...and yet so different?
The same classroom and yet so different.
Touji
There he is. I don't know what to say. Should I just act normal? I guess I should.... but it will be hard. Good thing he isn't facing me or I wouldn't have time to think. Will he know? Will he remember? Will he even know who I am? Or will I just sound like a complete idiot..... It doesn't matter... Let me sound like a complete idiot... let him think I'm stupid... compared to what used to be between us... this is nothing. I'm going to talk to him. I'm going to go say something... and I'm not going to run away.
"Uh...Touji?"
"Hey Shinji!" Touji says enthusiastically, as he turns around to face Shinji.
"Um well...."
"Yo, you didn't get into any trouble did you?" Touji says, his voice sounding suddenly serious when he saw Shinji's face.
"What? No I haven't... but why-"
"Well you look like you just did a horrible thing or something... I don't know, maybe it's just me..." Touji says, his voice abandoning the seriousness.
"Yeah.... maybe" Shinji says.
-----------
The same hallway and yet so different.
Asuka
You are Asuka ... right? You're the same Asuka. You're the one who knows what's going on. You and a couple of others. But for now, it's just you. And you haven't changed. But why do you look so dead?
"Hey...." Asuka says looking very distressed.
"Hi" Shinji says, not sounding especially cheerful.
"......."
"......."
"I have to go" Asuka suddenly says.
"Alright..." before giving Shinji a chance to say goodbye, Asuka walks off.
Asuka......
------------
The same roof and yet so different
Rei
I'm sorry. That's all I can say to you, but I won't. That's all I really have to say, but I'm not going to. But maybe someday, I will. Someday I'll be able to say everything. But now, I would just stare into your beautiful eyes and say nothing. But that's just too awkward.
"Rei"
"Ikari-kun"
"Um......"
"I know what has occurred. No uneasiness is necessary around me" Rei says smiling reassuringly.
"I.... did I do the-"
"Who cares?"
"............"
"Shinji-kun, you did what you could do. You did what you wanted. You should have no regrets"
"....I don't...I think"
"For what it's worth, I'm happy with the.....readjustments"
Shinji looks down and thinks. Slowly, a smile creeps to his face.
"I'm guessing you want to tell me something?" Rei asks.
"What?" Shinji says snapping out of thought.
"Regarding my... our memory...."
"Oh well..." Shinji says, unsure of what to say.
"We will have to discuss it, when we are all together...alone"
"Right" Shinji says satisfied with that.
"If you don't mind me asking, how many know?"
"Four, one of them I won't see for a while...maybe even never" Shinji says.
"I see, well we will see what happens....." Rei says.
"Yeah......"
".........."
".........."
"Soryu-san is probably unstable. She does not know what has happened, although she can probably deduce a lot of it."
"Yeah, I was going to talk to her but-"
"She probably wants to think for now" Rei says.
Shinji just could not stop smiling at the transformation Rei went through. But the smile would quickly fade since guilt would give him a pinch every time he enjoyed the new Rei.
"Well, I'll try to talk to her" Shinji says.
"That would be best."
"Well, bye"
"Farewell"
---------------
Shinji wandered, nowhere in particular. All his years in Tokyo-3 and he had never gotten the chance to just wander and watch the sights, with no worries of an angel attacking. So Shinji wandered the streets, looking at all the stores, entering a few, but buying nothing.
"What are you looking for?" The people in stores would ask him, but his reply was the same everytime, "I don't know".
But Shinji did know what he was looking for, he didn't know that he knew, but he did. And it all hit him when he saw a girl walking in front of him. A girl with blonde hair.
"Kat?" Shinji said, barely audible over all the ruckus in the busy streets.
"Kat!" Shinji yelled and ran up to the girl. The girl turned around to see who was the retard yelling at the top of his lungs when she saw Shinji. Shinji stopped infront of the girl, somewhat out of breath.
"Can I help you?" The girl asks, she was smiling.
The girl was not German, but a Japanese girl with dyed hair.
"Uh... no sorry, I thought you were someone else." Shinji stammered, embarrassed at his foolishness for even thinking Katharina was in Japan.
"Okay then..." The girl says her smile fading. After taking one last look at Shinji she walks back in the direction she was walking before.
Shinji stands there catching his breath for a moment. Then he turns around and walks in the opposite direction of the girl, out of the corner of his eye he sees a girl with red hair.
'Asuka?' Shinji thinks but when he looks again there was no redhead. Shinji looks puzzled for a moment but then continues to walk.
"Alright, today is not my day" Shinji mutters to himself.
---------------
*A Few Days Later*
"My name is Katharina Hedwig, Yoroshiku!" The blonde haired girl says smiling.
There seemed to be a mixed response from the class. Some guys paid only a second of attention to her, while others gawked. Some girls glared, while others just smiled back.
Rei examined Katharina intensely and Asuka just stared. Shinji looked as of he saw a ghost.
"Well Katharina, you can take a seat over there, behind Shinji" Misato says, "Shinji please raise your-"
But Katharina was already walking. She walked toward the aisle Shinji was sitting in and then walked down it. Shinji just stared at the desk and waited for her to pass by.
