Author's Notes: Mayumi is actually from a game called '2nd Impression' for the Sega Saturn, of all things.

Popkov – actually, since she was Leliel, her infatuation started when Shinji and his eva got trapped inside her in the original timeline ;-p make of that what you will

Chapter 15 -- Elementary, My Dear Fuyutski

The small hillock the three pilots previously used for stargazing was now quite crowded, but atleast it was as peaceful as when the three original pilots first reclined thereon. Some sort of unspoken truce was apparently in effect, and no one was willing to be the first to bring turmoil to such a nice location. Shinji took a sip from his canned tea, his heart fairly glowing.

"Hey," Fate said happily, "let's all tell a little story about how and when we each first fell in love with Shinji!"

Oh well, so much for the peace.

The boy spewed his tea and fell into a choking fit that caused Rei to sit up in alarm.

"Do you require CPR, Pilot Ikari?" she asked, concern on her porcelain features.

"Like hell!" Asuka exclaimed. "You're just looking for an excuse to..."

"If I wanted to give him 'that' kind of CPR, I would not make an excuse," the albino retorted, pounding the boy on the back until he got his breath back.

"Well, to be fair, if someone needed CPR," Hikari explained a little sheepishly, "they probably wouldn't be able to answer your question."

Rei sat there for a moment, then raised a finger. "He could have nodded."

"Alright, Ayanami," Mana said with a little smile, "we all admit you weren't trying to kiss Shinji."

Silence, and a multitude of blushing ensued. Shinji had to stop himself from humming happily, which might have caused a fistfight to break out.

"I don't admit it," Asuka said sulkily, and a fistfight broke out. The scuffle quickly enveloped the area where Shinji was lying. When the smoke cleared, the boy was covered in footprints and everyone was again lying down on the small hillock, their clothes messed up..

"Why does love hurt so much?" he complained, sweat-dropping.

"BAKA!" All but two of the girls hit him on the head. I leave it to you to guess which two didn't hit him.

"That does it!" Shinji exclaimed, turning on his Charm and hoping that would improve things. It did, but not in the way he expected. This time when the smoke cleared (and he had turned off his Charm again), his clothes were ripped and torn, and the girls were all blushing to various degrees while glancing at each other with suspicion.

"...oh, I give up," Shinji sighed, putting his hands behind his head and closing his eyes.

"That is a good healthy attitude to have, Shin-chan," Rei commented, a content look on her face. Asuka began to growl.

Some time later after a nice peaceful silence, Rei answered Fate's original question. "I recognized my feelings in the original time-line when he rescued me after the fifth Angel attack." There was a chorus of happy little noises at such a cute moment.

"For me it was when we piloted together in my Unit-02 against the sixth Angel!" Asuka exclaimed proudly.

"Really?!" Shinji asked in surprise.

"...say one more word and I'll kill you slowly," the redhead threatened in an undertone.

"...yes ma'am!" Shinji said a little too quickly, then yelped in pain when she swatted him.

"What about you, Mana?" Hikari asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh," the girl fingered her white hat which was lying on her stomach. "That's kind of embarrassing. The Shinji I fell in love with ran off to comfort Asuka who was about to commit suicide." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "But the Shinji in this reality seems nice," she added quickly. Asuka waited for the boy to make a comment that would seal his fate, but he seemed to have wised up for once, and restrained himself.

"Well," Fate finally spoke, "technically I fell in love with him outside of time, and so I've got you all beat."

There was a moment of silence before Hikari spoke. "How does that work anyway?"

"Actually you're all forgetting Mayumi," Mana said before another fistfight could break out. They all turned to the black-haired girl who pushed her index fingers together and smiled a little.

"...he-he stepped into my shadow," she said almost too softly to hear, and everyone cooed again.

"Hey, I want a more clear explanation," Asuka sniped.

"Okay." By way of answer, Mayumi reached over and touched her finger to the top of the girl's head.

"What? What was..." the redhead's exclamatory remark was interrupted by a surprised screech, and then the girl disappeared into a spreading pool of blackness with a 'ploop.' The patch of blackness shrank away, and a small zebra-striped sphere appeared over Mayumi's head.

"Is... is that safe?" Hikari asked in a small voice.

"...umm," Mayumi shut her eyes and the sphere popped, depositing Asuka into her arms. The redhead looked around frantically, regained her bearings, then went for the girl's throat with a shriek of rage. Mayumi let out a 'yeep!' and scrambled behind Shinji, who incidentally would not have provided much cover against a berserk Asuka. It was Fate and Rei who got hold of the redhead's arms in order to prevent a blood-bath, while the black-haired girl huddled behind the boy, her arms around him. By the time Asuka calmed down and looked back towards Shinji, the boy and Mayumi were gone, and an innocuous-looking zebra-sphere was floating away down the street.

"That's it, she dies!" Asuka took off after it, and the other girls took off after Asuka.

Sub-Commander Fuyutski happened to be in a laundromat at the time, reading a newspaper and waiting for his civvie clothes to finish drying. He glanced over at the timer, which currently read 00:01:48 and was counting down. Two minutes and I'm home free. Hello, three-day-weekend... He was about to go back to his paper when he noticed the commotion outside the window. A strange-looking ball floated by, followed by a group of girls among whom he recognized the First and Second Child. I don't want to know, the old man wisely decided, quickly lifting his newspaper. I don't want to know, I don't want to-