Lucky #13 Chapter 2: First Day of School

"Welcome back, Shinji!" Misato exclaimed as she hung her jacket by the door, beckoning for the young boy to follow her into the house. "Your room will be the one right across from the bathroom, okay?"

"Um, thanks, Ms. Misato." Shinji muttered, as he slowly crept towards his room, avoiding the piles of trash. "This is so filthy."

"Tell me about it." Bardiel muttered to the boy. "My cloud spent half a day in a New York alley and I'm pretty sure THAT was cleaner than this house."

Shinji slid the door to his room open, finding that it was surprisingly thoroughly clean, except for the thin layer of dust covering everything. He shuffled in, setting his duffle bag on the bed, and looked around. The room was small, but not cramped; he had a closet, a dresser, and a small desk that he could do homework at.

"Compared to some of the places I've seen, this is luxury." Bardiel commented, as he took form, hopping down off of Shinji's folder and onto the bed. He grabbed a small photo frame, containing a picture of Shinji and his instructor, and waved at the young boy. "Where do you want this?"

"Wait, I thought you were just inside my head." Shinji asked. "When you take form, you're actually real?"

"Did you think I asked you to stop flapping like a hummingbird for fun?" the Angel retorted. "If you flung me any harder, I might've gone splat."

"Sorry about that, by the way." Shinji apologized meekly. "You can just set it on the desk."

The Angel nodded, and made a big leap over to the desk, positioning the photo carefully. The two of them spent the next couple minutes emptying out Shinji's duffle bag, and by the time Misato slid the door open, hair still wet from the shower, the bag was completely empty.

"Wow, you're productive!" Misato commented, as she leaned against the doorframe. "We've only been back for five minutes and you've already got everything sorted!"

"Ack!" Bardiel gasped, as he slid behind the desk, trying to hide himself from Misato's sight. Shinji cringed slightly, and turned back to face the woman.

"Um, thank you." the boy muttered. "I just figured I might as well be quick about it."

"Well, I'm impressed." Misato replied. "I'm going to go pick up some takeout; why don't you hop through the shower while I'm gone, okay?"

"Yes, Ms. Misato." Shinji said, giving the woman a slight smile. She returned it, turning around and shutting the door behind her. As soon as the door slid closed, Bardiel squeezed out from his hiding spot.

"Whew, that was close." The Angel whispered. "She almost caught me."

"Wait, so she can see you too?" Shinji asked. "Can she hear you?"

"I don't think so." Bardiel responded. "I CAN talk out loud if I want to, but usually I just communicate with you through our A.T. fields."

"A.T. Fields? Like the Evangelions have?" Shinji inquired, getting a nod in response. "I have an A.T. Field?"

"Yes, and before you panic, all humans have them." Bardiel said, getting a breath of relief from Shinji. "The difference is, for most humans their A.T. Fields are simply what separate them from each other. It's what allows humans to be individuals and hold their own shapes."

"You said 'most humans'" Shinji noted. "Does that mean that there are humans who can use their A.T. Field?"

"Haven't you ever read those stories about ancient heroes from mythological times?" Bardiel asked. "Wizards who could conjure lightning bolts and fireballs, and great heroes with the strength of a thousand men? All A.T. Field, kiddo."

"Can I do all that stuff?" Shinji asked, as he reached his arm down, letting Bardiel climb his way back onto his shoulder. "Like, shoot lightning bolts and stuff?"

"Maybe?" Bardiel said, as he held up a hand to his chin contemplatively. "I'd assume since every other human isn't buzzing around throwing lasers everywhere that the art is kinda lost."

"Huh." Shinji replied, as he set his clothes down on the counter in the bathroom, before suddenly looking into the mirror, and noticing an issue. "Hey, Bardiel?"

"Hmm? What's up, Shinji?"

"Where do you disappear to when you're not out in the real world?" Shinji asked.

"Oh, that's easy. Just keep an eye on the mirror." he said, as he hopped down from Shinji's shoulder and walked down to the boy's arm. As soon as Bardiel's foot made contact with Shinji's skin, the Angel sank like a stone, absorbing into the boy's skin. Shinji felt a slight tingle from his arm all the way up to his head, and looked back into the mirror to see that his blue irises were now a very dark grey. "Tada! One concealed Angel, coming right up."

