Yeah, yeah, I'm back from the dead. Please read and review. Thanks. – C.o.W.

Warning: Here lies a crossover.

A quick note to Elliot Briskey: 1-1-9 is the Japanese equivalent of 9-1-1.

Chapter 11 – The Real Relation, the Underlying Theme

A rough hand awakened Shinji Ikari. It ceased, to be replaced by a low, gruff voice.

"Shinji, I've got to run some errands; I'll be back in a few hours."

The young man struggled to regain his voice.

"Uh, okay, K-Kaji-san."

Ryouji smiled grimly as he got up and inspected Shinji, fast asleep on Asuka's bed. He rolled his eyes before leaving the bedroom, leaving Ikari lying face-down on the bed. Shinji heard the front door close, and he sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm still here," he said softly. Shinji stood, and silently cleaned up the room, oblivious to the fact that much of its contents weren't his.

The boy wondered how he could feel so sad, and not shed a single tear. He felt so alone. It was as if the world had left him behind four years ago. My friends are all going to college; my family is dead, even Rei and Misato. Asuka realized it and she left to grow up. I'm still stuck here. I can't run away anymore. I… I wish that Third Impact had happened after all. Then I wouldn't have to deal with all of this sadness. I never even found out who killed my father… I wonder if… if he could've changed.

Shinji wandered into the kitchen, even though he wasn't really hungry. As he went to the fridge to get a bottle of water, he spied a note on the kitchen counter. Curious, he picked it up and read it once:

Shinji,

I've signed you up for some senior classes at the high school. I know you're older than that, but you haven't attended school like normal. I've enclosed a copy of your class schedule, which starts at 8 AM today. Don't be late.

Ritsuko

Shinji's eyes grew wide and he slowly looked to the nearest clock; it was 7:47.

Shinji ran to school in a frenzy, a small book bag beneath his arm. He hadn't gotten this much exercise in a long time. The slushy snowdrifts on the ground were not helping, at all. He turned a corner too quickly, and slammed straight into another student; they both fell to the ground. Sitting on the wet sidewalk, he gathered his thoughts as he looked over to his victim.

She was a tall girl with long brown hair and a decent figure. Shinji ignored his own dropped school supplies to help her.

"Th-thanks," she mumbled, feeling around in the cold grit and pebbles for something in particular.

"I'm sorry," he said automatically.

"Can you see my glasses?" she asked simply.

Shinji looked around, and spotted the pair of glasses, lying in a pile of sludge. He picked them up wiped them off with his shirt sleeve, noting that they looked nothing like the frames his father had worn.

"Here," he said softly as he put them into her open palm. She adjusted them on her face, looking very much more oriented. However, they obscured her eyes much like his father's had, so that the lenses themselves seemed almost opaque.

"Arigatou," she said lightly, before picking up her soaking-wet books and walking away, giving him a small wave. He nodded before realizing that he was still running late. Shinji took off in the direction of the school. It didn't occur to him that he'd forgotten to ask the tall girl for her name. In one way, it didn't really matter; Shinji's heart was elsewhere.

The school was rather normal. Shinji walked through the corridors, not tall enough to assert his age. It seemed that none of them could recognize, which was a relief. He had disliked school as an Evangelion pilot because he would often be cornered by knots of people he didn't know and submitted to ridiculously ignorant questions about… everything that was his previous life. Now that things were different, it made sense to Shinji that he should put his past behind him for good.

He gathered his supplies outside of his locker and headed for homeroom. Shinji found the doorway blocked by a gaggle of girls, all apparently in his class. They were discussing a recent trip to one of their houses, from what Shinji could hear. It wasn't very interesting, mainly because he wanted to be out of the noisy hallway.

Timidly, Shinji cleared his throat. The girls turned to him. It was a shock to him to see that among them was the tall brunette he'd run into on the sidewalk. She looked at him in an indescribable, awkward way. She was about to speak to him when her friends shuffled her into the classroom with them. Shinji followed them in their wake and quickly chose an unobtrusive seat in the last row of the room.

This anonymity did last for long, as Shinji was called to the front of the classroom for the standard introduction; the teacher had been late. As was usual, she introduced him to the class. He thanked her, and directed his attention to the students.

"I'm very pleased to meet all of you," he said plainly. The teacher gave him a thumbs-up, and he took a seat.

The day slid by, with little excitement. Shinji migrated to the school cafeteria for lunch, and chose a seat by himself, not seeing it necessary to sit with others. Still, he could not get Asuka out of his head… and he didn't want to, for that matter. The boy was hungry, and he had nothing to eat, having forgotten to bring anything for lunch. He was thinking about the feel of Asuka's lips against his when he noticed a hand waving up and down in front of his face. He blinked, a bit surprised, and looked up to the owner of the hand. It was a girl with short and straight black hair.

"Ah, new student!" she said triumphantly, "How are you? You haven't said two words in class! Maybe you're from Osaka or something? Can't speak mainstream Japanese? Hahahahaha-OUCH!" Her ridiculous laughing was cut short by a slap upside her head. The slap belonged to the same girl that Shinji had crashed into on the way to school. She severely scolded the first, as Shinji watched.

"You are so crass; just shut up every once in a while!"

