Tokyo-3, March 2017...

A warm aroma filled the kitchen as Shinji prepared breakfast. He wasn't alone in his endeavor, as Rei set the table while another occupant of the apartment helped him cook.

"How're the eggs coming along?" Shinji asked while he finished slicing up some fruit.

"Almost finished," replied Shinko Ikari. "Rei, when you're done setting the table, could you try and pry Kira and Seika out of bed?"

"Yes, sister," Rei answered as she set the last plate down. She then walked through the hallway until she reached a certain door, and knocked on it to stir the two occupants awake.

"Kira! Seika! Breakfast is almost ready, will you please get up?" she called from outside the door. From behind it, she could hear some small grumbles.

"Jus' five more minutes..." groaned Seika Ikari.

"But soft, methinks I scent the morning air..." mumbled Kira Ikari.

Rolling her eyes, Rei decided it was time for desperate measures. Slowly opening the door to her two sisters' room, she then let out a loud whistle that immediately jolted them awake, with Kira landing all tangled up in her covers on the floor.

"*UGH* Have I thought long to see this morning's face, and doth it give me such a sight as this?" Kira muttered as she worked to untangle herself.

"Awww, I was having a good dream!" bemoaned Seika as she rubbed her eyes.

"I am sure you will have it again later tonight," Rei said. "But right now, it would be prudent for you-both of you-to join us at the table. So please wash up before you come in."

At that, Seika was quickly out the door and in the bathroom. "INBEFOREKIRA!" she quipped before she closed the door. Kira merely looked at Rei, bleary-eyed as she stretched and yawned. "One day I'll find out how she does that," she said as she went to wait outside the bathroom door.

Soon enough, both Seika and Kira joined the others at the table, a delicious-looking breakfast awaiting them. Thankfully for Shinji, unlike Rei, the other three had more omnivorous diets, though he still made a pretty good vegetarian omelette for Rei. Shinji took a moment to look around at his surroundings and the people in them, still feeling amazed at how it got to this point.

On that day two years ago, he and Rei had entered the Chamber of Gauf and appealed to Lilith. The threat of a Third Impact was gone, and she no longer need fear the misuse of her power at the hands of others. Touched by their concern and what they had endured, the Second Angel returned to her real form and gave them the boon they asked of; that is, provide the three Rei clones with souls of their own, allowing them each to be their own person. Lilith went a couple of extra miles and even removed their S2 organs, along with Rei's, making all four fully human. Before she left the chamber for parts unknown, she also did the planet a small favor and returned it to its original axis. With that, Lilith vanished. Shinji and Rei then returned to the room they'd been in, where Ritsuko and the others had emptied the pods and helped the newly-awakened clones get their bearings. It was decided, among them, that the three clones would live with Shinji and Rei, considering they were the only other (free) living relatives they could rely on. A little help from Kaji, who'd come out of hiding after working to expose both SEELE's and Gendo Ikari's plans to the world, got the girls some official backgrounds and papers, with medical records provided by Ritsuko. In the two years since, the quintet had become a close family. And it was quite a family Shinji and Rei had found themselves with.

Shinko, the clone previously dubbed Rei-Cinq, proved to be as much the responsible big sister, though she never lorded her 'authority' over her other siblings, working in tandem with Shinji and Rei to keep their house in order. She also had the longest hair of the four girls, and had dyed it a light purple, 'for contrast' in her own words. She was two years ahead of Shinji and Rei at the high school they attended, and proved to be a favorite among the teachers, though not to the point of her being labeled a 'teacher's pet'.

Kira, Rei's silver-haired, mostly-identical twin (and formerly Rei-Quatre), was every bit the Bohemian theater geek, laid back and able to call up the lines of many a famous playwright on-demand, with Shakespeare her most-utilized; her personal bookshelf alone boasted a good number of scripts and screenplays, well-worn from many a re-read. Which came in very handy for her as a member of the school drama club, which was going to be putting on a production of Much Ado About Nothing in a few weeks. And she didn't limit her repertoire to just playwrights, since her wit was also formed on a small diet of beat poetry books she'd gotten from a used bookstore a while back.

Seika, the littlest Ikari (known before as Rei-Six), was a bona-fide hyperactive, tomboyish grade-schooler who became great friends with Sakura Suzuhara and Nozomi Horaki. Just as Asuka dubbed Shinji, Toji and Kensuke the Three Stooges, Hikari dubbed the three little girls the 'tiny triumvirate of terror', since together those three made themselves the banes of their respective siblings' existence. (And they knew how to effectively weaponize their cuteness.) Seika kept most of her short hair its natural blue, with the exception of an auburn streak on the left side of her bangs.

Shinji and Rei underwent a few changes of their own in those same two intervening years. Shinji let his hair grow out a little more, to the point where he now wore a ponytail; a little ribbing from Kaji had ensued, which included, among other things, him dubbing Shinji 'Mini-Me'. (Having never seen those particular movies, the joke was a bit lost on Shinji.) Shinji took very well to being a big brother to Seika, being the more fun-loving one between himself and Rei. Rei also grew her hair out a bit, though not as long as Shinko's. She'd learned to be a bit more expressive with her emotions, though she still hadn't yet conquered the realm of contractions. Being a sibling, older or middle or otherwise, proved to be an interesting experience for the former introvert, one that she was greatly enjoying.

"Delicious, as always, dear brother," Kira fancifully declared, "though one doth wonder how much of yon efforts comprises thee compared to fair Shinko."

"Are you saying Shinko's a better cook than me?" Shinji teasingly asked.

"Mere inference, 'tis all," Kira replied as she put another forkful of eggs in her mouth.

"How long is Kira going to keep talkin' like that?" Seika asked.

"Until they finally get the play over with," Rei replied.

"Or at least until she visits Stratford-Upon-Avon," Shinko added.

This elicited a bit of a chuckle among everyone but Seika, who didn't get it. Once everyone ate, Seika and Kira went back to shower and get dressed while the others made lunches for school. While they were halfway done, the doorbell rang, which Shinko answered. Sure enough, on the other side of the door was someone they'd come to regularly expect.

"Morgen, Shinko," Asuka greeted.

END Part 2.