From: wyrm@engin.umich.edu Subject: [Eva][FanFic] I am Myself, Part 1 -- SPOILER ALERT - The following fan-fiction contains spoilers. It is advised that you see the entire series before reading this fic. -- This fan fiction is adapted from Neon Genesis Evangelion, produced by Gainax. All characters thereof are the sole property of Gainax. They are used without permission and no claim on them is made by this author. -- I am Myself, part 1 by Chris Burke -- Lie still, little bottle. Don't twist it and twist in time. With every move you make you just disintegrate my ever troubled mind. -- They Might be Giants -- In a back corner of Toyko-3 stood a series of run-down apartment buildings. These were not the sleek, efficient, retractable buildings of the rest of the city. These were hulking, decaying monoliths of cracked cement and rusting steel. They had escaped the demolition that all other such monstrosities had suffered due solely to budget constraints and their remote location. Their days were numbered, however. Already the one nearest the city had been imploded and a new, modern structure was rising from the rubble. Within one of the buildings, on the fourth floor, ran a long dark hall with grey, cracked paint. Few of the lights worked, and those that did buzzed and flickered incessantly. Refuse left by tenants who had long since vacated the decrepit building littered the hall. Behind one of the many doors in the hall was the only occupied apartment in the entire building. It was just as dirty as all the abandoned rooms. The small signs of habitation - the working refrigerator, the dishes on it, the clothes lying about the room - only emphasized the dirt. On the bed before the window lay the apartment's occupant. She lay on her back, breathing peacefully. She stirred, her hand reflexively rubbed her nose, then she lay still again. Moments later the alarm on the dresser went off. Her face tightened, as though dreading the onset of consciousness. Then, Ayanami Rei awoke. She groaned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She sat there, just resting and waiting for her brain to come fully online. As she woke up, she stretched her arms above her head and arched her back and let out a soft moan. Rei winced as her feet touched the cold floor of her apartment. She stepped lightly over to her slippers, and walked into the bathroom. A moment later Rei walked out of the bathroom and over to her dresser. She turned off the alarm clock, then went back into the bathroom. She stepped out of her slippers and into the shower. She turned on the water, shivering in the cold until the hot water caught up. A sigh escaped her mouth as the water ran over her. Standing there under the stream she watched the patterns the rivulets of water made on her body. She followed them until they met the mass of water by her feet, swirling towards the drain. It struck her as being a little sad. Each drop was destined to end in the same place, carried by the rush of all the others. There was no choice, and no avoiding the final outcome. She pondered this for a moment, then brushed away such morose thoughts. She would think of sadness some other time, but not now for a simple reason: Today was going to be a wonderful day. Rei leaned her head back, letting the water hit her in the face, and smiled. Yes, it would be a wonderful day. She would get to see the Commander after school. During school, she would get to see Ikari-kun. Between would be an irritating visit with Dr. Akagi, but getting to be with the two most important people in the world to her more than made up for it. Rei picked up a wash-cloth and the soap, and began to clean herself. Ikari-kun. Just seeing his face would make her day. Rei hoped he would smile at her like he sometimes did. If he would smile at her, she would nearly cry with joy. Everything he said and did for her was precious. She would do anything to be near him, to see him smiling at her. She would do anything for him, because she loved him. The words struck her. Loved him. Of course she loved Shin-chan. She had loved him for a long time. Since the Fifth Angel she had loved him, and had loved him more every day since. Why then did it feel as though she had just realized it? No, it wasn't that she now knew that she loved him... It was that _he_ still didn't know! She didn't know why she hadn't already, but that wasn't important. The error would be corrected. She would declare her love, and she knew with absolute certainty that he would accept it, and love her back. Such a thing must be done correctly, though. She could send him a message, tell him to ask to go to the bathroom. Follow him, and then in the hallway... No, not enough privacy, and not enough time. But she knew how she could get both. Her smile became a grin. She would tell him to come over to her apartment sometime after she was done with the Commander. She would tell him she needed to talk to him about... his father? Yes, that would work. Behind closed doors, she would tell him she loved him. Then she'd put her arms