Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or any of the characters within it.
"Wake up, Shinji-baka!" came the familiar shrill cry of Asuka. It's strange. I've known her since we were little kids, but her voice still hurts first thing in the morning.
"Just a few more minutes, Asuka," I groan, rolling over to avoid her. I know I've made a big mistake, but I really needed some extra sleep.
"How dare you turn your back on the great Asuka Langley Sorhyu!" You've really done it this time!" she yelled. She flung the covers off me and proceeded to drag me out of bed. Flinging my school uniform at me, she shoved me into the adjoining bathroom. "You'd better be ready in three minutes, or ELSE!" she snarled, and from her tone, I knew she meant business. We ran down the stairs, and after wishing my parents a quick farewell, we raced out the door.
I was amazed that we made it to school on time today. Asuka and I sat at our desks, breathing hard from the run to school. I looked over at Rei Ayanami. She transferred here a week ago, but she already seems to be fitting in just fine. She winked at me and I turned bright red. Asuka must have noticed because she sent me a death glare, but thankfully kept her mouth shut.
"Hey, Shinji! Miss Misato's here," called Touji, beckoning me to the window. I quickly got up to join him and Kensuke for our daily gawk session. Kensuke's camera was rolling as we looked down at her. Man, I have to admit, she is one gorgeous woman. She noticed us and shot us a sweet smile. I almost fainted.
"Good morning class," said Miss Misato as she walked in. "I have an announcement for you today. It turns out that our city is so popular, that we have another transfer student." She grinned devilishly. "And this one's quite cute, I might add. His name is Nagisa Kaworu, and I hope he will be welcomed."
A tall, skinny boy with silver hair and blood red eyes walked into the classroom. I looked at him. He looked like Rei, so pale with such bright eyes. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. This might not be so bad. Kaworu took an empty seat in front of Asuka. She glared at him. She could be so possessive of me sometimes that it frightened me. I couldn't help but remember last week, when she almost got in a serious catfight with Rei over me. I smiled at the thought. It wasn't every day that two pretty girls fought over yours truly. I was snapped away from my daydreams by Miss Misato leaning over my desk.
"Having a nice daydream there, Ikari?" she asked, voice overly innocent. "Maybe you'd like to share it . . . ?"
"Umm..NO! I'm good, thanks," I stammered, face flushing pink with embarrassment.
She laughed all the way back to her desk. I looked down, afraid to face Asuka, who would get the wrong ideas about all this. As Miss Misato began to discuss elementary geometry, I noticed a note on my desk. It was addressed to me, from, of all people, Kaworu. I unfolded the note and read the short message. He wanted to meet me after school by the front door. I looked up at him. He appeared to be watching me carefully. I quickly scribbled down my agreement and handed him the note. He smiled and turned back to his work.
The rest of the school day went by without much incident, except, of course, at lunch, when Rei tripped over apparently nothing, and went flying into my arms. Asuka saw the whole thing, and called Rei an ugly whore. Of course, things escalated from there, and when the words began to turn to blows, Kaworu miraculously stepped in to keep them from killing each other. He assured the fuming Asuka that what Rei did was purely accidental, and he assured the glaring Rei that Asuka was only protecting her friend. The pair didn't exactly kiss and make up, although that would have been appreciated, but they did stop fighting, at least for now.
After school, I walked to the front door, where Kaworu was waiting for me. He blushed ever so slightly as he approached.
"Ikari-kun, I was wondering if you could help me catch up on my studies. You see, where I came from, I rarely had the chance to go to school. I always had to help my mother. Now that she's in the hospital here, I have time to go, but I don't really know much of what we're learning. I'm very sorry, but I didn't know who else to ask," he said, staring down at his feet.
I smiled at him. "Of course I will help you, Kaworu, but please, call me Shinji from now on."
