Disclaimer: I don't own EVA. If the owners say to, I'll take this story offline. Thanks.

Folded Wings

By Random1377

Chapter 2

Rei surveyed the classroom in absolute silence, saying nothing as she took stock of her classmates. Tatsuya, Ikari, Souryu, Aoyama, Horaki, Mitsuhiro, Nagi – so many people she did not know, or barely had a passing acquaintance with. Mister Kaji had said to take note of what the others in her life thought of her, but so far, not a single person had so much a glanced her way.

What a pointless exercise, she thought skeptically, I do not see that anyone cares for me in this place… nor do I require them to. Mister Kaji seems to have too much free time on his hands…

She was tempted to simply return to looking out the window, but something had happened in between leaving the restaurant and coming to school the next morning – something that almost never, ever happened.

Rei got curious.

She was not lonely or desperate for attention – she had too many, far more important concerns on her mind for such trivialities – but she was mildly interested in seeing if Mister Kaji was right.

So far, she had not seen any indication that he was. Nothing, she thought, feeling suddenly very foolish for wasting time on idle musings. There, Mister Kaji… I have thought about what you have said, and I have found it to be incor-

"Hey, Ayanami."

Rei lifted her gaze, finding the class representative walking her way. Usually, when the girl got Rei's attention, it was to tell her she had cleanup duty or (more rarely) to ask her to drop off some printouts for one of the students out sick. Rei had never really paid much attention to the girl, in all honesty, especially considering that she was a friend of Souryu's… and Souryu was no friend of Rei's.

"Yes, Miss Horaki?"

The dark-eyed girl pulled her hair back off of her face, offering Rei a hesitant smile as she said, "I was just wondering if anything's wrong. You've been… kinda staring around all morning. Is everything ok?"

Resting her chin in her palm, Rei murmured, "I was not aware that anything had to be wrong to look around the classroom."

Hikari blushed. "Well, it… it doesn't," she said, now looking very flustered, "but usually you-" she cut herself off. "Never mind," she said quietly, "it's not important."

As she turned to go, Rei turned her attention back to the class rep.

Is this concern? she thought as the other girl made her way back to her desk. No, it is her job to keep track of unusual behavior in the classroom.

Satisfied with this explanation, Rei decided that she had observed enough.

She was just turning back to the window when another voice said, "Hey, Ayanami."

Fighting an urge to roll her eyes, Rei turned back around. "Yes?"

Utsuki Nagi, a short, dark-haired girl Rei had never cared very much for, stood looming over Rei's desk… or looming as best a girl of her stature could. "You don't have to be a mega-bitch all the time, you know," Utsuki said crankily, "Hikari was trying to be nice!"

Rei disregarded her. "It is her obligation to," she pointed out dispassionately, "she would do the same for-"

"Shut up."

The First Child sighed softly. Here we go…

Utsuki, she knew, was rather found of the class representative – not in a sexual way, of course, but there was definitely a clear case of hero worship going on. Normally, the short girl spent her days quietly watching Hikari from a distance, but since Rei normally spent her days looking out the window, she must have seemed to be a fair target for the dark-haired girl to show her displeasure at the treatment of her idol.

Rei readied herself for a drawn-out discourse on Hikari's greatness.

It was not the first time she had inadvertently offended someone, and she doubted it would be the last. It was one of the curses of being wholly honest, she supposed as Utsuki began her tirade on Rei's poor manners and Hikari's saintly concern. Rei did not go out of her way to be rude to people, but she also felt no real need to spare their feelings if they asked a direct question like, 'what do you think of this dress,' or, 'let's be great friends!'

Rei was very effectively tuning the other girl out until she said something that caught Rei's attention.

"What was that?"

Utsuki froze with her mouth wide open. "Have you been listening at all?" she spluttered, indignant that Rei would have the gall to ignore her.

"No, I have not," Rei replied flatly, "but what was that last thing you said?"

Flushing bright red, Utsuki clenched her hands into fists. "Stuff it!" she said angrily, "I'm not repeating myself for you, you red-eyed freak! You just watch how you talk to Hikari, or I'll… I'll…"

What she would do, Rei never did find out, as the dark-haired girl abruptly turned and stalked away from Rei's desk, muttering curses under her breath.

After several moments of quiet, Hikari made her way back to Rei's desk.

"Sorry about Utsuki," she apologized, "I just heard that she was giving you a hard time."

"Why are you apologizing for her?" Rei wondered, confused.

Hikari shrugged. "She's my friend," she explained simply, "that's all. Plus she was freaking out because she thought you were talking to me 'disrespectfully,' so I guess I kind of felt responsible for her, or something."

A faint frown creased Rei's brow. "Why?" she asked bluntly.

"I don't know," Hikari laughed nervously, "just… that's what friends do sometimes… I guess…"

Rei pondered on this, almost missing her chance to ask what was on her mind as Hikari excused herself and started back to her desk.

"Miss Horaki…?"

"Hmm?"

"Is what she said true?"

Hikari rested her hands on two desks, leaning back a bit as she regarded Rei. "Which part?" she said brightly, "I heard her talking for a while, but since I was helping Aida with a problem, I couldn't get back here until she was already done."

Rei hesitated. There is no need to pursue this, she told herself firmly. It is not beneficial to EVA in any way, it does not affect me personally, and it is wasting time.

