Chapter 3
Trumpet Fanfare
"Misato, I'm home." Shinji yelled into the apartment as he took off his shoes at the door. When no one answered him back, Shinji just crossed over the living room and sat himself on the couch. "Waark!" a small avian said, almost thrown of his seat by the sudden arrival of the larger and heavier human. "Oh, sorry Pen-Pen." Shinji muttered a quick apology, though he didn't seem to be with it himself. He sat there, brooding over what had happened earlier this day. "What was that all about?" he thought out loud.
After lunch, Shinji couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of the First Child, sometimes openly staring at her when no one seemed to notice. And when Kensuke and Touji saw what was happening with their friend, they immediately confronted him with it, poking fun at their friend as they walked home.
***
"Man, Shinji. I always knew you had a thing for Ayanami." said Kensuke.
"I don't have a 'thing' for Ayanami." said Shinji
"Oh, whatever, Shin-man. You were all over her today" said Touji
Shinji : "I don't think a couple of passing looks constitutes as being all over my co-worker."
Kensuke: "Just a couple?! You probably didn't even blink when you were ogling her!"
Touji : "Hey, let's give our buddy the benefit of the doubt. Ayanami is hot in that ice queen sorta' way."
Kensuke: "Yep she's definitely got a body."
Shinji : "I can't believe I'm a part of this conversation."
Touji : "Don't tell me you're in it for her 'personality'."
Kensuke : "Oh, low blow, Touj."
Shinji : "Hey, Rei does have a personality."
Kensuke: "Says the man who is on a first name basis with said female."
Shinji : "You guys are insufferable."
Touji : "So you do have the hots for Ms. Antarctica."
Shinji : "Argh..."
***
But before Shinji could mull things over more, the doorbell interrupted his train of thought.
"Yes...oh." Shinji said, whatever he thought of saying instantly wiped from his mind when he saw who was at the door. "Hello, Ikari." a gentle voice said. "Rei-I mean Ayanami, uh, hey." Shinji stuttered. In front of him was not the Rei he knew. Even though she didn't look any different from when they were at school, something in the last two hours drastically changed the First Child. The way she seemed to carry herself now was indescribable.
"Please come walk with me."
Those five words were the beginning of a beautiful romance.
***
"So... where are we going, Ayanami?" Shinji said uneasily as they walked down the streets of Tokyo-3. "Here..." she said, handing the pilot a flyer. "The Meaning of One's Self..." Shinji read aloud. 'What the hell?' Shinji thought as they neared the subway station. "May I ask why we're going to this...uh...thing?" Shinji asked, still in the dark about whatever this flyer mentioned. "Yes." Rei replied bluntly, her face forward. "Ok, why are we going to this thing?" Shinji said, rolling his eyes. "For me." Rei said, facing the Third Child, her face not betraying any emotion.
As they reached the station, the usual crowd of early evening shift was there, making the station more lively than usual. Of course, this meant that there wouldn't be many seats. That meant some people had to be standing up. And that meant some people had to be squashed together. Too bad for Shinji.
"Urk, excuse me...Sorry...Hey!...Ouch!...Well same to you, buddy!" Shinji said as he struggled in the crowd. For those unfamiliar with the Japanese subway, this is one of the few places that people actually become aggressive in Japan, and any amount of free space is fair game. Rei, however, seemed to flow like water through the crowd, with Shinji only able to keep track of her through her azure hair. By the time Shinji caught up with her, she was already in a seat, her gaze directed at the double doors that the people flooded through. "Over here, Ikari." she said without looking up, patting the empty seat that she saved against the overwhelming odds of people for the Third Child.
"Wow, thanks Ayanami." Shinji said, gratefully taking the seat proffered to him. "Man, you sure have a knack for getting through crowds." Shinji complimented his friend. "Yes, this is a useful skill to have, Ikari." Rei replied, making Shinji face her once again. Even though Rei's last comment wasn't really that surprising, most of the time, normally Shinji had to talk for maybe half an hour before receiving such an open response. "Uh, right." he mumbled, not sure whether it was safe to continue this conversation.
"How was your day, Ikari?" Rei said, finally breaking her gaze of the crowd and looking directly into Shinji's eyes. That probably gave the all- clear. "M-my day?" Shinji stuttered, not really believing that Rei was trying to start small talk with him. "Yes. I would like to know if anything interesting happened today." Rei said as the doors of the train finally closed and the train began moving. If it wasn't for the jolt of the train, Shinji might have just stayed where he was, still unsure if this really was his Rei Ayanami.
