Catalyst Chapter 1, an evangelion fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Neon Genesis Evangelion, Studio Gainax animation does, meaning I do not gain any financial benefits from the creation of this fan fiction.

This story is about Shinji Ikari and Mayumi Yamagishi. Enjoy.

Catalyst

By: XxRagnarokxX88

Shinji Ikari struggled to get up this particular morning. While he was never the one to be optimistic about a new day, he had a new reason to struggle against staying in the warm comfort of his sheets or making breakfast for himself and his commanding officer, Misato Katsuragi. His reason being the fatigue he was currently experiencing after his encounter with the monstrous purple Evangelion.

"Ugh..," he began to slowly stir from his stupor. Gradually, he laid on his back with his right arm draped on his sweat soaked forehead and stared at the empty ceiling. "Another unfamiliar ceiling..." he mumbled as he got up and began unpacking his single duffle bag, something he had not bothered to do in his first day in Ms. Katsuragi's apartment. The single duffle bag served as yet another sad reminder of what little he actually had in his short existence. Among the contents of the bag were nothing more than essential; a few pair of slacks, boxers and other necessities. He frown at this, but simply shrugged it off as he realized that it's the same as always.

He rubbed his eyes and made his way to the hallway then stopped. In his sleepy haze, he forgot where the bathroom was and decided to choose at random, opening the first door he saw to the left, only to find a snoring purple haired beauty sprawled out on her equally disarrayed futon. He blushed slightly and closed the door before he saw anymore, he felt staring would only lead to him disturbing her privacy even further. After closing the door, he found the right door and quickly began what he thought would become a routine. Looking at clock that was plugged near the sink, he saw how early it really was and decided to turn his shower into a bath to 'clear his mind and soul', as his guardian had put it. After all, he had a lot to think about.

Letting the warm water consume him up to mid-chest, he turned off the faucet and let his thoughts drift to the events prior to this new, different day.

"My father never needed me... but now he's built a robot that needs me?" he mused angrily. "Some joke.. Right. It doesn't matter, I'm not afraid to die! And I won't let him call me a coward! Some low life who abandoned me! Coward!"

Misato only stared at the shy boy that she assumed him to be change suddenly and abruptly into a furious young man. She twitched at this and brushed it off as nervousness at seeing an untrained pilot taking control of the Evangelion, when she was asked what was bothering her by her long time friend, Ritsuko Akagi.

"Cooling-down cycle complete! All internal cage systems in docking position!"

"Pilot has reached the cockpit position within the entry plug!" Shinji only waited impatiently as he felt a sudden movement inside of the cylinder object he was told to get into. "Roger, inserting entry plug!"

'I'll prove to him I'm no coward,' he thought angrily as a female voice rose above the other technicians.

"Plug lock-in procedure completed! Initiating First Level Interface!"

He sighed as the anger subsided a bit.

"Flooding entry plug!"

To his dread, he looked down to see transparent orange-yellow water fill the narrow chamber of the entry plug. "W-Wha- What's going on?" he shouted as the liquid consumed his legs and showed no sign of ending there.

"Don't be alarmed," shouted another female voice. "Once your lungs are saturated with the LCL, you'll be able to undergo direct oxygen exchange!"

"Glag! I'm going to drown!" the young teenager yelled as the fluid now reached his neck and bordered his chin.

"Calm down, Shinji!" he was too panicked to recognize the voice of the woman who had just earlier saved him from being crushed by the foot of some giant.. monster! "Your a boy aren't you! Deal with it!"

Not being able to hold his breath any longer as the fluid completely covered what now appeared to be his molybdenum and lithium cylinder coffin, he breathed in the transparent liquid with a tired 'glug'. Too busy to mentally note his knowledge of metals, he let go and continued to breathe in the liquid with cautious, shallow sighs. He felt nauseous, but not liberated of his short and now interesting life. 'Damnit! At this rate, I'll be dead before I even fight the damn monster!' he mentally mumbled.

Once again the first, softer toned, but still commanding female voice returned, "Main power connected! All Circuits fully functional! Initiating power-up sequence!" Shinji's vision blurred and soon the cylinder began to change into shapes and colors as unrecognizable sounds started to engulf his mind. "A10 neural synapses operating within normal limits! First Contact, all clear! Opening reciprocal circuits!" Suddenly he felt tall.. very tall. He looked around and found himself looking through the eyes of what the blonde scientist called, 'Evangelion Unit-01'.

"This is incredible," Dr. Akagi muttered, "How can his synch-rate be at 45.7 percent? Maya, what are the chances of synch errors?"

"Synch errors are within 0.3 percent!" the young technician seemed to be shocked as well, "He's amazing!" Shinji who only managed to catch the last part of the young woman's remark blushed, but quickly recovered as the sensation of being inside of the large humanoid robot overtook him again. He could feel power of the behemoth, suddenly feeling he could prove his father wrong.

"Evangelion Unit-01! Prepare to launch!" Shinji could clearly hear Ms. Katsuragi's order and wondered what he should do, until he saw the giant cages around the Eva move. "Releasing primary lock-bolt!"

"Released confirmed! Releasing umbilical bridge!" Shinji felt his shoulder's slump for some reason, as the catwalk in-front of him began to move. He didn't know if he was going crazy or not. "Releasing primary and secondary restraints!" He felt too many things going on around him and he began to feel dizzy, tasting the sensation of vertigo. He called out for the only person who he could remember. "Ms. Katsuragi?"

She seemed a bit upset as she stopped calling orders and Ritsuko took over. "What is it, Shinji?"

"I feel... weird." Suddenly a small video monitor appeared out of nowhere. He pulled back slightly at this, and the woman standing next to her began to speak. "You are synchronized with your Eva, depending on the synchronization rate, you feel what it feels. Don't worry, you'll be fine." Shinji took this in and though silently. 'I feel what it feels? Those that include the damage I'll take during battle?'

His musing were cut short as he suddenly felt a stop in movement. Looking around, he found himself against a wall with rows of platforms that looked like giant elevators. 'Great.'

"Launch path cleared, all green! Launch preparations are complete." Misato stared at the fourteen year old's face. ".. Roger."

"Commander Ikari." Shinji shuddered as he heard his father's reply to Misato, answering an unspoken question.

"Proceed. If we fail to defeat the angels, humanity has no future."

"LAUNCH!"

