APRIL 16TH, 2015

4:23pm:

Rei had just finished slipping her white shoes on, and waited for her personal transport to arrive. Ritsuko gave her a call about an hour ago, and told her to be ready by 4:30pm. Sure enough, the clock was ticking.

She sat on her bed, waiting like a statue as she usually did. This was just another day in the life for Rei Ayanami, so nothing should have been bothering her. She was, however, feeling a little off.

She knew what discomfort was, she had felt it plenty of times from having served in so many battles. But never in her own home, in fact, one could say she barely felt anything at all.

This confused her to the point of looking around to make sure nothing about the house was off. The possibility of a gas leak went through her mind, but she wasn't feeling ill in the slightest. She was feeling it emotionally.

'Something is... missing...' She admitted to herself in her thoughts. 'But what? I have everything I need to care for myself in here.' Her mind continued, only making her feel worse as seconds continued to pass.

She suddenly felt a need to move, and decided to wait downstairs a little earlier. She grabbed her white umbrella and headed for the door, not truly understanding what it was that forced her out of her home earlier than expected.

It wouldn't be a long wait downstairs anyway, since her transport was already on the way. Closing the door behind her, she could hear faint footsteps coming from below.

She didn't think much about it, and continued to head downstairs with her eyes on the steps. Upon seeing Shinji's face pop up unexpectedly, though, she was truly surprised.

She stopped walking, her eyes looking like they had widened just a bit. "Ikari... What are you doing here?" She asked him. Shinji also stopped walking, and tried thinking of an explanation that sounded most casual.

"Hey Ayanami! Well... I just happened to be in the area and I spotted your building from far. I thought I'd pass by to ask if you wanted to hang out for a bit." He asked. "Would you?"

Rei was almost as surprised by his question as she was to see him. So much so that whatever was bothering her before, she had completely forgotten about. In its place, a strange warm sensation had emerged. It was almost physical.

But, she had a meeting scheduled with Ritsuko, and couldn't spend any time with Shinji. "I'm... sorry. I was just leaving to meet with Dr. Akagi at HQ. It's mandatory." She told him. Shinji looked a little disappointed, making Rei feel kind of bad.

"Oh, well... that's okay." He said, kind of frustrated by the fact that he had wasted his time going over there. "What's happening over at HQ?" He asked, curious as to why she even had to go there to take so many tests.

"There's a new kind of test being developed at NERV, though I have not been told exactly what it is." She explained. "My transport will be here any minute, so I apologize for having to leave immediately." She added, not wanting him to think she was trying to avoid him.

'A transport, huh? Of course father offers her free rides while I have to run over to HQ. Fuck him...' Shinji thought angrily. "Well, alright then. Even if it was for a short time, it was nice seeing-" He said before unexpectedly stopping.

"Ikari?" She asked, wondering what prompted him to leave his sentence unfinished. "I don't know if this is possible, or if you'd even be okay with it, but... do you think I could... y-y'know, tag along?" He asked nervously.

Rei felt that warm feeling inside of her once again, worrying for a bit that she might be having some kind of health issue. She was almost certain that Ritsuko and especially Gendo would decline, but the warmth coerced her to bring him along anyway.

"That would be... acceptable." She said, looking down as she answered. "Great! I'll give Misato a call, and we'll head downstairs." He said rather excitedly as he fished through his pocket to reach for his phone.

MISATO'S APARTMENT

4:32pm:

Asuka had been channel surfing for almost an hour, and was unsatisfied with everything she saw as she continuously clicked the TV remote.

"Major! This channel selection of yours is really lacking! What do you usually watch on your spare time?" She asked loudly, as Misato was in her room busy with paperwork. Misato chuckled at the fact that Asuka still called her 'Major' even when relieved of her duties.

"I haven't watched TV in a long while, Asuka! Work's coming in like crazy, even at home!" She yelled back.

"Ugh..." Asuka whined, turning the TV off as she stood up to leave the couch. Heading back to her room, the ringing of the telephone caught her attention. At first, she was just going to pretend she didn't hear it and was going back to her new room.

