[Disclaimer: We don't own the characters.  Gainax does.
They'll probably hate us for this...]



                           Role-Playing
                   by Lara Bartram and Ammadeau


Warning: Some people will find certain elements of this 
fanfic disturbing.  The authors will not be held 
accountable for any mental and/or physical damage 
caused due to the reading of this fic.  Reader 
discretion advised.

        Misato had come home early from work, intending 
to surprise Shinji and Asuka by taking them out to 
dinner.  She raised her hand to open the door, but the 
conversation that she heard stopped her cold.
        "Do I have to do this?" Shinji whined.
        "What are you complaining about?  I thought 
you'd enjoy it," Asuka told him.
        "Maybe.  But do I really have to wear this 
outfit?  It's chafing me."
        "Stop complaining, dummkopf!  This is to help 
us get into the mood.  Now bend over!"
        Outraged, Misato burst into the room, only to 
walk in on Asuka, dressed as Commander Ikari, 
straightening out the collar of Shinji, dressed as Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki.  They both turned to look at her 
in surprise.
        Asuka adjusted her glasses and asked, "What 
seems to be the problem, Misato?"
        Misato didn't know how to respond to that.  The 
only thing that she did know was that she needed a beer 
and fast.

***

        "Well, at first I thought they were doing... 
you know, something weird.  I bust in, and I thought I 
was going to have a heart attack."
        Ritsuko was giving her friend a faintly amused 
look as she explained what had happened the previous 
day.  "What were they doing?  Having a civil 
conversation?"
        Misato looked horrified.  "No!  They were...  
Well, Shinji was..."
        She almost couldn't bring herself to continue, 
especially now that Maya had turned her head 
fractionally so she could listen in as well.
        Grabbing Ritsuko's arm, Misato led her away 
from the console so they could speak a bit more 
privately.  "Shinji was dressed in that same uniform 
that Sub-commander Fuyutsuki wears, and..."
        Before she could continue, Ritsuko burst out 
laughing.  "Misato, just how much did you drink last 
night?"
        Vigorously shaking her head, Misato grabbed 
Ritsuko's shoulders.
        "You don't understand.  Worst of it was 
Asuka..."  She shuddered, an ill look on her face.  
"She just looked at me and asked what the problem was. 
She even adjusted her glasses."
        For a moment, Ritsuko stared, not sure what 
Misato was talking about.  "What are..?"
        All Misato had to do was jerk her thumb back 
over her shoulder and indicate the command console for 
Ritsuko to get the idea.
        "You've been drinking too much again, Misato.  
Or should I say as usual?  It's silly to think that 
Shinji and Asuka would..."
        "To think the children would do what, Doctor?"
        The two startled and looked up almost 
sheepishly.
        Ritsuko was first to answer, calm as ever in 
the face of Commander Ikari.  "Playing pranks, sir.  
Nothing to be concerned about.  I'm sure the major can 
handle it."
        He nodded, but did not remove his gaze from 
them otherwise.
        "I need to finish those diagnostics on MAGI," 
Ritsuko said sharply, walking off.
        Misato nodded guiltily, spared one glance back 
at the commander, and found something else to do.

***

        Fuyutsuki smiled wryly.  "A prank?  Sounds more 
like Halloween."
        Gendo nodded.  "Indeed."
        For a moment, there was silence, and a frown 
creased the older man's face.  "You're not thinking of 
punishment, are you?  I don't believe they meant any 
harm..."
        "No punishment."
        "Hnh."
        "They are, after all, only children."
        Fuyutsuki did not like the sound of that at 
all.

***

        "Why do I have to ask her?"
        "Because she won't do it if I ask, moron."
        "But why ask her at all?  I mean, why her?  
It's embarrassing enough as it is."
        "Could there be something you're not telling 
me?" Asuka asked with a glance, eyes narrowed 
speculatively.
        "What?  What do you mean?"  Shinji couldn't 
hide the panic he felt when she looked at him that way, 
especially when...
        "You know what I mean, Shinji," Asuka said in a 
sly voice.  "Want to impress her the first time, don't 
you?  Worried that you're going to freeze and not be 
able to keep it up, aren't you?  Just like you were the 
first time with me."
        Shinji, beet red, finally gave in.  "All right, 
I'll do it.  I'll ask her!"
        Asuka smiled and patted him on the head in a 
both affectionate and condescending manner.  "Great!  
But don't tell her that I'm going to be joining in.  
That might scare her off."
        Shinji nodded dejectedly and slumped his way 
over to the girl in question.

         Rei sat on a bench, reading a book under the 
sun, when a shadow suddenly blocked her light.  She 
looked up to see Shinji standing over her.  There was 
an odd expression on his face. Guessing that he wished 
to speak with her, Rei put her book away and looked up 
at him expectantly.
        "Um..." Shinji started.
        Rei only stared back at him.
        "Um..."
        "Get to it, you idiot!" Asuka shouted from a 
concealed location.
        Shinji glanced around, startled, while Rei 
continued to stare.
        Shinji swallowed his meager store of pride and 
just said it.  "Can you come over to Misato's apartment 
after school and help me with something?"
        Rei only continued to stare at Shinji.
        Just as he was about to speak again, she asked, 
"Is this related to NERV?"
        "Yeah, I guess you can say that," Shinji 
admitted somewhat hesitantly.
        "Then I will assist you."

***

        "I would say you're going too far, Ikari."
        "I suspected you would."
        "If the major ever discovers this..."
        "She won't.  She won't have any reason to 
suspect."
        Fuyutsuki shook his head.  "And all of this 
because of a little joke."
        "Come now, Professor.  Don't tell me you're not 
curious about it."
        "And you are?"
        The answer was slow in coming.  "I will admit, 
I am interested in seeing them interact.  We must also 
determine if this is something dangerous."
        "Dangerous.  Of course.  Finally taking an 
interest in your son?"
        "This is not personal."
        "If any of them finds out you've been spying on 
them, it will quickly become personal."
        "They will never know about the camera.  You 
worry entirely too much."
        "I'm not worried for myself.  I'm concerned 
about the attitudes of the children and the major if 
they find out.  They may refuse to pilot."
        "Then they will be disciplined.  They took a 
risk in doing such a childish thing in the first place.  
We are not playing games here."
        "Childish.  Exactly.  They _are_ children, and 
in their free time, I imagine they will play games.  
Don't you see how utterly ridiculous this is?"
        "No, I do not.  Your protest is noted, 
Professor."
        "Sometimes I wonder about you, Ikari."

***

        Ding Dong!
        *Oh great,* Shinji thought with a feeling of 
dread, *Rei's here.*
        "What are you wait for, dummkopf?" Asuka 
shouted.  "Answer the door!"
        Shinji looked at himself.  "Like this?"
        "What are you embarrassed about?  She's going 
to see you like that soon anyway."
        Shinji slumped away, but before he could reach 
the door, Asuka called him back.  "Shinji, where did 
you put my gloves?"
        "On my bed, where _you_ left them!" Shinji 
shouted.
        "That's only because _you_ needed my help 
getting into _your_ outfit!"
        Shinji ignored Asuka, concentrating on the door 
before him.  How would Rei react, seeing him like he 
was now?  Misato had freaked, but then Rei was nothing 
like Misato.
   
        Rei was reaching to ring the doorbell again, 
when the door suddenly opened before her.  Past the 
threshold stood Shinji, dressed in the uniform of Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki.
        They stared at each other in silence for a time 
before Shinji nervously said, "Um... hi, Rei.  Won't 
you come in?"
        Rei's only reaction was to blink once, nod, and 
follow Shinji into the apartment.
        Shinji lead her to the living room.  "Why don't 
you sit here and wait for a minute?  I have to get 
someone... something in my room."
        Rei nodded, took a seat on the couch, and as 
Shinji turned away from her, asked, "Why are you 
dressed like Commander Fuyutsuki?"

***

        When the camera showed Rei entering the 
apartment, Fuyutsuki saw Gendo tense fractionally.  
This very well could have been the straw that broke the 
camel's back.
        Though Kozo had to admit he was feeling a 
little uncomfortable himself.  Shinji and Asuka didn't 
know of Rei's origins, nor were they aware of... past 
feelings.  They weren't doing it deliberately, but the 
scene was disturbing and haunting when put into that 
context.
        Yui as a girl, himself and Ikari with her...  
Kozo couldn't suppress the shudder that rippled through 
him.
        "Something wrong?"
        "No.  Just..."
        "You see it too.  Disturbing, isn't it?  And 
you thought this was innocent."
        "I still think it is, but...  They don't know 
about Rei, do they?"
        Gendo shake his head, still tensed.  "Of course 
not.  Make a note to have sound capabilities tomorrow."
        Fuyutsuki nodded.  "How far are we willing to 
let this go?" he whispered, still disturbed by what was 
on the screen on front of him.
        "I am willing to let them be, until..."  He 
didn't finish his sentence, but Fuyutsuki knew what he 
meant.
        As long as Rei wasn't hurt.  As long as it 
stayed an innocent game.

***

        "Ugh!  Where do you want me to put this, 
Asuka?"
        "Right in front of Rei.  She _is_ our audience.  
Don't you know anything?"
        "You could help me at least.  It's heavy!"
        "Stop whining!  All you ever do is whine.  
There's only a few more feet to go."

        Rei stood and helped Shinji with setting up the 
desk as he entered the living room.  She blinked and 
nearly dropped it on his foot when she first saw Asuka, 
dressed as Commander Ikari, carrying a chair.
        "Why is Asuka dressed like Commander Ikari?" 
Rei asked Shinji, having not received an adequate 
explanation from her previous inquiry.
        Shinji sweated and Asuka answered for him.  
"It's simple, Wondergirl.  I was curious about how you 
guys fought the Angels before I arrived and was 
watching some of the old security tapes.  Then I got 
the idea that if we acted out some of those scenes with 
the commanders, we might get to understand them 
better."
        "How will this improve our piloting?" Rei asked 
softly.
        Asuka thought for a moment.  "Trust me, the 
more we understand them, the easier it will be to 
follow their orders."
        Rei nodded.  "What am I to do?"
        "Just sit there and tell us what you think at 
the end."  Asuka then turned to Shinji and said, "All 
set?  Right, let's start now."

        Asuka sat at the desk, white gloved hands 
folded before her.  Shinji stood behind and to the 
left, hands behind his back concealing an SDAT player 
with the volume cranked up all the way.
        Asuka nodded slightly.  Shinji failed to notice 
since he was too busy staring at Rei, who was staring 
back blankly at the both of them.  Asuka nodded more 
vigorously and tapped the desk.  Shinji remained 
oblivious.
        "Will you start the damn tape already!" Asuka 
shouted, still keeping her eyes forward and hands out 
before her.
        Shinji jumped, startled, and pressed play.
        Click.  The static-filled voice of one of the 
bridge operators said, "We've got it on visual now.  
Switching to the main screen."
        Silence.
        "Your line, stupid," Asuka whispered.
        Shinji cleared his throat and said, "It's been 
fifteen years."
        "Yes," Asuka replied in an oddly solemn tone.  
"The Angels are back."
        Click.  Sounds of multiple explosions and 
people yelling.
        "Looks like an AT-Field," Shinji commented, 
sounding almost casual as he started to get into the 
role.
        "Yes, conventional weapons are no match for the 
Angels," Asuka returned, hiding a slight smile over the 
fact that Shinji was finally getting it right.
        Click.  More sounds of explosions.
        "It's regenerating itself," Shinji said with a 
trace of alarm as he stared at an imaginary screen 
above Rei's head.
        *Geez,* Asuka thought, *Shinji's really getting 
into this.*
        In an almost smug tone, Asuka replied, "Without 
that ability it wouldn't be able to function without 
support units."
        Click.  "Oooh."
        "It can upgrade its operational parameters."
        "And it's also getting smarter," Asuka, as the 
commander, pointed out.
        "It should renew its attack any minute now."
        Click.  More explosions.
  
        Asuka took off the dark glasses and gloves.  
Smiling, she asked, "So what did you think, 
Wondergirl?"
        Rei looked at Asuka, slowly moved her gaze to 
Shinji, and then back to Asuka again before saying, "I 
don't get it."
        "What?" Asuka shouted, enraged.  "What do you 
mean?"
        "I don't see how dressing up like the 
commanders helps us to understand them better."
        "It's not just dressed up like them, it's 
trying to become them, to see things from their point 
of view!"
        "I still do not understand.  I did not find 
your performance believable."
        "All right, Wondergirl."  Asuka was grinning, 
but her teeth were clenched.  "We'll do this again 
tomorrow and I'll be so good that you won't be able to 
tell the difference between me and the real Commander 
Ikari!"