Shinji suddenly braced in his seat as several G-forces were applied to his lean frame. After finally reaching a stop, he opened one eye and scanned his environment, and gasped. He saw the city he had just arrived to, Tokyo 3, underneath his gaze. He had no idea of the true size of the Eva, but he gained a glimpse as the few buildings that did not retract underground, looked like mere, fragile obstacles. His awe was short-lived as he saw the same monster than nearly killed him only minutes after he arrived to strange new city. The large, indistinguishable 'angel' stood before him, it's face, which looked like a flat mask resembling a bird's head, was placed where in it's chest area. It's dark umber skin stretched around, but not over, it's protruding rib cage. As Shinji fearfully inspecting his opponent, it appeared like it had it's shoulders, ribs, and leg bones as armor over it's mushy flesh.

"This is it, Shinji!"

"Ms.Ugh... Right." He stumbled with words as his confidence took a nosedive. "Releasing final safety locks!" Shinji felt his shoulders relax as the shoulder restraints let go of his Eva. "Evangelion Unit-01, Lift off!"

'Good luck, Shinji' Misato wished slightly, clutching her pendant tightly.

"Shinji! Just try walking!"

"U-uh.. how do I do that?" he clutched the twin controls nervously waiting for an answer as the 'angel' in front of him started at him with it's dark and menacing eye sockets. "Just concentrate! Focus your conscious thoughts on the concept of walking!"

"W-walk..," he grabbed the controls feebly. 'Walk..!' He soon felt his will clumsily done as the giant Eva began to move forward. "Whoa!" he yelped out as the Eva continued to move forward, almost by it's own will.

Meanwhile, the whole crew watched from the enormous command center, awing as the inexperienced child willed the monstrous biomechanical robot forward. Ritsuko's and Misato's comments did little to help him, though.

"He-- He actually did it!" beamed Ritsuko.

"He's up and at 'em!" Misato nearly squealing in delight.

"Stop, okay?" he Eva did not follow it's order. "St-- Sto-. Damnit! Fine!" Unaware that anger finally overtook him, he came to a decision. "Charge!" This order was taken, as he clutched the dual controls tightly, and the huge robot ran forward; it's momentum causing slight tremors in the city streets. The angel suddenly took notice of it's now obvious adversary.

"Oh, no! Shinji, wait!" Misato screamed as she say his frantic actions.

"YAAAAAAAAA," His eyes were wide with almost tangible fury. "AAHHHHH!" Not knowing how to really attack, he blindly willed his arms to cross and attempted to tackle the angel to the ground. His eyes shut with fear, and he missed the angel by meters. He opened his eyes as he did not feel the expected impact, and saw only buildings blurring by. "Ah?"

"Shinji, watch out!" her warning did little, as she saw Unit-01 crash into the building in front of it seconds later.

Shinji felt himself fall and, even though he was inside of the giant machine, he felt the pain as if he himself fell on the concrete below.

The softer female voice began to yell, "Get up! It's got you cornered!" Shinji simply looked up in fear as he saw a clawed, tripod hand took his machine's face in it's grasp. He jerked forward as he felt a pressure squeezing his face; an agonizing flash of pain overtaking his senses. "Aargh!"

He felt himself lifted up in the air, but with his eyes closed from both fear and pain, he could only trust his other four senses. Misato gasped as he saw Unit-01, no more importantly, Shinji lifted several hundred feet off the ground. Her fears only accumulated as her gaze rested on the angels arms as the both had extended dagger-like ends. She started sweating, feeling her heart-race. "Shinji!" she squeaked out loudly, "Get the hell out of there!" She received no response, and everyone at the command center stared helplessly as the angel used it's other arm to grab Unit-01's left arm.

Shinji opened and closed one of his eyes in grimace as he felt his left arm starting to throb and shake. "What the he-- AAAAAGGGHHH!" he screamed as his Eva's arm snapped out of place with a sickening 'crunch'. He held out his arm as if it did not belong anymore.

"Please calm down Shinji!" urged someone he couldn't recognize at the moment, "it's not your arm! Look at it Shinji, It's not your arm!" He could only concentrate on the pain. With an appalling sound, the Eva's arm was crushed under the power of the Angel's claw.

"Dislocation, left elbow! Rupture, pronator teres! Severing circuit below Glenoid Fossa and rerouting connections!" someone yelled. Shinji only held his arm and continued screaming at the intense pain.

"How is this happening..?" Ritsuko yelled. "The synchronization frequencies... they're in hyper-fluctuation?"

Shinji stared in front of him as a light shone brightly. Was death finally, here? "Damn it! Shinji, Get out of the way!" Misato screamed. All he could do was hold his right hand feebly in front of him as the light from the angel's hand thrusted forward. The blades on the back of the angel's elbows retracted and thrusted forward, making contact with the single-horned head of Unit-01.

"The Cranial area is going into paralysis!"

"YAAAAAAGGGHHH," he screamed as he clutched the right side of his head. With a second and final blow, the head crack and Eva-Unit 01 was driven backwards as it sailed impossibly across and over the streets of Tokyo 3. It landed directly into the side of a large building, larger that itself, raining debris over the street under it. The Eva slumped lifelessly, letting it's crushed arm land on the adjacent building. The head of Unit-01 let out a spray of aubergine blood onto the streets below it's inert legs, drenching the ruins of Tokyo-3.

Misato's eyes went wide and her face paled at the sight of the defeated Unit-01.

"Degree of cranial damage unknown!"

"Cutting power to control neurons! Reversing synchro-graphs!.. P-Pulse is surging back!" Ritsuko clutched the seat of her underling. "Pull the circuits manually! Just stop that backflow!" Somehow she knew it wouldn't. "Negative," Maya announced, "it's refusing all inputs!"

"What about Shinj?" Misato finally catching her breath.

"Monitors not responding-- we can't tell if he's alive of dead!" yelled a bespectacled man.

Maya's breath caught in her throat, "Unit-01 is completely silent!"

Realizing there was no chance for victory, Misato changed her priorities. "All right, I'm suspending all original orders! Pilot safety is now our only priority! Force ejection of the entry plug!"

"There's no manual override! We've lost all contact with the Eva!" shrieked Maya.

"Shinji...!"

Tears mixed slowly with the bathtub water. 'She's not a bad person, but happy memories never find my in the bath.. or anywhere for that matter', Shinji shifted himself slowly, letting himself go slightly deeper in the water, letting the tears mix with the warm liquid, denying their existence.

