Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Shinji Saotome ❯ Chapter 3 - School day ( Chapter 3 )

Shinji Saotome

Chapter 3 - school day

Tendo dojo - the next morning

It was a wonderful morning and the peace was amiable.
*CRASH*
*SPLASH*
Of course…this wouldn't be Nerima if it lasted long, so a body being
flung out the closed window and into the small koi-pond wasn't
all that surprising.

Shinji Ikari immediately snapped awake to the sensation of cold water enveloping his, now her, body.
Panic gripped her as she sunk under water, but it quickly receded as she realized she was already on the bottom of the pond.
Standing to her full height Shinji dragged her soaked body out of the cold water, only to see Genma in panda-form landing a few feet away.
For a moment Shinji felt anger at the panda and she wanted to punt him into orbit, but it quickly passed, leaving her only slightly annoyed.

Genma-panda seeing Shinji frown held up a sign :>Have a little respect for your teacher, son. I can't let you slack off in your training!>

Shinji sighed dejectedly. Sometimes the panda was really annoying.
"I don't have anything against training…father…but you could have tried to wake me up the normal way, you know?"

The panda smirked, quite a feat for an animal, and charged Shinji while
holding up another sign.
>Stop making excuses and fight!>

And thus began Shinji's morning routine once again.

********************

20 minutes later

Up in the guestroom Ranma woke up to the sound of combat coming from the yard. He would have loved to say he was surprised, but in truth he had expected it. Genma had taken up the habit of beating the snot out of Shinji every morning. It seemed the panda liked teaching (read: beating on) somebody who was rather new to the art and therefore preferred to spar with Shinji in the morning. Ranma himself didn't know whether to be grateful or worried about that. On the one hand he loved sleeping in, something he couldn't do before Genma started sparring with his new brother, but on the other hand Genma was rather hard on his new student from time to time. He wasn't too sure but Ranma had the creeping suspicion that Genma liked teaching Shinji. The old panda had refused to teach Shinji anything at first, but after the first two weeks he came around.

Ranma stood up and stretched before jumping out the window in one swift movement.
`Time to help Shinji out a little bit.'

As if on cue to his thoughts, Ranma's foot connected with the panda's head, knocking the man-turned-animal away from Shinji.
"I'll take it from here Shinji"

Shinji nodded weakly and dragged her body to the front-porch.
"Thanks Ranma."
As the battle between the two other Saotomes intensified, Shinji plopped onto the porch to rest. Genma was always pushing her to her breaking point in their workouts and Shinji wondered, not for the first time, how Ranma had managed to survive training with the man for 10 years.

It was still fairly early in the morning and Shinji doubted anybody would be awake around this time. Needless to say she quite surprised when somebody settled down next to her.
"Your father and your brother are really good, Shinji-kun."

Said person was Kasumi. She was dressed in a conservative but oddly fitting dress and apron. For all intents and purposes she looked like a housewife, and not like a nineteen year-old teenager. The serene smile on her face only served to strengthen that impression.
"They're something else, I must admit. Before I met them I would have never imagined that humans could perform even half of the things they're doing. So, why are you up this early Kasumi?"

"I'm usually preparing breakfast for my family."

Shinji nodded; that made sense. Then she spotted the remnants of the window she broke that morning and couldn't help but feel guilty. Undoubtedly Kasumi had a lot more to do with them staying here.
"Can I help you with preparing it Kasumi?"

Kasumi looked at Shinji surprised, not having expected her offer at all.
"I wouldn't want to bother you with that. You're a guest after all."

Shinji shook her head.
"It's alright. I wouldn't have it any other way. We are going to stay here a long time and it wouldn't do for us to do nothing around the house. Please let me help."

"Very well Shinji-kun. But first, please go ahead and take a bath."

"Sure, be right back" The blue-haired part-time girl said as she walked into the house.

Kasumi stayed behind a few moments to watch the other Saotomes sparring.
`Maybe this isn't so bad after all. I have a feeling things are going to get quite interesting around the house soon. It is fortunate that Shinji-kun is willing to help out.'

