Sunshine fell into the sparsely decorated room through a large window front. Rei blinked. Was she back in reality, or was the angel showing her another scene? By now it was amply clear she had had contact with it. She realized that she was lying in a hospital bed and was looking up at a sterile ceiling.

I'm in NERV's medical wing.

Of course, she had been there so often that this could well be another vision derived from her memory.

No. I simply accepted all my visions. This is…

"She's awake, Asuka!"

Rei instinctively smiled at the voice. Ikari is here. That made her glad. She turned her head to the voice. Even that much strained her. She watched Asuka's head slowly rise from Shinji's shoulder. That made her glad as well. Then Asuka saw Rei and lit up.

"Rei! Are you feeling alright?"

"Better now," Rei said quietly.

"What happened?" Asuka inquired further.

Visions of three Reis, of Asuka and Ikari and the Commander and a strange voice in her ears – no, two strange voices – tumbled in Rei's head. But she did not quite know how to put them into words. Just a few months ago, that would have meant saying nothing for her. It wasn't mission relevant, and what would be the point in saying anything if you can't actually explain the matter? However, she could not just remain silent to Asuka and Ikari. Besides, now she actually felt the urge to say something.

"There was… a contact," she stated. "I think I was let go."

Asuka looked at Ikari and then back. "Let go? You didn't kill the angel?"

Killed…? Rei closed her eyes. "What happened?"

"Well," Asuka tried to explain, "the angel spat you out again, and then started dying. They had sent an expert team over from Germany, and they managed to salvage EVA-04 from the corpse. The team head managed to stumble out of a flying helicopter and fall to his death, though."

EVA-04? Rei opened her eyes again, looking at the white ceiling and considered that. Yes, it had fallen into a Sea of Dirac, so that kind of made sense. But how…? And Rei was fairly sure she had not in fact killed the angel.

There was no point in trying to understand it. Not now. She was just glad her… friends were there? No, not friends, not exactly. Rather, those whom she… loved. And looking at them now, that feeling gripped Rei with a surprising strength. She had felt warmth and comfort and closeness towards the two before. Two points of light in an otherwise dull and hard life. But that feeling itself had been blunted. She had known she wanted to be cuddled up to both, but that had been more of an instinctive need. Now she looked at them and wanted to be held by both, in a fashion that made her heart thump and her stomach flutter.

It was a strange new feeling.

"Uh… you okay, Rei?" Asuka asked.

There was a tiny amount of heat Rei felt in her cheeks. That was new as well. "I was still thinking about what I experienced. Why are you two here?"

There was a small bit of red on Asuka's cheeks, similar to the heat Rei was experiencing. Ikari took over explaining: "We came here first thing in the morning. We had to see if you were alright."

Rei stretched her neck to look at the small bedside table beside her. According to the digital clock on it, it was 11:21. "How long have you been here?"

"Uh, they let us in shortly after eight," Ikari reported. He looked at the clock himself now. "So… a bit more than three hours?"

Rei nodded. Three hours waiting, doing nothing, such things had been the norm for most of her life. Of course, she had done it for the sake of the Scenario. They had done it for the sake… of her. Everybody else had always made her wait…

"Thank you," she finally said, softly.

"It's no problem!" Asuka hastened to exclaim. "I mean, you saved the day again yesterday, didn't you?"

"And… we were really worried," Ikari continued. "We thought… we thought we had lost you yet again. We just had to come and make sure you're okay."

They value me… "Why?" Rei asked simply.

" 'Why'?" Asuka echoed. "Are you stupid? Of course we do! Because… well… because..." Asuka's speech got lost in stuttering.

"We… uh… we weren't in a good spot when we thought you were dead, Ayanami," Ikari explained quietly. "You are… uh, well..." He turned red. Not just the cheeks, either, and his voice grew small. "Importanttous."

Oh. Rei remained quiet for a while. Then she spoke up, "Rei."

"Huh?" Asuka and Ikari both voiced.

"You should call me Rei, Ikari," Rei explained. "We kissed."

Ikari's mouth opened slowly as that memory apparently came over him again. Besides him, Asuka grinned at the sight. "Ah… ah… I suppose, you have a point… Rei," Shinji stuttered. "P...Please call me Shinji then."

Rei nodded again. "Did you like the kiss?"

