Chapter 3: New Surroundings, New People


As the evening went by, Rei had unpacked a good portion of her belongings from both the boxes and her traveling bag. She has also hung up her leather jacket in the room's closet so it wouldn't get messed up.

However, she then saw a box marked "Rei's Television", in which she muttered to herself "Shit. I can't lift that son of a bitch myself. Maybe i'll meet some people tomorrow who can help me out, so let's see what else I can unpack instead".

She then runs by another box that says "Rei's Guitar" and says "There we go. My guitar!", opens it and takes it and its amp out.

She then plugs the amp into the wall, then plugs the guitar into the amp and starts strumming with a pic in hand.


For about 10 minutes, she plays whatever comes to her head, even attempting to perform a made-up solo, only to break one of the strings.

"Shit.", she blurts out after the string broke. "I wonder if anyone else around town plays guitar. Maybe i'll ask at school tomorrow."

She then sets her guitar down, opens her traveling bag and pulls out her cellphone and looks at it.

"11:46 PM?!? Damn. I need to get some sleep. I got quite an eventful day ahead for myself.", she muttered to herself, in which she then proceeded to pull out a pair of pajamas to wear for bed.

She then proceeded to strip down only to bra and panties. She then put her pajamas on, turned the lights off and layed in bed to rest her eyes and fall asleep.


"Hi. This is Rei Ayanami. She's the daughter of old friends from college", Yui Ikari tells a short haired brunette woman wearing a lab coat

"Hiya. I'm Rei. Nice to meet ya", a nine year old Rei introduces herself to said woman

"Well, its nice to meet you too, Rei. My name is Dr. Naoko Akagi. I work with Yui, so the two of us need to get to some important matters, so why not you go with my daughter while you leave us grownups to do our work", Naoko politely told Rei. She then nugged her head into a different direction and yelled out "RITSUKO! Come out here and watch this child for the two of us!"

"Alright, mother, i'm coming.", Ritsuko called back out. Her voice is somewhat different than it is in current times, perhaps due to it being unharmed by tobacco consumption or its consumption has yet to take its toll.

All of a sudden, a somewhat younger looking Ritsuko walks into view, sees Rei and says "Hi there, young one. I am Naoko's daughter Ritsuko. What's your name?"

the 9 year old Rei giggles, then replies "My name is Rei Ayanami. I am nine years old. Can you play with me?"

Ritsuko, after seeing Rei sporting a big, adorable smile, then takes her hand and says "Follow me. We'll play a game of hide and seek. How does that sound?"

"Oh boy, I love hide and seek", Rei replies. "I play it with mommy and daddy all the time"

"That's good to here", Ritsuko replied with a smile.


Inside the lounge room of Gehrim, Ritsuko tells Rei "Alright, Rei. You count to 30 with your eyes closed while I go and hide. After you're done counting to 30, you must go and find me, okay?"

"Cool. So, I start counting?", Rei asks

"Yes, but you also need to close your eyes as well", Ritsuko replies

"Okay!", Rei joyfully responds. She then puts her hands over her face and starts counting to 30. Ritsuko then walks away to look for a place to hide.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10", Rei counts as her hands as covering her eyes shut.

Ritsuko, while walking around, finds a fairly easy to find corner to hide by. 'I hope she can find me easily and not get lost", Ritsuko muttered in a worried tone.

"25, 26, 27, 28...29...30! Ready or not, here I come!", Rei then giggled as she moved her hands away from her face & began to skip out of the room.

"La la la la la la", Rei chanted as she frolicked through the hallways of Gehrim. However, she immediately stopped as she saw an open door with a shadow of a woman standing in the room

"Could she be in...HERE!?!", Rei yelled in joy as she then jumped into the room, only to see Naoko standing in the room, mumbling something to herself.

"Hello.", Rei called out to Naoko. She did not respond.

"Miss Naoko, are you okay?", Rei asked her in a concerned tone.

"Did you just call me Old Hag?", Naoko sternly growled.

"Ummmm...no, Miss Naoko.", Rei replied in confusion.

"Did...you, just call me 'OLD HAG?!?', Rei?!?", Naoko growled in response.

Rei suddenly began to shake in fear, whimpering out "You're scaring me."

