Author's Notes: This is probably going to end up being a Shinji x Asuka fanfic just because I find that it is the most natural and easy relationship to write rather than forcing other ones. On another note, this will probably be an ongoing fanfic with really no planned ending only because fanfics with planned ending are never finished and that pisses me off mainly since they usually stall in the most depressing part. If I wanted to be depressed, I'd watch End of Evangelion. If you guys want to leave some comments or criticism that would be very much appreciated as this is my first Evangelion fanfic. This might have similar elements drawn from other SA fanfics, but only because I liked them for their creativity and originality.

At the moment, I'm thinking of this fanfic as an alternate universe to Evangelion similar to the AU seen in Episode 26. However, I might throw in some modern stuff into it just to seem less antiquated. However, I'd like to see some comments on whether I should bring in the Evas into the storyline. Thanks for reading, enjoy!

Italics are for thoughts. Quotes are for speech.

Revision Notes: I ended up having mini-arcs to drive the plot. While this first episode isn't very unique or creative because of the way it starts in the AU of Episode 26, I hope you find the rest of the episodes are different and interesting. I hope you all give it a chance. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Updated it with a bit more description and did more grammar checks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Neon Genesis Evangelion and am writing this fanfic for pure enjoyment.

CHAPTER 1: THE PILOT

Asuka Langley Soryu stood in front of the metallic door that had "G. Ikari" embossed on the front. She wavered in front of the unwelcoming door, considering whether to ring the obnoxious doorbell or knock in a gentler, but friendlier way.

Why the hell does it matter? Does my impression upon Shinji's parents really matter? Since when did they care? His mom has always loved me. Haha… how could she not? Who could resist a girl like me? Although his dad really creeps me out. Ah, whatever.

Asuka hastily reached her hand out to knock when suddenly the door flung opened. Asuka gasped and jumped back, startled first at the door's sudden opening and then at the face of Gendo Ikari staring at her, piercing her soul. Asuka's face returned to normal when she saw the soft face of Shinji's mom, Yui Ikari. There was something about Yui that was really calming to her.

"Hi, Asuka. Here to get Shinji?" asked Yui with a carefree smile on her face. She motioned with her hand to welcome Asuka in but Asuka remained at the door. She hoped that maybe today Shinji got his act together and was actually ready for once in his life.

"Yes, Mrs. Ikari. We're going to be late if he isn't ready yet." This was something Asuka had said almost thousand times over the years that she had known Shinji, and yet, he never changes.

"Oh dear. I think… Gendo, did you wake up Shinji?" Yui pulled down the newspaper that Gendo had in front of face in order to get his attention.

"No," Gendo replied in a cold way. Yui glanced back at her husband with a smile, and it seemed even the cold form of Gendo melted into a strange smile at the sight of Yui.

"Where are you and Mr. Ikari headed to in such a hurry?" Asuka asked.

"We have an early meeting this morning so we need to get NERV HQ immediately. Could you be a dear and wake Shinji up in time for school?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Ikari."

Asuka stepped into the warm welcoming home of the Ikari's. It was clearly decorated by Yui herself, as Asuka didn't think the Ikari men had any taste at all. At the same time, Yui and Gendo stepped out with Yui latching her arm onto Gendo as if they were still young lovers and dragging him to the elevator.

"Shinji's so fortunate to have such a good friend to wake him up every day to make sure he's not late. I hope for Shinji's sake, he comes to his senses before some other nice boy snatches Asuka up. Don't you think so, Gendo?" Yui stated as the elevator door to their apartment complex closed.

Gendo only nodded in silent approval to her comment.

The sound of banging on Shinji's bedroom echoed through the house of the Ikari's. Asuka leaned against the door to listen for any sign of Shinji waking up. She smiled as she looked at the sign still hanging on Shinji's door. It was labeled "Shinji's Lovely Suite," placed several years ago by Asuka when she thought his room was too devoid of personality.