around him, and their lips would meet. Her mouth would show him her love. Locked together in a passionate embrace, she would lead him to her bed and... Rei realized that she had dropped her wash-cloth, and her hands had found their way to her breasts. she chided herself. Reluctantly, she picked up the wash-cloth and resumed washing. To keep herself from becoming too distracted again, she thought about Asuka. The Second Child clearly was not a fan of the First. Rei wasn't sure why that was so, but she imagined it must be her own fault. She recalled being cold to Asuka on more than one occasion. Asuka wasn't that bad, really. From her friendship with Horaki it seemed like she could be pretty nice, if given a chance. She was just misunderstood. Rei decided that today she would make an effort to be nice to the red-head. Shinji would probably like that. Suddenly an alarming possibility occurred to Rei. What if Asuka too held unexpressed feelings for Shinji? That would be trouble. She had to beat Asuka to him. Once they were together, the Second would be too embarrassed to make a move. Even better, if she could make Asuka into a friend instead of a rival, then she could solve two problems at once. Yes, everything will be wonderful. Rei got out of the shower, and returned to her room. She laid out her clothes on her bed, then began to dress. She wiggled into her panties, mourning that she had nothing more interesting than plain white cotton. But perhaps it was better not to totally blow her Shin-chan's mind all at once. He probably still thought of her as a reserved, shy girl. She put on the rest of her clothes, finishing pulling the frock over her head and adjusting the shoulders. She grabbed her bag and headed for the door. She was almost to it when she saw the piece of paper taped to the door on which was written: Take your medication. --Ayanami Rei Rei sighed, and returned to her room. In her excitement, she had forgotten all about her medication. She had been very forgetful lately; she couldn't even remember writing the odd note. Rei shrugged, and used the beaker of water to swallow a pill from each of the child-proof bottles. Then she turned and rushed out the door. The bleak hallway did nothing to damper her spirits. She strode down the hallway toward the stairs, and hummed a happy tune to herself she couldn't remember having heard before. she promised herself, grinning, Several minutes later, the front door to the apartment building opened and Ayanami Rei staggered unwillingly into the sunlight. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the bright morning sun with her hand. She kept her hand up, and pressed it against her throbbing temple. Head down, she began to walk slowly toward school. As she walked, the pain began to recede. She was halfway to school when the headache finally vanished. Rei lowered her hand, and walked with her normal brisk pace. Her head was upright, her eyes straight ahead, and her face the expressionless mask that others identified as Ayanami Rei. -- Rei sat quietly on a folding chair beside a table inside one of the many laboratories deep within NERV. Standing at the table, Dr. Akagi Ritsuko watched the vial filled with blood she had just drawn from the First Child spin in the centrifuge. The silence had been unbroken for nearly an hour when Rei spoke. "She came again," Rei announced flatly. Ritsuko stopped the centrifuge and looked down at Rei. "What? When?" she asked with concern. "This morning, when I woke up." The Doctor grabbed a chair and sat down facing Rei. "Rei, tell me what happened." "She was... in control as soon as I awoke. I had prepared, though, and she took the pills. They worked quickly. By the time I left the building, I was myself." She delivered the synopsis in her usual monotone, but her hand clenching the hem of her dress betrayed her feelings. "Were there any side effects?" Ritsuko asked. "I experienced a headache immediately after. It was short-lived." "I'm glad it worked," Ritsuko said. "I wasn't sure if it would in that situation. The drug is a stabilizer, designed to be preventative." She rubbed her chin and thought. "Though clearly not doing its job well enough. We should consider increasing the dosage." "That would be acceptable," Rei said. "You might get more headaches though," Ritsuko warned, though she knew it would not dissuade the First Child at all. "How much do you remember this time?" Rei was silent for a moment. "Everything," she said softly. Ritsuko nodded a little sadly, and decided not to press Rei any further. She had only wanted to verify that the drug had not affected Rei's memory. "So you will increase the dosage." It was a statement. "Yes, I will, Rei," she said. "Though I'm not sure it will work. The last increase didn't help prevent this attack." "It must work," Rei said. "Rei, we must accept that the drug may not be the solution." The Doctor leaned forward. "You know I am not an expert in this area. I can only work from what I know about you and the project." There was always the chance, Ritsuko