That further reduced Shinji to an inarticulate mess. In the end he could only make vague grunting noises and nod furiously.

"Lucky boy," Asuka muttered, still looking at him. It sounded amused, but it had a serious undertone that could not be mistaken.

"We should do that eventually as well, Asuka," Rei commented.

The redhead's eyes went wide. "Ah… sure… I suppose..."

With two stuttering messes next to her, caused by her, there was yet another new feeling inside Rei. She was… amused. That was it. She kind of liked that she could do this to the people she loved.

"How long will you stay?" Rei asked. A purely factual question, the sort she would always have asked.

"Well, they always give us the day off after an angel battle, of course," Shinji answered. "So, uh… we haven't anything to do all day long. I suppose we'd like to have lunch, eventually..."

"And sitting on those hard chairs is kinda uncomfortable," Asuka muttered.

Shinji smirked over to her. "Right. 'Sitting'. Not 'catching up on sleep'."

Asuka defiantly raised her head. "It was a long day yesterday. Really long. Whereas you sat the whole time here and stared at Rei, didn't you?"

"Ah..." Shinji voiced. "...kinda?"

Asuka grinned, but Rei spoke up: "I really don't mind Shinji looking at me. Or you, Asuka." Unsurprisingly, that shut up both again. "Would you mind staying here for a while?"

"Of course not, Ay… Rei!" Shinji hastily exclaimed, and Asuka nodded vigorously.

Rei weakly patted the bed to the side of her – the side opposite of Asuka and Shinji. "You can sit here if your chair is too hard for you, Asuka."

"Uh… sure," Asuka said, stood up, went around the bed and sat down there.

A faint smile appeared on Rei's lips. As if to compensate for being the one now most distant from the others, Shinji pushed his chair closer to the bed. And so now, Rei could lie here, surrounded on both sides by the two people she loved. By the two people she trusted and cherished, who still were the single points of light in her life. That way, she felt snug, secure and warm.

Right now, she had no concerns or sorrows, other than how to ensure this continue…

A well groomed, old man with grey hair walked the immense distance between the door of Commander Ikari's office to his desk. He carried a stack of papers with him. His superior sat at his desk, his hands interlaced, his face half hidden behind them. Just as Ikari always did. At this point, Fuyutsuki didn't even bother being annoyed at Gendo's mannerisms anymore. It was just as it was. In these last few months of the Earth, everything was predetermined, anyways.

Or nearly everything.

"It seems we arrived a day too late," he commented as he laid the papers on the desk: Even more reports about what had happened.

Ikari grunted in response. "The Scrolls were vague on that threat."

"Or incompletely translated," Fuyutsuki pointed out. "Our dependence on them is dangerous."

"The old men face the same problem," Ikari pointed out.

Fuyutsuki furrowed his brows. To the Commander, everything was about the grand game between SEELE and him. After all, he had to subvert SEELE's scenario to reach his grand aim… which came coincidentally close enough to Yui's aim that Fuyutsuki supported him. Not that he had ever even so much as told him that Yui had an aim in all of this. But over all this, Ikari seemed to sometimes forget that there was in fact a real threat to humanity present.

Fuyutsuki didn't point this out, though. It would have been pointless. Instead, he remarked, "We could have lost both Evangelion 01 and Rei."

"The old men wouldn't have allowed an Evangelion to go to waste like that," Ikari argued. "They had the means at hand to salvage the unit. And as soon as we had our hands on the entry plug, we could have reshaped Rei again, if it had proven necessary."

"Even so, they have outplayed us," Fuyutsuki claimed. "We expected the SEELE boy, but not now. Using him to retrieve Evangelion 04... "

"They don't know we know," Ikari pointed out. "We have Agent Kaji to thank for that."

"You know what I think about that," Fuyutsuki answered. "His data has proven to be useful, but his price…"

"Kaji cares nothing for money or fame or authority," Ikari answered. Now, finally, he ended his typical pose and looked at Fuyutsuki. "There is nothing else that can incentivize him but information."

"Nearly nothing," Fuyutsuki pointed out. "But I guess threatening Captain Katsuragi right now would be more than just counterproductive."

