Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ So Happy Together ❯ chapter 30 ( Chapter 29 )

~crack~

Rei, who had her head buried against her husband's chest, looked up when she heard her phone crack. Her brow arched quizzically because Shinji looked furious. No. That wasn't the word for what he looked like. He looked mad enough to kill. No. That wasn't an appropriate description either. He looked like... his father. Yes, that's who Shinji looked like. He looked like a very pissed off commander Ikari.

She heard her phone crack again and looked at the grasp he had on it. It was more like a death grip.

"Koibito.. you're breaking my phone."

He didn't hear her. He could only hear what his father was telling him.

Touji and Kensuke looked over at their friend and winced. They had never seen Shinji look so angry in all the years they've known him.

~~~~~~

Gendo continued. "Rei knew of the plan against her life, but we only thought that there were two hired guns. We were mistaken. There are three. Two have already been taken care of, but the last one is most likely at the fair."

~~~~~~

Shinji's eyes whipped toward everyone in the crowd suspiciously.

~~~~~~

The commander continued. "There are no agents to protect you or Rei on the fair premises. Rei didn't want them around because she was certain that she would have been able to protect you and herself with her powers. I agreed to her request, for while she was away, she learned to control them. <and because I felt it was time for her first kill> However, because she has consumed so much sugar, she has lost the ability to control her powers at will..... She's helpless, Ikari. You must protect her."

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

The third child looked down into his wife's innocent yet worried face.

She mouthed "What's wrong?"

He mouthed back "Nothing." He didn't want to worry her.

~~~~~~~~~~~

His father continued. "Ikari, I want you to get her out of there, immediately. There are too many opportunities for her to be harmed at the fair. Is that understood?"

~~~~~~~~

"Yes sir."

Rei tapped him on the sternum and mouthed "What's wrong?"

Shinji shook his head and forced a warm smile as he caressed her worried face with the back of his fingers. He spoke into the phone "Where should we go? Home?"

~~~~~~~~

"No." the commander answered sternly. " Go to NERV until you are told otherwise."

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yes sir."

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

Gendo didn't know what more to say to his son, so there was an uncomfortable silence for about 30 seconds. He mentally regretted < I hate that this happened on your birthday>

~~~~~~~~~~

The silence was broken by Shinji. "I promise I won't let anything happen to her."

~~~~~~~~~

"I know." The commander's confidence was clearly audible.

~click~

~~~~~~~~~

Shinji smiled an honest smile. His father's confidence in him was the second best present he got for his birthday. The first was Rei being home and her special gift. ^_~ (They tied.)

~~~~~~~~

Gendo pressed a button on the door armrest and a hidden compartment opened in the seat beside him. Inside this compartment was an ornately designed teak wooden box. In this box was his specially made porcelain gun. Unlike Rei's, his gun was black and red with a demons face painted on the hilt. Also, his gun had a built in silencer thus was the reason why it was called the Shizuka na Ono (the silent demon).

The commander was on his way to the fair to handle some business.

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

Rei was the first to speak when Shinji hung up the phone.

"What did shikisha want?" She frowned slightly. "He wanted me to go to work didn't he?"

Shinji looked down at his wife, forced a smile, and nodded. "Yes, he told us both to go to NERV." He wasn't exactly lying. It was more of a half truth.

"Oh man, that sucks!" Kensuke yelled. "I'm soo sorry!"

"Me too, koibito...." Rei sighed dejectedly as she caressed his face.

"It's ok." he whispered lovingly to his wife.

"For crying out loud! You have to work on your birthday?!" Touji growled as he made wild hand gestures. "Your father is such a basta--"

Rei's head whipped around angrily in Suzuhara's direction.

"Eeep!" was all the fourth child could make out. Rei's expression of anger was a frightful thing, and unless it was a trick of the light, he could have swore that her crimsons eyes shimmered and glowed.

Shinji softly chuckled despite himself. He knew from personal experience how loyal Rei was to his father, and she didn't take kindly to anyone bad mouthing him. So to calm her down, the pilot gently cradled her chin with his finger, and turned her head to face him. "Koishii, I love you."

His simple words of adoration worked like a charm. The first child's anger melted away immediately. She stood on her tippy toes and gave him an intense kiss, which he returned greedily.

Touji took a relieved breath and turned around. He was tired of watching them kiss, especially since his Hikari was with the psychopath. The boy looked around at various things, then settled on looking at the crowd. It wasn't long before he recognized a beautiful vision. "Hikari-chan!" The pilot ran over to his girlfriend.

Kimiko's eyes narrowed curiously as she watched the couple kiss. Though the third child was an active participant, Shinji wasn't concentrating on the kiss. His eyes were wandering and watching the crowd around them. <something's up>

Kensuke walked over to the jumpoline and got the third child's shoes. He couldn't help himself from grumbling curses about the commander. However, he made sure that it was low enough so that Rei couldn't hear him. When he walked back, Shinji was at a food vender getting Rei about four bottles of water.

"I'm not thirsty." the first child stated as she gently batted the bottle he held out to her away.

Shinji untwisted the bottle cap and gave the bottled water back to his wife. "Fath-- the commander said you have to drink something because of all the sugar you've consumed."

"Then I want soda!" Rei turned away from her husband and toward the vendor. "Coca-Cola please!"

Shinji shook his head no to the man as he gently placed his hand on the top of her head, turned her to face him and said sternly. "You're only allowed to have water until you start acting normal."

Rei's eyes tripled their size. Shinji had been bossing her around a lot these last few minutes. She wasn't liking it. Nope. Not liking it at all!

The third child could clearly see her displeasure. He didn't mean to speak to her so coldly. His tone was harsh because he was stressed. "I'm sorry, koishii."

