Shinji Ikari, 14 years old, has lived apart from his parents for most of his life. But a mysterious summons now draws him to thier side to pilot the mysterious Evangelion in a place called Tokyo 3.
I. ARRIVAL
It was a strange thing to be summoned.
Quite a word; evocative of an underling reporting to a master, or a being conjured into existence by a wizard. It was this framing Shinji imagined when he was plucked from the world of his aunt and uncle, whom he had been living with for the past eleven years.
And I still don't know why, Shinji thought. All these years later and there was no apology, only a word from his father. "Come."
So he went.
Not that he had much choice in the matter. His Aunt, he knew, read his mail before handing it to Shinji. So when he came home from school he already saw most of his belongings packed and ready to go. His Aunt and uncle didn't need to tell him they wanted him out of their lives in order to return to being carefree, childless adults.
Shinji couldn't blame them, really. He didn't want to be there either, but he was in this world now, he had to have a place to stay. He tried to exist as best as he could, Minimizing his impact upon others to be as unobtrusive as possible.
About the only guide he had when arriving in Tokyo 3 was the photograph of a girl. She was a foreigner with red hair and pale skin. She was winking and smiling at the camera while throwing up v-fingers. A hand drawn note was included; "I'll meet you at the station- be on time!! A.S. Langley."
The prospect of meeting this rather cute girl his age put a strange spin on his feelings of being reunited with his father. Anticipation of meeting this new person simmered within him… cutting effectively through the din of being sent away.
The Family Ikari
Norsehound
When Shinji disembarked from the train he cast his gaze wide to see if he could spot his contact. After some wandering he found A.S. Langley leaned against the wall, looking at a magazine in her hands. A small backpack rested at her feet, and she was wearing a blue and white school uniform. The girl seemed about his age and her portrait matched her appearance. She seemed more athletic and trim than he would have assumed.
"U-um…" he said as he approached, getting her attention. Before he could speak, her head turned to him.
"Are you Shinji?" She asked him, lowering the magazine.
"Y-yes," he said, grabbing the shoulder straps of his backpack. "Shinji Ikari."
"Pleasure." The girl said, dismissively. She put a hand on her chest, "I am Asuka Soryu Langley, second children. I am here to take you to NERV headquarters."
"N-NERV?" Shinji asked, "What's that?"
"It's far too big to explain here." Asuka said. She half turned to indicate the street behind her. "Come on, it's a long way to go." She tossed the magazine into a nearby trash can, then hooked her arms through the straps of her backpack as she started walking.
Shinji swallowed, but bobbed her head to her. "L-lead the way." He said.
Shinji had expected to dread every step closer to his father's requisition, but with Asuka here it was much easier to take his mind off the impending meeting. He caught glimpses of her figure, admired her red hair blowing in the breeze, and liked seeing her face in profile. She hadn't looked at him directly as they walked, and Shinji wondered if she was aware of him catching glances of her.
Realizing this, he mentally kicked himself, hard. There was no way a gorgeous girl like her would give him attention like that. He was the most boring and watered down boy in all of Japan (as Yuna, the only girl he ever had the nerve to approach, said to his face). And he was a creep for even considering it.
Asuka finally broke the silence. "So why were you living apart from your parents, anyway?"
That took Shinji aback. "Well," he said, "Actually, I don't know…"
Asuka side-glanced at him. "You don't know?" She repeated incredulously.
"No." Shinji replied. He winced as he tried to recall events buried in his mind a decade past. "It was… a sad day. Something happened. My dad didn't day much, just telling me I was living with his sister and brother in law from then on. That was… eleven years ago."
"And you never asked them? During all that time?"
"Three times." Shinji said, vividly recalling each one. "And they always gave me weak excuses."
Shinji sighed. He had taken the info from His Aunt and uncle seriously, trying to find out for real why he had been abandoned. The thinnest of internet searches had easily disproved their excuses, but Shinji didn't have the spine to challenge them about it.
"Wow." Asuka said. When Shinji looked, the back of her head revealed no indicator of her expression in her statement.
Shinji hesitated before deciding to keep the door of communication open. He asked her, "Do you live with your family here?"
"My mother." Asuka replied curtly, "my dad is out of the picture."
"Oh." Shinji said.
She hadn't looked at him as she answered, and her tone suggested she didn't want to. Shinji felt the door close on this exchange, and lapsed into silence.
Very shortly after they reached the city sprawl Asuka brought them to a subway station. Asuka pulled out her phone then and called a number. Shinji didn't identify the language, but Asuka was rather curt on it, signing off and closing her phone before even a minute was up.
Asuka explained to him, "I just called the base to tell them we were on our way. You don't have an ID, so you'll need to be waived through the gate."
This went as described. Shinji's photograph was taken and he wore it around his neck, inset into his guest pass. He stared at it, finding the photograph oddly unfamiliar.
Asuka caught him looking at it while they were in an elevator. "What's the matter," she asked him, "did they mess it up?"
"N-no." Shinji replied, "I just… I don't have many opportunities to look at pictures of myself. I look… sad."
Asuka crossed her arms. "Do you not live with mirrors, or something?" She asked.
