The story itself is set in the NGE universe. While I don't consider it
dark, draw your own conclusions. Also, there is no prologue this time.

C&C, private and public, is most welcome.

Disclaimer time:
Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty and Viz Communications own Ranma
1/2. Hideaki Anno, Gainax and ADV Films own Neon Genesis Evangelion.

I'd also like to thank my pre-readers for this part:

Dave Menard <deibu_kun@sympatico.ca>
James Merritt <delta@qx.net>
Jeremy H. Fogelman <jemhf@wam.umd.edu>
Thomas Hackwood <thackwood@mindspring.com>

Corwin (ely7@inter.net.il or corwin@virtuallyjeannie.com)
http://lavender.fortunecity.com/friday/573/anime.html

-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: acoa-ch1-ffml.txt

A Couple of Angels

Chapter 1

"Pattern Orange detected! Commander, we have an Ora..." Maya's jaw
dropped as she realized what she was saying.

"Explain," Ikari's voice came through the speakers.

"Well, sir, the Magi claimed that a 'Pattern Orange' appeared for 3.7
milliseconds, and then it just... disappeared."

"Could it be one of the Angels?" Dr. Akagi interjected.

"No, it was definitely something else, Sempai," Maya replied. 'Although
what more is there?'

"Did the Magi pinpoint the origin of the phenomenon?" the Commander
asked.

"There wasn't enough time. All we know is that it happened somewhere in
Tokyo-3."

And with that Maya returned to her analysis of the recently acquired
data. Even as the Nerv personnel resumed its previous duties, everyone
hoped that this wouldn't be yet another Angel bent on bringing the Third
Impact.

All but one, that is, who sighed deeply. 'So... after all those years,
he is back...'

*****

Ranma woke up on an unfamiliar sidewalk. Immediately he was back on his
feet, looking around hysterically. He was alive, there was no doubt of
that... so maybe the others were here as well?

Looking into a nearby puddle, he immediately understood that something
was wrong. The face that was staring back at him was his... and yet it
wasn't. Rather, it belonged to a fourteen-year-old Ranma. As feeling
slowly returned to his body, he noticed the various differences between
the form he had become used to during the last year and the one in which
he currently was. Gone were the longer reach and the extra strength on
which he had lately become dependent.

At least, his monstrous reservoir of ki remained intact and his muscles
seemed only slightly diminished from what he was used to. Suddenly, a
realization of what had happened hit him full force.

"It was real. All of it..."

A car raced by, not even noticing the small puddle that was on its path,
or the boy-turned-girl that was now staring into the distance. Had
anyone seen the diminutive red-headed girl at the moment, no one would
be able to say for sure whether she had been crying or not. And maybe it
was for the best - Ranma didn't like to show her weaknesses...

* * *

Trying to get out of the rain, more out of instinct than anything else,
Ranma ran into the closest building to her. Once inside, she noticed
that the place looked like a dump.

'Good. The building's probably condemned, so no one would bother me
here.'

Taking off the red Chinese shirt that now hung loosely off both her
forms, she squeezed the water out of it the best she could, before
finding an open apartment to stay in for the night. When she turned on
the doorknob of the first door she laid her eyes upon, Ranma noticed a
blue haired girl apparently coming out of a shower, toweling her hair.
This assumption was confirmed by the fact that, aside of the small
towel, the only things the girl had on her were the patch on her left
eye and some bandages on her arm. Like a deer caught in the headlights,
Ranma could only return the other girl's stare, as she stopped and
regarded her uninvited visitor.

After about half a minute of staring at each other with no progress,
Ranma came back to her senses. Averting her eyes, she fiddled with the
shirt that was still in her arms, struggling with an apology.

"Um, I'm really sorry about this. The door was open an' I didn't think
anyone lived in this dump, an'... and I looked for a place to dry off."
Noticing what she said, she quickly added: "I didn't mean that stuff
about your place. It, err, looks great! Yeah, that's it!"

Finally remembering something, Ranma continued, more quietly this time.

"Oh, an' I didn't mean ta peep on you like this. I didn't know you were
naked and all."

Having said all she intended to, Ranma cringed and waited for the
strike... that never came.

"That does not bother me," the girl, that appeared to be roughly around
Ranma's current age said in a monotonous voice.

"Really?" Ranma asked, turning around before she could remember the
reason why she was facing the other direction in the first place.
Luckily, the other girl had put on a school uniform in the meanwhile.

"You are cold," the girl stated in the same tone of voice. "I can give
you some clothes to wear until yours are dry enough."

"Um... thanks," Ranma answered, a bit uncertain. This girl wasn't acting
like any other she had met in her life. However, for the life of her,
she couldn't decide whether it was a bad thing.

The blue haired girl gave a curt nod and started walking away to where
she apparently kept her clothes. Ranma shrugged and followed.

The sight that greeted her wasn't what she had been expecting at all.
Several school uniforms, and... that's it? This girl was definitely
different than any other girl Ranma had known.

