“Father…”

The figure before him continued on, oblivious to the desperate whisper of the child he was leaving behind. The boy had memorized every rippling muscle of that retreating back, every line and contour, every fall of shadow. The way the man walked, with one hand in his pocket, at an unhurried pace – all seemed to indicate that he had done nothing more than leave a package – or his garbage – at the house which he had just left, instead of a tearful, needy boy. The boy was aware of other figures at the periphery of his vision, other people, but all he could focus on was the shrinking figure before him… the one that was leaving him behind.

“Father!”

Surprisingly, at the shout the man turned. He lowered his dark glasses and for a moment stared disinterestedly at his son. Then, the man spoke, in a surprisingly high-pitched and irritated voice…

“Baka Shinji!”

Wait… that didn’t seem right…

“Get UP baka-brain! You’ve already missed a month of school – there’s no way you’re being late today!”

Shinji groaned as his dream melted into a view of Asuka standing over him, a foot planted upon his chest. He was in the midst of trying to dislodge the said foot when the red head raised it up in what appeared to be an attempt to stomp on his chest. Of course this had the unfortunate side effect of leaving a certain pair of garments in plain view of Shinji’s sandy eyes – which immediately snapped into full wakefulness as he realized what he was staring at …and that Asuka had noticed as well.

For a moment they just stared at one another. Shinji’s life began to pass before his eyes.
Then, with a growl that spoke of massive resentment, Asuka brought her foot crashing down on his head.

“Ye-ow! That hurt dammit!”

“It was MEANT to hurt you pathetic – urgh!!! Why do I even BOTHER?!?” For a moment the redhead appeared set to do more volence to the prone form of the Third Child, but then with a scream that revealed a huge amount of restraint she turned instead and marched out of the room, loudly proclaiming that she was leaving if anyone cared. Shinji waited to hear the door slam shut behind her before he sat up and gingerly massaged his aching head.

If the boy had harbored any notion that Asuka had missed him during his time ‘absorbed’ in Unit 01, the first few days of his return had disabused him of that notion. Rather painfully in fact, he thought as his head began to throb. It would probably swell into a nasty bump later on, adding to the list of assorted injuries he had received from Asuka since he got back.

He didn’t quite know why but she had changed… He had thought they had achieved a level of friendship, or at least tolerance, in the past due to their struggles with the Angels. Sure she was stuck-up, loud and spiteful most times, but Shinji had always thought that there had been at least a little bit of fondness and familiarity hidden beneath all those layers of ‘Baka Shinji!’. Nowadays, even that seemed gone… Whenever she looked at him, or deigned to speak with him, Shinji could always see a smoldering anger behind her eyes. Almost… almost hatred, as if he had done her some grievous wrong. And that frightened Shinji. If he didn’t even know what he had done, how was he to keep from doing it again?

Shinji sighed and stood up. Kaji’s words entered his mind again, not for the first time in the past few days. There will always be a deep divide separating men and women… women will always be on a far shore. There was more truth to that statement than Shinji liked.

Shinji stepped out of his room at the same time Misato emerged from hers. Surprisingly she was already dressed in her NERV uniform. She still looked slightly sleepy but the Major quickly rectified the situation by popping open a can of Yebisu and chugging away.

“YYYYYEEEEEAAAAHHHH! That hit the SPOT!” his guardian enthused, throwing the empty can towards a corner of the room. It seemed somehow wrong to Shinji to see her doing that while already dressed in her uniform. Beside her, Pen-Pen stared up at his owner for a moment before sneaking up behind her and nabbing one of the balls of meat on her plate. The penguin hadn’t noticed however that it was Misato who had cooked that particular dish and as the morsel entered his mouth, Pen-Pen promptly gave a strangled wark and fell to the floor.

“G’morning Shin-kun,” Misato called as the boy wordlessly retrieved the beer can and the penguin and placed them in the waste basket and the large fridge, respectively. “Excited to be going back to school after your long break?”

Shinji shook his head. To him the incident with the 14th Angel seemed to have happened mere days ago, not the full month that had actually passed. He probably had a huge pile of homework to make up, hardly an appealing prospect. Besides, it had just occurred to him the night before that, in the month he had spent in the Eva, Touji might have healed enough to start going to school again. That prospect alone was enough to drag his mood into the gutter.

Seeing that Misato was still awaiting an answer he mumbled something incoherent then swiftly changed the topic.

“Oh… hey Misato, why are you dressed up so early?”

Misato gave him a quizzical look before answering. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten… The JSSDF special task force and their new robot are arriving today. I’ve got to meet them – and then spend hours in meetings trying to rehash the command structure so we won’t be stepping on each others toes while they stay at NERV. Whoever thought up the idea of having an autonomous body within NERV with ‘discretionary authority’ over the Eva’s was obviously only rowing with one oar if you know what I mean…”

As Misato ranted, the memories surfaced in Shinji’s mind. Last night, Misato had filled him in on the ‘watchdog’ body that the UN had assigned to NERV after viewing a recording of his last battle with an Angel. For once, Asuka had chimed in as well, making her displeasure known over the fact that anyone thought she had psychological difficulties, or that any hunk of junk was going to replace ‘her Eva’. 

“Their… robot… will it have any pilot Misato?”

The woman nodded. “Three in fact from what I heard, although I don’t know anything about them yet. With three pilots, a psychologist, tech and support staff, there’s gonna be a lot of new faces at NERV in a few hours.” Misato paused and sniffed disdainfully. “There’s even word that they have their own tactical operations head… they’re going to be surprised if they think they can foist some newbie into sharing MY job.”

Shinji was about to reply when a glance at the wall clock made it plain just how late he was already and he scooped up his things as he ran for the door.

“Oh no! I forgot how late it was, I’ll see you later Misato!”

“Don’t forget to come by headquarters after school so you can meet the new --!” Misato called out before the slamming door eclipsed her words.

