Sunday, January 11, 1998 Well, here it is: Shin Seiki Evangelion: Foreign Relations All standard disclaimers apply, the only thing I seek in writing this is to satisfy myself in getting better at writing and perhaps invoke some thinking and feeling in those who read it. Don't sue; it's not worth it. ------------------------------------- And now, AniRoura(tm) productions presents an Evafic that could make you think: Shin Seiki Evangelion: Foreign Relations Episode 2: There was a lot of noise coming from the other side of the door, the amazing part was that it was mainly coming from Misato. "How can she be so noisy being one person?" Shinji thought from in front of the door. He took a glance at the bandage on his wrist and breathed out a sigh. "Some party. I'm going to be feeling low all throughout it even though I don't know what I did. I hope Asuka is at least feeling good enough to insult me... ironic; but it would make me feel better." he thought. He looked up at the door and took in a breath. "Okay. Time to make things right." he resolved, and opened the door. There was Rei. "Kon-ni-chi-wa!" Shinji startled. "Kon..ni-chi-wa?" Rei giggled. There were several thoughts going through Shinji's head at this point, one being "Who are you and what have you done with Rei?" He had sort of a confused, startled look on his face; which set Rei into another giggle. "Since when does Rei giggle?" he asked himself. He held up his wrist and stared at the name on it; hoping it would lend some sort of clue. "Oh! I forgot, I wrapped that bandage myself. See, it's autographed. What do you think? Do I still look like a mother?" she asked, smiling. Shinji took a good look at her. He noticed she had adorably cute fangs; hardly noticeable... ...unless she was giggling. Shinji also noticed several other things that were out of place. For one, she was not wearing her school uniform, the school uniform she wore no matter where she was. She was wearing a white shirt with a black jacket like Misato's, plus a pair of black pants that fell nicely; as if they had been permanantly pressed. This was definitely a BIG change. Also, there were barretts in the sideburns of her hair, neatly tucking them even tighter onto her cheeks. "Well, what do you think?" she asked again. Shinji snapped out of his dumbfounded staring. "It's... It's nice. Where did you get all this?" "Misato helped me pick them out." "She's calling her 'Misato'? Picked out?" "Rei went shopping!?!" Rei caught his awed look and giggled yet again. Just then, Misato noticed the conversation. She waved over to them. "Hey, Shinji-kun! Come on, join the party!" "Come on, let's go!" Rei grabbed Shinji's hand. He blushed from the gesture, startled again. She led him over to Misato, giggling. "Something is NOT right here... that Angel must have hit my head..." Misato smiled as the two reached the table she was sitting at and took a chug from her beer. "Ahh, ha ha! Come on Shinji-kun, what are you waiting for?! Drink up!" Misato suggested happily, gesturing to a table full of beer. Shinji frowned and smacked his head in frustration. "No thank you." he quietly answered. "I see that you've already had quite a bit." he added. He could tell because there were several cans scattered around the floor next to her chair and she was already half-drunk. Misato gave him a look. "Heh. So, what did he say Rei?" "He said it's nice!" Misato and Rei each burst into a series of kicking-giggle fits. Shinji raised a confused eyebrow and grew a sweatdrop. "Whatever weird disease Rei has, it's contagious." Shinji waited until thier giggle fits were over when he tried communicating with them again. "So... where is everyone?" he asked. "They all had to work, heh." Misato answered. "Is... is Asuka here?" he added. Misato nodded. "Where is she?" he asked. "She went straight to her room when she got here and hasn't come out since, I don't know why. Maybe you should go get her, since you're here now." Misato answered. "Asuka?" Rei wondered to herself. She glanced at Shinji, hoping to get some kind of reading off of him. All she saw was hurt. "Something's wrong." Shinji turned and glanced at Asuka's shut door down the hallway. It seemed like such a dark hallway now that he really looked at it. He turned back and faced Misato again, taking in her concerned look. "I musn't run away. I musn't run away. I musn't run away. I musn't run away..." "Okay. I'll go get her." he finally answered. Misato smiled. "Okay Shinji. Go get her." she thought to herself happily. Shinji took a glance at Rei and the look on her face and then turned, almost regretting the descision he'd made. He started walking down the hallway. --------------------- He stood at the door and breathed in sharply, staring at the door as it stared back at him; as if knowing his plight. He glanced back down the hallway at Rei and Misato, who were currently engaged in some sort of conversation; Rei nodding and smiling a lot. He smiled himself as he saw her do so, even though it was kind of scarry, it was so nice to see her adorable smile. He turned