Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Mirror Mirror
Chapter 2: Homecoming
The drive to the house wasn't a long one. Shortly after meeting his father and Rei outside
of his hospital room, the three of them had proceeded to Gendo's car. It was a very well-
maintained green 2003 Neon. Not exactly the newest thing on the market, or the flashiest
thing on the streets, but it got things done. When they arrived, they were greeted by an
austere grey two-story home with burgundy faux shutters.
On entering the house through the side door, they were in the kitchen. Nothing fancy, just
a stove, sink, countertop, and refrigerator, along with ample cupboard space. Beyond that,
were a small kitchen table for family dinners and a longer, more ornate table for
entertaining behind a separating wall.
"So, you two hungry?"
The question forced both teens back to reality after taking in their surroundings.
"Um, not... really..." Shinji stuttered, "I think I might just go to bed tonight."
"You're sure Shinji? It's not like you to skip a meal..."
"Um, yeah... I'm just not too hungry right now. Besides, I getting tired anyway."
"Well, if I can't change your mind, then good night."
"Yeah, you too..."
Shinji walks out of the kitchen and walks up the stairs just across the main foyer of the
house to the second floor. Ahead of him is a single bathroom, two doors on the left, and
one on the right. The first door on the right is labeled 'Shinji's Room' Feeling a slight
weight removed from his chest, Shinji opens his door, enters the room, and closes the
door behind him.
--------------------------------
While Shinji goes upstairs to sleep, Gendo goes to the kitchen to begin dinner, and Rei
walks into the living room and sits in one of the three reclining chairs set on one side of
the room. Having nothing better to do, she leans her head back against the chair and starts
to meditate. 'I have never been to this place before, yet Ikari is acting as though I have
lived here all my life. This is not my home, but everyone appears to think otherwise.
What is going on here?'
Rei is broken out of her thoughts as the sounds of a football game erupt from the
television set a few yards in front of her.
"Oh, sorry Rei, I didn't realize you were trying to sleep."
"I was not." Turning her attention away from Ikari, Rei watched the activities of the
players on the screen in front of her. "What is this sport?"
Ikari just stared blanky at his daughter until he burst out laughing… "For a minute there I
almost thought you had seriously forgotten what football is..."
Deciding to not contradict Gendo, Rei just watched the 'football' game for a few minutes.
It took Rei a little while to understand the concept of the game, but she eventually
managed to gain a basic understanding of the rules and object of the game, despite
several occasions of Ikari either cheering for one team or berating the officials on the
screen...
"Dammit!! Are You COMPLETELY BLIND!?!? There's NO WAY he was in
bounds!!!"
"What is the point of yelling at the officials when it is impossible for them to hear you?"
Calming slightly before speaking to Rei, Gendo turns to look at her. "The point is to let
your frustrations loose before they have the chance to consume you. Besides, it may
actually help..."
Rei simply cocked an eyebrow at Gendo before turning back to the TV. A few moments
later, one of the coaches on the screen threw a red flag onto the field and the announcer
stated that a challenge had been called.
"THANK YOU!!! It's about time!!"
Rei was watching the 'review' process when she smelled smoke coming from the
kitchen. "Fire."
"What are you talking about Rei, there's no fire on the... Oh, CRUD!!"
Gendo leapt from his seat and ran into the kitchen where a saucepan was filled with
smoking chicken. He immediately lifted the pan off the heater and covered it with its lid
to suffocate the flames. Needless to say, the chicken didn't look very appetizing
afterwards.
"Looks like we're gonna have to call out for food tonight."
"I dislike meat."
"Oh, I'm sorry Rei, I fixed this for your brother and myself. Your dinner is just fine."
"I see. Is it ready?"
"I suppose, you hungry?"
"I am."
-----------------------------------------------------
Upstairs, Shinji was looking around his room for anything familiar. The only thing he
could find was his S-DAT player, but his normal tapes were nowhere to be found. Giving
up on the tapes for now, Shinji set about exploring the rest of the unfamiliar objects in his
room. There were posters of women in bikinis and wet tank-tops up on the walls and
several pictures of Touji, Kensuke and himself on his desk along with an open laptop
computer.