Finally picking the uniform on the right, Ranma asked where the bathroom
was, and quickly went to change there. Normally, she wouldn't bother
exchanging her clothes before returning home, especially if it meant the
replacement would be some girly outfit. But that was when she still had
a home to go to. Now, all Ranma had to remind her of it was the only
pair of Chinese clothes that made the trip with her, and no money for
even food, not to mention a new wardrobe.

'Not that it matters now, anyway,' she thought bitterly.

Returning back to the living room, if you could call it that, after
having hung her old costume to dry on the bathroom sink, Ranma went over
to the girl, who was sitting on her bed and crouched beside her.

"My name's Ranma," she offered, bowing.

"I am Rei Ayanami."

Now she had the name to go with the face, Ranma mused.

"So, Rei, do ya live here on your own?"

* * *

Several hours later and well into the night, Ranma figured that it was
high time she left Rei's apartment. She chuckled inwardly, as she
thought back to the part in their conversation, when Rei was finally
convinced to call her plainly by her given name, and with no honorifics.
What was the point in them anyway? Changing back into her regular
outfit, she thanked the nice girl that helped her out and prepared to go
outside, when a rather loud thunder was heard from outside.

'How long is that stupid rain gonna be, anyway?!' Ranma thought angrily,
grimacing at the thought of getting all wet again.

Just then, a brilliant idea appeared in her mind. During the
conversation the blue haired girl, she had found out that no one else
lived in the other apartments in the building. What a shame...

"Say, Rei, how would ya like ta have a neighbor?"

*****

Ranma was trudging down the street aimlessly, staring at the ground. She
knew that the most logical choice would be to find some work, so she
could afford some food, but her heart just wasn't in the right place for
that. Ranma was able to make herself go on, to exist; anything beyond
that didn't matter anymore. She was all alone, in a strange city in the
future. Everything seemed so alien to her, so much different than the
Tokyo she had known. All of a sudden, she sensed an arm trying to grab
her shoulder. Before any sentient thought had passed through her brain,
the man was flung several meters to land in a pile of garbage.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?" a voice shouted from behind her.

Turning around, Ranma saw a truant officer, in an outfit identical to
the one the man who tried to grab her adorned. 'Probably his partner,'
she mused.

"Whadda ya want?" Ranma shouted threateningly.

"Oh, so we've got a spicy one, eh? Why aren't you at school?" the
officer asked, advancing on her.

"What's it to ya? Beat it before I knock some sense into you," Ranma
growled, before dropping into her fighting stance.

The officer approached the red-head menacingly, his mind set to teach
the impudent girl some manners, as well as respect for the law. Grabbing
her arm roughly proved to be a mistake, however, as the lightning fast
punch to the mouth that he received established. Spitting out a broken
tooth, his rage eclipsed the officer's disbelief and he took out his
baton, charging the girl. A few moments later he had joined his partner
in the garbage pile, while Ranma was twirling the club in her hand.

"Freeze!" two more voices shouted at her.

Looking at the source of the screams, the only remaining practitioner of
Anything Goes noticed two police officers with drawn guns, which were
unfortunately pointed at her. Apparently, police officers around here
didn't take too lightly to teenaged martial artist beating the tar out
of their kind.

'What to do, what to do,' Ranma contemplated her predicament, briefly
wondering what caused the policemen around here to be so trigger-happy.
After what had happened to her recently, she was not afraid to die. But
there was no honor in meaningless death, so suicide was out of the
question. No, the only way Ranma was going down is fighting.

However, there were innocents on the street along with her. The bullets
would not be able to even graze her, Ranma was sure of that. But could
she disarm the officers before an innocent bystander got hurt from a
stray shot? She didn't want to take that chance. Despite trying to
convince herself that she didn't care for anyone anymore, this was not
true.

Fortunately for everyone involved, the officers offered her a choice.
Either go to school quietly, under escort, of course, and stay there...
or go to jail. Since Ranma didn't want to spend any more time than she
had to around these cops, she took the olive branch that was offered to
her.

* * *

"Class, this a new student. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"The name's Ran... ko. Saotome Ranko."

Leveling a glare at all the perverts staring at her with lust and
drooling uncontrollably, she said "I'm gonna take my sit now," in an
emotionless voice that brook no argument. Travelling to an empty seat,
Ranma plopped into it, idly noticing that her neighbor was sitting right
in front of her.

The teacher just stared at the girl, as she went to claim a seat next to
a window. Seeing her appear, escorted by two armed officers, had been a
shock. After exchanging a few words with them, he knew enough to give
that girl her space.

Ranma, for her part, turned towards her window and started staring
outside, not really looking at anything in particular. From the bits and
pieces she had managed to overhear since the beginning of the class, it
sounded boring. Not that she would participate anyway - what was the
point of it all, now? The only reason she stayed at school once the
officers departed was that she had given them her word. Ranma's honor
was the only thing she had left, besides martial arts, and she would be
damned if she threw it away willingly.

