Disclaimer: Hideaki Anno and Gainax own Evangelion, I do not.

Sex Warning: This is a LEMON. If you are appalled by the idea of people of 
various ages having sex, please do not read any further.

OOC Warning: I generally try to keep things IC, but will switch to OOC at the 
drop of a hat if I feel it makes for a better story.



EVA-X

Chapter 8

Clad in nothing save a thin hospital gown, Rei shifted in small increments on 
the hard, unyielding surface of the examination table, trying to find a 
comfortable resting position. Her body was bare from the waist down, feet 
resting in the chill metal stirrups that kept her legs spread wide apart as Dr. 
Akagi completed the final stages of her pelvic exam.

Rei hissed softly as she felt the thin, cold length of the endoscope enter and 
plumb the depths of her womanhood, as if seeking to expose her darkest secrets 
with its single, all-seeing eye. As she waited for the doctor to finish, she 
reflected on her surroundings and was surprised to discover a distinct distaste 
for the impersonal, frozen sterility of the white-walled cubicle.

`Strange…I did not use to care about such things…`

The inspection seemed to take longer than usual and Rei twisted uneasily, 
wanting to rid herself of the unwelcome presence. She compared the present 
sensation to the feel of her lover's own stiff maleness, and her breath 
quickened, face suffused with an unexpected heat.

To the girl's eventual relief, the offending instrument was finally withdrawn, 
but her elation proved to be short-lived as the none-too-gentle thrust of a 
medical speculum into her delicate opening made her nerves sing with a sharp, 
scraping pain. She heard a series of dull clicks and the grate of metal on metal 
as the ends of the speculum were ratcheted open, forcing her soft, inner flesh 
to stretch and dilate.

Moments later, Rei felt something brush roughly against the mouth of her cervix. 
She realized that there would be some soreness later, and wondered absently if 
it would have any effect on their lovemaking. It wasn't long after that the 
speculum was closed and removed, Dr. Akagi apparently satisfied with whatever it 
was she had been scrutinizing.

Knowing what was coming next, Rei's muscles began to tense and tighten, even as 
the girl strove to enforce a state of relaxation and calm. She was unsuccessful, 
wincing as her anal sphincter squeezed reflexively against the painful intrusion 
of a latex-shod finger. The doctor waited for the initial muscle spasm to pass, 
then slowly rotated her inserted digit around the interior of the girl's nether 
passage, coating the rubbery walls with a liberal application of cool, sticky 
lubricant.

Another endoscopic probe soon took the place of Dr. Akagi's forefinger, and Rei 
endured the long minutes of poking and prodding as the slim, elongated tube 
snaked its way into her rectum. She squirmed, attempting to hide her discomfort 
at having a foreign object penetrate her in a place from which things were 
normally expelled.

"Okay, Rei, we're done." Ritsuko said at last, retracting the long instrument 
and placing it on a tray with other items to be washed and sterilized. "You may 
go now."

The girl nodded once, disengaged her legs from the stirrups and stood. She 
padded over to a nearby counter where her clothes lay folded in a neat pile and 
silently began to dress, discarding the medical shift she had worn in a bin for 
disposable wastes. Part of her noted that beneath Dr. Akagi's clinical manner, 
the woman seemed euphoric, almost giddy, as if she had suddenly come across some 
great scientific discovery.

Giving herself the mental equivalent of a shrug, Rei finished dressing and left. 
She had always harbored an unshakeable suspicion that Dr. Akagi resented her in 
some strange way, and might even take a measure of perverse pleasure from seeing 
her in pain. Turning the matter over and over in her head, she could find no 
logical explanation for anyone to bear her such ill will. She eventually 
resolved not to dwell on it any longer. Today, she had other obligations to 
attend to.

Exiting the room shortly after her young patient, Ritsuko checked the corridor 
carefully to ensure that Rei had indeed gone elsewhere, then made her way down 
the hall to the analysis labs, vials of precious samples cradled in her hands. 
Half an hour later, she was at the Commander's office, entering the forbidding 
chamber with her usual confident stride. Just beneath the surface of her 
professional mask, however, she fought to control the mixed feelings of 
excitement and trepidation that were welling up from within.

