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

Miyuki stood quietly off to the side, leaning against a cabinet and watching Yui work. She knew her former classmate had sensed her arrival, just as she knew that interrupting anything right now would be extremely dangerous. If there was a person who ever held a grudge closer to her breast, she couldn't name them. Still, during a pause in the procedure she felt it best to start bridging divides. "I wasn't aware that you could remove that much and somehow keep someone alive."

"The human body is amazingly adaptable," Yui responded in a dead, numb, voice. "With the appropriate intervention, it's entirely possible to keep someone alive and aware despite them missing over seventy percent of their body. I think you would be more aware of that, if you didn't farm off your work to Takao-san."

"Perhaps." She couldn't tell whether Yui was angry, or simply didn't care anymore. "You realize why I had to do this, I hope?"

Sparing a glance across Meroko's ruined body, she nodded. "That would be why I brought her here, and sent away my pilot. My first thought was to extract my son and level your house with everyone inside. I recognized that was not a healthy thought, considering you were the one who told me what was happening before it happened, and so we're still both here to have this discussion."

"Removing the conditioned trigger is going to be challenging. I'll make sure to properly vet the teams I set to researching it…but it won't be comfortable for Shinji-kun regardless." There was hope, at least, that Yui wouldn't lash out at her.

"I will expect them to coordinate with Ritsuko-chan and Lieutenant Ibuki. The two of them will be beginning the same research." Looking back down to what she was doing, she snipped out more of her sister's liver. "I believe, as a start, that I will ask for you to cease any maternal actions. You will not act as a guardian, a 'mentor', and most certainly not as a mother."

It wasn't something she wanted to do, but it also wasn't the worst thing she could have asked for as compensation. "As you wish."

"I'm sure I will come up with a few other things, once I'm no longer fantasizing about slapping you until you bleed." She deposited several more grams of flesh into a waste bin. "The way you have cared for him, Miyuki-chan…I simply cannot understand why you didn't have better preparations to stop him from walking out."

"I had seven strike teams armed with every type of less than lethal ordnance we produce lining the only passages off the property. You didn't see them when you were flying in, because they were dug in and hidden. I can, of course, provide you the records of their deployment as evidence."

Blowing out a huff of annoyance, Yui snorted, "You've never lied to me. That's what pisses me off so much about this."

"I didn't want to," she admitted quietly. "But I knew that this was what would come of telling you. We needed that phrase. Once she said that while his 'hardware might be his mother, the software is all me', I couldn't risk you coming in here the very next day and murdering her. We know what words set him off, and we can work to protect him. I swear, we had her less than an hour before she spouted that out."

Slowly bending her sister's rib out of the socket it sat within, she nodded. "It hurts."

"I know, and I am sorry that I hurt you. I really am."

"No…it hurts to know that after all this time I haven't stopped being so…viscerally emotional. That I would have ruined a chance at finding and undoing her conditioning. That I couldn't control myself, more than a decade and a half later, any more than I could the day I lost him." The rib snapped free, and she idly turned it around in her hands. "I don't want my son to see me as a monster…but I have no idea how to stop being one."

Miyuki kept her hands still and clasped before her. "He'll come around. Now that he knows Meroko is out of the picture, he'll begin to heal."

"Perhaps." Tossing the rib into the waste, she picked up her implements again. "I will come find you when I'm done here. This isn't something that will sever our relationship, just bruise it…and bruises heal."

Miyuki could recognize her dismissal, and quietly turned to make her exit. There were some wounds that had to be borne alone, as a mother. She had what she had hoped to find, and everything else would happen in its own time.

+++++ Katsuragi Apartment. (Sunday, August 29th, +8, Last Quarter 3/4)

"We weren't," Shinji denied without any fervor. "She was stopping me from leaving, because she's been ordered to keep me here. Her legs were wrapped around my waist because she's far too small to stop me without seriously injuring me. By forcing me to remove her, which she knows I won't do without hurting her, she kept me where she was ordered to."

Misato wasn't surprised at how easily Shinji managed to use the truth to hide a lie. They weren't having sex. They were about to, but at the moment they were caught they were not. He couldn't lie with a script, but he could sure lead someone down a different path with the truth. "He told me what happened, Rits. Do you really think I'm going to force him into anything? Even before I knew about his past? Yeah, he's attractive, I'm attractive, and attraction between us is normal…but really?"

Grumbling as she sat with a cup of strong coffee in her hands, Ritsuko pointed at Misato meaningfully. "I know how needy you can get. I'm…glad you didn't push him into anything." Taking another swig, she looked around the apartment. "So, what with the blood?"

