Chapter 2: New Places
A/N: Thanks for the feedback on the prologue and Chapter 1! I mention it in the A/N at the bottom of the chapter, but I have a lot more ideas for Asuka's arrival and onwards, but I have a set pace until then.
Also, I've decided on a schedule for my fics:
- Yui's Words every Wednesday, might throw in an extra chapter if I'm ahead of schedule, but expect a chapter every Wednesday.
- Consequences on Saturdays every 2 weeks,
Anyways, on with the show!
Shortly after speaking to Shinji and sorting out Rei's living arrangements, Gendo Ikari arrived at the conference table, where holograms of the Human Instrumentality Committee sat. This group operated under the UN, but it was essentially a meeting place for certain members of SEELE, the most powerful group in the world. At the head of the table sat Keel Lorenz. He was unbelievably old, and basically only lived due to the machines he was constantly hooked up to, which is a small price to pay when you are trying to become a god. Gendo gave him the respect he commanded, but it was surface-level. Since Yui's departure, he had been subverting the man with her 'Human Instrumentality Project' plan, which he had been very eager to latch onto. Little did he know, his time would come. Gendo truly understood why Yui didn't trust the man.
"The return of the Angels" Spoke the man, "It's all too sudden."
The other members of the group joined in. "Just like 15 years ago, these disasters always happen without warning." said yellow.
"It may prove fortunate that our prior investment came to nothing." Said Red.
Blue chimed in "Things are yet to happen, If it's useless, it's a waste."
Yellow nodded "Correct. As for the anti-angel measures, NERV must control information about them both quickly and appropriately."
Gendo smirked "It has been taken care of."
Lorenz nodded his head "Well, that's that."
The other members of the committee were ready to chastise Gendo. "Ikari, NERV and Eva... You could use them in better ways, no?"
Yellow 'tsk'ed "The cost of repairs for Unit-00 and Unit-01, little as it is, could ruin a small country."
Red smirked "I heard you gave that toy to your son."
Gendo rebuked the man "And casualties were brought to a minimum."
Blue shook his head "Still, time and money, Ikari... How much will you and your son spend before you are satisfied?"
"Besides, don't you have another job?" Sneered Red, indicating to a folder labeled 'Human Instrumentality Project,' which contained details and budget agreements. "The Human Instrumentality Project is highest priority."
Yellow 'Hmm'ed in agreement "Yes. This project is our only hope in such a bleak time."
Lorenz waved them quiet. "Now that the angels have returned, this project must stay on schedule. As for the budget, we will consider it."
"The committee will take over. Thank you, Ikari." Spoke Yellow.
Lorenz pierced him with a stare. "No turning back now, Ikari."
Gendo nodded. "I understand. Humanity is running out of time."
The committee faded away, and Fuyutski entered the room.
Gendo removed his glasses for a moment and sighed. "Yui was much more professional in these types of scenarios."
Fuyutski chuckled "Well, she trusted you enough to do this. If you see it through to the end, her plan can come to fruition."
"I hope so, professor."
Shinji fished the box with his name on it out of the closet. Opening it up, he was glad he maintained Mother's organization of all the VHS tapes. They were even categorized based on things that were time-sensitive, and things for specific occurrences, like the tape labeled 'Watch This When You Want to Start Dating' or 'Watch This When You're Falling In Love.' There were even tapes for a bunch of birthdays.
He fished out the VHS labeled 'Watch This When You're Going Somewhere New.'
What better time than starting at a new school, right? He thought to himself as he plugged in the small TV and hooked up the old VCR.
The TV came on, crackly as ever. He put in the VHS and turned it on.
The static faded out as Mother's smiling face faded in. One thing Shinji enjoyed about these videos was that Mother was always so... alive. She spoke with a lot of energy, always moving around. At times, she'd reach off camera and pull any given object out and display it on screen, so help support whatever she was talking about.
"Hello, Shinji. If you're watching this, that means you're going to a new place, and need some advice from your dear ol' mama. You could be going to a new school, NERV is deploying you to some crazy other country, or it's further ahead and you're starting at a new job. Whatever it may be, fear not! Dr. Yui Ikari knows a thing or two about being social!
This may be the most 'mom' advice for these kinds of things, but to put it simply: Be yourself! People will see that you're authentic, and purely you, and respect it. With an honest approach, you'll find a good friend or two in whatever unfamiliar would you find yourself. On top of that, people find it attractive!" She leaned into the camera and lowered her voice to a whisper. "By the way, I have a video for that too!" She returned to her regular position and speaking voice. "Anyways, just be yourself, don't be afraid to put yourself out there for whatever it may be, and you'll get by in whatever crazy world you're in. If you need any specific advice, I won't be far!
