite being fresh from that battle, setting a fine example for others to follow. Finally, I wish to apologize for the behavior of your fellow students at the end of the day yesterday. I have sent around a notice explaining that while your presence is unexpected, it is not unprecedented, and every student retains the responsibility to not bully, badger, or belittle their fellow students while in these halls. You should find your coming and going to be far easier, from now on."

A fuss was being made over him, and he wasn't certain how to respond to that. Looking to the two teachers he recognized, he hoped to receive some form of guidance from how they acted at the moment. Fortunately for him he was not disappointed as Isako Toriumi smiled and nodded twice, a clear signal for him to say, "Thank you, Principal-san. I…uhm, I was mostly concerned for the other students in my class. I am an oddity, all things considered, and I would hate to be responsible for them struggling to succeed with all the…attention." His statement got a subtle 'thumbs up' from Sadayo Kawakami, warming him further as the knowledge that he'd said the right thing settled his nerves.

"Do not worry for their success too much, trust your very capable teachers and focus on your own studies first. Ask for help, when help is needed, and allow us to shoulder part of your burden so that you are ready to stand in our defense." The principal appeared very tired, the stress of recent events clearly weighing on her as much as the lack of sleep did. "Now, allow me to introduce Kashiwagi-sensei, your third teacher for the year. She had an unfortunate delay arriving yesterday, and so she was unavailable for your first day here."

"It's so wonderful to meet you," Kashiwagi purred out, approaching Shinji with her substantial cleavage displayed prominently and her mannerisms screaming an unsubtle need for affirmation as to her 'value', "I'm very sorry that I wasn't here to greet you properly yesterday."

Shinji tilted his head slightly to the side, attempting to understand what were, to him, mismatching signals. Bowing as much as her intrusion into his personal space allowed, he stated what he believed to be the truth of the situation, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kashiwagi-sensei. I hope that whatever it was that prevented you from coming in yesterday was not too serious."

Mitsuru felt a nigh-uncontrollable urge to kick her teacher's head off, but restrained the impulse and instead sought a more measured response. The need for it, however, was undercut when an unexpected aid showed up and began engaging with Shinji in her typically exuberant fashion.

"Dude, Shinji-kun!" Chie Satonaka practically sprinted over to jump on Shinji's back, hugging him around the neck and laughing joyously. "I saw your fight last night, you read his moves perfectly!" Swinging off of him, around to his front, she forced Kashiwagi to take a step back or be hit with flying energy in schoolgirl form. Each comment on his fight was accompanied by a recreation of the move, Chie seemingly inexhaustible. "You kept your guard up and lulled him into a pattern, shifting your momentum in each direction to tease out his style, but when he got you around the waist with his whip after you mounted I really thought it might have been over. That thing was burning through the hills and buildings like butter, but you powered through with that beast of yours! It was so cool!"

With all of his attention now on Chie, Shinji missed Kashiwagi being politely, but firmly, drawn back into the school building by the Principal. Where with the teacher he was receiving confusing signals, with the young woman before him the signals matched the emotional overtones. Chie was excited about the fight, wanted to talk about it, and was in his personal space because she saw him as approachable and affable. "I-if I'm honest, it…uhm…it hurt, a lot." His first thought was that such an admission would help to decrease the enthusiasm being radiated outward. It did not.

"Oh my goodness, Shinji-kun!" Two more young women approached, saying the same thing in unison. Rise Kujikawa and Yukiko Amagi had matching demeanors of genuine concern. Flanking Chie, and occupying more of his immediate personal space, the trio now looked at him as if he was on his deathbed.

"I-I…uhm…."

"Let's get inside before more students show up," Mitsuru commanded with thinly veiled amusement. "You can interrogate our friend just as easily in the classroom."

An escort quickly formed around him, Mitsuru and Chie in the fore, Rise and Yukiko at his sides, the entire unit pulling him to the classroom with nothing more than presence and his inability to understand modern social convention. The stairs were handled with slightly more caution, as the latter two noticed that Shinji's entire head dropped to look at the stairs instead of risk any sort of 'incident' and the formation almost imperceptibly shifted to accommodate his kindness by widening out some. He was already with them, he didn't need to be herded quite so closely anymore.

"You know, Shinji-kun," Yukiko stated as they crested the steps leading into the building, "I'm surprised you're here today at all."

