Chapter 2- Plunging Part 2

Rei took the liberty of sitting down at the dinning table while Misato was away. She gazed around the apartment, enjoying the sheer size of it. Her old one was so small and compact and her new one so empty that this one was just right. Her gaze fell momentarily to Asuka's door and before she could look away it opened. Rei stood up to be polite to her host as soon as she exited the angry teen's room.

Misato was gazing at the floor, wishing there was more she could do. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply to calm herself down before looking to Rei.

"Let's go for a walk. We can talk, pick up Shinji, and go out to dinner," she said, voice soft and a slight, kind smile on her face. Misato looks back to Asuka's room, and sighs, running a hand through her hair.

"Yes, that sounds good," Rei said. "But what about your cold?"

Is that concern in her voice? Misato thought for a moment in disbelief. Rei was not supposed to show these emotions, at least not in theory. Then again it was only a theory, right? People could disprove them; people did it all the time. It was just so hard to believe that this empty shell of a person was showing an emotion and not knowing what it was. No wonder she had questions.

Misato came back and smiled brightly. "That is why some person with no life created Tylenol and pocket tissues," she says with a nod.

Misato takes two Tylenol with a swig of beer and stuffs a couple of packs of pocket tissues wherever they will fit.

The two head for the door, putting their shoes on, Misato chattering away about nothing. Pen Pen comes out and looks to Misato questioningly.

"Don't worry Pen Pen. I'll bring you back something," Misato, says to reassure the penguin. "Oh, and don't get to close to Asuka."

They leave, Pen Pen left behind to fear for his life.

Shinji was kept longer then expected. Apparently his father wanted to talk to him about something. Asuka had left in a hurry after being called out of tests only a half an hour after they got there. He would have talked to her but she started to yell at him in German and Japanese mixed. Two languages at once was almost as hard to understand as one, so he caught none of it.

As he got changed, he thought about all of the things his father may want to talk to him about. Maybe they were disbanding NERV? Not likely. Maybe he just wanted to know how Shinji was? Even less likely then disbanding NERV.

He ran some warm water over his face from the sink and looked in the mirror. Why was he even here? Oh yeah, because his so called father summoned him here two years about.

Now being 16 maybe Gendo wanted his son to go away? Highly likely. Gendo seemed to like to erase any memories of his life before his wife's death, including Shinji. Unfortunately he needed Shinji to pilot Eva Unit 1 which ironically was theorized to contain his mother's ego.

Shinji continued to think about all of this. Would he leave if ask to? No. He loved someone for the first time in his life. But who? He love Misato like a second mother, but he would never tell her that. Asuka was a pain in the ass sister, but loved like a sister nonetheless. Who else was there?

A certain crimson eyed girl that's who. He knew all about the dummy plug and how they created Rei, but still he loved her for her. She was different, not as conceded too difficult as the others. Quiet but assertive to who she could be, determined also. Who would not love that?

He opened the locker room door and started for his dad's empty office. On the way, other officials of NERV were whispering and he could've sworn he heard Asuka's name multiple times. As he passed the control room Akagi Ritsuko came out.

"Oh Shinji!" she said a bit surprised. "Isn't the exit in the other direction? Your testing is done for the day."

"Yes Dr. Akagi," he replies to her nodding, "but my father actually wants to talk to me."

"Oh. I wouldn't get my hopes up to far," she says somberly.

"Yeah, I figured that," he says waving bye and continuing on. He passes person after person, kind of getting sick of the constant whispering.

He reached his father's office and opened the door without even knocking. He is rude to me; I can be just as rude back, Shinji thinks with a slight smirk. Gendo is sitting there in his usual position, almost looking bored. He removed one hand from his normal position and waved his son coldly forward. Shinji gulped, straightened his stance, and carefully stepped forward to the man he called father.

"Hello Shinji," Gendo said.

"Hello father," Shinji replies as nicely as possible. "Why am I here?"

"I wish to temporarily change your living position."

"Why? I mean Asuka has gotten better and Misato is a like a sister," he lies. Shinji dare not speak of his thought of Misato as a mother towards Gendo.

"Ex-Pilot Shoryu will be leaving for Germany in a few days," he says. "She will be, irritable, no, that is not strong enough a word. More like revengeful towards you for the next few days. The less contact the better."

"She has gotten that bad, huh?"

"Yes. Now, you have a choice to live with Ayanami or me," he says getting to the point. "Ayanami herself has been relocated to a better apartment due to code violations in her building. She seems to be having trouble adjusting. Others have said that you two have a platonic relationship, so maybe you can help."

"Has Rei got space for me to sleep?" Shinji asks wanting to help his friend.

"Yes," Gendo replies, looking impatiently at the boy.

"Fine, I will stay with Ayanami then," he says hastily to his father.

"Fine. I believe Major Katsuragi is waiting outside," Gendo says, turning his chair away from his son.

Shinji was going to say something, but decided against it. He turned around and walked away, out the door to go find Misato and tell her the news.

Once Shinji leaves Gendo bends his head back looking at the ceiling.

"Where did I go wrong?" he asks no one in particular there, but someone in his heart.

NeoAthena: Thank-you to everyone who has reviewed so far. You guys are the reason I am getting these chapters out so quick. The spelling errors in the previous chapters were actually from spell check and I am sorry about them, I will look closer from now on. I don't own Evangelion.