"Asuka! Can you do me a favor and pick that up for me?" Misato asked from her room. Asuka let out a quiet grunt and reluctantly picked the phone up, annoyed as all hell.

"This is the Katsuragi residence, how may I help you?" She asked the person on the other line. The caller was a little thrown off and even intimidated by who had picked up, since all she did was treat him badly.

"H-Hey, Soryu. It's uh... it's Shinji." He said, feeling really awkward for having to talk to her. Asuka's eye twitched at the mention of who it was, but decided against yelling at him, only in fear that Misato might hear and scold her for it.

"What do you want?" She asked with attitude.

"I just wanted to let Misato know that I'm going to be out a little longer than expected, but that I'm with a friend and that she shouldn't worry." He said.

"You realize we aren't gonna get shit done if you just run away from the problem, right?" She asked, wanting to get the whole thing over with.

"Will you please just tell her?" He said impatiently. She sighed and turned her head to Misato's door.

"Hey Majo-" She quickly stopped and turned back to the phone. "Who is this 'friend' you're with?" She asked, confusing Shinji at first.

"What? Why's that matter?" He asked her, sounding a little defensive.

"I'm pretty sure Major Katsuragi is gonna wanna know who it is you're with, dummy. No need to get so worked up."

'If only you followed your own god damn advice.' He wished he had the guts to say. "I'm with Ayanami, we're going down to HQ." He told her.

"HQ? Why? Is there some meeting you guys have to attend to?" She questioned.

"Oh, well Ayanami has one. I'm just going down there to spend some time with-" He started, before he interrupted himself. "-Um, yeah we're just going down there to hang out for a bit after the meeting." He said, sounding a little embarrassed.

"Going to HQ? To just... hang out?" She asked confusingly, wondering why anyone in their right mind would go down to NERV for their own leisure. "Okay weirdo, I'll tell her." She said before putting the phone down just a bit.

"Major! Ikari's gonna hang out with wondergirl down at HQ!" She yelled towards Misato's room.

"Wondergirl? Who's wondergirl?" Asked Misato, imagining some kind of superhero when Asuka had mentioned the nickname.

"Oh y'know, Ayanami!" She explained, realizing Misato had probably not heard Asuka mention Rei by one of the many nicknames she had given the blue-haired girl.

"Hold on-" Asuka heard Misato say in a normal volume before the sound of footsteps began coming her way. Asuka reached out and offered Misato the phone, knowing she was just heading over to ask Shinji about it himself.

"Hey! So, what are you two going down to HQ for?" She asked in a sweet, but somewhat mischievous tone.

"Uh, just, hanging out... y'know?" He answered, picking up on Misato's urge to tease him.

"Hmm... m'kay!" She said unexpectedly. "Just be back at a reasonable time and let me know when you're headed home, okay?" Misato told him, again in a sweet tone.

"Buh-bye!" She said as she hung up. Asuka was squinting her eyes, her mind having come to an obvious conclusion. Misato looked over at Asuka, both basically reading each other's minds.

"The idiot thinks he's so slick..." Said Asuka with a smirk. Misato giggled at Asuka's remark.

"He's so cute when he's embarrassed." She said as she continued to giggle.

"Cute? First of all, a woman your age shouldn't be saying that kind of thing about some teenage boy she's sharing an apartment with. Second, he's one of the most boring guys out there in terms of looks... He's got no style of his own! He's generic!" Asuka argued, clearly taking Misato's remark too seriously.

"What's cute is how embarrassed he is, Asuka. I said nothing about his looks... Though I guess 'adorable' would have been a more appropriate term to describe him by." Misato admitted. Asuka thought about it, and couldn't help but laugh at it herself.

"Geez, he's not even just a bit subtle about it! Ha!" Asuka cackled, unknowingly making Misato just a little happy having seen her finally take it easy around her guardian.

"Well, I personally think it's kind of fitting. They're both so withdrawn, so maybe they'll learn something from each other!" She suggested. Asuka scoffed at Misato's words.

