Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or The Rebuild of Evangelion.
NEON GENESIS
EVANGELION: SUBSTANCE
Episode 11:
"Tidal Wave Pt 1"
"Rei?", a deep voice called her. There was a hint of concern on it, even in the cold and calm tone.
Rei Ayanami quit looking outside the car's window and robotically turned her head to Commander Ikari, who was sitting right next to the girl. The man had his arms crossed, glancing at her from behind his diffuse glasses. He also had an eyebrow raised, indicating that he had tried to call her attention a number of times on the last seconds.
"I am sorry, Commander", she spoke in a soft voice. Positioning her legs towards the man, she gave the Commander full attention: she didn't wanted to make the same mistake again.. "I was distracted."
Gendo Ikari kept the sideways glance at her for a few seconds, before intertwining his finger and placing his hands on his lap.
"I see", he responded in the same tone as before. "I asked you about your health. There were no complications after we removed the bandages, correct?", he questioned, not looking at the girl.
His gaze was pointed forward, towards the driver's seat right in front of him: a dark haired man in a equally dark suit, driving the car in complete silence. An usual behaviour for Section 2's agents, Rei thought.
Beside him, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki sat at the passenger's seat, holding something resembling a book and writing on it with a simple pencil. She had questioned the older man about the nature of the object: apparently, it was called a 'crossword'.
"There were none, Commander. My injuries seem to be completely healed", she explained to the man next to her. "Dr. Akagi realized a physical exam on me after the Neural Scan. I am able to pilot once again."
"Good", Gendo simply said.
"Are you sure of this, Ikari?", Fuyutsuki asked from the seat in front, still looking at his crosswords book. "We don't even know what caused the accident in the first place. We should look further into it."
"We have no time to spare, Professor. If Rei is in condition to pilot, we must prepare Unit-00 at once and continue conducting synch tests", Gendo declared, adjusting his glasses.
"Even after the Fourth's incident?", the Professor inquired. "At least, this is confirmation that the problem doesn't necessarily lies on the pilot, but on Unit-00 itself."
"This is only an assumption. Unit-00 might be problematic, but the nature of the Evangelion and its chosen pilots makes it hard to work with. It might've rejected the Fourth Child completely."
"As it did with Rei?", the older man turned his head back to face Ikari, frowning. The girl on the back seat leaned her head slightly in confusion: why was the Sub-Commander worried about her? If something happened, she could be replaced.
Rei always found the interactions between the two man strange, mainly because the Professor was probably the only person who openly disagreed with the Commander's orders without consequences. She figured it was because of his rank: he was second-in-command at NERV, after all.
But once in a while, she could see a different kind of interaction between the two, something that didn't make much sense to her: Fuyutsuki would disagree with the Commander, prompting a discussion which in her experience should cause, at least, some hostility between two persons. The Commander was the leader of NERV, after all, and his decision was final.
Instead, the Commander would smile. A small smile, almost hidden. But a smile nonetheless.
She didn't understood his reaction. Smiling was something almost alien to her, but she knew that it was a reaction to something that pleased a person. Disagreement pleased the Commander? That didn't make any sense.
"Nonsense. Rei has performed synch tests for months, without a hint of malfunction. This accident is only an isolated case, one that will not repeat itself. She will pilot it", the Commander responded.
Fuyutsuki hummed, returning his head to the previous position. "You shouldn't be so careless, Ikari. The safety of the pilots is essential, whether you like it or not."
There it was again: a soft smirk on the Commander's face.
She stared at the broad-shouldered man, still confused by it. She had seen people smile before, mostly NERV personnel in the corridors. They strangely would stop doing it once she passed, something that she also didn't understood. Did she cause a negative reaction on people?
The Commander often smile at her, so maybe the issue was something else. She liked when the Commander smiled at her. No one else did.
No one else?
"Do you find it agreeable, Rei?", Commander Ikari questioned her, glancing at the girl and interrupting her thoughts.
She blinked for a seconds, before nodding robotically. "Yes, I see no problem in it. If i'm capable of piloting, then i will."