That's all for now, Shinji. Remember: Anywhere can be paradise as long as you have the will to live. Love you! Bye!"
The video ended and the tape stopped.
A week had gone by since Shinji, with help from Mother, defeated the angel. In that week, he and Misato were getting settled into their new apartment. This mostly consisted of training at NERV, him cleaning up the mess she tended to leave behind, and her taking him shopping. He managed to pick up food for meals at the grocery store, but that didn't stop Misato from dragging him to whatever store to buy something. They really spent their money of a variety of items, whether it was pants or chicken.
One night, Misato took him to a park that had a spot where you could see all of Tokyo-3. As the sun was going down, she said to Shinji "This is the city you helped protect."
Today was different, he'd be attending his new school. previously, he attended a school situated in Tokyo-2, but this new place was closer to the apartment, and apparently had a number of routes directly to NERV in case an angel attacked.
Approaching Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School, he looked at the paper in his hand, which contained personal information and stuff for the office to look at. Rei had transferred a day after the angel attack since she was still unable to train, so he was going about this solo for now. Entering the school, he walked up to the receptionist, who smiled at him. He then explained he was new and handed her the paper. After some typing on the computer, she gave him a new piece of paper, which indicated he'd be in Class 2-A.
He thanked her, and followed the signs around the school to find where his class was, completely unaware of people staring at him, new student and all. He entered the classroom, and saw a lone girl organizing some things. She had brown hair tied back in pigtails, and freckles on her face, which held an expression that indicated she was deep in thought.
"Um, e-excuse me?" He said, which immediately got her attention.
"Yes, how may I help you?" She replied cordially.
"Well, I transferred here today and this is my class."
"Ah! A new student! Welcome to Class 2-A! My name is Hikari Horaki, and I'm the class representative!" She said with a more friendly tone as she stuck her hand out.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Shinji Ikari." The boy said with his usual nervous demeanour, shaking her hand lightly.
"It's nice to meet you, Shinji. When we start, I'll have you introduce yourself to the class. It's nice to have a new face around here, especially after those monster attacks!"
"Y-yeah. Pretty, uh, dangerous out there." Shinji wasn't sure if he should say he was the one doing the fighting, but he'd deal with it when it came up.
"Once everyone comes in, I'll have you introduce yourself." She said, which he responded to with a thumbs up. Just before he turned away, she stopped him. "Wait! You're new around here, right?" He nodded. "Let's exchange phone numbers! That way, if you need help with something, feel free to shoot a message!"
Shinji fumbled for a moment "O-oh yeah! Got my phone a month ago! Don't really have many numbers in it. Sure." They filled in contact info, and Shinji noticed that the girl had put her full name and put 'Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School, Class 2-A Representative.' underneath with proper punctuation and everything. Quite official, he thought to himself.
Waiting just outside the classroom, he heard the teacher say "Before we start, there's an announcement. We have a new student." Shinji knew that was his cue as he could hear the chattering of his soon-to-be classmates.
He swallowed, then walked in and faced the class. "Hello, my name is Shinji Ikari. I-it is nice to meet you all."
He could hear various people sizing him up as he looked around the class. He saw Rei sitting near the front on the side. He gave her a smile, and she smiled back.
Shinji decided to sit a few desks behind her, as he could feel eyes on him.
He tuned people out, but he could hear words here and there, mainly 'Ikari,' 'Ayanami,' and 'Pilot.' He sighed.
Midway through class, a message popped up on his computer screen.
Are you the pilot? Y/N.
He sighed once more. He guessed he'd have to deal with it now.
He hesitated, wanting badly to type no, but eventually gave in.
Yes.
With that, he was swarmed all around by his classmates asking a flurry of questions, from 'What's it called?' to 'What's it like?' to 'Does it have any special moves?'
He began to feel a bit overwhelmed, but stammered out what he knew he could answer, mainly that "It's called Eva Unit-01."
To his luck, Hikari managed to wrangle people back to their desks. She shot him an apologetic look, to which he mouthed 'thank you.'
Lunch came, and Shinji looked around the classroom. He bent down in his seat to retrieve his bento for lunch. When he looked back up, a taller kid in a tracksuit with black hair was standing at his desk, staring at him intently.
"Um, hi?" He managed.
"Hey, new kid. So, you're that pilot eh?"
Oh no.
"Uh, y-yeah. I train for it."
There was a tense moment, but the boy lifted his arm, and gave Shinji a pat on the shoulder.
