Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ So Happy Together ❯ chapter 11 ( Chapter 10 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

So Happy Together

Three weeks later.

Since the day Shinji and Rei announced their relationship, they had more time to share with each other. Rei was finished with the first phase of the commander's Tojiru Project, so she didn't have to work as much. It was mere coincidence though, but neither looked a gift horse in the mouth. (whatever that means) However, they moved slow in their relationship despite the way it started ^.^ and the fact that they lived together.

Rei seemed afraid to get too physically involved. What Shinji didn't know was that Rei was afraid to become a nasty woman. The commander's *talk* put the fear of gawd in her, and she desperately did not want to become a nasty woman. Also, she wasn't sure that Shinji truly loved her. She didn't think he knew what he was talking about when he said it to her. And because of her doubt, she couldn't find it in herself to say the words back to him.

Hand in hand, Shinji and Rei walked in the park. This was something they did every day. It was their favorite place to go. It was their special place. The third child looked at his beloved. She looked stressed, though no one else would be able to tell.

"Rei-chan."

She didn't respond.

But Shinji knew he had her undivided attention. "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

She gave him a surprised look. <how do you do that?>

He smiled. "What? You didn't think I would be able to tell?"

<yes!! I've practiced my whole life to mask my emotions, so how do you keep reading me like an open book?!> She just looked at him, but did not outwardly respond.

Shinji laughed, he knew what she was thinking. "Yes my love, I know you well enough to know when you are stressed." By the hand, he led her to the swings. "And I'm not telling you how I know either!"

Still laughing and holding her hand, he sat down in one of the swings as she stood in between his legs and looked down at him.

"Do you want to swing, Rei-chan?"

She looked at the swing beside him, then started to walk toward it. However she didn't go far because, he didn't let go of her hand and stopped her movement from him.

"No.. I mean do you want to swing with me?"

She quirked an eyebrow and a blush appeared on her face.

Shinji blushed too. He was about to lose his nerve in going through with his suggestion. He took a deep breath and with his one free hand, he patted his legs.

She sheepishly pointed at his lap. "You... want me to sit....."

He interrupted her words with a guilty nod.

She blushed heavily. "Why?... There is a perfectly good swing right there..." She pointed at the swing to the left of him.

Shinji pressed his eyes shut and admitted. "I... because I want to be close to you." He was totally embarrassed. And if she didn't comply this time, he wasn't going to press the issue any further. He had now lost all his nerve.

Rei looked at her boyfriend. She knew that it was hard for him to ask her to do that. He was so afraid of asking for the things he wanted because he was so used to having his ideas shot down. Rei turned around and plopped in his lap.

Shinji opened his eyes and smiled then sheepishly said "Rei-chan."

"Hmm" she answered.

He took a deep breath then continued. "I need you to turn around."

She gave him a side profile of her beautiful face. "What?"

He rested his forehead on her back and mumbled "I.. want you to turn around... so we can swing like a .... spider...." <oh gawd>

She sat there for a couple seconds and debated on doing what he asked. She looked around to see if anyone was around. There wasn't. She slowly got up, turned around, grabbed the chains of the swing and brought her legs to straddle his waist as she lowered herself on his lap.

Shinji gave her a very happy smile. He honestly thought she was going to say no.

As she sat on his lap, the first child looked down into her boyfriends dark blue eyes. "If you get turned on... it's your sin, not mine."

He blushed heavily and nodded.

(That's what she told him about her nudity. A few months back he asked her why she didn't get all upset when he saw her naked. She told him that god created man without clothes. That the first man and woman walked around for eons before they believed that nudity was something to be ashamed of. And it wasn't until they gained the forbidden knowledge did they view nudity as wrong. However the state of being nude was still not a sin. Being naked was to be in one's natural state, it was how they now viewed nakedness. So if one felt ashamed or lustful because they see someone else's flesh, then the sin is theirs, not the person who was naked.)

He pushed his feet against the ground and started swinging, as he looked lovingly into her crimson eyes.

"So do you want to talk about what is bothering you?"

She shook her had no.

With an empathetic gaze, he pressed his lips together and pumped his legs so they could swing higher.

Rei did not assist in his efforts. She was just holding onto the chains, so she wouldn't fall off.

After about a 3 minutes Rei spoke. "When did you know you loved me?"

