+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

Two mornings in a row, Shinji awoke with a woman in his arms. The experiences that led to each occasion were dramatically different, just as different as the women themselves were in his mind. Where Yukiko smelled strongly of cherries, Eriko had the smell of persimmons about her. Mixed with the scent of the previous night's entertainment, it caused his mind to grow slightly fuzzy. There was something wrong about what he'd done, and yet something also had been so very right. He'd held Yukiko in this very spot, the spot where he now held a different woman, with a different intent, but only one day removed.

"I have often found myself thinking, as I've become aware of the world around me," Eriko murmured quietly, "that society has it all wrong with regards to human sexuality. We're told to grow up ashamed of our desires. To think that the only path forward is resolute chastity until we've been married off." Stretching languidly, maximizing the contact she had with him as she twisted her backside against his member, she blew out a sigh of disgust. "How stupid is that? I just spent a wonderful evening growing closer to a man I would trust to have my back in a fight, receiving the most delicious sensations I could imagine. I am no lesser now for having done that than I was before, and you," she rolled over, tipping him onto his back and climbing atop him, "have nothing to feel shame over." Taking his hands and cupping her breasts with them, she looked down on him with her hair in disarray. "New question…did you enjoy what we did?"

The memory of what they had done was an electric current running along his entire body. To know that she was sitting atop him, trusting him to hold her as he was, despite knowing what he had done…. "You feel so wonderful against me." He swallowed, fear of potential rejection remaining at the forefront of his thoughts despite what she'd said. "I…I don't deserve what you gave me."

"I disagree," she stated simply. "I, just as much as you, have a choice in who I may do things with. I chose you. You acquiesced after fighting with your demons, and gave me all the more reason to seek this out again. I adjudge you as free from guilt, and urge you to strongly reconsider our future relations." With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and delighted in his touch. "Mmm…definitely better than the plastic wands I bought. Still," she looked down at him with a tiny smile, "I think I'm happy I waited to experience this with someone who looks at me and sees the value of my mind, instead of the value of my body."

He swallowed again, trying to avoid becoming aroused once more. "B-both are v-very nice."

"I appreciate your perspective and wish to seek further elucidation on the matter." Rolling forward, she kissed him softly, whispering, "Would you care to join me in the shower to pursue negotiations?"

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

After another romp in the shower, followed by a utilization of said shower for its intended purpose, Shinji parted ways with Eriko so that she could seek 'fresh clothes' for the day. He'd lent her an overshirt to wear, and enjoyed the way it looked on her as she hurried off to her own room, forcing himself to look away to avoid a repeated problem of his body disagreeing with him on issues. Making his way downstairs for breakfast, feeling oddly better than he had before Eriko had visited him, he bumped into Isako Toriumi at the staircase. "Oh, good morning, sensei! How's your head? Do you need help on the stairs?"

Dressed far more casually than she would have been at work, the teacher smiled patiently at Shinji's concern. "I'm fine, Shinji-kun. I was a winger on my football side when I was younger, so I'm used to concussion protocols. Though I wouldn't mind if you accompanied me to the kitchen. I wanted to make sure how you were doing. Yesterday was pretty rough on everyone, I'm glad they had a counselor available for you and the others."

A small scowl crossed his face, the thought of someone harming the woman before him sitting poorly in his mind. "I'm fine…I'm just angry that I couldn't stop this from happening." Offering his arm, as he had been trained to do for Meroko, he gave Isako a point of balance to use as they began the trip down the stairs. "How many of the other students spent the evening afraid? How many are going to need therapy? I've spent my entire life dealing with trauma, it's just noise to me anymore…they didn't deserve this."

"You shouldn't ignore your present, even if your past has hardened you to it." She squeezed his arm, encouraged when his head drooped in recognition of her perspective. "I know you have a counselor, and a good one from what I've heard Sadayo speak of, but I'd like to remind you that I'm always here if you need me…ok?" She smiled encouragingly up at him when he frowned thoughtfully towards her. "Sometimes just talking about something will make it easier to sort out. I don't care what it's about, either. Frustrations with math, with random terrorist attacks, or problems with being the only male in a household full of women. I'm a live-in teacher for now, and I'll always make myself available to you."

He returned her smile, opening the door to the dining room and urging her to take the lead. "Ok. But only if you come to me, in return. I can listen, even if I don't have the experience to help."