On the small nightstand, there were pictures of Asuka by herself, portraits of her, and a
few of himself with her. Well... mostly of her putting him in a headlock while smiling at
the camera. Also on the nightstand was a cordless phone and cradle. Opening the drawer
in the nightstand, he discovered a rather thin, leather-bound book with his name inscribed
in gold leaf on the front cover.
Opening the book, he saw that several of the entries were dated... and that the earlier ones
showed a drastic improvement in the kanji formation as they went on... like they were
written while he was still learning how... The dates in the book appeared to be rather far
apart until just recently. About three months before the last entry, they became more
frequent and detailed, like he was developing greater interest in documenting his life.
Setting the journal back in the drawer and looking over the rest of the room, Shinji's
glance fell across a calendar with a single day circled in red. On closer inspection, the
kanji written in that square showed that it was supposed to be a date with Asuka but
nothing else.
-----------------------------------------------------
After dinner, Rei decided to go to bed just as Shinji had earlier. She also went upstairs to
find her room. She turned left at the top of the steps and walked over to the door at the
end of the short railing strategically placed to keep people from falling over the edge and
down the stairs. Opening the door, She was greeted by a pleasantly sky blue room w/ a
window overlooking the front yard and street beyond.
The room smelled of perfumes and books. Indeed, it was not long before Rei's crimson
eyes passed over the shelves upon shelves of books. Some were thin, unassuming things
that appeared to be fairly easy reads, but others were thick. The thick volumes included
several books on physics and mathematics, a current encyclopedia, and several other
knowledgeable texts.
On the same side of the room was a wooden desk with a laptop computer sitting open on
its surface. Also on the desk were several pictures of herself, Shinji and Gendo. Most of
which appeared to be of very enjoyable events such as birthdays, trips and some surprise
photos (the last of which presumably taken by her.). Amongst these photos were also a
few of a person she knew and another person she did not. There were a few pictures of
Kensuke Aida, apparently without his knowledge, and a few others of a brown-haired
woman smiling and holding a smiling child in her arms... a child with red eyes.
Slowly, on closer examination of the woman's features, Rei's mind began to put the
pieces of the scattered memories in her mind together to form a name for this woman...
Yui Ikari... Shinji's mother.
'How could she be holding a younger version of myself? She was lost long before I was
created. What is this place?'
---------------------------------------------------
Gendo was watching TV in the den when the phone started to ring. He stood up from his
recliner, walked over to the phone, and took it from its cradle.
"Hello?"
"I've found something about Unit-00 you need to see."
"Dr. Akagi? What about Unit-00?"
"I believe it would be safer to discuss this matter face to face sir."
"Is it urgent?"
"Not presently."
"Then we'll discuss it in the morning. Report to my office at 10:00 hours tomorrow."
"Yes sir."
And after a short electronic click, the conversation was over. However, just after Gendo
placed the phone back in its cradle, it rang again.
"Yes, Ikari residence... Gendo speaking..."
"Commander? Um… is Shinji there?"
"Who's calling?"
"You can't tell? This is Asuka!"
"Oh, well I think Shinji is asleep, but I'll go see if he's still up."
Gendo put the phone down on the kitchen counter-top and went upstairs to see if Shinji
was awake. He opened his son's door and sure enough, Shinji was lying on his bed, wide
awake, and staring at the ceiling.
"Shinji, phone call..."
A little groggily, Shinji started feeling around on his nightstand for the phone he saw
there earlier. Finding it, he fumbled with it briefly before turning it on and bringing up to
his ear.
"Hello..."
"Hey there sleepyhead..."
"Asuka?"
"Who else?"
"I dunno, I just wasn't expecting you to call so late..."
"Yeah, well... I got done with my homework earlier than I thought I would and didn't
have anything else to do... so I gave you a call."
In the background on the other end "Sure you did Asuka… I don't see any of your
school books lying around..."
For the next few minutes, sounds of scuffling and teasing could be heard from the other
end of the line as Asuka apparently tried to push Misato out of her room.
"That woman aggravates me sooo much sometimes... You looking forward to Friday
Shinji?"
"Umm... yeah... Are you?"