* * * * *

Shinji dashed into the classroom a full 15 minutes late, but luckily their old sensei was writing something on the blackboard so Shinji could enter without being chewed out in front of the class. Hikari gave him a scolding look at first, but this quickly melted into a smile of relief as she saw who it was. Quickly taking his seat he turned to see Asuka studiously making an effort to avoid even the impression of looking at him. As his eyes reached a far corner he caught a glimpse of Rei Ayanami, the girl seeming as unconcerned as usual. Before he looked away however, Rei turned and saw him sitting at his place. Her red eyes blinked for a moment before – much to Shinji’s shock – her lips turned up in what appeared to be a small smile before she looked away again. Before he could wonder what that had been about, a heavy hand slammed into his back and almost pushed him off his seat.

“Ikari! Yer back!”

Shinji regained his composure and turned to see a grinning Touji standing over him. A Touji who for the life of him seemed not to have a care in the world. 

A Touji with two arms and two legs intact.

“Wha – “ Shinji started, but then paused to take a gulp of air. “T-Touji – Wha—How--?”

The other boy grinned, then flexed his muscles. “Cool huh? Yer outfit fixed me up with some artificials after the thing with that Angel. I just came back myself a few days ago… Feel almost as good as new – and now if I need to whup some ass I can just detach my arm and use it to club people around!” he ended with a grin.

From the other end of the classroom Hikari hissed at them “Pipe down Tou-ji! We’re still in class you know!”

Touji gave a small ‘eep!’ then plopped back down into his seat. He gave Shinji an abashed grin and shrugged his shoulders. “What can I say? I love the way she says ‘Tou-ji’.”

Shinji just stared at his friend, not quite believing that he could be acting so normally in the face of one who had done him such harm. Shinji found he couldn’t bear to look at his friends smiling face – the guilt was just too enormous. 

“Touji I…” he began, but he had hardly opened his mouth when his friend cut him off.

“Stow it Shinji – I know what you’re going to say and I’m telling ya it ain’t your fault.”

“But -” 

“The stupid robot I was in got itself possessed – if it hadn’t been stopped who knows how many would’ve got hurt?”

“But Touji, -” 

“Ikari it wasn’t your fault! Your dad put the Eva on some sort of auto-pilot! You didn’t have any more control than I did!”

Shinji shook his head vehemently. “It’s not the same Touji, I could’ve, I should’ve… ack!”

His words ended in a startled squack as he found himself being pulled towards Touji, who was once again standing before him and who currently had Shinji’s collar in an iron grip.

“You tellin’ me you’re better than me Ikari? Izzat it?”

“N-no I…” He found it hard to speak what with Touji shaking him so hard.

“Do you think you coulda done better than me if you’d been in Unit 03?”

“That’s not what I- ”

“Do you think it was my fault that I hurt Asuka and Ayanami?”

“N-No! It wasn’t your fault! You weren’t controlling it!”

Shinji let out a breath as Touji released him and finally returned to his seat. His friend wore a self satisfied grin on his face.

“Then that settles it. You weren’t in control either. Neither of us were at fault ‘k? So quit yer whining!”

“I’ll have YOU whining in a minute if you don’t pipe down Tou-ji!” Hikari hissed once more from her seat.

Touji gulped and made soothing motions with his hands as Shinji looked on. With Hikari seemingly placated Touji turned back to his friend with a grin and slapped him on the back once more, this time more gently.

“Welcome back Shinji…”

Shinji found himself smiling. He still felt a burden of guilt but the fact that Touji didn’t blame him was a load off his shoulders. He looked around at his classmates – though there were fewer and fewer of them as the Angels attacks dragged on – and he realized he WAS glad to be back. However as he looked around he did notice that something was missing – or rather, someONE…

“Hey Touji… uhm, where’s Kensuke?”

Touji sobered at the mention of their other friend. “He’s been gone for as long as you have… his father really freaked out when they found out Kensuke had snuck out of the shelter again during the last Angel, but I talked to him recently and he seemed ok. Still worried, but it looks like he knows where Kensuke is now – not that he’d tell me anything aside from that Kensuke was coming back soon if all went well…”

Shinji frowned. Kensuke had been got for a month as well? He felt a feeling of dread build up within him.

“You don’t think… that he went out to watch the Eva… and got…”

Touji shook his head. “I told you, his father ain’t as worried no more. Not that I really trust the word of anyone who works for NERV anymore... no offense Ikari,” Touji apologized, before continuing. “But I think I would have felt it if he was lying. The old man had seemed genuinely concerned the first time we talked about it soon after the Angel attack - actually he was the one who called me, so I think we can trust him when he says Kensuke will turn up. He probably went up north to check out some new battleship or something – the dork.”

Shinji calmed a bit at Touji’s words, but he was still worried. He’d feel much better when Kensuke came back – it just didn’t feel the same without him. Shinji grinned. After all, they couldn’t very well be the ‘Three Stooges’ if it was only him and Touji…

As he thought of that name and where it had come from, Shinji found himself looking sadly at Asuka. She had obviously been within hearing distance of their conversation – especially if Hikari could hear it across the room – but she had made no attempt to join in, or make any snide comments whatsoever. Not that he missed the abuse, it was just that… something seemed wrong and he didn’t know what it was.

~Well at least she spoke to me today… even if she did also kick me in the head…~
The boy sighed and gazed out the window, wondering why life had to be so complicated…

* * * * * 

In the skies above Tokyo – 3, Kaji Ryouji found himself likewise gazing out of a window, but this one was located on the side of a private jet. Behind him, he heard the raucous noises of the 3 Keeper co-pilots, probably having another one of their ‘well MY grandfather could do THIS’ contests. He was glad Kensuke got along so well with the other two, despite the boy being around 5 years younger. Since the Keeper mecha required three pilots working together to achieve maximum effectiveness, it was important that they see each other as friends, or as peers at the very least. He had a fleeting thought of the three Eva pilots trying to pilot the Keeper – and found himself shuddering at the thought. It had taken an immense amount of effort to actually get Shinji and Asuka to work as a team for ONE mission... He’d hate to have to deal with that on a regular basis, much less with Rei thrown into the mix. 