Gendo nodded back. "Good", he simply said. Fuyutsuki hummed again.
This pleased Rei. The Commander had raised her to fulfill whatever tasks she was ordered to, mainly to pilot Unit-00. She always had obeyed them, for they gave her purpose, something to strive for. If she didn't, what use would she have?
The Commander was satisfied. Soon, she would return to piloting, resuming her duty to serve NERV and Commander Ikari. She was born to pilot Unit-00. She was born to fulfill the Commander's wishes. To do so made her happy.
…
'Happy'.
…
What does it mean to be happy?
…
'Maybe I should smile if i'm happy, but I somehow don't see that as an appropriate reaction to it', Rei thought. Was she satisfied with the trust the Commander placed on her? The man had expectations of her, and she wanted to fulfill these expectations. It was her duty, after all. Maybe if she did, the Commander would smile to her again. That was what he did when she obeyed him.
…
But Pilot Ikari had smiled to her before.
…
And so did Pilot Makinami.
…
She hadn't done anything to please them, nothing to bring that behaviour from them. The Commander smiled when she was satisfied with her.
So why did they smiled to her?
Glancing at her side, she gazed at the man's hands, covered in the white gloves he usually wore. She had rarely seen the Commander without them, but if by chance he removed it, she already knew what she would see.
The plug ejected, the inertia making her lower her head by force alone. Her mind was in scrambles, something stinging it like a thousand needles at the same time. She grunted and whimpered as she felt herself being thrown away from the EVA.
She heard a loud bang and almost fell from her seat. The plug must've hit the cage's walls, but the ejection jets weren't stopping. She could feel the plug shaking and wobbling out of control, but she paid no mind to it: she held her head with her hands, trying to get a hold of herself.
It hurt. She felt her body going numb.
She didn't even notice her body floating upwards as the plug fell to the ground. The strange lack of gravity felt pleasing, for a second.
She heard another loud bang, and the impact made her hit her head in the seat behind. She felt the pain stinging and passing through her body, a filet of blood coming down from the injury.
Silence resumed, except for the faint voices on the comm. She could hear Dr. Akagi shouting orders to Lieutenant Ibuki, something that she couldn't understand. It was too far for her to make anything of it.
But just thinking of Dr. Akagi sent a jolt of electricity on her body. Rei had felt Unit-00 angrily punch the window from where the Commander and the Doctor watched the synch test. It wanted to kill, to maim, to destroy.
It hated that person. It was its enemy.
But who was that person?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a faint sound from outside the plug. She heard footsteps and someone shouting something that closely remembered her name.
Her name? What was her name? She hadn't the strength to remember it.
With a hiss, the plug's door opened.
"Rei!", the voice called.
Turning her head, she could see the figure of a person against the blinding light from outside the plug. Who was it?
"Are you alright?", the person asked.
Rei whimpered for a second, before slowly nodding. Her eyes got used to the light, so now she could see who the person was.
Commander Ikari had saved her. He had come all the way down to personally open the plug and help her out. She felt glad. She was thankful.
Should she smile? She didn't knew.
Gazing downwards, she saw that the man was leaning on the plug's door, holding his own arm, which was twitching. Why was that?
His palms were hurt. She could see the flesh and skin melting from the burns that had recently happened. The only thing that could've caused that was if the Commander had opened the plug's door barehanded. He had hurt himself for her behalf.
Staring at his hands, she saw the small drops of blood falling on the residue LCL that was at the bottom of the plug. The red liquid lost itself on the orange one, mixing with it. On the ground outside the plug, the Commander's glasses twitched and broke from the high temperature.
Rei wondered once again: should she smile?
Rei stared at her own hands. The soft white skin was in perfect conditions, not one scratch on them. If she helped someone that was dear to her, would they become scarred too? Would it be worthy?
"Sir, we're approaching the research site", the Section 2 agent informed.
Outside the car's window, they could see the outskirts of Tokyo-3: the hills and forests almost seeming calm and quiet. But looking ahead, a large portion of it had been smashed by a gigantic being, causing a lot of natural damage. Besides the destruction, many large tents were scattered for the purpose of studying the body of the Fourth Angel.
