Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Evangelion: Inochi no Ki ❯ The Transfer Student ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Chapter One: The Transfer Student

“Shinji~” Asuka said sweetly, tiptoeing into his room.

The room itself wasn’t very large, and it had become even smaller once all of the shelves and desks had been added in, covered in Shinji’s favorite light novels and comics. There was hardly enough room for Shinji and Asuka to both be standing in the room. Asuka looked around the room once, even though she knew exactly what it looked like. The little Pen-Pen alarm clock was going off (not that Shinji bothered getting up), and Shinji himself was hiding under as many covers as he could stand in the fine April weather.

“WAKE UP, DUMMY!” she shouted, not caring too much that the Ikari’s would hear her.

Shinji started awake immediately, staring up at Asuka, his dark blue eyes wide in fright. She smiled innocently, daring Shinji to suggest that a cute thirteen year old girl like her could even possibly make that much noise. He decided against it, and tried to smooth down his brown hair instead.

“Come on…” Asuka said. “It’s the first day of school! We can’t afford to be late! Get up already!” Her light blue eyes were twinkling with excitement. She reached down at Shinji’s blankets and pulled it away quickly. She gasped as his tented pants came into view. “You… you! I didn’t mean to get that up!” she shrieked. “Pervert! Idiot!”

“I can’t help it!” Shinji protested. “It’s just because I have to go to the bathroom!”

Asuka continued ranting while Shinji hurried off to the bathroom to get ready for the day. When he emerged, Asuka was practically pushing him out the door. Neither of the Ikari’s paid much attention to her boisterous actions, instead choosing to wave them off.

Asuka paused at the front door. “Idiot,” she said. “Your collar is all crooked. It’s our second year in middle school; you’d think you could learn to get this stuff right.” She straightened it easily. She’d done it so many times before anyways. Shinji at least had the decency to blush. “There. Let’s go.”

She grabbed him by the wrist and the two of them began running down the street towards the school. They sprinted down the streets, which were practically filled with people. Asuka, however, had a shortcut through a wealthy residential section, whose streets were mostly empty.

As they turned a corner back onto the main streets, Shinji collided head on with another rushing pedestrian. Asuka sighed, and exchanged a resigned glance with the companion of the girl who had just collided with Shinji. The two teens on the ground groaned, clutching their heads.

The girl, one of Shinji’s classmates, Rei Ayanami, was splayed out on the ground, her school uniform spread out. She didn’t seem to notice Shinji’s staring at the small amount of underwear visible until her twin sister cleared her throat. She moved her pale hands from her blue hair and stood up quietly.

Asuka and Rei’s sister, Kei, glared at Shinji, who flushed and rose himself.

“Gee, Ayanami-san… What’s the rush?” Shinji asked.

Kei giggled. “My sister and I are late so frequently we thought we should hurry up today so we wouldn’t get in trouble on the first day of school.”

“Then we should go!” Asuka said, pushing Shinji forward. “I don’t wanna get in trouble!” As she began running forward with him, she whispered, “Pervert,” angrily, but said little else. It was wearying enough running so far.

Finally, the four teenagers arrived at school. The middle school building was quite familiar to them all, and while they had a new classroom, everyone was sitting more or less where they had been last year. The four split up, with the Ayanami siblings going to their typical window seats, Asuka heading to the front of the room to talk to her best friend, Hikari Horaki, and Shinji ambling to the back of the room where his friends were sitting.

“Yo, Shinji!”

“Hey.”

Shinji’s two best friends, Toji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida waved happily. “Hey, guys,” Shinji said. “How’s it going?”

Toji beamed happily. “I’m great! Guess who our teacher is! Guess!”

Shinji considered for a moment. The teacher would have to be someone who didn’t care that Toji wore sweats all the time, and someone who wouldn’t mind Kensuke and Toji goofing off half the class. It would have to be—

Someone who would drive into the school parking late five minutes before class, tires screeching against the asphalt. Someone named Misato Katsuragi! The male population crowded against the windows, staring down at the most popular teacher in the school, cheering and hooting.

Misato looked up at the boys, removed her sunglasses, and waved. Everything about her was gorgeous, from her purplish hair to the way that she made even the conservative black dress she wore seem to accentuate every curve. The boys cheered her again.

A few minutes later, she’d made her way into the classroom and was addressing everyone. The boys were paying close attention, much to the girls’ annoyance.

