_______________________
   /                       \
  | Teineina Tenshi No Teze |
  | (Kind Angel's Thesis)   |
   \_______________________/


Neon Genesis Evangelion and all character belongs to Gainax
Ranma 1/2 and all characters belong to Takahashi Rumiko
No copyright infringement is intended. 

Thanks to my pre-readers:
Ben
aevan			  http://aevan.virtualave.net
Kevin D. Hammel     http://www.fanfic.net/~khammel/
Blood Blade         http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/5920
Mike Rever

Please distribute this work unaltered and crediting the author.
dzillman@ozemail.com.au
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~dzillman/fire

What has gone before:
In the year 2000, Ranma was attacked by a demon summoned by Happosai. 
In an attempt to save Akane, he travelled to the Antarctic to gain 
power of a heavenly warrior Cologne told him about. Unfortunately, he 
died in the effort. 

It is now 2015, and Ranma has been reborn and recruited as the Fourth 
Child for NERV. In some unknown manner, Rei and Ranma share the same 
body, changing bodies and controlling personalities in the same way 
that Ranma's curse always used to work. For now, life has settled into 
the realm of routine. He lives with his alcoholic boss, the near 
spineless Third Child who just happens to be the son of the leader of 
NERV and to add variety, there is a strange new red-head.

Red-heads have always caused Ranma problems in the past.


dainanawa
(Story 7)
---------


*Psst!... Rei! Hey, Rei! Wake up!*

'There is no need to whisper, Ranma.'

Chuckling softly in embarrassment, Ranma wished he could scratch the 
back of his head. However, since Rei was the one running the body at 
the moment, that was not entirely practical. Continuing in a normal 
tone, Ranma tried again. *Would you mind changing, Rei? I wanna do some 
training before school.*

Rei did not answer - that would have been unnecessary effort - but she 
did open her eyes and get up. Normally Ranma would train for most of 
the night only relinquishing the body to Rei in the morning, but he had 
not been able to last night. Since last night was their first night in 
the new apartment, Ranma had not yet had the time he needed to be able 
to open the windows and give himself access to the outside world. With 
the only exit from the apartment being either the front door or the 
balcony, he was likely to be seen by the heavily drinking Major 
Katsuragi who was by now snoring in her own room.

Since he could not train, and Asuka was picking on Shinji, Ranma 
decided that he did not want to stick around after dinner and had gone 
off to the bedroom to change. Considering the fireworks going off in 
the living room as Asuka kept her flatmates in line, it was not much of 
a surprise that no-one noticed it when Rei returned in her uniform. She 
had bought some other clothes, but she was not entirely sure it was an 
appropriate time to wear them. Equally, she was used to sleeping in her 
school uniform in preparation for the next day, so wearing it in the 
evening was simply saving time.

Rei had spent some time in the same room as her flatmates, but she did 
not contribute to the discussion appreciably. Pen-Pen, the experimental 
penguin had joined Misato and the other Children, so Misato and Asuka 
were not the only ones consuming the amber fluid. Ranma had slept 
through that, but he did not miss much. The penguin had swallowed two 
fish and one beer, then proceeded to demonstrate he was the most 
intelligent one around by going to bed. Rei had followed not long after.

With the coming of morning, the main living room of the penthouse 
apartment looked as bad as Misato's place normally did. This was quite 
an effort, given they had only been there the one night, but Misato was 
nothing if not an accomplished drinker. Picking her way through the 
cans with care, Rei reached the kitchen and let the hot tap run. When 
wisps of steam began to gather around the tap, Rei took a glass from 
the sink and filled it. 

*Wait!*

Standing in the kitchen with one hand poised over her head, Rei 
waited...

After several silent moment, Ranma remembered that Rei was not going to 
ask why he wanted to wait, so he continued. *Would you mind going back 
to the bedroom please, Rei?.. No, take the glass, too.*

Once back in Rei's bedroom, Ranma tried to lead her through the logic 
once more. *What would have happened if you had poured the water on us 
back there, Rei?*

'I would have become you.'

*Exactly. And what are you wearing?*

'My school uniform.'

*And what would I have been wearing after I changed?*

'My school uniform.'

*Can you see any problem in that?* Ranma asked very slowly and 
carefully. You have to be careful with Rei, she responded to emotion 
even worse than Akane did. Akane would hit you if you got upset with 
her; Rei would ignore you.

'No.'

*Rei! People would think I'm some kind of pervert if they saw me 
wearing your school uniform! How could you not see that?*

'If I had seen you wearing my school uniform, I would assume you did 
not have your own. This would also explain why you did not wear a 
uniform to school, despite the principal's orders.'

*Do... Do you really think people would believe that?* Ranma sounded 
incredulous.

'I would.'

There was stunned silence for a moment. *You know, I never really 
looked at it that way. Maybe that's what I'll tell people something 
really embarrassing happens like that. Anyway, since we're where no-one 
can see us, you might as well change then I'll get dressed."

Rei nodded as she up-ended the water over her head. Partway through the 
motion, Ranma found himself in control again, completing the nod and 
lowering the glass. With another quick check to make sure the door was 
closed, Ranma removed Rei's clothes, including some underwear that was 
alarmingly tight. 

Donning the same clothes as he had worn yesterday, Ranma made his way 
out of the apartment and onto the roof. Tonight, he swore to himself, 
he would remove the window to their room, just so that he could get to 
the roof easier. There was not much point having a nice open roof like 
this on a building unless you used it for training. Not only that, but 
he would need to get some gear set up in their room. Going to the 
kitchen tap for hot water every time he wanted to change was not a 
particularly safe option.

Some time later, his morning exertions complete, Ranma returned to the 
penthouse. No-one was up yet aside from the two of them, and judging 
from her even-more-silent-than-usual nature, Ranma suspected that even 
Rei might be asleep. Figuring on grabbing first go at the bathroom, 
Ranma pushed open the door to the room he had claimed last night and 
headed for the closet. Stripping of his shirt as he went, Ranma dodged 
obstacles throughout the room.

Cursing softly to himself, Ranma wondered just how annoying his new 
flatmates could be. In an attempt to clear out the living room, they 
had stacked a heap of the new girl's boxes in here. "My own damn room, 
and they have to fill it with her junk! What's wrong with using her 
room? Just 'cause I wasn't here to defend it!"

Pulling open the cupboard, Ranma kneeled down and began searching 
around on the bottom shelf where he had stacked his clothes the night 
before. He had just collected his bath things when a soft voice came 
from behind him. "You know, if you are searching for my panties, you're 
looking in the wrong place."

Jumping up in surprise, Ranma caught his head on the shelf above. When 
he turned around, rubbing his aching skull, he could see the new girl 
sitting in his bed, glaring at him. "Hey! What the heck are you doing 
in my bed?"