Even with that, Pilot Ikari had managed to destroy the Angel with minimal casualties. Rei had found that pleasant, even if the pilot had disrespected direct orders.
"Research site or mausoleum?", Fuyutsuki inquired, still writing on his crossword book. "I don't think there's enough of the Angel left for any significant discovery."
"We work with what we have. Dr. Akagi reported that the core was severely damaged, but most of the Angel's body is still intact", Gendo responded, crossing his arms.
"We have your son to thank for that", the older man said.
"He disrespected orders and risked Unit-01. There is no praise in that", Gendo retorted in a cold tone.
"Are you going to scold him, then?"
"That is Captain Katsuragi's job, Professor. I have no time for a child's tantrum", Gendo simply said, wanting the conversation to be over.
Fuyutsuki kept silent, watching the research site approaching slowly.
Rei looked at her own hands, her thoughts drifting. Pilot Ikari had only done his job, and had successfully destroyed the enemy. Even with that, he had been reprimanded by the Commander's orders.
Rei questioned herself for a second, wondering what was more important: to destroy the enemy or to follow orders?
"Rei, do you have class today?", the Commander asked her, once again interrupting her thoughts.
"Yes, Commander. I will be going by afternoon", she responded in a monotonous tone.
The man simply nodded, but Fuyutsuki turned his head, looking at her. He held his crossword book up for her to see.
"Education is important, Rei. That said, can you tell me the seven letter word for 'cycle of death and rebirth'?", he questioned, expectantly.
The Commander huffed, turning to look at the window once more. The Professor's hobbies were none of his concern, but they could get annoying at times.
Rei blinked for a second before answering.
"Samsara, Sub-Commander."
The Professor smiled, before writing it down.
"Thank you, Rei."
"Shinji? You up already?", Misato questioned in a sleepy tone, while scratching her head and yawning.
The boy looked back from the kitchen where he prepared breakfast, something that made Misato's stomach growl in joy.
"Oh, good morning, Misato", he answered, smiling. "I'm doing some eggs and rice, just wait a moment."
The woman sat at the table, supporting her hand on her hand and grinning at Shinji. "You are my personal hero, Shin-chan."
Shinji snorted while stewing the rice. They already had a good color and size, so they were almost ready. "Thank you, Misato. It no problem."
"Hmm, so modest", she mocked, scratching her cheek. "Where did you learn to cook, anyway?"
Shinji removed the rice from the stove, concentrating on the eggs. "Uncle Akira taught me when I was little. Guess i took a liking for it", he answered, smiling.
Misato raised a brow. "He didn't cook for you?"
Shinji wondered if two eggs would be enough. He glanced at Misato and saw her miserable morning appearance. Three eggs, then.
"Well, he did, but sometimes he would leave for work, so I had to take care of myself", he responded, adding the third egg.
"Take care of yourself, huh…?", Misato mumbled, looking at the boy working.
Even if Misato Katsuragi enjoyed the comforts that Shinji brought to her house (between cooking and cleaning) she also felt a pang on conscience seeing the boy do all that working without even being asked to. Was she being harsh on the boy?
Maybe not, but she had been harsh on him. The day after the Angel attack, on the hospital room. She had laid down on him all the responsibilities he was supposed to have. He was a pilot, after all. He had to follow orders.
The fact that he was only a fourteen year old boy dawned on her after that. They had brought him to fight creatures that not even NERV understood and at the same time demanded discipline from him, to follow orders without questioning.
Maybe it was too heavy of a burden for him. She had expected him to snap under the pressure, to even run away. She had been mad at him for not following her orders, and had acted accordingly: scolding the boy, talking to him as if he was some soldier that had been caught slacking off.
She hadn't considered that what he was doing for them was more than they could ever ask him for.
She didn't think she was wrong: he had to get some self-control, or else he would be killed. She prayed that he could see that: she worried about him, and wanted him to emerge victorious from every fight. If they could manage to find some balance, things would go good.