"Well, you're pretty alright, my man. I was in the city with my sister, and we had a tough one getting to a shelter in time. It's a good thing you fought that monster away from the city, because it gave us more time to get away. When we got to the shelter, my little sis was bouncing off the walls about it. She was going nuts about 'the hero in the big robot.' So, uh, thanks, new kid." He said, finishing with a smile.
Shinji smiled back shyly "No problem. It's nice to meet you, I'm Shinji."
"Toji Suzahara, and this is Kensuke Aida." The boy replied, indicating behind him.
"Hey!" Said the other boy, who had glasses and blonde hair. "Good to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you too." Shinji replied.
"So, new boy, wanna eat with us?" Toji offered.
"Um..." Shinji looked ahead, as he intended to eat with his cousin. He noticed Hikari, the girl that greeted him when he found his way to class, had already offered, and the two girls seemed to be making conversation as they ate. "Sure."
Shinji let the two boys lead him to the roof, of the school, which had a nice area for students to sit. The three sat in a triangle and dug into their food.
Shinji would find out later that Toji's nickname is 'The Stomach,' which would explain his lunch that could feed two more people.
Here and there, Kensuke would ask Shinji questions about the Eva, to which he gave surface-level and non-classified answers. After all, you can't just go out in the open saying 'My mom is inside it and I communicate with her to move the robot. Did I mention that this giant robot bleeds?' without getting some awkward stares.
Eventually, Toji asked a question of his own. "Yo, Shin-man, I noticed you and Ayanami exchanging looks a couple times. Already got a broad, eh?"
"W-what!?"
"Aw, come on dude, you know what I mean! You already got her all over your-"
"No! Toji, we grew up together!"
"Ohhh, so a little childhood friend-turned-lover, nice."
Shinji groaned "She's my cousin!"
The jock immediately clammed up, and awkward silence reigned for a moment.
Eventually, Kensuke started laughing. Toji joined in soon after, even Shinji chuckled a little.
"Heh, sorry, Shin-Man, wasn't trying to imply you're into that weird shit, I was just hassling ya." Toji said sheepishly.
"No worries." He said back.
"So, Shinji... Mind setting me up with your cousin?" Kensuke asked mischieviously.
"No."
Shinji added two more numbers to his rather quiet cellphone, but the rest of the day was pretty tame. More of the teacher going on about Second Impact and Shinji felt eyes on him perpetually, be it envious boys or admiring girls. He was oblivious to people's intention, he just knew they were looking. Either way, Shinji hated the attention, and was glad to be getting out of school.
Before he could get out of the door, he heard "Yo, Shin-Man!" from behind.
He turned around and greeted Toji and, who was with Kensuke. He asked "Ken and I were gonna head to the arcade, wanna come?"
He almost said yes, but then he remembered he's an Eva pilot and not a regular teenager, so hanging out would have to wait. "Sorry guys, I have NERV duties today. Tomorrow?"
The boys both said "Okay!" and Kensuke made him promise to tell him all about it.
On the way out, he caught up to Rei, who was heading to the same place.
She smiled upon seeing him, and they continued to the Geofront.
"Hey Rei," The boy asked. "Was everyone staring at you like this when you started?"
"No, I ignored the message inquiring about my pilot status." She replied.
"Huh... Maybe I should've done the same. But people probably would've found out anyways."
"It is technically classified, but people tend to be persistent, so perhaps it would have been inevitable."
Shinji chuckled "Maybe."
Later that day, Shinji was suited up for his harmonics test. Miss Ritsuko explained how it would be mainly used to tweak plug depth and measure sync rates for the pilots. She also mentioned that sync tests would be more common, which consisted of just sitting in the test plug and focusing on synchronizing with the Eva.
What she didn't mention is how boring it would be, and how the pilots would be marinating inside a test plug for some ungodly amount of time. When Shinji protested later, she would wave him off with science jargon about data or whatever.
Shinji didn't mind Miss Ritsuko. Since he lived near NERV growing up, he would see her from time to time. He didn't know her as well as Misato, but he has memories seeing her, as well as Miss Naoko while he was growing up. They each babysat him a couple times as well. He vaguely remembered when Miss Ritsuko's hair was brown, as opposed to the blonde it was now, and sometimes wondered why she made the change. Perhaps it was to differentiate her from Miss Naoko. Where was she these days? He wondered. Retired, maybe? I'll ask Miss Ritsuko sometime.
Stepping into the test plug and letting it fill, he felt the familiar tingles of the A-10 connection and closed his eyes, doing what he usually did each time he was in an entry plug: Focused on the one person inside the core.
Mother...
...Shinji?
Hello again.
