Misato's Predicament



(A NGE fic)



By Lara Bartram and Ammadeau



(lara@emunix.emich.edu and roy.fokker@unspacy.org)



***



     "What? You're afraid because she might have checked you 

out?"



     Misato stared glumly at her food, her silence being the only 

answer Kaji needed.



     "Misato," he began gently, "you're a very attractive woman. 

Anyone who appreciates the female form is going to give you the 

once over."



     "But I didn't room with most people, dammit! I didn't 

change in front of most people, and I sure as hell didn't get naked--

"



     "I get the point; no need to shout. I'm just saying that 

there's really no difference between, if she even _is_ a lesbian, 

Ritsuko and a guy looking at you."



     Misato still looked uncomfortable.



     "She's never hit on you, has she?"



     "No."



     "Then what is there to worry about?"



     "I dunno. It's like she lied to me. For all this time, she lied 

to me about it. Not only is it weird, it's like..."



     "Like she betrayed you?"



     "Exactly!"



     "Now, Misato, what would have said if she had come out 

and told?"



     Misato frowned.



     "And maybe she wasn't even sure. Did you think about 

that?"



     "Well... no."



     "Don't take all this out on her. Besides, wouldn't you be 

flattered if someone as good looking as Ritsuko hit on you?" he 

asked in a conspiratorial whisper.



     "Well, yeah, I... Hey!" Misato turned on Kaji and hit his 

arm. "Bastard! What was that supposed to mean?"



     "Just having you consider some things," he answered, 

grinning. "I didn't mean anything by it, baby."



     "Go to hell."



     The thing was, Misato would have been flattered. She 

wasn't sure why though since she didn't find guys checking her out 

flattering in the least. Then again, they were usually jerks and 

scumbags.



     The major rolled over in her bed and closed her eyes. The 

idea that Ritsuko was possibly gay... It had never occurred to her 

before all this. Sure, sometimes Misato thought her friend was a bit 

odd and unlucky with men, but that didn't make her gay.  Just... a 

woman with an unsatisfactory love life.



     Sighing softly, Misato got down to the serious business of 

trying to sleep.



***



     The next day, she was graced at lunch time with the 

presence of not only Kaji, but Ritsuko and Aoba Shigeru as well. 

When had she become the social center of lunch?



     That was not quite correct though. While the others were 

sharing her table, they seemed content to hold a conversation 

without any of her input. That was fine with her.  It gave her a 

chance to continue to think about things, even if she got answers 

she didn't want to consider.



     That was when it happened. While sipping her tea and 

observing Ritsuko eating a piece of chicken, the thought made 

itself known: what would it be like to kiss her?



     What would it be like to kiss her with Kaji watching in an 

intimate setting? If Aoba was there too? Would it be so much 

different than kissing a man?  Sure, Ritsuko's mouth looked a bit 

smaller, her lips softer and skin smoother, but really?



     "Misato? Hello?" Kaji waved his hand in front of her face.



     And if Ritsuko was that way, would she return it? Did she 

find Misato attractive? It wouldn't be so bad, would it? A kiss was 

only a kiss; it wasn't sex. A kiss didn't make someone that way or 

mean they were, right? Of course, if she caught Kaji kissing a man, 

she'd probably think something very much like that.



     Misato coughed on her tea when an odd image of Kaji and 

the commander popped into her head. She'd probably faint right 

there on the spot.  Or laugh.



     Dabbing at her mouth with a napkin, Misato's eyes moved 

down from Ritsuko's mouth to her slender neck, then to her 

shoulder where the faintest outline of the bra was visible. Her eyes 

were drawn inexplicably to her friend's bosom. Of course, she had 

seen breasts beside her own before, but this was the first time she 

had ever really considered them.



     Consciously. A frown crossed her face. Maybe she had, but 

had never recognized the significance of such thoughts.



     A quick glance at the public bath comparing size, moments 

she could remember when she was younger, noting the differences 

between her own and others, but it had all been innocent curiosity, 

hadn't it?  The way her eyes were on Ritsuko's breasts, it certainly 

wasn't innocent curiosity.



     Oh, but it was definitely curiosity. Curiosity of a different 

kind.



     A sick feeling bubbled up in Misato's stomach that she 

didn't want to consider the source of. It could be something she ate, 

or it could be something to do with the familiar urges she was 

picking up on. It... couldn't be. It just couldn't. She refused to 

believe it.



     And what... what would it be like to... Misato squirmed in 

her chair.  Maybe it was just a matter of--



     Just nothing! That wasn't something she was interested in at 

all!  Misato had always been interested in guys. End of story.



     She watched Ritsuko drink her coffee and wondered how it 

would feel, how different it would be. What those fingers, rough 

from and callused from all her work on the MAGI, would feel like 

in the most sensitive areas...



     But Misato Katsuragi wasn't like that. No way. She 

squirmed more as her mind refused to let it go. What would it be 

like to kiss her?



***



     Misato slumped into her apartment, her body on automatic 

as her mind busily picked away at her current dilemma like a scab 

she couldn't stop tugging at.



     Open door, walk through door, mumbled salutations to 

Shinji and Asuka, grab beer out of fridge, open beer, sample beer, 

entered room, slam door shut behind her.



     "Do you think something's the matter with Misato?" Shinji 

asked Asuka a few minutes later.   They were idly watching TV 

while doing their homework, or rather Asuka was flipping the 

channels while Shinji struggled with his assignment.  The college 

graduate had already finished her work and refused to help him.



     Asuka shrugged, not looking up from the TV.  "She went 

straight to the beer like she always does.  What do you mean, 

Shinji?"



     "I don't know," Shinji replied as he struggled mentally for 

the reason he had spoken in the first place.  Maybe he was only 

trying to break up the silence.  "She seemed different somehow.  

Like she had a problem."



     Finally turning around to face him, Asuka snorted and said, 

"You should be focusing on your own problems.  I can't believe 

you're not even half done yet."



     Shinji sighed and went back to his homework.



***



     Misato lay slumped on her futon, crumpled beer can still 

clutched in her hand as she stared up at the ceiling.  It was really 

strange, but she just couldn't stop thinking about Ritsuko.



     The woman had been her roommate for how long?  In all 

that time, she was sure she would have picked up on Ritsuko being 

attracted to her, but then again Misato knew that she wasn't the 

most observant person in the world. Though there was the 

possibility that her old friend had only realized her interest herself 

after they had parted.  Nothing like absence to make the heart grow 

stronger, or something like that.



     Misato had realized how much she missed her old 

roommate when they finally met once again, though she did 

remember their reunion to be strangely awkward... When she had 

given her old friend a hug, Ritsuko had acted startled, almost 

embarrassed, to be seen in public like that.



     Misato rolled over and breathed into her pillow, idly 

wondering with Ritsuko's lips would be as soft before she caught 

herself.  She wasn't gay, Kaji was proof enough of that; he was 

enough to make any woman swear off on the male gender forever.  

Still, now that the thought had been planted in her head, she 

couldn't stop thinking about it.  The unsatisfied curiosity continued 

to nag at her until she didn't know what to do.



     Then she had it.  She needed more beer.



***



     Shinji eyed Misato's room as the door suddenly slid open 

and Misato herself emerged, moving in a shuffling gait like a 

zombie as she made her way to the refrigerator and retrieved a six 

pack of beer.  Holding the shiny aluminum cans close to her 

bosom, she shuffled back to her room and slammed the door 

closed.  The entire time her eyes had a zoned out look like a 

sleepwalker.



     "First you beg me to help you with your homework, now 

you're not even paying attention!  Dummkopf!" Asuka raged at 

him, wielding a sharpened pencil in a threatening manner.



     Shinji sighed yet again and went back to Asuka's lecture.  

He had only asked her for a little help , but it seemed she wanted to 

teach the course herself.  He was sure that whatever problem his 

guardian might have, unlike him, she could handle it.



     Beer had taken the edge off of Misato's anxiety, but at the 

same time seemed to fuel her interest.  She just had to know what 

kissing Ritsuko was like; she wouldn't be able to rest until she was 

finally able to satisfy her curiosity.



     *I mean, one kiss was hardly a pledge of lesbianism, 

right?*  She had seen close female friends kiss all the time, though 

never on the mouth.  If she did, she would have thought them...



     Besides, what if this was all in her head?  What if she 

moved to kiss her old friend, and she recoiled in horror?  That 

would make dealing with her every day a bit difficult.  Or worse, 

what if Ritsuko took it to mean much more than Misato intended it 

to, a declaration of love that the doctor was eager to return?  Either 

scenario filled Misato with a sick dread, but it wasn't enough to 

dampen her rampant curiosity.



***



     The next day at NERV, Misato sat and mumbled to herself.  

Her sleep, when she got any,  had been fitful at best.  She just 

hadn't been able to get satisfactory sleep with these questions on 

her mind, and the terrible and worrying curiosity.



     She sipped her tea, wishing it was a beer, and rocked gently 

in her chair.  Her mutterings were laced with the occasional curse 

word, but other than that, she appeared to be the average street 

loony.



     This curiosity was quickly becoming an obsession, which 

only made her feel worse about the entire thing.  When this person 

or that person passed her, she stared.  Sometimes it was at their 

legs, sometimes chest, sometimes their mouth.  Man or woman, it 

didn't matter.  Though maybe her eyes lingered a little longer on 

the women.



     "Major, is there a problem?"



     Misato startled in her chair and almost spilled her tea.  

"Huh? What?" she asked intelligently as she fumbled with the cup 

and set it down someplace more safe than her hand.



     "I asked if there was a problem."



     Swiveling in her chair, head swiveling on her neck, Misato 

looked up at the sub-commander.  "Uh..."



     "You're not looking well."



     "Um..."



     "Are you sick?"



     "Well..."



     "Why don't you go home?"



     "No!"



     The sub-commander stared at her.



     "I mean...  I'm just feeling a little under the weather, and 

there's some things I need to get done today."  She offered him a 

weak, apologetic smile.



     "Ah."  With nothing more of any significance to say, 

Fuyutsuki simply nodded and went about his business.



     Misato watched him until he was gone and wondered, for a 

brief moment of respite from the nagging curiosity about lesbian 

kisses, just what his business _was_.  What did Commander Ikari 

have him do all day?  For a brief moment, she was ready to call out 

to him, but probably for the better, he disappeared before she 

could.



     She sighed.  "Damn you, Kaji.  This is never going to leave 

me alone now."



     "What isn't?"



     Misato sat straight up in her chair.  "Uh... nothing."



     Ritsuko sipped her coffee while she eyed Misato.  "Is it?"



     "Yeah.  I was just talking to myself."  Misato laughed a 

little. "You know how I am."  She winced hearing those words 

come out of her mouth.



     "I know how you can be..."



     Misato winced again.



     "Just what is your problem?"



     "Nothing!" Misato snapped, and regretted it immediately.  

This was silly, something so small to be getting upset over.  "It's 

just a bug.  I'm feeling a little... off."



     "Ah."



     Misato stared into her tea.  There was no one else around, 

things were quiet.  This would be the perfect chance to ask her, or 

at least possibly breach the subject.    But what would she say?  

How would she phrase it?  Would she be slapped?  "Hey, 

Ritsuko?"



     "Yes?"



     "Mind if I ask you something?"



     "Go ahead."



     "It's kind of... personal?"



     Ritsuko shrugged.



     "Well, have you ever...  I mean, did you consider...  When 

we roomed together..."



     "Just spit it out, Misato!"



     "Are you g--"



     "Sempai!"



     Ritsuko looked at the new arrival.  "What is it, Maya?"



     Misato observed the two carefully.  Ritsuko was her usual 

self: calm and collected.  Maya was... different.  She seemed 

anxious and... slightly out of breath.  Odd.  Maybe she had run up 

from wherever she had been. Ritsuko nodded at appropriate 

moments as she listened to the eager-sounding woman speak.  

Misato had never noticed Maya act like this before; it was strange.



     "Yes, that could be a problem.  Thanks for letting me know 

right away.  Misato, I'll talk to you later."  Ritsuko gave her a curt 

nod and walked off.



     That look on Maya's face... it was almost like someone had 

told her she had won the lottery.



     After a moment, Maya followed, not looking once at 

Misato.



     Maybe she could try this differently.  A note perhaps.  That 

would be relatively anonymous, but not.  It would get the point 

across without Misato having to embarrass herself right to her 

friend's face.  She nodded to herself.  Yes, this was a plan.



     She procured herself a piece of paper and a pen, and started 

to write.



***



     *Good, nobody else home.*



     Misato slumped against the door of her apartment, as if the 

fate of the entire world rested upon her shoulders.  Though for 

once her current worry had nothing to do with work.  Instead, she 

took a crumpled up note out of her pocket, and with a sigh, 

reluctantly unfolded it.



