Creation began on 03-04-16

Creation ended on 02-02-18

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Reversal of Misfortune: To see you for the first time (again)

A/N: I'm looking forward to this.

The new school year had just started today, and Shinji was running late as he ran towards the school, unaware that he was about to have a minor accident along the way.

-x-

"…I can't believe my alarm clock didn't go off today!" Asuka groaned as she ran down the street towards her new school, a piece of toast dangling from her mouth.

Crash! She ran into someone that was on the ground with her.

"Ohh…" She groaned.

"Aah…my nose," a boy around her age groaned, holding his nose.

"Sorry," Asuka apologized. "I'm in a hurry."

"Same here," the boy responded, getting up and helping her up. "Um… I'm sorry, but…have we met somewhere before?"

-x-

For some reason, Shinji felt like he had seen this redhead from somewhere before, but this was the first time he'd ever seen her here.

"Not unless you believe in reincarnation," she told him, looking at him. "Yeah, not unless you believe in reincarnation."

"Sometimes, I think I'm the only one that does," he told her.

-x-

Asuka looked at the boy and suddenly felt like she had seen him before. Perhaps in another lifetime. Yet, this is the first time she had ever seen him. She recalled some old dreams she had where there was someone she had seen many times, but they always ended with her doing something to them and they never did anything to defend themselves. Thinking further further back, she could've sworn the person was around her age, but was completely different from her in terms of appearance and personality…and was a guy.

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" She asked him.

"Shinji Ikari," he answered her. "Who are you?"

"Asuka Langley Soryu."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

-x-

It was quite a surprise to find both teens were heading to the same school.

"Did you just transfer here?" Shinji asked Asuka.

"My parents and I moved here two months ago because my mother needed to be around longer to work on a project she's involved in," she explained.

"What kind of project? Is it that power plant that's supposed to replace nuclear energy?"

"Yeah."

"That's a good thing, though. Every city in the country should have clean energy sources to supply the growing demand for electricity."

"As much as I would want to care about that, I'd care more for my mother being home when I am. It gets miserable when it's just my father and I."

"My mother's a doctor that treats people with nanotechnology…and sometimes, she's rarely home until after five-thirty."

"What about your father?"

"He died before I was born, so I don't really know him. I spend time with my grandfather, though."

Asuka then showed him her school schedule and Shinji found that they had home room together.

-x-

"…What happened to these four?" Yui asked as she and her medical team began to evaluate four people with several burns and lacerations on their bodies.

"It was a small explosion in the new energy plant," Kyoko explained. "One of the old generators was being replaced and it wasn't disconnected properly."

Yui looked at her and was surprised by her presence.

"Kyoko?" She asked her, and was looked back upon by said woman.

"Yui?" She responded. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the attending physician here. What brings you to Japan?"

"Plasma energy research and development."

Yui made sure the four men were taken care of and confirmed that, while they would be on medication and require minor therapy for a few weeks, they would live to work with plasma energy another day.

"It must've been, what, eight years since we last met?" Kyoko asked her when they were in the cafeteria for Yui's lunch.

"Close to nine years, actually," she answered. "I'm surprised that you went into the field of clean energy research. I thought you were going to be involved in some research on cellular regeneration."

"A few years ago, I had received an offer on that field…but I chose not to take it."

"Why?"

"I had the craziest epiphany in the form of dreams that were so surreal. I don't remember much of them, but I remember seeing a girl that looked a lot like my daughter does right now, but with an over-inflated ego…and she got hurt because of something that didn't do right by anyone. So, I decided to walk away from any research revolving around biology. Whatever related to mutation, any theories on genetic adaptation, I would ignore out of concern for my daughter's well-being."

"Yeah, I had that similar epiphany myself a few years back. I had dreams of a boy I suspected was my son…and he was attacked by these…white harpies…and I did nothing about it. I promised Shinji on his father's grave that I'd do right by him."

"How old is he?"

"He's twelve right now. He'll be thirteen next June."

"Mine's eleven."

-x-

"Tokyo is such a big city," Asuka stated to Shinji during lunchtime atop the school rooftop. "Too many buildings."

"Most cities have too many of anything and not enough of something else," Shinji explained as he shared his lunch with her. "Too many cars, not enough trees, too much pollution, not enough sunlight, too high a crime rate, not enough peaceful demonstrations."

"So…do you ever think about leaving the city?"

"No. I mean, sometimes, but not right now. If there were others places to go just to enjoy the scenery, I'd probably go to them, but for now… I don't think I could sleep without the sounds of traffic outside my window. And then, there's the gossip between students about race car drivers who drift and teach other drivers how to drift and where to practice drifting or who's seeing who."

"Girlfriend?"

"No. Boyfriend?"

"No. No time for one."

"Who has time? Nobody that takes the time for something never makes the time for nothing. But if you never make time, you can never have time."

"Interesting concept there."

-x-

"…So far, the instability limits are three percent for the plasma reactors," Kyoko explained to Yui the partial success of the alternative energy program to replace nuclear energy. "My team hopes that, in another year or so, we'll be able to remove all the bugs out of power plant and the whole city will be running on clean energy."