Before Misato could say anything, Shinji answered the woman he believed to be full of kindness, "Kirijo-san had Meroko-sama at her house. I…I apparently was trying to help her escape. I can't remember any of it, which means I had another one of those fugues I'm prone to. I crushed the glass in my hand," he lifted the palm slightly to show the slowly healing scars, the only evidence of his act, "and went to leave." He shook his head, trying not to ask for help. "You…know the rest."

Ritsuko blew out a heavy sigh of exasperation. "Yeah. Ok." Setting her cup down, she stood and offered a hand to Shinji. "Well, let's get going. We need another sample, and you need relief."

"Whoa, whoa," Misato stood up and motioned for Shinji to stay where he was, "I was given fairly explicit orders to keep him with me." A small part of her began to wonder why she was making an issue of this. If he was at NERV, he wasn't in danger. "I don't want him, me, or you getting in trouble because I failed to follow the Commander's orders."

"Is he being detained?"

"What?! No!"

"Then we're going." Taking Shinji's hand, Ritsuko pulled him along behind her. "Feel free to sit outside my lab and watch the door, if you want, but we need privacy to handle everything."

Finding herself in a position she was not only temperamentally unsuited to being in, but flummoxed to realize she'd been placed in by a woman that had never before gone directly against her, Misato could only stand there with her mouth slightly agape as she tried to think of anything in the wording of Yui Ikari's orders that she could use to…to what? Do I want to keep him here? Do I want to be the one who helps him? I can't be that hard-up. I mean, it's not that he's unattractive by any stretch of the imagination but we haven't even done the whole 'awkward dinner flirting' thing yet. Her eyes narrowed as she realized that there was a growing part of her that enjoyed knowing that he needed someone. It wasn't that he was an invalid, he was rather capable of taking care of himself it seemed. It was, however, true that whoever ended up with final responsibility for him…would forever have someone that would dedicate themselves to their…needs.

The door closing behind Shinji and Ritsuko jogged her away from her sudden introspection, prompting her to rush over to grab her keys and make for her own car. She'd been given orders, and she was not going to get herself fired for not following them.

+++++ NERV. (Sunday, August 29th, +8, Last Quarter 3/4)

After Shinji had planted himself in the passenger's seat of Ritsuko's car, he laid his skull back against the headrest and whispered, "Thank you."

While not opposed to being given gratitude, Ritsuko was uncertain as to what might have prompted it as she turned the engine over to get them on their way. "What for?"

"…I'm worried that…." He breathed in slowly, then exhaled sharply. "I'm worried that I would have hurt her. I'm tired of this…whatever you call this condition. I'm tired of the way that it forces me to push my…my problems onto other people. I've been free of that bitch for a week and I'm already tired of having the freedom to…to take joy from someone."

"Share, not take." She pulled onto the expressway that led between Misato's apartment and their place of employment. She could understand his position, she could even empathize with the desire to take control of the blame as a means of taking control of anything at all in one's life. She could not, however, allow him to walk down her own stupid path unchallenged. "I certainly wasn't opposed to helping you at your school. The feel of your hands lingered on my flesh for hours; it felt wonderful to know that a bright, charming, young man thought that I was so desirable. I would hope that you at least were contented with what we did."

The feel of her breast in his palm, her lips on his…. "Y-yeah…." He blushed hard. "I-I…uhm…."

"Then let's focus on that, instead. For now, I want you to take my phone and text Maya. Ask her to meet me in my lab, and have her bring the yellow bag."

Shinji quickly followed orders, prefacing his message to clarify who the bundle of light and goodness would be speaking to, 'Maya-san, it's Shinji Ikari. Ritsuko-san asked me to ask you to meet her in her lab, and asked that you bring 'the yellow bag'. I'm sorry if this wakes you up, I hope you were able to get some sleep.' "Ok," he said aloud after rereading his message post-sending, "I've sent the-" The phone's ringtone, a few bars from a song that he didn't recognize, prompted him to slap it against his leg with the screen facing down. "I didn't read anything."

"That was Maya responding, go ahead and read it." She appreciated his protection of her privacy, even though she wanted to normalize him being a part of her world on a more intimate basis.

"Uhm, o-ok." Flipping the phone back over, he read Maya's response out loud, "Hey Shinji-kun! Is everything ok? Tell senpai I'll be there in ten."

Ritsuko snorted. "She probably fell asleep in sensei's lab, working on that language project."