***

        Shinji stood there, silently staring at 
something beyond the walls of his room.
        The moment seemed to stretch.
        He relaxed.  "That wasn't so hard.  Commander 
Fuyutsuki is easy to act like."
        "Wark!"
        "Yeah, thanks, Pen-Pen."  He chuckled at the 
bird, dressed in as close an outfit to his father's as 
he had been able to manage.  "You could almost be the 
commander of NERV in that uniform."
        "Wark!"
        "Sorry, I was just kidding."  He smiled.  
*Maybe Asuka had been right about this.  It was kind of 
fun.*
        "Pen-Pen," he said suddenly, "pretend you're 
me."
        The bird looked at him quizzically.
        Raising his voice a few octaves, Shinji 
probably did the last thing in the world he should 
have.  "Why are you so stupid?  Stupid Shinji!  Go get 
me some pie!  I said, go make me some waffles, bitch!" 
he screeched, wagging his finger at the bird.
        Pen-Pen released one frazzled squawk, then 
bolted from the room as fast as he could.
        Shinji chuckled and turned around only to find 
Asuka standing in the doorway.  The look of murder in 
her eyes was unmistakable.  "Shinji.  Prepare to die."

        Misato got home, needing a beer very badly.  
Another day, another Angel, another dollar.  "I'm 
home," she called out, and in return, heard a ruckus 
from the kitchen.
        For a moment, she said a silent prayer, then 
went to investigate the noise.
        In the doorway, she stood as frozen as a statue 
in a garden.  The scene unfolded before her, like 
something from a house of horrors.
        Asuka, her face like that of a raging demon, 
was trying to shove Shinji in the refrigerator while he 
was doing his best to keep himself out, the both of 
them yelling loudly.
        That was... new, and different...
        The panicked squawking of Pen-Pen convinced her 
to look over at the poor penguin's situation which was 
even more new... and different.  The clanking of pans 
was his doing, as he stood on a chair at the stove.
        He was dressed in a miniature commander's 
uniform and someone had outfitted him with a penguin-
sized pair of glasses.  He was working frantically with 
a waffle iron, turning out waffle after waffle.  In 
fact, there was a plate of waffles at least a foot 
high, and the tub of batter didn't look like it was 
going to run out any time soon.
        Blinking for a few moments, Misato did the one 
thing she knew best: she grabbed as much beer as she 
could and went to her room to get blasted.
        She was about two steps from the door when she 
heard Asuka, quite clearly, yell at Shinji to "get her 
some pie," and stopped.  She glanced at the door, the 
beer a comforting coolness in her arms, then back at 
the kitchen.
        "Make me some waffles!" Asuka screamed, 
followed by Shinji's howl of pain.
        "I..." Misato started quietly.  "I mustn't run 
away.  I mustn't run away," she repeated, staring into 
the kitchen.
        At that point, a waffle did come flying through 
the doorway, and Misato changed her mind.  "To hell 
with this.  I'm gone."
        The slam of the door went unnoticed... much 
like Misato's presence in the first place.

***

        "I believe I need to speak with the major 
tomorrow about this unacceptable behavior.  Leaving 
them unattended like that..." Gendo mused quietly.
        Fuyutsuki didn't need to see it to know Ikari 
was wearing that annoying little smirk no matter what 
he was saying.  "I'd do more than that," he growled 
uncharacteristically.
        "Hm?  I thought the penguin was an interesting 
touch."
        "Yes, a laugh-riot."  This was all too weird.  
If he hadn't been in the middle of a war using giant 
bio-mechanical monsters to fight Angels from the moon 
or God or whatever, the scene he had just watched 
between a penguin dressed as his commanding officer and 
said commanding officer's son dressed as himself, Kozo 
Fuyutsuki probably would have questioned his sanity.
        As it was, he simply scowled at the fact that 
people thought he did so little.
        "That's just not right at all," he mumbled.
        Gendo pushed his glasses up as the two watched 
chaos unfold on the monitor in before them.  "They're 
more clever and resourceful than I had first thought," 
he said quietly, still wearing that tiny grin.
        "Yes.  Wonderful.  I'm ecstatic."
        "Don't worry, Professor.  I'm sure he'll be 
more convincing the next time."
        "I'm... looking forward to it."

***

        Ritsuko walked into the lounge to get herself 
yet more coffee.  The sight of Misato asleep on a table 
brought her up short.  "Why don't you go home?"
        Misato grunted, clutching a can of beer to her 
chest, and attempted to roll over.  She ended up 
depositing herself on the floor instead.  That woke her 
up immediately.  "Shit!"
        Ritsuko snickered and went for the coffee.  
"You should try sleeping in a bed.  That's how most 
other people do it."
        Misato sat up, rubbing her head.  "I would if I 
wasn't afraid for my safety."
        "Safety?  Why's that?  Did you accidentally 
give Kaji your address?"
        "I wish it was that simple," Misato grumbled, 
transferring herself from the floor into a chair.  "I 
think Shinji might be dead."
        Slamming her cup down, Ritsuko spun around, her 
eyes wide.  "What!?"
        "Yesterday, when I got home... Asuka was trying 
to kill him.  I don't even want to talk about Pen-Pen."
        Ritsuko stared for a moment, then noted the 
crumpled can of beer.  Her features softened almost 
immediately.  "Oh, I see.  Killing Shinji...  Right.  
Well, drink some coffee, get some rest, and then maybe 
Shinji won't be dead."
        Snapping her head up and giving Ritsuko a look 
of evil, Misato snapped, "No!  She was trying to kill 
him!  Stuff him in the refrigerator!"
        "Right.  The refrigerator.  I heard you.  I'm 
sure Shinji will recover, Misato.  Just relax."  
Ritsuko patted her friend on the shoulder and then left 
the lounge.
        Misato let her head rest on the tabletop and 
groaned.  "Why doesn't anyone believe me?"

***

        "One good thing about Major Katsuragi deciding 
to leave..."
        "Yes, but that doesn't excuse her failure to 
handle the situation."
        The apartment on the screen was currently 
empty, a low hiss of static coming across the 
microphones.  It was wired for picture and sound 
finally.  The two commanders would be able to find out 
exactly what was going on next time.
        They were sure there would be a next time.
        "I'll summon her then.  Last I saw, she was 
sleeping in the lounge."
        "Don't bother.  That would only call attention 
to our activities.  I can see we will need to keep a 
closer eye on the children though."
        Fuyutsuki nodded.  Ikari was actually 
concerned.  Would wonders never cease?

***

        "So are you ready, Wondergirl?"
        "Ready for what?" Rei replied in her usual 
monotone, staring at both Shinji and Asuka in their 
costumes.
        "The performance!  I'm going to be so good 
it'll knock your socks off!  And you're also going to 
participate this time.  Who knows?  You might even like 
it."
        "Wait a minute, Asuka.  You didn't say anything 
about this before," Shinji said, almost panicked.
        Asuka put her hands on hips and stared him 
down.  "Why?  Don't think you can handle the both of 
us?  Do you want to go back in the refrigerator?"
        "Wark!"
        "No," Shinji replied, looking down at his 
shoes, unable to face Asuka with _those_ glasses and 
_that_ look on her face.
        "So are you in or out, Wondergirl?"  Asuka 
turned to face Rei, her expression unchanging.
        Rei blinked once and nodded.  "Very well, I 
will assist you.  What role am I to play?"
        Asuka ran to her room and ran back with a stack 
of security transcripts, computer paper trailing behind 
her.  "Found the perfect scene right here!"
        "What is it, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
        "Well, after Shinji wimps out and refuses to 
pilot Unit-01, Commander Ikari tells Fuyutsuki to have 
Rei do it.  We can try that scene."
        "So I am to play myself?" Rei asked.
        "Yep.  I wanted to find something easy for a 
beginner such as yourself, though even you could do 
better than mister statue here."
        "Hey!"
        "Waffles!"
        "Urk!"

        Asuka was standing, dressed as Commander Ikari, 
facing away from Shinji, who was dressed as Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki, with Rei, in her school outfit, 
next to him.  Asuka had an SDAT player concealed in one 
of her gloved hands and a slight smile on her face that 
Shinji was finding particularly disturbing.
        Click.  Static-filled voice of Shinji, "There's 
just no way I can do this!"
        Shinji groaned.  Asuka's smile was a bit wider 
when she turned to face him, but there was no hint of 
amusement in her tone.  "Fuyutsuki.  Wake up Rei."
        "Is that wise?" Shinji asked, anger seeping 
into his voice.  He was starting to think that the real 
point of all this was for Asuka to find new ways of 
humiliating him.
        Asuka's response was cold.  "She's not dead 
yet."
        "Yes," Shinji replied, trying to match her 
tone.
        Asuka turned to face Rei, trying her best to 
intimidate the First Child with her cold stare.  "Rei."
        Rei only stared back.  "Yes?"
        "The spare has proven useless.  You will have 
to do it again."
        "Understood."

***

        Gendo made a sound of contemplation as he 
watched the children reenact those fateful events.
        "Something wrong?" Fuyutsuki asked, actually 
enjoying the scene a bit in a weird, disconnected, out-
of-body experience way.
        "The Second Child... she's doing it 
incorrectly."
        Fuyutsuki watched for bit more.  "It looks fine 
to me."
        "Professor, you don't know me as well as you 
think you do."
        Kozo arched an eyebrow, seeing the little grin 
Gendo was wearing.  "She's doing it wrong, eh?  And 
just what about her performance is wrong?"
        Gendo didn't change his grin.  "It is 
sufficient to say that her performance is... lacking."

***

        "So how was I?" Asuka asked Rei.  "Pretty good, 
huh?"
        Rei said nothing.
        "I get it!  You're so dazzled by my exceptional 
performance that you simply can't find the words to 
express how good I am."
        "You were doing it wrong."
        "What?"
        "Commander Ikari does not act in that manner."
        "Just what are you getting at, Wondergirl?"
        "I did not find your performance to be an 
accurate portrayal of the commander, even taking into 
account the differences in height, age, and gender."
        "Hmph!" Asuka exclaimed, arms crossed.  "And 
what about Shinji's performance?  Bet he was way off 
compared to mine."
        "I believe that between the two of you, 
Shinji's performance was more convincing."
        "Because he just stood there and didn't do 
anything?"
        "That is correct."
        "So, do you think that you can do better, 
Wondergirl?  Why don't you play Commander Ikari this 
time?"
        Rei nodded, taking the dark glasses Asuka 
handed her.

***

        "_This_ should prove quiet interesting."
        "Indeed.  I wonder what Rei thinks of this."
        "Hard to say, though it looks like she's 
getting into it along with the other two."
        "Very interesting.  Ironic that she would find 
this something to bond with them over."
        Fuyutsuki nodded and figured Gendo just liked 
to have his ego fed.  The children trying to outdo one 
another on his character...  And the sub-commander, 
naturally, was left out of the picture.  No one cared 
how accurate _his_ portrayal was.

***

        "Fine, we'll do this scene here.  Rei is 
Commander Ikari, I'll be Ritsuko, and Shinji will be 
Misato."
        "What?" Shinji practically yelled.  "Why do I 
have to play Misato?"
        "Somebody has to, dummkopf, and it isn't going 
to be me."
        "What about Fuyutsuki then?  Who's going to 
play him?"
        "Geez, he only has one line...  Pen-Pen can 
play him!"

***

        "With all due respect, sir, shut up."
        Gendo's chuckling died down before he said, "I 
remember you saying this was all in good fun, 
Professor."
        "Yes, well, that was before the penguin 
remark," he answered dully.
        "Don't worry.  I'm not looking for your 
replacement.  Yet."
 
***

        "Unit-01 is ready for launch," Asuka announced, 
wearing a white towel in place of a lab coat.  She 
decided against the bathing suit, however, choosing 
some of her casual clothes instead.
        "Can we really do this?"  Shinji asked Rei, 
feeling very embarrassed in Misato's jacket that Asuka 
had forced on him.  It was much too big for him and 
smelled of stale beer.
        Rei sat at the desk, wearing the uniform Asuka 
had, white-gloved hands steepled before her.  She 
adjusted her glasses until they caught the light just 
so.
        Shinji and Asuka both felt a sudden chill to 
see the First Child like that, as if the shadow of 
someone else hovered above her.
        "Of course.  Unless we defeat the Angels, 
mankind has no future."
        "Wark?" Pen-Pen as Fuyutsuki queried.
        Rei only smiled slightly in response.