Shinji smiled. He knew not to try to force her into talking. She answered questions when she was ready and not a moment before. "Hmmm let me see..." He playfully looked in the air as if to think about it. He knew exactly when he feel in love with her, but he decided to tease her with a lie first. "Umm, I think it was when I went to your apartment for the first time and I fell on top of you."

<so it is only lust you feel for me!!> She narrowed her eyes angrily at him.

<ok maybe I shouldn't have teased her> Shinji winced. "I'm just kidding Rei-chan..."

She didn't believe him.

"I realized I loved you after we had our first real conversation... you know, before we fought the fifth angel..."

Her face relaxed into her normal look of indifference Although, she still didn't believe him.

Shinji could tell that she still doubted him so he continued. "I knew right after you told me good-bye." He dragged his feet on the ground and stopped their swinging. "I'll never forget that day as long as I live. You stood there in front of the full moon and told me that you would protect me and then you said good-bye as if you expected to die fulfilling that task..... I felt sick with fear that you would not survive our battle.... I didn't even want to fight that angel! But you said you would do it alone, if I decided not to fight.... That was the second time I fought so you would not. Then Misato-san made you shield me.... I wanted to scream at her and tell her no! I wanted her to leave you out of it. I wanted to tell her I could handle it myself..... But I was too afraid to speak up...." Tears swelled up in his eyes as he remember the past events. "I was a coward, Rei-chan.... *sniff*... then when I shot that blast at the angel and it had no effect and you jumped in front of me and took the brunt of that Angels attack... *sniff sniff*.. It thought you were going to die... *sniff*... Then we had to wait for the gun to charge again..." His tears fell freely.

She gingerly wiped his tears away. She had vague memories of this battle but as he spoke the memories came to her.

"Rei-chan... all I could do was hope and pray that you were ok when you were ejected out of your Eva. I can't even remember getting out of my Eva and opening the hatch to your capsule.... All I can remember is hoping that you were ok. I... prayed that you were alright and that I would be able to see you smile again.. and maybe... smile at me one day.." He wrapped his arms around her slender waist and buried his face against her shoulder and cried. He felt like he wasn't just remembering these memories, but reliving them as well.

"Is that why you asked me to smile at you?" She slowly embraced him with one arm, as she kept both of their balance by holding on to the swing's chain with her other hand.

Not moving his head from her shoulder, he nodded.

"So it isn't lust?"

Teary eyed, he looked up at her in a confused manner.

So she clarified her meaning. "You have not confused love with lust. You truly do love me?"

Shinji wiped away his tears with the back of his hand and said in a melancholy whisper "Is that what was bothering you?... You thought I only lusted for you?"

She nodded.

"I'm sorry, Rei-chan..." He sniffed. "I didn't mean to give you that impression of my feelings for you."

"You didn't" she admitted.

"Then were did you get that idea?"

She was about to say from where, but then decided not to. She knew that Shinji would take the commander's advice for her, the wrong way. His father was telling her to take her time to make sure that the feelings are true so she wouldn't get hurt. Not that Shinji's feeling were merely lust. If that were the case, she doubted that the commander would allow her to date him. So instead of answering his question she did something she's been dying to do for the longest time.

She leaned forward and lightly brushed her lips against his.

He smiled and turned beet red. That was their first kiss.

She pulled back and gave him a warm smile. She was blushing too. Her fears were now gone. And for the first time she felt secure enough in their relationship to say

"Ai shiteru, Shinji."

Tears began to swell in his eyes again. Happy tears. He had been waiting so long to hear her say those words. Years. But these past three weeks were the hardest. During that time, he must have said it to her a hundred times and she always responded with a smile and a nod. As his joy overwhelmed him, he embraced her tighter.

"I love you too, Rei-chan!" He brought his hand up and caressed her cheek. He then leaned his face closer to hers and gently brought her face closer to his for a more intimate kiss.

She was lost in the glorious feeling of his lips against hers. His kiss was just a sweet as the one that she gave him. Just this one lasted longer and was done with a little more force than the butterfly kiss she gave him.

It was perfect.

When she pulled back. She gave him a cheesy smile. She even showed her teeth, all of them, even her back once. He did the same.

It was perfect.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That was a week ago.

Now within a period of one week Things went from perfect to gawd awful....... It all started when he walked Rei to work. She didn't work as much, but she did still work a lot and everyday.

"So I'll see you tonight?" Shinji asked hopefully.