It would also be distasteful. Highly distasteful. Fuyutsuki didn't like the role he was sometimes playing. But then, he hadn't liked his life for a decade already. Some more sour taste in his mouth would make no difference anymore. The first time he had set foot into the Geofront he had held so many ideals. Now, he merely tried to salvage what was still possible and was ready to sacrifice anyone and everything for it.

He only needed to close his eyes to see hair of blue and hair of red. I've sunk so low. Even at the very end I won't find salvation. I can only make it happen for others. For those who have remained innocent.

Gendo grunted again. "It doesn't matter. He still does not knows half as much as he thinks he knows. Let him have his scraps and morsels."

"Very well," Fuyutsuki conceded. "What do you intend to do about Rei?"

Ikari assumed his typical pose again. "There isn't much we can do. If mental contamination has taken place, it will have affected the soul as well. A new clone hence wouldn't help. All that remains for us to do is to watch her and wait."

"We can't entrust any of the other pilots with entering Terminal Dogma," Fuyutsuki pointed out.

"Agreed," Ikari answered. "For the moment being, the Spear can't go to its proper place."

"Pretty much the opposite of its 'proper place'," Fuyutsuki muttered.

"Much suffering would have been avoided if it were," Ikari conceded. "But so would have human life."

"The old men want her," Fuyutsuki steered the topic back to Rei.

"The aftermath of the Apostate Incident has shocked them," Ikari answered. "Now that Rei may have had contact with an angel, their interest only rises further. They dearly want to question her. They suspect what she is. If we allow it, they will find out, and we'll lose her. We can't allow them to get a hold on her."

"We can't afford open conflict with them," Fuyutsuki argued. "Not yet."

"But they'd lose out in a conflict as well," Ikari replied. "I'm sure they'll accept a compromise."

"A compromise?" Fuyutsuki asked, more sharply than he had intended. What else could SEELE accept? He didn't feel good about this at all.

Ikari didn't explain. "In the meanwhile, we must strengthen our own position. Matsushiro needs to be functional again. There are too many eyes of the old men here."

"That project will only help us so much," Fuyutsuki cautioned. He had long since been used to Ikari changing topics at his whim.

"But we will pursue it," Ikari declared. "Is she ready?"

Fuyutsuki sighed. "As ready as she'll ever be." I'm doing it again. Oh Yui, what heavy burden have you laid upon me?

"What's the matter, Rei?"

The blue-haired girl had simply stopped walking. She, Asuka and Shinji were walking to school again.

"The smell," Rei simply answered, in her normal monotonous voice.

Asuka sniffed. An aroma of coffee was in the air. "Well, yeah, that's the nearby bakery!"

"Indeed," Rei merely responded and continued walking.

There was a bit of silence between the three as Shinji and Asuka tried to process what just happened. There were many odd things about Rei, of course, but this had been a blatantly weird scene. Finally, Shinji spoke up carefully, "Uh… Rei… you never noticed the smell before? I mean… we walk past this bakery every day."

"I noticed the smell," Rei answered. "But I never noticed that smell."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Asuka asked.

"It is the same smell I have passed by all the other days," Rei tried to explain. "That smell… registered with me. But only now do I notice it."

Shinji was walking in the middle of the three. He and Asuka exchanged a look. Shinji was a bit concerned. Something has happened to Rei. Something… while she was inside that angel? If so, that was worrying.

Still… Rei was behaving oddly, but apart from that she seemed to be her old self again. Already back at the hospital she had reported that she had no gaps in her memory anymore. Just as Akagi had promised, her amnesia had proven to be temporary. Though Shinji wondered if that really was all there was to it. Rei had sunk into the angel with those issues, and come out again without them…

Even so, he was glad things were back to normal. Or… back to better than normal. For years, "normal" had been a sort of grey, blurry loneliness. Nothing that had really hurt him, but also nothing that had really stood out. It still wasn't quite "normal" for Shinji's sensitivities to daily walk to school with two girls he, uh, at the very least liked, and who seemed to return that feeling. Girls he had in fact cuddled with. Girls he… loved. And he had to admit, the more often he did spend time in their company, the less unusual it became to him that this applied to both of them. And seeing how close the two girls were themselves, it didn't seem like they minded.

Yeah, definitely better than normal. Shinji very much didn't want to look that gift horse too deep in the mouth. With all this mutual attraction within the trio, maybe someone should do something about it. Maybe he should. But that would risk the whole setup, and he really didn't want that. He was happy with the situation as it was.