I can't believe I got startled by the door. I mean I'm the toughest girl I know. Who gets scared by a silly door?

Frustrated at Shinji's slow reaction, she slid open the door to Shinji's bedroom. She found her childhood friend still in bed. She quickly closed the gap to Shinji's face ready to strike with her fist, her special way of waking up Shinji. As she leaned closer for the strike, she heard him murmur "Mitsuki…" She gasped loudly next to Shinji's ear, startling him to awareness and promptly falling out of the bed. Apparently, Shinji's mind wasn't the only thing that was up that morning.

"Oh my god, you PERVERT!" Asuka exclaimed as she slapped him.

"I can't help it, it's the morning." Shinji rubbed his cheek where it stung.

"So what were you dreaming about, baka?" Asuka put her hands on her hips and leaned in towards Shinji, hoping to force an answer out of him.

"No on… uh… Nothing! Nothing! Wait wha…" Shinji exclaimed as scenes from his most recent dream flashed before his eyes as his face betrayed him with a deep blush.

"So who's Mitsuki?"

Asuka knew perfectly well who Mitsuki was. She was the same year as them and in the classroom across from theirs, room 3-A. Asuka also knew that survey that Kensuke conducted among the boys for the hottest girl in their school, she had placed second after Asuka. Asuka was grimaced as she thought of how she stole the survey from Kensuke in the first place, when she realized that Shinji still hadn't answered her. Bringing her fist back down to connect with Shinji's skull, she asked again, "Well, baka?"

Shinji mumbled several incoherent words before he was able squeeze out, "Who? Er… What?"

"Forget it! Get up! Put on your clothes! We're going to be late, baka!"

"Why did you have to wake me, Asuka? Why can't you just let me sleep in peace and let me be late?"

Asuka suddenly didn't have an answer for Shinji. To hide her uneasiness, she blurted, "Because you're an idiot, that's why."

Shinji didn't seem to question her answer. Instead, he stared at her with a puzzling expression before he sighed and said, "Yeah. I guess I am."

Great… now baka-Shinji makes me feel bad for insulting him. Well, I won't. He IS an idiot after all.

Shinji yawned and finally got out of bed. He glanced at his clock, noticing that they had only 20 minutes before class started. That's when it dawned on him what Misato might do if Asuka and he were late. Misato loved to give cleaning duty to the last two people to enter class. While Shinji usually enjoyed the company of his female companion, he absolutely dreaded it when she forced into doing something that was his fault. Like cleaning up after school on a nice Friday afternoon. Like the last time they were late.

Shinji panicked. He quickly threw on the clothes lying nearest to him, despite the fact that they seemed to have been worn earlier in the week.

"How can you wear something that you've sweated all day in?" Asuka said in a disgusted manner.

"That's what deodorant is for, Asuka" said Shinji as he sneered at his childhood friend.

Asuka had been Shinji's friend for as long as he could remember or as long as he cared to remember. To Shinji, the memories of his childhood before Asuka showed up weren't pleasant enough to be kept. He was teased for being different because he didn't play with the other boys when he was little and instead, always played along in a sandbox, believing that he was constructing his own magical empire.

It was the week before his 7th birthday, when Asuka and her family moved from Germany to join NERV HQ, located in Tokyo-3. Shinji didn't have many friends back then, and the few that he had were only friends with him because of the benefits of being friends with the son of two of the most important people in NERV. They gained immunity from a lot of trouble that they otherwise would have been severely punished for, only because they coerced Shinji into joining them.

Even when she was seven years old, Asuka was a brass and obnoxious child. Her mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, blamed herself for allowing the little red-headed girl to behave the way she did. Kyoko tried to correct the problem when she first noticed but found herself quickly overwhelmed by Asuka's boisterous manner. When Asuka arrived to Tokyo-3, she was actually happy to be in a new city as all her "friends" from Germany hated her for her arrogance. On Asuka's first day of school in Tokyo-3, her mom tried to convince Asuka to at least make some new friends in Tokyo-3, and this time, to try to keep them.

