AN: First of all, I'm sorry if the formatting or anything is off, Fanfiction-dot-Net's text thing is really picky about separating sections of text. You try to break a story up with a line of dashes, it gets eaten up and you get a solid wall of text. I compromised with the horizontal lines, and I hope that's alright.
This is just some cute fluff I wrote about Shinji and Rei. It's set in an AU just so they can be happy - Rei's just a normal girl, Shinji's a more well-adjusted guy who's repairing his relationship with his dad, and they're both 21 and working. I hope you like it.
Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, nor the original medium. If I did, I'd have butchered everything with my slapshot writing.
Shinji woke up to the smell of roasted coffee beans, which was permeating every inch of the modest apartment he lived in. Slowly, with aching legs, he got out of bed and picked up a cleanish pair of pants off his bedroom floor. He smiled - his time living with Misato as an adolescent had influenced his habits more than he'd like to admit.
He checked the time – 7.50. Satisfied with his timing, he took a quick trip to the bathroom before shuffling out to the kitchen. The TV was on, playing one of the numerous morning news shows that aired in Tokyo-3. He glanced over at the kitchen, and saw a pot of coffee waiting for him.
After pouring himself a cup, Shinji began his day. He showered and picked out some appropriate, clean clothes to wear, and threw his dirty laundry in the hamper (along with some articles of clothing from his bedroom floor). He then shaved the wayward stubble from his face, and combed his short chestnut-brown hair.
Today was his day off, but that just meant that he could take care of things at home. His job at NERV, an official government office which dealt with taxes and finances, was unyielding and tiring, and the state of his apartment suffered due to this. He barely had time to breathe between his shifts.
The one thing that made his job worth doing was his co-worker, partner and soon-to-be wife - Rei Ayanami.
Shinji had moved to Tokyo-3 when he was 14, due to a sudden change of heart by his father. Having left him with his mother's family almost a decade earlier, his relocation to Tokyo-3 to manage NERV had prompted him to reconnect with his son. The move caused more harm than good, but it left Shinji in the company of people who cared for him in Gendo's absence.
One of those people was Rei Ayanami. She was in his class in school, and her ice-cool demeanor and voice caught Shinji's heart instantly. He talked to her between lunch breaks, and they had a great deal in common. Rei didn't like the contact initially, but her feelings for Shinji grew, and they became good friends.
7 years later, full of their own ups and downs, and they were living together under the same roof, sharing their existence with each other. From a rough childhood to this - Shinji thanked his lucky stars every day for allowing him such happiness.
He took the last sip of his coffee. Sighing with disappointment, he stood up from his seat in front of the TV and went to put his cup in the sink.
"Oh, you're out here, Rei."
Rei looked up from the small paperback novel she was reading, to see Shinji coming out onto the balcony with her. The morning sun was climbing ever higher, and the warmth felt nice on her pale skin.
"Good morning, Shinji. Is your morning going pleasantly?"
"It is, but it's been missing something important." He strolled over and placed a kiss on her cheek, to which Rei playfully swatted at him.
"You spend too much time speaking with Mr. Kaji."
He laughed and sat in a chair next to her. The table between them held a mug decorated with a floral pattern, blue flowers on a peach background.
He looked over towards Rei. She was wearing a long, deep blue sundress and a wide-brimmed hat. Her light blue hair danced along the side of her face with the breeze, and the sunlight twinkled off her blood-red eyes as she scanned each line of her book.
"I love seeing you in the morning sun."
She looked up from her novel, confused but pleasantly surprised with Shinji's sudden statement.
"Where did that come from?"
"I don't know." Shinji looked into her eyes. "I just think that you look so peaceful like this, and I love seeing you at peace."
Rei hid her face behind her novel. "I wasn't joking about Mr. Kaji, you know."
Shinji blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "I know it's cheesy, but that's how I feel."
Rei took a sip of her coffee, and then resumed reading her novel.
"Sweet-talker."
Shinji sighed and settled into his chair, taking the view in. The apartment complex they lived in was on the outer skirts of Tokyo-3, so the air was fresh and clean. The city loomed in the distance, made up of monoliths of steel and glass, providing a breathtaking view from their balcony.
"Oh, I just remembered something." Shinji interrupted the silence again, and Rei put her novel down. Nodding to show that she was paying attention, Shinji spoke.
