"Pilots, are you ready?" Misato cried from the command center, watching as the massive, diamond shaped Angel worked to bore into the Geofront above NERV. The last few days had been crazy, their attempt to register Shinji for school was like a dream. "No," Shinji answered honestly from Unit-01, "but I'll try." Rei Ayanami's voice was calm, her expression nearly blank on her side of the split screen. "Ready, commander." "Remember," Misato reminded Shinji, "the beam cannon you're using has a cool down time of thirty seconds, if you miss you may not get another shot." "Way to ratchet up the pressure," Shinji murmured, the young woman gulping softly. She took a breath, "And Ayanami's shield?" "It's tough but it won't last long against the Angel's beam," Misato said. Rei's voice was quiet but firm, "I will protect you." Ritsuko raised her eyebrows in surprise, looking over to where Misato stood with her in NERV's command center. Clearly she was surprised to hear such intensity of emotion coming from Rei. Misato shrugged, unsure what to say. "Begin operation," Misato ordered, "Shinji, all the power of Japan is in your hands!" On the hillside at the very edge of range Shinji had the Unit-01 laying prone, the experimental beam rife aimed towards the Angel hovering over NERV and Tokyo. Deliberately targeting NERV, like it knew where it's enemy was... Shinji took a deep breath, feeling a twinge of pain reminding her of her last run in with the Angel. Launching Unit-01 they sent Shinji up into the city to battle the Angel... a big mistake. Almost as soon as she popped up the Angel fired, turning the chest of the EVA into molten slag, the shock lashing through Shinji too. The medics told her that her heart had actually stopped, hanging for a moment between life and death... Shinji shook her head, trying to banish those thoughts. 'Focus,' she thought, using the sights to focus the cross hairs. The systems would compensate for distance, the curve of the Earth, all that, but she had to make the shot correctly. She lined it up, checked the charge meter, took a deep breath... then fired! "Cheers!" Misato cried, raising her can of beer jubilantly. "Cheers," Ritsuko agreed, tapping her can even as Shinji and Rei tapped cans of soda, too. "One shot," Misato crowed, "you did it with just one shot!" Shinji blushed, the young woman looking down uncomfortably. "It was just luck," she shook her head firmly. "No, it wasn't," Ritsuko said, "you nailed it." "True," Rei noted, sipping her soda. Misato nodded firmly even as she passed the take-out box of rice over to Ritsuko. "You did good," she agreed, "even Fuyutsuki said so." "I doubt Gendo did, though," Shinji noted as she sipped her drink. "Thanks love," Ritsuko said to Misato even as she winced slightly, remembering how gruffly Gendo had handled their latest victory. He hadn't even congratulated Shinji directly, instead he just generally thanked everyone for all their work. Once again she silently gave thanks for turning down his advances... "I'm sure that the commander approved of our efforts," Rei said just a bit uncomfortably, looking down at her plate. "Hmm," Shinji made a noncommittal noise, not willing to directly contradict a guest. 'Isn't that interesting,' Misato noted as she watched the two youngsters interact. She found herself wondering if something had happened between Shinji and Rei up on that hill.. they had been up there a while on their own. It wasn't anything obvious but there was a little more softness as Rei looked and talked to Shinji. "So what do you two want to do to celebrate?" Ritsuko asked the kids curiously as she munched on sweet and sour pork. "Eh?" Rei blinked. Misato smiled, "I doubt the commander would approve, but I think rewarding our two conquering heroes would be good." "I don't really think...," Shinji hesitated. "No, thank you," Rei said gravely, almost at the same time. Both she and Shinji exchanged a surprised smile, and then looked away. "Aw," Ritsuko smiled, "but Misato already rented the kareoke machine." "Kareoke?" Shinji whimpered. Misato finished off her beer then thumped it down on the table. "Don't be a wimp," she scolded, "you'll have fun." Ritsuko reached across the table to lay her hand on Rei's, "Please?" Rei hesitated, then she nodded slightly. "One or two songs," she said to them firmly, "then I have to go." "Fair enough," Misato bounced up, leading them into the living room, "let's go!" "And here I was hoping you'd get us out of it," Shinji murmured to Rei, her gentle smile softening the words. Rei smiled back, "Sorry." "All right, who's first?" Ritsuko asked, a can of beer in her own hand. 'How many have those two had, anyway?' Shinji found herself wondering. Not that both women weren't old enough, but still... "Me, me!" Misato laughed, getting up. She ran through the available songs and grinned, finding the tune she wanted. Crooning a love ballad to Ritsuko made both of the women blush, but they were also clearly enjoying themselves. "If this gets much sweeter I may be sick," Shinji murmured to Rei softly. "Hmm," Rei nodded just slightly. "All right, your turn," Ritsuko said, passing the microphone over to Shinji. Shinji opened her mouth to argue, then decided to just get it over with. She chose a song then opened her mouth to sing. The song was old, back to the 90's about a girl who never got along with others, and most importantly herself. Misato shook her head as Shinji sat down, "Nice singing, though I've got mixed feelings about the song." "You're the one who suggested kareoke," Shinji pointed out a bit defensively. Sensing a possible argument Ritsuko quickly offered a turn to Rei, "Here you go." "I..." Rei frowned slightly then nodded, walking over to the machine. A few keys, then her voice soared even as it carried a oddly unspecified sorrow... "And you don't seem to understand, A shame you seemed an honest man, And all the fears you hold so dear Will turn to whisper in your ear. And I know what I say can hurt you, And you know that it means so much But you don't even hear a thing I am faded, I am falling, I have lost it all, Help me to breathe..." There was a beat of dead silence as Misato finished another beer. "Next time we do kareoke," she said to no one in particular, "I'm getting these two drunk first." "Hmm," Ritsuko agreed. To be continued... Note: Rei is singing from the opening theme from Serial Experiments Lain... a depressing yet oddly beautiful little song. If you haven't seen Lain I recommend it, if only for the visual design and unique storyline.
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