Author's Notes: Hello everyone and welcome to another fic that has been brewing for a while now! This is a joint collaboration with Zaru and myself. Zaru was the one who came up with this idea and I'm merely running with it to produce a story.
This is a Neon Genesis Evangelion x To Aru Majutsu no Index crossover. It was a interesting concept that made me want to take up the idea. After all, what could mess up religion more than these 'Angels' of NGE? Of course, the very nature and origin of the Angels are different here but I've attempted to merge the two universes into a single, slightly (ok, not so slightly) AU universe of To Aru.
I'll set some groundwork here in advance: There will be no massive giant robots or massive Angels. The Angels are… well, you'll see soon enough.
Without further ado, let us delve into this new universe, where we enter the story through a different perspective: Shinji Ikari. Please be aware that he is different from his canon self.
Chapter 1: Moving Blues
16 years ago, a shower of meteors descended on the planet Earth. These meteors landed on Earth simultaneously, a strange cosmic phenomenon that attracted studies from many organizations in the world in an attempt to study their nature and compositions. But no one expected what they would find inside the tiny meteors. Decayed bodies of flesh and blood, eerily resembling the construct of a human being.
Several of these meteors landed in international territory, where they were quickly taken in and disassembled by the world's leading city in technology and advancements: Academy City. The others landed in the European and American nations. One landed near Tokyo. But no one would expect that the decayed corpses were merely a shell for the strange beings that lay within. And, at the moment of landing, the souls of these beings were released.
Even fewer realized that this was but the herald of an age where humanity would have to fight for its very place on the planet they called home. Another group called the showers a miracle, for certain events that took place seconds after their landing.
In a hospital, as two scientists grieved over their stillborn son, the mother made a wish. As she closed her eyes and prayed to the God above, a raucous cry split the silent night, drawing wide eyes and slacked jaws from the doctors as the baby began to cry as his heart began to beat again. It was impossible, the doctors clamoured, the baby had died in the womb. And yet, the fact remained: he was alive.
It was a miracle, an act of God.
This what Yui Ikari believed as she held her son close to her, weeping tears of joy as he cried loudly.
*** XXX ***
16 years later,
"Let me get this straight," Ikari Shinji began, his left eyebrow twitching as he eyed his guardian with a look of disgust, "you're telling me that you've decided to move to Academy City because you've been transferred there but it didn't occur to you that I might not want to move there?" he faceplamed. Standing at about 170 centimetres tall, the black haired boy known as Shinji towered above his drunk guardian, Ryoji Kaji darkly. "Ryoji Kaji!" he barked loudly, causing the drunk man to cover his ears as Shinji began his rant again, "God, why did I ever have the luck of getting you as my guardian?" he lamented as Kaji grinned back up at him goofily.
"Come on, kiddo," Kaji began, leaning back against the couch of their home lazily, "Academy City is the premier place for students! The education system there is first class and the culture is largely based off Japan thanks to the proximity! It doesn't get any better for a high school student like you!"
"That. Isn't. The point…" Shinji ground out, "You're asking to throw everything I have here away and shift to a place I don't even know! And it wouldn't be so bad if you had decided to discuss this with me?"
"There's nothing for you to throw down, Mister," Kaji said bluntly, "All you have is… your kendo, your cello, your music player and Rei. You don't mix around in school, your kendo is excellent but you don't even go out for drink with them. Tell me, what exactly are you throwing away? Your loneliness?"
"… Damn you."
"I know, kiddo," Kaji grinned, knowing that this argument was over, "Besides, I've already handled all the paperwork. Rei is coming along with us, by the way. Your father has gotten approval from old Ritsy. There you have it. That is the reason why you're so reluctant right? Leaving your girlfriend behind?"
"She's not my girlfriend!" Shinji denied hotly.
"Then find one when you get there," Kaji said, "Why, when I was your age, I had girls throwing themselves at me like bees to honey!"
"So then why are you still pining over Misato-san every night by staring at her photograph whenever you drink?" Shinji shot back.
Kaji flinched, "Ouch kid, you really know where to hit…"
"…" Shinji finally let out a sigh, "You're hopeless, you know that? Fine, when are we leaving?" he asked, resigned to his fate.
"Oh, in two days," Kaji said sheepishly.
"TWO DAYS! Don't you have any sense of urgency?" Shinji sputtered, "Our furniture and…"
Kaji sighed, "Look, Shinji. We won't be living together until I can find a good place to stay. You students get your own dorms. I've already found you two one. You and Rei will be staying in the same dorm. And while I was at it, I also signed you up for the Power Curriculum Program."
Shinji let out a long-suffering sigh. "I give up. Do what you want." He muttered as he went into his room and slammed his door. Hard.
Kaji grimaced at the show of temper. At least Shinji showed it pretty darn well, his father on the other hand… He picked up his phone as it vibrated in his pockets and scowled at the name displayed on the screen. "Yeah?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice level.