"Of course I am!! I always look forward to the dates we go on, but this'll be the first time
you've actually taken me out to dinner. Where are we going anyway?"
"Um..."
"I think that new Italian restaurant is supposed to be good... of course 'A Taste of France'
would be sooo romantic…"
Needless to say, Asuka starts listing the restaurants she thinks would be good places for
them to go for dinner. About 3 minutes into the list, one restaurant catches Shinji's
attention…
"Or we can go to..."
"We're going to the last one. It sounds nice..."
Shinji could HEAR Asuka's face light up at his statement. "I was hoping that'd be the
one… they've got a dance floor and everything. AND they'll let us in as long as we don't
order any alcohol."
"Well, it's not like we were planning to anyway…"
"True... anyway, I am sooo looking forward to this! It's been a while since I've had a
decent meal around here that's not take out..."
In response to Asuka's statement, a faint female voice could be heard on the other end of
the line: "What does that mean?! Do you not like my cooking?!?"
"Who would!? You always burn everything you put in the oven or on the stove!!"
"Like you could do better..."
"Darn straight I could do better. Besides, what are you doing listening in on my
conversation..."
The argument on the other end of the line just continued to intensify as matters of
privacy, romance, culinary arts, technology, and oddly enough, even politics were
brought into the argument.
After a few minutes, Asuka broke away from the argument just long enough to say
goodbye to Shinji before hanging up the phone on her end.
---------------------------------------------------
[Morning, Shinji had finished getting ready for school and had begun preparing that
morning's breakfast]
It took Shinji a while to figure out where everything was stored in the many cabinets in
this kitchen, but he did eventually find all the things he needed to make breakfast for
himself, Rei, and... Father...
As he was waiting for the water to boil for the miso soup, he heard some shuffling in the
foyer and went to see who it was. As he turned the corner between the foyer and the den,
he wasn't very surprised to find Rei putting her shoes on before leaving.
"Um, Rei... do you... um... want something to eat before you leave?"
Rei looked at the younger Ikari, nodded, and began to take her shoes off.
Seeing that she would be joining him for breakfast that morning, Shinji walked back into
the kitchen to continue preparing his fellow pilot's vegetarian breakfast. While he was
busy cooking the several items for Rei's breakfast and his own, Rei quietly walked into
the kitchen and sat down at the modest dinette set without disturbing the young Ikari.
Shortly afterwards, Shinji set a bowl of miso soup along with some rice in front of her.
She thanked him briefly and began to eat at a patient rate. Seeing that she would not be
offering any conversation, Shinji simply went back to work preparing breakfast.
He decided that he'd simply prepare a traditional Japanese meal since he didn't really
know what his father liked to eat.
While Shinji was absorbed in his thoughts like he usually was while cooking, Gendo
walked into the kitchen, not quite looking ready to go into work that morning, but still
more prepared than Misato would usually be.
"Mmm... Smells good Shinji... Reminds me of how your mother used to cook."
When Shinji first heard his father's voice, he stiffened slightly, but he relaxed noticeably
after the compliment... or at least he thought it was a compliment...
Walking into the room, Gendo gives Rei a hug from behind as he passes her. Other than a
slight blush and a short pause in her eating, she hardly reacts at all. Gendo then moves to
where Shinji is preparing breakfast and gives him a quick, but hard pat on the back.
Once Gendo seated himself, Shinji brought his and his father's breakfasts to the table and
set them down in their appropriate places. After sitting himself, Shinji began to eat his
breakfast, as did Gendo. As they ate their respective meals, no one said a word. For some,
it was from lack of anything to say, for one it was habit, but for the other, it was from
puzzlement about his children's silence.
'They usually discuss what they're going to do today... I wonder why they're so quiet?'
Putting down his spoon after finishing his soup, Gendo asked: "Why are you two so
quiet...fighting again?"
His question was only met with a pair of blank stares, shortly broken as Rei stood from
the table, announcing that they would be late for school if they did not leave soon. Gendo
watched as Rei walked to the foyer, and Shinji began collecting the dirty dishes, and set
them in the sink to be washed later. He then watched as Shinji hurried to meet his sister
in the foyer before she left.