"How should I respond?"

"With honesty. Is everything ok?" She glanced over to him, waiting at a red light. "There's no need to hide it, if you're not ok. She and I are earnest when we say that we want to help." The light changed, and she drove into the employee entrance via right turn.

His brow furrowed, and after a moment of hesitation he began to type out, 'I told her. To answer your question, not really. I'm…looking forward to seeing you.'

After a brief wait, the phone came back with something classically Maya Ibuki, °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°

It took a few moments for Shinji, who hadn't seen anything even remotely close to a kaomoji before, to piece together what it was he was looking at. The upwards curl of his lips, however, marked the moment that things began trending back towards 'ok'.

When Ritsuko saw him smile softly out of the corner of her eye, three things collided at once in her mind. First, a sense of hope that the young man sitting next to her might still be able to recover from a life of abuse. Second, that the young woman she loved was truly a miracle worker if she could manage to get him to smile even now. Third, that she wasn't jealous. It was the last point that she sighed in true relief over. That meant that her plan had a chance of working.

The gate guard, an older woman who'd seen a lifetime of combat and had only taken the job because it allowed her to do something in her 'retirement years' while keeping her preferred hours, leaned down and looked into the car as Ritsuko rolled the window down. "Just left seventeen minutes ago, something wrong, Doctor? Good morning, son."

"Good morning, honored ma'am," Shinji responded with a duck of his head.

"No, I bumped into our favorite pilot and he agreed to come in with me and help run a few more tests," Ritsuko lied fluently. "I had meant to check out the twenty-four, but when I saw him I got distracted. You know how it is."

The guard grinned in understanding, "Of course. Drive careful, now. Katsuragi's right behind you, and she's a maniac in my parking lot. Gonna have a quick chat with her about that." Motioning them onwards, she turned her attention to the Captain that was waiting for her own brief interrogation.

Shinji turned around in his seat, spying Misato and frowning slightly as he sat back properly. "She seems upset."

"Is she breathing?" Ritsuko smirked mirthlessly as she moved to her assigned parking spot. Taking her phone back without any overt aggression, she motioned for him to climb out of the car. "Let's put some distance between us and her."

Not needing to be told twice to do something, which had been a lifelong rule for him already, Shinji stepped lively towards the elevator and had it open and waiting for Ritsuko before the attractive doctor could reach it herself. He was caught off-guard, however, when she took the hand that he'd been using to hold the door open and used it as a point of leverage to spin herself so that she stood under his arm. He put together why when he saw that despite running at a full sprint, Misato was still just shy of the elevator doors as they slid shut. Part of him was happy at the fact that Ritsuko stayed where she was as she hummed and typed out a series of text messages on her phone. Part of him was worried that Misato would be even angrier now. "Wasn't that…rude?"

She couldn't have sounded more indifferent if she'd tried, "Yep."

Shinji tried to think of how to respond to that. "Aren't you two friends?"

"Yep."

Silence settled comfortably over the elevator car, with him trying to understand what might motivate someone to be rude to a friend and the woman under his arm continuing to rifle off orders to various people. "I…don't understand people."

"I did notice that, yes." The doors opened, and she snaked her arm around his waist to walk with him towards her lab after disabling the elevator for five minutes via the virtual MAGI terminal on her smartphone. "But that's ok. All you need to understand, Shinji, is that people don't understand other people either. We're all just doing our best to not embarrass ourselves in front of those we care about."

That at least made sense. When the door slid open into Ritsuko's lab, he spied Maya just as she was turning to face him. "Good…uhm, I guess good morning, Maya-san."

The young lieutenant gave him a smile that would have lit up the darkest night. The young lieutenant who was also only wearing an overlong t-shirt that reached down to just above her quadriceps with a stylized kitten face on it and 'HELLO KITTY' written above said kitten. "Good morning! I'm so glad you reached out to senpai. We really are very serious, if you have any problems at all you should call us and let us help you no matter what time it is."

"Unfortunately," Ritsuko pushed Shinji over to Maya with a sigh, "I ran into him unexpectedly. It seems that we were kept in the dark about an operation, for some reason." Punching in a code on the keypad next to the door, she set it to only open for either a verified emergency or upon someone inside asking it to. Her mother hadn't told her about what had happened, which meant that either her mother didn't know, or they were being kept out of the loop. Right now, she wanted answers before anyone else got to see Shinji. "Long story short, they found 'the bitch' and took her to the same house he was staying in. He either found her on his own, or somehow was made aware of her, and disassociated after making contact. He was carrying her out of the Kirijo house when Commander Ikari stepped in. Also, Misato got him worked up and we're going to get a sample out of him so long as he's amenable."

