"Sometimes I think you know me better than I know myself."

"Don't be silly. You're a woman, and women as a whole are impossible to figure out."

"You're just saying that and I know it. Your eyes are too honest; they'd never lie to me."

"Sometimes... you think too highly of me. You should be less trusting, less open."

"I'll leave that all up to you. I like things... the way... they are."

Gendo noted her odd hesitancy. "Something wrong? What about things?"

"It's nothing," Yui answered, shaking her head. "I'm happy right here, right now. That won't ever change."

Staring up at the ceiling, listening to the rain fall, Gendo thought. He thought about Yui and their future together. Pleasant, but only... a distraction from what was really consuming him.

"You're keeping secrets from me, Yui. I'd have to be blind not to know," he whispered.

As if she were trying to apologize for it in her sleep, she rolled over and put her arm across his chest.

"We can't have that now. We can't keep secrets from each other." He would find out no matter what it took because there were those moments when Yui would just... blank out. There was something that was bothering her quite severely.

Not only could he find out what was bothering her, but he'd also be able to keep that professor in line. There was no specific interest in the older man, but a man in his position could probably prove useful at some point in the future.

"I don't know if I'll regret this later or not, but..."

The money. That would help too, and was a better incentive really than the mystery of the work itself. Gendo almost laughed out loud. Knowing Yui, it was probably something silly and insignificant, steroid-laced pet food or something. Somehow, that would have made it all perfect considering how much he was obsessing over it.

But the darker side of him, the part that had no problem manipulating a university professor, smashing a kid over the head with a beer bottle, even ruining his own life, needed to know everything, wanted to keep track of everything Yui did. It didn't want her to get away.

That part of him would stop at nothing to get what he wanted, and in the dark, alone with his thoughts, that scared him a little. The things it meant he was capable of in regards to Yui were more threatening than he wanted to think about.

It could very easily mean the end of them if he got too... aggressive, and that would be the worst thing to ever happen to him.

"Yui, I've come to a decision."

"About?" She was hurriedly getting dressed, annoyed that she had let herself oversleep.

"About... you know."

She froze. There were lots of things she had been thinking about, but had been so busy she couldn't quite remember what she had discussed with Gendo. If it was _that_... But no, she was fairly sure she hadn't spoken with him about that. "I'm not sure..."

"The project. Your project, Yui." He had expected a slightly better reaction from her the way she had been pushing.

"You'll..." A part of her was elated, but another didn't want to bring him in, make him deal with the things she had to. She wasn't even sure he'd be able to handle it since he avoided work like the plague.

"I will." Gendo lowered his head slightly, still meeting her somewhat surprised gaze.

Instantly, Yui felt like she was under the close watch of a large predator. "Don't look at me like that," she said, her brow furrowing.

And like that, he was back to his normal self, that menacing look gone. "I suppose we should go in then," she continued, though for some reason, it didn't seem like a very good idea any longer.