"Aww," whined the black-haired girl, "I was just teasing 'im." With that, she walked away.

The brown-haired girl turned back to Shinji, regarding him with a look of exasperation. "I'm sorry about her; she can be awful sometimes," she said. Shinji only nodded. The girl sat down in front of him across the table, and spoke.

"I don't think we've had a proper introduction," she said smiling, "I'm Koyomi Mizuhara."

Shinji nodded. "I'm Shinji Ikari," he said without any emotion.

Idle talk ensued, and out of the corner of his eye, Shinji could still see Koyomi's rambunctious friend staring them down from the other side of the room. They weren't really enjoying themselves so much as going through the motions of being friendly toward each other. Eventually, though, it was too much. Koyomi stood and excused herself, telling Shinji she'd see him around. Shinji nodded; as the girl went to leave though, she walked straight into a man approaching the table.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," Koyomi mumbled, trying to regain her composure as her friend chortled.

Shinji looked up to see Ryouji Kaji.

"Uh, um, Kaji-san!"

The man simply smiled, trying to ignore Koyomi's dramatic exit.

"You forgot lunch," he said quietly, handing Shinji a bento. "Maya made it."

"A-arigato!"

Kaji nodded and turned to leave.

"Be good; I'll see you later…" he trailed off, strolling out of the cafeteria. As soon as he left, Shinji gulped down his food as quickly as possible, not because he was that hungry, but because he couldn't stand the stares and whispers of the students around him. Without a word, he left the lunchroom, brushing past Koyomi rather rudely. She huffed and stalked off in the opposite direction, the black-haired girl in hot pursuit.

The homeroom teacher glanced at the door with some exasperation; it had been a while since lunch had ended, and the new student had not returned. She sighed, and turned back to the class.

"It seems our new friend has become lost; somebody, please, locate him and bring him back here, before he misses the rest of the day," she said flatly.

Koyomi refused to raise her hand; if this Shinji character was too cowardly to speak up, then she wouldn't bother with him. Besides, she had plenty of other stuff to worry ab—

A flash of pink flew past her; it could only be one thing. The black-haired girl hopped up and down in front of the teacher. "Me! I'll do it!"

"Ugh, fine," said the annoyed sensei, eliciting a cheer from the girl, who sped out the door.

Koyomi knew this was going to be a disaster, and she buried her head in her hands. Why couldn't the class rep just have gone? she wondered.

The roof of the school was cold, but Shinji had managed to locate a warm vent. He looked across the skyline of Tokyo-2, the old buildings quite disconnected from everything he was experiencing. The various parts of his mind clashed in a power struggle.

What was Ritsuko thinking?

She should've done it sooner; you wouldn't feel so awkward now. Asuka's gone, and the only thing you can do about it is move on.

She was all I had.

She was all you wanted, because you were too weak to open up to others.

She loved me.

She hated you.

She kissed me!

She humored you.

It's not true!

Then disprove it.

I… I can't.

Of course you can't, so look elsewhere.

Elsewhere for what?

Friendship.

I have friends!

You've barely spoken to them in four years; you've grown apart. Can't you see it in their faces? "There's Shinji; remember him? He sure was a strange one."

"It's not true!" Shinji shouted to the heavens, standing up and clenching his fists.

"What's not true?"

The boy spun around, shocked and embarrassed. It was the girl with the black hair. She had seen his face change as his thoughts warred, and his anger built. It had dawned on her that he wasn't shy, but preoccupied with something else, something far bigger than she could have ever guessed.

Shinji's mouth quivered and his eyes filled with tears. He sat down against the entrance to the roof, and clutched the sides of his head. I'm making a fool out of myself, over and over. What is wrong with me!

The girl, sensing something terribly wrong, approached the new student.

"A-are you okay, um…" she racked her brain for the kid's name. Now I know why my test scores suck so bad, she thought.

"Shinji," he choked out, standing. He looked at her for the briefest of moments, and left the roof. The girl stood in the exact same spot for a minute, until running after him.

"Wait!" she called, "It's okay! I'm sorry!" She could hear his response from further down the staircase.

"It's not you, or anybody in this school. I am the problem."

Not losing hope, the girl tried to think of an appropriate thing to say.

"But there's nothing wrong with you! You seem like… a decent person to me!" she called, finally starting to catch up with him. To her surprise, he had stopped, looking back up at her with a suddenly apologetic look.

"I…" he began, "I don't know you, but… I'm sorry. I have a really weird past, and none of you deserve to deal with my reactions to it."

The girl shrugged. "I know nothing beyond your name, but I've come to see that I was wrong to tease you. I'm like that all the time, really. I'm way too rude, I guess, for my own good."

Shinji swallowed and nodded. "Let's just get back to class, Ms…?"

"Takino! Tomo Takino! And I can beat you back to the room!" the girl cried out, running past Shinji frantically and cackling as she ran.

Shinji nodded again, and kept his easy pace in her wake.

A slender hand, neither tanned nor pale, reached up and depressed the button. The accompanying chime could be heard inside the house. Soon enough, the home's sole occupant opened the door, letting a sharp winter draft in. This was ignored, however, as the homeowner's eyes widened at the sight in front of her.

"Mein Gott…"

A/N: The chapter title is from a good song; check it out.