A few moments later came a pair of 'Itekimasu's' before the door closed behind them.
---------------------------------------------------
Shinji and Rei were walking down the street together on their way to school when Rei
suddenly spoke up:
"Ikari-kun, do people seem to be acting strangely to you?"
Startled from his thoughts at her sudden question, it took Shinji a moment to respond to
her.
"…Er… well, how do you mean?"
Without stopping or turning to look at the young Ikari, Rei explained her question: "The
commander seems less... composed than normal."
Understanding her meaning, Shinji responded right away: "I noticed that, but isn't the
change a good one?"
"Perhaps, although I do not understand its implications."
Pausing to think more about the things which had changed since they were taken, Shinji
thinks of another very large change in the people around them…
"Hey! Shinji!! Rei!"
Turning to face the direction the voice came from, both saw Asuka running down a cross-
street to catch up with them. As she neared, she slowed down to a jog before she walked
up to Shinji and planted a small kiss on his cheek before looping her arm around his.
Breathing a little heavily from running down the street: "You're early…"
Shinji was still blushing profusely from the kiss and Asuka's proximity while Rei was
indifferent to Asuka's apparent affection for Shinji.
"Um, sorry… I…"
"Don't worry about it. It's okay."
Shinji was taken a bit aback by how easily Asuka just let that go, but decided not to
comment.
After about 10 min of walking in near silence as Asuka hummed a little tune to herself,
Asuka speaks up:
"Shinji, when do you think we should tell everyone else about us?"
"What do you mean 'us'?"
A bit offended that Shinji would ask a question like that, Asuka has a hard time not
exploding in anger at him… "ANTA BAKA?!?! We've been going out for the past three
MONTHS!!! We can't keep a secret like this forever!"
"WE'VE WHAT!?!?"
To be continued…
Oh...my...god... I can't believe how long it took me to finish this chapter... and I realize
now ho hard it's going to be to write this story... so don't expect more than maybe 3-4
updates per year...
Just so you know, I have a storyline already laid out for this story, it's just filling in all
the little details that's going to take me a while.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Mirror Mirror
Chapter 2: Homecoming
The drive to the house wasn't a long one. Shortly after meeting his father and Rei outside
of his hospital room, the three of them had proceeded to Gendo's car. It was a very well-
maintained green 2003 Neon. Not exactly the newest thing on the market, or the flashiest
thing on the streets, but it got things done. When they arrived, they were greeted by an
austere grey two-story home with burgundy faux shutters.
On entering the house through the side door, they were in the kitchen. Nothing fancy, just
a stove, sink, countertop, and refrigerator, along with ample cupboard space. Beyond that,
were a small kitchen table for family dinners and a longer, more ornate table for
entertaining behind a separating wall.
"So, you two hungry?"
The question forced both teens back to reality after taking in their surroundings.
"Um, not... really..." Shinji stuttered, "I think I might just go to bed tonight."
"You're sure Shinji? It's not like you to skip a meal..."
"Um, yeah... I'm just not too hungry right now. Besides, I getting tired anyway."
"Well, if I can't change your mind, then good night."
"Yeah, you too..."
Shinji walks out of the kitchen and walks up the stairs just across the main foyer of the
house to the second floor. Ahead of him is a single bathroom, two doors on the left, and
one on the right. The first door on the right is labeled 'Shinji's Room' Feeling a slight
weight removed from his chest, Shinji opens his door, enters the room, and closes the
door behind him.
--------------------------------
While Shinji goes upstairs to sleep, Gendo goes to the kitchen to begin dinner, and Rei
walks into the living room and sits in one of the three reclining chairs set on one side of
the room. Having nothing better to do, she leans her head back against the chair and starts
to meditate. 'I have never been to this place before, yet Ikari is acting as though I have
lived here all my life. This is not my home, but everyone appears to think otherwise.
What is going on here?'
Rei is broken out of her thoughts as the sounds of a football game erupt from the
television set a few yards in front of her.
"Oh, sorry Rei, I didn't realize you were trying to sleep."
"I was not." Turning her attention away from Ikari, Rei watched the activities of the
players on the screen in front of her. "What is this sport?"