"Mm, I guess it was ok." Shinji replied, not knowing what Rei wanted to know about him. Rei nodded and turned to face the double doors again. Shinji finally breathed easy as the regular silence appeared to have returned, and he felt the pattern he and Rei always had settle. Of course, this was broken by her familiar voice once again. "That is good to know. My experiences today are not worth mentioning." Rei admitted nonchalantly. "Right..." Shinji responded, no longer confused but actually afraid.
However, unbeknownst to Shinji, Rei was having the same apprehension, as he was experiencing. 'Why am I doing this?' 'I have no wish to reveal myself to Ikari.' 'This feeling is undesirable, yet...' These thoughts cluttered Rei's mind, and of course, the logical reaction would have been to recoil, to block herself from the world, to run away. Yet something inside Rei stopped her from doing any of the above. Even though she was experiencing something unfamiliar, somewhere in her head she knew that if she ignored Shinji, this feeling of disquiet would only grow in potency.
And for some unknown reason, she knew exactly what the feeling was called. 'So this is what guilt feels like." she thought. For the first time in Rei Ayanami's life, she felt shame. Shame for ignoring Shinji, who was the first person in so many years to actually see how she acted towards others and still continued to care for her. After years of isolation, she finally began to reciprocate Shinji's feelings. At first it only started as a light trickle of small smiles and words of security, and that was still only when Shinji brought it about, but now it was snowballing out of proportion, the floodgates opened by her own conscious thought.
And there Rei was, knowing that she had to do something about the way she had been treating her friend, yet having no idea on how to act on her emotions. So even if Rei's heart was in the right place, the way she acted now only seemed to scare the Third Child off, her expression still that of an uncaring recluse even if her manner of speaking was vastly altered. "You seem to be unsettled, Ikari. Do you wish to inform me of what is troubling you?" Rei asked, trying her best to sound concerned but only succeeded in raising her eyebrow. And to Shinji, this only looked more as a challenge than a gesture of support, and frankly, it scared the shit out of him!
"A-actually, Ayanami..." Shinji started shakily. 'Now's it, Shinji. Ask her why she's acting this way. "...I was wondering..."
'Mustn't run away! Mustn't run away! Mustn't run away.'
"FWEEEEEET!!!"
With the whistle of the stop, the double doors flew open again, and the crowd rose to move. Whatever Shinji had to say was gone with the crowd. In fact, so was Shinji.
"Hey! What the! Get offa' me! I'm with somebody. I'm not supposed to get of alone!!!"
And just like that, Shinji found himself in the ticket booth, pushed by the veracious mob through two waiting gates, the turn-stops and a flight of stairs. "Great..." Shinji muttered sarcastically, lowering his head. "What is great, Ikari?" a gentle voice inquired. "GAAH!" Shinji almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Rei hovering beside him, her head tilted innocently, her face close to Shinji's own. If Shinji just wasn't so damn high-strung and trying to catch his breath, he might have found the First Child's pose... cute.
"Are you in pain, Third Child?" Rei said with what passed as mild concern. She really was surprised by Shinji's reaction and didn't consider that she might have been the cause of his fright. "Hah...ha...hah. I'm *gasp* fine, Ayanami. J-just don't sneak up on me like that." Shinji exhaled sharply, his hands on his knees. "If you say so..." Rei agreed, though she wasn't fully convinced that Shinji was alright. 'I've got to find out how she does that...' Shinji thought as he straitened up, even if was still a bit out of breath.
"So where do we go now?" Shinji said, turning to Rei. "Oh, yes. Please follow me." Rei replied, gesturing for Shinji to walk her way. Shinji, like his dream counterpart, shrugged and decided to just go with the flow.
Fin
Notes: Not much to tell. I'm ok with this chapter, but I'm a bit disappointed how it ends. In actuality, this was supposed to be half of one big chapter, but it took up to much space, so I just cut it. Writing chapters five parts in advance is pretty good, knowing that you don't have to worry about whatever happens next. Also, I'm gonna be looking for some pre readers. That's about it.
