"What is it with you Japanese and your love of cans?" Asuka asked. "You know you can also bottle juice and lemonades, right?"

"Let me guess, you're about to tell me how much better you do things in Germany?" Misato countered. "All hail reverse vending machines!"

Asuka scoffed. "Just because you were always too lazy to return the bottles doesn't mean it's a bad idea. Besides, I was talking about just having bottles. Container deposits would be the next step up. You gotta take it slowly. I wouldn't want to overburden Japanese society." She sighed exaggeratedly and looked at the can in her hand. "But at least bottles can be closed again."

Misato rolled her eyes. "Fine, no more coke cans for you anymore."

Asuka growled. "You know that's not what I meant!"

Misato just sighed, too, and took a sip from her own can. Surprisingly, it was coke as well, not beer. The Captain looked like she was strongly considering switching to her usual liquid sustenance, though.

Asuka took another sip as well and looked over to Rei. The bluehead had so far not said a single thing during their break, but that was normal for her, of course. In particular, she had not even hinted at the nocturnal incident. So far she seemed to be keeping her word, but Asuka would still be watching her.

Progress had actually been okay so far today. It kind of figured that Asuka had to do all the work in making that happen, but she supposed that was how things worked. She did not like to be in any kind of debt to people; she was supposed to be superior to them! So today she had tried to make things up to Rei... not that she would ever admit so. As far as everyone else was concerned, they were supposed to think Asuka did not care one way or the other. But covertly, she was working on restoring her worth. So now she was honestly trying to adapt to Rei. Which was really awkward; it irked Asuka to not move or react as fast as she could, just so her sluggish fellow pilot would have a chance to catch up. But through her great effort, some progress had been made.

And yet, Asuka was still anxious. Not about the angel out there in the now N2-mine enlarged Suruga Bay. Sure, that bastard had defeated her and Rei in the first go, but Asuka had no doubt they would win the second round. She was confident in her abilities. She had to; those abilities were all she had, all that made her her. If they failed against the angels it would eventually be the end of the world, but that would not even matter at that point anymore. So they would win because they had to.

Instead, she was anxious about Rei. She still felt the nocturnal incident would come back to bite her. So she had to keep a watch on the bluehead. And Asuka had done so quite literally throughout the day: She had watched her like a hawk when the two had gotten up, had been ready to jump at her if she only as much as spoke a word during breakfast, and had continuously glanced over to her during training. In fact, she had to admit she was looking at Rei a lot. And it was not only the nocturnal episode that came into her mind, but also the morning before that, when Rei had... made breakfast.

So Asuka did not only see that Rei did in fact keep quiet – as always the First Child was nearly completely silent – she also noticed how Rei's lithe body bent and twisted on the dancing mat, or how gracefully she sat at the table. And as much as Asuka hated having to wear the frilly training gear, she thought it look kind of cute on Rei. The Japanese pilot was nearly her complete counterpart; for example, Asuka could never sit so quietly and orderly. She saw no reason why. But Rei radiated an aura of calmness and stability doing so; the same calmness and stability she had shown during the night. It was... an interesting effect.

"Very well," Misato spoke up. "Back to work!"

"Right. 'Work'," Asuka muttered, but she stood up and returned to the dancing mats. Of course, she did so hesitantly and with a slouch, whereas Rei had simply gone straight there as soon as the Captain had finished.

Misato now had them try a more complex sequence. Some part of Asuka was glad about having a new challenge, but overall she was annoyed about having to contort her body even more now. It was all just so childish! She again glanced over to Rei on her right. The bluehead was in the starting position, upper body bowed down. Asuka quickly focused on her own mat again.

The first attempt did not go well. The first few steps came naturally to both girls, but then things got more complicated. Asuka really tried to keep herself in check, to stay in rhythm with Rei. But suddenly, the lights called for a complete swerve to the left. Losing all thoughts about coordination, Asuka hastily attempted it... and nearly landed flat on her face.

"Damnit!" she shouted. "Are you trying to kill us, Misato?"

Misato just looked at her glumly and took a sip from a can. It was her cherished Yebisu beer now. That name had burned itself in Asuka's memory from the many times Misato had complained about its unavailability in Germany. She had accepted that back then. Now though, she wondered how any woman could complain about the absence of beer in Germany.