     It began innocently enough with 'Dear Ritsuko,' but that 

was scratched out.  Beneath it said 'Ritsuko,' which was similarly 

crossed out.  Then she had written 'Dr. Akagi," but once again, she 

had crossed it out.  None of them seemed appropriate to start this 

very delicate letter out with.  She had even tried something a little 

looser, writing 'Hey Ritchan, what's up?'  That was buried under a 

mass of black scribbles though and was illegible.



     Misato never thought that writing a simple note could be so 

difficult.  She couldn't even get the thing started.



     Maybe it would be easier if she could stop thinking about it 

so much.  She needed something to distract her, to keep her from 

worrying too much about writing the wrong thing.  Spying the 

television out of the corner of her eye, she smiled.  What could be 

more mind-numbing than a little TV?



     Dropping onto the couch, Misato switched on the TV as she 

set out a sharp pencil and a new sheet of paper on the table before 

her.  With the buzz of the local news in the background, it should 

be relatively easy for someone of her abilities to compose a simple 

note.  Smiling confidently, she picked up the pencil and began.



***



     "I don't understand why you're so mad, Asuka," Shinji 

commented as he slipped off his shoes.



     "Of course you don't understand, stupid Shinji.  You're not 

a girl," his fellow EVA pilot and 'definitely not his date' raged back 

at him.  "Though with you it's sometimes hard to tell."



     Shinji frowned, wondering why she had chosen him as the 

target of her near-constant abuse.  Then he noticed his guardian 

lying on the floor in front of the TV.  She didn't seem to be paying 

much attention to it though as she wrote out something at the speed 

of a child learning his kanji for the first time.  Welcome for any 

change of subject, he walked over to her.



     Asuka fumed to find herself now ranting at thin air and 

stomped over to Shinji, planning on telling him just what she 

thought about being ignored.  That was when she noticed her 

purple-haired roommate on the floor. "Hey, Misato, what are you 

writing?"



     *snap*  "Nothing!" Misato quickly insisted as she 

discarded the remainder of her pencil and crumpled up her half-

written note.  Startled, she looked up to see the two children 

looming over her with curious expressions.  So focused on the task 

at hand, she hadn't even heard them walk in.



     "Do you need a new pencil?" Shinji asked helpfully.



     "No, no, I'm fine!" Misato replied nervously as she leapt to 

her feet and began to back away from them, the balled-up note 

hidden behind her back.  With a sickly smile plastered to her face, 

she ducked into her room and slammed the door shut behind her.



     "What the heck was that about?" Asuka asked her 

professional and social inferior with wide eyes.



     Shinji shrugged.  "I have no--"



     Just then, the door to Misato's room was flung open, a 

purple and brown blur flew to the refrigerator, and back to the 

room, all before the children could blink.



     Asuka sighed.  "I think the pressure has finally gotten to 

her."



***



     Misato sat before her desk, staring blearily at the half dozen 

or so half-completed notes.  She had decided to write the body of a 

bunch of them first, choose the best one, and then worry about how 

to address it.  The problem was, that for some reason or another, 

she couldn't finish any of them.



     There was 'I've been watching you,' or 'I can't stop thinking 

about you,' and even 'I've been wondering lately what it would be 

like to kiss you.'  She wanted to express what she was currently 

going through, but all of her thoughts and feelings just weren't 

coming out clearly on the page. Ritsuko would think she was nuts, 

if she could understand them at all.



     Misato took another sip of lukewarm beer.  Her sixth of the 

evening, seventh if she counted the small bottle of whiskey she had 

used up after writing a particularly blunt note.  That could be the 

reason she was having so much trouble thinking clearly.



     *I think I'll just take a little nap to clear my head,* Misato 

thought with a smile as she slumped forward and passed out.



***



     Hands caressed her naked skin, their touch both familiar 

and unfamiliar.  They were soft and teasing, the light contact 

arousing her all the more as one hand slipped down to her right 

thigh while the other gently held her by the waist, drawing her 

closer.  Lips appeared before her; soft, red, and inviting.  She tilted 

her head up to meet them with her own...



     "Wha?" Misato slurred as her eyes blinked open, absently 

noting the sight of Asuka violently shaking her, the red-head's eyes 

wide in alarm. "What is it?"



     Asuka stared back at her some moments before answering, 

"You're late for work."



     Misato slowly tilted her head to look at her clock, then 

jumped out of her chair with sudden burst of energy.  "Shit!  I'm 

late!" she shouted as she grabbed a random selection of clothes off 

the floor and dashed out of her bedroom and into the bathroom.



     Asuka still stood as if frozen to the spot.  For a moment 

there, when the major's half-lidded gaze had first turned towards 

her, she could have sworn Misato had tried to kiss her.



     *Nah, had to be my imagination.*



***



     "Shinji, be a dear and grab the papers from my room," 

Misato muttered as she slipped on her shoes while tugging on her 

jacket with her teeth.  She was in a rush to get to work as fast as 

she possibly could, but would be in even worse shape if she forgot 

those reports.



     "Sure, Misato."  Shinji was in a good mood since Asuka 

had class duties today and he didn't.  This meant he'd have a 

peaceful walk to school for once.



     *Geez, what a mess,* the pilot of Unit-01 thought with a 

frown as he glanced around his guardian's bedroom.  Clothes and 

other assorted items were scattered all over the place.  He nearly 

tripped over one of the many crumpled beer cans.  *How can 

anyone live in such a mess?*



     There were a flurry of assorted papers thrown all over 

Misato's desk, some lying nearby on the floor.  He quickly 

gathered them all up in a neat pile, shuffling them quickly.  No 

way to tell which she needed, but with her in such a rush, he was 

sure she wouldn't mind just taking all of them.



     "Thanks, Shinji!" Misato said with a smile before flying out 

the door in the direction of the elevator.  The thought that she was 

forgetting something briefly nagged at her, but she ignored it.  

Whatever it was, it could wait until she got to work.



***



     Even at NERV, with all the work she had, it nagged her.  

The question nagged her, the possibilities nagged her, the... 

physical implications nagged her to embarrassing ends.  It just 

wouldn't go away.



     With an annoyed sighed, she dropped her stack of reports 

on the desk of the woman who would put all the materials together 

for the next meeting.  If she had her way, Misato would have 

replaced the meetings with a far less formal luncheon so people 

could actually relax a little.  Did they really need to sit in those 

uncomfortable chairs and dick around with minutes and all just to 

hear that there was no new information for them to know?



     Invariably, her mind would wander during those meeting, 

and then what was she getting out them?  Nothing.  And it would 

be even worse when her wandering mind turned to Ritsuko and... 

bad things happened.  She wouldn't be able to leave in the middle, 

and people would notice if she got too antsy.



     She had approximately four hours to try to work all the 

kissing nonsense out of her brain, get some food, and--



     "Hey, babe."



     --get rid of Kaji before the meeting.  Misato already felt 

unprepared, and none of this was helping.  "Go away, Kaji.  I've 

got too much work to do today."



     "You've been working too hard, that's what your problem 

is.  Why don't we just go back to my place after work and I'll give 

a one my own special massages," Kaji offered, sitting on the corner 

of the desk.  "Doesn't that sound like just the--"



     "No.  Now run along so I can finish this up."



     Frustrated, but not showing it, by Misato's lack of response 

to his charm, Kaji just smiled.  "All right, but you don't know what 

you're missing."



     With a roll of her eyes, Misato sent Kaji on his way.  That 

took less time than she anticipated.  Now only three hours and fifty 

minutes until the meeting.



***



     Whistling to herself, Miko Tekawa returned to her desk and 

noted the pile of reports there.  Major Katsuragi had dropped hers 

off with an uncommon amount of time to spare this week.  

Amazing.



     She gathered the stack up, straightened all the loose papers, 

and went about the matter of putting them, and all the others, 

together into a series of insanely thick staff reports that 

encompassed the goings on of the past week at NERV.  It all 

seemed like a huge waste of paper to her, but... that wasn't her 

concern.



     There were reports from Dr. Akagi, Major Katsuragi, 

Ichikada in engineering, Dr. Kida in medical, smaller all-green 

reports from the other various departments, and even one from 

Sub-commander Fuyutsuki.  Miko yawned as she compiled the 

mass reports.



     What a dull, dull job.



***



     Misato stifled one last yawn.  The meeting was almost 

over.  It was approaching two hours and there was only one person 

left, thank goodness.  And the sub-commander was always brief, a 

bit of mercy on her sanity.  She sat up straight and tried to look 

alert as Fuyutsuki stood.



     "I think we've been here long enough," he began, noting the 

dazed looks on most of the faces their, "so I'll keep it short."  He 

flipped through the compiled reports, trying to find his own amidst 

all the shuffled papers.  "The budget for this quarter," he said, 

flipping through page after page, "is right about where..."



     Everyone waited while he trailed off into silence, 

apparently staring at one of the pages.



     "The budget... is..."  He stared at the page, his eyes reading 

over the words again and again.  They flicked up and looked at the 

people gathered at the table, then back at the page.  "Er..."  He 

wiped his forehead on his sleeve and tugged at the collar of his 

uniform.  "Is it warm in here?"



     There were various shakes of heads, every face showing 

confusion now.



     "Well, I guess..."  He licked his lips, glancing at every 

person watching him.  "Budget is on target.  That's all.  

Dismissed."  Fuyutsuki gathered his papers up quickly, then 

hurried out of the conference room before anyone else was even 

out of their seat.



     "What was that all about?"



     Misato almost jumped in the air at the voice so close to her 

ear.  "Wha?!"



     Ritsuko took a startled step back at the outburst, almost 

dropping her own pile of papers.  "What is wrong with you lately, 

Misato?  Why are you so touchy?"



     Misato shook her head, grabbing all her things in one 

messy pile.  "I've gotta go," was all she would answer before 

walking away quickly.



     After those two quick exits, the rest of the attendees filed 

out, some chatting with one another, others silent and ready to 

complete their day at NERV.  Each of them had the collection of 

reports from each department under an arm or in a folder with 

them.



***



     Kozo Fuyutsuki entered his cramped, dingy office and shut 

the door.  He waited there, lights still off, everything totally silent, 

for a few moments before he dared set those papers down on his 

desk.  Then, with a gently shaking hand, he turned on the lights 

and sat down.



     He stared at the mundane-looking reports, not totally sure 

he had actually read what he had read at the meeting.  What...  

Why... Who?  He hadn't noticed anyone slip anything into his 

stack, but he hadn't paid too much attention.  Not like there were 

any sort of national secrets in those things anyway.



     And there was really only one way to guarantee he would 

get something like this: if the person who compiled the reports had 

done it.  His mind turned to Miko.  He barely knew her; how could 

she send him something like this?  On the other hand, he wasn't 

getting any younger, and she did have a nice, delicate figure and 

pretty features.



     But what if someone else had done it?



     How?



     Maybe... slipped it in when Miko was away from her desk 

or something.



     That was ludicrous.  Why would someone bother with that 

when it would be easier to just slip it under his door?



     Who knows?  This was NERV, the biggest collection of 

off-kilter people since Arkham Asylum.



     Kozo shook his head.  He took out the note and read it 

again.  Yes, it was definitely warm in his office.



***



     Maya yawned.  She obviously hadn't hit the coffee pot 

enough times, and not getting to sleep until four hours after she had 

planned wasn't helping matters.  More than once she had found 

herself nodding off, only roused when her head had started to lean 

too far forward.



     She patted her cheek several times to try to keep herself 

alert, but she could already feel her eyes starting to close.  Just... a 

closing them for a few seconds wouldn't hurt.  It was quiet; those 

boring reports weren't something she really needed to look over 

anyway.



     Dimly, she heard the voices of her two fell bridge 

members, Shigeru and Makoto, but the words didn't register to her 

gently dazing mind.



     "Sleeping like a baby.  Think we should wake her up?"



     "Nah, let her sleep.  Scratching backs and all that."



     Makoto nodded.  "She looks like she needs it anyway.  Dr. 

Akagi's not bad, but what a slave-driver."



     Shigeru nodded.  "It's quiet.  Commanders are out, it's a 

free day."



     Makoto nodded again, his eyes glued to his monitor.  His 

fingers were dancing across the keyboard, accessing bits and pieces 

of code that he was allowed to.  He wasn't under Dr. Akagi's 

supervision, but in these quiet moments, he found it the most 

fascinating thing to wander through the MAGI and see what there 

was to see.



     Sometimes he got lucky and found some pretty cool shit.  

This happened to be one of those times, and he just had to show it 

to Maya.  Aoba, of course, wouldn't give a flying fig about it; he 

was interested in his paycheck and his music.  Maya was at least a 

kindred hacker soul.



