In the depths of the Geofront was a particular restroom. In the restroom there was an expansive mirror above the sinks. In the mirror was the reflection of the face of Kaji Ryouji. The reflection, and the man casting it, had both been in position quite some time. Kaji was at work. It was not a line of work that was spelled out in any of the jobs he was employed in, not explicitly. However, it was something he would have to do.

The fact was that there was suddenly a great deal of silliness in his life. Working as a secret agent several times over, he enjoyed the occasional bout of silliness. It helped him release the tension that built up over time. Listening to Asuka-chan blather on about the most trivial things in the world and watching cat-fights erupt between Ritsuko and Misato all helped ease the cares that weighed upon his shoulders. But Kaji was a suspicious man by nature. Too much of anything outside of the norm tended to set of silent alarms in his heart. Over the past day and a half, Ikari Shinji had shown up long overdue at his apartment soaking wet; and the next day he had flirted with a new student, a transfer student with a suspiciously vague history. The only clue to the student's identity was that she had been mentioned by name by a mad ambulance thief. The thief had been last seen at the same hospital where a young man had regrown half his body and the 312 bones in his sister's body had restored themselves to the more usual 216. All this had occurred while NERV's monitoring systems had been picking up life signs that were theoretically impossible.

The entire staff had fingered Kaji as the culprit, understandably enough.

So rather than enjoying a fine afternoon, Kaji had spent it saying his lines without smirking. It had been difficult work. For some reason, not even the thought of his hideous death had been enough to squelch his sense of humor about the whole thing. Still, obeying his survival instinct, Kaji persevered.

He began with an easy one.

"No, Commander, I have no idea who Shinji's new friend is."

Easily delivered. After all, it was completely true. He tried a more difficult one.

"No, Commander, I have no idea why Asuka would ever violate anyone's nether quarters."

That was more of a lie. He could think of several reasons. The fact that Asuka was being paid by Aida-kun for something immediately afterwards was beyond him, though. Once again, his face didn't twitch at all. With his confidence buoyed, he tried for the hardest line he had to give.

"No, Commander, I have no idea why the Magi would give you those three numbers. As for why they're identical to Major Katsuragi's measurements, I would have to say that it's just coincidence."

Kaji waited. He waited a little longer. His jaw remained slack. There was no hint of a smile on his face. As long as he fought off the temptation to add, "And I'll never do it again, I swear," Kaji felt confident he could make it.

He glanced at his watch. Almost time for our meeting, he thought. May the gods have mercy on me.

One of them came floating in through the mirror at that very instant. She was dressed in regal robes that flowed behind her on unseen winds. Her face was that of a young woman, intelligent and caring. She had an aura to tame the wildest of beasts, one of gaity and compassion.

"Hello," she said politely in the sweetest of voices. "My name is Belldandy. I need some help from you, I'm trying to find someone and I don't know where to begin."

Kaji, it should be pointed out, had a gun. He also had the hair-trigger reflexes necessary for life as a secret agent. Bearing this in mind, it would seem only natural that he should shoot whomever came out of the mirror at him. However, Kaji had just been practicing keeping his cool off and on for three hours. He was feeling cool to a magnitude that theoretical physicists discuss laughingly. Thus, Belldandy's entrance provoked a slightly different reaction from him.

"Hey," he said smoothly, "I'm very, very glad to meet you. My name's Kaji, Kaji Ryouji. Do your friends ever call you 'Belle'?"

"Um, ha-ha. No, they don't."

Belldandy blushed a little, and looked aside as Kaji stepped closer to her. "Ah! But I think it's so appropriate. 'Belle' means 'Beauty' in French, and you are a beautiful, beautiful woman." He put his hand on the sinktop and leaned his weight against it, moving into a position excellent for later slipping himself around the woman's shoulders or waist. "Have you traveled much? Outside of mirrors, I mean."

"Yes, well, I've traveled a little." Belldandy shifted uncomfortably on her feet and pulled her hands together across her front. "Kaji-san, er, will you help me with this? Could you?"

Kaji saw his opportunity. He put one hand around Belldandy's waist as the other one clasped her hands. He held her tightly and looked deep into her eyes. "Belle," he whispered, "I will do anything that any mortal man can do for you. Anything at all. But first...please, I beg of you, tell me all about yourself. I want to know who you are, what kind of a woman you are."

Even though goddesses shouldn't experience hormone rushes, Belldandy did.