his attention back to Asuka and the matter at hand and made his choice. Shinji reached for the door and opened it. She was asleep. He walked into the room quietly, shutting the door behind him silently. "So beautiful, in sleep even. I don't understand why I don't see it more often." Shinji thought to himself as he approached the side of the sleeping Evangelion pilot's bed. The window was open and the moon was high in the sky, casting a warm, soft light into the room and over the girl's face. She was draped out over her bed, the covers having been knocked onto the floor beside it. The night wind blew in through the window and rustled both Shinji and Asuka's hair. Asuka shivered and her lip trembled slightly as she had no covers on and it was fairly drafty. "She's sleep..." Shinji thought. "Maybe it's better if I just come back later, if I wake her up; she'll get mad at me again." he reasoned. He took a step towards her bed and picked up the covers from the floor. Shinji smiled as he draped the covers over the girl, and she stopped trembling. He hesitated for a moment, taking in her beauty; making the mistake of brushing her cheek. Shinji froze as he realized the mistake he just made-even though it was accidental-Asuka would not see it that way... "I'm dead." he tolled in his mind. Asuka stirred a little and moaned. Shinji cringed back a little, waiting for the result. She woke up. Asuka woke up slowly, first bending the sheets back and then turning to face Shinji, rubbing her eyes. First a dark blur appeared, until her eyes gradually got used to the low moonlight and Shinji's form appeared. She looked confused, and stared at him. "Shinji..." she spoke, wondering as to why he was in her room and why she hadn't kicked him out yet. "I...I'm sorry!" the boy quickly apologized, becoming the Shinji of old. Asuka stared at him, confused. "What's he apologizing for?" she asked herself. "Because you've always kicked him out, what do you expect?" she answered herself. "Asuka, I-" the boy began, but was cut off by Asuka's look. He fell silent, wondering what the look meant. She stared back at him, and began to cry. Shinji watched the girl as her tears started rolling down her cheeks, the red-headed girl sobbing into her hands uncontrollably under a full moon. He was hurt by the sight, because it may have been him that caused her to cry the way she was. He remembered the day she had cried before, and how he'd run after her to console her. She had blown him off, but it didn't fool him; he knew she was hurt. He'd just barely managed to get her talking that time, but somehow, from somewhere within him, something told him that this was different. So he summoned his strength... ...and made a different descision. He stepped towards her and sat on the bed next to her. The girl snapped her head up instantly, and stopped crying for a second, then she wasn't able to hold it and burst back into sobs. Shinji frowned at the situation, as much as she got to him sometimes; he still couldn't stand to see her cry. He put his arm around her and comforted her, as Misato often did him when he needed it. The girl looked up quickly, and stared into his face; surprised by the loving gesture. Shinji smiled at her in the dim light spared by the moon, and patted her on the back. She started crying again instantly, which set Shinji into a comforting tone of voice as he drew her in and spoke his following words. "Shhh...it's okay. You don't have to cry. It will be fine." he spoke, while the girl cried into his chest, her tears dampaning his shirt. She sobbed uncontrollably and then began saying "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry Shinji! You shouldn't be sorry....it's all my fault!" Shinji smiled lightly and rubbed her back, comforting again. "Shhh...okay. It's okay, you don't have to be sorry anymore. I understand, I understand what it's like to be lonely..." he spoke, as he suddenly realized what had been going on the whole time. Asuka quieted down and stopped crying, her heartbeat slowing in his arms. They just stayed that way for a while. "This is nice." Shinji thought. He immediately appreciated his descision, happy that he had gone with his feelings for once and had gotten her feelings in return. After a few seconds of quiet breathing, Asuka spoke up. "Shinji?" she asked. "Hmm?" he acknowledged. "Do you really mean you understand?" she asked. "Yes." he answered. "I'm so sorry. I guess I deserved to be yelled at back there, the way I'm always treating you. No one should treat you that way, no one. Do you... forgive me?" she asked, her voice getting quiet. Shinji startled. "Of-of course!" Asuka smiled and pulled away from him, staring into his face. What a relief it was to have all those things you keep pent up inside of you taken away. All that time she kept herself hidden, getting angry at having what came so rare these days; she loved the way it felt to finally stop lying to herself. About Shinji, about everything. Shinji stayed silent and didn't move, he had done what he felt, and now he didn't know what he