*********************

Breakfast was a rather quiet affair, only the Saotomes' chopstick fighting interrupting the silence.

When everybody was finished Nabiki stood up and walked out.
"I'm going out early! I need to take care of a few things."
Once she was out Nabiki sighed loudly. She really didn't want to see the boys now, not after they woke her early with their sparring.

That left Akane to lead Ranma and Shinji to school. With a huff the girl stood up and briskly walked out the door. "Come on you two perverts. I have to get to school, if you can't keep up…your problem!"

Ranma and Shinji quickly followed.
"What's her problem?" Asked Ranma annoyed.

"I think Akane's still angry about yesterday. She doesn't seem to like boys very much"
Shinji shrugged and stopped talking as they caught up with the angry girl in question.

5 minutes later the threesome was walking to school; Ranma on the fence while the others choose to use the sidewalk.
"What are you doing up there? Are you too high and mighty to walk with me?" Grunted an annoyed Akane.

"Balance-training."

Seeing as she wasn't getting any more out of the black-haired boy Akane decided to harass Shinji, who was walking next to her.
"And why aren't you training with him then?"

"I'm not good enough yet. I have tried before and always lost my balance. I don't want to risk falling in the canal." Replied Shinji with a neutral tone.

Akane glanced at Ranma after absorbing that information. If what Shinji said was true Ranma was probably even better than Shinji. But that would mean he was better then her! After a moment of thought Akane quickly reached the most logical (to her) conclusion: The match with Shinji had been a fluke. There was no way a boy was better than her in fighting. The thought of the two being better was therefore ridiculous. Her ego satisfied Akane stopped talking and simply kept walking.


When the school-gates came into view Ranma and Shinji were greeted by the sight of dozens of boys waiting with various sports-equipment at the entrance. Suddenly Akane started running, chanting the mantra `I HATE BOYS, I HATE BOYS' over and over.

Ranma and Shinji looked on baffled as the group charged the girl at once. Various proclamations ranging from "Akane, will you marry me" over "Today I shall beat you Akane Tendo" to " Please beat me up Akane-sama" reached their ears, both sweat-dropped heavily at the last one.
"What the hell is goin' on?" Asked a bewildered Ranma.

Shinji shrugged. "Don't have a clue." They watched as the crowd tried to beat Akane to the ground, which seemed quite futile from the way the girl mowed them down. "Although I think we have our reason for her hating boys. Whatever this is about, judging from Akane's reaction this is a daily occurrence."

"Regardless, we gotta help her!" Proclaimed Ranma and prepared to join the fray.

Shinji wanted to hold him back, thinking that Akane's ego wouldn't take too kindly to interfering. His word changed on the tip of his tongue when Akane was nicked by a hockey-player.
"Right, let's go!"


Akane was nearly halfway through the crowd of boys. After yesterdays loss she welcomed the fight to vent some of her anger. However, she hadn't trained as hard as yesterday for a long time, and her body was a little it sluggish in its movements, still recovering. That was also the reason somebody managed to avoid one of her blows to nick her with a hockey-club. She lost her balance for a moment, which was all the time her opponents needed to surround her.
`What the hell is wrong with me? I can't lose to these perverts!'
Another blow to her side proved her otherwise.

Since everybody focused their attention on the fight, the two figures dashing towards the battle were overlooked.
That is, till they hit the crowd.
Bodies were flying left and right and before anybody could react, all the boys were out cold.


Ranma and Shinji high-fived after knocking their opponents out. Seeing that Akane was still motionless Shinji approached her and waved a hand in front of her face.
"Hey Akane? Are you alright?" When Akane's face twisted into an angry scowl
Shinji couldn't help but wince.


When Akane saw the two brothers standing before her, her first reaction was shock: She had never seen somebody dispatch opponents that fast. However, after shock came anger…lots of it. With all the force she could muster she knocked Shinji's hand away.
"What do you think you are doing? This was my battle; you had no right to butt in!"

