Mom died giving birth to my sister, Ayanami Rei. Ayanami, a slim girl who's albinism gives her crimson eyes and soft white hair, dyed a soft shade of blue, a cool shade that compliments her strikingly cold beauty, which softly frames her face in a bob. My sister, despite her distant demeanor and an unnerving appearance that has occasionally frightened men, is the only person left in my family who cares for me at all. And despite the fact that Father...Gendo...loves only her, practically a copy, a winter-pale copy of my once-warm mother, I still love her, very much, and very fiercely. My eyes focus in the dark, adjusting to the dim morning light. Ayanami has her hand on my shoulder, and I can make out the glint of her eyes and I'm glad it's her instead of Gendo. If it were Gendo, the warmth on my shoulder would not be from a soft touch but would be the hot sting of a slap by his rough hands. Instead of my sister's gaze, a look that I know, that makes me feel safe, I would see the sharp glint of his glasses, the glass too dark for me to see his eyes and to read his face as I'm jerked up and out of bed, Gend-"Shinji-kun." I startle when I realize that I'd zoned out. "Shinji, it is five minutes till Father will come to check if you're ready for school. Here is your uniform," she says with a soft smile and her thin brows furrowed. "Shit-OW," I hiss, rubbing my shoulder where Ayanami had just pinched me. Really?! I'm about to say this out loud, but she's already out the door. Off to wait for Asuka at the chain-link gate, I suppose. Fricken Asuka's going to give me such a hard time if I make her wait and waste the precious time of her and her girlfriend "Rei-chan" *read in her uppity, slightly accented voice*. Fuck school. The zip of my zipper. Fuck this morning. The slip of my undershirt. UGH fuck it! My shirt's starch against my collar bones. Ok, ready to go...wait. I lean toward the simple, square mirror above my desk to quickly assess my appearance. I sigh slightly as I finger-brush my bangs. Aw, look Shinji. It's you, I think tiredly, dissociating from my image...a thin, tan, japanese boy with amber eyes ringed in light purple hollows from lack of sleep, my head topped by brown hair with short, choppy fringe. As I turn from the overly-honest reflective glass, my heart ricochets off my ribs with a stuttering beat because I'm looking up at him. "Ikari Shinji," Gendo declares in a gravely and low voice as blank as his stiff, square-jawed face. My mouth parts slightly and I'm about to say good morning to my father when he clears his throat with certain meaning behind that action clear. I hustle off to the door, skidding rapidly on the tile with my tennis shoes. "Get Rei to Nerv and into class safely," I hear. You're the son, a man, and so...that is your duty, alongside getting into Evangelion University. As the Principle, I'd be dishonored if you did not get in." I do not turn around. I run, straight out the door.