Hi,
Any kind of C&C is more then welcome. As for the story itself, anyone
who expects Ranma to have an easy time of solving everyone's problems
with 'super powers' will be sorely disappointed.  ^_^

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

Thanks are due to my pre-readers for this chapter:

Dave Menard <deibu_kun@sympatico.ca>
James Merritt <delta@qx.net>
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-ch2-draft2.txt

A Couple of Angels

Chapter 2

For the past hour Ranma had been experiencing a feeling he thought he
would never know again - he was worried. When Rei failed to show up
after the completion of her synchronization test, he immediately knew
something had gone wrong. The sirens and the red lights going off all
around Nerv had been a significant clue as well. Using the chaos, as
everyone ran to what he assumed were their battle stations, Ranma made
his way towards Unit-00. It took him several minutes to reach the
chamber where it resided from the meeting place he and Rei had scheduled
earlier, and by then the girl was nowhere in sight.

'Great! Her E-What's-Its-Name's still here, so she should be safe. Now,
where would she go...'

Resolving that the best course of action would be to walk around the
place until he found her lead, Ranma randomly picked a corridor and went
to explore it.

Three hours later...

Ranma had long since given up on his random search patterns, and now
simply tried every open door he could find and looked for Rei.
Surprisingly enough, although he had been going at it for nearly a full
hour, nobody had yet to catch him trespassing.

'I guess they're still riled up 'bout that Angel thing,' he thought,
frowning. If he were right, then this might mean that other pilots would
be called for duty as well. And after seeing that other robot perform
during the previous fight, Ranma doubted their survival chances.

Opening a door to the infirmary, he was greeted to the sight of one of
the pilots, namely Shinji, lying in a bed. There were no visible wounds
on his body, but it was clear that he was not in his best health.

"Yo, Shinji! What'cha doing here?" he started the conversation, hoping
that the young pilot might know something about Rei's whereabouts.

Turning around, Shinji saw the boy, that apparently everyone in Nerv
knew about except him. Since his father and Dr. Akagi had assured him
that there was nothing wrong with the other boy, he decided to answer
the question, in an attempt to get acquainted with him.

"I was in my EVA when the Angel fired at it, er..."

"Call me Ranma, everyone else does," the pigtailed boy answered,
shrugging. "So, how come you're here if your robot was damaged? Did
your... plug thingy got hit or somethin'?"

"My entry plug? Yes, in a way, I guess, from the heat... but that's not
the problem. Don't you know about the synchronization between the pilots
and the EVAs?"

"Um, I kinda thought it was like starting a car's engine, y'know? Well,
isn't it?" Ranma replied, honestly baffled. However, even through his
confusion, an impending sense of dread began to envelop him.

"No, the sync with the EVAs is exactly what it sounds like. You not only
control them, but actually become them, so..."

"So you hurt when your robot hurts?!" Ranma exclaimed. "Oh man, and you
hafta go through with it?"

Ranma was no stranger to pain, or learning weird and cruel martial arts
techniques. But there was a huge difference between training to become
an heir of Anything Goes and sending fourteen-year-old kids to fight a
damn war! Those so-called Angels, or at least the one Ranma had seen up
to date, looked like creatures from a nightmare.

Steering his thoughts towards more pleasant avenues, Ranma asked Shinji
if he had beaten the Angel. The answer he got shocked him to the core.
Shinji had only lasted a few seconds!

"So, what'cha gonna do now?" he asked, genuinely concerned.

"Rei and I were given orders to appear for debriefing in about half an
hour. I guess someone came up with a plan to defeat the Angel."

Ranma was mortified. After what he had just learned about the EVAs, he
understood that they were no mere robots. Rei and Shinji were just
regular children, and not trained fighters like him, so they were going
to get seriously hurt. Ranma had wanted to remain neutral in this war,
but it was now too close to home. He couldn't let those two face the
Angel while he was cowering away in some shelter, his honor wouldn't
stand for it! At least, that was the excuse the rational part of his
mind tried to sell to his heart.

Wishing Shinji good luck, Ranma left the room only to hide nearby. Soon
the other boy would go to his debriefing, and he would be able to follow
him, all the way to the battlefield.

