A New Beginning
A Neon Genesis Evangelion Romance FF

Chapter 1: Understanding
Some people in this world are not alone, but they are not quite...close to anyone.
And a handful have neither relationships nor family. One of these people is Rei Ayanami, pilot of Evangelion Unit-00.
The first child, hand picked to pilot the Eva, she has no family nor friends, only co-workers and fellow pilots, Asuka Langley Sohryu, the second child, and Shinji Ikari, the third.
Rei is mysterious to the other pilots, and her classmates at her school. She lives alone, suprising, seing as she's only fourteen. She rarely speaks to anyone but Gendo Ikari, Shinji's father, and the commander of NERV's Japan-based branch, located in Tokyo-3.
Rei has never known what it is like to feel love, or compassion for anyone, all she does is accept orders from Gendo and fellow pilots while fighting 'angels', fierce beasts that ravage Tokyo-3.
This is a story of how Rei, through contact and comfort, learns to feel love for someone.

The story starts March 23rd, 2015. Angel Number Twelve, designated, Leliel, is floating, almost aimlessly above the buidlings of Tokyo-3. Shinji, Rei, and Asuka are in position, expecting that zebra-striped ball to appear around the corner and engulf them. They weren't exactly clear on what the twelfth angel did to attack their Eva's, but they were certain it had to be bad. Shinji felt the weight of his Eva's pistol in his hand, and he checked with his fellow pilots if they were ready to go. "Ready, and in position" Asuka said, proudly. "Ready." Said Rei simply, in her quiet soft voice. Shinji made a countdown of when to move. "Three, two, one, GO!" Shinji yelled. Their plan was that Asuka would go left, at Shinji's 9 o'clock position, and that Rei would go to his 3 o' clock. Then, after they were in their respective spots, would open fire. This angel was odd, as it had two shadows. One, the shadow you saw on the ground, and two, the zebra-striped covering of its sphereal-surface. It's A.bsolute T.error Field was under its second shadow. Basically, it was a 2-D object, with a 3-D shadow. They knew that it's second shadow would dissapear from it's surface, and appear under your Eva, and swallow it.

Shinji, Rei, and Asuka opened fire. The angel was caught off guard, as they saw it shake and ripple as if it were trying to decide who to attack. Shinji's face drained, when he saw it's shadow dissapear.
Shinji called to his other pilot's and asked if they saw the shadow underneath them. "Negative," Asuka replied. Then, they heard a shriek of terror. The shadow had picked Rei! Immediately Shinji hurried over to Rei, and tried to pull her out. They both had been trapped. The angel was sucking them down, deep into its innards. Asuka didn't know what to do. She stood there, as she watched her comrades dissapear before her eyes. Five minutes later, no radio communication from either Shinji or Rei. Asuka had lost two dear friends. Then the shadow reappeared on its body. Asuka looked around for some weapon of sort, but nothing lay around her. She knew that NERV had spots around the city where they dispatched weapons, but Asuka was scared to move. "Unit 02, out of assault weapons. Need defensive weaponry." Asuka kept her cool. A reply she thought was coming over the radio. All she heard after that, was NERV command personnel saying, "Oh my God...Its...its gone berserk! No response from either pilot, it seems as if the Eva is piloting itself." That it was. Asuka saw the angels second shadow vanish. Its surface started wriggling and pulsating, and finally, it cracked. Blood began to pour from this crack, as she saw two hands, pull the crack in its skin open wider, and finally, burst the angel. A shower of what appeared to be blood, was covering the two Evas, standing in a clearing, almost as if to minimize damage to the city when the Evas escaped.

Shinji awoke in his entry plug, still in his Eva. He had no control over it, but it just seemed to stand there. Finally, it shut down, and NERV personnel were able to retrieve him from his entry plug. He met Misato and asked her what had happened. "Oh, it was nothing Shinji. You destroyed the angel." Funny, as he could not remember destroying the angel, only being sucked down into the angels' shadow.
He then remembered waking up inside his Eva's Entry plug, not knowing what had happened. He was wondering what had taken place as the angel swallowed him. Maybe a split personality took over, and guided their Evas out of the angels innards. Shinji met Rei after confronting Misato, asking for an explanation. "Rei, can you remember at all, anything about what happened after the angel swallowed us?" Shinji asked Rei. He knew she was quiet, but she openly said, "Pilot Ikari, I have no recollection of the events after the angel swallowed us. I believe I had blacked out." Shinji thanked her, and went on about his business. He went home, with Misato and Asuka, to her apartment. Shinji felt a pang of guilt, as he walked through the door. "Rei has a home, but not someone to care for her, or keep her company." Shinji wondered about what Rei did when she returned to her home. He then tried to shake the tought from his mind, but it persisted. He barricaded himself in his room, listening to his SDAT player, hoping to drive the thought from his mind. He tried to not think about it, but that prooved to unbearable. "Tomorrow I will ask Rei if she wants to live with us." After all, they were all fellow pilots.