felt so he didn't know what to do. It was her turn. If at all she felt anything. Asuka watched as the boy stared on, uncomfortable with the silence. She had a mischevious thought and decided 'well, I can have a little fun...' She grinned slightly, careful not to let him on to her mischevious motives and leaned forward; watching his eyes widen as she did so. He leaned away from her partly in reflex and partly in surprise; but she continued her pursuit and with a swift move slipped a hand around his neck. Shinji's breath caught in his throat with her cold touch and he gasped slightly. Asuka leaned forward until her lips were at his ear and whispered. "Shin-kun..." "Evangelion is *not* the only thing I love..." Shinji's heart leapt in his chest involuntarily. Asuka drew away from his ear and moved in for a kiss, but instead pulled back and smacked him lightly on the cheek. She pulled back away from his face and laughed, "Baka..." she sang sweetly. Shinji looked confused for a moment and rubbed his cheek, then after a few seconds of Asuka's continued laughing, he started laughing as well and everything was fine. The two stopped laughing and Asuka got up from the bed, walking over to the door. She glanced back at the boy sitting on her bed and not saying anything, just sitting there, and decided "Aw, what the hell.", then blew him a kiss. Shinji glanced up at her and smiled. Asuka waved and opened the door, leaving. Shinji watched her go, the door closing after her. Outside the door, Asuka leaned beside it and smiled. "That was nice. I wish this could have happened sooner. Maybe Shinji's not so bad after all... but I'm going to have to break him of a few things before anything serious happens..." she resolved and headed off for the sounds of laughter she heard in the living room. ------------------ The sight scared her half to death. Asuka walked into the room on a smiling Misato and a laughing Rei??? Asuka swept her view from woman to girl and gasped. "Rei's NOT wearing her school uniform???" she asked herself. Unable to bear it any longer without some sort of explanation, she spoke up. "Rei, are you okay?" she asked. The blue-haired girl looked up in Asuka's direction and smiled. "Oh, I didn't even notice you come in. Where's Shin-kun?" she asked. Asuka puzzled, and a large sweatdrop appeared on her cheek. "Shin-kun?" she asked. "Yeah, my beloved Shinji!" Rei answered enthusiastically, clasping her hands over her heart. "Your beloved wha??" Rei giggled. Asuka twitched noticeably. "No way!" "*Sigh* Shinji is so nice to me all the time. He cares, he listens when no one else ever asks... He's right, I should smile a lot more. Plus, he's soo cute!" Rei went on. Asuka had turned to stone. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was this Rei she was talking to, or some clone or something?(actually the clone thing could pass...) "I can't wait to kiss him!" Rei exclaimed, sighing and smiling. "Wha..what!?!" Asuka fumed, getting angry. Rei gave Asuka a look, the one that said 'what's wrong with you?' Misato burst out laughing, a beer in her hand. "No way is this, this, well; now I have no idea... going to take Shinji away from *me.* Especially considering we're just really opening up to each other... besides, I don't think Shinji would go for Rei. Or would he?" Asuka thought. "Heh, you think Shinji would want to kiss a doll like you? Baka. You probably don't even know how." Asuka shot. That must have hit a newfound nerve in Rei because she didn't just stare straight ahead as the old Rei did... "Oh yeah! Watch this!" Asuka watched as Rei strided right up to Shinji, who had just made it into the room,(following the noise) and placed her hands on his cheeks. "Rei!" Shinji cried out in surprise, taken off-gaurd by the assault. "You'll like this Shin-kun..." she told him, before planting her lips firmly on his. Shinji instantly turned a deep red, she was soo close to him.(he can't help it; he's a guy.) He felt himself tense up initially, and then melt into a relaxed posture. Rei's arms slipped around his neck and she deepened the kiss, holding it for a few seconds. Shinji felt something warm in his mouth after that... Asuka paled and her mouth dropped open. "Rei knows how to french-kiss???" Misato sobered a little, and her mouth dropped open. Rei deepened her kiss once more, pressing her body into Shinji's, then she broke the kiss and nuzzled her cheek against his. Rei put her lips to his ear the way Asuka had and whispered as well. "I *told* you you'd like that... Shin-kun..." she whispered softly. Then she unwrapped her arms and stepped back, smiling. The first thing Shinji did was breathe, that was one long kiss. He breathed deeply and watched Rei, as she smiled warmly. By this time, Asuka was ready to kill someone, anyone. She needed an Eva. Rei glanced over at Asuka and smirked. "Heh!" "You think Shinji liked that?" "Shin-kuuun...did you like that?" "..." "I rest my case..." Asuka glared at Rei and wished she had something to throw, but instead just glared. "Ooooh! I can't believe she did that! This