"Your bed? _Your_ bed?! What do you mean _your_ bed? This is my room!" 
Asuka released a string of epithets in German that Ranma did not even 
come close to understanding.

Holding up his bundle of clothes, Ranma waved them at her. "Hello? What 
do you think this is then? Hmmm? You think I wander around with my 
clothes just for fun?"

"Idiot! This is my room! I claimed it last night! If you wanted it so 
badly, why did it take you until now to come and bother me?"

"What are you? Stupid or something? I didn't sleep here last night. I 
just needed somewhere to keep my clothes."

With an audible click, Asuka shut her mouth and her eyes went quite 
incredibly wide. With one hand clinging protectively to the top of the 
shirt she was wearing, the other pointed accusingly at Ranma. "My god! 
It's true! Misato said you were some sort of super-playboy, but I 
didn't believe her. Now... Now you're after me! You... You... You 
PERVERT!"

"I don't believe you! I am not a pervert, how can you say that about 
me?" In a huff, Ranma grabbed up all his belongings and turned to the 
door. "Fine then! If that's what you think, see if I ever try and sleep 
here again! I know where I'm welcome."

No sooner were the words out of his mouth than Ranma tumbled to a halt 
looking at the dumbfounded Major Katsuragi standing in the doorway. 
"Well... Ranma-kun, I must say I am deeply disappointed in you. You too, 
Asuka-chan. I expected better from you... Ranma-kun, can you even 
imagine what poor Ayanami will say when she finds out about this?"

Gaping like a fish a couple of times, Ranma tried to remember what he 
had just said, and decided that Misato-san's reaction meant that it 
must have come out a bit differently to how he had intended. 'Um... 
Rei? I don't suppose you heard what we were talking about, did you? 
Misato-san's saying you're gunna be upset or something.'

*I am not upset. I do not mind what you do.*

"Hey, Misato-san! I don't know what you're so upset about. It's not as 
though this sort of thing hasn't happened to me before. Besides, Rei 
doesn't mind. It could have just as easily been her coming out of here 
this morning, with this Tomboy yelling insults and getting all upset."

Pushing his way past the stunned guardian, Ranma went in search of the 
bathroom. What he really needed was a good long soak. Back in the 
bedroom, the two stunned women slowly faced each other. Each of the 
gaped a couple of times, trying to get their mind around what they had 
heard.

"A-Asuka-chan... I... I never realised. I'm sorry, I never thought you 
were that starved for attention. There are other ways. You don't have 
to use your body like that to get people to be nice to you."

"B-b-b-b-but... Misato-san!" Asuka sounded like a machine gun as she 
tried to get her mouth and brain working in some sort of cooperation.

Placing her hand on the doorknob, Misato sadly shook her head and 
looked away. "I... I'm sorry, Asuka-chan. I know you've just come here 
from another country and it must be difficult for you, but you have to 
believe that not everyone is like Ranma-kun. Remember, all you have to 
do is say 'no'... Just... Think about it, OK?"

As the door closed with a soft click, Asuka began to shake. How could 
they? How dare they say something like that about her! It was that 
pervert Ranma that broke in here, and now Misato-san thinks _she_ is 
the deviant! What would happen if Misato told Kaji? Her life would be 
ruined.

"I'm going to kill that PERVERT!"

Rei was sitting on the stool in the bathroom, covered in cold water 
then Asuka burst in and began looking high and low. Unconcerned with 
the enraged German, Rei picked up a soapy washcloth and began to clean 
herself in a methodical manner. Ranma might be the one to get their 
body sweaty, but inevitably she was the one that ended cleaning it. 
Perhaps they should rinse with warm water so he could do it too?

"Where is he? Where's Ranma, First Child?"

"I do not know."

"Grrrr... Just you watch it, First Child! I've got my eye on you!"

"Oh... Asuka-chan." 

"Eeep!" Asuka turned around and looked over her shoulder at Misato. 
"It's not what it looks like! Honestly!"

Pulling the girl - who was only wearing her sleeping clothes still - 
away from Rei and the bathroom, Misato waved goodbye to Rei and went to 
have a serious chat. Was she really this out of date? Before, she had 
thought that Shinji was a bit shy and Ranma was over-eager, but now 
that she had met Asuka, Misato was seriously worried about the girl's 
upbringing in Germany.

When they were alone again, Rei finished cleaning and stepped into the 
tub so Ranma could have a quick soak. Placing a washcloth over his head, 
Ranma leaned back and contemplated the inside of his eyelids. "You know, 
Rei. I used to think it was crazy where I used to live, but here... 
They're all weirdos. I think we must be the only normal ones around."

*Shinji is normal.*

'For the last few months he's been living with an alcoholic Major and a 
warm water penguin that also drinks beer. How normal can he be?'

Rei was quiet while she tried to remember. *I have not heard any 
reports of aberrant behaviour.*

'It's always the quiet ones, Rei. Shinji sure is quiet, and you know 
what they say...' Ranma left his implication hanging like Damocles' 
sword.

*No. I do not know what they say. Who are they? What do they say?*

Ranma gave an embarrassed chuckle and scratched his damp hair. 
'Actually, I'm not all that sure either, but everyone was always 
talking about them, so I figured they must have been someone important. 
Mind you, no-one ever came straight out and said exactly who they 
were.'

Now that was something Rei could understand. Secrecy and secret 
societies were as normal to her as breathing. *Their names were 
probably classified, and you did not have a need to know. This would 
also explain why they were saying important things, and why they had 
been commenting on Ikari-kun's behaviour.*

Frowning slightly at that, Ranma tried to come to grips with it. She 
could be right. He certainly did not know everything that was going on, 
but the idea of a secret organisation that was tracking what they were 
doing and monitoring their lives seemed a little absurd. Surely no-one 
could find his or Shinji's life that interesting. Ranma could also 
guarantee without question, Rei's life was nowhere near exciting enough 
to warrant someone studying it.

Moving along from a suddenly difficult topic, Ranma rose from the bath 
and dried himself. Looking in the mirror so his eyes were fixated on 
his face, Ranma spoke softly. "Do you want our body for school today?"

*It is what Commander Ikari requires.*

Dousing himself with cold water from the tap, Ranma found himself 
looking up and staring into a pair of hauntingly emotionless red eyes. 
They were cold, chillingly so, but they were not cruel. Ranma had met 
enough people in his time that he could recognise the cruel 
indifference that came from someone that did not care about the lives 
of others. Rei's were different. They were cold, but they were not 
evil; it was more as though she did not care about herself, a deep 
serenity that went all the way to the soul.

