Author's Note: Look I wrote something again! Why this? I just felt like writing this idea out as a one-shot. Because one-shot are easier to make, and it indulges my wants. And don't worry, it's not sexually explicit or anything.
The first thing most anyone who had been around Rei Ayanami will think in regard to the young teen that is not related to her odd appearance would be that she is quiet and reserved. Speaking very little and often only when prompted, and sometimes not even then. Her lack of reaction has led many to assume that she does not care and that nothing bothers her. However, despite her stoicism, that does not mean that she is not bothered at all. She simply chooses to not let it affect her, usually not engaging, ignoring, or even removing herself from the situation if possible. Her ability to do so is something of a testament to her tolerance and resolve. But some sources of botherance can persist with no way of her being able to easily avoid it. In these scenarios, it is possible that she can begin to become annoyed and even irritated.
Someone who is quite proficient at being able to persistently pester Rei Ayanami, was her fellow Evangelion pilot Asuka Langley Soryu.
The German pilot of Eva unit-02 showed to be quite the opposite of the first child, being brash and assertive. She was quite talkative about herself and vivacious with her reactions. The redhead saw the shared duty piloting of the Evangelions as more of competition. Because of this, Asuka sees the blue haired pilot of unit-00 as an adversary. One who she feels the need to posture her supposed superiority too.
Despite the fact that Rei has never shown herself to care about such superiority, because she doesn't care.
"Hmph, really it was too easy to leave you in the dust, I mean truly it's a miracle you can even get that prototype to move, pfft 42" Asuka was currently emphasizing the fact that the pale girl had gotten the lowest synchronization rate during their recent harmonics and synchronization test while she had gotten the highest.
The point of said test being to ensure that Evangelion pilots are not having any issues with connecting to their units. The foreign pilot had gotten the highest 'score' out of the three, thoroughly stroking her ego. Normally Rei would try not to stay in the same room as the second child when she no longer needed to. Unfortunately for Rei, she has to share the women's showers with the German girl right after the test. Making her subject to the pilot on unit-02's prideful boasting right as they entered the shower room.
Rei had always had a harder time synchronizing with unit-00, the first time she managed to successfully do so was during its reactivation test. Though currently her rate had gone down just a little since last time, which was possibly due to her somewhat tired mind. As the previous night she had to come in the early evening to have mind scans for the dummy plug project which ran into the late evening leaving her with less sleep than usual as she made her commute to school and then to Nerv headquarter afterwards. But all that is not to mention that despite this, out of the three pilots Rei still had the best synchronization rate with unit 00.
"It was obvious I'd do the best; I am an elite after all. But you don't even put up a challenge when you have a score like that. Though what can I expect, what with that prototype being piloted by you" At the sound of the Asuka's voice, a small part of Rei felt something akin to remorse for the fact that she no longer could shower in peace after these tests. It was something she did not really pay much mind to in the past, before unit 02 arrived in Japan with its pilot. But now the red eyed girl couldn't help but feel as though she may have taken her ability to shower undisturbed after a synchronization test for granted.
Asuka was about to take off her A-10 connector hair clips to let her hair down to shower when she noticed that the bluenette was not visually reacting to her and seemingly ignoring, causing the German girl to scowl before scoffing.
"It's like they hardly even taught you how to pilot an Eva, and here I thought Japan was supposed to be one of the best in education," The redhead shook her head, "But clearly they must be subpar with their Evangelion training program, if your anything to go off of. Though maybe your just too slow for it."
'It was similar training to yours' Rei thought to herself. Seeing as how Asuka is the second child of the Evangelion program, she most likely went through similar if not the same training. However, Rei was trained with unit-01 and was transferred to pilot unit-00 unlike Asuka who was trained with the same Evangelion she pilots. But she was wary to voice her thoughts, as that would lead to more talking from the second child. 'She already is talking too much.'
"I mean look at that idiot Shinji, he even admits that he barely knows how to pilot that purple tin can" Rei ceased her own attempt to take off her plug-suit at the mention of the third child. 'Ikari?'
"But what makes it even sadder that idiot Shinji is still able to do better than you, I mean how embarrassing is that?" The second child snickered to herself. Rei felt twitch of annoyance at the girl's jeer to her but much more so because it insulted Shinji Ikari, someone whom she held a lot of reverence for, unlike the second child. 'He does not deserve your ridicule.'