     Yet since Maya was asleep, Makoto made a printout of the 

code he found, then slipped it into the folder that was sitting there 

on the desk.  She'd find it when she woke up, tucked in her 

precious notes from Dr. Akagi.



***



     "You called us all the way to the Geo-front just for this?" 

Asuka bitched.  She eyed the report the major had just handed with 

same distaste she reserved for love letters from those idiot boys at 

school.



     "This is important, Asuka," Misato told the redhead sternly 

as she handed Shinji his copy.  "These are the new pilot guidelines 

suggested by the commander himself.  You'll all be responsible for 

them from this point on."



     "My father wrote this?" Shinji asked as he glanced over the 

front page nervously.  It probably contained a whole list of what he 

specifically could and couldn't do, mostly the latter.  Even though 

there were three pilots, he was the one who was always getting 

picked on.



     "Well, sort of," Misato admitted, giving Rei her copy.  "He 

gave me a number of suggestions and I just expanded and clarified 

them a bit."



     "I will obey the words of the commander," Rei stated in her 

usual monotone, setting the report before her.



     The director of NERV operations and the three Children sat 

around a small table in one of the many conference rooms in the 

Geo-front.  With other things still occupying her mind, Misato 

wanted to get this over with as quickly and easily as possible.  

Still, with only children around, it was a reprieve from temptation, 

though Asuka did seem to be developing quickly for her age...



     "Let's hurry up and get this over with then!" Asuka 

demanded, not at all liking the look that the major was giving her.  

She still hadn't forgotten the almost-kiss from the morning, no 

matter how hard she tried.



     "Right, right," Misato agreed with a sigh as she flipped past 

the cover sheet and began to read the guidelines aloud.  "EVA 

pilots are responsible for the following..."



     Asuka couldn't make herself care enough to concentrate on 

Misato's droning.  She wasn't a child; she didn't need the thing read 

for her.  Unlike Shinji or Rei, she could go over it quickly herself 

and understand it all without any additional explanations.



     Still, she was stuck there with nothing to do.  She tried 

glancing around the room, but found her eyes strangely drawn to 

the major's lips as she precisely formed each word.  Soft, red, and 

full; reminding her of apples hanging ripe on the tree.  So inviting 

to bite into...



     "Something wrong, Asuka?" Misato asked, wondering why 

in the world the EVA pilot was staring at her like that.  It made her 

more uncomfortable than Rei's usual look.  She knew that Asuka 

didn't like her non-piloting responsibilities, but that was no excuse 

for looking at her that way.



     Asuka violently shook her head from side to side, bringing 

her focus lower, and suddenly finding that that didn't help at all.  

So she instead locked her eyes on the report before her and 

nervously said, "I'm fine, really.  I was just wondering...  Are there 

any changes in non-disclosure procedures?"



     Misato smiled as she flipped the page.  "I'm glad you asked 

that since that's out next... topic... is..."



     "Is something wrong, Misato?" Shinji asked as his 

guardian's eyes suddenly got very wide while her hands begun to 

shake.  Maybe she was coming down with something.  He had read 

someone that an excess of alcohol consumption could lead to liver 

failure.



     "I just remembered I have something important to do right 

now!  It's for the commander so it can't wait," Misato started to 

babble, blushing badly as she quickly hid the page she had just 

flipped to.  "Why don't you all go over this on your own and you 

can just ask me any questions you have later, okay?"



     "Sure, Misato," Shinji replied slowly, thinking her smile 

looked just a bit forced.  "We can just..."  He trailed off to realize 

he was now alone in the room.  Everyone else had already left.



***



     A sudden rumbling awoke Maya from a pleasant dream of 

her and her sempai working before the MAGI, which oddly 

seemed to be in a ballroom and each of them wearing long flowing 

dresses as they made adjustments with graceful dance steps.



     *Are we under attack?* Maya wondered groggily as the 

rumbling came again, only louder this time.  She forced her eyelids 

to open, lifting her head to find a trail of drool leading down from 

her chin to form a small pool on the desk.  She quickly wiped it 

away as she scanned the room with bleary eyes.  The others 

seemed to be purposefully pretending she hadn't been napping so 

she doubted there was an angel approaching the geo-front.



     Her stomach, Maya realized as the sound came again, was 

urgently trying to tell her something.  She felt bad heading to lunch 

after napping on the job like that, but her hunger refused to be 

denied.  She wouldn't be good to anyone if all she could think 

about was food all day.  She glanced up at the clock, only to flinch 

in surprise.  *I was asleep for that long?*



     Maya grabbed her stack of reports, her lunch out of her 

drawer, and dashed for the exit.  She'd just have to get her work 

done while she ate; she couldn't risk disappointing her sempai.  Dr. 

Akagi depended on her.



     "Hey, Maya," Makoto said to her with a grin and a wink as 

he blocked the exit.  "I slipped something in with your reports that 

I know you'll really enjoy."



     "Yeah, whatever," Maya replied as she nearly shoved him 

out of the way, having no time for chit-chat.



***



     Rei meandered down the long and mostly empty hallways 

of the geo-front, heading slowly in the direction of her apartment 

as she studied the document she had been given.



     Oddly though, she couldn't seem to give it her full 

attention.  Always curious of any matter involving the commander, 

she couldn't help but wonder what Major Katsuragi had to do for 

him that would make her look so flustered, with a deepening 

redness of her cheeks.  She also noted that she had never seen the 

major so hasty to obey the commander before.



     The only comparison Rei could make was when she had 

been staying late with Dr. Akagi in order to finish some testing 

with Unit-00.  The doctor had acted much in the same way, also 

stating that she had something she needed to do for the 

commander...



     Rei stopped as a slip of paper fell from her document.  With 

a slight narrowing of her eyes, she stooped and retrieved the fallen 

note, expecting it to be an addendum to the guidelines.  Instead, 

she discovered a small hand-written note.  She frowned as she read 

over its contents.



     This was a guideline that she would need explained to her, 

but Major Katsuragi would still be busy with her work for the 

commander.  The commander himself, however, was the source of 

these rules and, if willing, should also be able to provide 

clarification.



***



     Maya was in the cafeteria, force-feeding herself a sandwich 

with one hand while she quickly flipped through reports, making 

corrections and notes with the other.  She had to get this all done 

before her break was over.  She couldn't let her sempai find out 

that she had been napping on the job.



     Then she came to a small hand-written note that made her 

choke on her sandwich.  A quick gulp of tea eased her psychical 

distress, but did nothing for her current mental and emotional state.  

The note contained a number of lewd and disgusting suggestions 

that shocked Maya too much for her to be embarrassed.  She didn't 

even know what some of the words meant, but had a feeling that 

she didn't want to.



     Maya fumed as she finished her lunch in a blur and stood 

rigidly, reports held neatly in her arms.  Her eyes were hard and 

her mouth a thin line as she stared off in the distance.  She didn't 

mind a few practical jokes around the office, but this time Makoto 

had gone to far.  *How dare he write something so... so obscene!*



     Makoto was surprised that the moment he stepped into the 

cafeteria, he was confronted by a very pissed-off Maya, who 

marched up to him and demanded.  "Did you write the letter?!"



     "What letter?" Makoto asked with a frown, scratching his 

head in confusion.  "I just gave you a printout of some neat code I 

found while browsing around today.  I thought you were one of the 

few people around here who could appreciate it."



     "If you didn't, then who...?" Maya trailed off as she 

frowned in confusion.  Then her eyes lit up like twin stars and a 

heavy blush coating her cheeks as she exclaimed, "It must have 

been... Sempai!"



     "Just what is this... Oh, never mind," Makoto started to say, 

but gave up as Maya totally ignored him, skipping her way out of 

the cafeteria.  Sometimes it seemed that he was the only sane 

person working for NERV.



***



     Rei walked down the corridor, her mind still turning over 

the new and confusing guidelines.  She had the rules under 

question in her pocket and had studied them extensively before she 

had decided to ask the commander about them.



     She just hoped she wasn't disturbing anything.  Maybe 

others considered her quiet, but she simply used the opportunity of 

not speaking when she had nothing to say to observe other people.  

Two people she was very good at observing were the commander 

and Dr. Akagi.



     The major she was not quite as familiar with, but she _had_ 

shown many of the same signs as the doctor just before certain 

interludes.  A similar interlude was not something she wanted to 

interrupt, as the commander would have been... disappointed.



     When Rei reached the office, she was pleased to find that 

the commander was currently in his office alone when he granted 

her entrance.



     "What is it, Rei?"



     Rei crossed the office and stood in front of the desk.  

Without a word, she pulled the paper from her pocket and handed 

it to Gendo.



     In equal silence, Gendo accepted it, unfolded the paper and 

looked at it.  The semi-stern expression on his face did not change 

as he read it a second, and then a third time.  He made a thoughtful 

noise as he set the paper down carefully on his desk.  He looked at 

Rei, who looked at him, then at the paper.



     With casual deliberateness, Gendo stood, and walked 

around the desk.



     Rei watched him do this until he stood in front of her.  She 

was concerned for a moment, as he was frowning slightly.



     Then he leaned down, took her by the shoulders, and kissed 

her firmly.



***



     Shinji walked down the hallway after his synch test.  

Neither Rei nor Asuka had been there, and Dr. Akagi had seemed 

very grumpy and taken it out on him.  He released a heavy-hearted 

sigh and shoved his hands in his pockets.



     Foolishly enough, he had assumed the day would go not so 

terribly, with Misato acting... well, not much weirder than usual, 

and Asuka only verbally abusing him a little.  This was why he 

wasn't a fortune teller.



     "Ikari-kun."



     Shinji looked up and was surprised to see Rei standing 

there.  He hadn't even noticed her.  "Ayanami..."



     She handed him a somewhat rumpled piece of paper and 

simply waited.



     Blinking, Shinji took the paper.  "What is this for?"



     "If you are in distress, this will alleviate it."



     "Uh... thanks."  Shinji unfolded the paper and started to 

read.  "I don't know what to do.  I want you to..."  Shinji looked up 

at Rei, his eyes wide with fear.  "A-Ayanami..."



     Before he could say anything more, Rei stepped forward 

and laid a kiss directly on his lips.  And this was no chaste, 

friendly, quick kiss.  Shinji felt every detail of Rei's mouth as she 

pressed it against his, grabbing his arms to keep him from running 

away.  Before she could attempt more, Shinji fell away from her.



     She allowed him to drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes, 

then looked at his unconscious form as blood trickled from his 

nose.



     Obviously, he needed the guidelines.



***



     Asuka was not in a forgiving mood.  She didn't like to 

forgive because it meant on some metaphysical level she was 

wrong.  Asuka would never admit she was wrong.  Because she 

never was!



     So when she encountered the body of Ikari Shinji on the 

floor, she glared at him.  "Stupid Shinji.  What are you doing the 

floor?" she snapped.  When he didn't answer, she upped the 

volume of her voice.  "Why are you so lazy?"  Realizing that he 

wasn't going to wake up, Asuka just snorted.  "You are so 

_weird_."



     She was almost ready to step over him when she recalled 

that her dress afforded a generous view from below and what a 

pervert Shinji tended to be.  "Won't get a free peak that easily, 

Third child.  Need to wake up earlier than that to get me."



     Asuka smirked at the prone form as she stepped around 

him, then noticed his fist clenched around a piece of paper.  

Curiosity fueled her as she pulled the paper from his hand and 

began to read it over.



     "Pilot Soryu."



     "Crap, Wondergirl!" Asuka yelled, whirling around.  "You 

scared the hell out of me!"



     "Ikari-kun is still unconscious?"



     "Yeah, what an id--hey!  You mean you knew he was here 

in the middle of the hall?"



     "Yes."



     The narrowing of eyes always meant trouble was soon to 

follow, usually for the person being observed by those eyes.  "You 

do..." Asuka thrust her hand out with the note in it.  "Then you 

should just--"



     Before Asuka could finish her sentence, Rei stepped past 

her hand, inside her arm, and kissed the red-headed girl on the lips.



***



     Misato was currently hiding in one of the stalls in the ladies 

room, catching her breath.  It had been an effort to look like she 

was marching purposefully towards some important task and not 

panicking like a crazy woman, even if the latter was closer to the 

truth.



     If she had gotten this little note when she was alone it 

wouldn't have been such a big deal, but in front of the children...  

Misato didn't want Asuka, Shinji, and especially Rei suddenly 

barraging her with questions about her sex life.



     After one more deep breath, she carefully unfolded the note 

and scanned its contents.  Whoever wrote it had some of the 

sloppiest penmanship she had ever seen.  Not that hers was letter 

perfect, but this was barely legible.  What she could read of it, 

however, made the message embarrassingly clear.