Shinji smiled a little at the absurd suggestion. "It's not that… ever hear about how you sometimes look different in pictures and mirrors?"
"No." Asuka replied, "Sounds like an excuse to look terrible."
"Mhm." Shinji hummed, dismissing the hope that maybe she would have found that interesting. He had an idea. "Did you see the picture of you they sent me?"
Asuka turned to look at him while he opened his backpack. Finding the Polaroid and handing it to her, she stared at it for a while. Then she handed it back to him. "It's old. It doesn't look like me." She turned to face the doors of the elevator, hands gripping the thin shoulder straps of her small backpack.
Shinji looked from the back of her head to the photograph and back again. About the only difference he could tell was her disposition in the picture.
So far he had not seen Asuka smile as she had in the photo. She hadn't smiled at all.
Before he knew it Shinji had followed Asuka into a darkened room. When the doors closed he was cloaked in shadow. "It...it's dark!"
Lights blasted into life within the bay to illuminate the purple mask of a demon. Shinji was so startled he dropped to the floor in a start. ""W-w-what is that?!"
"An experiment." Called a man's voice from high above. Squinting against the lights, Shinji made out a control cabin high above the horrible horned mask of the… the thing he was shown.
Shinji, after squinting, recognized this man. "Father…" he uttered, beside himself. Looking at the horrible mask he asked, "what...an experiment? This? What is this thing?"
Another voice, a woman's, also added from above, "Ultimate All-purpose humanoid decisive battle weapon Evangelion, test unit zero one."
Stepping into view on the above deck was his mother. Shinji's heart sank as she too, glowered down on Shinji from above. "Mother…" he quietly uttered.
His father boomed, "You will pilot this for us, Shinji."
"Pilot?" Shinji asked as he looked at the mask again, "Me? How? I-i can't be a pilot!"
"You will be taught." Yui said.
Shinji just stared up at his parents, shaking his head slightly. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
No answer came from above, making the crestfallen Shinji sink back to the floor and lower his head.
Asuka looked from the Ikaris to Shinji. Almost dismissively she said, "You can say no if you want to, you know."
"No." Shinji uttered to her, "I can't." He sniffed up the snot as he tried to gather strength. "I have nowhere else to go."
Asuka blinked and her expression changed slightly, earning a drop of sympathy. But Shinji didn't notice as he gathered himself up to stand.
"I'll...ill do it!" Shinji called up to them.
"Good." Yui replied from above. "Doctor Zeppelin will see that you are onboarded properly." She turned and walked from the opening.
As Shinji looked down in defeat, Gendo looked down at his son, before he himself turned away to follow his wife back into the depths of the facility.
II. SUNLIGHT
Shinji tried to collect himself after that exchange, following Asuka. In the hall just outside the cages, he stammered to her, "s-sorry…"
After a few sniffs from Shinji, Asuka said, "I'm a pilot too."
Shinji blinked. "What?"
"I pilot, too." She said, looking at him over her shoulder and coming to a stop. Shinji saw a glint in her eye then… her expression wasn't as dead as before.
A touch of vulnerability called to him from her face.
She asked him quietly, "Do you want to see it?"
Shinji could not refuse what he saw. He nodded soundlessly.
"Okay. " she nodded firmly. A new resolve was in her eyes. "Come. Follow me."
Before Shinji knew it she had seized him by the hand, grasping his fingers, and pulled him after her.
Like the unit 01 cage this one had a gantry along the nape of the neck. The two of them walked on it to look at Asuka's Evangelion. "I-it looks different." Shinji said.
Asuka had planted her hands on her hips. He could hear the pride in her voice. "That's because my Evangelion is the first production model. Yours is only a test unit that we've had to use in battle because there isn't a fleet yet."
"B-battle? A fleet?" Shinji asked, his mind wheeling with questions, "we...we fight? What are we going to be fighting?"
"You don't watch the news?" Asuka asked.
Shinji looked at her as he tried, incredulously, to think of how to explain the bizarre anti-media beliefs his aunt had. Disinformation from the government, and all. "Uh… no." It was just easier to say, "my… aunt and uncle didn't have TV."
Asuka's incredulous sigh was enough to have her hunch forward a few inches. "You don't have mirrors, you don't watch TV, what's wrong with you?"
Shinji took the salvo of insults to his already depleted ego. A small, pathetic smile on his face, he responded with typical depreciation. "Maybe whatever it is, is why my parents dumped me in the fireplace."
Asuka shook her head. "That's a bullshit self-depreciative answer." She pointed at him, "Those things weren't why your parents did what they did. In fact, the hell kind of people were you dumped with?" Re-planting her hand on her hip, she said, "Stop this negative self-talk. If you're going to pilot Eva beside me, I won't tolerate it."
"O-okay, I'll try." Shinji responded. He fidgeted under Asuka's insistent stare, so he turned to look up at her Evangelion. "I-it does look neat. And the color is neat, too."
Asuka smiled up at the Evangelion with him.
The loudspeaker shrilled in the bay then before saying, "Second children, report with guest to first cranial immediately."
