9

(NERV Medical)

"How in the hell did this happen?"

Ritsuko looked up at Shinji, who had been standing next to Asuka's bed for nearly ten minutes before he finally spoke, and arched her eyebrow at him, "You care?"

He gave her a flat look in return, "Look, I'll admit I didn't care for her attitude, but I didn't want to see her hurt."

Ritsuko nodded, looking down at the chart she had in her hand, "I can't tell you that, Shinji."

"Can't or won't?"

Ritsuko jerked slightly at the tone in Shinji's voice, a tone she knew all too well from his unlamented father, and looked up at him. His eyes were flat, his lips were drawn into a straight line and, if he'd had the beard and glasses, yes, he would have been Gendo… "I can't, not right now. Shinji, believe me when I say that I don't know why the bio-feedback link in Unit-02 reacted the way it did with Asuka this time, but we're running a battery of tests on the computers, on the EVA and on Asuka. You need to relax – it will take time."

Shinji snorted and shook his head before he turned away and walked out of the hospital room, brushing past Misato as she walked in.

Misato looked back at Shinji, her lips drawn into a frown, and then back at Ritsuko, "Any changes, Doctor?"

Ritsuko shook her head, "Nothing quantifiable, Major. Physically she's fine, everything is working as it should, but… she's just not waking up. I can't tell you why right now."

Misato sighed, nodding her head, "I know, I'm sorry."

It had been a standard Synch Test to begin with, Asuka saying that she would go first 'to show Baka Shinji how it's done', and while the entire thing had been going on, nothing had shown to be out of the ordinary. Things had gone fine with Activation and, once the plane had been breached, that's when things started to change a bit, namely when Ritsuko had ordered the Entry Plug to be lowered another .2 meters into the LCL testing tank. The bio-feedback circuits that connected the Plug and Pilot to the Eva itself began to malfunction on a level that nobody could seem to get ahead of and Asuka had begun screaming as Ritsuko killed the entire uplink. Sure, Misato knew that due to the abrupt termination, there might be some damage to Asuka's system, but nothing on this level should have happened…

"Misato, just go home, okay?" She looked up and saw Ritsuko there, shaking her head. "There's nothing you can do for Asuka here and I think it would be best if someone talked with Shinji."

Misato sighed, "You're right, and someone's going to have to go to the school to tell them Asuka won't be returning for the foreseeable future." She groaned and shook her head, "Do you think I can con Shinji into going?" Ritsuko shrugged but said nothing as she went back to looking at her charts, which made Misato sigh again, "Right. Bribery it is."

"Just don't molest him, Misa-chan," Ritsuko said over her shoulder before Misato left the room, getting a growl out of the purple-tressed one.

Misato found Shinji exiting the changing room and the pair of them walked to her car in silence. Neither said a word on the way home, nor did they say anything until the door slid shut, at which point Misato flopped on the couch, "Can you get me a beer, Shin-kun? I get the feeling it's going to be one of those nights."

Shinji snorted slightly and ignored the fridge where the beer was kept, instead going for the harder stuff and two glasses of ice, "Do you know anything about what happened, Misato?"

"No, Shinji, I don't," Misato muttered as he poured the Jack Daniels into the glasses, coming up about two thirds of Misato's glass before he dumped the ice in his and gave himself the same amount. She turned over from her face-down position and took the drink, smiling weakly at him, "Thanks, though I didn't know you were much of a drinking man."

"I'm not, but this is a special occasion," he commented as he walked around the couch, Misato moved her legs and he sat, her legs going right over his lap before he was fully seated. In all honestly, he wasn't sure how well he'd hold his liquor, but if Misato was going to be blitzed, who better to be in company with?

"Wark!" Shinji and Misato both looked down at Pen-Pen, who was looking at them both expectantly, as if asking where HIS glass of whiskey was.

Misato looked at him, arching her eyebrow before pulling her legs back, "Well?"

Shinji sighed and got Pen-Pen his own drink.