Rei thought about it for a second then shook her head no. "No, I have a lot to do. I will not be home tonight."

Shinji poked out his bottom lip and gave her a puppy dog face.

She tilted her head back and sighed. "I'll see what I can do."

He gave her a happy victorious smirk. He found that he could always make her relent with that face.

She swiped her card and went into a restricted part of NERV, leaving her beloved behind.

Shinji sighed dejectedly after the door closed, then turned around and started to leave the headquarters. As he reached the exist he ran into Asuka <crap!!>.

"What are you doing here, Baka?" She asked angrily. She was still pissed about what happened 4 weeks ago. And even more pissed that Touji ruined her plans to destroy the first and third child's relationship.

The pilot of unit 01 knew that he was not allowed to let Asuka know about Rei's project. It was totally secret and completely classified. The only reason he even knew she worked on it was because he lived with her. However, he had no idea what she was actually working on. She didn't talk about it nor did she ever bring her work home. So to answer her question he lied.

"I just came to see if I left my trig book in my locker." He scratched the back on his head nervously. He was such a bad liar.

"Well, did you?" she asked only half curiously.

"Ummm." <I need to get away from her> "I haven't checked yet." He turned toward the direction of the boys lockers. "Well... I'll see you in school tomorrow."

She narrowed her eyes. She knew him well enough to know he was lying. She wanted to find out why he was really here. He hated coming here. Then she noticed something else, Wonder girl wasn't with him! Lately she was always with him. It was as if they were joined at the hip. <some things up> "Hey Shinji," she called out with false sweetness, "why don't I join you!" She ran to catch up with him.

<Nooooooo!> Shinji slumped his shoulders and continued his pace toward the locker room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rei was in her office when she got a call from Maya Ibuki, informing her of the breach in the security of her project. It would be about a minute before the woman arrived with her findings. Rei left her desk and walked out of her *real* office (the one she actually did all of her work in), swiped her card on the hidden wall door, and walked into her pseudo office. This office was an almost exact replica of the commander's pseudo office. But hers didn't have the tree of knowledge on the ceiling.

Rei sat behind the large desk and waited for the NERV personnel to arrive.

Maya Ibuki, Shigeru Aoba and Makoto Hyuga walked into her office. They looked very stressed and uncomfortable.

"Did you trace the hacker?" Rei asked in her usual calm tone.

"Yes sir." Maya answered. It felt weird for her to regard the first child as her commanding officer. But over the past five months, she understood why the commander gave Rei the position. It was like she was born to be the next commander of NERV. And for that reason she couldn't help but respect the young, teenaged, unofficial third commander of NERV.

"Then what is the problem?" Rei asked calmly as he leaned forward in her seat and clasped her hands together. She did that more out of habit, than to intimidate.

But the three in front of her were intimidated anyway.

Shigeru was the first to collect his nerves and spoke. "The problem is not *what*.. it's *who.*"

Rei raised her left brow to tell him to proceed his explanation.

Makoto took a deep breath then walked forward and put a manila envelope on her desk.

Rei understood that they didn't want to say the name for safety reasons. But safety for who? She opened the envelope, looked at the information given to her, and inwardly groaned. <idiot!> She returned her gaze to the three in front of her.

"That will be all. I will handle this situation myself."

With a quick respectful nod the three left. As the door closed behind them Hyuga asked "How do you think she's going to handle the situation?"

Aoba looked at his friend and said "She's practically the daughter of Gendo Ikari, how do you think she's going to handle it?"

They all shook their head dejectedly. Then Maya said "Shinji's going to be so sad....."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh well, I guess it's not here." Shinji said with false disappointment, and closed his locker.

"So you lost your book dumkoff?"

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "It doesn't matter. I wasn't going to study anyway."

"Then why did you have us come all this way for your book!!!"

<I don't remember inviting you to go anywhere with me> Shinji's brow furrowed.

Asuka realized the error in her words, and waved her remark way with a flick of her wrist. "So where are we going now?"

<WHAT!!!!> Third child just realized that he was in hell. There was no getting away from the second child.

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Rei was standing in front of an apartment in a building in the better sector of Tokyo-3. She rang the doorbell. As she waited for the door to be answered, she shifted the object she carried in an ankle holster to a more comfortable position.

The door opened .

"Ayanami, what brings you here?" The boy looked over her shoulder. "Is Shin-man with you?"