"Ranko?"

Someone was calling her. Turning her head around, Ranma didn't recognize
the teacher.

'Hmm, must be a new class or something. Whatever.'

"Ranko, have you been paying attention?"

'Geez, of all the stupid questions...'

"Take a guess," Ranma replied, narrowing her eyes. 'As if I don't have
enough on my mind as it is,' she thought darkly.

Spending her days at school was one thing, but she hadn't agreed to
allow these idiots boss her around. If they thought she was there to
learn, she would have to show them the... error... of their ways.

Her teacher was getting angrier by the minute, and his face was all
flustered. 'Wild Child', indeed. The whole class, with the exception of
the blue haired girl in front of Ranma, was looking on at the drama
unfolding before them.

"Why don't you open your computer for a start, Miss Saotome?"

Ranma's teacher held on tightly to his self control, because attacking a
child, especially a female one, in his class might get him fired, and so
he had mustered all of the patience he had to deal with the new kid.

Her eyebrow beginning to twitch as she heard the teacher call her
'miss', Ranma replied, smirking evilly.

"I can't, it ain't working right."

"Really? There wasn't anything wrong with it yesterd..."

That was the exact moment that Ranma's fist drove through the computer,
exiting through the other side of her desk, not losing one bit of its
momentum. Ranma's eyes haven't left the teacher's for the entire time,
and she could see anger briefly being replaced by puzzlement, before
settling for the emotion she was driving at, fear.

"There is now. You better call the technician or somethin'," Ranma
offered, returning her gaze to the window. Her senses were active for a
few moments, to ensure that she had gotten the desired effect. She
smiled inwardly as the teacher and everyone else who had been looking at
her earlier suddenly found something interesting to examine on their
desks. In fact, her little demonstration went so well, that she was
genuinely surprised to find her neighbor's eyes land on her for a few
moments.

'Wasn't she scared? I wonder what it would take to make her stay away.'

As the teacher regained his composure a bit and resumed his lecture,
Ranma found herself thinking that she didn't really want to push that
girl away. Getting the feeling that she was not like all the other kids
around here, that she was special in some way, Ranma contemplated this
for awhile, before dismissing these thoughts and concentrating on
perfecting her soul of ice...

*****

Lunch was a quiet occasion, with students giving her sidelong glances
and whispering to each other from a safe distance, which was just fine
by her. Ranma found herself a nice big oak tree in the courtyard, and
was sitting in its shade, staring off into space. Unfortunately, that
caused the memories of the times she had with her now lost friends to
resurface, memories she didn't want to recollect.

And so, she was relieved upon spotting a familiar face in the crowd. Rei
was sitting alone with a book in her hands. For some reason, simply
seeing her there forced all of the depression out of Ranma's head. It
was puzzling how could a person who she had only met the day before have
such an effect on her, as if with that girl around, Ranma wasn't alone
anymore.

Rei, who had been watching Ranma out of the corner of her eye during the
lunch break, noticed her gaze descend on her person. Keeping her
composure, which came as a second nature to the First Child, she waited
to see what will happen next. As she saw the other girl's eyes fall
briefly on her unopened bento, Rei realized that Ranma didn't have any
lunch with her. And from what she had learned last night, that girl had
no money or other earthly possessions. Making up her mind, she put away
her book and walked over to the oak in which shade Ranma was sitting.

"Yeah?" Ranma asked, once the girl she had been watching previously came
over to her.

"You seem to be hungry."

As if on cue, Ranma's stomach growled in response to that statement. The
expression on Rei's face hasn't changed one bit, as she silently offered
her bento to the other girl.

Ranma could only stare confusedly at the proffered food. People never
gave her something for free. Even all the so-called 'free food' she ever
got from Shampoo or Ukyo had a hidden agenda behind it. And she wasn't
even going to mention the drugged, magically spiced or just plain toxic
'cuisine' that used to compose her diet. So the question remained.

"Whadda ya want?" she bluntly asked the blue haired girl.

Rei blinked in response. 'Had I wanted anything?' Her mind wasn't
prepared for a question like that, and didn't have a ready answer for
it, so she chose what she did best - Rei just stood there silently.

Ranma frowned, and looked at the lunchbox in her hands. Maybe she had
looked too much into things. There was this nice girl, who had just
offered her food without asking a thing in return, and she just had to
go and insult her. Well, Ranma wasn't sure the girl was insulted, but
then why was she just standing there, staring at her? And after all, Rei
couldn't have been after Ranma because she was a girl at the moment, and
as far as the martial artist could tell, no one here in this weird
future knew about her curse. Trying to make up for her misconduct
towards the only girl who had tried to do anything nice to her, Ranma
belatedly thanked the girl and offered her to sit down, flashing her
with a smile.

Rei continued staring as the girl consumed the food in record time, the
chopsticks blurring in her hands. Deciding that it didn't matter to her
where she sat, she found a nice spot next to her.

