Chapter 15: Prelude to the Dusk

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion. It belongs to Hideaki Anno, Gainax, and Tatsunoko Productions. I only own the characters I made up.

My eyes open slowly, revealing a blurry world which morphs into my bedroom. My vision of the world is brief as I immediately close my eyes, attempting to get more sleep. I lie still for about five seconds before discomfort rears its ugly head. One of my arms is sore from lying on it funny, with cricks to my neck and back adding to the irritation. Seeing as the only way to get rid of my discomfort is by moving, I quickly give up on getting extra rest. I sit up, stretch my arms, let out a groan, and allow one thought to bounce across my skull.

I feel like shit.

I always do whenever I wake up. Never knew why. Perhaps it's my body's way of preventing me from lying in bed all day which is. . .annoying. If I want to lay around like a sloth, then let me do so dammit!

Looking to my right, I half expected to see a certain redhead lying on her mattress. Of course, she and her mattress aren't there. That was a one time thing and I don't expect it to happen again. Not that I'm wanting it to happen again.

Instinctively, I look at my right hand, remembering the nightmare. Despite me knowing exactly what's going to happen in the nightmare, it still messes with me. But, ever since Asuka and I had our talk, the nightmare had been less. . .intense. Wonder why that is? Heh, maybe she's my good luck charm. A really annoying one.

Shaking my head, I quickly get dressed then open the door to my room. Immediately after opening the portal, my nose is assaulted by the stench of burning. It's coming from the kitchen.

"Great," I say unenthusiastically. It's too early for this shit.

Walking to the kitchen, I expected to see a purple haired woman cooking whatever monstrosity she passes for food. Instead, much to my surprise, I found a redhead cooking whatever monstrosity she passes for food.

There was. . . "something" in the frying pan being burnt beyond recognition. Smoke was everywhere, and the rice cooker was overflowing with liquid rice. Meanwhile, Asuka's cursing up a storm while attempting to gain control of the entire situation.

This is a mess.

"You burnt that," I state, then just waited for the fireworks.

She turns in my direction, surprise painted on her face. That look then morphs to annoyance.

"Thanks, I haven't noticed," she replies dryly.

I laugh silently then took a few steps closer to get a better look at her "cuisine". "You know, I didn't think it was possible for anyone to cook worse than Misato. Is that supposed to be eggs? Even she can cook those."

Her face turns red with frustration before letting out a sigh, calming down. "I was trying to cook that thing you made last week. You know, that thing with the rice, chicken, and stuff?"

Does she mean Oyakodon? That shit is easy to make.

Looking at the frying pan again, I can't tell if what's in there was supposed to be chicken or eggs. How do you fuck up this bad?

Asuka briefly panics when she sees the rice cooker overflowing, and immediately unplugs the machine.

"So what's this about?" I ask while seeing the entire scene unfold. "You don't like to cook. . .like at all." I smirk, deciding to mess with her. "Don't tell me you did this all for me?"

She immediately stops what she's doing and gives a glare which could kill an elephant. I put my hands up defensively, but keep smiling regardless. She then shakes her head and goes back to cooking.

"Idiot," she mutters loud enough for me to hear. "To answer your first question, I wanted to try cooking for myself for once. I'd have to do so one of these days, so might as well start now."

"Besides," she briefly glances at me. "I can't depend on you for anything. You're always finding some excuse to slack off."

I roll my eyes. "So your definition of 'slacking off' is me not bending to your every whim?"

"Yes," she responds then smirks.

I glare at her then snicker. "Dumbass."

"Jerk."

"Love you too," I respond while turning to head to the restroom. "Don't burn the place down."

I hear a scoff then a pause. "Hey Michael."

I stop walking then turn to look at Asuka. "Yeah?"

She's about to say something, but cuts herself off. She rolls her eyes and lets out a short laugh. "Nevermind, idiot."

I reveal a smirk while shaking my head. I then head to the bathroom.

