Chapter 1.
Sunday, September 27, 2015. 5:10 P.M.
A cool breeze drifted past, and Shinji Ikari took a deep breath inward through his nose.
He didn't quite remember when he'd started to truly appreciate the scent of fresh air and the sensation of it filling his lungs, but it had since become something of a daily ritual for him to go outside every day and simply breathe.
It had taken some time for him to adjust to his new situation, but now, he was at last comfortable with calling Tokyo-III 'home.' It'd changed his outlook on life, to an extent. He was opening up to people, even if he hadn't set out to do so at first. He was learning to appreciate the little things: hanging out with his school friends, cooking breakfast for his roommates, the aroma and taste of freshly-brewed coffee...
Even the everyday clean air, something that most people no doubt took for granted.
The unassuming fourteen-year-old resumed his walk as the soft wind rolled off into the distance behind him. It was a simple walk around the neighborhood, less than an hour, to clear his head. He'd made it clear to Misato that he would be back in time for dinner, and that she shouldn't worry. Misato had, surprisingly, responded very well to the idea of Shinji going out for walks on a regular basis; indeed, Shinji noticed himself appreciating more little things about Tokyo-III as he went on more walks. Things just made more sense, even if he knew he would never get all the answers.
The world was a strange, often scary place where things were not what they seemed. Tokyo-III doubled as a city and as a transforming, weaponized fortress to defend its people against the malevolent alien monsters ironically dubbed 'Angels.' Its ultimate defense, however, was a trio of forty-meter-tall humanoid cyborgs built for war: Evangelion units, which only teenagers could pilot for whatever reason. Shinji himself operated 'Eva' Unit-01, a horned, purple-armored monstrosity with the unfortunate tendency to go berserk at inconvenient times. No one had ever given him an explanation as to why he needed to be in the cockpit — not even his (admittedly estranged) father, the Supreme Commander of the organization that had created the Evas in the first place.
At the start of his tenure with the peacekeeping organization NERV, which might or might not have been an acronym for something, Shinji had been confused, scared, and more than a little bitter about his circumstances. My father only wants me around when he has a use for me, he'd thought. None of these people really care about me. I'm risking my life and I have no idea what I'm even doing.
After a few months, things had changed. He wasn't just 'rolling with it,' but despite NERV having taught him how to swim by throwing him into the deep end of the pool, he knew how to pilot Unit-01 with enough skill to nab himself multiple Angel kills. He was the most qualified person for the job.
More importantly, for the first time in what felt like forever, he had friends, and maybe even something like family. Though still estranged, he was able to talk with his father. He smiled more. He enjoyed things more.
He had, dare he say it, purpose.
Life... wasn't bad. It was certainly weird, and it had moments that were bad by themselves, but altogether, it wasn't awful. One could even say that it was getting better.
After a minute or so more of just walking, Shinji noticed someone sitting on a bench a short distance away. He immediately recognized her nearly snow-white skin, sky blue bob cut, piercing red eyes, and their school's white and turquoise girls' uniform that she always — always, without fail — wore when off-duty.
A small smile came across his lips.
She noticed as he approached. He could never really tell if she was happy to see him when she did, but she at least tolerated his presence. Better than nothing.
"Ikari," Rei Ayanami said in her usual quiet tone of voice. She didn't really greet him so much as acknowledge that yes, he was Shinji Ikari, fellow Evangelion pilot.
"Hello, Ayanami," Shinji said in reply. "I didn't know you liked this spot."
The bench faced a small fountain, in a public plaza dotted with assorted flowers and shrubs. There was enough space in between the buildings on the street for the area to feel like an oasis of sorts.
"It's quiet here," Rei said.
Shinji nodded. "Yeah. It's nice."
A moment of calm silence followed as the sun slowly began to dip behind the mountains in the distance.
"You can sit with me," Rei said, moving over slightly to give Shinji enough room.
Shinji suddenly felt his heart beat just a bit faster.
"S-sure. Thank you."
He took the open seat on the bench, but while he tried to appear casual, he was nervous enough that anyone would've noticed. Rei was, after all, quite pretty in an elegant way, and while Shinji didn't specifically have feelings for her — as far as he could tell, anyway, since he was still figuring out a lot — teenage hormones were, well, something else.
"Why are you blushing?" Rei asked.
Shinji really hoped that he could, in short order, come up with a better answer than 'you look really pretty.'
He did, although it wasn't that much better.
"I'm just happy to get to spend time with you."
Real smooth, stupid Shinji, he internally grumbled, and simultaneously cursed the fact that he was starting to refer to himself with Asuka's less-than-endearing pet name of 'stupid Shinji.'
He met Rei's gaze after having avoided it for as long as he could have, and was immediately rewarded as her expression changed from one of curiosity to a warm, genuine smile. Of course, he smiled back.
Rei rarely, if ever, smiled around other people. When she did, though, the smile was completely genuine.
In fact, Rei might have been the most genuine person that Shinji knew. Most people found her 'sullen' or 'weird,' but what put them off was exactly what drew Shinji to her.
He wanted to truly understand her.
And sometimes, the best way to really get to know someone wasn't to ask questions, but to just be there.
Katsuragi residence, Comfort 17 Apartments. 6:50 P.M.
"Hi, this is Shinji Ikari. Please leave a message. Thank you."
A short 'beep' over the speaker indicated for Misato to proceed.
"Hey, Shinji, please call me back soon, okay? I'm getting a bit worried. Just... please call me."
She then hung up and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She didn't want to think that he'd tried to run away again, but it was a possibility, even if things had been going so much better than they had all those months ago.
Twenty-nine-year-old Misato Katsuragi, NERV's Director of Tactical Operations, had a precarious triple role as Shinji's superior officer, legal guardian, and friend. NERV didn't recognize this as a conflict of interest — or, at least, didn't say anything about it — but Misato herself knew that she'd bitten off more than she could chew at the very start. She was good at playing the three 'parts' separately, but try as she might, it was nigh impossible to truly reconcile them.
Instead of assuming that Shinji's absence had a far more simple explanation than 'oh, God, he's run away again,' Misato was letting her emotions get the better of her.
But still, one would think that four missed calls in a row constituted a pretty big red flag.
Shinji, the so-called 'Third Child,' had refused his piloting duties just after he first arrived in Tokyo-III, and tried to run away weeks later only to change his mind at the last second. Misato thought he'd been doing much better since then, as he'd been working hard to confront his problems and form connections with other people. She knew, however, that just because something seemed normal didn't mean that it was.
Pen Pen, the genetically-engineered 'hot springs' penguin who was more of a fourth roommate than Misato's pet at this point, looked up at his worried 'momma' with big green eyes and vocalized a short, soft trill.
The slender, dark-haired woman turned her head to look at Pen Pen with a smile as reassuring as she could give, even though everything was very clearly not completely fine.
"Don't worry, Pen Pen," she said, tousling the crest of red feathers atop the bird's head. "Shinji's just running a bit late; that's all. Dinner's coming soon."
She wanted to believe that. She desperately did. But there was no way she could truly know.
Her phone buzzed to life, and she picked up without even looking at the caller I.D.
"Hello?"
"Misato," Ritsuko Akagi answered on the other end of the line — without so much as a simple 'hello' — "is Asuka there with you right now?" Her voice had a worried urgency to it.
Misato felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Yeah, she's in the living room. Why?"
"Good. Both of you, get down to HQ as soon as possible."
There was a short but pregnant pause before Ritsuko confirmed that something was definitely wrong.
"Shinji's been kidnapped."