Wow, right off the bat I have a couple of favs for my fic (alliteration, lol). I hope to live up to your expectations. I've got some ideas planned out for the first few chapters but most of the content is free writing, so even I don't have a set outcome for each chapter (how it turns out is up to the imagination). Well, enjoy.

NGE: Will to Live

Chapter 2: New Life

As with the previous drive, the ride to Shinji's new apartment was quiet yet the tension lessened after leaving the presence of the boy's father. Shinji's mind was on the conversation he had with Gendo just a short while ago, if you could even call it a full conversation. The young boy hardly said a sentence or two before his father left to "tend to other matters." He didn't even want to begin thinking what kinds of stuff his dad was working on. I never did get an answer. What am I supposed to be doing here? Shinji let out a sigh as he focused his attention to the road.

By now they were headed towards the inner part of the city where a large group of buildings were. Off to one distance, he could see one side of buildings that looked rundown and abandoned, while the remnants of construction were scattered across the area. It looks like a ghost town or at least a ghost city. I can't imagine anyone living here. But just as he made that comment he could have sworn he saw a small girl enter one of the rooms on the fourth floor. However, as he looked back towards the area he could only see an identical row of closed doors. Must have been my imagination.

They were now in a more livable area of apartments and the bright lighting gave comfort to Shinji. He hoped he could live in this sort of area, but the visual price looked a little too high for someone in his situation.

"We've arrived." Akai said as he turned the car towards the parking lot of the one of the apartments Shinji had been eyeing.

"Eh…This is where I'll be staying?" The boy's eyes were wide as he looked at the older man.

"Yes, is there a problem? Does it not suit your tastes?" The boy's eyes got even wider at the question.

"No, no…I just meant I never thought I'd be living in an expensive place like this."

"This apartment complex was purchased by Nerv not long ago, so it should come as no surprise that you are living here. After all, your father is the head of Nerv." With that the large man opened door and headed to the trunk to remove the luggage, which wasn't much in Shinji's case. He followed Akai as they entered the lobby and took care of the room reservation, before ascending to the second floor. They walked a few feet when Akai stopped at one of the doors, which Shinji read to be 204.

It took Shinji a while to get used to the things present in the room, even though it wasn't excessively grand. Truth be told, Shinji had never been exposed to this kind of luxury as a kid which added to his amazement of the room. After getting his fill of the room and an explanation on how to use the appliances, even though he was well versed in household chores, from Akai, the agent gave Shinji a small remote device.

"Um, what's this?" The lad already began examining is in his hands – turning it over above his head.

"It acts as both a detection device and a panic button in case of emergency. If there comes a time where you're in trouble or need help, just press the button on the side and it'll allow me to find you." Shinji eyed the dark button in the middle of the gadget. "Keep this with you at all times and never let it out of your sight. Do you understand." Shinji nodded. "Very well. Then goodnight, Mr. Shinji." Shinji watched as the door closed. He stared at the door for a few seconds, finally feeling the loneliness. Slowly, he turned to the bed and began unpacking his belongings, wondering what he was going to do now.

Deciding to watch TV for a few minutes, he surfed through channels finding nothing particularly interesting after a while. He eventually turned it off and searched for another source of comfort. Immediately his eyes fell on the front pouch of his gym bag. Unzipping the pouch, he pulled out a small SDAT player and placed the earphones on. After a while of listening to some music he felt his eyes getting heavier by the second and decided to call it a night, but not without making sure the gadget was at his side.

*Outside*

"Report status of the subject." Yuuji Akai sat in the driver's seat of his car, which had been parked for the last twenty minutes after leaving the apartment. At the moment, he was one the phone with agents from Section-2, who were providing surveillance in his charge's room.

"Subject has retired for the night as of ten seconds ago. All clear." Hearing this, he started the car and moved it to a different parking spot. His expertise entailed letting people think he had left, when in fact he was watching things like a hawk.

"Good work. Keep an eye on him and report to me if anything happens. Understood?" Finding an adequate parking space, he moved in an parked the car and arranged himself to sleep, as comfortably as one could while in a car.

"Understood." With that the line ceased and he shut his phone. He forced his eyes closed, knowing sleep would come to him eventually, yet his instincts were always on full alert in case something tried to sneak past him.