We walked to his apartment, which wasn't too far from school, talking the whole way. When we got there, he took me into a small room with a table and we started to work. I felt sorry for Kaworu. His mother had gotten sick when he was eleven, and he had hardly learned anything since. He opened his math book to today's lesson. I turned back the pages until I reached a good starting point.
"Alright, Kaworu. These are called integers. An integer is any number that terminates or repeats," I said.
Kaworu nodded in understanding. I noted how he intently scanned the pages, seemingly absorbing the information. In two hours, we had reached today's lesson. I explained it in brief, and he began the homework assignment. Finally, at around one-thirty, we finished going over all the old material. We were both tired, and I doubted I could make it home awake.
"Kaworu, would you mind if I stayed here tonight?" I asked. "It's a long walk home at this late hour."
He laughed. "I wouldn't let you walk even if you wanted to," he said. "You can sleep on the floor in my room. It's not comfortable, but better than the streets of Tokyo-3."
He handed me a spare blanket and I walked into his room. There was just enough space next to his bed for me to squeeze into. I looked up, and saw Kaworu standing over me. He handed me a t-shirt.
"If you came to school with a messed up uniform tomorrow, Asuka would most definitely get the wrong ideas," he told me.
I laughed and accepted the shirt. Once I had changed and gotten into bed, I fell asleep almost instantly. The next thing I knew, I was woken by Kaworu shaking me.
"I'm sorry for the rude awakening, but you slept right through the alarm." he said.
I laughed. "When you're used to having Asuka as an alarm clock, you become a very sound sleeper."
I quickly got dressed and gathered my books. Kaworu was waiting for me by the door. It was a refreshing change to be able to walk to school instead of always having to run. The walk was silent, however, because we were both too tired to talk. When we reached school, Asuka was waiting for me by the front door, hands on her hips.
"Where were you yesterday?" she asked, voice low and dangerous. "You were with that slut Ayanami, weren't you?"
Relax, Asuka," I said, hoping to calm her down somewhat. "I was helping Kaworu with his studies, that's all. My parents knew I'd be gone. Why didn't you ask them?"
Asuka just glared at me before turning on her heel and entering the building. Kaworu, who had been silent through the episode, grinned at me.
"Poor Shinji," he said. "You've got two beautiful girls after you, and there's absolutely nothing you can do to stop them killing each other."
We both laughed as we walked into class. Asuka was pouting, Rei was reading something inappropriate, and Kensuke and Touji were waiting by the window. It looked like we were in for another normal day in Tokyo-3. That is, normal until a runner from the main office came to our classroom, requesting to see me downstairs. I walked into the office, not knowing what to expect. The principal was waiting at his desk, hands folded in front of his face.
"Ikari Shinji, correct?" he asked.
I nodded, afraid to say anything.
He sighed softly. "I am very sorry to inform you that there was a terrorist attack on the main genetics lab this morning."
I blinked, unable to take it all in. "My parents?" I managed to croak out.
"They are both in the hospital right now. Your father is recovering quickly, but your mother..." he trailed off, staring at a point behind me.
"My mother?" I whispered.
"She is in a coma. The doctors say she's lucky to even be alive. However, the terrorists weren't content with bombing the lab. Your house, as well as the homes of most of the high ranking scientists in the area, has been ransacked and burned." he said.
A lump swelled in my throat and tears began to well up in my eyes. My parents were in the hospital and my home was destroyed. It was too much to think about at the moment. I quickly got up and fled the room. I avoided my friends for the rest of the day. I doubted I'd be able to speak with them without crying.
As soon as the bell rang, I hurried from the classroom and began the long walk to the hospital. When I asked the nurse whether I could see my mother, she immediately sent me to the second floor. Room 267. I searched for a few minutes before finding it and pushing the door open. I saw my mother right away. It was strange. She looked like she was sleeping, not battling for her life. I sat next to her for a little while. At first I tried to keep from crying, but the tears came anyway. I held her hand tightly, quietly begging for her to return to us, to make us whole again, but there was no response. I got up, the pain becoming too much to bear. I stopped in my father's room. We exchanged a few words before the nurse bustled me out, declaring that he needed his rest. As I walked through the lobby, I ran into someone heading for the door.