Hi, baby. It's good to see you again. Y'know, since your first time synchronizing, I've been a bit blown away at how much you've grown. Gosh, you're starting to look more like your father.
Wait, you can see me? Why can't I see you?
Yeah, it's kinda tough to explain. Basically, being inside Unit-01's core is essentially me living in my own psyche, so it's sort of like a void that I can make look however I'd like. Whenever you show up, I can see an appearance of you. Make sense?
Not really, but I'll figure out what that all means at some point I guess.
He heard laughter. Well, that's good for you- oooohhhh, looks like you started at that new school today!
Shinji remembered that she could read his mind like an open book. Sure did. It's alright, but I let slip that I'm a pilot and I could feel people staring.
Well, only natural for a group of teenagers. I should know, I was one. Someone does something kinda cool, everyone flocks them for a few days. You pilot a giant robot and defend the city, I'd give it a few weeks.
A few weeks? Shinji groaned mentally. It's just so... patronizing. Like I'm in a zoo or something.
Hey, don't feel too bad. Just be yourself. Be Shinji, and you'll get by more than well enough. I can see you made a couple friends!
Yeah, the class representative was very friendly, but I met and ate with Toji and Kensuke. They're nice. I'm... kinda happy I made a few friends. I've been to a few schools but mainly kept to myself. I had acquaintances, but my only 'friend' was Rei, but we're cousins. So it's like for the first time ever I have friends.
Aww, my little anti-social Shinji. It's okay, you get your timidness from your father's side.
Father? Timid? Really?
You betcha! I was the only friend he had and I ended up marrying him!
He stifled a laugh as mother laughed loudly in his mind. Wow, I guess there's a lot I don't know.
Mainly that your father's a softie when it comes to matters of Yui Ikari. Enough about me, tell me more about your friends!
Kensuke is a bit enthusiastic about the Eva, I think his dad works at NERV. Toji said he and his sister were late getting to a shelter, and they saw me fight the angel. He told me that she was starstruck by me piloting, and thanked me for fighting further away from the city.
See? You're keeping people from getting hurt.
I guess. I just hope I don't have to put any of my friends in harm's way.
You won't, Shinji. Not while I have anything to do with it.
Thank you, Mother.
"Shinji? How are you feeling." Asked a voice over the comms
"G-good, Miss Ritsuko!" He replied, briefly taking him out of conversation. "How's my sync rate?"
"Great! Steady, and maintaining that 75%!"
Shinji felt that familiar pride like during his activation test. "G-glad to hear! Are we shutting down?"
"Yes, I've got enough data for today."
Alright, glad I could talk to you again. See you whenever I do this again. Mother.
I'm always happy to see you, Shinji. I love you.
I love you too.
And the Eva went dark. Shinji felt a sense of peace after a day that left him rather wound up.
"I'm telling you, Goku wins every time!"
He knew him for a week and Shinji was already used to Kensuke's variety of ramblings. This included, but was not limited to, anything and everything military-related, a good amount of western media, and a lot of anime and manga. Toji had known the young otaku for years, but still didn't hesitate to try and find some way to shut him up.
Shinji was pretty happy with his new friends. He managed to go to that arcade with that they had wanted to take him to before, and they had a good deal of fun on the games. Toji enjoyed the racing games, while Kensuke was all over the gun games. Shinji didn't have a preference, he simply enjoyed himself.
He also exchanged words from time to time with Miss Horaki, and she insisted they call each other by their first names, which he was fine with.
Shinji Ikari had now made three friends, and he was quite alright with it.
"I don't know, man. I think you care a little too much about some 90s anime." The jock said. Shinji laughed at that, he wasn't sure why.
"Hey, now. I'm not the only one who cares about some random 90s stuff. I've sat and listened to you ramble about the Chicago Bulls' 1993 three-peat on multiple occasions." Kensuke retorted.
"But that's actually cool! Michael Jordan remains untopped, and I'll continually defend it!" Toji said, passion for the game overcoming him.
Kensuke grinned "What about in baseball?"
"That doesn't count!"
Shinji simply watched on in amazement. "Wow, didn't know you guys felt so strongly about this." he mused.
The young jock turned on him. "Of course! I even own a pair of Air Jordans!"
Shinji looked down at Toji's feet. "Are you wearing them now?"
Toji looked at him like he cursed his family "No way, man! They're too nice to wear, so I keep 'em safe in the house and wear 'em once a month."
The young pilot was left scratching his head. "Huh...? I don't- I don't get it. Just wear them."
His new-ish friend clapped him on the shoulder. "Shin-man, you'll get it some day. But you haven't really said much. Don't you have any hobbies or somethin'"
Shinji eyed away "Uh... I... I guess I have a few."