worried, that this had nothing to do with the dummy system. If that was true, this was outside of her realm of knowledge. "Perhaps a psychologist-" Rei cut her off. "We have already discussed that," she said, a touch of irritation in her voice. "I know, Rei, but I was thinking there must be some way to do it surreptitiously." "Dr. Akagi," Rei said, looking at her, "the Commander must not know." "Of course," Ritsuko said reassuringly. "I promised that I would not let him know, and I meant that. You know there are secrets I keep from him." Rei nodded, seeming satisfied. "But Rei, you have to acknowledge that he might suspect after..." "He does not," Rei said, turning away. It was clear what Dr. Akagi was speaking of, and Rei did not like being reminded of that night. The night when the person who was not her had taken control while she was eating dinner with the Commander. When that person had used her body to seduce the man she most respected. She had returned to herself during it. He had noticed her body become stiff and her eyes clinch shut in pain just as he finished. He had staggered back, looking at her in horror at what he had done. They had never spoken about that night, yet now all their meetings were marred by tension. No longer would he place his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. Whenever he smiled at her, Rei could see guilt carved deeply into his face. She could hear it when he said her name. For this, she would never forgive. "Rei," Ritsuko said and got off her chair to kneel in front of the girl. "I understand you don't want to involve a psychologist. But we already know that the drug isn't one hundred percent effective. At the higher dosage it still may not be. What happens if she comes when you are at school? Or in front of the Commander again?" "Dr. Akagi..." Rei's voice was barely audible. "Dr. Akagi, you must find another way. A way to get rid of her. She... she was going to... Ikari-kun..." "I will do my best." She stood up. "As you know, the project is my highest priority. I will make this second. Does that sound acceptable?" "Yes, sir," Rei said, recovering her composure. "You can go now; I'll finish the rest myself. You can double your dosage tomorrow, and next time you are here I will have a refill for you." "Yes, sir," Rei said as she stood up. She walked to the door of the lab. "Goodbye," she said, and left the lab in the direction of the Commander's office. Rei walked briskly down the hall. She wanted to see the Commander, but was nervous. She wished she knew how to make things right again, and how to do it without telling him about /her/. She wasn't sure why, but she felt it was important that he not know. Rei stopped in the middle of the hallway, with a puzzled look on her face. She had forgotten where she was going. She remembered being with Dr. Akagi... which meant that now she should be headed to dinner with the Commander. Even more important, she remembered, were her plans after dinner. She smiled as visions of the night's activities moved through her mind. Her excitement grew, and she had to suppress the urge to run down the hall to the cafeteria. she thought. She grinned as she walked. -- end part 1 first posted 3/25/2000 wyrm@engin.umich.edu http://www.umich.edu/~wyrm/abp From: wyrm@engin.umich.edu Subject: [Eva][FanFic] I am Myself, Part 2 -- SPOILER ALERT - The following fan-fiction contains spoilers. It is advised that you see the entire series before reading this fic. -- This fan fiction is adapted from Neon Genesis Evangelion, produced by Gainax. All characters thereof are the sole property of Gainax. They are used without permission and no claim on them is made by this author. -- Previous parts can be found at: http://www.umich.edu/~wyrm/abp/fanfic I am Myself, part 2 by Chris Burke -- The light of late afternoon shown through the window into the NERV cafeteria, casting long shadows across the floor. The kitchen staff had already left for the day. Leftovers from lunch were left in their trays over the warmer, to be thrown out by the janitor if not eaten. At a table by the window looking out over the lake, Ayanami sat across from Commander Ikari. Each had before them a plate of luke-warm stir-fried vegetables. The expansive cafeteria was otherwise unoccupied. Rei pushed the vegetables around her plate listlessly, and wondered why Gendo wasn't looking at her. The dark glasses he insisted on wearing kept her from knowing exactly where he was looking, but she knew he wasn't looking at her. If he was, he would have seen the way she tilted her head down and looked up at him through her long lashes as she deposited the baby corn sensuously on her poised tongue. He would have seen her eyes, felt the heat flashing from them like solar prominences. He would have grunted, or shifted, or done _something_ to let her know that the light of her corona was beginning to melt away the cold shielding to reveal his own core of fire. Instead, he just sat there eating as though there wasn't a nuclear furnace three feet from him. She tried