Evangelion Fan Fiction

The Difference of a Life

By Kraven Ergeist

xxxxx

September 3rd, 2015

As Shinji grabbed his bag to go to lunch, he paused, letting the rest of the class leave.

Rei stayed behind, accustomed to the two of them leaving together. "Shinji? Are you coming?"

Shinji shrugged. "I'm debating. Asuka invited me to have lunch with her."

Rei blinked, the slightest purse to her eyebrows. "And you accepted?"

Shinji cringed. "She didn't…exactly give me a chance to refuse. I'd come off looking rude if I didn't show up with her expecting me…and I've already hurt her so much…"

Rei nodded, turning away. "I see. You two will have lunch then. I will sit at the usual spot."

"Wait."

Rei turned back to see Shinji smiling.

"Asuka invited me to lunch…she didn't say I couldn't bring a friend along with me."

Rei had spent her life adhering to the principles of self-discipline, never letting herself be caught off guard, never letting her emotions getting the better of her. It was rare for ever her rigid poise to slip.

Now was such a time.

"Oh, Shinji…" she sighed, a smile forming on her lips.

Shinji smiled, motioning for the door. "Come on…we're going to be late."

As the two of them happily prodded outdoors, Shinji swallowed lump of anticipation.

Asuka was not going to be happy with this.

xxxxx

"Say what?" a high-pitched screech emanated from the redhead's lungs. "You brought her along?"

Shinji held his ground, smiling back at her. "Yeah. I figured, you and I have had time to get to know each other…you and Rei should have a chance too."

Asuka crossed her arms, turning away, holding her nose up high. "No way! I am not sharing a lunch date with her!"

Shinji sighed. "No? Oh well, I was looking forward to eating with you, Asuka. Maybe next time, you'll decide to eat lunch together with us."

Asuka turned her face in time to see the two of them begin to stroll away.

"Hey, wait a second!" Asuka yelped, setting herself before them. "You said you'd have lunch with me!"

"And I will…" Shinji nodded. "With you and Rei. We're all going to eat lunch together. Rei is okay with it-"

"I am not," Rei said, simply.

Shinji blinked. "What?"

Rei nodded. "I do not wish to eat with Pilot Soryu. She has not treated me with any kindness since her arrival, and I see no need to treat her with any in return."

Shinji crossed his arms. "Now, now, now…if we can't all agree to eat together, we're all going to eat alone. Like Benjamin Franklin said, 'We must all hang together, or we shall all hang separately.'"

Dead silence.

"Uh…it means, we have to stick together," Shinji amended, quickly. "Now, Rei, I know we usually have lunch together, but Asuka's a pilot and a friend, and she deserves to be treated that way. So, if you don't want to share her company, than none of us will share anyone's company."

He turned to Asuka. "That goes for you too, Asuka. Like it or not, Rei is one of us, and you will come to rely on her in more ways than one in the future. Now, can we all agree on this or not?"

Had it been a Manga, the glare that Asuka and Rei gave each other would have conducted electricity. Shinji couldn't recall seeing Rei so angered at anyone or anything since he knew her. And Asuka, who seemed to posses a talent for communicating abstract thought through variations in the intensity of her glare, was sending an unquestionable vibe in Rei's direction.

Shinji sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.

xxxxx

Shinji did his best to hide a cringing face between the two scowling she-wolves. As much focus as one had on the other, they didn't notice. At this point, Shinji was almost positive he had seen specks of lightning ricocheting between their eyes.

"So, Rei, how long have you known Shinji?" Asuka said, stuffing a piece of food into her maw.

"Since we were infants," Rei said, defiantly. "We grew up together in the nursery at NERV."

"Aw," Asuka sighed. "Childhood sweethearts! Isn't that nice?"

Rei pursed her lips. "We are not sweethearts, we are very close friends."

"Baloney," Asuka snuffed, gulping another bite of food – albeit, nothing resembling deli meat – before continuing. "If I acted the way you do with Shinji towards any guy back in Germany, I'd have been hitched before I hit puberty!"

"Shinji is not just 'any guy,' Soryu," Rei said, nimbly placing a bite of food in her mouth with her chopsticks. "Shinji is a very special person."

Asuka laughed. "Yeah, emphasis on the 'special' part!"

Shinji sweat dropped. "Uh…Rei?"

"So, what you mean to say," Rei put down her chopsticks. "Is that you will no longer seek to 'date' Shinji?"