     'I want to shove my *scribbled word* deep into your 

*another illegible word* over and over until you *unreadable* 

again and again, you sexy bitch.'



     *Kaji!* Misato suddenly thought with a low growl, 

crumpling the note in her fist.  He was probably pissed at her for 

brushing him off earlier.  He had probably slipped the note into her 

papers when she wasn't looking.  It was exactly the sort of thing a 

pig like him would do.



     Under normal circumstances, she would have just 

pretended that it hadn't happened, but he knew she was having 

certain... difficulties with Ritsuko lately and he still had the nerve 

to pull this kind of crap like some selfish teenager.



     Misato threw back the stall door with a slam and marched 

out of the bathroom, determined to give Mr. 'god's gift to women' a 

piece of her mind.  Not realizing she had left the note behind.



***



     *What a strange dream,* Shinji thought as the darkness 

receded, returning him to a state of relative consciousness.  Rei, the 

same girl for who smiling was a major accomplishment, had kissed 

him quite... thoroughly on the lips.



     All of Toji's and Kensuke's talk was finally getting to him, 

he concluded, always pointing out the third child's more... 

interesting features at every possible opportunity.  Since they 

considered Asuka too wild for him, his two friends, for lack of a 

better word, had assumed that there was something going on 

between him and Rei simply because they were both EVA pilots.



     Shinji had never even considered Rei that way.  Okay, he 

might have wondered once or twice what it would be like, 

especially when he remembered that time she was lying naked 

underneath him, her body so close all he had to do was reach out 

and...



     Asuka was right.  He was a complete pervert, and no better 

than any other boy.  How could he ever think that innocent Rei 

Ayanami would ever kiss him the way... the way... the way she 

was currently kissing Asuka.



     Shinji blinked rapidly, expecting the image before him to 

change at any moment, but it remained firm.  Rei was holding the 

red-haired, and currently red-faced, second child, forming a tight 

seal with her lips as if trying to administer CPR.  That is if one 

used their tongue while giving mouth to mouth.



     Rei and Asuka both blinked in surprise at the sound of 

Shinji's head dropping limply to the hallway floor once again.



***



     *Tasted just like Yui,* Gendo thought with a small shake 

of his head as he tried to get back to work.  Still, it was odd for the 

First Child to make such a request, even in such a relatively 

straight-forward manner.  There was no hesitantly spoken words or 

awkward silences.  She submitted a request, just like Lt. Ibuki 

submitting an acquisition order for MAGI parts.



     How had Rei thought of it in the first place though?  Had 

she caught Kaji and the major at it again and had become curious 

herself?  Though perhaps someone had put her up it.  The 

commander couldn't imagine what anyone could possible gain by 

doing so, however.



     Gendo shrugged.  Something for later consideration.  He 

had work to do that couldn't be passed on to Fuyutsuki this time.  

The old professor had been acting a bit strange today anyway and 

the commander didn't want to risk important matters on his 

obviously fragile psyche.  He was beginning to doubt his choice 

for his second in command.



     It was lying there as he turned the next page.  A simple note 

whose short message caused his eyes to widen involuntarily, not 

that anyone else would notice, hidden away behind dark glasses.  It 

was a small slip of paper containing a message written in black ink.  

The penmanship varied wildly, no doubt to prevent the note being 

traced back to its source.



     'I've been watching you.'



     Gendo idly glanced around his large empty office, in search 

of something, but he wasn't exactly sure what.  Why was he 

starting to tense up over such a vague message anyway?  It was 

probably a joke being played by some bored temp who didn't care 

if they got fired, or SEELE with yet another ploy to keep him 

under their thumb.  On the other hand, it was best to be cautious.



     "Security?  I would like my office checked for any possible 

surveillance devices.  No, nothing has happened.  It is only... a 

precaution."



     *Kaji,* the thought occurred to him as he placed the note in 

his desk and went back to the reports.  It was just the sort of 

childish trick that he would try.  Gendo decided it would be 

prudent to have a little talk with NERV's resident spy in order to 

subtly discover if this was just a prank or something more.



***



     Asuka stared at Rei.



     Rei looked back.



     Asuka tried to be enraged, but her brain wasn't registering 

much of anything.



     "Has your distress been alleviated?" Rei asked evenly.



     The red-head blinked.  "My... distress?"



     Rei nodded.



     "How was you sticking your tongue down my throat 

supposed to relieve my distress?" Asuka asked, starting to get a 

little upset with things finally.





     "It worked on Ikari-kun."



     "Yeah, well, Shinji doesn't--"



     "And when Commander Ikari did it to me."



     Asuka paused.  She had been building up to righteous fury 

at being kissed like that by Wondergirl, but suddenly, it seemed... 

secondary to the other weird shit that was going on around NERV.  

"When... the commander did it to you?"



     Rei nodded.



     Note to self: skip all requests to see Commander Ikari.  

"Well, that's... interesting, but no!  I'm more distressed _now_ than 

before you kissed me!" Asuka raged, pushing the confusion to the 

back burner for now.



     Rei stepped forward, taking hold of Asuka's arms as she 

did, and puckered her lips again.



     "What are you DOING?" Asuka yelled, pushing Rei away, 

and putting space

between the two of them.



     "Attempting to relieve you of your distress."  She started 

toward Asuka again.



     "I don't need you to!  Once was enough!"  Still, Rei was 

advancing on her.  "Go see if the commander needs his distress 

relieved!"



     Rei paused, then nodded.  She plucked the note from 

Asuka's fingers and walked off in the direction of the commander's 

office.



     Asuka breathed a sigh of relief.  This was one day she 

would have liked to skip if she had known just how weird it was 

going to be.



***



     "Have you seen Kaji?  I know he's skulking around here 

today."



     "Commander Ikari requested a meeting with him.  That was 

about ten minutes ago, though the commander was with Rei 

shortly before that.  You might be able to still catch him."



     Misato blinked at the outpouring of information.  It was 

_never_ this easy to get a straight answer out of someone regarding 

NERV, even if it was something as mundane as a person's 

whereabouts.  "Thanks.  What was your name again?"



     "Nanimaru.  Saoe."  The woman smiled pleasantly.



     Misato shook her finger and narrowed her eyes in the 

manner reserved for storing things to memory.  "I'll remember 

that."



     "Your keys are under the couch."



     The normally healthy complexion of Misato suddenly 

turned pale.  "How did you...?"



     Saoe just smiled with a vaguely vacant stare.



     Misato shook her head.  "Thanks," she said quickly and 

hurried off.



     It was odd that, when she arrived at the commander's 

office, there was no one there.  Usually there was some security 

posted in discrete locations, and periodically, a person there to do 

some of the mundane things the commander didn't feel like 

bothering with.  This time there was nobody.



     And being too pissed off at Kaji to much care about what 

they were discussing, Misato knocked once on the door before 

entering the huge expanse.



***



     Kozo was heading down to get some lunch.  His mind was 

now working at a

 feverish pace in an attempt to figure out who had written him that 

note.  Every person that looked at him, spoke to him, or even 

glanced at him sideways was a suspect.  Naturally, some were 

more preferable suspects than others, but he couldn't discount 

anyone.



     Anyone.



     "Sub-commander."



     Kozo looked sharply down at the woman that had spoken to 

him.  "Ah, Lieutenant Ibuki."  No way.  She was almost one third 

his age.  It couldn't have been her, could it?



     "Have you seen Sempai--I mean, Dr. Akagi?  I need to 

discuss something with her," Maya said, blushing lightly with her 

slip of protocol.



     No, it was not Ibuki.  He should have known that.  "I 

haven't seen her, I'm afraid, but I've been in my office most of the 

day."



     Maya gave a curt nod.  "I'd better go look for her."



     "Good day, Lieutenant."  He watched her hurry off.  It 

wouldn't have been so bad if she _had_ written the note, but...  It 

was simply not to be.  Ibuki had her heart set on someone else.



     Who would send such a note to an old man like him, 

anyway?  Who at NERV would be interested?  NERV was a young 

person's organization, recruiting

 those fresh out of school, before they were contacted by... anyone 

else.



     More than food, Kozo needed a drink.



***



     Shinji woke up from his second nap and shook his head.  

He was alone in the hallway this time and wasn't even sure what he 

had witnessed wasn't a dream.  A very... vivid and charged dream.  

Sexually charged.  Very hot.  Very...  He touched his lips.  

Invasive.  But pleasantly so.  Very pleasant.  Very...



     With an almost strangled cry of desperation, Shinji covered 

his groin.  He had to stop thinking like that!  He couldn't walk 

around NERV with... with a...  He couldn't!  If Asuka caught him 

like that, she'd administer the pain and humiliation treatment, and 

that was something Shinji could do without.



     Think of something non-sexual.  Quick.



     "Hello, Shinji.  What are you doing here?"



     "Er... hi, sir."  Shinji tried to cover his problem as the sub-

commander walked up to him.



     "Something happen there?"



     "No!  Nothing!  Everything's okay!" Shinji answered, 

desperate for this whole situation to end.



     "Well, then..."



     Shinji's face grew a bright pink as his embarrassment 

continued to make itself known, and the sub-commander 

apparently noticed.  "Uh..."



     "Er..."



     There was an uncomfortable silence.



     "Keep up... er..."  The sub-commander looked like he had 

just made a no arms-no legs joke at a wheelchair race, then walked 

off without saying another word.



***



     Since Misato was in one of her moods, possibly 'that time 

of the month' situation, Kaji had no choice but to actually do some 

work.  Not that he had much to do around NERV officially, but 

they did give him a few things, if only for the sake of appearances.



     So knowing it didn't matter either way, Kaji idly thumbed 

through the reports he'd been given, looking for something to catch 

his interest.  It was all pretty standard dull stuff, filled with half-

truths and plain lies in order to conceal what was really going on.  

He could have been working to discover just that, but at the 

moment simply didn't feel up to it.



     *Hmm, what's this?* Kaji mused as he picked up a loose 

slip of paper that had fallen out of the stack.  It wasn't a standard 

report, that was for sure.  He flipped the note over and quickly 

scanned its contents.



     'I know you better than you think, but I want to know you 

more.  I want more than just a professional relationship.'



     *What the...?* Kaji thought for a moment before smiling 

smugly.  Obviously, his good looks and irresistible charm had 

earned himself a secret admirer.  He wondered who it could be, and 

if she might be worth getting to know better.



     Misato and Ritsuko were definitely out; they both knew 

him pretty well and he'd like to think their relationship was more 

than just business.  There was the doctor's assistant though... the 

cutie that managed the reports was also a prime subject.  It seemed 

like he had found something worth investigating.



     "Kaji Ryouji," spoke a female voice from the other side of 

his desk.



     "Yes?" Kaji asked, looking up to a woman he knew he'd 

never seen at NERV

 before, because if he had, he definitely wouldn't have forgotten her 

pretty face so easily.



     "Commander Ikari wishes to see you immediately," the 

woman explained.  "I believe it's urgent."



     Kaji sighed.  Time to receive his daily dose of 

misinformation to feed SEELE.  Not that those talking monoliths 

would be fooled for a second, but they all needed to go through the 

motions anyway.



     "Thanks for telling me," Kaji started to say, then grinned 

when a thought suddenly occurred to him.  "Say, you're pretty new 

around here, aren't you?  What's your name?"



     "Nanimaru.  Saoe.  I have other duties to attend to.  If you'll 

excuse me," the woman replied, and without waiting for an answer, 

turned around and left.



     *She wants me.*



     Years of study of the female condition and pure instinct had 

identified the culprit.  It was a classic strategy.  Peak his interest in 

some way, then play hard to get to gage his level of interest.  He 

and Ritsuko played this game all the time.  Besides, it would be 

nice to see Misato jealous.  Sometimes it was the only way he 

could tell that she cared.



     First though, off to see what the commander wanted.



***



     "You okay, man?" Aoba asked his co-worker as he looked 

up from his console.  Makoto had just come back from lunch and 

he looked ... well, freaked.  Like he had just found out one of those 

'big secrets' that NERV seemed to be filled with.  The long-haired 

bridge bunny wasn't stupid; it was pretty obvious that the 

commander and the other top level staff were hiding some major 

stuff, but he liked to play it safe and keep his nose out of it.



     Makoto collapsed heavily into his chair and started at his 

work once again.  Aoba had already shrugged and gone back to his 

work when he spoke some minutes later.



     "Do you ever get the feeling...," Makoto started to say, but 

hesitated when his eyes fell on the ever present security cameras.  

"I don't know, that the other people who work here might be just a 

little... unbalanced?"



