Her eyelids slowly opened and she woke to sounds of construction in the distance. Pulling the sheets off her nude form, Rei Ayanami got out of the bed and walked over countless bandages and what not that laid around as she went to the bathroom and turned the tap in the shower. Without so much as a second thought, she stepped in.
She barely flinched when the cold water came into contact with her azure hair and pale skin. As she cleansed herself, the grumble in her stomach reminded her that she was hungry and she briefly thought of the salad that she received from Shinji. She could still remember the cheerful look on his face when he handed her the plate and quickly turned to give the other plates to their co-workers.
It wasn't the first time she ever had salad, but it was certainly something special about the salad she ate that day simply because she received it from him. She ate it slowly, carefully chewing every leaf and savoring every bit of radish. She recalled enjoying it and, then, remembered the first time she actually thanked someone.
Shinji followed her to the door as she was about to take her leave and she clearly remembered saying the simple phrase and the smile that appeared on his face after she said it.
Unlike her cool air conditioned room or the cold water that filtered out of the showerhead, she felt a warm feeling build inside her at the mere thought of being the one who made him smile.
Allowing herself to be submerged in thought, she pondered about sharing other… experiences with Pilot Ikari. Without a doubt, they would certainly be pleasant.
Stepping out of the shower, Rei voluntarily broke the still silence of her apartment by saying a word that she believed she should get used to saying while in the presence of Pilot Ikari.
Envisioning the boy in front of her, she held direct eye contact and opened her mouth.
"Thank you."
Lately
Shinji lost… again and again to be exact.
The pilot of Unit 01 looked down in complete defeat as the red-haired pilot of Unit 02 towered over him. With her mocking laughter crushing what little dignity he had left, she still had to ask, "Another round Third Child?"
He sighed. What were his choices? Give up, be bored, and still get made fun of for losing in the first place or keep playing and keep losing only giving her more of a reason to laugh.
Facing his no win situation with a fool's courage, Shinji bravely pressed a button and watched the man on the television get off of his knees and give a thumbs up as the continue timer stopped before it reached zero.
They were playing a video game console that Misato got for them. It was a gift for getting in synch with one another a whole day early which allowed everyone to breathe in some relief. Although they still attacked the Angel on the scheduled day, it was still an overwhelming success.
Shinji randomly pressed buttons and watched as the man randomly threw out attacks that missed Asuka's character who gracefully avoided each strike with ease. Pausing his button bashing just long enough to see what Asuka was pressing to block and avoid his attacks, Asuka seen her opening and took it.
Both of them stared at the screen as Asuka pressed the right combination of buttons and the character she controlled, a skinny woman with a sword way too large for her to even properly wield, started to flash.
She drove the blade of the sword into the ground and the shock caused the man to sail through the air. Stepping on the hilt, the woman jumped off the sword and juggled Shinji's character in the air with a series of what seemed like never ending blows until she delivered a quick elbow to his mid-section.
The attack launched the man into the air and Asuka's character smirked as she drew the dormant sword out of the ground. Shinji's character descent ended all too soon as he met with the blunt side of the blade as the woman heaved the weapon into the air.
Shinji didn't even have to look at the screen to know that his character was knocked out. Asuka cheered as the combo tally showed that she broke her own record with the chain of hits.
He mumbled the words he should have said long ago, "I give up."
Asuka got up and flicked the game off as her character celebrated her win by tossing her sword in the air and catching it, "Figured you'd endure some more."
Shinji sighed, "You say it like I wasn't going to win…"
He almost thought he offended her when she spun around, "Like that'll ever happen! I'm the best Shinji, never forget that!"
Getting up and stretching, Shinji felt like going to sleep but he was kind of hungry. Since he was going to make a quick sandwich or something real quick, he figured he might as well ask Asuka if she wanted anything.
"Are you hungry?" The asked at the same time, both of them nodding at the question.
Shinji scratched the side of his face, "You're sleepy too?"
His question went unanswered as both of them raised their hands to their mouths as they yawned. Aware of how the other was feeling, they went into the kitchen and Shinji pulled out what he needed to make a quick snack before they went to sleep.
Suddenly, an urge to use the bathroom came and Shinji left the knife in the peanut butter jar as he turned to go there until he realized that Asuka was already gone.
He sighed, "The training…"
-
The walk to school was filled with the usual talk that consisted of how Asuka still didn't get some kanji, why they had to walk when Section-2 could actually just drop them off so they wouldn't have to be stalked, and, of course, how wonderful Kaji was.
Shinji walked into the classroom and pass Hikari without doing anything, even a nod to show that he noticed her. Asuka noticed that their eyes met but neither greeted the other. As she took her seat, the redhead figured she'd ask him about it but something more surprising made her forget it entirely.