"Has the boy been informed?"
"What do you think? He's throwing a tantrum here," Kaji said bluntly.
"It matters not what he feels. They have already begun to move. You know what this means, don't you?"
"Fine, fine. I get the message," Kaji muttered as he hung up. He glanced at Shinji's door again. "Sorry kiddo, but it's for your own good."
*** XXX ***
Two days later, Shinji Ikari stood at the ground level of his apartment, his luggage settled neatly on the ground in front of him. He sighed. Truth be told, while Kaji and him got along fine, Kaji was hopelessly irresponsible when it came to certain matters. His guardian loved to drink and smoke, not to mention the number of time he came staggering home with the heavy smell of perfume hanging all over him. Well, next to that, Kaji was a good man. He had taken care of him well when his mother had died in a car accident and he often went out of his way to make him happy.
Still, the sudden talk about shifting to Academy City had come out of the blue. Shinji kept a tight control over the household expenses ever since he reached 14, since Kaji loved to spend, and he had not come across any letters or documents regarding a transfer to Academy City. However, it was probable that Kaji had been busy finding a job rather than goofing off and getting drunk. Which certainly didn't seem like him at all.
And speaking of Academy City… Shinji glanced down at the brochure with a frown. Accordingly, it was more of a self sufficient country than a city, if what the research he had conducted over the past two days was accurate. Situated in international territory, the city boasted of technology that was said to be at least 30 years ahead of the present world's technology. The city owned two satellites, the most controversial of which was called the Tree Diagram. The satellite was rumoured to b outfitted with an incredibly futuristic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that was controlled by the founder.
But the main purpose of Academy City and the reason why many countries could not do anything about such a small state, was its Power Curriculum Program, an education system to unlock the latent powers of humankind, giving birth to psychic powers. The term for these psychics were conceived as Espers. Originally, Shinji thought that that the Esper stood for 'Extrasensory Perception' Users. However, the unofficial name was given as 'Extraordinary Special Powers' Users. Either way, the bottom line was that the city trained these Espers to develop and nurture their powers. However, out of the 2.3 million population of Academy City, only 80% were students and only 60% were said to be able to display any form of power at all.
Accordingly, adults there could not develop powers on their own, for some odd reason.
And while he had wanted to enrol in Academy City when he was younger, his mother had died around the same time he was supposed to go in. The whole thing was called off, of course, because he simply refused to budge. And now… he was leaving the High School his mother had studied in for this high school in Academy City which had the stupidest name he had ever seen in his life.
"Are you troubled?" Ayanami Rei asked him curiously, her crimson eyes flickering to him in concern.
Shinji smiled sheepishly back at her. Ayanami Rei was a childhood friend of his, where his father had attempted to cheer him up by introducing a playmate. Unfortunately, Rei was as introverted as they come and the two of them had not hit it off at the start. Still, the albino girl, with her blue hair and quiet nature had intrigued him. They had become very good friends, though it was more of brother-sister relationship sort of thing than what Kaji liked to imply.
"Just thinking about some things," Shinji admitted as he yawned, "I can't believe Kaji did all of this and didn't even bother to inform me until we were at the deadline," he complained.
Rei smiled lightly at that, "Irresponsible as always. Perhaps you should beat him over the head with your bokken."
"… That was supposed to be a joke right?" Shinji asked as her face returned to its bland and blank expression.
"Perhaps."
"…" Shinji reached for a wooden case, plucked out a bokken and lightly rapped Rei on the head, "You're learning," he said with a grin as she tried to puff up angrily and do a cute expression, "but I've known you for too long to be taken in by moe, Rei."
"It seems I may have to sharpen my skills at the art of being 'moe'," Rei surmised, producing a notebook from thin air and scribbling something down.
"I think I'm about the only guy immune here," Shinji said as she scribbled furiously, a sweatdrop appearing on his head as he saw her begin to detail their conversation, "Um… overkill, much?"
"Detailed analysis must be done. I cannot have you immune to moe," Rei explained in a matter-of-fact tone.
"That somehow sounds very ominous," Shinji said as he took a step back nervously.
The sound of tires screeching loudly and loud honks made the two of them look up in horror. Shinji paled, his face losing all colour as he realized just exactly who was going to pick him up. Rei was already pale, so no one could really tell if she was frightened. As the speeding car came into view, Shinji started shaking his head in denial. "Nononono… not her! God! Anything but her driving for the next day!" he wailed as the car skidded stop in front of him and Rei.
The door of the car flew open and "Shhhiinji!" a buxom, purple haired woman called out happily as she clambered out of the and unceremoniously grabbed him by the head and hugged him, burying his face in her breasts.
