From: mew3point14@doramail.com (Daniel Snyder)

"Once upon a time, there was a beautiful bride. She knew love, and she 
knew what it was to be loved. But she was proud, too, and resolved not 
to give herself to anyone.

"On day of her wedding, she was dressed in her most beautiful gown and 
surrounded by everyone she loved. But she frowned, because she was proud 
and she had only half-chosen her husband-to-be. Although she knew him by 
the word of others, she had never seen his face.

"'Smile and love your husband,' they all shouted, 'smile and love your 
husband.' And the longer she did not smile, the louder they shouted, and 
the more impatient everyone became.

"Finally, she swallowed her pride and smiled weakly. In that moment, her 
bridegroom came to her. She saw him for the first time.

"He was beautiful to look upon, and charming in his bearing. Willingly, 
she smiled then. Willingly, she married him.

"What was the name of the bride?"
--
"Always, always control the sword," Shinji instructed. "A beginning 
student will change his or her form to suit the desires of the sword--
its heft, or the shape of the handle. This is a mistake. If you let the 
sword control the swing, the sword will also control the damage. Unlike 
a person, a sword can never grow; it can only be whittled away.

"An enlightened swordsman can execute the same strike with any sword in 
the world."

In unison, the three on the rooftop of Akumafune stood and began their 
practice. Ikari Shinji faced his students: Ayanami Rei was on his left, 
Nagisa Kaworu was on his right. Although they exchanged a few spoken 
words, corrections and affirmations, they were utterly silent on the 
inside. Each one was focused on their practice. Sun and sword and muscle 
were their world.

>From the top of Akumafune Dormitory, they could only see as far west as 
Kazarashi; it rose two stories over their heads. It was also a long 
dormitory, stretching further back towards the north than their 
building. Behind it, they could see some of the acres of woodland; in 
front, they could see out over the open parkland and its parallel rows 
of trees. Wrapping around from the east, a stand of enormous pine trees 
obfuscated the upper part of Feuervogel Academy's wall. It would drive 
one insane to think what lay there: how the sky, seemingly as real as it 
had ever been, transformed into the null and void of the embryonic 
creation.

Ikari Shinji did not think deeply about it. He let it be.

After a half an hour of kendo practice, Shinji set down his bokken and 
drew out his foil. "I'm not sure I'm going to have the time to teach you 
everything you need to know about fencing," he admitted.

"You know, friend Shinji," said Kaworu.

"The thing is, it's so tied to European culture," the blue-eyed boy went 
on. "Fencing is in a lot of ways related to chivalry, like kendo is 
related to bushido here in Japan, but at the same time there are 
critical differences. Look here."

He drew himself up high off the ground, with his feet at right angles to 
one another and spread greater than shoulder-width apart; his right hand 
held the foil, his left was positioned out of harm's way. "This is the 
en garde stance. It allows a great range of movement, and with practice 
you can put a lot of force into your swing. As you can tell, though, 
it's not a very natural position. You can't imagine the chi flowing up 
through the fencer's body to be concentrated in a strike. Fencing 
doesn't have much to do with controlling spiritual willpower.

"On the other hand, it was considered a noble and a martial pursuit 
throughout Europe. It was understood that a gentleman would not only 
fence, but might even use it in combat. If two generals were to fight a 
duel rather than risk soldiers in an assault, it would be considered as 
exceptional--and honorable--as here in Japan.

"I'm telling you this because...to really appreciate fencing, you have 
to put yourself in this kind of frame of mind. Allow me to demonstrate."

Shinji stood and enacted a kind of kata, advancing, retreating and 
dueling against imaginary enemies. He lunged, feinted, parried and 
thrusted. Rei and Kaworu watched his every move, smiling as the studied. 
They applauded when Shinji was done.

"That was very flat," Rei concluded.

Kaworu nodded in agreement. "In your kendo, Shinji, there was much more 
made of the transaxial plane. In your fencing, you seem much more 
restricted to the sagittal."

"Yes," Shinji said. "If you think about it, almost all kendo strikes can 
be done with either one or two swords, in either the left or the right 
hand. Fencing technique was designed for a single sword in the right 
hand. It restricts the range of movements in favor of one sort of 
person."

"Does that mean," Kaworu asked, "that all else being equal, a kendo 
master will always defeat a fencing master?"

"Not at all," replied Shinji. "A fencing saber is much faster and more 
precise than is a katana. All else being equal, both of them would be 
dead on the first pass."

Rei sighed heavily. "What a waste of human life," she said.
--
"Hesed," Nagisa Kaworu said reverently as he set down an empty soup 
bowl. There was a slight husk, very difficult for the native Japanese 
speaker to achieve, on the first syllable. Chesed. "It means love, 
friend Shinji. Tell me what you know about the love of God."

Ikari Shinji thought carefully before he spoke. "Hesed contains Gevurah, 
doesn't it? Therefore, Love contains aspects of Rigor and Power. From 
studying Gevurah, I know that everything I do is a prayer. Love...if 
everything I do is a prayer, then I have nothing to fear from God, do I? 
All it takes is virtuous behavior, dedication...devotion. If I love God, 
and I devote my life to loving God, I draw closer."

Kaworu nodded. He held up a hand to Shinji and whispered something into 
Ayanami Rei's ear. She gathered up the dirty dishes. Kaworu said to 
Shinji, "I think it best if we were to withdraw to the kitchen. It would 
be illustrative."

Akumafune Dormitory had an industrial kitchen, with a large gas stove 
and a walk-in refrigerator. Stainless steel cupboards and shelves filled 
the spaces around the kitchen's walls. From out of a cupboard, Rei drew 
out a jar of olives. They were large black olives, each one almost as 
big as Shinji's thumb, floating in briney water. She handed the jar to 
Kaworu, who handed it to Shinji. The boy squeezed and turned the lid to 
no avail. He tried, again and again, to twist the lid free.