     Aoba nodded sagely.  "People are too on edge here, taking 

all of this 'saving the world' crap way too seriously.  They all need 

to loosen up.  I mean, this is just a job, right?  Yeah, the lives of 

everyone in Tokyo-3 depend on NERV doing their job, but you 

don't see the guys in the tech section turning into walking basket 

cases and they actually have to service those monsters."



     "Maybe I do feel a little tense," Makoto hesitantly agreed.  

Usually, he didn't feel so wound up, but just something about 

today... kind of made him feel like his missed the turn to the geo-

front and ended up in an insane asylum.



     "You need to get laid," Aoba told him with a grin.   "Best 

cure for stress."



     "Pretty hard to get a relationship going standing at the 

epicenter of the Armageddon," Makoto replied bitterly.  "All the 

woman who might have been interested in me are either 

unavailable or have already fled Tokyo-3."



     "I don't know about that.  I think the Major might be into 

you."



     "Misato?" Makoto prompted with a light blush, before 

shaking his head dejectedly.  "Even if there was a chance in hell of 

her looking at me that way, she's got Kaji.  No way I can compete 

with him."



     "Actually, he must have screwed up royally with her 

because she's given him the cold shoulder lately," Aoba told him.  

"And I bet the major is just dying to fill that empty spot on her 

futon.  She must be under a ton of stress."



     "I get the idea," Makoto told him with a frown as he began 

to quickly scan over his reports, trying to hint to Aoba that this 

conversation was over.  "Even if she were available, there's no 

way... in hell..."



     Aoba walked over to see what his co-worked was staring at 

so intently, only for Makoto to hastily bury it under his assorted 

reports.



     "You know?  You're right," Makoto suddenly said with 

confidence as he stood.  "Even if she turns me down, it's not going 

to be the end of the world or anything.  And if I don't at least try, 

I'll always wonder if she might have said yes.  In fact, I think I'll go 

ask her now!"



     "Yeah, sure.  I'll cover for you," Aoba told him, feeling 

very confused as he watched his co-worker march stiffly to the 

exit.  For not the first time, he considered quitting.  NERV was 

becoming too weird, even for him.



***



     Kaji entered the office, smirking as always, and went to 

stand by the desk.  Most people stood in front of it, but not him.  

No, he did whatever got to the commander, and maybe it was a 

little hard to tell, but Kaji could tell.  He bothered Commander 

Ikari, and he was proud of it.  "Something you wanted?  More 

'reports' for SEELE?"



     "That isn't why I've called you in here," Gendo told him, 

gloved hands folded before him.



     "So why did you call me in here?" Kaji asked in irritation.



     "I think we both know very well why...," the commander of 

NERV trailed off as he sat up straight and looked the spy straight 

in the eye.  "We're both mature adults.  Do we really need to 

continue with these childish games?  I'm talking about the note."



     "The note?" Kaji repeated, a feeling of inexplicable unease 

starting to creep up his back.



     "The note," Gendo echoed, standing to cover his irritation.  

Once again, the spy was insisting on playing stupid.  He couldn't 

help wondering how intelligent Kaji really was; there could be 

layers upon layers there.  "You see, I know you better than you 

may think, but it seems that I still need to know you better."



     *Gendo wrote that note?!* Kaji thought in alarm as he 

began to back away from NERV's commander.  He knew he was 

hard up ever since his wife dying and all, but surely a guy like him 

could get some female action.  Kaji didn't think his mojo was 

strong enough to charm men too, unless they were completely 

desperate.



     *He's hiding something,* Gendo though with a mix of 

triumph and alarm.  If the normally laid back spy would get that 

agitated over it, the commander had to find out what it was.  

Perhaps he was carrying something vital to SEELE's plan.  He 

quickly paced around his desk to cut off Kaji's escape.



     "Oh, that note," Kaji replied, laughing nervously.  He tried 

to back away from Gendo, only to find his escape blocked by the 

commander's massive desk.  "It was a joke, right?  I mean, it wasn't 

the sort of thing that could be taken seriously..."



     *A transparent excuse.  What is he hiding?  I must have it!* 

Gendo thought as Kaji frantically tried to evade him.  He could be 

carrying the keystone to SEELE's plans.  No time to summon 

security, the commander decided to handle it himself and lunged 

for Kaji, grabbing the younger man firmly by the shirt as he 

quickly searched him.



     *You horny old bastard!* Kaji thought with rage as he 

fought against the commander copping a feel.  He felt unclean.



     Gendo and Kaji struggled for some time, neither able to 

gain the upper hand for long.  Kaji tried to pull Gendo's hands 

away, twisting from his grasp, but the commander was as tenacious 

as a pitbull.  Then Kaji suddenly jerked away and the spy's shirt 

ripped open, sending buttons flying, and causing him to lose his 

balance.  He landed hard on the desk, knocking the breath out of 

him.



     Gendo quickly pinned him down as he caught his own 

breath.  He wasn't as young as he used to be; the fight had taken 

nearly everything he had.  He had to act fast.  Kaji's shirt was in 

tatters, so the thing he was struggling so much to save must have 

been tucked away in his pants.



***



     Misato was doing a very good impersonation of a lawn 

ornament as she stood perfectly still, hardly breathing, transfixed 

by the sight before her.  She had intended to have a few harsh 

words to Kaji about the little note he had written her, too angry to 

care about interfering with his meeting with the commander.



     What she saw in the commander's office made her wish she 

had thought otherwise.  Kaji was lying on the desk with his shirt 

open, his chest glistening with sweat, and he was breathing 

heavily.  Though she almost didn't spot him with the commander 

standing before Kaji, breathing heavily as well, gloved hand 

planted firmly on that bare chest, the commander's head bowed 

down, nearing...  Misato managed to turn away, desperately trying 

not to think about what was obviously going to happen next.



     The note she had overheard the commander speak of...  It 

was obvious to her now that she had accidentally received Gendo's 

note for Kaji.



     Misato blinked to come face to face with Rei, staring at her 

with her normal indifferent stare.  The girl was a little strange, but 

Misato felt it was her duty to save her from the... activities going 

on inside.



     "I see that the commander is relieving Kaji's distress," Rei 

commented as she peered over the major's shoulder.  "I will come 

back at another time."



***



     Shinji sighed.  His life could have been worse; he had come 

to grips with that.  Certainly it could have been much better, but... 

somehow he managed to survive.  The whole kiss thing, the one 

Rei had given him and the one he thought he saw Rei and Asuka... 

administering to each other, that... lifted his outlook on life.  But 

then to get caught with a... with an erection in the middle of the 

hall at NERV by the sub-commander...  Shinji just didn't know if it 

could get more embarrassing than that.



     At least his father hadn't seen him in such a state.  The man 

had so little respect for him to begin with.  The concept of talking 

about such things was frankly the most frightening thing Shinji 

could imagine.



     And there, he had finally calmed his problem and could be 

on his way.  Shinji turned to stand and head for the cafeteria, but 

there on the ground was a small folded piece of paper.



     He blinked at it and picked it up.  Wiping any remaining 

blood from his face, Shinji stood and hurried in the direction the 

sub-commander had gone.



***



     Maya stalked the corridors of NERV.  She was the 

somewhat diminutive huntress, and her prey...



     "Sempai?"



     The lab was silent in response.



     Maya moved on.



     "Sempai?"



     The testing chamber echoed her voice.



     "Dammit, where are you?" she growled and stamped her 

foot.  Maya twirle

d and marched out of the testing chamber.  This was not going as 

planned.



     Maya stomped through NERV, grabbing every person she 

came across and demanding to know where her sempai was.



     "WHERE IS SHE?  WHERE IS SEMPAI?"



     "Maya, what is wrong with you?  Maybe you should cut 

back the caffeine."



     "Oh, sorry, sempai."  Maya released her hold of Ritsuko's 

lab coat and stepped back.  She hated to though, as she had been 

dangerously close, close enough to feel the heat coming from her 

mentor's body.  It was only her natural shyness that prevented 

Maya from kissing the doctor right there and then.



     "Is there something you wanted?"



     "Well, yes.  I just wanted... talk to you about something."



     "Such as?"



     Maya looked down the hallway.  "Could we talk about it in 

private?"



     "Sure.  What's this about?"



     The two walked down the hall next to one another, Ritsuko 

very business-like, and Maya openly nervous.  "You know the 

meeting this morning," Maya began, glancing frequently at the 

blond woman at her side.



     "Yes."



     "Well, when I was looking through the folder later, I... I 

saw it."



     "Saw what?"



     Oh, she was playing innocent.  Was this a facet of hard to 

get?  Maya liked it.  "Sempai, I know."



     Ritsuko suddenly froze in her footsteps.  "Know what?"



     Maya smiled and faced Ritsuko.  "I know, but don't worry.  

Your secret's safe with me.  I won't tell anyone."



     "Maya..."



     "Let's... talk about it.  Okay?"  She gestured with her head.  

"Come on."



     With hesitant steps, Ritsuko followed the younger woman a 

short distance down the hall until Maya entered a storage closet.  

"Maya..." Ritsuko said quietly as she followed.



     In the storage closet, which was really more of a room than 

a closet, filled with various boxes, shelves stacked with office 

supplies, and a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling.



     "Maya, what--"



     "Sempai, I got you note," Maya said quietly as she moved 

around Ritsuko to shut the door.  "At first," she continued, standing 

very close, "I was mad because I thought one of those... boys gave 

it to me."  Maya braved touching Ritsuko's hand, but unprepared to 

take hold quite yet.  "But they denied it, and I had no reason to 

disbelieve them...  We're friends, and friends don't do that to one 

another."



     "Maya, I really don't know what you're--"



     Maya laughed a little, a mixture of nervousness and 

anticipation.  "You can stop that now.  We're alone.  You don't 

have to deny it any longer."



     Ritsuko shook her head in complete amazement.  "This is 

nothing like you.  Normally, you're..."



     "Meek?  But your note gave courage."



     "Maya, what note--"



     Tired of the denials, Maya simply grabbed the back of 

Ritsuko's head and cover the taller woman's mouth with her own.





***



     "Are you all right, major?" a woman asked her suddenly.



     Misato nearly jumped in surprise.  She had been sure that 

the ladies room had been empty a moment ago, quickly checking 

the stalls before tending to her sudden nosebleed.  She still had 

toilet paper stuffed up both nostrils and her eyes seemed unwilling 

to return to their normal size, with her face as pale as the first child.



     "Saoe Nanimaru, right?" Misato asked, recalling the 

woman from just a bit earlier, the one who had inadvertently lead 

her to the horror she had only just witnessed.



     The woman nodded with a smile, seeming to be pleased at 

being remembered.  She started to wash her hands, but her eyes 

were always on the major, giving the other woman her full 

attention.



     Misato had the oddest temptation to explain everything that 

had happened to her recently, from the possibility that her former 

roommate Ritsuko was gay, to her sudden obsession with kissing 

said woman, and finally walking in on the commander and Kaji 

doing... god, her nose was starting to bleed again.



     "... It's just been a really long day," Misato finally said with 

a weak smile.  "I'm just glad my shift is over for now, unless 

there's another Angel attack."



     "Oh, I'm sure we won't have to worry about that today," 

Saoe replied in the sort of off-handed manner that people normally 

use when completely sure of something.



     "Huh?  How can you be so certain?" Misato asked, even 

though she was hoping the woman was right.



     Saoe only smiled vacantly as she went over to dry her 

hands.



     "Well, whatever.  I'm sure they won't hesitate to call if they 

need me," Misato said as she made for the door, planning on a nice 

long bath the moment she got home.



     "Major?"  Saoe called out of her as she fished around in her 

pockets.



     "Yeah?" Misato replied, currently thinking of how much 

effort it would take to move the refrigerator into the bathroom so 

she could keep herself well supplied with frosty cold beer.



     Saoe smiled as she pointed to her own nose with two out-

stretched fingers.



     Misato blushed faintly as she realized what the other 

woman meant, then quickly took the rolled up toilet paper from her 

nose and tossed them in the trash.  "Thanks, Nanimaru-san."



     "Please call me Saoe, Major," the woman corrected before 

suddenly reaching out with both hands to encase Misato's one, as if 

trying to warm the Major's fingers with her own body heat.  "And I 

believe you dropped this.  Have a nice bath, Major."



     "Yeah... you too."  Misato looked back startled at the 

woman who only smiled vacantly in return, then as quickly as she 

could without risking offense, freed her hand and walked away, 

trying very hard not to run.



     After she was sure she was out of sight of the woman 

though, she did run.  She needed to get away from NERV ASAP.  

It was too insane, or maybe she was the one going insane.  Surely 

she hadn't really seen the commander and Kaji engaged in... about 

to... giving...  Misato shook her head and broke into a full sprint.