"Oh! Good morning learned elder! Good morning Wildcard!" Shizuko, wearing only an apron, was putting the finishing touches on a huge meal she'd prepared for everyone. Floating over to Isako first, she set her glowing hands against the mortal woman's temples. "Mmm…there, that's better." Nodding to her work, she shooed the woman over to the table to eat. "A simple misalignment of the soft tissue, and a bit of degeneration caused by trauma. I cleansed your vitae and reseated the tissue. Please take care not to strike your head again, the Wildcard is extremely fond of you and I would be hurt to know that he had lost your company."

Shinji wasn't sure how to feel about the current situation. He doubted that his teacher was any more prepared than he had been to spend time near non-humans, especially exceptionally pleasantly shaped non-humans wearing just enough cloth to cover the front of their body. "Thank you for healing her, Shizuko-san…but please ask permission next time, unless it's an emergency?"

"Oh, but it was." Tugging Shinji towards the table, she smiled endearingly. "The degeneration was caused by a developing rupture in her circulatory system, if left untreated for much longer she would have developed an intracranial hemorrhage that would have pressed her brain against her skull, killing her. Very difficult to diagnose, without proper magic to use. I do not fault your healer, as she simply couldn't have noticed it without the underlying symptoms. Those symptoms, of course," she pushed him into his seat and placed a fork in his hand, "are often misunderstood as a simple result of a concussion. Headaches, loss of balance, blurred vision. I will keep your admonition in mind, however. You are quite right that I should not dictate the course of their lives with my own desires to see you happy."

Sitting beside Shinji, Isako blanched at the realization that she'd been so close to dying. "Thank you, Shizuko-san. It was very kind of you to treat me."

"You are most welcome. Please, enjoy the meal." Urging the pair to begin to eat, she hummed her way into the kitchen again.

Shinji's mind was once more in a dark place, his motions mechanical as he began to prepare an argument for everyone to receive some attention from Shizuko. "I should figure out how to recompense her for the effort," he murmured. "Encourage her to continue helping everyone."

Isako, through maturity, was able to recover faster than any of her charges might have. "I believe I will help you find a way to thank her. Was she telling the truth?"

Shaking off his musing, he looked at Isako and tried to remember what Shizuko had said that would have prompted the question. "I…I don't think she's someone who lies. She's very blunt."

"About you being fond of me." Her head tilted slightly. "It's common for someone who's been neglected their whole life to form attachments to people who show them even basic kindnesses. I'm sure that Kirijo-san is taking appropriate precautions to keep people who might misuse that fact, like Kashiwagi-sensei, well away from you…but I'd be serving you very poorly as a teacher if I didn't help you learn to develop appropriate relationships with your peers." She speared a coined sausage with her fork. "I don't want you hurt, either."

"Oh. That." He'd dismissed the statement as something he saw as 'obvious'. "You're a good person, sensei. You worry about your students, you adapt your preferences to help them understand your lessons, you take my problems as something to work towards fixing rather than letting me wallow in them, and your smile is a thing of beauty. I just wish that life had treated you better, and that your peers had recognized your struggles and told the men who only saw you as a potential housewife and not a colleague to stop mistreating you." He caught her blink of surprise, and realized what he'd just said. "I…."

Raising one finger to silence him, she leaned in closer. "How did you know about that?"

"I…." He didn't want to lie, but he couldn't tell the truth. "It's something that happened when I piloted Unit-01. I…I shouldn't get into details."

Nodding in agreement, she sat back up and patted his forearm. "I understand. I get the feeling you've been refraining from commenting on a lot of things you've seen, then."

Relaxing, grateful that she understood his plight, he returned to his meal. "Yes. I don't want to…pry."

"Well, since you've brought it up, and it fits the theme of what I was saying, you're absolutely right." Several of her other students came into the room, spying the meal and finding their seats to begin eating. Isako changed how she said what she was about to say to 'encourage' thoughtfulness. "Relationships, whether they're private, business, cordial, or even just acquaintanceships, all require the same basic elements to succeed. Respect, tolerance, and boundaries. You respect the other person, and you respect yourself. You tolerate the disagreements on trivial matters, and the minor flaws that everyone possesses. And you establish appropriate boundaries, to differentiate your intent with the other people in your relationships. It's just really hard for you right now to walk into the 'advanced' class on relationships, considering you were never enrolled in the basic courses."

Chie barked out a laugh. "Some of us were there for the basic courses, and we still have no idea what we're doing. Don't feel too bad, Shinji-kun."

"I'm lucky that I have people around me to support me then," Shinji replied with a fond smile. "You can learn from my example, so you know what not to do."

