Rei was making her way home. This should've felt just like every other walk home, but something was bothering her. She didn't know what, but there was a lingering thought in her head.

She had just been sent home after a 'test' of some sort with the Commander and Dr. Akagi. This was her daily routine. Yet this time, a thought haunted her brain. One that wouldn't go away.

'Ikari... he chose to save me when he could have easily carried on with his task.' She thought. 'He risked losing the package as he did his own life, just to have saved mine...'

She was not used to such a gesture, she had only seen concern from the Commander himself. Before Shiniji was brought in, Rei had gone through the pre-testing phases of the genetic coding project.

Two months before Shinji had been drafted, Rei ran a genetics test that nearly ended in a fatal accident. The pod she was in had lost control of its energy and overheated, almost killing the crimson-eyed girl.

The emergency shutdown lever was pulled, and Rei's pod was forcefully turned off. Her hatch door hadn't automatically opened like it was supposed to, so Gendo had gone down to rescue her himself.

The lock on the door was scalding hot, burning Gendo's palms as soon as his hands had came contact with it. He had managed to save Rei from a very painful death.

However heroic his actions may have been, Rei felt next to nothing about it. He had asked her if everything was okay, but when she had nodded to him, his panic toned down to his usual emotionless state.

It wasn't easy, but she had put up with it for Gendo's needs. No matter what the case, she felt she needed to follow his every order. The Commander's son, however, had recently stirred up a new kind of conflict within her.

'He displayed an emotional reaction when he decided to save my life. He put himself through unimaginable pain, yet still seemed to be in a fragile state after having saved me.'

She knew that the Commander would go out of his way to save her, yet would show almost no sign of emotion or care. She was but an item to him, and she seemed to be okay with that.

It was the only driving force in her life, so she held onto it to have a sense of purpose. In her mind, the Commander was always right. Also in her mind, she knew she was easily replaceable.

The ghostly girl continued her walk home under her umbrella, shielding herself from the heavy rain. Her apartment complex came into view, she was not too far from home now.

As she continued to make her way home, a voice called out her name from behind.

"Ayanami!" Yelled Shinji, jogging over to her in the rain. His clothes were drenched and he began to shiver as the water began to run down his skin.

"Ikari..."

He looked cold as he approached her, she didn't know what to do or what even to say. Social interaction for her, although she knew the basics, was very soulless and uninteresting.

She stopped walking and waited for Shinji. She remembered what Commander Ikari had taught her from a young age; to respectfully listen to someone if they had wanted to talk to her.

Shinji rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm himself up, the rain finally having soaked him enough for it to be a problem.

"You seem to be uncomfortable, Ikari."

"Y-Yeah, it's getting k-kind of cold..." He couldn't control his body's shivers as they worsened by the second. Rei didn't know what to do or even say. She had been taught to be respectful, but not mindful of anyone else's well-being.

The two stood facing each other awkwardly, neither of them knew what to say.

"Um, this is weird... b-but do you happen to know w-where I can seek shelter f-for the night?" His shivering worsened.

She seemed to be confused by such a request, as she thought he had his own place to stay.

"Were you not provided a home in Tokyo-3?" She asked. Shinji looked down in apparent shame.

"I w-was... b-but that's not g-going so well right now..."

'He appears to be distraught again.' She thought back to when he had saved her, just two nights ago. He saved her life despite the obvious pain he went through to have done so.

She hadn't been ordered to keep him safe by the Commander, so she didn't know why she had stopped to listen to him in the first place. But his actions from earlier had told her that maybe there was something she could do for him.

"My apartment complex is just down this street. It can provide you cover from the rain." Shinji nodded, almost as if he was rushing her to her own home. Rei understood and lead him there.

The complex she lived in was one of many; more than 15 identical buildings lines the block. Hers was the 10th structure coming from her direction. Rei shared her umbrella space with Shinji, his shoes now creating squish-like noises from the water.

It didn't take long for the two to arrive. To Shinji's surprise, this place didn't even seem to have been run by a manager. In fact, it looked like it was completely abandoned.

The Lobby only had 3 working lights out of 7, and the styrofoam ceiling was rapidly deteriorating. Shinji knew he would have to walk up the stairs after having glanced upon the elevator's smashed-in door.

Now, he certainly knew these kinds of places existed. But what shocked him was that of all people, Rei had lived here. With her strange almost-permanent blank expression, he figured she was some spoiled rich kid that didn't care much for anyone else.

At first, he thought it had made at least some sense seeing as how NERV were the ones who chose their homes for them. But, why would such an important organization force one of their troops to live under such circumstances? It didn't make any sense.

