Round Perdition's Flames


Part 3.5


"Night Burns On"



"A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother.

Ill-gotten treasures are of no value, but righteousness delivers from death.

The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.

Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful
 son.

Blessings crown the head of the righteous, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin.

The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

He who winks maliciously causes grief, and a chattering fool comes to ruin.

The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the
 wicked.

Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.

Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of him who lacks
 judgment.

Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.

The wages of the righteous bring them life, but the income of the wicked brings them punishment.

He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others
 astray.

He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.

The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value. 

The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.

A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.

What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted.

When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever.

As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is a sluggard to those who send him.

The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.

The way of the Lord is a refuge for the righteous, but it is the ruin of those who do evil.

The righteous will never be uprooted, but the wicked will not remain in the land.

The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but a perverse tongue will be cut out.

The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, but the mouth of the wicked only what is
 perverse."
		
						--Proverbs 10:1-32


--Friday/Early Saturday--


	It was late. Or early. Whatever. The darkness continued to blanket Tokyo-3, but the moon
 and the stars shone the heavenly light down upon the city, giving it a warm glow. The addition
 of the artificial lights throughout the city-fortress indicated indeed that this was still an
 area of activity, a hub of human life. This city continued to stand against the angels, and it
 would for some time to come, so long as fate and the Evangelions had anything to say about it.
 In a small room, far below the watchful eye of the heavens, a girl slept. Her periods of
 unconscious rest were mechanical. She did not move in her sleep. There was nothing there to
 disturb her.
 
	Darkness. She liked the darkness. It was natural to her. She often kept her dwelling
 place in darkness. She did not abhor the light. During school, she sat by the window, and was
 often content to gaze out of it for the majority of the day. But she preferred the darkness.
 The darkness was more real to her. It felt more real to her. She was alive. The darkness was
 with her. The light waited for her. Behind her eyelids, there was uneasy peace. She required
 rest, as everyone did. Rest was necessary. She did not feel stress. She rarely felt fatigue.
 Her existence was a quiet one. She did as she was told. Nothing more was either asked or
 expected of her.
 
	Darkness. The darkness and the light. She did not feel the need to leave the darkness
 yet. There was no reason to. Stay within the darkness. The command ran through her
 subconscious. She would stay asleep a while longer. If there was one thing that was certain, it
 was that Rei Ayanami always did her best to stay under control.


	Ritsuko Akagi took another sip of her rapidly cooling coffee and sighed. This had not
 been the best of days. As of late, she was finding it increasingly difficult to get work done.
 It was nearing time for another harmonics test, she would schedule one for the children
 tomorrow evening. Things needed to improve more than they were. They had done so far so good,
 but there was no longer any question that the war against the Angels was heating up. She
 glanced over the children's' latest synchronization reports. Rei was doing her usual, her
 synchronization rate was acceptable, yet it seemed that there was little to no sign that she
 would be improving. She made a mental note to discuss this with the commander another time. The
 Second Child's synch rate was impressive. Although her personality frequently left something to
 be desired, no one could argue that Asuka Langley Sohryu was not a valuable asset of NERV.
 Shinji Ikari, the Third Child, was progressing along rather nicely. Despite Misato's warnings
 that piloting Eva was not what Shinji wanted to do, his synchronization abilities were growing.
 Another month or two, and he might be giving Asuka a run for her money.

	Despite these relatively positive signs, Ritsuko knew that it wasn't enough. The Angels
 were starting to get more personal. They were adapting. Only a week ago, they had found a way
 to bypass dealing with the Evas altogether. The 11th Angel had been one of the closest calls
 they'd had in a long time. Misato hadn't been that concerned since the 5th Angel. Not that any
 of them that had come between those two had been pushovers, but both the 5th and the 11th had
 managed to breach NERV's barriers. This was completely unacceptable. The direct assault on the
 Magi that had indeed occurred should not have happened. It shouldn't have been able to happen.
 But then, Ritsuko had seen her fair share of things that had happened and shouldn't have, ever
 since Shinji had arrived in Tokyo-3. For some strange reason, the arrival of Commander Ikari's
 son seemed to have triggered some sort of turning point in the war. It was perfect timing at
 that, considering how his arrival had coincided with the appearance of the Third Angel. Once
 his initial fears had been overcome, he had metamorphosed into some sort of prodigy at Eva
 piloting. He had shown great promise when he had gone along for the ride with Asuka in the
 fight with the 6th Angel. The two of them had managed to pull a rabbit out of their hats,
 though credit also belonged to Misato for coming up with the plan. Despite personalities that
 clashed, the two had managed to pull themselves out of a potentially disastrous situation. Not
 bad work at all. That's what had made the fiasco involving the 7th Angel such a disappointment.
 The entire organization had looked foolish and incompetent. It had been fortunate for them that
 the incident involving the Jet Alone hadn't been all that far behind them. Despite how
 embarrassing the 7th Angel had made them appear, the alternative was viewed as much, much
 worse. The cure to this setback had been a crude and somewhat controversial one, but it had
 worked, so who was she to complain? Ritsuko occasionally wondered whether it was necessary for
 the two children to live together with Misato any longer, but for the time being the
 arrangement was working out nicely, so why implement unneeded changes?
 
