| Returning Warrior Arc |
Shinji Ikari has unknowingly been under the protection of two of the strongest Devil clans ever since he reject Instrumentality at the height of Third Impact. However, when two Fallen Angels and their Stray Exorcist ally set their sights on the Heavenly Coins they are assured he carries, the Forgotten Messiah is once again thrown into the realm of the Supernatural.

First Contact
Can This Be a Normal Life?

Three years. It's been three years since…

"Please tell me that's not how you're starting this story."

Wait. You can hear me?

"Of course I can," a silver-haired bishounen sighs as he scratches at his scalp. The street he's walking down isn't exactly deserted though, so his random outburst garners more than a few stares. "What are you all staring at?!"

So, does that mean you're a…

"Oioioi! Don't go spoiling it in the first hundred words!"

Fair enough. Now, mind if I continue with the story?

"Yeah, go ahead. But for the love of Inari, start it better!"

=/\= =\/= =/\= =\/= =/\=

~Do do do, good morning… Do do do, goo-~

*Click*

Shinji Ikari awoke with a groan as he turned off his morning alarm. Back in middle school, he would awake before the sun of his own volition. But now that he was in his second semester at high school, there was just something about the joy of sleeping in that was too tempting to pass up. Besides, it wasn't like he had to make his meals anymore. Gone were the days of rice porridge gruel given to him by his aunt and uncle. And he didn't have to worry about that toxic waste his old guardian called food.

"Shinji! Are you up yet?" a motherly voice enquired.

After all, if there was one perk of this world reset known as Third Impact, it was the fact that he actually had a family life again. Not a surrogate family, but a loving mother in the form of Yui Ikari and a, surprisingly, caring father in the form of Gendo Ikari.

"Yeah, I'll be down in a second, mom!"

Of course, that was probably the only real perk that came from the whole ordeal. First off, no one seemed to even remember anything about the world that was. When he first woke up, he'd been so shocked to see his parents that he broke down into tears. They tried to console him, telling him it was a bad dream. But, careful questioning over the following year made it clear to Shinji that they had no recollection of the Evangelions, SEELE, or anything of the sort.

The catch was, it also meant some of the few good things that happened to him during that final year were also wiped out of existence. Without Yui's absorption into Unit 01 as well as SEELE's plan for human instrumentality, there was no need for Gendo to bother creating Rei. Furthermore, without the Evangelion program, Asuka was sitting at home with her parents in Germany, likely without even realizing he even existed.

After handling his morning routine and getting dressed into his school uniform, he walked downstairs to enjoy breakfast with his family.

"So, how goes the conquest of the girls of Kuoh Academy, Shinji?"

Shinji did a quick spit take while Yui smacked her husband. Maybe 'enjoy' wasn't quite the right word. Even after all this time, Shinji just could reconcile the image of "The Bastard King of Tokyo-3" with the lazy pervert of a father sitting before him. Although, I guess that might explain why there seemed to be a disproportionately high number of females that worked at NERV. And the whole thing with the Akagis…

A shiver ran down Shinji's spin at the thought. "N… No. There's no conquest going on. I swear."

"Good boy," his mother said with a smile that could have stopped even Zeruel in his tracks as the familiar horn of an Alpine sounded from the front of the house.

"I… think I should be heading to class now…" Shinji said, slowly gathering up his things and an extra slice of toast. Sure, he still had more than enough time to make it to class. But, he had no desire at all to continue in the house when Yui had that look on her face.

"Make sure to give Miss Ryoji my – OW!" was all that Shinji heard his father say as he left for school.

=/\= =\/= =/\= =\/= =/\=

Meanwhile, in Kuoh Academy's Occult Research Club Room, four individuals had already arrived and were preparing for yet another busy day.

"Pawn to D7. Check."

Rias Gremory clicked her tongue as she stared at the chess board before her. It had been a long night, and to say that she didn't have her mind on the game would probably amount to the understatement of the year. As a result, her king was now cornered and it would cost her most of her remaining pieces in order to even hope to turn the tables against her childhood friend.

"I resign, Sona."

"Bochou?" Akeno Himejima, Rias Gremory's queen, took a hesitant step towards her king.

Taking a second to adjust her glasses, Sona Sitri looked across the small table at her friend. "Is everything alright, Rias? You're not usually one to resign when you still have options."