“So, this is my third year teaching, but I’m sure we’re all gonna have a great time!” she said. “But before we can begin any lessons, there is someone I’m going to have to introduce! Will, uh, Nagisa Kaworu please come forward?”

A pale boy stood up. Everyone turned.

Huh. Asuka thought. I didn’t notice him.

The boy walked slowly to the front of the room and turned around to face the class. He wasn’t just pale. Nothing about him reflected a healthy color, from his grayish hair to his red eyes. And yet, at the same time, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him, either. Maybe because of his smile, surprisingly genuine.

“Hello, everyone,” he began. “I am Nagisa Kaworu. It is…” Here he paused, although no one was quite sure why. “…nice... to meet you all.”

“Yes,” Misato said happily. “It’s great to meet you too!” As Kaworu went back to his seat, Misato rose up and approached the chalkboard. She immediately jumped into a lecture. No male in the class paid any attention to what she said. The girls glared at the boys. Misato was oblivious to both.

At lunch, Asuka dropped the customary bento off at Shinji’s desk and then went back to her best friend. “Congratulations, Hikari-chan!” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me you were the Class Rep before class started?”

Hikari flushed pink. “Oh…” she said. “I… I didn’t want to brag.”

Asuka giggled. “You don’t have to worry about bragging around me, I’m your best friend! Besides, it’s not like I’d be jealous or anything! I don’t wanna be a Class Rep, it sounds boring…”

Hikari chuckled. “Well, there will be a lot of new stuff to worry about, I guess.”

“Just another reason to have nothing to do with it,” Asuka explained. “Since I now have a chance to take college classes, I don’t want to spend a lot of time doing extra work here.”

“You’re taking college classes?” Hikari exclaimed, shocked.

“Yep. I just didn’t feel challenged by the stuff here.”

Toji glared over at Asuka, and then whispered to Shinji and Kensuke, “So, she thinks she’s too good to go here.”

Shinji sighed. “Toji, can’t you at least try to get along with Asuka?”

“Her? But she’s so annoying!” Toji protested. Kensuke nodded in agreement. “Besides, we all know you’re only buddy-buddy with her to see up that skirt!” Toji added, vehemently.

Shinji’s eyes widened. “No!” he protested. “Our parents have been friends for years, you know that! And besides, you’re the one with a crush on the Class Rep!”

Toji glowered, but said nothing, for the transfer student approached. “Hello,” he said. “I have finished my lunch. May I converse with you?”

“Er…” The three friends exchanged uncertain glances. Finally, Kensuke gave an answer. “Sure, I guess.”

“Thank you.” Nagisa said, sitting next to them. “I am glad to have a chance to be making friends.” He didn’t seem to notice the second confused glance the boys exchanged. They all found him too confusing.

“I believe I recognize you,” Nagisa said a few moments of awkward silence later. “You are an Ikari?”

“Er… yeah… You know me?”

“I’ve met your parents,” he said.

No one could think of anything to say to that, so instead they spent lunch in silence. After school, the three friends went to a park to play basketball like they’d done every day after school, but Asuka didn’t take her usual route to Hikari’s house to hang out. She went to the subway and got on a northbound train.

The first thing she saw leaving the underground was the campus of Tokyo-3. She widened her eyes. I hadn’t expected this. Everyone is so old... She’d expected age, of course (she wasn’t an idiot), but the reality of it all… A group of jocks harassed each other, two girls had a conversation while walking to class, and all around her people went to and fro, pausing only to stare a moment as they realized a thirteen year old was in their midst.

She gulped and set off to her afternoon class. This wouldn’t be so bad… She hoped.

The class passed by relatively quickly, although everyone stared a bit. One man stared more than anyone else, and as soon as class ended, Asuka hurriedly set off, determined not to be near such a creep. She went straight home.

Well… almost straight home. Before going there, she stopped at Shinji’s apartment. She inhaled deeply as she entered; the smell of spices and sizzling meat permeated the room.

“No parents here, either?” she asked.

“No,” Shinji said. “They said something urgent with their translation project came up…”

“Oh…” Asuka looked down. If Shinji’s parents weren’t there, hers certainly wouldn’t be waiting for her at home. “C… can I eat dinner here?”

Shinji nodded to the boiling pot of noodles. Enough for two.

All in all, not a bad first day of school.