"We were helping. You woulda lost otherwise. Geez, talk about unthankful!"
Ranma still wasn't the best example when it came to tact.

"Help????? I don't need anybody's help you idiot! I could have handled them quite fine!" Screamed Akane indignantly.

Shinji couldn't help but wonder how often he had heard Asuka say these words. He suppressed a shudder and prayed with all his soul that this girl wasn't an older version of her. He couldn't deal with that.

The discussion was interrupted as a small object whistled through the air. Akane caught it effortlessly and groaned. "Kuno…."

Shinji and Ranma were treated to the sight of a boy clad in a kendo uniform walking towards them.
"Ah, my ferocious tigress Akane Tendo. Today I shall prove to your holy presence that I am worthy of your attentions, today I shall beat you in combat. "
Then his eyes narrowed as he took in the two newcomers.
"And who are you knaves, to interfere in a battle over the fair Akane? I will not allow such lowborn folks to speak in such familiar tones with the fair Akane. I shall smite thee for your offences."

Ranma opened his mouth to speak, but couldn't say anything, as Kuno Interrupted him.
"Ah, but is it not custom to state ones name before any fight? Very well. I am Tatewaki Kuno, age seventeen, the rising star on the kendo-team of Furinkan High. Prepare to meet the wrath of the `Blue Thunder'"
For effect a lightning bolt slammed into the ground in the background.

Again Ranma tried to speak, now sick about the pompous kendoist in front of him.
*slap*
Unfortunately for him Shinji decided that it would be a bad idea to let Ranma handle this. His hand still over Ranma's mouth Shinji spoke in a humble tone, something he was quite well versed in.
"Ah, but Tatewaki-sempai you should not worry yourself with us. I can see you are seeking Akane-san's companionship. Rest assured that neither of us has any romantic interest in her person."

"How can you think I would believe such an obvious lie? How could anybody resist the charms of such a beautiful maiden?" The kendoist spouted as answer.

Shinji sweat-dropped. How to get out of that one?
"Um, well…..it is true that she is indeed quite endearing. However, we are viewing her as a treasured sister, not a love-interest. You most know that we are living with Akane-san to spend some time with her and her family. Surely you cannot fault a poor sap like me for wanting to bask in her presence?"
`Now that should do it!'


Kuno once again showed that his brain could only deal with one piece of information at one time, as he spoke again.
"WHAT! You are living with Akane Tendo under the same roof? NEVER! You cannot fool me! I will not allow this to continue. Have at thee!"

Not wasting any more words Kuno charged at Shinji, since he was the one who spoke with him.
Shinji got into a stance, trying to ignore the sweat drop on his head. `How often have I told him now that we don't have an interest in Akane? Is he really that dumb or is he doing this for fun?'

*smash*

A swift kick from Ranma stopped Kuno's charge quite effectively.
"Now listen here stick-boy. Nobody attacks my younger brother without good
reason, or they gotta answer to me!"

*crack*
*kick*
*smash*

What followed was Kuno-trashing of the violent kind. Ranma was quite angry at the guy. Shinji had tried to talk to him and he attacked without reason! When Ranma had learned one thing from Shinji, it was that attacking somebody for no reason was in fact NOT nice.

As Kuno fell to the ground unconscious the bell rang.
"Kuso" screamed Akane as she, Ranma and Shinji and ran into the building, leaving Kuno behind to rot on the ground.

On the second floor Nabiki grinned wildly as she counted the money this fight earned her. While she had been surprised at Ranma's performance she could care less as long as it brought her money. Nabiki smirked even more as she recalled Shinji's valiant attempt to talk Kuno out of the fight. The little guy had some brains, but it takes a lot more to talk Kuno out of anything.

