3:41 PM

"Left! Right! Back! Front! Left! Ri- BZZZZT"

"Dammit! How many tries it this gonna take you to do this right?!" Shinji plops onto the floor sweating profusely. Asuka storms off to her room chanting BAKABAKABAKA.

Dingg-dong

The last thing I want is to have guests over Shinji thinks. He weakly picks himself off the floor with muscles shaking under him and slowly walks to the door. Shwoop.

"HEEE-what the heck are you wearing?" Touji questions. Kensuke is looking over Touji's shoulder as they both look Shinji up and down in disgust.

"What do you? Oh crap!" Shinji ducks behind a portion of the door. He completely forgot Misato made him and Asuka wear matching outfits. How come I had to borrow Asuka's clothes and she couldn't wear mine?!

"Touji, Kensuke!" Misato chimes in from around the corner.

"MISATO-SAN!" The boys happily yell. They both sprint inside to find her like they're looking for candy. Shinji sighs and tries to close the door before a hand stops its motion. Hmm? Shinji slides it back and realizes Rei was there too. He smiles at her excitedly.

"H-hey I missed you! Sorry I didn't tell you I wasn't going to school today."

"Misato-san had told me," Rei replies as she walks in taking her shoes off, "However, I did miss you at school." Growllll. "I also forgot to eat since you were not there." Shinji takes Rei's hand and walks her toward the kitchen.

"That just means I get to make something for you! Let's go."

"Ah-ah Shinji," Misato interrupts. Touji and Kensuke are staring at Misato nearly drooling while she leans over the kitchen table with the chair wedged behind her knees, "I'll be doing the cooking today. Asuka! Get back to practicing! We have less than three hours left!"

Asuka yells some insults and walks back to her station getting herself plugged back in.

"Shinji," Rei whispers, "I am not sure Misato-san's cooking will be as well done as yours. Please hurry?" Shinji giggles at the statement and kisses Rei on the head earning a gyah from Asuka.

"We'll see Rei."

Five Tries and Four Minutes Later

"Shinji you're getting better!" Misato remarks while cooking up a decent meal. R-really? he wonders.

"Are we seeing the same thing?!" Asuka retorts. "He's still missing the same beat every time!" Touji and Kensuke are drooping over the table with bored expressions. Rei is sitting upright and watching intensely.

"Hmm," Misato hums, "Rei, take over for Asuka for a minute."

"Yes Misato-san." Asuka raises an eyebrow and throws her gear at Rei when she gets close enough. Asuka settles against the wall with her arms crossed. Suuure. Like this will change anything.

"Ready Rei?" Shinji asks. She nods with a yes and the music starts.

"Left! Right! Back! Front! Left! Right! Back! Jump! Duck! Right!"

"Hell yeah Shin-Man! Keep going!" Asuka frowns deeper and continues to watch. Bom. Boop. Batt. Pft. Rei and Shinji continue to tap their mats in perfect succession.

"Great job Rei-chan!" Kensukes adds in. Asuka looks between Kensuke and Misato and Shinji and Rei again and again. What the hell is this?! How are they-what the-this is bullshit! As if I'll let her beat me! Asuka stomps over to the mat and rips the gear off of Rei.

"Move the hell out of the way, this is my thing," she spits while putting the gear back on. Just as planned Misato thinks. Shinji cringes at how she just treated Rei.

"Can you not do that? She was following orders unlike-"

"-SHUT THE HELL UP AND DANCE!"

Two Minutes Later

"Yes!" Touji and Kensuke yell while clapping violently.

"Finally" Asuka and Shinji wheeze.

"I'm proud," Misato laughs, "But I'll be more proud once you defeat the Angel. However, eat first!" Misato shoves bowls of soup into everyone's face. Asuka immediately takes hers and heads to her room alone. Shinji settles in next to Rei and checks out her bowl. "I didn't forget, no meat for Rei," Misato happily says. Shinji nods his head in thanks and starts eating.

5:21 PM

"Time to go! Get in the Evas!" Misato barks over the intercom. Brrrr-Fwoosh.

"Countdown starts now; twenty, nineteen…"

Whatever you do Asuka, do NOT-

Whatever you do baka, do NOT-

"Ten, nine, eight…"

"-SCREW THIS UP!" they yell.

"One!" Dooooooosh. "Que the music!" Da da da dee da. Da da dee daaaa. "Remember to work together! You can do this!"

Both Asuka and Shinji start chanting the moves in their head, LEFT, RIGHT, BACK FRONT. Their colorful Evas twirl and flip in rapid succession perfectly timed with the music that bounces around inside of their cockpits. All noise but the music is canceled out to both Shinji and Asuka as they allow themselves to be consumed by their motion. The large Angels stay unmoving and menacing as the two gallop toward it. The Evas jump high into the air and they do their final move.

"HIYAAA!" they scream as their feet connect with the Angels crimson core shattering it into a thousand glass-like pieces.

"Yes!" Misato and her peers cheer. Asuka and Shinji however, land in the least fabulous and elegant of ways. Shinji lands and sticks half of his Eva in the mud while Asuka lands on top pushing him further in. "...Figures," Misato melancholily reacts.

"You IDIOT! Are you KIDDING ME?! WHY DID YOU SQUIRM SO MUCH?!"

"Asuka-san you were the one that landed on me!"

YouSuckIHateYouMoronBakaThisWasYourFault

Misato mutes the voice feed and rubs her forehead. The bickering continues for ten or more minutes and the Nerv crew retrieves the pilots and the Evas.

