Another Reality
Chapter 1
"Will you be alright?"
*Blink*
*Blink*
The same dream again; no not a dream but he could find no other words to call it. Sitting up from his bed Shiro gave the first yawn of the day, what happened in his sleep didn't matter; he was awake now and this was his reality. Looking towards his window he could see the usual crowd that never seemed to avoid perching next to his window no matter how many times he threatened to kill them. Looking away from the birds Shiro got up from his bed and stumbled on drunkenly towards the door heading for the bathroom, almost tripping on his haphazardly discarded shoes in the process.
"Shiro are you up yet?"
Shiro slid his bedroom door aside and gave a groan to his mother before warily continuing towards his destination.
"You better hurry up, or you'll be late for school" he was warned as she went back down stairs to dish out breakfast for him
"And that would be so devastating" he sarcastically quipped
Not bothering to humor him she continued "Breakfast is ready hurry up before it gets cold"
"I'll be right out" with a gargled mouth he continued "Do you need any help with the shop today?"
"You have music lessons today so you don't have to help out"
"Are you sure?" He asked poking his head out to catch her facial expression
"Don't worry I can manage, now hurry up and get dressed"
"I'll see what I can do" He joked
It was a while before Shiro was finally seated across from his mother clad in his uniform, which consisted of a white shirt and black slacks. The two were getting into the morning routine of breakfast with little talk as Shiro was hurriedly shoveling his breakfast into his mouth. A smile formed on his mothers face as she took a break from the newspaper in front of her to glance at her son, who seemed to realize if he didn't leave in a few minutes he would be late for school. A chime from the side door let the two know that someone was at the door, knowing it was his childhood friend Shiro stood and went on to slip on his shoes as his mother got the door. Bending over to get his shoes Shiro frowned as his white cross dangled from his neck, quickly putting on his shoes he stood up and shoved it back under his shirt. Shiro blew some stray strands of hair that were obstructing his vision before moving towards the door.
"Good morning Ms. Saitou" A red haired girl greeted
"Good morning Mana, thank you for picking Shiro every morning"
"It's not a problem" Mana said with a slight wave "He's kind of useless without me" she quipped in with a grin
Shiro could only roll his eyes as he listened to his mothers' conversation with his best friend , they had been friends longer than Shiro cared to remember and though he hated to admit it; he was pretty useless without her but then again he was sure the same went for her when it came to him.
"Ha, ha that's very amusing and all, but were going to be late so can we go now, bye mom" Shiro said breaking them up as he stepped out of the door.
"Bye Ms. Saitou"
"Bye Mana and Shiro don't forget cello practice after school" She called a final reminder as they jogged away.
They were a ways clear of the store front when they started to slow down their pace. The pair fell into a synched walk barely any distance between their shoulders, which to an onlooker would attest to how close the pair was.
"You were up early today, usually I have to come in and drag you out of bed. So what makes today so special?" Mana commented peeking at Shiro from the corner of her eyes.
"I don't know, guess it's just one of those days" Shiro commented nonchalantly
Mana caught a slight wariness on Shiro's face before it was concealed by his general outlook
"You're not trying to lie to me again are you?" Mana glanced at him from the corner of her eye, though not turning to look at him.
"Lie? To you? Never"
"Then tell me what's wrong"
"I can't tell you what I don't know"
Mana was unsure what that meant but after a few minutes of silence she decided to let it drop "Fine"
Feeling Mana's shoulder brush against his Shiro gave a grin before giving her a playful shoulder jolt, sending her staggering slightly off the pavement. Shiro moved on as though nothing had taken place, much to his companions' irritation. He was a few paces away from her when he heard her quickened steps behind him; he turned to look at her while getting into a slight jog backwards.
"Is the something wrong?" Shiro asked with such innocence it irked the girl coming towards him
"I don't know, I'm just trying to catch up to you, why don't you slow down" She said with a strained smile
"Well if we don't hurry we'll be-" Shiro didn't get another word out as the girl lunged at him taking him down with her.
Tackled to the ground by the surprise attack Shiro gave a groan feeling a head ache coming on. His eyes were shut from the impact but as he felt shuffling on top of him, it brought him back to his senses causing him to snap his eyes open but sighed as he saw it was already too late.
"Hmmm how many years has it been and yet you still haven't learned your lesson, have you Shiro" Mana said smugly as she had Shiro pinned to the ground her knees on his bicep muscles.
