"A New Beginning" By Zenosyke

Chapter 1: Yeah, figure it out.

Disclaimer: Would this really be any fun if I did own it?

Hi, I'm Keitaro Urashima...or at least that's my name now. I had to change myself a lot after I killed Shinji Ikari.

Well, I suppose that's not the entire truth. I didn't so much kill him as...well you're smart people, you'll figure it out. Semantics aside, he's gone now.

Yeah, that's right, I killed the savior of humanity. I don't feel a bit of remorse for my decision either. I destroyed him in every way I could, hid the remains, and assumed a new identity to hide from all those that might come looking for him.

In any case, I'm getting ahead of myself...let's start at the end of a tale you should all be familiar with.

Shinji was having a very bad month. Asuka got mind raped, Rei blew herself up to save his worthless ass, he found out shortly after she was resurrected that said girl was partly cloned from his mother, he had to kill Kaowru against his wishes, the JSSDF attacked NERV killing most of the personnel, he found out he had been piloting his mother, and Asuka (having just recently regained the ability to pilot her mother) got impaled and eaten by the MP Evas.

Oh, yeah! Did I mention Third Impact? Yeah, that really sucked too...

Shinji was given a choice, to accept or reject Instrumentality. He had power, he held the world in his palm, he could shape it and mold it, and the lives of those who had, were and ever would live on the planet were his to control...and he relinquished that power without hesitation. That was his fathers thinking, this is what his father and the old men of SELEE had wanted. All he wanted was for things to go back to the way they were...and so it was...almost.

His will alone being the driving force, Shinji became one with the whole of humanity for the briefest of instants before Instrumentality was rejected in its entirety. The Sea Of Red dissipated into clear blue as people were returned to their lives...for the most part, the we're many people that seemingly refused to return from the sea, thus the world population took another hit as it lost roughly 10 percent of its remaining inhabitants. The Angels ceased to exist (minus a certain blue-haired anomaly, heaven knows why). As an added bonus the world was set back on the proper axis and the polar ice caps were restored. All in all, it was a pretty damn good day in the world.

For everyone save Shinji that is...But that's not important at the moment. Now it's about time I start telling some of my own story.

November 11th, 2020 Hinata village, Kagawa prefecture, Japan

"Damn it! This is what I get for not getting a freakin' map," whined Keitaro as he wandered the village. Making a turn at random, the brown haired ronin proceeded to climb a rather steep set of stairs, hoping for a vantage point over the area. As he was ascending the excessively numerous steps he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a very familiar spot.

"Ah, Aunt Haruka's tea shop! That means I'm close! I suppose I can stop by there first and say 'hi' before I go and grovel at grandma's feet to stay here at a discounted price," said Keitaro as he made his way strait for the cafe entrance.

He entered only to notice that business was seven kinds of dead at the moment, and his beloved aunt was staring off into space as she leaned against a wall and absently smoked one of her cigarettes. Seeing that his aunt wasn't paying attention, he attempted to greet her, "Long time no see, Aunt Haru-Gak." His attempt was cut off by a harisen to the face.

"My, my, if it isn't my nephew, Keitaro. To what do I owe the pleasure." asked Haruka pleasantly...or at least as pleasantly as she would ever get. Of course while she was speaking she also completely ignored the fact that she just smashed him in the face. Oh well.

Keitaro subconsciously shrugged the hit off as punishment for not visiting, or calling, or writing a letter...really he had put off any form of communication with her. Not out of disrespect, he was just a very forgetful person. He quickly explained that he had been kicked out of the house for failing his entrance exams twice and was hoping to have Granny Hina take him in till he got his own place. "I just happened to stumble across you and the cafe first and wanted to say 'hey' before I went up to talk to granny," concluded Keitaro.

"Hate to break it to ya kid, but granny went on a world sight seeing tour a few years back, and Hinata house has been an all girls dorm for even longer. Lucky you got to me first, the girls would have skinned a male intruder alive," said Haruka with a sigh.

"WHAT! DAMN! Now I'm gonna be jobless and homeless! Even if I do get in to Toudai I won't be able to afford it!" To say the bespectacled ronin was upset would be like saying an Evangelion was only slightly dangerous...As if his life wasn't hard enough already.

"Now hold on," said Haruka in a desperate attempt to keep her nephew from going into hysterics, "just stay here for a bit and I'll go up and see if I can't get the borders to allow you to stay until you can get on your feet."

Ecstatic now, Keitaro made to hug his loving aunt, "Thank you, Aunt Har-AGH!" The fan came down harder this time, effectively halting his advance. 'Why the hell does she keep doing that? Was it something I said?'

'You'd think he would get it by now,' thought Haruka with a sigh. "Just stay here and relax for a while, I'll be back soon with your answer...One last thing," she said, making her way to the cafe entrance. Keitaro dropped his smile in favor of an expectant look and cocked his head slightly. "You know what? Never mind...I'll ask when I get back."

Readopting his smile, Keitaro waved to Haruka as she departed for Hinata-sou and what she was sure was going to be a hell of an argument.

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A/N: alright, my return is nigh! yeah it's short, but it felt like a good place to leave off. as a side note, all of the chapters for a while are going to have at least one "flashback" to the events post impact, eventualy leading to Shinji's demise, as well as giving Keitaro some new background.

thanks for reading this far! see ya next chapter!

Later, Zenosyke out!