"Well…it's not like I had anywhere else to be." He said with a hesitant smile. Was he not wanted here? "My room was broken by debris, and the piano isn't in tune…at…." He tried to remember if he had been told whether or not to mention his living conditions. Would admitting that he lived with Mitsuru put undue pressure on her? Adjusting what he was about to say, he finished lamely. "All. Too much jostling, I think. Probably earthquakes causing the pegs to slip."

When they reached the first-floor classroom they occupied, Mitsuru opened the door and announced the situation as if it were the most natural thing in the world, "Very few people play that piano, Shinji. My mother, mostly, and she rarely has time to do so. You do not need to feel ashamed that you were the first to notice. She's already seeking out an expert to tune it for you, and the two of us will be playing duets before you know it."

With the cat out of the bag, the positions of the women changed once again. Now Shinji had three women between him and Mitsuru, all asking separate questions that followed on a central theme. He moved to his seat, setting down his schoolbag and quietly sitting in his chair. He now knew that he was right to hesitate, and the spiral into anxiety began before being cut off abruptly.

"I would like everyone here who knows the full truth of Shinji's history to raise their hands." Mitsuru placed her own hand at head height, challenging the other three to make even the slightest move. Calm, in control, and now about to lay out some ground rules, the Student Body President was in her element. "When my mother notified us of the arrangement, I also had reservations about it. Not, as poor Shinji is thinking right now, that I worried for my reputation but because I worried for his. I know my value, and I know that every single person in this school knows it as well. There are good reasons why he is not living with his mother, and further good reasons why he's not living alone. Unless and until he decides to take any of you into his confidence, I ask that you respect his privacy and support him as he transitions into this very, very, foreign situation. He and I are not suddenly 'an item', though I am proud to announce that we are fast becoming the best of friends. I trust him with my life, and I trust him with my person. He is a good man, with a good heart, and I will be enthusiastically observant of how he is treated by his fellow students." Lowering her hand back to her side, she looked among the three women without mercy in her gaze. "I count you three among those I can trust, as well. Do not give me a reason to rethink that position by prying, and do us all a favor and help me temper the less trustworthy ladies in our class."

Chie blew out a loud sigh, then moved to her desk beside Shinji's and flopped down in it. "Message received, boss. Shinji-kun's off-limits."

"That is not what I said, Satonaka-san." Mitsuru also moved to her seat, setting her bag down firmly with a loud thump. "Shinji not only deserves, but needs friends. Am I repulsed by the idea that he and I might one day grow close enough to date? No. From what I have seen of his mettle I believe that he would be a most attentive and considerate boyfriend, to say nothing of charming and talented. However, that is for the future once he and I know each other better. He might not believe that I am someone he would see that way, and despite what others might think I respect his opinion of me enough to not take that as an offense."

"Then what we should do is find somewhere that's open and take him on various activities." Rise hopped up and sat down on Shinji's desk, crossing her legs and fixing his hair as she spoke. "He seems, to me at least, to be a bit of a fish out of water. We know he likes music, and we know that he's not had the best life so far, which means that we should all have some time to spend with him to see what we have in common!"

"An excellent idea, Kujikawa-chan," Yuko announced from a corner of the room, having entered unannounced and unbeknownst to everyone inside. "I believe that I can easily schedule some time for such activities, given sufficient warning."

Shinji turned his body enough to see his EA, but not so much that he displaced Rise. "Yuko-san? Did…did I forget something?"

"Nope," she announced with a shrug and a grin. "I've arranged to spend some time in your classes for the next few weeks to get a better impression of how your time is being utilized. I'm also arranging for your pay card to arrive before lunch so that we can get that paperwork signed." Deftly flipping her phone-tablet around so that he could see, she tapped the number displayed on the screen. "You've been paid, as you can see, but due to security protocols accessing the money yet is impossible. The bank that is keeping your funds in trust wishes to have the card set up with your biometrics so that nobody else can access it. Three factor authentication, for your safety."

Chie whistled low. "That…is a very large number."

"…But I don't work for anyone," Shinji murmured. "Who's paying me?"