Ikari just stared blanky at his daughter until he burst out laughing… "For a minute there I
almost thought you had seriously forgotten what football is..."
Deciding to not contradict Gendo, Rei just watched the 'football' game for a few minutes.
It took Rei a little while to understand the concept of the game, but she eventually
managed to gain a basic understanding of the rules and object of the game, despite
several occasions of Ikari either cheering for one team or berating the officials on the
screen...
"Dammit!! Are You COMPLETELY BLIND!?!? There's NO WAY he was in
bounds!!!"
"What is the point of yelling at the officials when it is impossible for them to hear you?"
Calming slightly before speaking to Rei, Gendo turns to look at her. "The point is to let
your frustrations loose before they have the chance to consume you. Besides, it may
actually help..."
Rei simply cocked an eyebrow at Gendo before turning back to the TV. A few moments
later, one of the coaches on the screen threw a red flag onto the field and the announcer
stated that a challenge had been called.
"THANK YOU!!! It's about time!!"
Rei was watching the 'review' process when she smelled smoke coming from the
kitchen. "Fire."
"What are you talking about Rei, there's no fire on the... Oh, CRUD!!"
Gendo leapt from his seat and ran into the kitchen where a saucepan was filled with
smoking chicken. He immediately lifted the pan off the heater and covered it with its lid
to suffocate the flames. Needless to say, the chicken didn't look very appetizing
afterwards.
"Looks like we're gonna have to call out for food tonight."
"I dislike meat."
"Oh, I'm sorry Rei, I fixed this for your brother and myself. Your dinner is just fine."
"I see. Is it ready?"
"I suppose, you hungry?"
"I am."
-----------------------------------------------------
Upstairs, Shinji was looking around his room for anything familiar. The only thing he
could find was his S-DAT player, but his normal tapes were nowhere to be found. Giving
up on the tapes for now, Shinji set about exploring the rest of the unfamiliar objects in his
room. There were posters of women in bikinis and wet tank-tops up on the walls and
several pictures of Touji, Kensuke and himself on his desk along with an open laptop
computer.
On the small nightstand, there were pictures of Asuka by herself, portraits of her, and a
few of himself with her. Well... mostly of her putting him in a headlock while smiling at
the camera. Also on the nightstand was a cordless phone and cradle. Opening the drawer
in the nightstand, he discovered a rather thin, leather-bound book with his name inscribed
in gold leaf on the front cover.
Opening the book, he saw that several of the entries were dated... and that the earlier ones
showed a drastic improvement in the kanji formation as they went on... like they were
written while he was still learning how... The dates in the book appeared to be rather far
apart until just recently. About three months before the last entry, they became more
frequent and detailed, like he was developing greater interest in documenting his life.
Setting the journal back in the drawer and looking over the rest of the room, Shinji's
glance fell across a calendar with a single day circled in red. On closer inspection, the
kanji written in that square showed that it was supposed to be a date with Asuka but
nothing else.
-----------------------------------------------------
After dinner, Rei decided to go to bed just as Shinji had earlier. She also went upstairs to
find her room. She turned left at the top of the steps and walked over to the door at the
end of the short railing strategically placed to keep people from falling over the edge and
down the stairs. Opening the door, She was greeted by a pleasantly sky blue room w/ a
window overlooking the front yard and street beyond.
The room smelled of perfumes and books. Indeed, it was not long before Rei's crimson
eyes passed over the shelves upon shelves of books. Some were thin, unassuming things
that appeared to be fairly easy reads, but others were thick. The thick volumes included
several books on physics and mathematics, a current encyclopedia, and several other
knowledgeable texts.
On the same side of the room was a wooden desk with a laptop computer sitting open on
its surface. Also on the desk were several pictures of herself, Shinji and Gendo. Most of
which appeared to be of very enjoyable events such as birthdays, trips and some surprise
photos (the last of which presumably taken by her.). Amongst these photos were also a
few of a person she knew and another person she did not. There were a few pictures of
Kensuke Aida, apparently without his knowledge, and a few others of a brown-haired
woman smiling and holding a smiling child in her arms... a child with red eyes.