She pressed her lips together skeptically, then nodded. She then took the bottle from him, gave him warm smile, and started drinking the water.

~~~~~~~

Touji finally made it through the crowd and to his girlfriend. Hikari was completely out of breath and she was wheezing as she spoke

"I need.... (wheeze) to talk... (gasp) ... to Shinji and Rei..."

Suzuhara picked up his girlfriend in a cradle position and carried her to a bench. He sat her down and lifted her hands over her head. When she gave him a quizzical expression, he said "This will help you get your breath back faster."

She gave him a tired nod. She didn't know if he spoke the truth, but she was too tired to argue on the matter.

"Hikari-chan, what do you have to tell Ikari?" The boy gave her a worried expression. "He's not in a very good mood. His dad just told him that he had to go to work. So, if it's more bad news, maybe you shouldn't tell him."

She looked up at her boyfriend and bit her bottom lip. Maybe he was right. Who knows what Shinji would do to Asuka if he found out what she did. "Touji-chan... if I don't tell him... then you and I have to take care of this situation ourselves."

The boy nodded.

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

At Shinji's request, Rei had called on her limo to pick them up at the gate. Unfortunately, because of the traffic, it was going to take about 15 minutes to arrive. So as they waited and made their way to the front gates, she was forced to drink 3 of the four 20 oz bottles of water. She felt extremely full, and bloated, but she was also feeling... she wasn't sure, but her eyes weren't blinking in triplets anymore.

As they walked toward the front, Shinji looked at everyone suspiciously. He also made Rei walk in front of him, and held her protectively around the waist He hated that the only exits were at the front gates. There were so many people at the front that the teens couldn't walk two steps without bumping into someone. It was the perfect location and opportunity for someone to try and kill Rei.

"Shin-man" Aida asked dejectedly. "Are you sure you guys have to leave?" He didn't know what was going on.

A nervous nod was Shinji's response as he continued to search the crowds.

"Then we'll leave too." Aida offered. Kimiko nodded in agreement.

"No, that's ok." Shinji answered with a warm smile and looked at his friend. "Stay and have fun." He forced a lecherous grin and lied about his reasons for leaving. "Rei and I need to go because I have to help her burn off all of that sugar she ate."

Kensuke blushed as so did Kimiko.

Rei smiled happily because of what her husband said. She hoped he was being honest in his reason for leaving *and* that it would take all night and part of tomorrow to accomplish that task. His words gave her an extra pep in her step, and she smiled an even broader smile as she thought of the many different positions they had yet to try. That is, she was happy until she felt something press hard against her rib.

At that same exact moment, the first child made a high pitch, squeaking, yelp when she felt the sharp pain of something puncturing her skin. Instantly, her AT field emerged from within her, and pushed itself out of her skin. Almost instantly, the first child used her martial arts skill to grab and take possession of the item that caused her harm.

When she saw what she had in her hand, her perfect lips made a firm frown. She glared at the person she took it from, and pointed it at his face. With her other hand, she dropped her water bottle, grabbed her side, and started pulling her shirt out of her shorts. Because her body automatically subsisted to her S2 organ, the wound had already healed and the pain was no longer there, but that was not the reason she was un-tucking her shirt. She had an idea of what just transpired, and she wanted to make sure her assumption was correct.

"OH MY GAWD!!!" Someone screamed and pointed at the blue haired angel. "SHE HAS A GUN!!!!"

Everyone in an earshot distance to the screaming woman started screaming and running in fear for their lives. Then others, who had no idea what was going on, became frantic and started running as well. The scene was quickly becoming a stampede. However, the assassin who was now at the wrong end of the gun, was frozen with fear, as so was Shinji, Kensuke, and Kimiko.

The first child was back to being characteristically calm as she held the large gun in her tiny hand.

"I think you made an error in judgment." Rei coolly informed the man. When she completely pulled her shirt out of her shorts, a single bullet fell onto the crushed grass.

The man didn't respond, he was too scared. She was supposed to be dead or at least dying right now.

Rei narrowed her eyes and smirked like her guardian as she put a better grip on the gun. Her hands were wet because she had squeezed the water bottle when she was shot, making the water spill all over her. Also, the gun, it was made for a man, so it was really too big for her tiny hand. Her little finger could barely reach the trigger, but that didn't stop her from pulling it. "Shine" (die)

~Click~

Unfortunately, those hindrances did stop the gun from firing.

When she pressed the trigger, her finger slipped off. Unlike the Wild Orchid, this gun didn't have a hair trigger. It was a cheap gun! A big, cheap gun that totally pissed her off!!

Shinji's eyes were still glued on the bullet that was on the ground. The same bullet that fell out of his wife's shirt! All he could think was <MY WIFE WAS SHOT!!! THAT BASTARD SHOT MY WIFE!!!!!> He knew that if it wasn't for her AT field, she would been dying right now, and that she would have died in his arms. He was too shocked to even move; to even think beyond the realization that Rei was shot, and that he failed to protect her! In his mind, he was a failure. The ultimate failure!

He was so transfixed in own thoughts that he failed to hear what she just said to the man, or that she just tried to kill the bastard in front of him. In front of everyone. Coincidentally, when he *did* looked up at her, it was at the exact moment she replanted her finger on the trigger and was going to give another go at her first kill.

Through her peripheral, Rei could see her truest love give her a distressed and disappointed look. <gomen, koishii otto> She mistakenly thought that he was disappointed in *her* for breaking her promise of 'no confrontations.' Even though, it wasn't her fault that she broke her promise. She didn't start this... but <I didn't start it the last time either> Rei knew that if she would have been successful in blowing that guy's face off, then she would have definitely broken that promise. She was now glad her finger slipped off. She narrowed her eyes at the man, and took his face into memory. She also cursed him for making her look bad in front of her husband.

"I'm going kill you..." she promised, "for what you tried to do to me..."

Shinji never took his distressed gaze off his wife. Kimiko's and Kensuke's eyes quadrupled their size at her proclamation. They were terrified but too fascinated to turn away.

Rei could feel her husband's gaze burrowing into her skull. She narrowed her crimson eyes even more and continued "But not today, because I made a promise to my husband!" <however tomorrow... you die!> She dropped her arm down and commanded venomously. "Get out of my face!!!"

The man hesitated to move, thinking it was a trick, then decided to just go for it and ran into the crowd.

Shinji could NOT believe what Rei just did! He gave her a dumbfounded look, then turned his gaze toward the fleeting form that was about to be lost in the crowd. Not even another second passed before the pilot sprinted off and started to chase after him.

"Koibito?" the first child started to follow her husband. She was totally confused by his reaction.

The third child picked up speed and yelled back "Rei, STAY!!"

Kensuke violently jerked himself back to reality and took off after the man too.

Rei's eyes tripled their size as she slowed herself from running, and yelled out angrily. "STAY?! What am I...?" Her hand fluttered to her chest. "A dog?!!!!" She turned around toward Kimiko, who was still stiff with fear, and in an exaggerated movement, the angel gestured in the direction of her husband. "Did you hear how he just spoke to me?!" She shook her head in disbelief and placed her other hand on her hip. "I think he's taking that OBEY vow a little bit too seriously!!"

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

