Disclaimer: I don't own Evangelion or any of its characters. If I did, then I would have as much money as the Shinji in this story!
That day didn't end too well for me. One of Asuka's fan-boys threatened to beat the crap out of me and had me up against the lockers. Usually, I would have defended myself but this fan-boy was well over a year older than me and was the captain of the Tokyo-3 Academy rugby team. He had the kind of physique that would put fully mature bull to shame which obviously didn't do much for my chances. I did avoid a beating by acting small and weak. "So you swear you won't ever go near her again you punk-ass bitch?!" the jock cried through clenched teeth.
"Uh, no. I promise," I replied quietly, hoping that he wouldn't rip my blazer just by having his massive fist clenched around it.
"Fine. Keep it that way…punk-ass bitch," the jock warned before setting me down and walking off.
That was the first time in my entire school career that anybody gave me any trouble whatsoever. It seemed that keeping to myself wasn't working anymore, which gave me more reason to want to get as far away from that place post haste. As well as that, it was the fact that I got tangled right into the web of Asuka's influence. Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. All I did was bump into her, but that was enough for people to notice and take great offence to me getting near her. I decided that near Asuka was a very bad place to be and it was to be avoided from now on.
I walked home from the school like I usually did. My father did offer me a personal chauffeur and a limousine but I politely declined his offer, not wanting to be like the rest of the pupils at this bloody school. Most did have their own personal limousines and chauffeurs. Some even had personal helicopters that landed on one of the five helicopter landing pads on the roof of the school. There wasn't a runway for private jets but the building of an airstrip was currently in planning. It just made me sicker of people who were daftly rich and were very keen to show it. I didn't like being rich. Sure, there was the advantage of having almost any material possession you wanted, but apart from that, everything sucked.
So here I was, heading off on foot for home. I think I was the only one in that entire school who walked home. Toji had a bicycle, which wasn't bad like having limousines or helicopters but he technically wasn't walking. Kensuke was forced to ride home in a heavily armoured Hummer. Well, I say forced. Kensuke loved it. He has a fascination with anything military. And he was born into the right family to feed his fascination. It's weird; I don't really associate his fascination with the military to his military family, but to Kensuke himself. Maybe I was the only one who didn't care who your parents were at this damn place.
As I walked home, I glanced over down the road and very surprisingly, I saw someone else walking from the school. Usually, people didn't walk past the school gates so when I saw someone else walking when I was walking out of the school, I was surprised. Turned out the person who was walking was Rei Ayanami. If I was honest, I've only ever heard her say ten words and that was when she was answering a question our maths teacher. Even then, her voice was quiet and unremarkable. Her nature made her quite the enigma, to me, anyway. To any other pupil at the Tokyo-3 Academy, she was to be viewed with snobbish antagonism and nothing else.
Rei just happened to be walking my way this day and I wondered why she was walking. "Uh, good afternoon," I greeted as she came up to me.
"Good afternoon, Ikari," she replied.
"Do you usually walk home?" I asked.
"Yes, I do," Rei replied. It was kind of weird how her face remained expressionless as she spoke. There was nothing in her voice at all. Nothing. "I see," I said.
"We are related, are we not, Ikari?" Rei inquired out of the blue.
"Um, yeah. It's distant and it's not by blood but yes, we're related," I replied, surprised by her sudden questions.
"Very well," Rei said. "Thank you for your time, Ikari. I shall be returning home now."
"Uh, okay, no problem," I said. Rei then walked past me without another word and went her separate way. I watched as she walked away and couldn't help but notice how fine her ass was. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have been looking at her like that, but with the fairly short length of our school uniform's skirts, it was hard not to notice. Rei suddenly turned her head towards me and I snapped out of my daze. And I swore I saw the edge of a smile on her mouth.
Another day. Another morning routine of taking a shower, brushing my teeth, getting dressed, saying good morning to my mum, ignoring my dad and eating my breakfast in front of the 72 inch glass panel television. It was pretty neat. Before you turn it on, it just looks like a random glass panel. After you turn it on, it's a TV. I think every household should have one of these. They're just great.