"Won't people notice if my eyes change colors?" Shinji queried.

"Eh, they might, but I'll probably stay bonded to you at most times unless it's just the two of us." the Angel responded. "It probably won't be too much of an issue."

"Oh, okay." Shinji replied, as he stripped down part way, before stopping again. "You don't think you could do me a favor and, um, well…"

"Oh, don't worry, I get it." Bardiel said, as reappeared on the boy's shoulder, sliding down his arm and hopping onto the countertop. "We just met, and I know how sensitive you Lilim are about nudity. If you need me, I'll be chilling in front of the TV."

"Wait, you know what a television is?" Shinji asked, his head tilted slightly in confusion.

"Remember, Shinji, I've been a cloud for 15 years." The angel retorted, wagging his finger. "I've had to watch all sorts of garbage, but now that I've got a physical form, I can actually CHOOSE what I want to watch." The inky black figure let out a maniacal laugh, before making a massive leap and landing outside the bathroom, somehow closing his door on the way out.

"Good morning, Shinji!" Misato shouted, as she whipped the boy's bedroom door open. "It's your first day of school, so up and at 'em!"

"What time is it?" Shinji grumbled, as he sat up in bed.

"Six o'clock!" the purple-haired woman responded. "I'm driving you to school today, so be ready by 6:30!"

"Okay." the boy groaned, letting out a long yawn as Misato slid the door shut. "I'm so tired, I only got a couple hours of sleep last night."

"I alway forget that Lilim don't have S2 Engines." Bardiel said, as Shinji felt a slight tingling at the base of his neck. "Let me see… if I give this a little prod… reroute that solenoid… aha!"

"Ouch!" Shinji shouted, as he felt a static shock travel through his entire body at once, filling him with a sudden pain. "What was that for?"

"That was me rerouting 1/100th of a percent of my S2 Engine to you for a quarter of a second." Bardiel retorted smugly. "Not only are you now VERY awake, but you should feel a lot better."

"Wow, I actually do feel… way better." Shinji muttered, as he clenched his fist a few times before doing a wide stretch. "Angels really get all the perks."

"Don't be too jealous." Bardiel responded. "Humans at least have the ability of creativity; I'm literally the only Angel with any knowledge of how to make things, and that's only because I spent 15 years drifting around the world instead of inside a tiny egg in the ground."

"The Angels come from eggs?" Shinji asked, as he threw on a pair of black pants over his pajama boxers. "Like reptiles?"

"Not exactly." Bardiel said, as he took shape, leaping to Shinji's closet to grab the boy's belt and toss it to him. "They're kinda more like embryos, except they're two stories tall and surrounded by an A.T. Field."

"That's weird." Shinji commented, as he did the last button on his white shirt.

"Any weirder than monkeys growing another monkey inside their stomach for nine months?"

"Touché." the boy responded, as he made his way out into the dining room. "I'm ready, Ms. Misato!"

"Wow, you're quick!" the woman shouted from her room. "Give me a few minutes, and then we'll be on the road; don't worry, this'll be the smoothest ride to school you'll ever get!"

"Ms. Misato, you drive like you pilot." the boy commented, as he held onto the handle on the roof of the passenger side of the woman's car. "Very, very frighteningly."

"Oh, relax, Shinji!" she replied, as she floored her way through another yellow light, just barely eking it out before the light turned red. "I've passed my driver's test, so obviously I'm a fine driver!"

"Where'd she pass her test, the Mad Max School for Distracted Drivers?" the Angel grumbled, as the woman floored another right turn. Shinji rolled his eyes; he was so exhausted that morning because Bardiel had insisted on staying up and marathoning all the good movies he had never got to see when he was a cloud, and Mad Max was very high on the list.

"She's bad, but at least she hasn't done anything illegal yet." Shinji responded. "It's not like she's drifting or anythiiiiiiing!" The boy's sentence was cut off as the woman slammed her e-brake, whipping around a corner by the school.

"I am awaited in Valhalla!" the Angel yelled inside Shinji's head. "Witness me!"

"If you make another Mad Max reference, I swear I'm gonna step out of the vehicle, whether we're in motion or not." Shinji whispered, just as his guardian drifted backwards into an open parking space.