"Several parties with a stake in your success," Mitsuru replied, eyeing her longtime employee cautiously. "Three have a desire to remain anonymous, the Kirijo Group is one of those that has gone public with their support, as have SS Holdings Incorporated, NTV, and MHFG. These companies are providing roughly seventy-two percent of your compensation, with the other twenty-eight coming either from the government or private individuals."

He frowned, not understanding whether or not he'd received an answer to his question specifically. "So…I do work for someone?"

"No," Yuko shook her head again, "you are under no contract with any agency or organization. You cooperate with NERV, but are not subordinate to them. Your access to Unit-01 is predicated on your mutual benefit and your behavior while inside of it. You have been indemnified against lawsuits arising from your actions via the legal principle of Duty to Rescue. You have a duty, as someone who can save us from giant alien beings, to do whatever you can to fight giant alien beings that threaten us. That means that, despite your lack of professional training or standing, you are acting with the intent to save everyone's lives. No court in Japan would dream of arresting or trying you for what you do, nor accepting litigation from any private entity, so long as you don't get in the big robot and begin to tear the country apart for no reason."

"But I'm getting paid."

"For providing a service," Mitsuru replied.

Shinji looked between the two women, confusion hanging off of him palpably. "Which means I work for someone."

"I'd say you work for all of us," Yukiko offered, trying to help Shinji understand the business situation. "Would you say that it's correct of me to say that you don't want me to die?" He nodded fervently, prompting her to smile encouragingly. "My family owns a business in the local area, and part of our business plan is that we also have been providing temporary shelter to people who lost their homes in the…events? Maybe?" She looked to Mitsuru, then shrugged. "Can we call what's happened 'events'?"

The Student Body President was encouraged by the way that Shinji was starting to follow someone else's logic. "I would agree that it is descriptive enough to work with, yes."

"Ok, then," she continued, "we aren't expecting payment for these services we are providing. We've asked the guests to help us keep the grounds clean, and do what they can to help locate food and clean water for everyone, but that's really just our hope that they'll be good enough citizens to help each other in a time of crisis." She lifted one finger, pointing off to the north. "We were informed yesterday that we'll be receiving funds from the local government as well as assistance from a number of local businesses as the economy restarts. We don't work for the government, we're a private business that pays taxes. We don't work for the local businesses, though we do purchase goods from them occasionally. So, because we don't want people to die, and we're acting on that desire, we're receiving compensation for our losses so that we can continue to act on that desire, and everyone benefits." She gestured to the ladies in the room. "Our families are paying taxes to the government, and we give our money to corporations by purchasing products. They're both using that money to compensate you for your efforts. If you want to think about it in broad terms, you work for all of us informally."

Shinji had begun to nod, placing her explanation in the proper frame of reference, and drawing the conclusions that aligned well with the argument. He inclined his head slightly, not wishing to interrupt Rise's ministrations. "That makes sense, Amagi-san. Thank you." His attention then shifted towards Yuko. "I think I'm being paid too much." He gestured to the other ladies in the room. "How much could that money help everyone? Kirijo-san feeds me, she's given me clothes, she's given me a place to sleep…what more do I need?"

"Would you like me to see about investment opportunities?" Yuko made a few notes on her phone, though her attention remained laser-focused on how he reacted to that question. "I can contact a few financial advisors that would be thrilled to help you make your money do more than just sit in an account gathering dust."

"…Please?" He was hesitant to direct her to do anything at all.

"Of course," she replied with a fond smile. "I will be certain to bring you several options, and we will discuss the pros and cons of each before you make a decision. Thank you for trusting me to act on your behalf." When the door opened, admitting most of the rest of the class, Yuko made a broader announcement without specifically directing it to anyone. "As Ikari-san's Executive Assistant, it will be my responsibility to schedule his time wisely. If anyone has some reason to need some of his time, they might be wise to consider talking to me first in order to avoid scheduling conflicts."

To everyone's surprise, their teacher for the first period was the fastest on the draw. Sadayo Kawakami lifted one finger, drawing Yuko's attention. "I would appreciate a few hours during the week with Shinji-kun. He needs much more time in a pool learning to swim than a single PE period can provide, and I would prefer to work with him somewhere that is not so public to avoid specific commentary from certain interests."

Yuko made another note. "Absolutely, sensei. I'll run a schedule by him before the end of the day, what's your flexibility?"