"Mis-upmh!" Shinji gave a strangled cry as she hugged him and his face went red as he realized exactly what his face was pressed again. Once again, he made another strangled sound, trying to get Rei to help him. The albino completely ignored him as she stared at her notebook resolutely. Finally noticing that Shinji appeared to be suffocating, the woman let him go, a wide grin on her face as she spread her arms wide for Rei and glomped her next. Shinji gasped for breath, even as he noted Rei's apparent disregard for being crushed against the woman's breasts.
"Misato!" he began, attempting to maintain his composure at seeing Rei's impassive face, which looked positively comical pressed against Misato's chest, "Why are you the one bringing me to Academy City?"
"Mou, Shinji! You make it sound like a bad thing!" Misato pouted as she finally let Rei go, "Kaji asked me to do it so I could catch up! And I agreed because it's been far too long, ne?"
"I wouldn't mind catching up," Shinji said bluntly, "but I want to have opportunities to do it in the future. Your driving really puts a number on my lifespan."
"Now, young man!" Misato leaned forward, an eyebrow twitching at Shinji's jab at her driving skills, "I'll have you apologize for being rude to an elder!"
"… It's the truth." Rei said.
Misato's mouth dropped open. "Et tu, Rei?" she whispered, her eyes wide in sorrow.
"… You know it's bad if Rei comments on it," Shinji said with a shrug.
"You two… are you dating?" Misato said after a moment of staring at the two of them.
"Why do all adults assume that because we hang out a lot, we are automatically in an intimate relationship?" Shinji asked aggrievedly, before something sneaky occurred to him, "You've been with Kaji, haven't you?" he deadpanned.
"Wh-What? No way! As if I could ever hang out with that immature, womanizing, lazy and insufferable oaf!" Misato declared, her face going slightly red in the cheeks.
"Uh huh," Shinji nodded sagely, "so that explains why you mirror his words exactly, right?"
Misato scowled, before crossing her arms over her chest with a huff, "You're no fun," she grumbled.
"So, uh… do we really have to get on?" Shinji repeated, eyeing Misato's car with barely concealed fear.
Misato grinned, her eyes shining at the chance to take revenge. "Yes."
Shinji only had one word to say: "Fuck"
*** XXX ***
Shinji only had thing to say: "I feel sick."
As Misato's car sped through the highway, having broken almost every law in the safety book while on the busy streets of Tokyo, Shinji felt himself calm down slightly. The speed was bearable, at least. Thankfully, Misato had refrained from doing some tricks that Shinji was sure would have landed them in jail or worse: the Hospital. Rei, slipping back into her usual emotionless self when she was not around Shinji, had her face buried in a Playstation Portable, playing some game called Monster Hunter. Shinji was frankly amazed that she could even concentrate on playing a game while the car was speeding at over 100 kilometres per hour.
Academy City was connected to Japan via a highway bridge but only those with special permissions were allowed to cross. The city valued its technology greatly and there was a great deal of security measures in place to prevent espionage. Thankfully, he wouldn't have to put up with Misato's reckless driving anymore, she had mentioned that they were taking a bus once they reached the immigration checkpoint.
Misato was Kaji's former boyfriend and a close aunt that had taken of them while Kaji was absent doing his work overseas. She was a quirky woman who took great pride in her looks and womanly charms. But she was not as simple as that. Despite her reckless behaviour and ditzy behaviour around them, she was a well-trained former army officer that had once been enlisted in a special units team. A competent sharpshooter and close combat specialist, Misato was the one who had spurred him to take Kendo and Karate classes as a form of self-defence and self-discipline.
She was also, though Rei never admitted it, Rei's instructor when it came to self-defence. Shinji had lost count of the number of times when he had been flung across the room as a result of sneaking up on her without warning. Misato was a scary woman, yet, at the same time, she was completely harmless. In short, Misato was a strange contradiction. Of course, while she would never admit it, she still had the hots for Kaji. It was too painfully obvious. Even Rei, who generally observed the world from a detached point of view, had caught on.
And that spoke volumes.
At a long last, the car came to a halt as they reached the checkpoint.
"Now, Shinji, Rei" Misato said as they got out of the car, "They'll begin to thoroughly check everything and issue you an ID card for identification purposes in Academy City. I don't think I've ever told you two this, but I work in Academy City as well."
Shinji blinked. Now that was news, "Kaji never said anything."
"He never says anything," Misato scolded, "but there you have it. I work for your father in the Academy City branch of NERV Pharmaceuticals as a manager."
"… My father huh?" Shinji said as his expression changed slightly.
Ikari Gendo, his father. Shinji could barely remember anything about him now. The last time he had seen him was two months after his mother died to throw him into Kaji's care. He had never shown up since. He still sent presents during birthdays and Christmas and kept Shinji's bank account healthy but other than that, he had never shown any inclination to patch up their relationship in the slightest. The fact that his father owned a business in Academy City was something new to him as well.
