Shinji woke up, lazily turning his alarm off. He sat up in bed, trying to remember what day it was. He had the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something important. He got up, quietly sliding his door open to not wake Misato. He began making breakfast and gave Pen-Pen some fish.

He was done just in time for Misato to walk in. Her hair was a mess, and she was wearing a light blue shirt that could barely be called a shirt and some darker blue shorts. She yawned and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"Good morning, Misato," Shinji said.

Misato was too busy chugging her beer to respond. She slammed the can down on the table, letting out a screech.

"Man, a beer really is the best way to wake up!" she said. She noticed Shinji looking at her with annoyance.

"Oh, right, good morning, Shin-chan," she said.

Shinji handed her a plate with food and began to eat.

"So, are you ready?" Misato asked.

"...For what?" Shinji said, a little worried.

"Your future plans meeting, of course!" she said. Shinji had totally forgotten about it.

"Oh, yeah, I guess," he said. "Are you really coming to school? Don't you have work?" he asked.

"Don't worry, it's all part of the job," she replied.

"Your job, huh?" Shinji said. Misato frowned.

The doorbell rang, and Shinji quickly put his dishes in the sink. Toji and Kensuke were waiting for him.

"Good morning, Shinji," they both said quickly. "Good morning, Misato-san!" they said, much louder.

"Good morning, boys!" she replied, and Shinji saw the two of them shudder. He rolled his eyes, and they left for school.


"Man, Misato-san is such a babe!" Toji whispered to Shinji in class.

Shinji rolled his eyes. 'They don't know how much of a slob she is,' he thought. He looked over to Rei, who was staring out the window. 'It's been a couple of weeks now, and we've barely talked since the battle.'

He sighed and thought about that night. He felt like he shared something special with her, but she didn't seem to care. It was impossible for him to get a read on her. He assumed he had done something wrong, but they'd interacted so little he didn't understand when he had the opportunity to.

Shinji thought back to the night of the battle, and what she had said to him. 'I have nothing else.' Shinji remembered the state of her apartment the last time he went there, and he felt awful knowing that she wasn't exaggerating. 'Why does NERV keep her there? Can't they let her live somewhere better?'

His train of thought was derailed by the sound of a car screeching to a halt outside. Every boy in class rushed to the windows, knowing the occupant.

"It's Misato-san!" Toji announced, and Shinji had to stifle a laugh as boys started hanging out the windows to see her.

"Horny idiots," Hikari muttered.


Shinji and Misato spent much of the rest of the school day discussing various topics with his teacher. Misato decided to stick around until school was over and take Shinji home.

"Um, Misato?" Shinji asked as they drove back. "What do you know about Ayanami?"

Misato grinned. "My, my, is little Shin-chan interested?"

Shinji blushed, "I-It's not like that," he said unconvincingly, and Misato laughed.

"It's just, she's always alone. She said something before we fought that Angel. She said she didn't have anything but being a pilot." Shinji looked saddened by the memory. "She seems really lonely, I…" he trailed off.

"Do you like her?" Misato asked.

Shinji was silent for a moment. "I… I don't know. She can act so cold sometimes, and I can't tell if she's mad at me. We talked after the battle and she smiled at me-"

"She smiled?" Misato asked, incredulous.

"Y-yeah," Shinji said, blushing a little. "But then, she's been acting like it never happened. I just don't know what to do," he said, sighing.

"Rei is… a strange girl," Misato said, trying to find the right words. "Her records were erased, but as far as I can tell, she never had any parents growing up. I've known her for a while, and she can act very distant. She's a nice girl, though. She just has trouble expressing herself."

Shinji thought about what Misato said. 'Maybe we really are in the same situation,' he thought.


Rei Ayanami sat at her desk in class, looking through the window. It was a sunny day, save for the small cirrus clouds streaking through the sky. Rei had walked to school like normal, donning her sole school uniform, and made her way to class.

She saw Ikari-kun when she walked in, and the edges of her lips curled up ever so slightly. She had talked with him a few times since the battle, and she felt like she was getting better at speaking. She didn't quite understand some things he said, but she listened anyway.