"What was I thinking?" he asked himself. "Why did I even try and fight..?"

Shinji's eyes slowly opened taking his environment in, or lack of in this case.

'.. so warm..' He found himself floating in an endless nothingness. '... so.. I'm dead aren't I?' He smiled lightly and let himself relax. 'Huh.. Just as I thought-- death isn't a big deal, after all..'

He was interrupted as a light began to enclose the space between himself and it's source. It soon took shape, as a woman with an undistinguishable face and long hair. It's prescence was nostalgic, comforting even. Could it be?

'... Mother?'

He felt himself smile, but it soon faded as the image twisted into that of a bio-mechanical human, gently touching his face.

'AIIIEEEE' he yelled as it's arms encircled him. It's bleeding right eye spilling it's contents over his shirt.

'No, no! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die yet! Help! Father! MOTHER!'

Shinji held himself shuddering as the undesirable memory rose into consciousness.

"What was that thing? That warm... lost thing..."

He held his left arm up in front of him, moving it and inspecting it as if it could disappear from existence at any given moment. How strange that he was still alive to even question whether he still was alive.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR"

It was inhuman battle cry that caused everyone to look up at the main hologram window suspended in mid air. There was a simultaneous intake of air in the subterranean command center. Mixed reactions appeared on the many people in command as the horrific image was brought to screen. Unit-01 broke it's frontal jaw restraints as another dreadful cry escaped it's 'mouth'.

"It's Unit-01! She's reactivated!" gasped Ritsuko, "She's ripped out her own frontal shut-off joint!" Panic was now vivid in her voice. "But the synchro-graph is still in the negative zone! She can't be moving.. unless.. She's Out of Control!"

Unit-01 rushed in an atrocious rage, it's arms wide apart, ready to shred whatever monstrosity stood in it's narrow path. With a powerful forward step, it leapt into the air with full intent of landing on the skull/chest of the angel, only to avoid a blinding flash coming from right claw forcing her to evade and land it's two feet on the face of the beast, cracking it's mask-like head.

The angel twisted it's body to the right, allowing an open shot to the narrow abdomen of Unit-01. The Eva took the brunt of the damage in stride and leaps off the angel's cracked face, landing on all fours. Expecting the angel to retaliate in this short opening, the Eva swerved out of the way of the angel's claw. Skidding to halt, the Eva almost seemed to enjoy the angel's attempt at bringing it down.

"SHINJI? Is he controlling the Eva?" the immediate response did little to calm her down. "No! That's impossible! The way he's fighting-- He can't be at this level of piloting!"

Shinji's father, the commander of NERV, smiled behind his interlaced fingers and deep orange glasses. "Heh..."

The Eva ran with all it's ferocity, it's finger's clawing at the air and arms raise at it's sides apart from it's body, almost trembling with the anticipation of clawing at fresh flesh. The angel stood still and slumped forward as an orange hexagonal wall formed in front of it. The Eva crashed into it gracelessly.

"An AT Field?" Misato could only stare as the Eva clawed at the wall that separated it from it's victim. "So the angel's have them, too?"

Ritsuko cut in, unable to hid the fear in her voice any longer. "As long as the angel generates the field, the Eva can't approach it!"

All hopes of victory wavered as the Eva clawed fruitlessly. "What's happening!" Misato could only speculate as the purple and green Eva raised it's broken arm in front of it's face, and with a savage cry, bared it's teeth as it's left arm healed almost instantaneously.

"Left wrist is restored!"

"What! Just like that!"

"Unit-01 is also deploying an AT Field" Maya yelled, barely keeping up with the monitors in front of her. "It's neutralizing the angel's phase variance!"

The Eva clawed into the center of the orange obstruction and brutally tore the AT Field. "My god! The Eva has forced open the angel's AT Field!" The angel's eye sockets flash and released a stream light that launched directly at the purple monster, only to be deflected as the Eva crossed it's arm and pushed savagely against it's attack. The angel was now allowed the same treatment it was given before as it was knocked off it's clawed feet and sailed backwards onto a building. The Eva jumped onto several building before leaping as far as it could into the cold night sky, leaving it's silhouette on the streets.

The angel looked up, watching the Eva bend it's legs and bringing down it's knees onto the red center in it's chest, causing an audible crack in the night air. The Eva looked over it's prey slowly and finally decided the angel's demise. It took hold of the rib cage surrounding the red core and pulled on it, causing purple blood to pour out of it's new wound. Grabbing the rib, the Eva growled deeply and started piercing the red orb.

The angel's eyes lit up and it's claws suddenly surrounded the Eva and held it in position as it's core began to shine. "Self-Destruct!" The explosion was observed in silence as the angel exploded, Eva Unit-01 taking the full brunt of the attack. Everyone in the command center shielded their eyes as the brightness overcame them, expecting Unit-01 to be in shambles. The purple Eva slowly walked away from the wreckage, it's armor cracking lightly around it's upper-half, and abruptly stopped. The commander allowed himself a small grin.

It was Maya who first regained awareness, her softer toned voice speaking quite audibly in the silence of the Command Center, "L-life signs confirmed for both Unit-01 and Pilot! Dispatching retrieval Units! Contacting emergency crews-- "

And so he began his new morning ritual, leaving the bathroom once all matters were attended to, and quickly changing into his black slacks and white shirt, donning his favorite blue undershirt as well. He sighed; he forgot to ask Ms. Katsuragi what he would be doing that day. Of course he wasn't exactly looking forward to school, but what else was he suppose to do now?

"I wonder if she's going to make me get in that giant robot again..? Eva..." Unconsciously, he placed his hand over right eye, confirming that it's still there. His fingertips brushed against a band aid over his right eyebrow. "Can I consider this a battle scar now? Heh.."

"Morning, Shinji," yawned a half-asleep Misato, "why are you up so early? Your first day of school -- yawn -- doesn't start for another hour."

"M-morning, Ms. Katsuragi. Sorry, I couldn't sleep very well.."

"What did I tell you? Call me 'Misato', I don't really like that formality stuff."

"Sorry.." he twitched under her groggy gaze. "Ms- uh - Misato, am I going to have to.. pilot it again?"

".. You don't want to?" her eyes opened completely at this. Why wouldn't he want to help save the world from the angels? She waited patiently for his response.

