Chapter 18: Will We Value What We Proclaim?

A/N: Here's another "Thank You" for everyone, over the past week, this story has hit 100 followers from all around the world. Really happy to capture the attention of so many and I hope it continues to be that way. I look forward to hearing more from everybody and I hope the story continues to be investing.

What was turning out to be another boring Monday at NERV became the tranquil period Misato had been hoping for. She made her way through the halls with coffee in hand before finding the room housing the MAGI technicians. Before she could open the door on her end, she saw Aoi with a handful of folders in hand standing at attention as she saw Misato suddenly appear in front of her.

Aoi cleared her throat before greeting, "Major. I apologize, I was not expecting you."

Misato waved a hand, "It's fine Aoi. You got a minute?"

Adjusting the files in her hands, Aoi accepted, "I have to work through Professor Akagi's files but I can discuss with you in the meantime."

Stepping out of her way to let Aoi make her way into the halls, Misato accepted Aoi's request, "As always."

Aoi and Misato made their way into a nearby empty room. Much like the last time they spoke, Aoi laid out the folders before looking through the multiple papers that Misato was unaware of. Fortunately for her, she knew Aoi would continue to multitask and let her make the comments she wanted.

Misato began, "So yesterday I picked up Asuka. You really did a good job on her."

Adjusting her glasses, Aoi accepted the praise, "Easily done."

"It's like she's actually a different person now. I cant believe what you and the others pulled off."

"Truth be told, I was skeptical of what we could accomplish as well. Fortunately, we have been able to make the pilot of Unit-02 potentially better than she ever might have been."

"You really think so? Just so you know Shinji is pretty creeped out. Asuka got all lovey dovey on him and he's not exactly ecstatic about it."

The observation about Shinji's behavior caused Aoi's right eye to squint but kept herself focused as she dismissed, "That is unfortunate. A boy his age should be more eager to such advances."

While Misato could not say she was surprised by how dismissive Aoi was, the suggestion that Shinji should have been open to the idea left her wondering what her real intentions might have been. Placing a hand on the table, Misato pointed out, "Not something I thought I'd hear from you..."

Aoi's eyes shut themselves before she slammed her hands and asked, "It's true isn't it? That boys are the ones to instigate advances in the first place? It's only natural for them to want it when they receive the offer themselves. If Shinji is unwilling to accept them then it sounds as though he may have issues."

As soon as Aoi finished her venting, Misato tried to calm her reminding, "Aoi, it's nothing that serious. You don't have to be angry about this."

Aoi readjusted her glasses as she realized she allowed her emotions to spill over again and apologized, "Forgive me Major. It is nothing to worry about."

Uneasy with the recent reveal, Misato tried to lighten the mood by asking, "Your recent tangent or Asuka's behavior?"

Reaching for another file to look through, Aoi dismissed, "Both. They are children Misato, they will have their difficulties. Let them work it out and we will all be better off for it."

"I'm not going to let this go if I have a chance to fix it."

"If you remain insistent, I'm afraid there is little else I can assist you with."

"Maybe telling me how you pulled it off would be a start."

There was the hook Misato had been hoping to use. An opportunity to find a way to make Aoi reveal what she did to cause such a tremendous change in Asuka. If she was fortunate she would not have to answer for or imply much to make it clear why this had to be done.

Aoi raised her eyes to Misato as she disappointed her anticipation, "If that is what you came to me for, I'm afraid you will be disappointed. Me and the others are expected to hold back such classified secrets."

Shaking her head, Misato warned, "I don't see how you think it can stay that way. People are noticing how different Asuka is already. This sort of thing doesn't stay locked up forever."

Aoi had a peculiar way of defending her privacy as she told her, "It has been withheld from the public since this branch's creation and will remain so with proper cooperation."

Misato recognized the inconsistency to such a hidden part of NERV as before pointing out, "There's no way that's right. If you really had it for that long it would have been used at least a few times over already."

"It is not our intention to force children to be like Asuka. Only for those who desperately need it."

