An Evangelion fan fiction by rojo

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or its characters. Wish I did but I don’t. The idea for this story is all mine.

Shinji turned to the voice to find one Asuka Langley Soryu standing in the hall.

"Didn't you hear me, Third Child?" She gave him a challenging look and crossed her arms.

"O-Of course I did, Asuka, I'm right here." Shinji replied a little less then calmly.

"So what's with Wondergirl being here?"

Shinji glanced at Rei, who was still standing quietly by the door.

"She isn't feeling very well and I wanted her to…ah, come over so she wouldn't get lonely, you know?"

Asuka studied the First Child.

Rei reached across her waist to hold her other arm just above the elbow. She avoided Asuka's gaze.

"Say, she does look a little pale."

Asuka laughed, a little too cruelly for Shinji's liking.

He frowned at the redhead standing before him.

"What? I thought my joke was funny."

"Can't you be nice? She doesn't feel well."

"Oh, sticking up for you little friend are you? I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to try something on her like you did with me this morning."

"Asuka!"

"Well, whatever, like I care what your perverted little mind thinks up. I'm just getting something to take over to Hikari's anyway."

Asuka waved a dismissive hand as she left the room.

Shinji sighed heavily as though a weigh had been lifted from him.

He turned to see Rei looking down at her shoes and fidgeting with her arm. She looked…nervous.

"Uh…Ayanami, is something wrong?"

She was silent for a moment and then answered.

"Is what Pilot Soryu said correct?"

"A-About this morning you mean…ah, well, it's a funny situation…becau-"

But Rei continued talking so softly that he almost didn't hear her.

"You…would not try to force yourself…on me…would you?"

Shinji went stiff as his mind almost failed trying to grasp the sickening concept. Hearing her say that chilled him to the bone.

"I-I-I would never! Never! Please don’t every say something like that again."

"I did not believe you would…but her words…I am sorry."

"No, don't say that. You shouldn't be sorry. It's my fault for not explaining it. Uh, Let's go into the kitchen and I can get you some tea."

Rei followed Shinji into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. Shinji started heating the teakettle and got out two coffee cups.

"Ok, I'll explain what happened this morning. I don't want you to…worry about being here."

Shinji recounted the tale leaving out one embarrassing detail. As he finished he set the two cups on the table and pushed one across to Rei. As she took it he noticed again how delicate her hands looked. Next to the porcelain white of the cup she was only a few shades darker.

"Now I see that there is no cause for concern." Rei said in a bland tone.

Looking at the tea Rei said, "What a pretty color. You are good at making tea."

"Well. It's a little bitter."

"Yes, but it is warm."

They carefully sipped their tea for a few moments in silence.

A shiver ran through Rei as she held the cup spilling the hot liquid onto the back of her hand.

"Oh!" she exclaimed.

"Are you okay?!"

"I have burned myself a little-"

"A little?"

"The pain is not too bad." Rei inspected the burn mark.

Her skin had already turned an angry red where tea had touched.

"Quick, you should put it under cold water."

Shinji quickly made his way to her and nearly pulled her out of her chair.

Standing next to the pale girl at the sink he held her hand under the cool stream of water.

"Why are you helping me so much, Ikari?"

"Ah…I don't really know…"

"Well, it's complicated…" Shinji realized that he was still holding her hand.

"You keep your hand under the water for a little while."

Even after he had let go the feeling of her skin lingered. It felt nice.

"I do not understand why you would go to all this trouble if you have nothing to gain."

"You don't?"

"No, my welfare is not your job to maintain."

"I guess I just don't like seeing you in pain."

"So you meant what you said?"

"Huh?"

"When you thought I was unconscious."

Shinji began to blush.

"Yeah, about that…well…ah…the truth…"

Shinji laughed nervously.

Rei tilted her head and looked into his eyes.

"…the truth is I do care. I go to all this trouble, I guess, as a way to show that."

"I find myself thanking you, Ikari. Today I realized it. I have never used those words before."

Shinji was a little disbelieving. "Really? With anyone?"

"No, and I am…unsure as to what that means." Again Shinji thought he detected the sound of worry in her voice but Rei being Rei he had a hard time reading any emotion from the girl.

"Well…I don't know if that's a bad thing necessarily."

"I think I need time…to think."

"Well, Misato always told me that a nice hot bath helped her think. You should take one. You must still be cold."

"Yes."

"I'll show you the way."

While Rei went to take a bath Shinji prepared supper for them.

"I hope she likes stir fry."

Rei looked at the full bathtub uncertainly. She had always taken showers as long as she could remember. This would be a new thing. New things made Rei nervous unless she had time to investigate them and determine their qualities. She figured that she had all the time she needed now.

Slowly she stepped into the tub and felt the warmth flow into her.

As slowly as before she submerged her tired body beneath the water.

Sinking up to her chin Rei relaxed.

Shinji hummed to himself as he made dinner. Just as he was finishing he heard Asuka come out of her room and open the bathroom door.

"What the…! What the hell are you doing in here!"

"I am taking a bath." Came a soft reply.

"Mien Gott! Learn how to lock a door. Errrrr!" Asuka stormed through the kitchen and Shinji heard the front door slam.

He chuckled to himself.

Rei had been thinking about Ikari until the Second Child interrupted her. Rei could not understand Asuka's reaction. According to what Shinji had said in his earlier conversations Asuka should have been the one apologizing to Rei for seeing her naked without asking permission.

Shinji was putting everything on the table when he heard Rei come out of the bathroom. He looked up to find her in the same school uniform.

Frowning he asked her, "Weren't you just wearing that?"

"Yes."

"Well, don't you want something you can sleep in?"