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"So why are we going to Kensuke's again?" The second child griped. "He's so nerdy!"

"Asuka" Shinji swallowed hard. "You don't have to come..." <I never invited you to tag along in the first place!!!!!>

"I know." She said in a sing song voice. "I want to come. We don't spend any time together anymore"

<I know!! so why change a good thing> He didn't outwardly respond.

~~~~~~~~~

Rei was sitting on the couch in the living room of the Aida home. Kensuke sat across from her with a confused look on his face. They had been sitting in silence for a while now. He had no idea why she would be there since Shinji was not with her.

"So what's up, Ayanami?"

She didn't respond.

<ohhhh kay> "Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes. I would like some tea."

He shot up out his seat. "Ok, one tea coming right up!" And quickly walked to the kitchen to make it.

Rei watched him leave and narrowed her eyes. She was pissed. Slowly she bent down to retrieve the item that was latched on to he ankle. She stood up and pulled out a cylinder item out of her pocket and screwed the two pieces together. Then quietly, she followed her fellow student into the kitchen.

He was in the kitchen waiting for the water to boil when felt something cold and metallic touch behind his ear. He didn't need to be a rocket scientist to know what it was.

He held up his hands and cried out. "I didn't do it honest!!!"

"Didn't do what?" Rei asked knowingly.

"I didn't hack into the Tojiru Project!!"

"I know you didn't." Rei cocked her gun. Her voice was still calm. "You couldn't get through the firewall."

Aida started to cry harder. "I'm sorry Ayanami... I didn't know it was your project when I attempted to open it!!!"

"Turn around, Kensuke" she ordered in her calm voice.

The crying boy slowly turned around. When he saw her gun pointing at his face, he fell to his knees in a hysterical fit of sobbing. "I'm... sorry... I'm sooooo sorry!!!"

Though he was completely terrified, he couldn't help marvel at her gun. He could tell that it was made just for her. He had never seen anything like it before. The silencer on the tip was metal but the gun itself was porcelain so it wouldn't be detected in metal detectors. It was white and had a purple and white orchid painted on the both sides of the handle. It was actually a beautiful weapon.

Rei lowered her gun so that it would was still pointing at the boys face and calmly yet sarcastically said. "You're sorry?... Is that supposed to make it all better?"

Too afraid to continue to look at her, he bowed his head and he cried out. "I... didn't mean anything by it... I... didn't know...."

She interrupted him in a calm voice. "You knew the consequences of your actions, Aida. So don't lie to me." She hated being lied too. "And the only thing you are sorry about, is that you were caught."

He looked at her. He could tell that she was unaffected by his pleas. But he cried harder and tried anyway. "Rei please... you can't do this.."

She gave him a smirk that mirrored her guardian. "Trust me, Aida. I can do whatever I please, and there is no one who can stop me."

He tried a different tactic. "It's.. against the law!"

"NERV is above the law.. you know that as well as I."

The boy cupped his face in his hands and cried harder.

"Kensuke.... Stop crying and die like a man." She must of heard the commander say that a dozen times.

The boy cried harder but said between hiccups "I.. forgive you.... for what you are going to do..."

Rei was unimpressed by his last attempt to save himself. He was trying to play up to her conscience. <how unoriginal> So she responded with "Thank you, it's always nice to be forgiven."

Kensuke's eyes whipped up to his assassin. He couldn't believe she just said that. He could believe that *Rei* was going to kill him in cold blood. He couldn't believe it until.. he saw her finger begin to squeeze the trigger.

~TWWWWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETTTTT~ (The tea kettle)

A minute later, Kensuke opened his eyes and looked around the kitchen. Rei was not there. He started patting his body with his hands, looking for a gun shot injury. <I'm alive> "I'M ALIVE!!!!!!!!"

"You won't be next time, if you try that $#!% again."

Aida's head spun around to the voice. It was Rei. She leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed and frowning at him.

"Excuse my language, but you have angered me, Aida." She walked toward him. Her gun was still in her hand.

He was terrified. He couldn't speak. He couldn't move.

So she spoke. "What were you thinking, hacking into NERV's classified files? Do you know that offense warrants capital punishment?"

He absently nodded.

She respected his honest answer then continued. "Did you know that the files you tried to tap into would cause your whole family to be *erased*" For emphasis she repeated her self. "Your entire family, Aida.... would be killed!"

He vigorously shook his head no. He didn't know that.

"Well now you know." She started to leave. "If I were you, I'd take up another hobby." She gave him a side profile of her face and her displeasure. "If your actions were reported to anyone else... you would have been dead as soon as you answered the door."