Then again considering Kensuke’s two other co-pilots, the boy could have been Gendo Ikari’s evil twin and they STILL would have gotten along fine.

The sounds from behind him increased suddenly, then subsided to a dull roar as Umeko Takahashi closed the door behind her and took a seat beside Kaji. Normally very prim and well-groomed in appearance, the doctor looked a bit more dishelved than usual. Kaji grinned as she took a deep breath followed by a long gulp from the can of orange juice she was holding.

“Rather a handful aren’t they?” he said.

Ume nodded wordlessly. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say that ALL of them had your genes…”

Kaji laughed. “One of these days I’ll take you to meet my family and you’ll get a taste of the real thing…did I mention I have 2 more brothers and 3 sisters?”

Ume blanched. “Er, that won’t be necessary Kaji… really…”

The two sat in companionable silence for a while before Ume spoke again.

“So… looking forward to seeing her again?”

Kaji smiled. “Well, yes I am actually… though when you’ve survived eight years of separation, one month hardly seems like a trial.”

“And yet each day seems like a century am I right?”

The spies eyes widened and he turned so suddenly to his companion that she almost jumped out of her chair. “Why Dr. Umeko Takahashi! I didn’t know you were such a romantic!” He sidled up to her smoothly with a playful leer on his face. “If I had known you harbored such notions I could have made this trip seem shorter for the both of us…”
Ume chuckled and pushed him away. “Getting in your last licks before Katsuragi chains you down again eh? I wonder how she’ll react to this,” she said, tapping on the bars at Kaji’s collar that indicated his newly acquired rank. “Eh, MAJOR Ryouji Kaji?”

The new major grinned. “ I really don’t know why you went through all the trouble to get me the same kind of jacket as hers… As to how I’ll break it to her, don’t worry I have a speech prepared…” He paused as his grin widened. “At least she won’t be able to pull rank on me anymore.”

The doctor returned the grin. “And since when has that woman had to pull rank to get you to do what she wanted?”

“Ah but Doctor… the persuasion is half the fun!”

* * * * * 

At that moment, the aforementioned Major Katsuragi was impatiently looking at her watch, which currently showed that the JSSDF force was approximately thirty-three minutes and fifteen seconds late. Behind her was Makoto Hyuuga and a complement of NERV staff and crew, as well as the large, modified transport they used when they had to move the Evangelions by land. It had been refitted to meet the specifications of the new Keeper robot – like a lot of other things at NERV headquarters. For all the effort such modifications entailed, the least that the ‘Keepers’ could do was to be on time for their rendezvous. 

Thirty-six minutes and eight seconds late… this entire thing was beginning to remind her of her dates with Kaji…

The thought of the unshaven spy gave Misato pause. It had been a month since she had last seen him… he had left a cryptic message on her answering machine about having to ‘make sure a curious kitten didn’t get itself killed’ and had promised to let her know when he got back. The message had seemed rush and almost intentionally vague, as if he feared that someone listening in would be able to glean dangerous information if he had allowed himself to talk freely. As the days went by, she almost worried that he had done something stupid and gotten himself killed by NERV security – but then, she was sure that they would have taken some sort of precautions in regards to Misato herself before they went after Kaji – their relationship wasn’t exactly a secret. Still… she had really wanted him to be there when she was struggling to deal with Shinji’s absorption into Unit 01 during that terrible month…

Misato was shaken from her introspection when Hyuuga called her name and pointed to the sky. Misato squinted and could just make out the three winged forms descending from the sky, two appeared to be normal aircraft while the middle one was larger, and had a vaguely humanoid form strapped beneath it. Higher above the three and currently circling them were five smaller craft, obviously fighter jets flying escort.

Misato nodded to Hyuuga then called out to the others. “That’s them alright! Form up you guys! It wouldn’t do to appear sloppy – not when they’ve given us a full half hour to better prepare,” she finished snidely.

The two normal craft landed first. One seemed to be a regular JSSDF troop carrier while the other seemed to be a more luxurious private jet. Doors opened and ladders descended from the JSSDF plane, disgorging a horde of staff members and technicians.  No one in evidence seemed to be in charge yet so Misato let Hyuuga handle the introductions between the staff, as well as coordinate the next stage of the arrival procedure.

The transport carrying the robot descended lastly, and it hovered over the NERV truck as technicians from both forces began to attach or unattach various cables and restraints. Finally with the sound of clanking gears the robot was lowered onto the NERV transport while the carrier landed a bit farther out. Misato couldn’t quite see the Keeper mechanoid yet but before she could get a closer look, the luxury jets doors opened and a group of important looking people began to disembark. Misato trotted over to greet them and do her job as official ‘welcoming mat.’

The first one down was a frumpy, elderly woman in business attire. She had tightly curled brown hair and a pleasant, slightly wrinkled face that reminded Misato of one of the Aunts’ whom she had occasionally bunked with after the Second Impact. She smiled at Misato and extended her hand, which the major took in a firm grip.

“I’m Doctor Umeko Takahashi. Major Katsuragi I presume?” 

“Yes ma’am, welcome to Tokyo – 3,” Misato was prevented from prolonging her greeting by Makoto’s arrival behind her.

“The mecha has been secured and is ready for transfer Major,” the Lieutenant said, snapping to attention before his superior. Misato smiled warmly at him then turned to the transport.

“That’s some wonder of technology you’ve got there Doctor,” she said, after letting out an appreciative whistle.

Ume laughed. “So I’ve been told – of course in my line of work, I’m more concerned with the mysteries and wonders of man than machine.”

Misato was about to reply when her vision was suddenly obstructed by a pair of hands reaching out to cover her eyes. Let out a yelp and struggled for a moment before a smooth, familiar and recently missed voice began to murmur softly in her ear.