"I'm very flexible," Sadayo laughed self-derisively. "My social calendar wasn't crowded to begin with, but it's really dried up lately."

Shinji helped Rise off his desk, then looked to his teacher. "Thank you, Kawakami-sensei. Believe it or not, I was able to try and make use of your lesson just last night." He sighed, and shook his head slightly. "Sank like a rock. I definitely need to practice more so I don't continue to fail."

"You sank like a rock because you entered the pool more dynamically than you otherwise would have," Mitsuru corrected. "You could not be expected to keep me from falling, control your balance, and breathe properly all at the same time without any practice beforehand. I agree that you should study more, all students should practice skills more often, but considering you saved my life I do not believe it would be appropriate to consider what you did a 'failure'."

"Whoa, wait," Yuka Ayase, the kogal student, waved her hands in front of her to draw attention towards herself, "like, Shinji saved you directly?"

"Video of the event," Yuko announced, connecting her phablet to the classroom's television and displaying the edited footage she'd recovered from the night before. Section Two had coordinated with her to remove the portions where Shinji had been crying, but left in the part where Mitsuru had attempted to improve his mood by cheering him up so that it displayed how he'd come to have access to her hand.

Shinji watched, with everyone else, as the video unfurled the tale of his reaction time, body control, and subsequent landing in the swimming pool. After the second loop of the recording, he felt everyone turn to look at him in amazement and disbelief and could only shrug his shoulders and duck his head slightly. "Sank like a rock."

+++++ NERV. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

Misato was, in a word, furious. Striding with great anger towards the meeting that had been scheduled with the Sub-Commanders she mentally wrote and re-wrote the diatribe that she was about to unleash. 'Success' was a technical definition of last night's battle, in her opinion. Her pilot failed to respond to her orders, frequently doing the exact opposite thing that she'd asked him to do. He had then gone to his 'home' instead of returning to base to be debriefed so that she could emphasize the importance of following orders and ensure that he received appropriate treatment for any injuries. He had then told the woman that Miyuki Kirijo had set to guarding him that he didn't even work for her! He said he knew her, and correctly identified her rank and position, but specifically stated that he didn't work for anyone! It was unacceptable!

The doors to the conference room slid open for her, revealing both Kyoko Zeppelin and Naoko Akagi reviewing reports on their personal tablets and drinking coffee. Walking to the foot of the table, opposite the pair of higher-ranking women, Misato stood at the position of attention and attempted to claim the momentum of the discussion. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me this morning, ladies. Regarding the-"

"Shinji Ikari is not employed by NERV, nor has he been conscripted into a military or militia," Naoko asserted in a bored tone. "His actions last night were in keeping with our expectations of someone deployed into combat without formal training, and his results speak for themselves. He managed to erect the A.T. Field in time to save the surrounding area, he terminated the unexpected threat without devastating Japan, and he earned the approbation of several civilian agencies for having done so. I personally signed the order to stop him from returning to base after being presented with a very compelling case by Sub-Commander Zeppelin."

Kyoko spoke with more warmth, but no less inattention to Misato's demeanor. "You performed as well as could be expected under the circumstances, Captain. I would advise against another attempt at meeting with Pilot Ikari unannounced, however. An informal complaint was filed against you for your actions at the Kirijo Estate, asking only that you be formally briefed on proper procedures for future interactions with citizens on private property. I have ordered that no demerit be appended to your record, as your motivations were fairly understandable given your specific lack of knowledge regarding the quarantine order. Any further requests for a meeting with someone housed or employed by the Kirijo Estate must go through either myself or Sub-Commander Akagi, to then be coordinated with Pilot Ikari's EA."

Misato couldn't believe what she was hearing. "…Ma'am, with all due-"

"You are dismissed, Captain." Naoko looked over the top of her tablet, spearing Misato with a hard gaze.

She wasn't going to win this engagement. She also didn't have nearly enough intelligence on why she wasn't going to win this engagement. Accepting the dismissal, she left the room even angrier than she'd entered it. She would find out why she was being sidelined, and she would find out why Shinji was being pushed away from NERV. The Angels had to die.