From his vantage point at a bank of monitors somewhere else in the Geofront, Ikari Gendou betrayed no emotion. This was because he was woefully out of practice. When not taciturn, he was self-satisfied, and there were no other feelings that he felt anymore. Even the reality-warping sight of his underling putting the moves on a woman who had manifested herself moments before in a mirror did nothing to break the solid wall of his persona.

Inside, however, Ikari Gendou was well into meltdown.

"Homina," he babbled flatly. "Homina homina homina. Yaba-ba-ba-baaaa- baba."

Three women were standing on the balcony outside of the Katsuragi apartment, three women each with their own reasons to be out. Katsuragi Misato felt a sense of duty towards Asuka and Rei, as guardian and as hostess. Her reason to be outside, in her own mind, was chiefly to maintain order. There were other reasons to be outside as well. It was a beautiful evening. A sliver of moon was in the sky already. The city was quieting down. Below her and across the street, she could see Ikari Shinji and his new friend talking under the branches of a maple tree.

"He's not moving out from underneath there, is he?" Sohryu Asuka Langley snarled.

Misato sighed. "Asuka, he knows perfectly well that you're going to water balloon him as soon as he comes out. Although," she went on, "I don't think he knows those balloons are filled with soy sauce. But it really doesn't matter. You can't just water balloon people for no reason at all."

"I have a reason!" she replied hotly. "He's been harassing that new girl all day! Someone's got to wake him up to how important it is to treat a girl with respect. I don't see how water balloons won't do the trick."

"You're probably right," Misato conceded. "But...you're grounded as it is. I mean, your friend Kensuke wanted..."

"He's not my friend! I was just paying him."

"...yes, yes, he wanted you thrown in the brig. And you would have gotten the brig if the Commander had been answering his phone."

At the mention of the Commander's name, Ayanami Rei stirred herself. "I must call the Commander," she said.

"If you want to try him again, go ahead and use the phone. Now listen, Asuka." Misato turned and faced her charge, who was still focused on the couple on the other side of the road. "You're under house arrest, and you're also grounded until you learn how to act like a lady. That means, no TV after 11, no computer use except for schoolwork and solitaire and that game I don't get how to play, and you have to do at least one of Shinji's workshifts every week. Now, give me the water balloons."

Asuka didn't budge.

"Asuka, give me the water balloons."

Grudgingly, as well as carefully, Asuka transferred her entire armful of balloons to Misato. "You are so unfair," the German girl mumbled as she went back inside. A few moments later Rei replaced her on the balcony.

"I could not reach him," she said. "I am uneasy. He is not usually absent from his telephone for so long a time."

"He's also a busy guy though, Rei. Why don't you give it a rest." Misato offered Rei a water balloon; she took it gingerly in both her hands. Misato pointed across the street. "Rei, do you think you could nail Shinji with that water balloon from here?"

Rei looked thoughtfully to where Shinji and his friend were still standing. "I very much doubt it, Major. It is a long distance, and the branches of that tree will interfere with the balloon's path."

"Go ahead and try, Rei."

Interpreting her superior's words to be an order, Rei tossed the balloon as best she could. Even as she let it go, Ayanami Rei's heart sank. Her throw was not at all sufficient. Although her aim was spot on, years of preparation to make an Evangelion perform the same maneuver were not the same thing as throwing with her own hands. The water balloon failed to clear even the road. It exploded in a wet gray all over the windshield of an ambulance that was careening along the road.

"Gomen," Rei said to her superior.

"Bad luck," said Misato, shaking her head. "Well, we've got plenty more, care to have another go?"

"One more," she replied, presuming two water balloons to be a polite amount. Her second attempt was no more rewarding than her first. The balloon quivered and quobbed as it spun through the air, and exploded in a gray shower as it smacked against the pavement.

"Oo! Oo!" squealed Skuld excitedly, "this reminds me of something!"

"What?" Shinji asked.

"It's a poem from the Manyoushuu. It goes like this:

'Asukagawa
	'Momiji ba nagaru
	'Katsuragi no
	'Yamano konoha wa
	'Imashi chiru ramu.'

"Whaddaya think?"

Shinji chuckled. "It's not really appropriate, Rei's throwing balloons at me, not Misato. Skuld, I really should go. I'm late for dinner. But I had so much fun today, I can't wait until tomorrow."

"Me neither."