On the other side of the large office, Gendo Ikari sat stoically at his desk, 
waiting. His eyes, though they never moved behind the amber-hued lenses of his 
glasses, tracked her progress across the expanse of the floor.

"Your report." he said, the voice as cold and enigmatic as their surroundings.

Ritsuko took a moment to casually flip a lock of bleached-blonde hair back over 
her right ear. It was a gesture born out of nervous habit. A substitute for the 
times when a cup of coffee or a calming cigarette were not immediately at hand. 
She reached the desk and set a thin manila folder before him, the words 'TOP 
SECRET - EYES ONLY' stamped on the cover in bright red. The recipient made no 
move to take the proffered document or peruse its contents. He just sat and 
continued to fix her with that same, piercing gaze.

She sighed in frustration. Damn the man! He knew that she never felt completely 
comfortable in this room. At the periphery of her vision, the symbols on the 
Tree of Sephiroth seemed to writhe with an unholy life, serving as both a guide 
and a chilling portent of things to come.

"There are…abnormalities in the First Child's latest physical examination," she 
began.

"Continue."

"Careful monitoring and control of her hormone levels, coupled with the 
judicious application of MAO inhibitors, has kept Rei emotionally stable and 
maintained her reproductive system in a state of menopause…"

"I know this." he said, interrupting her explanation. "Do not waste my time."

"She reported an incident of memory loss."

"A common menopausal side-effect." he said dismissively.

"The tests also show that her body contains elevated levels of dopamine, 
norepinephrine, oxytocin…"

"The precursor sources were removed from her diet."

"Correct. Reducing phenylalanine levels is the main reason we cultivated her 
aversion to meat products, which leads me to theorize that she is either 
absorbing more of it from her current staples, or is ingesting it from a new 
source."

"Mere presence of the substance does not explain your findings."

Ritsuko nods. "It is my prognosis that she displays all the physiological 
symptoms of being…"

"In love." he said, finishing the sentence for her.

"Yes."

"There is more." He made it a statement of fact, as opposed to a question.

"Her hymen is torn and there are traces of semen in her vaginal cavity." she 
said somewhat smugly, suddenly wanting to see a break his normally impassive 
facade. `There! Let's see what you think of your perfect little girl now!`

To her disappointment, Gendo did not even pause. "Source identity?"

"The Third Child," she said, having saved her trump card for last. "A 96.55483% 
match based on initial PCR testing. I'm currently running an RFLP analysis on a 
multilocus test, which will bring that percentage up to…"

"Unnecessary."

"But I think we should at least…"

"Leave." he said flatly, cutting her off again. "I will deal with this."

Mouth tight, Ritsuko turned on her heel and departed, breaking into a triumphant 
smile as she cleared the doorway. `Yes, deal with how your own flesh and blood 
has tarnished her last living remnant…`

"What will you do?" asked NERV's deputy commander, Kozou Fuyutsuki, stepping 
forward from the shadows behind the desk.

"Increase surveillance on the First and Third."

"Should I double the report frequency?"

"Yes." Gendo replied as he stood and made his way around the desk. "I must go. I 
trust you to handle all that."

Kozou nodded wearily at his departing form. `Is the sacrifice truly worth it, 
old friend? If we fail…Yui…`

After leaving his office, Gendo navigated through the labyrinth of passageways 
that comprised NERV headquarters, taking the shortest, most efficient route to 
his intended destination. As always, she was there, patiently waiting for him to 
arrive. He took the seat across the table from her, and as if by some 
prearranged signal, they began to eat the food that had already been set before 
them.

"You have initiated relations with the Third Child." Direct. Uncompromising. She 
expected no less of him.

"Yes." she replied, matching his openness, hiding nothing. Her pounding heart, 
however, threatened to leap out of her chest, and she wondered if he could see 
the veins pulsing in her throat.

"Why?" he asked, watching her closely. `She is still honest…still loyal…but I 
must know…`

"I was interested."