"Whew!" the woman exclaimed, running her hand through her hair. "Another happy landing."

"What a lovely day." the Angel muttered; Shinji could feel his smug grin radiating in the way he spoke.

"You suck." The boy responded, as he climbed out of Misato's Alpine, and followed the woman inside the front doors of the school.

"You must be Shinji Ikari, right?" a girl asked, right as he and Misato entered the school's lobby. "I'm Hikari Horaki, the class representative for 2-A. I'm supposed to show you to your class, if that's okay?" she said, looking at the boy's guardian.

"That works for me, Ms. Horaki." Misato replied. "Why don't you head along with her, Shinji; I've just gotta sign a few papers and then I'm off to NERV HQ for the day."

"Alright, Ms. Misato." Shinji said, before turning to follow the girl as she led them up the stairs.

"Well, don't just follow her like a lost puppy!" Bardiel exclaimed. "Talk a little bit, introduce yourself, do something, please!"

"Um, so, Ms. Horaki, you said you're the class rep for 2-A." Shinji began nervously. "What's that like?"

"It's a lot of hard work." Hikari admitted. "But it's not too bad, except for when Suzuhara and Aida start up their hijinks."

"Suzuhara and Aida?" Shinji asked. "Who are they?"

"Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida." the girl responded. "They're two of our classmates; the whole class refers to them as 'the Stooges.' They're pretty bone-headed, always cracking dumb jokes and doing stupid things to get in trouble."

"Oh, we are SO making friends with them." Bardiel muttered.

"Even though Toji's sister almost got hurt in that battle with that giant robot, they still refuse to take anything seriously." Hikari said with a huff. "They're just a pain."

"I'm sorry you have to deal with them." Shinji replied.

"It's no problem." The girl said, with a smile, before coming to a stop in front of a door. "This is it, Classroom 2-A!"

She slid the door open, revealing a fairly small classroom. There were only a handful of people there, talking lowly among themselves as they waited for class to start. Hikari grabbed the roster off of the teacher's desk, taking care not to wake the deeply sleeping professor, and looked over it, before frowning.

"Well, there's only two available seats," Hikari said, as she looked back up at Shinji, "And one of them is right in the middle of a bunch of girls; I'm assuming you don't want to sit there?"

"YES!"

"Um, no, sorry." Shinji replied, awkwardly shaking his head.

"Well then, the only other seat available is right behind Suzuhara and right next to Aida." the girl pointed out. "So, you'll be having to deal with them."

"Oh, it's no problem, Ms. Horaki." Shinji said, giving a short but polite bow.

"Really, Ikari, you don't have to call me 'Ms.'" Hikari noted with a giggle.

"Oh, well, um… sorry." Shinji replied, before shuffling off to his seat, setting his backpack down by the desk.

"By Adam, you've got the people skills of a hermit." Bardiel commented, as Shinji got out his notebooks and arranged them on his desks. "How is it that I, the literal celestial being who's been a cloud for fifteen years, is more well-adjusted to social interaction than you?"

"I never really had any friends before." Shinji admitted, as he set a few pencils on the edge of his desk. "My instructor never allowed me to have any."

"Man, you've been raised by assholes." the Angel noted. "By the way, I think those boys that the Horaki girl told you about are on their way."

"How do you know that?" Shinji asked.

"Because I can sense things that enter the range of my A.T. Field," Bardiel explained, "And there are currently two boys running up the stairs at a speed that is much too fast to be safe."

Before Shinji could reply, the door in the back of the classroom was thrown open, revealing two boys standing in the doorway. One was tall and athletic, with short black hair, and wore a black tracksuit instead of the uniform, while the other was blonde and had glasses framing his wiry face.

"Oh, man, we made it!" the one in black commented, breathing heavily as he stumbled over to his seat, before stopping at the sight of Shinji. "Oh, heya newbie; you sitting with us?"

"Don't be a stick in the mud." Bardiel commented, as Shinji felt another shock of energy run through him as the Angel gave him a jolt from his S2 Engine. "Introduce yourself!"

"Stop shocking me!" Shinji thought angrily in Bardiel's general direction, before turning back to face the two boys. "I'm Shinji Ikari; I just moved into Tokyo-3 a couple days ago!"