Kensuke finally realized that the first child didn't come to kill him. She came to scare him straight. And she did a hell of a good job. He squeaked out. "Rei.... Thank you..."

She stopped and turned around. Usually she would just ignore comments of gratitude, but she was pissed. This wasn't just about him anymore. If this information got to the commander, which it probably will, she, Aoba, Ibuki, and Hyuga could be severely punished for not taking care of the problem correctly. All of them took a big risk to spare this idiot's life.

"Why do you do this?" The report given to her showed that he had been hacking into minor classified files for years before he tried to breach the files for her project.

He was still crying. "I.... just .. want to ... be a part of .. NERV."

"I do not understand your reasoning."

He looked at her with his fogged up glasses and red rimmed eyes. "All of you guys are a part of NERV... Even Touji got his chance to work for NERV... I'm the only one who wants to work there, and I'm the one who'll never get a chance.."

"So that is why you risk the life of you and your family?" She felt that was the dumbest reason she had ever heard.

"I just wanted to be apart of it too...." He sniffed solemnly. "I'm... tired of being left out."

She shook her head and turned to leave. "The grass is always greener on the other side, Aida." She gave him another side profile of her face. "Do not do this again. Next time I will not be there to protect you." She was about to completely leave when she thought of something. She turned around to suggest her idea when she noticed that he had peed on himself. "Clean yourself up. Kensuke."

He looked down at his pants. He turned beet red then ran to the bathroom. About ten minutes later he was showered and adorned in a robe when he walked into the living room. He was shocked stiff when saw Ayanami still in his living room.

"Ummm did you change your mind?" he asked fearfully.

She rolled her eyes then pressed her lips together. "No, I'm not going to kill you. However, I do have a proposition for you."

His eyes widened. "Uhhh okay.. what is it?"

She looked at him in the eyes and began in her usual calm tone "What I am about to suggest to you is not to be discussed to anyone beside us, is that clear?"

He nodded. That's all he could do. The look she was giving him was terrifying him.

"How you would you like to work for NERV... in my sector?"

Aida couldn't believe his ears. "Yes! I'll do it!!!"

Though her face did not show it, she thought his hasty acceptance was a fool's decision. For all he knew she could be making him the new toilet bowl cleaner. "Good.... then tomorrow you will get your first assignment."

Aida was practically jumping up and down with joy. Ok he was jumping up and down with joy.

Rei got up to leave. Right before she got to the door she asked "Don't you want to know what your job is?"

"Oh yeah..."

She shook her head and turned to face him again. "You are my official hacker. If you can break through the 15 firewalls we set up to misdirect any and all who try to breach my project with a regular pc then you are someone worth hiring to test whether our new and existing firewalls are suitable. I will inform you on projects that I want you to hack into. You will give me detailed accounts on the measures you took to bypass our systems undetected. You will only breach those projects to which I assign to you. If you hack into any other then you will be *erased*, is that clear?"

He nodded. He was totally excited. "So I'm like James Bond, huh?"

"I do not know a James Bond so I cannot not compare you to him."

"He's a guy in spy movies."

Her eyes narrowed seriously. "No. You are not a spy. And if you value your life, you will not even associate yourself with that title."

"Oh.." He nodded in understanding. He was a hacker who will break into classified files for NERV, not anyone else. He could see how his job and being considered a spy could cause problems.

Rei was about to leave when Kensuke ran over to the door and saluted her.

"Don't do that." She commanded softly. < you are such a nerd>

He smiled at her and asked. "Why did you do this for me?"

"Because I would hate to have to go to your funeral." she answered honestly.

Kensuke swallowed hard then sheepishly asked "Have you ever killed anyone, Rei?"

<NO! THANK GAWD!!!> She shook her head no. "And I don't want to start with you. Is that understood?"

He nodded.

She opened his door and right before she walked out. He hugged her.

Oblivious to how uncomfortable the first child was, he whispered great fully in her ear. "Thanks again for sparing the life of me and my family."

She didn't respond. She was frozen stiff because she was not liking the fact that she was being touched by someone other than her beloved Shinji.

Aida released her and smiled great fully at her.

Rei quickly made her escape as she warned "Don't ever do that again."

He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry... I was just overwhelmed... you know I thought you were going to ki--.."

