Identity Crisis
Chapter 1: Prologue
DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise. Studio Gainax, Studio Khara, Hideaki Anno, and that Sadomoto guy do, I guess.
A/N: So, here I am with another Evangelion fanfiction. It's been quite some time, but yeah, here it is. Just like Innocent Trip, I've had this concept on my mind for a very long time but never found the motivation to actually think through what happens. But knowing who I am, I decided to go ahead and write this down because why not, right? That's probably not a good thing, but whatever. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy my new whatever. Be sure to review to let me know what you guys think of it!

Am I crying? Am I really crying again? Why am I crying? Is it for Mother? Is it for Father? Or maybe for both of them?

It doesn't matter. I'm sick of this anyway. I'm sick of it all. Sometimes, I wish that I would just stay here, in this dream. Reality isn't worth the pain. But I mustn't run away. That'd make me no better than my father...and yet...

The year is 2015. This is the story of a boy, and how his life changed when he was fourteen years old.

I wake up. I get out of bed. I get changed into my uniform. I make myself some breakfast and a lunch box for later. I go to school. I talk to Toji and Kensuke. I study. I eat lunch. I go home. I do some homework. I make dinner. I listen to music and watch TV. I go to bed. Repeat.

That's how my life seems to be.

Shinji didn't even want to get out of bed for a myriad of reasons, but he knew he had to. It was his responsibility to get up. So he did. After all, life wasn't about what he wanted. It was never about what he wanted. But he made do in life regardless of whatever life had thrown at him. After all, someone who has shut them out from a great many people, someone who is apathetic, someone who doesn't care, cannot be hurt.

Right?

After getting up and brushing his teeth quickly, he got dressed in his uniform; a plain white button up shirt and some dark green pants. Knowing that Father was most likely still asleep in his own room, Shinji did his best to be quiet as he walked out and began to prepare his food. He decided to start making his lunch first as he usually did, putting in some rice, meat, and other things. After he did so, he began fixing up breakfast.

As Shinji put on his backpack, he glanced at the closed door of his father's room. Father... He simply thought with a frown. It would probably be best if he left right now or else he'd have to face him. After all, with all the drinking he had been doing, he'd probably wake up with a killer hangover, and that was something Shinji didn't want to be a part of, so he left. He didn't want to hate his father, but he felt like his father hated him, so there was no point in caring for someone who has cast you out of his life. It was like they weren't even father and son anymore. They were just two strangers in the same house. The two of them barely talked, and even when they did, it was never anything special. Just questions like "Have you done your homework?" or so.

For as long as he could remember, his father drank, and drank, and drank. Whether it be going out to a bar after work or crashing at home with a bottle of alcohol in his hand, Gendo Ikari liked to drink. Shinji could guess why he drank. He was sad, he was angry, he was bitter. Ever since Mother disappeared, all he did was drink.

Shinji didn't exactly remember everything, but he knew that his mother, Yui Ikari, had died when he was very little, likely when he was 3 or 4 years old. He didn't know the circumstances (either that, or he repressed the memories) of how she died, but his father seemed to either blame Shinji or himself for it. Maybe he blamed both.

Walking out the door with a soft sigh, Shinji began walking to school. Tokyo-3 was a beautiful place. It was beautiful enough to calm him down, and for that, he was thankful. The boy never knew how to deal with emotions. He did know that he felt at peace when he walked however. Maybe that was enough.

The streets were fairly populated in the morning, bustling with teenagers and adults alike in a rush to get to school or work. Shinji felt so small in this large crowd, but in a way, he rather liked it like that. Sometimes, he preferred being unnoticed. This was partly thanks to his father.

But enough thinking of Father.

The sun was up. And Shinji would have to move if he wanted to get to school on time. Quickening his pace a bit, the young boy began breaking into a run as soon as the crowd cleared up a little bit, holding his bag tightly.

Shinji wasn't exactly a fast runner, being quite scrawny and unathletic for a boy his age. Still, if he kept running at this pace, he should be able to catch up to Toji and Kensuke, who both happened to live closer to the school than he did. Still, maybe living slightly further away from the school was a good thing in some ways. It may take a longer time to get there, but Shinji had more distance to run, so he could get more fit. And that was quite beneficial to his otherwise—

CRASH!

The young boy's thoughts stopped as abruptly as his running as he suddenly found himself on the ground in a daze, doing his best to recover from whatever just happened. The first thing Shinji had registered, other than the fact he was sitting on the ground, supported by his arm, was the fortunate fact that no one seemed to be there to see his blunder.

Except for one girl in front of him. She seemed to be around his age, though her looks seemed foreign. To say red hair is uncommon in Japan is quite the understatement. Then again, the girl didn't even look like she came from Japan. Rather, she looked to be of Western origins, probably from Europe or America?

