Disclaimer: Evangelion doesn't belong to me. If I did…well, I wouldn't be writing this stuff so that it could be posted here!
My name is Shinji Ikari. I am 16 years old and I go to the Tokyo-3 Academy. Yeah, it's an elitist high school where most of the kids are there because daddy has lots of money. I know. I'm one of them. My father is stupidly rich. He also refuses to speak to me ever so I don't really get on with him when he is home. My mother is a different story. I'm pretty close to her. And I still have no idea why she married my dad. It wasn't the money; I can tell when they're together. I guess that's just one of the mysteries of my life.
My life. Nothing exciting, really. Most of my days are spent at the academy where I learn a lot about nothing and deal with pompous jocks and girls so far up their own asses they could see out of their mouths. I do have two friends. One goes by the name of Toji Suzuhara and the other by the name of Kensuke Aida. Toji's dad is a football (soccer for those of an American disposition) player for a team whose name I can't remember in the J-League. Kensuke's dad is a supreme General of sorts in the Japanese Self Defence Force. We all go to the Tokyo-3 Academy because of our fathers. We all hated it as well, which was enough for friendship to blossom.
Today was a day like any other. I turned up to registration in the morning so that the registration teacher would take the roll like any other day. This was one part of the day that wasn't half bad. Our registration teacher went by the name of Misato Katsuragi I got pretty well with her. I was good friends with her fiancé, Ryoji Kaji and I got to know her on a personal level through him. Misato was always there when the going got tough which I was eternally grateful for because things got tough often in a pompous, elitist high school. I often asked her why she worked in such a place. "Meh, the pay's good," was her reply. "And plus, more money means more drinks on Friday night!" She definitely wasn't the type I'd associate with the Tokyo-3 Academy.
My registration class was full of the unsavoury rich types. All the girls were annoyingly loud and attention seeking. Especially one Asuka Langley Sohryu. Her daddy was from Germany and she is debatably the most popular girl in school. She annoys me, the way she goes on about herself. It just, argh, it just pisses me off. Of course, she never actually speaks to me because I am the lowest of the caste system in terms of Tokyo-3 academy. She is at the top somewhere and the gulf is overwhelming. Doesn't mean I can't be annoyed with the way she goes on.
When I said all the girls are like that, I wasn't exactly saying the truth. There is one girl who is completely unlike anybody, never mind just the girls here at the academy. Her name is Rei Ayanami and she sits by herself in her corner and never speaks to anybody. Occasionally, she can be seen reading a book but she usually stares out of the window. She's never spoken to me either but there's something about her. We're family apparently, but the link is so remote that it might as well not exist. My mother's 2nd cousin's uncle's daughter-in-law's sister's daughter or something like that. I'm not too sure but that's what I've always reckoned. She's just one of those types you just wonder about.
Apart from that, I don't really know anyway else. I've heard of Asuka because everybody has heard of Asuka and I've heard of Rei because she is somehow distantly and pointlessly related to me. Anyway, today was a day like any other. I was in registration on time. Toji and Kensuke were already in class, chatting about something or another. "Hey guys," I greeted.
"All right Shinji!" Toji said. "You catch the game last night?"
I started at him blankly and asked, "Game?"
"The football man! My dad's team won three-nil! And he scored two of them," Toji said. "I would almost like him if he hadn't shoved me into this frickin' academy."
"Ah, yeah. Well, no, I didn't catch the game," I pointed out. I kept the fact that I had no idea what his dad's team was called from Toji. If he ever asked about a game, I would always say I didn't know or I missed it. In reality, I had no idea where to start looking to find which team his dad played in.
Misato sauntered in fifteen minutes later, late as usual. "Morning class!" she greeted. She received muffled replies from a few and sheer ignorance from the rest of the class who thought they were too good to greet their teacher. I sat at the front of the class so I could hear Misato muttering, "Ah, another morning with all these preppy bastards and bitches." It made me wonder why she kept coming. In fact, I asked her there and then. "The pay, it's too lucrative not to take," Misato replied. "The Friday nights Shinji…they are far too excellent with the money I've been raking in from this job."
"What does a Friday night usually involve?" I asked, knowing what the answer was already.
"Getting absolutely guttered beyond the point of having the ability to see," Misato replied with a smile. "I have hangovers that last well into the week but it's well worth it."