	Unfortunately, none of this solved the dilemma of NERV security. Obviously, more drastic
 measures were required. Ritsuko felt that the commander seemed even more distant and detached
 than usual as of late. It was as though he was waiting for another shoe to drop, so to speak.
 She almost wished he would go on another important trip. Maybe some fresh air might do him
 good. But this did nothing to solve the problem of security. Still, Dr. Akagi had to wonder
 what more could possibly be done. The Magi were generally not regarded as a weak point, and
 even after the incident, she maintained her beliefs that the Magi were protected to the best of
 the facility's abilities. The blame for the invasion partly rested with her. Ritsuko sighed.
 She should have stopped the simulation, even if Gendou would have chewed her ass off. Something
 would have to be done. Getting out of her chair, Ritsuko decided that her best course of action
 would be to hold some sort of meeting with Fuyutsuki and Misato. Perhaps there were a few
 angles that she hadn't considered. Suppressing a yawn, she slid out the door and fumbled in her
 pocket for her ID card. It was about time to call it a night. If she hurried home, she might be
 able to squeeze in two or three hours of sleep before having to report in the next morning.
 Perhaps with regards to her work, she was becoming more and more like her mother everyday.
 


	"So, this is it, huh?"

	"Yeah. . ."

	"We may as well get this over with." Asuka pulled open the door to the dilapidated
 downtown cinema. The air had a stale smell to it, rife with popcorn, butter, and chocolate, yet
 it had a taste to it, as though the same pocket of air had always permeated the place since it
 had first opened its doors God knows how many years ago. Shinji followed her inside, letting
 his nose adjust to the smell. Red was certainly the motif of the place, the floor was covered
 in a subdued and worn shade of the color. The walls were a dirty off-white, they didn't
 brighten the place up much. There were pieces of popcorn and candy wrappers on the floor,
 obviously whoever owned the place wasn't very concerned about keeping the lobby spic and span.
 It wasn't what Asuka would consider very tasteful. But a part of her had to admit that there
 was a coziness about it. She grudgingly gave Shinji the benefit of the doubt on this one. If
 there was one thing men usually knew about, it was movie theaters. Boys would always search for
 the perfect theater to go see their silly war movies, or anime, or whatever. Shinji removed his
 wallet from his pocket and walked up to the box office, which was, in this case, literally a
 box. The teenage boy inside the box spoke into a microphone. "Welcome to Tokyo-3 cinemas. Can I
 help you?" The guy's voice had about as much enthusiasm as Rei had for interacting with others.
 Hell, his voice had about as much enthusiasm as Rei did period. Asuka couldn't blame him, she
 wouldn't be caught dead working in a place like this at this hour on a Friday night. *He must
 be some sort of dropout or something.* she thought. There was no way she would even consider
 working in a place like this! Not that she needed to have any sort of job anyway, she had a
 considerable trust fund building up for services rendered to the government. Whether she
 enjoyed it or not, one had to admit that her childhood had been stolen from her, so they owed
 her something.
 
	"Um, two please." Shinji said, handing over some money in exchange for two ticket stubs.

	"Enjoy the show." Was the only response that he received, and it didn't sound anymore
 enthusiastic than the greeting had. No doubt about it, this guy was definitely on auto-pilot.

	"Shinji come on!" Asuka whined, pulling on his arm. "I want popcorn! I'm hungry!" Ikari
 sighed, and complied with her request, moving towards the concession stand. He did have to
 admit that this was more preferable than being insulted.
 