Isako sat back, watching her students react to one another with a sense of success. She'd long believed that the ladies in her class, even those who were on the lazy side, were fully capable of greatness. The fact that all it took was an 'injured bird' to bring it out of them didn't bother her much. After most of her students, as well as her fellow teacher, trickled into the room she asked as a way of encouraging further discussion, "I was thinking, as I lay in bed last night per my doctor's orders, that instead of having a half day of class each Saturday…what all of you might think of instead having a sort of 'culture' day to help Shinji-kun learn about those parts of life that he missed while living in Nagano."

"Oh no," Ulala laughed, "please, don't threaten us with not having to sit through four hours of school!"

Sumire rolled her eyes at the brazen lack of respect for authority. "We were already talking about a Miyazaki Marathon, sensei. If we watched one movie, then discussed some of the themes, I think it would help him understand how those of us who grew up in less bad circumstances see things."

"Maybe some sumo matches, as well," Sadayo mused. "We could cover the history of the sport in a less formal context, while enjoying the competition. It's a stereotypically 'manly' thing to enjoy, and it would help him connect with a part of his society that's absent at the moment to help influence him."

Rise caught sight of Eriko walking in, taking note of Shinji's overshirt tied around her waist. "We could do some karaoke, teach him how to dance?" Her temper spiked when, in plain view of everyone else, Eriko bent down and gave Shinji a full kiss on the lips. "Hey!"

Unconcerned, the fencer looked over to Rise and tilted her head in curiosity. "What?"

"Stop…that," she waved her hand vaguely.

"…I am afraid you are going to have to be a bit more explicit about what you wish me to stop, otherwise I can't help you."

"Perhaps the breakfast table is not the best place to be surprising Shinji-kun with sudden affections," Isako attempted diplomatically. "Considering his blush, I doubt he expected you to be so forward, Eriko-chan. I realize that this is where we live, and that this is not technically school time, but we should all consider appropriate behavior as a rule, and not a function of location."

"It is not that odd that the Hand of Justice would offer affection to him," Shizuko announced, carrying in a tray with various pitchers of liquid for drinks, "after last night their bond is much stronger."

Mitsuru frowned, not wishing to step on her teacher's authority though also needing to assert her own to retain order in what was now their house. "This is something we might wish to discuss later, in a more private setting."

"What do you mean 'bond'?" Ulala scowled at Eriko.

Shizuko beamed with good cheer. "It was rather enth-"

Pixie appeared behind the angel, clapping her hand over the other woman's mouth and stating before disappearing with her in tow, "Terribly sorry, need to borrow her for a quick refresher course on social mores."

Everyone paused, their eyes on where Shizuko had been, then turned to look at Eriko and Shinji. There was a measure of defiance in the former's posture, challenging the others to say anything. The latter, however, crumpled inwards as he stood from the table and excused himself, "Thank you for joining me for breakfast, sensei. I…think I'm going to take a walk around the manor."

"I'll join you," Sadayo announced, cutting in before anyone else could set off a fight. Snatching up portions of her meal and slapping it between two slices of bread, she hurried over and helped Shinji escape. When they reached the door, it opened just ahead of them to reveal Miyuki Kirijo bearing a serene fury. "Good morning, Kirijo-san. Shinji-kun and I are going to take a walk, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, sensei," the elder Kirijo declared in a soft hush. "Please…take your time."

The sound of the door to the dining room closing behind him resembled the clank of an iron cage slamming shut, in Shinji's mind. He didn't know what to think, now. There were too many things that he'd done, or accepted, and everything seemed to anger everyone all at once. When he reached the fresh air outside of the manor, his teacher at his side, he lamented, "I'm the worst…."

+++++ NERV. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

Maya hadn't expected to be working so early, but after an evening spent with Ritsuko reminding her of how special she was she had felt reinvigorated and ready to take on the current array of challenges before her. Maya also hadn't expected to have company, considering both the day of the week and the hour of the day. "…which is this part here," she indicated a component of the symbols that repeated across three different samples, "and was something we found on women that were traced to 'higher skill' professions. Chemists, vulcanologists, those sciences that require a lot of data analysis."

Nodding along, Misato Katsuragi gestured to a few of the symbols that hadn't been referenced yet. "So you're trying to make them all fit, like the English alphabet?"

"Something like that. Part of xenolexicography is studying the repetition of the characters. Discerning patterns, to see which words are likely to be used as conjoining other words together, like 'and' or 'but'."

"You think Pilot Ikari could help?"

