Chapter 38: A New Morning

Wow, it's been a really long time, huh? Well, today's Christmas, and I figured that I might as well as give my readers two, that's right, TWO chapters to make up for my lack of updates. Thank you all for your patience and dealing with my laziness. Now please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not NGE, Gainax does. I do own all original characters though, and if they bear any resemblence to real life people or characters in other stories, it is merely coincidence.

Preread by YouarenotasrandomasI

Asuka and Shinji were lying next to each other beneath their tree, staring at the sky through the tree's branches. They were holding each other closely, listening to the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves above them.

"Hey, Shinji-kun," Asuka began, "Do you ever think about the future?"

Turning his head to look at the red-head, he continued to listen as she then asked, "Like, what do we do after all of the Angels are gone?"

Shinji knew why she would ask about something as vague as this. Earlier, he had told her about the new Gendo and how the old man had told him about a possible future for the Eva pilots. Still, it was a reasonable question to ask, and he did have an answer.

"Well, I guess I'd like to graduate from college, maybe get a job as a music teacher. I might even try my hand at writing some compositions." The red-head turned to look at him after he said that, "You really love music."

"And you?"

Turning back to look at the sky, Asuka replied, "I've never really considered the future that much, but I have always wanted to become a doctor. Maybe I'll take college again when the time comes."

"Doctor Sohryu," Shinji tasted the sound of that, "Sounds good."

"I think that Doctor Ikari sounds just as good." The boy turned to look at Asuka as she said that. She didn't look at him, and was playing with the pendent he had given her for her birthday. Smiling, Shinji looked back at the sky.

"Should I take that as a hint?" he asked in jest. Asuka grinned as she replied in a light tone, "Perhaps."

She looked at her watch and sighed, "It's time for us to get to class. If we're late Hikari's going to have kittens."

Getting up, Shinji helped her up, and was still holding her hand as they headed back to the school. It was history class, and with Iak out of commission they had a substitute. Many of the students were disappointed since the sub was also talking about the crap from the Second Impact spiel.

Nerv HQ

Misato had just received a report about a new pilot to join them here at Nerv. She scanned it again, wondering why there seemed to be something wrong with the information.

The report had just been suddenly sent to them, as thought they expected something like their current situation. Unit's 00 and 02 were put away for repairs, which were estimated to take a little more than a month. Unit 01 was functional, but under lockdown and study, and the Avatars' Evas were all out for the count.

There are no other Evas, so the only other option would be to have him be a substitute for one of the other pilots.

Setting down her folder, she got up and stretched. The Avatars had made calculations based on Gendo's knowledge of the Angel appearances and their own interferences with their arrival. The next Angel would arrive anywhere between the end of the month and the end of the next.

She got up and stretched as she headed out. She decided to let things play out and see what happens. If anything went wrong, the Avatars would do something about it.

School

The last class of the day had just ended and the stooges were gathering to speak with Kensuke, the only one in the group of friends that had no knowledge of what was going on at Nerv. With them were Sai and Keevan to help them.

The group of five boys strolled down to the park, where Shinji explained the story to their bespectacled friend. After half an hour they finished their story and was waiting for Kensuke's reaction, however they didn't see him acting all that surprised. Instead, he took a deep breath and looked at them.

"I already knew," the four-eyed boy told them, "I saw Shinji and Asuka disappearing into some weird light some time back."

The boys were staring at him with surprise when Sai recovered and asked, "Right, and you never thought to ask them about this?"

Shrugging, Kensuke acted cool as he told them, "I didn't have any evidence, and I know that without any evidence, I wouldn't get anything out." He then broke the cool act by shouting at Touji, "But you! Why didn't you tell me any of this?!"

Holding his palms out to defend himself, the jock replied, "I only just found out a few days ago, and it's been hectic."

Chuckling, Sai shook his head and told Kensuke, "Relax, we're going to let you in on everything now. Friends don't keep important information from each other."

Raising a brow, the four-eyed stooge didn't see that Sai had opened a portal behind him until he was pushed through. Shinji looked at the tech Avatar as they also walked through, with Touji reluctantly following them through. On the other side of the portal, Kensuke was staring at awe at the high-tech terminals that surrounded him.

"Touch anything and you die," Sai told Kensuke. Setting his bag down, Keevan went to the kitchen to prepare some tea. Meanwhile, the four-eyed stooge had turned to his friends and was firing off questions in quick succession. Each was answered in turn and he was introduced to the other Avatars as they checked the commotion that was going on.

Meanwhile

Seated upon a bench in the park, a silver-haired boy sat, humming happily to himself. He watched the people pass on by with bright red eyes and gave grins and friendly nods to them as they passed. It took him some time, but he was now instigated at Nerv in Tokyo-3.

The cause for him being sent here at this point was because the Avatars had messed up the schedule for the Angels so greatly. Seele had decided to send him early on, but because their scenario was messed up it took them some time to create some false identification so that no red flags would be raised with Nerv.

Hearing his cell ringing, Kaworu ceased his humming and pulled it out. Taking a look at the caller ID, he flipped it open and greeted with a polite hello. After listening for a moment, he gave a confirmation and cut the connection.

"I wonder," the silver-haired boy wondered aloud to himself, "what will it be like to meet these unusual Lilims?"

Sensing something to his left, he turned his head and spotted a girl dressed in a school uniform staring at him. Glaring might actually be a better term for the way she looked at him. He smiled, for Kaworu knew who she was, and what her role was in Gendo's plans.

He gave a courteous wave and a smile before he turned and walked away. After a few moments, he felt her presence move in an opposite direction from him.