+++++ Tokyo-3 High School. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

After a quick meeting with Yuko, where he provided a thumbprint that would be registered both on the specialized pay card and on the bank's server, lunch quickly took the same shape as the previous day, only this time with greater comfort on Shinji's part. He was surrounded by women that remained fairly consistent from that first school day, which made interacting with them increasingly easy. Yuka was far smarter than she acted, and her language was used to hide a mind that only pretended to be dull. Eriko found unnatural things fascinating, but would not react as if she were surprised or shocked if someone dropped a boulder next to her from thin air. Ulala was able to not only identify the woman who designed Shinji's school uniform, she was able to tell the fabric type from a simple touch. Mitsuru…was Mitsuru. Yukiko had a brash laugh that came out at odd times, but a heart of gold that truly just wanted everyone to get along. Rise was very animated when he was speaking on something specific, but became much more subdued when forced to speak on something herself. Chie was nearly single-mindedly focused on comparing the 'moves' he'd used while fighting the Angel to those from various 'kung fu' films that she clearly adored. And last, though not least, Sumire spent much of her time speaking with him discussing ways that he could and should stretch every day.

"You move very stiffly today," Sumire pointed out. "I know that you probably don't have time to stretch before you climb into the robot, or before you pull Mitsuru-senpai out of the way of a huge boulder, but if you improve your flexibility every day, you'll find that you can recover easier from those things." She froze, then waved frantically to deny something. "N-not that I'm saying I want you to have to face those things, I'm just…you know…."

Shinji chuckled, then shook his head. "I don't want to face them either, but you make a good point. I can't protect people if I'm limping around, and if I learn how to stretch properly every day I'll limp less." An idea glanced off his skull, prompting his mouth to move without pre-approval again, "Do you think you could teach me how to stretch better?"

"I'm sure we can help," Rise jumped in before Sumire could respond. "I'm no stranger to stretching either, and you might prefer one form or method more than the other. Exposing you to both would seem useful to me."

The sudden intrusion into the mostly bi-directional conversation startled him, though not enough to unman him. "Y-yeah, that's probably true. Maybe…no," he shook his head again, "you should talk to Takao-san. I'm not supposed to make specific plans without consulting her, because I'm not always aware of my obligations."

"Thank you for remembering, Ikari-san," Mitsuru added from the other side of the arc they sat within. "I agree, by the way, much like swimming you should learn how to stretch. Yoshizawa-san is an outstanding gymnast, and Kujikawa-san is an accomplished dancer, they should be excellent teachers for you."

Slipping out his phone, he sent a brief text outlining the idea to Yuko while he recognized that Mitsuru had praised him for what he was doing. "I promise, I'm trying to keep up with everything." Hitting send and pocketing his phone again, he smirked ruefully. "But I can't seem to get my feet under me for more than a few seconds at a time without something I've never had to think about before slapping me upside the head."

"That's totally how I feel," Yuka admitted with a laugh. "Like, every class is just another 'thing' to try and remember. It's so annoying." Her eyes flicked down to where he'd been picking at a long-since emptied lunch container, then with a quick grin she plucked out something from her own that she'd been slowly picking at. "Here, open wide!" She leaned past Sumire and pressed the morsel against his lips. "I made it this morning, but I'm not as hungry as I thought I was."

Shinji followed instructions, and was honestly surprised when the gyoza she placed in his mouth was nearly as delicious as the food he'd already burned through. Far too focused on dissecting the recipe by taste, he missed the nigh-universal displeasure being directed towards Yuka by those women that hadn't believed it socially appropriate to do something so brash so soon. "…Chili oil, minced chicken, red cabbage, chives…and just a hint of ginger." He rocked his head side to side, then finally focused his gaze back onto the kogal. "Did you steam it first? It doesn't taste like it was seared right away."

Yuka tapped his nose and winked playfully. "That's for me to know and you to wonder, Shinji-kun."

"Well…I do like figuring things out, so that works." Blithely missing the subtle flirtation with his mind on still focused on the goal of determining how he would make what he'd just been given, he replied with a shrug, "You're a very good cook, making something like that. Changing the sesame oil out for chili oil made it much more warming, with how cold it is today."

Mitsuru calmly took note of the two young ladies that didn't immediately make some sort of note to themselves to 'accidentally make too much' in the future, and decided that instead of leaving them out of the rule she was going to set down she'd just make a blanket statement to everyone but Shinji later about not overfeeding him. Her mother might want her to rush him to the altar, and he might even prove to be worth doing just that at some point, but she was not going to take away his only chance at developing a 'preference' for who he would and would not spend time with. He wasn't a 'prize' to be won or claimed, and he would not be treated as such.