-FPotM
Lonely Angel/ Rouge Angel:
Hey man, here's your update. As for l337, yeah, I know it exists. Probably know a thing or two about it, but I don't know if there are rules or anything like that. I'm happy your out-and-out supportive of my story. Come again!
jennyjennai
Nice to see you again, J.J.. I don't know, maybe Shinji's gay or something. Heh, just kidding. Come to think of it, Shinji is a very normal boy, at least as normal as you can get under his circumstances. Maybe he just wants more normality in his own home, as opposed to the battles he fights with the angels and everyone else in the world. But sadly, even then he is slowly losing, as the minds of the people around him crumble, so does his sense of security. Whoa, I just made a profound statement. Peace, J.J....
Xardion:
Wassup. Yeah, that was an ok chapter. Here's another one. Enjoy.
Hououza:
Wow, I just figured out your name, man. I was playing Pokemon, and I made the connection. Ho-oh. Hou-ou. Man, that really blew my mind. Oh well. Now Shinji's all confused, but since the situation is once again out of his control, he decides it'll just be better if takes it in stride. Yeah, a couple of scenes were intended to be funny, but I don't think I can keep up the laughs. I'm not Jim Carry (watch me misspell that.). On the Asuka relationship thing, yeah, she's gonna be pissed. I don't know if I'm going to make her vengeful, acceptant, or just plain wacko for this one. In all truth, I have no beef with Asuka. I just think that it would be nice if she got off of Shinji's case for a while. Always a pleasure to hear from you, Phoenix...
Optimus Magnus:
Hey, moving to college is always great. Cut off from everybody, those lazy days on the campus. Thanks for the praise. It'll get me through a couple more days.
Ayanami-chan:
Man, my fingers are frozen. Brr... Anyways, enough about my problems. Well, they say repeat business is the best. As my friend Apu would say, Thank you, come again!
Sauerbruch :
Man, your in-depthness scares me. Now I have to write twice as hard as I usually do. Well, that's ok. It's these kinds of review that I appreciate the most, being all constructive yet informative at the same time. I'll try not to wind up in the road you described. I think I get what you mean. Authors get all hyped up by the romance that they forget about the giant monster/ end of the world thing going around, but if I'm wrong, please correct me. Hope this chapter is cool with you...
End Notes: That's it for today, true believers. Get ready to say "Excelsior!" once more. 'Nuff said. (Heh, Stan Lee is cool.)
-FPotM
"Misato, I'm home." Shinji yelled into the apartment as he took off his shoes at the door. When no one answered him back, Shinji just crossed over the living room and sat himself on the couch. "Waark!" a small avian said, almost thrown of his seat by the sudden arrival of the larger and heavier human. "Oh, sorry Pen-Pen." Shinji muttered a quick apology, though he didn't seem to be with it himself. He sat there, brooding over what had happened earlier this day. "What was that all about?" he thought out loud.
After lunch, Shinji couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of the First Child, sometimes openly staring at her when no one seemed to notice. And when Kensuke and Touji saw what was happening with their friend, they immediately confronted him with it, poking fun at their friend as they walked home.
***
"Man, Shinji. I always knew you had a thing for Ayanami." said Kensuke.
"I don't have a 'thing' for Ayanami." said Shinji
"Oh, whatever, Shin-man. You were all over her today" said Touji
Shinji : "I don't think a couple of passing looks constitutes as being all over my co-worker."
Kensuke: "Just a couple?! You probably didn't even blink when you were ogling her!"
Touji : "Hey, let's give our buddy the benefit of the doubt. Ayanami is hot in that ice queen sorta' way."
Kensuke: "Yep she's definitely got a body."
Shinji : "I can't believe I'm a part of this conversation."
Touji : "Don't tell me you're in it for her 'personality'."
Kensuke : "Oh, low blow, Touj."
Shinji : "Hey, Rei does have a personality."
Kensuke: "Says the man who is on a first name basis with said female."
Shinji : "You guys are insufferable."
Touji : "So you do have the hots for Ms. Antarctica."
Shinji : "Argh..."
***
But before Shinji could mull things over more, the doorbell interrupted his train of thought.
"Yes...oh." Shinji said, whatever he thought of saying instantly wiped from his mind when he saw who was at the door. "Hello, Ikari." a gentle voice said. "Rei-I mean Ayanami, uh, hey." Shinji stuttered. In front of him was not the Rei he knew. Even though she didn't look any different from when they were at school, something in the last two hours drastically changed the First Child. The way she seemed to carry herself now was indescribable.
"Please come walk with me."
Those five words were the beginning of a beautiful romance.