“The good Doctor has a point there… but then again I’ve personally been more inclined towards the wonders of women myself …”

Misato felt the hands release her and she turned quickly to be faced by the sloppy, grinning face of Ryouji Kaji, hands on hips and an amused twinkle in his eyes.

“But then again, you already knew that eh, Katsuragi?”

“Ka… Kaji?” she whispered. It hadn’t hit her until then just how worried she’d been about him… how it had taken so much effort to push away thoughts that he was dead, that she would never see him again… “Kaji!” she threw her arms  around him, blinking back tears as she felt his warm presence, as the half remembered nightmares of what could have happened to him vanished from her mind. She didn’t notice Dr. Takahashi’s smile, nor Makoto’s expression as it flitted from shock to anger and finally a sad resignation… 

After a while Misato let her arms loosen around Kaji and held him at arms length, looking him over closely. “Where the hell have you been this past month you bum? And why do you have a jacket exactly like mine? And what are you doing…,” Misato’s voice trailed off as she noticed a rank insignia on his jacket collar. Her eyes narrowed as she took a step back from Kaji. “Since when did you become MAJOR Ryouji Kaji?”

Kaji blinked, and was about to stammer a response when Dr. Takahashi stepped forward. “It’s a recent promotion, Major Katsuragi. After all since he’s the Tactical Ops Head for the Keeper Mecha, he needed to have a rank equal to your own.” The Doctor paused as Misato digested the words, the younger woman’s jaw slightly agape. “I’m glad you two seem to be such good friends – you’ll be working together a lot in the future…”

Misato was staring hard at Kaji, who seemed to be fidgeting slightly under her gaze. “So THIS is who you’ve been working for all along is it? Not just the government but this secret project of the JSSDF?”

“Well, uhm, in a way, but- ”

“And when were you planning on telling me all this? Were you even planning on telling me?”

“Um it’s complicated Katsuragi I- ”

Misato snorted. “I can’t believe this,” she muttered, obviously still fuming. Without looking at Kaji she turned on her heel and walked towards her car. “The mecha has been loaded, we’ll continue the briefing at the base.” She paused briefly then turned back to Dr. Takahashi. “It was at least a pleasure to meet YOU, Doctor,” she said between gritted teeth before turning back to her car and walking away.

Ume smiled at the Majors retreating back and turned to a still shell shocked Kaji Ryouji.
“Well? What happened to your rehearsed speech? What happened to sweeping her off her feet?”

“Uhm… well, yes it’s… I mean, that is…”

Ume laughed as she turned to the plane as the three Keeper pilots were brought down. “Oh I think I’m going to enjoy this,” she cackled. “Seeing YOU speechless is such a rare treat…”

“Shut up Ume.”

* * * * * 

School let out not a moment too soon for Asuka Langley Sohryu. The bell hadn’t even finished ringing before she had grabbed her things and was out the door, trotting down the hall as quick as she could without seeming undignified. After she had placed a good deal of distance between herself and the classroom, she allowed herself to look back and was gratified to see that she was way ahead of any of the other students, and that the reason for her rapid exit was no where to be seen.

~Good! There is no WAY that Baka is getting even remotely near me on the way home!~
She’d been studiously avoiding the Third Child ever since he had returned from his ‘absorption’ in Unit 01. She remembered he look on his face during their first meeting after his recovery, the crestfallen look that had shown when she had just ignored his entrance. Since then she’d made certain he knew that she hated his guts, never speaking to him unless it was to scream at him – and not in the friendly bantering way that they had both become used to. Shinji didn’t show it often, but she knew she was getting to him – he was even more depressed and silent now than he had ever been since she’d arrived. Misato was beginning to worry and had minced no words when she had told Asuka just what she thought about the Second Childs ‘attitude’. Asuka didn’t care – Misato was always on Shinji’s side anyway. EVERYONE was on the side of the ‘great hero’. The Major was probably keeping Kaji out of Asuka’s sight as well, just out of spite.
But it was all worth it if it enabled her to get back at Shinji Ikari for humiliating her. He was a loser, a nobody – and yet through sheer chance he was doing things that she couldn’t do, even… even rescuing her! How DARE he upstage her again, how DARE he ?!?

Still… in her calmer moments it occurred to Asuka that it wasn’t as easy as she had thought to ignore the Third Child. Loath as she was to admit it, she had gotten used to their banter, to their arguments and occasional laughter. Shinji would just do something in his Shinji kind of way that would irritate the hell out of Asuka, and she’d feel the urge to correct him – just like this morning when the lout had overslept again. She’d seen him on his bed, clueless as usual with some sappy smile on his face and before she knew it she had been treating him like the old days, the days when he had known his place, where they at the very least had been equals… not like now where she could barely even get her Eva to…

“Sheeeeiiissst!!! Why am I even thinking about him! What a waste of my valuable time!”
Asuka blinked as she realized that her outburst had resulted in very strange glances from the people nearby and she turned on them in a fury.

“What?!? Do you people have some kind of problem with me?!? Mind your own business dummkopfs!”

With that the auburn haired girl stalked away, muttering to herself.

~I’m in no mood to see that Baka now… maybe I’ll just go to NERV and take a look at that stupid new robot. I hope some of the newbies are obnoxious – I really could use someone to scream at right now…~

* * * * *

Shinji and Touji watched in bewilderment as Asuka practically leapt out of her chair and zoomed out the door as the dismissal bell rang. The rest of the class began to file out at a more sedate pace, until only Hikari, Touji and Shinji were left in the room.

“What do you think THAT was all about?” Touji asked, scratching his head over the redheads behavior.

Shinji sighed. “She probably just wanted to avoid me… she’s been doing that a lot lately…”

Hikari looked at him sternly. “What did you do to Asuka-chan this time Shinji?”