Misato was in her sports car driving in heavy traffic. She decided to use the rode instead of the sidewalk this time. She was in no hurry to complete her assignment. Ritsuko she could have killed but Asuka.... She didn't want to, she couldn't... but she knew she had to, and that she would.

That reality scared her. The thought of knowing that she would kill someone so close to her because she was ordered to.... What kind of person did that make her? She mentally answered <no better than commander Ikari> That realization sickened her, but strangely, it didn't stop her from continuing her journey to the two pilots' apartment. It was the traffic that stopped her.

There was an accident and the two owners of the cars were in the street fighting.

She leaned forward against the steering wheel as she watched the spectacle and rested her chin on the back of her hands. Again, the major thought about the predicament she was now in, forced into, because of the second child's actions. She wasn't a stranger to killing on request. It was required for her position, but she never thought she would have to kill one of her charges, one of the Children, one of her *children*.

The major looked at the traffic in front of her, and leaned back in her plush seat. She hoped that the second child would have left Shinji's apartment by the time she arrived. She hoped that Asuka had the good sense to run away.

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

Asuka was breathing hard as she stalked around the apartment. Only moments ago did she finish releasing some of her displaced anger on the third child's presents. His furniture to be exact, and his TV, and his new stereo. All of which, were now destroyed. Why did she do this? About three minutes after Hikari walked out of the front door, something in her mind snapped. The pilot resigned to the fate that she had been trying so hard to avoid. After teetering on the edge for so long, the second child finally lost the battle to maintain her sanity.

The pilot of unit 02 sat on her true love's bed, in her most hated rival's apartment, and realized that *she* was in the hole that she dug for Ayanami. A grave to be exact. She also realized that she was alone, and no one cared. Not Misato, not Hikari and definitely not Shinji once he finds out what she did to harm Rei. All of whom loved her, and tried to be there for her, but she pushed them away and only took comfort from them when she wanted it, and insulted them when she didn't. She knew that she was never there for them, not like they were always there for her... and now she realized that she had pushed them away one to many times, and she had done one to many cruel things to appease her own selfishness. And now.. she was alone.

Alone, the only thing she feared the most. But whose fault was it? That f*cking doll's? Dolls always took what rightfully belonged to her! Her mother, Shinji... everything ! So it had to be the *doll's* fault... It had to be.. it couldn't be her fault... It just couldn't!

She had one of Rei's professional chef knives in her hand. It was the same knife she used to slice up the furniture. She tittered softly as she stared at her wrist. She fancied slitting them just to make Shinji sorry for choosing the doll. Yes, he'd be sorry when he found her dead in his bed. She smirked as she imagined him cradling her body and crying his eyes out as he prayed to God to bring her back to him. She envisioned him crying out to the heavens, for all to hear as he confessed that made a mistake when he chose the *doll*. She wanted him to beg for another chance to be with her.

She smiled at the mental pictures then frowned deeply. As attractive as that idea seemed, she knew that it was flawed. Flawed because she would be *dead* and he would still be with *her*. <my death would probably bring them closer together> That fate alone would make her roll over in her grave.

Asuka glared at the knife and threw it across the room. No, she was *not* going to allow Rei to have the opportunity to comfort Shinji. HER SHINJI because of her death. She picked up the brush again and smiled when she noticed her hair entwined in its bristles. Then for no reason at all, she got off the bed, walked over to the closet and opened it. As she figured, it was impeccably neat, even though two people shared it. Rei barely had any clothes in it. Actually, the only thing the first child had in it was her school uniforms, a couple of tank-tops, some really short shorts, and about three pairs of shoes in boxes. Asuka looked up at the top shelf. There was another box up there. The red haired girl reached up and brought the huge box to the bed. When she opened it and took the tissue paper out, she saw a white silk gown. Her eyes narrowed angrily, for she knew exactly what it was. She picked up the box and threw it across the room. It hit a photo album, making it topple off the shelf. All the pages fell out of its binders when it hit the floor.

When she saw the pictures in the album, Asuka grit her teeth so hard she thought her teeth were going to shatter. Stepping on and over the bed to get to the other side of the crowded room, the girl snatched up a page and stared at the pictures stuck to it. There she saw Rei and Shinji with their eyes locked onto each others. Rei had on that gown and a tiara. Shinji had on a dark blue suit, and the commander was looking down at both of them with a warm smile on his face. The picture under it was of the two married Ikaris kissing, and their tongues were clearly visible.

Without a second thought, Asuka tore the album page, splitting the pictures down the middle. She then glared at the gown, then at the wedding certificate, the brush, and the remaining pictures strewn on the floor.

This was just to much for her to accept and something else inside the second child's rational snapped.

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

Hikari pushed her way through the crowd and towards the front gates. There she saw a very disgruntled first child and a very terrified Kimiko.

Rei was pacing back and forth and yelling that she wasn't a DOG. Kimiko sat, crouched down with her hands wrapped tightly around her knees. She was rocking back and fourth and mumbling some sort of silent mantra.

"What happened?!" the class rep cried out as she pushed passed the last of the crowd and made her way to her friends. "Is everyone ok? Rei, are you ok?!"

The first child stopped pacing and looked at the pig tailed girl and answered in a calm fashion. "Of course I am."

The girl took a sigh of relief. "Thank God!" She looked at Aida's girlfriend. "What's wrong, Kimiko?"

The dark haired girl looked at the rep with vacant eyes and continued mumbling her mantra.

Rei glanced at the very tall girl, then back at Hikari and said nonchalantly as she waved the gun around "Oh she's just upset because some Yaro shot me." (yaro=bastard)

"WHAT!!!!!" Hikari couldn't believe her ears. "Are you ok?!"

"Oh yes yes" The blue haired angel waved the class rep's fears away with a flick of the wrist.

The class rep looked between the two girls and noticed how differently they were acting. "Rei, aren't you scared...?"

"Of course not." The first child shook her head no and gave Hikari a cocky wink as she walked to the trash can. "Ore wa kenpeki senshi da." (I am the perfect solider) She threw the gun away, right after she used her divine energy to crush it, thus making it unusable.

After she was shot and her AT field surfaced, Rei felt more like her normal, calm, self. So while she was thinking clearly, she quickly came to the conclusion that the water she drank diluted the sugar, thus unblocking her powers so that she would be able to use them. Even though, at the time they surfaced, she had no control over them. However, when her powers surfaced, it burned off an undetermined amount of the sugar which now allowed her to wield them under her control. Sorta.

"Uh _oh" The first child ran over to Kimiko, grabbed her hand and dragged the girl to a safer location. Safer because the...

~KABOOOM!!!~

"What the hell!!" The class rep screamed as she stepped back in shock. The garbage can exploded. She looked at the first child and gestured to the flaming can. "What happened?"

Rei gave an innocent shrug. <maybe I should have taken the bullets out first>

A man ran out of the ticket booth and used a fire extinguisher on the flames.

Kimiko stared at the man battling the flames and then at Rei. The first child observed the man with a face of calm indifference. Slowly the dark haired girl stood up, timidly walked over to the pilot, and wrapped her arms in tight embrace around the first child. "You saved my life!"