As Shinji touched his bag to make sure it was still there, he continued to examine the girl's expression. She was in a daze like him, but he managed to recover faster. However, when the girl did come to, she instantly shot a glare at Shinji that made him gulp and caused his heart to drop. He instantly felt threatened by this girl, like with that look alone, he could infer she was the type who could get away with homicide and not only would the body be never found, all the evidence linked to her would be burned away.

Deducing that a mere apology wouldn't be accepted by someone like her, Shinji prepared for the worst once the girl opened her mouth to speak, but even then, he still wasn't prepared for what was to come.

"You moron!" She bellowed, "What's wrong with you?! What are you, stupid?! You should really watch where you're going, you idiot! Can't you see I'm in a rush?! Oh, you got dirt on my uniform! Thanks a lot, pinhead! I just got this too! How am I gonna explain this to my dad?!" The redheaded girl whined in frustration as she helped herself up, while Shinji stayed on the ground, nervous that if he even attempted to stand up, he'd get shoved back down for some reason. There was a short pause before the girl began talking again. "What, are you gonna apologize or not?"

"S-Sorry," Shinji stammered, nervously getting up against his better judgment, praying to dear God that his fears wouldn't come true and the girl would use her rage to push him back down to the ground, assuming she wouldn't do anything worse to him.

"Whatever, it's too late now," she replied, before blinking, her eyes suddenly growing wide, "Oh, crap! I'm gonna be late if I waste any more time with you! I can't be late today!" She exclaimed, before taking off, leaving Shinji in the dust without even saying goodbye to him.

And it was then that Shinji realized the girl was wearing the standard girls' uniform for his school.

"No way! So was she hot or what?" Kensuke asked enthusiastically.

"Well…yeah, she was pretty attractive," Shinji admitted, sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he talked about the mysterious girl from…well, several minutes ago, "Though it's not like I'd ever be able to hook up with her even if I wanted. I feel lucky she didn't hit me, actually."

"Still, man! Besides, you said she was wearing a uniform that belonged to this school? Ooh! What if it turned out she gets into this class?! Wouldn't that be cool?! This class is sorta lacking in good-looking girls anyway, wouldn't ya say?" The glasses-wearing boy said, fiddling with the camera on his desk.

Shinji simply shrugged. "I'm good. Besides, you weren't there, man. She was like a demon," he said, imagining the redhead with devil horns and a pitchfork standing in front of a fiery background. Of course, his imagination wasn't much compared to Kensuke's, who was probably imagining some sort of lewd demon girl, opposed to the demon of true evil in Shinji's imagination.

"Yeah, I agree. She sounded like a real bitch, Ikari. And I have enough trouble with bitchy girls, considering the class rep is always on my ass," Toji piped in, entering the conversation. He approached his two friends, dressed in his usual tracksuit instead of wearing the school's standard uniform. He crossed his arms with his usual confident demeanor, leaning against the wall with a smirk.

Kensuke nodded to Toji, which was sort of his way of saying hi. "Heya, Toji. Nice of you to join the conversation," he said with a smile.

"…Suzuhara…" A low, pissed-off sounding voice came from behind Toji.

Toji's eyes widened, and he gulped. He looked to his friends for help, and all Kensuke could do was look back, scared for his friend, while Shinji, who was equally scared, managed to point a finger behind Toji.

Hesitantly, Toji looked back and his worst fear became real once he saw the class representative, Hikari Horaki, standing there, arms on her hips, with a look of anger so hot and intense it could melt the sun.

…Well, almost.

"What…did you just call me, Mr. Suzuhara?" She asked.

"W-Whaddya mean, class rep? Whatcha talkin' about?" Toji chuckled nervously, playing innocent, though Hikari would have none of it.

"Care to repeat what you said about me?"

Well, that didn't work, Toji thought to himself, Time for Plan B. That always gets me out!

"Well, I don't know what you're referrin' to, but I gotta use the john really quick!" He said, making his way behind Hikari and going for the door, though he was stopped dead in his tracks when the brown-haired girl grabbed the back of his tracksuit with immense strength. Strength that no one could guess she had.

"I don't think so, Mr. Suzuhara! Besides, class is starting soon, so I suggest you take your seat!" She commanded, causing Toji to sigh and surrender.

"Yes ma'am," he said. Damn, I really should think of more plans in the future, he thought as he obeyed and walked over to his seat once Hikari let go of him.

Shinji did the same, and Kensuke was already in his seat anyway. "Poor Toji. He's totally whipped! If those two went out together, I definitely know who'd be wearing the pants in that relationship!" The young freckled boy said, unable to hold back an amused smirk. Eventually, the teacher walked in, his old, tired eyes looking the same as always.