Asuka, to her mother's surprise, did make a new friend on the first day of school. A friendship that was still strong seven years later. This friend was named Shinji Ikari. By the lunchtime of Asuka's first day, she had already managed to alienate all the other boys in her class by calling them names. She had also alienated the girls by laughing at them for playing with dolls. She did find one strange boy interesting. Shinji was off to the side in a sandbox playing. With her most confident gait, Asuka strolled up to the little boy and giggled at the sight of random mounds of sand.

"What?" Shinji asked as he glanced up to see a red-headed girl towering above him. Even for a seven-year-old, Asuka was tall and she was proud of that because it made her so intimidating.

"Whatcha making there?" asked Asuka, still confused as to what the random mounds of sand meant to the boy.

"The empire of Sahiel."

"What?"

"It's my magical empire created from sand."

"Oh."

Asuka wasn't used to being so directly answered. Most people were intimidated by her attitude, yet Shinji showed no sign of being afraid. In fact, it seemed like he didn't even notice her at all. Now, Asuka was mad. The one thing that she hated the most was to be ignored. With much spite, she kicked into the sandbox demolishing one of the strange sand mounds.

"Hey! That was the princess' tower."

For some reason, Asuka felt bad. Maybe because she, herself, was drawn into the magical world that was created by Shinji.

"It didn't look much like a tower for a princess. I'd never live in a place like that."

"Who said you were a princess? Besides, my hands are kinda clumsy, but my imagination does the rest."

"I said I was a princess. If you'd let me, I'll help you build a better tower."

Asuka stepped into the sandbox with Shinji, and with her artistic talent, she helped him create the most beautiful sand tower he had ever imagined.

"Boys are so disgusting." Shinji snapped back to reality at that point.

"Huh?" Shinji asked with a confused look on his face. He couldn't recall saying anything that would lead to Asuka's conclusion.

Ugh… he doesn't know how disgusting he can be sometimes. Although, he is kinda cute when he stares off into space like that… Wait, ew. Asuka, don't think like that. He's your best friend.

"Oh I wish Kaji would just give up on Misato and pursue me. He's what real men are like," Asuka said dreamily.

Ryoji Kaji was Asuka's old babysitter. They knew each other very well from the many nights they spent lounging around the house, when Asuka's mother was working late nights at NERV HQ. While Kaji considered Asuka more like a younger sister for him to protect and look after, Asuka held a childish infatuation towards Kaji. She manifested this every time Kaji came by to visit or when he shows up after school to flirt with Misato, his first love, by running up to Kaji in the cheeriest voice she could manage and cling to him like a magnet to iron.

"Asuka, let's go, we're going to be late." This time Shinji was the one doing the urging, which snapped Asuka out of her daydream.

"Way to run a good daydream, dummkopf." Asuka made a face at Shinji to illustrate her anger.

"You ruined mine. It only seemed fair," explained Shinji.

"I thought you said you dreamed nothing." Shinji's face turned to the color of a tomato as he blushed and was starting to stammer out a response before Asuka grabbed his arm and dragged him into elevator.

Shinji and Asuka ran as fast as they could without tiring themselves out too much. They both knew the punishment, if they were late to Misato's class, but even with so much tension, they were still able to chat away like the childhood friends that they were.

"I hear there's going to be a new transfer student today," said Asuka.

"Really? What's he like?" said Shinji, not showing much enthusiasm into the topic.

"Didn't you hear? It's a girl."

"A girl! Now the class is going to unbalanced. Still… I hope she's cute." Asuka choked a little when she heard that and picked up the pace.

"Hahah… eat my dust, baka-Shinji." She had expected Shinji to complain for being left behind, but to her surprise, Shinji was keeping up with her effortlessly despite how scrawny he seemed. Asuka always pushed Shinji to pursue some kind of physical activity. She said that if he didn't gain some muscle, how was he supposed to protect the princess of Sahiel? Of course, Shinji retorted that Kaji would do that since he's a real "man."