At length, Kaworu took pity on the boy. "Let me try," he said, and spent 
the next couple of minutes struggling against the unwieldy jar. By the 
time that Rei had washed the dishes, dried them and put them away all by 
herself, both Shinji and Kaworu were flushed and gasping for breath. 
Taking custody of the jar, the girl held it under warm tap water for a 
few seconds, then opened it with minimal effort.

"Thank you, Rei," Kaworu and Shinji said in unison.

"You are welcome," she replied. She reached into the jar and extracted 
two olives, one for each boy, then took one for herself. Shinji grimaced 
as he ate his. Spitting the seed into the sink, he commented, "I've 
heard olives are an acquired taste...I believe it now."

"It is an unusual taste," Rei agreed.

Kaworu said nothing for a few moments as he rolled the seed around in 
his mouth, trying to raze every little bit of the fruit's flesh. At 
length, he took the seed out of his mouth with his fingers and placed it 
in the sink.

Then he told a parable. "Do you know about olives, friend Shinji? They 
grow on trees in orchards. They are grown for their oil. The oil can 
flow freely out of the olive, given the right circumstances; but more 
often than not, it requires pressure. We have thus invented the olive 
press for this need. They turn and turn the handle, and the press drives 
down and down, until the physical shape of the olive is lost and the oil 
is pure.

"People invest--time, effort and money--they invest in the olive oil for 
many reasons. Some people like to use it for cooking because it makes 
their food taste better and cook faster. Some people use it as...ah...a 
lubricant. Some people, of course, stock the olive oil and sell it to 
others as a way to make their livelihoods.

"I put it into my lamp. I have a lamp, Shinji. There is a little nook I 
can see from the outside, a kind of focus point for the oil to go into. 
A few drops of oil in the focus will produce a bright pure flame that 
would shine even without being lit. I can slip a little hood of glass 
around the lamp, and even though it is a material thing and will temper 
the visible power of the flame, the glass ensures that the flame will 
not be extinguished by a sudden gust of wind.

"And what do I do with my lamp, Shinji? I ward off the darkness in the 
world around me. It may be full of beastly things. But as long as I have 
a single drop of olive oil, Shinji, I have nothing to fear. I can study. 
I can write, I can...even stay awake for my prayers."

Kaworu smiled a little bit at his joke and said, "Now, let us conclude 
the parable of the Verse of Light. A riddle for you, Ikari Shinji. We 
have talked of the light that comes through the glass from the nook in 
the lamp that holds the oil of the olive from the tree. Prophecy, 
Shinji. Whose hands plant the olive tree?"

Shinji said, "The hands of love itself."

Kaworu laughed. "Indeed, Shinji, verily, verily! It is so. Meditation 
upon that which is neither of the East nor West. This meditation 
produces the fruit of Understanding--Love. Love lies between 
Understanding and Judgement. 

"Raw belief is of little use without discipline and dogma to bring out 
the Spirit of God itself. Our capacity to find joy in all things as they 
are is placed in the framework of our senses, taking up only a small 
volume. Our senses, what we experience in this world, help us focus on 
the ever-burning Spirit of God to bring forth God's Will. The Will comes 
streaming through our imagination and creativity. We hold up our 
intelligence and creativity as a conduit for the Will of God to overcome 
the terrors of God as Judgement. This is the parable of the Verse of 
Light, as preached by Ghazālī, a wise man."

Shinji asked, "And if the action of love is all that is needed to 
continue this...how did it begin?"

"That," Kaworu said with his angelic smile, "is a mystery for another 
day. For now, remember this--that you must love God in the extreme. You 
must accept what _is_ with a smile, a laugh if it is joyous and a 
consoling word if it is sad. When you keep holy days because of their 
intrinsic holiness and you give thanks for the life you take into you 
with every meal--ah, thank you, Rei," Kaworu said as he accepted his 
lunch box, "you will know rigor within love and without fear."

The three children were ready for school: Shinji with his backpack and 
Rei with her attache. Together, silent for want of something to say, 
they walked out of the kitchen and through the darkened hallways to the 
front door.

Shinji opened the door just in time to avoid getting cuffed on the 
shoulder. Standing on the front doorstep was Ibuki Maya. She was dressed 
in the regulation white and turquoise seifuku. Her socks were 
fashionably scrunched down almost to her ankles. There was a blue 
barrette with yellow flowers in her hair, holding her bangs out of her 
eyes. In her left hand she held a soft-sided computer carrier. Optical 
disks and glitter pens jutted from out of a pocket. Her other hand still 
hovered in dead space, ready to knock on the opened door.

"Good morning," she said, "did you get a good night's sleep?"

Shinji nodded the affirmative. Rei and Kaworu bowed in unison and said, 
"Good morning."

The swordsman asked, "What brings you over here so early in the morning, 
Maya?"

She had the answer prepared; it was not the first time that morning that 
she had to give the explanation. "As the sole candidate for the position 
of housing secretary, I've obtained special permission to survey the 
campus this morning. I wanted to make sure that last night's curfew went 
as planned." In a more personal tone, Maya went on. "Seems like 
nothing's happened, apart from a couple of calls for residence 
assistants. Akumafune's the last place on my list, and the campus has 
been quiet. How are the three of you?"

"We are all very well, thank you, Ibuki-san," Rei said graciously. "We 
had a quiet night. And we have had a quiet morning."

"We were on our way to the greenhouse," Shinji explained. "Maya, won't 
you come with us?"

"I'd hate to be a burden..."

"You will not be a burden," Rei replied. "There is more than enough room 
in the greenhouse for four people."

"Believe it or not, I've never been inside the greenhouse. I'd love to 
come with you." The four walked off to the west. Maya, walking beside 
Shinji, talked in an earnest voice. "Just between you and me, Shinji-
kun...I don't want to spoil anyone's surprise, but I think Kanae-chan's 
planning something for today."