Shinji tried to stammer a response but Touji came to his rescue. “Aw give him a break Hikari – he’s been out of commission for a month! I doubt he was able to do much to the Demon from a hospital bed…”

Shinji blinked at that, then realized that Misato hadn’t told them what really happened to him. They probably all thought he had been injured and had been recuperating for the past month.

Touji’s words had their intended effect on Hikari however and the class rep looked downwards as if chastened. “I’m… sorry Shinji-kun. I’m really glad you’re back…”
Shinji offered her a small smile. “Thanks Hikari.”

Hikari smiled in return but then frowned again. “I am worried about Asuka though… she’s barely talked to anyone the whole month you were gone, even me. Sometimes, she’d come over to the house and ask if she could sleep there but even then all she did was play video games… I don’t know what’s wrong with her.”

Touji looked at Hikari with concern and tentatively placed an arm around her. “It’ll be OK Hikari…”

The sight of Touji comforting Hikari was enough to pierce Shinji’s mood a little. It looked like not everything that had happened in his absence was bad, he thought to himself, a small smile crossing his lips.

Meanwhile Touji was still talking to Hikari. “Maybe the Devil just missed her ‘punch-dummy-Shinji’?” 

Shinji shook his head. “Did she LOOK like she missed me Touji? The only time she misses me now is whenever I’m quick enough to avoid a kick in the head!”

At that Touji gave his friend a grin. “I guess you weren’t quick enough today eh?” he said, pointing at the slight lump protruding from Shinji’s head.

As Shinji groaned, Hikari’s face took on a determined expression. “This is really getting out of hand… we’ve got to find a way to find out what’s wrong with Asuka!”

“I just want to stay out of her way until we do,” Shinji muttered.

“So where are you off to now Shinji?” Touji asked,

“Asuka’s probably back at the apartment… and I really don’t want to see her now…”

“Well… Hikari and I were going to watch a movie – if you want you can come along…”

Shinji looked up at his two friends and smiled at the offer. “Thanks you guys… but it's ok… Misato said there was something going on at NERV later and invited me to go, so I think I’ll head there instead.”

~With my luck, Asuka will be wherever I go anyway…~

* * * * *

Shigeru Aoba turned from his position at the bridge to where Ritsuko and Misato stood, observing the crews efforts to synchronize the Keepers operating systems and NERVs instruments. “Sensor and communications frequency calibration is proceeding as scheduled.”

“We should be able to get audio feed in a few minutes… it would take another hour or so to get video though,” Maya Ibuki piped in.

Beside Misato, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi shook her head. “No need for that just yet, all we need is an audio feed to the pilots in case we need to instruct them.”

At that the three members of the bridge crew – Maya, Shigeru and Hyuuga – nodded and turned back to their consoles. Misato smiled at Hyuuga’s back as he threw himself into his work – he was probably relieved to be free of her for a while. For some reason, while Kaji had been gone, whenever she needed to vent it was usually Hyuuga that got an earful of it – and boy had she needed to vent earlier!

The source of her annoyance was currently not two meters away, calling out some orders to the Keeper Technicians over the comm as they swarmed around the robot. Misato could see the robot clearly now in the main view screen, six arms crossed over its torso. It was a bit smaller than the EVA’s, and looked slightly more complicated. Less human Misato supposed, but then from what Misato had discovered, the Eva’s were more biological than mechanical anyway.

“Do you actually know what you’re doing?” Misato remarked, rather cattily, as Kaji leaned over to give Maya some instructions, his mouth close enough to breathe on the ear of the nervous lieutenant. “Since when did you become an expert on logistics and giant robots anyway?”

Kaji laughed softly. “Eight years is a long time Katsuragi… I’ve been involved in quite a lot since our College days. A man is never sure what skills he will need later on, so its best to learn as much as possible when you can.”

“I don’t remember you being such a study-holic when we were in College…”

“True,” replied the spy. Then he turned to her with a rougish smile on his face. “But then again, I was addicted to other kinds of ‘learning’ in those days - as you should well recall…”

Misato growled and took a step towards him while Ritsuko laughed. “Well – he’s got you there Misato. I still think that week of November must have been enough to break some sort of record somewhere…”

Misato blushed at the memory. That had been one enjoyable – what was she thinking?!? “Ritsuko you’re not helping!” she snapped, only to bring her hand to her mouth in chagrin when she realized how loud that had been. She glanced nervously towards the upper balcony but to her relief no one had seemed to notice her outburst.

Above them, at the highest tier of the Command Center, Dr. Umeko Takahashi stood with Commander Ikari and Subcommander Fuyutsuki. After Fuyutsuki had introduced Umeko to the Commander, Ikari’s face broke into his usual smirk.

“So you are Dr. Umeko Takahashi then?”

The psychologist smiled. “Indeed I am. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Commander Ikari. I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

“As I have of you. You will be the person in charge of this… operation then?”

“Nominally yes… the UN did place me in charge of overall operations. But I really don’t know anything about Giant Robots or military strategy… or even the auditing of NERVs accounts that the UN seems to want so badly. Frankly, my main concern is to ensure the well-being of the Children.”

The Commander nodded sagely. “Indeed… that is a concern we all share.”

Misato turned away before anyone could see how her eyes had narrowed at that remark. ~Commander Ikari? Concerned for the Children? Yeah right! That’ll be the day…~

Behind her, Ume was already replying to the Commander. “My superiors will be happy to hear that Commander. But don’t worry about us being a hindrance on the military side – my associate here, whom I believe you know, will be in charge of the Tactical side of things.”

“Indeed. We are – familiar -  with Ryouji Kaji.”

Misato turned her eyes upward to see Ikari and Fuyutski facing downwards, their eyes directed towards Kaji. The former spy seemed to either hear his name, or feel the stares upon his back for he turned with a flourish, an ever present lazy grin on his unshaven face.

“It is a great pleasure to once more be of service to you Commander Ikari,” the spy began. “The previous months have certainly been a – learning experience for me.”
Misato could hardly believe her ears… was it just her or was the man deliberately provoking the Commander by alluding to his past as a mole in NERV? There were easier ways to commit suicide than pissing off Gendo Ikari.