"Hmph, seriously, there must've been some level of nepotism involved. I mean why else would he be allowed to join without years of training?" While Rei was not the most perceptive of the relationships of others, she knew clearly that the third child had a strained relationship with his father the Commander. 'In hindsight, it would explain his lack of faith in his father.'
Though it doesn't seem like the relationship between the father and son has changed much, the gap between them most likely growing larger. It only irked Rei to hear her speak on this subject, as the second child did not understand what she was speaking about.
"But you're also the Commander's pet huh? So, was it also nepotism for you too? It would certainly explain your abysmal skills. Tch, pathetic, the both of you." The German girl said as she was about to take off her plug-suit, only to stop as the pale girl spoke up.
"...no, there was no level of nepotism involved in the selection of either me or Ikari as Evangelion pilots. You do not know what you are talking about." Rei stated in a firm monotone voice.
The redhead girl grit her teeth at the response as she moved to level a baleful gaze at the other girl, seeing her protestation as opposition to her superiority.
"As if I'm going to take the words of a goddamn incompetent slow-witted anemic looking doll sucking up to a stupid, inferior, whiny, bumbling, wimp of a pilot!" Asuka spat out, before then turning her back to the other girl as she started to remove her crimson plug-suit.
The blue haired girl however was still standing in place, her hands gripped into fist. 'I do not wish to be in the same room as the second child anymore'.
Though she needed to shower, she did not wish to do so with her given company. It would be about a half hour to return to her apartment, the entire time she would have to deal with the slight itch of dried LCL on her skin and the smell of blood that came with it only so she could then wash it off in the cold water of her apartment shower. The whole ordeal would just be inconvenient. In truth, it would only be petty and inefficient to not clean herself right now simply because the other occupant's behavior has left her vexed. But she was in an intolerable mood towards the second child. Fortunately, a possible solution occurred to her.
'There is another set of showers in the next room over,' Rei remembered, 'And it certainly has far better company…'.
With that, her decision was made. So, the pale girl pulled her school clothes out of the locker she was using for the harmonics test and carried them with her as she exited the women's showers.
As Asuka was about to reach for the faucet to turn on the shower, she heard the door open and close. Turning around she had an incredulous look as she peered over the shower stall door and saw that she was now the only person currently in the locker room. The foreign pilot almost felt disbelief that the stoic girl had left, only to then scoff to herself.
"Hmph, not even going to shower, huh? Disgusting" She shook her head.
The redhead just turned on the water so as to take her shower and wash off the LCL.
"At least I don't have to deal with that damn doll anymore…".
It was somewhat soothing to shower after a harmonics test, at least Shinji Ikari thought so. In a way it could be compared to how one may take a shower after swimming to clean off any chlorine from the pool. Or rather someone other than the pilot of Evangelion unit-01, who has an aversion to swimming, may make that comparison. Regardless, he still took appreciation in a nice warm shower to clean off the blood smelling LCL he was submerged in for the better part of an hour.
Perhaps it was somewhat ironic that he felt more relaxed and better able to fully clear his mind underneath noisy running water than he did in the harmonics test entry plug that was not too dissimilar to a sensory deprivation tank. However, Shinji never did find himself fully able to clear his thoughts when inside an entry plug, as it just made him think of the Evangelions. They were something he had many thoughts, question, and emotions about that he did not find easy to put out of mind.
Shinji did rather relish the moments when he was able to clear his minds of thought or at the very least distract himself from the Evangelions and Nerv, as there was a sense of ease and comfort when he was not worrying and thinking about the events and mysteries happening around them and by association him.
But such moments did cause him to become much less perceptive of his surroundings, such as how he did not hear the faint sound of the locker room door. It was not all too easy for him to filter out small noises when he was in a state of reverie, especially since he usually had some type of background noise accompanying him, whether it be his SDAT music player or in this case, the sound of water running from the shower.
It made him easily startled to any sudden noise that did catch his ears. Such as when he was reaching for the soap, only to then suddenly hear a voice come from behind him.
"...Ikari, may I borrow your soap?"
Shinji suddenly jolted and yelped at the sudden intrusion of words, quickly turning to look behind him, he saw the source of the voice.
As from above the stall door of his shower, the face of Rei Ayanami and her ruby like eyes stared back at him. From what he could make of her bare shoulders, she was most likely nude. Thankfully the stall door prevented either of them from seeing one another's naked form, something for which the brown-haired pilot was quite grateful for.
