Disclaimer:

I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion or anything that may appear in my story that is copyrighted by someone else (duh). I'm just borrowing without permission. If the relevant authorities request it, I would remove this story immediately.

Pre-story ramblings:

I'm bored once again. Wrote this on the spur of the moment before going to do my more important 'business'.

So without any further ado, I present to you

A Mid-Life Crisis?

It was ten years after the defeat of the angels. As before, mankind has shown its extraordinary resilience in the face of adversary. The first sign that things were getting better was the return of seasons. Two years after Tabris had decided to forgo his mission of uniting with Adam, snow started to fall upon Tokyo-3. A peaceful spring and luxurious summer followed after that. All in all, the world was beginning to heal. Yes, they have woken up to a better tomorrow.

However, was there trouble brewing in paradise?

After completing his college education and finding a well paying job as the editor of a newspaper, Shinji had slipped into mundane normalcy. Yes, he had a loving wife and two beautiful children. But the former Pilot felt something missing. He missed the surge of adrenalin, the heavy responsibility towards mankind and the attention heaped upon him. In short, he missed piloting.

And that showed in the way he related towards others.

"Anata is something wrong?" Rei asked after Shinji had entered the room and slumped upon the bed without a single word.

"Nothing dear, just tired." He said, not caring about the effects his emotionless words would have on his wife. After all, they had been married for eight years. What could go wrong?

Rei sighed. Ever since three years ago, Shinji had become distant. Although she asked time and again what was the cause for his discontentment, he never answered. She had begun to accept this fact.

"Ok Anata, rest well ok? I love you." Rei said before giving him a slight kiss on the lips.

"Yeah, I love you too." Shinji reciprocated the words and the kiss. However, it was mechanical, lacking of any real feelings behind it.

"Fuck my life to hell." The former pilot thought to himself as Rei snuggled against him. In the past, that simple action would have at the very least elicited a blush from Shinji. Now, he felt nothing.

And the couple had not made love for 6 months.

When Rei woke up the next morning, Shinji had already left for work. As usual. That made the cerulean haired angel more than a little sad. He had gone without a word.

Nevertheless, she had to compose herself. There is no need for the children to see their mother cry. She looked in to the mirror and practiced a smile. After being sure that her smile would not look false, she went to the children's room to prepare them for school.

Smiling was never easy for the girl. It was only after her marriage that she began to smile more openly. But now, the reason for her happiness was wallowing in a pit of despair that Rei was still uncertain about the cause. It was killing her from the inside.

"Wake up kids, you have to go to school soon!" she said in a motherly tone.

Her children, Reiko and Ryo unwillingly roused from their slumber and grumbled. The rest of the morning went on as per normal. None of them realising the dead look in their mother's eyes.

After bringing the children to school, Rei went to the park and wept silently. It was then when an old friend noticed a tinge of blue in the distance.

Touji Suzuhara never excelled in school. Now, he was just an odd job worker with no stable income. That was probably why Hikari left him. However, he was never one to avoid old friends. Which was why he started towards Rei and tried to start a conversation.

Imagine his surprise when he realised she was crying.

"Ayanami? What the hell you crying for?" he exclaimed.

Rei looked up. "Suzuhara?"

"Yo whatssup man? Shin-man made you mad?" he asked jokingly. Unfortunately for him, he was spot on.

Rei burst into sobs again as she distanced herself away from him.

Touji paled. "What the hell, I never thought you two would ever quarrel. Man the both of you looked perfect!" he said without thinking.

Rei's sobs grew even louder.

"Crap. What was I saying?" The jock thought. "Ok what I meant was every relationships got their ups and downs. Ya just hafta take the good with da bad yo?" Touji said in an attempt to resolve the situation.

Finally, Rei broke down totally and wept openly in front of Touji as she told him what was troubling her. Of course, he lent her a shoulder to cry on.

Unknown to the both of them, their actions were witnessed by a jealous former class representative.

"That hussy is… seducing Touji!" she thought angrily. "She's a married woman, has she got no shame?"

With vengeance in mind, Hikari went to Genesis Publishing House to tell a certain editor there what she saw.

In an office cubicle inside Genesis Publishing House

Shinji was in an unfamiliar situation. There he was trying to do his work when his former class rep came and stared at him. Unsure of what to do, the timid man just gave a small, "Hi?"