Rei was stopping again, now looking up. They had reached that spot at the park where she had always waited for Shinji after school. A tree stood in that park, its branches extending over the pavement. Apparently, it was the new object of Rei's curiosity.

An odd smirk appeared on Asuka's face, as if she didn't quite know how to deal with that, either. "The tree also only registered with you?"

Rei nodded without turning her gaze from it. Finally, she stopped looking, and without a further comment got going again. After a while, she commented. "It stands out in the city."

"The city could really use a bit more green," Shinji muttered.

"Pfah," Asuka disagreed loudly. "We're in civilization here, not the wilderness."

"All the skyscrapers here..." Shinji mused. "Sometimes it feels like you can't even see the sky."

"They are human achievements!" Asuka insisted.

"The city… protects us from the sky," Rei stated. Two heads turned towards her. What does she mean with that? "Humans have built the city around themselves, like a protective embrace. We don't need to fear nature anymore. Everything here is under our control."

Huh. "If that's an embrace, it's a smothering one," Shinji argued.

"Those happen," Rei agreed.

And besides, there are the angel attacks… Those were definitely not under human control, but Shinji didn't want to bring up this dreadful subject now.

He and Asuka went on to debate the advantages and disadvantages of city life for a while, even as they reached the school. When the two entered the classroom, Asuka was loudly insisting that the countryside produces dullards. Shinji nodded towards the classmates already present, was about to contradict Asuka, but then noted that Rei was missing. He stopped and turned around.

Rei stood in front of the doorframe. Then she stepped over it, and greeted, "Good morning." It was soft and so silent that it could have easily gone ignored. Instead, everyone in the classroom turned their heads towards her. And then the whispering started.

Touji always described the midday break as the best part of school. He was an idiot, of course, but Asuka had to admit he had a point there. The break was great, because it was Shinji lunchbox time. And even though she basically spent all her time in the company of Rei and Shinji anyway… living in her apartment with Rei, the way to and from school, the shared meals, NERV… sitting together with them still beat listening to these boring old teachers they had here by far. Their company was simply something she just could not get sick of.

Besides, who else would she spend time with? Hikari was okay, but apart from her and the pilots the class consisted of male meatheads and female gossiping hens. It was important to be socially respected by those people, but Asuka increasingly didn't want to have anything to do with them.

However, as she stood up to walk over to Shinji's desk, she did notice Hikari. Uncharacteristically for the class rep, she didn't act serious or dignified, but ran right up to Touji's desk. What the hell now?

Shinji had been watching the scene as well. As Rei and Asuka brought over their chairs to his desk, he commented, "Huh. Looks like Horaki was worried."

"About the stooge?" Asuka sneered. "Herr im Himmel..." The three watched as the class rep gave a lunch box to Touji. "She mentioned once how she's the one who makes those boxes at home, but this is going a bit far."

Shinji shrugged. "Well, he did come back from a fight. I guess it's natural for others to be concerned then."

"Yeah, the perfect opportunity for Hikari," Asuka muttered. "She's such a fool..."

Shinji furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

Asuka stared at him flatly. "You can't be serious." Then she laughed. "Only you would miss that."

"Miss what?" Rei spoke up softly.

Asuka's palm went to her face. It really did seem like she had a thing for cute puppies. Eventually, she rested her chin on her hand. "What else would you call 'Hikari pursuing Touji' but foolish?" She kinda enjoyed this advantage in knowledge.

"Pursu… oh," Shinji answered. He bent his neck to look at the two. "But..."

"Exactly!" Asuka agreed. "They fit together as well as… as Fuyutsuki and competence. Or Misato and cleanliness."

Shinji looked aghast at those comparisons. Even Rei stopped eating and looked at her. Then Shinji's lips began to tremble slightly. "Only you, Asuka..." he muttered.

Asuka turned her head. "Or like Kaworu and 'being alone', it seems."

That had been the second great surprise for the class this morning, after Rei's greeting: A new, exotic student from abroad. The class' female population, and maybe also a good part of its male population, had instantly started swooning about him. Kaworu had gotten a desk next to the windows, directly behind Rei's, and now a great gaggle had formed around it. In fact, just about all female class members except Asuka, Rei and Hikari seemed to be there.