Shinji looked around as he tried to find the speakers, but when he looked back at Asuka, she was staring into space, pailed. "A-asuka?" He asked.
"We need to go." She said, hurriedly. She finally caught Shinji's eyes and he could see the panic within. "Now. Let's go."
They left the cages almost in a run. "Asuka, what's going on?" Shinji demanded as they power walked from the facility.
"We're gonna be late." She said, seemingly windblown. They jumped into the first open elevator and Asuka stabbed the ascent button to a specific floor. Shinji watched her as they rode the elevator. She was a different person- gone was the pillar of confidence in the cages he saw a moment ago. What happened to her?
"Asuka…" Shinji uttered at last, "are you... okay?"
She looked at him and she could see the fear in her eyes. Her mouth moved to respond but the door opened just then. Before his eyes she straightened her posture, deadened her expression, then stepped out of the elevator. Shinji had never seen anything like it.
He bobbed his head, uncertain about what lay ahead, then followed Asuka.
The office spaces felt benign enough. This was different from the cages and other areas he had traveled in this base; there was carpet here, and the walls were finished with smooth plaster instead of steel. If Shinji didn't know better he'd think he was in a completely different facility.
Asuka was quiet as she marched through the labyrinth of turns and corners until she arrived at one door with a frosted window. Shinji was able to read the lettering on the surface before Auka opened the door: KYOKO ZEPPELIN. Bio maintenance operations.
What was that supposed to mean?
Once inside Asuka said, "I have brought him, mother."
Mother? Shinji looked at the woman occupying this lone office space. She had long blond hair and was as pale as Asuka. Her expression, though, was severe. Shinji could tell she was a taskmaster from across the room. He had learned how to navigate such people, and prepared himself for an interrogation.
"Good." Asuka's mother said, "Wait outside, I want to have a talk with you after I've finished with Ikari."
Shinji watched Asuka doubtlessly turn and walk out the door. It frightened Shinji to see how… wooden? She was, as she moved. What caused this?
Once she was gone, Doctor Langley commanded, "Sit, boy."
Shinji did as he was told. Especially for harsh people as Kyoko was turning out to be, the less resistance he offered, the easier this would go.
"Shinji Ikari, age 14." Kyoko recited from her computer monitor as she typed. To Shinji she said, "I presume you have accepted your parents' request?"
"Y-yes." Shinji barely got out before Kyoko continued.
"Good." The woman replied. She suddenly turned to open a cabinet drawer and withdraw a manilla envelope. She slapped it on the desk in front of her and pushed it towards him. "Please review the candidate acceptance form. When you are done, sign the terms and conditions at the end of the packet."
As Kyoko attacked her keyboard again, Shinji cautiously opened the packet as if a scorpion was waiting inside. A simple green booklet accompanied the paperwork he was expected to fill out.
Shinji cracked open the booklet and was assailed by the smallest print he had ever seen. It was dizzying, but helpfully some paragraphs of the text were highlighted in red that summarized each section. He hoped, anyway, that this was accurate. He shuddered to think if his aunt was right and the government hid exploitative text in the thick legalese.
Not that he could do anything about it. He signed the documentation as instructed, and pushed the papers back towards Kyoko. He parted his lips to speak but she interrupted him. "Finished?" She asked. He barely nodded when she snatched the papers and slapped them further away on her desk. She typed some more on the computer.
"You graduated from the boarding school you were previously attending?" She suddenly said.
"N-No..." Shinji replied. It was in the middle of the school year... did she know that?
"Very well." Kyoko replied, "You will be in the Tokyo-3 junior high school. You'll be a late entry but there's no book or fee requirements necessary. Your class will be 2-A. Other details will be given to you when you attend the first day of class."
"Okay..." Shinji answered.
"You will be quartered with your parents on the base." Kyoko said, raising Shinji's head, "Your official residence is Unit 6 Black, subfloor 881."
"My...my parents?" Shinji asked. Immediately his mind was thrown into a sea of emotions.
The state from his parents was that of utter indifference. He was here only to be of use to them.
But he was to live with them? Why?
He opened his mouth to protest, maybe ask about individual accommodations, but Kyoko moved on, going into benefits and conditions of his employment at NERV. He was to be given a bus pass, since he didn't drive. He was given a paycheck. There were discounts for using his ID card in the city. It was more privilege than he ever enjoyed in his life up until now.
But… he stopped himself. What was the catch? What was it they were fighting?
After the barrage of paperwork Shinji was given even more guides and verbally pushed out of the office. He was still trying to stuff all of what he got into his backpack when Kyoko hollered through the door, "Asuka! Enter now!"
Shinji managed to lock eyes with Asuka. The Girl still had her dead mask expression on, passing him and walking into the office. The door slammed.
Shinji had been told where he should go, but not how to get there, so he sat on the floor just opposite of the door to Kyoko's office, trying to organize the papers and guidebooks he was given.
He couldn't help but try to eavesdrop.
His packing slowed, unable to hear anything. But just as he got the main book into his bag, he heard Kyoko's elevated voice. Shinji couldn't make out specific words, only that she was shouting. He tried to listen.