"Cool, Shin-man!" the boy responded. "I'm Toji Suzuhara, and that over there is Kensuke Aida."

"You don't have to bother with honorifics and all that stuff." Kensuke added, as he took a seat next to the brown-haired pilot. "Just call us Kensuke and Toji."

"Oh, then you can call me Shinji." He replied with a smile.

"So, what do you like to do?" Kensuke asked. "Toji's super big into sports, and I love anything to do with the military."

"Um, I play the cello?" Shinji said. "And I really enjoy cooking."

"Aha, a regular ladies man, I see." the blonde-haired boy responded, giving Shinji a little nudge with his elbow. "You'll catch all the ladies with that."

"I, for one, refuse to do stuff like cook!" Toji replied with a huff. "That's the woman's job!"

"He sounds like a stuck-up pig, but Toji's actually a huge softie." Kensuke whispered. "Ever since his sister got her toe broken by that giant robot, he's been taking care of everything around the house; cooking, cleaning, laundry, you name it."

"Kensuke!" the black-haired boy shouted. "You weren't supposed to tell him that!"

"It's okay, Toji." Shinji smiled. "Actually, I think it's very manly of you to do that for her. What's your sister's name?"

"Sakura." Toji replied. "When that giant robot fought that monster, her and I were watching, and a chunk of rubble fell on her and broke her toe, so I've been taking care of her since dad is at work all the time."

"Oh." Shinji said, his face casting down slightly. "I bet you hold a grudge against whoever was piloting that robot, huh?"

"What? Of course not!" Toji exclaimed. "They were awesome! My sister is gonna be alright, and we'd all be dead if it weren't for the pilot."

"Why do you ask, Shinji?" Kensuke noted. "Got something you want to tell us, newbie?"

"Do NOT play that card right out of the gate." Bardiel told Shinji. "Hold that one close to your chest for the moment. Come up with a believable excuse… umm… hey, your guardian works at NERV?"

"That's not even a lie!" Shinji thought.

"All good lies have an element of truth to them." Bardiel noted.

"Um, Shin-man, you all good?" Toji asked, tapping a knuckle against the boy's forehead.

"Oh, um, yeah, sorry!" Shinji exclaimed. "What Kensuke was saying just made me think about my guardian; she works for NERV, that's why I was curious."

"Hey, your guardian works for NERV? Kensuke asked. "My dad does too! Who's your guardian?"

"Um, her name is Misato Katsuragi." Shinji said.

"Hmm, never heard of her." Kensuke shrugged.

"Oh, well, don't worry Shin-man." Toji said, as he slammed down a singular notebook on his desk. "You'll fit in well here, no doubt about it."

"Class is beginning!" Hikari shouted, turning the trio's attention to the front of the room. "Rise, bow, sit!"

The class followed her instructions, all bowing in one huge wave, and sitting in their seats. The teacher rose from his seat, his hair as white as the chalk on the board behind him, and picked up a book.

"So, is this teacher a good instructor?" Shinji asked.

"And, so, thus caused the Second Impact, eliminating half of all life…" the teacher droned on, as the rest of the class sat in various stages of disarray; some on their laptops, some on their phones, some totally asleep.

"That's the fourth time he's said that in ten minutes." Shinji groaned, laying his head down on his desk. "Is it like this every day?"

"Quite literally every day." Kensuke responded. "I don't think I've ever actually learned anything about what we're supposed to learn in middle school, but the quizzes are all easy, so who cares?"

"And then, because of the Second Impact…" the teacher said, before suddenly being interrupted by a ringing bell. "Oh? I guess it's time for Physical Education. You kids head on to the gym now."

"Sweet!" Toji exclaimed. "Oh, man, P.E. is the best part of the day, other than lunch of course."

"Please, you're the only one that thinks that." Kensuke grumbled. "Having to go outside sucks, I'd rather sit inside and listen to Sir Drones-a-Lot."

"That's only because you can spend your time looking up military stuff." Toji retorted. "If you like the military so much, why don't you join it?"

"Toji, I'm like, 14 years old." Kensuke said. "They don't allow you to enlist until you're 17."

"Um, guys?" Shinji asked. "What do you guys usually do in P.E.?"