Rei stiffened because she wasn't expecting for the girl to touch her. She forced out a "You're welcome" then grabbed the girls shoulders and tried to push out of her grip.

Hikari walked over to them and asked in a distressed voice. "Where's Shinji?"

The first child answered coolly. "He's chasing the assassin" as she continued to try and free herself from Kimiko's strong grasp.

"And you didn't follow?" Hikari asked the perfect solider.

The first child shook her head no, and narrowed her eyes as she pealed away from Kimiko. "He told me to *stay*" The bitter resentment when she said the last word was clearly audible. She looked away from the class rep so that the girl would know that she no longer wanted to speak to her. <hopefully she'll get the hint>

She did. Hikari looked away from the first child scanned the area for the other two assassins.

Kimiko started regaining some of her composer because Rei looked so calm.

Rei looked at the front right corner of the fair. There was a stage and there seemed to be a contest going on. Yes there *was* a contest going on because there were trophies on a table and judges. This contest seem to have been undisturbed by her gun toting antics.

Now, to all who observed the first child, they would think that she was back to her extremely conservative self, but that was not the case. The water and her powers brought her more control over her actions, but unfortunately, underneath that cool and stoic exterior, Rei was as high as ever, and her eyes saw things a bit differently than she would normally see them. Take the trophy for instance. In the eyes of the blue haired angel, that imitation gold plated, tin goblet looked as spectacular as the Holy Grail. It shined as if it were a gift from heaven itself, and she wanted it! She wanted it bad, and by any means necessary, she was going to have it!

Kimiko timidly called out "Rei, where are you going?" right after she noticed the first child walking toward the right side of the entrance.

Hikari spun around and ran toward the blue haired girl. "Rei_ where are you going?"

Kimiko quickly followed.

Rei did not bother to turn around, but she did answer them. "Over there." She pointed toward the trophies.

Hikari grabbed the pilots wrist. "Rei, I need to get you to someplace safe. There are two other guys after you!!"

Rei gave the girl a side profile of her face. "And how pray tell did you acquire this information?"

The class rep looked away guiltily, and did not answer.

Her refusal to confess mattered not. The first child already knew the answer. So instead of demanding the truth an idea popped into the first child head. She smirked and lied "The safest place is on that stage." (by any means necessary remember ^_~)

"What?" both girls asked in shock.

Rei reiterated. "There is no safer place than being in everyone's range of vision."

The pilot of unit 00 wasn't worried about her life. She knew that the other two assassins were already dead. The commander had taken care of them last night or this morning. So if there was only one more, then she didn't have to worry. Shinji was going to chase him down and the NERV agents would take of erasing the hiretsukan (bastard). Soooo, the only thing she had to worry about was beating the other competitors in the contest and winning that trophy!

Kimiko read at the sign that announced what was going on. "It's a karaoke contest." She looked at the first child. "You're going to sing, Rei?"

The 3rd commander nodded. "We all are." The first child smirked because she knew exactly how she was going to force them into compliance.

The other two girls stared at her, and then at the stage in horror.

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

Shinji ran through the crowd, pushing people out of his way. He didn't care who he pushed or where they landed. He didn't care if they were a 3 year old child or a 103 year old grandmother. The only thing he cared about was not losing sight of the bastard who shot his wife.

The guy was quick. Running for one's life can make an assailant run at inhuman speeds. Unfortunately for the guy, he wasn't faster than the third child. However, they were both faster than Kensuke, for they lost him a while back.

Right when the pilot was about to grab the man's collar, he ran into the a giant. Literally.

"You again!!" the man growled.

Shinji quickly scrambled to his feet and started to run after the hired killer. He didn't even get two feet way before the giant grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back..

"You little punk!" the man growled "You better apolo--"

"Do you know who I am?!" the pilot interrupted angrily, as he struggled to free himself. He could see the bastard disappearing into the crowd.

"I don't care who you are!" the man roared indignantly. "I don't work for NERV!"

Shinji gave the man and side profile of his displeasure. Something he'd seen Rei and his father do, so he knew that it was a very intimidating gesture. He growled in a calm yet deadly sadistic whisper. "I don't care whom you work for; it doesn't matter... Because after I kill that yaro..." He pointed toward the disappearing figure then narrowed his eyes evilly when he pointed back to the man. "You're next."

The man winced in fear and quickly let the boy go. He knew exactly who the boy was. He also knew that if this boy was anything like his father, then he just signed his own death certificate by trying to force him to apologize, for he knew, just as everyone knew, Ikaris don't make threats... they make promises.

Shinji didn't even bother saying anything else after he was released, or after the man repeatedly apologized. Instead, he sprinted off in the direction he saw the bastard go; he also mentally thanked whatever god that was listening that the giant believed his hollow threat.

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

Kensuke was running blindly through the crowd. He had lost track of Shinji a few minutes ago. He never had sight of the man, so he didn't know where to look. He turned left, unknowing that Shinji and the man had turned right, and he ran dead into Touji.

Both boys gave each other an angry glare before they realized who they bumped into.

"Touji!!" Aida cried out. "Someone just tried to kill Rei! He shot her!"

"WHAT!!!" The fourth child couldn't believe what he just heard. The boy jumped to his feet. "Is she ok?!!

Kensuke nodded and got up too. "Yeah, but I don't know how though. It happened so quickly!"

"Where's Shinji?!" Touji looked around.

"He's chasing after that bastard!" Aida answered with urgency. "I was chasing him too, but I lost track of them!!"

"What did he look like!" Touji yelled clearly distressed.

"I have no idea!" Aida raked his hand through his sandy brown hair and shook his head. "I'm telling you man, it happened so fast.... I was scared sh*tless!"

Touji gave his friend a disappointed look. "You witnessed someone shoot Rei, and you're telling me that you don't know what he looks like?!"

"I told you!!!" Aida yelled defensively. "It happened so fast!"

The pilot pressed his lips together and nodded as he looked around. He turned to his friend. "Were there any others with him?"

Aida's brow furrowed. "No.. I don't thinks so... Why?"

While still looking around Suzuhara admitted "Because there's three of them!"

"WHAT!!" Aida grabbed fistfuls of his hair. "How do you know this?

The pilot angrily admitted. "Asuka told Hikari..."

"How the hell would Asuka kno--" Kensuke jolted after his understanding hit him, and he became furious. "Uh F*ck no!! I can't believe that crazy b*tch did this to Rei!!!"

"Believe it!" Touji retorted mirroring his friend's anger. Then he pointed to the left. "You look this way....." He then pointed to the right. "and I'll look this way!"

Aida nodded and started to run to the left then stopped abruptly and turned around. "Who am I looking for? What do they look like?"

Suzuhara shrugged. "Just keep a look out for anyone who looks suspicious!"

"Then what?" Aida asked in a distressed voice.

"Beat the hell out of them!" Suzuhara growled.

The hacker nodded and ran to the left. Touji then ran to the right.

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

Kozo was in his Bentley driving back to NERV. Unlike the commander, Fuyutsuki liked to drive himself, and what better way to drive than in the finest made luxury car in the world. On speaker phone, he was talking to his long time friend.

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

Gendo laughed at the tale his friend told him. "Did you really do that?"

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

"Hell yeah!" Kozo chuckled. "She pissed me off!"