Rei put her finger over his mouth to shut him up and whispered warningly. "This never happened."

The look Rei gave him just now, scared him enough for him to pee on himself again. All he could do was nod in compliance.

She walked away using the back exit of the apartment building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinji and Asuka saw everything. Well everything after the door to Aida's apartment opened. So they saw Kensuke who looked freshly showered give Shinji's Rei-chan, what looked like a very intimate loving hug and then Rei tenderly touch his lips and whisper something to him Then secretly left by the back exit.

Shinji was frozen stiff. <she's supposed to be at work... what is she doing here...?>

As if on queue Asuka answered Shinji's mental thought. "Wonder girl's cheating on you!!!" She started to laugh. "Who would have guessed... and with Kensuke too!!"

Shinji could feel his tears swell in his eyes as he turned around and ran out of the building. <Why Rei-chan!!... why would you do this to me?... I love you!!... I thought you loved me too!!!>

Asuka couldn't stop laughing. <this is better than anything I could have thought off to break them up!!> When she realized that Shinji was gone, the second child decided to run after him. She wanted to be his shoulder to cry on. She knew by being his friend now would give her a better opportunity to win him back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Rei got back to NERV, she requested to see Aoba, Hyuga and Ibuki . The trio followed her into her office. The first thing the first child did after she sat her desk was take off the gun holster around her ankle. She hated that thing. It chaffed the crap out if her leg.

She spoke as she placed her gun on her desk. "I have handled the Aida problem"

Seeing the gun the three dejectedly sighed and nodded. They thought she killed Kensuke.

Rei could tell by their disposition that they thought they were now standing across from a murderer. She spoke to Hyuga.

"I know that the commander has assigned you a number of projects. All of which I am well acquainted with, but what I ask you is whether you are to overwhelmed to handle a project assigned from me?"

The first thing Makoto thought was that she wanted him to clean up her mess. To complete the eraser process by deleting all files on the Aida family. So he answered "No, I am not over whelmed."

What else could he say. She was his commanding officer, even if it was unofficial.

She smiled slightly. "Good, I need you to find worthless projects that have difficult firewalls so Aida-kun can hack through them."

"WHAT!!" All three said in unison.

Rei did not repeat herself.

"You mean he's not dead?" Maya asked completely shocked.

"Of course not." Rei said calmly. "He is one of Shinji's best friends. I make lunch for him everyday. And even though, an idiot he may be, I have no desire to kill him."

They all smiled at her and looked at her with a greater respect. They were glad that they were wrong about how she would handle the situation.

Rei continued. "I have given him a job at NERV to test our firewalls. Designated firewalls."

Hyuga nodded in understanding . "I will start on it immediately."

She nodded. "That will be all."

The trio then left.

"Wow, did you see her gun!" Maya asked.

Makoto nodded. "Yeah, it was beautiful. I heard that its was called the wild orchid."

"*I* heard it that the commander gave it to her for her 16th birthday." Aoba included "And that is cost $100,000!"

"You're kidding." Maya couldn't believe her ears.

Aoba shook his head no.

She then asked "Why did it cost so much?"

Aoba answered. "It was specially made for her. There's not another one like it in the world."

"I can't even imagine anyone giving me a hundred thousand dollar gift" Hyuga sighed

"Me either" the other two agreed simultaneously.

Maya then said "That's so stupid! Why did the commander spend that much money on a gun? He should have just bought her an nicer apartment to live in."

"I think, it's because she likes living where she is." Aoba answered

"Why?" Hyuga responded. He couldn't see how anyone could want to live in the worst sector in Tokyo-3

Aoba answered again. "I dunno, maybe for the same reason his son now likes living over there."

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Shinji ran home. Asuka tried to follow, but he was adamant about being alone. He couldn't believe what he saw. He felt sick. Literally sick!

Once he got into the apartment, he kept walking around the small apartment like he was in a daze. After about ten minutes, he started searching through all her stuff to find evidence to confirm that she was cheating on him.

"No wonder she doesn't mind making his lunch with mine every day!!!"

After about an hour of searching and researching through the little bit of stuff she owned, he found absolutely nothing which pointed to her cheating on him.

"She probably keeps it in her office!! Where she keeps all her other secrets!!"