"Hello Ikari."
Everyone that heard it turned towards the blue haired pilot of Unit 00 certain that they heard her speak. Most, brushing it off as someone else speaking, turned away until Shinji raised his head in Rei's direction and replied.
"H-Hello Ayanami," Shinji said out loud unaware of the silence that fell over the class as the pilot greeted each other.
Rei felt a small sense of accomplishment at openly greeting him but, she decided, it felt better being replied to.
Unknown to Shinji, Rei found him interesting to say the least. From everything from his current situation with Miss Horaki to his daily mannerisms, she found all of it of interest. While she didn't quite understand his relations with the former Class Representative, she was more than sure that she desired more contact with the Third Child.
Although openly greeting him was a step, she didn't exactly know how to proceed or exactly know what type of contact she wanted from Shinji.
Even if she didn't have that figured out yet, she still didn't at all mind the thought of getting closer to him.
Keeping her eyes on the world outside the classroom via the window, Rei thought that perhaps getting on a first name basis would help advancement of their relationship, and, if possible, further visits to the apartment he shared with the Major and Pilot Sohryu.
Rei's relationship with Major Katsuragi was simply that of a superior officer, nothing more and nothing less. Even if she knew of her before Shinji arrived, she rarely interacted with her but, of course, the Angel attacks changed that.
Even if she seemed lax at home, Rei realized the Major's abilities were absolutely vital to their counter to the Angels and she was to be respected not only for her role as Operations Director, guardian to two of the chosen Children to pilot Evangelion, but also as an advice giver seeing that Rei actually received the thought of asking Shinji to call her by her first name from the Major herself.
But her association with the Second Child was complex at best.
Even though she was neither competitive nor outspoken, Asuka seemed to more critical of her than she was of Shinji. She was made fairly aware of the girl's dislike of her on more than several occasions but Rei found herself simply unable to understand the source of her co-worker's loathing of her.
If anything, she knew that the feeling was not mutual and that it wasn't exactly hate. While Asuka had only a mild or so dislike of her, Dr. Akagi utterly hated her and, again, she didn't understand why.
"Ayanami?"
Rei blinked as she realized that someone was trying to get her attention. Drawing her attention from the window she turned to find Shinji on the side of her desk and that they were the only two in the room.
This was not the first time she fell so deep in thought that she didn't realize that she was left in the class but this was the first time Shinji approached her like this. With the mere thought, her heart started to flutter as she thought about asking him to instead call her by her first name.
"Ikari… I would be content if you would please call me Rei."
Shinji stared at her for a few seconds and then nodded with a small smile on his face, "It's only fair if you call me Shinji then Rei."
'Yes,' The First Child also nodded as she thought, 'this is… acceptable.'
Shinji raised the rags he held in his hand, "We're on cleaning duty today Rei."
Although he would never say it, Shinji was most comfortable when he was with Rei. He still felt a bit of shame when the swift thought of her being nude and under him came to mind, but he immediately pushed the thought out of his mind as he started to clean the desk.
It was the quiet understanding between them that set him so much at ease. It felt like she didn't expect anything at all out of him. While it wasn't that everyone else was so demanding, it was just that with Rei she seemed to be okay with him just being himself and nothing made him feel better than not having to meet the inhuman expectations that were so often placed on him.
For Rei, it was quite the opposite. She still couldn't grasp fully what she felt for Shinji but she liked being in his presence. He was the first person to reach out towards her and she was content with just being around him since he made her feel better.
Both would have been happier if they had known the effect they had on the other, but, for now, they were just satisfied with the silence peace between them as they cleaned.
-
Misato yawned as she stumbled into the apartment already half sleep. She swore that she almost stayed up two days straight working on the damage reports she put off to deal with preparing for the seventh Angel.
The Major over heard Shinji and Asuka in the living room but paid them no mind as she retreated to her bed, "I know have to get some sleep if I'm too tired to tease him…" She muttered as she slid open her bedroom door.
"Where did you get that idea from?" Asuka asked as she sat on the couch, "That's just how Wondergirl is idiot."
"She's becoming friendlier," Shinji retorted, defending his friend, "This was the first time we really talked today."
"Wow!" Asuka exclaimed with her voice already dripping with sarcasm, "What extremely interesting topic did Shinji the Great and Wondergirl discuss today?"
"Um…" Shinji deflated, "Cleaning…"
"Wonderful!" She threw her hands in the air as she exaggerated her reaction on purpose.
Shinji wondered if bringing up Rei was a good idea or not but decided it was alright. Even if she didn't like Rei, he still liked talking to Asuka even though she still belittled him every now and then.
In all honesty, he didn't mind at all.
Just like with Rei, Asuka and Misato made him comfortable in different ways.