The sequence started again. This time Asuka wanted to be prepared at all costs for the steep left swerve. She threw all her momentum leftwards... only to lose balance. She helplessly tried to balance with her legs... which hit something. Rei as well had thrown herself too far left.

Hastily Asuka came to her knees and turned around, to see if she had hurt Rei. Normally she would not care at all, and she certainly would not show she cared. And maybe she did not care about Rei per se, but she had to get a hold of the situation. It could not appear like it had been her fault.

She saw Rei simply coming to her feet again. The girl had emitted no sound, and her face showed her normal lack of any expression.

What the hell? Asuka was pretty sure she had accidentally hit Rei pretty hard. She remembered Mount Futago. Even there, Rei had hardly shown any pain. Her gait had been understandably weak, but there had been no groans or pained facial expressions, either. What is it with her? She remembered Shinji's question about her. What has the Commander done to that girl?

Asuka kept looking at Rei as they both got into their starting positions again, this time openly. Whatever it was... it can't have been pleasant. It made Asuka feel vaguely guilty about how she had treated the First Child. The thought occupied her enough that she screwed up already during the first steps, the easy part.

"What was that, Asuka?" Misato demanded to know.

Asuka stood straight and pointed at Rei. "Why don't you ever ask her that?" Shit. And here I go again. But she did not know how not to do this.

Rei on her part showed no emotion. She simply got into the starting position again. It... frustrated Asuka. On consideration, Rei was not so bad. Surely she deserved better than this.

"You're doing the dishes as well, Shinji?" Misato asked.

"It's my turn," Shinji stated.

"It wasn't your turn to cook, and yet you also invited Rei and Asuka over," Misato countered. She grinned. "Once again." She trilled: "Myyyy, I wonder whyyy..."

Shinji looked down on the sink. Misato's teasing did manage to embarrass him, but he still felt warm and content inside. The evening had gone well. Once again. He was not used to such streaks.

"I don't mind the cooking," Shinji answered. "It... it gives me something to do."

Behind him, Misato sat down at the table, a beer can in hand. "Sometimes it's quite nice to do nothing." She sighed and muttered: "Preciously few times recently when I've been able to do that."

Shinji tensed. This touched some deep-seated fears he had. At first he just muttered some vague agreement. After some time, Misato still had not replied, but also had not left. Slowly, Shinji began to explain: "I feel like that's what I'm already doing anyway. I go to school and do housework, but..." He paused uncomfortably. "I can't pilot EVA currently. And because of my failure, Ayanami needs to deploy. It's all up to her and Asuka. They will feel pain, and they will fight in life or death battles. What if..." He tightened his hand hard around the sponge it was holding. "What if the angel had not just thrown their EVAs away in the first fight? They would have..." He fell silent.

"You..." Misato began loudly, but then forced her voice to become softer: "You blame yourself?"

Shinji shrugged. "It just is how it is. If I could synch with EVA-01 again, I would. I would be out there, fighting. Better... better me than Ayanami. But I can't. So all I can do is support the pilots... the real pilots best I can. Cooking for them is at least something I can do."

Misato did not respond for a while. As Shinji was facing the sink, he could not see what she was doing. He began focusing on the dishes again, not expecting a further answer. However, eventually Misato did respond: "You know, that really isn't what I expected when I took you in. I know you said you'd pilot if you could right now, and I believe you, but let's be honest... you never liked it. This, though... you were positively glowing at the meal. So... a boy who would rather cook than pilot. Yeah, I really wasn't expecting that."

Shinji let his head sink down. Misato was right. The way he behaved was pretty pathetic. Not that he intended to stop cooking; it still was at least something he could do. But it was indeed pathetically little for a boy to do, while leaving the girls to fight. He snapped out of those thoughts when a beer can was rammed hard onto the counter next to him. Misato had stood up and walked over to him.

She now spoke firmly: "But screw that." Shinji winced. It was one thing for Asuka to ignore Japanese sensibilities and etiquette, but Misato was Japanese herself and yet... it was little wonder she apparently had gotten along reasonably well with Asuka in Germany. "You want to cook? You're right, it's something you can do. Honestly, without your influence I think the two girls would have clawed each other's eyes out by now. So don't think it's nothing." Her voice got softer again. "So, if you'd rather do that than piloting, you'd still be contributing."