***
"So... where are we going, Ayanami?" Shinji said uneasily as they walked down the streets of Tokyo-3. "Here..." she said, handing the pilot a flyer. "The Meaning of One's Self..." Shinji read aloud. 'What the hell?' Shinji thought as they neared the subway station. "May I ask why we're going to this...uh...thing?" Shinji asked, still in the dark about whatever this flyer mentioned. "Yes." Rei replied bluntly, her face forward. "Ok, why are we going to this thing?" Shinji said, rolling his eyes. "For me." Rei said, facing the Third Child, her face not betraying any emotion.
As they reached the station, the usual crowd of early evening shift was there, making the station more lively than usual. Of course, this meant that there wouldn't be many seats. That meant some people had to be standing up. And that meant some people had to be squashed together. Too bad for Shinji.
"Urk, excuse me...Sorry...Hey!...Ouch!...Well same to you, buddy!" Shinji said as he struggled in the crowd. For those unfamiliar with the Japanese subway, this is one of the few places that people actually become aggressive in Japan, and any amount of free space is fair game. Rei, however, seemed to flow like water through the crowd, with Shinji only able to keep track of her through her azure hair. By the time Shinji caught up with her, she was already in a seat, her gaze directed at the double doors that the people flooded through. "Over here, Ikari." she said without looking up, patting the empty seat that she saved against the overwhelming odds of people for the Third Child.
"Wow, thanks Ayanami." Shinji said, gratefully taking the seat proffered to him. "Man, you sure have a knack for getting through crowds." Shinji complimented his friend. "Yes, this is a useful skill to have, Ikari." Rei replied, making Shinji face her once again. Even though Rei's last comment wasn't really that surprising, most of the time, normally Shinji had to talk for maybe half an hour before receiving such an open response. "Uh, right." he mumbled, not sure whether it was safe to continue this conversation.
"How was your day, Ikari?" Rei said, finally breaking her gaze of the crowd and looking directly into Shinji's eyes. That probably gave the all- clear. "M-my day?" Shinji stuttered, not really believing that Rei was trying to start small talk with him. "Yes. I would like to know if anything interesting happened today." Rei said as the doors of the train finally closed and the train began moving. If it wasn't for the jolt of the train, Shinji might have just stayed where he was, still unsure if this really was his Rei Ayanami.
"Mm, I guess it was ok." Shinji replied, not knowing what Rei wanted to know about him. Rei nodded and turned to face the double doors again. Shinji finally breathed easy as the regular silence appeared to have returned, and he felt the pattern he and Rei always had settle. Of course, this was broken by her familiar voice once again. "That is good to know. My experiences today are not worth mentioning." Rei admitted nonchalantly. "Right..." Shinji responded, no longer confused but actually afraid.
However, unbeknownst to Shinji, Rei was having the same apprehension, as he was experiencing. 'Why am I doing this?' 'I have no wish to reveal myself to Ikari.' 'This feeling is undesirable, yet...' These thoughts cluttered Rei's mind, and of course, the logical reaction would have been to recoil, to block herself from the world, to run away. Yet something inside Rei stopped her from doing any of the above. Even though she was experiencing something unfamiliar, somewhere in her head she knew that if she ignored Shinji, this feeling of disquiet would only grow in potency.
And for some unknown reason, she knew exactly what the feeling was called. 'So this is what guilt feels like." she thought. For the first time in Rei Ayanami's life, she felt shame. Shame for ignoring Shinji, who was the first person in so many years to actually see how she acted towards others and still continued to care for her. After years of isolation, she finally began to reciprocate Shinji's feelings. At first it only started as a light trickle of small smiles and words of security, and that was still only when Shinji brought it about, but now it was snowballing out of proportion, the floodgates opened by her own conscious thought.
And there Rei was, knowing that she had to do something about the way she had been treating her friend, yet having no idea on how to act on her emotions. So even if Rei's heart was in the right place, the way she acted now only seemed to scare the Third Child off, her expression still that of an uncaring recluse even if her manner of speaking was vastly altered. "You seem to be unsettled, Ikari. Do you wish to inform me of what is troubling you?" Rei asked, trying her best to sound concerned but only succeeded in raising her eyebrow. And to Shinji, this only looked more as a challenge than a gesture of support, and frankly, it scared the shit out of him!
"A-actually, Ayanami..." Shinji started shakily. 'Now's it, Shinji. Ask her why she's acting this way. "...I was wondering..."