She shrugged. "At this point, I'm willing to listen to anyone on this. Shinji-kun's studied several foreign languages, from several different ethnolinguistic roots. I'm not ashamed to say that my Latin and French limit my perspective somewhat."

"Always good to recognize our weaknesses, Maya-kun," Misato murmured approvingly, her eyes searching along the string of supposed characters. "Can't overcome them otherwise."

Maya waited for a time, hoping that perhaps Misato would explain things herself without having to be prompted. While not directly under her organizationally, she was still a junior officer and was obligated to respect the rank. After a few minutes, she accepted her ill luck and ventured, "What brought you in today, ma'am?"

"I need an outside perspective, and you're someone my best friend trusts completely." Her eyes never left the board, remaining away from Maya's confused face. "Is he afraid of me?" With there being only one 'he' anymore, it was unimportant to identify the particular 'he' in question.

"No, I don't think he is. He's worried about offending you, but that's true of almost everyone he interacts with."

Her lips bunched off to the side in a wry smirk. "Yeah, he's good people. Either can't, or won't, lie. Respects the experience and position of others even if he disagrees with them. Accepted his fate as a pilot without cajoling or threats." She shook her head, doubt and confusion hanging freely off her. "Why is everyone so fucking determined to keep him away from me, then? I want to help him survive this bullshit! The last thing I want is to have him get hurt, whether in training or in combat. I look at him, and I see someone who'd got the short end of the stick. Someone who has to live in the shadow of their parent's grandeur. Yeah, I can see myself in his position to an extent, but it's not like I see him and me as 'the same'. I mean, for starters, he's a guy! He views the world through guy eyes. He hears what people say through guy ears. His experience of the world is different, on an unchangeable level, from my own. But every time I ask to be allowed to bridge that gap, I get sidelined!" Slamming her fist down on the table she was seated at, she growled out her frustration in a wordless oath. "Why did they fucking hire me if all I'm going to be doing is occupying a billet?"

There were a great many answers to her questions. Most of which were classified above the Tactical Commander's clearance, and several of which would be personally hurtful to Misato as a human being. Picking through what was available, Maya chose the path that involved inflicting the least amount of harm on someone who was genuinely trying to help despite being fundamentally ill-suited for the task. "Because they didn't receive who they believed was coming, as you saw the day we met him." Risking a more human touch, Maya moved over and sat down opposite her superior officer. "If the Shinji Ikari that arrived had been the calm, analytical, young man they were anticipating you would have been perfect for the position. Due to factors beyond any of our control, what we received is an emotionally damaged pilot that is wobbling on a tightrope over the twin canyons of despair and rage. You're a good person to have around to put combat units into the best position to succeed, but…."

Misato let her head slump down atop the table. "But he's not someone we'd allow in the military. I know. I thought of that. This just seems…more personal, I guess. Like the sub-commanders are sidelining me out of spite."

"I don't get that feeling, at least not from Sub-Commander Zeppelin. I've never had the best read on my boss, so I can't really speak to what Sub-Commander Akagi is thinking."

Letting her head roll to the side, she looked across the table at Maya with a clear need for answers. "Honest assessment, Maya-kun…am I just taking this too personally when it isn't?"

"I think we don't have enough data to support this being personal. There might be personality conflicts involved, but I've never seen either of the Sub-Commanders allow personality conflicts to affect professional judgements." She spread her hands helplessly. "All I have otherwise is intuition, which has absolutely no valid support outside of affirming whatever prejudices I have."

Misato grinned teasingly. "So what's your intuition, then? That they're afraid I'll steal him from you?"

Blushing furiously, Maya dropped her eyes to the table. "N-no. I just think that something has happened in Shinji-kun's past that they would rather not risk causing a conflict between two of their most valuable members."

"Huh." Sitting back and thinking on what Maya had just said, Misato nodded slowly. "That might have some bite to it." Standing up, she tousled Maya's hair playfully before turning to leave. "Thanks, Maya-kun. I'll bring a nice wedding gift for you and Pilot Ikari, if you send me an RSVP card."

The blushing discomfort evaporated like mist beneath the solar forge as the door closed behind Misato. The fact that nobody would be having any form of storybook wedding with Shinji was something that hurt her deeply. She wanted very badly to find a way to give him everything he deserved, but as she sat in the remaining bubble of reality that consisted of Japan and some ocean water, she began to feel the urge to become angry at her impotence swelling once more.

