Shorter chapter today, sorry. I was honestly back and forth on whether I should upload this chapter and the next at the same time, but the next chapter is such a whole thing and I thought this one still deserved some space for you guys to absorb, especially since there's still a decent amount to absorb from this one, too. Hope you enjoy, nonetheless, although I hope I'm not making these chapters without any real action or fights a habit.

CHAPTER 9 - Moving Day

Rei Ayanami nodded her head along with what Commander Akagi was saying, mostly out of habit. When the Commander gave her instructions, she was to follow them, and she was to only question them, in her own head, on her own free time. It was usually a waste of energy to do as such, anyways. It was pointless to waste thoughts on things that you couldn't change. It was pointless to fret over the inner workings of a species that was as close as it was to ending.

"Do you understand, Rei? Repeat it back to me."

"After operations have fully moved to Tokyo-3, I am to attend classes alongside the other pilots. I am to maintain above-average results academically, and I am to continue piloting Evangelion Unit-beta under TOUHOU's command once it is rebuilt."

"Correct." Ritsuko raised the bottle up to her lips in her sunbathed Tokyo-2 office. With half a mind, she remembered all the times she'd teased Misato over her drinking. "Although, you are to refer to Unit-beta as 'Oni-03', and Unit-alpha as 'Oni-02'. You are going to be reassigned as the Fifth Child, and Asuka is going to be the Fourth Child. I am to be referred to as…" Ritsuko took another swig from the bottle of wine. It sat poorly in her stomach, although that might be more from the pit she could feel boring through her insides. "Doctor Akagi, or Head Scientist Akagi."

"I understand, Doctor Akagi. Am I dismissed?"

"Well, unless you have any questions." She said it jokingly. Rei didn't ask questions.

"Are the second and third children still my enemies?"

Ritsuko eyed the bottle suspiciously. Rei didn't ask questions. Then, she let out a sigh, feeling the bottle almost slip out as she slumped back into her chair. She'd quit smoking a couple months ago, but if she was gonna do this to herself instead, she might as well just start again. "No, Rei. They were our rivals, along with TOUHOU, as we were worried they may be unfit or ill-equipped to properly fight the angels.

"Is TOUHOU no longer unfit or ill-equipped to properly fight the angels? You previously told me that several elements of their leadership, including co-commander Junko and Head Alchemist Inaba, have outside motives and cannot be trusted to do their jobs while they include non-scientific methodology to render their work incomprehensible."

"No, they're…it'll be fine. Don't repeat that."

"Yes."

o0o

It was a beautiful Friday morning. Almost comically beautiful, a day where the unyielding eternal summer gripping Japan deigned to relent and leave Tokyo-3 with a relatively cool and breezy, if not cold, day. and it was the kind of day students hated their schools for forcing them to attend. Although, it was pretty hard to say that students liked when their schools forced them to attend on any day.

Sanae sure didn't like having to attend today, a fact that her three friends noticed immediately when she, the class president, came in five minutes before class started with heavy bags under her eyes. The teacher didn't even notice as she slumped down in her seat. Toji, of course, asked first.

"You good?"

"Mhm." She clutched at her head all the same. "I was just up late. Mo- Lady Kanako held a party and invited a bunch of her friends over from Gensokyo. She was celebrating something about a company that rejected one of her proposals being shut down… uh…" She lazily looked at Shinji, Toji and Sumireko for help, but the three obviously didn't know either. "Oh, NERV. Apparently their website says they folded."

Shinji's expression flashed in recognition "NERV? Have I heard that name before?"

Only for Sumireko to answer. "They were TOUHOU's biggest rivals, but they never actually fought any angels and eventually folded after a disastrous launch of their competing giant robot. It was covered up, but they were rolled into TOUHOU recently." Shinji, curious, leaned over her open laptop, only to find that she was actually texting on her cell phone. She looked up at the boy, but went back to it without saying anything, until he sat back down in his own chair. Sanae kept groaning into her arms, and the four stayed in a strange kind of silence before class started. It was going to be a boring day, but not an unpleasant one. As their teacher entered the classroom, the group of four prepared to turn their brains off…

Only for a girl to enter the class, too. It was impossible to not notice her! Despite her seeming shyness, the girl had a head full of light-blue hair, a set of blood-red eyes, and skin as white as the moon. Their teacher didn't even seem to register that anything was amiss.

"Class, today we have a new student. Do your best to make her feel welcome. Would you care to introduce yourself, young lady?"

Completely wordlessly, she picked up a piece of chalk and scrawled her name on the chalkboard at the front of the class.

'Rei Ayanami'.