School was pretty much the same as always. Everyone listened to some lectures, did class assignments, then waited for the next period. There was a few differences though. Kensuke wasn't here today. I asked Toji about it and he explained that Kensuke skipped class to go to a museum displaying battleships. Another key difference was Rei's absence. It's not odd for the girl to be absent, but it did leave the school feeling more empty than usual. She also didn't tell me she was going to be absent today, probably because she sensed how weird I felt around her. I really hate that. Ever since that last mission, I've been distancing myself from the girl. I'm not doing it on purpose, but. . .I don't know.

I'm such a coward.

Anyway, the biggest difference at school was how Asuka and I treated each other. We would usually tear away at one another whenever a teacher wasn't present. Hell, on particularly bad days, we would fight even with a teacher present. It happened so often that it was pretty much expected that the redhead and I would clash whenever the opportunity presented itself. So imagine everyone's surprise, when they saw us not so much as raise a voice toward one another. It's been like this for a week and, unfortunately, people have taken an interest in the shift in dynamic. During lunch, one of these people, Toji, elegantly voiced the entire school's confusion.

"What the hell's with you two?!"

Like I said, "elegant". "What do you mean?"

"You and Asuka would have a shouting match every freakin' day! Now, you two are acting like normal human beings!"

I raise an eyebrow. "You want me and Asuka to keep fighting?"

He shrugs. "I don't know man. It's just. . .weird."

I chuckle while shaking my head. "To answer your question, nothing happened between me and her. We just. . .came to an understanding."

"Great. Don't tell me you and her are best buds now," he asks dryly.

"Heh, naw. We can just tolerate each other now."

Though only god knows for how long.

"Riiiiight," he says questioningly. "Just don't get too close to her. Don't wanna make Rei jealous."

I roll my eyes. "Sure, I'll keep that in mind."

Toji smirks slightly. "I'm serious. The red devil's been acting weird. Even more than usual."

"Really? How so?" I ask, humoring him.

He laughs. "Well, she's been sneakin' glances at you for the past two minutes."

My eyes widen slightly. "What? No, you're making that up!"

He smiles. "No, really."

As soon as he said that, I turn in Asuka's direction to catch her in the act. All I see is her sitting at her desk chatting with Hikari, seemingly completely engrossed in the conversation. Turning back to Toji, I give him a questioning look. He continues to swear he saw the redhead looking at me.

Eventually, our conversation moves onto other things. We talked about the new games which would be appearing in the arcade, or new shows coming up on tv. When I asked Toji what he's been up to lately, he told me he was visiting his sister who's still in the hospital. She was sick for the past couple of days, and doctors had no idea what was wrong with her. It was quite a scare for Toji, but his sister got better, so everything was fine in the end. I couldn't help but remain silent throughout that part of the conversation.

That same feeling I now have around Rei is rearing its ugly head when Toji mentioned his sister. It causes my stomach to feel empty and my skin to be cold. The emotion leaves me unsure how to feel about Toji's situation. I mean, yeah I feel bad that he has to deal with his sister being sick, but this unknown feeling is messing with me.

. . .

Guilt. . .yeah, now I remember. This emotion is guilt.

I feel guilty because I completely forgot Toji's sister even existed. His sister, who's been in the hospital ever since I first got here. The same sister he fought me for insulting. The same sister who he is constantly worried about. I'm supposed to be his friend, yet I can't even be bothered to remember his sister. Granted, he rarely mentions her, but that doesn't seem like a good enough excuse. Hell, now that I think about it, even Kensuke asks how Toji is doing every once in a while.

Did I ever ask him once how his sister was doing, or if he was feeling alright?

My shoulders now seem to have gotten heavier.

The rest of the school day flew by so fast that it was over before I knew it. Toji had class duty, meaning a teacher ordered him to deliver some class work to an absent student. The absent student in question being Rei. Of course, Toji had no idea where the blue haired girl lived, so he asked me to be his guide. Having nothing better to do, I decided to do just that.