As Rei combed her hair and he stayed a silent passenger somewhere 
within her soul, Ranma searched the face in the mirror for some trace 
of himself. Both faces were Japanese, but beyond that common ancestry, 
he could not see much resemblance between himself and Rei. Where his 
female half had been cuter than a cart-load of bunny rabbits, Rei was 
elegant, a refined face. When he had looked into his female half's eyes 
back so many years, he had been able to see himself; even P-Chan had 
reflected Ryoga's energy and hatred. Rei's eyes reflected nothing but 
Rei, giving no clue that he too resided behind them.

It was enough to make him question his own existence.

When Rei completed dressing and left the bathroom for breakfast she was 
comfortably on time. For everything to function as it was supposed to, 
timing was vitally important, so Rei did not allow Ranma to linger 
overly long on any task unless he needed to. As a consequence, Rei sat 
at the table the same time that Misato was finishing a long, serious 
talk with Asuka. Shinji, who was sharing the table, was bright red in 
embarrassment.

Rei had not caught what the conversation was about, but that did not 
matter. If Major Katsuragi required her to be informed, she would 
repeat it. Otherwise, Rei could concentrate on consuming her toast.

After what Katsuragi had heard and seen this morning, she was more 
concerned about her role than ever. From all she could tell, Ranma - 
the playboy that had managed to seduce the cool-as-a-cucumber Rei - had 
also had his way with Asuka. What worried her more was the fact that 
Ranma had stated that Asuka was just as interested in Rei. Normally 
Misato would not have believed that sort of thing, but no more than 
five minutes later, she caught the German girl staring at the naked 
albino and saying she had her eye on her. Misato had a lot to be 
worried about.

"Ayanami... I don't want to pry too much, but if you were asked to, 
would you sleep with Asuka-chan?"

Rei considered. With her piece of toast halfway to her mouth, it looked 
like she had been surprised, but in reality she did not want the 
complexities of eating from distracting her from a question by her 
commanding officer. Would she sleep with Asuka?... The answer was 
rather obvious.

If an additional pilot came, someone would need to share a room. While 
Ranma could share with Shinji, that might be difficult, since they did 
not know each other. However, she was fully briefed on the Second Child, 
and would be an appropriate person to share a room. Conceivably, they 
could mix people who did not know each other, but that struck Rei as 
requiring too much effort, and therefore hampering the efficiency of 
the pilots. Such a request would therefore be unreasonable.

"Yes. I would sleep with Pilot Souryuu if I was asked to."

Misato's mouth fell open, Shinji collapsed from his chair, and Asuka 
smacked her forehead on the table, banging the wood with her fist while 
softly saying "It's not true! It's not true!"

While most of the penthouse's occupants sat stunned and motionless, 
Pen-Pen jumped onto the table and stole some of Shinji's breakfast. He 
would have stolen Misato's, but she had drunk hers in one go already. 
Sparing only half a glance for the greedy bird and the mortified Asuka, 
Rei finished her toast, stood and left the house. She might be living 
with others now, but that did not affect her schedule for the day.

As Rei walked out the door to go to her first class of the day, she 
heard Major Katsuragi recover and speak to Asuka. "Asuka-chan, you and 
I are going to be having a very serious talk after school."

*	*	*

Arriving in the NERV training and physical assessment facility, Rei 
removed her uniform and changed into a set of gym clothes. Ensuring 
that Tokyo-03 was defended against Angels required more than just a 
team of giant robots. It also required a team of pilots, all of whom 
must also be maintained in top condition. 

As part of that maintenance program, Rei had previously been instructed 
to swim on a regular basis, but in recent times, she had not been doing 
that. While she had been swimming just as much, if not more than before, 
she was no longer doing it on a _regular_ basis. Whereas before she had 
swum precisely 1.5 kilometres in NERV's 50 metre pool, she now found 
she would sometimes swim more, sometimes less. It was a potentially 
damaging change to her routine, but there was nothing that could be 
done about that now. 

As she left the change rooms and stood in waiting for Doctor Akagi to 
begin the physical exam, Rei was glad that she had the physical now. 
She had been allowing Ranma to do most of the physical training that 
their body needed, on the assumption that his many hours of exercise 
each day would do more for them than her swimming a few times a week, 
but this would be a good time to verify that. 

"Good afternoon, Ayanami. How are you?"

"I am well, Dr Akagi."

"Good. You moved into a new apartment with Major Katsuragi and the 
other Children the day before yesterday, didn't you? Are you settling 
in all right?"

"Yes."

Ritsuko tapped a pencil against her teeth for a moment, clearly 
wondering if she should plumb the girl for more details. Giving a small 
shrug, she waved her charge onto a set of scales and began the tests. 
Monitoring the Children's activities was the Major's responsibility, 
there was no need for Ritsuko to duplicate the effort. Besides, if 
Ayanami thought anything was enough of a worry that it might endanger 
any of the projects she was involved in, the girl had orders to report 
it.

The medical fitness exam took only a couple of hours, and was almost 
identical to what you can expect in any decent gym around the world. 
Resting heart rate, pulse at various levels of exertion, blood pressure, 
flexibility, strength, all of the normal things. In many ways, it was 
the most mundane activity the blue haired girl ever did while at NERV, 
but that did not detract from the attention or effort she gave it in 
any way.

Rei was jogging on treadmill, heart monitors stuck to her skin, when 
the doctor finally resumed the conversation. "You're showing 
improvement, Ayanami. I'm surprised. Your Max-02 and resting BPM are 
both improved. Have you been doing more swimming?"

"No."

With a sigh of frustration, Dr Akagi leaned on the edge of the 
treadmill and tried again. "Do you have any suggestions why your 
fitness might have improved?"

"Ranma has been doing a lot of training."

"Really?... Oh, that's right. He had me line him up with the security 
team so he could learn some martial arts. Does he still go there?"

"Yes."

"Has he invited you along too? Is that why you mentioned that his 
training might have helped your fitness?" The doctor was not entirely 
sure she approved of that. If Rei was doing training with the security 
staff, she might get injured. It was bad enough that Ranma wanted to 
engage in that sort of activity, but Rei was vital in so many more ways.

"No. Ranma only trains with NERV security for six hours per week. He 
has never invited me to train with him there. Ranma also does other 
exercise. I believe the running and other activities have helped."

Understanding dawned. "Ahhh... So you go for a jog together? That's 
fine. Yes, a bit of variety would probably be good for you."

"That was not what I said."

She was waved aside. "Close enough, close enough... Well, why don't you 
take a shower while I finish writing up these results?"

Rei nodded once and walked out, leaving the doctor alone to read over 
her afternoon's work. When she pulled the heart rate graph from the 
treadmill's monitoring computer, the doctor could hardly believe her 
eyes. Since Rei had been a small child, Dr Akagi had been running the 
same set of tests, and the chart of Rei's development had been as close 
to ideal over the last fourteen years as humanly possible. To see such 
a sudden, marked improvement at this age was almost incredible.