A few moments passed before Ranma decided to break the silence. Rei was
probably extremely shy, which for some reason just seemed wrong, or she
just didn't like to talk much. Either way, it suited Ranma fine. She
initially wasn't going to make new friends here, but as the saying goes,
misery loves company. And from the looks of her neighbor, she didn't
seem to have much in her life, just like Ranma.

"So, um, is that all you do every day at lunch? Reading a book, that
is."

Blinking at the other girl, Rei absently noted that she had been doing
that a lot around her. Well, more than usual, anyway. Instead of
answering the question, she countered with one of her own. The same one,
actually, that had been puzzling her ever since the girl's introduction
in class.

"Why did you call yourself 'Ranko'?"

Ranma was taken aback by that question. 'Where did that come from?'
Stammering while trying to find some excuse, she finally gave up and
decided to simply tell the truth, or at least the part of it that she
was sure Rei could handle.

"Well, see, 'Ranko' is like a nickname to me. Please, would you keep my
real name a secret? It would mean a lot to me. I don't want to go by my
real name, when I'm like this."

'Now, if only she wouldn't ask what I meant by...'

"What do you mean, 'like this'?"

'Shit.'

As Ranma frantically prayed for a distraction - any distraction - one
presented itself in the form of an alarm. Rei immediately got to her
feet, but before she could make more than two steps, a hand grasped her
shoulder, stopping her.

"Err, Rei, could you please tell me what's goin' on?" Ranma asked,
looking around as the students were all running in one direction. "Is
this like a fire drill or something?"

"An Angel is attacking. You should go to the shelters," Rei calmly
explained. Noticing that Ranma was now pulling her towards the general
direction of the others, she said: "Please, let me go."

"Huh? Didn't you just say that there's an attack or something?"

"Yes."

"Then why aren't you coming to the shelters too?"

"I am an EVA pilot. It is my duty to fight the Angels."

Ranma was speechless. Some big confrontation was about to happen with
those 'Angels', and they were sending girls to fight them? This just
wouldn't do. Ranma couldn't let Rei get hurt, as she definitely would.
She didn't look like a fighter one bit, and Ranma was rarely mistaken
about such things. Her mind made up, Ranma went to look for hot water.
Protecting Rei was one thing, but she didn't want to get mixed up in
anything, and figured that the best way to avert attention form her
current self was to go in her original form. After all, no one knew
about Ranma Saotome here, and the only few who possibly could, have been
dead for almost two decades now.

Stuffing that thought back to the recesses of her mind, Ranma went to
the men's room to get some hot water. She briefly considered getting a
costume to further conceal her identity, a tuxedo coming into her mind's
view for no apparent reason, before shrugging the idea off and turning
the hot water faucet. Who would be stupid enough to fight in that thing?

*****

Ranma hopped over the rooftops. Looking for this 'Angel' thing that Rei
was supposed to fight, when a huge monstrosity had flown into the city.
Looking like some kind of weird jellyfish on serious steroids, that
being had to be the enemy. Just as he was about to continue his sweep of
the area, the ground parted and a huge robot flew out of the newly
created hole, sending a shock wave in its wake.

'Is it Rei in there?' Ranma asked himself, before returning his
attention to the fight at hand.

After some time it became clear to him that conventional weaponry wasn't
hurting the creature. Ranma saw some kind of red aura appear around its
body second before the rifle shells would impact it.

'This thing probably has a glass jaw, just like Saffron, so it won't let
you get close enough,' he mused, analyzing the battle. In his opinion,
the best option that robot had was to rush the Angel and go hand-to-
hand. 'Maybe the pilots don't know how to fight without weapons? After
all, Rei didn't seem much of a fighter.'

As a cloud of smoke covered the creature's body entirely, Ranma though
that it would use the momentary disguise to attack. He wasn't
disappointed, as a ribbon-like appendage shot out of the mist of debris
and proceeded to deliver the robot some serious punishment, before
cutting some cable that was attached to it. The angel finally caught the
robot by its ankle, and threw it away to land on a clearing, where it
became partly imbedded in the ground.

Ranma, who had been having nasty Kodachi flashbacks throughout the
attack, couldn't take any more of this. Whether it was Rei in there or
some other pilot, he had to intervene. It was a martial artist's duty to
protect the weak, and while that sixty-foot tall robot looked like it
could take care of itself, it was also everyone's last line of defense
against that monster.

'And who knows what would happen if the fight goes on? The whole city
would probably get trashed, and then...'

With this final thought, Ranma leapt towards the giant robot, that was
holding off the 'arms' of the Angel. Getting into a good strategic
position, he allowed himself to smirk.

'So, this Angel thing is immune against conventional attacks? Lets see
how he deals with an unconventional one!'

Making a mad dash towards the robot, Ranma used the back of its head as
a springboard, launching himself towards the Angel. Soaring through the
air, he cried out the name of the attack that he had sought to seal from
the world fifteen years prior to this - 'Demon God Assault Bomb!'