     She rounded a corner and plowed right into Shinji, sending 

them both to the floor, and everything she was carrying flying in 

the air.  All of Misato's papers fluttered to the ground like a paper 

mill's idea of winter around them.



     "Jesus, Shinji!  You scared the hell out of me!" she 

snapped, more surprised and bruised than actually upset.  "God, I 

need to go home desperately."  Misato got to her knees and began 

hurriedly gathering her papers, not paying any attention to Shinji.



     "I'm sorry.  I didn't see you," Shinji apologized and grabbed 

the folded note that had popped free from his grip from the various 

other papers.  "I need to give this to the sub-commander," he said 

apologetically, then scrambled to his feet and hurried off.



***



     Kozo was deep in the menial work that Ikari was always 

passing off onto him, things he normally complained about, but 

right now reveled in because it prevented him about thinking 

about... certain things that he didn't even want to remotely consider 

the implications of.  Thankfully, working for Gendo for these years 

had taught him the invaluable skill of practiced ignorance.



     "Fuyutsuki-san," tentatively spoke what sounded like a 

little girl's voice, possibly Rei since he hadn't heard her speak 

enough to make a positive identification.  Then again, she never 

spoke to him.



     *Not Shinji, anyone but Shinji.*  Kozo looked up and 

suddenly felt a sick feeling of dread in his stomach.  Gendo's 

whiny brat was hard enough for him to deal with under normal 

circumstances, but after...  Kozo shook his head slightly.  He 

would not think about it, no matter what.  As far as he was 

concerned, it had never happened.  He'd just deal with the boy the 

same way his father did.  "What is it, pilot?"



     "This note--" Shinji started to say before he was cut off.



     "Just put it on the desk," Kozo said, gesturing vaguely to a 

spot free of scattered reports.  "I'm quite busy right now."



     Shinji shrugged, dropped the note on the desk, and walked 

away.  He considered running home and hiding in his room.  

NERV was becoming a scary place for him, even more so than 

usual, and he wasn't sure what he'd do if he ran into Rei or Asuka 

again, especially if they were... oh no, his nose was bleeding again.



     Kozo breathed a sigh of relief, looking up once again to see 

that Shinji had left.  He didn't want to think that the boy had 

certain... feelings for him.  Then he chuckled at his own stupidity.  

Shinji may act like a little feminine, but he was Gendo's son after 

all.  Then again, he was living with both the major and the loud-

mouthed Second Child, yet there hadn't been so much as a whisper 

of a complaint...



     The sub-commander of NERV tossed away such idle 

speculations like so much meaningless reports and picked up the 

folded note.  Probably something from Ikari, testing out his son for 

use as an office lackey or something.  It was the sort of trick that 

Gendo would pull.  Kozo unfolded the note and read... then turned 

red... then prayed this was all the commander's idea of a sick joke.



***



     Asuka wasn't feeling her usual confident self at the 

moment, but who could blame her when it seemed that all of 

NERV had suddenly gone crazy, at least more than usual.  Misato 

jumping at the slightest thing, not to mention possibly trying to 

kiss her, Shinji making a very passable imitation of a doormat 

lying on the floor, and Wondergirl had stuck her tongue down her 

throat because, as far as Asuka could determine, the commander 

had stuck his down hers.



     The Second Child wanted to go home, but she didn't think 

she was quite ready for it yet.  With her luck, Shinji would blab 

about Rei kissing her to Misato, and the major would get the idea 

to try it herself.  Asuka knew she was devastatingly attractive, but 

she expected older people to able to control their raging hormones, 

especially women.



     Finding that her random wanderings had taken her near the 

main labs, Asuka decided to go speak with Dr. Akagi, who was at 

least a professional, even if she dyed her hair to make her look 

younger, and that mole...  The Second Child could get a printout of 

the latest sync test scores and shove that in Shinji's face if he tried 

to bring up the subject of the First Child's forced lip lock.



     "Dr. Akagi?" Miko Tekawa repeated as she busily passed 

out yet more reports.  She didn't envy the person who had to shred 

all this at the end of the day, though they probably had to use an 

incinerator for sheer volume.  "I think I saw her and Lt. Ibuki duck 

into a storage closet.  Probably ran out of pens or something."



     Asuka nodded, considered waiting for all of five seconds, 

then marched over to the door and threw it open, opening her 

mouth to speak, but the sight before her blocked the words in her 

throat, much in the same was Maya's tongue seemed to be blocking 

Ritsuko's.  The state of their clothes and placement of their hands 

made the Second Child glad that Wondergirl had only received one 

lesson from the commander so far.



     Asuka slammed the door shut and bolted out of the lab 

area, firmly vowing to stay at least a meter away from all females 

working at NERV; maybe it was something in the food or the air 

that was turning them all into raging lesbians.



***



     *Here she comes!* Makoto thought, a mix of anticipation 

and fear as he saw Major Katsuragi step off the elevator.  He knew 

that standing by her car for an hour would pay off, even if those 

security guys had roughed him up a bit before finally recognizing 

him.  His bruises were a badge of honor, proving how far he was 

willing to go to earn her love.



     Normally, he wouldn't be feeling so optimistic, expecting 

only a crushing humiliation for all his efforts.  That was before he 

had received her note, however.  It wasn't signed or anything, but 

he could recognize the major's 'doctor hastily writing out a 

prescription' style penmanship anywhere.



     'I've been wondering lately what it would be like to kiss 

you.'  Makoto had wondered and dreamed about such a moment, 

pretty much ever since meeting Misato, but never had he ever 

thought that she might feel the same way.



     Misato's eyes were half-closed as she marched woodenly 

towards her car,

focused on her source of getting the hell out of the geo-front.  She 

refused to think of the possibility that the explicit note might have 

been from the new woman, who did seem a overly friendly, instead 

of something from Gendo meant for Kaji.  The latter she didn't 

want to think about even more, so she forcefully shut out all 

thought and avoided all obstacles that would keep her from the 

bath that she was looking forward to.



     Makoto blinked in surprise as the major walked right 

around him, as if she hadn't even noticed him standing there.  Then 

he understood; she was embarrassed about writing the note now 

and was waiting for him to make the first move.  So steeling up his 

courage, and clutching the precious note close to him, Makoto 

called out, "Maj... Misato, I have something I need to say to you."



     "Huh?" Misato replied as she turned around, making out a 

vague male-like

 form approaching her.  Kaji!  No, he didn't wear glasses.  The 

commander!  No, he'd never sound so pathetic.  Short hair ruled 

out Aoba, so realized it was Makoto from a process of elimination.



     "It's about the note you..." Makoto started to say before 

Misato's hand suddenly flashed out and caught him hard on the 

cheek, knocking his glasses from his face.



     "Pig!" Misato stated firmly as she yanked open the car door 

and quickly drove off, nearly running him over in the process.  She 

had thought that Makoto was the one decent man left at NERV, but 

he was capable of writing such... filth, then she guessed he was just 

as bad as Kaji.  *God, my nose is starting to bleed again.*



     *What was that about?* Makoto thought in complete 

confusion as she watched her drive off.  In her haste, she seemed to 

have dropped something though, a small folded note.



***



     "Maya!  What the...?"  Ritsuko tried to push the younger 

woman away, realizing too late that her hands were planted firmly 

on Maya's breasts.  The back of her mind noted politely that they 

were somewhat small, but didn't feel awful or disgusting or 

anything.



     It was only when Maya grabbed her ass firmly that the 

strength surged through her arms to push away.  "Maya!  God 

dammit!  What are you _doing_?"



     Maya looked positively crushed.  "But... sempai...  I 

thought...  The note you wrote..."  The incomprehension on 

Ritsuko's face was enough to send Maya running from the storage 

closet, the beginnings of tears in her eyes.



     Ritsuko watched her go, confused and feeling a little 

strange.  Was Maya...?  Did she... feel that way?  The fact that 

Maya had seen fit to try and suffocate her, Ritsuko thought that just 

maybe there were some feelings there.



     But for how long had they been there?  Had Maya been 

secretly wanting her the entire time, and she had never noticed?  

Had anyone else?  Suddenly, Ritsuko felt like the dumbest woman 

in the world.



     So... should she go after Maya?  She didn't want to give her 

assistant the wrong idea or mistakenly lead her on, but it would be 

bad to leave things like that.  It had just been surprise, really.  It 

wouldn't have mattered if it had been a man or woman; someone 

suddenly trying to suck her lungs out through her mouth just wasn't 

welcome.  Most of the time.



     With a sigh, Ritsuko straightened her lab coat, then went 

after the young woman.



***



     Yes, a cruel joke.  Fuyutsuki made his way slowly to 

Gendo's office with mixed apprehension and out-right dread.  

Please let it be a cruel joke.



     First Shinji, and now Gendo.  This was turning out to be the 

day he wished he had stayed home.  "Damn you, Ikari.  I should 

have told you to get stuffed the moment I saw you," he grumbled 

under his breath.



     As he approached the door to the commander's office, he 

paused for a moment to gather his thoughts and compose exactly 

what pier he was going to tell Ikari to walk off of.



     The door burst open suddenly, and out stumbled Special 

Agent Kaji Ryouji.



     Fuyutsuki didn't believe he had ever seen the man in such a 

disheveled state as he appeared to be in.  With the way his shirt 

was ripped and with his heavy breathing, it looked like something 

had been going on, maybe a scuffle.  Then Kaji turned around and 

Kozo took an involuntary step back.



     Apparently, Kaji hadn't noticed him as the he ran his hands 

through his hair, and redid his ponytail.  He pulled his shirt closed 

and tucked it into his pants... after he did up his pants.  "God damn 

old freak.  Christ, what a mess."  With a little shiver, Kaji walked 

off in the opposite direction.



     Then Kozo turned and walked in the other direction as well.



***



     Feeling unappreciated, unloved, unwanted, and untethered 

from reality, Shinji headed back to the apartment.  He had plenty 

of time to think things over on the way back, but he still couldn't 

shake the image of Asuka and Rei... making out, and the feel of 

Rei's mouth on his own, her tongue aggressively invading him...



     Shinji put a hand quickly over his nose as he felt the slow 

trickle of blood start.  He had to avoid thinking about that, at least 

when he wasn't in the sanctuary of his room where he could dwell 

very heavily on the subject.



     He managed to hold off the thoughts until he reached the 

apartment.  They sat there, on the very edge of his conscious, 

waiting for him to let his guard down, but he was strong.  Stronger 

than most people thought.  With a sigh, Shinji entered the 

apartment.



***



     Asuka marched to the apartment door in a very cross mood.  

NERV was the absolutely most messed up place she could possibly 

_ever_ work.  Any other job, what Wondergirl did would be sexual 

harassment, but NERV?  It was pretty much par for the course.  

And then Shinji in the middle of the floor and all...



     She hadn't realized just how much she needed a nice hot 

bath.  Asuka opened the door and was about to declare her 

presence when she got sight of the two figures on the couch.



     They each looked.. worn, like wet rags, and had pale faces.  

And they each had pieces of tissue stuffed up their nostrils to soak 

up the blood that was obvious there.



     She stared at them; they didn't move.  With a shake of her 

head, Asuka went to take a bath and try and forget his day had ever 

happened.



***



     It had been a long day for Misato Katsuragi.  She had 

thought the time that diamond-like angel had attacked, putting 

Shinji into a coma and requiring her to work her tail off all day and 

night to put her plan into effect, had been a frustrating and painful 

time, but this... this was so bizarre that it made that look like your 

average nine to five job.



     Having filled up on frosty bear while waiting for her 

nosebleed to stop, and trying to stop thinking about the event that 

had caused it in the first place, Misato hugged her bath things to 

her as she opened the furo door with a loud slam, startling Asuka 

who was just now stepping out of the tub.



     The two women simply stared at each other as the water 

slowly dripped from the Second Child's naked body, as if counting 

off the silent moments.  Misato really tried not to notice the way 

the redhead's nipples hardened in the cold air, while Asuka was 

still too shocked to think of anything at all.



     Misato mentally raced to find a topic of conversation to 

dispel this awkward moment.  "Ahh... I see your breasts have 

gotten a bit bigger since you first moved in, Asuka."  When the 

Second Child's eyes bugged out of her sockets, the major realized 

that wasn't exactly the best thing to talk about now.  She hastily 

added, "What I mean is that... you're really blossoming into 

womanhood."



     "I don't need you to ease my distress!" Asuka screamed in 

rage mixed with terror, quickly grabbing a towel and racing out of 

the furo as if the host of angels were nipping at her heels.



     A moment later, Misato heard a startled exclamation from 

Shinji, followed by a loud thump of something heavy hitting the 

floor.  Seemed like Asuka had been too panicked to actually wrap 

that towel around herself.



