Man, I really didn't update this for over a month and a half? I really have no excuse for this.

I did some number-crunching and realized I'm actually ahead of schedule in terms of chapter numbers. Originally I aimed for 26 chapters but now it looks like I'll go well into the thirties. This is quite a surprise for me as while writing Ascension, I always felt I was going too fast. On another note, anyone interested in a Gundam 00/To Aru Majutsu no Index crossover?

Ah, whatever; I'm pretty sure no one's particularly interested in my ramblings so on with the chapter.

CHAPTER 10
DOUBLE / TAKE
(part 1)

Shinji rolled her eyes in annoyance as yet another group of girls surrounded Asuka. It seemed as if every girl in the damn school was fawning after the redhead ever since his arrival a week ago.

It wasn't jealousy she felt or anything like that. Rather, she suspected the girls didn't know everything about his personality.

There was simply no way a sane person would behave like he did. While he was undeniably good (Shinji still found herself on the bottom of the list during synch tests), his experience was wasted on showing off and generally not taking anything seriously.

It annoyed her to no end.

The only thing that made her feel somewhat better was Misato's treatment of the boy. The older woman didn't approve of his behavior either. Even that man who escorted Asuka couldn't avoid Misato's wrath: Shinji once overheard the two having a heated exchange about Asuka's upbringing. The man immediately got Shinji's full attention when he talked about 'circumstances' and 'influence' about Asuka; Shinji decided to investigate those later. For now, she was occupied with what happened earlier.

She made some calculations after the last Angel battle. The Pacific Ocean the city was currently floating on is 165.2 million square kilometers wide, holding 622 million cubic kilometers of water. The chance of any object being in a specific square kilometer is 0.000000605327%; the chance of TWO objects being within the same square kilometer has more zeroes ahead of it than the number of fingers the girl had on her hands and feet. In other words, astronomically small.

So then how could an aquatic Angel be in the exact same square kilometer as the carrier group transporting an Evangelion?

From where Shinji looked at it, it was definitely more than a coincidence. That Angel knew where the fleet was, just like how earlier ones always found the city.

The question is: how?

Answer: there was something on the ship and in the city the Angels could track.

By extension, that answered Shinji's earlier suspicion about her presence on the fleet. Logic dictated NERV should keep all Evangelions combat-ready at all times which ran counter to her permission to accompany Misato without her Evangelion. Which meant the higher-ups knew that the Angel can track whatever was on the ship.

Shinji had two theories about the bait. Either it was Unit-02... or something else entirely.

If any ordinary people were to read Shinji's mind, they would certainly believe the girl was paranoid with a side-order of conspiracy theorist. She wouldn't exactly call herself paranoid; it was just precaution and foresight.

"So... what do you think?"

As soon as the hand touched her shoulder, Rei snapped. She grabbed the offending limb and yanked it hard enough to send the boy flying over her head, the wrist immediately dislocating with an audible crack. He didn't even have time to cry out in pain before he landed... but immediately afterward he couldn't make any sounds anymore as her heel came down on the exposed stomach.

While the boy tried to get back up with wheezing coughs, Rei could barely suppress the smirk that tugged on the corner of her mouth.

It didn't matter who or why; an inner, primal part of her greatly enjoyed the pain and suffering of others. It was the same part that felt just like home inside an Evangelion and the same part that made her opponents suffer before killing them.

Indeed, Rei had faint signs of being a sadist.

It wasn't something she picked up during the years. She was always like this: if someone offended her, she didn't yell at them or demand an apology. She simply slugged them just hard enough to avoid permanent injuries but at the same time cause as much pain as possible. Over time, people learned to avoid her which was fine; she didn't like crowds anyway.

In fact, it would be easier to list the things she DID like as that list would be infinitely shorter. She snapped very easily at trivial things people would just shrug at and ignore. Rei however wasn't ordinary. Her father knew this as well and avoided angering her whenever possible... not that she could ever be angry at him. For everyone else, there was one emotion Rei felt all the time: anger.

Pure, unbridled fury.

It wasn't directed at anyone in particular. She didn't have a reason to feel anger, yet she did anyway. It was another thing she was born with and got used to: being angry all the time. Anger management was a concept unknown to Rei.

There were, as expected, things that made her even angrier than normal. Such as someone wasting her time.

"Shit... that's gonna bruise..." – Asuka wheezed as he hauled himself up, wincing as his dislocated wrist positively screamed with pain. – "Jeez, I only asked to be buddies, you didn't have to hit me..."

"I am not interested." – she stated before leaving, the crowd of onlookers quickly parting for her in fear. This was something that helped her calm down somewhat as it meant she didn't have to brush up against and toss them out of the way.

No one touches her. Ever.

"YEOW! Gottverdammte Scheissekopf!" – Asuka swore loudly as Ritsuko relocated his wrist. After the little incident in the school, he was intent on going to the school infirmary but was interrupted by Section 2 agents who brought him into NERV's own facility. He didn't mind as it meant he could miss school – Asuka was just another teenager and if an opportunity to be absent from school presented itself, he was jumping for it.

That is, if said opportunity didn't mean as much pain as he was experiencing now.

"I hope that wasn't directed at me." – the woman quipped dryly, reaching for bandages.

"It wasn't." – he growled. – "Seriously, what the hell is her problem? I haven't said anything to her and she just goes and wipes the floor with me?" – He shook his head, wincing at the momentary flare of pain coming from where she was working. – "Jeez, what a bitch…"

"I'd keep it down if I were you. Do you want the Commander to hear you calling her daughter that?"

"I don't care."