	"All right. So what's your pleasure, Asuka?" Shinji inquired.

	"I told you, popcorn!"

	"I know, but what size? Do you want candy too? Or a drink?"

	Asuka ignored her companion and approached the vendor behind the counter. "I'll take a
 large popcorn with extra butter and a medium diet soda. Oooh! And something hot! Do you have
 any candy that's cinnamon flavored?"

	"I think we have some cinnamon breath mints, but that's about it." This man, probably
 around the age of 22 or 23, seemed a bit more pleased to serve.

	Asuka grumbled. "I suppose they'll have to do. . ."

	"Ah, planning on doing a lot of kissing tonight, eh? Well, don't get too excited until
 the lights go out!"

	Asuka responded by giving him one of the more threatening looks the guy had ever seen
 in his life. "Er, well, enjoy the show!" he managed to spit out, eager to get away from the
 girl. He could see in her eyes that in about three seconds, she was going to come over the
 counter and pull his bottom lip up over his head. . .or worse.

	For his part, Shinji had two choices. He could either stand there, basking in the glow
 of what the concession attendant had just said, letting the image stay in his mind as long as
 possible, or he could do something to intervene. Knowing that he would hate himself later,
 Shinji spared one last second for the fantasy and then spoke up. "Excuse me, but could I get a
 medium soda as well?"

	Grateful for the distraction, the employee only smiled and gave all his attention to
 Shinji. "Sure. What kind would you like?"

	Shinji thought this over for a moment. "Surprise me." He decided, then prepared to fork
 over a large amount of the money Misato had given him. If there was one thing he knew from past
 experience, it was that buying food at the movies wasn't cheap. Not that it bothered him all
 that much, it wasn't his money. Maybe it would be a few more beers Misato couldn't buy. He had
 seen alcoholics with a smaller budget for booze than hers. Forcing himself not to flinch at the
 price, he told the attendant to keep the change. Still peeved at the man's gross suggestion,
 Asuka picked up the box of breath freshners in a huff and walked ahead, leaving Shinji to carry
 the rest. Not protesting, Shinji took one of the drinks and wedged it between his arm and his
 side, then carried the other soda and the popcorn in his hands. Asuka soon disappeared inside
 the theater, and Shinji did not relish having to play hide and seek if she was in one of her
 moods. Then again, how many people would be here at this hour? It wasn't as though there was a
 run on movies like this one. Shinji reached the door and cursed. He couldn't open the door with
 his hands full like this. Did she have to be so annoying? He knew perfectly well she wouldn't
 hold the door for him because she wanted to be difficult. He still couldn't understand why he
 cared about her. Perhaps it was these kinds of things she did. It was one thing to be a tease
 and have a pissy attitude, but that was all there really was when it came to Asuka. She always
 acted like this. It seemed to him like a cry for help if ever there was one. If she sought
 independence from others, then why didn't she realize that the way she acted only heightened
 people's concerns about her?

	Setting the soda in his hand on the floor, Shinji opened the door, held it in place with
 his body, then bent down to pick up the drink. Pulling himself upright, he then walked inside
 the theater. What was that guy at the stand talking about? It was almost dark as a tomb in here
 and the movie hadn't even started yet! The only light was emanating from the two aisles, which
 were outlined by soft tracks of lighting. It wouldn't be easy to find Asuka. She obviously was
 slumping down in her chair, because Shinji couldn't make out any heads as he looked through the
 rows, his eyes gradually beginning to adjust to the darkness.
 
	"Boo!" a familiar voice shouted right into his ear, and the poor boy jumped nearly
 high enough for his head to hit the balcony, some of the popcorn falling out of the tub. Asuka
 laughed hysterically. She couldn't help herself. He was just too easy a mark. She couldn't help
 but indulge herself. "Geez, Shinji, I didn't know you were so shy around girls!" she teased.
 
	Shinji was about to tell her to keep quiet, but he thought better of it after
 remembering the little bet he had made. He couldn't make an instigating comment, or she would
 nail him on it for certain. "You just. . .startled me is all."

	"Aw! I'm very sorry, I forgot that you need to be handled with kid gloves." She said it
 in this sickeningly sweet, phony voice. Yet somehow, this was preferable to her usual whiny
 bitchiness.