The door to the room slid open abruptly, and in walked Noriko Kashiwagi, the third of their teachers. "Shinji-kun, I desperately need you," she put a slight pause in the sentence where she lifted a clear plastic sphere up under her breasts 'accidentally' emphasizing their size, "to help me with this."

Ulala one-upped Yuka and prevented Shinji from moving by shoving the last quarter of her lunch into his hands, standing up and announcing, "I'll help, sensei. Shinji hasn't finished his lunch yet, and we all know how important proper nutrition is." Ruffling his hair as she flowed past, she winked at him and was rewarded with a grateful, if slightly confused, smile.

"It's times like this that I'm reminded of the survivalist rule," Chie muttered, plucking some of Ulala's lunch out of Shinji's lap and putting it against his lips to keep him quiet, "three weeks without food, three days without water, and three minutes without air."

Shinji accepted the food, once again, and made a valiant attempt at understanding the seeming non-sequitur. He noted several of the other ladies nodding, while barely disguising their contempt for the overtly frustrated teacher's exasperated instructions to Ulala. Once he'd swallowed, he simply accepted his ignorance and admitted, "I don't follow."

"Bitch is thirsty," Sumire growled. "And she needs to stop trying to steal water from wells that aren't hers."

"…I'm sorry, I…still don't follow." He could see in the women around him a sense of protectiveness, each tinged with other emotions owing to their own thoughts and feelings but still unified in keeping him away from 'harm'. "Are you talking about how she wants to have sex with me?"

Every cheek but his gained a hue of pink or red, depending on the person in the group. Mitsuru, in possession of more information than any of the others, shut down the conversation with diplomatic ease, "Yes. Someone who is 'thirsty', in this sense, is inappropriately being obvious about their desire for intercourse with someone. I will have a conversation with the Principal about this later before we leave, and see if she can't be moved to a different class. Her behavior is hardly appropriate."

"There's no need to make a fuss," Shinji muttered, now embarrassed that someone was going to get someone else in trouble on his account. With his eyes focused on the food before him, he missed everyone's sudden moment of doubt. "To borrow Sumire-san's euphemism, she can't drink from a dry well, no matter how hard she tries." When Chie patted his bicep, he looked back up to see every woman giving him a look of approval and camaraderie. His cheeks finally gained a pink hue, warmed as he was by the approbation of his peers.

Mitsuru was just as pleased to see her class' reaction as she was to hear Shinji state plainly that he wasn't going to walk directly back into abuse meekly. She also, however, was going to 'make a fuss'. He might not be her fiancé, yet, but he was very much under her protection.

+++++ Tokyo-3 High School. (Tuesday, August 24th, +3, Waning Gibbous 2/4)

Floating atop a mostly unmoving pool, gazing up at a 'sun' that never changed its position in the sky, practicing the breathing exercise that his teacher had taught him, Shinji was struck by a thought that caused him a small amount of concern. "Sensei?"

Sadayo was easily treading water next to him, keeping an eye on his form and pondering what might have kept Mitsuru in the principal's office so long that she missed PE. "Yes, Shinji-kun?"

"We still have gravity."

"…Yes?"

"So does Okinawa." Lifting one arm, a bold and dangerous move for someone just learning to float, he pointed at where he knew the grouping of islands to be.

"I would assume so, yes." She took his arm, and placed it back on the surface of the water. "If your question is 'how', I'm afraid I don't have a good answer. Gravity, as a phenomenon, is understood to be a function of the mass or energy of objects being attracted to one another. The more mass or energy, the greater the attraction. It should be…highly improbable that there exists equal forces acting on the outside of whatever sphere we're inside that creates the exact gravitational constant we're used to."

"What if it's all gone?"

"Then that would be a very sad thing." She herself had already thought through this logical exercise, hiding her own anxieties regarding the matter to be a point of strength for her students. "I choose to hope that it's not gone. That the same violations of our understanding of physics that allow your giant robot to work, that allow those aliens you fight to exist, have somehow just created a pocket of spacetime that is warped enough to allow us to exist. That we can find, or win, a way to restore everything."