"And Rei and Shinji never showed any need for it?"

"They both made their own choices and they remain in better psychological condition. If we had not found Asuka sooner, we might not have even had the chance to test for the first time."

Another alarm went off in Misato's mind as she recognized how this method used on Asuka was apparently never used before. She would be lying if she said she had complete trust in NERV, especially with recent developments, but seeing how far down the rabbit hole she had gone was becoming an even more serious matter than she imagined. The fact she hadn't already met Kaji's fate somehow made her even more uneasy. Uneasy enough that she felt herself trembling for some reason. She had been able to take such revelations before without being intimidated but there seemed to be nothing about this one that could have shaken her any more than she was.

Pointing to what seemed to be an absurdity in the scenario gave Misato the grounds to ask, "Test? So you really never tried it before?"

Aoi bit her lip before immediately answering, "It was considered but we allowed our better judgment to prevail."

Seeing Aoi react as she continued her work was the only indication Misato had that her prying was getting somewhere. Anxious to see that she was anywhere close made her resort to one subject she did not hope to exploit on someone else. "So the rumors are true huh? We just don't have psychiatric help around here because we really do just wait for people to go off the deep end."

Despite her best efforts, Aoi was unable to continue focusing on her work. She clenched her hands into fists to hold back her frustration before explaining, "A rather extreme evaluation. If we allowed our patients to go so far, we would not have the grounds necessary to test them. It was clear that the pilot of Unit-02 needed help and we gave her what she needed."

It was clear that Aoi was being forced into questioning herself in ways she did not want to. The exchange had clearly become more than she was willing to accept and risked turning the conversation in another direction that neither of them could benefit from. Misato could not afford to be considerate for her feelings when such a serious subject was at hand.

To Aoi's explanation, Misato emphasized, "And now you just know for sure it's going to work the next time you do it. I thought you might have had better judgment about that to."

"I understand that you are desperate to understand our methodology Major, but you are very close to breaching your clearance. Whatever you think of me, I don't want to make you hold responsibility for these actions."

"If you say so..."

"You have your doubts about what you hear?"

Prepared to leave Aoi to herself, Misato turned around and explain, "I hoped you might understand that I'm their guardian and I have to worry about what's happening to them."

Aoi was not finished with Misato as she told her, "I do Misato. I want you to be in the best of spirits as well. That is why I will tell you one thing."

While Misato remained faced away from Aoi, she was unable to tell if she was close to breaking down as she was before but relieved that she did not have to meet her face to face. Her approach only gave a few extra surface details at best and made her position worse at the same time. She couldn't imagine that this was causing her to feel more tired or weak than usual but there was a weakness that Aoi was able to exploit.

Aoi stepped towards Misato as she tapped the top of her coffee cup and told her, "Limit yourself to two 12-ounce cups of coffee every day. It will do the most favors for your health."

Forcing herself to maintain a look of confidence despite the unknown weakness in her, Misato picked up her cup before preparing to leave, "So that's all you can tell me huh?"

Aoi loomed over the field beneath her as she explained, "I do want to remain a friend Major. It is important for you to know that your increased urination isn't being caused by your coffee consumption."

The ominous warning became too much for Misato to want to tackle further as she turned away and told her, "Don't let me keep you from your work."

Stepping away without a parting word, Misato felt herself disappointed that she would not have any new information about what happened to Asuka. After sharing some of her own secrets and troubles she hoped the MAGI technicians would have been more cooperative with her but found them just as elusive as the rest of NERV. She had come close to revealing everything she knew about the Instrumentality plan but either her current fatigue or fears about what revealing such information would do made her second guess the idea.

As she made her way to the coffee machine, Misato cursed, "You care that much huh? Maybe you could try and not be like every other God damn secret keeper in this place. Don't understand why you couldn't be any different."

