Wondering Soul (Rudeboy Edition)


Prologue
One Lost, One Forgotten
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On March 13th 2015, fifteen year old Shinji Ikari was on his way back to the apartment he shared with Misato and Asuka. It had been a while since the last angel attack, so Shinji's mind was starting to drift from combat as it tended to do in the space of time between battles. In quiet times like this, alone but not lonely, Shinji was free to reflect on things he usually overlooks. Like the fact that despite it all, being here with Misato and Asuka made him happy.
Asuka, now there's a complex subject for the young man. She was loud, demanding, rude, and yet he thought he could see something there that drew him to her. It wasn't like he LOVED her or anything, but he definitely liked having her around. It was as if she radiated life and energy to everything around her. Something that Shinji could definitely appreciate, seeing how dark his life seemed in the days before coming to Tokyo 3.

But he realized it wasn't just Asuka, it was everyone. Ever since he'd come here, it was as if he'd been part of a family. A strange one, but a family nonetheless. And it was more than he had back when he lived with his teacher.

Tomorrow was White Day, and even though Asuka hadn't gotten him anything on Valentines Day, he had still gotten her a small gift. Whether or not he was actually going to give it to her was an entirely different matter. He wanted to, but he was afraid of how she would react. She might laugh at him, or insult him, or even *shudder* beat the crap out of him. Or maybe she'd accept it….

Shinji never got to finish that thought because less than a moment later he was gone.
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On march 13thth 2025, twenty five year old Shinji Ikari was on his way back to his apartment. He was lonely and miserable, but that's how he'd felt every day for the past 10 years. He wished the park streets weren't so empty this time of day. Maybe if there was someone around he wouldn't feel so alone, even if they didn't spare him so much as a second glance. When he was alone like this, he wasn't haunted by things he was usually able to block out most of the time. Like how utterly alone he was, and how much he missed his friends and loved ones.

Love, such a cruel thing. In the end, all it did was make the loss that much harder to deal with. He had either hurt or killed everyone he had ever cared about. Touji was crippled, he had let Asuka die without even telling her how he felt, Misato gave her life to give him a chance, but he let her down. He also realized that they had all had reason to hate him before they left. He let Asuka get hurt, time and time again. He almost killed Touji. He even pushed Misato away before she died. The only small comfort in his life was the knowledge that he had earned his pain. He would live out the rest of his days in misery knowing full well that he deserved every second of it and much worse.

He had nothing else. No friends, no family, no one. Just one man and his never ending torment. If that wasn't bed enough, his health seemed to be failing too. He'd been having chronic migraines for almost 10 years. They were so common that he just accepted them as part of his daily cycle. But a few years ago they had gotten worse. Now for the past two years he'd been having mild seizures, and no doctor could seem to figure out what was wrong with him. They claimed it was stress. He believed it was penance….

Shinji never got to finish that thought. In a matter of seconds, he was wracked by the most unbearable pain he'd felt so far. He'd never had a seizure this bad before.

Oh my god, this is it. This isn't some kind of momentary blackout, I'm actually going to die this time…

And with that thought, Shinji's entire world went black.
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Notes:
Check it, I'm the 4th fanfic writer to make one of the Wandering Soul stories. The others are currently on Darkscribes.org.
The Original idea was by Lord Deathscythe, the others are loosely based on his idea. As for mine, I'm basically borrowing the reality he created, and doin' my own thing wit it. You'll see later on.