AN: Sorry that this fic takes so long for me to update, but I've got a busy life as of late... It'll only be 2 or three more chapters, so you won't have to put up with my laziness much longer!

Enjoy!

-Da Plague

Chapter 4: Part 1;

'Well', Shinji thought while looking into the stunned faces of both Rei Ayanami and Hikari Horaki, 'Isn't this just spectacular?'

For the second time in two nights, Shinji had managed to stun people with the story of his 'past'. For the second straight night, he would be deemed a madman. It wasn't like he really cared about the world's opinion of him at the moment, but he had still let himself hold onto the distant dream that at least one of them wouldn't end up scorning him by the time they left his apartment. But by the looks on their faces, that dream, like so many before it. would too end up being shattered. "Look.. I'm sorry I made you both listen to that, feel free to leave…"

After registering what he said, Hikari responded almost automatically, "You didn't make us listen to anything Ikari-kun!" While she was extremely…perturbed at the moment, she did still want to help him, "Look, maybe we ca-"

"Hikari-san, may I ask for you to leave the two of us alone for a few moments?" Hikari looked over to the other resident of the room, having temporarily forgotten about her, and bit her tongue when she saw the serious look that was spread across her features. Feeling that the situation was under control for now, she simply nodded, and stepped outside the door, closing it quietly behind her.

A few seconds of silence ensued, adding to the anxiety that was hovering above it's two occupants already. Both looked as if they didn't particularly wish to be the first to speak, but in the end, Shinji's mind could bear the silence no longer, "She.. Asuka already told me I should go get help, I know.. I'm just sorry you had to put up with my ranting."

Rei held a lithe smile on her face, before answering, "It's alright, I just didn't think your mother had it in her to actually let you see the Evangelions already, let alone go in one of them."

"Well, yah.. You know how she is, never changes." Shinji retorted, absent-mindedly shaking his head back and forth slowly, before he noted a particularly odd part of that statement, "Wait.. Let me see the Evangelions? They actually exist!"

Of all the statements Rei had expected from her soon-to-be fellow pilot, that was not very high on, or on in general, the list at all, "Wha.. Then she hasn't even told you about them yet!" The blank look being returned to her was enough of an answer to keep her going, "Then how do you.. Why can you..? Are they premonitions or something? Hey! That's it! You already saw what's gonna happen! This is great!"

After about the 2nd comment, Shinji had stopped listening entirely, and was submerged in his own thoughts, 'They can't actually be real.. This world is normal! 2nd Impact never happened! No angels, no Eva, no NERV, no nothing!... Right?'

"..Rei?" Shinji asked. While she was a bit shocked at the use of her first name, he concluded his question very quickly, "Why are they here too? Why do they have to haunt me again..? Why!"

She was surprised by his outburst, to say the least. Why was he so scared of something he had never been shown? What are these visions of his? Could they help to achieve Commander Ikari's scenario in the end? She was about to try and calm him down, when a bag could be heard dropping in back of the pair. Rei and Shinji both turned around quickly, tears now notably trickling down Shinji's cheeks, to see an utterly devastated look on one of the room's new occupants.

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Asuka was having trouble deciphering her friend's situation, and it showed in just about any activity she had tried to engage in for the majority of the day. She couldn't concentrate on a good half of her test in History, Hikari's attempts at conversation were blown down for the most part, her being too lost in her own thoughts.. A long story made short, it had been a rough day. Shinji had had weird dreams before. Hell, his parents sent him to the children's psychiatrist more than a few times when he was young. But this time around.. He seemed so utterly devastated when it came to these dreams. They were apparently so real, he believed them to be part of his past.

She had to try and help him.. Had to try and help him snap out of whatever state he was because of these dreams. It was her duty as a friend after all…..That and she had to find some way to apologize for just walking out on him yesterday, after he had spilled his guts on the subject. 'I just hope he hasn't done something stupid out of depression, like slit his wri-..' That thought hadn't entered her mind before, and the resulting emotions had her running at a full sprint towards Shinji's apartment, thoughts void of any traffic that may have been making its way through the busy roads of Rush Hour Tokyo 3, 'Oh God.. Shinji! Please be alright..'

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It had been a long day for Gendo Ikari. Especially after Yui made fun of him for staying the late shift… again. While he still felt his stance on the matter was decent (Somebody has to make sure that the other late workers don't try to set up any practical jokes for the rest of our innocent organization, Yui!), he had begun to slip more and more to Yui's teasing. Maybe he should leave early, Fuyutsuki-sensei was more than able to handle things on his- "HOLY SHIT!"

Gendo barely managed to swerve into the opposite lane in time, crashing lightly into an opposing streetlight, but somehow managing to avoid running over the stupid bitch running across the road. After pushing the airbag down slightly, he opened the door to his car, and immediately went over to check to see if Ms. J-Walker was alright.

Apparently today wasn't his day with beating people to the verbal punch, however. "Mr. Ikari! Is that you! Gosh, are you alright?" A worried voice from the now clearly identifiable Asuka Langley Sohryu asked.