Pulling out the last few results from the fitness tests, the doctor 
laid them side-by-side. A month ago - just a little after Ranma had 
arrived - Rei was a tiny bit above the expected health curve; a 
statistical aberration, nothing more. Now, she was as fit as an athlete. 

Certainly the girl was nothing compared to Ranma. When the doctor had 
first measured him, he had been fitter than almost anyone on the base. 
Now, according to his last tests, he no longer even felt any exertion 
at all by running on the jogging machine for half an hour. The orderly 
that had conducted the tests had noted that Ranma had explained it by 
stating that "as a martial artist, his mind, body and spirit were in 
harmony". Ritsuko was well aware that elite athletes could push 
themselves harder and faster than normal people, simply because they 
have the right mind set. An Olympic sprinter might have the same leg 
strength as an Olympic swimmer, but it was the focus, the mindset and 
the training that allowed them to run faster than anyone else.

Some sort of incredible training regimen might explain Ranma's unlikely 
level of fitness, but it went nowhere to explaining Rei's improvement. 
Then again... If Rei was taking part in just a little bit of some of 
the exercise that her boyfriend was doing, it certainly could have 
helped things along.

Frowning slightly, Ritsuko wondered what could cause the Fourth Child 
to dedicate himself to such efforts. NERV still knew virtually nothing 
about the boy. The information that Rei had given them had failed to 
pan out, so he was still an unknown. The would use him since he was 
just as good a pilot as Ayanami, but they would not risk increasing his 
security clearance until more was known.

"Why the long face, Ritsuko-chan? I thought I was the only one with 
problems around here."

Startled, the doctor looked up to see the smiling face of the woman 
that had been her friend since university. With a wide grin, Misato 
plopped herself into a spare seat and brushed her purple hair back. "Is 
something wrong, or are you just frowning for practice? Rumour has it 
the Commander practices in his office, so he can get it just right the 
rest of the time."

That drew a laugh. Ritsuko was quite aware of what the Commander did 
for some of his time while he was secreted away in his private office, 
and she could confirm that he was not always frowning then. "No... Just 
thinking about Ayanami's physical."

"There's nothing wrong with her, is there?" The Major's concern was 
clear and unforced. To her, this was more than just a job.

"No, nothing at all. Ayanami has just shown some... unexpectedly good 
results."

"Oh... That's fine then...." Which showed how much Misato knew. Anytime 
that the words 'Ayanami' and 'unexpected' were used in the same 
sentence, it was a signal that things were not 'fine'.

Sighing, Ritsuko closed the folder on the latest medical tests and 
leaned back. "So what's your problem? The kids drinking all your beer?"

"Hey! I'm trying to be serious here... Besides which, with the amount 
Asuka and Pen-Pen drink, I will have to start stocking more." Asuka did 
not drink much, but nothing was allowed to threaten Misato's 
consumption of the beverage. "I mainly wanted ask you some questions... 
Professional questions about the Children."

"Yes?..."

"Well... I'm just wondering whether I'm turning into an old prude or 
something. I... I guess it's the fact that ever since I started to get 
to know them, they've been going it at like rabbits in heat."

Ritsuko blinked a couple of times. "Excuse me?"

Frowning grumpily, Misato made use of the spare seat and leaned on the 
table. "First it was Ranma and Rei, then it was Ranma and Asuka, now it 
looks like Asuka is going after Rei too. I just can't keep up with it. 
Asuka has only been here two days, and already she's got a reputation 
in our house. I kept them all separated last night, but I can't watch 
them constantly."

"A...Asuka and Ayanami?... Wow... That's something I never imagined. I 
can understand her going for Ranma though. He'll be a real lady killer 
when he grows up."

"Tell me about it. My problem is not when he grows up, it's right now. 
Can't we... I don't know, put iodine in their food or something?"

The good doctor chuckled. "Sure, if you feel like cooking for them all 
the time, we could arrange something. It would hardly be ethical, of 
course, but don't let that bother you."

"Ohhhh..." Purple hair spilled everywhere as Misato rested her head on 
the table in frustration. Wasn't there anything they could do?

"Look, if it makes you feel better, I'll have a word to Ayanami. We can 
use her to keep the Forth Child in line."

Misato wanted to protest more, but she could not. She was wise enough 
to understand that she could not watch her charges every hour of the 
day, and if they decided that they wanted to do something, they could. 
The only way that she could stop them was by convincing them to stop, 
not by policing them. Well... Before she had come to Japan, Asuka had 
always seemed like an intelligent reliable girl. Hopefully Ritsuko was 
right and Rei could control Ranma. That left Asuka with Shinji and Kaji 
as her main targets. Shinji because he was nearby, and Kaji because of 
the way Asuka had followed him around on the boat over. At least she 
knew that Kaji's tastes ran to girls older than Asuka.

"Thanks, Ritsuko. I guess I'm just feeling old. I suppose it's the 
problem of hanging around with kids all the time."

"Don't worry about it. Ayanami is a very well controlled girl. I'm sure 
she will obey orders."

"Great." Checking her watch, Misato stood up abruptly and waved goodbye. 
"Got to get moving. I'm going to be late for my lessons."

Leaving the room before any questions could be asked, the purple haired 
Major hurried off to one of the higher sub-levels in the NERV facility. 
She had not been doing the self defence training long before the 
instructor had told her that she was not even good enough to belong in 
the beginners class that ran there. For normal people, NERV could take 
the time to increase their skill slowly. Misato needed a crash course, 
and she needed to be brought up to speed _now_. If she was the last 
line of defence for the Children, they needed her to be able to do some 
good, even if she did not have a gun. The way she had performed in the 
trail sessions, even Shinji could probably beat her.

Misato walked into the training room proper after changing into her 
nice, shiny, fresh, new Gi. Somehow, just donning the right uniform 
made her feel more effective, faster and stronger. She it knew it was 
an illusion, but every little bit helps. She had barely made it into 
the room when her heart sank. Seated on one of the wooden benches was 
one of the Children. 

With a curse, Misato remembered that Ritsuko had said that Ranma like 
to play around with the grown ups and wanted to be a martial artist 
some day. It would be just her luck if the boy stayed around and saw 
her in the no-doubt embarrassing training session. She knew she was 
unfit - she worked to hard and did not have time to exercise; at least, 
that was what she told herself. Being unfit and having one of the 
children under your protection watch you work up a sweat just walking 
around a room was another thing. She was still young enough that she 
could recover her fitness quickly, but for the time being, long days at 
work and the occasional beer that she liked to drink had conspired 
against her.

"Hi, Ranma-kun. How are you today?"

"Not bad, Misato-san. How are you?"