It felt odd thinking it being that he had only been here for a few months, but without them it wouldn't be home. Even if she didn't give any hints, he could tell Misato was trying hard to make him as comfortable as possible and Asuka…
The brown haired boy looked at his roommate who returned to playing the video game after their conversation was over. He watched her as she pressed the buttons on the controller in a frenzy and as she started to grin when her opponent was left a bloody mess in front of her character.
He admired Asuka.
She was everything he wasn't… Strong, outspoken, and brave were only a small sum of the things that made the red-haired pilot his complete opposite and he lacked all of them.
Shinji laid back and rested his head on the couch as the sounds from the video game flowed into his ears. For the first time in his entire life, he was actually happy.
He was happy to meet all these people and, even if bad things happened, he was honestly glad to have friends. All of the time he spent alone didn't even matter to him anymore, these few moments of peace where he could just sit back and relax with people he could call friends made him happy.
Shinji stared at the ceiling, his eyes full of determination, "I'll protect this…" He thought out loud, reminding himself of his vow.
Yes… He would protect all of them.
"What was that Third Child? A challenge?" Asuka placed a hand on her ear as she leaned closer to him, "You want to get beat again?"
He didn't get a chance to protest as the second controller fell in his lap. In a matter of minutes, they picked their characters and were ready to watch The Passion of Shinji.
"I won't go soft on you just because you picked my character." Asuka declared before the match started.
The announcer yelled, "Battle!"
With that the fight started. Asuka's character back-stepped, her weapon leaving a trail in the ground with each step backwards. Shinji forced his character to dash forward and, to Asuka's complete surprise, started to land a chain of successful attacks before she managed to press the block button.
She watched as her character was knocked high into the air and she laid the controller on the floor, already realizing that it was a lost cause. Knowing that the rest of the combo was automatic, Asuka had to ask her roommate a question he knew was coming.
"So…" She turned to Shinji who was still watching the match that was about to end in his favor, "That's why you picked my character?"
"Yea," he answered without turning around, "I learned how to do it when I was watching you and I just memorized the buttons to press. At first I was thinking that it would probably work with the other characters too but I wanted to see if I was right so I…"
Shinji trailed off when he turned to find Asuka not looking very happy.
She poked him on the chest as she spoke, "That's cheating! That match doesn't count."
"Hey! How is that…"
This time it was the alarm on his wristwatch that cut him off. Asuka, knowing what it meant, didn't say anything as he stood up and looked at the time. She knew because he forgot to turn it off on their first day of training and, after she learned of what happened and their relationship, she didn't ask any further questions about it.
He always set his watch to go off at the time he was supposed to leave to meet with Hikari.
Although she felt that he would refuse, she just wanted, no, she had to ask, "Rematch?" She quietly requested as the warm nature of the room was lost with the annoying sound of the alarm still going off.
The roommates looked at each other as he pressed a button on his watch to stop the alarm.
The simple request for one more round caused questions to sprang up in his mind. Questions that was more important than if he desired to play a game or not before leaving. What if he really didn't want to go? She already told him that she didn't have that much time to spend with him anymore.
'But…' Shinji thought as he looked down at Asuka who waited for his answer, 'It doesn't matter how I feel… I owe it to her.'
"Maybe… Maybe when I get back."
"Alright."
As Shinji turned around to walk towards the front door, she looked at the television where her character was on her knees with the large sword towering over her. The character passed out with a pained cry as the continue timer passed one and finally reached zero.
-
Nearing Hikari's house, Shinji wondered if it was okay to set his visits for an hour later than usual. Not only because of her privacy or anything like that but because it was almost night.
He didn't have any indecent intentions or anything; it was just that Hikari's house was a different place when it was dark. The entire mood of the house changed at night. The spaciousness and freedom that he could associate with it during the day was lost when the sun went down. At night, the open confines of the house seemed to suck you into the loneliness that waited for you in the dark.
It didn't scare him though. As a matter of fact, he was used to it being that he was familiar with it thanks to the time spent with his uncle, but he still worried how Hikari felt about it as he gave the door a slight push.
Surprised that it didn't creep open like it usually do, he gave it a harder push only to discover that the door was locked. Twisting the knob just to double check, Shinji slowly withdrew his hand from the door.
This was the first time he ever came to her house and found the door locked. Unlike Rei, who left her door open because it would simply be inconvenient to lock it and unlock it every time she left and returned, she left the door open because she knew he was coming.
He was about to turn and walk back to the apartment until he noticed the yellow note left under the door. Thankful for the moonlight, Shinji held the small piece of paper to his face and read the neat handwriting on it.
The brown-haired boy placed the note in his pocket being careful not to crumple it.
It said she was over Touji's house and that she wouldn't be back until later. The note was still fresh in his mind as his fingers brushed against the paper as he took his hand out of his pocket.