"Eh? What kind of something?"

"That's what I don't know. But," she went on, "I've seen her making 
notes in a little book ever since she told me you were going to run for 
office. And, on top of that, I know she's been talking with Aida-kun and 
Aoba-kun about something."

"Why is that important?" Shinji asked.

"Well," Maya explained, "most of the time, if she wants to plan a party 
she'll talk to Juri-sempai also. But, Juri-sempai is so levelheaded, 
she'd try to talk Kanae-chan out of anything even a little bit wild. So 
I think that she's got something up her sleeve."

"I see," Shinji said nodding. "But then, why didn't she also talk to 
Shiori-san, since Shiori-san's going to be the Social VP?"

Maya stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh, dear," she said, tightening her 
grip on her computer bag. "I hadn't thought of that at all. I guess I'm 
wrong."

"What? No you're not." Shinji reached out and took Maya's hand in his 
without a second thought. "Maya, it was just a thought. Don't get worked 
up over it. Maybe you just didn't see her calling Shiori-san. You don't 
know either way."

"I guess that could be the case..."

"Not having any evidence goes both ways, you know. It's neither pro nor 
con."

Maya heaved a terrific sigh. "I'm really no good at this whole 
psychological guessing-game thing. Misato-sempai was really smart about 
it. She'd have the whole thing figured out by this point. She'd probably 
even know why..."

"Why what?"

"Why Kanae-chan was talking to the Magi." Shinji and Maya began to walk 
faster. The greenhouse was in sight, and their companions were already 
opening the door. "I mean, nobody talks with the Magi, not even the 
teachers. It's just not _done_..."

The matter was put aside as they entered the greenhouse, the world of 
shattered sunlight. Ibuki Maya was overwhelmed by the roses' beauty; and 
almost immediately, she began to pepper Ayanami Rei with questions, 
questions about light and nutrients, bulbs and diseases. Rei answered 
each and every one carefully, ever-mindful of the task she was working 
on at any one instant. Refusing Maya's offers of help, she went to her 
work joyously and earnestly. Maya was left to wander the greenhouse 
paths and meditate on purity.

Ikari Shinji approached her. "You said that you had seen Kanae-san 
talking to the Magi," he said. "Do you know what the Magi are?"

"They're an element of the natural world here at Feuervogel," she 
replied.

"I don't understand. What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly what it sounds like it means, Shinji-kun," Maya said, 
reluctantly taking her eyes from the roses, hesitant even to blink. 
"They are an element of our own environment, our own world. They're 
predictable but not predictable; like the weather, say, or knowing when 
a battery is going to die. The three Magi--Melichor, Balthazar and 
Caspar--obey their own sort of laws and causality. About the only thing
I know for sure about them is that there's only one group of them. That is, 
there's only the three. And I'm pretty sure that they only go as three. 
You'd never see one Magus going off alone if the other two came down 
with a virus, or something."

"Interesting," Shinji said quietly. He was astonished to discover that a 
smile had crept onto his face and a blush into Maya's cheeks during the 
conversation. He drew the blush a little further. "Tell me, how long 
have you been at Feuervogel, Maya-chan?"

"I'm into my third year here."

"And the Magi have been like this the whole time? Since you were in 
ninth grade?"

Maya lit up in a very, very bright red. From across the garden of roses, 
Nagisa Kaworu glanced bemusedly at Maya for an instant before walking 
over to join Rei. Relaxing a little, but still blushing, Maya confessed 
to the tiles at her feet, "I was never in ninth grade. I had to repeat 
my tenth grade year last year."

"Oh." It was Shinji's turn to be surprised. "Maya, I didn't mean to pry. 
We can talk about something else if you'd like."

"No--no--no, I don't mind. Honestly," she said. Then she regained her 
smile. "It's actually kind of silly strange. I was held back because...I 
failed Physical Education."

"Is that so?" Shinji smiled.

"Uh-huh." Maya's blushing had faded from radiant crimson to violet 
highlights now. In symmetry with Shinji's earlier gesture, she took his 
hand. His thumb brushed her index finger. "I've always had a time with 
PE. The teachers are always trying to get me to run faster or jump 
higher or go further. Do you know what I'm talking about? Shinji-kun, I 
know what I'm capable of, no more. I don't want some stupid teacher 
trying to force me to believe I can break through my own limits! I'm 
almost 17, I want to be treated like an adult. So the year I came here, 
it got so bad that I threw away my gym uniform and stopped going to 
class at all."

"And that didn't help."

"No."

"What happened?"

"I struck a bargain with the teachers." Maya absently ran a thumb on 
Shinji's knuckles. He smiled for many reasons. "I made a deal where if I 
trained in fencing for an hour a day, five days a week, I wouldn't have 
to take regular PE. I asked Juri-sempai if that was OK with her. She 
said to me, 'Two hours'. And I found out, by 'two hours' she meant two 
hours of practice. I was on my own for stretching out, running laps and 
pressing weights. She also meant two hours of getting sliced up by every 
member of the team if I couldn't defend myself. But you know what?" She 
smiled and opened bright brown eyes wide for him. "I said I wouldn't go 
back, and I never have. And I don't regret it one bit."

_All's right with the world,_ he thought. Unbidden, he spoke. "I've 
never quite flunked anything, Maya-chan. I've come close a lot. I have 
my swords, and my cello, and my SDAT, and...sometimes, I feel like I 
don't have the incentive to learn anything more."

"I didn't know you had an SDAT player."

"Yeah, of course I do. I listen to it all the time." Shinji made an idle 
gesture. "I just pop in a tape, press play and let the world slide away 
from me. It's easy."