***

        "Well, Ikari, I don't think they're looking for 
your replacement yet."
        "Indeed.  That was impressive.  Rei's quite the 
talented actress."
        "That was quite good.  Even with the penguin.  
I wonder why they're really doing this.  It's obviously 
not what Langely tried to say, but it doesn't look like 
it's simple fun either," Fuyutsuki said as he observed 
the children straightening up the apartment.
        Gendo made that same contemplative noise, 
something Kozo usually associated with heavy thinking 
and setting plans in motion.
        "You're thinking of something."
        "Indeed."
        "What is it this time?"
        "Idle thoughts."
        "Doubtful.  I don't think you've ever had an 
idle thought."
        Gendo smiled.  "Just thinking what they find so 
interesting to go through this much trouble."
        Fuyutsuki gave an answering grin.  "Probably 
the same thing we do to sit here and watch them," he 
said with subtle irony in his voice.

***

        Makoto looked over at Aoba.  "Did you hear 
that?"
        "Hear what?"
        "That's what I thought."
        The two turned their eyes forward and kept them 
there.
        "I definitely heard that," Maya whispered.
        "Me too."
        "I didn't hear anything."
        "That was a laugh, or at least a chuckle."  
Maya turned her head slowly and looked behind her.  
Both the commanders were there, but they had their 
attention on something else.  The noise was coming from 
them.
        "What are they doing?"
        "I don't know.  They're turned around."
        "I didn't hear anything.  Neither did you two."
        "I heard someone laughing," Maya insisted, 
glaring at Aoba.
        "You think it was Commander Fuyutsuki?  Or 
maybe you mean Commander Ikari," he snapped.  "I don't 
think so."
        "Well, someone's laughing, damn it," Maya 
groused.
        "What are they doing back there?" Makoto 
whispered, risking a look back.  "I know one of them is 
laughing at something."
        "Why don't you go up there and ask them then?" 
Aoba said, giving them disgusted looks.
        Maya and Makoto exchanged nervous looks, then 
Maya nodded.  "I will."
        "Ask?"
        "Well, I'll just... go up and see.  I don't 
need to say it directly."  She rose from her seat 
slowly.
        Aoba grabbed her arm.  "Don't," he warned.
        "Don't be silly.  It'll be..."
        She froze in place when she heard the laughter 
again, this time louder.  It didn't sound like Sub-
commander Fuyutsuki either.  "Maybe I'll just... sit 
back down," Maya said quietly.
        Makoto nodded, a darkly fascinated look on his 
face as he stared up at the two commanders.
        There was some quiet conversation for a few 
moments, and the two commanders abruptly stood.
        All three bridge personnel quickly turned and 
faced front, trying to appear innocent.  They stayed in 
that position, sweat rolling down their faces, until 
they were sure the commanders were gone.
        "Did you hear _that_?"

***

         After the last reenactment with the First 
Child, Asuka decided that they wouldn't be doing any 
more scenes with Commander Ikari in them, at least not 
for a little while.  She wasn't quite willing to give 
up on her plan yet, however, not at least when she had 
gotten Rei involved along with Shinji.
        She busily fast-forwarded through the security 
tapes, looking for a three person scene that would suit 
her purposes.  There!  She had found just the _perfect_ 
scene to do next.  She couldn't help chuckling as she 
searched for the matching transcript.
        In the room next door, Shinji felt a sudden 
chill.  He sprang out of bed, looking around, only to 
realize it was Pen-Pen who had been holding a cold beer 
to his face.
        "Wark?" the bird squawked, offering Shinji the 
can.
        "Um, no thank you," Shinji told him, waving the 
beer away.  Ever since the whole waffle incident, Pen-
Pen had been acting as if he were Shinji's pet instead 
of Misato's.
        "Wark!" Pen-Pen said a little more forcefully 
this time, presenting the beer to his master once 
again.
        "No, really, I don't want it."
        "Wark!  Wark!"  Pen-Pen shoved the cold beer 
into his hands.
        Shinji was about to get up and put it back in 
the fridge when the sound of mad laughter drifted in 
from Asuka's room.  He felt another chill that had 
nothing to do with the cold beer in his hands, and 
suddenly didn't want to go anywhere near a fridge at 
the moment.
        Reflexively, Shinji popped open the can and 
took a sip.  
"Blech!" Shinji exclaimed, spraying beer all over his 
room.  "How can Misato drink this stuff?"
        Pen-Pen didn't respond.  Instead he went off in 
search of paper towels to help clean up the mess.

***

        Another day and Shinji and Asuka were setting 
up for their next scene while waiting for Rei to 
arrive.  Shinji was feeling particularly nervous, since 
any time he asked Asuka what scene they were going to 
be doing, she got this evil smile and told him that it 
was a secret.
        "So we're not going to be wearing uniforms?" 
Shinji asked as he lined up the desk according to 
Asuka's orders, trying to get some idea of at least who 
they were going to play.
        "Oh, we don't need to worry about that every 
time," Asuka replied haughtily.  "That was just to get 
us started.  I think we're fairly advanced now so we 
don't have to always wear them."
        The doorbell rang.  Shinji motioned to answer 
it, but Asuka stopped him.  "I'll let the Wondergirl 
in.  You finish up here."
        Shinji just stared at her, wondering what was 
going on.  Asuka always made him get the door, 
especially when they knew it was going to be Rei.
        "Got that, Shinji?" Asuka asked in an 
irritated, bordering on angry, tone.
        Shinji gulped, nodded, and went back to setting 
up.  Asuka didn't look that strong, but he still had 
the bruises from the last time and he wasn't ready to 
challenge her authority any time soon.

        Rei gave no outward sign that she was surprised 
to see Asuka answer the door instead of Shinji.  For a 
while, they only stared at each other in silence.
        "So are you going to come in or not, 
Wondergirl?" Asuka asked.
        Rei nodded and followed Asuka inside.  "Am I to 
play the commander again?"
        "Not this time, Wondergirl.  He's not in this 
scene."
        Asuka missed the tiny frown that crossed Rei's 
face.  "So who am I to play then?"
        Asuka grinned devilishly as Shinji wandered 
over to them.  "Now here's the scene we're going to 
do..."

***

        He wouldn't call himself a spy.  Spies were 
dashing and debonair, and while he was certainly both 
of those things, he didn't get all the cool gadgets.
        No, he wasn't a spy.  He was more of... an 
operative.  He didn't work for the government; he was 
just doing his job.  That was it.  It was his job, but 
he wasn't a mercenary either.
        He was just doing his job.  And at the moment, 
his job was tapping into the video feeds throughout 
NERV.  "I spy with my little eye..." he mumbled as 
screen after screen of empty hallway flashed in front 
of him.
        One view caught his eye.  Asuka, Rei, and 
Shinji all together in what looked a lot like Misato's 
apartment.  Kaji scratched his chin for a moment, 
thinking.
        This hadn't been part of his last check of the 
surveillance cameras.  This was new, this was 
different, this was... weird.  This... had sound.  This 
was certainly not standard, and probably wasn't 
something security had access to.
        No, this was most likely something weird and 
twisted the commander was doing.  Kaji grinned to 
himself.  Misato's apartment though...  He had always 
figured it would have been Rei's.
        Just what was really going on?  More 
importantly, did he really want to know?  On the other 
hand, it was Misato's apartment...

***

        "There is no way I'm going to do this," Shinji 
stated firmly after reading the script.  He had even 
crossed his arms to show Asuka that he meant business.  
There was no way he was going to let her bully him 
around this time.  Before it was okay; playing 
Fuyutsuki hadn't been that bad and he had only had a 
short scene as Misato, but this...
        "How about you, Wondergirl?  You've read over 
the script.  Do you have any problem with your role?"
        "While I would prefer to play Commander Ikari," 
Rei stated as the others shivered, "I see no problem in 
playing Ritsuko in this scene."
        Asuka turned back to face Shinji, a smile 
playing at the corner of her mouth.  "See?  Rei doesn't 
have any problem with her role, so you shouldn't have 
any problem with yours."
        "That's because she doesn't understand it!" 
Shinji shouted back to hide his embarrassment.
        "What is it that I do not understand, Ikari-
kun?"
        Shinji blushed as he turned to face Rei, 
somehow having forgotten that she was there.  "Umm... 
nothing Rei, don't worry about it."
        Asuka was smug in view of Shinji's discomfort.  
"Then there's no problem with doing this scene, is 
there?  Let's get started already, we want to finish 
before Misato gets home."
        Finding himself out-maneuvered again, Shinji 
decided to try a different tactic.  He told Asuka, "Why 
don't we swap roles?"
        "What?  Are you crazy?  I can't play Kaji!"
        "But didn't you say before that you didn't want 
to play Misato?"
        "That was before, this is now.  But if it'll 
make it easier for you, Rei and I can swap.  What do 
you think, Wondergirl?"
        "It makes no difference to me what role I play 
in this scene."
        Asuka was practically sneering when she turned 
to face Shinji again.  "So what's it going to be, 
Shinji?  Do you want me to play Ritsuko or Rei?"
        Shinji didn't know how Asuka had skillfully 
turned everything around to her advantage, but it was 
obvious to him that he had already lost this fight.  He 
threw his hands up in defeat.  "Let's just get this 
over with."

***

        Shinji was feeling even more uncomfortable than 
before, if that was possible.
        "Stop scratching, dummkopf!" Asuka yelled at 
him from "off-stage" in the hallway.
        "But it itches," Shinji complained.  "Where did 
you find this stuff anyway?  It feels like real hair."
        "Don't worry about that, just start the scene!" 
Asuka shouted as she went to put back Misato's leg 
razor.
        Shinji took a very deep breath and stared at 
the back of Rei's head.  Rei was siting at his desk 
that faced the wall, dressed in a lab coat Asuka had 
gotten from somewhere.  He couldn't believe that he was 
supposed to...
        Shinji took another breath and started to 
slowly move towards Rei, almost acting against his free 
will.  He didn't want to do this, but he was sure that 
Asuka would find some way to make him do it whether he 
wanted to or not.  He also knew everything would go a 
lot better for him if he went along with this 
willingly.
        Sensing that Asuka was readying to yell at him 
again, Shinji took another deep breath and began the 
scene.

        Shinji could feel his arms shaking as he 
wrapped them around Rei from behind.  Asuka had been 
quite insistent that they couldn't just do the dialogue 
from this scene, they had to act it all out.  Shinji 
was very careful to touch Rei as lightly as possible 
while avoiding certain parts of her anatomy.  As a 
result, he was blushing terribly and could hardly 
speak.
        "Um... you've lost some weight," Shinji told 
her, his voice threatening to break.
        "Oh?" Rei said in her usual monotone.
        Shinji was thrown off by the ease with which 
Rei replied.  *Wasn't she nervous too?  Even just a 
little?*
        "You're enduring an unrequited love."  Shinji 
managed the force the words out, reminding himself that 
this was only pretend.  This wasn't him saying these 
things to Rei, but Kaji to Ritsuko.
         "Really?  You're so very sure, aren't you?"  
Rei's tone was flat, certainly not the way Ritsuko 
would have said the same words.  It was as if Rei had 
no idea what she was saying.
        Shinji took another deep breath and used every 
ounce of his will to stop his hands from shaking.  
Then, very slowly, he touched Rei's chin and turned her 
face towards him.  Then he almost burst out laughing 
when he saw the "mole" Asuka had drawn on Rei.  It was 
a little oval drawn in "chocolate"-scented brown 
marker.
        Shinji chuckled and felt all the tension leave 
him.  Why was he making such a big deal out of this?  
It was probably just some silly game Asuka had thought 
up to pass the time anyway.
        "A woman with a mole like a tear on her cheek 
is destined for a life full of heartache and sorrow," 
Shinji told her in the overly-dramatic tone he had once 
heard in a cheesy movie.
        Rei's tone was the same as always.  "If you're 
trying to put the moves on me, I'm afraid you can't.  
Not when that face is pressed against the glass 
anyway."
        Shinji turned to face the direction that Rei 
had indicated and started to instinctively hide behind 
her.  There in the hallway stood Asuka, wearing one of 
Misato's jackets, and giving them both the full force 
of her glare of death.
        Rei, of course, was completely unaffected.  
"It's been quite a while, Kaji."
        Shinji nearly jumped as he let go of Rei and 
stepped a foot or two away from her.  "Yeah," he said 
with an embarrassed little laugh, still seeing Asuka's 
glare from the corner of his eye.   "It's been a while, 
all right."
        "You know, you're not as discreet as I 
remember," Rei said as she turned to face Shinji.
        Asuka walked by the both of them, putting her 
path between their lines of sight.  When she spoke, her 
voice was bitter, almost openly angry.  "He's never 
been discreet in his life.  You've finished handing 
over Unit-02, haven't you?  What are you still doing 
here?"
        Shinji shrank back even further at the sound of 
Asuka's voice, almost his back to the wall.  *What is 
she so angry about?  She's the one who wanted to do 
this!*  Shinji was nearly panicked and so when her look 
settled on him again, no longer a glare but still 
clearly mad, he rushed through his next line.
        "I received orders this morning that I'll be 
staying around."  Breathe.  Shinji couldn't believe 
what he was about to say.  "So gorgeous, we can hang 
around again, just like we used to."
        Asuka's face softened and she started to smile.  
It was the same smile she had at the start of this 
mess, as if this whole scene was just so she could 
watch him squirm.
        "Oh, don't flatter yourself."
        Click.  Alarms sound.