***********************

Later that day

Shinji was standing in the hall, holding buckets. After introducing Shinji to his new class the teacher had sent him out into the hall for being late. It seemed he was registered in school only one grade lower than Ranma. Normally he would have had to go one grade lower, but it seemed Genma wanted him to attend the same school as Ranma.(1) Shinji didn't really mind, at least with Ranma around he had someone to talk to. It was now the third period and Shinji was surprised he was still holding the buckets without much problem. It seemed the six weeks he had been training with Ranma had really paid off when it came to his endurance.

"RANMA SAOTOME; I SHALL NOT ALLOW THIS TRAVESTY! YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS!"

Shinji blinked.
"That sounded like that Kuno guy. Seems like he's pissed off. Oh well, Ranma
can handle him."
Shinji proceeded to hold his buckets, ignoring the sounds of fighting now coming from the top floor.

****************

Meanwhile

Akane and Ranma were standing in the hall holding buckets as well. They had been silent the first two periods up till now, but the silence was grating on Akane's nerves. That led to Akane being irritated. And what does she do when she is irritated? Right, she takes out her frustrations on the next target…that ended up being Ranma.
"This is all your fault. If you hadn't taken so long with beating Kuno and
if your idiot-brother hadn't blabbered that long I would have been on time!"

Ranma rolled his eyes.
"Oh will you stop it already. Shinji just tried to avoid the fight and it was that loony who started it first. By the way, what's with that morning brawl anyway?"

Akane sighed.
"That was Kuno's idea. One day he had the idea that everybody who wanted a date with me had to beat me in combat and ever since then these perverts have been trying to beat me."

Ranma tried to discern if she was joking, but she seemed serious.
"You are serious aren't you?"
Suddenly a grin spread on his face.
"You know, that means you owe Shinji a date! Not that he would want to go out with a macho-chick like you."

Of course, that remark had the obvious result. Akane's head grew red, with embarrassment or anger, Ranma couldn't tell.
"You idiot! I won't go out with you brother. It was just a fluke anyway, there's no way Shinji is better than me in fighting! And whom are you calling macho-chick anyway?"

Ranma rolled his eyes again.
"Calm down will ya? It was just a joke! Shinji would be far to shy to go on a date with you anyway, so don't worry. And yes, Shinji may not be better than you in fighting, but he still beat you square and fair."

"Oh, and how could that be, if I am better?" asked Akane, now a little
calmer.

Ranma looked at her like that was obvious.
"Easy, you were swinging at him like crazy; you lost control over your anger. That made your technique sloppy, and you left yourself wide open.
Shinji put everything into one attack and overwhelmed you because your defences were non-existent. If you had fought
with a clearer head he would have lost."



That, while true, was also an insult to Akane's ego, so her mood darkened again.
"Are you saying that…:"

"RANMA SAOTOME! I SHALL NOT ALLOW THIS TRAVESTY! YOU SHALL PAY FOR THIS!"

Her rant was cut short by Kuno's battle scream as he charged down the hall, his mind set on the utter destruction of Ranma Saotome.
The kendoist came within reach and leashed out with a downward slash, which Ranma simply hopped over, still holding the buckets.
"What's the matter Kuno?"

"Do not play dumb with me knave. I know all about your marriage to Akane Tendo, and I will not allow it!"

Ranma frowned; this guy was starting to get on his nerves.
"Listen you idiot, Right now, nothing is set in stone. I'm staying with the Tendos for half a year before we decide which one of his daughters will be my fiancée and I very much doubt it is going to be Akane since she already hates me!"

"I will not listen to your lies! Now fight me!"

"Fine, but let's go outside, this is no place to fight." With a cocky smile Ranma jumped out the nearest window.


All the students that had been starting to fill up the hallway goggled at the sight. When Kuno jumped out the same window they winced a bit.


The cocky smile quickly slipped from Ranma's face as he found himself rushing towards the pool.
`Just my luck, I have to use the one window where there is a pool under!'
*SPLASH*

Ranma, now Ranma-chan, quickly reoriented herself and swam to the surface. She had to get away from school as fast as possible and find some hot water. She dragged her body out of the pool, the shirt clinging to her body now clearly showing that she was indeed quite female.