He didn't feel safe there, a lot homeless people had tents set up inside the lobby. The place stunk, he wasn't sure if it was human waste, rotten food, or a decomposing animal.

Everyone had been minding their own business, though. None of the homeless seemed to want to bother the two, only because they were just looking to survive and coexist with every occupant of the lobby.

Although his raising had taught him that these kind of people were 'disgusting' or 'low-classed leechers', their determination to survive and their tolerance of their neighbors revealed them to be just what they are; human.

He felt really bad for them, and coincidentally he was now in the very same situation. Just maybe not to the same level as them.

The walk upstairs was a tiring one, but it wasn't too long. She lived on the 4th floor, apartment #402. Even the stairwell seemed worn out and/or damaged, Shinji swore he had seen a step or two missing on his way up.

As they finally reached the 4th floor, he could hear water trickling down the swelled walls. Most of the paint had been smudged off, under them lied rusted nails. This place was falling apart, how was this safe in any way at all?

As she finally reached her door, she opened it without having unlocked it.

'She leaves her door unlocked? In a place like this?' He thought. 'She probably trusts her neighbors very much.'

"Well I oughta get going, then. I'll sleep somewhere in this building and I'll make my way out in the morning." He said as he continued his walk down the hall. He waved her a quick goodbye and kept going.

Rei didn't say a thing as she watched him leave. Shinji thought it was a little creepy of her to eerily watch him until he was gone, but at this point he had accepted the fact that she was a socially awkward person.

Once he had left her field of vision, she shut her door. As Shinji sought a dry and somewhat cozy spot, he put his earphones back in. Track 25 resumed from where he had paused it.

This place gave him all kinds of bad feelings, he didn't like being there at all. But it was better than nothing, certainly better than being under that continuous downpour outside.

The whole building hadn't been cleaned in what appeared to be years, dried muddied footprints lingered on the floor. Sleeping meant he would probably have to lay on the floor, staining his clothes and stinking him up in the process. It was all he had.

He cursed at himself for not having thought of bringing anything for cover to deal with this kind of weather. He also regretted not buying any insect repellent as mosquitoes began to bite his exposed skin.

A part of him had wished he would have just stayed at Misato's apartment. He was running away because of his discomfort, yet this was quickly proving to feel even worse than how he had felt over at Misato's.

'How is this supposed to make things better for me? I have no idea where to go after this place...'

REI'S APARTMENT:

Rei sat on her bed, thinking about her strange encounter with the young Ikari. The two hadn't talked much at all, yet she could sense that he was still hurting. She wondered what it was that put the boy through such emotional turmoil.

It wasn't out of concern, rather it was of confusion. She barely reacted to anything, the only time she seemed to really have a focus is when she entered battle.

Her fellow troops seemed to also take it better than Shinji did, though they didn't act as lifeless about it as Rei appeared to. She looked over at her bedside table, there lay her only prized possession.

A pair of cracked glasses, the ones that Gendo had dropped the night he saved her. It was her reminder that as long as there was Gendo, there was Rei. She lived her life for him, and only him.

But seeing Shinji like that, it made her question things she had personally never thought of before. She remembered how Shinji was trying to strike up a conversation with her before invading the Angel camp; he has asked her why she fought.

'Fighting is my sole purpose. I have nothing else.' Was her answer.

Though she answered him, it was a bit dismissive. She hadn't cared much for casual conversation, very much like the Commander. This time, however, she actually felt compelled to continue such a conversation.

He had saved her, unlike anyone had ever before. She had definitely been saved by her fellow troops before, just as she has saved some of them. But when they did, they were quick to carry on with the mission and not give it much thought.

Shinji, on the other hand, cried because of how scared he was of losing her. That baffled her, she had been taught to go about her life in the most practical way possible, so caring for others was never on her agenda.

She decided to give Shinji a proper answer. She stood from her bed and went out her door, taking the Commander's damaged glasses with her. She would take him to an 'overlook' of sorts, one she liked visiting often.

It took Rei a bit of wandering to find him, the halls were long and dull. A lot of the lights had been broken or stolen, so she'd have to look closely for him. Eventually, though, she had found him huddled up against a corner.

He was trying hard to sleep, and seemed to be twitching. He was still having quick flashbacks to the battle he had fought, making his situation much worse. It only solidified the fact that running away had been a mistake.

"Ikari." She said in a monotone but well projected volume. Despite still listening to his music, he managed to hear her. He opened his eyes and found Rei standing right in front of him, surprising him a bit. He removed his earphones.

"Yes?" He asked, already assuming he had done something wrong.

