Perfect Life - Written by John Chalker

Disclaimer see Chapter 1

Chapter Four

"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Computer messages or voice over a Telephone etc"

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As the two pilots made they're way into the apartment Shinji noticed a trial of clothes leading from the front door to the bathroom. 'Misato must be home' he thought while picking up the offending undergarments and throwing them in the wash bin inside Misato's room 'Why does she live like a slob, Its disgusting'

He walked back out to the living room to find Rei already sitting on one of the couch's

"Thanks for getting me out of that saturation at school Rei" he said "Do you want something to drink?"
"Yes please" She replied shifting her gaze to him
"What would you like" Trying not to feel uncomfortable
"Water will do" She said after looking back towards his cello

Shinji walked towards the kitchen and fetched the drinks, A glass of water for Ayanami and a Soda for himself, As he walked back into the living room he noticed Ayanami looking at his cello

"Here you go Rei" Shinji said handing the water to Ayanami, She took the glass of water and they're fingers brushed slightly against each other, Shinji turned a slight red and Rei blushed as well, But because they looked away from each other neither one noticed

"Do you play often Shinji-kun" she asked pointing towards the cello, Shinji followed her finger and looked at his cello as well
"Sometimes" he said taking a sip from his soda "But I'm not really that good, It lets me escape reality he said looking down with sadness in his voice
"Why do you wish to escape Reality" She asked now curious as to why he would want to do such a thing
"Some memories are painful Rei" He said taking another sip from his drink, Rei did the same not that she wanted to stop the conversation but because she sensed the sadness in the young Ikari's voice

"Umm Rei" He asked after a few minutes of silence, "Yes Shinji-kun" She replied looking at him,

The afternoon sun was shining threw the curtains casting a warm orange glow over the couch rei was sitting on, This gave her skin a silk appearance and Shinji couldn't help but marvel at the sight.. It was a good 10 minutes before he realised what he was doing and turned away his face turning a bright crimson Rei's face started to heat up as well 'Why is my face becoming warm, Why is it when Shinji-kun looks at me I feel warm inside' She thought a while longer before the captain brought her out of her thoughts

"Hiya Shinji-kun" She said entering the room and stopped seeing Rei sitting on the couch "oh I see you brought a friend home, Hi Rei"
"Hello Captain" "Please just call me Misato, We are not inside NERV so there is no need for formality's"
"Very well Ca.. Misato" Rei said softly
"So Shinji what's up with you two" Misato asked shinji winking while kneeling over to show just enough cleavage to make the boy blush further if it was possible
"ah umm Rei is helping me with my homework" He replied his voice showing clear signs of nervousness
"Oh okay" She said pulling back "I got to go to NERV don't do anything I would do" The captain added before leaving the apartment

There was a short silence again when Rei spoke up "Shinji-kun what did she mean by Don't do what she would do"
Shinji's blush slightly returned "Nothing rei" he said slowly
"Rei umm would you like to stay for dinner?" he asked "Misato isn't going to be home and the company would be a good change"

She pondered this for a while and seeing she had nothing to do she agreed to stay, After having that sorted the two pilots decided to start studying early and sat at the table and pulled out they're own textbooks. Rei sat close to Shinji and started explaining the problems and how to solve them, Both pilots didn't notice it but they felt comfortable, Very comfortable sitting close to one another.

A few hours passed when both were tired and wanted a break from the Studying, Shinji decided to use this time to cook dinner for the two pilots "What do you wish to eat Rei?" He asked Smiling. He felt good for some reason and he didn't want to think why but being close to Rei made him feel good

"Anything is sufficient Shinji-kun" She replied "Although I cannot eat meat or meat by-products" Shinji quirked up a ear at hearing this "Why not Rei?" He asked pulling out a saucepan

"I'm not sure. The Commander told me I should not eat it, He said I had a allergic reaction that almost killed me when I was younger"
"oh okay" he said to acknowledge what she said. He knew better then to not listen to his fathers order's and he didn't want to harm rei so he decided on cooking a vegen meal

After he put on the rice and started to stir the vegetables Rei decided to join him in the kitchen

"Is there anything I can do Ikari-kun?" She asked, She never offered anyone help but she felt calm beside Ikari-kun and she would do anything to be beside him at the present time

"Umm no I can get it Rei" He replied stirring the rice and vegetables at the same time, Rei felt a little rejected but chose to stand behind him watching how he cooked. "What's wrong Rei?" He asked noticing she was standing close to him as he cooked
"The way you cook" She said not taking her eyes of the food "You do it with such care"
"Do you cook much Rei?" he asked trying to get out of the potentially embarrassing conversation, Not that he liked the compliment its just he could feel his cheeks heating up at that comment

"No. I do not know how to" She said sadly looking at the floor feeling as if she had failed a mission ' Why do I feel like this, Is it because I wish to be perfect around shinji-kun' she thought 'Maybe it is I like him'

Shinji broke her out of her thoughts "Maybe if you want I can teach you?"
She smiled at him the same way she did after the 5th angel attack "That would be nice Shinji" she said "thankyou"

