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Long


August 21, 2015 entry:

      It has been three days since the last battle with the sixteenth Angel
and the death of the First Child, Ayanami Rei.  No one has taken this turn of
events more seriously than Ranma.  As long as I've known him, he had always
seemed to be filled with energy and had a carefree attitude in life, even in
the worse situations.  That had all changed with the demise of the First
Child.  He has withdrawn into a shell that is very similar to the one Ikari
Shinji had been hiding behind until recently.  

	Ranma finally left his room yesterday.  From his looks, I would say that he
had not eaten for the past 48 hours.  He wouldn't even touch food I brought
him.  His carefree attitude is gone.  The reason for his depression and change
was not only due to the fact that he blamed himself for her death but also, in
my opinion, because the First and Fifth Child had a relationship.   I could
classify what they felt for each other in one word, love.  I would have
intervened, had I known.  It's never a good idea to create a relationship in
the heat of battle because we never know if we'll return alive, as Ranma found
out the hard way.  I hope everything works out for him.  He has been having
nightmares of her death constantly.  I don't know what to expect when Ranma
meets Rei III.

* * * * *

	Inside a small Japanese bedroom, a young man was tossing around in his sleep.
He was having a nightmare that just didn't seem to want to leave him in peace.

* * * 

	"Rei!" a boy shouted, seeing the creature/Angel streaking towards her.  

	The girl turned to the boy, smiling, "Thank you for everything," she mouthed
before being impaled from the front and on through the back.  With a great
deal of will power she grabbed onto the Angel that was in the shape of a
double helix.  A few moments later, the Eva, she was piloting, detonated.  She
had activated the self-destruct sequence.

	Pounding his hands on the metal plug that was currently housing him, the boy
desperately wanted to get out of this machine and see if she had some how
survived.  

* * * 

	As the nightmare continued, a glow started to emanate from within himself,
outlining his body.  "No!" Ranma yelled, shooting up into a sitting position,
wide awake.

	"Ranma, are you okay?" a voice called out.  Entering was an older lady with
short blond hair.  Her face had a look of concern on it.

	Nodding his head, "I'm alright, Ritsuko.  Thanks."

	"Same dream?"

	"Yes.  I just can't seem to get that scene out of my head."

	"You couldn't have done anything."

	"..."  *I'm not a pilot.  I'm a martial artist but the only thing that can
hurt those creatures are the Evas.  Maybe if I was stronger?  I'm so sorry,
Rei.* Ranma thought, not paying any attention to Ritsuko or the moment she
left.    

	"Get some more rest, okay?" she continued, hoping the silence was his way of
accepting the truth.  Turning around, she left Ranma and returned to her room.

* * * * *

      Ritsuko had returned to her room and was now sitting in front of her
desk.  The only source of light was from a lamp situated to her right.  She
was the only one up this night.  Ranma was in bed and her other ward was dead.
Next to her hands was a spiral notebook.  On the cover there was a Nerv logo
and the following heading: 


Saotome Ranma
Designated Fifth Child
Pilot of Evangelion Unit 04

Guardian's Entry Log


She was currently writing in Ranma's progress report for the day.  This had
become one of her duties ever since she received Ranma as her ward.  


August 25, 2015

      Today Ranma handed me a package.  He told me not to read it unless he
started to act very strange.  He mentioned something called the Nekoken.  When
I looked it up in my computer, I couldn't find a single clue as to what it
was, though I have a hunch that it's some kind of martial arts style.  Ranma
has gotten better.  Although he hasn't fully recovered, he isn't that
depressed anymore.  He is still haunted by Ayanami's death though.  


August 28, 2015

	He seems more determined lately.  Last night he asked me what effected the
sync ratio of pilot to Eva the most.  I told him that it was mostly mental.
Today he has this strange look on his face and fire in his eyes.  I've only
seen that look once.  The first time was when my mother started to work on the
Magi.  Poor Kaji.  He has more bruises now than ever before.  I discovered
Ranma meditating, lotus position, on the roof.  He seems to be doing it more
often.  I also got word from Commander Ikari that the revival of Rei III will
be postpone to a later date.  I don't know the real reason but I can guess
part of it.  There are only two Angels left.  Wonder what will happen to Ranma
after everything is said and done.  


	Closing the book, Ritsuko rubbed her eyes, a little tired.  "I should be use
to working late," she mumbled to herself.  

	Stretching and yawning, Ritsuko got up and started to head over to the patio.
She needed some fresh air.  Exiting from her room and closing the door behind
her, she approached the patio only to stop, surprised at seeing Ranma
meditating.     

	*So he could sleep, either.* she thought.

	Ranma was so deep in meditation that he didn't notice someone watching him.
*Mental.  Piloting a Eva is more mental than physical.  Must concentrate.* he
chanted in his head.      

	Watching a few minutes longer, Ritsuko was about to leave when something
caught her eyes.  "Ara!!" she exclaimed.  She couldn't believe what she was
seeing.  In front of her, Ranma was starting to glow.  It was dim at first but
started to get brighter.  Soon, her ward was bathed in a greenish energy.  She
could describe it in a few words.  The unknown energy that was emanating from
Ranma was like water in many ways.  It caressed him but also flowed over his
form.  She had seen the tape but witnessing it in person was more exciting.
Making a mental not to ask him later about it, she headed to bed.  She needed
some sleep.   