A train ride later, we arrived in Rei's neighborhood, meaning we had to walk the rest of the way to her place. The walk was mostly silent, with the occasional question or observation made by Toji about the neighborhood. The guy's completely surprised that Rei lives around here, which was my exact reaction when first coming around these parts. Still wonder if anyone other than Rei lives here.

A thought of Toji's sister pops into my head, causing the weight on my shoulders to return with a vengeance.

I've never really tried to dig into Toji's personal life. When I really think about it, I don't know much about him. I mean, I know that he likes games, sports, and hot girls. But, those are things practically everyone knows about the guy. They're just the surface level of his personality. Same thing with Kensuke, I only know general information about him. Toji and Kensuke are my friends, yet I barely know a thing about them. I only hang out with them when we're at school. Even when we're out of school, I only meet up with them to play at the arcade. They both make a point to include me in all their activities, but rarely do I bother doing the same. Not to mention I just completely ignored all of Toji's problems by deciding to forget they even exist!

That. . .that can't be a good thing.

I let out a sigh then stopped walking.

"Toji," I called out, causing the guy to stop walking. He turns to me and gives a curious expression. "Am I a good friend?"

The guy looks shocked. "What, are you serious?"

I nod then rub my left arm. "It's just. . .I don't feel like I've been a good friend to either you or Kensuke. I rarely hang out with you guys outside of school, and I barely know anything about either of you. I mean, I just now remembered your sister was in the hospital! Not once did I ask if you were doing okay!"

Toji looks concerned. "Is that what this is about? Look, my sis had a little health scare but she's doing fine. As for me, yeah I worry sometimes, but I'm not depressed or anything."

"That's not the point! It's just. . ." I exhale slowly and try to gather my thoughts. "I've been thinking a lot lately. My last mission brought some things to light. Things I really don't like thinking about."

Thoughts of the Angel. . . or whatever it was that spoke to me, permeated throughout my mind. I shake my head to get those thoughts out.

"I realised there's a possibility that I haven't been the best person to be around." I look to the ground. "Every single step of progress I make, I take three steps back when pushed. It's a problem, and I feel like if I don't fix it, it'll come back to bite me." I take a breath. "I. . .want to be better. I don't want to end up screwing things up again because I'm too stubborn or too hot-headed to admit when something's wrong."

I look to Toji. "So, this is me, trying to fix things."

The guy looks dumbfounded. "Whoa."

I become slightly embarrassed. "Yeah."

Everything I said was just so. . . I don't know.

The guy looks at me for a long while, then smiles. "You're still a depressing guy, you know that right?"

I scoff then reveal a small smile. "So I've been told."

"Well, since you're so worried about me, you should come with me to visit my sister tomorrow."

I'm surprised. "Really? You sure it won't be a bother?"

Toji waves off my concern. "You won't be botherin' anyone. Besides, she's been asking about you?"

I raise an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," he produces a slightly annoyed expression. "Believe it or not, she's obsessed with giant robots."

I start laughing. I'm starting to wonder if his sister's like a smaller version of Kensuke.

We finally arrive at Rei's place then knock on her door. When she opened it, she was quite surprised to see Toji with me, but she let us in regardless. We gave her the class work, spoke briefly, then bid her farewell as we left the apartment. Toji and I then went our separate ways.

Sitting on a chair in Ritsuko's office, I subtly glare at the faux blond woman while rubbing my sore arm. The doctor continues looking at a butch of paperwork, mumbling incomprehensible words every once in awhile. Shaking a bit of my annoyance off, I decide to say something.

"I don't see why you still need my blood," I state. "You found the wormhole, so you don't need me to scan for it."

"Two reasons," she says while still looking at her papers. "One, it's important to get as many samples from you as possible in order to better understand the energy in your body, as well as the energy the anomaly emits." She then looks away from her papers and gives a smirk. "And two, it's for my own personal study."