"Excuse me," someone said, startling Shinji as it came from above him, "Are you lost, kid?"
"Oh!" Shinji said, standing, "n-no, I was just waiting for Asuka."
The woman Shinji was speaking to had short-cropped brown hair and a sunny disposition. She had folders of her own under her arm.
The woman grimaced. "Asuka's in there?" She asked.
Before Shinji could say anything the door opened and Kyoko was storming out, a hand around Asuka's forearm. Fury was on Kyoko's face as she strode down the hall, away from Shinji, pulling Asuka along.
He wanted to call to her, but his voice stopped in his throat out of self preservation. He knew to do so might be to turn her wrath on him.
Shinji and the technician watched the two go out of sight, rounding a corner and vanishing. The silence was profound once they were gone.
Shinji was dumbfounded. She was his only guide… and…
"I'm sorry you had to see that." The technician said, "Doctor Zeppelin can be… moody!"
"Will Asuka be all right?" Shinji asked, turning to the technician. "Shouldn't we call security… or something?"
The woman just shook her head and shrugged, "I… I can't say. Doctor Zeppelin is Asuka's mother… and legal guardian. So it's sort of none of our business. At least, that's what Doctor Zeppelin would say."
Shinji stared at the doorway into the office. Then he looked down the hall, really wishing he could help Asuka.
"Well," the technician said, "I'm afraid this is a restricted area to NERV personnel. If you're not accompanied you will have to leave."
"Oh! Um… im a pilot." Shinji said.
The woman blinked. "A pilot?"
"Shinji." Shinji said as he pulled out the security card Kyoko had minted only moments before, "Shinji Ikari."
"Ikari!?" The woman exclaimed, then stared at him, jaw agape, "why… that's… you're the Commander's son!"
A shadow passed over Shinji's face at the association. "Yes, I am." He said.
The woman was smiling. "There were rumors that you existed! Wow, and you're here now? That's great!"
Shinji was taken aback. This was the first person to be happy that Shinji was here. "Er, thanks!" He laughed nervously.
The woman finally introduced herself. "I'm Maya Ibuki, bridge technician. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Shinji looked down the hall again, wondering if he should wait for Asuka's return. If she even WOULD return. Worry crossed his mind.
Maya leaned forward, "let's not be here."
Shinji looked at her. Maya nodded in another direction, momentarily breaking her facade to give him an subtle gesture to depart.
"Oh! Okay." Shinji said.
Shinji confessed that he needed to go to the commander's quarters, per Kyoko's direction, and Maya was unphased. "It makes sense, just know that I can't go with you after a certain point. That level of residency has its own security since it's the executive level."
Shinji swallowed. He would need to venture there without knowing anyone.
At least he had gotten to know Maya as they navigated the NERV complex. In addition to being the sunniest person he had met here, Maya was also the most chatty. She filled in a lot of the questions Shinji had idly wondered about, regarding the complex.
"The Geofront was discovered here shortly after the second impact. NERV was established here in part to study it. Rumor has it alien remains were discovered, which formed the technology basis that developed the Evangelions."
Shinji blinked as the two of them were riding yet another elevator. "Really?"
"That's just the rumor." Maya answered playfully. "A lot of things around here are classified."
This brushed against another one of Shinji's questions. He hesitated about it since so many dodged it earlier. "Maya, what are the Evangelions supposed to fight?"
Serious now, Maya asked, "you haven't been briefed?"
Shinji shook his head.
Maya snapped her fingers. "That's right, the Captain is on vacation. Um… I dont think it's too classified, especially since it was on Tv." She took a breath and said, "So. The Evangelions. We send them into battle against monsters we call Angels."
"Angels…" Shinji repeated.
Maya nodded. "They have been drawn here for reasons unknown, and there have already been two engagements in the city." She took a breath and then said, "Asuka sortied against the Second Angel and was beaten pretty badly. We won, but it wasn't…"
Shinji stared at Maya as the woman tried to find the right words. "Elegant." Maya finally said. Leaning closer to Shinji, she said, "Asuka made a fool of herself. Her mother was furious. Ever since then, doctor zeppelin's done nothing but hound Asuka to do better."
"It looked like Doctor Zeppelin was hurting Asuka. Why isn't anyone helping her?"
"It's like I told you, Doctor Zeppelin is Asuka's guardian. Also… Doctor Zeppelin has considerable authority in NERV. She's… retaliated against people who have crossed her before."
Shinji didn't like the sound of that. His fists clenched… but he caught himself.
He had barely been in the city for a day! And knew Asuka for only mere hours! Why was he raising ire to defend a stranger?
Stop this negative self talk! Her voice commanded in his mind.
III. ABODE
The security checkpoint was as utilitarian as much of the base was. He bid Maya farewell and checked himself into the security kiosk beside the turnstiles, which lead into that area of the base.
The guard didn't say anything as he processed Shinji's arrival. Shinji was given more things, including a key to his parent's shared quarters.
He shuddered after passing through the turnstile and walked into the secure area. It felt like the richest hotel Shinji had ever entered. Footfalls disappeared into the carpet and Shinji felt the odd sensation that he was being watched- perhaps proper for such a secure area.