is *Wonder Girl,* what is going on here!?! If she keeps kissing like that, I'll never be able to compete! No way! *I'm* the best! The best in an Eva, the best at school, the best with Shinji, the best at everything compared to her! I'm not going to lose to some...some... damn!" she seethed to herself. Misato watched from her chair as the scene progressed, not sure what was going on...She did notice one thing however... Asuka was getting that target practice look again... "This party's over!" "Okay, okay! It's getting late you three. You've all got school tommorow." "Aww..." Rei pouted, mixing in a good amount of cuteness. Asuka glared daggers at her. Rei just smiled. Misato gave a serious look and Rei stood down with her protest. Asuka folded her arms in victory. "Hmmph." she added. "That's right, I want to be rested for our training tommorrow." she commented. Misato stood up from her pile of beer cans and regretted it instantly from the head-rush. "Okay, Rei, I'll drive you home." she announced. "Asuka and...*snicker* Shin-kun can get ready for bed, no stalling!" she commanded. Shinji rejoiced, he needed sleep after this day. Asuka rolled her eyes. "Come on Rei, I think I'm drunk and you know what that means..." "*Sigh*... we better start early." "Right." Rei walked over to Shinji. "See you in school tommorrow, Shin-kun." "Okay." *Smooch* Rei walked off after Misato out the door. Shinji smiled dumbly. Asuka fumed. She bopped Shinji, er Shin-kun over the head. "Shin-kun eh? Baka!" Asuka stormed off. Shinji rubbed his head and grew a sweatdrop... confused. ------------------ Misato struck the alarm clock with the accuracy only a morning-hater could achieve. Again. She moaned and stretched; yawning. "*Yawn* Do I have to wake up *again?*" she asked herself as she scratched her arm. The purpled-haired woman got to her feet and stared at herself in the mirror. " I swear, everyday I hate mornings more and more..." she commented to herself; throwing on her morning clothes. Misato gathered her bath items and stuck her head out of the door, looking out for a roaming Shinji. After seeing that it was clear, she scampered across the room to the bathroom and stepped in; the door shutting behind her. She quickly undressed, letting the clothes fall in a neat circle around her feet and stepped into the bath. "Ahhh..." she sighed as she settled into the hot water. Misato hated cold baths, detested them even. She liked warm ones because all of her problems seemed to seep out of her pores while she just melted into the water. She remembered her advice she had given Shinji about baths and laughed; remembering the event that followed. While she let the memory pass over her, another subject crossed her mind. "Hmm. I wonder what happened between Shinji and Asuka? Could that be what was affecting his synch rate? Damn! Now I wish I wasn't drunk last night..." she commented. "And another thing... Rei. What happened to her? I can't figure out why she would just drop by and say 'Misato; *please* take me shopping?' It just isn't like her; *at all.* Plus, she seems to have taken a *strong* liking to our *snicker* Shin-kun; Shinji told me that she's exhibited feelings for him before... but not like that... and *where* did she learn to kiss like that? *I* can't do that! Well, okay, so I can... but that still doesn't explain it... I wonder how Shinji is adjusting to all of this..." she thought. Poor Shin-kun. *Laugh* "No, but seriously... I wonder how he's doing... I didn't even talk to him after the Angel attack. I hope nothing is wrong, I would hate for him to be in the middle of a female war... Maybe I should talk to him; give him some advice...from a tricky gal herself, and I have to talk to Rei too; find out what's wrong with her. Still; I have to admire her for coming to me, she knows how to get a guy's attention!" she added. Miasto laughed breifly at her comment and sighed. "It's been years..." She reclined in the bath and let the water up to her chin. She breathed out a sigh, which blew bubbles in the water. ----------------------------- Shinji's eyes fluttered open to the light which escaped into the room through the blinds, and a nice; lovely smell that flowed into his nose. He sniffed at the air happily, wondering where that wonderful aroma was originating from... surely not from Misato's cooking. Shinji concluded that coupled with the events of Yesterday and the great way the day was beginning, he had a good one coming to him. It was so nice not to be on edge all day, wondering when he was going to get into another arguement with Asuka next. Even though she had ended last night with another refrain of 'Baka!,' he still had this feeling that from now on, things would be different. Plus, there was Rei. Shinji sighed happily involuntarily as he thought of her. What a wonderful feeling he got from her when she did that! Whatever happened to Rei, he was glad that it did; but he still missed the old Rei. The only thing he really wondered was how; and what would change between the three of them because of it. "Well, it