The last line was still very clear.
"Don't wait for her…" Shinji muttered as he started to turn around.
"Shinji…?" A voice came out of the night causing the boy to jump.
Quickly recognizing the voice, Shinji looked over his shoulder and said her name when his eyes fell on her familiar face, "Hikari."
This was also the first time he saw her in something other than her night clothes and school uniform. The tan jacket wrapped almost completely around her thin frame only partly open allowing Shinji to see the tight fitting shirt beneath it. Complementing the jacket, the brown pants were almost as tight as her shirt.
Shinji coughed as he took his mind off how good she looked and was about to ask her a question until she said something first.
She stared at him as he turned to face her, "I said on the note not to wait for me Shinji…"
He rubbed the back of his neck, "I just got here."
"Oh," Hikari muttered as she passed Shinji to open the door.
Something was off with her today he noticed as she put the key in the lock and turned it. Usually it was a smile or tease he was greeted with, but she seemed kind of tired this time around. He didn't exactly want to pry and ask her what happened but he had to know, "Hikari, are… are you okay?"
Relief washed over him as she laughed. The door squeaked open as she pushed it, "I must be looking pretty bad if I got you worried enough to ask Shinji."
"No! I mean, you…" He paused as the right words came to mind, "You just look tired…"
"I am." She replied.
"I went all the way over to Touji's house for dinner since he invited me but, when I got there, he and his father were already leaving to go visit his sister." Hikari said as she pulled off her jacket and threw it on the couch. Of course, she didn't mind but Touji lived pretty far away. Seeing that she didn't really exercise that much, it wasn't surprising that it put a lot of physical stress on her.
She stopped mid step when she noticed she mentioned his sister knowing the effect it had on Shinji… who wasn't even behind her. Turning around, could still see him standing outside watching her, "What are you doing?"
"You didn't say I could come in." He stated seriously, overlooking the fact that he normally just walked in if the door wasn't locked.
When she laughed and waved her hand as a sign to come in, only then did it hit him that he was walking in a girl's house. Not only a girl, but a friend… he was in the house of a very important friend.
This also, like he thought before, was apart of his contentment. It didn't matter if they weren't involved romantically or if she was with someone else, just knowing that they were close enough that she would let him in made him feel more than grateful they were friends.
But Hikari was the only person that was a daily reminder to his promise. The scar that he constantly faced only reminded him of his resolve to never fail anyone, especially her, again.
"Shinji," Hikari started causing his thoughts to break up as he faced her, "I'm kind of sleepy so…"
"Let… me make you something to eat." He interrupted her, "If you don't mind."
Hikari wasn't surprised by his kindness. It was just like him to try to help her no matter how he felt. He was the type of person that always wanted to help but just didn't know how sometimes. So when an opportunity presented itself, he spoke before he even though about what to say.
She walked up to him and looked Shinji in the eye, "Don't push yourself okay?"
He looked back at her, "Aren't you hungry though?"
Hikari wrapped her arms around his chest and leaned into him, "I'm not talking about food Shinji."
This time he didn't get tense or try to pull away. She was also the only person who came this close to him and he didn't mind. The scar honestly didn't bother him as much as it once did and he paid anything else besides the warmth against him little attention.
"I… don't get it." He said, only half understanding her statement.
"I love you Shinji." She reminded him.
How was he was supposed to react? Put his arms around her and say the same thing? Leave before things got even more complex? Do nothing?
None of them were answered as Hikari spoke, "You're changing, but I don't know if it's for the best or not."
"I am?" Shinji asked, not feeling like he was changing in the least bit.
"Yea," She continued, "I know you're trying hard but… don't sacrifice yourself for other people. I know it sounds selfish, but think of yourself sometimes."
"Hikari…"
She didn't have to look up at his face to know his expression was solemn, "I swear I'm going to protect… everyone." Shinji whispered as the fire of determination roared in his dark blue eyes.
Even if she worried about his safety, Hikari squeezed her arms tighter around him before she finally let go and walked to the kitchen with him following her. She felt a nagging feeling that told her that he wanted to really say her, but she brushed it off just thankful that she fully knew that she was included in everyone.
-Fin
Author's note: Cable still off… Nothing wrong with donating…
Seriously, I think I did alright at showing what everyone felt, feel, and, hopefully, will feel about their relationships with various characters. The same with any story, the main point isn't characters, setting, or anything of that crap. ee
The real stuff lies in conflict of interest and I hope I'm doing it right. Nothing like stretching out author notes to make my word count longer. Yup, nothing like a Hikari/Shinji story that can easily be Hikari/Touji, Shinji/Rei, Shinji/Asuka, or even Shinji/Misato almost.
On to the fifth chapter.
Chibi Fenrir