*SPLASH*

Ranma ran away, but stopped as somebody called her from the side
"Psst, psst! Ranma!"

Ranma looked over to some bushes, there was Nabiki, holding a kettle.
"This can be yours Saotome, for only 500 yen!"

Ranma considered: lose 500 yen or be seen as a girl?
The choice wasn't hard.
"You'll get the money at home!" Ranma was had just grabbed the kettle and was about to dump it on herself when………

"Oh what beauty befalls my eyes? Please tell me your name oh beautiful one. I must know the name of a goddess such as yourself" Needless to say the idiot who was sprouting of these things was Kuno.

Somehow Ranma couldn't help but shudder.
"Don't come any nearer you pervert!"

Has Kuno ever listened?
*glomp*
"Let me smother you with my affection. I will show you what the true love of a man such as I can be like!"

Ranma's left brow started twitching violently.
`He will die a slow and gruesome death!'
"I am not a GIRL you idiot" Ranma's punctuated that scream with a head butt.

The moment Kuno let go of her, Ranma kicked him into the gut for good measure and proceeded to give him a second beating, although it was a lot more violent this time.

When Kuno had finally fallen unconscious Ranma huffed and changed back.
`Now back to school'


When Ranma was gone Nabiki came out and dragged Kuno's bloody form away.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! You had that coming Kuno-baby. Not that it will stop you from trying again. Seems like Ranma has already managed to get himself an unwanted suitor."
*chuckle*

*****************

On the first floor Shinji shook his head as he saw a wet Ranma trudging towards him.
"Seems like that Kuno guy has it in for you, huh?"

Ranma nodded wearily.
"Yeah, and now it seems like he has a crush on my girl-side too!"


Shinji raised an eyebrow at that
"You know Ranma. You are probably the only person on the world that attracts chaos like a magnet! Hopefully that won't rub off on me!"

Ranma gave a mock frown.
"Oh just shut up already. Be happy you don't have these problems."

Shinji nodded.
"Yeah, I don't think I could deal with them as well as you. I have enough trouble holding these frigging buckets. I have the feeling the teach wants to see me suffer. At my old school you only had to hold buckets for one period before going back in."

Ranma shrugged.
"So what? Take it as training then. If you're bored try lifting em or something. That's good exercise. Anyway, speak to you at lunch. Gotta go and refill my buckets now!"

With that Ranma was off, leaving Shinji to his own devices again, who started lifting the buckets now.


Inside of Shinji's classroom the teacher watched curiously as the new student started lifting the buckets instead of holding them. He wanted to punish him for coming late, and had actually hoped that he would drop the buckets…that always brought his students down a notch or two. However, he started to doubt this was going to work with that one, so he called him in again.

***************

After school

Akane, Ranma and Shinji were walking home together after school ended. While Akane brooded Ranma was skipping along the fence.
"Hey Shinji! Why don't you come up here?"

Shinji looked up worriedly and blushed a decent shade of red
"I don't think that's such a good idea. Remember what happened last time?"

Ranma snickered
"Of course I do. I think I won't ever forget the look on your face when you found yourself looking up that girl's skirt." (2)
That comment was enough for Akane to walk faster and ahead of them, but they didn't really notice.

Shinji blushed even more.
"..It was an accident. And don't forget the beating we got afterwards"

Ranma shrugged.
"Oh come on now. That only happened once! Now get up here already! I'm still your sensei you know? Or are you scared you might fall into the canal? I thought my dad taught you to swim?"

Shinji glared at Ranma for a moment, remembering back to the gruesome `training' of Genma. When the man found out Shinji couldn't swim he proceeded to dump him into every water-body he could find and told him `to swim'. After nearly drowning ten times Shinji surprisingly enough began to get the hang of swimming. Not that it made nearly drowning any more pleasant, mind you. While the training left Shinji with the ability to swim, water still made him uneasy, something that Ranma knew as well. It was something he had constantly used to pester Shinji about and frankly, it was getting annoying.
'I'll show you bro!'
Steeling himself Shinji concentrated. He still had some problems jumping even the 6 feet to the fence top.
He gave a mighty thrust and flew upwards. He cleared the fence top…………and flew over it.
*splash*

"Sputter… I just knew something like this would happen!"