Katharina stops momentarily by Shinji's desk but only for an instance. Before anyone notices she sits down in the seat behind him. Misato then starts the lesson.
--------------
The bell rang, signaling lunch.
"Well I'm out of here!" Misato says in delight and walks out of the room to go eat.
"God, Ms. Katsuragi must be the only teacher in the school to be the first to leave class when the bell rings." Kensuke says.
"Hey, it's not like I'm complaining" Touji says.
Hikari, Rei, and Asuka walked over to Touji and Kensuke's desk. The three took seats near them and Hikari unpacked two lunches.
"Here" she says giving one to Touji.
"Thanks" Touji says.
Hikari and Touji had become quite good friends. Hikari made him lunch everyday and Touji gladly accepted it. So the tradition was that everyday they would eat lunch together. And since Asuka and Rei were friends with Hikari they came along as well.
"Where's Shinji-kun?" Hikari asks.
"Huh?" Touji, who had already started eating looks over at Shinji's desk. He was still seated there.
"Is he sleeping?" Touji thinks outloud, "Hey Shinji!"
-------------
"You can't even say Hi to me?"
Shinji was startled by the voice that came from behind him. "I.... I wasn't sure" Shinji says, not looking back.
"Wasn't sure of what?"
"I wasn't sure if it was you......" Shinji says.
Katharina was silent and Shinji had no idea what to say. His mind had stopped functioning ever since Katharina walked into the classroom this morning.
"So are you happy to see me?" Katharina asks.
"Hey Shinji!"
Shinji turns toward the voice and sees Touji waving him over.
"Uh...." Shinji was not quite sure what to do. He looked over at Katharina for the first time. She was smiling.
"Go, your friends demand your company" she says.
"But.-"
"We can talk later"
"Katharina I-"
"Later Shinji, later."
Shinji says nothing for a moment but then nods and walks over to Touji. Katharina watches him until he begins talking with Touji and then looks down at her desk. She smiles weakly and sighs.
"He called me Katharina?" she mutters to herself. She then laughs and sits back. He glances over at Shinji who was being yelled at by two of his male friends. Katharina could here every word Kensuke was saying, so she decided to have some fun.
----------------
"And then what did you say?" Touji asks.
"Nothing, you called me over" Shinji responds.
"Oh my god Shinji!" Kensuke yells.
"Wha..what?" Shinji asks surprised by the sudden yelling.
"You're telling me the beautiful new girl from a different country attempted to conversate with you and you just blew her off?!"
"Well I..."
"She isn't beautiful. She's pretty, I'll give her that." Rei says quietly.
"You do realize she probably has no friends and was trying to make one. So right now you could be friends with that girl." Kensuke continues, ignoring Rei.
"Yeah, and then obviously you would charm her to the points that she is completely in love with you and then..." Touji says, deciding to join Kensuke.
"You could get me really drunk and take to a hotel"
Touji, Kensuke, and Shinji turn around and the girls look up at the girl who spoke.
"Right?" Katharina says, looking at Touji and Kensuke.
The two of them were speechless, obviously embarassed that the girl heard every word they said. Shinji just smiles.
'Yeah, thats definately her' he thinks to himself.
"Uh... would you like to sit?" Hikari asks, being polite.
"Sure, why not" Katharina says in her cheerful manner. She then sits down next to Shinji. "Oh, your such a gentleman" Katharina says to Hikari and then eyes the three boys.
Hikari giggles but Touji and Kensuke go bright red. And Shinji.... Shinji was laughing.... hard.
"Wow" Touji says after Shinji had calmed down.
"Seriously" Kensuke says.
"What?" Shinji asks.
"I don't think I have ever seen you laugh that much.... ever" Touji says.
"Yeah... actually I think thats the first time I've seen you laughing in a while" Kensuke says.
"Really? Wow, I always thought he was kinda easy to make laugh" Katharina says.
"Wait, you two know each other?" Hikari asks.
"Well yeah, didn't he tell you? We-" Rei gives Shinji a look that Shinji immediately understands. He then interrupts Katharina.
"We met a few days ago..... at the.....um... library"
"What? No we-" Katharina was interrupted.
"*I'll tell you later" Shinji says in German.
Everybody but Asuka and Katharina say in unison "What?"
Katharina responds by saying something in German and smiles.
"Checking to see if I was lying?" Katharina asks, in Japanese.
"Alright, I think I speak for all of us when I repeat, What?" Touji says.
"He was checking to see if I was German" Katharina responds.
"Why?" Touji asks.
"I don't know, he probably thought I was lying. Right Shinji?"
"I just wanted to check" Shinji says.
Asuka who had not said a word this whole time suddenly speaks up.
"I have to go" She then stands up and leaves the classroom.
They all stared at her, but none of them questioned and as soon as Asuka left the classroom, they went back to talking and eating.
---------------
'Katharina Hedwig' Asuka thinks as she walks down the hall. She continues to think as she walks and soon she was wandering aimlessly. She was thinking about Katharina mostly, and a little about Shinji. She snapped out of her thoughts when the bell rang and she realized she was on the opposite side of the school. She quickly runs back, knowing she was going to be late. But the thought in her head was not about an excuse.
'I'm no match'
A/N: I've got nothin to say. Please R+R!