A streak of blue hair and red eyes crashed straight into Shinji as he rounded the corner. For Shinji, it felt like he ran straight into a brick wall.

Man, I'm so stupid. I ran into a pole.

As Shinji's vision cleared, he realized that there was no such thing as a pole with blue hair and red eyes. She was wearing a school uniform similar to his.

I wonder if she goes to our school. I've never seen here before though. She's really cute though.

Shinji stared at the girl, taking in everything about her. As soon as the girl realized what Shinji was doing, she quickly bowed and ran off, leaving her breakfast toast to be devoured by hungry pigeons. Shinji kept staring at her as she ran out of sight.

"Quit staring at her butt, baka!" Asuka hissed.

"I wasn't doing that." Shinji continued to rub his forehead, hoping that the process would ease the pain that throbbed in the area.

"Then you were staring at her panties," accused Asuka.

"You know… not all boys are perverts."

"Yeah I know…"

Shinji glanced up at Asuka, surprised that she agreed with Shinji's statement. However, Asuka wasn't going to let Shinji win this one.

"But you're still a pervert."

"Hey… no I'm not. If I were… I… uh…" Shinji stammered as he couldn't think of what he would do as a pervert.

"What about your dream?" Asuka asked in a seductive voice. Shinji swallowed as he stared into Asuka's blue eyes. He hated it when she did that because when she did, he couldn't resist telling her the truth. It was like her truth serum on Shinji.

"Huh?" Shinji looked at Asuka as she helped him up. Shinji brushed his pants for loose debris before examining himself for any bruises.

"You look fine, but she was pretty rude. She didn't even stop to see if you were okay and instead ran off to school so she could be there on time!" exclaimed Asuka.

"Let's hope Misato is late today."

"I hope so too. But this is still all your fault."

"How's it my fault?"

"You overslept," said Asuka as she prodded Shinji in the ribs, eliciting a short gasp of pain from him.

"You didn't have to wait for me." Shinji thought about how nice it would be to sleep in and continue the dream that he had before he was so rudely awakened.

"I like walking with you, Shinji. I don't why. It's just…" Asuka shook her head as she said that to illustrate her confusion.

"Calming?" said Shinji, completing her sentence. He looked at Asuka, hoping to see her reaction to what he said.

"Yeah."

As they continued to run, Shinji turned to Asuka and smiled and for a second, he thought he saw her smile back.

Touji and Kensuke were already in class 10 minutes early. They had spent the last 10 minutes arguing about whether a Gundam can beat Godzilla.

"My analysis of the Gundam indicates that it has more than enough firepower to dispose of Godzilla."

"Dude, he breathes fire. Fire owns. You can't beat that. It's like playing rock-paper-scissors and someone has a machete instead," explained Touji.

"What the—that doesn't even make sense." Kensuke considered himself the expert on anime and movies, feeling that his opinion was the only one that mattered.

Down the hallway, Kensuke and Touji could already hear what they termed the "newlyweds" arguing. They don't exactly remember when they started calling Shinji and Asuka that, but every time they argue, Kensuke and Touji were reminded why.

Suddenly the door to classroom 2-A burst open, with Shinji being forcely shoved forward by a scowling Asuka.

"That's what you are but what am I."

"An idiot." Both of them traded glares at each other, hoping that their respective glares would cause the other to back down in terror, but unfortunately, neither of them gave in.

"That's what you are but what am I."

"A dummkopf."

"That's what you are but what am I."

"A pest who if he doesn't shut up WILL GET MY FOOT SHOVED UP HIS ASS." Shinji quieted down and sat slumped in his seat. He decided to be the mature one and just let Asuka win the argument. He was too tired to keep arguing about a pointless topic.