Well. At least Mana is leaving Shinji alone for now. Heh. I wonder if she's just hot for pilots… The news about Kaworu's status had, as usual, spread quickly.

Though now that she thought of it, that bothered Asuka. "Look how they fawn over the new pilot. Nevermind they've had three pilots here already." Shinji looked like he was about to correct that statement, but then apparently thought better of it. "Idiots, all of them."

"You're still the best pilot," Rei spoke up.

Asuka's eyes widened slightly. Damn right she was, but Rei bringing that up… Rei trying to find the right words? She smirked. "Of course I am. It would just be nice if certain idiots here would recognize that."

"I told you: I respect you." A giggle.

Asuka's head turned around. Mana was standing behind her. The EVA pilot growled. "Shouldn't you be busy throwing yourself at the new pretty boy?"

Mana sighed and looked at Kaworu's desk. "He seems busy enough already with the people around him."

Asuka chuckled. "No luck there, is that it? So what makes you think you will have luck here?"

Shinji was visibly uncomfortable. "Uh… Asuka..."

The redhead furrowed her brows. This was probably just Shinji being Shinji, i.e. too nice for his own good and too conflict-avoidant. Probably. But there was a part of her that couldn't be sure if it wasn't about something else…

Mana got serious. "Ikari told you what… happened, didn't he?"

Asuka was stunned for a moment by so much bluntness. Then she got angry. "Yes, he did. So you can see why you aren't welcome here."

"Well, I… it seems I should maybe apologize to you as well," Mana answered.

"What?" Asuka exclaimed.

"Not to be impolite," Mana explained awkwardly, "but there have been rumours. Ah… about you two."

Rumours? Where would anyone have learned… One instinct of Asuka's was to shout that it wasn't like that. She was Asuka Langley-Soryu, and to admit that she had allowed a boy to become close to her was unacceptable. The other, equally strong instinct was to loudly confirm those rumours, to claim Shinji right here and now. Of course, the problem with the latter option was Rei. She wasn't quite sure if she would settle for Shinji over Rei. But she was quite sure she didn't want to see Shinji with Mana.

So, not wanting to commit to either choice, Asuka just growled.

Mana became yet a bit more awkward and hesitant. "Uh… whatever it may be… well… I am sorry, Soryu." She bowed. Not too long, but it was a clear apology.

Asuka scoffed. "And you think that settles it?"

Mana tilted her head. "I'd like that. But that isn't why I did it. I just wanted to apologize. I mean, after you saved the city yet again two days ago… we're in your debt again. We didn't get to see much of the fight… but you defeated that angel again, didn't you? And I saw the videos about how it tried to drown half of the city. There are… rumours that it even sucked in one of your mechas! Is that true?"

"Rumours again, huh?" Asuka muttered.

Of course NERV would keep as many details as hush-hush as possible. And this suddenly irritated Asuka. Here was maybe the central reason she didn't get as much attention and respect as she was owed. And besides, she had it to here with NERV's 'keeping face' policy. And nobody had told her to keep information classified; as Misato had told her NERV would like the pilots to not spread information, but those things weren't actually classified.

So Asuka made a decision and spoke up, "I have no idea why that wasn't in the news. Yes, Evangelion 01 got sucked in. One of us had to spend fifteen hours cold and alone and fearing death because we once again had to save the city. And our chief scientist was ready to let her die if only the EVA could be salvaged!"

Let NERV lose face. They deserve it.

Mana's eyes widened. "But that's terrible!" Something was off about that. She didn't sound all that shocked. There was something else to her facial expression… Mana looked over to Rei. " 'Her'? So it was you, Ayanami?" The blue-haired girl nodded. "But I thought Ikari was the pilot of that mecha, Evangelion 01."

"We can both synch with it," Rei stated monotonously.

Shinji looked down at his lunch box and smirked sadly. "I… kinda sat out that battle."

Asuka's hand darted forwards to touch his arm and smirked. "And if you hadn't, it would have been you getting sucked into that shadow!"

Shinji muttered, "Maybe that would've been..."

"No!" Asuka insisted. "I… uh…" She wanted to tell him that she would not lose him. That she liked him too much for that. After all, with Rei the incident had ended well; who knew what would have happened if Shinji had piloted EVA-01? But then she realized where she was. And where she had put her hand. She awkwardly withdrew it and glanced over to Mana.