The range of emotions that crossed Maya's features as she listened to Ritsuko went from concerned to curious, then towards shocked, then disbelieving, then shocked again, then angry, then enraged, and finally landing on a light blush with long-suffering eyeroll. "I guess that's why you locked the door. I'm so sorry, Shinji." Hurrying over to him, she pulled him into a warm, caring, hug. "It will be ok, I won't stop until it is."

Timidly at first, Shinji carefully matched her hug. He still couldn't see what, if anything, she might have been wearing beneath the t-shirt but the last thing he wanted to do was touch her where he had not received permission. "I…uhm…I'm sorry you were woken up."

"I'm not," she chirped happily. Leaning back enough to look up at him, she once more gave him her warmest smile. "I get to spend time with you and senpai, I get to help you with something that's bothering you, and even if both of those weren't true, I have an ethical obligation to show up whenever duty calls. Now, I'm going to assume that mindset or emotional processes are not a factor in your difficulties?" He shook his head slightly. "Ok. Then, would you like me or senpai to help?"

"Both!" Ritsuko called from where she'd moved, the small furnished annex to her lab that allowed her to remain presentable or catch a small amount of rest without having to leave station. "Today has been wretched to him, he's been put through the wringer, and now we're both going to help him feel as special as he is."

Shinji noted, with a bright blush of crimson, that Ritsuko was not wearing any clothing as she leaned against the doorframe. Somehow she'd managed to strip naked in the short time he'd not been looking at her, and her nude form was even more glorious than he'd thought it might have been. The memory of just one of her breasts out of the swimsuit she'd worn in the lockers was enough to spark his interest all over, the reality given flesh set that interest ablaze. "A-are…are you sure?"

With another long-suffering sigh rolling out of her lungs, Maya reached down and pulled her t-shirt off to reveal that she was wearing only a pair of athletic briefs beneath. "It's up to you, Shinji." She moved closer to her ladylove, turning to face him with a soft smile and an extended hand offering for him to join them. "There's no reason for us to remain professional about gaining the sample, if we're all consenting to the act."

He didn't want to hurt them, but they weren't approaching this as a harmful interaction. He closed his eyes, willing the tears of happiness to recede. They actually wanted him. They wanted his touch, his presence, and his joy. When the darkness caused by his intentional blindness changed pitch, the air around him growing still, he reached down and felt the hilt of his preferred weapon. "I don't know who you are," he spoke to the empty air around him, "but when I find you…you're going to suffer for a very, very, long time." Opening his eyes, he was watching when the lights came back up. The walls of Tartarus constructed of wobbling stacks of stereotypical 'science' equipment and the floors formed entirely of black chalkboards and white dry-erase boards. Directing his words to whatever monster he presumed was listening in, whatever it was that had caused Tartarus to begin its campaign of aggression, he gave fair warning, "I recommend you start running."

+++++ Tokyo-3 High School. (Sunday, August 29th, +8, Last Quarter 3/4)

"Two teams, four each," Shiori Miyashiro, the Kirijo Group's chief of security was providing a 'no-nonsense' briefing to a group of young women she wouldn't trust to navigate a mall without getting in trouble. "Constant communication, call out contact whenever you see the enemy, and do not wander off alone. If this goes pear-shaped, I want you to evac in an orderly fashion and we'll reassess." She sensed the angry retorts before they could be voiced and clapped her hands sharply twice. "I have no other assets. If you eight get lost in there, there is no way we can save Ikari, and no way we can save any of you. Your responsibility to him means you get to make the hard call to retreat so that we can take another stab at this later. No heroics. Mitsuru, who's your team?"

"I'll take Ayase, Amagi, and Satonaka." Mitsuru then extended the olive branch, hoping that Rise would recognize that it wasn't the time to be at each other's throats. "I trust Kujikawa to keep Yoshizawa, Kirishima, and Serizawa safe. She's got a better sense of distance inside Tartarus than I do."

To her credit, Rise's response held none of the venom it might have in a calmer situation. "I'll try to keep a steady hum going, that way if it stops you know we're about to have something to report."

"A solid plan." Checking that her evoker was snugly in its holster, she nodded to her team. "Satonaka, you're on point. Ayase keep to her right as often as you can. Amagi, you and I are going to watch the rear. Let's find Shinji-kun and bring him home safe."