"Oh, you know, pretty good. I missed you at breakfast this morning."

Ranma looked away for a moment and scratched the back of his head. 
"Err... Yeah... I got up early. You know, training, that sort of 
thing."

Nervously, Misato gave a small laugh herself. "Training. Heh heh. Yes, 
training... That's what I'm here for. Going to get a bit more skill, 
keep all of you guys safe at night. How about you?"

At the comment about keeping them safe Ranma turned and gave his boss a 
quick appraisal, looking her over from head to toe. If she was the one 
that was going to protect him, the world was in serious trouble. "Ahh, 
I got invited down her by the Lieutenant. Some sorry staffer has been 
slacking off so much, they can't even keep up with the beginners. Can 
you believe that?"

Sweating slightly, she tried to rally a defence. "I'm sure they just 
been busy or something. You know how it can be..."

Ranma scoffed. "Sure I do. Here I am, all I have to do is go to school, 
train on the Eva and occasionally save the world, and all I can manage 
is six or eight hours a day. Must be so rough. Humph! Just wait till I 
get my hands on them. Man, are they gunna be sore and sorry!"

Misato stopped her fidgeting and turned to face him dead on. "Hang on... 
When you get _your_ hands on them? What have you got to do with this?"

"What? Oh, didn't Lieutenant Kishi tell you? I'm the one teaching them. 
I do a bit of training and teaching with the advanced class here, so 
since everyone is busy with some new security shake-up going on, they 
asked if I could help." Stretching his arms, Ranma looked at the 
ceiling and wondered when his student was going to arrive.

Just as Misato was wondering if she could duck off and then arrange for 
a different teacher tomorrow, the aforementioned Lieutenant arrived. 
Wearing a black tracksuit and T-shirt, he was fit, trim and the 
embodiment of what NERV security forces looked like, when they were not 
dressed up as Men In Black.

"Ah, Major. Good to see you Ma'am. And I see you've met your teacher. 
This is Saotome Ranma. Don't let his age fool you, this kid is damn 
good."

Feeling sick to her stomach, Misato turned back to Ranma and dropped 
her head as she wished the floor would just open up and swallow her. 
Venturing a small wave she spoke in a weak voice. "Hello, Ranma-kun... 
Ranma...Sensei."

Ranma's mouth fell open. "_You're_ the lard-butt staffer?!"

"Watch it, Ranma-kun. An hour from now, your obeying my orders again." 
Misato snarled.

Looking amazed, the Lieutenant blinked a couple of times. "Y-You two 
know each other, Ma'am?"

Turning back to the man who ran the gym, it was the Major's turn for 
surprise. Considering her high profile job, everyone knew her. She 
thought that would have been true for Ranma also. Then again, he had 
only arrived recently, and had not had any of the great successes that 
Shinji had.

"You do know who he is, don't you, Lieutenant?"

"I thought he was Dr Akagi's son. She was the one that brought him down 
here. That's why we let him train here."

Misato shook her head in sorrow. "I wonder how NERV is supposed to 
protect the Children if their security does not even know who they are. 
Lieutenant, this is Saotome Ranma, Forth Child."

Incredulous the stunned man could only stare as Ranma shrugged in 
confusion. He did not know what all the fuss was about. "Well, Ma'am, 
all I can say, is suddenly I feel our chances of defeating the Angels 
are a hell of a lot better. If he's as good in the Eva as he is in the 
dojo, I reckon we're just about set."

A raised eyebrow was the only comment from the Major. "OK then. If you 
want to take your boss for a bit of a workout, Ranma, I'll be back in 
an hour and we can do some training together."

After saying goodbye to the Lieutenant, Ranma led Misato onto the dojo 
floor and looked her over once again. There was a difference between 
assessing someone as a fighter and examining them as a student. 
"Misato-san... You really suck. I bet even Pen-Pen is in better 
condition that you are, and all he does is sit around and eat fish."

"Thanks, Ranma-kun. That's so nice of you to say so." The sarcasm was 
drier than a desert.

"OK... First things first. Tag! Your it! Come get me!"

Skittering back out of range, Ranma waited for Misato to come closer. 
When she did, he kept moving. First it was mainly back and forwards, 
then he circled around her, forcing her to shuffle side-to-side to try 
and catch him. After twenty minutes, Misato was puffing for breath, but 
the fun of playing tag had distracted her from the pain for the 
exertion. 

"That'll do as a warm up. We'll start doing some proper stuff in a 
couple of weeks. For now, I figure we ought to keep it pretty basic. 
Now, if your supposed to be looking after us," Ranma gave a chuckle. 
"You might need to be able to do two main things: disarm an attacker, 
or carry someone who's hurt. First, I'll show you a really easy way to 
take a knife of someone. After you've had a bit of a rest with that... 
I think you ought to do a few laps of the running track... While you 
carry me."

Misato groaned in frustration and expected agony. Why, oh why, did she 
take the job of protecting the Children? Nothing could be worth this. 
God she needed a beer.

Although Ranma was the one doing the teaching and she was the one doing 
the sweating, she had to admit that he seemed to know what he was doing. 
Sure, nothing was particularly complex, but wasn't that the sign of a 
good teacher? They can make a complex problem seem easy?

When she finished her training and watched Ranma and the adults in the 
security team practice afterwards, she almost felt like running in 
every twenty seconds to save him. She knew she would not be much help 
if the security staff attacked her - they were all big beefy types that 
did this for a living - but watching a fourteen-year-old boy go toe-to-
toe with some of those great apes was enough to make anyone shiver in 
fear. Anyone other than Ranma. He seemed to drink it up.

When he finally finished, he was in as bad a shape as Misato. Amazingly 
enough, everyone else in the room was also in bad shape. Most of them 
were sporting bruises, a few were limping, and not one of them could 
stand entirely straight as fatigue set in. But they were all smiling. 

Before Ranma had come, NERV security considered themselves to be some 
of the best around. They still were, but they had managed to see how 
much better they could be. From their perspective, if Ranma used some 
of his "secret techniques" he might be able to win, but otherwise, they 
were still better. The thing that galled them all into such greater 
effort was the mere fact that they, grown adults, were comparing 
themselves to a mere boy. That reason alone was enough to spur them on 
to the best they could.

On his way to the showers, Ranma smirked. He had taken a beating in the 
training today, but it was better than it had been last week, and next 
week would be better still. He was sure he could take any one person on 
now and come out on top, but that was not enough. He knew he could do 
it. With time, effort and determination, Saotome Ranma vowed that he 
would soon defeat all the members of the security team at once.

But first, he needed a very long, very hot shower.