"All sorts of stuff." Toji replied. "Usually basketball or soccer, but this week we're doing swimming. School has their own pool and everything."

"We're swimming?" Kensuke asked. "Actually, that's not that bad. Don't worry newbie, it's easy."

"Oh, okay." Shinji muttered, as he followed the boys into the locker room, his face wrought with panic.

"You can use that locker right there." Toji said, as he grabbed a pair of shorts from his locker. "You can change out here or in one of the stalls."

Shinji gave the boy a weak thumbs-up, before hanging his backpack in the locker. He grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt out from his backpack, before retreating into a nearby bathroom stall. He began changing as quickly as he could, trying to avoid the nervous sweat running down his forehead.

"Shinji, what's wrong?" Bardiel asked. "You're sweating like a stuck pig."

"I don't know how to swim!" Shinji exclaimed, as he sat down, cradling his head in his hands. "My instructor never had a pool, and I was never allowed to go to the lake!"

"Don't sweat it, it'll be fine." Bardiel replied. "I'll just let you tap into some of Sachiel's power."

"Wait, Sachiel's power?" Shinji asked.

"Don't know if I quite explained it in detail, but I can absorb the powers from my brothers and sisters I destroy." Bardiel explained. "Part of the whole 'Humiliated Son of God" thing, I guess."

"So you can absorb the other Angel's powers, and I can use them?"

"Got it in one, Shinji." Bardiel said. "You won't be able to use much, not until you learn how to use your A.T. Field, but you'll be able to use bits and pieces of it."

"So how does that help me learn how to swim?" Shinji inquired.

"Sachiel's the Angel of Water." Bardiel pointed out. "If anyone knows how to swim, it's probably him."

"Yo, Shin-man!" Toji shouted, knocking on the stall door. "You good to go? Class starts in just a couple minutes!"

"Um, yeah, out in a second!" Shinji replied. "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Absolutely, I just gotta tweak my S2 Engine a bit again." Bardiel said. "Head along, it'll be done by the time you're in the water… probably."

"Sorry about that." Shinji explained, as he opened the door to the awaiting Toji and Kensuke. "I was… responding to some messages from my guardian. Apparently things got held up at work."

"No sweat, newbie." Toji replied, as he led the two other boys out next to the pool, where the rest of the boys in their class were waiting. "Ah, man, is that fresh afternoon air the best or what?"

"Or what." Kensuke grumbled, earning him a noogie from Toji.

"Alrighty, let's start doing warm-ups; Ikari, Suzuhara, Fujikawa, Aida!" the P.E. teacher exclaimed. "Get to the starting lines and get ready to go!"

"Bardiel, any time now." Shinji hissed under his breath.

"Just a second, and… got it!" the Angel exclaimed. "You're now using 1/10th of a percent of Sachiel's powers."

Shinji felt another shock course through his body, shaking a little bit as he walked. Suddenly, his skin felt horribly dry, like he'd never drank a drop of water in his whole life, and he yearned for nothing more than to dive into the cool waves of the pool. He lined up next to Suzuhara, as if he'd been swimming for his whole life.

"Don't worry, Shinji." Toji said, patting the boy on the back. "I always win anyway, so there's no pressure."

"Down and back, starting in 3, 2…" the teacher began counting.

"Catch me if you can." Shinji said, his voice holding a faint alien lilt as his A.T. Field merged ever so slightly with Bardiel's, and the Angel's personality bled over into Shinji's.

"1, GO!" the teacher yelled, and the boys leapt into the water. Shinji instinctively knew what to do, as he tore through the water, sailing right past the other boys. He grabbed the other side of the pool and flipped around in a single motion, passing a stunned Toji, before slapping a hand down on the tile where he had started.

"55 seconds for Ikari!" the teacher shouted excitedly, as he clicked his stopwatch. "63 seconds for Suzuhara... 70 seconds for Fujikawa… and 80 seconds for Aida."

"Holy crap, Shinji!" Toji spluttered. "You were holding out on us! You never told us you could swim like that!"

"Guess I didn't want to seem like I was showing off." Shinji replied meekly, as he began to climb out of the pool, only to find a hand being offered to him.