"Well, he's done all preparations for your transfer on Kaji's behalf," Misato said carefully, knowing that Shinji's father was a sore topic to him, "And you can pay him a visit there as well, I hear he'll be at Academy City to oversee operations for the next three months or so."
"I don't that's necessary," Shinji said flatly as he retrieved his luggage, "the only thing he has ever done for me is to make sure I can buy things for myself, I don't see why I should go looking for him."
"Now, Shinji," Misato warned, "No matter what, he's still your father."
"He's no father of mine," Shinji muttered as he left with Rei. Misato stared after his retreating back sadly.
"If only you knew what he was so busy with," she whispered.
*** XXX ***
The 'thorough' check was remarkably fast. They took his fingerprint and saliva and cross referenced it with their databanks to confirm his DNA, while another machine was used to analyze his passport and the luggage he had on his person. All in all, the whole process had taken less than fifteen minutes before the two of them were ushered onto a bus. As Shinji and Rei entered the bus, he was surprised to see Misato already there, sitting beside a guide.
"Misato? What are you doing here?" Shinji asked curiously, "Don't you have a car?"
"Oh, only registered vehicles can enter Academy City," Misato explained, "The car I used just now was for travelling within Japan only. I have a company car waiting for me inside Academy City, so no worries about that."
"I see," Shinji said as he and Rei took a seat behind Misato.
"I'll be accompanying you for your first day in Academy City," Misato continued, "Academy City is pretty safe but you do have the occasional thug and power users picking for a fight. Whatever you do, just try not to get yourself involved."
Yeah, yeah…" Shinji said as he took out his music player, closed his eyes and waited.
At some point, he must have fallen asleep, for when he next opened his eyes, a breathtaking sight greeted him. Massive skyscrapers dotted the landscape, contrasting with the lush flora that was growing within the city, an impressive feat despite how futuristic the place looked. Academy City had melded nature into its artificial landscape beautifully, giving it a highly sophisticated look. Security robots were all over the place, taking the sidelines with the sheer volume of students in uniform on the streets while blimps with some sort of holographic display floated in the skies.
This then, was Academy City, the city of schools.
"Amazing…" he whispered at the wondrous sights, "So this is Academy City."
"That's right," Misato turned to face them with a wink, "And you are going to love it here!"
The bus finally came to a stop in an interchange, where Misato ushered for them to get off, "Come on," she said as she got off, "I'll go get my car so I can bring you two to your dorms. Don't move around by yourselves, understand?"
Rei and Shinji nodded their assent as Misato went off to get her car. As Misato left, Rei finally smiled as she turned to face Shinji, "It's seems to be quite a nice place, Academy City," she said.
"Hmm… I'll reserve judgment on that until we settle in," Shinji said as he turned to observe his surroundings, only to have the breath knocked out of him as someone ran into him without warning. "Ow!"
"Oh, man! Such Misfortune!" the stranger that had bumped into him lamented loudly as they collided. Shinji winced slightly at the pain, his eyes flickering to the black haired teen that had bumped into him carefully. He was dressed casually in a white uniform with an orange shirt beneath it and a pair of black pants, a seemingly ordinary high school student. "I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" the teen asked sheepishly as he held a hand out to Shinji to help him up.
"Yeah, no worries," Shinji said, relaxing at the student's friendly voice.
"Hey, you! Kamjiou Touma! Stop running away already!" a female voice suddenly demanded. The teen jumped, his face turning to a look of dismay as a brown haired girl came up to them, her face flushed with anger.
"Again?" the teen called Touma whined, "What's up with you today, Biri Biri? You get so angry when I was talking to Himegami, suddenly running up to me and challenging me to a fight and you don't even give me a chance to apologize to a stranger that I just knocked over?"
The girl called Biri Biri flushed even more brilliantly, "The name is… Misaka Mikoto, idiot!" she suddenly seemed to flare brightly and Shinji watched in amazement as she released a bolt of electricity from her body. So, was this what they called an Esper? This was seriously unreal! Touma's response was to shove his right hand in front of him and Shinji blinked as he saw the electric current fizzle on the arm harmlessly. Wait, what?
Electricity? An arm unaffected by an electric current? What the heck had he just gotten himself into? These were just some of Shinji's thoughts as he and Rei looked on at the two teens, amazed by the display of power they had just seen.
Their adventures were just beginning.
Ending Notes: This is a little short and probably a little too direct insertion into the To Aru universe, but it'll get better as we go along. I actually finished this a while back but recent events had me a little too busy to work out the errors in the document and even post it up. Of Science and Magics is currently… well, in the works but for the first time in many months… writer's block. ARGH!
This fic will be a mid-priority fic, meaning I will work on it and post once every two to three weeks. It most likely will not clash with 'Of Science and Magics' update speeds once I get my mojo running again.
Next chapter will be much better, promise. ^^