Before long he was in front of the door. His heart was thundering in his ears as he reached over to the glowing button beside the door and pressed it.
Nothing.
He tried again, holding his breath as he prepared to face His Father up close. Yet, nothing.
Shinji looked at the key to this room that he held in his hand. As this was where he needed to be, he had no choice. He raised the key and prepared to plunge it into the lock when the doorknob turned on its own, sending Shinji into an adrenaline fueled panic.
The last thing he expected to see in his parent's house was a girl. She had short blue hair that hung around her head and large, expressive red eyes that stared back at him. She was dressed in the school uniform Asuka wore earlier
Shinji's brain was trying to immediately fathom what a young girl his age was doing in his parent's dwelling when she spoke. "Are you Shinji Ikari?"
Shinji stared at the girl. "Y-yes…"
"I am Rei Ayanami. You were expected." The girl said. She stepped into the dwelling, allowing Shinji room to enter.
Shinji first stepped into the cubical entry. He had a moment of clarity here as he examined the shoes placed in this space. He could clearly make out three occupants here based on the footwear. What surprised him the most was to see the only casual shoes present… were an adult male's.
Odd.
Leaving his shoes he stepped further into the large, boxy living room. It was well lit at least, with the ceiling tiled with light emitting panels. A couch and coffee table was opposite the door as Shinji entered, a low television set rested just beside the archway he was walking out of.
A kitchen was further off to Shinji's right, but a dining table divided the two areas. A ceiling suspended lamp hung over this, with places for four. Rei had rounded this to go into the kitchen beyond.
Left of this dining area and deeper into the apartment was another archway Shinji figured led towards the bathrooms and bedrooms.
All in all the decorations were very modern, left somewhere between the colors of appliances to where the light fixtures were placed. Almost sterile. There were no photographs or paintings- a clear contrast to the house he had lived in only yesterday.
What did this say about who his parents were?
Rei was emerging from the kitchen now with a glass of water she presented to Shinji. "Would you like some water, Ikari?"
Shinji accepted the glass, it had been a while since he had anything except a snack. "Thanks." He said.
"Your room is this way." Rei said, "please follow me."
As with the rest of the abode, Shinji's room was also very modern. The big square room was the largest he had inhabited, but also looked just as soulless as the living room. A large king sized bed was placed against the back wall. The only illumination came from a soft white light panel over the desk. He had a flat screen computer here, and the dresser was in the closet. There were no windows.
Shinji stood just off the bed, taking it all in. Rei waited just inside the door. "Is this satisfactory?" She asked him.
"I guess." Shinji replied. He dropped his backpack on the bed.
"Dinner will be served at 6 pm." Rei told him.
Shinji, without looking at Rei, asked the question he had been dreading since entering. "When will my parents come home?"
"The commander is expected to return around 5 pm to begin preparing dinner." Rei replied, "The ETA of Doctor Ikari is unknown."
That surprised Shinji- his father cooked? He supposed it made sense, otherwise why have an entire kitchen? But… his father?
At least he wouldn't be facing both parents at once. Unfortunately, it was the harder parent. Shinji suppressed a shudder.
Rei asked, "Do you have further questions?"
Shinji needed a moment to process all that had happened. "No." He said, "not now."
"Very well." Ayanami said and left, closing the door behind her.
Shinji took two steps to the bed and flung himself on it to lay down. He stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling as he processed all that had happened today, and pondered what to do with where he had landed.
Shinji was hiding in his room when his father returned. Though he couldn't hear anything through the door, he knew this was so for two reasons. The first was the time; 5 pm as Rei had told him. The other reason was Rei herself as she knocked on the door.
After Shinji acknowledged her, she spoke through the cracked open door, "the commander wishes to know if you will join him and I for dinner."
Shinji had his back to the door while he sat on the bed, the letter and envelope open as he tried to think of what to say to his aunt about all this. At that moment Shinji asked himself if he could face his father yet. "No." Shinji replied, "I'll eat later."
"Very well." Rei replied and closed the door, leaving Shinji alone again with his thoughts and gurgling stomach.
Shinji didn't emerge again until 7:20. He had busied himself with studying the various guidebooks he had been given to stave off how hungry he was. He also explored the computer, though he quickly found that internet access was heavily restricted for security reasons.
He couldn't face his father.
Cautiously peering about like a cat expecting an ambush Shinji discreetly surveyed the apartment. The door to his parents' room was closed. The lights had dimmed in the living room and Shinji could hear the sounds of the TV on. Cautiously he peeked his head around the corner to look in the living room.
Rei was seated on the couch, watching the TV at half volume. There was no evidence of dinner. Shinji stepped out into the room then, ears keen in case his father was waiting to ambush him. He did jump a little when Rei spoke. "Ikari."
Seeing him jump, she stood from the couch. "Are you all right?"
"Yes… I'm fine." Shinji responded, "just.. Nervous."
Rei looked at him in silence for another beat before she asked, "Would you like food?"
"Yes please." Shinji sighed with relief.
Even as leftovers, the kenchinjiru his father prepared tasted delicious. He was eating it as he sat on the couch beside Rei while she still watched TV. After a few moments of watching he asked, "what is this called?"