Having recognized his fellow citizen, he smiled lightly and responded in a light voice, "Yes, I'm fine Asuka-chan. You aren't hurt are you?" She shook her head 'no' rather quickly, and responded within the second, a look of extreme apprehension and discomfort on her face, "I'm fine, but we need to get to your apartment, I'm afraid something might've happened to Shinji!"

It took a few seconds for Gendo to really digest what Asuka had said. No, he wasn't slow. He just wasn't really used to the idea of Shinji being in any dangerous situations before, and only one thought was reigning supreme in his mind. 'Did he not take the news of the Evangelion Project well? It could indeed be dangerous to his mental state if he takes the news in a bad way…'

Asuka squeaked slightly as she was grabbed by the wrist, and led quickly to the slightly-wreaked car on the side of the road. Gendo let go of her to go inspect the front, and gave her a quick thumbs up signaling her to take a seat in the passenger's before he ran as rapidly as he could around the front to the driver's seat. After speedily starting the engine and backing out, the little black sedan sped off towards it's destination, with the car's two occupants worried about the situation in almost perfect synchrony.

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The sight that greeted Yui Ikari when she arrived home.. Was not a pretty one, to say the least. Up until now, she had enjoyed her day. She got to talk with Naoko, got to tease stiff little Gen-chan, she hadn't even had any problems at the grocery store! But what dose she come home to? The representative of Shinji's class had been standing outside the door when she arrived, looking rather nervous and confused. She quickly asked Yui to step inside, and she immediately dropped her grocery bags when the sight in front of her began to register in her mind. Shinji, down to his knees on the floor, apparently having a breakdown.. And was that Rei..?

"..What's going on here?" She asked, half wanting to know, yet half not to. For the presence of Rei wasn't exactly helping her reject the most likely reason he would be in this state. 'She must've told him about Eva… that's the only reason he would be like this!'

Rei, who now seemed to want to remain quiet, shifted uncomfortably away from the table, and eventually stood up from her seat, and walked over to the door. She looked at Hikari, and then back at Yui, before saying but one thing, "I think you two have some things to talk about.."

Yui sighed. That was the reason then.. He knew now. She was secretly hoping that it would never come down to this, but she knew she'd have to explain everything to him eventually. 'Ah, to hell with it..' she thought, 'Might as well get it over with once and for all..'

She motioned for Rei and Hikari to leave, which they did after taking one last look at a slightly more composed Shinji. Waiting to hear a satisfactory 'click' from behind to signal that the two were indeed absent from the room, she began the dreaded conversation in the only way she could think of, "..So you know?"

Shinji just stared at her, a pained look in his eyes. That was all the answer she needed.. If only she had some kind of backbone.. She could've told him earlier! "I'm sorry Shinji, I should've told you earlier.. Do you want to talk about it?"

Shinji started to chuckle a bit, which startled her somewhat. Him finding the conversation amusing wasn't exactly the first thing she had in her mind. "It's not as simple as you think it is, mother.. This is a rather strange situation.."

That much, she could understand. Not everybody was stuck having to pilot giant robots to save humanity from the messengers of an apparently pissed off God.. "I know.. But we need you to pilot, we need you to fight the angels an-"

"And what? Fight the angels, fight each other, fight my friends, watch my friends die, be a pawn to father's scenario, and help start third impact!" He ended his rant to take a look at his mother's face. It held a look of shock to say the least, with maybe just a dash of confusion.. He decided to end with on a bit of a sarcastic note, "I think I'll pass, thank you very much.. Eva has given me enough pain.."

'What does he mean by that! He's never even seen the thing before!' "What are you talking about, Shinji! Why the hell would we want a THIRD impact? The 2nd one nearly blew Antarctica to high hell! I don't even want to know what would've happened if the 1st angel hadn't been contained!"

"Care for me to tell you?" Shinji asked disdainfully, "I'd be more than happy too.. Might give you some insight on why I've been acting so strange recently."

"Now look here… stop being so stub-" That last bit caught Yui's attention, and had her deciding to postpone her 'ratting out of Shinji' for the time being, "Alright then… do tell."

A small chuckle could be heard coming from Shinji's mouth again, before he stood up and began pacing around the room. After about the second time passing by the door to the living room, he seemed to have chosen the words he had been looking for, "Have you ever felt like you're having an out of body experience? Like you've been pulled from reality, and just can't seem to be able to find your way back to yourself?"

Yui pondered that for a moment, and decidedly shook her head no, "But I have heard about things like that on the news. It tends to happen a lot with people who are on the verge of dying, but manage to pull through.."

Shinji nodded, and walked over to the same table he had been seated at earlier. He picked up the salt container, and started twiddling with it with his left hand, leaning against the wall with his right, "Yah, that sounds about right…" he said before getting off the wall, and taking a seat in a chair placed at the table. It was beginning to get late, and the darkness was making it rather difficult to even see the wall opposite of yourself. It made for a perfect environment for this conversation to be held in, "I was on the verge of death because of those God damned things.."

A sharp intake of breath could be heard from Yui, followed by a vast silence in the room. Minutes passed, and rain could be heard beginning to tatter on the window to the far side of the room. The breathing of both of the room's occupants could be identified easily within the emptiness of the household.. And then, the somewhat far-off, yet unmistakable sound of a car coming to a stop outside.