Kensuke raised his eyebrows. "Really? Like what?"
"Well, I like to cook, and, um, play the cello. I don't think I'm very good, though, and I haven't cooked for a whole lot of people."
Toji furrowed his brow. "Come on, dude, what's with the zero confidence? I bet you're great!"
Shinji was generally averse to praise, even excess attention made him uncomfortable. "I dunno..." He mumbled.
"Tell ya what," Toji interrupted. "You have Ken-man and I over, and you gotta cook us somethin' and play us a piece on that cello of yours. If it's good, you owe me 2000 yen!"
Shinji smiled wearily at the bet. "Um... deal. You guys can come over tomorrow, and I'll put something together."
"Good!" Toji exclaimed, clapping Shinji's shoulder again. "And hey, if I'm really blown away, I'll tell all the girls I see about you. You'll have a harem by next Monday."
Shinji laughed, albeit a bit nervously. "Heh, I'll be sure to thank you if it comes to that, Toji."
Kensuke was about to embark on another rant when Shinji's phone went off. He already knew what that meant, as it had been explained to him when Misato gave him a new phone.
His immediate suspicion was confirmed when Rei Ayanami, bandages and all, came up pretty quickly to where the three boys had been eating.
"Shinji, an angel has been detected. We must proceed to NERV."
"Right!" Shinji said, springing nervously into action. "See you guys later! Get somewhere safe! Hopefully you can still come over tomorrow!" He called to his friends as he took off with Rei.
"Good luck man!" "Kick it's ass!" The boys called back as the boy dashed towards the Geofront.
When Shinji was out of sight, Toji turned to Kensuke. "Which one's the cello again?"
Thanks to the access tunnel strategically placed near the school, Shinji and Rei were down in NERV within less than 15 minutes. They split off, with each of them changing, then Rei going to the bridge while Shinji headed for the cages. He found it odd that Rei got plugsuited up, even though she was still injured from her earlier activation test. He figured it was a last resort, but he was determined for it not to come to that.
He climbed in the entry plug and heard his commanding officer. "Hey Shinji, ready?" Misato asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be, Misato."
"Good, let's get you going!"
"Initiating startup sequence."
After gong through the usual motions, he focused his thoughts.
Mother...
...Hello, Shinji.
It's an angel attack, we gotta go get it.
My my, I can feel your urgency, young man. You want to protect your new friends, I see.
Uh...
That's very noble of you, Shinji. Don't worry, I'm always right here, and together we can stop any threats. I'll make sure of it.
T-thank you.
"Ready to roll, Shinji?" Asked Misato.
"Yes, let's go!" He responded.
He made his way to the launch catapult.
"Eva Unit-01, launch!"
A/N: Alright, another done! When I published the prologue I was about halfway done with this chapter. However, my lizard brain was brimming with ideas while I was doing anything and everything. Can't even do some elliptical without going "Oh I should add this to Yui's Words or that to Concequences." Basically, I have a bunch of ideas and even some scenes written out that I plan to implement later, and a number of them come after Miss Soryu arrives, which won't be too long. Hell, I even have chapter titles for certain parts of the story, most of which are music related. Found out that music references like that are pretty common, so I don't feel bad about it.
Given Toji loves basketball, I decided to add a bit more to it. I figured he'd idolize Michael Jordan. The bit about him owning a pair of Air Jordans but not wearing them is actually from (somewhat) personal experience. I am a bit of a sneakerhead myself and I know the attitudes of a lot of guys who are also into sneakers. There's so much people will do to keep their shoes looking new, even not wearing them and keeping them 'deadstock,' or DS, which means never worn. In Toji's case, his Jordans would probably be 'very near deadstock,' or VNDS.
Also, did SheriffJohnStone put a Fesh Pince of Blair reference in his fanfiction? Yes I did, and I have zero remorse.
(btw if anyone has an invite link to the Asushin Trash discord please PM me, I'd like to join so I can get feedback and pointers.)
Reviews!
spartanman2: How about both?
Author0fntent: Thanks for joining the ride. You know better than anyone I have a lot of odd ideas, so prepare for some more here and there
Lovemichi: I'm hoping I justify the changes well by explaining them, but also keeping Shinji's personality similar. I have more options with Rei, but I plan to make her similar to canon, but with more emotions and also focusing on the idea of her seeig Shinji and Gendo as family.
Nikys, Brother Bov: Thanks! Both of you!
Next time: Shamshel, the 4th angel attacks! Shinji has to fight it with some precious cargo in Chapter 3: Heart Of The Sunrise!