Shiro grimaced slightly as she put a little more weight on his arms warning him from making any rash movements, this was the song and dance; no matter how many times he tried to avoid getting pinned in this position, every time she got him no matter his efforts to avoid it. Shiro let out a sigh in resignation knowing she would have her way with him and there wasn't a thing he could do about it.
"So what do you have to say for yourself" She grinned down at him
"I do sincerely apologize" Shiro said meekly
She gave a throaty laugh before administering continuous slaps on either of his cheeks, not too hard but enough to cause his cheeks to grow red.
Mana's chuckles were cut short as a shadow stood over them, looking down to the pair. "How indecent"
Mana was quick to be off Shiro, who followed suit albeit in a slower pace his hands massaging his burning cheeks. "Class Rep-" Mana began to say but was silenced as she held up a hand to stop the girl.
"Rolling around on the ground with a boy in pubic, it's shameless; I would expect this of Mr. Saitou but not of our class's top student" The class rep continued on her way ignoring the flustered two before stating "Better hurry up or you'll be late"
Shiro watched their class rep as she walked away from them in a brisk pace, noting the smooth way in which her shoulder length black hair followed after her as she moved.
Shiro was broken out of his reverie by one last slap by Mana "Come on you ecchi stop gawking at the class rep or we'll be late"
"I wasn't gawking I...I." Shiro tried to protest
"Come on" she repeated already walking on hurriedly
Walking after her Shiro couldn't help but chuckle at her tone, before following in her wake.
Tokyo-3 International Airport ==air space==
'Has it really been eleven years' It was only a passing thought as Asuka Langley Soryu stared down at the place she once called home many years ago. So many years gone and it still felt nothing had changed. She thought she was done with this place but here she was again returning to this place which held so many horrid memories. 'Why am I coming back to this place?' this question had been constantly going through her mind ever since she had finally caved on Misato's hundredth request that she come back "home". There were excuses of course; the need to see Misato again and Nerv Germany's request that she oversee some projects that they had going on in partnership with Nerv Japan, but looking into herself she didn't find them to be adequate reasons for her return.
She and Rei were somewhat the last of the pilots known to be alive and well-off, well there was Toji but he didn't really count. Rei was still living in Tokyo last time she heard but she hadn't gotten a letter or call from Rei in two years, she thought they were in good terms but something changed and Rei slowly withdrew from her. Asuka could recall how Rei seemed even more socially withdrawn after third impact, but that had changed quite a bit when living with Misato and herself. Rei had taken up to traveling a few years after Asuka left, she said she wanted to see the world but Asuka sensed there was more to it than that. The last Asuka had heard from the girl was a few months after Rei returned to Tokyo from her travelling escapades, saying she had found what she had been looking for; what that was Asuka could only wonder because Rei hung up.
Asuka sighed as she saw the few passengers that were in first class with her sneak looks at her when they thought she wasn't looking. Even years after the commercials and magazine issues about their struggle to save the earth people still recognized and ogled at her. God she could only hope that some yahoo didn't come up to her and want her to share the real story with them…Pfft like they could take it. The true picture was one even she couldn't take. Asuka shook her head lightly as if to physically remove the thoughts from her head, not yet; she couldn't let her mind wonder to him, she wasn't ready. The best way to move on was to forget. The last time she let herself get caught up in him, she had to leave Japan to right herself.
"Are you okay?" A man blue eyes and blonde hair looked towards her with concern
She gave a light nod with a small smile making its way to her lips and she was glad she had asked him to come with her, though it was partly because she wanted Misato to meet the wonderful man in her life who made her feel like she wasn't so crazy. Looking back towards Tokyo 3 Asuka brought up and slid ear phones into her ear before pressing down play on the primitive SDAT player; feeling slightly reassured that it wouldn't be a difficult stay.
On the ground
"What I don't understand is why I have to be here" Toji whined
"Because I want you to be here, would you rather be somewhere else?" Hikari questioned in her oh so intimidating manner
"No, no wouldn't want be anywhere else" Toji supplied quickly
Giving a laugh at the young lovers Misato couldn't help but tease "Such passion in you Hikari, she must be quite wild in the bedroom huh Toji" this caused the young couple to turn a deep shade of red.