And while she expected him to be bitter about her reprimand, she found that the boy had carried on normally. He wasn't resentful at her for putting him inside an EVA and complaining about it later, something that even her would be pissed at if she was fourteen again.
So maybe he understood.
"You're very mature for your age", she told Shinji.
He turned his head at her again, looking confused. "Huh? What do you mean?", he asked.
Misato rubbed her arm, sighing. "Well, i mean… you seem like you can do good on your own, that's all."
It wasn't what she really meant, but she didn't wanted to mention it.
Shinji gazed at her for a few seconds, before smiling softly. "Well, yeah", turning back to finish the eggs. "But honestly, I prefer to live with someone else. I don't… like being alone that much."
Misato stared at his back, watching the boy finish his cooking. He put the rice on two pots and the oggs on a large plate. He held them in his hands, but didn't place them in the table: he kept immobile for a second.
"Misato… thank you", he simply said.
The woman didn't understood what he meant. "For what?"
"For taking me in with you", he explained, turning to her and smiling. He approached the table, placing the food on it. "You're a good person."
Misato's eyebrows perked up in surprise. She gazed at his serene expression, a genuine smile on his face. She smiled back.
"Don't worry Shinji. You're home now", she said.
Shinji scratched his head, laughing softly while Misato started to eat. "Well, I had a home already, but I can make room for two", he said.
Misato laughed as well. "Thank you, Shinji. It means a lot", she said, ruffling his hair. "Well, gotta say: this is delicious. This uncle of yours was a good teacher."
Shinji grinned.
"The best."
"I could've gone to school by train, Misato", Shinji told them woman, who was driving her blue Renault Alpine with a surprising amount of respect for the law.
Misato waved her hand in dismissal while stopping on the red traffic light. Imagine that.
"Relax, Shinji. Work only starts on the afternoon, so I got some free time", she explained, turning to him. "So… got any friends there already?"
Shinji looked away for a few seconds. He hadn't told Misato about the incident with Toji, and decided that it was for the best.
He had returned to school a couple of days ago, being greeted by the jock and his glass-wearing friend. When he saw Toji, the two had shared a understanding smile, while the other one (Kensuke Aida) had started to bombard him with EVA related questions.
Maybe Toji had told him that they had resolved their differences, so he took the opportunity to interrogate Shinji. Even with that slight annoyance, Kensuke was a good guy.
So it dawned on Shinji that he had friends. Two friends, to be exact. They hanged out on intervals, slacked of in class while the Class Representative wasn't looking (well, mostly Toji and Kensuke: Shinji still wanted to stay out of trouble) and talked about normal stuff.
Mainly girls. They wanted to know how someone like Shinji had got the attention of a 'hot babe' like Aiko Chihiro. Shinji's responde was usually a groan.
"Well, i do. Remember those guys who entered the plug?", Shinji asked Misato, smirking.
The woman turned to him with a look of incredulity on her face. "Really? Those two?", she asked loudly. "Never knew you enjoyed the company of troublemaker!"
"Misato, the light", Shinji said, pointing forward.
Misato followed the direction Shinji pointed at, only to find the traffic light green and many angry drivers honking behind her.
"Oh! Right, right…", she said embarrassed, switching the gear and accelerating. "Anyway, at least you got some people to hang out with. Maybe you should bring them home sometime, do a little party or something."
"Well… sometime, maybe", he answered, scratching his head. He had never brought friends home. Well, first time for everything.
"Besides…", Misato continued, smiling at him maliciously. "It seems that both your friends have a huge crush on me."
Shinji's eyes widened with incredulity when he looked at the woman. "What?"
Misato laughed loudly. "Yes! After Ritsuko confiscated that kid's camera, I went to meet them. They were, let's say, impressed", she explained, the joy on her voice clear.
Shinji groaned. "Oh, great. Another thing for them to pester me with", he lamented.
"Shinji, Shinji, such a serious guy", she mocked, leaning on him with a sleazy look. "Even you must be impressed with my features, admit it!"