The girl looked… oddly serious, her brows furrowed. Then she softened her face. "You have fought your battles already, haven't you, Ikari? Saving the city two times by yourself. What more can be asked of you?"

There was a certain logic to what Mana was saying. In a way, despite only being fourteen, Shinji was a kind of… injured veteran. Who had done his duty heroically and saved everyone, but had the mental wounds to show for it. That idea fit very well to Asuka's notions of EVA pilots as an elite fighting troop. It wasn't that Shinji was weak; rather it was time that others took over for him. And Asuka was definitely up to the task.

That was a nice way of looking at things. Though the thought was disrupted violently when Mana laid a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "So don't worry about such things, Ikari."

Asuka tried to shoot lightning bolts with her eyes, but Shinji merely said, "Thank you, Kirishima."

Mana withdrew her hand. "You can still call me Mana, you know?" She grinned broadly, as if oblivious to Asuka's murder attempts by staring.

So was Shinji. Of course! He looked up at Mana. "But, uh… you called me Ikari. So, uh… just so that matters are fair, you should call me Shinji then." He looked apologetically at Asuka.

Asuka growled again. This level of intimacy between the two was unacceptable, so… "This whole Japanese custom is weird anyway. We are to call each other by family names, but adults can call us by personal names. What nonsense! So why don't we simply all call each other by personal name here!"

"Ah… if you wish so… Asuka," Mana answered. She seemed surprised… in fact, more surprised than by the earlier revelations, which was a bit odd. She looked to Rei, who simply nodded. Asuka grinned. She had forced through her own naming customs and thus relativized the bond between Mana and Shinji.

With the conversation thus satisfactorily concluded, the trio could finish their meals in peace. The class' attention remained on Kaworu for the rest of the day, much to the dismay of the teachers. Asuka defiantly jerked her head sidewards at one point… and saw Hikari glancing over to Touji. She sighed. It was bad enough that idiot had been made part of the pilot corps. Now he would think he was something special, and that… just, no. He was not on the same level as Asuka. And now Hikari would only reinforce him in that misguided idea.

Eventually the daily slog ended. What the hell did I get a college degree for if I'm here now… She sighed. The remainder of the day would be okay. No synchtests, so she and Rei could hang out at Misato's apartment together with Shinji. Maybe they should go to the city or something. Asuka laid a finger at her lips and thought about that. Then again, if I take Hikari to the city and Shinji does… whatever… with the Laurel and Hardy duo, then maybe Hikari won't run into her mistake…

She shrugged and got going. Those considerations had time. Hikari was surely not the girl who would be quick to escalate a relationship. By chance, when she, joined by Shinji and Rei, walked into the corridor, she passed Touji, Hikari and Kensuke. The three stood in a corner, and Touji was talking loudly.

"I only barely escaped that shadow," he retold the story of the fight. "I saw it coming to me. My EVA had its knife in its hand, but well, you can't stab a shadow. So I knew I had to flee. I..."

Urrrgh. "And that's all you did, bonehead! Flee!" Asuka intervened.

"And you did so much better, oh glorious team leader?" Touji snapped back. "If you hadn't fired on that thing, none of that would've happened."

"Misato authorized opening fire," Asuka reminded him. Sure, she had pushed for that – but as Operations Director, Misato did bear the responsibility, as far as Asuka was concerned.

Touji shrugged. "Point remains. You've been trained for years, and couldn't do jackshit. Me, I got in a very bleak situation due to your trigger-happy reflexes, but got out of with a pretty neat trick." He crossed his arms and looked mightily smug.

Asuka suddenly felt ice cold. Useless… That just couldn't stand. "All I heard," she retorted, now suddenly speaking in a very low, hostile voice. "was you screaming on the comm channel the entire time."

Touji began to look a bit nervous. "Yeah, well, it was an exhausting feat! Bet a girl like you wouldn't have had the muscles for it."

"Screaming in pain!" Asuka shouted now. "Like a little baby!"

Touji's face froze Then he furrowed his brows. Then he looked… angry. He sneered. "You're just like everyone else at NERV, ain't you?"

That was the last straw. Asuka whirled around. "Have fun with that rotten-brained meat mountain, Hikari!" She stormed off. After a few steps, she shouted, "Schlappschwanz!" and began running.