***

        Kaji shook his head.  How any healthy boy... 
young man could be so timid around females like that 
was simply a travesty.  Obviously, ability to deal with 
women was not something passed on from father to son.
        For some poor kids, it had to be taught, and 
Shinji sure wasn't being taught by his father, so that 
left it up to him.  The rest of it, the fact that the 
kids were dressing up, was less important than Shinji's 
almost total incompetence with women.
        Shaking his head in mild disgust, Kaji decided 
to have a discussion with the poor lad.

        "Shinji, we need to talk."
        "We do?"
        Kaji looked at the skinny, gawky, soft-spoken, 
somewhat effeminate boy in front of him.  "Yes, we do.  
Badly."  He put his hand on the boy's shoulder and 
ushered him to a bit more private spot so they could 
have their talk.
        "What's this about?" Shinji asked, nervousness 
evident in his voice.  "Did my father..."
        "It's got nothing to do with him... sort of.  
Well, not really."  Kaji shook his head.  "Don't worry 
about him.  This is between you and me, and I think you 
need help."
        Shinji gulped.  "Help?"
        "Help."
        "With what?"
        "Women."
        "Women?"
        "Yes, women.  Shinji, you are interested in 
women, right?"
        The blush that rose in Shinji's cheeks was 
enough confirmation for Kaji.  He waved off the 
accompanying stammers.  "Now that we have that 
established," Kaji said, patting Shinji on the 
shoulder, "let's get down to business."
        "Business?"
        "Stop repeating everything I say and listen.  
Listen _well_, kid."

***

        He watched her from the corners of his eyes.  
He couldn't do it. He just couldn't bring himself to.  
Shinji looked away, and yet, his eyes kept sliding over 
to Rei.
        Rei... wouldn't take it wrong.  She was his 
only opportunity, and if he made a fool of himself, 
then what difference did it make?  A _huge_ one!  He 
didn't _want_ to make a fool of himself, not to Rei, 
not to anyone.
        Sighing, Shinji tried to stop glancing at Rei, 
but with little success.

        Mouth suddenly gone dry, Shinji cleared his 
throat.  With a deep breath, he took one step toward 
Rei, who was walking slowly away from the school.  He 
knew exactly what he had to do; Kaji had gone through 
it, step by step.
        He just needed to make himself do it.  Easier 
said than done.
        The distance between him and the unaware Rei 
was eroding as he took long, if slow, strides.
        1) Walk like you mean it.  Head up, eyes 
forward, back straight.
        The words he was supposed to say kept running 
through his head, but they were all Kaji's voice, not 
his own.  How could he...
        2) Act like it was something you were born to 
do.  Confidence always makes up for inexperience.
        His breaths were coming in short gasps, making 
him sound like he was suffering an asthma attack.
        3) And for God's sake, breathe, kid!  If you 
clench up talking to a girl, or woman, how will you 
ever manage sex?
        A half-strangled noise that emerged from Shinji 
got Rei's attention.
        She turned and looked at her fellow pilot, 
wheezing away. "Ikari-kun?"
        With a sickly smile planted firmly on his face 
(confidence, Shinji!  If your father can do it, so can 
you!), Shinji tried to speak. "Er, hi..."  Coughs 
interrupted his far from smooth speech.  "Hi, Rei.  I 
just wanted to..."
        Confidence, what little he had to began with, 
crumbling under the power of Rei's minutely curious 
gaze, the words quickly fled Shinji's brain. His "fight 
or flight" reflexes kicked in, and they were all 
screaming flight at him.
        "I..."
        Rei just stared.
        "I... think I'm going to be sick."
        Rei watched Shinji run off.  After a moment, 
she turned around and continued on her way.

***

        Kaji shook his head.  "The kid is a loser, 
plain and simple," he said to himself.  That scene with 
Rei had been... pitiful.  Completely pitiful.  If 
Shinji couldn't handle himself with her, he couldn't 
handle himself with any female...
        In fact, it seemed that "handling himself" 
would be as far as he ever got.
        "Poor kid."

***

        Shinji looked down at the tan uniform Asuka had 
forced on him.  "So, um, which one of them am I going 
to play?"  He felt a little embarrassed that he 
couldn't recall the names of the bridge personnel who 
all wore a similar uniform.  There was Ritsuko's 
assistant, and the guy with the glasses...
        "Which one?" Asuka repeated as she turned to 
face him.  She was wearing a blue blouse, black skirt, 
and a lab coat.  She had elected to go without the 
artificial mole, however.  "You're going to play all of 
them!"
        "All of them?  How?  I don't know the first 
thing about playing one of them."
        "Don't worry about it.  I'll teach you.  We can 
have a little rehearsal while we wait for Rei to get 
here."
        Shinji blushed slightly, thinking about Rei.  
He had been avoiding seeing her ever since the last 
"incident."  He was sure that she had no idea what he 
was trying to do, otherwise he didn't think that he 
could face her.  At least there couldn't be anything in 
this reenactment like the last time.
        Asuka then handed him a wig, and a pair of 
glasses that, unlike his father's, didn't have shaded 
lenses.  "What are these for?" Shinji asked her.
        "Props," Asuka explained, "to show that you're 
a different character.  When you're just in the 
uniform, you're Maya."  Asuka took a step back and 
studied him intently.  Shinji was beginning to feel a 
bit nervous under her scrutiny when she said, "Hmm...  
Maybe we should stuff some toilet paper down your 
shirt."
        "No way!"
        "Yeah, it would be hard for you to change to 
one of the guys then," Asuka said as if she hadn't even 
heard him.  "When you put the glasses on you're... the 
guy with the glasses.  With the wig, you're the long-
haired guy.  Got it?"
        Shinji looked down at the objects in his hands 
with a resigned expression.  "Not really.  Why can't I 
just play all the roles like I am?"
        "Are you doubting my judgment?" Asuka asked, 
her tone bordering on angry.
        "No," he replied, shoulders slumped.
        Asuka patted him on the head and said in a much 
softer tone.  "Don't worry, I'll help you practice a 
little so you'll have it all down by the time Rei gets 
here."

***

        Ritsuko looked around her office and narrowed 
her eyes.  Her other lab coat had developed an 
unfortunate blotch of coffee and cigarette ashes, so 
she was looking for her spare.
        And she could have sworn it was hanging on the 
back of her chair, but...
        "Damn it."  She grabbed her mug and gulped down 
the rest of it, then lit another cigarette.  "Damn it," 
she swore again.  "MAYA!  I need another lab coat!"

***

        Shinji was soon finding out that Asuka made a 
much better drill sergeant than an acting coach.  She 
had distilled the three characters down to a few basic 
moves which she made him practice over and over again.  
There was also the riding crop she had gotten from 
somewhere.  The way she lashed out at the floor to 
punctuate each of her sentences was more than a bit 
disturbing.
        "Shinji, be the guy with the glasses!" Asuka 
commanded, snapping the crop for emphasis.
        Shinji hurried to put on the glasses and 
shouted in a whiny voice, "There's an Angel 
approaching!"
        Shinji had not liked Asuka's reply when he 
asked how to do a "whiny" voice, 'Just like your normal 
voice, only more so', but he didn't feel right about 
complaining, as long as she held that riding crop, that 
is.
        "Switch to Maya!"  Crack!
        Shinji pulled off the glasses and put them in 
his pocket.  Ruffling his hair a bit, he said in the 
highest pitch he could reach, "There's an Angel 
approaching, sempai!"
        "You forgot to bat your eyelashes!  Do it 
again!"  Crack!
        Shinji tried once again, feeling extremely 
silly batting his eyelashes at Asuka in a lab coat.  
Not that it caused her stern expression to flicker for 
even an instant.
        "Now be the long-haired guy!"  Crack!
        Shinji grabbed the wig hidden under his chair 
and put it on, straightening it as he said in a relaxed 
tone, "There's like an Angel coming, dude."
        "You forgot to play air guitar!  Do it again!"  
Crack!
        Shinji was about to, when he took off the wig 
and said, "I don't know about the others, but I really 
don't think... the long-haired guy acts like this."
        "Oh, and you think you know him better than I 
do?"
        Shinji shrugged.  "Maybe.  I'm pretty sure I've 
never heard him say 'dude' before."
        "Okay, if you're so smart, what's his name?"
        Shinji thought hard for a moment.  "I don't 
know...  Aoba?"
        Asuka snorted.  "Shows how much you know.  Back 
to practice, Shinji.  You have to have all this down 
before Rei arrives."
        "Why isn't she here already?  School ended a 
while ago and we don't have anything to do with NERV 
today."
        Asuka shrugged.  "She said there was something 
she wanted to do first.  Now be the glasses-guy!"  
Crack!

***

        Misato approached Rei's apartment with some 
trepidation.  She had always felt uneasy around the 
quiet girl, and not just because of her close 
connection to Commander Ikari.  Still, if she didn't 
find someone who would believe what's happening with 
Shinji and Asuka then she really would go mad.
        Ritsuko had just laughed it off, twice.  No 
point in going to her a third time.  The bridge bunnies 
were out, since it would reflect badly on her as a 
superior officer.  Besides, she didn't know any of them 
that well.  Similar reasons for both the commanders, 
though even stronger in that case.  There were some 
days she felt Commander Ikari only barely tolerated 
her, and she was unwilling to make herself look even 
worse in his eyes.  The only other person she knew well 
besides Ritsuko was Kaji, and he was out for a whole 
host of reasons.  That left her with Rei.
        Misato knew that Rei would patiently wait for 
the whole story and simply accept it without a 
question.  Misato also knew that this was a dubious 
comfort since Rei would accept anything a commanding 
officer told her.  *Any port in a storm,* Misato 
thought as she rang Rei's doorbell.
        A few minutes later, she realized that she had 
been standing there stupidly since there had been no 
sound of a bell.  It was still broken, like Shinji had 
told her once.  Misato shrugged and stepped inside.  
She knew that Rei wouldn't mind.
        "Rei, are you there?" Misato called out as she 
entered the apartment.  She had assumed Rei would be 
home, since she wasn't supposed to be at school or NERV 
at the moment.  She began to pity the quiet girl who 
seemed to have no human connections other than the 
commander, and Misato wasn't even sure if she should 
count that one.
        Misato pitied Rei even more when she saw the 
state the room was in, though in reflection her own 
room looked worse.  No sign of Rei anywhere though.  
*That's strange.  Where did she go?*
        Misato's eyes immediately settled on something 
on the desk, which stood out from the rest of the 
clutter, being obviously new and free of a coating of 
dust.  A black case of some sort.  She picked it up.  
An empty case for glasses, she noticed immediately.  
That was even stranger than Rei's absence.  Misato knew 
the First Child had perfect vision, it was in her file, 
so why would she need glasses?
        Hearing the sound of movement behind her, 
Misato immediately spun around, and then dropped the 
case in surprise.  She tried to speak, to say anything 
at all, but her mouth seemed incapable of making the 
words.  Rei only stared silently at her.  At least 
Misato assumed she was staring, it was hard to tell 
with the dark glasses Rei was wearing.
        Misato was wondering how Rei had gotten that 
familiar black uniform, especially in her size, when 
the First Child adjusted her glasses with a white-
gloved hand and asked, "Is something the matter, Major 
Katsuragi?"
        Misato did the first thing that occurred to 
her.  She screamed and ran as far away from "Commander 
Rei Ikari" as she could.

***

        When the doorbell finally rang, Shinji was not 
at all eager to answer it this time.  Kaji's "rules for 
relationships" were still running through his head and 
he had a hard enough time not thinking about them with 
just Asuka present.  He knew that as soon as he saw Rei 
again, he'd remember what he tried to do and... well, 
he wasn't sure how he would react, but he knew that it 
wouldn't be good.
        Asuka watched Shinji make no move to answer the 
door, opened her mouth to yell at him, closed it, 
shrugged, and went to answer the door herself.
        Rei was at the door, wearing her school uniform 
as usual.  What was unusual was the bag slung over her 
shoulder and her asking, "Is Major Katsuragi here?"
        Asuka only stared for a few moments, then shook 
her head.  "Misato isn't here.  Actually, I haven't 
seen much of her lately.  Maybe she got herself a 
boyfriend or something.  Why do you ask, Wondergirl?"
        Asuka lead the way into the apartment, Rei 
following close behind.
        "I suppose it isn't important.  What role am I 
to assume today?"
        "Well, it's funny that you should mention it 
because you're playing Misato."
        "I would rather play Commander Ikari."
        Asuka was a little taken aback by the steel in 
Rei's normally apathetic voice.  "Sorry Wondergirl, 
he's just not in this scene.  But you can be the 
commander in the scene we do after this one, all 
right?"
        Asuka was even more surprised at Rei's slight 
smile as the blue-haired girl nodded and said, "Thank 
you, Langely-san."
        Asuka backed away from this bizarre-acting, at 
least for her, version of Rei.  "Yeah, sure, no 
problem."