This time my glare becomes more prominent. "I'm not a lab rat."

The woman chuckles. "I know. But surely you must understand that as a scientist, I must study anything I come across. Especially something as unique as yourself."

I grunt then cross my arms. "Whatever. Did you find a way to get the wormhole working?"

She shakes her head. "We're making progress, but we're not close to sending anything through that anomaly."

I sigh, but then decide to ask another question. "Well, since you've been studying me for a while, I was wondering if you could answer this question. How am I still alive?"

She looks puzzled. "What do you mean?"

I lean forward in my chair. "You explained to me that all life on Earth has an A.T. Field, and that I don't have one of my own." Still wonder what method they used to detect A.T. Fields in non-angels, but I digress. "According to you, my world's physics must be different since life here is impossible without a field. But, if that's true, then I should have either experienced some sort of anomaly, or be dead."

I point to myself. "But, nothing has happened. How do you explain that?"

The doctor pauses. "You've had a lot of time to think about this, have you?"

I shrug. "It's been in the back of my mind for a while."

She sighs as a tired smile appears on her face. "That question alone is one of the reasons why I've been taking so many samples from you. That question has plagued me ever since I discovered your lack of a field. *Chuckles* The frustinating truth is, I don't know."

I show my surprise as she continues. "At first, I thought it might have something to do with the radiation from your body. That it somehow acted like a shield to protect you from any negative side effects. But, multiple tests have proven that theory to be false. Other theories were thrown about, but were quickly dismissed after further testing. So, as you can see, I'm just as in the dark as you."

I blink a few times. "You mean to tell me you don't have any ideas why physics isn't being weird around me?"

"No. Though, I guess you should consider yourself lucky," she laughs slightly. "When I first discovered your lack of a field, every scientist within Nerv nearly had a panic attack. *Chuckles* It was quite amusing."

I'm not amused. No, I'm very concerned! "Why were they panicking?"

She waves off my concern. "It's nothing you should worry about. It's just, your lack of a field made people think of Yui Ikari's A.T. Void Theory."

"Yui Ikari? Shinji's mom?" I ask.

"Yes," the woman responds. "She was one of the world's greatest scientists at the time. A pioneer in physics, biology, and one of many people who helped create the Eva program."

Interesting. I knew Shinji's mom was a scientist, but I never knew what exactly she did.

I shake my head and get back on subject. "Anyway, tell me about the A.T Void Theory."

Ritsuko sighs. "Like I said, it's nothing for you to worry about. It was a simple thought experiment Yui came up with to answer a simple question. What would happen if a living creature without an A.T. came into contact with Earth."

"What was the conclusion," I ask with baited breath.

"It was. . .destructive," the doctor responds. "But like I said, it's nothing for you to worry about. If the theory was correct, Tokyo-3 would've been a crater."

That does not make me worry any less!

"Anyway, we're done for now," she goes back to reading her papers. "Can you do me a favor? If you spot Misato, tell her to meet me in my office. We need to discuss her trip tomorrow."

I let out a long exhale while getting out of my chair. "Sure, I'll do that."

I bid the woman farewell then left her office to find Misato. Walking aimlessly around the bland halls forced boredom into me. I briefly entertained the thought of going back to the apartment, but dismissed it. I have a sync test later on today. Though, what briefly abated the boredom was seeing the sudden heightened activity of the Nerv staff. There's more people in the halls than usual, but they don't seem to be on alert for anything. They just seem to be. . .hanging out. It's sort of nice seeing these people not look serious all the time.

After some time wandering around, I spot Misato in the vending machine area. She's leaning against a wall, and is engaged in a tense conversation with a man wearing an odd uniform. Upon closer inspection, I see the man in the uniform is Kaji. Huh, this is the first time he actually looks like an actual employee. But, he isn't wearing a Nerv uniform.

I wasn't sure if I should interrupt their conversation or not, so I decide to just let them know my presence. Letting out a small cough got the attention of both adults real quick.