"Yeah, they'll both end up mute at this point!"

Though she laughed, Misato was a little disappointed at Asuka's statement. She seemingly couldn't laugh or enjoy anything that wasn't negative in some way, or at someone else's expense.

"Haha, yeah..." Misato said, wanting Asuka's insistent mocking to end. Asuka mentally patted herself on the back for her joke, and both proceeded to head back to their rooms.

'So he left to avoid Asuka... can't say I'm surprised.' Misato mused. 'Running away again, eh Shinji?'

NERV SCIENCE & RESEARCH FACILITIES

6:18pm:

In front of her, Dr. Akagi stared proudly at her new, well-crafted machine. Though the job was sometimes very straining, she often found it extremely satisfying to invent such scientific marvels.

It was the process of thinking up an idea, planning it, trying again and again and finally finishing it that brought an extreme sense of satisfaction to her. That, and the manner of how she was sometimes rewarded.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door, prompting her to go over to open it. To her surprise, Shinji had accompanied Rei to her meeting.

"Oh, Ikari! Didn't expect to see you here at this hour." She told him.

"Hi Doctor, I was just here to drop Ayanami off at her test, whatever it is. I guess I could just wait outside for now." He told her as he waved his hand. "Sure thing. Come on in, Rei. This shouldn't take too long, Shinji. Just wait over at a nearby bench and-"

Ritsuko was suddenly struck with an idea.

"Doctor?" Shinji asked, not knowing why she couldn't finish her sentence.

"Actually, you know what? Would you like to take this test too, Shinji?" She asked him unexpectedly. Rei's eyes widened slightly, having never seen any test she took be offered of even done on anyone other than herself.

"Um... sure I guess. But, what kind of test is it, exactly?" Shinji asked Ritsuko, thinking the test was a 'multiple choice questions' kind of thing.

"It's nothing to worry about, I'll just ask you questions and you can answer them personally. No right or wrong answer. Just questions, that's all." She replied with a smile on her face.

"Well, alright then." He said as she let him in the room. As the two entered, they caught sight of a strange-looking machine on Ritsuko's desk. It was about the size of an old VHS player, and it had a tiny screen on it. A pump of some sort was also attached to it, as well as a retractable camera.

At first, Shinji was a little intimidated. But the more he looked at it, the more he calmed down, realizing just how harmless the thing really was.

"Um, what's this test for, Doctor?" He asked.

"I'd love to explain the fine details, but I'm not sure you'd fully understand." She answered him. Shinji simply shrugged it off and chose not to think about it, trusting someone as professional and skilled in her field as Ritsuko.

"But, I can tell you this; it's a new thing the Commander and I have been working on for a while. It's called the 'Voight-Kampff' test." Ritsuko explained, yet again looking very proud of herself for another fine achievement.

"'Voight-Kampff'? What does it do?" Shinji inquired. Ritsuko thought about his question for a few seconds, then actually explained it.

"It's a test made to evoke an emotional response. I can't detail what it'll be used for just yet, but just know that allowing me to test this on both of you will help my research a great amount." She went on.

Shinji looked very much impressed.

"Now, Rei can go first since she was my planned subject of this test anyway. Shinji, do you mind waiting over at the other room in this facility?" The blonde asked him kindly.

"Sure." He replied. After Ritsuko heard the door close, she turned on the machine, the retractable camera extending and looking over at the opposite side of where she was sitting.

"You can sit now, Rei." She instructed as she gestured at the chair in front of her. Rei obliged and sat down immediately. "Alright, I'm gonna ask you a series of questions. Just relax and answer them as simply as you can."

Rei nodded, and awaited her questions. The Voight-Kampff machine's camera centered and focused on Rei's right eye, giving Ritsuko a finely detailed visual of her iris. The pump began to go off, and the machine made a series of robotic and digital sounds.

"It's your birthday, and someone gives you a calfskin wallet." Ritsuko began. Rei looked genuinely unsure of how to answer such a question, it was so unusual and vague that she could almost find no logical answer to it.

