Italics indicate thoughts.
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Blue. Like the summer sky over Tokyo-3.
A breeze tussled Rei's chin-length bob. She smoothed it quickly with her open palm, but the wind toyed with her ends again. It was determined to have its way. Her fight was in vain.
To another, her concern about her hair was a small thing. To Rei, it marked her. She was not blind. No one else had hair the color of a cloudless summer sky. Blue. Like a freak. The unspoken hung like a mist around her, clung to her clothes and her hair and eyes. No one had to say it. Rei already knew it. She was set apart from everyone else, on a fundamental level that no one cared to elaborate.
Even on the days when she was allowed to leave the bowels of NERV, she sensed their amusement. They were in on the joke. She could only go through the motions, pretending to be normal when everyone knew that Rei was different. They humored her. She had no choice but to wallow in the deception.
She hated them. Her hate was fed by her inherent need, though. She needed them. She knew of no other life but endless prodding by doctors and daily training to pilot a monstrosity that was somehow related to her.
Do you know what an Evangelion is?
And how was she related to it? And why did they whisper over and around her about the Evangelions and the strange girl with the bobbed blue hair?
She hated NERV. Even as their guards watched her sitting on the park bench … she hated them as well. All of them, she hated them all.
Folding her hands on her lap, she sighed. There were no pigeons to feed this day. The small bag of feed in her lap was for naught. She did not know if she was sadder for the birds or for herself.
Someone stepped directly in front of her, blocking the sun from her face. The light spilled around the tall and lean figure, darkening his body until it was a silhouette against the noon sun.
"May I sit down?"
He took a step back, and his features came into focus. The sunlight played in the boy's hair, sparkling and glistening against its unruly silver and gray strands. He had very pale skin. Rei could not help but wonder why his skin looked like hers.
"I see you have red eyes as well."
She blinked, and looked again. His eyes were open, and indeed, they were bright and shining and crimson. Like her own eyes. Like her …
The boy grinned. Rei wondered if she was showing her surprise. Perhaps her slacked jaw was a clue. Still, she pushed past her curiosity and shock long enough to ask, "Will you sit down?"
"I'd be delighted."
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They sat in silence for a time. She kept her hands folded in her lap and tried to process her thoughts carefully, though it was difficult. Just the sight of the boy, who looked just like her, answered a few questions she had pondered in the past. Still, there was more to learn. What did he know?
"You never asked my name." It was an astute observation on her part and was stated as such.
The boy turned to Rei and smiled before answering. "I imagine that you go by many names, like me." His eyes fell on her, and she met his look directly. He made her nervous, though she did not know why. "What name should I use?"
"I am Rei Ayanami."
He nodded. "It is an honor to meet you, Ayanami-san. I am Kaworu. Kaworu Nagisa."
"I see." An unfamiliar name to match a familiar face … the mystery deepened in Rei's mind. "Nice to meet you, Nagisa-san."
"Call me Kaworu, Ayanami-san."
As if he had known her forever, he wanted her to call him by his first name. Rei could not help but marvel at the odd boy. His bizarre features were the biggest clue that they were related; some part of her was appalled that she could be associated with someone who was so peculiar. Still, Kaworu intrigued Rei.
"I am here to do more than exchange names, Ayanami-san."
He was unlike anyone she had ever met before. Rei did not know if that was good or bad just yet.
"Do you know why we look alike?" Kaworu cut to the biggest question right away.
She could only shake her head.
"We both have a purpose … we were created with a destiny. We are supposed to aid in the Third Impact."
Third Impact? Created? Destiny? The weight of oncoming answers weighed on Rei's mind heavily; Kaworu definitely knew something. Just from those words alone …
"I'm not interested in following their script … you weren't informed, were you?"
Again, she shook her head.
"Figures. I have quite a tale to tell, Ayanami-san. But first, I have to get you out of here. Do you fly?"
Rei could no longer suppress her surprise. "Fly?" was her bewildered response.
Kaworu looked away for a moment. He seemed a bit disappointed. "I'll take that as a 'no'. Nothing can ever be too easy, now can it? Well, there are ways around that." The grin that spread across the boy's face seemed wide enough to split his face in half. He hardly looked human. Rei wondered if that was the point.
"Tell me, Ayanami-san, about your two guards … are they nice to you?"
Rei did not ask how Kaworu knew about her guards or even knew the precise number of men who watched her when she left NERV. "Hmm?"
"They have never hurt you, have they?"
"No," she answered.
"Good. I won't kill them, then."
The atmosphere changed just as Kaworu stopped speaking. Something fundamental shifted; the air became thick and heavy. Even as others in the park continued about their business – walking and talking amongst themselves – Rei felt a new frequency assault her senses. Hairs she did not even know she had were standing on end.
A yell broke the reverie.
Rei turned in time to see the uniformed guard fall to his knees. His eyes, full of fear, seemed to look past everything. The man's fingers dug into the sides of his face, threatening to break the skin. He let out a silent scream before he passed out.
Another man, dressed in a jogging suit, was propped up against a tree only a few feet away. Horror had etched itself on his face. Intermittent twitching was the only evidence that the plainclothes guard was still alive.
When Rei turned to set her eyes on Kaworu, she saw that his face was impassive, almost as if he was ethereal. Not of the earth. But there was something more in his wide eyes. A raw thing laid behind those eyes … a power unconcerned with civility and morality, something older than the laws of man. Kaworu was looking in their direction, and to an untrained eye, it would seem that he was looking at the men. Rei knew better. Even as passerbys noticed the men and rushed to their aid, she remained still and kept her eyes on Kaworu.
Am I like that? The random thought smacked Rei across her face. Is this why they fear me?
"They are in no danger of dying, Ayanami-san." Kaworu was calm, almost dismissive. Like a simple mathematical equation, the solution was quick and decisive. The ends justified the means. "My influence is temporary, after all." He blinked, and turned to look at Rei. The primal stare had melted away; all that remained were the kind eyes of a child. "You have a choice, Ayanami-san. Would you like to take a walk with me?"
He held out his hand. It was unsteady and shivering. Like a child. Rei had to remember that he was a child, just as she was. Maybe they were alike. Maybe that was all she needed to leave her past behind.
Rei did not fully understand why she placed her hand in Kaworu's open palm. When Kaworu pulled Rei closer to him and their fingers intertwined, her rising blush provided at least some answer behind her motivation. She tried not to think on that, though. It seemed the silliest reason of all to leave: that she would toss everything away to pursue a crush.
The two walked away from the crowd gathering around the unconscious guards. Rei did not look back.