"Come with me. I would like to show you something." Well this was unexpected. Without giving him a chance to answer, she began walking over to the stairwells.

"W-Wait! Hold up, I'm coming!"

After a bit of speed-walking, he slowed down as he caught up with her and continued to follow her. He wondered what this was all about, Rei had never struck him as someone he would ever just spend time with.

But he assumed there was more to this than he expected. Again, the two kept quiet throughout the whole walk. She hadn't told him where they were going, but it seemed they were headed to the top floor.

After several minutes of climbing up steps, the last steps were reached. She still said nothing as the two kept making their way to what she wanted to show him.

Eventually, they reached a random apartment number. 15th floor, door #1511. Upon going inside, the room looked completely stripped. It was a worn-down luxury penthouse of some sort, with exposed pipes dripping plenty of filth water.

He wondered what this place looked like when it was first built. Rei continued to walk through it all. Eventually, she opened a metallic sliding door, revealing a spacious balcony.

To his surprise the rain had stopped, though water was still rushing out the gutters. Once he stepped outside, he witnessed a view like no other. It was of a mountain pass in the distance, in between the two mountains stood a spotlight plant.

Spotlight plants were a way of producing solar energy without the need of a sun, perfect for a rain-plagued city like Tokyo-3. But from their point of view, the light shined up towards the reflective tower.

A bright light shining through a mountain pass, it was even visible through the heavy rain at night.

"I come up here when it gets too hot in my own home." Said Rei as she sat herself on the floor of the balcony.

Shinji seated himself next to her, both of them wrapping their arms around their knees as they observed the view.

"Does your AC not work?" He asked. Rei shook her head.

"I was not provided one."

"Why? Can't you just have one installed by someone from NERV?"

"I was never ordered to." She said to him. Orders, it was something she always seemed to bring up when talking about needing to do anything.

"You only do things because you're told to?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Even if it's your decision to make yourself more comfortable? You don't have to suffer for someone like that..." Shinji told her. Rei shook her head.

"Commander Ikari believes that comfort is the downfall of man."

Shinji frowned, he hated hearing about his father so much. It was unavoidable though, as he was the one pulling all the strings at NERV. Still, it was a very sensitive topic for him.

"But it's your choice! Your life! I get taking direct orders from a higher-up, but you can't just live by that!" He argued, hating that his father would so such a thing to someone.

"It would be impractical. I must follow every order to satisfy him." She said. There was no reasoning with her. He imagined that she cared about him so much because the two were like family. A feeling of jealousy began to brew inside of him.

"I take it you know him pretty well..."

"No, I do not. But he is the only person I have faith in." Rei then presented Shinji with Gendo's shattered glasses. He appeared confused, not knowing what this broken tool had to do with anything she was talking about.

"Those were the glasses your father broke when he saved my life." She explained.

'Saved her life?' This all sounded so foreign to Shinji, his father never showed care towards anyone. Especially not him.

"I was the first subject of the prototype of the genetics experiment. The pod overheated with me in it, and Commander Ikari opened the hatch with his bare hands, burning them in the process."

Shinji didn't like hearing this one bit. He was glad she was alive, but he hated hearing his distant father being painted as some sort of hero. But, he carried on listening. To him, it was amazing to have finally had a conversation with this strange girl.

"You have done the same. You put your hands through excruciating pain to aide me." Shinji looked at his hands, still scabbed and bandaged up.

"I understand why Commander Ikari would do that, since I serve him a purpose."

Her choice of words shocked Shinji, it sounded like she was treated like a slave.

"But why would you do that? Why would you put yourself in harm's way when I serve you no purpose?"

"Because it's not like that! People save others because they like them! It's human nature! We don't do it because we just want to use them, we don't want to lose anyone!"

"Human nature..." Rei repeated, thinking about his words deeply.

"You... care about me? Why?" She asked, saddening Shinji a bit.

"Because you're a person. Besides being in the same unit, losing someone would be devastating."

Shinji began fearing that Rei was a deeply depressed case, she didn't appear to value her own life at all. She always talked about serving others before serving her own needs.

"You shouldn't just risk your life like that because you're just told to do so... live for yourself." He said to her.

She was reminded of his question from two nights ago, the one she was quick to dismiss.

"Ikari, may I ask you another question?" Rei asked.

"Sure, shoot."

"Why do you fight?"

Shinji was speechless. He had been so quick to get Rei to live for herself, yet completely ignored the fact that he was here for the same reason she was.

"I-I... I do it... because I want my father to approve of me..." He said, slightly embarrassed.