"What comes after that?" Yui asked her.

"Spending more time with Asuka. At this point in her life, I feel as though I've been putting my work above her…and I don't want her feeling neglected."

Half the time, Yui felt as though she'd been neglecting Shinji, too.

"I think after today, I'll consider taking a short leave of absence," she expressed her idea. "I should really get to know my son better."

-x-

When school let out for the day, Shinji and Asuka walked out together.

"Not a bad first day, huh?" Shinji asked her.

"No, not that bad at all," she responded, "but did every boy in the room really have to drop their mouths each time they eyed the teacher?"

"Miss Katsuragi is the school hottie, as stated by even the staff. Ever since she was hired three years ago, the attendance of the male half of the school has been doing well with the exclusion of those that have to call in sick or have a family emergency, even though she only teaches cooking."

"The school board doesn't consider firing her?"

"It's not a crime to be attractive. Plus, the students stay out of trouble…and she's already got a boyfriend and they're planning a wedding date."

"Tokyo's just full of surprises."

They came to where they meet down the street and parted ways.

"It was nice to meet you," Asuka informed him.

"It was nice to meet you, too," Shinji replied. "See you tomorrow."

As he walked down the small, lonely street, Shinji felt something he felt like he hadn't in a long time: Peace and happiness. He had stability and quiet for years, but he couldn't compare them to peace and happiness in any way. It was like, for the first time in his life, good things were going to happen. Good things were happening.

When he made it back to his apartment building, he noticed something different when came through the front door: His mother's shoes were present near his grandfather's. For the first time in quite a while, his mother was home earlier than he.

"Is that you, Shinji?" He heard her voice from in the kitchen.

"Yes, Mother," he responded. "You're home early."

"I decided to take a leave of absence for the time being after meeting an old friend today."

"Oh?"

"Well, yeah. I play doctor more than I fill my role as your mother…and that's not right, even for me."

"You save people's lives every day. You do a lot for others all the time. I can understand that."

"Can you, really? Be honest."

Shinji thought about it…and couldn't really answer honestly towards her job. He respected her position as a doctor, but cared more just for her presence in his life; even as a little boy, he cared more about where she was rather than what she did for a living.

"How long is your leave of absence, you say?" He asked her.

"I didn't say how long," she responded.

-x-

"You're in a cheerful mood this evening," said Kyoko to Asuka as they and her husband sat down for dinner. "How was your first day at your new school?"

"Other than discovering how much of the school's male population stays in school to eye an attractive teacher every chance they get, I met one of my classmates on the way to the building," Asuka explained the primaries of her day.

"Oh, who might his name be?" Her father asked.

"Shinji Ikari."

"Shinji Ikari? That must've been Yui's son you met today."

"Yui Ikari? Isn't she the one who had a future as a bioengineer or something?"

"Yeah…but she gave that up to become a doctor that uses nanotechnology to treat burn and lacerated victims. It turns out she had an epiphany, the same as I did years ago."

"What is it with people that have epiphanies?"

"When they come to a realization of something they know is the truth, they can either choose to act on it…or do nothing about it."

-x-

The next morning, on the way to school, Shinji and Asuka nearly bumped into each other again.

"Good morning to you," he greeted her.

"Good morning to you, too," she replied. "You might not believe this, but it appears our mothers know each other."

"Yeah, they do. Your mother's one of the top-ranked experts in plasma energy research…"

"And your mother's a medical physician in the field of nanomedicine. Hard to see how anyone of such careers know each other."

"People say that opposites attract sometimes."

"Really?"

"It's been known to happen."

"But…it's weird. How do people even know they go together?"

"You don't know how any relationship goes…until you speak to someone and establish a relationship with them and see where it goes. Some people end up being friends, others end up as best friends. Some become people that others just dislike for a whole bunch of reasons or no for no reason at all, others that used to be viewed as bullies or enemies become friends and allies. It all depends on the development of the relationship."

"You talk as though you've had experience with such relationships."

"One of my friends, Toji Suzuhara, was once my bully…until I got through to him with repeated efforts to change him. He channeled his need to take other's lunch money with his fists into the school wrestling and track teams. He might end up being a muscle-head, but at least's he's friendlier than he wasn't two years ago."

"It took you that long to befriend him?"

"Sometimes, all it takes to do something you feel is worth your time pursuing is a little patience."

Asuka sighed and then extended out her right hand.

"I look forward to being your friend, Shinji Ikari," she uttered.

Shinji extended his right hand and shook hers.

"I look forward to being your friend, Asuka Langley Soryu," he replied.

They shook hands and then walked down the street towards the school building. Neither was sure where their budding relationship would take them; maybe they'd be just friends, or maybe best friends. Maybe they would be frenemies, even. Nobody could tell them what was in store for them, as nothing was preordained when it came to relationships. But only one thing was certain: Both were looking forward to the next conversation between one another.

Fin

A/N: Hard to believe that it took so long to finish. Here's to hoping that it'll continue to be favored by you readers out there that take to this. Peace out.