Ranma laughed out loud.
"You're so clumsy sometimes bro. You have gotten a lot stronger since last time you did this. Now try again with a little bit more feeling."


"…Sorry….I'll get it right this time!"
Once again Shinji jumped, this time from the canal-side and managed to land on the fence unsteadily.

Ranma caught her before she fell.
"That's better. Now just walk forwards like you did last time"

Shinji did as Ranma said and managed a good 50 feet on unsteady legs, before she lost her balance and fell.
*Splash*

"Up again!"

************************

Shinji trudged into the Tendo yard in a very foul mood. She didn't know how often she had fallen into that damned canal; she had stopped counting after
twenty. Now she wanted nothing more than a nice hot bath and fresh clothes.



"Now, Now Shinji! We're not done yet. We spar before bathing!" Ranma said with a jovial voice. The martial artist was already limbering up for the match. Shinji sighed, seeing the wisdom in Ranma's words. If she had to do her afternoon-training it was better to get it in before bathing. Shinji dumped her school bag onto the porch and limbered up as well.

Soon the young Saotomes were locked in an intense sparring match…intense for Shinji at least. Ranma simply had a fun time torturing his younger part-time sister. After sparring Ranma taught Shinji new moves in the dojo and forced him through some body conditioning, as he did everyday after sparring.

*****************************

When Shinji was finally free of the torture Ranma called training she dragged her tired body through the living-room, not even noticing the curious glances directed at her, and up the stairs. She wanted nothing more than going to bed. Shinji had enough presence of mind (and hunger) to remember they still had to eat dinner. That meant bathing and maybe helping Kasumi in the kitchen. So Shinji headed for the furo after dumping off her book-pack in the guest-room.


As Shinji sunk into the hot water, he let out a content sigh, happy to be in his male form again. While he wasn't bothered by the curse as much as Ranma it still made him uneasy to be in a girl's body. He sat in the tub and let the hot water sooth away the kinks and knots in his muscles, once again cursing all the gods he knew for making him agree to learn martial arts from Ranma. From day one Shinji had drifted off to sleep dead tired after the hard training. The training he had received at NERV looked like child's-play to him now.

NERV….. the word stirred his memory unbidden. He had tried to push all thoughts about NERV, EVA, the angels and even his friends away. He was with Ranma now. NERV wouldn't need him anyway, would they? Surely Asuka and Rei could handle the last 5 angels? With Misato's tactical backup there shouldn't be any problems.

Thinking about the three women in his life Shinji couldn't help but feel guilty. Wasn't he just running from responsibility by handing over his workload to them? Could he really forgive himself if one of them got hurt because he wasn't there?

The answer to both questions was clear: he was running, and he wouldn't be able to forgive himself. In addition he missed all of them terribly and Shinji's mind could only reach one conclusion: He needed to get back somehow, if only so that Ranma wouldn't clobber him because he let two girls fight the angels instead of doing it himself.

That thought didn't bring Shinji any comfort. He had brushed sides with death far too often to want back into an EVA. This wasn't about wanting; this was about doing the right thing…the honourable thing as Ranma would say. Question was: How to go back? Shinji wasn't even sure where he was. Maybe he was in the past? Maybe he was in another universe altogether? Both possibilities didn't sound very realistic, but he couldn't deny what he had seen the past six weeks. Clearly on this world there were landmasses where there shouldn't have been any. The old Tokyo, on his world a city of ruins submerged under water, was still standing here……

Deciding that he was too tired to think about this Shinji exited the furo and started drying himself off. He was just about to put on a fresh shirt when Ranma walked into the changing-room grinning like an idiot.
"So Shinji, how do you feel?"

Shinji glared at him
"I feel like I always do after training: Dead tired, no thanks to you Ranma. See you at the dinner table"
With that he exited the room, leaving Ranma alone. Said person just shrugged and proceeded to get undressed.