Maya shook her head. "I haven't seen you with a tape player since I met 
you, Shinji-kun. You must be mistaken or something."

"But I do listen to it...a lot...at least, I thought I did." The young 
man paused to sift through his memories of Feuervogel. Although he could 
remember listening to his Walkman at different times, these were few and 
far between. "I guess I haven't used it all that much," he admitted. 
"I've had Rei around to talk to, and Kaworu. And you and Touji, and 
everyone. And my kendo...and my cello. I guess I have been pretty busy."

The two spent a few minutes watching Rei make final her morning's work 
on the roses. Maya broke the silence. She turned to Shinji and said, 
"You really like being at Feuervogel, don't you, Shinji-kun?"

"I'd never thought about it," he replied.

"Of course you do! I mean, come on." They followed Rei and Kaworu out of 
the greenhouse as Maya counted her observations. "You've happily lived 
off in one corner of campus for months. You've tried to make friends, 
and succeeded. You haven't begrudged anyone who's challenged you to a 
Duel. You've managed to pull up your grade point average, it seems like. 
I heard you got to talk to the Board of Directors, which is a pretty big 
honor, 'cause Kanae-chan told me so. And last of all, you're running to 
be president of the Student Council. You must be in love with something 
about this crazy school, Shinji-kun. What is it? Tell me."

Ikari Shinji considered the question. Butterfly thoughts fluttered in 
his mind. What made him do what he did? What aspect of his life had led 
him to forsake instant gratification and embrace a world where he was 
not loved unconditionally?

"I don't know any other way to live than the way I do now," he said. "I 
love the changes that have gone on inside of me, and I want to share 
them with everyone. It's not the school alone that I love...maybe if I 
were able to make the whole school realize how close we all are to 
happiness, everyone would get along with each other and live happily 
together. That sounds naive, doesn't it? Almost kind of sappy. But it's 
happened to me. Why can't it happen to everyone? Why can't we all 
experience what I'm going through? That's why I like it here, Maya-chan. 
Feuervogel, for all the pain and suffering, has made a new person out of 
me. And I see a whole campus of people who could share this joy with me. 
I love them for what they are. Do you understand?"

She nodded. She blushed again. She shuffled her feet. Before the moment 
became too uncomfortable, Kaworu cleared his throat. "Shinji, friend Rei 
and I are going to class. It's time."

"Ah. Thanks." To Maya, Shinji said, "Why don't I play my cello for you? 
Two days after tomorrow, maybe? Would you like that, Maya?"

"Thank you! Yes, I would be deeply honored to hear you perform!" Maya 
gushed, bowing low to hide her face. She added hurriedly, "I need to get 
over to the other building because I have calculus first thing and I had 
to beg my way into class and the teacher is really, really mean, but 
I'll see you in a couple of days, or today, or whenever, Shinji-kun! 
Bye-bye!"

And she was gone, without even grace to her departure. In her wake, 
letting the rush of emotions crash over him, Shinji waved. "Goodbye, 
Maya-chan! Have a good day in class!"

He joined his two friends and they went off to homeroom.
--
They were in the midst of a badminton game when the fire alarm went off. 
Shinji and Kensuke had been playing singles at the far end of the 
gymnasium. While the girls were outside on the field hockey green under 
the threatening sky, the boys spread out at nets strung up across the 
inlaid wood floor. Singles and doubles fought back and forth for control 
of the buzzing birdie. Then the brutal siren's grind tore through the 
rafters of the gym, cutting the parabolic arc of white plastic feathers. 
The red rubber head of the shuttlecock was transformed from something 
amusing to something ironic.

The boys felt a pang of fear, the unknown. What was going on? Had 
disaster compounded disaster? Not saying a word, they placed their 
rackets solemnly on the floor and left the gymnasium for the crowded 
daylight.

As they filed out of the gym, the young men could neither smell nor see 
telltale wisps of smoke. Boys and girls unified in apprehension. Then 
came another siren, the blare of a personal bullhorn. The gym class 
hearkened, filing to the center of campus. Unbeknownst to all, a wooden 
stage had been created in the open area near the greenhouse and the 
column. Aoba Shigeru broke away from the gym class and joined Ohtori 
Kanae, Takatsuki Shiori, Kaworu Miki and the three Magi on stage.

"Good morning, everyone," Kanae said through her bullhorn as the school 
assembled. "I'm sorry to upset everyone like this, but there's been a 
change of plans." The student body, hundreds strong, exchanged confused 
glances. "There is no fire. Also, there are no more classes for today. 
Instead, we're going to have a little recreation. I'll turn things over 
to Shiori-san to explain."

"We'll be having lunch out on the parkland shortly," the younger girl 
announced. "After that, we'll be having a scavenger hunt. Everyone can 
participate, but to make sure everyone gets to know some new faces, you 
must have at least five people on your team who are in different 
grades." A ripple of murmurs washed through the assembly. Shiori waited 
patiently until the noise had died down before she concluded. "And as an 
incentive, we have prizes for all teams who enter."

"Bananas!"

"Spices from India!"

"Shaved ice with syrup!"

"Cow's milk!"

"Fashionable jewelry!"

"Exotic eggs!"

"No, no, we can't use them. They hatched."

"All of them? Tarnation."

"And the first team to bring back every item on the list will 
receive...a car!"

A collective gasp rent the air. The automobile in question was truly a 
work of art. It was a sports car of European design with gently curved 
edges and thick fierce chromium steel. Four could sit comfortably in the 
genuine leather upholstery. The grand hood, wide like a grown woman's 
hips, hinted at phenomenal driving power. It was a tiger nursed on 
blood, ready for a meal of blacktop.

"Um...how are underage people supposed to drive around when there's no 
roads anymore?"

"Doesn't matter. There's no gas stations anymore either."

"All right, boys and girls, you've caught enough of an eyeful. Young 
lady, if you'd care to resume?"