     *What the heck was that about?* Misato wondered, looking 

back through the still open door of the furo.  While it had been a 

rather awkward situation, made worse by her choice of topic, it 

was still no reason for Asuka's extreme reaction.  The Second 

Child was pretty uptight though.  Probably though Misato was 

invading her personal space or something.



     After scrubbing herself down thoroughly, Misato slipped 

into the hot water of the furo, sighing in delight as the comforting 

liquid eased away her tension.  Immediately, she began to relax, 

letting her worries drift away with the steam.  No matter how 

strange a day it had been, it was all over now.



     It had all started in being late for work because she had 

been up all night writing those stupid notes.  Misato blinked 

several times in surprise.  Rushing in late for work and getting 

slammed right away with a hectic day of meetings and reports, she 

had forgotten all about those little notes.  She never did get around 

to finishing one and passing it subtly to Ritsuko.



     *What happened to those little half-notes?* Misato 

wondered idly.  She hadn't noticed them in her room a moment 

ago, but she was sure she had left them on her desk, right next to...



     Misato leapt out of the furo with a speed borne of panic, 

hoping that what she thought might be true wasn't.  A second later, 

she remembered Asuka's panicked flight and quickly wrapped her 

towel around herself before charging out of the furo.



     The Major found Shinji to be a pathetic sight, lying 

slumped on his bed, with bloodied tissue crammed up both nostrils 

and a icepack for the sizeable bump on his head.  His eyes had the 

dazed, far-away look of someone suffering from severe shock, or 

heavily medication.



     "Shinji-kun?" Misato prompted him in the sweetest voice 

she could manage.  When his eyes slowly tracked over to her, 

staring somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach, she continued, 

"When you got those reports for me this morning, did you happen 

to see a few little notes lying around my desk?"



     Shinji slowly nodded, as if any more force would snap his 

neck.  "Uh-huh," he added weakly, and as Misato's smile began to 

show strain, added, "I thought you wanted them too so I shuffled 

them in with your reports."



     "You did what?!" Misato screamed as she suddenly 

pounced on the Third Child and shook him violently.



     "What the heck are you... yelling about...?" Asuka started to 

say, trailing off as her brain caught up with what her eyes were 

witnessing.



     Asuka had been lying on her bed, trying to forget... well, all 

of today, when she heard the Major yell loud enough to knock the 

clock off her wall.  She had come in to see what the hell was going 

on, to find Misato, dressed in only a towel, bouncing up and down 

on Shinji's lap.  She didn't have to be Doctor Ruth to know what 

was going on.



     "Mein Gott en Himmel," Asuka said softly, before turning 

right around and walking out the door.  She would stay at Hikari's 

tonight and pretend the whole day had just been one long 

nightmare.



***



     Misato was a woman on a mission, so for once she was up 

early and ready 

for work.  This was also to avoid yet another run-in with her house 

guests, but she needn't have worried.  Shinji had been up even 

earlier to make breakfast to avert her wrath and Asuka wasn't even 

home.



     Kaji was waiting for her in the parking lot.  Misato noted at 

much the same spot that Makoto had earlier.  She made a mental 

note to apologize to him for exploding at him yesterday, over 

something that had turned out to be her own stupid fault.  

However, she couldn't let that, or Kaji, sidetrack her until her 

mission was accomplished.



     Kaji looked much the same as he always did.  Same slightly 

smug smile on

 his face, stubble on his chin, and slouched posture that said to the 

world 'here's a man whose confident enough not to take life 

seriously.'  On the inside, however, he was barely able to keep up 

his cool facade.  Yesterday's little 'incident' with the Commander 

had shaken him more than he was willing to admit and he was 

desperately in need of proving his masculinity, along with the ego 

return it would provide.



     "Hi there, beautiful," Kaji said with a carefully calculated 

smile and wave as Misato stepped out of her car.  She had been 

treating him a bit cold lately, ever since the 'Ritsuko might be 

trying to get into your pants' thing, but he knew from past 

experience just what it took to warm her up.  "I've got a hot tip that 

the Sub-commander is keeping a stash of genuine pre-impact 

whiskey in a unmarked storeroom.  Why don't we go and 

investigate that together?"



     Misato didn't even look in Kaji's direction as she slapped 

his hand away and marched determinedly towards the elevator.  

She wouldn't beat around the bush, she'd just ask the secretary 

about the notes and refuse to explain anything about them.  She 

knew she was a day late, but hopefully she could minimize her 

embarrassment.



     *Ritsuko!* Kaji thought desperately, after taking a moment 

to recover from the sting of rejection.  There had been that one 

time in college that he was sure she would have gone all the way 

with him, but he was still dating Misato at the time and would have 

been a bit too awkward to be bedding her roommate.  Besides, this 

way he could prove that Ritsuko wasn't a lesbian and cure Misato 

of the recent hang up that was making her treat him like leftovers.



***



     "Umm... Miko, right?"



     Miko Tekawa, a secretary working at NERV until she 

could land a real job, glanced up to see that not only was Major 

Katsuragi actually early for work, but practically shaking with 

nerves.  Miko could understand this reaction before the 

Commander after one of the woman's hair-brained schemes had 

backfired, but there wasn't any reason for it now.



     "Yes, Major?" Miko said politely, smiling to cover her 

confusion.  "Is there something I can do for you?"



     "Nothing much," Misato replied, utterly failing to sound 

casual, "I was wondering if, in the reports I dropped off yesterday, 

you happened to notice a few notes that had gotten accidentally 

mixed in there?"



     Miko blinked at the Major several times.  "So you really 

want to be my love monkey?  I thought that was just another note 

from Dr. Akagi to the Commander."



     "No!" Misato shouted back immediately.  She had written 

several pretty out there notes, but was sure she hadn't written 

anything like that!  Well, mostly sure.  "They were just... things I 

had written down.  Notes to myself, you know.  Nothing 

important."



     Miko continued to stare at the Major as she laughed 

nervously.  She had to find a new job soon.  This place seemed to 

get to people after a while.  "I just read off the names on the reports 

and hand them out to the right people.  I don't notice anything that 

doesn't slip out.  My guess it that your little notes got sent along 

with your reports."



     Misato immediately turned pale, hurriedly muttered out her 

thanks, and raced off in the general direction of the wall.  It was 

obvious she wasn't paying attention to where she was going, 

especially when she ran straight into it.



     "What was that about?" Miko thought out loud.



     "I have no idea," Saoe Nanimaru replied, who had been 

under the desk, resting her head against the warmth of the other 

woman's thighs.  "If I knew she was that unbalanced, I would have 

never written her that note."



***



     Well that hadn't worked, but Kaji wasn't about to give up.  

After that fiasco with the commander and his greedy hands, the 

most dashing and handsome triple agent felt he had something to 

prove, if only to himself.  Misato was obviously too pre-occupied 

with something, but there were plenty of other women at NERV to 

turn his charm upon.



     Kaji cruised the hallways until he spied a likely target.  

Silently, he came up behind her.  "Hey there, Maya," he said 

smoothly.



     The young lieutenant turned to face him, her face pale and 

drawn.  For a moment, she just stared at him, then her face started 

to screw up in obvious distress.



     Before Kaji knew what was going on, Maya was crying a 

river.  "Huh?" he said suavely, and watched as Maya turned and 

ran off.



     So that didn't work either.  There were still lots of other 

women around.  He'd prove his heterosexuality if it cost him his 

life!  Though... if Commander Grabby Hands discovered this, who 

knew what kind of jealous rage he might fly into?



     No!  That couldn't deter him!  The minute he started shying 

away from women because of a jealous wannabe boyfriend, then 

he might as well just march into that office and pucker up.  Turn 

his membership card to the Lady Killer club, start dressing in 

leather chaps and dog collars, carry around Vaseline at all times, 

and hand over a leash to Ikari.  This was something Kaji was not 

ready to do.



     Sadly, Kaji noted how easily his mind adjusted to the 

thought.  Was it so simple to go from complete ladies man to the 

commander's bitch-boy?



     Kaji needed to find a woman to hit on right away.



***



     Asuka snuck through the halls, trying to make her way to 

Dr. Akagi's office without being seen.  She didn't want to go after 

what she had seen between the doctor and Ibuki, but she had a sync 

test to report for.



     She peered around a corner to look for anyone she'd have to 

avoid, and quickly pulled back.  She could only think about what 

Rei had said, and how much the Second Child had avoided coming 

into any sort of contact with the commander since.  She held her 

breath, trying to become as flat as humanly possible, and then a 

little flatter.



     The only thing she wanted at that moment was to go and 

hide in Hikari's closet and not let any of the bad people from 

NERV get her.



     After long moments of not breathing, and just before the 

spots flashed in front of her eyes, Commander Ikari walked past, 

not even glancing in her direction.



     Releasing a sigh of relief, quickly followed by taking a big 

breath, Asuka hurried down the hall.



***



     Shinji discretely rubbed a finger under his nose and glanced 

at it.  Blood-free.  He walked quickly, but quietly through the 

corridors to get to his sync test.



     If he saw the Sub-commander, he'd die of embarrassment.  

If he saw Asuka or Rei, he'd die of blood loss.  Either way, he 

didn't want to die.



***



     Rei walked confidently through NERV.  In her pocket, she 

carried those precious guidelines just in case she or anyone else 

was ever in distress.  For the briefest moment, she considered 

visiting the Commander before her sync test, but decided that using 

it too much might spur the Commander to rescind the guidelines.



     That would be... bad.



     With an internal sigh, Rei continued on her way.



***



     Kaji walked aimlessly, looking for a woman, any woman.  

As it was nature's way, all members of the fairer sex seemed to 

have disappeared at his most desperate hour.  If only he could 

explain to someone that he just needed to share a little bit of 

himself, even though he'd almost been... spoiled by Commander 

Ikari...



     He shuddered.



     His travels took him to some section he wasn't completely 

familiar with to find a woman sitting at a desk in what appeared to 

be a general greeting/lounge/copy area.  Immediately, a smile 

crawled on to his lips, however huge and desperate it might have 

been, and he approached her.



     The little nameplate on her desk read simply 'Miko'.



     "Hi, Miko.  You might know me; I'm known to lurk around 

NERV every now and again," he said smoothly, completely .  

Happily, he noted his voice didn't shake.



     The woman looked up at him, her eyes blank, beads of 

sweat dotting her forehead.  Actually, she seemed to be looking 

through him, like she was a universe away.



       "Hello?"  Kaji waved his hand in front of her face.  "Are 

you... busy?"



       The woman still didn't answer him, just continued to stare 

someplace outside NERV.



     "Uh... okay."  Feeling crushed. Kaji walked away, waiting 

until he was out of sight of the woman to slump his shoulders.  It 

was like... all his mojo had just been sucked out of him in the 

night, or... Gendo's touch was like a curse on him.  It was like they 

all knew he was tainted now and avoided him because of it.



  "I need a WOMAN!" Kaji suddenly screamed.



***



     Shinji finally made it to his test, and sighed with relief.  Dr. 

Akagi was there, looking quite impatient.  "Sorry I'm late," he said, 

even though he didn't think he was late.  Still, apologizing came 

naturally to him.



     "You're not late," the doctor replied tersely.



     "Oh.  What--"



     "Why don't you just _wait_?" Ritsuko snapped, whirling 

around and glaring at him.  "I'll get around to you when I'm ready 

to."



     Shinji shrunk back.  "Sorry."



***



     Misato was almost in a panic.  Her secret notes  were 

fluttering around NERV, in the hands of who-knows-who, and 

maybe if she was lucky, they would never know...  No, she had to 

reclaim them or someone _might_ figure out she had written it, and 

then what?



     She wasn't even aware enough to realize she was panicking.  

She had no idea where she was exactly to find Maya there.  More 

precisely, run right into her there.  "Oh God, Maya, you have to 

help me," Misato blubbered and grabbed at the younger woman's 

uniform.



     "Help you with what?" Maya answered listlessly, not even 

getting a secret thrill at the major pawing her.



     "I lost..."  Could she tell Maya, Ritsuko's assistant?  Did 

she have choice in the matter now?  "I lost some..."  Misato sighed.  

"I was writing some notes the other night, and they got mixed in 

with the reports, and now..."  She gave Maya a pleading look.



     "Notes?  You mean like..."  The dutiful assistant reached 

into her pocket and pulled out the note that had caused her so much 

trouble in such a short amount of time.  "... this?"



     Misato stared at it for a moment, then snatched it from 

Maya.  She unfolded it and let her eyes pull in the shaky 

handwriting.  Oh God, had she actually written this?  She couldn't 

remember!  How many more of these were floating about?  "Y-yes.  

I think this is one of them."  She folded it and tucked it into her 

pocket.