"You should." – came the icy voice from the doorway. Both looked up to see none other than Gendo Ikari, flanked by two Section 2 gorillas as always. – "Pilot Soryu, I believe disciplinary actions will be necessary after your harassment of pilot Ikari today."

"What harassment? I was saying, I didn't do anything to her!" – the boy protested, almost hysterical.

"Your ignorance does not amuse me. See that it does not happen again or there will be… consequences." – the man warned before leaving.

Asuka kept staring at the door for more than a minute before deflating with a sigh. – "Alright, I give up. What the hell just happened?"

"It couldn't be helped. You had no way of knowing she's like that." – Ritsuko supplied. She never liked Rei; the animosity started before she even knew about the circumstances surrounding the girl and only intensified afterwards. With Asuka openly earning the Commander's wrath, she guessed she found a comrade.

"What do you mean, like that?"

"You see, Rei has… problems when it comes to unwanted physical contact." – That was true; even Section 2 was instructed to give her room at all times.

"Yeah, I noticed…"

"And of course he didn't even bother to ask me about this?" – Misato raged into her phone. Until Ritsuko called her, she was doing the least favorite part of her job: paperwork.

"Orders are orders. And you know what he's like with people who don't dance the way he pulls their strings." – the blonde said dryly. They both knew Section 2 monitored the phone call which is why Misato restrained herself from releasing a few choice expletives in Gendo Ikari's general direction after the man just gave her another thing to worry about.

"Yes, yes…" – she affirmed before another thought occurred to her. – "Shit, Shinji isn't gonna like this…"

Three hours later, said girl was climbing the stairs to the Katsuragi apartment. The rest of her day at school went surprisingly smoothly after that idiot Soryu disappeared somewhere. Shinji didn't know the details, only that he got taken away by black-clothed people after dozens of witnesses saw him getting his ass handed to him by Rei. The blue-haired girl sat the remaining classes with a surprisingly content and calm aura around her.

As far as Shinji was concerned, that was good. She didn't hate Rei; after the initial animosity, Shinji now knew Rei had her own problems. And the reason she remained a pilot instead of taking the easy way out in the first place was Rei: Shinji firmly decided she will look after her own family. Well, after Rei; that man was not entitled to be considered such by her.

Shinji wasn't dumb. In the years before, she searched pretty much anything she could to find any living relatives of hers. It's not as if she didn't like her former guardians (quite the contrary), she just wanted some reassurance she wasn't alone. No such luck.

So without any alternative, Rei seemed to be the only target for any familial feelings.

Even as she walked into the apartment, these feelings were the focus of her mind. That is, until the boxes stacked along the walls got her attention.

'Huh. Misato didn't tell me she ordered anything from abroad.' she thought as her eyes fell on the postal service logo. Shrugging, she walked to her room and slid open the door…

…only to see a certain redheaded boy hunched over the various pieces of female underwear on her bed.

Shinji's eyebrows twitched dangerously.

Asuka didn't even know what hit him before someone grabbed his shirt and roughly yanked him up before giving him a shove that sent him stumbling out of the room and into the corridor's wall.

"You mind telling me what you're doing here?" – the girl growled dangerously as she pinned his chest to the ground with a foot, both hands on her waist.

Asuka, for his part, was cursing the fact that she wasn't wearing a skirt. – "What did it look like? Getting your crap out of my room!"

She raised an eyebrow. – "Oh, really? And just what exactly makes you think that my room is also yours?"

"Commander's orders." – said Misato as she walked onto the scene. – "Long story short, the Commander assigned this apartment as his new living quarters due to 'discipline issues'." – She air-quoted that last part. – "Sorry, Shinji… I didn't have a say in this."

The girl promptly headbutted the nearest wall with just enough force to not hurt. – "This has got to be a joke…"

"It isn't, I'm afraid."

"Yeah, yeah…" – interjected Asuka impatiently. – "Can she get out of here now?"

"Not so fast, mister. Shinji will keep living here too." – the woman pointed out.

"Ah, for crying out loud!" – Shinji protested. – "The Commander can't possibly be this much of a jerk!"

Asuka immediately broke out into snickering at her comment. – "Anyway…" – he breathed as he forced his laugh under control. – "as I was trying to say, I got dibs on the larger room 'cause I'm the better pilot. It's kinda obvious."

"Damare, kusobaka! [Shut up, stupid shit!]" – Shinji snapped instantly. – "Don't think you'll just walk in here uninvited and behave like you own the place!"

The boy folded his arms. – "And I'm not gonna be talked down to by a little girl whose mouth is way bigger than her chest!"

THWACK!

"Say that again!" – she challenged, holding her hand ready for another slap.

"Oh, I will!" – he retorted, ignoring the stinging pain in his cheek.

Before things could escalate, Misato stepped in. – "That's enough, you two! Seriously, you're behaving like kids!"

"Uh, Misato? We are kids." – Shinji pointed out dryly.

The woman stood still for a while before sighing. – "…never mind. What I'm saying is, I'm not going to let you two knock this house down on each other so make nice."

The two teens glanced at each other then pointedly looked in opposite directions.

Later that day, as Shinji was about to shut the bathroom door behind her, she caught a glance of Asuka going for the kitchen. – "Hey." – she called after him.

"What?" – he called back, obviously not paying much attention.

"Just so we're clear… I catch you in my room playing with my underwear again and I'll nail your thing to your pants." – she warned.

Asuka grinned. – "Then I'll be fine as long as you don't catch me."

"Don't push it, Soryu." – she growled before slamming the door. As an afterthought, she locked it and hung a towel onto the handle to cover the keyhole as well.

Which is why the sound of her showering could obscure a soft curse from outside.