Kanae spoke into the bullhorn again. "Everyone, lunch will be served 
promptly on the parkland. We'll be beginning the hunt after lunch."

For the first time in days, the students smiled and cheered. It was a 
free day! A day to set aside their cares and concerns, to make their own 
choices instead. A day to find something new in what only an hour before 
had been stale and tired. The crowd turned inwards on itself and 
shambled out to the parkland, where tables and bento boxes were waiting. 
One hundred conversations about freedom and everything it entailed flew 
skyward from out of the exuberant mass.

Shinji pushed his way through the student exodus to the platform, where 
the organizers were surveying their handiwork. The boy bowed 
respectfully to Kanae and then shook her hand. "Maya mentioned to me 
this morning," he explained, "that you might have something planned for 
today. Wherever did you get the idea for a scavenger hunt?"

"We've had them before," Kanae replied, "as a class fundraiser. But this 
is the first time in a long time anyone's made an all-school hunt."

Shigeru jumped in. "When you look at it, it's pretty obvious we needed 
to cool everyone down, isn't it? And the campus lockdown kind of meant 
that, you know, we had to swing back the other way. Have a little 
anarchy, a little raucous fun."

Shinji nodded. "So, a scavenger hunt..." He trailed off, watching 
Kensuke's departure. Touji, pushed by Juri, was arriving on the scene; 
and the bespectacled youth was clearly eager to be with his friend.

"Kanae-san had asked me about it back a few days ago," said Shiori. "All 
I had to do was arrange for the prizes and type out a list of things 
around the campus." She passed a list to Shinji. He idly glanced down 
the list's contents. Flowers, balloons, baseball paraphernalia, a 
feather, a chair cushion. An eclectic lot, all told.

Shinji asked, "So how long do the teams have?"

"All afternoon, if it takes that long."

"I can't help wondering..."

He fell silent at Arisugawa Juri's approach. Having left Touji in the 
company of Kensuke, the fencer was free to be direct and curt. "Is this 
acceptable behavior?" she asked Shinji, clearly in demand of an answer.

"Why are you asking me?" he inquired. "I didn't organize this thing."

"That isn't how the rules work, Shinji," Juri came back. "I see here no 
fewer than five people that you, head of the party, are responsible for. 
You're the man who'll be called to task if something's amiss."

Shinji could feel his blood pressure rising behind his eyes, deep within 
his skull. "Juri-san, explain to me _exactly_ what you're thinking about 
before we go any further."

"Very well," she sighed. Without being asked, Miki reached for a 
scavenger hunt list and began to make notes on the back side. "First, 
pulling a fire alarm. Which of you pulled it, and did you have 
permission?"

"I did," Kanae answered. "Mother said that it was all right. It was the 
best way to get people's attention all around the school, she said."

When Miki was ready, Juri went on. "Maybe, maybe not, but Kanae's mother 
is certainly not accountable to Shinji, or any other of us. What about 
the mechanics of the hunt, the prizes? Have all of those been cleared?"

Miki spoke up. "Pursuant to Chapter 6 of the Student Council handbook, 
all paperwork was filed two days ago and approved this morning. We have 
permission to remove and return specific objects of the school's 
property, and individual students are explicitly responsible for 
returning them."

"And the prizes?"

Miki and Shiori glanced at Suzuhara Touji, in his wheelchair just 
offstage. "Yeah, I got receipts for everything. They're all private 
donations by faculty and staff members."

"All right." Juri tapped her foot in thought. "It seems to me like we're 
forgetting something, but it's slipped my mind what it could be."

"Juri-san?" Ikari Shinji was smiling. "We all appreciate your looking 
out for the interests of the party and the school as a whole. Thanks for 
your concern and your troubles."

"Well, you're welcome." _Funny,_ she thought, _I can't ever remember 
telling someone 'you're welcome' before today._ She went on, "I'm not 
trying to sound like the bad guy. Maybe I'm just a little bit 
suspicious, since everything is going so well. No offense, Kanae. I'm 
naturally suspicious of a surprise party."

"Would you like to help plan the next one?" offered Shiori.

The older girl smiled. "Thank you. I would."

"Should I still be taking notes?" asked Miki, and they all laughed.

Shinji said, "If all of you want to get something to eat, I can stay 
here. It'd be my responsibility to...er...take responsibility in any 
case. Kanae-san and everyone can get some food, then when you get done 
you can come back here and get the scavenger hunt underway."

"Hey." It was Touji. He was half-risen from the wheelchair, his left 
hand tightly clutching his cane. "If y'all are goin' down to the south 
of campus, ya get me an' Shinji somethin' to munch on?"

So it was that the two friends were left behind with each other for 
company. A distance separated them from the other stragglers; they were 
still on stage, they could be seen. They spoke quietly. "Are you doing 
well, Touji?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, I guess so. I dunno." Touji seated himself on the edge of the 
stage and continued to speak. "When I don't think about what's been 
goin' on, how Asuka and the Prof died--I mean, even more than Ritsuko 
and Mari-chan, I mean, they were so close by! It hurts sometimes, man. 
But I can talk to people. Just about anyone. And they listen, too, and 
they're polite enough to try 'n' understand."

"Who do you talk to?"

"One of Asuka's friends, Keiko. She's more shook up than she really 
admits to, but she listens. I think it's like she wants to help me to 
help herself. If I say it helps me to talk, then it helps her to 
listen."

"I have Rei. Even though we're not, ah, intimate with each other 
anymore, she still listens. And she even talks about what's on her own 
mind."

"What does she talk to you 'bout?"

"Food, the roses, schoolwork...kendo, now that I've started to teach her 
and Kaworu."

"You're teachin' them how to use swords? Shit, now I've heard it all. I 
never would've guessed."