Asuka pointed a finger directly at Rei's face. "Oh, you would be so fortunate! Oh, no, First Child, I plan to beat you in every aspect in life, whether it's letter grades, piloting Eva, or winning over guys! Consider me your rival, Ayanami! It is so fucking on!"

Shinji, at this point, was massaging the bridge of his nose. This had not gone out at all the way he'd been hoping.

"Very well, but I have one question," Rei said, her calm composure no doubt instilling all the more rage in her newfound rival.

"What?" Asuka spat.

Shinji cringed, knowing Rei too well not to predict her question.

Rei blinked. "…What is it that you wish to be 'on,' exactly?"

The silence that earlier proceeded Shinji's allusion to Franklin was mired only by the sound that proceeded at that moment in time.

xxxxx

The fifteen members of SEELE sat about a table, at the head of which sat a very serious looking Yui Ikari, the slightest hint of a smile on her face. Her husband, Gendo, stood ready behind her.

"The time draws near, Ikari," Keel said, matter of factly. "I trust everything is in place for Instrumentality to begin its progression?"

Yui made no visible movement. "Surely, we've been working together long enough for you to know the answer to that."

The long-nosed committee member eyed the commander. "Again with your indirect answers, Ikari? It's for reasons like that we feel the need to ask such questions in the first place."

Yui smiled. "Then, by all means, ask as often as you will."

Gendo, behind her, gave a slight chuckle.

"Do you have something to add, Sub-Commander Ikari?" the large-nosed committee member asked the black haired man.

Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Nothing."

Yui placed her hands facedown on the table to redirect their attention to her. "If all you summoned me for was to confirm what you already knew to be true, then I would appreciate it if you would let me get back to my work…sirs."

Keel, unimpressed, leaned forward against the table. "We have delivered the Third Child to you, Ikari. You now hold all the cards."

Yui just smiled. "Usually, a bluff involves claiming you posses something that you in truth do not, and not the other way around."

Keel frowned. "Do not mock this committee, Ikari. A lot faith has been placed on you."

Yui nodded. "Have I ever let you down?"

Keel sat back in his wheelchair. "You haven't…yet."

Yui stood up, a clear sign of her leave. "You know what they say about old dogs."

"You are not dismissed yet, Ikari," Keel said, firmly.

"I'm sorry, sirs," Yui said, turning her back. "But I have an organization to run, a science project to complete, and a family to raise. Good day, sirs."

As Yui left, Gendo gave the committee one last nod, before turning to go. "Do not be surprised that you are unable to control her. I, as her husband, can do little more than make idle suggestions."

He didn't wait for a response, and left them in the dark.

xxxxx

Deep within the heart of NERV, in a lab sealed off from the rest of the facility, the daughter of Professor Naoko Akagi worked diligently on one of her many different projects. She had been given more and more responsibilities in her mother's line of work, and was quite pleased with herself in becoming a fully-fledged scientist in the world's most powerful organization.

Also, it brought her that much closer to a particular female member of the staff.

"Good day, Ritsuko."

Ritsuko started, spilling a container of fluid, which drenched the papers littering her tabletop. "Oh! Commander!"

Yui covered her mouth in astonishment. "Goodness, I hope that wasn't important."

Ritsuko began cleaning the mess. "Not at all, Commander!"

Yui smiled, helping her clean. "Ritsuko, your mother and I are best friends. There's no need for you to have to address me so formally, especially behind closed doors. After all, I consider myself a scientist first, an administrator second. So, as a fellow scientist, there is no need to address me with such terms."

Ritsuko couldn't help the blush from forming on her face. "No, ma'am…it just…wouldn't seem appropriate…"

Yui sighed, tossing the remainder of the soggy paper into the trash. "As you wish, then." She produced a paper towel and mopped up the remaining liquid. "So, how has Rei's progress been going."

Ritsuko looked away, far too embarrassed to meet her superior face on. "She's developing well…"

Yui smiled. "You say that as though she developing in more ways than one."

Ritsuko blushed. "What…what do you mean?"

Yui smiled, tossing the paper towel into the trash. "Oh…nothing…"

She wondered over to the glass panel that would have contained Ayanami during tests. "My son remains intent on pursuing her."

Ritsuko followed, her eyes still lowered. "Is that so?"

Yui nodded. "Even after a date with Asuka, a striking beauty by any regard, he still remains attached. Such loyalty and commitment. It seems a shame that it's so ill placed."

Ritsuko shook her head. "I don't understand, ma'am…the other day, you were ready to let them continue their relationship. And now, it's suddenly a bad thing?"