could only be for the better." he resolved and finally sat up; getting out of the bed and stretching. Shinji retrieved his uniform from the closet and laid it on the bed, first he had to find out where that beautiful smell was coming from. The young Eva pilot stepped from his room as he followed his nose to the kitchen. Shinji walked into the small place of dining and froze at the door. Asuka was at the stove; cooking. A smile spread across the younger hedgehog's face as he listened to her singing-'Fly Me to the Moon'-to be exact. Asuka's hair swayed at her hips as she cooked, letting the notes roll off of her tongue. Shinji observed her for a while, until she stopped singing abruptly and turned around; suddenly noticing his presence. "Ohayo, Shin-kun!" she greeted, happily smiling. Shinji startled, surprised by such a warm greeting from the normally over-obnoxious redhead. "O..Ohayo!" "I'm Shin-kun to her now too?" Asuka spun back around towards the stove and grabbed whatever she had prepared for breakfast. Shinji sat at the table as she did so and waited patiently. "Asuka, I had no idea you could cook." he admitted, smiling as she set a plate before him and another facing him. "Yep! I had to cook for myself in college, you know." she explained as she sat opposite him. "Asuka... can I ask you a question?" Shinji timidly ventured. "As long as it's not about something stupid." the redhead replied. "Why are you cooking for me all of a sudden?" he asked. Asuka flinched; hurt. Amazingly, she didn't mask it for the boy. "All of that... what it used to be like; it's not like that anymore. I should be as nice to you as you are to me, I think that's the way it should be from now on between you and me. We could really get along pretty good that way; so don't be surprised, or suspicious. That's the old way, between you and I, and I want everything to be new... Shinji, let's start over." Asuka poured out. Shinji said nothing, taking in all that was said. He looked down into his plate, deep in thought. "Could this be real? Am I dreaming again; watching a memory I wish was real under an unfamiliar ceiling?" he questioned himself. Asuka reached out and took his hand. That was real. Shinji looked up to meet the eyes of the girl across from him as she gave his hand a light squeeze. She stared back with her clear blue eyes and smiled warmly, as if reading his thoughts and reassuring him. Shinji reached forward with his other hand and covered hers, giving it a light squeeze as well. A smile spread across his face as she stared back. The two held this for a minute, and then started laughing before an uncomfortable silence could set in. "Well, don't dawddle, we have school today; eat!" Asuka spoke up, back in her commanding voice. She giggled as she watched Shinji jump. "Still got it..." she commented, turning to her food. After a few minutes of quiet eating, Shinji spoke up and asked where Misato was; it was rare that she didn't mooch off of a good breakfast she didn't cook. "Misato? She left early for headquarters this morning." Asuka informed. Shinji pushed his plate aside and leaned back. "I can't eat anymore... *whew*" he announced. "Besides, it's time to get ready for school." Asuka added, standing up. "I'm already ready, but you still have to get dressed... so meet me at the door when you're ready to leave." she suggested. "Hunh??" Shinji let slip, by reflex. Asuka giggled. "Don't be surprised; remember?" she reminded, smiling. Shinji smiled back and stood up. "Hai!" he laughed out. The young hedgehog stepped off towards the bathroom, humming 'Cruel Angel's Thesis.' ----------------------- "...So you see I lost my balance and fell onto her by mistake." Shinji explained as they neared the school. "And she didn't get mad, or slap you, or anything like that?" Asuka asked. "No." Shinji answered. "She just asked me 'will you get off?'," he added. "Wow, she wasn't lying when she said it didn't matter to her..." Asuka trailed, amazed that the story was indeed true. "Sometimes I still wonder why she kept my father's broken glasses..." Shinji admitted, looking off into the distance. "Well, we're here." Asuka announced as they entered the school. ---------------------- There was a crowd in the hall, with a lot of noise centered around it. Shinji noticed several things that happened to be associated with this gathering: One: It was mostly boys. Two: There was a lot of drooling going on. Three: There was feminine laughter emnating from the center of this mob. Asuka noticed something as well, the laugh was familiarly irritating as well as terrifying to her... which only meant one thing. Sure enough the female at the center of attention pushed her way through the crowd and made her way directly for Shinji. "Shin-kun! Ohayo gozaimasu!" "Uh...