"I do not know." She replied.
Shinji continued watching. It seemed to be a show about space travellers in multicolored uniforms. It was also in another language. They both watched as a man in a gold shirt fought a giant lizard man around some rocks.
Once it was over Rei turned off the TV. "Tomorrow you will accompany me to the Tokyo-3 unified municipality school grounds, classroom 2-A. It is where we are assigned for instruction."
Shinji nodded once. "Okay." He said, then remembered, "Oh! Um… what's the address for this apartment? My… uh… aunt is going to be sending along my belongings."
Rei told him. "Thanks!" Shinji replied and got up. He cautiously stepped his way through the hall, passing his parents' room, and entered his. The letter to his aunt was still there.
After jotting down the address he turned around to get back to Rei when he heard the front door open. Quickly Shinji eased his door ajar and stood just inside it to listen.
"Welcome home." Rei said in greeting.
"Rei, you're unnecessarily up late again." Yui said.
"I was watching my television program while I waited for the matter wave sensor to finish charging."
"It should not take this long. We will go to your room, now."
"Yes." Rei replied.
Shinji was as quiet as he could be while Rei and his mother passed Shinji's door and entered Rei's room. After a moment Shinji heard the rushing sound of waves from Rei's room just before her door closed.
Shinji's mother then passed through the hall to Gendo's room and closed the door.
Shinji let the moments drag on until it was obvious the dwelling was shut down for the night. He closed his door, turned on the light, then dug around in his backpack for his bathroom kit to prepare for bed.
As he did he reflected on the fact that his mother didn't even acknowledge he was in the apartment. Something felt...off.
The bathroom sat just between the doors into Shinji's room and his parent's. He used it, ran a quick bath, brushed his teeth, then ended his first day by climbing into bed.
As he drifted off to sleep, two questions lingered in his mind from the events of the day.
The first was, what happened to Asuka? That dichotomy with her mother was wrong. Even he could see the situation was abusive… Somehow he needed to find the courage to help his only friend and peer. It ate at him that her spark of life had been snuffed so badly by her mother.
The second was wondering who Rei was and why was she already living with his parents?
Had he been.. Replaced?
IV. SOCIAL
Shinji stirred next morning to a voice saying his name. "Ikari. It is time to wake up."
Rei. She had opened his door and was standing beside the bed, dressed again in her school uniform. Shinji acknowledged her with a wordless glance before he looked at his cell phone for the time. 6:00am. Usually he woke to 6:15. He grunted.
"Breakfast will be ready for you soon." She said, "I will be leaving in an hour, if you wish to accompany me to school."
She left then, closing the door behind her.
The short timeframe made Shinji force himself out of bed to get dressed quickly. He braced himself just before he left his room, in case either of his parents were out there.
By then fifteen minutes had passed, but he was packed. After a change of clothes, his backpack was stocked with pencil and paper for his first day of school.
In the living room there was no sign of his parents, but Rei was in the kitchen cooking.
Shinji eyed her warily while standing in the archway back into the hall. Who was this girl? Slowly, he stepped into the living room and then rounded the table to see what she was preparing. Two bento boxes were on the counter.
"Good morning." She said without looking at him.
Shinji looked at the second box. "I-is that for me?"
"Yes." Rei replied. "The commander ordered me to make one for you, since it is understood you did not have time to prepare your own. The commander set aside breakfast for you, it is on the counter."
Shinji stared at the covered bowl that sat some distance away. He was torn between the lingering disgust of his parents' abandonment… and the unusual gestures from his father. First there was dinner, now there was this? As if to make up for 11 years of neglect?
His stomach growled. Rei was already dressed- he could guess she would be leaving as soon as the boxes were done. He had no idea how to get to his school, either.
He sighed inwardly. "All right." Shinji uttered, disgusted, as he accepted the meal his father cooked. He resolved this to be the last time, though, no matter how good it tasted.
Rei was promptly out the door at 7am. Shinji scarfed down the rest of his food, dumped the leftovers in the sink, and chased after her. She hadn't gotten far as Shinji retraced his steps from yesterday.
The security guard nodded to Shinji as they both left the gate. Shinji nervously waved back as he thought he should, before asking, "is it far to school?"
"The journey takes up to an hour, depending on traffic." Rei answered. "I leave early to be timely."
Navigating the base was also confusing to Shinji. With time he might learn some waypoints to help bring him back home, but for now, Rei was his only guide.
They passed through two different layers of architecture before reaching another elevator to ascend out of the geofront. It was on this ride that Shinji cleared his throat and decided to ask some of the more pointed questions.
"Ayanami… may I ask you something?"
"You may."
"W-why do you live with my parents?" He asked. He couldn't look at her while he braced for any devastating answer.
It didn't come. After the pause he looked at Ayanami… she hadn't moved.
"I do not know." She finally answered. Shinji caught the tone of genuine confusion in her voice.
When she didn't elaborate further, Shinji asked another question, "well… How long have you been living with my parents?"
"As long as I can remember." Rei replied simply.