*Inside one of Nerv's control rooms*

Gendo Ikari stood overlooking the mechanical giant head as its eyes darted back and forth with each second. Having been the head of Nerv since its creation he had never shown fear or surprise of seeing things like this. To him all of the tools at his disposal were capable of being replaced, yet there were a handful of individuals who were in his best interest to keep around. He turned to one of the women at the main controls – a blonde-haired, middle-aged woman who was one of said few necessary individuals.

"How are things progressing, Dr. Akagi?" The blonde woman sat up straight and faced her superior with a professional look.

"Very promising, Commander. Rei's skills have improved greatly since last week and I'm sure if we keep working with her she'll be even better by the next week." Gendo turned his head back to the bionic head, whose eyes were still moving around in various directions.

"Excellent. Let's keep up this pace. If things keep progressing the way they are we may not need to rely on our last resort after all." Folding his hands behind his back he turned towards a small intercom image on the computer screen. "You're doing very well, Rei. Just keep up this pace."

"Yes, Commander." A soft voice replied over the speaker, although the person behind the voice wasn't visible in the image. Gendo turned to leave.

"I'll leave things in your hands, Dr. Akagi." His figure then disappeared behind the closed airtight door. His older companion following close behind as they walked down the narrow hallway.

"Ikari, I've been meaning to ask you. Was that really an appropriate way to converse with the son you haven't seen in six years?" The older man asked, looking straight ahead.

"There's no need for concern, Fuyutsuki. Despite not seeing him all these years, I still know exactly how my son thinks." Gendo kept his focus ahead as well. "I'll admit bringing him to me this early was not in my original plans, but as things stand now it will be more beneficial than we thought." By now they had reached the elevator and entered as the doors opened, pressing the top floor button as they went in.

"But, Ikari, there's no guarantee that he'll do what you tell him to do. If I were in his position I would be contemplating going back home. Then again, the situation is different since I've been around you long enough to know how you are." Fuyutsuki chuckled a little at the last sentence. True to his word, he had been around the younger man as long as he could remember. In fact, they had not started out on good terms, something that allowed him to empathize with the man's son. If he had his way, he would advise Shinji to go back to the peaceful life he lived before coming to the city. The old man knew that things would only get worse for the boy as time went on; however, he was in no position to do this since the boy was to be part something of a much larger scale, and it pained him to think about it.

"Possibly, but the way that I have planned out things will make it difficult for him to run away since by then he will have already been in too deep." Reaching the main office, Gendo opened the doors and made his way towards his desk. "For now, let's concentrate on other matters. According to Nerv's branch in Germany, the Second Child is progressing as planned and Unit 02 is being given its final adjustments. It won't be long now. Added to that, in America construction of Units 03 and 04 are underway and, while pilot testing is still being conducted, I believe those two won't be much of a problem." Gendo sat in his signature posture – hands folded in front of his mouth and a cold stare fixated ahead.

"How is Seele feeling at the moment?"

"The old men? Well, you can be sure they're going to be breathing down our necks for the next few months. The fact that Unit 00 is still being modified and Unit 01 is still unusable are matters that don't have them concerned, but they still want to make sure everything goes off without any problems." Gendo couldn't help but smirk. "Those old fools have no patience when it comes to these matters. They don't realize that slow and steady wins the race."

"Can you blame them? You can imagine what it would be like once the enemy appears and we're not ready. I bet the old men would jump for joy at the thought of world annihilation before we even get a chance to fight back." Fuyutsuki smirked as well, picturing Seele's faces if such a thing occurred. "Do you plan on telling them that you've already come into possession of the Third Child already?"

"Of course not, it does not concern them since the boy still has no idea of what's taking place. The notion of world destruction is farthest from his mind at the moment. Of course, I'll gradually introduce his training to him and by the time he's ready to pilot it'll be too late for him to back out."

*Next Day*

Shinji sat at his desk taking notes as the teacher lectured the class on history. While Shinji was not a top-grade student he was very capable and living with his teacher had enabled him to catch up on his studies enough to excel in normal schooling. Some of the information given confused him though and he would have to ask the teacher on it later on. Things like Second Impact and how the Earth's population was cut in half after a large meteor struck it. As the last few minutes ticked by he got his supplies together prepared to go to lunch.

As the lunch bell rang, Shinji made his way towards the cafeteria and got in line. Normally, he would have brought his own lunch but since he was caught unprepared he had to make do with cafeteria food. His mind flashed to what happened early that morning.

*Flashback*

Shinji was woken up by a constant knocking at his door. Drowsily, he made his way to the source of the knocking and called to the other side.