Almost instinctively, Shinji shook his head. He knew this would not work. "And for how long?" he muttered. "How long... what if the next angel breaks through? Would you still accept it then if I can't pilot, even though I used to be able to? I... I have to still try."

Misato nodded. "I kinda figured you'd say that." She took a sip from the can.

"Why did you bring it up then?" Shinji asked.

Again there was an uncomfortably long silence, until Misato simply shrugged her shoulders. "NERV... we... I already have asked so much of you. It is only fair now if I point out alternatives to you. Even if you don't think them viable. But Shinji... could that be why you can't synch?"

Shinji looked up to her in what was almost a fearful shock. "What do you mean?"

"Your fear to be useless," Misato explained bluntly. "Is that what's holding you back?"

What do I say now? Shinji kept staring at Misato, nevermind how impolite that was. Finally he managed to answer: "I... I just don't feel comfortable in that entry plug anymore." And that even was the truth.

Misato sighed. "If you insist we will further try the synchronization attempts. Repairs to EVA-00 have been given a low priority, what with the current angel attack, but they will be finished within two weeks. It would be helpful to have three deployable units. But maybe we'll eventually have to admit defeat." That caused Shinji to look down again, in defeat. Misato trilled: "Hey, cheer up! It isn't like you need the EVA anymore to attract the ladies. I bet you haven't noticed, but..."

"Hm?" Shinji voiced unenthusiastically. Misato's overt cheerfulness was all too artificial for his tastes.

"Asuka," Misato told him, talking as if they were gossiping. "She was watching you all the time. I would say you're making quite an impression on our Red Baron."

"Red..." Shinji muttered. "Uh, are you sure, Misato?"

His guardian chuckled. "You really didn't notice. I suppose I really shouldn't worry. You are a boy after all – oblivious like a brick wall."

"Well then!" Misato exclaimed cheerfully from her usual place at the table. "That went well. Let's try..."

"Don't you dare say 'Let's try the next sequence'!" Asuka cut her off. She jumped straight up and whirled around towards Misato. She was sick of her former guardian comfortably sitting there and watching how the two pilots were making asses out of themselves with the silly dances. "We have successfully completed every sequence you have presented us with today, and what do we get as reward? Another one! Quite frankly, you suck at morale building, Captain Katsuragi."

"Please don't say such things to your teachers," Misato muttered.

Asuka admitted she had a point there; at least she was used to the redhead's outbursts and made no fuss about them. The rest of the society here, though... "Japanese!" Asuka scoffed.

"Besides, you also complained when I did make some efforts towards a better morale!" Misato argued.

"Apparently, the training gear does not count as morale building," Rei spoke up quietly. "At least judging by Pilot Soryu's reaction."

"There you have it!" Asuka declared smugly, a little bit surprised by the bluehead's reaction, but not showing it.

"May I remind you there is still an angel out in Suruga Bay that needs defeating?" Misato argued. "And that it will reawaken in three days?"

Asuka shrugged. "Just drop another load of N2 mines onto it if we aren't ready yet. That has worked before, hasn't it?"

"Well, yes, but... but... you're supposed to defeat the angels!" Misato stuttered.

Asuka waved her hand dismissively. "And we will. But in case you have forgotten, our job is actually piloting Evangelion, not jumping around on mats in silly outfits."

The training this day, Thursday, had actually gone amazingly well. Asuka still mostly credited herself with that; after all it had been her who had first started adapting to the other pilot. But today, Rei had caught up quite nicely to her. She still felt she had to do most of the work, but at least the bluehead was progressing.

This did show even away from the dancing mat. This morning, both of them had prepared a cold breakfast for themselves, and it had been quite easy to work around each other. It was like Asuka instinctively knew where Rei would go or reach next... which she suspected was the entire point of the training program. Of course, this had not stopped her from muttering about how certain other people were standing in the way.

"Those 'silly outfits' were still necessary," Misato defended herself. "The aim was to get you in synchronization, and Japanese start at appearances."