As an act of defiance to Aoi's indifference to her plight, Misato placed her coffee cup into the machine for the sixth time that day. From her desire to overcome what fatigue had hold of her and frustration she had to deal with, Misato became desperate to have a feeling of authority again. Such a hope was only possible right now by being forced to be ready for the next moment she would lead NERV against another invading Angel.

"Gotta say it's pretty different to have you always coming to me Shinji."

Kensuke and Shinji were on the rooftop if their school once again having lunch after a very difficult morning. While Shinji could not say that his life was free of worries before, the arrival of Asuka last night was enough to make him feel his life was about to be sent through another series of hardships. With that, he turned to one of the few people he believed to be trustworthy.

Shinji agreed, "I don't know who else I can talk to. I'm getting really confused."

Raising his arms in a show of authority, Kensuke assured, "Well after everything I've been trying to unravel, maybe your mere mortal problems will be a refresher to me."

Uninterested in his jests, Shinji got to the point, "You saw Asuka this morning right?"

Kensuke thought back a few hours as he first arrived to school before remembering, "Oh yeah. Sure seemed different. Didn't even glare at anybody today."

"It's worse than that. She really thinks I love her."

The detail made Kensuke widen his eyes before turning to ask, "You're serious? She actually came out wanting to get all over you?"

Shinji nodded to confirm, "Really, she did."

Kensuke whistled before pointing out, "You just became a real Kyosuke Kasuga. How do I get to be in your shoes?"

Irritated, Shinji countered, "Kensuke!"

Realizing the boundary he overstepped made Kensuke apologize, "Uh right... sorry. So last time you saw her you said she was being taken to have her mind fixed or whatever right?"

Hopeful the conversation would remain this grounded, Shinji thought back to when Asuka was captured before confirming, "Someone named Kaede said she was going to make her better. She doesn't seem sad about Kaji anymore but this is just a bizarre change for her."

"Even if that was her, there's no way she'd suddenly start acting this say is there?"

"Have you ever met Kaede?"

"Seen her a few times. Never got a chance to talk to her but she's the one who worked on Asuka right?"

"Did Kaji ever talk about her?"

"He didn't seem to get a lot of dirt on any personnel other than the people involved with this Third Impact deal. If she was able to mess with Asuka enough then her information probably isn't public."

"Well what do I do now? How did all of this happen anyway?"

Kensuke scratched his head as he reflected, "This probably isn't some elaborate joke from her, I don't think we told any..."

Kensuke trailed off his thought before his snapped his head up in realization. Shinji was still lost to the observation as he asked, "Told any what?"

Shinji found himself in frightening territory as he heard Kensuke point out, "Kaworu... Kaworu must have met her."

"What does Kaworu have to..." Just like Kensuke, Shinji realized what he was referring to. Desperation to hide Shinji's secret made both boys resort to an answer that came back to bite Shinji harder than he expected possible. Kaworu was barely known to both of them but in a very brief period extracted information that had consequences that brought him to this point.

Shinji tried to comprehend how this could be the case as he formed a new question, "Why? Why would he do this?"

Kensuke looked down at the ground before determining, "He probably really believed us and wanted to remind Asuka. I didn't think he would have cared that much."

"Now it's all my fault..."

Kensuke tried to keep him from sulking further as he reminded, "Hey I said it too. You should be yelling at me for this."

"If I had just told him we wouldn't be here."

"Who's to say it wouldn't be worse?"

"You think Kaworu would actually try to use it against me?"

"Well... I don't know... I mean he was trying to pry you for a reason right?"

"Do you think he might be an Angel?"

Surprised by the suggestion Kensuke asked, "Where did you get that idea?"

"I heard Misato talking about this kind of rumor going around NERV. You don't think this is what he wants do you?"

Shaking his head, Kensuke tried to assure, "He's trying to be a pilot. He can't be trying to do anything else or he would have done it already."

As much as Shinji wanted to believe that his problems could be easily solved by some extraordinary circumstance, he found he was left to speculate this on his own. There was no reason for him to believe that anyone, other than the old Asuka, would want to inflict some sort of harm upon him. Even if Kaworu had such ill intent, there were more direct methods for him to use than doing so in manipulating Asuka.