*****

Rei was sitting silently on a platform next to her Unit-00, awaiting the
final stage of operation Yashima and contemplating the facts that she
had received during the briefing.

'The shield I had been given would last no more than seventeen seconds,
while the positron rifle would take twenty seconds to recharge. Even
Captain Katsuragi had told us that we would have only one shot at this.'


Rei frowned inwardly at this, as their chances for success didn't appear
to be very high. Just then, a voice penetrated her thoughts.

"Why are you doing this?" Shinji asked all of a sudden.

Turning her head to meet his eyes briefly, Rei answered: "Because it's
my link."

"To my father?" he queried.

"I have nothing else," came the reply. "It's like I was born to pilot an
EVA. If I stopped being a pilot, I would have nothing left. That's the
same as being dead."

Silence ensued after that statement. Despite saying the same thing that
she had been thinking a lot of times before, the words sounded wrong to
her somehow. Maybe she did have something else now... something she had
never had before... a friend. The thought made her feel better inside.

'Maybe if I protect Ikari-kun, he would like to be my friend as well,'
she thought, before getting up and walking towards her EVA, telling
Shinji that it was time.

Halfway to Unit-00, Rei stopped and gathered her confidence.

"Ikari."

"What?"

"You won't die," Rei said to him, determination showing in her eyes as
she turned her head towards him. "I'll protect you."

She had promised Shinji that she would protect him. It was well within
her power to do it, but at what cost? Did that mean that she would have
to die again?

Before getting inside of her EVA, Rei said one final word, just in case.
"Goodbye."

A short distance away, hidden by the shadows, a boy softly said: "And
I'll protect you."

* * *

"Release all final safety systems!" Misato yelled to the technicians.

"Pull the hammer!"

Shinji prepared to fire the weapon, a tactical display sliding over the
upper side of his head, while several voices droned in the background.

"Seventh and final connections engaged."

"Adjustment for the gravity field and revolution of the Earth is minus
0.0009."

"Transmitting all energy to the positron rifle."

"Ten seconds to discharge."

The count to zero was interrupted by a high energy reading coming from
the Angel, as the computers detected it.

Without further delays, Misato yelled the command to fire. As the two
powerful beams made their way towards each other, they altered each
other's trajectory, resulting in two misses twin gigantic explosions.

"Enemy drill has penetrated the GeoFront."

"Hurry for a second shot," Misato commanded, knowing that it was their
last chance.

"Exchanging fuses. Recharging."

"Cooling of the rifle has started."

"Another high energy reaction detected in the target."

The Angel fired its powerful particle beam at Shinji, who was still
waiting for his weapon to recharge. Just in the nick of time Rei jumped
in front of Unit-01 with the improvised shield, and provided it with
cover. The seconds extended into eons, as everyone knew the particle
rifle would not be ready to fire in time. On top of it all, the Angel
had finally broken through all of the protective layers around Nerv. The
entire future of mankind centered around that fatal second shot, one
which Rei was likely to buy them with her life.

* * *

Ranma watched the battle from the sidelines, anxiety and anger written
all over his face. It was obvious to him that even his confidence
couldn't generate a shot powerful enough to breach that red barrier
around the Angel. Even harder for him was to admit that in this fight,
he would just get in the way. And the pilots had to keep all of their
concentration on their target, because one false move could cost them
the battle, and possibly even their lives.

The Angel was now firing his second shot at Earth's defenders, with
Rei's robot providing cover for the both of them. After a moment's
contemplation he figured out that they were probably trying to win some
time to recharge that rifle thingy the other robot had. It didn't take a
genius to see how much power it took, especially since Ranma had been
outside when Japan was powered down.

The plan appeared to work, as the giant purple EVA continued to point
its rifle towards the Angel. As the seconds passed, however, Ranma
realized with utter horror that Rei didn't have much time. The shield
was visibly melting away, and if Shinji's case was any indication, being
hit for a few moments but that beam would put you in a hospital, or even
worse in the case of the frail blue haired girl.