6:37 PM

Rei had watched the whole fight from the of the control bridge just out of sight of everyone. I am glad he overcame his struggle with the second child, she innocently thought, I still am unsure of how to feel for her. She does not try to be pleasant with me at all. I wonder why. Rei self consciously grabs one arm at the elbow covering up her midsection while gazing at the ground. She positions her back against the cold steel wall that travels up to where Commander Ikari and his subordinate Fuyutsuki reside. Being in this place feels less pleasant than it ever has. I wonder if it is due to my recent intimacy with Shinji. She rests her head against the wall and closes her eyes. I wonder why I feel so strongly for him so quickly? I wonder why he feels the same… I wonder if he knows what I really come from…. Rei frowns and grits her teeth. Does the Commander know? Will he do something about this? This was not part of the 'plan'. Rei sighs quietly and opens her eyes to stare straight ahead at the heavy sliding exit door. She fixates on a dent near the bottom right. Chirp chirp. Rei slides her phone out of the pocket on her dress. It reads, Come to my office now. From Gendo. Rei goes on autopilot and walks mindlessly through the maze of Nerv. She reaches his door and finally pauses to think. Am I safe? I suppose it is irrelevant. But I worry about what Shinji would do if something were to happen. Perhaps I should inform him. She briskly gets out her phone and types out, Commander Ikari has requested I speak with him now. I will call you later if all goes well. She was about to press send when she thought of one last thing. I love you. She slightly smiles and presses send, putting her phone on silent. She presses the button to enter. Fwishhh. She steps in quietly and walks until she's four feet from his empty metallic-brown desk.

"Yes Commander Ikari?" Her small voice echos.

"Have you been getting checked-up on by Dr. Akagi?"

"Yes Commander."

"Have you been eating well?"

"Better, yes."

"You've been more interactive with classmates and the other pilots."

"Am I not allowed Commander?"

"I would prefer not Rei."

….

"Yes Commander."

7:01 PM

Misato forcibly put Shinji into a shower after he and Asuka nearly bit each others heads off. Misato stood outside of his stall with a worried expression creeping up.

"Shinji, please try to calm down."

"I AM CALM!"

….

He didn't have to be looking at Misato to imagine the look on her face. He sighed and turned on the shower. The heat quickly fogged up the room. He took his clothes off and set them on a shelf inside the small shower stall. God I hate this floor, it always hurts my feet. Shinji sighed and rubbed his muscles out as the hot water hit his back.

"Maybe stay at Rei's tonight? It might be better that you and Asuka to have some time apart."

"I don't have my school clothes for tomorrow there."

"I could bring them by later tonight or tomorrow morning."

"...That'd be nice. Thank you Misato-san. And...u-um, I'm sorry." Misato smiled and stretched her arms over her head.

"Don't be. I'll catch up with you later. Don't forget to call Rei first!" Shwip.

Shinji turned off the showerhead and wrapped a towel around his waist. He pulled back the curtain slightly and stuck his head out looking both ways. Good. All clear. He steps out with one delicate foot and walks to his locker immediately grabbing his phone. Rei texted! Shinji smiled wide and opened the text. Commander Ikari has requested I speak with him now. I will call you later if all goes well. I love you. I love you too Rei. Shinji checked the time. It's been like twenty minutes. I should maybe go check up on her. Shinji quickly pulls his clothes on and nearly runs up to his father's office door. When he arrives he hesitates. He puts his ear up to the door. Whisperwhisperwhisper. I can't hear anything. He knocks twice and waits. Argh, maybe I shouldn't do this. What am I thinking?! He doesn't wanna see me! And now it'll seem like Rei texted me. IDIOT. Shinji curses at himself again and again only stopping when the door slides open. His eyes widen then narrow as he looks up to see his father staring down at him.

"What do you want?" Gendo asks in a threatening tone.

"I was wondering… um, if you had seen Asuka-san or Ayanami-san?"

….

"Don't bother me here again," Gendo huskily responds and steps away back toward his desk. Shinji takes that few extra seconds to scan the office. Rei's not in there. The door closes on his toes and he jumps backward with a yelp.

"Shinji," he hears from behind him. He spins around, disoriented, and spots Rei's red eyes looking at him from a dark hallway further down. He hustles over to her looking over his shoulder to the door of his father's office. He grabs her by the hand and quickly walks to the exit of Nerv not speaking a word. Once the satisfying slide of their keycards opens the front gate, he heavily exhales the breath he'd been holding and squeezes her hand tighter leading her a few blocks away.

"Are you ok? I was so worried!"

"I suppose," Rei quietly says looking distant again. She's never looked so sad. Her eyes are nearly sunken into her head as if she hasn't slept in days.

"Rei, Misato-san said I can stay with you tonight, I think I should. You look ill or something." Rei's eyebrows tensed up then released.

"I am not sure we should do that Shinji."

"W-why?" Shinji asked feeling something the worry inside him slowly come up his sternum and near the pit of his throat.

"Commander Ikari gave me an order to distance myself. I am worried serious actions will be taken against you if we do not obey." Rei does not release his hand.

"T-that's not even fair! What does it matter what we do?!" Rei looks off again. A look of guilt crosses her face but Shinji couldn't identify it. "R-Rei please! We can think of something besides just giving up. Please." Shinji's nearly on his knees. Fff, I feel like I can't breathe.

"I… I don't know what to do," Rei whispers. Her eyes are wide as if in shock, but her hands shake as if she's afraid. Shinji grabs her other hand and tries to make eye contact.

"W-we ca-can figure it out! Let's just go to your house ok?" Rei shakes her head yes and Shinji begins to guide her along to her house. The walk was verbally silent, but emotionally, they were both bursting with feelings of regret, guilt, anger, confusion, worry, heartbreak, and love.