"My name is Rei Ayanami." The entirety of the class stared forward at the girl, waiting for her to elaborate, but she simply bobbed her head and went to sit down at an empty window seat, next to a window which she immediately started staring out of. The group of four's eyes remained on the strange girl as the professor started his droning lecture on something loosely related to Second Impact. When the four started talking amongst themselves, as most of their classmates had already begun to, the teacher didn't stop them. Even despite Toji's volume. "So, Shin-man, you know her?"

"M-Me? Why would I know her?"

"Look at her! She looks straight outta Gensokyo! You go there every week, right?"

"Huh? Sanae goes there as much as me! Ask her!"

"Yeah, but Sanae looks confused by her."

"So do I!"

"You always look confused!"

"I don't know her!" Shinji was actually starting to get a little annoyed. It wasn't his fault that he'd been wrapped up in all this Gensokyo stuff. Was he seriously the weird kid who knew about this stuff, now?

Although, he was also Shinji, so he was too timid to dispute it. He looked over to the girl again, trying to figure out if he did actually recognize her, or at the very least if she felt like anyone he knew from his visits with Reimu. The new girl was… familiar, in a sense.

Honestly, between her blue hair, red eyes, and snow-white skin, she reminded Shinji a bit of that vampire… Remilia, right? However, even then, Remilia's face was a lot more childlike. The new girl's features were far sharper, as weird as Shinji felt about noticing it, and he also couldn't imagine Remilia just staring out of a window all day and not talking to people, no matter how boring their teacher might be. But, alas, despite that strange familiarity, Shinji had never seen the girl in her life. Nor had Sanae, nor had Sumireko. Eventually, the group moved on to just talking about what interested them, letting the school day trudge on while all of them slowly forgot about the new student. For her part, 'Rei Ayanami' didn't seem to mind, going the entire morning without taking her eyes off of the outside world. When the recess bell rang, she only got up a beat after Shinji did, following his path silently.

She found the group of four eating on a bench, still deep in a conversation they had seamlessly carried over from class. It was a conversation on nothing in particular; no new information was truly shared. It was the kind of fundamentally meaningless conversation that always confused Rei. It was the kind of conversation that had no value, and it was the kind of conversation that Rei felt could be stepped past without great loss. So, she did so.

"Pilot Ikari?" The four finally noticed her. There was an awkward silence before, like he was being called on, her fellow Evan- Oni pilot straightened and answered.

"Y-yes. Ayanami, right? Wait, how did you know my name?"

"I have been briefed on your identity, as I will be working with you as an Oni pilot for TOUHOU as of NERV's dissolution. I have been designated as the Fifth Child, and the pilot of Oni-03 when it is complete." She bobbed her head in a tiny bow, her face completely void of expression. Bowing was something you did.

"Ah… oh. Nice to meet you!" Shinji bowed back, still seated, because it was something you did. Rei continued on standing still, face blank.

"Where is pilot Hakurei? I was told to attend class along with the remaining Oni pilots."

"Huh? Reimu's never gone to class."

"But she is the pilot of an Oni, and as a Child founded by the Da Sheng Zhuang institute she is ordered to attend the same class as you, I, and the Fourth Child once she arrives."

A pair of 'ehhh?'s from Pilot Ikari's cohort confused Rei, but neither Shinji nor Sanae could help it. Reimu going to school? It was hard to imagine for about a thousand reasons, but the absurdity of the idea only let Shinji lamely respond with "Isn't she older than us?"

"Doctor Akagi has indicated that Pilot Hakurei Is uneducated, therefore it does not matter in which grade she is placed."

Sanae snorted, before she started to break down in a laughing fit. Toji and Sumireko looked to her while Shinji kept his eyes on the new girl, who didn't react in the slightest.

"Reimu… uh, Pilot Hakurei lives in a shrine far from Tokyo-3. I can… take you after class." Toji wooted, teasing Shinji offering to take a girl out, bringing another wave of laughter out of Sanae. Rei, once again, didn't flinch.

"I have been summoned to TOUHOU headquarters tonight and will be unavailable. I will have to inform Pilot Hakurei that she is not my enemy at a later time."

Then, just as abruptly as she had started the conversation, she ended it, walking away without another word and leaving the group of four just as confused. Rei would not share a single other word with anybody for the rest of the day.

At least, not at school.

o0o

Ritsuko Akagi stubbed out her Cigarette butt, lit another, and then took just a tiny bit of delight in the annoyed glance that Reisen shot at her through her sunglasses. Her great rival, the moon rabbit who'd stolen her job, the most important thing in her life, only rubbed it in even more time and time again, couldn't handle a little smoke. It was almost cute, the way her nose twitched whenever she got a whiff of smoke. Cute, as in pathetic.