At that moment the shield finally gave way and Unit-00 stood,
relentless, in its place. Ranma could see the EVA arch its back in
apparent pain but, nevertheless, standing its ground.

'No, I refuse to let her die!' he mentally shouted to himself, before
launching his body to intercept the particle beam. Ranma was pretty much
sure he won't live to see another sunset again, but he had hoped that it
would at least give Rei and her team a few more sorely needed seconds.

Somersaulting in the air, Ranma curled up into a tight ball with his
best imitation of an endangered porcupine, and released his battle aura.
He deemed this maneuver his best chance at survival, if one was possible
in this case.

When Ranma's battle aura came into contact with the high powered beam,
he understood the true meaning of pain, or rather relived it all over
again. Smoke started coming out of his already weary outfit, as the
protective barrier of ki he had erected before him started to give way.
Fighting the beam with all his might, Ranma called in for his innermost
reserves, and desperately shoved the Angel mentally.

And then, when he was too exhausted to fight any longer, the pressure
lit up. Looking towards the Angel, Ranma saw it crashing into one of the
buildings behind it, the weapon's trajectory going over his head. From
the corner of his right eye, he saw Unit-01 point the particle rifle at
the disoriented enemy target, and blast it away.

When he could see again, Ranma noticed the purple robot tear a
compartment from the other EVA, which almost immediately started leaking
with some hot fluid, and realized that it might be only one thing -
Rei's entry plug. Picking himself off the ground, he raced towards it,
not even bothering to open the hatch as he tore it away.

Shouting: "Rei! Are ya okay in there?!" and not getting a response,
Ranma jumped into the overheated compartment. Seeing Rei's prone form,
lying unmoving in her seat, he called out her name again. When that
didn't get a response, Ranma got angry and yelled: "C'mon Rei! You did
your job, what with saving Shinji an' all. Don't you dare to give up
now!"

Groaning and opening her eyes, she took in the blurry image in front of
her.

"Ranma?"

"Rei! I... I'm glad you're all right. Really glad," he said in a choked
voice.

"Are you crying?"

"No!" Ranma shouted, turning his head away.

"Ikari-kun cried yesterday in his sleep. Are you sad too?"

"Dummy," Ranma turned to look at her, eyes brimming, "that's ain't it!
I'm happy... happy because you're alive."

'So, people cry both when they're happy... and when they're sad?' Rei
thought, puzzled. Out loud, she said: "I'm sorry, I... I'm not sure what
expression I should make... at a time like this. Even though I should be
happy..."

"Well, I ain't no expert or nothin', but if you're happy... you should
smile," Ranma answered her, his mouth curling into a gentle smile.

'Smiling... is that what I should do? Ranma seems so sure, and he
wouldn't lie to me...'

Rei's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Ranma's voice.

"Can you stand?" he asked, offering his left hand. "I can carry you if
you want, it's no big deal..."

She took his hand, effectively cutting off his rumblings, and smiled in
return. Ranma was taken aback, and had gone into shock. The girl was
obviously pretty, but she was downright beautiful when she smiled. A
year-old memory resurfaced, and he wondered how would she look with the
setting sun as the background.

"What's the matter?" Rei asked, puzzled by the almost vacant stare in
Ranma's eyes. She had been sure that he would like to see her smile, so
what was the problem?

"It's... it's nothing," Ranma answered, slowly returning back to normal.
"Y'know, I was right," he told her, as he put her arm around his
shoulder and helped her out of the entry plug, "You look really cute
when you smile."

Rei was speechless, no one had ever called her cute before, not even
Commander Ikari. 'Am I cute?' she thought, before deciding that she
liked the concept.

Ranma noticed the chopper speeding towards their location and Shinji,
who got out of his EVA and was making his way towards them. Motioning
for the young pilot to come near them, Ranma gently set Rei down on the
ground, and turned to address Shinji.

"Nerv is coming to pick you up soon, so I'm gonna split. Watch out for
her, willya?"

Seeing Shinji nod, Ranma threw one brief glance at Rei, and then with a
final goodbye sprinted off into the distance, disappearing from sight in
mere seconds. Shinji looked dumbstruck at the last place he saw him for
a few more moments, before heading over to Rei and sitting next to her.