"Don't you keep an eye on your wife?" she snapped.

"What?" Shinji said, utterly confused.

"You don't know? Ha, I'll tell you what your wife has been doing behind your back!" Hikari said spitefully.

"What are you talking about?" Shinji said in a louder tone. He was starting to get angry and a little apprehensive.

"That slut is seducing MY Touji!" Hikari spat at him. "You had better sort things out with her. I want my Touji back."

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SAYING?" Shinji blew his top. His meaningless existence coupled with this devastating news finally igniting a fuse that was steadily growing shorter.

Hikari was unfazed. "I'm asking you to keep an eye on your wife." Then she added spitefully, "Or she may meet up with other men that she finds more attractive."

Shinji slapped her across the cheek so hard that she fell to the ground.

As she held her swollen cheek, Hikari hissed, "Maybe she already has found someone. But its ok, I guess I don't mind sharing Touji with her for the time being."

Shinji took a penknife from his workstation and left without a word.

Hikari stared at his back profile that was diminishing at a rapid pace. Unconcerned that everyone was looking at her, she shot the bystanders a scathing look before leaving the office as well.

Ikari Household

Rei was still confessing her problems to Touji when Shinji kicked the door open violently, his hands holding a wicked looking penknife.

"Shinji! What's wrong?" Rei asked, shocked at the murderous look in his eyes. She only saw that look a few times; when his Evangelion went berserk.

"YOU SLUT!" he charged towards Touji and Rei. "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING BEHIND MY BACK?"

"We never did anything!" Rei exclaimed. " I was just telling Suzuhara about my problems!"

If he was less angry, Shinji would have noticed the formal tone in which Rei was calling Touji; a dead giveaway that they were as she said, only just friends

However, a threshold was crossed in Shinji's mind and he blocked out everything that she had said. Never even pausing to give thought about what he was doing, Shinji attacked her with a wicked slash.

Luckily, Touji intercepted him in time. Pushing Rei away, he grabbed Shinji's wrists and tried to wrestle the penknife from his grasp. As Touji was physically stronger, it was easily accomplished. However, Shinji head butted him and caused him to stagger. Shinji used this opportunity to grab his penknife again but the jock tackled him down with a rugby tackle.

As both men wrestled, Rei just stood rooted to the spot, crying. She knew that she had to help Touji overcome Shinji in an attempt to get him to his senses. But her body was unwilling to do anything that might hurt her lover.

Finally, Touji shouted as he grabbed Shinji's arms tightly. "LOOK AT WHAT YOU'RE DOING TO YOURSELF AND TO REI!"

Shinji struggled to break out of his grasp but Touji continued. "YOU THINK YOU'RE HURT BUT THE ONE YOU HURT MOST IS HER!"

Shinji suddenly felt all his strength leave him as he slumped to the floor. Once again, he had hurt the ones he loved. He tried to cover his ears to block out what Touji had said but to no avail.

"WHERE IS THE SHINJI THAT VOLUNTEERED TO PILOT THE EVANGELION JUST TO SAVE HER?" Touji bellowed.

"Shut up, SHUT UP!" Shinji cried, covering his ears.

"WHERE IS THE SHINJI THAT SAID HE WOULD BE BRAVE FOR HIS GIRL?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Shinji cried pathetically.

Touji looked as if he was going to launch into another verbal tirade when Rei stopped him.

"You've said enough Suzuhara-kun, Thank you. You can go home now." She said.

He looked at her in surprise. "You sure?"

"I will handle things from here. You should not have scolded him." Rei stated coolly.

"But… I was just trying to help"

"I understand, however, Shinji would need to be comforted now and it is beyond your ability." She said. "Please leave."

Touji gave Shinji one last glare before leaving the house.

Rei walked towards Shinji who was huddled and whimpering in a corner and embraced him.

However, her heart ached when she felt him flinch from her touch.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" Shinji repeated over and over again.

"Its ok Anata, I love you." She replied.

Shinji looked up in surprise at that statement. She loved him? After all that he had done?

"I don't deserve it… I hate myself… you don't have to love me if you don't want to…" He said before backing out from her embrace.

Rei leaned towards him and hugged him again.