A general agreement was voiced, and soon all eight women were through the portal to Tartarus that was the High School front doors. Once they shut behind them, Shiori reported that the 'rescue teams' were away. "Operation has commenced. All points…."

"Hi." A small, red-skinned, creature with iridescent butterfly-style wings of light floated just beside Shiori. With a slight wave, she gestured towards the front doors of the school. "Have you seen a foul-mouthed redhead, about my size but with pale skin, go by here?"

"All points, keep an eye out for oddities in your sectors." Keeping an eye on the tiny Earth Spirit, she took a slow step to the side to gain distance between herself and the potential threat. "I have not. May I ask what you are doing here?"

"I am looking for a Pixie. She heard something that apparently worried her, and left before she could finish explaining to me where the Fortunate had gone." Appraising the human before her, she tilted her head slightly to the side. "Do you know where the Fortunate has gone? I had hoped to ask him if he would be willing to speak to the Grovemother."

"Sorry," Shiori replied cautiously, "I'm not typically able to see the kami."

"Oh, no. He is no kami. He was, at some point, much like you only…more 'him' and less 'her'."

That was enough to change the tenor of the conversation, "If you're asking after Ikari-san, we think he was pulled into Tartarus against his will."

"Truly?" Her cheeks puffed out in irritation. "Well, that would explain why the pixie fled suddenly. She's bound to him, after all. If I wait here with you, would you introduce us once he's been found?" Her tiny finger gestured behind Shiori's shoulder. "I'm perfectly willing to keep those things away from you, since you know him."

Turning slowly, Shiori found that she was standing less than a meter away from two halves of some form of spirit horse. It had been bisected along the longitudinal axis, the internal components that might have existed were the back half of the creature not constructed of a dense mist were being absorbed by a tangle of roots that had been responsible for killing it. There had been no scent, no sound, nothing. "Did…you do that?"

"I asked our friend mister tree to, and he obliged. He's a very nice tree," she declared fondly. "He stands guard over the school and the children that come and go."

"Sure." If the spirit was going to be nice enough to not murder her, and to ask the tree to keep her from being hurt, she had no reason to deny the request. "What can I call you, when I introduce you to Shinji-kun?"

"You may call me Hua Po," she announced, crouching into a bow with her left hand covering the fist her right had formed. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Peacekeeper."

"…Charmed, I'm sure."

+++++ Kirijo Manor. (Sunday, August 29th, +8, Last Quarter 3/4)

"I doubt an evoker would help him," Miyuki answered Yui's question with tentative certitude. "From what Mitsuru-chan has said, he hasn't once demonstrated a propensity for any sort of alter-ego."

Yui Ikari nodded slowly, observing the readings from the MAGI scanners set all over the prefecture alongside her friend. "I don't believe I'll speculate on whether that's comforting or not. Still, it does not mix well with what had been our operating theory."

"True. If only those capable of utilizing 'Personae' can step into Tartarus, then how has poor Shinji become the locus of all recent events?" She was confident that her daughter would return with who she hoped would be her fiancé. Confident enough to risk something of an argument. "Have you given any thought to the robot program?"

"Yes," there was nothing in her voice that indicated a willingness to discuss the issue at the moment.

Time being somewhat of an issue, Miyuki took another risk. "We might be able to construct one that could serve as a bodyguard for Shinji-kun at all times. We're fairly confident we'll be able to create one capable of 'Persona' use, without-"

"Are you familiar with the original meaning of the word, 'robot'?" The hint of ice in her tone made it clear where her thoughts were trending. "Do you believe that my son will be…comfortable knowing that we had created a sentient being with no free will whose only purpose would be to serve him?"

"I had not intended on anthropomorphizing it in any manner."

"I had not intended on my sister raping my son. Intent matters little, outcome has far greater sway."

+++++ Tartarus. (Sunday, August 29th, +8, Last Quarter 3/4)

Shinji yanked his dagger out of the skull of a very rude creature that looked like a blob of pudding with eyes and a mouth. The fact that it had a skull had surprised him, but after jamming his dagger into the only weak point he believed present, the eye had indeed rested within an eye socket upon a skull. The creature had been as surprised as Shinji was to run into something unexpected, but had made the mistake of releasing some form of noxious gas as an attack instead of vying for peaceful coexistence.

He'd been walking through the halls, choosing corridors at random, for at least six hours if his mental meter was at all accurate. Gauging time by the length of the songs in his head wasn't the most trustworthy method in the world, but it got the job done well enough. Flicking the bits of gore that clung to his dagger against the nearby wall, he made another vocal tally mark. "One hundred and fourteen." Often in groups of three or four, Shinji had been forced to fight against far too many creatures that made no sense to him. His arms were sore, his back stiff, and the prominent 'problem' was becoming increasingly tender for the lack of relief.