~~~~~~~~~~~

Gendo chuckled as he thought about Akagi's reaction to what he did , then laughed out "That's..." He shook his head in disbelief. "That's just cruel."

~~~~~~~~~

Fuyutsuki laughed out. "I know... That's why I did it."

~~~~~~~~~~

After a few more moments of laughter Ikari sighed out. "Make sure that there is no way Akagi can kill herself in her cell. I need her to be alive."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Already taken care of." the 2nd commander said cheerfully. "I really wish that I could have killed her though."

~~~~~~~~~~

The commander smirked. "Me too, but Rei said that she wanted that pleasure and I'll be damned if I deny her that."

~~~~~~~~~

There was a comfortable silence, then the sub-commander asked "Rei has synch test tomorrow ne?"

~~~~~~~~~~

"No" the commander answered as he looked over his gun. "I gave her three days off."

~~~~~~~~~~

"I see.... Are you going to have her synch with unit 01?"

~~~~~~~~~

The commander smirked. "Yes, I think she's honed her skill to the point where she could synch with it. <if she gets that damn sugar out of her system!!!>

~~~~~~

Kozo smiled. "So how long before the last phase of the Tojiru project?"

~~~~~~

"I'm thinking August." Gendo smirked.

~~~~~~~

"So soon?" Kozo was clearly surprised.

~~~~~~

"Yes. I've just been informed that Rei had a hidden talent that will be most useful. I'm going to push her harder so I can discover what else she can do. I'm also going to allow her to start her training against the MP Evas."

~~~~~~~~~~

Kozo was silent. He didn't feel that Rei was ready, but he also knew that Gendo wouldn't purposely put his *daughter* in harm's way. Shinji maybe, but not Rei.

"When are you going to inform the third child about his role in this project?"

~~~~~~~~

"I'm not."

~~~~~~~

The 2nd commander figured as much. "So when is Rei going to inform him?"

~~~~~~

"She's not."

~~~~~~~

"What?!" Kozo's eyes tripled their size. He was not expecting that answer.

~~~~~~~

"No one's going to inform him." Gendo answered callously. "If he knows of his role, he's going to refuse. So he's not going to know until it's too late to turn back."

The driver announced over the intercom "Sir, we are almost at the fair grounds. I'm taking us around back now."