On a sudden impulse, he said to her: "Ayanami... you shouldn't say
'goodbye' when you leave on a mission, it's too sad. We might not have
anything besides the EVA program right now... but, well... as long as we
stay alive... someday, we'll be glad that we survived."

After Shinji has completed his impromptu speech, he fell silent, staring
off into space. Rei's words, said before the battle, came back to her
full force. While she had her doubts about them back then, the
indecision was gone this time. While her life wasn't as exciting outside
of Nerv, she now did have a reason or, more precisely, two reasons to
live on.

Further thoughts on the subject were halted as the rescue party, led by
Captain Katsuragi, finally reached them.

*****

In the morning, a bedraggled Ranma, whose clothes had definitely seen
better days, showed up in class. While the legs of her pants were in
tatters, the main focus for attention for the gaping hole in the front
of her shirt, exposing Ranma's abdomen. The boys leered at her openly,
while the girls frowned disapprovingly, shaking their head or
occasionally smacking their boyfriends to keep them in line. The cause
of all this, for her part, was staring outside the window silently,
ignoring the unwanted attention as she waited for school to start.

Ranma, for her part, was deep in thought. Rei hadn't returned home last
night, and wasn't there when Ranma came to pick her up to go to school.
It was her hope that Rei would go to school directly from wherever it
was that Nerv sent her after the battle with the Angel.

'Could she had been hurt more seriously than I thought?' Ranma pondered,
worried for her friend. 'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to leave
before the medical team got a look at Rei, but what choice did I have?!'

Ranma's face took on a determined look. Even if Rei was in a hospital
somewhere, the other pilot, Shinji was bound to show up at school. And
when he does, Ranma would find out everything she needed to know from
him.

Feeling a presence near her, Ranma spun around, raising her eyes to look
at a girl, who she recognized as the class rep after a few moments.

"Ranko, not only you aren't wearing a school uniform, but your
appearance isn't even decent," Hikaru lectured the red-head.

"Yeah, what of it?" Ranko sneered in response, her words carrying a
hidden threat with them. She knew very well that the only thing that
kept the boys in check and the teachers off her back was the power she
demonstrated she wasn't afraid to apply if need be.

"Well, you should not dress like that," Hikaru replied in a reproaching
tone of voice. "It's not ladylike."

Not many things could get to Ranma after all she had endured during her
hard life, and make her lose her inner control. Cats came to mind, along
with boys hitting on her. Being permanently locked in her cursed form
was a good example as well. Trying to harm one of her friends was a
major no-no in her book. And... and those three words were one of the
things that could trigger the anger hidden deep within Ranma for most of
the time. That was exactly what her mother used to tell 'Ranko', who was
really her son. They reminded Ranma that the only times she had ever
spent with her mother she pretended to be Akane's cousin, and not the
son Nodoka had waited so many years to see again.

Ranma wasn't particularly a bitter person. Even after losing all she
held dear in one short moment, she still was confident enough in herself
to start a new life in Tokyo-3, making new friends, as hard as it was
for her. But no one escapes such an experience without a few mental
scars, which only added to the ones Ranma's father had gotten her
throughout their training trip.

Hikaru took a tentative step back when Ranma's hands started shaking all
of a sudden. Before her head dropped, the class rep could have sworn
that she saw a single tear make its way down Ranma's cheek. She was
about to reach a hand to comfort the strange girl, when a faint, sickly
green glow outlining her figure.

Not looking up, Ranma slowly said, in a quiet yet firm voice: "Don't you
ever dare say those words to me."

The glow intensified as the words came out of her mouth, until Ranma was
bathed in a greenish blanket of light. Her head suddenly shot up, her
eyes locking with Hikaru's, who immediately felt a chill down her spine.
Those eyes spoke of so much pain... and the hatred... the hatred that
fueled the raging inferno in the other girl's soul... was overwhelming
by any standard.

And then, everything came to an abrupt end, as Ranma noticed Shinji
entering the class. Her mouth curled up into a smile - the day was not
lost after all! Her anger forgotten, she quickly got out of her seat and
made her way towards the young pilot of Unit-01.