again, this time sighing as she closed her mouth on the vegetable, speaking her heart's desire in wordless breath, but again got no reaction. It was as though he was deliberately ignoring her, though what she had done to warrant this she didn't know. Returning to her meal, she dropped her head, in case the hurt showed on her face. When her plate was empty, Rei stood to take her tray to the drop-off spot by the kitchen. "I will see you tomorrow after school, Rei," the Commander said in a strained voice when she was a table away. "Yes, sir," she responded coldly, turning her head to look at him out of the corner of her eye as she walked away. -- During the trip out of the Geofront, Rei tried to focus on what was coming rather than what had past. By the time she she reached her apartment, she was able to be excited again about seeing her Shin-chan. Moments after stepping into her room, Rei was dialing Shinji's cellular number. "Hello?" Shinji's confused voice said. "Hello, Ikari-kun," Rei said. Hearing his voice made her stomach clench. Instead of the cheerful greeting she had intended, her voice had come out wooden. "Ayanami? Is something wrong?" Rei cringed. He had detected the growing nervousness in her voice. She forced herself to speak calmly. "No. I need to talk with you about..." She remembered her plan just in time. "About your father." "About my father? What is it?" "I... I can't tell you until you get here. Will you come?" "Uh... Yeah... I'll be there soon." "Great!" she said, and hung up. Then froze. At that thought she turned and ran into the bathroom. Quickly she showered. While she toweled her hair dry, Rei considered herself in the mirror. A face like hers needed no makeup -- a good thing, since she had none. What did need some work, however, was her hair. She didn't have a comb either, but that wasn't a problem. She grabbed her hair in her fists, pushing it around, until it was a tangled, rumpled mess. she thought, practicing a coy smile into the mirror, then went to her room to dress. She looked through her rather limited wardrobe. She left the red ribbon hanging down in front untied and left the top button of her shirt undone. Then she thought better of it, and unbuttoned the second. Much too soon she heard her named called from the hall outside her door, causing Rei to jump. Squealing girlishly in excitement, she rushed to the door. Her stomach was twisting, and she felt blood rush to her head and throb in her temples as she ran. When she reached the door, she threw it open with such force that the small note that had been taped to the inside came loose and drifted to the floor. Shinji jumped back from the door in surprise. In the doorway Rei stood, holding the door open, her feet apart, breathing heavily. Her head was down, and she had her free hand held against the side of it. She looked as though she had just showered, and hadn't finished dressing. He stared in shock at her. Rei slowly looked up. Her eyes were wide. Moments passed, and neither moved. When the sum of moments had totaled nearly a minute, Shinji finally ventured to speak. "Um..." he began with his usual confidence. "Hi, Ayanami." Rei stood up straight. Her hand dropped from the door to her side, and her face changed from an expression of shock to no expression at all. "Hello, Ikari-kun." "Is... Is something wrong?" Concern and his not completely diminished surprise made his voice slightly shaky. "No." "Really?" Shinji said, puzzled. "It's just that on the phone you sounded... strange... and just now..." "There is nothing wrong," Rei maintained. "Th... That's good, I guess." He fidgeted nervously -- partially because this encounter was starting off strange, even for one with Ayanami; partially because his eyes, despite his efforts to focus on safe things like the floor, kept getting drawn to the spot between the second and third buttons on Ayanami's shirt. "You said... on the phone... that you wanted to talk about... my father?" "Your father?" "Yeah," Shinji said slowly. Keeping with the typical patterns of his life, surprise had been followed closely by confusion. "You said I had to come here before you would tell me." Rei was silent. Her eyes searched the ceiling above Shinji's head. At length she said "You should trust the Commander more." Shinji frowned. She had said as much before. Had she asked him out here just to repeat herself? "You make it sound too easy... How can I trust a man I barely know?" "He can be trusted," Rei asserted. "I believe that." The frown on Shinji's face deepened. "But..." He trailed off as he lost focus. "How can you do that?" Rei didn't answer immediately, and when she did she ignored his question. "He does not intend to hurt you." Shinji looked at her, now able to focus entirely on her face. "He must do what he does, even if it hurts." She spoke quietly. She wasn't looking at him. "Sometimes he does not know, until later. He does not intend to." "Ayanami..." Shinji had no other answer. "It is late," Rei said. "I must go to sleep." "Yeah..." Shinji scratched his head. "It was