     "That was in some papers Hyuga gave to me.  I thought he 

wrote it."



     "Oh God...  Everyone at that meeting must have gotten one.  

I can't believe this," Misato groaned.  "It's too late for this one, so 

who else... might have..."  Eyes blinking rapidly, Misato suddenly 

shot off like a rocket.



     "Where are you going?" Maya asked as she watched Misato 

take off.



     "I need to talk to Ritsuko!" yelled Misato as she ran off 

down the hall.



     "Hey!  Wait for me!"  And Maya hurried after her.



***



     Rei entered the room and observed the Third Child standing 

against the far wall, looking generally uncomfortable.  The Second 

Child was picking her fingernails and looking very bored.  Dr. 

Akagi was rummaging through some papers; she looked very 

distressed.



     Rei blinked, then reached into her pocket and felt the note 

there.  Her fingers closed on the paper.  "Dr. Akagi," she said, her 

hand held out with the note resting in her palm, and approached the 

scientist.



     Ritsuko just stared with a confused look on her face, which 

then turned to stunned amazement when Rei's lips connected 

solidly with her own.



     There was a thud as Shinji collapsed to the floor, and the 

muttering of some choice words in German as Asuka averted her 

eyes.



     This being the second time in two days to practically be 

sexually assaulted, Ritsuko was rather annoyed once she got over 

her surprise.  She pushed Rei away and gave the girl a stern look.  

"Rei, why did you do that?"  Her voice was very calm and even, 

disguising her shock.



     "You appeared to be in distress.  I tried to relieve your 

distress," Rei answered.



     "Rei, who told you to do that?"



     "No one."



     "Where did you get the idea to do something like that?" 

Ritsuko asked, her brow furrowing.



     "The pilot guidelines."



     "Guidelines?  And who gave you those?"  Misato's weird 

idea of a joke?



     "Commander Ikari."



     This time, Ritsuko blinked.  "He told you--"



     "He instructed me."



     "He instr--"  Ritsuko closed her eyes.  "Rei, please tell me 

how he instructed you to do such a thing."



     "I was... uncertain about the guidelines I was to follow.  

When I showed them to him, he relieved my distress."



     "He relieved your distress?"



     "He stuck his tongue down her throat, just like she did to 

me," Asuka said grumpily.



     Shinji was still quietly passed out in the corner.



     "He stuck his tongue..."  Ritsuko shook her head.  "I think 

we need to go see the commander.  Let's go.  Come on, Shin...  

Well, let's go."



***



     Whether it was a joke or not, the situation had to be cleared 

up.  Kozo did not find it funny at all, and he was to the point that 

he was ready to give Gendo a piece of his mind.



     He opened the door to the office and strode purposefully 

across the floor with the note clenched in his hand.  "Ikari," he said 

forcefully and threw the note onto Gendo's desk, "this is too much!  

You can't have Kaji, the doctor, _and_ me!"



     Gendo stared at him, and for the first time in years had no 

idea what was going on.  "Professor--"



     Kozo held up his hand and shook his head.  "I don't care if 

this is some sort of joke, or if it's serious, but if you think I'm just 

going to... like Kaji, you are sadly mistaken."



     Now, Gendo had even less of a clue what was going on.



     "And to use your son...  I don't know if I'm disgusted or just 

insulted.  I should tender my resignation over this, especially after 

the incident with Agent Kaji."



     "Old man, I have no idea what you're talking about," Gendo 

said flatly, not moving from his usual position.



     "I'm talking about this damned love letter you sent me!" 

Fuyutsuki roared.



     "Are we interrupting something?"



     Fuyutsuki spun around and immediately turned red with 

embarrassment when he saw Dr. Akagi and the two pilots standing 

there.  "No, it's not what you think..."



     Instead of speaking, Gendo took the opportunity to pick up 

the note and read it.  "I can assure you that I would not give a note 

like this to you," he said after he had finished.



     "A note?" Ritsuko asked as she walked forward, the 

children trailing behind her.  "A love letter?  May I?"  She picked 

up the note and read it, then looked at the note Rei had been 

carrying, and compared the two.  "Sir, you may want to see this."  

She laid both notes on the desk for Gendo see, side by side.



     "Interesting.  Rei, did you write these?" Gendo asked.



     "No."



     The blank looks on the faces of the others there indicated 

that they hadn't written them, so... who was the true culprit?



***



     Misato burst into the room with Ritsuko's name on her lips, 

but the only person there was Shinji.



     "Shinji!" she yelled instead and rushed over to him.  Lifting 

him by the front of his shirt, she asked desperately, "Where's 

Ritsuko?  Where'd she go?"



     Shinji groaned at her, so she shook him.  "Where is she?  

Tell me!"



     "Misato?" he said weakly.  "What happened?"



     "That's what I'm trying to figure out!  Where'd Ritsuko go?"



     "I-I'm not sure."  He was starting to get a headache from all 

the shaking.  "I think... I think...  After..."  He looked at Misato 

with haunted eyes.  "After Rei kissed Dr. Akagi--"



     "Oh my God..."  Misato set Shinji back on his feet and put 

her hands over her face.  "Could this get worse?"



     "I think I heard something about my father's office."



     "Oh God, I'm going to die.  Maybe I can stop her!  Shinji, 

you have to tell them it's all your fault!"  She grabbed the boy's 

wrist and dragged him from the room on her way to the 

commander's office.



     Maya followed along in hot pursuit.



***



     "These notes were written by the same person, and it's 

either a big joke or an even bigger mistake," Ritsuko announced as 

everyone watched her.  "I could hazard a guess as to who wrote 

these, but this handwriting..."  She shook her head.  "I can't say for 

sure, and I wouldn't want to name names without being sure."



     "It's Shinji's fault!"



     Everyone turned to stare at Misato who had just entered the 

office with Shinji and Maya in tow.



     Asuka gaped.  "YOU wrote those notes!?"



     Ritsuko nodded, completely unsurprised by the revelation.  

"Your notes to Kaji have been causing some trouble."



     Misato blushed and looked away.  "They weren't to Kaji," 

she mumbled.



     "So you did write them?" the sub-commander asked, a little 

disappointed and relieved.  Thank goodness Gendo hadn't written 

that note, but then no one else had either.



     "It was Shinji's fault!  He mixed them up with my other 

papers!"



     "It's not my fault," Shinji pleaded.



     "Yes it is!"



     "Sorry."



     "Sempai!  It was a big mistake!  I didn't mean it!"



     "This had better not disrupt the schedule."



     "Ikari, do you have any clue as to what's going on here?"



     "I'm still pissed at you for kissing me, Wondergirl!  You're 

not getting out of it so easily."



     Shinji passed out.



     "Did she just say Rei kissed her?"



     "I'm accessing security now."



     There was a sudden lull in the rabble, and in trudged Kaji, 

head hung low, not even looking where he was going.  "Fine," he 

said loudly.  "I give up, Ikari; I'm all yours.  You can do what you 

want with me and I won't complain.  Just... be gentle."



     Gendo removed his glasses and massaged his right temple.  

"I forgot about him."



     At the sound of Gendo's voice, Kaji looked up to see a 

considerable group of people all staring at him in stunned 

amazement and disbelief.



     "Uh... did I interrupt something here?"



***



       Misato tossed back the last of her beer and immediately 

opened another one.  "Ya know, if I hadn't been in the middle of all 

this, I probably woulda found it really damned funny."



     "It still is," Ritsuko answered, a smirk firmly on her lips.



     "It's all yer fault," Misato snapped back, and quickly 

drained her beer.  Another one was in her hand and at her lips 

before Ritsuko could open her mouth.



     "My fault?  Why is this my fault?"



     Misato burped, then looked at her friend.  "Cuz I wrote 

those notes ta you."  She burped again and drank more of her beer.



     "To... me?"



     "Yeah.  Ya know... kissin' you and all."



     "Kissing me?"



     "Yeah.  Been drivin' me nuts.  Haven't had tha guts to do it 

though.  Not yet."



     "Yet?"  Ritsuko was starting to get frightened.



     "I'm gonna get you one time, just lay one on ya.  I'm not 

gay or nothin' so don't worry about that.  I just want to kiss ya."



     "Uh... right.  Maybe I should go, Misato."



     "Naw, ya don't have ta."  Misato smiled drunkenly at 

Ritsuko, almost guiltily.



     Ritsuko smiled back nervously and started to get up.



     Before she escape Misato's reach, the major had reached 

out and grabbed her friend's arm.



     "Misato!"



     Misato quieted Ritsuko by placing her mouth firmly over 

Ritsuko's and distracting her with liberal tongue contact.



     Shinji, who had come out of his room at Ritsuko's yell, 

promptly fell to the floor with blood gushing out of his nose.



     Asuka, her curiosity piqued by Ritsuko, immediately turned 

around, muttering in German, to pack.  She was moving out 

ASAP.



***



     "Ugh, what a dream," Misato groaned, blinking away the 

sunlight that tried to pierce her hangover-sensitive eyes.



     That would be the last time she finished off a case of 

Yusubi while falling asleep with the TV set to the all-gay network.  

But it was the only station that had Xena: Warrior Princess dubbed 

in Japanese.



     A form stirred under the covers next to her, skin massaging 

her naked flesh, breasts rubbing up against her own as a head 

emerged from the blankets to rest gently against her collarbone.



     "Good morning, Misato."



     "Good morning, Maya."



***



     "Ugh, what a dream," Misato groaned, blinking away the 

sunlight that tried to pierce her hangover-sensitive eyes.



     That would be the last time she guzzle a liter of scotch 

whiskey while falling asleep reading a translated copy of Moby 

Dick that she had found among her old college things.  Stupid old 

whale reminded her a little too much of the 7th Angel.



     "Get back in bed, pilot," commanded an authoritative voice 

next to her.



     "Yes, commander!" Misato exclaimed in glee as she 

adjusted her red wig and slipped back under the sheets.



***



     "Ugh, what a dream," Misato groaned, blinking away the 

sunlight that tried to pierce her hangover-sensitive eyes.



     That would be the last time she'd do jello shots while 

reading through porn she had scoured off the internet.  There was a 

lot of weird stuff out there.  Some people had way too much free 

time.



     "Come back to bed," said a voice behind her. "We still have 

many sync tests to perform."



     "Right away, Doctor Fuyutski," Misato replied with a small 

giggle.



     "Oh... ooh...  ooohh, Yui!"



***



     "Ugh, what a dream," Misato groaned, blinking away the 

sunlight that tried to pierce her hangover-sensitive eyes.



     That would be the last time she'd split a case of malt liquor 

with Pen-Pen while falling asleep before the nature channel.  She 

felt a bit disturbed over how fascinated she'd been by penguin 

mating rituals.



     Another problem with imbibing so much liquid at once 

suddenly made itself known, so Misato threw off the sheets and 

stumbled in the direction of the bathroom.



     Passing Shinji's room on the way, she paused as she heard 

odd noises emerging from his partly opened door, sounding like 

the Third Child was up watching the special on baboons.



     Unable to restrain her curiosity, Misato carefully slid the 

door open a bit wider so she could peer inside.  Moments later, she 

slumped to the ground, back in the blissful state of 

unconsciousness.



     "Did you hear something?" Kaji asked his bed partner, his 

chest glistening with sweat as he emerged from the tangled sheets.



     "Just pass the condoms and roll over," Gendo instructed as 

he tucked at his white gloves.



     "Be more gentle this time," Kaji complained with a small 

giggle as he rolled over to reach for a torn open box of Hood brand 

condoms.



     Gendo snorted, then slapped him on the ass.



***



     "Arrgh!" Misato yelled as she awoke suddenly.  It seemed 

like she was stuck in a pattern of waking up into a dream that was 

even stranger than the next.  It was just like in that movie... 

Hedgehog Dilemma or something.



     Everyone who had just entered the NERV conference room 

was staring back at her with looks that ranged from surprise to 

complete and total shock.



     Misato followed their gazes down to suddenly realize that 

she was standing before them wearing nothing by her shoes and the 

cross that hung between her very bare breasts.



     "Thank god this is only a dream," Misato thought out loud, 

relieved.  This was more normal than the others of the night, 

making her feel relaxed.  She had dreams like this all the time in 

high school and college.



     Misato grinned as she picked up her stack of reports and 

skipped her way past the shocked row of faces.  If she was going to 

have odd dreams like this, she might as well enjoy it.  It did make 

her usually tedious job seem much lighter.



     The assembled staff of NERV were silent for some time as 

the continued to stare at the now closed door, until Aoba broke the 

silence by asking, "She was naked, right?"



     Everyone else nodded.



     "Misato did that all the time in college," Ritsuko confessed 

with a shake of her head.  "I guess she'll never learn."





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