Shinji beamed at the response as it lifted his ego, after motioning rei closer to the stove and showing her how to stir the food properly not to cause the vegetables to go mushy and how to control the heat. Also showing her how to cook and flip egg's if she ever needed to.
After they were finished they set the table and decided to eat dinner
"Thanks for helping with dinner Rei" Shinji said as he sat the plates down smiling
"No thank you Shinji for sharing your knowledge about cooking with me"

Shinji beamed again and his smile grew wider "Your welcome anytime Rei" he said as he sat down at the table, Rei blushed slightly as she joined him for dinner, As Rei bit into some of the stir fry she noted all the flavours getting realised into her mouth, her eyes shot wide for a split second as she almost melted in the intense taste, 'I must get Shinji to teach me more' She thought as she grabbed another piece of shop and shoved it into her mouth

It wasn't long before dinner was over and the two pilots were studying again. Shinji had cleaned up and Rei insisted on helping again, He was currently lost in his thoughts about the blue haired girl when Rei brought him back to reality

"Shinji-kun" She said "Shinji-kun are you ok?" he voice becoming more louder
"Oh Rei yeah I'm fine" he said looking startled "Sorry" he realised he made her worry
"What was wrong shinji-kun?" She asked sitting closer at him and placed her hand on his forehead
"Oh n.. Nothing rei" he said softly blushing at her touch she realised this and started to blush too
"What were you thinking about Shinji-kun?" She asked removing her hand from his forehead
"Oh nothing" he said looking at the floor again trying to avoid the saturation
Rei decided to push this time "It didn't look like nothing Shinji-kun"

"It about my dad" he said giving up
"…" She stayed quiet at his last statement "I'm sorry I don't know what to do or say"
"Its ok Rei" He replied looking back at his book, They had just covered 4 weeks of work and he decided to stop for the night "I'm used to it… now… I guess"
Rei looked at his sad face 'Why do I feel sad when Shinji is sad' She thought.
"Rei would you like… to like to go outside onto the balcony?" he asked trying to sound happy, Rei nodded and the two teens stood out on the balcony under the moonlight. Rei's skin glowed under the calm light the moon was giving off.. In Shinji's mind she looked like a … Angel

"Rei do you have any bad memories" he asked, He wasn't sure why he asked her that question but it came out before he could stop it
Rei looked up the moon and pondered for abit "I do not think I do Shinji-kun" she said softly "My Memories are hazed

"What about your childhood Rei?" He asked again
"I'm not sure" she said this time with sadness "I think I'm the second"

"huh" shinji looked at her trying to work out what she meant, Rei sighed looking down at the street now trying to avoid Shinji's gaze
"What do you mean Rei when you said you are the Second?" he asked with curiosity in his voice

She sighed again trying not to look at him "Can we go inside Shinji-kun?" she asked, She didn't want to tell him out here where unwanted eyes could be watching. She had disengaged the bugs in the apartment when shinji started cooking dinner so it was safer in there

As they sat back on the couch rei looked slightly sad which intrigued shinji

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" he said grabbing her hand, He would not do this in other times but he couldn't stop his mind wishing to do so. He was glad he did after as it reassured her, "If I do not tell you now Shinji I may not be able to tell you in the future" She replied

"Okay Rei I'm listening" Shinji said back noticing the sadness in her voice, Rei started telling him about how she was made and how there are copy's in terminal dogma. Also how she contains 1 of his mother's DNA as she said that part her voice was as if she had lost something close to her. Shinji let go of her hand after she said that but she continued trying to fight the tears that were starting to sting her eyes, She told him about Lilith and how it was inside Nerv and how she gave rei the other 99 of the DNA. She continued on her voice now shaky as she tried so hard to fight back the emotions and told her about his fathers plan and how it involved her to start third impact and his intentions.

After Rei finished she finally let go and curled up into a ball after seeing Shinji's shocked face, She doesn't know why but it felt like a dagger going threw her chest The way Shinji was looking at her, He was looking at her as if she was a person who just killed his mother.

After a few seconds of Rei bawling on the floor Shinji came back to his sense's and grab Rei off the floor and held her, Any other male would have seen this saturation as a perfect chance, Except for this boy. He was trying to get Rei to stop crying as the new information slowly made its way to Shinji's brain and he finally blurted out "You are not her Rei" Rei's sobbing slowed down and she started hiccuping, "You are Ayanami Rei" HE said lifting her chin up and looking at her tear streaked face "You are yourself you are not another" Rei stopped crying after hearing this "And for what its worth I don't think any less of you"

Rei smiled and hugged him back, In all he life she hasn't had so many intense emotions run over her.

They moved to the couch and shinji decided to stay embracing the girl as she slowly went to sleep, He spent a while looking at her sleeping peacefully

'Father you will pay for this' He thought trying to work out how to gain his Dad's weak points, He decided he would work it out later and decided to sleep for abit not wanting to disturb Rei

To be continued

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Authors Notes:

Well that's Chapter four out of the way. Please Read and Review. Flaming not needed.. As I said this is my first fanfic and I will get better with time. After a while I will refine this Fic if its possible

Cheers
John