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

Shinji had walked in silence for at least half of an hour, his thoughts consumed by the demons of his past. He felt Sadayo walking by his side, more than he heard or saw her. The woman who had taught him to not drown as quickly, after finishing off the impromptu sandwich she'd made, had clasped her hands behind her neck and contented herself to simply being near him should he have anything he needed to say. While there were a million statements begging to be unleashed, he couldn't break through the jumble of thoughts that assailed him each time he tried. A bird landing atop a section of fence, looking at him oddly and then taking off once more jostled loose something, though not directly related to his own thoughts, "I shouldn't be here."

"Here, as in the Kirijo estate, or here as in alive?" Her voice remained free of any accusations; her question focused on coaxing out dialogue instead of demanding a response.

He snorted out a laugh. "Is 'yes' an appropriate answer?"

"Well," she faux-mused, "I can see the argument about living here amongst that particular brand of chaos. The whole 'living' thing? I'm going to have to veto you on that one. I've grown fond of you, rather quickly. It's not something I'm prone to doing, which means that it must be something worth accepting."

The swell of gratitude at her recognition eased his anxiety enough for him to push through, "She…she came to me."

"I had no doubts as to that part."

"Said…you know…that she…."

"Did you want your relationship kept private?"

He almost choked on his sudden intake of air. "N-no. W-we're…."

"Yeah…I didn't think that was true either." Sadayo blew out a sigh. "You allowed her to encourage you into bed, but she never specified what happened 'afterwards'. Eriko-chan is one of those women that is perfect for a world like this. It's full of mystery, intrigue, and scientifically impossible happenings. You're not 'inexperienced', and she's eager to seek out new experiences. She definitely should have handled it with far more tact…but I can understand the impulse to give into her charms."

"…I made a mistake."

"Why?"

He frowned, not having expected her reaction. "I…hurt people."

"Not in the way you're thinking you did, no." Pulling him to a stop, she sat them down on a stone bench to speak face-to-face. "If you had led the others on, making them think you had eyes for them alone, then yes. You would have hurt them at that point. This? Shinji, I'm going to be honest with you, you're it. Their only chance at romance with a man, for those of them who swing that way, is you."

"But…doesn't that mean I…."

"They will need to adapt, or accept that you're simply not in the cards. Maybe they can accept a more open relationship, maybe they can't. If what you want is something more in line with Eriko than Rise, that's your choice. It's ok to feel poorly for her, but don't let that steal away what you feel to be your chance at happiness."

"I kind of…I thought you'd be…."

"I was a young woman once, Shinji. I know exactly how it feels to see an interesting young man and want to find a quiet corner."

"I don't understand…you're still a young woman, though."

The genuine confusion on his face made her sigh, then snort out a huff of amusement. "You should be careful. Too much more of that, and I'm going to start thinking you find me attractive."

"I…I do, though." When she froze, he spread his hands slightly. "This is why I'm lost. All I've ever known was that love and sex were wholly intertwined. She would cry out that she loved me, that she was the only woman who would ever love me…all while…we…." Shame and anger grew in his chest, and he looked away from Sadayo to not inflict that on her. "There are women I'm not attracted to. Kashiwagi-sensei, as an example."

"I really shouldn't feel this relieved to hear you say that," she joked, still stunned.

"If I looked at every woman and thought that I wanted to be with them, I'd at least understand what it is I'm feeling! I'd just…I'd know, for certain, that I was just a disgusting animal." With his hand clenched into a fist, he slammed it down against his knee. "But it's not. There are a lot of women I…I don't have those feelings for. So what does that mean? I know that I don't understand love. To be honest, I never thought it existed! Then…then I came here…I found…." A number of names offered themselves to him, and he chose to not speak any of them for fear of cursing them with his presence. "I found several women who I would…I would beg for death before I would allow anyone to harm them. You said it yourself, though…I'm it. There's me, and only me. Should I love a bunch of women who are only with me because I'm the only man around? Just accept my supposed good fortune as I die inside knowing that they're going to be miserable for the rest of their lives as they see me holding someone else for a while? I don't know what love is, but I'm positive it is not hurting whoever you feel it for."

Sadayo took a moment to find the right words to use, "What I think, is that you are not the only person who should be deciding that. If you truly think you love them, and not just 'really like' them, then you should take the time you both need to get to know one another. Eriko-chan…she's a special young lady. She makes up her mind instantly, and never reverses course without overwhelming evidence or satisfaction. If she's chosen to be with you, then it's because she's happy to be with you. Others might take more time to come to a decision. They might need time to feel things out, and you might also need that time. My advice…don't lose focus on learning. Learning algebra, learning how to live in a modern society, learning how to fight and survive. Everything else will come to you, when its ready to."