They leaned forward and kissed each other very gently, very briefly, on the cheek. Skuld drew away before Shinji had recovered and wished him a farewell as she walked away. He watched her go until she was a half a block away before turning, crossing the street and entering his apartment building.

He felt happy. There was something about the state of his life that made it feel richer. Shinji had no illusions about the source. It wasn't just that there was someone new in his life, it was that the someone in question was Skuld. She was someone he could relate to: another underdog, another person with a trying but vital job, and another person who basically had no clues about how to have a normal relationship. It was so easy for him to be with her. They were both learning about their own problems through someone else's eyes. He didn't feel alone, either. He could still feel her spirit by his side even as she went away and he returned to his home.

"You witless, arrogant moron!" Asuka was shouting at him. "You lousy excuse for a man! You're blind, deaf and dumb because you have your head so far up your ass! This whole day you've been harassing that poor new girl in the class, everyone's been talking about how you won't leave her alone so she can see what normal life in a Japanese school is like. If she can't make friends with any normal, popular people, how's she going to fit in? I had to make it on my own in this class, Ikari Shinji, and I'm determined to make sure NOBODY has to go through what I went through. So from now on, I want you to keep your distance from her, and be polite and courteous to her when she approaches you, not the other way around, like a proper gentleman. Do you understand me?"

"Uh, no," Shinji answered, "isn't she supposed to be in the brig or something, Misato-san?"

"No, just house arrest." Misato took a sip of beer, then amended, "But you are still grounded, Asuka, so please don't talk to Shinji like that anymore."

Asuka snarled an incoherent sound, something in between a Japanese and a German curseword, and stomped off to her room. With her chief hindrance removed, Misato took advantage of the opening to pump the young man for information. "So, Shinji...who is this girl?"

"She's a new transfer student who showed up at school today," he replied casually.

Misato took out some Styrofoam containers and began warming water in a pot on the stove. "What's her name? Where's she from? She looks foreign."

"She is foreign, I guess, but she didn't say exactly where she was from." With Misato distracted, it was easy for Shinji to avoid her interrogatory gaze. "Her name's Skuld Tempis. And she's a lot of fun to be around."

"I would imagine," Misato said, "considering you two were together all day today. So! When are you two going to go out on a real date?"

Her directness caught him off of his guard, but Shinji had spent much of the day with that question on his mind. He had an answer prepared. "Well, it's the middle of the week, and I don't think we should do anything on a school night. So I'm going to wait for a day or two, to see what's going on, before I actually ask her."

Misato nodded. "That's fine, Shinji...but if you've found that special someone, make sure you don't keep anything from her. If you want to ask her out, then you do it."

He chuckled under his breath. "Misato-san...I don't think she's going to be going out with anyone between now and then."

His tone caught her by surprise. This wasn't the shy little boy she was used to having around, this was the voice of a young man with some self- confidence. Katsuragi Misato turned away from the stove to look at him. She was pleased by the sight of him, and she smiled. "Aren't you the confident one?" she said teasingly. "I guess," he stammered. Then, changing the subject, he asked "Misato-san, why do you have five instant ramens out? Rei left, she passed me on the stairs coming down..."

Misato's glance fell to the countertop where the five Styrofoam bowls sat. She glanced dully from them to the extra packets of curry sauce and on to the packet of blood sausage. "You got me," she admitted at last. "I just had this feeling that there were going to be extra people for dinner. You aren't especially hungry, are you?"

"No."

"We'll save these, then...eh?"

Someone was knocking at the front door. Misato glanced quizzically at Shinji, then went to answer. Standing at the entryway were Shinji's girl friend and another woman. The latter was much taller than her companion, with dark skin and platinum blonde hair. She wore bizarre, ostentatious robes, in stark contrast to Tempis-chan's ordinary school uniform.

The two started talking at the same time.

"Hi, ma'am, this is my big sister..."

"Howyadoin', I'm Urd..."

"...her name's Urd, and we were talking about you..."

"...Urd Tempis, and we're new in town, Skuld was telling me about the young fellow..."

"...and Urd wanted to stop in for a visit. I'm sorry if we're interrupting things..."

"...and I couldn't wait to meet him. Is that Yebisu I smell?"

"...but she twisted my arm--Onee-sama! Hang on!"

Urd brushed past Misato, tapping her nose. "Good sense of smell, do you mind if I do?"