"I see." He steepled his hands in front of his face, momentarily lost in 
thought. `Yui…your curiosity…part of what made you a great scientist…`

"Do not forget your duty." he said finally, having reached some inner decision. 
`Unfortunate that I have allowed myself to grow attached to this one…no matter…I 
would be loath to lose her…but she can be replaced if need be…as for the boy…he 
is weak…controlling him will pose no problem…`

"Understood." She cloaked her elation under a mild indifference. It was more of 
a warning than a blessing, but she would gladly take whatever he offered. She 
had no choice.

They finished the rest of the meal in silence, then rose and went their separate 
ways.

Going back to her apartment, Rei took a minor detour, stopping at a small 
confectionery that had just opened a few blocks down the road. She pressed upon 
the polished brass latch with a slim hand and made her way inside. The shop 
interior was cool and welcoming, a pleasant respite from the eternal summer heat 
that pervaded Tokyo-3 and the rest of Japan. Enticing smells wafted in the air. 
The sweetness of pureed fruit, the delicate scents of nutmeats, and the rich 
aroma of fresh butter and cream.

Rei had chanced upon this store almost by accident the other day when Shinji had 
decided to forego spending the night at her place, so as not to arouse suspicion 
on the part of his guardian, Captain Katsuragi. Not wanting to return to an 
empty apartment, the girl had wandered aimlessly for a while, before finding 
herself drawn to the tiny storefront. She didn't know what it was that compelled 
her to enter. Was it the colors and textures of the exquisitely crafted 
sweetmeats, or the appetizing fragrances that tickled and teased her finely 
tuned senses?

The elderly lady who ran the shop had been the dessert chef of a five-star hotel 
in France during the pre-Second Impact days, and had come back to her homeland 
to retire. The First Child's serendipitous arrival the day before had delighted 
the woman, and she had immediately begun to ply the bewildered girl with a 
mouth-watering variety of free samples. Even Rei's hesitant confession about not 
really liking sweet foods wasn't enough to faze the old woman, who pressed 
something she called 'extra-fine dark chocolate bitters' into her young guest's 
hands, urging her to 'give it a try'. Rei had stared at the thin wafer in her 
hand for a few seconds, gauging its weight and the brown smoothness of its 
surface texture. She finally decided that the probability of the substance being 
harmful was rather low, and took the tiniest of bites.

A creamy, melting sensation spread out across her tongue as the rich confection 
dissolved almost instantly, the perfect blend of bitter cocoa with a subtle hint 
of sweetness dancing among her taste buds. She took another bite, eyes closing 
as she savored the delicate flavors. She ended up buying an entire box, and 
unknowingly became the store's very first customer. The proprietress' eyes had 
widened slightly at the sight of the NERV card that Rei used to pay for her 
purchase, but she said nothing, wrapped the package in fine papers and handed 
them to the girl with heartfelt words of thanks.

When she was ensconced once more in the relative sanctuary of her room, Rei had 
set the box of chocolates aside, intending to save them as a special treat. Her 
body had other plans, however, and she had absently consumed the whole batch of 
delicacies over the course of an entire evening, her mind preoccupied with 
thoughts of her fellow pilot, until she drifted off into a deep, dreamless 
slumber.

Today, the venerable shop owner was all smiles as she came from behind the 
counter to greet her best, and hitherto, only customer. For a few minutes, Rei 
listened politely, if rather expressionlessly, to the woman's tales of her life 
in Europe. Then, not wanting to waste any more time, she pointed at a tray of 
the dark, savory chocolates. The old lady was quick to address the girl's 
unspoken request, and it wasn't long before Rei exited the shop with another box 
of the prized confections. As she walked down the street, nibbling daintily on a 
piece of chocolate, she remembered her promise. She had a phone call to make.

Back at school, Shinji sat slumped at his desk, praying for an end to his 
terrible day. He missed her even more than he thought he would, and his eyes 
kept straying to her desk, as if by doing so she would somehow magically appear. 
Each time he half-expected to suddenly find her there, favoring him with an 
enigmatic glance, or even just staring out the window like she usually did. He 
realized that he didn't really care, just as long as she was present.