        "Are you ready, Ikari-kun?"
        Shinji was snapped back to reality to find Rei 
staring right at him.  She looked cute and somewhat 
silly in Misato's red jacket, which was a number of 
sizes too big for her.  It made her seem smaller, more 
vulnerable.  She called out to him again and he was 
immediately focused on her soft, pink lips as they 
formed the syllables to his name...
        Shinji nearly jumped out of his chair, laughing 
nervously, and said, "Hi Rei, nice to see you!  How are 
you today?"
        "I am well.  Are you ready now?"
        Shinji was even more nervous than before.  
Ready for what?  A hundred possibilities flashed 
through his mind, each more nerve-wracking than the 
last.  In a shaking voice, trying and utterly failing 
to act casual, he asked, "Ready for what, Rei?"
        "The scene, dummkopf!" Asuka shouted from the 
other side of the room.  "Wondergirl and I finished 
setting up while you were daydreaming.  What the heck 
is wrong with you?"
        Shinji shook his head to clear it.  "Nothing, 
nothing.  Let's get started then."

        Shinji was sitting at his desk, which faced the 
wall, wearing the tan uniform of the bridge crew.  He 
was also wearing a long brown wig.  Rei, in Misato's 
jacket, and Asuka, in a lab coat, stood behind him.  
Asuka had an SDAT player hidden behind her back.
        Click.  Alarms sound.
        Shinji leaned back, playing air guitar, all the 
while saying, "Like the head is way damaged!  It's a 
total bummer, man!"
        Then he quickly hid the wig under the seat, 
messed his hair some, and turned to face Asuka, batting 
his eyelashes.  Trying to hit a high pitch while 
shouting made his voice almost shrill.  "Sempai, we're 
having problems maintaining activation!"
        "Status report," spoke Rei, her calm voice 
giving more of an impression of Commander Ikari, 
despite the jacket she wore.
        Shinji turned to look at Rei for a moment, but 
all the drilling made him immediately look back at 
Asuka.  "Syncrograph reversing!  The pulses are flowing 
backward, sempai!"
        Asuka shouted back, "Break the circuit, Maya!  
Do it!"
        "We can't, sempai!  It's not accepting the 
signal!"
        "What about Ikari-kun?" Rei asked, her voice 
seeming to contain a small spark of emotion.
        Shinji was actually thankful for all the 
practicing Asuka had put him through, as he fixed his 
hair and put on the glasses automatically, while his 
mind was a little stunned by Rei's last line, and the 
whole scene in general.  He found it difficult not to 
think of what had been happening to him while all this 
was going on.
        Shinji whined out, "His monitors aren't 
reacting!  His condition is unknown!"
        Then he tore off the glasses and fixed the wig 
on once again.  "Bogus, dude!  Unit-01 is totally 
silent!"
        Asuka turned to face Rei.  "Misato?"
        Rei was silent for a few moments, as if she 
were truly weighing this decision rather than just 
reenacting it.  "We've got no choice.  Abort the 
operation.  We've got to rescue the pilot.  Eject the 
entry plug."
        Shinji had already used this time to go into 
"Maya" mode.  "We can't!  It's not accepting the 
signal!"
        "What did you say?"  Rei's voice was flat, 
giving the line a different meaning from the original.  
Shinji nearly repeated himself.
        Asuka said the next line, though she used a 
completely different tone from when she spoke as 
Ritsuko. "The EVA is reactivating!"
        Shinji said the next line with real emotion, 
though even he wasn't sure what he meant by it.  "I 
don't believe it!  This can't be!"
        "My God," Rei nearly whispered.
        "Berserker."
        Click.  Roar.

***

        Kozo Fuyutsuki chuckled.  He had been doing 
that on and off ever since he had seen the last... 
reenactment by the children.  To whatever ends they 
were doing it, it was pretty darn humorous.
        If they could make Gendo laugh, then that was 
good entertainment.  Even with the penguin remark.
        They were so serious, obviously getting into it 
like real actors would get into their parts.  They must 
have practiced a lot to get the dialogue down so well.  
Each child knew what to say, how to say it, reacting to 
the others...
        Even Rei appeared to be enjoying herself.  
While her lines weren't quite as... authentically 
spoken, she still knew...
        Fuyutsuki stopped in his tracks.  Yes, they all 
knew their lines quite well.  Very well.  And the SDAT 
player with the sound effects...  Something was not 
quite right, yet he couldn't put his finger on it.
        Walking slowly, the uneasy feeling staying with 
him, Fuyutsuki headed back to his office.

***

        "Sempai?"
        "What is it, Maya?"  Now that she was properly 
attired in a new lab coat, Ritsuko was all business.
        "Can I ask you something?"
        "Go ahead."
        Maya looked at the back of her idol's head and 
fidgeted in the doorway.  There was just no easy way to 
ask this.  "Well, I was wondering...  Have you... 
noticed..."
        "Maya, spit it out.  I have a lot of work to 
get done."
        "It's just that... I wanted to know if..."
        Ritsuko turned in her chair and looked at Maya, 
her face a mask of complete indifference.  "What?"
        "Havethecommandersbeenactingfunnydoyouknow?" 
Maya blurted and immediately developed a healthy blush.
        Ritsuko blinked.  "What?"
        The blush deepened.  "Nothing!  I didn't mean 
to bother you!  Bye!"  Maya scurried off before she 
could embarrass herself further.
        "What a strange girl," Ritsuko mumbled before 
turning back to her work.

        "So did you ask her?"
        "No."
        "Told ya she couldn't do it.  And she was gonna 
ask the commanders...  Yeah, right."  Shigeru elbowed 
Makoto in the side.
        Makoto dug in his pocket and pulled out a 
thousand yen bill.  "Yeah, yeah.  Take your money."
        Maya frowned.  "You don't think this is really 
strange?  You're just going to sit there and make 
stupid bets?  You two are impossible."
        "Yes, but I'm a thousand yen richer now," 
Shigeru said, smiling widely.

***

        "So what are they up to today?"
        "Nothing yet.  They look to be planning 
something soon though."
        "This should be entertaining.  I still haven't 
come up with any reason they would be doing this 
though.  It's not just a game to them since they put so 
much work into it."
        "Agreed."
        "I'd be concerned if their piloting abilities 
suffered, and the major reports they're not doing any 
worse in school."
        "Then we wait.  This will come to a head 
eventually."
        Fuyutsuki nodded and sat down.  He still had 
that nagging feeling, but didn't know why.  There was 
just something about the entire situation that bothered 
him.
        "You're fidgeting."
        "This is bothering me."
        "I thought you said you were over the penguin 
remark."
        Fuyutsuki frowned.  "I _was_ until you had to 
bring it up again.  But it's something else."
        "Such as?"
        "I'm not sure."
        "Perhaps a lapse in security?"
        Realization dawned on the sub-commander.  
"That's exactly it.  The records of..."
        "Everything that's gone on in the command 
center up to this point.  They've obtained them and 
have studied them quite carefully."
        "But... how?  The security..."  Speech was 
becoming more and more difficult as Fuyutsuki's jaw 
clenched tighter and tighter.  Finally, he was at the 
point that he couldn't even speak.
        "They are more resourceful than we had 
anticipated.  Be thankful they are working for us, and 
not for SEELE."  Gendo let loose the tiniest of smiles.
        "You are really enjoying this whole thing, 
aren't you?"
        "Quite."
        Fuyutsuki sighed, his shoulders slumping 
slightly.  "So am I for some reason."
        "And security?"
        "We can blame it on Kaji.  He's always up to 
something anyhow.  I wouldn't be surprised if he's got 
the bathrooms bugged."
        "I had those removed.  They were... 
inappropriate."
        For a moment, Fuyutsuki went slack-jawed.  
"You're kidding."
        Gendo turned his head, wearing a look of near-
amusement.  "Do I kid?"
        "No, of course not."

***

        Ritsuko stared up blearily at the ceiling of 
her apartment.  A missing lab coat, Maya acting all 
strange, Misato babbling at her, the techs looking like 
frightened rabbits, Kaji's odd behavior, Shinji's 
strange reluctance around women...
        Some of that seemed on par, but it wasn't.  It 
was all off by just a hair.  She would expect Shinji to 
be reluctant around women, but not the way he was.  He 
acted... scared.
        And Maya...  She didn't even want to know what 
was up with Maya.  That was too far out there.
        The commanders... she was sure that was what 
Maya had asked about, but didn't know why.
        They had been acting a bit... odd.  Much more 
attentive in the command center than usual.  And 
secretive.  Even more so.  One of these times, she was 
going to see what they were so engrossed in.

***

        Shinji and Asuka were both a little surprised 
to find Rei waiting for them as they left school.
        "Is there an Angel attack or something, 
Wondergirl?" Asuka asked after a few moments of silence 
had passed.  She didn't think so.  She didn't know 
about Shinji, but she had her cell phone with her at 
all times.
        Rei shook her head.  There was another moment 
of silence, but before Asuka could say anything else, 
Rei asked, "Are we going to be doing another 
reenactment today?"
        Asuka rolled her eyes.  "Of course."
        "Then I will accompany you."
        Asuka stared at her fellow pilot, as if she 
were trying to draw an explanation out of her from her 
gaze alone, but Rei only stared back blankly as always, 
and said nothing.  "Are you sure you don't have to go 
home first?"
        Rei shook her head once again.  "I already have 
everything I require," she told them, holding up her 
school bag for emphasis.
        Asuka shrugged.  "I guess I've got no problem 
with it.  How about you, Shinji?"
        Shinji was snapped back to reality only to 
realize that he had been silently staring at Rei the 
entire time.  Kaji had recently given him another "pep 
talk," though Kaji didn't seem to think that Shinji had 
any real hopes of actually following his advice.
        To make things worse, the girls had swimming 
again, causing Toji and Kensuke to have an argument 
over who Shinji had been staring at this time, Asuka or 
Rei, or rather which parts of them he'd been staring 
at.  Words he had normally associated with KFC had 
taken on entirely different meaning.
        He quickly glanced at Asuka, but she seemed to 
not have noticed.  She was, however, waiting for an 
answer and he knew it wouldn't be long before she got 
impatient.  The only problem was that since Shinji 
hadn't been paying attention he had no idea what the 
question was.
        He started to panic a little, but did his best 
to hide it.  What could he do?  He couldn't ask her to 
repeat the question because then she'd know he hadn't 
been paying attention to her.  That was sure to get her 
angry.  He couldn't just say some random answer for the 
same reason.  Stuck in a corner, Shinji fell back on 
his basic instinct whenever dealing with Asuka: just 
agree with whatever she said.
        "Yeah, sure," he said a bit nervously.  "I've 
got no problem with that."
        "All right, let's get home then," Asuka told 
them.  "You can set up while I choose the scene we're 
going to do."
        As they started walking back to Misato's 
apartment, Shinji noticed something different.  
Specifically, Rei was walking with them, at his side, 
her school skirt exposing her slim, pale legs as she 
walked...
        Shinji turned his head to face Asuka so fast 
that he nearly snapped his neck.  "Um, so why is Rei 
going with us?"
        "Dummkopf!  What do you think I asked you a 
moment ago?"
        "Oh, right, sorry," Shinji replied, laughing 
nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.  He 
happened to look down just as Asuka's movement exposed 
a hint of cleavage.  He immediately faced forward, 
walking almost mechanically as he tried to keep certain 
thoughts from rising...

***

        Asuka watched Shinji as he took off his shoes, 
staring firmly ahead into Misato's apartment.  She 
noticed that he'd been doing that for most of the walk 
home.
        "Wondergirl?" Asuka queried her fellow pilot.
        "Yes?" Rei replied, red eyes staring back at 
her.
        "Forget it."

        Something was wrong with Shinji, that much 
Asuka knew for sure, as she thought over his recent 
actions as she plowed though the security transcripts, 
which she had marked all over in colored highlighter, 
coded how each scene could help her with her purpose.
        She put down the transcripts and took a breath.  
She was doing more thinking about Shinji than reading.  
So what was wrong with him?  Asking him was no good.  
Even if he did know, he'd either back away from her or 
make something up.  He always shied away from 
confrontations, unless...
        Asuka immediately dug through the transcripts 
in search of scene that had caught her eye when she had 
started on this.  It would be a hard scene for Shinji 
to do, the hardest yet probably, but if anything could 
shake him out of his current state, this could.