"Yes, who is it?"

"Mr. Shinji, it's me Akai. I'm here wake you up so that you can prepare for school."

"Um…Did you say school?" Shinji felt like he was in a dream – the kind where he'd be told he had only five seconds to get ready and, in the end, got to class finding out he only had on his underwear.

"Yes, your father has arranged for you to attend school while you're staying here. I will be driving you as well." Shinji unlocked the latch and allowed Akai to enter. By now the boy was beginning to panic.

"How much time do I have to get ready? I don't even have a school uniform."

"It has already been taken care of." The large man produced two hangars that he had slung over his shoulder. "We've taken the liberty of ordering your size of course. As for the time, it is now 6 A.M. so you have plenty of time to prepare." All of this was happening so fast the poor boy felt like he was in a comedy manga, and he was the poor main character.

"Okay, just let me take a shower." He grabbed the necessary clothing plus the uniform and headed for the shower. He had no time to enjoy the luxury of his new shower as his brain was now assaulted with the news that he'd already been enrolled in school without even being consulted yet. He had no problem with going to school, but he had a feeling it wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Quickly pushing his thoughts away he cleaned himself and got dressed.

As he exited the bathroom fully clothed, he noticed Akai placing a bowl of miso soup, plate of bread, and cup of tea on the kitchen counter. Shinji got the hint a sat down to eat. The meal was well prepared despite being simple to the average person and Shinji noted that it didn't taste instant made at all, which meant Akai made it himself. As Shinji finished his meal he gave his complements to the chef.

"Thank you for preparing the meal, Mr. Akai." Shinji smiled feeling somewhat touched that the man took the time to do this, even if it was part of his job.

"It is not necessary to thank me, but I accept your thanks, Mr. Shinji. Now let's be off." Akai locked the door and led Shinji to the car, which was park outside the main doors. Both got in and the car raced off in the direction of Shinji's new middle school. It seemed well balanced, neither rich-looking nor public-like. Akai had already stated that all of the red tape had been taken care of ahead of time and all Shinji had to do was report to his first class. The large man already knew the schedule and informed his charge that he would pick him up at the designated time.

The introductions and formalities were taken care of in his first class and the students appeared to welcome him as one of their own. He didn't make any friends right off the bat but he could tell a few people were eyeing him with curiosity.

*End Flashback*

That has all happened a few hours ago and now he felt the day had gone by rather well considering. As the line moved slowly a tall boy about his age came up to his side.

"Hey, kid, you think you could do me a favor and let me in ahead? Sorry to ask this but my day's been kinda rough and my lunch was ruined. I'm begging you, please." The boy bowed as he did his best begging. Shinji decided he wasn't in that much of a hurry to eat so what harm could it do to let one person in ahead of him.

"Sure, go ahead."

"You mean it? Thanks, man. I'm in your debt." He scooted in front of Shinji and smiled. "So what's your name, kid? I've never seen you around here before." Shinji was getting slightly embarrassed - he wasn't used to having conversations like this.

"Shinji…Shinji Ikari. And you are?" The boy struck a tough pose and pointed his thumb at his chest.

"Touji Suzuhara. Natural althlete in this school, but my teachers are always hounding me about my grades, heh." Maybe school wasn't going to be so bad after all if he kept meeting people like this.

"Nice to meet you, Touji. Yeah, I'm kinda new here. I just transferred in today." Shinji grinned.

"Well, since you've been such a pal and helped me out why not sit with me and my friend. We'll be sure to fill you in on what happens at the school."

"Sure thing, sounds good." As the two finally made their way to the cashier with their plates they paid for the food and Touji led the way to a table, where a nerdy-looking kid was messing with his camera.

"Yo, Kensuke, make room. We got a newbie here. I'd like to introduce Shinji Ikari, who just transferred in today." The boy looked up and smiled.

"Nice to meet you, Shinji. Names Kensuke Aida and you can be sure I'm the foremost on info around on things in and outside of the school." They sat down and placed their food in order.

"Kensuke here is a bit of a gossip fanatic, but he never lies. I just hope one of these days it doesn't come to bite him in the end though." Touji was busy chowing down on his lunch as he spoke.

"Well, I hope we all get along together." As Shinji looked around he caught a glimpse of someone sitting towards the far end of the cafeteria. A young girl with blue hair, who looked slightly familiar sitting by herself. There was something about her that caught his attention and he wondered what it was that felt like he was being drawn in.