Shinji held his breath as Misato leaned on him, chest first. Looking away, he declared, proud:
"Nope. Not falling for this."
"Hmm, maybe living with me has made you immune to my charms, if that's even possible", she mocked disappointment.
Shinji huffed, but smirked right after. He would be lying if he said that he didn't found Misato's flaudering amusing. Even with all the embarrassment involved.
Looking outside the car's window, he saw that he was approaching school: the building, standing on a hill, could be seen from a great distance. Being the only school left in Tokyo-3 made it easily recognizable. An horde of students were walking on the sideway, most of them yawning and looking gloomy from the prospect of another day of class.
But between the mass of people, he recognized two boys: one dressed in a tracksuit and another with a white shirt and wearing glasses. The one with the jacked was hitting the other one's arm, something that made Shinji snicker.
"Hey Misato, you can drop me here", he told the woman, pointing at his two friends.
To Shinji's dismay, Misato grinned slyly upon seeing them. She parked the car just ahead of the pair, startling them.
Shinji left the car, waving at them. "Hey guys."
They waved back, smiling. "Yo Chief", Toji greeted.
Now, Shinji wanted to close the car's door immediately and be done with it, but unfortunately, Misato opened her own and stepped out of the car, waving at the pair. "Hey boys!"
Seeing the NERV's Captain in company of Shinji made them freeze on track. They looked at Shinji, then at Misato, then at Shinji again.
"Wha...why is she...?", Kensuke started, both him and Toji confused by the two being together and at the same time overflowing with joy for seeing the Misato babe once again.
"Shin-chan lives with me!", she explained happily, using the 'chan' suffix to add a layer of embarrassment for the boy. "He's such a good kid. I couldn't help myself when he came to Tokyo-3, so I invited him to stay at my place", continued, grinning at Shinji.
He facepalmed, groaning.
They stared at Shinji with a look that could pierce a wall. The boy kept his face hidden.
"Well, nice to see you both again, but I gotta go", Misato said, waving again. Then, she turned to Shinji and gave him a sly teasing smile. "Oh, and Shin-chan: please control yourself with that Aiko girl. You're a NERV Pilot! It would be a shame if you got someone pregnant, eh?"
Shinji winced, regretting having told Misato about Aiko. What did he expect?
After that, she quickly entered her car and started it, laughing maniacally. As she got away, Toji and Kensuke stood there, staring at Shinji, who wanted to be anywhere else in the world.
Toji slowly pointed a finger at him, at a loss for words. "You… you…"
Kensuke was faster.
"YOU SEXUAL MANIAC!"
Hikari Horaki strode through the school's hallways, rubbing her eyes and yawning. It was hard to be Class Representative, a duty that required her to arrive at school earlier than most students. Her duties were many, but she did them with almost professional diligence.
She had always been one of the most disciplined students of her class, a characteristic that helped her in attaining the position of Class Representative. Such characteristic was born at home: her father was usually out to work, so she had to take care of domestic tasks, like cleaning, helping Nozomi get on her uniform, cooking dinner for Kodama when she got home, among many others.
So, to say the least, her schedule was tight. Fortunately, her morning duties were over, so she walked towards Class 2-A humming to herself.
To herself, mind you. A Class Representative wasn't supposed to behave so casually.
As such, she had took her duty seriously when she discovered Kensuke and Toji's little 'escapade'. She had assigned cleaning duty for both, while thanking Shinji for defeating the monster that had invaded the city. He was a nice guy, certainly humble, which pleased Hikari: she didn't like boasting.
As for the other two… well, she didn't mind seeing Suzuhara a bit more than normally, if only to see if he had done his job properly.
Hikari blushed slightly, trying to shake those thoughts away. That was no time to think about this kind of...
"Hey, you there", a feminine voice called her from behind.
Being the attentive student that she was, she turned smiling lightly to see who had called her, but was surprised to see a girl who she had never seen. Or maybe her memory wasn't good as it used to be, as the girl was wearing the same uniform as the rest of the school's girls.