"Hey, Shinji!" Ranma yelled in greeting, waving at him.

"Um, hi, Ranko," Shinji replied timidly in a small voice, trying to
avert his eyes of the hole in her shirt. Unfortunately, the rest of the
girl's clothes weren't that better off, so he quickly settled for
looking at her face.

Before Ranma could get to her point and ask about Rei, the teacher
entered and everyone hurried to their seats. Although she could care
less about the beginning of the class, Ranma knew that Shinji wouldn't
answer any questions before the lunch break. He seemed to be the type of
person who follows orders, so skipping class wasn't an option. And
discussing something that was probably classified as some kind of
governmental secret during class wouldn't work either. Therefore,
writing a note to Shinji, asking him in it to meet her on the roof
during lunch break, Ranma settled for a long wait. The computer at her
desk had been fixed the day after she broke it, but Ranma didn't mind it
one bit. The notebook's screen made for a tolerable pillow and no one
seemed to have a death wish so she was left about her business.

*****

Ranma woke up as the bell announcing the beginning of lunch rung.
Briefly glancing in Shinji's direction, she was satisfied to see that he
hasn't forgotten about their meeting from the look on his face. Opening
the window, Ranma jumped out and grabbed onto the roof's ledge, pulling
herself up. Ignoring the noise coming from downstairs, she sat in a
lotus position and settled for another wait.

This time she only had to wait a couple of minutes, as the door leading
to the roof opened, and Shinji came though it nervously, holding his
lunch. He approached the seemingly sleeping red-head, wondering whether
he should try to shake her awake, when her eyes snapped open and focused
on his face. Shinji gulped audibly and stood on one place until she
gestured him to sit down next to her.

"Nice to see you again, Shinji," Ranma said in her friendliest voice.

"Um, yes, thank you," he replied, unsure of how to behave around the
girl.

"I've noticed Rei is absent today," Ranma casually continued the
conversation after a few moments of silence.

Shinji glanced at her, wondering if this was the reason why he was
invited to come to the roof.

"Well, she has been slightly injured during the last fight with the
Angels, so Dr. Akagi decided to keep her at Nerv's infirmary for
observation, just to let her rest and recover her strength," he replied,
repeating the cover story.

"I... see," Ranma said slowly. Turning to look the nervous straight in
the eyes, she asked: "You wouldn't be lying to me, would you Shinji?"

The unfortunate pilot of Unit-01 went white at the thought of what the
girl might do to him, remembering that they were alone on a roof. Unable
to meet her piercing blue eyes, Shinji pleaded: "I can't tell you the
truth, they'll lock me up! Please!"

Ranma's gaze softened, and she relaxed her posture.

"All right, Shinji. I won't force you into anything. But tell me, is Rei
really alright?"

Hearing genuine concern and feeling the depth of the girl's despair, he
caved in and answered her: "Ayanami's nervous system had taken quite a
beating during the fight with the Angel, but she should be ok in a day
or so. I think she might even show up at school tomorrow. Don't worry
about it, she'll be alright."

"But she's not alright now, is she?" Ranma replied bitterly. "Damn
Angel, trying to boil her alive..." Ranma's hands clutched into fists,
and her eyes clouded with anger.

Shinji recoiled in shock. These details were confidential, no one would
know them except the Nerv employees with sufficient access. However, had
Ranko worked for Nerv, she wouldn't have any trouble finding out about
Ayanami's condition through the proper channels.

His eyes traveled involuntarily across the body of the red-head sitting
in front of him, before coming to rest on the gaping hole in her shirt.
Now that he though about it, the edges almost seemed like burn marks...

Thinking back to the previous night, Shinji remembered that the boy who
got Rei out of her entry plug wore a similar outfit. The more he thought
about it, the more convinced the young pilot became that there was
indeed a connection between the two. But what was it?

Seeing that her companion seemed to have gone into an introspective
mode, Ranma glanced briefly at the boy's lunch, and with a sigh jumped
off the roof down to the courtyard.