On his part the Commander seemed not to notice Kaji’s subtle jibe, or at least his face gave no indication that he was at all affected. His words however were just as veiled and double edged as the spy’s. “That is to my approval as you well know. However keep in mind Major, that some lessons can be more – uncomfortable - than others.”

“Alas I am a poor student Commander, for I learn best through pleasure, not pain.”

“Indeed. Hopefully circumstances would not force you into undesirable experiences. After all, some things should matter more to a man than education…”
Kaji was about to reply, but before he could continue his verbal sparring with the commander, one of the side entrances slid open a very familiar pair of voices cut through further discussion…

“ – ALWAYS be under foot where you’re not WANTED Shinji?”

“I’m sorry! If I’d known you’d be here- ”

“What?!? Are you implying that I don’t have as much right to be here as YOU Third Child?” Asuka’s voice had risen in both pitch and volume with every word, and Shinji had to resist the urge to cover his ears with his hands. He had just known that he’d run into Asuka again, no matter how hard he tried to avoid her. He hadn’t wanted to get into another argument, but the more he tried to get her to calm down, the angrier she got.
Shinji gulped as he suddenly found himself staring into two very angry blue eyes.

“Well Shinji? Is the Great Hero too good to even speak to me now?!?”

Shinji began to stammer some response but before he could say anything, he suddenly found himself pressed against Asuka in a rather uncomfortable position as a pair of strong arms encircled them both in a hug. The arms held their struggling – and in Asuka’s case screeching – forms together for another moment before releasing them and speaking to them in a very familiar voice…

“Well, well… still getting along famously I see…” said Kaji as the two children turned to him. Shinji was about to greet the man when all of a sudden, Asuka let out a screech of pure joy and threw herself into the arms of the older man.

“KAJI!!! Where oh where have you been? I’ve looked all over for you!” 

Shinji blinked. That was over board even for Asuka – it was like she hadn’t seen him for… suddenly Shinji remembered someone mentioning that Kaji had been nowhere to be seen during his month in Unit 01, and this was probably the first time Asuka was seeing him in a while.

Kaji carefully disengaged himself from Asuka’s arms as he answered her questions. “Sorry I haven’t been around Asuka, I had some - other business to take care of that kept me away for awhile. It’s good to see you.” He ruffled the red heads hair a bit then turned to Shinji. “It’s good to see you as well Shinji. I heard you’ve had quite the experience while I was gone – sorry to have missed it.”

Shinji looked down. He still had a hard time believing he had actually been absorbed in the entry plug for a month. “I really don’t remember much of what happened…”

“Who cares about that dummkopf!” Asuka declared, clinging to Kaji’s arm once more. Then, suddenly noticing something, she held him back at arms length.

“Hey – why are you wearing Misato’s clothes?” She gasped. “Don’t tell me that – you and Misato – for an entire MONTH?!?”

“Asuka! How could you even think that?!?” Misato said in a strained voice.

“Why? It’s not like it's beyond you,” the red head replied, hands on hips. “And you were gone an awful lot last month…”

“I WAS TRYING TO GET SHINJI OUT OF THE EVA!”

“That's enough, settle down children,” Ritsuko said, her eyes sweeping her gaze so that she included Misato in that statement. Misato scowled at her before turning back to Asuka.

“If you must know, this stupid fool has somehow been put in charge of Operations for the Keeper robot – you remember, the one you called an ‘obsolete, clunky, redundant pile of crap’?”

Asuka breath caught at that. “What?” she asked, then turned to Kaji. “You’re a part of that- that- mockery?! Do… do you want me replaced too Kaji?” For a moment Asuka’s faced changed, and Shinji could see a glimpse of a wounded girl, hopelessly awaiting her next disappointment. He wanted to say something to comfort her, even if he knew he’d just make things worse, but luckily Kaji beat him to it.

“Don’t worry Asuka – no man or robot could replace you and Unit 02,” the older man said, giving the red head a grin. “But what with Unit 01 in a freeze, NERV is undermanned. The Keeper is just here to lend a helping hand – or six in this case,” Kaji ended, with a sloppy grin.

His words seemed to brighten Asuka’s mood. “Oh – so you’re really here to replace him?” she said as she pointed a disdainful finger at Shinji. “That’s perfectly fine then.”

~What have I ever done to HER?~ Shinji thought in annoyance. Her attitude was really starting to get to him…

At that moment, one of the consoles let out a large beep and a series of icons began flashing on the main monitor. Everyone turned to the image of the new robot as the JSSDF and NERV techs began scrambling away from the mecha.

“Communications uplink and configuration is confirmed,” Maya announced. “Live audio feed channel is ready for testing.”

“Monitoring systems are functional,” Shigeru continued. “Modified restraints have been connected.”

Hyuuga turned to Misato and Ritsuko. “Everything seems set for power and comm testing – should we proceed?”

Misato looked up towards the Commander, who nodded. At his affirmative she turned to Kaji. Shinji thought she looked rather annoyed for some reason.

“Well MAJOR, take it away. Time to earn your keep.”

“My pleasure Katsuragi.”

With that the spy turned towards the main screen and made a whispered request to Maya. A small window popped open which had the words ‘NC-Sense: Sound Only’ displayed.

“This is Major Kaji speaking – Sense, do you read me?”

Much to Shinji’s surprise, a very familiar, slightly nasal voice piped up enthusiastically.

“Yes sir! I read you loud and clear sir!”

Shinji’s jaw dropped in shock, and he and Asuka shared one startled glance before he recovered himself enough to speak.

“Ken – Kensuke?!? That’s Kensuke!”

“That baka? I – I don’t believe it!”

Apparently both of them had spoken loud enough to be heard over the comm system for Kensuke was soon addressing them specifically. “Hey Shinji! Asuka! Isn’t this SO cool? We get to fight the Angels together! Wait’ll you see what this baby can do!”