Two young men talked openly and comfortably in the midday. They looked 
out upon their classmates' euphoria with detachment. _We are glad for 
you,_ they thought, _but our hearts must be heavy for yours to be light. 
Bless you, and come to us what may._ These were enchanted times, when 
the clouds took the forms of dreams long forgotten and the wind bore the 
sounds of fairies crying.

"Touji..."

"Yeah?"

"I don't quite know how to begin," Shinji explained as he sat down next 
to his friend. "The vice president doesn't have a lot of 
responsibilities, does he?"

"No, I guess not."

"Does that bother you?"

"No."

Shinji took a deep breath and continued. "Basically, your main job is to 
take over for me if I can't do my job, right?"

"When you put it like that," Touji chuckled, "it sounds like a downer 
job, doesn't it? I suppose you're right."

"Touji-kun. The truth is that, if there was one person I wanted to take 
over for me here, that would be you. I'm serious. You're a better, more 
charismatic guy than I'll ever be.

"I'm worried about what the future will bring. I know that everything 
will be all right, but I'm not wise enough to understand the 
particulars." He looked at his friend. "Touji, promise me that if 
something should happen to me, you'd take over."

"Happen? Like what?"

"Like, my dad shows up on campus again. Or I get thrown out of school."

"Shinji, nothin' like that's ever gonna happen."

"Promise me," the boy said earnestly.

"OK, OK, I promise."

"You mean it?"

"Yeah."

Shinji smiled. "I never doubted you, Touji-kun. I simply needed to hear 
you say it."

"Well, I dunno," he replied. "There's a big difference between thinking 
something and saying something, isn't there?"

"There is," Shinji said. "It's just that we can do things without 
thinking, without fully understanding our own actions. We all know this, 
and it threatens how we feel about sincere actions. Faith bridges the 
gap, faith in the goodness of other people. I believe in you and the 
strength of your actions, Touji. When you say, 'I will follow you,' I 
know you're speaking the truth."

"Wow," Touji laughed. "I got a tough act to follow up on."

"You are my most fundamental friend, Touji. Even if you forget my name 
and my face, I know you'll do what's best, again and again."

The two boys gazed off into the hazy yon, the southern parkland that 
rolled and roiled with their classmates. Some ate and some lounged; 
others were already partnering in teams of the scavenger hunt to follow.

Shinji's thoughts were interrupted by three discreet, asynchronous 
coughs. He turned to see the Magi, in phalanx, where they had been 
announcing the prizes before. Had they been present for the boys' 
exchange? Or had they departed unobserved and returned later?

"Sorry to interrupt your afternoon, Ikari-san..."

"...but we, the Board of Directors, didn't get the chance to talk to you 
last night..."

"...and we were wondering if we could have a little of your time right 
now."

"We could discuss a few irregularities pertaining to this scavenger hunt 
at the same time."

"Not enough to stop it, mind you, but enough to warrant a clarification. 
On your part."

Shinji rose. "I'll come. I'd like a word with the Board myself."

"Excellent. They will be meeting with you in Nemuro Memorial. Same as 
before."

Touji whistled. "Dang! Not even elected yet, and I'm already covering 
for you while you go off and meet with all the movers and shakers."

"I appreciate your help, Touji-kun."

"Yeah." The young man sighed, smiling in anticipation. "I just wish the 
food would hurry up and get here. Man, I'm starved."
--
Ikari Shinji walked quickly to the north side of Nagamara Dormitory, 
where Nemuro Memorial Building rose three stories up into the bone-
colored sky. The roof looked like pinched clay, short and angular; as if 
the lower three stories of gray rock had been inside a mold, and the 
roof was the over-pour. On the west side of the building was a thick 
wooden door with a wrought-iron handle. Black metal, gray rock and 
golden wood: the colors of a talisman.

Inside, the once-alien hallway yawned before him; Shinji could follow 
the cenotaph row of chairs extending into the darkness the instant he 
stepped in the door. Tarrying, he turned to his left to look at the 
photographs of Feuervogel friends and alumni. Unfamiliar faces, like the 
ceiling of a hospital, stared back at him: rows and rows of eyes, of 
mouths, of hands, imprisoned behind plate glass. Stepping further and 
further down the hallway, he watched old men become young and women 
regain their beauty, while blacks and whites lost their contrast to an 
amber haze. Memory. The fondness of a memento, the sweet bond of an 
unhealed scar.

Shinji turned back and retraced his steps to the grated window. Below 
the bright chandelier was an immaculately clean desk, a filing cabinet 
and a recent model computer just booting up. A woman was staring fixedly 
at Shinji. The grating obscured her features; he could see that she had 
light hair and was dressed in brown, but beyond that nothing.

He did not flinch. "My name's Ikari Shinji, and I'm here to attend the 
Board meeting."

"I see." It was the woman from his previous visit, now with a face and 
figure to go with her voice. "Do you have an appointment?"

"I'm afraid not," he admitted. "I was only invited to come just now."

Without moving a muscle, the woman announced, "You can't just walk in on 
a Board meeting without an appointment. It's impossible."

Shinji frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

"It's simply not done. Nobody, only a select few people, ever go into a 
Board meeting without an appointment first. Hardly anyone."

"But I've attended one before..."

"Some people do attend without appointments. Close to a majority, say, 
fifty percent." Still, the woman had not changed her tone or expression.

"Does that mean I can go in?" asked Shinji.

"Oh, yes, a lot of people simply show up at the meetings without letting 
us know in advance. The vast number, in fact. You know, we encourage 
students and faculty both to attend them. They're free and open to all. 
Go on, hurry along then."

Ikari Shinji prophesied. _You are a woman who has become so belabored 
with the cares and confusion of this world that you have forgotten good 
and evil. Tethered to your job, you lose yourself in the rote execution 
of its motions. You are flailing about, helpless without direction_ But 
because he loved God, and he was grateful for all things, he smiled. He 
felt no pity, only sympathy--her condition might very well have been his
own. "I appreciate your help, ma'am. Farewell."

