All characters copyrighted by Gainax, not me.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

In this fic, Yui Ikari is NOT part of Unit 1. If you have a problem

with this, don't read.

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Hikari walked into the classroom, still unhappy that Toji would't

tell her anything about what happened the previous day. He, Rei, and

Asuka had to report to the NERV base early in the morning, and when 

they came to school that morning, the two 'normal' pilots were looking

happy. Rei, however, wasn't at all like she usually was. She had a 

gleam in her eye that no-one understood. When asked about it, she 

would give her standard answer of silence. When Toji or Asuka were 

asked about it, they just said "You'll find out, soon enough." It 

seemed that whatever happened yesterday morning was very interesting. 

It got to the point where Hikari couldn't take it anymore.

"Dammit, Toji! We've been going out for a year now! Tell me

something!"

"Alright... something." Toji was simply too happy to tell the

other students. Hikari took it like Asuka would. She spun on her heel

and stormed into the class. She was usually the first in the room, 

but there was someone there before her. He was sitting in _Shinji's_ 

desk. All the students knew that Shinji was in pain. Lot's of it, 

when he ran away.  And there was an unwritten rule that no-one was to

sit in that desk, it always was and always will be, Shinji's Desk.

But when Hikari saw this...this... _idiot_ in that desk, she got so

angry, she forgot about Toji not telling her anything.

"What do you think you're doing? Get out of that desk!" A few

other students had gathered around the door to see what was going on,

now revised their opinions and started to feel sorry for that boy. He 

was going to get an earfull and then some. The idiot didn't answer 

Hikari, which only made her more mad. She stormed up, right behind 

him, and yelled, "Hey, are you listning to me? That desk belongs to

Shinji Ikari!"

By this time, Toji, Asuka, and Rei had appeared in the doorway. Hikari

was opening her mouth for another verbal assault when the idiot spoke

for the first time.

"And, just _who_ do you suppose I am?" he said, slowly turning

around to face her. Hikari's jaw dropped. There was dead silence.

No-one talked or moved a muscle. Shinji smiled at her. "It's been a

while," he said, unconsiously using his father's line. When he 

realized what he'd done, he winced inwardly, but showed nothing. 

Hikari's jaw worked wordlessly as she tried to say something. Shinji 

attributed it to shock, but Hikari just couldn't get over how 

beautiful he was! Like Asuka before her, her eyes roamed all over. 

Rei, in a change of character walked over to Hikari, and said: "You 

can pick up your jaw, now." Monotone, as usual, but that couldn't have 

come from Rei. She just didn't say those things! Rei also couldn't 

understand why she said it, but it had felt...interesting. Toji 

stepped up, into her field of view.  

"You wanted to know what happened yesterday? Well, he's what 

happened," he said, taking her hand, which startled Shinji 

considerably.

"How long has this been going on?" he asked, indicating the two

hands. Before he could get an answer, however, he was surrounded by a

dozen or more people all asking different questions. At once. He

looked helplessly over to Asuka; no help there. Rei; Rei was watching,

expressionless. Toji and Hikari smiled at him. It seemed that the old

Shinji, no spine, always stumbling over what he said, was coming back.

"C-could you-u all stop, p-p-please?" Hikari started to open her mouth

to yell at them, when the Teacher came to Shinji's rescue.

"I see that trying to get some decent school work drilled into your

skulls today will be useless, so take the day off. Just, try to be

considerate of the boy," he added with a smile. He himself had

questions for him. Just now, right before class, he'd recieved 

transfer papers for one Shinji Ikari. Nobody moved, in fact, everyone

sat down around Shinji, and all asked him questions. He took a look 

around, and realized that there were more people there than when he 

left. The questions just kept coming, with no end in sight.

"One at a time! One at a time, please?" Somebody from the back

shouted out the first question.

"Where ya been?"

"I went to Hiroshima."

"Why?"

"Nobody I knew lived there," he said, without any remorse.

"What did you do?" another voice called from the back.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? You must've done something, like get a girlfriend!" the

voice added with a chuckle.

"Nope. I just survived."

"How was your life, away from all this?" Hikari asked, concerned

for her friend's roommate. She hadn't yet admitted to herself that she

liked Shinji.

"I wouldn't call what I did 'living'."

"Huh?"

"I went through the motions of living, but I wasn't alive. I was a

walking dead person."

"Why?" Asuka asked, out-of-character for her to show concern or

even interest in Shinji. He smiled and gazed around the room before he

answered.

"All my friends and family were here, not in Hiroshima."

"Why'd you leave?" another back voice called, and all were amazed

as to how quickly the smile faded. That was another question he

couldn't, or wouldn't, answer. Why? Was it only because of his father?

Was it because he had hurt his friend? Or was it because he enjoyed 

it? The last possibility scared him the most. He couldn't answer it, 

so Asuka did for him.

"Personal reasons," and the tone suggested pain on the part of

anyone who pushed the issue. The crowd, having a new target for their

questions, started the interrogation all over again.

"Hey! Look! Asuka is standing up for her 'Idiot Boy'! My, oh my,

how have the times changed!" Now it was Asuka on the defensive.

"Hey, that's not what I meant!"

"Oh, really?!" There was too much yelling going on, and Shinji's

head started to pound. Slowly at first, but faster and faster; harder

and harder his head was assaulted. But then someone cut through the 

pain with one simple question.