'But I want to." She said simply.

In the confines of their apartment, Shinji looked at Rei again. Gone was the boring woman that he was so tired of. In her place was the beautiful angel that he had fallen in love with. In short, Shinji was falling in love with his wife all over again.

Uncertain about what to do next, Shinji leaned forwards to give his wife a small kiss. However, when their lips connected, months of pent up passion and desires immediately took over. Over and over again their tongues rolled about in each other's mouths. Their hands caressing their partner in places they have not touched for months. They both knew what the other was thinking now. They wanted each other.

Shinji's hands tried to unbutton his wife's clothes but then realised stupidly that she was wearing a tee shirt. He then clumsily pulled it over the top of her head while she giggled softly. Then, he pushed up her bra so that he could get to the part of her body that was so attractive to him. Slowly, he rubbed her breast with his palms. Stimulating her greatly. Hearing her moans only excited him further. Then, he licked her nipples, savouring the slightly salty taste that was so uniquely her. Rei sighed happily at her husband's touch.

Then Shinji stopped.

Rei looked at him curiously. "Anata?"

Shinji took of his pants and undergarments, revealing his erect manhood.

"I miss the feel of your mouth, Koibito." He said.

Rei blushed slightly but put his manhood into her mouth nonetheless. Slowly, she took in the entire length of his rod before quickly pulling back until it was almost out of her mouth. She repeated this process over and over again until Shinji gave a moan of pleasure. Unknowingly, he placed his hand upon her head to edge her further on. It was torturous and extremely pleasurable. Finally, he came uncontrollably into her mouth.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Shinji stammered.

Rei however, smiled seductively as she swallowed.

"Its ok Anata, I want to please you." She whispered into his ears.

Shinji could not take it anymore. He wanted her there and then.

"Koibito, let me love you." He said as he carried her bodily into the bedroom.

There, he took off her pants and panties. Initially, he had wanted to pump her senseless but seeing Rei in her beautiful wet and naked glory, Shinji thought otherwise.

"You're so beautiful Rei." He stated simply.

Shinji licked her and slowly explored the inside of her body. As his tongue roamed about her womanhood, Rei's moans grew increasingly louder. Just as she was about to climax, Shinji stopped licking her and rubbed his manhood against her womanhood. She moaned appreciatively and gave him permission of carry on. Finally, he thrust inside her.

"Oh… Shinji…oh…oh…" Rei lay on her back in the missionary position.

"I'm sorry for what I have done Koibito, please forgive me…" Shinji managed to stutter out in his passionate state.

"Oh…oh…There… is no harm done...Oh… Just don't… do it again… oh... Shinji…" Rei replied amidst Shinji's thrusting.

Then, they both climaxed together. Milking Shinji of every drop of fluid he had inside.

The couple side by side on the bed, exhausted by their intimacy. Both basking in the glow of each other's orgasms.

"I'm so lucky to have married you Rei-chan." Shinji said.

"So please don't hurt me like that ever again ok Anata?" Rei asked as she snuggled against his side.

Shinji blushed at their contact. "I won't do that ever again." He said.

"I Promise."

3 months later

Things were much better in the Ikari household. Shinji and Rei had taken up salsa dancing as a collective hobby. Not only did it bring them even closer together, it also gave Shinji something else to focus his attention on other than the past.

And although Shinji knew that his fame as the famous Third Child, hero of the Angel Wars have past, he was finally content. Knowing that true happiness comes neither from fame nor glamour nor glory but from the simple things such as family.

As for Touji? He never forgave Hikari for what she did; he also never got married. That did not bother him though. He was too busy playing with his godchildren, Ryo and Reiko.

THE END

Ok I'm done. Sorry Hikari fans for making her such a bitch. It hurts me also to do that but no other female character would have made it sound convincing (don't say Asuka because she and Kaworu are happily married!).

I admit. I'm a hopeless romantic. Yes, I noticed that Rei forgave Shinji a little too easily and Shinji snapped out of his anger a little too quickly. But that was because I wanted to get to the lemon scene ASAP.

As for the reason why I'm writing this? I felt some people were unhappy with how the previous chapter turned out. Hope not to disappoint you this time.

Nope, this was not pre-read as well.

Finally, feedback and criticisms are greatly encouraged.