"Uh, hey. Sorry to interrupt, but Ritsuko wants to talk to Misato about a trip tomorrow, or something like that."

"Oh right! I nearly forgot," Misato says while nearly face palming. The woman then gives Kaji a look, says something outside my hearing, then leaves the area while bidding me farewell. This left me and Kaji standing in the area, the latter of which decided to lean on one of the vending machines.

"It's been a while since we last saw each other, has it?" asks Kaji.

I scratch the back of my head. "Yeah, I guess so." Looking at his uniform, a thought pops into my head. "So, do you actually work here, or are you just some representative sent to look over things?"

"Yes," he says with a smirk.

"Thanks for clearing things up," I reply dryly.

The man chuckles. "Anyway, I was wondering if we could talk a bit?"

I shrug. "Isn't that what we're doing?"

"Well, this is more of a casual chat," the man replies. "I want to better know about 'the Pilot of Unit-01'."

"That doesn't suspect at all," I say while smiling. "Well, got nothing better to do, so what you wanna talk about?"

"Before we do that, let's go outside." He says while stretching. "I need some fresh air."

I snort before gesturing to him to lead the way.

The man leads me out of Nerv's main building, so we wander around the Geofront for a bit. We stayed on the sidewalks, so it was least likely for us to get lost in the Geofront. Though, the man was obviously leading deeper into one of the many forests around here. In any other circumstance, I'd be suspicious of a grown man leading me into an isolated area. But, I don't think Kaji is planning anything nefarious.

Being outside of the man's reach might've also helped ease my mind.

We eventually come across a small melon patch hiding behind a tree and a few bushes. Next to the patch is a watering pail which Kaji casually strolls up on, picks up, then uses on the melons. I give the man an odd look as he continues watering the plants.

"Soo. . .you brought me out here to see this?"

The man continues watering while smiling. "Of course. Pretty neat, huh?"

I genuinely can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not, which irritates me slightly. "Yeah, sure. *Sigh* You also said you wanted to talk?"

The man nods and continues watering the melons. He obviously wants me to start the conversation. Don't know why.

Rolling my eyes, I ask a question. "Kay, I'll bite. What's the deal with the melons?"

"Oh these? It's just a little hobby of mine." The man says casually. "Though technically, these plants weren't approved by Nerv, meaning what I'm doing here is illegal. So let's keep this a secret between us, okay?"

I let out a scoff while smiling. "Sure. Hate to see you get sent to jail over some fruit. Though, that would be pretty funny." I laugh a bit. "Bet Misato would get a kick out of it.

Kaji laughs as well. "I admit, that would be amusing." He closes his eyes and continues to laugh, perhaps imagining the scenario I described. He stops watering the melons and stares at them, as if admiring his work. "There's nothing better than watching things grow. Wouldn't you agree?"

I shrug, only to realise he probably couldn't see that. "I guess."

"Oh?" The man questions as he turns his head to me.

"It's not boring exactly," I say, walking closer to the melon patch. "I mean, I get how. . .satisfying it can be to watch one thing grow into something else. But, it always seemed like too much work for a single thing to happen."

"True," the man replies. "But, I'd like to think that putting a lot of work into something makes the end result even more beautiful."

I chuckle. "Won't argue with you on that. Guess I'm just bad at giving things attention. It's one of the reasons why I never had pets."

"It's a learned skill. Trust me, you'll get better at it," the man once again looks at me. "So, have you enjoyed your time in Japan?"

I nod.

"It must be difficult moving to a place completely different from what you're used to," says the man. "Having to come to a place without friends and family can make the place feel. . .alien. Like it's a completely different world."

I pause for a moment then give the man a weird look. "You know?"

The man looks at me slyly. "Know what?"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, you know."

So, Kaji knows I'm from a different dimension. But, the way he said it made it seem like he isn't supposed to know that. So, I'm gonna assume Gendo, Misato, or whoever didn't tell him, so he obtained the information some other way. If so, the man's in big trouble if someone finds out.