"If you call me old hag ONE MORE TIME, you'll be in big trouble!", Naoko barked out in a deranged, trance-like matter

Tears began to flow through Rei's eyes as she then slumped down and cried "Ma..ma...mommy, daddy. I'm scared. I need help!"

All of a sudden, Naoko suddenly darted towards Rei and grabbed her by the neck with both hands, strangling her.

and then...she woke up, gasping and panting.


The dream had caused her to break a sweat, resulting in her pajamas to be slightly wet. Rei then realized that she's back in her apartment room that's filled with unopened packages containing.

She then placed her left hand firmly on her chest and stroked her face with her right hand.

------

"I...I certainly hoped not to remember that again", Rei mutters as she tries to calm herself down.

She then grabbed her cellphone to check the time

"6:56 AM? Shit.", she tells herself. "I need to get ready before Kaji comes by to take me to school."

Rei then jumps out of bed and run towards a bag that contains the words "Bathing Accessories" on it. She opens it up, pulls out a bottle of shampoo and conditioner, as well as a bar of soap. She then runs towards the bathroom, sets them down and runs back to the livinig room. She then opens another box containing wash rags and towels and pulls out exactly one towel and one wash rag to use. She then runs back to the bathroom, strips down to her birthday suit, grabs the bar of soap, the bottles of shampoo and conditioner and steps inside the shower. She then starts up the showing and begins to clean herself up.


After taking a shower, she wraps the towel around her naked body and opens the bathroom accessories box again, this time pulling out a toothbrush and toothpaste. After she grabs said items, she runs back to the bathroom yet again. This time, however, she stands by the sink, squeezes some toothpaste out of its tube onto the toothbrush and starts to brush her teeth.


After brushing her teeth, she then takes the towel off, dries her hair with it and tosses it on the bathroom floor. She then grabs her traveling bag and puts on black bra and panties.

She then decides to take a look inside another cabinet, only to find something wrapped in black in there. She pulls it out, sees a note on that the reads "Your New School Uniform" and opens it up.

The bag reveals a white shirt, a blue one piece skirt, a red ribbon, black socks and white loafers.

------

"Eh. So this is my new school uniform.", Rei mutters. She then sets it aside, finds another box with the word "Clothes" written on it. She opens it up and pulls out a different school uniform, which consists of a white shirt, a red tie, a beige vest, a dark grey skirt and its own black socks and white loafers.

She then sets both school uniforms side by side each other and mutters "Well...lets see. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, i'll wear the new uniform and on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, i'll wear my old uniform. Since today is Monday, the new uniform it is."

She then grabs the new school uniform, puts it on and says "At least it fits me. That's all it matters, since I don't really care about wearing these damn things."

Now that she's all ready, she sits by, waiting for Kaji to arrive to drop her off at school. Her first day of school in Tokyo-3.

For what seems to be about 10 minutes of sitting around, she then hears the doorbell go off

------

"Come inside.", Rei responds.

The door opens up to reveal Kaji, still wearing the clothes he wore the other day. He then asks Rei "So, you're ready for your first day at your new school?"

"Absolutely", she responds.

"Okay then", Kaji replies "Let's get going."

Rei then gets her shoes on and follows Kaji out of the apartment room. After she closes the door, she locks it with her keys and follows Kaji to his car.


As Kaji drives, he then asks Rei "By the way, there's something I like to know about you that's been bugging me since yesterday"

"Was is that?", Rei replies

"Your hair. Why is it blue? Did you dye it or are you wearing a wig?", Kaji replies back

"Here we go again as always", Rei grumbles to herself. She then responds "Well, as my parents have always told me, I was born that way."

"You're serious?", Kaji replies, dumbfounded by what he just heard "There's no way at all that blue is your natural hair color"

"It is. Trust me, if mom and pops were here, they would defend my statement till the end. My mother, in fact, gave birth to me and said that ever since my hair grew in, it was always like that.", Rei quickly replied

Stunned by the information he received, Kaji then said "Well...you're lucky. You're certainly a one of a kind. Sure, i've seen people born with natural red hair, but not blue. Its just...awesome."

"Well, thank you, Kaji. I like to hear people say that its awesome that my hair is naturally blue. Too bad a few rotten eggs back in Elementary School didn't find my hair color to be awesome", Rei responds with a slight frown. "But even then, virtually everyone I met found it cool that my hair is blue."