Admitting his theory was founded on nothing, Shinji told Kensuke, "I don't like this. It just doesn't seem right for Asuka to be like this."

While Kensuke had his own feelings about Asuka changing so much, he prepared himself as he proposed, "We got to figure out how to get Asuka out of your hair now."

Returning his gaze to Kensuke, Shinji asked, "How can we do that if she's not the same person anymore?"

"I'm not totally sure, but I have a few ideas that might be worth trying..."

What Misato wanted to be an act of defiance was instead the cause of her rushing to the bathroom in the middle of her bridge duties. She could not determine why she was rushing to the bathroom more times than ever before and still maintaining a sense of fatigue from earlier but remained desperate for what relief she could get. Even having rid herself of whatever might have caused her system to become more active, Misato still felt a sense of dread weighing on her from how the day had recently progressed.

Kyoya had tasked her with discovering how the MAGI technicians were so successful at making Asuka who she was now and did not seem to even make an inch of progress. For such a serious part of NERV as this one, Misato felt she should not have been surprised that it would be so secretive. Once the day was over though she knew that Kyoya would not be pleased to discover that her attempt ultimately went nowhere. To add to the weakness she was suffering at the moment, Misato knew that her day would only continue to get worse as she had to live with not knowing what interrupted her last night.

Keeping herself balanced outside the bathroom, Misato heard, "Not in the best of spirits today Major?"

Misato turned to her left to see a man she recognized from the Technology Development Department. She sighed before greeting back, "Hey Hajime. No Angels but yeah it's been a difficult day so far."

Standing in front of the wall across from her, Hajime told her, "Word about your recent exchange with Mogami had already been making its rounds."

Misato recoiled as she heard Hajime bring up the recent encounter. While Kyoya said that he had ears everywhere to see how she was doing, there was no way for her to know if Hajime was even related to such a hidden investigation. Trying to avoid addressing the subject, Misato asked, "Ah shit. Aoi didn't want to keep that one among her friends?"

Hajime revealed more of his intent by pointing out, "You think anything stays secret for long? You're right though. You have to be worried about Unit-02's pilot."

The last point about Asuka caught Misato's attention and made her shift her gaze from right to left to make sure she was not being watched. While unsure about bringing up everything directly, Misato tried to see how much Hajime knew by eluding to the subject, "You... know much?"

Recognizing Misato's concern, Hajime brought a hand to his mouth answering, "Not quite. But it looks like you managed to prove there's at least the foundation of some fishy business happening here."

While thankful to see Hajime pick up on her caution, Misato struggled to keep her irritation of NERV's more obscure nature by pointing out, "You just now noticed? This place is about trying to use old biblical texts to find out what's going to try and kill us."

"At least you managed to stay on board despite the premise. We've been needing people like you to help us out."

"I don't get what people you're talking about."

Hajime paused before checking to his left to see no one watching them continuing, "Me and a few others have seen how the kids have been treated since the Third Angel came down here. It's borderline abuse what they're doing here. We want to make that public somehow."

While it was true that worker satisfaction was not brought into full consideration, Misato could tell there were more than a few areas where NERV was built on a shaky foundation. Being the only chance humanity had against the extraterrestrial threat was the one thing that kept her from considering an immediate revolt against what had happened so far. Her best chance to stop Third Impact from occurring was to find out who was working with Kyoya but could not find herself finding someone like Hajime so conveniently among those ranks.

Still skeptical of who might be involved, Misato remained on the defensive by pointing out, "I don't think I've seen too many people here show any worry about their wellbeing."

Hajime smiled agreeing, "I don't blame you. Not the sort of thing we should be discussing. Not without ears elsewhere."

Misato paused as she considered Hajime's allusion. It was a similar suggestion that Kyoya made last night but could not decide if it was enough to assume Hajime was in league with him. Kaji's death still on her mind and the threat of NERV's hidden truths being uncovered right under their noses made her winder if there was any way that she was about to be somehow tricked just when she least expected it.