None of this was making sense, confusing Shinji and keeping him from thinking up more effective questions. Anything he tried to consider, he figured Rei wouldn't be able to answer.
"I don't understand." Shinji said, more out of exasperation than seeking answers, "my parents sent me away for a decade, then call me back to pilot a robot like nothing happened. It's not like they want their son back, just a pilot…."
"The commander requested you specifically." Rei said. This made Shinji's head shoot up, but the elevator door opened just then, and Rei stepped out. A confused Shinji ran to follow.
Shinji's line of questioning was disrupted as they navigated the north part of Tokyo 3. Before he could inquire to Rei further, they were on the campus grounds. "Follow me, Ikari." She had said.
Shinji glanced left and right at the other students congregating on the campus. School up until now had been a bit isolating- he had gone through his grades being a known quantity and a loner. He didn't have anything to offer his classmates- not even rumor and speculation as, the way Shinji saw it, he was quite ordinary.
It was a different thing to be in a new school though. Everyone was an unknown, something could surprise. Though sooner or later his classmates usually decided he wasn't worth their time, Shinji found some joy in the potential of introducing himself to others. There may be the chance that, perhaps, he could get closer to someone.
He carried this reverie into Classroom 2-A.
Shinji didn't have time to brace himself before entering class, since he wanted to follow Rei. Immediately his eyes swept the classroom.
The room wasn't as packed as he'd imagined, only a few people stood out to him. A kid in a track uniform was sitting on top of one of the desks, talking to a girl with freckles and pigtails in the seat beside it. They seemed to be having a pleasant conversation- both were laughing at a joke.
At the back of the room another boy was swinging around a model jet of some kind with one hand. A camcorder was in the other hand. When Shinji's eyes went in his direction, Shinji saw the kids' eyes glaring at the couple he just saw at the front of the room.
Rei took one of the seats and just stared out the window unhelpfully. Shinji glanced around without guidance. "Uehm…" he uttered aloud. "I'll just take any seat…" if anyone had any objections, nobody said anything, and he seated himself next to Ayanami in the same row.
Shinji took out the binder and pens he had gathered for this. He cast a glance around the room to look for the class rep, trying to identify whoever it was so he could know what he was doing.
His scan was interrupted when bright red hair entered the classroom. Shinji's eyes went to the new arrival immediately. "Asuka!"
Asuka perked up. She walked around the desks, approaching him. "Hey." She said, "I should have known you'd be here."
Shinji said the first thing that came to his mind, "What happened yesterday? Where did your mom take you?"
Shinji was looking into Asuka's eyes as he asked this question, so he was able to see the flash of fear that crossed them. But it was only for a moment. She pulled her head back to say, "Nowhere. Nowhere at all."
Shinji's concern still sat on his face, but he also read that she didn't want pushing. "Oh… I was just… wondering that's all." He said. "It would have been nice to see you again. I didn't get your number, or anything."
Asuka's stare was level but her irises grew wider after he said this. "Well," she said and pulled out her phone. "We're both here now, do you want my number?"
The class rep had Shinji introduce himself to the class, then return to his seat before instruction began.
Or at least, what passed for instruction. Shinji would quickly learn that most of the class period involved the instructor giving rambling recollections from the pre-impact world. The class rep had to gently nudge him towards giving the actual lessons in class. To Shinji it seemed bizarre, and a little sad.
Lunchbreak couldn't come soon enough. As students filed out to eat their lunch elsewhere, Shinji watched Asuka. The Girl had already stood, making her way across the room towards the class rep. Figuring this meant Asuka was going to have lunch with her other friends, Shinji looked to his left to see Rei unpacking her own lunch.
While Shinji considered what to do, Asuka said to the class rep, "Hey, want to go to the roof this time?"
Hikari's face was all apologies. "I'm sorry Asuka, Toji asked me already to join him for lunch…" her eyes averted from Asuka's.
Asuka stared at Hikari for a moment to process what was going on. "Did you finally ask him out?"
"No!" Hikari piped, blushing. "No its not that… but… we started talking when we picked up our little sisters from the shelter last week and-"
Toji approached just then. "Hey, Soryu." He greeted. To Hikari he said, "ya ready ta go?"
"Mn!" Hikari replied to him. To Asuka she said, "I'll catch you later!"
Asuka just watched them go. Unnoticed to anyone, her fists clenched and she worked her lips. He had been counting on Hikari being free for lunch…
Her eyes swept the room and immediately found Shinji. Then they darted to the ground as she strategized. Her mother didn't need to know, it isn't as if she had agents in the school…
She looked up and strode across the room to him. "Ikari." She said. Shinji was holding his chopsticks over his open bento when he looked up. "Come with me." She said to him.
The roof was wide and empty under the clear blue sky. The sun was just bright enough for Shinji to try avoiding a look at any paved surfaces- they hurt his eyes.
Fortunately Asuka took them to one of the fences that faced south. They had a good look at the highrises of Tokyo-3 from here. Sitting before it on the ground, they ate their lunches.
Shinji looked over her meal and did a double take. A sandwich, a yogurt pack and a bag of mixed nuts to go with the glass bottle coffee she had in her bag.
