AN Below

"I hope you know if I get sick from this I'm blaming you, correct?"

Shinji awkwardly scratched the back of his head, a small bit of shame having crept up on him. His detour into Pocket Circuit Racing had indeed taken up more time than he wanted to, watching some battery powered toy cars race on custom tracks was surprisingly more fun than he realized. Unfortunately though, that led to Misato being the one left to cook for tonight, and Dr. Akagi was the poor fool who happened to be visiting tonight.

"Oh c'mon, you used to eat these up all the time back in college." Misato complained, "You'd work late at night, studying for your degree with barely a couple hours of sleep and an empty belly. My food saved your life back then!"

Dr. Akagi sighed, "I was starving to death making sure I had everything ready for my thesis, your food was like giving dirty water to a man in the desert." Misato was none too pleased by that analogy and was ready to speak her mind when Shinji spoke up.

"You two have known each other since college?" He asked.

Misato turned from her long time friend to her roommate, "Yeah, we went to the same university. We were quite the unlikely pair." Misato chuckled as her mind likely went back to her younger years.

"Doubly so considering how you were when we first met," Dr. Akagi noted as she sipped some tea Shinji had put out.

"What do you mean by that?" Shinji asked.

Neither of them answered, instead the doctor looked at Misato, a silent exchange going between them for a moment leaving Shinji out of the loop. "Did I say something wrong?" He asked.

Misato sighed and put down her can of beer - one of the last cans she had since he'd emptied the fridge when he moved in, "Nah, you're fine. You'd be surprised to see me before college, I was a totally different person. Like, you wouldn't recognize me." Her mood had sobered a little, less jovial and more contemplative.

"Back then, Misato was the quiet type. Very depressing to be around." Dr. Akagi took a sip of her tea as she recalled what her old roommate was like, "For the first month I'd known she barely spoke more than a handful of words. Then one day she turned into a jabbermouth, wouldn't stop talking until she was blackout drunk."

Misato chuckled, "Good times."

Shinji tried to imagine a younger Misato as Dr. Akagi described but found it too hard to conjure in his mind, to him Misato was a loud mouth, slobby, drunkard who acted like a pig who also happened to be a military advisor. Hearing how Misato used to be reminded him a bit of himself years ago when he first moved into the Morning Glory Orphanage. Of course, the only reason he was like that was because of his father. Did something painful happen to Misato?

The rest of the night, the three of them ate Misato's curry recipe - calling it a recipe was putting it gracefully, it was really a hodgepodge of ingredients Misato liked. When Shinji served a portion of curry to PenPen, the poor penguin looked at him like he was sentencing him to a death sentence. Shinji and Dr. Akagi was unfortunately subjected to Misato's poor cooking and the horror of Misato's curry-ramen combo.

After dinner the doctor had said her farewells and left, leaving Shinji and Misato for the night.

"Hey Misato," Shinji stopped scrubbing the dishes.

His roommate looked up from her can of beer, "Sup?" Her words slurred a little, the effects of five cans of beers were finally getting to her.

"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping, but…what happened before you went to college?"

Misato stayed silent, and for a moment he had feared he indeed had overstepped.

"I guess it's fair," She started, "We haven't really had a chance to get to know each other that well. Despite how much I know about you, you don't know me that well."

Misato waved him over to sit down across from her. Shinji did as he was told and sat down.

"Before I tell you, I have one question," Misato took one more swig of beer before she started, "You've probably been told all about Second Impact, yeah? They teach it in school now, don't they? An undetected meteor came and hit Antartica while no one was looking and caused the ice caps to melt."

Shinji nodded, "Good, well throw that all away 'cuz it's wrong." Misato made to take another swig of her beer when she realized she was out, "Damn, that was my last one."

"What do you mean wrong?" Shinji asked.

Misato put her beer down, "Exactly what I mean, the cause of Second Impact wasn't a meteor. It was an Angel."

"An Angel caused Second Impact?" Shinji leaned forward, stunned by the revelation.

"Humanity had found it deep in the ice, while studying it the Angel blew up and vaporized the ice. Which of course led to the ocean levels rising, mass deaths, and wars. That day I lost my father, not long after I lost my mother, it's a common story you'd find among people my age. Most people lost a loved one during those times."

Shinji had heard the stories, of course, everyone does, but it was different hearing it from someone he knew. More personal. Like hearing about a car crash, you understand the tragedy but it doesn't really hit home until you see its effects.

"After that, I sorta just…lost my taste for talking, completely mute. For a couple years I wouldn't say a peep, that is until I went to college and met Ritsuko. Then, I became me." She pointed to herself with a small smirk.