        Shinji tried to sit calmly alone with Rei while 
waiting for Asuka to come back, but he just couldn't do 
it.  Kaji's lessons kept running through his head like 
a mantra, over and over again.  Also knowing that he 
was too much of a coward to act on them wasn't helping 
his self-esteem any.
        He needed someone to talk to about this.  He 
immediately excluded all females as being too 
"stimulating."  Kaji was the next to be crossed off.  
This was his fault to begin with.  Toji and Kensuke 
would only tease him.  His father...  he wasn't sure 
what his father would say, but he knew it wouldn't be 
good.  Fuyutsuki would just tell his father...
        Shinji suddenly stood up and told Rei, "I need 
to go to the kitchen to get something."

        Asuka returned to the living room with a 
triumphant smile on her face, only to find Rei sitting 
on the couch, going through her school bag.
        "I found the scene.  Where's Shinji?"
        Rei turned around, holding a pair of white 
gloves.  "He went into the kitchen."

        Shinji stood before Pen-Pen's private fridge, 
wondering how to get the bird's attention.  He didn't 
feel right in just opening the door.  He decided on 
knocking, though felt extremely silly in doing so.  
After a moment, the door to the fridge slid open.  Pen-
Pen shut off his TV, clicked off the lamp, and waddled 
out.  Turning to look up at Shinji, he asked, "Wark?"
        Shinji decided to just go right to it, not like 
this penguin could understand what he was saying 
anyway.  "You see I've got this problem..."
        "Wark!" Pen-Pen exclaimed suddenly and then 
raced over to the other fridge, where he pulled out two 
beers, one of which he handed to Shinji.  He accepted 
the beer, remembering how Pen-Pen got violent if he 
didn't, and tried to go on to explain his problem, but 
the bird was looking up at him as if he was waiting for 
Shinji to do something.
        Shinji popped open the can of beer and was 
surprised to see Pen-Pen mimic his actions.  "Wark," 
the penguin said as he held his own beer out to Shinji.
        Shinji suddenly remembered seeing Misato acting 
out a similar "ritual" with Pen-Pen before.  "Cheers!" 
he shouted, feeling foolish as he smacked his can 
against the other and took a sip, having to desperately 
avoid spitting it back up again.
        Pen-Pen took a sip of his own beer and plunked 
himself down on the floor.  After a moment, Shinji also 
sat on the floor and began to explain.  "I guess it all 
started when I had to do this scene with Rei..."

        Asuka walked into what was for her a very odd 
sight.  Odd perhaps because of its relative 
familiarity.  Empty beer cans scattered over the 
kitchen floor, normal for any place that Misato 
frequented.  That Pen-Pen was holding a beer while 
slumped on the floor was also, unfortunately, normal.  
Asuka guessed it was really true that pets took on the 
characteristics of their owners.  What really got her 
was that in place of a drunken Misato, there was a 
something much more unique: a drunken Shinji.
        "And she's always pushing me around," Shinji 
slurred as he took a gulp of his beer.  "Telling me to 
do stuff like 'move that box, Shinji,' 'stop whining, 
Shinji,' 'wear this dress, Shinji...'"
        "Wark, wark," Pen-Pen agreed, nodding his head.
        "Always threatening me with stuff when I talk 
back, half the time speaking in German so I can't 
understand her.  Well, I've had enough of it, you 
hear?!  I'm going to tell Asuka that --"
        "Tell me what?" Asuka asked from the doorway, 
having finally gotten over her shock.
        Shinji slowly turned to face her, his eyes 
going progressively wider.  The half-empty beer can 
fell from his numb fingers.  He moved his jaw to say 
something, but the most he could manage was, "Um, ah."
        With a nasty grin, Asuka walked over and took 
his arm.  "Here, allow me to help you."  Then she 
shoved his head in the sink and turned the cold tap all 
the way.
        "Waaaahhhh!" Shinji yelled, which came out 
surprisingly clear despite all the freezing water 
currently hitting him in the head.
        Still smiling, Asuka yanked his head out of the 
sink.  She shut off the tap and handed him a towel.  
"There, feel better now?"
        Shinji dried his head and said nothing.  He no 
longer felt the least bit drunk, however.

***

        Practically dragging Shinji into the living 
room, Asuka said, "Now we can finally get this scene 
started."
        "I will prepare myself then," Rei said then 
proceeded to take off her school uniform.
        "What are you doing?!" Asuka shouted, while 
Shinji was finding the walls very interesting to stare 
at.
        Rei stopped undressing and pulled a black 
uniform from her bag.  "I was putting on my costume."
        "But you can't change right here!"
        "Why not?  How is this any different from 
changing into our plug-suits?"
        "Because Shinji is still here, dummkopf!  You 
can't change in front of a boy!"
        Meanwhile, the boy in question would have been 
making another trip to the kitchen if Asuka didn't have 
an iron grip on his shirt.
        "Why?"
        Growling in frustration, Asuka gave up.  "You 
just can't, okay?  If you need to change, use the 
bathroom."
        Rei nodded, gathered up her things, and headed 
for the bathroom.
        "Wait a minute!" Asuka yelled to Rei, dropping 
Shinji on the couch as she walked over to her.
        Rei stopped and turned around.
        "I'm the commander this time, Wondergirl."
        "Before the last scene, you said that I could 
play Commander Ikari for the next one."
        Asuka was firm, however.  This was too 
important to let Rei mess it up.  "Rei, I'm going to do 
it."
        "You said I would."
        "Not this time.  I'm going to."
        "You said I would play the commander."
        "I changed my mind!"
        "You said I..."
        "Fine!"
        Asuka decided to take her store of frustration, 
which was useless against Rei, and redirect it on 
Shinji.  "Shinji, in this scene you play yourself."
        "What?  No way!"  Most of the fun of this in 
the first place for Shinji was to escape being himself 
for a little while.  Besides, he just knew that if 
Asuka was making him be himself the scene had to be 
horribly embarrassing.
        "Do it or else," Asuka said in a dangerous 
tone.
        Perhaps because he wasn't entirely sober yet, 
or having talked out his problems had given him some 
strength, Shinji decided that he wouldn't back down 
this time.  "No."
        "Now you need to--" Asuka said and stopped 
herself when she realized what Shinji's reply had been.  
"What did you say?"
        "I'm not going to do it this time, Asuka.  
There's nothing you can say or do that will make me 
back down."  Shinji readied himself for whatever 
vengeful thing Asuka would do to him this time for 
standing up to her.
        To his surprise, she smiled.  "All right, if 
you don't want to play yourself, you don't have to.  
I'm not going to force you to do it."
        "You're not?" Shinji asked, growing more 
surprised by the minute.
        Asuka shook her head, the smile never leaving 
her lips.  "Nope.  You'll just have to sit out this 
scene since there are really only two roles."
        "But then who's going to play me then?"
        "I guess I'll have to do it."
        Shinji started to get suspicious as Asuka 
readied herself to play him.  First she messed up her 
hair, then she slumped her shoulders and stared at the 
ground as if suddenly depressed.  She shuffled over to 
Shinji, looked up at him, and said in a sniveling tone, 
"Father, I don't want to pilot EVA.  I'm a big dumb 
wimp."
        Shinji could only stare back at her, not even 
noticing Rei reentering the room dressed as Commander 
Ikari.
        Asuka stood up straight and smiled again, 
though this time it was closer to a sneer.  "How was 
that?  Not whiny enough?"
        "All right, I'll do it, I'll play myself," 
Shinji told her, caving in completely.  "Just never do 
that again."
        Asuka huffed in mock-indignation.  "I don't see 
what you're complaining about; I thought I captured you 
perfectly."

***

        Shinji looked up at Rei, dressed as Commander 
Ikari, complete with dark glasses and white gloves, and 
also standing on a chair.  Asuka leaned against the 
wall, wearing a lab coat.
        Rei adjusted her glasses with a gloved hand 
while looking down at Shinji.  She spoke as if reading 
from a shopping list.  "Disobeying orders.  Personal 
occupation of an EVA.  Crude intimidation.  These are 
all criminal acts. Do you have anything you want to 
say?"
        Shinji was close enough to Rei that he could 
see her eyes despite the glasses.  She had the same 
look when she had smacked him before, when he had said 
something bad about his father.
        As he struggled to build up some sort of 
strength for his next line under that gaze, Shinji 
again reflected that Rei was a little too good at 
imitating the commander.  Somehow, Rei's monotone just 
made things worse for him.
        "Yes.  I don't want to pilot EVA any more, and 
I don't want to stay here either."  The words sounded 
weak and ineffectual; even to himself, a lie.
        "Well, leave then," Rei replied softly, though 
her eyes remained stern.
        "I will!" Shinji declared, suddenly getting 
caught up in the moment.  He had backed down from Asuka 
yet again, but he would not back down from his father, 
even if it was only his image.  "I'll go back to my 
teacher's place!"
        Rei frowned slightly.  "Are you running again? 
You disappoint me. I assume we won't meet again."
        Shinji matched her tone.  "I intend that we 
won't."

***

        The commanders watched in complete silence.
        Shock might have been an accurate description.
        Just a total stunned pause in their daily 
routine.
        "This is interesting."
        "I... didn't know he had it in him.  I didn't 
think it was possible."
        Gendo nodded, but gave no spoken reaction.
        "Hindsight is always twenty-twenty."
        "Indeed."
        The two men sat in silence for a bit longer, 
still watching the monitor.  The scene was over, but 
the effects of it lingered.  The children seemed 
maudlin, moping around the apartment as they 
straightened up.
        "I wonder what that was supposed to 
accomplish?" Fuyutsuki wondered aloud, startling 
himself by breaking the weighty silence.
        "So Misato wasn't kidding..."
        The two commanders turned simultaneously to see 
Ritsuko standing there, staring at the monitor.
        "Er... Doctor," Fuyutsuki said abruptly, 
flicking the monitor off.  "Is there something you 
need?"
        "Well, I got one of my questions answered."  At 
least Fuyutsuki had the grace to look a bit 
embarrassed, but Gendo was as impassive as always.
        "This is none of your concern."
        "I don't think it's any of your concern either 
then.  If I'm responsible for their synch rates with 
the EVAs, then I had damn better know what's going on 
before you try to tell me to fix whatever's wrong when 
you're sitting here..."
        Ritsuko trailed off when she noted the simple 
gaze Gendo directed at her, and the somewhat amused 
look Fuyutsuki was giving her.
        "Er..."
        "A game, Doctor.  As far as we can figure.  
That's as much as we know.  They seem to be... 
reenacting moments of NERV history."
        Eyes shifting between the two commanders, 
Ritsuko finally settled her eyes on the older.  "So..."
        "They appear to be building up to something, 
but what, exactly, is unknown," Gendo supplied.
        He almost sounded... worried to Ritsuko's ears.  
"Well, that's... unique."  She shrugged, having no idea 
how to make heads or tails of what she had seen.  "I 
guess... everyone's got to have a hobby."

        Maya watched with great interest, but not so 
much that she looked like she was watching with great 
interest.  Just enough so that she could see how each 
one of them reacted, even if she couldn't really hear 
what they were saying.
        "I think she's lost it."
        "She's been staring up there the entire day."
        The buzzing of the gnats did not deter her; she 
would not miss the opportunity to discover just what 
was going on.
        "Have you seen her blink?"
        "No.  Do you think her eyes are gonna dry out?  
What if it damages her sight?"
        "The commanders won't stay up there all day 
long.  She'll have to look away eventually.  Just be 
ready because I don't think she'll be able to see 
much."
        "Right."
        "And in the meantime..."
        "Waffles?  Where'd you get those?"
        "Misato brought in a whole bunch one day.  I 
didn't know she could cook like this."
        "Her?  Cook?  Right.  I'd believe that penguin 
cooked those before she did."

***

        Asuka woke up the moment her alarm started 
ringing, slapped it off, and sat up with a smile on her 
face.  Today was the day that her plans would finally 
come to fruition.  There was a certain element of risk 
involved in moving so swiftly to the denouement, she 
knew, but she also knew that she had to take advantage 
of their current momentum.  Besides, waiting was 
getting on her nerves.  Asuka wasn't a patient person 
by nature, but it would all be worth it if her master 
plan succeeded.