good to talk to you, Ayanami." "Goodbye," she said simply, and retreated back into the apartment. Shinji smiled weakly, and walked away. Once the door was shut, Rei leaned against it for the briefest of moments. Then she was upright and moving into her bedroom. With hands which unaccountably began to shake she opened the bottle of pills. She shook a number pills out into her cupped hand. A pair dropped from her unsteady grasp, one skittering across the floor to the center of the room and the other vanishing under the refrigerator. Those that remained she tossed into her mouth, swallowing them with a single gulp of water. Her whole body seemed to be shaking now. It was all she could do to strip and get into bed after turning the lights off. The shivers continued, but under the blanket of soothing darkness she eventually found sleep. -- Rei awoke to pain. A white hot spike of metal had been driven through her forehead and out the back of her skull. Her hands moved feebly to grab at the implement that tortured her, but could not find it. She could feel it piercing her, its heat burning her skin, burning her eyes through her eyelids. painfully she opened her eyes to look at it. She saw nothing but her ceiling, and that she could only see a tiny circle of in the middle of blackness. Yet that one circle seemed brighter than the sun itself. With a whimper she closed her eyes, and pulled the blanket over her face. She was not aware of the passage of time She didn't know how many hours she lay on the bed, trying to remain motionless and silent as her only methods to cope. The timeless noise of the construction pounded relentlessly on the spike. The pain reached down into her stomach, making her nauseous. Time did pass, and the coming of night and darkness to the room brought some respite. Eventually she felt as though she might be able to move. With supreme effort she dragged herself out of bed. She trudged slowly across the floor, her body feeling as though it had spent the day battling Angel after Angel instead of laying in bed. She went into the bathroom, carefully, not daring to turn on the light, and vomited. Then she trudged back to the refrigerator, mustered enough strength to open a child-proof cap, and took two pills. Halfway to the bed her strength gave out and she fell to her knees. She crawled the last few feet into bed, whereupon she fell immediately asleep. Much to her dismay, Ayanami woke the next morning. The spike through her skull was still there, but had cooled to only be scalding. With time it would vanish completely, she hoped. Rolling over painfully, she put her face in the pillow to block out the already tortuous light of the early morning sun. Before the sun had risen much beyond the tops of the hills, Ayanami's cell phone rang. The metallic shriek hammered into her skull. With a moan, she slid out of bed and made her way to her dresser. She opened the phone, motivated mostly by a desire to end the awful noise, and held it to her ear. The person on the other line didn't wait for a greeting. "Rei? Where the hell have you been?" Doctor Akagi's angry voice rose from the receiver to strike at Rei's tender hearing. "I am in my apartment. I... have a headache," Rei said softly. Such was her state that she could felt only minor distress at realizing she had missed her appointment. "A headache? You're an hour late because of a headache?" The doctor asked incredulously. Then her tone changed to one of concern. "From the drug?" "Yes," she said, though she wasn't certain. "It is worse than last time." "Doubling the dosage was a bad idea. You'll have to cut back until I figure out something." "I did not take two pills." There was silence on the phone for a moment. "How many did you take, Rei?" "I am not certain." She tried to remember how many were in her hand two nights prior, though it seemed to have been long ago. "I believe I took... six." "Six?!" Ritsuko shouted, making Rei wince. "That is insane, Rei! I'm going to send someone to pick you up." "No," she said. "I do not need help. It is receding." "Well... fine. Just come in as soon as you can. And don't take any more until you see me. Understood?" "Yes, sir." When Dr. Akagi hung up, Rei set down her phone and collapsed onto her bed in relief. Over the next couple hours, the headache did in fact begin to recede. Once it was to the point of being merely painful, Rei dressed and headed with speed to the Geofront. -- Rei sat stoically in her chair beside the table in the lab of Dr. Akagi Ritsuko. Her head had cleared up considerably, and now she felt only an uncomfortable pressure around her temples. She resisted the urge to rub them as she did her best to describe everything that had transpired since the last time she had sat in the same chair. Ritsuko listened dispassionately to Rei's broken account of what happened when she lost control of herself. More important to the doctor were the consequences of Rei's overdose. Getting the albino to accurately describe levels of pain was like violating the accepted laws of physics. While