Story Name: Absolute Stratos
Primary: Infinite Stratos (Anime)
Cross-Over: Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime)
Summary: AU of IS, Shinji Ikari is the only male IS pilot in the world, and a natural talent.
Tags: School Life, Humor, Action, Romance. Capable!Shinji
==== OOOO ==== OOOO ====
Walking down the empty hallway with a note in his hand Shinji Ikari felt a shiver run along his back once more. Every instinct he had kept telling him to turn around and run away as fast as he could. He knew it was already too late but the fear still kept rising up in his throat. There was very little the young man could do anymore though, and he knew it.
Sighing briefly as he stood before the classroom door, Shinji reached ahead to open the door before walking in. The room went dead silent the moment he stepped in and he could feel every pair of eyes on him. Walking in a steady step towards his seat the nervous 15-year old boy was keenly aware of the fact that besides him there was no other men on the school grounds.
The reason was simple. IS-Academy only admitted students that could pilot an IS, and until a week ago there had never been a single male capable of activating one. That made him an anomaly, and a topic of a lot of speculation. It had been quickly decided that he had to attend the IS-Academy if he wanted to avoid a whole range of tests, and back then it had felt such a good idea.
Sitting down in front of the class as he had been instructed the young man quietly opened his schoolbag to pull out a thick instruction manual and a notebook onto the table. Opening the book and finding where he had been left earlier, Shinji pulled out a small pencilcase from the schoolbag to start taking small notes while reading the book.
He had only had a week to read the book so far and he knew he would have to work hard to try and catch up with the others that had trained for this for a while already. His left hand kept scribbling down notes while he read the book at a steady pace. The room was silent other than his fingers turning the pages and the pencil tracing along his notebook. Nobody said a word, watching the newcomer quietly.
The door opened as a smiling green-haired woman walked in. "Good morning class!" She walked up to her desk in the front of the class, looking a bit nervous as well, looking over the crowd. "My name is Yamada Maya, and I am your assistant homeroom teacher." She looked like she waited for something, noticing the silence and leaning a bit back as if she was suddenly shocked.
"Ehh? Did I get that wrong?" She asked a bit nervously, earning a few confused looks by a few students, before trying to calm herself. "Uh, well lets do the morning namecall." She smiled a little nervously, starting to call out different names. None of them were familiar to Shinji, and he sought to be quiet at the time, until she reached his name. "Ikari Shinji?"
He was the only guy in the room but she still looked around the room. Shinji felt a little sympathy towards her. He wasn't the only one being overly nervous, but his upbringing had forced him to learn to at least look calm, and quiet his nerves. "Yes." He raised his right hand from the IS instruction manual briefly, his left hand lifting the pencil off the notebook's surface briefly.
"Well, we have been calling out names and asking people to introduce themselves, and we've reached Ikari, so can you tell us a little about yourself?" Her question was sincere but he could see her nervousness. He didn't feel much calmer despite looking serious, but he knew there was little he could do so he nod and stood up. The feeling of being watched intensified enough to send a shiver along his spine.
He had seen a few students step up in front of the class to face the students, but many of them had spoken from their seats. He'd rather face those he was speaking to though, and he was in the front and center of the room anyhow. Getting up from his seat, he turned to face his classmates, seeing the rows of female classmates watching him intently.
"I am Ikari Shinji, and I learned a week ago that I am able to pilot an IS. I do not know why the IS reacts to me when other men cannot activate the system, but I am here to learn more about the IS. I have not had the time to study the materials as much as many of you, so I will be in your care during my stay." Bowing to the gathering of women he was not prepared for the squeals rising into the air after he had finished, even as the teacher's assistant tried to calm everyone down. The different questions shouted at him ranged from mundane little things like his favorite color to embarrassing things like whether he was single. Just then the classroom door opened and someone stepped in.
"Silence!" The angry expression on Orimura Chifuyu's face and her firm voice forced an immediate silence in the room as people that had stood up to shout quickly returned to their seats, looking a bit intimidated at the famous, black-haired devil, the woman that was a legendary pilot by her own merits. More than a few of them were looking star-struck by her presence.