"Well... it doesn't exactly come naturally to me... and... it hurts..." he managed to keep the stinging feeling at the corner's of his eyes at just that.

Misato continued to stare at her new charge while keeping her anger in check. 'He's just scared.. no way a kid would not want to help save the world... it's every child's fantasy, isn't?'

"Don't worry, Shinji. It was just your first time. Besides, once we train you, those angels won't stand a chance against our Eva Units" she forced out her cheerfulness.

He desperately wanted to change the subject. "Eva units?"

"Yes, the one you used was Unit-01.. the other Eva is Unit-00, but it's currently going through some things.."

"Right.. but what about that girl? The one that was injured?" Though this worked as a change in subject, he honestly did worry about the blue-haired girl that had bled in his hands. "I hope she's okay.."

"Rei Ayanami. She'll be fine soon enough. She's in the same class that you'll be enrolling in today; of course she won't be there today though." The silence continued between the two. Misato again had to break the emptiness. "Did you pilot it... for her?"

Shinji could not help but blush faintly. "I.. I don't know why I did it.." he lied quietly. Though a large part of the reason he did pilot it was so that the burden would not fall on the already injured girl, he did it to hear those words that his father had denied him all those years.

She found her opening to get him to open up. "Ooh, is that so? Did you want to play Rei's knight in shining purple armor? Think that she'd give a kiss for saving her life? Hmmm?"

"A-ah, no no no! I just--"

"Or was it for me Shinji? Did you want for me to give you a nice," she leaned in closer, "reward for saving all of our lives?" She giggled as she received the response she wanted.

"Quit teasing me!"

"C'mon, I can't help myself. It's just too much fun." She patted his head before carnally whispering. "I know other fun activities..."

If it wasn't physically possible, Shinji probably would have probably have died from far too much of his blood being distracted from his head. Misato only laughed and gave him a soft nudge on the head. "C'mon, Shinji, I'll take you to school."

'I'm bored..' he mentally reminded himself. School had barely started as usual, it was just another boring day. The staff was nice enough to find, but that wasn't the problem. He wanted to talk to someone, but of course he wouldn't initiate any conversation. Shinji looked around the classroom subtly, hoping someone caught his motions and started talking to him. No such luck.

Small conversations broke out about the new transfer student, of course. Two girls left their seats and came over to the boy whose wish was about to be granted.

"Hey, Ikari! Got a minute?" he turned around slowly, as two students caught his attention. "How come you transferred here just when people started to evacuate?" chirped the girl with short blonde hair.

"Huh? Well, I--"

"So the rumors are true aren't they?" He only starred in confusion.

"Don't play dumb," the dark haired girl spoke suddenly, "your that robot's pilot, aren't you?" Both of their gazes only made him more nervous.

"It's.. true.."

"Ah! I knew it!" This seemed to catch the entire class' attention as people rushed to the young pilot's desk. "Everyone, it's true! He is the pilot!"

The entire classroom seemed to surround the scared Ikari. While his wish was granted, he received too much attention to serve his liking, making him immediately regret his wish. "What was that monster?" This question seemed to graze his ears, it stood out among the meaningless questions of 'how'd they choose you?' and 'does it have a special attack?'

"I.. don't really know what it was.. They called it an "Angel".." a brief shudder hit his body. "But nobody seemed to know exactly what it was..."

An irritated voice broke the silence that came after the young Ikari's explanation. "You think yer all dat, buy ya know nothin', do you?"

"Oh-- Suzuhara! You missed a whole week of school without permission--"

"That's none of yer business! Shaddap!"

The class representative merely stepped out of the way, though it was well within her power to tell the boy to stop where he stood and report him for interrupting the class. The annoyance is his voice was too evident not be feared just a little.

"Yo! New kid!" He slammed his palm onto Shinji's desk. "Step-out side, we need to talk!"

"Okay, new kid.. pay attention! My younger sister hurt badly-- she's still da hospital!"

Shinji twitched lightly. He knew where this conversation was going.

"My dad and gramps work in your lab, and I'm da only one who can stay with her!" he shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweat suit. "It ain't da goin' there that I mind.. but what if she get's some sort of scar? She'll feel like she's not pretty! Don't you feel sorry for her?" His anger began to rise at the new arrival's silence. "Whose fault d'ya think it is?.." A vein now stood out of his forehead, and his eyes were wide in anger. "It's your fault! She was pinned under rubble because you had to go crashin' around in your stupid robot!" his finger pointed directly at the Eva pilot.

"Oh.. I'm sorry.." Shinji's eyes lowered as he whispered his hollow apology. What was he suppose to say to such accusations?

"You tryin' to make fun of me!" he was held back from hitting the pilot by his bespectacled companion, "Sorry just won't cut it!"

"Enough already!"

"Back off Kensuke! I'mma clobber da pun--"

"What do you want me to do?.." Shinji finally spoke up. "Kneel down and beg for your forgiveness? If there was something I cou--"

He couldn't continue as a fist collided into his left cheek, sending him to the floor while drops of blood fell from his nose. He couldn't clearly make out what was being said as his vision blurred; probably 'You can't go around decking important pilots'. It didn't really matter as he rubbed the blood onto the short sleeve of his white shirt. His eyes narrowed a bit, but quickly gave up the threatening look. He deserved it anyway.

"You want a piece of me? Come get some.." his grew grin as he cracked his knuckles.

"Knock it off, Touji!"

"Can I ask you something," Shinji asked, after straightening himself up a bit, still not getting off the floor. "What should I do? I didn't even want to pilot the stupid thing.."

"Grr.. " Touji lifted the boy by his collar and looked him in the eye. Shinji looked away. "Grr..." He was sent back to the floor as the jock slammed his forehead onto the 'new kid'.

"Hey! What are you doing! Suzuhara!" Hikari Horaki yelled at the group of three.

"Uh.. class rep.." Kensuke struggled to keep his glasses on at the sight of the angry brunette.

Touji looked at the pilot of the giant robot that had injured his sister. "Listen up! Next time your inna fight-- Watch where ya put your feet!"

Everyone left, leaving Shinj Ikari to hold his cheek and ignore the trail of blood that had landed on his shirt. He got up and walked against the building and leaned against it's painted concrete surface. 'I thought I piloted it to protect everyone?..' he sighed and slumped against the wall until he was on the floor again. He looked up and looked at a tree that had blocked the sun from completely hitting him. The water around it's concave base was a bit stagnant, the shape of the earth around it kept nothing from leaving and only allowed more in, he noticed.