"This is normal sleep attire for me."

"Ah…How about I find you something? I promise it will be more comfortable and nicer to sleep in."

"If you wish."

Shinji offered her a seat at the table and went look through his closet for some clothes he could loan her. He briefly considered borrowing something from Asuka but shuddered at the thought of her finding out.

He had a vision of being stepped on by a giant red foot.

Pulling out an old t-shirt and sweatpants from his closet Shinji headed to the kitchen to find Rei examining his cooking.

"Is…something wrong?"

She pushed the plate away.

"I…dislike eating meat."

"I'm really sorry. Let me make you something else."

"It is all right. I do not-."

"No, I insist. I can make you a quick salad."

"If you insist."

"Ok. Ah, I brought you these." He offered her the clothes.

Shinji decided to make the salad while she was changing.

Halfway through preparing it Rei appeared dressed in his old clothes.

She noticed he was staring at her. "Is something wrong?"

"Huh…no, no. It's fine. You look so, I mean…um, the clothes look more comfortable."

At that point Shinji's brain took into account all that was happening and had happened that day. It took several seconds because a lot had happened in a relatively short amount of time.

Shinji cracked a huge grin.

Rei gave him a questioning look.

"I'm…I'm just happy. That's all. I'm glad that you're here." Shinji explained.

Surprising Shinji almost to the point of no return, Rei smiled back.

"I…am glad too."

They sat down and had a quiet dinner. Shinji mostly talked about stuff that did not matter and Rei answered the occasional question.

For the next hour Shinji and Rei enjoyed themselves as they shared each other's company. Shinji played the cello for her and made her promise that she would play her violin for him sometime. Shinji taught Rei how to play cards and they decided to watch TV for awhile.

Everything was going well until Rei felt sick. Shinji quickly helped her to the bathroom and knelt beside her as she vomited into the toilet. He stayed beside her for what seemed like hours carefully holding back her hair and rubbing her back with one hand. Eventually Rei couldn't throw up anymore but said she still felt like it.

"…I…need to…stay here…" She said weakly resting her head on her arm.

"Oh, god. Rei. I'm so sorry." Shinji brushed her hair off her face and looked at her carefully.

He decided that rather then appear strange her eyes were very intriguing. She looked up to him and sighed heavily.

"You…did…nothing." She reassured him.

"I know but I want you to feel well."

"I know…and it…makes me feel…happy…"

Shinji sat in stunned silence looking off into space.

"Rei…I…" Shinji trailed off as he saw her eyes closed and her breathing regular.

Careful not to rouse her, he took her in his arms and carried her to his room.

After Shinji had tucked her into his bed he retrieved a chair from the kitchen and sat by the bed.

Stifling a yawn with the back of his hand Shinji looked at the clock.

Minutes later Shinji slumped half in his chair, half on the bed fast asleep.

Asuka returned from Hikari's house to see Rei's shoes still on the floor.

As Asuka passed Shinji's room she looked in through the open door and saw a rather cute scene. Or what would have been considered cute to anyone but Asuka. Asuka thought it was rather disgusting.

"Damn them." She went to her room and tried to sleep.

At some point during the night Rei woke to find herself in an unfamiliar place.

She also felt a strange weigh on her leg.

Looking down trying to get her bearings she saw Shinji resting his head on the bed and next to her leg.

Rei lay back awash in the silver moonlight streaming in the window and fell asleep again, this time with a contented smile on her face.

In a secret communication room deep within NERV Dr. Akagi was giving a briefing.

In sound format only the transmission flew out to the radio antennas dotting the horizon of Tokyo-3 and bounced up to the high orbit satellite that in turn fired the invisible wavelength down toward the bottom of the world.

To a red sea of death, the site of 2^nd Impact.

To the current location of Commander Ikari.

"The data you sent to me was inconclusive. What is the nature of the First Child's aliment?" Inside the commander was dreading the response.

Rei had never been sick, Rei wasn't supposed to get sick, and now at a critical juncture of their plans the unthinkable had happened.

He waited.

"My preliminary findings indicate that it may have something to do with her mind. She may have become much more disturbed under the stress of piloting then we anticipated. But I have found indications of…something else. A cross synchronization test will need to be performed to determine if this will have an affect on the project. It is something that I, frankly, have never seen before. I need more time."

"Time is something we are running out of. You understand the serious nature of these problems, do you not?"

"Yes, sir. I am working on a treatment as we speak."

"We must control this before the committee gets wind of it. The dummy system must be functional soon."

"I understand fully."

"Good, keep me informed of your progress."

"Yes, sir."

The transmission went dead.

Dr. Akagi stared at the blank screen.

 Omake:

Shinji was putting everything on the table when he heard Rei come out of the bathroom. He looked up to find her in her birthday suit.

"Oh my god!"

Suddenly the story turned into a lemon.

Rei and Shinji jumped into each other's arms.

Cheesy music begun to play in the background as…

The writer came back from the kitchen.

"Just getting some water…Hey! What the hell is this?! You two get away from each other. I'm trying to build a relationship here people!"

"Sorry." The two teens replied.

"Now, back to more stumbling dialogue about feelings." The writer said.

Shinji and Rei groaned.

Authors Note:

Chapter 5 in all its glory. I know it ended on a bit of a downer but please keep with me. It will get better. I hope you liked it Please continue to read and review my story. Also, should I do a little Next Episode thing, or is that just too cheesy? One or two of the lines where stolen from the series or the manga (I dislike eating meat.). Not many but a few. Just giving credit where credit is due. They just say it better then I every could. How am I doing? I want to keep what works and throw out what doesn't. Thanks to all those who write suggestions and send me email

rojo