The Next Day

"I think letting Kensuke in on us was a mistake," Keevan said as the bespectacled boy continued to bug Sai as they all walked to school together.

Asuka rolled her eyes as she replied, "The four-eyed stooge is annoying, but as long as it's someone else…"

Holding her hand, Shinji chuckled as he tried to defend his friend, "He's not always that bad. Kensuke did say that he was going to keep quiet around other people."

Touji and Hikari were behind them as they looked back at Sai and Kensuke. The four-eyed annoyance was pestering the computer specialist with a torrent of questions that grated his ears.

"Eh, let's leave them be," the jock said, turning his eyes back to in front of him, "Those two geeks can talk techno back there."

He grimaced as Hikari dug her elbow into his ribs, a reprimanding look in her eyes. The others chuckled as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Behind them, Sai was feeling anything but humor as Kensuke continued to babble on.

"Have you ever been to an alternate version of this world? Oh, what am I like? I bet I was a great Eva pilot right?"

Groaning, Sai covered his face and silently begged to whatever deity was in existence on this plane of reality to save him. It was nonstop questions almost ever since Kensuke had been shown the secret, and he was silently plotting multiple murders.

The questions began to slow as they neared the school. Although the bespectacled boy wanted more answers, he remembered his promise not to speak of it to others. However, that didn't stop him from texting Sai. Every. Single. Minute.

I swear I'm going to rip out his computer's CPU and just…

Before his thoughts could finish processing, the teacher spoke up with an announcement of a new student. Catching the pilot's expressions, he shook his head and shrugged bemusedly. He didn't think that there was going to be a new student, and it certainly wouldn't be an Avatar.

The teacher, a substitute for the still recovering Iak, said, "Please welcome your new classmate."

The door slid open an in stepped a slender boy with pale skin and gray hair. In her window seat, Rei stiffened slightly. If one were to say something, it would be that Rei would be doing the equivalent of glaring at the new kid. Yet there was no one to say, because everyone was staring at the odd new kid.

"Greetings," he said with a grin, "My name is Kaoru Nagisa. It's a pleasure to join this class."

He then bowed to the class. Instructed by the teacher, Kaoru took a seat next to Asuka. Although she gave him a friendly smile, the red-head could not help but feel as though there was something very strange about the boy.

In their seats, both Keevan and Sai shared a look before the class returned to their lecture.

After School

Silently weeping, Sai dragged his feet as Kensuke trailed behind him, still firing off a dozen questions a minute. He had been 'volunteered' to escort the four-eyed boy home. It was a majority vote; the reason: They didn't want him around the base.

He knew the reason, but he cursed the others in every language that he knew after he dropped Kensuke off at his apartment complex.

"Finally free from him," Sai cried out with joyous relief. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his cell when he heard footsteps behind him

"Damn it Aida," he began warningly, "If you ask one more stupid thing-"

"Then may I ask you something?"

Standing there, hands in his pockets and a grin on his face was Kaoru. His threat dying on his tongue, Sai pushed his phone back into his pocket and turned completely to face him.

"Alright," he said blandly, "What is it?"

Still smiling, the pale boy stepped up to Sai's face, and then asked his question, "You are not of this realm. For what reason have you come?"

"Because," Sai responded simply.

Chuckling, Kaoru said, "So because you can, you do this."

"Do you know for what your purpose you were made for?" Sai asked.

"I do," the angel replied, "I am destined to either end the human race, or to die so that they may continue."

Shifting his feet, Sai then told him, "You don't have to do this. You are a being of free will; we are the agents of the same thing. We can help you change."

Still having a pleasant smile on his face, Kaoru turned around and began to walk away. As he left, the angel leaves Sai with his own opinion.

"I know I have a choice. And I have chosen to do what it is that I desire."

As with that, Kaoru disappeared into the alleys of Tokyo-3. Sighing slightly, Sai turned around and pulled out his cell and activated his portal. Within moments, he was back at base.

That Night

An emergency meeting was declared. At the moment, only the Avatars were awake. The pilots and others had gone to bed.

Speaking up first, Cairn asked the question that was hanging in the air, "So, what now?"

"Well," Hunter said, scratching his chin, "We could try to get him over to our side."

Waving the idea aside, Sai told him, "Already tried it. Remember, he's the one angel with the most freedom. And he wants to do his job."

"Scrap that idea then," Shuri-Shara said, "He's most likely to be recruited. So we should tell Nerv."

"Gendo at least," Rikku added, "Remember, this is his scenario."

"What are the probable reactions to him getting killed now?"

Everyone took a few moments to look at Kaitos and think on his unusual query. Hunter was the first to reply.

"Not likely to have possible repercussions," he scratched his head, "Though there's the flipside that things will turn out better."

The youngest Avatar spoke up, "But he hasn't done anything. And he said that he would do what he wanted to do, and that doesn't mean he'll do anything detrimental."

"I don't like this," the crippled Avatar said with a cough, "There are too many variables. We can't make a safe move without knowing what could possibly happen."

"Then we will simply observe."

They all looked up at Iak, who up to this point had been silent, as he continued, "It's a delicate situation. However, remember that our jobs are supposed to be uncertain. Our lives and those around us are variable, so we shall allow time to flow and then we will do what we do best."

"We improvise," Hunter declared with a smirk, "well, I suppose that's that."

With that, the Avatars split up and then went to bed to await the mysteries of the next day. What they did not realize, was that the next day would be the weirdest, and probably the worst day for the otherworlders possible.

Thank you all for reading! Remember, there's another chapter, so please read and review! Oh, and there's the new Christmas fic I got out, please check it out!

Later!