*****

"Attention, please. Would Ranko Saotome report to the nurse's office? I
repeat, would Ranko..."

Hearing the announcement on the PA system, everyone in the classroom
turned to look at Ranma, who was sitting and staring out the window,
this being one of her favorite pastimes.

"Haven't they just called your name, Miss Saotome?" the teacher
tentatively questioned, after waiting for any sign of movement from the
red-head.

"Huh?"

"Ranko, you've been asked to visit the school's nurse," the teacher
explained patiently.

"Oh, whatever. I dunno where it is, though," Ranma replied, agreeing to
go since she had nothing better to do.

"Alright, then. Shinji, would you like to show Ranko where the nurse's
office is?"

"Yeah, sure," Shinji replied, seeing no point in arguing. Although he
was just as afraid of the strange girl as everyone else, he didn't want
to do anything that might aggravate her. Besides, she had already had
her chance to hurt him on the roof, and he had escaped that encounter
without a scratch.

"Lead the way, hot shot," Ranma said, smirking, after getting up from
her chair.

* * *

"You want me to do what?!" Ranma yelled at the top of her lungs.

"We are asking you to pilot an Evangelion. You'd become one of Earth's
defenders against the Angels! Every child in Japan would have given up
anything to trade places with you," Ritsuko tried to convince the petite
red-head.

"I ain't interested, so go get someone else to do your dirty work!"
Ranma angrily retorted. She knew when she was being railroaded into
something, and forcing Ranma into doing anything was never a good idea.
There was no way in hell she'd cave in to their demands.

"You'd get paid, and your every need would be taken care off," Ritsuko
tried from a different angle. 'If her state of clothing is any
indication, the girl doesn't have a yen on her back. She probably sleeps
on the street, too.'

"No," Ranma deadpanned, trying to reign in her anger. "I ain't no
mercenary! You can't buy me off!"

"At least go through the tests!" Ritsuko pleaded. "You might not even be
able to synchronize with an EVA, but at least we'll know where we
stand."

"What part of 'no' don't you understand, Lady?" Ranma replied with her
hands on her hips. If it weren't for the nasty scowl on her face, she
would have appeared unbearably cute.

"Shinji, go ahead! Tell Ranko why she should be a pilot," Ritsuko tried
to play her last card.

"Umm, Ranko, I think you'd be much more popular, especially with the
guys," Shinji hesitantly said, before quickly amending himself: "Not
that you're not already, popular that is." From his scanty experience
with members of the opposite sex, he knew that it never hurt to flatter
them. 'And, except for Ayanami, every teenaged girl is interested in
popularity and boys, right?'

A faint blue glow surrounded Ranma's body at those words, a
manifestation of the fierce anger she was feeling at the moment. Ranma
could believe what she was hearing. They were trying to convince her to
pilot one of those metal buckets in return for dates with guys?! Ranma
knew all too well what being 'popular' meant, and it was something she
wanted to avoid at all cost.

While Ranma was trying to cool off and fumed silently, Ritsuko watched
her, gaping. The reports they had received from the school were true
after all! This girl was able to generate some kind of aura around
herself, and probably even had some conscious control over it! No wonder
the Commander had designated her the Fourth Child and made acquiring her
a top priority! She would have been the perfect pilot... had she wanted
to become one, that is. Unfortunately, it seemed that Ranko was dead set
against the idea.

"Listen up, you idiots! I've seen the way you 'take care' of your
pilots, and there's no way in hell I'll ever work for you! I'd rather
starve to death!" Ranma yelled once she retained her voice, before
regaining control of herself. Turning around and flicking her pigtail
over her right shoulder, she sneered: "And I'm not interested in guys
either."

Not waiting for an answer, Ranma walked out of the door and went home.
She didn't feel like staying at school after this.

*****

"Are you sure she is the one, Ikari?"

Staring at his assistant for a moment, Commander Ikari answered 'Yes.'

"But this 'Ranko' refused Dr. Akagi's proposal. I thought there was no
doubt in her final acceptance of her role," the Sub-Commander argued.