Yui turned around a looked sweetly at the young scientist. She placed a hand on Ritsuko's shoulder, causing yet another blush to arise unbidden to her face. "Ritsuko…you know as well as I do what the consequences could entail. It could endanger all we have worked for. Before, I had no other options, but with Asuka here at present, I do. Now, I've spoken to Naoko, and she's agreed to step in. But you're Rei's sister, Ritsuko. She may let you know whether or not she intends to deny Naoko's wishes. If that happens, I want you to tell one of us. Can you do that for me?"

Ritsuko's legs clenched together, as she stammered her response. "Y-yes, ma'am! You can count on me!"

xxxxx

Rei stepped inside her apartment after getting home from school, though it was really Naoko's apartment. There had been no tests scheduled at NERV, so she had been given the day off. Normally, she would have gone out with Shinji, but Naoko had given her instructions to come home directly after school.

"I'm home," she announced, unenthusiastically.

"Welcome home," Naoko smiled, stepping into view from the kitchen. "How was your day?"

Rei stepped out of her shoes. "Quite unpleasant. The Third Child is…a most disagreeable person."

Naoko took no heed. "Well, that's too bad. Come here, I want to talk to you for a second."

Rei obliged, walking into the kitchen, taking a seat after Naoko offered.

"What do you wish to speak to me on?" Rei asked.

"Oh, can't a mother at least have an idle chat with her daughter?" Naoko said, unconvincingly. "It's been weeks, months since we've ever just talked."

Rei nodded. "We both have duties to perform."

Naoko leered. "As well as…other agendas…"

Rei blinked. "I'm sorry?"

Naoko sat back in her seat. "You've been spending a lot of time with that Ikari boy."

Rei frowned, not liking her using such a title. "Yes…"

Naoko shook her head. "Now, I know you're a growing girl, and you deserve a little leniency, but the amount of time you spend with that boy is…how do I put this lightly…most inappropriate."

Rei looked confused. "Inappropriate? How is it inappropriate to spend time with a classmate and fellow pilot?"

Ritsuko shook her head. "Something tells me you see him as more than a fellow pilot…"

With that, Naoko dropped a number of photographs on the table before her. While they revealed nothing out of place, Rei noticed they all involved her and Shinji on a number of their dates, some dating back to as far as a year ago. She shuffled through the pictures, noting with no amount of pleasure, of the amount concentrating on their physical contact.

Then Rei stumbled across a choice piece, in which Shinji was laying his head between her legs. Rei felt a blush come to her face as she remembered that moment. Immediately, the warm familiar feeling was replaced with scorn.

"You've been spying on me?" Rei demanded.

"Section 2 has, yes," Naoko nodded, sipping her tea. "You know NERV keeps constant surveillance over its employees." Naoko rose to her feet to stand over Rei. "You seem to be quite close to this boy, Rei. Any chance things have proceeded anywhere beyond this disgusting display?"

A long, turgid silence rose, in which Rei knew exactly where the conversation would lead, and wished to whatever powers that be that it not continue. The silence might have gone on forever, had Ritusko not chosen that moment to arrive at home.

"Welcome home, Ritsuko," Naoko said, without removing her accusatory stare from her youngest daughter.

"I'm home," Ritsuko stammered, still a little flustered.

"Did Yui speak with you today?" Naoko inquired.

Ritusko couldn't hide the blush that appeared on her face. "Y-yes…she has…"

Naoko nodded, not needing to know more. "Now, Rei, I want this to be perfectly clear: You are not to see this boy anymore outside of class or NERV, understand?"

Rei's jaw dropped. "What?"

Naoko nodded. "This kind of behavior is unacceptable. I will not permit you to continue this."

Rei stood up. "Well…what if…if I were to discontinue physical contact with him…would you still permit me to see him?"

Naoko frowned. "Did you not hear me, Rei? You are not too see him again. Boys like this are always trying to get their hands on girls like you. And because you're a growing girl, Rei, it's going to feel good when he does. I can't trust you to not to give into temptations, Rei. This kind of behavior will only be erased if you stop seeing him completely."

Rei just about broke down right there. She was forbidden from seeing Shinji ever again? Ever again? Shinji?

No!

She liked Shinji – she liked everything about him! She didn't want to stop seeing him, just because her mother thought it was inappropriate!

Then came the icing on the cake:

"Please understand, Rei…it's for your own good."

That did it.

Without saying a word, Rei simply walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her as she marched down the hall, and into her bedroom, closing that door as well.

She climbed up onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow, a hot singing pain catching in her throat and her face.