"Yowch!" A cry of pain from the corridor he'd been about to turn down gave him a burst of energy, the sound far too 'human' to his ears.

Taking the corner without hesitation, he spied Chie nursing a sore shin while trying to keep herself between Yukiko and a giant…elephant human thing wielding an enormous spiked mace. Mitsuru was pulling Yuka away from the fight, the blonde gyaru unconscious and bleeding from her ears.

Mmmmm…I do love the stench of failure on you. It's so…. The voice moaned. Exquisite.

Stumbling more than running, Shinji moved to do what he could to protect the people he believed he'd been told were essential to everyone's survival. His approach drew Mitsuru's eyes, and the class representative called out, "It's weak against wind!"

Oh no! You know it's weakness! What are you going to do, fart on it?

Pushing himself into a shambling run, Shinji prepared to jump up onto the creature's back where he could force his dagger into something vulnerable. He doubted he'd accomplish anything by striking the massive paunch that was its torso, or attempting to slice its tree trunk-sized limbs. As he gathered what little strength he had, he vaguely noted a green glow build beneath him, and was unprepared to rocket forward instead of jumping weakly. Ducking his head and making contact with his shoulder, he blasted a giant chunk of flesh and viscera out of the elephant-human-thing's side, tearing off the arm that held the mace as he did. Shinji then also smashed against the hallway's ceiling, knocked himself senseless, and crashed into the nearby wall to slump to the ground.

Pathetic.

The first object that began to resolve into something close to identifiable was Chie's face. She was saying something, he was certain of that, but he'd be damned if he could hear it over the constant tolling of the enormous bell that had taken up residence in the center of his skull. She was smiling, which was a positive. His attempt at reassuring her came out muddled and insensible, he was positive that nothing he'd been trying to put voice to came out right.

Chie looked away, speaking rapidly, then nodding at whoever must have replied. Slipping herself under his shoulder, she put all her strength into lifting him to his feet. He cooperated where he could, but 'down' had remained an elusive quarry. She squeezed his side, gaining a firm grip on his waist and unknowingly giving him a point of reference for directions. If she was at his sides, he could limit the possible directions towards the floor to four others.

Mitsuru and Yukiko were carrying Yuka between them and hurrying back the way they'd apparently come from. Chie urged him to hobble after, and it was only because she could probably bench press him that they managed to keep up at all. It took at least three minutes before he heard something, though that something wasn't 'audible' in the traditional sense.

Shinji?! Rise's worried voice sounded in his mind. Shinji, are you ok? Mitsuru says you took a nasty hit!

Yer voice pretty, the response was neither given in a complete sentence nor comprised entirely of what he'd attempted to say.

The blush came through along with her reply, Thank you, but I'm a little worried about you.

You are not the only one with concerns, Kujikawa. Mitsuru's voice held a hint of iron in it. Right now, please focus on getting your team out of Tartarus. He is mobile enough that Chie is able to help him move. Shinji-kun, I need you to focus on staying conscious, ok? Your right eye is drooping, and that's not a positive sign.

I'm wake, he replied quickly. Not angry Rise-chan.

Ever the diplomat, Mitsuru huffed with a fond warmth. I'm not angry at her, I promise. She's leading her team, and a leader's job is to focus on their team and their mission. I trust her, but I have to teach her to lead as well. If I go down, she'll be your leader.

The angry retort that Rise might have spat back out died, the 'feel' of the mental connection losing all static. We haven't run into any more opposition, Kirijo. I'll let you know if we do…please be careful.

You too, we'll debrief afterwards.

It was at that point that Shinji heard Chie, even if it was in the ear opposite where she was helping him walk, "Man, I am thirsty. I need to consider packing a water bottle or something on these trips."

The thought occurred to Shinji, the memory tethered to the current situation because both involved Tartarus, that he wondered if the liquid the enormous angel had surrounded them with was potable. When the ground went out from under him, he had a brief moment of curiosity at why his legs had failed him. They'd been feeling stronger the longer he'd held onto Chie, all things considered. When Chie cried out in shock, and her position at his side failed to change direction or location, he looked down and realized that somehow…they'd found a hole in the floor that Mitsuru and Yukiko had missed.

The last thing he heard before darkness surrounded him again was Yukiko screaming their names.