It was sensible advice, if a bit more focused on the long term than the immediate crisis. "Thanks. I'll…apologize to everyone."

"I think you might have the process backwards there," she teased, placing her hand in his. "If anything, they need to apologize to you for presuming to dictate who you can and can't spend time with." His frown of confusion brightened her mood, how long had she spent trying to find a man who'd even contemplate uttering the words 'I'm sorry'…and now she was encouraging him to save those words for later. "Just do me a favor, if you wouldn't mind?"

His entire demeanor shifted towards the ever-willing servant, "I'll try my best, what can I do?"

She hated herself. "Make sure that you stay faithful to whoever you choose to include, ok? There are some really nasty diseases out there, and even the nicest-seeming young woman can have a real checkered past. I don't want you to become a vector for some strange form of hyper-chlamydia."

He nodded fervently. "I can do that. I promise…I'll never have sex with someone I shouldn't, at least not willingly."

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Saturday, August 28th, +7, Last Quarter 2/4)

A line of well-chastened young ladies walked out of the dining room with their heads kept low, followed by Mitsuru who was going to engage in an additional 'educational discussion' once they were all alone. Miyuki trusted her daughter's judgement, and allowed her to set down some 'internal political rules'. Looking at what remained of breakfast, and well aware that Isako had remained behind for a purpose, she began the next tactical engagement. "Is your head feeling any better this morning, sensei?"

"Completely healed, actually." Isako was well aware that she was out of her depth in a subtle war with someone of Miyuki Kirijo's caliber, so she instead chose to engage in an open conflict. "While I appreciate your generous financial compensation, and understand why my boss chose to send myself and Kawakami-san here to do what we could, I find myself at something of a loss as to why you chose to proceed with, 'Stop fighting over who he has sex with, you're all probably going to get a turn anyway' as a standing policy."

Miyuki, despite what Isako may have thought, was pleased to know that the woman she'd hired would not require nuanced guidance. "Recognizing reality for what it is, and setting down rules to retain a semblance of order and decorum, has allowed me to run a multinational corporation despite most of the bloviating misogynists I've had to work with over the years. The truth of the matter is that we are never going to see a return to what had previously been seen as 'normal'. Shinji Ikari, the bright, generous, caring young man that he is, remains their only hope of what they view as a 'normal' relationship. One or two show signs of bisexuality, but the majority of them are fairly hardwired to prefer a male to keep them grounded. Since cloning him would take too long to be of any use to them, that leaves accepting the reality for what it is and steering them towards a path that reduces tension and conflict before it starts."

"And the other hundred or so women at school that are in his peer group? Opening this particular box is going to create a substantial backlash amongst those who are 'left out'."

"I have no intention of forcing his attentions upon anyone he does not wish to lavish them upon," Miyuki shrugged. "The laws of Japan still exist, and any attempts to force him to engage in activity that he does not wish to will be handled by those we've empowered to enforce those laws."

"I'll assume you're familiar with the French Revolution of the late eighteenth century, or the Russian Revolution of the early twentieth?"

"People will, I hope, be more focused on assisting both the government and those remaining corporations with keeping everyone alive long enough to worry about potential unequal access to the sole remaining male, instead of giving up on thousands of years of societal progress away from barbarism." She smiled politely. "Besides, I'm quite certain that he'll be amenable to pitching in himself."

"What, exactly, is that supposed to mean?"

Miyuki gave her a level look. "It means that you'll have your chance, as well. Treat him kindly, cooperate respectfully with the others, and there won't be any excess drama." Motioning with one finger to silence her retort, she added, "You feel better when he's around. You feel less stress, less anxiety, and less pain. You feel the part of your mind that long ago accepted you'd forever be a spinster slowly fade away. He smiles at you, pays attention to you, and does so not only willingly but enthusiastically. I've seen what comes from a lack of interest on his part, after all you helped my daughter remove her from his classroom. I am not judging you based on the morality of a world we'll never see again. You, at least, were respectful enough of those boundaries you encouraged this morning to never make a move on any number of young men, freshly graduated and removed from your care who 'showed up to visit'. In this fresh hell we find ourselves in, if your presence will make the man keeping us all alive happy…I see no reason to stop you."

She hated herself. "You're disgusting."

"I'm a businesswoman, dear. You'll find I'm willing to do anything that must be done to succeed." Leaving the room, she left the subtle scent of a threat behind to cauterize rebellion. "You may want to keep that in mind."