His behavior, of course, did not go unnoticed by his fellow students. Touji and 
Kensuke were particularly annoying about it, the former slapping him on the back 
constantly, while the latter gave him broad smiles and knowing winks. Even 
Hikari had gotten into the act, using her feared class rep skills to pry the 
secret out of Touji, and then becoming the first outside their circle of three 
to congratulate Shinji on his and Rei's newly- minted 'couplehood'.

"I think it's just so romantic!" she gushed, starry-eyed, her responsible class 
rep armor coming off for an instant to reveal a normal, teenaged girl. "Imagine! 
Two saviors of the world, falling for each other in the heat of battle!"

"It…it wasn't like that…really!" he protested feebly, all to no avail.

"You'll be a shoo-in for number one couple once the rest of the school hears 
about this!"

Shinji let out a strangled 'awk' and banged his head onto the desk.

Lunch break was no better. In the rush to leave Rei's apartment, he had 
forgotten to prepare himself a meal, and was therefore forced to eat in the 
cafeteria with the majority of his schoolmates. Touji, Kensuke and Hikari took 
full advantage of the situation, sticking by his side with all the tenacity of 
an industrial-strength adhesive.

Even as he stood in line for his food, Shinji could see heads turn his way, and 
heard muffled whispers behind his back. The rumor mills had already begun to 
churn. That was not good. He knew from past experience that left unchecked, 
rumors had a disturbing way of mutating into the most horrendous of stories. It 
was just that he had absolutely no idea how to quash the tales that were almost 
certainly being fabricated with regards to Rei, himself, and their blossoming 
relationship.

`They sure aren't helping…` he thought to himself as he glared at his three 
'shadows'. The individuals in question ignored the dirty looks and continued to 
chat happily.

"So, when is your anniversary?" asked Hikari from her place on the other side of 
the lunch table.

Shinji's drink suddenly went down the wrong way, and he coughed heavily in an 
attempt to clear his clogged windpipe. Touji and Kensuke took turns pounding him 
on the back, which only seemed to make things worse.

"Wha…but…we haven't…" Shinji croaked, having regained partial use of his vocal 
chords.

"I think she means your girlfriend-boyfriend anniversary." Kensuke said 
helpfully.

"Oh." Shinji scratched his head, a puzzled frown crossing his features. This was 
something he had not even considered. "I…I don't know. I mean…things 
just…happened. We never really…"

"What?!" Hikari was horrified. "Hmph! How typical for a boy. Poor Rei!"

Both Shinji and Kensuke noticed that her eyes flicked momentarily to Touji as 
she said this, but the object of her regard continued to wolf down his meal, 
completely oblivious to her scrutiny.

"Yeah, Ikari!" Touji mumbled through his food. He didn't even see the way the 
class rep's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Shame on you!"

"Shinji," Hikari began, her attention finally shifting back to him, "you have to 
be more sensitive about such matters, now that you're in a relationship. Things 
like that are important to a girl."

"But…I think that Rei is…different."

"Shinji Ikari!" The girl stood, towering over him like a thundercloud. Her tone 
told him that she would brook no argument. "You go find Rei after school and 
pick a date for your anniversary! And be sure you have something nice to give 
her to make up for your thoughtlessness!"

"Okay." the boy muttered, cowering under her onslaught while his two friends 
looked on sympathetically, each one secretly glad that it wasn't him on the 
receiving end of the class rep's legendary temper.

The rest of the day passed fairly swiftly, and Shinji soon found himself 
strolling down the streets of Tokyo-3 in search of a gift shop. He didn't have 
the fortitude to disobey the class rep's orders. Touji and Kensuke had tried to 
follow, but had been kept at bay by Hikari. Shinji could not resist a small 
chuckle as he remembered the looks of dismay on their faces as the girl pulled 
them back into the classroom by their ears, and reminded them rather forcefully, 
that it was their turn for cleanup duty.