Shinji didn't pry after that, he thanked Misato for the food and went back to do the dishes. His opinion of Misato had changed, to say the least. There was a bit of sadness in her, something Shinji could understand. It helped him understand how powerful a bond between a parent and their child was, especially the loss of that bond.

As he lay in his bed that night, Shinji wondered how he would feel if his father had died for one reason or another. How would he feel? Would he mourn him? Would he even care? Then he thought about how he would have felt if Kazuma-san had passed away, how would he have felt if he had died? The answer came immediately, the thought of his mentor and caretaker leaving made him feel awful. As he fell asleep, he wondered…would his father mourn him if he died?

The next day, he would get his answer.

"Alright Shinji, the check up is complete, give the engineers a minute to finish their work and then you can leave." Dr. Akagi chimed in over the comms.

Today the doctor had requested a test on the Eva's, to make sure they were functioning well. After the damage Unit-01 took after the last battle, it was "Imperative that everything was in perfect condition".

And so Shinji waited, in the cockpit waiting to leave. Across from him, Rei stood over the plug to Unit-00, ready to do her own test. If things went well, maybe he'd have someone to help him fight the Angels for a change. He wouldn't be alone in the fight anymore. Or would it make it more difficult if Rei was also in the fight? He'd never had to fight alongside someone in Tokyo-2, then he wondered if Rei even had any fighting experience. A million questions popped up in his mind, trying to imagine what it would be like to fight alongside someone, but they all disappeared when he noticed someone walk in.

Walking towards Rei was none other than his father, the two had struck up a conversation quickly. He couldn't tell what they were talking about, but he did notice their smiles. His father was actually enjoying himself, same with Rei, a realization struck him…he had never seen his father smile. At least, any time he could remember. Rei too. The two of them were alike that way, always facing the world with a neutral face and nothing else.

Shinji sank back into his seat, he had finally gotten his answer, his father wouldn't mourn him. Because he had been replaced.

Shinji didn't know what to feel, in fact, he felt nothing. Like a wave of paralysis washed over him. Was he feeling resentment? Jealousy? Or was this just the feeling of decades worth of immense pressure lifting from his shoulders? He long questioned why his father never visited, called, mailed, or even acknowledged his existence after leaving him that day on the train terminal. Now he had his answer.

"Shinji, hello, Shinji?" Misato's voice spoke to him over the comms.

Shinji briefly fumbled before regaining his composure, "Oh, sorry Misato, was just in thought. What is it?"

"I said the mechanics are clear, you can come out now." Shinji quickly apologized for not leaving already and started to shut down the Eva, before he left he took one last glance at Rei. His father had left while he was distracted, but even with him gone a small smile still graced Rei's lips.

A quick shower after and he was ready to leave, right now NERV was the last place he wanted to be.

"Shinji, a moment of your time." To his right, Dr. Akagi was walking the halls with a folder in hand.

"What is it?" Shinji asked.

"Have you seen Rei? I needed to give something to her, but I was too bogged down in work."

Was he in the showers that long that Rei had already left? "Sorry, no I didn't."

The doctor groaned, "Can I ask you for a favor?" She handed the folder to him, "When you see Rei can you give her this identification card? Her old one is about to expire and she needs this to enter."

Shinji opened the folder and sure enough there was an ID card for Rei, "Sure, it's no problem."

After telling him Rei's address, Shinji pocketed the card and left. He never visited Rei's home, so maybe this was a chance to see how she lived, maybe get to know her better. He didn't want to accept it, but really, this was all just an excuse to see why Rei was the favored child. What did his father see in her that he didn't see in Shinji?

To Become a Dragon

Shinji left his and Misato's apartment not long after he had finished with his daily chores. Without any school today, he was able to take out the trash, clean the living room, do a little bit of shopping for dinner tonight, and pack a small bento for Misato to eat for lunch. With all that done, he set out to reach Ayanami's house.

This was likely his best chance to speak with her, now that he had an excuse to specifically seek her out. He wondered how she would respond, to his knowledge Rei had never shown much in the way of emotions. Would she be mad at him for insinuating things? Would she enjoy the thought of replacing him as his fathers favorite child? Did she even know about his circumstances?

He stopped for a moment, maybe he was getting ahead of himself. This was Rei Ayanami, pilot of Eva Unit-00. Of course she would have a working relationship with his father, she has been part of NERV for at least a year. That's a lot of time to become friendly with someone.

"I'm just overreacting," He told himself, an attempt to cool his anxiousness. "Why should I even be bothered? My father left me, and because of that I have Kazuma-san. He's far more worthy of a father than him. No one can beat Kazuma-san, not even fa…"

He turned a corner into Rei's district, it was a mess.