* * *

Warning sirens made themselves known throughout Nerv headquarters, as
everyone stared baffled and more than a bit frightened at the screens.

"We've got another AT field manifesting directly above Unit-01!" Ristuko
shouted in disbelief.

Misato looked in horror at the view of the battle. Even with full power,
Shinji and his Unit-01 would have a hard time fighting this Angel, but
two of them at the same time...

"Get Rei ready to go in Unit-00," Gendo's commanded, frowning behind his
folded hands.

"What do we have on the other Angel?" Misato finally asked, having
composed herself.

"Wait!" Maya exclaimed, turning away from her screen, "the AT field is
not coming from an Angel!"

"What do you mean?" Ritsuko queried.

"The Magi are detecting only one Blue pattern! The other one is Orange!"
Maya scrambled to explain. "Commander, the readings are exactly the same
to the ones we've gotten last time."

"Oh my God! What is that?!"

Everyone turned at the sound of Misato's shout, seeing her pointing at
the main view screen. Boomerang-shaped disturbances in the air sailed
towards the Angel that was pinning Unit-01, visible even to the naked
eye due to a slight red hue along their contours. The Angel's AT field
flared to life, trying to intercept the translucent projectiles. And, to
the amazement of everyone present, they passed through it, cutting the
AT field like hot butter.

The Angel didn't even have time to be surprised, as it was blown back a
few hundred meters by the force behind the projectiles, two of them
severing a good portion of its arms. With only thirty seconds of power
left, Shinji used his chance to get Unit-01 off the ground and drew out
the progressive knife. Giving out a yell and running towards the Angel,
that was trying to recover and regenerate the damage, Shinji thrust the
knife into its core.

As the clock reached zero, both Unit-01 and the fourth Angel became
immobile, and everyone in the control room secretly let out the breath
they have been holding.

"What is the status of the Orange pattern?" Gendo asked, now that the
current crisis was over.

"It... it disappeared again, after the Angel was hit with those
projectiles," Maya replied, checking her readings.

"Understood. Notify me when it shows up again."

And with those final words, the supreme Commander of Nerv left the room.

* * *

'Something was different about that attack,' Ranma thought as he
traveled to his new home across the rooftops. He had never used the
Yama-Sen-Ken himself, albeit picking it up after seeing it in use, but
it just hadn't felt right. Instead of the usual vacuum blades, something
accompanied them this time, something that probably allowed them to pass
through the creature's red barrier.

Ranma was baffled about that part. It sure wasn't ki, as he had used it
enough to know the difference. And from what he knew, there wasn't
anything else. Well, except magic, that is, but he doubted that he
became a magician over night, just like that.

'Damn, I wish the old ghoul were here. She would have known what it is.'

That thought only served to depress Ranma even further, as he remembered
the friends that died that fateful day, with him helpless to save them.
But before he could sink any further into his despair, Ranma remembered
the pilot of the robot that he helped that day, and smiled.

'Maybe I can still redeem myself.'

*****

Opening the door after hearing the knocking, Rei noticed her neighbor
standing in the doorway. Ranma had decided that since she had to go to
school, it would be nice to go with someone, and Rei was on top of her
very short list of candidates. In fact, the list consisted of only Rei,
but Ranma chose to overlook that fact.

And so, standing somewhat timidly at the doorway, Ranma asked her
neighbor if she'd like to go to school together, all the while shuffling
her feet uncomfortably. It wasn't as if she had been trying to ask the
girl out, besides, she was in her female form at the moment. But fear of
rejection from the only person to show her kindness in this hostile
world gripped her heart and refused to let go.

After taking a moment to think it over, Rei nodded, and started to walk
out, when she noticed that Ranma didn't have any lunch with her.
Remembering the lunch the other day, she silently walked over to her
refrigerator, and packed another bento.

Ranma was deeply touched. Although she had already thought of Rei as a
friend, she couldn't be sure of the other girl's feelings on the matter.
And here, she was making a lunch for her, just like that! Sure, girls
have given Ranma free food lots of times, but even when it was not
poisoned, one way or another, only Kasumi had ever done that without
expecting anything in return. And now that she thought about it,
something about Rei reminded her of Kasumi. The only problem was that
the blue haired girl didn't smile, but Ranma was sure that she would
give even her girl side a good run for her money if she did.

Much more determined than before to make this girl smile, Ranma thanked
her and they walked towards the school.

*****

Shinji has been waiting outside of Rei's apartment door, facing a
dilemma. He had been sent there to give her the new ID card, or rather,
that was what he was telling himself. The quiet girl confused him, and
he wanted to get to know her better, hence this trip. However, now that
he was at his destination, Shinji was at a loss. The doorbell was
broken, and his knocks were unanswered. Taking a deep breath, Shinji
announced that he was coming in, and opened the door. Fortunately for
him, the lock was broken as well, seemingly recently.