The flash from a nearby display window caught his eye as he passed, and he 
stopped for a closer look. The object turned out to be a fine, silvery band, 
topped with a pale blue stone carved in a brilliant solitaire cut, held in place 
by six small prongs. The elegant ring rested in a dark, velvet-blue box that 
highlighted it perfectly.

Shinji peered into the store. The place looked expensive, but he was running out 
of time and options. He went in, and emerged ten minutes later, a small bag with 
the jewelry shop's gold-embossed logo dangling from one hand.

The girl working the counter had eyed him dubiously at first, but she was 
friendly enough, and promptly fetched the ring and its box from the window 
display. Shinji was worried about not knowing Rei's size, but the saleslady, 
afraid of losing a potential customer, quickly assured him that they would 
resize it for free, if he paid an extra 2500 yen for a lifetime warranty.

He agreed and made the purchase. To his surprise, the final total didn't amount 
to as much as he initially estimated, probably due to the fact that although the 
band was white gold, the stone was only semi-precious aquamarine. It had still 
cost him a significant chunk of his savings, but Rei was definitely more than 
worth it. He didn't really need the money for anything else, anyway. Plus, he 
had a sneaking suspicion that Hikari would make it a point to ferret out the 
nature of his gift, and a lesser bauble was sure to bring him another one of her 
infamous sermons.

As he hurried back to Misato's apartment, Shinji's thoughts drifted to his gift, 
and he wondered if Rei would actually wear it. She didn't seem to be the type 
who cared about jewelry or fashion. He imagined how the ring would look on her 
finger, and abruptly realized how much it resembled an engagement ring. He 
faltered. Sure, he liked her a lot, probably even loved her, but he knew that 
they weren't ready for such a commitment, and he didn't want to give her the 
wrong idea.

The debate as to whether or not he should give her the ring still raged within 
him as he entered his room and snatched up the carelessly discarded cellphone. 
An indicator on the LED screen blinked, a signal that he had missed a call. 
Shinji keyed open the menu, and frowned at the unfamiliar number. The caller had 
not left any message, but he could only assume it was Rei. No one other than 
NERV personnel had his number, and if there had been an Angel attack, he would 
have known about it by now.

He checked the call time, and groaned inwardly as he noted that it had arrived 
several hours ago. Shinji sighed as his eyes lit upon the gleaming symbol of the 
jewelry store. Oh well. If that didn't smooth things over, nothing would. And if 
Rei received a mistaken impression of his intentions, he would just have to 
explain things properly, although he was certainly not looking forward to that 
conversation.

It was a quarter past seven in the evening when he finally reached Rei's 
residence. The search for a gift and the trips to and from both apartments had 
taken him much longer than he had expected. The lights were still on, but there 
was no sign of the occupant as he proceeded into the bedroom.

"Rei…?" he called, the name dying on his lips as he caught sight of her slim 
form. Still in her school clothes, she was stretched out on the bed, fast 
asleep. `She must have dozed off while waiting…can't say I blame her…the tests 
probably wore her out…`

Quietly, so as not to wake her, he took out a pen and used it to scribble a 
hasty, 'Rei, I'm sorry. Sincerely, Shinji' on the tiny card that was attached to 
the jewelry box with gold twine. He almost wrote 'love', but decided that 
'sincerely' was much safer. He placed the box beside her on the pillow, where 
she would be sure to see it when she awoke.

Then he backed out slowly and turned off the lights, making his way alone into 
the warm summer night.



Notes: In addition to his appearances in the anime and manga, I've based a 
significant portion of Gendo's behavior and motivations on experiences with my 
own father, who I felt was very cold and ruthless to my siblings and I while he 
was raising us. Nothing we did ever seemed to please him. Not the academic 
awards and scholarships, not the martial arts and athletic tournaments we 
entered and won, not even my becoming a finalist in a nationally televised 
spelling contest. Never did we hear an 'I love you' or even a single word of 
praise.

