Internally, the beleaguered 3rd Child sighed heavily; in retrospect, he should have realized that they would find out

Sister, Sister...

A NightRanger/Gainax Fanworks Production

Ch.2

Disclaimer: Yes, yes, I get it, Kosmos! I don't own you or EVA. Happy? Now can you please put that scythe down!?

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Internally, the beleaguered 3rd Child sighed heavily; in retrospect, he should have realized that they would have found out.

"YOU NEVER TOLD US AYANAMI HAD A SISTER!!"

Yep, you guessed it: Touji and Kensuke had finally cornered him about the older bluehead that had come in with Rei; it had been fated from the start. Obviously, they wanted to know everything about the new addition to the graduating class. Shinji could almost see the images of lingerie-clad Kosmos dancing around in his friends' heads.

"She'd had to move here when her place was wiped out in the Hiroshima-2 Terminal bombing." Shinji didn't know whether to groan or laugh hysterically, as Misato had spent five minutes over a bottle of Black Sea vodka to think up a cover story. "Her relationship to Ayanami-san had been mostly kept secret." "Bet the Red-headed Demon loved that," said Touji, a knowing look on his face. "Touji, you don't want to know what Asuka said about it."

Nervously glancing towards the redhead, both Touji and Kensuke noticed Asuka grumbling darkly to herself as she traded messages with someone.

"Dude, she looks pissed." Shinji gave Touji a look with a raised brow. "Any more than she is normally?" Touji thought about this for a second. "Good point, Shin-man."

"So, what's up with the Red Devil's funk anyways?" Kensuke gestured over towards a still fuming Asuka. Shinji cringed. "She just found out that Kosmos-san beat her out as the hottest girl in the school."

"Ouch."

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"So you're the new girl." Kosmos looked up from her notebook computer at the freckled brunette. "Yes, I am. Do you require anything Horaki-san?"

"No, just wanted to say 'welcome to Tokyo-3!'. Oh, and call me Kodama. When I hear 'Horaki-san' I think my younger sister Hikari." Kodama could barely tell, but she was able to recognize a spark of interest in her eye. "The student representative of 2-A?" "That's my Hikari-chan!"

"The same Hikari-san that accompanies Asuka-san?"

Kodama gave her a proud smile. "Yup!"

Kosmos appeared to think for a moment. "Is there a reason why Hikari-san enjoys the company of canines?"

This brought Kodama up short. Dogs? What did dogs have to do with her sister? Then again, Hikari did always want to get a puppy eventually...

"I'm sorry, Kosmos-san, but what did you mean by dogs?" "I am referring to Suzuhara-kun and Aida-kun calling Asuka-san a 'demon bitch'."

"Kodama-san?"

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"C'mon, Shin-man! Details! Give us details!"

"Or at least her sizes!"

Shinji sighed for fifty-eighth time that day as he ventured up to the roof for lunch. Like his friends, the boys of 2-A were chatting eagerly about Rei's 'older sister' in the senior's wing. Only Touji and Kensuke wouldn't stop asking about it.

"You live with four hot chicks, Shinji! You've got to know something!"

"Don't cop out on us, Shin-man! Give."

Oh how he regretted telling them that he was the designated clothes launderer...

"Shinji-kun?"

Surprised, Shinji turned around to the sight of Ayanami Rei. "What it is, Rei-san?"

Rei handed over a small notepad. "Misato-san told me to remind you that we need to go clothes shopping."

Looking through the notepad, Shinji's face suddenly turned a deep crimson.

Nonplussed, Rei continued. "She has said that onee-san is too big for-"

Shinji slapped a hand over her mouth before she could say anything else. "T-t-thanks, Rei-san, I think I'll r-remember."

A pair of jaws dropped.

Now he knew that telling them had been a bad idea.

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Her locker was full.

It wasn't supposed to be full.

Perplexed, Kosmos examined the personal storage unit (locker) designated to be hers; the students' notebook computers were certainly an investment, but she didn't think that hers required such extensive packaging.

With purpose in mind, she sought out the most informative companion.