There was still time before he had to go back into class. He figured he might as well rest until he went back to class, since the stains on his shirt would only attract attention. 'Heh, I guess I should fear wishes coming true?' He heard footsteps coming towards him and a gasped that followed it. A young girl, probably about his age, ran up to him and started checking him to see if he was dead.

"Are you ok!" She did not want to touch him, seeing blood on his shirt made it look as if he movement wasn't something that would help him. Thankfully, it didn't seem to be coming from underneath his shirt.

"I-I'm fine.." he finally looked up to see her concerned face. She was pretty, but he did not know if it was because he was feeling a little dizzy. There was a small, almost unnoticeable mole on the left side of her face, near her chin. Her hair was sable, and partly shone from what little light was permitted by the obtruding tree. She repeated the question, apparently not convinced by his words. The mystery girl began to inspect him closer, checking for cuts or bruises, letting her long hair fall on him often. His mediocre wounds didn't matter to Shinji, what did bother him was how a few trickles of blood had managed to transfer onto her hair.

"Stop, your getting your hair all bloody."

She paused and looked at her hair and how it did manage to gather a few small drops of blood on it. She stared at the imperfections on her hair and then back at the boy she had just been helping. Shinji couldn't look her in the eye and looked down and muttered an apology. There was a genuine look of confusion on her russet colored eyes.

"You have a nosebleed and your worried about my hair?" she stood up and offered him her hand. "C'mon you should go to the infirmary."

He looked at her hand before accepting and lifted himself up with her assistance. "You don't need to help me.." he avoided looking at her eyes.

"I guess your right.. but I want to."

Shinji dusted himself off and rubbed his left cheek and winced. Her concerned look only deepened at this.

"So what happened?"

"Hmm.. some guy hit me."

"Well, that much is obvious. But why? I mean.. you piloted that giant robot didn't you? You saved us."

".,. I hurt his sister." She stayed silent but she moved back slightly. "Sh-she was pinned under some rubble when I was fighting..."

"Ooh.." she was desperate to change the subject now. "Well... I'm sure it was just an accident. Sorry for asking..."

There was an awkward silence between the two.

"Pilot Ikari." A monotonous voice announced it's arrival out of nowhere. "We are needed at HQ."

"Ooh.."

"I will report in first." As quickly as she came, the blue-haired girl left.

"Who was she?" She inquired.

"She's Rei Ayanami... she works with me."

"She didn't really seem all too worried about you." she added with an edge on her voice.

"I.. I have to report to HQ. There's probably another angel attacking.."

"Angel? You mean that monster that attacked us?" Fright was thick on her voice.

"Well... thanks for your concern... but I have to go..."

"Ok..." She watched as he began to run towards a black car that had arrived a few seconds prior.

He stopped as he picked up on the girl's disappointed tone. "By the way, my name is Shinji Ikari."

She permitted herself a small smile. "My name is Mayumi Yamagishi! Nice to meet you!"

The car sped towards NERV headquarters at an exceedingly high speed. Though both pilots stared passively at the back of the leather seats of the NERV intelligence vehicle, a one-sided tension filled the small space. Shinji wasn't mad - simply frustrated - that Ayanami had not asked about his injuries. His eyes would occasionally wander to the pale girl's stoic appearance-- she either did not want to have anything to do with him or didn't notice. Didn't he deserve at least a 'thank you' for shouldering her burden of piloting Unit-01? He shook his head and cast his eyes downward. 'It's ok I guess. It's not like I would have left her there.. I just wish she would talk to me...'.

"Is there something you would like to discuss, Pilot Ikari?" Her quiet voice startling the young boy.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing.." He frowned at his own inability to spark a conversation. "Are you feeling ok?" he asked hesitantly, after noticing the sling around her neck, which supported the weight of the damaged arm of his fellow pilot. Her head was bandaged around the middle of her head, bandaged a bit more over her right eye. He started feeling guilty for even considering holding any resentment towards the hurt girl-- selfish and conceited were the only words he could find to describe his thoughts.

"I am fine. Do not concern yourself."

The short ride was finished in silence.

Mayumi sat in the corner of the shelter and looked at the several small groups of people either talking about the reason as to why the city was on high alert, or whether or not the pilot of 'the cool robot' would be fighting once again. She thought back at the lean, almost scrawny young boy, she had found with a bloody nose behind the main building of the school. He was the one that protected the city she had barely entered? He was the one that climbed inside a robot and fought an unknown enemy called an 'angel'? She had a hard time digesting this. After all, why not just use trained soldiers instead of a middle school boy?

She brought her knees to her chest and rested her head on the turquoise colored fabric of her skirt. No matter how hard she tried to rid her thoughts of Shinji Ikari, she always failed. 'Why is it any of my concern? He's probably fine.. he's no one to me, anyway.' Her thoughts continued to wander around various subjects, in an attempt to stop thinking of the brown-haired boy.

'I've been here for two days, but I've only talked to him and the class representative..' she thought sadly, 'she's nice and all, but it's probably just her job or something.' She drew her legs closer to her small frame and waited.

"Hey Touji... let's sneak out." Kensuke said absently. He already knew they would.

"Are ya nutz! We be killed!"

"Shhhhhh.. the class rep with hear you." He used a single finger to raise the glasses upward and into their proper place. "That might happen even if we stay here." He proceeded with caution. "Besides.. don't have an obligation to watch this battle?"

"What is dat suppose to mean?" Touji was honestly confused at that remark.

"That robot of his protected all of us in that last fight. You didn't even think about that before you decked him!" his eyes narrowed, "Don't you think you owe him one?"

The two exchanged glares at each other before Touji broke the silence.

"Naaah. Your a real slave ta your desires ain't-cha?" He got up and stretched.

"Whatever you say, Touji.. but it sounds to me like your starting to feel bad about hitting him." Kensuke got up as well as a plan formed in his mind.

"Say what! I'll make you feel bad--" the jock was interrupted as his mouth was covered by his friend.

Kensuke turned towards a group of small girls gossiping and playing cards. "Class rep! We have to go to the bathroom."

"Well you'd better hurry it up. We are in a shelter, you know!"