"Speaking of those kinds of things, you said she's bringing a man?" Ritsuko asked cigarette in hand, eyes darting for security personal who might point out the 'no smoking' signs.
"Yep it seems she's found someone she really cares about" Misato said seeming some what lightened
"Tch I feel sorry for the guy already" Toji murmured to himself
"What was that?" Hikari said with a glare
"Nothing, nothing" Toji said nervously "anyway who's the poor fellow?" Toji said quick to change the subject
"She's been keeping it a secret and I basically had to pry the information out of her, He's name is Alexander Vogel and she's been seeing him for months apparently"
"I can't believe she didn't tell me about him "Hikari sulked
"It was supposed to be a surprise" Misato said nervously comforting the girl
"Okay so what's wrong with him?" Kensuke commented catching the group off guard "Sorry I'm late, there was…ah traffic"
"Yeah right, you thought you could miss the entire thing didn't you?" Toji accused with a glare
"Well it doesn't matter now were all here, so lets give Asuka a proper welcome" Hikari scolded them in her class rep manner
"Ay" they said sounding put-off
"I wonder how much she's changed from when we last saw her" Ritsuko thought out loud
"I guess we'll find out soon enough, here she comes" Kensuke pointed out
Misato couldn't hold back a smile as she saw flowing red hair among a sea of face less people she didn't care enough to notice. Never being able to have kids of her own Misato couldn't help but feel like a mother welcoming home a long lost daughter. As the sea of people cleared up Asuka finally came into clear view of the group of friends, seeing each other instantly Misato couldn't help but walk forward to meet her, both marching in a quickened pace to meet each other. They were finally in arms reach and the two instantly fell into an embrace unable to hold back their joy; their eyes tearing up slightly, they hadn't realized how much they had missed each other up until that moment.
Misato was more or less alone these days with only Ritsuko to keep her company on most days; even then all they did was talk about their glory days and bitch about their jobs. After the impact Misato had given up on her excessive drinking and focused most of her time to try and fix the damage done by third impact on Tokyo-3.
When the last of the LCL vanished she started to lose hope of Shinji's return but didn't give up, until it was seven years later and he was still no where to be found. She was soon forced to accept that he had not and would not return which involved a lot of tears and many sleep less nights where she nearly fell back into her drinking habits. She'd never get over loosing Shinji; throughout all the battles with the angles he had always come back, and the thought of him actually being gone never sank in. Feeling it was some how her fault he never came back Misato forced herself to move on, she owed him that much. She was now the commander of Nerv but these days there was not much to command, it wasn't an acting military facility any longer but just there if the past should repeat itself. Ikari was another who never came back along with Fuyutski but rumors were they had and were off some where planning another scenario. Bullshit the old men were dead, gone and soon to be forgotten.
"I'm so happy you're here" Misato said in a whisper
"I'm glad I came" Asuka returned
"Let me have a good look at you" Misato took a step back to get a good look at Asuka
Flowing red hair fell over her shoulders just as Misato remembered but that seemed all that was a reminder of her infuriating little ward, she had grown up and her body with her. What were once pert breasts on a minor were now the breasts of a real woman though not as ample as Misato's, her body with now well defined curves that made her extraordinarily beautiful. She wore a modest yellow sundress that didn't reveal much but hugged her body enough to show her figure.
"You look beautiful" Misato said her smile not faltering
The two seemed to be caught in a moment and seemed to forget the others gathered around them, they continued to stare at each other but braking into a hug at random intervals. After feeling as though the two had gotten enough time to be caught up in each other Ritsuko gave a cough which seemed to snap them out of their trance. Looking behind Misato Asuka was shocked to see the congregation of friend and acquaintances as she would never admit to being friends with any of the members of the three stooges.
"Sup Red" Toji gave a small wave and a slight but genuine smile
"Welcome back" Kensuke said with a smile as he adjusting his glasses though not as big as Asuka remembered.
"It's nice to see you again Asuka" Ritsuko gave her a smile
When Asuka's eyes landed on Hikari she moved past Misato to meet her friend and they fell into an embrace, though she was thousands of miles away they had both remained in contact to the best of their abilities. Looking at her long time friend Asuka smiled when she noticed her most distinguishable feature; which were her ever present freckles that gave her the girl next door look, which the stooge fell for.