Raising her right hand to wave off Akeno, Rias leaned back in her chair. "It's just stress, Sona-kaichou. That's all." Her eyes unfocused as she turned to stare out the window. "It seems that they're finally on the move. My peerage reports that there's at least two operating in the area, no doubt with some kind of additional support."

"Are we sure of their target?"

Rias guffawed. "Can there be any doubt? Three years spent trying to hide the Forgotten Messiah, and now our hands are bound so tight we can't even protect him…"

=/\= =\/= =/\= =\/= =/\=

"Alright, alright. Settle down, ya little punks. It's time for class."

"How can we settle down with such a babe as a teacher?" Matsuda bemoaned.

"83cm – 59cm – 82cm. The truest perfection of the mature form," Motohama rattled off.

"How dare that bastard Ikari get to have a car ride with her all to himself," groaned Issei Hyoudou.

It took all of Shinji's strength not to shake his head at the Perverted Trio as they, as usual, lusted over their homeroom teacher. Her driving was still just as atrocious as it was back in Tokyo-3, so Shinji could only imagine that her other personal quirks were still present. Although, even if she was no longer something akin to a surrogate mother to him following the reset of the world, at least this time around she had Kaji in her life as a husband and fellow teacher. Even if it was somewhat odd seeing the old triple agent and womanizer as a married teacher.

But, Shinji couldn't deny that the nostalgia of riding in the back of that blue Alpine was a welcome gift. He just couldn't figure out what had made her randomly agree to give him a ride this year. When he saw her again on his first day at Kuoh Academy, it was as though she didn't even know who he was. He'd all but resigned himself to having to spend three years in her presence without her even remembering him. All that changed as first year summer break had come to a close, though…

++ Flashback ++

+ 13 Months Prior +

"Hey, Shin-chan!"

For a moment, Shinji felt a flash of hope as he noticed his teacher, Misato Katsuragi… no, Misato Ryoji, waving him over and using one of her old nicknames for him. Was it too much to ask that she could have somehow remembered the truth of the world prior to Third Impact?

"Come 'ere, kid. I wanna talk to you real quick."

Yeah, I guess it was too much to hope for.

"Y… yes, Ryoji-sensai?" he meekly answered as he approached her car.

"Hey now, it's after school hours, no need to be so formal. Just call me Misato, alright?"

Try as he might, a smile crossed his lips at those words. Even if the woman in front of him had no idea who he was, at least she was the same woman.

"Look, the thing is…" Misato started a bit roughly and falling over her words. "Well, your mom and I go back a ways, you see? And, I mean, I know this might not seem all that proper to you, what with me being your teacher and all. But… well, I wanted to repay her a bit. She used to babysit me all the time when Pops got into these mad scientist kicks. So, I thought… Well, that kinda makes you somewhat like my kid brother in a way, right? So, if you want, I'd be willing to give ya a ride to and from school. Save you the walk."

"Y… yeah. I'd like that." The smile never left Shinji's face. "But, I'm not going to start calling you Misato-onee-san, ok?"

Misato's uncharacteristically nervous behavior final broke as she started to laugh.

"That's fine, Shin-chan. Just glad I can help out Yui and her family."

++ End Flashback ++

"Hey, Ikari, I asked you a question!" Misato snapped out.

"Second Impact!"

The only time Shinji ever really dozed off and ignored his teachers had been during his schooling at Tokyo-3 First Municipal Junior High School. The advantage there was that the old teacher always drowned on about the same subject, the Second Impact event and those trials that followed in its aftermath. As such, for those rare occasions that you were called out for sleeping in class, the answer to an question that you might have missed was pretty much a given.

Of course, judging by the stares of his classmates, Shinji very quickly remembered this wasn't those days of hell on earth at all.

"Uh… Umm… What I meant was…" Shinji blushed. "What was the question?"

The class burst into laughter.

=/\= =\/= =/\= =\/= =/\=

The rest of the day had progressed rather smoothly. After the final bell rang out, Shinji was headed towards the front gates of Kuoh Academy.

"Yo, Shin-chan, ya don't want a ride home today?" called out Misato from the faculty parking lot.

He took a moment to think it over, but the day seemed to be too beautiful to spend in a veritable death trap, even if it was with someone like Misato. Or rather, especially if it was with that particular crazed driver.

"No thanks, Misato-sensai. I think I'm just going to enjoy the view of the city."