Shinji looked down at his rather conventional bento box put together… though instead of meat or fish, Rei packed him slices of a hard boiled egg.
"So," Asuka asked him, "How was your first night on the base?"
Shinji stared into space. "I don't know…. There's a strange girl my age with blue hair living with my parents."
Asuka looked at Shinji for a moment, then grunted. "So the commander's pet lives with the commander. No surprise there."
Shinji blinked. "Wait, you know Ayanami?"
Asuka swigged her coffee. "I am the second children, she is the first. She's a pilot too, unit 00. Whenever I see her though she's usually following your parents around."
Shinji grunted, forlorn. "She says she's been living with them as long as she can remember. So… did they just... replace me?"
Asuka looked at Shinji's dismay for a moment, considering what she wanted to say before she looked away from him. "Well, they did want you back. Maybe they missed you after all."
Shinji thought of his fathers requests last night. "Maybe…" he said distantly. He sighed and said, "and they need me as a pilot…" he winced, "why? What's so special about… about me?"
Asuka thought a moment before saying, "before you came Evangelion one was on stand down for some reason. Rei used it in the first battle, but after that they made the decision to reactivate the prototype for her to pilot."
"You don't know why?"
"No." Asuka replied.
Shinji stared at the distant buildings, lost in thought. He was coming up with questions to ask her when the air was suddenly split by a siren wailing. He looked around, Asuka was standing. "W-whats going on?"
A loud series of distant thuds slammed through the air. Before Shinji's eyes, the Tokyo 3 skyline started to shrink into the ground.
Asuka balled her fists. "You wanted to know what it is we fight," she Said. Shinji looked up to see her looking off into the distance. "An Angel is approaching."
V. FIGHT
Shinji followed Asuka out of the school grounds and to the closest NERV base access. Knowing he was a pilot, he just figured he would follow the other pilot. Through the gates and into a special access elevator. "W-where are we going?"
"Back to the cages." Asuka replied, "we're going to suit up and pilot the Evangelion to fight the Angel."
Shinji had been shaking his head, "But… what… how…?"
Asuka shook her head. "Calm down, we'll walk you through it. Besides," she thumbed to herself, "I'll be taking point. You just need to hang back while Wondergirl and I handle it."
"Who?"
Asuka sighed, "First. Ayanami."
"Why didn't you just say her name?" Shinji asked.
Asuka turned away. "Doesn't matter. Just get ready."
Moments later, Asuka was standing just inside the arch into the men's lockers. She was already in her plugsuit, fists resting on her hips. "Are you dressed YET?" She demanded.
"I-i don't know how to put this on!" He replied, "W-what is this?
"It's called a plugsuit!" She hollered back. "It opens at the top. Step into it!"
"C-could you come in and show me?"
"What! No, you perv!" Asuka shouted back. "Just get naked and slip the damn thing on!"
"What? Nothing? Are you serious?"
"And don't forget the headset, you're going to need those! Hurry up, we're scrambling!"
Shinji shuddered at the pressure he was under, swallowed, and did as instructed. He quickly disrobed, stepped into and pulled on the garment, and tried to tighten the hands and feet. He grabbed the headset, but he didn't know how it was supposed to fit. After throwing his clothes in the locker he walked out of the room. "Like… this?"
He stopped as he got a full eyefull of Asuka's red form fitting plugsuit. It left little to the imagination and he ended up blushing.
If she noticed, she didn't care as she sighed exasperatedly and approached him. She grabbed his wrist-
"Hey, wha-"
And depressed one of the triggers there. The suit suddenly compacted around Shinji.
"Eh-ha-wa!" He fumbled as his hands went down to his crotch. "What was that for?"
"Mein Got Shinji, this turns the suit ON. And it's easier to move around in. See?"
Asuka did a twirl. Shinji blinked, marveling at her figure. Then she approached to snatch the headset out of his grip, spun it, and slipped it into his hair. She stepped back to look at him.
Moved by her confidence, he straightened his posture. He still glanced down to see if she'd be able to see his-
"Good enough." She replied after getting an eye full of her own, "Come!"
She grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the cages.
After he separated from Asuka the technicians directed him in how he would board the robot. He got into something called an entry plug, sat in the chair, and felt it roll forward into the robot. Just as he was beginning to wonder how the plug was lit with no lighting, and how he was supposed to control the robot, the plug started filling up with liquid.
"What- what's going...whats going on?" He demanded as the water level raced up to him. "What is this?"
Maya's voice spoke suddenly from the walls. "Shinji! Close your eyes!"
He did as he was told and waited for the water to surround him. He burped… but… nothing. His eyes peeked open. "Wha… what happened?"
"Im sorry Shinji, I was tied up." Maya replied, "Coordinating three different launches is not something we've done before."
a/n: this predates the Red Queen though it almost covers the same territory. a near AU to wreckage like the Red Queen, this one focuses on the domestic situation surrounding the Ikari family. I liked the little glimpses we got in Wreckage and wanted to explore this further. This is the result.
the Red Queen has a small scene where Asuka dresses Shinji in a plugsuit. This was the story that scene originated from.