'I wonder if someone had broken into Rei's apartment?' Shinji thought
entering, before promptly forgetting about that altogether. The cute
redhead, coming his way while toweling her hair and clad only in boxers,
might have had something to do with it.

The girl spared him a bored glance, and asked: "You're not one of those
perverts, are ya?"

Shinji quickly drew his eyes away from the girl's well-endowed form and
shook his head.

"Good."

Having said that, the girl apparently forgot all about him, and went
over to her bed, putting on a worn out red Chinese shirt and black
pants. She looked familiar, but for the life of him Shinji couldn't
remember from where.

"Say, haven't I seen you someplace before?"

The girl turned to regard Shinji, looking even more bored than before,
if such a thing was possible.

"Of all the lame, stupid, cliche pick up lines, didya really have to use
that one?" she asked, rubbing her forehead with her right hand.

"Um... no... that is... I honestly thought I saw you before and all.
Anyway, my name's Shinji, Ikari Shinji."

"Hmm, Ikari... Ikari," the girl pondered, saying his family name aloud
several times. "Any relation to Commander Ikari?" she asked after a
minute of thinking.

"Yes, he's my father."

Inwardly, Shinji frowned. Who was this girl, and what was she doing in
Rei's apartment? And on top of that, how could she know the Commander of
Nerv? Her voice brought him back from his musings.

"Listen, whoever you are, that still doesn't give you the right to march
into someone's apartment, you know?"

"Well, I was looking for Ayanami..."

"Oh, Rei? What do you want with her, anyway?" the mysterious girl asked,
genuinely interested now.

"Um, there's this new Nerv ID card I have to give her, and..."

"Alright. Give it to me, and I'll make sure she gets it."

The girl put out her arm and gave Shinji a look that brook no argument.

"B-but, it's only for authorized personnel, and..."

"Look, I don't have much time to waste. Just hand over the card, and
I'll give it to Rei the moment I see her. It's that simple," Ranma said,
thinking 'I can't let him delay me, or Rei might go to school on her
own!'

The arm was still stretched out towards him, but now there was an
annoyed scowl on the girl's face. Shinji was between the rock and the
hard place. On one hand, he couldn't just give it to some stranger, but
on the other, he didn't want to go back to Ritsuko and Misato and
explain to them how he couldn't perform such a simple task. And if he
had to explain what had happened in this girl's apartment... Luckily,
the girl decided to take pity on him, and introduced herself.

"Hey, Shinji, don't worry so much. I'm Ranko, from class, remember? It's
ok, I really am Rei's friend."

While that little speech was really helpful, what did it was the sweet
smile the girl - Ranko - provided. Mortally wounded with cuteness rays,
Shinji went over to her, put the ID card in her hand and left the
apartment, going to Nerv HQ in a state of shock.

* * *

Ranma looked at the ID card for a few moments, examining Rei's photo.

'She's quite cute actually, too bad she doesn't smile more often. Come
to think of it, I've never actually seen her smile. Well, I guess I'll
have to work on that.'

Quickly fixing her hair into her trademark pigtail, Ranma walked out of
the entrance to the adjustment apartment, and knocked several times.
Shortly thereafter, Rei answered the door and let Ranma in. Entering,
the redhead gave her friend her ID card, noting that Rei's had gotten
rid of her bandages, and asked if she wanted to go to school together.

Rei looked at the Nerv security card in her hands, trying to figure out
how Ranma was able to get her hands on it. Deciding to find out for
sure, she asked: "How did you get the card, Ranma? Do you work for Nerv
as well?"

"Huh? Why would I do that?"

Now Rei was even more confused. Commander Ikari had pointed out to her
several times that all information about Nerv was restricted. The same
should have been true to the pilots' ID cards as well, and yet, Ranma
had just handed her one. That meant that Ranma must have had clearance,
just like several of the UN and JSSD officers she'd seen visit Nerv.

A few more questions later, Rei would've frowned, had she known she was
supposed to in situations like these. If what Ranma was telling her was
true, than she should report Ikari-kun and Ranma to the Commander. But
if she did that, they might get punished, and she didn't want that to
happen. Finally, Rei decided that if the Commander would like to know
about it, he would ask her, and deemed the matter closed.

"Yo, Rei, are you ready to go to school now?" Ranma asked, getting
impatient. She was in hurry to get to class, but the whole 'twenty
questions' routine was starting to put her on edge. 'It's just a stupid
card, geez!'

Rei noticed that Ranma had said once again that he wanted to go to
school with her, but she was going to Nerv for a synchronization test
for Unit-00.

"I have to go to Nerv Headquarters today. You should go to school on
your own," Rei suggested to Ranma.

"Say, Rei... do you mind if I tag along? Y'know, instead of going to
school an' all?" the red-head replied, surprising the other girl.
"C'mon, it'll be fun!"

"That is a restricted area," Rei countered.