It helped, well 'helped', that the smoke had nowhere to go. After a routine tour of... ugh, 'TOUHOU' headquarters, which largely consisted of Ritsuko knowing about every single thing that Reisen tried to confidently explain. Any of TOUHOU's inner workings that Ritsuko didn't directly know about and have a parallel of in NERV were just set-dressing that she could figure out how to handle by the time that her coworker was halfway through her explanation. That's because Ritsuko was a genius, and Reisen was the academic equivalent of a trust-fund baby. She only knew any of this because she'd been directly been instructed, while Ritsuko had to claw herself up.

And so, here they were. Reisen was showing anything she could of her 'Alchemy' to Ritsuko to get her up to speed. It was so cute-pathetic how much she tried to dress up what was just a little bending of science's rules. As complicated as Reisen seemed to think that all of Gensokyo's little rules and magical imports were, they were truly nothing in the face of the Angels. And the truth of the scenario.

"...I think that should be everything. Any questions?" She briefly glanced up from her laptop so expectantly. Christ, who was who's boss? Ritsuko was supposed to be serving directly under Head Alchemist Inaba, the last little part of SEELE's campaign of shaming her at every turn. But, when she already had the demoted rank under a god damn rabbit, the least that rabbit could be was competent enough to actually do her job. This was who had her job as TOUHOU's 3rd in command?

"One." She tried to steady herself with a long draw of her cigarette, although failed to. "Who do you think you're fooling? It's just us."

"Fooling, Doctor Akagi?"

"You don't like me, and I don't like you. You've done your part in making that quite clear over the years, so, what's with the act?" Ritsuko almost let it casually slip out, because it wasn't something she was very concerned about. It was reality: Reisen was her enemy at work and the two hated eachother, so she might as well know why Reisen was pretending otherwise.

Ritsuko hadn't expected her rival to actually freeze at the question, her rapidly-typing hands coming to a sudden stop as she processed the question. And then, Ritsuko hadn't expected the response that Reisen gave, either.

"I don't particularly care enough to hate you. We're at work."

It was the exact kind of non-answer would give to someone she hated. And yet, even though she thought she knew Reisen pretty well from their rivalry, she couldn't actually tell if the bunny was lying.

Ritsuko could only let the cigarette slacken between her lips. They were at work, and it wasn't like this whole exercise was completely useless, considering that she needed to be updated and informed on what, despite her obvious expertise, was a new job. Maybe Reisen had just been doing her job.

So, why did Ritsuko still hate her so personally?

o0o

If Rei cared about familiarity, she would probably care a great deal about her current position, deep in the bowels of TOUHOU, as adults in lab coats and uniforms surrounded her and talked directly about her while paying her no mind. Rei didn't particularly care about that feeling, as it was an all-too familiar one: her role in the scenario didn't require her input. Her life didn't, really, not that she particularly cared whether she lived or died.

Doctor Akagi, however, wasn't the one commanding her this time. She had been assigned to go relearn the inner workings of TOUHOU and to get hands-on experience with the Onis, now that she would be working on them alongside Head Alchemist Inaba. No, Rei was left to her two new commanders, who were eyeing her across Gendo's desk like she was a fresh piece of meat to devour.

"Rei." Gendo's measured, intimidating tone was also… familiar. The way that TOUHOU and NERV had split had also split Commander Ikari from Rei, but it seemed that such a seam was destined to be re-stitched. "Welcome home."

She bobbed her head, and almost automatically responded "I'm home." She didn't really mean it. There was no such thing as 'home', it was a concept Rei had never had or never needed. The only home she felt even mildly attached to was the inevitable, what lay in the very bottom of TOUHOU's underground complexes. In that? she supposed, she was closer to home, now.

Commander Ikari continued. "You have already been briefed by Doctor Akagi on what you need to know, so I will be curt. You will temporarily be residing within apartment block 'E', which you will be taken to shortly." Seperated from Doctor Akagi. Commander Ikari has retaken the reins of her life. The scenario always ended the same way, but she could only wonder if it really would have been under Doctor Akagi's influence. "We estimate that Oni-03 will be successfully retrofitted and brought up to TOUHOU's standards within a couple weeks, so you will be piloting it soon."

"Yes."

"You are also to attend biweekly appointments with Doctor Akagi within Central Dogma, once she has finished being familiarized with TOUHOU's specific methodologies and the requirements of Project O. Until the scenario is fulfilled, you are to maintain your physical health, along with above-average academic results."