Misato wasn't an alcoholic. She just loves drinking. That's how Kaji explained her colossal intake of booze. I often spoke to Kaji when he turned up at my home because my father demanded his presence. Kaji worked for my father but I didn't exactly know what he did. He did try to explain it to me one day, but it went above my head completely. Besides me not comprehending his job, Kaji was cooler. He was down to Earth like Misato and that was some respite from the teens in my school who think they owned the Earth. Speaking of such.
"It's Asuka!" one of the girls in the class cried as the redhead made her appearance. Guys pointed, girl's fainted and there was general commotion from everybody bar me and Ayanami. I was sure that she had a theme tune that resembled royal fanfare that played whenever she entered registration, somehow later than Misato. Four guys in our class immediately laid out a red carpet for her to walk that terribly long distance to her desk before another lay a soft cushion with a velvet case over that terribly uncomfortable wooden seat. Those five then attended to her every need which included fanning her, providing her with seedless grapes while moronic fan-girls did her hair and make up for her. It was the usual scene when Asuka turned up in school. The days when she didn't turn up had her fan-boys and girls running about like headless chickens on a treadmill which made me laugh.
I sat there with my arms folded, looking away with a scowl on my face. "Dude, it's Asuka!" Toji cried.
"Yeah, whatever," I said, not bothering to look his way.
"Well, your loss!" Toji said.
"She's soooo hot!" Kensuke cried, wolf whistling as he did. I cringed, and then cringed again because it was all so idiotic. She was just some girl that loved herself too much. She was part of the very reason I hated this school. In fact, she epitomised everything I hated about this school.
Thankfully, registration finished and I hurried out of the class as quickly as humanly possible at a walking pace to get my books out of my locker. And as usual after seeing that whole scene they made over Asuka, I had a scowl locked firmly on my face. I pulled my books quickly and hurriedly out of my locker, slammed it shut and locked it. I turned to my left and much to my annoyance, bumped straight into some moron who wasn't watching where they were going. I even bumped my head which was just great. Now I would get a killer headache as well.
I looked up to see my books all over the floor and then my heart skipped a beat. The person I bumped into was none other than Asuka, most possibly the most popular girl in school. "Ah, sorry," I apologised. I know I despised her, but her reputation did demand respect. As well as that, I didn't want to get the crap kicked out of me by her fan-boys. There was a moment of silence where she was rubbing her forehead where we had knocked together. At that moment, I waited for her posse to jump up and assault me for going with six feet of Asuka. Instead, nobody showed up. Asuka looked up at me and I swallowed hard, not knowing what to expect. "No, I should be sorry!" she said. "I wasn't looking where I was going! Here, let me help you with your things!"
I sat there on the ground in absolute amazement as Asuka Langley Sohryu, the girl who didn't need to do anything at school because there were hoards of people willing to do it for her, apologised to me and then offered to help me! It was as if the city was attacked by giant monsters things and I was forced to pilot a giant robot to defend the city! I quickly snapped to my senses and gathered some of my books as well. We both stood up at the same time and she handed the books in her hands over with a smile. "Sorry again. I'm just in a world of my own sometimes," she said. "You're Shinji Ikari, right? The one who gets on really well with Miss Katsuragi?"
"Uh…yeah," I replied. How the hell does she know that? I mean, there's no bloody way! It defied belief and left me confoundedly stupefied. "Ah, okay. I was afraid I might get it wrong! Anyway, I've got to run. Take it easy," Asuka said.
"Um, yeah. You take it easy too," I managed to say.
As she turned she gave one last smile before heading off in the opposite direction to me. And right there, I felt like I had been hit by a jumbo jet. My hatred for her seemed so suddenly displaced just because she was so…nice. There was no other word for it. She had been so nice to me just there. And just when my hopes were getting up, I heard someone speaking to her, one of her fan-girls to be precise. "Asuka, are you all right? That guy was sure an idiot to walk right into you!"
"Um…yeah, he was. A real idiot," Asuka agreed.
I was suddenly enraged. Was it all a façade? However, I managed to cool down when I realised the tone of her voice maybe said a different story. Maybe. I wasn't so sure. I wasn't sure whether to be shocked and bemused or hateful and spiteful. And all of a sudden, today wasn't just another day at the Tokyo-3 Academy.