Shinji wanted to confront Rei tomorrow at school, but that invironment made it too risky to speak of. Shinji never did get a spare minute to speak to her, either, as his friends were pestering him all day.
Shinji waited until after school had ended, and he found Rei on the roof, where she usually was. Shinji saw her almost curled up into a ball, exept for the fact that her head was resting on her hands, and her hands rest upon the ledge. Shinji approached her carefully, as she normally didn't like to be bothered while up here. Shinji walked up to right behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Hello Pilot Ikari. What brings you here?" She asked, sounding strangely happy to see him. "Well..I wanted to ask you something..."

"What is it, Pilot Ikari?"

"Rei, I know you live alone, have practically no family, and I was just thinking, maybe you'd like to move in with us?"

Rei looked extremely happy that Shinji had said that, but she didn't accept right away. Instead, she replied, "I'd like to, but I don't know if I can. I'll think about it."

"Thank you, Rei." Shinji left the roof and wandered down the halls towards the exit doors. Shinji wasn't the type to get exited about things, as he knew they could go wrong at anytime. But that night, Shinji could not stop talking about his so-called 'plans.' Asuka was outraged. "So what, Shinji, are we not good enough for you! You want to have more girls in here, because peeping at us dosen't exite you enough!" Asuka watched Shinji turn pink. "Asuka, I only saw you that once because it was an accident. You had to walk through the house without a towel, and I didn't know you were indecent." Asuka snorted at this, and said, "Oh sure Shinji...oh sure." Shinji ran to his room, raging about Asuka.

He knew he couldn't wait for Rei's reply, but he could wait to see if Asuka wouls stop teasing her.
The next day, Shinji awoke without Asuka's help. She normally got him up with her 'alarm clock' of yelling, and swearing.
Shinji ran to school, something he thought he'd never catch himself doing. He could not wait for Rei's reply. He stopped short, when he saw through the classroom door window.
She was the only one there. "Good" he thought, "No distractions." He walked in, and Rei looked at him. The first thing he noted, was that she was smiling. He thought, "Oh, I hope it's good news."

"Pilot Ikari, there are two things I must tell you. One, may I call you Shinji, and two, I have decided."

"Yes and what is your decision?" Shinji had anxiety in his voice. He was very nervous.

"I...have decided...to move in with you, Major Katsuragi, and Pilot Sohryu." She said, smiling.

Shinji exclaimed mentally, and said "Oh, that's great Rei! I'll come by after school and help you, ok?"

"Ok Shinji." Shinji couldn't wait for the day to end. Misato knew that Rei living with them wouldn't be a problem. Asuka said she'd be a pain in the neck.

Shinji stopped by her apartment, and knocked on the door. "It's open!" he heard Rei cry through the door. Shinji cracked the door and looked in. What he saw almost terrified him.

A mini-fridge sat in the corner, with several bottles of pills on the top. Next to it, there was a box of bloody bandages, and that's what really terrified Shinji. Rei had a small bed, which he could see through the slightly open door. He started going through the house, and he found four boxes worth of stuff. He thought that this was all she had. But truly she had one more box containing: Her clothes.
Shinji dared not touch that box. He made Rei carry that box, and he got the other four. Shinji asked Rei if she could get the door. She only had one box, of course she could. Shinji told Rei she could either sleep on their couch or bunk with him. Shinji began wondering, "Ever since I invited her to live with us, she's been drawn out of her shell...this is really doing things for her!"
Rei had decided to sell her bed, even though it was brand new. Shinji had no problem bunking with Rei, although, once, Shinji thought he heard her say, "I love you Shinji. Thank you."
Shinji felt as if he may need to reply to her. So, he finally brings himself to say, "Rei, I love you too." It was true. They loved each other, and neither knew it, until now.

Next Chapter: Acceptance

We will find out in the next chapter if Shinji and Rei's feelings are mutual or not.