I wasn't really watching the TV this morning. I had it on to some morning chat show as I ate my cereal but didn't really pay attention too much. As I ate, I heard the slow, deliberate footsteps that only meant my father was approaching me. I tried my best to give him a cold a shoulder as I could muster, but he defeated my attempts by placing his hand on said shoulder. "Shinji," he said slowly. "Your mother and I shall be leaving for a holiday tomorrow to the Barbados. Kaji will watch after you in our absence."
I spat out the cereal in my mouth and cried, "WHAT?!"
"I said…"
"I know what you said dad, but what the hell?!" I yelled indignantly.
"Watch your tone!" my mum called from the kitchen.
"Sorry mother!" I replied as apologetically as I could. "So, father, the holiday, when did this come up?"
"I have managed to sell off my company for three times its original estimated worth," my father said. "Because of this, we are richer than we have ever been, beyond our wildest dreams even and I have decided to go on a holiday with your mother."
"What about me?" I asked.
"Your studies are more important Shinji," he replied in a monotone, pushing his glasses up to his face like he usually did. "The Academy is the best school in Japan Shinji and you have to keep up your education there."
"Whatever," I muttered. I heard my father sigh before he walked away, probably to speak to my mum, telling her to speak to me. As expected, she sat beside me with a smile on her face.
"What's the matter Shinji? Are you unhappy at school?" she asked.
"Well, yeah," I replied.
"Why is that?"
"It's full of stuck-up pompous boys and girls who think being at the academy is another thing to add on their list of why they think they are better than everybody else," I muttered.
"Shinji, you know that you're just making a fuss of something you shouldn't. School is just school, wherever and whatever it is," my mum said. "Your father only wants the best for you."
"By throwing money at the problems?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.
My mother sighed before saying, "Shinji, you have a massive advantage over so many kids by going to that Academy. I know that some of the people can be unbearable but it's not just a problem that's exclusive to you."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Well, how do you think I feel when I go to those fancy dinner parties with your father and I have to ask which fork I have to use for my salad? I'm not high society, Shinji. In fact, I'm far from it. I was just a lab assistant when I married your father and I only found out how wealthy he was just before I married him," my mother explained. "And yes, I have met many people where I would take any fork out of the five they give you to drive through their skulls. Gosh, some of them drive me crazy!"
"Really?" I asked.
"Really," my mum replied with a smile. "Trust me; hang in there. It'll work out much better for you in the end. And you might learn to enjoy school in the long run."
"Pffft. Fat chance of that," I said. "How long are you away for?"
"Two weeks," my mum answered. "Your father wanted to go away for six months on his personal yacht but I had to slap some sense into him! I, unlike him, still have a job to do, as well as keeping an eye on you!"
"Well, all right," I said.
"Now hurry along. You might be late," my mum said.
"Late?" I asked. I checked my watch and literally leaped off of the sofa. "OH CRAP! I AM LATE!!" I cried.
"I anticipated this," my father said. "The limousine is waiting for you outside Shinji."
"You know how I feel about that, dad!" I exclaimed.
"You'll be late otherwise. Now go and get in the limousine before I make you. Just this once because you will be late otherwise," my father said, almost as if it was an order.
In the end, I conceded to his logic. I would have been late had I tried to run. The limousine ride pretty much nullified that possibility. I could see why some of the Academy pupils liked riding in it to school and back every day. It gave you a sense of overwhelming executive power over everyone you drove past. However, it went against my principles and I would have walked in any other circumstance. The ride was a short five minutes from my home. The limousine stopped in the limousine rank of my school and let me out. Yes, that's right; my school has a limousine rank to accommodate for the sheer numbers of limousines that arrive here at the Academy. It's easy to see why this school charges school fees that rank among the highest in the world. It would actually be cheaper to go to the Oxford or Cambridge universities as an overseas medical student than to go to the Tokyo-3 Academy. And that's a fact.