"Piece of cake!" Ranma replied, waving her hand and smiling.

Rei considered her course of action. Ranma said that she could get in
without a problem. Only authorized personnel could enter Nerv.
Therefore, if Ranma would be able to get in, Commander Ikari must have
allowed her to. Having worked all that out for herself, Rei agreed and
they went towards the transports.

* * *

Promising to meet her inside, Ranma waited for Rei to enter before using
the Umi-Sen-Ken 'silent thief' technique. She had been able to literally
steal the floor from under a house full of martial artists using it, so
a few guards and security systems wouldn't be much of a problem. Filled
with confidence, Ranma passed the security checkpoints one by one...
when she suddenly got drenched with a hot liquid, instantly reverting to
male form.

Turning around, Ranma kicked at the malfunctioning coffee machine,
before looking around to see if anyone witnessed the transformation. It
looked like he was clear, for the moment. He chuckled, thinking that a
simple water curse got him, and not any of the security devices, which
he had to admit, had improved greatly in the last fifteen years.

Walking down the empty corridor, he spotted Rei ahead, and called out to
her. She stopped, and looked at him neutrally.

"Who are you? Do you have an ID card?"

"C'mon, Rei, haven't we been through all this before? I thought we
agreed to meet here."

"I have not met you before," she replied in her monotone voice.

Ranma was about to ask her what she meant, when he noticed that he was
male at the moment. Since this was his natural form, he felt natural
with it, and had forgotten that he was supposed to meet Rei in his
cursed one.

Groaning, Ranma massaged his temples. Great, now what was he going to
do? Lie to Rei and ruin the relationship with this person who could be
his only friend in this dark future, or tell the truth and possibly be
ridiculed? After contemplating his situation for a few long moments, he
opted for the second option.

"Um, Rei? Come with me for a moment, please, there's something I have ta
show you."

Walking towards a nearby men's room, Ranma opened the door and signaled
for Rei to enter, unconsciously tugging on his pigtail. Since the blue
haired girl apparently wasn't one for modesty, he guessed that she
wouldn't have a problem with it as other girls might.

Rei contemplated calling the guards to arrest the strange man, but
stopped before she could follow up on that. Something made her trust the
pigtailed boy. The only times she felt so sure of something was when
following the Commander's orders. And, although she wasn't being ordered
at that moment, Rei followed her heart and went after the boy.

Once they were inside, Ranma started the explanation, keeping it short
and to the point.

"Rei, I really am Ranma. I have this magic curse that turns me into a
girl with cold water, and back into a guy with hot one. Here, see for
yourself."

With those words, Ranma turned the cold water tap, splashing himself.
Turning towards Rei, whose eyes were only slightly wider than usual,
Ranma posed and smiled.

* * *

Rei's heart was beating rapidly, and she had blinked more times during
the transformation than an entire week in her life. Ranma was cursed...
but magic wasn't supposed to exist! Then again, there was a time when
people didn't know about the Angels... Her head hurt. Rei's whole world
was built on what Commander Ikari had told her. He had always been
right, and he knew everything. Or that is what she thought before. This
Ranma, she had presented her with a few flaws in the perfect world she
had lived in until then.

"Look, if you're still not convinced, why don't ya hold my hand while I
change back?" Ranma offered, taking Rei's silence the wrong way.

Tentatively reaching with her hand, Rei took the redhead's right arm,
and watched with a silent fascination as she used the hot water to turn
back into a fourteen-year-old boy.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" she asked out of the blue.

"Of course I'm a guy!" Ranma nearly shouted. This was always the most
depressing part in telling people about the curse.

Several more moments were spent in silence, as both of them just stood
there, looking at each other with nothing to say. Finally, after what
seemed like an eternity to Ranma, Rei withdrew her hand from his arm,
startling him out of his stupor. Now that she had found out about the
curse, he had to ask that fateful question.

"R-Rei? Now that you know... well, that is... would you still like to be
my friend?"

"A friend? What do friends do?"

"Um, I dunno. Do stuff together and all. I guess they're just usually
there for each other in times of need."

Looking him in the eyes, Rei thought about what Ranma had just said. He
wanted to be her friend. Would she like to have a friend? Having come to
a decision, Rei nodded tentatively. The way his face lit up in relief
and happiness made her feel better inside, and she decided that she had
made the right choice.

Ranma took her hand and they were about to exit the men's room, when
someone opened the door.

"Hiya, Shinji!" Ranma greeted him, to happy at the moment that someone
saw him in what might considered a compromising position with a girl, or
even that he had never actually meet the other boy in his male form.

Rei offered a short nod of acknowledgement, and followed Ranma.

Shinji just stood at the doorway, looking at the retreating forms of Rei
with some boy he had never met before, completely forgetting what he
came to the restroom for. Only one thought raced through his head:
'Ayanami?!'