In spite of these reasons, Rei still found herself asking, "Have you tried to befriend me before?"

Hikari smiled. "I love the words you use," she said happily, "you're always so… refined and proper. Umm," her smile faded slightly, "yeah, I've tried – but it's cool if you don't want to, I mean, now that I know you're a pilot, like Ikari, I figured that you probably don't have the time or something, so… don't worry about offending me or anything."

"I was not worried about that."

"…yeah, I didn't really think you were," Hikari sighed. "Oh well."

Turning for her desk again, Hikari was brought up short as Rei said, "May I ask why you wanted to befriend me?"

Hikari sighed deeply. "It wouldn't make sense if I tried to explain," she said quietly, "just… forget about it, Ayanami, it doesn't really matter."

Rei let her go. One instance, she thought dismissively, it is only one instance…

The seeds of doubt, however, had been firmly planted… and rather than staring out the window for the next two weeks, Rei spent her time watching those around her and paying particular attention to anyone that met her eyes for more than a moment, or smiled, or waved, mentally noting that while there were only a few people actually paid her any attention, there were more than one.

It was most enlightening.

( 0 0 0 )

Shinji yawned as he buttoned the last button on his shirt, rubbing at his tired eyes and swinging his locker closed as he turned for the door. "What a day," he sighed, walking unhurriedly out of the locker room. "School, sync tests… and I still have to cook dinner."

Although it seemed like he was bogged down, Shinji's step was still light as he walked through the halls. Things were finally evening out. He was still getting used to having Asuka living in the apartment, but he imagined that he always would.

The redhead just made him nervous.

Other than that, everything was falling into a nice, comfortable rhythm. He knew what people expected of him, he had something to occupy his time, and life did not seem to have any more surprises for him – excluding, of course, the appearance of angels, but even that had an established pattern of tension, breathtaking anxiety, and finally, resolution.

They had not lost yet.

Shinji was optimistically hoping that the trend would continue.

I know we're not like, invincible, he thought as he neared the elevator banks, but we've won every fight so far. I wonder why the angels…

His thought trailed off as he came to a halt in front of the elevators… and his footsteps kept clicking on down the hallway.

What the…?

Shinji blinked as he realized it was not his footsteps, but someone else's. Slowly, he turned around, finding Rei approaching him from down the hall. "Oh, hi Ayanami," he said belatedly, "how are you?"

"I am well," Rei replied quietly, coming up next to Shinji and standing at his side, "and yourself?"

"Fine," Shinji replied slowly, taken a little off guard that Rei actual asked after his health.

Usually her replies were abrupt and borderline rude – more so with other people, but even with him, she was a touch on the brusque side.

Also, he noticed that she had not pushed the button to summon the elevator. Weird, he thought, glancing at the First from the corner of his eye as he reached out and hit the button himself. She looks like she wants to say something.

Indeed, Rei seemed on the verge of starting a conversation – a phenomenon Shinji could not recall seeing before. He was sure she had, of course, as it was nearly impossible to get through life by waiting for others to start conversations… a fact that he himself was painfully aware of, but he really did not remember ever having her be the one to initiate a discussion.

Clearly, that mold was not about to be broken, as Rei simply stood next to him, staring down at the floor with a very faint frown on her face.

I wonder if I should say something, he thought, shifting from one foot to the other as the First glanced up at the readout showing what floor the elevator was on.

With a soft 'ding,' the elevator arrived and the two Children stepped in, maintaining their awkward silence as Shinji reached over and pushed the button that would send them to the top level.

Quietly, the doors slid closed and the elevator began to rise, clicking off floors in a slow, meandering procession, seeming to Shinji to take twice as long to move as it normally did.

Rei was standing very close to him.

"D-doing anything fun this weekend?" Shinji stammered, finally unable to take the silence anymore.

"I have no plans," Rei said quietly, "and yourself?"

"Nothing really," Shinji said awkwardly, edging away from the First a bit to give himself a little breathing room.

Physical closeness made him slightly anxious.

"Then… perhaps-"

So intent was Shinji on what Rei was about to say that he nearly jumped as the elevator doors slid open and a technician he did not know stepped in, giving them a cursory smile before turning his back on them.

"I… just remembered something I forgot," Shinji said suddenly, slipping off the elevator before Rei could say a word, "I'll talk to you later, Ayanami…"

He did not look back to see what expression Rei wore as the doors slid closed.

No… no way, he thought with some confusion, was she… she wasn't, was she?

Shinji rested his palms on his knees, staring down at the backs of his hands as he leaned up against the elevator door.

"Was she about to ask me out…?"

The idea seemed so farfetched that Shinji nearly laughed out loud. Ayanami? Asking him out? Ridiculous. It would never happen.

Then… why did I run away…?

Taking a deep breath, Shinji pushed away from the wall, wishing – not for the first time in his life – that he had Misato's taste for beer.

…he could really use a drink.

Continued…

Author's notes: Was Rei about to ask Shinji out? Why did he run away? How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop? The world may never know. Well, ok, one of these questions may be answered in the next chapter. Unfortunately for you people, it'll probably be the tootsie pop one. I know this chapter was a bit shorter than the last, but that's only because it's a springboard into the next chapter, where angst and self-discovery abound. …or something.

No pre-reader was harmed in the making of this fic.

Feedback is always welcome at random1377(at-sign)yahoo(dot)com.