Even as a soft, almost nostalgic smile came to her face, something closer to worry seemed to flash across her eyes. Neither were visible to Shinji due to the distance between them, however.

"Are you sure, Shin-chan? I promise you'll enjoy it."

Shinji heard various calls that ranged from "Lucky bastard" to "How could she do something do scandalous?!"

"I'm sure, Misato-sensai. But thank you anyways."

=/\= =\/= =/\=

"Rias-buchou, is there really nothing we can do for him?" Koneko asked as she watched Shinji leave the academy grounds.

The Occult Research Club president shook her head. "If we attack without proper cause, and Onee-sama was quite clear that the mere suspicion of a threat against the life of the Forgotten Messiah is not proper cause, it could spark another war. For now, our only option is retaliation."

"Buchou, by your leave, I'll head out to keep an eye on him."

"Thank you, Akeno," Rias said with a sad smile as Akeno disappeared into a Gremory-clan magic circle. "I truly hope you won't need to do more than watch."

=/\= =\/= =/\=

"Kaichou, I get it. I really do. Having Ikari-san join us is going to spark an all-out civil war between the surviving pillars. But, why can't we make an attack aga-"

"Saji, I realize you want to prove your worth to my peerage," Sona began. "But the Maous don't want to risk another Three Faction War. We simply do not have to strength to fight that kind of battle royale, even if it is for the sake of someone like the Forgotten Messiah. You didn't even know what he did for you until a few days ago."

"B… but…"

"No buts.," said Sona. "Now then, Tsubaki..."

"Hai, kaichou?"

"I want you to keep an eye on Shinji for us. Rias is most likely sending someone as well, so meet up with them if you can. And don't make the first move if anything happens, understand?

"Hai." The Sitri queen said with a quick nod, before departing for her watch.

=/\= =\/= =/\=

Shinji knew that this spot was no hillside overlooking the fortress-city of Tokyo-3. In fact, that small pedestrian bridge in Kuoh Town held no where near the majestic views as that spot Misato took him to after his first sortie in an Eva against the Angels. But, it had the same purpose. From here, he could look down at the various people that passed by. Each and every one of them, he had saved. Half of them had died seventeen years ago, but he was able to bring them back.

Of course, he never wanted the fame or the attention. That had always been what Asuka was after. He just wanted the war to end so he could have a normal life. But, now that it had ended...

Should be dead.

Should be living in a hell-hole.

Should be dead.

Should be back in the primordial soup.

Should be dead.

On and on he went, watching the people pass him by. No sign of recognition. No sign of thanks.

Should be back in the primordial soup.

Should be dead.

Should be living in a hell-hole.

But, if he didn't want the attention...

If he didn't want the praise...

Or the recognition...

Shinji cradled his head in his hands and slide his back down against the railing. If he didn't want any of that... if he just wanted a normal life with a loving family... Why did it hurt so much?

Despite the pain it caused him, his life as an Evangelion pilot had brought people into his life he felt he could truly call friends. If it wasn't for Eva, he would never had met Misato. If not for that hellish ordeal, he wouldn't have been able to stand alongside Asuka or Rei. But now, those souls either didn't exist or had had their memories of that time erased. Instead, he and he alone became burdened with carrying the cross that was a forgotten age.

"Oi, cum-factory! You Shinji Ikari?"

Shinji looked up from his self-loathing to find a golden blonde haired, blue eyed woman staring down at him. Wearing a form-fitting red dress and high heels, she had the most disinterested expression he had ever seen. As she chewed on her gum, Shinji realized she had asked him something.

"I... I'm sorry?"

"Dipshit of a dunce, I asked if you was Shinji Ikari."

The stunned teenager simply nodded.

"OK, good, that makes this simple." The woman before him popped her gum. "Lemme get straight to the point. You up for a fuck?"

A/N: Back for now! I'll be quick with my author notes and just say two things. For those that are curious about my old stories, don't worry. I'm hoping to have "Angel Like Me" finished this weekend, then get to work on my others in a somewhat random fashion as my muse sees fit. For those curious about the cliff hanger, I'm just gonna say this. How many blonde haired, blue eyed, sex addicted Fallen Angels do we really know in anime? After all, this isn't *just* an Evangelion / High School DxD crossover. See y'all 'round the net!
JaceSterne

Ninja edit: Just fixing a typo that really annoyed me and making small edits to the formatting. Nothing to stress about, promise!