	Alone, no one noticed that the boy who was bathed in an aura of green energy
started to float.  Not even the boy himself.      

* * * * *

	Waking up to the smell of breakfast, Ritsuko got dressed and headed outside,
determined to get some answers about last night.

	"Morning, Ritsuko."

	"Morning, Ranma."

	"Breakfast to ready and sitting on the table," Ranma said, getting ready for
school.    

	"Before you go, I was wondering about last night."  Seeing the look of
confusion, "I saw you meditating outside, on the porch." she continued.

	"Oh.  Did I do something wrong?" Ranma asked, still confused.

	"You were glowing green."

	"Uhhh, glowing?  It might have been the moon or something.  Yeah, that's it!"
Ranma stammered a bit, trying to answer her question.  Seeing Ritsuko was
about to ask another one, he ran out the door.  "See you later!"

	Smiling, "Don't think you can get away from answering the question!" she
shouted after him. 

* * * * *

      Staring at the empty seat of one Ayanami Rei, Ranma couldn't help but
feel that it was partly his fault that Rei had died, trying to save him.  Had
he been able to pilot his Eva, Rei wouldn't have had to sacrificed herself to
protect him.

      It was the first time many of the students saw the pigtailed youth back
in school.  The girls rejoiced while the male population steamed.  Although
many knew that Ranma had the hots for Rei, they thought that a person like Rei
wouldn't be able to hold Ranma's interest for long and so they all waited.
Unknown to all of them was the death of one of their classmates, a certain
girl who they never really gotten to know.

      *Ritsuko said that piloting an Eva is more mental than anything else,*
Ranma thought.  For the past few days, Ranma had been meditating, something
that he found helped him a lot back in Nerima.  Slowly, Ranma concentrated on
the other aspect of martial arts that he had taken for granted with his great
learning curve, the mental side.  Combat had always been so easy.  All he had
to do was fight an opponent, analyze their style and find a weak spot or
counter move.  Ranma knew he was good yet he always thought that anyone who
had been practicing martial arts as long as he had would be able to do it as
well.  It had taken three years with multiple fianc�es, fights with the likes
of Ryouga, Mousse, Taro, Herb, Saffron and many others to realized that not
everyone was like him.  His schooling had gone down because he was always too
busy with practicing and finding a way to win his next fight that he was
always too tired to pay attention in class.  Any other thoughts were thrown
out the window when an eraser smacked him in the head.  

      "Saotome, pay attention." the teacher lectured.

      "Hai," Ranma replied.

      The classroom was momentarily filled with laugher and giggles.  

	"Hey Asuka, where has Ranma been the last couple of days?" Hikari asked.

	"That baka hasn't left Ritsuko's apartment for the past week," was Asuka's
reply.  

	"I've never seen him so down before." Hikari stated.  She was more used to
the boy who would joke around with friends yet blush when the topic of girls
came up.  At first she was tempted to ask him out but she had Toji and someday
she'll make him realize it.  "So where is Ayanami?" she asked.

	"The baka is just mad because he did horrible in piloting his Eva," Asuka
continued.  "And you know Rei.  Always missing class." she lied through her
teeth.  It had been unsettling.  She knew it wasn't a game.  They had almost
lost Shinji a couple of times but until recently no one she knew died.  It
made her aware of the danger she was in and also depressed her a bit that it
took Rei's life to make her realize it.  

	"Oh.  So what do you want to do after school?" Hikari asked.

	"Shopping!" Asuka replied.  If she was busy enough, she might not think about
Rei's fate.

	Across the room, "Ranma is really depressed." Kensuke stated. 

	"I've never seen him like this." Toji chipped in.

	"So what happened?" Kensuke asked eagerly.

	Shinji just sat there, not saying a word.  He didn't want to lie to his best
friends but he also couldn't tell them the truth, so he kept quiet.  Taking a
glance at Ranma, he prayed that the pigtailed youth would snap out of it soon.
After a moment, Shinji's thought turned back to Rei.  Even though he had only
known the quiet girl for a short period of time, she had been a friend and
fellow pilot.  In a way, Shinji felt more than friendship for Rei.  *Rei,*
Shinji thought.

* * * * *

	"Ryoji Kaji, what have you to report with the child known as Saotome Ranma?"
a large, black, rectangular block with the number 01 asked the man sitting
within a modern day representation of Stonehenge.

	"So far, the Fifth Child have shown no real signs of improvement in regards
to synchronization with his Eva, yet I feel he has enormous hidden potential."
Kaji informed leading member of Steele.  *I have the bruises to prove it.
Also I've seen his true power once, when he lost control.  What powers do you
have, Ranma, that lets you glow?* he thought.

	"Is that all?" 02 asked.

	"Recently, Ayanami Rei was killed by Armisael, the 16th Angel.  The Fifth
Child, deems it his fault and fallen into a state of depression." Kaji
continued.  

	"That is unacceptable.  Do what you can to help him out of it and see what
you can learn in the process.  We'll need more information to determine how he
will fit into our plans." 01 ordered.

	Nodding his head, "I'll get right on it," Kaji accepted his orders.     

	"Excellent!" 01 said and disappeared.  Seconds later all of the other
rectangular slabs did the same.

	"That always gives me the creeps," Kaji muttered to no one. 

To be continued