"A-Ayanami?!" Shinji exclaimed at her appearance, "What are you doing here?!" 'How did I not notice her?'
"I'm here to shower, however the soap in the other stall is much too small for proper use…" Rei explained as she then raised up her arm so that the boy could see the small square of soap barely the size of the fingertips she held it with. Initially she was not going to make him aware of herself so as not to disturb him, but the inadequate amount of soap made her unable to wash herself properly, which is the point of showering.
"I mean why are you in the boys locker room?!" He hastily reiterated.
"I was originally going to shower in the woman's showers as usual, however the second child was there, and she was irritating me. So I decided to leave but I still need to shower, and it would be more convenient to do so in here than to wait until I return to my apartment" The girl explained.
"O-oh…" 'Right, she has to share the girls' locker room with Asuka. Can't imagine that being fun.'
"... If… my presence here unsettles you, then I can leave you be" Rei offered, as while she would rather not wait until she got home to shower, she would if he told her to leave. Again irrational, but she did want to cause discomfort to him, that was why she had not wanted to draw attention to herself initially.
"N-no, you um don't need to do that, but um I could leave so you can shower if you want" He countered.
"No, I do not want you to have to leave because of me. That would be unfair to you, as you are already using the room. Besides, your company does not affect me, as it is much more pleasant in comparison to the second child's" Her words made Shinji feel warm and queasy.
"Oh…" The boy had a light blush on his face. 'What do I say to that?'
"..."
"..."
"... so could I borrow your soap?" Rei asked again, reminding the boy of her original query.
"Huh? Oh! Um, yeah sure" He grabbed the soap from his stall and held it out over the stall door to her, "H-Here…"
The blue haired girl took the soap from him, her hand lightly grazing his palm as she did. 'Soft!'
She then entered the shower stall next to Shinji's, turning it on before proceeding to wash herself.
For a minute, the only sound in the room was of the running water.
"I'm… sorry that Asuka was bothering you" Shinji spoke up after a moment.
"You have no reason to apologize on her behalf. She is the one who is conceited and chooses to belittle others. The harmonics test provided her an opportunity to act in excess. I simply did not feel very tolerant of her today" The girl explained as she continued to clean herself.
"Still though, Asuka shouldn't treat you that way at all. So what if she did better on a test? It doesn't mean she gets to be a jerk. You don't deserve that Ayanami…" His words made Rei feel a warmth inside her as she halted her movements.
'Such kind words from him…' She thought to herself.
"I… do not care what she says about me. It does not matter, and I am often able to ignore it, however it can still be… exasperating" The explanation didn't do much to deter Shinji.
"You shouldn't have to ignore her being rude…" He never felt tolerable of Asuka's behavior toward the bluenette.
"It's… unimportant" She insisted.
"If it bothers you, then it should be important. She shouldn't be such a jerk to you" 'Ayanami did nothing to deserve it.'
Unbeknownst to Shinji, Rei now had a small pink blush adorning her cheeks, appreciating his sentiment.
"...It's not what she said about me that made me upset, but how she insulted you as well, Ikari…" That made Shinji blink. 'She's upset because of what Asuka said about me?'
"Me? That's… not surprising. She always says something mean about me. And I doubt she'll stop, so no use getting upset over it. I'm pretty used to her acting like that to me anyways…" He said somewhat listlessly.
Though this only made Rei frown a little at such a notion, 'No, the second child should not treat you as she does.'
"That is hypocritical of you, Ikari," She stated aloud.
"Huh?" The boy blinked his blue eyes at the response he received. 'What?'
"It is hypocritical of you to oppose the second child's behavior towards me, only to then not allow me the same courtesy in being opposed to her behavior towards you" The bluenette elucidated to him.
"...oh…" was his succinct reply.
"You are not an exception, Ikari. If I am undeserving of such treatment and behavior by the second child, then so are you" Rei told him, obstinate on her stance.
It made Shinji think as he took in the words, and who was saying them. It made him feel warm and… 'happy?'
"… thank you…" He didn't know what else to say.
Not that Rei really knew what to say to his words of gratitude either, choosing to not say anything more. And so, the sound of running water encompassed them yet again.