*******************

Dinner was as quiet for Nabiki as it always had been. That was something she wasn't expecting. From what her father had told her the Saotomes had been all over the place to learn martial arts, surely someone like that had some interesting stories to tell?

Of course, it wasn't the story itself she was after. Money was what she craved and a few details about the Saotomes would give her just that. It seemed that a lot of students (mostly female) were interested to know more about the Saotome-brothers, especially Ranma. That
was a source of income she couldn't ignore, especially since the Saotomes were nearly eating them out of house and home.

Now how to go about extracting some info?
"So, Ranma, why don't you tell us a little about your ten years on the road? Surely you have quite a few stories to tell?"

Ranma looked up from stuffing his mouth for a moment, which was used by Genma to steal a morsel.
"Uhm, I doubt I have anything interesting to tell, it was just training every day." Ranma deflected Genma's other attempts to steal without even looking.

Nabiki frowned, but put on a false smile quickly.
"Oh come on now Ranma-kun. I'm a fiancée-prospect for you, don't you think I
deserve to know something bout you? What are your hobbies? Do you like music? Are you into animals? That kind of thing, you know?"


Ranma shrugged.
"I have already told you, there is nothing to tell. We were always moving around, so I didn't manage to make many friends. Martial arts is my life, I don't have time for hobbies! I don't like all these other things. That's what Shinji is for, why don't you ask him?"

Next to Ranma Shinji resisted the urge to groan.
`Great move Ranma! Direct attention to the one person, whose past is in a different world!'


Nabiki did as Ranma said, seeing how she wasn't getting anything out of him. "So Shinji, what about you. The only thing you told me was that you met up with Ranma at Jusenkyo. How did you end up there anyway? What were you doing before?"

Shinji gulped. How to answer that question? He knew he was a horrible liar. His past failings to do so proved that more than enough, but he had to try and give it his best shot.
"Ah…well. Nabiki-san, I had been living with my uncle until I was fourteen but he and my aunt died in a car-accident nearly three months back. I…was in China because I was led to believe I had relatives there. …As you can guess…I didn't find them. I was just wandering around when I met Ranma."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. The boy didn't sound very sure of himself.
"So, what is that about you having lived with your uncle? What about your parents?"


Shinji's expression saddened with real emotion when he remembered back to the day his mother disappeared.
"They both died in an experiment when I was four years old. I don't know any details though. It was `classified'." Well, at least that was partly true. His mother was dead and his father was dead as a parent.

Nabiki winced when she saw Shinji's expression. While most people called her the ice-queen she had feelings and having lost her own mother she didn't even want to think how it must have been to lose both parents.
"Ah...sorry Shinji-kun….I didn't know!"

"It's alright. It has been a long time since it happened anyway." He said reassuringly.

Normally Nabiki would have questioned Shinji further about the subject, but thought it prudent not to stretch her luck. Instead she brought the conversation back to safer topics.
"So, what have you been doing all these years with your uncle?"

Shinji sighed dejectedly before answering in a tired voice.
"I haven't done much of anything. I am not the kind of guy to make friends easy. I have kept mostly to myself: I was a loner. I only learned how to cook and playing the cello. That is, up until recently….. If you will excuse me now, I'll go outside for a moment. I need some fresh air." He added as an afterthought.

As Shinji stood up Ranma noticed him nodding in his direction, nothing major, just enough for Ranma to notice.
"I'm finished as well. It was delicious Kasumi. I'm gonna go out for a little bit as well." With that he stood and left out the front door.

When Ranma was gone Akane snorted.
"These two could at least wait till everybody is finished! How can they be so disrespectful?"

"Now, Akane. I don't think they meant any disrespect. Shinji just needs to sort his feelings; it probably wasn't easy talking about his parents." Said Kasumi in her ever-calming voice

Kasumi being Kasumi her words reached Akane, who hadn't listened in before, quite well, causing the girl to flinch. The death of their mother was a topic nobody wanted to talk about, so she had to give others that right as well.
Of course…
"Sorry, you're right Kasumi. But that doesn't excuse that other baka to leave as well!"