It was all so tiresome. Rei didn't feel very strongly about much, but she did allow boredom to slip through the cracks on occasion. As long as you couldn't see the emotion reach her face, she was absolutely content to feel bored by receiving the exact same orders twice in a day. One from a woman cloaked in white in an office quite the same, and the other from a man in a black uniform and office. Yin and yang weren't as interesting if you were in the thin, grey middle where they agreed. And yet, she could only answer "Yes."

"Good. It is good to have you back with us, Rei." She bowed, letting a tiny smile creep across her face. A great deal of her enjoyed the commander's praise, to the extent that she was allowed to enjoy anything at all. She opened her mouth to say something other than 'yes', but then Commander Ikari continued. "That is all. Commander Junko will be taking you to have your apartment properly assigned, and she will be bringing you to some facilities of note that may not be committed to your memory, yet."

"Yes." Rei was an expert at maintaining a flat tone, even when disappointed. The tall, robed woman next to Gendo walked past his desk and up to Rei with a red-eyed, completely blank smile. Rei bowed and spun around to face the office's entrance alongside her, walking out to the long hallway side by side and then turning down it, to wherever Junko wanted her to be.

The woman spoke before too long, and before they had gone too far down the cold, industrial hall. "It is quite good to see you again, Rei. Your role in fighting the Lunarians will prove vital, as will your role in fulfilling the scenario. And, if you ever need to discuss your mental health, I-"

"That's none of your business, old hag."

Junko turned to Rei, keeping up a hollow smile and even pace while her eyes narrowed. Rei's own red eyes only looked forward, her face completely neutral, as she walked.

o0o

The rest of the evening as it turned to night was uneventful. Following Junko's tour dutifully was a dry affair, and the apartment she'd been given was about what she expected.

She didn't care about its condition, on one hand. The cleanliness of a room was as pointless and temporary as the human species, a vain attempt to fight the entropy that always seemed to bleed back in and degrade anything that one had wasted effort on organizing, or cleaning, or making more than it truly was. Her apartment had a mattress to sleep on, a bathroom to maintain herself in, a kitchen to cook in. It was satisfactory and would delay her death until she was allowed it.

And yet… Doctor Akagi had let her live with her. Doctor Akagi's Tokyo-2 apartment didn't have rust on every face, or the ceaseless pounding of building demolition outside its windows. Rei didn't care for things as useless and temporary as that. But, a tiny part of her did just enough to pull at her, to make her wrap her pillow around her head to cover her ears while she collapsed into bed, tired in ways she didn't understand.

o0o

And then, it was Monday. School was out on an academic holiday for some reason she didn't feel like finding out. On most days like this, she'd read until she could sleep and end the day. She only ran errands when she had to… although, she didn't really have to run this one.

Tokyo-3's train network was, at least, far more streamlined than Tokyo-2's messy and hastily expanded one. Riding it from her apartment to out here hadn't been much trouble at all. The walk once she had gotten off the train was peaceful, and allowed Rei to be in nature in a way she almost never truly got to experience.

And now, here she was. The wind blew just a little behind her, rustling with the leaves of trees and sending little waves through the fields of grass surrounding the shrine. It was dead quiet, which surprised Rei more than she expected. She'd never been to a shrine before, until today there'd never been a reason to, but even with the post-Second Impact world's diminished population, she'd thought that shrines were supposed to have visitors.

She walked up to the shrine's doors uncertaintly, and rapped her hand on it. The action, an outright call for attention, felt almost alien, and Rei jerked her hand back from the door and started to worry that she had done something she shouldn't have. Just as she was beginning to let regret bloom inside her, the door opened in front of her, revealing Reimu Hakurei, standing awkwardly with her eyes just a little unfocused. She straightened and kicked a bottle of… something, Rei wasn't sure what, behind her feet.

"You're... the girl from NERV? What're you doing here?"

Rei nodded. "My name is Rei Ayanami, and I am here to apologize for calling you my enemy previously. I have been assigned to be the Fifth Child, and will be piloting an Oni alongside you in the future."

"Uh… thanks. I appreciate the sentiment, but sorry that someone put you up to this, it's no big deal."

Rei tilted her head in confusion. "Nobody has 'put me up to this'. I am informing you of the change of our mutual status to assuage confusion."

"Uh… thanks. You didn't have to."

Rei bobbed her head, and then left back down the way she came, leaving Reimu standing in her doorway, confused. She knew she didn't have to. This didn't especially benefit the scenario and, although not forbidden, leaving Tokyo-3 on such an excursion would raise eyebrows, and she was probably not going to do this again. However, she felt as though it should be done, so it was.