Mother says he was different when we were very young. Much warmer and more 
playful, but that seems to have changed as we grew up. She would tell me stories 
of how father stayed with me in my room when I was too afraid of the dark to 
sleep, or how he cared for me when I was sick. I honestly don't remember any of 
that ever happening. Maybe I was just too young.

He's mellowed out, now that we're both older and hopefully wiser, but we still 
have the occasional argument. Father never fully approved of my choices in life, 
and he certainly doesn't like the fact that I am writing this story. He thinks 
that it would be an embarrassment to my family and set a bad example for my 
future children if my true identity ever became public knowledge.

I suppose that's why I have a lot of sympathy for Shinji and what he's been 
through, because even during the worst times in our relationship, father never 
treated me that badly.

Now to answer a few reader questions, one of the most common being, 'Why do you 
consider Eva-X an inferior work?'

There are basically two things that separate Eva-X from my published stories. 
Time and effort.

With all the responsibilities I have to juggle (even professional writing is 
just a sideline for my real job), I usually finish an Eva-X chapter in at most, 
three to four hours total writing time, and post them in a raw, almost unedited 
form. I don't even bother to spell check. At most, I do one rewrite per chapter, 
but that's it. If this was actually going to my publisher, I would revise each 
chapter at least 5 to sometimes even 10 times or even cut them out entirely, and 
agonize for hours over each word or phrase, trying to find the perfect 
combination that will accurately convey my ideas or evoke just the right emotion 
within the reader.

As it is, I simply put down the first words that pop into my head, and it shows.

Eva-X is verbose, cluttered with too many unnecessary words, phrases, 
expressions and scenes. My editor and writing professors would be horrified. The 
writing is also very shallow, going more for cheap sentiment than any deep, 
emotional or philosophical impact.

Technically, it suffers as well, having too many internal monologues, choppy 
scene transitions, grammatical errors and tense inconsistency.

On a side note, yes, most writing classes and texts will tell you that it is 
best to choose one tense to write your narrative in and stick to it. However, 
experienced writers who are very familiar with the rules can and should bend or 
even break them if it serves to enhance their storytelling. Done properly, a 
change within the same paragraph from past to present tense can actually add a 
sense of dynamism and immediacy to a character's actions, making them seem more 
real and compelling.

Finally, a word of thanks to Chewy for the seeds of some ideas that I've used in 
this chapter. Although many of my stories fall into the category of hard science 
fiction, and I am more than capable of expounding on them given my extensive 
technical background, I generally try to avoid having scientific concepts 
intrude into the storytelling unless these issues are central to the tale and 
are not simply plot devices to introduce new characters or elements into the 
narrative.

I'd also like to apologize for not fully explaining some of the scientific terms 
and acronyms used, which probably had the effect of making characters sound 
rather cryptic (typical of Eva, really, if you stop and think about it). My goal 
was to aim for more realism in the conversations, and it would have been very 
artificial and transparent to have characters regurgitating technical 
information that they already had an excellent grasp of, simply for the benefit 
of readers.

Neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine are typically produced by the 
body when one is in the early stages of being 'in love'. These substances, and 
others like them, are primarily responsible for that giddy, walking-on-air 
feeling that new lovers often experience. The amino acid phenylethylamine or 
phenylalanine, in its myriad forms, is a main building block or precursor 
element for these chemicals. Unfortunately, phenylalanine does not occur 
naturally within the human body, and must be acquired from various external 
sources.

Now to dispel a common myth. It has already been scientifically proven that 
eating chocolate will not confer upon one the same state of bliss that is 
mentioned in the preceding paragraph. This is due to the fact that the 
phenylalanine content of any chocolate one ingests is broken down into its 
constituent elements long before it reaches the brain. However, if one is 
already 'in love', chocolate can act as a source of the phenylalanine building 
blocks needed by the body.

For those of you who have knowledge of the topics covered, you will note that I 
have stretched the boundaries a little in what is currently known and possible 
in the field of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), from alleviating menopausal 
symptoms to actually causing them. All of this is, of course, highly probable in 
the near future, based on research for a prospective novel that I have conducted 
with some physician acquaintances of mine.





daitanna@yahoo.com