Staying as cautious as she could be, Misato pointed out, "Well... Say you did have ears somewhere else. Must mean you have some idea what the MAGI technicians have been up to."

Hajime smiled and confirmed, "We've seen what happened to Soryu. Getting a hold of what they did to her would be all we needed."

"Assuming you can fight the idea they saved her life by doing this."

"It's not like you agree with the idea right? Besides, this is perfect grounds to show people this was done against her will. Nobody will be on NERV's side."

Misato gritted her teeth trying to keep herself from voicing absolute disbelief for what seemed to be too convenient to be set up by Kyoya. Trying to find the thin line where she could continue playing along with Hajime's premise, she looked to her side again as she reminded, "Guess you could say I'm still a bit on edge about this. Really I'm not sure about whose ears I'm reaching right now."

Turning to his left to see people headed his way, Hajime parted from Misato and continued his conversation across from her, "That's a good attitude. Just know you can trust me and the others in Development. I'm sure you and Mitsuru are already on good terms right?"

Seeing themselves more likely to be exposed of conspiracy, Misato pointed to Hajime as she warned, "You tell anybody about this, I will know."

"I'm surprised you don't have a gun pointed at me."

"It's not like I made any new big reveals. None of them want to tell me anything."

"No doubt about that. Then again, the next Angel attack might be an opportunity."

Since it was the only subject that would keep her original intent intact, Misato pointed out, "For caring so much you seem pretty okay with using them."

"How else is it going to work? Just keep an eye on them and see if you can get any closer to them. It's got to be possible to get in their heads."

"Point taken... I hope you're ready to do some serious reporting by the time it's all done."

"I've got my pencils ready."

Hajime turned away from Misato to make his way down the halls while the gathering of technicians with a few familiar faces among them. Key among them was Satsuki while they parted away to let her find her own way through the NERV's base. Despite being on good drinking terms with her, Misato could not bring herself to assume she would somehow be a helpful addition to the web she found herself trapped in.

She was forced to keep herself from saying anything about the subject as soon as Satsuki asked her, "So what were you and Hajime talking about just now?"

Misato cleared her throat before answering, "Oh, just work. He told me he was worried about the kids and he thinks he knows better than some of us."

"I honestly would have expected you to be searching for Mitsuru before anyone else."

"Yeah, me and Hajime are heads and we have important things about NERV to manage."

"You should be concerned about your own wellbeing as well you know."

"This job could have fooled me. I thought I was supposed to be working day and night."

"Everyone is worried about how you're behaving, you should consider how it affects everything you do."

Misato watched Satsuki leave as she admitted, "I'm really going to end up being a burden to somebody aren't I?"

"You seriously think this will work?"

Kensuke reminded Shinji of his plan, "It's got to make perfect sense. If you just annoy her enough, she's got to go back to her old self. And you said it always seems to be when you're apologizing or somehow being better right?"

"It just doesn't seem right though."

"Hey are you trying to stick to Misato or are you thinking about switching up?"

Trying to get through to Shinji, Kensuke reminded, "Do you want to old Asuka back or not?"

Rephrased to such a scenario, Shinji found himself admitting, "Well I want the old-"

"There you go! Now get ready, she'll be here any second!"

As Shinji was pushed out to the entrance of the school, he did indeed see Asuka making her way out and preparing for the end of another day. The moment of truth for him to free himself of the guilt of commanding Asuka had to be coming. He was faced with quandaries about how he would want things to be different but there were so few where he felt as though his very character was being brought into question.

As Asuka made her way up to him, she greeted, "Hi Shinji. Was school good today?"

Clenching his fists in preparation for the confession, Shinji answered, "Uh yeah, hey listen Asuka, I'm sorry about how I acted last night."

'Sorry?! You're picking now?! And it's to say sorry?!'

"You have nothing to be sorry for Shinji. You must have been shocked to see I was still alive."