"Uh… can I help you?"
"Yeah, please. Can you tell me where Class 2-A is?", the girl asked, a cat-like grin on her face.
After a great deal of shouting and yelling, Shinji found his way to Class 2-A. Entering it, he was greeted with the usual sight: almost all students turning to look at him, some waving and calling his name (mostly girls). He waved back with a shy smile.
At that, Toji and Kensuke pushed him forwards, cursing him for his allegedly 'casanova' skills.
The three boys sat down, sighing in defeat: another day of boring lectures. Toji crossed his arms and put his legs up the desk, frowning.
"Seriously, man, i think I should've punched ya harder", he groaned.
"I don't think that's wise, Toji", Kensuke mused while removing his camera from his pack. Apparently, he had already bought another one. "Imagine if you damaged our 'Shin-chan' cute little face: all the chicks around here would group and beat you up", he said, saying 'Shin-chan' with the maximum amount of mockery he could muster.
Shinji sighed. "Guys, is not like that, really", he tried to explain.
"Oh really?", Toji said sarcastically, before pointing to something behind Shinji. "Then explain that."
Shinji turned back with a confused look, before understanding what he meant: walking towards him, Aiko Chihiro gave him her most disarming smile, with two other girls following her from some distance. He could swear she was swaying her hips, too. He gulped and smiled at her.
"Uh...good morning, Chihiro-san", he greeted, friendly.
"Good morning, Shinji-kun. And it's just Aiko, please", she said, putting her hands on her back. She scanned the area with her eyes, and finding only Shinji's friends there (which she didn't bother to learn the names) she directed her attention back to Shinji.
He coughed on his own hand at his mistake.
"Yes, of course, Aiko", he responded, before raising a brow. "You…i mean, you weren't here the last couple of days. Something happened?"
As for why Shinji had noticed her absence, the reason was the strong first impression Aiko had given him upon their first talk. He wouldn't say that, of course: just talking to her was embarrassing enough.
He would deny it to Toji and Kensuke, but talking to her gave him a strange feeling, almost like a thrill. Probably because he had never had such a beautiful girl talking to him so casually, as opposed to the previous ones he had some conversation with: all about school stuff or something like that.
Aika pouted with a sigh and twirled a finger on her hair. "Well, my grandparents were moving out of the city, so me and dad were out helping. We even missed the monster's invasion!"
Shinji found it strange how the girl seemed disappointed that she wasn't in the city when the Angel attacked. He didn't had time to reflect on it, tough, as the girl began to lean on him with expectant eyes.
"But I heard about your fight! You're sooo brave, Shinji! Tell me about it!", she said with amusement on her voice, a smile on her face.
Shinji gulped and raised his hands. "Uh… I mean, it was nothing…"
Kensuke and Toji groaned quietly.
From Aiko's sides, the two girls that followed her popped up after hearing their topic of conversation.
"Tell us Shinji! Was it scary?", one asked.
"How did you defeated it?", the other as well.
Aiko was clearly bothered by her retinue intrusions, but continued to smile, expecting an answer.
Shinji tried his best to explain it in a way that wouldn't make Misato set his clothes on fire.
"Uh, well, they have this knife thing that…", he started to mumble, but fortunately was saved by an unexpected party.
"We saw it too, you know?", Kensuke intervened, trying to sound high and mighty at his testimony of the Angel battle. "Me and Toji were there, we even entered the plug!"
Shinji resisted the urge to tell Kensuke to 'shut up', while Toji just looked at Kensuke with wide eyes, confuse by being dragged into the conversation.
Aiko, along with her two lackeys, glared at Kensuke with a look of disbelief.
"Really?", she questioned, not believing a word of it. "Do you have proof?"
Kensuke snickered. "Well, I…", he began to say as he picked up the camera. Suddenly, realization dawned on him: he didn't had the recordings anymore.
"Uh, listen…", he started, trying to defuse the situation in a way that wouldn't taint his reputation even more than it already was.
Fortunately, Hikari Horaki entered the room, apparently furious by the ruckus and lack of respect from the class.