~~~~~~~~~

Fuyutsuki was flabbergasted. "Does Rei know of this plan?"

~~~~~~~~

The commander smirked evilly and answered "Who do you think thought of it?"

***************

Until this day of June 6, the first child had always been known for her stoical nature. It was a discipline that she had been taught from her mentor and guardian and had perfected over the years. To have a tight reign on her emotions was a state that she was to maintain at all times, no matter what the predicament, whether it be in battle, faced with death, or.... high on sugar..... Yeah right!

Rei glared at the tall girl. She was pissed, and her displeasure was written all over her face. Kimiko was harder to blackmail than she thought. Hikari caved in easy enough. The class rep practically begged her to tell her what to do after Rei informed the girl that she knew that Asuka informed her of the plan to kill her. But Kimiko... it seemed that she didn't care that Rei saved her life because she was so bent on saying

"No!" Kimiko yelled adamantly for the third time, and spun around making her back face the first child.

An exasperated Rei yelled "WHY?!!"

The girl twisted slightly so she could see the blue haired girl. "Because... I can't sing that song!!"

Rei gabbed the lyric's off the music stand. "If you don't know the words then study them now!"

Kimiko spun around to face Rei. "It's not about the words. I know the words!" She paused and winced when Rei gave her a look that said then what the hell is the problem!! She sheepishly answered the non-verbal question. "It just that... Kensuke wouldn't approve."

"What!!" Rei couldn't believe her ears. "You have *got* to be joking!" She looked at Hikari for support.

She didn't get any. The class rep bowed her head and said meekly "Do we really have to sing *this* song... Touji's going to be upset too."

Rei threw her hands up and bared her teeth, then glared at the two girls. "What millennium is this?! I can't believe you two are afraid to sing a song that is a sure WINNER because you're afraid that your *boyfriends* would disapprove!!"

Hikari bowed her head in shame. Kimiko got offended and said meekly, because she was afraid of the pint-sized angel

"You're one to talk..."

Rei eyes widened as the girl continued.

"You're not even *allowed* to leave the front of the fair grounds because Shinji told you to *stay*."

The first child's hand fluttered to her chest and her jaw dropped. Even though, Kimiko's words were spoken in a frightened whisper, they felt like a cheep shot in the stomach that knocked the breath out her lungs. Mostly for the fact that she spoke the truth.

Hikari's eyes widened in shock.

"Gomen, Rei." the tall girl squeaked out. She was feeling really guilty for her harsh words, so guilty in fact her next words were . "I'll sing it... I'm sorry."

Rei didn't respond. She couldn't respond. All she could do was stand there with her eyes wide, her mouth ajar and blink. Hard. The first child was not used to having her short comings thrown in her face. Sure, Asuka would insult her all the time, but those were just words spoken in hate and jealously, what Kimiko said was the truth, and the truth HURT.

To try and snap Rei out of her offended stupor, Hikari pried the papers out of the pilot's hands and asked. "Who's going to do the rap part... I'm not?"

Kimiko shook her head no. She'd sing that lustful song, but she wasn't going to make a fool out of herself trying to rap.

Rei finally came out of her dazed state and sighed "Don't worry about that part.. I'll handle it." She walked over to the sign up sheet, picked up the pencil, and scratched the next person off the list so that she could put their names in the slot.

"You're going to rap?" Kimiko asked the pilot quizzically.

Rei shook he head no. "Don't worry about that part. I'll handle it."

Hikari looked over Rei's shoulder to see what she was doing and screeched out. "You can't do that to..." She took a better look at the name the pilot just crossed out. "Mana Kirashima!"

"Of course I can." The first child announced coolly yet matter-of-factly. <duh> She turned slightly gave the class rep a third commander type glare, and asked "This Mana Kirashima, who is she anyway?"

Hikari seemed to shrink into herself under such an intimidating stare, and squeaked out "Nobody...?"

"Excaaaatly." The first child confirmed in a pleased sigh accompanied with a royal nod. When she finished writing in their names, she chimed out. "We're next!"

Hikari and Kimiko stared at each other fearfully. They were afraid for many reasons. One being what their boyfriends would think. Two being they were afraid to sing on stage. And three, they were afraid to sing THAT song on stage!

Rei stared in awe at the glittering trophy. She wanted it... no needed it! She honestly felt like she needed it so badly that she had to physically keep herself from running over there, snatching off the table and making a dash for it. She never had a trophy before, but secretly, she has always wanted one. Verbal praise for doing a good job made little to no difference to her. It was trophies, medals, plaques and other tangle forms of praise that pleased her. Actually, those accolades were one of the few things, outside of the Ikari men that made her happy. But alas, it was those very items she didn't possess. However, with this contest she was going to remedy that.

In her opinion, victory was so close she could taste it. The crowd consisted of mostly teenage guys and young men and they were three good-looking females who were going to sing a very provocative song. Rei smiled victoriously as she twisted the bottom her shirt and brought it through the collar, making a makeshift bra.

Hikari's eyes doubled in size when Rei gestured for her to do the same with her shirt. The class rep started shaking her head "No, Rei. I'm not going up there..." She pointed at the stage. "Showing my bare torso to everyone!"

Kimiko didn't say anything, but her body language was screaming that she wasn't going to comply with that request either.

Rei looked at the two stiff girls in front of her and shook her head. <this will not do> Behind her star shaped sunglasses her eyes shimmered both with mischief and divine power. In a mock friendly gesture, the first child place a comforting hand on the girls' shoulders and mentally chimed <bonding anyone?>

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

Within a time period of ten minutes...

Touji got arrested for beating up someone who 'looked' suspicious.

Kensuke got arrested for attacking someone else who 'looked' suspicious.

Hikari fulfilled a secret fantasy and became a singing diva sex goddess.

Kimiko revealed how flexible she was and showed off some dance moves she had only showed Kensuke and then some more she made up on a whim. ^_~

Gendo almost had a heart attack once he was informed about Rei's antics on stage. Then commanded her agents to retrieve her and take her to NERV.

Rei was dragged off the stage and forced to put her shirt back on as her agents carried her to the limo.

The judges were informed (threatened), by the first child, that she won this contest as she was carried away.

Kozo had and accident from laughing so hard once he found out the lengths Rei when to just to get a *trophy*.

The guys in the crowd, most of who were now topless as well, almost created a riot when the first child was dragged away.

Misato had just arrived at the third and first child's apartment.

And poor Shinji was still chasing the bastard that shot his wife.

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

"I'm sorry, 3rd commander Ikari." confessed one of Rei's personal agents in an extremely apologetic tone. "But the commander..."

Rei silenced the man's explanation with a vicious crimson eyed glare. <If I lost that trophy... because you goofs carried me off the stage... You *will* be sorry>

Two of the men winced in fear. The other quickly got out of the limo and ran toward the judges table.

The first child let out a pleased smirk after she observed where the man ran to, then calmly commanded the driver. "Lets go."

The driver immediately obeyed, started her limo and drove away from the entrance. Rei sat back in her plush seat, relaxed and relinquished the hold on her powers. When she stopped subsisting and the happenings of her body became that of a human's and not an angel's, she realized that all that water she drank was making its presence known and she had to use the bathroom, badly.

She crossed her legs and painfully ordered. "Take me to my apartment." She looked out the tinted window and from where they were, she could see her apartment building. It was a blessing that she lived so close to the fair, for she knew she wouldn't make it other wise.

"But the commander---" The mustached agent was silenced by another stern glare from the blue haired angel. "Ohhhh kaaay..." Fearfully he quickly turned in his seat, tapped on the tinted glass and spoke to the driver. "You heard that boss, take her to her apartment."

Rei smirked because of their quick compliance, then winced when they hit a bump. <idiot!> The driver almost made her pee on herself. So her subordinates wouldn't notice her discomfort, she turned her gaze toward the window and stared desperately at her apartment building. <please just hurry up!!>