Buildings looked decayed, rotting, like they haven't been maintained in years. The concrete and metal looked dull and old, dilapidated but still functional. Then there was the construction noises, the place was incredibly loud and frankly barren. There were no stores, no cars, not even people. This place was deserted.

"This can't be the place," Shinji said as he double checked the street he was on, "No way…" Sure enough, this was her address.

Shinji continued his route, locating the specific building Rei was listed in and her apartment number. Just like the rest of the district, the building was empty and run down. It looked like it would be demolished in Tokyo-2. As he arrived at the door that was Rei's address he unfortunately confirmed his was her home.

"Her mail slot is full of letters." He reached down to collect the mail, as he did the door creaked open…it was unlocked.

Shinji immediately went into alert, why was her door open? "Rei? It's me Shinji, are you there?" He called out. There was no response.

He was starting to get worried, why wasn't Rei responding to him? He put down the stack of mail and carefully entered the apartment, "I'm coming in," He shouted out.

The apartment looked worse than the outside, everything was grimey, uncleaned, unsanitized, almost like a bomb had gone off and the residue was never cleared. How could someone like Rei live like this? Someone as important as her, with his fathers affection.

The room was sparse, a disheveled bed with clothes scattered on it and the floor, a trash can full of bloodied bandage, a mini-fridge, and a drawer were the only pieces of furniture in the room. Where was Rei?

His eyes were drawn to the drawer, where a single set of broken glasses lay on the top, he picked them up to inspect. He hadn't known Rei to wear glasses, especially ones with a broken lens. Were they someone else's? An intruder who forced his way into Rei's home? He was starting to get really worried now, he should call Misato and let her know about this.

"Ikari?" A soft monotone voice spoke up, he instantly recognized it.

He turned toward the origin of the sound, "Rei, you're okay! I thought yo-HGRK!"

Legs. Waist. Stomach. Arms. All of it was bare in front of him, all of it without any sign of embarrassment or even a willingness to cover up save the sole towel that was used to dry herself off. Shinji whipped around to look away and bowed as much as he could.

"I'M SO SORRY!" He apologized.

Rei said nothing, the only noise she made was the soft tip-tap of her feet hitting the floor. He was waiting, desperately waiting for her to strike him, get mad at him, to say anything about him seeing her in such a state. Maybe he read too much of Koji's manga, but this situation was straight out of one of them. So when Rei didn't even respond, he was confused.

He felt her soft hand grasp his, not to hold his own but to pluck the pair of glasses out of his hand. He didn't dare to move, keeping his eyes glued to the floor he could see her feet walk past him to the drawer. She didn't voice any objection as she dropped the towel on the floor, Shinji's face heated up with only one thought in his mind.

Nude.

"I'LL LEAVE YOU BE!" Shinji turned back toward the way he came, still keeping his eyes glued to the ground as he ran outside. Shinji slammed the door shut and slid down the wall, his heart was racing and pounding against his chest like a jackhammer.

Oh god how was he going to fix this? He had invaded Rei's home and seen her naked. He just came to give her an ID card and ask her some questions, to get to know her better. He didn't come to see her in the nude, to see her exposed to him.

"Kill me now." He groaned.

He didn't have to wait outside long before the door opened and Rei walked out. Shinji bent down, prostrating himself in front of his fellow pilot, "Ayanami please forgive me!"

"Okay." She said it without hesitation and started to walk away.

Shinji looked up in disbelief, watching as she turned her back to him. There was no shouting, no slapping, no name calling. Just…nothing.

Shinji went after her, trying to explain himself but every time he built up the courage to make conversation it died in his mouth as he remembered her coming out of the shower. He was ashamed to admit it…but he liked it? Shinji needed a very cold shower when he got back to the apartment later.

The awkward silence (at least for Shinji) between the duo stayed that way until they reached the entrance to the GeoFront, Rei had swiped her old card into the scanner and received a negative beep.

"Here." He said as he handed her the new card, "I came to your place to give you this. Your new card."

Rei quickly snatched it from him and slid the card through the scanner. Was Rei actually mad and just good at hiding it? If so, why hide it behind such a neutral face? In fact, why did Rei act so differently than other girls he knew? Eri, Riona, nor Haruka ever acted like this. Sometimes they'd get moody, angry, even downright furious but never…this. He didn't know how to handle it, if Rei was mad he'd prefer to take the barrage, whether it be words or fists.

They continued down into NERV, eventually Shinji had toughen up enough to finally talk to Rei. No more hesitation, there was no running away from this.