Slowly, on closer examination of the woman's features, Rei's mind began to put the
pieces of the scattered memories in her mind together to form a name for this woman...
Yui Ikari... Shinji's mother.
'How could she be holding a younger version of myself? She was lost long before I was
created. What is this place?'
---------------------------------------------------
Gendo was watching TV in the den when the phone started to ring. He stood up from his
recliner, walked over to the phone, and took it from its cradle.
"Hello?"
"I've found something about Unit-00 you need to see."
"Dr. Akagi? What about Unit-00?"
"I believe it would be safer to discuss this matter face to face sir."
"Is it urgent?"
"Not presently."
"Then we'll discuss it in the morning. Report to my office at 10:00 hours tomorrow."
"Yes sir."
And after a short electronic click, the conversation was over. However, just after Gendo
placed the phone back in its cradle, it rang again.
"Yes, Ikari residence... Gendo speaking..."
"Commander? Um… is Shinji there?"
"Who's calling?"
"You can't tell? This is Asuka!"
"Oh, well I think Shinji is asleep, but I'll go see if he's still up."
Gendo put the phone down on the kitchen counter-top and went upstairs to see if Shinji
was awake. He opened his son's door and sure enough, Shinji was lying on his bed, wide
awake, and staring at the ceiling.
"Shinji, phone call..."
A little groggily, Shinji started feeling around on his nightstand for the phone he saw
there earlier. Finding it, he fumbled with it briefly before turning it on and bringing up to
his ear.
"Hello..."
"Hey there sleepyhead..."
"Asuka?"
"Who else?"
"I dunno, I just wasn't expecting you to call so late..."
"Yeah, well... I got done with my homework earlier than I thought I would and didn't
have anything else to do... so I gave you a call."
In the background on the other end "Sure you did Asuka… I don't see any of your
school books lying around..."
For the next few minutes, sounds of scuffling and teasing could be heard from the other
end of the line as Asuka apparently tried to push Misato out of her room.
"That woman aggravates me sooo much sometimes... You looking forward to Friday
Shinji?"
"Umm... yeah... Are you?"
"Of course I am!! I always look forward to the dates we go on, but this'll be the first time
you've actually taken me out to dinner. Where are we going anyway?"
"Um..."
"I think that new Italian restaurant is supposed to be good... of course 'A Taste of France'
would be sooo romantic…"
Needless to say, Asuka starts listing the restaurants she thinks would be good places for
them to go for dinner. About 3 minutes into the list, one restaurant catches Shinji's
attention…
"Or we can go to..."
"We're going to the last one. It sounds nice..."
Shinji could HEAR Asuka's face light up at his statement. "I was hoping that'd be the
one… they've got a dance floor and everything. AND they'll let us in as long as we don't
order any alcohol."
"Well, it's not like we were planning to anyway…"
"True... anyway, I am sooo looking forward to this! It's been a while since I've had a
decent meal around here that's not take out..."
In response to Asuka's statement, a faint female voice could be heard on the other end of
the line: "What does that mean?! Do you not like my cooking?!?"
"Who would!? You always burn everything you put in the oven or on the stove!!"
"Like you could do better..."
"Darn straight I could do better. Besides, what are you doing listening in on my
conversation..."
The argument on the other end of the line just continued to intensify as matters of
privacy, romance, culinary arts, technology, and oddly enough, even politics were
brought into the argument.
After a few minutes, Asuka broke away from the argument just long enough to say
goodbye to Shinji before hanging up the phone on her end.
---------------------------------------------------
[Morning, Shinji had finished getting ready for school and had begun preparing that
morning's breakfast]
It took Shinji a while to figure out where everything was stored in the many cabinets in
this kitchen, but he did eventually find all the things he needed to make breakfast for
himself, Rei, and... Father...
As he was waiting for the water to boil for the miso soup, he heard some shuffling in the
foyer and went to see who it was. As he turned the corner between the foyer and the den,
he wasn't very surprised to find Rei putting her shoes on before leaving.
"Um, Rei... do you... um... want something to eat before you leave?"
Rei looked at the younger Ikari, nodded, and began to take her shoes off.