He fell on her bed and cried into her pillow until he was too exhausted to cry anymore. "Why Rei-chan... why.."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was past 12 am when Rei remembered to call Shinji. She was running behind on her work because of the Aida incident and now the Aida project to add onto the other multitude of projects she was told to familiarize herself with. Which was actually *every* project ever done in NERV. She was sitting on a cushion on the floor in her real office. She had just e-mailed Kensuke his first assignment.

She was surrounded by papers. Three laptops and hundreds of disk. All of which had projects she was to know about and understand completely. She just thanked god that she was a genius and had a photographic memory.

All her life, she was the unofficial 3rd commander of NERV, only because she was practically the commanders *daughter*. Now because of the Tojiru Project, the commander wants to make the title official. Since the third impact, that's what she was being secretly training for. Only a select few know about it. Not even Misato or Ritsuko know about it. However, the doctor will soon be informed. Once the second phase of the Tojiru Project is initiated, her expertise will be required.

The first child's title of 3rd Commander will be official right after she graduates from high school. As of right now, she had only a few weeks left of the eleventh grade. That meant she had one more year until she had to accept her destiny. But more likely than not, the commander will make her test out of high school and make her accept her destiny early because of the Tojiru Project. They only had a limited time to implement the plan. All the facts and figures had been solved, now it was the last pieces of he puzzle that needed to be prepared. Those pieces were Shinji, unit 01, and her.

But right now Rei didn't want to think about her future, she was more content to embrace the present. The first child delved under the multitude of mess until she found her phone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~ring ring~

Shinji slowly woke up and picked his phone off the dresser. In a melancholy voice he answered. "Hello."

"Shinji, I am sorry, I will not be able to come home tonight."

In a weak voice he asked "Why?"

"I must still work." she said dejectedly.

He was silent for a while then asked "Where are you?"

She quirked a brow. "I'm at NERV. Where else would I be?" <duh>

Silent tears fell from Shinji's eyes. He wanted to ask if she was at work all day. He wanted to see if she would lie to him. He wanted to see if she would admit her infidelity. He was about to ask her ,when he was interrupted.

"Shinji are you still there?"

Her sweet and soft voice made him lose his nerve to ask her about Kensuke, so instead he said "Yes.. it's just that I'm ...tired... I think I want to go back to bed."

She was a bit saddened that he was too tired to hold a conversation for a while. She missed him. She wanted to tell him about her day and that Aida was now an employee of NERV and *how* that came to be, but she respected his wishes and said "Good night, Shinji. Sweet dreams."

A melancholic "Thanks" was his response. Then there was a long silent pause between the two.

"Is there something wrong, Shinji?" Rei asked in a sweet concerned tone.

<YES!! YOU'RE #^$#%#$ING CHEATING ON ME!!!!!> "No I'm just tired."

She didn't believe him. She could clearly hear the sorrow in his voice. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

She bit he bottom lip. She was worried about him. "I could come home. We could talk about whatever is bothering you."

He was about to tell her to come home. Then fear set in. He didn't want her to know that he knew about her affair with Aida. Right now she was sneaking around trying to protect his feelings. If she knew that he knew, then there would be no reason for her to sneak around anymore. She wouldn't have a reason to be with him anymore! She could tell him to leave and she would be free to be with Kensuke. It wasn't like she asked him to live with her. He invited himself. Shinji then realized that he loved her too much to lose her. Even if she was cheating on him. He loved her too much to lose her.

"I'm fine Rei-chan... I'm just tired."

Another long silent pause.

"I love you."

Shinji tried to stifle his cries as he responded with an "I love you too, Rei-chan." <you have no idea how much>

He quickly hung up his phone as his sorrow and his tears overwhelmed him.

~~~~~~~~

Rei stared at her phone. Something was wrong and she knew it. She quickly stood up and exited both of her offices. She was going home. %*&^ work. She was going home to see what was wrong with her love.

As she was about the walk through the main exit, she was stopped.

"Rei."

She turned to around toward the voice. "Yes commander?"

"We need to start testing your AT field."

She inwardly groaned. Right now she wanted to make sure Shinji was ok, but she also knew that it was very important to begin the test of her field. <well... he did say he was ok> She nodded and answered.

"Yes sir."

Then the commander and the unofficial third commander went into the lower parts of central dogma.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I still don't own anything that deal with Evangelion

I wasn't even going to go this way with this fic but unit 00's review gave me an idea. ^_~ thanks