"I... do not know. Though, I would ultimately decide against taking it." She answered. Ritsuko looked at the screen, studying Rei's eye and any physical reactions she might have. Then, she looked down at her sheet of paper and took down notes. After finishing, she looked back up at Rei.

"You've got a little boy, he shows you his butterfly collection... plus the killing jar." The Doctor asked her. Rei was unsure of how to answer again, and had to think for a little while longer than before. "Let's be quick, please." Ritsuko told her.

"Why would the little boy kill butterflies? And why would he keep them?" Rei asked.

"Maybe he just likes the way they look- it doesn't really matter. These questions are completely hypothetical. So, just go with them." Explained Ritsuko. Rei, though still looking unsure, nodded.

Deep in Rei's head, she couldn't help but feel this was extremely reminiscent of her usual baseline tests. But while her baselines were something she was taught to recite and repeat on command, this was a completely different ballgame.

"Alright, here's a simpler one; You're watching television, suddenly you realize there's a wasp crawling on your arm."

Rei almost immediately answered; "I'd kill it."

Ritsuko smiled, knowing that one would be no problem for Rei.

"Alright, one more question-" The faux blonde began. "-you're watching a stage play; a banquet is in progress. The guests are enjoying an appetizer of raw oysters."

Rei was stricken with confusion once again, this time being so lost that she couldn't even muster a single word.

"Well, looks like we're done! Can you bring Shinji over and wait in the same room he's in right now?"

"Yes ma'am." Rei replied as she headed on over to get Shinji.

As soon as he sat down, Shinji looked very nervous. He still wasn't sure what this was all about, and didn't even know if it was a pass/fail sort of test. He remained nervous, it being very visible to Ritsuko.

"Don't worry, Shinji. This machine doesn't bite." She playfully remarked.

"Sorry, I get kinda nervous when I take tests." He admitted, looking down in shame as he usually would when admitting such a thing.

"Just note that reaction time is a factor in this, so please pay attention. Now, answer as quickly as you can." She instructed.

"Yes ma'am." He said in agreement.

"You're in the desert walking along in the sand, when all of a sudden, you look down and see a tortoise and it's crawling towards you. You reach down and lay the tortoise on it's back. The tortoise is now laying on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun, beating its legs, trying to turn itself over, but it can't. Not without your help. But you're not helping."

Shinji stayed quiet as he listened to her question.

"Why is that, Shinji?" She added.

"Well-" He started, sounding kind of astonished. "-um, well for me to pull off such a dastardly thing, I'd have to be in a pretty bad state of mind, right?" He answered honestly. "I guess I'd just be very angry in that scenario." He added.

Ritsuko jotted the notes down.

"Is that an acceptable answer?" Shinji asked, not really sure what it was this test was about.

"I'd say it's rather marvelous." She assured him. This went on for another minute, as she asked him to other questions that he have thoughtful answers to.

"I've got a last question for you, Shinji." Ritsuko told him.

"Oh, well that was rather short." Shinji said, feeling like he was acing the new test. "Hit me." He told her.

"Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about your mother."

Shinji lost all his confidence almost instantaneously. Ritsuko thought he looked just like Rei when he didn't know how to answer one of the questions.

"W-Wha... um, well... um, let me think for a bi- wait no-" He said. Ritsuko could see the discomfort in his eyes.

"Oh no, have I struck some kind of chord? You don't have to answer that one if you don't want to, Shinji." She said, hovering her finger over the machine's 'turn off' button.

"Love, comfort, happiness, safety, care, and so on." He answered, much to her surprise. Ritsuko took her notes and looked back up at him.

"Anything else?" She asked.

"It's not a valid answer." He said depressingly.

"How so?" Ritsuko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's not a 'good thing'." Shinji responded.

"Well, just tell me anyway. I won't write it down, if you don't want me to." She stated. He paid no attention to that last part and answered away.

"Taken." He finally answered, in a very sad manner. "Taken away..."

Ritsuko felt her heart ache at his words, knowing exactly what he felt. 'I understand, Shinji. More than you'd think I would...'