Seeing that she would be joining him for breakfast that morning, Shinji walked back into
the kitchen to continue preparing his fellow pilot's vegetarian breakfast. While he was
busy cooking the several items for Rei's breakfast and his own, Rei quietly walked into
the kitchen and sat down at the modest dinette set without disturbing the young Ikari.
Shortly afterwards, Shinji set a bowl of miso soup along with some rice in front of her.
She thanked him briefly and began to eat at a patient rate. Seeing that she would not be
offering any conversation, Shinji simply went back to work preparing breakfast.
He decided that he'd simply prepare a traditional Japanese meal since he didn't really
know what his father liked to eat.
While Shinji was absorbed in his thoughts like he usually was while cooking, Gendo
walked into the kitchen, not quite looking ready to go into work that morning, but still
more prepared than Misato would usually be.
"Mmm... Smells good Shinji... Reminds me of how your mother used to cook."
When Shinji first heard his father's voice, he stiffened slightly, but he relaxed noticeably
after the compliment... or at least he thought it was a compliment...
Walking into the room, Gendo gives Rei a hug from behind as he passes her. Other than a
slight blush and a short pause in her eating, she hardly reacts at all. Gendo then moves to
where Shinji is preparing breakfast and gives him a quick, but hard pat on the back.
Once Gendo seated himself, Shinji brought his and his father's breakfasts to the table and
set them down in their appropriate places. After sitting himself, Shinji began to eat his
breakfast, as did Gendo. As they ate their respective meals, no one said a word. For some,
it was from lack of anything to say, for one it was habit, but for the other, it was from
puzzlement about his children's silence.
'They usually discuss what they're going to do today... I wonder why they're so quiet?'
Putting down his spoon after finishing his soup, Gendo asked: "Why are you two so
quiet...fighting again?"
His question was only met with a pair of blank stares, shortly broken as Rei stood from
the table, announcing that they would be late for school if they did not leave soon. Gendo
watched as Rei walked to the foyer, and Shinji began collecting the dirty dishes, and set
them in the sink to be washed later. He then watched as Shinji hurried to meet his sister
in the foyer before she left.
A few moments later came a pair of 'Itekimasu's' before the door closed behind them.
---------------------------------------------------
Shinji and Rei were walking down the street together on their way to school when Rei
suddenly spoke up:
"Ikari-kun, do people seem to be acting strangely to you?"
Startled from his thoughts at her sudden question, it took Shinji a moment to respond to
her.
"…Er… well, how do you mean?"
Without stopping or turning to look at the young Ikari, Rei explained her question: "The
commander seems less... composed than normal."
Understanding her meaning, Shinji responded right away: "I noticed that, but isn't the
change a good one?"
"Perhaps, although I do not understand its implications."
Pausing to think more about the things which had changed since they were taken, Shinji
thinks of another very large change in the people around them…
"Hey! Shinji!! Rei!"
Turning to face the direction the voice came from, both saw Asuka running down a cross-
street to catch up with them. As she neared, she slowed down to a jog before she walked
up to Shinji and planted a small kiss on his cheek before looping her arm around his.
Breathing a little heavily from running down the street: "You're early…"
Shinji was still blushing profusely from the kiss and Asuka's proximity while Rei was
indifferent to Asuka's apparent affection for Shinji.
"Um, sorry… I…"
"Don't worry about it. It's okay."
Shinji was taken a bit aback by how easily Asuka just let that go, but decided not to
comment.
After about 10 min of walking in near silence as Asuka hummed a little tune to herself,
Asuka speaks up:
"Shinji, when do you think we should tell everyone else about us?"
"What do you mean 'us'?"
A bit offended that Shinji would ask a question like that, Asuka has a hard time not
exploding in anger at him… "ANTA BAKA?!?! We've been going out for the past three
MONTHS!!! We can't keep a secret like this forever!"
"WE'VE WHAT!?!?"
To be continued…
Oh...my...god... I can't believe how long it took me to finish this chapter... and I realize
now ho hard it's going to be to write this story... so don't expect more than maybe 3-4
updates per year...
Just so you know, I have a storyline already laid out for this story, it's just filling in all
the little details that's going to take me a while.