*choke*...Rei!" Asuka face-faulted...a non-existent thing in this anime. Shinji's choke resulted from the crushing hug he got from the newly emotion-endowed, blue-haired, extremely attractive girl. He blushed several degrees of crimson and a large sweatdrop appeared on his cheek. "O-Ohayo!" he finally got out. Rei giggled and let the younger hedgehog go to breathe before she killed him. Asuka folded her arms and turned her back. "What happened to your uniform, eh Wonder Girl?" she assaulted. "She's wearing it." Shinji answered. He glanced her over and then noticed the reason for the question. It seems as though Rei has a talent for tailoring, because the skirt was noticeably shorter and the shirt was cut-off; making it look more like a sailor fuku than anything. "I modified it, you like?" "Hmmph." "I can modify yours if you like." "No way, clothes don't make the woman, baka!" "You're just jealous 'cause Shin-kun likes mine better..." Asuka turned beet-red. "Just give me one shot at her in Unit 02... I'll modify her all right..." The bell rang. "Well, we better be getting to class." Shinji observed and started to head off for the classroom. "*Sigh* It's so boring in there, he's always rambling on about Second Impact, we're Eva pilots! We know all about this junk." Rei pouted. "A-men!" Shinji agreed. Rei laughed and caught up with him, making her entrance on his arm. There were several attempts on Rei's phone number, but she politely turned them down; announcing that she was taken. Shinji blinked at this gesture and just kept walking towards his seat, trying not to be noticed.(which was almost impossible.) He made it to his regular seat and sat down, then Rei decided to take a seat next to him and did so. Touji and Kensuke immediately fell upon them. "Ayanami!" they both exclaimed at once. "What happened?" Kensuke asked boldly. "Yeah, you been taking lessons from Misato!?!" Touji added. Rei giggled and winked at them both, enjoying toying with them the way Misato did. "Nooo, I just wanted to look good for my Shin-kun." she answered, running her hand up Shinji's arm. The boy nervously sweated and laughed. Touji and Kensuke looked at each other and then swung thier view to examining Shinji. "What are you, a chick magnet?" Touji asked, getting a little angry. Shinji shrugged and sighed. "Listen, guys, can we talk about this later?" Shinji asked quietly. Touji turned and spoke something into Kensuke's ear and Kensuke nodded. "Okay!" they both turned around and answered. "In the meantime...I'll be watching you two, Shin-kun! *laugh*" Kensuke teased. Shinji rolled his eyes and focused on his laptop. His vision wandered to include an alone Asuka, sitting by herself by the window. Her laptop was open but she wasn't really using it, just staring out of the window listlessly. "This is scary... that's *Rei's* job." Shinji thought. "Shin-kun, is something wrong?" Rei asked, noticing his preoccupation. He made up his mind. "No." Shinji placed his hands on the keyboard and proceeded to type a message. 'Are you okay?' he typed out. Asuka startled a little and turned to face her laptop as it beeped to her. She read the message and began to type a message back. 'I'm fine...' Shinji read on his screen. Rei peeked over his shoulder and read the conversation taking place as well. 'Why are you alone?' Shinji typed back. 'I don't know...' Asuka typed back. 'Why don't you sit over here, with me? ^_^' he asked, typing rather than talking. Rei sat back in her seat from shoulder-reading and opened her laptop. 'Why is she coming over here?' she sent to Shinji. 'She's lonely, can't you tell?' he sent back, even though he realized she was sitting right next to him. 'I don't care, she's always getting on my nerves for no reason. It makes me angry.' Shinji blinked. "Rei, angry? *Now* I'm terrified." Asuka came over and sat on the other side of Shinji with a smile. 'I don't like being angry, Shinji.' 'I'll talk to her later about it, okay?' '^_^' "Watcha typin' Shinji?" "Oh, uh, nothing." "Hi, Wonder Girl." "Don't call me that." "Why not?" "My name is Rei. Ayanami Rei. Get it right." "You never cared about it before..." Rei folded her arms and turned her head. "I would appreciate it if you would call me by my name." "Yes! A piece of the old Rei is still there... I *miss* her sometimes..." Shinji rejoiced with his thought inside. The two girls fell silent, Rei not paying attention to Asuka, like usual; Asuka doing the same. Shinji sat and puzzled in the middle of it all. "What did I do to cause this?" he asked himself. "I don't know. I need my mother...but she's gone." he added. "Misato... where are you?" Shinji cried out inwardly. Their teacher went on with his usual ramblings on Second Impact and Shinji soon found himself staring at the bandage on his wrist involuntarily. "Rei." he read, his eyes flowing over the beautiful handwriting. His attention was wrenched back to action as he felt a hand on his wrist and looked up. It was Rei's. "What do you think? Do I still look like a mother?" his mind replayed. He looked up into her warmly smiling face and smiled back. "Maybe you do. Maybe you don't. Maybe you're more." he answered. Asuka tried to hide a frown. --------------------- Shinji laid back and stared up at the sky, flanked on either side by Kensuke and Touji. It was currently silent between the three as each