"Don't let your wife get you down, Shinji? You'll get the loving back tonight, right?" jeered Touji, who couldn't resist another jab at Asuka, for all the insults he has to put up from her.

Touji was already expecting the slap coming for his face so he was easily able to deflect it, but what he was not expecting was a simultaneous attack by Asuka kicking his shin and Hikari tugging at his ear.

"Suzuhara. Do you have anything to say for yourself?" asked Hikari, the class rep.

"No, ma'am."

If there was anyone in the world to put Touji in his place, it was Hikari. Asuka seeing Hikari, gave her a big hug as if they hadn't seen each other for months. Giggling together, they moved away from what they considered the three Stooges to their own corner to talk and gossip.

Those same three stooges were also the founders of the Katsuragi Is Super Sexy club or KISS for short. When they heard the squeal of car tires, blazing into the school parking lot, they all knew which special lady was going to step out of the car. Kensuke, Touji, and Shinji flashed their best smile at Misato, as she slowly walked into the school, appreciating all the attention that she was getting. In their corner, Asuka and Hikari glared back at the three Stooges with their death glare.

Misato walked in, and Hikari, remembering her class rep duties, said, "Rise. Bow. Sit."

"Hi, class. Today, we have a new transfer student from Osaka." Misato motioned for someone to walk in. A timid girl stepped out of the doorway. She had blue hair and red eyes.

"I'm Rei Ayanami. I'm pleased to meet all of you," Rei said as she scanned the faces of her new classmates.

Her scan stopped halfway across the room when she saw someone who looked familiar. Doubling back, she saw the face of Shinji Ikari. The same boy who collided with her earlier. The same boy who was just became aware of her glare and tried to avert his eyes. For a while, it looked like he was praying, hoping that she wouldn't notice him.

Rei suddenly took an aggressive stance and pointed at Shinji, "Hey, you were the one this morning peeking at my panties." The rest of the female body seemed to stare at Shinji as they awaited his answer. However, Shinji panicked and had no time to come up with a carefully constructed and well-thought answer.

"W-w-what? I didn't do that. I swear," rolled out of Shinji's mouth instead. The glare of the female body was still upon Shinji, but their eyes were narrowing as if they knew he was guilty and was just trying to lie his way out of trouble.

Unexpectedly, Asuka jumped up from her seat and exclaimed, "I can't believe you. You practically begged Shinji to look at it." Rei had a shocked look on her face as she couldn't believe what was coming out of Asuka's mouth. Shinji had an equally shocked look as he couldn't believe that Asuka was defending him. The whole class turned their gaze back onto Rei, expecting a retort out of her.

"Don't lie, please. Besides, why are you protecting him? Why should you care? Are you guys going out? Are you guys sleeping together or something?"

"No way, I'd never do anything like that… w-with that baka over there," said Asuka as she pointed at Shinji and made a face of disgust.

Shinji's head seemed to drop a little as he watched Asuka and Rei argue with completely different stories about what had happened only several minutes ago. It seemed like an eternity to Shinji, but finally Misato spoke and told Rei to take the empty seat next to Shinji. Rei aired an "hmph" and looked away from Shinji as she sat down for class to commence.

"Hey, Shinji, why aren't you eating?" asked Asuka, puzzled as to why Shinji was only watching her eat and not seeking to satisfy his own hunger.

"Um, I was in a hurry today and I forgot to take the lunch that I made last night."

"How typical!"

"Sorry…" Shinji looked apologetically at Asuka.

"Don't apologize to me. Apologize to your stomach. It would be starving if I wasn't such a nice person and offered to share the rather lavish meal that I made for myself."

"You mean it, Asuka?" questioned Shinji as he looked at Asuka for a hint of sincerity. He found himself comforted as Asuka shoved part of her bento box in front of him and gave him her chopsticks.

"Thanks, Asuka." Shinji's stomach made a growling sound, expecting to inhale the remnants of Asuka's bento box within the next few minutes.