"T-thank you, ma'am!" Shinji began before feeling Chifuyu hit him on the head with her notebook. "Get back to your seat, class is about to start!" Her tone brooked no arguments, and Shinji quickly moved to take his seat as he watched his caretaker's friend step up in the front of the class. At least she looked angry at the class rather than at him.
"Starting today you will be under my watchful eye. I am Orimura Chifuyu and I intend to train you hard to make you able to pilot an IS in your sleep if necessary! Study hard and ask if you have any questions, I don't want any of you getting left behind but I will not accept poor effort." The reputation she had as a devil of the IS Academy did not seem misplaced, but Shinji could see more than a few of his classmates were eyeing her with the eyes of a fangirl.
"Yamada-san, finish the namecall!" The order had the assistant teacher nervously nod and continue calling each person in turn, and then the lesson itself began. While it was tough trying to keep up without having finished reading the instructions in the book as thoroughly as some, Shinji was doing a fair job at it at least. Watching intently and making notes on a new page, marking the date clearly in the corner while quickly marking down the key concepts at each discussion.
==== OOOO ====
"May I have a moment?" The gentle voice besides him got Shinji's attention. He had returned his attention to the book during their break, trying to commit as much of it to memory or at least catch the main points when he could, and so was caught off-guard by the young woman now standing there besides his seat. Closing his notebook Shinji turned to look at her.
"Of course miss, what can I do for you?" Taking a look at her Shinji saw a beautiful young woman with long, blond hair and blue sapphire eyes gazing at him. Most of his classmates had moved a bit further away whispering together, and he noticed a bit awkward that there were students from other classrooms standing in the hallway looking into the classroom through the open doorway, whispering as well. He felt a little like he was put on display but he felt grateful this young woman had chosen to approach him and break the ice.
"You mentioned in your introduction earlier that you have only had a week to learn the basics, so I, Cecilia Alcott felt it was my duty to offer my help in teaching you. As a national representative candidate I am the most qualified individual here." She spoke with a proud expression rising her left hand to touch the fingertips on her outfit's collar, her hand resting above her bosom. Unfortunately it had brought his eyes to notice her chest and he fought himself quietly to avoid blushing at the thoughts occuring to his mind then.
"Really, I am grateful for the help then, Alcott-san." Shinji bowed his head a little. She might be proud but he was aware of the fact that the national representatives had to undergo a lot of training and being even a candidate meant she had a lot of talent. Though he wasn't entirely certain how good she would be at teaching. Doing and teaching were two separate matters after all. Still, he figured it would not hurt to try.
"Tseh, I missed my chance." Someone said further off. "Cecilia-san is too bold." Another classmate muttered barely loud enough for Shinji to catch it. He wasn't quite sure how to take it, but before he could really say anything he heard footsteps coming close, and the room got quiet for a moment. Cecilia was looking at the doorway and so did Shinji, only to see a young woman with light blue hair and crimson eyes watching him.
"Ayanami?" He blinked in surprise, seeing the pale girl nod her head just slightly. "Its been a long time, Ikari-kun." Her face was an expressionless mask, her voice level and calm. There was a few people whispering at one another quietly as Ayanami Rei made her way towards him and Cecilia.
"Captain Katsuragi instructed me to show you your room once the classes are over. I will return then, so please don't leave the classroom after your afternoon lessons end." After he had nod his head she turned around to leave, just as Cecilia spoke up raising her voice slightly. "Excuse me, how do you two know one another?" She sounded a little less refined and tensed up all of a sudden.
Ayanami looked back at Cecilia quietly over her shoulder, her expression the same emotionless mask as before. "That is classified." As she walked out then there was a whole lot of whispering going on as Shinji smiled awkwardly, looking up at Cecilia. She looked like she had something more to say but the bell rang just then, alerting everyone that the break was ending, sending everyone back to their seats.