Asuka crossed her arms. "It seems you have ignored a certain problem in your logic there."

"Getting you to synchronize with Japanese society is even more of a challenge than getting you to synchronize with Rei," Misato muttered.

"I don't plan to stay here my entire life," Asuka told her bluntly. "I've been redeployed on account of the angel attacks. Those will one day be over, or so everyone says. Hopefully not too soon, but... really, the only good thing about this place here are the fights, and the food."

Misato laid her chin on the backside of her hand and grinned. "Iiiis that so? Just the food? Not also a certain cook?"

"Grrr..." Asuka fumed. She had it to here with Misato's teasing. "It's... It's not like that." She defiantly swung her head around. "He's just someone actually sane. Unlike you or..." She looked at Rei. And remembered her calming presence two nights ago. "Grrr..."

"Suuuure," Misato answered. "Well, enough fooling around. Yes, this day has been very successful. You're doing well, Asuka, Rei. But that just means we should use it for all it's worth."

"I disagree," Asuka stated. When Misato raised an eyebrow, she specified: "Come on, Misato! We have done well. Surely, we have earned a break. I can tell you, if we don't get one, our results will just get worse."

"What do you have in mind?" Misato asked. "Shinji is busy with yet another attempt to get him to synchronize again with EVA-01. He won't come home for a couple of hours."

"Scheißdreck," Asuka whispered. She looked around in the room, as if hoping to find something she could use. Her eyes fell on Rei. She remembered the slight tinglings of guilt she had felt over how she had treated the girl. Maybe here was a chance to make up for them. She declared: "Rei and me can go to the city. Being together in a relaxed environment might even help this 'synchronization' Quark."

"It... might," Misato conceded, who seemed clearly surprised at the idea.

"What would you plan to do in the city?" Rei asked. She in turn sounded as sceptical as her still monotone voice allowed.

"Have fun!" Asuka exclaimed. "Don't worry. I'm sure I'll find ways to show you how."

Misato chuckled now. "Okay. That's something I have to... well, see the results of, at least. Okay, for your good progress, I'm giving you two the rest of the day off, provided you spend it together. Off you go then!"

"You... what?" Soryu blurted out. She had gotten rid of the training gear in a hurry and was currently changing into tight jeans trousers.

Rei was changing as well, but she was putting on her normal student uniform. She simply repeated what she had said before: "I do not possess what you term 'free time clothing'. I only ever wear my school uniforms, the school bathing suit or the plugsuit... or the training gear now."

Soryu blinked. Blinked again. Rei simply continued putting on the school uniform. "Well... I had planned to go shopping," she heard Soryu say behind her.

Rei did not quite know what to make of that. She simply followed Soryu outside once both had finished dressing, and then towards the nearest train station. She had no particular opinion on Soryu's plan. Going to the city or continuing on the dancing mats really made no difference to her. Since Captain Katsuragi had ordered that she and Soryu stay together, she would follow the redheaded pilot, but she herself had no intrinsic wish to see the inner city – but also no complaints about it, either.

The two entered the next train that appeared at the station. Soryu leaned back, arms extended on the bench's back to both sides, legs wide. Rei sat down some distance away. After a while, Soryu's face showed a predatory grin and she commented: "I hope you have taken enough money with you. This will be a larger project."

Rei just nodded.

Soryu looked over to her with suspicion in her eyes. "I mean it. What... how do you even support yourself, normally?"

"NERV pays for all my expenses," Rei explained. "They provided me with a credit card."

"You have a credit card from NERV itself?" Soryu echoed. She sounded non-plussed. Then for no reason Rei could discern, she began to cackle.

Clothing had so far been something simple for Rei. She herself had no inhibitions about nudity, no bodily shame, and with Japan's year-round summer since Second Impact there was also little climatic reason for clothes. But social norms demanded them, so Rei complied with those. Personally, she did not care either way.

Clearly, Soryu had other ideas. With her, clothing was apparently something very complex.

As soon as the two girls arrived in the inner city, Soryu dragged Rei into the nearest clothing store, a small but not too exclusive boutique. The German girl clearly had done this before, many times. She did not pick the next best clothes, but searched them out with what Rei recognized were the eyes of an expert. And then she had Rei try them out. Seeing no reason to resist, the bluehead complied.