~~~~~

When Rei was carried off the stage, the two remaining girls decided to continue the show, for they were basking in the adulation they were receiving from the crowd. How could this be? Two very shy girls prancing around on stage for everyone to see... Well let me tell you. What the class rep and Kimiko didn't know was that Rei had bonded them to her, not with a physical bond that she and Shinji shared; this bond was completely mental. The first child put the two girls in the same uninhibited mental state she was in. The same mental state that stripped the 3rd commander of all her conservative self-restraint, IN PUBLIC! And we all know that Rei doesn't even smile in public, unless it's to Shinji.. and only to Shinji. So, for these same mental walls that always kept the first child in a controlled impassive state to be torn down, the two other girls didn't have a chance in trying to keep their reserve.

That's probably why they screamed and reacted so violently when the bond ended, and they still found themselves on the stage, half dressed, and being ogled by a least a hundred horny guys who were giving them cat calls and telling them to take the rest off!

Luckily for them, the NERV agent that stayed behind walked up on the stage after they ran off. The older man was about to inform the crowd as well as the reporters covering the contest, of what was to be expected and UNACCEPTED concerning this past performance from the three young woman of Moulin Rouge.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Misato finally arrived at Shinji's apartment, she was not prepared for what she saw.

Asuka was sitting on the platform of Shinji's bed and brushing her hair. She was dressed in a beautiful white gown that was too small for her, in more places than one. Torn pictures were strewn around the destroyed room. Glass and blood was everywhere.

The woman looked around to see where all the glass came from. She soon found the source. It came from a huge picture frame that was still on the wall over the bed; although, it was now missing the picture. From the bloodied smudges on the matting, Asuka must have ripped it out.

"If you came for the wedding you missed it."

Katsuragi's gaze shot back to the second child. She could tell by the child's crystal blue eyes that she was not well. Asuka always had a crazed look in her eyes, but now... her eyes revealed that she slipped into a deeper part of the pool of insanity. However, the look in her eyes were now that of child like innocence.

In a wavering voice, the purple haired woman asked "What wedding?"

"Mine and Shinji's" The girl giggled. She stood up and spun around making the dress fan around her.

Misato cupped her hand over her mouth and choked back a sob. This was just to much ...to see Asuka acting like this was... disturbing. She would have rather come to the apartment and saw a raving lunatic than a child in a teen's body.

The pilot stopped twirling when the woman stared crying. "What's wrong?"

The major shook her head to tell her nothing was wrong then wiped away her tears.

"That's good." The girl chimed and gave her a beatific smile. She then titled her head to the side and asked. "How come you didn't come to our wedding?"

The woman didn't respond. She couldn't, for she was holding back her flood gates of tears.

Asuka spun around, reached down and picked up a wrinkled, bloodied piece of parchment paper off the bed. When she did this, it disturbed the broken glass that was mixed within the sheets, cutting her hands again, but she didn't seem to notice. He held up the paper for her guardian.

"I would have wanted you to sign as a witness." She smiled and gestured for her to take the paper. "You're like a mother to me."

Misato coughed back a sob and forced a smile as she hesitantly took the paper. She never knew that Asuka felt that way about her, and if it wasn't for the girl's mental state, she would have never known.

When the major read what the paper actually was, her blood froze in its veins. It truly was a wedding certificate! In pure shock, she yelled out "Rei and Shinji got married?!!" The major could hardly breath. Shinji got married and didn't invite her!!! He didn't even TELL HER!! She was pissed!! That boy was going to get the tongue lashing of a lifetime when she saw him again.

Asuka turned from the woman to retrieve something and spoke in a voice as sweet as honey "Of course not. How could it be Rei's... she's a doll. Dolls can't marry real boys." She shook her head and giggled at the absurdity of Misato's statement.

The major was too lost in her own thoughts to hear what the girl said. <I can't believe that BAKA didn't invite me to his wedding!! ME!! The one who raised him with tender, loving, care!! Me who cooked him homemade delicious meals, and kept him out of harms way!!.... Ohhhh how they forget about you when they leave!! I guess all my love really didn't mean anything to him!.. *sniff sniff* Oh the humanity!!.. *sob* . the INJUSTICE!> Misato was so wrapped up in her own pity party that she didn't even realize that Asuka was standing right in front on her with a pen her hand.

"Misato-san?" Called a sugary sweet voice.

The woman's eyes slowly focused on the jovial red headed girl in front of her. "Y-yes?"

"Here." She gave the woman the pen and smiled warmly. "You can sign it now. We'll just pretend you were there."

The woman nodded, and then to humor the child, she went to sign the paper. Her eyes almost popped out her their sockets and jaw almost hit the ground when she noticed the other two names on the paper "Sh-sh-shimita!" No wonder she wasn't invited! The major glanced at some of the torn pictures, and just as she feared, there were the 1st and 3rd child accompanied with the 1st commander and the 2nd commander in almost all of them. Her breathing started to race and slowly she began to stare at the 2nd child. <do you not know what you've just done!!>

Because of Shinji's and Rei's now destroyed wedding memorabilia, Misato knew that Asuka had just dug a deeper hole for herself, not that it mattered. The hole Asuka had already dug for herself was a grave, so it didn't matter if it was shallow or deep. However, Misato felt a little better knowing that it was she who was given the task to take out the second child. Not because she wanted to do it. Because she didn't. She was just a bit more accepting of the task because by *her* doing it, she can ensure that Asuka felt no pain and that the girl wouldn't be tortured to make a point. Unlike the fate of Ritsuko.

Asuka patiently stood in front the major with the sweetest smile on her face. She was waiting for Misato to sign the certificate.