I got out of the limousine and waved to my chauffeur who smiled and waved back. One thing I've learned about being the son of a wealthy man is that all the people that your parents employ are always incredibly nice and amiable. That was one bonus but I can't shake the feeling that they're paid to be nice to you. Once my limo drove off, I was about to head into school when a big, long metallic red limousine pulled up at the limo rank. The rear door opened and out walked none other than Asuka Langley Sohryu. At that moment, I tried to hide so that she wouldn't see me as being around Asuka generally meant trouble, as proved by my close encounter by one of her jock fan-boys yesterday.
"Hey, Shinji, is that you?" she asked. Damn it, I was caught! "Uh, yeah!" I said. I was shocked to see her run up to me. It was the first time I had seen Asuka run for anything in fact. "I never knew you took a limo in," Asuka said.
"I don't usually. I was going to be late so my father just sent me in on a limo," I pointed out nervously. "Normally I just walk in." I can't believe it. She just ran up and started making general conversation! The Asuka I heard about wouldn't go near anybody who wasn't in her posse with a long jump pole. "You walk in? That's interesting. Nobody else walks in that I know of," Asuka said. "I have to take a limo because I live so far out. I wake up early just so I can have a three quarter hour ride just to get to school. My father also refuses to let me go in anything but a limo."
"Rich dads," I muttered. "I find it a bummer."
"Too right," Asuka agreed.
I stopped dead in my tracks at that moment just before I entered through the doors of the school. Asuka walked forward a few steps before stopping and looking back at me. "Shinji? Are you okay?" she asked.
"Ah, I'm fine!" I said, catching up to her. "I was just…caught up thinking, that's all."
"Okay," Asuka said with a smile. "I'm still really sorry about bumping into like that. I must have given you a bad headache or something."
"Don't worry about it. It's all in the past," I said. "I'm sure you were hurting just as much as I was."
"Not quite," Asuka chuckled.
We walked towards our registration class, really slowly for some reason. A silence lapsed between us where I found it difficult to say anything. Should I mention what happened with that rugby buff yesterday? Should I point out the fact that I would have reckoned hell would have frozen over the sun before expecting Asuka to make normal conversation with me like this? "You know," I said nervously, "I never expected for you to come up and…uh…"
"Speak to you like this?" Asuka finished.
"Uh, yeah, that's it," I said.
"To cut a long story short, some people say I'm the most popular girl in school, right? I used to enjoy that popularity. In fact, I lived off of it. Now, it just bores me and the people who make a big fuss of me, well, they're all morons," Asuka said. "I'm sick of it all. I want out, but I just don't know how."
I couldn't believe it. Why was she telling me this? The most I've ever done for her is knock her in the head and she was spilling all this to me! "I…I never knew you thought that," I said.
"Most people don't," Asuka said. "You know, I was glad when I bumped into you. You were always one of those guys who didn't give a damn about being rich or peing popular and bumiping into you gave me an excuse to speak to you. After doing so, I've gathered that you're pretty down to Earth, right?"
"Uh, you could say that," I replied slowly.
"That's all right then," Asuka said with a smile. "Say, after we bumped into each other, did anybody try to give you any trouble?"
"Oh, yeah, there was that massive fellow, the captain of the rugby team, to be precise, who had me up against some lockers, threatening to beat me senseless and calling me a 'punk-ass bitch'," I answered.
"I'm sorry about that, really, I am. I can't believe what that numbskull is like!" Asuka said.
"You're apologising on his behalf?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, he isn't going to, is he?" Asuka shot back.
"Fair point," I said. "Do you know the guy?"
"He's asked me out fifteen times in the past six months. I think it's fifteen. It could be more," Asuka said. "I don't even know his name."
"Jeez. I take it that he can't take a hint?" I inquired.
"No," Asuka replied. "Did he hurt you at all?"
"Nah. I managed to plead and beg my way out of it," I replied.
Much to my surprise, Asuka began giggling. "Oh my god, I can't believe I'm laughing! He could have hurt you so badly!"
"It's all right. I let the wimp in me take over," I stated. Asuka then continued laughing even more which surprised me ever more! She really is different than what I've seen and heard about her, which is really quite befuddling. "Not only are you down to earth, you're pretty funny as well Shinji," Asuka said.
