Chapter 0
Prologue
"Tadaima, Yui"
Little lamppost lights were slowly going on in all of Neo-Tokyo-3's streets, as they did every night. It was a little after 7 PM and the most frantic chaos still ruled the streets of Japan's most industrialized city. The massive exodus of the workers of the city going home had already begun, as was the routine every night at the same hour. Traffic lights managed car and pedestrian traffic, but the great chaos in the main streets notwithstanding, there still were some suburban districts where the passing of cars and pedestrians was still looked upon as an unusual view; one of those districts was the one where Rei Ayanami lived in complete loneliness…
In Rei's flat darkness appeared to have fallen before its time. Windows were closed, and so was the entrance door and the one on the balcony. Even the construction workers who were demolishing the buildings next to hers had ceased their activity early that evening, and this only added to the eerie silence that ruled the blue-haired girl's flat. Anyone there at the moment would have first thought it uninhabited, but its tenant was there…
Rei Ayanami was curled on the bed, around her a light white sheet,
that she nervously grasped at one end. Her eyes were closed, but she wasn't
asleep; she hadn't been able to fall asleep…
She knew that it was going to happen any moment now, and she couldn't
chase the thought away…
She released her grip on the sheet, and slowly turned on her side, while
she was experiencing, stronger than ever, a feeling of terror and anxiety
that we all know by the name of fear. She was now aware of all this, but
she couldn't do anything to prevent it from happening again…
Anything…
She closed her eyes a little further when she heard a sudden creaking
noise coming from the front door, and a while later a loud bang caused
by its closing.
Someone had gotten inside. And she knew who that someone was, without
having to ask anything. After all she was waiting for him, and that was
the reason why she had been able to make it home early…
Slow and heavy footsteps were becoming more and more audible, and realizing
this she felt a shiver going up her back. Why was all this happening ?
It had already happened in the past, but she'd never felt so scared before.
And all this only because she had understood…
Suddenly, the footsteps stopped, meaning that the person who had entered had arrived to his destination. Falteringly, she tried to open her red eyes, and look at the man who was standing a few steps from her. Rei's look was of hopelessness, even if she didn't know how she felt inside… she was experiencing many, mixed feelings, of which she didn't even know the name…
"Tadaima, Yui...." * Silence was broken by the grave and soft voice of the one who'd entered. In answer to those words, a silent tear went down the girl's face, and she closed again her eyes, hopeless. She sighed, and her breathing became labored. It was going to happen again, and she couldn't help it…
End of Chapter 0
(*) "Tadaima" is what the Japanese say when entering their own house.
It could be liberally translated as "I'm home", but it's impossible to
render a precise translation, because, for the Japanese, it's a special
greeting to one's family when entering one's house.