	"It's okay. Come on, let's go and find our seats."

	"What, is that all you have to say?"

	"Yes."

	Asuka shook her head. "Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless. Fine then." She walked down the
 aisle, taking a seat in the middle area, a bit towards the back, and in the center of the row.
 Following close behind, Shinji narrowly avoided colliding into her when she made her sudden
 stop, but quick reflexes allowed him to both miss her and keep from losing his balance.
 Recovering before Asuka had a chance to make a remark, he eased himself into the seat next to
 hers, proffering the drink she had ordered. She took it from him without a word. He was too
 much of an idiot for her to take sometimes, but damned if she was going to let him win this
 little challenge. Shinji did the majority of the chores around the apartment, and she was
 inclined to keep it that way. She had tried to clean, once, even though she knew she couldn't
 keep her own room looking all that nice. It had taken her two hours, but she had finally been
 satisfied. She went to fix herself something to eat in the kitchen, and when she had come back
 out to the living room, she had found Shinji re-cleaning everything. She had --not-- been
 pleased, to say the least. Asuka had had to invent a new setting on her hostility meter for
 that incident. She had gotten over it though. After all, she really didn't care all that much
 about what the apartment looked like. If Shinji wanted to have those kinds of idiosyncrasies,
 that was his prerogative.  She could do a reasonable amount of cooking, which was good, because
 nobody wanted to eat anything Misato cooked. They had cut her out of the cooking schedule as
 much as possible, but she still insisted that she be allowed to cook sometimes. The two
 children simply tried to keep track of those times and make themselves conveniently absent.
 They didn't want to hurt Misato's feelings, but their own personal safety came first.
 
	Shinji took a sip of his own drink and began to happily munch away on the popcorn. He
 had to admit, getting some food in him did feel pretty good. Perhaps it was a little early for
 breakfast, but that wasn't much of a concern. He could always pack himself a bigger lunch than
 normal before going off to school. He'd probably have to pack Asuka a double or possibly even a
 triple portion in order to keep her happy. The girl certainly had a healthy appetite, but he
 couldn't really blame her for that. She had a lot of energy, and she was a bit of a loud mouth,
 so it stood to reason that it would take quite a bit of fuel to keep it going.
 
	"Hey! What do you think you're doing with --my-- popcorn?!?" Asuka protested, snatching
 the large tub away from him.
 
	"I thought that we could share. Save a little of Misato's money, you know? I do want to
 have some left to give back to her."

	"You idiot! That was a gift! You're not supposed to give it back! Her feelings will be
 hurt!"

	Shinji said nothing, opting only to stare at her.

	"What?" It took Asuka a moment to realize why he was staring. "Oh, scheisse! It isn't
 fair! You tricked me!"

	Shinji laughed at her just a tad, but stopped himself  before she got overly upset.
 "It's okay, you get that one for free. But the next one earns you the kitchen duty. It wouldn't
 be fair not to give you the extra chance, it's only natural for you anyway. But you can only
 have it on one condition."

	"And what sort of condition would that be, you little cheater?"

	"We're sharing the popcorn. I've got other plans for what's left of the money."

	"What sort of plans?"

	"Ah, but that would be telling."

	Asuka audibly growled at him. "Fine!" she spat out at length, shoveling a handful of
 popcorn into her mouth. "Keep your secrets. I don't want to know about them anyway!" She had
 several other comments she wanted to add, but she thought better of them. What would be the
 point? All that would serve in doing would be to land her in more trouble, she refused to lose
 this bet! Her pride was at stake, she knew this was just a simple case of mind over matter,
 thinking before speaking. And if one thing was certain, she was determined to win.



	Asuka stepped out of the bathroom, draped in her robe and a big smile on her face.
 Pacing over to her bedroom, she entered and began dressing for her day. Halfway through, she
 gave the lump that was still residing in her bed a good shaking. "Get up, lazy slug! Since when
 do --I-- have to get --you-- out of bed?" The lump underneath the covers stirred, but made no
 indication of getting up. "Get up." Her voice was commanding and authoritative, but not quite
 threatening--yet. There was still no active response from the target. Genuinely annoyed, Asuka
 shook the figure forcefully. "NOW!" she yelled. You are making us both late!"
 