A chuckle made it past Nabiki's lips, which got her Akane's attention.
"Really little sister, you are so stubborn sometimes. Just because the boys at our school are all idiotic perverts doesn't mean Ranma and Shinji are too! At least give them a chance before jumping to conclusions!"
Nabiki finished her sentence with a little anger in her voice. That left her looking like she was defending the boys, which she did indeed. She still felt bad for Shinji and decided to pay him back…..somehow she couldn't bring herself to dislike the quiet and shy boy.

At the other end of the table Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome were dancing polka, now sure that Nabiki liked Ranma……they were ignored as usual.

Akane, shocked to hear Nabiki saying this could only nod dumbly.
"I'll try, I promise."


Unnoticed by anybody Kasumi's smile got a little wider when Akane said that.

*********************+

Outside

Ranma walked into the yard and called Shinji's name. He wasn't too sure, but Shinji had indicated he wanted to talk in private.

A moment later his guess was proofed right.
"Ranma, we need to talk!"

Ranma didn't even flinch as Shinji stepped next to him, coming from behind.
"What's on your mind? Did Nabiki bring back bad memories?"
Shinji continued in a subdued voice
"Yeah, but that's not it. I……decided to go back."

Ranma looked confused for a moment
"Huh? Back?"

Shinji sighed.
"I mean back to NERV, Ranma. I haven't thought about it much these past weeks since I was occupied with training and getting back to Japan. But seeing Tokyo made me realize something: I have huge responsibility back home and you taught me that running from it won't make the problem go away. "

Then he nearly doubled over when Ranma slapped him on his back
"Good to hear that Shinji. I'm proud of you!"

"Um…well…thanks Ranma. There is just a little problem: How do I get back? As I see it, I don't have any means to get home. I don't even know if this is the past or another universe."

"Hmmm, well that's a good idea. What did you have in mind, and what's it got
to do with me?"

Shinji hung his head in defeat.
"I wanted to know if you have any idea how to go about this. Frankly, I don't have a single clue how to get back. Heck, I don't even know where my EVA is and without it I won't be much help!"

Ranma clasped his shoulder reassuringly.
"Don't worry about it for now. We will figure out a way to get you back and I'm sure your EVA will appear somewhere on the way as well."

Shinji wasn't exactly convinced by Ranma's statement, but gave him a wan smile anyway. At least he tried.
"Thanks Ranma: I'll go to bed now, had along day."

When Ranma was left alone in the dark yard he looked heavenwards with a scowl on his face.
"You just love screwing with people's lives, don't you?"

As if to answer his question it began to rain out of the blue.

"Well, this sucks!" said a very female Ranma as she made her way into the house, hoping that Nerima promised brighter days for her and especially her new brother.


End chapter 3

****************

Author's notes:

(1) I don't really know anything about the Japanese school-system, so I simply assumed Ranma's school would have Shinji's grade in it. It's more convenient that way for later chapters and I don't have to worry about bringing in ACCs .

(2) Let's just say Shinji knows now that lacy panties aren't very effective in covering certain areas………that was one nasty nosebleed he got that day.

Another chapter out! I know, this one wasn't very funny, nor very angsty, but I needed this to properly introduce Shinji and Ranma into Nerima.

Some of you might say Nabiki defending the boys is OOC, but I believe Nabiki isn't just an Ice Queen and has feelings as well. I would imagine she would feel sympathy with someone who lost both parents, knowing how it feels to lose one herself, but that's just my opinion.


Last but not least I want to thank my pre-readers :
Macross_VF1
Kuracao
Ranshin
Guncannon
For their help in making this chapter into something readable.

Do you have any comments, questions or requests? Send em to master_meister@gmx.de

Expect the next part out on my website within a month
http://mitglied.lycos.de/mastermagefanfiction/