Or maybe they did tell him and I'm just overthinking things. Afterall, he seems like an important person, despite how he acts.

Usually I'd worry more about something like this, but I stopped giving a fuck a long time ago.

"So, why did you really bring me out here?" I ask the man. "You want to know about where I came from?"

Kaji shakes his head. "No. But, the reason is partially related to that." For the first time, he has a somewhat serious look on his face. "Do you miss your home?"

I blink a few times, surprised at his question. "Of course."

"So I'm correct in assuming that you plan on eventually returning there?"

"Yeah," I then look back at the melon patch. "But, I think I'll miss this place. Grown kinda attached, despite all the craziness."

The man's smile returns as he looks off into the distance. "No doubt you will be missed as well."

I shrug. "Probably. But, I think everyone will be fine without me. Toji and Kensuke can still hang with each other after I've left. Rei has become more open, so I think she'll do fine." I then give Kaji a sly look. "And Misato's got you."

That comment knocked the guy off balance as he eyes widen. It's really satisfying to see that look on his face. Eventually, he's able to compose himself.

"You forgot someone." The man replies.

I'm stumped. "Who?"

His smile returns. "Asuka."

I let out a scoff. "There's nothing to say. She'll be fine that I'm gone. Hell, she'd probably be happy to be rid of me."

"Are you sure," he asks teasingly.

I give him a weird look. "We spent most of our time arguing with each other. It was only recently we started to tolerate one another. What reason does she have to miss me?"

The man's about to reply but his cell phone rings. He looks slightly put off by the device, but answers it anyway. He spoke to the person on the other end of the line in two syllable words before hanging up.

"Looks like our time is up," says the man. "Ritsuko wants you to undergo your sync test."

I sigh then start walking. "Well, I better get going."

The man nods. "Well, this was a good talk. Let's do this again sometime."

I nod slightly. "Sure."

After I got into my plugsuit and entered the testing area, the sync test began. I tried, really I did, but I couldn't get the same score I got last time. Connecting with the Eva felt a little too similar to being inside the last Angel. It brought up unpleasant thoughts which obviously affected my sync ratio. Luckily, the sync test was shorter than usual, but it came as no surprise when it was revealed that my score had dropped. Misato, thinking I was feeling down, tried to encourage me, saying I'll get a better score next time. I waved off her concern, assuring her I didn't really care about my sync score.

What surprised me though was Asuka's reaction. Instead of being happy she surpassed me, she was upset! She was glaring at me and demanded to know the reason behind my "poor performance". I guess she's upset because she thinks I let her win? I don't know. Anyway, I took this opportunity to tease the redhead, accusing her of "caring for me" and "getting soft on me". She became flustered and tried to strangle me. I ran circles around her, continuing to tease while she yelled curses at me in German. Eventually, everything calmed down, and everyone returned home. Still can't get the look on Asuka's face out of my head. It was the funniest shit I've ever seen.

I think I'm gonna miss messing with her.

Leaning against the fence which surrounds the school's roof, I take a bite out of the sandwich I brought for lunch. Meanwhile, I'm giving an armor piercing glare to Kensuke who's currently pacing back and forth, rambling about random military stuff.

"I'm happy you had a ton of fun on your trip," I start. "But why couldn't you tell me in class instead of dragging me up here?"

That seem to stop him from rambling for a bit.

"Oh! Thanks, I almost forgot!" He puts on a conspiring look. "I brought you up here so we can talk about top secret Nerv stuff?"

I roll my head back and let out a groan. "Not this again!"

He ignores my annoyance as he adjusts his glasses. "So, tell me what you know about Unit-03?"

I look back at him then raise an eyebrow. "What?"

"Unit-03!" He says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. When he still sees the confusion on my face, he gets an inquisitive expression. "You really don't know?"