As the hot water cascaded down his back and shoulders, Ranma sighed in 
contentment. It might not be quite as nice as soaking in a hot tub, but 
the convenience of the showers attached to the NERV gym were much 
better than having to wait until they got back to the apartment so that 
he could enjoy the extra luxury.

Feeling his muscles loosen all over his body, Ranma decided that this 
must be about as good as life can get. Relaxing after a hard day of 
training, able to sleep through school without anyone complaining 
because Rei was awake, all capped off with a strong, hot shower. Could 
things get any better?

As the water worked its magic and his mind began to wander, Ranma felt 
himself relax to a degree he rarely got to enjoy. Deep inside NERV, 
there was no chance of fiancees turning up, and the next time someone 
threatened him, it would be an Angel. Even then, an Angel attack would 
hardly even cut short his shower, since they all took a long time to 
appear.

Perhaps it was the relaxation, or perhaps it was the thought of the 
Angels, but as he stood there almost meditating, Ranma felt something. 
A touch, a gentle calling to his mind. "Do you want power?" "Join with 
me." "Do you want to be one with me? Body and soul?"

Acting as though he had been stung, Ranma leapt backwards, then quickly 
shut off the water. 'Did you hear that, Rei?'

*I heard the shower.*

'No, not that... The Angel?'

*No.*

Ranma was quiet again. Slowly, straining himself, he found he could 
hear the Angel's seductive voice again. It was there again. The same 
Angel that had called to him in the Antarctic was calling him. It was 
calling weakly, but he could definitely feel it reaching out for him.

'There it is again, Rei. Can you hear it? Can you hear the Angel 
calling?'

*No.*

"Damnit!" Cologne had told him - so long ago - that the Angel could 
only be heard by the greatest fighters, the strongest in the world. Of 
course Rei could not hear it. She was just an ordinary girl.

'Rei, I'm telling you, the same Angel that called to me in the 
Antarctic, it's here. Somewhere... Somewhere close by.'

*You are talking of Adam.*

'If that's what you want to call it, yeah.'

Drying quickly, Ranma pulled on his clothes. If the Angel was here, 
they were all in danger. It sounded weak at the moment, but there was 
no telling what it could do. Last time Adam had done anything, half the 
human race died. If it was near - or worse yet, in - NERV, it could 
spell the end of humanity. Without the Eva's to fight them, Ranma did 
not think even he would be able to beat an Angel.

Heading out the door and down one of the many identical corridors in 
the Geo-Front, Ranma silently apologised to Rei. 'Look, Rei, I know it 
was your turn to have control tonight, but I gotta do this. If Adam is 
loose somewhere, who knows what could happen? Besides, you're always 
telling me it is my mission to fight the Angels, right?'

Rei was silent. Unlike Ranma, she knew what was going on. She might not 
have been in room when Kaji-san had delivered the frozen embryo of Adam 
to Commander Ikari, but she was well aware that it had happened. She 
was also well aware that Adam was considered a vital part of the Human 
Instrumentality Project. She had no idea how Ranma had managed to 
detect the presence of Adam, but that did not matter. She had to stop 
him from his pursuit of the elusive whispers he claimed to hear, 
otherwise he would soon be eliminated as a security threat.

Rei could not allow Ranma to be eliminated as a security threat, that 
would jeopardise more than just the Human Instrumentality Project; it 
would endanger NERV, SEELE, the dummy plug program and possibly even 
herself. If they executed Ranma as a spy, humanity may perish, and 
SEELE's goals would remain incomplete. She had very strong orders to 
the contrary.

But yet she also had orders not to tell Ranma anything he did not, 
absolutely, need to know. Even then she was supposed to try and get 
clearance beforehand. Follow her orders or maintain security? There 
must be some way of being able to achieve this without compromise 
either of the objectives.

*Ranma... Stop.*

Jogging along the hall at a speed most people would be hard pressed to 
run at, Ranma halted. Rei rarely said anything at all. It was even more 
rare that she said something not worth listening to. Also, Rei was not 
in the habit of giving orders, so whatever it was must be good. 'What 
is it, Rei?'

*I am not allowed to tell you.*

'Then why did you ask me to stop?'

*Because you must not continue.*

'Why?'

*I have already told you that I cannot explain why. Your security 
clearance is not high enough.*

'Well... Am I going in the wrong direction or something?'

*No. This is the correct way to Terminal Dogma.*

'So why stop? Would something happen if I found Adam? Are you worried 
that it might hurt me? We could always go and find Misato-san, but I 
don't think she would believe me. Would you?'

That stumped Rei for a moment. *I do not know for certain what would 
happen if you made contact with Adam. The probable effects are beyond 
your security clearance.*

'You know, this security clearance thing is really starting to get to 
me. Do you think you could just tell me and forget about security for a 
bit?'

*No. Security defines things that I cannot tell you. If you ask about 
them, I shall inform you that your clearance is not high enough.*

Getting a cheeky grin on his face, Ranma began to understand. Rei was 
honour bound, in the same way that he had been to not tell Akane about 
P-Chan. However, she seemed just as willing as he had been to help 
someone find out what they needed to know; within certain limits.

'Am I going towards Adam?' 

*Yes.*

'Is Adam really the Angel from the Antarctic?' 

*Yes.*

'WHAT? NERV is keeping an Angel here?!' 

*Your security clearance is not high enough.*

'Does the Commander know about this?'

*Your security clearance is not high enough.*

Fear began to settle into Ranma's stomach. 'Does Misato-san know about 
Adam?'

*Major Katsuragi has been briefed that Adam was destroyed in the 
Antarctic.*

Now Ranma was really worried. His boss, Major Katsuragi Misato, was the 
director of military operations for NERV. If she did not know the truth, 
then something was very wrong. 'Rei, I know you're a smart girl, so why 
did you stop me? What would have happened if I had tried to find Adam?'

*Your security clearance is not high enough to know if Adam is stored 
in a cryogenics facility in Terminal Dogma. For this reason, displaying 
your knowledge would indicate you are a spy. The penalty for espionage 
is execution. We are too vital to NERV for that to happen.*

'I like you too, Rei.' Ranma was not overly impressed that Rei's reason 
for saving him was his utility to NERV. 'Rei... What would happen if 
Adam gets loose?'

*NERV information available at your security level indicates that if an 
Angel penetrates to Terminal Dogma, Third Impact will occur. The human 
race will die.*

Frozen in fear, Ranma thought very carefully about how to phrase his 
next question. 'Please tell me what would really happen if an Angel 
gets to this Terminal Dogma place.'

If the briefing was wrong, she would tell him his security clearance 
was too low. Somehow he did not think that NERV would say the world 
would end unless they really meant it.

*I have no information to indicate that the official briefing is 
incorrect.*

'So basically, if I keep looking for Adam, I might be killed as a spy. 
If I give up, and Adam gets loose, everyone will die. It still does not 
sound like much of a choice. I've got to keep going, Rei.'