        Shinji groggily opened his eyes after his alarm 
went off.  He had trouble getting to sleep last night.  
He kept having dreams that replayed the reenactments 
they had done so far, but with him in different roles.  
There were even times he was playing every role.  In 
the end, they had all blurred together to become him as 
a kid being ordered around by a giant Rei dressed as 
his father.  It took him a while to get back to sleep 
after that.
        After a few moments, he realized that Asuka's 
smiling face was only inches from his.
        "Good morning, Shinji!" she said in a cheery 
voice.
        Shinji was panicked.  Somehow Asuka's happiness 
was bad news for him, especially lately.  "Asuka, what 
are you doing in my room?"
        Asuka threw open the window to let the bright 
sunlight in.  She turned back to Shinji and said, "It's 
such a nice day today.  Are you going to waste it lying 
in bed?"
        Shinji frowned.  "My alarm just went off, 
Asuka.  Besides, we still have plenty of time to get 
ready for school."
        "Oh, I thought we could skip school today," 
Asuka told him with a small, secretive smile.
        "Misato won't like that."
        Asuka shrugged.  "She's not here, never came 
home last night for some reason.  And I can get Hikari 
to cover for us at school so she'll never know."
        Shinji opened his mouth to argue, but then 
shrugged and said, "At least let me get changed first.  
We can talk about this over breakfast."
        "All right. You'll have to cook something 
though.  All those waffles Pen-Pen made vanished."
        "Why do I have to make breakfast?" Shinji 
asked, but Asuka had already left.

        Asuka and Shinji argued the pros and cons of 
going to school over miso soup, with Pen-Pen 
interjecting an occasional "wark" in favor of Shinji 
who had made the penguin some fish to eat.  Despite the 
added support, Shinji felt that he was losing this 
argument quickly.  Asuka seemed to have a counter ready 
for his every thought.  So it was some relief that the 
doorbell rang.
        "Who could that be?" he asked with some 
confusion, though was secretly glad for anything that 
interrupted their discussion.  It was still too early 
for Toji and Kensuke to show up.
        Asuka shrugged.  "How should I know?  Maybe 
it's someone carrying Misato home after an all-night 
drinking binge.  Answer the door and find out."
        Shinji nodded and did as Asuka had said.   He 
wasn't at all prepared to find Rei waiting there, 
dressed in her school uniform with a bag slung over her 
shoulder.  Suddenly remembering the dream from last 
night, Shinji instinctively screamed and bolted.
        Rei blinked as Shinji fled.  She stood at the 
doorway for a few more moments before seeming to decide 
something and stepped inside.
        Seeing Shinji run past, Asuka went to check 
what all the commotion was about.  She was surprised to 
see Rei standing there.
        "Wondergirl?  What are you doing here so early 
in the morning?"
        Rei paused in thought as if she wasn't sure 
herself.  "I wish to walk to school with you and Ikari-
kun."
        Asuka shook her head.  "We're not going to 
school today."
        Shinji shouted as he came back into the room, 
"Yes we are, Asuka!"
        Rei blinked.  "Why would the both of you miss 
school?  Is there a synchronization test that I wasn't 
informed about?"
        Asuka grinned and leaned closer to Rei 
conspiratorially.  "Nope.  We're skipping school, 
Wondergirl."
        "No, we're not, Asuka," Shinji said, back in 
the room.  "Oh, hi, Rei."
        Rei bowed slightly to Shinji.  "Good morning, 
Ikari-kun."
        Asuka ignored what Shinji had said yet again 
and spoke to Rei, "Hey, why don't you skip with us?  
You must be sick of that old guy droning on about the 
Second Impact all the time too.  All you do at school 
is stare out the window anyway.  Besides, us EVA pilots 
got to stick together, right?"
        Rei frowned slightly.  "I doubt Commander Ikari 
would approve of this."
        "That's right, Asuka," Shinji jumped in, glad 
to have another person's support.
        Asuka only grinned.  "But you don't know that, 
do you Wondergirl?  I mean, it's not something you've 
asked him before specifically, is it?  For all we know, 
the commander might approve.  I bet he skipped school 
all the time when he was our age."
        "But what if there's an Angel attack, Asuka?" 
Shinji pointed out.
        The redhead's smile didn't waver.  "Dummkopf!  
That's why they gave us all cell phones."
        Rei blinked suddenly and took out her cell 
phone from her bag.  She pushed one of the speed dial 
buttons and waiting for a connection while Asuka and 
Shinji looked at her in surprise.
        "What are you doing, Wondergirl?" Asuka asked.
        "I am calling Commander Ikari to see if it is 
all right that we skip school today."
        "No!" Asuka shouted with some panic.  "You 
can't do that!"
        "Why not?" Rei asked, staring at Asuka, her 
face expressionless.
        Asuka thought fast.  "Because we shouldn't be 
bothering the commander with something this 
unimportant.  He might even be angry.  Right, Shinji?"
        "Yeah, we really shouldn't bother him with 
this, Rei," Shinji added, even more panicked than 
Asuka.  With the morning he'd been having, the last 
thing he wanted to deal with was his father.
        Rei looked at the phone and then back at them.  
She said nothing, but seemed uncertain.
        Asuka told her, "If you skip with us, I'll let 
you be Commander Ikari again."
        "Very well," Rei replied, shutting off the 
phone.
        Asuka and Shinji breathed a sigh of relief.

***

        Ritsuko entered the lounge and stopped short.  
Misato was there, staring into a styrofoam cup filled 
with steaming tea.  She looked decidedly unhappy.
        Walking in an artificially casual manner, 
Ritsuko went and poured herself a cup of coffee.  
Sipping it for a moment first, she gathered her wits.  
This would be... awkward at best.
        "Misato."
        "Yeah?"
        Ritsuko turned slowly, holding the cup up to 
her lips as if it could protect her.  "I wanted to..."  
She shrugged almost helplessly.  "I saw..."
        Misato looked up from her tea, dark circles 
under her eyes.  She didn't say anything, but the 
questions were evident in her eyes.
        "I'm sorry, okay?"
        Eyes blinking slowly, Misato kept quiet.
        With a sigh, Ritsuko crossed the lounge and sat 
across the table from Misato.  She took a long drink of 
her coffee before setting it down and looking Misato in 
the eye.  "I'm sorry for what I said before.  I 
shouldn't have been so... harsh."
        "Said... what?"
        "When I doubted you.  I shouldn't have been so 
mean about it."
        It was Misato's turn to sigh as she drank some 
of her tea.  "It doesn't matter."
        "It does matter, because... I believe you."
        Misato's eyes widened momentarily, then lowered 
back to her tea.  "It doesn't.  Here, have a waffle."  
She dropped four ziploc bags on the table, each one 
almost bursting with waffles.
        Ritsuko eyed them warily.  "I'll... pass."
        "They're safe... I didn't make them.  Pen-pen 
did."
        "That's... fine, Misato.  I'm... just not 
hungry."
        Ritsuko's stomach immediately growled.
        With her eyes moving back and forth, subtly 
trying to find someone or something else to blame it 
on, Ritsuko said, "Uhh..."
        Misato raised one eyebrow.
        "Oh!  Oh, darn!  I'm so hungry, but I won't get 
a chance to eat those... great looking waffles because 
look!"  Ritsuko held up her pager for Misato to see.  
"I'm being paged.  Darn that Commander Ikari."  Ritsuko 
stood up and slowly backed away.  "Sorry about that, 
Misato.  They look great.  Really.  But... gotta go!"
        Misato sighed and continued to drink her tea.

        Kaji stepped in the lounge and immediately 
smiled when he noticed Misato there.  *Must be my lucky 
day.*
        "Hey beautiful, what's...  mmmph!"
        Kaji found it a bit difficult to talk around 
the waffle that Misato had just shoved in his mouth.

***

        "We're going to what?!" Shinji nearly shouted.
        "Do a quick recap of all the scenes we've done 
up to this point before the next one," Asuka explained 
patiently.  "I got the idea from an anime I watched the 
other day."
        "But why?" Shinji asked, bewildered.
        Asuka huffed in frustration.  "Because this way 
we can see how much we've improved, how much we've 
learned from all this."
        Shinji shook his head.  "I still don't get it."
        Asuka turned to Rei, who was sitting calmly on 
the couch, watching their conversation.  "You think 
it's a good idea, don't you, Wondergirl?"
        Rei nodded almost immediately, her "Commander 
Ikari" costume folded neatly on her lap.
        Seeing Shinji starting to waver, Asuka pushed.  
"Why are you making such a big fuss about this anyway?  
It's not like we're going to play whole scenes over 
again, just small parts to get the feel for it.  
Besides, we've already gone over this.  You did it 
before, you can do it again."
        Shinji shrugged.  Even he really wasn't sure 
why he was being so resistant this time.  Partly 
because it was a little too much like his recent 
nightmare, but probably more so because he always put 
up a fight over this, even though it made no difference 
in the end.
        "All right," Shinji said finally, his tone 
still reluctant.  "Let's do this."
        "That's the spirit, Shinji!" Asuka enthused, 
giving him a huge pat on the back.  
        The Third Child crumpled to the ground.
        "Oops.  Think I hit him a little too hard."
        Observing all this, Pen-Pen went to fetch the 
smelling salts.

        Asuka handed Rei and Shinji printouts.  "Here 
you go.  I had these scripts already prepared so we can 
get through this quickly."
        "How are we going to do the costumes?" Rei 
asked as she studied the script.
        It took Asuka a moment to answer, mainly 
because she was so surprised that Rei had asked a 
question.  "I really don't want to waste time changing 
in and out of different uniforms just for this, so 
we'll decide on different props to represent the 
characters."
        "Shinji, we'll use the same props for those two 
bridge crew guys.  Misato's red jacket can be for her.  
These dark glasses for the commander.  Ritsuko can be 
represented by the lab co... no, wait, I don't have 
that anymore.  I guess we can use a white towel 
instead.
        "For the sub-commander... what do you think we 
should use, Shinji?  You know him better than anyone."
        Shinji wasn't sure whether to take that as a 
compliment or an insult, but he tried to answer the 
question anyway.  "Um, how about I take this gray 
dishcloth and wear it on my head?" he told her, giving 
a quick demonstration.
        "Sure, that'll work," Asuka replied, trying 
very hard not to laugh.  Not only did Shinji look 
ridiculous with that thing on his head, but Asuka was 
sure that its original color wasn't gray.
        "Hmm, for Kaji you can unbutton the top buttons 
of your shirt, though I doubt you'll look as cool as 
Kaji when he does it.  Who else do we need?"
        "Maya Ibuki," Rei stated, still studying the 
script.
        "Right, right," Asuka agreed, nodding.  "What 
can represent her... wait, I know!"
        Asuka ran to her room and ran back a few 
moments later with a pair of balloons, which she handed 
to Shinji.
        "What am I supposed to do with these?" he 
asked.
        "Stuff them down your shirt when you play Maya, 
dummkopf!"
        Shinji considered arguing, but changed his 
mind.  He knew it would be fruitless.  "At least no one 
else'll see me," he muttered to himself.

***

        Ritsuko's stomach growled again.  She grabbed 
the nearest coffee cup and put it to her lips, only to 
discover it was empty.  "Damn."
        She sat down in her chair and stared blankly at 
the desk overflowing with papers of all kinds.  What a 
crazy day it had been, and it didn't look like it was 
going to end any time soon.
        Leaning back, Ritsuko rubbed her eyes.  Day?  
Hell, the entire month had been crazy, and that was 
above and beyond how insane things had become when 
she'd joined the project.
        Just sitting there, head back, eyes closed, she 
was almost tempted to just nap, but...  She squirmed a 
bit.  Standing, Ritsuko looked at her chair.
        Wadded up was...
        "Where did this come from?" she mumbled and 
picked up the discarded lab coat.  She looked it over, 
but there didn't appear to be anything wrong with it.  
"What in the world is going on here?"
        Something about it did catch her eye.  She 
peered closely at the... stuff, but couldn't tell what 
it was.  "What is this?  It almost looks like... 
batter."
        Ritsuko boggled for another moment before 
frowning.
        "MAYA!"