Embracing Asuka harder Hikari sighed "It's so good to see you, it's been too long"
"Yeah" Asuka breathed out before the two separated
Looking to Toji and Kensuke Asuka couldn't keep a grin from forming on her face "Just when I thought my welcome would be perfect I'm disgraced with the likes of you, well I guess it can't be helped; you can help carry my baggage"
Instantly turning red at the insult Toji had a fist clenched and was about to retort when he caught a glare from Hikari, he was immediately obedient and only got out a huff before turning his back to Asuka. This caused Asuka to rocket with laughter.
"Man you are so whipped" Kensuke shook his head warily
"What's that Aida?"
Quick to stand at attention as though a high ranking officer had given the order Kensuke replied "Nothing sir…I mean Mam"
"Okay, I got most of our luggage but I think we'll need a big taxi if were going to-"Alex's tone died down as he found himself the subject of a number of curious eyes. "Uhm Asuka?" He questioned
Walking over to her companion Asuka brought her arms round his arm and leaned in lovingly and slightly possessively, with a slight blush playing her face she turned back to her friends to introduce him
"Well everybody this is Alexander Vogel, he is my…" Asuka faltered slightly at that moment but Alex quickly stepped in for her "I'm her boy friend" He said with a nervous laugh "I must confess it feels kind of childish putting it that way but lovers seemed a bit risqué and implied certain-"
"Alex" Asuka stopped him as he started to babble
"Right" He composed himself "You can call me Alex, It's a pleasure to meet you all"
"I think I've heard your name before" Ritsuko said
"Ah yes I'm Nerv Germany's chief inspector and another representative here for the time being"
"When they said they were sending a representative, I thought they meant Asuka" Ritsuko eyed him with a glimmer of suspicion
"They did but Asuka invited me, it would have been rude to reject her"
"Enough of that, they'll be time for that later" Asuka commanded
Ritsuko gave a short laugh "Still impatient as ever I see"
"Whatever I know how Nerv people act when you get together, if not stopped you start planning scenarios'"
The group introduced themselves to Alex with Misato being last and giving him a hug, though giving a whisper in his ear telling him that she would be watching him.
"Since introductions have been taken care of lets get going" Misato announced with enthusiasm
"We still have to check into a hotel but-"
Misato cut Asuka off before she could get another word out "A hotel? Nonsense of course you'll be staying with me"
"We wouldn't want to intrude" Alex said trying to get out of staying with the intimidating woman
"It's not a problem, then it's settled you'll be staying with me" Misato said leaving no room for discussion
"Not if you're still a slob" Asuka objected and got a nervous laugh from Misato.
The group headed out into their separate vehicles with the promise to rendezvous at Misato's later that evening for a party to celebrate Asuka's return, Misato meanwhile drove the couple to her unchanged three bedroom apartment to get them settled in.
Tokyo-2 High School
"Stand, bow, sit" The class rep of class 2-C proclaimed
The students complied as the authority in her voice established it's self in their ears. A tall lanky man who looked to be in his forties stood in front of the class dressed smartly in a white shirt and khaki slacks. His facial expression never changed since entering the room, only looking on in knowing of the routine. The first of the morning's formalities taken care of he proceeded to take a seat and make the role call.
With the morning getting into a steady rhythm Shiro found his eyes wondering around the classroom in attempt to block out the teachers droning explaining the second and third impacts. The world had recovered from third impact with a new zeal for life and now fourteen years after the impact the world was some what back to its former post second impact glory and improving as the planets ecological system had restarted; the earth seemed to be healing. All these things didn't mean much to Shiro though being born during or after third impact; it was never clear as his mother had told him when she "returned" she found him being a baby on the beach. She never told him much of her post third Impact life saying that it was in the past and it didn't matter anymore. Shiro's wonderings about his origins, his mother and father grew less as he grew up and ceased to matter as the years went by; he lived a happy life surrounded people that wanted him so why dwell on it.
They were half way through the second period and Shiro had fallen into his normal daze when he felt a presence fall over him, a shiver went through his body; looking out the window at nothing in particular a frown formed on his face. He could feel something had changed but what and how it affected him he wasn't sure.