Tears.

She cried tears. In all her life, she couldn't remember ever crying. But now, denied the most important person in the world to her, she couldn't help it.

It was unfair! Why should her mother get to decide who she saw? What did she know about Shinji? She hadn't even called him by his first name – just 'That Boy.'

Why should she have to listen to her?

A knock sounded at her door. "Rei? Rei, it's me…Ritsuko…"

"I want to be alone," Rei sobbed, not removing her face from the pillow.

"Rei, please…talk to me," Ritusko urged. "What just happened?"

Of course, Ritsuko knew exactly what happened. But Rei, more unstable than she had ever been in her life, had been too caught up to realize it.

Ritsuko stepped into Rei's room. It was dark and plain, much like Rei's personality. Aside from a bed, a dresser, and a bedside table, the room was empty.

Ritsuko hated the place.

"Rei…please…tell me what's going on?"

After a few minutes, Rei found the strength to sit up and explain what. How mother had forbidden her from seeing the boy she liked.

"What are you going to do?" Ritsuko asked, innocently. "Are you going to listen to her?"

Rei sat still, tears still dripping fresh. "I don't know…I don't know…"

Ritsuko stayed for a while, trying to cipher any information she could as to her sister's intentions with no avail. Deciding that she was too caught up to make a coherent decision, Ritsuko left, leaving an unemotional pat on her shoulder.

"Sleep, Rei…everything will feel better in the morning…"

With that, she left, leaving Rei with tears yet to come.

xxxxx

Shinji arrived home late that evening tired and unhappy. He had been looking forward to spending his free afternoon with Rei, and instead, was left to work on solo tests at NERV.

After fixing bowl of noodles for dinner, he brought his bowl into his room, sat down his desk, and started working on homework.

His cell phone rang.

Curious, he removed the device from his pocket. No one ever called his cell phone.

"...Hello?"

Shinji," came a familiar voice. "It's me."

"Rei!" Shinji piped, happily. "How are you?"

"Please listen, Shinji, I don't have long," Rei said, forebodingly. "This may be the last time we get to speak like this."

Shinji's grip tightened over his phone, palms sweating. "Rei...? What are you talking about?"

There was a pause, as Rei gathered herself. "I...my family...just informed me that I'm not to speak with you again."

Shinji almost dropped the phone. "W-what? Why? Was it something I did? Rei...please...tell me!"

He heard a sob on the other line. "…I…I'm sorry…Shinji…"

"Rei…" Shinji moaned. Then… "No, wait, don't hang up…" Shinji stammered but too late.

The line was already dead.

He listened as the phone beeped a cut signal. In a single frantic moment, he quickly redialed her number.

No answer.

He redialed again. No answer.

Again and again and again, he tried to reach her, until she turned her phone off, and it no longer rang, going went straight to an automated answering machine that Shinji knew she wouldn't listen to, but left a message anyway.

"Rei…please…if this is my fault in any way…I…I just want you to know that…I'm sorry. And I wouldn't ever do anything that would separate us like this, and if there's anything…anything at all that I can do…please…"

The message timer cut, and once again, the line went dead.

His arm sagged limp over the armrest of his desk chair, the phone tumbling to the ground from his lifeless grip. His whole body weight slumped against the back of the chair, as his eyes clenched shut, a sore lump adhering to his throat.

"…Fuck…"

xxxxx

A/N: All right, three important things here.

One: the rivalry between Asuka and Rei. This is something that sort of came out in the series, but never took off, because Rei never had a reason to compete. I wanted to bring this clash out in a slightly comedic way, and I think I accomplished this.

Second: with Naoko still being alive, filling in Ritsuko's role as lead scientist, Ritsuko sort of gets left in the dust. So, in a spur of the moment decision, I postulated that while Ritsuko was a strong and dominant presence to her coworkers in the series, now with both her mother and Yui alive, two very strong presences in their own right, Ritsuko would assume a more submissive persona – ergo, Maya's role. And I thought a little more-than-hero worship going on with her and Yui would stir things up a bit for the adults in the fic. Also, I liked Yui's defiant nature that came out in her meeting with SEELE.

Lastly, both Yui and now Naoko's meddling in Shinji and Rei's relationship is brought out almost fully, and we now see a more sensitive and, dare I say, defiant side to Rei that otherwise would have never come out in the series. I have a little sister who's about the children's age in the series, and I see her as a paradigm for what one of the children's behavior might be in this sort of situation, even one as stoic as Rei.

Anyway, read and review.