How dare he! Touji was a goddamn rookie who hadn't been any use in the two battles he had already been in. Hell, he hadn't even been able to fire a single shot! Worse, his loss of control had caused the battle against that parasite angel. What standing did he have to accuse her, a proven veteran with a respectable battle record?

...of course, as such, she should have been better than him. But EVA-03 had made short work of her, and against the shadow angel she had been forced to flee as well. Against both angels she had been just as useless as Touji. Goddamnit…

She could just guess what would happen now. Of course Shinji and Rei would come after her. They already had done so before, after all, those silly, adorable, trustworthy idiots. But she had to be better than that for them. Not a pathetic shrieking fury running away from conflict. She couldn't burden them with that. Hell, Rei had nearly died because of her inability, hadn't she?

She had quite an advantage on them, though, and was sure she was fitter than both. She should be able to keep a distance. They'll assume I'll leave through the main entrance… So of course she began running towards a side entrance. That would hopefully shake them off.

Once outside, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Then she heard voices from around a corner. That is… what is Kaji doing here? As if things weren't bad enough. Kaji would be a further complication. She still resented him for having chosen to stay with Misato after the Bardiel fight instead of looking after her; he had proven to be just one more person who had abandoned her in the end. But… she had looked up so much to him. Had had prospects on him. And that didn't just go away. So having such a source of ambiguity nearby, right now, that was just very unlucky. She had to get away from here before Shinji and Rei would think to start looking here, but she couldn't just pass by Kaji.

Carefully, she came closer to the corner. She recognized the other voice – the creepy new guy, Kaworu. She peeked around the corner.

"I am sorry to say so, but you could have done that in many easier ways, Inspector Kaji," Kaworu said with a smile on his face.

Kaji stood opposite him, facing the wall. He was likewise smirking. "Well, I figured it would be convenient to catch you here. I have some questions for you."

"Very well," Kaworu answered. "Let's see if I'll answer them."

Kaji's grin broadened. "You've got the right attitude, kid. So, where are you from?"

"The past years, I was involved with NERV Germany," Kaworu answered. "At their Hamburg branch."

"Hamburg, eh?" Kaji muttered. "How convenient… Still, strange name for a German."

"Just as strange as Asuka Soryu, I think," Kaworu deflected the comment with a broad smile… and looked right where she was standing. Asuka froze for a moment in surprise, long enough for Kaji to see her.

"Asuka..." he said with some surprise himself. "What are you doing here?"

With defiantly raised head, Asuka walked around the corner. Meanwhile, Kaworu gave a sheet of notebook paper to Kaji. "If you have further questions, that's where you'll find me. A good day to you, Inspector."

Kaji looked visibly uncomfortable letting him walk off, but he was more focused on Asuka now. "Are you eavesdropping on me now?"

"You are on the grounds of my school," Asuka reminded him.

Kaji chuckled, his left hand reaching to the back of his head. "Oh, yeah, I suppose I am."

Asuka worked her mouth. "So, gathering information, Inspector Kaji? There is something I have to tell you, anyway. A first hand after action report of the battle against the angel designated Bardiel. And let me tell you, NERV fucked up."

"Language, Asuka," Kaji muttered. He rubbed his chin. "Hm, sounds like a plan. When do..."

"Now," Asuka interrupted him. "Get me to your car and drive away."

"Very well," Kaji conceded and led the way.

Behind him, Asuka grinned. It would be good to rant at NERV to someone with at least a measure of official power.

Rei was worried. That… actually was something she had felt before. However, in her second body, she had never admitted that to herself. As far as she had been concerned back then, she was a tool, and tools didn't feel worry. They did as they were told, without concern for themselves beyond their functionality. In truth, even back then she had been relieved when the second re-activation test of EVA-00 had worked without injuring her again; she had simply not admitted to herself that she had been concerned.

Now… On some level, she was still a tool. She had in fact been created by Gendo Ikari with a false soul and a fake body; it was just that this had created a real person, shaped by her connections to other people. But still, "Rei Ayanami" was defined as the Commander's tool to bring about Third Impact. And maybe the Scenario was still necessary. However, now she would allow herself emotions.