Hit with the feeling of being watched Shiro scanned the room and smiled as his eyes fell on the eyes of Mana. She must be still worried about him, He reasoned. Shiro gave her a wink which gave her slight blush but a deep scowl settled on her face before she quickly averted her eyes from him. She was considered the best in their grade and probably was but why she bothered keeping up with a slacker like him was beyond him. Shiro was no Einstein and he knew it, but unlike the rest of the slackers he had super powers. Well maybe that was a bit of a dramatic way to put it but it seemed cooler that way. Looking toward their teacher Shiro sighed and looked out the window for an escape, he couldn't keep his attention on the old man without waking to find himself on a sea of drool, compliments of his salivary glands. Shiro was always flying under the radar when it came to academics and spacing out to the outside world throughout lessons didn't help in the matter. Mana always scolded him on his reckless nonchalance towards his lessons, but after years of him miraculously making the cut off line on his grades she had given up.
Math, sciences and any other of the subjects came easy to Shiro, though never too interested in the classroom lectures themselves. He did however enjoying randomly reading up on his school texts books, which for some reason all stuck to his brain like he was mending a crack. It felt as though all the information he read off books, he had read before and reading it again brought it back along with its understanding, like a sort of déjà vu. It wasn't limited to just books; if he looked closely enough at any type of machinery, he could understand, fix and modify it. It was as though he had lived a thousand lives and all their knowledge was interconnected somehow through him, but always lying beneath the surface.
Shiro would have liked to explain this advantage to Mana but he doubted she would understand. So that was his super power; to be able to keep just above the passing grade while slacking off completely. Not so super but terribly convenient. The life he lived seemed so boring and habitual and yet for some reason this never seemed to bother him, if anything he loved the quite and predictable life he lived.
.time
.time passing
.time passed
The rest of the school day seemed to pass right before Shiro's eyes, it was all routine which made the days seem shorter. School was letting out and hundreds of youths flooded out of the school gates all filled with plans for after school activity though some more exciting than others. A red sedan was parked across the street from the schools gate, its tinted windows sending curious glances unanswered.
"Are you going to drop by the arcade later?" Kei questioned Shiro as they walked towards the school gates
"Nah I think I'll head home after my lesson"
"If you change your mind give us a ring we'll be around"
"Alright later guys" Shiro said to his friends as they continued on when they reached the school gate but Shiro waiting a beat.
"How you can stand those Otakus is beyond me" Mana commented walking up behind him
"Funny; they ask the same thing when it comes to you"
"Pfft they should know its I who puts up with you not the other way around"
Shiro gave a smile before bidding her a goodbye shyly "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow"
"Why do you have to sound weird when saying that jeez" Mana complained "Anyway you better get going or you might miss the train"
Shiro gave her one last fleeting glance before taking off but didn't get too far. The sound of a car horn caught his attention, looking towards the direction of the car Shiro gave a curious look at the red sedan parked across the road. He was about to go on his way thinking the horn wasn't meant for him but stopped as the driver rolled the window down.
"Afternoon Shiro"
"Ms. Rokubungi? I was just on my way too see you for our lesson" Shiro said moving towards the vehicle starring curiously at his cello instructor
"I was in the vicinity and thought it would be expedient and time saving if I gave you a ride back to my apartment" she said almost robotically
"Uhm sure, thank you" Shiro said walking over to the car.
Once inside the vehicle Shiro was griped with a form of apprehension which seemed to come on to him at times when he was alone with his instructor. He sat silently unsure weather if he should attempt small talk but knew she wasn't very good at that and sometimes reacted strangely to situations. Letting a comfortable silence settle between them Shiro studied her as she put the car into the first gear and drove off.
She was wearing a loose fitting white blouse and a black skirt that was about an inch below her knees, but what always caught Shiro's attention was her pale skin. Its' pureness was mesmerizing; sometimes she would catch him inadvertently starring at her but she never commented on it. She noticed him starring again and Shiro averted his gaze. Shiro noticed she was wearing sun glasses which were new and seeing as the windows were tinted it was strange, so he decided to comment on it.
"Sunny day today" he said feeling awkward
She briefly taking a look outside before answering "Yes"
"It's understandable…your glasses I mean" Shiro spoke feeling like an idiot
Giving him a glance and a smile to make him feel more comfortable she nodded. "I have a small eye infection, so I have to keep these on for a while"
Looking towards her as she turned her gaze back at the road, for the briefest of moments Shiro was slightly sure he saw a flash of red in her eyes but that was impossible he'd seen her blue eyes countless of times.
T.B.C
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