She tried out three different set of clothes. In the meanwhile, Soryu got ever more agitated.

"But what do you think?" she finally demanded to know. "Yes, I know those clothes will all be sufficient! But... you also should like them! Isn't there something you like?"

Rei considered that. What did she like? She liked when she could fulfil her purpose, use EVA to bond with people... but she doubted she could tell Soryu this. She liked swimming, but that had little to do with their current situation. She liked being close to Ikari, but she would certainly not bring this up in front of Soryu. So she remained quiet.

"I mean... okay, let's start at basics," Soryu tried again. "What colours do you like? Blue would of course fit to you, but we could also try purple... even red..."

"Please, not red," Rei spoke up quietly. "Blue will do."

"Hrrrmpf," Soryu grunted. "Well, I suppose that's something out of you already. Any patterns? Motifs? Stripes, plaid, flowers..."

"I have never seen the point of flowers," Rei answered. It was true: So many flowers, and yet they all looked like each other. All copies of each other...

"Hah. Finally something we agree on!" Soryu exclaimed.

"But it makes no difference to me if I appear in striped or unicolour clothing," Rei continued. "The reactions of other peoples are inessential."

Soryu nodded empathetically. "They are. To hell with other people. What matters is how you want to look like. If you like what you see in a mirror. What... what sort of style or personality do you want to project?"

"I... I never considered that," Rei admitted. "I do not know."

"Then we have to find out by trial and error," Asuka insisted.

And for the next hours, so they did.

Rei was not used being the subject of so much attention. Dr Akagi regularly subjected her to veritable batteries of medical tests, but Rei had quickly learned the Doctor did not care at all about her. Dr Akagi cared about her body, the medical data, the results from those examinations. Those were different things. Rei was convinced Commander Ikari cared about her, but he rarely had time for her. He could not pay much attention to her. His son... Rei by now was fairly certain what she felt for him. He had always treated her with a kindness she had known from nobody else. But he was a quiet, reserved person, much like herself.

Asuka was not. Not by a long shot. And she definitely wanted a result to her experiment. So for several hours she sent Rei into changing rooms, asked her excruciating questions, let the bluehead view herself in the mirror. Strangely, this all felt more exhausting to Rei than most of Dr Akagi's examinations. However, slowly but surely, a pattern emerged, of long and and flowing, simple dresses, of plaid shirts and unassuming jeans. Rei began to worry how they would even be able to carry all that material, but it seemed Asuka had experience in this matter as well.

Including ideas for alternative transportation methods. "We should have brought Shinji along," she mumbled at one point. Secretly, Rei had to agree. Ikari would probably have been able to explain many of the things that confused her. Soryu meant well, she assumed, but the redhead's pure energy threatened to overwhelm her. Also, for all Rei genuinely did not care what others thought about her or how she looked to them... the impact she had on Ikari was something she considered. Would he appreciate seeing her in that blue dress?

Clothes were not the only thing Rei and Soryu acquired. There also was an entire array of cleaning and hygiene products. Hair conditioners, deodorants, perfumes... Rei wondered for what she would need all this, but she complied with Soryu. Her NERV credit card was accepted everywhere, and she supposed she could maybe, eventually, find uses for all that.

And in truth, while all this 'shopping', this going through town from store to store, trying out everything, evaluating purchases on qualities she had never considered before, was exhausting, she felt slightly... elevated by the sheer amount of attention Soryu paid to her. Rei realized that this action was in large parts self-serving for the German girl; she was her project. And yet... it felt good to not be ignored. To not be taken for granted.

Still, after they left the perfumery, Rei had run out of energy, in a way she had never considered possible before. After all, purely physically, she was still fit. She could have run to dozens of further stores. But to judge the merits of even more clothes or perfumes or whatever... that was a sort of stress Rei had not even known existed before.

Soryu led her to a bench, and the two sat down. She looked content and even smug. "Well, that was a success. Next up..." She looked over to Rei. "Hm. I suppose... your hair? But apparently you are already doing something with it."

"I cut it regularly," Rei informed her.

"You do that yourself? The cut's not half-bad, then," Soryu allowed. "But still, you could have something fancier, you know. Strange then that you would also colour your hair."