"Hey! Why don't you watch where yo—Kaworu?" I broke off suddenly, surprised to see him. " I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't know it was you."
He looked straight into my eyes. " I heard about what happened. You have my deepest sympathies."
I attempted to smile, or make some joke, but I could do nothing. I felt hollow inside. Kaworu pulled me over to a bench, and we sat down, silent. I couldn't help myself. I tried as hard as I could to hold back the tears. I did not want to cry in front of Kaworu. He seemed to sense this and smiled warmly.
"It's alright, Shinji. Holding in your grief will only make it stronger."
I began to cry softly. Normally, I wasn't the type to cry at all, but under the present circumstances, I almost had no choice. Crying was all I could do. I felt so helpless, so weak. Kaworu pulled me into an awkward embrace. It was odd, but somehow, it brought more comfort then words ever could. The tears lessened, then stopped completely. I looked up at Kaworu.
"Kaworu, would you mind terribly if I stayed at your place for a while?" I asked, regretting doing so almost instantly. There was no way he'd want to put up with me for that long. I was very surprised when he smiled at me and nodded.
"I wouldn't mind at all. It's the least I could do," he said.
I felt a little better. At least now I had somewhere to stay. I wasn't completely alone anymore. We walked to his apartment as quickly as we could. The sky had clouded up, and the first drops of rain were beginning to fall. By the time we got in the building, it was storming terribly and we were both soaking wet. Kaworu offered to put my uniform in the dryer while we waited for the weather to let up. I put on some borrowed clothes and decided to go to sleep. It was getting late, after all, and we did have school in the morning.
I woke up in the middle of the night to a strange sound. I looked up at Kaworu. He was laying down, but one of his eyes was wide open, watching. I thought I saw shadows moving in the low light, but I decided I was just being paranoid. That is, until I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun held by a masked man.
"Time for you to join your parents, Ikari Shinji." the man rasped.
We both heard Kaworu at the same time. He sprang from the bed, something glimmering in his hand. He landed on my would-be killer, knocking him to the side just as he pulled the trigger. I felt a blinding pain in my right arm and promptly passed out.
I awoke in an unfamiliar room to see a nurse standing over me. She smiled brightly. "Welcome back, Shinji. We were a bit worried for you there," she said. "By the way, you have a visitor. He stayed in here all night for you."
My heart fluttered as Kaworu stepped into the room. If it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be here right now. He sat in a chair next to my bed and smiled. When I looked into his eyes I was stunned. He was crying. Kaworu was crying for me. It seemed impossible, but it was true. Someone cared.
"You saved my life last night," I whispered, unable to find the energy to speak clearly. "Thank you."
"It was nothing, really," he said, but it was almost as if he was holding something back. He looked up at me. A single tear rolled down his cheek. "Shinji, I was so scared. I thought I would lose you forever. I thought I would lose someone who meant a lot to me." His hand shifted slightly, to rest over mine. "I think I love you, Shinji," he whispered, barely audible.
Nothing in the world could have prepared me for what he had just said, but this time, I knew exactly what to say.
"Kaworu-kun," I began, "I think I love you too." And I meant it more than anything. I hadn't known him long, but there was something that drew me to him from the very first time we met. I leaned over and embraced him gently. He returned the embrace and kissed me softly on the lips before pulling away.
He grinned wickedly. "Now WHAT will Asuka think?" he asked.
"That's her problem now," I said, laughing. "Hey Kaworu," I added, "where on Earth did you learn to use a knife like that?"
"It's one of the few useful things my stepfather taught me. Always sleep with a knife under your pillow and be prepared to use it," he replied. He pulled me in and kissed me again, firmer this time, and with that kiss, I knew I had found a new beginning.