***

        Asuka, Rei, and Shinji stood standing around 
the dining room table, holding their scripts.  Asuka 
pushed up her dark glasses, while Shinji adjusted the 
gray dishcloth on his head, which had the tendency to 
fall off whenever he moved.  Various props lay 
scattered on the table within easy reach.  Pen-Pen sat 
on a chair next to Rei, both watching the others 
intently.
        Shinji cleared his throat, being careful not to 
move his head, and spoke in the deepest voice he could 
manage, "It's been fifteen years."
        "Yes," Asuka replied, her voice cold as she 
adjusted her glasses once more.  "The Angels are back."
       "Is that wise?" Shinji asked, his voice a touch 
fearful, turning his head to face Asuka, and catching 
the dishcloth before it could fall.
        Asuka looked directly at Rei and said in the 
same tone as before.  "She's not dead yet."
        Rei stared back and nodded.  "Understood."
        Everyone threw down their props on the table 
and quickly made themselves ready for the next scene.  
Asuka draped the white towel over her shoulders, Shinji 
struggled to wear Misato's large red jacket, and Rei 
calmly picked up the dark glasses and put them on.  
They fit her perfectly.
        "Wark!" Pen-Pen exclaimed as he tried to see 
around the dishcloth that Shinji had placed on his 
head.
        "Unit-01 is ready for launch," Asuka announced, 
staring at something over Rei.
        "Can we really do this?"  Shinji asked Rei in a 
falsetto voice as he struggled to find the right arm 
hole.
        Rei slowly moved her stare from Asuka to 
Shinji.  Her normally apathetic-sounding voice was 
heavy with conviction.  "Of course.  Unless we defeat 
the Angels, mankind has no future."
        "Wark?" Pen-Pen asked, looking up at Rei from 
underneath the dishcloth.
        Rei only smiled slightly in response.
        Another scramble.  Now Rei was wearing the 
towel, Asuka the jacket, and Shinji had unbuttoned the 
top buttons of his shirt.  Pen-Pen tried to get the 
gray dishcloth off his head, but no amount of shaking 
would dislodge it.
        "You know, you're not as discreet as I 
remember," Rei said to Shinji in her usual monotone.
        Asuka huffed, and said in a tone she normally 
used when arguing with someone, "He's never been 
discreet in his life.  You've finished handing over 
Unit-02, haven't you?  What are you still doing here?"
        Maybe because this time Asuka was standing next 
to him and not staring him down, Shinji was able to 
draw confidence from his role and tried to play it as 
he thought Kaji would.
        "I received orders this morning that I'll be 
staying around," Shinji told her in a smarmy voice, a 
smirk stamped on his face.  "So gorgeous, we can hang 
around again, just like we used to."
        Asuka frowned slightly as she exchanged props 
with Rei, which Shinji missed because he was busy 
buttoning his shirt and messing up his hair.  Seeing 
the other two were ready, he nodded and began again.
        "His monitors aren't reacting!  His condition 
is unknown!" Shinji shouted in a high-pitched nasal 
whine that even annoyed Asuka.  Then he threw on the 
long-haired wig, leaned back doing air guitar, and 
shouted, "Bogus, dude!  Unit-01 is totally silent!"
        Asuka's eyes narrowed as she turned away from 
Shinji to face Rei.  "Misato?"
        The determination was back in Rei's voice when 
she said, "We've got no choice.  Abort the operation.  
We've got to rescue the pilot.  Eject the entry plug."
        Shinji managed to finish shoving the balloons 
down his shirt just in time to say, "We can't!  It's 
not accepting the signal!"
        Seeing Shinji having trouble getting the 
balloons out, Asuka smiled wickedly as she brandished a 
needle and popped away his props, causing the Third 
Child to look at her nervously.  At first, he was even 
more nervous when he realized Rei was staring at him 
from behind dark glasses, but like with the Kaji scene, 
Shinji was able to draw strength from the fact that 
none of this was really real.  He stood up straight and 
stared right back at her, his eyes determined.
        Rei sounded displeased, exactly the same as 
when they had last done this scene, wearing the same 
small frown.  "Are you running again?  You disappoint 
me.  I assume we won't meet again."
        Shinji's voice was cold.  "I intend that we 
won't."

***

        "Why me?"
        "It's not so terrible."
        "When you're represented by a dish towel on 
someone's head, you tell me it's not terrible then."
        "Not that it matters at all.  This is certainly 
the prelude to the end."
        Frowning at Ikari, Fuyutsuki nodded.  "I 
suppose so.  That doesn't change the fact that..."
        "Yes, yes.  A dish towel.  Really, you 
shouldn't let such little things eat you up inside.  
It's not good for your health."
        "I thought you didn't kid."
        "I don't."
        "You're impossible when you're in one of these 
moods."
        "Professor, you disappoint me."
        Fuyutsuki exhaled heavily, avoiding continuing 
the conversation any longer.  He could never win these 
little battles with Gendo anyway, though he vowed one 
day he would.
        He simply let it slide as the two men watched 
the children on the monitor clean up the mess they had 
made in preparation for the next, and possibly final, 
reenactment.

***

        Asuka instructed Rei and Shinji to put their 
props away, while she would set up for the next 
reenactment.
        "But won't we need some of these things for the 
next scene, Asuka?" Shinji asked.
        Rei silently started to put the props away, 
aided by Pen-Pen who had been following her around ever 
since she took the gray dishcloth off of his head.  
Unlike Shinji, she was able to refuse the offering of 
beer.
        "Well, it's another two person scene and we 
only need a costume for Commander Ikari, but these dark 
glasses don't fit me for some reason," Asuka explained 
as she tried to wear the glasses in question, but they 
kept slipping off.
        Rei walked up to Asuka and took the glasses off 
of her face.  "That is because they are mine," she told 
her, carefully folded the dark glasses, and put them in 
the case that she carried.
        "All right," Asuka said slowly as she backed 
away from Rei.  "My glasses must be in my room then.  
I'll just go them now.  You two just wait right here."
        Asuka practically sprinted into her room, 
slamming the door behind her.
        Shinji couldn't help it.  He burst out 
laughing.
        Rei turned to him in confusion.  "What is it 
you find so humorous, Ikari-kun?"
        "Nothing," Shinji replied between fresh bouts 
of laughter, "nothing at all."

        Shinji and Rei were done cleaning up by the 
time Asuka returned.  She was carrying one of her 
packing boxes, with a "Commander Ikari" costume stacked 
on top of it.  She stood the box up by the window and 
dropped the costume in Shinji's lap.
        "There you go, Shinji," she told him in a 
cheery voice.  "Go get dressed."
        Shinji only looked back up at her in surprise.
        "Well?  What are you waiting for?" Asuka asked, 
hands on hips.
        "I thought you were going to play my father."
        "I already have, now it's your turn.  Or do you 
think it'd be too much for you to handle?  I can always 
get Rei to play him again," Asuka goaded him.
        "I can do this," Shinji replied, sounding like 
he was trying to convince himself.  "What scene are we 
doing?"
        "It's when you and your father visited your 
mother's grave.  Is that going to be a problem?"
        Shinji thought for a moment.  "No."
        "Great, now here's the script--"
        "I don't need it," Shinji told her, waving the 
transcript away.  "I remember what he said to me that 
day."
        Asuka studied him quizzically after his oddly 
solemn tone, but when he didn't explain, she said, "All 
right.  I already know my lines too, so why don't we 
get dressed right now and begin?"
        Shinji nodded and went to his room without 
another word.

***

        Ritsuko rubbed her eyes before she came into 
view of the techs manning Central Dogma.  It wouldn't 
do to reveal just how tired she was to all of them.  
She had to be professional.  At all times, 
professional.
        "Commander, I got your..."  She stopped talking 
and gave an annoyed sigh when she saw the two stationed 
firmly in front of the monitor.  She knew exactly what 
they were doing.  "I don't mean to interrupt, _sirs_, 
but I have the _work_ I've been doing _all day_ that 
you _requested_."
        They ignored her.
        "Oh, for the love of..."  Ritsuko marched up 
behind the two commanders and was about to unleash all 
holy hell upon them when she caught sight of what was 
on the monitor.  "Ohh..."

        Maya watched with an almost starry expression.  
"Sempai's about to give the commanders a piece of her 
mind.  She's so strong."
        Aoba and Hyuuga looked at each other.  Aoba put 
his finger in his mouth and made a gagging motion.
        But Ritsuko did not give the commanders a piece 
of her mind, which confused Maya.  "What's she doing?" 
she asked no one in particular, and craned her neck in 
an attempt to see what was going on.
        "They're not doing anything, just standing 
there," she answered herself.
        "She's lost it."
        "I thought she already lost it."
        "Maybe she just misplaced it before, but now 
she's definitely lost it."
        "I'm going up there."
        The two male techs froze in surprise.
        Maya stood and straightened her uniform.  
Taking a deep breath first, she approached the command 
dais.  She would find out what was going on, once and 
for all.
        With her mouth dry and palms sweaty, Maya 
approached the three, staring almost fearfully at their 
backs.  They were crowded around a monitor, but she 
couldn't see what was on it.  This would take drastic 
measures.
        "Sempai..."
        Ritsuko whirled around, her coat flaring as she 
did, obscuring the screen.  "Oh, Maya.  Perfect timing.  
Here, take care of this."  She held out the stack of 
papers that had been meant for the commanders.
        Maya blinked and took the papers.
        "Great.  Thanks.  I'll catch up on that stuff 
later."
        "But, I..."
        "Oh, don't worry about it.  It's not that 
important.  If you don't get it all done today, you can 
work on it tomorrow."
        Maya stood there for a moment, just staring.  
Then she turned around woodenly and returned to her 
seat, all her questions remaining unanswered.

***

        Asuka was kneeling down, looking at one of her 
packing boxes.  She was wearing a white shirt and black 
pants.  Shinji stood behind her with his back to the 
window, nearly covering her in his shadow.  He was 
dressed as Commander Ikari, complete with dark glasses 
and white gloves.
        "It's been three years since we were last 
here," he told her, his voice solemn.
        Asuka smiled a bit sadly.  "That's when I ran 
away.  I haven't come back here since then.  I just 
don't believe my mom is resting here.  I don't even 
remember her face."
        Shinji looked up from her, glancing at Rei who 
watched the performance, bringing his eyes all the way 
to the ceiling.  His voice was still solemn, but 
distant, as if reciting something he had read over and 
over again.
        "Burying memories is man's way of surviving, 
but there are some things a man should never forget.  
Yui taught me that one irreplaceable thing, Shinji.  
That is the reason I come here, to confirm that 
commitment."
        "You don't have a picture of her."
        Shinji nodded, looking down on Asuka once 
again.  "No photographs.  Even this grave is an 
artifice.  Nothing remains."  His voice started out 
deep, but became lighter near the end, so his last 
words were nearly a whisper.
        Asuka smiled again, but one without sorrow.  
"It's like my teacher said, you cast everything away."
        "Everything is kept in my heart," Shinji 
stated, the strength returned to his voice ten-fold.  
"I'm satisfied with that."
        Click.  Sounds of a plane landing.
        Shinji took a step away from her and said, "Our 
time is up.  I'm leaving now."
        Asuka stood suddenly and walked right up to 
Shinji as he turned around to face her.
        "Father!  I mean, I..."  And then Asuka leaned 
over and very softly kissed Shinji on the lips.  They 
stayed like that for several moments until Asuka broke 
contact with him.
        Shinji could only stare back at her in 
surprise, the dark glasses slipping down his nose.
        Head bowed with a blush dotting her cheeks, 
Asuka took a deep breath and told him, "I love you."
        Shinji's eyes immediately bugged out.

***

        "Well, helloooo, nurse," Ritsuko said softly, 
her eyes wide.
        Fuyutsuki whistled in appreciation.  He hadn't 
seen that coming at all.
        Someone said, "Whoa," and it wasn't Ritsuko or 
Fuyutsuki.
        "It's so... nice to see a son who really loves 
his father, isn't it?" Ritsuko asked, smiling broadly, 
maybe a hint of a blush in her cheeks.
        Fuyutsuki barely contained his laughter.
        Gendo remained silent.  He wasn't sure at all 
how to react to what he had just seen.  It had come 
completely as a surprise, and he had absolutely no 
response at all.
        "I hope this was recorded, because I don't 
think I'm going to believe it tomorrow.  That was 
just..."  Ritsuko shook her head, her heart beating 
decidedly faster than it had been.  It was amazing, in 
retrospect, how worked up she was.  She had been 
expecting something to happen, but nothing like that.
        Fuyutsuki straightened up, smiling.  "That 
was... entertaining.  Even with the dish towel and 
penguin.  Even if they can't pilot, I'm sure they'll 
have bright futures as actors and actresses."
        Seeing that he was getting less reaction than 
usual from Gendo, and that meant absolute zero, Kozo 
cleared his throat.  "Well, I have some paperwork to 
catch up on," he said tactfully and walked off, giving 
Ritsuko a simple nod.
        Ritsuko looked at the back of Gendo's head for 
a moment, just wondering.  "I'll go check on those 
papers I gave Maya," she said quietly, and left as 
well.
        Gendo sat, completely unmoving except for the 
barest rise and fall of his chest, and stared at the 
screen.  After what might have been a minute, or might 
have been five, one corner of his mouth turned up into 
a genuine smile, and he turned off the monitor.

***

        Rei watched passively.  She didn't think that 
was what happened in the scene originally; she was 
almost positive.  So why had the Second Child changed 
it?
        A soft thump alerted her, and she went to 
investigate.  She discovered the door about halfway 
open, and when she opened it the rest of the way...
        Misato was there, passed out in the hall.  She 
must have witnessed the reenactment.  Apparently, she 
was not impressed by it.
        Rei knew that if she had been Commander Ikari, 
Misato would have reacted differently.

END


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