==== OOOO ====
If Shinji had felt awkward in the classroom then leaving it with Ayanami showing him the way was at least twice as embarrassing. Lots of other students had gathered in the hallway to get a look of the two of them passing, and more than a few began to whisper excitedly seeing as she wasn't taking him towards the Academy's gates but towards the dorms. Dorms that had, until now, been only used by girls. They were dual rooms too, provoking even more whispering and curiosity.
Shinji felt his cheeks redden slightly as he tried to just walk ahead and ignore the whispering, following after Rei. It wasn't that easy though, more than a few of the partial conversations he overheard sounded far too curious for him, leaving the young pilot blushing even more, which seemed to encourage the rumor mill even further.
Further off in the hallway, Cecilia had a cellphone in her hand as she spoke in a lowered voice in English. "Yes, I offered to tutor him during his time here, but it seems the Japanese representative candidate already knows him. Yes, I am aware that could be a problem. No sir, I am ready for the challenge. I just wanted to inform you of the situation. Yes, understood."
Silently closing her cellphone and slipping it to her pocket Cecilia Alcott let out a long sigh. She had been curious what the new pilot would be like, but the old men back in London wanted her to try and find out even more about the young man. The fact that IS-Academy was neutral ground that did not belong to any nation as degreed in the Alaskan Treaty meant that none of them could approach Ikari Shinji directly, but that didn't mean they couldn't try other means. Cecilia felt dirty being asked to befriend the boy for such reasons.
Thankfully he did seem like he could be polite and friendly, so she wasn't against the idea of getting to know him. She actually felt a bit annoyed at Ayanami's interfering not because she wanted to observe him but because she wanted to learn a little more about him. Hopefully she would get her chance later, when the IS-practice began. After all, the Japanese Representative Candidate's personal IS was still being repaired, and she was from another class too.
==== OOOO ====
"Please take a seat, Ikari-kun." Ayanami gestured towards a chair before one of the two desks in the room. Shinji saw his bags had already been brought in and rested on the bed, but what worried him more was the fact that the other bed closer to the window had another set of bags on it. More specifically, her bags.
Walking over to the desk, Shinji took a seat as she told him to and looked at her a little embarrassed. "I thought I would be living on my own." There was a short pause as he felt his cheeks were hot, his blush showing. The thought of sharing a room with Ayanami had him more than a little embarrassed. "Captain Katsuragi felt that would be too dangerous for you, Ikari-kun. We have shared a room before, so I volunteered." Her tone was perfectly calm and even, as always.
"That was when we were kids! A-and you used to go around naked-" He paused in embarrassment, looking away. He could very well imagine what that would be like if she did that now that they were both older. It felt embarrassing enough to remember that happening when neither of them was even ten, but now that she looked like a young woman it felt even more embarrassing.
"Ikari-kun." Her voice was still as calm, but she looked at him intensely. Turning his gaze towards her he saw those crimson eyes watching him as she stood there quietly for a moment, her arms behind her back and the look on her face the same mask-like pokerface she always seemed to have. "Katsuragi-san believes the other nations have taken an interest in you. For your safety I am assigned as both your roommate and, if necessary, your bodyguard."
The expression on her face was so calm even as her words carried a small bit of weight on them that he only noticed from having known her for a fair while, he knew that arguing would not help. She had made up his mind and he would have to deal with it. "Alright, but please no nudism while I am in the room." There was a bit of blush on his face as Ayanami nod her head.
"If those are your terms Ikari-kun, then I accept." She spoke seriously and he smiled a little to her finally. Ever since his parents died long ago Katsuragi had been his legal guardian. Ayanami Rei was another she had taken under her guidance, and Shinji had grown alongside her until about five years ago. Back then, Kisaragi had to leave for a while and took Ayanami with her, but Shinji had wanted to stay behind to finish his studies with his friends. Thanks to Kisaragi's friend's family having been willing to take him in for a while he had managed to be with his friends for a few more years.