He made an effort to see that hope through her eyes. He knew she was anxious, he also knew she was keeping that anxiety locked away so that she could be strong for the people depending on her. "…You're a good person, sensei." He shifted his head enough so that he could look at her directly. "You told me yesterday that I should speak my mind more often. That I shouldn't withhold compliments because I'm afraid of getting in trouble. I hope that doesn't offend you, that I think that."

Sadayo's smile pushed down her anxiety further with a pleasure that she had clearly done something to help a young man that she believed needed it. "Thank you for saying so. I agree, you should absolutely speak your mind more often. You have a lot to share with us, and it would also be a very sad thing if you never had the chance to. Besides," she added with a light pat on his chest, "you're a good person too. Not everyone would have the strength to get in a giant robot and fight an alien."

Looking away, back up to the orb shining at the center of the world, Shinji sighed out, "It wasn't strength…I just couldn't let everyone die without trying to do something about it." His voice grew empty, "Five hundred and seventy-eight women, based on the population of the area and the demographics of the nation. They all died last night when that village was obliterated in the explosion. How many more are dying every minute to age, or infirmity, or misadventure? I can't save everyone, I can just do my job and trust that other people are doing the best they can to fix this."

There wasn't much she could say to dispute him, and anything she said to try and put a positive spin on things would sound as forced as it would be to come up with it. So instead, she pushed him upright and hugged him against her while helping him keep them both aloft. "That's all we can do." When his arms loosened from the startled tensity they held, instead cautiously wrapping around her to return the embrace, she added, "I'm sorry that life has hurt you so much, but I'm glad that it hasn't broken you. You being here gives us all a reason to try harder, and it gives me motivation to give you my best. So thank you, again, for speaking your mind to me."

Sheltered in the arms of his teacher, free of mistreatment or derision, Shinji wondered if he was allowing his hopes to climb far too high. "…Thank you…for the hug. It feels nice."

What he didn't see was the self-reproach on her face, as she despised herself for thinking that it did indeed feel nice to hug him.

+++++ Author's Note:

RE: BNST:

To quote, "The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a center of integration for limbic information and valence monitoring. The BNST, sometimes referred to as the extended amygdala, is located in the basal forebrain and is a sexually dimorphic structure made up of between 12 and 18 sub-nuclei. These sub-nuclei are rich with distinct neuronal subpopulations of receptors, neurotransmitters, transporters and proteins. The BNST is important in a range of behaviors such as: the stress response, extended duration fear states and social behavior, all crucial determinants of dysfunction in human psychiatric diseases. Most research on stress and psychiatric diseases has focused on the amygdala, which regulates immediate responses to fear. However, the BNST, and not the amygdala, is the center of the psychogenic circuit from the hippocampus to the paraventricular nucleus. This circuit is important in the stimulation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis."

To expand in my own words, BNST activity is more of an indicator of the activity of those areas that connect to it for 'instructions'. It's the pathway that a number of extremely important emotional responses travel when asking different portions of the human brain (et al) for electro-chemical responses. Higher activity tends to be related to both immediate stress and long term fears, such as arachnophobia. Lower activity is seen when the brain shuts off the 'disgust response' that many people have regarding sexuality. The BNST slows or stops the 'ew gross' traffic, and allows other reactions to proceed. Overactivity of the BNST might be responsible for psychiatric diseases or dysfunctions, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), social anxiety, or an array of anti-social behaviors and traits.

Without diving too much further into jargon, the entire point is that NERV has a system in place that is capable of monitoring sudden elevated BNST activity in their employees. That system is constantly on, constantly monitoring everyone, and only anonymized by the MAGI by removing the names of specific people being scanned. Imagine if you know who is in a room at any point, and look at the BNST-tracker only to see that the activity is going nuts. Or, the activity has flatlined. It wouldn't take the World's Greatest Detective to figure out who was responsible, and would allow for invasion of privacy without oversight. Hence, Ritsuko was unhappy.

Kyoko's point, however, is that if the activity goes to either extreme suddenly then there is a chance that enemy action is happening or that a group of people are ignoring the possible world-ending consequences of not performing their jobs at NERV. The map they observed showed that wherever Shinji went, BNST activity dropped dramatically. Maya put the two together, and Kyoko pointed out that there is a difference between 'lowered inhibition' and 'no inhibition'.