"You'd best hurry, young man, or they'll start without you."

Without fear, Shinji turned and walked into the darkness. But however 
far he withdrew into the depths of the building, the light streaming 
from over his shoulders never diminished. He could count every single 
rivet binding the leather upholstery to the chair, he could follow his 
own footprints in the carpet's humble dust all the way to the 
intersection with the sixth hallway.

The green light that spelled out "Elevator" did not pierce his eyes, it 
greeted them. At the end of the hallway was the elevator, the terminal 
sign and the button to descend. He pressed the button. The elevator 
doors opened, revealing a cab barely large enough for one person: a 
chair was placed inside, facing forward. On the far wall, starkly 
visible in the cab's light, was a single picture: a pressed black rose.

Shinji stepped inside the cab and sat, facing the door. It closed behind 
him automatically. The interior light went out of its own accord. Ikari 
Shinji burst into flame. The elevator dropped into freefall. Ikari 
Shinji floated inches above the cab's floor.

The elevator jolted to a stop moments later, and the doors of the 
elevator burst open. Shinji stepped out of the cab into the huge meeting 
room, with its Tree of Life above and its bubble chamber photograph 
below. The chandelier over the table was still unlit; light came from 
the dozens and dozens of candelabras that surrounded the room, flames 
flickering on an intangible draft. Around the table, half-risen in 
surprise, were the five human members of the Board of Directors.

In some language alien to the young visitor, Kihl Lorenz uttered a 
violent curse. "What in God's name have you done, boy?" he snarled.

"You sent for me, and I have come," he explained modestly. "The first 
time I came to visit, I remembered being afraid for my physical safety. 
I'm not afraid anymore. May I sit down please?"

A second member of the board spoke, as if to a creature in a salt mine. 
"Was that you...flying...I saw a moment ago?"

Shinji chuckled. "Gentlemen, wiser men than you and I know that when 
faith is in conflict with science, faith must bend. I know that my Lord 
is with me, and I am happy. If I was seen to fly, but it is not possible 
for a person to fly, then you and I must be mistaken. Why you saw what 
you saw, however, is a separate question."

Again he asked, "May I be seated?" There were nods of assent, and he 
took his place at the head of the table. He continued, "I was told that 
you wanted to speak to me about the scavenger hunt. To the best of my 
knowledge, we've met every condition we need to have met."

"Yes, it's true," a third member said as he scratched his chin, "that 
you've submitted the necessary paperwork, consulted the faculty and 
staff..."

"Then shouldn't that be the end of the issue?"

"Why do we need a scavenger hunt at all?" said a fourth. "This is a 
school, Ikari-san, not a daycare facility. Students have come here to 
study, to be educated. This trivia you're sponsoring today--while it is, 
ah, permitted--isn't educational by any stretch of the imagination. Just
what are you doing by encouraging it, young man?"

"I would argue," Shinji came back, "that it is absolutely essential for 
any education to take place! Education must take place in an environment 
that fosters learning--you teach cooking in the kitchen, you teach the 
classics in a library, because the tools to learn are handy. The 
obliteration of the outside world has only made this issue more 
crystalline. If any semblance of life as we've known it is to continue 
on this campus, we must make an environment to learn about life.

"What kind of life do you want students to learn to live? A flat, 
scholarly life? Oh, yes, then they'll be dependent on you for every 
aspect of their lives, but you gentlemen are wise enough to know that 
when you die, the students on this campus will be lost. No, this cannot 
come to pass. We must foster an environment where students not only feel 
like they are part of a community, but that they can participate in this 
community freely, and make it over again in their own image. Each one 
must draw closer to God, must leave this world a better place than when 
the arrived, of their own free will. That is the kind of campus I seek 
to promote, gentlemen. A scavenger hunt isn't a whole solution, no, only 
a dream of one. But is something that I, and my friends, can do and can 
do right now."

The fifth and final member of the board had been looking at Shinji in a 
most skeptical fashion, and after a perfunctory snort spoke. "You talk 
about 'making the world in our own image' and 'leaving this world a 
better place', young fellow. If it weren't for the fact that you seem to 
be listening to other people's interests, you'd be the spitting image of 
your own father."

Ikari Shinji stiffened. The Board fell uncomfortably silent. Around the 
room, the flames of the candelabras flickered. "What do you know about 
my father?" Shinji asked. "Fuyutsuki-sensei was going to talk to me 
about him, but he died before he could tell me anything."

Lorenz spoke. "We all knew your father, Ikari-san. All of us here at the 
table, as well as many of the faculty members. We knew your mother as 
well. We were all colleagues together at ROSA. Your father...had an 
ability to contribute relatively little, yet synthesize terrific amounts 
of raw data and present it in ways that were easy for people all 
throughout the organization to understand. He could also glean whatever 
information was to be found that was relevant to his own interests."

The candle flames turned color from yellow to blue. Shinji asked another 
question. "Did you know, before you came here, what my father was 
planning to do?"

"Yes and no." Lorenz looked old and tired, like an edible fungus, in the 
darkening room. "We saw his madness, but we didn't dare probe its 
depths. Because to comprehend is to contemplate. The safest place we 
knew for us to be was where your friend Fuyutsuki-sensei had hidden your 
mother's spiritual essence."

"Here? At Feuervogel?"

"Yes. Despite the risks her presence generated...we felt safer here than 
anywhere."

"You stayed because you knew he would succeed in destroying the universe 
outside. Whatever it was he was planning. And you wanted to be the ones 
guiding the future of the world."

With a sudden gust of wind, the candles were extinguished. It was a 
moment before any of the people in the room could adjust to the dim red 
glow as the sole sources of illumination; and in that moment, the three 
empty seats in the room were filled.