* * *

Rei showed Ranma her Unit-00, and he was impressed, despite the girly
orange paint job. And after all, it was a girl's mech, right? The thing
was almost as big as the other one he had helped in a fight, and
sporting a lone eye. Still, something felt differently about this 'EVA',
as he had learned they were called. Despite having heard the word before
at school, he hadn't paid it much attention back then. The thing that
troubled him about the mechs wasn't their names but rather their, for
the lack of better term, aura. The other EVA seemed almost alive, while
this one could have been a rock for all he cared. As the time for Rei's
sync test approached, Ranma resolved to figure this out at a later date.
Wishing Rei good luck, he moved back into the shadows, as the place was
going to be crowded soon, promising wait for her so they could go home
together.

After saying good bye to her new friend, Rei changed into her plug suite
and proceeded towards Unit-00. Despite what she had told Commander
Ikari, she had been concerned about the upcoming sync test, but after
talking to Ranma that day, she felt much better. He said that when you
need them, friends will help you, so she was sure that if something were
to happen to her, Ranma will be there to make it better. And, of course,
the Commander will be present to make sure nothing will go wrong.

* * *

While Rei felt safer than in a long, long time, Ritsuko had called for
Commander Ikari to show him something.

"What is it, Dr. Akagi?" he asked, approaching her.

"We have been going through the satellite feed during the last time the
Orange pattern appeared, and found several shots of a small object above
Unit-01's head. The pictures we got were blurred and, surprisingly, of
very low quality, so we had to put them through a lot of digital
imaging. Now, they are finally done."

"Good, let's see it on the screen."

An aerial overview of Ranma's head was shown on the screen. Although it
had been visibly reconstructed and filtered for noises, the picture was
still recognizable. As Gendo was watching the screen intently from
behind his sunglasses, Ritsuko continued: "Commander, we've also found
out the reason for the low quality of this image."

Gendo perked an eyebrow, and asked for her to go on.

"This is where the truly unbelievable part comes in. In fact, I've
checked it myself three times just to be sure. Apparently, not only was
this boy able to generate an unknown attack that penetrated the Angel's
AT field, but he also did it while moving close to the speed of sound!
Had he sped up a bit, there would have been a sonic boom left in his
wake! The satellite's frame capture ratio simply couldn't handle it, and
got a blur instead of a still image."

"Hmm, interesting..." Gendo remarked, deep in thought. A superhero had
shown up and helped them defeat the Angel. Most people wouldn't have
looked a gift horse in the mouth, but he knew that everyone had a secret
agenda. In that case, what was this boy's? Who did he work for? Nerv
didn't have anything to control this unknown element with, and Gendo
hated it when he wasn't in control.

Shinji chose that moment to enter the command center, wanting to be
there for Rei's upcoming sync test. Taking one look at the picture on
the large screen in front of his father and Dr. Akagi, he realized that
the face displayed on it was familiar, and decided to ask them about it.

"Excuse me, father, is this boy another pilot?"

"No, Shinji," Ritsuko answered. "Why did you think he were?"

"Well, it's just that I think I saw him with Ayanami fifteen minutes
ago, and he looks to be around my age..."

"You saw that boy with Rei?" Gendo interrupted, whirling around to face
his son.

"Um, yeah. So, what does he do around here, anyway?"

"You mean that he was here, at Nerv? Where exactly did you see them?"
Ritsuko demanded to know. The boy was an unknown variable, but if he
were wondering around Nerv unescorted, he was also a major security
risk. 'What if he tries to sabotage one of the Evangelions? Or, even
worse, what if he finds The Chamber?'

Shinji turned beet red, and took a few moments before answering in a
small voice: "They were walking out of the men's room together, hand in
hand." It took all of his will not to develop a serious nosebleed at the
images that flashed before his mind's eye.

As no one spoke after that, he became worried that maybe he had said
something wrong.

"Dr. Akagi, is there a problem? Ayanami wouldn't get into trouble
because of it, would she?"

Before Ritsuko could answer, Gendo said that everything was alright, and
left the room, considering the issue closed, Ritsuko and Shinji staring
at him, puzzled at his lack of reaction.

* * *

Gendo found Rei on her way to Unit-00. Stopping her, he asked her if she
had helped the boy she was with pass Nerv's security. She replied that
she had met him for the first time in a hallway, which was true for his
male form. Further questioning determined the boy's name, Ranma. Rei
reasoned with herself that since the Commander already knew about Ranma,
she didn't need to supply information that he hadn't specifically asked
for. Small talk was never her strong side, anyway.

Getting the answers he needed, Gendo wished Rei good luck with her
synchronization test. It appeared that the boy had some kind of a
connection to her, which made him vulnerable. And since Gendo controlled
Rei, he would be able to influence Ranma through her. Inwardly, he
grinned. Having a pawn that could fight the Angels without an EVA made
his job a lot easier, and gave him a bargaining chip over Seele.
Wondering what the boy was capable of inside of an EVA almost put a
smile on his face...

*****

End of Chapter 1.