"Look, Ayanami, I'm really sorry and I understand if you're angry with me." Shinji said as the two stepped onto the escalator.

"About what?" She asked without even turning towards him.

Shinji was flabbergasted, "About earlier of course!" He nearly shouted, "I invaded your privacy, your home, and you. I thought that since your door was open that someone had entered before me. Why aren't you angry at me?"

She didn't immediately respond, instead taking a few seconds to think, "I do not need privacy, so I can not be mad at you."

Shinji didn't know how to respond to that, Rei had the unique ability to completely flabbergast him he was beginning to realize. Is this what Kensuke and Tohji were talking about?

The air around them was so deeply uncomfortable for Shinji, he needed to clear the air and talk about something without the lingering image of Rei in his mind.

"So, Rei, I heard you're going to reactivate Unit-00 again, are you nervous?" Shinji knew she wasn't nervous, she never looked like one to get nervous, this would be a cake walk for her.

"No, why should I? I have complete faith in Commander Ikari's work, if he says it is safe I have no reason to not believe him."

Of course she would believe in his father, Rei didn't question the order to pilot Unit-01 when she was at death's door. Why would she ever doubt him?

"May I ask you a question?" Rei asked.

"Uh, sure, go ahead."

"Do you not have faith in your fathers work?"

Shinji didn't immediately respond. He didn't expect that question, and honestly…he didn't know. Well, in his mind he knew that yes, he could place his faith in his father. But in his heart? No, he could not. Not when he had abandoned his son and replaced him.

"I don't know Rei." Shinji told her with honesty.

The rest of the trip was spent watching Rei activate Unit-00, a test that seemingly went well. There were no hiccups, no signs of the EVA rampaging, just a wave of "All clears." from the staff at hand watching the activation test go through. In the end, there was nothing to worry about.

"Ma'am!" Shinji looked away from the test and down the hall, where a single man was making his way towards him and Misato. "An object has been sighted off the shores of Tokyo-3, presumably the 5th Angel! All personnel are to report to battle stations."

Misato nodded to the man, before turning towards Shinji.

They exchanged a wordless conversation, she gave him encouragement and safety, meanwhile he gave her certainty and understanding. They knew each other's roles in these operations, so there wasn't much that needed to be said anyway. So Shinji left, and began to suit up for the job.

He was inside the EVA in less than 5 minutes, all systems were on, all repairs from the last battle made. He was ready.

"Any helpful tips Misato?" Shinji asked.

A small screen with Misato popped up in his display, she stood at the bridge of NERV surrounded by the usual staff, "No clue kid, right now I'm looking at some double-sided pyramid thing. Your best guess is as good as mine."

To this point, Angels have been at least somewhat understandable. Sachiel was a big kaiju with a stake driver in its arm, Shamshel was a big bug with laser whips. But this new one was a double-sided pyramid? He didn't know what to think, and frankly he didn't want to. Or rather, he couldn't afford to. He had to focus on the mission.

"Evangelion Unit-01, ready for launch." One of the staff said.

Misato said nothing for a quick second, giving Shinji a small smile and a nod, "Launch EVA!" She commanded.

So Unit-01 sped up to the surface, but even before he could see his opponent he could hear the bridge light up in panic. What was going on?

As Shinji finally reached the surface, he could see it. The 5th angel definitely was as Misato described, a blue double-sided pyramid. And it was looking right at him.

"SHINJI MOVE!"

It was too late, he couldn't dodge the beam that struck him. He tried to say something, but his mouth was already preoccupied screaming as the LCL around him boiled him alive.

A bit on the short side today, and for that I'm a little sorry. But there is stuff that needs to be talked about so let's get to it. FIRST AND FOREMOST, To Become a Dragon will not be updated for a while. For a few months now I have been dedicating my time to putting out this story while putting another on the back burner. That ends today. For any of you who read my Return to the Homestead story you'll be happy to know work on that story is on the way. But I don't want to keep this story sidelined forever, so that's why going forward I will be updating stories in intervals. Return to the Homestead will receive two updates, then To Become a Dragon, and so on. This will give some time for each story to breath and get it's own time.

Now let's talk about this chapter, a little bit has changed regarding the Rei scene. We all know that one of Evangelions plot points is Shinji's connection with people, women especially. That combined with being an anime-protag means that his growing attraction is a plot point in the show. So I had to keep it, but also mix it up in a way that wasn't as nearly as fanservice-y as the original. Frankly it's also one of the reasons why this chapter is shorter than most, writing a young boy starting puberty is kinda weird. I aim to make these scenes at least somewhat tasteful, but again kinda weird.

Thank you for reading.