As much as Shinji did not want to admit it, he feared the worst might have happened to Asuka when he worried what might have caused her to disappear for as long as she did. Although not seeing the Asuka he remembered was the one outcome he did not anticipate to be possible. Even if he could make Asuka see what she had become, he realized that such a light challenge to her senses would not be enough.

He pressed on with his original intent by adding, "I'm sorry I tried to talk to you after Rei saved you."

'What the Hell are you up to? Stop apologizing to me!'

"I should be sorry Shinji. You came to me with good intentions and I hurt you for it."

It was not enough. Try as he might, Shinji could not find a way to bring the Asuka he knew back. This parody of what was supposed to be the girl he once knew was becoming more of a nightmare the more he stood alone in front of her and he had no assistance at his side.

Unsure what magic words would break her from the spell she was under, Shinji managed everything he could think of, "I'm sorry I'm not strong enough! I'm sorry for not telling you about Kaji! I'm sorry about letting Unit-02 being used! I'm sorry I didn't look for you! I'm sorry I didn't get what you wanted from me earlier!"

'What the Hell are you doing?! Stop trying to humiliate me! You're making it worse like you always do!'

"Shinji, you don't have to be sorry about everything."

Hearing her attempt at assuring him made Shinji recoil from his barrage of attempts to break through to Asuka. Where was the hotheaded girl who was prepared to show herself as better than anyone else? He knew she had to be holding herself back but could not tell if it was because she was forced to or because she chose what she was now.

Shinji managed his grievances as he looked down at the ground and asked, "I don't get it... Why are you still acting like this?"

Asuka made her way towards Shinji as she answered, "It's me Shinji. I just understand how wrong I was. I shouldn't have treated you so badly."

Shinji resorted to the last thing he hoped would work. Taking hold of her shoulders and pulling her towards him, he brought Asuka's lips to his. No interruptions, no hesitation, Asuka was simply left speechless at the lock she was in.

Kensuke looked on in bewilderment as he saw Shinji use what he considered to be the nuclear option. Under other circumstances he would have considered this to be the start of a controversy but was instead another attempt on his part to save someone he was about to fight alongside. He knew that if this didn't bring back the old Asuka then nothing would.

'Let me go! Stop this! Stop humiliating me! I'm not your toy!'

As if it was desperate to prove Kensuke correctness, the back of Asuka's mind railed against her second kiss with Shinji. Not only angered by not even asking her permission but by how he seemed to actually know what he was doing. This alone was enough to solidify what she had suspected was true. He did allow Misato to approach him and was given a few clues about how close.

Asuka was given room to breath as Shinji shakily parted from the kiss as she opened her eyes in a state of wonder. Wonder of how she was about to react an what Shinji's real intentions were. If she indeed might have been the desire of a completely changed boy.

'You... you better not... touch me again! Touch me and you'll wish you were never born!'

Asuka giggled before asking, "I knew you missed me. Don't you feel better being honest now?"

Seeing such a display made Shinji back away in terror. It didn't seem to be possible before but Asuka continued to defy everything he knew about her before this transformation she had undergone. His kiss was the closest he was willing to fo to actually violating her physically and she was handling it in a way that went against who she supposedly was.

'What? Are you even more spineless than I thought?! Now you just want to run away?! That's all you've ever been good at anyway!'

While the back if her mind continues to be held out of the conversation, Shinji clenched his fists as he managed, "Asuka... I..." There were no other options left to him. He was desperate to have the old Asuka back and he would willingly give up . He finally managed, "I've gone out with Misato."

Asuka remained smiling as she confirmed, "I know you must have."

Shinji looked up to force himself to see Asuka's persistent smile before asking, "You know what that means right?"

"Of course. She had to show you around town before I first met you. It's nothing."

"It is. I've gone further."

"How much further?"

'Shinji... whatever you're going to say... don't do it...'

"I've gone out on actual dates with her! I kissed her! I talk to her a lot! I had sex with her!"