And with that both left the protection of the school's shelter.

"Shinji! You will need to neutralize the enemy's A.T. Field and repeat fire. Just like in practice." C-ommanded Ritsuko. "But be mindful of the ammunition, ok?"

".. yes ma'am."

"Eva-01, Launch!"

"Kensuke, wait up already!" huffed a tired Touji, "your goin' too fast." He grunted up the stairs towards the shrine built ontop of the same mountain side the school was built on. 'Man.. when that otaku sees something he wants to film he doesn't have human limits...'.

"Whooaa! Here it comes!" He pointed the lens of his camera onto the floating aubergine 'centipede-like squid thingy', as he so elegantly put. Two large, almost painted on eyes were on top of it's triangular shaped head. It stopped and raised itself as a king cobra would-- letting it's threatening upper half tower over anything it casts it's shadow on. 'Woooow..' Kensuke awed silently as a portion of the angel's flesh opened to reveal two large pronged appendages appear at it's sides.

"Man! This is worth sneaking out for!.." he said as tears of joy ran down his eyes.

"You get off on the weirdest crap.." Touji dryly commented before he took a good look at the 'angel', "That's an angel? It's disgustin'.."

"Look! It's.." the side of the building adjacent to the angel opened up like the iron gates of a roman colosseum, revealing it's prized gladiator. "The Evangelion!"

The purple beast appeared within the void of the building, it's mechanical exterior offered a noticeable contradiction. Not just for it's shining armor in it's dark cave, but for the battle spirit that it portrayed, but pilot lacked.

Within it's core, the pilot of Unit-01 waited for orders to assault this new angel he must destroy. He would have liked some help, but he wouldn't want it if it came from an injured girl, especially when it came to from a girl who seemed a bit like him. Shy and distant. His right hand tensed and unteased, tightened and loosen as he became more and more impatient. He wanted to get out of the Eva.

"We don't know it's capabilities.. but it's better to take safe shots and retreat until it shows it's actual combat skills," The purple haired captain informed her charge, "Be careful."

The picture of his guardian left the inside of the entry plug and left him to himself.

"Just center the target and..." he mumbled as he clutched the controls and willed his Eva to swerved from it's hiding place to it's side and pointed the rifle towards the angel, "FIRE!"

Shinji clutched the controls tighter and tighter until his knuckles cracked-- his eyes wide and teeth grinding with almost tangible anger. Sweat appeared and dissolved into the now transparent LCL-- Yet the angel stood it's ground as large explosive rounds were fired at it. Smoke soon shrouded the angel.

Misato saw this and knew that the young pilot's anger has overtaken him. "IDIOT! You can't see past all that smoke! Calm down, Shinji!"

Shinji's eyes looked as if he had woken up from a nightmare. "Agh--" his shoulders slumped but never let the rifle down as the smoke began to clear. "uff.. uff.." an electrical sound resonated from the veil of smoke. "Hu--" He was cut off as cerise tentacles moved to attack at a blinding speed. The Eva fell back as it's rifle was cut in two by one of the glowing whips and the other hit the concrete of the streets with an echoing 'whiz'.

"Unnnhh.."

From the mountainside Touji and Kensuke looked in despair as the Eva was down in less than a minute.

"What! He's gettin' trashed already!" yelled Touji before turning to Kensuke, who was filming everything he could.

"He's just warming up!"

"Shinji! I'm sending you a spare rif--" her voice was cut off as Shinji's cracking voice came in too loud and clear.

"N-No. It's coming."

The Eva rolled from it's down position and dodged a pair of glowing tentacles, sending bit's of shaved concrete flying over the city. He couldn't fight back, all he could do was back away and jump from the lashing tentacles that threatened to slice him and his Eva into pieces. As buildings were torn asunder, Shinji struggled to keep his Eva balanced on the debris and fell onto his back as tentacle grazed his abdomen, a pain he too felt. A timer appeared near his face that begun to count down from five minutes. 'What the?..'

"Umbilical cable severed!" shouted Maya, "Eva has switched to internal batteries!"

"Shinji!" Misato began yelling over the communications monitor that now appeared inside the Eva's entry plug, "You've got four minutes and thirty five seconds of power left! You have to defeat it now!"

The Eva struggled against the cracking building and lifted itself up from it's stupor. Despite the fight still left inside of Unit-01's pilot, he was not in the position to be on the offensive-- besides it was hard to defeat a giant monster without a gun. The angel's looming shadow covered Unit-01. Suddenly one of it's tentacles wrapped itself on Unit-01's left ankle before sending it flying towards the mountainside.

"AAAIIIEEEEE"

Touji and Kensuke looked up when they saw a large shadow cover the area. A scream of absolute - almost nine year old girlish - terror filled the small mountain shrine as the Evangelion came closer... closer... closer, and crashed into the mountainside it's hand slamming hard where they were.

Shinji looked around his and clutched at the throbbing pain in his head-- his headache faded into memory as he looked at where his Eva's hand had landed. Between it's middle and forefinger, huddled together, were two young students who he had recognized instantly. 'What the hell? What are they--'

"Shinji, get up!" With Misato's frantic call, Shinji turned to find the angel nearing his location. Before he could contemplate what to do, he raised his arms and took hold of the angel's bright tentacles.

Unbeknownst to Shinji, Mayumi had sneaked away from the shelter after her trip to the bathroom revealed an opened door towards the small shrine at the top of the mountain. She had witnessed the fight between the 'angel' and the robot and would have left in fear, but something had made her go after seeing the robot crash into the mountain-- a tugging, almost physical pull, near her heart. She saw two students huddled together near the fallen robot. Her fear overriding her courtesy, caused her to kick the two boys until they took her advice and ran back to the shelter.

Meanwhile, Shinji grit his teeth as the burning feeling in his palms transferred from the Eva to him. He wanted to make his move, do something that would save his pathetic hide, but he couldn't. Not with the possibility of hurting those two. He turned his head to where he last saw the two-- his eyes widened at the sight of the black-haired girl that he had met earlier. His hands shook violently and let the right tentacle slip which caused the destruction of the stairs towards the shrine-- he wouldn't be able to hold the angel back any longer. He raised his hand near the girls position just in time to block the angel's assault and took hold of it again.

"Who is that!" yelled Ritsuko as she looked onto her subordinate's monitor, "Mayumi Yamagishi? One of Shinji's classmates!"