Misato knew that if she hesitated any longer, she wasn't going to be able to follow through with the command. So, she looked away from the child and at the paper she held in her hands. She noticed how Rei's name hand been scratched out and Asuka had written her name over it. Misato couldn't stop her tear form streaming down her cheeks as she began to convince herself that by doing this... <this is the best for you Asuka.... anyone else will hurt you on purpose..... even if I tried to hide you .. Ikari will find you ...a life on the run is no life to live.... and you wouldn't want to live with your insanity anyway.. I know this.. you've told me this..... >

When tears started to pour down the woman's cheeks, Asuka poked out her bottom lip and gently tried to wipe the tears away. "What's wrong?"

The girl's voice was so sweet that if Misato didn't already know for sure that it was the second child, she would have sworn it was someone else. Misato sniffed out "M-my pen doesn't work."

The pilot brightened up, hearing that what was bothering her guardian could be easily fixed. She spun on her heals and ran across the room and over the shredded furniture to fetch the woman another pen.

When Asuka was on the other side of the small room and had her back facing her guardian, Misato pulled out her gun and pointed at her charge. <I'm so sorry Asuka... but.. trust me... it's better this way>

The major didn't entirely believe that but she hoped that one day... she would.

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

Shinji stood in the middle of a very crowded part of the fair. He was close to the roller coaster so there were tons of people around, thus making him loose track of the bastard AGAIN!!

He took a deep breath and calmed himself. For the past two years, he was not only trained to be a better pilot, he was also being trained to be an assassin as well. He never thought that he would actually use those skills, but he was now glad that he was forced to acquire them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man. Like a flash, the pilot ran toward the man's direction.

The bastard almost had a heart attacked when he noticed Shinji once again behind him, then shot off like a bolt of lightening after he regained some of his composer. The hired gun was running for his life, so he was making reckless choices. One of them was that he tried to escape the wrath of the young Ikari by running through the rails of an active roller coaster.

The third child was running after the man who shot his wife. He had the sole intent on ripping the guys heart out with his bare hands. So he too was making reckless death-defying decisions.... like running after the man through the rails of an active roller coaster. The pilot didn't even realize how much danger he put himself in. He didn't even realize it when his foot got caught in between the rails and was only able to free himself a few seconds before he was almost hit with the coaster car. However, everyone on the ride, at that time, knew the danger he was in and more than one person had a heart attack during that ride.

When the man reached the back gates, he climbed up it, jumped over it, and landing wrong, breaking his ankle. But did that stop him? Nooo. He kept running. He wasn't stupid.

With inhuman speed and grace, the third child climbed over the fence and landed like a cat ready to pounce. Shinji glared at the man and was about to chase him when the unexpected happened.

The man got hit by a car, (a limo) slid across the hood, and slammed against the front window. Hard.

Shinji didn't hesitate, he was over there in less than a second. By the neck, the boy dragged the man off the hood of the automobile , slammed him hard against the ground, and began to beat the holly hell out of him.

"Hiretsukan!!!!" Was what the pilot screamed as his fist connected repeatedly with the man's face. Then when he stood up and started kicking the already injured man in the ribs, he screamed "Yaro!!!!" Then when he straddled the man waist and started choking the life out of him, he screamed "Shine !!!!"

The man choked out with tears streaming out his bulging eyes. "Gomen nasai.."

Shinji spat out "Too_F*cking_ Late!!!" as he increased the pressure on the man's neck.

The man used the last of his strength and tried to peal the boy's fingers from his neck. His attempts only made the pilot angrier and increase the pressure.

"I'm going to kill you!!!" Shinji screamed as he tightened his grip. "Kill you f*cking DEAD!!!"

An awed "Shimatta" was heard from behind.

Shinji ignored the person and continued with his task.

A hand was gently placed on the boy's shoulder.

The pilot didn't relax his grip around the man's neck, but he did turn his head to see who had the nerve to disturb him while he committed his act of vengeance. He was surprise to see

"Father"

The commander smirked proudly and held out his gun to his son. "It's quicker this way."

Shinji's eyes widened when he looked at the beautiful porcelain weapon, and for the first time since he started his chase, he thought about what he was actually going to do... what he *was* doing. He looked at the man and a vision clouded his sight... no a memory blocked his eyes from seeing what was actually going on . The memory was of <Asuka>

The man's head seemed to have enlarged a bit. It was beet red and thick red veins in the man's eyes were clearly visual as he gasped his last breath of air.

Shinji let go of the man's neck as if he had just touched fire, then quickly scooted away from the man and stood up. He wanted to kill this man but not like this. It reminded him too much of what he tried to do to his *ex*.

The commander was disappointed when Shinji changed his intent, but he hid his disappointment successfully.

The man put a soothing grasp on his neck and swallowed huge gulps of air. "Arigato.."

"For what?" the commander asked cruelly.

The man's eyes widened and he answered meekly... hopefully "...For... sparing my life"

Shinji eyes narrowed and his top lip slightly curled up. Whatever gave the man that idiotic idea was beyond him. <spare his life? how absurd> That bastard shot his wife! SHOT HIS WIFE!!! Rei was, HIS MOON, HIS WORLD, HIS UNIVERSE!!!! That bastard tried to take HIS REASON FOR LIVING away from him.

Shinji's voice mirrored his fathers in cruelness. "Spare you life... I don't think so." The boy held his hand out for the beautiful weapon.

Gendo gave his son a surprised, proud, very proud, smirk and he placed the handle to his specially made gun in the palm of the boys hand.

The man looked fearfully at the two Ikaris and scrambled on the ground as he tried to scoot away. "Please..." the man begged and started to cry hysterically.

"Stop crying and die like a man." Gendo commanded mirthfully. The commander was happy. Ecstatic even. Finally, after all these years, he and Shinji were finally bonding! He looked at his son with huge grin and mentally chimed <that's MY boy!!>

"Please...." The man cried harder.. "Please.. you cant to do this"

Shinji gave a smirk that would make his father proud. Actually, it did make his farther proud, and through that smirk vengeance sang out through the boy's voice. "Watch me."

Shinji pulled the trigger.

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

I still don't own anything that deals with Evangelion

I love ya lots I really really do ^_~

Kimberly