'I should probably actually shower…' Shinji thought, before immediately remembering that he gave his soap to the other occupant of the room. '...oh…right'
He decided that he'd rather not focus on the fact that someone of the opposite sex he knew was cleaning themselves in the same room he was in, if only for the sake of his mental well-being.
Said member of the opposite sex meanwhile thoroughly washed her short blue hair before then letting the soap be rinsed out of it. Wiping any stray hair out of her face, she proceeded to inspect the state of her body before deciding that she was now clean. With that done, she turned off the running water before then stepping out of the stall, moving to stand in front of the other occupied shower stall.
"I am finished with the soap…" She held it up over the stall door.
"...r-right" The brunette boy tried not to look at her too much as he grabbed the soap from her, his hand touched hers again as he did something both of them noticed. 'His touch, it is nice.'
Once he had it, the brunette then turned back around so as to not peep on Rei from over the stall as she proceeded to grab a towel to start drying herself before she changed into her set of clothes.
The water that was pouring on Shinji still retained most of its initial warmth it started with which was something he would appreciate if he wasn't focusing on the noise it created so as to mask the sound of the other occupant as they got dressed. Looking at his hands, he could see his fingers start to wrinkle, not very surprising considering how long he had been in the shower. Speaking of, he considered that he should actually wash himself now.
Yet as he looked at the soap in his hand, he hesitated to use it. The reason being what his mind chose to fixate on about the soap. That being who it was just used by. By a girl. 'By Ayanami…'
It had touched her body, and now it was in the palm of his hand.
Through his abashed thoughts, he briefly heard the sound of a door opening and closing, which was most likely the one to the locker room. Signifying that he was now the sole occupant of the room once again, something that brought him some ease.
The browned haired boy let out a breath as he set the soap down. Having come to the decision to not use it due to the previous user. Besides, the LCL covering him had been rinsed off at the very least. And if he really needed to, he could take a shower or bath when he got back home. 'Hopefully no one else will walk in on me showering, I don't know if I can also handle anyone else as well.'
Turning off the water, he exited the shower stall and grabbed a towel to dry himself with, trying his best to ignore the situation he had just been in moments before. Once his body was dry enough, he then opened his locker and started to get dressed into his usual attire that consisted of his white button up school uniform. He was quite familiar with the uniform outfit, and so putting it on did not take him long. Once he was fully dressed and had slipped his shoes on, he grabbed his school bag before then exiting out of the locker room.
Only to then find that Rei who was now fully clothed with her school uniform, was still there having waited out in the hallway.
"Ayanami? You're still here?" Shinji asked with a slightly surprised look as he wondered why she had stayed.
"Yes, I… wanted to thank you for allowing me to make use of the showers in there, I am appreciative of your generosity" The words of gratitude flowed easily from her, despite the fact she could only remember using them once before, also towards Shinji. 'Again, I find myself thanking Ikari…'
"W-well I mean, it's not like I would've forced you out or anything…" He told her. 'I'm not that cruel…'
"Still, you did not take issue with my presence there when it would have been your prerogative to do so" And for that, she is quite grateful.
"Yeah, well I um… don't m-mind your um… presence" Shinji stammered somewhat flustered.
"I see…" Rei acknowledged with a faint blush as she then turned to leave.
However, she stopped after a few steps and turned her head slightly to the side before speaking again.
"... perhaps… if the second child was to prove to be a nuisance again, would it be acceptable for me to… shower in there again?" The bluenette's questioned made the boy blink. 'HUH? Again!?'
"O-oh um… s-sure, i-if Asuka… bothers you in the s-showers again, t-then sure" He managed to say with a red blush, though even he questioned why he couldn't bring himself to deny her, not that he particularly wanted too.
"I am… glad" Rei said to him with a smile nearly formed on her, before then continuing to walk away, leaving the slightly flustered boy behind.
Shinji watched her form from behind as she left, letting out a sigh of relief once she was gone. While he didn't take that much problem with what had all occurred, it had still been very nerve wracking. He could only hope he'd have the strength to handle it again.
'I really hope Misato and Asuka don't ever find out, I don't think I could deal with them on top of this' He shook his head as he then decided to head home himself, content in no longer thinking about his previous predicament or the ramifications that could come of it.
Author's Note: I just wanted to make a shower fic one-shot that didn't result in sex. I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who wanted a lemon, (I'm not really though). Maybe I'll make another fic soon I don't know; it'd probably be another one-shot. Thats all, bye.