(Next Morning)

"Kill me, please," she heard him moan quietly while doing his best to burrow even deeper into his pillows.

'Lightweight,' Misato thought even as her own hangover began to abate. Instead of giving him the sweet release of death from his first hangover, she instead walked over to his window and ripped them open, bathing the room, her and him in the harsh sunlight, "Gah."

Shinji hissed as if he were a vampire bathed in sunlight, doing a barrel roll in his blankets and bed, a roll that managed to send him crashing to his floor and sent him into a string of curses that impressed Misato for a moment. When the curses stopped, though, his voice returned, "Why did you do that, Misato-chan? Don't you love me?"

Misato smiled a bit as the pain in her eyes ebbed, kneeling next to him and kissing him on the back of his head, "Of course I love you, Shin-chan, but you have work to do today."

He shook his head, doing his best to roll under his bed so he could go back to sleep, "It's too early."

"It's almost noon, Shinji."

There was a slight pause for a moment before Shinji's blanket came from over his face, his eyes scrunched almost completely shut, "Like I said, it's too early." He started to pull his blankets over his face again but stopped, pulled them back down, and noted that Misato was currently only dressed in a towel around her body and another around her head. He arched an eyebrow at her, "Trying to give me a free show, Misato-chan?"

Misato had the good grace to blush as she stood, pulling her towel around her even tighter, "No, if I was trying I wouldn't be wearing the towel around my body, Shinji. Now, get up and get in the shower."

Shinji shook his head gently and crawled his way to the bathroom, where he did his best to ignore his mind's offerings of mental pictures of Misato with only a towel in her hair. "Damned traitorous body," he grumbled the entire time from the first reaction to the point he finished getting dressed. Normally he wouldn't MIND those thoughts of Misato (or Rei, or Ritsuko, or Hikari, or any number of females he knew…), but if he didn't calm down SOON, she was going to notice and tease him mercilessly.

Misato was just buttoning up her shorts as he walked into the kitchen, a lazy kind of grin on her face as she looked up, "Oh, Shinji?"

He looked hat warily, "Yes?"

She walked up to him and hugged him, "Just so you know, it's alright to grope a girl in her sleep, but I tend to like to be awake if you grope me." Indeed he HAD groped her a bit last night, though it had been slightly drunken in that he had fallen asleep on her chest and had taken to maneuvering his 'pillows' back into position. She'd enjoyed it, given that she wasn't anywhere NEAR as plastered as he was and it had indeed been a while since anyone but herself had touched her, but still, she had an opening to use, so she wasn't going to pass it up.

Shinji's brain locked up at the thought of him groping Misato and he was only able to give out a weak, "Huh?"

Misato snickered slightly in his chest and her hands wandered down, groping him in return, causing him to jump and squeak, "Fair is fair, Shinji."

Shinji couldn't be reached for comment, as his brain had proceeded to melt down at this point.

Misato finally took pity on him and kissed him on the cheek, "Now, finish up breakfast so you can go to the school and report about Asuka."

This snapped Shinji out of his personal Blue Screen of Death and made him look down at Misato, "Me? Why me?"

"Because I have to go into work due to some big restructuring thing and, well, I figured you'd want to see your friends again."

Shinji gave her a look, "They won't know it's me, Misato. I mean, it's not exactly like I can tell them what happened, you know."

Misato patted him on the cheek, her eyes filled with sympathy, "I know, Shinji, but just be yourself. It shouldn't take you too long."

He sighed, "Fine." He then paused, "Um, one question."

"What is it?"

"How am I going to get there? It's not like I can drive or anything…"

(School)

"Injured, you say?"

Shinji, now dressed in a sports coat and matching tie, nodded, "Indeed. While I cannot divulge all of the details, Asuka was injured and will not be returning to school for the foreseeable future."

The principal, a man of middle years, no hair and a decided lack of physical stature sighed and sat back in his chair, "I am sorry to hear that, Mr. Masaki. To lose two of the three Children is a hard thing."