"I was talking to Misato the other day, and she and Kaji want to go out to dinner some time."
Rei took her coffee and sat back. "That would be nice."
The pair relaxed for a few moments, caught up in a comfortable silence. Taking a small sip of her coffee, Rei spoke up.
"I never thought Ms. Katsuragi would settle down, let alone with Mr. Kaji. They make a lovely pair."
"Yeah, I get what you mean." Shinji smiled – Misato had never been much of a relationship person when he was growing up.
For a moment, both Shinji and Rei sat back and basked in the warm morning sunlight. Finding himself getting drowsy, Shinji sat up for a moment and collected his thoughts.
"...Y'know, you can call her Misato if you like."
Sitting up as well, Rei drained the last of her coffee.
"You've told me before. I just don't feel comfortable saying her first name."
Shinji frowned. "I know, sorry. It's just that she's family to me, and soon she will be to you too – it wouldn't be a problem if you did."
"…Maybe in time." Stretching out, Rei got up to put her mug in the sink. Shinji followed her inside.
The morning news had ended, and a lifestyle show had come on in its place. Shinji sat down on the sofa to watch, and Rei sat in a chair besides him to continue reading.
After around half an hour and a piece of fruit for breakfast, Shinji yawned and stretched out onto the sofa. The coffee was beginning to wear off, and he was getting drowsy. He's just put his feet up and rested his head on the armrest, when he felt something soft but firm bop him on the side of the head.
"Don't go back to sleep, we're meant to be cleaning today." Rei held her novel in her hand, having just used it to hit Shinji. Her voice was gentle but firm.
"It's charging my batteries for later, that's not a waste!" Shinji groaned as he rolled over. Rei tapped him with the book again, to which he just stretched out more. She sighed.
"We should start as soon as possible. We're not used to the apartment being this bad – who knows how long it could take to clean it all?"
With a great degree of hesitation, Shinji moved back into a sitting position. As inviting as a nap was at that moment, she was right. They were busy all the time, and used clothing and garbage had accumulated into piles all over their living space – it had built up to a level that neither of them had intended to reach.
"...Alright, give me a second."
Rei smiled. "You picked up some laziness from Ms. Katsuragi, it would seem."
Shinji sat up and arched his back.
"I can't argue with that – I was thinking the same thing this morning, to be honest."
Rei stepped towards him and kissed him.
"At least you're courteous about it."
As Shinji blushed, Rei went to get the garbage bags. Resuming his stretch, he felt something give way in his shoulder, and the resulting pop send a wave of relief down his body. Even though he was only 21, his joints were already beginning to pop when he stretched - he figured that it was due to the stressful nature of his job, or maybe from hunching over his desk all the time.
Shaking the oncoming flood of ideas out of his head, Shinji walked over to where Rei was rifling through drawers. Accordingly, he began looking in cupboards and such for things they'd need for their day's job. By the time they'd finished searching, they'd found gloves and an unopened pack of sponges as well as the garbage bags.
"I'll take the bedroom and the bathroom, if you like," Shinji offered. Rei agreed, and began picking up trash in the kitchen.
Shinji walked into the bedroom and looked around. There were clothes on the floor from both of them, cans of instant coffee, bottles, various wrappers and labels - the room was a mess. It was a comfortable mess, but it was a mess regardless.
He began with the clothes. Though they'd been spending the last 3 years together, Shinji still felt a flush of embarrassment whenever he handled his better half's clothes, dirty or clean. He gathered her clothes into a small pile, then went to work piling up his own share.
Once he'd done that, he began on the trash. It was all just filth, but looking at all the empty coffee cans took Shinji back to the warm nights he'd spent with Rei, lying in bed and listening to the radio. It was often too hot to sleep, especially when they began sharing a bed, so they'd stay up for as long as possible lying in each other's arms, trailing kisses down each other's faces and arms.
He picked up the trash while reminiscing on those simple nights, and before he realized it, he'd cleaned the majority of the waste.
He tied a pair of garbage bags up and sat them in the corner, and carried the clothes piles into the bathroom to put them in the hamper. After that, he picked up the bags of trash and brought them out with him to the living room.