"Then, are you not taking orders yourself because you want to serve him a purpose?"

"No! I don't want to just serve him! I want to bond with him!" He admitted, a little louder than he had meant to be.

" I do not understand... you said that you hated the Commander. Why would you want to bond with someone you hate?"

"I- I... just want to be loved..." Shinji said, shedding a tear from his eyes.

"You are sad again..." Rei said, noticing the water run down his cheek. Shinji wiped his tears, attempting to hide them.

"Y-Yeah... I'm sorry..."

"Why are you apologizing to me?" She asked.

"Because... I'm crying in front of you."

"You have not done anything wrong, Ikari. I was not made upset."

"Oh... Well, sorr- I mean- uh, okay." He said to her.

"Thank you Ayanami, for letting me in here. I really appreciate it." He said as he gave her a warm smile.

"You are welcome." She said back to him.

To Shinji, she talked like she was reading from a dictionary.

'Maybe she really is a robot...' He thought jokingly. Rei checked her wristwatch, noticing it was almost 9pm.

"I must return to my apartment now. I will be heading to sleep." She reached her hand out, asking for the glasses back with a gesture.

Shinji handed them back to her, and she made her way back without saying a word.

'Well she's still kind of rude sometimes, but it's a start.' Shinji was getting quite tired himself, and decided to also retreat for the night.

He decided this much more spacious penthouse would do well as a place to sleep in for the night. He found a single couch cushion and used it as a pillow to rest his head on.

He still didn't think of where his next destination was, so he decided he'd work that out tomorrow morning. He closed his eyes, and eventually fell asleep.

APRIL 3rd, 2015

8:13am:

Shinji felt his shoulder shake back and forth, someone had woken him up.

"Mmmm who's there?" He looked up to see three men in matching black suits, sunglasses and earpieces.

He was immediately intimidated at the sight of the three, guessing that they were owners of the property wanting to kick him out.

"Uh... look, sorry. I had nowhere to go. I'll leave now if that's what you people want..."

The middle agent presented Shinji with a badge, a certain logo looking extremely familiar. It read NERV, and they had found their missing person. "We're agents of NERV. You're coming with us."

"Uh oh..." Two of the men quickly lifted Shinji off the ground and conducted a quick search on him.

"Private Ikari, you are now under our legal custody."

One of the men then spoke into his earpiece.

"We have obtained Ikari."

NERV HQ, GENDO'S OFFICE:

Misato grew more nervous as she hear the ding of the elevator go off. Shinji was guided to the front of his father's desk by the three agents. Gendo was not pleased.

Shinji kept his head down, not having anything to say.

"Shinji, I don't have to explain to you why your actions were childish. But I will say this; you have legal obligation to serve by law." Shinji remained quiet.

"Running away from your problems will not solve anything, you will only make it worse. This will go unpunished, as I understand this was your first time in battle. You are dealing with early stages of battle fatigue. It is nothing more."

'Not for you, you unfeeling piece of shit...' He thought.

"Your little silent treatment will not do, when I or another higher-up speaks to you, you reply. Understood?"

"Yes sir." He said rather unsympathetically.

"You are dismissed. Major Katsuragi, you are free to take him." He said to Misato, who was waiting for the meeting between the two to end.

"Yes sir." She replied. Shinji sensed yet another awkward car ride on the horizon.

In the car, the two sat quietly again. Back to square one again, to Misato's disappointment. She didn't want to upset him again, so she refrained from saying anything. Shinji was doing a lot of thinking.

He found his conversation with Rei very insightful. He wanted to show her that there was a life of her own to be lived, and that she shouldn't place her faith in just one person.

But he didn't know when he was going to see her again, he figured he'd probably only see her in the battlefield. He dreaded the thought of going back, but ti try to run away again would be foolish.

"Oh, Shinji. I meant to give you something the morning you had ran away-" She reached into the backseat and pulled out a black backpack, already filled with forms of papers relating to his new school and school district.

"School?" He asked, looking more dreadful than before.

"Of course! We have to keep you educated, don't think your service to this country grants you a no-school pass." Said Misato. Shinji leaned into his car seat and sighed.

"I'm just not used to having to meet so many new people in so little time... I mean I already met you guys, and Unit-01." He whined.

"Oh, don't worry about it! Each classroom is designated for a unit, so your friends will be there!"

Oh, the joy.

"S-So... all of Unit-01 is going to be there?" He asked worriedly.

"They always have! Why? You got a crush or something?" She teasingly asked.

"No, it's not that... it's just..." He went silent for a few seconds.

"What it is, Shin?"

"That bitchy redhead is there..."