"Well, that's nice to hear", Kaji replied "At least you're in middle school these days, right?"

"Yup. I guess you figured that one out by calculating how old I am", Rei responded

"Obviously.", Kaji smirked as he replied. He then pulled up by the school and told Rei "Alright, here's the school. I'll be back when you get out."

"Alright.", Rei responded. As she got out of the car, she then turned to him and asked "So...when are you going to leave for Germany?"

"In a week. That means that starting next week, you're going to have to walk to and back from school and Nerv all by yourself. You think you can manage to do that without my held?", Kaji replied

"Absolutely. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself.", Rei remarked. "However, since i'm still new here, I appreciate your help on getting me used to the surroundings"

"You're welcome.", Kaji replied.

As he was about to leave, Rei then remembered her situation back at her apartment room with the packages and asked Kaji "By the way. When we're done with all the stuff today, can you help me unpack and get my room all spiffed up?"

"Sure thing, Rei." Kaji immediately responded "Now you might want to hurry up and not be late to class, okay?"

"Alrighty then...bye", Rei replied as she waved goodbye and ran towards her classroom.


After Rei found her class, Kaji then muttered to himself "That kid sure is nice. I liker him. Smart, spunky and likeable. I wish I could be her guardian". He then picks up a file that has a photo of a teenage girl with long red head, two bright red things on her head that appear to be hair clips and is wearing a yellow dress. As soon as he looks at the picture, he gulps and mutters to himself "Oh man. I have to be her guardian until she's needed to be transferred her." and proceeds to groan.


"Class 2-A. So this is my classroom.", Rei replies as she stands in front of the door of the classroom. She then opens the door and sees a bunch of other kids in there, as well as an old man, who she assumes to be the teacher.

She then walks towards the old man and tells him "Excuse me."

"Yes.", the old man asks

"Ummmm...my name is Rei Ayanami. I am transferring here from Iwanuma, Miyagi.", Rei tells the old man.

"Well...take any seat you see. I'll supply you a list of what supplies you need at the end of day.", the old man replies.

Rei then sits down on a vacant chair near by a window and remarks "Well...since school is always a bore, I might as well sit by where I can get a view of the world"

She then stairs out of the window for about a minute until someone clamps down their hands on Rei's shoulders and says "Look who joined class", startling her in the process

Rei then recognized the girl's voice, due to her british accent, turned around and said "Whoa. You made me jump"

Standing by her was the same teenage girl she saw by the screening room the day before.

"So you're the First Child, eh? I've been waiting to meet you.", the girl then tells Rei

"Yup, that's me." Rei replied "My name is Rei Ayanami, so what's your name?"

"Well, nice to meet you, Rei", the girl responded back. She then struck a pose and said "My name is Mari Illustrious Makinami. I transferred here all the way from Blackpool, England several months ago"

"Mari, sit your ass down.", the voice of another teenage growls.

Mari then turns her attention towards a girls with freckles and black pigtails and replies "Sorry, class rep. I was introducing myself to my new coworker. I thought that wouldn't be a problem at all"

"You can do that AFTER class", the class rep replied with a sneer.

"Fine", Mari groaned, in which she then sat next to Rei in a vacant chair of her own. Mari then quietly muttered "Hikari. Piss off"

After that, Mari then shifter her attention back towards Rei and said "Well...since class is in session, we can resume our introduction later."

"Yeah. That's fine with me. The last thing I want to do is pick a fight with Little Bo Peep on my first day here", Rei responded.

"Don't worry about Hikari.", Mari cheerfully replied. "She does that to everyone that tries to have some sort of fun around here in class. Poor Toji and Kensuke over there are even bigger targets to her wrath of authority"

"Damn. I hope I don't get in her way during my stay here.", Rei responded.


On the other side of the room, two boys were ogling at their new classmate. One has freckles and wore classes, while the other was tan and wore dark clothing.

"You see the new babe, Kensuke? Man, she's hot", the tan kid told his pal.

"Yeah. What I really want to know is if blue really is her hair color. That would be a first", Kensuke replied. "Still, on the other hand, Mari just knocks my socks"

"Actually, I love to be caught in a room with both, because as they all say...'Two is better than one!', Kensuke. Remember that", Toji replied back.

"So...once school lets out, we should introduce ourselves to them.", Kensuke added.