"That was some work out there, Ikari." the teacher said, as he helped the boy out of the pool. "You know, we've got a few spots open on the swim team; I know you've got business outside of school, but you should really consider joining with a time like that."

Shinji turned back to look at the pool, thinking about how alive he felt using only the tiniest of a fraction of the power of the Third Angel, and gave the man a weak smile. "You know, sir, I just might take you up on that offer."

"That was some work you did back there, Shinji!" Toji exclaimed, as the three boys made their way down the stairs on their way out of the school. "You're pretty good, for a newbie."

"Thanks." Shini said awkwardly. "You guys are pretty cool too."

"I think that's the first time I've ever been called cool, ever." Kensuke noted. "I'll treasure it in my poor heart forever."

Shinji chuckled as the other two boys squabbled, holding the door open for them so they didn't slam into a wall. They made their way down the sidewalk into Tokyo-3, talking casually amongst themselves; Toji and Kensuke had mentioned going to the arcade, and Shinji was content to simply follow along and enjoy the afternoon. Suddenly, the boy's phone let off a shrill beep. He pulled it out, gazing at the blinking message.

Ms. Misato: Doc Akagi wants 2 strt trainin immdietly; come 2 NERV as soon as u can.

"Oh, no, I'm sorry." Shinji said, as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. "My guardian needs me at NERV, she's… well, she needs me to help her move some stuff that we're taking home… yeah."

"No sweat, Shin-man!" Toji shouted, giving the boy a hard pat on the back. "We'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Thanks, Toji." Shinji replied, as he began to walk in the other direction. "It's been really nice meeting you guys!"

"Huh." Kensuke said, waiting until the boy was out of earshot. "Is it just me, or does it seem like he's never really had any friends before?"

"Nah, it's not just you." Toji huffed, showing a shocking amount of emotional awareness as he let his face drop. "Sakura just told me the other day about how there was a new girl at her school who had no friends, and she decided to be their friend, so I guess she inspired me a bit" "Ah, Toji, you big ol' softie." the blonde boy responded. "I always knew you had a soul in there somewhere. Now let's go play some games and discuss your newfound bleeding heart."

Author's Note: Chapter 2 is out a bit early! I normally update Tuesday/Thursday, but since I uploaded on Thursday I figured I'd publish another chapter just to keep it consistent with 2 chapters a week. I didn't have an author's note on Chapter 1 because there wasn't much point, and wasn't any feedback to respond to, but now there is! This chapter was fun; Kensuke and Toji are my second and third favorite characters to write in any NGE fanfic. My favorite character will come in about a dozen chapters down the line, but they're a guest from the Rebuilds, bonus points if you can guess who... not that it's hard to guess... on second thought, scratch that, there's only one new character in the whole Rebuild series anyway. Also, Shinji joining the swim team isn't just a throwaway line, that will be relevant as the story progresses. Now, onto the feedback!

merlomax7: I appreciate!

SheriffJohnStone: First of all, love the Sloop John B reference in your name, and second, huge fan of Yui's Words, love your work. I kept Eddie and Venom in mind when writing this story; I wanted it to have that general vibe of "sentient symbiote buddy drama," but I didn't want to be too derivative. Then again, being derivative is like, the whole point of fanfiction, so that's kinda a moot point.

hys8892: Thank you! I've been writing fanfiction for awhile and have no intents of stopping; I've only published 3 of the dozen I've written, but I'll keep going as long as I can.

KySocceRef: Thank you! I've gotten a lot more experience under my belt since publishing my last NGE fanfic on FFnet, so I'm hoping that I can capitalize on that promise and make something worthwhile.

Author0fntent: Hey. glad to see you again after Caesium! I thought it was funny you mentioned the voice; my best friend, who proofreads this story, joked about Bardiel sounding like Joey Wheeler from Yu-Gi-Oh! and now I can't get it out of my head whenever I'm writing.

Delta4Phoenix: I hope to capitalize on that! My goal is to write a decent AU with some comedy and just enough drama to make it Evangelion, so hopefully I can pull it all together.

TheSeikenTsukai: The Venom movie was actually part of the inspiration for this; I was originally planning on writing a Metroid fanfic where Samus bonded with an Ing inspired by the movie, but I had just finished 3.0+1.0 and was in an NGE mood, so I switched it over.