Ranma turned and began to walk down the hall to Terminal Dogma again. 
Before he had run, but now he only walked. Slowly, he placed one foot 
in front of each other, as though hoping Rei would call for him to stop.

*Ranma... Do you trust me?*

'Huh? Yeah, of course I trust you.'

Rei spoke with great care. What she was saying obviously caused her 
great difficulty. *Would you believe me if I said that Adam is no 
danger unless an active Angel were in Terminal Dogma?*

Ranma slowed to a stop. 'Yeah... Is it the sort of thing you are likely 
to say?'

*I would not say it to you, since your security clearance is not high 
enough. However, I may say something similar to Commander Ikari, should 
the opportunity present itself.*

'So basically, all we gotta do is stop an Angel from getting to 
Terminal Dogma, and the world is still safe?'

*Third Impact will not be caused by the Angels if we can defend NERV 
from them.*

'And Adam ain't a problem.'

Ranma turned around and walked away from Terminal Dogma. 'I don't think 
this is right, Rei. I don't think we should be doing this. Adam is 
dangerous. You know it, I know it and the Commander knows it. I want 
you to know, I'm only doing this because I trust you. OK, Rei? I hope 
you ain't doing this because someone ordered you to.'

They had almost reached the lift shaft when Rei spoke again. *I hope we 
are right, also.*

*	*	*

Souryuu Asuka Langley stretched her hands over her head, yawned 
mightily and relaxed again. Once she resumed her position relaxed 
against the wall, she turned sideways and smiled at the slightly 
shorter girl next to her. "You know, Hirakri-chan? It's really nice to 
have a friend who's completely normal."

The class rep blinked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I just seems that ever since I joined NERV, everyone 
I've met is either a boring adult, or completely weird. It's nice to 
meet someone who I can just be friends with."

"Really? What about where you used to go to school."

Affecting a nonchalant attitude, Asuka brushed some of her long red 
hair back. "Actually, I was so far ahead, I was already in college. 
Germany is different like that to Japan. Here they say: 'Asuka, you're 
fourteen. Go study with the rest of the fourteen-year-olds.' Over there, 
I got to hang out with real men, not just boys like Shinji and his 
friends."

A slight blush came to Hiraki's face as she thought about a couple of 
the boys in their class. Asuka might think they were immature, but she 
did not mind. Oddly enough, both of them were Shinji's friends too. 
Hikari remembered hearing once that similar people tended to cluster 
together. Did that mean that Shinji was as mature as Touji? He 
certainly was not as cool as Ranma...

"Oh! I'm sorry, Asuka-chan. What did you say? I drifted off for a 
moment there."

"I was just saying how different schools were over here. You'd hardly 
believe that I could speak three languages, but I do. Lots of people in 
Germany do. German, English and Japanese."

"Wow! Really? I always have so much trouble with English. How well can 
you speak German?"

Studying her fingernails, Asuka failed miserably as she tried to act 
modest. "Absolutely perfect. I was over there for more than eight years. 
I moved there for work, you see. Everyone in the country spoke German. 
And being so smart, I picked it up easily."

"And your Japanese is so good too. I can hardly even hear your accent. 
I bet your English is just as good."

She brushed that aside as her due. "True, true, but my writing still 
needs a bit of work. I can write English fine, since that uses almost 
the same alphabet as German, but I still need to practice a bit on my 
Kanji."

Hikari beamed at that. "That would be perfect! I can come over and help 
you study Japanese, and you can help me with my English. How would that 
be?"

"S-Sure. I'd like that." It was strange in many ways. Although Asuka 
knew she was brilliant, beautiful, modest and a wonderful person to be 
around, she rarely had any real friends to share time with. Her time in 
Germany was filled with one indifferent tutor or NERV staff member 
after another. Even at college, she had not had many friends due to the 
age difference. There had been the occasional boy who would keep trying 
to ask her out - she had always admired Hans' persistence, even after 
the restraining order - but most of them were not up to the standard 
she required. 

What she really missed were girl friends. Girls her own age that she 
could talk to and gossip with. Maybe coming to Japan would not be so 
bad, despite the people she was living with. Kaji was here, and after 
only having been at school such a short time, she had always made a new 
friend.

"Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? Mum is busy so I was 
going to be cooking. You're welcome to join us if you like." 

Asuka opened her mouth to thank her, paused than looked down at her 
toes. "Sorry, Hikari-chan. Misato-san says I'm not allowed to go out at 
the moment since I just got here." That was not quite how the Major had 
put it, but Asuka did not want to scare her new friend with the Major's 
comments on rabid libidos. 

Could she invite Hikari home? She knew that none of the others would 
mind. None of them would mind if she brought home a dozen bums off the 
street. Asuka had never met such an odd bunch of people. Misato seemed 
obsessed with Asuka's sex life having somehow come to the conclusion 
that Asuka was as much of a pervert as her guardian. Shinji and Rei... 
They were a matched pair: dull, boring, unexciting, uninspired, and now 
that she was here; unnecessary. Ranma... Ranma was weird. He was there 
even less than Rei, and even after just knowing him for two days, she 
knew he was obsessed with martial arts. She did not know where he went 
at night, but so long as he stayed out of her room, that was all that 
mattered.

Giving a sort of resigned huff, Asuka decided that she would invite her 
friend over for dinner. If Hikari still liked her after meeting the 
people she lived with, nothing would ever be able to ruin their 
friendship. "How about you come over to my place?"

"That would be great! Do you need to call your mother and ask?"

For a moment, Asuka was struck dumb with the memory of the last time 
she had seen her mother. Red light flooded the room from the evening 
sky, and her mother looked calmer than any other time she could 
remember her. Her mother's body spun slightly in the breeze, resolutely 
protected from the force of gravity by the rope around her neck...

"Asuka-chan?!"

Asuka came back to herself with a start and essayed a quick smile as 
she unclenched her fists. A line of stinging across her palms indicated 
where her nails had dug in, but they had not drawn blood, this time. 
"Sorry, I just got caught up remembering something... But don't worry. 
I don't need anyone's approval to have a friend over. Besides, I'll 
just get Ranma or Ayanami to cook."

"R-Ranma? You live with Ranma?"

"Sure do NERV decided to put all of the pilots into one place. Easier 
to keep track of us, I guess."

"But why do you need one of them to cook? Don't you enjoy cooking too?"

"Not really. I can make a great bratwurst and mustard on black-bread 
sandwich, but that's as far as my interest goes."

"S-So is it true that Ranma and Ayanami are going out with each other?" 