"You know...since the new babe just arrived here, she might need some help unpacking.", Toji suggested.

"Yeah! That's a great idea, Toji. Not only we'll get to talk to the babes, we can also get on the right foot with them. I sure can't wait to talk to Mari in person.", Kensuke replied in joy.

"Shut up, you two!", Hikari yelled at Toji and Kensuke.

"Yes, class rep.", Toji and Kensuke both sighed as they replied.


After school let out, Rei and Mari walked out of class, talking about random things when they were then approached by Toji and Kensuke

------

"Ummmm...hi there. So you're new, right?", Toji asked Rei.

"Hi. Nice to meet both of you. My name is Rei Ayanami.", Rei replied as she then shook both Toji and Kensuke's hands.

"Since you're new here....we presume that...you have have some things to unpack, right?", Kensuke asked

"Wait...you need help unpacking?", Mari added. "I think we three should help Rei unpack her belongings."

"Well, count me in too", the voice of a man called out.

"Oh. Hi Kaji. So you want to help Rei out as well?", Mari replied.

"I already promised her to do so this morning", Kaji replied back.

"Well...thank you all, I would really appreciate it", Rei replied to them all in admiration of their willing to help her unpack.

"Well, then. Let's go to Rei's apartment room and get started!", Kaji replied in joy.

As they drove to the apartment complex, Kaji told Rei "So you met some friends today? That's a good start."

"Yeah. Its best to stick together than to make enemies", Mari replied back.

Toji then leaned towards Kensuke and whispered "Why don't you speak to Mari like you want to? You said that you wanted to and now that you're by her, you're freezing up all of a sudden."

'I...I...i'm afraid, Toji.", Kensuke whispered in response.

"What? Afraid ofr rejection?", Toji whispered back. "Better to try now than to never do so"

"Well...maybe.", Kensuke whispered to Toji

"Ooookay, then. Suit yourself", Toji finished whispering.


Inside Rei's apartment, Toji asked Rei "So...about your hair. Is that your real hair color?"

"Why is this always the first thing everyone asks about me?", Rei groaned to herself

"Yeah. Tell us about the hair. I like to know why my coworker's hair color is blue", Mari added.

"Uuuuugh.", Rei groaned to herself again

"Indeed, Rei. I like to know as well", Kensuke added in as well

"Okay. Here I go", Rei told herself. She then looked at the other kids and said "My folks have told me from time to time that I was born like that. When I was a little kid, when my hair started to grow, they said that it was blue. Much like how it is now. They asked the doctor why my hair is blue and the response was that it must have been a rare genetic mutation. They said that this also explains why my skin is so pale and why my eyes are red, though they never explained why my facial features are not...ahem...Asian like a lot of you are."

As soon as she finished telling what she had to say, the room was silent.

Kensuke then said "Wow...just...wow. That is...so AWESOME!!!"

"No shit, Kensuke. A girl with natural blue hair. So rare, its amazing", Toji added.

"That's cool, Rei. Real cool", Mari added in as well

"Now, then.", Kaji told all four children. "With that said, we got a lot to do for Rei before the day is over."

"Thanks, Kaji.", Rei replied. "Let's get focused on making my apartment room looking spiffy.

and thus, for about several hours, Kaji and the four children all unpacked each box and situated the room to Rei's liking


After they had finished, Toji and Kensuke said "Well, we gotta go home to our respective parents. Its getting late"

"Yeah.", Mari added. "You start you synch tests tomorrow, Rei. Don't want to be tired while testing. See you tomorrow."

After Mari, Toji and Kensuke left, Kaji then said "Okay, I better hit the road myself. Same time tomorrow, except you'll be heading to Nerv instead of school, okay?"

"Oh...really?", Rei responded. "That'll be...interesting" She then muttered to herself "and I still wish it was blue."

"Anyways, goodnight!", Kaji told Rei as he left

"Bye, Kaji.", Rei replied as she waved.


After Kaji left, Rei then told herself "Another eventful day done. Now...since I got my computer, TV, game systems, stereo and such set up, I should watch a movie before I go to bed"

She then looks through her DVD box and picks up the movie "The Burning"

"Heh. The Burning. Nothing beats a good old slasher film", Rei said

She then popped the movie into her DVD player and sat on her couch to watch it...only to pass out on the couch as the film played, sending her into the next day without warning.