was just resting for the moment, life could be very tiring in Tokyo-3. Finally after a group of clouds passed, Kensuke spoke up. "Hey Shinji, what's going on between you, Rei, and Asuka?" he asked, the subject suddenly coming back to mind. Shinji startled a little, his mind very far from the subject at hand, and returned to himself. "That's a good question..." he began, trailing off at the end of the answer. "What do you mean?" Touji asked, joining the conversation. "Well, it's like... things just changed." "Like how?" Kensuke asked, becoming more attentive. "Yeah, we definitely noticed a change in Rei..." Touji ventured. "That's one part of it. It's like everything changed to what I could have least expected it to change to." Shinji continued, still staring at the clouds. "Rei seems more... I don't know... Sometimes I really like the change and I feel like it's what I wanted... but other times I wish the old Rei was back and I miss her quiet ways." he explained. "If I were you, I'd jump at the chance to go out with Ayanami. She's cute." Touji interjected. "I second that notion." Kensuke added. "You're forgetting about Asuka." Shinji interrupted, bringing them back to the general picture. "Oh, yeah...her." "Things between she and I have changed too." *gasp!* "Yeah. I exploded on her one night, like Kensuke said I should. She just made me so angry, she took it to the limit, insulting me, and dragging Rei into it all. So I finally told her what I thought, and she broke down and cried." Shinji explained. "Asuka cried?" Touji asked, sounding dramatic. "Nothing serious is going on yet, but we are much better friends and she seems to value me a little more. I guess... I don't know what will happen." Shinji added. "Things have changed..." Kensuke trailed along after him. "We talked and told each other what we feel and things have been really different since then... she said she wants to start over between us." Shinji ended. "What does all this mean?" Touji asked, very interested in these new developments in the younger hedgehog's life. "I don't really know yet..." "...sometimes it just scares me." The three fell silent as they thought about what was said and turned back to staring at the sky. "Have you ever wondered sometimes, why things happen to us the way they do?" Kensuke asked, posing the question to the other two boys. "I do. Every night I wake up with the same question. Why do I pilot Eva? Why do I live with pain?" Shinji answered. "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night too... watching things that happened long ago; wondering why they happened and what effect they had on what's going to happen..." Touji added. "Sometimes I think about Hikari." Kensuke and Shinji turned to look at the boy. "Well I guess we all have to think about someone, sometimes it's all we really have to keep thinking about." Kensuke spoke, his eyes following a set of clouds that rolled in from the North. Shinji took time to reflect on what he said and found himself thinking of Misato. "I wonder what Misato's thinking about. We haven't talked in a while. It's my turn to make dinner tonight, maybe we'll talk then." he thought. After a little while, a familiar shadow fell over the boys and all three scrolled up to include Rei in thier view. "Hi." she spoke, in her silent, soft voice; the one the old Rei used. "Hi." "Hi." "Hi, Rei." Rei took a seat next to the three boys, and began staring at the sky as well. "It's pretty today." she spoke, still using her more familiar voice. Shinji hung on her every word, seeing as how he missed that side of her so much. One of the reasons why they had gotten along so easily was because of that side of her, and now that she had changed so much; he found it getting harder and harder to approach her the way he used to. "Yeah, it is." he added, watching a few of his loved memories scroll by before him. "Hey Rei." "Hmm?" "Could you do something for me?" "What do you need?" "Could you smile again, the way you did after that Angel?" Rei turned to face Shinji. She stared him in the eyes with her own dark, red eyes and blinked once. The look on her face changed as she remembered the image of a smiling Shinji she'd gotten after the first time he'd made this request. The corners of her mouth turned up into a smile that was indescribable by Shinji, but he knew it was the same smile because he felt a void that had recently opened fill up and disappear. "Rei. Ayanami Rei." he thought. The name somehow invoked the feeling it was supposed to as a smile crept onto Shinji's face. The two leaned back to watching the sky, smiling, at the exact same time. ------------------------ Shinji opened his locker and grabbed his bookbag from it. He stared at the picture that had been there since he had gotten his locker, the picture Misato had sent him so that he would know what she looked like when he arrived at Tokyo-3. He smiled slightly at the comment she had made on the picture, drawing an arrow to her chest, captioning 'Note the cleavage.' Shinji stared at the picture for a few seconds more and