…Wait a minute.

"Good morning, class." He said simply, making his way over to the desk in the front.

Something's off…

Hikari spoke up, clearing her throat. "Ah, sir? You're in the wrong room," she said politely to him.

The old man looked up, examining the students at their desks. He adjusted his glasses, before nodding. "Hmm. So I am. My mistake…" He said, nonchalantly turning around and exiting the room. Several of the students couldn't help but laugh softly, wondering if he was senile or something of the sort. As he left, the class's real teacher came in; Misato Katsuragi.

Giving the other teacher an odd look, Ms. Katsuragi walked over to her desk, laying down several papers. One could guess they were graded tests or something like that. The young teacher looked at her students with a smile. "Good morning, class!"

"Good morning, Ms. Katsuragi," the students half-heartedly replied.

"Listen up, guys! We've got a new student joining us today, so you better give her a warm welcome!" She exclaimed, before glancing at the doorway, "Come on, Asuka. Don't be shy," she said with a smile.

"I am not shy!" A familiar voice came. Then she walked in. The dreaded demonic devil. The one that Shinji had bumped into on accident earlier that morning. To say that the boy himself was shocked would be quite the understatement. His jaw was so close to dropping onto the table like an exaggerated cartoon, and if this was any typical bad anime show, it'd be like every inch of his body, including his clothes, had turned ghostly white in pure bewilderment.

She, dare one say, arrogantly put her hands on her hips and stood in a fashion like she owned the place, even though no one, save for poor Shinji, had seen her before. "I'm Asuka Langley Sohryu. Charmed, I'm sure," she said with a confident smile.

Suddenly, Shinji felt a strange sensation rise within him. It felt like time had suddenly decided to stop. He simply sat there, unable to move, as if his body was a statue. Everyone else was frozen, and the girl named Sohryu was stuck in mid-sentence. Though Shinji should have been wondering why time seemed to stop for him, he was more concerned with the possibility that he had actually seen this girl before.

Before the two of them crashed into each other, that is.

But where could they have possibly met? That was the question. It felt like…he had been friends with her before. People had often said that when you die and get reincarnated, people who you meet in the next life that you knew in the old life become very familiar.

Was this the kind of feeling Shinji was getting? This alien sense of familiarity?

The boy was suddenly snapped back into his senses once he heard Ms. Katsuragi's voice. "And there you have it, folks! Asuka Langley Sohryu, from, you heard it, Germany! Let's treat Asuka to a great school year, alright, class?"

"Yes, Ms. Katsuragi," the class responded.

Wait a minute. She's from Germany. When did I hear that? Did I miss something? Shinji thought, mentally raising an eyebrow. Did time really stop for him or did he just black out in the middle of Asuka talking?

"Glad to hear it! Now, Asuka. Why don't you take a seat near…Shinji? Right there!" She said, pointing at the empty seat right next to Shinji.

Shinji's heart sunk like the Titanic.

"What, next to that dork?" Asuka murmured under her breath with a look. She sighed. "Alright, then." She said, complying and occupying the seat to the left of Shinji.

The boy snuck a few glances here and there at the girl. He had to admit, she was really pretty, even if her personality, as far as Shinji could tell, really needed work before she could become a potential interest—

Shinji blinked, not being able to help but blush a little.

And all the while, Asuka was trying her best to ignore Shinji's obvious attempts to get a good look. Damn pervert is probably trying something! She said to herself in her head.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was writing on their worksheets handed to them by Misato. Shinji was in such deep concentration, and totally not drawing a complete blank as he read his next question, that he accidentally dropped the pencil, which rolled over to Asuka.

However, Shinji didn't realize where it was until Asuka picked it up and handed it to him. "Thanks," he said softly with a smile. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

It was then he realized there was chewing gum wrapped around the pencil. Shinji was hit with both a blow to what pride he had and another feeling of familiarity that bugged him. He sighed, putting his pencil away and checking to see if he had another one handy.

Life certainly gets complicated at fourteen years old, doesn't it?

A/N: So yeah, that's it! With that, I am officially back! Or something like that. Let's go through the usual drill; did I make any grammatical or technical errors? Is there anything I need to work on? Whatever your questions, concerns, comments, or death threats may be, I eagerly await to see your thoughts in your review, hopefully assuming you'll make a review. You'll make one, right?

Jesus, I've been working on this since what, August or so? I hope this new fic will bring me out of my writer's block that I have like every two days or so. I believe at one point, one reason I came close to just scrapping this was because it was almost becoming a crossover between Evangelion and Clannad or something, though that'd be an interesting thing to see.

Anyway, I'm getting off-track. Again, like I said, reviews are always welcome and appreciated. Numbers like those make my story look worth reading after all, right? Stay tuned, folks!