I shake my head. "But, obviously you have some information on the new Eva, so what can you tell me?"

He lets out a sigh as he also leans against the roof's fence. "Not much, which was why I was hoping you'd tell me something. All I know is that the Eva's being moved to somewhere in Japan where tests will be done."

Why does that sound familiar?

"Sounds neat."

His face brightens up. "Wait, if you don't know about the new Eva, then that means a pilot hasn't been selected yet! Michael, maybe-"

"No," I say, immediately shutting him down.

"Wha. . .But you-"

"Don't know what you're gonna say," I continue his sentence while smirking.

He lets out a frustrated groan. "Could you at least try to ask Misato?"

I shrug. "Look, I don't even know if she has that much leeway when it comes to who becomes a pilot." I then look at him dead in the eye. "Besides, like I said, you don't want to become a pilot."

Letting out a long exhale he sits on the ground, defeated. That emotion only lasted for about a second before he asked another question.

"Well, did you hear about Unit-04's disappearance?"

I nearly choke on my food! "What?"

The brunette sighs. "Don't tell me you didn't know about that too?"

"I didn't even know there was a Unit-03 until now!" I respond. "Now you're telling me that not only is there another Eva being made, but it just disappeared?! Shit, you'd think Nerv would inform pilots on things like this!"

I shake off my frustration then turn to Kensuke. "What else do you know?"

He shrugs. "That's it. Any other information about Unit-04 has been locked up tight. Not even my dad knows."

That's. . .concerning. What happened to the Eva that Nerv doesn't want anyone to know about?

"Sorry if I'm annoying you with all these questions?" Kensuke says out of the blue. "I just. . .really love the idea of being a pilot."

I give him a look then decide to ask. "Why?"

He pauses, then gives a nervous laugh. "I. . .I guess I just want to be a hero. Like the ones I see in anime, or like you."

I'm shocked, but only slightly. I remember him mentioning that he thinks Eva pilots are like superheroes a while ago. So, I decide to respond the same way I did back then. "I'm not a hero."

He shakes his head. "You keep saying that, but everything about you says the exact opposite. You get to ride a giant fighting robot whenever you want. You help save the city against monsters practically every week. And you probably saved the lives of everyone living here! And the best part is that you're so cool about it! You don't brag or seek attention. You just act like all this is not a big deal!"

I shrug. "That's because it isn't."

"See, just like that," he points to me while smiling. "Also, you're just an all around nice guy; your interactions with Rei being the perfect example. Heh, even though Toji and I make fun of you for it. . .we both think that what you're doing for Rei is awesome. Before, no one talked to her. They just sorta pretended she didn't exist. But now, people are willing to hang around her. Hell, I even saw Rei hold a conversation with someone at least once! That's progress!"

He sighs. "I'm not that good at helping people. I don't know why, but I have a hard time taking things seriously. Because of that, it can make me seem. . . callous or weird. *Chuckles* Not really qualities one would find flattering." The guy pauses, then continues talking. "But. . .maybe if I can pilot an Eva and save the city a few times, I'll be more like a hero."

I stare at him for a moment then look at the sky, trying to come up with something to say.

"You don't need some dumb robot to be a hero." I tell him.

"Really?" He responds, humoring me.

"I'm serious," I tell him. "I'll let you in on a secret. I didn't exactly have the best life before coming to Japan." A pause. "It was nothing dramatic like in a comic book, but it did mess me up. And the thing was, getting a giant robot did little to change how I felt about myself."

"But, when I met both you and Toji, something in me changed slightly," I continue, looking back at Kensuke. "You both decided to befriend me, despite what I had done to the both of you. I was confused. . .but grateful. That friendship made some of the hate inside me disappear."

I chuckle. "Guess what I'm saying, as corny as it is, is that you and Toji are the real heroes."

The guy pauses then snickers. "You're right, that was corny."

We both start laughing. When the laughter died down, Kensuke looks at his watch. "Where is Toji?"