then closed his locker and turned around to come face-to-face with Rei. He startled slightly and bumped up against his locker in reflex. Rei smiled slightly at this antic. "R-Rei! You scared me..." "Gomen." "What happened to your modified uniform?" "I changed." "Why?" "I'm more comfortable in this one." "Rei. You're back to the person I know." "Whatever happened to your new approach?" "I didn't like it. My name is Rei, not Misato." Shinji couldn't help smiling a little at that statement. The boy threw his bookbag over his shoulders and turned back to Rei. "Is there something I need to know? Is there an Angel?" he asked, wondering why she had tracked him down to his locker; he was supposed to have been met Asuka to walk to NERV together. "No. There is no Angel. I came here..." the girl trailed, pausing as if trying to make up her mind about something. "Shinji, do you want to go out sometime?" she suddenly asked, staring him in the eyes with her piercing red pupils. "She just asked me out! Yet, she seems more like herself... am I dreaming? I musn't run away... I musn't run away... I musn't run away... I musn't run away..." Shinji thought, inwardly repeating his mantra. "You can't run away." "I... I understand If you don't want to..." "...I realize I'm not exactly Misato, or Asuka..." Shinji felt the skin rip away from his heart. "I musn't run away... I don't know how I... feel." "Rei... I missed you." The blue-haired girl looked up quickly into Shinji's face. Shinji smiled. Rei smiled. ------------------------ Asuka tapped her foot as Shinji finally walked through the door and strided over to her, his bookbag on his back. "What took you so long?" she asked, a little on the acidic side. The impulsive redhead hated to be kept waiting. "Gomen." Shinji replied, as they started walking off for HQ. Asuka fehhed. "I've got to break him of that." she thought. Shinji walked with sort of a faraway look on his face as they travelled down the sidewalk together. Asuka noticed this and spoke up, curious. "Hey Shinji, you seem happy, how was your day?" she asked, turning her head to face him. "It was ok." "It was great! I got Rei back!" "Then why the faraway look?" "You look as though you have a date or something..." Shinji smiled at her. "No way!" He nodded. "Oh my God..." "Yep!" Asuka paled a little and turned several shades of blue before she came back to herself and stood still. Shinji laughed a little and smiled at her as he waited for her. "You're going on a date with that doll?!?" Asuka screamed, raising her hands in frustration. Shinji nodded. "You could call it that." he added. "Where?" she asked. "We're going to see the new Tenchi movie, Manatsu No Eve." he answered. Asuka staggered around a bit and moaned. "Oh, man... a movie with her... honestly Shinji, I thought you had better taste than that. You sure do know how to pick 'em..." she teased. "So you're saying that you're a bad choice?" Shinji shot back, scoring an easy hit. "Well, no. If it were me, you'd have a great time." Shinji couldn't resist a snicker. "What makes you so sure?" "Instinct!" "Well, why don't you bring your 'instinct' along with you Wednesday." "I'm invited?" "We already discussed it, Rei doesn't mind... she'd like to talk with you." "Talk with me?" Shinji nodded. "Well...maybe I will join you... but only to show you a real woman!" Shinji laughed. The two started walking down the street again, Shinji's arm around Asuka. ******************* -End Of Episode Two- Author's Closing Notes Well, that ends Episode two. I think you're starting to get what I'm trying to do here. I will give you one hint as to what I have in mind. The ending of this series will be similar to the anime series end in the way that Shinji will decide that he can live in the world handed to him, but it will have a different kind of twist to it. This episode was mainly just opening up the groundwork for later episodes and showing a little bit of what Shinji may feel for Rei and what she may feel for him. Also, we see a change in Rei in the fact that she tries to win Shinji the 'Misato' way and decides she likes her own way better, even though that may not be any way at all. A small amount of the relationship between Asuka and Rei is revealed in the way that there is hope yet for the two girls to get along somehow. Anyway, next episode will see the major event of a date between a few of the characters and Shinji and Misato finally get to sit down and talk. The de-breifing between Gendou and Misato is revealed and we take a look at how Rei's new character adjustments may affect her relationship with the older hedgehog and how it may affect Unit 00 and her piloting. Well, that's all for now and remember to send in as much C & C as you can, I really appreciate it. Be on the lookout for: Shin Seiki Evangelion: Foreign Relations Ep.3 As Rei would say: Sayonara. -Shinji-kun Send E-mail here: ikari-shinji@mailcity.com(send mail here; files. *preferred account*) Shinji@Eudora!(s5873177@mail.milwaukee.k12.wi.us)secondary account, attach files here. ) Malachi Minor@Real Life