The world is how it is

   Disclaimer: Well wadda ya know? We don't own Eva! Damn! And we cudda made                        millions

 Author's notes:

 Tyreal: Oooooooh you're gonna really like this! Well maybe not, but its important!           Erm neither of us do maths as an A level, so if its wrong, we don't care.

Bowburn: *shudder maths*

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As Shinji strolled, the gentle breeze brushed against his cheeks and swept over the rolling hills.

  "Aah"

  Taking a deep breath of fresh air, Shinji tried to take in the smells of dew, and the chirping sounds of the few Cicidads that were left. The sun was on his face and the sky was blue. Bliss….

  It was at this time that Shinji's SDAT finished playing and started to rewind. With a sigh, the young pilot rose from his bed. Mornings were never the best time of day, week, month or year to Misato Katsuragi, and Shinji had learned this in the few short months he had lived with the captain.

  It was strange. Every morning, Shinji would wake up, take a shower, feed Pen Pen, make breakfast for the Captain and himself before waking the aforementioned adult. But it always seemed like a mad scramble for the door once it turned 8 o'clock. This confused Shinji, but he chose to ignore it, leaving it to some greater force than he.

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As usual, the trip to school was boring and uneventful, that is until Touji and Kensuke caught up with the Third Child. Shinji sighed internally and prepared himself for the barrage of questions he was bound to receive from his two friends concerning his, immature, in his view, guardian.

  "G'morning Shinji! So, how's the Goddess today?" an expectant look covering both boys faces as they walked either side of him. Ever since the confrontation with the third Angel Shamshel, Touji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida had been madly obsessed with Shinji's guardian. This was something Shinji could not figure out to save his life. So, to put his friends at ease and to get them to drop the subject Shinji recited his morning ritual to his friends

  "She's a slob as usual, and I'm betting she's going to be late for work again, the fourth time this week!" Shinji rolled his eyes in dismay. It was true, Misato had been late from Monday to Thursday and she didn't seem to be learning from the all of the "talks" she was having with Dr. Akagi. A weight seemed to lift from his friends as they sighed admiringly, letting smiles dominate their entire faces. The duo walked on in silence, with a very disturbed Shinji following.

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"Rise! Bow! Sit!" called the class rep as she repeated her daily honours. The class obeyed, opened up their laptops and continued to ignore the sensei as he prattled on about some sort of arithmetic and someone called Pythagoras. By the end of the lesson, Touji couldn't understand what pie had to do with maths. Shinji had tried to explain that Pi was seven divided into twenty, but had given up when Touji had argued that it cannot be done, as everyone knows that its twenty one divided by seven.

  As both children sat confused under the tree in the yard, Kensuke had been up to his usual business with his camera. And as usual, the targets of this weren't too pleased. The teenager ran past screaming something about international UN laws followed by a mob of girls swimming team candidates. That was when Shinji noticed Rei. The First Child always sat quietly in class and seemed to emulate this wherever she went. Her blue hair was cut short, but it covered enough of her face to block Shinji's view of her crimson eyes. Those eyes showed no feeling or weakness that Rei may have. It suddenly dawned on Shinji that, this girl, this person who was his partner, was somewhat different from everyone, yet somewhat familiar to him. However, Shinji's thought waves were halted by a very excited and smiling Touji. It took Shinji a second or ten to realise what was going through the other boys mind, but before he could defend himself, Touji assaulted him with a regiment of embarrassment

  "What were you looking at Shinji? Ayanami? Ayanami's legs? Ayanami's boobs? C'mon Shinji don't hold out on me, I know you were staring at her!"  Shinji sat there blushing; obviously, Touji had become too excited to realise that he was shouting. Stammering, Shinji tried to come up with an answer, but stopped when Rei appeared, standing right in front of him.

  "Pilot Ikari, I must speak with you." There was a calm, silence, then a gasp from several class members, who in their entire life around Rei, had never seen her start a conversation with anyone, ever! Trying to regain what little dignity Shinji had left, he started to stutter an apology, but was interrupted when the First Child grabbed hold of his collar and pulled him towards the school fence.

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As soon as they reached the fence, Rei started her interrogation.

  "Ikari, I have noticed a lapse in your concentration during our classes. Also you seem to be paying little attention to your surroundings as of late. Why?" This stunned Shinji, he had expected to receive another slap from his associate, or at least a verbal roasting, but not this. Rei continued "You seem uneasy around myself and other Nerv personnel, as well as being rather…protective when approached about the incident with the fifth angel. This leads me to believe that something troubles you. Something you experienced within your Eva must have been the trigger for this reaction. Am I correct?"

  Interrogated was an understatement Shinji thought, "I'm being questioned, judged and sentenced. It's the Ayanami inquisition!" Shinji gasped, as he realised he had let his thoughts speak out loud. Her crimson eyes, still, even as they seemed transfixed on him, gave no hint of Rei's feelings. Shinji blushed again, and then proceeded to explain as best as he could, "Well" he started "To start with, I found out how lobsters feel when they get cooked. Then I had a weird dream, which must have been when I passed out. Then I woke up to see you." Taking a breath and setting himself against the fence, Shinji carried on. "Lately, I've been having the same dream, two or three times a week since the incident. It's confusing, but other than that I'm ok. Why do you want to know anyway?"

  Rei looked blankly at him for a moment, reminiscing an earlier conversation she had with the commander.

  "Rei, there has been a decline in the Third's synch scores. He seems to be untroubled by this. I wish for you to study him and find out what the problem is, however do not alert him to your intentions."

  Rei turned from Shinji, replying, "Do I need a reason for my concern?" before walking off towards the school building. Shinji let out a sigh and sank towards the ground, propped up against the fence, the conversation reminding him of the dream and the strange place's he'd seen. The bell went signalling the end of break and more work for the students at Tokyo 3 High. A mildly confused Shinji Ikari, Pilot of Unit 01, looked at the sky and wondered whether or not this was one really big and troublesome dream.

To be continued…

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Author's ramblings number 1:

Tyreal: WOOOOO friggin HOOOOO! First chapter done and erm…bring on the rest! Oh that's rite were writing them 0_o

Bowburn: That's the first chapy done, if a little small the rest may get bigger