the latter was all in a day's work for the scientist, the former was beyond her. Yet just the fact that Rei had neglected her duties for a day and a half told Ritsuko what she needed to know. "Ayanami Rei, I'm disappointed in you," she said angrily. "That was a very foolish thing you did. You know better than to alter your dosage without my permission." Rei did not react externally as Ritsuko reprimanded her, but the words impacted her. For Rei, disappointing someone held in such high regard by the Commander was the same as disappointing the Commander himself. "It doesn't matter what happened that night. That is less important. Just as my first priority is the project, yours is to your duties as a pilot." She turned to face Rei directly. "What if an Angel had attacked yesterday?" "I would have piloted," Rei said quietly, but confidently. Ritsuko scoffed. "I'm sure you would have, Rei. But we need you to pilot _effectively_." "Yes, sir." The monitor in front of Ritsuko flashed, indicating that the blood and MRI analysis was complete. Trained eyes scanned the results, and she glowered. Signs of a fading migraine were ignored when Ritsuko saw the dangerously high amount of platelets in the cerebral capillaries. Based on that and the level of drugs still in Rei's system, she guessed that if Rei had taken just two more pills, she would have certainly had a stroke. She didn't share this information with the pilot, but her voice was hard when she said: "I have a new batch made. It is modified slightly. Hopefully there will be fewer headaches than with the old. The pills are double dosed, so only take _one_, and I am serious." "Yes, sir," Rei said, taking the bottle Ritsuko handed her. "You can leave now," she said, sighing. "And don't worry -- I won't tell Gendo." Without another word, Rei left the lab. She moved through the familiar halls of NERV automatically, her mind being busy with thoughts of anger. Anger at /her/ for nearly doing to Shinji what /she/ had done to the Commander. More than that, though, she was angry at herself for so carelessly and stupidly jeopardizing her work. She had done it out of fear of /her/, but that was no excuse. Dr. Akagi was correct: she knew better, and could not be forgiven. While considering her failings, she remembered that in addition to missing her appointment with the doctor today, she had missed meeting with the Commander last night, and was currently late for dinner. Also, he must have noticed that she had not arrived for the morning tests, though he wouldn't know the cause. she thought. Strangely, she felt no distress at the idea of facing his displeasure, or even his disgust. It was not long after Ikari Gendo greeted her in the cafeteria that her distress began. She expected a stern reprimand, but all she received were the usual questions about her performance in school and work. She heard no harshness in his voice, no unspoken undercurrent of reproach. It was as though she had done nothing wrong. Rei was confused for a moment, but then she understood. If she could not do what was expected of her, then she was worthless. He would not even bother to correct her. When she left the table, it seemed to take all of her strength just to keep her head up. She was not sure, though, that she should. -- It should have been a normal day for Ayanami Rei. It had started out that way. She had woken, showered, dressed, and left for school as on any other such day. Now Rei sat at her desk at school and stared out the window, as was normal. The silent hills and the drifting clouds held her attention better than the class or her classmates could. Her thoughts, however, were unusual. As she looked at the blue sky, she thought of regret. She heard the tumult that always accompanied the entrance of Ikari-kun and Soryuu. Shinji caught her eye when she turned to look at him, and she quickly turned back to the window. If someone would have been in position to, they would have seen her face flushed with embarrassment. she thought. She had been so excited to hear Ikari-kun at her door. She had been so ready to tell her Shin-chan everything, and to give him everything. Yet when she had seen his face at the door... She couldn't remember what she said, but she knew it had just been some nonsense to get him to leave. Naturally, she worried that Shinji would reject her love. She had been sure -- was sure -- that he would not. Shinji had to love her back. Yet, she had been sure that Gen-chan would never deny her either, but he had. Clearly, that had been what ruined her confidence. Class had started. Rei sneaked a look back at him, saw him lounging in his seat trying to stay awake. She looked down at her desk and grinned surreptitiously. Now that she knew, she could overcome. It had been a foolish mistake to send him away, and the only way to correct the mistake was with action. A plan formed quickly in her mind. The quiet beep of his computer roused Shinji. He looked down at the screen, and saw a message. It read: /I am sorry about last night./ It was from Ayanami. Shinji glanced at the girl, but her head was down. Her fingers were poised over the keyboard. He mulled over what his response should be for a moment, and decided on the most natural. /What?