“In your dreams stooge! No way that pile of scrap metal can compare with an Eva!” Asuka shot back before Shinji could say something more positive.

“Hey!” The other boy cried out indignantly. “Don’t you call my Keeper scrap Devil girl!”

“You’ll have time to prove her wrong later Kensuke,” Kaji cut in before the argument could escalate. “Right now we just want to test the comm systems – everything all right on your end?”

“Yes sir Major!” Kensuke replied snappily. “All mimimum power sense operations check out perfectly sir!”

“Stand down soldier,” Kaji said, grinning at the boys enthusiasm for military address. He turned to Maya and nodded to the lieutenant, whose fingers flew across her keyboard once more. Another window opened – this time labeled ‘NC-Shield’.

“Shield, how’s my transmission?”

This time a female voice responded, calmly but cheerfully. “Smooth as silk Major. My instruments seem fine as well – though we won’t know for sure until we power her up.”

“Don’t worry Nyoko, that can wait till tomorrow. The boys not giving you any trouble?”

A soft giggle could be heard over the comm. “Well Kensuke’s too caught up living his dream to even notice us – the other one though…”

“- is getting a tad impatient hanging around in this plastic bubble,” another voice, male and playful, broke in. Shinji saw that another window had opened up. This newest voice seemed to belong to ‘NC-Soul’.

Kaji shook his head ruefully and addressed the third pilot. “Alright Soul, it’s your turn now.”

“Oh joy,” the voice replied. “Ryouji I can’t even move yet, do I really have to be here for this?”

“Yes you have to Cho, and you’re supposed to refer to me as Major remember?”

“Sure Ryouji! No problem Ryouji!”

Shinji saw Misato grin evilly as she saw the consternation on Kaji’s face. “Looks like this pilots inherited his sense of ‘professionalism’ from his commanding officer.”

A sharp laugh resounded from above and when Shinji turned in that direction he saw that it came from the matronly looking woman standing next to his father. 

“You don’t even know the half of it Major Katsuragi,” the woman grinned.

Kaji heaved a sigh and addressed the comm once more. “Alright now that we know the audio connections are working, you three better get down here before Cho embarrasses me more than he already has.”

“Hey I rese –“ the third pilots voice was abruptly cut off his window faded from view.

“Cho’s going to kill you for that Nyoko,” Shinji heard Kensuke warn, but the only response was that soft giggle once more as the other two windows vanished from the screen.

Kaji turned to the others with a sheepish grin on his face. “They really are good kids,” he said, almost by way of explanation.

“It’s not the kids I doubt,” Shinji heard Misato murmur, but the boy’s attention was focused on Kaji, for he had many questions that needed answers.

“Uhm Kaji?” He waited for the older man to turn to him. “Why – How did Kensuke become a pilot?”

Kaji shook his head. “That’s a long story Shinji, one which I’m sure he will tell you with relish.”

A few moments later the doors to the command center opened and a figure emerged, wearing a suit that showed a closer resemblance to padded diving suits than the plugsuits that Shinji and the others were accustomed to. Kensuke was the first down, trying to walk with nonchalant formality, but Shinji could tell he was practically bursting with pride. What little of his control vanished however when he saw a smiling Shinji approaching him. In a flash the military otaku was rushing to his friend and had grabbed him in a wild hug.

“Oh Shinji! Oh man! Can you believe it? I’m a pilot – I’m a pilot!” Shinji couldn’t help but grin at his friends contagious enthusiasm. Kensuke was practically hyperventilating. “I can’t wait till I can show you what she can do – oh man! I’m a pilot! I can’t believe it!”

“I certainly can’t either,” came Asuka’s snide rejoinder from behind Shinji. “If a stooge like you can qualify then this robot must not have a very high learning curve…”

“Asuka!” Kensuke let out. And then, in a move that took them all by surprise Kensuke ran towards the red head and promptly glomped her for all she was worth.

“Wha-wha-” the girl managed to sputter out, her face a mask of shock.

“Oh Auska! I’m a pilot! I’m so happy! Oh Asuka…” At this point Kensuke’s voice began to trail off as he suddenly realized just who he had his arms around – and where his face was conveniently positioned. The boys adams apple bobbed violently as he tremblingly gulped and looked up into a face of blue eyed fury.

“Er… um… this isn’t what it looks like…”

“HENTAIIII !!!” Asuka screamed, the volume of her voice only being eclipsed by the sound of her palm impacting with Kensuke’s face. The blow sent the boys glasses flying but before they could shatter on the floor, a slim hand snatched them out of the air. 

“Just what Ken’s always wanted – a pretty girl to slap him around. No wonder he missed home so much.”

Shinji turned to face the owner of the voice, but then he blinked and brought his eyes downward. The girl was plain faced, older than the three other children and wearing a suit similar to Kensuke’s, topped by a red baseball cap reversed atop her brown hair. What caught Shinji’s attention however, and the reason his gaze had to be adjusted downward, was the fact that the girl was sitting in a rather complicated wheel chair. The girl, still holding Kensuke’s glasses in one hand and face brightened by a grin, slowly rolled herself forward towards the group.

“My name is Nyoko Aihara, I’m very happy to meet you two. Kensuke’s told me so much about you,” she said, extending her hand to Asuka.

The red head didn’t seem to see the offered hand however. “YOU’RE a pilot?” she exclaimed. “But you’re YeeoOOW!” she exclaimed before she could say anything more as Shinji trod on her foot as he took Nyoko’s hand in a rather weak grip. 

“Uhm, I’m very pleased to meet you Nyoko, I’m Shinji Ikari.”

Nyoko smiled warmly up at him. “I know all about you Shinji – it’s a great honor to meet someone as heroic as yourself!”

Shinji blushed but was suddenly distracted from his self – consciousness by the approach of a growling, twitching Asuka.