"Ikari-kun?" "GAH!"

Apparently, Ikari-kun had been occupied.

"Oh, h-hi, Kosmos-san," he said, rubbing his neck.

"Your vitals are elevated, Ikari-kun. Do you require medical attention?" "N-no, Kosmos-san. I was just startled, that's all," he said. "Did you need something?" Kosmos pointed to her overflowing locker. "It appears I require increased storage volume."

Groaning, Shinji buried his face in his hands. "Ikari-kun? Is there something wrong?"

"Not, Kosmos-san," he said with a sigh. "There's nothing wrong. I'm just kicking myself for not warning you about this."

Kosmos looked puzzled. "The human anatomy is not flexible enough to kick oneself, Ikari-kun." "Its a figure of speech, Kosmos-san." Shinji gestured at the locker. "Anyway, when a guy l-likes you, he'll usually send you a note of some sort."

Kosmos looked at her locker, then at Shinji again. "I am an android, Ikari-kun."

Shinji pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kosmos-san, guys will look at you and see...well...you," he said, a deep blush on his face.

"Then they consider me physically attractive?" She posed like she had observed Misato-san had when she'd gotten herself a new tank top.

Bright red, Shinji 'eeped' out a "Yes."

"Your temperature has risen by .451 degrees, Ikari-kun. I suggest you seek medical care."

Gripping his arm with surprising strength, Kosmos unceremoniously frog-marched him off to the school nurse.

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"A fever, Ayanami-kun?" "Yes, ma'am."

Sitting in one of the office's chairs, Shinji watched as the nurse and Kosmos discussed his condition. 'Since when could she pull Misato's glares?'

"I checked him and Ikari-kun seems to be in perfect health."

"I had noticed that Ikari-kun seemed warmer than usual. Does that not indicate a fever?"

'I am right here, you know.'

"He may have simply have been embarrassed, Ayanami-kun." The nurse giggled. "Ikari-kun has always been the shy one."

'Oh, thanks a lot...'

"Anyway, I think you two are free to go," said the nurse

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"You know, I didn't think you were the type, Shin-chan. Rendezvous in the nurse's office?"

"MISATO!!"

Snickering into her beer, Katsuragi Misato, NERV's Director of Strategic Operations and erstwhile guardian to the Pilots mentally chalked up another tally on her Shin-chan. 'Yep, still got it!'

Life had certainly been...interesting with the newest addition to their little home. True, Kosmos was very much like Rei. Whether that was a good thing or not she was still trying to figure out.

"I would appreciate your assistance, Shinji-kun."

'Of course, Ko-chan has made life all the more interesting in this little place.'

In came both Rei and Kosmos. Apparently, someone had taken the two out shopping for swimsuits. Probably Rei, given how much effort Shinji had put into teaching the albino girl how to live life. 'And oh the fruit that effort bore...' thought Misato as she watched the show.

Pen2 slapped his face with a flipper in exasperation as he watched his Food Provider pass out.

"Wark wark! Wark wark wark wark!" (Get the kid some pints over here dammit! I'm hungry!)

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Authors Notes:

The second chapter is finally done. Hopefully, I've been able to introduce Kosmos into the EVA-verse gradually enough. For those who wanted more background info in the 1st chapter, don't worry. I going to add flashbacks later on.

Admittedly, I don't know a great deal about Xenosaga beyond the basic plot; I'll have to do some research before I think about trying to mix things up too much.

To Xed Alpha, that's kinda what I thought when I first saw Kosmos (I'd heard of Rei long before I'd heard of Xenosaga).

To 141fanficfan, you'll have to forgive me, what little about the Japanese language I know I picked up from other fanfiction.

To gunman, that's the reason I wanted to put Kosmos in with the EVA pilots in the first place. Her and Rei are so similar, I liked the idea of her and Rei inadvertently 'teaming up' to turn Tokyo-3 on its ear.

Speaking o' which, I was (and still am) considering if I should stick with Rei/Shinji or add Kosmos to make it a triangle. Pairing headaches aside, I am still new to this.

JA MATTA!

-NightRanger