If there was ever a moment in the lives of the two pilots where Shinji would have punched the wind out of Asuka's stomach it was in that moment. Her eyes widened as she heard this and her smile dropped but she forced herself to keep standing upright and shaking at the revelation. She struggled to say anything in response while Shinj was forced to look on in fear that he might have been successful bit not on a way he hoped.

'Shinji...'

Before Shinji took a step towards her, he found himself shocked by the next display Asuka had. The left corner of her mouth twitched up before she let out a giggle that grew into a full-blown fit of laughter. With none of the disgust or disdain he came to expect but as though for the first time ever he had told her a joke that she actually saw the humor behind.

"Asuka?"

Forcing herself to break the laughter, Asuka managed to deny, "Oh Shinji! You're so funny! You expect me to believe all of that?"

Shinji shook his head, "It's true. Really."

Asuka laughed even harder as she pointed to him and countered, "I know you're just having fun with me Shinji! There's no way any of that would ever happen!"

Her accusation made Shinji once again conflicted with where he was. He had for the first time of his own free will revealed how close he had come to Misato and he was met with cruel laughter from someone he had to work to find respect for. What should have broken all tension between both of them was instead met as just another trivial detail that made Asuka give a display of laughter he did not know he always feared.

'This is... such a... joke...'

Shinji turned around as he was forced to listen to more of the laughter. The moment he took a step away was when he heard Asuka ask, "Shinji? I didn't do anything bad did I?"

Stepping away, Shinji's head sunk as he told her, "Just forget it..."

Disappointed to see him leave, Asuka's face fell as she reached her hand out asking, "Shinji... Why are you running away?"

Shinji stomped before he made his final exclamation in preparation before he really did tum and told Asuka, "Shut up and leave me alone!"

The sight of him running away from her denial made Asuka step forward and call out to him, "I'll be home tonight Shinji. I'll make it up to you however you want me to."

Kensuke saw Shinji leaving as he was forced to consider everything that transpired. What he hoped would bring his friend salvation instead gave way to a one-sided argument neither side wanted. As much as he wanted to make his way over to him and assure him that he was in the right, he had come to know how ineffective the suggestion would be.

"Shinji..."

It was not every day that Shinji would do everything he could to help himself even against the dangers of an Angel but today was such a day. He hoped he would find the old Asuka ready to beat him up for what he had planned about was instead treated to a substantial change in her that no one was willing to explain. The idea was even more confusing to outside observers when it seemed she had transformed herself into the sort of girl Shinji would want at his side.

It was all stemmed in a secret that only he and now Asuka knew was the cause. What foundations of love for one another there might have been were no longer obvious and Shinji had another responsibility upon him entirely. He had essentially already rejected Asuka for Misato but was too afraid to stand firm and keep a new approach from challenging him. The day was about to end with yet another display of Shinji demonstrating his great weakness while he was forced to prepare for the consequences that would come very soon.

Kensuke watched Shinji leave as he tried to imagine how he could make up for his failure before wondering how this recent exchange would affect Asuka. He saw her left standing as she watched her apparent crush leave her. She was not silent however as the back of her mind rang four words rang through her head at the weight Shinji placed upon her.

'You... are... so... dead!'

A/N: That's another one. A lot more conspiring within NERV this time around while trying to comprehend her place in NERV now that things are more complicated than they were befroe. The exchange between Misato and everyone? Consider everything she went through as foreshadowing.

It was ultimately my goal in this chapter to attempt rationalizing how the characters would handle Asuka as she is now. The characters would have known that this isn't the Asuka they all knew so they would be struggling to accept what she has become. In this case, making a choice that I'm sure many would be screaming for Shinji to make by now only to demonstrate how the truth is not enough to make things go back to what they were.

Was it the right thing to do though? Or is this the beginning of a greater fall? That is something I would like to hear speculation on in the reviews. Or potentially how Shinji and Misato will handle this now that the information is out there. And the answer to these question are ones I hope to have answered in the next set of chapters. I hope to see you all in the next two weeks.