"Thanks," I said. "I'm usually just bitter about all the stuck-up rich snobs here but I do occasionally crack jokes."
"And you thought I was one of them?" Asuka inquired.
"Um…yeah…" I said slowly, feeling uncomfortable admitting that.
"It's okay. It's an easy mistake to make," Asuka said reassuringly.
Just as I let my guard down, Asuka suddenly shoved me out to the side and through a door. And to my absolute and utter horror, the door she shoved me through was the girl's toilets! "Asuka! What the hell?!" I asked through the door.
"SSSSHHH!" she sshed. "Stay in there and be quiet!"
"But it's the goddamn girl's toilets!" I said.
"Shit!" Asuka cursed. "Just hold tight, okay?"
"Why?" I asked.
"Just do it!" she snapped. I found myself inside a place I should have never been in, fearing for my life more than anything. Thankfully, there wasn't anybody inside it at the moment but that could change. At that point, I would be utterly screwed.
I summoned any courage I had and listened in at the door. It turned out to be some of Asuka's fan-girls. "Oh…my…god!" said fan-girl number 1. "You're nearly, like, late, Asuka!"
"Come one, you have to, like, come to registration!" said fan-girl number 2.
"I…uh…will do," Asuka said.
"Hurry Asuka so I can, like, do your hair for you. I like, totally love your hair! It's, so like, fabulous!" said fan-girl number 3. At this point, I was struggling not to snicker. "Later okay? I'm just…going to the little ladies room! I'll see you two in class, okay?" Asuka said.
"Okay! Later Asuka!" said fan-girl number 1.
At that point, I was right up against the door and struggling to breathe because I was holding in a laugh. This was what Asuka had to deal with?! It was comical! However, I never caught the significance of her saying 'going to the little ladies room'. She slammed the door open, which in turn flattened me against the wall. "Shinji? Shinji? Where are you?" Asuka asked, holding the door open, which just prolonged my suffering.
"Behind…behind the door," I managed to say.
"AH!" Asuka cried, slamming to door shut to find me in a crumpled heap on the ground. "Are you all right?!"
"No," I said. "I think I broke something."
Obviously, I was all right, but I was in so much pain at that moment that it felt like I broke something. "Come on, I'll help you up," Asuka said. She leant down and helped me to my feet by placing my arm around her shoulder and lifting up. As she did, one of her breasts rubbed ever so slightly against my chest. Being the 16 year old I was, it was contact that I liked, but I had to keep myself under strict control. "There you go," Asuka said once she had me up. "Sorry about that."
"It's no problem, and thanks," I said. "Although I do want to know what that was all about."
"Listen, if those crazy bitches saw you with me, then you might find yourselves threatened by more than one jock this time around," Asuka said. "It's for your own good. I'm not meant to have friends outside of that circle apparently."
"You think I'm a friend?" I asked.
"Well, you're definitely something," Asuka laughed. "And I somehow manage to keep hurting you."
"You mean physically crushing me behind a door!" I cried.
"Oh come on, it wasn't that bad! Aren't you a man?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Half a man now that you have pulverised me with that door!" I exclaimed.
Asuka laughed and slapped me playfully across the shoulder. "Shinji, you really are something else," she said as she laughed. "Now, this is where we part ways. We have to go into registration at different times to prevent suspicion, for your sake."
"Okay, that's fine," I said. "I think I should go first. I'm not meant to be inside a girl's toilet."
"Fine," Asuka said. "I'll just make sure the coast is clear and then you can go. I'll follow on in about a few minutes." Asuka peered out the door before said, "Coast is clear. On you go." I stepped outside and tried to make it look like I hadn't been inside the girl's toilets for the past five minutes. Just before I went, Asuka said, "If anyone asks, this didn't happen, all right? You and I spent no time together this morning."
"Gotcha," I said. I brushed myself off and walked towards my registration class and sauntered in, explaining to Misato and my friends why I was late. I gave them the story about the limo and stuff, nothing to do with Asuka at all. When she entered the classroom, she got her usual morning commotion. She walked past me and we pretended that we didn't know each other. Things would have to stay that way if I was to avoid a beating.