Misato looked at the profile of the mystery girl and grimaced. She knew she would be overstepping her boundaries. "Shinji, lock in the Eva's commands and let her into the plug!" Ritsuko looked at her as if she was a madwoman. Misato ignored her.

Shinji nodded and tightened his grip on the angel's tentacles and locked in the command before yelling over the external speakers. "Yamagishi, hurry up and climb in!"

Having no escape and any other plans, she looked towards the white cylinder that had protruded from the back of the robot's head and found the best path. She climbed onto the shrine and climbed the trees nearby onto the white cylinder before staring inside of it. 'Water?' As if reading her mind, Shinji spoke.

"It's LCL, just get inside! You can breath it!" The panic in his voice was clear.

"I.. Hmmm..." Blindly placing her trust in the boy, she jumped inside of the semi-transparent orange water and closed her eyes. She held her breath as long as she could but failed to hold it forever as she felt the cylinder shift and move inside of the robot. She breathed in the strange water and found it unpleasant, but not fatal. Lights and various images flashed around the narrow tube before being able to completely see inside. She looked over and found Shinji Ikari in what appeared to be a form fitting, blue and white wet-suit.

"I-Ikari?" She focused her attention towards him and gasped. He was furious and clutching the controls as if his life depended on it-- well, it did. She heared another voice invade the small place.

"Shinji, concentrate on getting up and buying some time for a retreat. You've only got a few more minutes of power!"

He seemed to struggle against the controls and trembled as his hands tightened and relaxed over the controls; his strength was leaving him. Mayumi closed the place between her and the pilot before taking a look forward at the monster that had caused everyone so much trouble and pain. Her anger increased as he saw the breaking point of Ikari nearing. That tugging feeling reappeared and it was telling her to do... something, something she couldn't quite place her finger on. She kneeled next to the boy who had not noticed her presence and held his hands over the controls. She felt something else... pain, a horrible pain starting from her palms, leading to the rest of her body.

Shinji took notice of the hands that had covered his own and looked at her, noticing how what he was feeling was being transferred to her too. 'No, no, no.. not anyone but me..' he thought. He couldn't let her feel the pain he felt. The burning pain that had spread from his hands to his arms and shoulders. The weariness all over his body, his mind. His eyes narrowed at the angel in front of him. "Not her.." he started chanting like a mantra. She couldn't quiet make out what he was saying, but held her grip firm.

"Dam- Damn it!" The Eva brought it's knee up and placed it's foot under it's center and pulled his arms backwards, gathering momentum, then kicking it with every ounce of strength it could muster. The angel flew down the mountainside and landed gracelessly against the base of a nearby building, sending a spare rifle to the rubble above the streets.

"Shinji! Use retrieval route 34! Fall back, now!" yelled Misato.

Shinji would have followed orders. He should have followed orders. But he couldn't forget who was at his side-- a girl he barely knew that just now practically saved his life. His eyes narrowed at his recovering opponent, and he charged.

"Progressing knife has been drawn!"

"What was that!" asked a stunned Misato, "Follow my orders, Shinji! I said, FALL BACK!" a noticeable vein appearing on her forehead.

"EEEEEYYYYYAAHHHH!"

The purple Eva ran towards the now battle-ready angel, it's sole intent driven by the will of Shinji Ikari, and charged knowing that it's pilot will have his wish, his revenge. With the girl now between his arms and her hands still clutching his own, he was pushed forward and jumped down-- casting it's silhouette over the soon to be maimed angel. The bold frontal attack did not seem to frighten the angel. It raised both of it's tentacles and caught the Eva in the abdomen.

"Ughh.." Shinji felt an intense pain inside of him. 'Too much.. too..' His eyes caught hold off the girl's hands-- still wrapped around his own and something in his mind snapped. She was obviously in pain from the moans that emanated from her. 'No! How could I?..' He felt a her hands tighten around his own, but she kept her head down and whimpered. This was too much guilt for him to take. With a final scream of anger he drove the progressive knife deep inside of the red orb that protruded from the base of the angel's triangular head.

"YAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH--"

"Unit-01's activation time remaining-- 30 seconds!" reported Maya.

'What..', Misato thought as the battle would soon come into a conclusion. 'What are you thinking, Shinji?..'

24... 23... 22...

"HHHH-- Agh!.." Shinji winced as the pain in his abdomen intensified. Mayumi felt two sharp pains in her stomach, which simultaneously helped ease her into unconsciousness. Shinji was too far gone in his fit of rage to notice the pair of hands that had let go of his own.

"Why won't you DIE!"

9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4...

The sparks from the knifes contact with the red orb slowed.

3...

Shinji arms trembled as he struggle to keep conscious.

2...

A large crack developed in the center of the orb

1...

The orb lost it's color as it's outer portion gave way.

Silence.

"Eva Unit-01 activation seized!" Informed Maya before a more relaxing update was announced. "The target has fallen silent. No signs of activity."

Misato looked at the main screen and stared at the slumped form of the Evangelion, supporting the downed body of the angel by it's progressive knife. She scowled at the sight and her eyes gazed towards the two, no longer glowing tentacles, protruding from the slim abdomen of the purple beast. 'I'm going to have to have a little chat with Shinji..'.

Inside of the entry plug was an even more somber mood in the atmosphere. 'Who do I do this for?...'. Shinji's thoughts were interrupted as he let go of the controls and tried to bring his knees to his chest but couldn't. He looked down and saw the wilting form of Mayumi.

"Yamagishi!" he lifted himself slowly from the throne of his soul and grabbed the girl. "Oh no... please don't be dea--" Her eyes moved slightly and focused onto the eye's of the Eva pilot. "Yamagishi! Your alive!" He embraced the confused girl and did his best to keep the tears inside.

Her head cleared the fog that had developed and she found herself near tears too. She returned the embrace-- not really knowing why or caring. Her body shivered as the pain in her stomach subsided and found herself a bit more relaxed in his embrace. 'Is he just scared? Or does he genuinely care?' she thought. She shook the thoughts from her head and looked at the boy who had only seconds ago showed strength beyond her experience. She felt.. safe.

"Misato?"

She mumbled her response. She wasn't in the mood for chit-chat. "What is it, Ritsuko?"

"Look at these readings. During the time that both the pilot and that student manned Unit-01 the synch rate increased, drastically." She moved aside as a grumpy purple haired woman stared at the graphs with little interest in them. Her eyebrows twitched. 'This won't save him from me.'