"Ranko will comply, Fuyutsuki. That part of the plan is full-proof,"
Gendo Ikari answered curtly.

"I don't understand," Fuyutsuki said, shaking his head.

"Nor are you required to. We're going ahead with the plan on schedule,"
the Commander shot at him without a trace of emotion in his voice.

"But..." the older man tried to protest.

"Put more pressure on the US for the release of Unit-03 from their
custody. Tell them we have the Fourth Child."

"Yes, Ikari. I'll do my best," Fuyutsuki answered, bowing his head.

"Excellent. You are dismissed."

As Fuyutsuki left Gendo's office, the Commander allowed a small smile to
creep onto his face.

'Oh, Ranko will become the Fourth Child, whether she likes it or not.
It's just a matter of knowing the right buttons to push...'

*****

The day after the incident at the nurse's office, Ranma decided to
return to school. While there was still the chance those idiots would
try to approach her, she had to make sure Rei was all right. Ranma
berated herself for leaving before the medical teams got to the downed
pilot of Unit 00. After all, what was a secret identity worth, when the
person it was created to protect might die to preserve it?

Ranma desperately fought back her tears, trying to present a cold front
to the world. She certainly wasn't interested in any sympathy,
especially from any of those perverted boys who'd try to use it as an
excuse to get a date with her. Strong, she had to be strong on the
outside, even if the very core of her being had been slowly crumbling
into ashes.

The conversation from the day before came to haunt the pigtailed girl,
darkening her already clouded mood. What irked her the most was that
they were right. Their reasons and pathetic offers of bribery might have
been dead wrong, but the offer itself was the best way to resolve
Ranma's problem. How else would she be able to look out for her friend?
The disguise she'd come up with, along with the last minute rescues, had
worked so far. However, there was a reason why the expression 'last
minute' had always been associated with her arrivals in Ranma's mind.
What if one day she wouldn't get there in time? Without an official
connection to that Nerv agency, there was no credible way to tell when
and where an Angel attack would be, before the sirens would go off. And
then she'd have to use precious time to go change and follow the giant
robots to get to the site of battle.

To add to her problems, as if they weren't serious enough, the Angels
seemed to get better each time. The first Angel Ranma'd fought didn't
have ranged beam attacks like the one after him. What if inevitably an
Angel would come, who'd choose to attack from the orbit? Ranma knew that
even her strongest Moko Takabisha wouldn't harm it at that range, which
actually made her doubt she'd have enough confidence to shoot it in that
case. The Hiryu Shoten Ha wouldn't work in space, since it was a
hurricane attack after all, and relied on the presence of air. Even the
most powerful form of the Demon God Assault Bomb wasn't likely to cause
much more than surface damage, in the low possibility that it'd work in
the vacuum of space.

In fact, the only thing powerful enough to harm it was something Ranma
was dead set not to use, no matter what. While there was little doubt in
her mind that that particular attack would destroy any Angel unlucky
enough to be in its way, some things were better off sealed forever.

Ranma steered her mind away from the despair that always inevitably
followed after reminiscing on her past, and returned it to what had been
her original train of thought.

'Rei's just a girl! She's not even a martial artist. And instead of
hanging out with her friends, she has to battle these... monsters!'

Ranma knew that there was a way to make sure Rei was always protected.
All it took was for to become a pilot herself. Even if that stupid
organization wouldn't replace Rei with her, she'd still be the one out
there taking all the risk instead of her friend. Not to mention that the
robot would give her extra endurance, strength and reach. The prospect
of having money for food and new clothing was tempting as well.

The concept of becoming a pilot to protect Rei was very alluring indeed,
but Ranma just couldn't do it. She told herself that she didn't need
those fancy toys to look after her friend. However, most of all, she
couldn't do it, as joining Nerv might end up doing more harm than good.
Spending all that time around Akane had taught Ranma that patronizing
someone would not make a good impression, and that was exactly what
would Ranma appear to be doing by becoming a pilot as well. Rei might
become offended, and draw out that the pigtailed martial artist didn't
think the pilot of Unit 00 was good enough to defend herself. And if
that happened... Ranma might loose her only friend in this dark and
hostile future.