"Yeah. Well, I'm glad to see you again Ayanami." He smiled in a gentle fashion. She nod her head faintly and replied in turn. "Good. I am going to shower." As Shinji just nod and cast a look at the bathroom door he heard the shuffling of clothing and looked back, only to see Ayanami pulling her shirt off. The white cloth of her bra became visible to his eyes and Shinji's eyes widened.
"Rei! I ah, I'm going to go in the hallway while you do that!" He hurried to the door to slip into the hallway before she could reply, letting out a heavy sigh. His heart was beating way too fast. Ayanami probably spent a fair while among just girls, so he couldn't really blame her for being careless around guys, and she had known him in the past too and there had been no harm done about the nudity back in those days. Things were different now though, and he felt all the more embarrassed from the simple fact she didn't seem to care if he saw.
"Ohh? This is Ikari-san's room?" There was a curious voice that undoubtedly belonged to a woman. Others joined in quickly and Shinji opened his eyes again, having closed them while leaning his back to the doorframe once he was outside. Realizing there were a few girls on either side of the hallway looking at him had him blush faintly again, especially as he noted that a few of them were in their pajamas, and not all of them were modest at all. In fact, some of them were a little too provocative to him.
"Isn't that Ayanami-san's room though?" Another asked before another girl squealed. "No way! Ayanami-san is too bold!" The blushing and squeals rising in the crowd made Shinji quickly realize that he might have made things worse. Just then, the door opened and Ayanami looked out without a shirt, her bra showing.
"Shinji-kun?"
==== OOOO ====
"Seriously." Orimura-sensei growled while holding a hand to her forehead, feeling a headache coming as she glared down at the two kneeled students with their heads held low. "When Kisaragi called in a favor I didn't expect the two of you two to start the rumor-mill on the first day, and now we have people asking questions what kind of indecent lifestyle we are playing host for here."
Shinji winced slightly as he partedh is lips nervously. "Orimura-sensei, Ayanami and I grew up like a brother and sister after what happened to my parents. I still got embarrassed seeing her changing before me though and rushed out. It was my fault for not realizing to just turn away or use the privacy screen in the room between the beds."
The teacher's frown didn't let up at all. In fact, she seemed even more pissed. "So you realize your mistake, but I would like to remind you that there is a changing room before the shower so she should have just made her way there to begin with and there would have been no need for that. I'll try and see if I can fix this mess but I expect you two to be on your best behaviour." Her tone made it clear that doing otherwise would be dangerous.
==== OOOO ====
"Asuka Langley-Soryu. You will be sent ahead to the IS-Academy along with your personal IS, to see what you can find out about this anomaly. Report back any and all findings. I have received word that the Representative Candidate will be transferring there soon, once her final training is complete. In the meanwhile I expect you to gather intel and show them the German superiority."
"Jawohl." The red-haired young woman nod her head and smirked. Her blue eyes carried a cold look in them as she then turned to walk ahead in the crimson red bodysuit she wore for piloting, the blood-red figure of her IS unit being checked before her departure. Looking at it and smiling silently for a moment, she finally muttered under her breath.
"Lets see if you are worth all this attention, dumpkoff. Don't you dare disappoint me, third child."
==== OOOO OOOO OOOO OOOO ====
A/N: I don't own Evangelion or Infinite Stratos, and am not making any profit out of this.
Right, I am currently calling this one of my 'random ideas' and saving them for a possible future project to work on, at the present time I only have a bit of different ideas waiting to take shape, but figure I might show some of the other ideas on my mind like this on occasions.
So this will be a collection of a variety of ideas, rather than a single story flowing forth. I also intend to try and write about these ideas eventually, they are not put up for adoption as such. Still, if someone finds one of the ideas interesting I have nothing against anyone else picking one of them up for their own version.
Personally considering this might become an interesting tale revolving around Shinji, Rei, and Asuka within the IS-Academy setting, but might end up involving others. Orimura Ichika exists in this setting, but is not part of the IS-Academy because he hasn't got the talent to activate an IS.