"Can you really be angry..."

"...because they had..."

"...ulterior motives?"

"Of course not." Shinji's voice, meek but not pusillanimous, carried 
through the room. "I don't know your moment-to-moment actions, 
gentlemen, to know if you are without guilt. But I'm not angry. There is 
a part of me that might find my way into your position. I only hope that 
I could rise to the challenge of leading this school in these times of 
trouble. I hope that you will. There is a need for wise leaders on this 
campus."

He went on, his voice slightly cracking. "And I'm very glad to have had 
the chance to speak with you today. I feel like I know you a little 
better than I did earlier today. The reason I'm running for 
president...is so that meetings like this one can take place...so that 
students with ideas and concerns can come to you freely and be heard."

Ikari Shinji rose. "If you have nothing more to talk to me about, 
gentlemen, I'll be going now."

"You may go," Lorenz said softly in the darkness. "Go back out the same 
way you came in."

Shinji rose, turned around and entered the elevator. The doors closed 
upon him and the cab rose in the normal fashion. The ride ended at a 
corridor only as wide as the elevator itself, terminating at a glass-
paned door leading out into the daylight. He walked outside to find 
himself on the east side of Nemuro Hall. The door clicked shut behind 
him.

It was late afternoon, and beneath a blanket of clouds the cool of the 
day looked little different from the morning. To Shinji's right, in the 
south, was Nagamara Dormitory where the other boys were boarded. To his 
left, in the north, was one end of the northern garden, the forested 
lands. In front of him, between the Memorial Hall and the school 
buildings, were a campus lamp, a bench, a bento box and Ibuki Maya. Her 
socks were no more worse the wear from the day's activities, and the 
clip still clung to her hair; but her skin was flushed from a day 
outside. There was a drowsy, droopy smile on her face that broadened 
into a happy grin as she recognized her friend.

"Shinji-kun!"

"Maya, this is a pleasant surprise!" He walked over to the bench and sat 
between her and the light pole. "You haven't been waiting long, have 
you?"

"A little while," she admitted. "Kanae-chan told me this would be the 
best place to wait for you. So here I am."

"I'm glad to see you. How did the scavenger hunt go?"

"Flawlessly. We had winners about 45 minutes ago."

"Who was it?"

"It was Hozumi Mari's team. Do you know Mari-chan, Shinji? She was kind 
of Tsuwabuki's kohai, always trying to get him to tell her what life was 
like for a high school student." Maya added, "She hasn't decided what to 
do with the car, though."

Shinji nodded, then stood up again. "I was going to walk back towards 
Akumafune, Maya-chan. Won't you walk with me?"

"I'd love to!" she said, and then handed Shinji the bento. "Here. You 
missed lunch...uh, you must be hungry, right? I saved you a bento."

"Thank you, Maya," Shinji replied. His stomach growled audibly. They 
both laughed, and began walking eastward side by side.

Along the northern edge of Feuervogel Academy was a garden of about 
three acres. Walking paths ran to and fro through the garden, made out 
of dull rock the color of concrete. They converged on the pathway that 
led down from the temple of all faiths. The temple was an octagonal 
building, about six meters on a side. Ikari Shinji spoke to Ibuki Maya 
on the steps of the temple, innocent of the mediocrity of a scene 
without the setting sun.

"Maya-chan, please listen to what I say. I love God, in these days more 
than ever. I love God in the extreme. Yet when I look at you, I see a 
girl who has been a friend and companion to me in a way that nobody else 
on the Earth has been, and nobody else will be. I'm grateful for what 
you are to me, Maya. I want to get to know you better and make a space 
for you in my heart. So I'm torn, because my God is always going to be 
my first love, and the best that you will come is second. I don't want 
to hurt you with this kind of love, Maya. Could you learn to accept me 
as I am?"

"Shinji-kun...I look at you and I see something incredible, something I 
feel like I could never be. But every time I tell myself that, I feel 
this little Chibi-Shinji sitting on my shoulder saying, 'Yes you can, 
Maya, yes you can.' I've never felt that way about anything, Shinji. Not 
math, not fencing, not anything. I want more, Shinji-kun. For the first 
time in my life, I want more than I feel like I could ever have. When 
you say that you love God more than me, I can kind of understand that. 
If...if you can love God, and yet you can make me feel like I'm not 
second best, then...well...maybe I could learn to accept you, too."

"Thank you, Maya. That's all I need to know."

"Shinji-kun, is this love?"

"It could be, I think," he said softly. "We'll give it time. We'll try 
to make it be love."

He kissed her, and he thought of the good Earth itself; fertile, 
bringing forth life without the rites of man. Her lips yielded, 
caressing his own. The kiss was an affirmation of what was to come.

"I will see you," he said at length, "two days from today. At the 
latest."

"I'll be looking forward to it, Shinji-kun. I already am."

They walked home together, side by side, hand in hand. He said good-
night to her where the walkways diverged, and they separated for the 
evening.

"Ah, there you are!" Nagisa Kaworu burst out as Shinji entered Akumafune 
Dormitory. "And you have something to eat with you. Eat up, eat up, and 
then we'll get started."

Shinji glanced at Kaworu, confused. "Are we at another fulcrum?" he 
asked.

"Yes," the pale and ruddy boy replied. "Fortunately, we won't be dealing 
with it until tomorrow. Tonight, we have to get the entire house 
cleaned. This house is terribly impure, and we simply must get it in 
order before the morning."

The blue-eyed boy sat down on a couch and extracted his chopsticks from 
the bento. "And where's Rei, may I ask?"

"She's spent the whole afternoon cleaning. Specifically, she's been 
cleaning the downstairs furo."

"The whole afternoon to clean the furo? Why is she taking so long?"

"Well, Pen-pen won't get out, and that's slowed everything down."