"Um, go right ahead." Misato followed along in Urd's wake, glancing between her two guests with a vague sense of unease. "Check the fridge, you can't miss it."

Shinji and Skuld were left standing by themselves in the entry way. Skuld smiled bashfully. "Sorry. My big sister gets like this sometimes."

"It's no problem," Shinji replied. "Dinners get pretty dull here sometimes. Come on in."

"Thanks." Skuld slipped off her shoes as she went on, "She found the neatest car, though. It's got all kinds of stuff in it! Maybe she'll take us for a spin later on."

Shinji nodded agreeably. "The kitchen's this way. Do you mind helping me with dinner? I don't think Misato-san's going to finish cooking."

"I don't mind at all, Shinji," she said, "but I'm not much of a cook."

They entered to see that Misato and Urd were already under the influence of their beers.

"So, I been noticin'," Misato declared, "that you're not dressed normally. What are you, anyway? Some kind of priestess?"

Urd set down her empty can. "Well, as a matter of fact, I'm a goddess."

"A goddess? Really, that sounds like a lot of fun. What are you goddess of? Beer?"

"No such luck!" Urd said with a laugh, emptying half of a can straight down her throat. "Nope, I kind of get bounced around. A few millennia doing this, a few more doing that. My problem is, I just can't get along with my bosses. They're always hounding me, you know how it is, a person just needs some space..."

"Yeah, go on."

"...so I just get sick of a job and leave. Man! This stuff is good." Urd savored her first sip of her third can. "So right now, I'm kind of in between jobs. I was trying to get ahold of Skuld-chan here a few days ago, couldn't find her, so I bopped down to reality to find her. And look at her! Just look at her! Isn't she the sweetest little thing? You can't even tell she's a divine emememenensh...pfft!" Urd laughed. "Am I drunk already?"

"You watch this stuff," Misato said with a little difficulty. "You think it's doing just fine down there, then it kicks you at the last second. It's...it's like a six-legged horse."

"You don't know how right you are. Ah!" Urd, looking a little red, took a few deep breaths to steady to herself, then went on. "Anyway, I'm just so proud of my little sister for doing so well in just a day or two--"

"Hang on, hang on, I'm having a thought here." Misato set down her beer and pressed her fingertips to her temples. "Shinji-kun...your girlfriend...is a goddess."

From his position at the counter, putting the finishing touches on a bowl of ramen, Shinji nodded silently.

"That's what I thought," Misato said. Conspicuously turning her back to Shinji, she said loudly enough for the entire room to hear, "You know what they say about sex with gods, Urd."

Urd smirked. "Whazzat?"

"They say...that there's no point in using protection, 'cause the god--or in this case, goddess--decides if there's going to be a baby."

Urd cackled at the joke and Shinji turned crimson. Skuld shouted indignantly, "ONEEEEEE-SAN! Make her be quiet!"

"She's right, sis."

"But-but-but...I'm not that kind of girl, and Shinji is NOT that kind of boy!"

"Shinji's a sweetheart, you're right," Misato admitted at the same time that Urd retorted, "Ya can't expect a 15-year-old boy to NOT think about sex, can ya?" Caught by the contrast in their replies, the two looked at each other, then started laughing again.

Skuld started to say something more, but Shinji touched her shoulder, catching her attention. "Skuld-chan...they're just teasing us. Let's get dinner on the table so they can do something else with their mouths, OK?"

She heaved a sigh, but returned to helping Shinji with the curry sauce. "I know, you're right, Shinji...but she always does this to me. I don't know why I put up with it sometimes."

"I figured," he said. "It's the same thing as me and Misato-san."

The ramen was almost ready. Skuld nudged Shinji with her elbow as they carried the bowels to the table. "You know what, Shinji? You're an awful great guy to have around."

"Thanks, Skuld. You, too."

In the hallway, Asuka was on the point of going nuclear. NOT ONLY were Shinji and Tempis still within close proximity to each other, they were going to stay that way through ANOTHER blasted meal. Making the matter worse, Misato had somehow gotten reinforcements. From the kitchen, she could plainly hear the two women talking about men's butts in detail that would astound a proctologist. Sohryu Asuka Langley, at that instant, sincerely believed she was in hell, surrounded by the worst possible companions for all eternity and forced to eat the very spawn of Satan for dinner. Something was going to be very destroyed very, very, very soon.

It was the best time for an Angel, it was the worst time for an Angel.