"You're welcome, dear." Asuka froze, realizing the severity of her Freudian slip, and hoped that Shinji wouldn't notice the slight reddening of her cheeks while she struggled to control her blush.

"Huh?" Shinji thought he heard Asuka saying something but he was too busy shoveling the food into his mouth to pay attention.

Shit, did I say that out loud?! Stupid, stupid Asuka.

"Um… never mind, Shinji."

"Okay. Thanks again, Asuka."

"Hey, Shinji, what are you doing after school?" shouted Touji and Kensuke as they ran up to him as soon as the bell rang signaling the end of class for the day.

"Um… I need to do some work. I'm falling a bit behind on the homework. Besides, I promised Asuka I'd walk her home."

"Screw work. Hang out with us. It'll be fun. We're going to arcade to try out this new game. Something to do with using a remote controller to play sports. It's just like real sports!"

"Um… why don't you just play real sports then?"

"Dude. It's virtual. Everyone knows virtual is better. They do everything virtually now."

"I think I'll pass. We went to the arcade yesterday. We need to find somewhere else to hang out."

"But where? There's not that many places that cater to 14-year-olds. And don't suggest building some ridiculous sand kingdom."

"Well, we'll figure out something tomorrow. Right now, I'm just not in the mood for anything right now."

"Wait, why are you walking Asuka home? She got you all whipped already?"

"You know she's not always mean. She's kind of nice around me sometimes. I really like that side of her." Touji and Kensuke seemed shocked at what his friend was saying, but they passed it off as Shinji just being weird and tired.

"Whatever, Shinji. We'll see you tomorrow. Are you still going to the field trip on Saturday?"

"Yeah, I'll be there. See ya."

By the time, Shinji waved back at his friends, they were long gone, anxious to try out the new game at the arcade. He turned around and looked at Asuka still chatting away with Hikari under the shade of the tree. He waved at her and saw her turn and mouth "give me a second" before returning to finish her conversation with Hikari. Seeing that it'd be a while, Shinji decided to lie back in the shade of another tree and stared at the shapes of cloud, hoping to be able to make another fantasy world out of it. The feeling of hands suddenly placed on his shoulders shook Shinji out of his reverie.

"Hey, don't sneak up on me like that!" yelled a startled Shinji.

"But it's so much fun to see you jump out of your skin, baka-Shinji," chuckled Asuka.

"You ready?" Shinji picked up his backpack that was propped against the tree.

"Yeah. See ya, Hikari!" yelled Asuka as she turned to wave at the class rep.

Shinji and Asuka had walked a few blocks away before Asuka sighed loudly. At first, Shinji tried to shrug off what Asuka was feeling, but curiosity got the better of him.

"Something wrong, Asuka?" Shinji looked Asuka with a face of genuine concern.

"Just a long day, Shinji."

"Okay. Do you want to talk about it?"

"That's alright. Let's just get home. I need to take a shower."

After sometime, they finally reached Asuka's apartment. As Shinji started to head into the elevator, he heard Asuka ask, "Shinji?"

"Yeah?" Shinji stopped half-way into the elevator, holding the door with his hand.

"Do you want to make me lunch for tomorrow?"

"Um sure…" Shinji was surprised at the generous offering of Asuka.

"Other people's food taste better," explained Asuka.

"Ah okay," muttered Shinji as he turned away from the apartment door, ready to tackle his homework when Asuka broke the silence again.

"Shinji?"

"Thanks again for walking me home."

Shinji just nodded back and smiled. She never thanked him before. He thought it was strange but shrugged it off as he thought about how much homework he had left and how the hours in the day seemed to evaporate from the heat of the approaching summer.

End Notes: Okay, the ending is a bit rushed. I was running out of material especially since this was the introductory chapter of them doing nothing and just introducing everyone and getting a feel for the whole fanfic. I hope you guys enjoy it. Stay tuned for the next chapter… SOON™. I'll give you a hint, it has something to do with the field trip.