It wasn't that she was worried about Asuka's physical security right now; the redhead probably simply was somewhere in the city and had turned off her phone. She had run away, after all. Rather, Rei was worried about Asuka's emotional wellbeing. The German pilot had not left the scene in a good state of mind. Had for a moment not been this beacon fire in Rei's life, inspiring and (quite literally) moving, but a raging blaze that had finally collapsed to ash. And Rei felt somewhat guilty for not having prevented that.

Shinji seemed… no, Rei knew he was feeling much the same. They were both in her apartment, waiting for Asuka to return. There would simply have been no point in searching the city, and additionally, that was what Section 2 was for. At first they had considered splitting up, Rei in her apartment and Shinji in Katsuragi's, so that no matter where Asuka went one of them could greet her. But neither of them wanted to be alone right now. So now Shinji sat at Rei's and Asuka's kitchen table, usually used more for homework than eating, and… was moping. His head was buried between his arms on the table.

Rei knew Asuka and Shinji had gotten close. It was plain to see. They sometimes seemed to try to hide that from her, but she didn't know why. The two looked great together. They made each other content. And Rei wanted to see them content. When Shinji smiled, it was a sign for Rei that everything was right in the world. When Asuka smiled, it was a sign that things were about to get better. When both smiled, maybe around her, maybe close around her…

...that really was something Rei wanted. She had, back then, logically deduced what she was feeling for Shinji was romantic attachment; now she didn't need to deduce anything anymore. Slowly, she reached out with her hand to Shinji's head. Then she ruffled his hair.

Somewhat tiredly, he looked up to her. He looked curious. "Rei…?"

"Yes?" Rei answered.

Shinji just shook his head, as much as its position still half between his arms allowed for, and sighed. "This sucks, you know. I can… I can kinda understand them both."

Rei pulled a chair very close to Shinji and sat down. He didn't complain. His lips even curled up a bit. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Asuka and Touji," Shinji explained. "Both of them. Piloting EVA… it's important to Asuka. Very important. That we have a fourth pilote now, and that it's Touji… and then he even brags about it… yeah, hearing that must have sucked for Asuka. But at the same time, Touji really doesn't want to pilot, and yet he has to, so… he should get some bragging rights in return." Rei didn't know what to say to that, so merely nodded to indicate him to go on. "And then, of course Touji has to defend himself. And he couldn't have known he was hitting Asuka's most vulnerable side. But also… of course Asuka wouldn't take that well. It's… it's… they both were in the right, but now they hate each other."

Still not commenting, Rei simply laid a hand on his shoulder and rubbed it comfortingly. Shinji looked at her oddly, but then actually smiled. A fluttery feeling…

"It's time for dinner soon," Rei remarked.

Shinji nodded. "But we should stay here. Asuka will want to draw as little attention as possible, and you two don't have keys for over there. She'll come to here." A sad smirk. "Trust me, I have experience with this."

"So what should we do?" Rei asked.

Shinji sighed. "Nothing. If she wants, this all..."

"...never happened," Rei finished the sentence. Shinji grinned. "I have experience with that as well."

It was just then that the apartment door was opened. A moment later, Asuka walked into the kitchen, with a defiantly raised chin and a thin smile on her lips. Shinji and Rei, now fully focused again, looked at each other in surprise.

Then Shinji turned his face towards Asuka. "Ah… welcome home,… Asuka… I guess you had troubles with your phone?"

"Oh, that thing?" Asuka replied. "Yeah, I turned it off. It was annoying."

"R… right," Shinji answered. "Well, good thing that you came back just in time. I'll soon start preparing dinner."

Asuka looked at him with some amusement. "I've been at Kaji's place. Didn't look bad, but I think I prefer living here. I talked with him about, oh well, recent NERV screw-ups."

"He is the right person for that," Rei remarked.

"Right," Asuka agreed. "Yeah, he is," She breathed out heavily. "So, uh… dinnertime?"

Shinji nodded. "Dinnertime." He and Rei stood up slowly. Meanwhile, Asuka was pacing back and forth for about a meter.

As soon as Rei and Shinji had even only made their first step after standing up, Asuka had already turned around to hasten to the apartment entrance. However, Shinji managed to grab her shoulder, which made her stop. He closed the distance between them and whispered quietly, "Welcome home, Asuka."

Asuka breathed out again, but this time it sounded calmer. She remained standing on the spot, and just smiled faintly as Shinji hugged her. A moment later, Rei joined in.