"You're right, lunch is almost over," I respond. "Guess he's still talking to the principal."

Just before lunch started, Toji was called to the principal's office. It's been a while, talks with the principal don't usually last this long. Hope the guy isn't in trouble for something.

When class finally started, Toji came back after his long talk with the principal. But, the guy seemed in shock. A somber expression painted his face the entire period. The guy would at times stare at his desk, getting lost in whatever thoughts were going through his head. This behavior persisted throughout the entire day.

When school ended, I wanted to talk to the guy but Kensuke quickly informed me that Toji had clean up duty, ergo, he had to stay after school. Only students with clean up duty or had clubs were allowed to stay on campus for an extra few hours. So, I decided to sneak around the campus until Toji was done cleaning up the classroom.

It wasn't exactly hard to stay out of the sights of teachers after school. Most of them didn't try that hard to patrol the campus. Hell, I doubt they're getting paid extra to do so. So, I was quite easily able to sneak around and explore. After a few minutes of pacing about, I spot Toji exit the classroom. But, instead of returning home, he picked up a basketball and walked to the school's basketball court. I followed him.

When at the court, Toji spent the next few minutes taking free throws. The guy's pretty good, cause almost every shot he took made it into the basket. But, he still had that somber expression.

"So, are you winning?" I ask, making my presence known.

The guy becomes shocked and drops the ball to look in my direction. The look of shock turns to bewilderment.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Well, you know, just hanging around."

He gives a flat stare which gets me to laugh.

"Anyway, I just wanted to know if you were okay or not," I say. "You seemed pretty down the entire day."

Toji sighs. "Well, guess that explains why you're here."

"So, are you okay?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I. . .just got a whole bunch of news dropped on me all at once."

I become concerned. "Does it have something to do with your sister?"

Toji picks up the basketball he dropped then shrugs. "A little bit."

". . . Want to talk about it?"

He pauses, sighs, then lets out a tired laugh. "I think you'll figure it out eventually."

I go quiet for a moment then smile.

Without saying a word I snatched the basketball out of Toji's hands, shocking the guy.

I start dribbling the ball and give a challenging look. "Well? Are we gonna play or what?"

The shock is wiped from his face, eventually replaced with a smirk. "You sure you know how to play?"

I scoff then point to my skin. "Look at me, and I mean really look at me, and ask that question again."

He laughs. "Hey, you said it not me."

I start dribbling the ball and prepare myself for the game. "So, what are we doing after I beat you?"

He scoffs. "I'm going to visit my sister. You're welcome to come along."

I nod and we start playing the game. The match lasted for about an hour before some random teacher scolded Toji and I about playing basketball after school. So, we left to visit his sister. She was the sweetest person I've ever met. Despite her being confined to a bed, she was so cheery. She also kept asking about the Evas, and what it was like piloting them. Guess Toji wasn't kidding when he said his sister was obsessed with giant robots.

When visiting hours were up, Toji and I left the hospital. We talked a bit more then went our separate ways. It was the most fun I had with the guy in a while, definitely will be a fond memory.

It sucks I won't be able to see him again when I'm gone. But, for now, I'll just live in the moment and worry about the future later.

Author's notes: Yeah, so it's been a while. Around four months to be exact. The reason why it took so long was a mix of me moving, an asshole roommate, and me lacking motivation. But, now I'm back and should be popping out more chapters soon. Also, I loved all the comments I got last chapter. It's nice to know that people are enjoying the story, and the direction I'm taking it in. Also, before I forget, justsomerealguy got the name of both the band and the song of last chapter correct, so good on you. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter.

Chapter 15 Hint: This is less of a band and more of a single person. This was a french composer who was considered the first impressionist composer; this person was also the most influential composer of his era. The name of the song is hinted in the title. For a more obvious hint, the song was based on a french poem which went by the same name.

See y'all in the next chapter. I'm eager to show off what I have planned in the chapters to follow.