“You are so DEAD Third Child…”

“Ah I see you’ve already met Nyoko,” Kaji said as he skillfully maneuvered himself between Shinji and Asuka, the latter appearing to weigh the prospect of pounding Shinji and glomping Kaji for a moment before deciding on the glomping – much to Shinji’s relief. Kaji motioned Misato and Ritsuko over to them and introduced the girl once more. “She’s the prettiest one on the team y’know,” Kaji continued, not noticing Asuka’s scowl.

Nyoko laughed at that. “Considering you’ve paired me with two lame excuses for men, that isn’t saying much!”

At that Kaji began to look around. “Speaking of which, where’s Cho-”

“EEEEK!!!”

At the sound of the scream the group turned towards the doorway, where one of the female NERV technicians was briskly walking away from someone. That ‘someone’ turned out to be a young man dressed in the suit of a Keeper Pilot – ‘Zip Suits’ Shinji would later learn they were called – hot on the heels of the young woman, with arms outstretched and tongue practically hanging out of his mouth. He had black hair, close cropped aside from a bushy ponytail. His face was strangely familiar, and handsome enough if not for a long winding scar down the right side of his face, and a similar design seemingly tattooed on the left side.

“Aw come on pretty lady – I’m a guest here! Shouldn’t you show some hospitality to your guests? I just want to ask you about your, uhm, technical meassurements, yeah that’s it!”

Shinji could have sworn everyone from Kensuke up to the Commander developed large beads of sweat at that point.

The young man might have actually caught up with the tech, if not for the fact that at that moment Nyoko gave a rebel yell and – with a mighty push – propelled herself directly into the young man, knocking him off his feet.

“YeOuch! What’s the big deal Wheels?” the pilot asked, as he stood up to glare at Nyoko.

The girl grinned as she answered back. “Ever heard of sexual harassment scar face?”

The scar faced young man grinned. “Yes, and for the record, no one I’ve ever had sex with has called it ‘harassment’ afterwards.”

Beside Shinji Asuka recoiled in disgust. “Sheist! What a hentai! Who is this jerk?”
The male pilot seemed to hear her and turned his attention in the direction of the group. His eyes widened as he caught sight of Asuka, and grew even wider as he took in the forms of Ritsuko and Misato as well.

“One, Two, Three pretty ladies – and one more seated over there… Woohoo!”
In a flash Shinji found the pilot standing in front of the, ramrod straight and snapping a crisp military salute. Then the scarred face broke into a lopsided smile, and in that instant, Shinji knew why the face had seemed so familiar…

“Chojiro Kaji at your service ladies,” the young man said, sweeping into a full waisted bow that allowed him a glimpse of certain of the womens…  attributes, before finally fixing his gaze on Misato. A chorus of gasps sounded from the group, none louder than that of Shinji’s guardian. All eyes turned to Kaji who gave a seemingly apologetic shrug.

“Much as I hate to admit it, Cho is my youngest brother. What can I say? Libido runs in the family,” he finished, grinning.

Misato looked to be in a state of shock.

“Two of them? TWO OF THEM? This can’t be happening! Please someone tell me this is a dream…”

Cho grinned and stepped forward with a hand outstretched. “I can pinch you to be sure …”

Nobody could tell afterwards if it was the slap or the scream that rendered Cho unconscious.

* * * * *

The grey haired boy stared out the window and silently beheld the vista of nothingness that stretched out before him, as far as the eye could see. The man-angel had said nothing since their initial exchange, only leading him to this window soon after and beckoning him to gaze outwards.  How long he and his companion had been standing there he did not know – it seemed this place, like his companion, was bereft of a sense of time. 

Kaoru Nagisa did not mind the silence. He had grown used to it… and even in silence, music was not totally absent.

Finally Cain spoke.

“What do you see child of Adam?”

Kaoru looked out once more at the void before him and replied. “Nothing, Lord. I see nothing beyond this place.”

Cain nodded, and Kaoru felt a sense of peace emanate from the man-angel. “Yes… it is soothing is it not? An absence of conflict, of lack, of each and every broken need…”

“An absence of life…”

“What is life Tabris, Adam Spawn? Is it not suffering? Is it not lack? Is it not a grasping for a completeness that lies always out of reach?”

The boy shook his head. “Perhaps for the Lilim… I have never felt it to be so.”

A smile alights on the face of the body which Cain wears, and Kaoru feels his ironic amusement. “Then you have not yet lived Tabris.”

“As you say Lord.”

Cains feeling of amusement seems to intensify. “You persist in calling me that? Why?”

The boy is silent a moment before answering. “Because you are closer kin to them, to the life-givers. You are the First Born of Lilith and Adam.”

Cain shook his head, purple locks sent swaying. “Lilim terms for a lilims reality. I filled the cracks between the Division, inhabited the space between Potential and Actual, between Dream and Reality. I was in Adam-Lilith, and Adam-Lilith was in me, was me… ” 

The man-angel pauses for a moment, cold eyes distant. Karou feels more than sees the joy that is found is the remembrance and also, beneath it and pervading it, an all-encompassing hunger – one that turns into a throbbing ache as Cain continues.

“And then came the Impact. And the Division… and the Hunger…”

Kaoru gasped as the torrent of emotions passed through him, a turbulence of thought and feeling which the boy had never felt before, on a scale he would not have thought possible… 

Sometime between an instant and an eternity… it was over.

The boy picked himself up from where he had fallen on the steel floor and looked once more upon the borrowed face of the First Born. 

“Why am I here Lord?”

Cain smiles at the boy-angel and gazes once more into the void.

“You are here to aid me in bringing back the proper order Tabris. To return to the time when there was no Time.”

“You seek… reunification? To cause what the Lilim call Third Impact?” 

Silence… a calmness of thought and emotion as intense as the turbulence of a moment ago… before the First Born answers.

“No. I seek to end the Hunger, to end the Division… to end this constant emptiness called Existence. I seek Oblivion.”