"I don't," Rei answered.

"What do you mean, you don't?" Soryu asked. "That... do you mean that's your natural hair colour? Blue?" Rei just nodded. "How can that be?"

Even though my genetic pattern is a copy of the genotype of a specific human, my phenotype does not follow human genetic expression... But there was no way Rei could tell that to Soryu. So instead, she just remained quiet.

Soryu put a finger to her lips. "Hmmm... if that's really true... I wonder what a hairdresser could do with that. What they'd even say to that! Yes, clearly, we must do that next! Up then, Rei, we still have work to do!"

Unenthusiastically, Rei got up from the bench. Hairdressing... At least that would require no more decisions from her, but even so she did not look forward to it. It still sounded like even more stress.

Soryu eventually noticed how Rei was falling behind. She stopped, turned around and asked: "What's the matter?"

Rei did not reply, and simply used the chance to catch up to Soryu. After all, it seemed there was another task they still had to. do Soryu watched her with some suspicion and then followed her.

"So, this was your first shopping trip ever, wasn't it?" she asked. Rei just nodded. "Was it fun?" Rei did not react at all. "Oh come on! At least give me an honest answer."

"It was... exhausting," Rei thus answered truthfully. She did not know how to put the other feelings she had about the venture into words, ambiguous as they were. "But it seems it will soon be over. Only one task left."

"It's not supposed to be a task!" Soryu exploded and stopped again. So did Rei. "It's supposed to be fun! So, shopping isn't fun for you? Going to the hairdresser isn't? Then what is?"

Rei did not answer. She did not know. 'Fun' had never really factored into her life and decisions at all. She was on this world for a purpose. Why would 'fun' be required then?

Soryu sighed in extreme annoyance. "It's that very thing again, isn't it? You don't know what you want. You don't even know what you like!" She grumbled. "Might as well go home then."

"Is that what you want?" Rei asked.

"I want... hrrrrm..." Soryu continued to grumble. "Look, you really have no idea what you'd do for fun?" Rei shook her head. "Then we will try something out. Not the hairdresser, mind you. I... hm. I know. I'll invite you to the cinema."

"Cinema?" Rei echoed.

"Yes. I'm sure you have heard of the concept," Soryu replied aggressively. "Nothing required of you there except leaning back to enjoy the show. Let's see... oh, I know just the movie for you. Something to escape this world for a bit."

The nearest cinema was in walking distance to where they currently were. Soryu paid for the tickets, and the two took their seats. Rei did not know what to expect, but that did not bother her. As Soryu had said, all she had to do was lean back and watch.

The cinema screen was gigantic. The only times Rei had ever experienced such a large visual input had been during EVA simulation training. And the sound and music came from all directions, immersing the audience in its rhythm.

"I already watched the series," Soryu told Rei, who had no idea what she meant by that. "The third season was meh, but they made up for that in the fourth one, the final. The movie is supposed to be a better retelling of that third season. Shouldn't be too difficult..."

The outline of Earth appeared on the screen... no, not Earth, the continents were different. An Earth-like planet then. Strikingly earth-like, the chances of finding such a world were... Rei's mind stropped the thought process when a... ship appeared in front of the planet. A spaceship, looking vaguely avian with a sort of neck and two short wings. The perspective changed to inside the ship, to a man in a brown coat.

And from then on, Rei's mind just stopped analysing the film. She just let it have its impact on her. The different worlds, the people, the institutions... the Alliance, the Reavers, the ship... none of that made any sense in regards to physics or metaphysical biology, but that did not matter. It really was a completely different world, and the movie sucked Rei into it.

"I'm a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

Rei gaped.

When the movie was over, she was still internally shaken. She had known about fiction before, of course. She even had read some novels. But this... this had been something else altogether. The visuals, the sound, seeing the world and characters upfront instead of having to imagine them... and then such a different world. A real alternative to reality.

Rei walked out of the cinema slowly and quietly. Just as slowly and quietly as she had walked into it. She realized that could give off the wrong impression.

"That was a surprisingly enjoyable activity, Soryu," she announced, breaking the silence between the two girls.

Soryu looked at her surprised, then grinned.