Rei was out on the balcony, shaking dust and debris off of the small rug under their coffee table. The table itself was moved off to the side, leaving a wide empty space in front of the TV. The kitchen was a bit better than before, with most of the clutter gone, but the hotplates on the stove still needed cleaning.
I'll do that when I get the chance, Shinji thought.
He left the bags of trash near the kitchen bench, and went out to see Rei. She'd been working hard, and was covered in dust and sweat. She'd hung the rug over the railing and was hitting it with a broom. Shinji walked up next to her.
"Hey, do you want anything to drink or something?"
"I've only been out here for a few minutes, I'm fine." Rei continued hitting the rug, not looking away.
"You just look tired, that's all."
"Thank you, but I might wait until after this is done. You can rest for a while if you like."
Shinji stood there for a moment, looking out as the midday sun beat down on them. Rei spoke up suddenly;
"Actually, shouldn't you be cleaning the bathroom?"
"Yeah, I probably should." Shinji straightened his back as he stretched. "I wanted to see if there was any garbage to take down to the curb."
"There are some bags behind the counter," Rei stopped hitting the rug as she spoke, "but one of them is only half-full. If you could fill it some more, that would be nice."
Shinji nodded and went back inside, as Rei took the rug and turned it around, hitting the other side. He spotted the bag she was talking about, and looked through their fridge for anything that needed to be thrown away. The bag was soon much fuller than before, and Shinji tied it up for transportation, taking it downstairs with the other bags.
When he got back, Rei was behind the kitchen counter. She'd poured 2 tall glasses of juice.
"Here, let's have a break."
Shinji nodded, picking up one of the glasses. Rei picked hers up and went over to the sofa, putting her drink on the coffee table - still displaced from earlier, but within arm's length.
"Hold on a second, Rei," Shinji said as he walked over, "I'll get that."
After Rei took both glasses, Shinji lifted the table up and put it back into place. Rei sat their drinks down in front of them.
"My hero."
Though she was joking around, her voice carried a pleasant warmness as she said it. Tired and glad for the break, Shinji sat down next to Rei and took a generous sip of his juice.
They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the refreshment of their drinks, before Shinji gently laid his head on Rei's shoulder. She shifted slightly to make them both more comfortable, and rested her head against Shinji's.
"I still can't believe you agreed to marry me," Shinji whispered out of the blue.
She looked down at him. "You've been making me happy since the first day I met you. Why wouldn't I agree to marry you?"
"Well, I'm getting lazy now, and I can be indecisive, and I'm kind of a wimp... Really, I'm a flake."
"You are not a flake." Rei interrupted him with a small, sharp poke to his side, making him twitch. "You have negative things about yourself, but you're reliable and pleasant to be with. There's no reason why I wouldn't marry you."
Direct and honest as always - another reason Shinji loved her. He wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Thank you, Rei - for agreeing to marry me and for loving me."
"You don't have to thank me for loving you, you goof – I enjoy it. And you love me back, which is all that matters."
Shinji's heart swelled with affection at Rei's words. He gently nuzzled the side of her neck, and whispered into her shoulder.
"I do love you, forever and always."
Rei lent down and placed a gentle peck on Shinji's forehead, and relaxed even more in his embrace. In less than half an hour, they were both asleep.
Rei woke up 3 hours later, the afternoon sun projecting a lazy, humid heat into their apartment. They'd cleaned about half of the apartment up, and though she felt that it would have been better to clean the rest that day, she was content with the work they had done.
She looked down at Shinji. His face was peaceful, like he was dreaming of everything he'd ever wanted. Being careful not to shift so much, she kissed him on the cheek.
"Goodnight Shinji. I hope you're having pleasant dreams."
She laid her head back down, and went back to sleep. Shinji's grip tightened slightly around her.
Behind his eyelids, in his unconscious mind, he was floating through an empty void. Rei's gentle voice danced through his head, echoing off the walls and enveloping Shinji's self in a warm glow.
His consciousness traveled through the void, following the quiet whispers of her voice, until he found a small, glowing, snow-white nucleus. He held it in his hands, and the light from it grew out and swirled around his body. It began to take on substance, and before he had realized it, Rei had appeared out of the light and embraced him from behind.
"Thank goodness you're here, Rei." he whispered, his heart growing warm with his love for her. "I would have been lost without you."
And they floated in the void, together.
Last Edited 23/01/2015