"Are you living with your father? I'll bet you were happy to see

him!" Asuka, Toji, and even Rei to an extent, sucked in a breath. They

knew how sensitive a subject this was to him. Shinji's head slowly

swiveled around to face the person. When people were asked later, they

reported that they couldn't see him move. In a flash he'd run forward

and slammed into the person, full-force. The boy layed on the floor 

for a short while, the wind knocked out of him, when Shinji grabbed 

onto to lapels of the boy's shirt and hauled him up, and slammed him

onto the wall.

"Let's get one thing straight, right now," he said, his voice low

and dangerous; slowly biting off each word. "I HATE HIM!" he yelled,

his skull pounding. He pulled the boy away from the wall a little, 

and pushed him back onto it; hard. "UNDERSTAND!?" he said, repeating 

the procedure.

"DO YOU GET IT?!" he said, again bouncing the boy off the wall. The

boy's knees buckled and he sagged to the ground.

"Got it," was the wheezed reply, barly audible.

"Good," Shinji replied, voice still low. He stalked out of the

room, the students parting like a flock of sheep parts for a wolf.

Shinji didn't even see them. The next thing he noticed was the door to 

his new apartment. He unlocked it and walked in. It was completely 

furnished, with appliances right off the lines. Furniture was in the 

newest styles.

He sat down on the couch, and locked his gaze on the ceiling.

It was few hours later that Asuka, Rei, and Hikari walked in. He

hadn't changed position; he was still on the couch, staring at the

ceiling.

Asuka looked at him, then at the ceiling, trying to see what he saw.

Then at him. The ceiling again. She walked up to him, and waved a hand 

over his eyes. "What are you doing?" She got no response, so she left 

him alone, muttering "What an idiot, what a complete and total idiot". 

Her hand was on the knob to her new room, thankfully larger than her 

old one, when he called out to her.

"Making the ceiling familiar." Suddenly overcome with pity for

him, she walked into her room, told Hikari to get ready to have some

fun.

She told Rei the same thing. When the three of them were all ready to

go, she walked up to Shinji, still on the couch.

"We're leaving."

"Enjoy."

"No, you don't understand. You're coming, too."

"No, I'm not."

"Again, you don't understand. This is non-negotiable," she said,

seizing his hand, and pulling. "Hikari, help me here," and her friend

gleefully joined in. Rei was watching with interest. Most people were

flat, monochromatic. And then you get Asuka and Hikari. Apart, they're

formitable. Together, they're much worse. The two of them managed to

haul him to the door before he asked a question.

"What will we be doing?"

"Shopping, silly. Shopping!" with a wicked grin on her face; ear

to ear.

"Shopping?" he repeated, horrified. "You know I hate shopping, Asuka!"

"Yup, that's why we're going! Now, come on!" Hikari and Asuka

muscled him out of the door, and Rei locked it. Shinji's pleas to be

let go fell on deaf ears. Any of the bystanders that they passed in 

town looked on as the two girls, one pretty and the other gorgeous, 

pulled an exquisit boy their age from store to store, even making him 

carry the stuff they bought. There was so much that Shinji couldn't 

see where he was headed. Rei followed, not saying anything. To Shinji,

it was pure hell...but somehow, entertaining. The most interesting 

time was in the clothing stores. After much discussion, they got Rei 

to try on some clothes, with Asuka and Hikari. Then they started to 

get Shinji to choose what outfits to put on, and hell deepened. It 

hit an all-time-low when the girls started to pick things for _him_ 

to wear. Some of the outfits Rei chose were...of questionable 

motivations. It was hours before they got back to the apartment, and 

Shinji was happy again. Twice in as many days!

He couldn't believe it. Three years without being happy, and then

twice in two days! He would have to find a way to thank Asuka, without 

her knowing that he was thanking her. There would be no fun if she 

knew. 'Ouch! I think part of her personality is rubbing off on me,' 

he thought.

Meanwhile, far away, the five members of Seele, without Commander

Ikari present, were having a heated discussion.

"Ikari is flexing his muscles. His son is back, and Unit 3 is

completed. He must be warned," the small man with glasses, in yellow,

warned.

"Our last warning had no effect," the large man in green rebutted.

"So, our course of action should be to remove him as

Commander-In-Chief of NERV?" Yello asked.

"No, we need him to finish the program," the man in blue spoke.

The other two looked at each other and nodded.

"Agreed. But he must be punished."

"So, we'll send in the completed Eva's 5-13 to the Geofront, while

simultaniously having the U.N forces strike. That should have the

desired effect," Keel Lorenz, the leader of the Committee, said. "The

objective will be to kill everyone there except the Commander, 

Dr. Ikagi, and Kaji."

"What about the pilots?" the man in green asked.

"Hmm. Rei is expendable. As is Toji. The only ones to keep will

be Shinji and Asuka," Keel said.

"Speaking of Shinji, what do you think of him now? the man in

yellow asked. "Quite a change, don't you think?"

"Yes. Very interesting, but that is not the subject of

discussion," Keel reminded the group.

"Yes, the subject was how to put Ikari in his place. So, we're

agreed about sending Unit's 5-13 in?" Nobody objected. "The U.N

forces?"

Again, nobody objected. "Then let us make the preparations," Keel

said, ending the meeting.

End part 5

Thanks to Mister Panda.

Cory Holmes

gholmes@rodeo.sd27.bc.ca