"Why did you disregard my orders, Shinji?"

Shinji and Mayumi sat on the bench opposite of the enraged woman. Shinji looked down and stared at his shoes. He didn't want to explain it to her, especially with Mayumi right next to him. It was embarrassing the way he let his emotions take control of his actions, especially when the girl's life was in danger.

"I'm sorry.."

" 'I'm sorry', isn't going to cut it! I'm your operations supervisor! You have an obligation to follow my every command!" She added a bit of ire to her voice. "Understand!"

Shinji never looked at her eyes, but twitched under her gaze and words. She was completely right, after all. If he hadn't lost it back there, Mayumi might not have gotten hurt, and she wouldn't have to watch him get chewed out by his 'guardian'.

"I know I told you let her in," she focused her gaze towards the black-haired girl who seemed to shrink under her stare, "So your not in any trouble for that, but you deliberately disobeyed me! What would have happened if you had lost?"

He couldn't look this bad in front of her. "I don't see what the big deal is. I won, didn't I!"

There was an echoing sound in the small room as Misato's hand made contact with Shinji's face.

"How dare you! Just what do you think your duty is!" she fought back the urge to rub the stinging in her palm, "And what would have happened to her, if you had failed to win!"

Mayumi looked at the floor with even more intent and bit her bottom lip. She felt like a pawn.

Shinji would have retorted at that, but he looked at the girl who had climbed into the Eva with him and lowered his head in defeat. What could he say? She was completely right on this one. Misato turned away from her both children and sighed.

"Both of you, go home. Get some rest, ok?"

"... Yes, ma'am." Mayumi merely nodded and followed Shinji out of the door.

The pair walked in silence. Shinji walked slowly and seemed to have no particular destination. This caught Mayumi's attention and summoned her courage for the second time that day.

"So.. where are you going?" Her voice was shaky at best.

"I..I don't know."

"Your not going home?" she raised an eyebrow inquisitively, "But didn't Ms. Katsura--"

"I don't feel like going home... besides it's still an hour or two before the sun even begins to set."

"Oh..." she softly bit her lower lip and continued, "Do you wanna see something?"

"L-like what?" he couldn't contain his blush.

Mayumi picked up on this and matched his hue quickly. "No, not.. I mean someplace interesting.. I mean, I understand if you don't wanna."

"Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere else.."

Their walk continued in silence as Mayumi led the way.

By the time sunset had arrived, Shinji found himself at a lookout near the outskirts of Tokyo-3. As promised, the place was interesting. It had an complete view of Tokyo-3 and a small glimpse of the sea not too far off from the city. He saw the imprint of his Eva unit in the distance, which caused him to cast his eyes downward and turned his head away from Mayumi. Just another reminder of how he almost let someone else down.

Mayumi caught sight of his field of vision and understood. She sat at the edge of the outlook and placed herself between the iron railings before staring off into the distance. Shinji stood nearby but kept his distance, obviously uncomfortable.

"Sit." She patted the ground near her and continued to stare at the shimmering lights of Tokyo-3.

Shinji obeyed and sat down near her. Silence ensued.

"So... how's your umm.. nose?" She mentally slapped her forehead.

"It's ok... how's your..." he trailed off into a mumble.

"I'm fine. It.. it only hurt for a little while." She lied.

It was another minute of silence before Shinji broke the tension.

"Why did you do it?" His curiosity was honest.

"... I don't know.. you seemed so... so... angry. But at the same time, scared. I just wanted to help you.."

"But why? You saw how hard it was... I," he cut himself off as her eyebrows knit, "you knew you would get hurt."

"Yeah, I knew... but I wanted to help... you."

The same awkward silence filled the air-- thankfully there were sudden and organized movements in the cities streets. Buildings began to rise from the ground and reflected the orange sun that was covering the city. Both stared at this event in quiet amazement and took a much needed breath in their uneasy conversation. Mayumi looked at the young boy as he stared at the city and smiled. She knew that he would not stay out of her thoughts, so why resist? 'Even if he got bored later on, at least I'd have tried. Right, dad?' she thought.

"Ikari... may I call you Shinji?"

He immediately looked at her and did not find anything on her face that would indicate a joke. "Only if I can call you Mayumi..."

She looked towards the city in an attempt to hide her blush. "I would.. like that." She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder and continued to stare off into the city. Shinji contemplated running away, but discarded the idea. That would be rude, and hurtful, especially when the girl had helped him defeat the angel. Besides, it was comfortable.

"So, umm... how did you find out about this place?"

"We flew by over this area, when me and my family came to Tokyo-3."

"You spoted it from the plane?"

"Helicopter. Civilian planes aren't really allowed over these skies for some reason..."

After some idle chatter, Mayumi leaned closer and relaxed herself as his arm wrapped itself around her slim frame. He didn't look at her-- he knew he would lose his confidence and run away. But for now this would suffice for both of them.

"Thanks... for saving me." He whispered into the air.

"No... we did it together, right..?" She responded quietly.

They both gazed at the orange-red sky over Tokyo-3 and mentally voiced their content to one another.

To be continued...

Author's Notes: Edited This has been slightly edited so it can look and be more... well... readable and understandable. Not too much, though.

Hello and welcome to the end of Chapter 1 of my first fan fiction. I thought I'd try something a bit challenging for my first project, and what better than writing a story about Shinji and a character I hardly know! I just wanted to make it clear that while the main focus of the story will be on the romance between Shinji and Mayumi, my main concern will be how this will affect everyone around these two characters and the changes that will occur in Shinji.

Ooh, and if I made it look like Mayumi is 'Mary-Sue'ish' it was not intentional. Her character flaws (which will play an important role in the events that follow) will become more apparent in later chapters. I mean, just because she's not cold as ice or as temperamental as flame doesn't mean she's perfect.

Alright, be as cruel as you want in the reviews, I'd prefer brutal honesty over false praise.

PS- It would also be interesting to know that this was originally a Mana/Shinji/Mayumi love triangle crap story. Then I changed it into the Shinji/Mayumi story since I knew my preference to Mana would arise and ruin the story. I would rather write a Mana/Shinji when I have a bit more experience under by belt. Innuendo or not? You decide.

Peace to the gods of the Earth!

XxRagnarokxX88