"Everyone to their seats! Class is starting!", she yelled.
With a groan, everyone got to their seats, including Aiko who, before leaving, winked at Shinji. The boy gulped and turned beet red.
"Shit, that was close", Kensuke sighed in relief. Toji slapped him in the forehead, which earned and 'ouch' from Kensuke.
The elderly teacher entered the room, greeting the class and clearing his throat.
"Settle down, children", he said in his usual tired voice, somewhat appropriate for his decrepit appearance. "We have an announcement today."
The students started to look at each other, some in confusion, other in fear. 'Shit, not another surprise test', groaned one on the back of the class. Hikari hissed and glared at him, prompting the boy to stay quiet.
The teacher cleared his throat again, pointing towards the door.
"We have a new student joining our class today", he explained, looking at the door. "Come in, young lady."
Shinji raised an eyebrow, curious about the new student. He himself had only recently arrived, only now getting used to the school routine. Having Toji and Kensuke as colleagues helped, of course, but having another newcomer could be nice: someone new like him, that wasn't used to the place.
That said, Shinji's jaw dropped as soon as he laid eyes upon the newcomer. Toji and Kensuke's reactions were somewhat different: while their jaws had also dropped, it was for a different reason.
In their case, they were in awe by the arrival of, quote, a really hot chick in their class. Kensuke adjusted his glasses so he could see better, and simply Toji stared eye wided at the girl.
Hikari, a few chair beside him, didn't like that look. She didn't knew exactly why.
To be honest, they weren't alone in it. Almost every male has the same reaction, whispering amongst themselves and checking her out without mercy. The girl visibly had assets that weren't very common on fourteen year old girls, to say the least.
Said girls were analyzing the new student intently: some with innocent delight at her evident friendly nature. Other, with squinted eyes, pierced her with a glare that could melt steel.
As for Shinji, he was simply confused.
Wearing a pair of glasses and with her brown hair tied in a bun (with a few bangs on both sides of her face), the girl grinned brightly and waving her hand.
"Nice to meet you all. Name's Mari Makinami Illustrious. Just call me Mari, okay?", she announced with a loud and happy voice.
The teacher put his hands on his back, turning to Mari.
"You may sit anywhere, Miss Makinami. Welcome to our class", he said, nodding, before returning behind his desk. Class was about to begin.
Passing through the chairs, the girl looked around for a desk to sit. The whole class was still staring at her, something that amused her to no end.
But when she saw Shinji Ikari staring at her with wide eyes, she opened a wide smile and rushed to him.
The girl had full notion of which class the Third was attending, so of course, that was the class she wanted to be assigned to. It was an easy task: apparently, the class had lost a lot of students after the Angels started to appear. They needed to fill in, after all.
"Puppy-boy! Fancy seeing you here!", she said loudly, smiling mischievously.
The whole class drifted their looks from the girl and landed on Shinji Ikari. The boy groaned and put his hand on his face, embarrassed.
"Uh… hey, Mari", he managed to greet.
As Mari sat on the empty chair right in front of him, humming happily, Toji and Kensuke tried to come up with ways of getting away with murder.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Author's Notes: You guys think this fic is too slow? Well, get used to it.
You guys also think that I have a Writer's Block and can't seem to progress the story? Also wrong: Writer's Block comes at the end, when i have to come up with endgame material.
Just kidding, of course. At least on the writer's block part.
The thing is: this fic is kind of a journey to me. I want to write a lot of stuff, and I usually enjoy fics with a lot of downtime, to develop the setting properly. I loathe fics that are only CLIMAX, ACTION, CLIMAX. What's the point of the climax if there's no setting to it?
Anyway, here we have a few funny moments, something common on the early chapters of the series (something i enjoy). The story won't be just fun and games, obviously. Lots of plans.
Oh, i also made a reference to another Eva fanfic on the end of Rei's part. Search for it, it's really good.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed it. If you did, leave a favorite and a review, in case you have any criticism. Hell, even if you just wanna shit on this story, it's okay.
See you guys next time.