"I'm... sorry to hear that. Um, well we're done here. But, if you need to take some time for yourself here, I wouldn't mind closing up a little later." She offered, her nice gesture making Shinji smile a little bit.

"Thank you, Dr. Akagi. That won't be necessary, I got Rei to keep me some company." He said, now with a smile on his face. Ritsuko smiled, but wasn't sure of what to think of their friendship that had obviously progressed from the last time she had seen either of them.

She nodded and eventually let Rei come out of the other room. After dismissing the both of them, Ritsuko still sat in her chair, thinking about the two teenagers.

'How does he know exactly what other people will do, better than they do?' She mused, thinking of someone else. Then, she thought back to the last thing Shinji had said about his mother. The boy was clearly still hurting from past events. She looked back down the halls at Shinji and Rei, watching the two walk off together.

'Your mother isn't so lost after all, Ikari.'

MISATO'S APARTMENT

8:49pm:

Asuka had just finished her lackluster dinner, since she had never been too fond of pre-made instant packs. They weren't so bad on their own, but somehow Misato had found a way to make them horrid. She saw no difference.

The two sat quietly on the dinner table, on opposite ends of said table. It was quiet for a few minutes, and the sound of heavy rain actually relaxed Asuka quite a bit. She liked the silence, since it took her out of her own thoughts for a good while.

Her guardian, however, saw it as an opportunity to talk things out with her, mostly about her bitter attitude towards Shinji. She knew it was a gamble when it came to Asuka, so she'd have to be very careful.

"Asuka, can I ask you something?" She began, bracing herself for the teenager's nasty attitude.

'This doesn't sound good.' Asuka thought. "What is it?" The redhead asked, looking skeptically at her C.O.

"Why do you pick on Shinji so much?" Misato asked her, looking concerned and rather disappointed at her. "You pick on other people too, so you'll have to work on that as well. But Shinji, you seem to have a particular grudge against him."

Asuka crossed her arms and pouted, looking the other way to avoid eye contact with Misato.

"He's a wuss! Unit-01 doesn't need a scaredy-cat like him to serve in our battles. He's done less work than a regular troop would do in their first week. Hell, maybe even their first 3 days. It just sickens me!"

"Is that really what you're mad at him over, Asuka?" Misato asked her. "We've had troops less suitable for battle than him, yet you never had that much of a problem with them. Tell me, is this about how he was trained, rather than how he is on the battlefield?"

She hit the mark perfectly, making Asuka frown immediately.

"I've been training my whole god damn life, Major! And then there he comes! In to take the spotlight from me by just having memories and physical training injected into him. It's bullshit, utter bullshit!" She said.

"Asuka, you need to give him a break. His situation is different from all of yours. And judging by his behavior, he seems to have gone through something rough, I honestly don't think his childhood was kind to him." Said Misato.

Her statement made Asuka slam her fist on the dinner table. She was clearly angered by what her guardian had told her.

"He lost a parent. I get that, alright? Just like the rest of us in Unit-01! Hell, all NERV troops have, it's part of the fucking deal!" The young redhead stated.

"Watch your tone, Asuka. I will not have you disrespect me in my own househo-"

"WELL MAYBE YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH, MISATO!" Asuka yelled, the rage in her voice loud enough it could be heard from just outside the door.

She was right, Misato didn't know what Asuka may have gone through as a child. Hell, she didn't even know what it was that Shinji had gone through as a child. But she knew it was some kind of loss, which only reminded her of herself. Judging by Asuka's behavior, her childhood must've been much worse. Much, much worse.

"I'm-" She started. "I'm... sorry, Asuka." Misato apologized, having realized she may not have taken everything into consideration. Asuka didn't reply, and just stormed off to her room.

Misato couldn't bring herself to stop or even follow her to further talk things out. She felt like she had seriously messed up. Unbeknownst to her, Asuka had buried her face in her pillow that night to hide her emotions, had Misato decided to walk in.

Tears had seeped into her pillow that night, making Asuka have to eventually flip it around to avoid resting her head on the stains.