The red head snorted. "Yeah, right. Why would anyone want to go out 
with Wondergirl? Especially when I'm around. Nah, I don't think they 
have. Humph. I can't even remember hearing the two of them even having 
a decent conversation. She never waits for him for dinner, and by the 
looks of it, he always barges into the bathroom before she does, 
because he always finishes first. If you ask me, the guys a bit of a 
jerk, even if he does look good with his shirt off."

Stunned silence...

"You saw Ranma with his shirt off? When? How did he look? Does he do it 
often?"

Again she affected disinterest. "All right... Nothing too special..." 
Giving a sly look, Asuka leaned over to her friend. "You know... From 
what I hear, he usually takes it off after training. Just before he has 
a bath to clean up for dinner... "

Hikari gave an audible gulp. When Asuka recommended that now might be a 
good time to leave for her apartment, the class representative nodded 
her head - visions of firm muscle moving through her mind as gracefully 
as a ballet dancer.

Unfortunately - at least, it was unfortunate for Hikari - they arrived 
just a little too late to see Ranma finish his days training. Since Rei 
had been allocated the cooking duties for tonight, he had finished 
early. By the time the two girls arrived, Rei had almost finished 
cooking.

When everyone sat down around the table for dinner, Rei laid out a pair 
of fish for Pen-Pen, but otherwise provided everyone a vegetarian dish. 
Once again, Hikari was amazed at how full Ayanami's plate was. It was a 
rather nice dish, but there seemed to be an oddly large amount of tofu 
in it. When questioned, Ayanami had just shrugged and said that it was 
high in protein. 

Hikari could not fault the blue haired girl's cooking, but the meal was 
something more along the lines of what a professional athlete or body 
builder would eat. For someone Ayanami's size to be eating that much on 
a regular basis and stay the same size, she would need a metabolism 
like a race car.

Despite the tension that had existed between Misato and Asuka for the 
last few days due to the unfortunate events on her first day in Japan, 
the dinner passed very well. As subtly as possible for someone who had 
consumed four beers, Misato had quizzed Hikari about her friendship 
with Asuka. Needless to say, the Major was very happy when the girl 
indicated nothing more than normal friendship. After a few days of 
walking on eggshells, Misato was beginning to hope it had somehow, 
improbably, all been a misunderstanding.

Poor Shinji spent the entire meal going from pale-from-fear to red-
from-embarrassment. With four women around the table, since he was so 
quiet, they had apparently forgotten he was there. That led them into 
the realm loosely defined as "girl talk". 

Rei was quiet and reserved - as usual - but egged on by the 
increasingly vocal adult, the other girls began discussing men and life 
in the ways only girls do when they are in private. Shinji sat there, 
partly paralysed from fear, partly out of the incredible insight into 
life he never expected to hear. After a while, the girls shifted the 
conversation around to Ranma, since he was a hot topic on almost 
everyone's mind in someway or another. 

At this point, Rei stood and left. Padding quietly through the house on 
light feet, she departed for her bedroom before Ranma had some sort of 
a fit inside her head. Although Misato's vision was slightly blurred by 
the imbibing of the liquid gold, her perception and memory were barely 
impaired as she made a mental note of which room the albino had gone to.

Time passed. Hikari went home. Asuka went to bed. Misato passed out on 
the living room floor.

The first thing Misato became aware of was the fact that it was far too 
early in the morning to be awake. But someone certainly was. The sound 
of a door sliding open was quiet... Too quiet to be a normal action, it 
was obviously someone trying to be quiet, and that was what caught 
Misato's attention.

Lifting her head of the floor, the Major absently brushed a strand of 
drool from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes searched room and finally 
fixed on a form moving through the shadows. The form was coming from 
Ayanami's room, but it was the wrong shape and size for her. Bigger in 
the wrong places, the person was male, and he was coming out of one of 
the girl's rooms. That was something Misato had expressly forbidden.

With a groan, Misato sat up and wished she had drunk more last night. 
If she had, she might of slept through this, which would have saved her 
from an ugly scene this early in the morning. Resolving that she would 
not stop drinking tonight until she was well and truly done, she 
nonetheless rose to her feet and walked over to nervous looking boy.

At the first sound of his guardian awakening, Ranma had frozen. 
Partially it was the hope that he would not be noticed, but equally it 
was fear. He could have run, he could have fought, but neither of those 
options would accomplish what he really wanted: to get out of 
explaining what was going on.

Sounding tired - and not just a little hung over - Misato began. "All 
right, Ranma-kun. Go get Ayanami. We need to talk."

Nodding once, Ranma ducked back into the room and closed the door. 
'Rei! Quick! We've got to change! You have to convince Misato-san we 
weren't doing nothing.'

*Yes.* Obviously they had not broken any of the Major's orders. That 
would be very difficult for the two of them.

Quickly, Ranma splashed himself with cold water and mentally sighed in 
relief. He was safe. He could rely on Rei to explain things. Feeling 
the girl begin to turn and leave the room, he called out for her to 
stop. *Wait! Wait, get changed first. If Misato-san sees you like this, 
she'll become suspicious immediately.*

'I understand.' Putting action to words, Rei took off Ranma's clothes 
and donned some of her own. She was tempted to put on her uniform, but 
the Major had been insistent about speaking to them, so she decided not 
to take the time. Instead, she pulled on some of the new underwear that 
she had recently bought with Ranma. A plain grey crop-top and 
underpants, Ranma had suggested them as being more comfortable to sleep 
in than the school uniform, without being outgoing or sexy.

Pulling open the door to her room, Rei stood there and looked up. As 
usual, the Major did not look her best in the mornings, and today was 
no exception. "I am here."

Pulling a hand through her hair, Misato shook her head. "I though I 
told you that the two of you were not supposed to be sleeping together 
any more."

"You did."

"And yet I just saw Ranma-kun coming out of your room at five in the 
morning."

"You did."

"Don't you think I deserve some sort of an explanation or an apology?"

"No."

Misato frowned and crossed her arms. "Go get Ranma-kun. I want to talk 
to both of you."

Turning silently, Rei slid the door shut behind her and walked over to 
the water heater. Normally people used them for keeping hot water for 
tea, but Ranma had a different purpose in mind. Since he often needed 
to change in here, it made sense. They had originally bought it since 
the hot water in their previous flat was rather unpredictable. Now she 
made use of it in the same way she had not ten minutes earlier; 
changing back into Ranma so he could take control of the body.

As fate would have it, Misato's patience expired at almost exactly the 
same time. Why the two of them constantly needed to go back inside to 
get the other person was beyond her, and at this time of the day, it 
was just another headache she did not need. Give the door a quick yank, 
she strode into the room and looked around.

Catching Ranma's eyes as he stood next to the water heater, Misato let 
her frown become even stronger. "Ranma-kun... Why are you wearing 
Ayanami's underwear?"

---
End Of Chapter.