She hadn't felt any desire to talk with anyone before, aside from the Commander, but now she felt compelled to talk with Ikari-kun more often. She didn't get many chances, as she felt something stop her every time she tried. She didn't understand what, exactly.

Rei had enough that day. When she got back home, she felt frustrated that she couldn't talk to him. She didn't want to do it, but the only person she felt could answer her questions was Dr. Akagi.


Ritsuko took a long drag of her cigarette, idly reviewing some data from the MAGI. Shinji's synch ratio reached a new high during the battle, yet strangely, it happened shortly after the battle was over, and not during it. Ritsuko had been lying on the ground after the van was overturned, and there was no footage to review. It remained a mystery, one Ritsuko decided to pass off as an anomaly.

"Dr. Akagi?" came a blank voice from her door. Ritsuko turned her head, seeing that freak in the doorway.

"What do you want?" she asked, not wanting to deal with this shit right now. She rubbed her temples and took another drag from her cigarette.

"I… I would like to ask you some questions," she said.

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. Did she sound... nervous? She sighed.

"Get on with it," she said.

Rei walked up to her, taking a chair near her desk. She clasped her hands over her legs and would not look up at her.

"I have been feeling… strange," she finally said.

"Strange, how?" Ritsuko asked.

"I feel as if I want to do something, but I cannot. Something is preventing me from acting," Rei explained.

'It was bound to happen eventually,' Ritsuko thought.

"What 'thing' do you want to do?" Ritsuko asked, having a pretty good idea where this was going. She didn't feel like spending the rest of her night explaining the birds and the bees to a wind-up doll, but she didn't exactly have a choice.

"I desire to speak with Ikari-kun," she said quietly as if she was admitting something wrong.

Ritsuko wasn't expecting that, to say the least.

"Um, h-how long have you felt this?" she asked.

"Since our last battle together," Rei answered.

Ritsuko realized she had her answer right in front of her.

"You were questioned about the battle, correct?"

"Yes."

"Were you questioned about what happened after the battle?"

"No."

"What happened?"

Rei took a moment to speak. "Ikari-kun rescued me from my entry plug. He burned his hands to open the hatch. He cried, and told me he was happy I was alive," Rei said.

'Like father, like son,' Ritsuko thought grimly.

"Anything else?"

"...Yes. He said I should smile when I feel happy, and he helped me exit the plug."

"That's it?" Ritsuko asked.

"...There is more, but I feel it is a private matter between Ikari-kun and me," she said.

'Did she just?' Ritsuko thought. 'It couldn't have been… that, otherwise she wouldn't be asking me about talking to him.'

"Rei, tell me what happened," Ritsuko said sharply. Rei didn't move her gaze from the floor, but she hesitated.

"Ikari-kun told me to value myself. He said if we fight to stay alive, we will be glad we did," she said. Her voice was a little unsteady. Ritsuko was gobsmacked by the range of emotions Rei was showing. 'Has she stopped taking her meds? No, she wouldn't be able to walk if that were the case. And Shinji, the things he said…"

Ritsuko's glare hardened. This bitch wasn't satisfied with just one Ikari, she needed both. On some level, Ritsuko knew Rei wasn't to blame. She had locked that part of her off years ago. A sadistic smile grew on her face as she hatched a plan.

"Rei," she said, a little too sweetly, "you should tell Shinji how you feel."

"What do you mean?" Rei asked, looking up at her.

Ritsuko began to jot something down on a piece of paper. "Don't worry about that," she said. "Just memorize this, and tell him the next time you see him. Preferably in school," she added.

Rei took the note and looked at it. She didn't quite understand what it meant, but she had no other reference point.

"Now, if you say that, Shinji will talk with you more," she said, and that seemed to seal the deal. The clueless bitch nodded dumbly and got up, not even bothering to thank her as she left.

Ritsuko returned to her work, only feeling a little guilty about what she had done. The rest of her felt the cold, unfeeling eyes of those freaks on her from the other end of a glass tank. She took a long drag from her cigarette.


Author's note: Writing Ritsuko as a spiteful bitch is pretty fun, but I also like giving her a redemption arc. We shall see.