	Somewhat perturbed, Shinji Ikari-Sohryu stumbled out of bed looking like a zombie. He
 hadn't been getting much sleep lately.
 
	"I didn't tire you out that much, you wimp!" She smiled at him, indicating that she
 wasn't really angry with him. "Go on, go and get showered up. I'll take care of breakfast this
 morning." Shinji slumped his way into the bathroom while Asuka finished dressing and went
 downstairs.

	In another part of the house, a similar scene was taking place. One Misato Katsuragi was
 trying to drag herself out of bed. This was easier said than done. She had a slight hangover,
 she didn't really have a headache nor did she feel very sick. She just felt tired, like she was
 running on empty. Her bed felt warm, soft, she felt really, truly at peace for the first time
 in a long time. She might have been able to stay there forever, but she was interrupted by a
 loud knocking and a door opening. "Hey, Misato! Morning has arrived, why don't you greet it
 with the rest of us?"

	"Huh?" she answered in between yawns. Misato knew it was Asuka. There was only one
 person around here more chipper in the morning, and his voice wasn't feminine, unless there had
 been some changes made that she hadn't been informed about. "Morning. Sun. Time to get up. Join
 us." Asuka waved her fingers and said the last part in a spooky voice, amused by the image of
 the zombie-like Shinji that was stuck in her head."

	"In just a minute." Misato yawned again.

	"I'm going to start breakfast. So, Misato, did you two have a good night?"

	Misato didn't quite catch Asuka's comment at first, until she felt some movement next to
 her. A murmuring voice from under the covers inquired, "Is it morning already?"

	Misato started. She knew that voice. She ripped the covers away from where it was coming
 from, knowing what she would find but still horrified beyond belief. "Good morning, sunshine."
 Kaji said, his hair a mess and a smile on his face. Misato responded the only way she knew how.
 She screamed.



	Major Katsuragi sat bolt upright in bed, cold sweat droplets all over her. 
 Instinctively, she spread her limbs out, attempting to ascertain whether there was anyone else
 in her bed. There wasn't. A huge sigh of relief came over her, and she allowed it to run its
 course. "I must be working too hard." She said to an empty room, getting out of her bed and
 opening the window for some fresh air. "As though anything like that could ever happen! What
 kind of a life would that be?! Ridiculous! Still, she went into the kitchen and poured herself
 a drink of water. No beer for her this time. If she was having dreams like that, then alcohol
 was the last thing she needed. She looked at the clock. 3:52. The children had been gone for a
 little bit now. If they obeyed her properly, they would be gone for a few more hours to come.
 Enough time for her to grab a few more hours without non-sensible dreams, God-willing. Walking
 back into her room and climbing back under the covers, Misato braved sleep again, determined to
 keep her dreams Kaji-free. . .

************************************************************************

	Well folks, that's all for this time. Like always, tell the author how he is doing. You
 know, for some reason, this installment didn't quite write itself like all the others did, but
 I'm hoping that will have cleared up by next week. Some of you are probably wondering why I
 felt the need to quote all of Proverbs Chapter 10 at the beginning of this chapter. Well, I
 happen to like it, and it did inspire me, so I put it in. I promise not to make an opening
 quote that long again, I just felt that some of it lost meaning without all the verses of the
 chapter there. Besides, a proverb a day helps to put things in perspective.
 
	I know, perhaps having Kaji in the dream sequence was a tad predictable. But who else
 was I going to have in the bed? Gendo? Granted, that would have been both hilarious and 
 confusing, but there wouldn't be a rhyme and reason to it. 

Next week: Asuka grapples with winning the bet, while Shinji develops a daring idea that may
 bring a lot of things out into the open. All of this, and they have to be ready for school,
 too! Meanwhile, Misato duels with insomnia. It's all in Chapter 4, "First-Degree Burn."
 
************************************************************************
	Legalese-- I don't have anything to do with Neon Genesis Evangelion. I didn't produce
 it, I didn't create it, and I don't pretend to have! This series is copyright by Gainax, A.D.V.
 Films holds the rights to the English Language Version. The author makes no claim whatsoever to
 any of the characters or the setting contained within this work, merely the situation in which
 they have been placed. Standard disclaimers apply. No substitutions, exchanges, or refunds.
 Batteries not included. Thanks you've all been a great crowd, don't forget to tip your servers
 on the way out. Amen.

	
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