Shinji held his wince in check – not only had he learned that the Principal had known of his, Asuka's and Rei's status, but the fact that he'd chosen the first name that had come to mind when asked (Tenchi Misaki, a fact he blamed on Misato due to her collection of the OVA's…) when meeting the man, a name he was now stuck with. He just hoped Misato didn't hear of this… the woman might try and dress Pen-Pen up as Ryo-Ohki or something, or worse, herself as Ryoko, "Indeed."

The man sighed and nodded, standing, "Very well, Mr. Misaki, we need to go to her class to tell her fellow students of this."

Shinji started to sweat, "We do?"

The Principal nodded, "Yes, we do."

Shinji sighed inwardly and stood, following the man to the classroom where they interrupted another lesson on the Second Impact, "Excuse me, class, but I'm afraid I have some terrible news. It has been brought to my attention that Miss Sohryu has been injured and will not be returning to class for the foreseeable future. Mister Misaki here," the man pointed to Shinji, who started to sweat ever more, "is here to pick up her things, so please be helpful."

As soon as the Principal left, Kensuke was up in his chair, "YES! The Red Devil is gone!"

Shinji growled a little bit and this sound echoed through the room even as Class Representative Horaki glared daggers at Kensuke, "I am sorry to see you take such pleasure in the misfortune of others, Mister Aida."

His friend appeared to jerk back, blushing as the class looked at him, "Hey, it's not like that, it's just that she-"

"Is in a coma and isn't likely to wake up any time soon," Shinji snapped. Gaining control of his temper, Shinji walked to Hikari, "I'll need her things."

The pony-tailed girl nodded, her face sad and eyes watering slightly, "Of course, sir."

Seeing her in pain, Shinji couldn't help but try and alleviate her sorrow a bit, "Don't worry about it, Miss Horaki. If there's one thing I know about her, Asuka is going to make people's lives hell when she wakes up."

Hikari looked up, shocked, "You know her?"

"Better than you would think," Shinji said, nodding slightly as he heard something that sounded suspiciously like a snort from Rei's direction. Locking his eyes on the Albino girl's, she flushed a little but he could still see her trying to keep a laugh or a giggle from coming out.

"Do you know Shinji?"

"Probably even better than I do Asuka," he allowed, which got another muffled snort out of Rei.

Hikari nodded as she grabbed Asuka's things, "He's missed around here, you know?"

Shinji blinked and shook his head, "No, I didn't. From what I understand, he was something of an introvert and tended to avoid attention."

Hikari snorted in a very undignified way, "Sometimes I think he ran the three ring circus better than I did." She then blushed and ducked her face down as she handed him several folders, "Is he awake?"

Shinji nodded, remembering what he was allowed to say as far as his 'current condition', "Yes, he is, but he won't be attending school any longer due to… complications."

Hikari sighed, "That's what we figured. Is he still living with Major Katsuragi? Some of us might want to visit him on occasion, sir."

Shinji nodded, "Yes, he does, but be sure to call first. Security being what it is since the Commander's untimely death, it's better to make an appointment than to be construed as an attacker."

Kensuke shot to his feet, "You people think we'd attack Shinji?"

Shinji shot Kensuke a look that made the spectacled boy sit back down, "Given that his father was murdered inside of the hospital not twenty feet away from Mr. Ikari, we're not taking any chances." He reached into his jacket and removed a slip of paper, "I've been told that you and two others are allowed access to this account, Miss Horaki. Do not abuse this privilege." With that, Shinji turned on his heel and exited the classroom.

Not two seconds later, he could hear the whispering starting, though he was more than a little mortified as most of it centered on how 'gorgeous' he was. Yes, he was much better off dealing with Misato and a possibly cabbit-fied Pen-Pen…

AN: I just let the muse wander on this one – given that my original idea for this story was blown out of the water some time back, who knows where this is going.

What do you think? Reviews, please.