Sighing at the unfairness of the situation, and her own indecision,
Ranma thought dejectedly, 'Oh Rei, why did you have to be involved in
this war...'

*****

"Rei, you're back!" Ranma exclaimed happily, seeing that her only friend
has returned from the hospital. "When you didn't come to school
yesterday... and the day before... I... well, I was worried about you."

"Thank you," Rei softly answered, happy that she had someone care about
her.

"Um, are you ready to go to school, then?" Ranma asked, a bit
uncomfortable with the situation.

"Yes," Rei replied, before handing a small package to the other girl.
"I've made you your lunch."

"You know I'm gonna pay you back, right?" Ranma said, accepting the
package. "I don't know how, but I'll do it, some day!" she swore,
clenching her fist.

Rei's look became distant for a few moments, as if she was considering
something, before she looked back at Ranma and they went out of her
apartment.

"You saved my life during the last battle with the Angels," she
remarked, looking down at her feet.

"Aww, you're just sayin' that," Ranma waved his hand, blushing in
embarrassment. "You'd have been fine even without me showin' up there."

Rei didn't say anything for a few moments, just walking silently along
Ranma.

"In the end, because of you Shinji was able to use the positron rifle to
destroy the Angel. At that time the GeoFront had already been
penetrated. Your actions helped prevent Third Impact."

Ranma simply chose to nod, not able to counter Rei's logic. Several more
moments passed in complete silence among the two.

"Nerv offers its pilots medical care and economical security," Rei said
out of the blue, surprising Ranma.

"Something's wrong, isn't it, Rei?" the pigtailed martial artist asked
her friend, concerned by her stranger-then-usual behavior.

"Would you become an EVA pilot?" Rei asked, reverting to the emotionless
voice she seemed to use most of the time.

"Huh?"

"Would you pilot an EVA?" Rei repeated her question, all the while
looking at Ranma.

"W-where did this come from? Did that Akagi person made you ask me,
or... the Commander?" Ranma queried.

"Commander Ikari wishes you to become the Fourth Child. I had been
ordered to convince you to join Nerv," Rei explained in her monotone, as
if reciting it from a cue card.

"Ordered to convince me? How?"

"I am to do whatever it takes for that purpose."

"Rei! Can't you see this is wrong?!" Ranma shouted, enraged. "What if
the Commander orders you to jump off a cliff? Will you do it?!"

As the blue haired girl stood silently, Ranma continued: "You've got to
start acting on your own, Rei! Don't listen to everything people are
saying to you, but decide things for yourself! Hell, if I had done
everything I was told to do, I would be married to several people right
now, locked in my cursed form and maybe even dead!"

"Commander Ik..." Rei tried to say in a wavering voice, before being cut
off by Ranma.

"Forget about that bastard! Do you think he cares about you?! He put you
into this dump, to be all alone. He sends you to fight the Angels time
after time! You could have been killed! What kind of a cruel man would
force children to fight those monsters?!"

"But... but you came to fight the Angels as well," Rei argued.

Ranma sighed, before responding: "Yes. Yes, I did, Rei. But I chose to
be there, to protect you all. Were you given a choice?"

Rei had no answer to that. Her mind went back to the first Angel attack,
when she had been so badly injured... and Commander Ikari ordered her to
pilot Unit-01. Up until now, no one had ever offered her a choice.

Seeing the progress she was making with her friend, Ranma asked the
question that had been on her mind for quite some time now. "Rei, do you
want to pilot an Evangelion?"

Taking a few moments to think about it, Rei nodded her head.

Ranma felt both relieved and worried at the same time. Rei was doing
something out of her own free will but, unfortunately, that was the most
dangerous occupation on the planet. 'It's only a matter of time until
she gets hurt, unless...'

Coming to a decision, Ranma asked one more question. "Rei, do you want
me to be a pilot?"

This time it didn't take much time for Rei to answer. The though of
working with her friend exhilarated her, and she replied with a "yes",
offering the red-head a tentative smile.

"I guess it's settled, then. I'll be your Fourth Child, whatever that
means."

*****

End of Chapter 2.