/ appeared on Ayanami's screen. Shinji's confusion was endearing even when typed, and brought a smile to her face. /I'm sorry for making you come all the way out to my apartment like that for nothing./ Shinji saw the words, but it took him a moment to put them together. /You mean last Thursday, right?/ The smile vanished from Rei's face, replaced by a frown. She typed /What do you mean?/ /That was last Thursday. You said last night./ Then he smiled faintly and typed: /You don't need to apologize. I enjoyed talking to you./ Ayanami looked at her screen in shock. Her plan fled her mind. She didn't even notice Shinji's positive response. she yelled mentally. Rei granted that she had been forgetful lately; just that morning she had forgotten her medication. But to think that a whole week had slipped by and she couldn't remember... Shinji watched the blue-haired girl hang her head and cover her face. He was confused. She seemed bothered by his answer, and he didn't know why. The whole electronic conversation hadn't made much sense to him. He had noticed that Ayanami had seemed more withdrawn recently, and he wondered if this was why. The morning passed otherwise without event. Rei could not account for the missing week, and this deeply troubled her. She didn't think she could approach Shinji again until she understood. Confusion and doubt threatened to paralyze her. Recognizing this, she decided she needed to take some positive action. If the Third was too difficult, then perhaps she could go after the Second. When the class was dismissed for lunch, Rei stood and walked out, shortly behind Asuka and Hikari. She followed them at an inconspicuous distance, but within hearing range. Before they left the building to eat outside, Hikari broke off, saying she had to bring a lunch to her younger sister who had left hers behind. Asuka went outside alone, and sat at a table with her lunch. Seeing a perfect opportunity, Rei made her way deliberately to the same table. "Hello, Asuka," she said cheerfully, as though they were already best friends. Asuka looked up from her lunch in surprise. Then she narrowed her eyes. "What do you want, Wonder Girl?" Rei ignored the moniker. "Oh, I just wanted to talk." She sat down across from Asuka on the bench. "You, talk to me? The world must be ending," Asuka said sarcastically, but Rei had her complete attention now. "I can see why you'd say that," she said. She brushed her bangs from her eyes, and looked at the table. "I know I haven't been very nice to you, Asuka. I guess I just didn't really know you, and you're kind of intimidating... That's no excuse, of course. I'm really sorry, and I want to start over. I think I can do better this time. So please, Asuka, can we be friends?" she finished hopefully, and smiled at Asuka. Asuka stared at the first child, her eyes wide and mouth open. Her face was pale. If Rei had spontaneously combusted in a shower of fiery albino-bits, Asuka would not have been more shocked. Slowly, though, her expression changed to one of suspicion. Her hard eyes studied Rei's smiling face. Her mouth twisted, and began to twitch between a smirk and a snarl. "Well, First Child, I'm impressed with your acting skills. For a moment there I thought you might have become a real human being." "Asuka?" Rei queried, frightened by this unexpected reaction. "So, someone finally ordered you to be my friend." Asuka's contemptuous voice slithered around Rei's hope and crushed it. "What are you talking about?" Rei choked. "Who was it? The Commander?" Asuka leaned over the bench, her face close to Rei's. Her voice was low and menacing. "No, not him. It must have been Misato. This sounds like one of her stupid ideas." "But... Asuka... really..." Rei tried, but Asuka wasn't listening. "Well, I see right through you." She stood and pointed at the terrified pilot. "Whatever makes Misato think I'd be friends with someone who was _ordered_ to pretend to like me, she's dead wrong. Maybe you'll go along with it, but I won't! I'm not a fucking doll like you. I'm my own person, and I choose my own friends. So fuck Misato, and FUCK YOU!" she screamed, then turned and ran into the school. Silence reigned as the other students stopped their conversations to watch. Asuka pushed past Hikari, who had just come out the door. The Class Rep looked back at her friend, then flashed a dirty look at Rei. Rei just stared at where the red-head had ran. She couldn't get a grip on what had just happened. She couldn't get a grip on anything, as nothing made any sense. When she added up all recent events she got the square root of negative one. Which made one thing clear: Something was very wrong. -- end part 2 first posted 6/8/2000 wyrm@engin.umich.edu http://www.umich.edu/~wyrm/abp -- This part is dedicated to all the people who read part 1 and asked, suggested, or demanded that I write more.