'Mustn't run away! Mustn't run away! Mustn't run away.'
"FWEEEEEET!!!"
With the whistle of the stop, the double doors flew open again, and the crowd rose to move. Whatever Shinji had to say was gone with the crowd. In fact, so was Shinji.
"Hey! What the! Get offa' me! I'm with somebody. I'm not supposed to get of alone!!!"
And just like that, Shinji found himself in the ticket booth, pushed by the veracious mob through two waiting gates, the turn-stops and a flight of stairs. "Great..." Shinji muttered sarcastically, lowering his head. "What is great, Ikari?" a gentle voice inquired. "GAAH!" Shinji almost jumped out of his skin when he saw Rei hovering beside him, her head tilted innocently, her face close to Shinji's own. If Shinji just wasn't so damn high-strung and trying to catch his breath, he might have found the First Child's pose... cute.
"Are you in pain, Third Child?" Rei said with what passed as mild concern. She really was surprised by Shinji's reaction and didn't consider that she might have been the cause of his fright. "Hah...ha...hah. I'm *gasp* fine, Ayanami. J-just don't sneak up on me like that." Shinji exhaled sharply, his hands on his knees. "If you say so..." Rei agreed, though she wasn't fully convinced that Shinji was alright. 'I've got to find out how she does that...' Shinji thought as he straitened up, even if was still a bit out of breath.
"So where do we go now?" Shinji said, turning to Rei. "Oh, yes. Please follow me." Rei replied, gesturing for Shinji to walk her way. Shinji, like his dream counterpart, shrugged and decided to just go with the flow.
Fin
Notes: Not much to tell. I'm ok with this chapter, but I'm a bit disappointed how it ends. In actuality, this was supposed to be half of one big chapter, but it took up to much space, so I just cut it. Writing chapters five parts in advance is pretty good, knowing that you don't have to worry about whatever happens next. Also, I'm gonna be looking for some pre readers. That's about it.
-FPotM
Lonely Angel/ Rouge Angel:
Hey man, here's your update. As for l337, yeah, I know it exists. Probably know a thing or two about it, but I don't know if there are rules or anything like that. I'm happy your out-and-out supportive of my story. Come again!
jennyjennai
Nice to see you again, J.J.. I don't know, maybe Shinji's gay or something. Heh, just kidding. Come to think of it, Shinji is a very normal boy, at least as normal as you can get under his circumstances. Maybe he just wants more normality in his own home, as opposed to the battles he fights with the angels and everyone else in the world. But sadly, even then he is slowly losing, as the minds of the people around him crumble, so does his sense of security. Whoa, I just made a profound statement. Peace, J.J....
Xardion:
Wassup. Yeah, that was an ok chapter. Here's another one. Enjoy.
Hououza:
Wow, I just figured out your name, man. I was playing Pokemon, and I made the connection. Ho-oh. Hou-ou. Man, that really blew my mind. Oh well. Now Shinji's all confused, but since the situation is once again out of his control, he decides it'll just be better if takes it in stride. Yeah, a couple of scenes were intended to be funny, but I don't think I can keep up the laughs. I'm not Jim Carry (watch me misspell that.). On the Asuka relationship thing, yeah, she's gonna be pissed. I don't know if I'm going to make her vengeful, acceptant, or just plain wacko for this one. In all truth, I have no beef with Asuka. I just think that it would be nice if she got off of Shinji's case for a while. Always a pleasure to hear from you, Phoenix...
Optimus Magnus:
Hey, moving to college is always great. Cut off from everybody, those lazy days on the campus. Thanks for the praise. It'll get me through a couple more days.
Ayanami-chan:
Man, my fingers are frozen. Brr... Anyways, enough about my problems. Well, they say repeat business is the best. As my friend Apu would say, Thank you, come again!
Sauerbruch :
Man, your in-depthness scares me. Now I have to write twice as hard as I usually do. Well, that's ok. It's these kinds of review that I appreciate the most, being all constructive yet informative at the same time. I'll try not to wind up in the road you described. I think I get what you mean. Authors get all hyped up by the romance that they forget about the giant monster/ end of the world thing going around, but if I'm wrong, please correct me. Hope this chapter is cool with you...
End Notes: That's it for today, true believers. Get ready to say "Excelsior!" once more. 'Nuff said. (Heh, Stan Lee is cool.)
-FPotM